Heyyo everyone, I hope you all had a great Christmas! Or whatever holiday you celebrate! I know I did, though I wish it could have snowed a bit. DAMN YOU GLOBAL WARMING!
Also, if you haven't already, check out my brand-new profile page to check out the basics of some of my other fics, as well as some ideas I have for future fics. I would love to hear everyone's feedback on my ideas, as well as see which ones you are most excited to read.
Anyway, I'm going to answer some reviews, then we can get into the good stuff.
Hankflamion18: Sorry for the confusion, it will be eventual Villain-Izuku. For now, and the next chapter or so he will be conflicted but, in the end, he will turn to Villainy *Spoiler Alert*.
Abyssal phantom: Thank you for the comments! I have only one concern. What do you mean you've read my other MHA fics? I think you have me confused with someone else, cuz this will be my first, though I do have ideas for future fics…wait… are you from the future? Do I write more MHA fics in the future and that's what you meant? Woah, that's cool.
Please Enjoy!
Chapter 2: What is a Hero?
It had been two days since that nice man visited his home and gave Izuku a quirk. Two days filled with apprehension and no slight fear of betrayal.
He still hadn't told his mother the truth about that ordeal, not wanting to raise her hopes in case it was just a con.
Izuku was slightly disappointed that it hadn't revealed itself over the weekend, as he had wanted to show Katsuki that he wasn't his punching bag anymore, but alas, he was still quirkless as of Monday.
So, when he walked into class that morning, he was still scared of how everyone would treat him. And, just as he thought, every single person gave him the stink-eye when he opened the sliding door.
Taking his seat, he waited patiently for the teacher to arrive, taking the initiative to ignore everyone else, especially Bakugo.
"Hello everyone, hope your weekend went well. So, I have some sheets to fill out to find out what career will best suit you…" suddenly, he threw up the papers. "…but who cares! I already know you all want to be heroes!"
"Yeah!" the students replied enthusiastically.
"Hey, teach, don't group me up with these wannabe's. I'm the only one here with the power to be a real hero. These guys won't even be good sidekicks to someone like me." a boy with blonde spiky hair commented arrogantly.
Katsuki Bakugo!
Quirk: Explosion!
Able to secret nitroglycerine-like liquid from his sweat glands that he can ignite to create powerful explosions.
Katsuki Bakugo was a cruel, arrogant boy who only cared about himself, choosing to put others down whenever he could, even if they were stronger than him.
"Ah yes, Bakugo, you'll be applying to U.A. High School, right?"
"Yeah! I'm the only one at this dumb school who could get into that school. But that's just the first step! Then, I will become the richest hero ever, surpassing even All-Might in popularity! And it all starts at U.A. High!"
"Right, oh, Midoriya, you want to go to U.A. too, correct?" the teacher smirked as he looked to the only quirkless student in the school, in the whole city actually.
"What the hell does that have to do with anything? Is he seriously bringing me into this just to cause conflict?" "Uhm, yeah, I guess."
Suddenly, his desk was obscured by an explosion that knocked him out of his seat.
"What the hell are you thinking, Deku! You couldn't even survive the entrance exams, let alone being a hero! You think you could compete with the likes of me when you don't even have a quirk?!" Bakugo yelled, causing the teacher to turn around and start writing the lesson on the board, ignoring the blatant bullying.
"Well, I may not have a quirk…" "Yet" "…but I did beat you in grades, so maybe I could be a hero with my brain?" Izuku realized too late that he had said the exact wrong thing at the worst moment.
"You damned nerd! I'll teach you what happens when you look down on me!" with that, Bakugo shot forward, intent on blowing the meek boy out the window.
Seeing the anger on his tormenter's face, Izuku could only throw his arms up to block, knowing he was too slow to dodge.
In the next instant, he was covered in fire and smoke, obscuring him from view. Though, everyone did take notice of the still-intact glass behind him.
Everyone waited with baited breath as they stared intently at the smoke, not even blinking as they waited for something to happen.
When the smoke cleared, there stood a heavily singed Izuku with soot all over his body, standing exactly where he was a moment ago, as if there were no punch to the blonde's explosion.
The weirdest thing though, was not the lack of force behind the explosion, but the light show spreading across Izuku's skin, as if there were gold glowstick juice in his veins.
Looking down at his hands, Izuku could only gawk at the power he now felt, as if he now had Katsuki's power. It felt amazing! Intoxicating even! Pure concussive force coursed through his veins as he witnessed unadulterated shock cross Bakugo's face.
"Wha- what the hell's going on you quirkless bastard!?"
The teacher looked on in bewilderment now, having dropped his chalk in favor of staring at the events occurring.
"My quirk! I have a quirk!" Izuku yelled out, completely forgetting the situation he was in just a second ago.
This only caused Katsuki to get even angrier, as shown by the tiny explosions going off on his palms.
"No, this isn't possible." The blonde muttered to himself in denial, completely dismissing any possibility of his victim ever acquiring a quirk. "You damn nerd!"
Shooting forwards again, Katsuki threw his hands out in an attempt to create an explosion more dangerous than the last.
If Izuku was sober and rational, he might have tried to use his new power to counteract the arrogant blonde. Alas, in his power induced intoxication, all he wanted to do was try and absorb more, to get more power.
Drawing on the power inside of him, Izuku started to absorb the concussive force of the explosion before he suddenly stopped, his entire body shaking like a leaf.
Izuku was forced to make a split-second decision, lest he be blown back out of the building. And that was to release all of his pent-up power in an effort to counter his bully's attack.
The world seemed to slow to a crawl as these two students, once friends, clashed with their own powers. One with a power he's refined for years, the other going off of base instinct.
To the blonde, it seemed like after years of hiding his quirk, Izuku was finally showing his true colors. Finally choosing to show up the reigning champ to take his place among the elites.
"I'll show him where his place is: IN THE FUCKING DIRT!"
"Time to finally fight back. FUCK YOU BAKUGO!"
Time sped up again with a deafening explosion as students were thrown about the room. Glass shattered as two students in particular were tossed through opposing windows.
"Shit shit shit shit, what do I do?!" Izuku screamed in his mind as he approached the ground with increasing speed. "Ok, calm down. Just use your quirk, Izuku. Just gotta absorb the force from my back and slide to safety."
Thinking quickly, Izuku pulled on the power from before, and not a second too soon as his back hit the concrete with the force of getting hit with a car.
Due to his inexperience with…well, any quirk, he was unable to absorb the entirety of the impact, causing him to bounce and slide for quite a while.
If he wasn't unconscious, he would probably be in immense pain right now. And that is how the teachers found him, passed out with blood leaking from the back of his head.
Later
Izuku opened his eyes to see his entire vision was blurry. Though, even without his sight, he could tell he wasn't in a place he recognized.
"Ah, I see you're awake. Good, your mother has been worried sick."
He looked up to see a doctor with dark brown hair that was spiked up on the top and short on the sides. He wore black metal-frame glasses and a red dress shirt under his medical coat.
"You don't have any lasting injuries, but you suffered a concussion and your arms were a bit damaged from your quirk. We had one of our resident healers fix you up, but you should take it easy for a couple of days until we're sure you don't have any brain damage. Quirks may be amazing, but the brain is still one of the most complicating things to heal." With that, the doctor started to leave before looking back from the door. "Also, you should refrain from using your new quirk in public places unless specifically advised to, like during training. You aren't in trouble, seeing as how many people testified that you were just acting in self-defense against Mr. Bakugo, but this is still a warning."
"Thank you, and I will be more careful from now on." Hearing his declaration, the doctor smiled and left.
Finally being alone, Izuku stared at his slightly bandaged hands in amazement. He was able to go toe-to-toe with Katsuki Bakugo, the strongest of their class, after just awakening his quirk.
AND his classmates and teacher had testified for him! They had never done that before…
Izuku clenched his hands into fists and grit his teeth in anger.
The only reason they stood up for him was because he had a quirk now; and a strong one at that. If he were still quirkless, he had no doubt that they wouldn't have said a peep.
Letting go of his anger for now, Izuku smiled a wide smile as his mother came rushing into the room with tears in her eyes.
"Oh Izuku! I was so worried when they called me and told me you were taken to the hospital. You got into a fight with Katsuki?!" Izuku flinched at that, having never told her about his bullying. "I am so proud of you!"
Izuku looked up surprised as his mother hugged him with a large smile on her face.
"Wha- you're not mad?" Izuku asked hesitantly.
"Of course, I'm mad! You fought with your friend and destroyed most of a classroom!" she paused as she took a deep breathe. "But you finally stood up for yourself. You awakened your quirk! As mad as I am, I can't help but be overwhelmed with pride that you could grow so much in such a short time, my little superhero."
"Stand up for myself? Wait…!" "Wait, you knew!" Izuku exclaimed in surprise.
"Yeah, I knew Katsuki was a bully. I knew that he was a crude young man with no sense of respect, but you never complained, so I thought it wasn't that bad. I'm so sorry that I didn't notice earlier. I should have done something when I realized he was so arrogant. I'm sorry, Izu. But look at you now! You're so strong already, and I couldn't be prouder."
Izuku could feel the tears starting to build up in his eyes, like a dam, straining to burst out. It was times like these that he was reminded just how much he loved his mom.
"Ok, I'm going to go get some food, as I know you didn't get dinner last night. So, what do you want from the cafeteria?" Inko asked as she wiped her eyes clear.
"Anything's fine, mom. Thank you." Izuku smiled as he kept himself from crying.
Once she was gone, the middle schooler spotted his backpack at the foot of his bed. He grabbed it and searched inside until he found what he was looking for.
It was his hero notebook. A blank one that he had saved for when he got his quirk so that he could put down everything about his hero costume, quirk, name and fighting style. He had the whole thing organized, with 5 pages for his costume design (in case he wanted to change it; 20 pages for his quirk and any special applications he could do with it; 20 pages for a fighting style, which would probably be based around countering until he built up enough force to use his quirk effectively; and 2 pages near the front for name ideas. The rest of the pages were just miscellaneous, in case he needed extra space for any section.
Flipping to the first quirk page, he looked up to the top to see "Quirk Name:" in the center, with a line under it for the actual name.
He thought for a few seconds before a name came to him in a flash.
Smiling, Izuku quickly wrote down the name of his quirk. The power he had waited his entire life and endured years of abuse, both physical and mental, for.
His quirk…
…
…Rebound!
Next Day
Izuku was sitting at home, writing down all of his ideas for his new quirk with a big smile on his face.
He had already come up with two hero costumes, though he was sure that he could do better. He had two pages filled up with everything he could imagine using his quirk for: building up energy in his legs to jump really high (the landing would also give him enough force to jump again), redirecting himself in midair with small pulses of force, maybe even creating small tremors in the earth.
Izuku also started to think of how he would train. He would obviously need to up his energy capacity, something he had found the limit to in his fight with Katsuki. He also needed to get better at absorbing and distributing energy from obscure places, like his back, instead of just his hands.
While he was thinking of training, his thoughts went straight to the business card he had posted on his bulletin board, the one from Mr. Shigaraki.
"Well, he hasn't been wrong before. He was the one who gave me a chance. I still need to thank him." Izuku thought as he grabbed the card and went to the phone.
"Hello?" a voice asked after a couple of seconds of ringing.
"Hi, Mr. Shigaraki? This is Izuku Midoriya." Izuku greeted, slightly shaking from nervousness.
"Ah, Midoriya! How are things? Did your quirk manifest yet?" the voice responded, their tone brightening in an instant.
"It did. It's just as you said: Kinetic Energy Manipulation. I decided to name it Rebound, seeing as how I can store the Kinetic Energy of anything I touch and redistribute it." Izuku answered excitedly, mirroring Shigaraki's tone.
"Nice! Well, if you're ready, we can schedule your first training session with my friend at your earliest convenience." Shigaraki commented, sounding like he was shuffling through some papers.
"That would be great. How about tomorrow? I don't have school because my classroom kind of exploded when my quirk manifested." Izuku rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment at admitting that.
"Haha, that's fine. I will come and pick you up at around 8 am. Is that ok with you?"
"Yes! That would be great, thank you!" Izuku proclaimed, surprised that he was able to start training almost immediately.
"Ok, I'll see you tomorrow. Have a nice afternoon, Midoriya." With that said, Shigaraki hung up to presumably schedule their session.
Izuku put down the phone, speechless at the man's generosity. He had to go tell his mom, she would want to know where he would be.
Later
Izuku spent the rest of the day writing down any and all ideas he had on both training and quirk applications.
He couldn't even get to sleep due to his excitement for the next day. But when he finally did, he was overwhelmed with dreams of him in a badass costume, fighting dozens of villains single-handedly.
Izuku woke up incredibly early, and, with a large grin, he hopped in the shower with his outfit hanging on the door. He was blasting music through his portable speaker, having his Pandora on shuffle as he showered.
He was in the middle of rinsing his hair when one of his favorite songs came on, causing him to smile and start to rock his head back and forth.
[Bad Wolves- Zombie] (Do not own)
When he got out of his shower, he got dressed in some basic workout clothes before hearing his mother calling from the kitchen.
Walking in, Izuku was surprised that his mother made him a full-course breakfast, including eggs, bacon, toast, sausage, and even a breakfast smoothie.
"I figured, since you were going to be starting your training today, you would need all of the energy you could get. Also, the smoothie is supposed to help with muscle recovery and endurance." Inko explained as her son sat down and started to fill his plate.
"Thank you, mom. I really appreciate it. He said he would come and get me around 8, so we have about an hour to hang out and chill before he gets here." Izuku replied before stuffing his face.
An hour passed by quickly as Izuku and his mother just watched TV and talked. He knew that he had the best mom in the world. She would do anything and everything in her power to make sure he was happy. So, Izuku promised himself that he would dedicate his entire life to paying her back.
When they heard a knock on the door at exactly 8 am, Izuku knew that it was time.
With a quick hug with his mother, Izuku went and opened the door to greet the same man who had given him his power.
"Ah, I see you're already prepared for training. Well, let's not waste any time. Thank you, Mrs. Midoriya, I will have him back by dinner and I promise I will take good care of your son." Shigaraki greeted before reassuring the mother.
"Thank you, Mr. Shigaraki. Have fun Izuku and be safe!" she replied as they walked out with a wave.
As they got into the car, Shigaraki decided to break the silence.
"So, have you thought about what you want to work on first?" he asked.
"Actually, yes. I have my own notebook on what I want to work on." He replied, surprising the man with his preparedness. "I think we should work on my base physical attributes first. If we build up my base strength and endurance, then I can output more force without putting damage on myself." Izuku explained, starting to mutter near the end on how much his base attributes would help his quirk.
"Ok, that's fine. We can do some workouts at a local beach to up your base stats for a couple of hours, eat lunch, then we can work on your quirk with my colleague. That way, you can raise your base strength without losing time on your quirk." Shigaraki planned as they made a turn towards the beach.
"Oh, that would be great. Thank you." Izuku responded as he took out his notebook.
Once they reached the beach, Izuku realized why Shigaraki chose this place to work out. It was filled with piles upon piles of trash.
There were cinderblocks, refrigerators, and even rusted car frames. Why would people take the time to dump their car here?
"This is a perfect place to work out. You can drag all of the trash into a truck, which we can then dispose of properly once its full. This will work on your strength and stamina better than any workout I know of." Shigaraki smiled as he looked at all the heavy things his student would have to drag.
Without even one complaint, Izuku got straight to work, surprising his trainer at his eagerness.
Izuku eventually found a rhythm of dragging something a short distance, taking a deep breathe, releasing, then dragging some more.
Shigaraki called a while ago to have a truck delivered and when it finally arrived, Izuku slightly gaped at how far he would have to lift everything just to get it into the back, though, setting a determined look on his face, he started to get to work on lifting what he had already moved into the truck.
A couple of hours passed of this, until eventually Shigaraki called him back for lunch.
Completely exhausted, Izuku could only throw himself into the car as the man drove them to where they would be eating.
When they arrived, Izuku was slightly shocked to see what looked like an abandoned warehouse.
"This is where you will be training your quirk. We don't have a real quirk-oriented training facility, so you will train here where you can go all out without having to worry about breaking anything. Also, I took the liberty of preparing a large lunch beforehand, which we will eat here before we start on your quirk training." Shigaraki explained, seeing Izuku's slightly skeptical look.
"Alright." The boy replied nervously.
As they walked in, Izuku was surprised to see that it wasn't as dirty as he thought it would be. There was also a large table set up with a white tablecloth covering the wood.
On the table, there was tons of food, all meant to boost how much work he could do before getting tired.
What drew his attention most of all, however, was the man standing at the table with what looked like a full-on tuxedo, without the coat. Well, he assumed it was a man. He couldn't be too sure, seeing as how his entire body was made up of some black mist.
"Hello, you must be Izuku Midoriya. Shigaraki here has told me much about you." The mist-man greeted with his…hand?... extended to shake his. "My name is Kurogiri, and I will be the one preparing your meals and healing you should the need arise."
"Oh, so you're not the one who will be training me on my quirk?" Izuku asked as he shook the man's hand, surprised to find that it was actually solid.
"No, actually, that would be me." a voice called out from a TV on the other side of the table.
"I'm sorry?" Now Izuku was really confused.
"I understand your confusion, but I assure you that despite my lack of physical presence, I will still be able to help you with your quirk, seeing as how I have one similar to your own." The voice explained, dashing Izuku's worries.
"Ok, go ahead and start eating before we get to work." Kurogiri stated as he put his napkin in his lap in a posh manner.
After they were done eating, the man in the TV started instructing Izuku on multiple techniques that would help further develop and evolve his quirk, including absorbing as much kinetic energy as possible without releasing it, amplifying a small amount of energy into something bigger, and even absorbing energy from unordinary areas, like the nape of his neck and his ears, increasing his control at an alarming rate.
Once they were done for the day, Izuku couldn't help but wonder how similar his and the man in the TV's quirks were. The way he spoke about the feeling he got when his power activated was exactly what Izuku felt. It was almost as if the man had used the exact same quirk that Izuku now possessed.
…
Nah, passing along quirks wasn't possible, everyone knew that.
Anyway, as time went on, Izuku gained quite a bit of muscle and had even become exceptionally skilled when using his quirk.
He even got the entire beach of Dagobah cleaned with a few months to spare before the U.A. exams. This gave him even more time to work on developing his fighting style as well as think up a costume idea.
Shigaraki's group even helped with his costume ideas, including using fireproof, anti-conductive, and armored threads for the parts of his costume that wasn't using actual armor, like his gloves.
All in all, things were going great. So, as said by a very wise man:
"Life is an endless series of train-wrecks with only brief, commercial-like breaks of happiness."
Deadpool (2016)
Now, it was time to get back to out regularly scheduled program.
…
…
Fire. Everywhere you looked, fire.
Izuku was on his way back home from his training session with Shigaraki and the gang when it all happened.
Apparently, a villain had attacked downtown with the intention of drawing out All-Might.
She was an above average villain with a powerful quirk called Tremor. With this, she was able to cause earthquakes of various magnitudes in a localized area.
The heroes arrived too late to save the various buildings the villain had already decimated into oblivion, as well as the multitude of civilians in those buildings.
Izuku wasn't too worried about it, personally, seeing as how his house was uptown and so was his mother's work.
So, when he saw a voicemail from his mother on his phone, he assumed it was just her making sure he was safe.
Deciding to listen to it later, Izuku put the phone in his pocket before continuing his walk home.
Once he arrived, he instantly noticed the lack of life in the building. "That's strange, usually mom makes it her mission to never stay late at work. Eh, that's probably what her voicemail was about."
Shrugging it off, Izuku quickly got to work on preparing some dinner. Thankfully, they still had some leftovers from the night before, so he just reheated that.
As he sat down with his food, Izuku turned on the TV to check out any updates on the villain attack. Even if he wasn't as gung-hoe about heroes and villains, he still found enjoyment in watching how others used their quirks and how much thought they put into their styles.
After only a minute of eating and watching, Izuku saw something that made him freeze. A mop of green hair was being carried on a stretcher into an ambulance, the rest of the body being covered by a white sheet. The world seemed to halt every motion and sound as Izuku watched the scene in slow-motion. Frame by frame, the stretcher drew ever closer to the vehicle. Second by second, minute by minute, day by day. It lasted forever.
"No, it can't be. Mom wouldn't even be downtown tonight. It has to be someone else with green hair. Yeah, that's it, someone else." Izuku concluded hastily.
Then, as if the world was mocking his optimism, a gust of wind blew the sheet upwards and revealed Inko Midoriya's face to the world.
Izuku brought his hands to his mouth in an effort to stop himself from screaming out in terror and anger. That, and to keep himself from puking out what dinner he had.
Her face was mutilated, burned, and almost unrecognizable. Though, somehow, she was alive. At least, that's what it seemed like. Why else would they have a breathing mask over her mouth and nose?
Rushing out of his seat and out the door, Izuku didn't even care to slip on his shoes or jacket as he ran as fast as he could to the hospital.
He wasn't sure how much time had passed, or even how long ago he lost feeling in his legs, all that mattered was that he'd made it.
The hospital was a mad-house. People everywhere, both dead and alive. Family stood over their dead kin. Friends mourning the loss of another. Mothers crying over their mortally wounded children.
Izuku ignored all of this, instead choosing to rush to the receptionist.
"My name is Izuku Midoriya! Where is my mother, Inko Midoriya?!" he yelled out, his body numb with exhaustion.
The nurse regarded him with concern as he looked over his dirty, scraped up form. "Hey, maybe you should sit down."
"No! Where is my mother!" Izuku wouldn't allow himself to rest, not until he knew she was safe.
"Room 307!" The nurse shouted out. He didn't understand why, but something about this kid sparked something within him. Something primal. Like an animal after seeing its natural predator for the first time.
Without another word, Izuku shot down the hallways, not bothering to ask for directions. He barely glanced at the numbers on the doors before shooting his eyes forwards once again, never breaking stride.
After what felt like an eternity, Izuku finally found room 307. The door was shut, and he could barely hear some muffled voices inside the room.
Deciding to finally rest until the door opened, Izuku sat on the floor, back against the opposite wall, and stared at his mother's door.
…
Izuku wasn't sure when he fell asleep, but when he awoke, he was in a chair with a blanket wrapped around his body.
Looking around blearily, the boy finally remembered where he was and instantly looked to where his mother lay, her breathing ragged and unsteady, her skin barely noticeable under miles of bandages, and her eyes shut tightly.
Izuku almost cried at his mother's condition, only able to stop himself from doing so due to a man walking in with a clipboard.
"Oh, Izuku, right?" seeing the boy's nod, he continued. "Your mother went through a lot yesterday and we were forced to do emergency surgery just to keep her alive. We've had our best medical quirks try and heal some of the damage, but they can only do so much. To be frank with you, we don't know where she will go from here."
After his explanation was over, the doctor put the clipboard at the end of the bed and left without another word.
"Their best medical quirks? They're probably nothing compared to Recovery Girl's. That's it!" With child-like enthusiasm, Izuku grabbed for his phone, only to realize that he left it at home in his haste.
Not letting that stop him, Izuku quickly ran to one of the community phones in the hospital and carefully dialed the number of the best healing hero's agency. He had memorized every big agency's numbers when he was younger, thinking that that would help him in his future as a hero. Well, I guess he was partly right.
After a few rings, a woman on the other end spoke in an almost bored tone. "Hello, thank you for calling Recovery Girl's main office, how may I help you?"
"Umm, hi, my name is Izuku Midoriya. My mother was hurt in that villain attack yesterday. She was critically injured, and no one here can help her. I need Recovery Girl to come and help. Without her, my mother could die." Izuku tried to keep his voice steady, though he could tell he was failing pretty badly.
"Listen kid, Recovery Girl is in a press meeting right now, and even if she wasn't, she only treats U.A. students nowadays. I'm sure the doctors there are perfectly capable of handling such a thing."
"But, they ca-" he was cut off from arguing any further by the line going dead.
Izuku stood there, frozen in place, eyes wide in disbelief.
"First All-Might, now Recovery Girl? What the hell is wrong with the world? Is this how it's always been, and I've just been too blind to see it?" Izuku thought dejectedly. "No, what about Mr. Shigaraki? I'm sure he knows someone with a strong healing quirk!"
Slamming his fingers into the buttons once more, Izuku dialed up his friend in the hope of a miracle.
After a few seconds of ringing, the line went dead since no one picked up.
Looking back at his mother's room, Izuku decided he couldn't waste any time. So, using the speed he'd acquired after months of hardcore training, the young green-haired boy shot down the stairs and out the door to go find his training group.
It only took him about a half hour to reach the warehouse where he usually trained his quirk, but when he arrived, he only saw Shigaraki there, no Kurogiri or TV man in sight. What was strange was that the man was turned around, his back to the only door.
Somehow, the man had sensed Izuku come in and gestured for the boy to come forward.
"Good, you're here. I have something to tell you." The man started, unaware of the hell of a day the boy had had.
"Actually, I-" before he could continue, Shigaraki cut him off.
"We're villains."
…
"What?" Izuku asked incredulously. That wasn't right, they couldn't be… they had helped him, hadn't they? Villains don't help people, do they?
"All of us. Me, Kurogiri, Boss (the name he used to refer to TV man as). We're all villains."
It was then that Kurogiri appeared in his usual outfit, though his demeanor was entirely different, almost somber.
Though, that did nothing to compare to the next one to appear. A large man in a well taken care of suit and a weird facemask that covered his entire head.
The latter man exuded an aura of power and malevolency the likes of which Izuku could never have imagined. His mere presence was enough to bring Izuku to his knees in terror.
"It's true." Kurogiri agreed, though he seemed to look down a bit, as if he were disappointed in himself for deceiving the boy.
"No, no…you can't be. You wouldn't… you…" he trailed off, his mind going blank as Shigaraki turned around, ever so slowly, eventually revealing a hand-mask that covered his entire face, save for his eyes.
The boy's world seemed to shatter and crumble around him as he looked to the ground in defeat and started muttering to himself.
"Heroes are bad, friends are villains, mom's dying, I'm alone." Izuku mumbled those phrases over and over, rocking back and forth as he tried to keep hold of his sanity.
All for One, hearing these mumblings, looked up in shock. "What's wrong with your mother?"
The other two looked at the man in surprise, before all eyes turned to the boy.
Izuku's eyes widened exponentially as he snapped out of his trance and stood up abruptly and started to back away.
All for One put up his hands in a placating manner, trying to sooth the poor boy. "Izuku its okay, we're not going to hurt you. We may be able to help, but you just need to tell us what happened."
Izuku didn't wait for him to get any closer before bolting back out the front door and making his way back home.
In a feat of pure adrenaline, Izuku made it all the way home before collapsing against the wall in exhaustion. Out of the corner of his eye, the boy spotted his phone lighting up to remind him of a voicemail he had yet to listen to.
His eyes widened as he realized he had never listened to his mother's voicemail.
Ever so hesitantly, Izuku picked up the phone and stared at the play button on his voicemail.
He was scared. These might be the last words he would ever hear his mother speak. What if she tried to warn him about what was happening? What if, had he listened to it immediately, he could've done something? Something to help, maybe even save his mom?
Those thoughts almost caused him to collapse into a depression-fueled slumber. It was only the promise of hearing his mother's soothing voice that helped Izuku steel his nerves enough to press the button.
There were a few seconds of silence, with the only noise being the slight static of the phone.
"Hey, honey, just wanted to check up on you and make sure you're alright."
Those words alone almost made Izuku burst into tears. His mother was worried about his well-being, meanwhile she was the one in the hospital.
"I'm heading downtown to pick up some stuff for your birthday dinner!" she sounded so happy at that, like she couldn't wait to see the look on his face when she arrived home with all of the ingredients.
"I'll probably be about an hour late so don't wait up on me. There's still some leftovers in the fridge if you want something easy. Anyway, I can't believe how much you've grown since your last birthday. You got your quirk and have been training so intensely, one would almost think you're a pro hero already, haha."
Izuku was openly crying now. His mother's slight chuckle did nothing to halt his agony.
She seemed to calm down a little, as if getting ready for a serious moment. "Listen honey, I know you haven't exactly been yourself recently. Ever since you got home that day that man showed up, I could tell something was bothering you. But, whatever it is, just know that I am so proud of the young man you have become, and I know your father would be too if he could see you. I know you will become a great man and go on to do amazing things for this world. And just know, that I will support you and be right by your side for every step of the way."
Nothing could stop his tears as he pulled at his hair and clenched his teeth and eyes shut, listening to his mother's reassuring voice was both agonizing and calming at the same time. One side of him wanted to end this misery and chuck his phone at the wall with everything he had. Though, no matter how much he wanted to, he couldn't pull the phone from his ear.
"Oh, it seems like something's happening up ahead. Oh god, a villain's attacking."
Izuku froze at the sound of his mother's distressed and concerned voice.
Her voice went silent, instead letting the sounds of crumbling buildings and explosions filter through the line.
"Bring me All-Might!" a muffled voice sounded through the speaker, obviously Tremor's insane ramblings.
Izuku could hear his mother's panting as they were ushered into a building, away from the villain's line of sight.
There were a few seconds of just breathing as people were trying to calm their racing hearts. Then after what seemed like an eternity, a new voice resounded through the air.
"Don't fear, for I am here!"
Izuku knew that it was All-Might. He was the only one who would shout his arrival at the top of his lungs.
"Izuku, I'm so sorry. I love you, Izu. I love you so mu-" "DETROIT SMA-" the line went dead.
A cold chill encompassed Izuku's body. His entire being became as cold as ice. His eyes bore a dead, glazed look as he stared at his phone's screen, dimming from the lack of input/output.
So that's what happened…
A knock on the door interrupted Izuku's thoughts as a voice he was all too familiar with called out.
"Izuku?" Shigaraki asked, not daring to open the door.
Izuku could only stare straight forward, his eyes empty.
Another knock.
"Heroes did this…"
More knocks.
"No…"
"Izuku? You in there?"
"All-Might did this…"
"I know how you might feel about us now, but we may be able to help Inko."
"I'll kill him…"
…
"I'll kill them all!"
Chapter End
Holy crap! I don't know how well I was able to convey what I was imagining in my head to you guys, but I was tearing myself up. I hope you guys could imagine how Izuku might've felt in this chapter, as that is one of the best things about reading. Feeling what the characters feel. I will try and get better at descriptions in the future, as I want to invoke those kinds of feelings in my audience like so many of the great authors do.
Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed and if you did, please leave a review and tell me what you thought. I look forward to reading your comments and suggestions. And once again, I will see you all in the next one. Have a great New Year's celebration!