"Please someone help me."
-
Toshinori couldn't help but cough up blood as he stood so suddenly after watching those huge explosions go off and destroy all the cameras in the location of the villains' base.
He grimaced as his brows furrowed in worry, frustration, and fear, and he clasped the scar he had received from All for One six years ago as he watched an eerily familiar scene play out with his green-haired student.
From the attention-grabbing move Izuku pulled, to the laugh and grin he gave his own classmates, to the explosion that dragged the unaware into the chaos-- it all managed to remind Toshinori of that despicable man.
Toshinori is aware that he was once quick to accuse Young Izuku as being that man's son simply by the appearance of his Quirk, a mistake of his that he is deeply ashamed of, and from which he has learned not to be quick to label a person just by their Quirk, but this is much different.
Toshinori knows that this kid he and his fellow teachers were watching is definitely not All for One's son, but he just couldn't help but wince as he continued to watch all this go on.
Instantly, he turned towards Nezu, his friend, to plead for the exercise to be stopped, but before he could even voice his worries, a report-- or rather, a message from their green-haired student arrived.
"This exercise is not over. I repeat, we are not finished yet. Principal Nezu, Aizawa-sensei, Vlad-sensei, All Might, I respectfully ask that you do not interfere with our battle until a definitive winner has been decided."
The green-haired student's voice somehow sounded more like his normal self in this message, but Toshinori still couldn't help but look over to the monitors relaying the feeds from the drones Nezu had dispatched to continue surveillance from above.
He watched as the eight present members of the hero team, including Izuku's three close friends start to surround him. The fears, sorrows, and anger visible on their faces even from the distance of the drones.
He then looked over to the greenet, and he felt his heart tighten when he thought he saw the same sadness and fear appear on Izuku's face.
He doesn't want to do this, he doesn't want to fight his own friends, this isn't what he wants, Toshinori could sense all of it. Young Izuku is sad and afraid.
Sekijiro (Vlad) and Shota were both looking over at the worried and frightened former no. 1 hero, before they looked over to the monitors and to Nezu, who was still calmly sipping his tea.
"So? Nezu, will we be entertaining Midoriya's request?" Sekijiro asked the mouse-bear-dog principal, all while hiding the concern in his voice. He's concerned about his students, it's true, but he finds the current situation still within the rules of the exercise.
Their aim with the rules and objectives was to properly simulate a realistic mission. It's just that they didn't think one of the villains would actually take it this far, and for that, it was an oversight in their part.
This was the same thought process Shota has, so while he was bothered by the powerful move his student pulled, if it's Izuku's choice to go on, then it should be his place to respect it.
Nezu proceeded to take one more sip from his tea before putting his cup down and giving his answer, "We will stand waiting till this exercise has definitely concluded."
"Nezu--" Toshinori tried protesting, but the principal immediately cut him off.
"But if any other unforeseen event happens, then the exercise will be immediately cease." Nezu gave the condition.
It wasn't enough to ease Toshinori's worries, but at that point, there wasn't really much that he could do.
-
"Help Izuku, Katsuki... save him..."
Katsuki snapped his eyes open at the voice of that man from his dream. He could hear the sound of fire and heat searing the surrounding, and the sounds of his teammates and the members of the villain team scrambling around as they tried helping each other out regardless of their assigned teams.
It was then that Katsuki finally remembered what had happened, and he immediately jolted up.
There was a huge explosion at the villains' hideout where the hostage bots were located, and multiple smaller ones planted all over this area.
It was all unexpected, they were all taken off guard when the bombs went off and stunned all of them. It even seemed like the villain team also had no idea about the explosions.
"S-so that's what he meant... when he said no one stays inside the building..." Katsuki heard a familiar 1-B blonde say in disbelief.
Katsuki immediately looked over to where the 1-B blonde was, only to find him covered in dust and bruises as well while sitting on the floor, looking up at the still burning villain hideout. There was fear, disbelief, and shock in his eyes.
Katsuki's brows furrowed at what Neito had just said, and he stood up and began walking towards the 1-B blonde.
"Oi. Oi. Oi!" Katsuki called out to Neito as he walked towards him and grabbed the psychopathic blonde by his hero costume's collar.
"Who the hell are you talking about?! You guys didn't know about this, right?! So who did this?!!!" Katsuki yelled at the still shocked Neito, his old personality unintentionally coming out at the heat of the moment.
"It-it was your classmate, Midoriya." Neito answered, making Katsuki wince.
"He was probably the one to plant bombs since he was the one who picked this spot." Neito added, "W-we had no idea about this."
Katsuki's face immediately went pale and he began to break out in a cold sweat.
It-it was Midoriya... Katsuki said in his mind.
He began to feel cold as he remembered the gaze his green-haired classmate had in his photo, as he remembered the glare of the older brother that petrified him...
And as he remembered the murderous aura of-of that monster. The worst evil in the world, the being that he would eventually have to face like All Might before him, and the previous successors of One for All before them.
Katsuki couldn't help but tremble at the thought-- he was scared of that family, scared of All for One.
But to think that the one person he at least trusted to be different would be the one to do this, to use a class exercise to hurt those who was supposed to be people he'd consider comrades-- it's unforgiveable!
"Bakubro?" Eijiro called Katsuki by the nickname he gave him as he made his way towards the explosive blonde, coughing a bit from the smoke on his way, but Katsuki seemed to ignore him.
Eijiro could see his friend grimacing and scowling in an apparent rage.
"Hey, Bakubro, are you alright?" Eijiro tried to reach out to the blonde, but it was all for naught. Eijiro watched as Katsuki finally let go of Neito and as he gritted his teeth, he looked over to the direction where the huge ice wall used to be and where all those huge black lightning came from a few moments ago.
A few small sparks started going off from Katsuki's hands, before they instantly became much bigger explosions, sending Katsuki angrily flying towards the location where Izuku would be.
"Bakubro!" Eijiro tried to stop his friend, but he was already gone.
-
Izuku, why? Izuku's three friends asked in their minds, What's happening to you?
Ochaco, Tenya, Shouto, Kyoka, Juzo, Jurota, Sen, and Pony all prepared and braced themselves for their battle with the person with a cruel smile standing in front of them.
Izuku let out a soft chuckle before bright green lightning appeared around his body, and he suddenly disappeared from where he was.
Their eyes all went wide when they saw Izuku reappear in front of Tenya, his right arm cocked back for a punch as it was covered by black-green lightning.
Tenya's eyes went wide underneath his helmet, and he became unnerved by the sight of Izuku's crazed smile and glowing eyes.
The eight heroes immediately acted to attempt a counterattack and defend Tenya from the greenet's attack, but they were taken by surprise when while mid-air, Izuku maneuvered his body to face towards Pony and pointed a second attack at her.
"Hofuku." [trans. "Retribution"]
Izuku shot two attacks simultaneously at his friend and the owner of the Horn Cannon Quirk, instantly taking out the two of them, and making Izuku let out a cackle.
His moment of joy ended briefly however when Jurota in his Beast form snuck up behind Izuku and seized and held him tightly in a lock to prevent him from moving or going anywhere.
"Earphone Jack! Use your Heartbeat Surround on him! Now! While I have him!" Jurota charged Kyoka.
"Roger!" Kyoka responded, making Izuku look over to her with annoyance his face.
But that annoyance soon twisted to a grimace as he began to let out black-green lightning, and he hissed, "As if I'll let you try that again!"
Shi. [trans. Death]
Izuku pressed his palm hard against Jurota's body and prepared to shoot out the attack. Shouto saw this and immediately sent out ice to stop the greenet, but Izuku just looked over to him as he pointed his other palm towards him and his ice, before sending out the two attacks at once, causing Jurota to cough up and let go of Izuku as he went flying, and for Shouto's ice to break into hundreds of shards and send Shouto himself flying back as well before he managed to catch himself by creating some ice.
Even as Kyoka watched Izuku's attempt to escape, she didn't stop from preparing her attack. This move was the one that turned the tables on Izuku earlier, and it will be the one to turn them once again.
As she was about to begin the move however, she felt a hand on her face and she heard a gleeful voice from just beside her ear, "There's no one to save you this time."
Kyoka's eyes went wide before she felt a sharp hit on the back of her head and her whole body was slammed down to the floor, her head sitting on the hole that appeared.
"JIROU-CHAN!" Izuku heard a familiar brown-haired girl's voice, and he immediately looked over to his side, just in time to catch the wrists of his friend who attempted to use her Quirk on him.
Izuku pulled her wrists down to restrain them and her, but at the same time, it caused him to look into her tearing eyes.
"Izu-kun! We're begging you-- I'M BEGGING YOU! PLEASE STOP THIS!" Ochaco pleaded to her friend, "Please! We're your allies! WE'RE YOUR FRIENDS!"
Izuku just looked at her with annoyance and sadness in his eyes as he responded, "Villains have no friends, Ochaco-chan."
Ochaco's eyes went wide as Izuku said that, and as he pulled her hands down harder and gave her a knee to the stomach to incapacitate her, letting her fall in his arms to use as a hostage, making the remaining standing members of the hero team wary.
"Villains have no allies either. Villains only have pawns and tools." Izuku told the heroes as he looked back at them.
He then suddenly disappeared as he was wrapped up by bright green lightning, only to reappear again just in front of Juzo. The 1-B student couldn't even react before he felt a hard kick to the side of his head, and he was sent crashing to the ground.
"Villains treat everyone around them like objects, throwing them away once they're no longer of any use." Izuku continued.
Sen saw an opening in Izuku at that moment, and he immediately charged in. With his hands spinning in incredible speeds like a drill, he sent a punch towards Izuku's head from behind.
Izuku saw through this surprise attack however, and as he was surrounded by bright green lightning, he suddenly disappeared from where he stood, causing Sen's eyes to go wide.
Sen instantly sensed Izuku appear behind him, and he immediately turned around, just in time to catch a punch from the greenet.
He struggled to keep the greenet's fist in place, and he kept in mind Izuku's other hand.
He didn't keep in mind Izuku's feet, however, and he was taken aback when Izuku suddenly ducked, and he felt a kick hit his chin from below, surprising him and catching him off guard. Then he received another kick to his torso, sending him flying and incapacitating him.
Shouto, the only one left, immediately raised his guard as Izuku faced him, but he was taken aback when Izuku continued to speak.
"Villains have no morals or any basis of right and wrong. Villains only act on what benefits them. Villains are selfish and our only motivation is our own interests." Izuku said as he wore a smile, and as his tears began to flow down his face.
"We villains only cause suffering wherever we go, and the world would be much better off if we didn't exist." Izuku continued to smile and shed tears as he repeated what that one hero once repeatedly told him-- as he felt that man's shadow and glare cast over him once again.
And as he remembered what his own teacher had called him.
"I'm a villain, that's why I'm acting like this." Izuku told the heroes with a sad smile and a sad look in his eyes.
"I'm scum... trash, and I do not deserve any sort of happiness..." Izuku said as his smile finally gave and he just continued to shed tears.
Tenya had regained consciousness in time to hear this statement from his friend, and upon hearing this, he forced himself to stand back up again and face his friend, So that's why...
"But Izuku," Tenya said as he stood up, "That's not true." He told his friend.
"You're not a villain, Izuku. You're a hero. You're one of us." Tenya reminded Izuku as he slowly took a step towards him.
"Iida-san is correct, Izuku. You're just playing a role. This is something you can stop, you can become a hero again. You just need to stop." Shouto told Izuku, causing the greenet to slightly lower his head in shame.
"But..." Izuku tried to refute them.
"But nothing, Izuku." Tenya told his friend, exactly as he landed a soft chop on the greenet's head.
"We may not have been your first friends, but we're still your friends. You helped and saved us like a true hero would. We are indebted to you, Izuku. And even after that debt is paid, we will still be by your side." Tenya assured the greenet.
Izuku just continued to lower his head in shame, unable to give a response as his tears continued to flow.
"I-I'm sorry..." Izuku could only apologize under his breath, comforting both Shouto and Tenya.
"We're glad you're back to normal, Izuku-kun." Shouto said in a monotone and with a neutral face, making Izuku look over to him and slightly chuckle.
Once his chuckles died down, however, his expression went back to looking ashamed, and he looked back down again as he began to wipe the tears on his face.
He let out a breath to calm himself down and he let out another quiet apology, "I'm really sorry again..."
After that, Izuku just remained quiet.
Tenya left Shouto to keep watch on Izuku as he went to check on their still unconscious teammates. Izuku didn't dare say a word nor even look up at Shouto nor Tenya.
He just stood there quietly.
From afar, however, Izuku began to hear faint sounds of explosions, slowly becoming louder and stronger. At the same time, the palms of his hands slowly began to slightly tingle.
It seemed like Shouto had also began to hear the explosions, causing the bichromatic to look over to its general direction, and for Izuku to follow suit.
Izuku was slightly taken aback to see Katsuki flying towards them at an incredibly fast speed, but he was more surprised when the explosive blond angrily called out his name.
"MIDORIYAAAAAAAAA!!!"
Now, Izuku could feel his entire arms start to sting as well. And as if he immediately sensed the incoming trouble, Izuku pushed Shouto as far away as he could, surprising the bichromatic.
Izuku immediately looked back at Katsuki, just in time for him to see an aggressive swirling and exploding tornado coming towards him, and for him to place his black suit and harden it in front of him as a shield.
"HOWITZER IMPACT!!!"
The explosion was so powerful that it was able to knock Izuku back by meters and for his suit to be blown away with burn marks.
Izuku immediately did a maneuver to stop his flight away, and to get himself into a more defensive fighting stance.
"You..." Izuku heard Katsuki's voice from behind all the dust and smoke, making him raise his guard even more.
"You monster... YOU DEMON!" Katsuki growled as he was finally revealed from the smoke, making Izuku wince.
"I'M GOING TO FUCKING MURDER YOU! MIDORIYA!!!" Katsuki angrily declared, before charging towards Izuku, leaving multiple explosions in his trail.
"BAKUGO, STOP!!! STOP WHAT YOU'RE DOING!!!" Izuku heard Tenya call out to Katsuki, but Katsuki didn't seem to put any mind to him, and neither did he. Izuku just furrowed his brows as his body was surrounded by bright green lightning.
Katsuki's eyes went wide as he saw Izuku disappear and become green lightning. He watched as that lightning began to rush towards him in a much faster speed as his, but just as it was about to reach him, the lightning suddenly went above him, and he saw a shadow and dark green light suddenly appear.
Katsuki's eyes went wide as he realized and he immediately tried to look above him, and as he did, he saw the greenet prepare to bring down his cocked back arm covered in erratic black lightning with a green glow.
Katsuki immediately reacted and twisted his body to face his opponent. He put his hands together and aimed it at Izuku as both palms began to light up.
Katsuki watched as Izuku looked over at his preparing super move, but he didn't seem affected by it.
"STUN GRENADE!/Hofuku."
The two heroes' attacks were released at the exact same time. A white blinding light lit up the area as smoke appearer and dust was blown away.
From that area, out jumped the two foes, both covered in dust, and both having received some damage.
The two made sure to keep their distance, but one was still visibly rearing to charge towards his opponent, while the other just remained silent.
The two opponents were taken aback however, when both Shouto and Tenya rushed in front of Izuku, seeming to attempt to guard the greenet from the explosive blonde.
"Bakugo! Stop this this instant!" Tenya scolded his classmate, but this only angered Katsuki even more.
"SHUT UP, NERD! AND GET AWAY FROM HIM! WHY ARE YOU AND HALF-AND-HALF TRYING TO PROTECT HIM?! HE'S THE ENEMY, ISN'T HE?! I'M GOING TO MAKE THAT FREAK PAY! I WON'T FORGIVE HIM FOR WHAT HE DID TO HIS OWN TEAMMATES AND FOR WHAT HE DID TO OURS!" Katsuki growled, causing Izuku to wince and lower his head once again in shame.
"Stop it, Bakugo. Calm down." Shouto urged Katsuki, "Izuku has surrendered already. There's no need to fight."
"SHUUUUUUUUT UUUUPPPPP!!! DON'T GET IN MY FUCKING WAAAAAAY!!!" Katsuki growled as he charged towards Izuku once again, letting out even more powerful explosions than before.
Shouto and Tenya stood steadfast in front of Izuku, prepared to defend and protect their green-haired friend.
Izuku could tell how much more powerful Katsuki's explosions were that time with how much his hand was stinging, and he was preparing to push his two friends away from the danger.
That plan immediately changed however, when he felt a different sensation on his right hand-- Something a lot more ominous... something a lot more dangerous.
Izuku's eyes went wide as he saw Katsuki jump up to the air, and prepare a powerful attack.
His guts was going haywire, and before Katsuki could even begin to charge up his attack, Izuku quickly grabbed Shouto and Tenya by the back of their hero costumes, and immediately kicked the three of them away from where they stood, exactly as wild thick black tendrils came out of their blonde classmate's right hand and brutally attacked the ground where they used to be at.
The three friends' eyes went wide at what they saw, as uncontrollable black tendrils with a yellow tint came out of Katsuki's right arm, and as it began to go after them once again.
"Blackwhip..."
---
NOTES: Finally, this chapter is done! \(>0<)/ What another roller coaster ride! And we're almost to my next favorite scene this arc, yey! \(^w^)/
(;'༎ຶٹ༎ຶ')🍵 I hope you guys didn't forget about Blackwhip after all that excitement.
Word count (without the notes): 3515
Also, does anyone of you guys remember the speech Kurogiri had about Tenko back in the Hosu Incident?