Work Text:
It was a slow night for vigilante work.
Izuku was out here every night for the most part, give or take a few days where he had serious injuries or broke any important weapons that would take a while to fix, but tonight seemed especially desolate of the usual criminal activity that plagues Musutafu. Not one robbery or drug deal or spotted abuse case or anything. Izuku was glad that the people of the city were not being actively harmed, he cares about his people of course, but it did make his unofficial job a lot more boring.
Izuku’s vigilante moniker Rogue was a staple of the city nightscape in Musutafu. His all-black outfit, baggy cargo pants and a tightly fitted long sleeve shirt and padded black gloves along with his signature black flight helmet and face mask with the words “live fast die young” printed across the front, could be seen jumping from rooftop to rooftop on any given night. Izuku was proud of his work, and even more proud of his ability to keep up with it every night. Learning to fight through YouTube and ground experience was not an easy task, but neither was growing up and living quirkless and he did that with relative success.
He took stock of his artillery while waiting for something fun to happen. His bo staff was being held together with a few dozen layers of duct tape along with his hopes and prayers, his throwing knives were sharpened enough and all there except for the one he lost in some random villain yesterday, his long-range hearing device was on and charged, his voice modifier was on and at almost 50 percent, and his emergency first aid kit was all there and accounted for.
He took out his travel notebook and pen and wrote down a few ideas for upgrades and new things to add. He thought goggles would complete the outfit, but thinking about imitating his biggest hater and father figure Eraserhead made him slightly nauseous. As soon as he adds goggles, he’s never going to hear the end of it, especially because he wanted to make them a bright color to stand out from the rest of his outfit just like the man in question.
Speaking of that dusty cat, where the fuck is he? He would usually be here trying to chase him or talking to him by now. From night to night, they have a fun tradition where Izuku pretends that he’s able to be caught in any way and then Eraserhead chases him for hours and unintentionally helps him with vigilante work. Izuku enjoys their time together, getting Eraserhead riled up is always so much fun, and gaslighting him into believing it was his fault even more so. On nights so unperturbed by the usual mess as this one, Eraserhead’s company was nice to have to pass the time. When not having to fight crime, they would just talk from a distance, and enjoy one another’s company, it was nice.
He knew at this point, after being in the vigilante business for about 2 years, that Eraserhead knew there was no way he would be catching him. He was nearly 15, and if he couldn’t be caught as a 13-year-old then there was no way he was getting caught with more experience, even if he was helping Eraser buff out some of his more noticeable weaknesses and getting him better gear in the process.
Tonight was quiet though.
And Eraser was not here to pass the time with.
Izuku was bored as hell.
He wondered if he should just start scripting a video for MightyStalk if it was going to be this quiet tonight. His notebooks were at home, but he remembered most of the material right off the dome, and it would be pretty easy to just draft a simple script on a night like this one.
Rogue gained some notoriety a while back due to his brief public connection to the wildly popular YouTube channel and social media personality MightyStalk who talked about the strengths and weaknesses of major heroes while giving them tips on how to remove said weaknesses, exposed villain plans and forming organizations, and gave amateur quirk counseling to random viewers. It was a controversial channel for sure, it had riled up many a hero and villain and HPSC executive. No one knew who they were, why they were doing what they did, or where they could be found—but the public did know that they were acquainted with the vigilante Rogue due to Rogue’s “taking over” the channel’s live stream one night.
Even though there was no "takeover" because MightyStalk, of course, was also Izuku but with another voice modification. And it was not a “live stream” per se, because the portion where MightyStalk was talking was just pre-filmed nonsense before it could cut to Rogue’s live takedown and exposing of the villain WipeOut.
The Hero Commission and MightyStalk had played this fun game of cat and mouse for a while, where MightyStalk pretended they could be caught in any way, and then the HPSC digitally chased them before ultimately losing. Rogue’s career was older than MightyStalk’s, but MightyStalk had way more enemies in different factions. Izuku, however, had a lot of free time on his hands after being rejected from UA though, so balancing the two and their enemies was much more a fun game than hard work. It was fun to rile the Hero Commission up, less fun than Eraserhead because they had way more resources and were a lot better at hacking than him, but his IP address was hidden enough and his coding was complex and constantly changing, so he wasn’t worried about it.
With so many enemies, you’d think there would be no such thing as quiet nights. That someone would be hunting him at all times. That someone would be trying to get him for information on MightyStalk, or trying to get vengeance on him for beating them up, or simply committing a crime that needs to be stopped. But no.
Tonight was boring.
It had been almost 30 minutes of him sitting out in the open and thinking about nothing of importance, and Izuku was done. He needed something to pass the time, and if no one was going to show up then he would make them come.
Maybe something interesting will happen. Maybe something dangerous. Izuku was just bored enough that the potential consequences of his actions didn’t seem to matter to him.
The Rogue Instagram account had gained quite a few followers after the infamous “takeover” and even though it was currently 1 AM, he knew if he went live that there would be a lot of people who would join in.
So he took out his phone, went to Instagram, and went live.
He waited a few minutes for people to join, and soon well over 3,000 people were watching him live stream from the rooftop of some random building in Musutafu.
“What is up people, it's motherfucking Rogue coming at you from atop a random fuckin building in Musutafu!” Izuku very loudly said in his modified voice, “It’s so fuckin boring tonight, so I’m here on InstaLive to invite anyone to come fight me or I guess ask me questions if they want to. I’m doing nothing.”
Izuku thought it was funny that Rogue should act like the exact opposite of his usual shy closed-off demeanor. Besides the fact that no one thinks Rogue to be quirkless, there’s no way anyone could picture Midoriya Izuku acting like a stereotypical YouTuber from “challenge era” YouTube.
Comments scrolled by almost too quickly to read. Some complimented him, some insulted him, some told him they were on their way to fight, and some asked questions. Izuku decided to focus on groups.
missyellie20202: dude, rouge, its so dark we cant see you lol
butteredtoast3: WE CANT SEE YOU <3
triesthard: bro if you don’t get in front of a light im LEAVING
“To the people telling me that it’s dark… don’t be intentionally dumb. I would love some critical thinking in the chat. It's fuckin 1 AM, I’m a vigilante, I don’t want you to see my fuckin face, and if you wanna close up on my noggin your gonna have to come up here and do a fight with me to see what I got goin on.”
A few giftables came up on the screen, one with a question.
travisngriff: why are you a vigi and not a hero?
“Thank you Trav for the question and the present, I’m mainly a vigilante because of quirk discrimination. People thought my quirk “wasn’t suitable” for hero work. So, I was basically outcasted from the hero industry, super not chill on the HPSC’s part but whatever. I’m pretty sure I answered that in a previous stream but it’s all good.”
Dozens more comments scroll by, but Izuku closes his eyes for a second to hear if anyone is truly coming to fight. He doesn’t hear any noise and goes back.
mcjustin: what sur quirk
shrimpheaven: but whats ur quirk
beethov3nsdad: WHATS YOUR QUIRK????
“I’m gonna need some critical thinking in the chat again. I know for a fact I’ve answered this question 100 times, I don’t want anyone looking at the quirk registry and finding me, I’m a vigilante, not fuckin dense. So if we can just get those ‘what's your quirk’ questions out now, I’d appreciate it.”
Izuku waits a minute for the vibe to change before getting back in it.
klausharg: do you have a favorite weapon
He likes this question, it wasn’t expected.
“Uhh, do I have a favorite weapon? Thanks Klaus for the Q.” Izuku takes a second to think about it, looking at all his weapons on him, “Probably this knife.”
He pulls out a throwing knife and puts it in front of the camera. Its dark, so there’s not much definition for the audience, but it's visibly duo-chrome and shifts from purple to green.
“My hero gifted me this knife, I don’t think she knew I’d be using it for this, but ya know. I don’t use it if I don’t have to.” He smiles a little and goes back to the comments.
tapegunn22: you gonna appear in a MightyStalk vid? Or hack the stream again?
“Okay, so I get questions on MightyStalk a lot, and probably for good fuckin reason considering they’re the reason I got the platform I got, but trust me when I say it took a lot to hack the stream last time and I don’t think it’s gonna ever happen again. We’re good now, but Mighty was so fuckin pissed at me for a while there. I don’t wanna be his next victim to expose, so I’m gonna be chill out here while he does his thing.” Izuku lies, you know, like a liar.
A mix of reactions from the comments, some understanding, some upset, but instead of dwelling on it he decides to move on.
merthur4lyfe: who’s your favorite hero?
“Thanks for the Q Merthur, I love talking about heroes!” Izuku says, accidentally forgoing the persona for this question, “Technically my favorite hero is a person who isn’t even a hero yet, but I know is gonna be. But for active heroes who I’m allowed to talk about ‘cause they aren’t underground, I’d have to say Mirko. She is so versatile in her quirk usage and relentless in her pursuit. She’s such an inspiration to all heroes and the fact that she’s currently so low on the leaderboard even though she’s so much stronger and has a much better track record than those above her has to be due to sexism or racism because she has some of the best statistics when it comes to rescues and limiting scales of fights and limiting damage to property and citizen casualties. She’s just so impressive…” Izuku pauses, making sure he isn’t mumbling. He looks at the comments.
killing2eve: I LOVE MIRKO! WE STAN A PERSON WHO SEES HER GREATNESS
popgoesweasel33: idk shes overrated, and why bring sexism into this
judgementsdays: MIRKO YESSSS
riiicolaaaa2: lmao ur cute when you get in hero talk mode
squishm3ll0w: we only pray to mirko in this household
Ok so not mumbling, but he needs to be in the persona more. People didn’t notice this time, but he needs to be consistent.
“Mirko’s just so fuckin badass. If you are a Mirko hater, you are a Rogue hater too because I will fuckin defend her until I die.” Izuku says slowly switching tones back into the Rogue’s online tone. “Keep coming with the questions guys, nobody seems to wanna fight tonight, I’ve been on live for like 25 minutes and no one is here. Not even the fuckin cops. Tonight fuckin blows.”
Comments scroll by in condolence for the boredom, but more importantly, questions come in.
todoshoto: How do you feel about the Hero Endeavor?
“How do I feel about Endeavor? The dude fuckin sucks my guy. Sorry if you like him or whatever, but I just can’t stand by him. He just has a bad attitude and not even in a fun way. I know a guy who was very similar to him, but he had the fuckin wherewithal to know when he’s gone too far and apologize. Endeavor does not seem to know when the “too far” line has been crossed, or how to limit damaging property, or how to send the right sidekicks to battles. He always seems to find the person with the worst chance of success in his lineup and pair them with a villain that will almost certainly fuckin injure them beyond working conditions and almost kill them. I understand he himself is a good hero, but he does not know how to take accountability for the people he hurts in his line of duty, I have not heard a single apology from the man in his entire career. He fuckin sucks, and I’m not here to yuck your yums or whatever the kids say but he ain’t my cup o’ tea.”
klumtheh1d1: WHATTT?? UNSTAN I LOVE ENDEAVOR
irohstanacct: ur so right for that
todoshoto: Thank you, you are my new favorite hero
yesman4r33l: I get what ur saying but I LOOOVE ENDEAVOR
stillaphan4: NOOOO ROGUE I LOVE HIM THO ITS PART OF THE CHARM
playaconqueso: finally someone who also hates endeavor, he sucks so bad
undercoverdabi: this is a man who knows his shit
“A lotta mixed opinions in chat, thanks for the Q, Todo. I should tell you that I’m a vigilante, not a hero technically, but thanks anyway. I’m not telling anyone in the chat that they cannot like the dumpster fire, but he just isn’t my guy. I will not be getting his merch anytime soon. I think I can do one more question before I do something drastic about my boredom.”
togatogatoga: DO A DANCE!
fivefromsh0w: what are you gonna do?
mark1pl13r: whasts ur fav animal
acidicteasp1ll: was that who I think it was?
shocktotheheart: can u pic a topic for my historu essay
hardrockcafnay: @acidicteasp1ll I think so
Izuku’s eyes widened as he heard a noise off in the distance. It was subtle, like the lightest footsteps that could be made by a person running at full speed. He knew exactly who it was.
He crouched down on the building and went into a whisper in order to not attract the hero’s attention. Eraserhead was finally out for the night and Izuku was going to have his fun.
“Guys, my meal has finally arrived, and I am about to feast,” Izuku said silently, changing the tone and vibe of his persona completely. It was in moments like these that the audience remembered that the person they were watching was a feared and wanted vigilante, he was immediately terrifying, and no one knew what he meant. It did not last long though because he got this mischievous look in his eye, and in a lighter tone of voice said, “I think I’m gonna have to move up my ‘something drastic’ to now.”
Comments scrolled by at lightning speed. Well over 4,000 people were watching this 2 AM live stream now, and all of them were worried and excited for the thing to come next. Izuku put his phone on the lowest brightness, set it up against the raised ledge of the building, and stood to full height while backing away from the camera. Still in full view, he held up a dark and blurry hand that seemed to tell the audience to wait.
The audience sat with bated breath. What would their vigilante do? What ‘drastic measures’ is he taking?”
A pause, a step, a sucked-in breath, and then…
“HEEEELLLLPPPPPPP! HELLLLPPPPPP! HEEELLLLLPPP MEEEEEEEEEEE!”
It was truly terrifying, everyone in the audience was immediately worried for Rogue’s life. The vigilante sounded terrified, like he was about to die at any second, like his very soul was being sucked out of his body and he would never visit this mortal plane ever again.
The audience thought they were gonna witness a man die in front of them.
But then, a little giggle, padded and frantic footsteps, and an empty screen.
Izuku was having the best night of his life.
Eraserhead was chasing him at full speed, the man was furious with him, and if the audience turned up their volume all the way, they could probably hear the wild laughter and the following person yell, “Kid, I’m too tired to deal with this shit.”
The live stream would not officially end for another 3 hours. For the few viewers who were lucky enough to join in near the 3:30 mark or those who stayed through the whole thing, they were privy to a brief debate about Rogue getting a provisional hero license.
“Kid—” Eraserhead’s voice said, off camera.
“I don’t know how many times I have to say I’m not a kid, Eraser.”
“Enough times to where I finally believe it.”
Rogue sighs, he’s just visible to the camera, his left side protruding in frame, “I – okay.”
“I don’t understand why you don’t just do it, kid. I know you could pass the test if you applied. Don’t you want to not be chased every night? Don’t you want to keep doing the shit you’re doing but legally? You’ve got talent, a lot of potential, if you just took a few classes and applied for a license I know there’s dozens of heroes that would take you under their wing before you go full pro.”
“You know I would if I thought I could, I just can’t.”
“Why? Cause one person said you couldn’t a year ago? That’s just—”
“I did a test.” Izuku interrupted.
Eraser paused. “Kid—”
“I did a test, and I applied myself, and they told me I could not be a hero. I was rejected. It was not for lack of trying Eraser, I promise.”
A rustling of clothes, a hand comes into frame, giving the vigilante a hug. Those left watching the stream feel like they are intruding on an intimate moment, they did not know that Rogue could be this vulnerable in front of a person. A few sniffles could be heard, but they were then covered up by a forced laugh.
“It’s whatever. I’m done being sad about it! I still get to be a hero in my own way. I think I hear something going down a few blocks west, we should go before it’s too late to do anything about it.”
And they were off.
When the live stream finally ended, the sun was showing itself on the rooftop, and Rogue came into frame. For those there, it was the first time the vigilante was ever seen in the light of day, and though barely any of him was visible, especially anything truly identifiable, it was exciting to see the details in his outfit, the writing on his mask, and that his eyes were green and sparkled in the daylight.
“Oh, it’s still going, I thought it would have died hours ago." Rogue's voice sounded surprised, but his eyes looked worried as he remembered what happened on the rooftop earlier that night, "Well, if I’m guessing right, you guys saw something you probably shouldn’t have tonight, but that’s okay. The things I said were true, and I'll stand by the words I said. I’m not scared to be vulnerable, I’ll kick anyone’s ass who has something bad to say.”
But the people who were there were overwhelmingly positive.
trulygreg23: I was on the live all night but don’t worry Rogue, I think your relationship with that hero was really nice
creekl0v3r: I just got here but whatever happened I love you for it!
goodendrew88: It sucks that the test didn’t work out but you saved me back in October from a robber and you are my hero
contourkurt72: ^^ yeah I was saved by you back in January of last year, ur my hero for sure that test was probs bs anyway
hardrockcafnay: I wasn’t here, but its super manly to be vulnerable in front of someone you respect
yassifiedbaby9: I just saw the vid on twitter, and I think its cute, fuck the test!! I’m glad that hero guy believes in you like we do
acidicteasp1ll: I just watched the clip on Twitter, was that who I think it was?
shocktotheheart: @acidicteasp1ll yeah, and we need to tell explode-boy
presentationmicheal: YOU DESERVE THE WORLD ROGUE! KEEP IT UP
Izuku read the comments, and though the audience couldn’t see his face, they knew received the warmest and kindest smile in the world.
“Thank you guys, I don’t think be on patrol again tonight, but this night has been truly one of the best in a long time. I’ll be back soon!"
A wave to the camera, and the live ended.
Izuku looked up, took a breath, and went home. His hero would be waking up soon and she would be mad if he wasn’t in bed. Maybe he’d finally upload that video on Endeavor to MightyStalk, there were a few people on live who seemed to share his opinion, and it was good to gauge a reaction before it goes up anyway.
Tonight was a good night.