I don't own anything except any original characters (including the Reader's concept) and/or any original plot

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Chapter Fifteen - A Death for Innocence

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CONTENT WARNING: This chapter will contain a dissociative episode. If this will be potentially triggering, then only read up to when Energy writes the note to Nighteye. I'll leave a summary of what happens after that at the end.

~*~

"Your two fellow league members have arrived," Chrono interrupted your classwork two days after your initial arrival.

Sighing in slight annoyance - you'd just gotten the computer back after Overhaul had presumably put spyware on it and you needed to catch up on your classwork - you stood and pulled on your Shie Hassaikai mask. Chrono led you to the sitting room where you and Tomura met with Overhaul two days ago.

Overhaul was seated on the couch. Himi and Jin were standing near the door, and both visibly did a double-take when you entered. It was because of your new mask, your new "loyalty". You made eye contact with them and rolled your eyes, making them snicker behind their hands.

The Eight Bullets were there as well, lurking in the back of the room behind Overhaul. You stood next to the couch, refusing to place yourself behind Overhaul in a show of submission.

"Introduce yourselves."

"We don't want to be here, first off. I didn't have a choice," Himi crossed her arms over her chest, "I was ordered to come here. I'm Toga."

"I look forward to working with you!" Twice burst out. Nemoto, the Truth Quirk user, must have not started using his Quirk yet. Twice hated being chosen the most, but he agreed all the same because he has something to prove and felt guilty for Magne. Upon hearing how eager you were to tear them apart, he became more excited.

"The League of Villains? This is great! Let's fight!" Rappa yelled.

"I'll kill you," Tengai snapped at Rappa.

"No way," Himi denied.

"Well, I understand why you'd hold a grudge, but now that we're working together, I want you to assist us in carrying out the plan. Just follow my orders like everyone else in the Hassaiakai." Himiko's eyes flitted to you for a split-second at that. You didn't do anything in response, "In order for me to give you instructions, first, tell me the details of your Quirks."

"I'll tell you when it becomes necessary if anything happens. Because I don't like you people yet."

"Aw, man, this is no good. It's no good! It's unacceptable. Nasty. I'm not telling!"

Tilting his head toward Nemoto, you knew his Quirk was activated when Overhaul said again, "Tell me your Quirks."

Jin went first. He spoke quickly, and erratically like usual, "My Quirk lets me make copies of anything. In order to make it work, I need a precise measurement. For a person, that'd mean their height, chest measurement, and shoe size- a lot of data. The only difference between the doubles and the real thing is durability. They'll crumble away after receiving a certain amount of damage."

"If I drink someone's blood I can turn into them. The amount I drink turns into energy, so the time I can stay transformed is proportional to the amount I drink. My clothes transform with me. They overlap with whatever clothes I'm wearing first though, so I have to get naked and it's embarrassing."

"What was that?" Jin cried out once the two of them were finished.

"A truth Quirk," you stated blandly.

"Ugh, so not cute," Himiko scowled at the reveal.

"But necessary," Overhaul was unbothered by their dislike, "Nemoto."

"Did you hear anything from Shigaraki about a betrayal?" Nemoto asked seriously. You could feel his Quirk pulsing through the air, it was a powerful question and he amped up the influence for that reason.

"No."

"Nope!"

You smirked, glad for your Shie Hassaikai mask for once since it covered your mouth. Tomura hadn't said anything to them about betrayal. But he wasn't their leader at the moment. You were, and you had told them to destroy the Shie Hassaikai the first chance they got. Overhaul was always so caught up in what it meant to have true power, and to be entirely in control, that he misunderstood just how deep the dynamic between you and Tomura went. He trusted you with this mission and was willing to give away power in favor of revenge.

"Good. I'm a bit surprised considering what happened to Magne. He was a powerful ally for the league."

"She," Jin's voice became sharp.

"You'd do well to remember that," you added, simply glaring further when Overhaul gave you a withering look.

Sighing, Overhaul stood and made his way toward the door, "If you aren't under orders, please do not leave the underground facilities."

"What, are we under house arrest?"

"Aw, I want to be free!"

"Once I can trust you a little more, I can let you do what you want. Look at (Y/n), she's done well with her orders and has been allowed out."

Scowling deeply, you glared at Overhaul's back until he was out of the room. You weren't a dog, and you weren't a pawn either.

"It's good to see you, (Y/n)," Himiko bounced over, grabbing your hand to pull you into a hug, "You smell like bleach. Blegh. Your blood always smells so nice."

"Overhaul is a bit of a clean freak. Your rooms are near mine. I can show you, is that alright?" You looked to the Eight Bullets, who seemed to have no problems with it, "Good. Follow me then."

All three of you were quiet while walking through the hallways. Good. Jin and Himiko were smart enough to know that the walls had eyes. None of you spoke until you pointed out their rooms, next to yours.

"Himi, you're next to me. Jin, you're next to Himi," you pointed at the doors, then grabbed their sleeves and pulled them into your room.

Picking up your computer, you set it on your comforter and wrapped it tightly in the blanket to block any noise from getting into the mic. You weren't sure if the surveillance on the computer was only internal or external as well, and you weren't going to take any chances.

"I hate this place," you pulled the Shie Hassaikai mask off with a groan, "I'm glad you guys are here."

"Overhaul is the worst. I can't wait to work with him!"

"What's the plan?" Himi asked with a small tilt of her head.

"Lay low, for now, follow any orders they give you. Yesterday, the heroes were alerted that something isn't right in the compound. It won't be long before there's some sort of investigation. I'm going to go out tonight and see if there's any surveillance on the building and go from there. We won't have to be here for long."

You spoke to Jin and Himi for a while longer, the topics ranging from how awful the Shie Hassaikai were to what you'd missed while at the compound. Kurogiri still wasn't back, and deep down you knew that he'd probably been apprehended. Whatever mission he was on was important enough to risk that, and you'd convince Tomura to investigate once you were done with the Shie Hassaikai.

When Himi and Jin left to settle in their rooms, you left yours to go visit Eri. She was sitting on her bed staring at one of the kid's books you'd given her. The one you'd read to her the night before.

"What are you doing?" You asked, alerting her to your presence.

"I know some words!" She beamed and your heart melted. Sitting on the edge of the bed, you took the book when she offered it as she sat next to you. She pointed out some of the smaller and easier words, "That's 'the' and 'doll' and that's 'hello'!"

"Very good, Eri!" You beamed. She picked up on reading faster than you thought. It just proved that she was absolutely brilliant, "How about candy as a prize?"

"Candy?"

Peeking under her bed, you pulled out one of the candy bars you got from a vending machine the day before. Opening the package, you held it out to Eri and watched her nibble on the end carefully before digging in more enthusiastically.

While she ate you got out some of the drawing supplies. Paper, pencils, crayons and the like. When Eri was finished she had a bright smile on her face and was quick to move to the floor where the drawing materials were.

The two of you worked in silence for a while. You were just scribbling smaller doodles on the page, but Eri seemed to be working on something with a purpose. So you simply waited for her to finish before you asked her about it.

"What did you draw?" You asked her.

She held up the drawing. It was a crudely made version of you and her holding hands. There was a sun in the background that was more of an oval than a circle. Grass was under your stick feet, and there was a mountain behind you. Eri signed her name at the bottom. Her R was backward, but that was okay.

"Is that for me?" Eri nodded and held out the paper, "Eri... thank you, I love it."

"The mountains are like the story from yesterday," Eri explained, "I... want to see them."

Biting your lip to hold back a sob, you held the drawing close to your chest, "Eri, I pinky promise that one day I'll take you to see the mountains. A big, pretty one, just like the story."

Eri wrapped her pinky around yours and you sealed the promise. When the heroes inevitably raided the compound, Eri would go with them. It was safer that way, the best thing for her. But one day, when the world fell apart under Tomura's thumb, or the heroes inevitably won and you left behind the life you built, you'd find a way to take her to the mountains.

Reading her another one of the books that night, you took the time to teach her more words. The next day, you'd focus on having her write some things out. She had her name down which was good, so you'd focus on broader aspects of spelling after that.

When Eri was asleep, you gently dislodged her arms from around you and tucked her in. Walking to the door with your mask in your hand, you jumped and nearly decked the man who was standing just outside. He had shaggy hair that covered his eyes and a goatee.

"That brat asleep?" He asked, voice full of annoyance even though you hadn't done anything.

"She is. Who are you?" You were quick to close the door behind you and stand in front of it. The man was a good head taller than you, but you could take him down in an instant if you needed to.

"Her new caretaker. Since the other one let her out of his sight yesterday, they've been replaced. He doesn't trust you with her on your own yet." The man's head tilted, and you assumed he was looking at the door instead of you now, "You gonna move?"

"Why should I? Overhaul wouldn't experiment on her this late. She's asleep."

The man looked at you again, and something curled in your gut. You didn't want to run, as that was a sensation you rarely felt, but you did feel like a piece of meat. Not in the way Overhaul made you feel like a piece of meat, but in a way that was less human and more like he wanted to- oh. That motherfucker.

"I wanna ask her if she wants a toy or somethin'. Want to get on her good side," the man's grin was lecherous. Did he assume that because you were a villain you were fucked up too? Not like that, never like that. If someone like him tried to enter the League of Villains they wouldn't survive more than ten minutes before someone killed them.

"I'll go with you tomorrow, after breakfast. We can get something for her together."

Seemingly picking up on the fact that he wasn't going to get past you, he simply nodded and left. Watching him until he turned the corner down the hallway, you waited for another ten minutes in case he tried to come back. When he didn't, you finally walked back to your room to retire for the night.

~*~

The next morning after breakfast with the Eight Bullets and Jin and Himi - who sent passive-aggressive remarks at the Eight Bullets the entire time - you met up with Eri's new caretaker. Overhaul was only allowing you to leave because you were going with one of his followers, but you'd be returning alone.

The nearest toy store was in the shopping district you went to with Hojo. When entering, you spotted a man across the street. Business suit, glasses, green hair with two yellow streaks. Quickly recognizing him as the man who was watching the compound two days ago, you put the pieces together and sucked in a breath.

Perusing through the store without any particular goal, you kept an eye on the door and were quick to look away when the man entered.

"Hey, what does she like?" Eri's new caretaker asked you, looking at a shelf full of dolls.

"Not dolls," you rolled your eyes, picking out a coloring book. The man was behind you now. Turning around, you bumped into him purposefully, "Oh! Excuse me."

"No, it was my fault," the man was staring straight at you when you looked up and made eye contact. His eyes were interesting.

Glancing at his Quirk core, your interest rose. It was unique, similar to rolls of film in the greys and blacks and patterns that they created. You assumed it would be like the color of his eyes, but this was interesting. Either way, he obviously achieved whatever he needed because he was quick to look away and back up, moving on to a different section of the store.

Setting the coloring book and a pack of markers on the checkout counter, Eri's caretaker quickly paid and you left. Keeping an eye on how many civilians were around you were, you took advantage of the first alleyway the two of you stepped into. Stopping abruptly, you turned to the man and placed a hand on his chest. On top of your standard medical mask that day, you put on gloves as well.

He was dead before he could speak.

Shaking with energy that needed to be exerted, you tore a page from the freshly bought coloring book and used one of the new markers to leave a note. The hero would either be following or using her Quirk to monitor you. That meant the dead body would be found sooner rather than later.

Trash like him should not be allowed to live. Pedophile. I took care of him before the system could. Good luck. P.S. When going undercover, changing how you look is helpful.

Tucking the note into the man's jacket, you found it ironic that the piece of paper branding the man as a pedophile was meant for children to color for fun. Staring down at the body, your mind drifted further and further away from your body. Eventually, it was completely detached and nothing felt right.

Acting completely on autopilot, you channeled the excess energy you had stored into your limbs and ran. It was the safest way to expel the man's life energy, rather than letting it out in a blast that could alert the hero that was watching the Shie Hassaikai.

When you went through the secret entrance and entered the secret underground compound, Chrono was there.

"Tell your boss to find better men. Nothing is more unclean than an adult who goes after children," you hissed, although the anger felt distant, otherworldly. Your words weren't your own either. You weren't in your body.

Standing in silence for a few seconds, Chrono seemed to pull himself together and spoke, "Overhaul requests your presence in the lab for another blood sample."

Well, it was better than being kicked out or killed for murdering another member. Chrono would undoubtedly tell Overhaul. Because he was his right-hand and because Chrono hated your guts since you always jested about him and Overhaul being an item.

Following Chrono, he allowed you to stop at your room quickly to drop off the bag of new items for Eri. Jin and Himiko were chatting in the hall. Both of them waved when you passed. Raising a hand that felt entirely too heavy and light at the same time, you couldn't return their greetings. Words felt weird.

Overhaul was in the lab when you entered, speaking with the two doctors that were always there. You sat in the chair without prompting, pulled off the medical gloves you put on that morning for the sole purpose of leaving no evidence behind on the body, and rolled up your sleeve.

Overhaul and Chrono were talking now. The doctor stuck a needle on your arm. You glanced down at the intruding item. Was it even in your body? You didn't feel it. You didn't feel anything, really. It probably should have been concerning. When you tried to think about what was going on, you saw the dead man.

The needle was gone. So was Chronos. The vial with your blood was being placed into a synthesizing machine. Overhaul was speaking with the doctors again as the results slowly appeared on the screen.

"It's not possible," one of the doctor's murmured.

"Yet here it is," Overhaul countered, stepping away from the screen and making his way toward you, "You killed one of my men," when you remained silent, Overhaul continued, "And now there are additional cells in your body representing a Quirk. A different Quirk."

"His," you whispered. Somehow you knew. His cells were in your body. The thought made you a bit nauseous.

"Yes. How did you kill him?"

"His energy."

"Interesting. Disgusting," Overhaul stared at you intently, "In the past blood samples, we were able to ascertain that the Quirk cells and your cells weren't fully merged. Now, it seems that by absorbing another person's energy, you take on some of their Quirk as well. Use it."

Looking down at your hands - your hands? Someone else's? - you had no idea how you would use someone else's Quirk. Looking back up at Overhaul a bit uselessly, he sighed.

"Useless. Dismissed."

Stepping off the chair, your feet took your body back to your room. Jin and Himiko were inside.

"What did they need?"

Himi's words sounded a bit like an echo. You weren't sure how long it took for you to try to respond, but Jin was suddenly in front of you. He grabbed your hands and pulled you to the loveseat. Someone put a blanket around your shoulders. Himi sat in your lap. The weight was grounding, so was the heat from the blanket.

Blinking slowly, you looked down at Himi and over at Jin, who was in the other loveseat. Both of them were talking quietly, the sound no longer white noise in your ears. You weren't sure how long it took for you to come back, maybe five minutes or maybe an hour.

"Himi, you're crushing me," you stated, the true weight of the girl finally flitting through your mind.

"Are you calling me fat?" She frowned, eyes taking on her classic murderous gleam.

"No, but you're older than I am and usually eat more because you guys get food first," at that, Himi hopped off of you and moved to stand next to Jin, "What happened?"

"Dissociation," Jin was uncharacteristically serious, and his other personality wasn't jumping in at all, "It's a trauma response. Happens during depressive episodes too. Makes you feel like your brain isn't in your body."

Of course, Jin of all people would understand something like that. All the same, you were thankful that he and Himi were there to help pull you out. You'd had an episode or two in the past after particularly hard missions and were stuck like that until Kurogiri figured it out. Tomura could never do much because he had the emotional integrity of a teaspoon. Your last episode was actually after you killed for the first time-

"Oh. It's because I killed someone today," you revealed, feeling a bit numb and out of it again. Himi was quick to pick up on it and leaped forward to grab your hand and squeeze it tightly, "He was going to go after Eri, and I couldn't let him. So I killed him."

"You say that like killing isn't fun."

"I don't know if you've noticed, Himi, but I don't like killing like you," you snapped, then immediately felt bad when Himi let go of your hands and stepped back, "I'm sorry. I don't like killing. It's not for me." Not for teenagers. Not for someone who does bad things for a good cause. Not for you because you were terrified that one day you'd be so messed up you'd enjoy it, "There are other ways to hurt people. Worse ways. I prefer those."

Yeah, you were already messed up. Maybe ripping people's minds apart using all the psychology you knew was worse than simply killing them, but they could recover with the proper care. You liked messing with people's heads.

"You amazing little psycho. You terrify me!" And Jin was back.

Your phone buzzed in your pocket. Pulling it out, you noticed a text from Bakugou.

The internship nerds got called out of the dorms together for some big meeting. That you?

Wow, the heroes worked fast. It was probably around dinner time and you'd run into that one hero this morning.

Sort of

Don't be an idiot

Putting your phone away, you looked to Jin and Himi, "Good news. We won't have to stay here for much longer."

~*~

Chapter Summary: After writing the note to Nighteye, Energy dissociates due to the fact that they killed someone - which is something she hates doing. When they return to the compound, Chrono is there to bring them to meet Overhaul in the lab. Overhaul isn't upset about the fact that they killed one of his followers, because he gets distracted by the blood sample Energy gives. Along with the cells showing their Quirk, Energy has additional cells showing another Quirk - the Quirk of the man she killed. This opens up a new line of thought about what Energy really gains when they take other people's energy. Energy returns to their room where Jin and Himiko help them out of their episode. Bakugou texts them after they recover saying that the