After some deliberation, I've decided to add some more chapters to this one-shot and make it a series of one-shots focused around the larger events of MHA. Truthfully, this chapter (and the next) were written shortly after that chapter 1 was published, but until now I wasn't sure if I wanted to commit to anything.

So I won't!

This series will be something I add to whenever I feel like it. I feel like these one-shots stand pretty well on their own and don't lend themselves to cliffhangers or the promise of more content.

For those of you who follow my other works and are wondering where the hell the next chapters are... I'm sorry. I haven't given up on Colosseum of the Heart or Relentless, I've been having trouble finding my creative inspiration lately. Real talk, I'll sit down and stare at what I have, and I'll be lucky if I add a paragraph or two every day. It's infuriating, and I really hope I can find the motivation to keep going soon. Maybe posting these chapters and getting some feedback will give me that sweet, sweet dopamine rush to get back into the groove of things.

So in the meantime, enjoy these two chapters!

Tenya Iida fancied himself a brave individual.

He had to be! He was the next in line of a proud lineage, the latest in a family whose heroic roots stretched back generations! Take his brother Tensei, for example. He, in Tenya's humble opinion, represented true heroism. Strong, selfless, and fearless in the name of justice and peace. And he was so friendly, too! He could admit that his brother's way with the people helped them feel safe and looked out for.

Perhaps he was biased, but Tensei was just as virtuous as the Symbol of Peace himself. It was something to aspire to. Like Tensei, Tenya strove for greatness, heroism, and bravery.

Still, though, for all of his self-purported bravery…

Izuku Midoriya terrified him.

That wasn't to say he disliked him. Far from it! Even if Tenya didn't like to assume the worst of people or rush to conclusions – and he would admit that Tensei was right, he did have a bad habit of doing so – Midoriya was a friendly and humble person. By all accounts, Izuku Midoriya was a delight to be around, and perhaps one day Tenya might have the opportunity to truly befriend the skittish young man.

No… more precisely, Midoriya's quirk terrified him.

Such staggering power contained within a (surprisingly small) body would have been one thing. Todoroki and Bakugo were prime examples of incredible power, though the latter's attitude left much to be desired. It was another thing for Midoriya to openly admit that his sentient quirk was a genocidal monster.

Tenya was conflicted. On the one hand, Midoriya was incredible! To suppress the murderous impulses of his quirk for so long was outstanding and spoke volumes for the young man's heart and dedication to heroics. That was the kind of heroic spirit that Tenya admired, and he had no doubts in his mind that MIdoriya would go far in life with that kind of determination and discipline.

On the other hand, Deathwing – and that was a name that would forever be etched into his memory – was a natural disaster waiting to happen if he was ever let loose. Tenya had a feeling his stunt at the entrance exam was only a fraction of the dragon's power; he didn't even want to imagine what would happen if Midoriya ever lost control. Something of that magnitude would require All Might's intervention, and even then he was absolutely sure that the casualties of such a battle would number in the thousands.

And as he stood in the mostly empty room next to a paper mache bomb and a belligerent (and frustratingly uncooperative) Bakugo, Tenya felt a familiar sense of dread in his bones. He had the incredible misfortune of being opposed to Midoriya and Uraraka, two people who were already familiar with each other thanks to their meeting at the entrance exam.

Tenya had, unfortunately, not made the best impression on Midoriya upon first contact, so he couldn't really claim the same sort of kinship. He was doing better, though!

Still, he had a job to do: work with his partner to ensure that the 'hero' team did not secure their objective, even if it struck against his very nature to play the part of a villain.

Too bad his "partner" refused to cooperate.

"What do you mean "stay here"?"

"You deaf or something, Four Eyes?" Bakugo scowled… just like a villain. Tenya wasn't sure how much of that was an act, truthfully. "I dont need your fucking help. I've been waiting for this for years."

"...err…indeed!" Tenya exclaimed as he chose to ignore his partner's arrogance. He didn't want to jump to conclusions again, though as an aside, he noticed his voice was somewhat muffled underneath his helmet. Hmm… that might present an issue when attempting to communicate with civilians. Perhaps he should have it modified. "To think we're participating in a training exercise at such a prestigious institution is hard to believe! I, for one, look forward to learning much from our time under All Might's tutelage."

"Huh?" Bakugo glanced at him oddly before turning his attention back to the door. "No, Four Eyes. I mean Deku."

Tenya frowned. He remembered Bakugo's outburst during the quirk assessment test the other day and how he called Midoriya "useless". Learning more about it from Izuku himself following the assessment only shed more light on an already unfavorable first impression with the blonde. Hardly sportsmanlike. "What about Midoriya?"

"Damn villain thinks he can show up here at UA and pretend to be a hero." Bakugo growled. "I'll teach him his place."

"Bakugo, we're the villains here." Tenya reminded him.

"And that's bullshit!" Bakugo snapped. "Coming in here with a villainous quirk. I should be the one out there on the hero team. Deku doesn't belong here, but at least he'd be a good villain I can beat up. Just stay out of my way and guard the bomb or something. I'll take care of this."

Tenya opened his mouth, ready to object to such blatant quirkism and ego when he was summarily interrupted by All Might.

"START!"

In an instant, Bakugo rocketed out the door with a villainous sneer plastered on his face. Tenya sighed, already resigning himself to guard duty for the paper mache model behind him. Realizing exactly what was about to happen, he reached out and braced himself on the nearest pillar. A walking bomb was about to pick a fight with a dragon.

Explosive wouldn't even begin to describe it.

Midoriya was pretty awesome, in Ochako's humble opinion.

Ignoring for a moment just how much of a frickin' cinnamon roll the boy was, he had quite the interesting quirk! Unlike other transformation quirks like Ryukyu's – which only had two settings – Midoriya's operated like a sliding scale. He could customize how many draconic features he wanted to take on at any given point, as well as his size. Though, she would admit, this came with a bit of a catch.

The more Midoriya became dragon-like, the more influence Deathwing had over his mental state.

Those two couldn't be more opposite. Midoriya was a determined, heroic boy with a heart of gold. She knew him for all of two days (longer if you count their first meeting at the entrance exam) but she could tell that Midoriya was like a puppy. Sweet, more than a little fluffy, and ready to defend those closest to him at a moment's notice.

Deathwing, on the other hand, was violent, egotistical, and represented just about every negative trait belonging to the dragons found in fairy tales. At least, that's what she could presume given Midoriya's explanation and her own limited interactions with the dragon himself.

They were a modern day Doctor Jekyll and Mister Hyde.

Except, y'know, if Hyde was capable of breathing fire and growing to the size of an apartment complex.

"Be ready." Midoriya warned, his body already shifted into something much more dragon-like than his normal state. Apparently this was his "Dracthyr" form, and was a nice compromise between Deathwing's form and Midoriya's. In this form, he'd bulked up considerably at a staggering 7 feet and adopted a much more draconic appearance, though his scales still looked like they were barely containing a volcano within. She felt like she was walking behind a bipedal dragon – a true human-dragon hybrid, the kind she heard about in fantasy novels and roleplaying games. "Kacchan's going to come after me first. When he does, go for the bomb."

"Right." She nodded, clenching her fists in determination. Much as she hated to leave him alone with Bakugo, she knew he was far more suited for a direct confrontation with the explosive blonde than she was. "Be careful, Midoriya. Those explosions…"

Midoriya scoffed, a far departure from his normal demure and timid behavior. It seemed Deathwing's confidence (or was it arrogance?) was bleeding in a little while in this form. "...Nothing I'm not already used to. I can take him this time."

"...This time?"

He stiffened. "Right. We've… fought before, but I always refused to use my quirk on him. Now I can. I only hope I don't hurt him too badly."

She gulped, but remained silent as she followed her winged companion. Despite knowing that Bakugo could ambush them at any second, the latent heat wafting off Midoriya's form was oddly comforting. It was like sitting in front of a warm fireplace, and helped to set her at ease. Not completely relaxed – she suspected that was both a bad idea and impossible, given the current circumstances – but at least she wasn't a nervous wreck right now.

Midoriya suddenly stopped, right as they reached an intersection, and she froze on instinct. She was about to whisper and ask what was wrong when she saw a spark of light before being enveloped in darkness.

"DIE, DEKU!"

The muffled sound of an explosion greeted her ears, and only then did she realize exactly what just happened. Midoriya had turned and enveloped her in his wings to shield her from the blast and, as they unfurled to release her, she could smell… sugar? Burned sugar? No, burned caramel. Not pleasant.

Midoriya turned around with heavier-than-normal stomps, keeping his wings spread to block her from Bakugo's sight. "I was wondering when you were going to show, Kacchan."

Bakugo growled, and though she could not see him, she could hear the crackling of explosions in his palms. "Shut up, you damn villain."

"If anything, that's my line." Midoriya bit back. Yeah, Deathwing was definitely feeding him some confidence right now. She hadn't known him long, but even she knew that he normally wouldn't be so bold.

"No, I'M the hero!" Bakugo barked. "They never should have let you in with a villain's quirk!"

Great, now she could add "quirkist" to the growing list of labels for Bakugo. Because "prone to violence" and "jerkface" weren't enough.

"Oh, I won't deny my quirk's a villain, Kacchan." Midoriya said, and his stance widened a bit, probably preparing for the impending brawl. "But I've got a handle on him. I'm going to use it to be a hero."

"Your quirk only destroys things, Deku!"

"Have you looked in a mirror, Kacchan?" Midoriya sniped. She had to bite back a laugh. Confident Midoriya was snarky. She liked it. "Explosions literally only destroy. I guess that means you've got a villain's quirk too, don't you? Why don't we settle this, then? One villain to another."

Midoriya stalked forward with heavy footsteps. She made to follow, only for his tail to point down the hallway Bakugo just came from. Ooh, right! The plan! She scurried off, knowing that Midoriya's wingspan would easily cover her escape from Bakugo's sight. Just as she rounded the corner, she heard Bakugo wordlessly scream with outrage, and the explosion that followed almost staggered her.

Ochako ran forward and up the stairs. It was up to her now!

'Crush him, Izuku. Teach him what it means to anger a dragon.'

'I'm not going to crush him, Deathwing.' Izuku refused. 'I will teach him some humility, though.'

Deathwing remained silent, though Izuku could tell the dragon was content enough with that small admittance.

"DIE!" Kacchan roared, rocketing himself forward and leading with a punch with his right.

'Predictable.' Deathwing grumbled, and Izuku agreed. Kacchan always liked to lead with his right.

Izuku caught Kacchan by the wrist, effectively directing the explosion to the side, before reaching out and grabbing the blonde's throat. He slammed his bully up against the wall and growled behind his faceplate, making sure to breathe smoke in his face.

"I'm not going to be your punching bag anymore, Kacchan." Izuku snarled before throwing him down the hallway. His bully flipped ass over teakettle over and over as he tumbled down the hall. "No more! We're not at Aldera anymore. It's time for you to grow up and learn that there's always a bigger fish."

"SHUT UP!" Kacchan screamed, scrambling to his feet. He formed an improvised tube with one hand and held it in front of his other palm before loosing an explosion that had a bit more range to it. "I've been testing this move out, so you're the lucky fucker who gets to see it first!"

Izuku opened his mouth and spewed flames, meeting the explosion in the middle and blocking it from proceeding any further. He blew away the resulting smokescreen with a single flap of his wings and stalked forward again. "No! No more, Kacchan! If I have to be the one to teach you some humility, so be it."

"You've been hiding your real power this whole time, haven't you?!" Kacchan roared, leaping towards Izuku and peppering him with explosions. "Stop looking down on me!"

"I don't look down on you, Kacchan!" Izuku said, weathering the explosions through bared teeth and countering with a series of punches. Fortunately, his bully dodged each strike. "I held back because guess what? Public quirk use is against the law, not that you cared! You're amazing, but I'm not putting up with your crap anymore! This time, I hit back!"

'Empty promises, Izuku. You're still holding back.'

'I want to teach him a lesson in humility, not gut him like a fish.'

'I fail to see the difference. Disembowelment can be humbling.'

Izuku rolled his eyes, which in hindsight was a bad idea. What was directed at Deathwing was misinterpreted by Bakugo, whose face somehow managed to twist even more in outrage.

"BASTARD!" Kacchan screeched, and his explosions renewed with increased fervor. "You should have just rolled over and lost like the villain you are! You wanna pretend to be a hero? Fine! I'LL KILL YOU!"

More explosions followed, forcing Izuku to raise his scaled and armored arms up in defense. Izuku snarled with frustration; Kacchan's quirk was fueled by sweat, so the longer this fight dragged on, the stronger he got. Fortunately, the armor plates that came with his own transformation were doing a decent enough job taking the hits.

Another annoying explosion to the face was far enough. Izuku lashed out with a claw, and Kacchan dodged once more. What he didn't expect was for Izuku to spin and the tail to follow, slamming into the blonde's exposed side and sending him hurtling through the wall. Izuku charged after him, crashing through what remained of the wall.

Kacchan rolled to his feet and spat out a glob of suspiciously red spit. His face was contorted in what could only be pure outrage, but Izuku – or Deathwing, specifically – could see what lay underneath.

'Very good, Izuku. That right there… is fear. He knows what you can do now… how futile his attacks are against your might. Finish him.'

'I already told you, I'm not going to kill anybody.'

'Then break him instead. Shatter that ego and assert your dominance.'

"You think you're hot shit, don't you Deku?!" Kacchan screeched, reaching for his gauntlet and pointing it at the dragon hero-to-be. "Bet you know what these are, don't you ya DAMN VILLAIN?"

Izuku's eyes widened as the grooves in the grenade-shaped gauntlets pulsed red. He knew exactly what those were; after all, he helped design them when they were kids. Kacchan's sweat acted like nitroglycerin, and those gauntlets were designed to store large quantities of the stuff. If the small amounts generated from his palms could produce explosions like he'd already been peppered with, then those…

"The more sweat that's stored up, the stronger the explosion is!" Kacchan cackled, his finger already looped around the pin on his gauntlet. "I'm all loaded up!"

"Don't do it, young Bakugo! You'll kill him!" All Might roared over the earpieces.

"He'll be fine as long as he dodges!" Kacchan grinned maniacally.

He pulled the pin, and Izuku's world was awash with fire.

"This is nuts!" Young Kirishima cried out.

All Might stared at the screen in abject awe and shock. To think that young Bakugo would invite destruction on such a scale was as reckless as it was foolish. Even if young Midoriya could shrug off most of the lad's explosions in that new draconic form of his, there was no reason to use such a devastating move, especially indoors.

"Come in!" All Might frantically shouted into the earpiece. "Come in, Midoriya!"

"Sir, isn't this getting out of hand?" Young Kirishima insisted. "Midobro's tough, but Bakugo's trying to kill him!"

"Not so." All Might countered. "It might seem that way, but young Bakugo isn't actually trying to kill young Midoriya."

Young Jiro scoffed. "Are you kidding me, sir? He's literally shouting "DIE" every five seconds!"

All Might stilled. He'd forgotten just how sensitive young Jiro's hearing was; she was probably able to eavesdrop on what was coming out of his own earpiece. If young Shoji had his ears deployed – which he did, apparently – he might have been able to accomplish the same. "He's getting awfully close, but young Bakugo was holding back and gave young Midoriya the opportunity to dodge. Still, though…"

He was about to tell young Bakugo about the recklessness of his attack and bar it from use again when he – and the students behind him, if the gasps were any indicator – saw a familiar shape walk through the smoke cloud.

He'd still caution the explosive young man, but this was an interesting development.

Finally!

Katsuki wouldn't ever admit it out loud, but that damn villain was a tough one! Where was that strength when they were growing up? Why the fuck was he only bringing it out now? That damn nerd was never one to back down from a fight, but apparently he'd been holding back for years!

YEARS!

"These are awesome!" He cackled as he strode forward with his new favorite toys. There was no way that villain was conscious, but he needed to check anyway. "How's that, Deku? You thought you could put on a show and take me on? Know your place, Deku! A villain like you should – "

"You thought that was enough?"

Katsuki's blood chilled. No way…

Out of the smoke walked Deku, his stupid armor plates glowing red hot, but looking otherwise no worse for wear. The claws on his feet were starting to melt the floor as he walked forward. His villainous eyes glowed just as red as the rest of him, but even Katsuki could see it wasn't from the temperature of the blast. No, that was the fire of anger and hatred. As Deku opened his mouth to speak, a hiss of superheated steam escaped.

"For years I've had to endure your explosions like a "good little villain."" Deku said, his voice deeper and more layered than before. It was like someone else was speaking with him. "I'll admit, that was your strongest explosion yet, and it hurts quite a bit, but…"

Deku rushed forward, catching Katsuki in his shocked stupor and holding him aloft by his shirt. Katsuki winced, the leftover heat of the nerd's armor burning him through his clothing.

"...it wasn't enough to kill me."

"Bakugo!" Four Eyes shouted over their comms. "Was that blast your doing? Answer me!"

Then All Might shouted over the comms and forbade him from using his gauntlets again, not that it would have mattered. So what if the blast was destroying his hideout? They did nothing to Deku! What the hell was he supposed to do?

"What's the situation, Uraraka?"

Wait, Deku was ignoring him! Katsuki opened his mouth to scream in the nerd's face like the worthless villain he was when he felt a piece of fabric tie around his wrist. He froze at the sight of the tape All Might handed them before the match.

Captured.

That was it. Deku was too strong. Not a single one of his explosions – not even a stored up one from his gauntlet – was enough to even slow the damn nerd.

He lost.

Deku dropped him on the ground like a sack of fucking potatoes and held his hand up to his ear. "Alright. I'm on my way. Let's finish this."

Izuku felt a little bad.

'Take pride in your victory, whelp.'

Okay, he felt a little proud of his victory, but Iida truthfully never stood a chance. Once Izuku flew out the hole in the side of the building – the one Kacchan so graciously provided – and joined Uraraka on the 5th floor, it was a done deal. True, Iida did his best at keeping the bomb away from two enemies with his speed, but Izuku was able to zone off sections of the room with fire breath. Limiting his room to run made catching him easy work for Uraraka, and they took the victory with little issue.

"The MVP of this exercise is young Iida." All Might declared, much to the class's surprise and Deathwing's outrage.

'WHAT?!'

"Shouldn't it be one of the heroes instead, since they're the winners?" Asui asked, a sentiment echoed throughout the class.

"Valid question." All Might answered. "Who can tell me why?"

"Sir, I can tell you why." Yaoyorozu answered with a raised hand. Without further prompting, she continued to explain. "Iida embraced this challenge. He was the only one who truly adapted to his assigned role. I'll explain."

Izuku blinked and consciously made the effort to ignore Deathwing raging in his mind.

"Bakugo's judgment was clearly clouded with a grudge against Midoriya. Additionally, launching a large scale attack like that indoors was counterproductive to his role as a villain on the defensive. If Midoriya had not been as sturdy as he is, that move might have killed him. Midoriya wasn't any better; he clearly outclassed Bakugo and had many opportunities to tie the capture tape around his opponent. Instead, he chose to prolong the fight and lecture his opponent instead. While none of us – save yourself, Jiro, and Shoji – could hear what he was saying, it looked as if he was taunting him. Trying to negotiate and de-escalate is one thing, but that didn't look like it."

'She's right.' Izuku admitted.

'Stop defending her. You won and put Bakugo in his place.' Deathwing argued.

'But I could have ended things earlier. That would have accomplished the same thing, but I dragged it on.' Izuku sighed.

"As for Uraraka, she let her guard down mid-battle and exposed her location. She did manage to catch Iida and capture the objective, but only after Midoriya intervened. Iida had a strategy and never lost sight of the goal. It was only the combined efforts of Midoriya and Uraraka that led to his defeat; had Bakugo succeeded in occupying Midoriya, Iida undoubtedly would have won by timeout."

Iida looked like he'd achieved nirvana, Uraraka looked crestfallen, and Kacchan was… catatonic. Still clearly in shock over his defeat. Hopefully this loss would bring his ego down a smidge. Izuku, on the other hand, took the criticism in stride. Both All Might and Yaoyorozu were entirely correct.

Izuku hesitantly patted his teammate on the back. Uraraka looked up at him with a solemn but genuine smile. Hopefully the gesture – and he was still freaking out about even so much as being in contact with a girl – could provide her with some solace. Fortunately, she was one of the few in class that wasn't visibly unnerved by his admittedly monstrous appearance. He hoped that would change in time, and that the rest of the class would feel the same.

He may have had all the power in the world, but he still had MUCH to learn about being a hero.