Magnus: Thank you for all your support, and for not flaming me for getting so far away from canon. Time for a more action packed chapter, enjoy!
Disclaimer: This story is chock full of references... some are glaringly obvious.
Cursed Blood
Chapter 12
A sinister battlefield.
Inside the principal's office, located in the depths of UA, Toshinori Yagi sat on one of the two couches present while staring into a cup of tea. The pro hero felt like a child again, being reprimanded for doing something foolish. All the same, he did feel guilty after considering the stupidity of his actions.
"I'm not saying you should give up your hero work," Nezu reaffirmed, taking a sip of his own tea, "But if you're really serious about teaching here, I need you to have a different set of priorities now. Time and place come to mind."
When Toshinori had entered the room, already forced back into his emaciated form, the Quirked animal had just shaken his head. He hadn't even needed to use High Spec to know what had probably caused the Number One Hero to still be at UA instead of the USJ as scheduled.
Seeing as the two then had the time, Nezu had decided to give his rookie instructor a rather detailed lecture on responsibility and foresight.
"I know…" Toshinori said, voice petering out when he realized he didn't quite know how to word his justification. "I just… I just can't ignore crimes though."
The pro hero's rather weak explanation earned only a heavy sigh from the Quirked animal. Sometimes the principal wished the Symbol of Peace would use his brain a little more.
"But you have no issue with ignoring the fact that there are other heroes around?" Nezu's questioning rebuttal caught Toshinori off guard. "Most of the crimes you prevented today were petty little things better left to other heroes, sidekicks, or in some cases, even the police."
The Quirked animal caught the skeletal man's hesitant look and locked gazes with him, almost daring another excuse.
"Well…" Toshinori hedged, hindsight rendering him unable to find a good way to refute the principal's words. It was always hard to do so when the Quirked animal was right. "What about the car accident?"
Nezu sat back, nodding slowly. The emaciated man relaxed slightly, a flicker of hope coming to life in his non-existent stomach.
"Ah yes, the car accident," the principal's adorable tone of voice made Toshinori smile. That smile disappeared when the Quirked animal flatly continued with, "It looked to me like the local rescue squad had everything under control before you arrived."
It was no use, Toshinori decided, he wasn't going to get out of this well deserved dressing-down anytime soon. The pro hero supposed the principal was right though, he really should allow the next generation the chance to take over his job while he trained his successor. He just hadn't understood how difficult it would be to just… step aside.
Meanwhile, at the USJ…
In the air above the artificial lake of the Flood Zone, a swirling portal of darkness tore through reality, spitting out two individuals. These reluctant travelers immediately dropped to the depths below, and unprepared for their repositions as they were, sent up geysers as they struck the water's surface at odd angles.
When she was able to right herself, Tsuyu looked around through the clear marine environment in the hopes of spotting either Izuku or one of the zombie-girls. Instead, the only recognizable body was the disoriented and currently drowning figure of a blond wearing a rocker jacket.
Denki Kaminari would admit he'd screamed in horror when he felt the darkness wash over him, sucking him away. He'd also admit he hadn't stopped screaming until the point his back had slammed into water, and that was only because he'd have drowned faster if he hadn't. The third thing the blond would admit, was that he really wished the day wouldn't get any worse.
'Oh shit! Oh shit! Where the hell am I?' Kaminari's distressed thoughts screamed in his head. He couldn't even tell up from down he'd gotten so turned around while sinking. Trying, and failing, to stay calm, he opened his eyes to look around and see if another of his classmates had been thrown in with him… He instantly regretted doing so. 'Oh FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!'
Swimming toward the blond like a missile was an ugly villain that looked like a cross between a shark and a scuba diver. Even from their current distance, Kaminari could tell the criminal's bite would be a horrible way to go. The electrical student redoubled his efforts to swim… anywhere… but gained no noticeable results. It was obvious he wasn't going to escape in time.
'Not like this! NOT LIKE THIS!' Kaminari mentally shrieked, losing hope at the sight of the villain opening his super-wide jaws to bite his head off. 'I DON'T WANT TO DIE A VIRGIN!'
At the last possible second, a green blur collided with the criminal, stunning both him and the blond. Taking a second to shake the hysteria from him mind, Kaminari realized the blur was actually his froggy classmate!
In one fluid motion, Tsuyu used her powerful legs to double-kick the villain deep into the lake while propelling herself towards the struggling blond. Wrapping her tongue around the electric hero-wannabe, the frog-girl quickly brought the two to the surface.
"Are you alright Kaminari-san? Kero," Tsuyu asked as soon as their heads were above water.
Said blond was too busy coughing and hacking water out of his mouth and lungs to respond right away, the experience leaving him shaken. Realizing they were alive and breathing air, the electrical student turned to his classmate in adoration.
"THANK YOU! THANK YOU!" Kaminari shouted, trying to hug the frog-girl. His attempts were instantly met with being tongue-tossed into the air and onto the yacht behind them before he could make contact. "GAHAAA! Ow…"
Climbing onto the ship, Tsuyu began to consider all the information available, her mind going into overdrive. She desperately wanted to know what was happening everywhere else, and where her cinnamon roll had ended up. Being under Izuku's Control had given her access to certain knowledge about the green-haired teen she'd never be willing to share with others, specifically sensitive information about the side effects of his Quirk. For example, she knew the zombie-girls were, even now, able to find their master. It didn't matter how far the distance or number of barriers between them, he was like a beacon.
It was a skill she wished she still had within her.
"Ah… thanks for saving me…" Kaminari said with some shyness when he noticed his froggy classmate nearing him at the yacht's railing. He was thankful for the few seconds to breathe and calm down she'd given him. "And… sorry about the outburst. I didn't mean anything by it… I'm not Mineta."
Tsuyu turned her expressionless gaze to her classmate, scrutinizing the blond the same way she'd seen her mother do to a rival attorney once. The frog-girl knew very well that Kaminari was nowhere near a pervert like their midget of a classmate, but at the same time he was even farther away from being a saint like Izuku. There had been multiple occasions where she and the other girls had seen the blond position his hands in almost hopeful preparation for Momo to collide with him whenever the mature girl walked or worked around him.
And his hands hadn't been aiming for PG areas. It twas more like they'd been positioned toward places their class president would be able to use her Quirk the easiest.
Izuku had never, and would never, do something like that. In fact, the cinnamon roll went out of his way to keep his hands from even accidently touching somewhere he shouldn't. Even though he was free to hug and touch her whenever he wanted, the green-haired teen always made sure to never disrespect her body.
The electric hero-wannabe, meanwhile, shifted uncomfortably under the unblinking examination. Was it something he said?
"It's okay, I understand," Tsuyu said in her usual monotone after letting the moment drag on for an instant more. "But we're not out of danger yet. Kero."
The blond immediately whipped his head around at the announcement, eyes darting across the water frantically.
"W-What do you mean?" Kaminari asked… just as a large number of villainous faces broke to the surface. They were surrounded. "OH NO! THERE MUST BE A DOZEN OF THEM!"
The hero-wannabe's scream of panic led Tsuyu to make an even less flattering comparison; she was sure that Izuku would've already had a firm grasp of the situation by now, and probably five plans to overcome their adversity besides. As it stood now, it seemed like it was up to her to take the reins and think up a plan.
It was times like this that made the frog-girl grateful she'd been blessed with intelligence instead of conventional beauty.
"Calm down," Tsuyu said, trying to project calmness and determination. She didn't need the electric blond to fall apart and leave her with dead weight. "We need to brainstorm on how to overcome this. The best way to do that is to pool our strengths and weaknesses."
The blank look her classmate was sending her way did not encourage the frog-girl in the slightest.
"Okay…" Kaminari trailed off, obviously unsure where or how he was supposed to begin.
The amphibian teen held back a sigh. She knew it wasn't the blond's fault battle planning wasn't his forte, but she missed Izuku even more now.
"My Quirk allows me to do pretty much everything a frog can do," Tsuyu started, attempting to show her classmate what she wanted him to do as quickly as possible. There was no telling if the villains would attempt to board the yacht or not. "My tongue can extend up to twenty meters when last I checked, I can leap really high, my hands and feet can stick to most surfaces, and I can spit the toxins in my stomach pretty far… Although, they're not strong enough to cause more than a light rash right now."
According to the later updates in Izuku's analyses of her Quirk, the toxins in her stomach probably functioned much like those of real frogs, and depended on her diet for their strength. That meant if she wanted to try and weaponize her spit, she'd have to ingest certain natural toxins and see if they amplified her own toxicity. It was too bad she hadn't had time for experimentation yet.
"Oh, umm… well… I discharge electricity…" Kaminari started, unsure how to word his skillset without making himself sound like a worthless idiot. Then a massive clawed hand of water sliced the yacht in two, causing their only means of staying away from the villains to begin sinking. "I can discharge up to ten thousand volts! But afterwards I won't be able to think for a while! And I can't direct the discharge! And… and…"
Watching the electric blond begin to panic, Tsuyu felt her eye twitch. The frog-girl had to wonder how an idiot like this managed to pass the written test if he couldn't even see the glaringly obvious solution to their predicament.
"…and what do we do now?" Kaminari asked, finally succumbing to the need to breath over panicking. The hero-wannabe looked one moment shy of attempting to hug his classmate again, seeking one last comfort before facing death.
Tsuyu's only response came in the form of a none too gentle kick to the blond's rear, sending the teen head first towards the water, and villains, below.
For the next ten seconds, lightning danced across the lake in beautifully arcing bolts. The accompanying screams of pain of over a dozen villains only added to the performance put on by the super move.
Same time, Conflagration Zone…
Surrounded by hell on earth as he was, a casual observer of Shoto Todoroki in this moment would've never been able to tell, but the heterochromatic teen was pissed. Some hopped up villains had invaded his school's rescue training grounds, split their class up, and, judging by the disturbed looks he was getting from the criminals in front of him, planned to maim if not kill them. It was almost enough for him to consider using his Quirk's full potential. Almost.
"Eh… Todoroki-san?" Called a nervous voice. The teen in question didn't answer verbally, but he did cock his head to the side ever so slightly. "We're kinda surrounded. What're we gonna do?"
There was a muffled sound behind Shoto, like a pocket or pouch had been dug into, before a second voice chimed in.
"Don't sweat it Sero! We're going to do what 1-A does best!" The doughy voice of Rikido Sato loudly proclaimed. The dual-colored teen could almost see it as his giant classmate slammed his fists together with a grin on his sizable lips. "We're going to kick their asses!"
The declaration was followed by the sound of a face being stuffed with some sort of food, though knowing Sato's Quirk, Shoto wagered it was a confection of some sort.
"Do not be overconfident," came the calm voice of Mezo Shoji, "Arrogance is as much an enemy on the battlefield as any opposition."
The tentacled-teen stepped forward until he was next to his dual-haired classmate. The two quietest members of Class 1-A, bar perhaps Koji Koda, gave each other a nod, acknowledging the situation.
The two teens behind Shoto and Mezo nodded to each other, walking up and falling into battle stances as the heterochromatic of the group stared flatly at the villains arrayed against them.
'This is not an efficient use of our time,' The dual-colored teen thought to himself. Deciding to take matters into his own hands, he raised his right foot…
Simultaneously, in the Ruins Zone…
Trapped in the dilapidated remnants of what looked to be a simulated penthouse suite, Eijiro Kirishima had only once before hated himself more than he did at that very moment. He'd foolishly charged in after Ojiro to take on the mist villain, and in doing so had only succeeded in getting the two of them transported to some random location that, oh yeah, was teeming with villains!
The criminals were literally coming out of the walls, what walls the penthouse still had standing that is. The crumbling framework of the structure the two teens found themselves in offered little resistance in the face of the Quirk-powered attacks. The heroes-in-training had to constantly shift their attention around to ensure no sneak attacks succeeded.
"Man! This is SO unmanly!" Kirishima shouted as he clotheslined a villain that had tried to rush him. At his back, he heard the martial artist of the class land two substantial-sounding punches to his own opponent. "How ya holding up Ojiro?"
The tailed-teen was cursing his foolishness with every counter he employed against an attacker. He was ashamed that his selfish desire to show his classmates how a 'true' hero did things had landed him and his redheaded comrade in jeopardy.
"I'm fine Kirishima," Ojiro assured, muscular tail tripping, and then swatting away, a hapless woman with tiger paws for arms. "Please forgive my foolishness. I fear my impetuousness might've endangered us all more than we already were."
Confused at his classmate's remark, Kirishima thoughtlessly brained an extremely short villain that thought his height offered him some advantage. He should've relied more on the buzz saws in his forearms instead.
"Whaddya mean?" The redhead shouted over the war cries of a trio of villains that charged through a hole in the wall next to him. Hardening himself, the teen laid out all three assailants with a punch each. "Wait… you don't think…?"
Ojiro nodded, grateful for an apparent lull in combat as no new villains appeared.
"I don't think we were the only ones dispersed," the tailed-teen affirmed, thinking back to the mist-villain's words. The rolling bank of black fog hadn't stopped when it'd hit him and Kirishima, he was sure of it. "I think the rest of our class was separated too."
Kirishima grit his teeth, sudden worry threatening to overtake his usual battle confidence. If Ojiro was right, then everyone else was probably facing off against a horde of villains too. And that meant there was no rescue party for them; everyone needed rescuing.
With no warning, the only hitherto untouched wall to the suite exploded. Scrambling back, the two teens stared in bewilderment as a giant of a man with an elephant's head and physique stomped into the room. Trumpeting, the villain stampeded toward the heroes-in-training.
Unsure if their collective might would be enough to stop such an assault, Kirishima grabbed Ojiro by the shoulder and moved to dodge when a familiar smelling liquid dripped onto his cheek. Reacting quickly, the redhead wiped the fluid away before throwing himself and his tailed classmate to the side right as…
The ceiling collapsed.
"YAHOO!" Came the exuberant cry of a voice Kirishima would know anywhere. "Coming through!"
As the dust settled, the two embattled teens were greeted with a sight for sore eyes. Standing on top of the now debris covered and unconscious elephant villain with her hands on her hips was Mina Ashido, grinning widely. The pink-skinned girl gestured to a pair of floating gloves next to her.
"See Toru," the acidic-teen said, waving her hand about the room, "I told you the stairs would take too long."
"Mina!" Kirishima shouted, charging up to the young heroine-in-training. "That was so manly I can't even believe it!"
Said trainee turned at the sound of her name being called, smile growing even wider when she saw the culprit. The pinkette launched herself off of the downed villain and soared right into the waiting arms of her redheaded friend.
"Kiri!" Mina shouted back, allowing herself to be spun once before tapping a shoulder to be set down. The acid-user noticed her tailed classmate still on guard. "So you guys got sent here too?"
Kirishima and Ojiro both cursed, their previous hypothesis had just been proven correct. The entirety of Class 1-A had most likely been scattered across the USJ.
"Guys?" Called out Toru, whose gloves were now floating by the hole made by the elephant villain. "I think we have a more immediate problem."
Clambering over to their classmate, the other three heroes-in-training collectively gasped.
The hole opened up to the outside, a world of broken buildings and shattered city streets. And everywhere the students looked… there were villains.
Instead of cowering, the four members of Class 1-A steeled themselves. They weren't going down without a fight.
Elsewhere, same time…
Izuku stood, or rather, balanced his weight on his remaining foot as he looked down at the villain on the ground. The mist-man was frantically clawing at the foam covering his neck brace, desperately sucking in as much air as possible. It was a pitiful visage for a powerless fool, one at his complete mercy. Mercy he wasn't inclined to grant at the moment.
With no sign of remorse or hesitation, the green-haired teen raised his pistol and took aim at the last visibly functional piece of the respirator.
"Izuku-kun! NO!" Ochaco's scream of anguish pierced the air as the girl tackled her class's vice-president, finding it surprisingly easy to take down the green-haired teen. "Heroes don't kill people!"
The villain, grateful for a moment of respite, rasped in as deep a breath as he could and focused on creating a small portal to flee. As reality warped under him and he sank to freedom, the mist-man was glad that death was not going to be added to his schedule for the day. After all, he still had a job to do… assuming his leader had a way to repair his damaged respirator.
Izuku shoved the anxious brunette smothering him to the side and retook his aim, only to find that the villain had slipped away during the few precious seconds he'd been distracted.
"God fucking dammit…" Izuku muttered through teeth clenched in pain. The curse earned a gasp from the anti-gravity girl. Tears began to fill the brunette's eyes as she took in her normally innocent and sweet classmate that now looked frustrated he hadn't been able to commit murder.
"Izuku-kun…" Ochaco started, pausing at the incredulity of the idea that the green-haired teen had turned dark so suddenly, "Heroes… don't…"
"You… shouldn't have… stopped him…" Cut in Thirteen through labored breaths. "He was… about to neutralize… the villain that… caused all this damage. There was… no need… to intervene…"
The brunette turned to her injured teacher, confusion evident on her cherubic face.
"Eh? Neutralize?" Ochaco asked, an inkling of guilt taking hold within her. "Not… kill?"
The space hero, trying not to move their body, raised a shaky finger and shook in back and forth in the negative. It was clear the pain from being victimized by their own Quirk was slowly sending them into shock.
"Didn't you… notice?" Thirteen asked, "Those bullets… they're… capture rounds. Quite… innovative… by the way…"
While the foam bullets were in fact non-lethal in nature, like anything else they could still be used to kill if used correctly. Izuku, being the one who conceptualized them, was better informed than most of that fact. He'd known what he was doing when he'd aimed for the respirator… and it wasn't neutralization.
But there wasn't any reason to inform others about that.
With the immediate threat gone, the green-haired teen decided to address the next objective that needed seeing to.
"Tae-chan," Izuku called out to his first partner, who immediately closed the distance to his side. "Med-kit please."
Ochaco moved to object once again as the zombie-girl reached around and pulled out a small box from her supply pack. Surely Thirteen needed more than a simple med-kit? But before the brunette could get three words out, her eyes landed on the green-haired teen… more specifically, his physical state.
"The med…" the normally bubbly teen's words caught in her throat, the sight was so horrible. "IZUKU-KUN! YOUR FOOT!"
Ignoring the screams of dismay in favor of opening the kit now held by Tae, Izuku took out what appeared, to his two observers, to be protein bars. Just as quickly as he could unwrap it, the green-haired teen wolfed a bar down, hardly stopping to chew. According to Hatsume, by following Inko's recipe, with a few additions courtesy of her own advanced cooking techniques and wonderful babies, the inventor had managed to pack three whole days' worth of nutrition into a single bar.
Oddly enough, the pinkette had actually immediately advised caution when eating one afterward.
Honestly, it was the blandest thing Izuku had ever tasted, but it worked as they'd intended. Almost immediately, the horrible hunger pangs that had plagued the green-haired teen only seconds ago quieted… only for blinding pain to assault his senses as he felt his right leg begin to rebuild its missing appendage. The hero-in-training had never lost a limb before, making the sheer agony of first bone, and then muscle, being reconstructed from scratch a new level of suffering for him.
"AAAGGHHH!" Izuku couldn't contain the scream that burst from his lips, the shooting, searing torment too much coming so unexpectedly. "MOTHERFUCKER!"
'Ignore the pain!' The green-haired teen thought to himself fiercely, turning that same willpower that had allowed him to stand earlier to the task of saving those important to him. 'For Tsu-chan! For Lily-chan!'
Ochaco's mind couldn't process what she was seeing, enough to not even know what to scream. The brunette felt numb, the sight of a pulsating mound of flesh growing where her classmate once had a foot not even making her nauseous.
"Izuku-kun—"
"Here…" Izuku grit out, pushing the med-kit into Ochaco's trembling hands. "Treat Thirteen's wounds."
At first, the brunette was confused, believing that the green-haired teen's pain had muddled what he'd meant to say; hadn't he intended to say she should treat his wounds, not the pro hero's? A grunt of pain from her classmate, and a small but visible growth in his leg's mound of flesh, had the anti-gravity girl moving toward their injured teacher without a backward glance. Anything to keep from watching that nightmarish mass of a regenerating foot.
'Now… where could they have been sent?' Izuku pondered, enduring the increasing pain at the end of his leg with gnashed teeth and slow, heavy breaths. As soon as the thought had passed, he felt something like a familiar pull to the left. 'There! Lily-chan?'
Turning, Izuku saw the simulated disaster of the Landslide Zone. Believing in a hunch was iffy at best, but until he had a better, more logical idea, it was the best shot he had. The green-haired teen knew if he could reach the plaza, then he'd have an open view of all of the Zones all at once, making noticing the locations of his dear ones that much easier. It'd still be a small chance, but it was better than nothing.
Besides, if he could help their gruff teacher out a little, then the chances of everyone surviving would be all the higher.
Now… to address his two current hindrances…
"I… uh… where exactly is your back Thirteen-sensei?" Ochaco muttered to herself as she unrolled a length of medical tape from the kit. "I can't see… well I can't see anything inside your suit."
Izuku tossed his pistol to the brunette, the well-made tech not even scratching when it struck the ground.
"Uraraka, I'm leaving this for you," the green-haired teen said, making Ochaco's eyes grow wide. "Hold it firmly with both hands when aiming… and make sure you don't shoot anyone who's not a villain."
The anti-gravity girl eyed the gun as if it were the most dangerous artifact in the world. Knowledge of its non-lethal capabilities notwithstanding, the idea of using a weapon was hard for the brunette to grasp. In spite of that hesitation, since directly fighting a horde of villains was beyond her, she'd force herself to use the thing if it came down to it.
"Where… do you think… you're going?" Thirteen asked, watching the boy manage to fully stand with the help of his zombie. "Aizawa-san said—"
"He said to remain together," Izuku interrupted through gritted teeth. "Since that can no longer be accomplished, I'm going to assist him. Our chances of resisting until help arrives will increase if I do."
The space hero hated to admit it, but the kid was right. Eraserhead was the only thing keeping the horde of villains down in the plaza from fanning out and picking off their students one by one, and if the man didn't get help soon, even his superb skill would be overcome. Come to think of it, the zombie-girl would make for a versatile meat shield down in that mess…
"Izuku-kun…" Ochaco called out weakly, extending a hand toward the retreating teen. Unfortunately, she lacked the courage to offer her help.
Thirteen raised a gloved hand and patted the brunette's knee from their place on the ground, offering a cold comfort.
"Let him… go," the space hero said, finally accepting this was their best option at the moment. "With that… disposable meat shield… he's got… the best chance… at aiding Eraserhead."
Izuku nearly cracked a tooth he clenched his jaw so tight as he stepped up to a now kneeling Tae. The pain didn't cause this, however. The green-haired teen hated how everyone just assumed that Tae was a mere tool… something to be discarded after use. Gently leaning into the zombie-girl's back and wrapping his arms around her neck, the hero-in-training grumbled as he sank into his angry thoughts.
Tae, meanwhile, ensured that the green-haired teen was as comfortable as humanely possible as she reached around and cupped her hands beneath his legs… he deserved nothing less for being a real hero in such a crisis.
Elsewhere, in the Downpour Zone…
In the small, dry space provided between a tree and what was left of the wall it fell on, Koji Koda shivered. This wasn't caused by the excessive chill of the never-ending rain, nor was it due to the fact that moments ago when he'd peeked out, the teen had seen over twenty villains coming his way. No, Koda trembled where he sat because of what was about to happen.
Out in the perpetual rain, Fumikage Tokoyami stood atop a power line stripped of its load, the height of the structure giving the raven-headed teen all the view he needed of the approaching horde.
"Keep thy wits about thee Aoyama!" Tokoyami shouted through the storm down to his shaking classmate. The French-Japanese teen looked half frozen to death, but had adamantly sworn he'd stand with his avian classmate. His reason of 'shining a light of sense' on Tokoyami's bête noire should it get out of hand was much appreciated. "Our enemies fast approach!"
Minutes later, when the group of villains, numbering twenty-seven total now, arrived at the faux cul-de-sac their scouts had last seen their prey run toward, they halted their march. Standing at the center of the half-circle of homes, glaring darkly back at them, was a teen with the head of a raven.
"And what the fuck do you think you're doing brat?" A potbellied villain bellowed out, slightly out of breath from all the chasing his crew had done.
The raven-headed student only blinked in response. To the surprise of the villains, from the murky shadows of the cul-de-sac came a shining beam of light, no, a laser. Instead of striking anyone in the horde, the shining lance flew over their heads and struck a van that had parked on the curb behind them. The vehicle exploded in a shower of fire and smoke much larger than seemed normal.
Before the criminals could react, another laser shot pierced the SUV that had been stationed opposite the van. This vehicle exploded as well, adding even more flames and smoke to the air.
Now tense and expecting another attack any second, the villains looked from the now burning blockade back to the raven-headed teen before them. Nothing about the student had changed, except the unquenchable fires now behind them had cast an enormous shadow behind the boy. A shadow… with eyes?
Tokoyami raised his arms up, a lonely showman in the howling storm.
"Welcome villains," the raven-headed teen greeted, just as the seemingly harmless shadow behind him literally picked itself off the ground and towered over the horde. "To our…"
Dark Shadow, emboldened by the unnatural gloominess of the Downpour Zone and now the heavy shadows caused by the sputtering flames of the vehicle fires, had grown to a massive size. The Quirk entity grinned, a glowing crack in its shadowy form so wicked in appearance a few of the villains actually flinched back in raw terror.
Tokoyami, feeling he and his partner had set the mood enough, spread his hands wide.
"… Revelry in the dark…"
Meanwhile in the Landslide Zone…
The group of happenstance consisting of Momo, Jiro, Lily, and unfortunately Mineta were recovering from their slight disorientation on muddy, crumbly terrain. The four appeared to be unhurt, and as much as they thanked the heavens for such a boon, as well as ending up together, the three teens plus zombie cursed their luck upon realizing that at least two dozen or more villains had surrounded them.
"Don't worry Lily-chan," Momo soothed before declaring with as much conviction as she could muster, "Your big sis will protect you!"
The mature teen hastily created a metal pipe and handed it to Jiro before producing a bo staff for herself. The punk rock girl moved so that she was almost back-to-back with the Creation user, squeezing Lily behind them. The zombie-child was understandably terrified of the situation and huddled near the two girls frightfully.
"Oh! Big bad big sis looks so responsible!" One of the villains jeered, taking his time to scan the barely covered, not to mention well-developed, body of the meat before him. "What do you say boys? Think we can come up with a deal so this one can protect her dear little sister?"
Between the wolf-whistles, laughs, and openly disgusting leering, Jiro had never been more gratefully that her body hadn't hit the puberty jackpot. At the same time, the punk rock girl knew that dubious benefit only went so far, and had to fight the nauseous feeling that came at the very thought of what would happen next if the two of them proved unable to prevail in the coming battle.
"M-Mayb-be… maybe y-you sh-should… stuttered Mineta, the midget inching closer to Jiro's leg. "L-let them p-play with you—"
WHAM!
Predicting what the little pervert was about to suggest, Jiro wasted no time in knocking him out with a strike to the head. Honestly, the punk rock girl wondered why Momo even went through the trouble of removing the solidified foam from the midget's mouth… it had proved to be quite a waste of nail cleaner.
"It's do or die Yaomomo," Jiro said, sliding into a battle stance. She gave a quick glance back to make sure Lily was still with them before deciding to sandwich the zombie-girl between herself and the more developed girl for more protection. "I got your back!"
Lily watched with fear as the circle of villains tightened around her group. The criminals all looked so intimidating, so… evil. The littlest zombie wished her new big brother was here, but didn't blame him for her current situation; there was no way anyone could've predicted this. She knew he'd come for them though, she'd seen him trying to reach her before they'd been separated by the misty man.
'What am I supposed to do?!' Lily wailed in her mind, trying her hardest to come up with a way she could help. If she hadn't already been deathly pale, she knew her knuckles would be white with how tightly she was clutching the object in her tiny hands. 'Onii-chan said I was meant to be support…'
And then, Lily actually looked at what she was holding, the sturdy and not-cute-in-the-slightest SMG…
When her new big brother had explained to the little zombie what support meant, he'd described it as someone who helped others by making their jobs easier. This was usually accomplished by cheering them up, passing them tools they required, being helpful and caring, and if the need arose, sharing their burdens and assisting with their job.
The weapon in her hands was a non-lethal capture tool, meant to slow down and incapacitate bad guys. It could also be applied as sealing foam, when needed, against cracks in walls or support columns. If she could use it to impede the criminals, even a little, Lily believed she'd give her new big sisters a much easier time fighting to protect her.
'Come on Lily!' The littlest zombie psyched herself up by shouting in her head, 'This is just like an action movie! Just another stage!'
From the back of the congregated villains, a larger and more menacing form stepped forward. The other criminals swiftly gave way to this newcomer.
"Alright boyos!" The large rogue boomed, calling the attention of his peers, "Looks like there's several holes that need filling and we don't have any time to lo—"
RAT-TA-TA-TA-TA!
The sound of rapid gunfire filled the zone, causing the approaching villains to cringe back and freeze. That is, except for their big gun, who was now covered in quickly expanding and hardening foam. In seconds, he fell to the ground, unable to move… or escape.
"The FUCK was tha—"
WHAM!
The uncouth villain's next words were lost to the voluptuous girl who swung her bo staff full force into his head.
Next to drop was the criminal beside him, who dropped like a sack of potatoes to an around-the-back spin of the staff to his groin. The well-developed teen stood over her quarry with a fierce glare directed at the remaining criminals, the fire in her eyes a telling sign as to how difficult they would find it to bring her down.
"Women we may be…" Momo stated, spinning her bo-staff a few times, "But we are NOT defenseless flowers to be plucked!"
Lily held her weapon at the ready, gladly utilizing the fact that her undead body would not tremble in fear. She took a step to the side, no longer under the cover of Jiro's shadow.
"Lily is a hero now too!" The zombie-girl shouted, taking aim at a random villain, "Lily can fight!"
Jiro smirked at the displays of courage her fellow ladies were giving. She couldn't let a call to battle like those go unanswered. The punk rock girl tightened her grip on her pipe, ready to defend her friends against the filth that dared stand against them. Although… she kind of wished Tokoyami and Midoriya were with them, the two dark boys would've easily scared the ever-loving shit out of the trash they were fighting.
Meanwhile, at the plaza…
Still pushing full throttle, Aizawa felt as if he'd been knocking out villains for hours. The veritable carpet of dozens of unconscious bodies littering the ground paid credence to this thought, but the pro hero knew it was just in his head. The fighting wasn't even what was stressing him out the most to be honest, nor was it his depleting stamina or the ever-worsening itch in his sore eyes. No, what worried the gruff teacher the most was that he'd lost sight of the one invader that had concerned him most.
He'd only taken his gaze off the fountain for an instant, but it had been enough for the mist villain to disappear. In his gut, the pro hero knew his students were now in trouble. And he couldn't do shit to help them at the moment.
"Damn it!" Aizawa cursed under his breath, unable to spare even a second to check on his kids. "Why are these idiots so damn persistent?"
Movement by the fountain caught the embattled pro hero's attention, and he turned his head. From a hastily closing tear in reality, the mist villain had reappeared… looking severely injured and short of breath? Aizawa immediately cursed again, a young woman with skin covered in reptilian scales like a snake's taking her shot to get by him.
The gruff teacher threw a roundhouse kick at the villainess, but the woman contorted her body around his leg like it was second nature and kept her momentum going. She was almost to the stairs—
BOOM!
It was an incredibly loud and bright flash that erupted in the woman's face, not only stopping her dead in her tracks but also sending her flailing backwards. When she landed, the villainess appeared to already be unconscious, though the wretched look on her face screamed pain.
The villains that had remained standing so far froze, gazing with no small amount of fear at the two new arrivals now standing at the bottom of the stairs. One, a green-haired runt riding on the back of an extremely pale girl, held a brutal looking shotgun in one hand.
"Midoriya!" Aizawa addressed his problem child, using the momentary respite only the natural fear of a shotgun could produce to his advantage. "What's happening? Sit rep."
Tae gently bent down, unloading Izuku by the stairs, before taking up a defensive stance between him and the villains. As Aizawa looked over his student for injuries, his bloodshot eyes landed on the pulsating mound of flesh that was growing from where the green-haired teen once had a right foot. The pro hero immediately knew there was no good news awaiting him.
"Situation went to shit sir," Izuku reported flatly, pumping a new round into his shotgun's chamber. The maneuver successfully caused the villains to flinch back again, gaining them a few more precious seconds. "The mist villain took us by surprise. Mashiro Ojiro and Eijiro Kirishima attempted to intercept, but his warp Quirk scattered them and most of the rest of my classmates across the facility regardless. I… I failed my mission…"
"We failed, Midoriya," Aizawa corrected, quick to shoulder the blame. It was unfair to allow the teen to believe he was solely responsible. "I was distracted for a second… but that was enough for the villain to manage to reach you."
The tired pro hero quietly wondered to himself when getting distracted would stop resulting in those close to him getting hurt, a memory of blood-soaked sea foam hair flashing before his mind's eye.
Aizawa pushed the ever-present guilt down, retaking his battle stance. The pro hero absently noted that the zombie-girl was now by his side, growling menacingly at the villains. The way the undead wielded her crowbar spoke of broken bones for whoever ended up in her sights.
"Space Hero Thirteen was also injured in the skirmish, but their life's not in immediate danger," Izuku continued his report while taking aim at a villain who'd twitched. "I had Ochaco Uraraka tend their wounds and stand guard up there while I came down here to provide any assistance I could. We have a better chance of surviving until back up arrives this way."
BOOM!
The villain didn't twitch again.
"Back up?" The gruff teacher asked, marveling at the effectiveness of the non-lethal ammunition. As his homeroom teacher, he'd been given access and inclination to read all of the specs for Izuku's weapons, but still…
The pro hero was extremely glad he'd allowed the green-haired teen to bring his inventions to the rescue trial.
"Tenya Iida managed to escape the building with support from Tae," Izuku's speech pattern finally caught Aizawa's attention. The green-haired teen wasn't sounding like himself, but with the current crisis underway, there wasn't time to analyze the possible issue.
The pro hero filed the observation away for later though. Perhaps a visit to Hound Dog would do the boy some good after this?
"I'd rather you return upstairs…" Aizawa tried, before noticing the remaining villains had finally gathered enough courage to renew their assault.
The green-haired teen merely lowered his weapon in response, not batting an eye.
"That option is no longer available sir," Izuku declared, sighting a target. "Tae, cover sensei. Avoid breaking his sight-line."
Tae's responding grunt and nod were quite the reassurance to the gruff teacher. Now, as he was forced into the fight once more, he knew that any that managed to sneak by him would have the unlucky fate of facing off against a remorseless undead with inhuman strength… and a crowbar.
Izuku wasn't being completely honest with his teacher. While it was true he fully intended to provide fire support, his true intention was still to scan the surrounding areas. No doubt he wasn't the only one who'd noticed the spectacle caused by the surging electricity coming from the Flood Zone, Kaminari's handiwork no doubt.
The display probably meant the aquatic villains were taken care of for now, but more importantly the green-haired teen knew for a fact that the easy-going blond wouldn't have been able to come up with a response like that on his own. And while he wasn't one to disparage his classmates, Kaminari also wasn't one to be courageous enough to pull off a stunt like that by himself… which meant he'd been assisted.
Only three names came to Izuku's mind, only three people, who were capable of not only literally throwing their classmate to the sharks, but also would do so knowing it would be the best solution. Tsuyu Asui, Fumikage Tokoyami, and Kyouka Jiro.
Keeping an eye on the Flood Zone, the green-haired teen expected to see any one of these three appearing any minute, poking their heads up from the faux-shoreline. If it turned out to be Jiro or Tokoyami, he'd team up with them to find Tsuyu and Lily. And if by some miracle it was Tsuyu he saw…
'Tsu-chan!' The name almost sang through Izuku's mind, his heart flipping in his chest. There! At the edge of the zone, right where he'd predicted, he could just make out the small figure of the beautiful frog-girl… herding a wasted blond to dry land.
The green-haired teen scanned the area, watching as Eraserhead and Tae made short work of another group of the amassed villains. Taking the moment as his best chance to leave, Izuku vaulted over the stair's handrail. The landing amongst the bushes was painful, but he sucked it up and proceeded to move as fast and silently as his newly reforming foot allowed.
Back by the fountain, Tomura Shigaraki watched the pitched battle between the grunts he'd managed to scrap together and the underground hero, now supported by some militarily dressed woman. While he did so, his hands were busy helping his ticket out of this shithole…
"That is the one?" Shigaraki asked, decaying more of the foam that was suffocating the mist villain. "Doesn't seem too bright."
Still unable to shake his head, the debilitated villain waved away the observation with a hand.
"I don't think… she's a student…" the mist-villain replied through labored breathes. "Maybe… part of… the staff…"
Shigaraki chuckled at the news, decaying the last of the foam with his Quirk.
"A spike in difficulty then," the handsy villain said, an unseen but deranged smile on his face. "Take a moment for your cool down to finish, Kurogiri, and watch how I break the game."
Aizawa hated to admit it, but he was at his limit. He couldn't keep his Quirk activated long enough to be effective, and it was only the uncertainty his goggles gave his opponents that was keeping many from openly attacking with their own. The gruff teacher would admit though, having a zombie-girl at his back was making things easier. Even so, he was beginning to allow more villains to reach her, something he couldn't afford.
And as reliable as the zombie-girl was turning out to be, the level of autonomy she showed still bothered the pro hero. There was no hesitation to attack, no pauses before assisting him, but it was clear to anyone with eyes that the undead was showing signs of emotion, of anger. Her inhuman strength, while strictly non-lethal, was so barely contained it was a pretty sure bet that a couple of the villains she'd struck would never walk again.
'Wait… WHERE'S THE GIANT ONE?!' Aizawa panicked, having turned to look at the fountain for a second. To his left, he heard the sickening sounds of bones snapping.
The large beast… man… thing had inexplicably appeared beside the zombie-girl. Without even a hint of effort, the monster backhanded her with enough force it sent a shockwave through the air. The sight of the girl being flung through the air like a ragdoll by a blow that would've killed any living hero without a reinforcement Quirk distracted Aizawa for a second. And once again, that second's distraction led to his suffering.
"Game over… hero," Shigaraki announced behind his face-hand, holding the elbow of the gruff teacher. In seconds, the joint decayed to the point it was extremely close to showing bone.
Aizawa grunted at the pain, barely containing a full-blown scream of agony. Cocking his free arm back for an unavoidable counterattack, the gruff teacher found he couldn't move it. Bewildered, the pro hero looked back.
The monster had appeared behind him and enveloped his arm in its beastly grip. With an effortless twist, Eraserhead's good arm was shattered, leaving him at the mercy of the villains.
On the shore of the Flood Zone, Tsuyu watched appalled as her homeroom teacher was mauled by the terrifying man-beast. It had been horrible enough to see Tae-chan, in all her kickass battle glory, be thrown away like that, her body broken, but at least she hadn't had to worry about the zombie-girl dying from it. Aizawa-sensei though…
"Yay…?" Kaminari blurted out, his brain still fried. Tsuyu only covered his drooling mouth with her hand in response. Thinking better of that, and the drool she might get on her, she dropped her burned out classmate against a convenient boulder and took a few hesitant steps toward the plaza.
The frog-girl hated to admit it, but there was nothing she could do at the moment save pray for a miracle. Unbidden tears began to form, leaking trails of sorrow as she was forced to watch the signature goggles of her sensei being ripped off his face without a care and thrown away. Then everything only got worse.
The monster, using only a single hand, began to smash Aizawa's head against the concrete, the resulting sight and sounds of a skull cracking and blood spurting was a heartbreaking scene to witness. It was a sad reminder that villains never played by the rules.
"Tomura…" Kurogiri spoke lowly from the ground, an unspoken warning in his worried tone. The mist-villain still hadn't managed to gather the strength to join the fight. At least he could breathe easier now.
The handsy villain only scoffed from where he stood, rather enjoying the sight of the underground hero being reduced to fleshy mulch.
"I know, I know… the brat escaped. The cavalry's probably on its way as we speak," Shigaraki eventually answered, still watching the man-beast maul the pro hero. "If you weren't our way out, I'd kill you for that by the way."
Tsuyu barely managed it, but she'd heard the short exchange between the villains. For a moment, the frog-girl believed that was it, maybe they'd leave without inflicting more pain, without taking any lives…
"It seems we weren't enough of a lure for All Might after all…" Shigaraki continued, disappointment clear from his tone. Then, much to Tsuyu's horror, the villain turned to stare directly at her. "But let's leave a couple dead kids as a gift anyway!"
The overwhelming nature of the malevolence held in the lanky villain's gaze was something Tsuyu had never experienced before; it caused her body to freeze in dread and her heart to catch in her throat. In that instant, the frog-girl knew how she was going to die; she'd seen what happened to her sensei when the villain had grabbed his arm.
Shigaraki leapt at his newest victim, wide-open hand aimed at touching the short girl's face. He was feeling so euphoric at the idea of how All Might would react to seeing his students' dead bodies, his hidden maniacal grin nearly caused his dry lips to bleed.
'Izu-kun…' Tsuyu's watched as her life flashed before her eyes, years of love and adversity that had made her who she was passing by in a blink. Then, her vision settled on a new scene… not a memory, but an unbidden wish.
It was an elopement; an older version of her stood in a rather plain office with two shadowy witnesses behind her as a grown and dreamy looking cinnamon roll signed his half of the marriage papers with a red seal bearing his name. They were both smiling… such warm smiles of love…
'I…'
"NO!"
Izuku's scream reverberated through the area as he shoved Tsuyu down out of harm's way, taking her place as Shigaraki's hand landed exactly where he'd aimed it, just on an unexpected target. The frog-girl could only watch with ice in her veins as the villain took a firm grasp of her savior's face and…
"…Eh?" Even behind the dismembered hand covering him, Shigaraki's poorly hidden surprise was clear to see. There was no dust… no decay. Taking a chance, the white-haired psychopath took a quick glance at Eraserhead to see if the underground hero had pulled off one last surprise, but the pro hero was still being held down face-first by his bestial assailant. There was no interference from that Quirk going on.
Instead, there was only an awkward moment of silence as the murderous villain stared dumbfounded at the first person he'd ever encountered that hadn't disintegrated at his touch.
"Surprise…" Izuku hissed out as he pumped a round into his weapon's chamber, causing the unlucky sonovabitch manhandling his face to glance down at the shotgun now pointed at his own. "…Motherfucker!"
BOOM!
Shigaraki was blasted at point blank range; the flare of the miniature explosion nearly blinded him, the thunderous bellow nearly deafened him, and the sheer force that launched him backwards into the air rattled his brain so hard he wasn't able to tell up from down. Landing a handful of seconds later, the villain just barely managed to hang on to consciousness.
Instantaneously, the man-beast crushing Aizawa released its grip on his head, appearing between the downed Shigaraki and the heroes-in-training. Its dead-eyed gaze stared straight ahead while it performed its second-to-primary mission.
For a split second, looking up at him as he stood guard over her, Tsuyu could've sworn Izuku shown with a glowing halo around his curly haired head. Once again he'd come to her rescue like a gallant hero, this time blasting away the villain that had intended to end her life. Even the large weapon her savior wielded complimented his current level of badass-ery perfectly… and then he stumbled, struggling to remain standing even when he used the shotgun as a crutch.
"Izu-kun!" Tsuyu had never moved so quickly in her life as when she raced to Izuku's side, keeping him standing. Something immediately worried the frog-girl, something that she shouldn't be able to feel just by having her arms wrapped around him in support. "YOU'RE BURNING WITH FEVER!"
The shout, while well intended, pushed the injured Shigaraki over the edge. He was in agony and those damn kids were worried over a little high temperature? He'd give them something to cry about!
"N-Nomu!" Shigaraki wheezed from where he lay, the world still spinning, "Kill those damn kids!"
The Nomu's head snapped toward the only two kids it could see, and an instant later it was upon them. Everything seemed lost for the heroes-in-training…
CRASH!
Then the gates of the USJ facility exploded inward. From the resulting dust cloud stepped the heroic form of All Might.
"I… AM HERE!"
The Symbol of Peace had arrived… but there was no perpetual smile to be seen on his face. Instead, there was only a bone-chilling scowl of rage.
Magnus: Next chapter is the conclusion of these fights, you can be sure they're going to... leave quite the impressions.
