CHAPTER 41: AWAKENING

A man dressed in a black and gray hero outfit with large oversized buttons made to look like screw heads, was frantically ducking through alleys and running, seemingly for his life. He used the metal drills he had for hands to tunnel his way into the walls of the abandoned buildings around him. Stopping to take a breather, he quietly hid in the darkness of the building. He was so sure he lost his pursuers.

"Drill Bit." A voice from the shadows said venomously. The hero now known as Drill Bit flinched and frantically glanced around for the source. "You ran pretty far." He knew that voice. It belonged to the shadowy masked agent of the H.R.D. The heroes that end up in Midoriya's narrow crosshairs that refuse to come in quietly and accept their punishment. This man was the ghost, the nightmare that came for them from the shadows and brought them in forcefully.

"If you think I'll willingly let my quirk be taken by that lunatic boy…" The hero's drill hands spun rapidly. "Then think again. I worked hard, I spent years training my quirk. I refuse to lose it!"

"I'm sure your wife would be happy for you to lose your quirk." The voice of the hunter spoke from the darkness. "What was it you said last time you beat her?" He asked mockingly. "If you ever speak of this to anyone I'll drill you full of holes. How fitting for the tunneling hero Drill Bit." He chuckled.

"Shut up! You don't know anything!" Drill Bit shouted back.

"We know plenty. We have enough evidence to bury you and your hero career." A tall figure with a black mask that covered everything but his messy hair and grinning mouth came out of the darkness. "Last chance to come quietly."

"Never!" The hero refused.

"I was hoping you'd say that." The masked agent licked his lips greedily. "I'm going to enjoy this."

"Bring it on you masked freak!" Drill Bit charged at him and the two engaged. The fight didn't last long. All it took was one cut on the hero's body and it was over. Drill Bit like many had no idea what the masked agent's quirk really was. Had he known then he might have been a bit more careful.

"How pathetic." Stain in disguise spat as he stared at the paralyzed form of this sorry excuse for a hero. "From what I've seen, having your quirk taken seems to cause the victims a lot of pain the longer he applies that gauntlet." He pulled out his phone and contacted his boss. "I hope Midoriya makes it hurt even more just for you pig." Stain said darkly as he punched in the coordinates. No sooner than he did that a portal opened up behind the fallen pro. The hero hunter roughly kicked the man into the warp gate and vanished back into the shadows he called home.

"Hello Drill Bit." The hero's eyes anxiously glanced around at a stark barren office. From his position on the floor he could see Izuku Midoriya glaring at him while he leaned against the desk behind him. "I hope my associate wasn't too rough on you." He spoke sarcastically, arms were crossed over his chest. "I could go into a slew of reasons as to why you're here, but I'm really not in the mood, so I'll just cut to the chase." He walked over to the soon to be quirkless man, bent down over him and gripped his face with his infinity gauntlet.

"Wait! Please wait!" Drill Bit begged, then started screaming as his quirk was forcefully drained from him. His drill-like appendages slowly reduced into normal human hands. Izuku left his unconscious body prone on the floor like a discarded ragdoll. He looked at his bare right hand and activated the quirk he just stole. In an instant the flesh and bones were turned into a metal drill that started spinning rapidly with just a thought.

"Hm. I wonder." An idea ran through his head. Izuku returned his hand to normal and repeated the process, this time adding something extra.

Drill+Gigantification

In an instant his hand morphed into an even bigger almost absurdly sized drill. The new appendage almost put a hole in the ceiling.

"Whoa!" He quickly put it all back into the soul stone to prevent himself from destroying his city office. "Okay don't try that outside of the training room ever again." The teen promised to himself. He then remembered the paralyzed unconscious and now quirkless hero laying in the middle of his office. "Someone come get the trash!" He called. The door opened and one of the tall Titan robots came in, ducking its head down so it could fit through the door. The machine grabbed the former hero's body by the leg and dragged it out. Izuku then noticed the detective standing outside the entrance watching the whole thing.

"I assume you're my next appointment?" The boy waved the older gentleman inside.

"Good evening." The man said politely as he walked into the office and introduced himself. "My name is Detective Naomasa."

"Nice to meet you. I know of you, but don't believe ever properly met have we?" Izuku greeted him and sat down at his desk.

"We did once." The detective supplied.

"Actually that was Himiko Toga impersonating me." Izuku corrected. "Sorry about that deception by the way." He apologized with an awkward smile.

"It's fine." Naomasa clenched his fist. It wasn't fine. Had they been clever enough back then and not underestimated Midoriya then maybe all this could have been prevented. "Water under the bridge."

"So what can I do for you?" Izuku asked.

"Well with how well you handled that Shie Hassaikai incident. I was hoping you could lend your help on catching the League of Villains." If anyone knew what the group was doing or where they were hiding it would be a former member. Midoriya's power could easily beat them without even trying.

"Let me be frank with you detective." Izuku folded his hands together. "I'm actually not supposed to involve myself with cases like these."

'Truth.' Naomasa secretly used his quirk, lie detector, to find out what he could while he was here in the real Midoriya's presence. "But then why were you involved in Nighteye's case."

"The quirk erasing bullet problem didn't just pose a threat to heroes, it posed a threat to all of society." Well not Izuku of course. Those bullets would have had no effect on him as his genetics had no quirk factor to begin with. "I petitioned the prime minister to briefly lift the restrictions that forbid me from using my infinity gauntlet to involve myself with hero and villain conflicts."

'Truth'. The detective's quirk confirmed the honesty in Midoriya's words.

"I would love to help you catch Shigaraki and his group." He continued.

'Lie.' So he didn't actually want to catch them for some reason, Naomasa concluded. "You must at least have some idea where they are though. Any leads to point us in the right direction?"

"I don't have a single clue as to the location of the League of Villains." Izuku said looking him straight in the eyes.

'Truth/Lie.' The contradicting answer that his quirk gave him told Naomasa one thing. That Midoriya didn't know where the league was, but he had an idea where they might be. Why would he not want to find them? What exactly was he gaining by letting the League of Villains continue to exist? Those were the real questions that plagued him. Trying to figure out what Midoriya was up to was like fighting a losing battle.

"Well…thank you for your time, Director Midoriya." The seemed like a waste of time after all. The detective was about to get up and abruptly leave, but Izuku's light chuckle stopped him.

"Don't go yet. You came all the way here. What else you got?" The teen asked him with a smile.

"I'm sorry?" Now Naomasa was even more confused. Something that always seemed to happen whenever this boy was involved.

"Listen we don't have to talk as officials. Show me something and I might just speak my honest advice as an everyday person and if you decide to take that advice well that's up to you." Izuku winked at him. "I was a very devious consultant and strategist for hire at one point in my life remember."

"I see." Naomasa smiled as well. It seemed that was the best he would get from him.

"Kurogiri was spotted in the mountains near Jakuu." Naomasa said while pulling out a pen and a small notepad.

"Alone?" The teen queried.

"Yes." He answered.

"Multiple sightings, in multiple locations?" Izuku asked and the law official nodded. "Pattern?"

"Random." Naomasa supplied.

"Seemingly." Izuku leaned back in his chair, contemplating this turn of events. "I remember that Kurogiri never left Shigaraki's side unless ordered. He's probably looking for something, or someone." He said in a way that implied he could do what he wanted with that info. "I get the feeling that All for One probably had other allies."

"Anything else?" Izuku wondered.

"Nothing that would require your immediate attention." Naomasa paused. "Actually there is one thing." The man pulled out his phone and searched for something. "There is this one case that's been causing a few heroes and police some frustration lately." He handed his phone to Midoriya who took it and saw that it was a video. He played it and watched the scene unfold.

"A villain that posts videos of his crimes online? That's absurd." Izuku chuckled. "How has nobody caught him yet?"

"Well for starters this Gentle Criminal fellow is very elusive." The detective explained. "Second, no high ranked hero will take the case."

"That damn competitive ranking system." Izuku said under his breath. "So many problems would be gone if they cared more about doing the right thing then their stupid worthless rank." He mumbled to himself.

"Also the man never keeps what he steals." Naomasa finished.

"He returns it?" The man nodded. "Well then I think this one is pretty straight forward."

"How so?" The detective questioned.

"He's clearly just doing this for attention. His actions are screaming. Notice me. See me. Look at me." Izuku would have laughed if it wasn't so pathetic. "He doesn't seem dangerous anyway. He'll slip up eventually and then you can catch him and his partner."

"His partner?" Naomasa raised a brow at that deduction.

"Someone's obviously operating the camera." Izuku shrugged. "Just have a low level hero or officer keep an eye on this Gentle Criminal case and it should be fine." He advised. "He doesn't even seem dangerous anyway."

"Well. Thank you for your input." Detective Naomasa closed his notepad and stood up.

"Your welcome." Izuku also stood up to see him out. "It was a pleasure meeting you. If you ever need anything, feel free to stop by the office any time." The detective nodded and then left the room without another word. Green eyes watching him leave until he passed the door's threshold.

Naomasa walked through the city headquarters of the H.R.D. He silently observed the various employees going about, mixed in with robotic drones that handled security, maintenance and menial tasks. Midoriya hired a lot of quirkless individuals. He didn't discriminate against those with quirks, but he made those without a quirk who couldn't get a job despite their qualifications due to bias, a top priority when staffing the building. This decision gave Midoriya even more positive publicity and added to the growing list of people who sympathized with his cause.

The detective never met the real Izuku Midoriya in person until now. Based off his initial impression when meeting the boy privately, he thought that he wasn't all that bad. He hated what he did to his friend Toshinori, but Midoriya seemed very pleasant, dare he say even a bit charming and engaging. He wasn't sure if that was all an act or perhaps real. His quirk only told him if people were telling the truth, not if they pretending to be someone they're not.

It was then he remembered something Toshinori told him about Midoriya.

"He's just a boy who acquired too much power. A boy at the bottom of society who dreamed of being at the top. I can't fault him for that. Given the temptation I probably would have ended up the same."

He could agree with that much at least. Midoriya wasn't a terrible person, and after what he did to the symbol of peace, he had yet to do anything villainous. As far as he knew.

'Maybe everything he did was good after all.' Naomasa thought as he passed by the tall robot dragging the unconscious hero through the lobby and out the front entrance.

Back in his office Izuku was going over a few reports that he left off of when Guillotine caught Drill Bit. There hadn't been an unworthy hero in a while. They had been cleaning up their acts ever since Izuku assumed his position of authority and made an example out of Mt Lady, Uwabami and Weather Dominator. Drill Bit required some investigation, but what ultimately sealed his fate was his own wife ratting him out. His personal phone rang, interrupting his work again.

'The hospital?' Izuku hoped it was some good news.

"Hello?" He answered.

"Director Midoriya." A doctor on the other end greeted. "You told me to call you as soon as young Eri was stable."

"She's alright then?" Izuku inquired.

"Oh yes. Just a case of quirk overuse." The doctor explained.

"I'll be there momentarily." He hung up. Without any more wait Izuku abandoned his work at the desk and opened a portal to the hospital.

ELSEWHERE

At the Nighteye agency a small service for the fallen hero was being held. It wasn't a large affair. Those in attendance included his sidekicks Centipeder, Bubble Girl and his only intern Mirio Togata. Ryukyu, Rock Lock and a few other heroes who participated in the raid also showed up. Erasure head attended along with Tamaki and Nejire who came to support their friend during the tragic loss of his mentor. Surprisingly Midoriya didn't show up. He had no real reason to be there, but many still expected him to at least make an appearance considering his part he played in the operation. However his so called knights appeared in his stead.

After the sidekicks said a few things about Nighteye, Mirio got up and followed with a eulogy of his own. Aizawa watched Iida from across the room. He'd been told by Nezu after he deciphered the message that Iida was working an angle from inside of Midoriya's department. Rather than become furious that the young man was putting himself in severe danger again, he chose to look at it rationally. From what the public knew about Midoriya and his hero trainees, they were free to walk away from his program at any time. So the fact that Iida could leave if things got too hot, gave him a bit of comfort and perhaps they could use the inside information to do something about limiting Midoriya's power.

Iida met his gaze and looked to Todoroki and Uraraka, silently telling him not to approach and speak to him as those two could not be trusted. Aizawa gave him a discreet nod in understanding. While they were silently communicating Centipeder and Bubble Girl brought Mirio Togata up to Sir Nighteye's office to have a private conversation.

"This is for you." The insect hero said as he handed a red colored cell phone over to Mirio.

"Thanks but I already have one." The blonde teen said gratefully.

"About two weeks ago Sir Nighteye received this in a package." Centipeder explained. "There was no name, return address or a message. The phone has no information, is untraceable and can only connect to one other phone. I think you know who."

"Allmight." Mirio realized. "So this is how they planned to keep in contact."

"Yes." Bubble Girl confirmed. "You put in a specific numerical password and it will connect you to Allmight. I think you know the password that Sir chose." Mirio looked around at all the former number one heroes merchandise that lay around Sir's office.

"Allmight's debut date." He answered.

"Correct. We believe Sir Nighteye would have wanted you to have this." Centipeder told him. "He would have trusted you the most to keep in contact with Allmight and let him know what's going on over here."

"You can count on me." Mirio said enthusiastically. A ringing caught all three of them by surprise. They looked to the red phone, but it wasn't coming from that. "Oh that's mine." The blonde student took his normal phone from his pocket. "Hello, this really isn't a good time."

"I apologize, this is East Hospital. You requested to be notified when the child Eri woke up." The doctor spoke.

"Oh thank you. I'll head over there now." Mirio was glad to hear more good news on a day like this.

"That's fine. Director Midoriya is already here visiting her." The doctor said before hanging up.

'What?' Lemillion paused in worry. His thoughts ran back to Sir's future vision and how it all hinged on Eri for some reason. "Alright. Thank you." He really needed to be there now.

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A sea of darkness filled her vision. Nothing, not a single star of light could be seen. In the midst of the silence, suddenly a voice could be heard. A gentle voice calling her name. The voice created warmth in the cold dark world. Suddenly light finally entered the world.

Eri finally opened her eyes to see the green haired Izuku Midoriya sitting by the foot of her bed with a friendly smile.

"Good morning Eri. Well technically its afternoon, but that doesn't matter." He said with light amusement. "Do you need anything? Fluffier pillow? Glass of water?" Izuku asked rather awkwardly not used to having to take care of someone in a hospital bed.

"W-Water." Eri whispered hoarsely. Her throat felt so dry.

"Here." Izuku gently handed her a glass and she took a sip. Her ruby eyes landed on the gauntlet holding the glass. He noticed her staring. "Pretty isn't it." He waved at her with it while sitting the glass back on the table and then held his device out for her to get a better look.

"I must apologize to you Eri." Izuku spoke softly. "That first time we met. I could have saved you from that man. I could have…no…I should have just ignored the law and did what my gut instinct told me was the right thing to do and for that I am truly and sincerely sorry." He bowed his head in shame.

"I…I didn't tell you the truth." Eri remembered how she wasn't honest with him when he asked her to be that day.

"Yes you lied." She flinched at Izuku's words expecting to be scolded. "You lied because you were scared. There's nothing wrong with being scared Eri. I'm not mad at you for that. In fact I'm not mad at you at all. I'm just relieved that you're okay." He smiled at her and reached out with his bare hand to pat her head. This girl, despite her fear, while in the middle of a battle of heroes and villains, gained the courage to reach her hand out towards him. One of the bravest things Izuku had ever seen.

"Now then. I know you have to be hungry Eri." He switched topics. "Whatever you want, name it and you'll have it." Izuku was fully prepared to grant whatever crazy request for food a child could want.

"A-Apples?" Eri asked for shyly. The director of the H.R.D almost fell over at such a simple and easy request.

"Your wish is my command." Izuku created a small portal off the side of the bed, by his knees, out of the little girl's sight. "Watch closely now." This was a little joke he sometimes did for Uraraka that always made her laugh. He reached into the portal which led directly to the food storage at H.Q. and grabbed an apple. "Tada!" He pulled it out, pretending like it was a magic trick. Eri's eyes widened and the sides of her lips twitched for a moment, almost curling into a smile, but failing.

"Here you go." He also grabbed a knife and plate through the warp gate, quickly peeling the fruit and chopping it into small bits for a child to eat. "Do you like apples Eri?"

"Yes." Eri reached out picked up a piece. She hesitated for a moment before taking a bite. Izuku smiled at her for eating. She ate a few more pieces before finally asking the question that had been on her mind. "What happened to Chisaki?" If he was still out there he would probably come back for her. He always did.

"You don't have to worry about Overhaul every again." Izuku chuckled. "It seems he ran a fowl with the League of Villains and won't be hurting you or anyone ever again." The media went with the story that he was killed by Tomura Shigaraki. All that was found at the site of the attack was Kai Chisaki's blood and a bit of ashes already passing into the wind. The police made the obvious conclusion never knowing what really happened to him and whose hands he really died at and that's how Izuku wanted it as far as anybody is concerned.

"I don't understand." Eri looked at him curiously.

"He's gone Eri. He's gone forever." He said with finality. She finally got that he was dead and started to cry. "It's okay." Izuku comforted her, placing a gentle hand on her back. "Everything will be alright now." Izuku had a bit of experience comforting sad children from the times he visited Dr. Higurashi and the children under her care. Most of the time they just needed a hug. Eri slowly stopped crying and reached out to grab his gauntlet covered hand for warmth, but flinched away when she felt the cold metal plating.

"It's perfectly safe." Izuku said showing her his device strapped to his arm. Eri stared at it in wonder, reaching out to touch it again which he allowed. "This is what gives me all those special powers you saw Eri." He smiled as he picked up the apple core with the reality stone and hovered it in his hand then dropped it back on her plate. "You have a special power too, don't you?"

"It's a curse." Eri looked away sadly.

"Now what makes you think that?" Izuku asked with concern.

"H-He said it was a curse. That it was bad. That only he could use it." The little girl looked to be on the verge of tears again, remembering all the cruel things Overhaul said to her.

'I should have killed him a few more times.' The teen thought to himself. "Do you know what Kai Chisaki was? He was a bully." He started. "Bullies are awful people that will say and do anything to make themselves feel stronger, but in reality they are weak and scared." Chisaki was certainly weak and scared. The man begged for an end to his suffering over and over again in his last moments. "And your power is not a curse. That was just a lie."

"B-But…I…made…" Eri choked. "My dad…disappear." That made Izuku pause. He quickly figured out what most likely happened. Based off what he'd seen her quirk do, if applied enough to an individual it could probably rewind them to a point before they even existed. When her quirk first manifested, she wouldn't know how to control it or turn it off.

'Her father probably tried to come to her aid like any sensible parent would and then…poof.' Izuku sighed sadly as his mind visualized the scenario. He sat on the bed next to Eri, placing his larger hand over hers. "It wasn't your fault Eri. No one can hold a child accountable for something beyond their control." Her tears started to slow. "Let me show you something." Izuku stood from the bed and walked over to the window opening it.

"That power I used to strike down Overhaul. The lightning I used came from a quirk." He activated that quirk and used it to create dark storm clouds in the distance over the city. "This quirk can be used to do terrible things if I want." He made the rain fall next, black sparks dancing between his moving fingers. "However. I can also use this quirk to do this." Izuku stopped the rain, parted the clouds and created a giant rainbow arching over the buildings. "Does this power look like a curse?" He asked with a playful smirk. Eri stopped crying her eyes widened in surprise and awe at the beautiful display.

From outside the hospital room a figure looked upon their interaction. Mirio watched Midoriya with a curious yet sharp gaze. He couldn't help but wonder just what the former villain known as Apotheosis was up to with this. Why did he seem so attached to Eri? What was the endgame here? So many questions he had yet to figure out. Mirio once again wished Sir was still alive, as he was so much better at figuring these kind of conundrums out.

One thing he did know was that he had to use that red phone and get in contact with Allmight as soon as possible. Let him know what happened and what his former sidekick saw in the future. Maybe they could prevent it. Maybe the future wasn't set in stone.

I have this weird roundabout way of writing sometimes. I'll write a chapter, then I'll doubt it, then rewrite it a few times and then I end up right back at square one and the chapter is almost exactly how it was originally. Frustrating yes. That was why that Doc Oc took so long to do. That's out now by the way, go read it if you're interested. Plus the end of Attack on Titan kind of put me in a funk and made it difficult to get into my writing headspace. I liked the ending. I just found it very tragic.

Drill is the last quirk he's going to steal for a long time. I didn't want him to have too many. Personally I feel that he doesn't really need anymore. He's got Hell Flame and Overhaul. That alone is crazy OP.

I'm most likely not going to do the cultural festival. I did have a funny scene in mind. Where Izuku and Mirio are competing at a carnival game to try and win a stuffed animal for Eri. That's really the only reason I had to do the festival, which I don't think is good enough, so I'm probably going to do something else. I read a lot of other stories to see what other people did as an alternative.

Shout out to Talespinner69 for asking to borrow my infinity stone concept for his alchemy themed arc in their story.

DID WE SERIOUSLY MAKE IT TO 10000 FOLLOWS!? NO FREAKING WAY!

I can't thank you guys enough. I'm really going to try and crank out more chapters now.

Also thank you all for the music suggestions. I really enjoyed them.