Before you start reading…

Heya, guys and gals! Thank you once more for following & faving this story.
I hope It's been a good read for you guys so far and you're enjoying it as much as I do.

I'm really for the long hiatus! It took me quite a while writing and releasing chapter 3. From now on, the chapters will be shorter, but I'll try update the story more often in return. I scrapped my original concept for it (twice actually) and started completely over. My original intent was to wrap up everything in four chapters, but as I was developing and fine-tuning the script I realized that my original plot wasn't going to be quite as interesting as the newer version I came up with.

Worry not though! I'm keeping my promise. Bakugo will appear in this chapter!
What more can I say? As always, enjoy the read!

PS: A little side note regarding the formatting of the text (I've forgotten to tell you that in the past chapters): Sentences written entirely in italic characters represent a characters thoughts.

Chapter 03 – Setting the stage

- U.A. Academy, 04.30 PM -

"Out of my way, shitty nerd!", a familiar voice called out, sounding even more pissed off than it usually did.

Before Izuku could even flinch, his body was pushed face-forward into the cold, hard steel of his locker making a hollow sound in the process.

"Ouch, that really hurt, Kacchan!", he shouted at the slightly taller, blond-haired guy who continued walking down the hallway undismayed, while covering his now blood-dripping nose with his right hand.

"Told you to piss off, Deku! Wrong place, wrong time!", his 'frenemy' yelled back at him, before he rose his right arm and flipped the other boy, not even remotely thinking of turning his head and looking back at Izuku.

"Midorya-kun!" Iida who had watched the whole scene from a safe distance rushed towards the green-haired boy in an instant and handed him a tissue. "A-are you all right?", he asked.

"I've been worse", Izuku replied, forcing a grin on his face. "That was harsher than usual though. I wonder what upset him so much."
"That guy has no manners, that's for sure!", Class 1-A's representative stated angrily.

"Dekuuuuuuuu! You've gotta see this!" The boys' conversation was suddenly interrupted by Uraraka who almost cried her lungs out while swiftly approaching them on the hallway.

"N-no running on the hallways, Uraraka-kun!", Tenya stated, rising his hand and trying to maintain order, even though he was completely ignored by the brunette.

"Uraraka, what in the world happened? You look like you've just seen a ghost.", Midorya asked.
Ochako stood slightly bent over, arms crossed in front of her belly, breathing heavily after she had run all-across the school grounds. Suddenly, she grabbed Izuku by his shirt and shook him like a cocoa-tree. "I-i-its him! He's here at U.A.! All the teachers have already assembled on the outside. Come quickly!"

"Wh-wh-wh-who's h-h-here?", the green haired boy stuttered, feeling like a milkshake.
Ochako, realizing that she was shaking her classmate a litte too hard, loosened her grip on him and spoke up again: "That sick vigilante hero from today's news. He's here at the front gate!"
Deku ripped his eyes wide open. The palms of his hands got sweaty in no time. Fear and shock built up inside him. "N-no way! What does he want here? Is everyone all right?"

"I… don't know", his classmate said, "Word about his appearance spread mere instances ago. First thing I did after hearing about it, was to rush to you guys as fast as I could." "Damn it!", Deku swore, gritting his teeth. "I hope Kacchan is still in one piece."

"Then there is no more time to waste, let's get out of here quickly!", Tenya ordered, gesturing towards the end of the hallway.

As they rushed down the hallway leading to the front gate, the crowd surrounding them appeared to get bigger and bigger by the minute. Everybody and their grandmother must've heard the big news by now. Izuku shot a worried glance to his friends, while approaching the door towards the exit. "Let's hope for the best. Be prepared for anything.", he said.

As they got outside, they were greeted by the warm afternoon sun. To their relieve, everything seemed quite normal so far and no fighting, nor any commotion could be heard. Still, it was way too early to lower their guard.

"Midorya-shounen!" The No.1 hero's voice echoed all over the open space in front of U.A.'s front gate. "Hohoho! I'm glad you and your friends are here. Guess you all already know what's going on, do you?"

"Where is he?", the green-haired boy asked his mentor straightforward, looking very concerned. "Is everyone OK?", he added.

"As far as I know, not a fly has been hurt until now. And I really hope it'll stay this way.", All Might replied with a stern expression on his face. "He reached out to Nezu-san this morning. He wanted to talk. To all of us." Toshinori's expression changed from stern to brooding. What goal could he be pursuing? Coming out into the open so suddenly after hiding for over a decade? That doesn't seem like something he would do. There's got to be more to it than that.

"Let's get closer to the gate. I need to keep an eye on him!", All Might announced, making a way through the crowd for him and Izuku's group.

The moment All Might approached the gate, there was a flash of light and out of nowhere, someone in a long trench coat appeared on top of U.A.'s blue gate.

"It's…", Izuku startled. "The guy from the news.", Iida-kun added to the other boys' sentence. "How in the world did he get there so fast?", Uraraka-kun asked, studying the guy atop the gate with a puzzled expression.

The guy on the gate took a good look to his left and his right. His facial expression was deprived of any emotion. Not a single feeling could be read of him.

As the muttering got more and more intense, the mysterious guest cleared his throat and spoke up.
"I'm pleased that so many of you have gathered here." His voice was intimidating. "Don't worry, I don't mean you any harm", he paused for an instance, "at least not this time. I just wanna talk." A devilish smirk, sending chills down the crowd's spine, appeared on his face.

"Allow me to introduce myself.", he said after leaping onto the ground below him. A collective gasp, coming from the crowd around him, followed suit. The tension in the air rose.
"My name is Shadow. And I…", he reached into his pocket containing the green Chaos Emerald and stared to 'juggle' the gemstone in his right hand, throwing it upwards and catching it repeatedly. (Editor's note: kinda like in SA2) "am the world's ultimate lifeform!" Suspicious glances were shot at the red-eyed vigilante. "I'm sure you all are dying to know what gave you the honor of my visit. Aren't you?" Shadow paused for an instance. No one dared to even flinch. Suddenly, he tightened the grasp on the Chaos Emerald. His face darkened, his glare became ice cold. He appeared to be very upset. "It's that pathetic understanding of justice, taught to you by a bunch of so called 'heroes'. An understanding of justice that redeems even the worst scum, by planting the thought that everyone deserves a second chance in your gullible minds. And it's exactly that kind of justice that's contributing to this city becoming a hellhole."

Toshinori clenched his fist. What was Shadow trying to accomplish here? He's a psychotic serial-murderer after all. Nobody would take him seriously, would they?

"Every time I hear one of those so-called heroes say 'So one of them broke out of prison and caused some havoc, what's the big deal? He's back where he belongs now.' I'd love to snap that person's neck right on the spot." Shadow went into full rage mode. "Someone dear once told me, that I shall give mankind a chance to be happy. Turning a blind eye on our real problems, will only cause suffering for innocent people again and again."

"Cut the mustard and tell us about your solution, bigshot!" A familiar cocky voice interrupted the ultimate life's speech. That voice belonged to a familiar spiky-haired blond boy: Katsuki Bakugo.
At this point, the air was so thick, someone could've cut it with a knife.
Izuku instinctively leapt next to him and covered the blond boy's mouth with his right hand. "K-kachan. What in the world are you doing!? Do you wanna die here?" The taller boy shoved Deku away in a rude manner, before shouting at him: "Don't you dare to touch my face, shitty nerd!" Go back to peeing your pants next to round-face and four eyes over there!" "B-but…", his childhood-friend muttered.

Before Bakugou could even attempt to reply, or rather shout at Izuku, the former felt the weight of a pair of hands on his shoulders. As the latter turned his gaze to better understand why his friend has suddenly stopped shouting, Midoriyas face went pale. Shadow was standing right behind Kacchan. He tried to move but his legs didn't agree on moving, so he fell flat out on his butt. All Might's protégé was trembling in fear. However, Bakugo seemed… unphased. On the outside at least. All of U.A.'s teachers were on high alert now. One wrong move on Shadow's side and they'd spring into action.

"Getting right to the point, eh? I like you attitude, Katsuki Bakugo."

H-how does he know Kacchan's name? D-does that me he knows… everything? Who even was that guy? Where did he come from? Thoughts raced in Izuku's mind. He didn't exatly know what was going on, but he could tell it was serious.

"Since you asked so nicely, I will enlighten you. In fact, I will enlighten all of you!" The ultimate lifeform took his hands off Bakugo's shoulders and went back to juggling his green Chaos Emerald. "Evil must be eradicated", the doctor's creation took a deep breath, "permanently.", he added with a soulless expression on his face. "Then and only then, everyone will finally get a chance to be happy. I will purge this city from evil by drowning it in its own sinful blood. You should follow my example and help create a better tomorrow for me, for you, for everyone."

"Y-you're crazy!" Mere seconds after he spat out these words, the green-haired boy immediately covered his mouth. His whole body was still shaking, his eyes moist. Why in the world did he allow himself to speak first and think later?

Shadow looked down at Izuku, a pitying look on his face. All Might's successor tried to stand up. All he wanted to do is run. Run away as fast as possible. But his legs wouldn't obey. "Humph. For a split-second I thought you got balls of steel like you friend here", the doctor's creation patted Kacchan's head, "instead, you are utterly pathetic." Shadow grabbed Izuku by the collar and lifted him to face-height. The boy was still paralyzed by fear. "Your mentor All-Might should be ashamed of you.", he whispered into Izuku's ear. The ultimate life slowly let go of Midoriya's collar and straightened the boy's shirt, before moving back towards U.A.'s gate.

"Did you really think, we'd let you leave this place as a free man?" Out of nowhere, All Might leapt in front of Shadow, blocking his path. "I just came to talk, that's all. And now that I'm done with that, I'll go back to cleanse the streets from evil. It's as simple as that. Dare to oppose?", the black-and-red-haired guy replied. While his attention was focused on the No.1 hero, all of U.A.'s elite teachers stared to surround Shadow. "You should not even try to fight back. Your quirk has already been rendered useless. Surrender, Project Shadow!"

The ultimate life shook his head annoyedly and sighed. "Sorry Toshi, but I don't have any time for your games. There are lives at stake after all. Farewell!" Shadow flipped his Chaos Emerald one last time before shouting: "CHAOS CONTROL, NOW!"

"W-what are you!?", All Might stammered.

An almost blinding bright light surrounded the dark vigilante. A split-second later, he was gone without a trace.

Eraser Head looked at All Might in disbelief. "H-how did he?"
"I… have no clue. Yet.", the tall No.1 hero replied.

- END OF CHAPTER 3 -