"Hey! I don't think we finished our conversation the other day."

Izuku stood outside the Normal Agency, partially blocking off the sidewalk as he stared down Tenya Iida with a steely determination. Iida was in his hero costume as well, the suit of bulky yet aerodynamic armour that was so clearly modelled after Ingenium, a title which was passed down to the oldest son of his family. He glared at Izuku openly, having taken off his helmet to speak with Manual, the hero he was interning with, who stood there shocked as Izuku and Thirteen met them at the front doors to his building. Iida balled his hands up into fists, and he stared at Izuku like he'd punched him in the face. Izuku gave him a strong look in return. The two boys glared at each other, neither saying a word, and grimaced.

"You spoke. I spoke. That sounds like a complete conversation to me," Iida said with a severe edge to his voice.

"You know that's not what I mean," Izuku said.

"Midoriya—"

"It's Breakthrough in costume," Izuku cut in.

"Breakthrough, I don't want you to interfere in my internship," Iida said with a frown.

"Then let me talk to you. I know you don't want this," Izuku replied.

"Hold on, what are you two talking about?" Manual asked, throwing up his hands in mock surrender.

Izuku gave Iida a look, and the taller boy sighed. If he really wanted to air out all of his secrets right in front of their mentors, Izuku would gladly go ahead and do that, but for some reason, he didn't think Iida wanted to do that. So, Iida requested a break and the two of them went inside and Thirteen and Manual talked business just outside. Iida led Izuku to a break room within the agency, and they sat across from each other glaring at one another for an unreasonable amount of time. Izuku didn't want to be the first to speak, not because he was shy, but because he knew this conversation could only generate the momentum Izuku needed to really break through to Iida if he was the one who started it. So, he raised his eyebrows in a silent question after a few moments of silence, and Iida sighed once again.

"Why are you here, Midoriya?" Iida asked. Izuku had the urge to correct him on the name again, but let it slide.

"To stop you from doing something stupid," Izuku said.

"And what would that be?" Iida asked again, shooting a pointed look at Izuku.

"I don't know. You've got a few options. Run yourself ragged trying to live up to the legacy of Ingenium, burn out on the job and get hurt. Try to fly under the radar since you seem to think you're not worthy of that legacy, not live up to your full potential and get other people hurt because of it. Take an internship with a hero that's honestly a few leagues below your level, who specifically works in the same city your brother was attacked in, track down the Hero Killer who's known to stick around after a hit, try to avenge your brother and die, because you're a first year hero student and you will die. You tell me. Which of those sounds more appealing right now?" Izuku asked in return. He kept his eyes locked on Iida, even when the other boy averted his gaze and glared at the ground between them.

"Stay out of this, Midoriya. It has nothing to do with you," Iida said slowly.

"You're right," Izuku said. "But even if you don't trust me enough to share your feelings with me, you're my friend. You're 1-A's vice representative. You're a good friend to Asui, Kirishima, Ashido and Uraraka. You're going to be a good hero. I'm not doing this for me. I'm doing this for everyone you'll let down by getting yourself hurt or killed!"

"And how are you so certain that that's what I'll do? I can't have chosen Manual because he's a dedicated hero who works hard and helps people?" Iida asked. His eyes were narrow, guarded, defensive. Izuku knew he was pushing a few buttons, so pushed harder.

"No. I don't think you could have. I think you're smarter than anyone in our class, aside from Yaoyorozu. You know what you're worth. Or, you did. You wouldn't have chosen Manual, even if you did admire him. I think that if you were really thinking about it, you would never have chosen anywhere near Hosu to do your internship. No one in their right mind would willingly choose to spend time in the same place their brother was just crippled for life. I know you're hurt by your brother's misfortune—" Izuku explained.

"It wasn't misfortune!" Iida snapped, but quickly composed himself once again. "It was intentional. The media calls it an accident, or an injury, but it was an attack. I don't expect you to relate, Midoriya. Unless your family has ever been attacked by such a violent, ruthless villain as the Hero Killer, I doubt you could."

Izuku inhaled deeply as he clenched his fists. He wanted so badly to tell Iida that he did relate, that he had the same fire burning in his stomach as they spoke. Katsuki Bakugo had just last night broken into his home and hurt his mother, and he wanted to get his revenge on Bakugo so badly that it hurt to sit down and have a calm conversation with Iida, but he couldn't act on that just yet. He had to think about it. Every second he wasn't looking for Bakugo felt like a stab to the heart, a wave of fire rushing over him and getting him even angrier than before, but he didn't allow himself to give into that anger just because it would feel good. Even then, Izuku doubted it would feel good. Sure, in the moment it would probably be the best feeling in the world, but then he would have to live with what he knew he could do to Bakugo if he let himself just let go and allow his hatred to override his conscience. He thought he might kill Bakugo if he gave himself the barest hint of that option. Despite all of the hate and anger that was brewing in Izuku at that very moment, he still didn't want to kill anyone. He never had, and he never would. Even Bakugo. Especially Bakugo. If Izuku killed him, it would prove Bakugo right. Izuku would be a murderer. So he could never allow the temptation of killing to enter his heart.

Izuku thought that was what Iida didn't get. Justifying something that was against the rules, personal or social or legal, was the first step of a slippery slope. Izuku knew that more than anything, since he constantly fought with the urge to simply disregard all the rules and do whatever it was that he wanted. That was why he had to do things the right way, because he knew what might happen if he didn't. Every time you break the rules, it gets a little bit easier next time. First, it's disobeying an order from a superior in order to save more lives. Then, it's going after a villain when you were told not to. Eventually, after a bunch of little transgressions, you go too far. You kill a villain. You ignore a civilian in need. It builds up when you're not looking. Don't let it. Izuku remembered a hero saying that in an interview once. He felt that in his bones, it resonated with his soul. He thought it might be the same for Iida, but he couldn't tell when he was shutting Izuku out. He gritted his teeth, and figured that if he wanted Iida to put all his cards on the table, it was unfair for Izuku to hide things, too.

"I do know what it's like," Izuku said, his voice trembling. "My mom is in the hospital right now because a monster is after me. Are you so arrogant that you think you're the only one to feel anger and grief? I knew he wasn't going to go away forever. I should've been there. I should've stayed!" Iida stared at him with a bewildered expression as Izuku teared up but refused to cry. "It's my fault she's hurt. But she told me to keep away, because she's nicer and smarter than I am. I'm not going mad trying to pick a fight with him. I'm not tracking him down when I know I wouldn't be able to control myself, even if I could beat him. I know that I'm still just a student, and that going to fight him would be against the law. It would be a failure of my own personal standards, too. I'm trying to be better about feeling my feelings, and not letting them eat away at me from the inside. Not long ago, I would be exactly where you are now, consumed by guilt and hate. I am angry, and I want so badly to hit this guy so hard he doesn't get up. I want to be a hero, though, so I have to be better than that. Do you understand? You have to be better than your worst impulses."

Iida stared at Izuku in silence. His mouth moved as if he wanted to talk but decided against it at the last second. He looked back down at his feet, and started breathing in an overly controlled manner. Izuku wiped at his eyes with his sleeve and forcefully cleared his throat. He watched as Iida managed to control his emotions and not break.

"There's so much. Guilt, anger, grief. They all blend together, so I don't know which is which. And there's so much. Where do I put it?" Iida said. His voice shook as he spoke, and he pushed his glasses up to avoid them getting wet.

"I don't know. I'm still trying to figure that out for myself. Do you want to … I don't know, help each other out?" Izuku said.

Iida was quiet for a moment, but eventually he managed a small smile and met Izuku's eyes once again. He went to speak, but the sound of his voice was drowned out by a ripple of something, causing the entire building around them to rattle, and the sounds of explosions from outside. The two of them didn't hesitate, running toward the doors and bursting out into the street to see their mentors, Thirteen and Manual, looking down the street. Manual had a horrified look on his face, and they were both silent, so Izuku and Iida turned to get a look at what they saw, and immediately froze. Down the street, a kilometre or so away, a fireball consumed the square Izuku and Thirteen had passed through on their way to the Normal Agency. Light shockwaves raced down the street, and Izuku wondered what the hell could be going on down there to make all that noise and light. Then, a wave of civilians ran down the street, away from the source of the interruption. People yelled to the two heroes and their students that monsters had appeared out of nowhere and started destroying stuff all over the city. Manual signalled for one of them to stop running and explain what was going on, and the man he got to talk was hyperventilating so much that he almost couldn't talk.

"All Might and Endeavor were setting the terms of their competition, and then monsters appeared out of thin air! They started wrecking everything! I got a call from my sister and my mom saying that they're all over the city!"

Izuku was startled at the mention of All Might and Endeavor. That meant that Ochako and Todoroki were in Hosu. That meant that Ochako and Todoroki were down there in the chaos! Izuku and Iida followed closely behind Thirteen and Manual as they set off toward the disaster area, but the heroes soon stopped and looked back at them as if they'd forgotten they had interns.

"I'm sorry, but you two shouldn't come. This could be a real incident, and you're just students," Thirteen said, her chipper tone entirely gone. "Stay at the agency. We'll be back soon!"

"Wait!" Izuku said, raising his voice over the background buzz of panic that was quickly enveloping the city. "There are interns from our class with All Might and Endeavor! We can help, too!"

"We'll be sending those kids away, too, then. We'll send them down here to you. Don't worry. Us pros have got this handled!" Manual said, and then broke out into a sprint down the street alongside Thirteen.

Izuku felt like a hypocrite. He'd just spent the last five minutes preaching to Iida about the value of self-control and rising above bad impulses, but he almost ignored the order and ran after the heroes anyway. He couldn't get his feet to move, though. Izuku stood there, shaking, as he realised that Hosu was under attack, there were monsters loose throughout the city, and Ochako and Todoroki had to be fighting while he was being sidelined. Every atom in his body wished to act, but he looked over at Iida and wondered if going and fighting while they were both distracted would be a good idea anyway. The two of them stayed outside the Normal Agency, guiding panicked civilians away from the square down the street and waiting for their friends to show up. It didn't feel very heroic, but that was what Izuku did. After all, he had to follow the rules. Izuku did not want to find out what would happen when he didn't.


As they landed in the crowded square in the heart of Hosu City, Ochako decided that she actually quite liked flying. It was fast, as she and All Might had arrived in Hosu from Tokyo in a matter of minutes, and even though it felt as though her brain was still trailing a few kilometres behind her, the thrill of soaring through the air was a feeling like no other. Unfortunately, they did have to land, and Ochako touched down on the ground with a stumble as she acclimated to standing still after moving at the rate of the number one hero, even if it had been brief. She looked around and noticed that the civilians in the area were silent and gawking at both All Might and herself. The attention made Ochako flush a little bit, but she did her best to ignore it and waved to a girl that couldn't have been older than ten and was marvelling at her costume. The girl waved back with a smile, and Ochako couldn't help but mirror that smile.

The civilians had left a space in the centre of the square, which was where All Might had landed. As it turned out, Endeavor was already there, standing with his arms crossed and a severe frown on his face. Flames billowed off of him, and his flaming facial hair glowed brightly, just like his cold eyes. Todoroki stood off to the side, casually ignoring the cooing of a few middle-school aged girls nearby. He didn't seem to be looking at anything in particular, and in fact seemed to be actively disassociating, until he noticed Ochako there and his eyes focused on her as they filled with surprise and relief. Ochako sent him a silent question as she stood beside All Might in the same way he stood beside Endeavor, and he didn't answer it. She felt like pulling him away from Endeavor and asking him how he was in private, since the mere sight of them together set something loose in her, but she kept it on a leash for now.

"All Might, you finally showed up. You've never answered any of my summons before. Why now?" Endeavor asked, his booming voice almost carrying his heat along with it.

"This Hero Killer is nasty business. I figure one of us will put an end to it tonight, so why not push myself?" All Might said.

Endeavor grumbled out a response. He and All Might stepped closer to each other and got close enough that only they could hear what they were saying as they discussed the terms of their competition. Ochako figured this was her chance, so she made eye contact with Todoroki and stepped a bit further away from the heroes so that they could talk privately as well. He noticed her gesture, and walked up to her with no hesitation in his approach. Ochako thought that might have been a good sign, because at least it showed he didn't really hate her after all the things she'd said to him at the sports festival. Ochako wondered what she should say. What kind of small talk would one make with the son of the number two hero? What could she say that was even kind of interesting to him when he'd lived the life he had. Ochako felt like she might not have had even half of the details of Todoroki's horrific upbringing, but she still felt the need to remove him from his father's side for as long as a brief conversation could make that happen.

"Hey! How are you?" Ochako said.

"Fine," Todoroki said simply. He looked unblinkingly at Ochako then, and she realised that he wasn't going to elaborate.

"That's good. Have you been enjoying your internship?" she asked.

"No," he said with a glance at Endeavor. Again, he didn't elaborate.

"Oh, that's … too bad," Ochako said, feeling like she was going crazy. She'd never encountered someone her age that was so closed off. Even Izuku, as antisocial as he'd been when she'd met him, was talkative underneath the mask he sometimes put up when he was angry or stressed. "Can I ask why not?"

"The old man won't let me do anything," Todoroki said, glaring at his father out of the corner of his eye again. When he did that, Ochako really noticed how similar his one blue eye was to his dad's brilliant but cold irises. "He says I'm too inexperienced. I should just stand back and watch a real pro at work. He doesn't even seem to care that I caved and used my fire after all these years. It's like he thinks I'm fragile now, when he definitely didn't think so before."

Ochako's heart beat so hard she thought Todoroki might have been able to hear it. She went to respond to that casual reference to the terrifying abuse that his father had put him through, which Ochako lamented not knowing more about, but she was stopped when the air pressure all around them changed. A few metres away, Endeavor and All Might also seemed to sense something, as they looked around with furrowed brows and halted their discussion. Todoroki's narrow eyes swept over the crowd, and Ochako waited for the real heroes to act before making any decisions.

The air swirled, and suddenly black circles with purple streaks through them opened, humming with power and seemingly bulging at the edges. Ochako gasped as she realised where she'd seen those kinds of things before. The misty guy at the USJ had been able to create those things, and they were portals, warp gates that could transport people and things. All Might seemed to remember a split second before her, as he crouched down and got ready to leap at whatever could possibly be about to emerge from the warp gates. Endeavor and Todoroki did the same not long after, readying their Quirks with a surge of warmth and cold respectively. Ochako hastily got ready to move as well, her hand hovering over her shoulder so that she could become weightless in a fraction of a second.

Then, the monsters came. Ochako thought, at first, that the horrible Nomu thing from the USJ incident had returned after Izuku had beaten it, but these ones were different. That Nomu had been black, with a beak. These ones were similar, with their exposed brains and dead eyes, but these creatures were colourful, their flesh faded shades of green, blue, and yellow. They did share one thing with the USJ Nomu, though, in that they were indeed monsters. There were seven in all, and if they were all as strong as the beast from the USJ, Hosu was doomed. They fell out of the warp gates that appeared all over the place, and landed on the ground to start attacking civilians. All Might immediately launched into action, taking on one of the ones that had been closest to harming a civilian. Endeavor and Todoroki began to fight as well, sending waves of fire and ice at them without hesitation. Ochako thought she heard Endeavor order Todoroki to not use his fire, for some reason, but she ignored that as her equilibrium vanished as her Quirk took effect.

Ochako became weightless and pushed off the ground to surge forward. A few metres away from her, the little girl she'd waved to earlier was in the direct path of one of the charging monsters. She seemed to have been separated from whoever she'd been there with, as the crowd had immediately begun to disperse and scatter, pushing in every direction at once and cutting between people in their panic. Ochako would only have been marginally faster like this if her boots hadn't been spring-loaded to help with landings. Due to that, she flew forward twice as fast as she would've been able to run and reached the girl in about a second. She reached out and made the girl weightless before she picked her up, so that her weight didn't slow Ochako down once they collided. Ochako got the girl out of the way and picked her up, skidding across the ground with her feet and cancelling her Quirk to stop and put the girl down. The monster that had charged the girl turned and kept its eyes on Ochako, and began to move toward her, but was swept away and pierced in a dozen different spots by a miniature glacier that sprang up from the ground. Todoroki ran up and threw another sweep of ice at the monster, freezing it entirely within the glacier he created.

"Thanks!" Ochako said, her voice breaking due to the stress of the situation.

The glacier that had contained the monster burst open in a shower of ice. Ochako shielded the little girl's head, and had to drag her to the side when a bigger piece of the ice threatened to fall on them. The monster looked around and fixed its dead stare on Todoroki, who glared right back at it with an intense scorn. He lifted his hand up to send another wave of ice, but the Nomu was flattened under a piece of street that flew toward in the blink of an eye and pushed it against a building, crushing it into a pancake, at least for now. Thirteen appeared as they closed the cap on their finger, and Ochako felt a soaring relief that more heroes had arrived, but a cold dread at what it meant that Thirteen was there.

"Thirteen!" Ochako said. She noticed the hero next to them, who gestured to a fire hydrant and then a Nomu, causing the water within the hydrant to rupture and rush at the Nomu like a flood. "Manual? But that means—"

"Yep, we've got two of your friends down the street at my agency getting civilians to evacuate! You two kids should go help them and let us pros do the heavy lifting here!" Manual said as he shaved the skin off of a Nomu's upper-body with only the pressure of his water.

"But—!" Ochako tried. She spotted a grown woman waving to her, and figured that was the girl's mother. She abandoned the conversation and ran over to her to give the child back. The mother didn't thank her, but she ran off with her daughter in her arms, and that was what Ochako needed to see.

Todoroki sent a long, thin spike of ice through the Nomu that Manual had just attacked. "We can fight."

"We can help!" Ochako said as she returned to the centre of the square.

"You're children!" Thirteen said as she reduced a Nomu to dust without looking at it. That one didn't heal, unlike the USJ Nomu. "Go to your classmates and stay safe. It isn't just these ones. Apparently, all of Hosu is under siege!"

"All of Hosu?" Ochako stammered. "How many of these things can there be?"

"There are at least three locations that have been hit, probably more, so a lot!" Manual said as he sliced a Nomu's hand off with a thin water stream. "That's why you kids need to get out of here right now! It isn't safe for us, let alone yourselves!"

With an explosive shockwave, the sounds of fighting stopped. All Might had bested the final Nomu in the square. He then immediately leapt up into the air and vanished without a word, and Ochako could've been seeing things, but his signature grin was gone as he disappeared into the night, presumably to deal with the other Nomu. Endeavor gave Todoroki a look and ran up the side of a building after All Might, creating melting indents in the concrete where he stepped. Manual summoned water to his feet that he used to slide forward in bursts of water pressure, following the top ranked heroes in the country without hesitation. Thirteen was left behind, and they gave Ochako and Todoroki a silent non-expression behind their helmet, before uttering just a few words.

"Go to them. Midoriya and Iida aren't having a good time without all this. They need you," Thirteen said, and then ran off in the direction the other heroes had gone, towards the fireballs and screams in the distance.

Ochako counted no less than ten sites where smoke rose into the night sky, and that was just what she could see. Heroes were spreading out across Hosu at that very moment, and Ochako thought she could do anything to add to their efforts? No, she was better staying safe. After all, they were all still just first year students. It was law and basic self-preservation for them to follow orders and go help Izuku and Iida down at Manual's agency. Ochako gave Todoroki a look when he seemed like he was about to shoot off into the city after his dad, and he reluctantly followed her as they ran toward their classmates. She remembered what Thirteen had said. Izuku and Iida, her boyfriend and a good friend, had already been going through something without this most recent development. What was happening with them? That didn't truly matter.

The two of them raced toward where they were needed without any more hesitation.


The fires started just as they reached the agency Deku was hiding in. Katsuki and Stain stood atop the rooftop adjacent to the Normal Hero, Manual's hero agency. It was a normal-looking building in shades of blue and grey, and there were four people clustered around the front door. Katsuki could easily recognise Thirteen, since they were a famous rescue hero, even if that was a lame way to make your money. Manual had a strong brand of being the hero for more mundane problems, so Katsuki could recognise him after a moment. Glasses looked the exact same as he did when Katsuki had last seen him at UA, all stiff and proper and boring. Then, there was Deku. His costume looked like a ballet dancer trying to look hip by adding the jacket to a skintight bodysuit. Then there was the gas mask thing on his face, which obscured his mouth while he spoke. The only thing poking out of the hoodie, which was left unzipped like he thought that was cool or something, were his infuriating green eyes, which were looking at the nearest plume of smoke and fire rising from the square they'd just left a few minutes beforehand. He looked deceptively worried, like he actually cared about all the people that were going to die because of whatever it was that was going on. Katsuki had known Deku as a liar for years, though, so he saw through it.

Katsuki's phone buzzed in his pocket. An unknown number was calling him. He ducked down behind the edge of the building so the scum down there didn't see or hear him.

"Who are you?" he asked as he picked up.

"Hello, Bakugo." It was All for One. He'd dropped the formality a little bit, so Tomura must have been more present than usual. "I've arranged for Kurogiri to send you a gift. It's to help balance the scales somewhat and help you accomplish your goal tonight."

"As if I couldn't have done it without your help," Katsuki scoffed.

"I don't doubt that. You're a capable young man. However, the top two heroes and their interns are present in Kamino tonight. This gift is simply to distract them as you and your new friend take your revenge on those who have wronged society," All for One said with a smile in his voice.

"You're the one blowing up Hosu? And it's just to distract All Might and Endeavor?" Katsuki asked incredulously. He grinned. "That's hardcore."

"I have my own reasons for doing so as well, but as I said when we first met, our interests align. Remember one thing, Bakugo. There is no such thing as quid pro quo in this world of heroes and villains. You do not have to give something to get something. You may simply take, if you are strong enough. Prove you are strong enough, and you may see yourself rewarded immensely in the near future, aside from your victory over Izuku Midoriya," All for One said.

"Yeah, right. If it's anything less than the relief I'll feel putting that sick dog out of its misery, I don't want it," Katsuki said, and hung up, stuffing his phone back in his pocket.

"Fate has brought a number of forces to act upon the city of Hosu tonight. Now, Cinder, it is your turn," Stain said, standing from his crouched position.

"Don't forget that you have a mark here, too, yeah?" Katsuki said with a snort. "I'll have all the fun if you want, but I have a feeling you're just itching to get started, too. So let's go!"

Katsuki looked over the edge of the rooftop and saw that the street had more or less emptied itself while he'd spoken with All for One. The only people dumb enough to be out on the street while Hosu was under attack by unknown forces were the two hero students hanging out around the Normal Agency, Deku and Glasses. Thirteen and Manual had left, probably to go help clean up the mess All for One had dropped into their laps, and Katsuki found himself even more excited to attack now that they were gone. He knew those heroes' Quirks, and they might've been tough to work around, so it was good that they were gone. Water Quirks were bullshit, they diluted his sweat enough that it was rendered inert, and Black Hole was just a cheat code that Thirteen didn't use right, but it was still strong. Luckily, they weren't present to mess with him and his plan, so he was free to do as he wished, as he always had been and always would be.

He leapt from the roof of the building and dropped into the dark alley across from the entrance to the Normal Agency, where Deku and Glasses were still standing, escorting a few stray civilians indoors and waiting for something to happen like idiots. If they didn't understand the need for proactivity, they were never going to be heroes. They weren't anyway, after that night. Katsuki landed on the ground easily and snuck up to the very edge of the alley, thinking up a trick on the fly and grinning to himself. He crouched behind a dumpster and peeked out at the two of them, and made a few firecrackers that rang out loudly around the silent street. Deku's eyes immediately shot wide open, and he snapped his attention over to the alley. Good, he'd heard the firecrackers and known what they were. Katsuki had always used those little pops and snaps to put Deku back in his place when he was getting too proud of himself, so of course that had to have been the way he lured Deku closer.

Deku walked halfway across the street, and stopped. He stared into the alley, seemingly not spotting Katsuki behind the dumpster, and his face twisted into anger, and then fear, and then a mask slipped onto his face, one of cold, righteous fury and determination. Izuku pressed his wrists together and a metallic clang rang out around the empty street, making Katsuki realise that the new gloves he wore were probably more like gauntlets made of metal. That was something to note. Then, in a flash of bluish white light, one of the gauntlets was gone, leaving one of Deku's hands exposed. That was another thing to note. He was prepared for a fight. Good. He was going to get one.

Katsuki felt giddy as he realised that Deku wasn't going to get any closer. He crouched down even further and held his hands behind him, ready to propel himself into the air above Deku. He released a blast from both hands and shot up into the air, flying out of the darkness and hovering over Deku for a brief moment where their eyes met.

"Long time no see, Deku! Ready to die?"

He thrust his hands out for a monster blast. This was going to be fun.