despite the scars

Chapter 24 - Duende

Izuku jumped along rooftops quietly, he was almost completely lost in thought. He couldn't decide what he should do, he could go defeat some villains and get his anger out, or he could go find All Might. Izuku thought over his options once more before settling on putting All Might in jail, though he knew he could never let the public see him, Izuku knew he needed to gain the majority of the public favor before he ever made a public stand against All Might, but before that he needed to contact a news outlet.

With his plan solidified Izuku began running faster, creating a few small balls of energy to trail behind him, Izuku took one large jump and landed on the ground below. He started running along the sidewalk, startling some of the civilians on the sidewalk, though they continued on, slightly used to seeing strange sights like these.

Izuku continued running, watching for any villains, he knew that a few would start to come out soon, the sunlight almost gone. Izuku ducked in and out of alleys, and at this point no more civilians were nearby, so Izuku didn't have to worry about startling any more of them, though he wasn't exactly worried about that from the start. 

Izuku paused slightly to listen more thoroughly to his surroundings, it was all unnaturally quiet, there was hardly any breeze and it showed in the hot and heavy air that surrounded the city. Izuku felt something off, no one was out tonight, which was incredibly wrong. Midoriya stiffened, something was coming, and he knew he couldn't stop it.

Izuku's eyes widened when he felt something stir under his feet, he tried to jump out of the way, but as soon as his feet could move they felt as if they were sinking into the ground. Izuku felt as if he were going in slow motion, though it may have been the balls of energy holding Izuku by his arms. When he realized what was happening, Izuku took back in the energy holding his body above the purple, swirling mass below him, and he fell into the familiar portal sitting below his feet.

For a fleeting moment Izuku lost his vision, along with any feeling in his fingers and arms, though Izuku was mostly expecting the sudden loss of senses, so he recovered rather quickly. When Izuku opened his eyes his back fell onto a warm mesh, which he assumed to be from the energy holding him up earlier. It gently turned him over, allowing Izuku to stand and look around the room he was dropped in.

The room was dirty, rusty, and resembled a prison. Izuku's head snapped up to the ceiling when he heard the portal fizzle slightly, seeing that it had been closed, leaving him alone in the dingy cell. There were bars separating him and the other side of the room, which just happened to also house a large, wooden door, supposedly leading to the exit. That in itself was no problem, the only problem was getting out of there without making the villains that took him hold a grudge.

Izuku sighed softly, he looked around the room, scanning the corners for anything that looked remotely like a camera. finding none, Izuku sat on the ground, huffing slightly when he stirred up dust, dirtying his previously clean pants. Izuku gathered a small bundle of energy, dropping it onto the ground, shaping it into a few small ants that skittered away shortly thereafter.

Izuku watched them leave before standing once more, waiting for the old door to open. It took a few minutes, but eventually a huge creek resonated throughout the room. Izuku waited patiently for the person behind the door to show themself. 

Izuku wasn't exactly surprised to see Shigaraki of the League of Villains behind the door, but he also wasn't expecting to see Hawks with him.

"Listen, kid, I know what you're going to say. But you don't deserve that!" Hawks motioned towards the wall, but Izuku understood that he meant the heroes didn't deserve him. "And if you join us, then- then you could be safe! We'd protect you from them, and you'd be happy! Th-" A more gravelly voice pitched in "Midoriya, you have no choice. I don't want to force you, but I will." Midoriya smiled gently at the two men, they were both terribly misled, but now was not the time to fix their problems. Izuku had what he needed, so he was going to leave.

Shigaraki scoffed lightly at Midoriya's smile, taking it as a polite refusal. Hawks backed up slightly, a worried look on his face, Midoriya guessed this is where the 'forcing' would take place. He kept the smile on his face as he froze the men's feet to the floor, he gathered the heat energy, swirling it into a wall separating them. He made the wall look and feel hot, it lashed out towards them randomly, though not actually hurting them.

Izuku exited the room, leaving the wall of heat energy in the doorway, and entering into another room very closely resembling a bar, though there were no patrons so Izuku assumed it was abandoned. Izuku looked around for a brief second, noticing the warp gate user standing behind the bar, obviously trying to look like he hadn't seen Izuku. Midoriya smiled in appreciation before jogging lightly towards the door that obviously led outside.

Midoriya opened the door and a gush of light hit his face, a second later a frustrated scream left the room he had exited moments ago. Kurogiri would retrieve the trapped men, and Izuku would continue catching villains. 

When darkness fell completely Izuku made his way back to UA, his plan needed to be executed tomorrow afternoon, but before that, he needed to buy some spray paint.

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So! I'm kinda excited, the climax is coming up soon, and I actually have a plan! This chapter wasn't as long as I wanted it to be, but what matters is that it got me where I needed to be! I don't think any more would comfortably fit in here with this chapter, so I made the very tough decision of posting today with a shorter chapter, than tomorrow with a longer one! Of course I'd love to hear y'all's opinions on that, I could always write another chapter and put in in with the last chapter! It's up to you guys!