Traversing the icy tundra by hellhound soon proved to be a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it provided speed and warmth, meaning Izuku could reach the end both quickly and without losing any limbs to frostbite – a definite plus. On the other…
"You ok?"
"Uh-huh! Yep! Fine!" the third and only human-Cerberus asked from behind Izuku. Holding on to him to help keep him from falling off as the hound-Cerberus carrying them bounded along. Right behind him.
Extremely closely.
"You sure? I didn't think humans were supposed to be that red…" her concern only made the embarrassment worse.
"Yep! Fine! Totally normal!"
"Really? Humans are so interesting!"
And now I'm giving her weird ideas… he buried his face into the fur in front of him, only to remember that said fur still technically belonged to the girl behind him.
Focus on something else… Anything else…
"So, what'd you want that got you sent down here?"
Anything but that!
"Oh- That's- Well- That's- Uh-… You know…" he swallowed audibly, "… Stuff?" he screeched internally at how badly he was doing.
"'Stuff'?"
"Yeah… You know… Stuff!" if there was any surface nearby other than the person-hound generously giving him a lift, he'd be slamming his head through it.
"Oh! Right!" Cerberus nodded hurriedly, "That makes sense! Everyone loves stuff!"
"Arf!" dog-Cerberus barked in approval.
H-how did that work…?!
"Well, good thing you ran into Justice, then."
"Y-Yeah!" Izuku was eager to pick a safer topic, "The girl I met first seemed kinda…" What's a nice word for 'thinks even looking at me is too much effort'? "… Focused?"
"Met first?" he gave a brief description of the curly-haired glasses-wearing demon, "Oh! Yeah, Monica gets kinda grouchy without any coffee, and she's been out the last few decades."
"Oh, okay." he knew of a number of adults – adult humans – that acted half-asleep until they had some caffeine.
Wait, did Aizawa-sensei ever have a morning cup? He blinked in thought.
That… would explain a lot.
"So, if she'd had some caffeine, then she'd have been…"
"More than happy to skin you alive for questioning her judgement!" Cerberus happily provided.
Why is Hell like this?! At this point he was beginning to think running into Justice was literal divine intervention.
"Oh! We're here!" Cerberus nodded forwards. Looking ahead Izuku couldn't make out anything of note, but soon realised that was unusual in itself: He couldn't see any more of the unnerving spires further on, and as they continued onwards, the horrendous slush-hail began to thin. Soon, he realised the ground was becoming more compact and icy, until it gradually transitioned into something more akin to a frozen lake than the polluted-snowy mess.
The lake looks more unsettlingly black than I'd like, but still! It was progress!
And finally, soon after the lake started, a deep fog began to set in. Not clogged with bile or an unsettling miasma, but simply an extremely thick fog.
Hopefully the fog doesn't want to eat my soul or anything…
"Hey, record time!" he heard Justice exclaim from nearby, "Yo, Izuku, off Cerberus." she walked up to the side to help him down from the tall mount, "We've gotta do this last part on foot."
"'L-Last part'?" he echoed while dismounting Cerberus.
"Lake of Tentatio." she stated simply.
"… Which means…?" he asked nervously for clarification. Maybe it meant 'easy passing', or 'you made it!'
"Lake of temptation." of course…
His still-confused and mildly perturbed look conveyed the fact that the translation really didn't help much.
"It's a sort of… test separating Gluttony and Lust. You wanna get from there to here, it's a short walk. You wanna get out, well…" she smiled nervously, "It ups Gluttony's hallucination defence through the roof, across the sky and breaks the atmosphere." she gestured to the dense fog, "Plus, makes it almost impossible to see more than a couple of meters in front of you at best, and does something similar to your other senses. And it's an ice lake, which means if you take a wrong step, then…"
"Crack!" Cerberus mimed falling through the ice.
"Sploosh!" struggling in the water.
"Ach-ka-ka-!" drowning.
"I can swim…" Izuku pointed out.
"In an infernal mix of water, oil, excrement…?"
"… Why is Hell like this?" he sighed.
"We used to have block puzzles instead." she offhandedly mentioned while scanning the fog with her aviators raised, likely trying to puzzle out the best path to take.
"Trust me, this is less painful."
"I like block puzzles…"
"Block puzzles with demons, floor-spikes, and a system to claim your soul should you go over the move limit."
"… Nevermind."
"All right." readjusting her aviators, Justice turned to face him and wrangled the three Cerberi to pay attention as well.
"Cerberus and I can get through no problem, but you need to stay focused on what'll get you through temptation. You need to focus on what's important to you." she looked him in the eye, unable to state the obvious with the extra demon(s?) present.
Right… Ok… I need to get back to the surface. I need to give my power back to All Might and set this right. I need to set this right. He nodded to himself in resolve.
That's what matters… That's all that matters right now. Thinking about anything else opened up a whole world of issues: How out of his depth he was, how bad things could get if he failed, what would happen to him if he failed, what would happen to him if he succeeded, everyone he'd left behind…
Getting to All Might is all that matters right now… he shook off the errant thoughts and nodded to Justice, making it clear that he was ready to go. His goal was set, and nothing else would distract him.
"No matter what, just keep walking straight on and you'll be fine."
In the end Justice led the way, holding Izuku by the hand while Cerberus followed suit. In spite of the fact it was logically the best way to stop him from getting lost as long as possible, he could still feel the slightest amount of heat in his cheeks. Regardless, he pushed on. Focused on what was important.
After venturing into the fog, it was soon clear Justice hadn't exaggerated. If anything, she'd sold it short. Despite holding their hands, Izuku had trouble even making out their forms in anything beyond a silhouette. With his sight gone, he tried to fall back on hearing, but soon their footfalls on the ice turned from a notable click-click-crack-crick into the numbest of vibrations through the air.
Trying to use smell was a dead end thanks to the strong scent of cremated meat permeating the air, and the moment he was tasting anything was the moment a lack of senses was the least of his worries. With all else failing he fell back to touch, focused on the guiding hand of Justice piercing through void and leading him to what mattered. Soon, however, he began to hear whispers in the air. At first the sound of light wind, which slowly morphed into familiar voices.
"Midoriya? Who's that?" the combined voices of his childhood classmates reminded him of how forgettable he was.
"Thanks for the help, but they had people on standby, so to be honest you just made me overuse my quirk…" one of the only people he'd had a decent conversation with after the incident a year ago pointed out that even when he tried to help, all he did was make things worse.
"My career, my husband, my life… I had to give it all up to look after you…" he realised that the only person who'd ever cared for him did so at huge personal cost.
"You can't do anything right…" a gravelly voice taunted him, one that had persisted for as long as he could remember, "You couldn't ever stand on my level. You couldn't even survive me. You can't fool anyone – you're just a worthless Deku…"
That's… he slowed down, losing the will to go on.
That's… That's not what matters… he weakly shook off the thoughts, focusing instead on what was important.
All that matters is getting out, giving One for All back… No one else matters – I don't matter… The only person that matters is-
"Young Midoriya!" he froze at the familiar, masculine voice.
"All… Might…?" he tried to look around, only to be met with the familiar thick fog.
"Young Midoriya! Can you hear me?!" with no other stimulii, Izuku tried to locate the direction of the voice.
"All Might…? What…?" his head felt hazy, the fog taking its toll. But not enough to forget what he'd been warned of.
"No, this is just a hallucination! You can't be here, you're…" he tried to shake away the thought.
"You can't be!"
"Yes, about that…" the voice of All Might chuckled heartily, "Do you… Have any inkling as to where we are?"
"We're…" Izuku paused, "You mean you don't know?"
"Precisely!" the voice declared, "After the…" he paused, "The incident, I was able to track One for All's power! It's a tad complicated – I barely understand the process myself, to be honest, but the long-short of it is that this is but a fragment of my true form – the vestiges of my power!"
But then… he tried to puzzle out what 'All Might' was claiming, Why would it take so long-
"When we recovered you, I'd hoped Recovery Girl would be able to save you from the worst, but despite hours upon hours of effort – we tried everything we possibly could… But in the end…" the long pause said everything it needed.
"This was a last-ditch effort – if my vestige fails to recover One for All, everything will be lost! I cannot apologise enough, my boy, but-"
"No, that's…" Izuku needed a moment to think. He'd been told by… he felt a spike of pain as he tried to access a memory now obscured.
Someone had told him that things here weren't as they seemed. The idea that All Might had this ability, and he chose now to exercise it, was ridiculous.
But… What if time isn't as it seems either?
In the past, he'd thought minutes of hours spent watching hero footage, analysing quirks, reading, playing strategy games because you just need a few more minutes to get something done but then something else comes up and then something else and something else ad infinita. He'd thought hours of minutes spent withstanding his friends' 'quirk practice', the burning heat of his explosions sending searing pain rippling through his arm and all across his body.
If that was all it took to distort the perception of time, then wouldn't death, hypothermia and supernatural fog be a given? He thought he'd only been trekking through for a few minutes, but what if it was hours? What if he'd spent as much time in the hellfog as the rest of hell?
And if All Might did have that ability, then he wouldn't use it immediately, right? He'd wait – for Recovery Girl, for hospitals, maybe for specialists U.A. had to send for and took hours, all in the hopes of saving someone. That's what he did! He saved people!
And if that's the case…
"Young Midoriya, I must apologise once more, but I must ask that you hurry to me!"
"Huh?"
"Well, it seems that my leg has broken through the ice, and beneath is… indescribable. And pulling."
"What?!"
"I don't think I can make it to you, and if you do not return the power to me…"
"Right, right!" Midoriya quickly tried to locate the direction of All Might's voice, and soon knew which way he needed to go. But something felt amiss. Like this was the easy way out.
I made a promise to fix this… Is this really all I need to do…?
"Young Midoriya, I understand that this is a difficult situation…" All Might spoke with sympathy – empathy – like he could understand the turmoil Midoriya felt, "You feel you must correct this mistake by yourself. It's a feeling I know all too well…" his tone betrayed pain, loss, "You feel that you have erred, and that the hard path is what you must take in order to make it right. But please, believe me when I say: Nothing could be further from the truth. You have already dealt with great pain, already paid a great price… You need not suffer any more. Please, I beg you…" the final words were pleading, soft yet almost desperate, "Just find me, and give up your power. That's all you need to do."
"That's…" Midoriya paused. He wanted to return the power, to fix his mistake, to ensure his fate wouldn't hurt anyone else. That's all he wanted. If he had to endure pain, suffering, torment, to get there, then so be it. But it wasn't as if he were a masochist. If he could fix everything, right here? Right now?
"I… I think I can hear where you are." he began pushing in the direction he'd heard the voice.
"Thank you, young Midoriya!" All Might kept talking to help guide him. Offered him apologies for what had happened, commended him for what he was doing, before soon All Might came into view, his leg partially trapped in the ice as he'd said. He was in his muscular form – probably because of his manifestation as One for All, and smiled at Midoriya with an outstretched hand.
"You need only take my hand, and it shall be returned. All will be well. Please, just give up One for All… Give up the power I entrusted upon you…"
Just… Izuku's eyes became almost listless, the relief from giving up his burden prompting the cold, the exhaustion, the sadness to all wear down at his psyche.
Just… Give up… he took All Might's hand.
"Your decision will ensure all is as it should be."
CRACK
No sooner had he taken the hand than the ice beneath him began to give way, huge cracks running through the surface in an instant and snapping him awake. Panicked, he looked at All Might again. His smile had morphed, the smallest of changes taking it from reassuring to unsettling, the shadows under his eyes revealing a single iris, its signature blue glowing a sinister red.
"You are unworthy."
The ice opened, the writhing darkness beneath consumed Izuku. He called out for help in desperation before he fell in, the liquid pulling him down and quickly filling his emptied lungs with waste. The smell and taste burned as he struggled for air, throwing up the contents of his lungs and then some, only to take in another round. Within moments he was light-headed, within seconds his panic receded to haze as he struggled to stay conscious.
I… I just… Wanted… to… he closed his eyes.
"Eck, I hate it in there…" Justice looked back at the wall of fog, glad to finally be out of such a numb environment.
Aaaaand he's gone… she hadn't expected Izuku to be able to keep hold of her hand, but she'd been surprised at the fact she'd never noticed his slipping away. Even his horribly bright soul became muted in there, and as she needed to focus on going forward before keeping track of him, it had slipped away.
Still, he's determined – shouldn't be long…
"I never want to use the lake again…"
"Even paperwork is better… Almost…"
"Interesting smell though…"
Of course Cerberus came out first – that made sense. She was another demon, guardian of Gluttony to boot, so it was only natural she'd make it through faster than a mortal. Izuku would bring up the rear any second now.
… a few seconds passed
Any minute now…
… a minute passed
Any time now…
…
…
…
A startled cry called out from within the fog.
"… Shit." Justice thought for a moment before quickly kicking at the ice beneath her feet.
The fog is designed to dull everyone's senses, but the lake is designed to eat away at all she knew he was gone already, but that didn't mean she wouldn't try.
"Does it really matter that much?"
"Just leave him to whatever."
"He smells nice, but isn't this a bit much?"
She broke through the ice despite Cerberus' protests.
"Urgh!"
"That's disgusting!"
"Let's just go say hi to Monica!"
Even without Cerberus' enhanced sense of smell, Justice had a hard time not throwing up – they clearly didn't cheap out with the lake's contents. Putting a toe in this was the last thing any being, supernatural or otherwise, would ever want to do, let alone going for a swim in the stuff.
But I made a deal… I finally found something to do that could actually matter for once… No way I'll let a sea of shit get in the way of that!
Diving in was almost enough to make her instantly regret her decision. Demons not needing to breathe in hell didn't shut down their senses of smell and taste, but for the first time in a while she really wished it could. The sensation of swimming through the bile felt akin to pushing through mouldy socks fermented in old urine while stinger-clad nails washed against her skin. It was a struggle to keep going, let alone forcing her eyes open to search for Izuku. She almost wanted to give up. Almost.
Ok, come on, bright soul, bright soul, bright soul- There! Spotting a speck of white amidst the dark expanse she ploughed forward, pushing the pain and stench out of her mind. After a torturous half-minute she'd grabbed onto Izuku – his soul still present, but rapidly fading. Her first instinct was to swim to the surface, but that would just leave a fading Izuku in an isolating fog – she needed to get back out of the lake.
Might as well get out on the right side.
Not exactly an orthodox method, but that concept's been questionable for over a millennia now anyway…
After dragging Izuku with her back to the Lust side of the lake she threw him up and out of the soul-crushing fluid, only able to find the hole she'd made earlier thanks to Cerberus staying put. With her help she pulled herself out of the drek and, after quickly shaking a bulk of it off her arms, ran over to the fading soul.
Ok, the form hasn't collapsed – good, good, could be worse, but he's not moving, not breathing and – she opened one of his eyes and snapped her finger in front of it – not responding, so it could definitely be better.
Having checked that it wasn't hopeless she began CSR – cardiospirituous resuscitation – but every second she tried to restore his being a little more just seemed to slip away, his shell slowly growing more and more translucent.
Come on, damn it…
"I didn't go… through all this… literal shit… for you to just… give up on me-" she exclaimed between compressions before a hound-form Cerberus suddenly started licking at Izuku's fading form.
"What are you-"
"That stuff's leeching off his soul faster than you can restore it."
"Gotta get it off… blech!" they all winced at the horrid taste of substance Justice had been desperately trying to avoid getting in her mouth. While they tried to get him clean (relatively speaking), she redoubled her efforts.
"Why are you… Helping…?" one of the Cerberi merely shrugged.
"I dunno… bored, I guess?"
"And it seems important to you for some reason, so…"
"Arf!"
Unable to suppress a smile at the thought, Justice focused on trying to restore his spirit for the next few minutes. Meanwhile, Cerberus got rid of the last of the lake detritus, before her human forms started desperately scraping as much of the crap as she could off the dog-form's tongue. From the disgusted look on their faces, it wasn't helping much.
Come on already… his shell finally solidified, and she could begin to feel the soul beneath stirring.
Come on-
"cough- wha- BLECH!" he finally woke up, and promptly up-chucked the contents of his lungs. And probably stomach.
""Ewww…"" both human Cerberi groaned, while the hound let out something between a growl, groan and whimper at the sight.
"What- cough- what happened-"
"You fell in the lake…" she paused for the fact to sink in, "You ok?"
"Huh- I-…" he blinked a few times, "I guess…"
"Ok…" she sighed, starting in relief before it built into frustration.
"The next time I say walk straight," she flumped back and started shaking crap off her arms, "you walk straight!"
"Huh? But…" he looked around at the scene before piecing together what had happened, "B- but I did what you said! I focused on what was important and only that! All that matters is giving the power back, nothing else is important! Not what happened, not any of my friends or family, not what'll happen to me, not my-"
"What?!" Justice spluttered, "Sweet Satan, man, I told you 'focus on what's important', not 'become a trash-tier edgelord'!"
"W-What?"
"You were supposed to focus on what mattered to you, the reason you're doing this! Family and love and all that crap!"
"But I-"
"Forgetting about the underlying reasons would've just made you easier to manipulate!"
"I didn't-"
"You might as well have been broadcasting 'Please deceive me!' on HPR! Are you trying to get send down to Judecca-"
"I'm SORRYOK?!" Izuku screamed in a broken voice, "I'm sorry I didn't understand what you asked! I'm sorry I held us up with the cold! I'm sorry I made you break the rules, sorry I got sent down here in the first place-"
"-hey, I didn't mean-" her interruption was ignored.
"I'm sorry I dared to think I could ever fight someone like Bakugou! Sorry that I thought I could ever fight any hero, sorry that I deprived someone better of this gift - sorry I thought I'd ever be able to come to close to someone as amazing as All Might! I'm sorry that I chased after something I never had any business or right to, sorry that I was such a burden to raise, that I ruined everything I touch, I'm sorry that I EXIST!"
His breathing was ragged, his face red and tears spilling down them after the outburst. Justice felt like she couldn't breathe, scared that anything she said would just set him off in another direction. After a few moments of quiet, Izuku got his breathing back under control, trying in vain to wipe the still-leaking tears from his eyes.
"I just wanted to help…" he finally deflated.
"I just wanted to help someone… anyone…"
A few more moments and he'd fallen silent. Justice's eyes drifted over to Cerberus, who was looking between the two in a mixture of shock and confusion.
Guess we'll have to explain, but one thing at a time…
First she had to address Izuku's… state. After being down here for so long, casual treks and mystical fog was practically a day at the office for her. She'd forgotten – no, she'd never known – how overwhelming it must be to go through all this for a mortal… Add in the fact he was recovering from the shock of death, and…
Yeah… she clicked her tongue, That's another one on me…
She'd figured she'd give an abridged version when they got here, but then with Cerberus present giving the full rundown became more problematic. Maybe she could've thought of a detour or distraction, but it would've taken time she really didn't want to use up. She'd thought they could just power through… and it had nearly blown up in her face.
Regardless, she needed to say something, lest he spend the rest of the trip isolated and untrusting, but she doubted apologising for a lack of transparency would be the most helpful right now. So instead…
"… Hey." she sat down beside Izuku's form, sitting cross-legged and open in contrast to his foetal-position.
"… Mind if I ask you something?" he didn't give much of a response, but the slightest turn of his head gave Justice the confidence to go on.
"Why do you want to help?" he blinked at the question, the expression on his face barely changing, but eyebrows lowering enough to convey he was confused at the question.
"I mean, down here we basically just deal with a never-ending stream of selfish assholes. Pretty much synonymous with humans at this point, for me. And while we were up on Earth, there wasn't really much of anyone who challenged that idea." she opted to take her sunglasses off, thinking they'd just look impersonal for this, "So why're you different?"
Izuku seemed to consider her question. He seemed ready to give an answer pretty quickly – probably something generic like 'because it's what heroes do' or something, before shutting his mouth and reconsidering. Justice didn't pressure him at all, content to await a better answer, and in a few minutes she had one.
"I guess…" he whispered quietly, "It's because… The only reason I can keep going is because of people that help." he sighed.
"Back when I was a kid, I basically just wanted to be a hero because it was cool – same as everyone else. But then, when I found out I didn't have a quirk, being a hero was impossible… Being basically anything was impossible… I just… Didn't know what to do. What I could do. But through all that," a small smile came over his face, "I still saw heroes saving people… Saving everyone they could… Young or old, mean or kind, q-…"
"Blessed with a quirk or not?" Justice filled in.
"Yeah… And seeing all those heroes – all those people – trying their best to bring as much safety and joy to anyone they could… I guess I just thought 'If I'm a hero- if I can help people, then I'll be…'" he paused, "Then I'd be… Well, I'd have done something. I wouldn't be worthless, or empty, because I brought joy to someone else… And that would make me worth something…" he nodded slightly as the assessment, before sporting a self-depreciating smile.
"Guess it's a pretty selfish motive, all things considered…"
"… You know, as much as we use it as a dirty word… Being 'selfish', wanting to be happy, or worth something… That's not sinful, or even bad as far as I'm concerned. I would say it's 'just human', but it's something you find in demons, angels, gods, lizard-people…" she cracked a smile when she saw the look on his face.
"Gotcha. But the point is, I think you're being too hard on yourself. If I saw someone that didn't want anything, well…" she shrugged, "They just sound like a whole lot of nothing. Plus, not sure I could trust someone like that." she sent a smile his way, "Besides, if being selfish means you want to help other people, isn't that a good thing?"
"Heh…" Izuku chuckled dryly, "Yeah, if you succeed… I just wasted everyone's time and effort…" Justice paused at the idea, before shifting her gaze to stare up aimlessly into the sky.
"… So you're saying trying is pointless if you don't succeed?"
"Well, I guess…"
"Hm…" she considered her next words. Considered whether they'd be useful. Whether she wanted to say them.
"… You know, Hell wasn't always like this." In the end, she considered it worth a try.
"Like what?"
"This." She gestured vaguely, "Organised, layered, full of mystical barriers…"
"Sounds nice." Izuku smiled ruefully.
He dropped it after seeing Justice's expression.
"It was just a flat landscape with one rule: Survival of the fittest. Demons fought in turf battles every day, human souls that wound up here were just meat for the grinder… You know the expression 'war is hell'? Comes from that - Hell in a constant war with itself."
"Sorry…" Justice shrugged.
"Don't mention it. But in all that time, there were countless demons that hated how things worked. Almost everyone wanted something better, but not many were willing to do something… I can still remember a lot of old… Well, not 'friends', but demons I could respect, that tried to change things. They ended up erased for their efforts…" she glanced back at Izuku.
"They didn't succeed. Were they pointless?"
He didn't have an answer to her question. She didn't expect her to.
"Answer: no. If you try and fail, it's still better than never trying. In part, because the effort in itself was worth something. And in part, because if you try a second time, a third, a fifth, a tenth, a hundreth – thousandth? If you keep improving, you'll succeed. Or maybe your efforts will be taken up by someone else, maybe you'll inspire them. Maybe they'll inspire the one to succeed. Maybe you won't, but if enough people try anyway, maybe one will succeed. And that's all it takes." she sighed.
"Point is, effort towards something you care about is never pointless. Sometimes it's just hard to see the point from where you're standing." she looked to Izuku with a grin.
"For example, sure, you failed from your perspective. But your efforts culminated in me getting to befriend a mortal I actually like." she stood up and brushed herself off, trying to remove some of the dried Tentatio muck.
"And as I'm definitely worth something, that means you are by extension. See?" she put her sunglasses back on, "Sometimes you just have to think about it from a different angle!" she offered Izuku a hand.
"… Heh…" Izuku chuckled, "I'm not sure that's how it works."
"'Course it is!" Justice beamed, "Now are we gonna go save the world or not? Arm's getting tired here…"
"… Sure." he accepted her hand with a smile. One that seemed truly genuine for the first time since they'd met. Before long they were on their way through the next ring…
"Um, can I ask a question?"
"Shoot."
"Well, um- actually, it's more a request and a question-"
"Shoot."
"Well…" he held an arm in his hand, as if afraid to even ask, "It's just… I was thinking… I know the priority is returning my power – I wouldn't ever question that and obviously-"
"Your request…?" Izuku sighed.
"I mean, If there's time… Is it ok if I say goodbye to-… to my mother?" Justice blinked at the request, "I mean, looking back there's so much I wish I'd said and she was really worried about what I wanted to do and then I just up and died on the third day and the more I think about it the more I regret-"
"Sure."
"-and I know it's probably breaking more rules and I don't want to get you in any trouble or anything but-" he cut himself off.
"… What did you say?"
"Sure." she nodded, "Can't drag it out too long or anything but she should be near where we've gotta go anywhere, right? Can't see a problem with that."
Izuku proceeded to burst into tears. Because of course he did.
Yeah, probably should've expected that.
"And you said you had a question?" she was keen to try and continue on.
"Oh…" Izuku wiped the tears from his eyes, "What… I mean, if this is difficult then I totally-understand-and-wouldn't-want-to-pressure-you-into-"
"Dude, I said shoot."
"Well, it's just… If hell was this horrible place – more horrible, I mean – then what changed? Or, I guess… Why did it change?"
"Same reason the mortal realm's still got a decent shot." she smirked at Izuku's confused look.
"Me."
A/N:
And so we're out of Gluttony! Apologies if this chapter was a bit much; I felt like we needed to see Izuku is, in fact, human, and not exactly able to just take everything in stride. I'm still not 100% happy with how the whole thing played out but I could edit this for weeks and still not be happy; as this is proving so popular I want to try and actually have something resembling a schedule, so I needed to just get this out so we can move on. Next chapter will be substantially lighter to compensate.
On a far more positive note, thanks to ProjectIceMan over on Spacebattles commissioning Icarus Fanarts we now have the first piece of fanart ever made for a fic I've written, which is insane! Unfortunately I believe FFN doesn't like links, so if you want to see it you'll have to head over to SpaceBattles or AO3
As per usual feel free to comment with thoughts, feedback, criticism etc.; I do read them all but only respond when I really feel the need. And also remember, that helps too - I have the memory of melting colander.
See you next time!