Nezu steepled his paws together as he stared at his laptop's screen. He had the program that monitored the various U.A facilities on the screen, providing a quick rundown of the wireless routers, network, working lights, heating, and a button that allowed him to give emergency broadcasts through the speakers. The system refreshed every five seconds, providing Nezu with an up-to-date view of his school's buildings.
If there was ever a problem he would see it right away and either fix it himself or call the appropriate contacts. The safety of the students was, after all, his highest priority.
Almost all of the buildings were green, indicating that their equipment was running correctly and there was no significant damage to the structure of the buildings.
The only one that wasn't green was the U.S.J.
Tapping on his keyboard lightly, he once again pressed on the grey circle with a minus sign on it to the bottom left of the U.S.J's outline. Normally, it would bring him to the page where he could diagnose the problem and potentially reactivate connectivity.
Nothing. Just a short error message stating that the page was unavailable.
"Interesting." He had checked on the other buildings. He was able to access their network options without any sort of hiccup. The U.S.J. seemed to be the only one experiencing this error.
"But why? Why just that facility?"
He had tried to send a private message through the school's communication network to Aizawa, Anakuro, and Kayama. A bland, non-intrusive checkup to see how the lesson was going.
Each message took an unusual two minutes of progress before coming back with an error message saying that they could not be sent.
Nezu didn't like this, especially after the ruckus that happened yesterday. First the penetration of U.A's defenses, which allowed for the media to get in, and then that horrible execution of All Might's former sidekic-.
His eyes widened but he didn't change the pace of his breath.
Calmly, Nezu clicked onto the internet browser icon and entered the address for HeroTales. It was a popular social media website that he frequented since the rare U.A student liked to talk too much under the mistaken belief that the internet made them anonymous.
Usually Nezu would call them up to his office and give them a stern talking-to along with either suspension or expulsion.
His heartbeat quickened when he received an error message on the window stating that the connection to the server failed.
Humming to himself a tune he had heard from the radio, he opened a window to the news and scrolled down it for a bit before switching to a dating site.
He needed to appear as if nothing was wrong. That he had dismissed the whole thing and that it was now business as usual.
Opening his desk, he took out his sticky notes and began to draw the necessary messages on them. Once he was done he picked up his desk phone and typed the extension to his secretary.
"Yes, Principal?"
"Hello, Kujo-san. Would you mind bringing Yamada, Ishiyama, and Nara to my office? I would like to talk to them about how classes will go forward following yesterday."
"Will do!"
He didn't bother trying to make an outside call after setting it down. Nezu was almost a hundred percent sure that all he would get was static.
It only took ten minutes for the three Heroes to come to his office. While Hizashi Yamada had his easy-going grin plastered on his face, his two fellow teachers were harder to read. Ken Ishiyama and David Nara, the Pro-Heroes Cementoss and Snipe respectively, only could provide the body-language to Nezu that screamed of polite confusion.
"Well, I'm glad that all three of you had come on short notice."
"It's no prob, Principal!" Yamada snapped his fingers with a chuckle. "I'm always down for a one-on-one jam session!"
"Even when there are two others?" Ishiyama quirked his eyebrow at the Voice Hero.
"Hey, the more the merrier!"
"So, I'm guessing that we need to talk to the kids about Nighteye?" Nara asked while he tapped his foot.
That didn't stop when Nezu raised his first sticky note.
ACT NATURAL.
"Quite right. Unfortunately, we need to come to terms with the fact that Nighteye's execution was highly traumatic to the student body." He slowly flipped to the next note.
SYSTEM HAS BEEN COMPROMISED.
Unsurprisingly, Yamada kept his usual upbeat demeanor. "Yeah, couldn't help but notice that the overall vibe of the school has sunk way low!"
"That's an understatement." Nara inclined his head slightly up, acting as if he were cracking his neck, but Nezu knew what he was getting at.
NO CAMERAS, BUT MICROPHONE IS STILL ACTIVE.
Nezu had made it a point to not have cameras in his office. They made him feel as if he was back in the labs, put under the microscope as he was poked and prodded by uncaring scientists.
"Then how should we handle it? Unfortunately, none of us are qualified to handle issues like this. We can teach and provide some comforting words, but this is…" Ishiyama trailed off and shrugged.
POSSIBLE VILLAIN ATTACK AT U.S.J. GO AND INVESTIGATE.
"I understand your concerns. However, it is because you're all Pro Heroes that the students look up to you. They need guidance and assurance that all will be well so long as we are here to protect them." He pointed directly at the last message.
SOUTHWEST EXIT'S CAMERAS STILL IN NEED OF REPAIR. EXIT THERE AT FIVE-MINUTE INTERVALS.
Nara let out a weary sigh. "Well, I'm of the opinion that All Might would be better at handling this kinda thing… but he probably needs some time off. Is it okay if I send you the rough draft of my speech at lunch?"
"That won't be a problem. I'm more than willing to provide constructive criticism."
"Alright! Don't you worry, Principal! My beats are gonna turn those frowns upside down!" Yamada held the door open for Nara and Ishiyama while pumping his fist into the air. "Don't be surprised when those kids start partyin' up a storm in my class! YEAH!"
He closed the door behind him, leaving Nezu alone in his office.
"It's a start." But those three would need backup if the ambush was as bad as he thought it was. Backup he couldn't provide without depriving the other classes' of protection. "I need to get a message out… but this virus seems to be blocking any kind of digital communication."
Walking to the small bookcase he kept partially for appearances. He owned several hardbacks of scientific journals, a few biographies, a smattering of fiction for flavor's sake.
Scanning the spine covers, he smiled as he plucked the one he was looking for out.
Coding 101 for Dummies.
He walked back to his desk, sat down, and opened it to the first page.
"It's been a while since I've had to use computer code."
Cracking his neck, Nezu turned the page and began scanning its contents in a matter of seconds.
"Time for a quick refresher."
"ENOUGH!" Hirooki Anakuro raised her fingers and opened the tip compartments of her suit. Her body, her Quirk Black Hole, began sucking in the physical darkness that had enveloped her and her entire class.
Hirooki had described how her Quirk worked in an interview, comparing it to "eating" raw material which disappeared in her being and turned into dust.
In many ways her Quirk was like eating… minus taste and the feeling of swallowing.
She felt the texture of what her Quirk took in. The rough and sharpness of stone and glass, the stringiness of fabric as it came undone, and the cool refreshing feeling of water from any liquid be it actual water of gasoline.
But she couldn't taste any of it.
The darkness of this Villain was like pudding, soft and semi-solid before being turned into liquid in a matter of seconds. Part of her wondered what it actually tasted like.
But, in all honesty, she would rather not know.
A majority of the Villain's Quirk faded away, revealing this "Kurogiri" to be ten meters away from her and struggling against the suction of her fingers.
But none of the children left in her care were around her.
Normally, this was when teachers panicked. It was their responsibility to keep their charges safe and losing them was the height of failure.
But Hirooki was a Hero. On top of that, she was a Rescue Hero who regularly helped in dealing with natural disasters and had seen a great many horrible things.
She knew how to stay calm in dire situations.
"What did you do with the kids!?" She closed her finger caps, leaving the Villain gasping. The strain of holding against the vacuum of her Quirk was great, apparently. "Tell me!"
"Scattered." Kurogiri said simply between breaths. "As per my leader's instructions, they are now spread out throughout this facility where the League's men will be waiting for them."
Behind her mask, Hirooki grit her teeth. "Damn! None of them are ready for combat against real Villains!"
For a split-second, dark possibilities filled her head. Of those kids being dropped into a meat-grinder where the Villains shot at them with their Quirks. The kids panicking and making mistakes, making one wrong move and dying or killing their opponents and putting a permanent black mark on their records. Of…
"Enough." A stern voice came from the back of her head. "Have faith that they can hold out. That's all that you can do."
"I see." She took a step back. "Well then, where does that leave you and me?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Kurogiri's tentacles sharpened before darting towards her. "I'll eliminate you, preventing any assistance coming to your fellow teachers and the child-!"
Horooki aimed her right hand down and released the caps. Bits of tile and concrete came loose and headed towards her fingers. She raised her hand to the sky before closing the caps, the blades embedding themselves into the concrete before she pointed at them with her left hand's index and middle finger.
"What!?" Kurogiri seemed surprised and confused as her Quirk sucked in his projectiles. "How did you…!?"
"I'm afraid you've miscalculated, Villain." She pointed to the sky began to suck in the ceiling. Lighting equipment and concrete fell down towards Kurogiri as Hirooki advanced. "You see, if my students were still here I would have to hold back."
She aimed her fingers at him and opened all ten of them. He was holding himself back, screaming as the suction of a black hole became more powerful the closer she got.
"I usually have to. My Quirk is dangerous to use around civilians and my fellow Heroes. Some even say it's unsuited for relief work."
Twisting her body, she watched as Kurogiri was dragged along with her motion before being flung towards the entrance when she capped her fingers again. He crashed on the ground, righting himself as she calmly advanced.
"But seeing as you've flung my charges to god knows where, my fellow teachers are down a considerable distance fighting your flunkies, and we're on an even field…" She glared at the Villain, raising her right hand. "I don't have to hold back anymore."
Hirooki had become a Hero because she wanted to help people. All her life, she had dreamed of bringing relief to her fellow man and they wouldn't suffer like she had when an earthquake destroyed her home town of Fuefuki when she was a little girl.
She remembered how scared she was, crying and trying to direct the relief workers to where her father was pinned down under the rubble that was once her home.
She remembered the relief when a Hero came in and carefully used his dangerous matter deconstructing Quirk to save her father. It inspired her to become a Hero. To use her family's admittedly dangerous Quirk to save others.
She hadn't gotten into this business to hurt people, even if it was a Villain.
"But if it means helping those kids… I will gladly do it!"
Kurogiri's darkness extended, sharpening into knives that headed towards her. As Hirooki released the cap of her index finger and began to absorb it she let out a mental plea.
"Kids… just stay strong and hang in there! The Heroes will get to you soon!"
"You ready, dude!?"
"Yeah!" Sato gripped the end of the tape coming from Hanta's left elbow with his right hand while his left held an open sugar bag. Slowly, he moved to the boat's railing and set his left foot on it. "You sure this is gonna work!?"
Hanta grinned and pushed the sides of his helmet to flip his visor back down. "Do you really wanna know the answer?"
The taller boy looked up for a second before shaking his head. "Nah, I'm good."
"Let us not hesitate, then!" Tokoyami shouted from below deck. "Every minute we spend prattling, the shadows retreat."
The situation the three U.A students found themselves in was ridiculous. They had been dropped in the middle of the Flood Zone by that teleporting creep where a bunch of Villains were waiting for them. It had been a miracle that he had given that Villain with the shark Quirk a mouthful of tape before swimming onto the boat. Another Villain tried to make a grab for him but Sato fed the guy his own teeth. He and Tokoyami had managed to land on the boat and shared the cheerful news that they were surrounded.
"Though I probably would've found that out with how much the Villains are gloating about it. Seriously, do they wanna feel superior to a bunch of teenagers?"
Hanta wasn't exactly a planner, but he knew to look at his surroundings and use them for his surroundings. After a very hushed discussion about their Quirks he and Tokoyami had come up with a plan.
"In other words, we gotta do this before the Villains wise up." Hanta rolled his eyes while Sato gave a nervous chuckle. "Any plan is better than none."
"Doesn't mean I gotta like it."
"What the hell do you kids think you're planning!?" Came one of the Villains surrounding the boat. "If you want a quick and painless death, then you better sit down!"
"Yeah, gonna have to pass on that!" Jumping onto the upper deck, he glanced up at the water distribution system constantly feeding the artificial lake water and glaciers to create waves. He fired another string of tape from his right shoulder, grasped it, and jumped as he pulled on it.
"Sorry, Midoriya, looks like we'll still be using the same moves for the time being!"
In a matter of seconds, he was zip-lining towards the metal-pillars that held up the slides.
"Hey!? Where do you think you're going!?" Hanta didn't bother to look down at the Villains and instead banked towards the left. Good thing too. A bullet dented the side of his helmet. He brought his knees up to his chest, making himself a smaller target. Almost as soon as he did, a blade of compressed water sliced through the air beneath him. He flung another line of tape and pulled even harder to speed up and swing out of the line of fire..
"Yeah, I don't have those moves Midoriya's got. If I tried all that twirling and stuff I'd end up wrapped up in my own tape!" Still, the time and money he spent swinging around Bespi Tower was probably saving his life right now.
He reached the metal pipes in the middle of the structure and finally cut the tape from his left elbow. Wrapping it around a pipe, he propelled down, the Villains' projectiles rattling the steel plumbing. Shooting out three more long strands of tape down to the waiting Sato, he tied them to the other pipes.
"NOW!" He screamed at Sato.
The bulkier boy nodded as he emptied the bag into his gaping maw. Hanta watched as his classmate let out a guttural roar after chewing for a bit before jumping over the railing. Still gripping the four tape strands, he planted his feet onto the side of the boat and began to push.
The boat began to sway at first and Hanta heard the metal pipes groan and bend. But the boat slowly began to tip over. Sato was pulling on the tape while using the metal hull as a glorified leg press.
"That crazy kid's tipping over the boat!" One Villain shouted in the distance.
"Isn't the third brat still in there!?"
"Insane! They've gone insane!"
"Okay, now that's seriously cool!" Hanta had heard from Sato that he got crazy strength by guzzling down sugar, but this was something else!
In a mighty splash, the boat fully broke in half and capsized. Sato was scrambling to the top as the Villains advanced, punching holes into the hull with his right fist,
"Grab on, dude!" Hanta released another line of tape which Sato grabbed onto before attaching it to the pipe overhead. He leapt down as Sato let out another scream…
...and the pipe broke.
He stared in amazement as Sato shot towards the water distribution slide anyways, propelled by his own superhuman strength. Sato landed on the ground, stumbling a bit but continuing to run towards the ground supports.
"RIKIDO SMASH!" He bellowed while hammering away at one with each punch landing another dent. "RIKIDO BREAK TUBE-THINGY!"
"Uh… okay! You do your part, buddy!" Hanta got to work on his part of the plan and traversed the metal structure, attaching short lines of tape to every pipe that waved in the wind. "Man, he told me he got kinda stupid from eating too much sugar but I didn't think he'd start talking like the Hulk!"
"You guys go after them! Those brats are planning something!" One of the Villains commanded and he saw that half of them were swimming to the shore. The one that seemed to be "in charge" and the other half were either submerging or heading to the hull of the capsized ship. "We'll handle the one they left behind, but ke-!"
A shadowy hand the size of a car broke out from the boat and grabbed the leader by the head. It seemed like it was made of black and dark purple flames, constantly shifting and pulsing as it shrunk and grew in size. Even from his perspective, Hanta could see the burning orange eyes peering at them from the shadows.
"HEEERE'S DARK SHADOW!"
The Villain screamed as he was pulled inside and another hand swept in more Villains to join him. The insane laughter Tokoyami's Quirk somehow managed to drown out everything but the screams of the Villains being tossed around like ragdolls.
"Man, they must be crapping themselves." Hanta shivered as he turned his attention back to the task at hand. Tokoyami had told them that his Quirk grew more powerful and violent the darker it was, so they decided to divide and conquer. Tokoyami would deal with all the Villains who tried to pick him off while they handled the rest.
He felt the entire structure begin to sway and knew it was time to get off.
Attaching a piece of tape to the top slide, Hanta descended down to a Sato who was pulling on the support beam over his shoulder. His eyes were glazed over, veins showing through his suit, his face glistening with sweat. "Come on, big guy! PUSH!" He landed on the ground and pointed at the Villains. "Time to put these losers in checkmate!"
Sato screamed as the entire water distribution structure toppled forward. Pipes broke, spewing water everywhere while the hard metal plastic of the slides cracked before shattering.
It was all coming down.
"WHAT!?" The Villains tried swimming back towards the boat but it was too late. They were too close to them. Some did the smart thing and dived as the metal, plastic, and tape crashed onto the water.
"GAH!" One of them shouted when they gained their bearings, struggling futily against the tape. "What did you maniacs do!?"
"Made a little trap is all!" Hanta pointed towards the tape. "With my Quirk, all of you are going to be nice and snug for a good long while! Hope you're all good at treading water, though!"
"Kill you! Freakin' kill yo-!" A female Villain with alligator skin was silenced by a line of tape smacking her in the face and pinning her to the bobbing slide.
"Sheesh. Talk about sore losers." He glanced at Sato, who was laying on the ground with his limbs outstretched. "Are you doing okay?"
"Rikido… need a nap…" Sato mumbled weekly before snoring.
Shaking his head, Hanta zip-lined back towards the now sinking ship with Tokoyami paddling to shore. From the looks of the floating unconscious bodies and the torn-up hull, Dark Shadow really went wild.
"Not that it matters much. We managed to survive and kick Villain butt in the process!"
He landed in the water and Tokoyami put an arm over him.
"I had to access dark power, but victory…" Tokoyami was interrupted by Hanta pulling them up with a tape-line.
"Yeah, we kicked ass and looked cool while doing it!" As they headed to the shore and past the still-struggling Villains he continued. "So let's take a breather before heading back to the others!"
He felt a pang of panic. What were his friends and teachers going through? Were they hurt? Were they even alive?
Hanta didn't know.
He could only hope.
"Midoriya… Jirou… Uraraka… I know you guys can pull through this! If someone like me can do it, then so can you!"
Eijiro didn't let it show on his grinning face, but he was pretty scared.
Here he was, hiding to the left of a window frame while Mineta was crouched underneath and Ojiro was to the right. The wind was strong, making the heavy downpour of the rain seem to be almost horizontal.
"Gotta give U.A credit. They really know how to replicate a city in the middle of a downpour."
"Come out, come out wherever you are!" Came a shout from outside. "Damn brats! It'll be easier on you if you'd just show yourselves!"
"They still lookin' for us?" Eijiro asked in a whisper to Ojiro.
The blond gave a small nod. "Yeah. They're still going down the street searching building by building. I don't think that teleporting Villain told them exactly where he'd drop us."
"Insane… this is insane…!" Mineta muttered from below. "We're gonna die here! Those Villains sound super pissed! Why couldn't Thirteen have come with us or somethin'!?"
"Will you calm down?" Eijiro didn't want to hear Mineta panic. The last thing he needed was to start freaking out as well. While all great Heroes, especially Crimson Riot, felt fear, it wasn't the best feeling when you're trying to think your way out of a problem with a cool head. "Just stick to the plan and we're gonna come out of this alright."
"But…!"
"Dude, you wanna be a Hero? Now's your chance to show it." Mineta looked up to him with red and puffy eyes brimming with tears. "Look, dude, it's alright to be scared. But we're gonna have to deal with situations like this every day. Just turn that fear into motivation! If you push through it then you'll win!"
"Yeah, that's right Eijiro. Just keep talking out of your ass and pretend you weren't in his shoes just a couple of months ago."
"They're in position," Ojiro noted, his stern voice making Eijiro's muscles tense. "Now or never."
"Right." He looked down to see Mineta wiping his dripping nose. "You ready to show the burning manliness of a Hero?"
"Don't make this more difficult than it needs to be!" One of the Villains screamed, his voice only slightly drowned out from the wind. "We can make this nice, easy, and painless if you'll…!"
"GAH!" Suddenly, Mineta stood up with his hands grasping the purple balls that grew atop his head. He turned towards the window, tears streaming down his cheeks and shouted, "FINE, DAMN IT! YA WANT ME TO BE A HERO!?" He began throwing the balls down towards the street, the wind catching them and making them fly into the various Villains that filled it. "HOW'S THIS FOR MANLY HERO WHATEVER!? TAKE THIS AND THIS AND THIS AND...!"
Mineta kept blabbering as he rapidly hurled his balls out, each one either sticking to the street or hitting the Villains in various parts of their body. Some of them were nailed in the chest or head, while others stuck onto their feet and arms.
Either way, the damage was done.
"What the hell is this!?" One of them put his hand on a ball that was on his chin and pulled. The ball was semi-elastic but refused to let go. Now the Villain's hand was stuck. "I-I can't get it off!"
"Damn it!" Another with knife-like nails was scratching at a ball that stuck her right foot to the ground. It almost absorbed the nails but it did not tear apart. "I can't cut through it! What kind of Quirk does that brat have!?"
"A damn useful one! That's for sure!" He could see why Aizawa had kept him in the class! Mineta's Quirk was versatile, the perfect support tool for him and a capture weapon for Villains!
"AND THAT AND THAT AND…!" Eijiro turned his attention to Mineta and saw thin trickles of blood begin to drip down his mask from his scalp.
"Dude, that's enough!" Ojiro grabbed Mineta and pulled him away from the window. That seemed to snap the diminutive student out of his haze and he began to stumble around, clutching a slightly bloody ball in each hand. "Now, Kaminari!"
"You got it!" Came Kaminari's shout as he ran outside into the rain, sliding in the middle of the road just in front of the Villains.
"You're dead, kid!" A Villain shouted while pointing at Kaminari. "I'm gonna tear you a new ass-!"
"Yeah, yeah. I know." The blonde put his hands onto the wet, puddle-laden ground.
That made the previously angry and confident Villains suddenly pause. "W-What are you doin'!?" One asked, her voice full of freight.
Eijiro could see from his vantage point Kaminari grinning.
"I think the designs on my jacket kinda give it away."
That's when the light show began.
Kaminari's body lit up from the electricity that he sent out. It seemed to dance as it raced from puddle to puddle before hitting the Villains. All of them screamed as pain rippled through them, the rain turning them all into living lightning rods.
"Good thing he told us to stay inside."
A few seconds later, it was done. The Villains were practically smoking as they crumpled to the ground with their hair and clothes mildly singed from the electricity.
"Wheeey!" Kaminari's cheer was heard over the roaring wind as he stood there in the middle of the street, wisps of smoke rising from his body. His face was vacant and eyes staring at nothing. He gave two thumbs up and pumped his arms back and forth like some idiotic toy. "YAY!"
Eijiro put a hand over his mouth and stifled his own laughter. "Dude, that's never going to get old!"
"Well, at least we were able to get rid of a good portion of our pursuers." Ojiro walked over to the window and leaned out. "Though there's likely more heading our way after that."
"Yeah, his Quirk isn't exactly the best for stealth."
"W-Was that good enough for you?" Mineta moaned as he clutched his head. The blood was drying and his scalp was starting to scab over. "I… I didn't get into this school just to screw around, ya know? It's just that… with those Villains I…!"
Yeah, he knew. Eijiro knew far more than most would guess just by looking at him now.
When people saw a Villain their first response was to freeze up. To think very briefly about the possibility that they could do something only to then decide they'll be killed. Fear and cowardice as a first response was far more common than most people thought.
Eijiro experienced it himself in middle school when that gigantic Villain was harassing some girls from his school. He was across the street, his dreams of heroism almost crumpling when he first encountered a chance to act on them.
He didn't do anything. Mina, a fun and sociable girl he admired, was the one to act like a real Hero.
Even if she burst into tears afterwards, she had more guts than he did.
Eijiro hated who he was in middle school. That quiet kid who was quick to crumple and let his fear and self-pity weigh him down. He changed everything about himself, from his hair and his attitude and made himself a promise.
He would be a real man and a real Hero. He would use his fear as fuel to do better because other people counted on him.
He would go beyond who he once was.
"Dude, you were awesome back there!" He slapped Mineta on the back and laugh. "I heard that cry from the bottom of your soul! The way you kept going even when you were bleeding… you looked like a total badass! Really manly, y'know!"
Sometimes he wondered if he sounded like a broken record.
He picked up Mineta and ignored the guy's scream as he and Ojiro landed on the street next to Kaminari. Their classmate was still oblivious to the world and moaning his empty delight.
Which meant that they would have to protect him until he regained his senses.
"Here they come." Ojiro settled into a fighting stance as they saw the outlines of figures in the rain racing towards them.
"Yeah." Eijiro set Mineta down and raised his arms. His Quirk activated, hardening his skin as the droplets of rain bounced off it. "Let's go and say hello."
"We're all gonna die…" Mineta moaned as he moved behind them.
Eijiro simply laughed while his heart raced in both fear and excitement.
"Yeah, but what else is new for future Heroes like us?"
"GYAAAAH!"
"RUN! JUST FUCKING RUN!"
"MY EAR! IT'S CHEWING ON MY EAR!"
Ochako whistled as she looked out the window to see a near army of mice and rats chasing after the Villains that were once swarming the area. "U.A really needs to hire an exterminator."
Landing in the Ruins Zone had been the most confusing minute of her life. One minute she was scared out of her mind as that Kurogiri guy wrapped his limbs around her and dragged them into complete darkness, the next she was dropped in the dirt and rubble of a broken city. Tsuyu had picked her up using her tongue before a huge Villain could stomp her head into the ground and they had regrouped with Koda in one of the Villain ruins.
The plan they had come up with was simple when they discovered that the buildings were filled with mice, likely to give the place a more "realistic" feel. Using his Quirk, Koda had sent some through the still-working pipes to talk to some rats. Then they would use their new army to fight the Villains.
It was almost disgustingly efficient.
"Eh, U.A has Koji-chan so they won't have to get one." Tsuyu put her finger on her chin and hummed. "Though he should probably charge if they do ask."
Ochako giggled. "Koda-kun would probably hate that. You saw how he got with the rats, right?"
"You were the one to think up that part of the plan, Ochako-chan."
Ochako's cheeks reddened and she looked away. "Y-yeah, but desperate times call for desperate measures y'know?"
She could feel Tsuyu's gaze drilling a hole in the back of her head. "You've got a devious mind, Ochako-chan."
"D-Don't say that, Tsuyu-chan!" God, she wanted to end this conversation. She was already feeling guilty about convincing Koda to control animals he was obviously scared of! Taking a quick peek out the window, she pointed to several Villains who were flying over the horde and towards Koda's hiding spot. "Look, Tsuyu-chan! Villains!"
The frog-girl glanced out the window before hopping on the open windowsill. "I'll handle it, but we've got a lot to talk about when all this is done."
With that, she jumped out and shot out her tongue. It wrapped around the waist of a Villain, who looked down in shock. "What the he-!?"
Swinging with only her tongue, Tsuyu kicked a Villain who was riding a cloud as if it were the Nimbus. Continuing her arc, her tongue reeled the Villain in. She landed on the Villain's back when her tongue returned to her mouth before jumping off him. Both Villains landed right onto the stampede of rodents, screaming while Tsuyu landed on the adjacent building's surface on all fours.
"Huh. No wonder she said that her powers were kinda similar to Deku's."
Just thinking about her friend made her fidget. She didn't know where anyone was. Were they going through what she, Tsuyu, and Koda were?
"I-I know Deku can handle himself. His fight with Bakugou… if that were a Villain, he probably wouldn't hold back as much. But still…"
No. Deku and the others would be fine. They actually had special classes where they could practice fighting and using their Quirks for combat.
They weren't like her who had to train alone while watching videos on the internet.
"Found you…"
Ochako blinked in surprise before something burst from the bottom edge of the windowsill. What looked like a sheet of paper hit her in the stomach, knocking her to the ground. She scrambled to her feet as she watched a Villain slide down the wall and onto the ground. He was almost completely flat, thin and wavy like he'd been caught in a printing press. He was wearing a simple black leather jacket with giant metal shoulder pads, which matched the leather pants that had grey knee-guards. His boots were heavy and spiked at the toes, which paired with a purple mohawk and t-shirt that said "I'M THE BAD GUY" gave him a punk look not dissimilar to Jirou.
The almost drawing-like Villain stood up straight while raising his paper-like arm and pointing it at her. As he advanced his body inflated back into normal human proportions. He grinned at her while his masked eyes lit up in delight.
"I figured you brats would be hidin' somewhere close to watch us! All I had to do was…"
"Get him! Get him now!" She lunged at the Villain, her fingers outstretched so they would hit his body first. "If I can just touch him once, then I'll be able to…"
The Villain leaned back and returned to his previously thin form on the ground. Ochako barely had time to register this before the Villain shot his right arm out. The limb regained its mass and structure near-instantaneously as it uppercutted her right on the chin.
She could almost see stars as she crashed into the wall. "W-Wha…!?" Her jaw was sore and it felt as if her teeth were rattling. Using the wall as support, she got onto her feet and turned around only to receive a blow to her right cheek.
"Come on, is that all you've got!?" The Villain laughed as he jumped back from her swipe at his chest. "You're shit out of luck! It doesn't take a genius…" He raised his right leg and sent out a kick that hit her directly in the chest. "...to tell that your Quirk only works if you touch me!"
Ochako was on her knees, gasping in pain while clutching her costume. Her chest and breastbone hurt. "How hard did he hit me!?" God, it felt like her chest was on fire! Why couldn't she breathe right!? It wasn't like he hit her windpip-!
Something heavy hit her in the back of her head and she found her face hitting the cracked tile floor. Her mask clattered on the ground a couple feet away, cracked and useless. She smelled the familiar scent of blood while her vision swam, letting her see double and even triple of the dirt and grime. "H… He hit me in the back of the head… I think my nose is broken…!"
"Seriously, thought you U.A brats would put up more of a fight."
No, no it wasn't as bad as she was thinking. She could hear the guy clearly and her vision was returning to normal.
Ochako raised her head and saw that the Villain had turned around and was now walking to the edge of the gap between the building and its other half.
"Ah well, I guess that's what happen when a fancy-schmancy school like this only lets you fight robots and play pretend." He was now kneeling down and wrestling with something on the ground.
"Get up." She clenched her teeth as she slowly stood up, her chest and face still sore. "Now's not the time to cry and curl up in a ball. If I don't get this creep now I'll die!" Slowly, she walked forward while making sure her steps matched the sound of loosening concrete.
With a mighty tug, the Villain pulled free a twisted piece of rebar and admired it. "Well, we ain't robots and we aren't your schoolmates, little girl. We're Villains. We're the real deal…" He stood up and gave a few practice swings without facing her, and Ochako didn't allow herself the time to flinch while raising her right arm. "Too bad for you…"
She touched the back of his exposed neck before kicking him in the back. She made sure that it was as hard as possible.
It wasn't much, but she wanted to at least pay back some of the pain he caused her.
"Don't turn your back on your opponent," she said as the Villain let out a scream and a barrage of curses as he spun in the air towards the opposite building. He would hit the wall soon and come back towards her, but she had plenty of time.
Placing her thumb over her right nostril, she blew out a small trail of blood while touching a small filing cabinet. Hefting it up and giving it a few experimental swings she walked back to her previous position and saw the Villain three-quarters of the way back.
"Perfect timing."
Placing both her hands on the cabinet's sides, she raised it and shifted herself in a batter's stance without taking her eyes off the guy.
"And the next time you have someone beat…"
The Villain was now facing her, his eyes wide with fear.
She grinned while swinging her weapon.
"...learn to shut up!"
The sound of metal hitting against flesh wasn't something Ochako was used to hearing, but she had to admit that in this case it was immensely satisfying.
The Villain was now spinning like a windmill, his eyes rolled back while a very red and bleeding mark was across his face. Tossing aside the file cabinet, she released her Quirk's effects and allowed him to drop two stories below to the ground.
Joy filled her being when she heard the body hitting dirt and the file cabinet crash against the ground. "I… I did it!" She pumped her fist into the air before wincing and rubbing her chin. "Ow…"
It wasn't exactly how she imagined her first fight with a Villain would go. Everything hurt, she had gotten the distinct impression that she was going to die, and she was still in the middle of a Villain ambush.
But she felt… good. Great even! Who needed expensive fight training when she could kick Villain butt on her own!? All it took was her Quirk and a stubborn refusal to lay down and die.
"Well, knowing how to fight probably would've helped but that's besides the point."
"Ochako-chan!"
She turned to the window to see Tsuyu looking at her with shock and worry. "I-I came as soon as I heard you screaming…" Tsuyu scanned the place and saw the blood stains she had left. "...but I can see you handled things."
"Yeah." Ochako grinned as she walked over to her helmet, picked it up, and set it back on her head. "But I don't wanna stick around here to wait for another Villain. Let's go get Koda-kun and get out of here."
Even though they weren't out of the woods yet, Ochako felt oddly confident. It was strange, but she had the distinct feeling that they could all get through this.
After all, if she could fight off a Villain with zero fighting experience, then her friends and their teachers would make it.
"We'll survive… and we'll win. We won't be like Nighteye and the others! We're going to beat the Villains!"
"Are you ready?" Yaoyorozu asked as she loaded the cannon. If someone were behind her, they would only see her talking to empty air. After all, besides her and the Villains that were further down the mountain in this artificial landside was a discarded pair of shoes and gloves.
They would be wrong, though.
"Yup!" The cheerful voice of Toru Hagakure replied to her right. "Just finished my stretches! Can't do cardio and the sick moves I'm about to throw down without it!"
Nodding, Yaoyorozu took aim towards the climbing Villains. "I'm… sorry, if that's any consolation. I am the class representative, and I couldn't do anything to prevent us from…"
"Yaomomo, what's done is done." Hagakure cut in in a soft but stern voice. "I don't blame you and nobody else will. It all happened too fast and unless being class representative gives you telepathy or teleporting powers there's nothing you could've done." Her voice turned cheerful and, without missing a beat, said, "So stop beating yourself up about it! All that matters right now is kicking Villain butt and getting back to the others!"
Yaoyorozu bit her lip. "Easier said than done." It had been her responsibility to keep everyone organized and calm in the face of a crisis. She showed as much when she instilled order during the panic that happened yesterday. Her talk with Midoriya and the praise she had received from her classmates had convinced her that she had it.
Now her class was scattered, the Villains taking advantage of the chaos and confusion while she tried and failed to keep her classmates together.
It was a failure of the highest order.
"But Hagakure is right about one thing." Her brow furrowed as she took aim. "None of that matters. I can apologize to all of them for my failure later. Right now… I must do my best to defend Hagakure and reach the others!"
She pulled the lever of her cannon and fired its payload on the ground just in front of the Villains. The ground shook and particles of dirt swirled in the wind, momentarily halting the Villains' advance.
They then began to laugh, pointing at the crater the cannonball had left. "I think you need to get your eyes checked, brat!" One guffawed while holding his stomach.
Yaoyorozu paid them no mind as she loaded a ball of riot putty into the cannon.
They continued to jeer and holler at her as she made the appropriate adjustments to her aim.
"Yeah, did ya think that would sca-!?"
The leader of the group was silenced when something slammed onto his face, the impressions very distinctly resembling two feet.
Hagakure had landed the first blow.
When the criminal fell on his back, a Villain to his left shouted, "WHAT TH-!?" He didn't have time to finish before his head snapped to the side from a blow.
"This bitch is invisible! Grab her!" A tentacled Villain moved to envelop the air atop the downed Villain but his arms wrapped nothing. "Shit! Look out!"
Yaoyorozu fired her cannon and it hit the Villain square in the chest. The ball instantly turned into putty, enveloping his body before hardening as he fell to the ground. Like a machine, she reloaded her weapon and took aim.
"TAKE COVER!" One shouted before being hit by riot putty.
Riot putty had been developed twenty years ago in order to help quell violent gatherings. It was a solid ball of near concrete before being loaded into a weapon. Once fired it would envelop whatever it hit before hardening in order to restrain them. The material was breathable and could be destroyed when a specific frequency of sound was put near it. By then, the captured target would already be in a jail cell.
It made a far more effective weapon than capture tape.
"Seven… eight… nine…" She fired one last volley at a Villain who was advancing instead of retreating. But the woman merely raised a gun that emitted a blue energy, halting the putty mid-air.
The Villain grinned in delight. "HA! Looks like this sci-fi crap really does wo-!"
Her arms were jerked to the side, throwing the ball to a fleeing Villain before the woman was brought to the ground with the gun ripped away from her. It floated in mid-air and then smashed against the back of her head. It turned and Hagakure pulled the trigger, catching two Villains and throwing them through the open window of a ruined building.
"THERE SHE IS! GET HER!" When the yell came out of the mouth of a Villain, Hagakure dropped the gun and fled from the downed woman. Her tracks stopped as soon as they reached the broken concrete while the Villains desperately looked for any sign of her.
"Nine… Ten…!" With the countdown finished, Yaoyorozu commenced firing on the Villains who screamed in anger and confusion.
It was a fairly simple plan. She would fire on the Villains for ten seconds, and once that passed Hagakure would engage them in hand-to-hand. It would keep them perpetually confused and on-edge, forced to face both a long-range fighter and an invisible girl who knew how to fight.
Few realized how scary someone like Hagakure could be.
"We won't be beaten here." Once her ten seconds were up, Yaoyorozu had a metal bat sprout from her arm and threw it as hard as she could down to where Hagakure was previously. The invisible girl caught it and then proceeded to smash it against a confused Villain's face. "I refuse to die! We will survive this, and once we do… we will save our classmates!"
She may have failed as the class representative during this moment of crisis, but she'd be damned if her classmates were left to die because of it!
Everything was on fire and Kyouka hated it.
"U.A must be run by some sadistic bastard!"
Kyouka cupped her ears to focus on the vibrations of the building. Her right jack was starting to get uncomfortably warm as she listened to the crackle of the flames and stone starting to crumble. Whoever put together these buildings at least had the commons sense to not make them out of wood. Sure, there were a few wooden tables and chairs that were on fire as well as the mannequins that were currently melting…
"God, that was terrifying to look at."
...but it would at least take a bit for any real damage to happen.
She felt a tap on her shoulder and looked at Shoji. Like her, he was also on his knees in order to avoid inhaling smoke and keep out of sight. A mouth formed from his bottom right stem and asked, "So, where are they?"
She pointed at a single support column. "Just to the right of that in the floor above. You need to punch it around the middle and the entire thing will crumble down."
Nodding, Shoji got up and slowly closed in on the pillar. Once he was within five feel he transformed his hands into fists and punched. The beam barely vibrated and the boy was shaking his hands from the pain, but cracks began to form and spread over the ceiling.
"Time to go!" she yelled as Shoji ran past her. Turning, she unplugged her jack and put it into her speaker.
BADUMBADUMBADUMBADUM!
The blast of sound did the trick as pieces of the ceiling fell to the ground and the shouts of soon-to-be falling Villains mixed with the crackling of fire. Not waiting to see what happened next, she got up and ran with Shoji to the window. Without saying a word, he scooped her up with his left hands and they both jumped out.
Sailing through the air, Kyouka covered her eyes as they crashed through the adjacent window. The fire blew out the glass, if there was any in the first place, so all they had to deal with was a few burns and the sound of the broken plastic frame crunching beneath their feet.
Shoji's hands transformed into ears and raised themselves, swaying a bit before one turned into a mouth. "Okay, the coast is clear."
She thumbed to the building they fled from through the window. "Let's not stick around and have those idiots check out where we've run off to."
"Agreed." With that, both of them knelt down and crept down the halls. Shoji kept his ears open, his way of acting as radar for the floor they were on until they reached a wall cool enough for her to plug in.
Neither of them were suited for this environment. Shoji was a close-range fighter stuck in a place where everything was on fire. She could use her gear to attack, but that would instantly give them away and compromise the building's integrity if she wan't careful.
"Bet Midoriya and the others are having an easier time." After a second of thought, she added, "Besides the Villains hunting us down and trying to kill us."
She was well aware that being a Hero would be tough. Hostage situations, ducking under a barrage of long-range Quirks or gunfire, or just staring down against someone with a knife. Facing the unknown and battling bloodthirsty Villains were part of the job description.
She just hadn't counted on it happening so soon.
She doubted any of her classmates actually wanted something like this.
"Well, except for Bakugou."
But now here she was. Crawling around a burning building with one of her classmates while Villains were searching every nook and cranny to murder them. There were a million ways they could die and none of them would be pleasant.
And what about Midoriya? What's going on with Uraraka and Sero? Hell, was Bakugou even alright?
"You're fine." Kyouka told herself. Her rapidly beating heart slowed down a little. "And if you're fine, so are they. They all kicked serious ass in the training exercises. Hell, Midoriya and Bakugou were fighting for real and they were keeping each other on their toes. Plus, Midoriya has that Venom Strike and Momo can make freakin' cannons!"
Right, she just had to keep reminding herself that. It kept her calm and cool amidst the smoke and flames. Not even this burning building could make her lose her composure now.
As if on cue, a piece of the ceiling crashed just in front of her. She blinked and looked up to see a Villain head staring back at her.
"Okay, maybe it can a little."
She fired another blast from her amps, knocking the Villain back before she and Shoji ran down the hallway. They needed to take cover and prepare for their soon-to-arrive "friends".
"Damn it. Please let them be alright… and having the teachers come save us would really be a bonus right now!"
"Why the hell hasn't backup arrived!?"
Shouta Aizawa smashed his knee into the face of a Villain he brought close with his scarf, knocking in his teeth and busting his upper lip. Kicking off him, he landed in a crouch and kept turning his head. He tried to ignore how itchy his eyes were. It was getting difficult to keep them open. Sooner or later he was just going to start blinking for who knew how long. Once the Villains figured that out he was finished.
But that wasn't the worst part.
He was starting to get tired.
Shouta was trying his best to hide how hard he was breathing, but it wouldn't take long for the Villains to notice. This wasn't his kind of fight. He was used to skulking in the backstreets and alleyways, hiding in the shadows and picking off opponents. Sometimes he would take on ten punks and beat the snot out of the leader to send the rest packing halfway through the fight.
These Villains weren't running.
"Keep at 'im!" One of the Rocket Racers shouted as he rode on his skateboard. The damn toy had its rockets activated, increasing its speed as the Villain zoomed towards Shouta. "He's just an old man!"
He crossed his arms while raising them, blocking a blow from the speedy Villain. But the punk packed quite the punch, sending him flying a couple of feet before the copycat circled around for another round.
"He's gonna run out of steam sooner or later!"
"The worst part is that he's right!" Shouta leapt up in time to avoid the second punch and threw his scarf after the Villain but it just hit empty air. "I'm slowing down. These guys… They're disorganized cannon fodder… but something is giving them the fuel to keep on going!"
This was beyond just blocking communications with the outside. With how hands-on the principal was with the school system, he should've noticed that something was fishy with the U.S.J. They weren't giving him regular reports about the progress of the class. He would've at least activated the robots to take stock of the situation before sending more teachers in to assist.
But nothing was happening.
Whatever was going on, it was happening to the entire school.
He screamed as something metal hit him in the back. He felt something wrap around his ankles before they slammed him onto the ground. His vision swam as he was brought up and saw a metal monstrosity with an oval body, flat, polycarbon tentacle limbs on the side, stubby legs with wheels for feet, and a head that was just a screen showing some grinning punk.
"I thought this thing looked stupid, but man does it pack a punch!" Shouted a voice from the back of the Villain mob. "Say hi to the Spider-Slayer, or should I call it the Eraser-Slayer now!?"
"Aw, shaddup!" The Rocket Racer shouted from behind him. "Hold him still so I can end this geezer!"
"I'm thirty, asshole." Shouta muttered half to himself.
He could hear the sound of the wheels running against the concrete. He would need to act fast, but if brought up his upper body, then he would avoid the fist and yank him off his vehicle.
He heard a sound not unlike the tinkling of glass and felt the temperature around him drop ten or twenty degrees. A part of him thought, "And this is why I never want to have kids."
The tentacles of the Spider-Slayer loosened and Shouta dropped in a crouch while turning just in time to see Iida slamming his knee against the helmeted head of the Rocket Racer. His Ignition engine spewed out smoke as the Villain flew into the ground and the young, uptight boy skidded to a stop.
"Aizawa-sensei!" He shouted while turning. "Are you alr-!?"
"What the hell are you doing here!?" Shouta didn't have time for this. This was perhaps the worst case scenario of this ambush. "Get back to Thirteen! You are not authorized to handle Villains!"
"I-I understand but…!"
"Do you want to get yourself killed!? This isn't an exercise!" He wasn't usually like this, but his eyes were stinging and he was too tired to deal with this shit. "You are students. We're the Pros! You cannot just…!"
"We were transported here by a Villain." Shouta turned to see Todoroki calmly walking past two Villains frozen up to their necks. "We didn't come here willingly."
That didn't make him feel even slightly better. "Go and regroup with Thirteen anyways! This is an active combat zone…"
"Aizawa-sensei, you're getting slower," Todoroki said calmly. "We don't know when backup will arrive so you'll need all the help you can get."
"Todoroki-kun! Aizawa-sensei is our teacher and you will show him proper respect!" Iida admonished. "But, sir… I do agree with him. We are here and you are in desperate need of assistance. And according to the U.A Handbook under articles six-hundred and sixteen, in times of crisis…"
"Don't you dare try and lecture me about the rulebook." Shouta pinched the bridge of his nose. The worst part of this was that the brats were right. He needed backup, otherwise he would have eventually been beaten. Having these two with him at least increased his chances of getting them all through this. "Fine. I'm giving all of you permission to defend yourselves and others from the Villains. But you need to follow my orders to the letter, and when the situation has been diffused, you're all regrouping with Thirteen. Are we clear!?"
"Yes, sir!" Iida shouted, his voice firm and filled with determination. Todoroki merely let out a huff as frost formed on his right hand.
Several Villains went around their frozen comrades and charged at them.
"These kids will be the death of me…"
"Ohohohoho!" The annoying haughty laugh echoed over the sound of the roaring flames as Nemuri Kayama dodged another spout of concentrated fiery death. "Flee, trollop! Keep dodging like the coward you are!"
"God, I would love to shut that brat up." Nemuri glared at her opponent, a young woman wearing a suit that could only be described as "gaudy". The purple leggings and sleeves she wore were insulated, clashing with the oversized golden gauntlets that were attached to the gold armor covering her body. Her head was shielded by a glass dome, revealing the woman's fairly tacky drill-like rivulets of golden hair.
"To think this is how the common Hero fights," This Villain, the self-proclaimed Scorcher, sneered at her while raising her right arm. "It's almost insulting that the illustrious Yutani family had to donate its funds to you lot!"
"Honey, it's to deal with stupid bitches like you." Nemuri backflipped just in time as Scorcher's flames hit where she stood. To her amazement the concrete was actually bubbling from the heat.
"Silence, commoner!"
"Shit…" Nemuri kept running in circles, making sure to stay far enough away to not get fried but close enough so that the still unconscious Villains didn't get roasted. "Why'd I have to get stuck with someone that can counter my Quirk!?"
This woman had just come in after all the Villains around Nemuri had fallen to her Quirk, blasting away with the fire and burning everything. Scorcher just didn't care whether she burnt away Somnambulist or her fellow Villains. The scent of their burning flesh made Nemuri want to throw up.
So she had taken their fight away from the downed Villains. The Villain was a talkative one, going on and on about her superiority and snorting out that annoying rich-brat laugh.
It was fairly obvious that this Villain was a woman who had too much money on her hands. That boredom coupled with a disdain for everyone led to trying her hand in villainy.
The motive was simultaneously simplistic, monstrous, and pathetic.
"Worst of all, I can't throw anything at that stupid dome head of hers without it being burnt to a crisp!" She had lost three good fans and a riding crop to that. All she had left was one more crop and her whip, both of which would be needed after dealing with Scorcher. There was still the skinny hand-man and the hulking figure with a beak to deal with. The last thing she wanted was to be unarmed against that. "But how… How can I…?"
Nemuri noticed that the temperature around her had dropped and looked around. The flames were gone and hovering around her were small orange balls.
She noticed the confident smirk on Scorcher's face and put things together.
"...Her Quirk. Shit."
Scorcher spread her arms, moving the balls out slightly before slamming them shut. The balls raced towards Nemuri, the ones leading the pack bursting into fireballs the size of a car. She could already feel their heat…!
"MOVE, DAMN IT!" Something slammed into her side and she found herself failing away with the familiar body of one of Class 1-A's students. The blonde with the temperamental attitude that Eraserhead warned her about!
Bakugou glared at her when they landed safely away from the flash-inferno and shouted, "What the hell were you spacing out for!? I thought the Pros were supposed to be better than just standin' around like losers gawking at a stupid fireworks show!"
"B-Bakugou-kun!?" She spluttered out while getting to her feet. "What are you doing here!? Why aren't you with Thirteen!?"
"Some loser Villain got the drop on me and now I'm stuck here!" Bakugou grinned as he raised his smoking right hand lit with firecraker-sized explosions. "So I'm gonna cream this nobody before goin' back up there to kick his ass!"
"How dare you speak to me in such a way, cur!" Scorcher screamed as she raised both gauntlets. "You shall pay for your insolence!"
"High and mighty talk comin' from a pissant like you!"
Nemuri wanted to order Bakugou to stand back, but she needed help to beat Scorcher and Eraserhead was too busy dealing with his own gang of Villains. Desperate times called for desperate measures. "Alright, Bakugou-kun, just follow my instructions and…"
Bakugou instead rushed past her like an untamed attack dog. "Screw that! The first to strike wins!"
"Bakugou!" She grit her teeth. Damn it, she was all for young boys with spirit but now was not the time! "Retreat! That's an order from…!"
"So you wish for death!?" Scorcher fired her twin streams of flame. "Very well! Burn like the plebian garbage you are!"
Bakugou raised his right gauntlet to the side and leapt while firing. The force of the explosion propelled him away from the flames in record time. But he didn't stop. Instead he rocketed right into the Villain's face and swiped at her with his left hand. "DIE!" He shouted as a wave of explosions peppered the air in front of Scorcher.
But it was not meant to be.
Instead they were swallowed by the clear balls of the Villain's Quirk.
Bakugou clicked his tongue and aimed his hands at the ground. Twin blasts allowed him to sail into the air as the balls released their payload, covering the area with smoke and debris.
"Damn it, kid! You could've died there!" Still, she needed to use this opportunity while Scorcher was distracted. Running to Scorcher's left, she unhooked her whip and swung. The tip sailed through the air and hit Scorcher in the center of her domed helmet, exactly where her nose would've been.
"Ho? What is this futile display I'm seeing?" Scorcher placed her left hand on her dome and cocked her head. "Running out of tricks, whore?"
Nemuri responded to that by hitting her in the same spot again.
It didn't crack the glass, but now there was a very visible chip.
She glanced at Bakugou as he landed. "Please let him understand."
He stared at her for a couple seconds before grinning from ear to ear.
It wasn't the grin of a Hero.
"Hey! Drillbit!" Bakugou reared his arm back as sparks flew from his hand. "Eat this!"
"Wha-?"
Bakugou threw explosion after explosion at the Villain screaming, "EAT THIS! AND THIS! AND THIS! AND JUST FREAKIN' DIE ALREADY YOU SHITTY VILLAIN!"
Each and every one of them were trapped in a ball.
"Y-You fool!" Scorcher screamed. "Can't you see this is pointless!"
"No, it isn't!" Nemuri couldn't help but smirk. Scorcher responded to each and every explosion by adding to the wall of glass balls in front of her. The more they piled up, the more obscured the Villain's sight would be.
It only took thirty for Bakugou to start running towards her without Scorcher noticing.
Using one explosion aimed at the ground to gain momentum, Bakugou vaulted over the balls created by Scorcher with his right hand drawn back. "Checkmate, loser!" He slammed the palm of his hand onto the glass dome. A point-blank explosion turned the little chip into a conspicuous crack.
Nemuri could see the look of panic and fear on Scorcher's face.
"N-No! Y-You can't ha-!"
Bakugou shut her up with a rocket-powered haymaker straight through the glass. Scorcher screamed as her skin, caked with makeup and moisturizer, was lacerated by shards of glass before the boy's fist made contact with her face. The Villain flew back, blood trailing from her broken nose before landing in an unmoving heap.
"And stay down!" Bakugou spat at the Villain's unconscious body. "Friggin' D-lister!"
"Bravo, Bakugou-kun!" She laughed while clapping. "Bravo! However, I will need to talk to your parents about your disobedience when we…!"
"Enough of this shit."
It was the first time Katsuki had heard the hand-guy speak.
The voice was cracked as if the guy barely spoke to anyone. It was low, almost like a whisper. While Katsuki never really gave a shit about how people expressed themselves, he could tell there was something coldly furious in it. Coupled with the pale, dehydrated look of the guy and the fact that his costume consisted of disembodied hands, one thought came to his mind:
"This guy's frickin' crazy!"
The Villain pointed at him and Midnight. "Nomu, kill the teachers and brats. Don't let anything get in your way."
The big guy grunted and took a step forward.
Katsuki was about to say something witty along the lines of "The bitch duo has finally decided to play" before the hulking figure just disappeared.
One second it was there and the next it was gone.
"The fu-?"
In the blink of an eye, the hulking figure was in front of him. Its stupid googly-eyes staring down at him with its right arm pulled back.
His eyes widened as one thought went through his head.
"T-That wasn't teleportation! That was pure speed!"
This creature, Nomu, shot his fist forward. Katsuki raised his left hand while his right reached for his gauntlet's pin. Midnight was screaming something but he couldn't hear it through the blood rushing in his ears. He needed to pull the pin! He needed to do it or else he'll die! "I can't die! I won't die! I won't…!"
A glacier suddenly enveloped Nomu, trapping him six feet of ice with his fist just a couple of inches from Katsuki's face.
"W-What the...!?" He turned his head to the left to see Icy-Hot with his right hand raised. "Why'd you do that!?"
"Saving you. That's all there is to it."
He growled as he stomped over to the half-and-half bastard. He'd admit that he needed something to hold the bastard down, but he'd be damned if he'd let this upstart treat him as if he were in need of saving! "Don't you dare think this means I owe you one!"
"I wouldn't want anything from you."
God damn it! Those eyes were pissing him off!
"Todoroki! Bakugou! That's enough!" Eraserhead's shout made Katsuki look towards him. "All of you need to leave the area right now!"
"So it's gotten to that point, huh?" Katsuki could guess that Nomu must've freaked them out. He hated the idea of retreating, but if it got the teachers to stop freaking out then he would do it. Though… was it even necessary? The Villain was a popsicle now!
"It was a mistake for you boys to be here." Midnight pointed to the stairs. "We appreciate your assistance, but this is getting too dangerous!"
"Dangerous?" Icy-Hot pointed towards the frozen Nomu. "If that was their biggest asset, I don't think these guys are much of a threat."
"You need to stop arguing with the teachers, Todoroki-kun!" Glasses shouted, but Eraserhead cut in.
"You are disobeying a direct order! One more word from you and I will make sure you're suspended!"
Katsuki growled at Eraserhead's overreaction. What the hell had their panties in a twist!? The Villain was stuck in that cube and all that was left was the thin hand-guy! Anyone could take that whackjob!
Something behind him cracked and his blood ran cold.
"No way…"
"Baku-!" Glasses was screaming before the ice burst. He turned around just in time to see Nomu, the right side of its body resembling gouged fruit, lunging at them like a frenzied animal. Nearly half of its body was still in the ice prison, and Katsuki could guess that it chose to tear the trapped parts off rather than waste time to free them.
What the hell? This… thing lost half of its body and it was barely slowing down!
Katsuki felt someone's arms wrap around him and tackle him out of the way. The arms revealed that it was Glasses bringing them down to the ground. The guy must've used his Quirk to get at him.
Glasses cried and both of them were flung back and rolling on the ground. He saw pieces of armor scatter onto the ground. "Shit!" When they slowed down he shrugged Glasses arms off and turned his classmate's body around to see that there were only a few scratches on his back. "What the hell were you doing, you asshole!? You could've gotten yourself killed!"
"It is my duty to ensure all of us survive this!"
Before he could answer that bullshit statement, Katsuki heard the crack of a whip. Nomu's right eye burst in a shower of white fluid and blood.
Such a wound would cause a normal man to roll around crying in pain.
Nomu merely reached up, grabbed the end of the whip, turned around, and slammed Midnight onto the ground.
Midnight's body buckled and cracks formed on the cement floor. She gasped and Katsuki could see that the arm she used to swing her whip was twisted, the skin turning black. Blood was coming out of her mouth.
Nomu struggled to balance itself on its remaining leg before letting out a roar that was halfway between a high-pitched wheeze and a predatory howl. He flexed and threw his arms to the side, the bloodied, missing parts of his body rapidly replacing themselves. The bleeding stopped, tendrils of red and pink muscle and spindly bones sprouted from the stumps. Finally, black skin stretched across the remains.
Nomu turned to face Todoroki, revealing its mending eye, and started treading towards him, only to have waves of ice slam into its body one after the other.
"What the hell…? It can regenerate too!?"
Icy-Hot kept firing at Nomu, sharpening the ice until it pierced Nomu's corded muscles. But the Villain snapped them with ease and pressed on like a runaway freight train. Katsuki could the wind whipping around them as Nomu bulldozed Icy-Hot's defenses. Fear wormed its way into Icy-Hot's eyes for the first time Katsuki had been around the bastard.
If someone didn't do something, he'd be a bloody smear on the ground. Katsuki bent down, preparing to blast off and drag him out of the way like Glasses had done for him a second ago. But his feet were glued to the floor.
"Damn it… I can't move!" What the hell was this!? Could he… no. No way!
There was no way in hell he was scared!
Eraserhead was behind Icy-Hot, grabbing his shoulder and pushing him aside as Nomu raised its arm and swatted the Pro Hero aside as if he were a fly.
Katsuki could hear the Hero's arm and ribs shattering like twigs.
The Pro landed in a broken heap next to him and Glasses. "S-Sensei!" Glasses was already at the man's side. "Please… Please still be…!"
Eraserhead coughed. "Iida… get out of here…!"
"B-But…!"
"Fuck this… fuck being scared like this!" Katsuki clenched his fists and grit his teeth. His chest was heaving in and out as though he'd just finished climbing a mountain. "Move you stupid fucking body! This is nothing! So what if you almost died just now! You're going to be a Hero goddamn it! The Number One Hero!" His boots pressed into the ground. "How the fuck am I supposed to do that with you freezing like a little bitch!"
Katsuki's legs were moving before he knew it.
"Get them out of here, Glasses!" He screamed as he leapt forward, passing over Icy-Hot's ice bridge and landing on Nomu's shoulders. "Eat this!"
He put his hand over Nomu's still-healing eye and unleashed an explosion powerful enough to pulverize concrete. Leaping off, he grabbed Icy-Hot by the waist as the hulking creature smashed whatever ice was left with a sweep of his arm.
"Bakugou-kun! I cannot! The teachers ordered me to…"
"Shut the fuck up and think!" He turned around and pulled the pin at point-blank range. He clenched his teeth as the recoil sent blasted them both back. "Do that instead of listenin' to what those two are spewing out!"
"Huh?"
"The teachers are in no condition to fight. That thing will kill them if we leave and then us." Surprisingly, Icy-Hot was onboard with what he was saying. Good, at least the extra knew a good plan when he saw it. "We'll hold this guy off while you bring Eraserhead and Midnight to safety. They're injured. We're not."
Glasses looked from the teachers back to them, his eyes narrowing in his mask. "...I don't like this, but I don't want our teachers to die here!" With that, Glasses gently picked up Eraserhead before using his Quirk to get to Midnight. With one adult on each shoulder, he turned back to them. "Hold on as long as you can! I will bring Thirteen here as soon as possible!"
With that, Glasses raced away with his engines spewing out fire and smoke. His exit also blew away the smoke of Katsuki's explosion, revealing Nomu just walking towards them as if they had just thrown a firecracker at it.
Blood was streaming down the eye Katsuki blasted, staining its perpetually grinning white teeth. Its muscles bulged and pulsed, each one coiled like a compressed spring about to release. The exposed brain beat like a heart, singed but reknitting itself. The obsidian skin was free of wounds, its pants mere tatters, revealing its smooth crotch and equally muscled legs.
This thing was barely even human…
No, it wasn't human. Not anymore.
It was a monster.
Katsuki glanced at Icy-Hot and saw that the tips of his fingers were slightly blackened. "Don't go pussyin' out on me, ya hear?"
"Too late to turn back." Icy-Hot motioned towards Nomu. "We're probably going to die here, you know."
"Screw that! You can go and die!" Katsuki rolled a crick out his shoulder. "I'm kickin' this thing's ass and putting its head over a fireplace or somethin'!"
Nomu's leg muscles tensed, and they both knew that whatever happened next would probably be their last stand.
Katsuki flexed his hands to get the sweat flowing. "Might as well make it a good one!"
Just as that thought entered Katsuki's head, a line of webbing stuck in the ground in front of Nomu.
"What the…?" He began before he heard a scream.
A blur of green entered his vision and Katsuki saw Nomu's head snap to the left, the single eye looking down on the person that dared to strike it.
Katsuki growled at the familiar head of messy green hair and the white spider-symbol on his back.
Figures Deku would show up at the last minute.
To be Continued...
Notes: Phew! Managed to finish this with the help of reppuzan as beta!
Gonna admit that the situation is getting to me a bit. Hard to complete the chapter when you're spending all your time at home. Still, chipping away at this chapter lifted my spirits and I hope it does for you guys!
Had some fun writing the fight scenes involving the other students, but Nomu curbstomping everyone was the highlight. Wanna see how the three aces of Class 1-A take on Nomu the Living Hulk? Gonna have to wait for the next chapter!
Anyways, be sure to check out this fic's TV Tropes page and add whatever you think applies!
Please leave a review!
