Chapter Nineteen:

This would not be as easy as I thought.

Thanks to the kidnapping of Izuku Midoriya, the supplies I got from Coil would all go towards my people. Not anyone else. I wouldn't have to sell them to other territories or settlements. I could just give all my supplies to the people of my territory. That much was settled. I could finally get in my people in my good graces again.

Despite that, I didn't have my people exactly singing my praises. They must still be freaked out about my supposedly threatening them. I could tell them, but I have to make sure the plan works first, then I'll let them do as they please after I tell them.

So why wouldn't be as easy as I thought?

Simply put, I didn't hate Izuku as much as I used to.

I wouldn't say I liked him. I just understood him better, which on the bright side, definitely makes it easier to deal with him when I'm giving him his food. But now, I was having some reservations over basically holding him for ransom.

I shouldn't think about it. Dinah is more important than some kid, I have to focus on her. The whole reason I'm doing this is for the people, and her.

I just had to deal with this for a few more hours, then we'll win.

We always win.

I already gave everyone their food for the hour. So now I just had to go back to the Izuku Midoriya.

But first, I found Sierra with my bugs. She was outside, tending to a child with a cut arm. "Hello, Sierra."

She jumped. "Oh! Jesus! You scared me so bad! I hate it when you speak through your bugs!"

"Sorry about that. everything going ok here?" I asked.

"Everyone has their food. They still seemed afraid, though."

I sighed. "I figured, well, I'm almost done. I just have to give one more food item to someone."

"Who is it?" She asked.

"It's kinda obvious."

Realization dawned on her face. "Oh. Ok."

"I'll be back in a few," I said.

I took food from the supply box and walked upstairs. I opened the door to my room and saw Izuku Midoriya, still wrapped up in silk. "Hello, Izuku."

Izuku glanced at me. "Hey, Skitter."

I walked over to him. "I got you a sandwich this time, with some chips."

"Thanks."

I opened the container to the food, took away the last container, and placed it on the silk next to his mouth. "Do you need for it to be closer?"

"No, this is fine."

"Ok…well…" I pointed to the door with both my hands. "I'm going to go." I turned to leave.

"Why did you become a villain?"

I turned back. "Ummmmmm…what?"

"You know what I mean. You're a villain with the personality, but with the in mind…Why didn't you just become a hero?"

I sighed. "You think I wanted this career?"

Izuku gave me a look. "What?"

"I wanted to be a hero."

Izuku's eyes widened. "Wh…what?"

"It's true. When I got my powers, all I wanted to do was be a hero. It just didn't turn out that way."

Izuku gave me the most confused look I've ever seen in my life. "But…you have a power…that was all you needed to become a hero."

"It was. But I didn't want to work on The Wards, for just another experience indistinguishable from high school."

Izuku titled his head. But he didn't interrupt me.

I continued. "So I became a vigilante. To save people. But I got mistaken for a villain."

Izuku looked like he had a light bulb light up in his head. "So you couldn't become a hero! Because they thought you were a villain! Well, I could try to help you!"

"No, it's not like that."

Izuku went back to being confused.

"They knew I was a hero. At least Armsmaster did. The only reason I joined The Undersiders was to be a mole for the heroes."

"Ok." Izuku nodded. Not judging me.

"But I learned something in my adventures. Not all heroes are good, and not all villains are bad."

Izuku nodded. Good, he wasn't fighting me on this.

"The Undersiders are more compassionate and emphatic than some of the 'heroes'. Like Shadow Stalker and Armsmaster."

"If that was true, they would've been heroes."

"It's not that simple," I said. "I don't know about Tattletale, but Grue became a supervillain to-" I stopped myself. If I decided to say his sister, would that be enough for the PRT to figure us out?

"What's wrong? Why can't you say it?"

"I can. He's doing it to protect someone, to get enough money for someone he cares about."

Izuku silently contemplated this. "But…if he needed money…Why didn't he just become a Ward? Or a sidekick for the Knights of Justice? Or a sidekick at any hero agency? Or-"

"I don't know why," I said. Ignoring the problem I had with him. Why didn't he do any of that? "But…it's still not that simple. My other teammate? Bitch?"

Izuku didn't understand.

"Hellhound."

"Wait, you guys call her Bitch? That's mean."

"She prefers that name to Hellhound," I said.

"Oh, ok."

"She accidentally maimed her abusive family when she manifested her powers. Being a hero isn't an option for her. She already broke the law."

Izuku grunted. "And Regent?"

"I can't say, but it's the same with him and Bitch. They already did crimes, thanks to their upbringing, They have no other option but to survive."

Izuku gave a stern look. "For a past hero, you're certainly ok with working with villains."

"As I said, not all villains are bad. Like not all heroes are good."

Izuku gave the only answer he was willing to. "Ok…I just think that…it must be hard to be a hero and having to work with villains."

"You heard what I just said, right?"

"I did, but villains, even if they're good, because of their career choice, are more willing to hurt people. How do you work with them? And how do you go from becoming a hero to becoming a villain? You still want to help people, don't you?"

"I do. I just think I can do more good as a villain."

Izuku gave the most flabbergasted look. One of pure befuddlement. I'd find it funny if it wasn't because of me. "But…how can you say that?"

"I took down the ABB with the other villains, not the heroes. I saved the city from the E88 with The Undersiders, not with the heroes."

"I heard about that!" Izuku said. "But the heroes were there too! Even though the media said the heroes were to blame. They always say that, though. They just want drama and soundbites."

"I agree," I said. "At most, you could blame them for taking Purity's children. But they were in an abusive relationship, so it's a little like blaming a student for defending themselves from a bully."

He snickered. "Yeah, what next? Punish a woman for using mace against a rapist?"

I laughed. "It's really stupid. But the point is we do good as villains. We're even protecting people and giving them supplies."

"The heroes are giving the same thing, though."

"We didn't know they do it so quickly."

"It probably happened because of the quicker time with this Endbringer attack."

"Maybe." I put one hand on my chin. "But the point is, we're still helping people."

"But…don't you think you do more good as a hero?"

"I don't think so. They're weighed down by P.R. and restrictions."

"So…are they too bad or too good?"

I didn't have an answer ready. "What I'm trying to say is…heroes have limitations, villains don't."

"You don't worry about hurting people?"

"I only hurt people who have it coming."

Izuku looked down for a few seconds. "I understand that. If someone hurt Kacchan or Uraraka, I'd have no problem taking them down."

That stung knowing that I hurt his friend. And that he nearly killed me in order to get justice for her.

Izuku must've realized what he said because his facial expression softened. "Oh! I don't mean you! I meant someone I wouldn't like! I just meant-"

"No, it's fine," I said. "I know what you meant."

"Really? Well, that's good. Sorry about almost threatening you. I'm really bad at social stuff."

What? He was? "Ummmmmm…"

"I'm assuming it's the same for you?"

"Why do you assume that?"

"Because you're the worst liar i ever met."

I narrowed my eyes. "Hey, I don't-"

"Don't worry. It's not an insult. It just means you respect the truth."

Really? Is that what he thought? I lied all the time. To my dad, to…

Actually, that was it.

I never felt good about lying, but I did it out of near necessity. If I respected the truth. I would've told my dad I was a cape.

"I'm not sure about that."

"It has to be! You're a villain with the personality of a hero!"

"Thanks, but I'm no hero. I'm just a girl forced to make some tough choices."

"Are you referring to terri…come to think of it…why did you scare your people?"

"It was an accident. I didn't mean to."

Izuku titled his head again. Then his eyes widened. "Oh! So you are bad at social stuff!"

I scratched the back of my head, then pointed at him. "You can't tell anyone."

"My lips are sealed." He said. "It's ok. I think people like us are better in the battlefield than at a party."

I snickered. "That's true. I do better with conflict and action. Words are for the weak."

He laughed. "I wouldn't say that. But I definitely do better fighting than I do talking. Which is ironic. Because I used to be afraid of fighting."

"Me too," I said. Why did I share that? I don't want him to know that…do I?

He seemed confused. "I wouldn't expect a villain to fear fighting."

"It was only on my first few days. I was ok after I fought Bakuda."

"It's like that with me, too. When the villains attacked the USJ, I learned you can't hesitate, no matter how afraid you are."

"Now we live for the battle."

"We have a strong desire to win."

I smiled behind my mask. It ceased rather quickly. "Do you think…people like us can have any positive relationship?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, we're better at fighting than talking. Can we have people liking us without being-"

"Of course!" He said. "I have friends, you have friends. We just need to find people like us!"

That makes sense. If we were to find people who like us for who we are. That would be all I needed…all we needed. But I wasn't sure anyone on my team was actually like me. The closest would be Grue and Tattletale. But Grue is probably still angry about the whole hero business I was a part of. And Tattletale…Actually…I never learned why she tried so hard with me…I'll have to ask her. But my relationship might be strained with her, depending on that. I doubt it, though. Considering Tattletale was probably the Undersider I liked the most.

Maybe…

"What's your favorite hero?"

We both asked the question at the same time.

"Ummmm…" I said. "Why are you asking me that?"

"Why are you asking me that?" Izuku said.

"Uhhhh…never mind…So what's your favorite hero?"

"Uhhhh, All Might! Duh!" He chuckled.

"Really? I thought you only used him to become popular…"

"You know that was a lie!" He smiled. "All Might is the best hero out there!"

"He's not better than Alexandria."

"Are you kidding me!?" He almost seemed offended for real. "All Might saved more people, defeated more villains, and he's way faster and stronger!"

"Uhhhhh, Alexandria can lift a million tons." I hoped I didn't sound as geeky as I felt.

"That's a myth! It's never been confirmed!"

"Alexandria can break an into an Endbringer skin a hair deep. You could ONLY do that if you were that strong."

"Well, All Might at his strongest could launch an Endbringer into space."

"We're not talking about Endbringer at his strongest." I stopped myself. "This is probably really weird to hear."

"It is," He agreed. "But I like it. It's cute."

Was he making fun of me? I tried to suppress my feelings after he said that. But after he said that, he looked away. Was he embarrassed?

"Ummm…Are you still a fan of heroes?" He asked.

"Not all of them." I said. "I think most of them are just people. Which means they can be as bad as us. But I like Miss Militia, Triumph, and Alexandria."

"Not a fan of Legend?"

"He kinda forced me to make a decision when I learned a hero's identity. He even said he would make it for me If I didn't answer fast enough."

"Oh…" Izuku looked down, mouth agape. "Well…Maybe he had a good reason?"

"It would help if you didn't defend people who hurt me."

Izuku looked apologetic. "Sorry. I just don't want to believe Legend would be bad."

"Heroes are people. Even if they're good, they can be capable of being bad, afraid, angry."

Izuku sighed. "You're right. I still like heroes, though. Sorry about that."

I didn't have a reaction. I felt it was…charming…naïve…but I was ok with it. It wasn't like he wasn't aware of how bad heroes could be…

Right?

Are you aware bad heroes could be."

"I guess," Izuku said. It seemed honest. "It's not like you're saying all heroes are bad like I thought you were saying before."

What? He thought I said that?

"No, I never said that, I still like Alexandria." I said. "But you know something stupid? I never met her, but I still want to believe she's good because I idolized her in the past…"

"I don't think there's anything wrong with that. You still want to have faith in people. There's nothing wrong with that. No one wants to believe people are bad, they just believe that because they're disappointed. I'm ok with you thinking that. I won't judge you anymore."

That one resonated with me. It was exactly what I was thinking. Something about what he said made me agree with him.

He wasn't as plain looking as I thought.

Author Notes: Next chapter out! I hope you enjoy it. You can probably guess which path I'm taking with it. Things are going to go bad soon enough, trust me.

I'm going to upload the first chapter of my superhero parody Web Novel soon. Who knows? maybe I'll cross it over with Worm.

Next Chapter is Shigaraki's. I'm going to work on the prose for it. It'll go out on time though.

That's all I had to say. This is Super Ultimate One, sighing out. Peace!