Cayde was starting to get worried for the kid.
It started about 2 months ago. Izuku had stumbled into their weekly training session mumbling about wishes, and portals and a place called 'UA'. He had then been distracted the entire session, asking Cayde and Shaxx questions about places that the guardians had confirmed strong enemies were located.
There were a lot of requests to sit in on a strikes comms channel and learn how they functioned, and while some were classified and therefore hidden from Izuku, when a strike concerned either the Hive or the Hellmouth, he was allowed to listen in, and occasionally give suggestions.
And then there was the rapid growth in the boy's strength.
Izuku had always been a pretty strong person, years of living in the Hellmouth had shaped his body into a weapon, with sleek, corded muscles built for speed and agility, but he, like all other lightless people, were limited to what their bodies could create.
But Izuku was starting to push past that. Every other session he would show off some feat of strength, like lifting a rocket launcher a little easier, or throwing a grenade further than what was normal.
And he seemed to realize it too. Whenever he was able to pull one of these things off, he would cheer and end the lesson early, heading back to his living quarters, a place that no-one was allowed to, or nowadays wanted to, enter without his permission.
But recently, when Ikora had gone to see him to ask about a certain target of a strike, She found that the minute she reached his door, her connection to the light was pressured. Her ghost, Ophiuchus, reported that it was similar in feeling to the zones in strikes where her ability to resurrect Ikora was compromised.
And while the Vanguard was fine with Izuku doing a lot of things, having a Darkzone in their base of operations, no, their only home, was not an acceptable thing for Izuku to do. There was only so much they could hide from people like the Praxic Fire, and Izuku was pushing it.
That was why Cayde found himself standing in the lobby out front of Izuku's room with Zavala, Ikora, Eris, and a squad of the vanguards finest, ready to burst into the room.
Zavala was upfront briefing everyone. "Alright, everyone. We do not know if this Darkzone is intentional or not, and Mr. Midoriya has shown no intent to harm any of us, but we need to investigate this anomaly in his behavior."
He sighed. "If you spot the target, immobilize and restrain, but do not cause him any pain. His abilities stem from his pain, meaning that any damage you do to him will just power him up. Our best course of action is to attempt to knock him out if he reacts violently."
Cayde bristled slightly at the way Zavala was talking about Izuku. Calling him 'The Target', like he hadn't spent the last 5 months making sure the kid had everything he needed for his integration into the Last City.
Zavala slammed his fist into his palm. "But if he is not aggressive, you will take NO ACTION against him, am I clear? If Mr. Midoriya shows no signs of harmful intent, you will stow your weapons and leave. That is a direct order."
Getting nods and 'yes sirs' in response to that, Zavala let his ghost fade away and pulled out his auto rifle, before moving to the door. Shivering slightly at the feeling of his light being strained, he held up his hand and knocked on the door, only to find it swing open, unlocked.
A dozen guns were immediately pointed at the doorway and Zavala dove to the side, but when nothing happened, they were lowered. Entering the doorway behind Zavala, Cayde rested his hand on the "Ace of Spades", ready for anything.
Or so he thought.
The team cleared the entire living quarters except for Izuku's office, where he was most likely to be. One of the hunters behind him activated their Shadowshot, pointing the bow at the doorway, just in case.
So when Zavala pushed the door open and Izuku wasn't in it? They were all surprised. What was in the room was empty boxes of ammo, an empty storage container for a Hand Cannon, A map drawing table with scans from Guardians patrols of the moon, and the giant stone ring they got for Izuku in the back of the room.
But what was the most shocking of all to them was the fact that the Portal was active.
Izuku couldn't remember a time that he was having as much fun as this.
An odd and admittedly morbid thought to be having as you crush a Thrall's head under your boot while simultaneously ripping an Acolyte's head off, but it didn't matter to him. The creatures dying in front of him proved that he would be able to fulfill his wishes through his own strength, and that made him smile.
Whipping out a top-of-the-line Hand Cannon that Banshee had 'gifted' him (He felt bad for stealing it but Banshee wasn't gonna remember), he fired one shot into another Acolyte's chest, and pulled on the immense pain it was feeling to conjure an orb of fire in his hand, throwing it at an oncoming Knight.
All around him were the screeches and grunts of the Hive tongue, spewing insults and jeers at him. He wondered if they knew he could understand them. Then he heard another of the Knights charging him, and used the Thrall below him as a launching pad, jumping over it.
Firing multiple shots off into its back, he slid under the swing of its cleaver and pulled out his knife from his belt, stabbing it into the flexible part between its chest carapace and its head.
Sliding from it's right to left quickly, he slit the Knight's throat and watched it fall summoning a shield from its suffering right as a Wizard started to attack him. He pulled harder on the Knight's pain and attempted something he had only tried one or two times before.
He had seen the way that the Hive ships traveled long distances and had overheard how it worked, and now he was going to try it. Shooting another Acolyte and pulling its pain as well, Izuku forced his will on the world around him, and thrust his arm forward, knife in hand.
The air in front of him shimmered in black and green light as a hole in space erupted into being. His knife sank into it and stabbed into the back of the wizard's neck, but he had to pull his hand out as the portal started closing. He growled. He needed to be stronger before that strategy could be viable.
He could hear the Wizard screaming obscenities (or the equivalent) at him, and smirked. Diving out from behind the shield as it faded away, he shot the Wizard in both of its shoulders, leaving the arms limp.
Walking up to the Wizard, he pulled it to the ground and stuck a knife to its throat. He growled at it as he checked around him for more enemies, but this room was now empty. As he looked around, the Wizard was screaming at him.
"Filthy Human! Death will come to you, as it does to us all, you small, puny creature! You will fall!"
Izuku roared as he slammed the Wizard's head into the floor, stopping its words. He growled at it, smirking. "You are not one to talk, SpellSlinger. You have failed in the eyes of reality by being weaker than your opponent. You are no longer fit to live."
Izuku took pleasure in the look of surprise, which was an odd expression on a Hive's face, at the taunt right before he stabbed it in the eyes, digging deep enough into it to tear apart its brain.
Now that everything around him was dead, he headed back to the portal that sat at the smaller end of the room. As he did so he gathered up all of the bodies of the hive and placed them in a pile. The Knights and Wizards took a while to drag over, due to their immense density, but he got them all piled up eventually.
Sitting down in front of the pile with a knife in one hand, he started to hum as he cut along his palm. Placing his bleeding hand on the pile of corpses, his humming slowly turned into chanting.
Through Strength comes power.
Through Power comes Victory.
And through Victory comes Strength.
Look upon my foes and find them vanquished
A blazing green fire sparked into existence inside the pile of corpses as Izuku chanted, unaware of his surroundings at this point, including the portal behind him.
I ask you to fill me with their strength, having earned that right by triumphing over them
Grant unto me the power of my enemies, who can no longer use it
Allow their death to fuel my life, and award me their power.
Through the sword, I grow ever stronger!
The green fire burned even brighter, encompassing the entire pile as the corpses started to disintegrate. As they did, the ashes started to coalesce into an orb above the pile. As the last of the ashes joined into the now apple-sized orb, it fused together in a brilliant flash of light, now a glowing green orb.
Izuku reached out to grab it, feeling the heat of the power in his hands and smiling. He stood up, his incantation now complete, and turned back to the portal. Then he jolted in surprise.
Standing just in front of the portal was the Vanguard and Eris, with various guardians filing in behind them slowly. Eris's eyes were firmly planted on the orb in his hands, while the guardians were sweeping the room. They seemed confused that there were no Hive in there.
Cayde's eyes finally reached the orb in Izuku's hand, which was slowly losing its green glow, the glow appearing in Izuku's eyes instead. His hand instinctively jerked towards his holster, but he was able to stop himself from drawing his Ace out.
Instead, as the last of the glow vanished from the orb held by Izuku, he took a slow step forward and raised his hands clearing his (robot) throat. "Uh, hey there Kiddo… Sorry to surprise you like this!"
Izuku just cocked his head to the side. While he was confused at why they were here, he wasn't upset at them. He had guessed that the aura that the various magic objects he had in his quarters would eventually lead to an investigation.
He said as much. "Calm yourself Cayde. I hold no anger towards you. Truly I expected an outcome like this to happen eventually. But I do have a few questions for you all."
Zavala, who had joined Cayde now that the room had been secured, coughed into his hand. "And we have some for you, Mr. Midoriya. How about we head back to the Tower so that we may speak in safety."
Izuku jolted as he realized that they were still in the Hellmouth and quickly nodded. "Agreed. I do not wish to spend longer than I need to in this place. Everyone! You may re-enter the portal and return to the Tower!"
A few guardians looked at each other before looking to Zavala for permission, who nodded. They shrugged and walked back through the portal with varying levels of confidence. Izuku was fairly certain he could even see one shivering.
As Izuku followed Cayde back into the portal, Eris walked up beside him. He looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "What can I do for you, Shattered One?"
Eris hummed. "During my time in the Hellmouth, I discovered a text written in a language I understood that explained in great detail the concept that fuels the Hive's strength. The tome called it "Sword Logic."
Izuku glanced at her quickly, recognizing the book she was talking about. It was one of the first that he wrote, and the one that he had lost. If Eris had it that meant he might be able to get it back.
"It spoke of gaining strength by defeating your foes. It spoke of forcing your will on reality through that strength. I believe you to be the author of this book and a practitioner of this logic. Am I correct, Unthinking One?"
Izuku chuckled softly at the title as they reached his living room, now alone with Eris and the Vanguard. "You are correct, Shattered One. No, Eris. You are correct Eris. I ventured down into the dark once again to gain strength, so that I may complete my plans."
He sat down on his couch and willed the portal to close. The vanguard looked around as the pressure of the Darkness lifted off of them, visibly relaxing. "I need to be stronger than I am to help my allies, and I need to be stronger than I am now to return to my home."
He clenched his fist and stared out the window at the city below him. "I've always wanted to be a Hero, did you know that? It's a common profession in my homeworld. So if I need to grow more powerful to protect people, I will, and nothing will stop me."
He bowed to the vanguard. "If the aura that fills my home when I activate my portal makes you uncomfortable or afraid when you come near, I can add a mechanism to my door to show when I am using it, so that you may avoid it. Is this acceptable?"
Zavala looked at Ikora with his eyebrow raised. Waving Cayde and Eris over, then had a brief discussion while huddling, before they seemed to reach an agreement. "We have reached a decision."
"As it has been shown that the Darkzone is an unfortunate side effect of your travels, and you need to travel to… 'gain strength', we agree to your request. We will send either Banshee or one of his assistants over to install the device."
Izuku just smiled at him and nodded. Zavala continued. "But please, keep the portals to a minimum while you know there are others around. We can only protect you from so much, there are many people who would try to hurt you if they knew what you could do."
Izuku nodded to them, and after a brief moment, the vanguard left, followed shortly by Eris, who bowed slightly to Izuku before leaving.
As Izuku closed and locked the door, he felt shifting around his neck.
He pulled at the collar of his battle outfit and allowed the worm-like creature to unwrap from around his neck. He walked back to the portal and adjusted the coordinates, re-opening it.
Holding his palms up, the worm slid down his sleeves and curled up on his hand. He smiled at it. "Did you enjoy your outing? You mentioned that it wasn't safe to reveal you to the guardians, but they are gone now."
The worm creature chuckled before shuddering, dropping to the floor and growing in size and shape, and before Izuku appeared an Awoken woman. Or at least, the image of one.
Riven chucked as she leaned against the portal. "Yes, I did, o' transporter mine. It has been too long since I have spent that much time outside of the Queen's city. I must thank you for the opportunity. The queen doesn't let me leave very often."
She laughed. "How fortunate for both of us that you stumbled across my abode! I will return home now. Rest yourself, child, and I shall see you at a later date, o' distraction mine."
Izuku bowed as Riven walked through the portal. "I will. Enjoy your time until then, my friend."
They didn't know it, but as Izuku closed the portal, they had the same thought;
'What an interesting creature'