(Song: What I've Done - Linkin Park)

(Third Person P.O.V)

Y/N, standing tall and brave, approaches the building with a nervous smile. Sunset-coloured scales glinting in the sun, she walks up to the entrance. Stepping inside the cool, shady building, she unfolds her map and stares at it intently. Four big red marks are scattered on different sides of the building's layout. These must be the marked spots, then...

"Young Iida, Young Bakugou!" All Might's uplifting voice calls. The two boys turn to face the hero with curious eyes. "The key to winning this challenge is to embody villainy. Think from the perspective of an evildoer! And as for you, Young L/N, the privilege to attack the villain is what it is described as. A privilege." He looks inside of the building at the young girl, who gives a brave smile and a thumbs-up in the hero's direction.

"If things go too far, I'll step in,"

"Understood," Iida says with a considerate nod.

Bakugou, instead of responding, slowly turns his head towards the distracted Izuku.  An intense look of indignation crosses his face. This nerd... He scowls. He thinks he can fight?! I'll show him he's just the same as he's ever been, I'll-

"Blondie!" Y/N's bubbly voice chirps. Before the boy can properly register the situation, a pair of S/C arms wraps around his torso.

Is she... Hugging him?! What a bold move... 

Having never been hugged by anyone but close family before, he freezes up and stares down at the girl with shock. Face completely reddened and burning hot, he says nothing as Y/N releases him and smiles. "I'm gonna head to the marked area now. See you soon!" Giving a brief wave, she heads into the building and disappears.

What the hell was that?!

~~~

Y/N, still looking down at her map, stops abruptly and looks around. Her tail sways to and fro as she waits, fiddling with the fabric on her costume.

"Let's begin the indoor combat training! Team A and Team D, your time starts now!"

Y/N, taken aback by this, takes a deep breath. Now's the time, Y/N, She reminds herself. Be on high alert!

As if on queue, a massive, bone-rattling explosion fires right next to her, provoking a loud gasp as she watches the hero team skid to the floor just a few feet away from her. "Ah, Deku!" Uraraka gasps.

"I'm fine... It's just my mask," Izuku murmurs, sitting up.

"...What's the matter, Deku?" A malicious voice growls from the cloud of smoke. "Afraid to stand up and fight me?" Y/N's eyes widen at the sight of her friend, powerful waves of raw hatred coming from him. It scares her, it's awful.

"I knew you'd come at me first..." Izuku rises to his feet. "I knew you'd try to catch me by surprise!"

Uraraka rises as well, slowly backing towards the frozen Y/N. "The exit," She says quietly. "Go down the hall behind you and turn left twice. Out the window, down the fire escape, and you'll be out."

I nod and begin to turn around, when suddenly, "I won't hurt you so bad they'll have to stop the fight, just close!!" Bakugou roars angrily.

Izuku wraps his arms around the blonde's neck and shoulder, grunting as he strains against his childhood friend's weight. Bakugou, shocked at the move, is powerless as the freckled boy shifts his stance and throws him over his shoulder, swiftly slamming his entire body to the ground within a single second. The blonde gasps as the air is pulled from his lungs.

Y/N, desperately fighting the urge to run and help her friend, stands motionless as Izuku speaks again.

"Kacchan... You always use a big right hook to start a fight... I know because I've watched you for years!" He says breathlessly as Bakugou begins to move into a sitting position. "... I analyzed every amazing hero, including you! I wanted to learn everything I could about them. It was all in the notebook you burned and threw away!"

Bakugou turns towards the boy with a look of confusion, rage, and shock.

"You can call me Deku, but I'm not the same helpless, defenseless kid anymore! You hear me?! I've changed!!" Izuku shouts, green eyes shiny with tears. "From now on, Deku is the name of a hero!!"

"Deku..." Bakugou hisses, rising to his feet. Tiny explosions spark across his palms. "You're shaking in your boots, you're so scared... But you wanna fight me anyways..."

"That's why I hate you!!!!"

"Bakugou!" Iida's voice calls through the receptor in the blonde's ear. "Come in, and give me a status report! Where are you?"

"Just shut up and defend the weapon! I've got more important things to worry about." Bakugou snaps as he presses his finger to his glowing blue earpiece.

"Are you forgetting what our mission is--?!"

Bakugou hangs up on the armor-clad student and focuses again on his opponent. Reaching his hand behind his back, he fires an explosion powerful enough to launch his body towards the shaking Izuku.

"Uraraka, Y/N, Go!!"

Ochaco turns and begins to run, terrified. Y/N, bewildered, spins on her heel and dashes away. I'm not afraid of him, I'm just playing my part for the grade... Which way did she say the exit was? Right, then... Left? Or two lefts...? I can't remember!

Her tail sways back and forth as she runs throughout the hallway, hearing a faint, "Get back here, Deku!" Echo through a distant hallway.

You're doing good, Bakugou... Just don't go too far.

~~~

"I think it was... Two lefts, and a right?? No, that's not it! Dammit, Y/N... You're supposed to be a hero!" The young girl hisses quietly. "I'll just have to listen and find my own way out. I really hope I don't have to attack him..."

"Dammit!" The blonde screams in rage, his voice filled with humiliation. "You were tricking me for years by acting weak, and now you've been laughing behind my back, huh?! So where's that flashy power'a yours now?!?"

"Oh, Blondie..." Y/N murmurs. "I wish I knew why he won't use his power, that way I could make you feel better about this..."

"Let's see how it compares to mine," The blonde growls, explosions dancing across his palms. "Quirk or no, you'll never beat me, Deku!!"

Y/N looks to the ground with a stab of guilt.

"I wish I knew why I felt this way, too."

She exhales and stands up, searching her mind for the memory of the directions given to her by Ochaco. "I think... Bubbles said two lefts and down the fire escape, right? I just have to backtrack to the point of the first attack, and then I'll escape!" She whirls around on her heel and begins to run back to the scene of battle.

Turning abruptly, she comes across the broken wall from the fight just a few minutes ago. "Two lefts from here." She mumbles. Her tail sways back and forth as she looks around, listening closely for noises that could scream danger.

Her chest heaves with deep, full breaths that echo down the cold, empty walls of the building. Her height could have her mistaken for that of a thirteen year-old, though her body structure tells a different story. Her H/C hair hangs over her face, damp with sweat.

At last, she sighs and takes off running once more. This time, she thinks, This time I'll get it right. I'll find my way out.

Just as this thought crosses her mind, her foot catches on an object before her, sending her plummeting to the ground. All at once, her body hits the scuffed stone tiles on the floor. A soft groan of pain escapes her lips as she pushes herself to a sitting position.

"L-L/N-Chan!" A timid voice cries quietly. Izuku places a strong hand on her shoulder. "Are you okay?"

"I think I sprained my wrist...!" Y/N laughs, hands trembling in pain. "I-I'm so clumsy sometimes, I can't even control my own feet!"

Izuku opens his mouth to speak. Before words can leave his mouth, an almost mechanical sounding whir sounds from the end of the hallway.

"I'm all loaded up," Bakugou says.

"What does that mean?" Izuku asks.

"Why aren't you using your fancy quirk? Don't tell me you're underestimating me, Deku!" A maniacal smile spreads across his lips. "Get over here, and show me what you're really made of!"

Izuku, determined to win, pulls his length of capture tape taut in his hands. "Kacchan," he gulps, steeling himself for the showdown, "I'm not scared of you anymore!!"

"Well since you're such a stalker, by now you probably know how my Quirk, Explosion, works!" Bakugou sneers. "I secrete nitroglycerin-like sweat and make it blow up. Imagine what I could do if i had a lot of it!"

Y/N whimpers in fear as the boy pulls back part of his gauntlet to reveal a grenade pin and hooks his finger around it."That's right, these gauntlets aren't just for show! They've been storing up my sweat inside for one monster blast!"

"Young Bakugou! Don't do it, you'll kill him!" All Might shouts in terror.

"Aw, he'll be fine as long as he dodges!" The young boy laughs in return, pulling the pin from the grenade. Fire and heat spills from his gauntlet, roaring as it billows towards Izuku and Y/N.

With a terrified scream, Y/N can only manage to draw her armour-like scales across her skin before the explosion engulfs her entire body.

The force of the blast cuts through the concrete walls and explodes from the front of the building, sending smoke and debris flying every which way. Izuku lays spread-eagle on the broken floor, grey tendrils of smoke twisting away from his outfit.

The aftershock of the blast rumbles throughout all floors of the building (and then some).

Y/N sits limp against the wall, heaving to regain her breath as Bakugou emerges from the smoke. "Haha! These things are awesome... The more nitro-sweat stored in these gauntlets, the stronger the explosion gets!!"

"Go ahead. Use your stupid quirk on me, Deku! Even if you give me everything you've got... You'll never beat me."

"Blondie, stop it! It's gone too far now!" Y/N shouts. Standing up on shaking legs, she looks into his crimson red eyes. Ignoring her bluntly, Bakugou laughs.

"What's the matter? You look scared! You dodged the attack so you can still fight, can't you? Come and get me!"

Izuku presses a hand to his glowing blue earpiece. "Come in, what's the situation?" He asks Uraraka.

"Not good!" The bubbly girl replies.

"Are you ignoring me again?! Oh, I'll get your attention!" He laughs, pulling his gauntlet back again.

"Bakugou! Use that stored up power again and I'll stop this fight. Your team will lose!" All Might booms from the intercom.

"Eh?!"

"To employ such a strong attack indoors is inviting the destruction of a stronghold you should be protecting! That's a poor strategy, whether you're a hero or a villain! The penalty would be a massive loss of points."

Bakugou roars angrily, clutching his hair in fistfuls.

"The pillar by the window, get there now!" Izuku calls to Uraraka above.

"Fine then," Bakugou flies towards him,"We'll fight HAND TO HAND!!"

Izuku, unable to dodge, counter-attacks with a hard punch. His fist is met with a powerful explosion as Bakugou changes trajectory mid-air, flipping himself over and firing a shot into Izuku's back. The boy screams in pain at the heat of the explosion.

"Here it comes, nerd!! That famous right hook you been whining about!" Bakugou shouts, swinging his gauntlet into the freckled boy's arm. Izuku, in extraneous amounts of pain, cries out again as Bakugou grabs his arm and uses an explosion to spin him on an axis.

"Deku," He growls, slamming the boy's body to the ground. "Don't you ever forget what you are... You're a weakling!!"

The boy pushes himself up and crawls away, clenching his teeth with a plan in his mind. Y/N runs to Bakugou and grabs his arm, clinging to it while shouting, "Cool it! You've gone too far!"

"What the hell--Let go of me, dumbass!!" Bakugou roars.

"Never!"

Izuku stands up upon reaching the window as Bakugou flings the girl off of his arm.

"Why won't you use your damn Quirk against me...? Still think you can still me without it?!" He asks, storming towards Izuku.

The timid boy hangs his head. "That's not it." He says.

"You've been hiding your true power for years... What's the deal, Deku?! Do you think you were better than me this entire time?!"

"That's what you think...?" Izuku asks. "You idiot! You've always been stronger, Kacchan! I know that you're better than me! Can't you see...? That's why I wanna beat you! Because you're amazing!!"

"You're even more of an idiot than I realized..."

"COME AT ME!!!"

The two fly at each other with an angry roar. With Bakugou's hand filled with explosions, and Izuku's arm glowing with red, vein-like stripes, they're ready to fight for what they've got.

"Detroit..." Izuku calls loudly.

"Blondie, don't do it, please!!"  Y/N cries.

"B-Both of you, stop--!" All Might roars.

"Uraraka, now!"

"Eh?!"

"I can't beat you," Izuku murmurs. "Not in a one-on-one fight like this... But I can win!!" He twists his arm to face upwards, the action ripping apart the sleeve of his costume.

"SMAAAASH!!!"

Thrusting his fist in the air, he successfully forces the air around them upwards and into a tornado of wind.

Every piece of glass breaks. Every floor in the building is cut by the sheer force of Deku's raw power. Y/N's small body is flung backwards into the wall, pinning her in place to bear witness against the blast. It feels like forever that the tornado goes on, yet it lasts a mere twenty seconds at most.

At last, it dissipates, leaving Y/N, Bakugou, and everyone in the faux city with a shocked form of slack-jaw.

"H-He..." Y/N whispers, looking up at the hole in the building, leading from the ground to the sky. "...Did it..."

"This was your big plan... From the very beginning, wasn't it?! " Bakugou murmurs. "You were playing me this entire time, you bastard..."

"I wasn't... Going to use it..." Izuku murmurs as the smoke clears away. His arm, still pointed upwards, is black and blue with bruises. It's broken. "...Because I can't control it! My body... just can't handle... The backlash of my power yet. Mr. Aizawa said I'd be useless... But this was all that I... Could think of."

"This was the only way I had any chance at winning."

Tears roll from Y/N's eyes at the sight of her friend. Broken, bruised, hurt... On the inside and out.

"You did it," All Might whispers through his microphone.

Izuku's knees buckle under his weightweight, and he hits the ground.

"The hero team..."

"WINS!!!"

~~~

Publishing date: June 20th, 2019