Something was terribly wrong, the Midoriya household was giving off a horrifyingly eerie atmosphere that clashed with the smell of fresh Katsudon. A warm and peaceful place lost its usual welcoming vibe, now shattered like the shards of glass scattered across the floor. It was a living oxymoron that a surprise meal's scent reeked with recently leaked blood. The red liquid drizzled down the hall and beckoned anyone who would dare enter the kitchen to find its source. Much like everything else, the lights were dimmed and flashing full of warning like the bulbs had busted long ago. Everything looked like a polar opposite of what it should be, like a nightmare turned reality.

Ochaco Uraraka felt herself trembling in the open doorway, where wood was splintered from a forced entry. She was supposed to be apart of Inko's surprise dinner for her son, the perfect birthday party planned several nights before this very one. The brunette staggered forward, forcing her legs to move despite the numb feeling. A shaky hand brushed against the cracked wall as Ochaco tried to stabilize her movements. Her zero gravity quirk often caused her to vomit when overexerted, so the feeling of something swelling up in her stomach to erupt like a volcano into her throat came naturally. Uraraka felt tears burning in the corners of her eyes as she puked into the pool of blood. A sight no child or teen should see was sprawled across the kitchen, a green haired woman had been torn apart beyond recognition. Ochaco had no doubt this lady was Inko Midoriya, Izuku's mother, who's corpse was now ripped limb from limb to look like a disassembled puzzle.

"D- Deku?", Uraraka called out in a shaky voice for what she feared was another victim. "A- Are you here? Where are you, are you okay?", she begged & pleaded in her questions that went from a desperate cry to a somber whisper. The state of shock was enough to shake anybody to the core and left the poor girl in a paralyzed state for quite some time. It felt like hours before she fumbled in her pocket dial a number in her cellphone. The dial tone sounded like the ticking of a clock as Ochaco begged for someone to answer. Finally, they did. "Iida, we have to get All Might and Todoroki, and- and, it's Deku, he's in trouble!"

…

THE TRAITOR

…

A scraggly blonde man trudged onward with a suited up Ochaco Uraraka and three other teenagers. The team that had hastily been assembled to rescue Izuku Midoriya consisted of Katsuki Bakugo, Shoto Todoroki, and Tenya Iida. Their leader had once been regarded as the symbol of peace, his old rank as the number one pro hero being sufficient proof. Now, the once hulking defender was reduced to a skeletal state that looked nothing short of straight up weak. That didn't stop the previous wielder of One For All from coming to save his successor though.

Ochaco was now in her uniform and dawned the alter ego of Uravity, a pink suited superhero. Alongside her was the captive's rival and former childhood bully, Katsuki Bakugo. The blonde was dressed like a living grenade and had the personality of one prepared to explode at any given moment. One would wonder why someone who despised Izuku would bother to join the rescue squad, you'd be surprised to discover the answer was that Katsuki actually saw Deku as his best friend. The secret bromance rivaled even that of Eijiro Kirishima's. The perfect evidence was the fact that Bakugo settled on his hero name being the childhood nickname Izuku had given him: Kacchan. Midoriya had done the same with the title 'Deku'. The other two teens were Tenya Iida, a living engine, and Shoto Todoroki, half ice & fire.

The shriveled man once called All Might would have revoked the kids of tagging along. Had it not been for the ransom note Ochaco had found in the Midoriya household. The letter specifically requested this bunch of heroes and promised to kill Izuku if the demands weren't met. It was no doubt a scheme conjured up by the League of Villains to eliminate the exact people that had been a thorn in their side since the beginning. All Might had been their target since the start, and now he was vulnerable. The teens were just annoyances that kept getting in their way. It was no doubt a trap.

The team made the mistake of letting down their guard as soon as they saw Izuku Midoriya motionless and bound to a chair in chains. The messy green hair had been mixed with dry red blood much like his outfit and purple bruises. Everyone had to fight back any gagging as they recoiled at the sight of seeing their friend so beaten from torture. Ochaco was the first to his side, desperately straining to break him free from the bonds.

"Deku! It's going to be okay!", Uraraka tried reassuring the boy despite her voice quivering with its own fear.

"Midoriya, my boy! Who did this to you?", the skeletal form of All Might replaced his signature smile with a snarl that seeked vengeance.

"I- I know wh- who did this..", Izuku barely managed to respond through a ragged & raspy voice filled with coughs. "The U.A traitor we've been looking for.. he did this.."

"The traitor? Who is it?", Shoto Todoroki stepped forward to freeze the restraints so Ochaco could break Izuku free from them. Much like the ice he created with his quirk, Shoto froze in place upon the next sight. Ochaco's eyes bulged as her mouth hung open, a likely result from the mix of shock and a knife embedded in her stomach. The blade twisted in her gut before slashing at its next victim, spilling the contents of Todoroki's belly as well.

A grin graced Izuku's lips as he stood up from the seat, "Me."

The blondes felt like they'd been stabbed too upon witnessing the sudden revelation. Their ears rang with Deku's laughter, it sounded like a distorted hyena let loose on a murder spree. Ochaco and Shoto could only stare like the others as they bled out in a similar fashion that Inko had died.

"I.. don't understand.."

"What's there to not understand? It was all an act! All this time, I was the traitor at Yuei and played you for your power. I got close to everyone so I could spring this trap.", the tone in Izuku's confirmation sent shivers down everyone's spines. They had never seen him look so deranged, yet composed and confident.

"You're lying! Fucking Deku is too much of a pussy to pull this off! You're an imposter!", Bakugo ignited miniature explosions in his palms to intimidate what he was certain would be Himiko Toga in disguise or a clone of some sort.

"Oh, you mean p- poor s- stuttering Izuku, the useless D- Deku?", the quivering voice was different this time around. Izuku mocked himself with the impression everyone had been so used to. "Don't you get it? I'm not the damsel in distress. I'm not your friend or partner. I'm not brainwashed or something, this is all on my own accord! No.. I'm the bad guy."

The crazed smile on Izuku's face made him look like he lost his mind despite the businessman like demeanor. The scratches and bruises that made him look like a kidnapped victim were wiped away to be proven as mere prosthetic & makeup. It'd been a ruse, a trap set from the very beginning.

"Why though?! Why would you do this, Midoriya?!", Tenya had been kneeling at the sides of his dying friends the entire time. The armored hero tried applying pressure on the wounds to keep them alive, but sobbed as he failed miserably.

Izuku shrugged as he spun the knife in his hand, "Why not?", the rhetorical question was another shocking factor from the now revealed villain.

"I'm gonna fucking kill you for this!", Bakugo fumed.

"There's a time and place for everything. Right now, you should probably realize that you and Iida are the only ones capable of saving Uraraka and Todoroki. That'll leave me some alone time with All Might so we can chat a little."

"Like hell-"

"Go.", the ex symbol of peace ordered Katsuki to leave.

"But-", Bakugo was about to protest until he saw the expression on All Might's face. It was the same look of guilt and betrayal that Katsuki had.

"We'll come back for you, we promise!", Tenya reassured the retired pro hero as he and Bakugo used their quirks to race the downed heroes to the nearest hospital.

"Is it just me, or is it hot in here? Let's go get some air.", Izuku smiled once he and his previous mentor were alone. All Might hesitated to move at first, but reluctantly followed his former protege up a flight of stairs. It led to a fire escape that allowed them to walk out onto a roof.

"I have so many questions for you, Midoriya.. but all I can manage to say is that I'm so disappointed in what I've let you become. I should have seen it sooner.", All Might meekly spoke.

"You think this is something that happened over a course of time? That it was during my journey at U.A? That's where you're wrong yet again. I've been faking it since the start. Ever since you gave me One For All."

"W- Why?"

"Do you know why I chose this place, All Might? Do you remember the day you crushed my dreams?", Izuku gestured to their surroundings. After a small pause and moment of silence, he continued with a sigh. "No. Of course you wouldn't."

It'd been so long ago.. the small quirkless boy that looked up to the ever so powerful superhero. All he wanted was to be like his idol. Everyone had shunned Izuku except for the man he looked up to, the hero that had saved him from a slime monster. The question rang through All Might's ears still to this day.

"This is the exact rooftop that you told me I could never be a hero.. guess you were right."