CHAPTER TWENTY: THE LAST CHANCE
Izuku stared at the destroyed Forge that created his final stone. He then turned around and looked to Himiko who stood frozen in ice up to her neck. It didn't take a genius to understand what happened here.
"Hi", she blushed in embarrassment.
"Where's the soul stone?" He had a pretty good idea, but he wanted her to say it. "Keep it simple please"
"Ok first that gravity girl showed up, then her friends showed up, then they took the stone and um…well here we are", she chuckled nervously. "Please don't be mad"
"Why would I be mad?" Izuku smiled pleasantly despite the unfortunate situation he found himself in. "I don't blame you. I blame myself", he sighed. 'I didn't think anyone would discover this place, let alone a bunch of U.A students, but how did Uraraka find out about?' No matter, they won't get far.
"If you get me out of this ice I can help you get your stone back", Toga fluttered her eyes at him. "Izu-kun"
"No I think you've done enough", Izuku dismissed her and opened a portal behind her.
"Uh… Wait! I'm still frozen!" Himiko reminded him.
"Ask Dabi to thaw you out", the green haired teen gently pushed her through and closed it. He then opened another portal that would take him outside the old abandoned smelting plant to the junkyard. Once he was out he started walking around. 'I wonder how far they got' Izuku kept walking until he walked right passed Shoto Todoroki sitting on an old car. He paused and took a few steps back then slowly turned his head to face the student who sat their nonchalantly.
"Izuku Midoriya. You're a bit shorter in person", Todoroki commented. Izuku just smiled.
"Shoto Todoroki, son of the number two hero Endeavor. Quirk: Ice and Fire", this was just too perfect. "Do you mind if I sit down. I've been on my feet all day and could really use a break"
"Go right ahead", Shoto nodded at him while carefully examining his opponent. Midoriya's black sleeveless top was torn and ragged looking, the black fingerless glove on his right arm was ripped in places, hair was tussled or maybe it was natural like that, and his face and clothes were smeared and splattered with blood but there didn't seem to be any wounds on his body. His eyes then landed on the gauntlet on Midoriya's left arm. Yaoyorozu had a plan to get that thing off of him. The first part was for Todoroki to sit here and distract him long enough for everyone to get into position.
"Thank you", waving the gauntlet Izuku made himself a crude chair out of pieces of scrap from around the yard which he promptly sat on and faced the U.A student that sat a short distance away from him. "So let me guess the plan here", Todoroki flinched in surprise wondering if the villain figured out their plan but kept his composer. "Your friends took my soul stone and you stayed behind since you're the strongest of them to keep me busy while they get away. Is that the gist of it?"
"Maybe", the two tone haired boy didn't confirm or deny his theory. "You called it the soul stone. What does that mean and what does it do?"
"It does something amazing", Izuku smirked at him. "Something I once thought was impossible", he didn't elaborate further so they remained silent for over a minute.
"Why are you doing this?" Todoroki decided to stall by asking questions to keep the other talking.
"How about this? I'll answer your question if you promise to answer some of mine", Izuku offered while crossing his legs and placing his hands on the knee.
"That seems reasonable", Todoroki's eyes glanced off wondering if Momo was ready to give the signal yet.
"As you are probably aware I'm quirkless", Izuku began his story. "In my entire short life I looked up to heroes. It's not really my fault, the world glamorizes the profession so much that every child wanted to be one", he paused with a light chuckle. "Even after I was diagnosed as quirkless I didn't give up"
"But you did when you became a villain", Todoroki brought up.
"When I met Allmight the hero who gave me hope and found out the truth about him, that he's a fraud, that the world was broken. I decided to fix it", Izuku frowned. "I just couldn't leave things as they are"
"And how are things?" The student asked. "How are things so bad that you had to go down this path?"
"This isn't a world of heroes and villains. It's a world where the strong are rewarded simply for being strong and the weak are discarded", Todoroki wanted to argue but Izuku continued. "Would you believe your teacher Allmight saw no value in me simply because I don't have a quirk?"
"That can't be true", the ice boy did argue against that.
"Ah, but it is", Izuku smiled sadly. "Back before I became Apotheosis I actually got to meet Allmight and had interesting conversation with him. I asked if it was possible for me to be a hero without a quirk. He said no, that it wasn't possible, but the sad irony is that Allmight is quirkless himself, he's only borrowing someone else's power", he kept talking. "So even the number one hero doesn't believe that hard work, courageous spirit and determination makes a hero, it's all about power"
"That's not true", Todoroki wanted to argue that those with quirks work hard to hone their abilities. It wasn't always easy for them.
"Oh really?" Izuku raised a brow at that. "Katsuki Bakugou is in your class. Do you honestly believe someone like him is hero material?"
"Yes" Shoto answered without hesitating.
"You're thinking of his quirk when you say that", Izuku sighed while pinching the bridge of his nose. "Put his quirk aside and look at Bakugou as a person. Does he inspire hope? Does he make people smile? Is he…a good person that does what is right? Or does he only do what he wants?" Sometimes people only do things because they want to, not because it's the right thing to do. Izuku knew the difference and his time with Stain showed him there are many heroes out there like that. Todoroki thought a bit about his classmate. Bakugou was rude, loud, petulant, arrogant, self-centered and seemed to be constantly angry for no good reason. Not at all hero material if he was being honest.
"Maybe he just needs proper guidance", Todoroki still tried to defend him.
"Tell me then Shoto Todoroki, have you, any of your fellow students or teachers done anything to fix his behavior", Izuku smiled seeing the other boy fail to come up with an immediate answer. "Or does Bakugou just bark and everyone lets it go because he's cool and powerful?" He knew he was right and Todoroki's silence was confirming it. "I know about him because we used to go to the same middle school", he scowled remembering the torment that bastard put him through. "Bakugou was a bully that constantly threatened and belittled me. He even told me to kill myself once. Does that sound like a hero to you!?" The half and half boy silently watched Midoriya loudly vent. "Yet despite his personality, his violent demeanor, and his school record attesting to the bullying he still got into the prestigious U.A!"
"You must really hate him", Shoto commented.
"I despise him. He's not the only one you know. There are many more people like Bakugou out there and they get everything they want because of their flashy powerful quirks", Izuku glared furiously. "Are you starting to see what is wrong with society?"
"Let's say you're right. How would you fix it?" Todoroki decided to entertain the idea of a broken hero system. He ignored the nagging voice in his head that kept reminding him that his father was a perfect example of everything Midoriya believed was wrong with their society.
"Congratulations! Now you're a step closer to the conclusion I came to", Izuku smiled. "The only way to fix it is to obtain the greatest power in the world and use it to dethrone those that rule our society. Then I'll be the one to make the rules and those who I deem unworthy won't be allowed to be heroes in my world"
"By defeating Allmight? Even if you could beat the strongest hero in the world there are more that would rise up to stop you", Todoroki paused when Midoriya just laughed.
"Oh no! You really aren't seeing the bigger picture here!" Izuku shook his head. "Do you honestly think Allmight is the king on the chessboard I'm playing against?" He was seeking to overthrow the ones above even him. "But enough about me and my 'Evil Plan'. It's time you answered some of my questions" Izuku stared at him with his big green eyes. "Why do you never use your fire quirk?" Shoto remained silent. "Come on. Think of me as a friend, talk to me"
"We're not friends. You're a villain, so that makes us enemies" Todoroki corrected.
"Calling us enemies implies that you're a threat to me", Izuku scoffed at him. "Which you're not right now. Plus we have some time to kill before I hunt down your friends like dogs and take my stone"
"My father…", Todoroki paused before deciding to continue stalling. "Is the number two hero Endeavor"
"Yes I know", Izuku chuckled. He had done his research after all.
"For years he's been obsessed with beating Allmight and cares for nothing but that goal", Shoto explained with a solemn tone.
'That rings a familiar bell', Endeavor sounded a lot like Kacchan.
"When he realized he couldn't do it he decided to create a child that could surpass Allmight for him. He married my mother for her quirk with the hopes of having child with both of their quirks", Todoroki's frown deepened at the memory of his mother. "I'm the fourth of his offspring"
"Let me guess, you were the lucky one to be born with both?" Izuku asked sarcastically.
"I wouldn't call it luck", Todoroki scowled. "He put me through hell. Training me day and night, just so I could surpass Allmight"
"Did he do this to you?" Izuku asked while touching the left side of his own face, pointing out the other's scar.
"No this was done by my mother when she finally couldn't take living with that man anymore", Todoroki sighed sadly. "She called my left side unsightly and after the incident my father had her locked up in a hospital. Ever since then I vowed to be the number one hero without using my left side. I'll deny him what he wants most", at that Izuku let out a loud chuckle.
"Deny him? By giving him what he wants?" The green haired boy smirked. "That's stupid. If you really wanted to get back at your father then you wouldn't become a hero. That would be the ultimate revenge if you ask me, but no you're doing exactly as he planned for you except you're only hurting yourself"
"I don't expect you to understand" Todoroki said.
"Because I'm quirkless right? I can't possibly understand the pressure of having a pro hero as a father or to be blessed with such great quirk", Izuku spat with disdain. "You have so much power and yet you're squandering it because of some daddy issues. How pathetic!"
"I guess we can't see eye to eye", Todoroki got up from his seated position having heard Yaoyorozu's subtle message through the communicator in his ear. 'Good everyone is in place'
"Are we done talking now?" Izuku also stood up with a mocking smile. "And we were having such a wonderful conversation", ice gathered around Shoto's right arm as he prepared. "Come now. You don't actually believe your pathetic half powered self can beat me? Alone no less?"
"What makes you think I'm alone?" Todoroki allowed himself a small smirk seeing Midoriya's confused face.
"Hm?" Izuku's eyes widened when he noticed a large shadow pass over him. Quickly looking up he was just in time to see the body of a large plane come crashing down on top of him, its speed boosted by Iida as he used his quirk to push it down faster. Izuku on reflex brought his gauntlet up as soon as it collided with him.
"Release!" Uraraka freed both the junked plane and Tenya from her the effects of her quirk half way before the crash.
"Did that get him!?" Iida asked allowed as he landed safely next to the crash site.
"Keep moving! I doubt that will slow him down!" Todoroki yelled. "Look out!" The wrecked plane exploded in a bright red aura as the metal was torn part like paper. In the center Midoriya was kneeling on the ground holding the gauntlet up while screaming.
"HAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Izuku stood back up to his feet pushing the pieces further away from him. With an angry shout he sent the torn chunks of metal straight at Iida. The young hero in training quickly evaded each and every one. Izuku turned and flash warped away before Kirishima could drop kick him. "I see, so you all stuck around to lay a trap for me", Midoriya remarked. "Clever, but foolish!" He deflected the ice sent his way and sent shards of it at the red haired boy.
"Woah!" Kirishima was knocked back. Luckily his hardening ability absorbed the damage he could have sustained. Iida was next, charging in to attack Midoriya. Izuku noticed him coming and created a portal in front of him and one on the ground behind him. Iida went flying through it to his surprise and was promptly kicked in the back. Izuku launched him away with a miniscule amount of strength from one for all.
"What was that?" Momo wondered while watching the fight from a hidden spot. She was attempting to figure out how Midoriya's gauntlet worked and what sort of powers it gave him. It seemed he possessed superior matter manipulation and warping, but that strength just now was too powerful even with his build. 'He must have some sort of enhanced strength as well', she added that to the list of his abilities and factored into a plan on how to beat him.
"That won't be enough!" Izuku shouted blowing Shoto away with a finger flick before he could blast more ice at him. "Take this!" Raising his foot up, he channeled a larger amount of one for all from the power stone and stomped it on the ground. In an instant a crater was blown into existence with Izuku floating in the center. "Ow!" He hissed in pain at his broken leg, but quickly used the time stone to heal the damage.
"W-What…" Shoto stared in shock
"The…" Iida too was frozen in horror.
"Hell" Kirishima finished.
"What's this?" Izuku floated a bit higher in the air. "Oh no! No! You were all doing so well. You managed to catch me off guard. Your attacks were consistent", He sighed in disappointment. "And now you're all frozen in fear", he slapped his hands together. "Don't be scared! Keep fighting heroes! I'd hate to see you give up now!" Izuku smirked. His words seemed to snap them into moving. That and Yaoyorozu voice through their communicators.
"Uraraka now!" Momo said.
"Right" Ochako levitated a bunch of junked cars into the air while her fellow classmates neared her. Iida launched one of the floating cars with a rocket powered kick, while Kirishima punched the second with all his strength and Ochako smacked the others with a large metal beam that she made weightless.
"That's the spirit!" Izuku grinned wider as the rusted vehicles came flying at him from one side while Todoroki's ice surged from behind. He didn't even move from his spot the air, instead he flicked his finger at the ice without turning around, shattering it completely. For the first car to come close to him he completely disassembled with a simple wave of his gauntlet. The next he punched away with the power stone and the last he merely held his left armored hand out and touched it. One of the space stone's abilities kicked in and covered the object in a blue aura locking its position in space. "Very good! A combination attack! I was wondering when you would get smart and combine your quirks!" He applauded them. 'Or are they?' It was then the green haired teen noticed the small communicators attached to their ears and he began to quickly analyze the situation. 'Someone else is giving them strategies', glancing around he couldn't spot this person. 'Hiding huh?' As Uraraka, Todoroki, Iida, and Kirishima closed in on him, he warped out of there leaving not a trace behind.
"He's gone", the red head spun around looking for the villain.
"Keep an eye out he's got to be somewhere", Shoto spoke into his communicator. "He vanished, do you have eyes on him?"
"I don't see Midoriya", Momo scanned the surroundings with her binoculars. "Spread out and find him. Let everyone know if you do", she ordered. As the group split up to look around the junkyard, Yaoyorozu kept a vigilant eye from a distance. She froze when a hand gently took the binoculars from her grip.
"Well hello Momo Yaoyorozu", Izuku Midoriya crushed the object in his clutch. "Quirk creation, and one of the few students to get into U.A on recommendation", the dark haired girl backed away in panic. "Relax, I'm just here to find out which of you has my stone", he chuckled as he held his hands up. "No one has to get hurt as long as you-", Izuku was interrupted when a long wet appendage wrapped around his right arm. "Is that a tongue!? Gross!" Tsuyu released her camouflage. She had been hidden by Yaoyorozu in case Midoriya found their location.
"Tsuyu run!" Momo created a smoke bomb with her quirk and tossed it at the boy's feet.
"Please", Izuku chuckled and flicked the smoke away, however he was unprepared for the flash grenade that Momo threw after the smoke. Izuku shielded his eyes with his arm as it went off. When it ended he looked around to see Momo and Tsuyu were gone. "Dammit", warping away again he decided on a different approach.
URARAKA
'Where is he?' Heading towards the site where the flash bang went off Ochako suddenly paused when she felt a presence behind her. Spinning around she saw another portal open and Izuku step out.
"Hello Uraraka", he smirked as he approached her. "It's been awhile. You're looking well. I see Mei made that staff for you", he paused when he noticed she took a fearful step back. "You're afraid of me aren't you?" He sighed dejectedly.
"Why?" She asked.
"You know why", Izuku frowned. "You've seen it yourself. I never tried to hide the fact that people like me are looked down on by society", he took a step closer to her. "What I do seems horrible, yes, but I'm doing this for people like me. Not just the quirkless, but anyone who was weak and was never given the opportunity to be strong because of people like Allmight keeping them down"
"I don't understand", Ochako shook her head sadly. "You're a good person. Why be a villain for such a cause?"
"I don't consider myself a villain", Izuku chuckled lightly. "I think of myself more as a revolutionary. Tell me Uraraka. If there was something terribly wrong with the world, what would you be willing to do to fix it?" Ochako remained silent, unsure of how to answer. "That's what I thought", Izuku sighed and turned away from her. "How can you call yourself a hero if you're not willing to sacrifice everything for the greater good of the world?"
"Wait!" She reached out to grab his shoulder only for her hand to be repelled away by his power.
"When you come to the same answer I did, come talk to me then", he walked back through the portal and left without even laying a hand on Uraraka. Intentionally hurting her would have left a bad taste in his mouth.
KIRISHIMA
Eijiro glanced around worriedly. This wasn't going as well as he'd hoped. If only 'he' would arrive, then maybe they would actually have more of a fighting chance, but his friend had not responded to his text yet.
"Eijiro Kirishima", Izuku called appearing on top of a broken down truck. "Quirk: Hardening, a very strong defense isn't it?" Kirishima took a cautious step back since he was alone now. "Shall we put it to the test? Or do you want to tell me which one of you has the soul stone?"
"Sorry man, that's not happening", Kirishima said defiantly.
"That's disappointing", the car Midoriya stood on was levitated up in the air. With a kick he sent the rusted vehicle flying at the red head. Kirishima hardened himself and crossed his arms to absorb the impact. The truck bounced off him while shattering to pieces. He was unprepared for when the engine belt from the wreckage came to life and wrapped tightly around his neck. Kirishima was hoisted up in the air while Midoriya pointed his gauntlet at him. "You may have a hard outer shell, like a turtle, but like our dear friend the turtle you still need to breathe", the red head choked and gasped as he kicked his feet and clawed at the belt around his throat that was growing tighter. "Make a hand sign if you want to tell me where my stone is", Izuku chuckled as he continued to strangle him. He wouldn't kill him, but a good bluff required you to pretend that you would kill your opponent. However the green haired teen paused when he heard a word shouted that he hadn't heard in over a year.
"DEKU!" Izuku spun around just in time to see Katsuki come charging in from the air. With a smirk he released Kirishima and put up a barrier to deflect the oncoming explosion. Bakugou leaped back. "You bastard!" It seemed Katsuki came prepared dressed in his hero costume complete with his grenade gauntlets. Kirishima smiled in relief that Bakugou had got his message and came to help.
"Well…if it isn't Kacchan!" Izuku chuckled. "And here I thought today couldn't get any BETTER!" Reaching out with the gauntlet he attempted to crush the boy who bullied him where the brat stood. Quick thinking is the only thing that saved Bakugou as he launched himself out of the area with a blast from his hands. "A prime example of what is wrong with the world, is delivered right to his karmic justice", Izuku smirked widely. "I couldn't have asked for a better gift"
"I'm going to kick your ass so bad they'll have to pick up pieces of you all over this junk yard", Bakugou responded with a grin of his own. He didn't like this. The old Deku was always terrified of him as he should have been, but this new version of Deku wasn't even flinching. It really pissed him off. "Trying to act tough even though you're still a quirkless loser!"
"Let's see if you're a match for a quirkless loser and his infinity gauntlet!" Katsuki came charging forward at him with his right arm about to attack. Izuku tilted his body to the left before it reached him and grab ahold of it with both hands, flipped him over his body and slammed him into the ground. Katsuki coughed as the air was knocked out of his lugs. "Still starting with the right hook I see. Oh Kacchan. You're so predictable" Izuku raised his foot about to stomp him. He was foiled when Kirishima tried to tackle him. Izuku quickly shoved the red head off, grabbed a nearby broken fridge with the reality stone and tossed it at him. He didn't have time to gloat as an explosion from Bakugou nearly blew him off his feet. Before he could retaliate he was kicked hard in the back by Iida.
"Nice try", Izuku blocked the next kick with his armored hand. While Izuku was blocking his attacks he didn't notice Katsuki getting some distance and grabbing the pin of his left grenade gauntlet.
"Get out of the way four eyes!" Bakugou shouted as he pulled the pin. A giant explosion erupted from the end of his support item. Iida sped out of the line of fire just as it roared passed him. Izuku faced the wave of destruction with a confident grin on his face and let himself be consumed by it. Bakugou smirked thinking he got him. That excitement quickly bled away when everyone watched as the blast suddenly imploded. The explosion was absorbed and compressed into a small orb in the palm of Izuku's gauntlet, who stood there completely unharmed.
"RAAAAAAAHH!" With a scream the green haired boy pointed the orb at his former bully and shot a condensed beam of the explosion's heat and force right at him. Luckily for Katsuki he was saved by Kirishima who shoved him out of the way and took the full blast himself, using his hardening quirk to tank the damage, but that didn't save him from getting launched across the junkyard.
"Huh? Look at that Kacchan, your boyfriend saved you." Izuku laughed.
"DAMN YOU!" Bakugou charged him from the front while Iida came in from behind. Izuku projected his barrier to block the explosion and opened a warp gate to catch Tenya's attack. The class rep was caught off guard when he was warped directly to Midoriya's right. The gauntlet wielding villain back handed him across the face, knocking his helmet off. Izuku grabbed the fallen helmet and threw at Katsuki's head. The blonde ducked, but was surprised when Izuku flash warped forward and slammed his elbow in his former bully's chest.
"Guh!" Bakugou coughed as he stumbled back.
"What's the matter Kacchan? You haven't once landed a good hit on me", Izuku smirked down at him as he hovered in the air. "I thought you were going to be the number one hero?"
"Shut your mouth Deku", Katsuki growled as he stood back up and wiped the spit from his mouth. He was pushed back to the floor by Izuku's power.
"And now for the coup de grâce", suddenly something wrapped tight around his gauntlet that looked very similar to Erasure Head's capture weapon. Following the end of it he spotted Yaoyorozu attempting to pull the device off his hand. "Nice try", Izuku was about to use his right hand to pry them off, but his arm was quickly tangled by a long tongue courtesy of Tsuyu. After that a grapple claw attached to a tether wrapped around his torso with Uraraka and Iida pulling the other end. With a few tugs he was yanked to the ground. "You think this will hold me!?" Before he could throw them off, his feet were frozen to the ground, a small glacier of ice travelled up his legs and body stopping just below his neck that wouldn't break no matter how much he thrashed about. "Dammit!" He was trapped.
"Did you get him?" Kirishima asked as he finally rejoined the group sporting a few minor burns.
"Get over here and hold this tight!" Momo ordered. The red head did as she said and kept a firm hold on the capture weapon while she went to work on figuring out a way to remove the gauntlet from Midoriya while he was stuck.
"This won't keep me down for long!" Izuku screamed in frustration. He mostly angry at himself for his arrogance and thinking that there was no way they could pose a threat to him. Ochako used her grapple staff weapon on his right arm so now Uraraka, Iida and Tsuyu were all pinning that one limb down. Todoroki kept his right hand on the ice prison that held the villain and continuously reinforced it like they planned.
"It's on his arm really tight" Yaoyorozu said as she struggled with the device. Izuku purposely closed his fist to make it difficult for her while he regarded her with annoyance.
"What's taking so long!?" Iida shouted as he and Uraraka dug their feet in the ground. Tsuyu was sweating bullets just keeping her tongue wrapped around the green haired boys arm. These weird green sparks kept shooting out his skin were causing his strength to fluctuate for some reason.
"Hurry and get that damn thing off of him!" Bakugou demanded as he kept his other grenade aimed and ready to fire incase Deku escaped.
"You got to open the fingers up", Kirishima told her while held on with all his strength.
'They got me', Izuku glared at all of them. He couldn't flash warp away when other people were touching him. He also couldn't stop time as all those who touching his body or the gauntlet would be unaffected. A blast from the reality stone would just leave him open and vulnerable for a retaliating attack. If he used one for all through the power stone, his spine and other parts of his body would be too badly damage and he wouldn't be able to repair in time for Kacchan to fire off his explosion and injure him further. 'Wait a minute…Kacchan!' Izuku smiled devilishly as an interesting idea came to mind.
"Not so tough now are you Deku?" Katsuki grinned thinking he'd won.
"You're one to talk." He chuckled. "But you know I should be thanking you Kacchan" Izuku glanced down at Momo who fumbled with opening the fingers of his gauntlet.
"What the hell are you talking about nerd?" The blonde teen scowled at him.
"Did you see the news?" Izuku's smirk widened by the sharp glint in the other's eye that told him he indeed did. "You saw Allmight's true form. Yes you did" He was taking a bit of a gamble with his assumptions, but he knew Bakugou's greatest weaknesses were his pride and his temper. "Do you know why he's so weak now? Shall I tell you?" He chuckled darkly. "It was the fight against the master of the League of Villains. That battle pushed him passed his limit and weakened his body even further than it already was", Izuku locked eyes with Bakugou who remained silent. "Remind me why he was there again. Oh that's right, to rescue you!" The blonde clenched his fist as the rage began building, not just at Deku for bringing his kidnapping up, but at himself for getting captured in the first place.
"Dude! Whatever you're thinking don't do it!" Kirishima called seeing that familiar murderous look in his friend's eye. Momo was just barely managing to slide the gauntlet off, a centimeter at a time.
"That's right Kacchan! It was because of you!" Izuku laughed at him. "You're going to make such a wonderful villain in the future! I can see it now!"
"Shut up", the blonde said through his teeth. Katsuki was now shaking in fury.
"Katsuki Bakugou! The boy who helped CRIPPLE ALLMIGHT!" That did it. Bakugou snapped and came charging at the nerd with his hand raised.
"DON'T!" Everyone shouted.
"DIIIEEEEEE!" Katsuki blasted Izuku right in the face, just as Yaoyorozu had the gauntlet halfway off his arm. She was promptly blown back by the force and lost her grip. The others students also fell back, the tight hold they had on his arms giving way. Even Shoto was knocked back and had to let go of his ice to shield his face and body. When the smoke eventually cleared it revealed the frozen cocoon that held Midoriya was now empty with a shattered opening where Bakugou's attack hit. They all froze when they heard slow clapping a short distance away. Midoriya stood there, bits of ice still clinging to his skin and clothes, light burn marks on his face and his hair an even bigger mess than it already was. It seems that explosion knocked him loose enough to quickly warp himself out of there and with Momo thrown off, there was nothing to restrict the power of the space stone.
"Like I said Kacchan", Izuku smirked as he stopped clapping and held his gauntlet up putting two specific fingers together to do his own super move. "You're so predictable", with only a mere ten percent of the stones' power, he snapped his fingers and blew most of the students away with the force of the blast. Kirishima was just close enough to catch the frog girl, which he did. Sadly Izuku spotted this and grabbed ahold of him with his telekinetic powers. He then threw them hard against a small mountain of broken down robot parts and appliances. The two of them were knocked unconscious upon impact.
"Two down and…" Izuku's was interrupted when an explosion hit him in the back. Bakugou launched himself over his former childhood friend and began firing off as many explosions as possible. Each and every one of them was sucked up in a small warp gate that Izuku created in between them.
"HAH!" Katsuki screamed as he threw himself at a still smirking Izuku. The green haired villain blocked his hands with his gauntlet and since they were close enough, head butted his bully forcing him back. Shaking the stars from his head Izuku looked behind him to see the old smelting factory in the distance. Getting another devious idea he reached out with his infinity gauntlet, using the power and reality stones in tandem. The structure shook violent, quickly coming apart. He let out a strained groan when he started pulling on it, blood dripping from his nose.
"HAAAAAAH!" Izuku shouted at the top of his lungs as he yanked his arm towards the blonde sending big chunks of the large abandoned building flying across the junkyard straight on top of Bakugou while he warp gated away.
"Shit!" Katsuki cursed as he tried to dodge the falling debris, but wasn't quick enough and was swept up in the impact. Scraps of metal and junk rained down upon the whole area.
TENYA
Iida swiftly dodged the falling debris while carrying Ochako on his back. The girl was unconscious after suffering a head injury. He decided to get her to a safe area away from all the chaos before going back to retrieve the others and get out of here. It seems they severely underestimated Midoriya's power. Suddenly he tripped and fell forward. The very dirt he ran on turned soft like quick sand and sucked his foot in. Uraraka flew off his back and was quickly caught by Izuku.
"Tenya Iida, a pleasure to see you again", Izuku greeted while carrying the girl in his arms. Iida struggled as he was pulled into the ground up to his knees.
"Apotheosis", the engine boy glared at him.
"You can call me by real name you know", Izuku smirked down at him. He gently placed Ochako on the ground then went back to slowly sinking Iida into the earth.
"Why!?" Iida exclaimed. "When you saved me from the Hero Killer you taught me how a real hero should act!" He was up to his waist now. "Was all that talk about creating a true hero just a lie!?" Izuku frowned as he remembered that. "Answer me!" Iida was nearly underground at this point.
"That's still my one true goal", he stopped sinking the boy when he was up to his neck, leaving him room to breathe but not escape. "I want to put an end to this broken hero society and create a new better one"
"There's nothing wrong with this hero society!" Tenya tried to argue.
"You only say that because your still blind to the truth", Izuku turned away and placed his gauntlet on Ochako's unconscious head making the boy flinch and fear what he would do to her. "For once in your life Tenya Iida, look around, actually look with your eyes and you'll see what's wrong with this society", Izuku used the time stone to heal the head injury that Ochako sustained and left her there without harm. "When you come to same conclusion I did come talk to me then." With those parting words he opened a warp gate and stepped inside
SHOTO
The youngest Todoroki desperately froze all the incoming wreckage while frantically gazing around for any of his fellow students. They could be buried under a pile of rubble and metal for all he knew. He paused when Midoriya appeared through a portal before him.
"I think it's time we continued where we left off Todoroki", Izuku smirked deviously. Shoto glared at his enemy and fired as much ice as possible at him. The messy haired villain raised his gauntlet covered fist up, channeled one for all through the green stone and punched the incoming ice, shattering it like glass.
'Dammit' Todoroki tried again, this time shooting ice at him in an arc. Izuku raised a brow at the minor change, but it still wasn't a threat to him. He merely pointed his open hand and used the reality stones power to instantly melt the ice into water. He also manipulated that water into bubbles just to mock the half and half boy.
"That all you got Todoroki!" Izuku taunted him. "Where's the fire!?"
"I refuse to use that bastard's power", Shoto would deny his father to the very end.
"How do you expect to be a hero with that attitude?" Izuku glared at him. "I'm sorry mam I couldn't save your daughter because I have severe daddy issues. That's you, that's the hero you're going to be in the future"
"You know why I won't" He was cut off before he could remind his opponent.
"You don't have a choice any more Shoto Todoroki!" Izuku yelled at him. "This is your one and only chance to stop me, right here right now!" He held his arms out.
"I…can't", Shoto clenched his fists.
"Will you just forget about Endeavor", Izuku let out a frustrated sigh. "You're not him, you're not even an upgraded version of him. You are unique and that's something you're pathetic father can never lay claim to", he continued to try and bring out the best of his opponent. Not just because he wanted a good fight, but mainly he wanted to help Todoroki. He could tell that the bi color haired guy was miserable. "You have ice and fire! That's not the power of Endeavor, it's the amazing power of Shoto! It's all yours!"
'It's mine.' Shoto suddenly realized. In that instant fire erupted from his left side, lighting up the entire junkyard like a beacon. A raging inferno, suppressed for years finally set free. Izuku just laughed and clapped his hands.
"Magnificent! Absolutely wonderful!" He complimented. "Doesn't it feel great!? To let go and just be yourself!" Izuku knew all too well how liberating it felt.
"I'm starting to think you might be crazy", Shoto cracked a grin of his own. "To help the person trying to defeat you"
"Can you defeat me now? That's the real question", Izuku flexed his wrist and fingers in the armored device.
"You'll find out, as long as you don't dodge this", Shoto took a firm stance and pulled his left arm back.
"I have no intention of dodging", Izuku matched his stance. "Give me your best! Give me everything!" Todoroki did just that, unleashing the biggest flame he could muster straight at him. Izuku held his gauntlet out to stop it. He projected his barrier to halt the fire, even amplified it with the power stone.
'I'm actually being pushed back', Izuku noticed the strength of the flames was causing his feet to skid backwards. 'Very good Shoto. I'm impressed', drawing more power from the stones he tried to force the massive torrent of flames down, but they weren't letting up. Izuku started to sweat under the heat having underestimated Shoto a bit. That momentary lapse in concentration caused his force field to fall and the mossy haired villain was abruptly consumed by the fire.
Shoto finally stopped when his flames passed over the place Midoriya was standing. As the embers dispersed into smoked he nearly stumbled on his feet. It took a few moments to catch his breath, since that last attack took a lot out of him, but it looked like he won. Any feeling of victory was short lived when he felt a metal hand grab his shoulder.
"I'm proud of you Shoto", Midoriya said from behind him. "You got over your hatred for your father and hit me with everything you had"
"You cheated", Shoto said in anger.
"Did I?" He glanced back anxiously at Izuku to see his top was completely gone, burned off revealing a tone upper body covered in light burns that seemed to be healing by some strange yellow energy. "I took your fire head on, but it was too much for me and I had to warp away. You did well, and you're going to make a wonderful hero in the future", he spun Todoroki around and delivered a solid punch to the face with his right hand, knocking him down and out.
"That was interesting", Izuku stared down at the other's unconscious body. His hand suddenly lashed out and grabbed a small cannon ball right out of the air that was fired at him. "A sneak attack Yaoyorozu? I like that", he turned to face Momo who stood a short distance away holding a canon.
"Actually it's a diversion", Yaoyorozu dropped the canon and produced a trigger mechanism. Activating it caused the metal ball in Midoriya's hand to explode into a carbon fiber net that wrapped around his body.
"This again?" Izuku grabbed part of the net with both hands and after channeling green sparking energy from the power stone, tore the fibers like tissue. "You know I think I'm starting to get the hang of my new stone. Allmight's power is hard to control in large quantities, but in small doses it does wonders for me", he chuckled while purposely letting slip whose strength he was now wielding. He certainly enjoyed the pale look of shock on Momo's face. "So now what? What will you do Momo Yaoyorozu?" He slowly started walking towards her. At first she was doubting that this would accomplish anything.
'No. I can do this', shaking the doubt from her mind she tried to desperately reassure herself that the plan would work. Izuku stopped and gave her a moment to compose herself, but also to exercise a bit of caution. He honestly didn't see her as much of a threat, but after these students had managed to pin him down he decided to keep an eye open for any traps. Momo took a deep breath and removed something glowing from her pocket. Izuku's eyes narrowed finally seeing his soul stone.
'What are you up to?' He wondered as she pointed her bare hand at him. Using her quirk she created something to surround her limb. He smirked when he finally realized what it was. A metal chrome gauntlet that looked very similar to his own infinity gauntlet with only a single slot on the back of the palm.
"Let's see how you handle your stone used against you", Momo raised her own gauntlet. With all the information she gathered during the fight, she figured that she now had a good understanding of how Midoriya's device worked. Enough to make a replica of it. "Take this!" She exclaimed as she punched the air in his direction. Nothing, nothing happened. Momo tried again, but still no effect or reaction out of the stone.
"Ha!" Izuku laughed at her. "You didn't honestly believe that would work!?" He continued to mock her. "Your intelligent Yaoyorozu, but you can't even begin to understand the vast complexity of my infinity gauntlet", he smirked arrogantly at her. "Let me guess, you essentially tried to make a remote control. Using electrical pulses to forcefully activate the power inside the stone", her eyes widened in surprise. That was exactly how she made her own gauntlet. She truly thought that's how it worked. Just how intricate was Midoriya's infinity gauntlet?
"I know because I made the same mistake when I built the first prototype", he chuckled remembering his past failures fondly. "Even if you did make a perfect replica it wouldn't make any difference", Izuku said as he pointed his invention at the ground between them. "The soul stone's power has no effect on someone like me", he frowned sadly. Making a pulling motion he caused the dirt to slide towards himself essentially turning the ground beneath Yaoyorozu's feet into a treadmill. "Now give me the stone", Izuku held his right hand out to catch her. Unfortunately an explosion nailed him from behind right before she was in arms reach.
"Keh!" It didn't do any damage, but surprised him more than anything. Spinning around he came face to face with a battered and slightly bleeding Bakugou. Momo took her chance to run off much to Izuku's annoyance.
"You damn nerd!" Katsuki panted. "Throw another building at me and see what happens!" He was able to dodge some of the raining debris, but the rest he had to put his quirk into overdrive just to survive, and even then he still took a few hits.
"I thought you'd be fine", Izuku smirked. "How do you expect to surpass Allmight if you can't handle that much?"
"Just shut up already", the blonde growled out.
"No", Izuku glared at him. "The time you can talk down to me is over." He faced his former bully with confidence. "You know Kacchan. The same day I understood the truth about Allmight is the same day I understood the truth about you", the other boy just stared daggers at him. "You're just a child playing at being a hero. That's all you've ever been and that's all you'll ever be."
"And what are you? Just a cry baby that's throwing a fit because he couldn't be a hero without a quirk!" Bakugou yelled back while Izuku just laughed at his insult.
"I have no interest in being a hero anymore. I've got a much greater goal in mind", he said. "I'm going to create a new hero society and you Katsuki Bakugou won't be part of it", he chuckled darkly. "They won't even remember you by the time I'm done", Katsuki fumed and came charging at him. "Come on!" Izuku braced himself and held his gauntlet out to guard against the explosion he knew was coming. The blast created a large smokescreen that obscured his vision. Katsuki managed to knock him back into a wall of scrap behind Midoriya and proceeded to hammer him with more explosions.
"Do you remember me now!?" Bakugou screamed as he continued to blast him. Having enough Izuku powered through the explosions and punched him square in the cheek. The blondes face met the dirt from the strength of that fist. Izuku marched towards while Bakugou pushed himself off the ground and spat out the blood from his mouth.
"Is that it?" Izuku smirked at him. Katsuki snarled and launched himself at him again. Using his quirk he propelled himself around the villain in an erratic pattern hoping to attack a vulnerable spot. He was sent flying again when a large truck tire came at him out of nowhere. "Oops!" Izuku chuckled. With a shout Bakugou leaped to his feet, blasted himself straight at Midoriya while dodging the pillars of earth that emerged from the ground. Spinning his body he managed to kick Midoriya in head, then plant his boot on the boy's infinity gauntly, keeping it pinned to the ground while the blonde threw an explosion point blank in his face. Izuku felt something wet on his cheek as the smoke dissipated. Reaching up with his other hand he felt a small cut there, not even worth healing with the time stone.
"All that for a drop of blood?" Izuku smirked as he looked at the small red stain on the tip of his finger. Chuckling to himself he threw Bakugou off of his device. Katsuki stumbled back, giving him the opportunity to rush in and deliver multiple empowered punches to the hero student's face and stomach.
"Gah!" Bakugou tried to shield himself with his left arm, which caused the grenade gauntlet to be shattered with one punch. With a powerful upper cut he sent Katsuki sailing through the air.
"Look at you go!" Izuku clapped his hands in mock applause. Bakugou struggled to stand back up on his feet and shake the dizziness from his mind. "Wouldn't it be easier just to stay down? You can't beat me Kacchan. No matter how hard you try"
"I thought I told you to shut up you damn nerd!" Katsuki spat as he finally steadied himself. "I'll beat you. Heroes are always win…so that's what I'll do!" He shouted with resolve. He wouldn't let Deku beat him no matter the cost.
"So then", Izuku's face darkened. "If you can't win…by your own logic that would mean you're not a hero right?" He chuckled before smirking at the spikey blonde haired teen. "What makes you think you even deserve to win? Do you know what you are Katsuki Bakugou?" Izuku paused before listing off all the other boy's failures. "You couldn't beat that slime villain, you lost to me once before at U.S.J, you couldn't make Todoroki use his full power at the Sports Festival, you failed to beat Allmight in your exam, you got captured by the League of Villains, and you failed your provisional license exam. Do you know why? It's because you're a loser!" Bakugou's eyes widened. "You've always been a loser. That's why you bully and belittle people to hide your own pathetic feelings of inadequacy and self-hatred" The blonde was shaking at how Izuku was describing him and naming everything that marred his once perfect record.
"Deku", he said through clenched teeth. Making a circle with left hand he fired a large explosion through the small hole his hand made, condensing it into a beam, his patented armor piercing shot. Izuku smirked and held up his gauntlet amplifying the barrier around it to split the beam apart. Slowly he made his way towards Katsuki while simultaneously deflecting his super move. When he was close enough he pushed forward, back handing the student across the face. Bakugou was about to pull the pin of his only remaining grenade and blast his childhood friend point blank, but Izuku grabbed his gauntlet with his own. He then sent a pulse of red energy into the other's limb that obliterated his grenade device and broke his right arm in three places. "RAAHH!" Fighting through the pain of his shattered right arm he used his left to deliver the largest explosion he could muster at Midoriya's chest. The blast created a giant pillar of heat and smoke where Izuku once stood. Bakugou was coughing uncontrollably, left arm feeling dislocated, but not broken like his right.
From out of the black smoke a golden gauntlet reached out and grabbed Katsuki by the throat and hoisted him up in the air off his feet. He gasped, but didn't have the strength nor the functionality in his arms to struggle. Izuku appeared out of the smoke with a pleased smirk on his face. His big eyes shifting from bright green, to red, blue, yellow and finally his normal emerald colored ones.
"This is checkmate Kacchan", the burns and cuts on his bare muscled torso were quickly healed by his time stone. It seems Katsuki's explosion was able to penetrate his epidermal barrier after all.
"How?" Bakugou struggled to speak with the other's hand around his throat. "How…is someone…like you…so strong?" After staring him the eyes for a few moments he finally answered.
"Because I was born weak", Izuku said honestly. "I know what it's like to be weak, and that's what makes me strong", cocking his right fist back he channeled a small amount of one for all and punched Katsuki right in the gut, hard enough to make him spill the contents of his stomach. After throwing the defeated blonde to the ground he forced him onto his knees facing the other way, holding him in place with a hand gripping his spikey hair. "Now then Kacchan, for once in your miserable life you're going to help me", he whispered in the other's ear. "Alright Yaoyorozu! You can come out now!" He called out loud. Counting to ten, nothing happened as Izuku expected. "If you want Bakugou to live, you will show yourself!" He tried again only to receive silence in return. "Have it your way!"
"Wait!" Momo finally revealed herself from behind a pile of old rusted cars. "Don't hurt him"
"Whether or not I do anything to him depends entirely on you", Izuku smiled at her. "The thing is Yaoyorozu. I really like you. Not just you, all of you U.A students that came here to try and stop me. I admire your courage to face an opponent that completely outclasses you. I would feel so terrible killing any of you guys", that was truth he actually didn't want to kill any of these heroes in training. "Katsuki here on the other hand well…I hate his guts. He's everything I despise and I wouldn't lose an ounce of sleep splattering him all over this junkyard"
'He's bluffing', Bakugou thought while he was sweating under Izuku's murderous intent. 'He has to be!'
"You can save his life Momo. All you have to do is give me my soul stone", Izuku narrowed his eyes at her. "The choice is yours. I'll even make it easy for you" He grabbed Bakugou's shoulder with his infinity gauntlet and started forcing the matter manipulating power through his body. Katsuki screamed in pain as his body was covered in a red aura. "Hurts doesn't it Kacchan! That's the feeling of your molecules slowing being pulled apart! You know I've always wondered what it would look like when a person's entire molecular structure was disassembled in an instant! Shall we see!?"
"STOP!" Momo shouted at him. Izuku stopped torturing his former bully and focused on her. The dark haired girl nervously pulled out the blackened purple glowing stone from her pocket. With a heavy sigh she tossed it at him. Midoriya caught it with his right hand and looked amused at it. "Yes, my beautiful soul stone. Good job Yaoyorozu", his eyes lit up with further amusement. "I must compliment you on such a good forgery", Momo gasped at him having figured it out so easily.
"But how!?" He cut her off with a quick laugh.
"Come now. I created these stones, you don't think I can't tell a real one from a fake", he crushed the copied soul stone in his hand and noticed the small sparks from the microchips planted inside. "A fake stone with a tracking chip hidden inside. Very clever, but just for that I'm taking Bakugou's legs", the red glow covered Katsuki again as he prepared to do as he said.
"NO WAIT!" Momo pleaded. She frantically pulled out the real stone from her other pocket.
"That's better", Izuku stopped. "Walk over to me and place it in my hand", he ordered with a serious frown on his face and a warry eye on her person. Doing as he commanded Yaoyorozu slowly made her way over to him casting a concerned look towards her captured fellow class mate who sat there on his knees panting. The shirtless villain smiled as he held his right hand out when she was in touching distance. Hesitantly Momo obeyed and placed the stone in his palm. "Thank you", he whispered as he held the gem in his fingers victoriously.
"You got what you wanted", she glared at him. "Now let Bakugou go"
"Of course", with a wide grin he threw Katsuki a short distance away into a pile of scrap and junk. "Oh and for the record I was bluffing and was never going to kill him", he chuckled making the girl's eyes widen in shock. With a satisfied look he took the soul stone and placed it in the last open slot of his gauntlet, inside the palm of the hand. "AAAAAHH!" Izuku screamed as the new power surged into him. The feeling was much more intense than all the other stones. Neon purple nerve like patterns covered his body as his eyes glowed the same. Momo, who was still standing right there, was nearly blown away by the shockwave that emanated from him. When it subsided he gazed down at the soul stone and his now completed infinity gauntlet. He smiled proudly at having finally completed the greatest invention in human history. "I'd love to continue playing with you all, but I've got bigger fish to fry. Farewell Momo Yaoyorozu", Izuku created a portal directly behind him that he stepped back into. "Give my regards to your friends", he waved at her before closing it, leaving her alone, but not for long.
"Where did he go!?" Kirishima appeared carrying a barely conscious Tsuyu. Following him Uraraka appeared looking completely unharmed while Iida was next to her covered in dirt. Todoroki having recovered also appeared walking over to Yaoyorozu as she collapsed to her knees.
"Are you alright?" He asked. "Did he hurt you?"
"I'm f-fine", her voice sounded shaky and far from fine. "B-Bakugou is badly injured, h-he needs medical attention", swallowing her nerves Momo pointed to where Katsuki lay in a heap.
'This is my fault', Uraraka looked around at her injured and scared friends feeling responsible for all this chaos. If she hadn't come here, they wouldn't have followed her and none of this would have happened. That's what she thought and now she would have to deal with the consequences.
Now you see why I split this one. This ended up being the longest chapter I've written for this story so far, editing it was a pain, so I might have missed more errors than I usually do. Yes the whole fight was mostly ripped from the fight scene on Titan in Infinity War.
Some of you are confused as to why Izuku is acting so maniacal and over the top. He's just very excited right now. He's been quirkless for so long and now he has so many great powers, so of course he's going to have some fun with them. He'll mellow out in the next arc when his plan comes to fruition.
I want to be clear. I don't hate Bakugou. I used to, but currently I'm "Meh" with him in the MHA series. I don't like him nor do I hate him. I'm not trying to bash him, but it might come off that way.
I'm going to do something in the next chapter that a lot of you are probably not going to like. There's a reason for everything I do, remember that. Just a fair warning.
This is the last time I'm going to say that these are not the marvel infinity stones.
INFINITY GAUNTLET POWERS
Space Stone-Blue: Creating Warp gates/portals. Flash warping only in short distances (Think flash step from Bleach, but leaves a blue glow). Locking things into a point in space. Epidermal shield, protects the wielder's body from most harm and can be focused on specific areas of the body at the cost of decreasing it from other areas.
Reality Stone-Red: manipulation of matter (moving it, reshaping it, changing its state, breaking it down, etc.) you could almost liken it to alchemy from FMA. Some gravity manipulation. Energy manipulation. Body levitation.
Time Stone-Yellow: Stopping time in a zone or area for a maximum of ten seconds. Anyone touching him or the gauntlet is unaffected. There is a cool down to this power that depends on how many seconds time was stopped in the bubble. Restoration, an ability that can revert all physical damage on the body back to its non-damaged state. It can also work on non-organic objects as well. Restoration cannot regenerate missing body parts, nor can it heal fatigue.
Power Stone-Green: One for All. Gives the user super strength, equal and potentially greater than Allmight. This stone can also be used to amplify the others when combined.
Soul Stone-Purple: ?
Thanks for reading.