Midoriya
"Kacchan!" I scream, nothing but the echo of my thoughts comes out though, but at least it seems the sludge villain can hear me, because I can feel his anger radiating through my mind. Other than emotions, I feel entirely numb, I can't feel anything else, I can see through my eyes, I can hear everything around me, I can tell when I'm moving, but it isn't me moving. I don't even feel the pain from my throat, even though it's obvious to me that it does in fact hurt.
We've been on the move for about five minutes now, but we're traveling way faster than I would on my own. My limbs are so tired, so heavy, but the sludge guy isn't slowing down. Not even a little.
"What's your name? I need something other than 'Sludge villain' to call you." I ask.
"Shut up brat, you're lucky enough that your body's organs haven't shut down yet." There's a pause before he continues, "My name Is Slough. Fat chance you're getting my real name, so don't even try."
Okay then, "Slough, what are you going to do with me?" I pry, the only outcomes I've been able to think may happen haven't been on the safe side. Slough moves my body through and around buildings, passing by several students from my school on the way- I hope that at least one of them noticed something was wrong and called someone to help. Not that I don't trust that Bakugo will find a hero to help after that whole encounter.
We turn another corner and Slough slows down, dropping our speed down to a slow walk, continuously looking around for something… or someone.
"You mean if you don't die? Then I guess I'll let the League of Villains decide what to do with you."
"The league of villains? Wasn't that just a rumor?" I ask, panic fresh in my voice "Wait… they're going to kill me aren't they??"
"Probably."
Oh my god I'm going to die- no. I can't think like that. What can I do?
Slough brings us to a stop outside the door of some kind of abandoned factory, he knocks in a pattern I'm not sure I could replicate if I tried. The door opens and someone steps out, he has a purple swirling cloud for a head with glowing yellow eyes. "And you are?" he asks, what i assume is his fists clenching tighter.
"It's Slough, found this kid on my escape from the hero's earlier, he's holding up pretty well- not to mention he's got a pretty strong quirk."
"Ah, Slough, I was wondering when you would be joining us at the hide out." he moves to the side in an invitational gesture, which Slough takes immediate response to by smiling and ducking into the building. Inside is some kind of a bar with red tinted wooden flooring and several chairs lined up by the corner. On one of the stools is a man with grey toned hair and pale skin, that alone would be enough to make me nervous, but the grey hands grasping at his arms and neck just make his appearance that much more terrifying.
"You got somewhere I can put the boy? I think you might want to see what he's made of before killing him. He's got some crazy knowledge on lots of heroes." Slough says, geez, hearing my own voice coming from someone else is really throwing me off-
The hand guy nods, "I believe we've got a chair or something we can tie him to, though if he's really got so much potential, we might want him to start off on a better note. Nothing says friends like being tied to a chair right?"
Slough lets out a dry laugh, which turns to a cough. "I think we might want to go with the chair route, this brat might actually think he doesn't have a quirk, which means we have no idea what he's capable of quirk wise. And he's determined as hell, I'll give him that." he pauses for a moment, "with his will power we might even want to tie him to the chair before I even ditch his body."
On one hand, I shouldn't be flattered by how much caution they're taking regarding my non-existent power, but still, to hear people talking about me as if I might actually be worth something? Apart from my mom and a few generic responses from teachers, I've always been written off as worthless because of my being quirkless.
"Very well, Kurogiri?" The hand guy says, the purple cloud guy lifts his head, "Would you grab a chair from the old office? Preferably one with sturdy legs?"
"Yes, Shigaraki, I shall be right back." Kurogiri replies, walking off through a side door behind the counter, he returns about thirty seconds later carrying a wooden kitchen chair in one hand, and rope and tape in the other. "I wasn't sure whether we wanted to use tape or rope."
There's a long pause before Shigaraki shakes his head and scoffs, "Use the rope."
Kurogiri sets the chair down next to me and Slough moves to sit down, I try to take back my body, willing my legs to move away from the chair, nothing happens. "Let go of my body!" I yell, prying at my mussels with every ounce of energy I can muster.
"Quit that." Slough says, deadpan expression on my face. When he receives a confused look from Kurogiri; who's currently reaching down with rope, he emphasizes, "Not you, the kid. He keeps trying to take back his body. It's seriously annoying. Now hurry the hell up, I want out of this thing."
The rope wraps tightly around both my arms and legs, another one going around my abdomen. Really, how strong do they think I am? I feel a tingling in my chest and head, which turns to splintering pain as I feel parts of me move around inside my body, compiling inside my throat and exiting through my mouth. Piles of green sludge collect on the floor in front of me, growing with each moment.
I start to feel my legs again first, then my hands, arms and finally head. Pain rips through my neck and throat, my lungs burn and my head pounds. The moment the last of Sloughs sludge exits my body I begin to cough and gasp for air again, which only manages to make the pain worse.
Slough takes shape into the thing I saw in the tunnel, then slowly begins to shift color and texture into something more human like, eyes and skin showing under the sludge until he looks like any other person you'd see on the street.
They just stand there, watching me cough blood for what seems like forever. I'm aware I'm crying, tears rolling down my face at a constant rate. God- I knew it hurt, but this? I could have never even imagined this pain. I try to swallow, only to be put into some kind of shock, I pull my arms up as much as possible, which isn't much. My legs are in the same situation, I try to pull them up, to curl into a ball where it wouldn't hurt like death itself.
"So, you done dying?" someone asks, I don't even see who says it. Not that I'd be able to answer anyways. "Whats wrong with him?"
"In order to take him over I needed a direct way into his bloodflow, so when I entered his body, the first thing I did was tear up his throat for a clear path. Didn't think I messed him up too bad, but I could always be wrong." I recognise Slough's voice now.
I feel a pressure on my shoulder, which pushes my back against the chair, another hand grabbing my hair and pulling it back so I'm looking at him. When I open my eyes, I'm met with Shigaraki; his dry lips and small scars, his red eyes piercing deep into my soul. There's some kind of pain, deep inside his iris, that makes me question everything about him.
"What is your quirk?"
I open my mouth to speak, but when I actually try to talk, I'm met with a raspy sound and more pain. So I shake my head, praying that he'll understand and not kill me. Shigaraki frowns, brows furrowing, "Kuroguri, call in Mari." he says, "And Slough: grab me a pen and paper, this brat can't talk. Give me that notebook first, the one you mentioned during his coughing fit."
My notebook? What does he want with that?
Oh wait… my notes on all the Heros.
Both villains disappear from my line of sight before Shigaraki releases me, this time however, I keep my head up, doing my best to ignore the pain and try and get an idea of what I can do to get out of here alive.
Shigaraki has my notebook now, flipping through the pages one by one, expression transforming the longer he reads. When he picked it up… his eyes widened, his frown turned back to somewhat of a smile, a small rush of color darkening his pale skin- just for a moment before he returned to normal yet again.
I blink.
Kurogiri and Slough are back in the room, paper and pen on my lap and rope being loosened at my right arm. Huh?
"You're right handed, right? What's your quirk?"
Who's talking?
My head is all fuzzy…
Black spots fill my vision, I try to reach for the pen, fingers brushing the paper.
"I don't have a quirk" I write, coughing drops of red on the white sheet.
I blink again.
I open my eyes.
But I don't see anything… just… darkness.
I'm… sleeping… I don't feel my throat anymore… my hands are free…
Am I… Dead?
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"His vocal cords are completely shredded. There's not much I can do to fix that, but I can at least help them to scar over." A woman… "It's likely he won't be able to talk, maybe ever again."
I'm cold, please help?
"How unfortunate, at least he can still write." Shigaraki?
"Who is he anyways?" The woman asks
"A valuable asset."
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My eyes open slowly, I don't know what's happening.
The ceiling is white, the room smells sterile, but this bed is soft and warm… does that mean it was a dream? Everything that happened? No- My throat still hurts, not as bad as before, but still near-blinding.
I lift my head for a moment, a dull throb pushing down in my mind. So instead, I lift myself up entirely so I'm in a sitting position. The room is a pale green with a base of white, The bed I'm sitting on is in the corner, a white desk on the other end of the room and a door across from me. My hand goes to my neck, it hurts…
I swallow, wincing when it stings. I try to speak, to call out for someone- anyone- all that comes out is some kind of a static sound, the kind that happens when you turn on a fault station on a radio- just more spaced out.
I'm not panicking, but I can't stop myself from crying- I hold one hand on my mouth, leaving the other on my neck as I pull my legs up to my chest.
I try. Again and again, to make a sound- any sound. But every time; every time it comes up empty, just a hollow feeling where I used to talk, to yell, to laugh.
I do this for what has to be over an hour, somehow, my throat is even worse than before. How could this happen, how could I let this happen… I don't even know if my voice could've been saved, I know I couldn't speak when Shigaraki asked me a question, but is it possible they did this? After I passed out?
And my mom. Where is she? Does she think I'm… no, she has to know I'm alive.
The door opens, Shigaraki coming in with a blank expression and a duffle bag.
I can't help but back into the corner, making myself as small as possible. Shigaraki smiles slightly, "Awake, I see." he tosses the duffle bag in front of me, leaning back on the door frame and crossing his arms. I eye the bag for a while, too scared to move for several minutes.
"Hurry up and look in the bag, brat." Shigaraki says with an impatient tone, I flinch back before registering his words. Look in the bag.
I reach for the bag, slowly, dreading what might be inside, some kind of threat, a bomb, a- applesauce? Clothes? A notebook? A set of pens? What is all this? Aren't they going to kill me like Slough said they would? No- they have my notebook, so why keep me alive… unless… they want the others, all my other notebooks.
"So? That enough to get you to talk- oops, I mean write?"
The pens and notebook are the same kinds I normally use for school, Colors, brands, everything. I nod and pull them out of the bag, opening the pack of pens, picking a simple black one and opening the notebook to the first page.
"You say you don't have a quirk, but that's not true. Slough definitely saw one when he took you over." Shigaraki starts, "So tell me, what is it, what can you do?"
But I- "I don't have one, I would know If I did, it's been my dream since I could walk to get a quirk and become a hero." I write, turning the paper to face Shigakari, who looks down for a moment.
"Lets assume you're telling the truth. On a different note, talk."
I'm still in the corner, tightly pressed to the wall, my legs not curled against my chest anymore, but relaxing in front of me ever so slightly. I press my throat, trying to breathe out words, 'where am I?' I try, nothing, just static- Like a broken radio.
"Hm." He says, "Your vocal cords sustained irreparable damage during Slough's possession. We had our healer do her best to repair them, but it seems as if it was inevitable."
Please no…
I'm… broken?
"Look inside yourself, dig deep, search for a spark, a feeling. For power."
I don't react at first, just breath, mouth slightly ajar, my hand back on my neck. Then I do as he says, what better can I do? I close my eyes and dig deep, into myself, into my soul. There. A spec, just a green spark of raw power. If only I could… reach it-
I gasp, my eyes darting open, my hand is warm, a green light sparking with like-colored flames. I- Have a quirk?
Then, just as fast as it appeared, it's gone.
Based on Shigakari's reaction; his head tilting to the side, an amused smile breaking through his stern expression, he's not surprised. Just, knowing- proud even. There's something about him that makes me relax, he isn't as intimidating anymore, he's tired. This power… I feel it, and seeing Shigakari now, This power might just be enough to get me out of here.
All I have to do is wait.