Powerless - A My Hero Academia/ DC Crossover

Chapter 32: The Sludge Villain

Izuku was lying awake in bed. It was fast approaching 3:00 AM and his mind was racing from what Bruce and All Might had told him. All For One, One For All, it was all so much to take in. He was barely a few months into his training at UA and he already made several enemies: an assassin with taste for blood, a maniac with a penchant for hands, and one of the most dangerous criminal masterminds in all of Japanese history. He knew that this was all part of being a hero, but he didn't expect to make such dangerous adversaries so quickly.

He was being dragged into a conspiracy that was not his business. More and more connections were made between him and All Might, but now these connections put his life at risk, and perhaps, those he cared about. He wanted to be brave, but the truth was the fear continued to creep into his heart. He wished he had never met All Might on that rooftop, but deep down he knew that if he hadn't, then it was possible that he would have never met Bruce, and he never would have come close to achieving his dreams.

He turned over in his bed onto his side. His mind drifted back to the video he watched of Jason Todd's murder. Would they be burying him next? Was this the ultimate destiny of those who came under the House of Batman? Perhaps this was the inevitability of every hero, as evident with the sickly and dying All Might. Eventually, no matter how fast you tried to run, death would eventually catch up to you.

He thought of Kacchan. The relationship between them was strange. Kacchan seemed to only keep Izuku around so that he would have someone to inflict his wrath and frustrations upon. Many had questioned him as to why he continued to follow Kacchan despite such abuse. In fact, he often asked himself that. Perhaps that was just his fate, to be a lightning rod for punishment. But the truth was, it was his admiration for Kacchan that kept him there. He was amazing. Confident and competent in everything he did. Everything he was Izuku wanted to be. But even with all his accomplishments, it was still not enough to save him. Even with all his training, would he be strong enough to face the challenges before him?

Izuku felt his a ping from his phone. It was a text message from Bruce. Izuku was curious. Bruce was usually up at this hour, but he rarely contacted Izuku. The message puzzled him at first, as it consisted of only four words:

Warehouse. Now. Found him.

Izuku stared at the message for a full minute before realization finally dawned on him. He sprang up out of bed and threw his clothes on, grabbed his utility belt and escaped out the window of his room.

Bruce had done it. He had found the Sludge Villain.

The elevator door opened, and Izuku stepped into the warehouse. On most nights, the warehouse was quiet. Bruce and Alfred were rarely there, spending most of their time in Gotham. Izuku came here mostly alone to train. On occasion, he would Alfred would communicate with him through the Batcomputer, just to check up on him. But tonight, the warehouse was bustling. Batman and Nightwing were sitting together at the conference table, talking and looking over files and a holographic projection of what looked to be a map. Izuku was surprised to see someone else there as well: the woman in the wheelchair, the one who was with Bruce, Dick and Alfred at the Sports Festival. She was hard at work on the Batcomputer with what looked like several cyber-sniffing and hacking programs.

"Master Midoriya, welcome," Said a familiar voice. Alfred had appeared at his side, offering him a cup of tea. At his words, the rest of the team looked up from their work towards Izuku. Nightwing sprang from his chair immediately and went to greet Izuku, wringing his hand.

"Good to see you again, kid," he said. "Welcome to the party. Hey, Barb!" He called over to the woman in the wheelchair. "Come meet the new kid."