Izuku's heart raced as the villains charged at them. They were wild and uncoordinated, cheering and pushing at each other as they ran, but somehow all the more intimidating for it. Not one of them looked bothered by the thought of attacking other people, or even killing them. It was terrifying, and it made a small part of him want to curl up into a ball and disappear. The strength and warmth radiating from his friends completely overwhelmed that part, though, and let Izuku stand strong as the villains approached.
"Keep out of combat as much as you can," Aizawa ordered, gripping his capture weapon in both hands. "I'll do my best to keep them occupied, but some may slip through. If you do have to fight, stay together and work as a team. And do not, under any circumstances, engage the leaders. They're too much for you to handle, even together."
All five of them nodded at that, even Katsuki. Seeing the villain shrug off his blast like it was nothing seemed to have humbled him, though it hadn't taken the fire out of his eyes entirely.
"I'm giving the four of you free license to defend yourselves and each other with your Quirks," Aizawa continued rapidly, his eyes never leaving the approaching group of villains. "Except for Midoriya. Don't use yours unless absolutely necessary. We can't afford to have someone injured now."
Izuku's stomach twisted at the command, but he wouldn't disobey a direct order and he knew it was for the best. He'd nearly screwed Mineta and himself during the battle trial by using his Quirk too freely, and he couldn't do that here. He wouldn't be a liability to his allies, not again.
That was all the time Aizawa had for directions. Just as he finished speaking, the large group of villains entered his range, and the teacher dashed forward to meet them. True to his word, he kept the bulk of the group occupied. Every few seconds, a villain would stop and stare at themselves in surprise, their Quirks having been stripped away with shocking suddenness. A moment later Aizawa would swoop in and deliver a swift blow that would send them reeling or toss them at any villains that had clustered together.
It was an incredible display, one that had Izuku rethinking nearly everything he knew about hero fights, but it wasn't quite enough to keep all of the villains occupied.
A small group broke off from the ones surrounding Aizawa and turned their gaze on Izuku and the others. One villain, a lanky man with curved blades that were attached to his forearms, took the lead in charging and the others followed behind.
Katsuki met the blade-armed villain head on, ducking under a hilariously telegraphed swipe and smashing a punch directly into the man's stomach. The punch was followed a moment later by a medium-sized explosion that sent the man rocketing backwards, nearly crashing into one of the other villains.
They all stopped in their tracks, shocked by the attack. Evidently, seeing Nomu take one of Katsuki's explosions without flinching had emboldened them. Watching one of their own get taken down so easily, however, was a different story.
One of the other villains raised his arm, though whether it was to attack or for some other purpose was unclear. Before he got more than halfway, one of Tsunotori's horns slammed into his shoulder and sent him spinning around. The other horn hit him in the back of the knee, and the man toppled to the ground with a yelp of pain. That seemed to remind the rest of them that they were in combat, and losing focus was a serious mistake.
A pair of villains lunged forward, a tall man with gravelly skin reaching for Katsuki's head while a man with dyed blond hair and bug-like antennae tried to kick his legs out from under him. Without thinking, Izuku threw a wild punch at the second man, forcing him to hop backwards and away from Katsuki.
"Too fucking slow," Katsuki snapped, blocking the other man's grab and landing an explosive punch in the man's face.
Izuku's opponent, meanwhile, hopped back and forth from foot to foot for a moment before sending a high kick at Izuku's face. He reacted instinctively, months of training with a different blond opponent having conditioned him to react to blond hair and too-quick blows. He stepped around the kick with ease and launched a right hook at the man.
The blow didn't come anywhere near the villain, but the man flinched back anyways out of wariness of Izuku's Quirk, giving Izuku an opening. His left arm snapped out and crashed directly into the villain's nose, sending the bug-man reeling backwards with a howl of pain. Izuku didn't stop, too used to fighting an opponent who wouldn't go down and who was more than happy to punish Izuku for dropping his guard too early. He reached forward and grasped one of the villain's arms, pulling him forward and over Izuku's body in a throw that slammed the villain into the ground and knocked him unconscious.
With his opponent thus dispatched, Izuku quickly looked around the area to check on his friends.
Katsuki was only a few feet away, pressing his opponent's face into the ground with his boot while he glared at the rest of the villains as if promising that he would do the same to anyone else that approached. The girls, meanwhile, had grouped together to face down their opponents. Tsunotori was crouched low while she directed her horns with her hands, and Ashido and Uraraka were covering her back. Three villains were unconscious or rolling on the ground in pain before them, and another was helplessly floating through the air.
Even as Izuku watched, another villain tried to tackle the trio. He was immediately met with a wave of slick and mild acid that caused him to slip, as well as a horn to the stomach once he was down. Not even a moment later, Uraraka swooped in and tapped the man's leg, sending him floating slowly upwards towards the ceiling.
"Izuku, behind!" Katsuki shouted suddenly, causing Izuku to flinch in surprise.
He whirled around to find a black blur hurtling towards him. A villain with a speed Quirk had broken free from Aizawa's group and decided to pick Izuku off while he was distracted. He tried to throw himself to the side, but wasn't quick enough. The villain's fist clipped his left shoulder and Izuku groaned as pain blossomed there. It didn't feel broken, but Izuku's point of comparison for what broken bones felt like was astronomically high thanks to One for All's backlash, so he couldn't be sure it wasn't.
He barely managed to stay on his feet as the villain whipped past, keeping upright more by force of will than anything else. To his immense relief, the villain didn't have a follow-up attack. Indeed, they continued on in a straight line after punching him, only coming to a stop when they nearly careened face first into a wall.
The villain spun around, revealing herself to be a woman in a biker helmet and leather riding clothes. They did an admirable job at concealing her body and protecting her, but the woman had unzipped the jacket enough to show off a bit of cleavage, which made her gender fairly obvious. That, and the pink gender symbol stitched onto the chest.
"Fucking bitch!" Katsuki swore, charging past Izuku with his palms already sparking, ready to take to the air and put the hurt on the villain.
"Kacchan, don't!" Izuku shouted, bringing his friend to a halt. "We need to stick together!"
He'd seen the woman's legs tense as Katsuki ran at her, preparing to counter any attack that he made with one of her own. Given her speed, it was a toss up whether Katsuki would be able to dodge in time, and he certainly wouldn't be able to attack her in exchange.
The villain took advantage of Katsuki's hesitation and dashed forward, but he turned his palms towards her and let loose with a blast that sent him rocketing backwards towards Izuku and forced the woman to end her dash early and cover herself as she skidded to a halt.
"What's the plan?" Katsuki asked with a sidelong glance at Izuku.
"We need to trip her or force her to overcommit to an attack, then counter when she's off balance," Izuku replied, running various scenarios through his head as quickly as he could.
He didn't have much time to think about it, though. After just a few seconds, the villain was dashing at them again. Through the blur of her speed, Izuku could vaguely make out a pair of outstretched arms that were ready to slam into Katsuki and send them flying.
In response, Katsuki went with the oldest trick in the book. He dropped down low and stuck out a leg to trip her as she went past. She was prepared for that, though, and simply leapt over his leg as she went, though it meant her shove didn't connect.
She flew past and Izuku and Katsuki were forced to turn to face her. As she skidded to a halt yet again, something dawned on Izuku, and a plan began to take shape.
"She can't turn while she's running, and she has trouble slowing down…" he mused out loud, which drew a snort from Katsuki.
"We're playing fucking bumper cars with a villain," Katsuki snickered when Izuku shot him a questioning look.
It was a hilarious idea, and drew a small smile from Izuku's lips. It also solidified the idea that had been forming in his mind.
"Kacchan, next time she attacks, dodge over her. We're going to lure her over towards the others. Ashido laid down some slippery acid, and I bet the villains aren't looking for that stuff. When she slips, you can take her down before she gets up."
Katsuki grunted an acknowledgement, then lowered his stance as if he were going to go for another leg sweep. Izuku stepped back, taking a place behind Katsuki and raising his arms in a block, doing his best to look worried and afraid, hoping to lure the woman in for another rush.
She took the bait, letting out a short laugh before lowering her helmeted head and literally charging headlong at them.
Izuku waited a half second for her to get close enough to be committed, then shouted out "Now!"
Katsuki launched into the air over the woman's head, using an aerial explosion to propel himself further. It had the added bonus of shaking the woman from the force, turning her controlled rush into a wobbly, super-fast stumble. It also made it much easier for Izuku to roll out of the way of the attack and pop to his feet in short order. It probably wasn't the most graceful maneuver, but it worked and Izuku was running before the villain even managed to regain her balance.
Katsuki was waiting by the others, who had dispatched another villain while Izuku wasn't watching, and pulled Izuku into the center of the group once he was in range. It was just in time as when Izuku spun around he saw the speedy villain turn into a blur as she dashed towards the group.
There wasn't enough time to tell Ashido to lay down the acid slick, or even give any of them an idea of what the woman could do. Thankfully, she didn't charge into the group to scatter them or even try and pick someone off from the edges. Instead, she dashed past them until she was behind the group and came to a sliding stop. They were forced to turn to look at her, and the villain took advantage of their confusion.
Before they had even finished turning she dashed off again, just far enough that they had to keep spinning to keep an eye on her. Yet again she came to a sliding stop before preparing to dash off once more. This time, however, Izuku caught on to what she was doing. He quickly grabbed Ashido's shoulder and pointed toward the spot behind them where he thought the speedy villain would be heading.
"Ashido, over there! Make it slippery!"
To his relief, she didn't hesitate. Ashido let loose a blast of acid spray that coated the area behind them a second before the speedy villain stepped onto the area. Her feet instantly went out from under her as she yelped in surprise and she went barreling forward at full speed through the newly created acid puddle.
She slammed into a nearby wall, which promptly collapsed on top of her. Thankfully, it had been mostly destroyed already and no large chunks fell directly on her, so she probably only suffered a concussion and maybe some broken bones from the impact.
Izuku let out a breath when the woman went down, then glanced around for another opponent. To his relief, there weren't any other villains waiting to close in on them or charging up an attack. For the most part they seemed content to go after Aizawa, who was still going strong.
"Midoriya, you are hurt?" Tsunotori asked, concern evident in her voice.
She was staring at his shoulder, and he realized that he was cradling it slightly. The pain from the villain's strike was already fading and his arm didn't feel any weaker than usual when he wiggled it to test the injury.
"It's just a bruise," he replied quickly. He wasn't the weak link anymore, and he didn't want to be stuck in the back of the group after just a single hit. He could keep going as long as he needed to, to make sure everyone came out of this unharmed.
"Someone check him," Katsuki said. His attention was still fixed on the battle between Aizawa and the rest of the villains, but he spared enough attention to rain on Izuku's parade. "Dumbass tried to walk to the clinic when he broke his arm training. Make sure he's not being stupid for me."
Izuku tried to protest, but both Ashido and Uraraka grabbed onto him and kept him still while they checked his shoulder. Thankfully, Uraraka was both gentle and efficient as she prodded it, then nodded in satisfaction.
"Just a bruise," she confirmed.
"See a lot of broken shoulders?" Ashido asked.
Uraraka shook her head in response. "My dad kept dislocating his, so me and my mom learned how to check. Broken's not too different from dislocated, right? So I figure it will be okay."
Izuku wasn't going to argue with that, especially if it meant he could still help them out.
"Heads up!" Katsuki called.
Izuku swiveled his head around and saw another group of villains breaking away from the main group to come at them. Half of them seemed to be preparing their Quirks for combat, while the other half were brandishing various weapons. They all looked murderous, though.
Izuku quickly broke free of Ashido's grip, and moved to stand at Katsuki's side, with Uraraka joining him a moment later. Tsunotori and Ashido were behind them, ready to rain down ranged attacks on their opponents whenever an opportunity presented itself.
He liked to imagine that they looked like heroes in that moment, standing strong against the darkness and protecting each other as best they could. It was a happy thought, one that brought a small smile to his face as he prepared to meet their next set of opponents.
Toshinori let out a long sigh as Nedzu launched into what was sure to be a long-winded lecture about the correct way to teach a class. He appreciated the intention, he really did, but the lectures never really did much for him. He'd always been the type to learn by doing, and classroom learning tended to go in one ear and out the other no matter how much he tried to focus.
The two of them were in the staff room where Toshinori had been recovering from his morning's exertions. While on his way to school, he had stopped a number of incidents, defeating villains and helping those in distress wherever he saw them. And now he had exhausted both himself and his use of One for All, leaving him stranded in the staff room while he sipped his tea and tried to get enough strength back to give the students a lecture once they were done at the USJ.
At least he wouldn't need to keep up appearances during his talk with Midoriya. The boy had agreed to stay late after school that day so he and Toshinori could discuss One for All and how he was adjusting to it. Toshinori had spent all of the previous day thinking up ways to help the boy learn better control. Admittedly, the list he had come up with was depressingly short, but Toshinori hoped that one of them would work out. He wanted Midoriya to succeed, after all, and Nedzu's comments from the previous week had made it clear that he was neglecting his protégé.
As Nedzu continued to talk about ethical Quirk use and "combat pedagogies" (which sounded like a made-up term to Toshinori, but he didn't know enough about teaching to dispute it), Toshinori's mind began to drift back to Nedzu's advice about leaving the hero work to the other heroes in the city.
He knew the furry principal was right, he really did, but it was hard to truly accept it. He'd been the Symbol of Peace for so long that it had become a habit, a routine that he followed even as his body fell apart. By the time he realized that someone was in trouble, he often found himself already on the way to help them or even having already resolved the incident. It was like Nana had told him all those years ago and like he had told Young Midoriya: the mark of true heroism was the body reacting instinctively to help people. Or so he hoped.
Honestly, he barely felt like the Symbol of Peace these days. Most of his time was spent recuperating from the short times when he could be All Might, out there helping people like he should be. Not Toshinori the paper pusher who could barely keep up with the endless flow of forms that teaching produced even on his days off.
His phone rang, and Toshinori's attention instantly snapped to it. That wasn't its usual, jovial tone. It was the sharp, piercing tone that he had assigned specifically for emergency calls, the kind of calls that needed a top hero to respond to them. In a flash he yanked the device from his pocket and pressed it to his ear, then froze when he caught the look in Nedzu's eye.
"Toshinori, while I understand your enthusiasm, you have already pushed your Quirk to the limit for the day. Any further, and you'll risk even more damage to your body, and then where will you be? Eventually, you will have to let others resolve these incidents. Better to accept it now and let them gradually learn how to rely on themselves than to be unable to respond completely in the future, eh?"
It tore at him, but Toshinori slowly lowered the phone away from his ear and flipped it closed. Nedzu was right, as always. He'd known when he agreed to come to UA that he would have to let some incidents be resolved by others. Besides, there were plenty of capable heroes out there! One of them could surely take his place. Of course, Toshinori couldn't really think of anyone besides Endeavour, and he wouldn't really want Enji responding to a non-combat call, but he was sure it was just a lapse in his memory! He knew that he wasn't the only hero in the world who could do a good job. He just worried that they wouldn't do quite as well as he could have…
Before Toshinori could return the phone to his pocket it began to ring again, sounding even more desperate this time. At the same moment, Nedzu's pocket began to buzz as his own phone went off.
The principal frowned slightly at the interruption, then pulled his phone out. Like Toshinori's, it was an old-school flip phone, more durable than the smartphones that were all the rage these days and much easier to use, in Toshinori's opinion.
Nedzu pressed a key, then held the device up to his ear with a small smile on his face.
"This is Principal Nedzu. I'm afraid I'm a little busy at the moment, so unless it's urgent…"
It was often difficult to tell what was going through Nedzu's mind. He was careful to control his face at all times and had confided in Toshinori that he prided himself on his ability to appear calm under pressure even when he was concerned. In a way, his serene demeanor was similar to All Might's trademark smile. It reassured the people around him, told them that they would be safe and secure if they only left everything to him.
Which was why it was so terrifying to see the serene calm drain away from Nedzu's face, and to see it replaced with a look of absolute horror.
Nedzu whipped around, grabbing the T.V. remote from the desk in front of him and powering on the small set in the corner of the room. He clicked through channels rapidly, brief flashes of scenes making Toshinori feel a little bit dizzy, before finally arriving on the one that he had been searching for.
Toshinori's heart froze at the sight. The camera was shaky and poorly focused, but it clearly showed Young Midoriya, Bakugou, Uraraka, Ashido, and Tsunotori facing off against a group of opponents that Toshinori didn't recognize in the slightest. He could tell it wasn't any sort of training exercise either, since the unknown figures were wielding real weaponry that looked sharp enough to do some serious damage. Even as Toshinori watched, one of them darted forward and landed a (thankfully) shallow-looking cut on Uraraka's arm.
Before Toshinori could do more than utter a cry of surprise and horror, the scene began to change, flicking rapidly between images of horror. First Thirteen stood in the middle of a burning city, absorbing blasts of something as fast as she could while Koda and Todoroki huddled behind her furiously gesturing at one another. Then Shoji was attempting to shield Tokoyami from a group of villains while the latter clutched at his side in pain, Kaminari and Sato looking on horrified in the background. Another shift, and Jirou and Yaoyorozu looked down from the deck of a ship, their faces filled with panic as the ship sank quickly, pulling them into the waters below. The ship was quickly replaced with a scene of a stormy city, with Asui, Mineta, and Kirishima doing their best to shield themselves from the rain as a horde of enemies charged at them.
"What… what is this?" Toshinori said, unable to keep silent in the face of his horror.
"There's been an attack," Nedzu said, his eyes never leaving the screen. "Our reports say that the entire USJ complex… disappeared a short time ago. Then, just a minute ago, this broadcast began. The villain in charge of the broadcast claims to be looking for you."
"For me?" Toshinori repeated, his fist clenching involuntarily.
It wasn't the first time that some criminal had tried to get back at him for putting them away or for taking down a friend of theirs. It happened frequently enough that Toshinori should be used to it by now. But he had never had anyone closer than a distant acquaintance be targeted. Now, picturing Midoriya's broken body lying before him, Toshinori felt like the ground was falling out from under him.
"I have to go to them!" he declared, rising out of his chair and activating One for All. The action sent a deep, throbbing ache through his body as his muscles swelled, but he couldn't care less at that moment.
"Toshinori!" Nedzu called, with such force that it halted the hero in his tracks, "You cannot run off half-cocked. We still do not know where our students have been taken, and even when we do determine that, I forbid you from running off alone. You do not have enough time remaining to teach a class, let alone engage in a pitched battle. I will not prevent you from accompanying us when we go to retrieve our students, since I know you would follow anyway, but you will not be engaging any of them in combat. Do I make myself clear?"
Clear yes, but there was no agreement. Toshinori knew, deep within his heart, that there was no force on this earth that would keep him away from those kids once he knew where they were. Even if it killed him, he was going to protect them.
"Hello there!" a voice said from the TV, and Toshinori's head snapped around to face it.
He didn't recognize the man onscreen, which meant he probably wasn't anyone Toshinori had put away before. A friend, then, or someone unknown who was trying to make his name by aiming straight for the top.
"For those of you just joining us, my name is Tomura Shigaraki, and I am the leader of the League of Villains! The most powerful villain group in the world, and today we're set to prove that by doing what most people call impossible. We're here today to kill All Might himself!"
Toshinori grimaced. The man sounded young, far too young for Toshinori's liking, and utterly fanatical.
"Problem is, he's not here like he was supposed to be. So I decided to extend an invite to him. Better late than never, right? So, All Might, I'll make you a deal. You're going to come here and face us alone. If you do, we'll let any kids who are still alive when you get here go. Better hurry though, a few of my underlings are juiced up and raring to tear into future heroes…"
Tonshinori's fists clenched involuntarily at the young villain's words, and he was thankful he hadn't been holding anything breakable, since it probably would have been crushed into dust.
"As for finding us, well I don't think you'll have a problem with that. I imagine it's pretty hard to forget this place."
The image on the screen changed again, showing a ruined cityscape that was completely devoid of life. Skyscrapers had been broken in half, storefronts ground to dust, and many buildings consumed entirely by fire, leaving behind blackened husks that were unsafe to be around, let alone enter. Between the absolute destruction and the connotations from the battle that had taken place there, the government had decided to condemn the entire area, focusing resources on helping the displaced instead.
Toshinori was intimately familiar with the city. In fact, he could never forget it no matter how much he tried. The image of being dragged away from it with tear-filled eyes as Nana grinned back at him was burned in his mind forevermore. It was there that she had given her life to keep him safe, and it was in that broken wreck of a city, still thick with the scent of ash, that he had sworn he would never abandon a comrade again.
"So come on, All Might! Let's show the world what you're really made of! I'll be waiting…"
The man waved, and the camera angle shifted, turning to face the fight in front of them. To Toshinori's relief, more than a few villains were already on the ground, unconscious or injured.
Midoriya and Bakugou were fighting side by side, covering each other's blind spots with the ease of long-time friends who had known each other's capabilities. The other three were more hesitant but doing well. Uraraka was looking a little green, and the cut on her arm was still bleeding, but several villains were trying to swim through the air above her head. They were quickly knocked out by Tsunotori's horns, which were zooming through the air at speed and occasionally dipping down to slam into a villain's head. Tsunotori herself was standing next to Ashido, the two of them guarding each other as best they could.
Aizawa was handling the bulk of the combat, of course, but a few of the villains had circled around out of his reach to attack his charges. It was unusually smart for common criminals, which meant this group were either better than average, or their leader was a halfway competent strategist.
Then, from off screen and with much less showmanship than before, Shigaraki spoke again.
"Nomu, break the green one so they know we're serious."
The average person would have missed what happened next, but Toshinori saw it all. Saw Nomu dash forward at blinding speed. Saw Aizawa react, his weapon lashing out and wrapping around the villain's waist. He didn't even slow down, yanking Aizawa off of his feet with the force of his charge and pulling the hero along behind him. Bakugou tried to help as well, shoving Midoriya out of the way, but wasn't quite fast enough. In a fraction of a second, the villain was on top of them, his arm lashing out to crush the boy Toshinori had grown to admire and dote upon in just a few short months.
And then Aizawa was there. He had used the momentum from the villain's charge to swing himself around on his capture weapon in a brilliant maneuver that would have been far beyond the skill of a lesser hero. Without hesitation, he threw himself between Midoriya and the villain, taking the attack in the boy's stead.
Toshinori's vision was replaced by red. The red of the blood that had been forced from Aizawa's lips, sprayed across his student's shocked faces, and the red of the fury that blossomed in his chest.
In a flash, he was out the door and racing towards the main gate, knocking over students in the halls with the wind from his passage. He was sure that Nedzu tried to stop him, but the attempt didn't even register. Toshinori's mind was already far away, fixed entirely on his charges and how he would protect them all, even if it cost him his life.
It seemed to happen in slow motion, and yet almost faster than Izuku could follow. One moment they were holding their own and the next, Aizawa was on the ground in front of them, bleeding from his mouth as he gasped for breath.
Nomu stood in front of them, fist still extended from when he had crushed their teacher's chest with a single punch. He seemed confused, cocking his head to the side as he stared at Aizawa's limp form. The confusion didn't last long, however, and he turned back to his original task.
"Fucking move!" Katsuki shouted, shoving Izuku out of the way.
With that done he raised his gauntlet in Nomu's direction and pulled the pin. He'd been charging the blast up the entire time, with the stressful conditions only increasing the amount he was sweating, so it was extremely powerful. It cracked the concrete and buffeted them all with burning wind and tremendous force. Katsuki was actually forced back nearly a foot by the blowback, despite bracing himself against the force.
For all that, it did depressingly little damage. Nomu had barely moved from his original position, having been moved back a foot at the most, though the villain had been forced to guard his face against the explosion. The skin on his forearms was black and flaking, exposing the muscles that ran beneath it. His blood also seemed to be black as it dripped from exposed veins, which further proved Shigaraki's assertions that Nomu wasn't even human.
The damage wasn't extensive, but it was the most progress that they'd seen so far. Sadly, it didn't last for very long. Just like before, Nomu's flesh began to knit together in mere moments, seemingly without any effort on the villain's part.
Katsuki wasn't willing to let him regenerate any further, though. He let loose with a rapid series of explosions, targeting any exposed areas of Nomu's body that he could reach. He was joined a moment later by Tsunotori, who sent both of her horns on a crash course for the villain's head. Ashido and Uraraka probably would have joined in as well, if they didn't have to worry about hitting or being hit by Katsuki as he slammed blast after blast into Nomu.
When he finally stopped, Katsuki was gasping for breath and his arms were trembling from the strain of using his Quirk so much. Nomu, meanwhile, had been pushed a bit further back by the assault but hadn't taken much more damage. A few stray blasts had torn his pants to shreds and his regeneration had been slowed down quite a bit, but that was all. Nomu had taken everything that Katsuki could throw at him, and had essentially shrugged it off with ease, which was insane.
"Nice try, blondie," Shigaraki said, causing Izuku to jump in fear.
The gray-haired villain had slipped forward while everyone was occupied with Nomu, and was eyeing Katsuki and his the rest of them with an appraising air. Or at least Izuku thought he was eyeing them. It was hard to tell with the severed hand covering the man's face.
"Seriously, good effort," Shigaraki continued. "Loved the aggression and the total lack of hesitation. Didn't really do much, of course; Nomu can't feel much of anything anymore, but it's the thought that counts."
The villain in question was standing stock still as the rest of his injuries faded away, regarding them all with the same blank expression that he had worn the entire time. At that moment, it was very easy to believe that Nomu had no mind of his own and would do whatever Shigaraki told him to without question.
Which might just give them a way out. If they could knock Shigaraki out quickly enough, he wouldn't be able to order Nomu to fight, and the villain might just stand there dumbly waiting for orders. It was a bit of a long shot, but a glance at Aizawa's barely moving form convinced Izuku that a long shot was better than certain death.
As stealthily as he could, he cocked his fist back and took aim at a spot near Shigaraki's feet. He couldn't risk a direct punch since Izuku still didn't know what kind of damage that would do. Even if the man had ordered their deaths, Izuku wouldn't feel right if he sunk to the villain's level.
Shigaraki was mid-sentence when Izuku struck. He reached down inside himself, pushed as much of One for All into his arm as he could, and swung with all his might.
Before he could even finish the punch, Nomu appeared before him. The villain gripped Izuku's fist in his own, easily dwarfing it, and squeezed tightly enough that Izuku felt his bones creak. His still intact bones. That realization made him stare down at his arm in confusion. He knew that he'd thrown a full power punch, one that should have shattered his arm even if it had been blocked before it could generate a shockwave.
"What is it with you people and interrupting me?" Shigaraki snapped, glaring venomously at Izuku through the fingers covering his face. "I thought heroes were supposed to like monologues. Or maybe that's just full heroes instead of little babies like you. But even if you did manage to get off a sneak attack, it's not going to do shit. Nomu here was made to kill All Might. He has a shock absorption Quirk, and no measly punch from a hero-in-training is going to get through his defenses."
"Shock absorption?" Izuku said dumbly. "B-but the regeneration…"
"Regeneration, super strength, shock absorption," Shigaraki said, stepping closer. Evidently he didn't fear them attacking with Nomu so close. "He's got all of that and more, making him the perfect raid boss. So, if it's any consolation, you never stood a chance of beating him even if you all come at him with everything you have."
"Oh, fuck off!" Katsuki snapped, taking a step forward. "You keep talking this big game, how you're gonna kill All Might and prove shit to the world, but it's such fucking bull that it makes me wanna puke. Your minions are trash, and so are you. Nomu's the only one worth anything, and even he's just a discount of All Might!"
"Discount?" Shigaraki said incredulously, "He is genetically superior to All Might in every way! He's stronger, faster, and even if he were to be injured, he can put himself back together in seconds!"
"Faster than All Might? Don't make me fucking laugh!" Katsuki said, somehow forcing levity into his voice. "He's our teacher, remember? I've seen him move, and your fucked up friend doesn't hold a candle to him!"
For the first time that Izuku had seen, Shigaraki started to lose his cool. His shoulders hunched, and Izuku could swear he could hear the man's teeth grind together.
"You have no idea what you're talking about! I planned this perfectly, and Sensei assured me that Nomu would surpass All Might easily!"
"Didn't your plan go wrong from the second you showed up?" Katsuki shot back. "So maybe you and your 'sensei" are both shit villains in the first place."
Shigaraki lunged forward without warning, his hand outstretched as he grabbed at Katsuki's face. He didn't have Nomu's inhuman speed but he did have the power of abject fury on his side and he was on top of them in a heartbeat.
Izuku lunged forward as well, trying to shove the man away from his friend. At the same time, Katsuki raised his arm to block the grab, keeping Shigaraki away from his face. The villain latched onto Katsuki's gauntlet instead, his touch turning the entire device into dust in just seconds.
Thankfully, Katsuki managed to yank his hand out of the gauntlet before Shigaraki could dissolve that as well, but it was a near thing and both Katsuki and Izuku stumbled away from Shigaraki as quickly as they could. He attempted to pursue them, but was forced to hop back himself when Ashido sent a spray of acid towards him.
They were left staring at each other, Shigaraki's hateful glare directed solely at Katsuki while the rest of them glared defiantly back at the villain.
"Maybe you've got a big monster on your side," Uraraka said, "And a powerful Quirk, and lots of other things, but we've still got you outmatched. And we'll keep fighting however long it takes until All Might gets here. Because Bakugou may be an ass, but he's right. You will never beat All Might, and you won't beat us either!"
Shigaraki scoffed at her words and readied himself once more. "We'll just see about that."
Izuku readied himself as well. This was going to be a hard fight and a dangerous one, no two ways about it. They would each need to give everything they had and pray that it was enough. That meant using One for All, even if doing so would break every bone in his body. But he would do it with a smile on his face if it meant that he could keep his friends safe.
"Uraraka's right," he said, more to himself than the others, as they pressed in tight around him. "We can do this."
As he spoke, Izuku reached deep inside himself, to the very core of emerald energy at the heart of One for All, and called forth as much as he could. The energy surged forth happily, rising up to fill his entire body to the brim with power.
And then the power poured out of him in four burning lines, and everything changed.
Izuku Midoriya: Inherited Quirk- One for All
Smashes villains with a super power passed down from one generation to
the next
Original Quirk- Bonds
Empowers allies with whom the user shares a close Bond
