Notes: So when I was planning this chapter, I had an idea of where I wanted it to go and what I wanted to do with it, but I didn't know how. This fight has been a long time coming and I couldn't figure out how to write it like I've done in the past. I've written a few largescale actions scenes, but always struggled with them. That was when I believe Saviour on the discord for this fic and others brought up the movie Avengers - and it just sort of clicked for me. Multiple POVs to show multiple scenes in the battle, sometimes completely separate and sometimes with them intersecting. It just made sense to do it that way since there is so much going on in this, to the point where I decided to divide it into three 8k or so chapters instead of one massive one or two 12k ones, because yeah, it's gonna be that big. I couldn't have one POV describe everything happening like I've done before when way too much is going on and there are too many people involved. Such a relief! Anyway, there's some action in this, but it mostly sets up the next two chapters which will basically be all action and ya'll know how much I love that. I've been trying to work on it though. The last scene went completely different from how I planned, including the last two paragraphs. That's just how writing is sometimes.

"That is why embittered people find heroes and madmen a perennial source of fascination, for they have no fear of life or death. Both heroes and madmen are indifferent to danger and will forge ahead regardless of what other people say."
- Paulo Coelho

They were too late.

That was the first thing Bakugou realized when they arrived to the scene. Technically, they weren't even on the scene yet, but the chaos had spread from the original attack and spilled into other streets and buildings. If it wasn't put to an end soon, the entire city would be taken over. An attack like this hadn't happened since they had crushed the first League of Villains and brought them to a final defeat. Before that there had been the Kamino Incident and then the Hosu Nomu Incident. It wouldn't be long before the fight would be on that level.

Back then, Todoroki had been careful to make sure his quirk did more help than good. He had only used it to help the others rescue him (he could admit that now) and he'd been off doing his own thing with Deku and Iida while nomus had rampaged the city. The villains had done most of the damage back then. He knew very well just how dangerous his quirk could be if he didn't use it properly. In the hands of a villain, that half hot/half cold quirk could be devastating.

Judging from the ice dripping from broken buildings and on bent street lamps and lights and the patches of fire everywhere, they were about to find out how much havoc he could truly wreak if let loose.

Beside him, Uraraka stood in her hero costume, frozen in horror, as she stared at the damage. The fight was still going on, the pro heroes that had survived the initial attack fighting with a handful of villains and trying to save innocent civilians at the same time, but the main fight was still another street over.

"Uraraka," Bakugou snapped. She didn't move, her eyes transfixed on a side of the building covered in ice. He knew what was drawing her attention so much. The red staining it popped against the white and it was an ugly reminder of how sharp ice was as well. How cutting and cold hate and rage could be. It could stab someone just as much as it could freeze them. "Uraraka!"

She only snapped out of it when a car exploded near them, the fire reaching the gas that had leaked out of the tank after apparently being damaged in the fight. She tapped him and jumped, pulling him out of the range of the blast, and then let him use his quirk to launch them forward. He didn't have time to be concerned over her lack of a verbal response, not when they rounded the corner and stepped into the real shit.

It was a fucking mess.

Uraraka brought them to the roof of building overlooking the fight and released her quirk on them. It was still standing, at least. They didn't have much time to assess the situation. The first thing Bakugou sought out was Deku and, yes, there he was, zigzagging around five pro heroes and making them look like fools. He snarled at the sight. Back in their first year, even after he found out that Deku had been given All Might's power, he wouldn't have been able to understand the magnitude of that gift. One for All didn't just give him extreme strength and speed. It was a cultivated power built up throughout use and years and Deku was the strongest of them all.

(Bakugou didn't just mean that in the sense of One for All holders. Deku had been the number one hero for a reason. He had been forced to face the gravity of his difference in power when Deku got to that spot while he was still only in the top ten - and when he'd been taken out of the ranks after being declared dead. Now that he was set loose like a wild animal off a leash, he really was the strongest. Bakugou hated it - he hated that he believed it - but he had to be both logical and wildly ambitious. Deku might've been stronger, but Bakugou would still win. That was what a hero did.)

"I'll take him," Bakugou told her.

Uraraka gave him an alarmed look. "Bakugou, you can't-"

"We don't have any other options right now," he interrupted, shaking his head. "He's playing with those pros - I can tell and for what, I don't know - but he's gonna get bored eventually." She didn't argue with him, but he saw the pain in her eyes when they landed on Deku below them. They'd come in from behind, but it wouldn't be long before they were spotted. "And we've got even bigger problems than them."

Bakugou dragged his sharp glare from Deku, her gaze following his, to the massive glacier piercing straight through what had once been Endeavor's pro hero agency. It went all the way through, extending out the back. No doubt the only thing keeping the building standing, trembling and crumbling as it was due to the intense fighting below, was that ice. However, today was not a day meant for ice. It was a hot summer day and it was melting fast. Not to mention every time someone was thrown against it, the whole thing shook and cracked, which made the building it had destroyed slip and break apart even more. The top would come crashing down soon.

Not counting the civilians and heroes fighting below, who knew how many people were trapped inside, either injured or fighting?

(How many were dead?)

Uraraka's face hardened behind the vizor of her helmet. "Got it."

"You've gotta be quick in there," Bakugou told her in a serious tone. "No taking your time, turning over every stone. It sucks, but you don't have that kind of time. That thing is going down soon and it's gonna take anyone in there down with it."

"Then quit talking and trust me to do my job," Uraraka shot back at him, stepping up to the edge of the roof, the tips of her toes hanging over the side. She hadn't even looked at him when she said it, her mind already focused on the task at him.

Bakugou almost grinned - there was that fire he admired so much about her - but he didn't. Now wasn't the time. He could show off his confidence all he wanted, but it felt wrong right now. He didn't envy her task. Some people might have thought it the easier one (the safer route), but he didn't agree. They had no idea what kind of mess was inside that building right now, how many people were hurt or worse. It would be horrific. Yeah, he was going to throw himself in the thick of the battle, but he more or less knew what he was going into. Deku would gun for him the second he showed his face and Todoroki…

Ah, fuck, who knew what Todoroki would do? Considering the state of this area, it could be anything. Where was he? It didn't matter. He'd likely found out when he got down there.

"Uraraka-" He cut himself off. He didn't know what to say or what he even wanted to say.

She turned back to give him a weak smile. "Be the hero Deku knew you are." And then she dropped off the roof, activating her quirk on herself and using the rockets in her boots to launch herself toward the agency.

Bakugou took a deep breath. Deku might not agree with that statement right now, but he was going to do it anyone. Fuck whatever was going on in his head. Fuck whatever that bastard had done to him. Bakugou was going to be a goddamn hero and he was going to fix this. He'd never be able to take back what he'd done (and, to be honest, he wasn't sure if the real Deku would want him to try if he could), but he had to do what he could now. He had to make the best out of the present or there wouldn't be a future.

He hated thinking it, but goddamn, he wanted one - for himself, Uraraka, Todoroki, even Deku. Maybe especially him. Because, now that Bakugou looked on it now, he wouldn't be the hero he became without Deku. He almost laughed, but grit his teeth instead. Wasn't that just how life went?

Uraraka wasn't sure what Bakugou had wanted to tell her, but she didn't think he knew either. Besides, they didn't have the time and both of them at least knew that.

She'd had boosters to her boots in her third year at UA in order to give herself more maneuverability in the air. It had taken nearly the entire year to get used to them. Not having any gravity wasn't the same as being weightless, but it came with its own set of issues. Years later, it was like she'd had them right from the start.

After dropping off the building, she activated her quirk and used the boosters to shoot towards the building Todoroki's glacier had pierced. There were multiple entryways into the building besides the actual hole itself. Windows had been shattered in the process. As she got closer, she felt as if she could hear the building creaking and aching beneath the sounds of the fight below. Her gaze fell down there once, spotting Deku shatter a metal box a hero had created to cage him, but she jerked it back to the building.

As much as it hurt, she couldn't be distracted, not even by him. She felt herself being pulled to him. Maybe that was part of the problem. She could fight, but she always kept going back to him, thinking she had to save him. She had to break him of Kyomu's hold. Maybe she couldn't though. There was a chance her presence only enforced it even more. She couldn't be sure, but she had to trust that others could save him while she did her own job. She wasn't acting at hundred percent when her only thoughts were of him.

When she was near the building, Uraraka deactivated her quirk, but kept her rocket boosters on. She decided to make her entrance through a hole near the glacier, figuring that was where the worst of the damage had been done. With her gravity returned to her, she had started to fall, using the momentum the rockets had given her to keep her going. It wasn't a smooth landing, considering she had to go through a window, but she made it, turning off the boosters and ducking into a roll to land in the middle of the destruction. She nearly skidded right into a large hole in the floor, but activated her quirk on herself again at the last second before she could drop.

Floating above the hole, which looked like it went down multiple floors, Uraraka was met with a horrific sight.

The ice hadn't just penetrated the building. There had been people in this building, on the multiple floors struck, by the windows that had now been obliterated. Some floors didn't even seem to exist anymore, completely taken over by the ice. The only reason she could see through them was because the ice was melting and parts of the floor and ceilings on several levels had started to fall and break apart. That, along with chunks of ice falling off, must have accounted for the huge hole in the floor. She used the cold ice to guide herself back to the ground, the pure white stained with streaks of red and black.

Above the sounds of the building trembling and the fight outside were screams and shouts. They echoed around her, making her disoriented, but she shook her head and forced herself to concentrate. Now was not the time to get overwhelmed. She dropped to the ground and got to work.

Uraraka rushed to the aid of a hero attempting to lift a fallen beam off an unconscious woman. "Here, let me."

The hero was younger than her, looking more than frazzled, blood matting the side of their head, startled when she tapped his shoulder and she realized he hadn't heard her. The blood wasn't just a head wound. His left ear was practically gone. "Uravity?" he shouted in confusion.

She held up her hands, telling him to wait, and he caught sight of the pink pads on her fingertips. With a single touch, she could lift the beam without any effort and set it to the side, releasing her quirk. The woman was in a light pink suit, now stained and torn. She was either a civilian or a regular employee. Everyone thought about the pro heroes and sidekicks, but few considered the other employees that made up an agency. It was a business too. This woman had just been typing away when Todoroki had nearly killed her.

Moving to his other side, Uraraka loudly asked, "Can you hear me?" The sidekick, cradling the woman in his lap, nodded his head. "This building is going to collapse! We need to get as many people out of here as we can! I can use my quirk on them to make it easier, but I need help. Anyone not fighting or able to walk! If it looks like there is a possible back or neck injury, you need to be careful, but we also don't have the luxury of going slow!"

"How many people can you use your quirk on?" the sidekick questioned in a shout.

Uraraka gently touched the woman, who became little more than air in the sidekick's arms. "Well, as long as they don't reach over a few tons, quite a few!"

There was no way she would reach her limit using her quirk on people, but even if she had, she would push it further. The only issue with this was that she wouldn't be able to release her quirk until she was absolutely sure everyone gathered was safe. If a villain showed up, she would be at a severe disadvantage. She could only hope they would stay out of the building and remain focused on the actual fight. The was a different battle.

"I don't-" The sidekick looked dazed. It was no wonder with that head wound. Maybe she was asking too much of him, but it didn't matter.

"Call out when you find someone you need me to help with!" Uraraka told him. He had barely started to nod his head when she stood up and began to run through the debris to find other survivors. Luckily, having been struck with ice, there was no fire. Todoroki had kept that half of his quirk down below. Every time her mind inched its way over to him, she had to drag it away. She couldn't get distracted by him either, but it was harder to do that with cold air seemingly radiating from the melting ice in the building.

(He could've taken the whole thing out. She knew that. She'd seen the size and width of the glaciers he could produce. A part of her wondered if he had held back, in hopes that there would be more survivors. Another part of her wondered if it had been deliberate, to cause the maximum amount of mayhem and distract heroes from the fight. To rescue or to fight - it was a dilemma many heroes faced and Todoroki had thrown them in the thick of it.)

With the sidekick's and another somewhat injured person's help, she cleared the floor, only finding six more survivors. she guided them and the people too injured to move on their own to the opposite side of the building. The windows were busted out there as well. When she looked down onto the street, she didn't see any fighting, only rubble and probably more civilians in need of help. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath through her nose. It was too much for one person, but she would have to do for now. Other heroes who weren't too hurt were no doubt doing the same as her.

Snatching a piece of paper off the floor without looking, she handed it to the sidekick, who had three injured or unconscious people floating around him. The stairs might not have been an option to get down anymore. Gravity worked very simply. She needed something that would still go down, but would float gently instead of free falling. That was the last thing these people needed. Luckily, he understood, taking the paper with the tips of his fingers. The other walking survivor grabbed hold of him and she activated her quirk on them. Even though they were nervous about the next step, when they walked out of the window, the group merely floated down. It was excruciatingly slow, but she waited until they were on the ground before deactivating her quirk on them.

Again, using her quirk on herself, she jumped to the next floor, squeezing through the hole made by the ice and where part of the ceiling had broken off. This scene was much more chaotic with people frantically trying to help others and some panicking over lack of responses. That wasn't the worst part of it. The ice hadn't just cut through the building. People had been in its way as well. There was blood and broken bodies, some of them unidentifiable. Todoroki had been born with the strongest quirk his father had sought out in an heir and it showed now just how horrifying that strength could be. In a matter of seconds, he'd created a nightmare.

Uraraka breathed heavily, her vizor fogging up as she began to struggle. She spun around in a circle, trying to latch onto something she could do, but everything she landed on was worse than before. Her eyes glazed over people clutching at wounds, heroes trying to free people from the ice, a woman crying over a wrecked body. It was awful. Her stomach turned. She had to swallow down the urge to vomit.

Shouto, what happened to you? her mind cried out. I don't know if I can fix this. I don't know if you would want me to try.

"Uravity!"

She snapped out of the panicked haze, ripping her eyes to a large hero carrying two people each on both of his shoulders. "Yes, I-" Uraraka swallowed again. She wasn't sure if it was what he'd called out to her for, but she used her quirk on the people he was holding. His eyes widened at the sudden relief of their weight. Even if he had easily been carrying them, if he could handle more with his two extra arms, it would help. "Get as many people as you can. Anyone that isn't too injured needs to help. If you find someone that doesn't have a pulse…"

"I know," the hero responded grimly. "We don't have time."

"Is this the worst of it?"

"Of the levels still somewhat intact, maybe, but I'm not sure," the hero told her. "A few of the floors were totally obliterated in the attack." There was a hollow sound to his voice and a haunted gleam in his bright yellow eyes. It made him come off as confused, as if he didn't know whether to feel horrified or be too shell-shocked to feel anything at all. "They're just...gone, nothing but ice."

Todoroki could've frozen the entire building. She'd seen him do it more than once, like during their very first combat training session at UA. Instead, he'd rammed a mountain of ice through it like a spear. He had wanted people to suffer (like he had), not become immobilized. He would show the world what he was capable of.

Uraraka motioned for the hero to continue his search for survivors and alert anyone else capable of moving to come to her if they needed help. She ended up using her quirk on multiple people with varying wounds, some as simple but problematic as a broken leg and others as devastating as a missing limb. She had to tie more than a few tourniquets as she passed through multiple floors. Sometimes, she found survivors and brought them to others so she could continue her search. People were pinned down by rubble, desks, chunks of ice, and even bodies.

It was honestly a nightmare.

By the time she had done what she could for three levels, she used her quirk on those standing and watched them float to the ground. Blood dripped from each group. Some, she knew, probably wouldn't make it to the hospital. First responders might not show up on the scene until the actual battle was over, lest they get dragged into it. The police would show up, but any ambulances or fire trucks were probably forced back to avoid even more civilian casualties. She lifted her helmet to wipe the sweat off her face despite the chill from the ice and then released her quirk the second they touched the ground.

More. There had to be more people that she could save. More floors she had to clear. The ice had either destroyed the stairwell or blocked it off. No doubt there were heroes and sidekicks that were capable of flight, maybe even some of the civilian workers too, but they couldn't do everything. She could carry everyone with her quirk. She would carry the weight of everything if she had to, even shouldering Todoroki's guilt when the time came.

And it would. She swore it would. A part of her was terrified this would break him if (when) he snapped out of the grip of Kyomu's quirk - and that devastated her - but there wasn't another option. They couldn't leave him under to assuage his guilt.

There were only two more floors above her before she started to work her way down. She squeezed her way through a smaller hole in the ceiling and released her quirk, dropping onto the floor. The ice hadn't reached up here, but it had still done quite a bit of damage shaking this up. However, multiple people were still down and seemingly unconscious, even though most of them were relatively unhurt.

Uraraka furrowed her brow in confusion and bent down to inspect a man with a bug-related quirk. He still had a pule and he was breathing and there didn't seem to be much in the way of wounds. It was almost like… She stood up, looking around the room at the other still people. It was almost like they were sleeping. Now that she thought about it, a few of the unconscious survivors on the other floors had been like that as well. No visible head wounds, but still knocked out cold.

She gathered everyone that she could, but there was no one to take the survivors down with them. She could tie them together somehow, but that would take time and she didn't have anything to tie them with besides maybe zip ties or handcuffs. It would be better if she found others to hold onto them. It seemed unreasonable for there to be no one on this floor that could help. Had they all run off? Gone to join the fight?

As irritating as it was, she had to take the stairs to the last floor. Again, she found more unconscious people, but then her eyes caught movement in the corner. A graceful, lithe figure crouching over a man slumped at a desk. Whoever it was still walking around was wearing some sort of costume. It must've been one of the heroes or sidekicks that worked here.

Uraraka sighed in relief and started forward out of the stairwell. "Thank everything. I need your help. I've got a bunch of survivors, but I need someone conscious to hold onto them so I can get them out-" She cut herself off when the figure stood up and turned to face her. They didn't say anything and most of their face was covered with a hood and a cloth mask over the bottom half of their face, but their violet eyes glittered. She'd seen those eyes before and very recently.

Those weren't the eyes of a hero.

"Oh, Uraraka," a familiar woman's voice sighed behind the mask, "I should've expected to see you here."

When she tugged the bottom half of her mask off and pulled back her hood, Uraraka growled out, "Ikeda," who languidly waved in response. It was the villain who had been in charge of guarding the cells at first, the one who had failed and let in the other villain who had strangled her. Judging from what she remembered of her, Ikeda's quirk could render people unconscious and maybe give them dreams. The survivors she'd found were asleep, put under the effects of the villain's quirk.

It was strange. Back with the villains, Ikeda had almost seemed...pleasant. Yes, she'd made some poor jokes and had guarded their cells, but she hadn't been cruel. She hadn't even been cold. She had smiled, read trashy magazines, and teased Deku fondly. Hell, she had even saved Uraraka's life, although that had mostly been because she had known the repercussions she would've received. There were dark shadows under her eyes, as if she hadn't been sleeping. Maybe that was a drawback of her quirk.

"I see they sent you in to do rescue work while they fight down below," Ikeda noted idly. "Let the big boys do all the fighting." A grin, tired as it was, cut across her face. It reminded Uraraka oddly of Aizawa. "But we both know this is much worse. How many people were beyond saving? I bet you've kept a tally." She shook her head. "Either they fail or succeed down there, but you're fighting a losing battle up here. That ice did one hell of a number. I thought Deku bloodied up people, but Shouto eviscerated this building and the people in it like a skewer."

Her words rattled Uraraka, but she refused to let it show. Ikeda was only trying to rile her up. Still, it was unusual seeing her here too. She had pointed out that she didn't go on missions like this. "I thought you weren't a fighter."

"I'm not," Ikeda replied, "hence why I'm up here, far above it all."

"You're making sure more heroes can't join in the fight," Uraraka surmised.

Ikeda shrugged. "It's all about containment. The others are strong - seeing Shouto's power up close like this is enough to give even me nightmares - but every bit counts, as you know." She eyed the handful of unconscious sidekicks and heroes with an uncaring air. "At least they'll die having fond dreams. I thought I'd be nice to them in that respect. They won't even know it happened."

Uraraka clenched her hands into fists. "I'm not going to let these people die. I won't let you do this."

The building suddenly shifted beneath them, causing them both to stumble and reach out to hold onto something to keep themselves standing. Ikeda let out a soft laugh. "I don't think you have much of an option, Uravity. This place is going to drop like the rain."

"That depends," Uraraka managed, pushing herself away from the wall. "You probably need to remain conscious in order to keep people under, don't you? Nothing I did could wake them up. They weren't just asleep."

Ikeda gripped a desk tighter. "My, you are a clever girl. No wonder Midoriya adores you so much." The comment about Deku didn't sting nearly as much as Uraraka thought it would. Ikeda stood up straight. "I'll have to end that. He'll feel better once you're out of the way - he won't be so conflicted - and he'll be happier and we can all sleep easier at night."

"I thought you all were under orders not to hurt me," Uraraka shot back.

"We're standing on the top floor of a building about to collapse," Ikeda pointed out, holding out her arms. "That's the beauty of this place. It's less predictable than a fight." She mock-pouted. "He'll just assume you got caught up saving people and went down with it. He'll be devastated, but then he can finally move on from you and really start his life. What he doesn't know won't hurt him."

Fury burned hotly in Uraraka's gut and she snarled, "I'm so sick of you all using him and acting like it's for his own good or you care about him."

"Oh, darling, we do care," Ikeda teased. "You're the one that moved on with the bastard that used to torture him. Some loving girlfriend you are."

Maybe a few days ago that would've stung and she would've paused to deny it, but Uraraka didn't give a shit about that right now. How she felt - what had happened between her and Deku or Bakugou - did not matter at all. What she really cared about at this moment was kicking this villain's ass and saving people. She was a hero, so that was she was going to be.

In truth, they could've left after the initial attack. They didn't have to stick around and actually fight. Most of them probably would've preferred that line of action, seeing as how skewering the building was flashy enough. Why stay when any surviving heroes were likely to pour out to fight them? Why risk being captured or worse? He had done more damage than most of them combined with a single hit. They didn't need to stay.

Too bad Todoroki didn't care about them.

They could leave if they wanted, for all he cared. Those villains might not need to stay, but he did. Everything in him screamed to stay rooted in this area. He wasn't leaving until he got what he came here for. The main goal for the attack had been to destroy the agency, everything his old man had built up, but to be honest, Todoroki would not feel settled until Endeavor was here to witness his ruin. How could he possibly be the number one hero when he couldn't even keep his own hero agency safe?

Todoroki wanted his father to see the destruction of everything he'd built, the thing he had put over his family time and time again. He wanted his father to see what had become of his precious masterpiece, right before he snuffed the life out of him.

When he was younger, Todoroki had relied on the raw strength of his quirk. It left his technique for wanting. He had learned that lesson when fighting Stain, along with a few others. He hadn't been acting like a true hero then, still too locked up by his own rage and conflicting feelings. Stain had made him realize that he was severely lacking in his fighting skills - and also that a hero's behavior should not be excused because of all the good they'd done.

So what if Endeavor was a hero? Yes, he'd saved so many lives, but he had also destroyed them too. His crimes were not erased because of all the good deeds required of him as a hero? Saving people was the bare minimum of his job. It didn't make what he'd done as good. It was just a part of the job. Now being a father? A husband? That wasn't a job. It was who he was and he'd done more than fail at it.

These heroes and sidekicks working for him knew what Endeavor was like. Maybe not the extent, but Todoroki could remember the sideways looks he received whenever he came to the agency with his father. The pity in their eyes, the wariness - but they would always look away when Todoroki caught them staring. They knew something was wrong. It hadn't been long before that Touya had been the one dragged to the agency, but suddenly he was gone and never spoken of again. It wasn't right and they'd known it and they hadn't cared. Their jobs were more important than actually being a damn hero.

So excuse him for not caring about them either anymore.

Considering that he'd used the ice half of his quirk for his initial attack, Todoroki mainly used it for defense and maneuverability as he fought. He could freeze a person to the ground and then attack them with his fire, which he knew was overwhelming. Many of the sidekicks and heroes that worked for his father were used to working with fire, but fighting against it was different. His father really had created an almost perfect weapon and it showed in the way he was able to fight against multiple people at once. It wasn't easy, but he had known they would try to contain him quickly considering the brute force of his quirk.

Sliding his right foot in front of him, he created a wall of ice to block three attacks. The heroes collided with the ice, knocked back. One got his foot caught in it and Todoroki used to opportunity to use another chunk of ice to strike him the chest. The attack was hard enough to break his foot free of the ice, throwing him against a building across the street, but it hadn't been a clean break judging from the pained howl he let out. There was movement all around him, multiple fights going on, but something caught his eye. He didn't bother to turn around. He simply lifted his left hand and shot off a spiral of fire at what he assumed was an attacker.

Another step with his right foot and more ice shot up in defense. Another twist of his left hand and fire spiraled around him like a tornado, pushing everyone back. If the ice could be broken through, very few could get through the fire without severely hurting themselves. If not for the thermoregulator in Dabi's jacket, he would've sweat or maybe become overwhelmed by his own flames, but instead, he rose them to a higher degree. Thanks to the braces added meant to protect from the fire, he could go to dangerous levels.

Why not?

"You don't have to do this!" someone cried out.

Yes, he did. He aimed a fireball in the direction of the voice.

"This isn't you!" someone else shouted.

They didn't know him. A blast of ice burst out from the ground, encasing them fully.

"You're a hero!"

He wasn't. He really wasn't.

And if he had to show them by burning them alive and listening to their screams when they failed to completely dodge his flames, then he guessed that was a price he had to pay.

He was so tired of living up to other people's expectations. Had he ever wanted to be a hero? It had always been his father's dream, his father's goals, his father's legacy and life. It had never been his own. He'd had the whole hero bit drilled into him from the very beginning. What if he had wanted to be something else? A lawyer? A teacher? A doctor? Anything?

He could be a villain. That was what Touya had done.

"Shouto, please!" a hero pleaded while simultaneously throwing a large chunk of debris at him to stop him.

And then there was an echoing cry in his memory, Uraraka's voice, a hand tightly gripping one of his arms and another holding his cheek, the pads of her fingertips somehow rough and soft against his skin. Shouto, please.

"Shut up!" Todoroki shouted, an explosion of fire and ice bursting from him, like he was a bomb. The rubble got caught in his ice while his fire burned everything in sight. It caused a blinding burst of light as well, blinding many of the people around and freezing the fight on his part of the street momentarily.

He was smoking from the combination of using both sides of his quirk at the same time so violently, panting heavily from the memory more than the fight. He couldn't remember what it had been for. Had it been...the first time she saw Kyomu use his quirk on him? In the cells? When she had told him it was okay to give in? Before all of that, when it was just them on the fire escape and two cups of cold tea and their grief? Shouto, please.He started to shake, his eyes closed and his hands holding his head and digging into his temples.

"Hey, Icy Hot!" a familiar voice yelled. "You done with your temper tantrum yet?"

Todoroki opened his eyes and pulled his hands away from his head, digging his blunt and dirty nails into the palms of his hands. Bakugou.

The hot rage turned into something ice cold. He would be a much better distraction than these petty heroes until Endeavor showed up. He wasn't supposed to kill Bakugou (that was for Deku), but that didn't mean he couldn't maim him for the way he'd forced himself into Uraraka's life after Deku's death and for just being a plain bastard. He wasn't a hero either.

"I don't know," Todoroki said, turning around and moving to slam his right foot on the ground. He caught the familiar flash of Bakugou in the air - the knowing smirk on his face as he prepared to explode through his blockade of ice. "Are you?"

And Todoroki raised his left hand and let loose his fire instead.

Bakugou couldn't lie: his original intent upon launching himself in the middle of this whole mess was to aim directly for Deku. That was his main focus, after all: bring Deku down, eliminate him as a threat, and either knock him out cold or knock some fucking sense into him. This entire thing had been leading up to Deku and he knew that he had to concentrate on that if he was going to do something.

But then Todoroki exploded like some sort of temperamental bomb and Bakugou had paused.

They were all expecting him to aim for Deku. He'd done it every single time, like some predictable asshole. It couldn't be helped. The thought of not dropping in to kick his ass and save the heroes he was practically cutting through made his stomach roll and it pissed him off even more. All that power and he was going to do this? Deku was a fucking hero. It was wrong on every level. He had to stop him.

Was Deku just toying with those other heroes until he showed up? Was he biding his time for the bigger fish?

It made a sick sort of sense. Bakugou knew he could've killed those heroes easily if he wanted. Pro or sidekick, they just weren't a match for Deku at one hundred percent unless they all banded together, but they weren't working like a team. He had figured Todoroki was doing the same since he obviously wasn't using his quirk at its maximum power - playing along until Endeavor showed up - but then he'd cracked and let off a powerful explosion using both halves of his quirk at once.

Deku was a ticking time bomb, but Todoroki was already going off. Putting that massive glacier aside, he was the bigger threat.

Even though it made him growl in frustration, Bakugou changed his trajectory, throwing his right hand out and letting out an explosion that sent him careening to the left in Todoroki's direction. He was currently having what looked like the cross between a meltdown and a panic attack, which were probably two things an unhinged and powerful hero-turned-villain shouldn't have in the middle of a fight. If they weren't careful, he could snap again and he'd actually go full blast with his quirk again.

He remembered witnessing Todoroki finally fight Deku at his near full strength when he was only fifteen at their first Sports Festival. It had been shocking and he'd only gotten stronger since then.

"Hey, Icy Hot!" Bakugou shouted, hoping to snap him out of his meltdown or whatever. "You done with your temper tantrum yet?"

The change in Todoroki was immediate and sharp. He went from looking like he was going to blow up again at any second to absolutely stone fucking cold. When he turned around, if Bakugou had been anyone else, the look in his mismatched eyes might've made him falter. There wasn't anything in them like Deku's occasionally did whenever the light was out in his eyes. No, there was fire in Todoroki's, but it was cold enough to make a person's blood freeze.

"I don't know," Todoroki called out in return, lifting his right foot. An ice attack. Probably a massive one to ward him off. He could make them thick enough now for Bakugou's explosions to not break through them completely on the first try. Still, Bakugou wanted to scoff. How expected. He lifted an outstretched hand, preparing to let off multiple concentrated explosions instead of a single large one. "Are you?"

Todoroki's left hand came out of nowhere, a shockingly powerful blast of fire aimed right at him.

"Shit!" Bakugou dropped both of his hands and let off two explosions instead of the one he'd planned on. The sudden change in the angle of his explosions propelled him up and fast, launching him further into the sky in a clumsy manner. He hadn't had the time to angle his body properly, but he barely missed getting struck by the fire even with his quick thinking. His hands might've been somewhat fireproof thanks to his quirk, but the rest of his body was not. His boots caught the tail end of it and he hissed in pain, the metal in them heating up and burning his skin somewhat. The soles even melted some.

There wasn't any time to think about that when another column of fire was shot in his direction. He threw himself to the left, doing a quick roll, only to have to raise his hands again to shoot off an explosion that he would stop spinning when a large sheet of ice cut through the air. His boots landed on the ice with a solid thud at the sudden sideways landing. He didn't have Uraraka's quirk where he could remain on the spot. Gravity would eventually pull him down without her help.

(He couldn't think of Uraraka right now. That insane glacier kept catching attention in the corner of his eyes and then he'd look at the building and he'd think of her. She was in there right now, trying to save as many people as possible, in the middle of what was probably a massacre. There was no telling what nightmares she was seeing in there. On top of that, the building was going to collapse at any second. She had to get out of there. She had to-)

"That's fucking it!" Bakugou snapped, shaking his head clear. Instead of shooting down at him, he used his quirk to create multiple explosions so that he shot like a fiery wheel down the ice controlled by a speed demon from hell. It was much faster than Todoroki had anticipated, judging by the way he threw up a wall of ice to protect himself. Bakugou blasted through it anyway, shards of ice exploding everywhere like glass.

When he threw a well-aimed punch at his face, Todoroki used a fiery arm to block it. The hit hurt him still, judging by the way he threw his arm back and waved it, and Bakugou bit on his tongue to keep from swearing again. It was fucking hot. Of course fire was hot and he didn't go about sticking his hands in open flames (not like the boiling water he used to up the strength of his explosions), but this was different. He'd been around Todoroki when he was using his flames. This was way hotter than normal. At this rate, he'd burn himself out if he didn't stop. Did he not care? He didn't have his hero costume off with all the bells and whistles to protect himself from his own quirk.

"You're gonna fucking kill yourself," Bakugou snapped.

Todoroki eyed him with those cold eyes. "Like you care."

"Maybe I don't," Bakugou countered, "but Uraraka sure as shit does."

She would be devastated if something were to happen to Todoroki too. Seeing his handiwork while under that bastard's control had shaken her up as it was. He'd seen the terrified and guilty look in her eyes. It was impossible to forget. She thought this was her fault for not being able to protect him - for not being there for him.

"And you care about her so much, don't you?" Todoroki shot back, a ghost of a sneer on his face. It didn't fit him at all, but it reminded Bakugou of someone. He couldn't figure out who with so much going on around him. "It's all about her well-being, her wants, needs. You're completely selfless in this."

Bakugou's fingers twitched and tensed up. It was. He swore it was. Todoroki had known Bakugou wasn't trying to force himself onto Uraraka after Deku was gone. That had never been his intentions at all. Everything that came after, just a month or two ago, had been completely unexpected. He hadn't meant for anything to happen. He hadn't wanted to do that to her. She deserved better; she deserved more than he could give her. Todoroki fucking knew that, even if he had called him out when she had told their old classmates about Deku's return.

"That's not-"

"All you give a shit about is yourself," Todoroki cut in. "No one else matters. Just you and your goals to be the best, to get everything you want, even if it means stepping on others." Flames flickered in his hands again, but this time, the color began to change. Bakugou could've sworn he saw blue for a second. "Stop kidding yourself. You didn't start sniffing around her to be helpful. You don't have a compassionate bone in your body."

Having all of his insecurities thrown into his face threw Bakugou off for a moment, making him hesitate just like he'd done the night Deku died. Had he really done what he had to help her or had he wanted to make himself feel better? For failing to defeat that villain, for failing to save Deku, for failing to be the one to sacrifice instead of him.

No, he didn't have time for this. He had to snap the fuck out of it so Todoroki could too.

"What fucking horse shit did they shove into your head?" Bakugou demanded, a tiny hint of pain creeping in. He kind of wanted to laugh. At least now he knew what Todoroki's feelings were towards him. Cold, utter contempt. Great, as if he needed someone else gunning for his head. Fucking go figure.

By no means were he and Todoroki close. They never would be. It just wasn't who they were and they were fine with that. He didn't think even Todoroki would've considered them friends, but they had developed an understanding beneath their adversarial relationship. Deku's death had affected them in similar ways for both similar and different reasons. It was hard to be the hero he'd become without the person who had fought him tooth and nail and alongside him every step of the way.

As much as it had hurt to admit, Bakugou had to come to terms with the fact that he never would've become this great of a hero without Deku. He would've been a hero - there was nothing that could've stopped him from that goal short of death - but he wouldn't have made it this far. Even if he had, Bakugou wasn't sure if he would've deserved it. Maybe he would've turned out more like Endeavor. Todoroki would've loved that. Shit, knowing what Kyomu had put in Deku's head, it wouldn't surprise him to think that Todoroki did view him like that.

"You're not a hero, Bakugou," Todoroki told him.

"Just watch me be one," Bakugou growled, lowering himself into a fighting stance and firing off multiple mini-explosions to ready himself. Todoroki did the same, letting out a deep cold breath that fogged the air. He hadn't planned on fighting Todoroki, but plans changed all the time. That was a part of being a hero. As much as he wanted to get back to Deku, he had to deal with this first until stronger reinforcements arrived or he was able to take him down.

Once upon a time, Deku had believed he was one - had even looked up to him when he honestly hadn't deserved it. Now Bakugou had to prove that he was worthy of that admiration, starting with this messed up bastard.

"Oh, hey!" Deku shouted gleefully over the sounds of the fight. It was hard not to look away from Todoroki upon hearing his voice, but Bakugou knew he couldn't be distracted, not when Todoroki could attack at a moment's notice with either ice or fire. "Nice of you to arrive, Endeavor! I think your sons wanted to speak with you about something!"

Blue flames shot up from the corner of Bakugou's eyes and Todoroki jerked his head to the left in the direction of Deku's voice. It was only a second. Before Bakugou could throw himself at Todoroki, something in him snapped. And everything predictably went sideways and to utter shit.