Pedestal: Part Two
"The person you are calling is not accepting calls at this time. Please try again later. Goodbye." CLICK
Toshinori looked at his phone in confusion. This was the third time he called Eraserhead and he was still not answering.
'This is worrying. He and Thirteen aren't answering their calls,' he thought, 'It's not even going to voicemail! I wonder what's going on over there.'
The Number One hero sat on the sofa, biting his thumb. 'I would be there right now if I hadn't foolishly spent all my time today. Hindsight's 20-20, but I really should know when to fold 'em,' He sighed, 'It may have been heroic, but I shouldn't let it hinder my job as well.' He stood up from the couch. 'I should be fine in a couple of minutes, but what should I tell them? This'll be the second day in a row that I haven't been able to teach them.'
Toshinori bulked up, transforming into his heroic form. "I am ready!" he shouted, trying to pump himself up. A small drop of blood trickled out of his mouth and the blond wiped it away. Suddenly the door of the break room opened and in came the white-furred principal. "Hold on!" the creature said, carrying a tablet.
"Principal Nezu!" All Might exclaimed.
"Yes, it's I, Nezu. Am I a mouse, a dog, or a bear?" said Nezu, "Does it matter? I'm afraid not. All you need to know is that I am the principal."
"Why did you just say that?" All Might said with a confused expression.
"Hmm? Whatever do you mean?"
"I mean, you said all those things like I didn't know you, as if you were introducing yourself for the first time. Why?"
All the principal did was smile in response.
'Fine. Keep your secrets.'
"I must say your coat looks magnificent today. Have you been using a new shampoo?"
"No, my secret is keratin. No man-made object can produce such luster," Nezu bragged, "That's not why I'm here, however." He showed All Might what was on the tablet. It was a picture of the Number One hero leaping into action against a large brutish man, while Mt. Lady and Kamui Woods were nearby. The principal then swiped at the screen and another page appeared, showing All Might dashing through a group of villains. Once more, Nezu changed the image and it showed All Might apprehending a man with a bomb jacket strapped to his chest.
"All three of these articles were around the same time, meaning that you resolved three incidents in under an hour," Nezu said, putting the tablet away, "Contrary to what we believed, the miscreants in this city have not ceased. Still, you rushed into action, which was a very in-character thing for you to do.
"However, you mustn't forget that you aren't the same as you used to be. The injury you received that fateful day has limited you considerably and by the way you've been stuck here after only a little over an hour of exertion then I suspect passing down One for All has only exacerbated your decline.
"You also have a duty to teach the next generation, including the successor to your Quirk. Heroism is important, but you're not the only hero out there. Remember that."
All Might nodded. "You're right, sir. I was just heading towards the USJ now."
Nezu smiled, "That is appreciated. Are you sure you're ready?"
"Yes. I am." All Might walked out the door, his signature smile on his face.
"Looks like someone's joined the party!" one of the villains said as they circled around Izuku.
"You're gonna regret pulling that shit!" said another.
Izuku looked around frantically, gripping the bat in her hands tightly. She was about to lunge towards the nearest person before she heard a faint sound. The sound intensified and she gripped her hands to her head to block the noise. Some of the villains did the same before they were each smacked in the head with a metal staff.
"Shit, she's not the only kid here!" one of the villais said. He let out a groan as the sound was redirected towards him. Izuku sprang into action, hitting him in the back with her weapon. Yaoyorozu leaped into the scene, using her staff to knock out the unsuspecting villains. Jiro, on the other hand, stood at a distance, using the speakers on her feet to fire off waves of sound energy. Soon, all of the villains were on the ground, unconscious and/or unresponsive.
"That's the last of them," Izuku said, taking off the goggles, "Doubt they'll stay down long though."
"We should regroup with the rest of the class," Yaoyorozu said, "Hopefully, they haven't-"
She suddenly yelped as a hand sprang out and grabbed her leg. She tried to stomp on it, but the person pulled themselves out of the ground with frightening speed and was standing right behind her. The person had a white helmet that was shaped like a skull. He locked an arm around Yaoyorozu. Electricity crackled from his spare hand as he pointed it at her head.
"Nobody moves!" the villain yelled, "Hands up and no Quirk use, else the girl dies!"
"Yaoyorozu!" Izuku yelled as she followed his orders.
"Shit, we got careless!" Jiro exclaimed, doing the same, "He was waiting to ambush us from underground! How did we not see it coming?!"
Yaoyorozu said, her arms up as well, "He's an Electric Quirk user! He's probably the signal jammer!"
"Shut up, brat!" the man said, clutching her harder with his arm, "I'll be the one doing the talking here! Now get over here without any funny business!"
"Not only Kaminari but this guy too? Man, you Electric users got all the luck," Jiro said suddenly.
"Jiro, what are you-" Izuku began to say before being interrupted.
"Forget heroism and all that junk. You could get so many jobs. You're basically portable generators." While she talked, her earphone jacks ever slowly extended towards her legs from behind her.
'I see! She's trying to blast him with sound!' the greenette thought.
"Yeah, having an Electric Quirk's awesome! Why would you become a villain?!" Izuku said, trying to take his attention off her classmate, "What led you down this route?!"
"It's none of your damn business! Who do you think I am, a monologue villain?! Shiiiiiit!" he shouted at them, "And don't think I haven't noticed what you're doing punk girl!" He inched his hand closer to Yaoyorozu's skull. "I said no funny business!"
'Dammit!' Jiro cursed, 'He saw right through us!'
"You should take hostage situations more seriously. You think any villain would fall for that? Don't make me laugh! Now come here!" he ordered, "Because of the shit you were trying to pull, it's either you or your classmate. Which one will you choose?"
Izuku and Jiro gulped before hesitantly walking towards the villain. Just then, Yaoyorozu called out. "Nobody's dying today!"
The black-haired girl took a deep breath and her entire body exploded with a bright pink light before fading completely, revealing a grey substance covering her entire frame. The villain reacted, grasping her head with his galvanized hand. The electricity fizzed when it touched the grey material. A muffled sound came from Yaoyorozu, who didn't even flinch from the attack.
"What the hell?!" yelled the electric villain.
'She must've covered herself in an insulator!' Izuku thought. "Do it, Jiro!" the freckled teen said to her classmate.
"Right!" The jack connected to the speaker and blasted out noise. The villain clutched his helmet in discomfort, letting go of his hostage in the process. Izuku rushed forward before sending a powerful punch to his stomach. While he was distracted, she pulled off his helmet and bashed him on the head with it once, twice, thrice. After that, he fell to the ground, concussed and defeated.
"Not so tough without a hostage, are you?" Izuku taunted. She turned to the vice president, whose head was still covered in the rubber fabric.
"You okay, Yaoyorozu?" she asked.
A muffled voice responded.
"Sorry. I didn't quite catch that."
More incoherent speech.
"For god's sake Midoriya, she can't speak with that shit over her head!" Jiro said in exasperation.
"Oh, sorry!" Izuku walked towards the covered teen and grasped the rubbery medium on her head. She yanked it with two hands and it tore into pieces, revealing the vice president's face.
Yaoyorozu took a deep breath.
"Whoo! Thank you, Midoriya. I couldn't breathe."
"No problem," Izuku responded, "That was some quick thinking on your part."
The raven nodded before looking at the downed villain. "Now that he's down, the signal should be back up." She looked at Jiro. "You should call the police. Tell them what's happening here."
"Alright," the violet-haired girl replied, "We should make our way to the Central Plaza. There's no telling what's going on there."
"First, I have to do something." Yaoyorozu pulled on her makeshift rubber clothing. "My clothes ripped when I made this, so I'll need to make new ones. Could you guys follow
me to the plateau, just in case?"
"Got it. Best to stick together."
Meanwhile, Todoroki stood with his hands in his pockets as he eyed the group of villains in front of him. They were all encased in ice up to their necks, pained expressions on all their faces.
"Pretty sound strategy," he complimented, "Divide and conquer, right? A bit basic, but it almost always works. Keyword: almost." He glanced lazily at the entire area, "This might be a bit rude to say, but I find it difficult to take you guys seriously. You say you're here to beat All Might, but you guys just look like low-level goons to me."
"Fuck off, bastard!" one angry woman said, "You just got your Quirk off first! Don't act like you're hot shit!"
Todoroki ignored her insults. "I thought your plan was to rush him with your numbers, but if you can't even beat a kid like me, then you won't stand a chance against Mr. Number One. That means you were here for us instead." He crouched in front of the nearest villain. "Fess up. The frostbite will set in soon, rotting your skin. Most heroes avoid doing heinous things like that, so I'll make a deal. Tell me how you planned to defeat All Might."
In the collapsed zone, Bakugo and Kirishima stood over a bunch of unconscious villains.
"I guess that's all of them," Bakugo said, "Fucking amateurs."
"Perfect! Now let's head over to help the others!" Kirishima said in an urgent tone, "They're definitely still in the USJ! These guys might've been easy for us, but not everyone in our class has ways to attack! I'm worried about them! If we didn't rush ahead, Thirteen might've had a plan! We gotta take responsibility!"
"Tch. You go ahead and do that. I'll beat that mist guy into a bloody pulp!" Bakugo snarled.
"Still pulling stuff like that at a time like this? C'mon, dude, we don't need you chasing a vendetta. 'Sides, normal attacks don't work on him. You saw that."
"Shut it for one second. It's not just a vendetta," Bakugo argued, "Think about it. He's the way these villains got in, so he's their way out too. We get him on lock and these punk are as good as dead!"
Suddenly, a villain leaped from the ceiling, brandishing a knife in hand. "Got you now, fuckers!"
Bakugo quickly and unceremoniously grabbed the madman before flipping him and letting explosions loose on his face and stomach. This attack defeated the villain quite easily.
"I mean, if they're sending out idiots like these then they're clearly underestimating us." His expression became angry as he looked at the defeated idiot, "That pisses me off most of all." He turned to Kirishima. "By the way, I do have a plan to beat him."
Kirishima looked with wide eyes. "Huh. You calmed down easy. Usually you're all like, 'Die fuckers!'"
"The fuck you say?! Wanna die, fucker?!" Bakugo yelled, flashing a middle finger at his classmate.
"Yeah, like that!" Kirishima replied with a chuckle.
"Tch. I'm outta here!"
"Hold on, dude. You convinced me. Jeez, you gotta trust your pals more often."
'Pals?' Bakugo thought confused as the two ran towards the exit.
Aizawa dodged a wayward punch, elbowing the offender in the stomach. His hair fell as he blinked before it rose again. He wrapped the person's neck with his capture weapon and flipped them onto the back before stomping on their stomach. A large four-armed man tumbled towards him.
"I bet you can't erase my Quirk!" the villain said. Aizawa sprinted towards him at a quicker pace, sending a hard punch at his nose.
"No need," he replied.
The man fell backwards. Another villain attacked from Aizawa's rear, but the Pro Hero predicted it. He threw his capture weapon at the four-armed man's back foot and leaned back, dodging the other villain at the same time. He yanked the weapon, which wrapped around the four-armed villain's leg and the large man collided with the other villain, sending both to the ground.
Meanwhile, the man with the hands ran towards the homeroom teacher. "Twenty-three….Twenty….Seventeen."
Aizawa noticed the advancing villain. He sprinted towards him as well. "So you're the one in charge?"
"Twelve….Nine….Six…." the man continued his countdown. Aizawa threw his capture weapon at the villain, but the blue-haired man caught it. Eraserhead yanked it, pulling the villainous mastermind towards him, an elbow flying at his stomach.
It didn't connect. The man with the hands caught it with one of his palms.
"That was a close one, wasn't it?" the villain said, "It took me a bit to figure out with all your scampering around, but your hair falls after a certain number of seconds. That's how your Quirk works, isn't it?" Aizawa's hair fell down just as he said that. "Right. Since you also have goggles covering your eyes, I bet you erase people's Quirk by looking at them and when you blink it stops working. That's a pretty neat ability!" Pain shot from Aizawa's elbow and he glanced at it. His skin began cracking at the point where the villain's hand grasped it. "Not as cool as mine though."
Aizawa jerked his arm away and jumped away from the villain who continued talking.
"You really shouldn't overdo it now, Eraserhead. Your duration's getting shorter and shorter. It must hurt keeping your eyes open for so long." The other villains attacked the hero once more. "You're playing outside your role. You're more like the rogue assassin, attacking people with quick, precise sneak attacks, not long brawls with multiple people. You don't got any AOE attacks. You're really out of your element. Were you trying to keep your students calm?"
Aizawa didn't respond as he was too busy fending off the goons with only one good arm.
"That's really cool. Really hits you in the feels, doesn't it?" the man with the hands gibed, "By the way, Mr. Heroman, I'm not the final boss here. He is." He pointed a thumb to the black-skinned creature behind him. "Why don't you meet him? Nomu!"
At the call, the beaked creature blitzed towards Aizawa before grabbing both his arms with one hand. He pushed the underground hero to the ground forcefully before pinning one arm behind his back. He grabbed Aizawa's injured arm and pulled it the wrong way.
SNAP
"AGH!" Aizawa screamed in agony.
"Really cool ability and aesthetic, but you're basically fighting Quirkless," the handyman said, "Nomu's a totally different weight class. He was made to kill All Might himself. An Anti-Symbol of Peace, as I call it."
At the shoreline, Asui and Kaminari heard their teacher's shout and glanced at the scene. Their eyes widened as they watched the gruesome scene.
'Damn! He snapped my arm like a goddamn Kit-Kat bar!' Aizawa thought, 'And I've been staring at him this entire time! My Quirk's active! This doesn't make sense! This is his base strength?!'
Nomu then grabbed Aizawa by the back of his head before slamming it into the ground, creating a tiny crater in the process.
"Shit, Mr. Aizawa's in trouble," Kaminari said in a hushed tone, "What do we do?"
"I don't know, ribbit," Asui replied, "If we rush in, we'll easily get captured ourselves. That wouldn't help Mr Aizawa at all."
As they watched, a dark portal appeared over the handyman's head.
"Tomura Shigaraki," the portal said.
"Kurogiri," the handyman replied, "Did you kill Thirteen?"
"I managed to incapacitate them, but they're still alive. Most of the students were warped towards the ambush points but some stuck around. One of them escaped through the gate."
A pregnant pause followed Kurogir's explanation.
"Shigaraki?"
"Huh," Shigaraki responded, scratching his neck. "Hmmmmm." The scratching increased in speed.
"I aplog-"
"Kurogiri, you….absolute fucking moron. I swear on Father that if you weren't our ticket outta here then you'd already be dust under my feet."
"I understand."
Shigaraki sighed as his scratching stopped. "It's game over. Nomu could probably beat some of the Pros but not all at once. We'll have to restart the mission. Thanks a lot Kurogiri."
"You're welcome, Shigaraki."
"I swear to god…." the handyman began but he stopped himself, "We're leaving. And All Might didn't even show up. Waste of a fucking Wednesday."
"What did he say?" Kaminari whispered, "They're leaving?"
Asui didn't respond as she stared at the villains closely. "I have a bad feeling about this, Kaminari."
Just as she said that, Shigaraki turned to their direction, pointing lazily, "Before that, let's ruin their morale…." Two portals appeared out of thin air: one to the side of Shigaraki and another in front of the duo. The handyman jumped into his portal and appeared in front of them. The portals evaporated. "By leaving a couple of dead kids behind!" He reached for Asui's face, whose eyes were wide with shock at the maneuver.
Kaminari reached to block the villain but it was too late. Her face was already covered by his hand.
But nothing happened.
Shigaraki glanced at his hand in confusion, his neck craning as he contemplated what happened. He then turned back to Aizawa and Nomu. The homeroom teacher stared back, his head struggling from the weight of the creature's hand, his hair flowing even under its grip, and his crimson eyes ablaze.
"Damn, Eraserhead, you really are cool," he complimented, "I was dissing you earlier, but this time…." Shigaraki clapped twice. "Nomu, show him what he's won."
Nomu pulled the hero by his hair and slammed his head back into the ground, widening the crater that was already there. Blood seeped from under his head.
"Now, where were we?" he turned back to the two students, "Right. Time to die." He lunged towards Asui again.
Kaminari had something to say about that. "E-eat shit, asshole!" His body crackled with electricity as he attacked the villain.
"Nomu," Shigaraki uttered.
Suddenly a black blur appeared between the student and the handyman. Kaminari released as much electricity as he could into the offender.
BZZZZT
Nomu shrieked at the attack, ash and smoke emanating from his black skin. Still, he stood tall and horrific as he stared down at Kaminari with bulging eyes.
"Wow. You actually managed to make Nomu scream," Shigaraki said, "Congratulations. Now I don't even need to tell him to kill you."
Kaminari stared at the monster's wide maddened gaze, panicked tears trickling out of the corner of his now almost vacant eyes. "Yaaayy?!"
Asui pulled away from Shigaraki's reach and extended her tongue towards her classmate. It latched onto his arm and pulled him back into the water.
BOOM
At the same time, the front door of the facility crashed open, revealing the Number One hero standing in the doorway. Just as he did that, three students arrived at the stairs: Jiro, Midoriya, and Yaoyorozu. The students near the entrance were overjoyed at All Might's arrival, with Ashido and Uraraka even crying tears of joy and relief.
"All Might's here!" Sero exclaimed, "We're saved!"
"Huh. Guess this wasn't a waste after all," Shigaraki retorted, crossing his arms, "Finally made it to the party, you piece of shit?"
Nomu instinctively stepped away from Kaminari and looked towards the Number One hero.
"I'm sorry for showing up so late, everyone!" the hero apologized, "On my way here, I ran into Iida and he explained what was going on. It's a good thing too, since I high-tailed it here as fast as I could." He glanced around the area, noticing the students' worried looks before his eyes caught two figures in particular: Thirteen, who lay one the floor with their space suit broken, and Eraserhead, who was at the Central Plaza, beaten and battered.
'My colleagues…..You tried your best. You fought admirably,' he lamented, 'The kids must've been terrified. I really let you guys down today.'
He unfastened his tie before chucking it away. "Fear not, students, for I AM HERE!" he yelled in encouragement, though his face was absent of its smile.
'He isn't smiling!' Izuku thought with a nervous grin, 'These villains are so screwed!'
"I've never seen him in person before," one of the villains said, "Man, he's got a presence."
"Quit fanboying, dipshit. We're here to kill him," another whispered.
All Might jumped forward and seemingly disappeared from sight. Izuku intuitively looked towards the plaza and watched as each of the villains fell down in an instant. All Might was now behind them, kneeling next to the downed Aizawa.
"I'm sorry, Aizawa," he said quietly as he surveyed the teacher's injuries. He winced a little at them before standing and turning towards the three major villains. His eyes focused on them and a powerful gust of wind erupted from him. This caused Nomu to freeze up, Kurogiri to be blown away momentarily, and for Shigaraki to stumble in place. The disembodied hand on his face fell down and he immediately went to pick it up.
While he did that, All Might dashed past the villains, grabbing Asui and Kaminari before stopping at the foot of the stairs.
"Young Asui and Young Kaminari, please take Aizawa up the stairs and tend to his injuries as best you could. I'll take care of this," he instructed. The frog girl nodded as she lifted their homeroom teacher with her tongue and ushered her zonked out classmate away from the eventual battle. All Might then faced the villains.
"Ahh. Not good," Shigaraki said, lifting the hand from the ground. "Sorry, Father." He chuckled as he placed it back onto his face. "Real inspirational, Mr. Number One Hero. There's the state-sponsored violence I hate so much. Punching people to save people? Ha! What a riot!" He glared from the periphery of his vision at All Might. "I gotta say though, you are really fast. Almost too fast. Almost." He grinned from ear to ear as he looked at the hero. "But I can see that you really are slowing down. Age affecting you, old geezer?"
All Might dashed towards them, arms crossed as he made for an attack. Shigaraki watched and said, "Nomu, attack All Might." The large creature did as he was instructed, moving between the hero and his master.
"Carolina Smash!" All Might yelled as he performed a cross chop with his arm. His hands streaked across the creature's chest, a small amount of wind rippling away from the epicenter of the two. Nomu didn't even budge, immediately making to grab the hero.
All Might ducked backwards, evading the creature's grapple, and immediately sent a powerful punch to the creature's core. "Texas Smash!" he shouted. Again Nomu barely flinched. "Seriously? This guy's a tank, huh? 2….3…." He continued raining straight punch after straight punch at different parts of the creature's body, many of whom had mostly no effect.
"That's right," Shigaraki boasted, "Nomu over here has Shock Absorption. He's built to take that type of punishment. You'd have an easier time ripping him into a bunch of pieces. Doubt he'll let you do that though."
"Thanks for the info! Great work!" All Might mockingly said, flashing a quick thumbs up before dodging another grab from Nomu. He spun around the scarred villain before hoisting him by the waist. "No problem! Washington Smash!" he yelled as he lifted the beast and performed a German Suplex, smashing the monstrosity into the ground behind him.
Izuku was about to cheer at the successful attack, but noticed the black smoke directly behind All Might. Suddenly the smoke transformed into a wide portal and two burly arms sprouted from the opening. The two hands clasped All Might's abdomen.
"Hgkk!" the Symbol of Peace grunted, "How-"
"Ha! You thought that throwing him into the concrete with all your might would work?" Shigaraki mocked, "He's as strong as you, idiot. He'd get out of the ground easy. Perfect timing, Kurogiri."
"I live to serve, sir," the mist villain said with a dull tone.
"I see." All Might said, seeing the twin portals between him. "Argh!" he yelled as Nomu's grip tightened. 'Quit it, will ya?! That's my weak spot!' "Impressive for a new batch of villains. Prepare to be defeated!"
"It seems like you'll be the one to be defeated, hero," Kurogiri said, "You see, it was up to Nomu to get around your speed and grab you. My job is to have you sink into my portals and close them while you're halfway, bisecting you in the process. To be candid, I'm not a fan of having someone's entrails inside my portal, but I'll make an exception in your case."
"Hmm," All Might said, "What's the other guy's job then?"
"Oh, I'm just here to watch," Shigaraki replied with a hidden smile and joyous eyes, "Get on with it, Kurogiri."
'Shit, All Might's in trouble!' Izuku thought, sprinting down the stairs as fast as she could.
'I gotta do something!'
BOOM
As she was about to reach Kurogiri, the villain's neck guard was attacked by a powerful close-ranged explosion. "Fuck outta my way, Deku!" Bakugo yelled at her. She immediately did so, spotting Kirishima running towards Shigaraki. She chased after him, hoping to catch the main villain off guard. At the same time, a thick sheet of ice appeared, trapping half of Nomu's body in a layer of frost.
"Got ya now, mist bitch!" Bakugo bragged. Kirishima meanwhile swiped at Shigaraki, who just managed to evade the attack. He then noticed Izuku approaching and caught her fist. Pain shot through Izuku's hand at the contact, but she ignored it, pulling the villain to her and launching her other fist at his stomach. He didn't expect her to react quickly and took the hit, letting go as he took a step back. Izuku pulled her other arm out of his grasp and was surprised to find that her peachy skin was replaced by exposed flesh. She winced at the wound, shaking her injured hand vigorously as it regenerated.
"What the hell?" she thought aloud. "How did he do that?"
"Wouldn't you like to know," Shigaraki sneered, secretly eyeing the way her hand healed. 'A regeneration Quirk?'
Asui blurted out loudly in an effort to help from the sidelines, "He can disintegrate anything he touches!"
Shigaraki tched at that. "Really wish I killed her. She's no fun."
"You think this is a game?!" Kirishima said, lunging towards him again. The villain dodged his attacks fluidly.
"Yes," he replied shamelessly.
"Crap, how is he dodging me so well?" Kirishima asked himself. The villain leaped away from the two students.
"Kirishima, be careful. One misplaced touch and you could be severely injured." Izuku said.
As the duo faced the handyman, Todoroki stood a couple of yards away, a trail of ice extended from his right foot to the trapped Nomu. "So, you're the one who's going to kill All Might. You're not so tough."
'Looks like Young Todoroki trapped the villain! His control is great; he just managed to avoid me!' All Might thought as he broke out of the villain's grasp. He wiped away blood from the corner of his mouth. 'That monster gripped my injured area. I barely got out of that.'
"Scum like you could never kill the Symbol of Peace," Todoroki said coldly.
Kurogiri quickly sunk the center of his wormhole, allowing Nomu to appear back at the other end before closing the gate. He could barely do anything else as Bakugo stood over him, clasping his metal neck guard with one hand and preparing an explosion with his other.
"Just as I thought!" the blond barked out, "You're using that misty shit to hide your real body, leaving your head and the metal part out, right?! I am right!"
Kurogiri tried to struggle but Bakugo wasn't having it. "Ah, ah, ah! Don't move, fuckhead! If you so much as twitch, I'll blow your ass to smithereens!"
"That's not a very heroic statement," Kurogiri replied.
"Shut it!" Bakugo replied.
"This isn't good," Shigaraki said, catching Izuku's flying kick and flinging her at her classmate. Kirishima caught the greenette and placed her down. "Looks like your buddy's got our way outta here." He smiled so wide that his teeth could be seen under the hand he sported, "Let's fix that. Nomu, help Kurogiri, will you?!"
Nomu stood back up, the ice breaking under the weight of the movement. The remains of its arm and leg fell to the ground as large shards of ice. Immediately afterwards they began growing back. Large sinews wove together, creating bones and muscles out of thin air.
"What the shit?! He's healing!" Kirishima exclaimed.
"That's right. Nomu doesn't only have Shock Absorption; he also has Super Regeneration." Shigaraki explained, "I told you, he can take anything you dish out."
'It healed almost half of its entire body in an instant!' Izuku thought with a panic, 'I'm pretty sure even I can't do that! Not even close! How's All Might gonna beat it?!'
After the creature fully healed itself, it bursted towards Bakugo, ready to attack the teen and free its partner. The blond noticed too late as the titan was upon him. At the last second, All Might emerged between the two, grabbing and throwing Bakugo before making a forearm block.
SLAM
The Number One hero was sent skidding away, his arm still raised in a block. "Man, this guy doesn't know how to hold back," he said, coughing up a bit of blood.
"Bakugo, you alright? You manage to dodge that?" Izuku asked.
"No, I didn't. Shut up!"
'He's fine,' Izuku thought satirically, turning back to Shigaraki.
"Saving a student, huh?" the villain said, "Just like earlier with the Electric kid. He came at me with all he had, really going for the kill too. I could've died!" His arms opened in grandiosity, "But no! You guys are the heroes and guys like me are the villains, right? That just grinds my gears. We're both people of violence, but we get labelled good and bad. And everyone accepts it. 'It's just how it is!'" He chuckled bitterly, "You're no Symbol of Peace! You're just a vicious tool to keep us down. But violence begets violence and I'll show everyone that by killing you!"
All Might smile dropped for a moment. "What a bunch of baloney! I've been doing this for years and I could tell an idealistic villain from the others." He pointed at the handyman. "Under that hand mask, I could see the malice in your eyes. You just enjoy this, faker."
Shigaraki sniggered at that. "Man, you know your stuff. You saw right through my act."
"It's five on three," Todoroki said, "We have the advantage. Let's take them down."
Izuku agreed. "Right. Bakugo knows the mist guy's weak point. Kirishima, defend him just in case. Todoroki and I will handle bad touch man."
'What kind of name is that?' Shigaraki thought vexed.
"They're pretty savage, but with a plan like that we can help All Might take them down!" Kirishima declared, bumping his hardened fists together.
"No! Get out of here, students! I'll deal with them!" All Might ordered.
"Things wouldn't have gone so smooth if we weren't here," Todoroki said icily.
"Yeah, are you sure about that, All Might?" Izuku said with a worried expression, noticing the blood trickling freely out of the hero's mouth. "You're bleeding pretty badly, sir."
"You're right, Young Todoroki and Young Midoriya! I thank you for your help and concern, but it is unnecessary! I'll take him down now! Just sit back and watch the Symbol of Peace when he's at his most serious!"
"Kurogiri, support me and Nomu. I'll take the kids and Nomu'll take their gracious savior," Shigaraki ordered, "Let's finish this level already."
"As you wish," Kurogiri replied. The blue-haired man then sprinted towards the students but didn't get very far as the two powerhouses ran at each other. Their massive fists collided head on, sending a shockwave through the immediate area. Shigaraki jumped backwards to avoid their bout.
"Are you hard of hearing, old man? I told you that he's got Shock Absorption."
"My hearing is fine!" All Might said, smile beaming as he and the beaked abomination traded blows, "You said Absorption not Negation! That means he has a limit, does he not?! He was built to take me at best, correct?! Then that just means I have to surpass that!"
Izuku watched with bulging eyes at the onslaught of fits and blows, a wide smile mimicking her idol. 'This is peak All Might! He's spitting up blood and taking a beating, but that doesn't matter to him! He's giving it his all! Giving 110%!'
"A hero is always ready to push past problems, to overcome them!" All Might yelled as his fists outpaced Nomu's. "Tell me evil-doer! Do you know of UA's motto?! Allow me to enlighten you!"
"Go beyond!" Nomu had stopped fighting back, the hero's attacks being too much for the beast's body to handle. All Might took one final swing, hitting the creature right in the stomach. "PLUS ULTRA!"
The monster sailed upwards like a massive cannonball, smashing through the ceiling of the Unforeseen Situations Joint.
KADOOM
Everyone stared at the display of strength in awe. All Might stood triumphant, a large cloud of dust surrounding him.
"That was like a scene ripped out of the comics!" Kirishima said, "He smashed through that bruiser! That Absorption couldn't handle it!"
"Shit, he couldn't even heal fast enough to stop it." Bakugo added. At the same time, he and Todoroki had the same thought.
'So this is the top of the world….'
"Shoot, I really am slowing down," All Might said, "Back in my prime, that would've taken five punches tops." He rubbed his shoulder. "But that was about three hundred punches."
'If my time wasn't up then,' he thought, 'It is now.' He turned to the remaining villains. 'Young Iida must've gotten back up. Just gotta stall until then.'
"Well, villains," he said with his signature smile, "How about we end this?"
"You…." Shigaraki seethed, "You goddamned cheater…."
"We're not ready for this fight," Todoroki admitted, "It's best for us to return."
Kirishima agreed "Right! Let's go Bakugo, Midoriya."
Izuku stared at the scene. 'Wait, if that Nomu's gone, then these guys shouldn't be a problem. Why's All Might just standing there? Shouldn't he just blitz them and end it?'
"You're supposed to be weak! But as far as I can see, you're basically as strong as ever! How dare you break my Nomu?!" Shigaraki yelled in a rage, "You fucking cheat…."
"Weren't you saying that you were coming to get me? Where's your resolve?" His smile dropped, "I thought killing me was your endgame? If you can take me on, then bring it!"
"Whaaa-" Shigaraki exclaimed in a panic, "Damn it! If only we still had Nomu!"
"Calm yourself, Shigaraki," Kurogiri interjected, "Take a close look at him."
Shigaraki did so, scratching his neck feverishly.
"He's injured and badly. I doubt he could take another step."
'Shit! Don't call my bluff!' All Might thought nervously, his body ever so slightly trembling.
Kurogiri continued, "Nomu was engineered to kill the Symbol of Peace. He may have been defeated, but the battle took its toll. Before the authorities arrive, we can still manage to kill him."
'No, no, no. Cease that thought this instant!'
Shigaraki's scratching slowed as he pondered that very thought. "Huh. Hmmm. Huh." The man took in a breath. "That makes sense. Right. He's standing right there. He would've taken us down if he could, which means that his health's at the red. Nomu gave us the opportunity, so we'll be able to pick up the XP." He stopped his scratching entirely. "Let's do it."
"All Might'll take care of them." Bakugo said as he and the other two boys turned away, "Let's go, Deku."
Izuku wasn't paying attention to her classmates as she was entirely focused on the conversation she just heard. She began sprinting to help her hero, ignoring Bakug's cursing.
"This for Nomu, you piece of shit!" Shigaraki yelled as he and Kurogiri charged.
'Dammit!' All Might thought, his eyes wide and staring at his presumed fate. Kurogiri created a portal which Shigaraki dived into.
Unbeknownst to the shadow man, his flight had an extra passenger. Both Izuku and Shigaraki appeared out of the other side of the portal, landing on the ground in a tussle. The blue-haired man managed to land on top, trapping the student below. Izuku had one hand locked onto the villain's forearm, keeping his left hand at bay. The opposite happened with her other arm, as the villain's left hand clasped her right by the elbow. Pain seared through her right arm as the skin cracked at the point of contact. This cracking formation slowly traveled up her arm.
"Young Midoriya!" All Might called out in horror.
"AGH!" Izuku yelled as the pricking sensation intensified. The skin of her forearm was now completely gone and her muscles were now going under the same treatment.
"Shouldn't have gotten in my way, twerp!" Shigaraki said venomously, "Now I've got your arm!"
The muscles of her forearm disappeared shortly after, followed quickly by the bones. Just as she thought that the decay would spread further a loud sound rang through the entire area.
BANG
Shigaraki hissed and let go of her. Izuku mirrored him, grasping at her mutilated arm.
BANG BANG BANG
Shigaraki fell backward in a heap, a series of bullet wounds now on his wiry frame.
"Sorry for the wait, ya'll," Snipe said, his gun aimed at the handyman. He was accompanied by Midnight, Blood King (with Nezu on his shoulder), Aluminium, Ectoplasm, Present Mic, Cementoss, Silhouette, Power Loader, Hound Dog, and Iida, "The cavalry's here."
"Tenya Iida, President of Class 1-A, reporting for duty!" Iida shouted, a bit out of breath.
Just as they arrived, most of the villains defeated by Aizawa were starting to get up, most of them faking for longer than they were unconscious.
"Everybody, search the other zones for the students," Present Mic said, his cheery tone gone, "I'll take care of these assholes." He leaped down the steps just as his longtime friend did, but instead of rushing them like Eraserhead, he opened his mouth and made a brief but powerful shout. It blared through the miscreants, almost immediately knocking them out from the hypersensitivity.
"Kurogiri, get us the hell outta here!" Shigaraki yelled. A large shadowy limb extended to him and he sunk into it. Kurogiri began pulling his leader to his main body but felt himself getting pulled away. The shadow man looked and saw Thirteen standing, the holes in their fingers open, filtering the smog into it.
"I got you now!" they said with a strained voice.
"No you don't." Kurogiri responded, shrinking into himself at a rapid pace. Now only Shigaraki's head peeked out of the dark cloud.
"We may have lost here, Symbol of Peace, but your days are numbered," the handyman said with extreme hatred, "Next time we meet, you're a dead man."
With that the portal quickly shut and the two villains were gone without a trace.
The entire area was silent except for one sound: Izuku's pained gasps. All Might looked back at the girl and his mouth opened wide, spilling some more blood onto the floor. Her right arm hung loosely, with everything elbow and below being completely gone. Blood dripped from the wound, which made a jagged network of scarring at the area around it.
"Agh!" Izuku said as she stared at her now missing limb.
"Young Midoriya, what were you thinking- Hgk!"The steam coming off All Might began to intensify and his muscular frame began to thin considerably.
'No! Not right now!' he thought.
Izuku looked at the Number One hero, wondering what was happening. What she saw was completely and utterly mind-blowing.
Half of all Might's body now resembled an incredibly anemic man, while the other half was still in his hulking heroic form. The juxtaposition between the two was almost funny, if Izuku wasn't too busy screaming bloody murder.
"Midoriya!" Kirishima yelled as he ran towards the two, his vision obscured by the dust and steam, "Are you okay?! What the hell did you do that for?!"
'Kirishima sure is a swell kid.' Toshinori thought, 'But he should really stop running at us right now. Somebody stop him!'
Before he could reach them, a large wall of solid concrete stopped him in his track.
"You should head back to the faculty, young man." Cementoss said, his face serious, "I'll help them out."
"Ah, yessir!" Kirishima said, immediately doing a 180 and running back to the teachers.
Cementoss sighed with relief before crossing to the other side of the barrier.
"Now, let's get you to Recovery Girl without revealing yourself to the public," the grey skinned man said. He then noticed Izuku's injury. "You as well, young lady."
Izuku nodded, tears falling down her cheeks from the pain.
Shigaraki fell out of the portal in a bloody heap.
"Oww!" he whined, "Master, call the doctor! All my limbs got shot!" Kurogiri helped the young man sit to face the television screen. "All the fodder got caught! Nomu too, most likely! And to top off this shitstorm, All Might's still alive and in perfect health! This mission was a failure across the board!"
"Calm down, Shigaraki!" a voice said from across the television screen, "My information is never wrong. We just got ahead of ourselves, jumped the gun a bit. I assure you, my dear successor, that All Might is on his last legs. As for this iteration of the League of Villains, they're cheap, easily replaceable," He cleared his throat, "What about Nomu? Did you see who got him?"
"We have not, sir," Kurogiri said, "All Might sent him flying. He could be anywhere in the area and I couldn't waste time with our escape."
"A real loss. And after putting so much effort into making him durable and strong."
"Durable…." Shigaraki mulled over, "Wait, Master. You know that Super Regeneration Quirk you stole?"
"I do."
"There was a girl who had something like it. Got her with my Decay the first time and she shrugged it off."
"Is that so?" said the voice, his interest peaked.
"Yeah! That dumb brat got in my way when me and Kurogiri were trying to kill All Might."
"Kurogiri and I," the voice corrected.
"Whatever. She's the reason he's still alive! That fucking cockroach…."
"Come now, Tomura. There's no reason to cry over spilled milk. As I've said before, a loss is an opportunity to learn from. Now we could enter the next phase, finding stronger troops! We can't act in the open, especially after this. That's why we need you to be the Symbol you were always meant to be, Tomura Shigaraki!"
"Yes, Master," Shigaraki said as Kurogiri disappeared to get the doctor.
"15….16….17….18…. Besides that one girl all the other students are almost perfectly fine," the leading detective said.
"You were trapped in the fire zone, right Ojiro? I could see the soot all over you." Hagakure said.
"I thought everybody was by themselves. The only way I survived was hit-and-run tactics," the tailed teen said, "Well, except a couple of the villains kept on falling unconscious. I wonder who else was there. Where were you?"
"I was at the landslide zone with Todoroki," she replied, pointing a levitating glove at the dual-haired boy, "You should've seen him. He took 'em down in seconds."
'Wait, she was there?' Todoroki thought, 'She could've got caught in my ice. Jeez.'
"Guess where I was?" Aoyama said to his classmates, none of whom paid attention to what he said. He asked it again and this time Asui heard. "Where?" she asked.
"It's a secret!" he replied, striking a flamboyant pose.
Asui turned to the detective. "What about the teachers?"
"Aizawa received some major blows, breaking his arm and face. It's a relief he doesn't have any brain damage, though his eye sockets were destroyed. It's likely that the damage there will be long lasting, even with treatment," the detective explained, "As for Thirteen, they have lacerations across their back and upper arms, but those aren't as serious. All Might's injuries are similar in severity. Recovery Girl's healing will be enough for him. That's why he's at the nurse's office."
"And Izu…?" Uraraka asked anxiously.
"What of Midoriya, Constable?" Iida asked as well.
"Midoriya? Ah, the girl. That I cannot say for certain, but she's at the nurse's office as well. In fact, I was heading there myself," he explained, "Officer Sansa, I'll leave the rest to you."
"Yessir," a cat-headed police officer said.
"Detective Tsukauchi, I have a report," another policeman uttered as he approached, "We've managed to apprehend one of the major offenders. He was completely unharmed and compliant but refused to speak."
"Huh. Transport him alone to Tartarus. We'll deal with him there," he turned to Nezu, "Principal, I'd like to check out the school thoroughly if you don't mind."
"I do not," the furred headmaster replied, "You are the police. You have purview there. Take as long as you like."
Recovery Girl inspected Izuku's arm, the girl laying on a bed in the infirmary. The freckled teen was no longer wearing the bandana, goggles, and respirator.
"That's odd," the nurse said, pointing at the elbow area with a pen. "And you're sure that wasn't there before?"
The teen nodded silently, afraid she would get yelled at again. The place where the elbow should've been was just a nub, the wound closing even before she arrived. The jagged scars persisted, however, and a small bit of bone was now sticking out from where the elbow should've been.
"This may be a hypothesis, but I have a feeling your arm will come back," she surmised, "If what All Might described with the creature is true, then your healing factor may just be a slowed down version of what the villain had. It'll just take some time. I don't know how long, but with my help it shouldn't take more than a week."
"That's a relief," All Might said in the bed next to her, his frail torso covered in bandages, "That was quite reckless of you, Young Midoriya."
Izuku didn't respond, still shell-shocked from what she had seen that day.
"Don't tell her that! Even though the circumstances were grave, you pushed yourself way too far!" Recovery Girl responded.
"But ma'am, you were just scolding her for the same thing!" All Might replied, "Also, I had to push myself that hard to beat him!"
"I get to scold her because I'm the medical examiner. The same can't be said for you, Symbol of Peace," the nurse shot back, "In fact, there are some words that you must say to this young woman."
All Might went silent for a couple of seconds but then nodded. He sat up and turned to Izuku.
'What's he gonna say now?' she thought nervously.
"Firstly, I'd like to apologize for what happened back there. I should've been there earlier. If I was, the damages wouldn't have been so extensive," He took a deep breath, "Secondly, I'd like to thank you for what you've done. No matter how you spin it, you saved me. I owe you my life."
Izuku looked at the bony man with widened eyes. "It was nothing," she replied dismissively.
"It clearly wasn't nothing," All Might responded quickly, "You lost an arm for crying out loud."
"It'll grow back." she said with a wave of her only hand.
"You didn't know that until now," He sighed, "Look, you did a great service today at your own risk. You deserve some answers for all this." He motioned at his own frame.
Without skipping a beat, Izuku opened her mouth to ask some questions but stopped when the door to the office opened. A black-haired man in a trench coat entered the room.
"Tsukauchi! What are you doing here?" Toshinori said.
"This is my turf, Toshinori. You should know that," the detective replied with a chuckle. He and Izuku then locked eyes.
"Wait a second, All Might! She/he shouldn't-" they said simultaneously before All Might interrupted.
"Young Midoriya, this is Detective Naomasa Tsukauchi, my best friend and one of the best people in the force," He turned to the detective. "This is Izuku Midoriya. She just saved my life today and in the process uncovered my greatest secret."
Izuku seemed satisfied with that answer. Tsukauchi, on the other hand, was not.
"Before I take your statement, All Might, I have some brief questions for the young lady."
The Number One hero looked at his friend warily but didn't argue. The detective rolled an armchair next to Izuku's bed.
"I'm going to need you to look at my eyes and answer my questions truthfully," he said as he leaned in, his black eyes boring into her green ones, "Are you a member of the League of Villains?"
"What?! No!" she replied hastily.
"Did you know anything about the attack prior to today?"
"No!"
"Have you met any of the villainous individuals that committed this attack?"
"Absolutely not!"
"Were you ever a part of any villainous group prior to your enrollment into this institution?"
"Again, no!"
"Are any of your family-"
"Naomasa, that's enough!" All Might said, "You will not interrogate my savior while she's bed-ridden!"
"Just making sure," he said, sitting up straight, "Can't have just anybody know your secret."
"I understand that, but she isn't the enemy. Why would she save me if she was?"
"I needed to be thorough," the detective replied, "We're dealing with a matter of national security here."
All Might sighed and turned to his student. "I'm sorry about that, Young Midoriya. I have to give my statement to the police. We'll have to postpone the questions. I'll find you at school."
"It's fine," the greenette said all too quickly, "I get it."
"I must ask you to keep my appearance a secret," he added, "It wouldn't do for the public to know about this."
"I understand."
"That includes your guardians," he continued, "I know that's a lot to ask and that your mind may be whirling at what happened today, but please honor my request. This secret is very crucial."
"I will," The teen slowly got out of bed, the pain in her arm now a low yet consistent numb. "I won't tell a soul."
She walked out of the room alone.
In a dark room in a distant city, a faceless man sat with a small grin on his face as he mused. 'A regeneration Quirk, huh? How very interesting.'
Name: Tomura Shigaraki
Height/Weight: 5'9", 149 lbs
Quirk: Decay
It allows him to destroy things with a touch. It is relatively slow, but quite deadly. he must touch them with all five fingers.
Stats:
Power: C
Speed: B
Technique: B
Intelligence: A
Cooperativeness: D
Name: Kurogiri
Height/Weight: 6'0", 155lbs
Quirk: Warp Gate
It allows him to use the smog that he emanates to create portals. It's unclear the limits of said portals.
Stats:
Power: D
Speed: C
Technique: A
Intelligence: B
Cooperativeness: A