Night reigned over the forest trees, the oppressive darkness seeping its way into the crevices between the leaves, threatening to choke out the signs of life within. A cold breeze whispered between the branches, causing the flora to shiver ever so slightly. Despite that... there were those who braved that malignant force, who walked fearlessly into the shadows. But they were no heroes, they weren't there to fight the darkness. Rather, they were the ones who brought it with them.
Toga stepped up onto the mountain plateau overlooking the training grounds. Just faintly in the distance, she could see the pinpricks of light that shone through the teachers' windows, as they kept vigilant watch over the immediate areas. She sighed disappointedly, looking down at the rather vicious looking metal and cloth contraption in her hands.
"This won't do." She curtly concluded, wrapping the device around her face. "Not one bit. It's not cute at all."
Mustard was fiddling with his own mask, tugging lightly at the tubes that circled in and around it, testing their strength. "All of this... seems very orchestrated. I mean, look at all this stuff. We were handed all this special equipment like it was spare change."
"I wasn't talking about that." Toga bit back, sneering behind her mask. "I'm just saying this stupid thing isn't cute."
Muscular sauntered forward, muscles achingly taut as he clenched and unclenched his fist. The strength of his flexing seemed almost too much for his own body, knuckles cracking as he hooked his fingers. "Who the hell cares about that now? We're here. Let's get down there and make some noise. My blood is pumping right now."
"Shut up, idiot." Dabi muttered, pushing past all of them to stand at the edge of the cliffs. He settled his hands on his hips, looking out onto the forest as if it were a treasure waiting to be plundered. "The rest are coming tomorrow. We're not moving until all ten of us are here."
"I don't see why we're doing this." Mustard complained. "All we've been told is that we're here to deliver a package. Why do we need ten people to do that? Why are we doing this in the first place?"
Dabi spun on his heels, staring down the gas masked kid, sneering. "I haven't the slightest idea. And if they thought it was necessary to tell us that, you wouldn't have to ask that question. So stop whining about it."
Magne approached the back of the group, accompanied by Moonfish and Spinner. She smiled wide, her malicious grin only matched by the villain whose lips were pulled back.
"Sorry to keep you waiting." She playfully apologized.
Dabi jutted his chin out curtly, not really giving her any presence of mind. He turned back around. "As for why there's ten of us here... well, we can't exactly just waltz into the base. We're all distractions while one of us delivers the package. But bringing a lot of people brings risk, especially dumb fodder that has some ambition. It's better to have a small number of experienced elites. So, while we're here..."
The rest of the villains walked up to the edge, eyes narrowing as their gaze settled on the lodging shack in the distance.
"...Let's give them another reminder that their peace rests in our hands."
The second day of training was just as gueling as the first. Izuku had been instructed to stay afloat using his quirk, parallel to the ground, spinning as fast as he could for as long as he could. Despite him not eating anything since the night before, he had to end the training prematurely more than a few times to empty the contents of his stomach in the forest. Looking at Momo and Uraraka, he saw that he wasn't the only one who had to regularly throw up.
But complaining only gave way to chiding and lecturing about how this was necessary, so he kept his mouth shut until the day had ended. Dinner went by without a hitch, everyone occupying the same role they were assigned the day before. He tried to shovel as much food into his mouth as he could, ignoring the complaints of unease in his belly. If he didn't eat, we wouldn't have the energy to do anything tomorrow.
As he finished, he made his way back to the food stations, intent on getting another plate for Kouta. However, before he was able to, the teachers were quick to corral everyone into the main field. Izuku's muscles ached, and he inwardly groaned as he meandered over to the field.
The rules for their activity, The Test of Courage, were simple enough. One class walks through the forest trail and the other class has to try to scare them using their quirks. The class walking are only allowed to walk in pairs, one at a time. A hat was pulled, full of numbered slips of paper that signified who would pair up with who. Before any of the remedial course students could pick, they found themselves wrapped up in Aizawa's capture scarf, being forcefully led off into their extra lectures.
Naturally, Izuku found himself alone, the odd one out. Iida had cast him a sympathetic stare, but was clearly not comfortable with asking his partner, Kouda, to switch with Izuku. The green haired boy shrugged in response, understanding his friend's predicament.
It wasn't long before Class 1-A was sent off, two-by-two into the dark forest path. Izuku was feeling very irritable, at both the fact that he was the only one alone in this exercise, and that his time could have been spent better doing other things. The quiet anger was slowly building in him, manifesting as a habitual neck scratch and an incessant tapping of his foot on the ground. He was lost in his own thoughts, and nearly jumped out of his skin as an unnoticed Mandalay lay a hand on his shoulder.
"I know it's not really that fair, but there are an odd number of students. I couldn't be helped." She counseled him, though it didn't seem to do much.
"I guess." He sighed, doing his best to recompose himself. "How come there can't be a team of three?"
Mandalay's expression changed from sympathetic to a slight smile, and she let a small laugh escape from her. "That's not a terrible idea. Go join whoever you want."
Izuku felt a wave of enjoyment wash over him as he nodded back. "Thanks!"
He quickly left her and made his way over to Iida and Kouda, intent on happily informing them that he was now part of their team. But before he could, he froze in his tracks, foot awkwardly stomping on the ground as the realization of what just happened weighed in. He was relieved that he could go back to his friends, and was downright angry when he couldn't interact with them. He never felt like that.
Was... was it okay to feel like this?
Izuku's mind raced for an answer. But despite his aching desire to know, he could not come up with a clear solution. Confusion gave way to a sense of guilt and dread, as his mind flashed back to what happened in the forest two nights ago. He could still feel the bite of the metal tracker in his hand, clearly aware that activating it would put everyone in danger... and yet he did it anyway. Perhaps... perhaps he didn't...
He dragged his feet over to Iida and Kouda, giving a shaky smile to them as he stood behind them. Iida was clearly concerned, but the crowd around them prevented him from asking anything that would attract unwanted attention to his friend. He grimaced, biting the edge of his lip as he sighed.
The minutes passed by at an achingly slow pace, pairs leaving one at a time to enter the forest. Screams could be heard wafting over the trees, which did nothing to soothe Izuku's swelling pain. He was lost in his own thoughts, doing his best to appear composed.
He was snapped out of his own ruminations as the hairs began to rise on the end of his neck. The growing knot of guilt and insecurities turned to ice as his eyes wildly scanned the area around him. Something was wrong, he knew there was something off... but his brain couldn't piece it together.
It didn't take long for him to realize what it was. He had been trained to notice this exact scenario. There was nothing for him to see, it was what he could hear. Both Kurogiri and Sensei hammered into his head so many times, there was only one thing worse than the intrusion of strange sounds from an unknown place- it was the lack of any sound.
Izuku closed his eyes, putting all of his focus onto what he could hear. There was the breathing and rustling of those around him, the tapping of Mandalay's feet as she waited to send the next group. But... there were no cicadas chirping. No screams of scared students. No animals creeping about, even the sound of the breeze ruffling the leaves had died out. The forest was completely silent.
His eyes snapped open once more, and he looked over at Hagakure. She was directly facing him. He gawked at her a moment, before pulling her arm up to a simple salute. She spun around, facing Mandalay as she ushered them onto the forest path. Izuku's hand snapped to his mouth, doing his best to control his breathing as he began to comprehend the situation.
It was tonight.
It didn't take long for the smell of burnt foliage to creep its way into the clearing, causing everyone to go on high alert. Then, seemingly from nowhere, the glow of blue flames lit up the entire glade, confirming this truth.
"Everyone!" Pixie-bob called out. "Group up and move back to the lodge! Something-"
Her sentence was cut off as her head was seemingly jerked to the side, dragging her body out of sight, only to be met with a sickening crack in the dark. Everyone spun around to face the shadows, and it wasn't long before something rose from them.
A woman, large and muscular, sauntered from the shadows. She dragged with her an absolutely massive magnet. Connected to its south pole was the bloodied head of the Wild Wild Pussycats member. The villain effortlessly hefted the large metal over her shoulder, and only then did she release her magnetic grip on the pro hero, causing her to roughly collapse into an unconscious pile behind her.
"I wasn't expecting it to be that easy." She gloated, pointing at the students. "I'd stay out of our way, kitties. Unless you wanna end up like her."
Iida clenched his fists, taking a step forward. Almost immediately, Tiger intervened, placing himself squarely in front of the student.
"We're the adults here." He chided. "Don't even think about it."
Izuku winced as a voice wormed its way into his head. It was Mandalay's.
" Everyone! We're under attack by two villains, but there could be more out there! Get back to camp if you can! If you encounter a villain, DO NOT ENGAGE! Just retreat! " She hesitated for just a moment, before adding, " Kouta, can you hear me?! Please get back to camp! I'm sorry... I don't know where you're always running off to, I can't come get you! Please just get back safely! "
Izuku felt his knees give out from under him at the last telepathing message. It... it was entirely his fault that Kouta was in danger. If something happened... he would be responsible for the death of a child.
He quickly pushed himself back to his feet, stumbling back as he regained his balance.
"Mandalay!" He yelled at the hero. "I know where he is!"
This time, there wasn't any hesitation from her response.
"Go."
He bolted away from the battle, towards the cooking area. Iida reached out, chasing him and calling his name. Everyone else stood in place, fear locking their legs.
"I said get back to camp!" The hero screamed, voice cracking. "Go!"
Everyone scattered back, though Magne had turned her attention to the two boys who were heading elsewhere. She pointed her magnet at them, before a new voice called out from the forest. "Now now, Magne, let them do their thing."
The other villain stepped forth, arms held outwards as he smiled wide. Despite his reptilian appearance, the influence that the more humanoid Stain left on him was clearly evident. We wore the same black clothes, red scarf, even a similar white cloth wrapped around his face. "They're going out of their way to save someone, that's the type of person we should be keeping alive!"
An explosion of flames rocked the ground, causing everyone to look at the source. The two pro heroes stared in shock at where it came from.
"The- The Lodge!" Tiger grunted.
"What, you thought we wouldn't go after that? We're not here to play around with you. We're the League's Vanguard Action Squad. And you're in our way." He reached behind him, pulling out the blade wrapped up and sheathed on his back. As the cloth fell off, it seemed to almost impossibly expand in all directions, and what should have been one blade turned into multiple bladed weapons, all tied together by leather belts that shouldn't be able to hold all of it together. He seemed to have no trouble handling it, rearing back as he crouched his knees, ready to pounce forward.
"Now... let's get started, shall we?"
Izuku didn't look back at the rapidly escalating fight behind him. There was only one thing on his mind, one goal. He sauntered towards the cooking area, not paying any mind to the desperately worried boy behind him.
"Midoriya Izuku!" Iida called out, trying to do anything to elicit a response from the other student. He settled on grasping his wrist, pulling back and yanking him around to face him.
He was crying. Despite the clearly angry look on his face... he was crying a steady stream of tears.
"Please... let go." He whispered, barely over the sound of burning wood behind him.
The shock of the situation caused Iida to loosen his grip on the other boy. He quickly yanked his hand out of the other's grasp, turning back around to rummage through the leftover supplies. He quickly pulled out a burlap sack from the mound of garbage in one of the boxes. He sauntered over to the prep station, pulling out one of the knives. The Pussycats had given them hunting knives to cut the vegetables, which they claimed would help them with improvising out in the wild. A few simple swipes turned the sack to a set of strips. Izuku quickly twisted them together, wrapping the cloth around his waist and tying it tightly against his abdomen.
"What are you doing?" Iida confusedly stared, unsure of what he was witnessing. This Izuku... it wasn't the one he knew.
"The tracksuits don't have any good places for holding things." He muttered back. He grabbed four of the knives, scraping his thumb across the edge to test their sharpness. They were good enough. He carefully slipped them between the burlap belt and his uniform. A little bit of bending confirmed they weren't going to jab into his back if he moved the wrong way.
"Knives... Izuku..." He rushed forward, reaching out to pull them away from the other student. Izuku was quick to react, turning around and jumping back. "Please, don't... don't do this! You'll hurt yourself!"
"I know how to use a knife." He calmly replied, fingers twitching. "But that's not the reason you don't want me to bring them, is it?"
"Don't make me say it." Iida looked away, closing his eyes. "Please don't... do something you'll regret. You won't be able to come back from it."
Izuku stared back at the other boy, his gaze softening as he sighed. "I'm not going to kill him."
"I'm coming with you-"
"That's not happening."
The bespectacled student gawked at the immediate response. "You can't be- No! I'm coming with you!"
"Look around you, Iida!" Izuku barked. "The forest is on fire, there's a strange gas seeping out, the camp is going up in flames! If someone is injured, you're their best option to bring them to safety."
"And what about you?!" He yelled back, the forcefulness shocking Izuku. "I don't know where you're going, let alone if you're going to make it back! I'm coming with you!"
There was a tense moment of silence, before Izuku quietly responded. "I promised him I wouldn't tell anyone where it was. Please don't make me break a promise I made to an eight year old."
Iida's words caught in his throat. He struggled to find the right way to say things, to articulate his feelings at the moment.
"I... I don't know why..." He began, a pained expression on his face. "I don't know why you're lying to me... but it's clear that I'm not welcome to go along with you. Just... please come back."
Izuku clenched his fists, the tears in his eyes welling up further.
"I'm sorry... Iida, I'm so sorry." He choked out, sense of guilt crushing him. He knew he couldn't tell, and this... this person had called him out on his lies, and still accepted him. Even more so, now that Iida had walked up to him and pulled him into a tight hug.
"It's okay." He replied, sighing heavily. "Please... just tell me what's wrong. I can help."
"Why do you keep doing this?"
"Because you're a good person."
"No... I'm not."
"Yes, you are. And if you're not, then I forgive whatever you've done."
"You wouldn't forgive me." He bluntly stated, matter-of-factly.
"Well, you won't know unless you tell me."
The ice block in Izuku's stomach was slowly melting away, leaving him emptier inside than he ever had felt before. His innards felt raw, pained, searching for something that could fill the void inside of him. He bit his tongue, too afraid to let himself speak.
It would be so easy, he realized, to just let Iida know it all. He could... he could tell him everything, how he grew up, how he felt and why he felt that way. Iida... Iida could be trusted. Even if he was a hero, he wouldn't abandon him. He promised, they could pull through this together-
Izuku roughly wrenched himself from the embrace, shoving Iida back. The bespectacled student's mouth hung open in shock as he stumbled, catching himself from falling. The other boy kept his arms held out in front of him, pain welling in his stomach and throat as he just processed what he just did.
"...I need to save Kouta." He finally responded, voice just barely audible over the crackling of burning wood.
"Okay." Iida nodded, just as quiet. "Please come back."
Izuku slowly nodded, not able to look at his friend in the eyes. He slowly dragged his feet to a nearby wooden box, pulling the lid off the container. He stared at it for a moment, before grasping it by the edges and holding it close to his chest and stomach.
"What are you going to do with that?" The other student asked.
Izuku didn't answer at first, but after a few moments of uncomfortable silence he worked up the courage to speak again. "I'm just... well, do you remember how the race at the sports festival went down?"
Kouta stared down at the forest in shock. A chilling blue light was cast over his face, flickering with the raging fires down below. What wasn't in flames was covered in a thick purple mist. He clenched his fists, hearing Mandalay's cries for him to come home, but without any clear way for him to actually make it back to the cabin.
As he stared at the landscape in shock, he felt the hairs on his neck raise, his blood running cold. He spun around, eyes wide and shaking as he looked for the reason for his reaction.
"Hey, Kid." A venomous greeting came from beside him, causing him to shriek as he backpedaled from the source of the voice.
Just a few feet from him was a man in a tattered cloak, covering him from head to toe. A simple white mask with what appeared to be randomly drilled holes obscured his face. He chuckled at the kid, raising his hands in an almost comical display of non-agression.
"Hey, now! Is that how you greet everyone? Didn't no one teach you to be nice to strangers?"
The kid took a step back, teeth clenched as he did his best to keep his eyes from watering.
"I wouldn't do that now, kid." He called out, voice dripping with malice and twisted joy. "The last thing you want is to make me angry, and runners make me very angry. You get what I'm saying? Now... why don't we have a nice little chat? What's your name, kid?"
He said nothing in response.
The cloaked figure returned the gesture by stomping the ground, sinking the area around him an inch into the ground. "Come on, kid. I asked you a question."
"Ko-Kouta... Izumi." He choked out.
"Kokouta? That's a funny name." He laughed, putting his hands at his sides. "Though... that last name seems vaguely familiar. Oh well. Say, how about we two do a little trade?"
Kouta remained deathly still, too afraid to even swallow. The figure tapped a finger against his mask.
"This stupid fucking thing is kinda lame, don't you think? How about I trade that for your hat? I love the spikes." He reached up, slowly taking off the covering, revealing a mangled mound of blonde hair, and a face that had a massive chunk taken out of its left side. Where his left eye was supposed to be was a large gouge, with a circle of metal spikes jutting out, loosely holding a glass eye in the center. "How's about it, Kid?"
The boy lost all feeling in his limbs at the person before him. He fell to the ground in shock, weakly scrambling backwards as he quickly realized just who this man was. He was forced to see it almost daily after the news came in.
Name: Unknown. Alias: Muscular. Wanted for the murder of at least 13 individuals, including the duo Water Horse.
Muscular quickly leapt over to the kid, roughly pulling him up by the collar of his shirt.
"Didn't I tell you before kid? I said that trying to run... PISSES ME OFF!" He spun around, throwing the kid against the wall, his back cracking against the stone as he cried out. He fell to the ground like a limp doll, gasping for air. The villain began cracking his knuckles. "Now you've gone and done it. I'm real pissed. So I'm gonna go ahead and lighten up the mood, okay? Let's have some fun."
Kouta scrambled to his feet, nearly collapsing from the pain. He sputtered, breathing heavily as he stepped back, closer to the edge of the cliff. He needed to think- there had to be some way out. The adult's right arm began to deform, seemingly bubbling outward underneath the cloak.
"Don't worry, I won't kill you. Not yet, anyway." He grinned, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a red and black covering for his prosthetic eye. It looked like some kind of shielding for his face. "Do me a favor and scream real good for me. Don't hold anything back, okay?"
Kouta could only faintly pick up the sounds of some kind of explosions in the distance. He quickly found himself against the edge of the cliff, unable to move back or forward. He felt hot tears stream down his face, knowing there wasn't any way out. He needed help, needed-
And just like that, it was as if his prayers were answered. He could just barely make out some sort of object racing across the skyline, arcing up behind the villain. With precision aiming, they descended straight down onto Muscular.
"Izuku!" He felt himself cry out. He quickly covered his mouth, staring wide eyed at the confused villain in front of him.
"What are you-" His question was cut off as said student crashed into him like a missile, slamming the wooden board down on his head. He grunted in pain, spinning around to see find his new attacker.
The force of the attack caused the board to shatter, the only solid piece remaining being the part Izuku held, the newly broken edge covered in large threatening spikes. The moment he hit the ground, he crouched, aiming the spiked board at the villain's stomach. Another air blast sent him rocketing forwards, roughly impaling the villain and sending him onto his back.
Izuku wasted no time, jumping up and running over Muscular's body, across the cliffside to Kouta. He blasted himself forward, hooking his arm to roughly grab the other boy by his abdomen as they were both sent careening off the edge of the cliff. Izuku pulled him close as they fell from the sky, a few select air mines correcting his aim as they descended towards a clearing. A few more rapid explosions slowed their fall considerably, though not enough to have a smooth landing. Once Izuku's feet hit the ground, he fell forward. The force of the landing caused him to let go of Kouta, who in turn flew from his grasp and rolled along the soft grass.
Both of them grunted, scrambling to get back onto their feet as quickly as possible. They stared at each other, breathing heavily as they tried their best to process the raw fear conveyed on each other's face.
"That-" the younger kid began, trying his best to not choke on the heavy gulps of air he was taking in. "He- I know- He killed-"
Kouta quickly fell into a coughing fit. Izuku quickly ran over, kneeling in front of the boy. "Don't say anything, okay? Just follow my breathing, okay?"
The high school student placed a hand on his shoulder. With his free hand, Izuku moved his palm toward and away from his own mouth, to show how he was breathing. The young boy quickly followed, and soon enough his breathing had slowed down, and he had calmed down considerably.
"Now, Kouta, I need you to listen to me okay?" He swallowed thickly, looking around. "The cabin isn't safe. I need you to hide somewhere around here, okay? You're good at climbing trees, right? You need to climb one and stay there until I come back."
"The cabin-"
"We can't go there, it's under attack. This place looks safe, just hunker down here, okay? If you see any purple smoke or blue fire, then try to work your way back to camp. Even if there's still villains there, the heroes should be there, too."
"You're... going back?"
Izuku grimaced. "I don't think that took him out. If I don't go back... then he's coming here."
"No. No!" He screamed, landing a weak punch square on the older boy's jaw. "You idiot! He'll kill you! Didn't you say you hated how heroes had to die?! Don't do this!"
"Kouta, I don't have time to argue this." His face darkened. "If we wait here, he'll find us. If we run, he'll catch up. There's not a choice here... and I'm not going to lose either."
"How can you even say that?!"
"...Because I'm not fighting as a hero." He sighed. "It's hard to explain. Look, please just hide. I'll come back."
Kouta roughly shoved himself away from Izuku. "Fine. I'll find a tree around here."
The older boy felt a little hurt from the reaction, but another realization hit his mind first. "Oh! Uh... there might be a villain out here who can appear like other people. I'll... don't come out unless I tell you what I gave you the other day. It might not actually be me."
The younger kid spun around. "How do you even know that?!"
"I- I just do, okay?" He sputtered. "Just... be safe. I'll be back."
"Whatever." Kouta muttered as he sauntered off. "Don't bother coming back. You're just as stupid as the rest of them."
Izuku bit his tongue, unable to find a response. The kid probably hated him, but... there wasn't any other choice, was there? He turned around, running off and blasting himself back into the sky.
He and Muscular had unfinished business.
"Damn brat. Damned fucking brat." Muscular grunted, watching as both kids disappeared from view. He looked down at his stomach, still lying down as he saw just how deeply the board was embedded into him. He rapped his fingers against it, grunting at the needles it sent up his chest.
He let his guard down, simple as that. Of course an eight year old wouldn't put up much of a fight, but he wasn't expecting another kid to just smash his brains out and stab him with the remains. He considered just building a lot of muscle in his abdomen and shattering the board, but... he didn't know how much of it was past his muscles.
He grasped the board with both hands, grunting as he pulled. He moved it up and down, trying to relieve some of the suction that kept the board in him. His arms distended, muscle fibers building over the skin. He yelled as the board was finally wrenched free, and he immediately began building more muscle to cover the numerous holes in his torso. He ran a hand over his stomach, ensuring everything was tightly bound.
When he finally pushed himself to his feet, he stared down at the grounds below him, scanning for any trace of the little fuckers who ran off. He stomped his foot again, sending more cracks and crevices along the cliff top.
"I'll find you..." He growled. "I'll find you! Crush both of you like fucking cockroaches!"
"No need to look." A voice behind him called out.
Muscular spun around, behind him was a barely ruffled looking teen with empty fists clenched. He smiled wide, cracking his knuckles as he stared down the boy.
"And here I thought you were going to make my job hard for me!" He laughed. "You really that willing to die? Hey... I recognize you! You're the brat on TV, the one who won the Yuuei Sports Festival, then got your ass caught by a Noumu! Izuku, right?"
"And you're Muscular."
"Woah, an informative one! You know who I am, and you still come after me? I like that moxy, kid! But tell me..." He pounced forward, slamming his hands down beside Izuku, their faces less than an inch from each other. "...how do you think this is gonna end?"
Izuku responded by reaching behind his back and drawing two of his knives. With lightning speed and precision, he aimed for two spots- the villain's neck and his remaining eye. He quickly jumped back, pounding the ground in glee.
"My, you're a fast one-" He grunted as he felt two spikes enter his chest. He looked down, marvelling at the two knife hilts cleanly sitting flush against his torso. "You little- did you really think throwing knives would work?!"
Izuku reached behind his back, though all he pulled back were his empty fists. "It was worth a shot. I was hoping they would go deep enough to pierce a lung."
"Dumbass!" He yelled, pulling both blades out and throwing them off the cliff. "You threw away your only weapons. I hope you have something better up your sleeve!"
The boy responded by blasting himself forward, aiming directly for the villain's face. Muscular jumped forward, ready to spike him out of the air. Just as he was about to come in contact with the villain's open palm, he detonated another mine, sending him upwards and over the attack. He jumped off the oversized, grotesque hand, launching a roundhouse kick directly onto the size of Muscular's face. Wasting no time, he quickly jumped over his shoulder, sliding down his back.
"Where do you think you're going?!" He spun around, slamming his fists on the ground. Izuku quickly jumped back, before blasting himself forward again. He jumped up, off the villain's arms, landing a solid knee to his face. He followed up by grabbing the man by his hair, using it as leverage to send his other hand, fingers outstretched, straight to his only working eye.
Muscular stumbled back, screaming as he clutched his face. "You fucking BRAT!"
He lowered his hand to find... nothing. Izuku was gone. He spun around, looking for any sign of the boy. There's no way he would just run, not now. He briefly looked in the cave, finding nothing. He stepped back out, closing his eye. If his sight didn't help, maybe his hearing would...
The moment he heard the sound of rushing air above him, he knew what to do. He spun around, hands upward as he snatched the boy out of the air, slamming him into the nearby wall. Izuku cried out from the impact.
"That won't work on me a second time." He grinned. "Thought you could do another sneak attack on me?"
The boy didn't respond verbally, only wildly beating his fists against the man's hand.
"KNOCK IT OFF!" He yelled, pulling the boy back to slam him against the wall a second time. "I got you now!"
He began repeatedly crushing the boy against the wall over and over, the webbed cracks behind him growing larger and more numerous with each impact. He paused as he noticed the blood and saliva mixture leaking from the kid's mouth.
"There we go!" Muscular laughed, "It's been a while since someone's bled like that for me. Let's see if we can't get some more..."
He stopped moving as he felt Izuku grasp as his muscle fiber covered fingers. Instead of going in for another slam, he laughed, watching the pathetic display in front of him.
"Go ahead and try, kid! Tell you what, if you cry and beg enough, I might consider loosening my grip just a little for ya!" He chuckled. "Come on, it can't be that hard to- what?"
He watched at his fingers began losing their resistance, bending back and opening up. He doubled down, putting more effort into his grip, but to no avail. He heard something clatter to the ground... two knives. When did he-
Muscular screamed as he felt his muscle fibers snap into pieces, slash marks he didn't see before scrawled over his hand, moving down his arms and back, enough on his legs to nearly collapse from the sudden strain he was under. So many cuts, everywhere... when did he- How?!
"Didn't notice, did you?" Izuku grunted, peeling back the villain's fingers as he wrested to free himself.
Just as he finally managed to release himself from Muscular's grasp, the villain followed up by using his other arm to grab him by the neck, firmly planting the boy back onto the wall, squeezing his neck as hard as he could.
"I don't know how you did that... You found out... my quirk's weakness?!." He dug his fingers into the high school student's neck. "You knew if you broke enough at the same time, I'd have to start over from scratch. I gotta admit, you're good! I noticed you didn't even try to hit me with those air blasts... you knew they basically did nothing to me, didn't ya?"
Izuku weakly grasped at his neck, sputtering as his face turned purple. Muscular leaned in real close, his prosthetic eye covering nearly engulfing the boy's field of vision.
"See, the problem with that is you didn't do enough to actually make me have to do that. Sure, you fucked up my back, and my other arm, but this one's still working pretty good." He laughed, hot breath washing over Izuku's face. " And I only need that to crack your skull like a fucking egg."
He began convulsing wildly, desperately scrambling to get out of his grip. He tried to scream something, but it was totally useless. No words could leave his strangled throat.
It didn't take long for his arms to fall limply to his sides.
"Now, where were we-" He yelped again, feeling something cold and sharp pierce through his back, drilling through the layers of torn muscle fiber and skin underneath. He instinctively let go of Izuku, who fell to the ground like a crumpled sack. He turned around and quickly identified the source of the attack.
Kouta was there, hands stretched outwards and water dripping from his palms. He was panting heavily, eyes red as tears streamed down his cheeks.
"Now... where have I felt something like that before..." He covered his face with his hand, laughing maniacally as the memories came flooding back to him. "You! I can't believe... your parents are Water Horse?!"
"Shut up!" He screamed, voice cracking. "I'll never forgive you!"
"Huuuuh?" He stopped, an annoyed look spreading across his face. "I don't think I asked you to forgive me. What kinda idiot would do that? I wanted to kill your parents!"
"I said SHUT UP!" He cried out. "Don't come any closer or I'll... I'll kill you!"
"Kill? You'll kill me?!" He stomped forward. "You know, brats like you really know how to pass the blame, huh? Your parents said the same thing, and all they could manage was this pretty little mark on my face. You better put your money where your mouth is, otherwise you're gonna end up like mommy and daddy!"
He quickly shed his muscle fibers, the body tissue sliding off his skin and flopping to the ground. Almost immediately, more muscle sprouted under his skin, arcing up to wrap around his body once more-
But before it could cover the bleeding hole in the back of his neck, an air blast placed right in the wound exploded, sending him flying forward, skidding face down on the rocky ground. He didn't move.
Izuku crawled along the ground, spitting blood as he stared at the downed villain. Kouta quickly ran over, doing his best to grab the older boy by the arms and help him up.
"You idiot. Idiot. You're such a stupid idiot." He whispered, almost like a mantra. With the small amount of strength from the young child, Izuku found himself shakily back on his feet. "You're an idiot."
"I get it!" He gasped out, placing a hand against the partially destroyed wall. "I'm alright, Kouta. I just need a second."
"What about him?" He asked, pointing at the prone villain next to them.
After a moment of silence, Izuku stumbled over to Muscular, grabbing him by the shoulder. Despite the fact that his muscled had once again shed off his body, he was still quite heavy. He grunted loudly, rolling the man onto his back.
Muscular was still awake, eyes wide and moving. But he didn't move. He opened his mouth, but the only sounds that came out were garbled noises or gurgling.
Kouta looked down in horror. "What... what did you do?"
"The air bomb probably damaged his spine, or something." He replied. "I know it sounds... ugh. I need you to help me prop him against the wall."
"Why?!"
"If he's paralyzed, I don't need him drowning on his own saliva."
"I mean..."
"Kouta." He interrupted the thought, giving the young boy a dead serious gaze. "I am not having you kill anyone. You don't realize how much that will come to haunt you."
The young kid almost immediately shriveled back under the gaze. He quickly grabbed the other shoulder, and with some grunting and effort, they managed to get him propped against the wall.
"What now?" Kouta asked, rubbing his hands against his shorts, wiping the dirt off.
Izuku peered back over to the camp. The fires were still raging.
"The lodge still isn't safe. Let's go back to the clearing."
"Are we walking back there?"
The high schooler looked back. "You want me to blast us there again?"
"No." He shook his head. "No, I'd rather... just walk."
The walk seemed to take forever. Kouta knew this area like the back of his hand, and Izuku was content with letting him take the lead as they worked through the foliage and trees. Both were too afraid to speak, knowing there could be someone nearby who could hear them and investigate.
When they both got into the clearing, they sighed in relief. It looked as if no one was there.
"Hey Kouta, do you mind... picking a tree that's a little easier to climb?" Izuku asked, torso still aching from the thrashing he received earlier.
"I don't think that's quite necessary!" A voice called out, some distance behind them. The high schooler quickly spun around, hand outstretched to guide Kouta behind him. "That was quite the fight back there. I was concerned I would have to intervene, but you seemed to handle yourself well!"
Izuku didn't need to struggle to realize who the newcomer was.
"Mr. Compress, is it?"
"Well, color me surprised! I wan't aware that I was famous enough to be recognized by the general populace." He clapped his hands, before raising them into the air. "Now, calm down! I know you might be... predisposed to certain conclusions, but I honestly have no intentions to attack you!"
"What are you here for, then?" Izuku called out, trying to muster as much strength in his voice as possible.
"Simple, really! We've come here to deliver a package; just for you, in fact!" He reached into his pocket pulling out a single bead. He threw it to the ground, where in a puff of smoke emerged... a parcel wrapped in cloth. Mr. Compress strode up to the boy, bowing and extending it for him to take.
Izuku carefully took the package into his own hands, pulling the string on top that held it all together. Inside were...
A pair of nondescript blue jeans... some tennis shoes... and a black hoodie with a veil that could cover the face.
"Don't tell me..." The jovial villain began. "You... what a twist! You, the right hand man to Shigaraki, the villain Rogue?! I'd say this answered a lot of questions, but to be honest it just bring more to mind! Tell me, how do you do it?"
"Do what..." Kouta trailed off. "Izuku... what is he talking about?"
"He's..." Izuku didn't have any good excuse. He felt defenseless, there was no hiding this.
"Come now, Rogue, you simply must tell me how you did that to Muscular!" He bounced excitedly back and forth on the balls of his feet. "It was as if his whole body was instantly covered in slashes!"
"That's because it was." Izuku backed up, pushing Kouta slightly back. "I reduced Obfuscate to my knives... he never knew I had them on me. While I was jumping around on him, I was slashing as much as I could, and then when I jabbed him in the eye, I cloaked myself and went at it some more."
"Please tell me you've devised a name for that move!"
"Izuku-"
"Lingchi." He spoke over the smaller boy, trying to avoid any further conversation. "Their mind doesn't register damage I do while obfuscated. Once I drop my quirk, they register the damage all at once and it overwhelms them."
"Amazing!" He clasped his hands together. "Not quite deadly, but still enough to incapacitate most others. You must have spent a lot of time-"
"Shut up!" Kouta screamed, voice cracking, cutting them both off. "Izuku... what is he talking about? Why do you know each other?"
Izuku closed his eyes, looking away. The magician villain was quick to fill the silent void.
"Oh, it seems I've spoiled the surprise. Young lad, this boy here is actually quite the notorious villain! And apparently a spy to boot." He placed his fingers to the chin of his mask. "But still, how on earth can you have both of these abilities? Which quirk is the fake one?"
"You're... you're a villain?!" Kouta stumbled back, eyes wide in shock. "You can't... what... I don't... understand."
"I'm sorry, Kouta." Izuku replied, shoulders trembling. "I've... let you down twice today, haven't I?"
"Why?!"
"Because... they were there for me. They've always... they've always been there for me?" He asked himself, a dreadening sense of unfamiliarity flooding his veins.
"What about what you said?! Getting rid of this stupid system... was that just a lie?!"
"No, no!" Izuku cried out, clenching his fists. "I... It's what I want, I've always wanted... I can't do that as a hero, Kouta. This is the only way."
"To join up with people like Muscular?!"
"That didn't look much like joining up, did it?" Izuku hit back. "I've always wanted him gone. I just didn't have a chance until now."
"Now, I knew the animosity between the two of you was-"
"Shut up." Izuku quickly cut him off. The villain only raised his hands in surrender, humming to himself.
"So what now, then?" Kouta bitterly asked.
"It looks like... they want me to go back." Izuku sighed. "It's time."
"You're going to leave me?"
"Do you want me to stay?"
Kouta looked down, biting his lip in anger.
"I thought so." Izuku sighed, turning back to the clothes in his hand. They were loose enough to wear over his other clothes, though he had to switch his shoes out. Mr Compress quickly produced a GPS tracker like the one he was given, pressing the button. Within seconds, a warp gate opened next to them. "I'm sorry, Kouta. I really am."
He slowly turned to the gate, walking towards it... only to be stopped by something tugging the bottom of his hoodie back.
"Take me with you." He quietly muttered.
Izuku spun around. "What?!"
"I said take me with you, idiot!" He looked up, fresh tears streaming down his face. "You're the only one who's been making any sense around here! Everyone else tells me what I'm feeling is terrible! You're the only one who's told me that I'm right to hate how my parents died! If you're a villain, then... I want to be one too!"
"No. No no no no no." Izuku crouched down, grabbing him by the shoulders. "Listen to me. Don't make this decision now."
"But I-"
"No buts! This kind of decision... it's too cruel to make a child decide something like this." He swallowed thickly. "Please listen to what I'm saying. I'll... I'll tell you what. I'll come back in a few years- I'll find you again. If you still feel the same way... I'll let you join. But please... don't put that kind of decision on yourself now."
Kouta sobbed, wiping his eyes to no avail. "You're just going to leave me here?!"
"Don't..." Izuku's voice choked as he felt his own eyes water. "...please don't say that like it's easy for me to make that decision. I can't make a child go through this kind of thing... I promise I'll come back, can you promise me that you'll wait?"
Kouta closed his eyes, looking away. "Okay. I'll... I'll keep your secret. Just... just come back, okay?"
The older boy nodded, pulling the other kid into a hug. "I promise."
"Okay." Kouta replied, sounding a little more relieved, but still pained. "I think... you should probably go. Just in case someone sees."
Izuku nodded, standing up. "Thank you, Kouta, really."
Both Izuku and Mr Compress stepped back through the portal. It only took a second between the high schooler disappearing into the black and the gate closing. Kouta immediately fell to the ground, sobbing loudly, wailing into the sky with the worst pain he had ever felt.
It wasn't long before Mandalay found him like that. And while she was able to take him into her arms and hold him close, he was never able to mend that emotional wound the other boy had left in him.
On the other side of the portal, Izuku stumbled through the gate, landing in the familiar bar that he had been in so many times over the past six or seven years. The only person there, aside from Mr. Compress, was Kurogiri, who had his back turned to the pair.
"Welcome home, Midoriya." He stiltedly greeted, not turning back to look at them.
"I guess... this is it, huh?"
"Indeed. You'll be reported as kidnapped. Your time as a spy in Yuuei has come to an end."
"It feels so weird to hear that..." he wondered aloud. "A little bit of a warning would have been nice, you know. Where's brother?"
"He's out. The others will be here soon."
Mr. Compress spoke up, noticing the tension coming from the bartender. "I see, I see. Well, I'll be out and about for now. Call me whenever the meeting is called."
Kurogiri silently nodded, turning his attention back to his precious glasses. Once the bar was cleared except for the two of them, Kurogiri spoke up again.
"Midoriya... about what you said to that other boy..."
The high schooler tilted his head. "What about it? I'm... not really happy with how that turned out... but I think it's for the best."
"I see." Kurogiri quietly replied, looking down at the glass wobbling between his trembling hands. "It's nothing, really... nevermind. You handled that perfectly."
A/N: Hey guys. Sorry about it being shorter than usual, I really wanted to continue past this but right now the rest of it just isn't coming out right. Looks like YET AGAIN we'll have another two chapters before it's done.
In the meantime, don't forget to follow me on tumblr, and please leave a comment about what you think about my fic! Thanks everyone!