The boy’s eyes fluttered open for a few seconds, before slamming shut again. He groaned, silently cursing himself for forgetting to close his curtains. It was way too early in the morning to be awake. Warm sheets pressed back against his bandaged legs as he rolled over-

Wait, I wasn’t at home.

His eyes flew open this time. Izuku sat up straight quicker than a soldier at attention and looked around frantically. Fluorescent lights, the smell of disinfectant, numbingly white bed sheets… He was in some kind of hospital.

Izuku’s head spun. The taunting voices, the gloating grins… Oh right; the League Of Villains had kidnapped him. But why was he in the hospital now?

His gaze fell to his bandaged limbs.

The six quirks… That’s how I escaped-

He snapped his head to the side as the hospital doors slid open. Two familiar figures rushed towards his bedside, and tears welled up in his eyes. They were alright. He was alright. He was safe now.

“Careful, All Might.” Aizawa’s usual gravelly voice felt like a nice warm blanket this time. “The boy’s still injured.”

“R-right.” All Might pulled himself away before he crushed Izuku with a tight hug. “Young Midoriya, I’m so glad you’re alive. I’m sorry I couldn’t save you. Some Symbol Of Peace I am…”

“I understand that you’ve just woken up, but we have some urgent questions for you.” Aizawa pulled up a chair. “Are you in any condition to speak now?”

Izuku nodded.

“As expected of a U.A. student.” The man’s voice was full of relief. “Alright, then. How did you escape?”

The boy paused for a moment to recollect his memories, before spilling everything to them. He recounted every event that proceeded after his capture, from Felix’s experimentation on his body to the six new quirks manifesting from One For All’s crystallisation. The two men remained quiet throughout, but it was obvious that they were itching to ask more questions.

“So you have all the previous wielders’ quirks now, because One For All itself is evolving?” All Might began slowly, as if he was also trying to convince himself to believe it. “I’ve never heard of that happening before. Well, how do you feel? Can you wield them now?”

Izuku shook his head. “I could use them fine before, but I think it’s because I was in a ‘life and death’ situation. Even so, the strain of keeping them activated was tremendous, and my control over them was rather intermittent. I can’t really feel their power now.”

“At any rate, we’ll have to learn more about this new power. I’d say that this is uncharted territory for all of us,” All Might said. “I’ll get in touch with Gran Torino; see how much he knows about the previous wielders of One For All.”

The boy turned his attention to Aizawa.

“Mister Aizawa, is it true that Felix is with the League Of Villains?”

Aizawa looked down regretfully. “Yes. He has always been with them, ever since the first day he set foot in our world. It was a pity that the first people he met were the villains, who only further affirmed his poisonous beliefs. It’s obvious that he’s had a troubled past, and now he’s taking it out on our world.”

“When he tried to capture me, his power seemed out of control for some reason. Did that have anything to do with the heroes?”

“No.” An unfamiliar man in office attire entered the room with a young girl in tow. Izuku effected a small smile in recognition.

“I trust you two have met, although your memory of her might be hazy at the moment.” Nighteye gestured at the shy looking girl. “This is Eri; she was the one who found you and called for help. It was fortunate that one of my interns was nearby, which is why you aren’t still lying on the streets right now.”

“Thank you, Eri.”

“In case you don’t already know, I am Sir Nighteye, a pro hero and All Might’s former sidekick.” The man turned to Aizawa briskly. “For once, luck is on our side. Eri here has encountered Pagonis.”

“Really?” Izuku’s voice was louder than expected.

“In fact, the whole reason why Pagonis’ power has been flaring out of control is most likely because of her. My agency, along with a few others, has been investigating the Shie Hassaikai,” Nighteye continued. “Because of Eri right here, we can now confirm that they have been manufacturing some sort of quirk deleting drug using her power. The League Of Villains has been sighted dealing with them recently, which shortly preceded the destruction of their headquarters and the death of their head.”

Aizawa raised an eyebrow. “So you mean to say…”

“Yes. In some twisted sense of fortune, our supervillain has already taken down the Yakuza for us and left enough evidence to incriminate those who survived. Our planned joint operation was reduced from a large-scale raid to merely coordinating with the police for evidence collection.”

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

“That boy…” All Might muttered to himself. “He keeps calling himself a villain, but he’s still helping the heroes.”

“Hero? Like that glowing pink man who saved me?” Eri spoke up.

The room fell silent, unsure on how they should even respond to her innocent question.

“Do you know who he is?” Aizawa asked quietly.

“No.” Eri shook her head. “But I know I felt safe with him. He felt like… a hero.”

Nighteye closed his eyes for a moment, before ushering her back towards the door. A look of thorough confusion hung on her face, but she obeyed him anyway.

The doors closed.

“Mister Aizawa, I understand that Felix is a villain now, and he needs to be apprehended,” Izuku said solemnly. “But he is clearly not beyond reason. I know I’m in no position to demand anything from your pro heroes, but I believe he should at least be given a chance to give up without a fight.”

Aizawa hesitated, and Nighteye took the chance to release an audible sigh.

“You’re a chip off the damn old block.” The man shook his head, before glancing at All Might. “He may still be reasoned with, but he is beyond saving. We have already secured a device that can potentially send him away. Sorry, kid. We intend to use it the moment we get a solid chance to do so.”

“But-”

“Don’t worry, Midoriya.” All Might gave the boy a small smile. “I promise we’ll give him a chance to surrender.”

Izuku relaxed his pursed lips.

“Get well soon, Midoriya. We have work to do.” Aizawa tapped the boy’s shoulder gently. “Training will begin in earnest once you recover. This war is inevitable. Best be as prepared as you can be.”

He cast his gaze downwards as the men opened the doors to the entire Class 1A swarming into the room.

~ ~ ~

“Who would’ve thought that the notoriously elusive Eraserhead was so involved with Japan’s Number One villain? You’re certainly good at hiding your true strength.”

Aizawa cast his gaze to the smug looking winged hero, who was casually chewing on an apple with his back facing the wall.

“Hawks, what brings you here today?” he asked, ignoring the minor jab.

“The Hero Billboard chart. Haven’t you heard? They ranked all the heroes again. I’m the Number Two Hero now, and Endeavour has risen to the top. Though if you ask me, I think he just gained popularity only because he’s on a medical hiatus now.”

“If there’s nothing else for us, All Might and I will take our leave.” Nighteye ushered the former Number One Hero on his way before things got a little too awkward.

Aizawa did not protest. The Number Three—No, Number Two now—Hero obviously had something private to discuss with him, or he wouldn’t have purposely made such insensitive remarks to drive All Might away.

“I’ll be honest, all those rehashed PR lines during that conference were driving me nuts. Who even wants to hear all that canned crap? Stain, maybe?” Hawks flicked imaginary sweat off his forehead dramatically. “Our Great Symbol is no more. At this critical juncture, why’s everyone playing it so safe? If you ask me, we need to change how we do things. I think we should stop pretending and start saying what’s on our minds.”

The teacher folded his arms, nodding his head in affirmation. All sense of playfulness retreated from Hawk’s eyes as he pulled out a book from his jacket.

“Meta Liberation War? What is this about?” Aizawa raised his eyebrow.

“So you haven’t read this book, huh? Well, you should.” Hawks pushed the book closer to him. “It’s gotten really popular recently. It was written a while back, but it has predictions about the future that seem pretty relevant today. I’ve highlighted some parts if you don’t have time to plough through the whole thing. I suggest you read those; I recommend the second part.”

Aizawa received the book and skimmed through it. Not that he had any interest in an extremist cult, but he had a vague idea of this ideology and its pioneering organisation, the Meta Liberation Front. The leader of the Meta Liberation Army was named Destro, and its current leader is someone with the similar alias, Re-Destro.

“A society upheld by personal responsibility; sounds interesting, eh?” Hawks gave him a guile smile. “If that comes to fruition, we heroes are going to be having too much time on our hands.”

Aizawa studied the man’s expression carefully. Hawks was competent, due to his brutal efficiency and street smartness. Within a few months of setting up a hero agency, he was already in the top ten—the first pro in history to crack it at such a tender age. Some people say that he’s being overly ambitious and moving ‘too fast’, but was he really the type to subscribe to such a drastic ideology just so that he could rise to the top?

“I just wanna take it easy and have some fun,” the winged hero said. “My goal is to make this a world where heroes have too much time on their hands.”

“Time, huh?” Aizawa sighed wistfully. “We could all use some of that now. Well, this looks promising and all. I believe you have been busy recommending it to the relevant people?”

“I have! I’ve been recommending it to people across the country, not just the heroes. By the time I’m through, there will be a groundwork for the liberation ideology. It won’t take much longer now.”

“Careful though, there might be other parties who seek to cull your growing ambitions to feed theirs. After all, it’s not easy being at the top,” the teacher said. “Those who fly too close to the sun risk burning their wings off.”

“If you can’t beat them, join them.” Hawks chuckled, waving his hand dismissively. “But if you can’t join them…”

“Make sure to get out of the crossfire,” Aizawa finished his sentence for him. “When the snipe and the clam grapple, the fisherman stands to benefit. Best not to win the war before you know what you’re fighting for.”

“Wars are glorious, but fights are personal.” Pretence dropped from the hero’s face. “Endeavour was my idol ever since I was a kid, and now he’s permanently scarred. I’m not doing this for heroic ideals or anything like that. This one’s personal.”

Aizawa pursed his lips. It was futile to reason with anyone in that kind of headspace, and it was illogical to even try.

“If you say so. The Hero Public Safety Commission didn’t hire you for no reason after all,” he replied amiably.

“Don’t worry about me. Speed is my forte; I’ll get in and out of danger before anyone even realises I’ve been there.” Hawks turned to leave as the teacher kept the book.

“Oh, and do read the highlighted parts of the book. It’ll be very beneficial to all of us.”