A Villain's Rise

Meetings

Deku sat waiting in the interrogation room. He slowly fiddled with his fingers as he started feeling impatient. "Are you trying to bore me to death or something?" He asked and looked at the obvious one-way-mirror. "The ones you've requested to meet encountered a delay" an unknown man replied over the speakers. "Oh look. It replied" Deku said with fake surprise.

Just when Deku thought he was going to go mad with boredom, Hawks finally came into the interrogation room. "There you are. I've been waiting for quite the while now" Deku said with a confident smile. "Had a few incidents that slowed me down" Hawks replied. "There is a lot more to do as the number one hero" He added. "I would certainly think so. Maybe things would have been easier if you hadn't stabbed me in the back" Deku said retorted.

"Why did you want to talk with me?" Hawks asked, ignoring Deku's remark. "Straight to the point I see" Deku mumbled. "The is just a few things I wanted to discuss, since some things got in the way last time we talked" He explained. "And what would that be?" Hawks asked. "Just one question really" Deku replied. "How?" he asked. "I've played mental games with many foes. I played Shigaraki like a damn fiddle, kept my goals secret from All for one until I killed him and made Chisaki think I wanted to help him with his research" Deku explained with a small chuckle. "But you? I actually believed in what you told me. So how did you do it?" He asked and leaned forwards.

"Out of all the things you could ask, that is what you want to know?" Hawks wondered. "Yes" Deku replied. "Fine. It's because I meant a lot of what I was saying" Hawks said, giving Deku a puzzled look. "The is a lot of things not to like about the way things work. And the heroes are really just a solution that works on the surface. And believe it or not, you're the one who made me fully realise that" Hawks explained. "If that is true, then why not join me? Why not help me tear down the broken system?" Deku asked. "Because there is good to be found" hawks replied.

"Good? Where is the good? Is it next to the discrimination towards the quirkless? Under the bias towards certain quirks? Or maybe just behind the massive and widespread corruption that infects everything?" Deku asked aggressively. "Not the good in the current system. I'm talking about the good that is to come" Hawks replied. "I know there is a while since you met any of the kids at UA, or any heroics student for that matter. But they are much better that most heroes I can think of when it comes to that heroic spirit All Might keeps talking about" He explained.

"All Might?" Deku laughed. "He doesn't have a heroic bone in his body" He mocked. "I know you don't like him, but doesn't mean everything he says is wrong" Hawks objected. "I got an intern from UA who's about to graduate in a few months. And he has a great amount of respect for your ideals. Not your methods of course, but he wants to help bring the changes you would like in society" He explained. "Well, you can tell him that he doesn't believe in my ideals if he doesn't have the courage to implement them" Deku scoffed. "We are way past the point of gradual change for the better. People are dying, people are oppressed and nothing has been done for years while the system has gotten more and more corrupt. The only solution is revolution" He argued.

"Revolution that kills innocents? Tell me, how many innocent people have died because of you? How many innocents who never supported the things you hate, nor have any bad will towards you" Hawks asked. "By your standards of innocents, 21 567 deaths" Deku replied with a cold expression. "While they don't actively participate in the system, they allow it to continue. All the points I use against the system are easily checkable facts, just look it up. But many don't want to. The look the other way, hold their tongue when they see injustice. My teachers never bullied me, but they never stopped the bullying. They allowed it" Deku explained. "Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. So while I try to avoid killing those people, they aren't as innocent as you portray them" He concluded. "Just because they are uninformed doesn't mean they choose to be ignorant" Hawks retorted.