Shota Aizawa started at the shapeshifter through the one-way mirror. He seemed almost jovial, leaning back in his chair with one arm stretched behind his back, eagerly wolfing down the burgers he'd been provided as dinner. All Might, in his less than super-form, stood next to him, watching the prisoner intensely.
"His appetite is unrelenting for someone so skinny, isn't it?" Aizawa noted.
"It's probably related to his perk. I'd imagine changing your body like he does must consume a lot of calories."
"Perhaps we could cut back on his meals, use that as leverage to get him to talk to us."
"Aizawa, we're not going to starve him into submission. What did you hear from the rest of your students?"
"They definitely noticed something wasn't up with him. Uraraka said he had injected himself with a black vial of liquid earlier. I searched Midoriya's room, and while I couldn't find any sign of our missing student, we found these."
Aizawa motioned to a small metal box, flipping open the lid to reveal a dozen black syringes, minus one, all used
"What are they?" Yagi asked, raising an eyebrow.
"The lab results were inconclusive. From the best we can tell, it seems to be some sort of medicine, meant to counteract a slow-acting poison or toxic, but we can't be sure."
"That at least explains the kid's motives. He's not some villain, he's being threatened into this. Look at him. Those scars show us he hasn't been well-treated, wherever he's from. He must have been poisoned by whoever's controlling him and is being coerced into serving them in exchange for these vials."
"You always do see the best side of people, don't you?"
"Do you disagree, Aizawa?"
"I've no doubt whoever's controlling the shapeshifter is using the toxins to ensure his loyalty. The scars could be construed towards the narrative of the poor little victim, but I don't see it. The behaviour he's displayed since his arrival has been nothing short of villainous, and he's attempted to use those teeth of his to bite off the fingers of anyone who gets close to him. The scars could just as easily be self-inflicted, given his unstable mental health, or a result of violent fighting, given his aggressive nature. Given the evidence, this isn't just a kid going down the wrong path, this is a villain with the potential to do a lot of harm."
"Is there a difference?" All Might asked. "Every student in UA has the potential to do serious harm if they end up on the wrong path. What makes him different?"
"The only difference between any of us and the worst villains imaginable are the choices we make. In my eyes, he made his choice," Aizawa said simply. "We're going to need to begin interrogating him again. Let me handle it, alright?"
"Aizawa, you know I would do anything to protect Izuku. Anything," Toshinori Yagi responded. "But I'm going to protect all children, that kid included."
"Don't worry, I'm a hero just like you. I won't actually cause any harm to the boy," Aizawa says. "Just trust me, Toshinori."
"Let me talk to him first. To try to connect with him."
"You have five minutes."
"That's all I'll need."
The two moved through the door, greeted with the smile of a great-white, as the scarred teen revealed a mouthful of sharpened teeth.
"Hello there, boys! I just polished off the burgers, and I was wondering if you can get me a bit more grub, eh?"
Aizawa stared at the teen for a moment, his sharpened teeth reverting to normalcy.
"God, you heroes are so boring! You can't even let me have a little bit of fun."
"Listen to me, kid. I know you're scared. I know you've been through a lot. But I want to help you. My name is Toshinori Yagi, but you probably know me better as All Might."
"Oh, I know who you are, All Might. I gotta say, you're looking worse for wear, eh?"
"I can't say you look too good either, kid. What happened to you?"
"Oh, these?" the kid asked, gesturing at the scars that covered his body. "I must've slept on it funny, I suppose."
The prisoner laughed for a moment, before pointing to the burger wrappers left on the table.
"So what's going on with my burgers? Am I getting more of them?"
"I know what it's like to wear a face other than my own, you know," Yagi said. "It must be hard for you to have to…"
"Oh, stick it up your ass, super. Let's cut through the meat of all this, yeah? That kid of yours, Midoriya? I don't know how he's related to you, whether he's your kid or your prodigy or your goddamn lover, you ain't ever going to see him again!" the young boy laughed. "They're gong to cut
"Oh goddammit, stop trying to analyse me, you clown! You think I'm going to dance to your fucking tune like the rest of the world? You're just some prick with a saviour complex and the good luck to be born with whatever the hell power you have!"
Yagi sighed, shaking his head slowly in disappointment.
"I want to help you. I really do."
"Go get me another few burgers than, old man. And while you're at it, why don't you show your real face to the rest of the world. Or is the symbol of peace such a coward that he can't even do that?"
"This isn't working. We're running out of time," Aizawa said. "Leave this to me."
"He's just scared, Aizawa! He doesn't mean what he's saying!"
"Oh, you think I'm scared? Let me tell you, you don't know the meaning of fear. You want to know who's scared? That little moron of yours, now he's scared. But not as scared as he should be, not as scared as if he really knew how much of a hell that place really was."
"What place is that?" Yagi asked.
"You really want to know?" the boy asked, before leaning in as his voice dropped to a whisper. "You really want to learn the horror of where Izuku Midoriya is?"
The boy paused for a moment, eyes scanning the room.
"He's… tied up and stuck in between your mom's big fat ass, you super-clown!"
The boy burst into hysterical laughter again, as Aizawa sighed.
"Out of the way," Aizawa said, pushing All-Might aside to stare into the boy's eyes. "Now we're going to play it my way."
"Oh, I'm quaking in my boots, cowboy!" the boy smiled. "What the fuck are you going to do? You're heroes! You can't torture me, and even if you could, you think I'd break? Trust me, I've been through torture you sacks of shit can't even imagine!"
Aizawa wordless brought up the metal case, unclasping it as he put it onto the table. The top swung open, revealing the syringes of black ichor.
"What's that?" the boy asked, the humour in his voice vanishing for a moment.
"We both know what this is. This is the only thing keeping the toxin in your blood from killing you, isn't it? Now, if you don't start answering questions, you're not going to get even a drop of what's in these syringes."
The boy's eyes widened for a moment, before his cocky smirk returned.
"You're bluffing. Even if you weren't, you'll give them to me eventually. You two won't just sit and watch me die in here. Hell, you bastards can't go two seconds without tooting your own horn to talk about how heroic you are."
"From what Ochaco Uraraka said, you needed it this morning. Assuming you arrived here recently, and you would've taken a syringe at the last moment before arriving in order to not have to smuggle in as many syringes, it's not going to be long before you need another hit. If I had to guess, you must have to take these every twelve hours, correct?"
The smile slid off the boy's face, confirming Aizawa's guess. Aizawa pulled a syringe out of the container, admiring it in his hands.
"You won't be able to stand watching me suffer in here," the boy repeated. "You'll break before I will. I guaran-fucking-tee it."
"You're right. Eventually, one of the other teachers would force me to give it to you. So let's ensure that's not an option."
Aizawa dropped the syringe, as the boys eyes widened, frantically grabbing for the syringe, only to miss by inches.
"Aizawa!" All Might shouted, as the syringe smashed against the ground, black liquid spilling onto the floor.
"Fucking bastard!" the boy growled, staring at the black liquid pooling onto the ground.
"It's a strange looking liquid, isn't it? Almost seems to absorb the light. Are you going to tell me what they are, exactly, or do I need to break another?"
"You're bluffing," the boy said. "You might break one, sure, but that's only twelve hours. You wouldn't…"
Aizawa grabbed another syringe, flinging it against the wall without a hint of emotion as it smashed open.
"Toshinori, either sit down and be quiet or leave the room," Aizawa said. "I'm handling this. Trust me."
All Might stared at Eraserhead for a moment. Aizawa was demanding, aggressive and cold, but he was one of the best heroes in the world.
"I trust you," he said.
"Good. Now, let's continue, shall we? What's in the vials?"
"You won't break me, dammit!" the shapeshifter yelled.
A loud smash sounded through the room as another syringe was smashed. The boy's eyes were fixed on the remaining eight, his breathing heavy. Slowly, Aizawa slid another syringe out of the box, holding it out in front of the teen as his bandages flew forward, tying the child's legs to the chair. The shapeshifter struggled against his bindings, his body shifting and shaping as he attempted to shapeshift his legs free, but with no success.
"Let me go, god… NO!"
Another vial was smashed against the wall, as Aizawa looked down at him.
"That leaves seven. Eighty four hours. Doesn't seem like a lot when you put it like that, does it?"
"I… I know what this is," the boy said. "You've figured it out, haven't you? You know how to reproduce that stuff, there's gotta be like fifty crates of it in the other room, isn't there?!"
"Come on, now. You're a smart boy. You know if we could recreate it, I wouldn't be wasting time asking you what was in it. But more than that, if your master thought there was any chance we could recreate this, he'd have infused your blood with a more complicated toxin, wouldn't he?"
The boy stared back wordlessly, head shaking with anger. He gritted his teeth shut, before Aizawa shattered another vial.
"Six left."
"You don't know what that's going to do to me! Seriously, you can't do this to me. The pain… it burns the blood, tears the flesh… it's unbearable! You can't put me through that!"
"Then you better start talking," Aizawa said, smashing another vial.
"How the fuck can you do this to me?! You're heroes! You're just a bunch of liars! You're as bad as the villains you fight!"
Aizawa chuckled, flashing a rare smile at his prisoner, although it's a smile dripping with cruelty.
"Our little golden boy might be a hero. I've never been a big fan of labels, really," Aizawa said. "I'm whatever I need to be. Really, as long as I'm not directly hurting you, I'm keeping to my vows. All I'm doing is not protecting you from the harm your master caused you."
Aizawa smashed another vial between his fingers without a hint of emotion on his face.
"Four left. Only two days. You better start giving me answers."
"Fuck you! When I get out of here, you're going to regret this! I'm going to inject you with the same stuff as me, and I'm going to watch it fucking consume you! YOU HEAR ME?! FUCKING CONSUME YOU!"
Another vial smashed against the floor, as the prisoner became frantic.
"That won't be the end of it! No, then I'm going to steal your goddamn face! I hope you don't have anyone you care about, because if you do, they're going to suffer! I'm going to strip the skin off them bit by bit, all while wearing your face. Their last moments on this earth will be thinking you're the one causing them such agony!"
"Answers," Aizawa repeated, chucking a vial into the air, before catching it.
"I'm going to tear your whole class limb from limb, as they cry about how their awful teacher betrayed them!"
Another vial smashed against the ground.
"Two left."
"I'll make you pay! Both of you! I'm going to steal that trademark smile of yours, All Might, and I'm going to ruin it. Imagine how the world will react when their precious paragon starts murdering, stealing and torturing! The world will watch as you destroy it, and inspire a wave of terror and anguish like nothing you've ever seen! Do you hear me!?"
The kid moved frantically against his bindings, his veins beginning to turn from blue to black, standing in stark contrast to his pale skin. Aizawa lifted up the penultimate syringe, balancing it precariously on the end of his finger.
"That toxin's effect seems to be starting. I'd talk quickly if I was you!"
"I'll never talk!"
"Oh well," Aizawa shrugged, grabbing the second vial. "If that's the case, I'm wasting my time. Perhaps we'd be better suited to investigating through other means. Let's go, All Might."
"Yeah, now give me one of those vials… please. I need it," the boy begged, voice quivering.
"Oh, the vials? I already told you, you'd only have gotten those if you talked to us. Since you won't talk, you're useless to us. Might as well leave you die in here, one less threat to peace and justice."
Aizawa threw the two remaining vials into the air, stepping back as they plunged towards the hard floor.