I was planning on making this longer, but I decided to break it into two parts. I could've done more on Kota's part but meh.

No one ever talks about their near death experiences and when they do, it's far fetched or they never remember it. The thing is, it's a good thing they don't remember it. When one person comes close to death like this, it's as if their whole being is set ablaze with the fires of hell while being dipped into acid, then being frozen in the waters of the Arctic but ten thousand degrees colder. The soul is one of the most fragile parts of the human. When it's in a mid-state like that of being in the middle of life and death (Limbo), the soul is being grappled by the two beings. It is being tugged from one side to another, it hurts. Almost like one's arms being ripped out by two disputing friends for the attention of the one in the middle. A tug-a-war. The soul is fragile so each time it happens, a piece is lost to one side. If Life has the bigger piece, then Death has to give back the smaller piece. This is where the pain comes from, fusing the two pieces of the soul back together. It is a harsh experience.

But with Izuku, the pain is so much greater, the experience so much harsher. Imagine a porcelain doll being thrown with the power of All Might against one of the strongest metals. In a better explanation, his soul is basically being shattered into a 3,000 piece jigsaw puzzle then being forced right back with a few of the pieces in the wrong slots. The experience is one that he hopes any of the newer Champions will never have to go through. That they will not be stubborn like hmm and actually willingly accept being a child of one of the Immortal Beings.

The night is a dark time. Even with the light of the moon and the stars. The twinkling stars that stare down in horror as the humans fight. The stars and moon, having seen so much bloodshed and the harsh violent acts of humanity, they cannot seem to get used to any of it. The worse for them is all the horrible acts against nature. Again and again, they watch. Again and again, they cannot do anything. Right now, they watch as the heroes seem to be losing. Right now, they watch as the determined child of Death has been killed—crushed to death—for protecting the child of Fate. Just how many more unimaginable horrors should these humans cause?

Horror is displayed on Kota's face as he listens to the crunching sound of his friend, of the guy that risked his last chance at being a normal human for another few years. In an act of pure instinct, he looks at the Strings of Fate that are wrapped around Muscular's wrists and ankles. Like a puppeteer, he tenses his fingers, spreading them like he's puppeteering the marionettes for a show. He waits as the four strings wrap around his own fingers. When secured, he balls his hands up, grasping the strings and uses it to control the villain. In haste, he takes control of the villain's movements and forces him away from the older Champion. Kota forces himself to not even peek at the deformed body as he throws Muscular into the side of the building. "I should take about five minutes rest time during my deaths, but I never have the chance. I technically didn't die my first. The second time, I let it be about three minutes or else my friends would've died." He knows that the damage Izuku suffered will not be healed in five minutes. This one can't be healed in that short span, not to mention, the agony he'll have to endure when he is forced to accept the full title of Championship.

Kota ignores the questions and protests from the villain. "You're just my pawn," he shouts through tears and anger. "And pawns don't talk!" He tightens the strings, bringing the villain to his knees. The adult is a marionette to the Puppeteer of Fate. He is left gaping at the child who has a water quirk and is able to control him. How is that possible?

"Ho-how?" he whispers as fear slowly starts eating at him.

Kota takes a page out of Izuku's book and gives a smile. Not as predatory but a sickly sweet smile that makes him seem innocent as he tilts his head. "By using the water in your body, how else?" Izumi hides his own terror in an overly happy, innocent facade as he glances over at Midoriya.

The bones have halfway healed and the internal organs are slowly healing as well. It's been three minutes already. Three minutes and the healing is not yet done. Kota closes his eyes as he tries to figure out what to do. "Plus, we do need to learn witchcraft. Surely there's a spell on how to erase or warp memories." That is what Izuku said, but isn't there a spell that can accelerate healing?

"Your friend is dead, kid. You're stuck with me and no one will come for you. They'll be as dead as your friend," taunts the villain despite his situation.

Kota turns to him with his usual scowl, snorting as he forces the man to fall forward on his face. "You're an idiot if you think that. Death has no reason to take any of us."

"And I'm not dead, thank you very much," comes the raspy and pained voice. He tilts his head as he lets out a Cheshire grin. "Kota, I suggest you let him go. I'll handle him."

"Izuku—your—your injuries?" he whispers.

Blinking rapidly, Izuku glances at his broken arms and moving bones underneath the flesh that covers his ribcage. Muscular watches with wide eyes at seeing the bones being put back by themselves. The bones move and squirm, like worms underneath. "I'm fine, you can see them healing, right? So don't worry about them. Just let him go."

With slight hesitation, Kota lets the villain go after having gotten behind Izuku. Once he is out of sight, the flesh on Izuku's face begins to peel off and turn into dust, revealing the muscle and veins that follow the skin into the air. His hair sways as the wind starts picking up around them, kicking up dust and sending away the flesh until nothing but bone is showing. His torso fading in and out, showing his ribcage and breastbone along with the spine and the tips of his hips. It's almost as if the child of Death is becoming a skeleton, but because of some of his injuries, he can only change his face.

The villain watched with revulsion at the sight of skin flaking off like sand in a breeze. "What the hell?" he whispered as the teenage hero summons his scythe. The boy is looking like the Grim Reaper with human skin. The chill in the air weighs heavily on his shoulders as the brat gets closer and closer.

Closer!

Closer!

The tension is suffocating!

Can't breathe!

Closer!

Why won't he let him go?

What the hell is he doing?

The air reeks of decomposition. He gags trying to call on his quirk but trepidation has taken ahold of him, keeping him in place as the death is staring at him in the eyes. Purple mist spills out of those sockets, becoming a low hanging fog around their feet. In his sight, bodies upon bodies surround him. Corpses that have died by his hand. Corpses that move and moan, screeching like banshees as they get to their feet and surround him. "You're surrounded by your victims. Have fun dealing with their want for justice."

Kota lets out a small squeak in fear at his friend's display. He knows he's the Champion of Death, but he has yet to show such power like this. The teenager turns around now with flesh—no bone in sight. "Come on, we need to get you to Eraserhead."

"Mi-Midoriya?" he questions timidly. He isn't afraid of him but the things he can do. If possible, will he himself be able to do something in the same nature? He doesn't know and hopefully never has to reach that point.

Izuku is taken aback at the sudden change in Kota's demeanor, slumping his shoulders since he can see that he scared him, slumping his shoulders. "I'm sorry, Kota. You shouldn't have to see that. Come on. Get on my back. He won't be moving anytime soon," he reassures him with a small, soft smile. He places a broken hand on the small shoulder, wincing slight at the jostling pain.

"You're still hurt. We should wait a little longer."

"We can't, Kota. I have to get a message across first. I'll be healing on the way, as long as I don't continue getting hurt."

"What about those Ghouls? Are they going to kill him?"

"No. They can't hurt him physically but mentally is another matter."

Kota, with concern, gets on Midoriya's back. He wraps his arms around his neck, keeping a tight but loose grasp on him. "Izuku, What about the title of Champion?"

Firing up One For All, Izuku hops off and going as fast as he can. "As long as I don't heal fully during this fight, I'll be fine. With my arms, they'll be harder to heal so I have about fifteen to thirty more minutes tops. Hopefully, that will be enough time to end this and get everyone to safety."

"Izuku, there's someone coming!"

He looks up to find Aizawa-sensei who sighs in relief at seeing them. That relief turns to concern at the sight of his student. "Midoriya—you did it again, didn't you?" he inquires, referencing to the Stain incident.

"It doesn't matter right now. Take Kota, he has a water quirk. With his help you should—!" He cuts off with a pained hiss, feeling the bones in his arm move under his skin. The pain is unbearable, coming in like waves that constantly hit the sand right after another, again and again and again, feeling way worse than being crushed. "He can put out the fires. They're after Bakugou, I need to get to Mandalay."

"Midoriya," he begins as he takes Kota into his arms. He might not have been feeling too much pain with the adrenaline, but seeing the bones move tells me they're healing and it's painful. "What happened?"

"Lost my last chance, if that's what you're wondering. I really need to go! I don't have time."

"Wait, tell Mandalay something for me."

Aizawa watches the child of Death run off. He glances at Kota who is crying silently. He doesn't get a chance to speak since the boy starts asking questions between broke sobs, sniffling as his body begins shaking in the adult's hold. "You—know? You know that he's—he's a Champion?" A nod. "H-he-he wasted his last chance to be a normal hero for me."

He sighs and reassures him. He turns and starts running back to the place he left his students. "Explain what happened if you can, I need to know." Throughout the explanation, he reminds himself to talk to Izuku about self preservation when all this is over. He listens as Kota tells him the truth about the two's relationship. Gosh, another Champion? Just how many more are out there? Problem Child, we have a lot to talk about. "He'll be okay," he reassures, rubbing the child's back. If I know Midoriya, this won't be just an attack to get Bakugou but to get him too.

"I should've stopped this," he whispers. Through tears he looks up at Aizawa. "I knew this was going to happen, but I couldn't say anything. Fate, while kind, would not have wanted me to alter this. I wish I could've done something different. I should be told Mandalay."

"Kid, you are not at fault here. You had to let this play out, if not now, then it will happen again sometime soon. Just look forward and see what the outcome is. What's my fate?" He does this to reassure the boy, hoping that it isn't too gruesome or worsens the situation.

Kota touches one of the strings on Aizawa's hand, focusing. In the end, he shakes his head. "Too many pathways for you. But I can get a glimpse." He scrunches his eyebrows in concentration. "A hospital? You're visiting someone. I can't see who. It's too far away. Too blurry. I can't. I'm sorry," comes the whispered apology.

"It's okay. Look around you but don't focus on the person."

"Wait! It's not just one. Multiple people. I think—I think it's the students. They're alive, but there's something else. 10:40? I can't tell if it's night or morning." He frowns more, burying his face into his shoulder. "Your phone rings." He blinks and shakes his head. "I couldn't see anything else, but that is what each pathway mostly leads to. If there's a different outcome, I can't see it."

"It's okay. You did good." Shouta stares ahead, his grasp on the child tightening in worry and in fear. No matter what, these villains will pay for putting my students in danger.

Izuku breaks through the treeline to find the Stain-dressed reptile about to slash Mandalay and he decides to intervene. He shatters the overkill of a sword and skids into a squat a few feet away. His green eyes blazing with both pain and exhaustion (physically and just being tired of bullshit). "Nah-ah, we don't cut ladies when they're down."

At the moment, Pixie-Bob and Tiger take the sudden distraction of the villains to knock them unconscious. Mandalay rushes over to the young teenager who had just saved her. Her eyes scanning the injuries that are all over his body. "Izuku!" Those injuries, she thinks. They don't look all too good. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine and so is Kota. He's with Eraserhead. Mandalay, you have to broadcast something to the students!" He tells her what was said so that she can tell the others. When it's done, she turns to Midoriya who is doubled over panting and sweating. "One more thing, the villains, they came for Bakugou. He is the only one who can't fight the villains."

"Izuku, what's wrong?" A shake of a head and persistence for her to tell them. It has been identified who the target is! Bakugou, you are not allowed to fight, get to a teacher, now! Mandalay turns back to Midoriya. "You should come with me and Tiger to treat your wounds."

He shakes his head again. "No, I'm fine. Don't worry. I have to get to Bakugou because knowing him, he will still try to fight."

"Izuku, you're in no condition to be out there fighting. Your arms have suffered a lot of damage."

"I'm fine, Mandalay. I promise to get a checkup once all this is over, okay?" he smiles at her before rushing off. He doesn't need to waste too much time on arguing with the pro heroine, knowing that he won't be able to win against her. If he's alone when the next wave of pain hits, it'll be better. He can't explain well to someone why it's happening, well, he can say it's because of his arms, but then they'll force him to sit out. No, he has to do this first no matter how much he dislikes the guy. He knows why AIzawa partnered him up during the exams, hoping that they work together but Midoriya had gone off on his own to prove a point. Now, he is going to try and undo that mistake.

Izuku is breathing harshly as he weaves through the trees. He can feel his stamina draining as his body is too busy healing itself. He scowls but before he can stop, he's pushed to the ground as something swipes over them. He looks up to meet the eyes of Shoji who is grabbing him and putting him out of sight of whatever just tried to attack him. "Shoji? What happened? What's going on?" he asks as he studies the hurt eye. A loud roar cuts through and realization hits Midoriya like a brick wall. "Holy, is that Dark Shadow? Shoji, what happened?"

He explains before asking Midoriya on his health, seeing the badly broken arms. "How can you still be standing right now?" he inquires with concern. His classmate is way too determined for his own good.

"Adrenaline," he answers simply with a crazy grin on his face. Tokoyami is yelling at them to run and to leave him, that he can't control Dark Shadow. Even though he can't see him, he can hear the outright terror in his voice.

Mezo is concerned for both of his classmates and he feels helpless. Midoriya is obviously hurt (he can see a few bones that are sticking out, but have yet to break skin) and Tokoyami has been overtaken by his quirk and he doesn't have light to even try and calm Dark Shadow down. "Midoriya, do you know where Bakugou is?"

"They were second to go in, so they should be farther in than the rest of us. Surely, they are still there and with their quirks—we can lead Tokoyami to them."

Mezo contemplates it before nodding. "I'm going to carry you so you don't hurt yourself anymore." Midoriya wants to argue, he can see it but the pained expression that crosses his face is enough for the argument to never happen. He sighs and gets on Mezo's back then the dupli-arm quirk user shifts his arms so that they make a basket like thing around the small yet heavy child.

At the right moment, Shoji runs into the view of the dark quirk. He doesn't get too far, running into someone and knocking Midoriya out of his grasp. With both looking up, the two find Todoroki, Bakugou, and some unconscious guy. There is a villain behind them, using their . . . Is that their teeth? And why is he in a straight jacket? Izuku glances at Dark Shadow who is rampaging, grabbing the villain and breaking his teeth before throwing him far away. "Midoriya," whispers Todoroki as his eyes land on the broken arms.

"Don't. I don't care what you have to ask, just help Tokoyami. Use your fire and explosions, please."

"Shut up! Shitty Deku!"

"I just fought Muscular and was almost crushed to death, I am not in the mood to take attitude from you, Katsuki." Yes, he lied. Does he feel bad for that? No. Todoroki glances at his wrist for a split second before looking away. That is why he lied. He doesn't want him to know just yet. With more grumbling, the two lighten the dark forest until their classmate is back to normal. "We should hur—" Izuku stumbles forward to be caught by Tokoyami as he almost lets out a small scream of pain. His torso feels like it's on fire, burning and tearing into him. His arms are numb but slowly as the adrenaline wears off, he can feel the agony spread throughout. "I'm fine," he grounds out.

"We should get that fixed up," suggests Todoroki as his eyebrows scrunch up a bit. Bakugou rolls his eyes but does not comment.

"I don't see any of us having any supplies on hand. And it doesn't matter, we'll have to keep moving. This isn't safe since we're sitting ducks out here, especially since Bakugou is still a target."

"I'll beat their asses! I don't need any of you to protect me!" Following so, he lets off a few explosions with a snarl.

"You are not allowed! Either you come with us willingly, or Shoji will be carrying your unconscious body! If I could, I'd leave you here just like I did in the exam but, because this is a real life-threatening situation, it goes against my nature," he admits, glaring at the blond who is staring at him with disbelief before falling back to his usual scowling expression.

"Whatever, shitty nerd." He turns away and starts walking. Midoriya takes that as the best he can get, planning out loud. He puts Todoroki and Tokoyami to flank Bakugou's sides while keeping him insight and Shoji and him will take the rear. Shoji will be able to keep eye on things and he will be in the middle—due to their request, he doesn't like it but because he's forcing Bakugou to do something he doesn't like, then he'll have to force himself to do something he doesn't like.

And so they're off. How long has it been? I haven't kept up, he thinks, slightly panicking at the thought of it happening in front of his friends. It sounds like he's a werewolf about to turn, now that he thinks about it.

In his peripheral vision, he catches sight of Death. "'Zuku, fif-teen min-utes."

As the immortal being leave, he sighs. He glances at his arms and hopes that they don't heal just yet. He starts scratching at his left palm with his middle finger on the same hand. They come up to see Uraraka and Tsuyu fighting against a female villain. She's talking, smiling, as she fights against their classmates. Bloodlust is shining brightly in her eyes as she swipes at the girls with a shining blade.

Todoroki takes the chance to put up an ice wall in front of the girls to keep them safe. Red eyes snap over to the group in surprise before the smile comes back. "Oh!" she gasps slightly at the bloody sight of the green haired boy. "Are you Midoriya Izuku? Wow! You're quite amazing!"

The said teen is taken aback by the sudden recognition.

"Yeah! Shigaraki is dead set on having you and Bakugou join the league!" Then the following expression that overtakes her face, it's not one that Midoriya likes. "After all, with your contract with Shigaraki, you can't go against him."

HAHAHAHAHA! Another cliffhanger because I'm the worst author you have ever met. I will do my best to continue updates but it depends on school.

I will spoil something. We will meet the Champions of the following:

* Sloth

* War

* Time

Probably more people but it depends if I can find some more characters. Also guess. (HINT: One is a U.A student but they're not in class 1-A)

Questions? Ask away.