Chapter 19: The USJ Incident- Part 7
With his final declaration, All Might leapt into the fray, blurring past me and grasping the Nomu in a mighty tackle. The symbol of peace then leapt again, bringing the creature with him on his trip upwards, though it seemed to be flailing and trying to escape his grasp the whole time. The pair eventually landed near the centre of the USJ, and I realised that All Might must have gone there to keep the fighting away from me and the other students.
The explosive leap that All Might performed almost sent me falling to the ground right there, and it was only due to luck that I managed to keep my balance. Even from the distance I stood at, I could already see All Might and Nomu fighting, and the sheer strength and speed that was on display utterly baffled me. It was terrifying to see that the creature was not only still standing after several punches from All Might, but that it was also throwing some back. No villain had ever resisted more than a few strikes from All Might, and they were usually totally incapacitated after a single punch, so seeing this villain absorb hits with little to no reaction to them was terrifying to say the least.
I could barely even keep up with the fight that was unfolding, the two participants moved with such ridiculous speed that at some points they seemed like little more than blurs of colour and motion, twirling around each other in a lethal display of power. The raw power of the two combatants was also staggering, and I could see the shockwaves produced by their punches even from my position far away from the action.
A groan of pain from Aizawa moved me away from watching the battle between the two titans, as impressive and enthralling as their battle was, I had my own responsibilities to deal with. I had to have faith that All Might would be able to beat the villain that had come to kill him, and that the symbol of peace would endure the wrath of the creature that had so brutally dispatched Aizawa. I told myself that no villain would be able to beat All Might, and no matter how strong or well prepared they claimed to be, he would always be able to overcome the challenge. But a small voice in the back of my mind was worried, not just for All Might but for everyone else in the USJ. These villains were clearly still confident in their ability to defeat the symbol of peace, and the Nomu creature almost seemed to be his equal in terms of pure physical prowess.
Despite my worries, All Might's fight was out of my control, and I had to focus on what I could do to help instead of watching a fight I couldn't do anything about. I turned from the battle and forced myself up the last of the stairs, the effort of each movement feeling strained and painful against my aching muscles. I finally reached the top of the infernal staircase, still somewhat annoyed that UA had decided to build something like that instead of an elevator. The sight that greeted me filled me with an exhausted sense of relief.
Shoji, Ashido, Iida, Yaoyorozu, Jiro and Mineta.
I breathed a sigh of relief when I realised that not only had the group I had split from made it to the exit unharmed, but that Shoji and Ashido were also largely unharmed. All Might had said that Uraraka had warned him of what was going on, so she must have made it out alright as well. Though it was a far cry from the whole class, the knowledge that seven of my classmates had made it without any major injuries was a weight off of my mind. Aizawa had told me to help protect the class, and the fact that almost half of them were largely unharmed meant that I could take a measure of success from the day, even if eleven of them were still unaccounted for.
Speaking of Aizawa, I gently laid him on the ground, grateful to no longer be carrying his weight. The action must have caught the attention of the other students, as they all turned towards me.
"Shinso!" Ashido called out, drawing my attention away from my injured teacher "You made it!"
Her jubilant expression fell when she saw the state of Aizawa, and she jogged over to see his own injuries, followed by the rest of the students. Only then did I see the prone form of Thirteen, her spacesuit shredded open by some unknown force, she seemed not to be moving at all. I could see some stiches and bandages that had been used to try and heal Thirteen's form, presumably being placed there by Yaoyorozu in an attempt to try and treat the Pro's injuries.
The terrified and frantic voice of Ashido at the state of Aizawa's injuries washed over me, but the confusion and concern was visible in her expression. The rest of my classmates wore similar expressions, and they moved towards Aizawa tentatively, as if terrified of disturbing the injured Pro. Yaoyorozu moved away from Thirteen, apparently satisfied with the medical care she had provided for the moment.
Yaoyorozu then moved over to Aizawa and began to create bandages and other medical supplies, her hands moved deftly over our injured teacher, already working to treat his many injuries. Beside her were Ashido and Jiro, who were attentively following her instructions and working to stem Aizawa's bleeding. I knew that it would be better to get out of the way to avoid obstructing Yaoyorozu and my other classmates from tending to Aizawa.
I paced to the edge of the stairs and sat down, releasing a breath I didn't realise I had been holding and leaning back, trying my best to return my pulse to a steady rate. The feeling of adrenaline gradually faded from my body as I took in slow and deep breaths, returning my body to a somewhat calmer state. The injuries that I had been ignoring suddenly faded back into prominence, dull aches and sharp pains covering my body from the various attacks I had sustained. Thankfully, nothing seemed to be too serious, though I did have to wipe away a trickle of blood that was dripping from a cut on my forehead.
I noticed a large presence sit down at my side, and I turned to see the masked face of Shoji looking down at me, concern obvious in in his normally passive expression.
"You're injured." Shoji said, the blunt statement catching me off guard.
"It happens." I shrugged, looking back towards the USJ "It's nothing serious."
"If you say so." Shoji said, sounding thoroughly unconvinced.
We sat in silence for a moment, the commotion of Yaoyorozu working on Aizawa's wounds the only distraction from the clash of All Might and Nomu that was unfolding below us. The clash was immense, and it seemed that neither combatant had gained the upper hand yet, bringing me to the terrifying revelation that Nomu was actually matching All Might in sheer strength and destructive power.
As well as that, the majority of our class was still unaccounted for, and the thought of leaving them in a dangerous situation while I sat safely at the top of the USJ churned my stomach in disgust. Tokoyami and Tsu were amongst those who's situation was still unknown, they could still be fighting through villains or trapped in areas of the USJ, unable to escape the facility. I thought back to the day we had spent together, and how we had promised to look out for each other, and I knew it was time to make good on that promise.
"We need to go back." I said, feeling the drive to help return to my mind "There's still fighting to do."
Shoji sighed, and looked at the floor between his legs for a few seconds, seemingly in deep contemplation. I was expecting to get scolded by Shoji, and in truth I knew that he wouldn't be wrong to do so, caution would be wise in this scenario. But we still had to fight, even though All Might had taken the field the rest of our classmates were still in danger, and we needed to help them. As well as that, the villain's proclamation that they were there to kill All Might still rang in my mind, and I was certain now that Nomu was the creature designed for such an action. I might not have the power to challenge the creature, but I couldn't just stand by if I was needed.
"You're right." Shoji said, shocking me from my thoughts "We can't just sit here in safety while our fellow students might still be in danger, we should help them."
I was ready for an argument, so Shoji's words were a great relief to me. I realised that he must have been feeling the same sense of obligation as me, even so, his decision was a relief.
We explained our plan to the rest of the group, who reacted with a mixture of surprise and exasperation. They argued that I was lucky to get away after jumping back into the fight once already, and I might not be as lucky the second time. I knew that, and accepted that risk, but that didn't change my mind, our classmates were in danger, that was all that mattered.
Iida said that he would stay behind to assist anyone else who made it to the entrance of the USJ, as well as directing the Pro Heroes when they arrive, a duty that would be important in ending this fight as quickly as possible. Yaoyorozu, Ashido and Jiro were still helping Aizawa and Thirteen, and none of us had any desire to pull them away from that duty. As for Mineta, well…
He wasn't coming, and I didn't care to try and change his mind.
With that discussion out of the way, Shoji and I turned to head back into the USJ, descending the stairs towards the battle that raged below us.
We made our way down the stairs of the USJ without any real issues or incidents, and our journey towards the centre of the USJ was also fairly uneventful, to my relief.
Though I wished that more students had come to fight alongside us, I understood their reluctance to dive straight back into combat just after making it out of the USJ. Besides, Yaoyorozu was clearly the best suited to assist with Aizawa's and Thirteen's injuries, and the others would either assist her or recover. Despite this deficiency in numbers, I was glad to have Shoji by my side in whatever awaited us, I knew that he was strong and capable, and I trusted him to watch my back if things really did turn to combat, and eventuality which seemed fairly likely given the circumstances.
Speaking of Shoji, I could see that he was also nervous about what awaited us in the USJ, but he was trying to keep his emotions under wraps. I could see his left hand constantly clenching and releasing again, and his eyes would occasionally dart around to look at a noise that seemed to be out of place or unusual. I didn't say anything, knowing that I was just as concerned as Shoji was, and I made a mental note to thank him for coming with me when this was all over.
As we made our way closer to the centre of the USJ, the shockwaves from All Might's fight with the 'Nomu' creature grew louder and more intense, the compressed blasts of air ruffling my hair even at a great distance, speaking to the incredible exchange of power going on between the two combatants. The continued blasts of air and pressure were occasionally punctuated with crashes and sounds of cracking stone, indicating that the battle was inflicting severe damage to the USJ itself. I became more and more worried the longer that the fight went on, as the knowledge that the creature still hadn't been brought low by All Might wormed its way into my mind, the impossibility of such a situation causing an unpleasant series of thoughts that I tried to ignore.
"Makes you feel a little outclassed right?" Shoji said, his voice full of quiet contemplation "It puts our own strength into perspective."
"You're telling me." I muttered, contemplating the vast gulf in power "But we might still be able to do something, even if we're outclassed."
Shoji nodded silently, and we continued to make our way forwards, edging closer and closer to the centre of the USJ. We occasionally passed small groups of villains that had been knocked out by either All Might or Aizawa, thankfully they showed no signs of awakening from their earlier fight, so they didn't bother us on our way to the centre.
"Hey!" A voice called out, sending a brief jolt of shock down my spine at the surprise "You Guys! Over Here!"
Shoji and I turned to the source of the voice, unsure whether we would be faced by an enemy or an ally. Thankfully, it was the latter, Kirishima was jogging towards us, one hand raised to catch our attention. Behind him were Bakugo and Sero, who were following at a slightly slower pace. All three had clearly seen combat, as they were covered in small scuffs and bruises, but nobody seemed to be carrying any major injuries.
"Kirishima." I said, acknowledging him with a nod as he arrived "It's good to see that the three of you are alright."
"Thanks man." Kirishima cracked a grin, looking over his shoulder briefly to see that his two fellow classmates were still behind him "It's good to see you guys too."
"I'm guessing you're heading to assist All Might?" Shoji said, cutting through the pleasantries with a serious tone "To see if you can do anything to fight that creature?"
"Of course we are." Bakugo spoke up this time, his voice quitter than usual while still retaining it's usual hard edge "We're not gonna let those bastards get away with what they've done, they'll pay for attacking us here."
"I guess that makes six then." Another voice cut in, it's droll tone contrasting with Bakugo's threatening voice.
I turned to see Todoroki sitting on a rock behind us, apparently having been listening to our conversation. While I inwardly berated myself for letting him sneak up on me, he paced towards us, his expression never changing from one of cold focus.
"The villains I faced in my own zone were weak, and yet they seemed confident in their ability to take down All Might." Todoroki sighed, his breath made visible by his cold side "If you're all here then I'm assuming that you had much the same experience, meaning that the villains were betting on only one of their number being able to take on All Might, which is assumedly that beast that he's fighting right now."
I nodded in agreement, seeing that Todoroki had come to the same conclusion that we had earlier, and Bakugo's darkening expression indicated that he too noticed this pattern in the villain's behaviour.
"We should go." I cut in, rolling my shoulders in preparation "The longer we wait, the higher the odds are of somethings going very wrong."
The rest of my class nodded or mumbled in agreement, and so the six of us forged onwards, closing the remaining distance to the centre of the USJ.
When we arrived the scene that greeted us was one of total destruction, All Might and Nomu were fixed in the centre of the plaza, trading blows that sent shockwaves outwards from the pair in waves of concussive force. A dozen or so metres away from them were the forms of the villain's leader and the fog villain, apparently having nothing to do beyond watching the battle taking place in front of them.
All Might looked towards us briefly, and his expression told me that he wasn't expecting to see us arrive so quickly, or even at all. This momentary distraction cost him dearly, as Nomu wrapped his arms around All Might's waist and flipped him over, the Hero crashing into the ground as he struggled against Nomu's iron grasp.
Underneath the pair, a portal opened up, with it's exit appearing in mid air a few metres away. Nomu and the restrained All Might half-disappeared into the portal up to their waists, with their upper halves appearing outside of the other portal. As the portals began to shrink, I realised the villain's plan, they hope to cut All Might in half using the nature of the portals, with Nomu apparently being unconcerned with it's own fate in this plan.
I shouted out to relay this information to the rest of our class, their eyes widening before they moved to counter this threat, long range Quirks working in ways that I never could. Todoroki shot out a wave of ice to try and restrain Nomu and try to pull him back to one side alongside All Might. Bakugo charged forwards, palms sparking with explosions as he rushed towards the fog villain. Sero shot out a strip of tape towards the body of the fog villain, trying to find purchase on his incorporeal form.
Todoroki's assault with ice was faring well, but he suddenly staggered, his falling form revealing a villain that stood behind him, apparently having struck Todoroki in a surprise attack. The Ice-Quirk user blew the villain away with a wave of ice and returned to his efforts to halt Nomu, his efforts diminished by the momentary distraction.
"Keep them off of us!" He shouted, gazing towards Shoji, Kirishima and me "We can't win with these guys attacking us!"
With a nod from Shoji and a grin from Kirishima, the three of us arrayed ourselves to face a wave of incoming villains, apparently recovered from their earlier beatings and ready for another round.
Kirishima shifted his body to its hardened state, scraping his knuckles together to produce an intimidating screech. Shoji turned all six of his arms into fists, holding them up in a defensive stance. I dropped into my usual fighting stance, legs wide and arms raised ready to meet the assailants who were rapidly closing the distance between us.
The first villain to make contact did so with a blast of air from his hands, sending him flying ahead of his comrades and straight towards me, leg outstretched to try and strike me down in a single hit. Bereft of my Capture Tools, I had to execute a different manoeuvre than usual, holding out my hands to try and catch the kick. As soon as I made contact I gently moved the leg aside, redirecting the impact to one side. rather than facing it head on. As the villain started to fly past me I struck his stomach with my fist, the momentum that had given the villain impressive speed now worked against him, as in amplified the impact of my strike, and sent him tumbling to the floor in pain.
Another villain came towards me, his hand glowing a gentle blue with what I assumed to be some kind of strength-enhancement Quirk. I wasn't too keen to find out what his Quirk was, so I simply dropped onto my back while lashing out with a strong upwards kick, using my arms to act as a counterweight. The kick found it's mark under the villain's chin, and a small spray of blood flew from his mouth as the impact from my boot cut his assault short and sent him spiralling to the ground.
I could see Shoji and Kirishima beside me, each of them using their respective physical strength and durability to defeat their own opponents, leaving them as crumpled heaps on the ground. The three of us fought side-by-side like that for what seemed like eternity, fighting through the wave of attackers that had come to kill All Might himself. Another came, and then another, then even more; and yet they all fell, struck down by every trick and technique that Aizawa had taught me, each and every strike was guided by the techniques my mentor had taught me.
The fight between All Might and Nomu had reached a fever pitch, and the shockwaves produced by their fight drew my attention back towards the pair as we dispatched the last of this group of villains.
The fight seemed to be getting faster and faster, the punches of the two combatants moving at supersonic speeds as they traded destructive blows. Both of the pair seemed to be unaffected by the other's strikes, in stark contrast to the environment of the USJ, which was cracking and crumbling under the sheer force of their assault. The duo of fighters were an island of blurring motion amongst waves of debris and destruction, and nobody on either side of the fight could even get close to the pair to fight alongside them.
Suddenly, All Might lashed out slightly lower than normal, the shift in his attacks threw Nomu back, the creature apparently having it's Shock Nullification Quirk overwhelmed by All Might's sheer power and sudden shift in attack pattern. With this opening, All Might threw back his arm, clenching his hand into a fist, apparently readying a more powerful strike to knock down the creature. All Might's fist seemed to glow for a second, and his sunken blue eyes glowed brighter than usual, lending him an eerie air.
For a moment, all was still.
All Might was poised and ready to attack, every fibre of his being radiating pure power. Nomu was still staggering backwards from the force of All Might's last blow, it's blank expression still unchanging in the face of what was happening. The villains were watching, the leader in particular seemed to be fixated in what was unfolding. My classmates were all frozen in place as well, unable to do anything but watch as the battle unfolded in front of us.
Then…
"Go Beyond!" All Might boomed, his voice seeming to restart everything again as his fist swung forwards "PLUS ULTRA!"
The fist flew, and found it's mark. Nomu was flung backwards instantly, rocketing away from All Might as the sheer force of the attack utterly overwhelmed the creature, blowing it away with a squawk of confusion from the avian creature. Nomu flew upwards, flying through the USJ far above the ground, it's limbs flailing around in a useless attempt to slow it's rapid ascension. Eventually Nomu impacted the roof of the USJ itself, barely even slowing as the flying creature tore a hole into the roof and continued into the sky until it disappeared into the sky. The whole thing took less than a second, and I would have thought that I had imagined the whole thing if not for the wave of air and the jagged steel hole than had been punched into the roof of the USJ.
It was over, the creature called Nomu was gone in the blink of an eye.
A pregnant pause punctuated All Might's final punch, Nomu had disappeared from sight after it had been launched from the USJ, and it showed no sign of returning.
A beat passed, then a few more.
All Might moved from the stance of his final punch, flexing his shoulders and turning back to face the two leading villains, who were watching in stunned silence at what had just occurred. The villain's leader began to pace back and forth, scratching his neck with furious and frenzied motion as he muttered inaudibly to himself about what had just occurred. This wasn't the first team I had noticed this kind of juvenile behaviour from this villain, and I found myself wondering exactly how old this guy was, and how he found himself in charge of such a large group of villains, as well as having possession of the Nomu that All Might had just violently taken down.
While I was pondering this, an exchange had occurred between the rest of my classmates, they had decided that All Might clearly had these villains under control, and our efforts would be better spent taking out the villains that remained scattered throughout the facility, villains who may still pose a threat or try and escape from the USJ to wreak havoc elsewhere. I agreed with this decision, it was obvious that we should allocate our strength in a more efficient way, and yet…
Something was wrong…
All Might was clearly injured, and even though he stood tall there was something different about him that wasn't immediately obvious. His left arm was twitching somewhat, he seemed to be putting more weight on one leg than the other, his ever-present smile seemed forced.
He was more injured than he seemed, and it seemed that the villains had noticed this as well.
The two villains readied themselves for a fight, the leader dropping into his unusual fighting stance and the fog villain's body expanding into a more inhuman shape.
"GET AWAY FROM ALL MIGHT!"
The shout came from nowhere, shocking everybody at the sudden presence of a new person. It was Midoriya, he had leapt from wherever he had been before with the power of his Quirk and was now flying towards the villains, his arm pulled back and ready to attack the villains.
After a moments shock, the leader thrust an outstretched hand into the fog villain's body, transporting his arm into a portal. The exit portal opened up right in Midoriya's flight path, and an outstretched hand was ready to meet him. It happened too fast for anybody to react, all I could do was watch in shock as Midoriya moved towards the destructive grip of the villain, eyes wide as he realised his situation.
BOOM
The villain suddenly fell away, clutching at the bloody wound that had suddenly appeared in his hand, he stumbled backwards, shocked by the sudden and vicious injury. I turned to see the source of the attack, and was heartened by the sight in front of me.
The UA Faculty had arrived.
A row of Pro Heroes were visible at the top of the stairs, Uraraka was also among them, clearly having succeeded in her mission to alert the Pros. Even from this distance, I could make out the forms of several Pros, including Cementoss, Power Loader and Vlad King. The presence of so many Pros also likely indicated that the rest of UA was safe, and that the attack was confined to the USJ itself.
Several villains who had rallied at the bottom of the stairs were suddenly assaulted by a barrage of Quirks, including Present Mic's powerful Voice Quirk, which sent over a dozen villains to the ground in a display of sonic force. The booming sound of Snipe's revolver echoed throughout the building, he must have been using his Quirk to target villains from an extreme distance, non-lethally dispatching them with dozens of well-placed shots.
Midoriya had landed hard on the ground, but he at least seemed to be safe from any immediate danger. All Might was still standing resolute, though I did notice that his ever-present smile was growing slightly strained. Shoji, Todoroki, Bakugo, Kirishima and Sero were all still standing around warily, but they all seemed to have relaxed a little at the arrival of the Pros. I felt much the same, though I couldn't bring myself to relax just yet, this day had had far too many surprises in store today already.
As I was looking around the rest of the USJ, I noticed that Tsu and Kaminari were making there way towards us from the Flood Zone, apparently having been hiding there was Midoriya when everything in the centre of the USJ occurred. I greeted the pair with a nod, still too tense to consider a proper greeting, and received similarly terse greetings in response, though at least the pair seemed uninjured.
I turned to see the lead villain standing again, reaching forwards towards All Might while uttering a tirade of curses and pledges of vengeance. All Might seemed unmoved by the tirade, still standing still and staring down the villain. As soon as the lead villain went to move forwards, hand outstretched to attack All Might, several more shots rang out, echoing throughout the USJ. The villain fell prone again, several bloody wounds appearing on his body and knocking him to the ground.
The fog villain wrapped around the prone form of the villain's leader, Snipe's bullets flying harmlessly into his incorporeal form. Before the villains could make another move, a sudden wave of air flew past me and towards the two villains, eliciting a gasp of shock from the fog villain. My eyes followed the source of the wave, and I realised that it was Thirteen's Black Hole Quirk, the injured Pro being propped up by two other figures that I couldn't make out from the vast distance between us.
The grasp of Thirteen's Quirk was distorting the body of the fog villain, his incorporeal form being warped by the strength of Black Hole, preventing the villain from moving. The lead villain's gaze was still firmly fixed on the form of All Might, the hero still standing resolute in spite of all that had happened. With one last proclamation, the villain disappeared behind his comrade's foggy body, his form obscured in total darkness.
The fog villain's body seemed to collapse in on itself, shrinking even under the stress of Black Hole. The fog shrunk and shrunk until it was barely visible, and it was clear that the villain had transported his leader away. Eventually the darkness disappeared totally, and Thirteen's Quirk fell away as its target had vanished totally.
And then, there was silence.
Author's Note
And thus the USJ Arc comes to an end, and we see the defeat of the League, for now at least. Well there's one part left, which will show the consequences of the USJ, which we'll see tomorrow.
I went back and rewrote the previous chapters of this story somewhat to bring them up to a new standard (basically Author's notes won't count as part of the 5k word count I allocate for each chapter, in retrospect it was weird for me to do that anyway.) Nothing major has been changed, but I've added content in areas where I thought it was lacking, and have reworked some scenes I weren't thrilled with. I've also added the names of Shinso's family members in the first chapter (another strange omission in hindsight). There a few updated Chapters that are yet to be finished, but the vast majority have been rolled out with this update. I applied this new standard both to make my writing consistent, as well as to post this story on Archive Of Our Own, which I hope will assist this story in reaching a wider audience.
You may also notice that this story has a cover picture now, made by the crazy talented Miconomicon, who I commissioned the image from. Find them at this twitter link if you're looking for great MHA art: /miconomicon
Thank you all for reading, following, favouriting and reviewing this fanfic, it really has spurred me through this arc, and although I enjoyed every second of it, I'm also glad to be moving onto new things.
Of course, the UA Sports Festival is the next major event in the story, though we will have a few Chapters of downtime before it properly kicks off, as well as the first OVA, which is in the rest of today's chapters.
And to answer some reviews:
StandupSitdown: Thank you for the kind words, I'm glad to see that you're enjoying the story so far. I've added the name you sent me to the list I have, thank you for the suggestion. As for Shinso giving away his Quirk, though he has told his class what it is, only Asui, Tokoyami and Shoji know exactly how he activates it, so his weakness isn't totally out in the open.
Raven Mordrake: Yeah I will, there's no way that I could resist the opportunity to move the Sports Festival teams about. I've got the bracket mostly planned out, and I think it will be an interesting event.
Scorpionsasori7: I'm not sure exactly how (or even if) Shinso's Quirk will evolve, but I'll be sure to keep possible Quirk evolutions in mind for the future. Did you have any suggestions for possible Quirk evolutions?
Evergone the Great: Good catch, I didn't really think too much about that when I wrote it, I've edited the passage to be more realistic. I'm glad to hear you enjoyed the chapter.
Myherogal22: Thank you for the kind words, I hope you enjoyed this addition to the story.
Guest: I'm glad to hear that you have enjoyed the story so far, and I'm incredibly humbled to hear such high praise about the story. Sorry for keeping you waiting, but these edits were something that I felt were needed, and would only become a bigger problem if I left them for too long. Nonetheless, I hope that you enjoyed this addition to the story.
The uploads will continue daily until we are caught up. I'm ahead in university for a bit as well, so I'll be able to forge ahead with what I owe you all. We've got one more chapter showing the consequences of the USJ attack, then we go onto the first OVA and the Sport's Festival. I'm sticking to one chapter a day to stop myself getting burnt out, but I'm committed to catching up now.
See you tomorrow!