Chapter Sixteen:

Most of the bugs were gone now. There were only two left. While I was waiting, I was trapped between a bug on my back and one in between my two chest plates. All I needed to do was to bind my time. I would be out of here, eventually.

I can't believe The Nomu is here. That means that shiitake guy, or whatever his name is, he's not only here, but he's pulling out all stops! Three Nomu? At the USJ he brought only one!

He must know these heroes are FAR more dangerous than the ones in Japan. At least the ones at U.A. So he decided not to take any chances. Goddammit, now we have to deal with even more threats of top of The Undersiders. Just our luck.

When I woke up, it still took me a minute to come too. But when I did, I heard Izuku fighting with Skitter in the PRT base, couldn't tell who was winning or not, but I heard them shouting at each other and the entire lobby was falling apart. Goddamn, that kid was powerful.

But it wasn't enough, I couldn't see from the cloud of bugs in the PRT headquarters lobby, But from what I could tell, Izuku broke all his fucking fingers fighting Skitter. Which means he's fucked, Skitter beat all of The Wards, hell, she beat Lung! By herself! There's no way he can-

Wait, did he use his broken finger, and broke it some more!?

He knew he could do that? He could do that!?

Now he beat her and crept towards her to handcuff her…

So that's it?...We won?...because of Izuku?

Wow, I never would've guessed. I guess his power is stronger than I thought. I'm assuming this means we wo-

Wait a second, who's that? Who's that guy with the hoodie walking up to Izuku?

Izuku noticed him. He didn't seem to think anything of it. Did he think it was one of us?

"Izu-" My words caught in my throat, stopping my breath and causing me to vomit. The pain in my gut was like someone hit it with a bowling ball. I felt like my intestines have been thrown into the garbage disposal. And my head was on fire, like nails in my skull. This pain was greater than anything else I ever faced. How could Izuku-

Wait, my helmet was off! Skitter saw my face!

This wasn't good. This wasn't good. The whole reason Shadow Stalker attempted suicide was because she thought Regent would be able to get to her while out of her superhero identity. If that were to happen to me…

No..I won't let it…I rather die.

Ok, that didn't make any sense but-

Suddenly, The guy in the hoodie put his hand on Izuku's throat. Except for one finger, Izuku stood there, Who the hell was this guy?

Then he raised his head.

Shigaraki.

Fuck.

Had to be him, right? Just had to be. What could be worse? What could be more unlucky? The only thing that could be more unlucky is if Jack Slash and Heartbreaker showed up at the same time. But last time this guy was out and about, he nearly killed All Might, and we don't need that bullshit.

I couldn't hear what they were saying, but the smoke villain came along and Shigaraki put Skitter's arm around him. Not the time to be getting laid dude.

Or to be making really bad jo-

The bug on my back flew away.

Holy shit, Izuku!

"Izuku!" I shouted.

I ran, ran as fast as ever could. Someone had to save him. No one else was around. I…

I didn't even know if they were alive…

I was the only one left, I had to do this. They backed into the portal.

"Izuku! Fight back! Use your power! Do something! Anything!" Why wasn't he doing anything? I need him to do something. I leaped after them. "IZUKU!"

"Don't come, Clockblocker!" Izuku squeaked.

They disappeared into the portal.

I ended up catching nothing but air.

I failed…We lost…

Izuku's gone…

I screamed like I lost the last bit of sanity I had left.

Later

Usually, when we fought a villain, The Wards were joking around afterward, we were making quips, cracking jokes, and having fun. Listen, we're kids, it's going to happen. But we were careful not to do it while we were in a serious fight. We didn't do it while fighting Lung. We didn't do it while stopping Bakuda. Whenever we were in a fight with a supervillain, we cut the shit and get to work. Maybe if they were your average thugs, that would be ok, but we're not All Might, so we didn't do it while fighting supervillains…

Unless they were Uber and Leet but that's beside the point.

The point was back when our biggest problem was just getting our asses kicked, we would always have a little fun when we got done kicking ass. Hell, even if we lost, it never put us in a funk. We kept our hopes up, and even then we still teased each other.

This was not like those times.

Everyone in the room was dead. Silent. We weren't joking, we weren't even talking. We were just quiet. Waiting for our turn to be healed by Panacea. I'm not sure whether it was because We lost so many friends since the days we fought Lung and Purity, or because this loss was more crippling than most. We didn't just get humiliated, beaten, and tortured. We lost Izuku.

Ochaco was the first to be healed. Her bullet wounds were the worst. So we figured it only makes sense for her to go, but Mineta had some complaints.

Speaking of which, he was the quietest. Besides Panacea, I didn't know what was going on with her. Meanwhile, Mineta was just rocking back and forth, not saying a word. Tsuyu and Glory Girl were trying to comfort him but he didn't react. Was he alright?

Ochaco was silently crying into Tenya's shoulders, I think they took the news of Izuku's kidnapping the hardest. They're Izuku's friends too. If I was just a second sooner. Dammit. Ochaco nearly went after Izuku herself with a bullet in her lungs after hearing about it. I think she likes him. Hell, I think he likes her. I should've told him.

I should've done a lot of things.

It was too late now. There wasn't a single soul that wanted to speak.

Guess that leaves it up to me. "What do you guys think is that next step?"

Weld put his hand on his chin. "I think we should wait for orders."

"Well, no shit." I immediately kicked myself. Everyone would be hating me for making a joke like that. And after losing Izuku?

I had to save it. "I meant what do you think they'll say? Or do?"

Weld folded his arms. "It's almost impossible to guess what our superiors would do. They're our superiors for a reason. They know more than us."

"Weld is right." Tsuyu said. "We just need to wait for the pros to save Izuku or for them to tell us to save Izuku."

"Do you really think-" Mineta sniffed. "-that they'll ask for our help?"
"We can hope." Tsuyu said.

"Hope!? I don't want to fight those guys again!"

"Don't worry," Weld assured. "You guys are students. I'm certain you have the chance to not fight if you want to."

"That's true," Tenya said. "If any you want to sit out saving Midoriya, we won't judge you. Even I would choose to sit out if it wasn't my friend in danger."

"We'd respect you for trying to save a friend," Flechette said. "I'd do anything for the people I care about."

Kid Win looked at me. "What about you, Clock? Would you try to save him?"

"I'm sure he does." Bird guy said. "I spoke to Dark Shadow to gather information about our adversaries."

We all looked at him.

"The name of my power."

"Oh." We all said, except for the guy with his head shaped like a rock. But he doesn't talk much.

Also, do they name their powers? I thought Japan was all about being the same…

"Dark Shadow feels terrible about failing to stop our opponents. I imagine it's the same for Clockblocker."

Kid Win looked at me. "Is it?"

I looked at him as intensely as I could. Which was stupid, because I was wearing a mask. "I'm not letting anyone die, no matter who they are."

Glory Girl smiled purely.

"Nice one, Clock," Sero said. "Nice to see your catfight with Midoriya isn't that bad."

I whipped my head around to look at him. What the hell was he doing?

"Not even Katsuki?" Vista asked.

I sighed. "No, not even him."

"Gee thanks," Katsuki said. "Not like I need your help. I could take on those villains by myself!"

God, he was posturing at a time like this?

"We got close," Rock guy said. "until Genesis, Ballistic and Sundancer got in the way."

"I can't believe The Travelers are working together with The Undersiders," Glory Girl folded her arms. "Who could their boss be?"

"More importantly," Ochaco said, "What do those guys do? In fact, what do The Undersiders do?"

"Both of them specialize in hit-and-run tactics and smash and grab jobs," Weld said. "But Hellhound has mauled people before, and she's…"

Ochaco titled her head. Weld, don't. "She's…what?"

Weld sighed. "She's a killer. She killed her abusive foster mo-"

"What!? We gotta go!"

"Now hold on, we don't know if she'll kill again."

"She'd already killed once! WHAT MAKES YOU THINK SHE WON'T KILL AGAIN!?"

"She killed her abusive mother. She never killed a hero, and I doubt she would. Lest she want the full power of The Protectorate after her team."

Ochaco had a face that just screamed pain. I thought she would break down right then and there.

"Trust me."

Ochaco had tears run down her face and moved past Weld.

Tenya grabbed her arm. "Trust him, Uraraka."

Ochaco nodded. "Ok." She sat back down.

"Close one," Sero snickered. "I was thinking Ochaco was about to go Iko Uwais on their asses."

No dude, what are you doing?

Ochaco whipped her head around to look at Sero. "You're making jokes?"

Sero made a look like someone just slapped him in the face. "I…I-"

"You think this is funny? That making jokes will bring him back? Or do you just not care!?"

"No! I was just trying to lighten the mood!"

"By making fun of my pain!?"

Sero made a noise. He's doing it too? He looked down, then put both his hands on his face. Goddammit Sero, I gotta help them.

"I gotta go," Sero said. He got up to leave.

"Why are you angry?" Ochaco put her fist on her hips.

"I'm not! I mean…not at you."

"Then who are you angry at?" The tail guy asked.

Sero sighed. "I just have to go, alright?" Sero walked away, but before he left, he turned his head a bit and said, "sorry."

Then he left.

"What's wrong with him?" Ochaco said.

"Don't know," Panacea said. "Could be he's bottling in emotions. He probably feels like shit."

All of 1-A looked at Panacea.

"For a second there, I thought you were mute." The electric guy said. I think his name is Ken. Or something.

"You really think he's bottling up how he really feels?" The buff guy said. The one eating sugar during training.

"It is possible," Tenya said. "We're all dealing with our emotions in our own way. It's not unfeasible to imagine Sero is concealing his true feelings."

"Crap." Ochaco got up from her seat. "We have to talk this out."

"Not yet," Weld said. "Let him put his own thoughts in order first. Then we could talk to him."

"Ok."

"I'm sure he'll get his thoughts in order."

"Yeah, real sure." I didn't even realize I was talking out loud until I saw everyone was looking at me.

"What are you assuming, Clockblocker?" Bird guy said.

"Nothing…I…I got to go…" I got up.

"You too?" Kid win asked.

"Yes…me too." I walked out the door.

I didn't know where he went, but if I was to guess, he'd be going outside to get some fresh air.

I took the elevator and took a ride down to the bottom of the floor. The ride was so smooth I didn't even realize I was moving until the elevator unlocked itself with the moving columns and panels of metal moving to make a path.

I saw him sitting in the lobby. Usually, this place would be filled with tourists, but I was thankful it wasn't "Hey, man. You ok?"

Sero sighed. "You should focus on Ochaco."

"She's fine, Tenya and-"

"Iida."

I nodded. "Iida and Weld made sure she was alright. She actually wanted to talk things out with you."

"It's fine. It's just-" Sero put both hands on his face and looked up. "I just don't know how to talk to people."

"I can tell." Shit. That might seem like a tease. "I don't mean that with any ill intention. Only the fact that it's clear that…from my perspective…I can see you're having problems."

"It's easy for you…somehow…" Sero sighed again. "But I'm not like you Clock. You're smart, a good fighter, and know exactly what to say. You're a great hero. But I'm not…built like that…"

I put my hand on my chin. What would be the best thing to say? "You think I started this way?"

Sero looked at me. "What?"

"I'm like you, Sero. In a lot of ways actually."

"What are you talking about?"

I have to say it. "My father has cancer."

Sero's eyes widened. "Really?"

"Yes…My father had it since I was ten. I had to donate him my bone marrow to save him. I even triggered because of it."

Sero stayed silent.

"Believe me, I'm like you. I know why you are the way you are. And I was just like you when I first started this job. I made jokes, I cracked wise, and by doing that, I didn't get close to my teammates, and they didn't get close to me. Not to mention the civilians that had to deal with my bullshit after supervillain attack hated me. But I learned. If your school had any merits, I know for a fact that you'll le-"

He fired some tape at my body. Shit. Did I say something wrong? I swore I did everything right. For once.

When he pulled me in, I expected a punch to the face. But he hugged me tighter than my mother on most days. "Sorry, you had to go through that, and thank you."

I smiled. "No problem."

"Are you Insane!?" the voice said in the secret meeting room.

I whipped my head around to look at the door. "Are The Protectorate having a meeting?"

"The pros are having a meeting? Oh, I got to see this."

I turned to Sero. "What?"

"Oh yeah, I guess it would be 'listen to this.' But either way-"

"No; not that! You can't snoop on The Protectorate meeting!"

"Why not? How else will I learn," Sero taped the ceiling. "Unless It's from the best?" He swung away.

Goddammit, and I thought I had a rebellious streak.

I ran forward to Sero, who had his ear to the door.

"I don't hear anything," Sero said.

I looked at the lobby desk. "Use those two cups on the desk."

"Oh yeah," He pulled them in with his tape. He handed it to me. "A cup for you, and a cup for me."

I took the cup, put it on the door, and froze it, so I wouldn't have to hold it up.
"So that's it?" I heard a voice. Was that Aizawa? "You want us to kill a student because it has greater power than your Shadow Stalker."

What!?

"What the hell are they talking about!?" Sero whispered, I little too loudly for my taste.

I shushed him. Probably not the right thing to do, but I doubt they want this getting out.

"I expect you to not hold back against him because he has power as great as All Might's." That was definitely Director Piggy. "Even if it means killing him. We'd do the same if The Triumvirate were influenced by The Simurgh."

"Then you're even more immoral than I thought."

"Says the one that strangled one of his own students."

"At this point, we're not even arguing about what's important."

What? Who was that guy?

"I don't recognize that voice," Sero said.

"Me neither," I said. "Stay silent."

"I can't speak for everyone," Miss Militia said. "But we didn't do so good against The Nomu. Who was even weaker than All Might. He only did so well because of his shock absorption and regeneration. I doubt we'd do so well against someone who was even stronger."

"We'd fought tougher opponents. Like Levithan." Battery said.

"You mean 'destroyed the entire city and killed half the civilians Levithan? That Levithan?" That was definitely Assault. He had a sense of humor similar to mine. "Not that I'm arguing for killing a kid though. I rather cripple him than kill him."

"I can knock him out with my Quirk."

Which one was that?

"Unless he knocks your perfume away with a shock wave," Piggy said.

Perfume? What are they talking about?

"But you don't expect us to kill a child, right!?" That must be Present Mic, I recognize that voice from the way he shouts. He must not be using his quirk, lest he burst everyone's eardrums.

"That's right!" Was that the space hero girl? "Heroes save, they don't kill!"

"If Izu…If Midoriya gets controlled by Regent. Going all out, even if it means killing him, will save countless lives. Wait a second…

"What is it?" Aizawa said.

"I just got a call on my holophone, Let me answer it for a second…Hello?"

The room was silent for a second. Until Piggy said, "Get the Wards. And the student."

"On it." Aizawa said.

"Shit. We gotta run."

"No problem there!" Sero said.

Sero put the cup on the desk, and we jumped over it to run.

"Where's your cup?" Sero asked.

"On…the…door…"

We looked at the door and saw how they tried to open the door with the cup blocking it, the door not even budging.

"Turn it off!" Sero said.

"I can't!" I said.

The budging stopped. Did they give up?"

"BECAUSE I AM HERE!" All Might said from behind the door.

"All Might!?" I said.

"Since when was he there!?" Sero nearly shouted.

The cup fell.

Oh shit. "WAIT! DON'T!"

All Might burst through the door at super speed, nearly running into us, but he stopped himself at the last second. "Oh! Hello Young Sero and Young Clockblocker!" He clapped his hands together. "What's up?"

What the hell? "Ummm…All Might? You're smoking."

"Oh! Well, thank you! I'm glad you-"

"No, you're literally smoking."

"WHAT!?" All Might looked around his body. "Shit, the steam!"

He immediately ran into the secret room and more steam popped up out of nowhere.

Aizawa and Piggy were in the doorway, glaring daggers at us.

"Clockblocker?" Piggy said.

"Yes?"

"Get your teammates. The Undersiders called."

Later

We were all present in the lobby. All The Wards were present, along with all of the students, up front and center, except for Katuski. who was in the back of the room, leaning on the wall.

Well, except Izuku…

The Protectorate and the U.A Teachers were present as well. Not to mention, who I think was an intern at All Might's agency. He was a short, spiky haired, emancipated man. Wearing a white T-Shirt and dark green pants.

Where the hell is All Might?

None of us had as much as a smirk on our faces. What I was feeing was paradoxical, however. I was eagerly waiting to see if Izuku was alive, but also felt sick to my stomach. What if they controlled Izuku? What if they killed him? I put my face in my hands.

I couldn't even imagine what would be Ochaco or Te…or Iida would think. They actually like him. They would be broken. Hell, I could say the same for Glory Girl. I had to save him. If they fucking killed him…

"Alright," Piggot said. "I'm putting the hologram up."

Piggot grabbed the holographic screen on her phone and put it in the air. It was nearly as big as the room itself, and it showed Skitter, it showed Grue, it showed all The Undersiders…

But it didn't Izuku…

Shit. Not good.

The Undersiders were in a dimly lit room, with shadows covering their eyes. At least the ones with eyes you could see. The only lighting was a few candles in front of them, and they were lined up in two lines. With spaces in between them to show themself.

When I looked around the room, The faces of The Wards and the students ranged from scared, concerned, and furious. The adults were more calm, more constrained. They hardly showed any emotion. Perks of being a professional.

"Hello, Heroes!" Tattletale said. "Glad you could all make it."

"Where's Deku!?" Ochaco said.

Tattletale smirked. I felt the need to punch her jaw off. "Don't worry, Izuku is just fine. We just want to talk."

"Spare us the pleasantries, Tattletale," Piggot said. "Just tell where the student is. We know you didn't kill him."

Tattletale looked at Skitter. "You want to take this?"

"Gladly," Skitter said. "You're right. Little Izuku is alive. We spared him of the fate from Shadow Stalker. We have different plans for him. Turn on the lights, Imp."

"Got it." She said.

Imp walked off screen and when the lights were flickers on, we saw Izuku, wrapped up in webbing. Big enough to be a cocoon for a butterfly six feet in height. But his face was uncovered. And Shigaraki was right behind him.

"DEKU!" Ochaco and Glory Girl said.

"MIDORIYA!" Iida said.

Izuku's eyes lit up. "GUYS! You're alive!"

Shigaraki immediately moved his hands to Izuku's shoulders. "Nah-ah-ah. Little brat. You aren't doing anything."

Izuku gulped.

"Now we understand each other." Skitter said. "You don't get Izuku until we get what we want."

"And what do you want?" The skinny guy said. I think his name was Toshinori.

Skitter stood there, silently. "We want 100 Million dollars, and we'll give you Izuku back."

We stood there, not reacting.

"You're kidding, right?" Assault said.

"Nope, that's the request. 100 Million dollars. Or you'll never see Izuku again."

"And we want it out of All Might's account." Shigaraki added.

"What!?" Toshinori said. "Why do you want it out if his account!?"

"To hurt him." Shigaraki said. "Besides, All Might is a billionaire, he can afford it."

"Just because doesn't mean he will." AIzawa said. "All Might could take you all down if he wanted.

"Aizawa's right." Piggot said. "Why would we willingly help villains taking over our city that we can easily stop?"

"Because this kid has the same power as All Might." Tattletale said.

What?

Toshinori made a noise. When I looked at him, he looked TERRIFIED. Like he just saw an Endbringer.

Everyone started murmuring, trading speculation about what she could mean. Wa she born with it? Is he All Might's child? The theories came faster then Velocity.

Only ones not theorizing were the adults and Katsuki, who was oddly quiet for some reason.

Aizawa took a glance at Toshinori. Why? What would he know? He was just an intern or something.

"Bullshit," Piggot said. "You expect us to believe that?"

"Why not?" Tattletale said. "He has a Quirk. His power was genetic. Someone one else could easily be born with the same power. He's a natural born hero. Y'know?"

Aizawa rolled his eyes. "Just because it's possible doesn't mean it happened yet. With the way Quirks work and with how rare some are, it's entirely possible that there isn't anyone else that-"

"THAT'S BULLSHIT!" Katsuki said.

What was his problem now? This isn't the time, dude!"

Everyone, including the villains, looked at Katsuki.

"What's wrong? Don't believe us?" Tattletale said.

"It doesn't make any sense!" Katsuki said. What was he babbling about? "I'm awesome! I'm talented! I'm hardworking! I'm strong! I should've gotten it! Not him!" Katsuki started to shake. "Why did he get it instead of me? Why did he make that choice!?"

Katsuki shouted the last part loud enough for everyone to hear. "WHY DID ALL MIGHT GIVE HIS QUIRK TO HIM AND NOT TO ME!?"

"WHAT!?" We all shouted.

All Might came and covered Katsuki mouth immediately. What the hell? Where did he come from!? "NOW! NOW! THAT'S ENOUGH, YOUNG BAKUGO!"

He started smoking again. And bleeding? What the-

"Um, All Might?" Ochaco said. "You're smoking."

"Yes, yes. I'm aware of the connotations."

"And bleeding?" Hellhound said.

Regent chuckled."I thought only-"

"Don't. Say only women can do that." Imp said.

Regent slumped his shoulders. "Well, now I CAN'T say it. You spoiled the whole joke."

"You wanna take this, Tattletale?" Grue asked.

Tattletale smirked. "What's wrong, All Might? Out of time?"

All Might gave another terrified look.

"What?" Skitter asked.

"All Might has a timer. Ever since some villains injured him." Tattletale said. "I would bet you only have a few hours, two? One? A few minutes? A few minutes, right."

"It's more than that."

Everyone looked at Shigaraki. "Think about it. It's no obvious, I should have realized it sooner."

Shigaraki walked up to the screen, or whatever was recording them. "Did Midoriya tell you? I doubt All Might would. So it was him. I can't believe you knew before me…"

"What are you saying, Shigaraki?" Piggot asked.

Shigaraki leaned in. "If Quirks can get taken away, why can't they been given?"

All Might looked like his worst secret was discovered.

I think it was…

"He's right," Tattletale said. Without a smile this time. "All Might gave Izuku his Quirk."

What? Was he telling the truth? Izuku and All Might looked batshit terrified! It must be true…if that's the case, that means…

Shigaraki smiled. "If you don't give us the money, this is what will happen to the brat."

Izuku took Skitter's knife and turned it into dust instantaneously, simultaneously showcasing his power and making a threat. "We'll be expecting the money by tomorrow at 5:00."

"Don't be late," Skitter added.

Then they turned the feed off.

Everyone had a different reaction. Iida grit his teeth, Ochaco started pacing around the room, ranting. All Might ran into a different room. And Katsuki was…oddly quiet.

But despite the student's reaction. The Wards, Protectorate, and teachers knew what this meant.

If we give into their demands, we're fucked, if we don't we're fucked.

This is what I was made for. This is what I was built to do.

But I wasn't the least bit happy.

This wasn't just a threat. It was a declaration.

Author Notes: This is one of my favorite chapters so far! thank you all so supporting me! Trust me when I say, things will take a turn and canon will fall on his head. There will be a couple more DEVASTATING losses, so stay tuned. This isn't over yet.