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Now, never let it be said that Izuku was very good at hiding his connection to the Vigilante known as Revenant. Other people just weren’t very observant. For example: when one steps into the Battle Trial on the third day in the exact same outfit as the Vigilante, nobody even commented. When he pulled the chain off of his torso and used it as a whip just like Revenant , he got a few looks of vague familiarity but nothing else. Now, it’s understandable that some people don’t know about Revenant. He isn’t present everywhere. Just in Musutafu. That being said, there is no possible way that the Underground Hero tasked with hunting said Vigilante doesn’t connect the dots between the matching leather jackets, studded gloves, dark jeans, combat boots and chains.
There is no possible way that Eraserhead himself could be that dense, and there’s the inkling of thought at the back of his head that says ‘Nezu knows for sure’. But really? When he wheels up on an old Yamaha VMAX, kept in peak condition like the collector that Izuku is, Eraserhead doesn’t even question it! He just nods, apparently accepting that the Quirkless kid just happens to have a motorcycle from over 200 years ago that perfectly matches the bike that Revenant is known to ride! It is at this point that Izuku just gives up with even trying. He thinks to himself, as he rides alongside the bus to the USJ, ‘You know what? I might just walk into the staff room tomorrow and tell them to their faces. I don’t even know anymore. I mean, I’m not even trying anymore! I am literally just being the Rider all day now! And they didn’t notice?’
It finally occurs to him, as he feels a wave of ‘Evil’ wash over him and a horde of Villains step through a swirling purple cloud, that perhaps U.A. Staff have been ‘not noticing’ his presence for security purposes. It’s been made clear Revenant doesn’t go after anybody that doesn’t deserve it, so apparently that makes him safe enough to keep around…. Maybe? Doesn’t matter either way. The Rider is rattling the bars and Izuku is starting to smoke. He can feel the desire to punish the guilty overpowering the Rider’s natural apprehension towards sunlight. He can feel his body burning away and his sanity with it.
Even as Eraserhead is telling the others to evacuate, he is watching Izuku grip his own hair as his flesh smokes and the laughter of a madman cuts through the air. He waves Thirteen away from Izuku even as he stumbles forward, leaving scorched boot marks on the cement steps The studs of his gloves extend just like the ones on his shoulders. His chain loosens the leather begins to bubble. Acrid black smoke pours off his head as the madness warps his features into a cackle that splits his face nearly in half.
Then, just as the hand Villain below takes notice of the laughter, his body begins to burn away. It takes only 5 seconds for his full body to become flame, bone, and pure energy. The smoke’s source is revealed and his identity is revealed, but from his place inside, Izuku can’t seem to care. Maybe it’s the spirit of vengeance filling him with madness as he operates Izuku’s body, but all he wants is to get a chance at the Evil below. To BURN it off this earth and restore some balance.
Even covered in leather and supernatural energy as he was, Izuku didn’t think he had much of a presence, but the silence that filled the air at his current appearance spoke volumes. It was in this silence that he heard the voice of Class 1-A’s Shiozaki Ibara. The fact that he heard it at all from his place at the back of his own mind cemented the moment’s importance in his memory.
“Zarathos… an Angel of Justice….”
The Rider whipped around, placing his empty gaze upon the religious girl and taking a step towards her. Her eyes were wide in fear, no… was that reverence? She continued on.
“Driven insane within the depths of Hell… now carried in a human host. The Ghost Rider, the Spirit of Vengeance….”
A moment of silence passed before the Rider raised a gloved hand to his face, placing a finger over where his lips would be. His jaw opened ever-so-slightly as he released a devilish hiss. How that was even possible was beyond Izuku, but the message was clear. The vine-haired girl fell silent and stepped back into the crowd. Even Eraserhead stood silently. Aizawa’s eyes flicked between the Villains making their way up the stairs, and The Rider caught the pleading look buried in the dark grey. So, even as he turned to face the stairs, the Rider let out a whistle that really shouldn’t have been possible.
Disregarding the impossibility of such a thing, his motorcycle burst through the thick doors of the USJ as if they were nothing more than cardboard. Without a hint of hesitation, The Rider mounted the bike with burning wheels and boiling leather seat. The soot covered every gunmetal grey surface, turning it a deep black. Ignoring the whisper of ‘Manly’, from Kirishima, The Rider twisted the throttle and pulled his chain from its place on his torso.
He promptly shot forward with the rattle of chain, the roar of an engine, and the decidedly demonic laughter of an insane angel. It was at this point in the day that Izuku realized something important. Sane or otherwise, Zarathos was a supernatural being dedicated to punishing the guilty. His classmates were protectors of the innocent. Which means that despite his perverted desire to punish rather than protect, the angel had made the decision to protect others.
It may have only been out of the corner of his consciousness, but Izuku could have sworn that in that moment he saw a flicker of blue flame at the front of The Rider’s face. Maybe he wasn’t so far from becoming a proper Hero after all. If only he could keep The Rider from killing long enough to get him fully sane, then maybe angel and man could become a proper team once more.
All that aside, Izuku knew one thing for certain.
He and Nezu were gonna have a talk.