What up what up it's ya dude, Sideos, coming in hot with a new chapter update.
I won't pander too much, but keep reading after the chapter is done for updates on my month-long break.
NOW WITHOUT FURTHER ADOO, let's all enjoy a little bit of hate, shall we?
Izuku's stomach was trying to murder him. His heart was trying to escape from his chest and his legs were secretly plotting to run from under him the moment the exercise started.
The thing of course was practically overjoyed and was possibly the only reason Izuku was still on his feet. It wanted this, it begged for the incoming violence it knew was at hand. Izuku could almost feel the curling licks of flame dance across his fingers and up along his scars.
It wasn't just the thought of combat however, it was who he'd be fighting. His eyes looked up as he walked, trailing a little behind the others. Their group of five led by the walking avatar of virtue that was All Might. In front of him he could see the angry strides of Katsuki, his vision fixed ahead of him while he ignored Uraraka, who was trying to get her partner to pay some attention to her and at least give her a proper introduction.
The moment the names had been read out Izuku had almost had a full-blown panic attack while the thing had sung praises to fate itself that finally, finally, they would be fighting their hated enemy one on one. Its bloody, violent curses to Katsuki had shaken him, and reminded him harshly that there could be no room for error. He could not, under any circumstance, let the thing take over.
But that all depended, really, on his partner, his fellow hero in the exercise. His eyes drifted to the tall, purple haired boy in front of him.
Hitoshi Shinsou.
Izuku knew nothing about him other than his name, which they had exchanged the moment they'd properly met after being paired up, and the fact he looked utterly exhausted all the time. At least they had that in common.
Hitoshi had a mess of wild, purple hair that rose from a thin, yet square-jawed face. His frame was a thin, runner's form, unlike the short but slightly stocky Izuku. His outfit considered of mostly black, though he had deep purple gloves that went up to his elbows and purple leg wraps that went down from his knees to his trainers. He wore a belt, kitted with a few pouches, and an odd purple guard around his neck that would have clearly gone over and hid his mouth.
He remembered him briefly from the obstacle course exercise, though at no point had he ever used his quirk. It was… odd, now that he thought of it, and for a moment he wondered just what the teenager had hidden up his sleeve.
"Alright," All Might, stopped outside a rather generic looking five-story building, he turned to look at the students, hands planed on hips. "Now I want you all to do your best but play fair. You're all still learning the limits of your quirks and as it's your first time using them in combat, let's not go overboard." His sharp blue eyes glanced across all of them and Izuku in particular felt them land on himself. "Team D, head on inside. Team E, wait here and prepare yourselves."
Hitoshi moved aside without even looking at him and Izuku felt his heart sink just a little. He supposed he'd seen him practically have a full-blown meltdown before and no doubt had already written him off. Great, another person who thought he was a cowardly freak pretending at being a hero.
He went to follow him but he was stopped suddenly by a heavy hand on his shoulder and he looked up to see All Might's burning blue gaze. "Remember, young Midoriya, I'll be watching you the whole time."
Izuku couldn't help it. Like a lance through the shield-wall of darkness in his heart All Might's words speared into him and he felt it. Bravery, the warmth of confidence and, perhaps most importantly, a sliver of hope. He nodded at the enormous hero and All Might gave him one last nod in return before leaving them alone.
Izuku looked once more to his randomly chosen partner before edging over to him. "H-Hey."
"Hey," Hitoshi turned to him, his face a fixed scowl of boredom. His eyes were a royal purple and quite striking, his skin was the color of old Arabic sand. The thing had already nicknamed him 'Child of Pharaohs' and 'The Slave-Maker'. More names which made Izuku internally hate himself.
There was an awkward silence.
"So. You're like, a coward or something, right?"
Izuku felt his scars strike hot. "Wha- no! No, I'm not a coward!" The words came out sharper than he thought, and he immediately looked away, his voice softening, "I just… I can't use the thing I do very well, that's all."
"The thing you do?" Hitoshi's sharp voice again seem to blindside Izuku. "You mean your quirk."
"Yeah, that." Izuku looked back to him again. "Last time I used it on someone else they… got hurt. Badly." They were almost torn apart, tortured and burned into individual pieces, oh and there was the time when he was four when he blatantly murdered a man by turning him into a fine red paste. But he'd not bring that up, it'd probably just make things awkward.
His voice dropped again. "In fact, every time I use my quirk, someone seems to get hurt."
Hitoshi seemed to focus intently on Izuku for a moment with a gaze that reminded Izuku horribly of Aizawa's stone cold stare. For a second, he wondered if they were related somehow. "What do you do? I saw you in the physical, you throw out blue flames and jump high, right?"
"We are more than that! We are shadow and fire! WE ARE POWER."
"Eh-heh," Izuku bit his lip for a second, pushing down the thing for a moment. "That's… kind of it. I guess. It's more complex than that but right now that's about all I can do. And even then I can't do it more than three times, after that I'll pass out or…"
"Or we come forth." The thing whispered snake-like long his skull, "And we become who we are meant to be. Free and open and fearless."
Again, anxiety played with his heart and goosebumps crawled along his arms and neck. Desperately he tried to change the topic. "What's your quirk?"
Hitoshi seemed surprised at the question, then his eyes turned away from Izuku. An expression overtook him which Izuku quickly recognized, he'd seen it in the mirror a thousand times. It was sorrow, it was helpless regret, it was self-hate.
"I ask someone a question, then they reply, and then I brainwash them." His answer was so blunt that Izuku wondered for a moment if it was true, but the heavy weight of his voice told of its honesty. "I make people my slaves." He shrugged and looked away his voice was suddenly empty and stone-like. "They do whatever I tell them to as long as they don't get knocked out of it."
"Hitoshi, that's- that's…" He trailed off, his eyes wide as he looked down. "That's PERFECT!"
Izuku practically jumped up and turned on his partner, who gave him a look like he'd just put a pair of underpants on his head, stuck two pencils up his nose and shouted 'wibble' at the top of his lungs.
"You're amazing! You're better than amazing you're PERFECT!" He grabbed the teenager by either arm and began lightly shaking him, his grin so wide it threatened to tear right off his face. "Don't you get it? We're going to cake walk this thing!"
Hitoshi didn't seem to know what to do, he simply stood there, mouth gaping as he looked at the smaller boy. Finally, however, his eyes squinted. "What are you talking about?"
"Think about it, Hitoshi!" Izuku let him go and began pacing back and forth. "If we think of this like a real operation, we're two heroes, right? Well think of Kaachan-err-Katsuki Bakugo, as my personal arch nemesis, like, seriously," He paused and looked to the purple headed boy for a moment, "He really, really hates me."
"So he's going to be gunning for you, so what?" Hitoshi shrugged, though it was obvious he still had no idea what had happened to this formally terrified young man.
"Sooo, there's a damn good chance he's going to abandon Uraraka to look after the bomb. The moment this thing starts he'll be coming to find me to kick my ass, except this time," He grinned almost wickedly, "I'll have you with me."
Hitoshi clearly wasn't following him, or maybe he was just too shocked at this sudden mood change to do so. Izuku rolled his eyes and walked back up to him again, still grinning. "Think about it! Your quirk is practically custom made for this! The rival comes after me, we draw him away then confront him together and you can just stop him in his tracks! We can tie him up and leave him because he'll stupidly be on his own while Uraraka guards the bomb! Then we can just take her out together and we'll win!"
The purple headed teen frowned at Izuku for a moment. "That's great and all, but there's one big flaw in this flawless plan of yours." His eyes moved over to the building. "Katsuki was in my entrance exam."
The wind was momentarily taken out of Izuku's sails and he hesitated, however, his sudden determination was too strong and he quickly pressed forward once more. "Did he see you at any point?"
"I don't know." Hitoshi shrugged. "I kept a low profile and just about scraped through. Thank God for rescue points, right?"
Izuku almost chuckled at that. "Right, hm." He put a hand up to his chin for a moment. "Knowing Kaachan he probably spent the whole time thinking about himself. There's a decent chance he doesn't even remember who you are. Still, either way it's a risk we'll have to take."
He looked back up to Hitoshi and again gave him a shaking, propped-up smile. "Hitoshi, seriously, your quirk is amazing! I mean you could talk suicidal people down from buildings or instantly diffuse hostage situations or get people out of disasters without any panic! Not to mention think of how many villains you could clean up by just talking to them!"
Hitoshi had a look on his face that told Izuku everything in a moment's notice. He wasn't used to this. He wasn't used to being told his quirk was helpful or astonishing or maybe even good.
"You- you really think that, don't you?" Hitoshi finally replied, his eyes focused on the boy before him, both disbelieving and yet alight with hope. "You think my quirk is- is good, or something. You don't think it's cruel or… evil."
The word hit home harder than Izuku thought it would. And yet, to see him here, to know he had a fellow sufferer, if that was truly the right term, right here at U.A. with him…
For a moment Izuku stepped away, his smile fading just for a moment as he gathered his thoughts once more. "All Might told me there are no good or evil quirks, just good or evil hearts." He held out a hand slowly. "I spent most of my life thinking what I could do was evil too, but lately I've been trying to change that. I'm going to make it something good, I'm going to prove to everyone I can be a hero, even if the thing inside me is a curse."
Hitoshi's eyes widened at this, then slowly a smile grew across his face. He stood taller and suddenly grasped Izuku by the hand, just as Izuku grasped his. "Alright, let's do it. Let's win this thing." His chin lowered just a little as he growled out. "Let's prove to them we're not evil."
Izuku felt his heart soar, and yet he had to hold onto his smile as the thing hissed serpent-like into his ear, "He does not know what true evil is. We do."
A minute later, after they had quickly ironed out some more details of their plan, going over the small map that All Might had given them and Izuku filling Hitoshi in on what he knew of Katuski and Uraraka's quirks.
Soon enough All Might's tone rang out over the building through loudspeakers, "Alright, let's get this show on the road! Team E, team D, your time starts NOW!"
And just like that, they were off. The front door was unlocked and the pair moved swiftly. The interior was a mix of tight corridors mapped on a square patterned grid, though the area holding the device would be open and dotted only with support columns.
Izuku could feel his stomach twisting in knots as he moved quietly through the corridors, setting his back to walls and peeking around corners with the cautious nature of a thief in the dark. He was nervous, he was exited, he confident and afraid and anxious and driven. He was all these things, melded and mixed together in the crashing ocean of his heart. And of course, as always, through the dark waters swam the thing, moving shark-like along his scars drawn by the promise of blood in the water and tempting him with the lure of dark power.
He had caged his nerves and fortified his mind. The thing would not control him, not anymore, not ever again. Whatever Katsuki threw at him he would be prepared, he had Hitoshi with him. As long as he could rely on his new ally he could get through this without incident. No one would have to know how close Uraraka and Katsuki came to facing down a living nightmare.
They had made it to the second floor and were moving quickly towards their object when Izuku raised a hand, stopping the two of them suddenly. "Wait," He hissed to Hitoshi, "Do you hear something?"
He never got the answer to that question.
"DEKU!" The battle-roar of Katsuki came like the swing of a mighty sword and a second later the air burst with the sound of an explosive fire that split concrete and filled their senses with choking black smoke.
Hitoshi had saved Izuku. At the last second the young man had grabbed him and thrown him back, tossing Izuku down onto the floor as their opponent had cast the opening blow of their battle.
Izuku scrambled to his feet, his ally rising with him as the smoke-filled corridor slowly parted to reveal the form of Katsuki, who stood like he owned the world, his gaze venom and fury and focused entirely on Izuku.
"You… bastard." His voice was gravel crushed under boot, "You absolute fucking bastard, Deku."
"I knew you'd do this." Izuku gripped his shaking, jittery confidence with two hands as he got to his feet, Hitoshi climbing up beside him. "I knew you'd abandon the objective to face me."
"How long?" Katsuki raised a hand slowly as sparks flew from it, "How long could you use your quirk like that?"
"Wouldn't you like to know." Izuku spat back. Yes, spat back. His fists clenched tightly as the fire of his blasphemous power moved through him, the thing growling through the flesh of his brain. Beside him Hitoshi noticed, for the first time, the heat that seemed to radiate from the young man and moved just slightly from him.
"So you're Katsuki Bakugo, right?" The purple haired teen mused through his mouth-guard. He made an obvious, though not too obvious, show of eyeing the young man up before shrugging. "… eh, I've seen better."
Izuku had told him to taunt Katsuki, to play on his pride. He hadn't quiet expected that however.
The look Katsuki gave the man was nothing short of murderous. If looks could kill, Hitoshi wouldn't just be dead, he'd be hung, drawn and quartered to a degree that even the thing might find a little excessive.
And yet Hitoshi didn't even flinch. "So, did you buy that outfit from a thrift store or did you just put on whatever trash you found walking to school today?"
The air was so thick with tension that it was an almost physical presence, its hands wrapping tight around Izuku's throat and forcing him to breathe only shards of air. The world ground to a halt as the very weight of the moment brought it to its knees.
And then, like a rubber band pulled too tight, it snapped.
Katsuki's hand moved like a spear, straight and fast and sharp with his fingertips burning from the explosive power he wielded. The air lit up and for a split second everything was fire and light and burning heat. Izuku was thrown backward, barely shielding his own face in time as fire raked across his arms. But Katsuki's weapon was not just force and fire, it was noise. The very sound of the explosion was akin to standing next to a stage speaker turned up to max and it knocked every sense in Izuku's head sideways, causing the world to spin and shudder around him.
He hit the ground hard and rolled, but his pitiful training helped and he was quickly back up onto his feet, his forearm burning from the fire-heat of Katsuki's attack.
He barely moved in time.
Another ball of roaring dragon-hot flame tore past him as he dived behind a corner to save his own skin. He could smell burning, stinking fabric and singed hair and the sickly-sweet stench of nitroglycerin.
For a second, through the fire and smoke, he saw Hitoshi. He had dived to the other side and part of his forearm was bleeding and across his face was written a warrior's grimace. He knew. Their plan had failed.
Their eyes met, but rather than the shock of failure and shame he saw something else in Hitoshi's eyes. Determination. There was no backing down, no retreat. Izuku's scars flared into life as he was sharply reminded he wasn't alone in this fight. Hitoshi was with him, and together they could still win.
Katsuki was there suddenly, standing between them as his arms stretched out to either side of him, a look of pure animalistic rage written across gritted teeth and blazing eyes.
But Izuku saw his chance.
The boy moved like water to Katsuki's fire. Sliding to him in one swift motion, helped by the sudden strength delivered to his limbs by his blood-borne curse. He grabbed Katsuki's arm and hooked his body under him, then with a mighty scream he hurled the blonde over his shoulder and threw him with a burst of pickling scar-heat to the floor.
He landed with a mighty crack as flesh hit concrete and, perhaps for the first time since Izuku had ever known him, Katsuki cried out in pain.
For a second Izuku reveled in the sound. Something about it gave him a rush of something dark and wicked and awful but something that made him feel powerful. He was given no time to gloat however as a hand grabbed his collar and tore him away from his opponent. He was running, his feet pounding as he raced alongside Hitoshi as fast as his aching lungs would allow.
They turned a corner, then another, then another before finally coming to a stop, both the boys panting heavily and Izuku desperately trying to control the rush of energy and fire that pumped madly across his limbs.
"Goddammit." Hitoshi panted out as he finally stood straight once more, leaning against the cold concrete behind him. "He fucking knew. Goddammit!"
"It was always a possibility," Izuku breathed out beside him, "And now we know. I mean, no battle plan survives contact with the enemy, right?"
"Helmuth Von Moltke."
"What?"
"Nevermind." Hitoshi eyed him, "So what's the new plan, genius?"
Izuku was quiet for a moment before looking back to Hitoshi. "You go on ahead, find the bomb, I'll draw Kaachan off."
The taller boy's eyes widened. "Are you sure? I mean he looks like he's gonna fucking kill you."
"He won't. I'll use my quirk to avoid him. Besides." He raised a finger to point at Hitoshi. "You can still brainwash Uraraka and end this quickly. By the time he catches up, we'll have won by default."
Hitoshi seemed to pause to consider his words, but a nearby explosion drew his attention, as it did Izuku's. Katsuki was getting closer and was obviously destroying things just to find them. "Goddamnit, fine." He hissed through clenched teeth, though he hesitated a moment before suddenly reaching out and slapping a hand on Izuku's shoulder, a move which surprised the smaller boy. "Good luck."
"T-thanks." Izuku blinked back before putting a hand onto Hitoshi's outstretched forearm and giving him a nod. "You too."
Hitoshi returned the nod, gave one last glance up the corridor then sprinted off, away from the encroaching explosions.
Izuku had so far managed to stave off his fear because Hitoshi had been there, looking at him, relying on him to keep it together. Now, however, it hit him like a two-by-four to the back of his skull. He had to face Katsuki. He had to fight back against the boy who had made each day of his life a living torment since he was four.
"So, it comes to this." The thing whispered like a demonic temptress through his mind. "We face the Brat in single combat. How long have we begged for this day?"
"Shut up." Izuku spoke out loud, no longer concerned with who heard him. He moved noisily, making sure to try and draw Katsuki's attention towards him. "We- I'm not facing him."
"We can beat him. You know we can." It continued, unheeded by his protests. "Let us fight. Let us taste his blood on our claws."
"No." Izuku gritted his teeth so much he could hear the enamel grinding within his own mouth. He approached a corner, peeked around it and then moved swiftly across the corridor. "We- I'm not hurting anyone. So just stop, alright?"
"If we will not fight, we will make a rather pathetic hero." The strange answer caused Izuku to pause, throwing his back up against a wall and frowning at nothing but himself.
Its voice was a scalpel blade to the beating vain of his jugular. "Are we so eager to throw off the Fading King's confidence? Are we not here to learn the art of battle? To eventually fight against greater enemies than he?"
A prickling heat crawled along his scars like a million spiders. But he was listening. Despite it all, he was listening.
"He has tormented us for too long. Now is the time to stand on our own feet, to face his terror without fear." The heat was rising within him. He could hear the angry, stomping footsteps echoing around him as his rival came closer, ever closer.
His fist was curling.
"We are not Deku. We are shadow and fire. Power and righteous fury." He was almost upon him, but Izuku's inner fire was burning through his scars like a furnace. Energy, strength and a barely tempered anger was boiling inside him.
His teeth gritted in a wolfish smile as the hell-spoken words crawled through his mind and reached into his soul. "We are not the same scared child we were before. We will become a hero, the greatest of all heroes, and we will be eclipsed by bullies no longer. Let us teach him this lesson."
If Izuku was going to reply, the chance was robbed from him. Suddenly his entire world was consumed with fire and the deafening sound of concrete bursting and exploding beside his ear.
Instantly he was thrown to one side, hitting the wall with enough force to send pain shooting through his side as a yelp rushed from his mouth. He had no time to recover, no time to even breathe as a hand reached through the smoke and grabbed his shirt, pulling him forwards and into the waiting fist of Katsuki Bakugo.
The punch connected with Izuku's jaw, sending sparks flickering across his vision. He tried to fall back as new pain, hot and pulsing, stabbed into his senses but Katsuki's grip was strong. Another fist connected with his stomach, even as white-hot fire began flooding his scars and boosting every sense he had.
Izuku doubled over as his breath left him. Then he was kicked hard in the side and he practically rolled across the floor as the pain momentarily disabled him.
"You- You-" Katsuki's voice was trembling with rage. Izuku had never heard him that angry in all his life. Pain was gripping him, but fear was his master. He looked up though a slightly spinning vision as Katsuki stormed towards him.
He looked murderous and, for the first time since knowing him, Izuku actually feared for his life. What had Hitoshi said? He looked like he would kill him? Suddenly the young man could believe it.
"You thought you could fucking brainwash me? You thought I was so stupid, so weak that I would actually fall for that? You and that fucking villainous bastard?" Katsuki's lips were bleeding, Izuku could see that now and it clicked how he'd managed to stop himself from answering Hitoshi's insults. He'd bit through his own lip.
That was some anger.
As Izuku climbed back to his feet slowly Katsuki broke into another sudden run, his hand raising up once more as he screamed his battle cry, "I'LL FUCKING SHOW YOU, DEKU!"
The world seemed to slow before Izuku as he knew, at that moment, he had to decide. Use his power or fail Hitoshi, fail All Might and fail himself.
The explosion before him was fire and fury, noise and nitroglycerin. It was a spear thrust designed to shatter the enemy armor and smash through to their heart. An attack pure in focus and strength. Against any other opponent such a strike would have ripped their defenses apart in a split second of furious, wrathful flame.
But not this opponent.
Blue flame tore through his own bright orange fire and hit him square in the chest with the force of a sledgehammer. Before his heart even beat once he slammed against a concrete wall with a sudden yelp of pain and collapsed downwards onto the floor with a wince-inducing smack.
He could hardly breathe and a mixture of bile, blood and spit spilled from his mouth. Not once in his entire life had Katsuki ever come close to being hit that hard.
The blonde lifted his head, a growl already on his face when he paused, his eyes growing wide.
Izuku stood, feet apart, his arm raised as he shook like a leaf. But on his face was not a look of fear, but a wolf's growl of vicious determination. His arm was held out straight, his palm held up like a gun by the tight grip of his other hand. But where there had once been pale, sickly skin covering his arm was now nothing but a horrific shadow black, patterned with serrated spines. Where there had once been fingers was now a hand ending in long, rending talons with the final licks of blue flame dancing across them.
His scars were flickering and glowing a fire-lit blue as if some inner furnace had been ignited within the boy, even and perhaps especially along the sudden black leathery skin that seemed to cover his arm.
But it was his eyes that struck Katsuki the most. His eyes were the same as they were all those weeks ago. Eyes that seemed darker somehow, dimmer, as if the light from within him was being drained away despite the almost ghostly glow of his green irises.
Katsuki's voice was barely a hiss, and yet it somehow permeated every atom of the moment. "What… the fuck…"
Izuku's heart was pounding within his chest. This was his fear, this was his nightmare made real. Katsuki was seeing the monster he kept locked under the thin veneer of his pale skin. The shadow, the flame, the beast that stalked his blood and haunted his mind.
"Look at how he cowers." The thing hissed joyfully within his mind. "Look at what we can do to him."
Izuku felt his talons curl as his eyes took in the form of Katsuki on the ground, thrown there by the fire of his quirk. He felt… powerful. He felt weak from his attack, dizzy from the use of his blasphemous fire but he felt powerful. Was this how Katsuki had felt every time he had beaten Izuku to the floor?
"We can see it in his eyes. He fears us."
It was true. Izuku could see it too. Behind the fury, the confusion, the insult of being thrown to the ground by a weakling he could see it spreading like a virus through Katsuki's system.
Fear.
His shadow was fading now, turning to ash and blowing to a wind neither of them felt. His fingers once again became malleable and sharp, knife-stabbing pain hit his arm as the muscles and bone and skin stretched and cracked back into place.
Izuku gritted his teeth and bore it, even as Katsuki rose back to his feet.
"So that's what you're really like. On the inside." Katsuki's words sounded odd to Izuku's ears, washed with the slightly dizzying sensation of using his quirk. "A fucking freak. I always knew it."
"I-I'm not afraid of you, Kaachan!" Izuku cried out and held his hand up once again like a cocked gun.
Katsuki hesitated and curled his fists slowly at his sides.
"Strike him again. Let our fire kiss his skin, let us burn our vengeance through his heart."
"You're fucking terrified." Katsuki's observation wasn't a lie. Izuku was almost always in some state of constant anxiety but right now he knew he was walking a true knife edge. The thing hissed through his mind, tempting him with violence while Katsuki stood before him, strong and wrathful.
If he slipped just a little he knew he would fall.
But he could do this. He could manage his curse, use it like a carefully forged weapon, he could use it for good. He just… needed to keep focused.
Of course it was during this lapse of thought that Katsuki struck. Katsuki attacked like a detonating bomb, his face twisted in a berserkers snarl. Izuku barely reacted, moving to one side as the explosion was unleashed beside him, throwing him instantly off balance.
Katsuki took the advantage and smashed his gauntleted arm against Izuku's side, eliciting a cry of pain from the young man, but he wasn't finished. He grabbed Izuku's arm and began using his quirk to throw himself around his target, all the while screaming, "DON'T EVER FORGET YOU'RE NOTHING!"
The words tore through Izuku's mind and burned him from the inside. Anger mixed with boiling determination. His heart was pounding, he could taste blood in his mouth and every blow he had taken throbbed with the ache of dull pain.
But pain was something Izuku was used to. It was a focusing tool and he used it now, narrowing his mind through the sharp ache of his wounds.
He activated his curse.
Katsuki's attack was almost complete before Izuku felt his arms once again remolding themselves both into horrific talons, the black shadow-skin rushing up his arms as one reached out and planted itself into the concrete floor, the other suddenly twisting, throwing Katsuki's wrist off before grabbing him in return.
He roared with a voice that was his and yet laced with a thousand more screaming, crying, moaning and begging. He roared with all the indignity he had suffered at Katsuki's hands. He roared with the battle-cry of hell itself.
Katsuki barely took a breath as Izuku turned his attack on him, pulling him suddenly with a strength he shouldn't possess, using talons that didn't just grab the teenager but knifed into the muscles in his arms as he hurled the blonde against the concrete wall with enough force to crack it.
Power. Power dark and terrible and lightning-strike hot was pulsing through Izuku's every vain, every blood vessel, every atom in his body. His brain was alight with fire and hate and the pounding madness of their battle.
The thing was grinning with Izuku's own lips.
But Izuku was in control. He was still lucid, still focused, still using the burning pain of his arms and bleeding cuts and scorched skin to narrow his mind.
He roared again as he curled a shadow-clad fist and threw it at Katsuki's face. He missed, the blonde dodging at the last second and as he fell into a dive his hands darted out, hitting Izuku sharply in the side with a blast of explosive flame.
Izuku screamed as he was thrown back and only through sheer luck did he grab onto the nearest wall, raking stone in long, violent tears before coming to a halt.
Katsuki was already on him, crying out again as his fist swinging down on his opponent where it smashed into Izuku's nose and broke it instantly.
Izuku's head exploded into a dizzying spell of blinding white pain that threatened to undo every defense he had built against the ravaging hunger of the thing. He could feel it, even in that moment which stretched and stretched, the terrible corrupt fire, tempting and begging and whispering.
"We need more power, we must dig deeper or he will win."
Images flashed through his mind. Katsuki's laughter, his cruel smile as he was beaten down again and again and again. Hate drowned and burned and devoured his other emotions. Hate gave him strength.
"No more."
Izuku let the lava-flow of his curse burst through him like a damn unleashed, corrupt blue fire rushing along his scars and flooding his body.
Katsuki's vicious grin fell in slow-motion as he watched the boy turn back to him. His face coated in blood pouring from his bust lip and broken nose.
His eyes. They were no longer drained of light, not merely dark, not merely black, but a crushing, burning, arctic cold nightmare void with the only exception being the blazing green of his irises. The next thing he saw was the blue fire burning at the back of Izuku's throat as the young man bellowed his bottomless hate at him, and the next thing after that was a burning black-clad fist colliding with his face.
Izuku could see where his furnace-lit scars had burned Katsuki's peeling skin and the blood that now flowed almost feely from his wounds.
The power that flooded his system was almost intoxicating but Izuku was still there, still barely holding on and some echoing voice in the back of his mind assured him he was still in command, still him.
It took a truly enormous amount of self-control to stop himself from reaching forward with his demonic claws and simply tearing at Katsuki's face until ribbons of his skin hung like bandages from his talons.
The thing cursed him for his cowardice as Katsuki took the hesitation to attack again.
He could feel it. With every blow he landed and every blow he took causing him to push ever deeper, draw ever more from that bottomless well of corrupt, hateful hellfire. Something was pushing their way through his forehead like spear-tips emerging from his own skin, something was growing out from the base of his spine and lashing at his opponent like a fire-lit whip.
But these were merely distractions from the burning focus of his single-minded will to beat Kaachan.
Like fingernails digging into his mind and heart and soul, each second was a second closer to piercing the thin skin of willpower that kept the demon from taking him. The fury of the monster that existed in his blood. The purity of its hate. The power of its blasphemous flame.
"More, more, MORE!"
It was getting harder and harder to keep himself from falling.
Because he was winning.
Katsuki was strong, unbelievably so. His attacks tore at Izuku's body like gunshots, each one burning his skin and drawing blood. Each fist smashing into him like a hammer, each kick threatening to break his bones. Each explosion throwing Izuku's heightened senses into a spinning madness that only chance and battle-focus could correct.
But Katsuki was slowing. He was tiring and making mistakes and missing his shots and the horror of what Izuku was becoming was being reflected in his increasingly panicked strikes.
Izuku, however, was boiling and burning with terrible energy which pushed his injured body on and on and on. He barely felt any pain just as he barely felt any fear, any remorse, any pity.
Only one emotion was truly washing through Izuku's heart. Hate.
He knew he was bleeding because he could smell it, just as he could smell Katsuki's blood, rich and coppery and hot. He could almost taste it on his tongue and that made his heart race in a manner which he knew wasn't right but he didn't care.
Another of his burning, almost iron-strong fists slammed into Katsuki's face and something broke. His jaw perhaps. Izuku was barely aware at this point. All he knew was how much he hated Katsuki, how much the young man deserved this pain, this lesson he was being taught.
"How does it feel, Kaachan?" His voice was one of many, the first amongst thousands of screaming, burning souls. "To be beaten? To be hurt?"
Katsuki tried to reply but Izuku smashed him to the floor. He stood over him now, grabbing his shirt and pulling him up as he hit him again. And again. And again.
"HOW DOES IT FEEL TO BE WEAK?" His thousand-voiced scream came from between teeth too long in his mouth, from a throat that was burning from a fire inside him that was so close, so close to consuming him utterly.
Katsuki wasn't moving.
His hand was raising, blue fire flowing into life along his blood-soaked talons.
"Izuku?"
"WE ARE NOT DEKU!"
The thing's claws were tearing at his heart and mind and soul and he was starting to fall and he couldn't stop himself any longer.
"WE ARE IZUKU MIDORIYA-"
"IZUKU!"
"-AND WE ARE SHADOW AND FIRE!"
His hand fell, fire streaking behind it in a glorious, deadly wave.
He was grabbed suddenly as an arm wrapped itself around his neck and the teenager was hurled back. He slammed into the floor, the blazing whirlwind of blue fire erupting from his palm and scorching everything to his right, the heat so great that it burned the concrete walls a deathly black.
Izuku practically howled at the indignity and pitiless, abyss-dark eyes turned as his hand was thrown up once more, once more erupting with corrupt blue flame.
It was Hitoshi.
His eyes were wide and deep and horrified.
The world slammed back into place and Izuku took in a gulping breath as though he had been drowning in a great ocean and was only now surfacing for air.
His limbs felt like rocks and his heart was pounding too fast in his chest and why was he so weak and where was all this blood coming from? The world was both too solid and too liquid and spinning too fast. He could feel his stomach rejecting everything within him and he turned suddenly, retching to one side. Blood coated his vomit.
The fire died on his palm and the terrible accused power that had, only moments ago, made him feel like an ancient war-god, now drained from him in a shower of ash that filled the open air.
The blood didn't leave him though. He looked to his palms and he saw it. Coating his fingers, his knuckles. Blood that he knew wasn't his. His body was shaking and he couldn't stop it. He was fading as the sudden waves of now undenied pain tore through the pulsing, pounding wounds across his body.
"Izuku?" Hitoshi's echoing voice spoke again as more voices began flooding into his ears all at once in a cacophony of noise. One female, screaming and crying, one loud and focused and authoritative, some even robotic and accompanied by the whining of emergency sirens.
Izuku fell to the floor as darkness rushed into his vision, his body and mind too overwhelmed, too overtaxed to continue keeping him awake.
He was gone before his cheek even hit the concrete.
WOO. WHAT A RIDE. Or at least I hope it was a ride. So I think I'm going to take my month long break now. This chapter went through 23 drafts, which included 3 entirely different version of this chapter. Honestly the only thing that was kept almost (but not entirely) unchanged is the bit with Izuku talking with Hitoshi.
This chapter was honestly so, so difficult to write because I just couldn't find myself being happy with it. Even now I'm not 100% but if I worked any more on it I'd go insane. My constant work on this chapter set me way back for my other chapters and so I'm taking my month now to build up a nice backlog once again.
Besides, it's a cliffhanger, so who doesn't like cliffhangers?
Anyways, hope you all enjoy and please tell me what you liked, didn't like, where you think things could have been better, all that good stuff. Cya in a month's time kiddos!
