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"You realize that you're proving all of them right, don't you?" Izuku clenched his teeth and willed his racing heart to calm down. It did not. "They all said that with a personality like yours, you'd become a villain; don't you remember? You proved them right. You let them win."
He still remained silent, face blank. Izuku couldn't tell if anything he was saying managed to get through to the villain before him.
He hoped— prayed— dearly that the man before him was not too far gone. If Izuku could not get under his skin, then that threw the rest of the plan out the window.
"Trust me on this," Izuku said, staring each of his friends— heroes — in the eyes, "I know how to deal with him. I know what will work."
But still, nothing, not a hint of his previously-trademarked emotion, not a whisper of his rage remained on his face.
"You let them win," He repeated, barely able to keep the petrified waver out of his voice, "Do you realize that?"
Ochako gazed at him levelly, the first to speak up, "I... I know. I trust you. I just..."
After a few moments, Tokoyami picked up from where she left off, "He isn't any fickle enemy. He's one that we cannot afford to underestimate," again, went unsaid. Multiple people winced; that had been a mistake made one too many times— the number of people hospitalized, both hero and civilian, were a testimony to that fact— "And you taking him on solo..." Tokoyami trailed off, clicking his beak and looking to the side momentarily in concerned thought.
"Are you sure that your role in this attack is wise? Is safe?" Shouto finished finally.
Nothing was getting through. Nothing was working.
Izuku had one last trick up his sleeve, though he doubted he would get out unscathed. This villain was... was a minefield. All it took was a single wrong step before the world would go up in flames.
Izuku stared down at the table, thinking through his answer before offering a small, humorless smile, avoiding eye contact.
"Well, not really, no. But it's something that I know I have to do.
"I... this may sound stupid, but I feel like this was meant to happen. That... my years spent training to be a hero were leading up to this fight.
"This fight is the catalyst to something bigger; you feel it, right? It'll be dangerous, but it has to go like this. You guys understand, don't you?" By the time Izuku finished, his eyebrows were drawn together, green eyes solemn.
There was silence as they all took in his words.
But Izuku needed this to work, his personal issues aside.
"This is personal, isn't it, ribbit? This villain... You've known him before, haven't you, Midoriya?"
He sighed softly, eyes pained in a brief show of emotion, "I, um... yeah. He, um, Bakugo..." His jaw clenched slightly, "Yeah. This is personal."
"Midoriya, I trust your judgment; believe me, I do," Iida spoke up, ever the level head, "But are you sure you should do this? Alone, no less? Shouldn't your history with Surge be the reason you stay out of the fight?"
Determination flashed in Izuku's eyes as he stared down at his notes. The notes that he had perfected all through the years growing up...
"That's the reason I have to be the one to take him on. I know how he thinks; how he acts. I know how he fights and I know exactly what to say to get him to pay attention to me. He used to read like an open book; now I'm the only one who's seen the pages."
"Don't you realize that... that you had all of those people, betting on you failing as a hero. And you proved them right.
" You... you lost, Kacchan."
The whole world held its breath, as Bakugo— no, Surge. They were calling him Surge. This was not the Bakugo Izuku knew— stared with that empty, blank expression.
The whole world held its breath.
And then, it exploded.
"I did not lose!"
Izuku's breath was forced out of his chest as Surge lept forward, mercilessly knocking Izuku into an already-destroyed building.
"They didn’t beat me. You didn’t beat me!"
Izuku was barely able to get back on his feet before explosions sounded close, too close, and he got thrown further, crashing into a wall as dust billowed around him. Staring up at the ceiling, a strangled noise forced itself out of Izuku; he was barely able to roll away from the falling overhang, almost getting crushed.
"Alright. If you think you can handle Surge, then I believe you," Kirishima spoke slowly, peering around at the faces surrounding the table. "But if you need backup then ask for it. Self-sacrifice isn't manly, dude. Don't shoulder the pain. After we get done with our part, we're coming to back you up, alright?"
Izuku nodded, "Yeah, alright. Don't rush yourselves, though; not for my sake.”
He coughed painfully, forcing himself to a kneeling position as the dust cleared around him.
"He's hooked. Go." Izuku's words were barely a whisper as he spoke over his intercom.
"I’m stronger than them!"
Watch out, Izuku. Pay attention. Analyze the situation; that's what you're good for. Watch, and listen, and wait— there.
Izuku activated his quirk, dodging the sudden onslaught of pure, unbridled rage coating Surge's attack.
"I’m stronger than you. I’m stronger than you’ll ever be!"
Izuku swears he didn't blink, but one second he was safe, and the next, Kac— Surge— was aiming an explosion in his face.
Izuku couldn't dodge.
He was pretty sure there were words being spoken through his com, but combined with the pain, and the ringing in his ears, and Surge's own yells, and the pain, Izuku couldn't make out what his allies said.
Speak of the literal devil.
Surge was suddenly there, in front of Izuku's fallen form. He reached out a hand and clasped it around Izuku's throat, snarling beastly.
When the hand's grasp touched down fully, Izuku couldn't breathe. In no way was Surge blocking his airway, but... he might as well have. Because Izuku couldn't breathe.
All he could think was of all those years ago, little Kacchan and young Deku. All he could think of was the burns and wounds, and marks and bruises and scars decorating young Deku.
All because of a powerful, amazing, wonderful quirk, possessed by a boy so hateful, so wicked, so evil.
And now, all Surge needed was a fleeting want, wish, will, and the hand grasped around Izuku's throat would... would...
Surge... he was saying something. There was a furious look on his face, obviously yelling. But his eyes... his eyes were cool, calculating, and Izuku found himself terrified of that icy indifference most of all.
Surge would kill him.
He had wanted so badly to become a hero. But after the hype of his amazing quirk had died down, people managed to see the actual person behind the explosive power. People managed to find the ugly personality of a bully and labeled him a villain.
He had said that he would prove them wrong.
But all he did was prove them right.
There was irony somewhere, here. But Izuku couldn't find it.
The constant ringing in his ears began to fade, being replaced by multiple voices yelling.
"Deku, report in. Say something. What happened over there? Deku, do you copy?"
"Objective clear, his plan worked. Backup needs to be sent over now—"
"—hang on for a bit longer, alright? Help's coming—"
"— what do you mean, he's not responding? Deku, Deku, report in, now."
" I didn't lose." Ah, no. This... this was here, now. This voice belonged to Surge. "I won. "
"You... you didn't. K-Kacchan, you won't ever win." Izuku struggled to fight back any way he could, including his words.
"—e's still up."
"Damnit, Izuku, don't scare us like that!"
"Oh, thank god. Backup is approaching, Deku. Hang in there."
They probably wouldn't get here in time, Izuku reflected.
But that didn't mean he couldn't stall.
"What happened to you? You idolized All Might, Kacchan—"
"Don’t call me that, you worthless nothing!"
The hand on his throat tightened, small flashes of warning sparks went off, burning Izuku's throat. Surge raised him up and slammed Izuku back into the wall, holding him off the ground. He could barely touch the ground with the tips of his toes. Literally, now, Izuku felt his airway getting restricted. It hurt, it burned, and now he couldn't breathe.
Surge leaned in close to Izuku, too close, and growled angrily, "You hear that? I’m going to win. I’m going to beat you.”
"Deku? Deku! We're almost there, hold on. Just hold on—"
"You are nothing, you always were nothing. And now…
“You're going to die nothing, too."
And just then, the world exploded.
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The world exploded.
…But Izuku did not.
The wall to their— well, everywhere blasted in suddenly, the already-unstable material offering no resistance to the force.
Izuku had to wonder why he was not currently dead. However, he got his answer soon enough when Eraserhead, eyes glowing a sinister red and hair floating menacingly, spoke up from the front of an impressive amount of fellow heroes.
"Hands on your head, Surge, and release Deku. Your quirk's useless; if you resist arrest, extra precautions will be made."
Izuku still couldn't breathe, and he wasn't sure if this was because of Baku— Surge or not. He watched carefully, jaw clenched, watching how Surge's previously-cool eyes lit up in unbridled fury, how his mouth twitched into a murderous scowl, how his hand tightened around the hero's throat. It tightened, tightened, and the irrational part of Izuku, the part that was still Young Deku in the middle of grade school, thought I'm going to die. I'm going to die. He doesn't need his quirk to kill me; he's going to kill me, he's going to kill me, I'm going to die I'm going to die I'm going to di—
But he didn't.
Surge's hand, going tighter, tighter, suddenly released its hold on Deku. the hero fell to the ground limply, hand clutching his bruised throat as he coughed and coughed and his throat burned.
Noise picked up the second that Deku wasn't in immediate danger. Distantly, he could hear fights carrying on around him, but all he could do was try to suck in greedy breaths and cough at the same time.
He felt a hand on his back and instinctively flinched away even though he knew it was stupid because I'm a pro hero, for All Might's sake. Why do I flinch like some startled kid?
The hand... tentatively returned and was gentle as it helped him sit upright, but Izuku could barely pay attention, eyes squeezed shut and breathing heavily.
Some startled kid...
But that was the problem, wasn't it? Kacc– Surg– Bakugo brought back a side to Izuku that he believed to have gone away years ago when he first entered into U.A.
Bakugo brought back the side to Izuku that expected to be ambushed at every corner; that expected to be laughed at, and pushed down, and hurt, and bruised, and burned every time he entered a room.
Bakugo brought back the side to Izuku that flinched and pulled away from movement at the corner of his eyes, expecting an attack from behind; that avoided the class 1-A bonfire nights, because sometimes, sometimes, it made Izuku fidgety to stare at the yellows and reds of the crackling flames.
Izuku didn't know why, and he hated it, but Izuku wasn't the hero Deku around Bakugo. He was the victim.
"Deku—" Izuku flinched, then felt horrible for what some childhood bully was able to reduce him to. "—en your eyes. Are you with me? Deku, Izuku, please open your eyes."
It wasn't an abuser muttering his name. His green eyes opened finally to stare at Ochako— Uravity— staring at him with worried concern. It abated slightly when their eyes met, but she didn't waste time.
"Can you stand up, Deku? We got him. I'm surprised— although I shouldn't be, really. All your plans work— but I was surprised when your plan against them worked. Your analysis was able to get all of the villains into custody. Your job was probably the most dangerous, but I'm really glad you're okay. You weren't responding over comms and all we could hear was—"
"Ochako." Well, talking hurt. Good to know. Uravity stared at Izuku when he cut her ramblings off, "I, um, I'm fine. I just needed to catch my breath but I'm fine."
He attempted to stand but barely got a few inches off the ground before he all but collapsed back to the ground. He groaned painfully, distantly making out what was probably Ochako reprimanding him for even attempting to stand, I mean, what were you thinking? You just got thrown through multiple walls and I wouldn't be surprised if some ribs were broken—
Izuku closed his eyes and focused on breathing through the pain, letting the words fade into white noise.
“—Izuku!”
That sounded like his name had been called multiple times before. Opening his eyes after a few moments, he stared at Ochako as worry danced through her eyes.
"Don't pass out. Stay awake, Izuku."
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...
He'd have to apologize to her, later. Because that's the last thing he remembers before the world fades to black.