The Emerald Prince

Chapter 77: All I am

Illustration is later in the chapter cuz otherwise it would be a bit of a spoiler...

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Izuku flew through the trees as fast as he could, fighting an oncoming panic attack by digging his nails into his palms again, though he could feel the signs that this amount of pain soon wouldn't be enough if he continued to experience this kind of stress.

As he always did, he continued to shove his emotions and memories deep into the recesses of his mind, so he could focus on the task at hand. But it was so difficult. They screamed for his attention, pleading for him to curl up in a pathetic ball and scream, and cut, and die.

Mr Compress was waiting for him. Leant against a tree, at the edge of a glade.
A small stream ran through the clearing and the man watched it idly, throwing a marble up into the air and catching the bauble repeatedly. He was on his phone, Izuku guessed he was trying to contact Kurogiri, and he was never so grateful for someone for not checking their phone... or whatever the nomu was doing.

Izuku stopped himself from flying in and snatching the marble. He had no idea how the quirk worked, Bakugou permanently trapped in a marble was of no use, deactivating the man's quirk might kill his friend. Even worse he could get trapped in another marble and be no use to any one.

So with what little strength he had left, he landed fifty or so metres away, untied and shook his hair to add to the deranged look. He deliberately fell into the dirt, muddying his knees and hands, gave himself a few scratches.

He was going in blind, but he'd yet to meet a situation when an opponent underestimating him wasn't useful. And just for an added touch, he unzipped the UA gym jacket low enough to show his pale skin and loose tank top beneath.

Then, he sprinted forward, almost falling into the clearing in his haste to get there, hurriedly straightening up to stare at Mr Compress. The very last guy he wanted to be dealing with in a hostage situation. The one with that quirk.

"G-good evening." He said shakily, trying to appear like he was fighting to maintain composure was unsurprisingly easy for him at that moment.
"My, my, hero has come for his damsel?" Mr Compress spoke lightly a distance away. "How did you trace me?"
Izuku did his best wobbly forced smile, "A good magician n-never reveals his secrets."

"Stop pretending you are that distressed and dishevelled." Said Mr Compress. "You may be a strategical genius, but since I saw through it, you may as well stop."
No...
Izuku righted himself, and tried not to cry, as his brain scraped for strategies it knew it wouldn't be able to find. "Worth a try." He said, trying to sound calm.
"Always." Acknowledged the villain with a nod and another throw of the marble. "So we are at an impasse until Kurogiri fetches me."

When Izuku said nothing, the older man turned to look him up and down.
"Look at you, actually nervous...." Izuku could tell he was smirking beneath the mask. "I thought he might be special after those antics at the sports festival."

He pushed off of the tree and began to pace mockingly, hand on his chin in a melodramatic thinking pose. "What will you do? Deactivating my quirk might kill him... but you don't know me... your gift with words can't help you."
Izuku sighed and closed his eyes fighting back a sob. "Then what will you do? You have me at your mercy. It's important to know when you've been beaten."
The villain didn't seem to be expecting him to give up so easily. "Well..."
Izuku continued. "Perhaps... until Kurogiri sends you a portal out of here with your..." he swallowed a sob, "valuable hostage... how about you tell me about yourself? You, you are the greatest puzzle of all. Why not give me a clue?"

Mr Compress's reaction was hidden by his mask. Glancing at his list of unanswered calls, he shrugged. "A great magician cannot thrive without a spotlight, and what spotlight is there to be had as hero in the time of All Might?"
Izuku nodded, but didn't speak.
Of fucking course this all boiled down to bitch might.