Izuku stared at the black mass that loomed ominously in the middle of the building. His advanced senses told him that his classmates' tension was rocketing, made worse by the automatic door closing behind them, all of them reacting to the danger they now sensed. Izuku locked eyes with Mina, and subtly nodded, a silent agreement to launch themselves at any potential threat; the moth girl's pink skin showed her powerful muscles tightly coiled and ready spring at the moment notice.
From the mass emerged a hoard of people, all grinning cruelly and radiating malicious intent. Three figures stood out from the crowd: the beaked male who stood even taller than All Might, the man who was coated in hands, and the mass itself that shaped into a tall but clearly masculine figure. Izuku can tell that these three were the biggest threats, like one apex predator recognizing another.
"Don't Move," Shota ordered them while placing his goggles over his eyes. "Those are villains," he said, confirming their worst fear. He seemed to be gearing up for combat, dragging his scarf looser as he crouched. The others all snapped into combat-ready stances, though some were more sure of themselves than others.
"Villains? How?" Eijiro questioned as he scanned around, trying to find their entry point. "There's no way they could get into a hero school," he added.
Eijiro's whole body was tense; they all were, and Izuku realized he and the teachers were the only ones with villain experience. He focused on the villains, his mind already mapping out the most efficient route to their leader.
"Sensei! What about the trespasser sensors?" Momo asked, dreading the answer. Her own eyes darted around erratically as she sweated slightly.
"We have them, of course, but..." Thirteen trialed off, perturbed and tense. She was unable to think of how this could happen.
"Did they only appear here, or around the whole university?" Shoto asked. "Either way, if the sensors are not responding, that means they have someone with a Quirk who can disable them," he concluded, adding to the tension in the air.
He added to it further when he said, "This is an isolated area separated from the main campus during a time when a class is supposed to be here. They might be fools, but they're not dumb. This surprise attack was carefully planned with some sort of goal in mind."
"Thirteen, start the evacuation. Try calling the school; these villains have something to counter the sensors, so it stands to reason that it's possible that a radio-wave type power is interfering," Shota ordered before barking, "Kaminari, try to reach the University with your Quirk." Izuku passed his gauntlets across to Denki since they'd help him with fine control.
Before he could move to engage them, however, Izuku grabbed his scarf. "How 'bout we send the nigh-invulnerable Titan down there instead," he said firmly, continuing with, "I was trained by Kong; you know there's almost no one alive who can really harm me."
With a grudging nod from Aizawa, Izuku leaped into the fray, landing dead in the center of the approaching group and creating a massive pillar of flames through which only his silhouette was visible. When the flames died down, the villains sprung into action, lunging at him with their Quirks active. They may as well have stood still; Izuku, despite his bulk, moved fluidly through them. Each time he struck, another body was thrown from the charge, knocked out.
To the overlooking students, it was clear Izuku was making a beeline to the man coated in hands. Every villain that got in his way was taken down, creating a path of bodies as Izuku made his way to the head honcho.
Of course, not all of the hoard stayed to fight Izuku. Some charged up the stairs, and in the moment they did, Shota lost sight of the black mass. When asked, most in 1A would say this was when everything went to shit.
[Unknown Zone, USJ, Aizawa]
Shota grunted. Of course, he was being isolated from the others, and with some villains blocking his sight of the warp gate villain. Displaying his skill and experience, he began to dance around the villains, never once being touched as he used his scarf and fists to knock out people in a brutally efficient manner, leaving bruises and broken bones in his wake.
He quickly settled into a rhythm. His breathing was controlled and designed to take in as much oxygen as possible while also staying in motion. His movements were designed to fluidly transfer momentum from one strike or jump to the next, meaning he was almost always in motion. He knew if he stopped, he was dead, and had built a fighting style around being faster than the other guy.
As he bounced around the villains, Shota hoped against hope that they'd somehow get a call for help out. He'd read their files, he'd seen them in action, he knew their strengths, weaknesses, and limits. And despite Izuku's confident words, Shota knew in his heart that Izuku wasn't yet strong enough to defeat that beak villain and that his self-confidence may get him killed. He could tell something was off with it, he just didn't know what. And now he had to hope that this lack of knowledge didn't kill one of his students.
"DIE YOU SCARF BASTARD! DIE" a voice broke through his musing as he instinctively dodged a powerful punch. A glance and kick later had the villain unconscious on the ground as he moved on to the next villain. He discarded his worries; right now, he had a job to do. And these villains were in his way.
[Entrance, USJ, Thirteen]
"Hello Hero Students, we are the League of Villains. We thought it best to formally introduce ourselves. We have come to claim the life of All Might, the Symbol of Peace," the black mist, a tall figure in a bartender garb, said. His voice was deep and cultured with a smooth accent that added a menace to the words. He looked around, seeming to not find what, or who, he was looking for.
"Hm, I believe All Might was meant to be here. Was there a change? No matter; it will not stop me from playing my part," the malicious mist said as its form warped and changed.
"Did you think we'd just sit back and let you do as you please? I bet you never considered that we'd beat you in an instant!" Eijiro grinned as he and Katsuki launched themselves at the mist. Eijiro's fist glowed red with a mixture of Hardening and One For All while Katsuki's hand ignited in a fusion of fire and force. The USJ shook from the force of the combined power of both men.
"Oh my. How dangerous. It seems that I forgot that even if you are students, you are excellent golden eggs," the mist said, having miraculously dodged the attack on its person.
"No. Move! Both of you!" Thirteen called, attempting to unleash her Quirk but was unable to.
"My job is to scatter you all to the winds and slowly torture you 'til you… cease," the mist ominously said before expanding out like a carpet of black slowly consuming the light around it, in an instant the class was covered in a cloud of thick black smog that seemingly devoured their heat. Some of them managed to clear the area, but most of the class were separated.
"Shouji, is everyone here? Can you check?" Tenya asked, eyes scanning the area as he tried to see his classmates. Down below, Shota had joined the fray against the villains, picking off those smart enough to not rush the Titan.
"Everyone is scattered, but so far as I can tell, they are all in the building," Mezo said as his newly created ears extended his hearing range. The relief was short-lived as they all realized that this meant that their classmates were now surrounded by villains.
"Damn it. Physical attacks won't touch him AND he can warp things. His Quirk is really bad news for us," Rikido growled as he stared the villain down.
"Iida?," Thirteen said. Her voice was calm despite the tenseness she felt.
"Yes?" Iida asked, tilting his head towards her but keeping his eyes on the villain.
"I entrust this duty to you. Run to the school and tell them about what's happening here. The alarms are not sounding and our phones have no signal. The alarm system is based on infrared rays. Even though Eraserhead is using his Quirk, the alarms have not been activated, which means that they have someone with a disturbance Quirk that hid right when they arrived. You are the fastest here, so it would be quicker if you ran to U.A. instead of us looking for that person," she instructed, eager to send him on his way.
"But it would disgrace me as a hero, and more importantly, a man to leave you all behind—" Tenya tried to counter only for Rikkido to speak up.
"Go, Iida. If you can get outside, there are alarms. That's why these guys are only doing this inside, right?" He asked, squaring off with the mist villain.
"As long as you get outside, they won't follow you! Blow away this fog with your legs!" Hanta said, mimicking Rikkido as he got ready for a fight.
"Use your QQuirk in order to save others!" Thirteen ordered as she planted herself.
"Please, Iida! I can totally support you!" Ochako said as she got ready for the oncoming battle.
"Even if you have no other choice, are you really so foolish to plan in front of your enemies?" the villain asked mockingly, his mists surging out towards them.
"We did it 'cause it doesn't matter if we're found out or not," Thirteen declared as she removed the tip of her costume's finger. "Black Hole!" A powerful suction erupted from her finger as she began to absorb the mists.
"Black Hole, which sucks up everything and turns it into dust. I see, this truly is an astounding Quirk. However, Thirteen, you are a hero known for rescues, meaning you are not even half as experienced as a normal hero in combat." With his words, the villain opened a warp gate behind the hero, turning her own Quirk on her.
"A Warp gate," she gasped, having no time to react and disengage her Quirk.
"You turned yourself into dust," he stated. The students felt a sense of malicious glee at having turned Thirteen's Quirk on her.
"H-He got me," she gasped, falling to the ground, her Quirk's effects disappearing as she passed out.
"Thirteen!" Ochako cried out at the sight of the fallen hero.
"Iida, run!" Rikido roared. Tenya hesitated for a moment before running off.
"DAMN IT!" he growled as he ran.
'One of the children who was not scattered… We are only waiting for All Might. If the other teachers are called here, it will be hard for us, the mist thought as it shot towards the running student.
'Everyone… was entrusted… to me! The whole class… I will...' Tenya's thought, urging his body onwards, desperately trying to outrun the clock. His eyes widened as the mists surrounded him, preventing him from seeing Mezo lunge at the mist villain.
"Go! Hurry!" Mezo said after he caught tackled the mist, carrying it away from the blue-haired speedster.
"Everyone, wait for me!" Tenya thought, racing towards the door.
"You impertinent—I will not allow you to go outside!" Once more the mists surged towards Tenya, who did his best to outrun them.
"An automatic door. Should I kick it down? CAN I kick it down?" Tenya thought frantically.
"You impudent brat. Begone!" the mist roared and enveloped him, only to be yanked back once again.
"I don't know the theory behind it, but if he's got a support item like this," she said as she clamped her hands around what appeared to be a metal brace, "then it must mean he has a physical body!" Ochako yelled as she threw the villain with all of her might. "Go, Iida!" She screamed at him.
"My body! Oh no! However..." The mist surged towards him.
"I won't let you! Tape Cannon, FIRE!" Santa roared as he fired a line of tape at the villain, who was jostled from the force of the tape colliding with his back.
"Go!" Rikido roared, tearing the tape from Hanta's elbow and swinging the villain around. This allowed Tenya time to open the door and escape.
"Engine BOOST!" he roared, blue flames erupting from the exhaust ports on his legs. Each stride carried him further with every step. Still, Tenya poured on the speed, pushing himself to run faster and faster. "They entrusted me with this task! I WILL NOT FAIL!" A cone of air surrounded him as he broke into the Mach range.
"He's going to call for support. It's game over," the mist villain lamented in the air, wincing at the sonic boom that erupted from outside.
"Oh, to so boldly come for me and my Nomu. You must be pretty foolish to do so," the hand-covered man said as Izuku finally dispatched the last of the villains between them. Flames licked at his fists as he stared the villain down.
"Please," he scoffed, "I can tell; you, that beak boy there, and the black mist guy were the only real threats here, so I decided to take you out first." He smirked at them, the flames traveling up his arms and off of his shoulders.
"Huh, didn't feel the need to grind before fighting a boss?" The villain launched himself at Izuku, who fluidly caught his wrist and threw him away, his left arm brushing the beak villain's attack away next. His next move was to throw the beak villain away.
"Don't need numbers if you've got skill" Izuku countered, dodging an attack from a foot soldier and knocking him out in one move, all without looking at the minion who attacked him.
"True, true. But the numbers help. Nomu: Kill."
The now-named Nomu lunged at him, faster than the human eye could track. A large thunder-like sound reverberated throughout the building, followed by an explosion of dust that obscured the fighters from view. The hand villain felt his jaw drop when the dust began to settle.
"What? Did you think you were the only one with numbers and skill?" Izuku laughed, holding the Nomu's fist in place. He stepped in and landed a punch that nearly tore it in half. "I'm a titan, dickbag, and you came woefully underprepared for ME!" he exclaimed, throwing the Nomu away and charging at the hand villain.
While the hand villain dodged the first attack, the villain knew he was cornered by the second one. Before Izuku land his attack he was forced to dodge away as the Nomu appeared and charged out him. As he was tackled by the Nomu, he slammed a flamed coated elbow into the brute's face. With one hand, Izuku raised himself up and then slammed his feet into the ground just in time to see the Nomu racing at him again. His arms flashed out and caught the charging brute's wrists.
"I was wondering when you were going to make your move, beaky. And man, you are a strong one. I haven't been hit that hard since Kong." Izuku grunted as he and the Nomu struggled to overpower the other. Both of them locked hands and pushed against the other. At their feet, the ground began to split under their strength. In synch, they threw their heads forward, a shockwave meeting from the point of impact.
"DIE!" the hand villain said as he managed to latch his hands on Izuku's face and neck. Izuku's scales proved much too tough to disintegrate easily, but he could still feel them slowly breaking down. In an instant, he clamped down on the nuclear fire that burned underneath his skin. It wouldn't do to let that run rampant. Not yet at least.
"Huh, nifty Quirk. But I wouldn't use that on me if I were you. If you take off the top layer of my scales… well, it very quickly becomes unhealthy to be around me." He smirked, his suit's built-in Geiger counter begging to go off as the villain rushed to let go of Izuku. "Now then, back to yo—" he noticed too late that the Nomu had broken their grip and got his head smashed by a giant-sized fist.
"Tomura Shigaraki." Izuku heard as he struggled to get up, dazed from the impact. The sucker punch had done a number on him. A grunt escaped his lips as he managed to get to his feet.
"Kurogiri, did you kill Thirteen?" the hand villain, Tomura, asked, a slight grunt of exertion in his voice. Izuku got tackled by Nomu and was forced to engage in another contest of strength, or rather, the Nomu tried to engage him. Izuku merely used his fire breath to weaken its hold and then nailed it with an Apex Impact. The resulting punch sent it flying away. It landed in the water zone, judging by the splash, and sunk into the depths.
"I put Thirteen out of action, but there were students I was unable to disperse, and one of them was able to run away." Izuku heard the mist guy say, but he was unable to do anything about it as the Nomu had recovered from its attempted drowning and tackled him.
"Huh?" Tomura grunted, raising his hands to his neck and beginning to scratch at it. Izuku watched in a sick fascination as the hand-covered man began to rigorously scratch his neck, stopping only when blood burst on his fingers. Unfortunately, this distraction meant the Nomu sucker-punched him again. With a growl, Izuku's wings surged from his back and knocked into the brute, launching it away.
"Kurogiri, you… if you weren't our way outta here, I'd kill you. We can't win against a dozen pros. It's game over. Man, it's game over this time. Let's go home. Oh, yeah. Before we leave, let's smash his pride as the Symbol of Peace!" With those words spoken, Tomura launched at Izuku, who caught both of his hands.
"Planning to use me as a Nuke?" Izuku asked, casually holding the arms back. He smirked when he heard the villain begin to grind his teeth as he futilely attempted to overpower the titan.
"Something like that," Tomura grunted as he struggled against Izuku's grip.
"Not bad, not bad at all," Izuku complimented him before grinning and saying, "There's one problem though. I might not want to be a Nuke." The words were simple but carried a powerful effect. Tomura began to struggle harder as he tried to force his hands through Izuku's grip.
"Ah, that would be a problem if I cared about your compliance," He snarled, both in anger at Izuku's defiance of him and pain as Izuku's already vice-like grip tightened around his wrists. He could already feel his hands becoming numb as Izuku squeezed his wrists tighter and tighter. Tomura's growled at the titan, which only meant Izuku further tightened his grip.
"Oh, good line. You practice that one?" Izuku taunted, getting a howl of anger for his troubles. The combination of pain and rage made Tomura snap like never before. Izuku actually heard him grit his teeth so hard one of them cracked.
"NOMU: KILL!" He roared.
Izuku, acting quickly, threw the villain into the path of the brute, who caught him surprisingly gently. Izuku got into a fighting stance, and once Tomura was on the ground, the Nomu charged him again. Izuku stopped it with a jab and then landed a straight followed by a cross before pivoting away and landing a tail whip.
"Apex RUSH!" He roared as he began to land a flurry of fire-coated blows. Each one melted the Nomu's skin and muscle, but that didn't stop it. As one, the two launched a series of punches that connected with their opponent's fist, each blow sending rolling waves of force from the point of impact. Izuku grunted; he was getting annoyed at this contest of power.
He began to add kicks, knees, elbows, and forearm strikes into the equation, doing everything he could to break the balance that had formed between them. Pain; it was slowly building up inside him as each shockwave rolled over his scales as the energy from the blows was transmitted straight into his body and core. Unfortunately, the pain fueled the anger he felt, which fueled his desire to end the fight. Which meant that Izuku was getting sloppier and sloppier.
It was this loss of control that cost him. Izuku soon started to take more and more blows that he'd previously dodged or parried, resulting in his body feeling more and more reverberating shockwaves throughout it. Soon enough, Izuku was forced to turtle up, barely able to keep his guard firm enough to absorb the impact of the Nomu's fists. Then one of them slipped through.
The blow felt like a Smash. Izuku numbly registered it, then he felt a second blow to his skull. Izuku's consciousness fled as he fell down. His final thoughts were of his failure and how it would affect his classmates. And then all was blackness… until he heard it. A scream. A scream with the voices of Mina, Momo, and Tsuyu. Emerald eyes snapped open and began to burn red.
Preview:
Setsuna blinked as she took stock of where she was. She was falling towards some water after falling out of a warp gate.