Izuku...

Hey...

Wake up!!

Izuku jolts awake with a sharp gasp, instinctively trying to sit up as if he had been sleeping in bed, only for most of his movements to be halted. He panics upon seeing the empty, dimly lit and unfamiliar bar he was in, then he looks down at himself and realizes he's seated in a chair, but his bruised arms were locked in some sort of contraption, his ankles strapped uncomfortably tight to the legs of the chair, and his chest being hugged by both chains and straps. All of this to keep him locked to this chair. He's confused at first until all the memories rush back to him.

He saved Katsuki from the League but in return, he was taken instead.

Izuku immediately tried to summon One For All in an attempt to break free, only to get silence from it. He quickly pinned the inactivation of his quirk to the contraption wrapped around his arms. Speaking of his arms, pain and soreness shot through them a moment later, he grits his teeth to stifle his wince. That's right, since he went to save Katsuki right after his fight with Muscular, there was no time to heal his arms—actually, there was barely enough time to splint them with Uraraka's help before he and his friends ran after the villains to stole Katsuki and Tokoyami.

He needed to find a way to get out of here, and fast. But his injured arms would make things harder. Izuku knew enough that his arms were weak and fragile right now, on the verge of breaking, but not yet broken. He could work with that. He tried to flex his fingers despite the contraption, his fingers responded but they felt weak and shaky as if the connection between his brain telling his fingers to move and his actual nerves had been fried and were trying to slowly repair themselves. Good, at least he could still move his fingers, that meant his arms were slowly healing despite the severe damage to them. Luckily, as far as he could tell, most of the damage from the fight with Muscular was centralized around his arms and not so much his hands, though that didn't mean his finger weren't in great pain.

However, before Izuku could continue with figuring out his situation, he jerked his head up upon hearing multiple footsteps approach the door to the bar. He wondered if he should act like he was still unconscious or if he should remain how he was, but this was the League of Villains, the same people who wouldn't hesitate to kill heroes, wouldn't hesitate to kill teachers, and wouldn't hesitate to students. Izuku wanted to meet them head-on despite his mind worrying about the repercussions he could face. Without OFA, without his arms, and being chained to the chair, he was at their mercy and they could do anything they wanted with him, and remembering the villains that made up the League, his throat couldn't help but dry up at the mere thought.

The door swung open and Izuku met his captors with a glare despite his position.

"Look who's finally awake!" Shigaraki was the first to enter the bar and the first to speak, Izuku knew he wore a grin beneath the hand he kept on his face, it made him shudder. Blood-red eyes locked with green as he stepped further into the bar, making room for the others to follow him in.

"Good, maybe we can finally make the kid scream after he screwed up the plan. After all, we didn't get either of the two we were wanting," Dabi grumbled irritably, his posture slouched and uninterested despite his words. He wasn't even looking at Izuku, simply looking elsewhere in boredom as if he didn't want to be here. Though Izuku felt just the smallest fraction of relief seeing as Dabi didn't seem to interested in all this, he knew better than to dare trust Dabi's tone or him in general. He wondered if he was just acting bored to try and get his hopes up that they'll let him go or something, only to them pull the rug from under him and watch him crumble.

"I want to be the one to make Izuku scream! I want to see his blood too!" Toga followed after Dabi, her golden eyes locked with Izuku's figure as she practically squealed with delight at the mention of tormenting the boy. Izuku didn't dare look at her at the moment, knowing that would most likely egg her on. Ever since he first encountered her attacking Uraraka and Tsuyu not that long ago, she's been fascinated with him on a scary and unnerving level, and she didn't even seem bothered with stabbing him before, so being in the same room as he made Izuku's skin crawl.

Izuku kept his gaze locked on Shigaraki as they all settled in to the bar as if it was a normal day: Shigaraki took the a seat at the barstools, Dabi leaned against a nearby wall, his arms crossed, Kurogiri assumed his usual spot behind the bar, then Toga, Compress, and Magne joined Shigaraki at the bar table. If this a different situation and a different place, they'd all look like a group of good friends going out on a nightly hangout together at a bar. That was the farthest possible scenario, however.

"What did you want with Tokoyami and Kacchan?" Izuku decided to speak first once they all settled in, seeing as they said nothing more for the time being. Of course, he worried about why the villains wanted those two first. Then again, most of his other questions wouldn't help him either, he's pretty sure they wouldn't tell him where he was and if he could just go free.

"Well, since you so kindly got in our way," Shigaraki started with a sneer, annoyance in his voice, "we wanted that Bakugo and Tokoyami kid because we wanted to recruit them to our cause." He waved his pale hand in a gesture to Kurogiri and the shadowy man seemed to understand because he turned around and grabbed a glass before pouring Shigaraki a drink. The paler man lifted the hand on his face just enough for him to bring the glass to his cracked lips and take a few sips of his drink.

"But you just had to get in the way. Again. Again. And again!" He suddenly snapped loudly, slamming the now empty glass on the bar table, his hand clenching the item tight enough for Izuku to just barely notice his knuckles turning white even with his pale skin. Shigaraki now turned his head back towards Izuku, having turned away to face the bar when he sat down prior, his red eyes blazing with anger and his raspy voice sounding impatient as his fuse shortened.

"You always get in the way. You're so damn annoying, so much so that if you didn't have any benefit for us, I would have killed you while you were unconscious!" then his tone turned sinister, the anger still fizzling beneath his words, "but you still have a use for us, and from what I remember at the Sport's Festival, you have a strength quirk. Though it seems more, self-destructive, than anything else, you could still be useful."

Izuku grit his teeth, feeling a bead of sweat trickle down his face at the thought of becoming a villain. He had never imagined himself becoming one, not when he idolized All Might, but he knew that the League wouldn't simply take his 'no' for an answer and let him go scot-free. That didn't change the fact that this was the League he was currently held captive by, they weren't jokes, if they were willing to kill any students that got in their way whether that be by direct means or by some other indirect way, they didn't bat an eye to kids. He needed to tread carefully, but he also needed to show that he wasn't weak, that he wasn't going to crack or let them win, that was what worried him. Izuku didn't know what could set them off, especially Shigaraki.

After their encounter at the mall where Shigaraki could've easily killed him, Izuku could already tell what kind of person Shigaraki was. He was a cold-hearted, cruel, and vengeful person, yet he was clumsy and seemed almost childish when it came to his temper and preparation in his plans. He was but a mere hatchling in terms of villainy, but that didn't mean he'd remain like that way forever. The older male would surely and quickly develop his skills and his power, his persistence and stubbornness nearly mirrored Izuku's to the point that if they had role switched, they'd surely be similar, different in their own ways as they are different people, but both of them would be willing to put nearly everything on the line to outdo the other as hero and villain. If Shigaraki had chosen the path to become a hero instead, surely he'd be a great one by now with his stubbornness to keep going, to keep getting better, to go Plus Ultra. That was far from reality though.

Izuku figured by how Shigaraki spoke of him and his worth that they wouldn't outright kill him, they'd keep him alive in order to try and convert them to their side, that meant it gave him time to try and get free, it gave the heroes more time to search and find him. He wouldn't play along with them despite that, they would most likely suspect something and keep a closer eye on him, that and he figured they wouldn't hesitate to put him in a situation that proved his worth to them, and he wasn't going to stoop to that level to save his own skin. He'd rather die fighting back against the League than play along with them and end up hurting or even killing someone.

"So, I gotta ask first: what's your answer, kid? I know you....idolize All Might," Shigaraki spat his name out as if it were an unpleasant taste in his mouth, "but you should understand your situation by now. Do you wanna join us? Or remain shackled to this so-called 'hero society'?"

Izuku swallowed thickly, his mind racing yet he tried to keep himself calm. He was at the mercy of these villains, not to mention he was rendered quirkless right now and his arms were still heavily damaged, they could practically gut him and he'd be helpless in the long run. However, he was a hero, he needed to look the devil in the eyes and face him on without hesitation if he wanted to keep being his own person as Izuku Midoriya. Then, he suddenly remembered all the people these villains before him have hurt, his friends, Aizawa sensei, All Might, Kacchan. He couldn't stop himself from smirking just slightly through gritted teeth, feeling a very Kacchan-like answer bubbling up at the anger he felt that they hurt those he cared about.

"Screw that, like hell I'd join you guys."

Their eyes widened slightly at Izuku's answer, they didn't expect him to respond like that. They've seen that he was more awkward, more polite and unwilling to throw insults or even retaliate to being talked down on by someone like Katsuki. The only time they've heard of him talking somewhat close to this was with his encounter with Stain and from Muscular not long ago. Even Toga looked surprised and didn't have anything to say at the moment, her blush having lessened for now. Dabi finally lifted his icy-blue gaze to look at Izuku, that seems to have caught his attention. Then Shigaraki laughed damn near hysterically.

"I like this kid, he's got guts!" he said in between his laughter before he turned himself to fully face their captive, "but in your current situation, it looks like you have no choice. Wrong answer."

Shigaraki's laughing died off at his last words before he held his hand out to Kurogiri, which the ghastly villain handed him a syringe with an unknown, unmarked liquid, then he stood up and began approaching the green-haired student. Izuku's eyes widened at the interaction and began to panic the moment his eyes landed on the mysterious syringe, he tried to desperately get away and began struggling in his restraints as Shigaraki walked over to him. Whatever contents were in that syringe couldn't possibly be good, and Izuku didn't want to find out what it would do to him, so he tried his hardest to break free from his restraints, desperately attempting to summon OFA to his dire call only to still get complete silence. This situation just went from bad to terrible.

"Look at you squirm now, not so heroic in the face of real villainy, huh? But don't worry, you'll soon forget all about this, in fact, you'll soon forget everything you've ever known as a hero. Lucky for you, we'll be here to catch you when you fall. We'll be here to rebuild you after you've been broken down."

Izuku ignored the pain in his arms and tried and tried to get free but to no avail, his blood pumping faster with each step Shigaraki took towards him, his mind screaming and begging for OFA to respond to him in his time of need, that someone, anyone would come and save him before the League did something to him that he wouldn't be able to recover from. But just like his quirk, there was nothing that could help him.

Shigaraki reached Izuku's side and with his other hand, shoved the teen's head to the side and pinned it to the chair he was seated in to prevent him from moving, four of his fingers made contact with his freckled cheek but his last finger remained scarily close, a deadly reminder of what his quirk could do with one simple graze of his final finger. He exposed Izuku's neck in order to piece the syringe's needle into his neck before emptying the contents of the liquid into his bloodstream. Once that was done, Shigaraki pulled away with one final and harsh, and practically unnecessary, shove to Izuku's head into the chair, his red eyes watching in glee at the sight that lay before his eyes.

Izuku had winced when his head to shoved to the side to expose his neck, he still struggled but knew better than to try and thrash his head away from Shigaraki's hand when he was at his mercy. He's seen what his quirk can do to someone, and he wasn't really willing to get his face to crumble and fall off because he made a dumb decision. He needed to fight back, yes, but he needed to be smart about it, as smart as he could be in this predicament. But those thoughts quickly left him when he felt the syringe being shoved into his neck.

He did not like the fact that whatever liquid was being injected into him made him feel numb, made him feel cold as if he was stunned from taking a particularly hard hit. Izuku let out a shaky gasp once he was released, his neck feeling fuzzy as did his head and body, but despite it all, his muscles felt like they were cramping, seizing as if he wanted to desperately jump around or sprint for hours on end. He felt like his body had a mind of its own. Like the wiring of his brain to control his body was being altered or even blocked. And it felt horrifying.

"W-what did you.....do t-to me?!" Izuku demanded weakly, having enough willpower to glare daggers at Shigaraki who had taken a step back to watch. By the older male's expression, albeit under that hand he wore, he seemed impressed and even surprised that Izuku was still able to glare so harshly at him, let alone remain conscious when the drug he'd given him was supposed to knock him out.

"You'll see soon enough, hero~" he smirked widely and spoke with wicked amusement. "In the meantime, why don't you take a rest?"

Izuku could barely register Shigaraki's final words as his conscious did begin slipping and fast, his eyelids became impossibly heavy and with that uncomfortable feeling of all of his muscles tensing up, his mind finally fell beneath the dark waves that crashed into him. He couldn't remain awake any longer and after his vision darkened into nothingness, so did his consciousness. All he could do and think about before blacking out was hope and pray that the heroes, his sensei, his mentor, his friends, would find him soon. That was practically the only hope he could hold onto for now, and he prayed it wouldn't be a hope he'd die on.

———
(2832 words)

Author's Notes: Ah, it's been a while since I last worked on this, lol. I've been stressed lately, from the holidays before and just from life in general, so I felt like I needed to do something else and clear my head in order to continue writing this chapter. Funny enough, I didn't originally plan for his chapter to be this long, but oh well.

I hope that this chapter was more in depth and flowed smoother than my previous story's version! I decided to eliminate the POV switching since this is an Izuku-centric story, so switching POVs would just be confusing and all over the place. Besides, I feel like I'm not really good at writing anyone else's personalities and perspectives except for Izuku and Katsuki, though my Katsuki could use some work. Maybe in the future for this story, I'll shift once or twice to his view to get a little variety, who knows.

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I think I found a good song to listen to while writing this story, or at least this segment, as that's mainly what helped in pushing me to finish this chapter. Feel free to leave a comment! I enjoy reading them even if I may not respond to them! :3

Thanks for reading! Let's Go Beyond! PLUS ULTRA!!!

-Thornsight