A bonus chapter for Halloween!
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Ochako tried to stop trembling, but to no avail. She crouched down with her back against the cold, stone wall, peeking around the corner and trying to see through the shadows that filled the building like tar. A single light flickered in the ceiling, fading in and out of existence in almost perfect synchronicity with her pounding heart that beat against the inside of her ribcage like a trapped animal. Adrenaline coursed through her system, shortening her breaths into nervous pants that she tried to muffle with a hand for fear of being heard. Every warm exhale fogged up the visor of her helmet in the unnatural chill of the building, forcing her to take it off in order to have a clear view of her surroundings.
It felt as if she was being hunted, and her paranoia was through the roof, twisting at her insides and crushing her heart in an icy fist. She fought against the anxiety and pushed herself back to her feet, taking a single step before wincing and staring down at her boots as the unnecessary high-heels clacked loudly against the solid floor. Ochako pressed her shoulder against the wall, lifting one leg and tugging a pink boot off before shifting to the other and then placing both shoes on the ground, shivering at the sudden rush of cold air that hit her shins. Her feet were clad in thick socks with extra padding on the toes and heel, successfully silencing every footstep as she continued to sneak along.
The costume didn't matter: her priority was to escape without being caught. She tucked her chestnut hair behind her ears to keep it from her nervous eyes, the usual flush of her cheeks fading to a fearful pallor as she moved quietly through the building, getting only hints of sound from the others inside. Another empty corridor should've been reassuring, but her mind kept insisting that she could see figures in the darkness, and she couldn't help but wish Deku was there to chase away her fears with his powerful, reassuring presence, but-
But, he wasn't. She couldn't rely on him. She was on her own in this nightmare, with only her frantic thoughts and blind panic to accompany her.
There were no memorised blueprints of the layout to help her navigate through. The path branched off in two directions, with the right passage being narrower but brighter, and the left one wider and dark enough to look like a portal into the void. Ochako heaved in an unsteady breath, trying to keep her cool as she followed her intuition and turned right, feeling a little more at ease when she could at least clearly see where she was heading under the unsettling red lights.
Faint sounds grew louder, and she stuck close to the wall, continuing on at a steady pace despite her overwhelming desire to turn tail and sprint away. The righteous timbre of Iida's voice reached her ears, and she instinctively relaxed, thankful to have found her friend and hoping to meet up with him so they could escape together. Her shoulders tensed back up and her breath caught in her throat as she heard a higher voice, an unsettling tremble to his tone that was comforting before, but terrifying now. She hesitated for a moment longer before continuing to creep closer, following her hero's spirit that urged her to save her friend from D- from the villain.
They were visible now, as she turned another corner. Her fingers clasped delicately around the rotting wood of the doorframe, and she dared a peek into the room after a moment of cautious listening. Iida was kneeling on the cold, stone floor, his white armour glinting in the eerie half-light and his helmet tossed to one side, revealing his expression of utmost distress. His navy blue hair was messy and awry, curling over his forehead and dipping behind the lenses of his cracked glasses. He sat in the shadow of the villain who loomed above him, edges sharp where they should've been soft and his relaxed form emanating a contradictorily chilling aura that caused Ochako's anxiety to spike once more, because that was so, so wrong.
But she couldn't stop - not when she was so close. She needed to save her friend before it was too late.
The girl peeled herself away from the wall, overly conscious of the way her own shadow cast across the room, and consequently doing her best to keep low so as not to alert the villain while his back was turned. She moved silently, barely daring to breathe. Iida's eyes flickered briefly to her before locking back onto the villain, setting his square jaw and starting a conversation that was a little louder than usual in order to help cover for his teammate. A low chuckle rumbled dangerously in the enemy's chest like distant thunder, promising a deadly storm that hung heavy on the horizon, and the voice that followed was an uncharacteristic drawl, words layered with a childish squeak that seemed to only enhance the horror of the situation.
He was within reach. Ochako slowly stretched out an arm, extending her fingers towards the back muscles visible against the dark green costume, ready to activate her Quirk and give them the advantage. Her fingertips brushed the fabric, and a feeling of triumph surged in her chest as she allowed herself to smile, and-
The villain whipped around, gloved hands snapping around her wrists. She could only stare with wide, terrified eyes, frozen under the murky gaze that used to promise laughter, but now only glittered with malice. He boyishly tilted his head to one side, causing his green curls to bounce innocently around his fair face, tickling fawny freckles that dusted across his skin like constellations, far too beautiful for the knife-blade smile cutting across his features.
"Oh, that was a nice try, Uraraka-san," he chirped, fingers clamping down harder as he let out another icy giggle. "Unfortunately, it wasn't enough."
"Deku-kun," she whispered, tone bordering on a fearful whine as she flexed her hands. "You're hurting me..."
His green gaze crinkled with sinister mirth as he made a big show of loosening his grip, teeth glinting like exposed bone in a deep wound. "I'm so sorry. Perhaps you'd like a blanket as well, your highness?"
Ochako leaned back as far as she could, shuddering breaths forming misty pools in front of her face. She was trembling again, and she couldn't help glancing around the small room, desperately searching for something, anything, that could help her escape his cruel clutches, refusing to accept the loss. Her eyes locked with Iida's for a moment, and she blinked in surprise, because the villain hadn't tied her teammate up, which meant...
She dug her incisors into her bottom lip, clenching her hands into fists and using all her strength to tug the enemy towards her with a loud yell of exertion. He might've only stumbled a few paces, but it was enough of a distraction for Iida to jump to his feet, twisting on one foot and flaring up the engines on his calves to slam a leg into the villain's ribs. Deku – he wasn't Deku, he was Midoriya, he was a bad guy - relinquished his grip as he tumbled aside, a huff of air forced from his lungs and spilling from his lips like smoke.
Iida's large hand on Ochako's shoulder jolted her into action, the two of them twisting in tandem and sprinting from the room like the hounds of hell were on their heels. Footsteps pounded against the ground, and her soles were starting to hurt, but she kept going because she wasn't about to let their opportunity go to waste. He was clearly running more slowly so he didn't leave her behind, his faced pinched with concern as he watched her stumble and hiss in pain once more.
Ghostly laughter echoed through the halls, breathy and manic, soft and chilling. It ricocheted off walls and warped reality, tearing through her mind and dropping the temperature of the building drastically. The villain was giggling intensely, his voice duplicated and multiplied down the labyrinthine corridors, dancing in the shadows the young heroes dashed through and lurking around every turn, threatening to pounce like a puma.
Time held no meaning in the darkness they traversed. All Ochako knew was her rasping breaths that shuddered in her chest and the burning in her legs as the routes stretched onwards, winding and branching so frequently it felt as if every room was taunting her. Neither she nor Iida knew where they were headed, and the best they could do was exchange a glance at each intersection and choose a path to shoot down, hoping for the best. Some ceilings had lights, varying in colour and efficiency, while other halls were bathed in inky hues, forcing them to slow their pace for fear of crashing into something.
Her heart leapt into her throat as she saw a promising doorway, glowing with sunlight that may as well have been the glow of heaven, promising their solace. She pushed past her limits, her relief lending itself to renewed vigour that her friend seemed to share as they both bolted towards the exit.
A black silhouette lazily stepped into view, reaching up to run a gloved hand through unruly curls before casually leaning against the doorframe with crossed arms. Iida and Ochako barely managed to skid to a halt in time, automatically backing up a few steps as the tension rose to a suffocating level.
They were in his domain, and he wasn't done with them yet.
"That was a valiant effort, but did you really think I'd let you go that easily?" His tone was as smooth and sweet as caramel, yet the words dripped off his tongue like a death sentence.
"We're not losing this, Midoriya-kun. Surrender now, or we'll be forced to fight you," Iida warned, posture perfectly straight and his face entirely stony, but his trembling voice betrayed his fear.
"Surrender?" He laughed again, tilting his head back towards the ceiling, letting a shaft of sunlight cut across his features and ignite the emerald hues of one eye with an ethereal glow. "I thought you were smarter than that, Iida-kun... Let's hope you're better at fighting!"
His gaze was toxic and his movements were swift and predatory. He rushed them before they could react, muscles rippling under his costume as elegantly as a tiger's. The villain reached out a hand, gracefully sidestepping an attempted kick from Iida and grabbing Ochako in the same motion, pushing her into the line of fire and causing two teammates to clash unintentionally.
She doubled over in pain as her friend's foot shoved into her gut, but he was quick to draw back and help her up, expression torn with guilt even as she waved him off. Midoriya was outlined in a golden glow that juxtaposed his sinister smile, his hair illuminated around the edges like a halo he no longer deserved to possess. Iida initiated another round of combat, jolting forwards at an impressive speed, ready to bring a knee up into the enemy's gut since the boy looked wholly unprepared for such a swift attack.
Impossibly, the villain moved aside at the last second, angling his hips so the hit merely brushed past his abdomen. He grinned wider, his teeth pressed together and his lips pulled back in something that was almost feral, and in less than a second he'd grabbed the young hero's armoured leg and flung him into the wall. Iida choked out a pained noise as his shoulder awkwardly collided with the concrete before he slumped to the ground, eyes squeezed shut for a moment as he pressed his other hand to his head
Ochako stepped in before any more damage could be done, summoning up everything she could remember about close-quarters fighting from the few spars they'd done so far in class. She threw forward a punch, but even she could see how weak and inexperienced she was, and a condescending smirk was the last thing she saw before her vision was replaced with the grimy ceiling. Agony thrummed through her back and hot pain spilled over her skull, bringing involuntary tears to her brown eyes as she forced her body to move. The worst part about it all was the fact that the villain wasn't even trying to knock them out: he was just staring down at them with that unfairly innocent smile.
She pressed her palms into the cold ground, twisting her torso and swinging around a leg with the intention of catching him off-guard and tripping him up, but the infuriating boy just brought his heel down on her ankle, cracking her joint against the concrete and locking her extended leg in an awkward position. He wasn't even using his Quirk and it seemed as if he was infinitely better than both of them combined, like he had decades more experience in fighting despite being the same age.
Iida kicked off the wall, fuelled by desperation to ignite his Recipro Burst, flashing forwards with electric blue streaming from his calves as he shifted his stance and successfully landed a kick to the villain's knees, causing him to falter enough to plant a foot firmly into his stomach and send the boy careening down the corridor. Ochako pulled herself back up, wincing whenever she put weight on her right leg, and her friend wrapped his arm around her torso to hurry them both towards the exit before his engines stalled.
The shrill chuckling started up again, sounding entirely unfazed by being flung ten feet into a solid wall. She couldn't help the shiver that trickled down her spine, and she resisted the urge to look over her shoulder to check on the source of her fears, because the doorway was right there, and they just had to take a few more steps before they were free of the torment and-
A tug on her bad ankle caused her to collapse with a yelp. Iida almost crumpled with her but held strong, his fingers digging firmly into her waist as he tried to hoist her back up, but the pain lancing through her leg wouldn't let her put any weight on it without folding. Black smoke spluttered from the exhaust pipes in his calves, and he dropped to one knee, head dipped and teeth gritted regretfully. Both of them simultaneously realised that they were done for as the villain calmly stepped over their interlocked arms, a taunting hum swirling through the air like a fateful lullaby, all light and lilting, clashing with the triumphant, discordant giggles that spilled from his mouth between enchanting notes.
He paused a couple of paces in front of them, just a few inches out of reach. His weight shifted to one leg and he placed a hand on his jutted hip, continuing to stare outside. The enemy finally fell silent, and that should've been a relief, but the absolute quiet that followed in the absence of song made Ochako's gut twist with sickening anxiety.
Midoriya slid a foot back and half-turned to peer down at them over a shoulder, a smug smirk quirking one corner of his lips up as his eyes glittered ominously. He leisurely lowered himself into a crouch, tilting his head in a way that was reminiscent of a cat that had finally cornered its prey, and he bared his teeth in a wild smile. Ochako's heart stuttered in her chest and she pressed herself tighter against her friend for comfort, getting the suffocating feeling that she was staring down Death who wore the face of her classmate as a cruel disguise.
"Nice try," he said softly, tauntingly, mercilessly, before reaching out and wrapping something around her constricted throat, and-
"Villain wins. Come back to the viewing room for feedback if you can walk," Aizawa's voice commanded through the speakers, shattering the illusion, and she could breathe again.
Their Deku melted back into his gentle self, carefully pulling the capture tape off them and already fussing guiltily over their injuries. "S-sorry, I think I went a b-bit overboard... You're not too hurt, are you?"
"That..." Iida cleared his throat when his voice faded uncertainly. "That was incredible acting, Midoriya-kun. You really played the part well!"
"Yeah," Ochako agreed after a beat of nervous silence. "You were really scary! I almost forgot you weren't a real villain..."
"I got a little too into it," he admitted sheepishly as he rubbed at his face. "Uraraka-san, could you use your Quirk on Iida-kun?"
*
The little group was bombarded with chatter the moment they entered the room. Everyone was exclaiming how terrifying Deku had seemed, and that they had been scared just to watch him. Recovery Girl was already there, steering the trio aside and checking over their injuries and patching them up where necessary before kissing Ochako on her forehead to heal her ankle. A wave of sleepiness crashed over her and she found herself slumping against Deku's side, letting the last of her fear rush away under the warm weight of his arm across her shoulders and the nervous giggle he breathed out at the sudden close contact.
"Who did best in that exercise?" Aizawa asked dully, glancing across his students before nodding at one.
Yao-Momo stepped forward, daintily coughing before beginning her analysis, "Iida-san didn't do very well because got himself cornered immediately, since he didn't follow the 'stealth' part of the exercise. Uraraka-san did quite well in adapting and sneaking around, however her fighting wasn't very good. The two of them made a good team, but they didn't have the skills to pull it off. This means that Midoriya-san was the best out of the three of them, since he played the part of villain admirably and managed to use the heroes' attacks against them to win the fight."
"Correct," the teacher confirmed, turning his tired gaze to where the trio sat on a bench against the wall. "Iida, you inadvertently gave away your ally's position when you looked away from Midoriya, but you were quite efficient with all of your attacks. Uraraka, you need to work on your fighting skills, but you do have good instincts. Midoriya..." He paused, heaving a heavy sigh. "I don't think I want to know why you're so good at pretending to be a villain. You were very good at fighting and navigating the halls by memory, but you need to be able to use your Quirk to gain an advantage against real enemies who are more experienced than you. Next up, Todoroki versus Kirishima and Ashido..."
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So on Sunday I realised that Halloween falls on a Wednesday (aka a chapter-post day) and then I was hit with the urge to write a sort-of spooky-ish chapter. I hastily threw this together, and there's probably a few mistakes I missed in my quick editing? Point them out if you notice them, thank you (':
As for the chapter itself - oh man, I love writing scenes that seem dire but in reality it's just an average day over-dramatised to trick the reader. It probably takes place sometime before the Sports Festival? Maybe? Idk. And since I literally just wrote this over the past couple of days, and I can't be bothered to edit in acknowledgements to it in later chapters, as far as the story is concerned it basically never happened.
But yeah, uhhh... happy Halloween, and I hope you enjoyed this cheeky chapter!! :D