[It sounds weird--but Damian doesn't care much for his roommates. Sure, he doesn't care much for anyone in particular right now--except Bruce, Ace, and Pennyworth--but he thinks he's sparing Izuku from their presence.
[As expected, Damian is already there waiting, still stubbornly clinging to the Robin mantle by wearing it almost all the time. Also—he doesn’t have any other clothes, so...
He doesn’t wave back, but the fact he is looking in Izuku’s direction at all is enough acknowledgment from him. By the building, he stands like a sentinel, unmoving. A very Bat brooding thing.]
I'd hope not, when I've been coming here pretty often.
[He holds the backpack out for Damian to take.] Clothes are inside. The thread and needle are in the front pocket.
[Izuku blinks and looks up at the sky when he feels something wet hit his face. Then another, and another after that. Ah, rain.] Want to go inside and wait this out?
[It's been raining on and off all day, and while they were lucky to get to the library without being drenched, it seems their luck has just run out.]
[Carefully, Damian takes the bag, feeling the weight of it, and then he slides it over his shoulder. The rain gets him to glance up at the sky. Honestly, he doesn't care. He's been in worse things, and voluntarily. But for now:
He turns around to lead them both inside. Surprisingly, he's been here at least once already. Like before, he decides to take the cloak off and hang it up. It leaves him looking less intimidating and more like a slim, young boy, not unlike Izuku.
It also gives him a chance to check the backpack (listen, he's a Bat) for the clothes and the thread and needle.]
[Izuku just looks bemused when Damian checks the contents of the bag, though he'd sort of expected that would happen.]
Everything look okay to you?
[The library's empty at the moment. Lucky for them, it means that they have their pick of the few reading tables around. Izuku picks one and slides into a chair.]
You know, I never got to ask you about the work you've been doing as Robin back in your world. We got kind of busy looking at the laptops the other day. Oh! [A grin.] What's your quirk? I can't believe I didn't ask you about that first!
[Izuku wasn't wrong. The clothes are extremely old fashioned, but whatever Damian thinks when looking at them is lost under the mask. The ones meant for Bruce will likely fit without any additional altering other than aesthetics.
Damian's, however... Damian is small for his age, and so these might have to be tailored a little more. He hates it. Anyway.] It's workable.
[He doesn't offer any thanks. Doing so feels weird and unnatural to him in "Robin mode," especially to someone he only just met. But the neat way he folds the clothes again says a lot more than what his mouth could. He returns them to the backpack and leaves everything by the door near his cloak.] You know Red Riot then.
He used the same term: "quirk." That's your word for metahuman powers, isn't it?
[Izuku perks up. With all of them essentially trapped in this town, it figures that Damian would have run into one of his friends already.] Yeah, he's my classmate!
[Then, the smile slides right off his face.] You don't have any powers? But, wait... you're already doing hero work in your world....you can become a hero without a quirk?
[Unconsciously, Izuku's leaned forward toward Damian, like he needs to hear the answer so much that he simply couldn't help himself. There's no judgment or scorn on his face either, just a weird mix of wonder, shock, and distress.]
[For a moment, Damian watches Izuku. The other boy is an open book. He's already had a bit of a chat with Kirishima about this kind of thing, and he doesn't want another judgment battle, yet... Izuku seems different.
Carefully, Damian picks his way over to the table, but he doesn't sit yet.] Let me guess: that little "licensing" your world has restricts those without quirks from becoming heroes.
Tt.
[He feels bad, sorta. He doesn't consider himself a hero in career or by personal standard. The Bats are technically vigilantes, and he knows this, accepts this. They aren't "heroes," just people trying to do what's just and right. On the other hand, Damian would never call himself a hero no matter what he does.
He thinks he's got too much blood on his hands to ever be a hero, not like his father.] Metahumans are the most dangerous kind of hero of all. They have uncontrollable powers and their powers have weaknesses.
...not exactly. [Izuku draws back this time, expression becoming oddly subdued. There's no sign of his earlier excitement now.]
Metahumans. You've been using that that for people with powers... [His thumb presses into his bottom lip nervously. It has the same sort of ring as Quirkless. You don't give names to things that are the norm, you give them to things that aren't the norm. So naturally, that means--] Your world... not a lot of people have powers, do they?
It has more than it needs. Not many from Earth are born as metahumans. Most have had something happened to alter their human biology or genetics during their lifetime. Others are aliens from different planets or planes of existences.
Superman, for example, is Kryptonian. Raven is Azarathian. Wonder Woman is a demigod. [He crosses his arms.] None of that has any bearing on whether someone is a "hero" or not.
Batman and I are from Earth. Nightwing, Red Robin, Batwoman, Batgirl. None of us have powers. Powers just get in the way.
Your world's really different from mine. [Not that it's a surprise, but Izuku had somehow been so distracted by finding other heroes that it just didn't occur to him how different things could be. It seems obvious in hindsight.]
Ours used to be like that, with just a handful of people with quirks being born. But now... about 80% of the world's population has a power of some kind.
Being quirkless...it makes you stand out. [Not in a good way. Izuku's voice gets even quieter.] If you don't have a quirk, then you're... [Useless. Though Izuku bites the word back, it's clear what he was going to say anyway. It's the word he heard thrown at him more times than he cares to remember since he came back from the doctor's with his quirkless diagnosis as a kid.]
Anyway... [Izuku turns his gaze away.] There's nothing that says quirkless people can't try to take the licensing exam, but with the way things are, no school is going to take someone that doesn't have a quirk for their heroics course in the first place.
[He's not stupid. Damian can fill in the blanks. He's also a great read of people, and he can tell that this means more to Izuku than what's being said. There's something personal about it, about this information. The way it's given, the words chosen.
Izuku reacted very differently than Kirishima, and it isn't because they have different personalities. They're actually different kinds of people.] So it is true. The licenses keep people without quirks from being heroes. The whole system has been set up in favor of those with powers, excluding chances for the ones without.
I've never heard anything more stupid in my life. Offering a school for those with powers is one thing, but barring the powerless from doing what they can to protect the well-being of the world is idiocy. The schooling shouldn't mandate the acquisition of a license.
Regardless, implementing an official database of heroes is foolish. If anyone acquired that information, it could be used against everyone calling themselves heroes.
[There's conflict in his expression as Damian lays it all out. Izuku loves heroes and quirks. He's loved analyzing everything since he was a kid, grown up watching them in action. But he's also been on the other side of the system, and he knows Damian's criticisms aren't without merit.]
You're...not wrong. [It's painful, getting the words out.] The system is really skewed to favor people with quirks.
[He knows that. There are probably other quirkless kids like him who grew up being bullied and told they weren't worth anything because of something they couldn't help. And they won't be as lucky as he is, with the way he'd caught All Might's attention and gotten a second chance at what he wanted.]
[Izuku flinches. Had he been that obvious? He is a terrible liar, and Damian's already shown himself to be incredibly observant as well. Izuku shouldn't be surprised that he'd figured it out so quickly. He's just lucky that no one else has really talked to him about this before. It's...hard pretending that the topic doesn't affect him in any way when it's so personal. This was his life for ten years.]
That's... not exactly right. [Izuku raises a hand and activates his quirk, green energy sparking over his skin. Then, he lets it go, staring down at the table for a long moment.
He shouldn't be talking about any of this when he's just met Damian barely a few days ago. And yet... here Damian is, putting into the words some of the very things Izuku had wondered as he grew up. Surely, there could still be a way to become a hero even without a quirk? Surely, there was a way that even a quirkless nobody like him could still help? Those were just a few thoughts he'd had when he was younger, until the repeated bullying and taunts from his classmates had almost stamped his dreams out.]
My quirk came in really late. Usually quirks begin manifesting before you're four. I got mine when I was fifteen. [Izuku finally says. It's what he'd told his own mother, in any case, and why try to make the excuse any more complicated than it needs to be?] So I guess even if I have one now...I know how it feels to be quirkless.
[Something doesn't seem right, but Damian has no evidence to discount Izuku's explanation. So he accepts it for now, watching the green energy until it disappears. Maybe a small piece of him feels betrayed, yet hadn't he just told Izuku that a lot of metahumans receive their powers later in life?
Furthermore...] Your world's system of heralding those with powers is still ridiculous.
[He looks away with his head, glancing out over the library.] I had powers once, too. For a short period.
The how and why are irrelevant. [Or, rather, explaining them would be he needed to explain more about himself. Which he isn't going to do. Also, he's trying to be Robin, not Damian.] I had powers somewhat similar to Superman.
I could fly, had superhuman strength. That sort of thing. The powers didn't last, but it doesn't matter to me. I'm capable without them. If you aren't able to do what you do without your powers, then you don't deserve them.
[It's a heavy topic, and Damian's words, sensible as they are, just sit uncomfortably in Izuku's chest at the moment. They're hard to accept over things that he's heard for years and years, even if Izuku is trying.]
That's... the opposite of what I've been told for years. [Your quirk defines you. The more powerful and flashy the better. And if you didn't have a quirk at all, then you amounted to nothing. That's the way it's always been.]
Going out to do this line of work untrained is foolish at best, but letting that stop you from getting stronger and better is worse than failure. [On one hand, he doesn’t think anyone else can do it. On the other, people who don’t try piss him off.] You don’t need special abilities to know when it’s right to save someone, or to help them.
You don’t need a special certificate or special schooling, only the will and the training. Use your mind instead of relying on some overpowered gimmick. Think smarter than the bad guys. That’s all you need to be stronger than anyone else, even more than physical skill:
[Izuku nods, expression clearing just a little. Though Damian's given him a lot to think about, some of those words ring true to what All Might had said before. Reaching out to help people, whether or not they ask for it, is what a hero does.]
...my intellect... [He echoes, pressing a thumb into his bottom lip in thought. From the way he says it, it's like he's never really had anyone tell him that is a strength, even if he's considered it before. He thinks back to all the notebooks of information he's compiled over the years.] It...it's true, I did think that analyzing everyone's quirks and finding strengths and weaknesses would be helpful before. Back...before I got my quirk... the other kids always made fun of me for doing it, though.
[And yet, here's someone who works as a hero saying that it's exactly what he should have focused on. One thing's for sure... through all this, Izuku's slowly been filled with the burning need to know more about Damian and the other quirkless heroes he mentioned.]
Robin... [Izuku hesitates, the bashful sort of look very different from the excitement and quiet melancholy from before.] Can you tell me about you and Batman? And the others you mentioned earlier. The...the ones without quirks. I'd...like to hear about them.
[His reason for asking is obvious, even if he doesn't say it.]
[For a little bit, Damian is quiet. There's a lot he can't say, but still a lot he can. Things that are relatively common knowledge in Gotham, on Earth. Things that wouldn't hurt to be told in earnest.] Batman is...
[He's never had very many opportunities to candidly talk about his father--well, or Batman. Now that he has the chance, he isn't sure what to say. He's nervous. He doesn't want to tarnish Batman's haunting image, but he also doesn't want that image to scare Izuku. Batman strikes fear in criminals, not civilians.] Batman fights for those who can't fight for themselves. It's not about getting rid of the toughest criminal, or about fighting the hardest battle.
It's about the people he helps.
Every criminal in Gotham fears his name. You can't hide from him. He will always find you. Your life of incarcerated reform begins the moment you decide to take advantage of others. He doesn't have any powers. [He has money, but listen.] He has an arsenal, and he has his intelligence.
There's one thing Batman never does, and that's kill. Not even the criminals. [Much to Damian's disapproval. It had taken him some time to not only accept this, but strive to follow it.] He knows they can be helped, too. The most hideous of evils, the most terrible of masterminds; he won't kill them because killing them means he'll be no better than they are.
[There's a long pause. Damian's lips aren't frowning, but he isn't smiling exactly.]
[Everything about this strikes a chord in him. From the part about fighting for people who can't fight for themselves, to the part about having his intelligence in battle.]
He sounds like an amazing hero. [Izuku says softly, a small, but genuine smile on his face as he looks at Damian.] It's no wonder you look up to him so much.
[Though hearing all of this means the world to Izuku, he can tell that being able to talk about Batman means something to Damian, too. He's glad that he asked, even if this conversation's thrown some of his world views into question.]
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I guess I can't argue with that!
When do you want me to bring the clothes over? I think I found something that should fit your friend, too.
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[It sounds weird--but Damian doesn't care much for his roommates. Sure, he doesn't care much for anyone in particular right now--except Bruce, Ace, and Pennyworth--but he thinks he's sparing Izuku from their presence.
And any teasing.]
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[Some 10 minutes later, Izuku's jogging toward the library entrance, a smallish, worn bag slung over his shoulder.]
Robin! [He raises his hand, greeting him with a smile.]
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He doesn’t wave back, but the fact he is looking in Izuku’s direction at all is enough acknowledgment from him. By the building, he stands like a sentinel, unmoving. A very Bat brooding thing.]
You didn’t get lost, I see.
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[He holds the backpack out for Damian to take.] Clothes are inside. The thread and needle are in the front pocket.
[Izuku blinks and looks up at the sky when he feels something wet hit his face. Then another, and another after that. Ah, rain.] Want to go inside and wait this out?
[It's been raining on and off all day, and while they were lucky to get to the library without being drenched, it seems their luck has just run out.]
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He turns around to lead them both inside. Surprisingly, he's been here at least once already. Like before, he decides to take the cloak off and hang it up. It leaves him looking less intimidating and more like a slim, young boy, not unlike Izuku.
It also gives him a chance to check the backpack (listen, he's a Bat) for the clothes and the thread and needle.]
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Everything look okay to you?
[The library's empty at the moment. Lucky for them, it means that they have their pick of the few reading tables around. Izuku picks one and slides into a chair.]
You know, I never got to ask you about the work you've been doing as Robin back in your world. We got kind of busy looking at the laptops the other day. Oh! [A grin.] What's your quirk? I can't believe I didn't ask you about that first!
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Damian's, however... Damian is small for his age, and so these might have to be tailored a little more. He hates it. Anyway.] It's workable.
[He doesn't offer any thanks. Doing so feels weird and unnatural to him in "Robin mode," especially to someone he only just met. But the neat way he folds the clothes again says a lot more than what his mouth could. He returns them to the backpack and leaves everything by the door near his cloak.] You know Red Riot then.
He used the same term: "quirk." That's your word for metahuman powers, isn't it?
I don't have any. I don't need them.
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[Then, the smile slides right off his face.] You don't have any powers? But, wait... you're already doing hero work in your world....you can become a hero without a quirk?
[Unconsciously, Izuku's leaned forward toward Damian, like he needs to hear the answer so much that he simply couldn't help himself. There's no judgment or scorn on his face either, just a weird mix of wonder, shock, and distress.]
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Carefully, Damian picks his way over to the table, but he doesn't sit yet.] Let me guess: that little "licensing" your world has restricts those without quirks from becoming heroes.
Tt.
[He feels bad, sorta. He doesn't consider himself a hero in career or by personal standard. The Bats are technically vigilantes, and he knows this, accepts this. They aren't "heroes," just people trying to do what's just and right. On the other hand, Damian would never call himself a hero no matter what he does.
He thinks he's got too much blood on his hands to ever be a hero, not like his father.] Metahumans are the most dangerous kind of hero of all. They have uncontrollable powers and their powers have weaknesses.
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Metahumans. You've been using that that for people with powers... [His thumb presses into his bottom lip nervously. It has the same sort of ring as Quirkless. You don't give names to things that are the norm, you give them to things that aren't the norm. So naturally, that means--] Your world... not a lot of people have powers, do they?
[It's rhetorical at this point.]
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Superman, for example, is Kryptonian. Raven is Azarathian. Wonder Woman is a demigod. [He crosses his arms.] None of that has any bearing on whether someone is a "hero" or not.
Batman and I are from Earth. Nightwing, Red Robin, Batwoman, Batgirl. None of us have powers. Powers just get in the way.
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Ours used to be like that, with just a handful of people with quirks being born. But now... about 80% of the world's population has a power of some kind.
Being quirkless...it makes you stand out. [Not in a good way. Izuku's voice gets even quieter.] If you don't have a quirk, then you're... [Useless. Though Izuku bites the word back, it's clear what he was going to say anyway. It's the word he heard thrown at him more times than he cares to remember since he came back from the doctor's with his quirkless diagnosis as a kid.]
Anyway... [Izuku turns his gaze away.] There's nothing that says quirkless people can't try to take the licensing exam, but with the way things are, no school is going to take someone that doesn't have a quirk for their heroics course in the first place.
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Izuku reacted very differently than Kirishima, and it isn't because they have different personalities. They're actually different kinds of people.] So it is true. The licenses keep people without quirks from being heroes. The whole system has been set up in favor of those with powers, excluding chances for the ones without.
I've never heard anything more stupid in my life. Offering a school for those with powers is one thing, but barring the powerless from doing what they can to protect the well-being of the world is idiocy. The schooling shouldn't mandate the acquisition of a license.
Regardless, implementing an official database of heroes is foolish. If anyone acquired that information, it could be used against everyone calling themselves heroes.
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You're...not wrong. [It's painful, getting the words out.] The system is really skewed to favor people with quirks.
[He knows that. There are probably other quirkless kids like him who grew up being bullied and told they weren't worth anything because of something they couldn't help. And they won't be as lucky as he is, with the way he'd caught All Might's attention and gotten a second chance at what he wanted.]
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You're one of them, aren't you? One of the people without a quirk.
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That's... not exactly right. [Izuku raises a hand and activates his quirk, green energy sparking over his skin. Then, he lets it go, staring down at the table for a long moment.
He shouldn't be talking about any of this when he's just met Damian barely a few days ago. And yet... here Damian is, putting into the words some of the very things Izuku had wondered as he grew up. Surely, there could still be a way to become a hero even without a quirk? Surely, there was a way that even a quirkless nobody like him could still help? Those were just a few thoughts he'd had when he was younger, until the repeated bullying and taunts from his classmates had almost stamped his dreams out.]
My quirk came in really late. Usually quirks begin manifesting before you're four. I got mine when I was fifteen. [Izuku finally says. It's what he'd told his own mother, in any case, and why try to make the excuse any more complicated than it needs to be?] So I guess even if I have one now...I know how it feels to be quirkless.
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Furthermore...] Your world's system of heralding those with powers is still ridiculous.
[He looks away with his head, glancing out over the library.] I had powers once, too. For a short period.
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Damian's next words have him looking up in surprise, though.] You did? [Wait..."for a short while"?] How did ou lose them?
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I could fly, had superhuman strength. That sort of thing. The powers didn't last, but it doesn't matter to me. I'm capable without them. If you aren't able to do what you do without your powers, then you don't deserve them.
Powers aren't what help you do what's right.
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That's... the opposite of what I've been told for years. [Your quirk defines you. The more powerful and flashy the better. And if you didn't have a quirk at all, then you amounted to nothing. That's the way it's always been.]
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Going out to do this line of work untrained is foolish at best, but letting that stop you from getting stronger and better is worse than failure. [On one hand, he doesn’t think anyone else can do it. On the other, people who don’t try piss him off.] You don’t need special abilities to know when it’s right to save someone, or to help them.
You don’t need a special certificate or special schooling, only the will and the training. Use your mind instead of relying on some overpowered gimmick. Think smarter than the bad guys. That’s all you need to be stronger than anyone else, even more than physical skill:
Your intellect.
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...my intellect... [He echoes, pressing a thumb into his bottom lip in thought. From the way he says it, it's like he's never really had anyone tell him that is a strength, even if he's considered it before. He thinks back to all the notebooks of information he's compiled over the years.] It...it's true, I did think that analyzing everyone's quirks and finding strengths and weaknesses would be helpful before. Back...before I got my quirk... the other kids always made fun of me for doing it, though.
[And yet, here's someone who works as a hero saying that it's exactly what he should have focused on. One thing's for sure... through all this, Izuku's slowly been filled with the burning need to know more about Damian and the other quirkless heroes he mentioned.]
Robin... [Izuku hesitates, the bashful sort of look very different from the excitement and quiet melancholy from before.] Can you tell me about you and Batman? And the others you mentioned earlier. The...the ones without quirks. I'd...like to hear about them.
[His reason for asking is obvious, even if he doesn't say it.]
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[He's never had very many opportunities to candidly talk about his father--well, or Batman. Now that he has the chance, he isn't sure what to say. He's nervous. He doesn't want to tarnish Batman's haunting image, but he also doesn't want that image to scare Izuku. Batman strikes fear in criminals, not civilians.] Batman fights for those who can't fight for themselves. It's not about getting rid of the toughest criminal, or about fighting the hardest battle.
It's about the people he helps.
Every criminal in Gotham fears his name. You can't hide from him. He will always find you. Your life of incarcerated reform begins the moment you decide to take advantage of others. He doesn't have any powers. [He has money, but listen.] He has an arsenal, and he has his intelligence.
There's one thing Batman never does, and that's kill. Not even the criminals. [Much to Damian's disapproval. It had taken him some time to not only accept this, but strive to follow it.] He knows they can be helped, too. The most hideous of evils, the most terrible of masterminds; he won't kill them because killing them means he'll be no better than they are.
[There's a long pause. Damian's lips aren't frowning, but he isn't smiling exactly.]
He's one of the greatest men I've ever known.
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He sounds like an amazing hero. [Izuku says softly, a small, but genuine smile on his face as he looks at Damian.] It's no wonder you look up to him so much.
[Though hearing all of this means the world to Izuku, he can tell that being able to talk about Batman means something to Damian, too. He's glad that he asked, even if this conversation's thrown some of his world views into question.]
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oh... i janked my timelines bc comics are suffering rip me
ah... comics