The sky above Ground Beta was a swirling vortex of charcoal and violet, a bruised ceiling that mirrored the devastation below. The air was thick, tasting of copper and ozone, vibrating with a low, guttural hum that rattled the teeth of everyone present.
In the center of the crater, the entity that wore Izuku Midoriya's face hovered. The black markings on his skin pulsed like infected veins. His arms, transformed into a jagged limb of red and black obsidian, dripped with an energy that hissed when it touched the ground.
"All Might! Move!" All Might turned his head, still shielding his face from the searing heat. He could see Eraserhead jumping over some rubble and reaching his side.
There Aizawa stood on a slab of broken concrete, his eyes wide and unblinking, glowing a fierce crimson. His hair floated in the anti-gravity field of his Quirk. He locked his gaze onto the boy he had come to respect, the problem child who broke his bones to save others.
"It's not working!" Aizawa grit his teeth, blood trickling from the corner of his eye. "I've erased his quirk! I can feel the connection sever! But the rest... the fire, the black energy... it's not stopping!"
It was terrifying. Even under the influence of Erasure, the dark flames around Izuku didn't flicker. They weren't Quirks. They were something ancient, something biological and spiritual that defied the laws of genetics.
The entity turned its head. Empty red eyes locked onto the underground hero.
"GET AWAY FROM ME !!."
Izuku swiped his hand. A wave of solid air pressure, coated in black fire, slammed into Aizawa. The teacher didn't even have time to dodge. He was blasted backward, crashing through a bus stop and skipping across the pavement like a stone.
"Shota!" Present Mic screamed. He planted his feet, inhaled, and unleashed a sonic directional scream. "YEAAAAAHHH!"
The sound wave was strong enough to shatter concrete, but Izuku didn't flinch. He simply opened his mouth and roared back. It wasn't a human scream; it was the roar of a dragon mixed with the shriek of a demon, flames bellowed out so hot they turned the concrete underneath to liquid. The sound alone completely overpowered Mic's quirk, pushing the sound waves back down his throat and shattering the glass on his directional speaker.But the flames nearly incinerated him had it not been for Ectoplasms clone shoving him out the way, the path of the flames completely destroyed everything ahead.
BOOOM!!!!
"Cover me!" Ectoplasm shouted, vomiting out thirty clones of high-density ectoplasm. They swarmed the hovering boy, trying to pin his limbs.
Izuku didn't even look at them. His body temperature spiked. The heat became white-hot, and in a millisecond, the clones simply evaporated into steam before they could even touch his skin. And his right arm became a colossal axe of darkness and swiped right through them, cutting 15 clones in half and what was left of a building.
"It's no use!" Midnight cried, tearing the sleeve of her costume to release her Somnambulist fragrance. "The heat is burning the gas away instantly! We can't get close!"
Then, the ground exploded.
All Might launched himself from the debris. He wasn't smiling. He wasn't the Symbol of Peace. He was a desperate father figure trying to stop a train wreck.
"I AM HERE, YOUNG MIDORIYA! COME BACK TO US!"
All Might collided with Izuku mid-air. The shockwave was cataclysmic. It flattened the remaining trees in the fake city and sent the students on the observation deck tumbling.
But Izuku had stretched out his arms and created two large claws of crimson darkness and caught All Might's fists.
The entity's jagged, mutated arms held the Symbol of Peace in place. The red energy crackled, eating away at All Might's durability. For every smash All Might delivered, Izuku returned it with a feral, chaotic strike that shook the foundations of the school. They were moving too fast for the naked eye, two blurs of golden and black light tearing the world apart.
At Midoriya's apartment :
Far away, in the quiet, domestic warmth of the Midoriya household, Inko was humming. The smell of frying pork cutlets filled the kitchen. She chopped green onions, thinking about how hungry her son would be after his exam.
"Rimuri-chan," Inko called out over her shoulder. "Could you set the table, dear?"
In the living room, the atmosphere shattered.
The girl with the long, flowing blue hair and golden eyes—who the world knew only as a foreign exchange student living with the Midoriyas—suddenly dropped the vase she was holding. It shattered, but she didn't react. Her hands flew to her chest, clutching the fabric of her blouse as she fell to her knees.
"Guh—!" Rimuru gasped, her voice sounding wet and strangled. Her form flickered, her human skin rippling as if she were made of water, threatening to dissolve completely, this had never happened before but that didn't matter.
"Lady Rimuru!" Shion, the tall, purple-haired woman, rushed forward, only to collapse herself. She screamed, clutching her head, her single horn glowing with a frantic, chaotic light. "The rage! It's... it's tearing him apart! It feels like... like he's eating his own soul!"
Shuna, the gentle pink-haired girl, lay curled on the tatami mats, sobbing uncontrollably. Tears streamed down her face, soaking the floor. "He's alone... he thinks he's alone in the dark... Master Izuku... please stop..."
Inko rushed into the room, her face draining of color. She saw the three powerful beings—who usually radiated such strength and joy—reduced to trembling wrecks.
"What is it?!" Inko cried, dropping to her knees beside Rimuru. "Is it Izuku? Is my baby hurt?"
Rimuru looked up, her golden eyes filled with a terror that transcended the physical world. "He's not hurt, mother. He's... he's drowning. He's drowning in memories that aren't his, and the water is made of blood."
Back at U.A:
The observation deck was shaking violently. And the classes both 1A and B were huddled together as Nezu ran in, his expression a mix of fear and resolve.
Nezu watched the monitors, his paws clenched so tight his knuckles were white. The data was off the charts. The energy signatures coming from the boy were unrecognizable.
"The teachers are failing," Nezu said, his voice cold with calculation but trembling with fear. "All Might is holding him back, but the collateral damage is rising exponentially. If that energy expands... it could consume the city."
He reached for the red phone on the console—the direct line to the Watchtower.
"Get me Superman," Nezu ordered the operator. "Tell him we have a Code Black in Musutafu. It's an emergency, get me Batman! We need the League. Now."
But behind him, the students of Class 1-A and Class 1-B weren't waiting for heroes to save them.
Shouko Todoroki clutched her hero costume over her chest, her eyes narrowing in both worry and fright over what was happening to Izuku. She could still recall it, the moment they shared in the hospital room. The look in his eyes, like he carried the world on his shoulders and no one else could help him. She hated that look, she hated feeling like this, unable to do anything.
Shouko: "We have to help him, he needs us."
She said turning to her classmates, a fire blazing in her eyes.
Momo Yaoyarozu stood at the railing, her creation quirk flaring as she produced high-grade tungsten cables. Her hands were shaking, but her eyes were fierce. She watched the black blur that was Izuku, and a memory flooded her mind.
It was the Sports Festival. She had lost . She felt worthless, like a fake recommendation student and a failure to her family. Then, during the exams, when she was paired with Todoroki against Aizawa, she had frozen. But Izuku... even from the monitoring room, even when he had his own battles, he had always looked at her with total faith. He had told her she was a leader. He had believed in her when she couldn't believe in herself.
"He picked me up when I was on the floor," Momo whispered, her voice hardening. "He didn't care about rank or power. He just cared." She turned to the others. "We can't wait for the Justice League! By the time they get here, All Might will lose... Todoroki is right, we have to save him."
"Yaoyamo is right!" Ruby Rose stepped forward, her red cape whipping in the wind. Her silver eyes were locked on the monster in the distance.
She remembered the USJ. The Nomu. The way that terrifying creature had loomed over her and Yang. She had been frozen with fear, a huntress-in-training who realized she was just a little girl. And then, green lightning. Izuku had thrown himself between them and death. He had shattered his arm, screamed in pain, but he hadn't moved an inch. He took the pain so they wouldn't have to.
"He took the hit for us," Ruby said, racking the bolt on Crescent Rose. "He took every hit for us. Now it's our turn to take the hit for him."
Mina:" I'm in !"
Kirishima:" Let's go save Midoribro !"
"Class B is in," Itsuka Kendo said, stepping up beside them. Her large fists were clenched. "We might be rivals, but that idiot saved my life five minutes ago. I owe him."
"Where's Bakugo?" Yang Xiao Long asked, scanning the group, her eyes red with anger.
"Who cares?" Setsuna Tokage spat, her body splitting into floating segments. "He caused this. I say good riddance!"
"Let's move!" Blake Belladonna commanded.
The combined force of Class 1-A and 1-B—minus the brooding blonde still lying in the wreckage—charged. They didn't run away from the danger; they ran directly into the eye of the storm.
In the center of the crater, All Might was losing.
He was bleeding from his head, his costume torn to shreds. He caught a punch from Izuku that buckled his knees, cracking the bedrock beneath them.
"Izuku! Fight it!" All Might pleaded, coughing blood.
"THERE IS NOTHING TO FIGHT," the distorted voice screamed back. "ONLY THE END."
Izuku raised his mutated arm, charging a sphere of black and red energy that screamed with the power of a nuclear warhead. All Might braced himself, ready to die to contain the blast.
Suddenly, a massive tungsten net wrapped around Izuku's arm.
"Now, Uraraka!" Momo screamed.
Ochako Uraraka rushed in, touching the net and making it weightless so Sato and Shoji could pull it with supernatural speed, jerking Izuku's aim toward the sky. The blast fired upward, parting the clouds for miles.
"What?!" The entity growled, distracted.
"Don't ignore us!" Yang Xiao Long launched herself off an ice pillar created by Todoroki. She slammed into Izuku's side. Her punch didn't hurt him, but the kinetic force knocked him off balance. "You think you can just go emo and leave us behind?! Not a chance, Space Boy!"
Izuku roared and flared his aura. The heat was unbearable.
"Dark Shadow!" Tokoyami shouted. The shadow monster, fed by the darkness of the storm, grew massive and wrapped itself around Izuku's legs, trying to anchor him. "I know the darkness, Midoriya! Do not let it consume you!"
"Get off me!" Izuku thrashed, and Dark Shadow screeched as the black fire burned him.
"Keep going!" Kendo yelled. She enlarged her hands to the size of vans and clapped them around Izuku's torso, holding him in a crushing grip. "I've got him! Setsuna, distract him!"
Setsuna's floating hands poked and prodded at Izuku's face, disorienting him. "Over here, greenie! Look at me! Stop being such a dramatic dork!"
Izuku snarled, charging up another explosion. He was going to blow them all away. He didn't recognize them. To him, they were just obstacles.
"Elizabeth! Now!" Ruby shouted.
Elizabeth Liones sprinted through the gap the students had created. Her skin was reddening from the heat radiating off Izuku, her uniform singing at the edges. She didn't have super strength. She didn't have a combat quirk. But she ran straight into the fire.
She jumped, bypassing Kendo's giant hands, and wrapped her arms around the monster's neck.
"LET GO!" Izuku roared, raising his hand to strike her.
"No!" Elizabeth cried, pressing her forehead against his blackened skin. "I won't let go! I see you, Izuku! I see you!"
A blinding light erupted from her palms—Ark. But she wasn't using it to damage him. She was pouring her light, her warmth, her very soul into the darkness that shrouded his mind.
"Ruby! Yang! Blake! Help me reach him!" Elizabeth screamed.
Ruby dropped her scythe and tackled his legs. Yang grabbed his left arm. Blake wrapped her ribbons around his chest.
"Remember the USJ!" Ruby screamed, tears streaming down her face, evaporating instantly in the heat. "Remember how you saved us! You were so scared, but you didn't run! That's who you are!"
"You're the guy who helped me with my bike!" Yang yelled, ignoring the burns forming on her hands. "You're the nerd who mumbles about quirks! You're our friend, dammit!"
Inside the mindscape, the grey rain began to falter.
The image of Liz dying... it flickered. It was replaced by Elizabeth's face, contorted in pain but filled with love.
The image of Benio... replaced by Ruby, holding onto his legs for dear life.
The image of Lucy... replaced by Momo and Kendo, fighting with everything they had to keep him from falling.
The four voices in his head—Natsu, Meliodas, Rokuro, and his own—paused their screaming.
They're hurting, a quiet voice whispered in his mind. You're hurting them.
The realization pierced the rage like a spear.
"STOP!"
The voice that tore from Izuku's throat was no longer distorted. It was human. It was broken, terrified, and young.
Inside Izukus mind:
Izuku Midoriya was drowning in a black, viscous ocean that tasted of iron and ash.
"IT HURTS!"
The scream tore through the mental void.
Flash.
He wasn't Izuku. He was short, blonde, and immortal. He was standing in the pouring rain of a kingdom called Danafor. In his arms lay a woman with pink hair. Her skin was cold. A hole was punched through her chest. "Liz… don't go. Don't leave me here alone in this eternity." The sorrow turned to rage. A black mark spread across his forehead. "VANISH."
Flash.
He wasn't Izuku. He was a demon made of ether. He was standing in a crumbling guildhall, looking down at a blonde celestial mage named Lucy. She wasn't moving. "If the world takes her… I will burn the world until there is nothing left but ash."
Flash.
He wasn't Izuku. He was the Twin Star. He was watching Benio fall behind a barrier. The Impurity arm pulsed with a hunger that made him sick. "I was too weak. I was always too weak."
"NO!" Izuku screamed in the void, clutching his head. "GET OUT OF MY HEAD!"
But they wouldn't leave. The walls of his mind were cracking. The agony of three thousand years of loss was crushing his soul. He was forgetting who he was. He was forgetting his mother. He was forgetting All Might.
He curled into a ball in the darkness, weeping. I can't do this. It's too heavy. I just want to sleep.
The darkness rushed in to consume him.
But then... a light.
It wasn't a blinding, holy light. It was soft. Warm. It felt like a Sunday morning.
Izuku looked up.
Standing in the center of the swirling chaos, untouched by the memories of demons and dragons, stood a man. He was tall, with untamed black hair and freckles that matched Izuku's own. He was wearing a simple shirt and slacks, looking completely out of place in the apocalypse of Izuku's mind.
The man smiled. It was the kind of smile that made the monsters retreat into the shadows.
"Dad?" Izuku whispered, his voice trembling.
Hisashi Midoriya didn't say anything grand. He didn't speak of destiny or power. He just walked over, knelt down in the black sludge, and opened his arms.
"Hey, kiddo," Hisashi said, his voice sounding like a favorite old song. "You've had a rough day, haven't you?"
Izuku broke.
He didn't run to him as the Hero Deku. He didn't run as the successor of One For All. He scrambled across the dark floor as a frightened child and buried his face in his father's chest.
"I can't do it, Dad!" Izuku sobbed, gripping his father's shirt. "I'm not strong enough! I tried to kill them! I wanted to hurt everyone! There's a monster inside me!"
Hisashi laughed softly, a rumble that vibrated through Izuku's soul, shattering the chains of rage that Meliodas, Rokuro and Natsu had forged. He wrapped his arms around his son, holding him tight.
"There's no monster here, Izuku," Hisashi murmured, resting his chin on Izuku's head. "Just a boy with a heart too big for his body. A boy who loves so much that it hurts when things go wrong."
"But I'm scared!"
"I know," Hisashi said, rubbing his back. "It's okay to be scared. Even Superman gets scared sometimes. But look..." He pointed upward, where a faint light—Elizabeth's light—was breaking through the clouds of the mindscape. "You're not alone. You have people shouting your name. You have people fighting for you. And you have me, right here."
Hisashi pulled back and cupped Izuku's face. His hands were warm. "You stood up when everyone told you to back down. You stood against the Hero Killer. But right now? You just need to breathe. Come back to us, Izuku. The world doesn't need another monster. It needs my son."
Izuku took a breath. For the first time in what felt like an eternity, the air didn't taste like blood. It tasted like home.
Outside his mind:
The black fire vanished instantly. The red lightning fizzled out. The Impurity arm cracked and shattered, returning to his normal human arm.
Izuku hung in the air, held up by Kendo's hands and the grip of the girls. He blinked, the red fading from his irises, leaving behind emerald green eyes that were wide with confusion.
The smoke cleared.
Izuku looked around. He was hovering ten feet off the ground.
He saw Elizabeth clinging to his neck, her skin angry red from burns. He saw Yang's hands, blistered. He saw Ruby's cape, charred. He saw All Might, on one knee, clutching his side, looking old and frail.
He looked past them. Ground Beta was gone. The skyscrapers were dust. The earth was glass. It looked like a bomb had gone off.
"Did..." Izuku's voice was a dry croak. He looked at his hands. They were trembling violently. "Did I... do this?"
"Izuku, it's okay," Elizabeth sobbed, pulling back to look at him. "You're back. We stopped you. No one is dead."
"We're okay," Ruby choked out, trying to smile through the soot on her face. "See? We're tough."
But Izuku didn't see that.
He saw the burns on Elizabeth's neck—burns he gave her.
He saw the fear but not the relief in the eyes of Class 1-B, in Class 1-A.
He saw the devastation that stretched for blocks.
He remembered the feeling. The desire to kill. The pleasure he had felt for a split second at the thought of destroying the world because it had hurt him. He realized that the monster wasn't some external force. It was him. It was the parts of his soul he had buried.
"I tried to kill you," Izuku whispered. The horror was cold water in his veins. "I wanted... I wanted everyone to die."
"No, that was the power taking over!" Kendo said quickly, sensing the shift in his mood. "It wasn't you!"
"IT WAS ME!" Izuku screamed.
The sound terrified them more than the demon voice had. It was the scream of someone who had looked in the mirror and seen the devil.
"I hurt you," Izuku hyperventilated, pulling away from Elizabeth's grasp. He floated higher, out of their reach. "I almost killed All Might. I almost killed you."
"Izuku, come down!" Yang reached up. "We can fix this!"
"STAY AWAY!" Izuku scrambled back in the air, tears finally spilling from his eyes. "I'm dangerous! I can't control it! If I stay... I'll kill you all! I'll break everything I touch!"
"Young Midoriya, please!" All Might stood up, reaching out a bloody hand. "We can help you!"
"I don't want to hurt anyone else!" Izuku wailed, clutching his head.
He looked at them one last time—a group of some of the people he loved most in the world, all battered and broken by his own hands. He couldn't stay. He couldn't risk waking up in that dark world again and seeing their bodies for real.
The air around him cracked.
Green, red, and black lightning exploded from his body, not in an attack, and a wing of darkness formed over his limb.
"Izuku, NO!" Elizabeth screamed, lunging for him.
But he was already gone.
BOOM.
The sound barrier shattered instantly. A shockwave knocked the students flat on their backs. Izuku Midoriya became a streak of light, accelerating to speeds that defied physics. He tore through the clouds, leaving a vapor cone that stretched for miles.
In seconds, he was a dot. Then, he was nothing.
Silence returned to the ruins of Ground Beta.
Elizabeth fell to her knees, staring at the empty sky, her hand still reaching out. The Justice League descended from the clouds in the Javelin a moment too late, the doors opened and Superman flew out out landing softly amidst the wreckage.
He looked at the devastated city, then at the crying students, and finally at the trail of ionized air leading toward the horizon.
"He's running," Superman said softly, his face grave. "He's running from himself."
All Might slumped against a piece of concrete, burying his face in his hands. The exam was over. Only it ended in the worst way possible.
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