Chapter 88 - Within the Perfect Hero

The afternoon sun basked the conference room in a warm winter glow, but the atmosphere was anything but warm. President Mic's face was unreadable, sweat trickling down his face. Midnight looked a loss for words, a hand cupping the bottom of her chin and right cheek. All Might's face was hidden by his bangs, head low while staring at his hands in his lap. Eraserhead stared directly ahead with startled eyes, frown knitted thinly.

"Okay, just so the teachers present heard you correctly, could you repeat yourself?" The Principle, Nesu, sat on the edge of the long desk beside Eraserhead.

"I..." Yuki's voice choked, lifting her head, a guilt-ridden stare on her pale face. "I'm the traitor, it's me."


Several Hours Before...

"Did I ever say how amazing you are?" Yuki's big reddish-blue eyes blinked a few times, coaxing a grunt from behind Tekres's rebreather.

"With all respect, Archon, you are horrible at this," He clicked before turning to both Yuki and Kyoka, the purplette pinching the bridge of her nose at her friend's attempts to 'butter up' to the Wolf Splicer. "What is it?"

"The gauntlets, are there any... side effects of keeping them on?" She see-sawed her hand nervously, earning a strange stare from Tekres who grabbed one of the twin bracers, Yuki's. which was a plain carbon black with faint, blue strips between the plates. "N-not questioning your skill, just... some stuff came up, like Siva appearing in Izuku's dreams so I was a little worried,"

He saw this many times, the worried look of a mate. With a long-winded breath, he handed her the bracer. "They are prototypes, long exposure could result in negative effects, the Devils old Archon's appearance is likely to be a minimal risk to your mate's health." Yuki's face tinged a little pink hearing that term.

"Still not used to hearing some call you and Broccoli Head that," Kyoka rubbed her nape gingerly, poking Yuki out of her stupor with a jack. "Guess that's everything, right? Crisis averted."

"Why do you call me that? 'Archon' I mean?" Yuki spoke up again, meeting the Eliksni's eyes, the soft tinkering outside his workshop from the Support Unit barely cutting the tension. Yuki had heard it every time the two interacted, and to this day, she couldn't place as to why. "Is it because Siva, or Aksis, was the Archon Prime? Or because of my DNA even though I'm not Eliksni? I dunno..."

"Blood or not, you are recognized by several notable Eliksni," Tekres replied, claw brushing down his blue cloak. "By former Winter turned Devil, a dead Archon, and have proven yourself to display the credible attributes of a leader," With a chatter in his throat, he turned back to his work, handing Yuki the last gauntlet. "You have a long way to go, but I believe, from my own observations, you are deserving of the title."

"I..." That was something else. Yuki heard SIVA call her it on the odd occasion, mainly imparting his name onto her. But to the Houses as a whole, to be called 'Archon' was the second-highest title with Kell leading a House. It left the bluette feeling an odd soup of emotions, joy, anxiety, doubt, confidence. With a small, grateful smile, she bowed her head. "I'll do my best to live up to that, Tekres."

"Mm," He nodded as Kyoka tapped Yuki's shoulder with a smirk.

"Come on then, Archon, let's go find where All Might dragged String Bean off to," She teased as Yuki giggled bashfully.

"You really love calling him those names."

"Part of being a good friend, gotta prod at his buttons somehow," She shrugged nonchalantly.

Heading back to class before everyone went off to lunch, Yuki and Kyoka continued their banter of what new names to call Izuku, or that's how it started before Yuki's smile grew with an insidious glint in her eyes. Kyoka flinched, giving her best friend a strange look. "Uh, what's with the creeper stare?"

"Oh, nothing, just thinking about Akio is all," Yuki hummed, seeing Kyoka's aloof stare twitch a little.

"What about? Another of his crazy stories about that 'Viral' guy, his Nightmare?" Kyoka waved a hand but Yuki cocked her head side-to-side.

"Nah, not really, he had a lot to say about you though," She pressed, seeing Kyoka's jacks starting to curl. Playing innocent, Yuki tapped her chin. "Out of everyone in our class he always went into detail about you, and he looked really happy when he did, but that's just what I think, anyhow, I'm not good at reading people."

"I-I see..." Her smile was crooked, jacks flicking beside her cheeks. "I'm gonna kill him... weirdo,"

"You think it's true, what he told us about the whole 'rewinding time'?" Yuki was genuinely curious. Kyoka can tell when a person lies, even a Nightmare, and while Yuki could tell Akio was a very honest person it was ultimately Kyoka who could see through fiction. "If it's true, then... me and Izuku..." The thought of them dying - no - of Izuku dying in front of her eyes frightened her so much it made her nanites shiver. "All of us suffered and we never knew - or rather he kept it from happening-"

"I don't know," Kyoka's reply drew Yuki's eyes as they rounded the last corner, seeing the lost expression on her face, tapping her jacks together. "There's so much to take in, especially after he saved us from that one Nightmare that had been so close to us... but he's telling the truth, nothing he's said was a lie."

"Then..." Yuki trailed off, but then the girls noticed the pair of boys ahead of them. Suddenly, that gloomy atmosphere shifted as Yuki gave Kyoka a wink, tapping her lips as she teleported ahead. "Boop."

"YAAH!" Izuku nearly hit the ceiling beside All Might, the blonde stumbling aside in shock. With a pair of warm arms around Izuku's paralyzed form, he snapped out of his bewilderment at a soft laugh in his ears.

"Th-that was *wheeze* priceless~!" Yuki leaned over his shoulder, cackling madly with a snort from Kyoka.

"You too!?" Izuku gaped before slumping, staring ahead with an exhausted smile. "I thought I was going to die..."

"Oh, don't be such a baby, Scallion," Kyoka chimed in, covering her mouth as she giggled.

"That's a new one," He was doomed at this rate. Trying to change the subject, he let Yuki continue to hug him against his back, her chin on his shoulder. "Did you ask, Tekres?"

"Yep, nothing to worry about," Yuki held up two fingers to form an 'O', "We're set for the practical,"

All Might then stepped in with his students. "We've finished our own discussion on 'that' development, it surprised me more that Siva had also observed everything too," Again and again his students uncovered more than All Might could answer, to which he felt guilty for not having a reply for either of them. "Enough of that for now, I'll be watching your progress today as well, I look forward to seeing everyone's progress, It'll be fun!"

"I'll be fun...?" Izuku echoed, a little confused on that matter.

"We're gonna blow everyone's minds with our little trick, right, Zuzu?" Yuki grinned, nuzzling his cheek.

"Su-sure!" He agreed as a voice perked up ahead.

"Oh, you four..." Mr Aizawa stood at the doorway to the classroom, everyone else had already left. "You look like you're getting along, as usual, All Might, Midoriya."

"Aizawa!" All Might waved his hand nervously, looking like a deer in headlights. "It's not like that... he asked me to-"

That was when the four were given a stare straight from hell by their teacher, dark purple energy protruding from his wavy hair. "Don't make it sound like you've been caught having an affair. It's not funny."

All Might shrank back, pale as a ghost at the revelation. "...you don't have to say it so directly..."

Yuki then patted All Might's shoulder with a smile. "It's okay, Mr Aizawa is just mad cause he can't spend quality time with my Mo - Ack!" Her words were cut short by a roll of tempered cloth wrapped around her neck and mouth, silencing her retort. "Mm mm mm mm!"

"She said 'no denial'," Kyoka translated from behind Izuku, afraid she would be next to be mummified.

From behind Mr Aizawa, a familiar face revealed itself, having heard the commotion. Izuku perked up in surprise. "Shinso! You were with Mr Aizawa before too, huh?" The General Studies student was caught off guard at Izuku's kindness, especially since it had been a long time since the two had talked face-to-face.

"Yeah, I guess." He answered back, seeing Kyoka using her jacks to try and free Yuki from their teacher's bindings, her mask's eyes spasming various danger signs.

Aizawa's sinister glare never wavered. "Midoriya, Azuru, Jiro, you should go early to warm up."

"Yes, sir!" "Mm, Mm!"


The practical lesson between Class 1-A and 1-B was announced. For the afternoon, the two classes went head to head in chaotic battles to capture or incapacitate the other, with both sharing Shinso for one match each to test if he will be capable of joining the Hero Course as he always wanted.

Various quirks were pushed to their limits and beyond with wins and losses on both sides of the coin. It was neck and neck, with Katsuki leading the charge with a complete wipeout of 1-B by his hands alongside Kyoka, Sero, and Sato. Their weakness was clear from the start, they believed Katsuki hadn't matured, in his own way, he was still the same but his cooperation had skyrocketed.

"Oh my... oh my..." Before the speechless spectators, the man who gave nothing but biased commentary since the beginning, Vlad King, was stunned, his words failing him at the mic. "It didn't even take five minutes. With unexpected teamwork, Class A wins a perfect 4-0!"

"Aw, would you look at that folks-!" Beside Vlad's gloomy visage, Rayla, who wasn't participating due to her profession as a Guardian, held her own mic, smiling like a cat that caught a canary, poking the large man's bicep. "-it seems with complete expectation, Class A just bulldozed the enemy team without a scratch!"

"What's with the biased commentary?" Vlad defended until several in 1-A spoke up.

"YOU HAVE NO RIGHT SAYING THAT!" The teacher shrank back down under their towering forms, the lot had to put up with his favoritism all afternoon.

By the time they all returned Mr Aizawa simply held up a thumb to his students. "You didn't do any more damage than you needed to, and you secured them quickly after capturing them. With Bakugo as the focus with his exceptional mobility and combat ability, the three of you also provided great support."

"That. Was. Awesome~!" Katsuki recoiled after shrugging off All Might's own praise as Yuki beamed in front of him.

"Move it already!" He growled

"I've never seen you move so quickly, and that precision with your blasts and utilizing your surroundings while relying on your teammates!" Yuki swung her arms as her fingers let off small blue fireworks. "You! You of all people cooperated, that's amazing!"

"What the hell's that supposed to mean!? I can communicate, you Mute Bastard!" Red ticks bulged from his head as the machinist patted his shoulder. "...!"

"Kacchan!" Izuku called out.

"Move, scum!" He barked at them both, but only Yuki was in front of him.

"I'm not in your way though..." Izuku pointed out with a timid voice, retaining his smile. Ultimately, Katsuki huffed sharply.

"I'm moving forward," Was all he said, shoving past Yuki lightly toward Ochaco.

"Yeah, it was amazing," Izuku complimented as Yuki put a hand on her hip.

"You really are doing better, Katsuki," He stopped, glaring over his shoulder, expression hidden by his thick collar.

"Tch, I'm moving so fast you two won't be able to catch up to me," He reminded them.

"We'll move faster," They chimed.

"Shut up with that mind-sharing crap! Is that all you came here to say!?" He turned away. "I won't let either of you beat me! Stupid, scum trash!"

"He's really not one for calling us by our names, huh?" Yuki walked up beside Izuku, noting his determination, herself shrugging. "You're getting there, soon, you'll master your quirk."

"Thank you, Yuki," He cupped her hand softly, just as All Might walked up. "Kacchan might have changed a lot when he got his quirk, and it made him do a lot of bad things but I don't really see that anymore, not entirely anyway."

"You have a good childhood friend," All Might added as Yuki sighed, the trio watching him continue to yell even as Ochaco praised his flustered state.

"Too bad he has the personality of a wood chipper." Yuki snarked.

|A baffling enigma indeed|

"If only he spoke more politely..." Even the former Symbol couldn't refute that.


As the final match was about to begin, Yuki sat alone on the railing with Jura leaning against it too, his arms crossed. "We've got a plan for you guys; how 'bout you, Yuyu?"

"Probably what you're thinking, even Nana would see it," She kept it vague as he chuckled, closing his eyes.

"Yeah, we've got only one surefire way to beat the likes of you, Midoriya, and Akio, heck, your whole team's a powerhouse!" He chuckled, glancing up at Yuki who kept her brow furrowed. "Hm?"

"Shinso and Monoma are the biggest threats," That answer caught Jura off guard, especially since she gave away that sliver of intel. "With Shinso's mask, plus Monoma's way of getting under people's skin, we'll be forced to limit our communication."

"You figured out that much already, huh, impressive," Jura remarked but Yuki smiled earnestly, looking to where Izuku spoke with Akio and Kyoka.

"Not me, Izuku figured it out before Katsuki's match," Hopping down, she put her fist out. "I'll see you real soon, Tekton."

"You know it, Aksis!" He bumped her fist with a toothy smile. "I've been itching for round two, so don't hold back on me this time!"

"Me and Siva never do," She warned, eyes flashing a lighter blue before parting ways.


Down on the battleground, the team strolled toward the capture point, contemplating their first move. "-If I'm honest, their team is perfectly balanced; Jura, Shinso, Monoma, Yanagi, and Kodai,"

"So, we should priortise Shinso, right?" Akio inquired, adjusting his red scarf. "I mean, me and Yuki are the only ones that can break brainwashing, so it makes sense."

"True, but I need to prioritise Jura," Yuki pointed out, "If the others surround us all he needs to do is use one of his finishers and we'll be waking up in a hospital bed, no offense." She winced.

"Nope, totally right on the ball," Ashido slumped with Ochaco. "We're totally the weaker two in this team..."

"Sorry for that..." Ochaco smiled slightly. "Compared to you two, Deku, or Katsuki, we're better for support."

"And that's the best we could ask for!" Akio grinned, punching his palm. "Two supports, myself as the buffer, and two attackers; plus, with all this metal, your acid's perfect, Ashido!" The pink girl was pleasantly surprised to hear that, "Combined with your gravity quirk and my magic, we'd be unstoppable in terms of wide-range coverage!" Ochaco beamed again at that.

"So you see, you're not a liability, you girls never are," Yuki added softly as Izuku leapt from over the cage, charged up after giving his quirk a quick warm-up.

"They're right because I'll be the distraction for them all with Yuki!" He announced, standing up again.

"Lovely entrance as always," Yuki tipped an invisible hat. "I'm saving my big entrance 'till Jura, got a new stunt to pull."

"Wait, Midoriya, didn't you say your quirk was acting weird?" Ashido asked worryingly. The greenette stood up to flex a few of his joints, feeling his energy flow stabilize as naturally as breathing, then he ran his fingers across the bracer with green accents on his left arm.

"Yeah, it's totally fine now, but after seeing that fourth match, I think the other team will be on guard around us both, I need to move even more than usual," Izuku elaborated, tapping his foot.

"You both look fine, soul-wise, but..." Akio drew their gazes. "If you need me to tag in, let me know, better safe than sorry,"

"Thanks," Yuki smiled as he flashed a thumb.

"Don't worry-" Izuku clenched his electrified fist. "-We can definitely win this!"

"Here," Yuki handed them all a black earpiece. "Even if we can't communicate, I can send my thoughts to you if needed."

"Sweet," "Always count on you, Yuyu!" The girls thanked, putting the earbuds in.

"Let's finish this with a bang!" Akio fist-bumped, Ashido's pumped with Ochaco's.

"Together as always," Yuki nudged Izuku.

|Go forth House of Devils|

"We hear you loud and clear, Siva!" Yuki giggled at everyone's surprise at the Fallen's voice.

"'House of Devils', I like it!" Ochaco smiled.

~Alright-Alright-Alright! The teams are in place, and the stage is set!~ Rayla announced far and wide.

~Now for the fifth match! Are you ready!? Do your best until the end!~ Vlad bellowed

~START!~

The team broke across the factory setting quickly, Izuku and Yuki leading the vanguard as they leapt like bolts of blue and green lightning across the pipes and catwalks to gauge their surroundings and where the enemy may be waiting for them. Yuki's mask was dead-set on locating Jura as quickly as possible.

"We haven't fought since the Sports Festival, I never really gave him the fight he wanted, while Jura pushed himself I was afraid of losing control or hurting others," It was a breathtaking fight but deep down it was only because Yuki broke her body doing so. Keeping her fists balled up, she propelled herself high into the air beside Izuku. "This time, I'm not going to hold back for him, we're winning this!"

Landing on a nearby pipe among the maze of metal, Yuki kept tabs on their team as Izuku held his fist up to stop her advance, pointing ahead for the others below. So far, the coast was clear, they were approaching the larger buildings in the area so they had to be wary of any pillars of earth or metal, not to mention any bombardments from afar.

Keep moving | No targets in sight | Akio, move to the vanguard for the girls

SIVA relayed the orders in their silence, the trio below forming an arrow with their heavy-hitters at the front. Propelling themselves across the pipes, Izuku's head buzzed slightly. "They're here-!" He spun around, fly-kicking a large green barrel away from himself, held by a pink veil. "-Yanagi's Poltergeist-!"

He paused, being yanked by Yuki as a large pillar of steel shot past their faces. Below, in the open on opposite pipes. Monoma and Jura waited, the latter waving with a cunning grin. "They're here," Yuki slit her gaze.

Bouncing off a silo, the couple split ways, an air force blast and plasmasphere striking where the enemy once stood. "Oh? Did you find me?" Monoma mused, Izuku taking him on while Jura fled several meters away, Yuki pressing her back to Izuku, the two bumping fists a final time. "After seeing Bakugo fighting, there's no way we weren't wary of you two, 'be careful of those strong and can move like him', that's what someone who's clever would think of you."

"As a counterpoint, you could think of it as said person is only strong because of his comrades!" Jura pointed out, his stone armor lowering to press his fingers against the concrete walkway. "So thank you guys, for giving up on protecting your teammates!"

"Akio can handle the defense, all they're doing is egging us on, trying to make us slip or speak," Yuki analyzed, feeling the muscles in Izuku's back tense.

"We knew this could happen, ever since we started merging during training, I haven't been as hesitant - no - more like Yuki's ability to remain calm under pressure started to affect me too," Izuku held his arm forward, the gloves Hatsume made for him to adjust his air blasts with greater accuracy primed.

With a blast of hot wind, the two divided as two concrete pillars crashed into the pipe, dismantling the platform at their feet. Using the left pillar, Yuki zig-zagged between the two lengths toward Jura who placed his helmet back on, concealing his wide smile. "Come at me, Yuki!"

"Perfected Impact!" Spinning forward, she slammed her heel through a third pillar at his feet, bending the concrete as her fingers tingled with azure light. "Burst!" The several blasts rippled and tore through the factory, only for three pillars to lower, revealing metal blocks that slammed into her extra arms that quickly manifested to tank the powerful slam.

Using her lower arms, Yuki dove over the pillars, sliding down only to spin sharply, "Divide!" Her reinforced leg split the next pillar of steel in two, continuing her momentum to carve through the second, warp behind Jura with her left arm folded. "Perfected Smash!" A blast of wind and blue arcs resonated between her fist and Jura's palm, holding back her strike. "His armor's upgraded?"

"Like it? Had Hatsume help make some modifications to help with something just like this!" His arm groaned, pushing Yuki's back while curling his left fist. "Nice try!"

He struck a blue hardlight shield, shattering it as Yuki spun around, releasing a small Devil's Ruin that tore into a diagonal pillar, Jura twirling, guiding another two columns around his aura, slamming the pair one after the other against Yuki's fists. Dust and debris fly through the air. Stomping, he elevated himself, seeing the series of blue flashes follow.

Appearing eye-level with the sturdy hero. Yuki blocked two intersecting iron pillars with two small barriers, two more approaching her front and back. Thinking quickly, she drew in metal from the two at her palms. "SIVA, Augment-" Her body lurched high, the four pillars colliding as she flew forward. "-Blackbird!"

With a striking collision, Jura barely had the time to brace as her fist slammed through another pillar of metal, diverting her strike elsewhere. He gasped, seeing her feet peel the metal away as she spun around the surface, slamming her shin against his forearms, sending him flying into another pipeline, bending it sharply while heaving himself forward.

"Hah... Ultimate-!" From the depths of the battleground, a large accumulation of earth and steel rose into the sky, shadowing Yuki under a giant's hands. "-Iron Dreadnaught!"

"I can't blast them away, not without damaging the area," Scanning her surroundings, Izuku kept up his end of the battle with Monama, but through the noise, she couldn't make out what was said. Clocking eyes with Jura's form, she pivoted in the air, her energy output climbing higher. "Divert it, high above the battlefield! SIVA, Perfected, Fifty Percent!" Her barding increased, covering mostly the left side of her suit in shiny black and blue plating.

It put some strain on her body but compared to when she first used the Perfected augment her body was beginning to adjust. She had to win this, only then will all her progress begin to make a change, training can only do so much, she needed to do more! "Ultimate Move-!" The air pressure began to haze, blue specks of light gathering around her body, converging around her right arm.

Close to where Yuki was hovering, Izuku dove high to glide through the air. He held his arm steady for another barrage of air blasts as the big-mouthed blonde of Class-B waved his arms wide with a maddened look on his face. "How can Bakugo and Azuru smile so unconcernedly? They were caught by villains, and they were responsible for ending the Symbol of Peace!"

Something awoke in Izuku's stomach straight through to his heart. Not just for insulting Kacchan, but Yuki for their unfortunate accident. He knew Monoma played with people's heads but that single instant, Izuku wanted him to shut up, to apologize for daring to insult them to his face. His blood boiled with an insatiable desire to ensnare and silence his silver tongue!

Something else screamed forward from the seams.

All Might stared with horrified eyes at the screen. Mr Aizawa was left stumped in silence. Kyoka's face paled beside Katsuki's own shocked expression. Over by the girls fighting off the onslaught of projectiles with Akio, the brunette's eyes dilated at the sensation that shot through his soul.

From Izuku's right arm, several black tendrils of energy sprung like a flood, the edge lined with a turquoise texture.

"He looked at me and said, 'the time has not yet come'."

Those words haunted All Might's mind. "What 'time' did he mean...?" He asked breathlessly.

On the battleground, Izuku's face recoiled in pain as he lost control of his arm, watching his fingers spasm to contain the overflow of power from his forearm. "What is this!? Why, what's going on!?" He shoved his foot down on his wrist to contain it, but the 'whips' refused to settle, forcing his arm to rise. "It was fine just now...!" The energy expanded massively. "RUN!"

He screamed in time for Monama to evade the collision, the whips dragging Izuku skyward as something else occurred behind him. Jura had to recall his ultimate to defend him as a dangerous halo of blue lightning produced from Yuki's body as she curled in the air, unable to control her flight as one of the whips snagged her back. "Get away...!" She begged, seeing the gauntlet on her right arm turning a deep shade of blue. "What's going on!? Why can't I control it - SIVA!?"

|I-I-I d-d-don't kn-kn-know!|

Her back smacked into Izuku's, his left gauntlet tinted a mint-green as they had to endure feeling their bodies break apart and merge by force, the second the light subsided, the whips expanded tremendously, webbing across the factory to give chase after Monoma. Yuzuku gasped, their face exposed as their mask fell toward the ground, trying to grab ahold of their spasming hand.

The whips tore down the nearby wall of a building with Yuzuku's body. Inside, Shinso had recoiled from the impact, staring in shock at the merged pair curled up on their knees, trying to desperately hold down their arm as the threads threshed wildly, infused with SIVA's power as metal began to peel away from the environment to cover Yuzuku in barding. "Shin... so...!" They bare their teeth in agony, their voice squeezed into a gargle. "Run...! We can't... hold back this power...!"

Sweat poured down their face, feeling unbearable heat flare inside their arm. "It's... It's overflowing...!"

The whips extended toward the roof, slicing the top of the building in half as the threads expanded outward like an eldritch horror's mandibles, snaking higher than the factory grounds. From the ground, the rest of Izuku's team gasped as the ball of threads divided, striking hard and fast into the ground around them.

"Ward!" Akio was fast, shielding them instantly from the shockwave with a pant, his magic nearly exhausted. "Okay, I don't remember that being a thing! You guys alright!?"

"All good, thanks!" Ashido waved with a drained breath as Ochaco gasped.

"Deku!?" Up in the sky, the whips flung Yuzuku through the sky, reckless abandon as it slammed them through pipes and across structures carelessly. "No, it's both of them, they merged!"

"They merged?" Akio echoed breathlessly. "Oh no..."


Rayla saw this from the camera feed, dropping her mic as a frequency patched through Solaire. ~You must disconnect the gauntlets!~

"Wait, Tekres? What's going on?" She asked before hearing him growl.

~No time! Siva is running rampant, they must not remain fused!~ He clicked viciously

"Rayla?" Solaire pipped up as she spun her handcannon from her belt.

"Yeah, I know... tch, sorry 'bout this, guys," She was a Guardian, she had a job to do. Some saw this, the grim look on the girl's face as she ran with her weapon drawn.

"Wait, hold up!" Kirishima tried to stop her but she already leapt from the railing, propelling herself through the air with a burst at her feet. "What's going on?"


Yuzuku collided with a thick wall, dragged down the face as they clutched their arm, the barding shredded and peeled by the accumulation of energy that refused to calm down. "What the heck?" "Stop-Stop!" "What is this!? Ow, ow, ow...! Why!?" Another rush of searing hot light poured from their arm, mincing anything that wasn't layered with several inches of concrete and rebar.

"Why...!?" They continued to ask, memories of Izuku's hard work to improve, to keep his quirk from destroying his body, and Yuki's own willpower to contain and control SIVA's old directive stained their fight or flight senses, tears welling up in their eyes. "After All Might transferred it to me - trained me one percent at a time - I kept getting hurt because I didn't know anything - SIVA was too strong."

"Stop, stop...!" They begged, unable to suppress their power. "SIVA! We can't stop it, our nanomachines are flooding into it!"

I-It's not j-just us | S-s-something el-else is ta-ta-tampering | A T-Third h-h-hand!

"What!?" As their panic ensued and SIVA delved further to unveil the foul play, Yuzuku instinctively floated in the air, trying to maintain a steady balance as the whips crashed through anything in their path. "Stop... One For All/SIVA! We don't want to make anyone worry!"

Deep inside the dark, complex systems of SIVA, buried where no one could see or hear, a small crack, a tiny mirror reflected back through the chaos and wires. Something smothered behind data and nanomachines left dormant within Yuzuku. A large, pyramid head stared back with red lines across the irregular shape. They gasped.

~So you found me, I was shocked to find my bug was traced, I had to act accordingly~

"K-Kovik!?" Their eyes shook, the whips becoming unstable, jagged, and... scarlet.

"I guess your usefulness has expired, Thief, I wonder, Can you live with what you've done?~ He cast his hand at the darkness, flooding Yuzuku's mind with images of their friends and memories all from Yuki's perspective. Everything in perfect detail. ~Have a trip down memory lane, until next we meet, Little Thief~

"Yuki... she..." Then it all clicked like a bloody, heart-wrenching puzzle in their head. The USJ, Kovik's warning when they first met. Hosu, I-Island, Summer Camp... it was... her. "Yuki... I... I'm the traitor?" If they hadn't already, Yuzuku wanted to throw up, but a rush of pain reminded them of their current situation. "Graaaaaaaaaaah!" Their arm snapped in the other direction, the energy was growing too unstable now.

"Go!" Jura waved, creating an arching path for Ochaco to run and take a swan-dive toward Yuzuku, reaching out her hands as the earthly pillar was sliced apart, forcing him to hide. "Go get them back!"

*Thump!*

"Guys - ngh!" Her visor was slashed in two. "Calm down! Deku, Yuki!" Her mind was set, nothing would sway her conviction. "Who protects the heroes when they're hurting?"

The pair were thrown around in an effort to shake her off but her grip was like iron, watching with pain as Yuzuku cried in agony, bearing their teeth. Their arm had already healed completely. "Stop... we can't...!"

"It's out of control!" She moved down their body, trying to hold down the source of the chaos when her eyes snapped wide, spotting the wavy blue hair from a mile away. "Shinso! Use Brainwashing! Use it to stop Deku and Yukiiii!"

By now, the whips were tearing into the building he stood in, staring on in terrified awe at the sight, his heart thundering. "Use Brainwashing on Midoriya!? What should I say to them!?" He could recall how his fight with Izuku went before, losing after his gamble fell apart. "I lost to you at the Sports Festival, I was excited." He saw the pair greeting him after speaking with a ghostly pale All Might.

Reaching for his mask, he knew the words he wanted to say. "I could show you a different me now, and... apologize to her, I was looking forward to fighting you again!" He grinned, staring destruction in the face. "I want to be an outstanding hero and use my Quirk to help others,"

Above the group, Rayla cocked her red and black handcannon, Better Devils, the iron sights locked to the two matching gauntlets on the teens' arms. "Please work-"

"Rayla, evade!" She didn't have time to fire more than three bullets, seeing them disintegrate off of swarms of SIVA, the nanotech starting to devour the metal around her as three whips pierced her chest, throwing her back to gargle on blood.

"Ow-ow-ow!" She wheezed, staring up at the swirling blue nanites. "Aw, crap!" She spun her handcannon, firing against the swarms.

"Midoriya! Azuru!" With tears stinging their vision, they managed to lock with Shinso's grin. "Fight me!"

Blood turned in their veins, the crushing weight to scream forced down into their lungs. "Tch, grrrr... OKAAAAAAAY!" And then, silence and the whips and swarms of SIVA froze instantly.

With a slow, receding suction, the whips circled and retreated back into their bare forearm, the clusters of SIVA dissolving into dead nanites around the factory. And while they and Ochaco floated above the ground, deep inside Yuzuku, something else stirred.


Izuku threw his eyes open, only to find that Ochaco, Shinso, the whole training ground had vanished in place of that same dark void he once visited in his dream. Only a black and purple gale tore through the area, and his body was shrouded in certain places by darkness again. Beside him, Yuki looked perfectly fine, rubbing her temples.

"Man, that hurt a lot..." She whined.

"You... you got it all wrong!" Behind them, someone burst through the black and red mist. "Wrong! Didn't we tell you!?" He was one of the previous holders. A large bald man with a black overcoat with yellow shoulders, his chest visible as he stomped toward them with an angry look. "'You're not alone'! The time is ripe, it's manifested!"

He pointed at Izuku, piercing his darkness. "But you know, that power isn't just something you can use without thinking anymore," Izuku just stared in forced silence at another visage speaking to him directly.

"Uh, what?" Yuki waved a hand. "I get Izuku being here but um... is it because I was merged with One For All?"

"Exactly! So sit tight, I was about to explain everything!" The Visage yelled making her flinch. "Work harder! Do your best! If you do that pretty much anything will work out!" Then he gaped. "What's wrong, you missing your mouth or something!?"

Izuku waved his hands, shaking his head. Yuki raised her hand. "I don't think that's important right now..."

"Whatever, don't worry about it for now!" He huffed, standing tall.

"These are just shadows, or dreams, these people... are living within One For All!" Izuku's body shivered, realizing it, all those moments he heard their voices, felt their hands guide him when he needed it most, all of them were here, watching him grow alongside his friends. The other quirks manifested because of them.

By now, the man was starting to fade at the edges, to which he took notice. "It looks like my time's nearly up here, alright kid, listen up, the power you just used is my quirk," He answered, hands to his hips. "You've already had a taste of this with Danger Sense and Float, all our quirk factors merged with the core of One For All, and that core is starting to grow alongside you, the flames are tempered, expanding and wild, what you saw between fluctuations was the essence of One For All,"

"It's starting to mutate..." Yuki gasped for Izuku, lowering her hands. "The quirks before, they only came to life when Izuku pushed past another limit, that's what it's been waiting for, to manifest at the peak of its potential!"

"Hmph, correct," The Visage agreed, looking to Izuku. "Earlier, you thought, 'I'll capture that guy', right? You did, didn't you?" He glanced to Yuki. "You were much the same, your thoughts met at a single answer, that's why you got dragged into the fray,"

"So even our thoughts triggered it in close proximity..." That was a level of detail Yuki never accounted for.

"I was trying to catch Monoma..." Izuku admitted to himself.

"The quirk that works best for that is my Blackwhip," With a free hand, small tendrils sprung forth from his palm. "You're lucky the only others that manifested were minor and my own, the three you've started to learn or grasp are pretty handy, especially mine," His stern expression hardened further. "But, this quirk's got the additional power cultivated in One For All, and is much stronger than when I had it,"

Suddenly, he convulsed, the darkness expanding around him. "I'm starting to disappear... feels like I'm about to drift... I'm just a spirit now," He saw the startled looks on their faces, so many questions left unanswered so he steadied himself. "Listen, if you use your power in anger it'll react in kind," He pushed his fingers toward Izuku's heart. "What's important is controlling your heart," The Visage smiled. "It's alright to feel anger, it's a source of power, like your partner here, you need to control it, direct it where you want it,"

The darkness expanded into a cyclone at Izuku's heart, blending with Blackwhip. "One For All's gotten really powerful after going through nine people, and you've got several more quirks to manifest and master, so control your heart and master all our powers! Together with her own, you'll both become someone that can hold a light over that darkness,"

"Do you best, kids! We're here with you! You're the one who will complete One For All!"

Like a lightbulb, the darkness consumed them instantly, the wind dissipating.

...

...

...

...

...

"...Deku... Yuki...!"

A voice shot through the veil, along with a stinging slap across Yuzuku's face as the brainwashing wore off immediately. Ochaco held them through the air, expression filled with fright. "Hey, did that slap hurt!?"

"Ocha?" Yuzuku realized they weren't falling, looking around their body hastily. "Wait, get away! it's danger...ous?" The Blackwhips were gone, although the environment was shredded and collapsing due to their rampage.

"It's okay, Shinso's Brainwashing took care of it," Ochaco smiled graciously.

"Are you two okay? Sorry, don't really know what to call you like this," She didn't even mind the thrashing her own body took.

Yuzuku noticed, looking mortified. "Ochaco, you're hurt!" Placing a hand onto her cheek, a light blue pulse tickled her skin, mending her injuries slightly to relieve any pain. "We're sorry, we're so sorry..."

Landing safely, they stumbled back as she shook her head. "I'm fine now, what's important is-"

Pain erupted in their head, spinning around to push Ochaco away as Monoma leapt around the corner to try and touch them. Ochaco ran forward to detain Monoma but several flying debris caught him, pulling the blonde away as more circled the pair, growing bigger to damage and ruin the already unstable buildings.

"Sorry 'bout this, but..." Jura stood behind them a few meters away, two pillars slowly rising behind him. "...since you're alright, I'm fine to attack!"

"Vile Spine!" Akio appeared from Yuzuku's shadow, releasing a barrage of purple thorns to thin the swarm of metal around them, rolling onto the scene. "Easy enough locating you guys, just follow the chaos!" He held a thumb to Yuzuku with a grin. "You guys alright? Nice work, Uraraka!"

"We..." Yuzuku blinked again, unable to say a word as acid hissed through the air, melting Jura's pillars down to slag as he dove away from the acid fall.

"Yuzuku, Uraraka, you okay!?" Ashido asked, clearly having been told what their merged name was. "It's an all-out brawl now!"

Akio kept up a mixture of attack and defense against Jura while Ashido handled the projectiles with Akio's Windwalker enchantment keeping her airborne. Yuzuku remained fused, almost afraid to separate for fear of triggering another reaction between their quirks. What the man said opened their eyes but also frightened them a little, Blackwhip did all this damage with SIVA atop One For All.

In a flash, the two separated, Izuku grabbing one of Shinso's cloth wraps before it could touch Ochaco while Yuki blasted several pillars of Jura's into chunks. "What should we do? There's too much happening to think?"

Shinso quickly pulled Izuku over the edge and down onto the concrete while Yuki hesitated, the blue particles in her hands fading away. "I... I can't do it..." She lowered her arms amongst the chaos, the images in her head kept flashing on a loop. "I... I can't... Siva..." Closing her eyes, she just wanted to disappear. "Please... please don't make me do this..."

Her body lurched, raising her head with a solid frown, eyes pure blue again. "Rest your mind, I shall handle the rest," Siva whispered solemnly. "Uraraka, aid Midoriya," He tugged at his scarf, holding it over his mouth. "I shall handle Jura,"

"Okay!" She ran to the pipe to look over the edge while Jura caught sight of Siva, seeing Yuki's posture change completely, clusters gathering to form and expand into a long polearm with an arc-charged blade facing the ground.

"Here I come!" Three pillars tore through the building, causing it all to shift diagonally to the left as Siva planted his feet, skipping around to avoid the pillars, using only five percent due to Yuki's fragile mind. He spun his spear around quickly, dividing the one at his back into, spinning the blade across his back to plunge it through the second, launching him up and over it only to be struck by two intersecting, twirling the Archon around. "Everwyrm!"

Eight more sprung like serpents, forcing Siva to dive back, deflecting their faces with pain contorting his face. "I can't keep defending on five percent! Yuki, you need to calm down!" He yelled, blocking another with the pole as it threw him skyward, disarming Siva as he blocked another two pillars with his forearms, crashing into the ground by narrowly rolling away from the ensnaring columns of steel. "I understand you're hurting, I feel it too, I'm angry at myself too."

"I don't want to hurt anyone..." Yuki croaked as Siva threw himself to the ground, the concrete under him erupting forth as he was slammed into a wall, barely able to slip away before another nearly knocked him out.

"I failed too, I didn't see the link after all these months, it's not your fault," Jura was relentless, trapping Siva at the edge of the rooftop, forcing more of his armor to chip away to block the constant attacks as sweat dripped down his face. "Yuki, please... we're going to lose!"

"I don't care..." She had given up.

"Remember what the Visage said, control your heart, don't let Kovik's thoughts cloud that!"

"I shouldn't have come to UA..." That was the last straw, Siva sucking in a long breath, a vein bulging from his forehead.

Hopping toward the edge, Siva balanced himself before yelling at the top of his lungs. "You are not me, do you understand!? Aksis is dead and gone!" He clenched his fists, five columns of minerals converging toward him, Jura standing far away with his hand forward to guide his attack. "You are worthy of my name, so move, your house needs you!"

With a static flicker, Yuki's eyes returned to their mixed pigment, jaw clenched tight at a whirlwind of neon blue severed the pillars hallway, forcing the remains to retract. "Woah, that's new..." Jura steadied himself, seeing Yuki holding her arms in a strange, circular guard for her mouth and nape, the hardlight blades dissipating in the air.

"I..." Swallowing a lump in her throat, her eyes hardened on what was in front of her, tears stinging her eyes. "Stop crying... you need to make it up to them, win this, if anything, focus on this moment and win, Yuki Azuru!"

"Thirty... no..." She, for one instance, wouldn't hold herself back, even as her anger, guilt, and pain swirled in her heart, she commanded her nanomachines to gather like an electrical storm around her legs, buzzing through the air. "Fifty Percent - Ultimate Move-!"

There was a bright blue flash, everyone who was present who had detained their targets saw Yuki vanish, leaving the ground splintered behind her. Jura's pillars suddenly split in two with a molten blue remnant where something sharp had cut clean through the steel faces. Whatever it was left a blue afterimage of a lightning bolt, striking with a thunderclap and halo of electric blue behind Yuki, her fist having shattered Jura's helmet, knocking him out in a heartbeat.

"-Striking Exile!" Her armour disintegrated under the pressure.

"Hah... you... got me..." Jura smiled as his consciousness faded away. "Great... match..."

The dust slowly settled but Yuki remained where she was, defenses down, her armour broken down to its basic barding, but her eyes were cloudy, holding the mask that had been strapped to Jura's waist. He found her mask in all the chaos, staring at it Yuki felt her stomach turn. For the first time in her life, the sight of it made her fingers itch, no, her scales too, everything about her irritated her skin.

Yuki didn't hear the match had ended, or anything at all. Instead, she dropped her mask and turned around. "Thank you for our rematch, you big lug," She bowed her head to the unconscious Jura. "Rest well," With that, she left on her own, silent, and if anyone had called out to her, she didn't hear them. "It was me, it was always me, I betrayed them..."

She stared ahead, imagining it was what Kovik could see before SIVA could fully patch the backdoor into her own eyes and ears. It made her heart twist. "I sold them all out, I'm the scumbag that hurt them..."

"I'm no better than a villain."

To Be Continued...


Yeah, so I just outright skipped the 1A Vs. 1B arc because... it has no merit at all to the story, at least mine without being just a copy. The only changes would have been around Jura, Yuki, Akio, and Rayla, but that's stretching it. I do hope the battle was to everyone's liking since I focused on Yuki's POV mostly.

But now the big reveal, Yuki's the traitor, and for all you manga readers you know otherwise but let's save that for later, yeah? What's to come of Yuki and SIVA's revelation of Kovik listening in since the beginning? I hope you enjoyed, I appreciate the support as always; seeya in the next chapter, Heroes!

Next Chapter: House of Perfection

"I betrayed everyone..." Yuki sat on her hands and knees, cartoonish tears falling down her face.

"No, I share that burden too," Siva replied, brooding alongside her, both with a gloomy blue hue over their backs as Izuku patted their backs.

"Don't blame yourselves, no one could've seen this coming!" He tried to reassure.

"Easy for you to say, you don't have a computer in your head." Yuki glowered slightly, then went back to drawing circles on the ground with her finger.

"I-I guess..." Izuku sweatdropped.

"Let's dwell on this later. Coming Up, House of Perfection," Siva sat up, claws sparking an insignia of the House of Devils banner.

"That does have a nice ring to it..." Yuki managed a tiny smile.

"Go Beyond-!" Izuku gave it some oomph, fist raised but Yuki's was half-hearted.

"-Plus Ultra."