To him, magic was like a vast lake.
In his minds eye, whenever he thought about it, it was a great lake and he was lying on its surface. He could touch it and it felt wet beneath his hand, glowing ripples of orange spreading out to the horizon that shone with an ethereal light. Every now and again, particles and streams bubbled up from the surface. It was below him, all around him, within him. It was everywhere, a closed system.
This was the Wellspring. Koui talked about it with reverence. While Izuku had his own personal store of magic to use, he could always feel this connection. At all times, he lay on the surface of the Wellspring, and that was more than enough for him.
But what would happen if he let himself sink deeper?
He knew the answer to this, because it had happened the very first time he’d fallen into the Wellspring. The deeper he sank, the more power he had, but how far down could he go before being lost completely? Back then it felt like he was being torn apart, but how far down did he need to go for that to happen? That was a question he didn’t want answered, and he wouldn’t need to answer it today. Nomu’s fist rocketed towards him and he pulled, sinking lower into the Wellspring.
To the people watching, Aizawa with blood running down his face and some of the students who’d made it out of their zones, two things happened in quick succession. A bubble of energy contracted inwards onto Izuku. Then Nomu’s fist hit him and Izuku’s form shattered into glass.
There was only a moment for that to sink in before the shards surged around Nomu and reformed above the creature. Izuku dropped down, glowing blades in each hand and drove them into Nomu’s back. The creature roared, swinging a fist up to try and knock Izuku off, but Izuku was already moving. He allowed the motion to throw him away. He flipped and rolled and landed squarely on his feet, facing down the beast, eyes shining with light.
“That was a neat trick,” Shigarakai said, “but it’s not enough. Nomu!”
Nomu charged and so did Izuku. At the last minute, Izuku slid beneath Nomu’s legs, and when the beast twisted and drove a powerful punch at him, it was met with a shining orange shield of magic. The fist collided with it with a loud clang and Izuku skidded back a few feet. His shield was cracked but not broken, but that was not the point. His shield had reflected the Nomu’s force back on it, and the creatures left arm was mangled and limp.
Then the arm twitched. Split skin knitted back together and the limb straightened out. In only a few seconds it was like it had never been broken at all. That was a problem, but one he could handle. He wasn’t aiming to kill Nomu. He just needed to hold it still for long enough.
He brought his hands together into a pattern. Glass shards swirled in the air around him and formed into figures. They were perfect replicas of himself in his hero costume with the hood up. As one, they all charged at Nomu. The creature roared, swinging out its powerful arms, but these mirror clones were just as good at dodging as the real Izuku. It was like watching crows harass an eagle. When Nomu attacked they would back away, while others attacked from behind. If ever Nomu managed to shatter one, Izuku just reformed it.
Glowing ropes of magic snagged onto Nomu’s limbs as it flailed around trying to kill the clones. All the while, Shigaraki was screaming at it to kill the real one. It caught sight of Izuku walking up to it, but before it could even take a step, the mirror clones jumped and ran in circles around it, the ropes twisting like a maypole. The mirror clones then heaved the ropes over their shoulders and pulled. They snapped tight around Nomu, holding it in place. Izuku ignored its cries and roars, because he was focused on just one thing.
He placed a hand on the middle of Nomu’s chest. A glyph formed around it, shining brightly against the dark purple skin. He then thrust his other hand, wreathed in magic, through the glyph and into Nomu. It didn’t take long to find, not when what he was looking for stood out as a beacon of malice. He grabbed hold and pulled, wrenching his hand out. It was a dark blue stone, glowing faintly. It burned to hold onto so Izuku tossed it to one side.
The effect was immediate. Nomu stopped its struggling. While the fear within remained, the discord that had forced those souls apart from one another was gone. The bindings vanished, as did Izuku’s mirror clones, and Nomu dropped to its knees. Izuku kept the new power within him for a moment longer and he stepped forward. He carefully placed a hand over the Nomu’s heart. While he didn’t know if it would help, he had to at least try.
“It’s alright now,” he said, “you’re free. They won’t hurt you any more.”
There was a great wail. Izuku looked up to see tears in Nomu’s eyes. It looked down at its arms, all bulging muscles and sharp claws, and wept. Inside, Izuku still felt fear and confusion, but now there was sadness and grief. The lingering pain was drowned out by what Izuku could only describe as the souls hugging one another inside Nomu. He smiled comfortingly, as this was a good thing. Those disparate pieces would come together in time and be made whole.
The power of his magic beat within him, and his skin felt hot. Izuku felt himself slipping deeper than he meant to, so with a great heaving exhale, he let it go. He rose back up to the surface and he was back to his usual inner supply of magic, which was apparently significantly drained from that, and it slammed into him like a truck. His entire body felt heavy where just before it had felt light. It was almost like the deep exhaustion he’d felt once he left the void bridge, though marginally more manageable. He would definitely have to practise that more.
“What the hell did you do to my Nomu?”
Oh right, he was in the middle of a villain attack. Shigaraki was off to one side, eyes blazing with rage.
“Nomu can’t cry! How did you do that! Nomu, why aren’t you killing him!”
Nomu gripped its head as though covering its ears. That only made Shigaraki growl louder.
“I don’t need toys! I’ll kill you myself!”
Aizawa suddenly appeared between them. He was glaring down at Shigaraki, though his quirk wasn’t active yet. Izuku shivered from a burst of cold and Todoroki was there at his side. The boy spared the crying Nomu a glance before focussing his attention on Shigaraki.
“Tomura Shigaraki, it is imperative that we leave. The other teachers will be here any minute,” Kurogiri insisted.
“No! They glitched my Nomu! They need to pay!”
There was a loud crash as the doors to the USJ burst open. At the top of the stairs, the heroes of UA stood assembled. Leading their charge was Toshinori in his ugly yellow suit. He was not smiling, and that seemed to chill the villains that were slowly coming around after Aizawa’s initial counter-attack. In the blink of an eye, Toshinori had knocked them out again, and Izuku was reminded that, while Toshinori was a terrible father, there was a reason All Might was the number one hero. The other teachers raced down the stairs, securing the knocked out villains.
Shigaraki huffed and said something to Kurogiri, but it was drowned out by gunshots. Still up at the door, Snipe was raining down a hail of bullets. Two went through Shigaraki’s shoulders and one went through a knee before Kurogiri wrapped them both in mist. They tried leaving, but then there was a powerful suction. Thirteen was at the edge of the plaza, her suit soaking wet, and all the fingers in her gloves open. Toshinori appeared in front of them just as Shigaraki disappeared through a warp gate.
Everything that followed was something of a blur. Teachers escorted his classmates from the various zones. Thankfully, none of them seemed hurt beyond cuts and scrapes. Asui and Mineta were at the edge of the lake, and Bakugo and Kirishima had been hiding in wait close to the plaza.
He was only really aware of two things. The first was Toshinori and Vlad King watching the Nomu warily. Izuku hadn’t moved, but he could feel Nomu getting scared at all the heroes. Luckily, Hound Dog came over to relieve Toshinori.
“Mr Hound Dog sir?”
Hound Dog’s gaze softened when it landed on him.
“Yes Mikumo?”
“I think this person is another victim. They were under the villains control but I don’t think they’ll hurt anybody now,” he said.
Nomu vigorously shook their head.
“I see,” Hound Dog said, “very well. Why don’t you and Todoroki go with Vlad King while I have a chat with them?”
“I don’t know how how verbal they are.”
“Don’t worry about that. I’ll be fine.”
As Izuku stepped away, Nomu caught his hand. The pieces inside weren’t all together, but right now they were all in agreement and all Izuku felt was gratitude. With a final smile to soothe the being, Izuku left. Or at least he tried to, because something caught his eye.
The stone he’d pulled from Nomu was still sitting there on the ground a few feet away. Even just looking at it filled Izuku with a deep revulsion. What on earth was this thing? All he knew was that it needed to be contained. Despite his exhaustion, Izuku cast a containment spell. Rings of white energy formed around the stone, more and more until there was a flash and the stone was encased in a mostly clear ice-like rock.
The next thing he was aware of was finally stepping out of the USJ. It was crazy to think that less than an hour ago, they were happily having their lunch at school. Most of his classmates were huddled together on one side, and Izuku beelined for them. He needed to make sure he was safe. As soon as he was close enough, Uraraka barrelled into him, squeezing him tightly. She smelled faintly of smoke. Had she been warped to the fire zone? Ojiro smelled the same, and Tokoyami, Kouda and Ashido were soaked.
A growing sense of fear alerted him to the arrival of more students. Yaoyorozu and Jiro stepped out of the USJ, followed by Kaminari on a stretcher. His thumbs were up and there was a dopey grin on his face. He’d short circuited. Izuku raced over to him. Kaminari was absolutely terrified, more so than he usually was when he short circuited, but that fear receded when Izuku leaned over to be in his view. Izuku tapped his forehead, ignoring his own exhaustion in favour of helping his friend. Kaminari immediately became alert. His face crumpled and he threw himself at Izuku.
“I tried, I really did! I didn’t mean to go over my limit!”
“Shh Kaminari. It’s ok now. You’re safe.”
Izuku held him as he cried until one of the paramedics holding the stretcher coughed. They parted and Kaminari made to stand up, insisting he was fine now. The paramedics were more stubborn and the blonde wasn’t allowed to leave until he’d been properly looked over. Izuku watched him be fussed over in the ambulance fondly, but then he swayed. A steady hand on his shoulder kept him from falling.
“You alright there?” Present Mic asked softly.
The hero was doing an admirable job of keeping himself together, but Izuku coul See the righteous fury within him.
“Just a little tired,” he said.
“Then let’s get you back to your classmates, yeah?”
Present Mic led him back to the group, and Izuku didn’t bother saying anything before plopping himself down on the ground. A few others joined him. Fear and sadness had him looking to his left, only to see Kirishima’s distraught face. The boys usually perfectly spiky hair was a mess.
“I was so scared Mikumo,” he said.
“We’re all safe now.”
“No! I saw it all!” Kirishima said, “I saw you fighting that big monster thing. I saw… I- I was so scared you were going to die!”
Izuku held up his arm and Kirishima pressed himself against Izuku’s side. He held him tightly and securely, rubbing circles into his back.
“Kirishima, I’m ok now,” Izuku said, echoing the other boys words from the battle trial, “we’re all ok.”
Uraraka pressed himself against Izuku’s other side so he wrapped an arm around her as well. All around him, his classmates huddled. Even Bakugo, though he wasn’t looking at any of them. All of them were still scared. Their adrenaline was still pumping, pounding into their heads that danger was near. He’d probably pass out from exhaustion, but there was one last thing he could do to help.
A soft green light started emitting from Izuku. Kirishima and Uraraka startled when they saw it but they were quickly soothed by Izuku’s assurance. There were emotion spells that could instantly change someone’s mood, but Izuku preferred the more subtle kinds. Koui described this calming spell as like a parent comforting a child after a nightmare. It was certain enough to be effective but gradual enough that by the time the effect was complete, the person believed it wholeheartedly.
The light was warm. It washed over his classmates and slowly Izuku felt their panic recede. The fear and uncertainty of their experience of the USJ was soothed until calm remained. While a few of them might have questions about how he was doing it, none of them said anything. Everybody deserved to feel safe after a traumatic event. Heroes in training they may be, at the end of the day they were still just kids.
Unfortunately, Izuku was right in his assessment earlier. The light faded and Izuku slumped onto Kirishima. He thought that after something like this it would be harder, but sleep found him easily. He was vaguely aware of people calling for a paramedic for him but he didn’t care. He had his friends around him and a comfy shoulder to lean on, both amazing things for him to have. Yes, maybe he’ll just sleep for a bit. He was safe here. He’ll get some sleep.
Sleep, and recover.