4. FADE
Let's go back a little to the past. The day right after Midoriya Izuku disappeared without a trace.
"Do you have any idea where your son may have gone?" Tsukauchi Naomasa asked the sobbing woman, trying his best to be calm and considerate of the mother.
"No," Midoriya Inko shook her head, "He has never gone anywhere this long before," she said, "He usually comes home with Katsuki-kun, but..."
"Katsuki-kun?" the policeman inquired.
"My idiot son." Bakugou Mitsuki, the mother's friend, said, "Those two probably got into some stupid fight again or something." she explained.
"When was he last seen?"
"School. We've asked, but the school last saw him at the courtyard, talking to Katsuki. No one has seen him leave the school at all." Mitsuki said. She looked glum at the situation in itself, but she was evidently swallowing back words because Midoriya Inko was around.
"My Izuku..." Inko spoke up, her voice sounding on the verge of crying, "Do you think he's alright?"
Tsukauchi Naomasa has been in a lot of cases like these before, and most of the time, villains are involved. And due to that, these cases often go cold.
That was something he couldn't tell Midoriya Inko now, because she was very likely to break down. What she needed now was optimism and reassurance. And so, Tsukauchi smiled professionally, and told her "Of course!" like the nice policeman he had to be.
I promise that I'll find your son, he added only to himself. Definitely.
Tsukauchi wasn't one to give up. He had his fair share of wins and losses to the villains countless times, and he was definitely not gonna lose this time either.
"Katsuki-kun, was it?" he spoke up, "May I speak to him?"
Bakugou Katsuki sighed.
That nerd didn't freaking get home. Why is Deku such an idiot? WHY is he always pulling this kinda shit and making people worry about him? He's quirkless for god's sake, why can't he just sit still, stay safe and stop scaring the FUCK out of people?!
He paced up and down the Midoriya household in attempt to ease the pent up stress that gathered in his chest. He grumbled curse after curse in pure frustration as he ignored the faint sounds of his mom and that policeman talking.
He looked once again at the door of a familiar room. The All Might themed door sign read IZUKU, and looking at it just made Katsuki angrier than he already was at said boy. Finally giving in to anger, he twisted the doorknob and went into the room. Maybe there'll be something in there that'll soothe his rage. Like his crazy collection of All Might merchandise or something-
Katsuki froze.
Because what.
Katsuki had entered this room once or twice when they were kids, but never once had he seen this sight. He remembered the nerd's room to be amazingly, evidently screaming I LOVE ALL MIGHT. That's why he had not been expecting this.
The walls were decorated with- they probably weren't meant to be decorative, though -with notebook papers. Each paper was stuck on neatly and arranged orderly like it was a kind of wallpaper. And on each sheet were notes, sketches and studies of Heroes and their quirks.
He was immediately entranced at the sight, and began looking through them -Kamui Woods, Cementoss, Midnight, Endeavour, Ingenium- he listed out, looking through the notes and scribbles about the details of their quirks, their special moves... even their debut dates and details of how they appeared on the day Deku first saw them on TV. It was crazy, and somewhat ridiculous.
Katsuki found Deku's My Hero Analysis for the Future books, flipping through it to find the same information on the heroes written in there. No, the ones on the wall have more information than the ones in the book.
And Katsuki realized something. The papers on the wall have all been stuck over the posters that were originally there. Note after note obscured All Might's face and hid it from sight- that was something he believed a fanatical hero lover like Deku would never, ever do.
Katsuki looked around a little longer, Mt Lady, Thirteen, and- Katsuki stopped.
Bakugou Katsuki.
That was him. A sketch and study of his quirk. Details of its usage and how it's used. His battle instincts and habits. Predictions on how long he can use his quirk, and to what extent. Even things like the possible ways to advance the usage of his quirk.
What in the world? Katsuki couldn't resist thinking, staring at it wide eyed. These are fucking scary. But undeniably, it was ridiculously professional work.
Somewhere in the back of his mind, he realized that Deku could have become a great support hero with just this fanboy knowledge.
He read through the notes. This was the first time he's realized just how Deku was much, much more of a fanboy than he'd thought, and that gave him a new kind of peculiarity. Are you telling me that this kid's quirk isn't hyper observation or something?
"HEY! KATSUKI! COME DOWN HERE FOR A BIT!"
Katsuki jumped. Wow, that startled him.
"WHAT, WOMAN?!" He yelled back.
Taking one last look at the room, Katsuki went downstairs.
Now we return to the present, a little over one week after Deku received his new life.
"A Mud Quirk?" Deku inquired, "Most commonly known as the Sludge Villain..."
I think I've seen something about a Mud Villain before? Five years ago, to be exact. On a news channel that described the escaped villain of a bank robbing. The news also described the Villain's usual felony of taking people hostage. His patterns of attack so the civilians would know what to look out for. What were the exact words spoken?
"Do you need a picture?" Shigaraki spoke up, reaching for Kurogiri's phone.
But Deku perked up, already done thinking. "The Sludge Monster has a transformation type quirk that turns his body into a murky liquid. He can also take over someone's body and use their quirks. He usually focuses on normal villain deeds like robbing banks and causing destruction. He would trap his victims in his quicksand-like body and go for the mouth to ensure they won't scream, also to suffocate or drown his victim out so they would pass out without much resistance. He first appeared-"
"Stop, stop." Kurogiri had to hold up a hand at the boy, "As usual, you know a lot, but let's get back on track. How would you recommend to deal with him?"
"If he's mud, strength wouldn't be very efficient because we can't just punch water, so it'd be a challenge to beat him with just raw strength and without a plan. But his eyes seem an easy target, so maybe if we aim there physical attacks would work too...but then again projectile weapons may be better in that case. Other than that, elemental type quirks. Would water work on him? Ice could trap him and fire could cage him, wind? The Sludge Villain doesn't seem to have a lot of an advantage in terms of strength, so he'd depend on sneak attacks. But if it's against a civilian he might win with just raw strength... and it's hard to get a grasp on him since he's mud... Maybe if we sneak up on him and stuff him in a bottle-"
"Deku, Deku," Shigaraki chopped him on the head, "Too long. Limit it to about twenty words."
"In conclusion," Deku chuckled in response. "His eyes are good targets for projectile-type weapons or physical blows. An ambush would be the best course of attack." he said.
"I see." Shigaraki nodded.
"Are we gonna go?" Deku asked, a little excited, "Fight and stuff?"
"This question is ultimately to test the usefulness of your ability. Sensei decides our next course of action." Shigaraki explained, earning a disappointed pout from the younger boy. "And speaking of him, Sensei was looking for you."
The boy brightened up instantly, "Really?!"
"Yeah, yeah, go on now."
Deku leaped off his seat and skipped away singing a random happy tune as he went.
"What did Sensei ask for?" Kurogiri questioned.
"Beats me." Shigaraki said, "Anyway, what's your opinions on his power?"
"Pretty useful, I mean we knew nothing about this villain except his appearance and quirk until Deku. But what now?"
"Well, Sensei will figure that out."
"Senseeiii?" Deku sang, stepping into the lab, "Are you in here?"
And sure enough, the half-faced man was in there, sitting calmly by a particular cylindrical tube. The tube held what Deku recognized as a monster- blue skin, large, bulky build, a yellow beak, teeth sharp as shark fangs, an exposed brain.
"Ah, Deku." Sensei recognized with his quirk that enabled him to capture his surroundings, "Come here."
And Deku did. He took a better look at the monster- a Noumu, he was told. A Brainless. Deku has seen it a number of times, and each time he seemed to feel more charmed by the creature. It was cool.
"What do you think of it?" he asked.
Deku had on a permanent smile. "It's cute. I almost want it as a pet," he said, "It looks strong, does it match up to All Might? Can that beak be used for attack or- what about the fangs? Why is it blue? Why is the brain not protected? Wouldn't it be kind of his worst possible and completely exposed weakness-"
He heard Sensei chuckle at that. "Evaluate, my boy." he put a hand on the glass, "This Noumu has the quirk of Super Regeneration." he explained, "He is the weapon we are using against All Might in our plan."
"Regeneration..." Deku repeated, entranced, "Healing damage earned from all attacks, creating a near immortal being that can keep on fighting forever. However, just that quirk itself may not be strong enough to handle the heroes. They are very likely to team up and capture him while he is incapacitated."
"Is that so?" Sensei sounded mildly upset, but was in fact wearing a proud grin. "Is it useless, then?" he asked.
Deku shook his head. "No, not at all!" he said cheerfully, "It can hold out well against a strength reliant like All Might. And Nomunomu doesn't have the fragility of a human, so he is basically a strong wall. With stronger defenses, he may hold out longer than All Might. Nomunomu's all buff and stuff, so is he as strong as All Might? If so, Nomunomu also needs speed to keep up with All Might. Super Regeneration can probably regrow limbs and stuff, but would he run out of power? Or would the Regeneration heal his stamina too? What happens if he runs out of stamina, do the wounds stop healing? He shouldn't heal all the minor wounds then, maybe if he had stronger defenses he could just, absorb the shock of the punches or something. That would work better against All Might-"
"So," Sensei had to interrupt the mumble jargon, "What do you have in mind?"
Deku giggled, "A lot."
"You can have him, then." Sensei decided, You can do whatever you want with him, you can improve him so that he would be more capable of going against All Might in the future. The success and failure of this creature will wholly depend on you."
"I can?!" Deku sparkled brighter than glitter. "Anything?"
"Well, he's your species." Sensei said, "As long as you train him-"
"Yay! Yay! Thanks, Senseii!" Deku jumped around in celebration, leaping on Sensei's shoulders at some point and began spinning around in glee.
Sensei sighed. Did he hear anything I said?