RodyDeku

RodyDeku is the slash ship between Rody Soul and Izuku Midoriya from the My Hero Academia fandom.

Act 1: Heroes Assembled
Rody and Izuku meet when Izuku, Bakugou, and Todoroki are scouting the streets in Otheon, and are thrown into hero work when two thieves rob a jewellery store. While Bakugou gives chase to one, Izuku and Todoroki follow the other, and it leads them to an alleyway. Before the criminal could get the jewels taken, he chucks them (in a briefcase) to Rody who was waiting there for pick up as part of his shady job to give to his recruiter for money.

Izuku chases Rody after noticing he has the case and is running with it, which leads to moments such as: Pino, Rody’s quirk, flying into Izuku’s face, Rody continuously laughing at the failure of a hero, Izuku using ‘Blackwhip’ in attempts to stop him, Rody almost getting literally killed by debris crushing him where he also switches out his briefcase on accident, and lastly the two of them running into a train station where Rody thinks he escapes, only to see Izuku running after the train, leading to him being caught.

The two argue for a while after the train stops, with Izuku wanting to see what’s in the case, and Rody refusing as he still believes there’s the jewels in there, as well as Rody saying he’ll show what’s inside only if Izuku pays him. Izuku then tries to forcefully grab the case, and the two scuffle over it until it flies from the both of them. Once they go check where it landed, they see it had popped open, and there is nothing special inside. This leads to Izuku profusely apologising, and Rody worrying since he needed the jewels both for money and for protection. Seeing the shakiness of the other, Izuku follows Rody to make sure he’s okay, and due to the truth inside of the useless items in the briefcase, Rody is stopped by the police who attempt to shoot at the sight of disobedience.

Izuku saves Rody, grabbing him by the waist, and flinging away using ‘Blackwhip’. The police follow them through alleys until Izuku manages to land on a train. However, their break doesn’t last long as a quirk user with the ability to make a bow of their fingers and fire arrows begins to attack them (Beros), and Izuku sets off again while carrying a screaming Rody who passes out. To avoid further conflict, Izuku then flies straight into the water underneath the bridge they were on.

Act 2: On the Run
The news of Izuku's accusation spreads to the entire world, including All Might and the members of Class 1-A who are all shocked by the supposed evidence. Class 1-A voice their opinions of Izuku's innocence in protest over the false claims by the Otheon government.

In Otheon, Izuku and Rody are now wanted fugitives by the authorities. Rody is completely mad because he has been declared Izuku's accomplice, and demands him to explain how his life went south like this. He cannot give him a clear answer, much to Rody's discouragement. Izuku figures out that the reason for the police to be shooting at them was because of the briefcase that Rody stole, but after checking it, nothing that seems important is found. Rody suggests to hand the briefcase over to the police to clear their names, but Izuku advises against it because those who want it would kill them anyway. Rody then suggests other options to get rid of the briefcase, but Izuku dismisses all of them as it wouldn't change their situation. In short, Izuku and Rody decide to make their way over to another place where the Otheon police won't have jurisdiction. They change out their clothes and disguise themselves as native tourists to avoid being spotted by anyone and the police. The two begin their journey by climbing onto the roof of a bus.

After several hours traveling, Izuku and Rody take a break inside of an old farmhouse to get some rest for the night before they can move again. Rody becomes distressed over leaving his siblings alone, remembering the unbearable childhood of his past. He remembers when he and his siblings lived with their father, Eddie Soul. the hate that he felt towards his father that day made Rody break the necklace he gave him. Rody can't bear the idea of his siblings suffering even more for not being with them for those moments, so overnight, while Izuku sleeps, he takes the briefcase. Pino vigorously shows her distaste for his action, but Rody chooses to ignore his bird companion's protests and goes off to secretly report to the police. Pino manages to wake up Izuku and take him to where Rody is. Outside, Rody spots a search helicopter arriving, thinking it's the police, and hands the briefcase over to them. However, the man, who turns out to be a Humarise agent, Rogone, transforms, preparing to kill him for supposedly knowing the briefcase's secrets, despite Rody's insistence of just wanting to go back to his siblings. Just then, Izuku arrives to save Rody, deflecting Rogone's attacks and knocking him back into the helicopter.

However, it turns out he was accompanied by Beros, who prepares to shoot an arrow at Rody, until Izuku jumps in the way to save him. Despite his injury, Izuku fights back, managing enough of a distraction for him and Rody to escape with the briefcase, much to Beros' frustration. Once safe, Izuku's wound is treated, although fortunately it is not very serious since his phone reduced the arrow's strength, although it ended up destroyed, leaving him and Rody without any communications to contact the Otheon team. Rody apologizes for his actions while helping stitch him up, and Izuku forgives him, and after Rody asks why he saved him, Izuku announces his intentions to become a hero like All Might, someone Rody has respect for, even despite having mixed feelings for heroes overall, due to many not residing or choosing to help in Otheon's shantytown. Finally, they both decide to formally introduce themselves to each other. The next morning, Rody gets ahold of a nearby van and as they travel, the two get closer to each other, with Rody explaining how he and his siblings were abandoned by everyone after his father suddenly left to join Humarise, stating that they are the most important things in life for him now. The trip continues for several days with little incidents, and one night, Izuku asks Rody what his Quirk is. He refuses to tell him out of embarrassment, but after making Izuku promise that he won't laugh, he tells him.

After days of traveling, Izuku and Rody finally reached to the Otheon-Klayd border in the canyon, only to find out that the only way to get across is heavily guarded by the police, forcing them to climb up on the canyon to escape. Rody offers the briefcase to get Izuku out of the country safely and easier, but then they are found by another Humarise helicopter and are once again attacked by Beros and another Humarise agent, Sidero. She shoots arrows at Izuku and Rody, but Izuku is able to evade quickly despite his wound. Sidero uses his Quirk to detach Iron Balls from his knuckles and gives them to Beros, increasing in size and mass when fired, making things difficult for the two boys. Izuku latches onto the helicopter with his Blackwhip and nearly crashes it by attacking it with a Delaware Smash Air Force. During the scuffle, Rody loses the briefcase and when he goes to pick it up, he is attacked by Sidero causing him and the briefcase to almost fall off a cliff. Humarise's agent prepares to finish him off, but luckily he is rescued by Shoto, freezing Sidero as well, while Katsuki chases after Beros. Sidero surrenders and promises to tell them all about Humarise, but Beros shoots arrows at him to prevent him from talking, before continuing her confrontation with Katsuki until she runs out of arrows. Finding herself cornered, Beros chooses to jump out of the helicopter into the chasm, right before it crashes.

In the aftermath, when Izuku asks Shoto how they found them, he explains that they were at the border when they saw the fight. Rody thanks them for saving his life and Katsuki explains that the briefcase belongs to Humarise, something that Izuku and Rody were still unaware of. Then, Izuku discovers during the fight, a hidden compartment in the briefcase was revealed, containing a puzzle box. Rody sees that it is exactly the same as the one his father had years ago, so he offers to solve it, and after doing so, the four discover that inside there is a microSD and some kind of device. The four head to the nearest town in Klayd to investigate it.

Act 3: The Race Against Time
is informed of Rody's escape with the briefcase into Klayd's borders. However, he is not worried about it, considering that they are too far away to stop him, and begins the final phase of his plan to save humanity. Humarise publicly broadcasts to the world that they will detonate their bombs in two hours at over twenty-five different cities around the world. Even so, Flect Turn decides to give his opponents a chance to stop the detonations, indicating in which cities the Trigger Bombs are located. As expected, this causes a massive widespread hysteria and panic throughout all the cities, and even in areas outside the danger zone. The All-Star World Heroes Association gives the Heroes the green light to scramble in defense to the major cities that are being targeted by Humarise in attempt to quill the society and locate the bombs. Meanwhile, at a hotel in Klayd, Izuku and his companions investigate the MicroSD, finding an audio file from Alan. Alan reveals that that the strange device is actually a key to shut down the bombs for good. It was created by Rody's father, a fellow scientist who, like him, was also kidnapped and forced to work in exchange for the lives of his children. He was executed shortly after his treachery was discovered by Humarise. Although he doesn't show it, this revelation has a profound effect on Rody, realizing that his father had never stopped caring for him and his siblings.

Drawn by a scream, the four see the news talking about the threat of Humarise's Trigger Bombs. Rody realizes that his siblings are within the blast radius of the bomb. They also know that the Otheon team is being deployed to the Otheon capital to locate the bombs, leaving them without support. With no backup and running out of time, the four of them decide to take the disarming device to disable the bombs themselves. Decoding through the data, Katsuki is able to figure out the exact location of Humarise's true home base, and with Rody flying them there on a plane, they head out to shut down the bombs. During the flight, they take the opportunity to inform the World Heroes Association of everything they had discovered and their intentions to stop it. At the Otheon Team, Burnin suggests going to assist Shoto, but Endeavor tells her they don't have time and have to stay behind to deal with the bomb, putting their trust in his trainees. Eventually, the Hero teams around the world manage to track down the Bombs, however are then attacked by Humarise sleeper agents defending the bombs that they must all fight against. Izuku, Katsuki, and Shoto gear up and arrive at their destination with less than 30 minutes left before detonation. Because of the danger, they ask Rody to return before they launch a direct assault at the Humarise base, heavily guarded by armed terrorists and Quirk users. They oppose a strong resistance, but the three future heroes are able to defeat them all little by little. Izuku and Shoto manage to enter the base, while Katsuki stays behind to take down the last of the cultists. Rody, meanwhile, ignores the students' warnings and carelessly lands in a nearby forest. He also wants to help, but is quickly captured by Humarise's soldiers.

After some fight with Flect Turn, Izuku is lying on the ground bleeding profusely, while that, Flect Turn shows several screens to Izuku where he sees the heroes, among whom are his classmates, doing their best to defeat Humarise, as well as a countdown that shows there are only five minutes left before the detonation. Izuku tries to get up to continue fighting, but his injuries are too serious, so he is about to fall to the ground again. Rody suddenly appears and holds him up, which surprises Izuku. Rody ensures that everything is fine and takes away the deactivation key from him, seemingly preparing to betray Izuku, having already made a deal with Humarise not to detonate the Otheon bomb in exchange for saving his siblings. Izuku tries to convince him they can still win, but Rody says it's fruitless and just wants to make sure his family is safe. Flect Turn proceeds to compare Rody to his father, both seeing the "bigger picture" to help their cause in order to protect their family. Rody is about to give the disarming key to Flect Turn, however, Izuku sees Pino peeking out from behind his sweater. He then recalls the conversation they had a few days ago, in which Rody revealed that Pino is actually his Quirk, Soul, an extension of himself that shows his true intentions, and that even though he considers the Quirk embarrassing, Izuku says it is a great Quirk. Realizing it is a feint, on Pino's command, Rody flicks the deactivation key into the air, catching Flect Turn off guard, allowing Izuku to attack him, as Rody runs to the control room to defuse the bombs.

Enraged for being fooled, Flect Turn reactivates the room's laser defenses to shoot at both of them. Rody manages to dodge some of the shots but in the end, he is fatally wounded by one of the lasers. Still, he continues to make his way to deactivate the bombs while Izuku keeps Flect Turn at bay. He increases the power of One For All and attacks Flect Turn with volumes of kicks and punches to keep him at bay. Rody manages to get to the computer, but ends up passing out from blood loss before inserting the key. After defeating Flect Turn, Izuku runs downstairs to help Rody. He arrives at the control room to find that Rody is still alive, and that Pino had managed to insert the key in time, defusing all the bombs and saving the world. In the World Hero Association and in all the cities where the bombs were found, the heroes celebrate that the tragedy has been stopped. A semi-conscious Rody asks him if he has managed to protect his family, and Izuku replies he did, saying he is amazing. Rody then says that make him looks real cool, and both laughs.

Epilogue
With the terrorist plot foiled and imminent destruction averted, it was a decisive victory for the heroes worldwide. All the surviving Humarise members have been arrested, including the police officers, the bombs are safely removed, and the injured Heroes are treated with medical care. Recovery Girl arrives to heal heal Izuku, Katsuki, Shoto, and Rody, who reunites with his younger siblings. After recovering from his injuries, the members of the Endeavor Agency prepare to head back to Japan. When they are about to board the plane, Rody appears at the airport to say goodbye to Izuku. Although he pretends that he is glad to be rid of Izuku, Pino's reactions show that he will miss him. Izuku and Rody bid a tearful goodbye to each other. After the end of the mission, the students who participated reunite back with all their classmates at U.A., who welcome them, congratulate them for their success, and are happy to see that they all are all right. Meanwhile, Rody decides to stop being a crook and gets a real job to help his siblings. He goes to Stanleyk's to ask if he has any respectable work for him, which he tells him that one of his employees quit and needs someone to replace him, something that Rody accepts without hesitation. Rody starts working as a bartender and continues to care for his siblings, as well as looking to pursue his dream of becoming a pilot.

Fanon
RodyDeku got popular after the third movie,, was released publicly. The fans liked seeing their friendship grow in difficult situations; getting chased by the police, getting chased by terrorists, having to travel undercover, and hauling a vehicle over troublesome terrain. The fans also loved that they were enemies that slowly turned into best friends. This ship still loses to TodoDeku and other Izuku ships, but it's Rody's most popular ship. Some of the fans also ship the two of them with Ochako, liking the idea that Izuku attracts brunettes romantically. Even Japanese fans of My Hero Academia were quick to draw and make content about the two on Twitter. There are currently over 300 works of them on AO3.

In fan works, the two are often compared to Nick Wilde (Rody) and Judy Hopps (Deku) from Disney’s Zootopia for their smooth talking con-man (Rody) and dedicated and cheerful hero (Deku) dynamic.

Rody’s quirk Pino is featured heavily in fan works as a plot device, with her ability to reveal hidden feelings often leading to a confession.

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Variations

 * RoDekuChako refers to the ship between Ochako Uraraka, Rody and Izuku
 * TodoBakuRodyDeku refers to the ship between Shoto Todoroki, Katsuki Bakugou, Rody and Izuku