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IZUKU
“Run!”
“Didn’t you hear me? RUN!”
“You’ve got to be kidding me! What the hell are you doing?!”
Voices were screaming from the coms in his ears as he stood at the center of a crater. Water gushing out of a pipe that was destroyed when the villain set off a bomb below the street. Downed electrical wires sparked near the puddle that was getting bigger at his voice. He couldn’t move. It was like his feet were cemented into the center. His gear wasn’t working. Nothing was responding to him.
“Deku, you need to move!”
He tried opening his mouth to respond but nothing came out. The only sounds were the crackling electric current, the gushing water and the various explosions and fighting sounds from the street level. This was not how this was supposed to go. He had teamed up with Bakugo’s agency to fight some mid-level villains but they were not just that anymore. A couple higher level villains had shown up and split the team.
“Deku! Fuck, answer me, where are you?”
Another explosion at street level went off, sending a giant cloud of smoke into the surrounding area. Izuku could feel the smoke entering his lungs but his body wasn’t responding to try to clear itself.
“You look troubled, young man,” a voice from behind Izuku said with a chuckle. “I thought it would be a lot harder to get you alone.” The man stopped just behind Izuku and pulled the coms from his ears. “I’ve done a lot of research on you and your friends. It took a while and cost me a few decent buddies but now you’re here.” He tossed the com into the water at their feet before slowly walking passed him.
Izuku tried to find the man in the cloud of dust but with watering eyes and unable to move it was impossible. He kept trying to move his body, anything to try to fight this guy and get out before the water rose too high.
“I remember watching you and your friends graduate from UA,” the man continued, his voice distorted slightly but still very close. “You all grew into decent heroes and have done so many great deeds.” A hand found its way onto Izuku’s chest and with a bit of pressure the fingers dug through the suit and into the skin beneath. “”I wonder what makes a quirkless guy like you deserve to run with the big dogs.”
Blood began to gush out of Izuku’s mouth as the man’s hand had no trouble piercing the suit and skin and dug further into his chest. Tears fell from his eyes as the screams stuck in his throat. “It’s not even you that I want, you’ll just get in the way so I need to take you out first.”
Another explosion sounded, the ground rattled around the pair and voices could be heard around them.
“Your friends are too good at their job.” The hand managed to get into his chest and just passed the knuckles before it was violently ripped out. “I’ll be back to finish the job if you don’t bleed out and drown first.”
With that, the man was gone and the paralyzing feeling in Izuku’s body disappeared. Unfortunately, the pain from the gaping hole in his chest wrecked his body causing him to scream louder than he had in a long time. He dropped to his knees in the rising water, coughing up blood and dust as he tried to cover the open wound. It wasn’t long before his entire body gave out and he fell face first into the water. His vision went in and out for a moment as he felt the water rising and heard the voices getting closer. He could only hope that his teammates would find him before it was too late.
KATSUKI
“Has anyone heard or seen Deku?” Katsuki yelled through the coms as he flew through the air. Most of the villains had been detained but now the problem was the smoke and subsequent explosions in the area.
“The last time I had eyes him he was headed toward the north end.” Uraraka responded.
Katsuki growled.
“Last known location was two blocks north of your current location.” Iida stated.
Katsuki stopped on the edge of the nearby roof and peered down at the street. The dust was settling in the area but he still couldn’t see much from the rooftop. Cautiously he made his way down and pulled his mask over his mouth and nose to help with the dust.
“Deku!” He called out once he was at ground level.
No answer.
“C’mon, nerd, we got the bad guys, you can come out now!” Slowly he walked forward into the dust cloud before he nearly fell when his foot didn’t meet ground anymore. The sound of rushing water and electricity reached his ears as he waved his hand in front of his to try to disperse the cloud. As the cloud slowly cleared, familiar green began to peek through, sending a shock through his body. “DEKU!” He made a move to jump into the crater but stopped when he saw that the powerline was nearly touching the water.
“Chargebolt, you better get your ass to my location now!” He yelled through the coms before jumping into the crater and rushing to Izuku’s side.
“Deku, open your eyes, goddammit,” Katsuki said through gritted teeth as he knelt down. There was so much blood in the water around him. “You can’t do this to me, c’mon!”
“Dynamight!” Denki yelled when he arrived.
“Take care of the damn electricity,” he yelled without taking his eyes from Izuku’s body.
His hands shook as he slowly turned the body onto his back, gasping at the site of the gaping chest wound. “No… no… Deku, you stupid idiot, open your eyes!” He threw off his gauntlets and used one hand to cover the wound and the other to find a pulse. Tears forced their way down his cheeks as his hand shook. “C’mon.”
The dust cloud has dispersed from the area now and more of their friends have arrived. Denki had contained the electricity behind the pair but was now staring at the two, his eyes wide. No one said anything as they stared at Katsuki and the very silent and very still Izuku.
Shoto shook his head and jumped into the crater to sit on the other side of Izuku. He removed his jacket and used it to cover the wound on his chest instead of Katsuki’s hand.
“Katsuki,” Shoto said quietly, his one hand reaching out to steady his friend’s shaking one. “Let me.”
Slowly, Katsuki removed his hands only to let them hang at his sides and in the bloody watery mess around them.
Shoto held his breath as his hand felt for a pulse in his friend’s neck. Who knows how long he was bleeding out, how long he was alone in the pool of water. Around them, the world seemed to have lost all sound like it was waiting for the impossible to happen.
“Katsuki,” Shoto whispered, looking up at the blond. “I don’t…”