The Secret Life of a Villain

Chapter 26

"God how long has it been?" He groaned, forehead hitting the metal table. His stomach grumbled in hunger and he could only sigh. "Too long."

"It's only been half an hour." The underground entered the room with a sigh if his own.

"Since I've been here or since you left?" Deku asked, not moving his forehead off the table.

"Since you got here, we've only been gone ten or so minutes." The human lie detector replied.

The sounds of shuffling paper caught his attention but he made no effort to move other than straining his ears as if he could hear what was on the paper if he just tried hard enough. Maybe that would be his quirk. At the thought he snorted a laugh and the papers stopped moving.

"You do realise where you are right now, how is that funny?" Eraserhead seemed more annoyed than usual.

"Inside joke my dude." He could practically feel the eye rolls from here and he was living for it.

"Alright." And detective what's his face had to put an end to his fun again. "Now, I need your name and the specifics of your quirk. "

"No can do. Eraserhead over there owes me a favour and I would like to cash that in now." Deku lifted his head so now his chin rested on the table.

"I don't recall making such a deal. You ran off before I could tell you no."

"Well that isn't very cash money of you." He muttered, half to himself. "My quirk lets me see ghosts."

"Lie."

"It turns me into a ghost?"

"Lie."

"My quirk is that my toe nails grow faster than normal."

"Lie."

"I can regenerate lost limbs."

"Lie."

"I have a stockpiling quirk."

"Lie." The detective was looking not and more annoyed with each lie. "You have to tell us the truth some time. I can go on for as long as I need to."

"Same here, except I have the distinct feeling I'll be able to go longer than you." Deku shot back. "My quirk brings me back from the dead.

"Lie."

"I can turn into a magical girl."

"Lie."

"I can talk to animals."

"We might have more luck trying to find his identity and going from there." Erasercat pointed out.

"Right." The detective snuggled the papers some more before continuing. "You have three option currently. One, you can tell us your name. Two you can give us your fingerprints and we'll find out who you are that way. Or three, we can call in some one to use their quirk on you to find out who you are."

"I choose option four, none off the above." Deku replied after a moment of thought.

"Third option it is then." The lie detector picked out and stood. "I'll go make the call. Eraserhead, if you could watch him that would be great."

The dicktective left the room in silence and the pair, now sitting opposite each other kept it like that till Deku ruined it. "I know you're wondering how Eri is doing. She's finally getting the hang of her quirk. Turns out with a quirk like hers, being able to tell time is important."

"If you're trying to brag, it's not going to work." Eraserhead warned.

"I'm not. Just thought you'd like the information just like the good old days. I guess I'm feeling a little generous right now." He gave a little smug shrug.

"Then tell me this, why didn't you let the heroes take her?"

"Well lets see. Eri was tortured by people in lab coats who wanted to take her blood. You know where else they do that? The hospital which is where you lot would've taken her. Not to mention she would've been confined to a room just like she had been. You can see the parallels here can't you. She's grown so much with us she's almost like a normal little girl. Of course she'll never be like others her age but at least with us we know what she needs and can provide it without taking any if her freedom."

"And how do you know you can give her what heroes can't? How do you know she's healthy?" Eraserhead leaned forward as he spoke, arms leaning on the table.

"Do you really want me to answer that?" He raised an eyebrow, almost challenging the underground hero.

"That's why I asked." There was something fierce in the way he said that, something Deku couldn't quite figure out what it was.

"Alright you asked for it." Deku sighed. "I know this because heroes aren't perfect, they can't look out for everyone. There are those like Eri that fall through the cracks, those that don't fit in with social norms, those escaping from bad situations, and there are those that no one cares for. Those people that society forgets, they come together because they know what it feels like to be treated worse than trash and they help each other heal. They know what it's like and don't want anyone else to suffer the way they did. Sure it may not always be legal and the ideas had and plans made may not always be ethical but it's all so they can try to make a place for themselves and those around them."

"And here I was thinking you didn't have a serious bone in your body."

"Wow rude much. I'm demoting you from favourite hero." Deku huffed.

"Good, I don't want to be anyone's favourite hero." The underground hero shot back.

"Now that you've said that it's real tempting. I guess you'll just have to deal with second place for now."

"And pray tell, whose in first?" Eraserhead didn't sound like he was serious so obviously Deku had to answer.

"I'd have to go with the Crawler. Though I'm also tempted to say Knuckleduster but I don't think he quite identifies as a hero."

"Those are both vigilantes and you know it." Erasercat countered

"Perhaps in the eyes if the law, they're still better heroes then say Endeavour." Deku shrugged.

The underground hero sighed and halted their conversation topic with a pause. "Are you going yo tell me why you became  a villain."

"Mayhaps. I'll have to think about it."