Chapter 13

GO ON AND TAKE IT WAY TOO FAR, 'CAUSE HERE WE ARE, WAITING ONCE AGAIN! YOU SAID YOU'D ALWAYS KEEP YOUR WORD! SHOW WHAT YOU'RE AFTER! JUST A LITTLE FASTER!

Oh, sorry, I got nostalgic for Ben 10, and I ran into this song for the Ben 10 Alien Swarm movie, A Little Faster from There for Tomorrow. Dramatic, a bit emo, yet catchy. In fact, I have been recently plagued with the extreme desire to write a new story, a MHA/Ben 10 crossover story, with added elements of the Youtuber group, the Ink Tank, and their Ben 10 project known as 5 Years Later, which, true to the name, takes place 5 years after the finale of Ben 10 Omniverse and introduces new Ben 10 aliens, and even a crossover with Danny Phantom.

If I end up going down this road, and the urges become too great, I won't be adding the Danny Phantom stuff, even if I am a fan of the series as well. However, I'm attempting to curb these desires because I already have too much trouble balancing three other stories, and adding a fourth will just be chaos.

Anyway, last time, we had the group deal with the 'death' of Shouta Aizawa at the hands of the Winter Soldier, Izuku Rogers beating up a whole squad in an elevator before then taking down a jet, both of which caused the girls to get as hot as a reactor, and Captain America now on the run from S.H.I.E.L.D., or rather HYDRA. We had Izuku's faith and loyalty to the system of Hero Society tested, his faith and his trust in his friends tested, and even his anger tested, the last one of which Miruko noticed and is preparing to do something about it. We also had Uraraka struggle and ultimately affirm her resolve to confess her feelings to Deku at the end of the day, Melissa Carter making her appearance, and the return of Arnim Garaki in computer form...for all of a few minutes before he went boom. We even had Izuku point out the Quirkless Red Shoe theory and confirm it as merely a piece of MLA propaganda.

Now, we are continuing with the third part of The Winter Soldier, this time with a lot more Winter Soldier...oh, get your trauma buckets ready because this will be a downpour. But first, we have reviews to answer:

Neo Infinity: If you aren't interested in watching Falcon and Winter Soldier, then here are the spoilers (ignore this if you do): Melissa ends up becoming something of an arms dealer called the Power Broker, I think, after she went on the run in Civil War and its sort of implied that she turned to the dark side, or rather a dubious, moral grey side that's setting her up as a villain or something in the future, maybe in the Thunderbolts.

Blackwing8: Firstly, when it came to Bakugo finding out 'early' that the Winter Soldier killed his parents, he's not stupid, he can connect the dots pretty easily. HYDRA assassin that has been around and got a kill count for 50 years. Zola, or Garaki here, shows a captured photograph of the Winter Soldier when he says, 'If history does not cooperate, history is changed'. And shown both a picture and newspaper of Masaru Stark and his death right next to Shouta Aizawa also being declared deceased. It isn't really much of a spoiler if people figured this out when Winter Soldier first came out, I did and so did many others, even if some were only speculated. So no, it is not so detrimental a spoiler that needs changing. I won't change it, especially since it and the following Bakugou rage episode compare and contrast with Izuku's rage episode afterward. Miruko isn't getting added to the harem...yet, these two are basically strangers to each other right now, with Miruko only showing the starting signs of attraction, both chemistry-wise and biologically due to her Quirk, and Izuku only reacting to his childhood Hero crush, it will take a LONG time, and maybe another sequel story before this goes anywhere serious. As for my opinions on the recent chapters of the manga, I'm conflicted. I appreciate the way that the story has come full circle for Izuku, I also like, even if it is a little cheesy, Izuku inspiring everyone and everyone wishing him good luck, that's the kind of Symbol of Hope I'd imagine he was always trying to be, but I am antsy about Izuku potentially ending up fully Quirkless by the end of the series because it feels like Horikoshi's way of making Izuku is the 'Greatest Hero of All Time' yet at the same time, trying to early retire him so that there would be no one in Bakugo's way for him to become the Number 1 Hero like he always proclaimed, and that feels shitty to me. I know Deku said he doesn't care about being the Number 1 Hero anymore, but that was never his straight-up goal, it was to replace All Might and be even greater than him, being Number 1 was just something that happened to coincide with that goal. Either way, I hope by the end of things, Izuku gets One For All back, whether by just its Stockpiling power or fully with all the Quirks before, I just want Deku to Continue being the Hero he always wanted to be, instead of just being tossed aside once he served his narrative purpose. Also, when it comes to the revelation of Shigaraki and the truth behind his Quirk, I won't lie and say I didn't call it, because that was actually a big theory of mine. Although my original theory also proposed that Tenko was originally Quirkless and that Decay came from Izuku that was stolen by All For One, not that it was replicated and tweaked from Overhaul, but I'll take what I can get.

RayvenShade: Don't you fret, I have my methods. I know how to slowly draw suspicion into it and then reveal the truth with as much whammy as wanted...I hope.

servillabagus: Things will certainly be...tense, you could say. Kaminari's story will be explored further later. No promises that Izuku/Fuyumi will or will not happen in the future, I have some plans for maybe Izuku/Miruko, but all these can come and go whether I feel like it or not...though I might be persuaded more to do 'yes' if I am in a 'spiteful mood'. Technically, we did have a Dark Deku arc with him as a vigilante who was hunted down by the Villains and looked on with suspicion and fear by the very society he was fighting for and had him confront the horrors and consequences of the HPSC through Lady Nagant, and Hero Society when he saved Josei. But I get what you mean, that you may have wanted more to be explicitly shown. I do see how there is a lot of potential in these characters and potential story arc that hasn't been explored and dived into, case in point the metamorphic racism and have it explored with other similar characters like Shoji and Koda before the Final War Arc; though I'd imagine that Horikoshi's insistence to wrap the story quicker and pass on these possible arcs is due to a combination of 'not wanting for this story to be as long and extensive as Naruto' as he once said, possibly getting sick of his own story due to the toxic fandom that it has cultivated that treat him, the very creator, like shit, and because his deteriorating health issues could push him to finish the story before the worst may happen. It's not an excuse, but an understanding.

fallendemon248: When Endeavor said 'brother-in-law' in terms of Izuku, he meant making Izuku Shoto's brother-in-law by having Izuku marry Shoto's sister, Fuyumi. He would then be Endeavor's son-in-law if that ever happened. Apologies if that wasn't clear.

MadTitan9: There are some indications of Quirk Supremacy in their mindsets, most especially from Geten. He believes that the whole measure of a person's worth is how powerful and trained their Quirk is, and thus he was one of the best because of how strong and trained he was. Maybe it was always an aspect of his character alone, but being part of the MLA could be why he is so radical in this ideology because the MLA's ideals match with, or support, his own. In this timeline, Hawks was already informed of Lady Nagant's past and history throughout his training, only the Commission bogged it down under their own biases, but Hawks was not stupid, even as a kid, and found out most of the truth. It is not that Izuku believes Hero society should be destroyed, only that he recognizes its inherent flaws. He is not going to suddenly advocate for Hero Society to come crashing down like Shigaraki or force Aizawa to apologize to him, but The Winter Soldier and its parallels are helping to clear away the naivety from his worldview. He already punishes Mineta for his actions against the girls, and Monoma is simply an annoyance at most, but with Bakugo...he's working on that. F.R.I.D.A.Y. doesn't need to show the backstories of their world's Villains, nor should she. Not only would that mess with the timeline in ways that would be drastically irreparable, something she is tasked not to do, but the group is already seeing how various Villains come to be, through greed from Stane and Hammer, jealousy & pride with Loki, the latter as well with Red Skull, and some through simply being crazy like Malekith. The most sympathetic ones, ones where the group pondered over how they came to be and the failures of others made them this way, included Maya, a brilliant scientist turned desperate and wanting from a broken heart and, as she put it, ego, Killian, or Touya in this case, who turned crazy and enraged from hurt, desperation, and revenge from being betrayed by his hero, Whiplash, who was forced to pay for the sins of his father unjustly and sought to do the same to Stark, and even the EXTREMIS enhanced individuals were veteran soldiers who were cast away by society despite their service and sacrifices. As for PLF war, I can't say much but F.R.I.D.A.Y. wasn't sent here to make things worse, she's here to make things better, better than the alternative that this timeline would been without her, and I'm not talking about canon MHA because this timeline is different from that one, i.e. the multiple girls that like Deku, Hawks knowing more about Lady Nagant than he should, and Bakugo's and Ibara's relationship.

Fanfictioner8: Is it really a plot twist if people actually do know about this beforehand? Contrary to what you just said, people did notice and took note that The Winter Soldier did kill the Starks. People rewatch these movies to notice what they missed in their first viewing, and others pick up on it immediately. Also, that wasn't the true plot twist of Civil War, the real plot twist was that Zemo's whole plan was to get the Avengers to kill each other, mostly Cap and Tony, by revealing to Stark the truth about his parent's death, something he calculated Cap never told Stark. What you must be thinking was a plot twist was showing the people that Bucky killed at the beginning of the movie were the Starks. We already knew that Bucky killed them, or was implied that he killed them, we just didn't know that the beginning kill of the movie was the Starks until Zemo showed it. Cap even said when confronted with the revelation that he knew, likely when Zola showed him in that bunker, but couldn't confirm it 100% and that the true kick in the pants was that even if he did or his hunch was right, he wasn't going to tell Tony. And even if Bakugo doesn't know that The Winter Soldier specifically killed his parents, Arnim already made it explicitly clear that the Starks were murdered in Winter Soldier and was made to look like an accident, or does him saying 'ACCIDENTS will happen' suddenly not have the implication it was supposed to have?

And next, the Index:

"Zayden," -Normal Dialogue

'Zayden,' -Mental or Internal Dialogue

"Zayden," -Flashback and Mental Flashback Dialogue

"Zayden," -Dark Shadow, Movie, and Buff Might Dialogue

"Zayden," -Comms, PA, and TV Dialogue

"Zayden," -F.R.I.D.A.Y. Dialogue

"Zayden," -Jarvis & A.I. Dialogue

"Zayden," -Movie Narration Dialogue

"{Zayden}," -Movie French & Russian Dialogue

And lastly, I do not own My Hero Academia, which belongs to Horikoshi and adapted into an anime by Bones Studios, both of whom I'm still cautious about and hoping they both knock the manga and anime out of the park, especially in terms of not making Deku Quirkless by the end of the anime. I also do not own the MCU and all the movies part of it, all of them owned by the sinking ship that is Disney, Marvel, & Sony, the first two of which are being kept afloat by X-Men '97, and the last one butchering its Spider-Man-theme universe. All the movies also have the studios, directors, actors, actresses, and everyone who worked on them to thank for their existence as well.

P.S. For all fellow Helldivers that have heard the news about the conflict between the game and Sony, thanks to the collective voices of the community, Sony has backed off from its PSN requirement to play the game, all Helldivers may once more dive on into the good fight without the PSN requirement. Warning: This message has been transmitted from a dubious Super Earth transmit tower. Any contradiction or false promise in this message will be seen as misinformation illegally transmitted from pro-Communists. Misinformation will not be placed upon one Zayden StormVoid or the government of Super Earth. Any who tries to place blame will be branded a traitor, targeted, and sent 'rehabilitation'.

Now, be like the Merc with the Mouth and the Man who's the Best at what He Does, and Let's Fucking Go!


Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Part 3: Insight

Third POV

Alexander Pierce, in his civies, walked along his house to the kitchen, opening the fridge to pull out a carton of milk, all while an individual's figure stared at him. Finally noticing, he looked up to see none other than the Winter Soldier.

Seeing the murderer of Director Shouta Aizawa, and now Masaru and Mitsuki Stark, the group glared at with different degrees of murderous intent.

Bakugo's vision flashed red once more at seeing the now-revealed murderer of his parents, even if it was in another world. The blonde Pomeranian, thankfully, had Ibara to calm him down with a comforting hand in his.

The assassin was obscured mostly through shadow, all that could be seen of him was his fiery red hair, a gun by the table, his normal right arm by the moonlight, and his right dark grey eye.

The teachers, especially Aizawa, Mic, and Kayama all glared at the murderer of Aizawa's counterpart, the Voice Hero looking like a man on a mission, and that mission was to blow the assassin's brains out. While Kayama was just as angry, a part of her, a logical side of her she reckoned, was curious why the video emphasized keeping the assassin in the dark, barely visible. Aizawa, too, had glares to share for his counterpart's killer, but he was more suspicious of why he was simply sitting there, his gun simply on the table, and almost waiting on Pierce.

Meanwhile, Izuku glared at the man who murdered not just his teacher's counterpart, but also the ones of his Aunt Mitsuki and Uncle Masaru. 'The Winter Soldier,' Izuku growled inside, now putting a name, or rather a title, to the assassin.

Pierce closed the fridge door behind him. "I'm going to go, Mr. Pierce," A Hispanic woman's voice called out. "You need anything before I leave?" The Winter Soldier's gaze looked over to where she might be.

Several of the more comically exaggerated students waved their hands over their throats in a 'shut up' or 'cut it out' motion. Whether it was directed at the woman to be quiet or not come into the room, or to the Winter Soldier not to kill the innocent woman, the adults could only guess.

"No...Uh, it's fine, Renata, you can go home," Pierce called back.

"Okay. Night-night," Renata, on the other side of the wall, said as she walked away.

Sighs of relief were heard following the woman's safe exit, none the wiser of the danger she was in.

"Good night," Pierce replied.

Waiting till the door closed to signal Renata's departure, Pierce addressed the assassin. "Want some milk?" Pierce asked, nonchalantly picking up a glass from a cabinet, the Winter Soldier making no moves.

"This is going where I think it's going, isn't it?" Pixie Bob stared at Pierce with growing suspicion.

"Yep," Ragdoll nodded.

Popping open the carton and pouring it into the glass, Pierce said, "The timetable has moved. Our window is limited." Pierce drank from the glass.

"He's also HYDRA," Tiger growled.

"And given how he's pretty much running S.H.I.E.L.D. without Aizawa, he's probably HYDRA's new leader, if not one of many," Mandalay guessed.

Izuku and Aizawa cracked their knuckles. Aizawa glared at the man who was supposedly his counterpart's friend, the same one his counterpart saved the daughter of, and he stabbed him in the back and got him killed. Izuku likewise glared at the HYDRA leader, thanking his counterpart for having good instincts not to trust the man, but still, the fact that this high-ranking official and leader of S.H.I.E.L.D. was also the leader of a terrorist organization like HYDRA broke a bit more of the trust Izuku had in the system if this man can slip by unnoticed.

"Two targets, Level Six," Pierce walked over to the Winter Soldier, sitting in the chair next to his assassin. "They already cost me Garaki. I want confirmed death in 10 hours."

"The ghost story has two new names on his book," Reiko muttered, referencing what Romanoff and Rogers said about it before.

While the Winter Soldier regarded his orders with confirmation, Renata appeared. "Sorry, Mr. Pierce, I...I forgot my...phone..." Renata froze as she finally recognized the metal-armed assassin her employer was speaking with, looking between the two with fear.

"Oh no," Pony's eyes widened, even her naive self knew what was about to happen.

Pierce's brows furrowed, regretfully. "Oh, Renata, I wish you would have knocked," Pierce whined, mournfully.

With the music turning ominous and eerie, Pierce picked up the gun on the table and fired on Renata, twice, her dead body slumped on the floor.

The group stared hatefully at the man who murdered an innocent woman in cold blood. Hawks's feathers were quite ruffled seeing how Re-Destro's counterpart could just so easily blame the woman for simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time as the appropriate excuse to kill her.

As the sun began rising over D.C., Sam Wilson was on his morning run once more.

"Oh, it's Tokoyami's counterpart," Kaminari pointed out. "I was wondering where he was in all of this."

Tokoyami perked in interest at seeing his military veteran of a counterpart, wondering too how he fits into the greater narrative of this story.

Returning home, a sweating Sam dug out a carton of orange juice, intending to drink it out of the carton. Interrupted by a knock at the door, Sam investigated, drawing his blinds to see Izuku Rogers and Ochaco Romanoff covered in soot stains. He slid the door open. "Hey, man," Sam greeted Cap.

"I'm sorry about this," Izuku apologized. "We need a place to lay low."

"Everyone we know is trying to kill us," Ochaco bluntly explained.

Looking at the two momentarily, Sam moved to allow them entry. "Not everyone," he said. As they entered, Sam looked around for witnesses, closing the door and pulling down the blinds.

"Phew, at least they have him on their side," Sen wiped his brow. "Now, they have a place to hide."

In Sam's bathroom, Izuku Rogers washed off the last of the stains, while Ochaco sat on Sam's bed, cleaning her hair with a towel.

"Oh, dear Lord," Mount Lady fanned herself with her hand. "I mean, I know this like the hundredth time or whatever, but oh boy, is that guy an Adonis of a man."

Izuku blushed crimson at the compliment from such a beautiful Pro, not knowing the girls all glared at her suspiciously. It was already trying enough to have to share Midoriya between all 10 of them, or at least planned to, but they weren't exactly open for new members any time soon, especially ones that were a) personally unknown to them and b) a female Pro with a history of shallow priorities.

Noticing her troubled look, Izuku stepped out. "You okay?" The Super Soldier asked.

"Yeah," Romanoff nodded.

Not believing her, Izuku sat down on the bed. "What's going on?" Rogers asked again.

Ochaco stared at him for a moment, deep contemplation and vulnerability leaking out. "When I first joined S.H.I.E.L.D. I thought I was going straight," Romanoff explained, bitterness in her tone. "But I guess I just traded in the KGB for HYDRA."

"Oh, right, I almost forgot that this version of Uraraka has a... ahem, history," Jurota tried to phrase it as best he could.

It didn't do much to stop Ochaco from looking down, remembering when Loki tossed all her counterpart's supposed worst sins in her face, including something about someone's daughter and a hospital fire. She remembered her counterpart said that she had 'blood on her ledger', and Ochaco could tell she thought being part of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers could change that, make amends, and 'wipe her ledger clean'. Knowing now that she went from a spy for one bad group to another, must be eating at her conscious.

"I thought I knew whose lies I was telling, but...I guess I can't tell the difference anymore." Ochaco sighed, tired.

Ochaco felt Izuku's hand on hers. "Your counterpart was no less fooled than mine," Izuku replied, sending her an honest look. "Even if S.H.I.E.L.D. is dirty, I have your back, and I'm not the only one either."

Ochaco blinked, catching what he meant. She looked toward All Might, Jurota, Shinsou, and even Bakugo. The former Symbol of Peace smiled comfortingly at her, the 1-B classmate nodded, pushing his glasses up, Bakugou rolled his eyes, but, upon Ibara's insistence, he nodded too, and, finally, Shinsou nodded, his knuckle lightly knocking on his head.

Ochaco chuckled, blinking away the wetness of her eyes, before turning back to Deku. "Thank you, Deku-kun," Ochaco said.

"Any time, Ochaco-san," Izuku smiled, lovingly.

"There's a chance you might be in the wrong business," Izuku quipped.

Ochaco scoffed humorously at the callback, looking at Izuku with wide eyes and a smile. Izuku just shrugged, a cheeky version of his dazzling smile that was more blush-inducing than she thought already possible.

Romanoff scoffed humorously at Rogers's callback. "I owe you," Ochaco admitted, thanking the soldier with clear sincerity.

"It's okay," Izuku shook his head.

"If it was the other way around, and it was down to me to save your life, now you be honest with me," Ochaco stared at him, vulnerable and honest. "Would you trust me to do it?"

Romanoff's words might as well have come right out of Ochaco's mouth. Probably because they kind of were. Regardless, when he saw Romanoff speak those words, he heard something else along with it: 'Can you trust me with your biggest secret?'

Izuku looked back on everything he and Ochaco had done together. Saving each other in the Entrance Exam, fighting together, and trusting each other in the Battle Training Exercise, teaming up despite all the disadvantages in the Calvary Battle, fighting against Wolfram and his crew, working together to save their classmates and friends from the League in the Forest Training Camp, working together in the Provisional Licensing Exam, working to save Eri from the Shie Hassaikai, and later making her smile in the Cultural Festival, fighting against Nine and his allies, working together in the Joint Class Training Exam, and her jumping in to save him from his own out-of-control new Quirk. Whenever he needed help, she was always there, without question. Even when she wasn't there personally, her support was, pushing him on, canceling the weight on his shoulders as much as gravity itself.

Izuku turned to Uraraka's surprised but expecting eyes. "Always," Izuku replied.

Ochaco cursed her eyes for watering up again, unable to take them and letting a few out. She nodded and smiled lovingly back at the man she loved.

"I would now," Izuku nodded, purely honest. Ochaco's eyes widened just a bit, but the surprise and pleasantness in them said more than enough. "And I'm always honest."

Ochaco smiled, bitterly. "Well, you seem pretty chipper for someone who just found out they died for nothing," Romanoff snarked.

Rogers leaned back, smirking. "Well, I guess I just like to know who I'm fighting," Cap admitted.

Izuku smirked similarly to his counterpart. He remembered the beginning of this movie, how his counterpart struggled with finding a place in this new world, wondering what to do with himself with no HYDRA left to stop, no war left to fight, and no girl left to return to. Now, as it turns out, there is more HYDRA left to stop once and for all, and his war is not yet over.

'And, well,' Izuku looked from Setsuna, Melissa, Ochaco, the rest of the girls, and even Eri, his little girl, and smiled. 'I have girls here to come back to.'

"I made breakfast," Wilson announced his presence, leaning by the entrance to the room. "If you guys eat that sort of thing."

"Yes, Tokoyami, we eat breakfast," Izuku jokingly smirked. "What you thought we subsist on the sun or something?"

"Did Midoriya just make a joke like that?" Kaminari blinked in surprise. "Pinch me to see if I'm hallucinating all this." Mineta obliged and Kaminari flinched, blinking his eyes repeatedly. When he saw that the world wasn't crumbling apart, he said, "Yep, this is real."

Tokoyami smirked humorously at Izuku and nodded back.

"So, the question is, who at S.H.I.E.L.D. could launch a domestic missile strike?" Romanoff proposed the question. Sam listened as he cleaned.

"Pierce," Rogers deduced.

"Right on the money, Muscles," Mei booped her nose.

"Who happens to be sitting on top of the most secure building in the world," Ochaco pointed out the odds against them.

"But he's not working alone," Rogers likewise pointed out. "Garaki's algorithm was on the Lemurian Star."

Realization flashed in Romanoff's eyes. "So was Jasper Sitwell," Ochaco brought up.

"Oh, looks like they have someone to target and get answers on," Ryukyu smirked.

"Key question they need to ask is what is Garaki's algorithm, and what does it necessarily do?" Midnight questioned.

"Um, target and kill people?" Mic replied.

"Yes, but how exactly," Aizawa grunted and jumped in. "If HYDRA is still at play and in the shadows, they must have a way to know which people not to target."

"And more so than that, HYDRA is not simply going to fire and kill indiscriminately," Nezu added. "They must have more planned on this endeavor, and this algorithm Garaki made is the key to it all."

Blinking as he realized their goal, Cap said, "So, the real question is, how do the two most wanted people in Washington kidnap a S.H.I.E.L.D. officer in broad daylight?"

Sam walked up with a folder in hand. "The answer is, you don't," Wilson dropped the folder in front of Cap.

"What's this?" Izuku asked.

"Call it a resume," Sam answered.

"Oh, let's see what kind of resume," Itsuka leaned in, interested.

Izuku stood up while Ochaco lifted a photo, the two staring at it intrigued. "Is this Bakhmala?" Ochaco questioned. "The Khalid Khandil mission, that was you?" Sam's silent stare was all the confirmation they needed. "You didn't say he was a Pararescue."

Izuku looked at the picture, Sam was shown in a black shirt and tactical gear, black and grey camo pants, and black gloves. Beside him, was a light brown-haired American in the same gear as Tokoyami's counterpart.

"Is this Riley?" Izuku asked, looking at Sam's former partner.

"Yeah," Sam nodded.

Tokoyami blinked as he registered the man who was his counterpart's wingman, and remembered what ultimately became of him. Dark Shadow cooed sadly, Tokoyami scratching as if he were a pet. The two didn't know if, in some way, Riley was Dark Shadow's counterpart or not, but the man was still Wilson's closest friend, and they could almost imagine what it would be like to have someone close like that suddenly gone.

"I heard they couldn't bring in the choppers because of the RPGs," Romanoff recalled the details of the mission. "What did you use? A stealth chute?"

"No," Sam lifted the folder the photo came with to Cap. "These."

Izuku and Ochaco looked at the folder's contents, Izuku's eyes lighting up. "I thought you said you were a pilot," Izuku inquired.

"I never said pilot," Sam shook his head, grinning.

Eyebrows perked up in confusion and intrigue at this sudden mysterious 'these' that Wilson used.

Izuku thought about it for a few seconds before shaking his head. "I can't ask you to do this, Sam," Izuku said. "You got out for a good reason."

"Dude, Captain America needs my help," Sam argued. "There's no better reason to get back in."

"A noble soul with a good head and sense of duty," All Might nodded with respect. "To step in, even when you're not needed or even wanted, is the essence of being a Hero."

Izuku smiled, fondly remembering when All Might said those words right after he woke up from his match with Todoroki. He gave it his all to help a person who was suffering find his path again, even if it cost him the Sports Festival, and Izuku wouldn't do things any differently if he knew how it was going to go.

Accepting his reasoning and fire, Izuku nodded. "Where can we get our hands on one of these things?" Izuku questioned.

"The last one is at Fort Meade," Sam answered. "Behind three guarded gates and a 12-inch steel wall."

Izuku looked to Ochaco, the fellow Avenger shrugging her shoulders, finding no problem. "Shouldn't be no problem," Cap agreed.

"At this point, given who these two are, I can buy that something as difficult as that would be a cakewalk to them," Death Arms shrugged.

"Just embrace the chaos, man," Fat Gum chuckled, eating a scoop more of his popcorn. "Helps make sense of the world when you accept there is no sense to it."

Tossing the file back on the desk, the group could see what the classified file was labeled: EXO-7 FALCON.

"Falcon?" Melissa blinked, her engineering skills tingling with anticipation.

The next scene shows Jasper Sitwell walking out of a restaurant with a middle-aged man and escorted by a detail of guards. "Listen I got to fly home tonight because I got some constituency problem and I got to press the flesh," The man Sitwell accompanied explained.

"Any constituent in particular, Mr. Senator?" Sitwell inquired.

"Oh, no, not really," The Senator replied. "Twenty-three, kind of hot. Real hot, you know? Wants to be a reporter, I think. I don't know. Who listens at that point?"

"Is he implying he wants to get rid of her or wants to bang her?" Mineta questioned.

"Surprisingly, your question is actually one worth listening to," Momo admitted. 'If not a bit crass."

Izuku decided to allow Mineta this one victory since Momo was just being nice and ignored his jealous self not liking how Mineta perked himself up like he was suddenly 'king of the world' because he got Momo's approval or attention.

"Doesn't sound like much of a problem to me," Sitwell gave his opinion.

"Really? Because she's killing my back," The Senator argued. "But this isn't the place to talk about it."

"Okay, I'm leaning more on the he wants to 'kill her' option," Sero said.

"Same,/Agreed,/Pretty much," Was the response of multiple of the guys.

"This is a nice pin," The Senator complimented Sitwell's S.H.I.E.L.D. pin.

"Thank you," Sitwell smiled.

"Come here," Sitwell brought Sitwell in a hug, leaning his lips to the man's ear, whispering. "Hail HYDRA."

"So, that's how they communicate secretly in the open," Tsukauchi narrowed his eyes.

"So, this Senator is a part of HYDRA, and could be wanting to take out this reporter because he fears that she is trying to dig up his illegal background, including HYDRA," Edgeshot summarized.

"Pretty much," Miruko shrugged. "I'd honestly want to kick him to the moon either way if he just wanted to get his greasy hands on that woman for his sick pleasure."

As the Senator began down the steps, he paused and stumbled a bit. "See, it's right there."

"Yeah, I just saw that, yeah," Sitwell nodded.

"Should I get it checked?" The Senator asked.

"I think you should," Sitwell agreed, the Senator nodding and leaving with his guards.

Sitwell's phone began to ring, bringing it out to see the caller was Alexander Pierce. "I need a minute," Sitwell turned to his guards. "Bring the car around."

The guards complied and went off for the vehicle. As they left, Sitwell answered. "Yes, sir?"

"Agent Sitwell, how was lunch?" But instead of Pierce's voice, it was Sam Wilson's. "I hear the crab cakes here are delicious."

"Wait, didn't the phone say Pierce was calling?" Kaminari questioned.

"They hacked his phone, Sparkplug, so they made their call look like it was from Pierce," Bakugou snapped at Kaminari. "If it was just a random number, there was a chance he wouldn't have picked up or had those guys walk away and leave him vulnerable."

Jasper tensed. "Who is this?" Sitwell questioned.

"The good-lucking guy in the sunglasses, your 10 o'clock," Sam replied. Sitwell looked around for the man. "Your other 10 o'clock." Sitwell did as he was instructed, finding Sam meters away at a table, with a leather jacket and shades. "There you go." Sam raised his drink in greeting from afar.

Reiko giggled at Wilson's swagger and confidence, finding it rather charming... especially since it came from Tokoyami's counterpart.

"What do you want?" Sitwell questioned, staring at the former Pararescue.

"You're gonna go around the corner to your right," Sam instructed. "There's a gray car two spaces down. You and I are gonna take a ride."

"And why would I do that?" Sitwell asked, mockingly.

"Because that tie looks really expensive," Sam replied. Sitwell looked down to see a red dot lasering in on it. "And I'd hate to mess it up." Sitwell panickily looked around for the shooter, but unable to find them his shoulders slacked.

"Gotcha, bastard," Hawks smirked, pleased to see the traitor look panicked, imagining Skeptic in his place and seeing the perfectionist lose his shit about making a mistake, denying he made a mistake, and go crazy from his inability to accept he made a mistake.

The next thing Sitwell knew he was being tossed out the door of a roof, rolling as Izuku Rogers and Ochaco Romanoff marched up to him.

"Tell me about Garaki's algorithm," Rogers ordered.

Sitwell got back up, putting his glasses back on. "Never heard of it," The HYDRA officer tried playing dumb, backing away further as Rogers and Romanoff continued stalking toward him.

"Whelp, we got ourselves a good old interrogation," Sen rubbed his hands together.

Tsukauchi leaned in, wondering how the captain and the spy would squeeze the truth out of this man.

"What were you doing on the Lemurian Star?" Izuku kept questioning him.

"I was throwing up. I get seasick," Sitwell continued, only to stumble, reaching the roof's ledge and nearly falling. Izuku grabbed him by the jacket, pulling him upright to his glaring face.

"He's going to threaten him with pushing him off the ledge?!" Hagakure exclaimed.

Izuku flinched, Bakugo's infamous words ringing in his head, thus finding this interrogation method unsettling, especially for him.

Sitwell scoffed. "Is this little display mean to insinuate that you're gonna throw me off the roof?" Sitwell questioned back. "Because it's really not your style, Rogers."

For once, Izuku had to agree with Sitwell. 'But then,' Izuku noticed that Romanoff was there too. 'I'm not the expert in interrogation here.'

"You're right. It's not," Izuku agreed with the traitor, fixing up his blazer. "It's hers."

Rogers stepped away and Romanoff quickly kicked Sitwell off the roof, the man screaming as he fell.

"HUH?!" The students exclaimed.

"D-Did I just see Ochaco kick someone off a roof?!" Nejire blinked and rubbed her eyes, trying to verify what she saw was happening.

Ochaco was likewise in shock at her counterpart's actions. Despite her earlier angry thoughts regarding what she would do to the Winter Soldier, that was just that, angry thoughts; she wouldn't really follow through and kill someone, no matter how they hurt, that just wasn't what a Hero did in her book. Uraraka wanted to save people, even other Heroes when they needed help, not kill people. Imagining herself canceling a person's gravity, pushing them up high, and then canceling her Quirk and letting them fall to their imminent death... it sickened her to imagine it. It sounded like something Himiko Toga would do, not her.

'But there's got to be something more than this, right?' Ochaco pondered. 'They obviously have a plan to save Sitwell before he actually dies right? Like, what about Tokoyami's counterpart?'

"Oh, wait. What about that girl from Accounting, Laura..." Ochaco tried recounting while Sitwell's screams echoed in the distance.

"Lillian. Lip piercing, right?" Izuku recounted correctly.

"Yeah, she's cute," Ochaco suggested teasingly.

"Are you seriously still trying to set Greenie up with a date, even now?" Setsuna teased Uraraka.

Ochaco blushed, keeping to herself her initial response being, 'If there is anyone, I want to set Deku up with is all of us girls, especially me.'

"Yeah. I'm not ready for that," Izuku denied the offer.

"Oh, good to know, Izu," Melissa smirked at him. "Not a fan of lip piercings, huh?"

"I-I mean, I'm not opposed to it either," Izuku stuttered, trying to defend himself and his standards. "I-I just think that it would be hard to k-kiss if they had a piercing in the way. I'd imagine it be awkward and-"

"Relax, Green, no one's persecuting you on your tastes and standards," Kyoka patted his shoulders. "You have standards, and we have to respect that." Meanwhile, Kyoka made a note to herself that if she ever did get piercings, she wouldn't go for a lip one; not that she wanted to go for that particular area to begin with. 'Maybe one on the side of my ear? Would that affect my Quirk, though? What about just the top of-Gah, Green's still got me mumbling, even in my head!'

Sitwell's screams became louder as he flew back onto the roof carried by Sam on a pair of wings.

"HUH?!" Eyes suddenly raised at the sudden action on screen.

As Sitwell tumbled back onto the roof, Sam Wilson landed, fully showcasing his gear. Strapped onto the Pararescue's back was a grey jetpack-like device, red lights coming out of the exhaust of the three miniaturized jet engines. But the most impressive features were the wings. A single pair of grey and black wings, their wingspan wide enough for Wilson's whole arm and then some. The wings retracted easily and flexibly into the pack as if they were never there. Sam turned around to show the straps around his shoulders and waist, and his dark grey, red-tinted goggles.

"Huh... so that's what the folder meant by 'Falcon'," Honenuki said, astounded.

He wasn't the only one. The pair of Support Item makers in Melissa, David, Mei, and Power Loader all looked at the wings they were the next Iron Man suit in terms of their excitement. Mei and Melissa's hands were blurred as they wrote down the design of the wings and all the elements they noticed, like the air thruster engines on the back

"They must be made of some lightweight titanium ribbing for the strength of the wings to lift two grown men like that, maybe some Mylar for the lightness," Mei talked so rapidly that some of the group barely registered what she said.

"Or a carbon fiber of some kind," Melissa argued, also writing and talking at super-fast speeds. "For the rigidity-flexibility ratio. It would explain how the wings can compact and fold into the pack."

"Ooh, smart. But what about the power source?" Mei brought up. "It has to be strong enough to operate the whole system, from the wings spreading out, to the thrusters on the back that allow for the necessary propulsion for flight."

"Maybe solar power receptors," Melissa proposed and wrote down. "They could convert sunlight into electricity that could power the thrusters, which could then be miniature high-speed electro-turbo fans that propel air powerful enough for flight."

"Like Air Jet's jetpack!" Mei perked up at the comparison. "My babies from the Sports Festival's Calvary Battle were based on him."

"I saw, they were impressive," Melissa complimented before the two dived back into speculating and analyzing the Falcon wings.

"It's like if Midobro cloned himself," Kirishima deadpanned at the two. "And gender-swapped them."

Despite all this, Hawks floated a feather over to Tokoyami, tapping the avian-headed teen on the shoulder. "Huh, looks like your counterpart can fly, after all, Tokoyami," Hawks grinned at his soft-of protege. "Man, you got me jealous up here, man. You're the only one of us that can fly free in another world."

Tokoyami smiled and nodded at his mentor. "Thank you, Hawks-sensei," Tokoyami said. "I do find this comparison pleasing, but I'm afraid my counterpart may not fly free in this world so long as HYDRA cages us with their Project Insight."

Hawks rolled his eyes at being called 'Hawks-sensei', Tokoyami was too serious and respectful to do anything less. But he did bring up a good point. Just like Sam won't be able to freely fly if his future is governed by HYDRA, Hawks felt the same with the Commission, and now with the PLF too. He's lived his life always trapped in a cage, unable to fly like he wanted, to be free like he wanted. First, it was his criminal father and his unwilling accomplice of a mother, then it was the Commission, turning him into a government-sponsored Hero and golden boy, but still, a bird trapped in a cage with new, more manipulative handlers. And now, the PLF and League have their own hold on him, on a leash with these mini mics in his wings and trapped between his duty and his friendship with Twice.

But Hawks won't fully trade one oppressive cage for another, nor will he live under the one he's in any longer. He just needed the right time to take down two bird cagers with one stone. Maybe that stone can be the little Heroes in front of him, like Tokoyami, that can help bring about a better, freer future.

"Then let's hope he breaks the cage looming over him, as well as everyone," Hawks smirked. 'And may we all follow the same lead.'

Izuku and Ochaco stalked over to the panting Sitwell, but he raised his hand in surrender before they could do the process again. "Garaki's algorithm is a program," Sitwell spilled the beans. "For choosing...Insight's targets."

The Heroes nodded, already knowing that was the case, yet leaned in to hear who the targets were and how they were chosen.

"What targets?" Rogers questioned further.

"You! A TV anchor in Cairo, the Undersecretary of Defense, a high school valedictorian in Iowa City," Sitwell began throwing out the names of targets. "Bruce Banner, Stephen Strange, anyone who's a threat to HYDRA." Ochaco blinked at Bruce's name, looking at Izuku in surprise. "Now, or in the future."

Jurota's brows raised at hearing his counterpart's name among the list, before they quickly frowned, followed by a growl. Even after saving New York from an alien invasion, or Harlem presumably from another radioactively powered monstrosity, he was still chased after, hated, and targeted for a situation he had no control over. 'But then again, I'm not targeted by the good guys,' Jurota reminded himself that HYDRA was going after him, not the government. Only to then remember that the government did target him before the Avengers, and not just by HYDRA. It left the furry 1-B student feeling bitter and alone.

"I can see why HYDRA would target Banner and the Undersecretary of Defense, and even a TV anchor if they were bold enough to go against HYDRA's dogma," Tsukauchi rubbed his chin in thought. "But how can they know about who could threaten them in the future? Like the high school valedictorian?"

"Yeah, and also, Stephen Strange?" Fat Gum raised a brow at the name. "Anyone know who that guy is? Is he someone we've met before? I'm losing track of how many characters we have to know and keep up with."

"No, I don't think we've met this Stephen Strange yet," Izuku looked through his notes to find no mention of this man's name. "Perhaps he's someone we might see in the future if his name is so important to pop up randomly."

"Or he's just a random name with no actual meaning or relevance," Todoroki pointed out.

"T-That too," Izuku sweat dropped.

"In the future?" Izuku repeated, confused. "How could it know?"

Sitwell guffawed and started laughing. "How could it not?" Sitwell questioned back, getting back on his feet. "The 21st Century is a digital book. Garaki taught HYDRA how to read it." As he paused and they still looked skeptical, Sitwell continued. "Your bank records, medical histories, voting patterns, emails, phone calls, your damn SAT scores! Garaki's algorithm evaluates people's past to determine their future."

"T-That's insane!" Momo exclaimed, horrified.

"Insane that they could figure that out, or insane that they are willing to target and kill people like this?" Ojiro asked.

"Both," Kyoka replied. "This is just like what Rogers said to Aizawa at the beginning, delivering punishment before the crime, only worse because their only crime would be possibly being a threat to an evil Nazi cult."

As Jiro spoke about that conversation between Rogers and Aizawa, their Aizawa flinched at the memory. More and more his means to protect lives by any means necessary was swiftly being corrupted into an instrument of destruction and death by HYDRA and his counterpart failed to spot and weed out the threat before it got him too. The extra twist to the knife was that his logical rationality blinded him to the danger that was currently happening right before his eyes, how he agreed with his counterpart, focusing too much on his baggage with Shirakumo that he did not notice the cost and danger it truly brought.

Aizawa looked down as he started looking back on his life and wonder. All the decisions he's made, the students he's expelled and re-enrolled to serve as that 'first death'. He did it so that they would take their hero-ing more seriously. He did all that, so they don't make as many mistakes as he did, if any at all. So that they wouldn't end up like Shirakumo. Now, the other rational possibility finally decided to rear its ugly head, and how that level of thinking was perhaps flawed.

Aizawa wasn't oblivious to how his country handled and treated education, and how important it governed a person's future. If a kid was expelled from high school, the chances of getting a job were slim to none; it might as well be a death sentence. And he gave that black mark to every student he expelled. Even if he re-enrolled them instantly, whether into the Hero Course or the others, he could finally see the future he twisted and shortened for them. The ones that were in the Hero Course now had to fully commit to being a Hero because there was now no other future for them. Then it only grew worse as he pondered further.

What happens if, as future Heroes, they are forced to retire early following a life-changing injury or illness? What if that retirement forces them to find a new career in life? What job would hire them when that black mark of expulsion rears its ugly head to ruin their prospects? The only person at fault would be himself, and they would be in their right to do so because what he did wasn't random, it was chosen and done to them by him.

And that didn't speak to the possibilities of those who didn't get back into the Hero Course. What about those he placed in General Studies, Business, or Support Course? Their chances to get hired would also take a nosedive, and all he had to say about them not getting back into the Hero Course was 'They didn't belong here in the first place'. And what of those he evaluated incorrectly, like Midoriya? He purposefully lowered his scores in the Quirk Apprehension Test to spook him into doing better, and nearly expelled him because he believed his lack of skill with his Quirk was out of laziness, not because the boy only had the Quirk for a damn month. How many others did he get wrong? How many other futures did he ruin? All because he couldn't let go of the past, and let it govern his and others' futures.

'What would Shirakumo think of me now?' Aizawa bitterly thought, imagining the ghost of Shirakumo gazing at him with disappointment and disgust. Then he was joined by the ghosts that represented the students he expelled, or rather their futures that he destroyed. And finally, Shirakumo changed to that of the dark form of Kurogiri that he was now. 'Maybe I'm no less of a monster.'

"And what then?" Rogers inquired.

Sitwell's eyes turned panicked. "Oh, my God. Pierce is gonna kill me," Sitwell cursed to himself.

"What then?" Izuku pressed the question. Sam gripped Jasper's back momentarily for emphasis.

"Then the Insight Helicarriers scratch people off the list," Sitwell revealed. " A few million at a time."

Rogers stared at Sitwell in a mixture of growing horror and disgust.

"A systematic attack that can be easily veiled under an act of chaos and anonymity," Ryukyu muttered. "It's as ingenious as it is despicable."

Izuku, Ochaco, and Tokoyami all felt the weight of the lives of millions fall directly onto their shoulders. Izuku felt this weight when his counterpart flew the Valkyrie with the Tesseract-powered bombs, and again when fighting the Chitauri.

'But the thing about that weight is that I don't have to share it alone,' Izuku thought, grabbing Ochaco's hand. The two nodded at each other, and both turned to Tokoyami as he gave them a nod of his own. 'Whatever it takes, HYDRA ends, for good.'

In a black car on the highway, Sam drove while Rogers took the passenger seat while Romanoff kept Sitwell company in the back. "HYDRA doesn't like leaks," Sitwell hissed, fearfully.

"Then why don't you try sticking a cork in it?" Wilson snapped at the HYDRA officer.

"Boom, roasted," Kaminari chuckled.

"I wish we could stick a cork in you, Sparkplug," Bakugo grumbled, annoyed.

"Insight's launching in 16 hours," Romanoff reminded Rogers. "We're cutting it a little close here."

"I know," Rogers agreed but continued detailing the game plan. "We'll use him to bypass the DNA scans and access the Helicarriers directly."

Sitwell shifted his bewildered face toward the captain as he detailed the plan. "What? Are you crazy?" Sitwell questioned him. "That is a terrible, terrible idea-"

Whatever words he would say next were cut as a thud on the car room cut him off. A millisecond later, a metal arm smashed through the glass next to Sitwell, ripping him out of the car and tossing him screaming onto an oncoming truck, killing him instantly.

"AAHHH!" Exclaims and screams escaped from most of the group, some even jumping in their seats at the sudden and gruesome death that was Sitwell's. Even Hawks felt so shocked and disturbed that he couldn't find any enjoyment in the death of Skeptic's counterpart. Hawks couldn't tell whether that meant he was a good person or a worse one because he wished for the person's death, at all.

"That metal arm," Momo muttered, eyes widened. "It's-"

"The Winter Soldier," Todoroki narrowed his eyes.

The Winter Soldier pulled out his pistol, aiming for the backseat. Predicting this, Ochaco dived forward, just as a bullet passed through the roof and into her seat. The Russian brought Izuku's head down as a bullet struck at his headrest, while Sam leaned his head away as another bullet struck his own.

"Oh, Jesus," Awase shuddered at the near misses, even lowering himself in his seat as if trying to evade a bullet to the head as well.

Reiko likewise squirmed in discomfort, her hands wringing at the sight of Tokoyami's counterpart very nearly escaping a bullet to the head.

Grabbing onto the stick, Izuku brought it to park, the tires screeching to a halt and the sudden stop sent the Winter Soldier flying forward. The three watched the Winter Soldier roll onto one knee while his metal arm gripped the street and halted his momentum. As cars honked and drove around them, Captain America watched the Winter Soldier get up, his eyes and mouth still obscured, and his fiery red hair blowing in the wind.

Izuku glared at the metal-armed assassin, the man who killed Director Aizawa, who killed Masaru and Mitsuki Stark. 'All those years I was frozen in ice, you were out there, hurting and killing people for HYDRA,' Izuku's guilt ate at him. 'No more.'

While a white car honked and switched to the left lane at their halt, a black armored jeep did not. Ochaco brought out her pistol to fire only for the jeep to crash directly onto the back of their car. Romanoff's gun was knocked out of her hand and landed by Izuku's feet.

"What the Hell was that?!" Mina exclaimed, annoyed and enraged at the black jeep and its driver.

"They must be other HYDRA agents, ones sent to help the Winter Soldier as backup," Itsuka reasoned.

The jeep pushed the car forward even while Sam stepped on the brakes to stop them. As they neared the assassin, the Winter Soldier expertly flipped over the car and grabbed the roof with his metal arm, his legs impacting and shattering the rearview glass. Sam slammed the brakes trying again to halt their movement and the jeep's push, while Ochaco dug around for her dropped gun.

"Impressive acrobatics," Snipe begrudgingly pointed out. "And without the rear window, it will make it easy for those guys in the jeep to fire at them."

The Winter Soldier got up on his knees, rearing his metal arm and slamming it through the windshield glass, grabbing and ripping off the car's wheel. "Shit!" Sam exclaimed.

"He removed the steering wheel!" Pony exclaimed, fearfully.

Black Widow fired on the assassin from inside the car, the Winter Soldier hopping from their car to the jeep, to which it backed away. While Sam's car drove aimlessly down the street, the jeep advanced and slammed the car from behind again, veering it to the side and crashing against the highway's concrete barriers.

Just as the car was about to flip, Cap grabbed his shield, placing it over himself and Romanoff, grabbing Sam with his other and pulling the Pararescue to him. "Hang on!" The captain exclaimed. As the car flipped, Rogers pushed the car door off, the three falling out with the car door and out the flipping car. They slid on the shield and car door as the jeep and the flipping car went by. Sam fell out of the three-way ride, rolling and tumbling to a halt further down the road behind Izuku and Ochaco, cars halting to a stop all around them.

"Shit," Izuku cursed. "Sorry, Tokoyami."

"It is fine, Midoriya," Tokoyami refused the unnecessary apology. "You saved my counterpart's life enough with that last-minute maneuver. I cannot fault you for my counterpart falling off in the end."

The jeep stopped, and an agent stepped off to hand the dismounting Winter Soldier a grenade launcher. Stalking a few feet, the HYDRA assassin aimed his weapon. Cap pushed Romanoff away as the Winter Soldier fired. The grenade exploded on the shield, the force launching both Izuku and the shield off the bridge while skidding off another car. Izuku's flying body crashed through a bus, frightening its passengers, and while the driver was distracted, a service vehicle crashed into the bus, flipping it over.

"IZUKU!" The students screamed, horrified.

Toshinori's teeth crunched together so hard that it was a wonder that they didn't break. His bony hand gripped the armrest of the couch like a lifeline. Bakugo wasn't any better, Ibara holding no complaints as her crush's grip on her hand became tighter and shakier.

Setsuna, Melissa, and Ochaco immediately seized upon Izuku's hands, while Eri and Kouta wrapped themselves around his legs, making the green-haired teen effectively trapped under their crushing embrace, not that he wasn't opposed to it.

The Winter Soldier stalked toward the remaining two on the bridge while HYDRA agents fired at the retreating Ochaco and Sam, hiding behind the stopped cars. Ochaco fired back behind her cover. Sam peeked to see the four-man firing squad still advancing and was forced to abandon his previous cover as the bullets reached his area. Ochaco tried firing back, but as the Winter Soldier aimed, Ochaco jumped over the barriers as the grenade destroyed the car she hid behind in flames.

"Shit, with Roger down in that bus, Romanoff and Wilson are outnumbered six to two and outgunned," Kyoka surmised. "The Winter Solder even has a grenade launcher to boot."

Ochaco dived and rolled over incoming cars while the bullets kept flying toward her. The Winter Soldier aimed and calculated her course. As she was behind a white car, the Winter Soldier fired. While the vehicle exploded in flames and was sent flying off the bridge, Ochaco had dived before it, aiming her wrist and firing a grappling wire onto the bridge, the claw attaching to the bridge's bottom, the Avenger swinging to safety below the bridge while the car exploded behind her.

"Phew, that was awesome, Ochaco, but too close," Nejire sighed in relief.

"It was also well-thought-out," Ryukyu pointed out. "Romanoff predicted that the Winter Soldier would fire at the car in front of her and reacted in a span of a few seconds with that maneuver. Any hesitancy for a second could have cost her life."

Ochaco smiled at the praise from her peers, as well as how much tighter Izuku's grip on her hand was.

Ditching the grenade launcher, the Winter Soldier switched targets, grabbing a rifle from one of the agents and turning to the opposite end of the bridge. The assassin aimed his gun over the area trying to find targets, if any. As Black Widow, pistols out, ran along the underpass, she spotted the shadow of the assassin. Seeing no Black Widow, the Winter Soldier directed his gaze to the bus Cap must have fallen into.

Just before he was about to fire, a gunshot fired. But not his own. The Winter Soldier's right lens was shot by Black Widow, the assassin ducking for cover as Romanoff continued firing.

"Nice," Miruko grinned. "Use the environment to your advantage and use the high ground and elevation against him."

Behind the cover, and his right lens cracked, the Winter Soldier tapped the side of his goggles. Instantly, the right lens popped out of the socket, his right dark grey eye visible. As the lens fell to the ground, the HYDRA assassin dug into one of his pockets, pulling out another red lens. With a last look at his glaring dark grey eyes, the Winter Soldier secured the lens where the previous one was, a hissing sound was made as the lens was secured.

Endeavor froze as he saw those grey eyes, even the flames around his body cutting out cold. He couldn't make them out before when the captain first confronted the assassin or when the latter met with Pierce. The dimness of the night, the shadows, his fiery red hair, and his eye paint made his eyes easy to miss. Now, in the clear light of day, his dark gray eye was easy to see and easy to familiarize.

The notion that popped into his mind was dismissed as soon as it came. 'No...No, that is impossible...preposterous,' Endeavor thought, repeatedly and with greater certainty, or denial. 'He's...he's gone. I saw it with my own eyes. It couldn't be him.'

And yet, Touya came to mind once more, the eeriness of how his counterpart looked to himself, how Touya would have looked had he lived normally, and how his form by the end of Iron Man 3 resembled too much like Dabi. The evidence was there clear as day for Touya...Endeavor prayed to every god imaginable that his gut was wrong.

Finally, the Winter Soldier got up and immediately fired where Ochaco was but found no one. He ducked for cover as the bullets struck the bridge, the Avenger switching to the service vehicle as her cover. The Winter Soldier fired in return, Ochaco ducking for cover, the Winter Soldier repeatedly firing till Ochaco was forced to retreat. Both the assassin and another HYDRA agent fired on Romanoff as she fled.

"[I have her. Find him,]" The Winter Soldier spoke in Russian.

Izuku and Todoroki stilled, eyes widening as they heard the Winter Soldier's voice. Even in the Russian dialect, the voice was still familiar. And yet, the answer was just out of the reach of their grasp, at the tip of their tongue, but they couldn't find it. Shaking their heads, the two continued to watch the film, yet couldn't shake the eerie dread in their guts.

Afterward, the HYDRA assassin jumped off the bridge, landing and smashing the roof of a car, before stalking for his prey.

"The Winter Soldier is clearly enhanced in some capacity," Cementoss muttered.

"You mean other than the metal arm?" Ectoplasm mentioned.

"More than that," Cementoss continued. "Even with a metal prosthetic, a regular human, trained or not, would have broken or gravely injured their legs from a fall from that height."

"Are you suggesting that he's some kind of Super Soldier in the same vein as Captain America?" Thirteen proposed.

"I'm uncertain if that is the case, but something in this man's body is more abnormal than just a metal arm," Cementoss replied.

The four HYDRA agents slammed metal hooks onto the cars behind them, the wires attached to them. Inside the bus, while people were securing people out, Izuku groggily got back.

"He's alright," Momo sighed with immense relief.

"Gotta love that Super Soldier serum," Kyoka smiled. "Comes in handy in times like this."

"You mean other than a hunky physique?" Mina teased, making Kyoka and Momo blush in response.

As the captain looked at the last person trying to get out, three of the four grappled down, guns aimed at the bus, while the fourth came down, but instead of a rifle, he had a minigun.

"IS THAT FUCKING MINIGUN?!" Kosei exclaimed.

The three opened fire on the bus, killing the unfortunate last civilian on the bus.

Izuku's fury roared at the man's death, the injustice of this innocent civilian dying in the crossfire of his counterpart's fight weighing guiltily on his soul, but what made it worse was that his counterpart was right there, feet away, and yet couldn't do anything to save a life that was within his reach.

Melissa grabbed him by the chin and stared seriously at him. "It is not your fault. Either of you," Melissa simply said, staring deep into him like she knew exactly what he was thinking. She didn't say anything more, but the fire in her eyes said everything she needed to.

Izuku sighed, knowing he wasn't going to get anywhere in convincing her otherwise. The green-haired teen nodded, and the blonde nodded back.

The minigun opened fire across the bus, attempting to cover the whole area.

"PAPA!/DEKU!" Eri and Kouta exclaimed in fright.

Rogers ran down as the minigun's bullets shredded the area just behind him. As he reached the end, Izuku crashed through the window, swiftly grabbing the shield on the ground. The captain raised the shield in front of him, blocking the hail of bullets.

"Oh, sweet Jesus," Nejire sighed, hand over her heart as she began to breathe steadily.

"I mean, not like I wanted to see otherwise, but it is kind of shocking he didn't get tagged with even one bullet from a freaking minigun," Sen shook his head in disbelief.

"The rounds that may have gotten him may have been stopped at some point by the bus," Rin shrugged, not looking a gift horse in the mouth.

Back atop the bridge, a fifth made to grapple down, while Sam snuck behind a car, knife in hand. Catching his target, Sam rushed at the unaware goon, slamming his foot on the back of the man's knee. A right hook stunned the man and dropped his gun, and a rising left slash with the knife cut the cord. A final spinning right kick from Sam sent the man screaming off the bridge. Wilson grabbed the goon's gun for himself.

"Impressive," Hawks nodded, grinning. "Slam his foot against the man's knee to leave him disoriented and out of balance, the right hook to the face to leave him stunned and drop the gun, and the knife slash to cut the cord so that the kick would leave him falling off the bridge with no safety. Tactical. Well done."

Edgeshot had to restrain himself from exclaiming his surprise at Hawks's tactical awareness and summarization, reminding himself that there was a reason why this man was ranked higher than even himself and it was not just because of popularity.

Bullets continued pelting ceaselessly on Izuku Rogers and his shield. With a swift shift of the shield, the bullets bounced off the shield and onto the two most leftward goons to Izuku. The minigun man resumed firing on him, the Symbol of Courage beginning to rush after the man shield first.

"I-Is he seriously rushing at a guy firing at him with a machine gun?!" Ojiro blinked multiple times to verify what he was seeing was actually happening.

Suppose Hatsume wasn't salivating at how badass Muscles's counterpart was. In that case, she was instead salivating at how amazingly strong his iconic shield was, the desire to replicate the blueprints F.R.I.D.A.Y. gave her and make her own Vibranium all that stronger.

One of the goons to Izuku's right tried to aim at his side only to get shot from above, which came from Sam Wilson providing cover fire. Sam fired over at the one last goon on the right before ducking for cover.

"Well done," Vlad King nodded. "While the shield may defend his front side, his sides would be left vulnerable while he focused on blocking the minigun. Wilson did well to cover for there."

Izuku smiled and nodded at Tokoyami, the latter nodding and smirking back, with Dark Shadow, as well, popping out to give a thumbs up.

The minigun rained a flood of bullets onto Captain America who continued running toward him, unimpeded, the bullets bouncing off the shield with a beautiful ringing. Reaching the car the minigunner was on top of, flipped over the goon, grabbing him by his collar and slamming on his back with enough force to shatter what little glass remained on the car and the man's consciousness.

Jaws dropped in unison across the group. Kirishima and Tetsutetsu had to be restrained by Sero's tape and Ibara's vines to keep them from tackling Midoriya and teaching them his 'ways of Manliness'. Eri and Kouta cheered like rabid fans, while the Sisterhood girls were as red as tomatoes, with Izuku almost gasping for breath at how hard Setsuna and Melissa were hugging him. Bakugo rolled his eyes while muttering "Showoff,' and Todoroki smirked and shrugged, seeing the scene as, in his words, "Something Midoriya would do."

Miruko couldn't stop the full-body shudder that she experienced, from the wagging of her tail to even her ears shooting up straight. 'Down blasted rabbit hormones!' Miruko berated her rabbit instincts.

Sam continued trading fire on one of the last goons. Izuku looked up to see Sam. "Go! I got this!" Sam called down. Trusting him, Izuku ran off after the Winter Soldier, while Sam and the goon fired at each other.

A responding police car was exploded by a grenade shot from the Winter Soldier's rifle. The Winter Soldier reloaded another shell as he continued stalking his prey.

Tsukauchi glared at the screen, angry that the car, and the officers it held, were so easily and quickly destroyed by this assassin, without even flinching.

Paying no heed to the screaming civilians, the sound of the world was numb to him as he focused on his target. Picking up the faint sounds of her voice, the Winter Soldier walked quietly while looking to his right.

"Oh no, he heard her!" Kinoko exclaimed, hiding her eyes behind her hands...and then peeked from between her fingers.

Stopping and making sure it was Romanoff, he crouched, removing a grenade from his belt. Softly rolling it, the grenade rolled under the white car he was behind and continued. "Taking fire above and below expressway. Civilian threatened. Repeat, civilians threatened," Romanoff's voice said, the fiery-haired assassin got back up, aiming his gun at where her voice was, behind the blue car by the curb.

Asui let out a worrying croak and grabbed hold of Ochaco's shoulders while Iida grabbed at Ochaco's other hand and Izuku tightened his hold on the one she already held.

The grenade stopped at the curb, the screen panning to find Ochaco's voice coming not from her, but a playback recording from a phone. "I make an LZ, 2300 block of Virginia Avenue." The recording of her voice said. "Rendezvous, two minutes."

"It was a recording!" Nejire cheered, elated.

"Ha! So much for a master assassin!" Bakugo mocked, flipping the Winter Soldier the bird. "You got played, you metal-armed chump!"

The grenade blew up the car and the recording, the light of the flames briefly making his left turquoise eye visible through the lens.

That mockery however likewise went up in flames as he spotted the eye beneath the visor. Bakugo froze as he realized, even under the red tint of the lens, that blue eye color he had only seen in three people, and adding up the fact that the other eye was shown to be gray, that list dropped down to only one person who had those mismatched eyes...Bakugo just didn't want to believe it.

Suddenly, Black Widow flew from behind and onto the Winter Soldier, kicking away his gun and grappling onto the man's shoulders. Bringing out a wire, the fellow Russian assassin attempted to wrap it around the Winter Soldier's neck, the latter's quick reflexes bringing his left hand up, partially blocking as he pressed it on his mask. Backing up to a car roughly, loosening Widow's attack from the impact, his left metal arm grabbed the Avenger and tossed her off him, Ochaco crashing onto a black car before falling to the ground.

"Shit!" Kirishima cursed, gripping the leather cushions of his couch harder.

The Winter Soldier grabbed and aimed his gun at Ochaco, but just as he pressed the trigger, Black Widow flung a stun disk. The disk landed on the HYDRA assassin's metal arm, the robotic appendage slacking limp the gun's bullet off course and fired off to nowhere. Electricity coursed throughout the metal limb while Ochaco ran off.

"Nice work," Power Loader nodded, smirking. "That kind of metal arm has to be running on some sort of battery or electricity and those Taser discs of hers could short out the arm."

Momo smiled, both relieved that Ochaco's counterpart managed to evade at the last second there, but also remembered how she made those Taser discs in her two-vs-two fight with Midoriya against Kaibara and Tetsutetsu. Momo made a note to perhaps write up some more gadgets for her to reproduce for her own arsenal, whether from Black Widow or any other person in these movies.

As the Avenger ran off, the Winter Soldier ripped the disk off his arm. Regaining feeling, the metal arm's fist clenched. With a swift roundabout stretch of his arm, the Winter Soldier made off after Romanoff again.

"Okay, kind of cool, but also kind of freaky," Tetsutetsu admitted, shivering in slight fear.

"Get out of the way!" Ochaco yelled toward civilians as she ran. "Stay out of the way!"

Black Widow continued running, looking back to try and see where the HYDRA assassin was. A gunshot sounded and Ochaco exclaimed, the bullet landing.

"NO!" Izuku and the students of Class 1-A exclaimed.

Ochaco's heart almost stopped, eyes widened, and jaw gaping. 'I-Is this how I die?' Ochaco thought morbidly.

Ochaco Romanoff hid behind the car, clutching at her shoulder as blood ran down her fingers. Ochaco looked frantically for the shooter but found nothing.

"Ribbit," Asui croaked again, her worry only increasing. Nejire hopped from her bean bag and onto the armrest of the couch, wrapping Ochaco in a hug while whimpering.

Iida made no objections to Nejire's action, which forced him to let go of Ochaco's hand, mostly because his hand was already trembling before proceeding to go full-on arm-chopping mode.

The music took a high pitch as the Winter Soldier jumped onto the car behind hers, aiming his gun at her.

Izuku's body was already beginning to rise, instinct taking over his body, his mind fully forgetting that it was a video detailing actions of another world. In Izuku's mind, all he saw was Ochaco Uraraka, the first girl he ever talked to, the first girl who ever treated him like a person, his best friend, a girl he loved, was about to be shot in front of him. He barely registered Aizawa's scarf around him or Setsuna and Melissa trying to pull him down as he raged to save her.

Ochaco's eyes widened further.

They turned to face each other. But before the assassin could fire, Izuku Rogers ran toward him.

"YES!" Eri and Kouta cheered, happy to see their Papa's/idol's counterpart rush in to save the day and save Mama/Uraraka.

Izuku blinked, registering his counterpart rushing in and, by proxy, calming him enough to sit back down.

Spotting him, the Winter Soldier switched targets. Izuku brought up his shield as the assassin launched a metallic left punch, the loud ringing echoing from the clash while Rogers grunted at the force.

Kyoka flinched back into her seat at the loud ringing that her ears experienced. It was almost like when Thor slammed Mjolnir onto the shield in The Avengers, the ringing sound almost melodic in its chime.

But while Jiro focused on the sound, others widened their eyes at the level of strength behind the Winter Soldier's arm and punch. Tetsutetsu reflexively morphed his left arm into steel, flexing his hand and wondering how it would feel to land a punch on the captain's shield.

The assassin smacked the shield away and dropkicked Izuku off the car, the former landing on his back on the car while the latter was on the street. The Winter Soldier raised the gun and fired; the bullets were blocked by a raised shield. The assassin rolled off the car while Cap rolled back to his feet. Pulling out a submachine gun, the HYDRA assassin fired as Rogers ran behind the car for cover. Running out of ammo, Cap sprang into action, vaulting over the car and kicking the gun out of the fiery-haired killer. The metal-armed assassin swiftly pulled out a pistol and fired at Izuku who blocked it all with the shield.

Shivers and goosebumps ran down the arms of students and adults alike as the fight progressed between the two near superhumans; some even squirmed and fidgeted in their seats with every new gun the assassin pulled out and every shot the shield blocked in succession.

All Might's mind experienced Deja vu as he remembered the fights he had seen of Crust against numerous bank robbers while blocking their bullets with his Shield Quirk.

Cap swiped the shield to bat the gun away and threw a right hook across the assassin's masked face. The Winter Soldier used his metal arm to block a jab from the shield while Rogers blocked the assassin's right punch. They both reared their right fists back, but the Winter Soldier was quicker, grabbing onto the side of the shield while Izuku tried to force his grip away. The Winter Soldier reared the shield right, forcing Izuku into a flip and grabbing it out of the Super Soldier's grasp. Cap launched a right hook that was blocked by his own shield, and while he tried for another, the Winter Soldier spun and launched a left metal hook square on Rogers's chest. Captain America flew onto his back, rolling himself upright, and looked up to see the Winter Soldier's masked gaze peering at him above the shield in his grasp.

"HEY! Get your admittingly cool metal arm off that shield, buster!" Mei raged. "That belongs to Captain Muscles, not you!"

"U-Uh, thanks, Mei," Izuku sweat dropped.

"You're welcome, Regular Muscles," Mei went a complete 180 and smiled at Midoriya.

Staring each other down, Izuku ran straight toward him. In response, the Winter Soldier threw the shield, Rogers sidestepping to avoid getting hit by the Vibranium discuss, the weapon embedding itself into the back of a van.

"Jesus!" Sero rolled his left arm, the same one the Cap pulled back before the shield hit. "With the strength, he'd almost have had his arm cut off."

"Sero, please, respectively, shut up," Momo said, her sickly-sweet smile holding back a well of worry that his comment wasn't helping.

"Sorry," Sero apologized.

The assassin brought out a knife, ready to attack the advancing Super Soldier. The Super Soldier and the Winter Soldier proceeded to smack, block, slash, avoid, and parry attack after attack, the two's speed, strength, and reflexes matching each other blow for blow, so fast that it was almost hard for the audience to keep track. The Winter Soldier flipped over his knife into a reverse grip in mid-air and attempted to stab Rogers only for Izuku to block and smack the limb away.

The fight went so fast and hard that it was hard for even the most studious and analytical of the students to catch up. Izuku's and Itsuka's eyes darted as fast as they could and even spared a retake in their heads to try and catch every movement between the two Super Soldiers. The two thought this would be valuable footage to implement if they ever were to fight against an opponent with a knife or blade-like Quirk.

Itsuka thought of Kamakiri and his Blade Quirk, but Izuku's thoughts turned instead to the Hero Killer: Stain. He shuddered to remember how out of his depth Iida was to face the man who crippled his brother, but it wasn't like he and Shoto were any better against the Villain either. Todoroki had a few knives tossed into his arm and almost lost an arm if Iida hadn't broken free of the Hero Killer's Quirk and kicked the blade away. But as for him, while Izuku had landed a few good hits, he had failed to dodge, or even notice, a tiny cut that the Hero Killer used for his Quirk. Maybe if he had this much awareness and hand-to-hand training, that wouldn't have happened, and he could have held out longer for Todoroki to show up and help more in the fight.

'Hopefully, this new training opportunity will fix that,' Izuku hoped, peeking over at Miruko, who was too invested in the fight to notice her new protege staring up at her. Izuku was still worried about this whole arrangement, especially regarding her trying to find out about Shimura, but he hoped that one of his favorite Heroes could help him reach a new level in his training.

As he saw Miruko grin wildly at the fight, old feelings welled up and felt himself blush, but Izuku pushed them aside for the time being and smiled.

Cap ducked another swipe before launching a right hook at the assassin, stunning him backward. The captain jumped and spun into a spin kick that had the assassin flying backward, his knife dropped, and onto the side of a car. The First Avenger sprinted, jumped, and sent a flying knee onto the metal-armed killer, slamming him back further into the car and smashing the glass.

"Damn, Greenie, keep wailing on him!" Setsuna cheered.

Izuku made a mental note to perhaps come up with a flying knee attack and a cool-sounding name for the move.

The Winter Soldier blocked the right hook with his metal arm and a left jab had the Super Soldier stunned back this time. The red-haired assassin threw a left hook, one Izuku grabbed hold of and judo-flipped him onto the ground.

"And the classic Midoriya judo-flip," Shinsou chuckled, smirking, while the students chuckled, as well.

"Come on, guys. I don't do that so often," Midoriya weakly defended himself.

"Dude, throughout our first year at U.A. here, you've almost judo-flipped every single one of his in a spar or exercise," Sato deadpanned at Izuku. "Even Shoji, which I still don't get how you managed that."

Izuku blushed, shrinking into his shirt.

The Winter Soldier got up quickly and grabbed onto Izuku's neck with his metal arm. Rogers tried to rip the arm off of him, mashing his teeth in exertion and pain as the assassin's grip tightened and brought his face closer to his masked one. Finally, the Winter Soldier pushed Cap away, the Super Soldier flipping over roughly over the car and on the ground. Jumping up onto the ground, the Winter Soldier jumped. Rogers rolled away as the Winter Soldier brought his metal fist down on him, the fist creating a crater in the pavement where his head was.

All Might flinched at the crater made by the Winter Soldier, thankful Izuku Rogers dodged before the horrifying image of his protege's face caved in became a reality.

"Come on Midobro, come on," Kirishima silently whispered, his clenched fists pumping repeatedly beside him as he cheered the Super Soldier on.

Spinning to a recovery, Cap readied against the advancing assassin, blocking a right punch with his right arm, and brought it up to block most of the left metal punch. A flurry of punches from the killer sent Rogers onto the side of another van. The Winter Soldier brought out another knife, kicking Izuku back onto the van's side, and brought the knife down. Rogers blocked the attack, his right wrist blocking the assassin's own, and his left palm on his wrist for added force. The Winter Soldier added his left hand to force the knife down, Cap weaving his head left to avoid the blade swiftly stabbing the van.

Nejire clasped her hands over her mouth to stop the squeak that came out when the knife embedded itself so close to Izuku's face.

Asui flinched, inching to cover Midoriya in her tongue in her way of comforting, but decided to not, mainly because Midoriya might find it gross.

The assassin pushed rightward, the two traveling along the van as the blade slashed through its side.

Momo clasped her hands together, mimicking Ibara in prayer, as she prayed herself for Izuku's safety.

Even Tokoyami looked unnerved, the avian-headed teen's teeth seen grinding down on each other while his fingers drummed on his arms, a drop of sweat rolling down his brow.

At the end of the van, Izuku ducked under the swipe, got behind the Winter Soldier, and wrapped his arms around his waist before performing a suplex.

Mina and Hagakure at this point just hugged each other, hanging onto each other like a lifeline as they simultaneously cheered and worried for their crush's counterpart.

Miruko grinned and silently pumped her fist at the awesome suplex, her rabbit-like feet thumping so fast and loud it was a wonder none of the people around her complained.

As the assassin rolled around to recover, Izuku flipped back up and ripped his shield off the van, the tense music picking up more as the fight progressed.

The same eerie and familiar music ramped up and drove Kyoka's whole being nuts, her outward mind tensing as the fight between her Green and the assassin progressed while her subconscious mind dug through anything it could to solve the mystery of the music's familiarity.

The music likewise messed with Todoroki, the left side of his face and arm itching like crazy and he didn't know.

Turning back to face HYDRA's prized killer, Rogers blocked a right downward stab, ducked another backhanded right slash, and stopped the arm from another downward stab. The Winter Soldier dropped the knife from his right hand to his metal left, but as Cap made to block a left slash, he was struck with a right punch that staggered him back.

'Dammit, Deku, stop falling for his tricks! Get this damn bastard!' Bakugo mentally raged/cheered for his rival's counterpart, Ibara doing her best to calm him down with her hands on his.

Ochaco's grip on Izuku's hand became a vice, trembling, as if she tried to pour her strength into the scarred hand, believing it might somehow translate to his counterpart.

Izuku jabbed his shield right to block a right kick and ducked under a left reverse-grip knife slash, before slamming his shield forward as the assassin made for a backhanded stab, the Vibranium shield jammed between the plates of the metal arm.

'He must have landed the shield perfectly within one of the folding plates of the arm, jamming it!' Melissa analyzed, squeezing Izu's arm tighter.

Setsuna was never as scared as she was for Izuku Rogers's safety, even against an alien invasion or laser-firing Nazis. Fear gripped her heart and tightened around her neck like a noose. She clung to Izuku's side, almost burying her face in the crook of his neck.

The two struggled against each other, before Rogers ripped the shield out, ducked it under the metal arm, and brought it sharply up, the shield's side smacking the Winter Soldier's face, smashing and breaking the goggles in two, almost in slow motion.

"YES! Get him!" Kouta cheered, his nervous energy lifting him from his bean bag, and continued cheering for Captain America.

"Please win, Pa-" Eri couldn't finish that sentence as in that moment when the goggles broke, she saw, for a brief glimpse, the left side of the Winter Soldier's face...and she was horrified.

Izuku spun around the stunned assassin, grabbed the man from his jaw and mask from behind, and flung him up and forward. As the assassin landed and rolled on the ground, both the split goggles and the mask came flying off the mysterious assassin as he rolled back up.

The group froze, the realization that the mask that long shrouded the assassin's face was removed. A quiet tension nagged at them, trepidation eating at their patience and nerves.

Izuku Rogers tensed as he registered the act, the assassin's back to him.

Everything went silent as if the world lost all sound and voice, the Winter Soldier turned around, facing the Super Soldier...and what face Captain America saw was Shoto 'Bucky' Barnes.

...

...

...

A dead silence rolled out among the group, sound itself seemingly dying to them as no voice, peep, or sound could be heard among any of them. They might as well be frozen statues, their horrified, shocked, confused faces petrified in time.

Endeavor's jaw dropped and his flames went out cold.

All Might's arms fell slack by his side and the skeleton of a man looked even more lifeless.

Aizawa's eyes never looked more expressive and shocked than they did now.

But none were worse than Izuku and Shoto.

Izuku felt every breath in his body leave him, his chest bursting with so much emotion he could hardly stomach it. Shock, joy, confusion, elation, anger, pain, it all bubbled within him but not so much as a choking gasp came out his agape mouth. Tears welled up in Izuku's eyes as the startling realization began to sink in.

Shoto...he was at a loss. He didn't know what to feel, think, say, or do. His mind was empty of rational thought. All he could do was let his body take over, and all it did was stare wide-eyed and mouth agape like a retarded fish.

There were differences. His long hair was colored fiery red, his left eye was turquoise blue, and a red burn scar was over the left side of his face. But the whiskers on his slightly shaved jaw, and a lock of hair, were snow white, the right eye was still dark grey, and the features and details of his face were all Shoto. All Bucky.

"Shoto?" Izuku finally spoke, and it was the reset button everybody needed to snap to attention.

The music returned eerily as Izuku Rogers gazed shocked, confused, and horrified at the revelation. "Bucky?" Rogers questioned.

"WWWWWHHHHHHAAAAAAATTTTTTT?!" The whole group exclaimed so loud that the students in the other dorms could hear them.

"W-W-W-W-Whaa?!" Kaminari stuttered to say, his brain short-circuiting under the massive revelation.

"T-This can be real, right? It's not possible, right, guys? Right?!" Mineta asked repeatedly, each time more desperate and horrified.

"I-I can't believe this," Momo's hands clasped over her mouth, tears welling up in her eyes. "It's not possible! H-He died! We all saw it happen!"

"B-But that's him, alright," Pony muttered, her doe-like eyes wide and wet like freshly washed dinner plates, her body spasming in full-body hiccups.

"His face, his eyes, his voice, i-it's all Todoroki," Ochaco declared, horror and shock welling up her entire being.

Endeavor fell to his knees, his chair knocked over with a loud clang. His haunted face stared gaping at his son's counterpart, back from the dead, alive, even as his wailing screams rang in his head and his body fell from that train over and over. He should feel relief, he should feel overwhelming joy that his son didn't die in another world as he so loathed to have seen and accepted...but then, what was he doing as the Winter Soldier?

Instantly, Melissa and Setsuna felt a breeze and realized they were holding empty space between them. They looked behind them to see that Izuku had defied physics, wormed his way out of their tight grasp, and hopped over the couch and hugged Todoroki. More so than that, he wasn't alone. Joining Izuku in the bear-like hug was none other than Eri.

Father and daughter cried rivers of tears, the final emotion that the two settled on being pain as they hug desperately their friend and surrogate uncle respectively, the only sound out of their mouths being choking gasps and wailing cries. Todoroki froze again for a moment, his social ineptitude holding him back before he pulled himself together and hugged the two back, doing his best to calm down his best friend and surrogate niece.

It pained the group to see Izuku brought so low and yet warmed their hearts to see how fiercely he cared for Shoto and how he felt the same for all of them, in his own ways. Soon after, the three-way hug was joined by more and more people. Pony, Momo, Ochaco, Iida, Nejire, even Mineta. At some point, it became more of a cuddle pile than a group hug, full of tears and joy at the fact that their classmate and friend's counterpart wasn't dead.

Unfortunately, no good thing lasts forever, and someone had to break the ice.

"Alright, alright, it's nice and all that Icy Hot is alive and shit," The group turned to look at the glaring blonde. "But have you idiots forgotten everything that happened before?"

As rude and blunt as it was, Bakugo's words did strike a chord of remembrance with the group, of every action, of every deed that the Shoto 'Bucky' Barnes, the Winter Soldier, had done. And F.R.I.D.A.Y. gave them no time to wait as she continued the movie.

"Who the Hell is Bucky?" Barnes inquired back, confusion in the Winter Soldier's eyes. The Winter Soldier fully faced his target and pointed a gun at him.

"Wait!" Izuku exclaimed, trying to reach out for the man to stop.

The roar of jet engines sounded as Falcon came from above, kicking the Winter Soldier onto the ground before landing.

"Oh, thank God," Ibara sighed, worried that she was about to see a friend shoot a friend just after a tearful moment for all of them.

"But wait, what's wrong with him?!" Mina exclaimed, reality sinking in at what was happening. "He's been the Winter Soldier ALL ALONG?! And why is he shooting at Midori?!"

"I-I don't...know," Momo's eyes darted around aimlessly, trying to figure out a logical explanation for this madness.

The brainwashed assassin got up, gazing right at Izuku, still looking at him with complete bewilderment. His eyes shifting momentarily, the Winter Soldier aimed at him again only to dive away at the sound of a hurling object. Izuku ducked as a grenade flew over him and struck the area where Bucky was, consuming the place in flames. Ochaco Romanoff was shown with the Winter Soldier's rifle, leaning on a car when she launched the grenade.

"D-Did you just fire a grenade launcher at Todoroki?" Hagakure questioned Ochaco, blinking her astounded eyes repeatedly. (Even if no one could see)

"I-I mean-I-um-what?" Ochaco sputtered for a response both to Hagakure's question and to the universe for what craziness she was suddenly thrown into.

Todoroki looked horror-stricken, but not at the knowledge that Uraraka fired a grenade launcher at his counterpart, but that every horrible thing that the Winter Soldier had done was now finally crashing down onto his guilty conscious.

Flames and ice began to spread along his arms.

Pony noticed and her eyes widened. "SHOTO!" Pony exclaimed.

Suddenly, the flames and ice were cut off and Todoroki's body was sent flying up, dragged into the air by a certain scarf wrapped around his body.

"Todoroki!" Momo exclaimed in fright at the sudden action.

Shoto landed on his butt on the top section right at Aizawa's feet, the 1-A teacher's face shrouded in shadow.

"Eraserhead!" Endeavor sprung to his feet, his flames reignited and burning hot. "What is the meaning of this?!"

He was cut off by a simple 'talk to the hand' gesture from the insomniac teacher. Endeavor was stunned at the brazen gesture before he noticed finally how his son looked and blinked in horror.

Shoto Todoroki looked like he had woken from a nightmare, his whole body covered in sweat, tears running down his cheeks, his breath in sharp and quickening gasps, his eyes were wide and horrified. Endeavor froze as that face was a wrecking ball to his heart and mind. It was the same look of fear and madness that Rei had the last time he ever saw her. It nearly made the man throw up.

But Endeavor also noticed that Eraser's hair was stuck up and his eyes were glowing red, showing that he was using his Quirk. Looking back at Shoto, he noticed his son's right arm was extra wet as melted ice ran down his arm. In Shoto's breakdown, his Quirk was activating, and Aizawa ceased it.

The homeroom teacher of Class 1-A took a knee and looked closely at his student, at the horror in the teen's face. Aizawa's heart ached, and his eyes flinched but didn't close. 'He must be realizing all his counterpart's actions as the Winter Soldier,' Aizawa deduced. 'The death of Stark's parents, being HYDRA's assassin...me. He's blaming himself for it all. I can't have that.'

"Shoto," Aizawa's voice cut loud and clear enough for Shoto's mad eyes to gain clarity, and stared up at his teacher's eyes. Instead of the angry, hateful eyes the red-and-white-haired teen expected, they were hard, sad, and understanding.

"S-Sensei?" Todoroki asked.

"I know what you must be feeling. Even worse, I know what you are thinking," Aizawa said. "But it's not true. It's not rational. You are not at fault for the actions of your counterpart, and we do not even know the how or the why of this situation. It is clear that much is still a mystery of what became of your counterpart but the most logical and clear answer we know is that This Isn't Your Fault. Now, please, get a hold of yourself. If not for yourself, or me, but for your classmates, your friends, for Eri. They are all worried about you and are there for you. No matter what. Understand?"

Shoto was silent, his eyes and head downcast, but it was clear from how his shoulders slumped that the worst was over. Aizawa sighed deeply, closing his eyes and shutting down his Quirk. His scarf untangled itself from Todoroki and he slumped further, yet his Quirk didn't come out again.

Aizawa stepped aside and allowed the students to embrace their classmate and friend again and take him back to his seat. Endeavor looked like he wanted to say something, do something in response, to comfort his son as well, but the visage of his mother replaced him for a moment and stayed the Number 1 Hero's hand. Tightening it, he let it fall to his side and went back to his chair, unknowing and uncaring of the looks Hawks, Aizawa, or Nezu gave him.

"Um, Nezu, sir, I don't want to sound like a broken record here but are you sure we should even move on?" Mic asked the serious question, gesturing to the emotional toll that the recent revelation brought onto the students and adults alike.

"I understand your concerns, Yamada, really, I do," Nezu raised a hand toward the Voice Hero. "A part of me hates myself for saying too, but we must push on to understand the truth of this revelation. I do hope that there is an explanation, right, F.R.I.D.A.Y.?"

F.R.I.D.A.Y. said nothing of the accusatory, hard voice of the U.A. principal, it was an understandable reaction all things considered. "Yes, there is," F.R.I.D.A.Y. simply said.

Nezu nodded and looked to the other adults in the room, his black-eyed stare glaring down any resistance to moving on with the movie. "Then let us proceed, shall we?" Nezu replied.

And so F.R.I.D.A.Y. did, and as the A.I. continued the movie, just as the students finished wrapping a blanket around Shoto and calming him down enough to continue, Izuku stared at the screen blankly. All the emotion that once peppered his face was gone now, used up within all the insanity that had followed the revelation of Shoto 'Bucky' Barnes as the Winter Soldier, and now all that was left was a burning, glaring determination on his face, and a single question on his mind.

'What happened to my friend?'

Izuku turned back to see what became of his secretly alive friend, but as the smoke cleared the Winter Soldier had vanished.

"He's gone," Pony whimpered, sitting on the armrest of the couch and hugging Todoroki, to which the scarred teen appreciated.

"He must have used the explosion to escape," Itsuka answered.

"Dammit," Bakugo growled, his unoccupied fist, clenched tightly and trembling.

Sirens blared as a squad of armored vans came down the street and surrounded the three heroes. Pouring out from the vans were S.T.R.I.K.E. agents. "Drop the shield, Cap!" Rumlow aimed his pistol at Cap, leading the agents. "Get on your knees!"

"Dang it! It's this guy again!" Kaminari whined. "I thought it was going to be the actual police."

"Even if it was, given the destruction and carnage that ensued and the captain wanted by S.H.I.E.L.D., we would still be arrested nonetheless," Tokoyami replied.

"Get on your knees! Down!" Rumlow kept yelling as they were surrounded, all three raising their arms, dropping their respective weaponry, and were forced onto their knees and demanded.

A S.T.R.I.K.E. agent aimed his gun right behind Izuku's head, but Rumlow looked up to see a news helicopter overlooking them all. "Put the gun down," Rumlow ordered. "Not here. Not here!" The S.T.R.I.K.E. agent complied, stepping away and lowering his firearm.

"Wait, they're not going to kill him?" Death Arms raised an eyebrow. "Not like I want to tell a group of terrorists how to do their job, but you would think they get rid of their biggest threat as soon as they can."

"Despite his wanted status from S.H.I.E.L.D., Captain America remains an icon to the nation," David Shield answered. "Executing him in the middle of the street, in Washington D.C. no less, would be unwise for people who want to appear like the good guys."

Sam and Ochaco were grabbed and taken away, but even while Izuku was cuffed, his face could only look haunted at the terrible revelation that his long-dead friend was alive and a HYDRA assassin. But an even worse feeling rang throughout his heart and mind.

"Izuku," Setsuna breathed, looking at her version, and saw that he wasn't doing any better.

"He's in distress," Momo sympathized. "His best friend he long believed dead because of his actions is truly alive and has been attacking him all along."

"It was him," Cap confirmed to Ochaco and Sam, the three of them guarded inside a S.T.R.I.K.E. van. While Ochaco and Sam were cuffed, Rogers's were larger, wider, and denser for the Super Soldier. "He looked right at me like he didn't even know me."

"That's the big question," Kyoka nodded. "He didn't even seem to know who Cap was, let alone his own name."

Izuku straightened up, eyes widening as he pointed at Jiro. "That's it!" Izuku exclaimed.

"What's it?" Kyoka blinked, surprised at the sudden exclamation from Izuku.

"He didn't know his own name," Izuku repeated her words. "Todoroki-I mean Barnes-didn't seem to know anything about me, himself, or anything, like he was a blank slate to be controlled."

"Amnesia?" Melissa questioned.

"Maybe but given how he has supposedly been HYDRA's hit man over the years, he may even been brainwashed to follow their orders," Izuku answered.

Todoroki felt even more sick than before. While the knowledge that his counterpart may have done all his acts without his full consent should have made the weight currently on his shoulders easier, it did the opposite. He remembered how he fought against his father and his desired path for him to succeed him and surpass All Might for so long. Every action he took, no matter how cruel, callus, or brutal it was toward his classmates, he did it believing he was doing it for his mother and siblings, doing it to stick it to his old man, to keep himself from being brainwashed by Endeavor's dogma. Ironically, enough though, in a way, he more or less brainwashed himself instead.

"How is that even possible?" Wilson questioned, his wing pack removed and cuffed. "It was, like, 70 years ago."

"That is true," Itsuka rubbed her chin. "Even if Bucky has been the Winter Soldier this whole time, how can that explain why he still looks relatively the same as he did in the 1940s?"

"That red hair the same he had back then, class rep?" Rin pointed out.

"It might very well be dyed red to mask his identity," Jurota answered on his class rep's behalf. "Platinum white hair is very rare to come by. Redheads less so."

"We're getting off track though," Sen interrupted. "How does a man stay active across 50 years as a possibly brainwashed assassin and yet look the same as he did in the 1940s?"

"Garaki," Izuku figured, Ochaco looking at him. "Bucky's whole unit was captured in '43. Garaki experimented on him. Whatever he did helped Bucky survive the fall." Izuku raised his horrified eyes and he realized more of the truth and facts. "They must have found him and-"

Momo's eyes widened in disbelief before facepalming. "Of course! When Rogers found him in that factory, the other soldiers said that no one that went with Garaki for those experiments ever come back," Momo remembered Falsworth's words. "I always assumed that it was simply to test the power of the Tesseract."

"Perhaps Garaki was trying to replicate the Super Soldier Serum and made a somewhat successful copy with Barnes," Melissa muttered. "We couldn't have seen or known about the effects, but it could have been enough for Barnes to survive the fall from the train."

"And then, if Bucky was alive this whole time, he must have been found by HYDRA's remnants, and when Garaki was recruited by the U.S. in Operation Paperclip, Garaki must have gotten access to Bucky again and continued experimenting on him to reproduce a Super Soldier of his own," Setsuna jumped in.

Izuku's head fell onto his hands. "He survived," He muttered miserably. "All this time, he survived, he was out there, suffering, and I didn't know, I didn't try to find him, I-"

"None of that's your fault, Izuku," Ochaco cut him off before he could say more.

"What she said," Ochaco removed Izuku's hands from his face, kneeling before him and forcing his eyes to meet hers. "You couldn't have known. What happened to him, what HYDRA did to him, none of it is your fault, you or Rogers."

"She's right," Todoroki stepped in, placing a hand on Izuku's shoulder. "You did your best to save me back on that train, and we all agreed that what happened was nothing but an accident. The same is true here. Nothing about this is either of our faults. The world is just cruel."

Izuku's eyes drifted down toward nothing but nodded. Ochaco and Todoroki still looked worried, but each gave a final squeeze of comfort before going back to their seats. They were replaced by Eri who hopped up into her Papa's lap and hugged him. Izuku accepted it gladly, but his eyes still looked cold and depressed.

Rogers looked away, her words falling on deaf ears. "Even when I had nothing, I had Bucky," Rogers continued.

The girls all wanted to coo at the sweet words from Rogers but thankfully kept their squeals to themselves.

Romanoff leaned her head back, her face grimacing. Sam noticed and looked at her bloodied jacket and the bullet hole. "We need to get a doctor here," Sam advised toward their two, masked guards. "If we don't put pressure on that wound, she's gonna bleed out here in the truck."

"Oh shit! I almost forgot about that!" Hagakure exclaimed.

"It's alright," Ochaco eased the guilty Hagakure. "It's understandable that all of us would forget g-given the...circumstances."

The one closest to him raised a taser rod threateningly at him, shutting him up...and then the guard twirled the rod into a backhand grip and slammed it onto her fellow guard, tasing him instead. A swift kick to the head and the second guard fell to the floor, unconscious.

"Say what?!" Mina exclaimed, astonished.

The three looked at the first guard perplexed. The guard took off her helmet to reveal herself as Agent Nemuri Kayama.

"Miss Midnight?!" The students exclaimed.

Midnight blinked at her counterpart's sudden appearance as the guard.

"Ah. That thing was squeezing my brain," Kayama complained, brushing some hair off her face. Looking at Sam, she looked at Izuku. "Who is this guy?"

"Well, that was a surprise, but a welcome one," Kaminari unknowingly memed.

"Actually, where has she been all this time?" Mount Lady questioned. "I mean, her boss was murdered by...by HYDRA but the last we saw her was in the hospital with Aizawa's body. I would think that she would like to know who took down her boss more than anyone." Mount Lady stumbled a bit in her words as she attempted to direct the blame of Aizawa's death on HYDRA rather than the assassin whose identity they all knew, and whose counterpart still flinched at the mention.

Midnight agreed with her rival. She did find it rather strange that despite her mentioning and appearance in the hospital earlier in the video, she suddenly vanished soon afterward. She could tell that she was close to Aizawa in this world too, not romantically, but that the two had a friendship and trust with each other that extended past the normal boundaries of a boss and his subordinate. It was easy to see in the sadness and tears she displayed at Aizawa's death. And yet despite her counterpart being a capable agent and close to her boss, she was never reached out to by either Romanoff or Rogers for aid nor seen looking for answers to Aizawa's killer.

"Well, whatever the case, thanks for the save, Miss Midnight," Ochaco cheerfully redirected the conversation to a more cheerful place.

"Don't mention it, Uraraka," Midnight smiled motherly toward the gravity girl.

The vans drove down an empty alleyway, rolling up and stopping inside a leaky tunnel. Rumlow and his agents stepped out of the cars. "Three holes. Start digging," Rumlow ordered, making their way to the van that housed the captured heroes, guns raised.

"They're planning to execute the three of them and hide their bodies," Edgeshot grumbled. "A way to deal with them without rousing suspicion with the sudden deaths of two Avengers and a military veteran."

"Thanks for pointing out the obvious, Ninja Boy," Hawks teased to Edgeshot's glare.

They reached the van, Rumlow nodding to the agent to open the door. But as it opened and they raised their gun, ready to fire, Rumlow and his agents only found an unconscious agent and a burnt hole in the van's floor, the three heroes, their gear, and Kayama gone.

"And poof, they're gone!" Awase dramatically exclaimed.

"Huh, much like Aizawa escaped from Todoroki the first time," Sen cringed as he registered his own words. "S-Sorry."

"Don't mention it," Todoroki shrugged, the pain getting easier but still hard on him.

Kayama opened the door of her van allowing Sam, Izuku, and Ochaco, the last of which was aided by Rogers out and toward the entrance of a dam. The four made their way down a tunnel where another man ran down to them. "GSW. She's lost at least a pint," Kayama called out.

"Maybe two," Wilson added.

"Let me take her," The doctor yelled out.

"Oh, thank God, they have a doctor," Momo sighed, relieved.

"She'll want to see him first," Nemuri replied. Izuku and Ochaco looked at her, confused as to who the agent referred to.

"Him?" Kyoka raised an eyebrow.

They would receive their answer when Kayama pulled back the curtains in a room, the three staring in shock at the hospital bed's owner: Shouta Aizawa, alive.

"HUH?!" The group all exclaimed in sheer shock.

"About damn time," Aizawa noticed and addressed them.

"H-H-He's ALIVE?!" Mineta exclaimed, eyes comically wide and pointed toward the screen like they were trying to pop out of their sockets. "TOO?!"

"Well, okay, first Garaki's alive, albeit from a machine, then Todoroki's alive as a metal-armed, brainwashed assassin, I assume, and now Aizawa is alive, too?" Sero threw his arms up in disbelief. "What's next? Red Skull coming back from space in a pillar of light?!"

"Don't jinx it," Shoji muttered.

Despite the disbelief and jokes, the students of Class 1-A felt relieved to see their teacher's counterpart return to the land of the living. Some of the girls had to brush away tears at their joy while most of the guys just smiled wide or sighed. Izuku, Ochaco, and Shinsou all felt like a mountain of guilt and grief was lifted from their shoulders

Todoroki's eyes were the widest, his jaw dropped to the floor. He looked up to see Aizawa, being tearfully, and comically hugged by Present Mic and Midnight, to the man's grumbling, silent dismay. The 1-A homeroom teacher did spot his student's gaze and gave a small smile and nod, silently telling him that he did not need that guilt that ate at him anymore. Todoroki gave a small smile of his own back, finding the weight on his heart lifting, yet still present.

"Lacerated spinal column, cracked sternum, shattered collarbone, perforated liver, and one hell of a headache," Aizawa listed off his injuries while the doctor tended to Romanoff, pumping blood into her shoulder.

"Don't forget your collapsed lung," The doctor pointed out.

"Oh, let's not forget that," Aizawa agreed, sassily. "Otherwise, I'm good."

"Oh, yes, good, that's the perfect words to describe his condition," Recovery Girl grumbled. "He's lucky to still be breathing."

"But breathing he still is, and that's what matters," Toshinori pointed out, smiling at his colleague's survival.

"Rich coming from you, Thin Might" Recovery Girl poked at him with her cane. "Never have I seen a man who was half dead than you and your missing stomach and destroyed respiratory system."

"They cut you open," Ochaco brought up, still confused. "Your heart stopped."

"Tetrodotoxin B. Slows the pulse to one beat a minute," Aizawa revealed. "Banner developed it for stress. Didn't work so great for him, but we found a use for it."

"I'm guessing that since Banner made it, it doesn't in fact exist here, huh?" Sato asked.

"Actually, it is a real neurotoxin," Momo nodded, diving into her vast knowledge of chemistry. "Tetrodotoxin is a real neurotoxin, mainly found in ovaries and livers of fish, that could cause paralysis. In real life, it is a sodium channel blocker that inhibits the firing of certain neurons, preventing the nervous system from carrying messages thus preventing the contracting of muscles in response to stimulation."

"If my counterpart were to create a version of this neurotoxin, it was probably done to prevent the stress needed for him to transform into the Hulk," Jurota jumped in, looking at his own hands as if wondering if the neurotoxin might have a more successful effect on himself and his Quirk.

"Why all the secrecy?" Rogers questioned the secretly alive Director. "Why not just tell us?"

"Any attempt on the Director's life had to look successful," Kayama answered.

"Is that why she wasn't around this whole time?" Mount Lady asked F.R.I.D.A.Y., pointing her figure at Midnight's counterpart.

"Affirmative," F.R.I.D.A.Y. confirmed. "After faking his death, Agent Kayama would take Aizawa into this hiding place and host a faux funeral to fool HYDRA."

"Damn, way to pull one over on all of us, Kayama," Miruko grinned.

Midnight nodded, smiling, though most of that smile and relief on her face was the bliss that came with Aizawa's survival. She almost felt silly for how she reacted when Aizawa seemed to have died. A squeeze on her hand turned the teacher's attention to Ryukyu, who she, Miruko, and Mount Lady gave her smiles with steel looks in their eyes. They knew what she was thinking, and they were silently telling her that her feelings and reactions were not silly or to be light of. The R-rated hero blinked away a swell of tears and nodded more convincingly that she believed them, grateful for the friends she made in her line of work.

"Can't kill you if you're already dead," Aizawa simplified. "Besides, I wasn't sure who to trust."

Romanoff blinked her eyes, slightly hurt at his words.

"Ochaco?" Asui looked at her best friend, curious about her reaction to those words.

"It's fine, Tsu, really," Ochaco shook her head, a sad smile on her face. "I understand where Mr.-Director Aizawa is coming from. It was a smart and rational move to only trust those he was 100% sure of."

Aizawa frowned. While Ochaco's words were kind and understanding, the U.A. teacher could see the sadness on her face, the look of hurt that she was not among those his counterpart counted among his trusted, despite all she did for him. Aizawa's gaze looked off to nowhere in particular, turning to his thoughts, contemplatively.

Underneath a building in D.C., S.T.R.I.K.E. agents stood guard while HYDRA scientists looked over the now-alive Bucky Barnes.

"Oh boy, here we go," Sero muttered, he, and the rest of the group, bracing for whatever tragedy was about to ensue.

The Winter Soldier was shirtless, revealing his muscled body, his intact right arm, and where the left metal limb attached to his flesh. His wet body showed evidence of cleaning, further supported by some of the red locks of his hair returning to white. The doctors worked on the damage to the metal arm, sealing up the hole while Bucky stared aimlessly and robotically into nothing.

Todoroki flinched as he looked at his left arm. For so long, he had hated this side of himself, literally gazing at his own flesh and blood like it was an infection because of what it represented. His red hair, his turquoise eye, and his Quirk, to him, the side all represented the father he hated, the father who beat and mentally tortured his mother, scared his siblings, the reason for Touya's death, and the Quirk he passed down onto him. It was the side that he remembered his mother saying she couldn't stand the sight of before she poured boiling water down his face, forever scarring him.

It was only until recently that he no longer attributed his left side as a curse to which to hate, but as a part of himself that made him who he was, how his Quirk was his own and belonged to no one. And all it took was for his now-best friend to scar his own hand, break his bones repeatedly, and remind him of his mother's supportive, kind words.

Now, seeing himself as he was now, his left arm lost and replaced with cold metal, it felt like a cruel bit of irony from the world to Todoroki. 'I hated my left side for so long. Now, the universe took it away here. How ironic,' Todoroki thought to himself. He wondered to himself, if this was the intention of some twist of fate or some working of some higher power, was this was supposed to be an act of charity or mockery.

"Sergeant Barnes," Bucky's mind projected memories of Arnim Garaki in the flesh.

Izuku had only recently come to terms that he could truly hate someone; a painful, if not hilariously late realization. Now, Izuku accepted that if there was one person that he might hate the most in this world it was that man. 'Garaki,' Izuku growled inside. Memories of all the painful and cruel actions of Dr Garaki came to the forefront of his mind. Transforming his own grandson into a Nomu, how the boy inside the monster pleaded for his help, his counterpart the reason why Shoto Barnes had died, or at least he thought he had died, rebuilding HYDRA inside of S.H.I.E.L.D. and corrupting that which Setsuna Carter worked so hard to create, and now knowing that he experimented on his friend, kept him alive and in secret, and turned him into a brainwashed assassin for his and HYDRA's whims.

Izuku could say with a clear and sound mind that he hated Dr. Garaki and if he were to ever find the man that began the ruin of his childhood since that doctor visit...he didn't know what he would do, but Izuku knew it wasn't going to be pretty.

While real-life Bucky spasmed and shifted, his mind took him back to the train. "Bucky, no!" A memory of Izuku Rogers yelling to him by the side of the train showed before switching to Bucky's memory of falling off and into the snowy ground below.

Izuku had to look away, blinking his eyes repeatedly to keep the tears of pain from rising again. Setsuna wrapped her arms around him again, giving him all the comfort she could.

Todoroki flinched as he saw his counterpart's point of view as he fell from the train. It was one thing to see it happen, it's another to see it from the man's own eyes.

He heard whimpering by his side and saw that Pony was crying again. Todoroki was taken aback by how much emotion was on her face, how deep and true it was, he felt honored, if not slightly embarrassed. He wondered how Camie would react if she was here. Todoroki flinched as quickly as the image of Camie's crying face came to him. No, if he had it his way, Camie would never be subjected to that kind of pain, he cared for her too much to see that happen. It was only too bad that he couldn't do the same for Pony.

Todoroki blinked in surprise. 'I-I truly do care for her,' Todoroki thought. It sounded stupid and obvious to think it out loud to himself, but the realization hit him like a truck, just how much he cared for this sweet girl he had known for so little time. Just as much as he did for his girlfriend.

Todoroki resolved that when this was over, he needed to talk with them, both of them. But for now...Todoroki offered his right hand to Tsunotori, and she took it with no hesitation. It brought a red blush to his cheeks, and he felt how tight and warm her hands were.

"The procedure has already started," Garaki's words ran through the assassin's head, memories of being found by HYDRA and dragged through the snow, his left arm a bloody stump as it trailed a path of blood in the white snow. Shoto spasmed again as he remembered being on an operating table, HYDRA doctors removing more of what remained of his left arm and replacing it with his metallic limb.

"This must be how they found and operated on him. How horrible," Ibara muttered, disgusted.

Bakugo looked down, his angry eyes losing a bit of their fire. He knew in the back of his mind that everything that the Winter Soldier did, what Todoroki did, wasn't his fault, neither version of him. And yet constantly, his mind wandered back to Garaki's revelations, how among the list of the Winter Soldier's victims were his parents, how so easily it changed to imagine his parents at the mercy of that metal fist. It fueled a well of hatred and rage, but every time he tried to place a face to blame, he saw the Winter Soldier's cold face, Todoroki's face.

It was for this reason that, for all this time, he couldn't look at Shoto Todoroki. Over and over, he reminded himself that he wasn't at fault, that he was already feeling guilty enough as it is, but...but Bakugo couldn't. He couldn't explain it, or justify it, he just couldn't.

"You are to be the next fist of HYDRA," Bucky remembered staring at his mismatched hands, before a doctor came to check on him...and ended up with a metal hand choking the life out of him. He remembered being held down and injected with something, faintly hearing someone call out to "Put him on ice." Bucky saw Garaki's face, smiling down on him, reawakening in a pod and placing his hand against the metal door before he was put in cryostasis.

'As if the irony wasn't already bad enough,' Todoroki bitterly thought.

"So, that's how Bucky was able to be the Winter Soldier for so long yet not age at all," Momo gasped.

"Guess Green wasn't the only one who spent time as a popsicle," Kyoka muttered.

The Winter Soldier lashed out, swinging his metal arm and sending the doctor attending to it flying back, the other backing away and the S.T.R.I.K.E. agents aiming their guns at their panting, unstable weapon.

"His memories must be conflicting with his programming," Tiger growled, hating every second of this. "The real Barnes is in there trying to break free."

That notion gave light to a fire of hope inside Izuku, that his best friend was still in there, fighting; he just needed a helping hand.

Pierce walked in, with Rumlow behind him, while one of the doctors made to stop the secretary. "Sir, he's unstable," The doctor tried to reason. "Erratic."

The arrival of HYDRA's leader brought frowns and glares from the group to the man. Hawks glared at the Re-Destro's counterpart, the dark, underground area doing no favors for him in remembering the underground corridors and layout of the PLF's headquarters in the Gunga Mountains.

Pierce and Rumlow continued onward, undeterred, the metal gate blocking off the room opened to allow them, and the doctors, entry. Pierce found the sight of STRIKE agents aiming at Shoto 'Bucky' Barnes, who simply stood in his chair, panting. Pierce wordlessly ordered them to lower their weapons and so they did. The head of HYDRA, Rumlow, his S.T.R.I.K.E. agents, and the doctors all faced the Winter Soldier.

"Mission report," Pierce ordered.

Shoto didn't reply, his mismatched eyes staring off at nothing, almost half of his white returned while the left side remained red, as well as the scar.

Endeavor wanted to hurl. The man in front of him looked so much like his son, only older, that it was frightening. Surprisingly though, it wasn't the metal arm that disturbed Endeavor the most, it was the features that made Shoto his son. The red hair, the blue eye, it was bits of himself in his youngest son, but here, it was so alien to him. The red Todoroki red was but hair eye that looked more like his white hair was tainted in blood, the blue eye, he could only fathom was a result of his fall or whatever godless experiment Garaki did to him. And the scar, the ultimate symbol of his failings as a father and husband was now a simple scar, and yet it felt just as, if not more mocking and painful to see than the original.

'In this world, before, he looked more like his mother. Now, he looks more like me like this,' Endeavor thought it was the ultimate slap in the face, that all that connected Shoto to him was now a tainted scar and reminder of all the horrors that he was subjected to, and all the horrors he was forced to do.

"Mission report now," Pierce repeated himself, more seriously.

Shoto remained silent. In response, Pierce walked further up to the brainwashed assassin, leaning forward, and then backhanded Shoto across the face.

Rage and hatred flared in the entire group. Looks of utter hatred and sheer offense were on all the students' faces, even Monoma looked affronted and disgusted with the treatment done to a member of his rival class. Izuku nearly sprang from his seat, only held down by the girls around him, and even they looked tempted to allow Izuku to go to town on Pierce. The flames around Endeavor flared like a bonfire, a look of complete outrage and fatherly wraith burning hotter than the flames themselves. All Might felt the need to buff up once more to deliver justice to Pierce, while Aizawa's eyes flashed a murderous red for the man laying a hand on his student. Nezu felt the same, his tail stuck up and his small frown showing a displeasure that would have horrified the teachers if they turned to see it.

Eri whimpered and ran up to Shoto, tackling her surrogate uncle in a hug. The slap reminded her too much of the slaps Overhaul would give her, the ones with just his gloves, and the ones without for when she...disobeyed him too much. She didn't want to see that for her Uncle Shoto. He was supposed to be back alive, it was supposed to be a happy thing, and yet he was being treated like a weapon and a slave, no better than her under Kai's control. It was horrible, and she hated that her uncle's return had to be so horrible.

Pierce grimaced, seemingly attempting to hold his anger back inside, even readjusting his tie.

Momo raised an inquisitive eyebrow. She recognized Pierce's action the same as Mr. Yotsubashi's when she and her father had refused the man or offered a response that the man didn't like. The man had played it off professionally and smiling, yet the way he rubbed his forehead or how he straightened his tie, they were tells, angry ones.

The Yaoyorozu heiress knew that there could be differences between a person and their counterpart. After all, Jurota did not appear suicidal as Banner, Shinsou was no master archer, and, for as strong as All Might was, he was no literal god. But seeing the attributes of these two men, connected by some thread of cosmic proportions, and how similar they were to each other, it was hard to wonder if Yotsubashi was just as capable of such cruelty and evil.

Finally, Shoto turned to face Pierce. "The man on the bridge," Bucky said, recalling Izuku Rogers calling out something inaudible to him. "Who was he?"

Melissa and Ochaco could feel how tightly Izuku's grip had become, and they accepted it, unable to imagine the pain and hurt in their crush's heart.

Pierce took a moment to come up with an answer. "You met him earlier this week on another assignment," Pierce answered.

"I knew him," Barnes muttered.

"He's still in there. He's still in there," Setsuna heard Izuku mutter, and tighten her hug around him, nodding in affirmation of his words.

Pierce pursed his lips, bringing out a chair by the side, and sat on it. "Your work has been a gift to mankind," Pierce replied to the unstable assassin. "You shaped the century. And I need you to do it one more time."

'Gift? GIFT?!' Todoroki mashed his teeth together, looking at the man with fury. 'What part of what you all did to me, what you made me do, has been a gift?!'

Pony said nothing, she did nothing, she might as well have been frozen. She made no reaction to how tightly Todoroki's hand gripped hers, or how cold and chilling it was in his rising anger. Pony made no motion or commotion to stop it, she was too angry herself to even notice.

"Society's at a tipping point between order and chaos. And tomorrow morning, we're gonna give it a push," Pierce tried reasoning with the brainwashed fist of HYDRA. "But, if you don't do your part, I can't do mine. And HYDRA can't give the world the freedom it deserves."

"Freedom it deserves? By taking away freedom?" Itsuka repeated, confused and disgusted with Pierce's reasoning.

"He is as mad and deranged as the God of Mischief was, yet even Chaos-made-man was excused of his madness by the will of another," Reiko muttered.

"Uhhh?" Kaminari questioned.

"She means that Pierce's words sound similar to Loki's in the Avengers, but that Loki had the excuse that he was not in the proper state of mind given his brainwashing," Tokoyami translated.

Shoto looked him in the eye, confliction welling up in his. "But I knew him."

Izuku's teeth mashed together, a tear rolling down his face as he saw the pain clear as day on Shoto's face.

Pierce was silent, leaning back and letting out a deep sigh. He sat up and turned to the doctors. "Prep him," The HYDRA leader ordered.

"He's been out of cryo-freeze too long," One of the doctors reasoned.

"Then wipe him and start over," Pierce ordered again.

"Excuse me, what?" Pony blinked, her anger taken back to confusion and fear.

Finally, the two doctors went to work. Pressing Shoto Barnes on the prepped-up medial table, one of them gave Bucky a mouthguard to bite on. Pressing on buttons from one of the consoles, restraints popped out and restrained both his arms and wrists, while the mechanism hanging over the Winter Soldier's head came to life and spun down and over Barnes. The two plates hovered over his head, the left one covering his entire left side, and both sparked with electricity. The plates covered his left side and his right cheek before activating, Bucky screaming out in pain through the mouthguard.

Pony choked a gasp of sheer pain and sadness, her eyes welling up and her mouth covered by her other hand, whimpering at the sight before her. Others around her had similar reactions, from choked-up sobs covered by their hands, to fearful, horrified, shaking eyes, or mashed teeth and raging eyes. Even Iida looked about ready to explode in fury for what was happening to one of his classmates.

Endeavor's flames reached a point where Aizawa had to shut them off with his Quirk and restrain the father to his seat before he burned the screen and the atrocity occurring with it. Eri's whimpers turn to cries at the sound of her uncle's screams.

Shoto's left hand touched his scar, wondering morbidly if this repeated procedure was maybe how his counterpart gained his scar and eye color change over time. It was a random and morbid thought, but it was the only one Shoto could muster the strength to acknowledge past his horror and anger.

Pierce and Rumlow turned away and walked out of the room, the guards and doctors monitoring their living weapon, as Shoto's wails of pain echoed in the background.

Izuku glared venomously at the screen, the faint sparks of One For All snaking around his body. 'I'm putting an end to this madness, even if it kills me,' Izuku thought. 'Even if I have to burn it all to the ground, HYDRA ends, for good. And I'm getting my brother back.'

Back in Aizawa's hideout, the Director, his arm in a cast and off the hospital bed, looked at a photo of Pierce. "This man declined the Nobel Peace Prize," Aizawa revealed, Izuku Rogers, Nemuri Kayama, Ochaco Romanoff, Sam Wilson, and the doctor all gathered around a table. "He said peace wasn't an achievement, it was a responsibility." He tossed the paper on the table. "See, it's stuff like this that gives me trust issues."

"Yep, can't blame him," Snipe muttered, shaking off the anger and disgust that was coursing through his blood, just like everyone else.

"Perhaps he did the right thing turning down the award," Thirteen said. "At least that award and its prestige won't be tainted in his hands."

"We have to stop the launch," Romanoff said, looking at Rogers who stared back.

"I don't think the Council's accepting my calls anymore," Aizawa brought up, opening a case beside him. Inside, there were three blue computer chips.

"What's that?" Sam asked.

"Once the Helicarriers reach 3,000 feet, they'll triangulate with Insight satellites, becoming fully weaponized," Kayama responded, turning over her laptop to show a simulated imaging of the Helicarriers, the connection to the satellites, and their range of targeting, encompassing the entire Eastern seaboard.

"We need to breach those carriers and replace their targeting blades with our own," Aizawa detailed, the imaging zooming inside the carriers and into a panel full of similar targeting blades.

"One or two won't cut it," Kayama mentioned. "We need to link all three carriers for this to work because if even one of those ships remains operational, a whole lot of people are gonna die."

"Sabotage the targeting systems, save the world. Sounds simple enough," Kirishima shrugged.

"No doubt HYDRA will send everything they have, including the Helicarriers themselves and the Winter Soldier to stop them," Shoji pointed out.

"Hey, I said simple, not easy," Kirishima too pointed out.

"Definitely not easy if they launch the ships into the air before they get there," Tetsutetsu added.

"Well good thing we have some aerial power here," Shoji patted Tokoyami's arm.

Tokoyami nodded, acknowledging the benefit of his counterpart and his Falcon flight tech. "If I must face the perils of raining fire from all three ships to save all those lives, then so be it," Tokoyami declared.

Reiko couldn't help the shudder of delight she experienced from Tokoyami's words.

"We have to assume everyone aboard those carriers is HYDRA," Aizawa jumped back in. "We have to get past them, insert these server blades, and maybe, just maybe, we can salvage what's left-"

"We're not salvaging anything," Rogers yelled, interrupting the Director's plan. "We're not just taking down the carriers, Shouta. We're taking down S.H.I.E.L.D."

"I'm sorry what?" Mineta did a double take on Captain America's declaration.

"S.H.I.E.L.D. had nothing to do with this," Shouta denied.

"You gave me this mission. This is how it ends," Izuku argued back. "S.H.I.E.L.D.'s been compromised. You said so yourself." Ochaco's gaze fell, contemplating Izuku's words. "HYDRA grew right under your nose and nobody noticed."

"He's right," Momo nodded. "Who knows how much of S.H.I.E.L.D. has been compromised by HYDRA. What is there to say that even if they rebuild S.H.I.E.L.D. when it's all over, there still won't be HYDRA agents inside?"

"But isn't that a little extreme?" Sato questioned. "It's still perhaps the most powerful intelligence agency on the planet. Wouldn't getting rid of all of it be a waste?"

"One tainted seed could spoil the whole tree," Tokoyami sagely said. "If HYDRA could spread from Garaki and others back then, there is also nothing against the possibility the infection won't start all over again. The captain is right. For HYDRA to fall, S.H.I.E.L.D. must go with it."

"Why do you think we're meeting in this cave?" Aizawa pointed out. "I noticed."

"How many people paid the price before you did?" Izuku questioned. Aizawa had nothing to say to that, his gaze falling in admitted shame.

Rogers's words stung to more than just the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. Bakugo's face scrunched up, remembering his father's face censored out and the headline that read about his parent's deaths. Ochaco thought back to the story Romanoff told Rogers about her first encounter with the Winter Soldier, and the life of the man that the brainwashed assassin took that she tried to save. Even Aizawa hid his eyes under his hair, pondering just how many ghosts of the fallen must be haunting him for not acting sooner.

"Look, I didn't know about Barnes," Aizawa brought up.

"Even if you had, would you have told me?" Rogers asked. "Or would you have compartmentalized that, too?"

Those words too were a slap to Aizawa's face. He knew the answer, and the truth only hurt worse.

"S.H.I.E.L.D., HYDRA, it all goes," Izuku Rogers declared.

"He's right," Aizawa turned to find Nemuri agreeing with Cap. His closest agent nodded at him.

Midnight smiled, a sense of motherly pride welling up in her at seeing shy, nervous Izuku become such a strong, confident man. Well, a version of him at least, but from what she had seen of him recently, she had no doubt the boy was on his way, and woe to anyone who would get in his way.

Aizawa turned to Romanoff, Ochaco giving him the same look.

Ochaco looked to Izuku and nodded. 'I'm with you, Deku. Always. To the end,' Ochaco thought.

Turning to Wilson, Sam shrugged. "Don't look at me," Sam replied. "I do what he does, just slower."

Tokoyami smirked and chuckled, looking over to Midoriya and nodded. 'If you need us, Me and Dark Shadow are there to support you,' Tokoyami declared to himself. 'Through Light or Darkness, through Heaven or Hell, should you need to fly, my wings are yours.'

Finding no one on his side, Aizawa shook his head. "Well," Aizawa leaned back, sighing. "It looks like you're giving the orders now, Captain."

Aizawa's thin lips rose to a smirk. 'A problem child, no matter what universe,' Aizawa thought proudly. 'But a problem child I would trust to follow and fight for.'

Izuku stared back, determined and ready.

Izuku looked down, all the anger, bitterness, and pain from this video swelling to a breaking point as he agreed with his counterpart. 'The secrecy, the lies, none of it is me. None of it is what it means to be a Hero,' Izuku thought, the weight of One For All and its secret heavier on his shoulders. 'No more. I won't have it. If I'm going to be a Hero, it's going to be an honest one.' He remembered the day he met All Might on the roof and where he said his smile was just a mask to hide his fear. 'A Hero that can look at a child in the eye and say that everything will be alright.' Eri, Kouta, Katsuma, Mahoro; they all stood in front of him in his mind, looking at him with expectant, scared eyes. 'Because not just I am here.' Izuku looked to his friends, family, and the people he trusted the most. 'Because We are Here.'

Izuku's thoughts then turned to the Commission, to the faces of those council members willing to fire a nuke at New York to save their hides, who knew or did nothing about HYDRA either, and, finally, to Pierce. 'And if the same is true here, and there are those that are willing to lie and kill whomever just to make the world however they want, then I will take them down too. And I know I won't be alone.'

Going outside, Izuku stood on top of the dam, gazing out a D.C., his mind going back to the past as church bells rang.

"We looked for you after," Bucky's voice rang in his head like the church bells of that day. "My folks wanted to give you a ride to the cemetery."

"I know, I'm sorry," Izuku found himself back in the past, he and Bucky, younger and in formal attire, or as formal as Izuku could afford, walked up the steps to his apartment, the former still his skinny self. "I just kind of wanted to be alone."

Setsuna's lips became a shaky smile as she saw skinny, weak Izuku Rogers again. Only the man was anything but weak. Setsuna felt envious of her counterpart. She had the privilege to see Izuku Rogers at his lowest and work his way up to become the Symbol of Courage he was now. Setsuna wished she had met her Izuku earlier, to see Izuku Midoriya as he was before U.A., maybe just as skinny as his counterpart, but strong of heart, mind, and will. For the privilege of seeing Izuku Midoriya grow into who he is now and what he will become.

Izuku smiled, partly out of fondness for his skinny self, but also seeing Shoto Barnes as he once was.

"How was it?" Shoto asked.

"It was okay," A saddened Rogers muttered in reply. "She's next to Dad."

"Oh, this must have been after the funeral of his mother," Melissa gasped. Her eyes became misty, she didn't remember her mother's funeral, she had died when she was very young. She could only imagine how much harder it must have been for Rogers.

She felt her hand grasped by a stronger, more messed up hand. She looked to Izuku, who gazed at her with sadness, and love. Melissa smiled lovingly back, and it took all she could to keep up appearances and not kiss him right then and there.

"I was gonna ask..." Barnes began saying before pausing.

"I know what you're gonna say, Buck," Rogers cut in. "I just..." He cut himself off as they reached the door and began searching his pockets for the key.

"We can put the couch cushions on the floor like when we were kids," Shoto tried convincing Izuku. "It'll be fun. All you got to do is shine my shoes, maybe take out the trash."

"Is Todoroki-sorry, Barnes suggesting that Izuku could take up a job as his servant?" Momo asked.

"I, my counterpart, must have been in a hard financial state," Izuku immediately sprung up to defend Shoto. He did it so fast it was almost reflexively. "He was just looking out for me."

Shoto didn't know what to feel. On one hand, he was touched by how quickly and effortlessly it took for Izuku to not take that offer as insulting as he would have taken it. On the other hand, he also sounded too apologetic, too quick to defend. It worried Shoto.

Bakugou flinched, doing his best not to scoff out loud. 'And there it is. Like always,' Bakugo thought. De-Izuku's apologetic nature, always quick to rise and defend his friends, or those he believes are his friends, no matter how pathetic or meek it made him appear. It was the same nature that Izuku always used to excuse his actions, every beatdown, every mocking, every threat, it always made Bakugo mad that Izuku would debase himself and his worth. At the time, he thought it was Deku trying to cozy up to him, now it made him angry because he was the one to make Izuku like that.

As Rogers continued to find the key in vain, Bucky stepped back and moved his foot over a brick, the brick sliding away to reveal the key. Picking it up, he gave it back to Rogers.

Izuku chuckled lightly. 'What would I be without my friends?' He thought only slightly self-demeaning.

"Come on," Izuku chastised himself as he accepted the key. "Thank you, Buck, but I can get by on my own."

"The thing is, you don't have to," Shoto explained, placing a hand on his friend's shoulder. "I'm with you to the end of the line, pal."

Izuku's and Shoto's jaws dropped, silently gasping at the words. They turned to each other as the line repeated in their heads.

They said that to each other, back in Captain America: The First Avenger, both in their heads and outwardly. But now, to hear it spoken out loud, it was like a weird kind of Deja vu like the universe itself made them say those words before the videos even showed it.

Regardless of where it came from, the two smiled and nodded. They liked it. And so, Izuku raised his fist at Todoroki, and Todoroki met it with his own. 'To the end of the line,' They both thought.

There was not one dry eye in every girl's eye at seeing the bromance between the two. Only Miruko huffed and looked away, outwardly calling it mushy crap, yet smiled all the same.

Izuku sighed and nodded, grateful for his best friend.

"He's going to be there, you know," Sam's voice snapped Cap back to reality, the Pararescueman walking up to Rogers.

"I know," Rogers said, still looking out at D.C.

"Look, whoever he used to be and the guy he is now, I don't think he's the kind you save," Sam warned the First Avenger. "He's the kind you stop."

"His words, while harsh, are wise," Edgeshot spoke up. "As much as we would like to think otherwise, sometimes there are souls far too gone to save. Souls that, for the greater good of all, must be taken down, at all costs."

Gran Torino looked at All Might, who liked down and thought of Tomura Shigaraki, his master's grandchild. Aizawa, Mic, and Midnight turned their thoughts to Oboro Shirakumo, their friend, who might be behind bars right now as a resurrected Nomu. Bakugou looked down at his hand, pondering about his desire to change and redeem himself.

"True," Izuku's words turned everyone's attention to him, gazing at the screen with a confident, small-smiled expression. "But not him. He's still in there. He still can be saved."

"How do you know for sure?" Edgeshot asked, challengingly.

Izuku met his challenging gaze with his own. "Because I know. I don't give up on my friends," Izuku replied.

Edgeshot remained silent for a few moments, before closing his eyes, his smirk unseen. The Number 4 Hero nodded in reply.

"I don't know if I can do that," Izuku admitted.

"Well, he might not give you a chance," Sam warned further. "He doesn't know you."

"He will," Izuku replied.

Shoto smiled gratefully. 'Then please, save me, Izuku,' Shoto asked.

'I saved you from yourself once before, Shoto,' Izuku thought, his thoughts turning back to their match in the Sports Festival. 'Now, it's time to do so again.'

Looking at Falcon, determined, Izuku said, "Gear up. It's time."

Rogers walked down the bridge of the dam. "You gonna wear that?" Sam questioned.

"No. If you're gonna fight a war, you got to wear a uniform," Captain America stated.

"Oh, so are we going to see him where the suit again?" Hatsume perked up, excited to see the cool suit once more, and wondering what she could implement in Muscles's suit from his counterpart's.

"Unfortunately, nope," F.R.I.D.A.Y. replied.

"What?! Why?!" Mei whined, her excitement turning to displeasure and disappointment.

"Before his trip to the hospital to retrieve the flash drive from Aizawa, Rogers stashed the suit at an empty high school," F.R.I.D.A.Y. answered. "He knew that S.H.I.E.L.D., or rather HYDRA was tracking the suit, and they did track the suit to the high school."

"Oh, poo," Mei pouted.

"It's fine, Mei, Izuku patted the pink-haired girl's hand. "If you want, in return, we can go over more of those notes about the Vibranium Shield and the Iron Man armors."

"Okay! Deal!" Mei quickly shook Izuku's hand, her 180-degree change no longer anything new to Izuku but still special.

"That's sweet and all," Nejire said, smiling teasingly at the two. "But then what is ZuZu going to wear then?"

A security guard made his rounds around the Smithsonian, finding himself in the Captain America exhibit. The automatic lights turned on, and the guard looked at the mannequins of the Howling Commandoes, freezing. "Oh, man," Stan Lee groaned, shaking his head. "I am so fired."

"Ah, there he is," Hawks grinned, chuckling. "I was wondering where he was. What was he called again?"

"I believe it was Stan," Kamui Woods replied.

"Oh, that's right," Hawks nodded. "Have to say, this might be my favorite one so far."

"Meh, I prefer the one from the First Avenger," Death Arms shrugged. "Doesn't make any more sense than the others, but it was funny."

"You're just saying that because it was the movie you were in, DA," Mount Lady pointed out.

"Regardless, what is 'Stan' so worried about getting fired over?" Ryukyu asked.

Missing from the mannequins was Captain America's World War II uniform. Elsewhere, Agent Nemuri Kayama walked up a hill wearing her black jumpsuit, followed by Falcon in his black camo pants and shirt, and his wing pack. Finally, coming up behind them, was Captain America in his WWII uniform and his shield.

Setsuna gasped and smiled wide, feeling like they were all back in the 1940s and Captain America was kicking Nazi butt with herself helping him however she could. Setsuna looked to Izuku who smiled back at her.

"You go kick their asses, Soldier Boy," Setsuna grinned at him.

"Aye aye, ma'am," Izuku nodded, before looking back at the screen. 'This ends here, for good.'

The three stared at and began walking toward the Triskelion in the distance and prepared to take the fight to HYDRA.


AAAAAAANNNNNNNDDDDD SCENE! Three down, one more to go, and it will likely take a while.

Sorry, this came out a little later than I expected, this month has been so confusing. For one, a surprise visit from my grandma and cousin for the week of my little brother's graduation, two, my little brother's graduation, three, my dad also visiting and having to juggle between spending time with him and my grandma and cousin, four, every single one of us suddenly getting sick, including for me my throat filled with mucus that has had been coughing up mucus-filled spit for weeks, and finally, a deer showed up out of nowhere and hit my car while my recently-graduated brother was driving, the car's first accident since I got it six to seven years ago. It's been, in a word, chaotic.

But anyway, hope you guys liked the chapter and could sustain all the mushiness I had in this one. Oh, and also, I hope I landed the reveal of Todoroki as the Winter Soldier to most of your expectations. If any of you were confused about the changes I made to keep the secret until the end, when Black Widow shot the Winter Soldier and cracked his lens, instead of removing the whole goggles like in the original, here the Winter Soldier just replaced the lens long enough for us to see his grey eye. And then in the fight against Cap, when Cap struck the Winter Soldier with an upward strike from the shield, it broke the goggles in two, splitting it down the middle and thus were able to fall off when Cap also took off his face mask.

I also hope you guys liked Melissa and Mei going gaga over the Falcon wings and realize now why I had Tokoyami as Falcon. And for those who might be worried or angry at Bakugou for still being mad at Todoroki for what the Winter Soldier did, remember that people express grief and anger in different ways. For Bakugo, he knows that Todoroki isn't at fault, or Barnes, but for him, seeing Todoroki is causing him to experience the reveal of his parents' deaths all over again and he can't help it. He doesn't hate Todoroki; he just needs time to accept and deal with it.

And since it just came out, I would like to express my opinions on the ending thus far of MHA. Conflicted. For one, I get the sentiment, symbolism, and means that Izuku had to take to defeat Shigaraki and All For One, I get how it circles back around to how Izuku started Quirkless and how he technically won Quirkless, and it was pulled off well if not a little sappy, but I'm still conflicted. For one, it appears that One For All is fully gone and thus with it, Izuku is now Quirkless, which feels wrong to me. Izuku may still have the 'Embers of One For All' but those embers are going to die out and thus he will become Quirkless yet again, and with that, he could no longer become a Hero. He doesn't have training in how to fight Villains without a Quirk like Batman or Daredevil, having him only use Support Items just feels like an Iron Man/Batman copout, and worst of all, it feels like it's also done in service of Bakugo more than Deku. Because, if Deku can no longer be a Hero and have to forcibly retire, then Bakugo will eventually become the Number 1 Hero as he always bragged about, which feels off as well. It would be like if at the end of Naruto instead of Naruto becoming Hokage, they had Sasuke become it instead, or at the of Fairy Tail, they suddenly have Gray or Gajeel be the one to kill Achnologia, not Natsu. It feels, to me, like Horikoshi bending the story backward to make it so Bakugo gets everything he ever wanted but then at the same time strips Deku, the main protagonist of MHA, of everything in turn. I know he has technically become 'the Greatest Hero ever' but to not have Deku continue to be a Hero like he wanted, just feels wrong.

I hope that something will be explained as to why Deku can still be a Hero with powers by the end of things. Maybe those 'Embers' mutate and manifest into a new version of One For All, one with just the stockpiling power with no way to transfer it, or the same with the other Quirks of the past users, now with no Vestiges. Or maybe Shigaraki transferred One For All at the last second to Deku, or even transferred the All For One Quirk, now free of AFO's vestige, and thus the story of All For One and One For All completes and resets itself in a full circle by now having Deku use All For One as a Quirk for good not evil. Hell, I could even accept if New Order somehow ends up with Deku as some kind of last-minute Order from Stars N Stripes Vestige and Tomura's. Or maybe those 'Embers of One For All' somehow don't go out and it turns out that the Embers have 'turned into an inferno' and embedded themselves into Deku's body, thus as a way for him to have the same power of One For All as before yet remain 'Quirkless'. I don't know, maybe I'm just a Deku fanboy who doesn't want to see his favorite character turn irrelevant by the end of the story and forced to give up his dream. Apparently, I must be one, given how many times I've already been accused of it in this story alone.

Well ranting aside, I hoped this chapter was done great for you all, and hopefully, I can get the next one out quicker than before, certainly sooner than half a year. Also, check out my other stories, here and on AO3, leave your thoughts and counterpart predictions in the reviews, and tell me, what would you guys feel about me going ahead with my writing desires and making a MHAxBen 10 fic? It's been nagging on my brain, and I already have a lot of the details for the story down, because I needed to express them before they get lost in the river of inspiration. I would definitely appreciate some ideas and thoughts, but I am skeptical because I'm already juggling a lot with three stories to just add a fourth into the mix.

Until then, this has been Zayden StormVoid, and I will see you all in the next chapter. And now, back to my horrible singing.

YOU SAID YOU ALWAYS KEEP YOUR WORD! SHOW ME WHAT YOU'RE AFTER! JUST A LITTLE FASTER!