Logically, Zavala knew that this boy wasn't a threat.
But as he entered the room, absolutely reeking of death and pain and darkness, he had barely noticed himself activating his "Ward of Dawn" and pulling out his rifle, leveling it at the boy.
He pulled on his light and formed the purple dome around the vanguards meeting table, shocking the others, except for Eris, who had stood up and backed away from the boy as well.
"Zavala!"
And then, as quickly as it happened, he felt the presence around the boy vanish, like smoke in the wind. Eris seemed to calm down as well, looking visibly shaken as she sat back down.
Where the boy stood, there was instead a large black sheet of something, with glowing green edges, something he felt he had seen before..
Flashes of Hive knights hiding behind this very shield filled his mind as it dissipated, allowing the boy, who had somehow gotten hold of a hand cannon, to come into view, gun pointed at Zavala's head.
The boy kept his gun pointed at Zavala as he spoke. "I have no quarrel with you lightborn, but I will defend myself if need be. I came here expecting allies, maybe I should have done more research before assisting the guardians."
Ikora stood up as the "Ward of Dawn" vanished, leaving purple mist over the table. "Zavala, I felt it too, but we mustn't overreact. He has been through a very traumatic experience for an extended amount of time. We need to make his arrival pleasant."
It was then that Eris spoke up, as the stand-off between Zavala and Izuku ended, both of them lowering their weapons.
"Child, you are hurt. Why would you do that to yourself?"
The rest of the vanguard checked over the boy and noticed the stab wound in the arm he held the Hand Cannon in, as well as the bloodstained dagger in his other hand.
Mumbling something in a language that hurt everyone's ears to hear, the wound closed slowly, and the knife was tucked away into his belt.
"Power comes from pain, shattered one, whether it be other creatures or your own."
Cayde gave the others a glance as they looked as confused as he felt, except for Eris, who acted like the boy had just imparted some ancient wisdom to them.
There was a cough, and the group turned their attention to the Speaker, who had sat down at his own seat. "Mr. Midoriya, would you care to sit? We would like to discuss some things with you."
Izuku complied, grabbing a chair and sitting down on it. He glanced at the Vanguard, his eyes lingering on Zavala, before he cleared his throat.
"Vanguard of the Guardians, my name is Izuku Midoriya. I am here not only for my own goals, but to offer my help and services to the Lightborn."
Whatever the Vanguard had been expecting, Izuku could guess it wasn't that.
"Pardon? Did you just offer us assistance?" Ikora spoke softly and calmly, but Izuku could almost feel the confusion in her voice.
Izuku nodded. "Correct, Warlock. As I suspect my fellow survivor has, I offer my knowledge and guidance to you as you endeavor to kill the Hive Prince."
Eris nodded, not seeing any point in denying her own offer of assistance. "While I am sure that one day, the Hive Prince would fall even without my help, every day that he lives is a victory for the Hive and a chance for them to grow ever stronger. I intend to help speed the process along."
Cayde grunted as he put his feet on the floor and leaned on the table, the "Ace of Spades" back in its holster. "That's good and all, but how exactly do you plan on helping us?"
Izuku gave him a look, one that Cayde couldn't decipher thanks to the cloth over his eyes, and huffed. "I theorized that due to my young age you might dismiss me, but I was hoping to be wrong."
He pulled out a small book, one that looked homemade. From what Cayde could tell, the bindings and leather cover looked like Hive skin. On the front was a green rune in the shape of what looked like a 'v'.
Opening the book and laying it flat on the table, he spoke a word that sounded like chalk on a blackboard and tapped the holographic device in the center of the table. A glowing green line erupted from the pages and into the device, and it turned on, revealing a hologram of a thrall.
It moved as if breathing, and paced up and down the table. Izuku stood up and pointed at it. "Do you know how the body of a thrall works? The location of its vital organs, the spots to hit that will deal the most damage?"
He continued as the hologram changed into the likeness of an acolyte. "Do you know the language of your enemy, the way they think, the abilities they have?"
Another flash, and the hologram changed to a knight, wielding a cleaver that cut down so many guardians on the moon during the great disaster. "Are you capable of defending yourself from the enchantments and magic that surround the enemy and their weapons?"
The hologram shifted once more, showing them the Hive Prince himself. The hologram of Crota was crouched down, his cleaver's tip in the ground, surrounded by a faint green glow.
Then it shut off, and the lights from the room came back on, showing that Izuku had shut his book, and placed it back… somewhere. He took off the cloth covering his eyes, and the Vanguard was able to see that they were a vibrant emerald that seemed to almost glow with determination.
"Because I do. The Shattered One knows some of what I do, but even she could not stray as far into the Dark as I did, as she is not immune to the corruption as I am."
Ikora, the first of her colleagues to recover from the enrapturing speech that Izuku had just given, spoke up. "And how exactly are you immune to the corruption? We've seen a human using Hive Magic before, but he eventually lost his mind, and then his humanity."
Izuku hummed as he sat back down. "It's a long story, and one that you will not believe. Due to a part of my physiology, no telepathic or mental attacks can harm me without me allowing them to."
Eris smacked the table and stood up, her mouth slightly agape as she realized how he had survived in the Hellmouth for so long, even when he was a child. "You are immune to the Death song, and the whispers of the worms! How did you get such an ability!"
Izuku nodded, placing his hands on the table.
"I got my ability when I was 4. It's called a 'Quirk."
Bakugou growled as he completed his 200th push-up.
He was not having a very good day. Not only was he subjected to the extras at school waffling on about how they were going to be heroes, even with their d-lister sidekick level Quirks, but he had also been attacked, earlier that day, by a living pile of goop that stank like absolute shit.
Standing up and stretching his shoulders out, he looked over to his desk to see if the download for the UA application forms had finished. His eyes briefly looked over the photo on his desk, of an 8-year-old Bakugou with his arm wrapped around the shoulders of his friend, Izuku Midoriya, before he shook his head and focused on the forms.
He couldn't fuck anything up. He had to go to UA. He had to become an awesome hero, one that saved everyone by beating up all the shit-heads that threatened them. He had to become #1.
And that meant that he had to work extra hard. He couldn't slack off with his preparations for becoming a hero. After all…
He wasn't just doing it for himself anymore.
He had a promise to keep.