No Choice |VILLAIN!DEKU|

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Izuku had fixed it; he had fixed everything. His friends were standing up dazed, confused, and maybe slightly terrified but they were okay. The army was gone, his friends and the heroes were alive, and the school was still standing.

"If you tried to fix this entire war, I'm not sure if you will ever have existed. If you manage to even survive that, any wounds you heal will be given to you twice as much."

The teen stood still for a moment. Had he avoided the consequences?

Then it happened.

Izuku's spine was suddenly contorting, his bones were snapping and shattering in the places where they had managed to avoid being destroyed during the fight. Stab wounds he did not remember having opened all across his body.

A hole opened in Izuku's stomach, as though it had been pierced.

Izuku faintly wondered how it was possible to feel so much pain. He didn't hear his screams and he didn't see his eyes which were screaming just as loudly.

Those are what haunt my nightmares to this day. Not the battle itself and not the deaths I saw. Those were somewhat peaceful compared to the horror of what happened to Izuku that day. It was awful.

No, it was more than that. It was devastating.

I thank whatever higher power that might exist that he lost consciousness before he could feel the rest of his battle wounds.

Izuku was back in his bedroom. There was no more pain, just being. He was peaceful again.

Suzu stood there, standing right where he was before.

"Why are you in my mind?"

"Shit, kid, do you always ask the hard questions?" Suzu laughed.

Izuku shrugged. "Do you always enter other people's mindscapes?"

"Touché. Do you really wanna know?"

Izuku sat down in his desk chair, his face determined. "Yes. I need to know what happened to me."

"Okay, if you insist." Suzu lowered himself back onto Izuku's bed and cleared his throat. "Well, when I was younger I wanted to be a hero. My father didn't let me so I ran away." Suzu looked at Izuku and grimaced ruefully. "You've already heard that whole story. Yes, I was there for that," he acknowledged Izuku's look of surprise. "Let me finish."

"Anyways, I ran away from home, like an idiot, and I tried my hand at being a vigilante."

"Isn't that ill-"

"Yes, it is illegal. Will you let me finish? I wanted to help people and I couldn't get into school so I became a vigilante. I was actually really good at it. I was doing what I wanted - helping people." Suzu leveled a meaningful look at Izuku. Izuku had no idea why he was looking at him like that. "I got too cocky one time. I wasn't careful enough and I fucked up. I got hurt and I was vulnerable." The older teen was angry now. "He found me bleeding in an alley and took me to his lab. There were other people there. People with quirks he thought were useful. He would pay the scientists to experiment on us, take our quirks away, and give them to him. Then he heard about you."

"Me?"

"Yes, you. He learned that his son was Quirkless and he couldn't stand for that. So he took you when you were young and brought you to his lab. He took a few of us - including me - and implanted our quirks in you. But something went wrong. The quirks he chose for you twisted and combined. He wanted to give you a few different and somewhat powerful quirks but instead you got one awful, powerful quirk. That's why you could heal faster than normal."

"He took our quirks away from us and he killed us. But he didn't just take away our quirks. Quirks are a part of who we are; they are a part of our being. He took away who we are as a person right before we died and he put it straight into you." Suzu's eyes were haunted, swirling with too many emotions to categorize. "We were not pleasant people in death. We were in pain. We were scared, angry, and hurt. We sat in your mind and we waited until you were ready. Then we activated and we tried to make you feel the anger and fear that we did. Misery loves company." Suzu smiled apologetically at Izuku. "Sorry, I was in a bad place."

"It's fine." Izuku wasn't really sure it was fine but he went along with it anyways.

"Then you started talking to my father. I realized that I didn't want to be like this then next thing I know I'm sitting in your mind bedroom and pulling my hair when you make stupid decisions."

"Hey! I don't do that all the time."

Suzu raised an eyebrow at Izuku in disbelief.

"Okay, maybe I do sometimes."

"Yeah you fucking do. You owe that poor Todoroki kid an apology for walking out on him the morning after you kiss the guy. He obviously likes you, by the way."

"I- What do you- I don't-" Izuku felt his face heat immensely, but he quickly sobered himself. "It's not like I'll see him again. I'm dying. Or am I dead? Is this the afterlife? Also, I killed his dad."

"Endeavor isn't dead."

"What?"

"Endeavor isn't dead. They killed him, but he isn't dead. You literally completely righted the world. You fixed all the problems and general abnormalities we caused. Endeavor is alive. He's probably in jail and freaked out, but other than that he's fine." The older teen shrugged.

"How is he in jail?"

"Think of it as an apology present." Suzu winked. "The police are also confused but all the paperwork is in order and the villain is in for life."

"Oh." Izuku wasn't sure what to say. This was all so... confusing. "I'm glad? I wish I could explain to Shoto. He's probably upset."

The look on Suzu's face became serious. "Izuku. Do you want to die?"

"I... what? No?"

Suzu pressed. "Do you want to go back even if you don't have your powers? You won't have One for All and you won't be bending anymore reality. You'll be normal. Would you want to live like that?"

"I... yes. I want to apologize to Shoto and I want to spend time with my mom. I want to make sure my friends and All Might and everyone else in my life is okay. I want to be able to spend time with the people I care about."

The other teen smiled. It was a real smile, bright and genuine - it was the first time Izuku saw a look like that on his face. "Good answer. That's all I needed to hear."

Then Suzu began to radiate light and energy that filled every corner of the room.

Izuku certainly had not been expecting that. "What are you doing?"

Suzu smiled again. He looked at peace. "I'm giving you the chance I never had."

The room began to fade again, but Suzu's light never dimmed. This time it felt final. Izuku knew he would never see Suzu again. The younger teen threw himself at the older one and engulfed him in a hug. "Thank you," Izuku murmured into his chest.

Izuku could feel the laughter bubbling in Suzu's stomach. "You shouldn't thank me, kid. I kinda helped make your life a living hell."

Izuku held on tighter. "Well thank you anyway."

Suzu wrapped his arms around Izuku in response. "Ha, no problem. Hey," Suzu pulled away slightly, just enough so that Izuku could see his face, and asked, "could you do me a favor? Tell my old man I love him. And I'm sorry."

"Yeah, I think I can do that." Izuku beamed. "I can definitely do that."

Izuku's last memory of Suzu was a happy one. He remembered the look of pure tranquility on his face as he finally let go, ready to move on, the warmth and solidness of Suzu's hug as he faded away, and he remembered the sound of relieved laughter right before he had completely faded away.

Then Izuku woke up.