Katsuki didn't move an inch from where he stood. While his other teammates were busy conversing among themselves, all he could do was stare at the shrine dedicated to All Might: his burial site, the perpetual reminder of Katsuki's incompetence. Katsuki ran out of tears to waste. He couldn't even cry even if he wanted to.
His teammates were concerned, but Katsuki couldn't be bothered to give a fuck about their pity party.
They may have known All Might as the number one hero, the one who always smiled even in the face of uncertainty.
They didn't know who the man was behind all the facade, what he wanted, what he...desired.
He supposed he couldn't blame them.
The media was the real scandal.
All Might died for the greater good, they said? If Katsuki had the influence, he would have had them shut down for good. All Might was more than just a symbol. He was a person. A person who neglected his own fucking needs for decades keeping everything from falling apart.
And he couldn't even give him the life that he sought all these years. He failed. He..
"Katsuki," came the gentle, familiar voice.
Katsuki looked at his back and met the fiery gaze of one Uraraka Ochaco.
"I'm here for you," she said with a smile, wrapping her tender, slender fingers around his arms. "If you need anything, just say it."
"Yeah man," Shitty Hair followed, offering him a smile. "If you need to blow off some steam, you can come to me. I'm sure the others wouldn't mind either."
Katsuki stared at his teammates, wondering what made them care so much. He'd been nothing but distant. He supposed he felt a certain feeling of...fondness for them, but that was about it.
But Ochaco was a different story. Just her holding his hands made him feel..reassured. That maybe things would go smoothly this time around.
He loved her.
So much that it hurt.
For the danger that he would bring to her, and them.
And...
For what he was about to do.
Katsuki thoughtlessly snatched his arm away from Ochaco's comforting hold much to her surprise.
She softly asked, "Katsuki-san?"
"I can't," Katsuki said in almost a whisper.
Ochaco raised her brow. "Can't...what?"
Without a word, Katsuki turned away to leave. Ochaco, however, wasn't going to let him. "Katsuki, I know that look."
"Let go of me," Katsuki demanded.
Shitty Hair also tried to make him stay, as well as the others. "We're not letting you face this alone, Bakubro."
Katsuki didn't listen. He tried to wrestle his way out of Ochaco's grip, but he soon came to know that she was physically stronger than he thought she'd be.
"I told you to let go," Katsuki demanded once more.
Ochaco shook her head. "And let you drink yourself to death? You've been distant with us. Especially me. What happened to you? Your problems, whatever they are, let us walk through them with you. Together, as a team."
"That's fucking ridiculous," Katsuki scowled. "I don't have time for this."
Ochaco was more forceful than before. "Stand. Down. I'm not letting you go. Not this time. I've let you wander off on your own for weeks. I can't do that again. Not anymore."
"Let go."
"No."
"I said let go."
"Katsuki-"
"FUCKING LET GO, GODDAMMIT!" Katsuki yanked her to the ground, causing her to loosen her grip on his arm. She fell on her back, looking at Katsuki in shock.
"Bakubro, what-?!"
Katsuki's gaze stopped Kirishima from saying his next words. The hero's lips quivered as he began to say, "Just go away. All of you. None of this is fucking working out."
Kirishima questioned, "What does that mean?"
"It means.." Katsuki's eyes conveyed the conflict deep within. "I'm leaving."
This earned the protests from his other teammates.
Kirishima, most of all. "B— Bakubro, don't be so quick to making such a rash decision. I know you're hurting, but—"
"You're all fucking useless in the grand scheme of things," Katsuki dropped the bombshell. "And I don't need any of you latching to my back like the fucking parasites you are."
Kirishima's expression deflated. "You don't mean that, right..?"
Katsuki closed his eyes and took a deep breath before saying, "I never saw any of you as anything."
A wave of silence breezed through them. Every single one of his teammates looked at him, and Katsuki knew that look better than anyone.
That look when someone you looked up to decided to toss you away like a used rag, when they find nothing of value in you anymore.
Just like how it was before with him.
"Even you," Katsuki looked at Ochaco, who looked more distraught than anyone at the funeral site. "You were all nothing more than a pebble. An instrument that I used to pave my path to becoming the greatest hero in this entire fucking world. I can't let any of you get in the way of that anymore."
Katsuki ripped the badge from his chest, tossing it onto the ground. "I'm done being a part of this farce."
Katsuki couldn't stand the sight of Ochaco being on the verge of tears. Out of desperation, she reached out for him, grabbing him by his arms.
"Please," Ochaco pled, her eyes glinting with despondency. "Don't leave.." her voice shrunk as she finished.
Without a second thought, Katsuki pulled his hand away from her hold.
Away from his source of comfort.
"Goodbye."
Katsuki turned around and walked away, leaving his endeared teammates to fend for themselves.
"It had to be done," Katsuki said to himself. He then looked at his necklace, and a picture of him and Ochaco rested inside.
It had to be done.
The smoke stretched further to obscure the sunlight, looming over the ground below like a canopy. The ground was in tatters as he crash landed on it, clenching his fists as the smoke cleared out. The taste of the above world...
It was invigorating, like dipping his sore toes into a pool of garra rufas. He closed his eyes, basking himself in the unfamiliar, yet gravitating experience. His ectasy was cut off short by something.
The stares of these humans.
They looked petrified at the sight of the monster that had just set its foot on their settlement.
Tokoyami couldn't care less. Snapping out of his enthrallment, Tokoyami set his focus back on the task at hand: wearing down the Wolverine enough for the big bad to have his way with him.
He held his hands up as the other assassins stopped in their tracks. "There's nowhere to run. Come out of your hiding."
And just as he thought, the Wolverine came out of the smoke like a snarling animal along with the other nuisance.
Tokoyami felt a tug at his lips; he said, "It seems that your ally was beguiled into giving away his position, and yours, by extension. I would applaud him for his stupidity, but that would just give him more credit than he deserves."
...
Bakugo let out a huff. His claws erupted from the holes on his gloves. He sucked the air through the nose, catching a whiff of something suspicious.
Turning his head over to Izuku, he drove his claws through the mercenary's torso.
"Hey! What's the big ide— oooh.." Izuku was caught in the middle of his words when he saw what Bakugo pulled out.
It was a tracking chip. Most likely planted by the Yakuza leader. "You're an idiot," Bakugo muttered.
Izuku threw his arms in the air. "Hey, cut me some slack! I wasn't..yeah, I got nothing," he quickly deflated.
"It doesn't matter," Bakugo's back hunched to the front, preparing a fighting stance that mirrored a predator; "this won't take long."
Izuku reached for the katana in his back. He noticed someone familiar from among the assassins. "Back for round two, Gambit? Normally I'd be more than happy to jump at the opportunity to kick your ass and shove those playing cards of yours up your french ass hole, but I've got an angsty honey badger to tend to."
Before the Gambit could formulate a response, Tokoyami raised his hand in the air and halted him. "The mercenary won't be interfering in my fight against the Wolverine."
Izuku's brow furrowed. "Yeah, right, like you have any say in this."
"We do," a massive streak of black mist roared thunderously as it dangerously sprung out of Tokoyami's body. It slithered forward and grabbed Izuku by his ankle, dragging him in a circular motion before throwing him across the marred park.
Bakugo gritted his teeth. "So that's how you're going to play this, eh?" as he said that, his frown turned into a blood-curdling smirk. "Not a problem. I've got a lot of pent-up stuff to let out anyway."
Tokoyami took a step forward as he said to the other assassins, "Keep the mercenary at bay. This fight is mine."
The other assassins, the Gambit included, rushed to serve as a distraction for Izuku while Tokoyami reserved his focus all on Bakugo.
Tokoyami circled around the former number one hero; his eyes tinted red. "Time has not served you well, Wolverine. After all the moment you've spent in the darkness, you couldn't even bring yourself to taste the light. Even if it's just by a little."
Bakugo didn't entertain him and rushed forward to slice the raven fucker with his claws. Tokoyami nimbly leapt over his head, landing seamlessly on the other side as his slender feet
"For in the light therein, lies the truth of your despicable deeds," Tokoyami began to speak again.
Bakugo's jaw clenched as he turned his head around.
Tokoyami's lips pursed as he continued, "So tell me this, O feared predator, what do you remember of your past?"
"None of your fucking business," Bakugo clicked his tongue.
Tokoyami let out a chuckle and said, "It is. More than you could possibly know."
The misty figure coiled around Tokoyami, merging seamlessly into an eerie, shadowy armor. He tilted his head to the right, the crack of his neck echoing in the stillness, and flexed his fingers before cracking his knuckles. A cold, menacing grin spread across his face as he muttered, "Let's see if I can drag your deepest fears into the light."
"Not if I do it first," Bakugo retorted with a malignant tone as he rapidly sprinted forward, deploying his claws through the holes in his gloves.
A ferocious, ravenous roar tore itself through the air as Bakugo lunged forward. The claws' snarled as he swung them vigorously at the shadowy raven, who in turn evaded each of the deadly attacks with ease.
Tokoyami taunted, "I know you can dish out more than this. Show me what you're capable of. Show me the monster caged deep within!"
With that taunt, Bakugo's feet plopped down the terrain as they vehemently scattered the dirt across the air. As he sprinted, he sunk his claws through the dirt and propelled himself forward with succession.
The wind danced in rhythm with his movements as he spun around with his claws, delivering the claw-based attacks at a rapid pace. Tokoyami swiftly intercepted the attacks with the mist-inked armour, but the adamantium slashed through it, drawing a bit of blood from the mutant's forearm.
Tokoyami recoiled back in slight surprise. "No mere claws can go through my defense like that."
Bakugo twisted his hip and used his weight to put more force into his claws, thrusting them forward at Tokoyami's chest.
The raven evaded the attack just barely. He knew if he tried to take the brunt of the force again with his armour, it wouldn't end well. Using his mist-enchanced arm, Tokoyami threw a jab at Bakugo's jaw as his head snapped back jarringly. Tokoyami continued the onslaught while Bakugo tried his upmost to recover.
Before Tokoyami could end the frenzy, Bakugo swiftly recovered and flipped back, hitting the raven's chest in the process and staggering him. Bakugo landed precisely a few meters away from his opponent; his claws popped out once again.
Bakugo wasted no time as he lunged himself forward; his claws blistered with heat. The man delivered another frenzy of deadly attacks to which Tokoyami dodged without fail.
"Is this what it felt like," Tokoyami said as he dodged another attack; "when you killed those men in your grief for the loss of your comrades?"
Bakugo roared again, not hearing any of the things that Tokoyami had to say.
Tokoyami continued, "The rage," he dodged another sloppy attack from his opponent; "the bloodlust."
Bakugo said through gritted teeth, "Stop fuckin' talking."
"And yet," Tokoyami caught Bakugo's arm, preventing the claws from ever making contact with his skin; "you didn't even hesitate to leave them when the moment counted on it."
"You don't know shit about me," Bakugo spat.
"I do. More than you think," Tokoyami twisted Bakugo's arm, causing him to yell in pain. "After all, what followed afterwards did affect me in ways you can't imagine."
"What the fuck..are you talkin' about—"
The mist began to weave through Tokoyami's skin, dissolving the armour and unfurling across the air. The mist expanded its mass rapidly. The shadow wrapped itself around Bakugo's arm and said, "The weight of your sins is immeasurable, Bakugo Katsuki. So much so, that your chances at redemption are next to none."
Bakugo tried to wriggle himself free out of the shadow's hold, but he couldn't bring himself to. It was too powerful.
The shadow's slender figure marched closer to where Bakugo was standing, its insidious eyes baring dangerously to his. "You took the liberty to visit our home and butchered our kin without remorse."
What—
"As if killing the innocents of your own kind weren't enough, you moved at the chance to slaughter ours. Mutants that we swore to protect, preserve, and shelter from the discrimination of the wretched humans," the shadow spoke; its tone laced with venom. "You, whom they hailed as their hero, had decided to do the unpardonable and take away the lives of those who were untainted by sin. You are unforgivable, unworthy of any form of adoration and reverence."
Bakugo tried to wrestle back control, saying, "And.. you're absolved of this sin, somehow?" he uttered. "They were killed under your orders."
"Oh, how blissfully ignorant you are, Bakugo Katsuki," the shadow grimaced as it continued again. "the deaths of your comrades had nothing to do with us."
"Bullshit," Bakugo choked out.
"Muscular was a loose cannon," Tokoyami added. "He hardly acted under my orders."
The shadow laughed as it continued, "Oh, LifeForAll will have their turn soon enough. But you are our priority as of now, our primary prey."
Bakugo almost gave up trying to escape until the shadow said one thing that set him off.
"For your transgression, we demand blood payment," the shadow's eyes were tinted in red; "which means we get a piece of you for what you took from us."
The shadow smiled deviously as it said, "Perhaps the death of your endeared mercenary would suffice?"
Bakugo's eyes widened, claws popping out of his knuckles.
The shadow let out a bitter laugh; he opted to rile him up even further, "Oh? Struck a nerve, did I?"
Bakugo's eyes lit up in red as he finally wrestled his way out of the shadow's hold, landing nearly on the ground with his back hunched. A low rumble escaped from his lips; his eyes were devoid of life.
"Excuse me for a moment, Fumikage-san," the shadow coiled itself around the raven's head, earning a voiceless whimper from him. "I'll take it from here."
Tokoyami was no more. Dark Shadow was all that's left.
Baring his fangs, Dark Shadow sprinted forward, and Bakugo did likewise with an earth-rupturing roar.
The clash of the beasts began.
"Oh you gotta be fucking kidding me," Izuku protested to himself as he saw the four other assassins closing in on him. "Four against one?! That is hardly fair! Then again, when were things ever?"
The Gambit tossed the playing card in the air before catching it again in-between his fingers. "Look at you. All cornered like a rat. I'd say I feel bad, but I'd be lying."
Izuku gritted his teeth, reaching for his katana. "You guys are lucky I didn't bring my duffle bag with me."
Izuku squinted his eyes as he took in the appearance of the other assassins.
Apparently, there was a pink girl with pink hair and a pair of pink eyes? And the other one was a purple-haired guy who looked like he hadn't slept for decades. The last one looked even worse. A blue-skinned man with a tail protruding from his..butt?
"How many of you are there?" Izuku asked incredulously. "Because you can't expect me to believe that you guys are the greatest warriors to ever set foot on the goddamn planet looking like that."
The Gambit snorted and replied, "Trust me, mercenary, despite our unassuming appearance, we are more than what we seem."
"Right," Izuku unsheathed his katana; "one question, though?"
The Gambit raised his brow.
Izuku pointed at the purple-haired man with the pointy edge of his katana. "Did he replace that midget again?"
"Wha—"
"STUN GRENADE!" Izuku threw a tiny device at the floor as it emits a blinding light for a brief moment. The assassins' eyesights were obscured for a moment, and Izuku took this chance to make a run for it.
Izuku laughed along as he sprinted forward. "Hahaha! Been waiting for a long time to say that on— ohhhhhh fuck."
Izuku's bubble was burst when a shimmering light quickly appeared. The blue man from before was already standing in front of him with both of his blades in his hands.
"Quick question," Izuku asked again; "did James Cameron pitched you in as a character for this fic?"
With a strong accent, the man spoke, "You will not escape from my sight, verfluchter Söldner."
"Oh great another foreigner," Izuku was on guard once again. With a swift motion of his arms, he used his katana to swiftly intercept each of the blue man's blades. While that was happening, the pink girl circled around them, leaving a trail of acid on the ground.
Izuku, oblivious to the danger behind him, stepped onto the ground without thinking. A sharp, searing pain shot through his foot, and he immediately recoiled, hopping back toward the center. "Ow! Ow, ow, ow! Seriously?!" he exclaimed, shaking his leg in frustration.
Izuku ducked under another attack, his movements swift and calculated. Seizing the blue man by the hip, he drove him into the ground with a resounding slam. "Real clever," he growled, his tone dripping with sarcasm. "Boxing me into a cramped battlefield like this, huh?"
A barrage of energy-charged playing cards hurtled toward him, each one crackling with dangerous intensity. Izuku unsheathed his katana in a flash, his movements fluid and precise. He leapt into the air, twisting mid-flight to evade the projectiles with acrobatic finesse. As he landed, his keen eyes tracked the shimmering acid trails crisscrossing the ground, his every step calculated to avoid the caustic danger.
Filled to the brim with adrenaline, Izuku soared above the intricate acid trails, hopping on a repeated pattern and hitting his feet on each of the gaps to avoid burning himself. Escaping from their gasp would be no easy feat.
Especially with Dora the Fucking Acid Exploder hot on his tail.
With another wave of energy-charged cards barreling toward him, Izuku dodged each and every one of them acrobatically, his movements swift and precise. Landing at the end of the esoteric trail, Izuku made a run for the other side, but to no one's surprise, Dora was already waiting there with another trail of acid, preventing him from moving freely in the battlefield yet again.
"Aw come on!" Izuku protested. The blue man from before appeared from right behind him, thrusting his blade forward; it pierced through his torso rigourously.
Izuku struggled to dislodge the blade out of his body, and the blue man pushed it even deeper.
Fuck.
He really was trapped here.
The Gambit was standing on a lamppost, and Dora was still skating with her acid feet.
Where the hell was that insomniac asshole?
Before Izuku could struggle any further, there was a familiar voice that swayed him. "Izuku.."
Izuku's eyes widened as he turned around to respond, "Mom—?"
Suddenly, he lost control of his body. He couldn't move any of his limbs even if he tried. God damn it! Fuck! No!
Izuku's anger was amplified tenfold when he saw the one who did this. The purple-haired man from before.
Apparently he had the ability to brainwash someone by making them respond to him?
Oh yeah, he was going to fucking gloat, wasn't he?
"About time I meet you, Deadpool," the man spoke, stepping on the acid trails with no issue due to his protective shoes. "Though I admit, you're not really as good as they say you are."
Izuku couldn't get a response out. God damn it!
"You're ours now," the man smiled. "There's no use in trying to escape. I can feel you trying to get control of your body back. It's futile."
'Yeah thanks for the heads up, Captain Obvious. How magnanimous of you,' Izuku thought with sarcasm.
The Gambit landed on the gap in-between the trails, chiming in, "Don't try to hog all the glory for yourself, Shinso."
"Hey, let me have fun for once. It isn't everyday that I get to be on the front line," Shinso hissed.
Dora stopped in front of them, saying, "Don't get ahead of yourselves just yet. We still need to keep him from interfering with Fumikage's fight."
The Gambit shrugged. "Sure, thanks for the words of encouragement, Nightcrawler."
"Way to make it sound easier than it is, Remi," Mina remarked.
Izuku remained incapacitated with the four assassins keeping watch on him. He sighed internally. It looked like he had to hatch up a last minute plan to get out of this situation.
Oh well. That was hardly feasible. What with the seemingly unbeatable raven who's all angsty flying around like he owned the fucking place, the acid-farting pink girl who worked under him, and the entire underground—
Oh.
Oh.
'Some Italian motherfucker is definitely going to have a field day suing the author.'
The clash ruptured the air with its resounding roar, shattering the terrain surrounding them upon impact. Bakugo's jaw clenched tightly as he tried his upmost to push against the unrelenting Dark Shadow.
Bakugo unleashed a relentless flurry of claw-like strikes, tearing into Dark Shadow with ferocious precision. Despite the onslaught, Dark Shadow endured, refusing to falter. As blood dropped out of its vessel, Dark Shadow let out a bone-chilling cackle as its wound gaps began to seal themselves.
It refused to be vanquished. Bakugo's attacks were relentless, but so was the shadow's conviction.
Dark Shadow released numerous tendrils that wrapped themselves around Bakugo, stopping him in his tracks.
"Your rage is weak," Dark Shadow said, his voice beginning to distort over time; "it is nothing compared to the affliction that you've put us through over these agonising years!"
Dark Shadow began to grow in mass, threatening to envelope Bakugo as a whole. "Inconsequential human! We will devour you! We will take you piece by piece as we subject you to the sight of your loved ones' suffering! WE WILL MAKE SURE NOTHING OF YOU REMAINS IN THIS PLANET!"
Bakugo let out a guttural bellow, veins bulging out of his neck.
Dark Shadow effortlessly pushed Bakugo through the ground, violently cleaving through the terrain as Bakugo left behind a trail of human shaped line.
"WE WILL MAKE YOU SUFFER!" Dark Shadow screamed, threatening to rip Bakugo apart as it went on. If it hadn't been for his adamantium skeleton, he would've been dismembered.
"RAAAAAARRRGGGGGHHH..!!" Bakugo roared as he was forcibly pushed even further, unable to break free from the shadow's grip.
The entire landscape was in tatters. The vibrant theme park was no more. All that was left was the ruins that Dark Shadow left in its wake.
Izuku saw the incoming trainweck that was Tokoyami. He cleaved through the ground, segregating the assassins' formation. Taking the chance to escape, Izuku broke free out of Shinso's grip on his mind.
'Note to oneself: don't respond to him,' Izuku thought as he approached Nightcrawler.
That teleportation device was going to come in handy.
Nightcrawler, who was in a state of shock, was caught off guard when Izuku slipped his katana through his belt. "Huh—?"
"I'll be taking this, thank you," Izuku cut the belt off his waist, putting it on as he said, "Ciao!"
In that instance, Izuku disappeared within the fading light.
The onslaught stopped as Dark Shadow lifted the weakened Bakugo up in the air. It lifted him even higher to see the destruction that he had wrought on the place. "Look at them, human," the shadow snarled; "they're suffering because of you."
Bakugo choked out as the shadow tightened its grip on his neck.
"The above world, the below, you've always been the bane of both's existence," Dark Shadow bellowed. "It is a shame that you cannot die. The world would've been a better place if you were not in it."
Dark Shadow slyly smirked as it continued, "And I think your beloved Uraraka Ochaco would have concurred with that sentiment, don't you think?"
Something clicked in Bakugo's mind widened as he heard that name.
Uraraka Ochaco...
"Despite all the trust and love she put in you, you chose to abandon her. Even in the time of her greatest need," Dark Shadow continued. "I know more than anyone that she detested the very moment she laid her eyes on you. The very moment she decided to pour her soul and dedication into you. You have caused her pain. Unimaginable, agonising pain."
"No," Bakugo whimpered lowly.
"No?" Dark Shadow chuckled. "How naive. You would delude yourself and think that anyone would forgive you for the despicable things that you have done?"
"Shut up," Bakugo said through the constricted pathway of his vocal cords.
Dark Shadow did not stop. "And now," Dark Shadow leaned closer to hold Bakugo's tearful gaze. "you are going to suffer the way she suffered. That mercenary of yours..."
Bakugo's eyes widened.
"Will die."
...
'I love you, Katsuki,'
'I don't care what happened in the past. I love you all the same'
'We're not letting you face this alone, Bakubro,'
'Don't let your fears push away the people that care about you away,'
'This is what life looks like,'
'People who love each other,'
'A home,'
'You should take a moment,'
'Feel it,'
'You still have time.'
...
'Please...'
'Don't leave..'
Bakugo felt something slipping through his cheeks. Tears. His heart swelled as the fragmented pieces in his mind began to slowly merge.
A feeling that he'd never felt before struck him. A deep, rumbling ache tore through his chest like a piercing knife.
"Pathetic," Dark Shadow unceremoniously dropped Bakugo into the ground. He remained there, strength leaving him.
But then, something locked him in his place. A force gripped his mind, causing him pain.
"I applaud you, Tokoyami-san," a new voice entered the field. "You have done a remarkable job in taming this beast."
"It was what he deserved," Dark Shadow remarked.
Bakugo couldn't move. Whatever this new person did...
It was immobilising him.
As he took a clear look at who just announced himself, the figure's identity was apparent to him.
Shigaraki Tomura.
"What the fuck..did you do..?!" Bakugo said through his clenched teeth.
Shigaraki replied, "I used the quirk to extend my grip on your resurfacing memories should your brain ever retract them back. Normally, a simple mind accessing quirk would be inadequate for a task as complex such as this one, but this will do."
"Not so fast, asshole!" It was the voice of Izuku.
No.
NO!
Izuku appeared right behind Shigaraki, preparing to slice him in his neck. But Shigaraki was quick to intercept the attack and grabbed Izuku by his neck.
"You should know by now," Shigaraki tilted his head to Izuku, glaring at him; "what would happen once I put five of my fingers on that delicate skin of yours, Mr. Midoriya."
"NO!" Bakugo tried to free himself from the restrain in his mind. "GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM HIM!"
And put five of his fingers on Izuku's neck did he do. Slowly, the decay spread through the mercenary's body.
"NO!" Bakugo screamed through his tears.
All that was left was his suit, which fell freely into the ground.
The ashes of his body were scattered across the ground.
Izuku was dead.
That familiar feeling of loss. Of seeing the ones he loved piled on top of each other.
As if they were disposable.
Expendable.
"FUCK! NO!" Bakugo thrashed around, trying to free himself but to no avail.
"YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE!" Bakugo sobbed. Something that he never did before. "FUCK YOU!! WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO?!!"
Shigaraki crouched to Bakugo's level. "Oh come off it. He never meant anything to you at all, did he?"
Despair began to set on Bakugo. "You killed him," Bakugo uttered with sorrow. "You fucking—"
Shigaraki finished the sentence for him, "Sped up the inevitability of you leaving him. We both know how this will end, Mr. Bakugo. Try as you might, but you were never exactly a key player in the loyalty department."
Shigaraki leaned closer to hammer down the fact, "Because that's what you always do, isn't it? At the first sign of trouble, you walk away. Run. Hurt those who put their trust in you. You never stay in one place. Not with the people you love. Not with anyone else. Pain is a fickle thing, isn't it? It will drive you to do the things that never even occured in your mind before. A flaw in human beings that I often myself loathing."
Shigaraki chuckled bitterly. "I've seen a handful myself, so you could say that I have a bit of an experience."
All Bakugo could do was silently weep.
Izuku was gone.
Forever.
"Now," a sadistic smile crept on Shigaraki's face. "Let's see what sort of *terrific* memories are stored inside of that brain of yours."
Shigaraki put his index finger on Bakugo's forehead, piercing through it, enjoying every second of his plight.
Bakugo's screams tore through the air as both of them entered the landscape of his psyche.
Bakugo was pulled against his will to the depths of his mind. He was in a playground of some sorts. What significance did this place hold to him?
Then, he saw himself. A younger version of him, to be exact.
As well as a young, green-haired kid with freckles on his cheeks. Was that..?
"Kacchan!" the younger Izuku exclaimed.
The younger Katsuki, who was sitting on a swing, looked at Izuku with a gloomy expression and said, "What do you want, nerd?"
"I'm sorry about what happened with your dad," Izuku offered his sympathy. "A villain attack like that must've been scary."
"I know," Katsuki croaked. "He tried to save us."
Izuku's smile grew as he said, "He was a hero."
Katsuki's teeth clenched as he stood up and pushed Izuku into the ground.
"Kacchan-?"
"A hero?!" Katsuki yelled. "He was a fucking coward! The furthest thing from a hero! Heroes are brave. They're supposed to win. My dad? He didn't win, he.. he's fucking..."
Izuku's eyes widened. "Wh— no! You can't say that about—"
Katsuki said through the wet tears in his cheeks, "I can! I absolutely can! I don't give a shit what you think- he- he- he could've just.."
"He was only trying to save you," Izuku reasoned.
"HE ABANDONED ME!" Katsuki screamed. "THAT QUIRKLESS FUCK TRIED TO PLAY THE HERO AND DIED AS A RESULT! HE SHOULD'VE KNOWN BETTER!"
Izuku was shook by every word that had just come out of Katsuki's mouth.
Izuku tried to reach for him. "I— okay, it wasn't really in my place to say that about something that I wasn't even there for. I— I'm sorry."
Katsuki wiped the snot from his nose as he asked again, "The doctor diagnosed you as quirkless, didn't he?"
Izuku was frozen in place. "How'd you.."
"Answer the fucking question," Katsuki clenched his fists. "Did he or did he not diagnose you as quirkless?"
Izuku found himself lost for words. He couldn't reveal it.
"DID HE?!" Katsuki yelled again.
"Y...yes..." Izuku forced himself to say it.
Katsuki's expression deflated as he heard the truth.
"Get the fuck away from me," was all Katsuki said before he stormed out of the playground.
"K— Kacchan!" Izuku pled desperately. "Please!"
Izuku fell to his knees as he whimpered softly.
"Don't leave me.."
Shigaraki came into the frame, observing the event that had just unfolded in front of them. With an amused chuckle, he said, "My point exactly."
Bakugo said in a weak voice, "What is this...?"
"Giving you back what you've lost," Shigaraki curtly said. "Wasn't that the whole point of your pointless ventures with that mercenary?"
Not long after that, the scenery changed.
They were now in a graveyard. Bakugo looked at the names in the headstones.
'Uraraka Ochaco'
'Kirishima Ejiro'
'Jirou Kyouka'
'Yaoyorozu Momo'
'Kaminari Denki'
'Sero Hanta'
And at the end of it all.
'Yagi Toshinori'
Shigaraki walked through each of the graves. "Shrines befitting of heroes in their caliber, yet their deaths were undeserving. Deaths that you could've prevented if you had been there at the time of their untimely demise."
Bakugo fell down to his knees as he felt the memories swirl in his head. They were resurfacing from within the constraints of his mind, yearning to be freed.
It was all coming back to him.
'Katsuki!'
'Please!'
'Come back!"
"You were hiding," Shigaraki approached Katsuki; "from the ones you've let down."
"I was scared," Katsuki began his admission, his voice croaking volatilely; "scared of what my presence would mean for them. The dangers my quirk brought.."
Shigaraki added, "And what did you do to alleviate yourself from that feeling, exactly?"
Katsuki's eyes never left the soil on which his comrades were buried.
"I walked away," Katsuki was at his breaking point. "They called after me and...I walked away. I always do."
"That's not all you did, is it?" Shigaraki fished for more. "You found them. Your teammates."
Katsuki lifted his head to look Shigaraki in the eyes. "Dead. Piled like wood," he said with the lump bubbling up his throat.
"What did you do?" Shigaraki asked once more.
Katsuki's voice cracked as he began, "I started killing, and I couldn't stop. I didn't want to stop."
"All those bad men," Shigaraki's smile grew wider.
"... it's not just the bad ones," Katsuki confessed.
Shigaraki declared, "My little animal."
Katsuki couldn't hold it back anymore. He started sobbing, tears dripping from his cheeks into the ground. "I killed them. All of them. The innocents. The mutants. Every last one of them. I enjoyed every second of it. The pain I'd inflicted on them. I relished in it. And it fucking disgusts me. What I was, and what I was going to be. I just..wanted to be the hero All Might thought I was."
"Katsuki," Shigaraki said in a more gentler tone. "With me, you won't have to worry about any of that anymore. You can be what you are. What the world thinks about you? All of that can go to hell. You can be the best version of yourself."
Katsuki didn't listen to him. He looked at the ground, which was soaked in his tears.
"Don't let lofty morals restrain you. The poison that All Might has put in you must be quelled," Shigaraki stood up and extended his hand to Katsuki. "Join me, and we will trample the hero society together."
Katsuki lifted his head up and looked at Shigaraki's radiant, turquoise eyes.
That familiar hue. The vivid, wicked eyes that stared at him the day All Might died.
"It was you," Katsuki growled.
"Whatever you mean by—"
Katsuki grabbed Shigaraki by his neck. "IT WAS YOU!"
"I would be wise not to act out—"
"It wasn't just All Might that you killed, was it?!" Katsuki screamed. "You ordered their deaths too!"
Sensing the ever-growing rage, Shigaraki quickly dissolved into a mist.
"YOU FUCK!" Katsuki's scream tore through his vocal cords, rupturing them. "I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL RIP YOU PIECE BY PIECE! THEY WON'T EVEN FIND YOUR REMAINS WHEN I'M THROUGH WITH YOU!"
With the claws popped out of his knuckles, he hopelessly clawed at the thin air.
"FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU FUCK YOU FUCK YOU FUCK YOU FUCK YOU—!"
"Hey, hey," a familiar, gentle voice breezed past him.
Katsuki turned his head around only to meet the gaze of...
"Izuku?!"
Izuku gently tapped him in the head. "Wake up."
Katsuki was pulled back out of the dream landscape. Returning to the real world, Katsuki gasped for air as the light entered his eyes.
No.
He couldn't let that bastard escape.
He had to kill him.
Roaring, Katsuki went back to his feet and immediately tried to find—
A pair of arms wrapped themselves around Katsuki. "Hey, hey, hey, settle down. You're not in a good condition to be doing all that."
Katsuki tried to wriggle himself free. "LET ME GO! LET ME FUCKING GO! HE CAN'T GET AWAY WITH—"
Once he turned his head around, he saw who was actually holding him in place.
Izuku. With that familiar mask and the suit. "I— Izuku...? I...I thought.."
"Calm down," Izuku softly said. "I pulled you away from that fucker's influence. The teleportation device do come in handy, after all."
Ignoring what Izuku just said, Katsuki found himself slowly reaching for the mercenary. Then, without even thinking, Katsuki threw his arms around him, hugging him tightly.
Izuku was slightly caught off guard by the gesture, but he returned the hug after a few fleeting moments.
"Shh," Izuku rubbed circles around Katsuki's back. "I got you, peanut. I got you."
All Katsuki could do at the moment was bury himself in Izuku's warm embrace, soaking the fabric of his suit with his tears.
It felt like home.