Izuku III

What is this? What's going on?

He'd been so consumed by panic and dread from his fall, that it took him too long to get a better grasp of his surroundings. Izuku saw that he was about two stories from the ground. A strange green slime was stretching from the ground up to him. The stench was awful end it had encased most of his body. Only his head and his left arm remained free.

Off in the distance, down the Street he could see that a number of police cars we're driving closer. A large crowd of people were also approaching, eager to see whatever was happening. Izuku was confused. Until the slime spoke to him again.

"Shit, I better hurry."

Looking down, Izuku could see that a pair of eyes floating in the slime was looking down the same street as he was. Slowly his panicked mind pieced everything together. This thing was some sort of fleeing villain that had caught him. And from the comments it had made about his body being a meat suit, Izuku was suddenly filled with a new kind of dread. He struggled, trying to free himself while the slime began to retract and lower him closer to the ground.

Each time his hand grabbed a first full of goo and pulled it away, the gap he made was filled back up in moments. He tried to kick and writhe and resist. Being so close to death had invigorated him not to let it happen now.

I just realized I want to live! No matter how mediocre the life, I still want to have one! I can't die now…

"Stop struggling! Gah, I don't know what your quirk is, but I need a body if I'm gonna get out of here." Izuku felt the slime creep up, trying to push into his mouth. "So hold still and— Augh!"

Izuku looked down, and saw the Pro-Hero Death Arms trying to deliver blows to the villain. Ordinarily, he'd be thrilled, but right now he was just grateful someone was rescuing him. Until, that is, he got a better look at what was happening below. Death Arms' punches were about as effective as Izuku's grabbing. The holes he made were bigger, but the slime villain sealed it up quickly. The slime that landed on the building behind them just slithered back to rejoin his body. Izuku was pulled in closer by the villain's reflexive cringing, and his other arm was consumed by the goo. It was hard to breathe, slime almost pushing into his nose. He just had to hold out…

Wait… Death Arms is… retreating? Wait, no! Please don't leave me to die!

The pro had retreated back but then he took a running start, leaping up to strike again at the villain's face, hitting it in the teeth. The force that rippled out helped Izuku wriggle upwards, and he gasped for a deeper breath as his mouth was unobstructed. He heard the villain speak.

"Careful, hero! Try that again and I'll make sure you cave in my little hostage's face!"

Izuku felt the slime move around him, but really he was being pulled through it. Now in front of the creature's face, he had become a human shield. Death Arms, who was back on the ground, grimaced, but remained still.

"That's a good little her— Ah!"

A tight net of branches surged forward into the slime, piercing it. Looking around, Izuku couldn't help but cry out. "Kamui Woods!" he shouted. From what he could tell, Kamui had unleashed his branches from the top of a smaller building nearby.

The branches are in a complex pattern, making it hard to find the exact origin, but it looks like, from the thickening of the branches to the left, he's probably on top of that parking garage.

"Hey thanks, kid!" the villain shouted, and Izuku realized he'd been muttering outloud from his nerves. The slime monster moved through the branches easily, and picked up a small car parked in front of the apartment complex. While Death Arms tried to stop him, the villain used a gush of fluid to knock him aside before throwing the car at where Kamui Woods was hiding. It forced the young hero to retract his branches so he could evade.

"Man, you must have a weak quirk or something, but you got a sharp eye, kid! You're smart. I'll be happy to make use of that brain power," the villain said with a sick chuckle, and began to consume Izuku again, sucking him in. Looking around, the boy saw that the crowd was now there, the police keeping them back, and cameras were rolling.

Is this… This is how I die? Live on TV?!

He continued to resist, but it was futile. The suction of the slime was too strong, it was too viscous for his arms to push through.

Too weak… I'm too weak. It's just like I thought.

As his face was being consumed by the creature, Izuku tried to keep his mouth shut. A blast of cold water hit him suddenly, and Izuku gasped for breath. Looking back near Death Arms, he could see two more heroes. Backdraft, with the Baseball Hero: Slugger beside him, had aimed a jet of water that had blasted away some slime, allowing Izuku to breathe. "Hang in there, kid!" Death Arms growled.

Backdraft sent out two more bursts of water, shaped like scalpels. Presumably meant to cut the boy free of the sludge villain's grasp, the villain twisted around and dodged the attack. He grabbed another car nearby and nearly flattened Slugger as Backdraft had to leap out of the way. Izuku could hear the crowd as their voices began to shout, and the villain sucked him back in, up to his nose.

"That's the guy All Might was chasing earlier!"

"No way! Is All Might here?"

"No… You don't think this thing beat All Might do you?"

"Hell no! I'm sure he'll show. Damn I wish I had my camera!"

"Quick, quick! Let me get a selfie with Death Arms in the shot!"

"Oh oh oh! I need to get Slugger's autograph after this."

"Why aren't the heroes moving?"

"Their quirks aren't able to deal with this guy!"

"Pfft! Laaaaaame! Guess we need a better hero to show up!"

"Backdraft has his chance to shine here! C'mon Backdraft! I put down 50 thousand you'd break the top 400 this year!"

"Yo! Maybe Endeavor will get here! He was sighted not too far from here earlier!"

Izuku listened, and he felt a strange despair. No one cared about him. No one was really worried about him first and foremost beyond the heroes themselves. His death was just going to be another chance to see some Pros at work. A spectacle. But had he been any different? A train had been nearly derailed by a villain that morning, and Izuku hadn't felt any real concern for them or for the people stuck in their cars beneath the bridge as Kamui Woods and Mt. Lady saved the day. It wasn't exactly the same, but he was always so confident that Heroes would show up and save everyone, that he never thought too much about the people who could get hurt.

Four Heroes are here. More on the way. But they aren't going to be able to save me…

"Get back!" the villain roared. "I'll snap this kid's neck if you don't quit it!" Izuku supposed that made sense. The villain was keeping his nose uncovered, and keeping him right in the way of any further blows to face. If this villain really could take control of a body, he didn't have any quirks for him to use. So Izuku was better as a bargaining chip. But he could still feel the villain trying to push slime into his mouth. But why?

When Death Arms punched the slime away, it moved on its own to rejoin the main body. That means he can still control pieces of himself when they're detached from him. If he doesn't need all of himself to control a body then… Then he could take control of me, keep the battle going, then fake a loss. Use me as a puppet to free the rest of him, or even just kill me remotely while they're arresting him to cause a distraction for his escape.

Izuku tried again the struggle, if only just to get his mouth free. He could shout a warning, get the heroes to act anyways. This monster, there was no telling what he would do elsewhere, or how many people he would hurt if he got away. He had to be stopped!

"ZUCHAN!" came a sudden shout. Izuku flicked his eyes to the right, and saw, rocketing from out of the crowd—

Kacchan?!

Bakugo was using his quirk to dash, pushing himself forward. He had a manic, crazed look on his face. The villain recoiled back when he saw the boy. Izuku was suddenly pulled under, the slime enveloping him as the villain moved him to center-mass. Bakugo's eyes widened, and his right hook suddenly had to aim down. The explosion from his swing made the villain roar, but then it used a tendril of slime to slam the blond boy to the ground.

"I said no one come close! I'm gonna kill this useless kid! And then… Heh heh, I think I'll take you over, firecracker! Your quirk would give me some firepower!"

"No!" both Death Arms and Kamui Woods shouted. They had grouped up and were moving in. But Izuku saw hazily through the villain as Bakugo began to struggle. His explosions were bubbling in the sludge, but the creature, like earlier, immediately filled in the gaps. As the two Pros tried to strike, with Backdraft and Slugger offering ranged support, the sludge redirected one of Bakugos arms and a powerful explosion blasted both of them back.

Kamui Woods cried out, and Death Arms rushed to aid him. His arms struggled to pat down the fire that had broken out on Kamui's shoulder and chest. Meanwhile, Backdraft moved to try and contain the flames that had ignited on oil and gas spilled by the two thrown cars. "Ha!" the villain sneered, "This is the caliber of hero in this town? After I got away from All Might, I thought I was still screwed! Guess I was wrong!"

Izuku felt darkness creepy on the edge of his vision. The villain wasn't even trying to possess him anymore, it just wanted him to kill him to show its own strength. Then, it was going to take over Bakugo. Izuku felt the same fear as the fall now. Encroaching death. Part of him wanted to just give in. But another roared in defiance.

No! No! No! It's not fair!

He felt something odd then. The sludge had been cool to the touch. He still felt it on his skin, but beyond the chill he felt… warmth. It was strange. Like he had on a cold fabric jacket, but was standing in front of a space heater. But this warmth felt… thick. Heavy, like he could reach out and touch it. As oxygen deprivation began to hit him, Izuku reached out, within the slime, the warmth he was certain was only in his head. He touched it, felt it. It was hot and… fuzzy? Or maybe it was just buzzing, like bees.

Instinctively, he pulled. The warmth came closer. He pulled again, and then again, a delirious mind believing that maybe he had found something embedded in the villain. A cable, or a rope, or some other form of debris that he could use to pull himself out. But as he pulled, he could feel more of the buzzing substance in his hands, but he wasn't making any progress getting out. But he didn't want to die, so he kept pulling and kept pulling.

Why is it so bright?

He heard a voice, he wasn't sure whose as it was muffled by the sludge: "The hell is that kid doing?! What's his quirk?"

Kacchan must still be trying to save me. Heh. A few minutes ago he had almost killed me.

Izuku kept pulling but he was growing weak. His lungs burned, his vision was blurred, everything was spinning. He couldn't do it. He couldn't hold on any longer. So he let go.

And suddenly he felt warm and dry again. Just as he passed out, he thought he felt the sun's rays shining down on him. Then all was black.

When he awoke next, it was in a hospital bed. Izuku's eyes were only half open, and the bright light of the hospital room was far too intense for his adjusting irises. One arm came up to shield himself. An IV and several monitoring devices were attached at his wrist and elbow, and bandages covered his hand and forearm. Izuku's brow furrowed, and his face felt stiff. Touching his exposed fingertips to his cheek, more bandages covered most of his face.

What happened? The villain… That villain was suffocating me and then…

There was a vague memory of light and heat. Izuku flexed his hand. The skin, like on his face, felt taught. It felt like a sunburn.

Kacchan. That must be it. He must have created some kind of explosion just as I passed out. I must have suffered burns from being so close.

He felt a pit in his stomach. Bakugo had saved the day. But Bakugo was also the reason he'd been up on that roof. Izuku knew it wasn't entirely fair to blame him. It was Izuku who had made the decision, but he'd struggled with such thoughts for a long time. Bakugo had so callously sneered at him as he told him to kill himself. All because of what? That he dared to dream? To apply to UA? It wasn't like Bakugo believed Deku had a chance of making the Hero Course. But even making it into General Studies was apparently going to ruin Bakugo's 'story'.

For years, I admired him… I wanted to be like him. And there's no denying that he's amazing. Physically and mentally he's always excelled, and Quirk was always lauded by everyone. And yet his words almost made me… Everything would have been over.

He could tell him. Izuku knew he could tell Bakugo what his actions had caused. But would it even matter? Would the other boy even care?

He saved me today. So maybe he didn't really want me to die. But heroes don't drive people to suicide, even flippantly.

Izuku stared at the ceiling. The fall from the roof was a turning point in his life. He knew it. He knew no matter what happened, it would be something he could point back to and label as the start of his current trajectory. As far as he was concerned, he considered himself and Bakugo even. A life almost lost, and then a life saved. That was fair.

And it also means we're done. I owe him nothing. He owes me nothing. From now on, Kacch— Katsuki and I won't be friends or enemies. We'll always have a connection but I refuse to let him define my life anymore. Every step forward is going to be my own. I won't measure myself up to him anymore. I just have to be the best me that I can.

It was a lot easier to say such things than to do them. He knew that. He'd probably slip, fall back into habit on occasion. Care too much about others' opinions, be in awe the next time he glimpsed Bakugo in action, berate himself as a failure over simple mistakes. It was going to happen. But his goal was for it to happen less, to build himself into someone who didn't do those things. With a feeling of confidence, Izuku smiled to himself. He tried to sit up, get a better look at his hospital room.

Clink!

There was resistance against his right wrist. He looked over at it, lowering the left that had come up over his face. A pair of handcuffs was attached to him, one cuff on his wrist, the other to the metal rail of the hospital bed. He stared in shock, but before he could do anything, someone called out to him.

"I-izuku!"

There was a sound of a cup falling. His head snapped to the other side and he saw his mother in the doorway, her (thankfully empty) coffee cup now on the floor. She ran forward to the bed, and pushed her face into his chest as she sobbed. Izuku was taken aback. He tried to speak, and found his voice creaking and ragged, his throat raw and dry. "Mom?" he croaked. "Mom I'm… I'm OK. I'm OK. I'm here." A few tears stung in his eyes, and soon enough the Midoriyas were both sobbing, Izuku's tears flowing into his bandages.

Eventually Inko, sniffling, sat up. A chair had been next to his bed, and she sat down, smiling at him, still crying gently. "I'm so glad you're OK, Izuku."

"Mom… how long have I been out?"

"Three days…" she replied, and his eyes went wide. "You had a l-lot of burns, and had some c-complications from a lack of oxygen. Th-the doctor said there was also the… the m-m-mental t-trauma. I'm just so glad my little boy is awake again!"

Inko almost dove to sob again, but Izuku had lifted his hand, looking at the bandages. Each strip of fabric was stained an off-white brown color, and he could see that they had some sort of paste under them to help his wounds. "I guess Katsuki really went all out." Then he tugged on the handcuff. "Mom, what's with this? I know the police probably want to talk to me but this feels excessive."

Inko paled. "W-well, uhm, Izuku, the… the villain, he… Well it wasn't Bakugo that… Uhm…"

"I believe I know what she's trying to say," came another voice from the door. Izuku saw a man who, from his badge, was some sort of police officer or detective. "Hello, son. I'm Detective Kuroiwa. What your mother is trying to say is that it was not Bakugo Katsuki that gave you your wounds. Nor was he the one who freed you from the villain that attacked you. You did. With your Quirk."

Izuku gave the man a look of utter confusion. "Sir, I don't hav—"

The detective raised his hand. "Let me show you," he said firmly. He walked over to a television built into the wall. Using his phone, a video quickly appeared on screen. "I figured I'd need to show you this. It's probably hard for you to believe, especially on the word of a stranger. What you're looking at is a witness video of the attack, just before it ended. Watch closely."

The footage was a little blurry and out of focus, made on someone's phone in a panic. But Izuku could see the slime villain, behind the police line and the helpless heroes. Bakugo was struggling, making explosions, and Izuku could see his own silhouette in the slime.

That was right after it sucked me in completely. I started panicking.

Then something odd happened. There was a glow, a glow from within the slime villain. From Izuku. The camera shook and glanced away as a bright light seemed to explode out, the witness seemingly bracing themselves and turning the camera to the sky as it all happened. As the witness stood up, the camera showed Izuku, collapsed, in a blackened crater of which he was the epicenter.

The was paused, and the detective looked back at Izuku. To make his point, he played it back again, showing the whole footage as Izuku stared in confusion. Kuroiwa slowed the video down, moving frame by frame until he finally stopped at one in particular.

The witness had just briefly, as they braced themselves, had the camera angled back down at the villain just as the light flashed. The frozen frame clearly had the sludge villain exploding apart. But it was from within, from a powerful yet eery white-green light. And within the center of the ball of light was Izuku's silhouette again, unmoved from its position formerly within the villain.

It can't be… That was… me?

"It seems, son, you do have a Quirk."

Izuku felt a strange rush. A giddiness maybe, and he was sure he was dreaming. Then anxiety creeped back into his mind as he looked down at the handcuffs. The detective frowned and sighed.

"I'm afraid, as it seems you've guessed, there's a little more. The sludge villain who attacked you? He's dead, because of your Quirk. You killed him."

[A/N]: I was going to wait until Monday to post this originally, but I'm going on a trip and found out my internet access may not be the best. So I figured I'd update this and A Tide for Krakens today before my flight. This chapter was a little more straightforward, a very different Sludge Villain Incident playing out.

But oh no! Poor Izuku is now going to have to deal with surviving a suicide attempt, nearly being murdered, his friend-turned-abuser trying to save him, and having murdered someone (albeit in self-defense). And what about that Quirk of his? Any guesses as to what it might be?

Next time: we'll take a little break from Izuku and have a brief check-in on someone else in the story. It should be a manly little chapter.

Please feel free to leave reviews, you have no idea how much they help motivate me to write. Knowing the fic has fans makes me want to give you more.