A few minutes later, the starting bell rang and we headed inside the mock battles cape. OK, gotta do everything I can to -

Deku was running behind me and had already started dumping on me. "In order to pass this exam, it's obvious that combat is impossible, we can't possibly win,so -"

"Don't follow me!" I snapped. "It's fucking obvious we should just knock him out!"

"A-and I'm telling you we should avoid a b-battle at any cost!" he cried back. He looked nervous as hell.

"I'll lead him around by the nose until the final moments, and then I'll smash him when he's worn out," I explained. Be reassured, dammit. I can do this. Quit doubting me!

There was a pause, then Deku said, "Just who do you think All Might is? No matter the number of handicaps, the idea that you'd beat him is just - "

It felt like he'd punched me in the face. Everything I always figured he'd thought about me, just thrown right back at me. You'll never beat All Might, you insignificant bug, you'll never be as good as me. You jackass, you - dammit, Deku -

And I turned around and slapped him right back. Ended up catching him with the gauntlet and he stumbled over and hit the ground. Still unlikely he was hurt anywhere near as bad as he'd just hit me.

"Not another goddamn word. Just cause you're getting better - don't say another word," I said, barely able to think through how pissed off I was getting.

He was glaring at me now, and of course, didn't do as I'd asked and continued telling me. "I'm just telling you so we can pass the test, Kacchan. So listen - "

"I told you, I don't need any help from you! I can win this all by myself!" I cried desperately. Quit looking down on me - I'll show you, dammit!

"Would you stop yelling?" he yelled back at me. "This is why we never have real conversations!"

THOOOM

From behind us, the entire cityscape was blasted by a wind like an oncoming hurricane.

Buildings collapsed. Poles snapped. It was like an earthquake on steroids.

All Might had made his move.

"WHO REALLY CARES IF I DESTROY THIS CITY?" Boomed the voice we knew so well - familiar, yet unfamiliar. He appeared in the smoke, a towering fucking silhouette.

"IF YOU'RE THINKING OF THIS AS JUST A TEST, THEN YOU'RE IN FOR A WORLD OF PAIN. I'M A VILLAIN NOW, HEROES. COME AT ME AND PUT YOUR WHOLE HEARTS INTO THIS."

What the hell is this? This intimidation?

From Deku's face it was clear he was thinking the same thing.

All Might was coming for us.

"This is bad, you definitely can't fight so let's run," Deku told me immediately. You're too weak to do this, loser, was what he really meant.

"Don't order me around!" I snapped back, getting ready and taking aim at the World's Greatest Hero with a Stun Grenade. "All Might! You don't need to tell me to fight. That was my plan n -"

He clapped his hand over my face. But I wasn't about to let that stop me. "- From the start!" I snarled through his clenched fingers, and let loose with a series of mini-blasts. He sounded barely annoyed by them, though he was raising one hand over his face to guard his eyes. But then he reached that same hand, grabbed my gauntlet, and slammed me into the ground. It felt like a concussion - the hit was the force and pressure of being hit by a truck.

"A FEEBLY FLURRY LIKE THAT BARELY HURT ME AT ALL," he jeered back at me as I found myself coughing in pain. "AND NOW - YOU'LL SOON JOIN HIM, YOUNG MIDORIYA!"

In seconds he was blocking Deku's path. "YOU GOING TO ABANDON YOUR TEAMMATE AND RUN?" he snarled at Deku, who had indeed been running to leave me. Like you've given up on me already. Dammit, I'll show you - I'll show you -

I had jumped up - too fast, because Deku had jumped Away from All Might, and I was headed right for him.

"MOVE DAMMIT!?" I cried - too late. We crashed right into each other, me colliding with Deku's back, and we both hit the ground.

I got back up, ready to fight. Deku sneered at me, "I'm telling you, there's no way you can win in a fight against him!"

"Shut up," I snapped back. "I will win. Because that's what a hero does."

He jumped up and grabbed my shoulder, trying to physically stop me.

"Then that's all the more reason -"

"Let go of me!" I shouted.

"FOR THE TIME BEING," boomed out from above us. I turned. All Might was hovering over us with a ripped off piece of guardrail? "A PRESENT FOR THE ONE WHO WANTS TO RUN!"

He slammed it over Deku's back, pinning him to the ground. My heart skipped a beat in horror before I saw he hadn't skewered him, just pinned him.

THUMP

All Might's fist slammed into my stomach. It felt like I'd been cut in half and I vomited as I flew away and bounced along the ground.

"Kacchan!" Deku called after me.

I got myself to my feet, coughing and wrenching. All Might was walking towards me. I was in too much pain to move properly.

"I understand why you're so impatient," he smiled at me. "It's because of Young Midoriya's sudden improvement, is it not? But you know, if you compare someone at level 1 to someone at level 50, then the pace at which they grow can't be totally even, now can it? What you're doing, it's such a waste, boy. Don't you get it? Surely you must. Even you can still grow so much. But what needs to grow isn't your strength."

"Shut up, All Might," I coughed out, too tired to deal with this lecturing. "If I'm so bad that I have to get help from a weakling like him, then I'd rather lose this. Do you hear me?"

"That so?" said Sensei, leveling it towards me - a final punch. "Then don't regret this."

"Godddamit," I choked out, too tired and sick to move -

A fist hit my face - but it wasn't All Might's.

I was flying backwards as Deku soared over me, the guardrail forgotten.

"Don't you DARE say that you'd rather lose!" he screamed at me. "YOU, of all people?!"

you of all people…

We were just kids, standing together watching our favorite All Might videos together…

"Did you see that?" I'd asked Deku. "It's four on one, right? No way he can win? But now he'll dodge, and then punch! It doesn't get any better than All Might. No matter how bad the situation he is, he's always the winner!"

Deku was carrying me over his shoulder like a rag doll.

"Let me go, dammit," I choked out.

"Kacchan," he sighed, dragging me - bouncing around again like I would - into an alleyway to hide. "I - I really can't think of a way to beat All Might. And I can't think of a way to escape from him, either."

Huh? You? The kid who's always got some stupid plan up your sleeve?

"But why don't you try using me before you give up?" he begged me. "Don't say you'd rather lose. Aren't you the guy who never gives up on winning?"

We were in first grade and I'd stood up to 4th graders who'd tried to push us around. The extras were impressed and I'd told them, while Deku watched me with sparkling eyes…

"The number one hero always wins. In the end, they come out on top. No matter what."

We were panting and exhausted, hiding in the alleway.

"I won't say this twice, you damn nerd," I told him. "No matter how you try to run and hide, against an enemy with such ridiculous speed, there's just no way you can avoid a fight."

"But - but we don't stand a chance in combat!"

"Shut the fuck up or I'll knock you into the sun!" I snapped. Like hell we don't. "I learned earlier when we fought that any half-assed attack won't hurt him, so we need to go full-throttle at zero distance. It'll be a way to deal some damage and clear some distance at the same time."

The only way to do it - is to work together. That's the rules. This is pissing me off - to think that I'm working with someone like you?

But there was no choice, not in this situation, if we wanted to win. I pulled the tab on my gauntlet and handed it to Deku.

"Huh?"

"Strap it on," I told him, pulling the wires over his arm. "Pull the pin once you've got him in your sights."

He nodded, for once just accepting without a word.

I blasted out of the alleyway behind All Might.

"You're going the wrong way!" I shouted, blasting him with an average blow. Keeping his eyes on me. And then -

"DEKU, NOW!"

I moved out of the way in time as Deku pulled the pin on my gauntlet and threw the blow at All Might - a full scale explosion, aimed at the already destroyed area.

"RUN, IDIOT!" I shouted as I blasted towards the exit, past Deku, who was just standing there.

"Ah, right!" he called after me.

I kept going. Don't say you'd rather lose. You of all people.

you of all people…

We ran through the cityscape, headed towards the exit. The entire city scape in the direction of the gate had been wrecked - it looked like All Might had aimed that blast from right by the gates.

"We're almost there, it's right there!" Deku was babbling. "The escape gate! Don't know why it looks so cute, but if even just one of us can get through it we'll pass."

I looked around, taking in the destruction. Goddamn, even the buildings and pavement and stuff here got sent flying. I mean, the fact that he sent that shock wave from over by the gate, all the way to the center area we started at. HE's just fucking with us…

"I don't see All Might chasing after us," said Deku. "Think we finished him?"

I wanted to smack my forehead; how could anyone be so damn arrogant? "Of course not! You're the one who keeps going on about how it's impossible to actually beat him! Ain't a chance in hell. If he catches up to us, then it'll be my turn to blast him to hell with a gauntlet."

"Hm, interesting!"

I jumped. All Might and appeared - almost from nowhere - in between us.

"And then what?" he smiled.

Before I could move - he'd punched my gauntlet, then the one on Deku. They exploded into pieces.

"Why so surprised?" All Might grinned.

"He's too fast!" gasped Deku, stating the obvious.

"Oh, but thanks to these weights, this isn't even my top speed," said All Might with an even wider grin. "Now heroes - it's time for you both to die!"

The next few minutes were a blur of pain and speedy blows. I could barely think - barely even see what was happening, but when I came to, I was under All Might's boot, while he hoisted Deku into the air by one arm.

"Shall I bury you, then?" he gloated.

That blinding speed. That stamina, that power. He''s too powerful, he's just that strong, pure and simple strength. Squaring off against him, I once again understand. This man is the most unstoppable force in the world. He's the greatest hero. The tallest wall in the world..

"Dammit," gasped out Deku.

"What's that face about, boy?" All Might gloated at Deku, then threw him aside. "Using your maximum flame to repel me away, while slipping off to the escape gate. It seems that was your response, but now that I've destroyed young Bakugou's gauntlets, you've lost your heavy attack. This is over."

"SHUT UP!" I snapped back. And with my bare hand, I let off against him - the attacked I'd aimed at her before, the barehanded howitzer.

My hands and body throbbing, I pushed myself up.

"I'm flinging you," I warned Deku, picking him up by his left arm.

"It ain't gonna be smooth, but with the strength gap between us right now, there's no other way to win."

"You don't mean - " he cried, but before he could finish, I tossed him with a battle cry "DIE!"

All Might blasted backwards into Deku as he flew through the air and slammed him into the ground.

"Too naive, heroes," he gloated. I tried not to choke as Deku went spinning and bouncing along the ground. Time for action. I was blasting towards All Might now.

"The bracer is to fire off my maximum power flame with no risk," I told the symbol of peace. "But I was an idiot." I smiled then, in the face of a wall. "There was no way I could ever beat you without taking any risks." And again, my maximum howitzer.

Deku had stopped. "DEKU, GO!" I called to him. "You're a recent study, this is still my domain! Be useful, you damn nerd!"

Again I blasted at All Might. My arms were aching, throbbing, so sore and hanging almost limply at my sides now.

All Might would head for Deku - I knew it. And just as easily as I could predict him, I could block him by jumping into the way.

And as quickly as I intercepted, he grabbed my head and push it into the dirt.

"Go to sleep, young Bakugou. And put those self wrecking ways of yours to sleep too. AS your sensei, this is a little traumatic."

I let off another blast to keep him busy as my head began to fill with fog.

"Quick," I choked out. "Go, you damn nerd. I'll keep fighting. I'll break myself - even if there's nothing left of me, I will win the way I want to. I'll destroy myself before I accept defeat at your hands. Got that?" I snapped, biting onto All Might's hand as my strength faded. If Deku can keep pushing through broken arms - through all those injuries it took to fight Todoroki, through just as much pain as I'm in now - then I can too. I will not lose to you - I won't, I won't -

And everything went black.

I came to in the infirmary. We were surrounded by a bunch of monitors, showing all the other teams. I could see Deku's silhouette as he watched the screens, and the school teacher's back near him.

He was standing up straight. My body was sore and tired but otherwise OK. Deku seemed to be watching the other teams taking the exam.

"What happened?" I said at last, after watching him for a while.

He jumped and looked back at me.

"We passed," he said simply. "Are you - "

"I'm fine," I snapped. No way I want to hear you worry about me.

"You certainly took a lot of damage, sonny," said the nurse lady. "I'll have to scold All Might some more for not holding back."

"You only hold back on weaklings," I snapped.

Deku tilted his head, looking at me. "Y-you did really well against him, Kacchan," he blurted out. I stared at him.

"Oh, shut up," I told him, but it didn't come out as angry as usual. It wasn't Deku I was annoyed with. "I didn't beat him or anything. But next time, I will," I added. "And you too."

He looked at me as if he was confused, but oddly enough, he smiled. "Well, it was a good plan, anyway."

I wasn't sure what to say. It seemed like for once I'd won the whole thing for us, and Deku was admitted that I wasn't a complete screw-up. Was that even possible?

"Instead of testing your pride," said the nurse, "you should try not to get pinned down again. And you," she added to Deku, "you took too much of a risk at the end, running back from the gate, punching All Might and grabbing your teammate…noble, maybe, but -"

"WHAT!?" I shouted. The look on Deku's face made it clear what she was saying was true. He'd gone back to pick me up after All Might had knocked me out.

So you were just condescending at me - again?

I jumped up and ran out of there. I can't believe I thought I'd impressed you.