Test of Courage

6

Midoriya's POV
I groaned as I opened my eyes. There was a pounding pain in the back of my head. I felt it gingerly to find a lump. Someone must have hit me. I looked around at my surroundings. I was in a cell. The walls were made from stone and the only way out was a metal barred door. The cell was cold and it smelled awful. When I looked out the door I could see more cells. With a jolt I realized my sword wasn't on my belt. I looked around the small room frantically. It wasn't here.

"Are you looking for this?" A rough voice asked. On the other side of the door stood a man with faded blue hair. His face looked like it was in desperate need of lotion. Next to him stood Dabi, the sword in his hand.

"How are you-" I was cut off. He lit a blue flame in the palm of his other hand.

"Fire magic, I'm immune to the heat," He smirked. I noticed the other man glare at me with hatred.

"My name is Shigaraki," He said, "I want to thank you for finding the sword and bringing it to me. My men and I have been searching for it a long time."

"You can't use it without being burned," I pointed out angrily.

"Once your dead it's all mine," He grinned. His smile sent chills down my back. "I can finally release All for One and he can rule again!" With that he left. I yelled at them and demanded they come back but I didn't have any power here. I had no choice but to sit in my cell and try to think of a way to escape. There was nothing for me to use. The door was too sturdy, besides that there was no other way out.

After what I assume was around an hour of sitting in the cell with my thoughts, guards came to my door. They forced me to go with them. There was two guards who kept me in between them. The third one had two swords. He walked behind me and prodded me with one of the swords if I walked too slow.

They took me away from the cells and we weaved through corridors slowly leading up. We made it to an area where animals were caged and chained up. A few other people were being guarded like me. I was lead to a big metal door. Behind it I could hear a loud roaring noise. The guard with two swords shoved one in my hand. I wanted to fight them but I knew I was easy out numbered. The door creaked and began to rise. The yelling and cheering of a crowd filled my ears. When the door stopped I was looking into a round area. The ground was sand and I could see blood splatters. An audience cheered thirty feet above the area. A guard pushed me out the doorway and the crowd got louder, clapping and yelling.

The door shut behind me and I was trapped in the arena alone. To my right was the VIP area. In the shade provided by the canvas roof, Shigaraki sat down with a smirk. The sword leaned against his seat. Dabi sat next to him along with a girl with blonde hair.

Across from me was another metal door. I could hear something loud behind it. I got ready with the sword I was given. I could hear chains creaking and rattling. The door was lifted and behind it stood a dragon. It was like the one in the cave, except this one was several feet bigger. It had scars all over it's body and broken chains around it's legs. It's wings were torn and ripped so it couldn't escape. It roared and the crowds matched it's noise with their cheers. I don't think there's a way I could get out of this.

Todoroki's POV
We finally arrived at the town. Our backpacks and belongings were hidden in the grass nearby. The town was big and I could see an arena in the middle of all the buildings and homes. People bustled around in the streets and chattered happily. Where would we even start?

"I suggest we split up. Kirishima and Bakugou, and Todoroki and I," Iida said, "We will take the right half of town and you two can take the other half. If you find anything come find us." So the four of us split up. Iida and I walked through town looking for suspicious buildings or people. We discovered the town was called Chester. We didn't find much until we passed a random group of strangers.

"We should go see the fights!" One of them said, "I heard there is an execution today, we can see the dragon!"

"I haven't seen the dragon yet. That would be so cool!" Another exclaimed. They continued on with their conversation. I looked to Iida, he heard it too.

"Do you think they are talking about Midoriya?" I asked.

"Possibly," Iida responded, "We should definitely go check it out." We followed the group at a distance. They lead the way to the arena. We had to pay to get in, luckily I had money from the castle. We found seats in the audience and my foot bounced anxiously. We had to sit through a warrior battling a big brown bear. Then the man I assumed was in charge stood. He had light blue hair.

"Now for the execution!" He announce with his hands raised towards the sky. The crowds cheered and I stiffened. I prayed it wasn't Midoriya but I at the same time I hoped it was. We would know where he is but I how would we get him out of here?

One of the metal doors started to open and a figure stood in the shadows. He was roughly pushed though the doorway and the door began to close behind him. My heart stopped. Midoriya's eyes scanned the crowds and stopped at the man who announced the execution. He glared that him and I studied the man and his company closer. Dabi sat next to him and he had Midoriya's sword. The girl with blonde hair was there too.

The door at the other end of the arena opened and a huge dragon stepped out. Midoriya didn't stand a chance with just a sword. I stood up and Iida followed.

"I have an idea," I said, "We need to get over there and get the sword into the arena. Then Midoriya will have more of a chance against the dragon." Heat blasted me in the face and someone near us screamed. The dragon blew fire at Midoriya and missed, getting the crowd instead. Iida nodded to me and we weaved through the crowd to Dabi and his friends. I glanced at Midoriya, just in time to see him nearly get crushed by the dragon's massive claw. I walked faster.

I got to the back of the VIP area and Iida and I drew our swords quietly. We moved quickly and knocked out the two guards before they could react. We moved in to face Dabi and the others. The three spun around in alarm and Iida and I held our swords out in front of us.

"Give us the sword," I demanded. The man with blue hair laughed.

"You'll have to get through us first," He said it like he was trying to taunt me. The blonde girl from earlier attacked me with two knifes I didn't see before. Dabi attacked Iida. I blocked the girl's knifes with the blade of my sword.

"I'm Toga," She giggled like she was flirting with me. She jabbed at me and I deflected it. Toga jabbed again and I jumped back. A plan formed in my head. I continued to block and dodge her attacks. I let her push me further in the VIP room. We fought around the leader's seat. With a hard swipe I knocked the knifes out of Toga's hands, taking her by surprise. I mentally prepared myself before grabbing the magic sword with my bandaged hand. I threw it as hard as I could, into the arena.

"MIDORIYA!" I yelled as loud as I could. My hand felt like it was on fire. I wanted to make sure Midoriya heard me but the leader let out a frustrated "No!" and he started to help Toga attack me.