The Marksman and The Warrior

Heroes Out of Sight

"Villains in plain sight, huh?" Shigaraki rasped, "Nothing more than bandits? Ha."

"You get what I'm saying, though, right?" Izuku pushed further, apparently having forfeited his rights to life already, "The media wants interesting stories to tell. Unless you establish the lore behind your little organization, the other players wouldn't care. They won't be as invested in your League of Villains than they will be in Stain, because his story is known. Yours isn't."

"Those NPCs don't actually care. They'll spin things the way they want." Shigaraki's voice came out in a raspy hiss, "They'll lie about things just to keep it interesting."

"That's just the way the media is." Izuku sighed, "How did you think they took my enrolment into UA? They plastered my face all over the news, simply because I challenged the status quo, and my story makes for an interesting one. It's the same with Stain, whose beliefs heavily challenge out current society's status quo. You want to be noticed by the media? Challenge the status quo. People love controversy." 

The hand on Izuku's neck tightened. Izuku's breath caught, his heart pounding in palpable fear before Shigaraki's hand relaxed. The villain himself began chuckling, "Ah, I get it. It's all because of this rotten society we live in."

Izuku remained silent as the villain continued to laugh lowly, "You know, you're a really amusing kid, Midoriya-chan." Shigaraki emphasized the cutesy honorific as if it were some kind of insult, "Don't you hate this society, too?"

"Not particularly." Izuku twisted his neck slightly to look up at Shigaraki, "Sure, our society today sucks. I'll be the first to admit that. But from what I can tell, Shigaraki, it's been corrupted by the people in power. The general public are just sheep being herded by the shepherds that is the government's lapdogs."

"Ha. You're so right." Shigaraki's grin grew wider, "I mean, look at all these hopeful NPCs. They're moving around without a care in the world, not knowing that there's a villain right here. So confident that a hero will come save them. How many do you think I could kill before the heroes arrive? Ten? Twenty? Hehe. They're nothing. Defenseless pedestrians that're just little bags of XP."

"Heroes can't save everyone, that's true. But they try their best to save who they can. That's enough." Izuku slipped a hand into his pocket nonchalantly, ignoring Shigaraki's tightening grip, "I mean, really. They're human, too. They're bound to mess up. It isn't fair, but that's the way life works."

"And what would you know about how life works, brat?" Shigaraki spat, his voice filled with animus, "You're in the best school in the country. Your entire education is sheltered."

"Shigaraki, I learned from a very young age that all men are not created equal." Izuku replied, his tone almost bored, "Or did you happen to forget that I'm quirkless? My entire life was filled with suffering. My mom died in a villain attack, everyone in my previous schools spat at me and looked down on me simply because I had an extra stupid toe joint. My only real saving grace was Katamina's family taking me in. Otherwise, I'm sure I would've ended up just like you."

Shigaraki scoffed at Izuku's words, his middle finger getting dangerously close to his skin, "And what would you know about me?"

"Nothing. That's the point, isn't it? No-one cares to actually understand villains. But that's not the point I'm getting at." Izuku's hand tightened around the switchblade inside his pocket as he continued, "My point is, it only takes a few moments of good to completely change someone's life. I've had it, and I'm sure you've had it too. Otherwise we'd both just be another nobody on the street or another light in the morgue."

Shigaraki scowled in response, "How disgustingly insightful of you."

"Well, what can I say? As a person, I'd say I can relate to you a lot better than most people, even if I know next to nothing about you." Izuku took a deep breath, "That being said, you're still a villain, so I'm afraid I can't offer you more of those few moments of good I was talking about."

Shigaraki's grip slackened in confusion as Izuku quickly sprang up, delivering a sharp elbow to Shigaraki's solar plexus and pulling his switchblade out of his pocket, "Everyone run! There's a villain in the building!"

The effect was immediate. People started screaming and running for the exits, away from Izuku's voice and, subsequently, away from Shigaraki.

Izuku opened the switchblade and squared off against Shigaraki, who had just barely recovered from Izuku's abrupt assault and snarled at the hero student, "Ugh. You brat!"

"Quick time event, Shigaraki. Are you gonna go kill those civilians or are you gonna escape?" Izuku held up the knife, smirking at Shigaraki as he mocked the villain's mannerisms, "Heh. Not like it matters. I won't let you do either."

He lunged, planting a foot on the bench that they were sitting on before kicking off it, sending it sliding across the ground towards the decay villain, who weaved out of its way, sliding his hands across its surface and reducing it to dust.

"You're either incredibly brave or incredibly dumb, Midoriya-chan." Shigaraki hissed, "Well, not like I can complain. I'm gonna pay you back for that bullet you put in my leg."

"Try it, Handjob." Izuku adopted a low stance, emphasizing speed over stability.

The two fighters rushed at each other, with one repeatedly attempting to grapple the other while the other effortlessly evaded his attacks.

"You couldn't touch me last time we fought, what made you think this time would be different?" Izuku taunted, parrying yet another one of Shigaraki's attempts to grapple him.

"Last time, I had a bullet in my leg! This time, I'm quicker than you!" Shigaraki screeched, ducking underneath Izuku's guard and closing his hand around the boy's leg.

Izuku's pants started to crumble away. A flash of steel and a spray of blood followed a panicked yelp. The pair separated, Shigaraki clutching at his bloody wrist while Izuku quickly cut off his affected pant leg and watched it crumble into ash and dust.

Shigaraki howled in rage as Izuku panted, getting his breathing back under control. Offering a small grin, Izuku forced the fear out of his heart, "You know, Shigaraki, following onto my last point, the best people in this world are the heroes out of sight."

A/N: I'm back~

Put those torches and pitchforks away. I know it's been a while. But hey, everything's fine. The story's tying itself together.

I admit, I had to reread some of my earlier chapters for the references in this one, and let me just say: Holy Shit. While my writing has improved leaps and bounds compared to my first fanfic, the stuff I wrote in the early half of this story sucks. Seriously. I'm sure you've all noticed the difference in quality between this chapter and the first few chapters I wrote.

Anyways. D&D character concept for the day: A changeling archfey warlock who has nothing better to do than to fuck with the BBEG. Think Jax from The Amazing Digital Circus. I based a lot of this character concept off him. 

Okay, I'm hungry now. I'm gonna publish this and then eat.

Timeless_95, signing out.