Izuku absolutely rejected the idea of hiding in the water, so he offered that they go around and hide behind the fountain at the center of the plaza. It was a better hiding space, and it would give them the high ground from which they could see the villain fight from a cover.

The effect of approaching the main villains was immediate. The closer they got, the stronger the tug in Izuku's heart became, and the feeling of death was growing exponentially. Soon he had to mentally fight himself not to use his quirk.

Because he wanted to. More than ever. Never had he felt such overwhelming death before, and it was pulling at his heart like crazy.

When they could actually see what was going on, it got so much worse.

Izuku wasn't sure what he had expected to see, but that, that wasn't it. Sure, he knew that the villains were outnumbered and there was one of them that had so much death in his eyes, but Izuku didn't think it was this bad.

Aizawa sensei was lying there, half-dead, and oh my god is that what half dead felt like? Izuku could feel it all the way to the fountain, the life that was usually buzzing in everyone was so, so barely there in the pro hero, Izuku shivered. He heard Mineta sob behind him.

There was a monster standing over their teacher, holding him down and pushing him into the ground. Its brain was exposed, and instead of a mouth, it had a beak. Izuku felt his heart speed up, taking in the sight. He could feel Tsuyu shaking next to him, and Mineta was crying now, his sobs muffled by his hands.

Izuku couldn't let this continue. Aizawa sensei was going to be killed at this rate. He knew it. And how could he let that happen? He moved before he could change his mind, standing up. "Stay here. Whatever you do, don't interfere." He told Tsuyu and Mineta.

And then, he headed for the stairs, and with every step he took, his resolve grew.

He had been born with a terrible privilege. But if it meant saving one person, just one, then, maybe, it was worth it.

He took a big breath.

He had long since accepted there would come a time where he would have to reveal his quirk.

The time has come.

He was just about to instruct the Nomu to finish Eraserhead, maybe crush his head against the ground a few more times when Shigaraki saw it.

A kid, in U.A uniform, walking down the stairs from the fountain. Normally, that wouldn't be anything special, these hero kids were always crazy, going around pretending like they could save someone. No, what caught Shigaraki's eye was the look on the kid's face. There was something in there.

Something dark, and it made the villain curious.

At the same time, Aizawa felt the dread rise in him. "Midorya!" He croaked. "Get back! I don't need your help."

"Thank you for protecting us, Aizawa sensei." The boy answered, and to the outside, he didn't seem afraid at all. He came to a stop at the bottom of the stairs. Then, he was just standing there, head tilted to the side as he stared at the villains. "It's my turn now."

"Oh?" Shigaraki's face twisted into a smile, but it was hidden behind a hand. This was perfect. A dead kid would be a good hit on All Might's ego, that was for sure. "How nice of you to come to us. I was just about to go over there myself, but now you spared me a walk."

"I'm here to stop you." Izuku said, staring into the eyes of the villain who carried so much death with him. He could barely contain the shiver at the thought of these eyes on Tsuyu and Mineta. They were behind him, still hiding at the fountain, but it seemed they had been noticed already.

Which gave Izuku one more reason to fight.

"And how are you going to do that?" Shigaraki stepped closer to the kid, interested.

"Wouldn't want to ruin the surprise." Izuku smiled ruefully.

"Midoriya…" Aizawa was afraid now. This stupid kid was going to get killed, and it would be under his watch. It was his job to protect him, and now, he would… "Get back. He can disintegrate you with a touch."

"It's going to be alright, sensei." Izuku smiled at the pro hero. "Why? Because I am here."

"An All Might fan…" Shigaraki scratched his neck. "I am so going to enjoy killing you."

"Kill?" Izuku questioned, frowning. "You think yourself so strong, taking away lives like that. Controlling death like that." Izuku sighed and shook his head. The tug in the heart was getting even stronger, the longer the villain stared at him.

"You know…" He put a hand on his heart, and his look was as deadly as they come. "I'm going to let you in on a secret. I always thought that it was me calling out to them. Maybe it was. When I needed them, I called and they would come, crawling out from the deepest depths to answer. To help me." He could hardly stop himself from letting the tug in his heart escalate and to let the skeletons out. Not. Yet. "But this time? It isn't me. I think they want to come out. They have been calling out to me ever since you have appeared, trying to force their way through the gate, which, I suppose, is me. They want to help me destroy you, you know. They are begging to be let out."

He wasn't lying. It was there, so strong, he could barely hold it back. And that, he supposed, gave some insight to his quirk now.

"And who would they be?" The villain asked, his curiosity showing.

At that moment, the purple villain with the warp quirk appeared next to the boss. "Shigaraki. One of the kids managed to escape."

The villain called Shigaraki immediately stopped paying attention to Izuku and made a gurgling sound from the back of his throat. He started scratching his neck. "We can't win against dozens of pros. I guess it's game over." He turned towards Izuku. "Let's at least kill this insolent brat." He moved so incredibly fast it was unreal, his outstretched hand reaching for him.

Wait!" Izuku shouted and everyone seemed to freeze. Death was hanging in the air around him now, Izuku just knew it. And that was perfect.

He smiled.

"I'm going to show you what real control over death is like."

This time, he didn't have to pull. All it took was one little nudge, and the dam was broken.

And then, all over the plaza, the ground broke, as skeleton hands shot right through it, grabbing for any ground they found, and pulling themselves out, escorted by the clatter of bones hitting against each other. The air was filled with the smell of decay in a matter of seconds.

The villains on the side screamed and retreated, pure instinctive fear taking over the control in their mind. And who could blame them?

Skeletons were crawling out of the freaking ground after all, and there were so many of them. Some of them looked like normal human skeletons, others were deformed due to mutation quirks. There was one with four arms, for example. It was actually the first time Izuku summoned enough to have more skeletons of mutation quirk users among them.

Izuku let out a breath as all the panic, fear, anxiety left his body. His confidence was rising now, and the feeling of power was overwhelming. Finally, everything seemed to click in to place. He couldn't contain his smirk, as he looked around him. A truly astounding sight, as all the skeletons were standing there, waiting for his commands. Their eyes were glowing green, and directed toward Izuku.

Beautiful.

"Destroy them." Izuku gave the order, smiling at the villains, and somehow, hearing their screams just made him smile harder.

Some villains fought back, others tried to run, but to no avail. The skeletons' inhuman strength came out in full force, as they beat the shit out of the side villains in the spam of a few minutes.

"So beautiful!" Shigaraki was laughing manically, his eyes wide with wonder as he watched the skeletons. "What a truly beautiful quirk. You should be a villain, kid. Wanna join us?"

"You said you wanted to kill All Might." Izuku said, stepping closer and closer to Shigaraki. "Who do you think you are, deciding who lives and who dies?" He stopped, just out of reach. "There you are, acting like some god of death, killing so many just to show your power. You want to kill All Might? You have to get through me first. And my army may have a few things to say about that."

His smile turned into something inhuman now. He had never, ever controlled so many skeletons before, and it was INTOXICATING. Death itself came to take its revenge on the villains, and Izuku, Izuku had the honor to be the mediator.

"Nomu, how about you teach this kid a lesson?" Shigaraki's smile couldn't be seen, but by his voice, it wasn't hard to guess it was there. "Don't kill him though. I want to keep him."

Nothing happened.

"Nomu?" Shigaraki turned around to see the genetically engineered monster, the beast created to kill All Might himself, stepping back, its beak open and eyes looking at the boy. Eraserhead was lying on the ground, abandoned now. He wasn't much of a real threat, beaten to the edge of his life, but Shigaraki never told the Nomu that he could let the hero go. Especially since the teacher was awake and glaring at him with glowing eyes. Something had to be done about that.

"As far as I can see, your Nomu is nothing more than animal, obeying your orders. No actual intelligence. Nor any real life in it." Izuku shrugged. "And it's still afraid of death. After all, no matter how intelligent, what has life fears death."

Izuku smiled, all his skeletons lining up around them now, making a circle. "And that is what control over death looks like. Do you understand now?"

"Shigaraki, I can warp this kid away, and his skeletons too."

"Can you now?" Izuku looked in the eyes of the villain. "I wonder what your skeleton looks like? I'm sure it will look fantastic next to the others." He smirked.

"The hell?" The villain asked, his composure breaking as his eyes widened in horror.

"Exactly."

"I'm loving this kid more and more." Shigaraki chuckled. "Such a raw power. And those hungry eyes. Sensei will be pleased to hear about him."

"You aren't getting out of here." Izuku deadpanned. "You won't have a chance to tell anything to that sensei of yours." Then he looked at the skeletons. "Take care of them."

"Oh no you don't!" The warp villain objected, but then "what the heck? My quirk…" he said, flabbergasted.

"Thank you sensei." Izuku nodded, looking at Aizawa for a moment. The teacher had his eyes focused on the warp villain now.

Izuku fired up One for All and screamed: "Smash!"

The purple villain took the hit head on, and was sent flying, away from them, quite possibly out of the game.

But wait. That wasn't a hundred percent was it? Izuku let his arm fall to his side. He must have held it back somehow, because his arm wasn't broken. How? Or more importantly, why?

He just had to hope the hit was strong enough to knock the warp villain out, because he was a key player.

"Midoriya?" Izuku's head snapped to the side, frowning at Aizawa sensei who was trying to get up, but he was literally half dead, so he didn't quite succeed. But no matter how bad he looked, his eyes were sharp and fully aware. He was looking at Izuku, and even though his stare shared none of his thoughts, Izuku instinctively knew he was in trouble. Too bad he didn't care.

"Hey you, with the extra two arms, take Eraserhead to safety." He said instead.

The mentioned skeleton slowly turned around, and made its way towards Aizawa. The teacher, however, didn't have any of that. "Don't you dare Midoriya. You are in enough trouble as it is."

"I'm just trying to keep you safe?" Izuku half asked, tilting his head to the side.

"You were ordered to stay back."

"Yeah well, I'm sorry, next time I'll just grab some popcorn and watch you die. I don't have time for this. Skeleton, you don't have to take him to safety, but stay there, keep him safe. Or at least don't let him die."

Aizawa sensei seemed to have some other things to say, but Izuku promptly turned away and with an arm movement instructed his skeletons to attack.

They charged all at once, but one was immediately caught in the Shigaraki's grasp, and started to disintegrate.

And that had aftereffects that Izuku could never foresee. The pain was blinding, ripping through his head, and it felt as if a freaking train went straight through his face. Izuku screamed, clutching his head, at the exact same spot where the villain touched the skeleton. Thankfully, the other skeletons didn't stop. The villain was strong, yes, but he stood no chance against a whole army. A skeleton hit him in the stomach so hard he was sent flying.

Izuku shook his head, and stood up, wiping away the tears that collected in his eyes. "It seems I've learned something new today." He turned towards the half disintegrated skeleton. "Any damage to them, I feel it." He chuckled. "It sort of makes sense. They don't have nerve endings. I do. It's an exchange, but it's worth it."

He stepped to the half disintegrated skeleton, and put his hand on the remaining part of the skull. "You can go now. Thank you."

The skeleton fell apart, sinking back into the ground.

Izuku felt a sort of grief overtake him. He wasn't sure why. The skeleton was already dead. And yet, how dare that villain? How dare he hurt what's Izuku's?

"As strong as you seem to be, your weakness is just as bad." Shigaraki stood up, brushing the dirt off his clothes. "So all I have to do is this?" He jumped to a skeleton, and grabbed it by its arm.

Nothing happened.

"Eraserhead, you are really getting on my nerves you know. NOMU!" He stared at the beast. "Take care of him. KILL HIM ALREADY! FUCKING DO SOMETHI…." He didn't get to finish the sentence, as the skeleton standing in the grasp of Shigaraki gave off a clattering sound, and hit the man in the stomach with its full force. Needless to say, the villain did not enjoy that.

The Nomu seemed to have broken out of its stupor by the shout, and moved towards the teacher, who had his quirk activated, eyes on Shigaraki. Aizawa was still furious with Midoriya, but he would still protect him.

Four-arms (as Izuku nicknamed him) immediately went to counter the monster, with two additional skeletons stepping next to him.

It answered the Nomu's fist with its own. As it turned out, that wasn't a good idea, as Izuku could feel the pain of his bones shattering in his arm. Another skeleton attacked from behind, jumping on the villain and digging its hand in the monster's brain.

The Nomu reached up and grabbed it, but Four-arms used the opening to attack with its remaining three hands, while the other skeleton tried to help the one in the Nomu's grasp. It wasn't successful, and the skeleton was shattered in the middle.

Ouch.

But at least Four-arms managed to get in a few good hits in, making the Nomu stumble back. That was enough, and four to five skeletons jumped on the monster from behind, dragging him to ground. Once it was down, all the surrounding skeletons were beating it, tearing it apart by its flesh using their sharp bone fingers.

Meanwhile Izuku faced off against Shigaraki. The villain's eyes were wide, Izuku couldn't tell if he was intrigued or angry.

"Kid, are you sure about being a hero?" He asked, stepping closer. "If you come with us now, I'll forgive all the things you have done today. If you don't, I will kill you." His eyes were filled with wonder now. "And I'm going to enjoy it so much!"

"Kill me? How?" Izuku lifted his arms, as if challenging him. "Your quirk is erased, your beast is being torn apart, your portal guy took a sudden flight lesson, and the small fry you brought with you is indisposed of."

Izuku stepped closer to the villain, who stepped back. "You killed so many people, Shigaraki. I can see it in your eyes. And because of that, you are going to pay. It's time you went after them." He smiled. "I'll see you in hell."

He fired up One for All.

"MIDORIYA!" Somebody screamed. Izuku turned towards the noise, and there was Tsuyu, standing at the edge of the sairs, her eyes filled with…

Fear?

And for a moment, Izuku felt his heart stop. What? What is he doing? No he can't. He can't kill somebody.

Crash.

Izuku felt the pain rip through his body. He screamed, and fell to the ground.

Turning to the side, through the pain he saw the Nomu standing there, unharmed amidst broken skeletons. Unharmed. How was he unharmed? Izuku saw his flesh being ripped off. He saw it. What the actual hell?

And the Nomu was looking at Aizawa sensei, who was looking at Shigaraki, who…

Who had his hand on Izuku's head.

Well, shit.

Izuku willed his remaining skeletons to help, and they got Shigaraki off him and held him down, while Izuku collected all his power and made a dash towards the Nomu, firing up One for All again. He had to take care of that thing before it took care of Aizawa sensei.

But, at that moment, he felt his legs buckle under him, and his power seemed to suddenly just up and leave. What? What was going on? This wasn't supposed to happen, he was stronger than this. He was the strongest. He wasn't weak, why, why did he feel weak suddenly?

"No no no" Izuku muttered, but stayed on his feet, fighting the sudden tiredness that seemed to seep into his bones. If he didn't get rid of the Nomu, it would kill Aizawa sensei, and then the villains win.

But Izuku was so tired. Why was he so tired?

He won't make it.

In that moment, the door of USJ burst open, and right there, was All Might. And he wasn't smiling.

Izuku fell to his knees in relief, and his control slipped. All the power and confidence and strength drained out of him, and he was left there, kneeling on the ground, all alone. He was hurt, in pain, and mostly, he was disgusted. The scent of decay made his stomach churn, and he almost threw up once again. What did he do?

And more importantly… What did he almost do?

The next thing he knew, All Might was carefully lifting him and placing him in a spot farther from the villains. Then he grabbed Tsuyu and Mineta (Who were standing at the edge of the stairs now, eyes wide and uncomprehending), and placed them next to him.

Then he brought Aizawa to them as well.

"Don't worry." He said. "Because I am here."

Izuku, at that point, passed out.