For a moment, there was a perfect, serene silence. Broken only by Bakugo's sharp, desperate gasps for breath, as he suddenly seemed to be choking and his eyes were burning, tears twisting his vision.

But Izuku was still standing there, a green and red blur, watching them carefully.

"You're... You're alive." Bakugo choked out, staring at Izuku like he'd disappear at any moment.

"I am." Izuku agreed quietly.

"But you're here. Youre- you're a-"

"A villain." Izuku finished coolly. His face was impassive. Carefully so. Like he was making an effort not to give anything away.

"Why, Izuku. Why?" Bakugo yelled. He couldn't reconcile the two images. A boy with a bright smile and sad eyes and an All Might action figure clutched in one small fist. A teenager with a blood splattered mask and a surgically blank gaze.

"Why are you a hero, Kacchan?" The villain with the face of his childhood friend asked instead of answering.

"I'm not a hero, not yet." Bakugo said. "But I will be, and I'll save people. I'll save you."

And that was all it took for Izuku's impassive mask to shatter. Something unreadable flickered across his face and his eyes filled with tears.

"Who is this guy? How do you know him?" Tsuyu hissed, her voice barely carrying over Aoyama's whimpers.

"A childhood friend. I don't know if he's here to fight us or not." Bakugo whispered back.

"You've changed, Kacchan." Izuku decided softly, but Bakugo never heard that. Perhaps he would have felt better later if he had.

"I'm sorry. For everything. I was wrong, I... I should have been a better friend. I should have been a better person." Bakugo practically howled. Izuku was here. Izuku was real. It was what he'd wanted for years, but it was all wrong.

"I want to be a hero too!"

Izuku had been the boy with the smiles and the bravery. Not the blood and the blankness. But Bakugo had a chance, now. He could say sorry. He could fix things.

If he could just say the right words. If he could just save one person.

It'd be enough.

But Izuku wasn't even really looking at him. His gaze kept flitting around like he was distracted or had other things on his mind.

"You weren't the only reason, you know? This whole society is rotten. Heroes are just the root of the problem." Izuku said simply, with such bitterness and conviction that Bakugo's blood froze.

Izuku... Did Izuku actually believe that?

"What did they do to you?" Bakgo wondered. What had the villains done to the boy with the smiles to get him to agree with them. Izuku wasn't a villain. He couldn't be. He'd never hurt anyone.

But for the first time, Izuku looked angry. Like he had when he was sticking up for whoever Bakugo was bullying, even when the child he'd defend would run or scorn him themselves. He looked like he cared.

"The 'villains' didn't do anything to me. This was my choice." The boy snarled, his green eyes flaring with rage. "They were the ones who saved me, they gave me a choice. And I chose this."

"And I'm giving you a choice." Bakugo bellowed back, hoping that Izuku would somehow hear. Hear everything he couldn't say. That he missed his friend. That he wanted to see the boy with the blank eyes smile again. That he wanted to somehow make everything better, and that Izuku had to be the answer.

Because he'd been wrong before, and Izuku had paid the price. How could Bakugo be a hero when he'd been the villain in someone else's story? How could he move forwards if the past was full of mistakes he'd never tried fixing.

"I'm giving you a choice," Bakugo repeated quietly, hoarsely. More honest. More broken. "Let me save you. Come home. Please, Izuku. Just come home."

The silence was broken only by Aoyama's whimpers. He was gettting quieter and quieter.

"Kacchan, I-"

"Your mother still carries around that fucking All Might action figure. The one you lost. You still have a home waiting for you, Izuku." Bakugo interrupted, thinking of Inko Midoriya and her quiet strength and quieter tears.

For a moment, Izuku looked very, very small. Swamped in a a hoodie too big for him, his eyes large and green above a mask that hid his freckles. Shaking like he was cold or scared or angry. He looked fragile.

Aoyama whimpered again. The normally loud teen had slapped a trembling hand to his mouth and he'd gone pale.

Bakugo took a step forward. He didn't know what he wanted to do. He didn't know anything more.

But moving was the wrong thing to do. Whatever the reason was, it seemed to snap Izuku into motion. His eyes darted everywhere, before he darted towards Bakugo, swift and sure. Like his mind had been made up in that one instant.

And Bakugo had shifted into a defensive stance more out of instinct than any actual desire to fight. He didn't want to use his quirk to hurt anyone again, especially not if he'd already caused them pain.

But Izuku, whatever his plan for attack was, never reached Bakugo. He simply vanished moments before reaching the heroics student.

"I'm not quite so useless anymore, Kacchan." Izuku's voice echoed from just behind Bakugo, but when he whirled around, there was no one there.

He twisted around again and again, but there was no sign of the villain. At least, there was no sign, until a hand Bakugo never saw reached up from his shadow, and with a sharp tug, pulled his feet from under him.

Bakugo landed heavily on the concrete, winded, and could only watch as Izuku surfaced from a shadow- what the fuck- and sent Tsuyu scrambling away with a simple swipe of a shining silver object.

But she couldn't quite haul Aoyama away with her. With a groan of pain, the pale teen stumbled, where he didn't get up.

Izuku walked over almost calmly, and held the knife to Aoyama's throat, one hand grabbing his arm, where Aoyama's costume had ripped to reveal bloodstained skin, and the other holding the blade in place.

Izuku's hands weren't shaking and Aoyama had stopped whimpering.

"Is he your friend, Kacchan?" Izuku asked, quietly. "And her? The girl with the frog quirk?"

"Yes," Bakugo croaked, his throat suddenly dry. Was this it? Was this Izuku's revenge for making him feel alone and friendless all those years ago? "Yes, they're my friends. So please, please don't hurt them."

"I won't hurt them, but someone else might," Izuku told Bakugo, shoving Aoyama roughly towards Bakugo, knife vanishing into his sleeve. "so take better care of them."

Whatever Izuku might have said next was interruped as a portal opened next to him, dark mist spilling into the air.

"I've finished. Sorry I took so long, but they're all safe now. I can take you to them now- they need your help." The man said softly, and his yellow eyes gleamed with something like pity. Bakugo suspected he wasn't meant to hear what the villain had said.

"Thank you, Kurogiri."

And just like that, Izuku stepped into the portal without so much as a goodbye or final, mocking taunt.

But he did look back, with something unreadable in his eyes, one last time.

Yaoyorozu wished she could do more. Only recently had she promised Jirou- and herself- to be stronger, so she'd be able to save those who thought alongside her instead of just watching, helpless.

But as she watched Tokoyami - it was still Tokoyami, right? - fight alone against the man made of sludge, she couldn't think of a single thing she could do.

It had gone something like this:

The man made of mist had vanished, and there had been barely a minute of silence before Tokoyami let out an inhuman howl, and his quirk had flared to life, more vicious and more powerful than anything they'd ever seen before.

Even in All Might's training session, Tokoyami's quirk hadn't been like this. Before, Dark Shadow, if she recalled its name correctly, had been a powerful, long range quirk, but Tokoyami had always reigned it in if it became too agressive. She'd heard it talking- it was perfectly polite.

Nothing like the massive monster shrieking and clawing at the sludge, and every time it's attacks did nothing, it grew enraged. It'd howl and renew it's frenzied attacking.

At one point, she'd planned to charge in, help Tokoyami, do whatever she could, but Denki grabbed her shoulder and hauled her back.

"Don't," he'd hissed. "I was Tokoyami's partner for the training exercise. He explained his quirk to me then. Basically, he has really good control over Dark Shadow unless it's dark or... Or if he's really emotional."

Denki let out a long, shuddering breath, like he was trying to compose himself.

"Right now, he'd probably attack you too."

Momo didn't respond, and instead just watched the strange dance in front of her: Dark Shadow- or Tokoyami- thrashing around and the sludge reforming even after it was slashed by unforgiving claws.

It was a stalemate. And it was happening right in front of the exit. As long as it continued, they were still trapped. But...

"We have to call in reinforcements somehow. I assume that you've already tried to contact the school?"

Denki just nodded grimly. "I couldn't get through."

"If we get outside, would you be able to do it?" She asked, mind already piecing together a plan.

"I think so." The other boy sighed.

"You two," A new voice interrupted. "you should hide with the rest of us. You're too exposed."

Recognising their classmate, she and Denki crept after him, and it took her a while to remember that the boy's name was Shouji.

The others hiding included Mina Ashido and Iida Tenya, as well as Kirishima, and she was fairly sure the final boy was called Satou.

"Hiding feels cowardly." Iida announced as soon as they arrived. "But without a plan, it's the wisest course of action."

"Can we even make a plan? They're fighting right in front of the exit." Denki groaned. It would almost be comical, if his face wasn't pale and he wasn't trembling.

"Not if we make a new exit." Momo suggested before she even knew what she was saying.

To their credit, no one even blinked at the suggestion.

Instead, Iida only asked: "How would we make an exit? I believe, that ironically enough, the building is built securely to avoid damage or villains managing to break in. It would be difficult."

"It doesn't need to be a big exit. If we could just make an enterance small enough for Denki to get out, he may be able to contact the school with his quirk." Momo theorised. "But it'd take a while. Mina, how corrosive is your acid?"

Mina looked thoughtful. "I can make it corrosive enough to melt through stone, but it'd take a while..."

Momo nodded. They could work with that. "I might be able to make a drill, too. It'd take several times, and it'd be loud, but I should be able to do it."

"Damn, that's pretty cool!" Kirishima said with a grin, and Momo felt just a tiny bit more confident.

"It'd be loud." Iida pointed out. "And while I think that the villain is more than occupied..."

A shrill cry made them all flinch.

"If that's the case, then I can use my quirk and be a distraction." Kirishima offered. Then, upon seeing their faces, he wilted slightly. "Well, only if it's absolutley necessary."

"I don't see another option, if it comes down to it. Sorry, Kirishima." Momo sighed. "Let's go."

It by far wasn't her best plan. Really, she was fairly sure that it only worked because they were lucky. The sludge villain wouldn't shut up with his taunts and cries of anger and anguish, so if Dark Shadow was sensitive to noise, it was distracted enough not to bother them.

Which was a blessing, because the drill was loud. At one point, the noise of fighting became loud, so Kirishima had left to go and draw them away. In that aspect, her plan was unnaceptable: it put a fellow student at far too much risk.

But Kirishima came back shaken, but unhurt. "I'm never getting on Tokoyami's bad side." He'd joked with a wobbly grin, and he'd brightened up enough to cheer when Denki managed to crawl through the hole they'd made in the wall.

A few moments later, Denki had come back, a beam lighting up his entire face.

"I got through! Reinforcements are on their way!"

For a moment, they all cheered, forgetting that Kirishima had returned, Satou had come over to hear the good news from his station from lookout, so they were all surprised when the next inhuman wail was very, very close.

The villain had been quiet for a long time. They just hadn't noticed.

"It's weakened by light!" Denki called, from where he was still on the outside, safe, but unable to help."

In the end, it took the combined efforts of Shouji, Iida, Satou and Kirishima to hold off Dark Shadow while Momo made everything from lamps to flash grenades. Slowly, but surely, Dark Shadow became smaller and quieter, until it was finally Tokoyami who was talking, instead of the beast screaming.

"Did... Did I hurt any of you?" The exhausted, terrified student asked quietly.

"Nah, but you totally saved us from the villain!" Kirishima cheered. "You were a hero, Tokoyami!"

It ended with all of them alive, relatively unhurt and beginning to hope again. It ended with the man made of sludge being quietly teleported away by a man made of mist.

Tomura Shigarki wasn't fighting when Kurogiri appeared next to him. Instead, their leader was watching as several recruits with long range telekenetic quirks worked together to redirect Thirteen's attack.

"Some students have escaped. They managed to contact UA and reinforcements are on their way." Kurogiri said softly.

Tomura Shigaraki froze. Then he simply watched, for a moment. As the pro heroes struggled against his League. They had been close. So close. But...

"Start the evacuation."

But Tenko Shimura was Tomura Shigaraki, and he didn't want to leave anyone behind to the 'mercy' of the heroes.

They'd have to try again later.

Shinsou wondered how his luck could change so past few weeks had been an emotional rollercoaster.

He'd applied to UA, and he'd been lucky.

But not lucky enough. He'd managed to get into UA, which in itself was a miracle, and far, far more than he'd ever dared to hope for. But the miracle had soured when he hadn't quite made it far enough.

He'd got into UA, but not in the Hero Course. He'd managed to get into the General Studies. So he'd have a chance later on. It was like he'd done well, well enough to be noticed, but even his best wasn't quite good enough.

And then, after just one day, he was moved into a vacancy into Class 1-A, and even as he listened to the teacher with the tired face and told that he had to keep up, he couldn't quite stop the small grin or the thrill of excitement. He'd felt like the luckiest person alive.

That changed quickly. He felt in over his head the moment he'd seen how powerful all his new classmates were. They were all so strong and he was barely anything next to them. So he vowed to be better. He'd do whatever it took to have his best be good enough.

But none of that compared to how unlucky he felt to be flung into a villain attack. He was already so far behind his classmates, what chance would he stand against real villains?

At least Ojiro was there to save him.

Shinsou really wasn't the best swimmer when it came to being plunged into icy water moments after standing on dry ground. He certainly wasn't good enough to dodge villains with quirks that gave them fins and gills and sharp teeth.

But Ojiro had grabbed both him and Monoma and managed to propell them towards the ship, and all three of them had clambered on board.

Nothing else had worked nearly as well. Ever since they'd managed a semblance of safety on the ship, they'd been fighting with everything they had to keep it. Monoma had copied Shinsou's quirk, and together, they'd send whichever villains that ventured near the ship to lure the others away with glassy eyes.

It wouldn't last. But it was all they could do. Ojiro couldn't lug them away from the ship and be able to dodge all of the villains. Soon, they'd figure it out, they'd attack and the ship would sink. Soon, Shinsou suspected the water would blossom red.

They couldn't even make it safer. They couldn't make the villains fight each other, the pain would snap them out of it. They were going to die and there was nothing they could do but buy themselves time.

It worked for a while, though. For the first time, Shinsou used his quirk and felt like a hero. He'd saved someone, for a little while. No one could call him the villain now, and maybe it shouldn't have felt as important as it did, but Shinsou was beyond caring.

They couldn't keep it up, in the end. The villains stopped responing to their calls, they had learned to jolt each other out of the control. They had kept it up for what felt like forever, but it felt like they hadn't achieved anything as they watched the villains slowly circle the boat.

The three of them stood in silence when the entire ship jolted, and slowly began to sink.

"There really isn't a way out, is there?" Ojiro asked quietly. For a moment, despite his strength, despite the fact that he was the one who saved them, he looked very small.

"I guess we just swim for it, when it all goes to hell." Shinsou said hollowly.

"No," Monoma snapped. "no, there has to be something we can do."

"What," Shinsou responded bitterly, although he couldn't really blame Monoma. "can we do?"

And Shinsou almost wished that Monoma had continued arguing, because standing there on a sinking ship in silence was almost unbearable. But there was nothing left to say and nothing left to do.

Only swim and hope. Only survive or die.

"I guess we're about to jump the plank on a sinking ship." Shinsou muttered, watching the water creep closer and closer.

They'd stalled for as long as they could, but it felt like everything was happening too fast.

But their stalling had saved them, in the end, because just as everything looked hopeless, just as it looked like they'd have no choice but to swim for it, the water suddenly became a sparkling path of ice.

A glance at the shore revealed Uraraka and Todoroki waiting for them, distant figures crouched at the edge of the water.

They'd live! They had a chance!

The three students raced along the path of ice, not daring to look back at the villains, who'd been circling the ship. If they had, they would have seen the villains be swallowed by dark mist before they could even think of attacking.

This is how the attack on the USJ ended. The students were safe, battered and bleeding but alive. The teachers were injured, but alive.

All of the villains had disappeared without a trace. There were only accounts to be taken, cold cases to revisit, and dark speculation about a dead man and his monsters. A man All Might had thought he'd killed, but seen again in the glassy eyes of the monster he'd struggled against.

And the attack left Izuku alone in an infirmary, with a blood splattered mask and shaking hands, as he looked at all of the injured people around him. There were so many of them, too many off them. He'd hated every moment of the attack. From the danger to watching people get hurt, to seeing Kacchan again. Especially seeing Kacchan again.

Then he sighed. There was no time. He was needed here, by all the people suffering. Slowly, almost mechanically, he got to work. He'd think about everything later, but first- and it would always come first, for him- he had to help people.