"The hero hunter has become the hunted." Announces a newspaper anchor while showing in the background the image of gray Dabi with the sentence said by the anchor above.
With that, the screen changes to show that it was now two anchors looking straight ahead with serious expressions.
"It was confirmed in the last pronouncement of the police commissioner Tsukauchi Naomasa, that a vigilante, who fought against the famous hero hunter, Todoroki Touya, or Dabi, killing him as well as arresting several members of a gang." Announces the anchor before the image of Deku Ghost appears behind the two. "It is not known for sure who this man is, but he has an outfit that is extremely similar to a past hero named 'Deku'."
With that, the image changes to show a boy wearing a green suit, he looked nervous, shaking and sweating as he was interviewed by Mt. Lady.
"Deku, or Midoriya Izuku, was one of the heroes who fought on the front lines of the war, even leading them in some battles and his death marked the defeat of the heroes and the end of the war." Reveals the other anchor with a sigh at the end. "Public opinion is much divided about this vigilante, some speculate that this is the return of the heroes, but the most realistic believe that this could make the situation even worse."
"I must disagree, it shows that there is someone there who is a threat to the league of villains and all these other criminals out there, it is a blessing that there is someone out there who can fight them!" Declares one of the anchors causing his colleague to snort and stare at him.
"Please, this guy is just an agitator who will end up dying facing the league, you should know that by now." Comments the bored anchor.
At that moment the screen turns off to reveal Mei, Chizome and Izuku spread out in their base room watching the television, the pink one who had the controller in her hand sighed before looking at the two men with her.
"And the other channels are just variations of what you have seen, you really know how to make an entrance Izuku..." Comments Mei shaking her head in exasperation while the green guy stared seriously at the screen with his arms crossed.
"Doesn't matter much, the message was given and that should be enough to stir them up." Declares Izuku before sighing with Chizome at his side nodding. "But either way, it should be enough to recruit more into the fight."
Upon hearing this, Mei and Chizome waved; after all, they knew that despite having fought in the war and being more experienced they could not win the fight the way they were, alone, you could only win the war with soldiers.
"I know, but are you sure? Now that you have revealed yourself, the entire spotlight will be on you and despite having Azrael with us; he must remain in the shadows, making you have to fight alone…" Comments Mei with a worried frown on her face, which made the greenette sigh before shaking his head.
"Yes, unfortunately it can be a problem, but we have to do this Mei, remember the plan, we must follow it to the end, I am ready to give my life to the cause if I have to corrupt myself and die for so be it, I'll do whatever is necessary and the phoenix plan is still there..." Comments Izuku making the pink girl narrow her eyes and stare at him hard.
"No, do not even think about it, we do not need the phoenix plan and we will never need it." The pinkette growls looking directly at Izuku who stared back at her while Chizome sighed before getting up.
"I can see that mom and dad are irritated so I'm going to the bar, don't bother me unless it's something important or related to Usagiyama-san." Declares the man before walking away and taking it before leaving the room.
As soon as he left, the green and pink continued to stare at each other for a few seconds before looking away.
"Sorry... It is just that this is very stressful, but the phoenix plan is always an option, it's not one I like, but it's the one we have if nothing works out..." Explains Izuku making the girl nod despite her frown.
"Doesn't mean I like it, even more so considering your selflessness since you started wearing that uniform... However, we still have another issue to deal with. What about your friends? They are investigating more about you..." Asks Mei making Izuku stay quiet with a distant look before looking at her without any expression with her eyes looking empty.
"Erase everything."
(…)
A sigh escaped Eri when she was still in the classroom waiting for it to end; around her were several students who were discouraged and worried about it. A frown appeared on her face; after all, it was always like this, with the rate of villains out there, a simple return home was incredibly dangerous.
She herself had been robbed several times and some things almost got worse, luckily, some police were always around and she knew self-defense thanks to her aniki. She was taken out of her thoughts when she heard the bell for the end of classes, at which point everyone began to pack their things at a slow pace before leaving.
The girl quickly got out of her seat and started back towards the house, doing her best to remain incognito and cringing as she passed an alley.
"HELP! PLEASE, ANYONE HELP ME!"
Upon hearing the scream, the girl freezes completely, widening her eyes, feeling as if it were an electric current passing through her entire body. At that, she quickly turned back into the alley and saw some hooded men pulling a rat-like boy into an alley.
Eri was shocked by what she saw, it was a kidnapping in broad daylight, normally they only occurred at night, but with the new vigilante, it was likely that they were too afraid for that, these were villains, she could not face them. . The girl was about to run away before looking at the boy being dragged away and suddenly he was swapped with her when she was younger.
The albino widened her eyes in shock when Deku's figure ran away from where she was going towards her child form, suddenly the figure disappeared leaving Eri looking at the boy who stared at her in fear. It was as if a shock went through Eri's entire body before she started to run towards the boy.
"HEY! LET HE GO!" Exclaims the girl approaching them, with an expression of fear on her face with small tears falling from the sides of her eyes.
One of the men looked at the girl before pushing the boy towards his colleague and turned towards Eri approaching, with that he lowered his hood revealing that it was similar to a hedgehog and smiled cruelly at her.
The girl swallowed hard when the man glared at her with a bit of lust and anger, he raised his fist ready to attack her, but Eri suddenly dodged the blow before grabbing the villain's wrist and spinning him around, knocking him down on the floor with a thud. The man grunted before getting up angrily and trying to throw another punch at Eri, again she dodged before punching the thug in the face and landing three blows to his ribs and kicking him in the chest.
The bandit fell to the ground, but again he got up with a furious scowl, he roared before lunging at her, which made the girl's eyes widen.
(Flashback.)
"What is wrong Eri?" Questions Aizawa sitting in a wheelchair, he was without one of his legs and with an eye patch, in front of him was the albino panting for air looking at a swinging punching bag.
She was silent for a few moments before looking up at the man she considered a father.
"I... I remembered him..." Reveals the girl, making the man sigh before advancing his chair towards the albino, placing his hand on her head.
They stood there in silence before Aizawa lifted the girl's face to his and stared at her for a few moments before letting out a sigh.
"Forget it Eri, you want to learn to fight, you need to empty your head I know it scares you, but you need to accept this, everything that has happened to you, use this to propel yourself if you fall, take a deep breath and get up, now let's go, try again." Aizawa declares before pulling away and looking at the bag in front of her again. "Now try that move again."
With that, Eri took a deep breath and turned towards the puppet getting into a fighting stance.
(End of flashback.)
Immediately Eri took a deep breath gaining a determined expression before turning to the side when the man tried to land another blow on her and in that, she kicked him in the stomach making the man widen his eyes before receiving a punch in the face followed by another in the stomach and a hook to the chin.
After those blows, the bandit was dizzy staggering backwards before receiving a kick in the chest that knocked him out. Seeing this Eri widened her eyes in disbelief before an excited smile appeared on her face, however the animation quickly disappeared when she heard the sound of a car pulling away, and with that, she turned around and saw that the van was gone.
Immediately Eri ran to the sidewalk and saw the van disappearing at the end of the street, with that the girl clenched her fists and an annoyed expression appeared on her face as she growled. However, thanks to that, she did not notice a figure watching her from afar, it was Chizome hidden who glared at her with a frown, bringing a phone up and dialing some number on it.
"We have a problem."
(…)
Eri was sitting on the couch in her apartment with a frown watching a news report about the boy who was kidnapped, she couldn't get his fearful expression out of her head as he stared at her asking for help. If she hadn't hesitated, he would have been safe and sound right now, it was her fault.
"Poor boy, I hope the police can find this kid." Comments Mirio with an almost uninterested voice making Eri widen her eyes and turn her face to the blonde-haired person who was looking at her cell phone turning her gaze to the screen sometimes.
"How can you say that?" Asks Eri softly making Mirio face her confused.
"What do you mean Eri-chan?" Asks the blonde making the girl growl before getting up.
"How can you be so indifferent to this!? There is a kid missing, and you do not even seem to care! You were a hero! It took a bullet to protect me and still fought the war against villains, what happened to the hero who was going to save a million people!?" Asks Eri, however Mirio just stares at her for a few moments before sighing.
"You would not understand, when you are older I will tell you..." Starts Mirio getting up only for the girl to snarl at him.
"I am 18 years old, aniki, and I know that…" The girl begins before Mirio punches the table and faces the frightened her.
"Know what!? You did not fight in that war! It's not you who lost your quirk twice! You were not the one who lost all your friends! I LOST EVERYTHING I LOVED!" Exclaims Mirio angrily before getting up walking back to his room. "The heroes are dead and they better stay that way!"
With that, the blonde-haired person slammed the door shut as Eri watched with wide eyes as her brother walked away, she shook like a leaf before clenching her fists. A flame ignited in Eri's chest, the girl could feel as if this was the missing spark, she waited too long, and it was time.
Quickly the girl went to her room and locked the door. Once that done, she took the trunk that was under her bed and placed it on top of her sheets before opening it revealing a uniform. With that, she carefully took a mask, from the inside it was green with what looked like two bunny ears; this was a Deku's mask.
The girl stared at the mask for a few seconds before taking a deep breath and grabbing the uniform she had worked on for the last few weeks and pulling it out of her bag. With that, Eri quickly got dressed before looking at the mirror, just like the first Deku, her outfit was all green with white and black details; she was wearing simple black gloves and a white scarf with red boots.
She stared at herself in the mirror, admiring her outfit before grabbing two fencing sticks and attaching them to her belt, once that was done she placed the mask over her face leaving only the bottom part out, with her eyes being covered through a white lens, she had fitted to her mask.
With that, the girl opened the window before heading out through the fire escape to the roof.
(…)
"This is the fourth kidnapping that you thwarted this week..." Comments Mei through the communicator in Deku ghost's ear, to which the man just nods.
He was on top of a roof watching as a couple was hugging their young son after the vigilante had saved them from some kidnappers.
"They're safe and that's what matters anyway, I have other matters to attend to." Declares Izuku before turning to one of the kidnappers tied by the black whip.
With that, the bonds that held the bandit disappeared causing him to take the chance to escape, he ran for a few moments on the roof before the Deku ghost landed in front of him and faced him. Suddenly a fist connected with the criminal's nose causing it to break and blood to flow from it before his arm was grabbed and twisted into an awkward position.
After that, the man was pushed against the wall with the Deku ghost staring at him.
"I'm going to count to 10." Deku-ghost declares making the man widen his eyes terrified. "1… 9…"
"Yeah... It's a Nomus factory from the League of Villains... it's working again... we were told to catch some targets... quirks not caught by All for one..." Informs the bandit whimpering before him scream in pain as he felt his arm being twisted once more.
"9.5..." Continues the guard making the man start to sob.
"It is in Mu-Mustafu..." Answers the man crying. "I don't know anything else, I swear for God..."
At that moment, a crack is heard from the bandit's arm who screams in pain before noticing the Deku ghost's gaze on him.
"Swear for me." Orders Deku ghost staring at his informant causing the man to start crying and a stain appear on his pants
"I swear…I SWEAR FOR YOU!" Exclaims the bandit before he has his head hit the wall making the man faint.
As soon as the bandit fell, the Deku ghost backed away from him and stared at him with an expressionless gaze before walking back to the edge of the roof and leaping off firing an energy whip before launching himself into the air.
"That was intense huh?" Comments Mei, however Izuku does not answer her as he continues moving around the city.
However, the vigilante stopped on top of a water tank and looked with wide eyes at something in front of him before narrowing his eyes and changing his direction.
(With Mei.)
After Izuku's silence, the pink one let out a tired sigh before minimizing her screen and leaning back in her chair, stretching and grabbing a mug of coffee before drinking some of the beverage.
"...Since when does Midoriya-san leave villains with head injuries? I know it said he went easy on villains, but isn't that already an exaggeration?" Questions Usagiyama Rumi approaching sitting in a wheelchair. "And since when were you allowed to drink coffee? Someone as energetic as you shouldn't even be allowed near an espresso."
Upon hearing this, Mei could not help but let out a snort, clearly amused by the older woman's comments. The pink one looked at her mug stirring the liquid before turning in her chair to face the ex-hero.
"Well... A lot actually happened, especially with Izuku, do not get me wrong, I love him with all my heart, but... he was one of the ones who suffered the most." Mei comments with a sigh before looking at Rumi with a melancholy look. "We all suffer, we just find different ways to deal with it, I guess…"
With that Mei takes another sip before setting the mug down on the table before her expression changes to a serious one that made Rumi blink, not seeing such an intense look since the war with the villains.
"In addition, the situation is not the best, we are surrounded on all sides and we have to use everything at our disposal to win, our best weapon is fear, it may not be ideal, but it is what kept him alive." Answers Mei making Rumi frown.
"Although I seem like a hypocrite now considering that I myself loved fighting in my youth, I still think that's a complete exaggeration, even more so with the way he acts now, distant, cold, it's like he's…" Begins Rumi before a thoughtful, worried frown appears on her face.
"…Like he's lost a part of himself, I know." Completes the pinkette one making Rumi stare at her in surprise.
"…Can you elaborate?"
Mei was silent looking at Rumi before nodding her head.
"He lost a part of himself when the war ended and we lost; he lost another part when All Might and Inko-san died and I'd rather not talk when Nejire died. The truth is that he does not care about anything else but finishing the mission to kill All for one and Shigaraki, he no longer has his dream of becoming a hero; he just wants to end everything." Explains Mei making Rumi blink confused.
"…And when he completes the mission?" Asks the rabbit woman, which made Mei freeze with an expressionless face.
"Like I said…he just wants to end it all."
(…)
Eri let out a tired snort, breathing heavily on top of a roof with her hands on her knees.
"How did Deku-san make it look so easy back then?" Asks the girl gasping for air before noticing a huge shadow covering her.
With that, she quickly turns around taking her hand to the fencing sticks and her eyes widen when she sees the Deku-ghost being illuminated by the moon.
The man glared at her before jumping from the top of the roof he was on until he reached the same floor Eri was on, once there, he calmly walked up to the girl and stared into her eyes, causing her to be in a state of shock staring at him.
"Interesting outfit for a night walk on the rooftops." Comments the Deku-ghost staring at her, which makes her blink and wave her arms nervously in front of her before clearing her throat and facing him with her spine straight and her head raised to him.
"Deku, sir! Eh... it's an honor to see you again... to meet you!" The girl starts clumsily, which makes the man narrow his eyes on her.
"Deku is dead, I am his ghost, call me Deku-ghost." He declares making the girl wave to him, slightly excited. "Now go home."
"What!?" Exclaims Eric.
"You heard me, the night is dangerous for children, even more those dressed in that kind of clothes, now stop wasting your time and risk your safety and go home." Commands the Deku-ghost turning to leave before Eri advances putting herself in front of him and taking off her mask to face him, which makes Izuku widen his eyes recognizing her.
"E-Eri?" Izuku thinks in shock watching her, the white hair, the red eyes and the yellow horn on her forehead were unmistakable.
"I can't, not while that boy still needs my help, it's my responsibility!" Eri declares, looking at him clearly moved, while the guard stared at her in silence. "I do not know if you recognize me, but... You saved me many years ago, something I will never forget, you were my hero and still are... Since you saved me from Overhaul, I felt happy, safe, you are my hero, that's why I took this outfit; Togata Eri couldn't save that boy from being kidnapped, but..."
Eri's eyes filled with tears as her memories came back, of how Deku tried to rescue her, how he hugged her while dodging the villain's attacks, how he tied her on his back before facing Overhaul and how he defeated him. Deku could mean useless, but not to her, to Eri it meant something more, it meant something heroic, that she could do this.
Determination showed in her eyes as she lifted her head and faced the Deku ghost. "The whole world lives in fear, everyone and I look around I only see despair and fear on people's faces, I want to change that, I want everyone to be able to smile again, for Mirio-aniki to return to being the man he was before, I... I... I want to be a hero just like Deku!"
If before the Deku ghost's eyes were wide, now he had his eyes bulging out of his skull as he stared at her. For a second Eri's form was replaced by a younger version of himself whimpering as he shyly looked down.
"No...Don't do that Eri; please don't do what I think you're going to do..." Izuku implored in his head and at that moment, it was as if the younger image of him and Eri were occupying the same space when he closed his eyes.
"Can I be a heroine? Even when everyone else has lost hope?" Questions Eri at the time that a cold wind passed by the two making their clothes sway in agreement.
"...Shit."
(…)
Chizome was sitting on a chair at the bar counter drinking a bottle of beer, he was in a rather dirty and run down bar with several people around drinking and laughing in their own private conversations, something the man was completely ignoring.
"You are kidding me." Comments a voice approaching the counter making Chizome look out of the corner of her eyes only to freeze noticing that coming out of the pocket of the person who spoke a black mask with a white skull.
The symbol of a Lieutenant of the Shiroi Zubaikotsu.
Quickly Chizome masked her surprise with apathy and continued drinking while a small blush appeared on her face before she started listening to the conversation.
"Yes bro, believe me, Ashido Mina herself confirmed this to me, we are using a Nomus factory, we will create some drones and use them to catch this vigilante." Declares the man making Chizome file that information, Izuku and Mei needed to know that now.
"So that's what we needed the kidnapped youths for?" Asks the other man making Chizome widen her eyes before narrowing them.
"Yes, unfortunately, we do not have the ingredients that the alloy has, so we are making it the simplest method possible. The old way, you know?"
At that moment the two members of the group walk away talking about other matters making Chizome face them before throwing some money on the table and walking away towards the two, he could have been a villain when he killed heroes and he would certainly be a hypocrite if say he never did anything wrong in his life. Nevertheless, he had his own limits, one of which the two idiots crossed.
At this Chizome was quick to kick the Shiroi Zugaikotsu lieutenant in the back of the knee before grabbing his head and slamming it into a table, after which he blocked a punch from the bandit's colleague before breaking his arm and knocking him out with a punch. After that, he noticed that the entire bar was silent watching him in fear before they all ran off screaming, completely ignoring what happened.
"Damn... again I lost control..." Chizome snarls in his head looking slightly troubled at the two bodies at his feet, before he scurries off, grateful that he chose a bar without cameras.
However, despite not having cameras, Chizome never noticed that there was a person in that bar who was watching him since when he entered and when the man left, the person followed him.