Chapter Text
It had been ten years today that they had had that conversation. Still he could remember it perfectly.
Inside, Midoriya could still feel that dying ember of hope lingering like a relentless parasite. Somewhere, still fighting the corruption now inside him.
But that darkness was so thick and clouded with hatred that no light could be seen cutting through its all enveloping wrath. That's the only reason why he couldn't find and flush the immature thoughts out of him like a virus.
His head panned right as he rolled his eyes with a scowl at the newcomer.
"You look exceptionally unwelcoming today, Rabbit. Wake up in the wrong burrow again?" the snarky voice of Twice echoed in the silent alleyway with no malice, simply a jovial tone. There wasn't an actual reason for the nickname except that according to the others, he looked like a rabbit on the battlefield when fighting on his first ever mission, hopping, jumping and dashing around, too quick to catch. To be honest, Izuku kinda liked it, and so the name stuck.
"Can-it two-face. Or you'll be the one waking up in a burrow in the ground, six feet under." he glared half jokingly half challengingly for the other to try his luck.
Which he did.
"At least I'll still be waking up..." and Izuku could feel the smirk beneath the man's mask. He groaned but admitted that that was a decent enough comeback to not incite a punishment.
A third gruff voice then spoke up, half startling Twice whilst Izuku simply turned to the new-newcomer. "Both of you get ready, we're going in a minute. Rabbit, Sensei wants you to hold as backup for incase things go south, so it's gonna be me and you Twice, fighting." he said as he pointed at the dissociative man.
"Awesome!" he radiated enthusiastically before his demeanour dropped.
"Damnit." he whispered immediately after.
Izuku squinted. "Any reason why I'm staying back? You know why I'm there. I do crowd control because none of you fuckers understand restraint."
"Sorry Mr. Responsible-Villain-Who-Refuses-To-Kill-Someone-Unless-They-Are-Also-A-Villain." Cyclone smirked. It was true, that whilst Midoriya may be a villain, he refused to unreasonably kill anyone that wasn't also villainous, nor did he steal their quirks without 'good reason'. He simply wasn't as callous and brutal in his methods as his father was (and wanted him to be).
He growled as the other two stalked away, muttering under his breath If you weren't so valuable I'd kill you with your own quirk right now, and sat in silence as he waited for them to return either victorious or with their tails between their legs.
He had a feeling it would be the second one, since their target was a top ten hero after all, and they weren't exactly the most seasoned fighters nor assassins.
"I suppose I should time mentally how long they last before I need to step in, like usual." he laughed mirthlessly. "What a bother that I always have to babysit them."
And he had only reached one-hundred and twenty-two (two minutes) before he heard heavy echoing footsteps sprinting down the alley. He raised instantly, preparing for whoever appeared.
"Rabbit! Rabbit!" slowly the footsteps slowed as Twice returned, panting in exhaustion. "Cyclone's gone ape-shit! He's fucking everything up because he thought he could take Hawks on his own!"
"… Oh for fuck's sake." and with that, he grabbed Twice firmly around the neck (on purpose) as he activated one of his favourite quirks, molecular shift.
*Molecular shift- Allows the user to vibrate the atoms and molecules that make up their body at incredible speeds. At a high enough speed, the user can travel rapidly, or appear in two places at once, however it exhausts the user greatly and causes severe muscle fatigue if overused.
In milliseconds, the two arrived as he had pulled Twice along with him. The man was now spluttering and choking as his throat bruised heavily.
"W-what *cough* was that for!?" he swallowed hard repeatedly as they both scanned the surrounding carnage that had been created in the street.
"You know exactly why. Now shut up while I find where they went." and with that, he activated another quirk Hawk-eye and scanned the surroundings.
*Hawk-eye - Allows user to focus their eyes with unparalleled accuracy, even allowing them to see peripheral vision sharply. It allows clear vision for up to several hundred feet, however it causes bloodshot eyes with overuse.
After a moment, he saw Cyclone and Hawks fighting in the distance to his right. He then began sprinting as Twice followed.
Once they both arrived, Izuku yelled out, causing both fighters to pause. "Cyclone you dip-shit, what the fuck are you doing!?"
"Fuck off Bunny! I'm gonna be the one to kill him without any help!" and the man then refocused on the hero in front of him. "Hey! Ignore those two, your fight is still with me!" and again the two clashed.
Patiently, Izuku watched and waited as the two duked it out with a good ol' game of fisticuffs. One would punch and the other would kick, before both switching roles. It appeared they had equal power, however with amazing analysis skills, Izuku could see where the difference in experience came in. Slowly, the hero began winning the majority of their clashes, adapting at a far faster rate than his opponent, which infuriated the villain.
After another failed attack, he stopped before smirking. "You know what? I understand now that I can't win with only power… However, let's see if you can handle my quirk, which is specifically your counter, Hawks!" he bellowed before starting up a tremendous gust of wind, before spiralling it into a tornado.
Still, Izuku patiently watched. He honestly welcomed it when others didn't rely on his help like babies, and since Cyclone had told him to stay back, he was glad to either see the man win or lose. He didn't care, since he hated the bastard of a man anyway.
But then Izuku caught something that froze him. That slither of his childish dreams taking full force as he rocketed forward without a second thought.
Barrelling past the growing tornado, he collided with a pink-skinned teenager watching from a side-path, tackling her down before a large sheet of debris careened past them and smashed into the wall.
He released the breath he never knew he had held, before his actions caught up with him.
...He had wanted to save that person.
He risked his own life, even with the chance of them both dying, for nothing.
He felt a strange feeling swell in his chest like butterflies fluttering as it dawned on him.
He was just a hero to someone he had never met… And he could feel that small fraction of hope dwelling inside his cold blizzard of a mind grow slightly, because he...
He actually felt proud of himself, for the first time in his life...
Furtively he glanced down, before his eyes locked with black and gold. The girl below him was staring incredulously back at him. Clearly she was just as terrified as moments prior, but now her jaw was wide in shock.
Because she knew who he was. She read the hero news.
He was the most renowned teenager in the world… Known as Rabbit, the villain who stole quirks.
Her eyes clentched shut as she shivered again in terror. "P-please don't kill me and take my quirk!" she trembled, anticipating pain.
And Izuku had to refrain from frowning, as he noticed that what she had said struck home harder than ever before. He saw and heard as the innocent girl caught in the crossfire of a fight trembled, and never had he noticed it until now…
But it stung the way that she expected him to torture her without reason.
Luckily however, he still wore his half-mask which hid his hurt expression, as he simply stood up. "I only steal the quirks of other villains. Leave now before you get hurt." was all he said over his shoulder before walking away back towards the still raging fight.
He never saw the dumbfounded stare she gave back.
'I thought he was one of the most evil and fearsome villains in the world… So why did he just let me go and walk away? Why didn't he just take my quirk like he's renowned to do?' she thought. By now the girl couldn't find herself able to leave. She felt the need of answers. To see more. To prove to her fresh doubts that the boy truly was as heartless as they said. She quickly made her way over to a solid wall, before peeking carefully out to observe what happened next.
Once Rabbit had walked back to be beside Twice, he grunted. "Twice, if we don't need that fucker, I'm going to fucking kill him after this fight. I've had enough of his shit. He almost killed an innocent girl carelessly and his arrogance frankly pisses me off." he stated as the other gulped for the impending demise to come to the man still fighting in front of them.
"… Noted." was all he managed.
Ahead, the two continued fighting with sweat as Hawks sent metallic-like feathers towards Cyclone, who would in turn blast them away, before attacking with his tornado, which Hawks avoided mid-air. Eventually, however, Cyclone was deservedly caught off-guard by a sharp feather that impaled into his chest due to his overconfidence. Slowly, the man began to plummet as the feather wedged into his heart.
Once he collapsed onto the ground, Izuku merely strolled forward, gravel shifting beneath his boots as hit stared down his nose towards the villain, noting he was still alive, but barely. He only had a few seconds left of life, and so he decided without much remorse in him.
With one hard yank, he tore the quirk from the crippled man as he screamed in pain, writhing until the feather in his chest cut deeper and killed him faster.
Twice shivered as he watched the process of a quirk being stolen from an already dying man. It was cruel, but he daren't speak up. Out of everyone, Midoriya and Twice seemed to have the closest relationship, but he still worried for his safety when around the teenager.
Eventually, the body stilled as his glazed unfocused eyes rolled and his body fell lifelessly like a puppet with a *thud*.
Hawks remained silent from the air, as he realised that the villain would have died anyway, yet he was still surprised his supposed teammate had only worsened his suffering.
Meanwhile, Ashido retched as she watched it all happen. 'That could have been me… But... it wasn't?' She still couldn't understand why though.
Midoriya flexed his new quirk in his veins, testing it's resistance to him using it, pleasantly surprised to find none at all, which was a rare occurrence with others' quirks. Now grinning, he turned to Hawks before summoning a tiny tornado of terror above his fingertip.
Izuku had a policy: Give them one chance to surrender/leave before he does anything. "Hawks, I suggest you either surrender and live with the admitted loss of your quirk, or I'll be forced to take it the harder, more painful way. I honestly dislike hurting people for little reason, however if needed, I will crush you." he glowered with full authority, holding a pensive hand outstretched towards the hero, as if beckoning him to come along quietly and keep things simple.
But the hero simply smiled cockily. "Sorry kid, but there's already six or seven dozen heroes surrounding this area ready to finally take you down. I knew about this little plan to get me, and you played into our act perfectly." he stated nonchalantly before seemingly out of nowhere, police and heroes surrounded both Izuku and Twice. Guns raised, as well as a certain hero Izuku loathed standing behind Endeavor.
Eraser-Head, the hero who could erase quirks.
"...Shit." was all that exited Izuku's mouth as he cautiously raised his hands in the air.
Whilst he had plenty of quirks, sadly even his strong Barrier quirk couldn't hold up forever against bullets, and he doubted he had enough quirks to counter one-hundred heroes at once. That wasn't even including the fact that his greatest weakness was there also. His only weakness, because no-matter what, Izuku knew he couldn't fight fisticuffs without being able to use any of his quirks against so many heroes who did. It was literal suicide. He'd be slaughtered and he knew it.
He had a weak form of teleportation, however the quirk took far too long to initiate, but he couldn't also save Twice with it and it would be cancelled immediately by the Erasure hero anyway.
"Shit." he repeated. Quietly, he mulled over his options, before settling on the only choice he saw.
"Twice," he muttered, "You're the only decent person I actually like and would fight for in the League. In a second, I'm going to blast everything I've got so all attention's on me and during that time, I want you to clone me, and then run. Run whilst I hold them all off."
"Are you serious!? I can't leave you here like a coward! We can still both esca-"
"Twice. Jin. Go now before I blast you half-way across Japan, you ditz!" Midoriya spoke the man's name, showing his seriousness as he growled half-heartedly. "-NOW! GO!" and with ferocity, he unleashed every quirk he could simultaneously, as his only villain-friend tapped his shoulder, cloning Izuku, before sprinting off with a reluctant glance back.
Izuku wasn't sad about this… Twice was the only person in the league who also wouldn't kill or hurt without necessity. That is what had attracted Izuku's attention, as well as respect. It was the reason they were both friends. Unlike Cyclone, Shigaraki, or Dabi (except maybe Kurogiri as he was nice) Izuku wouldn't fight for them. Sure he would fight, but not for them.
A torrent of sparks flew as green electricity surged from his body as countless attacks surged from his skin as well as his clone's. There were so many quirks that he couldn't particularly distinguish any among them, but he made sure to fight through the tranquilliser darts he was shot with until his last breath, before collapsing to the ground after a minute. The clone had only lasted half a minute tops.
His skin was charred painfully from the exertion, but Twice was nowhere in sight.
'Thank god...' was his final thought before he collapsed forward into the tarmac below.
All the while, a pink girl remained transfixed on what she had just seen transpire. She could hardly believe it, but in her mind she visualised exactly what had happened.
Whilst the police were distracted, Rabbit sacrificed himself to allow his comrade to escape. She had watched him yell 'RUN!' as he sparked violently, protecting his retreating friend.
Even though Mina had seen with her own eyes the boy rip a quirk from another person…
The boy had both saved her life, as well as his friend's.
"Was… Was Rabbit really as bad as everyone thought…?' her brain strained as she slowly made her was back in the direction towards UA and it's newly constructed dormitories. She had to think this all through before her pounding head exploded.