Apologies. I thought I posted this two days ago. Turns out I didn't. Oops.

CHAPTER 36: DEUS EX MACHINA

Todoroki paused in his training with Uraraka. They were working on ways to combine their quirks and abilities while Iida was busy on the other side of the training room testing out his new armored shin plates with a few practiced kicks. Every few minutes a rolling quake of thunder could be heard echoing all throughout the base. They all paused when the loud noise became too distracting for them to continue working.

"Is he still out there?" Shoto asked as another clap of thunder could be heard even from their location. This had been going on for the past few hours.

"Yeah." Uraraka sighed as another clap echoed from outside.

"What happened?" Iida wanted to know the full story. What could incite Midoriya's rage so much that he had to take it out on the sky?

"I'll talk to him." She stated. Uraraka made her way out of the training room to the elevator and once inside pressed the button that read 'Helipad'. The lift reached the level the doors opened and she winced seeing a blinding flash followed by another thunder clap. There at the other end of the helipads stood Izuku. He'd taken off his jacket and tie and was only wearing the gray slacks and black button down shirt.

Black and purple sparks covered his right hand as he waved it around controlling the very clouds with the weather dominator quirk. Another thing she noticed was the bright green glow coming from the gauntlet. Izuku was very secretive on how his invention worked, but one thing he did explain was that the power stone not only amplified the other stones, but could also greatly boost the quirks he had taken with the soul stone.

Bringing his arm down a bolt of lightning could be seen striking the water miles away, followed by another rolling thunderous echo.

Everyone handles anger differently. Some people let it loose uncontrollably. Some bottle it up until it explodes. Izuku was the type to channel it into physical training. Working out his frustration and aggression in a spar or practicing with his gauntlet was somehow therapeutic for him. Ochako wasn't sure whether or not that was healthy, but she wasn't a psychologist so who was she to say.

Izuku fired one last lightning bolt into the ocean, before stopping to take a break. He could hear and see someone approaching from behind. Uraraka of course. She was the compassionate one of the knights and would be the one to pick up on when he was feeling upset about something.

Midoriya didn't acknowledge her presence yet. Instead he thought back to the conversation he had with the good doctor a few days ago and the reason why he was feeling so frustrated.

FLASHBACK

"What was this about?" Dr. Higurashi asked. "You know you can't go around accusing people of abusing their children without more evidence than a hunch."

"He didn't know that." Izuku told her. Once he sent Lemillion back to his agency, he went with the doctor to her office to have a private conversation. "Beside that girl was without a doubt being abused. I could tell."

"She didn't have any bruises that would show otherwise." Higurashi argued. However she could agree with him that something wasn't right about the state Eri was in, both physically and mentally. "The scars on her arms and legs looked too erratic to be on purpose, but that could be what he wanted anyone that looked closely at her to think. Plus Chisaki claimed that it was accidental due to her quirk."

"Well then Doctor, what is your psychological diagnosis?" She was not only trained as a pediatrician, but as a child psychologist too.

"In my professional opinion." She paused with a sigh. "Eri was terrified of Chisaki, but what concerns me is that she wasn't crying or showing that many signs of distress that a child who is in her position should show."

"Which means…" Izuku realized where she was going with this.

"That whatever that man is doing to her, she's gotten more or less used to it by now." The doctor looked deeply disturbed by the conclusions that they both came to. She'd dealt with abused children many times before. That's what the health center was for. To take in quirkless children left to suffer at the hands of their once corrupt society. So she knew the obvious signs. The guarded posture, and not being able to meet the eyes of an adult. Not to mention the fact that she couldn't ask for help for some odd reason.

"Did you get a DNA sample, perhaps I can find out more about her if I analyze it." Izuku supplied. "If Chisaki lied about Eri's quirk then we can use that to get her away from him."

"When I asked and approached her with a syringe she started to panic so I had to use my quirk." Dr. Higurashi's quirk was called Numb. She could take away pain and numb out parts of the human body depending on where she touched. "She didn't feel or notice a thing." Reaching into the front pocket of her lab coat she pulled out a small vile filled with Eri's blood and handed it to Izuku.

END FLASHBACK

"You look like you want to say something Angel." Izuku used her codename to acknowledge her without turning around.

"How did you know it was me?" Ochako was curious as she approached.

"Look at the floor." He stated making her look down to see a normal sized living human eye melded into the floor of the platform they stood on. "Eye stamp, a very useful quirk, makes it hard to sneak up on me." He said as he canceled the quirk, making the eye vanish.

"That's creepy." Ochako remarked before asking what she came here to find out. "Are you alright? Because you've been out here hurling lightning bolts for a while." He turned to look at her properly and Uraraka was surprised by the dark circles under his eyes. "You don't look so good."

"Been having trouble sleeping lately." He said quietly. "Weird dreams of people I don't recognize. Probably the stress of the job getting to me."

"Have you thought about taking some time off?" She asked sincerely.

"Do I seem like a good person?" Izuku inquired her instead of answering her question. "Do I come off as someone warm or welcoming?"

"Well your nice most of the time, but you're certainly intimidating when you want to be." Uraraka told him the honest truth. "Why? Did someone say otherwise?"

"Do you know what the whole point of creating this infinity gauntlet was?" Seeing her shake her head he explained. "The point was not just to create a device that granted me the power of quirks, the strongest quirks, but also it was supposed to make dreams into reality. The true power of my invention is the power to accomplish anything." A looked back out to the horizon, holding his armored hand up, reaching out to grab something that wasn't there. "And yet even with all the power that my gauntlet grants me I still couldn't make a little girl tell me the truth." Izuku sighed dejectedly. "I could have saved her right then and there, but I didn't." He mumbled something about political and legal nonsense getting in his way.

"You shouldn't let that get you down." She had heard the gist of what happened the other day. How he ran into a child that was clearly trying to escape her tormentor. That the man somehow talked his way out of the accusations and that Izuku had to let this girl back into the man's custody.

"I'm not upset. I'm frustrated." Izuku corrected her. "Luckily I'm not someone who believes in the concept of failure." He turned around and headed towards the elevator. "If something doesn't work I try again and again, using every mistake to create an eventual victory."

"That's a very…ambitious way of thinking." The brown haired girl said as she followed after him. "So what's the plan then?"

"Collect data, compile evidence and then crush this Shie Hassaikai in one fell swoop." Izuku explained simply. "I need you, Shoto and Tenya to be ready. I get the feeling that we'll be making a move soon. I had a talk earlier this morning with the Prime Minister about initiating the Deus Ex Machina protocol." Ochako's eyebrows raised in surprise. Things were getting serious if that protocol was about to go into effect.

"By the way…um…I don't want to add to your stress, but…" Ochako looked away from him.

"Let me guess. Mei Hatsume blew up her lab again." He let out a long drawn out breath of annoyance. "You know what? I'm not going to worry about it right now. Her labs been reinforced, she has first aid kits and the robots bring her food." Izuku spoke while closing his eyes and rubbing his temples.

ELSEWHERE

"Thank you for coming." Prime Minister Toriyama greeted his two guests. The president of the Hero Public Safety Commission stood flanked by the dog headed chief of police Kenji Tsuragamae on the other side of the minister's desk. He would've had the commissioner general, but that cynical man was under investigation of covering up hero behavior and Tsuragamae was a next in line for his job. He had called them in because he didn't want their conversation possibly leaked over the phone. After activating his bug jamming device he began the meeting. "Director Midoriya called me earlier about the quirk erasing bullets case that he and his department are investigating."

"Such an investigation wasn't necessary." The dog headed chief said. "Several detectives and the Nighteye agency are already on top of it."

"And yet Midoriya has done so much more in the short time that he has been investigating." The minister replied with an amused smile. "I guess that goes to show you what a genius can accomplish with government backed resources at his disposal."

"Why did you call us here?" President Takahashi asked in all seriousness. Toriyama sighed as he decided to get serious as well.

"Midoriya asked to enact the Deus Ex Machina protocol." The head of the commission froze wide eyed.

"Seriously?" She started. The police chief looked at them curiously. "You're going to let him do that?"

"What's this Deus Ex Machina protocol?" The dog man questioned.

"It's part of the agreement we made with Midoriya." The prime minister explained. "I gave him the authority over the heroes that he wanted. In return he leaves fighting villains to the heroes. The power of his gauntlet is reserved for emergency purposes only."

"Didn't he fight Allmight on live television?" Why wasn't that breaking the terms of their agreement? That was what the police chief wanted to know.

"Allmight was a hero that was illegally attacking him in public. Midoriya was well within his rights to defend himself and deal with the former hero." Toriyama explained. "Midoriya is only allowed to investigate villains, coordinate arrests and direct heroes, but he's not allowed to actively participate in the field."

"Unless that particular protocol is initiated and the restrictions placed upon him are lifted." The president of the commission added. "You can't allow him to do this. You'll just be giving him more of what he wants."

"He already has everything he wants. Temporarily lifting his restrictions to take out this yakuza group is just an easy solution to a future problem." Toriyama explained his reasoning. "These quirk erasing bullets pose a very serious threat to our society."

"Then let the heroes take care of it." The commission president argued. "Sir Nighteye and his allies are already on the case." She really didn't want this happening. The more problems that heroes solve the more society's faith is restored in them. Which is a step in convincing the prime minister and the senate to remove Midoriya from his position. Allowing him to use his gauntlet in the field would of course guarantee victory, but he would receive all the credit in the public's eyes.

"As I've already said Midoriya takes care of things quickly and more efficiently than the hero agencies." Toriyama reinforced.

"Will he be acting as back up or is he completely taking over the investigation?" The police chief asked.

"He'll be back up." The prime minister answered. "The heroes are about to conduct a raid from the reports I've read, hopefully I can get the Deus Ex Machina protocol initiated in time for Midoriya to be ready. The Senate needs to be notified first."

"I can't believe you're going through with this." Takahashi lamented with disappointment on her aged face.

"What was I supposed to do?" The question was vague, but the head of the commission understood he was talking about before all this started.

"You should have had more faith in Allmight and the other heroes." She boldly stated. "You should have helped to restore society's belief and hope in him. Instead you bowed down to that beast like a coward"

"You don't seem to understand the type of beast that Izuku Midoriya really is." The prime minister snapped at her. "His brilliant and tenacious mind allows him to find work arounds to any problem he faces. That coupled with his gauntlet that gives overwhelming power, makes him pretty much unstoppable. He already explained to us how my refusal to his demands would merely slow him down remember. I took the path that would cause the least amount of destruction to our great country. Protecting as many lives as possible. Isn't that what heroes do?"

"You're no hero." President Takahashi spat.

"Yes I'm not a hero. I'm a politician that was elected to govern the country to the best of my ability." Toriyama sighed. "Speaking of heroes though, I need you to do something for me Takahashi. Tell your errand boy Hawks to stop what he's doing."

"I don't know what you're talking about." The president of the commission lied.

"Oh please. Did you really think I didn't know about you sending him to find a weak link in Midoriya's department?" The minister glared at her again. "Tell him to back off. If Izuku Midoriya catches wind of what you and Hawks are up to I can't tell you how severe the consequences will be."

"I don't wish to speak out of turn or sound like a suck up, but I think you made the right choice Prime Minister Toriyama." The dog headed police chief Tsuragamae spoke up. "I've seen the results of Midoriya's changes first hand. He's aggressive and vicious, but his methods do get results." The men at the stations were incredibly grateful for the robotic enforcers. The Titans were making it safer to be a police officer in these times, who were at one point reduced to cannon fodder in the fights between heroes and villains. Schools were reforming their standards and the populace were asking the heroes to be more like heroes and less like celebrities.

"And what will happen when his power finally goes to his head?" Takahashi asked.

"You say that likes it's a sure thing." Toriyama stared at her flatly. "Look I didn't call you two here for your counsel or opinions. I'm simply telling you what will happen, so you can stay in the loop and not come whining to me when Midoriya shows up to the battle field with his loyal knights." With that he dismissed them from his office.

'I really hope I'm making the right decision here.' He couldn't help but wonder what the future would hold after this. At the very least Izuku Midoriya was a rational person who didn't make choices based off emotions. He can trust him to be that much at least.

BACK AT H.Q.

Izuku wanted to yell. He wanted scream and obliterate something with his gauntlet, but that would make him as bad as Bakugou. Yet Izuku felt an unimaginable amount of rage as he stared at the computer screen. The reason for his anger was staring right at him. It was the incomplete analysis of Eri's DNA and what it told him.

He had his personally lab, off limits to his team, set up in the base. Here he had rebuilt most of the equipment that he had when he worked for the League of Villains and Geonosis Tech. For example the genetic decoder and analyzer.

The machine was not his invention, he merely put together already existing technology made by other great minds. It was a great help in his quirk research and the making of the infinity stones. Stones which he didn't need to fabricate anymore, yet he couldn't part with a device so useful.

Izuku put that genetic analyzer to work days ago to break down the DNA that he found in the quirk erasing bullets. Unfortunately that sample was so riddled with compounds and chemicals that the quirk genes were impossible to discern. The machine used a collective database to dissect and analyze the quirks in a person's DNA by comparing it to others. At that point he had nothing to compare it to. Until the good doctor gave him a sample of Eri's blood for analysis. It took a few days, Eri's quirk genes were something he'd never seen before and couldn't get a proper read on what it was, but another important factor was that it matched the DNA in the bullets and it wasn't a levitation quirk like Chisaki said.

'She was right there in front of me.' Izuku was beyond furious at this revelation. The source of the bullets was a little girl. 'She was within my reach and I let her go.' As angry as he was with himself he was also equally disgusted by the Shie Hassaikai, especially at this Kai Chisaki. Pulling out his phone with aggressive vigor he contacted the captain of his black hand.

"Guillotine, have Dragon brought to me." He ordered.

"He's busy hunting down the last of the drug dealers." Stain refuted.

"This is important. He can hunt them any other time." Izuku said through his teeth. "I have a new assignment for Dragon. Also tell Chameleon to report back to me as well. I need to know what Tomura is going to do next." Himiko had been acting as his go between with him and the League of Villains. He knew that Chisaki had met with them and that meeting took a rather violent turn which led to the death of the villain Magne. A real shame. Izuku kind of liked him, he thought his quirk was interesting and useful as well. That left the league down to Shigaraki, Kurogiri, Twice, Compress, Spinner and a few spare prototype Nomu that were no match for even a newly minted pro hero. Himiko Toga still considered herself part of their group, hence why Izuku frequently used her for information by exploiting her obsession of him.

That was how he knew what Tomura Shigaraki was planning. Pretend to join forces with the Yakuza group then stab them in the back when the opportunity presented itself. Izuku would allow him of course to continue with it. His future plans required Shigaraki to become a huge but controllable threat to society. One thing he couldn't allow was for the leader of the league to get his hands on the bullets or the child.

'I need to make sure all my pieces are in place before I pull this off.' Izuku folded his hands together as he began formulating a plan to rescue Eri and get his hands on that bastard Chisaki. The problem was the heroes that would undoubtedly be a part of this operation. Sir Nighteye was already working on this case. The former sidekick of Allmight. One of the suspects on his list for those that could be hiding the former symbol of peace or at least know his whereabouts. Even though according to his research the two haven't spoken in years, he still couldn't rule out the possibility of them being in contact.

'I'll have to look into that later.' Right now he had to focus on the task at hand. The reports showed that the Nighteye agency was planning to conduct a raid in the next few days on the Shie Hassaikai's main base of operations to arrest the group. Izuku wondered why they were doing this with such little information on the group's activities as well as a lack of knowledge on the members and their quirks. The gauntlet user felt that Nighteye might have come to the same conclusion that he did about the quirk erasing bullets. That older boy Lemillion was with him when he met Chisaki and his supposed daughter. He was Sir Nighteye's intern too. He most likely told the hero everything and the pro must have come to a hypothesis based off new and previous information.

Izuku began tapping his fingers on the desk. He just needed final approval from the Prime Minister. One phone call and he could move on this.

Sorry for the wait and exposition heavy filler chapter. I promise we will get to some action in the next chapter. I have this idea for combination move that Uraraka and Todoroki are going to pull off.

I picked up a part time job at least until the tattoo place that I worked at reopens. Now that place shut down too because of the virus resurgence, so I'm back to staying at home again. Isn't that a bunch of crap? Been keeping in contact with friends by playing online games a lot lately too.

Also say goodbye to Prime Minister Toriyama for now. This is the last scene he's going to get probably for a long time. After the fight I'm going to focus on Izuku's relationship with Eri and start moving away from the political stuff. Right now Izuku kind sees Eri as just a failure to help someone and stop a villain group. He hasn't formed a close connection with her yet. Another thing I'm going to start taking steps towards is the mind stone.

Thank you all for your patience. Especially in these times.

I'll share something kind of funny with you guys. If I've told this story before then just ignore this.

Before I got into this anime series I actually thought that Izuku and Shigaraki were the same person. Let me explain. Years ago all I knew about the series was that it was a super hero themed series like One Punch Man. That was pretty much it. So as I go around these image board sites I start to notice the fan art. One thing I noticed an abundance of was the Bakugou art, so I assumed he was the main character. Didn't know his personality or even his name at the time. All I saw was there was a lot of art of this spikey blonde haired kid with grenade gloves and it was tagged with My Hero Academia. There was also quite a bit of Todoroki art so I figured he could easily be the main character too. I then started to notice a large number of Shigaraki art, or as I called him 'The Guy with the Hands'. At that time I only saw I think a few images of Izuku. The one that stood out to me the most was one where he was wearing the middle school uniform and his red shoes caught my attention because Shigaraki was also wearing red shoes. They also both had really messy unkempt hair. I didn't think much of it at the time. Then I decided to watch the first couple episodes of the anime and that theory came back.

After the first episode and the first ten minutes of the second episode I was so sure that they were the same person. In my mind I was thinking that Izuku dyes his hair and puts fake hands all over his body as a symbol of society's abuse towards quirkless people and that maybe Bakugou turns over a new leaf when his former friend/bully victim becomes a villain and tries to bring him back like Naruto or something. I was so impressed, because I thought the story was starting with the villain's origin and I thought that was brilliant.

Basically in my head I was writing a fanfiction before the series actually started. Looking back on it I still think it's kind of funny how my weird brain works. I doubt many of you will think the same, but it's something I wanted to share.

Thanks for reading. Stay safe and healthy.