Chapter 24
Izuku saw a flash of blond hair through the thick forest, not wanting to get his hopes up as to who it could be. But as he got closer and closer, his expectation rose higher and higher. As the flash of blond hair turned into familiar spikes, Izuku let himself relax for a split second.
"Kacchan!" He called out upon seeing the boy he had been searching for. "KACCHAN!"
It didn't take much effort for Kacchan to see him, as he immediately whipped his head in Izuku's direction. A multitude of emotion was stretched across his face. Relief, anger, hope, frustration, regardless of what it was, Izuku had no time to try to decipher it all. He was on a mission to save a life.
"No time to talk, we need... You need to go help this boy," Izuku started, rushing through his words so he could get them all out at once. "He's alone and there's this villain, and we need to go, come on!" Without waiting for a single word, let alone a response, Izuku began to rush off in the direction he came from.
Judging by the confused shout of the classmates with him, Kacchan was following him.
If he could think of one thing he was grateful for, it would have to be the ability for the two of them to understand and listen to what the other was saying without much questioning or confusion. Izuku said someone needed help, so Kacchan would come help them, it was as simple as that. Or it seemed as simple as that. Izuku knew that whatever fight might take place, it wouldn't be a pretty one.
He pressed on anyway, with the single goal of saving a helpless boy on his mind.
Trying to trace back his steps as he navigated through the forest proved to be more difficult than he anticipated. Still, Izuku wasn't one to give up when others' lives were at risk. He knew it was on a cliff, a tall one, that had another cliff overlooking it. It was a quiet spot. Or it would have been, were it not for the villain that Izuku saw prowling around there, who will most likely find the hidden boy before he could get help.
"Wait!" A voice called out, but Izuku paid it no mind. It could have been Kacchan or one of the others, but he continued to move until he found what he believed to be the right location.
While Kacchan and the other heroes-in-training caught their breaths before heading up, Izuku relayed more information. "Up here. He's hiding but I don't know... The villain is huge... I think it's Muscular."
Upon hearing the name, Kacchan's eyes widened. When they had discussed all of the villains earlier, he was one that they vowed to be extremely cautious around, not that it mattered anymore. Wisely, Kacchan didn't speak up or say anything, either to conserve his breath or to not appear like a complete weirdo to those who were watching him with extreme scrutiny. Instead, he quickly signed one of the short phrases they had memorized together, "Let's go."
Izuku didn't even hesitate, showing Kacchan the path for them to go up and speeding along it.
It didn't take them very long to get to the last place Izuku had seen the boy. He was almost certain that the villain was still there. And after a few moments of the boys catching their breath and looking at Kacchan in confusion, a figure appeared from the shadows.
From what Izuku had analyzed about the villain in the past, there was no way he would ever let a fight pass him by.
Because of that, the second that Izuku's eyes found Muscular, his worry increased. Because clutched tightly in one of his hands was the boy Izuku had gone to such lengths to protect. He was being shaken vigorously as the villain attempted to squeeze out any information from him.
This very moment, among others, was one of the reasons why he ached for a physical body. Why he wished he wasn't just a floating ghost who could only sit there and watch as lives were being put on the line. Part of him wonders that if he'd never killed himself, would he have had the chance to do something? Would he be able to stand on equal ground with Kacchan as they teamed up together to help this boy?
He really wished he could, but he knew it wouldn't have turned out that way.
Now all he could do now was wait for Kacchan and the members of Class 1-A that were with him to defeat the villain. And ignore the part of himself that ached to be able to defeat the villain all by himself.
"OI!" Kacchan called out, still slightly panting from all the running as he stepped forward, "Get your dirty ass hands off him."
Muscular turned, kid still in hand, with a deadly glare. He began to laugh at the sight of the three high schoolers before him, "And what're ya gonna do if I don't?"
"You do not want to know the answer to that." Todoroki spoke up. Judging by the way Kacchan's eyebrows suddenly raised, this was unusual for him.
All the same, there was no way that Muscular took the boys in front of him more seriously than how a child takes three flies trying to attach themselves onto its face. Annoying, maybe a little funny, but ultimately no match.
Muscular only laughed even harder at the toughness the boys were trying to display, ignoring Todoroki's words, "You wouldn't happen to know where I can find Katsuki Bakugou, would you?" The villain said it in a teasing manner, but Izuku only felt a sense of dread. He could see it on Kacchan's face too. Izuku knew that Kacchan might be targeted... But were they really searching for him? And had he just played right into their hands by giving them the exact person they wanted?
It was stupid of him to assume that everything would go his way simply because he thought he had prepared for it all.
All along, the answer had been staring right at him but he was far too blind to see it. It felt like that said a lot more about him than it did anything else. That was information Izuku didn't know what to do with. His entire existence after death had been reliant upon helping people, and maybe that was chasing a lifelong dream, but it led him to become ignorant. He wasn't able to protect the one person right in front of him that could see him, hear him. Because if he had, then Muscular wouldn't have known to target him.
What to do?
Izuku felt split. He was either going to save this boy and endanger Kacchan or save Kacchan and endanger the boy. Had he really made the right choice?
Before he could dwell on it any longer, Tokoyami spoke up. "Even in this darkness, there is no Bakugou Katsuki in Class 1-A."
Izuku had nearly forgotten, he wasn't alone in this. Kacchan had allies and people who would fight for him. It brought a sad smile to his face as he realized that the blond-haired boy wasn't the one who was alone.
"Tryna get cheeky now?" Muscular scoffed, losing his laugh and sense of humor, "Don't lie to me." He tightened his grip on the boy, who let out a yelp of pain. This was no time to be messing with the villain or stalling for time.
"FUCKING ASSHOLE!" Kacchan yelled, wasting no time as he propelled himself forward with his quirk and let loose a large explosion right in Muscular's face. Izuku stiffened up for a moment before realizing that Kacchan had angled his blast in such a way so that the boy wouldn't have to feel it.
Muscular, most likely not prepared to fight quite yet, attempted a blind swing that Kacchan easily dodged by jumping back. That gave Todoroki and Tokoyami enough time to step into the battle and try their hands at fighting him.
They were lucky he was egotistical and known to like beating his opponents to a pulp, otherwise he would've made better use of his hostage. But Izuku doubted that Kacchan remembered that detail, bursting to fight the villain. Before any more moves could be made, Muscular hurled the boy a short distance away from all of them, using their scramble to his advantage as he threw off his cloak with a grin and began activating his quirk and building up his muscle.
With every second that passed, he was becoming more and more formidable.
Yet, Izuku's eyes were on the boy as Tokoyami's Dark Shadow scooped him up after a block of ice was put up to break his fall. Despite the boy's wiggling and protests, Dark Shadow proceeded to safely deposit him behind the three heroes-in-training. It was a relief to see him protected, even if all of them weren't even close to being safe yet.
"Now I'm angry." It was the only warning Muscular gave before he dived for Kacchan, still not yet knowing his identity.
If Muscular was fast, then Kacchan had to have acted at the speed of light. The prepared swiftness in which he had prepared his hand to unleash an explosion had lasted longer than he had thought. Alas, as he threw it violently at the villain, it hit its mark perfectly: right on his face.
Izuku couldn't help but feel a blossom of hope.
That was until he saw that even with a blast to the face, Muscular did not yield. It was impressive that Kacchan was able to dodge at the last minute, prompting the villain to instead punch into the ground. He created a large crater in the ground with his fists, but even worse was his growl of anger as he swung again.
This time it was stopped by a block of ice. At least, that's what Izuku thought until he noticed his left arm swinging around.
"WATCH OUT!" Izuku yelled, not knowing if Kacchan would be paying attention. Even if he was, the words came just a bit too late.
With a boom, one that was stunningly different from Kacchan's explosions, Izuku witnessed his friend fly backwards. There was too much dust for him to see what happened to Kacchan.
All other thoughts of protecting the boy or preventing the villains from enacting their master plan were seemingly abandoned in the split seconds where Izuku didn't know what had happened to Kacchan.
Muscular didn't know him as the target, so would he get as violent as he was known for? Izuku worried that Kacchan wouldn't stand a chance, even with his to-be classmates at his side.
In these moments, Izuku could only wait, no matter what angle he approached.
His words would be useless and action was impossible.
As Muscular closed in on where he had beaten down Kacchan, the gravity of Izuku's helplessness sunk in. Yet these emotions of his were just that, emotions that ignored the bigger picture. Even with the dust still sending out a cloud, Izuku could see Todoroki and Tokoyami gearing up to fight. A block of ice shooted out in front of the villain and a shadow-y bird knocked him backwards, causing him to lose balance. In those split moments, a torrent of fire chased at his heels in the hopes to truly knock him over.
It might not have occurred Muscular for a long time, but it was long enough. Kacchan groggily stood up, blood trickling down his forehead. His arm didn't look too good either, definitely damaged in a way that made Izuku worry.
"Heh." Kacchan smirked, spitting out a wad of blood. It wasn't nearly as cool as Izuku was sure the blond-haired boy thought it was.
In fact, to him, it seemed more painful than anything. The same panic that he had felt when first seeing Muscular, knowing that defeating him was going to be an increasingly difficult task, was the same exact thing that Izuku felt now.
Was this all that he could do? Feel emotions and shout words out in the hopes that they'd be heard and listened to?
Almost, as if some part within him wanted to answer his silent question, Izuku realized something. He narrowed his eyes and took stock of everything on their makeshift battlefield, the cliff, the positions of each person, and what they could do. There was a glaring flaw in Kacchan and his classmates that could get them injured, or worse, if not immediately fixed. It was trust and teamwork. They had been letting each other get beat down by the ruthless villain until that person could stand again. There was no protection right before or after the hit landed. This gave enough time for Muscular to individually target each student without having harm being done against him.
Safe to say, he had been putting them on the defensive this entire time. They couldn't win without some kind of strategy to use defense and turn it into offense. There was no winning against a hardened criminal with nothing. Kacchan, Todoroki, and Tokoyami didn't even have a chance of getting to that point if they couldn't even trust each other to begin with. The entire time, Izuku sensed something was off with Kacchan and Todoroki's dynamic. It seemed the latter was more intent on watching the former than fighting a villain, and Tokoyami wasn't able to do everything by himself. Especially not when protecting a small boy, of whom, rightfully, held the majority of his attention.
They had just been annoying Muscular. It was easy to tell as time passed, and his muscle grew, that they weren't really damaging him in any way. Anytime an ice spike was shot out, an explosion would melt it. And each time there was an explosion or fire, Dark Shadow shrinked a little bit smaller and withdrew himself from the fight. At this point, it wasn't that their quirks were being ineffective. It was that their quirks were countering each other in the worst way possible, making it so that by the time the effect got to Muscular, it was subdued and easy for him to ignore.
It was not a particularly good matchup.
Izuku's analysis of the fight made him feel useful. He had yet to figure out how to communicate all of this to Kacchan and somehow trust it wouldn't get lost in translation, but even getting to the point where communications could be an option was what mattered.
The only real option was for him to talk to Kacchan. Talk to someone who was in the middle of being engaged in a fight about how he should better handle the fight. Izuku knew there were more ways for this situation to go wrong than right.
Still, it was his only choice. And maybe since it was him, Kacchan would be willing to listen. Before he could psyche himself out of it, Izuku approached Kacchan as he let off a barrage of explosions onto the advancing Muscular. He was going to run out of room to back up, very soon.
"All three of you have to watch out for each other." Izuku advised quickly, not wanting to stall Kacchan in any way, if he could help it, "Or else you'll never defeat Muscular."
"Oh yeah?" Kacchan muttered under his breath, clearly very preoccupied on not getting hit. "Yeah." He knew he sounded like a cheesy, old movie but it was necessary. A team-up of convenience, so to speak.
Upon seeing Kacchan's inaction on what Izuku just said, he knew he was in for a bit of a struggle to protect them all.
"Trust me!"
Kacchan frowned, but Izuku wasn't sure who it was aimed at. "You left me." Oh, him.
"I'm sorry! I wasn't so sure of what to do, but I do now. I am sure now." Izuku urged his friend, speaking increasingly faster. He couldn't help but notice the sweat trickling down Kacchan's forehead. That and the lack of response from him. Still, Izuku had an incessant need for Kacchan to believe his words. Or at least believe that he had good intentions when he had begun his search in the morning, no matter how it may seem to the other boy. And this had to happen right now or else there might not be any time left for them.
"Please. You know I wouldn't put you and others in danger." He was practically begging at this point, "Trust me!"
Backing away from Muscular and allowing Todoroki to step up and try his hand at involving him in combat, Kacchan finally made eye contact with Izuku.
A simple nod was all that he gave, but it was more than enough.
Relief washed through Izuku as he watched Kacchan yell at Tokoyami and Todoroki. "IDIOTS, WE GOTTA WORK TOGETHER."
Tokoyami nodded, accepting his words for what they were. But for some reason, Todoroki almost couldn't believe what Kacchan had said. He had turned his head midway through battling Muscular in closer combat, which was already inadvisable due to his quirk. It resulted in him getting slammed into the cliffside, dust settling around him.
"BASTARD!" Kacchan yelled out. Izuku wasn't quite sure who it was aimed to, but he was pleased to see that while the blond-haired boy made his way to set off a great deal of explosions, Tokoyami led Dark Shadow away from the bright lights and towards helping Todoroki. All the while, he was still keeping the kid behind him.
It wasn't perfect, but it was progress.
Progress that still wouldn't be enough to defeat Muscular, as he let out a menacing chuckle.
It was almost as if he had been toying with them the entire time. Izuku could tell, from his brazenness, that he had not even begun to use all of his strength. The disorganization of the students he was fighting had created a massive weakness that was easy to exploit.
They had to turn the tables, and quickly.
Izuku gave Kacchan a desperate glance, in the hopes that it would remind him of their rallying promise. But he was surprised when he couldn't catch the other boy's eyes, which were filled with a steely emotion. Determination, maybe? There was no way for Izuku to really know. All he knew was that Kacchan had probably been overthinking the entire fight up to that moment. He may have just figured out what to do, possibly how he could work with Todoroki and Tokoyami, or he had hit a snag.
Sometimes it was no use trying to decipher what was going on inside of Kacchan's head. Sometimes Izuku was sure he didn't even want to know. But right now, he had to believe that no matter what was running in all of their minds, protecting the boy was priority number one and defeating the villain was priority number two.
But as much as there was no time to waste for Kacchan and his classmates, there was no use dwelling on someone else's thoughts. Izuku turned his attention back to the ongoing conflict at hand, trying to see if there was an improvement.
While it was still a little messy, their teamwork was far better than before. Each student got a chance to strike and lay in a good shot before the other would back them up, the third protecting the kid. It was like a cycle that started to work in getting Muscular to back off. But sadly, that was it. Kacchan, Todoroki, and Tokoyami had succeeded in making the villain take a step backward. From the start, all three of them were not a good pairing when it came to their quirks. So working together, while the best option, still pushed them to be weaker than they would have been normally without backup.
So no matter what they did, Muscular still remained coiled in the sinews of muscles and fired up. The villain was very far from being done. Muscular's muscles rewrapped around his arms even stronger, causing him to smirk menacingly before chuckling. Izuku could tell the boys were tired because of the beads of sweat running down their faces, but they still prepared themselves to fight.
In the small amount of time that had been bought when Muscular was making himself stronger, Kacchan took the opportunity to plan his next move with Todoroki. It was smart, but still had Izuku worried as his eyes kept flitting from the villain, back to them.
"We both go right. Flames and explosives." Kacchan panted out, while somewhat whispering, to Todoroki.
Kacchan and Todoroki began working in tandem, but it clearly wasn't enough. As much as Muscular was stunned by the explosive pinpricks, they weren't strong enough. Not to mention that Todoroki was not yet too experienced with his fire and struggled making up for Kacchan's lacking power. To be closer than he usually would be with a mid-range quirk didn't help either. And at that point, they both needed all the help they could get.
Because their lack of power meant that Muscular was only tickled by their attacks, they weren't strong enough to hurt him seriously.
Still, Izuku couldn't discount their efforts. By blasting him together, Muscular was somewhat restricted on what he could and couldn't do. His expected attacks, the punches he'd committed to with his hands earlier, were not as easily done as before. It required there to not be two heroes-in-training flying around and hitting him with explosions and fire attacks.
Izuku wasn't sure how long they could hold out like this, but he was strangely optimistic of it being the start to stopping Muscular.
While he wasn't entirely wrong, he wasn't right either.
Because Muscular was somewhat restricted, Izuku expected him to be able to do nothing, but instead he seemed to change up his tactics. Instead of using his muscled arms to punch, as would be expected, he kicked both Todoroki and Kacchan. It was so unexpected that they barely had any time to put up any defense. Kacchan was easily knocked to the side and down, while Todoroki's body was propelled into the cliffside.
Both of their movements and the kick itself had created an abnormal amount of dust floating in the air, which began to obscure Izuku's vision into the fight.
He could hear the occasional grunt, the sound of a blow making an impact, the crackle of fire. Sometimes he could even see the flashes of light coming from Kacchan and Todoroki's efforts.
Izuku would have held his breath, if he still needed air. The situation had grown to be unbearably tense.
He could almost, almost feel what he saw. The small plumes of dust settling on his skin, making his eyes prickle with unshed tears. The glowing atmosphere as it calmed down from the huge wave of upset dirt. Thinking about touch made it easier to wrestle with not being able to see anything. With one of his senses being taken away from him, imagining another one helped to calm him down.
Of course, each time he saw a flash of light or the lick of a fire, he jumped up the slightest bit.
It was so painful having to watch on the sidelines, as Izuku was sure Tokoyami felt. At least he was tasked with protecting a child, that was a job that Izuku yearned for. And while he had been able to fulfill it with Nezumi, it wasn't enough.
No matter how much he urged himself to do something and to act, Izuku found that the only thing he could do was hope that those who were fighting would be fine.
So he waited and waited. Not letting any bad thoughts get in his mind until he knew for sure that everything would be okay. That was why as light flashed, he felt relief that Kacchan was still fighting back. But even as the flashes started to dim out little by little, Izuku could do nothing but clench his hands and watch.
Suddenly, the dust cloud cleared up and Muscular was standing alone.
Izuku felt something that might've been his heart sink all the way down. Because at the villain's feet, Todoroki and Kacchan were keeled over and clearly recovering from whatever kind of damage they had taken.
Izuku wanted to say so much at that moment. Maybe to scream at Kacchan to get out of there, but all he could do was watch.
"I just want to get out of here and grab the boy I'm looking for." Muscular seemed to be talking down to the two in front of him. "And then get back to the pure joy of killing. Just like what I did to that boy's parents. Their own fault for getting in my way. And now you're also in my way." He raised a fist with the intent to slam down into one of the teenage boys kneeling before him.
"Stop holding back." Todoroki suddenly spat out.
"What-" Muscular hesitated for a slight second.
His next words got cut off as a ground-breaking explosion that burst from Kacchan's hands. It shook the cliffside and caused a few rockslides, loosening up rocks from both above and below their location. Izuku's eyes immediately went toward Tokoyami, worried about the incoming rocks. But he was quickly soothed that his worry was for nothing as he saw the student shielding the boy with his body while Dark Shadow broke any dangerous or painful rocks headed down to them. Izuku smiled, looking back to where Todoroki readied himself to join the fight.
Despite the shaking cliff and rocks falling everywhere, Todoroki avoided anything that could injure him with a practiced flexibility and took the chance to send a torrent of fire right at Muscular's face. Kacchan had blasted toward his feet, throwing him dramatically off balance while Todoroki worsened his vulnerabilities by making him focus on his face.
With Muscular's back nearly touching the dirt,Izuku almost started cheering. While Todoroki and Kacchan were clearly hurt, they were still doing their best to continue the fight and from what he could see, they were doing a pretty good job of it. The tide was turning, Izuku just hoped that it could stay that way.
He shouldn't have gotten his hopes up too early. The villain Kacchan and Todoroki were fighting wasn't one who would go down easy, or would ever want to go down. Izuku knew well enough to have heard that a multitude of times. Yet, fire and explosive power were essentially poisonous to the skin. With a bare-skinned fighter like Muscular, it was only a matter of time before the burns on his skin worsened to the point where he'd never be able to recover from them.
Izuku expected them to beat him before it got to that point.
He hoped they would beat him before it got to that point, because if they didn't there wa sno guarantee they'd make it long enough to see it happen.
In his head, Izuku felt a strange calm. He told himself that he should be nervous about what might happen, he told himself that it was irrational for him to not feel so worried and panicked. But maybe it was just that he knew that Kacchan would work it all out. Or maybe it was the knowledge that Kacchan had to work it out. There were no other options, except ones that Izuku would rather not think about.
He dutifully ignored any negative thoughts and, as he watched, only thought about the positives he was witness to.
Their combination moves continued. The situation seemed to be at a stalemate, but if one looked closer they'd be able to see that Muscular was losing his power.
Kacchan uppercutted him with saved up, explosive-packed, energy that burst upwards in an unexpected arc. Seconds after he did that, Todoroki slammed a pillar of fire down on his head, neck, and spine. Being pushed up and then down again with such high forces was enough to put too much pressure on anyone's body. And in the case of Muscular, it was just enough pressure.
He was knocked completely off balance.
Muscular was down. He was down and he wasn't getting up.
A beat of silence, the deep breathing of injured students, crying from somewhere, it felt oddly refreshing as Izuku and the others waited to see if, by some sick miracle. Muscular would get back up again. And when enough moments passed that he didn't, enough to confirm a victory, it felt strange.
Complicated emotions welled up inside of Izuku. Relief that Kacchan and the boy were safe. Hope that the attack could be easily put down. But also fear at the naming of Kacchan as a victim. Anger that he couldn't help prevent everything that occurred insofar. Frustrated that it took Kacchan so long to acknowledge the idea of teamwork and trust Izuku mid-battle.
It was true that already everything had gone wrong from their plans. While Izuku wouldn't say he hadn't prepared for a lot of it to happen, it was clear that planning ahead and actually experiencing a villain attack were very different. Even from his position as an onlooker, Izuku recognized the panic faced by those who were in the midst of it. It just pained him that he couldn't do anything about it. That the greatest usefulness he brought was a useless scout.
While Muscular had been defeated in the end, no thanks to how long it took for Kacchan to allow Izuku to interfere even the slightest bit, Izuku couldn't help but think that maybe it could have been done faster. That less damage had to be done. But, it didn't matter. The important thing was that it was over and no one was in great harm. The boy was safe.
It was relieving. Relief, with something else mixed in. Something Izuku hadn't realized was shut away inside of himself until the battle came to a complete end. Because as it did, Kacchan shot Izuku a look. It could have either been a 'thanks but no thanks' look or a 'we have something to discuss later' look. Izuku couldn't tell, but he did know that it worried him, for it would have to be addressed after the war was over.
The warring between heroes-to-be and villains, of which Izuku could do nothing about. Part of him couldn't help but feel like if he had been involved, this entire situation would have gone drastically differently. The students would know to expect a villain fight. The teachers could be on guard with their students. Maybe even the boy would have been saved before he had to watch three teenagers put their life on the line for him.
If only Izuku could have done anything, everything would have been different.
And yet, Kacchan was mad at him. Mad at him for seeking out the villains and trying to get ahead on planning. Kacchan was the one who could actually do something, who had a physical form that was in his complete control. Yet he was hesitant to even use his quirk.
Kacchan had no right to be angry with Izuku. Instead, Izuku had every right to be angry at the blond-haired boy who he had been cheering on not even moments before.
In fact, Izuku couldn't help but remind himself, if it wasn't for Kacchan, he would be alive right now. He would have been able to do everything he had fantasized about from the moment that the battle started. Even if he still ended up a strange ghost without the other boy, at least he could use his weird possessing powers. But Kacchan wouldn't even let him do that. Did the other boy not want him to succeed? Did he still see Izuku as the enemy, despite all that he had tried to put on a sweet face and be friends?
Izuku silently seethed about what had happened so far. He wasn't sure why all of these feelings had decided to spring up now, but part of him needed to let them cloud over his mind and take over. When he had placed so much of his hope in Kacchan, when he saw a positive future. It had all been doomed because the other boy couldn't give up the past. It was the reason Izuku was here in the first place. So even as Todoroki, Tokoyami, and Kacchan checked on the boy he had been so hellbent to protect, Izuku could only think about how he felt so betrayed for a second time.
If Izuku was capable of it, he would have shed tears but nothing came out of his dry eyes.
Fumikage felt as though he had entered an entirely new world. The strange becomings of the situational oddities were nonsensical to him. The training he had done to reach this point was of far less sense. Dark caves and letting loose, he was unfamiliar with. Scaring strangers and being attacked, possible. Yet, none of it accounted for what he believed to be the root cause.
The loud blond, who he had come to know as Bakugou, had been less commandeering than expected. Still, his observations were fantastical. To notice Dark Shadow's struggling with the light was admirable in a team setting. Yet he would not consider himself as having truly met Bakugou. Currently, only necessity brought them from the depths of their minds to be joined together in a taxing fight. It was one that Fumikage was barely involved in. No part of him regrets the protection of a baby bird, but Dark Shadow's ultimate weakness was inefficient in the team he was in.
At the point where they were all at, he only had to look toward the future settings. It had become painfully clear that wherever their muscular enemy had arisen from, he was not alone. Particularly in the hunt for Bakugou, who was a strange choice to begin with. Fumikage was not one who particularly wanted to hear the reasoning of villains for seeking the General Studies student, but he still found it bewildering.
Keeping Dark Shadow protected around the troublesome chick, Fumikage scanned the surroundings around him. His gut told him that nothing was finished, not yet at least. It could have been the blue fire in the background, but Fumikage was well acquainted with the feeling of impending zoom. It seemed to envelop him and those he had been fighting with completely, even if their senses were not able to pick up on it.
A flash sparked in the corner of his vision, leading him to flip his head as fast as he could to meet the blur.
"What?" Fumikage was unaware of who spoke, his mind too busy attempting to uncover that which was happening before him.
That which was happening before him remained unknown. As lost to the darkness as a plant without sunlight. Their future was not looking bright. Rather, if Fumikage was unable to prevent this blur from carrying out its dreams, they would not have a future.
Then, a thought struck him. It came at a time most inconvenient for his use.
No longer was he attempting to spot the potential villain hiding away. Instead, he searched for Bakugou. The prime target of the nefarious plans led by the villainous troupe. But Fumikage was too late, the place where Bakugou had been standing was empty.
His frame was as lost as the wind. Bakugou was gone. In his stead there was only a shiny blue marble, which Fumikage instinctually found himself leaning down for.
Shiny shiny shiny.
His brain had not connected the lost boy with the magical marble's appearance quite yet. Not until the magician-styled villain swooped in before Fumikage's claws could encase his prize.
"Let me take that from you." The villain's words rolled off his tongue in a teasing glint. The way it was spoken strangely irked Fumikage. Almost as if this villain had committed a mortal offense targeted against him.
But then the magician fled. Arcing quietly through the starry expanse, he didn't even glance back. It gave Fumikage a yearning to fly. Considering the current situation, he rid himself of this brand of thoughts. Bakugou was in need of aid.
Todoroki did not waste a moment. He took off in the magician's direction without a single word spoken. Fumikage swiftly followed, still pondering the nature of Bakugou and Todoroki's relationship. He had been led to believe the two shared a distaste for one another. As Todoroki effortfully chased after the villain, Fumikage began to inquire whether that was heroics or friendship.
Setting that aside, Fumikage felt a tinge of sadness for his lack of performance against Muscular. His fighting had turned sub-par, even while defending the child. He had grown into his feathers a long enough time ago to not cast blame upon Dark Shadow, but for his weaknesses it was often tempting to.
No matter what those thoughts led to, Fumikage believed it was bad policy to ponder a past fight while in the middle of a new one. He'd have the chance for that when they all got out together. Until then, he was sworn to the pursuit unfolding before him.
Chasing a villain flying through treetops whilst stuck on the ground was a task ill suited to both Fumikage and Todoroki. Lucky enough, Fumikage 's eyes tracked the glint of the shiny marble.
"There, there! He's there!" Dark Shadow chanted excitedly, pointing. It liked a good chase. Its wording also aided Todoroki, whose pursuit was being done blind.
Yet, even as they advanced, the villain held an unmatched tempo. Fumikage was losing the shiny marble. He found that detestable.
"Our efforts are not maximized." He voiced his concerns to Todoroki. The other boy's brows were uncharacteristically furrowed. "We must have speed or flight."
"And we have neither?"
"Precisely."
"Hm." Fumikage hoped that the lackluster response was a placeholder for a better idea.
There most certainly was a time limit to whence their plan might be able to enact itself. Fumikage did not wish to miss that window, since it would mean missing the chance to get Bakugou back. If that were to occur, there'd be more questions than answers floating in life's abyss.
The two of them ran, dexterity and constitution deteriorating the longer the delay.
"Ice." Todoroki finally spoke up quietly.
Fumikage did not pretend to know the plans and inner workings of Todoroki. He simply nodded and let it be done.
Not even a second passed and the hidden plan was put in motion.
Ice jutted out of the forest floor. Where it came from, Fumikage couldn't begin to ponder, but it enhanced their travels for as long as Todoroki concentrated.
"I LIKE THIS!" Dark Shadow cheered, as if it was purely for its own amusement and not to save Bakugou.
Nevertheless, Fumikage found it to not be merited to bother responding. Seemingly, Todoroki thought the same. Their intrepid travels remained rightfully silent. Even as he didn't speak, Fumikage's mind was the opposite. It ran with thoughts of what could be done once the villain was reached. The freeing of Bakugou, if it could be done without the aid of the magician villain. And what part of Dark Shadow might be optimized to best fit their tasks. It could not do very much in this environment other than destroy and wreak havoc, a decidedly bad idea. Fumikage, for the first time in a very long time, felt as though the only thing they could do was run. Run at the villain, that was. Running away had never been an option. If it had then Dark Shadow would be merited in taking over Fumikage completely, being able to cause some real damage.
Yet, far better than thinking about what he should not do, he began to ponder what was in the realm of possibility. No dark lord had come and prevented them from relying on the fundamental tactics. With that, Fumikage figured that even as Todoroki's ice path let them catch up to the villain on foot, there was still the issue of securing the shiny marble far above the treelines. It was a pressing issue, one that could be solved and was far more realistic than running.
Fumikage dwelled upon the possibility of ice launching them up, but it would be far messier than the beauties of the forest would allow.
No, they must go up in style. The kind of style that is gentle to the ever-torched and ever-tortured trees crumbling around them.
Fumikage could not claim he knew what this style was, so he remained silent as they sped with the villain but not on him.
Somewhere along the way, not long after Fumikage's internal complaint of style, something happened that turned the tides for them. Zooming through the burning forest on ice, Fumikage noticed more students along the way. Most were unfamiliar. Until a familiar tongue whipped out of nowhere, wrapping onto Fumikage's arm.
At first, he thought it might be a villain and braced for a fight. But soon, his logic kicked in and he stabilized, using Dark Shadow to prevent himself from being pulled off the ice.
Seconds later, the owner of the tongue appeared as she slingshotted herself onto the ice.
It was awkward and uncomfortable until she situated herself in a way that would prevent her from falling off. It would almost be surprising how good her grip was if Fumikage was unaware of the extent of her quirk.
"Funny seeing you here, kero." The smile Tsuyu Asui gave was a mischievous one, but Fumikage found he didn't mind her presence. The more help they could acquire to stop the villain's scheme, the better off everyone would be. It was a stroke of luck that she was now here, perhaps. The heavens crying down and sending a blessing his way, unlikely. There was too much darkness in the area for any divine intervention.
Fumikage would have wished to see her presence earlier, when the urgency of slinging up through a tree was far more urgent. However, it was no use letting the gloom in to regret every past moment in time. Tsuyu was here now and that was of importance. Acquiring the shiny marble may no longer pose such a difficulty. He would take her presence as a blessing.
"Can you get us up there?" Todoroki went right to it, pointing at the escaping villain and his shiny marble.
"Kero, yes. That's part of what my quirk can do." There was a slight edge of appropriate sassiness in Tsuyu's answer. Which was understandable, it was a funnily phrased question to begin with.
Despite that, within a matter of seconds, Tsuyu seemed to grasp the gravity of their harrowing situation.
"Stay close, kero." Without doubting her for a second, they all huddled together as securely as possible.
It did not take long for Tsuyu to fulfill what was needed of her. Her reaction speed was immaculate, whipping out her tongue and with only a few moments of focus, being able to pinpoint the villain. Fumikage had never entered a situation where he had needed to fight frogs, and with Tsuyu's precision, he hoped he never was. Because as soon as he had gotten his bearings, their small group was slingshotted into the air, using the pressure from Tsuyu's jump and some propellant from Todoroki to be boosted right at the villain.
Fumikage could not spare a single moment wasting away in terror or fear. He was here as a hero-in-training, not a little chick.
The way they were all compressed for an ideal launch was anomalous. It gave away hints of desperation, but that may have only come from one person. While that was fairly obvious, the results of their escapades diagonal to the worldly manor were not made available yet.
Fumikage could not get his expectations or hopes up too early, Through experience, he learned it better to await the finale with sincerity.
As they traveled through the air, sailing right toward the magician, Fumikage felt at peace for a few, slight moments. While there was no upwards movement to mimic flying, he still found himself at one with traveling through the air. Something about the air rushing through the feathers on his face just felt right.
His sense of time passing was not quite affixed as per usual, but within moments their little group was on top of the villain. Crushed by heroes-in-training. Yet the effectiveness was not as Fumikage had hoped for. To prevent injury, Tsuyu and Todoroki had slowed down their momentum, thus leading to a softer landing. It all happened in what seemed to be the span of two seconds.
Immediately, Fumikage took in his surroundings. It seemed that the villain had gotten them exactly where he wanted to be. A wide open area where it seemed other villains would be conglomerating before taking whatever prize they seeked home. Bakugou was the suspected prize. He also noticed the fact that there was a shiny marble on the floor, it was in front of the pinned down magician, of whom was struggling. Before the shiny blue marble could roll anymore and escape Fumikage's clutches, he snatched it up.
Sadly, with him moving off the villain, it made it far easier for him to throw the other heroes-in-training off of him. Fumikage didn't realize he made such a difference, but with Tsuyu's short and flexible frame he supposed it made some kind of sense.
Without having much time to examine the marble, Fumikage's eyes tracked the villain's. After the magician had struggled up, he glanced around, almost as if he was waiting for something. Fumikage clutched the marble even tighter.He had expected him to make a swipe for the shiny marble, but it was curious that he hadn't even tried yet.It seemed pointless to go through such effort only to surrender their prize so easily. It was almost the same as Fumikage deciding to hand the marble in his hand back to the villains. He supposed they could have been more incompetent than he thought them to be. Yet, that didn't feel right.
Something wasn't right. Maybe it was his marble dilemma, which was likely, but the other inconsistencies in the occurrences around him were too large to ignore.The realization as to why he was feeling so on edge came at the same time as other villains in the area made themself known. Fumikage felt more on edge after noticing them step into his view, but even more so his protectivity was flaring high, not wanting to lose the marble. In particular, he kept his eyes out for one villain who was incredibly singed with purple scars, a nasty grin growing on his face. Another was a giggling blondegirl, her pigtails sat a little too high on her head, matching her eyes which were a little too wide.
All in all, the fight they had barely just won was now overwhelmed with new faces and Fumikage was not sure what to do next. Whoever these people were, they had an utmost advantage. Not only in numbers but in knowledge. Knowledge was always power, especially with such a gaping schism between the two groups. Fumikage held no hope for himself and his fellow heroes-in-training. It was hard to feel anything but apprehension for the villains first move, their tactics, everything that turned a fight into a fight.
And yet, oddly enough, none of them made a move. Not on Fumikage at least. The marble he had tightly clutched in his hand didn't seem to make any difference, or make him anymore of a target than he was without it. At least, he thought he could tell from the indifferent gaze aimed toward him.
Something was wrong with this. Something was not connecting in the way that it should or else he would become an easy target for all those villains crowded around, as if looking at a freshly prepared meal.
Fumikage was waiting for the catch. He just didn't realize he'd have to look down at the marble in his hand to find it, as it suddenly dawned on him.
He had a right to be so obsessed with this marble.
That was because it was not the same marble. Fumikage was confident that he'd know the shine and glimmer of Bakugou's sonorous cage. Instead, upon enclosing his hand around the quite cleverly disguised marble, a creature sprung forth. Fumikage could have almost sworn he came from some kind of mystical depths with his large stature. But it was not a transcendental creature. It was Mezou Shouji.
The boy with multiple arms seemed confused, understandably, but in the place that he was there was little time to stay waiting.
"The battle awaits you!" Fumikage shouted out, but it seemed to confuse him even more.
"Move, move!" Dark Shadow squawked out unhelpfully. It seemed to use the most inconvenient times to speak to others. Alas, Fumikage learned from a young age that his control was shaky. "Focus!" He shouted out. Mezou was still gaining his bearings, so Fumikage took it upon himself to prevent the magician from taking advantage of his confusion and re-trapping him.
But while his attention was focused on the newly-freed boy, he nearly forgot that there was another shiny object he needed to get his eyes on. This was realized far too late and when he turned to check on it, while the closest to it happened to be Todoroki and a villain.
Fumikage felt trapped in the moment. As though he was an onlooker seeing things with no ability to do anything about them.
The burned villain said something Fumikage couldn't catch, not that it was a necessity for him to. Then, his hand enclosed the apple of Fumikage's eyes, hiding the shiny marble. The one that was most definitely Bakugou and not Mezou. Fumikage was not angry at saving one classmate, however it was horrendously unfortunate. He would have liked to obtain both marbles.
And still, he was not prepared for what was to happen next.
Katsuki's entire world suddenly shifted again. Instead of being confined into some small, uncomfortable space, he found himself growing. It was a drastically different feeling from when he was freed from Deku's control. With him, it felt as though he was coming back from hiding, but right now it just felt like he was emerging from his own cocoon.
His bodily realization was finally coming back to him.
It had strangely almost become something of a foreign feeling to him. A part of him was almost afraid to be cut loose from whatever strange entrapment he was suffering under. He wasn't sure how much time had passed or if the villains' plan had been carried out while he missed it, being unable to stop it from happening.
He'd really feel like a failure if that happened.
Still, Katsuki should've known. He shouldn't have started concerning himself with those types of things and instead asked a different question. He should have questioned why he was being set free. There was no reason for the strange half and half bastard to do much of anything, considering his history, and everyone else seemed keen to let Katsuki stay stuck wherever he was for as long as he was.
It wasn't until he was finally free of his small cage that he realized something wasn't right. Because right when it seemed he had been whole again, he felt an increasing weight on his neck. It wasn't any weight, it was the exact feeling that someone was holding him hostage.
He couldn't see his captor, but he could see the faces of the students in Class 1-A as he slowly got dragged backwards. Part of him didn't really understand their grief and shouts of protest, but he did know that this wasn't right.
Katsuki was being taken somewhere.
He opened his mouth but couldn't find the right words to say anything.
Not until his eyes, wide and confused, found their way to where Deku seemed to be shouting at him from above. Katsuki didn't know what the other boy was feeling at this moment, but he could only guess he had begun to blame himself.
Suddenly, he knew what he needed to say. With a raggedy breath, he opened his mouth and croaked out three words. "It's okay... Izuku."
And then the fingers on his neck tightened around him and he lost any other words he could have said. Not that he had time, because not even a second had passed and Katsuki was swallowed up by a swirling purple mass that seemed to suck him in, spreading all around him until everything went dark.