Prologue

It was dark.

Abnormally so.

The common man would be at home at this time of night. Resting after a hard day's work. His wife at the door, ready to greet him. Maybe a kid or two to bring some feeling of achievement to his life he couldn't obtain from his non-descriptive line of work. Content with his meager existence. Thankful for the life he'd been able to build for himself.

I'd long forgone that type of life. I knew what path I was heading toward when I committed my first crime.

The job had been going well to start. A bodyguard for some late-night business around the red light district of Mustafa. I hadn't thought much of it. Stop a few drunkards here and there, make sure the "legal" working girls weren't harmed..... your normal protective service for a not-so-legal brothel.

He just had to push it didn't he. Some well-off guy working at a top hero support agency. Had too much to drink. thought he could fuck around with me and I'd sit back and take it.

He learned quickly.

Well, "learned"

Learning implies you lived long enough to change.

I made sure he couldn't.

It was indescribable. That feeling, the rush that overcame me while I beat that guy a hair's length away from death. The smell overcame my senses. Burnt flesh, the smell of iron that usually accompanied blood. I'd gotten a taste for it that night.

Murder.

I'd used my quirk too. Sure the offense for illegal quirk usage was high, but I'd already planned to kill him. What were a few electric shocks worth to a dead man anyway?

I'd never looked back since.

And who could blame me? Everyone knew how this world worked. The strong ate the week. That drunk idiot should've known what would've happened to him.

And get this, he was quirkless.

That pathetic weakling begged for his life as I stood above him, hands sparking with my quirk activated. Damn..... a smirk appeared on my features as just the memory of that day brought a smile to my face. He couldn't help it, even as he ran for dear life. Away from here, he reminded himself..... ANYWHERE but here.

𝘾𝙧𝙖𝙨𝙝!

A trashcan toppled behind me as I ran around another corner deep within Mustafa's criminal underground. The noise jolted me back to full awareness. My thoughts were momentarily halted as I remembered why I was running in the first place.

It was 𝐇𝐢𝐦

Not that I'd caught a glimpse of him yet. It was too dark, even with the few passing lamposts here and there I couldn't get a good look at his figure. As if I was trying. I knew what would happen if I looked back now, he'd be on my ass faster than I could pray to God for forgiveness. The only thing helping me was my general knowledge of the area. I knew this place like the back of my hand. I'd grown up here. Lived here my whole life. The guy chasing me down from what I gathered from the news and media made him out to be new to the area.

A vigilante. Hunting down criminals left and right. the only thing known about him was his sex. Male if his stature was to be believed. However, with only that to go by there wasn't anything I could use to help me here besides some vague guesses. He'd only been operating for the past 3 months but his effectiveness was clear to anybody with 2 working brain cells. His record was flawless. Perfect takedowns of gangs and organizations the cops and heroes had failed to catch.

Shit, if you looked at any online Hero forums you'd know his record places him somewhere in the top 10 Heroes for monthly performances alone. Too bad he's a vigilante, the Hero Public Safety Commission would never allow someone like him to be perceived as anything less than a villain. Else some other individuals take inspiration from him and start running around playing Hero.

"AHHHhhh" I shouted in pain as a heavily enforced boot stomped down on my back.

I tried over my legs, the momentum carrying me across the alley I'd been running in.

"Damn' I release a silent curse under my breath as I crash into a dumpster.

Shakely I stand up, readying my guard for whatever follow-up attack I was certain was going to occur.

Electric arcs start sparking in my hands, the power I'd been storing since I'd drained a couple of near-dead lithium car batteries came to life. I stood my guard, poised and ready.

..... Nothing.

Not a footstep, flash of movement, or even word could be heard or seen. It's like the guy just up and vanished.

My nerves were getting to me. I look at my surroundings more carefully. Make sure to take note of every detail, anything to signal where my pursuer may have gone.

"maybe..... maybe I just got lucky hahaha" I let out a nervous chuckle. He wasn't anywhere near me. The alley only went two ways so I would've seen him if he tried sneaking up on me.

"𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐲?" a gravelly, demonically deep voice spoke up from right next to my ear.

Startled I whirled to my right, arm stretched out to zap whatever monster just spoke to me.

Electricity fired from my hands in the direction I perceived the voice to be coming from. Arcs of electrical currents bounced off uselessly against the concrete of the alley I was in.

'I missed?' I couldn't believe what I just witnessed. I'm sure I just heard a voice Less than a moment ago. Maybe my mind was playing tricks on me? My fear overriding rational thought?

'No it can't be, I know what I heard I'm not mentally insane' I denied the possibility that this wasn't real. I wished it was my brain fabricating things, my body's adrenaline skewing my already tense mental state, but wishful thinking could only get someone so far.

"𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐫, 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐢𝐭" the voice spoke once more. The sound echoed from every direction in the alley.

I turned my head in a circle. Trying, hoping, .....praying that I find any clue as to where I was hearing this from. I back away slowly in the direction I had tried running down from when I initially entered the alley.

'Click clack' my heart jumps in my chest as my foot knocks around a canister of some kind.

How did I miss it? I could have sworn there wasn't anything on the ground when I was running down here earlier.

I take a brief moment to look down at what I nearly tripped over.

It was all black. Its form takes the shape of a common smoke grenade you'd see in one of those video games kids like to play nowadays.

As it rolls for the nth time after my mishap I notice another keen detail.

'A symbol? Wait is that…' my eyes squint to take in the tidbit of information, 'a ba—'

'Fshhhhhh' highly pressurized water exposed out of the canister in every direction.

My eyes widen behind my skull-like mask. I raise my hands to intercept the blast. However, while doing so I forget to take in a small bit of detail.

That was water. My quirk, Electric Charge, was still covering my hands. And that water was about splash all over my outfitted form.

Even after my brain connects the dots and solves the puzzle of my predicament it's too late to change the next turn of events.

The water splashes all over me. The electricity covering my arms sparks wildly. And all I can feel is 𝐏𝐀𝐈𝐍.

Electricity and water don't mix. Conductivity, Electrolysis, whatever the fuck you wanna call it. I learned ever since I'd gotten my quirk that my powers and electricity are a big no-no.

'Fuc-mmmm' I bite my lower lip drawing blood as my body spasms uncontrollably.

My quirk allows me to store and use electric currents. But as with all things, there was a limit. And I wasn't immune to its more destructive impulses.

I smell the oh-so-familiar stench of burnt meat as my skin is charred by the electricity frying me from the inside out.

As I lie there twitching like a crack fiend a hear a pair of boots land roughly on the ground.

Even with all the pain I'm enduring, I clench my teeth and peer through my tightly shut eyes at my chaser.

He was black.

No, that would be a wrong use of words.

He was very much white, I could see that much from his mouth and chin that were oddly exposed in his suit.

They were the only parts that were.

His suit looked sleek. Rough-edged stitches that underplayed the extreme defensive properties the fabric held. A utility belt wrapped around his waist, canisters that resembled the one I knocked over earlier were placed in each slot with one slot missing…

A cowl. A god-forsaken cowl with pointy ears on each side of his head reaching down to connect to what I assume to be a cape. At the center of his suit atop his muscular chest, I see a symbol, the very same one I had seen on the canister from earlier.

'Crunch' glass breaks under the weight of his steps.

I squeeze my eyes shut. Each time I hear the crunch signals another step closer he is to reach me.

Until it stops.

Carefully, almost innocently, I will my eyes to open slowly.

My heart stops.

His face, mear inches from my own, his eyes staring straight into mine. Boring holes into my skull, as if to search my soul. To find anything worth redeeming.

I try looking at his. His soul.

'𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙞𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙜𝙖𝙯𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙗𝙮𝙨𝙨, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙗𝙮𝙨𝙨 𝙜𝙖𝙯𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙡𝙨𝙤 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪'

Those words ring in my mind as I stare into empty sockets. His eyes were white, but I was not fooled. The only light I could discern from them had long since passed. Only remnants of what once was remained.

"P-please I'll do anything just leave me alone" I cower weakly. My body was retaining a bit of its functionality but I was still in intense pain. I wouldn't be able to move for a while.

His gaze grows sharper. I notice his unmoved fist tighten up as he uses his other hand to grab my shirt collar and bring my face closer to his.

"𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐠𝐮𝐞, 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠" again I'm bombarded by his voice. It's wrong. It sounds so so wrong.

"The League? I-I just got scouted by them I swear I'm not part of their group"

"𝐈 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐚𝐬𝐤 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮u" he raises his previously motionless fist, clenched even harder than before, "𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭. 𝐀𝐫𝐞. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲. 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠"

I squeeze my eyes shut and like the lowly criminal that I am, I sell out my new employers.

"Look whatever they're doing it's bullshit. S-said something about taking down All might, that they had a way to kill 'em" I stammered quickly.

Something changes, his body's stance becomes more aggressive. He hauls the upper half of my body up. I see his arm pull back, ready to strike the ever-living fuck out of my face.

"WAIT IT'S A SCHOOL" a fist stops an inch away from knocking my lights out.

"𝐓𝐚𝐥𝐤 𝐍𝐎𝐖"

"OK Ok look it's UA, that school everybody's been talking about. We were gonna group up and attack. The purple wispy guy said he could get us in during one of their classes no problem"

That seems to placate him, he slowly lowers me down and looks away with a 'hum', as if to contemplate the new information he's received.

With my newfound confidence in knowing I wasn't going to get the shit beat out of me, I ask the question half of japans been wanting to know since the day this guy appeared.

"W-who… who are you"

His head jerks my way at an insane speed. All that confidence I had just built up breaks away as he pulls me ever closer to his blank visage.

And he speaks.

No… he growls the words out. As if they mean something else. Something more than just a threat. As if the words carried a silent message, one deeper than those who heard it could ever discern.

"….. 𝙄 𝘼𝙢 𝙑𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚"