Chapter 4: A Secret Revealed
Maddie slowly blinked her eyes open, and the first thing she became aware of was the horrific pain throbbing in her head. She sat up with a groan and pulled water into her body cells with her quirk, trying to rehydrate and ease the pain. She hadn't had a hangover in a long time. Once the pain was a little more under control, the second thing she noticed was that she was lying in her bed, still fully dressed, with a blanket over her and her shoes removed. The blinds to her room were all drawn down so that the bright sun shining outside had not blinded her when she woke up. She looked around, confused. How had she ended up like this? What day was it? Her stomach took a slight panicked dip and she scrambled around for her phone which she soon found on her bedside table. She sighed in relief when she saw that, though late in the afternoon, it was only Sunday. She then busied herself with trying to remember what had happened last night.
She had gone out with Present Mic, Midnight, Cementoss, Eraserhead, and Vlad King. They had unpacked her boxes, the evidence for that was still apparent, and then they had gone to eat and have drinks. She remembered having an embarrassing conversation with them all and then sitting at the bar with Eraserhead, but that's when her memories of that night ended and she had woken up in bed the next day. She tried racking her brain, thinking she recalled something about water and…Toshinori. Images of him kept popping up in her fuzzy memories, and she clenched her stomach, wondering why.
Jack interrupted her by jumping up on the bed and giving her an impatient bark. "All right, I'm getting up," she sighed. After taking Jack out, she started a pot of coffee, popped some pain meds, and took a quick shower. Not long after that, her phone rang, and she picked it up to hear Midnight on the other side.
"Hey there, hot stuff. Just calling to make sure you were home and ok," the seductive Midnight said.
"Oh, hi, Nemuri. I am doing much better now, thanks for checking up on me. Um, I don't remember much of last night after talking with Shota at the bar. Think you could fill me in? Did I do anything…embarrassing," Maddie asked with some fear.
"Yes, you did," Midnight said with amusement.
Maddie rubbed a hand over her face and groaned. "Ugh, was it bad, tell me it wasn't that bad."
"Oh, it was pretty bad! Wonderfully bad in fact! I think I should tell you about it tomorrow, I can't wait to see your face when you hear about it," she teased.
"No, Nemuri, just tell me now!" Maddie begged.
"Nope, sorry kid, you're just going to have to wait."
"Well, thanks for getting me home last night and getting me in bed and everything," Maddie said, accepting the fact that she wasn't going to get anything else out of Midnight for the time being.
Midnight stifled a laugh on the phone.
"What was that for!" Maddie snapped. "I heard that laugh, what's going on. Can't you just tell me something?"
"Alright, I guess I can tell you this one thing. We didn't take you home last night. Aizawa didn't want to put you in a cab so…he called All Might to pick you up."
"What!"
"Yeah," Midnight snorted in laughter. "He took you home last night. That's when most of the hilarity ensued. But I should let you go now, get some rest and I'll see you tomorrow."
"Fine," Maddie sighed and hung up the phone. That had not been what she had wanted or expected to hear. No wonder she kept having back flashes and glimpses of Toshinori in her mind. She dreaded hearing about it tomorrow, which pretty much ruined the rest of her day. She decided she would not leave the apartment. Possibly ever again.
The next day at work she had to dodge a large number of reporters huddled outside the school gates as she made her way in. They kept asking her about working with All Might, an already sore topic for her, so she brushed pass them into the school. Next, she tried her best to avoid any of the teachers she had gone out with on Saturday, which proved to be difficult. Even avoiding the teacher's lounge hadn't worked, because Midnight soon found her between classes at her desk.
"So, ready to hear about Saturday night?"
"To be honest, no. I'd rather just forget it all happened."
"Oh, come on, sweetie, it really isn't all that bad."
"You said it was on the phone yesterday," Maddie sighed, putting down a stack of worksheets.
"Well maybe I was exaggerating to tease you a little. All you did was try to dance with Aizawa, flood the restaurant floor, threaten to make it rain and dance naked with me, and…oh yes, grab All Might's ass and told him how nice it looks," Midnight said, counting off each instance on her fingers as she sat on the corner on Maddie's desk.
Maddie's face turned various colors as she listened to Midnight's list. "I did what? Are you, um, are you serious?" she asked trying to keep her voice even and holding back an immense amount of conflicting emotions.
"Dead serious. This is just the short version of it all too. I could elaborate if you'd like."
"That won't be necessary. I flooded a restaurant? Did I cause any serious damage? Did we get in trouble?" Maddie suddenly asked, getting slightly angry at her new so-called friends. How could they let her do that?
"No, it was fine. They couldn't figure out who did it and Aizawa cancelled your quirk before it really became an issue."
"Yeah but, I feel like we should have told them, you know, be responsible adults."
"All they had to do was mop it up!" Midnight stressed. "It's no big deal, besides we were all slightly impaired. No one's moral compass was activated when we were having too much fun watching you. You were a blast! I'd go out drinking with you again anytime."
"No, nope, never again!" Maddie exclaimed. "I can't believe I would act like that! So irresponsible!"
"Relax, nothing horrible happened, alright. It was just funny. No one is going to say anything either. It's our secret."
"And how am I supposed to face All Might now?" Maddie continued ranting, standing now and pacing the floor. "I told Hizashi I would have coffee with him or something, that I'd finally talk with him one on one, and now you tell me I went and—" she stopped her loud rant mid-sentence and looked around to make sure no one else was listening before whispering out harshly, "—grabbed his butt?"
"I really don't know why you're worried. He knows you were drunk. Yeah, he seemed embarrassed but he wasn't mad. Besides, who wouldn't want you to grab their butt? You may not know this but, despite being a bit stuck up and a major worrier, you are very kind, fun, and gorgeous if I may add," Midnight replied. "I'm still looking forward to our naked rain dance."
"That is not happening," Maddie said with a stern finger point, squinting her eyes at Midnight.
"A girl can dream," Midnight replied with a shrug.
Maddie sighed and sat back down. "Well, you are right, what's done is done and I can't take it back, I can only apologize. I'm sorry I let myself get so drunk and made a fool out of myself. I hope Toshinori can accept my apology as well."
"From my point of view, there is no apology necessary. You made the night ten times better. Everyone agrees, and we all appreciate the chance to get to know you better. So, thanks for going out with us…and sorry for teasing you so much. It was just too much fun not too!" Midnight reassured her. "Alright, I'm out of here. Tell All Might to "shake what his mother gave him" next time you see him for me."
Maddie facepalmed as Midnight shook her ass on the way out of the room. What have I done to deserve this? She was not ready to face anyone else that day after her little chat with Midnight, so she stayed in her classroom the rest of the day and ate lunch in there as well, content to simply teach her classes and then go home. Of course, this was UA High, and nothing could be that simple.
An alarm bell rang loudly through the halls and the sounds of panicking students soon assaulted her ears. She sprang up, it was a security breach alarm. Had someone infiltrated the school? She wondered if it had something to do with the reporters outside the gates. She got up to go to the front of the school and check it out, but the halls were packed with students trying to get to safety, all worried that villains were attacking the school. She instead made her way to the nurse's office to find Recovery girl. The nurse's office had a good vantage point for viewing the front gate as well.
"Recovery Girl," she said as she walked in. "What's going on out there? The students are going nuts."
"I've gotten word from Mr. Aizawa, it seems that the reporters made it past the gate somehow. They've called the police, but that's about all we can do at the moment," the nurse replied.
Maddie looked down to the ground out of the window, watching Present Mic and Eraserhead try to hold the press back from the school. "Want me to go flush them out?" she asked.
"A good idea," Recovery Girl chuckled, "But I'm afraid using your quirk against them would just make matters worse. It's better to wait for the authorities."
"Is this All Might's fault again? Maybe you guys shouldn't have hired him."
"We knew there would be consequences to hiring the number one hero to teach at UA. Everyone would want to meet him. But I think the benefits outweigh the problems. It's wonderful for the students to have someone with so much experience to train them and help them learn what to expect in the real world. Besides, there's something odd about this situation. They keep clamoring for All Might after they have been told he's not here today. It's like someone specifically told them that he was here so that they would cause a ruckus," Recovery Girl mused.
"Hmmm, that is odd," Maddie agreed.
The police soon arrived and cleared out the reporters, and the students were rounded up and sent back to class. Maddie sighed with relief when the school returned to its normal volume level of noise, also relieved that everyone had been so distracted by the alarm fiasco today, that she could finish up her work in peace and then sneak quietly out of the building. All Might wasn't even here, so she wouldn't have to confront him about Saturday night quite yet either. The bell rang to signal the end of the day and she gathered up her things, happily power walking out of the building…when she saw no other than All Might talking to Principal Nezu outside a classroom. What the Hell was he doing here!? Unfortunately, her squeaked sound of surprise at the sight of him caused him to look in her direction.
"Ms. Sapphire!" he yelled, not caring how everyone else in the hallway immediately looked his way as soon as he called out. "I really need to speak with you!"
Oh shit! "Um, now? I'm late for…uh…a thing," she weakly responded, blushing hard. There were too many people in the hall, so she ducked out the front doors and into the courtyard as quickly as she could.
"Yes, now," he said in a voice slightly more threatening than normal as he followed her at an inhuman speed outside.
Maddie squirmed and writhed on the inside, but had to stop and turn towards him, he was already grabbing hold of her hand and turning her to face him. She couldn't look up at his stern face. He sounded angry. Why, why, why, why? she cringed inside. "Alright," she said quietly, still staring hard at her feet.
"Look, I'm sure you've been told what happened Saturday night if you didn't remember, and I just wanted you to know, I'm not upset about it or anything. I understand…and I'm just glad I could help you get home safe," he said softly.
The soft, genuine tone of his voice made her look up in surprise and her blue eyes met his. The blush on her face was permanent by now, but she couldn't stop from looking at him. His eyes were kind and she thought she could see his own cheeks reddening slightly when she finally raised her head.
"I thought…I'm sorry, I didn't know how I was ever going to be able to talk to you again after the other night," she continued in a low shaky voice. "But, you deserve more than that, and again, I'm very sorry. I should have talked to you so much sooner than now." She didn't know what was happening, but it seemed like the giant muscled man standing in front of her was melting her walls away with his kind smile. She was still completely ashamed of herself, but it felt a little easier to talk to him now.
"Like I said, it's fine," he answered, letting go of her hand and giving her a thumbs up. "I just wanted you to know that."
She smiled a little and nervously chuckled, "I must have been some sight, huh?"
"Indeed, you were, but I have never seen the particular group of people you were with have broader smiles or laugh so much!" he said reverting back to his louder and more assertive personality. "And I should also thank you for your compliments. It's nice to know I've still "got it" after all these years!"
"Well don't flatter yourself too much, I was completely out of my mind," she grumbled.
"Of course!" he laughed. "Oh, I was wondering, what's the name of your little dog? I think I frightened him when I brought you home, he was not happy at all. So, I thought maybe I could bring him something next time to make up for it."
"His name is Jack…and what makes you think there will be a next time, hmm?"
"I've just got a good feeling about it," he smiled.
"Oh, shut up!" she joked. "I'm not really a drunk. It was all Nemuri and Hizashi, and trust me, after the mess I caused I am not looking forward to that ever happening again."
Toshinori chuckled, but suddenly felt his power fading and he brought a hand up to his mouth to try and stifle a small cough. He didn't want to leave, now that they finally seemed to be on speaking terms, but unfortunately, he had already reached his limit for the day and couldn't stay much longer. He saw Maddie's questioning face at his cough and realized he really should tell her about his problem. He couldn't hide it from her forever.
"I should really get going, I have a meeting with someone, but Mic mentioned you said you'd finally like to talk with me, so, uh, coffee? Tomorrow?" Toshinori asked in a bit of a hurry, straining to keep his form for just a little longer.
"Oh, he mentioned that did he, eh? I swear that man can't keep anything to himself. Alright, fine. If anything, just to get you off my back about it. Coffee tomorrow after school. Where should I meet you?" Maddie gave in, making sure to make it seem like she was still reluctant about it. She couldn't let him know she had actually sort of enjoyed their conversation. She still wasn't so sure about him, and the old animosity for him still held a place in her heart, no matter how charming he had become.
"There's a good café around the corner from the school. I'll see you there!" he said excitedly, ecstatic that she had finally agreed.
"Wow, you make it sound like the best thing in the world has just happened. It's only coffee," she pointed out.
"I've waited a long time to hear you agree to go out with me, you can't blame me for being excited!" he said starting to slowly back away, he was close to popping out of form and he could feel the steam starting to rise.
"It's not a date," she stressed with a stern look.
"A hero never gives up!" he laughed before dashing away like lightning, leaving a very flabbergasted Maddie sputtering by the school gates.
She shook her head, wondering slightly why he had been acting so strangely there towards the end. Maybe he was really running late for that meeting. Well, some things never change, and maybe tomorrow would reveal just how much really had. She really couldn't believe she had finally given in to Toshinori Yagi after so many years of being stubborn about it.
The next day she was full of apprehensive anxiety about meeting Toshinori after school. She didn't know why she felt this way, it was just coffee and a talk with an old friend. Maybe she was nervous about the inevitable question, why had she not become a pro hero? She was sure he wanted to know. Should she tell him it was because of him? That he and what his fellow heroes promoted was what had turned her off? She didn't know, but she would have to say something.
Today the hero classes were taking a field trip to train at the schools USJ facility. All Might would be teaching there as well, so she wouldn't see him at school today. Maybe she could gather her thoughts in peace before they met, so when she entered the teacher's lounge to take a break, she was surprised to see him there. He did not look very well at all. He seemed a little more hunched over than usual and it looked like steam was coming off of his body. He had his hand to his mouth like he did yesterday when he had coughed, and she thought she noticed a small amount of blood in the corner of his lips.
"All Might, are you alright? Shouldn't you be at the USJ?" she asked with concern.
"Oh, thank goodness I found you!" he exclaimed. "You're probably the fastest one here. Do me a favor and get to the USJ as fast as you can. Aizawa and Thirteen are not answering my texts or calls. Nezu told me not to worry, but I can't help but feel something might be wrong."
"Something's wrong? But why can't you go over there yourself?" she said in confusion.
"I–I just can't right now, I need some more time. I pushed too hard this morning and I realize that was a mistake. Please, just go, let me know if everything is all right," he pushed urgently.
"But I'm not a hero, what if something is wrong, what would I do? I'm not trained for this type of situation!" Maddie panicked. The way he was talking made it sound like he suspected something was very wrong.
Toshinori grabbed Maddie by the shoulders violently and she could clearly see the blood seeping from his mouth as he leaned toward her. "I've seen your interview video, Sapphire. You are capable of so much more than you give yourself credit for! You are exactly what they need! They need your support! Now, please, go. I'm right behind you."
Maddie nodded fearfully and turned, running out of the room and towards the USJ. She had never seen All Might that worked up before, or that weak. What was going on? He was right about one thing though, she was very fast when she needed to be. Once outside the school she turned her quirk up full blast and drew the water from the city towards her, making a slick surface beneath her feet. She then thrust her hands behind her back and propelled herself forward with water jets as she surfed the layer of water in the streets beneath her feet. She flew through the streets, faster than any car could have taken her as the water formed under her feet and pushed her forward.
She was moving so fast that she nearly slammed into an object moving even faster towards her and was only able to stop herself with a forceful blast of water, pushing her backwards. She looked around and her heart dropped when she saw young Tenya Iida approaching her at lightning speed with a horrified look on his face. Something was very wrong at the USJ.
"Ms. Sapphire!" he yelled. "Quick! Get to the USJ! Villains are attacking!"
"Go, go!" she yelled back at him. "Get more help! All Might said he'd be right behind me!" she yelled back at him and continued her mad rush to the USJ while Iida blasted off with his engine legs back towards the school.
Damn it! It was worse than she could have dreamed! Villains attacking the students! What was going on? How could they? They were just kids! She rushed forward, her head was swirling with thoughts, but she didn't stop moving. She was terrified, she wasn't a hero, she didn't fight villains and she didn't save lives, she stood on the sidelines and helped heal people if they were hurt. She followed orders and did as the heroes asked. Any fancy moves and combat experience she had was all for show…for fun…she had never used it against anyone in all her years working. Was she really going to be of any help in this situation? Damn it, All Might! What was wrong with him? Why wasn't he there at the USJ?! Why was this situation happening!
But she couldn't stop going, no matter how scared she was or how useless she would be. She pushed through her fears and moved faster. Those were her students in trouble and she had to be there for them no matter what the cost.
She reached the large dome building in record time. Nothing looked out of the ordinary from the outside, and when she didn't see any immediate way in, she pushed a violent tirade of water forward and busted through the building's walls. Maddie ran into the building through the hole she had created. She couldn't see very much through the debris and dust, so she immediately focused her quirk on any water that was around her, listening and feeling for disturbances. There was a large body of water off to one side in the USJ, and she could feel signs of struggling near the water's edge, she began making her way towards the water, but stopped, frozen in horror at the sight she finally saw once her vision had cleared.
There was a cluster of students near the entrance to the USJ, a few were kneeled over the prone form of hero Thirteen where he lay motionless on the ground. Towards the center of the giant arena, where the edge of the large body of water met the land, were three villains. The one that was most noticeable was enormous, he had a big muscled dark body and on his head was an exposed brain and a large bird-like beak. To her further horror, she noticed the bird villain had what looked like Eraserhead smashed under his feet. Red blood pooled all around the eraser hero and she could not tell if he was alive or dead. Another of the villains was basically a cloud of purple smoke with glowing eyes. The smoke villain stood next to the third villain, who was the one that made her most uncomfortable. He was smaller in size and had a thin frame, but he looked like he was covered in severed hands from his torso to his head. He even had a large severed hand attached to his face so she could not see his features.
There were many other villains scattered around the floor surrounding the three in the center, but they all appeared to be knocked down. Despite the fact that there were about a hundred villains in the building, the most terrifying part of the whole scene was the three young students right down in the middle of the fray, currently about to be attacked. One of them was Midoriya.
"No!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. As she did so, the villain covered in hands took notice of her.
"Take care of her!" he yelled.
Maddie dashed down to the center of the room, focused on saving Midoriya, Mineta, and Asui, but the villains on the ground who she had thought were knocked out were getting back up on their feet. One of them ran at her, arms outstretched, forcing her to slow her dash so she could combat him. She was still too far away from the three kids and the villains towards the center of the building, but even while dodging and hitting her current assailants with water jets, she could hear them screaming and she watched, powerless to do anything as the big brain villain grabbed Midoriya and the villain covered in hands reached out to attack Asui and Mineta.
Time seemed to slow as the few horrible seconds ticked by, and then the front doors of the building burst apart in a cloud of dust, freezing everyone in their tracks and drawing their attention. Loud thudding steps could be heard and a glimpse of mustard and golden yellow peaked through the cloud of dust.
"Have no fear, students. I am here!" All Might announced in his deep threatening voice. He whipped off his yellow jacket, taking a quick glance to assess the situation, and then rushed forward in the blink of an eye to save his students.
"Yes! All Might!" Maddie squealed like a school girl at the sight of him, but had to quickly focus on the attacker in front of her. Now that he was here everything would be ok, right? He would kick those villain's butts and save the students with no problem. She wouldn't have to fight! They would all be ok!
Her thoughts and the presence of the number one hero filled her with the strength and confidence she had been lacking. She thrust hard and shot the first villain in her way straight up into the air with a jet of water, watching him fall down hard on the pavement. She would leave the villains to All Might and focus on gathering the students and getting them to safety.
She couldn't even see him move as All Might shot by her, taking the villains out around her in one smooth motion. He was back by the gates in a flash, cradling the limp body of Eraserhead in his arms. He then noticed Midoriya, Asui, and Mineta still in the clutches of the villains, and he swooped back in once again, untraceable by the human eye, and had all three of them under his opposite arm in safety. He was so fast! She could hardly believe it.
"What the heck," she heard Mineta say in shock.
"Everybody back to the entrance, and take Aizawa with you. He doesn't have much time left," All Might commanded them.
"Yes, sir," Mineta croaked.
"Ribbit," Asui responded.
Midoriya looked up to his hero with amazed eyes, "You saved us, All Might."
Maddie watched, still some distance away, as the villains seemed to consider their new foe. They didn't really seem afraid, in fact, they seemed pleased, like they had been waiting for him. The big brain villain faced All Might and the villain covered in hands seemed rather pleased with himself. Was this what the attack was all about? Getting to All Might? If he was the reason these students were in danger she was going to give him a piece of her mind…but it wasn't really his fault. He would never have wanted this to happen. Why did her mind always jump to thinking the worst of him? There he was standing between everyone and the villains without a thought to himself, and she was back here blaming him for the whole thing. She gritted her teeth. She needed to get over this!
"All Might, you can't, that brain villain took One for—I smashed him and didn't break my arm this time, but he wasn't fazed at all. He's too strong," Midoriya warned with obvious concern.
"Young Midoriya," All Might said with projected confidence. He smiled brightly and gave Midoriya a peace sign symbol over his forehead. "I've got this!"
Midoriya took Aizawa and the students turned away with some reluctance. Maddie ran towards them, but no sooner had she made a move, All Might rushed the villains yelling out,
"Carolina Smash!"
The brain villain jumped in front and met All Might head on, trading punches with the symbol of peace several times, blocking and absorbing his blows. Maddie watched as All Might seemed to realize he could not hurt the villain this way and side stepped, grabbing the villain from behind and trying to drive him into the ground over his own head. Before the villain could be smashed into the cement, the smoke villain opened a purple warp gate in the floor and the brain villain came up from the other side, grabbing hold of All Might in the process and digging his fingers into the hero's side. All Might grunted in pain and blood began seeping through his white shirt. The villains laughed as they tried to pull him through the warp gate and All Might let go of the brain villain to try and free himself from it's grasp.
Maddie had reached the three students by then and tried to help them carry Eraserhead. "Are you guys, ok?!" she fearfully asked. Asui and Mineta nodded, but Midoriya didn't answer, he had a strange look on his face. She should have seen it in his eyes and tried to stop him, but in her haste to help with Eraserhead, Midoriya abruptly turned away and started to frantically run back towards All Might.
"Midoriya! No!" Maddie screamed, but it was too late. They young hero launched himself towards All Might, intent on helping his hero. Maddie could hardly blink as the warp villain jumped in front of him and Midoriya went careening forward into the purple mist.
At the last possible second, a bright spark of light erupted between Midoriya and the warp villain as Bakugo hit the villain with his quirk and slammed him into the ground. "Get the hell out of my way, Deku!" Bakugo shouted, pushing Midoriya to the side.
Maddie had been so focused on Midoriya and All Might that she hadn't seen the three new students rush into the action. Todoroki stepped in and froze the brain villain in place, stopping his ice right before it reached All Might. "One of your poorly trained villains told me you're here because you think you can kill All Might," the icy student said flatly.
All Might finally broke free of the villain's now weakened grip and sprung back, standing next to Todoroki and gritting his teeth against the pain in his left side. Kirishima dived in out of nowhere as well, taking a swipe with his hardened hands at the hand villain, who easily ducked out of the way. "Damn, that was gonna be cool!" he complained at his miss.
"Guess I found your body that time, you smoky bastard!" Bakugo yelled at the warp villain he now had pinned to the ground.
"The symbol of peace will not be defeated by delinquents like you," Todoroki finished with malice.
The villains and the heroes faced off with each other, each weighing the circumstances and planning their next moves. Maddie was freaking out again. Even more students were involved now. Children for god's sake! This was unacceptable, All Might needed to get them out of there. It would have been one thing for them to be adults facing the villains with him, but they didn't even have their hero licenses yet. True, they had saved the number one heroes' butt, but now she had a horrible feeling that they were just going to get hurt. She was closer to the gate with the broken Aizawa, Asui, and Mineta than she was to All Might and the fight. What was she going to do? Could she do anything at all? Where were the other teachers?
Before she could decide or anyone could move, the brain villain started sinking through the warp gate and came out of it onto the cement, facing the heroes. His frozen arm and parts of his frozen body fell off, but to everyone's astonishment, he began regenerating his body parts. So he had more than one quirk? This wasn't an ordinary villain!
"Stay back everybody!" All Might commanded.
Even as he said it, the hand villain ordered the brain villain forward, and in a motion so fast that All Might could barely follow it, the villain rushed toward Bakugo to free the warp villain. It was hard to see what happened through the resulting smash and dust that followed, but everyone was sure Bakugo had been hit, until they saw him sitting calmly next to Midoriya with a stunned look on his face. That meant… everyone's head snapped to look at the figure, standing in a cloud of debris in front of a cracked wall. All Might had taken the hit for Bakugo, pushing him out of the way, and now stood, arms up defensively, panting and recovering from the hit. The brain villain faced him, warp villain now in his possession.
The students, getting over their shock, moved to help All Might in the fight, but he held them back again, and despite their protests, he gave them a thumbs up and a broad smile. The hand villain made a move for the kids, but All Might charged at that exact moment, realizing he had to make a reckless move to save the students. The brain villain charged to meet him, and when the two collided again, the force of it blew everyone back. Maddie finally let go of Aizawa, trusting him to the students, and tried to move forward to reach the kids still up in the front with All Might.
All Might and the villain pounded each other, their fists moving so fast they could hardly be seen. Incredibly, All Might started to push the villain back, moving forward with slow steady force and precision. He landed a massive punch and blew the villain away, throwing him backwards through the air and leaping after him. The villain appeared to have absorbed all he could take of All Might's mighty blows. All Might grappled the villain in midair, throwing him around and wrestling to best him. He finally threw him down with an incredible move, and the villain smashed into the cement with such force it could barely get back up.
All Might landed with an earth shattering thud in front of the villain. His smile seemed to shine even brighter as he reached inside himself for even more of his power, working at more than one hundred percent! "Go beyond, Plus Ultra!" he yelled with all his strength and with one insanely powerful massive punch, he sent to villain flying sky high, straight up and out of the stadium, disappearing into the blue sky above with nothing but a twinkle of light.
Maddie stood behind the students, jaw dropped in awe at the mighty hero that now faced the remaining villains. His clothes were tattered and he was covered in scrapes. The hair on top of his head that usually stood straight up in the air was slightly twisted and bent. She could tell he had weakened, he shook slightly and looked like he may fall over at any minute, but despite all that, All Might raised a clenched fist to his chest, stood tall, and smiled. "You've been bested, villains," came his deep strong voice through the smoke and debris. "Surrender. We all want to get this over with quickly." His body started steaming, small trails of smoke raising up off of him and into the air.
The villains stared in shock, and Maddie couldn't blame them. She had reached the kids, but the power and strength she had just witnessed held her in place and she felt unable to move. She had known he was powerful, he was the number one hero after all, he had to be, but seeing it first hand with her own eyes sent a feeling shooting through her she had never experienced before. Her eyes were locked onto his noble muscled form and she couldn't help but feel pride and admiration rushing through her body. He made her feel like she could do anything, like there was nothing that could stop her, as long as he was around. This strong feeling of love and admiration for her hero, for everyone's hero, welled up inside her, threatening to burst forth in joyful tears. All she could think about was how she could have ever hated him. He had grown so much since high school. He was selfless and kind, putting himself before anyone in need, no matter how much it hurt him. She realized he would do anything for these students, or anybody in trouble for that matter, even let himself be killed. That selfless love, for someone that he might not even know, is what really mattered. It's what made him a true hero.
She felt the many years of hate and resentment for him slowly melting away…and it felt oddly freeing, like a sweet surrender.
"What, are you scared?" All Might demanded of the frozen villains. His voice shot through the stillness, snapping Maddie back to reality.
The villain covered in severed hands started to fidget as if unsure of what to do. He twisted and squirmed, scratching and clawing at his neck in indecision. Maddie crossed her fingers, hoping he would surrender or at least retreat. She wasn't sure exactly what Present Mic had meant about All Might running low on energy, but from the looks of him, she wasn't sure if the number one hero could take another fight. She could see him straining to keep his threatening posture, and the steam rising up off his body in even more abundance now gave her concern. There was a groan and Maddie turned her head to see the villains that had been knocked out earlier starting to get up on their feet. The four students standing near her turned to face them, ready to keep them away from All Might, but she couldn't look away from the hand villain and the warp villain. What would they do?
The hand villain made up his mind and charged All Might alongside the warp villain. She saw the tall man clench his fist in frustration but prepare to take the villains on. She could tell this was not what he had hoped for, but he was going to stand his ground no matter the cost. Shit! she cringed. She would probably have to fight again after all, but before she could make a move, Midoriya launched himself with incredible speed straight past her and towards the warp villain. The young boy cocked his fist back as if to smash the villain hard, preventing him from reaching All Might. Why did he keep jumping in front of All Might and the villains? It was like he thought All Might couldn't handle himself, or maybe he just had a strong instinct to save anyone in danger?
Whatever the case, Maddie saw him once again soaring into the warp gate villain, but this time, the hand covered villain thrust one of his own hands through the purple gate, right into Midoriya's face. The boy was sure to be touched by the villain, a fate that would lead him to certain death, and no one could seem to stop it from happening.
A gun shot rang out and the villain's ominous hand was jerked away by a bullet hitting right on target. Midoriya fell to the ground, untouched by the villains, and many more gunshots rang out as they hit various other targets in the USJ.
"They're here!" All Might exclaimed.
Maddie looked to see the entire group of UA's teachers entering the USJ. Iida stood alongside them, proudly smiling, and his classmates went wild with relief. Snipe had fired the first gun shots that had saved Midoriya, but there was more to come. The group of villains, who had slowly awakened after being knocked out, prepared to battle the UA teachers, snarling and readying their quirks, but the lowly thugs were no match for the highly trained pros. Present Mic approached calmly and blasted them with his voice so loud that they crumpled back. The rest of the teachers sprang into action, rescuing students in the different zones of the USJ and capturing villains. Midoriya lay on the ground where he had fallen, and All Might stood in the exact same spot, still unmoving, with a face flooded with relief and massive amounts of steam and vapor pouring from his body.
Maddie was super pumped and finally dived in to help rescue the students. She enveloped a few villains in a column of water and shook them around, knocking then out against each other. She noticed the main two villains, the warp gate villain and the hand villain, preparing to make an escape. Snipe shot them a few times, and the hand villain collapsed, but the warp gate villain was still enveloping him, ready to transport away. Rescue hero Thirteen, who had been knocked down trying to protect the students, stood up and tried his best to use his black hole quirk and suck the villains towards him. Maddie helped, pushing waves of water from behind the villains, hoping to draw them nearer, but with one last evil word to All Might, the villains disappeared in a purple mist.
Maddie cursed to herself, upset they had lost the ringleaders and most dangerous villains of the group. The other villains were easily dealt with. They appeared to be low level thugs with no experience at all. Just pawns to be used to get to All Might. Even she, a support hero, had taken them out swiftly. She quickly returned her attention to her students and saw that Kirishima was running towards Midoriya, hoping to help his friend. All Might continued to stand still, completely covered in dense smoke so she could not easily see him, but…did his frame seem…smaller in stature? Oh shit. Midoriya was hurt!
She ran forward, following Kirishima, to help the injured Midoriya, mentally slapping herself for not going to him sooner. He hadn't moved, so she assumed he could no longer walk on his own. She was support, a healer, this was her moment to really do some good. Before either she or Kirishima reached him, however, Cementoss appeared and put up a wall of cement between them and the injured heroes.
"it's very dangerous, here, I know you are concerned about your friend, but please go join your classmates at the gate," the cement hero explained to Kirishima.
Kirishima agreed and ran back to the gate while Cementoss indicated that Maddie should go ahead and come forward. "I think you could do some good here," he said quietly.
Maddie used her quirk to push herself over the cement wall with a burst of water and came down on the other side in front of Midoriya. "Hey kid," she said quietly, "You look pretty beat up." She knelt beside him and tried assessing his injuries. Both his legs were broken, as well as another few fingers on one of his hands. She tried pulling water into the cells near the wounds, and while it gave Midoriya some relief, her power was not strong enough to heal broken bones. Midoriya looked at her with grateful eyes, but his real attention was focused on All Might, and he seemed rather worried.
"Thanks for that. You saved my butt, Cementoss," Maddie heard All Might say…at least she though it was All Might. The voice sounded much more tired and depressed than she had ever heard from him before.
She turned her head in surprise, half expecting there to be someone else standing there, as Midoriya tried unsuccessfully to keep her from looking. What she saw made her do a double and triple take just to make sure she hadn't imagined it. In front of her, surrounded by a slowly dissipating steam, stood a skeleton wearing All Might's clothes with a large amount of messy golden hair and All Might's piercing blue eyes. Only those eyes were sunken back deep within two large black pits on his face and the long golden hair lay deflated around his jutting cheekbones and sad smile. The tattered white shirt hung loosely to his thin frame, like a bed sheet, and the baggy yellow pants looked like they were about to fall down. She couldn't believe her eyes. Was this really the number one hero that stood in front of her now? He didn't look anything like the tall muscled man that had stood down three powerful villains just moments before. What had happened?
"My pleasure, I'm actually a big fan of yours," Cementoss continued to say to the deflated All Might as if nothing was amiss.
"A-all Might?" Maddie asked under her breath, the words catching in her throat as she took a step towards him while Midoriya continued to desperately try and keep her back
Toshinori's eyes shot to hers in a panic as he realized she was there, but there was nowhere to hide now and no more excuses to make. "Oh hey, Bubbles," he weakly waved, trying to put on his most ashamed smile. Shit.
"I don't understand. Why do you look like that?" she asked, slowly approaching him with some caution.
"it's, um…it's what's left of me after a fight I had about five years back. I can't hold my powered-up form for more than three hours anymore. I'm really sorry…I was gonna tell you when we met up this afternoon…though I know I should have told you sooner. It's just, you haven't seemed that pleased to see me ever since we reunited and I didn't want you to think even less of me if you saw me like this," he tried to explain while waving his lanky arms and big hands across his frame. Cementoss and Midoriya remained quiet and watching in awkward silence.
A look of overwhelming shame crossed Maddie's face, stopping her in her tracks. "Toshinori, I had no idea…I'm the one who should be apologizing. I'm so sorry I made you feel that way. I was being stubborn and stupid while you've been right there, putting yourself on the line for others despite your injuries." She lifted her hung head suddenly realizing something, "You can only hold your form for three hours? It's been way more than that today hasn't it? That's why you wanted me to come here before you did. You were trying to buy yourself some time. And now after that fight you just had, oh my…are you ok?"
Realization had dawned on her that he had really pushed himself to the brink and had been in way more trouble than she had suspected. That must be why Midoriya kept jumping into the fight to help him. The boy must have known he had reached his limit! She could have helped him more too, how could she have been so blind! He could have died! And here she was, just assuming he was some unstoppable force and selfishly expecting him to defeat those villains on his own. She suddenly rushed to his side, hoping to make up for it in some way.
"My God, you're bleeding! Here, let me help, I can stop it," she said, reaching for his shirt.
"Oh! Wait, no no! It's alright, you couldn't have known, I don't blame you for anything. I'm fine, I just need to get to Recovery Girl, and Midoriya could use her help too," he protested, suddenly getting defensive and trying to fend her off with his bony arms. He was too weak though, and he coughed up blood, making her even more insistent on examining his bleeding side.
"It's ok, I'm technically a nurse, let me see it," she complained. It really was shocking how thin he was now that she was so close to him. What a difference from the bulky guy she was so used to seeing. It slightly weirded her out.
Toshinori really didn't want her to see the ugly scar that marred his left side. It was bad enough that she had seen his true form, not on his terms, but what was even worse was that she hadn't reacted at all the way he had thought she would. He had expected a scoffing laugh and a "serves you right" from her, but all she had given him was concern for his wellbeing and an apology. It was unexpected, and though he was pleasantly surprised by her change of heart, it only made him less prepared to show her the ugliness he kept hidden under his shirt. He didn't want to see her face when she recoiled at the sight of it. He didn't want to feel her pull away in disgust. He didn't think he could handle the crushing feeling of shame at the moment.
Finally, after unsuccessfully trying to stop him from jumping away from her, she yelled at him angrily. He seemed to have a lot of energy all of the sudden for someone so weak. "Toshinori Yagi! Stand still and let me help you, or else!"
He saw the fire in her eyes and meekly gave up, bracing his heart for her reaction. She lifted up the bloodied shirt and he heard her catch her breath at the sight of his mangled scar. "Damn Muscles, was this from that fight you were talking about? That's a serious scar you've got there. It's absolutely incredible that you can still fight like a pro with a wound like that. I'm impressed."
Toshinori's head spun yet again in confusion at her reaction. She was being completely unexpected and he was completely confused. She hadn't recoiled at all, in fact she seemed fascinated and supportive. What was going on?
"Does it hurt? Is it all right if I touch it?" she asked with her hands hovering over his side, eyes meeting his.
"It's just a little sore but uh, yeah, you can um, touch it," he stuttered quietly.
"Hey," she smiled softly, "It's alright, I understand so much more now."
She closed her eyes and drew on the power of her quirk, rehydrating All Might's wound and encouraging the punctures in his skin from the brain villain to heal faster. A swirling and glowing blue light, fluid like water, enveloped her hand and his side, drawing in more water as she concentrated. He watched her work, fascinated himself, and then slowly relaxed under her soothing touch. She really did have a gift. He instantly felt better and he could feel energy seeping into his soul. She finished the healing and gently lifted her hands off of his side, inspecting her work. The puncture holes had nearly closed and his scar looked slightly more refreshed, the skin not so dry and wrinkly.
"Wow," he breathed, "I feel great. You should do this more often." He then immediately blushed, realizing what he had asked.
"I wouldn't mind," she replied, "it is my job after all. Support hero."
They stared at each other and Toshinori's heart suddenly started pounding faster. She was absolutely wonderful. She hadn't acted at all like he had thought she would. She had brought him comfort and warmth when he had needed it most. Her kind eyes melted him and his heart was bursting at the seams with gratefulness and…and…well, he felt very fragile at the moment.
Cementoss cleared his throat, breaking up the awkward moment. "Uh, we should sneak you all out of here, get you to the nurse's office. Seriously though, All Might, that could have been really bad."
Toshinori and Maddie broke off their connection and returned their focus to the matter at hand. "I had to act recklessly or else I'd be dead right now. Just goes to show how strong those villains are," Toshinori told the cement hero.
Maddie got to her feet and went to Midoriya, satisfied that All Might was alright, for the time being. He was certainly not "alright" in every sense of the word, but hopefully they would have some time later to talk more. Right now, they need to get to Recovery Girl.
A/N: Hey everyone, thanks for being awesome and thank you for reading this story! I tried to make the USJ scene as short and sweet as possible since we all already know what happened.
After reading some reviews I just realized that maybe I should change the rating on this story? I have it set to "T", but it's a story about adults and adults get into different shenanigans than teenagers do. There're also a few curse words, some violence, and of course, romance…which will get a lot more hot and heavy as the story goes on. What are your thoughts? What's pushing the boundary for a "T" rating? Thanks!
