A Villain's Rise

Biding his Time

"What's with the expression detective? Didn't find what you were looking for?" Deku wondered with smile. "Did you know about the high end?" Tsukauchi asked, ignoring Deku's remarks. "High end? So that is how they interpreted the instructions" Deku mumbled. "Tell me, how much damage did it cause" He added. "I can't discuss events that occurs outside of this prison Deku" Tsukauchi replied. "Now, what instructions are you talking about?" He asked. "The instruction outlined in my contingencies of course" Deku replied.

"There is a reason that I can always be very certain of what my followers are doing" Deku said. "My revolution currently has 161 contingencies that I've created for all kinds of situations. Many of those even have sub-categories" Deku explained. "So you know where your followers are currently located?" Tsukauchi asked. "If you don't know, then I don't know either. The instructions in my contingencies are up for interpretation to allow greater flexibility. How they are followed is up to whoever is in the lead, which I would presume is Dabi at the moment" Deku answered.

"Alright then. What contingency are they currently following?" Tsukauchi asked. "Our base was lost, so that would trigger contingency 14-2. The loss of the main facility due to intervention by heroes. Mostly focuses keeping a low profile and going into hiding until a new facility can be established. Ideally within a year. Then I was captured, which would trigger contingency 3-4. My capture and imprisonment by the hands of the authorities. The plan there outlines multiple paths to my freedom" Deku explained. "Is there any instructions in those contingencies you would like to share perhaps?" Tsukauchi asked. "There is certainly information you would find useful" Deku chuckled. "But why would I tell you?" He asked, suddenly dropping his chuckle. "You wouldn't tell me even if I gave you a good reason" Tsukauchi replied. "Correct" Deku said.

Tsukauchi then grabbed his notes and stood up. "Unless you have anything more to say, then this meeting is over" He said. "Of course. Same time tomorrow?" Deku asked. "Only if you have some sort of information to share. If you don't have information, then I'm afraid you'll have to stay in your cell" Tsukauchi replied. "Oh. And here I was getting quite comfortable with our little talks" Deku said with a fake pout. "Not my problem" Tsukauchi said before leaving the cell.

That would end up being the last conversation Deku had with anyone in many months, at least outside his dreams. He wouldn't give Tsukauchi any more information, and just as the detective said, Deku remained in his cell. Deku didn't sit about doing nothing though. He did everything he could to keep himself busy. Meditating, exercise and a lot of muttering. Meanwhile, in his dreams, he and Ochako had gotten closer. Deku being in prison had allowed for both of them to partially ignore the fact that Deku was a villain, and that Ochako now was a hero. Deku would almost call her a friend, if it hadn't been for the obvious fact. Ochako was still a hero, and he was a villain stuck in Tartarus.

"Ochako?" Izuku asked, while they walked around in their dreams. "What is it Izuku?" Ochako replied. "I...I'm sorry" He said with a regretful look. "Sorry for what?" Ochako asked. "For the pain I've cause you. You know, when I let Iida die" Izuku answered. "Why bring that up now?" Ochako asked. "I just have had a lot of time to think you know. And I realised that I never truly apologized for that. And well, I care for you, somewhat. I think you're a good person and I know that Iida's death hurt you, something you didn't deserve" Izuku explained. "So you're sorry because his death hurt me" Ochako stated. "No, I-" Izuku began, but cut himself off. "Well, in some sense, yes" He admitted.

"But I also realize that I should have thought through it more thoroughly back then. All I thought about back then was that he was a hero, and I wanted to kill heroes. It was all very black and white to me. But I can see now that not everything is black and white. Iida was there because he wanted to avenge his brother. And while it may have been foolish, I'm not really in any position to call him out on that considering some of my own motivation" Izuku explained. "So you regret it?" Ochako wondered. "Well, yes. I could have done better" Izuku replied. "Like convince him to join me" He jokingly added. "That's not funny" Ochako said harshly. "Oh come on. It's really simple you see. Find some sort of anger said person has and find a way to direct that anger towards something that would make them join you" Izuku said. "Still, don't joke about it" Ochako complained. "Alright, I'm sorry" Izuku said. "It's in the past anyways. At least you regret it, maybe not for the right reasons, but you regret it" Ochako said.