A/n: Sorry this one took so long to get out. I had some trouble with it. Individual scenes kept coming to me, but I struggled with connecting them together. I was also dissatisfied with the word count but didn't want to detract from the pacing by padding it. Writing quick 'dogfights' is my forte, but that doesn't lend itself to 5,000+ words. I wanted the final chapter to be fast paced and to feel desperate and gritty, but not too fast, ya know? Hopefully you all are satisfied with it.
Also, I am aware that in the manga there was a hospital raid arc? But I've never read the manga. I only get my world and hero information from the fan wiki. I'd meant for this chapter to be original, so I apologize in advance if I include spoilers or it's too close to manga events. I only realized the parallels after looking up Mirko.
Anyway, please enjoy!
Nerves twisted Izuku's guts as he and Mirko crouched behind a shrub several meters away from the dilapidated structure. They were waiting for everyone else to get into position for the siege. It sounded dramatic but that was exactly what this was. There was no real option for stealth and Izuku had no doubt that the villains were already aware of their presence.
Team One, Endeavor and Hawks would enter first through the main lobby. Team Three, Ryukyu and Edgeshot, would be close behind via a door in the cafeteria, the only space large enough for Ryukyu's dragoon form. The others would give them a thirty second lead before breaching the other doors, hopefully to cut off any reinforcements drawn to the commotion. After clearing their sections the teams closest to the stairs would advance up a level while the others provided backup.
It was certain to get messy, in more ways than one. Endeavor had made sure they all knew that lethal force was authorized for the mission. Apparently the kill order was even approved by the Hero Public Safety Commission. They couldn't afford to have distractions if they encountered All-For-One. To say nothing of not knowing how many nomu were present.
"You're the kid that killed Muscular, aren't you?" Mirko's hushed voice startled Izuku out of mentally reviewing the plan.
Not sure how to respond, he simply nodded. He didn't think anyone but Aizawa and the Pussycats knew about that since no one had talked to him about it. The Rabbit Hero made a thoughtful humming noise, looking him over for the first time since they'd been partnered. He tried to get his nervous fussing under control.
"... Maybe you're not so useless after all, kit." Not the most flattering of compliments, but Izuku wasn't going to argue.
After a pause Mirko explained, "The Water Horse Duo were my friends. Muscular killed them like they were nothing. I wanted to dance on his grave when Mandalay told me a kid defeated him. So, thank you. But still, stay out of my way."
Nodding again, Izuku smiled faintly. She really did remind him of a less crude Kacchan. He knew perfectly well how to not step on toes. Before he could say anything, a warning went over the communication device in his ear. Team One was moving. Izuku adjusted in anticipation, pulling his respirator up and his goggles down. Next to him Mirko tensed and started a near silent countdown.
At twenty seconds they dashed towards the door and stood to either side of it. At twenty-five Mirko stepped back and unleashed a series of powerful kicks that made the entire frame shudder. At thirty seconds the door was on the ground, hinges bent and broken. Mirko entered first, launching herself at a startled villain that barreled down the stairs a few yards in.
Izuku stood back near the door, not needed even as more enemies flooded the hallway. As the greenette had predicted, the villains were forced to attack in small groups to avoid hitting each other in the corridor. The pro was a whirlwind of movement, landing five on the ground before they could blink. Two didn't appear to be breathing.
He finally stepped in when some of the previously fallen started to recover behind Mirko's back. Izuku tried not to think about it as one of his iron soles connected solidly with one's temple with a muted crunch. The villain didn't get up again. Fighting down bile, he let adrenalin take over, the rush numbing his thoughts.
Green lighting traced behind him as he launched off a wall to gain height before kicking a hulking man in the nose. A woman with knives for fingers rushed him as he landed, slashing his arm before falling to a controlled AP blast to the face. The spot stung but he ignored it, focus intent on watching the pro's back.
In a mere five minutes the hallway was littered with eight bodies. Mirko shot a manic grin at the student before gesturing to the nearest room. Taking the hint, Izuku opened it with the Rabbit Hero on support. They worked methodically down the corridor clearing the rooms and encountered no more villains. Most of the rooms were completely empty of even furniture. They could still hear fighting from the lobby and cafeteria but it seemed to be tapering off.
"Team Seven advancing to the second floor, East side." Mirko talked into her comms unit.
They did just that, entering the stairwell with a healthy amount of caution. Other teams reported in with similar news as they ascended. All was eerily silent as they paused on the correct landing to find a door barring their way. A window provided a glimpse of an empty hallway beyond.
The door opened on well oiled hinges, masking their entrance. The sudden lack of resistance set him on edge as they crept along. The rooms here were less bare but the equipment and furniture looked old and dusty. It was clear that the building was disused even by the villains. But the electricity worked which said that somewhere it was needed, perhaps the top floor.
Eventually they encountered Havok and Shale, who noted the same observations. The lack of enemies had everyone on edge. They stuck together as they finished investigating their assigned areas. The two teams agreed that it was time to split up and move on after Best Jeanist and Wash commented over the radio that they were heading to the third floor. Izuku and Mirko returned to the east stairwell to do the same.
There was still a distinct lack of villains as they entered the last floor but this time they could hear a fight on the other side of the building. It made the pair extra cautious while sweeping the rooms. These were still dirty but at last some showed signs of use. Some had beds with fresh looking sheets.
They passed a nurse station that only contained a wrap-around desk when shit finally hit the fan.
A white scaled nomu crashed through a door between them, cutting Izuku and Mirko off from each other. This one was slim and quadrupedal, unlike other nomu he'd seen. Sickle-like claws capped each foot and clicked against the tile as it moved. A serpentine tail lashed at Izuku, forcing him to dodge a sharp stinger that oozed a disgusting looking brown liquid. As droplets hit the floor the spots smoked and pitted with a noxious odor that penetrated through Izuku's respirator.
"Nomu encountered, third floor, east." Mirko sounded strained as she dodged deadly teeth and claws. The slim physique made the nomu quick.
Dancing away from another tail strike, he spotted its exposed brain when it reared its head back from the pro's hits. The opening was much narrower than the hulking nomu. Only a small, baseball sized opening in the back of its skull showed its weakness.
"Mirko, get down!" Izuku warned seconds before releasing a powerful air pressure attack at its head. A shriek left it and it stumbled but stayed standing.
When it tried whipping around to attack him the Rabbit Hero gained its attention again. The two traded off in a similar fashion for several moments but it soon became apparent that they would not be enough. They were becoming frustrated and tired.
Izuku was so focused on tracking the brain that he was blindsided by a tail whip to the head. White erupted in his vision and agony lanced through his ear where the communication device was jammed in. The blow sent him into a wall, dazed. He barely had the presence of mind to dodge the stinger. It embedded in the wall where his head had been, the drywall melting under the venom.
"I'm leading it away! We need backup!" Mirko called out before dashing down the corridor. The beast followed with a rattling roar.
Despite wanting to go after them, Izuku spent a minute recovering. Adjusting the earpiece was painful and he could feel blood trickling down his neck. Thankfully snapping his fingers next to the ear said it was still functioning. He climbed to his feet using the wall and tested his balance before pushing away from it.
As he made to follow the trail of destruction left in the nomu's wake a hand lashed out from an open doorway and dragged him into a patient room. The grip on his left wrist was bruising and burned. Izuku struck out with a foot, catching the attacker in the gut and forcing them to release him. A familiar rasping laugh made him shudder.
"You've leveled up, brat. But you're still no match for me." Shigaraki bared his teeth in a parody of a grin, pupils blown wide in glee.
Agony lanced up Izuku's arm from where Shigaraki latched on. Forcing himself to ignore it, as numbness set in almost immediately, Izuku lashed out with a desperate kick while activating a hidden feature Mei had snuck into his suit design. He needed to end this quickly to tend the wound. He could feel blood trickling out of the limb.
A blade sprang out from the tip of his boot and embedded in the villain's side where the blow connected. Shigaraki stumbled back in surprise with a pained cry but Izuku pressed the advantage, kicking and slicing open the inside of his upper thigh. He'd been aiming for the knee but dizziness threw him off. Shigaraki went down, clutching the wound as blood rapidly pooled under him. He hadn't anticipated such a vicious and decisive response from the teen.
Leaning heavily against the wall, Izuku fought not to give in to nausea as he took stock of himself. A glance at his left arm nearly undid the forced calm. His hand and forearm were gone. A bleeding stump ended just after his elbow.
His right hand trembled as he frantically dug through the pockets on his belt. Nearly dropping the utility knife he found, a whimper escaped as he stumbled towards the bed to strip away the sheet. He awkwardly bundled it into a strip and tied it around his upper arm, using his teeth to hold one end. Slipping the knife into the knot, he twisted it. Hard. Red and white spots danced in his vision.
When he finally opened his eyes he was on the floor, slumped against the bed. When had that happened? He violently shook his head before looking around. Shigaraki was still there, unmoving and silent. From the amount of blood on the floor, Izuku knew he'd never move again. Dark satisfaction coursed through him. The man who haunted his nightmares was dead.
The relief didn't last long. His own bleeding had slowed thanks to the makeshift tourniquet but it hadn't stopped completely. Repressing a scream through gritted teeth, he gave the improvised windlass a few more twists before holding it in place with his teeth. A few moments of searching his belt again yielded a zip tie. It took a few moments of fumbling to secure it to the sheet and position it to keep the windlass from unraveling. The effort finally got the bleeding to stop.
Nausea and vertigo plagued him so he stayed sitting. Reaching up with a trembling hand, Izuku tried the communicator, praying it still worked after getting hit by the nomu. "Deku, Team Seven. I need medical assistance. Third floor near the south stairs."
Several moments of silence dashed his hopes. Not even static sounded through the ear piece. Distant fighting echoed through the corridors, telling him Mirko and the other teams likely wouldn't find him for a while. He needed to move before any more villains stumbled across him.
Gathering his strength, he gritted his teeth and adjusted to get his legs under him. Belatedly he retracted the blade in his boot. He needed to remember to take Mei to dinner or something. She had stealthily added that feature the last time his suit needed adjustments. He doubted Power Loader approved it, but it had just saved his life.
It took a few tries but eventually he climbed to his feet using the wall for leverage. Blood loss had his vision swimming but he felt surprisingly ok otherwise. The stump ached and various surface wounds and scrapes pulled as he moved, but it wasn't too much for his pain tolerance. If he needed to he could still fight, probably just not well.
Tremors wracked his frame and he struggled to walk straight but the more he moved the steadier he got as endorphins and other chemicals kicked in to protect his body from symptoms of shock. The stairs did prove to be a problem but keeping a tight grip on the railing and going slow worked. At a landing the sounds of battle reached him from below. A nomu screeched, prompting him to duck through the door into the second floor. He wasn't confident enough to face one in his current state if he could help it.
As he shuffled down the hallway his ears strained to pick up any sign of his allies. He didn't dare call out for help with nomu joining the fray. As he neared the center of the building the floor shuddered under his feet, sending him stumbling into a wall to keep balanced. Before he could recover the tiles lurched violently before collapsing.
The sensation of falling sent his heart into his throat. Pain flashed and his vision went black as his head connected with debris on the way down. He blessedly didn't feel the impact of landing during the blackout. When consciousness returned everything hurt and his mouth tasted like blood. He laid there stunned for several moments before sights and sounds began to register again.
A gaping hole in the ceiling told him that he had fallen two stories. That was odd since the medical center was supposed to only have three. A fight was happening nearby, the ceiling being a casualty of a stray quirk. Blinking away double vision, he sat up gingerly to look around.
It appeared that the building housed an undocumented basement. He found himself in a large rubble strewn room with concrete walls and floor. Nomu incubation tanks lined one wall. Some were empty, some had dead subjects inside. Most of the equipment was destroyed.
On the opposite side of the room four figures were engaged in a brutal battle. With a jolt, Izuku recognized the mutilated features of All-For-One. Prison and the escape hadn't been kind to him. Even with his quirks no longer suppressed he appeared emaciated and deathly pale. Still, it seemed the pros were having trouble subduing him.
Endeavor, Hawks, and Eraserhead harried him, taking turns attacking to never give him a moment's rest. It appeared All-For-One had the same regenerative quirk as the nomu as blistering fire and sharpened feathers connected only to leave no trace as soon as Aizawa blinked or lost line of sight. The villain was slowing down but not nearly enough. They clearly needed help.
Izuku struggled to his feet but hung back. None of the adults seemed to notice him. He lined up an AP shot, releasing One For All's power to 100% and praying he didn't break his entire arm. An opportunity presented itself when the super villain knocked the heroes back with a shockwave. Izuku flicked his fingers.
Pain exploded up his entire arm as the charged attack sped towards All-Might's nemesis. The greenette was shocked to realize there was something else mixed in with the concentrated gust. Slim black tentacles laced with green lightning erupted from split knuckles, spearing towards All-For-One's head.
Several things happened at once. The air pressure hit first, causing the man to stagger. Hawks sent out a barrage of razor sharp feathers that pierced his torso. Endeavor summoned Hellfire that burned blue when it made contact with the villain's legs. Eraserhead ripped off shattered goggles to level a glowing red stare at him. And finally, the black tendrils pierced All-For-One between where his eyes should have been.
Everyone froze. They stared in wary hope, panting to catch their breath. Aizawa finally moved, maintaining Erasure as he approached the body. The villain didn't do much as twitch. Even so, the teacher erred on the side of caution. He removed a pair of quirk suppressing cuffs from his belt and restrained All-For-One's wrists with a grimace.
The black tentacles pulled free and retracted into Izuku's arm. He could feel them wriggling just under his skin and bleeding holes remained where they had emerged. A wave of nauseous vertigo made him sink to the ground. The movement drew attention from Endeavor and Hawks, the teacher still keeping a wary eye out to ensure the villain stayed dead.
Crimson feathers kept him from slumping onto his back before the heroes reached him. "Shit, kid!" The Wing Hero looked dismayed upon taking in his appearance.
"Team One reporting. All-For-One is down. I repeat, target is eliminated. We're bringing Deku to the lobby, emergency evac required." Endeavor talked into his ear piece, expression inscrutable.
A small flock of feathers surrounded Izuku, picking him up with gentle ease. Under normal circumstances he'd be ecstatic to see Hawks' power in action, but black spots were dancing in his vision as he struggled against passing out. His skin felt clammy and cold. Distantly he heard someone give a muffled comment about shock, but Izuku couldn't focus on the words.
As he felt himself being lifted through the hole in the ceiling he thought he heard Kacchan somewhere above him yelling. Everything was growing pleasantly numb and distant. His eyes slipped closed as he lost the struggle.
000
"Midoriya-san, this is Doctor Otomo from Musutafu General. I'm calling in regards to your mother, Inko Midoriya. Is now a good time?" The man's voice was professional and calm but Izuku still felt a spike of concern. Being a patient in a hospital himself, there was no way he could get to his mother if something went wrong.
"Uh, yes. Is she ok?" He fussed with a loose thread on the blanket covering his lap, pinning the phone to his ear with his shoulder.
"She's perfectly fine. I wanted to let you know that she is awake and coherent… But there was an incident." He went on before Izuku could voice his dismayed questions.
"Last night a villain infiltrated the ward and attempted to kidnap your mother. Let me reiterate that she is fine, no injuries. She's just a little shaken up." A clear smile entered the doctor's voice. "She was well enough to fight him off with a bedpan. A nurse assisted by administering sedatives. Security detained him and the police arrested him without further problems."
Pride welled up at the news. Of course his mother would fight back! Suspicion tugged at his mind after a moment of processing the words. "Do you happen to know the name of the villain?"
"Dabi, I believe. The police ID'ed him on sight. His appearance was rather… distinct."
A grin pulled on his split lip but he couldn't quell the satisfied happiness bubbling up. "Thank you so much for letting me know! I'll visit as soon as I can. I'm… kind of stuck as a patient at a hero clinic. Could you please let her know?"
"Of course. I'll keep you updated. Focus on your own healing for now."
After exchanging goodbyes he disconnected the call. It may have been the morphine, but he felt like he was floating as relief crashed into him. It hardly felt real. He half expected to wake up from a fever dream at any second.
The door sliding open caught his attention and he beamed at the group that filed in. Kacchan, Shoto, Hitoshi, and Aizawa. They all looked beat up and tired but in one piece. Izuku, Endeavor, and Hawks had been the worst off after the raid, with the exception of Crust and Wash, who had died to All-For-One.
Eyebrows raised at him as Izuku squirmed in place, eager to spread the good news. The last known member of the League of Villains was captured, All-For-One and Shigaraki were dead, and everyone he cared about was safe. They had won!
A/n: And that's all, folks! I had a really fun time getting this story out of my head. I really hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! I have vague plans for a sequel (I haven't forgotten you, Eri) and connected one-shots, but for now I want to focus on my other WIP's.
Please comment and let me know what you think! I welcome constructive feedback on both the story itself and my writing style. What worked, what didn't, what I need to improve, characterization, etc. Just be nice about it and I'll consider the advice.
See you in the next story!