Izuku felt his knees shake slightly as he entered the arena. Despite his progress, his growing ability and confidence, Katsuki Bakugou was very much his boogeyman. If he was in Hogwarts, his boggart would be the blonde boy.

They were friends as kids, more than friends. Best friends. United by their mutual love of All Might, they played heroes, drew costumes and thought of hero names together. They were inseparable until one day, Bakugou's quirk manifested.

Bakugou took the stage, not even bothering to hide his anticipation. It had been half a year since he had seen Deku. Since that damn nerd had nearly gotten himself killed by that sludge villain. He'd been messing with Deku when they were attacked. Deku had pushed him to safety only to be caught by the villain's attack.

The thing had been strong. Stronger than even Bakugou was at that point. Luckily for Deku, Bakugou's explosions had alerted the pros, and soon enough the villain was apprehended.

Now he stared at that same green haired idiot, and yet he carried himself differently. He was shaking, so scared was he of Bakugou, and yet his expression was determined. His right hand hovered by the Omnitrix on his wrist.

Bakugou sneered. As if that was enough to beat him. He already had a plan. If he was fast enough, he could knock Deku out of the ring before he transformed.

If he wasn't fast enough, Deku would turn into the big one. He knew better than to try winning with a weak transformation. He'd take a while to reach Deku's eyes. When he got there he would release a flash grenade attack, blinding Deku long enough to fall down near his knees, where he'd release the biggest explosion he could, causing Deku to stumble out of the ring. The big transformation barely fit in the arena, if he could make it take one step backwards he would win. Easy.

"All right!" Midnight called, her voice cutting through the audience's eager cheering. "I know that you may be tempted to fight harder than is necessary since this is the final. Know that if you harm your opponent too much you will be disqualified. Are we clear?"

Izuku nodded resolutely, falling into a ready pose. His right hand shook as it hovered over the Omnitrix's dial.

"Don't worry." Bakugou snarled. "I won't break the nerd too much."

"Very well." Midnight retreated to a safe distance. "Begin!"

Bakugou blasted forwards, realising in bliss that he'd reach Izuku before he could transform. Izuku's hand touched the dial as Bakugou ignited every drop of sweat on his hands, as much as he could gather without his gauntlets.

The explosion was big enough to reach the stands, even knocking a few of the audience members in the first row off their feet. Then the explosion seemed to be shrinking. Within a second the smoke had cleared enough for a creature made entirely of magma and rock to emerge from the smog.

"Nice try." Heatblast grinned, clapping slowly as he walked towards the stunned Bakugou. "But I'm way hotter than you."

Bakugou roared in frustration, sending another blast towards the now transformed Izuku. Before the explosion even reached him, Heatblast had absorbed it, rendering the attack useless.

"WHAT THE HELL, DEKU?!" Bakugou cried, blasting forwards, igniting his hands midair to throw his body into a spinning kick. The bones in his foot shattered as he made contact with Heatblast's chest. Bakugou screamed in pain, blasting backwards before landing on his good leg. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU MADE OF?!"

Heatblast made a show of checking his glowing hands and body.

"Some kind of magma?" He pondered playfully. "Plasma maybe?"

"DIE YOU DAMN NERD!" Bakugou cried, sending a thinner, focussed explosion barreling towards the flame-headed creature.

Heatblast didn't even flinch absorbing the heat from the attack before it could even reach him.

"No." He narrowed his eyes. "I don't think I will."

Bakugou screamed in frustration as he blasted Heatblast's slowly approaching form over and over with diminishing explosions. When the creature was within reaching distance, he placed his hands together detonating all his reserves in the biggest explosion he could manage. The flames died, absorbed into Heatblast's body just like the others.

"What's wrong, Ka-chan?" Heatblast taunted. "Feeling weak?"

He raised his hand, backhanding Bakugou like a misbehaving child. The sheer heat of Heatblast's skin ignited the sweat on Bakugou's cheek, blasting the boy across the arena with a cry of pain. Heatblast didn't hesitate, walking slowly towards his opponent.

Bakugou grit his teeth, shuddering as he raised himself onto his elbows. He raised his head, seeing a pair of glowing feet by his face.

"Feeling powerless?" Heatblast kicked Bakugou in the stomach, sending the blonde boy flying into the air with the ensuing explosion. Bakugou blasted backwards in the air, sending three missiles of shimmering explosive towards the alien. Heatblast absorbed the attack without even flinching.

"Damn it, Ka-chan." He groused. "You're so cool."

Bakugou bit down a whine as he accidentally landed on his injured foot.

"You're so strong." Heatblast spat. Puffs of flame escaped the small volcanoes on his shoulders. In a burst of flame he reached his opponent slamming his flaming fist into Bakugou's face. Bakugou grunted in pain as he was slammed into the ground by the force of the explosion. "How does it feel, Ka-chan? To know you can't fight back?"

Bakugou roared, blasting another massive explosion right in Heatblast's face. The alien laughed as the smoke cleared. The sound was like scraping stones or falling gravel, undercut by the bubbling of magma.

"It sucks, doesn't it?" He whispered, pinning Bakugou to the ground with his foot. He raised the temperature in his foot slowly until Bakugou cried out as the skin on his back seared. "I'm not going to ask you to surrender. I know you too well to try."

He removed his foot from Bakugou's back and grabbed the blonde by the throat, lifting him into the air by his neck. Bakugou struggled, sending small blasts into Heatblast's stomach with his feet, and blasting at the hand over his neck with his hands. Wisps of black smoke escaped from under Heatblast's hand as the sweat on Bakugou's neck burned.

"Remember this, Ka-chan." Heatblast growled, unphased. "Remember what it feels like to be helpless. Remember what it feels like to lose."

Heatblast sent a torrent of flames from his palm, blasting Bakugou from the arena without another word. In a flash of green light, Izuku stood, challenging the silent crowd with his glare.

"Th-the winner is Izuku Midoriya." Midnight announced, breaking the silence. A smattering of polite applause followed her declaration. "Midoriya, take a break. Report back to the arena in twenty-five minutes for the award ceremony."

Waves lazily spilled up the white sand of Dagobah beach, glinting amber in the fading daylight. Izuku rested his arms on his knees as he watched the sun set.

In every aspect, it had been a very hollow victory.

Bakugou and Todoroki were still in the Medical wing, as Recovery Girl revealed their injuries were extensive enough that they would be unconscious the rest of the day.

Tenya Iida, who shared Todoroki's third place podium had a family emergency and couldn't participate in the ceremony.

So Izuku stood alone on a four rung podium as the medals were awarded. All Might's smile seeming more strained than usual. Izuku even thought he could see faint wisps of smoke crawling from under All Might's suit.

"Congratulations, my boy." He intoned. "You have the makings of… You have great potential is what I'm trying to say. Just keep in mind that the ends do not always justify the means. You… you could perform really well here, in this school."

With that, All Might addressed the crowd, all his lackluster energy replaced with his usual booming presence.

Izuku dropped his head between his knees. In the time since the entrance Exam he had continued cleaning up the beach, clearing away most of the garbage. Angry tears spilled over his cheeks as he clenched his teeth.

"Hello there." The voice startled Izuku so deeply that his hand was halfway to the Omnitrix before he even had a chance to think about what he was doing. His eyes widened as he recognized the man next to him. All bronze accents and frills, the man sat casually in the sand next to Izuku, neither bleeding nor dead. "Seems a shame to sit with your head between your knees when the sunset is this pretty."

"You- I- How?" Izuku pleaded, lunging forward to hug the man tightly. He didn't know why, he just felt his heart break as he held the man who gave him his in into the UA Hero course. "How can you be here? I watched you die."

"I see!" The man brightened. "It seems we haven't met! Well, you have, but I haven't. Professor Paradox, at your service!"

"What?" Izuku blanched. "Don't you remember me? I'm Izuku Midoriya? You brought me this."

The Omnitrix glinted bright red in the dying light of the setting sun.

"Did I now?" The man puzzled, inspecting the device. "Why on earth do you think I did that?"

Fresh tears welled in Izuku's eyes.

"Don't worry, dear boy." Paradox reassured. "I did not come here to take it from you. In fact, I didn't mean to come here at all. I was running for my life at the time, so my reasoning wasn't entirely sound."

"I- I-" Izuku stammered. "I don't-"

"Understand?" Paradox guessed. "No. I don't expect you do. Do you want to talk about it?"

"What?" Izuku sniffed, wiping the tears from his eyes.

"It seems you are in dire need of one of life's bare necessities." Paradox noted. "A friend."

"I- I- I did it." Izuku whispered. "I won. I beat Ka-chan. But I… I was just so… angry… I don't even know why. Even Tokoyami looked scared of me."

"Why?" Paradox raised his eyebrows quizzically. "What happened?"

Between ragged breaths and sullen silences, Izuku retold the tale of the sports festival. Starlight glinted on the surface of the sea by the time he finished.

"...it was like my whole body was filled with rage." He explained. "All the emotion I built up over the last twelve years didn't just bubble over. I couldn't control myself. It was like I wasn't in control. I was just so… angry…"

He sighed, holding out the Omnitrix to Paradox.

"Maybe…" He bit his lip. "Maybe you should take it back. I don't think I'm worthy of this… power."

"I see now." Paradox smiled kindly. "You had me worried for a moment there, but I think I understand now."

"What do you mean?" Izuku frowned.

"My dear boy." Paradox stood up, dusting the sand from his coat. "That you regret your actions is exactly why you are worthy."

"Wait!" Izuku scrambled upright. "Please, don't go! I have so many-"

"Questions?" Paradox finished. "Yes, I expect you do. Unfortunately I cannot answer them."

"Why not?" Izuku begged. "If some Conqueror is coming for my world, coming for me, I need to know how to stop him!"

"On that we agree entirely." Paradox said as a bright blue portal opened behind him. "Only I do not have any answers for you yet. I can however help you this much. May I?"

Izuku held the Omnitrix out for Paradox. He twisted the dial a few times until it spun by its own accord. The faceplate flashed bright green before changing into a silhouette Izuku didn't recognise.

"Woah!" Izuku gasped. "I didn't know there were more aliens I could turn into!"

"Yes, well." Paradox smiled kindly. "I thought you were due for an Upgrade. Be well Izuku Midoriya. See you later! Or perhaps earlier!"

With one last wave, Paradox vanished, the portal collapsing as he stepped through.

"Upgrade?" He wondered, staring at the round silhouette. Though he was curious, it was getting late and his mother would worry. He figured he still had a good hour until his curfew. "Better use Stinkfly. Fasttrack is quicker, but if I get caught I can be in serious trouble. Good thing people rarely look up."

Without another word he slapped the dial down and, in a flash of green light, Stinkfly flew off into the darkness.