I've got no Strings

Part 6~Ari

Laughing to herself, Toga hopped up to the entrance. Kurogiri was barely holding on as Thirteen tried to destroy him. Seeing her opportunity, Toga stabbed her knife into Thirteen’s suit.

Unable to hold in her scream, Thirteen fell to the floor, her quirk deactivated, releasing Kurogiri. “You’re welcome,” Toga sang, skipping up to the mist. Her eyes drifted across each of the students. Ojiro stood in front of Sero, his tail twitching as he waited to move into action.

Tsu stood in a similar position, her tongue ready to whip out at a moment's notice. Kouda cowered in the background with Aoyama hiding behind him. The only person who seemed neither bored nor ready for a fight was the Izuku ‘Suzuki’ that they had placed in the class.

Charging forward, Toga grabbed the Izuku clone, pulling him back and holding him at knifepoint. “Alright, none of you move or your little friend here will become dinner.” The Izuku clone tried to struggle out of Toga’s grip as she slashed his cheek, silently cursing as she would need to do the same to the real Izuku later. “Don’t try it, froggy.”

Tsu paused as Toga grinned.

“Now, my friend is going to drop you guys off where you were meant to be and you try anything and your friend here won’t make it,” Toga smirked when she left something rushing through her veins. Gaping, Toga tried to fight back as she was pulled away and forced to drop the clone.

“Suzuki! You alright?” Seiji rushed to his side as Tsu batted away the villains chasing them.

It took a few seconds for Izuku to realise their backup plan had failed. “Yeah, I’m fine. Thank you.”

“No… It can’t be…” Toga stared wide-eyed at Seiji, dropping her knife in shock. “Ari?”

Seiji froze, looking at Toga as their mouth ran dry. Shaking their head, they turned to the students. “We need to get word to the others that something is wrong! Who's the fastest here?”

Everyone turned to Tsu who blinked in surprise. “Me?”

“You were second in the short distance dash.” Seiji smiled, narrowing her eyes of Tsu. Before the frog girl could complain, Seiji had picked her up. “We can’t beat the smoke, so get ready. You’re going over the smoke.”

“What?!” Tsu looked around in panic as Seiji focused their Quirk on her, stepping back and throwing her as far as she could. Tsu gulped, expecting to slam into the roof when she easily tore through it, plummeting to the ground as she rolled and rolled to limit the damage. “That was not fun.” Hopping up, Tsu leapt towards the school when it occurred to her, they took a bus.

Eying up the machinery, she grinned. Good thing Aizawa always leaves the keys in the engine.

~~~

Toga cursed as she watched the frog-girl fall out of the USJ. She turned to Seiji and charged at them. “Die!”

Seiji snapped their attention to the young villain, holding her in the air. “Long time no see Toga but I don’t think I or any of my friends will be dying today.”

Laughing, Toga rolled her head back. “What friends?! I was your only friend and you turned your back on me.”

“You tried to kill me!”

“You were going to the police!”

“And that worked! Look at me now!”

“Yeah, you’re in such a great place with us attacking you and the heroes ready to blame you.” Toga struggled against the blood in her veins, crossing her arms over defiantly. “These people don’t care about you, they never cared about people like us.”

“Right, as interesting as this is, I think that’s enough.” Tapping Seiji’s back, Izuku pulled back at Seiji’s arms, forcing them to cancel their Quirk and release Toga and Tomoura.

Smirking, Tomoura slowly lifted himself back up, staring down at Aizawa. “Finally. No more hiding behind your pathetic students.”

“No!” Seiji struggled but they couldn’t move anything.

Moving his hand closer, Tomoura went to finish the job, a wide smile on his face. “I’ll show that fake hero the consequences of not showing up on time.” Pressing his hand on Aizawa’s collar, Tomoura watched the skin peel off and fall to the ground.

Blood started to trickle down, more skin curling up and disappearing, stretching closer to Aizawa’s neck.

“Get away from him, you bastard!” Blasting at Tomoura’s head, Bakugo’s attack was blocked by the giant bird that stood in the way. He couldn’t react as he was hit away, throwing him into the wall.

“Look after the blood bender. Don’t let them escape.” Izuku glared at Toga who nodded with a wave. Walking across the courtyard, Izuku stepped closer to the explosion boy currently falling to the ground. “You know, you’re more pathetic than I expected, Kacchan.”

Bakugo froze, the word hitting his ears like ice that shot through his spin. “Wh-what?” Lifting up his head, he took in the appearance before him. The green hair, the green eyes, the burn scars, it was him. “Deku?”

“I don’t really like that name, Kacchan, but I guess you’ll never bother learning my actual name. Don’t worry, I’m not mad just… mad.” Grinning, Izuku hit Bakugo’s cheek, the golden strings expanding from his fingers and lifting Bakugo from the ground. “I remember you. I remember every one of your weaknesses. It would be so easy to exploit them.” Pulling Bakugo’s arm back, Izuku waited for the snapping sound. “Just like it’ll be easy to exploit All Might’s.”

“W-Why? You love All Might!”

“I hate All Might! He was the last straw and now I’m here! I’m with people who care, not pathetic people like you.”

Screaming, Bakugo couldn’t hold it back as his arm finally snapped.

“You’re boring me. Father was right, you aren’t worth anything.” Dropping Bakugo, Izuku turned away as Bakugo gritted his teeth.

“Now! Tokoyami!”

Izuku gasped, throwing his hands up to defend himself when Dark Shadow whipped past, serving the golden strings. Izuku screamed, falling to the ground as the heroes were realised. Aizawa snapped his eyes open, meeting Tomoura and throwing him to the side. Toga spun in worry, just catching sight of Izuku when Seiji tackled her to the ground, a proud smirk on their face.

Stepping in front of Izuku, Bakugo sneered down at him. “You’re the pathetic one. Joining the villains, attacking the heroes. You’re the one who gave up.”

“And who’s fault was that?” Spitting the blood out of his mouth, Izuku stumbled to his feet, his fingertips bleeding. “Shall we finish this, Kacchan?”

“You’re dead, Deku.”

“Jokes on you, I died a long time ago.” Pulling the metal staff from his pocket, Izuku let it extend and got into a fighting stance. Just as they were about to charge, a large explosion echoed from the door causing Izuku to stop. His eyes sparkled as he grinned manically. “He’s here! The fool actually came! All Might is here!”