49

"So, Creati," Togata began as the two walked down the city street in uniform. "Why do you want to be a hero?" 

Momo looked over at the slightly-shorter upperclassman with a curious expression.

Togata smiled. "It's the most basic question for a hero student!"

"Of course," Momo said with a polite nod. "Well, my quirk is quite versatile; with enough planning and experience, there will seldom be a situation that I cannot assist and excel in. From combat to rescue to medical aid and more, I will be able to help."

"No, no," Togata said with a laugh. "Those are reasons why you might be a good hero, but why do you want to be one? What in your heart and mind made you want to go down this path? If you just wanted to help, you could have just gotten a civilian quirk license." 

Momo furrowed her brow. "I… huh." 

"You've never thought about it?" Togata said with a knowing smile.

Momo bit her lip for a moment. "No, I suppose not… not really ."

Togata laughed brightly. "Truth be told, I'm not surprised! That's just how it is for some people, especially recommended students, from my experience. Some people just assume that they're gonna be a hero, or they get told that by their parents and they were never really given a choice. I'm sure you've put in hours and hours of hard work to get to where you are, but you never really thought about why ."

Momo was stunned. "That's… exactly what happened, yes. I was always told that I would make a great hero one day; I never really considered any other options. I just… took it for granted, as you said."

"That's not necessarily a bad thing!" Togata exclaimed. "Like I said, you aren't alone. But that is a reason there are a lot of freshman dropouts at hero schools. This is the time when you're finally confronted with that question: why do you want to be a hero? If you can't find a good answer, you should look elsewhere for your future, but if you do find that answer, you'll find a whole new drive and purpose!" 

Momo rubbed her chin. Her whole life, she had been so focused on becoming a hero, she never thought about why she wanted to do it. She had missed the forest for the trees, as it were.

He gave her a thumbs up. "Don't be sad! College is a time of growth, exploration, and self-discovery; you'll find your answer, one way or the other."

"Thank you, Togata," Momo said softly, but firmly. "I'll be certain to look until I find it."

Great wings grew from Stormclaw's back as the four of them ran toward the water. With well-practiced motions, Riptide handed Tsuyu something, then jumped and landed on Stormclaw's back as he took to the air and glanced back at Izuchan, clearly telling him to do the same thing.

Tsuyu looked down at the small earpiece and then glanced up at Izuchan. "Looks like I'm getting that ride sooner than I thought."

"Looks like it," he huffed as he grew his own wings, his eyes beginning to glow brighter.

He crouched down as Tsuyu hopped onto his back, wrapping her arms around his neck and squeezing his sides with her thighs. His pants melted into his legs as he transformed them, the powerful muscle growing as he prepared himself.

In a single motion, Izuchan shot into the air with Tsuyu on his back, his wings beginning to beat and bear them higher into the sky as they chased after Stormclaw. 

They reached a comfortable cruising altitude as they soared on Stormclaw's left, perhaps to cover his weaker side. Both Midoriyas were still mostly humanoid, nothing betraying their quirks other than their glowing eyes and wings. 

Tsuyu thought back to what Riptide had told her the previous day during their training when she had caught her staring at Izuchan and Stormclaw training.

"You've been staring a while, Froppy," she noted.

Tsuyu turned back and ribbited up at the white-haired woman. "I was watching Izuchan."

Riptide chuckled. "I can see that. Are you close to him?"

"Sorta," Tsuyu explained. "He and I are friends, but I'm not one of his girlfriends yet."

"Girlfriends?" 

Tsuyu tilted her head slightly. "Sure. Izuchan, Ochako, Mina, and Momo are all in a relationship. They're all very cute." 

"I see," Riptide mumbled. "Look, I feel like I should warn you about the Midoriyas."

"Warn?" Tsuyu repeated, blinking slowly.

The pro nodded. "Stormclaw is a wonderful person, a great hero, and I greatly enjoy working for him, don't get me wrong, but him and his son are mentally… different than most."

Tsuyu continued to stare at the woman, prompting her to continue.

"Again, they're not bad people, but I've just noticed that they're… different, like I said," Riptide continued awkwardly. "They'll get hung up on unusual things and get ansty at seemingly odd times. I sometimes wonder if the dragon in them is only skin deep. Look, what I'm trying to say is that you just gotta be careful. There's more going on in their heads than they let on, that's all I can say. Stormclaw is a very kind, but a very private and secretive man. I really don't know anything more."

Tsuyu had already known something like that was going on. She had watched him at school, at the USJ, at the Sports Festival; it was clear that he wasn't a 'normal' man, but that didn't really matter to her. She was far from a 'normal' woman, after all. 

Perhaps Riptide hadn't noticed it yet… somehow , but Tsuyu's quirk had done things to her mind just like Izuchan's had. Her emotions were muted, her face was far from the most expressive, she had a habit of ribbiting whenever she spoke, and she had impulses and urges that weren't exactly par for the course. It was like her base instincts were different than most people's. 

Tsuyu had noticed it the most at the USJ when he had protected her and Mineta from that villain. At the time, she hadn't realized what exactly she was feeling, but once they had escaped with their lives, and during that week when Izuchan was in a coma, she had figured it out, at least to a degree.

There was no denying it: Izuchan was a predator. He was a predator and her mind recognized it. 

It made sense, in a way. She was a frog, and he was a dragon. She was prey and he was a predator.

However, that danger sense tugging at the back of her mind had been confused when he had reached out and ran his fingers through her hair and patted her head. Logically, she knew that he was her friend and would protect her, but at that point, her 'animal' brain knew it too, at least partially. 

There was that hint of fight-or-flight whenever she saw him transform, but instead of fear, it came through as excitement. She got a small adrenaline rush from it and it honestly just made him more attractive.

The tug of one small part of her mind wanting to run while the rest knew that—like he said the previous night after their race—he would protect her made him very distracting in more than one way. 

That, plus his genuine and selfless nature, had solidified her desire to be in a relationship with him. Mina was very keen when it came to these things, it seemed. 

But this wasn't the time to be thinking about such things. There were villains out there and she had to focus on stopping them.

"Froppy!" came Riptide's voice through the radio. "Can you hear me?"

Tsuyu put a finger to her ear and pressed the earpiece. "I can."

"Good. Listen up: we've got more information now. I just heard from Selkie, another pro in the area, that they were stowaways that turned violent upon discovery. They robbed the ship of valuable cargo and stole a smaller boat. They also trapped Selkie for a while and he and his crew lost track of them, so that's why they're enlisting us. We're going to spread out and search; luckily they have a general idea of where to look, so you two head northwest, we'll head north."

"Understood," Tsuyu responded. "Okay, Izuchan, we're splitting up. We're heading northwest and looking for the criminals." 

Izuchan turned his head slightly to look up at her, his glowing eye staring into hers. He nodded once, then banked to the left as Stormclaw did the same.

"Good luck, you two," Stormclaw growled out as he soared overhead. "Keep an eye out for any ships. Be thorough; we can't afford to let them escape."

"They won't escape," Izuchan responded firmly. "Good hunting."

Stormclaw and Riptide began to grow smaller and smaller as the two pairs put more distance between them. 

Tsuyu and Izuchan began to scan the waves and horizon, looking for anything that might be the pirates, silent beyond the regular beating of his wings and the rush of air over them. 

The sea was calm and the sun was bright, but she couldn't help but feel a grim weight pressing down on her. There were real villains out there, and they were rushing to find them; this wasn't like anything they had done before. This wasn't like the USJ, when they were fighting to escape, or any of their training in class, when there wasn't any real danger.

But Tsuyu wasn't alone. She was competent and confident in herself, but she also had Izuchan with her, who was powerful, skilled, and protective.

She remembered what he had said the previous evening.

"You will be safe as long as I am here."

He had said it in his deep, draconic voice, the same voice that sent that froggy part of her brain into a panic, but the way he had held her and the utter confidence with which he spoke had filled her with nothing but comfort and warmth. 

Over a half hour passed in tense silence as both of them scanned the water. Sometimes they would spot something that turned out to be a small island or a buoy, but they didn't see any ships.

Eventually, even Tsuyu got a little antsy.

"Am I the first person you've given a ride to?" she asked, breaking the silence.

Izuchan glanced up at her for a moment before resuming his search. "No. Ochako, Mina, and Jirou have all gotten a ride." 

"It's very nice," she said flatly. "I wouldn't mind riding more often."

Izuchan looked like he was about to say something when an explosion rang out in the distance.

His head snapped forward as both of the students looked around for the source of the noise. Their gaze landed on a fishing vessel that had just come into view on the far side of an island, both of them immediately noticing the smoke beginning to billow into the sky.

Izuchan turned and dove down, tucking his wings as Tsuyu tightened her grip on his back. They shot downward toward the vessel, the wind whipping through her long hair until his wings steadily moved back out, catching the air and slowing their speed as they began to circle the ship. 

It was already beginning to sink and list to one side, which meant they had no time to lose.

"Bring us in, Izuchan," Tsuyu called out. "There might be people trapped on board."

He nodded. "Right!"

Izuchan banked toward the ship and glided down onto the slanted deck, letting Tsuyu hop off. She saw him begin to look around in worry. "Where is everyone?"

"If we don't see them, they must be below deck," Tsuyu reasoned. She looked around the deck for a few seconds before her eyes landed on the lifeboat, which was tangled up in ropes. "You get that into the water and I'll go look for the crew." 

Izuchan hesitated for a moment, seeming to be thinking things through, but Tsuyu was already moving. She found the stairs leading below deck and hopped down them, hurrying further into the depths. The ship was listing more all the time; she didn't have all day.

"Hello?!" Tsuyu called out, not seeing anyone. "Is there anyone down here?" There was a chance that the ship was already abandoned. 

Suddenly, she heard a muffled noise followed by a soft pounding. She jumped forward, trying to find where the sound was coming from, but was having trouble.

"I can hear you!" she yelled. "Keep making noise!"

As she hopped past a door opening up into the cargo hold, she glanced and saw the massive hole blown in the hull and the water pouring in. To her, it seemed like this was no accident.

The ship made a sickening groaning noise that made her quicken her pace. Finally, she found the source of the pounding: a sealed steel door near the bottom of the ship. 

"Hello?" she called, hitting the door back. "Are you in there?"

"Oh, thank God!" someone returned from the other side in a panicked voice. "How did you find us? We thought we were dead. Please, can you get us out of here? The door is locked!"

Tsuyu looked down and saw the handle had been crushed and snapped off; there was no way she was going to unlock it.

"Stand back!" she warned, backing up and finding a place to brace herself.

With a thundering crash, she slammed a foot into the door, denting it. She pulled back and drove forward again, the steel groaning under the assault from her powerful legs. The third kick snapped one of the hinges, and the fourth completely knocked the door free, sending it crashing back into the room. 

Tsuyu hopped inside, wincing slightly at her sore foot. There were a half dozen men in the room, each of them with a few cuts and bruises about their bodies. "Come on!" she called, waving a hand at them."

The men nodded and stormed past her, right as the ship groaned again and a horrifying grinding noise was all the warning Tsuyu and the crew received before the ship tipped almost entirely to one side, throwing them into a wall. 

Tsuyu quickly stood up on what used to be the wall of the ship and hopped up to the door, crawling through and beginning to help the crew stand back up. "Hurry!" she warned, urging them forward.

They scrambled forward, clamoring into doorways as they made a mad dash for the stairs, but the water was beginning to rise. Tsuyu stayed behind the crew to make sure they all made it through the doors before hopping through herself, but even she was getting concerned about the rising water.

The last of the crew crawled through the final door and began to scramble up to the surface when suddenly, the ship shifted again. 

The vessel struck rocks as it sank and began to buckle. The groaning and scraping of metal echoed through the ship as Tsuyu saw the bulkhead in front of her begin to buckle. 

She jumped forward as fast as she could as the ship collapsed around her, leaping through the final doorway toward the stairs and freedom.

Her body cleared the portal before it closed.

Her hair didn't.

One of the loops on her long hair snagged on a broken pipe, jerking her backward violently as the doorway was crushed and her forward motion was arrested. Another deafening groan from the ship drowned out all the other noise as she tried to free herself, but to no avail. She glanced back and saw that her hair was trapped on the other side of the pancaked door; there was no way to unhook herself.

Tsuyu wasn't one to panic, but she was quite aware that this wasn't a good situation. She knew that she could almost certainly plant her legs and push through, but tearing out all of her hair like that was likely to scalp her. 

Well, if it was that or be crushed to death, there wasn't much of a choice.

At least the crew had all gotten out.

She planted her feet behind her and prepared to push when a sudden rush of water distracted her. Before she could realize what was happening, the pressure on her head suddenly ceased and her entire body jerked forward.

"I've got you."

Tsuyu felt Izuchan's powerful arms grab her and pull her forward. She looked down at the clawed hand holding her side and then back at the door, where most of her hair was still floating.

In only a few powerful strokes, they shot through the stairwell and burst out into the sun. He pulled her away from the ship as it listed further and began to disappear entirely beneath the surface of the water. 

"Are you alright?" Izuchan asked as he let her go. 

Tsuyu began to tread water next to him, but didn't answer at first, as she was more focused on looking for the civilians. Her vision fell on them sitting in the lifeboat, safe and sound.

She sighed in relief and looked up to Izuchan with a small smile. "I'm fine, thank you for saving me."

The light in his eyes dimmed slightly as his scales receded away from his face and neck. "I'm… really sorry about your hair, Tsu. I shouldn't have acted so rashly."

Tsuyu blinked twice. "If you hadn't acted so quickly, I might have gotten hurt or worse. Don't apologize for it." She reached her hand back and felt her hair.

It hung just above her shoulders and she could feel the jagged edges from Izuchan's claws. She still had the bangs framing her face and hanging down between her eyes, but around back, she had lost well over two feet of hair. She swished her head around a little, feeling the sudden lack of weight and the ease of motion.

"I kinda like it," she admitted, ribbiting softly. 

Izuchan blinked a few times. "R-really? But your hair was so beautiful and I just slashed it away."

That made Tsuyu smile a little wider. "I thought it was beautiful, too. I'm glad to hear you liked it. But what's done is done, and regardless, I had actually been thinking about doing something like this for a little bit."

"You were?" Izuchan asked. "Was it because it was slowing you down?"

She nodded. "There's a reason professional swimmers wear those caps. It doesn't make much sense for me to have long hair when I'm wanting to be an aquatic hero. I just hadn't done anything yet because I was being sentimental. I'm glad you were there to save me, or that sentimentality might have gotten me hurt."

Izuchan looked down and smiled a little. "I'm just happy you're okay."

"Do you still think I'm beautiful without my long hair?" she asked directly.

Izuchan froze up, looking over at her quickly, then away as he turned a little green. "I-I do. The hair looks… nice on you."

She ribbited happily. He was so adorable.

"Something I noticed," Izuchan began suddenly, looking to change the subject. "During all that, I was listening closely and I noticed that your heartbeat didn't raise too much. How did you stay calm during all that? You almost died!"

Tsuyu put a finger to her chin and tilted her head a little. "There's no point in panicking, I guess. When things go wrong, the most important thing to do is keep your head on straight. I had to take care of my siblings a lot growing up and I learned that staying calm was the best thing to do if things went wrong. Also, other people panic less when there's someone collected nearby."

Izuchan's eyes glowed a little as he looked intensely at her. "Just be calm? It's that simple for you?"

"Not exactly," she said with a ribbit. "Sure, it helps that my quirk mutes my emotions a little compared to other people, but it's something I've practiced. It may sound mundane or domestic, but after stuff like Satsuki setting the microwave on fire for the fifth time trying to make popcorn, I started to learn how to stay calm during a crisis. Nothing makes kids cry more than someone older freaking out."

Izuchan smiled wider. "I'll try to learn from your example, then. Thank you, Tsu."

Tsuyu closed her eyes and smiled. "Let's see how the crew are doing."

Izuchan nodded and the two swam over to the lifeboat, where one of the crew was just getting off the phone.

"Alright, the Coast Guard knows where we are and are on their way," he declared to the rest of the crew. "Thank God for waterproof phones, eh?" He noticed the two students approaching and smiled widely. 

"Is everyone alright?" Izuchan asked.

The men all murmured and nodded. "Other than a few bruises and scrapes," one man said, "we're all fine. If you guys hadn't been there… I don't wanna think about it. How'd you find us, anyway?"

"We were already in the area," Tsuyu explained. "We were looking for a villain on the run when we heard the explosion."

The man narrowed his eyes. "A villain? Does he have an octopus quirk?"

Izuchan's eyes lit up brighter. "That matches the description. Was he here?"

The men all grumbled. "Yeah, he's the bastard who locked us below deck and rigged the explosive. I don't know why; we didn't do anything to him."

"He might have been trying to distract us or slow us down," Izuchan surmised. "Did you see which way he went?"

The men pointed toward the west. "He was heading for the shore."

Tsuyu nodded as she swam over and climbed onto Izuchan's back again. "Will you all be okay here?"

"Sure will," the man said confidently. "The Coast Guard is already on their way. Thanks again, we owe you our lives."

Izuchan smiled as his wings grew. "That's what heroes do." 

With a surge of power and speed, Izuchan lifted off into the air with Tsuyu on his back. They circled around the lifeboat once, waving at the crew before turning to the west and flying off after the villain.

"Good."

Shouto finally let his flames die as he panted, his clothes drenched in sweat from a long day of training. It was Wednesday and Shouto still hadn't left Midoriya's mansion; he had spent almost every waking moment training instead. The hero had left somewhat frequently to respond to calls and for routine patrols, but Shouto was always training.

It made sense, even if he was getting a little sick of being trapped inside. He had spent years intentionally ignoring his fire; he needed all the practice he could get.

Shouto grabbed a water bottle and began to drain it in big gulps, replenishing the water he had sweated out. 

"Your control has improved," Midoriya began as he stepped over toward Shouto, "but you still have much work to do."

That much seemed obvious.

"If I didn't know any better…" Midoriya turned and looked side-eyed down at him. "Considering your control over your ice, I would say that you've only just begun to use your fire."

"I have," Shouto answered directly. "Up until the Sports Festival, I never used it in combat."

If Midoriya was surprised, he didn't show it. "And why was that?"

"I hated it," Shouto explained. "It took… a friend to show me that I shouldn't."

There was a pause as Midoriya's golden eyes narrowed. "Your match against my nephew?"

Shouto nodded once. 

"What is he to you?" Midoriya asked simply.

Shouto looked up at the man with his usual stoic expression. "Izuku is a friend. He's saved me twice: first from Terrorflame and then from myself."

"Indeed," Midoriya mused flatly. "What were you two saying down there in your match? You looked quite animated."

Midoriya was quite curious about Izuku and he got the distinct impression that he didn't care much for his nephew. It seemed Shouto wasn't the only one with a less-than-ideal family life.

"Izuku talked about how he… hated his quirk."

One of Midoriya's eyebrows raised.

"He told me about how he would… break his quirk and make it his own. He would defy the burden on his shoulders and become a hero, like he was meant to be."

Shouto smiled softly. "He showed me that I could do that, too."

After an uncomfortably long pause, Midoriya stood up straight and began to walk away. "I see. Continue the exercises I gave you, I will test you on them later."

With that, Midoriya left the training room, leaving Shouto alone once again.

Tsuyu had reported in to Riptide and told them what they had learned from the crew. Apparently, the group had split up and they were pursuing one, which left the other to Izuku and Tsuyu.

So be it.

Izuku soared over the waves with Tsuyu on his back, using the rising air currents to conserve as much energy as possible as they scanned for the villain. Izuku was beginning to lose hope after nearly an hour of looking, but then something caught his eye. 

Sitting in the shadow of some jagged rocks was a ship anchored, clearly hoping to avoid notice. It was small, having only a single-room cabin; it was a sort of light fishing vessel, which would hardly draw much attention.

Suspicious, if nothing else.

"We're heading down, let Riptide know where we are," Izuku warned as he began to bank and let them fall gently toward the waves. 

"Right," Tsuyu responded as she pressed the radio in her ear.

While she spoke, Izuku pushed more of his power into his eyes as he scanned the ship, spotting someone standing on the back deck.

It looked like a woman crossed with a squid; she wore a yellow rain jacket and was clearly standing guard. She matched the description that Riptide had given Tsuyu, so he felt safe assuming that she was at the very least an accomplice.

Unfortunately, he didn't have any way to reach her quickly and quietly, but he knew someone who did.

Izuku drifted down, using the rocks to hide himself and Tsuyu, and splashed down into the water. His wings vanished as the two of them dove down and swam toward the ship. 

"When we get close, grab the lookout and bring her down here."

Tsuyu nodded as the two approached silently, both of them peeking the top of their heads out of the water as they got close, then dipping back down. 

This was it.

It was time for Defiant to make his debut. 

He just had to trust and work with his quirk. 

Izuku closed his eyes and breathed, letting water flow past his gills as he let his quirk flow freely into his mind. His consciousness fell into the dripping power, melting and molding into something very different, but very familiar. 

Defiant opened his eyes and glanced over at Tsuyu, nodding for her to go ahead.

Her tongue shot out like a rocket, wrapping around the woman and dragging her into the water before she could react.

Defiant's maw stretched out as his teeth sharpened and elongated. Tsuyu brought the woman close as she got her bearings and began to struggle. He reached out his clawed hands and gripped the sides of the woman's face, his glowing eyes staring into her soul.

"Cooperate and we won't have to get rough with you," he threatened slowly and smoothly, a small, predatory grin growing on his face and exposing his razor-sharp fangs. 

The woman's eyes went wide as she stared up at Defiant and stopped struggling. 

"Good." Defiant leaned in a little closer. "Now, is the octopus man on that ship?" 

She hesitated for a second, then nodded.

"Is there anyone else up there?" 

She shook her head. 

"Do you have a feeling of what will happen to you if I find out you're lying?" 

She nodded.

"Good."

Tsuyu reached into one of her pouches on her costume and pulled out a pair of heavy duty zip-tie handcuffs. Defiant glanced over at her with a curious expression, to which she just shrugged. "Riptide mentioned I should carry stuff to capture people with; she gave me these to carry."

Defiant nodded as Tsuyu moved in and cuffed the woman's wrists and ankles together, then pulled out a thick cloth and gagged her. The pair swam back to one of the rocks and slowly breached the surface, placing the woman on one of the rocks and then sinking back beneath the water.

They swam back to the ship and Defiant placed his hand on Tsuyu's shoulders. "I'm going to try and talk him down, but keep in mind that we don't know what's up there, so stay behind me. I will protect you." Defiant let most of his outward transformations fade away, leaving him looking fairly 'normal' and less threatening.

Tsuyu looked into his eyes for a moment too long and nodded.

They swam forward and reached up together, grabbing onto the back of the boat and pulling themselves up. Defiant swung forward and landed heavily in the middle of the deck while Tsuyu hung behind, near the back. 

The cabin was dark, but Defiant could see into it clearly. 

Lurking in the shadows was a large man wearing a maroon jacket and a red hood. His yellow eyes glared at Defiant, but what was more immediately noticeable was the pair of large light-red tentacles covered in suckers and hanging from his face. Where his nose should have been was instead a smaller tentacle that completed his octopus aesthetic, and he had four arms, each pair with a webbing that wasn't dissimilar to Shouji.

He noticed Defiant staring straight at him, studying his features, and narrowed his eyes.

"Yes, I can see you," Defiant said calmly. "Come on out here so we can have a nice chat."

The man slowly moved forward, rising to his full height as he stepped out into the open. He looked slightly down on Defiant, comparable to Stormclaw in height.

"What's there to talk about?" he snarled derisively. "I thought I had gotten away with it, but it seems that's not the case."

Defiant held his ground. "Not quite."

"So what, they can only send a couple of kids after me?" He bristled up, his face tentacles waving erratically and menacingly. "Are you all that's left here to stop me?"

Defiant kept his eyes steady on the man, not showing any signs of emotion. The villain was clearly tense, full of nerves, and looking for a way out. If he offered what the man wanted, he could begin to twist him.

"We are," he began calmly, "for now. You know the whole Coast Guard and several heroes are out searching for you, including Selkie and Stormclaw."

The villain's face tensed almost imperceptibly. Defiant was on the right track. 

"Now that we've found you, it's only a matter of time until they converge on this position." 

Rage spiked and the villain began to move. 

"That is, unless we send them elsewhere." 

He froze, looking down at Defiant first with surprise, then with suspicion. 

Hopefully, Tsuyu would trust him and follow his lead. 

"I'm honestly more concerned about the cargo you stole than about you. If you leave it behind, I'll tell the others that you 'escaped'." Defiant raised a knowing eyebrow. "I'm just an intern, they'll easily believe that I screwed up. All you have to do is leave the cargo, get going, and I'll point them in a different direction. You'll be on dry land and into the underworld before any of them know what's happening." 

The real plan, of course, was to get him out into the open and call for backup. Stormclaw could handle this chump with his arm behind his back. 

The man appeared to be thinking for a moment, but his gaze narrowed further. "What gives you the idea that you're in a position to negotiate, brat ?" 

Defiant froze.

"How about I just take you both with me and force you to unload the cargo for me?" His arms began to stretch longer. "You don't know who you're dealing with!" 

He swung both of his right arms forward, surprising Defiant with the strength he carried in them. He crashed into the side of the ship, only barely having time to transform his back as his body left a massive dent in the steel.

Defiant was momentarily disoriented and winded, and he was pretty sure he had cracked a rib or two, but he could still hear the villain. "Now, come here, girly. You're gonna call off that search for me if you don't want me to start breaking bones."

He heard Tsuyu kick off from the deck without a moment's hesitation. The satisfying thud followed by the villain's angry grunt told Defiant that Tsuyu had landed a solid hit. 

They were far from done.

"You bitch! That's the last mistake you'll ever make!"

Defiant began to rise to his feet, still recovering from the wind being knocked out of him. His eyes refocused and he saw Tsuyu hopping around on the nearby rocks, dodging the tentacle-like arms that the villain was swinging at her.

The man's yellow eyes snapped back to Defiant and he shot one of his arms at him, looking to put Defiant back on the ground.

Tsuyu's tongue darted after it, wrapping around the arm and pulling it off-target, making it slam wide of Defiant.

However, this was a mistake.

With another one of his arms, he snatched Tsuyu's tongue, swinging her like a whip and slamming her down into the rocks.

The villain jumped after Tsuyu and pinned her down, his evil eyes staring down at her.

"Don't say I didn't warn you."

With one of his left arms, he grabbed Tsuyu's right, and then with the other…

A sickening crack and a piercing scream echoed through the rocks as Tsuyu's arm snapped.

And then something snapped inside Defiant, too.

"I only need one of you alive to unload the cargo," the villain sneered with a dark laugh. "This is the end… for… you…"

The villain turned around slowly as he heard the ship shift in the water. His gaze moved to where Defiant used to be, then up to where his face was currently.

The ship was not designed for people of this size.

Defiant's quirk was bursting at the seams as he stood nearly fifteen feet tall, his entire body covered in scales and his tail whipping angrily behind him. His dark spikes jutted out of his elbows as venom dripped from his fangs.

It was taking all of his willpower to keep himself this small. Every part of his being was screaming at him to grow larger, to embrace his nature and fully transform, but his Izuku part of him still knew that his mind and body couldn't handle it yet.

For now, this would do.

Nothing as big as Defiant should have been able to move that fast.

In a blink of an eye, Defiant was on top of the villain, rocks and dust flying into the air as his massive claw wrapped around his neck and pinned him to the wall. With his other hand, he grabbed a pair of tentacles and then threw the villain away from Tsuyu, pitching him back onto the ship, denting the deck with his limp body.

Defiant didn't give him a moment to recover and before the villain could say a word or even take a breath, he found himself being lifted into the air. One claw was wrapped around his throat again, holding it like a beer bottle, while the other held two of his tentacles tightly. His tail snaked forward and wrapped up the other two, leaving him helpless.

" Worthless ," he snarled as his body bulked up even further, his wings threatening to burst from his back as his mind battled to hold back his transformation. "I offered you mercy and you threw it away. What gives me the idea that I can bargain with you, you asked?" 

The villain tried to sputter something, but it was hard to talk when you were being choked.

Defiant slowly opened his maw wide, letting the villain see the poison dripping down. "Maybe now you see who you're dealing with here." 

His mind was screaming at him, different thoughts coming from all sides, but all being rebuffed by the fury pounding through him.

He dug his claws into the villain's arms. "When a real octopus loses a limb, it grows back. Do yours?"

The villain's went wide, pure terror filling them as he stared up at Defiant. 

The screaming grew louder. The perfect whole was trying to break itself apart, but the bond was too strong. Flashes of Izuku made him hesitate, while flashes of something… baser made him want to savor the kill even longer.

"What say we find out? You broke her arm, but tentacles don't have any bones to break. I'll have to make d-"

"Izuchan!"

The screaming stopped.

Defiant's head snapped back to Tsuyu, who had hopped back onto the boat, her right arm hanging limply at her side. Her face was covered in worry and concern, which looked almost foreign on her face.

He didn't like that look. She should look happy, or at least calm, but not worried. Not… scared .

He slowly turned his gaze back to the villain, his rage no longer hot and fierce, but cold and calculated. He reared his head back and slammed it forward, cracking the villain on the head with his horns and making him go limp in his hands. 

He placed the unconscious villain down on the deck as his anger and his quirk flowed out of him and was quickly replaced by shame and disgust.

Like a drowning man breaching the surface, Izuku broke free as he stumbled backward away from the villain and fell onto the deck. 

"Izuchan, are you alright?" Tsuyu asked with concern palpable in her voice. She moved over to him and kneeled down next to him, reaching out and putting a hand on his shoulder.

Izuku jumped a little as he quickly swung his legs underneath him and put himself into a kneeling position. "T-Tsu, I'm so, so sorry. I… I don't know what came over me." 

That was a bold-faced lie, and he was pretty sure Tsuyu knew it.

"I don't buy that," she said flatly.

At least he was right about that.

"I guess I owe you an explanation," he admitted, "but not here. Thank you for… for saving me." 

Tsuyu blinked at him. "What did I do?" 

"More than you know," he answered. His eyes drifted over to her arm and he felt a new wave of guilt and self-loathing wash over him. "Tsuyu, I-"

"It's okay, Izuchan," she said calmly. How she could stay calm when her arm was like that was a mystery to him. 

Tears began to flow down his face. "It's my fault. If I hadn't tried to talk him down, if we had just attacked and I didn't get thrown to the side, you wouldn't be like this." 

His quirk may have been quieter, but it was still growling in the back of his mind. There was no escaping his instincts.

"I promised to protect you," he said softly as he looked down at the deck in shame. "I told you that I would keep you safe, and I failed. I-" 

His eyes went wide as he felt her begin to gently pet one of his horns. 

"It's okay," she repeated as he slowly moved his gaze up to look her in the eyes. "I think it's really heroic to try and use words instead of violence first. Sure, it didn't work out this time, but it worked at the USJ. You saved my life, Izuchan, don't you remember?"

Izuku nodded slowly. How could he forget?

"I want to be a hero," she continued, "and that means that I'm going to get hurt sometimes. I accepted that a long time ago, and I bet you did, too. As far as I'm concerned, you did protect me. Sure, this hurts a lot, but it can be fixed. If you hadn't stepped in, well... that can't be fixed." 

Izuku leaned down, pressing his forehead into hers and gently wrapping one arm around her left shoulder, his hand brushing against her short hair.

"Thank you, Tsu," he said softly and sincerely. 

She ribbited happily and grew a small smile, even though he could see the pain on her face.

Izuku smiled weakly back and then laughed once, marveling sadly at how pathetic he was. "Look at me. You're the one with a broken arm and I'm the one who's crying about it. I'm supposed to be comforting you, not the other way around."

Tsuyu leaned back and tapped him on the nose with her finger. "You're gonna have to carry me to shore, so don't think you're not doing anything for me." 

Izuku smiled a little wider and then looked up into the sky as he heard wingbeats approaching. Coming over the rocks was Stormclaw, a pair of squid people—looking much like the woman they had captured earlier—grasped in his claw and Riptide on his back.

"I'll take care of you, Tsu," he said softly, but firmly as he turned back to face her, both of them still kneeling on the deck. "I promise."

She ribbited happily again. "I'll hold you to that."