I was scared. I was always so scared. I still am. Why me, why now?
Someone bumped into me. "Sorry." I voiced, but it came out blurry, not muffled or echoed. A voice of blurry vision. The light was blending everyone together. Someone else stumbled against me. The bustling city was never slowing down. "I'm sorry." I only hear an echo of my own voice ringing. Th-They can't hear me. They push me around. I keep trying to apologize for getting in their way. "I'm sorry! Sorry! I didn't-!" It's too much. Too many of them. I was trampled down, hitting the cruel sidewalk.
A shadow hand to comfort me. "Bartender-san..." I always reach out to it.
A huge breath filled my lungs, coughing alive.
"Oh, you're back. I was wondering if I went over broad again? How many times has it been, now? Two? Five? Thirteen? Twenty-seven?"
...No, I don't want to be here anymore... I was in the city, living with everyone. That's right, I was alive.
"A... All..."
"Hm? What is it?"
Shut up! Leave me alone! "All-Might... will save me..."
"With a smile, is that right? How amusing!"
Don't copy his smile! He will definitely come! He can save everyone! ...Even me...
My shackles were too heavy for my hollow body. Am I even breathing...
"Oh, what's this? Passing out again? It's not even been a minute. Or, could it be that this time, this is where you're fading too? Where you find isolation and solitude? The only comfort in the canals of your mind? Do you even know where you are?"
Where am I? Was I fighting somebody? I was protecting someone, right? I... I was protecting myself... I was scared. I don't want to die. What's going to happen to me?
I don't want to disappear...
"Hey, your coffee's getting cold."
"Huh?" My empty orbs rose from the table I didn't know I was staring at.
It was her. She was holding her cup with both hands, her shoulders raised, curled up on the chair, staring out the window. I shared her view. Huh? Only a pure light, nothing ever after. I turned my head back to her.
"You don't even know my name." She mused, sipping on her drink. What was she drinking? "How could you even know what I would choose as a drink?"
"Eh, um, are you alright?" What happened to her after my fight with Noumu? The last thing I remember was it breaking my maskgaurd during the final blow.
"Yup, peachy. I'm living inside the final thoughts of a dying 'hero.' Man, you didn't even try to get to know me."
"I'm dying?" What about Kota?
"Yeah, your quirk has stopped activating? Don't you remember?" She nodded her head towards his memories.
Izuku's right eye grew. "Wh-What?!"
Izuku charged straight for Muscular. He smirked at the pipsqueak. "Oh, I can't wait!" Stepping with a groundbreaking foot.
A fist. Izuku barely rose his arm. 'He's fast?!' The knuckles broke into Izuku's bone, launching him to the mountain wall. Izuku muffled his cry of pain, clutching his twisted arm. His flames ignited, healing.
Muscular rose his posture. "What's this? You can heal? Seriously! I seriously get to have some fun!"
Izuku stood gripping his repaired arm. He glanced at Kota. 'Why isn't he running!' Izuku flinched. Muscular had already lunged at him. He lept, flapping his wings. Muscular crashed into the crater Izuku left.
"You're fast." Muscular disappeared from Izuku's sight. "But I'm faster!" Izuku gasped, hearing it right behind him. "Oi, can I pluck these?" Muscular clutched the roots of his wings.
Izuku's green eyes fueled with disbelief. He reached with arms, desperately clawing at Muscular's hands. "Stop it!"
Muscular had his boot pushing down on Izuku's back, pulling his wings. It was hot but dense enough to form a grip. "What's a matter? I thought you were gonna protect him! Why are you flying away!" Ripping them off, and smashing Izuku down on the ground with his boot.
Izuku cried out. The back of his shirt had two holes burned out with seeping blood. Muscular landed in front of him, as Izuku struggled to stand. 'He's faster than me, stronger than me. He ripped away my wings. My wings.'
Kill him.
"You actually overcame your instability, such a turning point for you, huh? I guess your resolve wasn't that half-assed." She jokingly teased. I don't know why, but it comforted me. If this was the end, then spending it with the only person I saved, would be a peaceful send-off.
Kill him. He's just a filthy villain! Burn him to ashes.
Izuku palmed his forehead and apart of his eye.
No. I won't.
His legs stumbled to the side. He blinked open his eyes. He stared down muscular. His flames erupted from his back. Instead of wings, they were pure flames without any distinct shape. Izuku's wounds were all slowing healing, enveloping him in a small armor of emerald flames.
"Kota, run away!" Izuku didn't keep his eyes off muscular.
Kota stumbled back, falling. "But I can't just leave you..."
"Don't worry. I'll be fine! Just go!"
"Oh, man I love it! I can keep pounding you down. You're just sacrificing your body as a punching bag for that kid, right?" Muscular was going to have so much fun.
Izuku's flames swirled around him in a sporadic aura. The flame behind him turned into a thruster, blasting Izuku forward. "I'm not sacrificing anything!"
"Come at me, kid!" Muscular augmented the muscle fibers around his right arm, fixing his footwork for a haymaker fist to smash the kid away.
Izuku zigzagged his movement, skimming his shoes on the ground, breaking into blinding speed. Muscular's aim was off, during the swing. "Those thrusters on his back are more powerful than earlier!"
Izuku appeared in front of muscular, causing him to throw his fist in anticipation. "I missed?"
A red boot smashed down in a front flip ax drop. Muscular gritted in surprise. "That actually tickled!" Increasing the muscle fibers around his shoulder, capturing Izuku's foot. "Now, you can't run!"
Izuku gasped. He couldn't use his flames for maneuverability. He put his arms in an X blocking Muscular's incoming fist. His guard was easily broken.
Izuku's head rocked back, blood spilled out his nose. He was dangling down, stuck to Muscular's shoulder.
"What's a matter kid, that was a warm up! Huh?" Muscular's eye grew seeing Izuku glare at him with his index finger indicating he was able to take another hit, no problem. "Hahaha! How about some more power!" His arm grew gross with muscle fibers spewing out. "Here's another one!"
Before impact, Izuku twisted his body, his huge back flame surged out, straight at Muscular's arm.
Instinctively, Muscular released the fibers around Izuku and tossed him aside with his free arm, before the flames burned his fist. "That flame looked a lot more dangerous than those pathetic wings you had earlier."
Izuku rolled on the ground, before catching himself with a flame propelled backflip, landing on his shoes. Deku huffed heavy breaths. 'I-I've been doing what I can to survive, and he's barely broke a sweat.' He glanced back at Kota. 'And he's frozen in fear.'
Muscular was thriving in this. "That was a close one. My arm was almost burned to a crisp. You're a tricky one, but that makes it more fun! I actually gotta worry about your next move! And you keep healing! You're really the best, kid!" His legs increased their muscles explicitly fast.
'Here he comes!' Izuku's only option was to dodge, his eyes grew. 'Kota's right behind me! I can't dodge!'
"Now you realized it!"
Izuku increased his flames, they turned into a wall behind Deku, to protect Kota from the impact.
...Thud...!
Kota's eyes were burning from the smoke charred around their fight. "Deku!" No, he couldn't see because of the emerald flames blocking him off.
"Don't worry Kota... run away..." Izuku slumped down, after Muscular yanked his fist away.
"With the last of your strength, you made sure the kid could get away, huh?" Muscular was let down. This kid's quirk had felt weak from the start, as if the muscle had gave out long ago and he was forcing it to activate continuously.
Izuku had his fingers buried in the ground, trying to force himself back up.
"You lost!" Muscular kicked him in the gut, breaking a few of his ribs. Izuku tumbled along, battered, stopping at the edge of the cliff. The arm he struggled to rise with, now dangled over the abyss below.
"Hey, you know that kid you were desperate to save? His parents gave me this artificial eye. I think it's only fair if I take your's, right? Tit for tat" Muscular's shadow loomed with the green flames surrounding the cliff. "You won't need it!"
Izuku's back arched at the forceful grip muscular had on his jaw. Izuku fought back, kicking and screaming.
It only excited muscular. "Come on, come on! You couldn't even save yourself! The weak will always be trampled on! The strong take what they want! And I want that burning eye! Give it!" The grip he had squeezed, crushing his jaw and a broken rib was about to puncture his lung from the weight of Muscular's knee, pinning him down.
"STOP! NO! STOP IT- AAAAAGHHAAAAA!"
"That's how you ended up here." She mumbled. "You were weak."
I glanced down at my hand. "I always knew my quirk was failing me... I felt like this was inevitable. One day it would just stop completely."
I wasn't sure if she cared or not, but she was paying attention, sipping on her cup. "So why didn't you just walk away from all this and live happily?"
"You make it sound simple." This life never gave me the option.
"You made it complicated for yourself. You wanted to be a hero with your final breaths, right?"
"When I fought All-Might, he completely devastated me. I think that's why my quirk only weakened the harder I tried. I was never close to being a hero was I?"
...
...
...
"So was it worth it?"
"I saved someone at least right..?" I saved you, right? At least one person.
"But you're leaving everyone behind. Toga, Dabi, Stain, me." She placed her elbows on the table and held her cheeks with her palms, bored.
"What happens to me, now?" I had to know. I never knew. Life and death were always so scary to me.
She freed one hand from her face, to twinkle her fingers, waving at me.
"You're just gonna be another memory, now, Izuku Midoriya..."