Izuku was on edge for the next eighteen hours after he'd met Maul, understandably concerned about her impending visit, his lack of intel, and the fact he had no idea what her motives were.

He'd love to say it was as simple as just wanting to kill him, but it felt like there was more to it than that, that there was something he was missing. Something he just couldn't put his finger on despite his best efforts.

That, among many other issues, was driving him nuts since the moment he left the crime scene at the car park. At least he was no longer lazing about on the couch in a pity party, now firmly training quietly in his room with his powers to prepare instead of sleeping, knowing rest wouldn't come knowing the demon was out there.

But the circumstances that lead to it ending were definitely not ones he would have liked to do it. He got no say in that though, just like many other things. The best he could do was just work with what he had and save as many people as he could.

That was the simple thought he kept in mind to keep himself focused, still going and improving despite everything that could have brought him down before. He refused to let his own issues lead to the deaths of innocent people.

As he trained, he'd left the TV running in the background for potential updates on the demon's movements, but otherwise wasn't paying it much heed. A detail stuck out like a sore thumb though when he finally heard it on the TV.

"And it seems most will not be deterred from shopping at Musutafu Mega Mall even despite this incident, as few places can match the shopping complex with its end of school term mega sale, meaning the store can still expect a hearty increase in shopping population rather than a decrease."

The second the anchorman had stopped talking, Izuku had frozen and turned his attention to the screen, a confused look on his face. 'That doesn't make sense… The demon seems sadistic but I don't know enough about her to call her an idiot yet. They still seem to want to keep some secrecy so….'

Was their threat to kill his friends at the mall fake? He shook his head, instantly vetoing that idea. Demons were ruthless, no threat from them should be considered empty for even a second.

Which meant they were telling the truth, leaving the question of why on earth would they do that if he didn't show? It would reveal them to everyone which seemed against their M.O.

Then it struck Izuku over the head like a baseball bat. She wasn't going to go public to expose her own secret, she knew Izuku wouldn't let his friends be defenseless. Which meant she knew he'd have no choice but to turn up.

Which meant… it was him she planned to expose!

If he fought her there and had no choice but to kill her… Was that her backup plan?! Even if she died he gets 'exposed' as some kind of nutjob killer?!

He sat down on the couch and groaned at the realization, thinking desperately fast. He needed something, some way to hide his face, a disguise… something that wouldn't just fade away like semblance.

Without hesitating he leapt to his feet and rushed through the room, sneaking into his mom's wardrobe and stealing what sensible clothes he could before moving to his own room and doing the same.

An hour or two later and while it was shoddily put together, he had an embarrassing but hopefully effective identity concealing outfit. He would don a black silk scarf that he'd wrap around the lower portion of his face, while he'd use a larger blue one to wrap his hair up in, leaving only his eyes and some of his skin exposed, the rest of the identifying features hidden by the scarfs.

He replaced his shoes with black boots his mom owned when she was younger, that thankfully were just large enough to fit him without too much issue. From his own wardrobe he'd donned a pair of Endeavour shades he'd found that he'd owned before he discovered the man's relationship with Todoroki. He had no regrets about spray painting them matte black while protecting the lenses, allowing him to hide his distinctive eye's being recognized.

Unfortunately, he had no black T-Shirts or hoodies in his possession, an oversight on his part. His mom owned almost no black outfits aside from shoes either, with one small exception made him blush crimson under the scarfs.

Her old pitch black cocktail dress. He could hear the Outsider laughing from here, especially when he realized he'd have to deal with explaining to his mom why he cut up her old dress without her permission. The reason why being needing to free his legs for movement, making the dress too short to be modest while still hugging him embarrassingly tight as he put on the last part of the ensemble.

Black tights borrowed from his mother and black shorts. He'd be roasting half to death, he'd be embarrassed, he'd look ridiculous. But his identity would be concealed and he could keep people safe. That was what mattered.

Izuku paced the rooftop of his home building when it reached three o'clock the next day, taking no chances with running into his mother while in this ridiculous get up, having left a note saying he decided to go train and try and get some fresh air.

He did do some training exercises on the roof but only a few basic ones, more to distract himself than train as he didn't want to expend all his energy before the coming fight even began.

As if on cue, just as he was thinking about said fight he felt the air turn a little colder, his hand ache and a nervous pit enter his stomach. He immediately turned and peered over the edge of the building, cursing.

There Maul stood, grinning wildly, excited to start their battle. Izuku stretched his neck briefly before hardening his gaze. 'Fine, if she wants it this way, she has to accept the consequences.'

He used dark vision's higher power to try and get a read on what she'd do, but all he could see aside from the expected fight was a bright flash before the vision cut out.

With a deep breath, he took a running start and leapt off the roof, throwing out the weak variant Far Reach, some tendrils reaching up behind him to slow his descent, grabbing onto the railings while the rest suddenly shot forward and the demon had to deflect more than one before being grabbed by the wrists and yanked into an open position, which Izuku tried to utilize by rushing forward.

He waited for the last moment before letting the tendrils let go and form into the far more lethal Far Lance, trying an upwards slash. Before it connected, however, the demon threw her hands forward and an invisible force sent Izuku hurtling backwards, his back colliding with the railing of the lowest balcony.

Then he felt his skin, his muscles and sinew, he felt it begin to rip apart violently, making him let out a pained scream as the demon cackled, focusing the power through her hands.

It felt like his insides, his skeleton and his being were pushed back further while his skin and flesh was being ripped forward painfully, trying to separate and come apart, his nerves setting themselves on fire from the pure agony coursing through every part of his body. 'STOP! STOP STOP STOP!'

Then suddenly, in a pulse of blue it stopped and he dropped to the floor, breathing heavily and clutching his chest. He could still feel the pull but it was weak, not enough to rip him apart.

"What the shit? So the immunity thing's true…" The demon cursed just loud enough for Izuku to hear as he began to push himself up, meeting her annoyed but otherwise unimpressed face.

Then a low growl escaped him as a horrible realization took over. That was what she'd done to tall those people. That pain, that agony… she'd caused so many to feel it.

And Maul was going to do it to more people if he didn't stop her. She was going to do it to his friends!

And as if to confirm it, to rub salt in the wound….

"I suppose your friends will be less ungrateful for such a colorful death, maybe you'll even get a chance to watch!" She cackled, and Izuku didn't care that the bait was obvious as she left herself wide open. He rushed at her.

"Over my dead body!" he snapped as he formed Shadow Brute and called upon One For All at the same time, combining his magic with his physical strength.

"That's the idea!" She cackled even as the supernaturally powered super strength blow landed, throwing her several feet backwards into a tree. Izuku swore he saw her cough up some kind of black substance similar to blood, but she just giggled. "And I for one can't see what you'll look like dead yourself."

Izuku growled and in just a few seconds he'd caught up to her, only to suddenly crash into some kind of invisible wall again, stumbling back and cursing. "What the-"

The next thing he knew the demon was atop him and the blinding white camera flash came, but this time… they were no longer in the car park outside his house anymore but on the roof off the Musutafu Mega Mall. 'Oh that's just great…'

He had to quickly stand up and block a kick that came in, only to feel his hands get yanked down and have a hash uppercut delivered that knocked him back into a roll.

Right as he jumped to his feet he found the demon already in front of him, flying through the air and grabbing him in a tackle that brought them both through the glass skylight where they dropped into one of the mall's main exhibits, the floating garden.

It was a garden that was held aloft by several quirks and was automatically maintained by several more, a pretty sight from above with no way to access it, except the one Izuku and Maul had apparently just found.

"Oh Midoriya, I didn't know you were a green thumb." The demon cackled as she tried to drag him to his feet only for him to break her grip and rush forward, charging his magic into his hands without any powers as he delivered a gut punch followed by a headlock.

"I'm not, but once I'm through with you I'm sure they'll be able to use you as fertilizer." He bit back harshly, before gulping as he noticed that they weren't fully covered. There were people who could see them and one or two who were already turning in their direction.

And then he remembered an old line All Might had told him once when they'd been training on the beach.

"Young Midoriya, make no mistake that I love people and want to help them all, but my own mentor had a saying. 'Pedestrians are idiots.' I always thought the phrasing harsh but the message always rang true. It seems no matter how dangerous a situation, civilians will almost never run without immediate cause to do so, instead trying to get up close and view every fight."

He could already see where this would be going if he didn't mitigate this situation as much as possible. And even if he did manage to get them to leave, they'd likely do so in a panic which would be just as bad situationally due to the chaos it would bring meaning the demon could escape or even begin slaughtering innocent people while Izuku was too caught up in the chaos to stop her.

No, he needed to keep this conflict to being as small scale looking and unnoticed as possible so he did the best thing he could think of. He let Maul try to gut punch him, dodging it by leaning back then adjusting his grasp to pick her up, throwing her into one of the shops he knew to be abandoned from his last visit before following after, hoping to take the fight away from the mall instead of further into it.

At least, that was his plan. Instead Maul hit some invisible barrier and managed to twist around enough to land and rush forward, trying to take him out with a knockout punch which he ducked under and countered with a backhand that made her spin away.

"How the hell are you doing that?!"

"You like it?" She giggled, shaking with some kind of perverse sadistic delight. "It's my old quirk, Locale Lock. I can lock anyone into whatever area I want with or without me at will."

His eyes went wide and he had to react at the last second in his shock to dodge an incoming punch, which turned into a grab that lead to another bright white flash and next thing he knew he was on the ground floor with the demon standing ahead, the crowd not noticing likely only due to the sheer density of people making it hard to notice unless you were right next to them.

Maul whispered with quiet glee.

"I pick the battlefield. I pick the witnesses. Fight me all you like, but either they'll see you die, or they'll see you as a monster who'd kill a 'villain' without reason."

"…I choose option three." He suddenly rushed forward with the use of One For All and used Far Reach's immense speed that could drag them along to pull them to a less dense area, hitting a wall after a few moments but expecting it and backflipping off it, throwing her to the ground and landing. "Kill you without anyone needing to know."

"That won't happen." She smirked. "Face it, you're stuck with an impossible choice." She grinned as she lifted her hands, turning them to the crowd. "Maybe the civilians suffering will make you more amenable?"

"No, I'm pretty sure I'm not stuck with an impossible situation, just stuck with a psychotic bitch." He shot back with venom, almost giving her an 'I dare you' look that actually made her falter. Then she moved to actually throw her hands out.

And that's when Izuku grabbed her with Far Reach and dragged her past the invisible wall, slamming her through an empty shop window and rushing inside using Shadow Walk to blend into the darkness of the seemingly closed store so most civilians would be liable to consider it just an accident.

However, the second Izuku began crawling through this store he could tell something was wrong. Something was off with it, it was exuding some unnatural vibes.

"I see you found my home." The demon chuckled and Izuku turned to rush her, only to get stuck yet again and have to reform, groaning.

"You can't keep this locale thing up forever." He warned her and she rolled her eyes.

"Of course I c-"

"Not if you want to kill me." He said with simple confidence that shut her up. He gave a cold smile. "After all, it stops being active whenever you use one of your other powers. It needs all your focus. Not to mention, I don't think you can get in if I can't get out?"

"You think you're so clever?!" She growled as she stormed forward before suddenly stopping, practically confirming his theory. "You're just a little pest in a dress!"

"Maybe, but I'm a smart pest in a dress." He said, unable to believe he actually said that unironically as he looked down and smirked at the darkness with the few light spots near where her quirk was being used. "And look at that. Shadows aren't physical, so they aren't affected by your quirk."

He suddenly morphed into said shadows, making the demon go wide eyed as he rushed out the other side from forming, she threw her hands out instinctively and Izuku felt his feet start to lift and his skin begin to drag but focused on not letting it come through, not until he grabbed Maul's arms.

And then he let it go and they both flew out, before they were teleported in a panicked flash of light from Maul's teleporting power. Next thing Izuku knew they were tumbling across the floor and Izuku had to react quickly as he saw a punch coming in, charging magic into his foot and delivering a One For All kick to Maul's stomach that sent her hurtling skywards.

He got a chance to look around as his opponent was briefly thrown off him and he realized the new area they had appeared at was near the food court. He pushed himself up and looked up but didn't see Maul above, leaving him to wonder where the demon had disappeared to.

With a quiet curse he began to walk forward on slightly shaky legs from the tumble looking for her, trying to use his magic to sense anything at all. To try and find her.

Then it picked up on something. A very… familiar feeling. A very, very, very familiar feeling.

Kyoka and Tooru's faces flashed through his mind, as the same feeling he got whenever he interacted with them, the feelings he felt from them, overwhelmed him.

He immediately turned to the source and his mouth went dry as he spotted both girls in the food court itself, talking, mere inches from each other. Neither knew he was there yet he could feel that feeling radiating off them so strongly.

Then he heard something that made the rest of the world seem quiet and broken as he processed what he heard. The words that came out Tooru's mouth that he just barely heard.

"I want to date you too…"

Izuku felt his entire world slam to a halt as he processed that. Did… Did he just see Tooru and Kyoka get together? Did they just…. Was he just-

Before his mind could catch up a gut punch caught him off-guard and he keeled, before looking up to see the demon grinning and this time, without hesitation, Izuku grabbed her and pulled her with him into the shadows, something he was somewhat surprised he could even do before coming out in an alley.

The demon stumbled back confused before growling and trying to throw a basic punch. A simple attack. Izuku just grabbed it without even really focusing, overwhelmed with emotion before he finally settled on a course of action.

She threw another punch and Izuku countered it by cutting the hand off with Far Lance before throwing her forward and cutting off her over hand. He ignored her pained yell as he grabbed her from behind and slammed her against the wall.

Then he ran the lance through her head without hesitation, gritting his teeth and looking away but not stopping until he felt the body melt away in a bright flash that made him groan.

It was a brutal, decisive move. The kind that spoke to a simple fact. He could have ended this so much sooner. He just hadn't wanted to.

What little guilt there was about the death was buried underneath the angry, devastated sea of emotions overwhelming him, his mind reeling as he tried to catch up with the real world as yet another thing went wrong.

What else could possibly make his life worse at this point?!

…As if his thoughts were heard, four fingers suddenly wrapped around his throat and Izuku heard a voice he hoped he wouldn't hear again for a long, long time. His eyes shifted and he met the cruel grinning face of Tomura Shigaraki.

"Well now, that wasn't very heroic."