On the Floor
"Lost and insecure,
You found me, you found me
Lying on the floor,
Surrounded, surrounded.
Why'd you have to wait?
Where were you? Where were you?
Just a little late.
You found me, you found me."
- You Found Me (The Fray)
"What're you gonna do?" asked Midoriya, his voice quivering with fear. "There're too many of them! You're both emitter Quirks and neither of you are short-ranged fighters! Even together you can't take them all on since your Quirks don't work well together! Present Mic's sound waves disperse your pheromones, and your pheromones would put him to sleep if he inhaled them! You're not strong enough!"
Present Mic snorted. He knew it was well-intentioned, but he really hated to be told things like that… "You don't hafta hold your breath for us, [listener]: I can hold mine all by myself."
Midnight nodded. "I admire your passion, Midoriya, but you don't need to worry about us."
Several villains reached the bottom of the stairs and looked up at the awaiting heroes. "Lookie! No All-Might, but we managed to scoop up his lil' lovebird! This'll be a cinch! Maybe if we break his limbs, the big man'll come runnin'!"
"I heard he was once a villain, used a guitar to fight, but when he became a hero they took it off him!"
The third thug laughed. "Really clipped his wings! He'll be a cakewalk!"
Mic tsked and inhaled as deeply as his lungs could go, before belting out a devastating yell. "YEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"
The villains were forced to cover their ears, and several even collapsed to the ground. However, he noticed a flicker of movement around Kurogiri and…
A misty portal appeared in front of the hand-man. Mic's sound waves rocked inside and-
The blond sensed a cold chill to his right and instantly spun on his heel, in time to see more mist. He yelled again before he could even think and managed to counter the sound waves Kurogiri had been attempting to redirect at his students.
The waves cancelled each other out, but the thought of accidentally endangering his class horrified him. Damn, they'd have to swap tactics.
Midnight realised as well. "Come on, Mic: let's go in."
He nodded and together they hurried down the large stairwell, jumping several steps at a time as they brought the fight to the villains.
Despite Midoriya's fear, they were a duo to be feared.
"Attack Plan F," Mic told Midnight, their grins practically identical as they paced down the stairs in perfect sync.
"Kinky," she purred as she licked her whip, "this is really gonna get me excited!"
He almost wanted to tell her to avoid attacking Kurogiri, but he knew it would've been stupid to say so: the mist man had almost hurt his students. Even if they'd once been friends, those days were behind them. They were on opposite sides of this field, whether they wanted to be or not.
They reached the bottom of the stairs at last. Villains were slowly pulling themselves up as they recovered from Mic's earlier attack, but it wouldn't be for long. From his belt, the Voice Hero pulled a smoke bomb and inhaled. As soon as his lungs were filled to maximum capacity, he tapped his foot to give Midnight one final warning and flung the ball to the ground.
A billow of smoke consumed the scene, hiding the heroes and villains alike.
"Where'd they go?" thugs called from inside the fog, trying to find each other. Several started to cough as they inhaled the smoke, and those who were inhaling copious mouthfuls of air grew unexpectedly lightheaded. "P-Poison?" Several collapsed to the floor, instantly asleep, while others tried to cover their mouths with their hands or with cloth.
"This is Somnambulist!" one cried out, informing the disjointed group. "You breathe it in, you'll fall asl-"
Before the villain could finish the thought, a long whip wrapped around their arm and pulled them off balance. They flew to the side, but a fellow villain managed to catch them. Before they could get a look at the figure to thank them, something pressed against their chest and-
Electricity coursed through their body. It was certainly painful, but didn't last long as their consciousness fled. They dropped like a fly.
Present Mic flexed his fingers as he set the right glove to charge and reactivated the left. Taser Gloves: they might've taken his guitar, but he never left the house without these babies. Midnight continued to knock out the most unsuspecting villains with her Quirk while she used her whip to redirect the remainders towards Mic for him to deal with.
Little did Midoriya know, long before they'd ever been Present Mic and Midnight, the duo had trained together. Training against her had always been like fighting an Erasure Quirk, since he couldn't breathe around either Quirk, so despite their weaknesses, they were a great combo.
The cloud eventually dispersed, and Midnight took that as her cue to cancel her Quirk so Mic could breathe. He inhaled steadily as they glanced around, finding the area strewn with unconscious thugs. Those who remained cried out in fear at the sight of their many fallen comrades, but Mic's attention was focused on the 'leader'.
Kurogiri was gone. A quick glance back confirmed he was now by the entranceway, blocking Thirteen and his students from escaping. He bit his lip, but there wasn't anything he could do about that right now. He had no way of currently stopping Kurogiri, but Mic trusted Thirteen and he trusted his students. He and Midnight had to take down the leader.
The man with disembodied hands across his body was closer now, but had been out of range of their combination attack. The freak with the exposed brain was the same.
"Annoying," murmured the pale villain as he scratched at his neck with three fingers. "The worst thing about pros is when they live up to their hype… Guess the lovebird has some fangs after all."
Present Mic grinned at him. "Welcome to the show, [listeners]! Were ya after an exclusive with yours truly? I ain't signing autographs today, but maybe I'll make an EXCEPTION!" The word flew at the masked villain, radiating through the air along his soundwaves, but the bird-brain got in the way.
The soundwaves hit, but the bird only skidded back an inch.
What Quirk could that be? An absorption Quirk mixed with a mutation Quirk?
A movement caught the corner of his eye. The young villain had dashed out from behind the bird-brain and was now running at Midnight with his hands outstretched.
Mic moved on pure instinct. His body rammed into Midnight's to knock her out the way. The villain grabbed his right elbow and squeezed and … did nothing. "I know all about you," whispered the hand-man, his voice dripping with both irritation and amusement. "All-Might's stupid little toy. I'm not supposed to hurt you…" Present Mic gasped in pain. Where the villain's hand held him, both his jacket and elbow pad disintegrated, followed by…
Mic lunged at him with his left taser-glove, but the villain leapt away. The blond's right arm dropped to his side, hanging uselessly. His elbow joint had been destroyed by the man's touch.
A Disintegration Quirk? Fuck, that was dangerous.
"But neither of us is really good at following the rules~!" finished the villain with a wicked grin.
"Mic!" Midnight called out, but she was distracted when several of the remaining villains lunged at her. She fought them off with ease, but the number of them gave her some trouble. There wasn't enough notice for her to use her Quirk so she fought without it: after all, if Mic was accidentally knocked out, they'd be in big trouble.
Mic took a step in her direction, planning to help, but he was stopped by the hand-villain. "You should've stayed on our side, Present Mic. My Master seems to have a soft spot for you… and it really pisses me off."
His Master. So, this man was connected to All For One!
Hizashi Yamada hesitated. "Where's Shouta?" he growled, his voice almost breaking. His right arm hurt like a bitch, but he'd had a lot worse. He waited for an answer with bated breath, despite Midnight's nearby fight. Hizashi needed an answer, even if it was an answer he didn't want to hear.
Nothing else existed.
The villain scratched at his neck again, humming a distasteful sound. "Don't know who you're talking 'bout; not that I care. You see, my Master might have a soft spot for you … but I'm not my Master~"
Mic heard something behind him. When he turned to face the attacker, his stomach dropped. It was the giant bird-brain villain. When had he moved? How had he been so-
He grabbed Hizashi's head and squeezed.
His glasses snapped first, the glass cutting his cheeks as it was crushed beneath the all-encompassing grip. His headphones broke too. They cracked and hit the floor, and one of his hearing-aids slipped out as well. He did notice that change: there was an odd moment of clarity that came with it.
Oh, he could only hear in one ear now.
Then his entire body was falling… No, he wasn't falling: he was being forced down.
He slammed into the floor. Warmth seeped around him, and the feeling of clarity had yet to pass.
Blood. Probably his.
Wow, you're as weak as ever, said the voice of imaginary Shouta. He couldn't see him, but he could hear it clearly, despite his missing hearing-aid.
Hizashi's face was raised from the puddle and he gasped desperately for oxygen until-
The concrete hit him again. No, he'd hit the concrete again.
He only realised the hand had still been holding him when it decided to let go, although another hand now rested on his left shoulder.
It was that sensation that sent a pulse of complete fear through him. It wasn't 'clarity': it was shock. He barely noticed the other giant hand tugging at his useless right arm. Blood filled his nostrils.
"What do you think of him, Present Mic?" cooed the hand-villain. "He's the bio-engineered Anti-Symbol of Peace … but you can call him Nomu."
The Anti-Symbol of Peace? Of course: All-Might was their target.
His arm was slowly twisted by the gigantic hand. When Hizashi cried out, he accidentally gasped with his Quirk. He hadn't done something like that since he'd been young, but the pain was horrific. He felt the gradual snap of his bones rather than heard them, and his voice wavered.
His Directional Speaker must've been busted too, but he couldn't gauge how busted. If he used his voice recklessly, then-
"Mic!" Midnight was running for him. His stomach twisted. No, she had to escape! He heard the crack of the whip as it landed against Nomu's thick frame, but it did nothing to hurt him. The hand released his broken arm.
He barely heard the impact as Nomu's fist collided with Midnight, but he did hear the hand-villain's sadistic laugh. Hizashi tried to look around, but he could barely move his head with the hand pinning his shoulder. "So sad," cooed the villain, "but we'll finish her later. You might be annoying to others, but both you heroes have useless Quirks when up against true power! What does my Master even like about you anyway…? It's so wrong..."
He was prepared to scream and shred his own vocal cords if it would even have a slight possibility of shutting up the villain. Hizashi inhaled, but Nomu reacted first.
Mic's left arm was instantly crushed beneath the monster's foot, and the scream came out in a strangulated cry. Nomu absorbed the soundwaves before they reached the hand-villain.
Pathetic, said Shouta's voice, and Hizashi couldn't help but whimper. A long time ago, even this pain would've been nothing to him. He'd been trained by Giran. He'd had limbs broken and removed and replaced to train up his pain threshold, but now…
It had all been for nothing.
This creature was as strong as All-Might, and there was nothing Hizashi Yamada could do to stop it. He'd die here without ever saving his Shouta.
The hand grabbed the back of his head and lifted it up again. He felt metal slide against his neck, as well as a wave of warmth. His Directional Speaker must've been more damaged than he'd thought. Even so, he didn't dwell on the pain.
The hand slammed his face back into the pavement. His vision went spotty as he struggled to stay awake. The skin on his right cheek split. Maybe a bit of glass was imbedded there.
Escape was impossible.
"Tomura Shigaraki." The familiar voice cut through the haze: Kurogiri was back. What'd happened? Had he killed off his students? Had Hizashi failed? "What have you done?"
Shigaraki snorted. "I've left him alive for now. He got in my way. Did you stop them?" There was a pause, and Hizashi must've lost consciousness for a moment, for when he listened again, the hand-villain was cursing at Kurogiri over something. Even so, the man hesitated, and finally said, "Let's go home…"
Was this it then? They were going to leave and Hizashi would lose Kurogiri again and he would be known for his failure…?
"Oh," continued Shigaraki, "before we leave… Let's make sure the Symbol of Peace is broken! Let's wreck his pride!"
Hizashi managed to force his head up just enough to see them: Midoriya, Tsuyu and Mineta. What? What were the students doing here? He'd told them to escape!
"Let's make this hurt!"
It seemed to happen in slow motion. The hand-villain rushed towards them and held out a hand.
He was going to kill his students.
Hizashi tried to inhale, but all he tasted was blood. Barely any oxygen reached his lungs.
Things don't change, said that voice of despair. Present Mic's eyes grew glassy as blood ran down his face alongside angry tears. Just like always, Hizashi… You should've been-
He heard something to his left, although the sound was indistinct with his missing hearing-aid. Shigaraki stopped, his hand mere inches from Tsuyu's face. His body trembled with what could've been anything between rage and disgust.
"You're so freakin' annoying," growled the hand-villain as he glanced back with utter resentment, but his gaze wasn't aimed at Present Mic. "Kurogiri … Whose side are you on?"
"Master's orders," said the mist-villain, "in case you hurt him."
Then he heard another voice. It was familiar, and for a moment he thought it might've been imagined, as it usually was, but it sounded weird. He could only hear it through one ear.
It was impossible to block out an imagined sound…
But a real one…
"Off-Limits," said the voice to his left.
It was such a faint voice, but it was real and Hizashi painfully turned his head to look up at his hero.
Standing beside him was a man. He wore all black, and even the razor-sharp spikes on the capture weapon were black, but the mask hadn't changed, although red light only poured out the left lens. The right remained dim.
Hizashi's breath caught in his throat, but not because of any Quirk.
Standing beside him was the lover he'd lost eight long years ago.
Standing beside him was Shouta Aizawa.