Everything fades to the background as Izuku freezes in place when he sees it. Twisted. Corpses upon corpses. Mangled and put back together. Something he could understand.

Something from his world.

Yeah, let's kill some kids!

...help me...

Damn, this place is huge, U.A. got money to throw around

...it hurts so much...

Seriously, all this just to take down All Might and some kids?

...someone, please...

God, Shigaraki freaks me out

...make it stop...

Thanks, portal dude!

...it hurts...

It's afraid. It's in pain. It's not in control of its own body.

As much as he doesn't like to, Izuku can see himself in this creature. Can feel its desperation and how much it wants help. Whoever it used to be, they didn't want this. They don't want to be this way.

Shinsou placed his hand on Izuku's shoulder, trying to steady his friend. "Are you alright, Midoriya?"

On his other side, Tsuyu did the same, gripping his arm and helping him to stand. "Midoriya, are you okay?"

"Yeh-yeah," staggering up to his feet, Izuku pushed his friends behind him, running on instinct and deeply ingrained orders. "'m okay."

Protect his fellow soldiers. Destroy the enemy. Achieve this at any cost.

He squared his shoulders back, baring his teeth as he listened for whoever was in charge of this army. Whoever was giving orders to that thing.

Think of your training, Izuku thought to himself, pushing his friends further back towards the door. Take out the heavy hitter, then take down the general.

He just needed to find the general. The one with that madness he had heard before.

Around the group of villains, the security robots began to converge, the ones with guns starting to open fire, their virtually harmless rounds from the exam replaced with non-lethal beanbag rounds. At least a dozen of the encroaching villains went down before the rest of the group turned on the machines, using their quirks to try and beat through the reinforced armor plating.

Away from the throng of violence, a sinister smooth voice rang out over the cluster of students, its source a void filled with insubstantial smoke and at its center, a physical form. "Eraserhead… and Number 13. According to the schedule we procured, All Might was supposed to be here."

...Where is he…

Izuku jerked to alertness, recognizing that madness from before. He searched the crowd of villains, trying to find its source.

"Where is All Might," the villain that had the thoughts tinged with madness stepped through the portal, one hand scratching at their neck. Izuku blanched, staring at the hands that gripped the villains' limbs. "We went through all this trouble," the villain rasped, "rounded up so many extras, and he's not even here?!"

Those hands were real; those were human hands… Izuku thought he might be sick. What sort of person would do that sort of thing?

The villain grinned, a crazed expression partially hidden under the hand he wore on his face. "I wonder if he'll show up… if we kill some kids?" The symbol of peace must die.

Izuku began to subtly push his friends closer and closer to the door, knowing that this would only end in bloodshed. He just had to try his hardest to keep it from being those he cared about.

"What about the intruder alarms?" Yaoyorozu took a step back to keep from being pushed back, not even having noticed when those in front of her had stepped back. At the front of the group, something, or someone, she realized, was pushing them away from the group of villains.

"Of course we have some setup, but-" Izuku tuned out Number 13's response, trying to keep himself calm.

Somewhere to his left, Todoroki was going on about how they must have an objective. How villains wouldn't just break into the most heavily defended school in Japan without reason.

Izuku turned to him, stating clearly, "isn't it obvious? They want to kill All Might."

"K-kill All Might?"

"They're going to need more than this rabble to do that."

"What about that big guy?"

Eraserheads voice cut over the mounting worries of his students, and he pulled his goggles down over his eyes, his capture tool snapping to life with the flick of a wrist. "It doesn't matter why they're here." He turned away from his class, steeling himself for a fight. "Number 13, I'm counting on you to start evacuation."

"Sensei, are you going to fight them on your own?!" Shinsou called out in disbelief as Eraserhead launched himself into the fray.

Down from the throng of villains, a few voices could be heard.

"I thought it was just supposed to be Thirteen and All Might, who the hell is that?"

"And what's up with all these robots?"

Over the cacophony of the fight, Izuku's eyes locked onto a cluster of metal and plastic deep in the brain of the thing. Wedged between the two hemispheres and coiling down into and around the brainstem.

It was familiar. He remembered others in the program walking around with the same thing embedded in the base of their skull before everything was shut down. The control chip… how?! The only people who could create them are dead! All the scientists and doctors killed and erased from existence.

Shinsou's voice pulled him from his mounting panic. "Is he going to be alright?" Shinsou flinched as Eraserhead narrowly dodged a flying fist. "There's so many of them!"

"It'll be alright, he's a group combat expert," Izuku said quietly, trying to keep from being overheard by the villains. "And we'll have back up soon; there are trackers in all of our uniforms."

"What," Shinsou asked, dragged out of his mounting anxiety with those words. "What are you talking about?"

Keeping his voice low, Izuku tried to calm Shinsou and the rest of his friends. "If the signal gets cut off, we'll be rescued."

Uraraka shook her head, grabbing onto Tsuyu's arm and dragging her with her while backing up away from the stairs, putting more distance between herself and the villains. "As comforting as that is, we need to get out of here!"

As everyone panicked, a silky smooth voice flowed over the crowd. "I'm afraid I can't allow that." The villain had appeared from out of nowhere, a smokey figure shrouded in black mist, a high metal collar around where their neck should be.

Portals… or maybe teleportation? Izuku thought as he stared at the villain, peering through the mist to the body beneath. Their thoughts were orderly, startlingly so. Can use quirk on themself or others...

"Greetings, we are the League of Villains. Apologies for the intrusion, but we took it upon ourselves to enter U.A, the base of heroes, to engage All Might in combat." The voice had no emotion in it, even as it spoke of a want to fight the nations strongest hero. "Perhaps he would even allow us to destroy him." The figure within the mist cocked its head to the side, looking around itself. "But he doesn't seem to be here. Has something been changed?" The voice tsked, "ah, no matter. This is my role."

This mist that shrouded the villain's body began to spread, trying to wrap itself around the crowd of students.

Before the portals could be completed, Bakugou and another student, Kirishima, launched themselves forward. Bakugou wielding explosions and Kirishima striking with a hardened fist.

Bakugou shouted, barely able to be heard over the explosions of his quirk. "Bet you didn't think we'd be able to take you on before you could take us out!"

The mist reformed around the villains' body, "that was quite reckless. But I suppose it should be expected of the hero world's golden eggs."

Number 13 tried to warn the two of them, shouting for them to retreat before the mist spread over the group once again.

You will be scattered. And tortured. And slain. The mist covered villains' thoughts were the last thing Izuku heard before he felt his feet fall out from under him, the portal's exit location painfully apparent to him when he glanced down.

The Flood Zone, Izuku thought, pulling in a massive breath as he fell through the nothingness. I need to be ready for anything.

Izuku hits the water hard enough to knock the wind out of him, but he sucks in another breath just as his head slips under the surface. He can't swim, but he couldn't risk drowning.

He's sinking fast, faster than most normal people would. But it's still strangely serene. Quiet. The thoughts from the masses of villains around him feel muffled and faint. As if they're far away, barely on the edges of his consciousness.

I need to add an oxygen tank to my helmet, he thinks as his chest begins to ache from holding in his breath. For a moment, he struggles to swim upwards, but all his movements do is slow his sinking by a few increments.

His back slams into something as he continues to run out of air. At first, he thinks it's the bottom of the massive pool, that is, until whatever it was screeched underwater, clawing at him in pained fury.

As the villain snapped at him with sharkish jaws, Izuku twisted around, his hand tangling in something as he struggled. Whatever it was felt flimsy, almost like a cord. Izuku wrapped his fingers around whatever it was, giving it a yank, a feeling of surprise and delight burning through him the same way his lungs ached and burned for a fresh breath when he realized it was the feed lines to an oxygen tank. In his struggle to not exhale, he didn't even notice when he kicked the sharkish villain in the throat, sending them drifting back through the water.

Sending them back through the water without their oxygen tank, the feed lines still tangled in Izuku's hand, the tank floating gently before him. Izuku pulled the tank closer, securing it to him before taking the feed lines and securing them to his face, finally allowing himself to exhale the stale air in his lungs in a flurry of bubbles.

Looking over to the villain, Izuku cringed, seeing a pair of broken arms and a fractured skull. He hadn't even done that on purpose.

Izuku kept sinking, even as he saw Tsuyu kick the villain in the side of the face, sending him spinning through the water. Tsuyu turned to izuku, ready to swim over to try and pull him from the water. Izuku shook his head, pointing to the oxygen tank, then to the bottom of the pool, which was rapidly approaching. He was too heavy to lift, but he would be fine.

With a nod, Tsuyu kicked a few times to reach the surface, trying to find where the third of them had landed in the water.

Breathing easily now, Izuku finally hit bottom, the impact almost nothing as he landed feet first. Miraculously, none of the villains had spotted him yet. But that would probably change soon. The quiet in his mind helped him focus, and Izuku looked around the bottom of the pool, almost laughing in relief when he found what he had been searching for.

A drain. A massive drain, but still a drain.

He tried to run for it, making progress, but not as much as he would like for how much energy he was expending. With a glance to the gauge on the tank, he redoubled his efforts, kicking off with one foot, landing on the other. Almost like leaping.

He had only a quarter tank left, he had to go faster.

He could see the bars over the drain, thick and heavy, they would be impossible to move.

Kicking off one final time, Izuku tried to aim directly at the drain, knowing he would have to bend the bars or try to rip them from the concrete. He hit the drain feet first, bending down immediately and wrapping a hand around one of the bars as he braced his feet on either side of the drain.

What the hell is that? Is that a kid over there?

Shit. He had to work faster. Izuku began to kick with as much strength as he dared, each impact rattling the bars and warping them.

He looked up, seeing three villains break away from the hoard, turning towards him.

Izuku began kicking in earnest, slamming down one foot, then the other, not letting up for even a second. He could see the fatigue fractures begin to spiral through the bars, spreading in a spiderweb pattern with each and every kick.

He was so close.

And so were the villains.

He just needed one more good kick… Izuku slammed down on the bars one more time, finally able to shove his arm through the hole he had created in the grate, smacking his hand over the emergency override.

Even underwater, he could hear the alarm blaring above him.

"Emergency Override. Emergency Override. Please Keep Exit The Flood Zone. Emergency Override-

The alarm continued as the artificial whirlpool above was forcibly shut down, all the water becoming a real vortex as hundreds of thousands of litres were drained to one point. Izuku scrambled away from the destructive forces of the vortex, using all his strength to shove his left arm elbow deep into the concrete that made up the bottom of the pool.

Behind his visor, Izuku watched in detached horror as villain after villain was pulled in the vortex, the bars breaking fully out of place as dozens of bodies slammed against them with the full fury of a whirlpool.

Just as Izuku began to think that the worst of it might be over, there was the squeal of metal on concrete, even though the water it reverberated through everything. Izuku turned his gaze from the macabre pile of bodies over the drain, eyes widening behind his visor as he saw the ship from the artificial shipwreck dragging along the bottom of the now half-empty pool, on a collision course for the unable to escape villains.

It was moving quickly, but Izuku could only hope that the pool would drain completely before it could reach the pileup of villains.

Izuku couldn't do anything to stop it, it was all he could do to hold on against the immense forces of the vortex. All he could do to hold onto his nearly empty oxygen tank and all he could do to breathe. Even if there was no water, Izuku knew his limits, he would never be able to move an object that size on his own.

As the water finally nearly fully drained, the boat was sliding on its side now, creaking and screeching as it continued on its path. Behind the boat and it's ruptured hull, there was a slick of black liquid floating in glistening puddles across the remaining water.

With the water finally gone, Izuku stood shakily, the boat finally sliding to a halt against the pile of groaning villains. The injuries… broken spines, shattered limbs, half-drowned lungs, brains without oxygen for the entire time the vortex had been active. He looked away, knowing there had to be casualties.

He had done that.

Almost adding insult to injury, the blaring emergency alarm cut itself off. "The Flood Zone Has Been Drained. Thank You, and Have a Pleasant Day."

"Midoriya!" Tsuyu called his name, clamoring over the railing of the sideways ship.

Shinsou followed her, trying not to fall over as he ran shakily. "Midoriya!"

Extracting his arm from the shattered cement, Izuku turned to his friends, the two of them running to him, slipping in wet patches, righting themselves, and continuing to run.

Shinsou slammed into Izuku at full speed, nearly knocking them both to the ground. "Holy shit, what was that?!"

"Was that why you didn't want me to pull you up?"

"Mh," Izuku just nodded, limbs aching from exhaustion, but his heart was racing from the artificial adrenaline his organs were pumping through his veins.

"What do we do now?"

Izuku furrowed his eyebrows, "...why are both of you looking at me like that?"

"Maybe because you got us out of possible death?"

"You kept a level head even while sinking," Tsuyu added, not taking her eyes off of her friend.

"...okay, good points." Izuku took a few calming breaths, dropping the oxygen tank to the side as he tried to make sense of his racing thoughts. "First things first," he said, pointing to the edge of the pool. "We need to get out of here."

There's an exhausting energy in the nurses' office across campus, and it only intensifies when Toshinori settles on the undersized chair, trying to catch his breath through the bloody coughs. He overdid it this morning, and, he checks his phone, he overdid it and only has ten minutes left...he can't believe he's been so irresponsible.

Midoriya keeps telling him to be careful with his time, to not waste it on things other heroes can handle, it's just hard for him to ignore someone in need. When he sees someone in trouble, he always runs to help. Toshinori coughed into his hand, bloody and rasping.

Maybe he just needed to quit while he was ahead. Focus on training Toogata and start limiting his work… oh, who was he kidding?

If All for One was really behind the new villain threat, he would never be able to quit.

He doesn't want the task to fall on his successor. He just knows that Toogato would think he was obligated to fight All for One and get killed in the process. And if it wasn't Toogata… then it would be Midoriya. The reckless little bastard would run headfirst into danger if he thought it was necessary.

It would be endearing if it didn't make him worry so much.

Toshinori sighed, grabbing a tissue to clean the blood off of his hands and getting ready to leave when the door to the office opened. He looked down to the diminutive figure, prepared for Recovery Girl to hit him with her cane before he realized it was actually Principal Nedzu.

"There you are!"

"Oh, hello, Principal Nedzu." Toshinori settled back in his chair, getting the feeling he should try and get the principal in a good mood. "Your fur is looking very neat today."

"It's the keratin, humans just can't achieve this level of luster," Nedzu said, immediately seeing through the attempt to butter him up. But a compliment is a compliment, even if it's flattery. "But I was here to see if you had something to say about this," Nedzu pulled out a tablet with a flourish, bringing up the top articles.

"Hmm," he hummed, reading off the headlines as he scrolled. "'All Might Stops Hit and Run,' 'All Might Prevents Three Villains in One Hour,'" Nedzu continued scrolling. "And it goes on and on." He stowed the tablet back in his inner vest pockets. "Do you have anything to say about that?"

"...ah, shit." Toshinori coughed into his hand, keeping his gaze anywhere but the principal.

"I thought you might say that." Nedzu chuckled, his eyes twinkling with mirth. "You really haven't changed a bit, have you? Running into danger whenever you have the chance."

Toshinori stayed quiet, getting the feeling that Nedzu hadn't finished making his point yet.

Nedzu's expression darkened subtly, his ears lying back. "The limit on your heroics just proves you can't keep this pace. It's unrealistic, and you don't want your successor to-

There was a ringing from Nedzu's pocket, and the principal pulled out his phone, black eyes widening when he read the alert. "Oh dear…"

"What is it?" Toshinori leaned forward, not liking the concerned tone in the principal's voice.

Nedzu turned the screen towards Toshinori. "All of the students GPS trackers… the signals have been lost."

Toshinori jolted to his feet, coughing blood when he forced himself to activate One for All. "Then what are we waiting for? We need to go now!"

Nedzu tucked his phone away, staring up at Toshinori. His voice stern, he put his foot down. "You're not going anywhere! These villains are here for you, and you only have ten minutes left!"

"But-

"But nothing," Nedzu shook his head. "Present Mic was already on his way and should be there soon, and there are over a dozen security bots at the USJ."

"I can't stay here while my son could be in danger!"

With a sigh, Nedzu stepped aside. "... damnit Yagi-san. Just go. Go help your boy." He took his phone back out, sending a quick text to more heroes. "The rest of us will catch up."

Toshinori nodded, all but knocking down the door to the office in his haste to leave. His students were in trouble. His son was in trouble.

He had to get there as soon as he could, whatever awful things could happen… he couldn't risk it.

The scene before the three of them is harrowing. The remaining security droids are doing their best, fighting against villains that have gained the upper hand. But the worst is in the center of the scene.

Eraserhead is pinned under that thing , more broken bones than not, injuries that if they aren't treated soon, could be fatal.

Izuku knew what he had to do. There was only one thing he could do.

The creature's mind is begging for itself to stop, to make it end. Under the fists of the beast, Eraserhead has resigned himself to his likely death. As long as the kids are safe...

"It's okay," Izuku whispered to himself, trying to prepare himself for what he was about to do. "It's not human."

But it was. It was just like him, human, but made to be something else.

Pain. pain. PAIN. Please god, make it stop, make it stop, make it stop.

"It's not really human."

Please help me, please, please, it hurts

"It's not-

HELPME

Izuku couldn't stop himself, and he rocketed forward, ignoring the cries from his classmates, dragging himself out of Tsuyu and Shinsou's grip, leaving it all behind him as he thundered forward, each step cracking the cement. He jumped over unconscious villains, leaping over a portal that snapped open in front of him, vaulting over the remaining security bots, and he stepped up, bracing one foot on the knee of the beast, climbing up to its shoulders and pulling off his gloves.

"It's going to be okay," he whispered, watching as thing's eyes rolled back to watch him, body still obeying its masters' orders. "I'm here to help."

I don't want to do this, save me, save me saveme

As he steeled himself for what he had to do, Izuku cleared his mind, straightening his hand and slowly plunging it into the beasts exposed brain. It sunk deeper, a hot knife through soft and fatty flesh, and he reached for the small bit of metal and plastic wrapped around the brainstem.

The tendrils are tangled in too deep in the grey matter, and Izuku has to yank and twist , pulling half of the brainstem up with his fist, shredding through freshly regenerated brain matter on the way out.

The beast froze, one massive fist raised above the crumpled form of Eraserhead.

"NOMU! Kill him!"

The Nomu didn't move, its eyes rolling back in its head to watch as Izuku tossed the control chip and brainstem aside. Thank you thank you thank you thank you

"A-Eraserhead?" Izuku tries to make himself heard, knowing that his teacher is in pain and can barely move as it is. "Can you… can you erase his healing?"

Aizawa nodded as he tried to roll to his feet, one arm hanging limply at his side before he dropped back down in a heap, keeping his focus on the Nomu.

"It's going to be okay," Izuku whispered as he shoved his hands back into the Nomu's brain, the flesh tearing apart under his fingers, no longer healing. "You're safe now," he lied, words coming too easy. "It's all over."

Then it was. His hand severed the connection to life with ease, and it all stopped.

The Nomu pitched forward, brain oozing from its open skull, spilling and painting across the pavement.

As the mind went dark, Izuku collapsed to his knees, an empty ache in his chest.

He felt the phantom pains of tears that would never fall as he screamed, a wordless wail.

Anyone who would hear would assume it was fear or pain.

But Eraserhead knew better.

It was grief. Agony of the soul.

"I'm so sorry," Izuku whispered, drawing a brain coated hand over the Nomu's beak. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." He repeated the words until they lost their meaning, becoming nothing but liquid sorrow pouring from his lips.

"NOMU!"

Izuku was so blind in his grief, he missed the way Eraserhead saved his life, erasing Shigaraki's quirk before he could make contact. But he wasn't so blind he missed the way the open hand slammed into the back of his head, dislodging his visor.

Time seemed to slow down as the visor dropped into his lap and rolled down until it came to a stop, the reflective plastic resting against the blood coated beak of the Nomu.

A shudder ran over his skin, and Izuku rose from his knees, the hole in his chest filled with something fetid and rotted. Something inside of his chest snapped, and he turned, hands pulled into fists and shaking as his blood boiled.

"You killed my Nomu!" Shigaraki snarled, one hand scratching bloody furrows into his neck. "I'll ki-

"Shut the fuck up." Izuku sprinted forward, he could feel the muscles in his calves begin to tear, but he pushed forward. In his rage, he lost control of his plan, falling back onto his original training. He was fighting to kill.

Again he shouted, genuine wrath flooding his body. "Shut the fuck up!"

Shigaraki was fast, but the military had trained Izuku well. He was faster. Stronger. Better trained. He was the perfect soldier.

He ducked the outstretched hand, the open palm scraping over his shoulder as he slid his own hand under the desiccated hand the villain wore on his face. Izuku squeezed, grabbing the villain by the face and dragging him forward and down, slamming him to the ground. He whipped around, slamming his fist where the villain's face had been, leaving a bloody crater from the impact.

Shigaraki rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding certain death as a blood coated hand passed his head. "You little bastard!" He killed Nomu! That thing was made to fight ALL MIGHT!

Izuku swore he could see red, and on instinct, he let himself rip into the villain's mind, yanking the pages, cracking the spine of the book. "Tell me why you deserve to live," he howled, forcing himself to keep on the offensive, dodging the villains' open-handed strikes as he pushed forward. "Tell me," he screamed as he grabbed the villain by the wrist, the bones collapsing in his hold as he yanked them towards him, the sickening crunch the first sign he had dislocated their shoulder.

He swung with his free hand, slamming his fist into the villains' jaw, feeling the bone crack and snap under his knuckles.

He pulled at his mind harder, dragging information long forgotten to the front and center, searching for weakness and rot in the pages. "Shimura Tenko, you killed your own family!" He jumped back, the muscles in his calves finally tearing.

He pushed through it, the agony fueling him. The muscles were still attached to the bone, and he had to win this.

"Tell me why you deserve to live!" He screamed a wordless sound like before, but this one twisted, dark, murderous intent. "TELL ME WHY I SHOULDN'T KILL YOU RIGHT NOW!"

Shigaraki Tomura!

Izuku whirled around, his eyes landing on the source of the thoughts. The remaining rational part of his brain reminded him that that one made portals, and he turned back, away from the mist-covered villain, and lunged forwards, letting himself slam into his opponent. He grappled with the villain, Shigaraki screeching as Izuku grabbed the dead hand from their face and began to crush it in his own.

Father! Shigaraki struggled under the weight of the teenager, trying to free his hands where they were pinned under his own back. "Give back Father! I'll kill you! I'll kill you," he snarled over and over as he thrashed, making the mistake of making eye contact with the hero in-training.

Nausea rose up in his stomach, and he turned his head to the side, spitting vomit across the pavement. His mind is spinning, he feels like he's falling apart from the inside out, and he just wants this to end.

Memories flash before his eyes, out of order and disjointed, as if they're being pulled out of his mind. There's a pulling, a tearing feeling. This isn't right. This isn't right. This isn't right.

Continuing to squeeze, Izuku felt the dead bones break and crunch, and he dropped the mutilated hand into the puddle of vomit, a sick sense of satisfaction flaring though him at the villains' anguish.

He knows he shouldn't enjoy it, but he's reveling in the destruction.

Father…

Izuku felt the air shift behind him, and he leapt forward and off of Shigaraki, whipping around to see a portal snap shut where his neck had been. That was an attempt to kill, he thought, his mind racing, pushing itself on fumes.

He's tired. He can't keep up this pace. The adrenaline in his system is the only thing keeping him going.

Where was his backup? Shouldn't the other heroes be here by now?

Such quick-wittedness, but as expected of a golden egg-

"This isn't from U.A," Izuku snapped, his adrenaline beginning to wear thin, the haze of rage over his mind beginning to dull, an all-encompassing agony searing through his soul. "But that won't stop me." He snarled, not seeing a point in restraining Shigaraki, the villain too injured to keep fighting, physically and mentally beaten down.

Izuku raised his fists; the blood and brain matter streaked up his arms only adding to his menace.

He had never been trained on fighting a portal user, but he had to assume it was similar to fighting a speedster or jumper. He just had to get the villain to look him in the eyes, then hit them when they're down. Go for the joints, the soft tissues, then the eyes.

So caught up in his focus, he doesn't hear the doors slam open. Doesn't see the light shining through. He doesn't hear the shots ring out, or the thankful cries of his classmates.

"It looks like I'll have to cut this short." The mist villain warped behind Izuku, carefully picking up his injured commander, using his mist to absorb and redirect the attacks from the incoming heroes. "Shigaraki Tomura is in no shape to face All Might at this time. But this is not the last time you shall hear from the League of Villains."

The mist villain opens a portal beneath his feet as Izuku scrambles to find their name in their mind. Kurogiri, he learns, slowly sinks into the portal, his eyes locked on the teen who had caused such destruction.

The portal is snapping closed, but Izuku can't see it, the only thing he sees is the price of his lies lying in the center of the room, blood mixing with water from the leaking fountain. Bloodied and broken, the Nomu doesn't seem like so much of a monster now as Izuku steps forward, bending down and caressing its bloodied beak.

All he sees now was the victim of his lies.