MHA: Ground Zero

He raced forward, his body tight as he controlled his ascent. He only needed a clear picture of his surroundings before this was over.

From the sky, there really was no difference between this replica and a naturally deserted city. It felt almost scary, the type of budget UA had to get this done and repaired regularly.

His eyes locked on the trail of robots, smaller weak ones grouped together in packs. Canon fodder; victory through numbers.

Slightly larger ones patrolled in sets of three and the second biggest rolled around in pairs.

Only the biggest bots were separate, the school's new 'testing' bots commissioned by some new teacher. They all seemed to be equipped with long range rifles and were much more thickly plated than their weaker counter parts.

The school had refused to elaborate on what their purpose was, simply stating that they were a way of testing the more advanced students so of course these idiots would go for them first.

Well they were better made than the others at least, he figured as one of the testing bots sent multiple hero hopefuls through a wall with one hand while the other shot some type of taser round at a candidate with wings, plucking them out of the sky in an instant.

He felt his usual apathetic line stretch slightly into a lopsided grin, this would be fun.

XXXXXXXXXX

She kept her tired eyes glued to the screen, absolutely refusing to miss a detail when it came to the massacre on her monitor.

The blonde mid moved with barely a sound, his quirk propelling him into and through crowds like a hot knife through butter. Soundless explosions rang out, erasing robots from existence and pushing the stupid contestant out of danger when they overestimated themselves and waltzed their way into the melee.

He was a tornado of destruction, carefully focused into several explosive discs that wiped out the enemies in moments. Even the new advanced combat robots she'd asked to be included were wiped out in seconds. He was racking up points, and smiling while doing so, but she knew the look in those eyes.

She knew that apathy as another enemy, no; a target ceases to exist.

He was like her.

No, similar, but not the same.

She was made, molded to be the perfect weapon to keep tyrants in power in the hero industry.

He was simply born this way.

Disgust and relief coursed through her in equal measure.

Finally, she wasn't alone anymore.

"Contestant 237, I'll take him on."

XXXXXXX

She was visibly vibrating and she loved it.

Her excitement spilled over into her hypersonic words and rapid hand movements as she gushed about the exams she knew they had crushed to the visibly happy punk girl who usually didn't allow anything other than a small smile to show. Yet another reason to be happy.

She threw her hands wide under the amused gaze of her other bestie, only for it to be caught and held.

She knew those scars and calluses.

She closed her eyes and beamed up at her other friend throwing her arms around his neck in a hug as she happily continued her monologue.

Kachan always knew what to do, so he just let her get it out of her system as they walked to the train station. They were almost halfway home before she managed to calm down enough to fall asleep against him, exhausted by her own enthusiasm and the day's test.

When she woke up, she was surrounded by her family as they played a board game. Still seated next to her friends as the adults laughed at the game and themselves. She giggled happily as her mother reached across the small table to snatch her hands when they noticed she was awake.

"How'd it go sweetheart?! Kyochan refused to tell me anything other than that you did well before she went home to celebrate." Her mother's playful pout was interrupted by the smile twitching acros the edge of her lips, her eyes just as vibrant a green as her own shined in open mirth.

She was so grateful. For her family. For her best friend. Just to be here, surrounded by everyone she loved was a blessing. It was almost perfect, almost.

"It went fine, mom." Her mischievous smile made the hilarious pout of her mother collapse into giggles, her auntie's cackle and her uncle's small laugh warmed her heart. There was just one person missing, though. "Where's Kachan?"

"Went for a walk, said he had another headache."Her auntie managed to get past her laugh. Ah, those. Her best friend had always had nasty headaches after something big happened, it might be his way of processing things. Knowing him, he'd pushed himself a bit too hard destroying every robot on his site.

She was content, and nothing could ruin her day.

"Breaking News!"

The tv suddenly blared over the music they had playing in the background, catching their attention and keeping it as they froze, disbelief turning their tongues silent as a news crew stealthily surveyed the site of a group of villains attempting to kidnap a young girl.

Or at least that was the headline. All they could see were three men beaten within inches of their lives laying scattered across a freeway.

That in itself was out of the norm, however it was the person holding said girl that shook them.

"Our sources have managed to confirm that these criminals attacking those two children do in fact belong to the Eight Precepts of Death, a yakuza organization thought to have been disbanded years ago under the combined efforts of All Might, Endeavor, and several other pro heroes."

He was bloody, his pants were darkened with blood and littered with rips and tears. His face was set firmly in his 'out of the way or die' phase and his eyes were a dark red. One hand cradled the small child to his collar while the other tightened into a white knuckled fist; blood and bone matter absolutely covering the appendage.

Well shit.

'Oh, he's pissed.' She managed to note as such behind a well of panic, desperately hoping for any way to salvage the situation. Auntie seemed to know how to summarize the situation quite nicely.

"Oh god, my son's gonna go to jail for triple homicide."

All Might. She needed to call All Might. Her numb hands reached out for her phone, only for it to slip through her clumsy fingers, once, twice, got it.

Kachan couldn't be a hero if he was thrown in jail for murdering a bunch of villains the night after taking the exams!

XXXXXXX

Katsuki was not happy.

After letting Izu exhaust herself, carrying her home, then walking Kyo home, and walking away from her house under the unimpressed eyes of her father and the amused gaze of her mother in the doorway, which the fuck was that about?

Anyway he'd called his Ma and said he'd be gone for a walk and that he'd be back for dinner or when Izu woke up. She'd laughed at him too and hung up, his confusion was slowly turning into a headache that added to his frustration, and not in a good way.

After walking for an hour or so, he'd decided to make his way home under the starry night sky, relaxed for the first time in about a week. The nerd and punk had been stressing about the written exam and had stressed him out in turn as they reviewed the material over and over.

As he made to turn around, he felt a slight weight collide with his back along with a small oof.

Turning around, he locked eyes with another pair of red outside of his mom for the first time in his life.

The first thing that came to mind was unicorns considering the one horn and white hair.

The second was confusion at the absolute terror in her eyes.

The third was anger when he saw the bloody bandages covering her arms, legs, and neck.

However none of those things would help right now, so he let his face soften a small bit under the innocent rubies of hers, dispersing a good deal of the fear. He slowly crouched down to be closer to her and offered her one of his palms while keeping the other in her line of sight.

"You ok?" His question made her jump, her eyes rapidly flickering between his hand and eyes. She was like a small scared rabbit, in some way reminding him a bit of Izu way back when.

He'd help her just for that.

Eventually she managed to shakily reach out and hold his hold. Fear bled slightly into terrified hope as he gently tugged them both upright. Katsuki tried to take better stock of where the blood was coming from, however the sound of a bottle breaking made his head snap to the alley the small girl just ran out of where three men made their way towards him, no; they only had eyes for the kid.

One in a white trench coat and hood with a beak mask, plague doctor style. There was a lanky man with a white burlap mask. And then there was the jacked man with the same type of mask wearing a ripped white shirt.

"Hey kid, hand over the girl yeah?" The jacked behemoth said, his hand tightening into fists and his voice took on a gleeful tone. "Wouldn't want anyone to get hurt, right?" Katsuki could feel the derision dripping fromt he last statement.

He looked down at the girl, only to see hope die an ugly death, and for her eyes to hollow out, devoid of anything other than acceptance.

That hit too close to home, he'd deal with the pricks in a moment.

Slowly lifting her to settle against his chest, he made sure to keep his eyes locked onto her own. He waited until acceptance became confusion before speaking.

"What's your name, kid?"

"Hey kid, I'm talking to you?! Answer me when I speak, you little shit!" He ignored the blabber of the background character; he was already dead, his body just needed a reminder.

…

"Eri."

Life had returned to her eyes, innocence and utter confusion mixing beautifully with her ruby gaze. She'd grow up to be gorgeous one day, he knew it in his bones.

"Katsuki."

"Alrighty then, hero. You should have walked away, don't worry though, I'll make sure you die like a real man."

"Do you want to come with me?"

Her eyes couldn't get any wider, her hands were locked against his shirt, and her mouth opened and closed again and again. Her confusion had finally broken her, and it was adorable.

Well, it would be if she wasn't crying.

Her eyes clenched shut as she buried her head into the crook of his neck. She was sobbing, gasps rocked her small frame. Her hands were shaking from how tight she was holding onto him.

His mouth twisted into a wordless snarl, waiting for the go ahead for the second time today, ready to let loose in a way that was all too human and yet inhumane.

He decided to take a gamble, after all, the only thing he could possibly be charged with was vigilantism, and that only applied if he used his quirk.

"Please…" It was all she could get out over her endless tears. A large fist was suddenly in his face, ready to reduce him to paste and take the girl in his arms back to whatever hell she'd managed to escape from.

The first punch was thrown.

It was all the excuse he needed.

XXXXXXXXX

The kid sidestepped the first straight jab, ducked under the following hook, and spun around the clumsy tackle of the burlap man. He stepped into the next half hearted punch from the large man, using him as a shield from the hair arrows(?) coming at him.

Only one managed to hit, however it seemed to slow the big guy down if his next punch was anything to go by. His first flew out, nailing the burlap bitch in his open mouth, blood flowed freely from his gums however his teeth held up surprisingly well.

Another sidestep and the big man's fist fixed that issue well enough for the both of them.

As the comically large mouthful of teeth scattered into the air, his own fist snapped up, knocking the big guy away from him. The arrows came again, this time ripping through the trench guy's hood surrounding him in a dome.

Katsuki made a small annoyed noise in the back of his head and took another gamble. His foot cratered itself into the ground, launching himself just between the first and second layer of projectiles. He was on the blue haired trench coat idiot in a heartbeat, his fist but a moment away from his face when the first of dozens of punches rammed into his exposed side.

Only the one made it through, using one arm to shield the girl and the other to grab the abnormally large fist, Katauki managed to leverage himself parallel to the ground and slam his foot right into the big bastard's throat.

He jumped back, racing around yet more projectiles, ignoring the slices that appeared from the combined air pressure. The asshole was still locked into the same place, probably meaning he couldn't move while using his quirk.

Let's test that.

He waited until the next volley of arrows was infront of his face before kicking a rock the size of his palm at the fuckers forehead, and when the arrows disappeared as the man threw himself out of the way, he smiled.

This would be fun.

The next few minutes were a blur; between the big man eating all of his punches and asking for thirds, the lanky burlap fuck that kept trying to eat him with no fucking teeth(what the hell?!), and the arrow bitch, he was finally being pushed to the edge.

And he fucking loved it.

Every jab was blocked with his free hand, slapped aside, or sidestepped entirely. Every reckless charge was punished, putting his enemies in each other's way at every opportunity and watching the rage at themselves and him growing spectacularly was cathartic.

It was too bad it had to end.

He was loving all the free therapy…

Eventually, everything began to slow down. They weren't tanking his punches anymore, weren't getting up as fast. The blue haired fuck had even tried to pull a gun on him only to find another rock kissing his temple complimented by a broken nose from the headbut that laid him out.

…And the way the girl's teary eyes shined brighter with every blow he landed was nice too.

Eventually, all that was left conscious was the big man himself. His eyes were wide open and his newly freed mouth was split in a demented grin.

"That's the way, kid!", he roared as he threw countless punches, Katsuki only barely managing to keep a step ahead of the assault now that his opponent's speed had seemingly been restored. "This is the way a man should be!!! Just him, his fist, and his power against the world!!!"

Laughter echoed around as Katsuki led him on a merry chase away from the wide sidewalk that served as their battleground and into the empty intersection, not bothering to see if anyone was watching, he'd spotted the reporter and cameraman a good while ago. Cops would be all over them any second now, he needed to end this fight soon.

"You've pushed your quirk to the edge, haven't you?! It's amazing what the human body can do if you master it, right?!" The hits were slowing just a bit, going for a blistering pace instead of bullets, until his hands were held at the ready, laughter boiling from his throat in a mockery of a normal man's purest joy. "What type of quirk do you got anyway?"

Katsuki was quiet, as he had been from the start, allowing his eyes to reflect his emotions better than his words ever could, his breath rattled against what he guessed were either. "Nitroglycerin sweat, and you?"

The big man froze for a second before his teeth clenched and he snarled. "Don't lie to me kid, that's not what men do, especially in a fight like this. What's your quirk?! Some type of physical booster or speed enhancement? What is it, kid!?"

Katsuki was starting to get annoyed, so rather than continue the pointless conversation, he opted to wipe the sweat from his cheek and flick it at the ground hard enough for detonation.

The older man's face was hilarious.

"Well, shit."

Indeed.

He was starting to get bored again.

It was time to end this.

The ground shattered under his feet, he was in his opponent's guard again, flying up with a knee to the man's jaw.

A fist met his left rib cage, launching him at the wall. He landed feet first, jumping up to avoid the right jab that rocked the building behind the boy.

His fist met the large man's cheek, willing to take the left hook to his face as an exchange.

They were separated yet again, both heaving for air.

Katsuki's mouth twisted into an inhuman snarl, his voice echoing in the boxer's ears as the teenager appeared inside his guard yet again, this time his fist aimed lower.

The large man's right knee snapped with a horrible sound, it took the man but a moment to get his hands back up. Time Katsuki took advantage of to ram his elbow into his throat, the first of many hits to make it past the yakuza's forearms, setting the tone for the next twenty seconds of endless pain for the man.

The teenager refused to stop, not until his knuckles were almost stripped to the bone. Not until his fist was covered in the older man's blood. Not until he finally felt the man's jaw snap under his fingers.

His ragged breath was all that could be heard for a time. The man froze on his knees with his hand raised as if to continue. They remained as such until Katsuki lightly put his foot to the man's chest and gently pushed, knocking him onto his back where he stayed.

All he could feel was the tightness of his broken hand. The aching in his lungs and muscles. The roar of blood echoing in his ears, matching the tempo of his racing heart.

The small hand on his chest grounded him, letting him pull out of the adrenaline fueled mindset he'd adopted.

The girl was safe.

She would be alright.

Izu and Kyo would love her to bits, his parents and Auntie would help break her out of her shell. They'd make room in their home for her.

Now if only she'd stop crying her eyes out, the world would be right again.

"I AM HERE, YOUNG MAN!"

Oh great, skeletor was here.