Chapter Text
Katsuki just barely managed to recover from Deku’s throw, blasting an AP shot that at the very least should have grazed him—if it wasn’t for that fucking blinding light that appeared out of nowhere!
“What the hell, Deku? I thought you’d already unlocked all your damn quirks!” He shouted into the void, blocking out the light with his forearm. Nitro-infused sweat dripped down his face, his sides, his back. A drop fell to the floor from the tip of his nose, and Katsuki swore he almost heard it. The silence was deafening.
The freckled nerd didn’t answer.
“Deku!” His heart started accelerating, the beat echoing in his eardrums, drowning out all outside sound.
Did something happen to the nerd?
Did the AP shot knock him out?
The light was still bright as hell.
“Deku, you fucker, answer me! Where are you?!”
There was a choking sound followed by a low growl. “What the hell did you call me, Kacchan?”
Katsuki froze. That was Deku’s voice, but it sounded...different. Also, the guy would never speak to him like that.
“Deku?”
He lowered his forearm apprehensively, blinking away the spots in his vision caused by the brightness.
“Will you not answer your omega?” Deku’s voice questioned, seemingly affronted by the blond’s words.
“Omega? What-?” His sight cleared, and he took in the torch-lit image before him. Sure, that was Deku, just not the Deku he had grown up with.
This Izuku was older with bronzed skin that was marked with tattoos that rivaled the prominence of his scars.
Katsuki felt like he couldn’t breathe, his vision spotting here and there. What the hell was going on?!
Whoever this was did not have the same defined muscles, he was softer, but held a more confident gaze; clearly the Kacchan this Izuku knew and the greenette had a different dynamic based on how the guy responded. The wild mane of jade curls was held back by one thick braid down the middle and two thinner braids at the sides. Ears pierced, brow cut, and the clothing was more...revealing than anything the Deku he knew would wear.
The freckled man gasped. “Who-who are you? Where’s Kacchan?”
“I’m Kacchan, but not to you, you fake extra!”
Izuku looked back at the table—it looked like one of those old war planning tables—and cursed. “Must’ve pronounced something wrong,” he muttered.
Growls and ooo’s were heard, making Katsuki take in the other people around them. There were more fakes. The sun was almost gone, the trees rustled outside as if imitating his uneasy state, and the only source of lighting were fire-lit torches around the massive tent they were in. Was this a hallucination quirk? Had they been attacked at UA?
“He has his majesty’s scent, but it’s dulled,” the fake Momo informed.
Everyone around the table nodded. Tapeface, Baldy, and Shitty Hair were here too. Had Deku knocked him out?
“It is,” the greenette said, “This is not your king; this is just a pup—a beta at that,” he answered to the raven-haired woman. Then he turned to Katsuki. “Bakugou, right?”
“What’s it to ya?” the blond sneered, resentful of Izuku’s description.
With an exasperated sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose, the greenette asked, “Do you have explosion magic?”
Katsuki narrowed his eyes. “You mean my quirk?”
“I suppose.”
“Yeah, why?” He couldn’t help but feel skeptical. This was too weird.
Izuku nodded once.“Good. The other you won’t return in time. We’ll be attacked in a few minutes, and we need your help.”
The blond spat, “The hell? And, why should I help you?”
“Because if you don’t, you die,” the man sneered, flipping a braid back over his shoulder. “Just blast the ones in blue, ” he finished nonchalantly, shooting him a flat look and turned to put on some sort of wrappings around his arms.
“Hah? I don’t need to follow your orders; I need to get back to UA.”
Before Katsuki could respond, the greenette grabbed him by the collar and pinned him against a stack of wooden chests, his fangs seemed unnaturally long, and he snarled, “You will help us, or so help me you will be taken back as a prisoner and left to die until my mate returns. This is UA in this world, and it’ll be your UA for the foreseeable future.”
The blond clenched his jaw and met the intense, emerald gaze.
“Do I make myself clear, Bakugou?” The man challenged.
Had this happened two years prior, Katsuki would have blasted the crazy-ass bastard; but now, after all the shit he and Deku had been through, he had a touch more patience and reasoning. He knew he wouldn’t get out of wherever this place was any time soon, so he needed to cooperate.
“Fine,” he muttered, but that was apparently enough for Izuku, and the blond was let go.
He heard Kirishima snicker. “Oh, hell. It’s like watching him present all over again!”
Present? What the hell was that? Katsuki had so many questions; however, he didn’t get to ask any. A colossal beast with iridescent pigeon-blue and lavender scales screeched and Katsuki flinched, hands popping, when the redhead approached, clapping a hand to his shoulder and warned, “Stop. He’s one of ours.”
With impossibly wide eyes, mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water, Katsuki stuttered in disbelief. “A f-fucking living dragon?! On our side?”
“Yes! We have the best in the land; we are dragonborn, so it’s only logical.”
A dragon.
His supposed other self had dragons.
WHAT. THE. FUCK?!
Multiple roars and the sound battle cries snapped him back into focus, drawing goosebumps along his skin. Dragons and hundreds of warriors alike were charging into battle, and before he could make heads or tails of the situation, so was he.
“Have you ever fought the bastards before, Shitty Hair?” he called out to the redhead.
“Nah! They’re a new threat!” Kirishima yelled back.
Katsuki nodded and used a little more speed to catch up to Deku; no way was he going to be upstaged, even in this weird reality—or dimension?
Whatever. If this was fake, then he’d prove he’s just as awesome in fiction; better alternative than if it was real, and he let himself be killed for being a dumbass.
At first, he couldn’t see anything. Then, a large wave of blue, gray, and beige overcame the horizon, muting the greens, yellows, and oranges that were there a moment ago.
The first enemy approached. “Die, shitty villain!” he bellowed as he fired off an AP blast before they got too close.
Katsuki delivered blast after blast, enemies falling at his feet; however, they would get up. Their stamina was insane!
“You have to kill them, Bakugou!” Ponytail yelled.
Kill?! He was a hero—he couldn’t.
Then, he saw him.
NO.
Overhaul.
The bastard that experimented on Eri.
Gaining altitude, he spotted Izuku; he needed to warn him. “Nerd! His qui-magic allows him to disassemble and reassemble anything he touches—even with a finger!”
“How do you know that?!” the freckled leader asked, smiting his opponent with his blade, no hint of fear behind his seemingly ruthless gaze, now splattered with blood. It was hot. This nerd had lived through some shit; a kill was nothing to him.
Katsuki looked away, incapacitating two others. “You took him down in our world, but not before he killed one of your mentors.”
Izuku nodded and mercilessly drove his sword into an assailant’s stomach, before twisting it and pulling it out to slice another’s arm. “You heard the man,” he called to his team, “Don’t let Lord Kai touch you!”
There were roars of assent among the men, each battling two or three opponents at a time. They were heavily outnumbered.
An enemy created a colossal hole in the ground, almost consuming Katsuki, but he wasn’t able to. Tapeface made it on time and managed to catch him. Without waiting for recognition, the tall, lanky man whistled and his dragon swooped in, crushing an incoming wave of opponents with its jaw.
Sero spoke to the dragon in a foreign language and thanked them, “Deagh obair, Sith. Good job,” before breaking off into a sprint, sliding under a horse, and rising on the other side to take a person down with a spear.
Katsuki had little time to appreciate the man’s tactic when another enemy was on him, trying to bash his face in with an ax.
Who knows how long the battle lasted? All Katsuki knew was that it was enough to put a large strain on his arms; his blasts were packing less and less power by the minute. His chest heaved, his skin was bruised and bloodied, and quite honestly, he was beginning to wonder if he’d make it out alive.
Looking around the battlefield, he noticed that they were winning, but there were too many blue fuckers still around.
“Bakugou!” Izuku called, holding his hand out, “take my hand and the sword with the other.”
Katsuki looked at him as if he’d gone mad, but did as the man asked anyway. If it could somehow guarantee victory, he’d do it. Also, this was a version of Deku. One way or another, he knew he could trust the nerd no matter what.
“You better know what you’re doing, Izuku.”
The freckled warrior nodded and began casting a spell—yes, like that incantation shit from movies. The floor lit up, the glow reaching the sword they held until it split.
“Holy fuck!” Katsuki staggered back, inspecting the sword in his hand.
“It’ll enhance your abilities for a short while. I need us to focus on taking down Kai.”
Katsuki gave the man one of his most feral smiles and charged alongside him.
The feeling was hard to describe. Electricity surged through him, revitalizing even the sorest of his muscles, adding strength and speed the likes of which Katsuki had only ever experienced once when he shared One for All...with Deku.
The adrenaline took over his senses, guiding him through the sea of enemies, eliminating them with a single blow. It was crazy!
He grinned, challenging Izuku out of habit; he always did that with Deku, so it happened without him even thinking about it, and this Izuku took the challenge just as the other would have.
It was eerie how similar they were.
Kai put up one hell of a fight, merging with some of his soldiers to a terrifying degree, but Katsuki and Izuku didn’t falter. It was as if the sword advised them on what to do. They moved synchronously, flawlessly, connecting each and every hit.
When Chisaki fell, Izuku rushed over to the blond while the others went to retrieve the body. Katsuki thought the guy would just thank him or even praise him as Deku would after a fight, but no. The greenette raised his hand, mumbling something Katsuki couldn’t really understand. His skin, battered, bruised, and bloody began to feel light. The other warriors behind him smiled, and for a moment believed it was some sort of prayer—that is, until he saw the green glow around his own body. After that everything went dark.