If you asked a hundred people what makes All Might dangerous in a fight the majority would say his powerful punches but that's not true. It's his speed that makes him a terrifying opponent. Strength quirks tend to have trouble landing a hit on those faster than them. With All Might you don't even know you've been hit until your sent flying.
Something the remaining cannon fodder was getting a firsthand demonstration in. I was barely able to keep him in my line of sight.
Afterwards I was dragged out from Nomu's grasp none too gently. A small complaint given its strength and my inherent durability.
Once my vision was able to come back into focus, I found myself behind my predecessor sitting next to my homeroom teacher who was passed out from fighting none stop for almost an hour with no break and a recently mangled arm. How hard did he have to work to gain that type of endurance while I exceed it by simply existing?
Internal debate later, inform All Might of the situation.
"All Might, birdbrain has two quirks, shock absorption and regeneration. Punching won't work and I cut his hand off, but he just grew it back in seconds. Breaking his joints only slows him down."
"Young Midoriya!" All Might said while gesturing to me behind his back with an open hand. Then he faced me while peace signing in front of his face like a magic girl. I almost laughed at how ridiculous it was.
"I got this." He declared and I could see what he was doing.
Every gesture and movement he makes is to reassure those around him. Nobody could be that goofy naturally. He almost got me to laugh while in the middle of a death battle with his persona.
"Take Aizawa to the entrance while I deal with this." He ordered, breaking my train of thought.
I didn't immediately do as he asked. Getting Eraserhead away from danger was a priority but these guys planned to take on All Might while he had two heroes to assist him. The odds of them succeeding only go up if he faces them alone.
I don't like it, but I guess I need to have faith in his ability to hold out until I get back.
That last thought gave me pause. Since when did I start doubting that All Might could win this fight on his own?
No more delays, I scooped up Aizawa in a firemen's carry, making sure to hold his arm above the damaged elbow, and booked it to the entrance using two percent of One for All to push my speed as far as I could without phase shifting as I now call my speed boost technique.
The run to the front entrance took less than a minute. I could hear my classmates talking but it was just white noise to me. Watching the fight took all of my focus.
Despite my warnings, All Might still tried to punch Nomu, granted he didn't commit to the blows, but I still felt a twinge of annoyance. Alas, it didn't take him long to change tactics and deliver the mother of all suplexes. It was like a bomb went off.
However, Nomu wasn't buried in concrete, Kurogiri somehow managed to open a portal where the monstrosity would have hit the ground. The other end of the portal was underneath All Might, giving Nomu the chance to grab him where his old injury was.
Blood started to seep through All Might's shirt. Before he could begin to struggle, I was running at full speed back into the fray.
Without the extra weight I was back at the plaza in half the time it took me to get to the front entrance. Kurogiri moved his portals away from each while still open. Doesn't matter my plan wouldn't change.
At ten feet from All Might I lunged to try and get to Nomu quicker. Kurogiri however was faster and managed to get in between me and All Might. I couldn't see it, but I knew he was opening a portal to send me who knows where and he chose the one moment I can't stop my own momentum.
Or so he thought.
Flowing like a river around a rock I avoided the portal, moved past All Might and reformed on Nomu's upper back. I could hear the two villains in charges' exclamations but that wasn't important right now. Wasting no time, I changed my right arm into a blade and plunged it through the back of Nomu's neck, severing his spinal cord with a wet squelch.
Immediately Nomu's grip slackened, and All Might broke free. Once my favorite hero was out of harm's way, I tried to remove my blade from the monstrosities neck but was met with firm resistance.
Nomu had a firm grip on the part of my blade that was sticking out the front of his neck. How was he able to move with a severed spine?
My eyes looked at where the blade went in and switched between several vision spectrums to figure out what was going on. I got my answer.
Nomu's nerves grew around my blade and reattached themselves. I didn't even know that was possible.
I could have gotten out of this mess by phasing, but the surprise made me stumble for a few seconds. Seconds that allowed the bioweapon and Kurogiri to regroup.
Nomu dragged my arm and lower torso through leaving just my upper body out and positioning Nomu out of the way of their coup de grace.
I had no time to phase out of the closing portal. It was like a guillotine coming down from all sides it was so quick. Now I can't feel my legs or right arm.
"Midoriya!" I heard All Might scream while Shigaraki was laughing like a serial killer. Must be because of the fake blood all around me. I still have no idea why that's the default for when I am injured while in human form.
Before I could start pulling myself back together, I heard a familiar bang go off next to Kurogiri who hasn't moved from where he tried to stop me.
With a mighty roar Bakugou pinned Kurogiri on the ground by his neck brace. Always so dramatic.
"Guess I found your body that time ya smoky bastard." He added.
The next sound to reach my ears was the tinkling of Todoroki's ice incasing Nomu up to his neck and Kirishima tried to get the drop on Shigaraki, but he managed to dodge.
"Perfect timing you guys, I was worried someone was going to get hurt!" I shouted needing to make sure they see I am fine despite being bisected and dismembered.
My classmates and teacher all turned to look at me smiling and waving with my remaining arm. I wish I had a camera to capture the look on all their faces.
"The fuck happened to you Deku?" my best friend asked with a raised eyebrow. He has managed to blow off one of my arms in our spars in middle school, so he knows I am ok but is probably wondering what was able to cut me in half considering the effort it took to blast my arm off.
"I am not so strong as to be able to stop space time from mending a tear in reality Kacchan." I replied, trying to put Kirishima and Todoroki's minds at ease with my humor.
"You could have just said smoky did it." My friend snarked back. Sharp as a tact that one until he has to read the room then he may as well be as dumb as brick.
"Ok I'm just going to say it Midoriya are you alright?" Kirishima asked having enough of ignoring my superficial injuries.
"Ya just give me a moment to pull myself together." I replied. Next, I started turning myself around with my one arm so I could face Shigaraki and my arm and lower half that were just a few feet away. My simulated injury making all sorts of squishy sounds that I hoped would unnerve him, no such luck if the lack of movement was anything to go by.
"You are an asshole!" I swore at the man child while pointing my finger at him. Kacchan started wheezing from trying to hold in his laugh. I almost never swear so I will give him that one.
Shigaraki flinched at my declaration, that was what I was waiting for. When I was last dismembered, I found out that the separated pieces retain their form rather than falling apart into piles of metal. The smaller the piece the further I can recall it from. Something I learned from destroying my arm using One for All. Right now, I extended my magnetic field outwards to reconnect my control of my missing parts.
Suddenly I could feel my legs as they jerked around like something out of a horror movie. Once the connection was reestablished, all three parts of me turned into a flowing mass that coalesced into a rising vortex. Within seconds I looked exactly how I did before this whole mess started.
"There we go good as new!" I declared while facing my classmates with my hands on my hips. If goofy poses work for All Might I figured I may as well give it a try despite how unnatural it felt.
"Kids today really are amazing. They make the League of Villains look like amateurs. Especially when they capture my two strongest men. Can't have that." Shigaraki monologed.
"Nomu."
With that one word the monstrosity started to move, despite the ice encasing him. it was not without repercussion though. All four of his limbs broke off, ice shattering with them. Then came the regeneration. It was everyone else's first time seeing it in action but watching muscle and skin regrow rapidly still makes something in me churn with discomfort.
"Nomu has been modified to take you on, even at one hundred percent of your power. He's basically a highly efficient punching bag that hits back." Shigaraki explained.
"First, we need to free our method of escape. Get him Nomu."
The towering beast moved so suddenly I almost didn't react in time. When a normal person prepares to lunge or sprint you can see the muscles tensing, the slight lean back to push off.
Nomu didn't do any of that.
His movements before falling into a sprint were unnatural. Those seconds of a second that it took to figure out that he was going for Kacchan meant that I didn't have time to move him out of the way. All Might was moving faster though and would probably be able to remove Kacchan from danger but at these speeds I couldn't process that information fast enough. All I could think about is saving Kacchan.
I once again dispersed my body, but rather then return to a humanoid shape I enveloped my best friend. Forming makeshift armor over his entire person, extra mass was used to form lightweight plates all along his back and spine, floating an inch off the surface to act as shock absorbers.
Then came the impact.
All Might managed to push us out of the direct path of Nomu's punch but only barely. The shockwave from that punch hitting All Might's guard and us being only a foot away from it meant we were sent flying a good hundred feet away.
The shock pads I made were put to the test when we finally made contact with the ground again. Every plate was violently pushed back into contact with us, but they did their job and dispersed the majority of the force from hitting the ground. I took the rest and from what I could tell, Kacchan wouldn't even have a bruise.
We landed next to our fellow classmates with our backs to the entrance.
"Wow, you guys dodged it and cool trick Midoriya!" Kirishima exclaimed when the dust settled, and he could see us.
"Shut up no we didn't and get off me you damn nerd I can't see a thing." Kacchan replied, showing he was alright if he could still curse. Still, I slipped off of him like water and reformed next to him.
"Then how did you get over here?" Kirishima asked.
The sound of falling concrete drew our attention and prompted Todoroki to say what we were all thinking.
"Isn't It obvious?"
All Might was standing in the remains of a cement barrier with his arms in a cross guard, panting heavily.
These are kids and you didn't hold back?" All Might accused.
"I didn't have much choice. He was threatening my companion. Besides, these kids are no angels. The not so plain looking one, he cut off Nomu's arm and tried to kill him, what kind of hero does something like that? You think you can get away with being as violent as you want if you say it's for the sake of others. Well, you know what All Might? That pisses me off. Why do people get to decide that some violent acts are heroic, and others are villainous? Casting judgement as to what's good and what's evil. You think you're the Symbol of Peace? Ha your just another government-sponsored instrument of violence. And violence always breeds more violence. I'll make sure the world understands that once you're dead." Shigaraki calmly ranted.
I couldn't help the snort that left me. Everyone's eyes on me however sobered my outburst and I took the invitation to speak.
"Don't talk like a pacifist when you are clearly a textbook sociopath who gets off on death and destruction it doesn't suit you. Especially after you tried to cut me in half." I viciously dug at him, and I could just barely make out the narrowing of his eyes, showing I hit the nail on the head.
"We've got them outnumbered." Todoroki declared.
"And Kacchan found Misty's weakness." I added while raising my hands, ready to fight.
"These dudes may act really tough, but we can take'em down now with All Might's help. Let's do this." Kirishima said while hardening his arms into makeshift shanks.
"Don't attack. Get out of here." All Might cut in while putting himself between us and the three villains.
A retort about how he would have been in trouble without our help was on the tip of my tongue, but something stopped me. Maybe it was his posture or his expression, but I understood the message wordlessly conveyed.
All Might needs to be the one to handle this. Not just for pride but for his position as the Symbol of Peace and all that it and he represent. If he lets us help deal the finishing blow the protection, he stands for is shattered and gone. It pains me but I have to let this play out.
"Fine, we will sit back and watch a pro at work." I declared with a lighthearted tone, raising my hands up to my sides to keep everyone else from interfering.
I could hear Shigaraki whispering some plan to Kurogiri but couldn't make it out. His intentions however became very clear when he said 'let's clear this level and go home.' And ran directly towards us while trying to go around All Might.
"Heads up, we're fightin' afterall."
But before Shigaraki could make it halfway, everyone felt it. A change in the air, like gravity pressing down just the tiniest bit more on you.
Then All Might moved.
Shigaraki was blown back from Nomu intercepting All Might's punch. Not that we were fairing any better. My classmates and I were blown back even further.
"Weren't you listening, one of his powers is shock absorption." Shigaraki asked smugly.
"Yeah? What about it?" All Might shot back.
And that was the start of a slug fest so fast I started to lose track of some of the punches. The continuous shockwaves kept everyone away with gale force winds.
"Woah, their so, fast!" Kirishima exclaimed while trying to keep his footing.
"He said your quirk was only shock absorption, not nullification. That means there's a limit to what you can take right?" All Might asked rhetorically while pressing his attack.
Nomu managed to get another punch into All Might's old injury but that only seemed to piss him off.
"So, you were made to fight me, big guy. If you can really withstand me firing at one hundred percent of my power… …then I will have to go beyond that and force you to surrender."
All Might's hits increased in number and intensity, slowly overwhelming Nomu. Unbelievable. He's giving it his all even though he's injured. Those aren't just random punches, either. They're targeted, and every single one of them… …is more than one hundred percent of his power.
"A real hero… …will always find a way for justice to be served!" he yelled when Nomu was sent tumbling.
Now he's grappling with Nomu. It was happening so fast that I couldn't tell how All Might managed to get him up in the air for such an earth-shattering throw. Literally, the ground shattered from the impact. Nomu even bounced off the decimated concrete. In that moment of weightlessness All Might landed with the weight of a righteous titan.
"Now for a lesson. You may have heard these words before, but I will teach you what they really mean." He cocked his fist back, the air steaming from his hand.
"Go beyond! Plus, Ultra!" All Might roared while burying his fist into Nomu, his body bulging obscenely from trying to absorb all that kinetic energy. Then his quirk gave out. The ground cracked and exploded again. Nomu was launched through the roof of the USJ and even created holes in the clouds on his trip through the atmosphere.
"That was like the finishing move in a videogame. He beat the shock absorption right out of him. I've never seen that kind of brute strength!" Kirishima exclaimed.
"Imagine having power like that. He must have been punching that monster so fast, he couldn't regenerate." Kacchan added. Stirring thoughts of my own.
That was the remnants of One for All's power. How powerful is the entire quirk? How much strength lies within me, waiting to be released? Will I ever be able to use that much without destroying my arm on the first hit?
Before I could spiral into more depreciating thoughts, I turned my gaze away from the giant hole in the roof to All Might. Others couldn't but I could see through the dust and through him. All the signs of exhaustion laid bare to me. He really is tapped out. If the villains wanted to, they could kill him right now without breaking a sweat.
Unless.
Before I could talk myself out of it, I silently made my way into the dust cloud while everyone, including the villains were still gapping at were Nomu went. I pulled All Might further in, his lack of resistance telling me just how utterly spent he was. Though he managed to turn around and see that it was me who pulled him away.
At least it was me until I changed to look like him, battle damage and all.
"Let me do the bluffing, you are shaking too much to be convincing." I whispered.
I could see it in his eyes, the anger and frustration. Not directed at me but at himself, because he knows he can't stop me despite how much he wants to. Without resistance he backed away, giving me permission.
I walked out of the dust standing tall. Hopefully I can pull this off.
"You've been bested villains. Surrender, we all want to get this over with quickly." I boasted.
"No, he beat me. He's not any weaker at all. And look what he did to my Nomu. He cheated!" Shigaraki whisper raged. If I can just keep him flat footed until the other teachers arrive, we will be golden.
"Oh, come on, what's going on here? He's just as strong as he's always been. Dammit. Don't tell me I was lied to." This guy's emotions are all over the place perhaps I can push him in the right direction.
"What's wrong? Not attacking me? Didn't you say you were going to clear this level earlier? Well, come and get me, if you dare." I antagonized while forming my face into my best guess of what All Might's glare would look like.
It seemed to work. Shigaraki started gasping and backing away.
"Man, this is… intense." I heard Kacchan whisper despite the distance.
"As I expected. There's no reason for us to fight now he'll handle this." Todoroki declared.
"Wait, where's Midoriya?" Kirishima asked.
"What?" Kacchan asked while whipping his head around until it fell on me. I could see the gears turning and his eyes widening when the light bulb went off.
"Ah hell."
"Bakugo? What's going on?" Kirishima asked.
"That's not All Might." Kacchan answered. Damn it.
"What do you mean?" Todoroki asked with a raised eyebrow.
"That's not All Might, it's Deku pretending to be him." He gritted out through clenched teeth to keep the villains from hearing.
"Why would he do that?" Kirishima whispered, understanding the danger of loud words.
"Obviously punching a villain into the clouds took more effort than we thought and Deku is playing chicken to buy time." Kacchan answered quickly.
He's not wrong. Puffed up like this I don't think I could move properly in a fight.
"What? Are you scared?" I pressed hoping to push them into surrendering or running away.
"If only Nomu was here… he'd rush you right now. Pound you into the ground without giving it a second thought." Shigaraki raved while scratching his neck aggressively.
"Tomura Shigaraki! Please, do not fret. Look at him. He has definitely weakened. Nomu's attacks were successful. He's on his own. The children appear to be frozen in fear. And look, our underlings are recovering. We likely still have a few minutes before their reinforcements arrive. If you and I work together, we can do this. We haven't missed our chance to kill All Might." Kurogiri explained, soothingly, though I wonder why he thought I was weakened. Perhaps the injuries were too realistic.
"Yeah. Yeah, you're right. This is it. We have no choice. We have to do it now. I mean, the big end-boss is right here." Shigaraki said while calming down. That's not good.
"Consider this revenge for what you did to Nomu!" He yelled while breaking into a sprint that would make ravenous dogs proud. Shit.
What can I do? I could use the finger flick again but that might not be enough power and would give away that I can't punch them away like All Might. A punch is out of the question, that will damage my whole arm and let the villains know that I'm not All Might. Damn it.
Boom!
'What?' I thought before my grin became genuine.
Kacchan you maniac, jumping in and delivering the mother of all explosions to their faces, and they call me reckless.
Todoroki followed up with a barrage of ice, to try and capture the disoriented villains, thought they were only pushed back the help was appreciated. Kirishima pulled up the rear.
Before any witty remarks could be exchanged gun shots rang out. Four in rapid succession. Two hit Shigaraki's hands, while two more went somewhere out in the distance.
The teachers were too far away to hear except for Present Mic when he used his quirk to subdue the cannon fodder by the fountain. Despite the noise all I could feel was the kind of relief that uncoils muscles you didn't even know you had. Sometimes literally in my case.
"Aw, man. The pros are here. It's game over. For real. Let's go home and try this when we can—" And that's how far the man child got before two more shots hit his legs. Kurogiri used his mist to shield him from more shots until Thirteen pushed through the pain and tried to capture them with blackhole. Though not before Kurogiri could portal away most of Shigaraki. His head still sticking out.
"I may have failed to kill you this time, but your days are numbered. All Might. Symbol of Peace. I am going to kill you." He said before the rest of him disappeared into the portal and that too followed them to wherever they went. Blackhole was turned off shortly after.
"Start talking nerd." Growled a familiar voice.
Kirishima and Todoroki were both putting in their two cents, but I couldn't focus on what they were saying. How the hell am I going to get out of this one?
"It's all right Midoriya better just rip the band aid off." All Might said, while the dust receded, revealing his emaciated form.
"Who are you?" Kirishima asked.
"That's All Might." I deadpanned while shifting back to my normal self.
The three sets of widening eyes and head whipping would be more funny if it were any other situation.
"Guys, I can see Cementoss coming, why don't I explain while we make our way to the entrance?" I offered while looking at All Might to see if he approved me taking over story time. The slight nod of his head was all I needed.
"Don't leave anything out." Kacchan snarled, more out of reflex then any actual hostility.
And with that the four of us walked towards the ridiculously tall stairs while I recounted a downplayed version of the truth. I didn't go into detail of how bad the injury was just that it was slowing him down. Given he's almost fifty years old that's believable. It even ties into why he's started teaching at UA nicely. No super-secret quirks, missing organs or hidden successors here!
The rest of the day past by in a haze. At least for me. That day I learned what pros can really do and what they fight against to keep people safe. A revelation I wasn't prepared for. Yet I survived, despite being cut in half. I should probably be more freaked out about that but I'm not. Is it because of the lack of any permanent damage or is it something inherently wrong with me?
Regardless my thoughts weren't focused on my own psychology but rather how outclassed I was by both the pros and the villains. Sure, I held my own against Nomu but that was it, I held out. All Might however defeated it with the leftovers from One for All while I was only able to hold out with the entire quirk and my own on top of it. Logic wasn't helping the weight in my chest and the constriction in my throat.
And the hits just keep on coming. When I finally got home after talking with the police and teachers, mom tells me that my dad is coming tomorrow.
Let me clarify. My mom and dad dated for a while until his work overseas dragged him back. While they didn't change their contact information they drifted apart fast. Apparently with how obsessed he was with his job mom decided it was better not to tell him she was pregnant. Nurses get such good benefits.
Now though he called her out of the blue and said he's finally able to take a break more regularly and asked if he could visit. Mom replied with 'I have a son, I'm single and sure, same address.' Then hung up. Guess even adults sometimes don't know how to handle these things. He texted back that he would be coming by at lunch time. The unexpected two days off from school was supposed to be for us to rest after what happened, not wade through family drama.
All morning all I could think about was what was he like? Questions I never bothered to ask because I was too busy training my quirk where now flooding my mind. The video of All Might's debut was playing in the background. Keeping me from venturing too far down the rabbit hole.
The knock on the door seemed louder then normal. Before I could stop myself, I was leaving my room and staring down the hallway to the open door of our apartment.
I knew he was American but seeing him in person drove that fact home. It was strange to see pieces of my face on someone else's. His hair while black had the same curl to it as mine. His eyes though were an arctic blue, like a wolf in the tundra.
When those wolf eyes met mine, his face slackened. I was probably doing the same. Wordlessly he walked past mom and towards me, showing how tall he is. I'm pushing six feet, but he's still got more then a few inches on me.
We just stood there for what felt like forever.
Then he moved. It was so sudden that I didn't know what happened until his hand was around my throat, my back slammed into the wall and my feet off the ground.
"What did you do with Inko's son you metal motherfucker!" he shouted.
I did say hits, as in plural, right?
Late Christmas present but I at least got it to you guys before the end of January. I hope that I can post more chapters faster then six months at a time but with two other ongoing stories I'm averaging about one chapter every two or three months. The winter season though is when I have the most time to write so I should be able to update the other two before April, fingers crossed. Hope everyone is doing all right and please don't be afraid to leave a comment, hope you enjoyed this chapter!
Justus3138