AN: W-what? An update within less than a month's interruption? Nani?!

It's just as unlikely as you think.

This chapter has extra foul language compared to the usual. Thank Muscular.

"Don't leave me!"

If he had to rate his landing technique, he'd give himself a seven out of ten. Could use some work, but pretty decent all thing considered.

He patted Kota's head with a hum. "Go and wait behind that tree over there, please. I'll be back soon."

"What?" Kota gaped at him. His pupils narrowed to pricks and he glowered with something akin to betrayal. "No, don't you dare—"

"Don't worry. I've got a pretty good idea of how to deal with this guy… I think."

"You think?!"

"Eighty percent sure?"

"Quit your blabbering and face me, you brats!"

Izuku cocked his head. He scowled at Muscular, who stood flexing his biceps behind the duo. Izuku pushed gently on Kota's shoulder.

"Come on," he urged, casting a beseeching look the other's way. "I promise I'll be back for you."

Kota's lower lip trembled. He looked like he wanted to interject, but when he glanced over to the posturing villain, a heart stricken expression jumped his face. His hat had survived the fall this time, so he pulled it over his eyes before leaving with hurried steps to hide behind the trunk of the closest tree, as per Izuku's instruction.

The teen turned to his adversary. He took a moment to consider his options. With a pull of his mouth and a shrug, he went ahead and asked what had been on his mind since the last reset.

"I'll fight you, but before that… what can you tell me about the other villains that came here with you?"

Muscular tilted his head. "Hm… them? I don't really give a shit about them so I can't tell you much. Not that it would help anyways, since you—"

"—'ll be dead soon, yeah. But come on. There must be something you can tell me about them. How many are there? What are their quirks?"

Muscular made a strange face at the string of questions. It was something like a pout while simultaneously showing of his clenched teeth. He looked like he was itching to punch something, but evidently liked the sound of his own voice enough to humor his would-be victim.

"What is this, an interview? But fine, fine, I'll play along… not counting me, seven. No, wait, eight! Maybe nine."

Izuku kept a frustrated sigh at bay. He waited for Muscular to continue digging his party's own grave.

"There's the crazy bitch—not sure what her deal is, or her quirk for that matter—and then there's the fire fuck. Asshole think he's cosplaying a scarecrow or something. There's also the ninja turtle wannabe and… ugh," the man shook his head. He creased a thin ash-blonde eyebrow. "I changed my mind. This is boring. Why the fuck am I answering some little punk's questions when I could just pound him to dust instead?"

Izuku widened his stance but kept his arms by his sides. "Because you're such a nice, upstanding citizen?"

Muscular raised a brow. Apparently, he didn't see fit to deign Izuku's banter with a response, settling for a silent scowl. The bushy haired boy bit into his cheek. He raised his guard.

"Well… let's see if you could answer one more question for me."

He jumped. With a horizontal launch, he raced fist-first toward the man like some two-bit amateur. Or like a student with no prior fighting experience. Muscular grinned, raising his pulsating red-threaded arms in front of him. Just before the moment of impact, Izuku unclenched his fingers and switched from the perfectly televised punch to a grapple. He curled the digits around a bulging wrist, so thick his thumb didn't even touch the tips of the rest of his fingers. Muscular's face changed from already assured victory to surprise as Izuku used his secure hold to swing his legs up like some kind of circus act, the tips of his feet aimed for a single minded goal.

Muscular turned his head just in time before a One for All infused kick smacked into his temporal bone. Izku tsked, but his effort weren't for nothing as he heard a deep howl leave the villain. The hero-to-be's target had been the man's artificial eye, and while most of his foot missed the mark due to his enemy's sharp maneuvering, his heel still managed to jostle its position in its socket. Apparently, the sensation was less than pleasant.

"It's like I thought," Izuku disclosed his observation aloud as he dropped to the floor. "Any place that doesn't have muscles is completely vulnerable."

Muscular birthed an unholy screech, jumping for Izuku's throat, looking ready to snap his throat like a candy bar. Izuku flicked the air next to himself, sending him tumbling to the side with a little too much force.

"Oof," he complained as he rolled over the ground. A few stray rocks dug into and stuck to his cheek. "You're also easy to rile up."

"YOU LITTLE FUCK!" Muscular roared, mouth practically frothing as he whirled to face the teen. "I'm gonna make you pay for that that, you cocksucker!"

Like an angry bull seeing red, he charged for Izuku, screaming the whole way. His quirk practically tore his body apart, and Izuku had to admit the sight was kinda goddamn terrifying. Still, he couldn't let fear's chill take hold of him, and was quickly back on his feet, ready to jump out of the stampeding villain's path. The sequence reminded him of a boss fight in a video game, where the player had to dodge attacks with perfectly timed button mashes and watch as the enemy, either blinded by rage or too dumb to stop, smacked into a pillar or wall to be stunned just long enough for the hero to make a move. Though Izuku doubted things would work so conveniently in real life, sadly.

It really was unfortunate that Muscular caught onto Izuku's plan to quickly, the teen thought as he bound out of the way of the lunging behemoth. Now the man was sure to be on even higher alert than earlier, and Izuku doubted he'd get another crack at the madly spinning mechanical eye any time soon. At least he'd proven his theory true, so even if he died here, it wouldn't be a complete waste. Now, he only needed to figure out how to best utilize that information.

He cupped a handful of dirt, throwing it in the villain's face. Muscular shielded himself with an arm, and Izuku used the brief moment of blindness to rush toward the man, before dropping low to slide across the ground. The friction tore a path through the dirt, and his clothes ripped along with his skin. Fresh wounds burned unpleasantly as earth got into the lacerations, but Izuku brushed it off with practiced ease.

He leapt straight up like a jack rabbit once he crossed under the boundary of Muscular's guarding limb, almost touching noses with the other as they stared face to face for the briefest of moments. Izuku was about to tear the man's prosthetic eye out, but from the corner of his eye he saw his opponent's free arm put in motion. With the realization that he wouldn't be fast enough, he settled for his next best choice, and slammed his forehead into the fake-eye as hard as he could.

Muscular was stunned as another tide of pain pulsed through him, and he wobbled slightly. Any of his previous plans of action was put on hold as he recuperated, and Izuku used the moment to complete his own aim. He latched himself around Muscular's torso using his knees, before thrusting his palms out and scratched at the other's face with violent vigor.

"Jesus Christ!" Muscular swore, swatting at Izuku's abdomen like a fly, pushing the teenager off and sending him crashing into the ground. Izuku wheezed, but that was all. No blood or gore. The agony he inflicted on the other must have been intense enough that Muscular was unable to muster up his full strength to smack Izuku around like a piñata. "Enough of this!" the man roared. He flexed his body, muscles growing to sizes previously unseen. Now Izuku thought this really must be some type of video game, with Muscular entering his second phase.

If this is a video game I really hope there's some sort of cheat code, Izuku grimaced. I'm tired of running around with one life but infinite retries.

Muscular ran at him with outstretched arms and a wild snarl. Izuku readied his stance. Seconds before clashing, the big man changed his course and ran past the teen, jumping into the thicket of trees behind him. Izuku's eyes widened, and with blind panic and righteous furor, he erupted with a scream and sprung up on the villain's back with a One for All aided pounce.

"Don't you dare touch him!" he howled, pulling Muscular into a choke hold, not even considering the futility of the action. All he knew was that the man needed to hurt, hurt him enough that he'd never again consider touching a hair of—

Muscular jumped. He pulled at Izuku's wrists into a bone breaking hold, before tilting his body backward mid-air. The teen could only gape as he realized his opponent's intention. He wondered if it was all planned since the moment the man changed his focus from Izuku to Kota.

What the fuck—

If it was possible to crack a person's bones all at once like a hazelnut on Christmas, then Muscular figured it out. At least the shock was great enough that Izuku hardly even felt it when the villain suplexed his body into the ground. He crushed the student with the flat of his back into the earth, filling the air with the sound of a multitude of foreboding pops and snaps that Izuku could only begin to guess the origin of.

All things considered, it wasn't the worst way to go.

"Stay here and don't come out until I tell you to, alright?"

Izuku shoved the horned cap over Kota's head and turned to face his opponent for the fourth time. His last mistake was being goaded into doing what Muscular had expected him to do. Well, if the man wanted to play mind games, then so could he.

"Hello Muscular," he called out, mouth drawn and a sporting a severe glare. The aforementioned man looked momentarily surprised by the call of his name, but was quick to shrug it off.

"Heh, you recognize me? I guess I did make some pretty big waves back when I killed those heroes."

Izuku paused. No, he was not aware that this villain had killed heroes before. While the fanboy had the ability to name more or less every hero under the sun no matter how minor, he rarely took the time to memorize villains. Not until recently, that is.

Muscular looked much too proud of himself. He wore a self satisfied smirk that showed off all his teeth, curling up the corners of his disproportionate eyes. A hollow feeling settled in Izuku's chest, before it was replaced by burning fire. Not allowing Muscular the chance to put him off his game, he stalked up to his opponent with an even gait.

"Right," he bit out, unwilling to give Muscular any more gratification than he could help. "Well, maybe you recognize me too. Midoriya Izuku. Ring any bells?" Muscular scratched his shaggy ash-colored hair, pursing his lips with contemplation as he stared the teenager down. Impatient, Izuku provided the man with another hint. "Come on. I'm sure Shigaraki mentioned me to you. Probably something about how he would torture me to death? I mean, I did make some pretty big waves back when I broke both his wrists."

Muscular's eyes lit up with recognition. Good. He never said anything about knowing Izuku last time, but that was likely thanks to him being too angry to pay enough attention to his challenger's face.

The man grinned. "Oh yeah," he bellowed out a laugh. "Now I remember. Midoriya Izuku, that's right. Shigaraki—" he halted in the middle of his dialogue, sadistic delight altering into perplexity. He made a face, studying Izuku with a suspicious glare. "Hold on. Why the hell are you assuming I know who Shigaraki is? Do you think all us villains like to gather for shindigs on the weekends or something?"

Izuku titled his head innocently. "You don't? Then what do you do on the weekend? Steal candy from little babies?"

"Haha. Very funny," Muscular audibly ground his teeth together. Belying his words, he looked far from amused. "You've got some inside information I was not aware of, or did you just make a lucky guess?"

"Hm…" Izuku smiled. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

Muscular growled, clearly agitated at the non-answer. He covered both arms in reinforced muscle fiber, and looked ready to grind the puny little student in front of him into minced meat. Izuku thought back to what happened last time, musing to himself.

If I could only get his eye, I could severely handicap him. But even with One for All, this guy's reflexes are crazy fast. As soon as I aim for his face, he'll know what's up.

They circled each other like two boxers ready to square off in the ring. Izuku continued to run down his options.

I know what I said about Shigaraki tripped him up, but it won't be enough on its own to gain the upper hand. Come on, think, his eyes can't be the only weak spot—

His eyes lit up with an old memory. Kacchan's and his own mother had set up a game night and forced the two boys to attend. Not that Izuku could ever say no to his mom. They had been about ten by then, and they had settled for a trivia board game after much discussion. It was geared toward a slightly older audience than the children had been, but they didn't have many options to pick from.

Kacchan carried a sour expression with him most of the night, while Izuku tried his best to act normal in front of the two mothers. They were still under the impression that the two boys were best of friends, which, in a way, they were. Just not the way Izuku wanted them to be.

"Alright Izuku, it's your turn."

He eyed the fists clenched by Muscular's hips.

"Hey, Katsuki! Give me the damn card, you brat!"

"Hey, Muscular. You wanna know a fun fact?"

"Okay, okay, let's see… the question is—"

He kicked the tip of his boots into the ground, using his quirk to punt a mound of dirt in Muscular's direction. The man took a step back, raising a hand to slap the offending muck away. With one leg still raised in the air, Izuku performed a one-legged jump and pirouetted through the air almost gracefully, albeit unintentionally. He latched onto his opponent's hovering limb, clinging on tight with the inner side of his elbow with one arm, while the other traveled up to slot his fingers in between Muscular's, palm to palm.

"How many muscles does your fingers have?"

Izuku hoisted himself up along the limb with his legs, until he was eye to eye with the villain himself.

"All the muscles controlling your fingers exist in your palm and arm. The rest is just tendons."

He flexed his hand. And he pushed.

Pop.

Muscular roared as several cracks resounded from his twisted digits. Izuku pushed off with his soles against the other's abs to soar to safety, before his opponent had a moment to counter act.

"You—absolute fucker!" the blonde man grit his teeth, and Izuku could tell the villain did his damnedest to endure the pain he'd just been subjected to.

One hand down, Izuku counted. Another to go.

It wasn't particularly hard to incapacitate Muscular's other fingers. Izuku had expected his enemy to put up more resistance, but it seemed like the man didn't have the greatest tolerance for pain. He probably wasn't used to actually taking damage, so when he did, his instincts went into overdrive. With a primitive and uncontrollable anger, Muscular flung his remaining fist around without much thought of where it went. He did manage to knock it into Izuku's jaw hard enough to leave an impressive bruise for later, but no bones were broken, no joints dislocated and no teeth lost. It was easy to capture the fist and pull the fingers back until they touched the back of Muscular's hand with the accompanying series of snaps.

All in all, Izuku felt pretty good.

Deeming Muscular sufficiently handicapped, it was time to carry out what would hopefully be the last step of his plan. Gouging his fingers in between the metal frame of Muscular's artificial eye and its socket was a lot easier when the villain's means of fighting back had been cut down a few notches. He could still swing his arms and legs around, sure. He even tried his damnedest to bite at Izuku whenever the boy got too close to the other's eager teeth, but it was a lot easier to avoid attacks when his perpetrator couldn't hold him down without hugging him with both arms.

That's not to say it was a walk in the park. Aside from his jaw, Izuku sustained a few more bumps and tender spots as he was jostled around attempting to climb the villain like a monkey in a tree. He went up Muscular's back to avoid the hug of death, not too worried about being body slammed like last time. The man could try, but it would be easy for the teen to jump off to safety, and Muscular would only find himself in a new vulnerable position lying supine on the floor with Izuku unharmed above him.

The man opted for shaking his body around like a wet dog to throw him off instead, but Izuku held firm. He snaked his fingers over Muscular's scar and dug the tips in between folds of skin. The man swore at him. He kicked his feet up behind him, and Izuku grunted as they smacked into his calves, but he refused to let go. Realizing his tactic wasn't working, Muscular pulled his arms behind himself in an attempt to crush the boy against his back using his flexor muscles.

Izuku locked his elbows around his enemy's neck and lifted his lower body into the air to avoid the assault. His stomach, back, arms and legs all tensed to be hard as steel with the effort; thank God for All Might's strength training.

"Stop struggling!" Izuku growled in frustration. "Just fucking let me do this already!"

Still suspended in the air—he didn't trust Muscular's arms under him—he pushed the digits of his right hand up to crawl along the villain's face. The left he used to grab onto a stark-red shoulder, the fold of his arm locked around the man's neck.

Finally reaching his goal, Izuku infused his fingers with One for All, before plunging them as deep into the socket as they could go. He grabbed a hold of as much as he could and then, he pulled.

Muscular let out an ungodly shriek as whatever used to occupy his skull dropped down on the dirt floor with a soft clatter of gears and screws and glass. He gave an unusually strong twist of his shoulder, and Izuku's grip slipped. He fell, bouncing back a few meters on his toes. Muscular brought a mess of a hand up to cup against the gaping hole in his head. Izuku absentmindedly rubbed his fingers against one another, stinging slightly from the metal previously digging into them.

He felt something wet. He looked down and saw his hand covered in blood. From the sheer amount of it, and the lack of visible cuts, he knew it didn't belong to him for once.

Muscular turned—stumbled, more like—half blind to face the student that just messed his face up worse than it already was. Izuku could see a river of red press out from under the palm pushed up against the villain's ugly scar. It was an alarming volume of blood, but Muscular still remained standing, looking more pissed than anything Izuku had ever seen. Maybe even more pissed than Shigaraki after having his wrists broken.

"You…" Muscular opened his mouth. He gaped like an opened bag of chips for a moment, making gasping and gargled noises as he tried to come up with his best threat or insult. Probably both. He looked lost. "You took my eye… you crazy fucking psycho! My goddamn eye! You piece of cum guzzling shit pile! I'll kill you! I'll fucking kill you, you, you worthless, good for nothing, masquerade of a hero!"

Izuku grimaced. "I'm the psycho? You're the one trying to kill a little kid! And you're calling me the psycho?"

The hypocrisy pissed Izuku off more than the insults themselves.

"You're just a wanna-be!" Muscular repeated, voice shrill with glee. He grinned, but struggled to secure it. "I've fought a buncha heroes before you! Killed some too! And you better believe I enjoyed it! So sure, I'm a psychopath, but at least I never pretended to be something I ain't! You're just a hack! All that pretend virtue, it's enough to make me sick!" he took a step forward. He paused as his knee buckled, but he remained standing. "You think I'm a hypocrite. But the truth is, the only real hypocrite here is you."

"Shut up," Izuku tensed his muscles. The hard and jagged edge of a rock he picked off the ground cut into his palm. "Don't pretend like you know anything about me. I'm just doing what's necessary."

"Oh yeah?" Muscular removed the hand from his head. The chasm of his empty socked gaped raw and meaty as it was unveiled for the world to see. Izuku stared at it. Could hardly look away. His breath hitched. "Is it necessary for you to enjoy it too?"

The stone sailed through the air, almost breaking apart from the force of Izuku's quirk. It sliced an arc through the sky with hissing turbulence, before plunging into its target. Muscular didn't scream this time. His other eye was decimated as soon as the rock touched it, and it exploded with clear fluid splashing over the man's skin and the space in front of him. He fell onto his back with a heavy thump.

"Fuck…" he rasped, quiet as a breath. His anger from earlier must have scurried off somewhere, and it put Izuku on edge more than anything else. "Guess… you're strong after all, huh? Damn… I'll give you credit for that. You're a fighter. A sneaky, slippery pest, but… you beat me fair and square," he tried to sit up, but fell back unceremoniously after less than a second of trying. He hissed as his broken fingers dragged across the uneven ground. His face was painted red from the two yawning holes in his head. "Motherfucker… when I recover from this and run into you again… I'll kill you for sure. I'll definitely… kill you..."

He coughed wetly, before falling silent. Izuku watched the man's torso slowly raise and lower as he inhaled and exhaled with tired, wheezing breaths. His body had returned to its normal form, and he looked unusually pale in the silver spotlight of the moon. Soft steps pattered up next to Izuku, and the teen glanced to its source.

"Is it over?" Kota whispered, tugging on Izuku's sore wrist. He sidled up behind Izuku's back and peeked out at the marred villain, lips trembling.

Izuku looked to Muscular. He was far from a pretty sight. The teen felt a pang of remorse. Kota was far too young to see something like this. "I don't think he'll be getting up any time soon," he confirmed, looping his arm around Kota and pulling him against his torso in a half-embrace. He muttered under his breath, "He better not after all the problems he caused… or I won't be so soft."

"What do we do now?"

Kota stared up at Izuku with askance. The student hummed in consideration.

"I should get you to a pro. They can do a better job at keeping you safe than I can," Izuku released Kota and crouched down in front of him. "Hop on my back. We can travel faster this way."

Izuku formed his arms into loops for Kota to thread his legs through. The kid jumped up and crossed his arms over the other's neck for support. "You better not drop me," he grumbled, tightening his hold as far as he could without strangling his ride.

Once Kota was settled, Izuku ran. He set his destination for the lodge, figuring he should at least be able to find one teacher there. His muscles smarted from strain and littered bruises, and the child clinging to him didn't help as he unintentionally pressed into Izuku's sore spots. Still, it was a minor enough discomfort that ignoring it was easy, especially with the residue adrenaline still pumping through his veins.

He zig-zagged through the brush, keeping an eagle eyed vision out for any movement. His dry eyes made him wish he had a pair of goggles like Aizawa. He reminded himself to ask support for that addition to his costume when he had the chance.

"Deku!" Kota yelled in his ear, pointing a short finger to a spot of darkness. "O-over there!"

Izuku rested on his heels and dug them into the soil, sending up a small dust of cloud behind him as the friction broke his advance. He pulled to a full stop with a small tumble, following Kota's direction with a sinking feeling.

"I-is that…?" Kota hugged his back closer. The boy didn't dare finish the sentence and could only stare wide eyed at the two charcoal forms burned into the ground. His expression wilted and he sobbed. "This can't be happening… none of this is happening…"

Izuku's legs felt weak and he had to slip Kota down his back before he made them both fall over. Once the kids feet hit the ground, Izuku ran up to the blackened shapes, praying to God that Kota was right.

He kneeled down in the dirt, swathing his knees with a layer of soot. He held out a hand, cupping it over one of the coal silhouettes. The dry material crumbled at the touch, and his stomach churned. The bodies were completely unrecognizable, burnt so badly he could only discern the vague shapes of something that used to be human.

When did this happen? Izuku swallowed down a gag. Can I still stop it?

"Deku! Watch out!"

Izuku didn't have time to act before he was screaming. Every inch of his skin blared with anguish and he collapsed onto his stomach. Bright blue light filled his vision, turning him blind. He tried to close his eyes, but his eyelids were melted into his skull. He had no choice but to keep looking, and through the azure flames, he could make out the growing hazy shape of someone tall and lean.

One arm was stretched out in Izuku's direction. The villain spoke.

"For a bunch of heroes to be, you don't put up much of a fight, do you?"

Izuku opened his mouth. He wanted to scream at the man, curse him to hell and back, but the only thing that escaped his barren throat was a raspy whine. He tried to stand, do anything, but his muscles refused to cooperate. His nose brimmed with the smell of burnt flesh and fabric. He would have thrown up if he could.

The man was right in front of him now. Izuku's vision was blurry, and he could only make out splotches of washed out color. He raked his eyes from the villain's boots to his indistinguishable face. He memorized it all.

Fire fuck.

AN: This chapter has a lot of dark humor. Well, I guess a lot of this story does. Things are already depressing enough as is so I like to lighten it up somewhat, haha.

RIP Muscular. Death by angry broccoli.