Izuku felt like he was floating. The world around him was nothing more than darkness. Faint whispers too quiet too understand echoed in the back ground as he looked around. Turning his body a full three hundred sixty degrees he could see that the darkness was everywhere.
Cautiously he took a step forward, the ground around his shoes rippling as though it was water. He took a deep breath before taking his next step. Slowly his feet took him onward through the darkness. "What... Where am I?" he asked, only to be met with a long echo of his own words. He continued walking, his destination unknown as the darkness remained unending.
In what felt like hours he walked, never ceasing or feeling any form of exhaustion despite the time spent. His only companion was his own thoughts in this realm of darkness. "Why did Cell stab me?" he murmured out loud, uncaring of the echo. "Did he stab me to maintain cover? Was it the first step of a betrayal? Is he going to try to take everything from me?" he listed out potential reasons for Cell's actions.
As he continued forward he saw something strange, a lone light on the horizon.
He doubled his pace, the ground splashing around like raging water as he broke into a sprint. The light grew closer before he finally made it to the source. He stopped, his eyes growing wide as he looked at what stood in front of him.
Three Midoriyas, all of varying ages in different clothing and states of harm. The one to his left appeared to be in his mid twenties and wore a more advanced form of his current exosuit, a scar running over his left eye while his face was littered with burn marks. The one in the middle was the oldest of the three and dressed in plain business clothing, his body bound to a wheelchair. The one to the right was around sixty and dressed in a lab coat over top a set of futuristic clothing, a set of bizarre frames lining his waist and legs.
"What, what is this?" Izuku asked. "A Message/Demand/Death." the three answered as one. Izuku just stood silent as he stared them down. "We are you, or what you can become." The one in the lab coat said. "It a question you have to ask yourself." The armored one said. "We're your conscious, asking you to make up your mind." The one in the wheelchair said.
"Thank you." Izuku said as he looked at them. "So, each of you represent what I can become. One a villain who dies young, One a broken man who lived his life long, and One the inventor that everyone knows of." Izuku surmised as they nodded. His eyes drifting between the three of them before he huffed.
"You're leaving this to me, and me alone?" Izuku asked. The three Midoriyas nodded before they walked up to him, or rolled in for the one in the wheelchair. "Yes, it all depends on what you do next." The Villain Midoriya said. "Is there any explanation, or is this it?" Izuku asked. "Do you expect your mind to do that much, we're creations of your subconscious." The old one said.
Izuku just sighed; "How long do I have?" he asked. The other three shrugged in response as Izuku looked over them. He could feel something in the back of his mind, something slowly taking shape. The three looked over him, seemingly entranced by something behind him. Izuku turned and saw what he had been creating.
It was another Midoriya, different from the others. It appeared to he a mixture of the three before him. The Inventor bore the heaviest affect on his appearance, yet his age and appearance looked closer to the wheelchair bound Midoriya, bits of his clothing was also modified with pieces resembling his villainous exosuit. The new Midoriya looked at them and opened his mouth to speak.
Only for the world around them to begin shaking, fading away in a flash of light.
Izuku's eyes shot open as he let out a hoarse cough. "What?" he croaked out as he looked around. He couldn't lift his body but he could still move his neck around. "What?" he croaked again while his eyes looked everywhere.
Letting out calm breaths he took in the room around him. The room he was in was a hospital room, empty as possible. "Grand, but was that really me?" he asked out loud. The memories of that void and of the strange versions of himself, was it all a hallucination or just a nightmare? "Anyone?" he asked out loud.
He let out a crooked huff before a nurse walked in. She looked over him, he shot her a brief smile, and she called the front desk. Small footsteps caught his attention as he looked past them. The nurse began inspecting him, taking note of his condition as Nedzu walked in. "How do you feel young Midoriya?" he asked. "Ok." he croaked in response. The nurse turned to Nedzu, nodding for a second before walking out.
Nedzu walked forward with a small clipboard and crawled onto the bed. "Midoriya, I have some bad news." he said. "Yeah, they got my M.E.T., probably already took it apart already." Izuku said. "Yes, but that's not why I'm here." Nedzu said. "What happened?" Izuku asked with a tired tone. "That attack from the Villain stabbed through your spinal cord, the throw caused several of your spinal discs to be shattered. Everything below your ribs has been paralyzed." Nedzu said.
Izuku looked at the rat, wishing he was asleep again.
"Do you think he'll be mad?" Cell asked as he sat in the silence of the lair. "Without a doubt." Shockwave responded. "Worse than mad, he may order your deconstruction." Soundwave chimed in. Cell huffed before looking over at the lair. "Isn't that just great?" Cell said. "He will be furious, or even distraught." Soundwave said.
"Well enough with this, what are we going to do with that?" Cell asked while jabbing his thumb towards the M.E.T. in the corner. "Unknown, possibly weaponize it." Shockwave answered. "That's it, what else is even planned?" Cell asked.
"Current plans include the potential break out at Tartarus, The extraction of the Faria Laboratory, Project Legion, and the creation of your Perfect Form." Shockwave listed them out. "Good to know. Wait? why is my perfection at the bottom of that lost?" Cell asked. "You are already more powerful than all but three beings in the whole of the planet. You obtaining your greatest strengrh is of lesser necessity than the Faria Laboratory or the break out at Tartarus." Shockwave answered. "That, and Project Legion is slowly being used to aid the normal squadrons we have been utilizing." Soundwave chimed in.
"Great, more machines." Cell quipped. The A.I.s didn't speak, just letting out a brief hum. "Hey, come on guys, I wasn't insulting you guys." Cell said. All he was met with was silence.
"So, what is the plan?" Nedzu asked as he looked out at the gathered heroes around the large table. "We don't have a means to track down the stolen device, nor could we follow the machines through the ground." Cipher spoke up. "We have been compiling evidence, and strange seismic readings that have given us some sort of idea on their M.O., but that's it." Nighteye added in. Nedzu had to resist the urge to groan at the lack of leads.
One of their latest allies was attacked, targeted even, by the supposed Noumu Hunter. Nighteye's premonition on Midoriya being stabbed by a villain was true, going even farther than that. None of the doctors, not even Recovery Girl, said he would recover from his injury. Internally he's still holding out hope that the boy will make a break through, that such a mind wouldn't let such a thing stop him.
"So, we can't stop them?" Nedzu asked with annoyance. "Not yet, but we've been working on something for this. All this digging has been causing notable seismic activity. I-Island has been working on creating a device to find them. Until then we have several heroes with searching and detecting Quirks with their ears to the ground." Cipher said. "Alongside a dedicated task force hard at work to route out any possible connections the Mole has to the criminal underworld." Nighteye added in.
"Good, How long will it take for I-Island to be deliver the device?" Nedzu asked. "Three weeks." Nighteye answered, causing Nedzu to nod. "Understood, when we locate the Mole's lair I want to begin organizing a strike force. The sooner this villain is pulled out from this country the better." Nedzu said as the rest of the gathered heroes nodded.
Izuku looked down, his bed now adjusted to that he could lean forward. He had lost the use of his legs, Cell damaged his spine and now he can't feel his legs. For all the knowledge he held, this is something that would take getting use too.
Wait... His vision? hallucination? Whatever it was all had them without their legs. Did his body somehow know this? Was it affecting his subconscious even though he had yet to realize it? Just how powerful is the mind?
No, never mind that, he needs his phone. He needs to... What should he do? Cell's actions just put the heroes into death con four, and what is he about to tell them. He needs to get to the Faria Laboratory, but he can only get to it with his villain persona. At least, that was the old plan. He recalls the image of his three selves, the broken, the crippled, and the empty.
He couldn't just develop a sudden interest in the Laboratory, nor could he randomly search the area where Soundwave theorized it to be. His next course of action will set his future in stone. What can he do? How shall he do it?
He begins considering this. The dangers brought on by those he's opposed, the numerous villain groups, The H.P.S.C., so many other terrifying things that could end him. Hell, he wouldn't be surprised if the Commission was sending a squadron to this very location for the sole purpose of kidnapping him and storing him away, never to be found again.
He surpressed such a thought, remembering other such factors. His family was probably worried sick over him, if they were informed of this. That is doubtful though, the nature of the presentation meant few knew of its basic details, so his family is probably in the dark on this.
Still, his situation is rather horrid.
He grabbed a near by remote from the table and pressed it. It wasn't long until a nurse walked in. "Can you call Nedzu? I need my phone?" Izuku asked. The nurse nodded before walking to another table and handing him a small device. Izuku took a moment before he realized that it was his phone. "Nedzu had it rest on your table, he knew you would have wanted to call your family sometime soon." The nurse said. "Thank you." Izuku said. "Do you require anything else?" the Nurse asked. Izuku just shook his head before he turned on his phone. The screen glowed, showing a small crack along the screen that wasn't there last time.
The nurse left and Izuku checked his phone. It had been four days since the villain attack, and half a day since he woke up. He selected the family call on his phone and waited. 'What should I tell them? Should I ask if they could get Eri? No, I don't want to use her like that.' Izuku pondered as the phone slowly rang.
"Hey Izuku, how's it going?" his father's voice asked. "Ok, some villains attacked my recent presentation. Some other things happened, I'm... Fine." Izuku said. "What was that pause son?" Hisashi asked. "They took the machine, and I'm stuck in the hospital." Izuku said. "WHAT!!?" he heard his mother shout in the back ground. "Hey, mom. I'm OK. I'm just here to make sure they didn't cause anything permanent." Izuku said to comfort his mother.
"Izuku." Inko continued. "I'll bounce back, it wasn't the first time I got robbed." Izuku said. Inko just grumbled before his dad took over again. "Emi isn't going to be happy son." he said. "I know... Look what I'm about to say is something she can't know." Izuku said. There was a muffled conversation on the other end for a second. "Son, what happened?" Hisashi asked with great concern. "During the attack, I was injured, I've been paralyzed from the waist down and I'm unsure when I'll be walking again." Izuku dropped the bomb. There was silence on the other end as he waited for their response.
"Izuku..." his mother trailed off. "I know, it's horrible." Izuku replied as he heard his mother crying. "Son, who did this to you?" Hisashi asked. "I never got the full M.O. on who they were, all I know is that they were powerful." Izuku said. "Son, we're going to Japan." Hisashi said. "Dad no, if whoever attacked me found out about you then they'd go after you. U.A. and the police are currently keeping me safe, I'm not even allowed to say which part of Japan I'm currently in. I don't want you guys caught in the crossfire." Izuku said quickly.
"But Izuku?" his mother asked. "I'll think of something. I'm not letting this stop me mom, if I did then everything I've worked towards would be for nothing." Izuku said. He heard his mother sniffle as his dad moved to comfort her. "Son, you know we care about you?" Hisashi said. "I know dad, but this is just getting bigger, and I don't want you guys in harm's way." Izuku said. He heard hisashi sigh as his mother calmed down.
"If you need anything, call." hisashi said. "I will dad. I will." Izuku said. "Ok, anything else son?" Hisashi asked. "No, that was it, bye dad, bye mom." Izuku said. "Bye." Hisashi said with sadness. As he ended the call Izuku let out a deep sigh and let his phone fall to the side of the bed. He looked to the ceiling, feeling his mind go blank.
He let out gentle breaths as his hand grabbed his phone. He sent out a short series of commands to the lair before closing it and laying down. He adjusted the angle of his seat to give him a veiw of his legs and sighed. Any attempt to move his feet was met with nothing but still limbs.
"I need to beat this." Izuku said. "But how?" he asked himself. Plans began running through his mind as he ran a hand along his right leg. He recalled the details from his "vision" once more, the strange metal constructs running along the Inventor's legs. The oldest one was in a wheelchair and the villain was fully armored, so he had to use that one to set the example.
With calm precision Izuku felt along the other leg. Taking mental notes on he shape and weight of the legs. Plans forming as he imagined his next course of action after he gets out of this Hospital.