Hey everyone! Sorry for the long wait! I completely lost motivation halfway through writing this chapter and suddenly got it back a couple of days ago. I'm going to be focusing on this fic for now, but I'll try to go back to my other one in the future. Thank you guys for all the support so far! It helps motivate me to continue this fic. Enjoy the chapter!
Izuku had seen many strangers before. After that one incident involving a man claiming to have All Might merch and a white van, he made sure not to talk to them. (Thankfully, his mom was there, so the boy got out of that situation. He just got a warning from her to run from people he didn't know with candy, cool hero merch, or white vans). Instead, he enjoyed observing strangers from afar. He knew it sounded creepy, but people with mutation quirks were fascinating! It was fun to try and guess their quirks but so embarrassing if they caught him staring.
The one he bumped into didn't have any mutations, so it must be an emitter or transformative. Alternatively, the stranger had what Izuku liked to call quirk effects. He described them as either direct effects or gene effects. For example, the ten-year-old had the latter because his green hair wasn't a result of his quirk. It was just in his DNA from his mom. Similar to the name, direct effects were traits directly from quirk manifestations.
Weirdly, Izuku couldn't tell which the teenager had. The red eyes and blue hair could be from genes, but the dry, cracked skin was most likely from a quirk. There was still a chance it was just a medical condition. The boy's mind snapped out of thought when the teen spoke.
"Watch where you're going, NPC!" he scoffed.
"S-Sorry!" Izuku mumbled.
In embarrassment, he raced off to the Game Stop nearby. He always loved going there to find the latest All Might games or other hero games. Sadly, his mom wanted him to do something un-hero-related. There had to be other games. Right?
The boy searched the shelves for regular video games, but other than what he liked buying, there were those quirk simulators. Like the quirk fanboy he was, he was initially excited when he got one. After some time, the game got boring due to the lack of unique quirks and only stereotypical ones. Izuku understood why it was like that, but he loved quirks because of what made them different. Each had its uses, functions, and beauty. If some simulator didn't realize that, he'd stick to analyzing heroes' quirks and other random people. (Come to think of it, his father always told him it was okay to try to guess a stranger's weakness. He needed to cut that habit.)
Izuku took a break from browsing when he saw a villain fight on the TV. It was Death Arms against the assassin-like villain, Poison Ivy. Her quirk was so versatile! It was a shame she became a villain when she had the potential for much more. With her hands, she can transform grass into any plant. She could've made rare plants for medicine, grown food for the poor, or even become a pro-hero! It baffled the boy that she didn't choose a better career. It was a powerful emitter quirk, so who didn't love that?
He quickly jotted that down in Hero Analysis For The Future #8 (It would worry his mother if he had an entire separate notebook dedicated to villains. Plus it saved time.) before pulling his eyes away. No more hero stuff! Listening to his mom this time would be tough, but he needed this. Almost all of his hobbies involved something hero-related. That wasn't healthy.
He once again got lost in thought and bumped into the same stranger. Again! Izuku wasn't questioning how crazy things kept on happening to him anymore. This incident wasn't as crazy as others, but it was still a strange coincidence.
"You again!?" the teen shouted, "It's like the game developers made these NPC obstacles on purpose!"
"I'm so sorry!" Izuku exclaimed, "I was trying to find non-hero games, but then this fight came on the TV, and the villain's quirk was so cool! I had to look away since my mom wanted me to do something else, so I must've gotten lost in thought again..." His words eventually dissolved into angry, incoherent mumbles, chiding himself on situational awareness.
"Woah, slow down, kid," the stranger started, "Did you say non-hero anywhere in that dialogue?"
"Umm...yeah?" the boy answered, "There's like no non-hero games around here. Do they even exist anymore?"
Izuku was internally freaking out slightly. Did he give out too much information to this random person? Or was his muttering too creepy? He braced for the worst, but it never came. Instead, the person said seemingly random words under his breath. Something about "not being an NPC" and "being another player or ally instead."
Suddenly, with a yelp, the ten-year-old was pulled back into an employee-only room. Of course, this was another kidnapper! Good thing he brought some pepper spray. As he was pulling it out, the lights turned on.
"The employees keep all of the older video games back here. None of those NPCs can appreciate the true beauty of these games," the stranger said as if he didn't pull Izuku into a dark room. Well, it wasn't dark anymore.
Rows upon rows of dusty video games lined metal shelves. There were games for seemingly every console! Each one had a sticker slapped on with a price written on it. It wasn't fancy by any means, but none of them had anything to do with heroes. The problem was he had no idea what any of them were. Without thinking, he made a possibly genius or dumb decision. He didn't know at the time.
"U-Um, I think I need a guide to pick the best one?" he stuttered, "So I don't pick some bugged game?" The boy internally winced at how nervous he sounded. He needed to get out more.
The teenager had a complentative look for a fraction of a second before giving an affirmative nod, "Sure, I'll be your guide, Tomura Shigaraki."
"T-Thank you! I'm Izuku Midoriya," he introduced. He even put out his hand for a formal handshake. Did people do that anymore? Shigaraki just shook his head, so probably not.
"My quirk would drain your health permanently, so I'd rather not do a handshake." he casually explained.
Izuku paled slightly and put his hand down, but he didn't run away. This guy didn't seem like other strangers. He was more...unsocialized! Due to having no social life himself, the ten-year-old could relate.
"C'mon, newbie, let's find your starter quest," he said as he made a gesture for the boy to follow.
Surprisingly, having someone like Shigaraki as a guide was entertaining. He made each game sound equally challenging and fun to play! Each description was much better than most video games he's played. As much as he loved quirks, it annoyed him how every aspect of society depended on them. It was refreshing to find something unrelated to them.
"So, which ones will be your starter quests?" Shigaraki asked. They finished going through all the "level 1" games, so Izuku didn't jump headfirst into something too complex.
"I only have enough money for one. I'm not sure if Animal Crossing or Minecraft is better. They both sound so interesting!" the boy exclaimed. The teen's face morphed into confusion.
"But your first starter packs are always free of charge?" he puzzledly said.
"Really!? Is it like a first-time bonus?" Izuku said, awed. Shigaraki gave a so-so motion.
"As long as you leave the store undetected, it's free. That's what my sensei told me," the blue-haired teen explained with a frown.
(Izuku also was too excited to notice the implications of that at the time. It would be a while before he did, but it wouldn't matter much because-redacted)
"Ooh, okay!" Izuku readily agreed, "What do we need to do?"
"I'll give you a cheat code this time," Shigaraki said as he dusted the window. On cue, Izuku's eyes lit up.
"Oh my gosh! Your quirk is so cool! How does it work? How long does it take to disintegrate an object? Is this why you have dry skin? How did it manifest? I bet you could..." Izuku's excitement dissolved into mumbling.
Shigaraki stood there with a shocked look on his face. When the other boy noticed, he freaked out.
"I'm sorry! I know my mumbling is creepy. I won't do it again," Izuku frantically said.
"No, it's not that," the older boy assured, "I just have never heard any call my quirk cool..."
"Wow, that's strange," Izuku commented, "Your quirk is so convenient! If you find litter on the road or something, you can get rid of it. And-" The boy's speech dissolved into mumbles once more, listing several ideas. While this was happening, Shigaraki kept a strange expression.
"C'mon, we need to get going so you can collect your rewards," he said.
"What rewards?" Izuku asked.
"You'll see...," the teen cryptically said as Izuku climbed out the window. Shigaraki stayed put.
"Ummm…aren't we leaving?" the boy questioned.
"You can wait by the entrance. I have to ensure we complete this quest." the teen responded, "Then, you'll get the quest rewards."
_;;;;;i;;;;;_
Rewards meant a trip to an ice cream shop nearby the mall. Izuku wasn't complaining, but it was strange that they didn't go to the food court. Maybe the quest applied there too? Who knows.
The older boy was the only person (besides his mother) that tried to keep up with his mumbling. In return, Izuku intently listened to his monologues about different video games or some corrupt heroes. Especially Endeavor! The green-haired boy happily chimed in about the dirt he had on the man. Technically he wasn't allowed to talk about them at the time, but it didn't matter since he wasn't in the mall.
Once the two boys finished their ice cream, they exchanged their friend codes and went to their respective parents. Well, Izuku didn't know if this "Kurogiri" was Tomura's parent. The way Kurogiri got described made him lean toward this conclusion, but it could be either way.
As the ten-year-old walked back to the mall, he heard crying from an alleyway nearby. Being the future hero he was, he immediately ran to the sound, only to see Poison Ivy! That's right, Izuku came across the infamous assassin-villain, who had attempted to kill many and had succeeded, as she sobbed heart-wrenchingly in an alleyway. What!?
The boy started panicking. Why are so many crazy things happening to him lately? First, he finds out his dad is a villain overlord, and now this! After he calmed himself down, he realized maybe it didn't matter. Sure, this was a powerful villain, but she was human too.
Making up his mind, he pulled up his hood and made his way over.
"What's wrong?" Izuku asked. Poison Ivy immediately whipped around to face the boy.
"Huh?" she mumbled.
"I was asking what's wrong. You were crying in an alleyway," Izuku reasoned. Using basic logic was safe...hopefully.
"Don't you know who I am, kid?" she sighed, "You need to get away before you get hurt."
"But you've never hurt kids during any of your fights," the boy responded, "In fact, one time you even saved a few from falling rubble."
Poison Ivy silently sat there for a minute before saying, "You're right, but if my boss hears about that, he'll lower my pay even more."
"Your pay?" Izuku asked. He knew the villainess had a boss, but why would he lower her pay? Sure, she usually doesn't get her hero targets (which Izuku is thankful for) but nearly always gets her villain or vigilante ones.
"I shouldn't be telling you this," she admitted tearfully, "Once you get involved with the underground, there's no getting out of it."
Izuku shakes his head, "No, there is. It's difficult but possible with the right info brokers." He slides her Giran's card. Now, how would a ten-year-old even have underground contacts? Well, he doesn't, but his dad does.
Tons of their business cards are in those old cabinets. If Izuku's dad was over a century old, he made a very questionable decision to keep lots of classified, valuable information in an unsecured, dusty attic. It was an easy place where his son or wife could easily access it.
While digging through files, his son found the business cards for Giran, some guy named Re-Destro (it sounds similar to that old guy who ran the Paranormal Liberation Front), multiple mad scientists, assassins, and even neutral doctors! Technically, all Izuku had to do was bring the business card, and he could use any of these contacts!
All in theory. It all depends if Izuku being correct about how to use them. Meanwhile, the villain wore a shocked expression.
"W-What? How did you get that?" she shouted, but instead of being angry, she was in shock.
"That doesn't matter," he denied, "Do you want it? Giran can probably get you a new identity."
The woman thought about it before replying, "Could he get my kids new identities too?"
"You might have to give him a favor or pay money, but he can do both," Izuku answered. In truth, he had no idea who this Giran guy was. All the boy knew was he was an info broker who was good at his job.
"How much is it?" she asked.
"It's free," Izuku stated, "Even if you've committed crimes, you and your kids deserve a new life. I like to believe everyone deserves a second chance."
Now, that was something Izuku knew about himself. He likes to see the best in people. Like Shigaraki, who didn't give the best first impression yet taught the boy about video games and became friends (Izuku hoped he wouldn't care that he was quirkless.) Or like his father, who is a villain, but there's a chance he still had good left in him. It's an unlikely chance, yet there's still a chance. The ten-year-old was even willing to give Kacchan a second chance when he finally realized what he was doing wrong.
So why shouldn't that apply to villains? In Izuku's mind, they were now people too. Today helped him realize they need to survive. It doesn't excuse bad things they've done or apply to every criminal, but at least some are redeemable.
"Kid, with that mindset, people are going to take advantage of you," she warned.
"But you won't," Izuku confidently stated, "I can feel it!"
"Is there a way I can repay you?" Poison Ivy asked.
"Nope, I already said it was free," Izuku repeated, "Have a good day, mam!"
The boy walked out of the alleyway feeling content. It always felt nice when he could help someone. Villain or not, he helped someone with all of his father's records!
(Little did Izuku know, this was the start of his empire. Just giving one villain a chance helped change the purpose of the underground. Well, more than one villain, but that would happen in due time.)
Bonus Scene
Detective Naomasa Tsukauchi had been on several weird cases, and this one was no exception. At several different Gamestops, video games have been going missing. On the surface, this sounded like a generic case, but it was more than that.
No, the detective would have preferred a boring and simple case. At every Gamestop the thief had stolen from, the storage room would become a complete mess. The shelves would be knocked over, any hero-related games got destroyed, and video-game-themed graffiti littered the walls. Worst of all, the thief had been getting away with it for years. Even after he placed cameras and alarms in these stores, the criminal always managed to delete the footage, destroy the camera, and avoid tripping any alarms.
This time it was even worse. One window was a pile of dust and all the hero games were in a burning pile. Naturally, this spread to all the other games in the storage, destroying the entire supply. Other employees only noticed after the smoke alarms went off, but it was too late. Naomasa really didn't think this case would escalate so far after so many years of no change.
As he chugged another coffee while he did all the paperwork, the detective knew this was going to be one migraine-inducing case.
(Spoiler Alert: There wouldn't be enough coffee in the world to solve this case.)