Chapter 8: The USJ Incident
Green
Izuku
The night quickly passed, and I made my way to school the following day. Taking my seat at the back of class, I took the time the review the events of the day prior. After separating from Momo, I went home and arrived to the sound of rushing water in the kitchen. My mom had popped her curious head into the hallway, asking, "Is that you, son?"
"It's me."
"It's not like you to come home late, dearie. Was there something going on after school?"
"Oh, it was nothing. It's just that you're looking at the proud new CEO of Midoriya Incorporated, with a grand spanking total of one employee."
She laughed, "Oh, you silly boy. Ever the jokester, I see."
"Dinner's on the table if you're still hungry."
"Thanks, mom."
Sometimes the truth was just so absurd that if you weren't there for it, no one would believe it ever happened.
I found my attention being drawn back into the present when I sensed someone settle down in the seat to my right. I turned my head to see Momo, who gave me a small wave and a smile.
"Good morning, sir." There was a teasing edge in her voice.
"You don't have to call me that," I groaned, already foreseeing the plethora of issues that would come with her calling me sir in public, "just Izuku is fine."
She gave me a faux affronted look, "But tradition dictates that a fine line be drawn between employers and employees. You shall refer to me by name, while I, on the other hand, will address you by your proper title."
I raised one sarcastic eyebrow. "My title? I didn't realise I had one."
"Don't be silly, you're the CEO of a company. Of course you have one."
"Yeah," I said, "a shell company."
"Still technically a company. And who knows, maybe it might go somewhere in the future."
"Whatever," I rolled my eyes, "just don't call me sir in public."
"Roger that, sir," She gave me a mini-salute, coupled with a giggle.
I sighed.
"Speaking of which," she continued lightly, "we never decided on a proper position for me."
"What?"
"My official job position," she said.
"Why the hell do you need a job position? This is all fake, remember? It's just a temporary thing until we graduate in three years and I can officially open a hero agency."
She pouted, "Well, I'd still like one, regardless."
"You're not getting one."
"Why not?"
"Because this conversation is dumb."
"Dumb?" she said hotly, "How is clarifying my position with you dumb?"
I immediately cringed at the volume.
"Keep your voice down," I hissed, "are you trying to make a scene?"
She ignored me.
"I can't believe you," she continued, beginning to attract a few curious stares from the rest of the class, "Have you ever put any thought into our relationship?"
She pretended to dab away tears at the corner of her eye. I stared at her incredulously. What the hell is she talking about–?
Whispers were beginning to pass around the room.
I didn't realise Midoriya and Yaoyorozu were like that.
Me neither. What a lucky bastard, that Midoriya.
Wait, it seems like they're having relationship issues right now.
Does that I mean I still have a chance?
"Look, now they're mistaking us for a couple–"
"Tell me," she cried, a coy smile suppressed at the corner of her eyes, "what am I to you?"
"Why the fuck are you saying it like that– I, uh, you're my," I stared her in the eyes, "beloved. Partner." Two could play at this game.
From around the room, gasps rang out simultaneously.
"Oh, that is too sweet," Mina Ashido cooed, "you two are so cute."
"Congratulations, man," Kirishima stated, "I didn't know you two were together."
"It all makes sense now," said Tsuyu, "no wonder I saw you two walking off together yesterday."
"Did you ask her out last night?"
I turned to Momo, who looked all too innocent right now.
"Was this the position you wanted?" I asked dryly.
"I was thinking more among something along the lines of secretary or something but this works too."
"Well, I hope you're happy," I gave up with a frustrated sigh.
Great, now everyone thinks we're dating.
Just what I needed. At this moment, Aizawa decided to walk into class.
"Homeroom is starting now. Everyone get to your seats."
The room instantly quieted down.
"All right, before I say anything, some of you may have noticed a group of reporters on your way in this morning."
All of us nodded. It had been quite the hassle to escape from them.
"Now that All Might is teaching at UA, situations like this might become more common. If you encounter this situation in the future, just ignore them and keep walking. Don't try to answer their questions. Understood?"
"Yes, sir." We chorused.
"Right. I heard from All Might yesterday about the results of your combat class." Aizawa took a look at his notes.
"Midoriya and Partas," he said, "you two are powerful, but that also means you both must be extra careful about wielding said power. Try to harness more restraint, got it?"
"Yes sir./ Sure."
He continued to rattle off a list of tips to the rest of the class.
"Right, now that we've reviewed yesterday's classes, let's get to the most important business of today."
Aizawa glanced up from his notes. "You guys need to pick out the class representatives from amongst you. I don't care who it is, just make it quick." After saying that, he retreated into his yellow sleeping bag.
The room instantly burst into a clamour, quickly devolving into utter chaos. Everyone seemed to be talking at the same time.
"EXCUSE ME!" came a piercing voice that rang over the crowd. We all turned our attention to Iida, who had his hand raised straight up.
"We need to do this in the most civilised way possible," he said, "meaning a democratic process. Let's put it to a vote."
Even though you clearly have your hand raised the highest? We all thought collectively.
After about ten minutes, the final results came out. I was surprised to find myself with the highest number of votes in the class, with Momo coming in second.
"Wait," I said, "I couldn't possibly be the class president. Someone else must be more qualified."
"I don't think anyone else here in the room is more qualified than you," laughed Kaminari, "just take the position, dude."
"Yeah," Uraraka pumped her fist encouragingly, "we all think you're the best choice."
"But," I blinked hesitantly, "you all saw how I messed up so badly during yesterday's class."
"No one can be perfect," this time it was Yoarashi who spoke up, "we all make mistakes. But you were able to reflect on yourself and learn from your errors in the end. Besides that, you are the sole person in the room who has had actual experience doing hero work. No one else here can compare to that."
"We'll support you no matter what," came the encouraging shout from Ashido, "so just hurry up and take the position."
"Humph, I'm just waiting for you to fuck up so I can take your position, Deku," Kacchan threatened menacingly from his seat, "If you don't want it then give it to me."
I ignored him.
"Don't fucking ignore me, you piece of shit!"
"Thank you everyone for the nomination. I'll try to keep up to your expectations."
Everyone cheered and applauded.
"Hell yeah, that's the spirit!"
"Class 1A, represent!"
"Alright, alright, that's enough." Aizawa stepped in at this point.
"You're gonna blow out my eardrums at this rate."
Green
Momo
"So," came the sly voice of Ashido, "you and Midoriya, huh." The girls and I were currently seated around a cafeteria table. Pretty much all of the 1A girls were here, save for Esdeath, who had disappeared somewhere for lunch.
I blushed at the insinuation in her tone.
"There's nothing between us," I denied, "we're just normal friends."
"Oh, you can't deny it," Hagakure sang, "we all heard him loud and clear today."
"Oh yes," Jirou's eyes twinkled mischievously, "what did he call you again? Something like 'my beloved.'"
"My beloved partner," supplied Uraraka, "Oh, that's so romantic! Did he ask you out last night?"
"That's right," Asui jumped in at this point, "I saw you guys walking together after school yesterday. He even went into your car, I think."
The girls pestered me for details about a non-existent relationship, which gave me a pounding headache. If I had known this was going to be the result of my intentional outburst this morning, I would've kept my mouth shut. No matter how much I tried to deny everything, they just seemed to take it as me being shy and sink further into their delusion.
Oh dear, I thought, I seemed to have dug quite a pit for myself.
The topic eventually petered off when they realised I wasn't going supply any juicy details, switching tracks to the missing member of our party.
"Has anyone seen Esdeath-chan?" someone asked.
"Yeah, she disappeared off somewhere. I haven't seen her since the bell rang for lunch." Asui mentioned.
"She seems quite cold and aloof," Uraraka said, "Maybe she just prefers to eat lunch by herself?"
"Tch, what's with that," Ashido complained, "thinks she's better than us or something?"
"Well, you saw how powerful she is yesterday," Hagakure said, "she even managed to beat Midoriya."
"That's right, you were there, Momo," Jirou mentioned, "what was it like?"
I thought back to the fight I witnessed yesterday. I couldn't suppress a chill that shot down my spine at the memory of those two duking it out.
"Those two," I began, "are monsters in their own right."
The group let that phrase stew in the air for a bit.
"Yeah," eventually Ashido spoke up, "I wouldn't want to fight either of them, ever. I'm glad they're on our side."
"So am I," I responded, inwardly thinking, you have no idea how glad I am for that.
"I feel bad for whatever villain gets in their way," mused Uraraka. We all shared a laugh at that.
Green
The next day…
Today's Hero class was focused on 'rescue' training. Our class was currently gathered outside a large, dome-shaped building. Aizawa-sensei and an unfamiliar figure in an astronaut's suit stood in front of the gates.
"Hello, everyone," the astronaut waved cheerily, "my name is Thirteen, and today I'll be your rescue training instructor."
"This building you see behind me," he gestured broadly to the dome-shaped architecture, "is called the 'Unforeseen Simulation Joint'– also known as the USJ! Here, you will learn to utilise your Quirk to rescue people in a variety of simulated conditions."
"Some of you here were born with extremely powerful Quirks that could easily kill someone," Thirteen didn't mention any names, but we all knew who he was referring to, "but Quirks were not given to you to hurt others. Remember that always."
I raised my hand, "Excuse me, sensei?"
"Yes, Yaoyorozu?" Aizawa asked.
"Where is All Might-sensei? Not to be rude, but I was under the impression that he would be teaching us Hero Foundations?"
"He's been held up with hero work outside of school," Aizawa stated, "we're not sure if he can make it in time for class so we'll just have to make do without him."
He and Thirteen shared a meaningful gaze.
"Alright then," I placed my hand down.
"If there aren't any further questions, we'll head in now."
The inside of the dome was even more impressive than the building's outward appearance. From where we stood, I could see a multitude of landscapes dotting the building. A large lake, a dilapidated area with crumbling buildings, some of which were on fire, a large rocky outcrop to the side.
"Woah," Mineta's eyes were sparkling, "this is like the amusement park but a thousand times cooler."
Thirteen gave a laugh at his words, "That's definitely true. This right here is a perk that only heroes get to experience. Alright, so what's first–"
The sound of a switch being flipped off interrupted Thirteen. All around us, lights began to shut off from around the inner dome of USJ.
"What's going on?" asked Kaminari, "Is this part of the lesson?"
A black, purple mist suddenly phased into existence a distance away, in the middle of USJ. It expanded from the size of a fist to about the same size as the face of a double-decker bus. From within the mist, men and women of all shapes and sizes began to walk out, glaring at us menacingly.
Aizawa crouched slightly, "No, this isn't. Thirteen, protect the students. This is a villain attack. Try to contact the school."
"I can't," replied the astronaut, "there seems to be something interferring with the signal."
"So this was a planned attack, huh," Aizawa stated, "Bring the students out of here. I'm leaving it to you."
"Oh, don't be in such a hurry to leave." From within the mist, a man with hands all over his body walked out. Besides him were two figures. One seemed to be wearing a suit. He had metal plates around his collarbone, and his entire body seemed to be made out of the same purple mist the other villains walked out of. However, my attention was focused on the hulking black figure on the other side of the man. The body type was wrong, as well as the skin colour, but the face…
"Uh, Midoriya…" the trembling voice of Mineta rang out from our group, "Why does that black villain have your face and hair?"
It was almost an identical look. The curly green hair, as well as the facial structure, everything was identical. However, the other villain had an impassive, slightly dumb-looking expression on its face. We all turned to Izuku, who looked equally as flabbergasted as we were.
"I have no idea," he said, "I'm just as lost as you are."
"Kids," came the sharp voice of Thirteen, "this is no time to be gawking. Let's go."
"Wait," Izuku protested, "we can't just leave Aizawa-sensei here to deal with the villains on his own. Even if he can erase Quirks, there's just too many for one man alone. Let me help."
Aizawa turned to us, yellow goggles over his eyes. "You can't be a hero with just one trick," he said, "Don't worry about me. You guys are still students, and you can't fight, so leave it to the professionals. Your job is to escape from here, so I can safely escape too. Understand?"
Thirteen impatiently urged, "Come on, there's no time to argue. Let's go."
Aizawa jumped down to engage the villains, whilst the rest of us reluctantly trailed behind Thirteen. Izuku, especially, was glancing back at Aizawa's form, fingers nervously touching the band around his neck. I grabbed his arm to focus his attention.
"Trust in sensei," I said, staring into his eyes, "No matter how powerful you are, we're still students, remember. It's not our job to fight villains yet."
"But–" he started, but cut himself off with a frustrated sigh, "I know, but it just really frustrates me to not be able to help despite being able to."
I gave his arm a consoling pat, "I know. We're all frustrated. But we've got to do the right thing."
"Yeah."
Our plans to escape were swiftly brought to a halt, however, when the misty man teleported in front of us, cutting off our escape route.
"Ah, the party has just started. Where are the guests going, I wonder?"
"Get back behind me," Thirteen yelled, putting himself in front of us.
The villain gave a chuckle at this sight, "My, my, it's like the mother hen protecting her chicks. I wonder if that makes me the big bad wolf?"
"No," Thirteen said, opening the caps at the edge of his fingertips, "it makes you someone who's about to be in a world of pain."
"Ho ho," chuckled the villain, "so scary."
He crossed his arms, looking entire unconcerned.
"How long are you going to make us wait?"
We all froze, wondering what he meant. A minute sigh rang out, and we all watched in shock as a spear of ice penetrated Thirteen from behind. The astronaut collapsed onto the ground, unmoving. Dead.
Esdeath Partas walked out from within the class, stepping lightly over the body of Thirteen as she approached the misty villain. Her face was impassive and cold, like an iceberg.
"Esdeath…?" Izuku's strained voice rang out. "What the hell…?"
She made an about face, turning her body to face us, standing with one hand cocked on her hips from her place next to the villain.
"Allow me to introduce my colleague, Kurogiri," she said, "We are members of the League of Villains. Our primary goal?" She licked her lips, giving them a glossy shine.
"To assassinate the Symbol of Peace."
The revelation left us reeling.
What?
Green
Izuku
I could feeling the anger growing hotly inside me. The body of Thirteen lay cooling off to the side, punctured through with a spear of ice.
How could she do this? How could she betray us?
"Why?" I gritted out, "why do this? What did they threaten you with to make you betray us?"
"Betray you?" she feigned surprise, "I didn't betray you. I was never on your side, after all."
Somehow, that made it worse.
"We trusted you," Uraraka said, tears in her eyes.
"We treated you as a friend."
"And this is how you repay us?" Kirishima looked completely enraged, his Quirk already activated all over his body.
Esdeath snorted. "Your friendship means nothing. I've only know you guys for two days, anyway. Spare me the dramatics, please."
Some of the girls gasped in hurt.
"Who cares," Bakugo snapped, "it's clear she's an enemy. Let's just blow this bitch to the heavens."
"Wait," I said, stopping the members of the class that were about to engage in combat. "With Aizawa-sensei preoccupied and Thirteen-sensei incapacitated, the chain of command falls down to me."
"You can't possibly be telling us not to engage?" Bakugou looked at me incredulously, "We're holding back even at this point?"
"No, of course not," I replied, my mind racing furiously at this point. The situation has escalated too far for us to just sit back. Right now, our priority is to alert the school. But how?
"Iida," I snapped, causing the bespectacled boy to snap his head in attention, "I need you to escape."
"What?" he said, "I can't possibly leave you guys behind–"
"You are the fastest runner in class besides me and Yoarashi. You are the only one who can send out the news as fast as possible."
"I can fight–" he insisted, but I cut him off, "I know you can!" I snapped.
He flinched, taken aback.
"I know you can," I repeated in a softer tone, "But we don't need a 'Iida who can fight.' We need," I stared him down, "and 'Iida who can save us all.' Can you do that?"
He gulped, "Yes. Yes I can."
"Kacchan, go back and support Aizawa-sensei," I continued, "Yoarashi, go with him. Try to stay in the air as much as possible."
The tall boy gave me a determined nod.
"Got it."
"Don't fucking tell me what to do–"
Yoarashi laughed, and with a gentle application of his Quirk, lifted Bakugou up with a gust of wind and carried him off in the direction of Aizawa.
"I can fly by myself you dumb ceiling fan–" His curses slowly faded into the distance.
"Todoroki, with me," I said, stepping forward towards Kurogiri and Esdeath, "we'll deal with the two of them."
"Ah." He stepped in place beside me, his right side beginning to ice over.
"If things get too hairy," I stated lowly, "I may need to see that left side of yours."
The boy with dual-colored hair didn't respond.
Lastly…
"Momo," I called, catching the attention of my raven-haired partner.
"Yes?"
"I'll leave the rest to you. Call it."
With that, I dashed off to engage the enemy.
"Esdeath," I roared, "rematch!"
"One for All: 80%!"
Green
Momo
A wave of displaced air blasted into the rest of the class as Izuku took off, Todoroki next to him. The rest of Class 1A turned to me with expectant gazes.
"What do we do?" Hagakure said worriedly.
"We need to take advantage of this opportunity to get Iida out of here," I stated, turning to Uraraka, "Ochako-chan, make Iida weightless. Tsuyu, how far can you throw? Can you throw him all the way to the gate?"
The frog girl considered for a moment, " I should be able to, yeah."
"Get started," I told them, before turning to the rest of the class.
"My Quirk makes me strong in close-combat," Kirishima stepped up, "I can go support Bakugou and Yoarashi."
"I'll go with you." Shoji, Ojiro, and Ashido stepped up.
"Be careful," I nodded, "Stay safe."
"Got it." The trio ran off.
"Aoyama," I turned to the blond boy, "how far is the range of your laser?"
"It is accurate up to a fabulous distance of one kilometer," the blond boy began, "However, I get stomachaches if I shoot for over one second."
"That's fine," I reassured him, "just do your best to snipe the villains. Kaminari, go with him. Find an vantage point. Protect Aoyama. Anyone get close to him, tase them."
"You betcha!" He winked at me. "Let's go, Frenchie! Wait, are you even French?"
This left Tokoyami, Sero, Jirou, Mineta, Hagakure, and me.
"Tokoyami," I began, "Can you fly? With Dark Shadow?"
He looked surprised, summoning his alter-ago out from within him.
"Can we, Dark Shadow?"
"Dunno, boss. We could try."
Dark Shadow tried to lift up Tokoyami, but couldn't get him off the ground.
"Sorry, boss."
"What if he wrapped around you," I asked, "like a cloak, or a wing?"
"Ooh, I like that idea, boss. Super edgy and cool, just like us."
Tokoyami tried my suggestion, and to our collective surprise, he began to float.
The bird-head looked at me in excitement, "Thank you, Yaoyorozu-chan. I've discovered a new use of my Quirk thanks to you. What do you need me to do?"
"Fly around. Observe the situation. Help anyone who needs it. You're aerial support."
He nodded, and took off. Sero stepped up, watching me eagerly.
"What can I do?"
I looked him over in consideration. Tape, huh?
"You can find fallen villains and subdue them with tape. Tie them up. Also, if anyone from our class is injured, use your tape as emergency medical aid."
Sero enthusiastically nodded, and ran off to do his bidding.
I turned to the remaining members.
"You guys just follow me," I said, "we'll go support whoever needs the most help."
A loud boom shook the USJ building, and we turned to see Esdeath crash into the ground, causing cracks to form all over the earth. Izuku landed not far from where she lay, a small crater forming around his legs from his landing. In his hand was the ragged looking body of the misty villain, Kurogiri, who was slumped like a ragdoll.
Izuku threw the black villain next to Esdeaths' unconscious form, a quiet fire burning in his gaze.
"Todoroki," he said, "encase them in ice, please."
Ice began to form around the bodies of the two villains, encasing them completely so that only their head was visible. Everything else was covered beneath thick layers of ice.
We stared at Izuku in absolute shock. How long had that been? Barely five minutes? Maybe even less?
He shrugged, "Like swatting a fly. What's next?"
Green
Izuku
"One for All: 80%!"
I blasted off towards Esdeath at blistering speeds, fuelled by my rage. I was holding back nothing from the start. I'm going to make this woman regret crossing me.
Esdeath was barely able to throw up an ice barrier in time. My fist impacted a wall of ice, several tens of meters thick, but it still instantly disintegrated into shards of ice. Behind me, Todoroki had already engaged Kurogiri, sending blasts of ice at the villain, who kept warping out of the way.
"So forward," Esdeath smirked, leaping back a distance away, "You know women don't like men who come on too strong, right?"
I replied with a gale of force sent her way.
She dodged to the side, a wave of ice forming beneath her boots. They trailed towards me, turning into spikes that rose from the ground. With a flick of my fingers, I created a cannon of air that blasted the spikes to pieces, and even pushed Esdeath off balance for a bit.
She righted herself almost immediately, using constructs of ice to help her maintain balance.
"You weren't this strong yesterday," she panted, the physical exertion of such rapid usage of Quirks catching up to her, "were you holding back?"
"Of course I was holding back," I told her, "I didn't want to kill you by accident."
Her eyes widened at my declaration. "Magnificent," she breathed, "You continue to surpass my every expectation. As expected of the man I have my eyes on."
"Flattery won't get you anywhere, you psycho bitch," I spat, "you killed Thirteen-sensei. Don't think you can get away with this."
"Aw, such hurtful words," she pouted, "you'll make a girl cry."
She suddenly hurled a dagger made of ice at my face. My hand snapped up to crush the projectile mid-air, but her intention was to distract me.
"Got you," she grinned, before a pillar of ice slammed into me from underground. It launched me into the air, flying towards the dome-ceiling of USJ. Esdeath leapt up after me, long blue tresses fluttering behind her. It kind of frustrated me how beautiful she looked even when trying to murder you.
However…
"Attacks of this magnitude can't damage me," I stated coldly. Slamming both fists behind me, I forcefully changed vectors, flying back towards the ground, towards the incoming Esdeath. I silently prepared the smash that would end this farce of a fight for good.
Esdeath smirked, bringing her hands up to form a triangle at chest level. The tattoo on her chest began to glow blue.
"Mahadoma."
I didn't understand what happened. One moment she was still a distance away from me, the next she seemed to have teleported directly in front of me. A spear of ice was lodged through my chest, and my arms and legs were both frozen.
She leaned in really close and pecked me gently on the lips.
"The thing is," Esdeath said, staring lovingly into my eyes, "I was holding back yesterday, too."
I smiled at her, a trickle of blood leaking from the corner of my mouth.
"A man who can smile the moment before his death," Esdeath said, "I haven't seen a man like that before. You truly are a one of a kind, Izuku. Makes me kind of sad, really. I really wanted to see what you look like when you let loose completely. It would have been such a majestic sight."
"Who said I was dying?" I said, giving her a feral smile.
"You should have gone for the head."
One for All surged, and I easily broke out of my icy confinements.
"Plus Ultra," I intoned, staring at the shocked woman, before punching her in the solar plexus, sending her spiraling down into the earth below.
"Bitch."
Todoroki was still fighting Kurogiri, who seemed to be having fun teleporting around the attacks of the frustrated teen. I decided to help him out, using One for All to send me flying towards the villain. I was able to catch the villain off guard, and with a well-placed smash to the metal construct around his neck, he was neutralized as well.
As I fell back towards the ground, I discretely took out a syringe from within my utilities belt pouch of my hero costume. It was designed by Melissa as a special tool to help collect Quirk samples from. I jabbed it into Kurogiri and harvested a little bit of blood from him. Apparently, there WAS a body beneath all that mist. Melissa could probably do something with this. Pocketing the spoils, I landed on the ground heavily, cratering the floor slightly. I tossed the villains close together and had Todoroki encase them in ice. I briefly considered 'harvesting' Esdeath as well, but decided that it would be too risking with all these eyes on me.
I turned to Momo, who was gaping at me. Besides her were Mineta and Jirou.
"Like swatting a fly," I told them, "who's next?"
I pulled the spear of ice out of my chest, wincing a little at the sensation of a breeze flying through the hole in my chest.
Jiro gasped, her headphone jacks flailing wildly, at the sight of my injury.
"Midoriya! Your chest…"
I waved off her concern. "It's fine, I'm already healing. See?"
The wound was steaming slightly, as tendrils of muscles seemed to twist themselves together into a heart, before muscles formed over the organ, covering it from view. The tissue damage was easy to repair, but the damages to the ribcage would take longer to heal. Esdeath's ice spear managed to penetrate through the thick bone plating beneath my torso, which was a testament to just how powerful she was. If I hadn't had One for All, and if I hadn't possessed a second heart, she would've killed me with that last move of hers.
What was that? I wondered. It was like she teleported, or something. But her power is ice manipulation, I thought, or does she have multiple Quirks? If so, that means the person she's working for is…
All for One.
This could be really bad. I smell a horrible conspiracy behind this attack. All Might needs to know as soon as possible. But for now…
I turned towards the sounds of combat in the distance.
"Let's go round up the rest of these chumps."
Green
Most of the small fry villains had been taken care of by the time we arrived. The ones that were left were the ones that possessed slightly dangerous Quirks, but it looked like my classmates were handling them fine, for the most part. Most of us had teamed up into pairs or trios to fight one villain. The hand villain, standing next to the weird black doppelgänger of me, was currently glaring at me through the holes in his mask.
"You cheated," He growled, "you cheated! How was I supposed to know there was a hidden boss like you amongst the student body! Esdeath didn't report that you were this strong!"
"Esdeath didn't know I was this strong, either," I lightly replied, "And now she's paid the price for it."
"You'll regret this," snarled the villain, "I'll make sure you do."
"Right, right," I dismissed his threat, "Stop the pointless blustering already. Can we get to the point? Seriously, it's like you villains read off a script or something."
"Nomu," he growled, "teach this boy a lesson."
The hulking monstrosity (albeit a handsome one due to it having my face) stepped forward.
"Midoriya," Aizawa's voice caused me to snap in his direction, "Be careful. It's a lot stronger than it looks."
Our homeroom teacher looked to me in horrible shape. His arms and legs were both bent beyond recognition, and I could see Sero beside him frantically trying to stem the blood loss with tape.
"Aizawa-sensei!" I let out a concerned shout.
"Don't worry about me," he gasped, "just don't die. I order you as a teacher to not die. Otherwise I'll go to heaven myself to fail you there, understood?"
"Yes sir."
"Get out of here with that disgusting sappy hero shit," the hand villain spat, "Nomu! What are you waiting for? Attack!"
The abomination seemed to be hesitating slightly, however. It looked at me curiously, the dumb mindless look still in place, but there was a glint of… something more, hidden behind it's eyes.
"Nomu!" The third command rang out sharply. Whatever signs of intelligence was immediately wiped out as Nomu gave out a terrifying roar. It rushed towards me at a blinding speed, but I was easily able to track it. I met its punch straight on with a punch of my own, the force of our clash creating a ripple of force around us. The muscles on Nomu's arm rippled a bit, but surprisingly it wasn't forced back.
What? That was a 50% punch?
"Surprised?" came the voice of the hand villain, "Nomu here was engineered specifically to combat someone like All Might. Not only does it possess of super strength Quirk as well as a super regeneration Quirk, it also has the ability of 'Shock Absorption'! His genetic makeup was bioengineered using DNA harvested from you, Izuku Midoriya!"
I had already suspected on some level, but hearing it confirmed still gave me a shock.
"How were you able to get my DNA?" I demanded. The villain laughed.
"It was all too easy. So many samples of you have been harvested over the ten year period you were under research that I'm surprised more villains haven't stolen them yet. Your DNA is quite the precious commodity, actually."
"They promised it would be held under the tightest possible security," I said.
"Please. That means nothing in a world of Quirks. A safe is only as tight until it meets the Quirk that unlocks it."
Nomu roared in confrontation, lashing out with a punch that sent me staggering back a few steps.
"Nomu is a killing machine, able to tank blows from the likes of All Might. Nomu, why don't you show your father," he said that last part mockingly, "how you shatter his skull, hmm?"
"Let him try."
Nomu and I began to trade blows at blistering speeds, the speed and force of our blows pushing back everyone around us. Tempest-like winds buffeted the surroundings, as our fists began to blur from the speed.
"You said his Quirk was shock absorption, not nullification. That means there's a limit to what it can handle. I just have to punch it at a force beyond what it can absorb."
Slowly, the Nomu began to be forced back. First it dropped to one knee, then to both knees, until eventually I broke through its guard and began to pummel it into the ground. It tried to regenerate its wounds, but I knew my body well. I knew every weakness it had. I shattered the bones in its arms first, then its legs, then the spine. Blood and gore spattered all over my costume, but I didn't let up. I knew that what I had to do was to exhaust Nomu's regenerative powers, which most likely drew on its stamina. Finally, it seemed like I hit the breaking point, as Nomu kind of just… powered down. The light in its eyes dimmed slightly, and it slumped in defeat. I could tell it was still alive, although barely.
The hand villains eyes was alight with fury, but at the same time, I could tell his gaze held fear in them.
"You may have won this battle," he growled, "but we'll see who wins the war."
"It's definitely not going to be you," I said, "because I'm definitely bringing you in after this. Give up, you're outgunned AND outnumbered."
"Yes," he said, "that is true. But, you're forgetting one thing. KUROGIRI!"
A black mist emerged behind him as Kurogiri dragged his damaged body through the gate. Esdeath, holding herself up with a crutch made of ice, was beside him.
"Get us out of here," snapped the hand villain.
"No!" I gasped, but it was too late. My fingers was inches away from the portal before it closed up. I was left with these haunting words.
"I'll carve the name Tomura Shigaraki into your soul, I swear it. Beware, Izuku Midoriya…"
My fingers wrapped around empty air.
"Shit!" I cursed, "they're gone."
The USJ gates chose this time to open.
"I AM HERE… WITH THE REST OF THE TEACHERS! FEAR NO MORE, FOR… eh? Is it over already?"
All Might's booming voice rang out. A panting Iida stood, hands on both knees, drenched completely in sweat.
"I have to returned," he wheezed, "with… the teachers."
"You're kind of late to the party," Jiro announced, "We kind of already took care of everything.
I discretely harvested the blood of Nomu from my suit while everyone else brought Aizawa and Thirteen to emergency treatment. I wasn't too optimistic about the latter, but one could hope. Staring at the vial of blood in my hands, I could feel the beginnings of an idea churn in my head.
Maybe…
Green
As the teachers fussed over the other students, All Might walked over to me. He placed a hand on my shoulders, leading me off towards the side.
"I'm sorry for not being there," he apologised, heavily wracked with guilt, "I got caught up fighting Trapezius Traphead and ran out of time."
"Don't worry," I said, "I handled it for you. No student was seriously hurt."
"Yes, good job." All Might congratulated, "You protected your friends magnificently."
"Can you tell me what happened? From the start?"
I reiterated the events of the villain attack, starting from Esdeath's betrayal all the way to Nomu, at the end.
All Might frowned, "It's worrying. From your description, it seems like there's a high chance that All for One might be behind this. And this Nomu… it seems more questions are raised than answered with these clues."
I nodded.
"Speaking of the Nomu…" I started, "I have an idea. It's so crazy it might just actually work."
"I'm listening, Young Midoriya."
"Not here," I shook my head, "I'll find you later. Too many ears here."
All Might nodded.
"Very well," he conceded, "I shall await you in my office after school."
Perfect. That gave me time to prepare, too. I needed to make a few calls. I walked away from my master, pulling out my phone and beginning to dial in the numbers for a certain blonde friend of mine…
Later on in the day…
I knocked on the door to All Might's office.
"Come in."
I walked into a normal looking office. It was sparsely furnished, but still managed to look comfortable and homely. Dotted on the shelves were some pictures of All Might and some of his accolades.
"Young Midoriya," All Might greeted, "you're here."
"Yes," I gave him a smile, "and I have something for you."
"For me?" He parroted, blinking in confusion. He was currently in his normal form, since there was just the two of us.
"Like a gift?"
"Better," I said, "like a cure."
All Might looked confused for a moment, but as the weight of my words settled in his eyebrows seemed to raise in proportion.
"What?" he exclaimed, "what do you mean? Explain yourself, please, Young Midoriya." There was a hint of cautious hope in his voice.
"The Nomu I found today had an amalgamation of three Quirks," I said, "Super Strength, Super Regeneration, and Shock Absorption."
"As you know, Melissa and I figured out months ago that One for All had the ability to stockpile Quirks."
All Might nodded, "Yes, you demonstrated to me your mother's telekinesis the morning after. I was extremely surprised, I recall."
Then All Might caught onto the hidden message in my words, "Wait, you couldn't possibly mean…?"
"Well, you still have the embers of One for All in you," I said, "there's no reason to think that its function would differ in any way just because the core of the Quirk is no longer within you."
"Young Midoriya," All Might whispered, "Do you truly believe this has a chance to work?"
"I called Melissa, and she backs me up. She even helped me with isolating the Quirk-Metagene from behind the screen. If this works," I looked into his eye, "you'll no longer be limited by the three hours a day rule."
"Alright," he conceded, "I trust you. What must I do?"
I pulled out a small metal case from my bag. When I opened it up, there were three small vials of serum inside. Two of them were synthesizsed from Nomu, while the last was synthesised from Kurogiri. I handed a Nomu one to All Might.
"Eat this." I couldn't resist the throwback.
He grinned at me, and chugged the serum, throwing his head back.
"Bleurgh," he made a face, "that is vile."
I watched him carefully for any reactions. "How do you feel?" I asked.
"I…" he began, "feel energised. Like someone who had been walking through the desert suddenly getting a mouthful of cold, clean water."
That was probably One for All at work, 'eating' the Nomu's abilities, for lack of a better term. All Might began to steam slightly, and not because he was transforming into his muscle form. Muscle seemed to return to his body, as his gaunt, skeletal frame began to fill out, inflating like a balloon. The transformation took about ten minutes to complete, but at the end of it, a powerful-looking, middle-aged man gazed back at me with shining blue eyes.
"Young Midoriya," he choked, pulling me into a bear hug. He transformed into his muscle form, patting me emotionally on the back. "You miracle worker… you!" He seemed too emotional for words. I admit, I felt a little emotional, too. It was always a sad thing, seeing your idol fall to the degree he did, but I was glad I was able to reverse that.
"Choosing you as my successor was the best decision I ever made in my life."
He patted me heavily on the shoulder.
"Thank you."
"Anytime, master," I smiled back. "It's only right for a disciple to help his master, after all."
He looked at the case in my hand.
"There are two more serums, I see," he stated.
"Yes. This one is another Nomu serum, and this one I got from Kurogiri, the villain with the Warping Quirk."
All Might nodded, "They both have powerful Quirks. I don't have an issue with you using these to obtain more Quirks, but please be careful. This is straying closely to All for One's territory. I don't want you becoming like him, a madman with nothing in his mind besides the pursuit of power."
"I will," I nodded, "I'll keep your words in mind."
"Try not to use those Quirks you obtained in public," All Might instructed, "it'll be too hard to explain. Only reveal your hidden cards in emergencies."
"Got it."
I took the remaining two serums right then and there, in the office. It felt like an injection of power into my veins. I closed my eyes, and felt the power 'settle down' inside me. Reaching out one hand, I concentrated. Slowly, a purple mist-like substance began to emerge from my skin, slowly forming into a gate in front of me. Keeping my destination in mind, I walked through the gate, only to reappearing from behind All Might's desk, about five meters away from my original position.
"It worked," I exclaimed happily.
"It's a very versatile Quirk," All Might nodded appreciatively, "You'll be able to put it to good use."
He took a look at his watch. "Oh, my, look at the time," he said, gesturing to the time keeping device. "It's nearly six. You should head home soon, Young Midoriya. You've had a long day."
"Yes, sir." I bowed respectfully to him. "I'll be taking my leave, then."
I was eager to test out the capabilities of my Quirk. Placing the mental image of my house firmly in my mind, I began to slowly construct a gate that should warp me directly in front of the house.
"See you tomorrow, sir!" I gave him a bright smile as I walked through the gate.
"Have a safe trip, Young Midoriya."
I waded through the black mist, emerging through the other side to step on concrete.
"It wor–" The words died in my throat as I took in the scene before me. The smile on my face froze in place.
My house–no, what used to be my house– was in ruin. Large pillars of ice penetrated through the building, and the entire house looked like some demented giant baby had trampled on it. Shards of ice lay broken around the yard, and the entire second floor of the house had collapsed on itself. A crowd of neighbours had gathered around the scene of disaster, crowding around the entrance. Bright yellow tape had encased the perimeter of the house, and crawling through the wreckage were a bunch of men and women in uniforms.
A raw scream tore itself out of my lungs.
"Mom!"
Green
AN: It seems like revenge came a lot sooner than you thought, Midoriya. What's happened to dear old Mrs. Midoriya? Is she dead? Who knows? One things for sure, Izuku's definitely not going to be happy the next time he sees Shigaraki and Esdeath.
Moving on, it seems like the UA Sports Festival is next. That's going to be a big arc, so I'm going to take like a few days off to think about everything. Also, I need to think about how Izuku and the people around him are going to react to this latest tragedy. It's a really good time for our main pairings to bond, so I'll definitely take advantage of that. I want him and Momo to bond, but I also want Melissa to come back into the story. Anyone have any suggestions on how I could do that? I have an idea, but it's pretty stupid so I'd like to hear your thoughts first.
By the way, Izuku is just slowly becoming more and more OP, isn't he? He now has: One for All, his mom's Quirk (from now on named Pull), an extra Strength Enhancer, Regeneration Enhancer (beyond his already OP Primarch regeneration powers), Shock Absorption, as well as Kurogiri's Warp Quirk. I'll be surprised if anyone can even touch him, at this point, barring monsters like All for One. This, coupled with the biological immortality granted to him from his physiology (which he doesn't know about), makes him well on his way to becoming... well, a god. For all intents and purposes, at least.
I'll keep an eye on the reviews. If you guys spot any deficiencies, let me know and I'll try to fix it. I'm not perfect, and I'm an amateur writer, so I don't catch every mistake on the first glance.
Keep supporting this fic, and know that your reviews motivate me to write more.
Dollarboy, out.
