Waking up wasn't like you would expect it to be. It wasn't fast, nor was it sudden. Regaining consciousness was painfully slow. It came in waves. He'd go in and out of it, each time relatively easier than the last. He felt his head sway as his eyes fluttered open, finally focusing on his surroundings.

His body felt like it was on fire, his nerves lit with a constant agonizing ache. He thought he knew pain, thought he'd gotten used to it by now. Oh, how wrong he was.

Somehow, while he was unconscious, they moved his body to some kind of cell. He was no longer tied to a chair, instead, he was chained to the ceiling. His feet barely touching the ground as he forced himself to stand on his tip-toes in order to relieve the pressure from his shoulders.

He cringed as he realized that these chains too were equipped with a shock system. Or at least that's what he assumed they were. They were bulkier than normal shackles. And had a red dot blinking every few seconds.

His face scrunched up in disgust as the scent of the room hit him at full force. An omnipresent scent of blood hanging in the air. He didn't want to know the events that conspired here for that to happen.

He tried summoning One for All. To his dismay and fear, the quirk was still unresponsive to his calls. They must have given him another dose. Knowing All for One, it was logical. He wasn't even sure he could do anything even if he had his powers right now. He was just so tired and his arms still throbbed from the fresh breaks.

Footsteps could be heard through the cell door. A clicking sound, that he associated with his mother's heels. His pulse rose with each step she took, the closer she got the louder the ringing in his ears sounded. His mind screamed at him to move, to fight, to run. Yet, he remained perfectly still. A deer caught in the headlights.

The lock clicks with a resounding clang and door opens with a hiss. His mom walks into the room, her posture is relaxed as if there's nothing wrong with the situation he's in.

He keeps his expression neutral, at least he hopes it is. On the outside, he seemed calm, a great contrast to the inner turmoil he's feeling. Showing signs of fear now would only serve to egg her on.

They make eye contact, and her eyes narrow dangerously. "Think you can obey me now, Izuku?" Her tone is disgustingly sweet. It's the voice of someone talking to a child.

Silence follows her question and her face briefly twists into a sneer. Although she quickly regains her bearings, he knows he's on a thin line. "hmm, it looks like you still haven't learned your lesson. Oh well, you will soon. Let's have some fun first, shall we?" She sighs in fake disappointment as her features twist into a sickly wide grin.

The pain hits him at full force, it's the worst he's felt, yet. The shock lasted longer than the previous ones. His vision turns white as all his mind registers, is the pain- PAIN- PAIN.

It ends after what feels like a lifetime, yet he's sure that it wasn't more than a couple of minutes at most. His throat feels raw, no doubt from the gut-wrenching scream that spilled unwillingly from his mouth. His shoulders ache from the pressure he pressed into them while his body convulsed.

"Don't look so pale, Izu... We're barely getting started." There it is. That grin again. It makes him want to throw up.

She presses the remote in her hand again.

He doesn't know how long he can last. He hopes it will end soon.

________________________

He doesn't know what happened, he doesn't remember most of it. Yet, he can't seem to erase the image from his mind. Deku, being taken away by the warp gate. His mind flashes back to the exact moment he knew that everything was over. The exact moment he realized what was happening. The moment the world seemed to come crashing down around them.

It wasn't until a little while later that he found out what Deku did. The nerd sacrificed himself to save him. Him. Bakugou Katsuki, the guy that spent most of his life actively making his life a living hell.

He didn't understand. He couldn't understand why Izuku would go to such lengths to save him. They'd talked things out, yes. However, it didn't mean that everything that happened between them was going to vanish into thin air. Bakugou still needed to redeem himself.

He was supposed to start looking out for him. He scoffs at himself. Number one hero... He couldn't even save himself. It was his fault that Deku was gone. He'd be damned if he didn't do everything in his power to get him back.

It was later on, when Kirishima and Shinsou came to his room, that he found out that maybe, it wasn't just wishful thinking.

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"What's the plan shitty hair" Bakugou knew that it was going to be risky, going after the league. Yet he didn't care.

Here he stood, Yaoyorozu, Kirishima, Todoroki, Iida, and Shinsou standing in front of him. Turns out, Yaoyorozu managed to put a tracker on the Nomu back at the camp. They had a location and they were going to check it out. It was risky and stupid, but if it meant that they'd save Midoriya it was worth it.

Iida was opposed to the idea at first, it was against the rules and straight up illegal for them to do this. However, in the end, he decided that he'd go with them. Bakugou guessed that for all his talk about his class president duties, he wanted Midoriya to be safe just as much as the rest of them.

"Remember guys, we can't fight. We go in, get Midoriya and get out as fast as we can." Kirishima responded, shuffling from foot to foot. A nervous gesture that was getting on his nerves. "We need to go tonight, it's already been two days since they took him." The redhead finished grimly.

"How are we supposed to infiltrate a villain's hideout without having to fight?" The kid from the general education class asked. Shinsou, if he remembered correctly. He feels guilty for letting Midoriya get kidnapped that night. He can see it in his eyes. After all, he's seen that look too many times in his own reflection.

Todoroki who has been quiet this whole time, finally speaks up.

"We don't have a choice. We need to be stealthy. The teachers are having a press conference tonight, and if it all goes well... we'll have the distraction we need." His tone was colder than usual. Bakugou still remembers the piercing scream he let out that night.

They decided to take the train to Kamino, the tracking device Yaoyorozu made points to the location.

Silence settles on the group as they prepare themselves for whatever they're going to face.

Bakugou just hopes they won't be too late.

_____________________________

"I- I am n-not going t-to listen to y-you a-anymore" He panted heavily through gritted teeth. His eyes burned with tears he tried so hard to hold back. His whole body ached, the pain no longer located in a specific area. It felt as though every inch of his body was on fire.

"Oh, honey..." His mother cooed darkly, her voice sending shivers running down his spine. "You think you have a choice?" She laughed dryly, the sound echoing through the cell. "I guess this isn't working... Electricity isn't enough." She looked thoughtful, her voice light as if she wasn't talking about the torture of her own son. "Maybe we need to go back to our old ways, don't you think so Izuku-kun?" She leaned towards him, her eyes boring into him. Her gaze making his skin crawl.

Izuku gulped at the memory of her old punishments. There was a reason he had nightmares every time he tried to close his eyes.

Too caught up in his past, he didn't notice his mother leaving until the cell's door clicked shut with a thud.

He couldn't even be relieved because not a moment later the door swung open again. This time, she wasn't alone. Just a few steps behind her stood two villains. He recognized them from the camp attack. The taller one was Compress, if he remembered correctly. He was the one who took Bakugou. Right next to him, stood the lizard guy.

"Sensei wants to talk to him first." The man stated quietly, ignoring him and opting to address his mother instead. His tone was less boisterous from what he remembered it to be. He supposes that it's part of the act they put up.

The lizard guy did quick work of freeing him of the chains that were previously suspending him. The moment his hands were free, he felt his legs give out from under him. He crumbled to the ground, his body too tired and in pain to respond to his mind. His shoulders throbbed agonizingly as he moved them for the first time in a while. He was sure they were going to be ripped out of their sockets if he stayed chained up for a longer time.

The villain didn't seem perturbed in the least, as if he was expecting it. He lifted him up, his movement gentler then he expected them to be. "Come on Spinner we don't have all day." Compress seemed much more comfortable in practically dragging his body down the hall with him.

To his surprise, the lizard guy- Spinner, his mind corrected- didn't stay quiet.

"Hey, this kid was praised and recognized as a true hero by Stain himself! Show some respect! We need to keep him alive." He didn't know how to feel about the guy.

They reach a door at the end of the dark corridor before Compress could answer.

Crossing the threshold, they were greeted by the bar he was previously tied up in. The room had more people than the previous time he was there. Multiple pairs of eyes turned towards him, some of them threatening and some of them seemed indifferent. Compress and Spinner motioned for him to stand in the middle of the room, he was too tired to argue.

Shigaraki sat at the bar, Dabi and Kurogiri just a few steps next to him.

Sighing loudly, Shigaraki pressed the screen to his right. It lit up in just a few seconds, the monitor coming to life in a display of bright and shimmering light. The static once again resounding through the room.

"Young Midoriya" All for One greeted "I hope your stay here wasn't too unpleasant." He continued lightly, there was smugness in his tone. "Did you perhaps change your mind about our proposal?" Izuku internally debated if it was worth it to just smash the monitor to pieces and be done with the conversation.

Straightening up to the best of his abilities, he faced the villains head on. "I think you know my answer. I think you've known from the start." He couldn't help but feel proud of the way his voice didn't waver despite the bone-deep pain and exhaustion that has settled on his body. His eyes shone with resolution and grim acceptance.

"Very well, I knew it was going to be hard to persuade you. Nonetheless, nothing is impossible Midoriya, you are living proof of that. You, a quirkless nobody, was chosen to wield this power. It intrigues me..." He was quiet for a few seconds, yet, when he spoke, his voice was darker, his tone serious and grave. "Yet, know this. No matter how strong you may think you are, you can only bend so far before you break and believe me when I say this... I will break you."The villain's words seemed to echo through the room.

All for one seemed to have more to say. Still, Izuku didn't let him finish. The villain's words were cut off by an icy laugh, the sound broken and so wrong. "You see All for one... You're wrong" He chuckled to himself again, his tone was dark and held a heavy sadness to it.

"How dare you!" Shigaraki seethed from his place near the bar, Kurogiri instantly moving to hold him back from attacking. The rest of the villains looked shell-shocked. After all, here he was, powerless, standing in front of the greatest villain of all time and laughing.

"How so" The villain scuffed unperturbed by Tomura's outburst, his voice was laced with sarcasm and disinterest.

"You say you're going to break me..." Izuku doubted the villain could see him through the screen, nonetheless, he mustered the biggest smile he had. It didn't reach his eyes. "but even you can't break what's already broken."

A heavy silence settled over the room, the quiet could be broken by the sound of a needle falling to the ground.

It was a few moments later that All for One spoke again, he wasn't addressing Izuku this time.

"You know what to do, Compress."

Izuku expected many things, he expected pain, he expected suffering. Yet, what he didn't expect was to suddenly be taken to a dark room. The space was cramped and it felt as if the oxygen was being sucked out of his lungs. The space around him was painfully similar to the dark room his mother used to put him in. The refrigerator she used to lock him up inside. He was stuck in what felt like an endless back hole. His whole world was shrouded in darkness and misery. Was this compress's quirk? Was he being held in one of those marbles he saw back at camp? He could feel his heart hammering against his chest and no matter how many times he tried to convince himself that this wasn't the dark room, he couldn't help but let the panic rise within him. It was getting harder and harder to breathe. He wanted to get out of this, wanted to escape. He wanted to scream but no sound would come out, wanted to cry but no tears would flow.

He didn't know how much time passed, how long he stayed there, curled up on himself and praying for it to stop. It couldn't have been more than a few minutes but it felt like an eternity before they let him out.

The world spun around him and he found himself once again at the bar. He panted heavily as he tried to regain his bearing, finally able to breathe again.

"I see that you were right Mrs. Midoriya. This does seem to work." The villain's voice cut through his thoughts, a brutal reminder of his situation. "What a shame Young Midoriya, you should have agreed when you had the chance... Do it again Compress."

"No..." Izuku whispered, desperation and fear tinged his voice. Darkness once again enveloped him. It was eating away at him, as though every ounce of life and determination was being sucked away from him.

It took longer this time for them to let him out, he crumbled to the floor again. His heart threatening to jump right out of his chest. He was borderline hyperventilating right now, the panic attack he was trying to suppress throughout this whole experience finally bursting to the surface. The world around him was muted as if he was being plunged under water.

He could barely make out the voices of people arguing.

"You can't do this to him! Stain deemed him worthy! You're going to kill him!" A voice exclaimed.

"Shut up Spinner! Don't you dare mention that Idiot here." Shigaraki retorted, distaste evident in his tone.

"Idiot?! Stain wasn't- "

"Stop this at once!" The now familiar voice of All for one cut through the fight. The villains instantly stopping their arguing. "Midoriya..." He began addressing him once again. "You can stop this you know? You can put an end to your suffering. All you need to do is give me One for All." His voice was sweet, inviting. It made his guts churn. "Give it to me and I can make all the pain go away." His mind screamed at him to agree, to just make it stop. Make the pain end. But this was what they wanted right? This was what All for one wanted from him all along. To make him give up. He wouldn't do that. He wasn't going to let All might down.

...Even if it meant dying in the process.

As if All for One could read his line of thought, he sighed loudly. "Let him stay a while longer this time Compress"

Izuku doesn't know how much more of this he could take.