A Villain's Rise

The Collapse

Deku sat in his room deep in thought while staring at the wall. He had had trouble focusing on pretty much anything that day. He couldn't even bring himself to enter Lemillion's cell. He could only think of those sad and angry tears on Uraraka's face he had seen the night prior. His thoughts was interrupted however, when Eri came into the room. "Dad, are you alright?" Eri asked. "Don't worry about me Eri. Just me and my foolish thoughts" Izuku replied with a smile. "Shouldn't you be asleep now?" He added. "I tried to, but..." Eri said, barely mumbling at the end. "Bad memories?" Izuku asked with a comforting look. Eri gave a small nod in return. "Don't worry. I'll help you sleep" Izuku said and guided Eri back into her room.

Once Eri was tucked in her bed Izuku sat down next to her bed and slowly stroked her white hair. "Can you sing me a song?" Eri asked, surprising Izuku slightly. "You really think I can sing? Besides, I don't know many songs anyways" Izuku replied with a small laughter. "Can't you just do it, just tonight?" Eri begged. "Well, I guess there is this one I know" Izuku said and took a deep breath, before he began to sing with the best voice he could muster.

"The wind is riding high with clouds.
Over sea and land and town.
The storm is raging pale and bleak.
Grief and death did not come here.
Some will come and some will go.
Some will die in blooming spring.
Stars are shining brightly"

"Was that good enough?" Izuku asked. "It was. Thank you dad" Eri replied as she closed her eyes and snuggled up to Izuku's arm. "You won't leave me, right dad?" Eri asked. "No of course not. Why would you even ask that?" Izuku wondered. "Because in my nightmares I always get left alone. They take you away and you don't come back" Eri said with a small tremble in her voice. "Those are just nightmares Eri. You're my daughter and I will always love you and never leave you. And if someone tries to take me away from you, I'll make them regret to ever try to hurt you" Izuku said confidently. "But now you should go to sleep" He said and gently placed a kiss on Eri's forehead. "I love you Eri" He said with a smile. "I love you 9000" Eri said with an even bigger smile. "9000, that's impressive. I'll have to up my game" Izuku joked before walking back into his room, carefully closing the door behind him. "Maybe I should go to sleep as well" Izuku said to himself.

The following day, Deku visited Lemillion's cell, with just a few more minutes before the drug ran out. "Lemillion, I'm going to put out this offer one final time. Your colleague Hawks has already seen the truth of this world. I'll let you live and let you go back to your agency if you just join me" Deku said. "And here I thought you were smart" Lemillion retorted. "Alright, if that is how you want to do it" Deku said nonchalantly. "Ten. Nine. Eight. Seven" Deku said as he positioned himself behind Lemillion. "Six. Five. Four." He continued as green lighting spread across his body. "Th-" He began, but was cut off when the cell door slammed open and feathers shot out from the hallway and pushed Deku back. "Hurry up Lemillion!" Hawks shouted as a few feathers cut the ropes that bound Lemillion to his chair. The hero quickly got up and began running with Hawks through the hallway.

"Hawks!" Deku yelled in anger as fire erupted from his feet. Pieces of clothing were ripped off as he propelled himself away from the feathers and into pursuit of the two heroes. Deku quickly pulled out a phone and connected it to the facility's speaker system. "Hawks is helping Lemillion escape. Stop them" He ordered before putting away the phone.

Just as Deku could see Lemillion and Hawks running, the latter stopped and faced Deku. "Just get out of here!" Hawks ordered. "I'll handle Deku" He added, more to himself. "You won't get away with this Hawks" Deku threatened as he switched over to one for all and began running towards Hawks at immense speed. Hawks sent out a barrage of feathers towards Deku. Deku tried to sidestep the barrage, but he still got hit, covering his right side in cuts. He quickly placed his hand towards the wall, making it reassemble into spikes aimed at Hawks. The hero flew out of the way and slammed Deku into the roof with feathers as he passed by.