Beacons of Japan

Midoriya chugged down two whole bottles of water before finally letting himself breathe, leaning against the wall near the service elevator. Eijiro and Shoto made sure to help him stay up, as the freckled man basked in the shaded environment of the inside. Fortunately, there was little if any civilian traffic through this area of the lobby, leaving the group of heroes, plus the rejoining Stan, to help their companion recover in peace. Izuku gradually managed to bring himself to a calm state, assuring the guys he could stand on his own. Attempting to actually do so displayed how much the One for All user was shaking, no surprise considering how long he'd been stuck on an exposed roof.

"We need to get him to a hospital, immediately," Iida insisted, carefully putting Midoriya's arm over his shoulder. To his shock, Izuku himself shook his head.

"No, I'm fine, Iida. Just some stinging over my skin. Even the burning is going down." He shifted his legs, the ice packs in his back pants pockets giving off a dull crunch. Tenya resisted, strictly holding his friend in place.

"Midoriya, you are veritably exhausted, as well as somewhat malnourished. As your friend, I cannot allow you to continue in this state." Deku grimaced at the man's insistence, but wasn't really expecting anything less. Fortunately, before the argument could go on any further, the gang heard the sound of something being spit out, glancing over at Stan, whose mouth returned to its normal shape as he now held a nut in his hand. The man then held out the object to Midoriya, stating his intent with a straight face.

"Eat this."

Izuku stared at him and the nut for a moment, then his eye twitched, clearly experiencing an unpleasant flashback. Despite that, he reached up with his free arm and accepted the item, quickly using his grip to crack it open. As the guys watched in astonishment, he popped the meat from inside into his mouth, chewing it up and swallowing.

Iida jerked away as Deku shuddered, the green-haired man's eyes flying wide and his muscles all flexing at once, holding himself up all on his own as his face contorted in disgust. As the effect wore off, Midoriya shook his head to focus, then the rest of his limbs to get the last of the weariness out. Seeing such a drastic change, Todoroki couldn't help but look questioningly at their newest companion.

"What just happened?" Stan gave off a pensive smile.

"The nuts I shoot are packed with a crazy amount of energy, apparently. Although they have a wicked bitter aftertaste." Everyone was stunned to hear of such a useful, if not bizarre, side effect, but regardless were more than relieved to see Deku back on his feet. The man smiled at Stan and held out his fist.

"Thanks so much." Stan just smirked back and tapped his fist into Izuku's.

"Dekus have to watch out for each other." The pair laughed at that, while the others gave them amused smiles, although Bakugo just rolled his eyes. With that done, Stan handed over the costume case he'd been holding for Izuku, who gratefully accepted it and stepped into the service elevator to change. Walking back out, he was just finishing adjusting his gloves, while Stan commented on how cool they all looked.

"Come on, idiots, we've got to get moving," Bakugo interrupted. He grabbed Deku's arm and began dragging him off. The others followed, though Kirishima decided to add in one last crack.

"You really that scared of Uraraka?" The vein that suddenly bulged on Katsuki's temple was enough to have Kirishima back off, leaving Midoriya to ponder what the heck they were talking about. The group made their way towards the front door, as more visitors stared at the fully-suited heroes they were unfamiliar with. They proceeded out the front door, crossing the parking lot towards Stan's van so he could drive them back to Caesar's Palace.

"Alright, with all our documentation and IDs, we should be able to secure swift transportation back to Japan. Something with greater speed than a commercial flight." Shoto looked over at Iida in concern.

"What about Blank Check? They still have our memories." Tenya shook his head.

"We can't worry about them right now. As far as we've discovered there isn't anything overly critical in our lost recollections. Besides, Midoriya seems to have been unaffected, since he was separated from us before the wipe. I'm sure he can fill us in on any details if need be. The police here can contact us later should our vessel come into their custody." Shoto nodded in understanding, even if he didn't fully agree. Bakugo just grunted, giving the same acknowledgement. Kirishima shrugged as they walked along the paint-lined asphalt.

"Yeah, you're right, man. Besides, who knows how hard it would be to find those punks with how long they've dodged the authorities?"

Just as he said this, two pained voices rang out, followed by a pair of men landing painfully right at the heroes' feet, groaning as they lay sprawled out on the ground. Eijiro blinked upon recognizing their faces.

"Well… that was easy."

Despite most of the guys being frozen in disbelief, Katsuki wasted no time and stepped forward, grabbing one of the two by the collar and hauling him up, his feet barely touching the asphalt. "Where the fuck are our memories, you scum?!" he roared at the man, who looked upon the enraged blonde with terror.

"W-w-we don't know! We l-lost your vessel!" The veins in Katsuki's eyes were more pronounced than ever, as he debated blowing the two conmen to bits out of sheer rage. However, this was interrupted when he noticed the group standing just a short distance away from them, evidently the ones who threw Blank Check their way in the first place. Bakugo roughly tossed his captive aside as his attention was focused elsewhere. The conmen tried to scramble to their feet and flee the lot of them, but were halted when ice sprang from around them and shoved the two together, before binding them to one another in a massive brace.

"Please get them out of here," Todoroki asked of Stan. The man nodded, giving Blank Check a shoving kick to get them moving awkwardly back towards the Luxor. With that settled, the five heroes turned to their new company, which consisted of four individuals of varying appearance. One towered above the rest, a gorilla of a man who eyed each hero like they were an object that needed crushing. Another less imposing one had strange openings all over his exposed arms and what could be seen of his chest. The third seemed far lankier than his compatriots, but in a world of quirks, this could always be a mistake to judge on. Finally, the last, and clearly the leader based on radiating authority alone, silently swept his gaze along the five foreigners, a cigar held loosely in the corner of his mouth. He gave another puff, then spit the object out.

"So, you must be the bunch those bugs were talking about." Not in the least threatened, Bakugo narrowed his eyes at the man.

"And just who the hell are you supposed to be?" Their confronter folded his arms, unimpressed with the Explosion user's hostility.

"Dante Gallo, businessman." Behind him, Katsuki heard Midoriya gasp, signaling he knew the name. "Those two idiots came to me promising a whole slew of pro hero valuables, information we could've used to infiltrate and spread our influence beyond the desert we're stuck in now." He sighed in annoyance. "But since they apparently 'lost' the goods and managed to stumble into you lot, we've got no choice but to kill you to recoup our losses." At this, Gallo cracked his knuckles, while his associates formed up in front of him, clearly ready for a fight. Across the way, Bakugo glanced at Midoriya out of the corner of his eye.

"Deku?" he urged roughly. Izuku walked up to be even with his rival, never taking his eyes off the four enemies ahead.

"Gallo is a Mafia capo. He's part of the branch that handles all racketeering in the western states. The men with him are his usual underlings." Bakugo considered his words, even pausing as he saw that look in Midoriya's eye. He knew what it meant, and he couldn't help but grin, looking back to their confronters.

"So you bastards have no idea who we are, but you're all infamous." Katsuki's gloves heated up with his quirk. "You're so screwed." Dante scowled, but remained calm as he motioned for his men to move in. The massive one among them roared as his body suddenly warped, his skin becoming angular and glossy, and his size increasing even more. When the process was complete, a crystalline golem stood facing the heroes, murderous yellow eyes glaring at them. The other two prepared to charge in, while their boss tossed aside his jacket. On their side, Iida turned to his best friend.

"Midoriya, would you care to take the lead?" Deku blinked in surprise, looking over at Kirishima and Todoroki, who both nodded encouragingly. Izuku uncertainly eyed Katsuki next, expecting an argument.

"Kacchan?" Bakugo said nothing for a moment, his face not easily visible. After a moment however, he shifted into a ready position.

"Just this once. Consider it my wedding gift, and don't ever tell anyone about it!" Midoriya just smiled, genuinely touched regardless of the rigidness present in his old friend's voice. He nodded, facing forward with the reassuring smile he was known for back home.

"Then let's get to work."

Their enemies came running, the golem among them causing the ground to shake with each step.

"No time for an analysis, Deku, send us where you think we'll be most effective." The green hero nodded to his fire-ice comrade.

"Alright. Red Riot, deal with the golem; you should be able to outlast him and find a weak point."

"Got it!"

"Endure, throw up a cover to let us split up, then take down the mutation type."

"Right."

"Ingenium, engage the thin one and watch for civilians."

"Understood!"

"Blast Master, you're with me. We're taking down the boss." His rival grunted, but said nothing as Full Cowl sparked to life across Deku's form. "Everyone, try to lead the fighting away from the hotel, towards the east."

One last time, they all acknowledged, then sprang into action, rushing towards the villains. Endure threw his right arm forward and unleashed a barrage of ice between the two sides, obstructing their view of each other. The crystalline golem angrily slammed his fist into the frozen formation, shattering it and sending a chilling fog to permeate the immediate area. As such, he failed to see a hardened Red Riot come flying out towards him, nailing the giant in the gut and sending the two careening back.

With that distraction, Ingenium emerged next, swinging around to the thin man's blind spot and sending a kick to the back of his head. Instead of being sent to the ground, the man suddenly divided into two, with neither appearing to have suffered any damage. Surprised, but hardly deterred, the turbo hero shot off and delivered another kick to the one on the right. Again, he split in two, with the other copy running at Iida with a knife drawn. He dodged and ran back, considering his next move.

In the meantime, Endure sent a storm of icy spikes at the mutation quirk user. The normally threatening attack was unfortunately nullified, as the holes all over the villain's body fired out highly compressed steam, instantly vaporizing the ice. Shoto grunted, firing off more blasts at varying angles and amounts, hoping to find an opening. He soon discovered that the steam bursts were omnidirectional, leaving him with little choice but to think out a new method of attack.

Red Riot was engaged in a fistfight with his opponent, exchanging hardened fists while in his Unbreakable form. Neither side looked to be backing down, although Eijiro knew the size difference would sneak up on him sooner or later. He saw a brief respite in the blows, rushing forward and slamming into one of the golem's legs, knocking it off balance and giving him the chance to cancel his hardening and leap up towards the foe's face. Hardening just his arm, he swung at the villain's jaw, causing it to roar. Sadly, no visible damage appeared on the surface, disappointing Kirishima as he hardened fully to take on the giant's retaliatory strike.

With his subordinates occupied, Gallo turned to the only remaining opposition; Deku and Blast Master closing in on him quickly. Before they could get too close, he placed his hands on the two buses parked beside one another next to him, his arms glowing as himself and the two vehicles began to liquefy. The light grew to engulf the three, then vanished altogether, leaving behind a horrific amalgam of scrap and auto parts whose mass equaled the combined objects. The construct brought up its forearms to block the explosion and punch aimed at it, tanking the blows with moderate success. The arms were blown to bits, scattering all over the parking lot and damaging numerous other cars. While Deku halted briefly to see their foe's next move, Bakugo didn't, sending himself right back into the fray with another blast ready.

Gallo's construct form shifted around, the parts from the vehicles he'd absorbed reconfiguring into a propulsion device, sending him sharply to the left to dodge the explosion hero's attack. As Bakugo cursed, Gallo reconstructed another arm, using it to grab the armored transport he'd moved closer to. It was absorbed as well, pieces moving to the surface. Deku realized what would happen and shot off towards the capo, driving a Detroit Smash into its chest. Damage was inflicted, but the plating from the transport kept the construct from being completely destroyed, merely throwing it back, unfortunately right into more cars.

Blast Master cursed as numerous vehicles were assimilated, growing the construct by leaps and bounds.

"God dammit, how much can this bastard absorb?!" Deku ran up beside him, watching as the mobster's mechanical form got to its feet, now sprouting additional appendages from every angle.

"Unless we completely destroy what he's already absorbed, he can keep adding more." His green eyes locked with his rival's. They nodded. Gallo let out a disfigured roar from his body as it charged across the lot at them.

Deku stole a glance at his fellow heroes, smiling as he saw them successfully edging the fighting away from the hotel and towards the street. Mobs of civilians had by now spotted their action, gathering around the fringes of the parking lot with cameras and cellphones out. No doubt some of the local heroes would show up soon. Deku could hear police sirens already. This was replaced by the sound of screeching metal as he had to jump away from a metallic fist that attempted to crush him. Gallo turned his construct's head to follow him, only to receive a harsh blast to the face from Bakugo.

Iida allowed a glance in the other battle's direction as the monstrosity's pained roar sounded. However, this gave his own opponent an opening to tackle him with around two dozen replicates. Ingenium grunted under the sheer weight, but only momentarily, using his Recipro Burst to leap into the air and scatter them all. As they hit the ground, each copy split into two once again. Tenya gritted his teeth, trying to think how to actually injure the thug, or at least contain him and his horde.

The turbo hero's eyes lit up.

Iida's engines fired on all cylinders, his Recipro Turbo activating. The mobster army ran at him from all sides, but Ingenium easily swerved around them at near invisible speed. With numerous adjustments and assistance from Mei's exoskeleton, he gradually gathered all the copies in a clump, then moved for the outer side, beginning to circle the lot of them, methodically increasing his speed while simultaneously reducing the radius of his lap. The thugs grew confused and agitated as they were herded into a tighter and tighter crowd. Amidst the howling wind he'd begun generating, Ingenium could hear the supportive cries of the onlookers sent his way. He smiled beneath his helmet, then accelerated more.

Finally, the circle closed tight enough that he was tearing into the replicant army. Each time they multiplied, Iida's hypothesis proved correct; his foe had no control over the splitting. The thugs cursed at one another as they were packed beyond any ability to move freely, or even breathe, leaving their originator flustered. He'd finally had it, giving in and cancelling his power. In an instant, all the duplicates disappeared, the original staggering around, dazed and sore from being a human sardine. No sooner had he begun looking around for options that Ingenium was behind him, arms around his head and neck in a choke hold. Direct hits were ineffective, but there were more ways to incapacitate someone. The Mafia grunt struggled briefly, but was no match for Iida's far more robust frame. He went limp, the turbo hero allowing him to collapse to the ground, out cold.

Kirishima was in a deadlock with his golem opponent, each one holding back the other's arms. Hearing a chopping reverberate through the air, Red Riot turned to see a news helicopter pass his field of view. Even in his position, he flashed the reporters a sharp grin, then turned his attention back to the transformed thug. With a heave of strength, Eijiro shoved the golem's massive hands aside, breaking their hold and using the foe's lost balance to run right up his now grounded arm. Red Riot's eyes zeroed in on the crystalline being's exposed neck, grinning slyly as he dove for the target and hardened his face and teeth to the maximum.

The lumbering golem roared as Kirishima's jaws clamped down, finally creating visible damage in the form of cracks around where Eijiro's teeth were sunk in. He wasn't done though. Giving a distorted, manly yell, he put as much crushing force as he could into the bite, managing to further crack and splinter the crystal hide. The golem was failing about, trying to pull him off. Unfortunately, the sturdy hero had also dug his hardened fingers into his enemy's body, imitating a massive red tick.

With one final crunch, Eijiro released, undoing his quirk and back-flipping away from the behemoth. As it stumbled around wildly, Red Riot hardened his legs and rushed forward, getting right in range of a counter, which his foe did indeed attempt, swinging its massive arm down to hammer him into the asphalt. But Kirishima was faster, able to selectively activate his power on various body parts, giving him the edge in agility as he lunged up past the incoming fist and deactivated his legs' hardening. This was followed up swiftly by Eijiro's arm being brought upwards, armored to its max. With an opening created by the golem's last swing, nothing stopped Red Riot from unleashing his finisher.

"Red Lariat!"

A horrendous shattering echoed out when the arm latched around the already damaged neck, as Kirishima's momentum-driven attack pulled his helpless foe down to the ground, its crystalline back impacting like a wrecking ball, letting out a tremor. Dust and asphalt bits blew out, obscuring view for both pedestrian and chopper alike. Then, with as typical a reveal as one would expect from a hero-villain clash, the dust settled, revealing a sprawled out human on the ground, his neck clearly bruised, and mouth letting out chocked groans. Standing tall above him, Red Riot grinned fiercely, admiring the few scrapes and nicks he'd gotten from the fight, all while the people nearby exploded into cheers.

Across the way, Endure had worked his way closer to his steam-blasting foe, who was baffled by the tactic, convinced that Todoroki's quirk was strictly long-range. Nevertheless, he was happy to put all his effort into scalding the elemental hero as Shoto managed to get within reach of the villain. As he expected, an omnidirectional burst of scalding gas erupted from each massive pore on his opponent's body. Instead of pointlessly trying to dodge, Endure coated himself in his ice, any chance at building frost nullified as it was evaporated in seconds. Shoto hissed slightly, miscalculating how much he needed to withstand the blast, likely to see some first-degree burns later. For some reason, he internally laughed at the thought. The steam-blaster sent another burst at him, but this time Endure managed to compensate for the temperature difference. As another attack was nullified, the Mafia thug finally noticed just how much the air in their immediate area was destabilizing from the vicious temperature fluctuations.

Sadly for him, few heroes could command such fluctuations better than Todoroki.

From out of the dense fog of steam and icy energy, a massive crown of ice shot out, surprising the mutation quirk user enough that he wasn't ready for the glowing left hand that came right at him from the ice's origin. He instinctively tried expelling another blast of steam, but it was too late. The air was violently ripped down the middle, slicing the heated vapor apart and paving the way for Shoto's follow-up. The last thing the villain saw before being sent flying were the raging flames that engulfed his hero opponent's left side. Then there was a bang, as the air rapidly replaced itself, the mutation user experiencing a second, more solid impact as he was embedded in the obelisk that stood at the Luxor's front, utterly spent.

Shoto cancelled out his flames and gradually called forth more ice to rebalance his body temperature, giving a cool exhale that sent his chilling breath into the air. Many of the female onlookers nearby lost it.

Dante was having no less problems than his defeated subordinates. He was constantly absorbing more cars, light posts, any material he could get his hands on to compensate from the swaths of metal Deku and Blast Master were shaving off with each punch, kick, or explosion. They had him backed into a corner, his improvised mechanical eyes darting between the two heroes as they came at him with another round of hits. At the last moment, Gallo reach with one loosely assembled appendage and grabbed the tram line running above the parking lot, causing Midoriya and Bakugo to pause. The Mafia capo's monstrous construct seemed to smirk as it ripped the tram railing apart, absorbing it in the process.

Like a whip, Gallo jerked the melding appendage, twisting the tracks further down the line. To the heroes' horror, the rapidly collapsing line was right above a group of civilians, who began panicking at the sight. Deku was just about to break off and assist, when a wall of ice grabbed at the cracking support columns, followed by a blur of white swiping away multiple bystanders who were in the path of falling debris. A little girl screamed as a chunk of concrete and rebar plummeted towards her. Thanks to Red Riot's sudden interference, it never laid so much as a scratch on her, the child's eyes wide with wonder as the man's Unbreakable form stood above her protectively.

Deku beamed at his teammates, allowing his attention to shift back to Gallo. He and Bakugo gasped at seeing he'd made his way over to the hotel's enormous sphinx statue while they were distracted. Without hesitation, the construct stuck itself to the practical building as if it were a starfish. As the absorption commenced, everyone gathered at Izuku and Katsuki's location, staring up at the event in astonishment.

"You've got to be freaking kidding me!" Kirishima called out. "Does he ever have to stop!?" Midoriya narrowed his eyes as the sphinx began to shudder from its foundation.

"No. Given enough mass, he could exponentially grow. He's avoided full-scale assaults until now only because his higher-ups demand discretion." Deku bit his lip, then turned, along with the others, as they heard incoming footsteps. Fittingly enough, the local heroes and police force had arrived in full, though were clearly unprepared for what they were witnessing. One of the pros singled out Midoriya and approached, urgency evident.

"What the hell is that? And who are you guys? You don't seem like you're from around here." Eijiro grinned triumphantly as he motioned to himself and his friends.

"You're looking at some of Japan's best and manliest heroes." The American pro and a few others flanking him had their eyes go wide. Unfortunately, their encounter was interrupted by the horrific screeching of pulled metal and cracking stone. Everyone looked back to the sphinx, now infused with metal components from the many vehicles Gallo had absorbed, acting as a skeleton and muscle system of sorts. The titanic creature pulled itself to its feet, the entire area rumbling like an earthquake, leaving most of the onlookers running for their lives. Upon its face, the once inanimate statue's eyes drifted over to the five foreigners below, clearly setting its sights. Deku scowled at the beast in return; there was no way they could let this go on here. He spun back around to the pros, as well as a few officers who had joined them.

"We can't fight this here. Please, help us lure it towards the airport. Then we can engage without civilians getting caught up in the fight." The local heroes nodded, agreeing with his judgement. Midoriya then looked to the police. "Sir, contact air-traffic control, have them clear the runway of all craft as well as redirect any incoming flights." The uniformed man acknowledged, turning to leave as he pulled out his radio to make the necessary calls. All present heroes turned to face the sphinx construct, which now reared back like a cat ready to pounce.

(I think you all know what to start playing here)

"Scatter, now!"

On Deku's command, everyone broke up, leaving an empty space for one of Gallo's massive paws to crush, throwing up a mess of dust. Immediately, the beast began being pelted by all manner of elemental blasts, projectiles, and whatever else the combined company of heroes could throw at it. The sphinx jerked around, tearing up what was left of the tram rail in front of its original resting place, then made a short jump out onto Las Vegas Boulevard. The landing tossed several parked cars on their sides or roofs, though fortunately the police had quarried off several blocks of road at some point during the initial fighting. This left the heroes with room to maneuver and attack the construct without worry of collateral.

In the midst of their assault, Endure snuck behind the beast and sent a dense sheet of ice across the road, Gallo's massive form quickly losing footing on the glacial surface. Taking advantage, Red Riot joined several strength augmentation users in shoving the creature's hind legs, further pushing it towards their final destination. Ingenium ran around the constructs front limbs, keeping it occupied as Deku and Blast Master hammered away at the thing's head with long-range attacks, aggravating it more by the second. Bakugo kept buzzing around using his explosions, an annoying firecracker fly to the sphinx, while Izuku performed some sharpshooting at the joints, encouraging it to take him out first.

The operation was clearly working. Gallo was stumbling across the street, into empty lots with little material for him to absorb; though he had plenty in reserve to repair the damage being inflicted. Deku suddenly put more power into his legs and leapt sky-high, eyeing the airport just a short block away now. The area was cleared of all planes, each one safely docked away from the sphinx's path. God knows what the Mafia villain could do with a couple jets sucked into him. With another pounce, the towering construct crashed through the gates separating the runway from the outside, signaling for Deku to find his explosive companion for their endgame.

"Blast Master!" he called seeing Bakugo still agitating the beast's head. The man heard him, breaking off upon seeing the One for All user waving him down. Gallo surged forward to swipe at the airborne blonde, but a quick rush of Endure's flames threw him off. Katsuki made it down to his rival, the two turning to face the sphinx, now fully placed on the runway. "You got enough?" Bakugo raised his grenade gauntlet, seeing it flash red momentarily.

"Hell yeah." Emerald eyes once more met crimson. This time, the two childhood friends actually grinned at one another.

"Then I'll set him up for you." Deku took a step forward, taking a deep breath. Energy began crackling around his body, his costume seeming to strain against the power building up. Within him, Izuku could feel the star of energy that was One for All surging forth, relaying past the essences of those that came before him, until finally colliding with his own innate strength, bringing it to the surface.

"Full Cowl- 100%"

Deku's hair brightened as it flared back, as if brimming with static. His focused eyes emanated slight wisps of fire-like energy, barely containing itself in his flesh and bone. His costume billowed as if he were standing in a howling gale. Even after so many years, this technique was used scarcely. One miscalculation and the quirk would tear Izuku apart. But he needed it now, he needed the strength to launch a building-sized villain into the air. Sure, he could decimate Gallo on his own, but a raw physical impact would scatter debris like a meteor shower for several blocks. That level of collateral damage was unacceptable. There was only one person would could deliver the vaporizing blast necessary to end this without further harm.

Deku vanished, moving at such speeds that the local heroes thought he teleported. His friends knew better, eyes instantly beneath the sphinx, where the green-clad hero was already winding up a kick. Bakugo got into position, hands kept light and free for the timing he'd need in a few seconds. The pins on his gauntlets popped out of their compartment. Then Izuku swung, the air pressure alone already lifting the sphinx construct off the ground. Jaws dropped all over, pro and distant onlookers together, as a single man sent Gallo flying into the sky.

His target in sight, Katsuki reached in and grabbed both of the pins on his gauntlets simultaneously. As he did, heavy braces shot out of the back of each one, encasing his normally exposed arms in preparation for the backlash to come. Blast Master pulled, the pins flying away as he aimed both hands at the airborne sphinx, generating the densest concentration of explosive energy he could in his palms, as the additional sweat from his grenades poured into the mix. A bright flash came just a split-second before firing, Bakugo yelling out in his classic carnage-filled voice.

"NITROBLITERATE!"

The shockwave alone sent all those nearby onto their backs, while Katsuki's legs sank into the earth, his arms' bracers groaning from the strain. A literal beam of destructive force shot into the heavens, enveloping Gallo in the blink of an eye. The sound didn't reach anyone's ears until after the visible detonation far above, what was initially a blinding explosion quickly devolving into a deep ashen cloud of smoke and dust. Scores of disintegrating bits flew out of the inky cloud, all dissolving harmlessly before even coming close to the ground, ensuring the safety of both person and property.

Bakugo staggered, then fell back onto his rear end, beginning to pant as his bracers retracted back into the gauntlets. He rested his arms on his knees, trying to better circulate the oxygen replenishing his system. Despite his heavy breathing, he heard the metal-soled footsteps of his rival come up beside him, the green-haired inheritor of One for All collapsing to the earth in the same position as him, though with a slight wince at his dulled yet prevailing burn. As the two sat there, whoops and cheers gradually filled in the formerly quiet atmosphere, the blackened cloud in the sky finally fading away, though not before depositing the source of all the mayhem from its bottom. Gallo's barely conscious form fell fast from the sky, only to be grabbed by Shoto's ice well before meeting the runway. The Mafia capo was singed, caked in soot, and occasionally coughing out ashes; clearly down for the count.

As the celebration piled on, with distant voices of civilians joining in, the news chopper overheard pausing to get some close ups, Izuku and Katsuki finally looked at one another, giving each other a rather blank stare as the seconds ticked by.

Then a chuckle escaped their mouths. Followed by another, and another, until the pair flat-out laughed.

"At least you're always there to play stagehand for a glorious fucking finish," Bakugo declared as they settled down. Midoriya sent him a determined smirk in reply.

"Next time, I'll take the finishing blow."

"You wish, loser." The two each made a fist and hit the backs of each other's hands together, then noticed two other hands being offered to them from above. They wholeheartedly accepted Iida and Kirishima's support back to their feet, steadying themselves with further help from their friends as the other pro heroes finally converged around them, spouting all manner of praise and questions. Above, two more news copters had joined in, more-or-less ensuring their latest victory would be broadcast from coast to coast.

The five foreigners were certainly not nobodies anymore.


Oh my god did I have fun with this one! Honestly, most of the time I took for this chapter was spent hyping myself up for it. The actual writing was done in one morning. I've been told I do decently on fight scenes, so fingers crossed I gave you all a good climax. I was listening to You Say Run on repeat for most of it, so I was typing like crazy.

On the topic of hero names, I'm sure there's been better ones for Todoroki, I just picked something I felt was symbolic, for several reasons that I'm sure can be surmised. On Bakugo, I couldn't think of anything clever, so I just went with something I thought he'd find acceptable.

Anyway, two chapters left, I'm probably typing the next as you read this, since my hype didn't wear off after completing this one. I just feel awesome, honestly. You've all been really supportive too!

HankFlamion18: I do so hope I delivered the bang, or at least the main one. And well, Doug did get pretty crisped up in the movie, so I wanted to keep it in for realism sake.

Cieszesi Niezmiernie: The answers soon to come, I promise!

Crow's Apprentice: I had a feeling it would be the best received thus far. Clearly most find it their favorite part of the movie.

lostdog200: Agreed! and you're welcome!

ds hero: Hm, not sure if I'll have time, heck, I haven't even seen part 2 and 3.

SoulHorse: Always a pleasure to bring the laughs.

bukspwn737: YES! SUCCESS! I was so hoping to strike a balance.

MasterofDungeons: Hehe, gotta throw in some reference jokes.

Hope you enjoyed and thanks for any comments/reviews!

next chapter: Homecoming