Chapter 11

Izuku suppressed a chuckle at Iida's over-seriousness with regards to boarding the bus to the rescue training site; while Izuku had reluctantly accepted the elected position of class representative and was determined to do the position justice, he was more than willing to allow Iida (in his capacity as deputy) to handle things like this from time to time—especially since he felt that his bespectacled classmate seemed to enjoy it. The latter's spirits were somewhat dampened, however, by the unorthodox seating on the bus derailing his boarding plans completely. As the bus began moving, he couldn't help but think about how excited he was for this particular training.

Rescue training...

A smile came over him.

It's happening, it's really happening. I still have trouble believing it; here it is, the first real step toward being just like All Might. Battle training is one thing, but... learning to save lives, learning to protect and aid people in need is so much more important. All Might... I promise, your trust in me won't be misplaced. I'll learn as much as I can from today's training, and one day people will be inspired by my fearless smile; one day, I'll be able to bring hope to others and save people the way you do.

"...speaking of which, isn't Izukkun's power a lot like All Might's?"

Izuku snapped out of his reverie and immediately went into a mild panic at Ashido's observation; looking across at his brother, Izuku could see that Casey had an odd expression of his own, though there was a bit of amusement there as well.

"O-of course not!" Izuku protested, trying his best not to let his panic give anything away. "I mean, sure, I get what you're saying, but there are plenty of quirk users with super-strength out there, it's not that unique a quirk...!"

"You do have a point there, ribbit," Asui observed. "I mean, if you think about it, super-strength is one of the most commonplace quirks out there. There are plenty of flashier powers than that."

Kirishima smiled. "Well, if any of us have flashy quirks perfect for pros, it's Todoroki and Bakugo!"

"True, but Bakugo's too angry and short-tempered, so he'll never be that popular, ribbit."

Izuku braced himself for the outburst, only to be startled by an uncharacteristic silence from the explosive boy; looking over in Bakugo's direction, he noticed a strange expression on the latter's face, one he couldn't quite identify.

"You said it," Kaminari laughed. "I mean, come on, he's as overblown as they come..."

The look on Bakugo's face shifted a bit, and suddenly Izuku realized to his dismay what the expression was: Humiliation. No, not just humiliation, not just wounded pride, Bakugo was genuinely looking wounded, period. A part of Izuku—the part that recalled all the times he'd been bullied and threatened—told him that it was deserved karma. Another part of him—the part that sought justice to answer injustice—agreed with the first. The third part was the quietest voice of all... but even so, it was the one that Izuku chose to listen to above the other two. It was a voice that, in his mind, sounded not unlike All Might—the voice of a hero. This isn't right, the voice said. Kacchan definitely wants to be a hero, even though he doesn't act like it; that alone doesn't forgive his actions, but it also means there's still a chance for him to be better. He does still need to be brought down a peg or two, but not like this. No one deserves to be bullied, intentionally or unintentionally. No one. Izuku began to speak up in Bakugo's defense when Kirishima evidently decided to do it for him.

"Hey now, why you all gotta be like that?" Kirishima frowned a bit at the rest of the class before looking to Bakugo with a toothy grin. "I mean, sure, Bakugo's got his faults, but he's got more guts than most of us! That's gotta count for something, right?"

Looking up at his former bully, Izuku noticed yet another shift in expression from him, but this one was far too cryptic to decipher. He then shared a glance with his brother; Casey didn't say anything, but his expression said enough. Clearly, Casey still thought that Bakugo wasn't worth the effort, that Bakugo would never change and it was pointless to try. He can think that all he likes. Whether it's true or not though, it won't stop me from trying. A hero tries to save everyone he can, no matter what. Right, All Might?

I resisted the urge to groan in frustration at Izuku; even though I'd decided to give him the benefit of the doubt, I still couldn't imagine Lord Explosion Murder changing anytime soon. I'm pretty sure I saw the same sort of expression on Bakugo's face that Izuku did—and it was definitely a different reaction than in canon—but in my mind, that didn't mean much. So he's sulking instead of raging. So what? He's still the same asshole, and it serves him right to be on the receiving end. I shared a look with Izuku. Bro, don't get me wrong. I admire the hell out of you, and the fact that you're trying to save him in spite of how he treated you all these years is proof of how heroic you are. But you can't save everyone... That last thought brought a shiver down my spine, and for a moment I felt somewhat nauseous, but I didn't quite know why.

As we arrived at the facility, I did my best to hide my tension; this was the big one, the first real actual life-or-death battle, one that we couldn't win. It would be brutal, it would be bloody, and—assuming canon didn't get too far derailed—we would only survive by pure luck that the teachers arrive in time to stop us from dying. The most we could do would be to avoid death long enough for the cavalry to save us, and even that would be an uphill climb. With all that in mind, it was a miracle I was able to stop myself from shaking in my boots, and even more of a miracle that I was able to at least pretend to pay attention to Thirteen's explanation.

Then it happened. A black hole appeared across the way, and villains poured out of it up was down was left was right...

I shook my head, and found myself blinking and averting my eyes a bit. Was this just fear of the villains, or something else? My heart started beating faster, and it took a lot for me to get it under control. Finally, just as the villains stopped coming and Aizawa sprang into action, I pulled myself together. Alright, if I run fast enough with the help of my quirk, I might be able to make it to the door in time—

But I was too late. Kurogiri appeared with a WHOOSH, and suddenly my heart was beating, pounding in my up was down was left was right chest, I couldn't breathe today was tomorrow was yesterday I was shaking uncontrollably and I was falling into nothing, I was an old man, I was a baby, I was old again, then I was me and then not me and then me again and up was down was left was right felt sweat pouring down my face and I felt like throwing up turning, twisting, tumbling, spinning, falling, falling, oh God oh God help me, it hurts, please no, wake up wake up no please, mom, dad, wake up, get up please, flat and twisted with bones sticking out and blood everywhere and nonononono...

Todoroki kept his cool as he took note of the current situation; Mr. Aizawa seemed to have the situation down below well in-hand, but where the class stood conditions were less than optimal. One of the villains suddenly appeared in between them and the exit—obviously, he had some form of portal-based quirk—and implied, intentionally or not, that he and his compatriots had come with the intention of killing All Might. Todoroki doubted highly that they could succeed, but to automatically assume such a thing were impossible would be unwise. To make matters worse, the villains were somehow jamming their communications—which explained why this particular villain was blocking their exit, no sense letting anyone escape to potentially bring reinforcement. Finally, one of his classmates, Izuku Midoriya's brother, was experiencing some form of breakdown and was currently on the ground, panting and shivering and occasionally crying out.

He seemed to be triggered by the villain; why? Whatever his problem is, it's not just fear—this is something far more serious and far less controllable.

The worst part about the whole situation with Midoriya was that it added to the group's vulnerability; with one of their own helpless, their ability to fight back or escape would be hampered by having to also protect him, and if the villain were smart—judging from what Todoroki had seen so far, a fair assumption—he'd go straight for Casey if the group were careless enough to leave an opening, and the loss of a classmate would further destabilize them and make everyone easier to dispose of. Then, before anyone could do anything, Kirishima and Bakugo had to go and be stupid, attacking the villain head-on. Next thing Todoroki knew, he was in the rockslide area surrounded by villains, completely on his own, with a cliff to his back.

No, not an optimal situation at all. For them.

A second later, the villains surrounding him were frozen solid, along with most of the ground. Hardly the cream of the evil crop; he doubted he could get definitive answers from such lowlifes—these incompetents probably weren't told anything terribly important about whatever plan was in place—but he decided that it couldn't hurt to ask. As he stepped forward, however, a sudden shift in the ground nearby alerted him to a new complication as a villain wearing a skull mask leapt out of the ground nearby, sparking with electricity; Todoroki responded with another wave of ice, only for the villain to dodge effortlessly and attempt to close the distance, stopped only by a hastily-erected ice wall.

Damn, this one's competent.

"Nice moves, kid. Too bad they won't save you from me!"

"That remains to be seen," Todoroki responded coolly. "Your quirk is only a threat if you can touch me. mine, on the other hand..."

The villain was forced to back off as a series of frozen spikes erupted under his feet, giving Todoroki breathing room. At least this one might be important enough to have decent information. Hopefully he'll still be capable of responding by the time I'm done with him.

"Obviously, they didn't know what our quirks were, or else they would've sent me to the fire place instead of the water zone, ribbit."

Kaminari responded to Asui's observation with mild panic. "What difference does that make? You're the only one of us who can fight in the water, and there are a bunch of them out there just waiting for us!"

The frog girl tilted her head in response. "Ribbit... so maybe we should just wait for the teachers to notice something's up and come to the rescue?"

"That'd be fine if we could get a signal out, but they're jamming us, remember? Odds are no one knows anything's wrong at all!"

"I have a better idea," Jiro responded casually. "You're basically a human stun gun, right?"

"Yeah, but so whaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUGH!"

With an unceremonious kick from the punk rock girl, Kaminari fell into the water, sparking on the way down. The results were shocking, to say the least, and in a flash the villains surrounding the ship were taken completely out of commission.

"Huh, I guess that worked."

"Speak for yourself, ribbit," Asui responded. "I'm the one who's gonna have to keep him from drowning now that he's all stupid."

Both Jiro and Asui sighed as they observed Kaminari, who was currently floating on his back and babbling with a blank look on his face.

"Huh, these guys weren't very strong at all," Kirishima observed. "I wonder if they planned to just overwhelm All Might?"

Momo frowned in thought as she conjured up new clothes for herself. "That's a decent thought, but there are a number of problems with it. If they went so far as to infiltrate the school and jam the alarms and communications, why use such a basic strategy? They have to know exactly how strong All Might is, and these thugs can't even deal with the three of us."

Uraraka approached the dark-haired girl in concern. "So what do you think their plan is, Yaoyorozu?"

"Impossible to say without more information. I think we may need to ask around. Hmm..."

Looking over the villains groaning in pain, Yaoyorozu spotted one that was awake enough to question but injured enough to be helpless. "Uraraka, would you mind helping this one up? He looks like he needs it."

It took a few seconds for the gravity girl to get the plan; smiling and nodding, she approached the villain and used her quirk to lift him high into the air as Kirishima stood underneath him.

"As you already know, my friend here has a rather hard head—"

"Hey, low blow, Yaomomo!"

"Sorry. In any case, I imagine it'd be rather painful if my friend let you go only to fall and break something. Speaking of which," Momo said as she turned to the girl in question with a smirk, her voice still audible to their prisoner, "How much longer do you think you can hold him?"

Uraraka made a show of thinking before smiling back. "Hmm... not much longer. I'm getting a little tired of holding him up."

The villain could only flail helplessly as Momo smiled up at him again. "Well, in that case, want to talk before gravity takes over again?"

"Casey? Casey! Come on, snap out of it and talk to me!"

Bakugo grunted in annoyance as Deku tried in vain to get the Fake Midoriya to respond to him. From the moment the villains showed up to the point where he, Deku, and the Fake found themselves inside a ruined building, the dumb foreigner had done nothing but shake, mutter, cry, and occasionally shout in fear, all with a bizarre expression on his face, like he was off somewhere else.

"Tch! Forget it, Deku, he can't hear you. Oh, now what?!"

Bakugo responded to a surprise attack from behind with an explosion large enough to send the three villains flying into a wall before looking back at the fake brothers.

Deku was still trying to console the fake. "Please, Casey, we have to move!..." After a few more attempts, Deku went silent for a few seconds and stood up. "We have to get him out of here... This dome has to have some emergency exit somewhere. If we can get there, we can alert the teachers, get Casey some help—"

Bakugo grunted in annoyance again. "I'm not running! That warpy bastard needs to be taught a lesson!"

"What? But Casey's still out of it!" Deku looked at his fake brother in... well, not like Bakugo cared—he didn't care at all, really—but it almost looked like fear. "That villain was definitely in charge of the others, and seemed a lot more competent. We can't take him on and protect Casey at the same time!"

"Then we leave him here," Bakugo replied. "I'm not carrying his ass around..."

"We can't do that, either! If a villain came along, they'd kill him!"

Another villain, this one trying to blend into his surroundings like a chameleon, attempted to ambush them before being blown away by Bakugo. "UGH! Then just take him and run yourself!"

"There are still villains out there, we'd never make it! Kacchan, you have to help me get him out of here safely!"

"'Have to'? Fuck that," Bakugo huffed angrily. "I don't 'have' to do anything, and I'm not his babysitter. Besides, if he's weak enough that a villain scares—"

He never got to finish his sentence. Before he could remotely respond, Deku had shot up, grabbed him by the collar, and slammed him into the wall; for a split second, Bakugo could have sworn he'd seen something like lightning around him.

"DON'T YOU DARE CALL MY BROTHER WEAK EVER AGAIN!" Deku's face was twisted in rage. "Call me Deku all you like, make fun of me all you want, but don't you DARE do it with him!"

It took a few moments for the shock of seeing Deku like this to pass; when it did, Bakugo huffed again. "What else do you call breaking down at a time like this? Look at him, he's crying and wailing like a little kid—OOF!"

Deku slammed him against the wall again. "You don't get it! When he was eight, his parents were MURDERED by a villain who used a warping quirk! Seeing that guy must have triggered those memories, and now he's trapped in them. He's being forced to relive something awful, the most awful thing that can happen to a kid that age; you'd be like that too, if it had happened to you! So don't you dare call him weak again!"

If he'd wanted to, he could have easily gotten out of the hold Deku had him in; it would have taken zero effort to do so. Somehow, though, the look in the green-haired loser's eyes kept Bakugo from doing it; not knowing what else to do, he just grunted in annoyance again. "Okay, so why is that my problem? Why the hell should I help you?"

"Because you want to be a hero!"

That stopped Bakugo in his tracks again, long enough that Deku was able to continue ranting at him. "I can't get him out of here on my own, Kacchan. You're one of the strongest in the class—you've beaten every villain that's come at us up to now, and you haven't broken a sweat! It wouldn't even be a challenge to clear a path for us, but no, you have your own score to settle! Heroes don't go off and leave people in need! I need you now, Kacchan! You hear me?! I NEED YOUR HELP!"

"If you want to be a hero, BE HEROIC!"

Deku's words from the battle training rang through Bakugo's head again. For a moment, he considered just blowing off the nerd again and going off on his own like he wanted to... but that phrase kept annoying him. After what seemed like an eternity of grappling with thoughts he did not want, Bakugo said the only thing that could sum up everything he was feeling right now:

"Dammit..."

As always, read and review, and I'll see you next chapter!