Chapter 1: Young Heroes

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After a long day of trying to keep up with Endeavor, Midoriya pours over his notes in the agency's gym with Todoroki at his side. He was so enamored in his analysis that he didn't hear footsteps approaching.

"What are you two idiots still doing here?"

Midoriya looked up to see Bakugou, water dripping off his hair. Midoriya smiled with a high pitched tone as he said, "We were waiting for you to finish your shower, Kacchan!"

Bakugou grimaced, and with his usual abruptness shouted, "I don't need you two to wait on me!"

Todoroki spoke calmly. "We thought it'd be nice to walk back together."

"Nice, my ass!" Bakugou shouted, as he turned towards the exit. "Whatever. Let's go."

"Right!" Midoriya jumped up with Todoroki following behind him.

The training with Endeavor was hard, but Midoriya never felt happier. Bakugou had finally calmed down since their battle over All Might's retirement. They still didn't have a calm relationship by any means. They were closer to rivals than friends, but Midoriya was happy Bakugou didn't hate him. As for Todoroki, he was quickly becoming Midoriya's best friend. They were comfortable and trusted each other. Unlike Bakugou, Todoroki's presence could easily calm Midoriya's anxieties.

As they walked through the agency's dorm hallways, they heard many sidekicks gossiping about the recent attacks in and around the city. Villains and accidents were at an all-time high. Confusion and worry filled the halls.

Todoroki broke the silence between the three, saying, "Ever since All Might retired, crime has skyrocketed..."

"Yeah, but it doesn't make sense that the crime rate is rising in the new #1 Hero's city," pondered Midoriya. Wouldn't they prefer to commit crimes in areas with weaker heroes? At least, that's how Midoriya thought they would start out. It wasn't that long ago that Endeavor defeated an enhanced Nomu.

"The fact that even my father can't keep up, must mean this isn't just about the number of crimes. It's also about the experience level of the villains involved."

"Do you think it could be... the league of villains?" asks Midoriya, his face clouding over.

"Who cares?!" Screams Bakugou as he stomped his way ahead. "I'm getting faster and will surpass Endeavor soon! Then, I'll take them all down!"

"Kacchan, we're inside, and everyone is staring..." pleaded Midoriya, as he sent an apologetic smile to the surrounding sidekicks.

"Like I care!!!" Bakugou opened his bedroom door as Midoriya and Todoroki raced to catch up.

"Oh- Goodnight, Kacchan!" Midoriya looked up at Bakugou with a big smile.

"Oi! Your face makes me sick!" Bakugou stood there, bewildered by Midoriya's resilience to his insults. "...Whatever." He enters his room and slams the door behind him.

Todoroki starts to walk to his room a couple doors down. He turns back towards Midoriya with a kind smile. "Be sure to get a good night's rest, Midoriya."

Midoriya smiled as he responded for Todoroki to rest well. The three turned in for the night just like any other day, fulfilled and excited to push themselves the next day. Each quickly drifted off to sleep, while others schemed throughout the night, preparing and anticipating the upcoming day.

The next morning was filled with fights and rescues. Midoriya and his friends pushed themselves to catch up to Endeavor. As they discussed the previous night, the city had several emergencies erupting all at once. This day was the worst they'd ever seen. Even Endeavor was being pushed to his limits.

Crimes were being committed, buildings were destroyed across huge areas, and citizens were panicking. The entire team had been assessing the damage from a building collapse when a flash lit the sky as a skyscraper across the city exploded. The top started sliding off as Endeavor jetted away, calling back to boys.

"You finish up here!"

Todoroki kept falling debris in place with his ice as Bakugou and Midoriya rescued anyone they could find in the building. The deeper they ventured, the more damage they found. Hearing a faint voice, they ran further in. A young woman was lying beneath a pile of rubble, struggling to move. Midoriya quickly pulled what he could off her, as Todoroki froze the ceiling in place.

"Don't worry! We'll get you out of here. Does anything hurt, miss?" Deku gently asked the woman as he softly touched her hand.

The woman looked up at him and smiled, "Oh, Izuku, you're so kind."

Midoriya paused, and she grabbed his arm, pulling him down to her level. Her face twisted into a smile.

"You're so handsome too!"

"Hands off!" Bakugou flew in and separated the two with an explosion.

"Kacchan! What if you had hurt her?!"

"Idiot, can't you tell she's not a normal civilian?!"

Midoriya looked over at the girl, now standing on top of the rubble, her twisted smile melting off her face. Literally. The entire face melted off, revealing Toga.

"So, these emergencies really are connected to the league of villains!"

Before Midoriya could assess the situation, he and his teammates were surrounded. Among the villains were Toga, Spinner, Dabi, and Compress. Despite Toga's only ability being able to morph into people, she was no slouch with a knife. Like Toga, Spinner was comfortable with his blades, multiple blades. Dabi probably had the most powerful amongst all of them. His flames could instantly incinerate several people at once.

The young heroes knew to survive they needed to keep watch on the three battle ready villains. However, although Compress wasn't a fighter, he was still a part of the group surrounding them. His ability to compress things into a marble sized object had proven its usefulness when they kidnapped Bakugou several months prior. His cunning was the most worrisome issue facing the trio.

"We're surrounded," Todoroki calmly stated as the three put their backs together.

"I can see that, dumbass!" Shouted Bakugou, before showing off a competitive smirk, "But we can take 'em."

With as many emergencies across the city there were, the three young heroes had been separated from not only Endeavor but all of his sidekicks as well. They were on their own. Even with Bakugou's confidence and his rare use of the word 'we,' Midoriya wasn't sure if they could take on these four.

"Oh! I can't wait anymore!" Toga screamed out in excitement as she rushed the boys, the other three villains following suit. "Izuku! Let me drink your blood!"

Midoriya managed to dodge her attack before Spinner jumped towards Midoriya as well, but Bakugou intercepted Spinner with an explosion. Todoroki was fending off Dabi with his ice, hoping to calm Dabi's flames, but they were too hot. The ice could not keep up. Dabi was a difficult villain to deal with when two of Midoriya's teammates also dealt with fire type quirks. Spinner mostly attacks with blades instead of a quirk, similar to Toga and her syringes. Wait, Midoriya thought. That was only three. Where did Compress go? Midoriya looked around and saw Compress sprinting towards Todoroki.

Midoriya put all 20% of One For All into his legs to jump towards Compress and kick him away. To Midoriya's surprise, Compress turned into a dark mud, and before anyone caught on Midoriya disappeared. Todoroki spun around looking for Midoriya, only to be singed with Dabi's flames and had to back off. Bakugou tried to attack Toga again but was surprised when she turned into a dark mud all on her own, same with Spinner and Dabi. Compress was nowhere to be seen anymore.

"Where'd they go?!" Shouted Bakugou as he punched a wall down.

"No- Where's Midoriya?"

"Deku?" Bakugou looked around but didn't see the nerd anywhere.

"You don't think-"

Both Bakugou and Todoroki came to the chilling realization that... Midoriya was gone.

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