It was the truth that, concerning hand to hand combat, Izuku was at a much greater disadvantage than his opponent. He sucessfully avoided All Might's first few punches, returning with stings from his baton (he was trying to avoid cutting Toshinori), but his luck had to run out sometime. All Might at last landed a blow on the boy, sending him crashing through another plaster wall. Izuku groaned, his vision fading to black for a moment. He shook himself, regaining his feet. This was no time for weakness.

'This is what you get' He thought bitterly. 'You started this, and now you're feeling the weight of your actions' Izuku growled. "Shut up" he ordered himself. He cast a glare to his determined opponent, eyeing the trap that was building itself. It would be done soon, all he had to do now was last out against the greatest hero in Japan.

Simple.

The Apprentice rushed forward, avoiding his carefully placed inventions. All Might cocked his fist back, ready for another attack. The look on the hero's face was strange. It seemed he was truly deeply regretful of the harshness his attacks brought. However, it was this or let the boy win by default, which would destroy the both of them. He blocked the baton, but didn't expect Izuku to finally attack with his sword after his stingy use of the deadly weapon. The blade cut a clean, long nick on Toshinori's left side, at the area of his old wound. He spun around with a gasp, one hand on his bleeding side, as Izuku skid to a stop himself and turned. A steady drip of blood ran off of the juvenile's blade. The two regarded each other, breathing heavily.

All Might eyed his own blood warily. He wondered if the the boy's quirk had something to do with blood, as his master's was. "How come you never seem to use your quirk in battle? Is it akin to your master's and we just haven't seen? Or is it simply illogical to use it out of home?" He asked, voicing his curiosity.

Izuku groaned, shoulders slumping and weapons drooping. "Again with my quirk. No one can shut up about it for five minutes or realize the obvious, can they?" He stood closer to his full height, disdain clear in his young voice. "Maybe it's teleportation, or mechanical based, or enhanced speed and strength, or something concerning consuming blood, like Master's. I've even heard one person say it was clinging to walls." He brought his sword point up, gesturing with it slightly as he spoke. "But, has anyone, EVER considered, that I might just be quirkless?"

Izuku chuckled darkly at All Might's shocked expression. "No. They haven't. Why? Because you need a quirk to do anything in this world, don't you?" His voice grew heavy, filled with a malice similar to the one he voiced back at Hosu. "What are the quirkless? Rejects! Failures! What have they ever done, aside from the near seven thousand years of existence without quirks! The basis of modern society!" His voice grew until he was shouting, arms outstretched and face turned up to the sky slightly, reflexively dropping his baton. "They're useless! Why, in fact! They should just swan dive off of the school building, SHOULDN'T THEY?!"

Izuku screamed the last words, rushing All Might once again. The stunned hero reacted instinctively, years of fighting against much older and more experienced fighters overriding his withdrawn attacks against the child. As Izuku drew near, Toshinori's hand flew up, curled in a fist. They both realized, too late, where this blow would land.

Stain's Apprentice had barely enough time to pull his head back enough, hand still reaching out to Toshinori, screwing his eyes shut as All Might's fist collided with the edge of his goggles.

- UA dorms -

It was taking most of his classmates to restrain Bakugo at this point. Kirishima had pinned him down, Sero and Shoto helping, and Uraraka had used her quirk on him, but it all was barely enough. He thrashed and screamed, so loud that Aizawa barged into the dorm and helped to restrain him.

Quirkless, told to jump off of a roof, all of the similarities, no one had belived in him.

It was true. It was Izuku.

Izuku was the villain on the screen. The one who had personally gone out of his way to save Bakugo and others in his class. The one who had judo flipped him those months ago in the alleyway. The one just punched in the face by All Might.

It was Izuku.

He'd done this to Izuku.

Uraraka was in tears watching him struggle and thrash, trying to hold his head still. "Katsuki, please! What's wrong?" She tried to pull his head into her lap, but he was fighting too hard to stay put. Katsuki was crying too now, needing to go to Izuku.

Bakugo screamed, Izuku's name ringing throughout the dorm as Izuku's own scream of pain ripped from the television screen.

- Back at the battle -

All Might's fist had barely clipped the side of Izuku's goggles, but with his strength it was more than enough. The glass shattered, outwards and in. Izuku landed his palm on Toshinori before he was blown away however, and an electric jolt from his gloves at full power knocked the pro away with the same force Izuku was blown back with.

As the heavy blood rushed down Izuku's face, he wasted no time for the pain. He ripped the empty shell of his goggles off, screaming as his fingers came into rough contact with specks of glass. Tears were flowing as strongly as blood, but Izuku still moved. He had no other choice. He hastily, blindly reached into his coat, pulling free a bandage roll with the same healing properties as his cloths. Izuku began rapidly and tightly wrapping it around his eyes. The last thing he saw before the bandages fully obscured his vision, was All Might, horrified, standing and reaching out to him in vain from across the battle field. Then, his vision finally went dark.

The light tingling sensation and smell of mint did nothing to still Izuku's heart, which was beating as fast as a rabbit's. His breath hitched and he oddly hiccuped. He felt the floor tentatively for his sword, gripping the reassuring hilt.

Izuku was scared. He was terrified. He could very well lose his eyesight today. He had never felt more alone and helpless. He needed to see. Izuku didn't know if he could fight without his sight, or perform experiments or write notes or anything he had built his new life upon. He needed to see.

To Toshinori, Izuku made for a traumatizing sight. Haggard, weak, with blood already soaking through the bandages covering his possibly ruined eyes, his opened mouth, quivering in fear.

He, All Might, the Symbol of Peace and Hope to the world, had made this broken boy. He thought he could bring the lonely Apprentice home, but he had only damaged the child further. His heart tore in two as the boy stood shakily, whimpering quietly as his legs barely supported his weight.

"Where are you?" The boy whispered in the still air. His weak voice carried easily, but still he spoke again, louder, with more strength. "Where ARE you?"

Toshinori almost lost hold of his quirk just then, having reached his time limit. Steam vented from his muscles with a hiss, and he knew he couldn't sustain this form much longer. His only chance now was to talk Izuku into surrendering. Instead of a plea to surrender, all that came out of his mouth was an astonished, "How are you still standing?"

Izuku's head snapped to All Might, pinpointing his exact location. His brain whirled, calling upon his mental map and precise memory. If he was correct, then the hero of his childhood was right where Izuku wanted him; standing right in the middle of his trap. Listening for the unique hissing sound, Izuku almost managed to quirk the edges of his mouth up in what could have been a smile.

Izuku took a step forward, then immediately fell to his knees and retched violently, scarcely pulling his mask off in time. His breakfast made a disgusting splatter on the concrete floor, the sounds of All Might taking a step forward to help him echoing. Izuku threw his hand up. "Stay back!" He ordered and (to his surprise,) the hero obeyed. Stain's Apprentice wiped his mouth free of bile, grimacing down at the pile of sick. "I can't keep one good meal down, can I?"

Slowly, with more effort that he should have been able to muster, Izuku climbed to his heavy feet once more. He stepped over his forcefully removed breakfast, towards a petrified All Might. "Master taught me well in endurance. I'll never stop, not until I die." He wiped away a drop of blood that leaked from his bandages. "Well, maybe Master didn't teach me that. I think he just expanded the reaches of how far I can go."

Tears of grief and shock escaped Toshinori's own eyes at the horrid sight before him, the first time he had cried in years. "It doesn't have to be this way my boy! Please... stop this madness!" The emotion in his voice shocked him, but it didn't seem to impact the boy, other than to aggravate him further.

"Haven't you been listening?" Izuku stumbled his next few steps, catching himself clumsily. "I can't just quit! You helped to make me by destroying my hope! Stop trying to take the easy way out!" Izuku continued before All Might could beg how, reaching into a pocket with bloodied fingers. He pulled out another remote, raising it into the air with a heavy hand. "That year ago, in the aftermath of that villain attack, you found me. I had asked you, and you said no. 'Could a one become a hero without a quirk? No, you should think not.'" Izuku spat his paraphrase of All Might's own words back at his face.

A soft whisper echoed through the empty arena, perfectly audible though it was little more than a breath. "No, it- you can't be,"

Izuku finally smiled. It was a sad, broken smile, his shoulders rolling forward now that he knew that All Might remembered him. "Now you remember me." Izuku shook his head, hand clutching the remote still hanging in mid air. "You broke my heart All Might. Now, I've broken yours."

His thumb pressed the button on his remote.

All Might wasn't surrounded by only debris as he thought. Clustered around him stood half a dozen portal receptors, more thrown on their sides. Ten to fifteen portal marbles lay scattered about, and at the remote's command they all burst to life. The close proximity, coupled with the immense energy required for only one portal, released a hell upon Toshinori, who stood in the middle.

He screamed, sound and energy ripping through his body, fighting for his quirk. He barely saw Izuku running towards him, one gloved fist pulled backwards and ready to strike. He brought his own up in the nick of time, and their fists collided.

The resulting winds, the portals screaming out of existence, and the power in the two blows, threw them both back like rag dolls once again. Neither moved for a long moment. The battered camera drone flew above, finally exposing All Might's weak form. It was hard to tell from the screens if either combatant was breathing.

The drone focused in on the first sign of movement, viewers everywhere holding their breath. Even Katsuki had stilled from his fit, gazing open mouthed. The figure, clad in clothes that seemed to hang off of him, pulled his hand into a fist, digging trenches in the dust. Painfully, slowly, he pulled his arm in, pushing upward and letting his head drop. He attempted to repeat the same with his right arm, but gasped as the broken limb grated and throbbed. He abandoned his right arm, choosing instead to drag one leg underneath his torso. He grasped a nearby boulder, pushing himself up with an impossible strength. His other foot was underneath himself now.

He stood, uncertainly, weakly, cradling his broken arm against his chest. The other figure was still laying unconscious.

Izuku Midoriya stood his ground.

He had won.

He looked down at his arm, collapsing onto the boulder. His glove had been torn to pieces and had been blown off somewhere, revealing the serious break in his arm. The sight of bone didn't even faze him at this point. With a snap, he put the bone back into its place. Izuku didn't feel the pain, too in shock to feel anything. He drapped a healing cloth over the wound and staggered to his former idol. Toshinori Yagi was beginning to stir, and the first sight he saw was the bandaged face of a young boy, no older than his own student, smiling weakly down at him, offering his left hand to help him up.

Silently, Toshinori took the hand, and was dragged to his own feet. Izuku weak smile remained, tears leaking through his bandages. "I did it, didn't I?" He almost asked it, as if uncertain of his own victory. Izuku, much to Toshinori's shock, collapsed to his knees once again, overcome with emotions. He passed out on the spot.

Toshinori dragged Izuku into the nearest building, sitting in wait for aid from the heroes. By the time the healers had arrived, which hadn't been long, Izuku had slipped in and out of consciousness several times. He was incapable of protesting as old Recovery Girl and an assistant dragged him to a makeshift hospital room away from Toshinori. They hooked him up to a gas tank, and his world finally slipped into peaceful darkness.

Soon, Bakugo arrived. Immediately after the victor had been made clear and the two shambled to safety he had finally broken free. It had taken him longer to reach the ruin facility as he had no idea where the battle had taken place, but he found it nonetheless. By the time Katsuki had arrived and grasped All Might's shaking hand, Izuku was already deep into emergency surgery, removing small shards of glass from around his eyes before the healing properties of his cloths sealed them in. He had been lucky that no glass had touched his eyes, the surrounding areas having been cut alone.

Another nurse and healer refused to allow Bakugo into the room, and it was only due to Toshinori's persuasion that he didn't blast her out of his way and get to Izuku.

The wait, though surely only 45 minutes, seemed an excruciating eternity for Katsuki and Toshinori but at last, he was allowed in.

Izuku was lying, still aside from the rise and fall of his chest, on a table, breathing mask and IV hooked onto his body. His right arm was in a cast, and fresh bandages were applied to his eyes. Katsuki sat in a chair, lost in a daze. Barely in control of his actions, he reached forward and grabbed Izuku's weak and scarred hand in his own.

Emotions washed over Bakugo and he bent over, resting his head near his friend's inert body, his own tears soaking into the sheets. He sobbed, apologizing to one who was nearly catatonic. He begged Izuku for forgiveness for everything he had ever done; every word, every action. Katsuki's voice was jarring, akin to a wounded animal as he continued to cry.

He slowly hiccuped to a stop, still holding Izuku's hand. The hand twitched, fingers weakly trying to hold Katsuki's. He gasped as a tiny and weak voice spoke in the room.

"Kacchan?"

A/N

WADDUP MY DEARS! TWO WEEKS, MUCH HELP FROM WRITER FRIENDS, AND I'VE DONE IT! AND WITH A CLIFFIE!

Ahhhhh, this feels so good! I'm almost to the end of my baby! And that applies for the trilogy too. The third book is going to be REALLY short. Like, honestly, I think we'll be lucky if we reach 10 chapters in Destiny. But that's what the one shot comp is gonna be for. A possibly unlimited (actually I doubt that but who knows) source of more Cruel. Hooray.

I don't think there were any questions, and I'm in too much of an emotion high rn to remember any anyways.

2-3 chapters left dears! Prep yourselves and so long my wonderful Lovies!