Paths Of A Hero
Summary: Hero or Vigilante? What is the difference? It used to be black and white, a boundary so sharp cut that many have found themselves in pieces just for approaching it. So why is it blurring now, as Eraserhead tries to keep his head low while unwittingly gaining 20+ kids, at least three Pro Hero friends and seems to have caught the eye of All Might himself, all the while his past is persistently trying to catch up to him?
Katsuki wasn't sure what to make of this whole situation.
When he'd first imagined going to UA as a Hero Course student, he had imagined things to be a whole lot different than how they'd actually happened.
For one, he'd thought he'd get the same worshipful treatment as he'd had in middle school, where he'd had the by far strongest and most versatile Quirk than all those other damn 'd also thought he would finally be rid of Deku once and for all. That's not how things had gone. Instead, he was in a classroom full of powerful kids his own age, some who might even actually be stronger than him in certain circumstances. And Deku, who'd been a Quirkless loser for as long as Katsuki had known him, suddenly had a Quirk so very similar to All Might's and he was quickly learning how to control it, was also in UA. In Class 1-A, no less. It was as though that nerd will never stop haunting him.
Two, he'd expected a halfway competent teacher, at the very least. Whether they'd like him or not hadn't really mattered to him. He'd be the Number One Hero one day, soon enough, and didn't need anyone's approval. Instead of a halfway competent Hero, they'd gotten some practically unknown boastful, arrogant bastard that had a Quirk that seemed like a cheap knockoff of Katsuki's own. Katsuki had asserted his dominance on the first day, not that it really mattered.
By their second week, the third strangest thing he never would have imagined to happen to him as a UA student, did. They were attacked by villains and it wasn't the teachers that had saved them, not really. It had been a Vigilante. Eraserhead. Katsuki hadn't really known what to think of the black-clad man when he'd first jumped out of seemingly nowhere to their rescue but by the time he'd been warped away, fought through a hoard of villains and made his way to the main plaza where the Vigilante had been fighting only to find All Might struggling against that big ugly motherfucker with the exposed brain and the Vigilante in critical condition being carried away by Froggy and Grapeboy, he'd grown to respect the man. Visiting him in Recovery Girl's wing had been a collective decision he'd had no part in, but had tagged along when Pikachu and Shitty Hair had gotten annoying about it.
Seeing the state of him had been a shock and perhaps even a wake-up call. It had also made him consider the man once again. Eraserhead had risked his life for them when he'd never even met them before and it wasn't even his job. He'd kicked the asses of a couple of dozen villains all by himself and had, apparently, managed to save Deku, Grapeboy and Froggy even after his face had been smashed into concrete, his arms broken and shoulders dislocated, one of his elbows having even been decayed by Fuck McHands. He'd held on and fought until he couldn't no more and then some, Plus Ultra, just to make sure they could all evacuate. He was in the state he was because of them, for them, and Katsuki felt ... grateful. All Might may have given the final punch, but it had been Eraserhead that had saved them.
It was only natural to grow protective of him. He was theirs now, damn it. Katsuki will explode anyone who tried to take him away and had no qualms about saying as much, much to the apparent shock and confusion of the man.
Then the man had surprised them, in turn, by telling them his full name and later on even showing them what he looked like without the scarf-thing or the goggles - or the bandages - and Katuski felt like he'd been given something precious. They all did. And so they gave something precious in return. Aizawa-sensei was theirs, after all, so it only made sense to call him 'Sensei'.
Winning the Sports Festival in the way he did would be the fourth thing that he hadn't imagined would go that way. Stupid Icyhot. Stupid teachers. Stupid audience. Stupid All Might. But then Sensei showed up and told them all off, which had been a fucking delight to watch. Really, it had been the highlight of Katsuki's day, especially as Sensei had taken his side and released him from the stupid muzzle and cuffs. Something had bugged the ashy blond for weeks to come, though, about that little interaction when Aizawa-sensei had placed the first place medal properly around his neck. Bakugo couldn't tell what it was, but the way Sensei had acted, the inflation of his voice ... It was almost as though he was recalling something nostalgic. Which didn't make sense.
Sensei was a Vigilante, after all.
Why would he be nostalgic about the Sports Festival?
That would imply Sensei had, at one point, been a UA student, but if Sensei had been a student, then there's no way he wouldn't already be one of the best Pros in the business!
It must have been Midnight's Quirk muddling his brain, still.
He'd brushed it off.
Working with Best Jeanist had also not been how he'd imagined it to be, though Sensei's intervention had, once again, been more than welcome. Fuck Jeanist and his attempt to change Katsuki's personality! Thank the stars or whatever that Eraserhead had set him straight! The image of Jeanist danging from a lamp post by Eraser's capture weapon while the dark haired man scolded him was one Katsuki will remember to his last breath and cherish it like fucking gold. Say what you want about the Vigilante, but he's badass as fuck.
The continued relationship of Class 1-A with Eraserhead was definitely a pleasant unexpected turn of events. He always seemed to be right there for them when they needed him, be it through a phone call miles upon thousands of miles away or in person, it didn't matter. Katsuki knew how much they all had come to depend on him. His calm was like a balm to their frayed nerves as villain after villain seemed to come after their class. Even for the exams at the end of the semester, he knows his fellow classmates had reached out to the Vigilante, to at the very least inform him of how it had gone. He himself had done it, after all, even though he'd denied it when the others had asked.
He just ... always seemed to be just there, seconds away, every time they needed him, even for the smallest of things.
He guessed that's why they'd all at least at one point looked upwards, searched through the trees or out of the corner of their eye every time shadows moved during the attack on the Training Camp, expecting to find him rushing to their rescue in all of his yellow-goggled, capture weapon whirling, Eraserhead glory.
But he hadn't, because he hadn't known where they were, because none of them had had a chance to call for help.
So now, here Bakugo was, shackled once again, though this time it was because he'd been kidnapped by the League of Villains, and he was kind of expecting Eraserhead to come bust him out any second now. He wouldn't even be surprised. The man always seemed to know everything that was happening. Class 1-A had heard about the raid three weeks ago on that yakuza hideout. Deku was still as big of a nerd as ever and that came in handy when one's trying to figure out what was truly some Hero's work or what was them taking credit for Eraserhead's efforts. If only the damn nerd wouldn't mutter so much while explaining his deductions!
The League wanted Bakugo to join them, which was stupid, really. He was in the Hero Course for a goddamned reason and it's because he wants to be a Hero. He wants to save people, to fight bad guys, to be like All Might! Just because he doesn't spout the goody two-shoes bull everyone else does all the time doesn't mean he doesn't have the same ideals!
What both annoyed and concerned him was that the public seems to have some doubt about this, about the solidity of his character and this time, there was no Sensei to set them straight because Eraserhead was a Vigilante, a criminal in the eyes of the law and half of the population. That pissed him off, too. Aizawa-sensei was nothing like these maniacs in front of him and not just in a moral sense, either. Aizawa-sensei would be a damn terrifying villain because he kept his cool, wasn't talkative, was focused and wouldn't make the mistake of making presumptions.
Besides, he definitely had better speeches - made on the spot, no less - than the bullshit Fuck McHands had spouted to try and sway Katsuki to his side. So what if they'd tied him up at the Festival? So what if they'd gagged him? Yes, it had brought back the unpleasant reminder of the Sludge villain incident, but Katsuki didn't care. He had his shitty classmates in his corner, he had Sensei in his corner and he even had his parents in his corner, though his mother had a weird ass way of showing it most of the time. And he obviously had UA in his corner, judging by the way Midnight tried to speak up for him and the old rat supported her words as the media tried to rip both him and them apart for their own sadistic pleasure while he faced off, free - because these fuckers were fucking idiots and had set him free in order to 'show good will and camaraderie', as if those empty words meant anything, especially as they won't be letting him go if he were to try to leave of his own will - hands at the ready and Quirkjust pumping up, against the League of Villains in their shitty bar.
He just had to hold out, just long enough like Sensei had. Just long enough until someone comes and helps him get the fuck out of here. His bet's on either All Might or Eraserhead and they're honestly the only ones he would trust to get him out of here to someplace safe, because the location of the Training Camp had been a secret! There's a mole in UA or in the Hero Commission or somewhere in the system and it could be anyone. Anyone but All Might, Thirteen and Eraserhead, the three people who'd nearly given their lives for them at USJ. But Thirteen would be fatal in this situation, especially against the warpgate purple fart cloud and while Katsuki knows Eraserhead must have learned about his kidnapping by now, he wasn't sure how the man could possibly find him. The League had made a mess of the Training Camp, but he rather doubted they'd left a map to their secret hideout or something. The police were probably just as fucking clueless.
He had to hold out and while he'd gotten a good hit in by surprise, Fuck McHands had managed to dodge somehow the worst of the blow and the only thing he'd done was knock that hand off of his fucking face. He looked a little shaken and his aggressiveness had the rest of the League wary of approaching him again, which was damn fine in his book. He didn't want them closer, they're all close quarter combatants and while his hand to hand was pretty good, he didn't want to let the patchwork goth or the tacky magician currently asking him if this was his attitude - violent and aggressive and antagonizing - why he couldn't just pretend to have been swayed over to touch him because one could burn him into incapacitation while the other could turn him back into one of those stupid fucking marbles. He can't let that happen. He has to fight.
He has to hold out.
Because he knows at least someone would come to save him.
All Might or Sensei, he didn't care.
Just one of those two.
(One of the two people he could trust completely and unconditionally, because they've proven time and again that they'd go that extra mile for him.)
Fuck, he'd probably accept Deku or Half 'n' Half right now, too. He had to escape. He can't let them hold this over UA, over All Might. He won't be what ends the Symbol of Peace, goddamn it! He won't!
"If I'm feeling something, I ain't gonna lie about it," he tells the cliche clown magician guy. "And I'm not in the mood to hang around this boring dump for much longer." He brings a hand up, letting off a few smaller explosions just to warm his hands up for the fight that's coming.
But the leader is still standing like he'd been frozen after Bakugo's first strike, head swung to the side. There were minute tremors going though him, so small they were almost unnoticeable but the purple fart cloud seems to have seen something no one else has because he springs forward, calling out for Fuck McHands not to do anything. To which the white haired menace just looks at the ash blond UA student and Bakugo feels something like madness and killing intent stab into him like a knife, for just one second. Then the guy is bending over to pick up the fucking hand from the ground. "Just stay back, all of you ... This kid ... "He pauses to put the thing back onto his face, which is really a creepy fetish. "Is an important pawn."
"Tch."
"I wish you would've listened," Fuck McHands continues. "I thought we might understand each other."
"Nope," he replies in as annoying a tone as he could manage, channeling his inner Kaminari-Mineta-Sero combo. It should be deadly to anyone without steel-clad nerves. He thinks back to his stay with Jeanist during the internships and what the man had told him the first day, about how villains and Heroes are the same side of the coin but their conduct and morals are what makes them different. Katsuki knows he doesn't have the best of attitudes, but he'll never become a villain.
"What a shame." The guy almost sounded like he meant it. Well too fucking bad. "We all just heard about the investigation so I can't waste anymore time trying to convince you. Sensei." Bakugo couldn't help but perk up a bit at that word. It's practically a reflex at this point, to hear that word and think of Eraserhead. But the dark figure ain't here and Fuck McHands seems to be talking to ... an old, broken(?) TV set? here's certainly no image playing, just the usual NO SIGNAL display when the cable's not working. "Lend me your power."
Okay, he did not like the sound of that.
Nor the chuckle that suddenly came from the TV, deep and menacing. "Very well," the owner of the chuckle had just as deep of a voice as the laughter had implied. "A smart choice, Shigaraki Tomura." Oh yeah, this can't be good. That fucker from behind the TV screen made shivers run down Bakugo's spine and the guy wasn't even in the same room.
"Haaah? Sensei? I was pretty sure you were the boss around here. Pretty disappointing, I must say."
"You have no room to talk," the bastard threw back. "You worship the ground those Heroes walk on. And let's not even mention the Vigilante. I'm actually a bit impressed by how they get you to listen to anything they say."
"Want me to listen?" Katsuki scoffed. "Try saying something worthwhile, otherwise stuff it and go to hell."
He could just feel the glare directed at him at that. "Kurogiri, Compress, let's put him to sleep again so he doesn't make anymore trouble for us."
Bakugo stiffened at that before forcing himself to relax so he'd be ready for any attack that might come. Just as he started debating strategy within his mind, there came a knock from behind him, on the locked door. "Hello, Kamino pizza delivery," said a voice from beyond as they all turned, confused to regard the door.
'Wha-'
He didn't even get a chance to finish the thought before All Might was smashing through the door, crumbling it and the wall and any furniture on or near said wall in a matter of seconds. The building shook under the force of the hit, debris and dust flying through the air. The villains all cried out various sounds of surprise and alarm, especially as more Heroes came through, including Kamui Woods, some old guy in a white and yellow jumpsuit and cape and Edgeshot. From outside, he could hear police officers and the familiar shouting voice of Endeavor. More Heroes were out there too, apparently, if All Might was to be believed.
"Must've been scary," the big, muscly blond Hero said with his usual smile stretched over his face. "Good job on holding out! I'm sorry it's taken us this long to find you, but have no fear! You're okay now, Bakugo-shounen!"
Katsuki will take it to his grave just how near crippling the relief that washed over him felt, so he hid it behind his usual bluster, anger and bravado. "Sca-Scary!? As if! I almost had 'em!" But all All Might did in reaction to that was shoot him a thumbs up like an idiot. Bakugo wanted to tsk but that would be too rude, even for him.
The League were all bound up in Kamui Woods' binds. Edgeshot even had the warpgate guy under wraps, keeping him unconscious so he can't use his Quirk. The bloodsucking mosquito chick and the schizophrenia guy were thrashing about. Compress and that patchwork fucker seemed to be knocked out cold. All Might and Fuck McHands were exchange words about their resolve and rage and whatever, it didn't matter. There was a brief mention of the Nomu. It looked like a clear win for the Heroes and the police, and yet something didn't feel right here. The guy from the TV set hadn't said a word through all of this but Katsuki had a feeling he was still observing. Why was he letting this happen?
"You gotta be kidding. You gotta be kidding!" Oh shit, looks like the crazy hands fetish guy finally snapped. "Defeated, here, like this ... Just like that? No freaking way! Get out of here! Go to hell!" Damn, this guy makes Katsuki's worst moments seem tame, but at least he's just explosiveness and shouting and temper. This guy's all craziness and killing intent. He hadn't been like this at USJ! What the hell's going on here!?
"Where is he?!" All Might demanded and Katsuki felt sort of lost, like he didn't belong here, like he'd somehow gotten involved in something that didn't concern him at all. Yet he knew who All Might was talking about.
That TV guy.
It had to be him.
"I ... Hate you!" Shigaraki yelled and somehow that exclamation brought about a new fucking portal opening out of fucking nowhere despite the purple fart cloud being restrained by Edgeshot! Nomu just kept coming through the splashy-like portals and the Heroes were already scrambling on what to do with this new development.
Then, it happened in a second, out of fucking nowhere.
While All Might was ordering Kamui Woods to make sure not to release any of the villains, black liquid suddenly manifested in Bakugo's mouth and started overflowing. By the time All Might noticed, Katsuki already felt like he was both choking and fading away and then he just wasn't ... there anymore. Instead, he was elsewhere. In an instant, he's in what appears to be an industrial area, standing in front of a man about as tall as All Might, wearing a suit and a knock off Dart Vader mask. The most horrifying part was that there were defeated Heroes all around. Katsuki's eyes fell on Best Jeanist and something in him felt like it had twisted up and died when he saw the state of the Number Four Hero, his one time mentor. Sure, Jeanist had annoyed him and he'd felt like the first couple of days of his internship had been wasted, but the man was a good, just Hero and he'd talked to Katsuki with respect he might not have earned with his own behavior before Aizawa-sensei had stepped in. He didn't regret going to his agency, learning under him. He couldn't stand the sight of him now, broken and beaten, hair a mess and his clothes thorn all over.
Best Jeanist wasn't supposed to look like that. Best Jeanist was supposed to always be composed and perfectly in order.
"Apologies, Bakugo," the behemoth of a man said and Katsuki looked up with an annoyed, enraged and questioning tone, even as more of that fucking black liquid appeared and the League tumbled through. "You've failed again, Tomura." Well, at least the guy was no longer interested in him, but Katsuki now realized this was the TV guy, the big bad mastermind behind the League. Fuck McHands' 'Sensei'. "But you mustn't lose heart. There will be chances to set things right. That's why I've brought along your little band." Did that mean the League Of Villains Vanguard Action Squad hadn't been meant as a permanent thing? An experiment, perhaps? Would they have just ... killed them, if they'd gotten bored of them? Fuck, just how much power did this guy have to pull to be able to play with people's lives like that? "And the boy, because you've determined that he's an important pawn." Oh, screw that! Katsuki just wants to get out of here already! "So try again. That's what I'm here to help you to do," the boss villain said while extending a hand for Fuck McHands to take. "It's all for you." Then, all of a sudden ... "I knew you'd come."
And then All Might was there, hand to hand with the villain, the two of them wrestling with pure strength and nothing else, face to face. All Might wasn't smiling, just like back at USJ. The shock wave from their collision destroyed even more of the buildings in ruins around them, sending debris flying and almost knocking Bakugo over where he stood.
"You're gonna give it all back! All For One!" Bakugo had never heard the Number One Hero sound so furious before, so hateful. Just what the fuck was going on in this hell!?
"Here to kill me again, All Might?" Taunted the villain as they grappled. "What took you so long?" To Katsuki's shock, this All For One character managed to fling All Might away, something he'd never seen anyone be able to do. Fuck, he was sure Deku had never seen anyone do it and that fucking nerd knew everything about All Might. "It's about five kilometres from here to the bar and it took you about thirty seconds to arrive here after I've sent the Nomu. You're losing it, All Might."
"So are you. What's up with that industrial-looking mask? Are you sure you should be up and about in that state?" Oh, All Might sass? Deku's going to eat his heart out for missing this! (Yes, Katsuki is very aware that he shouldn't be making light of this fucking mess but he's two steps from having a breakdown and not thinking about it as a catastrophe might just be what's keeping him from falling over that him for trying to fucking cope! He's been kidnapped for two days, which he had, unfortunately, spent with those fucks and all he wants to do is go home and sleep for twelve hours and maybe forget this shit had ever happened. He'd rather not panic, thank you very much. He'll only be a hindrance to All Might that way.)
He must have missed a part of their conversation because the next thing he knows, All Might is launching at All For One and then he's sent flying like he's nothing more than a scrunched up paper ball with a single punch. That had been a transmitter Quirk, Katsuki was sure. Where the fuck was Eraserhead when you needed him!?
"ALL MIGHT!"
"Don't fret," the villain had the audacity to say, addressing Bakugo as though consoling him. "That won't be enough to kill him. If only it were that easy." Bakugo sneered at him, explosions cracking along his palms, ready to fight for his life if he needed to because like hell's he getting taken again. But All For One turned his attention to Fuck McHands, his own fingers seeming to do something strange, turning black with red lines. "You need to flee, Tomura. And take the boy with you. I will deal with All Might."
"Like hell you're taking me!" He actually took the initiative to launch an explosion at the villain, stopping him just a second before the extended fingers or whatever the fuck they were - just how many fucking Quirks did this guy have!? - could sink into the fart cloud, thus providing the League with an escape route.
"Now that wasn't a very smart thing to do," the main villain said but then All Might was back again and the fucker didn't have time to worry about Katsuki or getting the other fuckers an escape route because he was clashing with All Might all over again. The crappy magician guy insisted that they start running since All For One was too busy to offer them transport and then they all turned towards Katsuki, saying they needed to 'pick up their pawn'.
"Like hell," he grit out, falling into his preferred fighting stance. They attacked him all at once, no holding back, no care in the world for if they hurt him this time or not. He had to keep evading them but even he can't do that forever. He's just grateful patch-job was still unconscious, lying on the ground next to fart cloud. Those two were the real trouble, but it was still six to one and he hadn't had proper rest or anything to eat since the night he was taken. But the mime guy was also a big fucking problem for him because if that guy touches him, it's game over.
All Might tried coming to get him a few times but All For One kept him fairly busy as they continued to further decimate the site. The debris flying from their direction wasn't helping him any, either, fuck.
And then, to their utter shitty luck, blue flames lit up the night because now, apparently, patch-job's woken up. He looks a bit unstable on his feet but he's able to focus and so the League just got back their only long distance fighter and he's an arson maniac. Katsuki's explosions can't do anything against fire. If anything, this is his one biggest weakness, because the nitroglycerin his sweat glands produce will just blow up before he wants it to, which would actually only hurt him, maybe even blow his fucking hands off! Katsuki's never really liked summer unless he's in the mood to fight seriously. He always kept making explosions, even when he didn't want to. One year, he'd nearly brought the whole house down when he'd forgotten to turn up the AC in his room.
He was so busy avoiding the flames that he must have missed the fucking magical clown sneak up behind him and for a second there, he thought that was it, he was about to be taken away again and All Might will no doubt be put to blame, but then the next second ozone and green crackling electricity filled his awareness as fucking Deku crashed into the fucker and sent him flying. Deku, who'd been in such shit condition when Katsuki had last seen him, that he really shouldn't be out of a hospital bed, let alone pressing himself to stand back to back with him. Also, why the fuck was the shitty nerd dressed like that!?
"What are you doing here, Deku!?" He thundered even as the bloodsucker squealed and Fuck McHands sneered, the others just preparing for a bigger fight.
Patch-job did not hesitate to send a torrent of fire at them, only for the attack to be blocked by a glacier of ice. Then shitty hair was decking the mosquito and glasses and ponytail descended on that magnet one and the lizard one. Mime did not get back up. Seems like Deku had decked him alright.
"We're here to get you out of here, Kacchan!"
"Yeah, Bakubro! What's it look like?" Kirishima threw in between dodging knife-swipes from the crazy lady, Quirk active before he decked her. There was a lot of punching and dodging involved as those two fought because apparently little Ms mosquito was a fucking gymnast or something.
"Getting into fucking trouble, that's fucking what!"
"Don't worry!" Yaoyorozu called from where she'd made a shield and a weapon of her own to deal with the lizard freak. "I've alerted Sensei!"
Bakugo couldn't help the grin that split his face at that. "Music to my ears."
"We need to get out of here!" Iida yelled, for once not doing his robot shtick as he was in charge of the magnet dude. "Do not engage above ensuring your escape!"
"That's a bit hard to do, Class Rep," said Todoroki in turn, where he seemed to be fighting fire with fire and ice. He and patchwork seemed to be having their own minuscule epic battle going on.
That left Deku and Katsuki with Fuck McHands and the schizophrenia clone guy, who had, unfortunately, taken the opportunity to create two more patchworks, two more lizards and one more Fuck McHands. At least he hadn't been smart enough to make more of the mime. Fuck, but that would be a fucking nightmare. As if it already wasn't.
"We're here for you, Kacchan! You don't have to fight alone!"
Red eyes met green before Katsuki looked away, conceding having a partner for this one fight. "Then let's do this rationally! Die, motherfuckers!"
Even if he said that, it wasn't that easy. Fuck McHands had the most dangerous Qurik in this fucking group of fucked up misfits and he had his eye set on Deku, who was a close range combatant. Katsuki was, too, but he could make his explosions reach further. Especially if he has his gauntlets. Fuck, but he's never missed his gauntlets as much as he does fucking now! And he can't fight the clones with the fire Quirk, either. One wrong move and he'd sooner blow himself and Deku up than their opponents.
This was the worst possible Quirk match-up either of them could have gotten. Half 'n' Half was busy with the pyromaniac, shitty hair had his own hands full with the little bloodsucker and Class Rep and Vice-Rep were also busy. And All Might was apparently also fucking busy fucking fighting the strongest villain Bakugo had ever fucking seen.
"You shitty extras shouldn't have fucking come, Deku," he told his childhood friend, wondering at the irony that the two of them might just die together, back to back, as though they were still the friends they'd once been, so many years ago. How fucking death puts things into fucking perspective. Maybe he shouldn't have been such a bully to the only true friend he'd ever had, one who'd admired him but hadn't worshiped him simply for his 'Hero-like' Quirk. And maybe Deku should have given up on him long ago instead of putting up with it. Fuck. "At least that way, UA would have taken the heat for only one of us dy-"
"Don't you dare say that!" Deku screamed and it was like they were at the practical exam all over again, Deku desperately trying to get him to just listen to him and accept him, even if only for one moment, even if only this once. "What is up with you and quitting lately!? Where's the Kacchan that would fight until he won!? Where's the Kacchan I've looked up to all my life!?"
"Still fucking here, Deku, but I don't want people dying over me!"
"How touching! How boring!" The schizophrenia freak gushed/sneered and Katsuki sneered right back, teeth bared as though he were a dog. He doesn't care for the comparison. At this point, he just wants his idiot classmates out of here. The League wants him, right? But, then again, they've tried killing Icyhot and Deku before. There's no guarantee that they'd leave them be if they had him.
"Deku, any ideas, you fucking nerd?"
Deku didn't even deign to be surprised by his sudden cooperativeness. But he also didn't even get a chance to reply before Fuck McHands was talking again. "Twice, make a clone of Mr Compress to pack 'em up. We can take both. I'm sure All Might will be devastated!"
"Great idea! Why didn't I think of that? Because it probably won't work!" Both of the boys tensed when a new clone of mud appeared, taking shape, details and then color until another 'Mr Compress' stood before them, twirling one of those damned marbles in his gloved hand. "Capture them! Let them go!"
But just as the clone moved, as their classmates and even All Might turned around to watch with wide, alarmed, maybe even terrified and despairing eyes as they're taken away once again-
The clone stopped, shuddered and sloshed down into a puddle of mud.
In fact, all the clones did.
Then patchwork's blue fire died out and the lizard freak suddenly couldn't move, falling limp to the ground, seemingly unconscious.
The biggest change, though, was that All For One also thumped down onto the ground from where he'd been floating while powering up some super move or something, stumbling as he tried not to fall over.
Everything had stopped.
No, Quirks have stopped.
Deku realized it as fast as he had and immediately, they looked around, craning their heads to search, to see that one figure they'd somehow come to trust as much as their childhood Hero and idol. A man they hadn't known for three months. A man who they should, by all means, start hunting the second they become Pros because he is, technically, breaking the law.
News helicopters had arrived at some point. That old Hero from before was here, too. Mt Lady had sat up, conscious but not able to hold her giant form, probably concussed.
A glance down at his hands revealed that he could still make explosions, which meant only the villains' Quirks have stopped.
Then, from the corner of his eye, he saw it. A flash of white, a glimpse of yellow.
Turning around, he drew everyone's attention to where he was looking, up on the closest still standing building, taller than the other ones around by two stories. There, something dangling from the edge, crouching like a gargoyle, was none other than the Vigilante most suited to help in this fucked up situation.
Eraserhead.
Sensei!