Heroes of Inkopolis

Chapter 5: Into the Octo Oven

Izuku stared at the picture in shock. He glanced at Marie who had a rather serious look in her eyes. He looked over at Echo and noticed that she was looking rather star-struck! He had no idea how to answer the question. What should he say? What would they think of him?

Marie's gaze softened as she saw how nervous the hero looked. "Hey, don't be nervous, Agent D," she said gently. "I'm just curious. Is this you in the picture?"

Izuku took a deep breath and nodded. "Yes," he said. "That's me."

Marie slowly nodded. "I thought so," she said.

"What made you think it was me?"

"Simple, really. The outfit you were wearing was a dead giveaway. Even your hair looked the same as the picture. Now that that's been confirmed, I have another question for you: Where have you been for the past 12,000 years?"

Izuku closed his eyes before answering. "I've been... asleep," he said. "I woke up in some kind of pod inside of a revitalizing chamber."

"Whoa," said Agent 4. "How did you end up in a place like that? Why were you there in the first place?"

"I guess I was put in there after I..." Izuku paused and shut his eyes.

"Agent D?" Marie asked.

Izuku sighed sadly. "I'm sorry," he said. "I don't want to talk about it right now. It hurts to think about it since I learned that I'm the only one left a while ago. Let's just say that... I wasn't strong enough to defeat the world's most evil villain."

Marie was silent for a moment. "So, let me get this straight," she said. "You were once this hero in the picture. Deku, I believe it was. Anyway, you ended up fighting a very dangerous villain but failed to stop him in the end which began the whole process of humanity going extinct. Am I right?"

Izuku looked at the ground with a sad look in his eyes. He felt so ashamed of how ended up letting everyone down due to All For One being so crafty, cunning, and one step ahead of the heroes!

"Whoa, boss," said Echo in a disapproving tone. "That's way too harsh, isn't it? I'm sure that he tried his hardest against that villain, right?" She turned to Izuku and patted him on the head. "Hey, don't beat yourself up, buddy. Whatever happened is all in the past."

Izuku sighed. "That doesn't exactly make me feel any better," he admitted.

Just then, Marie bopped him on the head with her umbrella! Izuku yelped and rubbed his head.

"Whoa," cried Echo. "Boss, what was that for?"

Izuku looked up and saw that Marie had a very serious look in her eyes. "Listen, kid," she said. "I don't care how terrible you feel about the past. You need to stop focusing on that right now! Both the Great Zapfish and my cousin Callie are missing! So, why don't you think of this as another chance to be a hero?"

"But I failed as a hero in the past," Izuku exclaimed.

"So what?" Marie shot back. "The past doesn't matter! What matters is the here and now! So, how about this? You stop thinking about your failures in the past, and start thinking about how you can be a hero right now?"

Izuku was stunned by her words. He closed his eyes and thought for a moment. Then, he opened them back up and stared at her with fire in them. "You're right," he said. "Being a hero was always my dream. If I keep whining about my past mistakes in the past, how can I be a hero now? I'm in!"

Marie slowly smirked with satisfaction. "Good," she said. "In that case, get ready to save some more Zapfish, Agent D!"

Izuku nodded and gave her a salute. Echo, on the other, was smiling widely!