Stepping off of the train and into the brisk night air, the four made quick work of walking to the Nomu factory. No stops, no detours; briskly walking alone. Soon, they ducked into another alleyway, this one thinner than others which made movement difficult. Iida supported Kirishima on his shoulders, Izuku holding tightly to the walls. Uraraka hugged herself as the two looked in a grimy window.
"What do you see in there?" Iida grunted, Kirishima's tennis shoes digging into his skin.
Kirishima didn't answer at first, peering through a pair of night vision goggles. Izuku raised an eyebrow at the expensive looking goggles, but chose not to comment.
"Its, uh, really dark," Kirishima muttered "and, wait, what?" He leaned forward sharply, mouth dropping open.
Behind his mask, Izuku was clenching his jaw tightly. This was yet another thing he should have known. Was he nothing but a failure without his master?
"What? What is it?" Uraraka questioned, worried.
"Monsters?" Kirishima looked to Izuku, confusion etched on his face. "What-?"
"Nomu." The word was bitter in Izuku's mouth as he answered the unfinished question. "Genetically mutated humans. Little to no brain functions, having only enough to live and obey commands." He pulled off a side of his mask, the side facing away from the others, and spat with contempt. "Disgusting."
Kirishima looked back to the window, horrified. "They've done this to people?"
"Yes, I'm afraid." He slammed his head into the palm of his hand. "Gah, I'm an idiot. I should've realized that they would keep the Nomu separated from the actual hideout."
"You're saying that Bakugo isn't here?" Iida questioned, urgent.
Izuku looked back, looking skeptical. "It's highly unlikely that they would-"
Time seemed to slow for Izuku. Survivalist senses, ingrained into him by many jump scares and much training from Stain, flared in his mind. All thought was lost in the static of avoiding danger, as he moved before his mind could catch up with his body. He reached for unaware Kirishima, a shadow passing over them.
They tumbled into each other, crashing to the floor as Izuku yelled. As they hit the ground, Mt. Lady's enormous foot crashed into the Nomu facility. Dust filled the air, the other three choking.
Izuku stood immediately, his mask allowing him to breathe properly. Scowling up at the pro, he bent down, giving Uraraka his hand and slinging her arm over his shoulders. With a little prompting in the form of his booted foot kicking their legs, Izuku got the other two standing as well. They shuffled down the alley way, wobbling and finally sitting down farther away from the pros.
Shouts came from the other end, the sounds of the pros searching the building. Izuku cast a very angry glare in their general direction as he handed the three an unopened water bottle to clear their throats.
"What if there were civilains in that building? Does anyone care about that? No, let's just all stare at her butt." Contempt filled his voice as he gave a little twitch. The urge to enact his justice grew, and he had to restrain himself from running over and taking the pros all on. He had few weapons, no plan or intel, and there sounded to be around ten or more pros on the other side.
He turned back to his friends, keeping his bloodlust under control. He was about to ask if they were alright, when the shouts from behind grew alarmed. Mt. Lady bent down, asking about a civilian.
There was a moment's silence; cold, dead fear filling Izuku's very being. He innately knew something was very, very wrong, as a familiar sense of evil overwhelmed him. He once again moved without conscious command to stand in front of his friends, to shield them, but he was too late, and he wouldn't have been able to do anything regardless.
A monumentous explosion shook the whole city, confusion and debris causing the next few moments to be a blur. The four all came to their senses at the same time, their blood curdling at the horrible voice that rang, clear as a bell, over the ruined area. Izuku was the only one to have the will to move. He already knew that voice.
He crouched down at the ruin's entrance, looking out at the vast destruction before him.
All For One, levitating like a fallen angel, killed Best Jeanist in one simple move, preaching the whole time. Izuku twitched again, his hand itching towards his hidden short sword. He hated the man before him with every ounce of his being for, when they had met face to face, All For One had tried to bribe him over with what he had always wanted; A quirk. Perhaps, if he had simply offered aid and shelter in return for a few killings, there might have been a chance Izuku would have accepted. But to be so high and mighty as to assume he could be swayed by power-
His sword was in his hand and he was gripping it untill his knuckles were white. Images of death flashed in his mind. All For One's, the Leagues', his friends', Stain's, his mother's, his own. Each of them, dismembered and coated in blood. He was unsure if he was seeing this because of bloodlust, or by the man's presence. Surely by both. He tried to lick his lips, his tongue pushing against his cold mask. His breathing grew heavy, his mind filling with the need to kill the man standing before him.
His legs started moving, and he began to stand.
He only got a centimeter high, before a new sight snapped him back to reality. Portals of viscous black goop, spurting forth from nothing, depositing Kacchan and the league before the feet of All For One as Izuku quickly squatted back down. All For One quickly charged Shigaraki with the order of keeping his 'prize' of Kacchan, before turning, and addressing someone who was not yet there.
To Izuku's relief, All Might blasted his way onto the battlefield, instantly going toe to toe with All For One. As he did, all hell broke loose in the ruins.
Bakugo almost immediately went into combat against all the standing members of the League, wind blasts from the two battling legends continually disrupting the battlefield.
Izuku shook his head, turning back to his three terrified friends. "We have to help."
"Help?!" Uraraka squeaked. "We're not allowed to use our quirks in combat. And even if we did, they'll kill us!" She knew that she sounded like a coward, and perhaps deep down inside she may have been at that moment, but that man fighting All Might terrified her out of her mind.
"I didn't say we'd fight them, but if we don't do something, they'll do worse to him!" The image of Bakugo be twisted and deformed into one of those Nomu was unbearable to Izuku, and he moved so he was crouching in front of Uraraka. He grabbed one of her hands, making her look him in the eye. "You said, at your core, you truly wanted to help and save others." He leaned forward slightly. "Then prove it to me."
She snapped back to reality, shaking her head. The harshly spoken words cut through her fear, allowing her sense of heroinism to return in enough strength for her to look him back in the eye and nod with determination.
"What do we do?"
Izuku looked around, gauging their differing quirks and his tech, formulating a plan. He started muttering, his intellect causing his mouth to run a mile a minute. "First off, we'll need to use Kirishima's quirk to break through the wall. Iida and I would have to both launch us all over and away from the battle, but our combined weights would pull us down. Uraraka could use her quirk on all of us, carrying us four far above the field. We'd need to aim the direction right or else he might not be able to reach us. We'll have Kirishima call to him to come, and once at a good distance away, Uraraka will drop her quirk effect. All Might and All For One will be too busy keeping each other occupied that neither will be able to assist or harm our effort. Once we're falling, I'll use my hook to help reduce our momentum, and Kirishima and I will support most of the landing. It may be a bit rough, but no one should get any serious injuries." He started, looking up to see the confused faces of his friends. He gave an awkward cough. "Uhm. Yeah, that's it." They stared, making him shift uncomfortably. "Please stop staring, I know it's weird."
Kirishima drew his mouth into a line. That muttering, seemed all too familiar. And how did he know their strengths, weaknesses, and relationships so well? The more he was around the killer, the more Kirshima felt like he knew him.
Iida was the first to snap out of it, shuffling over and crouching next to Izuku. He waved Kirishima and Uraraka over as she moved to activate her quirk on them all, using it on herself last. Uraraka clung to Izuku, leaving his right arm free, while he and Iida in turn held onto Kirishima. They braced themselves against the wall. Iida started firing up his engines and Izuku began powering up his boots to as high as he could while still withholding enough damage so he could help land them later.
"Three." Izuku counted, sweating from stress. "Two." He checked to make sure Uraraka was secrure. "One!"
They jumped, Kirishima punching through the remains of the brick wall with ease. They soared, far above the wreckage, all eyes turning to them. Midway over the field, Kirishima turned, offering his hand and screaming for Bakugo to come. Izuku cast a glance behind, and took a spare millisecond to enjoy the enormous explosion that Kacchan created.
'His new power really is something to be feared isn't it?' He thought idly while Bakugo held onto Kirishima's hand for dear life. 'Kacchan will make a fine hero someday. Worthy of respect.'
"YOU STUPID OR SOMETHING?!" Bakugo yelled, genuinely grinning with an almost insane glee, before his eyes fell on Stain's Apprentice.
For a split second, in the dark and fueled by adrenaline, he saw Izuku in his yellow eyes as the fake glasses were whipped off of his face. A small fluff of dark hair poked out from the lip of the green beanie.
But no. In no way or capacity. Izuku had green eyes, not yellow, and there was no way little Deku could be someone like this, even if he could fight. Izuku was still nerdy Izuku, and always would be. Kacchan wouldn't be surprised if he found Izuku surrounded by hundreds of little mechanical dragons one day.
There was simply no way for Izuku to have fallen so low.
He was too good.
Stains Apprentice looked away, and Bakugo looked back to his new best friend. "Hey! Why's he here?" He jerked his head to Izuku, his grin fading.
"He's half the reason we're here! We ran into each other! Tell you later!" Kirishima shouted over the wind as Izuku slowly reached his right arm out.
"Release Uraraka!" Izuku yelled, the hook speeding away. Uraraka struggled to bring her hands together as Bakugo cut his gaze to her, not having noticed she was there previously. "NOW!" Izuku shouted urgently as the hook latched to something and pulled them away at a faster rate.
Her finger tips met and they began to plummet. As they neared the edge of a roof, the grappling hook pulled them right back up, placing all of the force on Izuku's arm.
He screamed in pain as his shoulder violently dislocated and he released the grappling hook as his limb went limp. He and Kirishima landed heavily on the roof of the building, indeed absorbing most of the impact with his hardening and Izuku's boots. Pain flared up through his legs at the rough landing and Izuku unashamedly fell over backwards with a groan.
Iida caught him, lowering him gently to the ground while Uraraka and Kirishima pounced on Bakugo. Once he had hugged Bakugo, nearly squeezing the life out of him, Kirshima followed it up by punching him full in the face.
"Ow man, what the heck?!"
"DON'T YOU EVER DO THAT AGAIN!"
Bakugo looked blankly at Kirishima, mouth hanging open. "Get kidnapped? How is that my fault?!"
Uraraka decided to do things differently from Kirishima. She did this by first punching Bakugo on the shoulder, lighter than Kirishima did, and then threw herself at him, crying. Bakugo's hands stuck out awkwardly, unaccustomed to having a very prettily dressed girl, with dust and rubble on her clothes and in her hair, hugging him and crying into his shoulder that she just punched. Kirishima saved him by hugging them both, locking the two in his grasp.
While this heartfelt scene was happening, Izuku was having to deal with relocating his own dang shoulder and wrapping his aching legs.
He shoved a handful of his sweater into his mouth with his left hand (making sure his face was still obscured,) before painfully jerking his right shoulder back into place. The sweater muffled his grunt of pain, and he slumped back against Iida again, stars popping in his vision.
"Are you alright?" Iida asked, at a loss of what else to do.
Izuku rolled his eyes. "Oh yes. I relocate shoulders and nearly break my legs on a daily basis. I feel like going out and doing something productive." His sarcasm was palpable, causing Iida to frown once again. The other teen stood up (leaving Izuku to slump against the floor with a whine,) as he went to check on Bakugo. Izuku, ignoring his discomfort, pulled himself up into a sitting position. As he reached for his boots to survey the damage to his legs, a familiar hand reached down and made a fist in his shirt.
Izuku sighed, not even fighting as Bakugo pulled him up to eye level. He hung limply in Kacchan's hands.
"Now. Why exactly are you here?" Bakugo questioned. Izuku remained silent, blinking in a bored manner at his former bully. "Not talking anymore?" Katsuki growled, suppressing memories of times when he pulled this exact same move on Izuku in middle school.
Faster than the eye could blink, Izuku lifted his left hand and slapped Bakugo flat across the face. He gasped and spluttered, dropping Izuku and stumbling backwards while holding his face. Izuku braced himself against a small ledge, sitting down as he was finally allowed to pull off his boot.
"What the heck?!" Bakugo shouted for the second time in five minutes.
Izuku shrugged nonchalantly, wrapping his red and slightly swollen legs. "What? Everyone else was hitting you. I wanted to join in on the fun." He looked up, smiling behind his mask. "And hey, I dislocated my arm and nearly broke my legs over you, so I consider this less than fair recompense."
Bakugo growled, but didn't say anymore.
Summoning up his dignity and swallowing his pride, Iida walked over to the two, his face stoic. He snapped over, bent at a horizontal angle as he bowed formally to Izuku.
"It seems you were honest in your statement of not wishing harm to any of us." He began, clearly having to force the words out. "I feel I owe you both my thanks and," he grit his teeth "my apologies, even though I cannot help but feel that there is a debt to be paid now."
Izuku was taken aback. Iida was formal and insistent on rules, Izuku knew, but for something such as this to be directed at him? The one who had helped in the attack on the other's older brother and left him crippled for life? Izuku truly didn't know how to respond.
"Look, Iida, may I be frank with you?" The other teen looked up at Izuku skeptically. "In all honesty, I don't actually know how answer something so formal. Would just a simple 'I accept' be acceptable?"
Iida straightened, pushing his glasses further up his nose. "I suppose so." He didn't sound too sure himself if that was the correct formal responce, but he looked Izuku in the eye to tell that it would be to him.
Izuku spread his hands out. "Then I accept your apology and thanks and, truly, it means a lot to me." Izuku shrugged, brushing heartfelt statements aside. "And as for the debt part? Apparently everyone feels that when I do anything remotely nice, so consider it fulfilled by helping me stand up."
Iida stared blankly at Izuku. "What?"
"What?" Izuku looked right back up, serious. "I just nearly broke my legs. They're rigid."
Slowly, Iida lent his arm and helped pull Stain's Apprentice to his feet, wincing at Izuku's hiss as his protesting muscles were stretched. He gradually relaxed, rifling through his pockets for a portal receptor.
"Honestly, none of you need to feel indebted to me over anything. I'm a guy of few grudges, and I'm far from the type to keep track of every little debt owed, unless I owe it, so just forget about it." He stepped to the edge of the roof, looking out across the city, receptor in hand.
"If you don't hold many grudges, then why do you spend your time hunting down and killing heroes?" Bakugo asked fairly. "Don't you have some spiel about the injustices that modern society has done to you?"
Izuku gave a genuine laugh, bringing a hand up to his face as he cackled merrily. Did he have a list of injustices? Oh, only too many. And many of them were from the one who had asked the question. Yes, he might have scratched those injustices out, no longer holding them against Kacchan or anyone else, but he still had both physical and mental scars imparted to him from the boy. "Well, I mean," he wiped a tear from his eye as the amusement slowly faded from his voice "technically yes, but it's not why I do what I do. Every action, no matter what, has a payment. My Master and I are merely the long due payment of the pro's actions." He turned around to face them, fiddling with the receptor in his hands. "So no. It's not about grudges. I haven't even personally met even half of them." He held the device out to Uraraka. "Quirk this please." He attempted to bringt the train of conversation to a sudden stop with the request, Uraraka gently doing as she was asked.
"If you haven't met them, then how can you label them as criminals?" Bakugo pressed.
"It's called the internet." Izuku looked his former bully in the eye, his tone of voice mischievous. "You wouldn't believe even half of the things I could tell you about some pros right now. They do love to cover things up." Izuku brought his arm back, snapping it forwards and sending the receptor flying across the city. He held a hand up to track it's progress. "Release please, Uraraka."
Izuku flipped open his phone to keep track of the device as it fell. After some twiddling and moving the device by means of tiny mechanical legs, Izuku soon had a portal standing before himself. Kirishima was the first one through, followed by Iida, who was keen to be left alone to his thoughts. Uraraka was third, giving them both a kind, timid smile.
At last, the two were alone.
Izuku looked to Kacchan rather aprehensively, fearing what he would do. Bakugo took a step forward, making Izuku swallow nervously.
'Why am I scared? I've judo flipped him before, who's to say I couldn't just do it again?'
Bakugo got up into Izuku's face, looking Stain's Apprentice right in the eye. Izuku's irises had contracted, a hint of familiar emerald green peeking past the fake yellow.
"Uhm, do you mind?" Izuku asked, his voice surprisingly level. "Your portal is gonna close on its own soon."
Bakugo let out a quiet snort, turning and jumping through the portal to his friends.
Izuku slumped over in a sigh of relief. That had been needlessly stressful, and had taken much too long. The sounds of the distant fighting had seemed to have ceased, but that could've been due to the distance from where Izuku stood to where the battle was.
Izuku was physically unable to return back to the field, and his emotion and mental levels had plummeted as exhaustion set in, so he wearily opened one last portal, limping through and hobbling to his/Chizome's bedroom. He fell asleep almost as soon as he had removed his duffle bag and clothes and his head hit his pillow.
A/N
Welp, here I am again with another long chapter. I'm not sure why, but I'm just not very happy with how this one turned out. Not sure why as I put on everything I wanted, but, que sera sera.
Dieokileteous, it was too tempting, I had to do it. Baku deserved that slap.
Also, Sombratheweeb, yes, izu and dabs will have a confrontation with Endeavor, but I'm not planning on showing much of the fight itself. It's going to have this buildup as izu learns of Enji's past, send this very threatening foreshadowing in form of almost blackmail, and then finally the confrontation. Then I'll cut the focus somewhere else, probs Baku or todo or maybe both, then cut back to endeavor and what they've done to him as Izu tells of his crimes in a very public manner. It's gonna be pretty graphic in terms of describing the damage the two have done to him.
And all of you, worry not. The drama is coming (hopefully(I hope I can write it well enough)). The students, Baku in particular, are figuring his identity out and, Baku again in particular, are denying the possibility with a fierce passion. Soon after the Endeavor confront, Izuku will make a bold and extremely public challenge to All Might. With Dabi and Spinner as successors to carry on the ideals of Stain should he lose, he is confident to go up against All Might, knowing that there is a great possibility of his identity being revealed. Also yes. This is where his identity is revealed, and no. No one takes it well at all.
Also, I'm sure some of you have noticed that I don't really put swears in my writing. Yeah, that's because I'm not comfortable writing that, and I don't want it clogged with an endless stream of profanities from all these violent characters. Just in case any of you were wondering.
Next chapter is going to focus on dabs, spinner, and Izu having their talk.
Hope you all enjoyed this, and hope it continues to impress.
So long lovies!