If past experience holds, this is the chapter where I squander all the goodwill built up over the past few weeks and go completely off the rails. Still, I hope you enjoy.

Aizawa looked less tired today. Maybe it was Izuku's imagination, or maybe the man had actually gotten some sleep last night. Still, his terrifying murder-glare was still intact and it quietened the chatter as well as it had before.

"You've gained a baseline for your abilities and seen how you can use them in battle. Now it's time for the next part of your Hero training," he drawled, still sounding completely done with his students. Continuing to show an almost excessive love of dramatics despite his attitude, Aizawa slowly reached into his pocket and pulled out a small pasteboard card with vibrant blue writing on it, holding it out to them with a comical lack of enthusiasm.

"Rescue training?" Izuku murmured. Following their usual pattern the class burst into excitement around him, all so enthusiastic. Well, almost all. In front of him Kacchan growled something and folded his arms- Izuku didn't need to be able to see his face to know there was a vicious scowl plastered on it. Kacchan always thought that fighting was the most important part of Heroism, defeating the villains in ferocious combat. Ironically, Izuku himself was unlikely to be that much use in a disaster scenario. Yes, he could perform first aid, but that was really it. When it came to rescuing people, he was never going to be much more than mediocre. Still…he'd always wanted to be a hero to rescue people. He was more realistic now, but…how old had he been when he first saw that video of All Might, half a dozen people safe in his grasp, emerging from the heart of an inferno with the grin firmly in place? Decades ago, the first popular appearance of the Symbol of Peace in Japan was still one of his most popular video sightings. Izuku must have been…less than four, he thought, remembering the doctor uncaringly telling him to give up his dreams and his Mom sobbing, never answering the question that still haunted his life.

"I wasn't finished," Aizawa said, irritably, just loud enough to draw their attention back onto him. He shook his head.

"Today you'll have three Heroes overseeing you- me, All Might, and one other- so don't go crazy. We aren't doing the exercise here, but before we go you might want to put on your costumes. Just bear in mind that you aren't used to them, so they might be more hindrance than help."

Everyone in the class chose to wear them anyway. Izuku had slight concerns about his, depending on what he was doing, but he'd made sure that his gear included a rebreather in case of water work and his helmet was protection against just about anything. The only real problem would be if he was in a hot area, but he could deal with that as it came. He even had his grapple back, having dug it out of the wall after the battle training and made sure that it was in functioning condition. He changed into his costume, but didn't wear the helmet, just tucking it under his arm as he re-joined his class in waiting for their bus.

Someone, for some godforsaken reason, had given Iida a whistle. Izuku hoped that they hadn't known what they were doing, because the raw malice implied by someone doing it on purpose was beyond him.

"Alright, line up by student numbers!" Iida barked, "Make our boarding onto the bus as smooth and swift as possible!"

Someone really needed to sit Iida down and let him know that they weren't soldiers and this wasn't a boot-camp. Either that or some sort of medication. Izuku leaned towards the second option, but he didn't have a blowgun.

Also, and more importantly, Izuku's student number was right next to Kacchan. No way in hell was that going to work out. Bakugo boiled with rage just being near Izuku, being forced to sit next to him would almost certainly lead to an explosion. Izuku tapped a tuneless rhythm on his helmet, trying to find a way to phrase to Iida that no, he didn't need to run the class like this, and yes he should chill out. Maybe he could appeal to Yaoyorozu? He didn't think anyone would judge him for telling them that Kacchan was an unstable maniac and he just didn't feel safe around him, because come on. Just look at him.

The arrival of the bus rendered the whole concern moot, because the plan was completely different to the one Iida had envisioned. Izuku sat next to him and patted him consolingly on the back, somehow keeping a straight face as Iida moped. Ashido, on the other side, didn't do so well- her attempt to cheer Iida up was ruined by a snicker half-way through. Izuku leaned back into his seat, settling his helmet in his lap, and watched Kirishima cheerfully chat about his Quirk with Tsuyu and Mineta. Mineta was clearly eyeing Tsuyu, and Izuku was tempted to lean across the aisle and smack him over the head because really, it was just creepy, but he was pretty sure that Tsuyu was lining up a smack herself and didn't want to ruin her vibe.

"Nah, my Quirk's not too flashy," Kirishima said, holding up a hand. Izuku watched as it morphed into a rockier form, although the colour remained disconcertingly flesh-like, "It's pretty good but I feel like you need more to be a popular hero, you know?"

"I think your Quirk's really cool," Izuku said, his bleeding heart unable to leave even the slightest bit of doubt lingering, "And it'll work really well with a theming! That's just as important as anything else. Just look at Best Jeanist- he has a Quirk that controls cloth, that's not really flashy, but he's turned it into a whole clothing brand and a rank three position!"

Izuku couldn't help but feel like Jeanist was living proof that there was such a thing as too much denim, but he couldn't deny the man was successful. Kirishima laughed.

"It's pretty cool of you to say that, Midoriya. You know a lot about Quirks, right?"

Izuku heard Kacchan scoff loudly and tensed, but for the moment his former friend didn't say anything. He shrugged.

"I- yeah, I guess I do. I've seen someone with a Quirk like yours before, but it was only his hands! It was a lot less impressive."

And it had been sandstone, too. Poor bastard had broken off a finger in his Quirked form once and it never grew back. Given that the boy in question- a few years older than Izuku- had done it punching a wall in an attempt to intimidate Izuku he didn't have too much sympathy, but it still sucked. Izuku wondered what had happened to him. Kirishima looked thoughtful.

"Yeah, I've never really thought about that. There's a lot of Quirks around, right, so some of them can't be that strong. But even then, someone without a strong Quirk could still be a hero, right? I don't wanna- Midoriya? You don't say much about your Quirk. Is that 'cause…'cause it's pretty weak?"

Oh, Kirishima, you sweet summer child. He actually looked nervous about asking the question, like he was afraid of causing offence, but now everyone was looking at Izuku. Izuku closed his eyes, throat suddenly dry. He knew that he should tell the truth.

He knew that he was probably going to lie.

And then Kacchan laughed, harsh and barking.

"Oh, he wishes he had a weak Quirk. Right, Deku?"

Kirishima looked over at Bakugo.

"What- does he have a strong Quirk, then? But if he did, unless there's some backlash…"

"Nah, there's no backlash. Aren't you gonna tell 'em, Deku?"

Izuku lifted his helmet in slightly trembling hands and set it into place, clicking the latches shut. Through the muffling helmet and the voice modulator his voice came out steadier, despite the prickling in his eyes. He folded his hands together to hide the shaking, shaking his head at Tsuyu as she opened her mouth. He hoped that she'd been about to defend him, but he wouldn't rely on it.

"If you've got something to say, Kacchan, just come out and say it."

You've never had a problem with it before, he thought, so what's the hold up? Afraid that this class won't appreciate your shit like the last one did? Kacchan sneered, leaning forwards on his seat, crimson eyes glittering with an ugly look.

"You wanna know why Deku's so obsessed with Quirks, Shitty Hair? It's because he hasn't got one of his own."

The silence was deafening. Izuku closed his eyes in a single slow, hard blink, clearing away the tears. He could feel everyone looking at him.

"I don't know why I expected better of you, Kacchan," he said quietly, his voice whispering out into the void. Kirishima looked as though he was about to lean across to him, hand flinching back, and something fragile cracked in Izuku.

"What?" he snapped, accent harshening, the anger rising in his throat, "What? Going to stay away from me now, in case you catch my Quirklessness? Or, I know, are you gonna apologise for fighting me yesterday, like I'm made of porcelain? That's always a good one. Let's shove Midoriya into a wall, that'll be fun, and then the apology when they realise I'm Quirkless. But it never lasts, does it, Kacchan?"

Bakugo smirked and leaned back, apparently satisfied. Izuku clenched his fist in his pants leg, material balling up, his throat tightening with emotion. Kirishima was frowning, but the look wasn't directed at Izuku.

"No, man. I wasn't gonna say any of that. I was just gonna apologise for asking you about your Quirk. I…I don't know any Quirkless people, but…"

Izuku dropped his head into his other hand, shaking his head in silent frustration. It wasn't Kirishima's fault. It was Bakugo's, for being such a dickhead. It was Izuku's, for being born wrong.

"Fuck," he whispered, harsh and ragged, the raw edge of his temper bleeding into shame, "I- I'm sorry, Kirishima. I just…"

"It's fine, man. Everybody gets mad sometimes, right?"

"You're too nice," Izuku muttered and Kirishima laughed.

"Yeah, I've heard that before. But, uh, if you don't mind me asking…"

Izuku sighed.

"What?" he asked, although his sudden temper had faded. Kirishima shrugged uncomfortably.

"You placed alright in the Entrance Exam, right? You mind if I ask how you did it?"

Izuku looked up at him and shrugged, baffled.

"I don't really mind, it's not a secret. I just- I realised that U.A. used a lot of robots, and from there I suspected that they'd use them in exams, since a lot of people online were complaining about the exam being better for combat Quirks. And then I went through old recordings of the Sports Festival until I found examples of the robots I thought might be used, and I studied how the students without combat Quirks dealt with them. And then I…and then I did it, I guess. It wasn't that hard."

He rubbed his hands together, gauntleted fingers twisting over each other.

"I- most of the robots had weak points around the neck, where someone could reach in and pull out most of the wires. I didn't even need it in the end, though, since most of them had buttons that deactivated them. I…I went into the back streets, since I'm probably not going to be in the limelight much, and ambushed the robots. I only came back when the Zero Pointer was unleashed."

"And I'm super glad you did, Midoriya! That building would have landed on me otherwise!" Uraraka chimed in. She didn't seem at all concerned with his Quirklessness and Izuku smiled under his helmet. Such a sunshine child.

"Yeah. And that."

"I didn't know about the buttons," Kirishima muttered, looking aggrieved, "Although I guess it explains a bit! I was wondering if you had some super-strength hiding under the invisibility, Hagakure!"

The girl in question waved her hands, bouncing in her seat.

"Nope! Just regular human under here! The off buttons were really useful, and the robots didn't notice me at all!"

That was interesting. Izuku had been wondering if Hagakure was only invisible to normal vision, and- well, it was probably a good time to ask. Distract people from his Quirklessness before they remembered it and starting distancing from him. Or, worse, pitying him. He hated the second option the most.

"Hagakure?" he asked. She pointed a glove at him.

"Yep?"

"Your invisibility…does it work on infra-red as well? You said the robots didn't notice you, but I don't know if they only had visual cameras or if they had more. I guess thermal would make sense in case something happened and they needed to be switched to a rescue mode, assuming they have a rescue mode, but it would make sense since the Entrance Exam is so early, people might not be completely familiar with the damage their Quirks can do since they're not supposed to practice, and…"

"Breathe, Midoriya," Tsuyu said, her tone dry. Izuku sucked in a breath.

"Sorry," he said. Hagakure giggled.

"Don't worry about it! The answer is…I don't know. Not really. I don't show up on normal cameras, but I've never tested thermal! I think I'll show up, though."

"If you don't show up on normal cameras, then it can't be a mental effect unless it's really weird," Izuku offered. Uraraka waved a hand.

"A mental effect?"

Izuku straightened in his seat, hands rising to gesture in front of him.

"Yeah! There are some Quirks that work really weirdly, so I thought it might be possible that instead of Hagakure being invisible she just has some sort of effect on people near her, so they can't see her? There was a villain a few years ago, his name was Polterghost or something, who had a, like, a pattern on his skin, that people couldn't comprehend correctly so their brains assumed he was invisible!"

Izuku was fairly sure that he saw Aizawa tilt his head at that, but the man didn't have any other reaction. Hagakure waved a hand.

"Does that mean that he was kinda visible when he was wearing makeup or something?"

Izuku nodded.

"He could cover up the patterns and basically be visible, it meant that he was really hard to identify. But I think you're just invisible, so you should be visible on thermal gear. That means that you could get some changes to your costume, maybe, with a thermal camouflage system, and be an even better infiltrator."

"Does your costume have that?" Ashido asked, leaning around Iida. Izuku shook his head.

"No, it- it's just armour. Just in case. It's bulletproof and knife-proof and it's pretty comfortable, too."

"If you had a Quirk you wouldn't need that armour. Can't be Number One Hero while you're hiding like that," Bakugo growled. Izuku glanced at him and didn't say anything, but Denki scoffed.

"You aren't gonna be Number One, Bakugo. Sure you got a flashy Quirk, but your personality's like getting punched in the face!"

Half of the bus laughed and Kacchan leapt to his feet.

"What the fuck did you say to me?"

"You heard me!"

"You think you've got a better shot, dumbass? Your shitty Quirk-"

"Alright, cool it," Aizawa snapped from the front of the bus, "We're nearly there."

Izuku let out a long breath as Kacchan subsided, hands still sparking faintly. It had only been a few days, he reminded himself. Kacchan deserved a little longer to prove himself, to make a change from before. Now, if only Izuku could genuinely convince himself of that. The bus rolled to a stop and they clambered off, standing in a loose huddle next to it. Aizawa sighed.

"Alright, this way," he said, barely even paying attention to the massive, domed building he led them into. They trailed behind him, eyes raking over the structure with fascination, until they entered. The air had a taste of chlorine to it, almost like a swimming pool: from where they stood Izuku could see a massive lake of water.

"Woah," he whispered, looking around. Aizawa coughed loudly, drawing all eyes back onto him, and gestured.

"Thirteen? They're all yours."

"Hello there!"

"It's the Space Hero, Thirteen!"

Izuku barely suppressed a full-body flinch at the muffled scream next to him, looking across to see Uraraka bouncing on her heels. He stared, caught somewhere between amazement and horror as Uraraka whisper-screamed about how cool Thirteen was.

"Do…is that what I look like when I…"

Izuku broke out of his momentary concern when Thirteen spoke. The Space Hero wore a bulky space-suit, extremely old fashioned- a memory that Izuku couldn't quite pin down whispered 'the Michelin Man'- with a dark glass helmet. Two wide, white eyes peered from within, but Izuku wasn't sure if it was a costume design thing or Thirteen. Did she have a body in there, or did her Quirk make her- Izuku honestly didn't know. Her voice sounded synthesised, but his helmet could do that as well, so it wasn't exactly a slam-dunk in terms of ID. He knew a little bit about Thirteen's Quirk, but that was it. Uraraka was reeling off statistics and facts in a quick whisper. It was a little bit terrifying, and Izuku admitted that with no shame at his hypocrisy. Thirteen spread her arms wide.

"Welcome to the U.A. disaster training area! Fire, a shipwreck, pouring rain, a landslide and many more- this is my Unforeseen Simulation Joint, or USJ for short!"

"It's just the same as Universal Studios Japan," Kaminari whispered, echoed by half the class, and Izuku smiled despite himself. It came out a little shaky, but it was the thought that counted- Thirteen had a sort of wholesome enthusiasm to them, more like All Might than Aizawa. And without the benefit of making Izuku twitchy by their mere presence, too. Izuku took a moment to compose a mental apology to All Might, because it wasn't his fault that Izuku was on edge around him, but still. Aizawa walked up to Thirteen while they posed and muttered something, leaning in. They replied, holding up three fingers and shrugging. Aizawa sighed, standing dramatically on the edge of the stairs into the USJ with hand in his pockets. Apparently unphased, Thirteen came a few steps closer and spoke to them again.

"Now, before we begin I just have a few things to say! Just two…or three…four, maybe five, six…"

Izuku stared at the Hero who he had assumed to be a put together person and wondered if there was something in the water at U.A., regardless of how endearing Thirteen was. They waved their hand, apparently dismissing the count.

"Anyway! For those who aren't aware, I have quite a powerful Quirk. It's called Black Hole, and it can suck up and turn to dust anything it touches."

Alright, Izuku had known that. It made Thirteen a superb Rescue Hero, using their power to clear away rubble. A safety lecture, maybe? A short distance away Uraraka was vibrating with enthusiasm- Izuku was slightly concerned that she was going to burrow through the floor and not stop until she hit bedrock.

"You use your power to save people from disaster, it's so cool!" she hissed, her bouncing becoming quicker and quicker. Thirteen nodded at her.

"Yes, that's true. However…this is a power that could very easily be used to kill."

Oh. It was that sort of safety lecture. Izuku scowled behind his helmet, his smile vanishing in the face of the clawing irritation inside his chest. Normally he didn't mind too much, but he was feeling a little sensitive today. Uraraka had gone still in surprise, so at least he didn't need to worry about her digging so far into the ground that she set off a volcanic eruption or anything.

"Some of you have Quirks that can be dangerous as well," Thirteen continued, "In our society Quirk use is regulated and controlled, so we can often overlook how dangerous they may be."

Izuku almost laughed at the naivety of that. Regulations and control. Izuku was fully aware that the only reason he didn't have scars from Kacchan's fun and games was the efficacy of modern burn cream and the modicum of restraint that Kacchan sometimes displayed. Actually, that was another strike for Kacchan's Quirk not acting like real explosions. Jason had been caught in enough explosions to know what it was like, and Kacchan's Quirk wasn't quite there.

"Please remember that if you lose focus or make the wrong move your Quirks can be deadly," Thirteen said, unaware of the pit opening in Izuku's stomach. Quirks. Quirks, Quirks, Quirks, it was always about Quirks. Izuku could kill a man with his bare hands, but it was always the Quirks that got attention. He missed the next few sentences, too caught up in himself, but he zoned back in to hear Thirteen continue.

"Today, you will learn how to use your Quirks to save people's lives. Your powers are not meant to harm others, only to help. That's what being a hero is about."

Izuku could feel everyone looking at him, their gazes locked onto him. Of course they would be. A whole speech about how dangerous Quirks were. How they could help others. How being a hero meant having the power to help others, so long as power was synonymous with 'Quirk'. Izuku bared his teeth in a silent snarl, his left hand curling into a fist. It probably wouldn't be fair to lash out. It probably wasn't reasonable to take it all so personally.

Jason Todd had never been particularly fair or reasonable, and Izuku Midoriya was rapidly losing the ability as well. With painful predictability, Bakugo was the one who spoke up.

"So, all that talk about Quirks…how does that apply to the Quirkless, like De-"

"Shut your fucking mouth, Bakugo!" Izuku barked, the modulator erasing any hint of wobble and turning it into a rasping snarl. Half turned, he saw Bakugo flinch back but he was on a roll now, unable to stop. He might never get the chance to say this again, so he'd better vent it now.

"You know how many people passed the Entrance Exam, Bakugo? Thirty-Six people passed. Thirty-Six. One in three hundred. That makes, what, almost eleven thousand applicants. Eleven thousand people who have Quirks- or maybe not, Quirkless people aren't that rare yet- but either way, here I am. I might be Quirkless, but I'm not powerless! I'm still Homo Sapiens, apex predator of this whole fuckin' planet for tens of thousands of years before any baby acted like a goddamn glowstick! I am not going to break my leg walking, I'm not going to have a heart attack because you looked at me funny, and I swear to Christ-"

"Midoriya! Not to interrupt your rant, but something's happening." Todoroki interrupted. Izuku, mouth still half open, looked to him and followed his gaze to Aizawa.

Their homeroom teacher stood tall and proud at the top of the steps, hands slowly pulling out of his pockets, and the words died in Izuku's mouth as his teacher pulled a pair of goggles down from his hairline and fitted them over his eyes. Izuku followed his gaze to the fountain in the centre of the USJ central plaza, where a swirling mass of purple-black smoke had formed. Like something from a horror movie a hand slowly crept through the mass, pale and lanky, followed by a whole person. A whole person with pale bluish hair, wearing dark pants and a long sleeved shirt, and…

"Is that guy wearing fucking hands?" Izuku asked aloud, still in Jason Todd No Filter mode. Aizawa ignored him, throwing a hand back.

"Gather together! Thirteen, protect the students! These must be villains."

Normally Izuku might ask how he knew that, but in this case c'mon. The dude in front was wearing literal hands, withered and pale, clasped around his arms and shoulders and locked onto his face. A small part of Izuku wondered how they stayed on. A much larger part wished for his gun. And then the hand-man looked up and spoke, apparently ignoring the flood of others emerging from the mist around him.

"I went through the trouble of bringing all of these friends, and All Might isn't here?"

His voice was soft, almost gentle despite the rasp in it, a little high pitched and just loud enough to carry to them. Izuku's breath caught in his throat, mocking giggles echoing through his skull. The voice was different, but the tone was there and his fingers rose, left hand curling in his collar like it wanted to clutch at his throat, the phantom impacts of a crowbar and the question, the question and someone grabbed his arm and Izuku breathed again, colour coming back to the world, fingers unlocking from his collar. The horror faded, and a frothing fury replaced it, rising in his gut. He squashed it down with difficulty, glancing at his shoulder and seeing Ashido's hand.

"You with us?" she whispered and he nodded sharply. The villain covered in hands shrugged.

"Oh well. Maybe if we kill a few kids…he'll come out to play."

Aizawa tilted his head and his scarf unspooled around his neck, thin ropes of cloth expanding around him, his posture filled with unshakeable determination. For the first time, Izuku saw the hero inside his teacher. For the first time, he almost felt safe around him.

"But- how did they get in here?" Kirishima asked. Izuku clenched his fist, because what did it matter and even if it did matter, there was clearly a teleporter, right there. The fog was coalescing and there were bright yellow eyes in the murk. A Warp Quirk, maybe. Yaoyorozu shoved past Kirishima.

"Thirteen, what about the intruder alarms? Don't we have them?"

Thirteen nodded sharply, not taking their eyes off the approaching villains.

"They must be disabled somehow. This attack was planned."

"Planned or not, it doesn't matter," Aizawa interrupted, tone terse and harsh, "Get the students out of here and alert the others. Kaminari, try to use your Quirk to contact the school. And if you can't…run until you can."

"But there are so many villains- you can't…"

Aizawa didn't spare them a glance.

"Sometimes," he said, his voice low and harsh, "It's not about the fight you want."

And then he was gone, making a leap down the steps and into the oncoming crowd of villains. Izuku watched him go, aware that this might be the last time he saw his teacher, biting his lip until the pain broke through and snarled.

"Come on," he hissed, "We have to go!"

He hated leaving, hated leaving Aizawa to fight the villains alone- there must have been thirty of them down there- but they were just students with days of training, and Izuku had never felt the handicap of his missing guns more keenly. When he got out of this, he swore, he'd find a way to get his certification even sooner than he'd already intended. But before that, they needed to get out of here. He turned on his heel, following right behind Ashido, hearing the cries of pain behind as Eraserhead fought, joining the run to the doors. They had barely made it more than three steps before a pit of shadows opened before them, yawning and writhing before it exploded into a towering shape, yellow eyes gleaming amidst the mass that bore more resemblance to a mountain than a person.

"Hello," it said, voice deep and resonant, "A pleasure to meet you. We are the League of Villains, and although it's somewhat impolite we have invited ourselves into this bastion of justice with a single objective."

Izuku stared, transfixed as a tone more similar to Alfred than anything else rolled smoothly from the threatening wall of darkness, fingers twitching. The anger was rising again, irrational but all the more potent for it, because how dare they sully that memory. He bit his lip again, the pressure helping to clear his head just a little as the being before them continued.

"Today, by our hands, the Symbol of Justice shall take his last breath. Don't you think this a fitting stage for his final act?"

"What." Izuku said, too surprised to keep quiet. He couldn't tell if the being looked at him- the yellow eyes were more like painted on, no iris and no pupil- but nobody said anything. The utter surprise started to give way, the anger that had been building ever since Kacchan outed him as Quirkless writhing deep in his stomach, tendrils reaching icy-hot into his chest. The villain shifted, smoky form shifting into something that could very charitably be called a human form, and Izuku looked at its eyes, searching for a weakness. The eyes were always a good place to start, although they looked just as ethereal as the rest of the being in this case.

"But it seems the main player is not here, the stage emptied," the villain continued, "Although I suppose it makes little difference in the part I have to play."

Teleporter. Part to play. Bunch of kids. Yeah, Izuku wasn't too thrilled about the implications there. Being kidnapped was not on his bucket list. But maybe he couldn't get them all, so-

A roar of fury interrupted everyone, an explosion that set Izuku's jacket flapping in the blast following almost immediately. Kacchan, never one to wait a moment, had gone on the attack and for once Izuku didn't really blame him. Izuku looked through the crowd, looking for Iida: he was fastest, so long as Kacchan kept attacking they could-

"A notable effort, you truly do live up to the reputation of your school."

Izuku sucked in a breath as the villain spoke again, his tone unamused despite his words, his form billowing out of the smoke of the explosion. There was a metal collar just below his eyes, Izuku noticed, but it hardly mattered. Kacchan had been restrained for once, only launching one attack, and it had come back to bite them. Izuku couldn't believe it. The villain reared up, his body bursting into dozen of tendrils that folded around them like the arms of some giant, night black squid.

"I'll scatter you across this facility to meet my comrades…and your deaths!"

The darkness closed in and Izuku was falling. He hit hard ground with a thump, the impact rattling through his armour, helmet cushioning the blow of his head against his arm. The impact sent a shockwave through him, one that seemed to dislodge the fury that had been building for most of his life. He bared his teeth in a snarl, hearing laughter from around him- more villains- and planted his hands on the ground, ready to push up.

"Look," someone laughed, "The kids aren't out yet! Guess I'll get some fun after all!"

The rage coiled, thick and syrupy fury filling his veins, pulsing in his temples, adrenaline sending feathery trickles of electricity along his arms and frosting every breath he took. Izuku drew in a breath and let it out in a growl, rumbling deep in his chest, his words coming out too softly to be heard through his helmet.

"Good," he rasped, "I needed an acceptable target."

It was Izuku Midoriya who planted his hands on the rough ground, but it was Red Hood who rose.

The first villain came in swinging, a massive kick aimed at Izuku. Izuku leaned away from it, caught the leg, drove his elbow up into the mans groin, rose as the man crumpled, driving his helmet into the face and hearing bone crack under hardened plastic. The second, slightly to the left, throat punch and block the swinging arm at the elbow, snap the wrist, snatch the baton out of the air as the villain dropped it and smash it into the head. Turn on his heel, elbow to wrist to knock the hand out of position, fingernails like knives scraping on his breastplate, heel of his boot smashing into the kneecap and dislocating it, baton to collarbone, grab the arm and swing the shrieking woman into her friends.

Three down and the rage hadn't dimmed, feeding on itself, endlessly hungry and roaring for blood and Izuku grinned under his helmet, a grin that stretched the corners of his mouth, blood pumping. There were more villains, maybe fifteen including the three he'd just dropped, but he wasn't alone either. Ashido and Kaminari hadn't risen as quick as he had, but they were climbing to their feet. Three against twelve.

Izuku liked those odds.

He plunged forwards, half of the thugs yelling and charging him. His left hand dropped, a bola flying out and wrapping around a man's legs, toppling him to the ground as Izuku ducked under a swinging knife and juked around a second thug, getting into the middle of them. A man with steel arms swung down at him and Izuku skipped aside, slamming the baton into his jaw and hearing the warble of pain as it dislocated, stepping to the side as a woman tried to tackle him and letting her crash into her friend. The last villain raised his arms, knife in each and Izuku swung the baton into his groin, stepped to the side, grabbed his hair as the man bent over and rammed his knee into the thug's temple. He snatched one of the knives away, throwing it with a flick of the wrist and a man screamed as it dug into his thigh, bringing his hands down and losing his block so that Ashido could land a spinning kick that took him out of the fight. Izuku fully turned, rolling his shoulders, parrying a punch with his left hand and breaking the nose with his right, whipping his right hand down to crack a wrist with his baton, closing into his first target and grabbing him by the head, a jumping knee to the solar plexus and he was down, gasping for breath, a duck and a turn and the baton slammed across a knee and bent even as bone cracked. Izuku turned into the thug, grabbing him by his injured wrist and hip-throwing him to the ground, bones grinding under his fingers as the wrist twisted and he smashed his boot into the man's knee and left him screaming like a child.

That left two and Izuku grinned at them, a feral expression that was hidden by his helmet. The winded guy and mister steel-arms might get up, but he doubted it given that they were both sobbing on the floor. The woman had fangs and snake-like eyes, a crowbar clenched in one fist, and the other, now freed of the bola that had brought him down, had fire flickering where his fingernails should be. In theory, Izuku should have said something cocky, something confident. Should have told them to run, or surrender.

The thrill coursing through his veins would have never accepted that. They wanted to attack kids? Then they deserved everything they got.

The two thugs moved together. The man thrust his hand out and a shower of sparks poured out, crashing into Izuku, bouncing harmlessly off his armour and jacket. The woman lunged through the glare, crowbar swinging downwards and Izuku lunged forwards, the arm tangling on his shoulder and robbing the blow of force. He felt the crowbar thump weakly on his back, armour soaking the blow, and his elbow caught her in the gut. She bent over his arm, mouth opening in a gasp and he ducked under her arm, grabbed her by the wrist and bent her arm back, elbow pressed against his knee. Her elbow dislocated with a sickening pop and he caught the crowbar, whirling it in unthinkingly dextrous fingers before he drove it into her jaw, the air glittering with droplets of blood and scattered teeth, red and white like a shower of rubies and diamonds. She fell to her knees with a gurgling sob and Izuku took a step back and kicked, his boot smashing into her mouth and snapping her head back. Something cracked, probably her jaw, and she collapsed in a boneless heap. Another shower of sparks burst across Izuku's front and he sighed, the noise coming through his voice modulator like a rush of static.

He burst across the open space, sparks showering from his shoulders, crowbar heavy in his grip. He saw the utter panic on the thugs face as he backed up, fingernails flaring. A yell from his left drew a quick glance, two men closing in on Kaminari and Izuku whipped his arm out, throwing the crowbar, hearing the yell as it cracked into a leg and then he was on his own foe, the man screaming something that Izuku ignored and lashing out with blazing fingers. Izuku let the blow rake across his chest, scoring his armour and nothing else, and drove the palm of his hand into the thugs nose. The man yelled, cartilage breaking, Izuku blocked the other arm with his elbow and stepped in, hand sneaking up to smack the flat edge of his hand into the throat. The man choked, stumbled back with both hands reaching up to his throat and Izuku grabbed him by the coat, pulling him into a headbutt, hardened plastic crushing the broken nose and smearing blood across his helmet, red on red. The thug reached up to his face, sobbing out a breath, and Izuku slammed an elbow up into his chin. Hard blow, the brain slamming back in the skull, Izuku knew, and the man dropped like a sack of potatoes.

None left, just Izuku stood among unconscious and weeping thugs, victorious. He drew a deep breath through his mouth, and it tasted of copper and victory. He glanced over to check that Ashido and Kaminari had managed their opponents, but anything he might have said was cut off by a sudden rushing noise and an icy chill that cut through the air. They all turned, staring across the USJ to behold the enormous spire of ice that had formed. Izuku took a breath of suddenly cold air, blinking.

"That's the shipwreck zone," he said, turning back to his classmates, "I guess they put Todoroki in the wrong place completely."

Ashido let out a breathless, nervous laugh.

"Yeah, I guess- look out!"

Izuku had turned back towards her, but her yell didn't come soon enough. An arm wrapped around his chest, trying to force its way under his chin, and he grunted out a breath as he was hauled backwards into someone.

"Don't move, or I'll kill this fuckin' brat!" the man holding him shrieked, his voice cracking partway through. Izuku gritted his teeth, cursing himself for being caught unawares. Ashido and Kaminari both raised their hands.

"You, pinky, not a fucking- I see any acid and I'll tear his throat out!"

Izuku saw Ashido's black and gold eyes widen, her expression twisting with concern, and bared his teeth. The anger was still there, roiling in him, and this guy didn't know the first thing about keeping someone pinned. Izuku saw his other hand, pointing at Ashido and Kaminari. His fingers were red stone, sharp. Izuku almost laughed, his right hand coming up to scrabble at the arm around his throat, pretending to struggle.

"Midori, we'll- look, you creep, let him go! We…we'll do what you want."

"Ashido, don't," Izuku grunted, "Don't give him what he wants."

"Shut it, kid," his captor snarled, shaking him, "Your little friends will do what I want, or I'll kill you and move onto them!"

Izuku curled his fingers around the man's hand, bared teeth twisting into something more like a grin.

"No, you won't." he grated, and wrenched. Stone snapped and the man shrieked, the enclosing arm jerking away. Izuku stomped down with his left foot, feeling something crunch under his boot and the man howled again and Izuku reached up, locked both hands around the left arm that was still pointing at Ashido and threw the man over his shoulder. He kept hold of the arm as the man landed, bending and twisting and snapping the limb at the elbow. That scream was louder than any of the others, an ear-piercing wail that cut off as the pain caught up and the thug fainted. Izuku looked down at him and grimaced. A familiar face.

"He was a pathetic bully years ago," Izuku said, kicking the man as he walked past, "Guess it hasn't changed."

"Oh my God, Midori, are you alright?"

Izuku looked down at himself, scanning for injuries.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Are you two ok?"

He looked up, looking both of them over. There was a trickle of blood running down Ashido's chin from a busted lip, but otherwise they looked fine. Just shaken. Ashido shook her head.

"Dude, I- you went through those guys like a fuckin' tornado."

The anger wasn't boiling in him anymore, sated by the blood and the violence. It'd settled down again, the monster in his soul briefly satisfied, slinking back to its lair. Izuku shrugged.

"They weren't very good at what they do. Kaminari, are you alright?"

He looked like he was in shock. Izuku didn't really want to get close to him- now that the fury had faded a little he was more cognizant of the fact that he'd just brutalised almost ten people and there was a decent chance that it had frightened both Kaminari and Ashido- but he needed Kaminari functional if they were all going to escape. He'd hoped that, with All Might not here, the villains would just cut their losses and leave, but apparently they hadn't learned that lesson yet.

To be fair, it had taken years for Jason to learn that lesson, despite being one of the most useful in his life. Too stubborn for their own good, Izuku thought, even as he knew he was going to go and see what was happening. Even as he knew he wasn't going to do the sensible thing and take cover until it all blew over. Ashido put her hand on Kaminari's arm and he nodded, sharply.

"I- yeah, I'm ok. I just…I could barely do anything, and-"

"Kaminari!" Izuku called, raising his voice enough to draw attention back to him, "Don't worry about it. We shouldn't be dealing with an attack three days after school starts. Can you contact anyone yet?"

Kaminari reached his hand up to the blocky earpiece at the side of his head, tapping at it and shaking his head.

"Nothing. We must be blocked, right?"

"Right," Izuku muttered, "I'd hoped that since All Might isn't here they'd give it up. It seems kinda pointless now…also, it would be a lot easier to catch him on a patrol rather than have to deal with us. But if he was on patrol there would be more Heroes nearby, while we're isolated. They must have brought something that can face him, even if no villain has before, but if they were serious it would have been easier to make a gas attack rather than an assault. Could have taken us all down, and then they just need to delay All Might, unless his powers also make him immune to chemicals but in that case…"

Izuku gulped down the rest of his thoughts because not now and Ashido and Kaminari were both looking at him.

"Not important," he muttered, "Not important. We need to decide what we're going to do next. Hopefully before any of these guys wake up."

Not that they would be dangerous- they'd gone down once and most of them were fairly badly injured, especially the ones Izuku had dealt with- but it would be a delay and there was always a risk. Ashido nodded, her hair bouncing with the motion of her head.

"Yeah. Yeah, we can't stay here. What do you think we should do, Midori?"

Izuku half turned, raking his eyes over the glacier in the shipwreck zone. He was torn, torn between options. Best to lay them out, let Ashido and Kaminari have their say.

"Ok," he said, quietly, "We've got a couple of options. First is to hide, hope backup gets here. Unless there's a massive villain conspiracy going on there'll be heroes here eventually, and this is a big place. I'm surprised they aren't here already, would have thought that if the cameras went down…right. Right. So we can hide, maybe try to find the others. They should be ok, if all the thugs are like this."

Ashido nodded.

"Alright. What's the other option?"

Izuku pulled at his jacket, twitching the collar back into place.

"We try to get out of here and get a message to the school. They must be blocking communications with a Quirk, but they all have a range."

Kaminari nodded.

"I vote for that one."

Izuku grinned faintly.

"Don't get too excited, Kaminari. I don't know if we can get out through the walls, so we're going to have to go back to the door. Don't know if there's still a villain there. And the fastest way back to the doors…"

"The central plaza," Ashido whispered, "Where that hand-guy is."

"Yeah," Izuku said, the word coming out in a sigh, "We can go around, but it'll slow us down."

Kaminari and Ashido went quiet, both of them thinking it over. A thug near to Izuku stirred, a hand creeping out with a knife clenched in his fist. Izuku settled a boot on his wrist and leaned down, pulling the knife from weak fingers and pocketing it.

"I'll take that," he said softly. The thug whimpered but stayed where he was, either too hurt or too sensible to stand- Izuku didn't really care which. Probably the first, if Izuku was honest- the man was one of the ones who'd been in his radius of violence. Kaminari bit his lip before his expression settled into something harder.

"Alright. We'll go around the edge of the plaza. If we stay low, it'll be alright."

Ashido nodded.

"And- we can see how Mr Aizawa is doing. That'll be…that'll be important for the other Heroes to know."

Izuku sighed.

"Yeah. Agreed. If we do get seen, though…you two need to get out. Ashido, you might need to melt a way through the door if it's been sealed, and you're the one with the communicator, Kaminari."

Kaminari drew in a sharp breath.

"Dude, we're not gonna-"

"Listen to me," Izuku said, stepping closer, "You need to get out. You need to get out and contact the other Heroes, and if that means you leave me behind you do it, alright? I don't want it to happen, but just in case."

Izuku wouldn't last long against something in All Might's weight class, but anyone who wore hands probably liked to play with his food. Preferably it wouldn't come to that, but if it did…Izuku pinched his eyes shut and forced the thought away. Instead he reached back, into the collar of his shirt, and pulled free an actual hood, cloth the same brown as his jacket. He pulled it over his helmet, hiding the gleaming crimson at least a little.

"Red's not great for stealth," he said dryly. Ashido snorted.

"Yeah, no kidding. Well…come on, then. We'd better get going, right?"

Izuku nodded. They were at the edge of the Landslide Zone, so it wasn't too hard to scramble across the small amounts of debris and approach the central plaza. They ran as quickly as they could, hunched over, taking cover behind a crumbled wall. Izuku peered over the wall just in time to see Aizawa duck under a grabbing arm and retaliate with an elbow to the jaw. Izuku took a moment to admire the technique as the mans jaw twisted and broke, before turning his attention to the villains. The one with hands covering him stood perfectly still, slightly hunched over. Izuku could hear the faint cadence of words coming from him, but that was all. Behind him stood another figure, just as still and completely silent, and Izuku's mouth went dry at the sight. It was enormous, seven feet tall at least, and grotesque with muscle. Its skin was a dark blue-purple, the colour of a fresh bruise, hands tipped with nails more like talons. Its head looked vaguely avian, but the beak was crammed with jagged fangs, and its skull was cracked open to the air, as though someone had sliced the top away, revealing a pulsing brain. Its eyes were blank, devoid of anything but a mindless hunger.

If there was something here to kill All Might, he'd bet on that monster. Aizawa flowed smoothly from parry to throat punch to roundhouse and his last opponent hit the ground, the teacher turning. His goggles hid his gaze, but Izuku would bet that it was fixed on the hand-man.

"Final boss," Aizawa murmured, his harsh voice low and threatening. The villain giggled softly, high-pitched and raspy, and Izuku bit his lip hard enough to hurt. Just his luck that the first villain he ran into was hitting half of Jason's triggers. At least he couldn't see a smile.

"You're so cool, Eraserhead," the villain purred, in a tone that Izuku didn't like at all. That sort of half-breathless compliment was, apart from being creepy, usually backed by some sort of advantage. Aizawa heard it too, Izuku realised, his teacher dipping his chin a fraction further. The villain brought a hand up, palm up, like he was reaching out. Another little giggle squirmed past the hand that covered his face.

"You're more used to ambushes, but you took on all these minions and won. So cool. So, so cool. I'm almost sorry that I have to finish it."

"Minions, huh? So you are the boss. I take you out and this is all over, right?" Aizawa said, his tone still bored, bland. The villain chuckled, deeper than his earlier giggles, more threatening.

"You can try."

The villain was fast, it couldn't be denied. He crossed the space between himself and Aizawa in a flash, right hand swiping out. Aizawa jumped back, the fingers trailing in front of his face, landing smoothly and kicking off, burying his elbow in the villains chest. The hand-man grunted, skipping back to avoid the blow.

"Mr Aizawa's gonna win!" Ashido hissed, smiling. Izuku…wasn't so sure. Aizawa was on the offensive, elbows and fists striking home, but the villain was shrugging them off. The slightest turn, a step back, going limp at the last second to bleed off the impact, and he was counting. Softly, quietly, counting as he tried to get his hands on Aizawa, swiping.

"He must have a touch activated Quirk, he keeps trying to grab Mr Aizawa. Erasure is preventing it, but what is he counting for?" Izuku whispered. Aizawa ducked away from a grab, drove his fist into the chest again and a cracked giggle spilled from the villains' lips.

"Gotcha."

Aizawa grunted in pain and Izuku felt his eyes widen in horror. The villain had latched onto Aizawa's elbow, fingers pressed against cloth, and the shirt just turned to dust. Skin started to slough away, decaying before their eyes and Izuku saw the red glare of Aizawa's Quirk even through the goggles as he broke free and leaped back, his arm hanging loose. A few more minions rushed in but Aizawa dealt with them with the same brutal force as before, teeth bared. He was panting now. The villain touched his chest where Aizawa had struck, grunting as he straightened.

"Your Quirk has a time limit, and it's been decreasing all the time, right? You're all about winning fast, DPS. All I needed was to tank long enough and I could work out your pattern."

Aizawa dropped the third minion and straightened.

"More perceptive than the rest. But that won't save you."

Aizawa still had a good chance. He was faster, stronger, hit harder and more often. He'd just need to be careful. But there was more than one villain. The hand-man shook his head, a sound of admiration creeping from his lips.

"You're good. Really, you are. But you've missed something."

Aizawa tilted his head. The villain chuckled again.

"I'm not the final boss."

The bird monster moved with horrifying speed. Aizawa had started to move, lunging away, but he wasn't fast enough. The thing closed one enormous hand into a fist and rammed it into Aizawa's head, sending him into the ground.

Izuku was barely quick enough to get a hand over Ashido's mouth, muffling the gasp she let out. His helmet muffled his own hiss, and Kaminari buried his low moan of horror in his jacket sleeve. Aizawa's goggles slid away, broken, black hair splaying as he tried to rise. The monster reached down, closing a gargantuan fist around Aizawa's arm, and wrenched. His elbow cracked and Aizawa barely muffled the cry that left his lips.

"Jesus fuck," Izuku whispered. The monster pinned Aizawa, reaching across and cracking his other arm like a twig as he tried to fight back. The hand-man tucked his hands into his pockets, strolling over.

"Do you like it, Eraserhead? It's called Nomu. I brought him here to kill All Might."

Aizawa snarled something, but it was throttled by the way his mouth was mashed against the ground. Izuku felt a shudder rack his frame as he let go of Ashido, sliding a hand into his pocket and gripping the hilt of the knife he'd pocketed. A fountain of black smoke swirled and twisted and the warper came into being again, yellow eyes glaring.

"Tomura Shigaraki," it intoned. The hand-villain, Shigaraki, turned, head tilting at the Warper.

"What is it, Kurogiri?"

"The students were dispersed throughout the facility as planned, but some of them were able to escape my warp. One of them broke free of the facility."

Shigaraki froze, hands slipping from his pockets. Izuku watched as the long fingers crept up towards his neck, scratching and pulling at the skin there, some kind of nervous tic. Shigaraki clawed at the skin on his neck, his shoulders quivering.

"You…Kurogiri, you idiot, you let one escape? If you weren't our escape route, I'd…that's it. That's it. We can't win if dozens of pros show up. Objective failed, game over, back to the title screen."

Izuku couldn't tell if Shigaraki was trying for some sort of gaming gimmick or if he was just insane. Either way, it was extremely unsettling. Shigaraki dragged his hands away from his neck, his rasping voice cracking slightly as he drew in a ragged breath. Trickles of blood ran down from his ravaged skin, but he didn't seem to notice.

"I was hoping to finish this today, but I guess it's not gonna be. We'll have to get out of here."

"Holy shit, a villain that knows when to cut their losses," Izuku whispered. Things were finally looking up. And then Shigaraki turned slightly, his eyes hidden by a shock of pale hair and the hand clamped over his face.

"But before we leave, let's give the Symbol of Peace a little reminder about the importance of being punctual."

Shigaraki leaped the distance between himself and Izuku, whip-quick, hand reaching out. Izuku tracked the trajectory, saw the path, realised that Shigaraki would close his fingers over Ashido's face and moved without thinking, throwing his arm in the way. Fingers closed around his elbow and pain splintered through him, nerves screaming as they turned to dust. Izuku's scream had barely begun when he rammed the knife into Shigaraki's forearm and wrenched it down, steel tearing through muscle and tendons and fingers went limp and Shigaraki was reeling back as Izuku ripped the blade free. Blood spurted into the air as the knife tore across Shigaraki's throat, his bellow of pain cut off but Izuku had been a fraction too slow, a fingernail sliver away from the bellow turning into a bubbling, choking death. Shigaraki fell back, clutching at his throat, Kurogiri was moving and the Nomu let go of Aizawa and Izuku shoulder-barged Ashido, shoving her away as the Nomu crashed through the wall and swatted him like a fly. He felt his ribs crack even through his armour, smashing into hard ground on his injured elbow. The agony gave him speed and he forced himself to his feet, just seeing Shigaraki reel back into Kurogiri with crimson pouring from beneath the fingers clutched at his neck, saw them both disappear before the Nomu lunged again. The Nomu was fast. In fact, Izuku would later refer to it as being fast as fuck.

Later. Because at the moment the Nomu had grabbed him by the elbow, fingers tearing through decayed and brittle flesh, and Izuku's scream split the air, vision going white with agony as bone shattered and crunched under the grip, the monster lifting him from the ground. Knife still in hand and he unthinkingly drove it into the Nomu's neck but it just roared, drowning his howl in a rippling, gurgling bellow. The temperature plummeted and spire of ice tore through the Nomu, splitting skin and muscle as they pierced its legs and the Nomu howled again, swinging Izuku around like a doll. Izuku spun, all of his body weight coming onto his injured arm as he hit the end of the throw, a fresh shriek of agony tearing itself from his lips. Something cracked and tore and Izuku slammed into a body, knocking them both to the ground, feeling blood gush from his arm. Izuku choked, blood filling his mouth from a bitten tongue, clutching at his wound as the Nomu dropped the ruined remains of his left arm, already starting to tear itself free of the ice spikes. Blood poured through his fingers, painting the ground, and some tiny part of Izuku coldly observed that he would bleed to death in just minutes. The person he'd hit, Todoroki, dragged himself free, a freezing hand curling around Izuku's own.

"Midoriya!"

The shout sounded faint- shock, Izuku thought- but he forced himself to focus, forced himself to pay attention. Todoroki. Todo- Endeavour. Fire.

"Fire," he rasped, clutching at Todoroki's hand. His classmate looked down at him, normally emotionless face contorted with worry, blood smeared across his cheek.

"What? Midoriya, I-"

Izuku faintly heard the crash from the doors. Todoroki spared a second of attention.

"All Might's here. Midoriya- Midoriya! Stay with me!"

Izuku clutched at him, spitting the blood pooling into his mouth into his helmet, feeling it wet and warm against his chin, a counterpoint to the chill setting into his bones from the shock.

"Fire. Fire, can you-"

He saw the answer in Todoroki's eye and somehow found the strength to drag himself closer.

"The wound. My arm, cauterise it. Todoroki…"

Izuku saw the indecision, the horror on Todoroki's face, felt a spike of shame for asking this, some sort of trauma, but Izuku wasn't going to die here if he could help it and…

"Todoroki…please."

He saw Todoroki's face harden, felt the warmth lighting near to his chest before it pressed into his stump, blindingly hot, and Izuku's scream was swallowed by the darkness of unconsciousness.

So, yeah. That...happened. If I was feeling glib I'd say something like "At least I don't have to write the 'Quirkless Izuku in the Sports Festival' now, but I feel bad. This chapter was just horrible for everyone, wasn't it? At least the MHA universe has good quality prosthetics.

On another note, I've been wondering- how well programmed, so to speak, is the USJ Nomu? Will it even fight properly without Shigaraki there to give it orders? Food for thought.

Next chapter will be a short Interlude, from All Might's point of view, and then we'll return to our regular Izuku schedule. As ever, I hope you enjoyed, reviews are welcome, and I'll see you in the next chapter.