Silence.

After the explosion there was nothing. The loudness of the blast, followed by the quietness of the shock. The wind being the only source of noise as we stared at each other.

I was just as shocked as Muscular was.

I'm a villain whom had just put their life on the line to save the son of a pro. Well, I didn't really put my life on the line, I could have just turned on one of my quirks: Ghost, and let Muscular pass straight through me and kill the kid. Of course, I didn't.

I don't know why I stepped in to save this kid.

Maybe it was the expression on his face, as he gazed upon the man whom would murder him. Maybe it was an old habit of rushing in to protect others. Maybe it was another ulterior motive that I am yet to realize myself.

Muscular stared at me in shock as I glared at him coldly. The explosion he had made solely from punching the ground would have surely killed the child currently shaking in my arms.

This lunatic was planning on killing this five year old.

"Yagi? What the hell was that about?"

Muscular's voice broke the eerie silence we had been subjected to as I continued to stare at him in disgust.

"Me? What the hell were you about to do? This is obviously a child! He's shaking!"

He watched my figure as if I were crazy, which to be fair, I am. As I held the child in my arms, he shook and quivered.

"You said to kill the ones we don't need!"

"I meant those hero course brats, not the innocent bystanders!"

As we bantered back and forth, the child opened his eyes. I felt his eyes roam my figure as they took in every detail. I had decided not to wear my mask, because I had no intentions of being spotted, nor was I planning on stepping in at any point.

That went as planned.

"Well, who cares? I don't have to listen to a damn thing you say."

He spoke with pride, as if he thought I would be powerless against him. I released the child from my grasp and began to walk towards Muscular.

"I think this child could be of use to our cause in the future."

My voice came out soft, yet stern as I quietly whispered those words to my comrade—making sure the child couldn't hear my thoughts.

The thing about Dabi, Toga and the rest is that they all know me. Muscular was our newest recruit, so he didn't exactly know what I was capable of, nor did he care. He didn't care to learn my strengths, weaknesses, abilities, and most importantly he never learned to fear me.

Dabi and Toga know what I'm capable of, so they listen to my word as if it were law. Muscular on the other hand, never cared to understand that I am more than what meets the eye.

My form is built and tall; however, compared to Muscular, I was a toothpick. I'm assuming because of my brains and skills in analysis, he thought my quirk would have some sort of link to that, so he didn't think I could do anything if he defied me.

Big mistake.

The first thing you should do when facing a superior opponent, is learn their weaknesses.

"Well, I disagree!"

He raised his fist, preparing to hit me with a maxed out punch. Probably in hopes of killing me. I watched with boredom as his fist was about to come into contact with my chest.

Idiot.

I watched in fear as Mandalay's words left my mind.

There are villains here?

This must be the 'To Be Continued' Izuku had promised me.

Bakugou and I walked with wary as we began to make our way to the camp. As we walked, we began to hear noises. Disturbing noises at that. It sounded as it someone were slurping a bowl of spaghetti and tomato sauce. Either that or I'm hungry.

We approached a man, hunched over something. His figure was blocking the better half of whatever the hell he was looking at, but his words explained his actions.

"Human flesh... Beautiful human flesh..."

I watched in fear as I listened to this mans words. The slurping sound was coming from this man, and judging by his words, I would say he's definitely not eating spaghetti.

The man turned to face us, and we could finally see what he had been hunched over.

An arm.

"No fighting... Is that the rule..?"

Boredom.

I yawned as I felt his fist land in my hand. Clasping it tightly I stared into the eyes of my accomplice-turned-opponent.

Unlike this dumbass, I knew my opponents weaknesses and strengths. I knew his fighting style and what techniques he preferred. I knew what his quirks would enhance, and limit him to. I knew what he could improve on and what he already knew.

I knew how his brain worked.

Not that it really mattered.

I could exterminate this insect faster than I could a fruit fly; although, I really don't like this guy, and it's been a while since I've had the pleasure of torturing someone.

"What the hell?-"

Muscular's voice faltered as I crushed his arm in my hand. I listened to the sound of his scream as it erupted from the intense pain of every muscle fiber in his arm being severed and ripped apart.

It was honestly quite satisfying.

Hearing the screams of someone you hate echoing throughout your ear cannels, as they scream and beg for mercy.

Mercy : Compassion or forbearance shown especially to an offender or to one subject to one's power.

Such a dumb term. What's the fun in mercy? The pleasure, the rush, the thrill, the high? You get none of those when you enact mercy on someone you hate. There's a more interesting outcome when you see a plan through, rather than heading to the pleas for mercy.

I stared at Muscular with a sickeningly sinister grin as he screamed in pain. As he screamed in excursion.

As he screamed in agony.

Laughing, I began to taunt him.

"You didn't seriously think you could beat me, did you?"

He didn't answer as I bent his arm in an unnatural way, creating a clean break in his bone. Not that it matters anyways. He will die here and now, so there is no real use in breaking his bones in an easily fixable way. No use other than the enjoyment, I suppose.

Which is all one truly needs.

I released his fist from my grasp as I watched Muscular's arm fall from the break. With no muscle fibers, skin or ligaments keeping the severed bone in his arm, it practically spilled out like canned soup into a pot.

His agony filled screams brought me pleasure as his body collapsed to the ground into the puddle of blood leaking from his arm. Crouching down to his level, I spoke firmly to him.

"This is what happens when you defy me."

With that, a glowing green light emerged from my hands. My energy whips always enact fear into my opponents. I lifted my whip and brought it down on his neck, melting through his cervical spinal chord, arteries, trapezius and platysmas muscles, skin, external jugular vein, etc. All the while he screamed for salvation. Up to the point of his decapitation.

I could have said something more profound or badass, but I felt no need.

After all...

This is what happens when you defy me.

I watched for a moment as blood spilled from his neck. I kind of wanted to take his head home. Just as a warning to anyone who even thinks of disobeying me in the future, and also for my own amusement.

Tomura decorated his room with the dismembered hands of his victims...

I could take that idea one step further...

I turned to glance at the child once more. He was sitting on the floor—shaking—as he watched Muscular's blood pool underneath his body.

I began to stalk over to the child, deactivating my energy whips. The kid shifted his gaze to my figure as I walked towards him and he began screaming.

As I approached the child, I collapsed. I rolled from my side to my back and sighed loudly. I had almost forgotten how much energy it takes to power those damned whips.

This is why Kurogiri feeds me so much...

I wouldn't have been this tired if I had used my shock absorption quirk. It could have gone quicker and cleaner if I had, as well as conserving my energy.

I could have absorbed the raw power from Muscular's punch, then just killed him with it, but no. I just had to be this damn extra and use that force to completely destroy his arm. Then, I didn't have the necessary strength to kill him, and I had to resort to my energy whips.

It will take me at least ten minutes to be able to stand up in this condition, and it didn't help that I hadn't eaten lunch today.

I sighed yet again as I thought of breaking the tension between the frightened child and I.

"You like Pokémon?"

My voice was soft and humorous as I spoke to the child, attempting to lighten the mood. He sat silently and I turned my head to look at him.

His face was contorted in a mixture of disgust, relief and worry at the same time. It was honestly impressive that he could wear that many contrasting expressions at the same time. I smiled sweetly at him, and this time my smile was genuine.

I watched him gulp as his face took over a new expression. I couldn't quite read it, but he definitely looked confused.

"M-mhmm..."

The fear was leaking through his futile attempt of words and I could see the terror behind his eyes. Makes sense. I just murdered and tortured a man in front of him, and he doesn't know if I'll do the same to him. I kind of want to turn this kid to the side of villainy just to spite the heroes. It would definitely be interesting.

"Yeah? My favourite Pokémon is Mewtwo. What's yours?"

"U-Uhm... I-I like Charizard..."

"Sick! Yeah, Charizard doesn't take bullshit from anyone. He's awesome!"

You can learn a lot about a person by their interests and things they like. Mewtwo was the spawn of Mew—a legendary Pokémon. Mewtwo was subjected to horrific DNA engineering and gene splicing, resulting in its creation. That is Mewtwo's origin story.

Typically, people chose their favourite character or animal from a show based on their similarities and shared experiences. It's easier to connect with a character if you can relate with them on a personal level; although, the same can't be said for small children.

Children usually chose the coolest or the strongest or the character with the coolest backstory to be their favourite characters. So, Charizard won't really get me anywhere with getting to know this kid.

"My name's Agony... What's yours?"

He eyed me for a moment before responding.

"Uhm... My name's Izumi Kota, but you can call me Kota..."

He abandoned his previous reservations as we spoke and got into more conversations.

Izumi...

His last name just has to be the same as my sister's first name...

I kept my rage towards that name under a lid, as to not frighten the kid more than he already was. Izumi isn't an uncommon name, so I should probably deal with my emotions towards that name sooner rather than later.

"Quick question. Does anyone besides you know about this place or that you'd be here?"

He looked at me before shaking his head. I turned my head to face the starry night sky before sighing.

"That's good."

"Why? Don't you want the heroes to find you and save you?"

I chuckled at his words. I guess he doesn't realize I'm a villain, yet.

"No, if they did, I'd probably be arrested."

"What? Why?"

"You see, I'm kinda... A villain..."

He looked at me in confusion as I spoke. As if the thought had never crossed his mind that I was actually a part of the attack currently still in action.

"Really? Why are you a villain?" I glanced back towards him and raised an eyebrow.

People don't usually ask the villains why they do what they do. They usually just run away screaming or call the authorities.

Humming in response, I began to answer.

"People never ask that... I guess... I just want to show everyone that I'm strong. I've been pushed down too many times to get back up, so I want revenge."

He stared at me as I spoke, taking in my words and listening attentively.

"Believe me when I say, not all of us are like Muscular. Not all of us just want to kill because it's fun. While, I do enjoy it, I wouldn't just kill a random kid for the thrill. I just want to cleanse the word of all the corrupt heroes running around."

"Mandalay told me that one day, I'll understand why heroes do what they do. She said someone will show me what it means to be a hero. That someone will be my hero. I thought that you were that hero, but your a villain." He spoke with anger and resentment. "Mandalay was wrong. Heroes don't save people. You're my hero, and I don't care that you're a 'villain'!"

I smiled after hearing him speak.

No one has ever told me that I'm their hero before...

No.

He's right.

I am a hero...