Chapter IV

Midoriya froze, and the detonator became his main focus.

What kind of a crazy fool would blow up a building with themselves inside? Did Twice have a death wish? The League of Villains were insane, they craved nothing but chaos and destruction, but to die for the cause?

Midoriya's heart pounded inside his chest and his hands began to sweat inside his gloves. He felt an extreme anxiety, but he remained steadfast.

He gulped. He looked at the mirrors, and tried to decipher anything in the background to give him an ounce of a clue to which one was "real". But each image was narrow, and were all the same, with his mother tied and gagged. They offered nothing of distinction. Other than a brick wall in the background, there was nothing. And yet, the bricks were the small texture as the exterior, but so were all the other buildings in the area—so that didn't help him.

But she may not even be here, he wondered. And all this was a trick!

Midoriya even thought this could even be a trap to lure him to his demise? The hero who was the apprentice to All Might dying in a collapsed building would shock headlines all around the world and embolden villains.

But Midoirya couldn't let that happen, and especially not after everything, all the training, and mental toughness, he'd gone through to get here!

Get focused, Midoriya! You can do this!

"I quickly checked the top five floors, Midoriya, and I didn't find your mother," Hawks voice sounded from the communicator. Twice chuckled, listening in. He must have allowed Hawks to search, knowing she would not be found. Midoriya's anxiety increased. "So, you mother must be housed on the ground floor, if she's even here?"

"Hawks, sir, please, don't antagonize Twice," Midoriya responded. "He's holding the detonator, and he's playfully flicking it. If I don't choose a mirror, he'll flick the toggle. She's not with us here." It was a message to keep looking.

There was a period of silence on the line. "Okay, good luck," Hawks replied.

Twice waved the detonator and he appeared to smile underneath his mask. "Tick, tick, tick…hero…" he said mockingly. "Since I'm not going to get any money out of this venture, at the very least, I'm going to get some entertainment from it. The League is very strict. You can't even buy a pair of cigarettes without telling someone."

"That's a nasty habit," Midoriya said matter-of-flatly. "So, is this kidnapping sanctioned by the League?" Midoriya asked. "Are things so bad, they have to switch tactics?"

"Yeah, diabolical, huh? Money, money, money, makes the world go around. Time to pick, Izaku Midoriya." Twice looked hyper, wiggling his finger over the toggle. "Let's get this over with. I have a date at a club later this evening and I really have a chance with this beautiful blonde. She has a nice little quirk that's to die for. Know what I mean? Heh, heh, heh!"

Midoriya swallowed. He understood Twice's meaning for the most part.

"Deku!" Kacchan's voice came over gruffly. "I'll be your phone a friend. Look at each mirror closely. Do you see anything weird, or out of the ordinary?"

Deku examined each as closely as he could without making a provocative move. He had to make a choice, soon. But which one? And everyone looked the same.

"Think lamebrain! If one is real, then the others are—"

"Specular Reflection!" Deku said excitedly, with the snap of his fingers. "A mirror image reflected, duplicating the original object, but when reversed in the direction, perpendicular to the mirror surface, it shows a 'fake' image. Kacchan! Thank you!"

"Um, yeah, sure," Kacchan said unsure. "You're…welcome."

Twice jolted straight. "Well, well, well…" he said surprised. "I guess school does teach you something, nice critical thinking exercise. But it doesn't stop the lesson. Choose, hero!"

Midoriya knew what to look for now, and found it. The image of his mother was reversed in four of the mirrors, it was a very minute change. He noticed a necklace she was wearing with a charm on it, and it was worn the wrong way, reversed…the other four mirrors were 'correct'. Therefore, the real image was the reversed image, or rather, the one that looked "real".

He also recalled how much Twice emphasized to choose 'one' of the mirrors, and the first one was the correct image. Twice may have given up his hand without even knowing it.

Midoriya made his choice. He pointed. "That one, Number One," he said.

Twice gasped. "Really? You want that one? Is that your final guess?"

Midoriya questioned himself, but then said, "Yes!"

"Judges?" Twice asked to no one other than the "voices" or "people" in his own head. He then made an unpleasant sound to announce a wrong answer. "Oops, sorry," he said with a shift of his shoulders. "You chose—poorly. You missed one very vital clue. Looks like your friend was right, lamebrain; thanks for playing though."

"No! I made the right choice!" Midoriya panicked.

And suddenly, Midoriya realized his mistake. The concept of "Angled Mirroring", he thought. The concept brought two mirrors between 180 degrees and 90 degrees, hence reflecting the object twice! Therefore, the original object image can look much different from the others…that meant none of the mirrors were the right one! A No-Win Situation!

Oh god! No! Twice tricked me!

"MOM!"

Twice flicked the toggle.

The shattering of each mirror happened in what felt like slow motion, and the image inside was broken apart—blown apart! Every mirror exploded outwards from a central source within.

The detonator wasn't for the walls, after all. The walls in this location survived the explosion—Twice had been bluffing—but for the mirrors, and the image—the person they represented—was gone. Gone and cast asunder in a million different pieces.

"MOM!" he screamed.

Time than seemed to speed up as pieces of the glass flew towards Midoriya's direction. He instinctively covered his face with an arm, but the shards were like tiny needles, coming at him with super sonic speed, and they embedded themselves into his costume, some even found weak points, and pierced his skin. He seethed in pain, but he didn't move, letting the destruction happen all around him, listening. The sound was ear-deafening.

MOM!

As the sound of the glass began to cease, and the remaining pieces that had been jettisoned up and into the air began to fall to the ground like star dust, Midoriya lifted his arm from his face, and saw the carnage. The mirror frames had been blown apart and glass was everywhere.

Twice was gone, fleeing in the melee.

Midoriya collapsed to his knees, and his eyes began to fill with tears. Twice had killed his mother. The detonator had killed the image within the mirrors!

To be continued...