~~

Slidin' Go grinned importantly in the top box of the Midnight Sun's underground arena. He had been the only one to manage a successful capture of two pro heroes in the weeks after the other heroes had been dumped in front of UA's gates. He was sure now that he would be welcomed into Deku's inner circle. There were only a handful of villains in his inner circle and Slidin' Go was determined to insert himself there if it was the last thing he did. He loved being a double agent, passing along information that the pro heroes and police let slip to him when he was on patrol.

He peered beside him as the arena started filling with people, excitedly chattering to each other about the new fight tonight. The turnout tonight had been much bigger, since it had been several weeks since the big battle royale fight. Surely, Deku would be pleased.

The seats beside him were occupied by a few of the inner circle villains. Himiko Toga and Kurogiri were seated a few seats down, beside a large ornate armchair with a high back. Toga was leaning back in the seat, her feet propped up on the chair in front of her, chewing on a large wad of gum, which she used to blow large bubbles every now and then. Her skirt rose so far up that Slidin' Go could see the smooth skin of her thighs and hips. He licked his lips, imagining spending more time with her once he was accepted into their inner circle. Kurorgiri was sitting neatly beside Toga. He was expressionless, as was the usual since his face was obscured by the shimmered purple warp waves that dances around his head.

Finally, the armchair was occupied by the bad man himself, the villain known as Deku. His face was in shadow, but Slidin' Go could see his hands twirling a wicked switchblade absentmindedly. Slidin' Go licked his lips again and made to scoot closer to the three high-ranking villain when Tesla, Slidin' Go's partner slid into the seat beside him.

"They're ready." He announced, much to Slidin Go's chagrin. Tesla was a large, masked man with an electrification quirk that had proved very useful to Deku's operation. He had been recruited at around the same time at Slidin' Go, so the two had been paired together often. Slidin' Go didn't very much care for Tesla as he was always shoving into his business and trying to steal his thunder whenever he tried to gain favor with Deku.

"Good." Slidin' Go said, turning away from the armchair. "It's about time. The crowd is getting restless."

"One of them isn't cooperating very well."

"Well, we'll see how long that lasts." Slidin' Go grinned as the two gates in the arena opened and the victims emerged.

Slidin' Go looked past Tesla to the inner circle, gauging their reactions hopefully. Toga had sat up a bit straighter, removing her feet from the chair in front. Kurogiri had leaned forward to see better and Deku had stopped twirling his blade. None of them spoke or changed their expressions as they looked down at the fresh meat in the arena.

"Ladies and gentlemen welcome back to the Midnight Sun! We have a special treat for you tonight as two sidekicks will face off for the first time! Place your bets now!"

The disembodied voice echoed around as Toga's lips curled as the crowd erupted into shouts of confusion and anger.

"Sidekicks? That's all you could get?" She sneered, looking over at Slidin' Go and Tesla.

Slidin' Go made to respond, but he was cut off by an explosion coming from the arena. One of the heroes, the boy with blonde spiky hair, had attempted blasting through the metal chains with his explosion quirk.

"An explosion quirk... that's interesting," Kurogiri murmured. But Slidin' Go hadn't heard him. He was looking at Deku, who had sat up so straight it was like his spine was made of iron. His face emerged into the light and Slidin' Go paled.

The boy's face was hard and severe as he stared into the area, unblinking. There was blue fire raging in his eyes and if Slidin' Go didn't know any better, he would have thought Deku was angry. But he couldn't think why Deku would be upset at this. Sure, sidekicks were probably regarded as low hanging fruit, but considering no one else had managed to take a hero, he thought he would have been pleased or at least apathetic.

"What is this?" Deku said quietly, but Slidin' Go could still hear the icy venom from across the seats.

There was a scream and Slidin' Go looked back in time to see the blonde hero had tried to grab the chains, which only resulted in him getting electrocuted again. He crumpled into a pile on the ground as the other sidekick rushed over to him.

Deku slowly stood from his chair, the knife clenched so tight in his hand that the whites of his knuckles shown in the torchlight.

"Who is responsible for this?" Deku growled, turning his head to face the others. Toga immediately pointed at Slidin' Go and Tesla, who had both stood at the tone of Deku's voice. Slidin' Go took a half step back but Deku snapped his fingers and a masked guard appeared behind him, shoving him forward so hard that he almost fell into a heap in front of the boy. Deku grabbed the scruff of Slidin' Go's neck and yanked him forward so he was nose-to-nose with the dangerous young man.

"Who gave you permission to allow these two heroes into the arena?" He snarled in such a venomous voice that Slidin' Go's mouth and throat went as dry as the Sahara.

"I-I... They were heroes and y-you said..."

"I said pro-heroes. Pro heroes. Not this filth." Deku jerked him closer and Slidin' Go coughed at the pressure of Deku's fingers in his neck. "And you?" Deku demanded, jerking his head toward Tesla, who was also flanked by two more guards.

"I told him!" Tesla exclaimed, trying to free himself from the guards' iron grips. "I tried to tell him that this wasn't a good idea, but he didn't listen!"

"So you followed him anyway?" Deku asked coolly. Tesla's eyes widened. Deku turned his head back to face Slidin' Go, who was trembling uncontrollably. He just needed to take control of the situation again. He just needed to remind Deku of his loyalty and the fact that he was the only one of his lackeys to produce results.

"I-I thought... well n-no one else–"

"You thought you could bend my rules?" Deku snapped harshly, making Slidin' Go flinch. "You thought you had the authority to misinterpret my instructions?"

"N-No–"

"Then, tell me. Are you hard of hearing? Perhaps mentally challenged?"

"W-what? I don't understand."

Deku laughed a cold, empty laugh. "Only a simpleton, or someone who is hard of hearing would blatantly disobey me in such a manner."

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't realize–" Deku threw him back, cutting off Slidin' Go's sentence. Slidin' Go fell to the ground and started to crawl away as Deku snapped his fingers again. The two masked guards appeared over him and grabbed his arms, hauling him to his feet. Slidin' Go watched as Deku gestured and he was brought a microphone on a tray. He picked it up, tapped into it and then began to speak so his voice projected across the arena.

"Our deepest apologies, ladies and gentlemen. This fight will no longer take place." There was a low rumbling of confused murmurs and annoyed grunts from the crowd as Deku waved his hands at the arena. Slidin' Go looked down into the dome to see guards had appeared and were dragging the unconscious blonde boy and the other sidekick, who was crying traumatically, out of the arena. "Not to worry, though, we will have a replacement fight set up very shortly. We thank you for your continued support and patience."

He dropped the microphone back on the plate and turned back to Slidin' Go and Tesla, who were still being held by the guards.

"You're eager to amend your mistake, are you not?" Deku asked coolly. Slidin' Go nodded vigorously and Deku's lip curled into a sinister smile.

"Good." He nodded at the guards who began to drag Slidin' Go and Tesla away. "Since you two seem so cavalier about choosing the subjects to fight, you can be the ones to replace them."

Slidin' Go's heart jumped. He started to struggle in the hard's grasp, but he was jabbed in the side by one of their electric spears.

"P-Please!" He screamed, gasping through the pain. "I didn't know, I didn't know! I'll do better, I promise!" Tesla's body had gone limp as he was dragged away, a stony expression in his eyes through his mask, as if he hadn't quite understood what was about to happen to him.

"These fine people paid for a fight." Deku said unapologetically, smiling darkly. "Do you expect them to go home without quenching their thirst for blood?"

"N-No but–"

"Don't worry, good man." Deku smirked and slid back into his seat. "All you have to do is win."

Slidin' Go's screams fell on deaf ears as he was dragged away to be thrown into the arena to replace the sidekicks in their fight to the death.

~~

It was cold. So cold that Katsuki could feel his cheeks, ear, and the tip of nis nose burning. He woke up and immediately shivered, his eyelids crusted with ice as he forced them open. Katsuki's lips were completely dry and chapped, he was afraid if he tried to speak, they would split. He shivered again, wanting to close his hands to fists, but he found they were nearly frozen, completely numb themselves.

He slowly raised his head and realized that he was back in the wooden chair, his wrists and ankles shackled once more. This time, however, he found his neck had also been cuffed to the back of the chair, which made him completely immobilized, unable to lean in any direction. All he could do was painfully turn his head slightly, his skin scraping against the icy metal of the collar. He tried his best to look around the room, noting the frost that covered the chair, the floor, the walls, and his own clothes from the severe low temperature. His mouth and throat were completely dry and he tried to swallow, which only resulted in pain.

Gritting his teeth, he tried to use his quirk. A feeble pop sounded from his palm, but it was no bigger than a Christmas cracker.

"I would refrain from using your quirk, if I were you," said a cold voice from across the room. "You're currently being held in a room where the temperature is well below freezing. It would be in your best interest to retain all your body heat."

Katsuki squinted, trying to blink the frost from his vision so he could see properly. He realized with a start that there were several people mere feet from where he was chained up. There was a large, high back armchair directly in front of him and Katsuki could barely see the person sitting in it. All he could see were the sleek black shoes, up the form-fitting slacks, to the long, slender hands in their lap. There were two people beside the man in the armchair: a girl with blonde hair in a school uniform, and a tall, suited man with a head of some strange purple haze. Katsuki tried swallowing again and opened his mouth.

"Who–are you?" He croaked, his voice coming out no louder than a whisper.

"Oh? I would have thought that would be obvious by now." The soft voice from the armchair slithered down Katsuki's spine like a slippery ice cube. He shuddered again, trying again in vain to pull free of the restraints.

"Don't play games, you coward. Face me, if you're man enough." Katsuki growled, annoyed that the freezing temperature had made his voice shake. The figure in the armchair chuckled and Katsuki shivered again, but this time the temperature had nothing to do with the chills.

The man leaned forward, resting his elbows on his thighs as his face emerged from the shadows. Katsuki sucked in a sharp breath and his eyes widened.

"Y-You..." He whispered. The boy in the chair smiled, clearly pleased that he'd been recognized.

"Me..." He crooned, tilting his head, as if studying something curious. Katsuki tried swallowing again, but it was no use. He blinked several times, convinced that the image before him had to be a mistake. There was no way... it couldn't be...

Emerald green eyes under sharp eyebrows stared back at him, a splash of freckles across his pale cheeks and pointed nose. His mop of green, fluffy hair matched his eyes, and was exactly how Katsuki remembered it. He was staring into the face of a ghost long presumed dead.

"It can't be... you're... you died..."

Izuku Midoriya cackled, throwing his head back in deceptive delight. Katsuki grimaced at the sound. He'd never heard such a horrible laugh come from anyone, let alone the boy he'd known since childhood.

Now that Katsuki could see him better, he could see that this wasn't the same boy from middle school and beyond. He had changed significantly, despite his face remaining mostly the same, save for a white scar above his lip and a more toned jawline. He was taller and leaner, his white shirt stretching over his broad shoulders and arms. Katsuki's eyes trailed down his bare forearms and sucked in a sharp breath when he noticed small white and red scars wrapping around the skin of his forearms, wrists, and even his hands.

Izuku Midoriya had visited him many times in dreams, but he'd always been the skinny, round-faced boy from middle school. Katsuki never imagined what he would look like three years later.

"Oh yes, the tragic death of a weak, middle school boy. I'm sure you look back on those memories quite fondly, don't you... Kacchan?"

Katsuki flinched like he'd been stabbed. He hadn't heard anyone call him that nickname in years.

"I can't believe... Midoriya..."

"That's not my name." Izuku Midoriya suddenly growled, rising from the armchair menacingly. He moved forward and flicked a switchblade out of his pocket. Katsuki tried to look him in the eye, but the collar around his neck was constricting his movement.

"Come now, Kacchan, you know my name, don't you?" Izuku Midoriya bent down, brandishing the knife under Katsuki's nose. "It was quite clever, if my memory serves me correctly." A cruel smirk lit his cheeks and Katsuki was temporarily stunned by the glittering whiteness of his teeth. Katsuki swallowed again, trying in vain to bring moisture back to his throat.

"I-I don't..."

"Don't play dumb." Midoriya's hand lashed out and Katsuki gasped when his palm connected with his cheek, causing him to whip his head to the side painfully, the sound of the slap echoing eerily around the freezing room. Katsuki felt an angry warmth rise in his chest, touching his cheeks and his ears. "You were never one to back down from a fight." Midoriya sneered, rising back up.

"If it's a fight you want, I'll give you one as soon as you release me." Katsuki spat, feeling the rage begin to fuel him again. He leaned into the anger, clenching his fists tight. "I'm sure it takes a really tough guy to hit someone who's been tied up."

Midoriya laughed again, moving back to sit in his armchair. "That's pretty rich, coming from you." He smiled, his eyes boring into Katsuki's. He was thoroughly enjoying this, which only made Katsuki angrier. He hoped the rage would somehow warm him up enough to be able to use his quirk. If he could just let out a strong enough explosion, he might be able to free himself from the rickety wooden chair.

"I can remember quite a few times of certain tough guys knocking around a... useless kid. Isn't that what you used to call me? Useless, helpless loser, below the rejects?" Midoriya's smile widened with every word and Katsuki felt a growing sense of dread in the pit of his stomach. This was the smile of someone about to go in for the kill.

"Midoriya..." Katsuki growled and Midoriya quirked an eyebrow, making his words die on his tongue. He knew what this boy was asking. He knew exactly what name Midoriya was referring to. But now as he looked into the matured face of the little weak boy, he couldn't bring himself to say it. Couldn't bring himself to utter the cruel nickname that had been immediately adopted by everyone in their elementary and middle schools.

You can read the characters at the end of his name! It means useless, so that's what he must be, a useless, quirkless loser!

"I've waited a long time for the day when I would come face to face with you again, Kacchan. I must admit, this isn't exactly how I would have planned our first meeting, but I suppose such is life." Midoriya shrugged, flicking his switchblade, cool amusement dancing in his green depths. Katsuki tried to clear his head, to recover from the shock of seeing his childhood neighbor back from the dead, and so hostile. He tried to remember how he had even arrived in the freezing room in the first place, trying to ignore Midoriya's scrutinizing gaze.

"I can't believe... so you've been behind all the abductions? You murdered all those heroes?" Katsuki's fury rose as he thought of the pile of corpses outside UA. Only someone exceptionally cruel could have done something like that.

"Me? Why, of course not. I never laid a hand on them." Midoriya smirked and waved his slender fingers at Katsuki, feigning innocence. Katsuki's hands had begun to shake with rage as he remembered the arena and the chant that had filled his ears, speaking the horrific truth of the deaths of those heroes. Fight or die...

Katsuki gritted his teeth, now looking around at the people standing on either side of Midoriya's armchair. The girl was grinning widely, leaning against the side of the armchair casually, while the man with the purple haze for a face stood behind it, hands clasped in front of him. Katsuki didn't recognize either of these people, but he assumed they must have been bigtime villains.

"Do your lackeys know the truth about you, Deku?" Kacchan snarled venomously, jerking his chin toward them. The girl's eyes flashed and the crazy look in her gaze only seemed to widen. Deku did not flinch at the nickname, instead peeling his lips back into a sinister grin.

"And what truth would that be?" He asked serenely, watching Katsuki with pointed anticipation.

Katsuki felt the fire in his chest burst uncontrollably and he saw spots of red before he shouted, "That you're a quirkless loser! You're weak and you'll never be anything but that!"

As quickly as the words had escaped his lips, the girl had launched into movement. She was before him in less than a second, and Katsuki could feel a knife digging into the side of his neck as the girl's face lowered toward him, her smile gone to be replaced with a flat, baleful look in her eyes that sent a jolt of panic through him.

"Watch your mouth, or I will carve your lips off." She hissed, pressing her knife into his neck hard enough that he could feel the sting of breaking skin.

"It's alright, Himiko." Deku purred from his chair. "We don't want to damage Kacchan's pretty face just yet." The girl, Himiko, sneered but still stepped back, removing her knife from Katsuki's neck. She took her place back at Deku's side, seeming to find a new fascination with the knife that had been smeared with a few drops of Katsuki's blood. Her grin returned and she licked her lips hungrily as she stared at the tip of the knife.

"You're exactly as I remember, Kacchan," Deku smirked triumphantly, as if he'd already won. "Thank you for being oh-so-predictable." It was clear he'd been expecting this kind of outburst from Katsuki, but Katsuki didn't care. He wanted to hurt him. Wanted to blast that smug smile right off his pointed face.

"So what? You gonna kill me or something?" Katsuki snarled, digging his fingernails into the wood of the chair. Deku's smirk widened.

"Kill you? So soon? Tch, tch, come now, you can't think me so callous. No, I have much bigger plans for you." He leaned forward, his smile fading a bit as a glint of maniacal hunger lit his eyes.

"I'm going to destroy you. I'm going to make sure you become as desperate and as miserable as I was three years ago. I promise you, Kacchan, when I'm finished with you, you'll be the one jumping off a rooftop." He sneered and Katsuki instinctually leaned back, feeling an intense urge to run the opposite direction. "So you see, Kacchan, I'm not going to kill you. With any luck, you'll take care of that little task all by yourself. Himiko?" He beckoned the girl close to him and whispered something in her ear.

Katsuki began to squirm uncomfortably as the girl's eyes widened and she beamed maniacally. She then threw her arms around Deku and planted a sloppy, wet kiss on his cheek before turning back to Katsuki and advancing toward him. Katsuki started to struggle again as she pulled out what looked like a clear, plastic canister with a long, sharp needle protruding from one end and a long tube out of the other. Katsuki tried using his quirk, having forgotten for a few minutes that he was still shivering and freezing. The small pops that came from his hands were pathetically drowned out by Deku's loud cackling.

The girl, Himiko, straddled Katsuki and sat on his lap, leaning her head closer. Katsuki coughed and tried pulling away, but the collar on his neck restrained any movement. He struggled frantically at his wrists and ankles as the girl lifted the needled canister up to his face.

"Get off me, you freak!" Katsuki shouted, but his protests fell on deaf ears as the girl raised the canister above her head, then plunged the needle into Katsuki's shoulder. He cried out at the sudden pain and craned his neck to see as his own blood started to fill the canister. A chill slithered down his spine as the girl started to mutter under her breath, watching the canister with an expression that Katsuki could only identify as awe.

"Suck suck... suck suck... suck suck..." She whispered. Katsuki tried struggling again, clamping his teeth as if to try to bite her, but it was no use. He could only watch, helpless as the canister filled with his blood.

"Don't worry, Kacchan." Deku's voice wafted over him from somewhere behind the crazy girl sucking his blood. "We'll meet again, I promise you that. Say hello to Auntie Mitsuki for me."

Then, Katsuki felt the girl plunge a different needle into the crook of his neck and he sank into darkness once more.