Chapter Forty-One - Final Exams II

Izuku didn't feel much besides from the rush of air from an explosion that wasn't directed towards him and All Might. Within the darkness of the smoke, he saw a figure land beside him and lean down and grab the metal fence pinning him to the ground.

"If you wanna be useless like this, then at least get knocked out by All Might or something," Bakugo spat as he blew up the fence and tossed the pieces away.

"Kacchan..!" Izuku quickly jumped up to his feet, knowing that the blinding light mixed with a smokescreen wouldn't buy them much time—

In fact, it didn't buy them much time at all.

Suddenly, All Might's arm came barreling through the smoke, its power slicing through the haze and dispelling it all as a blast of air followed it in its wake. The two boys managed to duck down to dodge the attack, barely holding their ground against the air current.

"Hiding behind light and trickery won't save you anymore, Heroes," All Might spoke wickedly.

Not much time left, Izuku noted, thinking that his Flow unit probably didn't have much longer until it overheated from being overclocked. Should I use.. No, Mei said that it was still in testing, is it really a smart idea?

There was something Izuku wanted to be included with his suit after the encounter with the Hero Killer. Ithe instructions for this new suit, Mei stated she was still working on it, but it was already built in as a sort of last ditch effort. He hadn't gotten a chance to ask her about it, but it had come with a cheeky message saying, "—because I know you're reckless, this will totally help you out in a pinch!"

Mei...

Thinking about Mei could have caused a misstep, but right now, it only made Izuku want to fight even better, and helped him realize that now wasn't the time for a last ditch effort.. Not yet.

Izuku and Bakugo both retaliated quickly, not planning anything, but somehow both working in tandem. Whether it was due to their experience fighting together already, they couldn't be certain— But as Bakugo blasted up towards All Might to try and attack him head-on, Izuku burst forward and slid down low, ready to attack from below.

The explosion Bakugo sent at All Might's head was dodged easily, and as the boy brought his other hand in for a follow-up, All Might grabbed his arm. However, Izuku shot up from below, kicking up into All Might's arm, making him release Bakugo. He then tried to swing his leg around again to catch the #1 Hero with a kick to the head, but All Might quickly swatted Izuku away, sending him flying into a fire hydrant before skittering across the pavement.

I get how you feel, Kacchan, Izuku thought as he grit his teeth, managing to brace himself and slide along the ground to stop his momentum, before kicking off the ground to shoot back into the fight, bursting through the fountain of water that was shooting up into the air from the broken hydrant. The excitement of the fight.. Even against overwhelming odds, it's—

As Izuku went through the water, he was greeted by Bakugo who was being thrown at him. There would've been time to brace themselves and try to stop their flight, but All Might quickly followed up, throwing a powerful punch towards them that blasted a tempest of wind through the street.

Izuku and Bakugo couldn't stop themselves, both being blown back, as helpless as someone being sucked into a tornado, before they slammed through a building and ended up inside of another one beyond it. The building they went blasting through crumbled and fell with a loud crash, kicking up dust all around the street.

Coughing, Izuku could only sit, gasping exasperatedly as he lay on a pile of rubble that was once a wall.

That's right.. Izuku felt like he had returned to his senses now, his adrenaline fading. I get the exhilaration of the fight, but..

Looking to his right, he spotted Bakugo slowly sitting up, struggling intensely at the effort, both of them quite banged up at this point.

Sometimes it's not the best answer..

Within the new silence that followed the other building's destruction, Izuku could hear that the Flow unit of his suit had petered out, his limit having been reached already. From what he knew, unless the device had been damaged, it would be a few minutes before it'd be working again.

"Ka..cchan—"

"Shut it… Don't say it," Bakugo retorted quickly, growling slightly as he managed to rise up to his feet. "You can take a nap there… If you want… Nerd."

Izuku's body felt dull aching pains in his body as he tried to rise. The suit did well to protect from battle damage for the most part, but it couldn't take all of the force dealt to him. Luckily, living in a world of Quirks had naturally made Humans naturally more resilient as generations passed, even without having a Quirk. With his previous battle experience and seeing Bakugo's determination also being a factor, Izuku managed to get up to his feet.

"We just need a plan," Izuku said with a wince of pain, producing the cuffs they had been given, "To get these on him."

"You tryina' spew the same crap as that guy?"

Izuku knew what he meant, recalling what Best Jeanist had tried to hammer into them about teamwork and trusting in others. He shook his head.

"No.. Like against the Hero Killer," Izuku explained. "You took control and figured out a way for all of us to strike at him. You did that."

Bakugo eyed Izuku, as if suspicious of the praise, before scoffing.

"So I need to save your ass again?"

"I can't think of a way to cuff All Might," Izuku admitted. "So… It has to be your plan!"

The building they were in suddenly shifted as a loud explosion noise could be heard. The ceiling began to cave in, so the boys both quickly ran out the nearest entrance. Once outside, they looked back as they ran, seeing that All Might had punched the side of the structure, making it fall.

"There you are," the #1 Hero spoke with a huge grin. "Scattering like cowards, ey?"

They continued to run, not daring to slow down at all, able to hear the powerful crashes that symbolized All Might's fast movements to chase after them.

"Here's my plan, Deku," Bakugo spoke as they ran with surprising calm. "I'm taking the high ground, you stay low, and we both move towards the exit.

"You want to make it to the goal instead?" Izuku was surprised by the notion.

"Hell no! If you run through the exit, I'll kill you," Bakugo spat angrily. "Listen up! My plan is…."

A few minutes later, All Might came bursting through a building to Izuku's right, surprising him. Bakugo was flying up into the air with his explosions, heading for the tops of the multi-story buildings, when he heard the commotion and looked back to see the Hero discovering them.

"Separating again? I can't believe you're making it easier on me," All Might commented loudly as he intercepted Izuku's path. He looked up, watching Bakugo go. "One goes up, one goes down, huh? That'd work against someone weak, maybe." The #1 Hero let out a hearty chuckle, adding a bit of an evil flare to it.

All Might squatted down, preparing to leap. Izuku took note of this, and ran towards him quickly. The Hero noticed him coming of course, and turned to strike, delivering a punch aimed for Izuku's stomach. He moved a bit, still getting hit, the glancing blow to his side still causing a dull, painful shock, but Izuku quickly realiated and grabbed hold of All Might's arm.

"Flow..!"

Holding onto the Pro Hero's arm tightly, Izuku pulled back with all his strength, the word command making the Flow unit assist his movement. It wouldn't have worked at all most likely, if it weren't for the suit's added boost of power from the air it blasted out from various ports. As Izuku leaned back far enough, the metal stability rod shot out into the ground, helping him hold All Might's arm.

"Your attempts are disappointing, Young Midoriya," All Might commented, rearing his other fist back to strike. "If you think I'll hold back, then you're mistaken."

"KACCHAN!"

As Izuku yelled this, an explosion rang out from directly above them. All Might stopped his fist and, instead, looked up, bringing his arm up to strike at the other oncoming opponent—

But Bakugo was upon him already, his right hand reaching out for All Might's face. The Hero grabbed Bakugo's wrist right before it could touch him, but he was surprised as the glove seemed to crumple in his grasp.

"Die!" As Bakugo yelled this, his gloveless hand fired a volley of explosions down upon All Might, having removed it and the grenade-like attachment as a feint.

Now's the chance..! Izuku grabbed the cuffs and brought them forward to snap them to All Might's wrist, wincing at the power of the explosions raining down on them—

"Sorry."

Izuku's eyes widened at this simple word from his idol, as All Might pulled hard, yanking Izuku from his braced position. Then, in one fluid motion, the powerful Hero spun around several times. Almost instantly, Izuku lost his grip on his arm, a powerful gale of wind shooting up into the sky like a tornado that blasted the two students upwards.

T-The Nebraska Smash! Izuku knew of this technique All Might used. As Izuku and Bakugo were tumbling through the air, the #1 Hero leaped with incredible power towards them.

"Bastard…" Bakugo growled as he readied himself. Izuku noticed that his hands were twitching slightly, something that seemed to happen when Bakugo used his Quirk too much. "Come on then!"

We're both going to get taken down at this rate, Izuku thought, wanting to see how close the goal was, but not daring to look away from the oncoming teacher. Aizawa sensei… What can I do?

"Keep moving and keep watching," his homeroom teacher had said during their last training session. "All Pro Heroes will do this. And any powerful villains will as well. The first one who falters in either of those things will lose."

Izuku's right arm shot out and grabbed Bakugo's arm. The boy shot him a dangerous look, but seemed surprised by Izuku's determined expression.

"We've got one more shot," Izuku told him.

"Tch, don't touch me you—"

"Give me a boost!"

Bakugo scowled but obliged, grabbing Izuku's arm and throwing him down towards their oncoming opponent, adding an explosion right after that propelled Izuku faster.

Izuku grabbed the cuffs with his other hand, opening them up, making sure that it was visible and obvious. He could see All Might react to this, tensing slightly as he was more wary to strike and risk being captured.

Aim for when All Might stops focusing on us! Even for a second!

He hurled the cuffs down at All Might, who seemed surprised by this move. The Hero shifted in the air and batted them away hard, but cautiously, his eyes trailing them for just a moment…

Only a few seconds away from colliding, Izuku took advantage of this moment, clicking four fingers on either hand, feeling the suit beginning to suck in air intensely— Then, as Izuku released his fingers, he burst downwards, closing the gap to All Might instantly.

"When you know you're in control of the momentum of the fight, you can make more bold moves," Aizawa had told him. "Trying things like that while at a disadvantage will just get you killed."

A bold move is what we need!

Slamming into All Might was like hitting a brick wall. Izuku gasped hard at the impact, unable to stop the momentum of hulking mass of a Hero completely. However, that wasn't his goal anyways. In that moment, All Might's surprise faded quickly, and he tried to grab hold of Izuku, who grabbed his shoulders and moved up and over All Might to his back before he could snag him..

Mei.. I'm sorry for being reckless..! Though he thought this, Izuku knew Mei would be delighted to know he was using her baby to its full power.

"OVERFLOW!"

At this command, the Flow unit burst, all power and air being shot out from the back instead of the rest of the suit. It was incredibly powerful, blasting Izuku up along with All Might, making him feel like he was taking off in a rocket or something. Hot air spat out from the exhaust of the Flow unit on the back of the suit, the smell of smoke reaching Izuku's senses as he hoped that it wouldn't be completely ruined afterwards.

The idea had been somewhat inspired from their performance in the Cavalry Battle during the Sports Festival. The jetpack Mei had created had done a lot for them, and seemed like a practical addition to his suit. Watching Iida battle against Stain had also showed Izuku how powerful a sudden burst of power can be to add to your speed and strength. Thus, these two concepts had come together into the 'Overflow', something to deliver decisive blows to opponents.

Of course, their opponent was All Might. He couldn't be defeated by any attacks they did, but together, the two boys could possibly overwhelm him to where he would give them an opportunity for capture.

All Might reached back, managing to grab one of Izuku's arms. However, Bakugo arrived, his boots landing firmly on All Might, the boy smirking wickedly as the three of them climbed higher into the air. He held both hands together down towards the Pro Hero.

"Should've given up! Bastard," Bakugo exclaimed.

Izuku kicked off from All Might, as the Hero let go of Izuku and held his arms up to try and block the oncoming explosion that occurred. As Izuku turned to descend, the powerful blast rocked him a bit, and he looked up to see a large cloud of smoke obscuring the two of them.

I'll be back, Kacchan..!

Izuku searched with his eyes, eventually seeing what he needed. He managed to maneuver his way through the air towards a building rooftop, the Flow unit starting to sputter as he snagged the falling cuffs out of the air, sliding along the roof and running towards the edge— Until he felt the boost running out completely, and skidded to a halt, gasping as he almost fell over the edge.

It's done for..! Izuku peered towards his back, moving his fingers and not getting any feedback. I have no way of getting back to them now…

There was an odd silence that followed the resounding explosion from earlier. This made Izuku suspicious, as he looked up and gasped, seeing someone rapidly approaching. He dodged out of the way as All Might landed hard on the rooftop, cracking it and making the whole structure shudder. Izuku looked over at him, and saw that he had Bakugo over his shoulder.

"Jeez… You kids are kind of scary," All Might commented, coughing. He dropped Bakugo to the roof beside him, the boy unmoving. "I feel like this teamwork would've helped you reach the goal, yet you've decided to test if we were serious about crushing you."

Izuku gulped. All Might's suit was a bit scuffed, but besides that, it was like he had taken no damage and was merely a bit dirtied up. He watched as the man brought his hand up and coughed, thinking that he saw some blood on it afterwards.

"I-I know Kacchan didn't want for us to win any other way," Izuku responded.

"Sometimes you need to knock some sense into your teammates," All Might said with a helpless gesture, before pointing at the yellow cuffs in Izuku's hands. "Do you think you can do it alone?"

Izuku grit his teeth, his legs wobbly from the test thus far, and facing his idol. He shook his head solemnly, and answered honestly:

"No… I can't…"

"Then you want the test to be over?"

Izuku had to think about that, but then shook his head. "Kacchan wouldn't want that either."

All Might grinned. "Well, I'm not nearly at my limit. Don't think I've slowed down at all. You can't escape, and you can't fight."

Though All Might didn't waver at all while saying this, Izuku had a feeling that their constant insistence to fight back was wearing the Hero down. His injury and time limit on this form were a secret that very few knew about, and Izuku felt bad about abusing that.. But it was just as Aizawa sensei had told him—

"If you see a weakness, you use it to your advantage."

Izuku ran forward.

His Flow unit was out of commission, but All Might didn't know that. He had seen how Izuku could maneuver quickly around, so maybe he's overcompensate for Izuku's movement, and—

A punch slammed into Izuku's side as he tried to flank around All Might where Bakugo lay, the Hero easily attacking him and sending him sprawling across the rooftop. Izuku gasped, shakily getting onto his hands and knees. The power of All Might's hits were obviously being held back, but even then, the power difference between them was insane.

"If you're just going to run at me, I'll treat you like a punching bag," All Might commented.

Izuku didn't care, standing and running at him again. All Might sighed, watching as Izuku ran to one side and approached. He grasped Izuku's arm and tossed him away, only for the boy to stand and run at him again… And again… Each time being smacked or thrown away, until, eventually, Izuku could only lay there, panting hard.

"That's the end then," All Might said with a sigh of relief. "At some point, I have a responsibility to call it for your safety, even if you plan on running at me until you die—"

Click.

All Might blinked, and looked to his left and down. There, Bakugo was sitting up weakly, his hand on the yellow cuff that he had linked to All Might's ankle. The spiky-hair boy smirked.

"Who are you lookin' at… bastard…?"

With that, Bakugo fell back over, unconscious.

"Eh..? What the—" All Might gazed down at the cuff, then looked over at Izuku, who was shocked at the sight.

"We did it…"

All Might tried to think of what had happened. He recalled the first time Izuku had run at him, moving around to where Bakugo had laid, before All Might had attacked him and sent him flying.. And he realized that the cuffs weren't in his hands after that point. The Pro Hero hadn't noticed due to his reluctance to strike Midoriya further, and the effort of standing tall despite his lingering old injuries.

"You kids…" All Might shook his head and grinned. "You really got me, even if it was pretty reckless!"

"You've both passed!"

The next thing Izuku remembered was waking up in the infirmary. He looked around the room with his eyes, seeing the fading orange sunlight of the day trickling into the room. Most of his suit had been removed so he could lay comfortably on the bed. Straining his neck, he turned to see Bakugo in a bed to his left, still unconscious.

We… we did it…

The memories flooded back into Izuku, and he tried to sit up, only to lay back again as a spasm of pain hit him.

"I told you I wouldn't hold back," came a voice suddenly, and Izuku noticed All Might standing there for the first time. The man was in his thin form, so he was hard to notice in the corner. "Sorry."

"All Might…"

Suddenly, the door slid open, and Recovery Girl came in quickly in a huff. She raised her cane and started to thwack All Might, who returned to his buff form and reeled away from her assault.

"You really did a number on them! You should've held back," the small older woman snapped at him. "I'd be amazed if the boys wake up before tomorrow evening— Oh?"

The nurse noticed Izuku was awake and approached the side of his bed, leaning in to peer at him.

"If you're awake, you should eat while you can," Recovery Girl told him. "Then sleep will recover your exhaustion from my Quirk."

"R-Right… Yes ma'am... Thank… you," Izuku spoke with a weak smile.

They watched as Izuku slowly closed his eyes, succumbing to sleep. The nurse sighed and walked back towards the door.

"Well, rest will do them good either way," she spoke. "Bakugo won't wake up for a while, most likely. He overdid his Quirk."

As the woman left again, All Might gazed down at the boys, coughing a bit. He felt a powerful feeling of pride for them.

"I can hardly recognize both of you," All Might spoke aloud. "Young Midoriya… Young Bakugo… I hope you can help each other grow even further."

As the #1 Hero left the room so they could sleep, the Final Exams had come to an end. Some ending in victory, some in bittersweet defeat…

But their true tests were yet to come, as their Summer Training Camp was looming closer… And so was a new threat

The door to Shigaraki's hideout opened. Giran had a small smirk as he took a drag of his cigarette and gazed inside, seeing Shigaraki peering at a photograph in his hand of a particular green-haired boy.

"Shigaraki, you're the talk of the town lately," Giran spoke teasingly. "I hear you're planning something big—"

"Where are they?" Tomura Shigaraki dissolved the photo in his hand, and glanced over at Giran seriously.

"Cutting right to the chase huh.." Giran turned away, and shortly returned with two people behind him. They stood a small distance apart, facing Shigaraki. Kurogiri, who was behind the bar as usual, watched the encounter closely.

"So, it's you," Shigaraki spoke dispassionately as he gazed at the two newcomers.

One wore a normal school girl's attire, with ash-blonde hair pulled into two messy buns, and she was smiling delightedly at the encounter, her sharp fang-like canines showing prominently.

The other was a tall boy with black hair, and peculiar purple scars of sorts on different parts of his body, most notably under his eyes, along his jaw, and all over his arms and chest.

"You look even more disgusting in person," the boy commented as he looked at Shigaraki.

"Wow, the hand guy! You're friends with the great Stain, right," the girl exclaimed, her arms moving excitedly.

Himiko Toga held her hands up near her face, in a sort of cutesy pose that, with her appearance, masked the malicious intent deep inside of her.

"Let me join too— The League of Villains!"

To Be Continued

Next Chapter: Liberation