Author's note: Hey everyone, Fire Slash here and welcome to another chapter of 'Resurrection Isn't Fun'. Glad to see so many of you showing support for the story. I don't really have much else to say other than to make sure to vote for which girl you want Izuku to end up with (Ochako or Tsuyu) and to follow my Instagram (Fire_slash_fanfiction).

Well, let's get right to the story. Review and enjoy :-)

0000

Izuku watched the rest of the exercise go down. Being the first to go gave him the benefit of being able to analyze his classmates without having to worry about his match, so he did just that. By the time the last group went, the boy had created a page for everyone, completely noting their strengths and weaknesses. Well, there was still one person he had yet to do. For some reason, his classmate Shoto Todoroki has yet to use the fire aspect of his quirk. Based on the interviews he's seen with his father, the number two hero Endeavor, the boy had the ability to summon ice and fire from his left and right side respectively. Why he has yet to use his fire remained a mystery. Perhaps he has no natural resistance to fire, meaning that if he overused it, it would burn him. It would explain the burn mark surrounding his eye.

Eventually, the exercises ended and his class was dismissed. The boy was prepared to go home, only for his classmates to suddenly stop him.

"Oh hey, there he is," a muscular boy said as Izuku walked into the classroom to get his bag.

"What're you all looking at me for?" Izuku asked them, raising an eyebrow. Last time he checked, he didn't do anything wrong. Thinking about it, they probably wanted to know his quirk as he has yet to use it...

"Dude, you were beyond manly out there!" A red haired boy ecstatically told him, eagerly standing up so he could move closer to the boy.

"Out where?" Was Izuku missing something here?

"In the battle exercise! Your match motivated us. You took out Bakugo like it was nothing!" The red-head told him.

"You were all over the place," a pink skinned girl with horns said with the same energy as the red haired boy, this girl being the same one who had angered Aiwaza during the quirk assessment test. "Ducking and striking like nothing!"

"I have to admit, it was quite elegant-" a blonde kid began to say, only to be cut off by the pink haired girl.

"So cool! Ah, I never introduced myself. I'm Mina Ashido."

"I'm Ejiro Kirishima," the red haired boy from earlier said, jumping back into the conversation.

Not missing a beat, the blonde kid decided to make his presence known. "I am the magnifique Yuga Aoyama."

"And I'm Rikido Sato," the muscular boy said with a smile, contradicting his rather intimidating stature. "Nice job out there. You really kicked butt!"

Izuku blinked. Were they giving him praise? In response, he gave them a smile. "Thanks! You guys did great as well!"

"Eh, I think I could've done better, but thanks!" Ejiro stated.

Izuku put an arm around the red haired boy. "Hey, that's what we're here for, right? To get better."

Ejiro did a fist pump, excitement flowing through his body. "Yeah, you're right!"

A glance at the school's clock told Izuku that he needed to leave. Removing his arm, Izuku grabbed his backpack and slung it over his shoulder. "Well, I'd love to stay, but I gotta go home. See you all tomorrow!"

"Bye Midori!" Mina yelled back.

"Stay manly dude!" Ejiro shouted.

Sato gave him a calm wave. "See you tomorrow."

0000

Having left the school, Izuku began walking home, only for someone to stop him.

"Hey Deku!"

Izuku froze in his tracks upon hearing Ochako say Katsuki's nickname for him, a fist forming inside his sweater pocket. He was really hoping that he didn't have to hear that name from anyone besides his bully now that he was out of middle-school, but alas, it doesn't look like things will change. It was odd though, Ochako seemed like the last person who would call him Deku based on their interactions. Had she been pretending to be nice to him? He'll have to find out.

Turning around, he gave her a fake smile, though unlike the ones he used against Katsuki, this one looked real. "Yes?"

Funny enough, Tenya was also with her. What he wanted, Izuku didn't know.

"Let's walk together," The girl said with a beaming smile. Izuku faltered at this, either her acting was too good or she was genuinely trying to be his friend.

Deciding that the company would be nice, Izuku complied. "Eh, why not? As long as you don't call me 'Deku' again."

"But isn't that what Bakugo calls you?"

Izuku almost face-palmed himself. Turns out the girl, despite being a sweetheart, wasn't aware of social cues. "The idiot calls me that as an insult. Something about me being useless or something, but I don't really listen to the crap that comes out of his mouth unless I want to lose brain cells."

Guilt began to consume the girl. "Oh shoot! I'm so sorry! I didn't know!"

Seeing that the girl was genuinely sorry, Izuku simply brushed off the misunderstanding. "It's fine. Just for the future though, never repeat nicknames unless you get that person's permission."

"I won't," Ochako said with a bow. Seeing the peppy girl upset was making Izuku feel a bit guilty…

"An insult? Did U.A really accept someone like him?" Tenya asked. Izuku had to admit, he forgot the other boy was with them, but his comment more than made his appearance known.

"Hero schools love their powerful quirks," Izuku told him. "You have one, then you're golden. U.A never gave us a physiological evaluation and most schools don't anyways."

Tenya frowned. He never realized this before, but Izuku was correct. "Someone should do something about that…"

"Ya know, I think 'Deku' sounds like 'Dekiru'," Ochaco cut in, completely unaware that the conversations had shifted away from his nickname. "Like 'you can do it'."

Izuku noted that she had a good point. However, the name was already tainted. "I appreciate it, but I'd rather let the name die. It has a toxic history behind it."

Ochako and Tenya nodded in understanding.

Eventually, the three teens reached the train station closest to their school, where they split off. Much to his relief, Izuku didn't die while heading home.

0000

"Good, it only took you guys two seconds to be quiet," Shota remarked the next day. The teacher thought the fact they had all been interviewed by the eager journalists reporting about how All Might was teaching at U.A would make them restless, but they seemed to be handling it well. "Much better than yesterday, but still not good enough. Now, I've seen your battle trials, and for the most part, you all did well. However, there's still more to be done."

'What now?' The class thought to themselves, wondering what strange activities their teacher had planned for them.

"You need to elect a class representative," the man told them as the class sighed in relief.

'Finally, a normal school activity.'

Immediately, everyone began eagerly volunteering themselves as Izuku stayed in the background, ready to fall asleep due to boredom. He personally didn't want the role as it seemed like too much work.

"Silence everyone, please!" Tenya shouted "The class representative's duty is to lead others; it's not something just anyone can do. You must first have the trust of every student in the classroom. Therefore, the most logical way to fill this position is democratically. We will hold an election to choose our leader!"

"Is this really the best idea?" A blonde boy, Denki Kaminari asked, sharing the opinion of some of his classmates. "Everyone will just vote for themselves."

"Most people will, but that means whoever does receive multiple votes must truly be the most suitable for the job." Tenya explained before facing his teacher. "It's the best way, right?"

"I don't care how you do it, just make it quick."

'Hm, who should I vote for?' The boy thought to himself. There were two people he felt would be best for the position; Momo and Tenya. Momo was without a doubt the most intelligent person in the class, her critiques during the battle exercises showing as much, but he didn't know how well she could deal with stress. Tenya, while not as bright as Momo, was definitely an intelligent person, but was a bit stiff. This could work in his favor though as he would be better at keeping the rest of the class in check. Shrugging, he eventually decided to put Tenya's name on the paper solely because he knew the boy better.

Once the votes were casted, Tenya began putting up a tally system on the whiteboard to keep track of how many votes everyone received. As expected, a good chunk of the class voted for themselves. How else would someone explain how Minoru, the person already designated as the class pervert, received a vote? Izuku ended up getting caught up with watching the amount of tallies Momo and Tenya received that he didn't notice the fact he received six votes himself.

"It seems Midoriya will be our president while Yaoyorozu will be our vice president," Tenya stated, causing Izuku to perk up.

'Huh? Who the hell voted for me?'

"Who the fuck voted for Deku?!" Katsuki yelled, vocalizing Izuku's thoughts. "Why the fuck would anyone do that!?"

"Well, for starters, he's not a ticking time bomb," Denki snarked, causing the other blonde to stare at him.

"I'll fucking kill you!"

"My point exactly."

"Kaminari, I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship," Izuku whispered to the electric quirk user.

"As much as it pains me that I was not elected, I wish the two of you the best of luck," Tenya stated as an attempt to prevent Katsuki from doing anything rash. Thankfully, it ended up working.

"Thank you," Momo said with a bow.

Izuku was conflicted. Part of him didn't want the position. However, another part of him did. Not only will it help teach him how to be a leader, but it was something he could use to flex on Katsuki. In the end, he decided he was going to keep the position. "Thanks to all who were crazy enough to vote for me."

0000

"You know, I'm surprised you didn't vote for yourself Iida," Ochako said to Tenya during lunch time. Izuku had prepared to eat by himself, but both of them ended up sitting at the same table.

'So this is what having friends is like,' Izuku thought to himself with a smile as Ochako continued talking.

'You look like you'd want the position with your glasses and everything."

Izuku held in a laugh. 'I don't think that's how you should be judging people.'

"I did want the position, but I personally believe that being a hero requires knowing when you should take charge and when you should allow others to take the lead," Tenya told her. "I thought Midoriya would make for a better leader than myself, so I acted accordingly."

"That's really cool," Ochako stated, her eyes gleaming in amazement.

"I'm glad you think so," Tenya bashfully said. "My older brother was the one who taught me this."

"You must admire your brother a lot." Izuku noted.

"Indeed I do. My brother is my inspiration for being a hero."

"So he's a pro hero himself?" Izuku asked, causing Tenya to freeze up.

"I was afraid people would treat me differently if they knew, but yes, my brother is the pro hero Ingenium," Tenya admitted. Izuku immediately recognized the name. While he wasn't in the top ten, he was a well respected hero who has done more humanitarian work than any of them. The amount of people employed in his agency was also the highest out of any hero. "The name Ingenium is the name passed down by the Iida family. I hope to one day serve as the successor to my brother."

"Wow! That's really cool," Ochako stated for the second time.

"Agreed," Izuku told him before patting him on the back. "I think you'll do great."

"Thank you."

"Level Three Security Breach detected. All students are to evacuate outside in a swift and orderly manner."

Wasting no time, everyone in the cafeteria began fleeing the facility. Unfortunately, with how unorganized everyone was, it was nearly impossible to squeeze out.

"What's a Level Three Security Breach?" Tenya promptly asked an upperclassman that passed by him.

"It means someone infiltrated school grounds!" yelled the upperclassmen, "In my three years here, this has never happened before! We have to get out of here!"

Tenya and Ochako were about to leave, but were stopped by Izuku. "There's nothing to worry about. If there was, a teacher would be making this announcement instead of a pre-recorded message." That and he didn't want to get trampled to death.

"So, what should we do?" Ochako asked him.

Glancing around, Izuku came up with a plan. "Uraraka, make Iida float with your quirk. Iida, use yours to propel yourself towards the cafeteria's entrance and tell everyone to calm down. While you're at it, check out the window and see if you find anything."

"Understood," Tenya said with a salute. Soon after, Ochako made him float. Launching himself forwards, Tenya noticed that all the journalists from this morning had managed to get onto U.A grounds.

"It's alright everyone, it's just the press!" The boy shouted upon landing on the frame of the door. "Please go back to whatever it was you were doing."

With the boy's naturally loud and authoritative voice, everyone was able to hear him and ceased their panicking.

Thankfully, the rest of their lunch period was spent peacefully.

Unknown to Izuku, this was the eye before the storm…

0000

"Midoriya, I'm the type of person who says what's on their mind," his classmate Tsuyu Asui said to him. Currently, the class was on a bus that was taking them to U.A's Unforeseen Joint Simulation facility (USJ for short) so they could do some rescue training today. "So I have to ask, what is your quirk?"

"Yeah, what is your quirk?" Hanta Sero, a boy who had the ability to shoot a tape-like substance from his elbow, stated. "I don't think I've ever seen you use it before…"

This got everyone else thinking. Hanta was right, Izuku never used his quirk.

"Why's that?" Toru Hagakure, a girl who was invisible, asked the green haired boy. "Aizawa sensei also made you take the quirk assessment without your quirk."

Izuku prepared himself to tell them about his quirk. His last classmates weren't accepting of him, so he was wondering how they'd react. He gave them a small smile and decided to play with them for a bit. "I can't die."

A moment of silence occurred, no one knowing how to react. Someone not being able to die? What kind of quirk was that?

"...Are you serious?" Ojiro Mashirao, a boy with a muscular tail eventually asked him.

"Yep!" Izuku replied, keeping his small smile. "Burn me, stab me, shoot me, and I'll come back in less than a second. No body needed. I also gain a quirk relating to my death each time."

"How's it like, being able to transcend death and make it back to the land of the living?" Fumikage Tokoyami, a boy with a bird shaped head who had the ability to summon a shadowy being to do his bidding, questioned

"Are you asking me how it is to die?" Izuku asked Fumikage, causing Fumikage to think he did something wrong. However, Izuku's face didn't show any anger, relieving him. "I can't lie fucking sucks. Dying hurts. But hey, it's fine. You get used to it after a while."

"So that's why Aizawa sensei didn't let you use your quirk…" Mezu Shoji, a boy with the ability to transform his six tentacles into any body part of his choosing, noted.

Izuku noticed that everyone was giving him looks of pity upon hearing him say this. He didn't know they were doing so because it was hard to imagine what it was like to die. Izuku basically implied that he's died quite a bit. Experiencing something like that numerous times should have broken him, yet here he was, joining them in being a hero.

Izuku wasn't exactly normal, so he wasn't able to come to this obvious conclusion.

"W-wait, you said that you get a new quirk everytime you die," Ochako said, her body having gone pale.

"Glad you listened," the boy joked in response.

"When I met you at the entrance exam, y-you had a fire quirk. Did you…?"

"Yep," Izuku stated. "Lit myself on fire before the exam. Some old people caught me doing so." The boy smiled at the memory. "Gave me a good laugh."

"So that's how you fucking passed," Katsuki scoffed, hating how much attention Izuku was receiving, though no one really noticed him.

'Who the hell are you Midoriya?' Shoto asked himself as he eyed the boy. Unknown to everyone else, Shoto's life has been far from great due to his father. The trauma inflicted upon him was why he refused to use his fire. Yet, here was Izuku, having to live with death. When he first saw the boy, he thought nothing of him. However, just by his actions alone, he could see the boy was trying to suppress his emotions, taking the role of a smiling wiseass to hide the true him. He wanted to know how the other boy handles his demons, if he managed to do so in the first place...

"What's wrong?" Izuku asked, starting to feel creeped out by the looks his classmates were giving him. While they were better than the looks of disgust he was used to getting.

"N-nothing," Tsuyu replied, feeling extremely guilty for prying into the other boy's business. "I'm sorry."

Izuku tilted his head. "What for?"

"Get ready, we're almost there," Shota said before the frog-girl could respond. True to his word, the bus began pulling up in front of the USJ. After exiting the bus and entering the building, the class was greeted with an individual in an astronaut suit.

"Hello everyone! I've been waiting for you," the individual greeted. Izuku stared at the hero with some excitement. Thirteen is one of the greatest and well-known rescue heroes to ever exist, so getting the chance to meet the hero in person was exciting to a hero nerd like himself, and he wasn't the only one who thought so.

"It's the space hero, Thirteen!" Ochako exclaimed, bouncing on her heels. Somehow, she seemed to be even more excited to meet Thirteen than he was, though looking at her costume showed that she had taken inspiration from the hero's own. It seemed like Thirteen to her was All Might to him.

"Now, allow me to show you what's inside," Thirteen politely said, ushering the class inside. "Please, follow me."

Upon entering the USJ, the class was greeted with a view of several different terrestrial areas, each with a different disaster that heroes could possibly encounter while on the job. One had mountains, another was a red dome, one had broken and damaged buildings, another was a gigantic pool-like area with a ship in its middle, and so on.

"A shipwreck, a landslide, a fire, a wind storm, etc. I created this training facility to prepare you to deal with different types of disasters. I call it: The Unforeseen Simulation Joint! But you can call it USJ!" The space hero informed the class.

"Shouldn't All Might be here already?" Shota whispered to his colleague as everyone continued marveling at the facility.

"He's currently out doing something, you know how he is," Thirteen informed him, flashing three fingers at the man. The hero then began speaking to the class. "Before we begin, let me just say one thing. Well, maybe two things. Maybe three, or four, or five…"

"Clock's ticking," Shota reminded the hero.

"Right. As some of you know, my quirk is called 'Black Hole'. My quirk allows me to suck up and turn anything to dust."

"Your quirk let you help people no one else could reach," Ochako remarked.

"Indeed it has. However, you should know that my quirk can also easily kill people." When Thirteen said this, the entire atmosphere changed. "While, yes, I have saved dozens of people thanks to my power, it could also be used to kill. One wrong move, and my quirk goes from hempful to deadly in a snap. Some of you have similar quirks. They can either aid or harm others and it's up to you to make sure that they remain helpful when rescuing civilians. Aizawa's fitness test showed you the strengths and weaknesses of your quirks. All Might's combat training taught you that your quirks can be dangerous when used against someone. I ask for everyone to remember these lessons, for today you'll be learning how to use your quirks to save someone's life. Thank you."

Class 1-A began applauding their teacher, only to stop when Shota raised his hand, silencing them.

"I appreciate the applause. Now, let us begin-" Thirteen said, only for the lights inside the USJ to begin rapidly flickering as the sound of a door locking behind itself made itself known. Unknown to everyone, today's lesson was about to be postponed. "What is that?"

Following the direction that Thirteen was pointing to, Shota and his class saw several misty portals appear, dozens upon dozens of people exiting. Each looked different, but one thing was common amongst them, they all had bloodthirsty looks to them. The last to leave the portals were a man with several decaying hands attached to him and a black creature bigger than All Might and an exposed brain. The portals then disappeared, leaving behind a single humanoid with mist surrounding their head and limbs.

"Hm… the only real heroes I see are Thirteen and Eraserhead." The purple mist spoke. The man with the hands attached to him frowned.

"Where the hell's All Might?" the man asked, venom laced in his voice. "The schedule said he was supposed to be here today…"

"I thought that we were doing rescue work today?" Ejiro questioned his teachers, only to realize that all their attention was on the newcomers

Shota, having realized what was going on, braced himself for combat. "Thirteen, protect the students! These are real villains!"

Everyone in Class 1-A felt their blood freeze. What were real villains doing here?

"Where is he?" The man growled at the two heroes, loud enough for them to hear him. "I went through all the trouble of bringing so many friends who were eager to meet him. They want All Might, the great symbol of peace. I can't believe he's not here… maybe the sight of a few dead kids will get him to come…"

"I'll hold them off. Thirteen, get the students out of here."

"Sensai, let me join you," Izuku said before the teacher could leap into battle. "I can help you and you don't have to worry about me. Can't die, remember?"

Shota considered his offer, knowing that Izuku would be fine, but shook his head. The boy was a valuable asset to have, but he needed him to do something else.

"I need you to stay with the others. If Thirteen and I are defeated, you'll be the last line of defense."

Izuku was about to retort, but held his thoughts in. His teacher had more battle experience than him and he knew he was right. As such, he let his teacher leap into battle.

"Greeting U.A students," the voice of the mist man said from behind Thirteen and the students, him somehow having managed to sneak up on them. "I am Kurogiri and we are the League of Villains. I apologize for the intrusion, but our goal is to make sure that All Might, the symbol of peace, takes his final breath today. Sadly, he is not here, so I'll be needing your help to get him."

"Everyone, get behind me!" Thirteen said, prepared to fight this villain. However, before the hero could do anything, Katsuki and Kirishima launched themselves at the mist man, unleashing devastating attacks.

"Fuck off!"

"You think we'd let you have your way with us?"

"It seems that you truly are the golden apples of your generation," Kurogiri said, much to the surprise of everyone. Somehow he managed to avoid getting hit by two of the strongest members of the class. "Unfortunately, I do not have time to deal with you, so I must bid you ado."

The man then surrounded everyone in mist. Thankfully, Thirteen was able to activate 'Black Hole' and suck up some of the mist, saving some people from being warped away. Sadly, not everyone was saved, Izuku being one of them…

0000

When the mist began surrounding the boy, Izuku closed his eyes, not wanting any of it to get into his eyes in case the mist was acidic. Opening his eyes, Izuku found himself underwater. Sadly, he wasn't alone as a shark-like man began approaching him.

"Nothing personal kid, but you're chum," the villain said, opening his mouth to bite the young boy. Izuku frowned as he whipped out a katana. Like most people who lacked a water-based quirk, the boy was ill-suited to fight underwater. Thankfully, before the man could bite him, a green blur rammed into the villain, knocking him back. Glancing at his savior, he noticed that it was his classmate Tsuyu.

'Did she forget that I can't die?' Izuku asked himself, wondering why the girl bothered putting herself in danger to aid him.

Wrapping her tongue around him, she brought him to the surface and threw him onto a boat. It didn't take the boy long to realize that he was in the water zone. Sadly, the boat was surrounded by villains, each appearing to have an aquatic based quirk.

"Thanks."

Tsuyu gave him a small nod before observing her surroundings. "There's a lot of them…My quirk may help me underwater, but I don't think I can take them all on."

"Oh god, we're going to die!" Minoru hysterically declared, making Izuku realize that his shorter classmate was also on the boat. "We're going to die!"

Izuku noticed how both his classmates appeared to be nervous, with Tsuyu shaking slightly and Minoru being in hysterics. Izuku was afraid as well, but not for his own life. Like the girl said, there were a lot of villains. One small mistake could be the end of them and Izuku wouldn't forgive himself if either of his two classmates died on his watch.

Continuing to survey the area, Izuku couldn't help but curse. They were at a serious disadvantage. Neither Izuku or Minoru could fight well underwater and despite her advantage in the water, there were too many villains for Tsuyu to safely take out. Now, Izuku did have his guns since his class was allowed to take their hero gear with them, but like Tsuyu, he couldn't take them all out at once before they could attack. It also didn't help that he didn't want to kill, which would be the best way to stop them, but it was their lives versus the lives of his classmates, so if he had to, he would kill them.

However, there was one thing he could try. He could throw himself into the pile of villains and hope for a better quirk. At this moment, it was their best option. Now, they needed a little luck, but that was the case with many things in life.

"They don't know our quirks," Izuku whispered to Tsuyu and Minoru. "Otherwise they'd throw Asui-"

"-Call me Tsuyu-"

"-in one of the other zones. Here's the plan, I die a bunch and when the time's right, Asu-Tsuyu will launch us out of here."

Both teens recoiled, Minoru saying something. "We can't do that, you'll die…"

"So?" Izuku asked with a shrug. "I'm immortal, remember?"

"That's not the point," Tsuyu told him. "You said you still feel pain. We don't want you hurting yourself too badly."

Izuku looked at them as if they had two heads each. Why did they care if he got hurt? "It doesn't last long. Your deaths will last forever." Not even waiting for a response, Izuku lunged forwards and yelled at the villains. "Hey morons, come and get me!" He then leaped off the boat, using his guns to shoot some of them in order to draw all their attention towards him.

"What the?!" One of them shouted as Izuku landed in the water. Resurfacing, the boy continued firing his guns, only stopping when the shark man from earlier dragged Izuku underwater.

"You really thought that would work?" The man asked him. "You got some balls, but now you're really chum."

The villain took a bite out of Izuku's neck and released the boy, causing his body to float upwards. With his neck ripped out, it didn't take him long to die.

"Oh God!" Minoru yelled before throwing up. Tsuyu simply stared at the corpse in horror, unable to believe what she was seeing. Sure, Izuku was immortal, but still, seeing a mutilated body was a horrifying experience, especially when it was her first time seeing one.

"One down, two to go," one of the villains said, staring at the two high-school kids with hungry eyes. Doing so caused them to ignore Izuku's body. Had they been looking at it, they would have noticed that his body was rapidly healing, scales taking the place of his skin.

Diving underwater, he dragged a random villain with him before proceeding to deliver a devastating headbutt, knocking them out. Normally, one would experience a form of recoil upon doing so, but Izuku's new quirk gave him enhanced strength. A quirk Izuku called 'Aquatic Adaptation,' it allowed him to survive deep underwater, granting him waterbreathing, super strength and endurance, enhanced durability, the ability to swim fast, and cold resistance. This was a quirk he would often get when dying due to drowning, the level of its power being randomly determined each time. This time, it was at a low level, but still, it was an extremely useful quirk.

Torpedoing through the water, Izuku threw a punch, knocking out another villain. It took Izuku claiming a third victim for the villains to realize they were being attacked.

"GET HIM!"

A punch later and another villain was down. Despite some of the villains having similar quirks to his, they were going down fast, something Izuku noted in his head. These villains were weak, relying on being in a group to overwhelm opponents. Izuku decided to taunt them, wanting to keep their attention. "What kind of cannon fodder are you guys? A middle-schooler could kick your asses!"

His taunt seemed to work as now every villain in the water zone was trying to kill him. Izuku relied on hit-and-run strategies to deal with the large crowd. Using his heightened swimming speed, he'd rush a bad guy before moving back, repeating this process. He was able to take out ten of them before someone with a water manipulation quirk caught him in a powerful whirlpool.

"DIE!" Water began flooding into Izuku, causing his stomach to blow up. Minoru threw up upon seeing the insides of Izuku's body, Tsuyu nearly joining him.

"Is he dead this time?" One of the villains asked.

"Yeah." Another replied.

"Nope!" Izuku said, his scales now gone and his stomach healed. "Should've given me a double-tap."

All the remaining villains looked at Izuku in shock, wondering what was going on. They mortally wounded him twice and saw him die. Yet, he was somehow still alive. "HOW?! YOU SHOULD BE DEAD?!"

"Death's got no power over me," Izuku said with a shrug. Suddenly, the water around them began flowing, dragging all the villains into a sphere of water. Unknown to the villains, Izuku resurrected with a powerful water manipulation quirk. Eventually, all the water was removed, leaving behind the boat and Izuku. "Tsuyu, now!"

Pushing what she saw to the back of her mind, the girl grabbed Mineta and wrapped her tongue around Izuku. She then lept out of the area to the edge of the water zone. Once they were out, Izuku released the bubble, knocking out all the villains as they fell sandwiched between the water.

"Whew, that should take care of them for a while," Izuku said with a small laugh. He then looked at his two classmates. "Let's get out of here. Stay behind me just in case."

0000

Reaching the end of the water zone, the three teens continued lurking in the water. Unfortunately, the hand man and the large creature weren't very far from them, so popping out wasn't a good idea, especially since it seems like the hand man was in charge, making him potentially the most dangerous of the bunch. While Izuku didn't have to worry about dying, the villain could kill one of his classmates instead, making it stupid to rush in. In the background, Eraserhead was fighting the crowd of villains and was actually winning despite their large numbers. Unfortunately, he was slowing down, fatigue catching up to him.

"Hm, he's doing well against all this cannon fodder," The man said to himself as the creature continued standing idly. Why it was doing so, Izuku couldn't tell. It looked pretty strong, so siccing it on his teacher seemed like it would be a good decision. "Typical mid-boss."

Having knocked out another thug, Shota noticed that there was now a free passage to the man who seemed to be the mastermind behind the operation. Not wasting any chances, Shota began rushing towards the villain. Seeing this, the hand villain launched himself forwards and attempted to strike the pro-hero with a palm strike. Shota attempted to counter with a blow from his elbow, but the man managed to catch the blow. When he did so, the cloth and skin around Shota's elbow began to disintegrate. The remaining thugs began to gang up on the hero as their boss backed away, satisfied with his work.

"Shigaraki," the voice of Kurogiri echoed behind the man, a ball of mist forming and revealing the mist man a second later. "Thirteen has been incapacitated, but one of the students managed to escape."

Hearing this made Izuku relieved. It meant that at least some of his classmates were still doing all right. Hopefully everyone else was alright as well, or else he'll have to kill himself again.

"Tch, if you weren't my ticket out of here, I would have killed you," Shigaraki muttered under his breath as he watched Eraserhead defeat the last of the thugs.

"Give it up," Eraserhead declared. "I've beaten everyone you've thrown at me."

"Give up? Why should I?" Shigaraki said with a laugh. "You haven't even faced the final boss yet. Nomu, destroy him!"

What followed next can only be described as absolute carnage. Managing to move faster than Tenya, the creature began fighting Eraserhead, crushing the pro hero with little effort. The Nomu was not only faster than Eraserhead, but it was stronger, far stronger. Nothing Shota did even phased it as it managed to break his arm and hold him down.

Shigaraki laughed as the fight continued. "Meet Nomu, the Anti-Symbol of Peace! The thing destined to take down All Might!"

Izuku, Tsuyu, and Minoru could only watch as their teacher was beaten, knowing that if they tried to interfere now, it could result in their teacher being killed. If that thing was as strong as Shigaraki said it was, their interference won't do much. Izuku was preparing to off himself to save his teacher, but thankfully, the villains only seemed satisfied with beating him down, perhaps as a message to All Might when he eventually arrives. There was no way he wasn't coming after receiving word of what was happening to his students.

Unfortunately, the three needed to act soon and the time to act was coming up fast.

"Tch, All Might's taking too long," Shigaraki grumbled to himself, scratching his neck in irritation. "He should be punished for this." A sinister smile formed on the villain's face. "I wonder how All Might will react to some dead bodies."

Time suddenly slowed down for Izuku as Shigaraki rushed towards them without warning. Arm stretched, he was prepared to use his quirk on the boy's face. Izuku prepared to take the full-blunt force of the villain's quirk, staring the man down despite his incoming death. However, despite the fact Shigaraki was touching his face, his death never came.

Looking back at Eraserhead, both Izuku and Shigaraki noticed that the man was staring at the villain despite being utterly destroyed.

Shigaraki gave the man an evil grin. "Even when down, you still fight. You're so cool Eraserhead!"

'What the hell is he doing?' Izuku asked himself as he saw his teacher fighting to make sure he was safe. Again, Shota knows his quirk, so why was he wasting unnecessary energy?

The Nomu smashed the hero's head in response, knocking him unconscious. Moving itself next to its master, it allowed for the other thugs to start surrounding the fallen hero. "Now, where was I?"

*SPLASH*

A wave of water suddenly hit the villain, throwing him back. Using this time to their advantage, the three students got out of the water, where Izuku immediately took charge.

"Tsuyu and Minoru, get Aizawa sensei out of here and meet up with everyone else. I'll hold this thing off until All Might gets here."

"A-are you sure?" Minoru asked, not liking the idea of Izuku enduring a countless amount of deaths.

"You brat!" Shigaraki snarled at the boy, only for his twisted smile to return when he saw Izuku brace himself for combat. His curiosity was piqued, especially when he noticed the boy wasn't even remotely afraid. "Oh, what's this?" Shigaraki asked no one in particular. "It seems that a new challenger has approached."

"GO!" Izuku yelled at his classmates before summoning whips of water.

"You really think you can take on the Anti-Symbol of Peace? Your funeral. Nomu, forget the teacher and kill the kid."

Doing as it was told, the Nomu smashed Shota's head into the ground before rushing to Izuku. The boy couldn't even react due to the thing's massive speed; it had managed to make it to him in an instant. Izuku prepared to slam it with a water whip, but the Nomu was faster. Raising a fist, it smashed Izuku into the ground, splattering his body so it was only a pile of blood.

"That didn't last long," Shigaraki mumbled to himself, amused. "I guess it's time to kill more kids…"

"And leave a job half-assed? Didn't they teach you better in villain school?"

Turning around, Shigaraki was surprised to see Izuku was fine and healthy, even shooting him a confident smirk. To say the villain was surprised would be an understatement. "What?! How?! Nomu killed you! I saw it with my two eyes!"

"Yeah, he did, but I'm back," Izuku replied. Rushing forwards, the boy punched the Nomu, causing it to slide back a bit. "And with a new quirk to boot. Congratulations, you've unlocked the secret boss."

"Impossible…" Shigaraki couldn't believe what he was witnessing. Here he thought All Might would be his biggest challenge. Izuku however was a boss who had multiple phases, each harder than the last. "You...you're cheating!"

"It's not cheating if it's programmed into the game," Izuku stated, continuing to buy time so that help could arrive. He cracked his neck as a means of challenging the villains. "You just weren't prepared."

"KILL HIM NOMU!"

Obeying its master, the Nomu began fighting Izuku. This time though, the boy was more prepared to deal with it, having resurrected with a quirk that made him just as fast and strong. The Nomu swung wildly while Izuku fought back, blocking and striking it like a professional mixed martial artist. However, as the fight continued, Izuku realised something was wrong. While they were nearly equal in terms of strength, the Nomu was eating his hits as if they were nothing. Even when he would see some visible damage on it, it would heal in no time. Eventually, Izuku was brought to his knees, unable to keep up.

"Surprised?" Shigaraki asked the tired boy. "Super strength, shock absorption, and super regeneration," Shigaraki began listing off all of the Nomu's abilities while Izuku tried to pump another arrow into it. "Nomu has multiple quirks. He's the perfect counter to All Might!"

Izuku cursed. The fact the Nomu was so highly endurant was going to pose problems. However, an idea popped into his head. Shigaraki said the Nomu had shock absorption, but he never said anything about it being resistant to piercing attacks. It's brain was also exposed, meaning that if he were to destroy it, it would theoretically kill the Nomu. Again, he wasn't too keen on killing, but he saw no other way. It was possible that even All Might himself would struggle with fighting such a thing.

Whipping out a katana, Izuku wasted no time and immediately went for the head, cutting the brain off the Nomu with a clean swipe of his sword. However, much to his surprise, the brain began regenerating.

"You think we'd leave such a weakness wide open?" Shigaraki mocked Izuku. "Nomu has more than one brain! How else do you think it could handle the strain of having multiple quirks?"

"What bullshit," the boy mumbled under his breath. Another idea popped into his head though and he smirked at Shigaraki. "Too bad your minion is brain dead."

Using his speed, Izuku began hacking and slashing the Nomu's vital points, starting with its head. Once it was lobbed off, the boy focused on the middle area of the Nomu's body.

'If I'm able to damage the second brain while the first one's gone, then I should be able to kill it.' It was a game of cat-and-mouse, with Izuku having to constantly doge attacks and cut the Nomu's head off while he randomly stabbed at its body to find the hidden brain, but it was a game he won for after stabbing where its liver was, the Nomu fell down, dead.

"You ready to surrender yet?" Izuku asked as the villain began seething in rage.

"You...you killed Nomu! You'll pay for that! Kurogiri! Destroy him!"

"As you wish." Using his quirk, he created a portal right where Izuku's chest was. Being winded by fighting the Nomu, the boy wasn't able to react when Kurogiri closed it, cutting him in half. Not giving him any time to resurrect, Shigaraki touched both halves of Izuku, and with his own quirk, disintegrated them.

"There, now that brat's really dead!"

"Wrong!" Suddenly, Izuku popped out of nowhere.

"I DISINTEGRATED YOUR BODY!"

Izuku gave him a mocking smirk. "Who said I needed it to revive?"

"I'LL KILL YOU!" Reaching forwards, Shigaraki attempted to grab his face, only for the boy to vanish in a puff of smoke.

*PUFF*

*POP*

Izuku reappeared a considerable distance away and pointed a gun at the villain, his latest death having granted him a teleportation quirk. "You keep saying that, but you never do." From the corner of his eye, he saw Kurogiri trying to create another portal around him, causing him to teleport to another area nearby. He was about to pull the trigger when the doors flew off their hinges, revealing All Might in all his glory.

"You villains made a mistake in attacking my students. Why? Because I am here!"

"Shigaraki, we must leave," Kurogiri told him, noticing that for once, the pro-hero wasn't smiling. Without their Nomu, they were done for. Not waiting for a response, the villain created a portal round his boss and teleported them away. Izuku tried following them, but he was too slow.

Shaking his head, he began walking toward everyone else.

"Midoriya, are you ok?" Tsuyu ended up asking him once he arrived. Looking around, he was thankful that everyone was alright.

"Yeah," Izuku told her, though his swords told a different story, them being drenched in the Nomu's blood. "A bit tired though. Kicking that thing's ass and dying a lot knocked the wind out of me."

The boy gave off a tired laugh, unaware of the worried glances he was receiving…

0000

Author's note 2: A bit of an abrupt ending, but next chapter will focus more on everyone's emotions after the USJ.