There's a bat. Always, there's a bat. Watching. Waiting. Waiting to take flight after and only after. It's hanging upside down from a street post, wings furrowed and enclosing all the heat from the lightbulb for itself. Down below, its shadow shrouds the silver glint of the gun that goes off in the illumination. When two cold bodies hit the pavement, the boy that remains alive also turns cold from having his world turned upside down from that point onward, and the bat turns upright and flies away from its warm perch.

…

Izuku Midoriya slowly stirs from his unconscious state to consciousness, hanging upside down. His mind in a fog, whether from the blood flow rushing to his head or aftereffects of the nerve gas that infiltrated his system, he can't think straight and evaluate his predicament just yet. All he can focus on is the usual nightmare and the chaffing around his ankles. He never remembers that haunting night the same way, but he never forgets it either. Chains grind against his skin and rip his flesh by the feet, keeping him mounted to the ceiling.

There's heavy chains around his wrists too, that keep his arms hanging with his body. If he tries to lift his hands, he realizes just how much effort it takes when it comes to the weight. He opens his mouth, but can't even manage to make a grunt or a groan. His throat is dry. Parched. He realizes why when a certain scent fills his nostrils. Damp towels are pressed against his chest and back, relieving him of his armor, they are soaked in vinegar. He twists and turns his body, making them peel and fall off of his torso so that he can breathe better.

It's hot. He realizes that he must be in another boiler room. Perhaps the one under U.A. He tries turning his head to check his surroundings and confirm his suspicions, but finds it extremely difficult to try with his movements hindered. His body aches too. Open wounds and old sores cover his body. He realizes none of the lacerations are new. The scars he's gained over the years were reopened. The towels that had been on him are tinged red, and all other blood that's been drained out went into a bucket beneath him.

He grits his teeth and tries raising his arms up over his head again. His pits ache in protest, but he pushes through the pain. He's gone through worse. He bends his waist up, reaching for his ankles next. There's no lock to pick, nor anything to use even if there were. But he's mastered escape techniques that use other methods of absconding. Dislocating toes and thumbs, he slips loose from his capture and falls to the floor. The bucket below gets knocked over, blood spilling everywhere and making a huge puddle. He doesn't care, laying in his own bodily fluids as he pants and breathes heavily from the exertion it took to get free.

Midoriya rolls over from his back onto his stomach when he hears the unlatching of a metallic door lock. He plans on performing a push up to get on his feet, but he's much too weak, malnourishment getting the better of him. Instead of moving any more than he already has, he lays there and watches as a small shadowy figure enters the room with him through the opening of what appears to be a chamber door.

Midoriya recognizes the creature when it comes closer. Almost humanoid, the animorph walks on two legs. Nezu, the former principal of U.A. The riddler. A criminal now. A villain. Slowly, but surely, it starts to come back to him. Midoriya grits his teeth even harder, grinding them together. Nezu relishes in his captive's rage, impish and grinning. He rolls up a sleeve to check a watch on his wrist before saying, "Thirteen minutes to come to and escape that time. I do believe I'm starting to wear you down, Mister Midoriya."

At that, Midoriya falters. Something must show on his face, because even Nezu appears surprised. Though the human and animal hybrid recovers quickly. "Ah! Perhaps we are proceeding according to agenda then!", he covers his watch before clasping his paws together with a clap, "I had assumed your mental limits would far exceed that of an average human's but it is to be expected that you'd give in just like anyone else!"

Midoriya wants to ask what the malicious menace means by that, but he's lost his voice. He wants to reach out and snatch the sadistic rodent by the throat, but he's lost his strength. All he can do is lay on the floor in confusion, hoping for an answer or an opportunity. Hope. It's something he'd never allowed himself to have. Nobody had come to save his parents, so he shouldn't expect somebody to come save him. And yet, he finds himself childishly hopeful that he'll be saved all over again. He knocks his head against the rough ground, trying to break that mindset and remind himself not to be foolish.

That must do the trick, like smacking or banging a device to get the batteries to work again, because memories begin pooling in all at once. This isn't his first time waking up in this place. He's been trapped here for.. Weeks? Months? He'd counted in his head and kept track of time for about three to four weeks before succumbing to a deep slumber. During that time, he'd been physically tortured and constiently tested to escape despite his injuries. It's nothing he shouldn't have had difficulty with, but over the course of time, he had also begun enduring mental attacks.

He's not sure if Nezu utilized toxins and poisons to drug him, most he had been inoculated for anyways, but his mind had started to fracture and it's now beginning to break. It's like Nezu is trying to make his memory regress back to that night. It had begun with a line of questioning about the vivid details, which Midoriya had refused at first to indulge. But then each scar that told a tale of his journey, training and then crusading, began to reopen. He relived his creation into Batman and all of his secrets were spilled.

"Did you know the kanji for riddle, Nazo, is closely related to my name Nezu?", Midoriya raises his head to see the inhumane vermin waiting with an expectant expression.

He does know that. He remembers having a conversation where Nezu broke down the reason he chose to write him riddles due to the irony and the strange humor because of the kanji in his name. He should have put two and two together with that clue and figured everything out sooner. Midoriya nods, understanding Japanese grammar and spelling regardless of Nezu's quirkiness.

"Hm. So that's where we're at.", Nezu pauses as though he's jotting down notes with his thoughts. He then squats down and sits cross legged across from Midoriya, getting comfortable. "I'm not so sure I like that look of disdain in your eyes though. Perhaps you need a reminder as to why I'm doing this in order to regain some semblance of empathy.", Midoriya glares into the chimera's beady black eyes but does find himself acknowledging the scar that runs through one of them; he vaguely recalls Nezu telling him the origins of that injury, though he can't remember the exact story.

"Like any animal, I was subjected to mistreatment and abuse by humans.", the hero turned villain says it nonchalantly but there's an undertone of venom secreting from his tone, "I was experimented on due to my having a quirk with no regard for my consciousness of what I had to endure on a regular basis." Midoriya tries pushing himself forward to interrupt, but Nezu stops him with a swift backhand. "You can't blame me for holding a grudge, Mister Midoriya.", he whispers like he's telling a personal secret.

Midoriya turns his bruised cheek back towards the villain, glaring with defiance. "I hated humans for their lack of regard for me. Until.. Shota Aizawa, Eraserhead, rescued me. He had discovered the lab's secret experiments on me, the ones they conducted out of the public eye, and exposed them. I had never met a human with genuine compassion for anyone but themself until I met Aizawa.", Nezu carries on with his story anyways, pausing only to add, "You reminded me quite a lot of him actually."

"So, to repay him, I became a hero too. And I learned through him that 'heroes' were MORE people who cared for others than themselves. That he wasn't the only good hearted being.", Nezu briefly stares off into the distance with a somewhat reminiscent fondness before quickly returning to his former state, "That wasn't always the case, of course. Like the lab that had conducted experiments on me and other quirked animals in secret, heroes had their secrets too. Many of them were frauds and fakes."

Nezu fiddles with the nails poking out from his paws, staring down at them as though only he alone knows what they're capable of. "And that was how I learned that all humans were frauds just like I had formerly believed. They're just deceptive by nature at hiding their true selves. When the chips are down, they're only in it for themselves. Money to get ahead. Children for a legacy. Fame for a lasting standing. Rescue for idolization. Never a sincere humble righteous reason for heroics.", a small smile crosses the chimera's lips, "I tried changing this issue by running a school and attempting to teach prospective heroes the true meaning of being heroes with Aizawa as a role model teacher, but that didn't work either."

Nezu springs to his feet with a tiny hop, a sudden burst of energy overtaking him. "All I received in return was criticisms from the public! Humans wanted to blame anyone but themselves for their own making of society and it was easier to blame the ones trying to change it rather than better themselves with adaptation to a change!", he giggles like the story he's telling is one big long joke, "Rather than shut down U.A in an attempt to change the way things function, they just fired me and brought in a new principal. Pin the blame on someone and carry on until they can blame things on their next scapegoat, that's all that they ever do."

Nezu begins to walk around Midoriya, circling him as some sort of prey. "They would have you believe real heroes don't wear masks. All Might didn't wear a mask. Don't be afraid to show your true face. But you know that's a lie. Once again. It's all about fame and credit. Fake smiles. Fake faces. Real heroes aren't people, they have no identity, they just are. A legend.", Nezu stops when he completes the cycle to face Midoriya head on, "That's when your influence came into play. After the war, after Aizawa's retirement, you gave me more hope than Togata ever could that there was still hope for real heroes."

Nezu crouches down, leveling his gaze with Midoriya so that they're even, "You kept your identity a secret. A vigilante in every sense of the word. Not for fame or fortune, but to make a real change. And I found myself intrigued as to why after all this time, after waiting all these years, why it was now that you had come too late. Imagine my awe when I learned your family history. Stemming from the same evil that breeds every other human, corruption and pride and greed, you turned out different thanks to the death of your parents and their true colors unbeknownst to you. The lack of a quirk's power to perceive yourself as higher than others, you worked hard to put yourself at an equal footing to fight that injustice. Truly admirable."

Nezu then returns to standing, his gaze looking down upon Midoriya. "So I had to test you. I had to see whether or not you were what you appeared to be. Were you a fraud like the rest? Or are you one of a kind. Are you the answer? The solution that I've been seeking to solve the problem of humanity? I brought the truth of your parents to light to see if that would be enough to break you. I tested your morals and your sense of virtues to see if you would be crippled or compromise.", his tone becomes darker as he reaches for Midoryia, "You remained intact and so I now must see why that is."

And Izuku Midoriya is greeted by a black abyss once again.

…

Suddenly, he's cradled up on a couch. There's a scent of hot cocoa and the warmth of a fireplace. The fire burns brighter than any streetlamp, warding off the shadows that seep in through the night. A window tinged blue and white with frost, a blizzard outside, a contrast of pale moonlight. Midoriya feels safe here. No longer a prayer for home, he is home. And he's not alone. Someone is there with him on the couch, running their fingers through his hair. He turns and raises his head to see. A woman with long green hair like his own.

…

"Mother.. ?", Midoriya groggily awakens in a hospital bed. The green haired woman he had seen in his dreams is still there though, through his blurry vision.

When his eyes focus and adjust, he sees that the woman is Tomoko Shiretoko. Shiretoko sits by his bedside, a mixture of various emotions on her face.

She stands up and shouts, "He's awake!"