The First Pillar

by Soleneus

Useless. That's what they call him. Izuku and his Useless Quirk. Anyone can throw pebbles, how is that Heroic? But all it takes to shake the world is the right pebble in the right place at the right time. Crossposted on AO3. Fem. Bakugou.

13. Stormfront and Earthquake

"In many cultures, there is a technique known as 'Killing Intent,' a supernatural ability to project the willingness to kill. This is false. There is nothing supernatural about it. It is simple: Everyone (except sociopaths and politicians, excuse the tautology), whether they are aware of it or not, can read the body language of others, even seeming to read their mind. There are a thousand little twitches, slight hitches and tightening of skin and tensing of muscle, that cannot be hidden. You must take control of these hidden movements, and harness them. It is not just a physical, but a mental state as well.

You will destroy your enemy, and they WILL be destroyed.

You must believe it. You must achieve it. Failure is not possible. Death shall be dealt, and yours will be the hands to do it.

It is nothing so phantasmal as a promise, nor intangible as a threat.

It is inevitable."

-Serration, Chapter 16: To Kill With a Look, The First Shot on the Mental Battlefield

…

Nezu knelt next to what remained of the Yuuei Barricade, tracing a paw through the dusty pile. He picked it up and rubbed it between the pads, watching it trail away from his white fur. Whatever had happened to the barricade, it reduced the metal to so much powder, so light it floated on the breeze. He could think of only one person within a mile who could do such a thing without being noticed, and that student had been eating lunch at the time.

"The students have been sent back to their dorms," Aizawa announced as he strode up, eyes taking in the scene. "Gave them homework and told them to focus on other things. What do we know?"

"None of the media present had a Quirk that could do this," the Principal announced, standing and brushing his paws off, "Which means someone used the flock of vultures as cover, knowing their flapping wings and falling feathers would distract us…and that they'd be bird-brained enough to rush onto private property to get a scoop they know damn well we have press release prepared for. Acting like a bunch of wild animals, even around students…" He clicked his tongue disapprovingly. "Speaking of, how did the new classes do?"

"A few were starstruck, few others liked it, no panic attacks this time, most were scared," Eraserhead relayed, as he did most things, apathetically. "A few had the presence of mind to politely but firmly tell them to back off; Kendo from 1-B and Midoriya from my class."

Nezu hummed thoughtfully. "Lunch Rush mentioned Young Midoriya during the incident at lunch," he commented.

"Yeah, stared down the room and shamed them into acting rational," Aizawa grunted, something that might've possibly almost maybe been the glint of a flicker of a spark of approval, phantasmal as it may be. "Drawing attention, as usual…"

"Not everyone likes to shirk the spotlight like you do, nor is everyone able to do so," the Principal rebuked lightly, his countenance darkening slightly, "Spread the word: I want the campus gone over with a fine-toothed comb. Check every corner, every room and every crevice, no matter how dusty. And subtly, we don't need the students panicking and inadvertently destroying evidence. No punishments for restricted items below Class Two."

"Understood," the Underground Hero nodded and slouched off, chin tucked in his scarf.

The Principal returned his shrewd gaze to the ruins of the gate. "Whoever did this is either trying to make fools of us…or distract us." He hummed to himself. "We need to be careful…and I need to stop talking to myself."

…

The Same Day, A Bit Later…

"Alright, I'm done!" Himiko announced, standing up from Izuku's bed and stretching for far longer than she needed, grinning when the sitting Izuku and Ochako glanced at her stomach. Stacking all her assignments together in her arms, she gave the two a wink as she headed out the door. "I'm gonna go see the B Girls, find out what they thought of that shit happening today. You two have fun~!"

…She is not subtle, Izuku thought, waving as Himiko closed the door behind her. After the fracas in the cafeteria and standing outside in their designated evacuation points, Aizawa had shuffled up to his students and informed them that classes would be canceled for the day, and all of their assignments they would've done at a desk would now be done in their dorms. Knowing damn well some would blow their homework off to play around, Iida had speed-snatched all the remotes while Momo, in a rather uncharacteristic outburst, had sat down those with the lowest grades in class (Mina and Kaminari) to tutor them by force.

Force, of course, being gentle-yet-still-heartbreaking recriminations and study time tea.

Not wanting to deal with the noise that would inevitably come from having a bunch of teenagers stuck in the living room doing stuff they didn't want to do, Izuku had elected to retreat to his room, quietly and without notice, lest Momo pull him into tutoring as well. Not that he was averse to helping, he simply preferred to do the work by himself before helping others. Himiko had followed, and a rather lost-looking Ochako had asked to come along.

Now it was just the two of them, silently sitting and studying. "...Wait, was it La Muerte or Lamino in Quebec?" She muttered to herself, tapping her lip.

"La Muerte never left Brazil," he replied, finishing a math problem before checking his work.

Ochako jumped, apparently having forgotten he was there. "Oh, right! Thanks, Deki-kun!" She graced him with a bright smile before frowning again, "Now, where was the Sundering…?"

"Remember…" He prompted softly.

She snapped her fingers in realization. "Right! The Sundering in South America and the Cracking in Canada!" Ochako wrote the answer down with a victorious grin, punctuating with a flourish, "Nice of them to name overthrowing the Warlords with the same letter as the country…"

Izuku patted her shoulder with a smile. "Good job, Ochako-chan, you're getting better at remembering historical events. It's hard to imagine that a little more than a hundred years ago, every country was split up into territories…it was like the Edo Period all over the world…" He hummed thoughtfully, realizing a bit later that he'd left his hand on her shoulder. "Oh-"

Her fingers came to rest on his, lightly stroking the numerous calluses and scars on his flesh. "…But even with all those warlords, even under all that pressure, Heroes still rose up and fought back," she murmured, her soft, chocolate eyes gazing at him with warmth.

He licked his suddenly dry lips. "Well, you can only grind someone's face into the dirt for so long until they throw it back," the earthbender said softly, now aware that the girl in his room had shed her jacket at some point, and that they were only a layer away from skin contact. Despite his experience, the thought of even the possibility sent a thrill of heat through him.

"Hmm," she hummed, rubbing the back of his hand. Her eyes narrowed in thought, teeth lightly gnawing on a plump lip. "Izuku…what Himiko said about your relationship…is it true? It's not just some kinda joke or nothin'?"

Izuku shook his head slowly. "It's not a joke. I know it's a bit unusual, moreso nowadays, but we are serious about it."

"Unusual, yeah…" Ochako mumbled, before her light touches became a firm grasp, "I-I like ya, Izuku," she confessed, face red but gaze steady, "When we first met, I thought ya were hot, an' cute an' kinda dorky, but then ya went an' jumped between me and that Zero-Pointer…seeing ya struggle to hold that fist back, then throw it off-balance and punch the damn thing's head off, well…I kinda started seeing ya like…well, a bit like All Might, but my age and hot."

He opened his mouth to say something, but she quickly held up a finger.

"Don't say nothin', Izuku, this is hard enough already," she cleared her throat and continued, "After textin' ya and now livin' with ya fer awhile, that part kinda died out, but I still really admire ya, Izuku,'' her accent was getting thicker the quicker she spoke, "Ya make me wanna be the best Hero Ah can be, and yer friendship means more than ya know…but Ah'm a lady, y'know? It's more than yer principles Ah admire…and when I heard what Himiko said, my heart leapt…but at the same time, I've always admired my mom and dad. No matter how difficult things get, they're always there for each other, and I've always dreamed of having a relationship just like theirs…"

Izuku nodded to himself, feeling a bit crestfallen but at the same time relieved. At least now her desires and their contradictions were out in the open, so there wouldn't be any more awkwardness going forward.

"…But I still wanna try."

"I understand, Ochako-chan, and while I am sorry I can respect…" He paused mid-sentence as his mind went over her words a few more times, "...Wait, what?"

Ochako jolted, face nearly steaming. "A-Ah don' mean m-marriage or anythin'! A-Ah mean Ah'd like to figure out if Ah like it or not because Ah really like ya and Ah wanna find out if it'll work out! A-ah-ah…" She bowed her head, grabbing her temples as the pressure got to her, accidentally activating her Quirk and starting to float.

Izuku snagged her ankle, keeping his eyes above the hem of her skirt. "Breathe, Ochako-chan," he soothed, squeezing her ankle gently, "Take a deep breath, and tell me what you're trying to say."

The gravity girl took a deep breath and pressed her fingertips together. Her Quirk cut off and she dropped into his lap, looking briefly surprised before she slipped her arms around his neck. "Ah…I like you, Izuku," she murmured, her soft heat soaking into his body, "I don't know if it'll work out, or if this might be a mistake, but I like you enough to want to try, even if I have to share you. Or, at least…figure out the last part. Will ya help me find out?"

When she had landed on his lap, his hands had naturally settled around her waist, their faces only inches away. "…Yeah, Ochako-chan, I'll help you find out," he whispered, his thumbs drawing short circles on her back.

She nodded, her short brown hair brushing against his forehead, noses nearly touching. "…Thanks, Izuku…" She licked her lips, falling into the deep, surprisingly crystalline depths of his eyes. "…Is it too early to kiss you?"

"Probably, yeah," Izuku said softly.

"Yeah…" Ochako mumbled, then darted forward to kiss him. There was a muffled clack as their teeth met and she rocked back, clutching her mouth and whining into her palm.

"Yeah, you don't want to do that," the earthbender said sympathetically while rubbing her back.

She nodded jerkily, blinking the water out of her eyes and feeling her lips. "I didn't bite myself at least," she muttered, slumping in his lap.

"Let me check," he rumbled, a rough palm cradling her rosy cheek as he gently lifted her chin to examine her lips, "Mmhm, just as lovely as ever, Ochako-chan…" Slowly leaning in, giving her plenty of time to pull or push him back, he kissed her gently.

Ochako stiffened like she'd been shocked then melted against him, moaning softly into his mouth. She moved her lips slowly and clumsily, her enthusiasm and energy making up for any lack of experience. Lost in their embrace, Izuku slipped his hands up under her shirt, letting his fingers stroke her lower back directly. She gasped and withdrew, breathing hard. "Li'l too far, Deki-kun," she sighed, trying to slow the beat of her racing heart, her fingers playing with his nape.

"Sorry, Ochako-chan," Izuku whispered, withdrawing his hands. He'd been right, though; her skin was just as soft as it looked.

"Don't be sorry, I liked it, just…a little too far for right now," she sat back on his thighs and gave him a warm smile, letting her hands rest on his chest.

They sat like that for a while, before a teasing grin crossed his face. "I didn't know you had a Kansai accent, Ochako-chan," he said lowly, chuckling as she buried her face in her hands to stifle a groan, "Don't be embarrassed, it's adorable."

"Uuuuugggghhh…I was tryin' so hard ta hide iiiiit…" Ochako muttered into her hands, beseeching him from between her fingers with glittering chocolate eyes, "Don't tell anybody, okay?"

A subtle flash of light drew their attention to the patio outside of Izuku's dorm, where Himiko crouched with her phone out, as she had been since she 'left.' "Why not? It really is adorable!" She called with an unrepentant grin.

"She's right, you know," Izuku commented as Ochako buried her face in his chest, gently stroking her hair. "Hey, Ochako?"

"Yeah?"

"You wanna have dinner with me later?"

She looked up, her cheeks adorably heated, lips pouting. "…Yeah, I'd like that," then she slumped forward, letting her head rest against his shoulder. Despite the embarrassment, it was really quite nice.

"Hold that pose, please!" *Click* "Nice! Going in the collection!"

…

After the excitement of Monday, the rest of the week passed with no real fanfare. They went to class, the most interesting being All Might's Foundational Heroics. Though, after Combat Training, most of that class was about tactics, being given a situation, then attempting to reason out a strategy while All Might would throw in unforeseen consequences to trip them up; and most of the time a few students would work together, sitting around a table with The Number One Hero at the head as they strategized, a divider between them as he rolled the dice to determine what would happen.

And no, it definitely wasn't an excuse for All Might to play a TTRPG, it was legitimate hypothetical strategizing and training!

…On a table top!

…With character sheets!

…And a hand-made model of a city…

Ahem.

…And painted models-

Meanwhile, Izuku and Ochako went on a few short lunch and dinner dates on campus, gathering a basket of food before finding a nice quiet spot to enjoy the sunset and each other's company. And Himiko only watched them half the time.

-oddly realistic and made of what felt like stone-

When asked, All Might revealed to them their schedule: they would have normal classes with all of their teachers until Friday, where they would have the morning to study before Combat Training. Which, funnily enough, didn't make the anticipation for Friday any better.

The most interesting thing to happen was on Thursday, when Aizawa had to step in for All Might in Foundational Heroics. The bored teacher had apparently decided that DMing was beneath him, and had thus elected on a different lesson.

Thursday…

"Utility Belts," Eraserhead announced flatly, writing the words out on the chalkboard before turning to the class, "Why are they important…Kaminari?"

The blonde sat up at his desk, putting his miniature figurine to the side. "Uh…for utility?" He answered with a shrug, "I mean, it's…it's in the name."

"Correct. What's the proper definition…" His bloodshot eyes roamed the class, landing on the explosive blonde slumping her seat, "Bakugou."

"A Utility Belt is defined as an implement which carries supplies that may support a Hero in their job, such as medical supplies, weaponry or restraints," she recited, scratching her nose, "Fuckin' kiddy shit…"

Aizawa sighed. "Also correct. Now, one of you will go get your Utility Belt and display the functions as an example…" He randomly poked the seating chart. "Midoriya."

Nodding, Izuku left to retrieve his belt from his locker, laying it out on the teacher's desk as the other students gathered around. At Aizawa's nod, he pointed to the left most pouch and the one next to it. "These contain smoke and flash bombs," he explained, shifting the tops of the pouches to retrieve a pair of orbs seemingly made of glass, filled with black and white substances, "The flash bomb contains a chemical compound that ignites on contact with air, giving off a blinding flash. The smoke bomb is similar, but produces a significant amount of smoke instead."

"Ooh, just like a ninja," Mina enthused, bouncing the pair of orbs in her hand as they made their way around the table, "Hey Midori, I'm fondling your b-"

"Next," Eraserhead interjected grumpily, passing the bombs back to Izuku.

Storing them back into their pouches, Izuku opened the soft case further down to reveal neat rows of slim black plastic. "Zip ties designed to resist higher strength, cutting, burning, ice or acid." Next, he flipped open a pouch with a white cross stitched into it, "Trauma Kit, with candy, emergency blankets, meal bars, smelling salts, along with needles and thread for stitching and sanitary towelettes."

A few of the other students 'oohed' at how neatly sorted and tightly packed all of the items were.

The next was a pouch with a red cross on it. "Medical Kit for field injuries, including gauze, medical tape, disinfectant, bandages, topical painkiller, epinephrine and adrenaline," without pause, he handed a white plastic card to the teacher that said he was licensed to administer first aid using all of the above, "and cauterizing agent."

Aizawa grunted and handed the card back. "Next."

"Emergency Kit," Izuku announced, opening the case to reveal a collection of items, the first of which was similar to the smoke and flash bombs but colored a vibrant orange. "Flare, glowsticks, dot lights, solar charger, multi-tool, iodine, water filter-"

"What're these?" Eraserhead asked, tapping a pair of tubes, one gray and the other orangish-red.

Izuku met his gaze without blinking. "Aluminum and iron oxide powder."

The teacher nodded and they moved on to the last case.

"Stun Shuriken," the earthbender finished, spinning the four-pronged star on his finger.

"Mm," Aizawa grunted, sweeping a look over the class as Izuku repacked his pouches, "Anyone disagree with what his utility belt contains? No? Remember, a utility belt is supposed to fill in the gaps of your abilities or enhance them in the most important arena of Heroics: Saving lives. Always remember to keep them stocked with extras. Class Dismissed." That being said, as he slouched out of the classroom, he reached into his own utility belt and retrieved a jelly drink, unsubtly slurping it up as he went.

…

And then came Friday, with all the expectations and hopes built up over the week. Sitting on a bus with his class after having had another delicious lunch and after waking up sandwiched between Mei and Himiko, and then currently with his lover on one side and Ochako on the other, Izuku was well and truly looking forward to what may come. And even more so when the bus stopped at the entrance to an enormous domed building with the letters USJ above the doors in massive letters.

The excited chattering that had started at breakfast and had haunted every class before reached a fever pitch at the sight. "Wow, is that-?!"

"Yes!" An electronically-tinged voice announced, every eye falling on a bulky, space-suited figure waving cheerfully at them from the doors, "It's the Unforeseen Simulation Joint! But we like to call it…The USJ!"

Ochako clutched Izuku's arm in a death grip, bouncing on her heels from sheer excitement. "Ohmigod, ohmigod, ohmigod! It's Thirteen! The Space Hero Thirteen! She's so COOOOOL!" She buried her face against his arm to contain the squeal that would've deafened the whole class had it escaped.

"Come on in, let's get started right away!" The Space Hero waved them in, standing by the door as the class filed in.

"Where's All Might?" Aizawa asked lowly, mouth hidden in his scarf.

She held up two capped fingers, covered in bulky white gloves. "He's almost hit his limit on his commute; last I saw he was taking a break in the Teacher's Lounge. He'll meet up with us later after he's rested," she replied quietly.

Eraserhead grunted, glaring in the direction of the main Yuuei building. "Why he doesn't just live on campus…"

Shrugging, Thirteen hurried to the class who had been standing in the Central, gazing up in awe at the various Disaster Zones in the distance. "As you can see, almost every type of disaster and dangerous environment is represented inside the USJ; from the Conflagration Zone to the Flood Zone, from the Landslide Zone to the Downpour Zone, and including the Mountain Zone and the Ruins Zone! Now, one might ask why such a place was designed, and the answer is simple! To teach you how to use your Quirks in dangerous, unstable areas, while also being completely safe…for the most part. However, there is more than just procedures to be learned…Tell me, do any of you know what my Quirk is?"

"Not drowning in your own sweat?" Himiko offered with complete sincerity, eyeing the large, puffy white coat the Space Hero wore.

The black helmet and bulky metal collar shook side to side. "Nope!" Thirteen replied cheerfully, "Though maybe I could use a bit more ventilation…"

Ochako thrust an arm into the air, face red but smile wide. "It's Black Hole!" She announced excitedly, clapping her hands and bouncing on her heels as the Space Hero glanced at her. "She can suck in things with her fingers and turn them to dust! She uses it to clear debris from disaster areas and save people!"

"…Ah, she's got the big succ," Himiko nodded in realization.

Kyouka jabbed the blood drinker in the side with a jack, muttering, "Like you're one to talk…"

"That's exactly right!" The Space Hero proclaimed over a ripple of giggles from the students, "However…it is also a Quirk that can easily take lives as well." That brought the students up short. "This power of mine is exceedingly dangerous, and it is only through lots of practice and careful application that I've learned to use it for saving others. It's my hope that all of you will use these facilities to learn how to best use your own Quirks for the sake of helping people in the best ways you can." She bowed. "Thank you for listening."

A few students clapped, though most gave a determined nod, understanding well just how easy it would be to kill with their Quirks. Before they could move on to training, however, the lights flickered, and all communication equipment let out a shrill tone as it lost signal.

Then, in front of them, a swirling cloud of black and purple smoke boiled in the air before erupting into an almost humanoid shape, a pale lanky hand reaching from the depths to pull open the veil. Revealed within was a man with gray, disembodied hands clasped around his head, neck, shoulders, the sides of his torso, one on the upper arm and two on the forearms. One more hand grasped his face as a crude mask, leaving only a pair of crazed red eyes surrounded by wrinkles and topped with messy grayish-blue hair. The only splash of color on his getup was a pair of red cords going from the back of the hand on his head to the hands on his neck; his outfit was otherwise dark but unremarkable.

Out of the cloud stepped a large group of people, no cohesive uniform to them except for the sneers of anticipation and dark looks. The cloud swirled together into the form of an almost humanoid of smoke, which bore a pair of glowing yellow eyes.

Izuku dipped his chin into his mask, the seal closing over his mouth and nose as the filter kicked in. Using Thirteen's bulk, he subtly motioned behind his back for the rest of the class to gather up, pulling some of the concrete floor into his field along with his glass and metal weights.

"All Might…" The handy man rasped, scratching his neck, eyes sweeping the gathered students, "He was supposed to be here…the schedule said he'd be here…so where is he?!" He hissed behind the hand on his face.

Aizawa pulled a pair of golden goggles from under his scarf and secured them over his eyes, mouth pulled into a scowl. "Thirteen, evacuate the students and warn the campus there's been a breach," he ordered, his scarf seeming to come alive around his shoulders, "I'll handle them."

"That's how it is, then, we gotta kill the trash mobs to summon the boss, right?" The leader, apparently, announced with what looked like a grin, crazed red eyes gleaming between gray, lifeless fingers, "He's gotta show up if we kill a few kids, right?"

If 1-A hadn't been on high-alert before, they definitely were now. Izuku, hand behind his back, lightly snapped his fingers a few times to draw attention, then started speedily signing something at them with a mix of strange and obscene gestures, ending by flipping the bird at them.

Himiko and Bakugou grunted in acknowledgement, then shared a surprised look before subtly moving to the edges of the group, getting ready to leap into action.

"Move, now!" Eraserhead barked, darting towards the crowd of villains as they charged in response. There was no big clash of force meeting force; he moved like a snake, slipping between wild strikes, redirecting the villains to hit each other, shutting off Quirks and slinging his scarf like a tentacle, looping it around a large villain and using him as a flail to batter others.

As he fought, Thirteen led the class back towards the entrance, only to slide to a halt as the smoke man appeared before them, blocking the doors. "I'm afraid I can't let you leave; I am Kurogiri, we are The League of Villains, and our one and only mission…is the destruction of the Symbol of Peace. And seeing your broken corpses laid before him would surely shatter his spirit, which would make taking his life much easier. So please…die for us, would you kindly?" He seemed to bow narrowly, the smoke of his being writhing.

On an unseen signal, Himiko transformed into Mina, hurling globs of acid from her hands as Bakugou and Eiri leapt forward and Izuku punched the air. The acid was dodged, or it passed through Kurogiri's body, it was hard to tell as Eiri's kick did the same. Bakugou landed a bit behind and unleashed a blast just as the pressure wave from Izuku's punch reached the mist man.

Kurogiri stumbled back a step, the smoke surrounding his form dissipating to reveal a tall, lean man in a three piece suit sans jacket, with clouds of dark mist in place of his hands and head, along with a long metal collar that went up from his neck to just below his eyes. "Your places have been set, the chairs pulled out…" Smoke billowed from his body, flowing through the air and across the ground to surround the class, "So please…take your seats."

The smoke closed in on them.

Bakugou and Eiri, being the closest, sunk into the smoke, followed swiftly by most of the class. Thirteen opened a cap on her gloves, sucking in the mist around her, but only so much as to not harm the students which covered only herself. Shouji reached out and snatched whoever was closest to him and leapt into the air, narrowly avoiding the smoke in the air. When he landed, only The Space Hero remained, along with himself and the students he'd grabbed; Sato and Sero. Iida was there as well, having seized Mina around the middle and sped out of the smoke's reach.

"So impolite," Kurogiri muttered with a (possible) shake of his head, "I suppose I must deal with you myself, then."

"Communications are down, we need to get a message to the rest of the campus," Thirteen said tersely, glancing back at the speedster, "Iida-kun, you need to get out and alert the others, as fast as you can!"

Iida looked at her, back at his remaining classmates and Eraserhead still fighting a crowd of villains by himself. "I cannot leave my classmates behind! I won't disgrace the Iida name by running like a coward!" His engines thrummed in response.

"It isn't cowardice to help the best you can, Iida-kun," Shouji muttered, meeting the speedster's gaze and nodding, "You're the fastest."

"Yeah, you just gotta be fast enough to get help and get back before we kick all of their asses!" Mina cheered, though her face had lost some color.

"Yeah bro, we can hold it down 'til you get back!" Sero flashed him a grin and a thumbs-up.

Biting his lip, Iida nodded and took a deep breath, racing towards the doors with a roar of his Engines.

"My apologies, but none of you will be leaving here alive," Kurogiri interjected, his smoke flowing towards the speedster.

Thirteen intercepted with her Quirk, uncapping her fingers to suck the Villain in. Kurogiri harrumphed and motioned with a hand, a cloud appearing behind the Space Hero, a portal from the smoke affected by her Quirk, opening a Black Hole directly at her back. She screamed, her costume rapidly disintegrating before she shut it off, collapsing in a heap as blood began to pool under her.

"Tch…a Hero like you, one who only Rescues civilians…how many battles do you have to your name, hm?" As he flowed once more towards the speedster, he left the injured Hero with a parting shot, "Leave the fighting to those who can fight, won't you?"

Iida had nearly made it to the door when the sky darkened above him and he chanced a look back to see the smoke Villain gaining on him. At the rate he was going, the speedster would never escape.

"There!" Mina shouted victoriously, slinging a glob of acid at Kurogiri's collar.

He recoiled and shrank back to humanoid form just as Shouji leapt towards him, streams of tape held in two hands and four tentacles that wrapped him up neatly. Sato heaved on the ends as Sero hauled back, the two spinning and hurling the wrapped villain through the air.

Under the hissing of his metal collar, Kurogiri clicked his teeth as Iida slammed through the doors to freedom, the revving of his engines echoing mockingly. "Bother," he muttered, smoke slipping through the sticky bonds of tape as he portaled away, leaving the now empty bundle to float away on the breeze. He appeared in a whirl of smoke next to the apparent leader of the League of Villains, kneeling by the water as he splashed a handful on his collar, "Shigaraki Tomura, I'm afraid to report that one of the students escaped."

"This is bullshit!" Tomura hissed, both hands scratching frantically at his neck as Aizawa flattened a Villain with a heel kick, snatching the fallen man with his scarf and smashing him into another pair. "We need our own boss summon, Kurogiri! Bring in the Nomu!"

…

With Izuku and Ochako…

Izuku emerged from the portal in free-fall with Ochako nearby, the ground growing to meet them. With the wind blowing through his hair, he took aim and grappled over to his girlfriend, wrapping her up in his arms and steadying their fall. Armor formed around his legs, pockets swelling on the surface as they gathered air. Right before they hit the ground, Ochako pressed her pads on herself and Izuku, removing their gravity but not their momentum.

Squeezing the many pockets of compressed air, Izuku managed to slow them to near a stop, landing on the ground with a mere thump rather than a splat. Canceling her Quirk, Ochako hopped out of his arms and looked around, finding themselves at the top of a rocky hill, half-buried buildings all around.

And at the bottom of the hill stood a group of villains, smiling with vicious intent as they saw the Heroes in training arrive. "Finally, the entertainment has arrived!" One shouted with glee, the metal spines on his arms and back rattling, "Hey, try not to die too quick, yeah?! I've been looking forward to this all week!"

"I get 'em first!" A bulky man with no shirt, black hair in a topknot and a beard declared, stomping to the head of the group and flexing his oiled muscles, "You better put up a good fight, brats! You're supposed to be the best Hero school in Japan! You better damn well show it!"

Izuku breathed deep, feeling his heart start to hammer with adrenaline as heat seeped into his veins. He felt a hand on his arm and looked to Ochako, noticing the barely-concealed fear behind her visor. "We don't have to fight them on our own, Deki-kun," she whispered, gulping at the catcalls and jeers floating up from below, "They'd have to climb the hill to catch us, and we can link up with others before they do!"

"That's just sending the problem further down the line, Ochako-chan," the earthbender said with calmness he didn't feel, "They came here to kill us, and in numbers. Leading this group to another means they'll just outnumber us even more. No. We need to make our stand, here and now, and crush them without mercy." He gazed into her eyes, and never before had they resembled emeralds as they did now, cut into sharp corners that gleamed with intent. "I'll hit them hard. Pick your moments and then slam them when you can, okay?"

Ochako looked up at him, seeing the complete lack of fear in his features, and nodded slowly. "…Alright, Deki-kun. Let's do this!"

"Enough talking!" The man screamed, veins bulging in his neck, "If you brats won't come to me, then I will come to the brats!"

Izuku squeezed her hand gently, then stepped away as his fingers curled into fists, his goggles deploying from his mask.

"It's time for you Baby Heroes to get buried-!" The bulky man shouted, stamping on the ground, loose rocks swirling together around his form until he was covered in stone armor and nearly twelve feet tall and half as wide. "-in a Rockalanche!"

Izuku's eyes narrowed and he threw himself down the rocky hill in a slide, rock bleeding into liquid to crawl up his body, wrapping himself in the dense stone of his Full Armor. Shaping the field around his feet, he sped over the rock like it was greased. Rockalanche, if that was what he called himself, brought his bulky, rock covered fists over his head, but he was too slow.

Izuku planted his feet and launched himself like a bullet, spear-tackling the villain out of his rock armor and carrying him into the air, leaving a dust trail like rocket smoke. Then he began to spin and together they crashed into the ground before the crowd of Villains. Barely stopping, Izuku leapt to his feet, leaving the villain buried head-first in the ground, only his legs sticking up.

His Full Armored form stood before the Villains, eyeless helmet boring into them. "Listen well," his voice rumbled like the warning earthquake before the shifting of tectonic plates, "Leave. Now. " His fists crashed together, clapping like thunder before he held up a finger. "This is your only warning. Run as fast and as far from here as you can…" The cracking of his knuckles rang like the retort of cannon fire, and he jacked a thumb at the legs next to him, "Or I'll Bury You."

The Villains traded looks, some sweating at the display of strength, then a weasel-y looking woman stepped forward with a sneer. "Nice try, Baby Hero! Try the threats when your balls have dropped!" Her words were followed by jeers and threats.

Izuku sighed, lowering himself into a fighting stance. His eyes snapped open underneath his helmet, glowing with rage building inside of him, subtle sparks of green lightning dancing along his armor. "…So be it."

Then he reached back and grabbed the villain by the legs, whipping him into the front line of villains before leaping into the air, the ground cracking in his wake. He threw his legs out, locked his fists together with his elbow pointing out, and descended.

The impact cratered the ground, knocking several villains into the air. Slapping his palm on the ground, Izuku lashed out and spun, his armored heel sinking into a stomach and continuing, bludgeoning the floating enemies out of the air. Pushing himself up his shin crashed against a face and sent the owner flipping before landing on his feet and lunging at the nearest villain with a roar. The crunch of bone meeting rock and failing rang in his ears, then again as he turned the punch into a backhand to slap the weasel-y woman away, catching the clawed foot of a villain before driving his elbow into the knee with a crunch, palming a screaming mouth to slam the villain into another, silencing both with a kick. An angry shout sounded behind him as another bulky man, this one with oversized arms, lunged at him with a fist pulled back; Izuku dashed forward to meet him striking forward at the same time, their fists meeting with a thunderclap. The villain's hand crumpled and his arm distended as the bones were knocked free, a squeal torn from his mouth before Izuku silenced him with an elbow to the temple, turning his momentum into a kick that sent a villain screaming back, only for his grapple to race out and latch onto their chest.

The earthbender planted himself and spun, using his grapple and the villain attached as a flail, bones crunching under the impact as he swept many of them off of their feet. Releasing and hurling the villain into another, he spun at a primal scream and nimbly ducked under a roundhouse kick, sweeping the leg of a gi-clad villain to slam their skull against his knee, rising to dodge the frenzied slashes of a clawed enemy, catching her hands in his grasp and driving his knee into her stomach. As she bent double, someone screamed "DIIIIEEEE!" and he turned, soaking up a rain of metal quills from the porcupine-looking villain with his back.

The woman he'd protected looked up at him in surprise. "You saved me-!" His helmeted head crashed into hers and she fell back, insensate. He turned to the porcupine villain and stalked forward, his armor writhing with his field as it ate up every metal quill, only adding to his strength. The villain gaped at him, hands forward to launch his quills, and Izuku seized him by the arms, knee meeting groin, fingers digging and pulling until his shoulders left their sockets, then turning and slamming him into the ground.

Izuku cast his eyes around, by his count there should still be five, maybe six villains left-

"-Argh, you bitch-!" One villain howled, clutching his eyes before Ochako popped up behind him and shattered a sizable rock over his head.

"That's no way to talk to a lady!" She proclaimed, brushing her hands off with a scoff before bending over, breathing hard.

There were no more villains standing, all of them lying in groaning, sometimes silent heaps on the ground. "Good work, Ochako-chan," Izuku rumbled, retrieving his zip ties and getting to work securing their enemies.

She jumped slightly at the sound of his voice, but graced him with a bright smile even through the dirt on her cheeks and visor, a few small cuts evident in her suit. "Thanks, Deki-kun! Not all'a 'em were distracted, so I made a bunch of dirt clumps to hit them in the face with and then threw rocks. Worked pretty well until this guy-" she nodded at the unconscious man at her feet, yanking his arms behind his back aggressively, "-Got the jump on me, so I threw some dirt in his face and hit him with a rock."

"I saw," the earthbender nodded, not flinching as a villain who had faked being unconscious leapt at him. The way it echoed when his slap had met the villain's face, it must've felt like the sky had fallen. "Good use of your environment. Though we should probably find a weapon for you, Ochako-chan."

The gravity girl smiled sheepishly. "Yeah, I was gonna ask you 'bout teaching me some martial arts, Deki-kun, that…was not fun," she sighed, finishing up restraining the last villain, casting her gaze across the USJ. "And we ain't done yet."

"Not even close," he patted her shoulder comfortingly, then pointed off to a zone full of ruined buildings, "Head that way and loop around."

Ochako gave him a stunned look. "Ya wanna split up?! Are ya NUTS, Deki-kun?!" She grabbed his arm, attempting to shake him and failing miserably.

"We don't know how the other students were split up, so we need to cover all the area we can," he reasoned, running a comforting hand down her back. It probably would've been more comforting if it hadn't been covered in rock and metal, though. "Plus, you can't keep up with me, unless you want to do a balloon impression?" He clicked his grapple a few times for emphasis, nodding as she went a bit green. "Let's get to it, Ochako-chan. I'm taking you to my favorite ramen place tomorrow, remember? You can't go if you're stuck in a hospital bed, you know?"

She smiled at him and hugged him tight, uncomfortable as it was. "You be safe too, Izuku," she murmured before parting, giving him a nod before taking off towards the Ruins Zone.

He looked out over the USJ, eyes scanning the zones in the distance, "Hold on, Eraserhead," he mumbled, finding the Flood Zone on the other side of the building. "Not looking forward to that…"

…

In The Flood Zone…

Shimo landed hard on the deck of the boat in the center of the Flooded Zone, the snow she'd thrown to break her fall puffing into the air from the impact. Behind her, a pair of gloves and boots landed with a grunt, drowned out by the sound of falling water.

Heterochromic eyes gazed down over the edge of the boat, a scowl tugging at her lips as she beheld the multitude of villains in the water below, all of them with some kind of aquatic Quirk. That meant they would be able to handle cold temperatures.

Perfect. She had a little steam she needed to vent.

"You have all made a terrible mistake," Shimo declared, slamming her foot down on the boat.

…

With Izuku…

Izuku blinked as a glacier erupted from the Flooded Zone, and it might've been his imagination but it felt like the temperature dropped a degree or two. "…Well, nevermind," he shrugged, then turned and leaped towards the nearest zone; the Mountain Zone. In between seemed to be a minor zone, with a small mostly-wrecked town and a street with cars on it, also mostly wrecked. Some kind of Earthquake Zone or Traffic Collision Zone, perhaps?

He shot his grapple, latching it to the highest feature nearby as he fell, swinging himself up and back into the air. Had the situation been different, sailing through the air such as he was might've been relaxing, possibly even-

-a great force suddenly slammed him from the side, sending him through a building and into the street, bouncing off of a few cars for good measure and finally landing against a totaled sedan.

"Lookit that, I totally swatted him outta the air like a fly!" A nasally voice crowed somewhere behind him, the sound of many feet thundering up behind him as Izuku groaned, pushing himself up using the car as support.

His armor had taken the brunt of the impact, the benefits of having an Armor Layer dedicated to Shock absorption, but getting whacked at those speeds had still rattled his brain in his skull.

"And here I thought we might not see any action!" That voice shouted again, "Stomp his Baby Hero ass, boys!"

The thunder of footsteps grew louder, as did the hooting and shouting of villains who thought they'd gotten an easy mark. The frame of the car, already ruined beyond repair, crumpled further in his grip. They were nearly on him when he grabbed the car with both hands and turned on his heel, sending it spinning into the villains with a roar and dashed after it. The spinning frame flattened the frontrunners and scattered some more, leaving them wide open for Izuku to slam into them, his punches and kicks shaking the road, rattling the cars and broken windows, each strike sending two or more villains flying at a time. The largest, a villain with fur like a tiger, lashed out at him with razor-sharp claws; Izuku dodged his first strike, then the second and as the third came his way, he shot forward with low straight punch to the villain's gut, sending him flying back to be imbedded in a truck.

That left only one, a lean man wearing what looked like round, opaque spectacles, with a crown of small crystal horns growing out of his skull. And by his stance looking like he was about to cast a spell of some sort, Izuku deduced that he had been the one to swat the earthbender out of the air.

That did not make Izuku happy.

He hurled a stone knife at the villain, a solid barrier of what looked like crystal springing out of thin air to deflect it. "Come a little closer, Baby Hero!" The villain with the nasally voice crowed with a smirk, "Fight me like a man!"

Izuku picked up a nearby SUV and chucked it at the villain, who squawked, two barriers appearing to catch it. The hero in training noticed that two of the villain's horns were glowing.

"Quit throwin' shit!" The villain shouted, throwing the car right back.

His field rippled and the car crumpled in half around him, falling into two pieces on either side, more metal added to his armor. Eyes fixed on the villain, he stepped forward a bit, then stopped as a barrier slammed down just in front of him. This must be his range, Izuku thought, tapping the construct with a finger and noting that while looking and sounding like crystal, it was some sort of organic matter. Given how high up I was, it must stretch upwards like a dome. Drawing a fist back, he punched the barrier and watched it crack, but not shatter.

The villain flinched as one of his horns cracked, the tip falling to the ground. "Hey, knock it off!" He shouted, a note of panic in his voice.

So the shield breaks with the horns, and he's got about seven, Izuku deduced, scanning the area around them, I could spend however long it takes, punching through his barriers until they're all gone, but- "I don't have time for this," he said aloud, reaching to his belt and withdrawing a flash and a smoke bomb. He flicked the first above the projected height of the villain's barrier, then nailed it with the second at the apex.

Said villain, who had been watching him do so, grabbed his eyes in pain at the flash. "AH! You rat bastard! Leave me alone, dammit!" Then Izuku loosened his field and sent a cloud of sand towards the villain. "Oh, great! First you blind me and now you're throwing sand! What are you, a fucking child?!"

Under the sound of complaints, Izuku leapt over the dome and landed next to a mostly crumbled building, with the exception of the facade. One punch tore a chunk out of the remaining wall, the second deepened it, and the third sent a crack through the foundation. He grasped the wall and heaved, grunting as he pulled until he felt it give and begin to pitch over.

The villain had just cleared his vision after rubbing his glasses. "Alright you little bastard, I'm gonna squash you-!" He looked up as the sky darkened and saw the facade of the building behind him tumbling straight down on him.

A shrill scream split the air before it was sharply cut off by a boom and slight shake of the ground. Picking through the rubble, Izuku found the villain still alive, but all of his horns were broken, his glasses cracked, with a puddle forming around his crotch as he lay on the ground, unconscious. Restraining the villain, Izuku sprinted for the Mountain Zone.

…

The Mountain Zone…

Momo, Kyouka and Yuga were lucky, dropping out of the portal only a few inches above the ground, the blond's armor clanking as he pushed himself to his feet, only to freeze at the crowd of villains smiling nastily at them. "…sacrebleu…"

Putting a hand on her thigh, Momo created a metal staff that she passed to Kyouka, her fingers twitching nervously as the villain in front stepped forward. "Well, well, look at what we have here," she said, sounding bored, apathetically cracking her knuckles, "Baby Heroes, ripe for the killin'...I can already tell none of ya are gonna be a good fight, but whatever…" The scar on her cheek stretched with a toothy grin, making the expression seem to stretch across her entire face, "Sometimes laying into a punching bag is good enough!"

Momo eyed the villain, taking in her wild hair, the scars visible on her muscular yet womanly body because of the vest she wore, plus shorts and nothing else, mind racing. She's carrying no weapons, nor is her Quirk visible from this angle, so it must be some kind of enhancement from within, she deduced, And that means it must take time to activate. As the woman opened her mouth to threaten them again, Momo concentrated and made her move.

"-time peeling you outta that tin can, pretty boy, 'bout all you'd be good for-" she blinked as light flashed from Momo's skin, then bent double with a low squeal as a beanbag slammed into her crotch.

The creative girl pulled the launch system of the weapon on her shoulder back with an ominous clack, loading a fresh beanbag into it. "I would ask that you please retreat or surrender," she announced politely, "It is only a matter of time before word gets to the faculty and when they arrive, All Might will be coming with them."

Many of the villains balked, but not all, muttering something about a secret weapon. The lead villain, clutching her pelvis, wheezed out, "-you little…bi-!"

THOOM.

The second beanbag slammed into her face, knocking the villain flat on her back.

"I insist," Momo added, reloading once more.

The villains traded looks, then shrugged. "It's three fuckin' kids, they can't fight us all at once," a hunched man with a wide, fleshy nose with pink tendrils coming off of it said with a shrug. "Get 'em!"

Momo nailed him in the face, too, then loaded a smoke bomb and fired it into the crowd of oncoming villains. "Aoyama-kun!"

"I'll show you dull, crude villains how to really Sparkle!" He shouted, unleashing a laser beam from his belt and sweeping it through the cloud, drawing cries of pain. A raptor-like screech rang through air as a lean form leaped from the smoke with the power of clawed, digitigrade legs, descending towards the sparkling blond at speed. He thrust his hips and fired again, but the villain dodged mid-air and landed, cracking the ground before lunging at him. Yuga yelped and clenched his stomach, firing small bursts of thin, focused lasers that the villain dipped, ducked, dove and dodged around before lashing out, their talons rending through his armor, though luckily missing his flesh.

Letting loose a panicked noise that definitely wasn't a shriek, Yuga released his laser, directing the energy up to the lenses on his pauldrons, jetting him backwards but also impacting the villain and sending them flying back; slamming into other enemies and driving them all into a nearby mountain face to leave them in a groaning pile.

"J-just as planned…mon dieu," Yuga whispered, gingerly touching his torn chest armor, "I didn't know it would happen like this…"

Kyouka jammed a jack into her boot and stomped, a wave of vibration shooting out before her to shake the footing of the villains in its path and rushed forward, swinging her staff like a long bat. The metal cracked against heads and arms, sending villains to the ground clutching injured parts, not helped by the vibrating stomps she doled out to keep them off balance. One villain, looking like a walking gnarled tree, threw their arms out, thorny vines whipping out to wrap around her staff.

The punk rock girl grit her teeth as she held on, not willing to give up even as vine lashed out to score her cheek. Hearing footfalls as villains made to attack her from behind, Kyouka threw herself forward with a yell, letting the vines carry her out of danger and into the tree villain, her boots slamming into the bark to release a shockwave directly into their body. "Just as planned…" She grunted, landing and spinning back to face her pursuers as the tree villain went screaming into a rock face, preparing to fight once more.

THOOM.

A beanbag impacted one of the villains from the side, sending her into the group and bowling them over. Kyouka darted forward to set about them with whacks from her staff. "Nice shot!"

THOOM.

Momo reloaded her shoulder cannon once more, taking aim and pressing the trigger, firing another beanbag that thumped into the chest of a villain to knock them over. Sweat trickled down her face as she racked the slide, Created another, took aim and fired. There are too many of them, she silently despaired, shooting a villain with a reptilian head as he snuck up on Aoyama. We need something big to clear them out! I could create some sleeping gas, but Kyouka-chan and Aoyama-kun are too separated, and I don't know if these villains have Quirks that make them immune to that. No, maybe-

"Got you!" A voice shouted from behind. Momo spun on her heel with a yelp, instinctively swinging the heavy, mostly metal device on her shoulder at the noise. The back end crashed into the head of a muscular villain who seemed to have his skull outside of his head, which cracked under the impact as he fell back, unconscious.

She looked up and realized she'd been stepping forward as she fired, and that many of the enemies Kyouka had laid out were now getting back up, her lack of experience meaning they'd gone down but hadn't stayed down.

And now most of them were around her.

Momo gulped but glared, slinging her cannon on her back and reaching for her thigh. Thank you, Mei for shoving that new gadget magazine in my face, she thought, withdrawing a thick, boxy pistol from the light emanating from within her skin, Not so much for rambling in my ear for an hour and spilling my tea, but still… Her hand snapped up and pulled the trigger with a crack of displaced air, an empty cartridge ejecting as the slide shot back with a new one rising from the magazine to replace it.

A villain rocked back with a grunt as a projectile the size of a hornet impacted his chest. Looking down, he had only a second to notice the barbs digging into his skin before it snapped on and he went down in a twitching pile as the taser round went to work.

Again and again she fired, Creating another taser pistol as the first ran dry, holding it in her other hand. While it was somewhat effective, Momo knew it couldn't last; the villains who had attacked them were criminals, and many of them had been tased before and thus knew how to shake off the effects. Discarding an empty pistol, she Created another, a flash of light out of the corner of her eye drawing her attention to Aoyama as he blasted another villain away with his navel laser, despite the pain present on his features.

And then she had an idea.

Emptying the remaining cartridges, Momo tossed her guns aside and brought her hands to her stomach, concentrating on what she desired, trying to ignore the sounds of once-stunned villains getting back up and approaching. The end of a staff emerged from her belly, then the light of Creation shone brighter as she pulled the head of her weapon from her body, displacing some of her costume.

"Aoyama-san!" She shouted, holding the scepter up above her head, getting the blond's attention. Behind his red visor, his eyes widened and Yuga grit his teeth as his stomach burned, nodding in determination. "Kyouka-san, duck!"

The punk rock girl looked around then threw herself to the ground as Aoyama took aim and unleashed his laser beam, striking the multi-faceted head of Momo's staff, diffracting into many smaller beams that shot out all around her, blasting back every standing villain.

The beam petered out and Yuga bent over, cradling his stomach as Momo and Kyouka rose to their feet, taking in the groaning bodies lying around them. "Well, that worked…" the punk rock girl said, wincing as she rubbed a cut on her cheek.

"J-Just as planned," Momo sighed, letting the crystal-topped staff fall to the ground and Creating several sets of restraints, "Let's secure the villains before they wake up again."

"I w-will join you in just…" Yuga wheezed, "Just a minute…or thirty…ow."

They had just restrained most of the villains when something metal scraped on the rocky ground. Then a hand seized Aoyama's cape, pulling him back onto the ground before a foot stomped on his stomach, his eyes nearly bulging out of his skull as he fell back, trembling. Then they darted forward, ducking a jack that was swung at them and landing an uppercut directly under Kyouka's sternum, driving the breath from her lungs. As the punk rock girl fell to her knees, wheezing, their attacker was revealed to Momo:

The first villain she'd shot, looking none the worse for the wear and bearing a vicious grin.

Momo brought her cannon up and loaded it simultaneously then fired. The villain held up a dark gray hand and caught the beanbag, fingers digging into the bag until it burst, spilling beads onto the ground.

"Beanbagging me in the crotch, then in the face, while I was talking?" The villain growled, smile widening, "I approve, little hero! I thought I'd only get some fun outta stomping on you, but you've got some teeth, girlie! I gotta wonder, though," she stood tall, her veins bulging in her flesh as gray metal overtook her skin until it was a woman of metal standing there. She cracked her knuckles. "Can you really deal with me, without a sneak attack first?"

Momo narrowed her eyes, thoughts racing as her hand snapped up, racked and loaded her cannon and fired.

The villain didn't even budge as the beanbag slammed into her face. She let it peel off and fall to the floor, her grin holding strong. "The name's Tamahagane, girl," she chuckled, crouching, "Remember it when you're in the hospital!" She lunged, the ground cracking.

The creative girl brought her cannon up, gasping as a metal-covered fist punched through the device, sending her stumbling back. Flicking her arm, a staff shot out of her palm to bounce off of Tamahagane's head, grabbing and swinging hard. Metal struck metal and deflected with a ringing ping, not doing much. The villain lashed out, fists flying with surprising speed, Momo did her best to not block, using her staff to guide the strikes away but even that made her arms shake from the sheer strength of the villain's arms. Then Tamahagane spun and uncorked a hook kick, Momo ducked underneath but the top of her staff was caught by the villain's knee, nearly yanking it from her grasp and she quickly brought it up to block the follow-up straight.

There was a screech of tearing steel as her staff snapped in half and a metal fist impacted her chest, driving her back and leaving her with two half-staves. There was no time for Momo to catch her breath as the villain moved back into her space, still grinning, striking faster than before and even chuckling as the girl struggled to keep up. Momo flinched as metal nails split the skin of her shoulder, heart thundering with fear as she felt her burning muscles start to slow from exertion. Desperate to break Tamahagane's pattern and make space, she picked a target and stepped into the villain's reach, choking up her grip and swinging as hard as she could at it.

Her staff impacted the metal villain's ear and made her recoil with a curse. "Ow! My fucking ear!" She growled, spying a glint of metal from the corner of her eye and ducking instinctively, which turned out to be a mistake. Momo had tossed half of her staff up into the air, Created a flash bomb and threw it on the ground just as Tamahagane looked down. "Gah! My eyes!"

Throwing herself away from the flailing villain, Momo created a smoke bomb and tossed it at her. Retreating from the coughing metal woman, the creative girl tried to catch her breath. Izuku, I owe you a kiss after this! She thought, recalling how the earthbender had freely and gladly shared the blueprints to his gadgets when she'd asked. Wait…Her eyes found the discarded taser pistols and an idea sparked, Two kisses.

She had just Created something when a metal foot slammed into her chest, her ribs creaking and cracking as she went flying backwards, landing harshly on the ground, spine bent in pain as the metal clasp and the encyclopedia it held dug into her back.

"Sneaky little shit," Tamahagane muttered with an approving smirk, eyeing the girl as she writhed in pain, "Got any tricks now?"

Momo rolled onto her side, squinting up at the villain, hand gingerly resting on her injured chest. "Just…one…" She whispered, pressing a button on the glove she'd Created.

…along with the two Stun Shuriken on the ground next to the villain's feet.

Electricity arced from the two throwing stars, catching Tamahagane in between. She screamed and shuddered, lightning dancing up her form until the shuriken ran out of juice and she swayed on the spot, the metal retreating into her body before collapsing in a smoking, twitching heap.

Waiting a moment for any other surprises, Momo sighed in relief and immediately flinched, a pained whimper escaping her lips as her cracked sternum protested. "K-Kyouka…Aoyama…are you a-alright?" Slowly levering herself up, wincing as every movement made her injuries twinge, the creative girl breathed a bit easier seeing her classmates getting to their feet.

"I threw up," Kyouka announced bluntly, wiping her lips and holding her stomach, "Otherwise…yeah, I'm not bad. How about you?"

"Merde…" Yuga groaned, breathing hard and sweating, "I…I am still alive, mon frere, but…not quite so shiny as before…my sparkle…has faded…ow…"

Slowly, Momo stepped towards them, hand dropping to one of her pouches to retrieve a topical painkiller, the lack of breath and abundance of pain dampening her concentration. Metal scraped over stone and her heart seized, a rush of air as someone lunged at her back…

Then metal and stone clashed with an echoing ring.

Momo peered over her shoulder, finding a metal-covered Tamahagane with an arm extended, fist clenched in a strike that would've, at the very least, shattered her shoulder.

And, holding the villain's arm in an unwavering, stone-clad grip was an armored form. "…Izuku…" Momo breathed, a sense of warmth and safety blossoming in her throbbing chest as he glanced at her, withdrawing the rock over his eye to give her a reassuring wink.

"Your Quirk," he spoke to Tamahagane, the sheer depth and weight of his voice making them all jump, "You armor yourself using the iron in your blood, with a limited amount of control inside of your body, going by the metal over your teeth. Using the iron, you can also increase your rate of blood flow internally, letting you recover from injuries faster than usual."

The villain gaped at him, stunned. "Y-you…how?" she gasped, vainly trying to free herself from his grip.

"I wonder, though…" Izuku rumbled like the thunder before the storm, "Can you still recover that quick…without any iron in your body?"

Tamahagane blinked at him. "…What?"

"Let's find out." His fist crashed against her cheek, rocking her head back, hand closing around her shoulder to pull her into a vicious headbutt, arms twisting around hers to pull her into a powerful bearhug, metal groaning as it began to give away in his embrace.

Then the villain started screaming shrilly, and everyone still conscious on the plateau could see the iron being peeled away from her skin in streams of silver dust that his armor absorbed and incorporated, her frenzied, desperate struggles growing weaker and weaker as the gleaming metal was stripped away, inch by inch. Her shrieking faded out into choked, bubbling gurgles, eyes rolling up in her skull as she lolled limply against his shoulder.

Izuku carelessly dropped her from his arms, not even a hint of metal to be seen on her skin or conscious thought to be found in her eyes, lying uncomfortably still in the dirt. "Guess not," he stated, nudging her with a foot and turning to his classmates, "Are you okay?"

"Y-yeah," Kyouka mumbled, face pale as she held her jacks close to her chest, unconsciously rubbing them.

"No…" Yuga groaned painfully, having pushed himself to his feet and still clutching his stomach with the rents in his armor visible under his hand. It may have been the pain from overusing his Quirk or what he'd just seen, but it seemed he had trouble looking any of them in the eye.

Momo gazed down at Tamahagane, waiting for the villain to leap up once again. When she didn't even twitch, the creative girl sighed then flinched violently, "A-ah!" The pain made spots of darkness dance in her eyes and her knees wobble dangerously before she nearly tipped over. A strong arm bereft of stone wrapped around her shoulders to lend support and comfort, a pair of emerald eyes gazing into hers with naked concern. "Sh-she kicked me in the c-chest…" Momo gasped out, knowing panic would only make her injuries worse but unable to seize control of the fear running rampant in her veins, "Something…cracked i-inside and I c-can't br-breathe…!" Am I…am I dying? But…

Izuku's mask disengaged as his arm tightened around her, displaying a worried frown. "Easy, Momo, shallow breaths," he soothed, gently grasping her hand pressed to her chest and squeezing her fingers, "You aren't dying, that kick partially collapsed your rib cage and it's compressing your lungs…I can fix it."

She blinked up at him, the warmth and firmness of his arm around her, the strong, steady heartbeat she could feel partially pressed against his chest and the solid look in his eye…still she felt heat from within, but it seemed gentler now. She nodded slowly. "Please…"

He pulled her hand away and replaced it with his own, calloused fingers resting on rapidly bruising flesh, arm pulling her in just a bit more to cover her ribcage with his field. "Now, breathe deep," he told her, their eyes locked on each other.

Wincing, Momo did as said and took a deep breath. As she did, he pulled her ribcage back into place, using his field to knit the cracked bone back together. Breathing easy, though not painless, the creative girl patted her chest and his hand, coughing a bit. "That's better," she breathed, gazing up at him with a small, thankful smile, "Thank you, Izuku."

"You're welcome," he nodded, lightly stroking her side. He'd always known her eyes were beautiful, but as close as they were he found they resembled nothing less than the most finely polished onyx, glimmering prettily even in the relatively low light of the USJ.

She wasn't entirely sure what was happening right then, but she found herself wanting to stay in his arms longer, perhaps in a place much more comfortable than a fake mountain by a pile of restrained villains. Momo suddenly remembered the debt she'd given herself, as well as the fact that his large, calloused hand was still touching her chest and that the bounteous nature of her womanly features meant that he was touching those as well, even if only slightly.

"Mon f-frere!" Yuga called, still slightly hunched, "Please, you can fix my armor, right?! My shine…my sparkle! Is near gone! I need protection!"

Izuku didn't flinch at the sudden shout, merely giving Momo a slow nod and the lightest brush of his fingers on her sternum before he pulled away. "Of course, Aoyama-kun, let me see it." As he fixed the torn metal, the earthbender nodded at the villains, "Ochako-chan and I landed in the Landslide Zone and defeated the villains there. We split up to find everyone else to regroup, although apparently Shimo handled the Flooded Zone. Ochako-chan was headed for the Ruins Zone, but I'm confident that everyone can handle themselves until backup arrives…though I can only hope Eraserhead is holding out-"

A small sun burst in the air near the entrance to the USJ, hanging as a beacon to all who could see it. Izuku narrowed his eyes and thought. As far as I'm aware, the people with flares like that are myself, Himiko, Momo and…Mina. I gave her my spare, and I know Himiko was teleported and Momo is right here… "Find the others, make sure they're alright then get to Central Plaza," he ordered, the armor he'd moved to his legs flowing back up over his body, even as he withdrew a pair of meal bars and tossed them to Momo. "Pick your targets, work together and don't strain yourselves!"

With that said, he ran towards the edge of the plateau and leaped high into the air, shattering the ground below and causing a minor rockslide.

"Izuku, wait!" Momo called, but he was already shrinking into the distance. She huffed, running a hand through her hair, tearing the wrapper of a bar open with her teeth. Taking a bite, she Created three more taser pistols along with two magazines of ammo each. "C'mon," she said thickly around a mouthful of bar, "Let's help our friends so we can leave this place."

Although a little unsure when it came to wielding pistols, Kyouka and Aoyama gave her determined nods and the trio set off for the closest zone.

…

In a section of the Ruins Zone…

"Dark Shadow, constrict them!" Tokoyami commanded from beneath the shadow of a partially collapsed. His Quirk raced out to snatch a two handfuls of villains with an echoing laugh, smashing the two groups together before slamming them on the ground. "Kaminari, once more!"

The blond leapt from his cover and landed in the center of the villains, electricity crackling around him. "500 Thousand Volt Shock!" And unleashed his power, making the villains scream and shudder before going still, smoke rising from the pile. Kaminari himself stumbled out, groaning.

"Are you alright?" The bird-headed boy asked, keeping a watchful eye out for more villains.

"Wahey…hey…heh, yeah," the blond replied, shaking himself out, "I just about reached my limit there…"

"Worry not, I will safeguard our souls," Tokoyami intoned, his shadow writhing in anticipation, "These fools wander into the shadows, thinking they know what it means to live in the darkness…but they were not born to it! Molded by it! That they are not blinded by the light…they are no true denizen of the dark!" Dark Shadow raced out, clobbering a pair of villains with a screech.

"…Yeah," Kaminari said slowly, "I've got more juice left, Tokoyami, let's take these fools out for daring to attack us at school!"

"AIYO!" Dark Shadow shouted in agreement.

…

The Downpour Zone…

Tsuyu bounced off of a streetlight, dodging a blade of water that sliced the light off of it, bounding from building to street to light, leading a crowd of villains on a merry chase through the rain. "Catch her!" A shrill voice shouted, "All this rain is ruining my hair!"

The frog girl leaped and shot her tongue out to latch onto a light, swinging herself around the corner and disappearing from sight. The crowd rounded the corner a few seconds later to find Tsuyu at the other end of the street, perched on a traffic light.

"Finally realized…how useless running is?!" The apparent leader of the group cried, an oddly beautiful girl with blue hair nearly doubled over from panting.

Tsuyu's face showed no fear nor anger. She simply lifted a hand and pointed up.

As one, the villains tilted their heads and looked upwards. And shared one thought.

That's a big lady.

"WHAT'S UP, BITCHES?!" Mt. Lady shouted gleefully as she dropped from the roof of a building, a very toothy grin on her lips. Her feet impacted on either side of the group, the concrete buckling and launching them into the air, where her massive hands were ready to snatch them at their apex. "I've got a lovely bunch of idiots~!" She sang as Tsuyu hopped onto her hand, darting between the dazed and confused villains to restrain them, "Here they are all sitting in my hands~! Gotta keep a good grip, or else they'll all slip, and that'll make Tsuyu saaaaaad~!"

The villains ceased to struggle lest she actually drop them, letting the frog girl tie them up without issue. "We're good!" Tsuyu called, climbing up Mt. Lady's arm to rest on her shoulder, "Y'know, ribbit, I was trying not to laugh 'cause it would make tying them up harder, but I thought it was funny."

"Hehe, and I just thought of it, too!" Mt. Lady giggled, using her elbow to smash in a bunch of windows in one of the buildings, then blowing the glass shards to the other side of the room, along with a bunch of chairs, desks and miscellaneous objects before shoving the villains into the room. Tsuyu hopped down from her shoulder, with the giant blonde planting her hands on the newly made door frame and jumping, shrinking down in size as she stepped into the building, then collapsing into a puddle of gray sludge to reveal…nothing. The frog girl drew a red and black bundle from under her hair and passed it off to nothing, where the bundle floated away behind a wall, only to come back as a shorter blonde in a red and black costume. "Now, time to find out what the fuck's going on."

Tsuyu jabbed a finger at the blue-haired girl. "She was the one shouting orders, ribbit. And just in general."

Said girl balked and looked around at the other villains. "N-no, wait I'm sure it was, uh, T-Torio, yeah, who was shouting, he's definitely the leader!" She gave them a very unsubtle wink and nod.

The villains glance at each other. "No, nope, she's definitely the leader," they replied, pointing at the girl.

"Works for me!" Himiko said with a shrug, carelessly grabbing the girl by her long, looped blue hair.

"Aaah, no!" She shrieked, kicking her legs wildly, unintentionally flashing everyone with her short skirt, "How could you betray your Aqua-sama like this you baaaaastaards!"

The blooddrinker shoved 'Aqua' against a wall and drew her stiletto, laying the blade against the villain's neck, making her freeze. "Now, you're gonna tell me why you're here, who you are…and what's up with this 'magical girl' shit you got going on."

Said 'magical girl shit' meant a sleeveless dark blue dress, with detached white sleeves with blue and gold trim, the aforementioned criminally short skirt, a green bow with a blue gem in the middle, topped off with blue thigh-high boots and white socks, along with a round blue hair clip.

"Ah, haha, you see…" the girl cleared her throat and drew herself up, "I am the all-powerful, benevolent goddess of water, the amazing,the beautiful, the magnificent…Aqua-sama! Ta-daaa-oof!" She had forgotten she was restrained and thus when she tried to pull some jazz-hands, she instead gracelessly fell over.

"…Uh-huh," Himiko grunted.

"You see, once I was revered for my magical water abilities to heal the sick and destroy the sinful…! But then when I asked for just a teensy-weensy bit of worship, suddenly I was a 'villain' and then I had to make ends meet somehow, so I blessed a crew of dirty peasants thankful for my patronage and decided that if I was gonna be a villain, then I'd be the greatest Villain of all time!" She then proceeded to laugh obnoxiously loudly.

Himiko glanced at the closest villain, an average looking guy with what looked like sunglasses fused to his face. "She's got a water quirk that can heal, and kept demanding people give her all their money and shit, there's nothing magical about her," he answered quickly, "And none of us even like her, she's just not bad with the water and the healing is really useful."

Aqua gasped theatrically. "Y-you scoundrel! How dare you say such things about your goddess?! I oughta smite you right now ya heathen!"

"Shut up, bitch, your hair isn't even naturally blue!" He retorted.

The 'goddess' gaped at him. "T-t-that's not true! My magical hair is a sign of my goddess-ness and is totally natural!"

"The carpets don't match the drapes, dipshit!"

"Y-you-you-y-you PERVERT! YOU LOOKED UP MY SKIRT?!"

"You don't wear panties and your skirt is so short it should be a criminal offense!"

Aqua drew in a deep breath to scream, only to squeal in shock when Himiko sank the claws of her glove into her bare arm, and then she quickly passed out. "Welp, she's useless," the blonde muttered, checking her blood levels and noting the rise, "Kinda hot, though." She stood up and pointed at the more reasonable villain. "You. Why are you here?"

"I-I swear I don't know!" He paled, gulping at the brandished claws and knife, "S-some tweaker asked us if we wanted to kick the shit out of a bunch of hero students and we haven't exactly had a lot of wins lately so we took him up on it! He said something about a secret weapon and that's it!"

The two Heroes in training traded looks. "We should get back to the central plaza, ribbit," Tsuyu stated.

"Mm," Himiko nodded and the two moved to the window, preparing to leap out, only stopped by a cry of 'wait!' "What?"

The villain pointed his chin at the now-drooling Aqua. "Can you like, gag her or something? I know we're going to jail for this, but seriously, she's gonna scream so much when she wakes up…"

The blonde blooddrinker thought for a second, then shrugged. She tugged the 'goddess's boots and socks off, stuffing one in her drooling mouth while tying the other around her head. "There," she nodded and the two girls jumped away into the rain. "Now stay put."

…

"…Hey, Aqua's actually not bad-looking when she can't talk."

"…Shut up, Torio."

…

The Conflagration Zone…

"Where the hell are these brats?!" A villain with what looked like smokestacks growing out of his head shouted over the crackling of flames, receiving no answers from the other villains waiting in hiding. A swirling portal of purple smoke had appeared over the place the villains had chosen for their ambush, a mostly-burned building that wasn't too much on fire; but before they could even make a move, before the Baby Heroes had even touched the ground, they'd vanished in a streak of purple lightning. "Dammit!"

A sweaty villain came sprinting around the corner, eyes wide with fear. "R-run!" He shouted, waving his arms frantically.

Smokestack scowled, smoke angrily billowing from his stacks. "Where are the others?!"

"Run!" Sweaty repeated in panic, only to squeal in pain. Purple flashed behind him and he went rocketing forward, skidding over the ground on his face with a dark figure standing on his back.

Even through her faceless helmet, they could feel the glare Keqing was shooting them, flinching as she stomped on the groaning villain under her boot and plucked an uncomfortably long needle from his back. Then she flicked it and Smokestack dodged, the long metal implement sinking into the charred brick next to his head. "You miss-!" Lightning crackled and she was there, driving a fist into his stomach before seizing his face and slamming the back of his head into the brick with a crunch.

Keqing snatched her needle back and threw, zipping towards another villain, her boot meeting their stomach, pushing off to snap-kick their head and send them spinning, sending her needle into the air. She bolted upwards, creating one needle and grabbing the other, hurling both downwards then zipping to one with a leg extended. Surprisingly, her attack was dodged as the villain, a woman with unbound black hair, gracefully spun away and scraped the ground with what looked like bare, metal feet. A wave of sparks shot up at the contact then exploded into billowing flames.

The electric girl bolted to her other needle, which was at the feet of a man with half a head of brown hair, exposed skin covered in burns with glowing yellow eyes, wearing a ragged fireman's jacket. He bent over her fist as it was buried in his gut, but a sharp gesture from his hands made the flames around them explode in her direction, so she sped away to her other opponent, ducking under a graceful crescent kick to sweep the heel, but the villain cartwheeled away, once more dragging her feet on the ground.

Keqing grunted, lightning flowing through her being and darted back to the other needle. Time slowed to an ironically glacial crawl, allowing her to perceive what was truly happening. The villain in the fireman's jacket was mid-gesture, the sparks kicked up by the woman expanding into flames as he did. He has some kind of control over combustions, she deduced, remembering how nearby fire would grow at his command. Take him out first.

Mid-bolt, she formed another two needles and threw them, the carved metal sinking into his shoulders and disabling his arms. She appeared in front of him with a crack of thunder, yanking her needles out then speedily and repeatedly stabbing them into his chest, making him flinch and jerk with every shock. Kicking his foot, the villain fell to one knee and she ran up his torso, landing a flipping kick to his chin that sent him flying into the air.

Bolting towards the female villain, Keqing saw that she was spinning, kicking up a near-constant barrier of sparks. The electric girl summoned two more needles and clenched them in her hands, infusing them further with her power, then threw.

The dancing villain had a mere second to see a lightning-sheathed needle pass her body by a few inches before the other punched through her wall of sparks and sank into her sternum. Wreathed in lightning, Keqing bolted to her needle, palming the villain by the chest and carrying her onwards under the overhang of a burning building, slamming the villain into the wall. As the villain doubled over, she threw another needle above and zipped up, driving the woman into the overhang before letting go. Plucking her needle, she flicked it down past the falling villain and bolted down with a leg extended, stomping the woman into the ground with a crunch.

She did not get up again.

Keqing threw her needle up and zipped to it, seeing the remaining villains gathered around each other, doing their best to keep her in their sights. She thought it was cute of them to try. Summoning all five of her needles to her hands, she threw them in a circle around the group, her body briefly glowing like a purple star before vanishing in a glint of light.

And then there was chaos.

If one were able to pause time, they would see what looked like many copies of Keqing made of lightning, frozen in time as they kicked, punched and otherwise struck the villains with speed too great for the naked eye to see, darting from one needle to the other.

A second later and she reappeared outside of the circle sliding to a stop, smoke curling from her suit as what looked like a five-point star of purple energy shone, then erupted. A thunderous crack rang out as the air displaced from her speed realized it had somewhere else to be, hurling the villains every which way, each unconscious and sparking.

Pushing her visor up, Keqing coughed from the smoke and exertion, guzzling refreshingly cool water from her canteen. "Koda-san, that's the last of them!" She called, taking a second to kneel and regain her strength. The shy teen with a rock for a face peered out from behind a building, the villains they'd dealt with earlier slung on his shoulders. "Let us leave this place before we inhale any more smoke."

He nodded and together they restrained the villains in a daisy-chan, dragging them out of the Conflagration and into the clearer air of the USJ. Above the entrance, they could see a bright orange flare burning in the sky.

Humming, Keqing snapped her visor shut and rolled her shoulders. "Koda-san, please keep an eye on these criminals, I will go to the central plaza to support our teacher."

The rocky-headed boy bobbed his head gently, birds and squirrels and the like gathering around him.

The electric girl nodded and flung a needle, vanishing with a crack and glint of purple.

…

In another Section of the Ruins Zone…

"FUCK OFF!" Katsuki shouted, blasting a bulky villain away with a grin on her face as Eiri grappled another to throw out of a window, a jagged makeshift blade shattering on her forehead as she did. "You'd think, tryin' to invade fuckin' Yuuei of all places, these FUCKERS WOULD BRING THEIR A-GAME!" Small but intense explosions shot from her gloved hands as she jumped and spun, kicking a knife out of a villains' hand with one heel and kicking him in the face with the other, sending him cartwheeling into a wall. "But no! Extras! Extras, one and all!"

Eiri blocked the punches of a villain with spikes growing from her knuckles, grappling her arms to pull them in for a vicious headbutt, then flattened them with a hip toss that turned into an elbow drop that cracked the floor beneath them. She swept the leg of another villain, planting her hands and pushing off into a rising knee that sent the villain bouncing off of the ceiling. "This is what you get, Bastards!" She growled, boxing another villains' ears then grabbing them and rocketing her head forward once, twice, thrice, throwing the bleeding enemy to ground. "Imma break you all!"

"Maybe if you were faster!" Bakugou laughed, blasting a villain away casually, "WEAK!" She spun, kicking the legs out from another and launching a double blast into their chest, sending them flying, "USELESS!" She exploded, driving an elbow up into the gut of another, seizing them by the collar with her hand and pulling them over her shoulder, then blasting them out of a window, "FUCKING!" the topmost barrels on her gauntlets glowed before erupting in a mighty flash and thunder, sending many villains flying, "EXTRAS!"

The muscular redhead cracked her knuckles, giving the many unconscious, mostly smoking villains a satisfied smirk. "Maybe next time, you'll think twice about taking on 1-A!" She crowed, turning to the other girl with a palm raised. "High-five!"

"We're not fuckin' done," the explosive blonde grunted, not sparing her a glance, eyes fixed on the figure walking towards them, stepping over the bodies of the fallen.

It was a man, black hair pulled up into a topknot, dressed in the traditional samurai getup, jacket, hakama and geta, all colored blood red and trimmed with black, a katana tucked into an obi, topped off with a straw hat (also black.) "If they couldn't satisfy you, perhaps I can be of assistance?" He offered in a smoky voice, thumbing the tsuba of his katana to show the gleaming blade, "You'll see that I'm a cut above the rest."

Katsuki stared at him, an incredulous eyebrow creeping up her forehead before her cheeks bulged and raucous laughter escaped from her mouth. "L-look at this edgy motherfucker!" She chortled, slapping a knee, "Where the fuck do you think you are, Bushido-con!?"

The villain's eye twitched dangerously. "You-!"

"And the colors! Holy shit, I think that color palette is called 'It's Not A Phase, Mom!'" Bakugou added, nearly bent over from laughing so hard, "Lemme guess, you call yourself 'Ronin!' No, wait, 'Ronin of the Underworld!' No, that's not edgy enough, how about 'Shadow Ronin of the Underworld!" She saw his face curl into a scowl and laughed harder, "Oh god, I bet your first villain name was 'Original Character, Do Not Steal!' Ha!"

"THAT'S IT!" The very edgy villain howled, gripping his katana so hard his fingers were white, "DIE!" And then he blurred forward, drawing his sword and swinging down with all his might.

"Look out!" Eiri shouted, throwing herself in front of Katsuki, arms raised, skin hard as rock. The blade sliced down, meeting her skin and beginning to cut through it. The redhead gasped in pain, before her eyes hardened and she clenched her fists, growling with effort. Her skin became even more jagged and rock-like, stopping the katana cold.

With the villain's momentum meeting her immoving form by way of his sword, the blade shattered into silver shards. Then Eiri heard an explosion and glanced over at the blonde.

"That's my line."

Katsuki, powered by a blast, uncorked a spinning uppercut into the villain's chin, sending him into the air. She landed and took aim, catching him right in his floating center of mass and launching him out of the other side of the building. Sniffing, she stood and wiped her cheek where a shard of sword had cut into her flesh, giving the redhead an unimpressed look. "Yeah, I had that handled, dipshit," she said casually, cracking her knuckles, "If you hadn't jumped in front of me I would've cleaned his goddamn clock before he could bring his sword down."

Eiri blinked at her, feeling a little flatfooted. "Uh…you're welcome…?" Shaking her head, she squinted in thought with a small frown, "Wait, how, exactly?"

Bakugou scoffed. "An edgy bitch like that? Press their unimaginative inadequacy buttons a bunch and they'll default to the most basic strikes out of anger; which, for a katana, is an overhead slice. I was already crouched over 'n ready to explode and counter his ass."

The redhead rubbed her chin, coughing and refocusing on more important things. "Now that we've handled these goons, we should find everyone else and help 'em out." I guess she has explosive reflexes, too…?

"Fuck that, if they can't handle these goddamn extras," she kicked a groaning villain in the side, "Then they shouldn't even be in our damn class. The smoky son of a bitch, he's got a teleporting Quirk; as long as he's on the field, these fucks have an out. Taking him down, that's the winning play." A villain, having recovered from getting beat down, charged at Katsuki's back with a yell. She stepped to the side and held her arm out, letting him clothesline himself on her bulky gauntlet. Not even acknowledging it, she jumped out of the building and blasted away.

Eiri looked at all of the villains they'd put down and grabbed her restraints with a sigh, getting to work making sure they wouldn't run after recovering. "…Think I'm starting to see why Izuku wants to beat your face in," she muttered with a bit of a grin, "I wouldn't mind taking a couple shots myself…"

…

Central Plaza…

Aizawa was not having a pleasant day; not that he had pleasant days in general, just the occasional day that was less shit than most.

This was not one of those. The opposite, in fact.

And it had only gotten worse when 'The League of Villains' had shown up in force, scattering his students all around the building with who knows how many enemies waiting for them. And just because he specialized in fighting many enemies at once, punching through cannon fodder like All Might punched through rice paper just became tedious after a while.

Speaking of All Might: WHERE THE HELL WAS HE?

This thought became even more pertinent when the twitchy psychopath covered in hands had not only dissolved a lot of skin around his elbow, but had also ordered the smoking Villain to bring in 'The Nomu.'

No, Aizawa reflected, lying facedown on the concrete, his cracked eye socket throbbing in agonizing time with his shattered shoulders, this has not been a very good day. Though it would be a little less worse if this maniac would shut up. Also…ow. My bones.

"-Symbol of Peace!" Shigaraki ranted about All Might, again. "What makes him so peaceful, huh?! All the smashing, changing the weather and shit?!"

Aizawa blinked his one good eye and focused on the fight taking place near the entrance. The villains he hadn't taken care of because of the whole 'being pounded into the concrete' thing had gone for the students protecting Thirteen, though they had quickly learned to stay out of Sato and Shouji's reach. Using nearby trees taped together and covered in thick goop courtesy of Sero and Mina respectively as cover, the villains had hunkered down on the second platform of the stairs and the two groups had fallen into a diorama of super-powered trench warfare. Idiot children, he thought, gaze landing on a villain pulling a boiling ball of sort of liquid out of himself, holding it above his head, the door's open, you should've taken Thirteen and escaped. His eye turned red and the ball lost cohesion, splashing down onto the villain and spilling out around the ground, causing several of them to run screaming.

They were then nailed with sticky globs of tape and saltwater-strength acid, taking them out of the fight.

Then his eye went wide as he saw an armored form land a bit away, just out of the three Villains' line of sight. Oh no, not him. He saw the helmet turn as the student glanced between him and the others at the top of the stairs. Go to them! He tried to shout with just an eye and a pained expression, Help them, not me!

He blinked as what looked like green lightning briefly danced around Izuku's armor. Wait, what was that?

FIFTEEN PERCENT. His fingers dug into the concrete like it was cotton candy and heaved it over his head like the same, a chunk of gray stone three feet wide sailing through the air to land amid the villains on the stairs. Then the world blurred in Izuku's vision as he moved, crossing the distance between himself and the big muscled freak pinning Eraserhead to the ground, launching a cupped palm directly into its chest. He felt the black-skinned muscle ripple, but not give, then his pressure wave caught up and slammed into the creature's body, sending it sliding back on its heels. It absorbed the kinetic energy of my strike, he noted, bending to carefully grab the heavily injured Underground Hero and bolt away. Setting Aizawa down gently, Izuku sank his field into his teacher's bones, carefully but quickly pulling the shattered fragments of his shoulders back together. He could do nothing about the torn muscles and ligaments, but the bone he could fix.

"You…sneaky little bastard…" Aizawa rasped, only wincing slightly as shards of bone realigned themselves inside his torn flesh and fused together, "Have you…still been holding back…?"

"Not by choice," he replied, feeling just a tiny smirk at the way Eraserhead jumped at the sound of his voice. "Try not to move too much, Eraserhead."

The Underground Hero gave him a look of furious incredulity. "Don't be stupid, Midoriya! You're the second fastest, get out of here and get help!"

Izuku shook his head, pointing at the large, black-skinned beast with the exposed brain. "If that thing went through you, it'll go through them," he jacked a thumb at the students near the entrance, "Like paper."

"And you are one of them!" Aizawa retorted with an edge of desperation.

"I know," the earthbender nodded, standing to approach the trio of Villains.

"Midoriya!" Eraserhead shouted, too pained to do more than lift his head, his call passing Izuku by like the breeze. "…It can absorb kinetic energy!"

Izuku looked back at him and gave a single dip of his chin. "I know," he repeated, and dashed forward.

"Thi-this…that cheater!" Shigaraki screamed, scratching furiously at his neck, "Some NPC student pushed the Nomu back!"

"Oh dear, that is troubling," Kurogiri commented, "However, we don't know if it was the wind that did so, not the attack. So it may be that this student cannot actually stand up to the Nomu in combat."

"Yeah, yeah," the handy Villain muttered, breathing hard around the hand on his face, "Nomu! Kill that shitty cheater! Smash him!"

The Nomu opened a beaked, toothy maw and roared, leaping forward to meet Izuku's charge, moving faster than a creature that size had any right. Under his helm, the earthbender's eyes widened at the speed, drawing on Fifteen Percent again. Better! He declared in his head, dodging a wild swing and retaliating with a punch of his own that sank into Nomu's black skin.

It had no effect.

Very high absorption, he noted, narrowly ducking and weaving around massive muscled arms, launching punches and kicks into the monstrosity's beak and head. Fifteen percent is doing nothing, and I've only ever gone up to Twenty-Five…and that was on instinct. And I was Full Metal Armor. His mind raced with alternatives, his eyes locking onto the Nomu's beady gaze. …there's nothing there, he realized, barely deflecting a swing with a grunt, Just animal instinct…and besides, it has Shock Absorption, not Negation.

Pulling the obsidian from his Second Layer, he wrapped it around his right hand and narrowed the edge to the thinnest it would go, which was about a micrometer.

When the Nomu swung again, Izuku stepped into its reach and brought his obsidian-bladed arm down.

Obsidian with a freshly broken edge was one of the sharpest blades in the world. Izuku's field had sharpened it further.

It sliced through the Nomu's elbow like butter, the limb flying off in a spray of dark blood. Izuku ducked and cut through its knee and as it overbalanced and began to fall, he turned into its momentum and drove his hand straight through its chest, skewering its heart on his arm as his fingers punched out of its back.

Izuku turned to look at the smoke Villain and the handy one, hoping the intimidation of impaling their 'secret weapon' through the heart would be enough to make them surrender, unlikely as that was. He made to pull his hand free, but something stopped him. Izuku looked back. For some reason, the hole he'd just made was smaller. Much smaller.

"Ehehe…HAHAHAHA!" Shigaraki laughed, the horridly scratchy sound echoing through the plaza, "The Nomu doesn't have just Super Shock Absorption! It has Super REGENERATION as well!"

A spurt of blood heralded ropes of muscle erupting from the stump of the Nomu's elbow, forming into another hand complete with skin in under a second.

Izuku could only widen his eyes in the fraction of a second before a massive fist crashed into his head, and he found himself looking in the other direction, most of his helmet reduced to sand. He barely had time to register the pain before an equally sizable knee drove into his stomach, the metal and rock on his stomach and back pulverized by the force. He looked around, his neck protesting every inch, and saw the Nomu draw its arm back. All he could do was pull as much rock from the ground as he could to armor himself once more, and then he was sailing through the air, landing hard on his back with no breath in his lungs.

"Yes, yes!" The hand-covered Villain cheered, clapping his hands in glee, "Squash him, Nomu! Squish that cheater like a BUG!"

Through the fuzz that seemed to be packed into his head instead of brains, Izuku saw the massive form leap into the air, and knew it would come down on him. He desperately pulled on all the concrete around him, but his legs didn't seem to want to work. He threw an arm up, forming and launching stone knives as fast as he could, but they only sank into the Nomu's skin just a bit and popped out just as fast, or simply bounced off.

Impact.

Once more, what little breath he'd gathered explosively exited his mouth, and the ground cracked beneath him. He saw a massive foot rise, felt it hammer into his chest, felt the ground crack again, saw the foot rise again. His armor and field writhed like a living, panicked, dying thing…and the foot came down again.

…I don't want to die…

Impact.

…

From their position at the top of the stairs, Sato, Shouji, Sero and Mina saw Izuku take the first punch.

Katsuki arrived just in time to see him get kneed.

Himiko and Tsuyu landed as the uppercut did.

Shimo and Toru had just stepped off of an ice path when the Nomu landed on him.

Keqing, Koda, Ochako, Momo, Kyouka, Aoyama had regrouped when the first stomp shook the ground.

Eiri, Tokoyami and Kaminari had just left the ruins when the second stomp folded Izuku in half around a massive foot with an echoing, sickening crunch and tortured squeal of metal and rock.

They all saw as the massive creature withdrew its foot, and his armored form slumped back in the new crater, unmoving.

Someone screamed out his name. High pitched laughter rose in response as Shigaraki cackled at the top of his lungs. "That's what cheaters get, squished! Idiot! You thought you could take on my Nomu! The Anti-Symbol of Peace! Get wrecked!" And then he laughed once more.

A wordless, tortured scream savaged the air before Himiko dropped on Shigaraki's back, driving her stiletto into his shoulder and her claws into his chest. "YOU KILLED HIM!" She shrieked, eyes bloodshot, pupils mere slits, "I'LL BLEED YOU DRY!"

The Villain shouted in pain and flailed, trying to throw the apoplectic blonde from his back while trying to reach back and grab her. A dark cloud swirled at her back and suddenly she was Tsuyu, leaping high into the air above it, her blades leaving Shigaraki's flesh with sprays of blood. In mid-air, her features vanished, body twisting to avoid another cloud before a grapple launched from her belt and latched onto Kurogiri's chest, reeling her in. A portal of smoke began to form on the line and Himiko was suddenly visible and green-haired again, but Setsuna. Her body twisted unnaturally and avoided the cloud once more, then she landed on the smoke Villain to drive him to the ground, knife and claws sinking into his chest as she let loose a frenzied scream.

Then something blinked in the corner of her vision and she turned to see the massive muscled form of the monster who murdered her love closing in on her faster than she could react. …Izuku…

Arms wrapped around her and suddenly, Himiko was on the other side of the plaza as a grim-faced All Might set her down gently. "YOUNG IIDA FOUND ME WHILE I WAS ON MY WAY," he announced, stripping off his yellow blazer and tie, "STEP BACK AND LET ME HANDLE THESE VILLAINS! NEVER FEAR, STUDENTS! WHY? BECAUSE I-"

He chanced a glance down, but instead of relief he was met with tears and despair. Himiko looked up at him and even through her mask, he could feel her abject misery. "You're too late…" she whimpered, casting a look to the side.

All Might followed her gaze and found a crater that hadn't been there before, and lying in that crater was armor that he had inspired, lying chillingly still. "Young Midori…Izuku?" He asked faintly. He was answered by Himiko collapsing on her side and curling in on herself, sobbing brokenly into her hands.

…My successor…my boy…

Raucous, grating laughter rang in his ears. "You sure showed up quick, All Might! Only got to kill one of your brats…heh, I guess the encounter rate really is high…" He turned to look at Villain covered in hands as he gestured towards the unmoving armor, "Like my handiwork, Symbol of Peace?!" Shigaraki hissed, clenching his hand into a fist. "You're next! Boss Fight time! Nomu…kill All Might!"

The Nomu roared and then All Might was there, burying a fist in its gut. To his surprise, the creature didn't even stumble or flinch, and swung at him with speed that matched his own.

To the observers, it was a confusing though awe-inspiring sight; punches and kicks were thrown with such speed they were barely visible, with retaliatory strikes dodged and countered just as quickly.

"Shock! Shock Absorption!" Aizawa shouted from his place on the ground, "And Regeneration!"

All Might had figured out the first part, but the second came as an unpleasant surprise. I'll have to destroy the brain, then, he thought, teeth bared in a vicious grimace. Good. A skyscraper-shattering palm strike struck the Nomu's beak with a thunderclap, its head snapping back and All Might zipped around behind it, locking his arms around its middle and heaving it over his head…

But there was no impact.

Suddenly a pair of massive black-skinned hands appeared from under his back, grasping his sides and his wound and digging fingers in deep. He grit his teeth to muffle a roar of pain, seeing a swirling purple-tinged cloud where his suplex should've landed, and another just below his back. The Nomu seemed content to simply crush his ribcage and he couldn't move without tearing himself open.

Then ice encased the creature's lower half, along with one of its arms, and a beanbag launched at high speeds shattered both into pieces.

"DIE!" Katsuki screamed, rocketing up to Kurogiri and landing a kick that sent the smoke Villain tumbling until she stomped on his collar, hand crackling and pointed at his head. Despite the furious scowl she wore, her eyes were red and cheeks were suspiciously damp. "Move…even a centimeter, and I'll turn your skull into ash."

All Might planted his hands and somersaulted back, flinging a bisected and one-armed Nomu into the air. He saw Shimo with an ice trail leading up to her foot, and another Shimo in a red leotard with the same, and a kneeling Momo carrying a rather large cannon on her shoulder. He gave them an approving nod then glanced up, seeing the Nomu already regenerating from its wounds.

"Y-you-!" Shigaraki seethed, eyes wide and manic, one hand scratching at his neck, "SYMBOL OF PEACE! What a FUCKING LIE! All you are is violent, just like me! But just because you're a Hero, because of some fancy fucking TITLE, you think you can just create more violence, and-!"

"Whoever you are, shut up," All Might interjected with surprising calm, his burning blue eyes visibly trembling with fury, "Nothing you say matters to me; the bullshit you're spewing doesn't even matter to you. You killed my student…"

"…I'll Smash You Into Dust!"

Then the Nomu landed and All Might was there, pounding a fist into its exposed brain. For the first time, the creature shrieked in pain and recoiled. The Number One Hero, the Symbol of Peace pulled his fist back, muscles straining with the power to shatter mountains…I WILL destroy this creature! He declared in his head, lights flashing in his vision, I have to go BEYOND One Hundred Percent! I…! Blood spilled from his lips and his arm shook. No…! My strength…! It can't fail me now! I have to…I MUST avenge-!

"SENSEI!"

A voice they never thought they would hear again rang out through the plaza. As one, their heads snapped around to see-

…

Izuku blinked sluggishly, finding himself in complete darkness. Where…where am I? He wondered, his mind feeling more than a little fuzzy. Am I…in The Deep? Am I dead? He tried to move and his body recoiled as if he'd been shocked, pain emanating from his back. Ow! That's a no. But then…

It struck like lightning and he recalled the massive creature he'd impaled through the heart, who had retaliated with blows that should've flattened him like mochi. Scrunching his nose, his goggles rose from his mask sluggishly, the collar compromised but the seal still whole, and his vision became black and white. Above him he could see white blobs, flashing in tune to their heartbeats. …I'm underground…how the hell…?

The ground shook slightly and he could see two massive blobs grappling with each other. All Might! I have to help! He made to move but cried out as his back protested, gritting his teeth and trying to ignore it while also attempting to figure out how to move under the earth. He tried a breaststroke and while it sort of worked, it was also like trying to swim through molasses. Oh, wait, duh, he concentrated on his field and imagined it as a bubble around his person, slipping through the ground like water and shooting off. Holy shit! He mentally slammed the brakes and stopped, thankfully not jarring his injuries.

Looking through his goggles, he figured he was just beneath a wrecked building in the Ruins Zone, and so directed his bubble up through the dirt and through the foundations and then the wall of the building, emerging onto the rooftop with a pained groan. He leaned heavily on the lip of the building, and in the distance he spotted All Might fighting the Nomu, his classmates watching from the distance…and his empty armor sitting in a crater, looking for all the world like he'd been brutally snapped in half and murdered.

"Ah shit…I'm gonna owe Himiko a lot for making her think I died," he groaned, sitting himself down, scarfing down a meal bar, wrapper and all before sinking into his meditation.

Would've been nice to know about the Super Regeneration beforehand, he allowed himself to grumble, before focusing, But even that has its limits. Every function of the body, conscious, unconscious, subconscious, are controlled by the brain, even Quirks. So…destroy the brain…gladly. But Shock Absorption…Fifteen Percent didn't do shit. I'm not sure how high I can go, either, but…this thing needs to die. I must destroy my enemy…and my enemy will be destroyed…I need a force multiplier…

His eyes snapped open and focused on the largest building in the Ruins Zone, a not-quite skyscraper tilted to the left. …Like Gravity. It almost resembled a ramp, even.

I have an Idea.

Sinking into the building, Izuku pulled all of the metal he could find into his field, liquifying and condensing it as far as it could go, even as the building groaned and tilted dangerously. Once every micrometer of his field had been packed to the maximum, he shot back up to the roof, planted his hands on the lip and shouted.

"SENSEI!"

He saw them look to him with naked surprise, hope and relief on their faces, but he couldn't allow himself to be distracted. He pointed at the tallest building and shouted again.

"THROW IT!"

All Might blinked once, then floored the Nomu with an uppercut that would've disintegrated a cruise liner. Shigaraki, who had been about to leap in to join the bout, was sent flying by the resulting shockwave that whipped up a powerful wind, tumbling end over end and flailing to right himself, Kurogiri being shoved back as well before Katsuki stomped on his collar to stop him. Then the Hero grabbed Nomu by the legs and spun, hurling it through the air like a shot from a cannon.

Izuku saw the Nomu fly by and crouched, leaping from the rooftop, the building caving in on itself as he raced after it. The creature slammed into the face of the other building, cratering it and shattering whatever windows were left. His fist impacted its spine a second later, sharpened metal ripping through its spinal column, barbs of metal spiking out to dig into regenerating flesh, and the crater tripled in size with thunderous crash, the building beginning to tilt even farther.

Verdant energy crackled over his metal armor, sinking into his heart, his veins, his bones to fill him with wild power. Roaring with effort, he planted his feet and ran up the building, each footfall shaking the very foundation as he dragged the Nomu upwards, grinding its beaked face and exposed brain into the shattered glass, concrete and metal.

As he reached the lip, Izuku jammed a disc of metal between the Nomu's vertebrae, cocked his arm back and hurled it into the sky. The pressure wave rocked the building, the facade visibly cracking and crumbling. Then he planted his feet on the roof, crouched and leaped.

The top half of the building disintegrated, blasting outward in a cone of dust and debris.

Izuku shot up like a bullet, racing out to slam into the creature's back, his armor growing barbs that dug into the Nomu's back even as he locked his arms around its elbows and torso, metal flowing together into a solid band of silver steel.

There was a single solemn second of silence, only the sound of the rushing in his ears as they rose together.

And then, at their apex, he threw himself backwards, dragging the Nomu with him as they began to fall towards the ground.

And then they began to spin.

This is the end of you! Izuku screamed in his mind as they picked up speed, I will DESTROY my Enemy, and they WILL BE DESTROYED!

On the outside, they had begun to spin so fast they were a blur of silver and black, and then the very air began to twist around them, thin, thorned bolts of verdant lightning striking out.

All Might felt the ground tremble under his feet, a smile growing on his lips. My boy…

I WILL DESTROY MY ENEMY, AND THEY WILL BE DESTROYED!

"HAYABUSA…!"

One bolt became two, became three and four and then thick bolts of lightning burst forth into a spiraling drill of pure energy, the once-falling debris beginning to flow towards it in serene arcs.

I WILL DESTROY MY ENEMY! AND THEY WILL BE DESTROYED!

Destroy it…! He thought he heard a woman's voice say, …With a smile!

The ground grew closer.

THIS IS THE END OF YOU! He howled in his mind.

It began to fill his vision.

THIS IS THE END OF YOU!

He closed his eyes and inhaled softly.

THIS!

IS!

THE END OF YOU!

Izuku roared, and the world roared with him.

"…SMAAASH!"

Impact.

The entire USJ shuddered and bucked, the impact wave sweeping over everyone like a tsunami, a column of dirt and dust erupting into the air. When the ground no longer quaked and their footing was steady once more, All Might clapped his hands to banish the lingering dust.

Unveiled was a crater near twenty feet wide, the bowl smoothly carved from the concrete and the earth beneath. In the center of it, streaks of red, shredded meat could be seen, with a pair of black-skinned shins sticking out of it the largest pile of viscera.

There was a scuffle inside, and then Izuku emerged from the crater. Most of his armor was gone, including the costume beneath, with the exception of his arms and legs. His skin was pink and raw with steam rising from it, drenched in rivers of sweat as he sucked in lungfuls of air, his muscles spasming and cramping, dark splotches spreading beneath his skin where blood vessels had burst from the strain. He collapsed on the lip of the crater, eyes dull and almost unseeing.

Katsuki would forever deny that she'd been gazing at Izuku in relief when Kurogiri swept her leg and vanished into a portal.

"…You…!" A raspy voice hissed as Shigaraki grasped Izuku's armor-clad arm, red eyes nearly bulging out of his skull, "You…Cheater!" His other hand reached towards the earthbenders face, fingers crooked into claws.

Izuku looked at him, at the hand on his armor as the ragged metal began to disintegrate, then at the palm approaching his face. Spikes erupted from the metal, spearing through Shigaraki's flesh just before a fist crashed into the Villain's face, sending him flying back with a satisfyingly loud clang and the following thud. "…Don't touch me," Izuku mumbled, so tired that it sounded more petulant than intimidating.

Kurogiri appeared behind Shigaraki in a whorl of smoke, grabbing the younger Villain by the shoulders. "The day is lost! We must retreat!" And began to pull them back through the smoke.

"You…!" Cradling a profusely bleeding hand, Shigaraki didn't resist as he was dragged into the portal, gaze fixed on Izuku. "I'll get you! I'LL GET YOU!"

Izuku blinked sluggishly and silently gave him the finger.

Howling madly, the portal closed behind the last Villains standing, then two were gone.

He had only a second to breathe easy before a blonde missile slammed into his chest, and he was suddenly reminded that everything hurt. Screaming behind his teeth, Izuku couldn't even enjoy the arms embracing him as his muscles locked up and he fell backwards.

There was a woosh and All Might was there, a massive hand cradling his sweat-soaked hair. "Young Midoriya," the Number One Hero nodded with a smile, gently setting him down.

"Izuku!" Himiko called, her panicked, tear-stained visage appearing in his vision. "Are you alright?! I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you!"

"S'okay," he replied through gritted teeth, trying not to tear up or pass out, "Didn't mean…to make you think…I wa' ded…"

The blonde sniffled as tears of joy and relief streamed down her cheeks, resting her head against his shoulder.

"As glad as I am to see you alive, my boy, I'd like to know how you survived," All Might commented as the rest of the class gathered around the fallen earthbender, Ochako dropping to her knees next to him, her own eyes brimming with tears.

"I think all of us would," Momo added, leaning down over Izuku's head and giving him a gentle, thankful smile.

He couldn't even enjoy the sight of her breasts so close to his face, either, though it was nice. "Well…I think…when that thing was gonna…stomp me again…I felt my field…fluc…flcucto…" He grunted as his jaw refused to work more than it had to.

"Fluctuating?" Momo supplied.

"Yeah," Izuku sighed, blinking as dark spots danced on the edge of his vision, "That. And then, when it stomped…I kinda got pushed into the ground…never done that before…it was weird."

"And then you moved through the ground to find a high spot," All Might nodded in realization, "You're very lucky, my boy."

"Rather be lucky than…snapped in half," he gritted out.

"Don't joke about that!" Himiko rebuked, lightly slapping his chest. His whole body tensed as a muffled, agonized scream issued from his mouth, "Oh god, I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"

"'S…okay," he mumbled thickly.

"How are ya feelin,' Deki-kun?" Ochako asked gently, her hands trembling with the desire to reassure herself of his existence with her touch and her equally powerful desire to not cause him any more pain.

"Have you ever…been dunked in acid?"

Mina raised her hand, "Yeah!"

"Like that, but twenty times worse," Izuku answered, his eyes going in and out of focus as the pink-skinned girl blew him a kiss. "Hey," he asked generally.

"Yes?"

"Do I…still have a body?"

All Might scanned Izuku's heavily damaged but still present frame. "Yes, yes you do."

"Oh…" He sounded disappointed, "Can I…uh, not?"

"That would kill you," Momo helpfully pointed out.

"Oh, right…that would be bad."

"Very bad, yes."

The entrance to the USJ suddenly slammed open as every teacher on campus stormed in with Iida; even the Principal was there, sitting on Vlad King's shoulder. "THE YUUEI TEACHERS ARE HERE!" They all struck Action PosesTM, looking ready to throw down…only to realize it had already been thrown down a bit ago and had opened up a bed and breakfast.

"Oh, uh…" Midnight looked at the Even-More-Ruined-Ruins Zone, the students and All Might gathered around a collapsed Izuku by a crater that hadn't been there before, then at Aizawa lying on the concrete of the plaza, covered in dust, and finally at Thirteen, who was now sitting up and no longer bleeding though her outfit was a total loss, "…Villains beware?"

Mina shot up and clapped her hands to her face with a frustrated scream. "Iidaten! How the hell are you a Speedster, but you're always late to the damn Party?!"

…

…

…

…

…

A/N: …Hey, how's it going? Been a while, hasn't it? As you might be able to see, I was a little busy; had a bit of writer's block, li'l bit of depression, started playing the Yakuza series and FF14, though I and my buddy NSG started a new co-op venture called 'The Brockton Bay Riders' it's on my profile if you wanna give it look. He loves Kamen Riders and I've gained a new appreciation for everything slightly (or majorly) cheesy and fulla heart, so I finally gave in.

NS: Would definitely appreciate it. There're too few good Kamen Rider fics out there. It's also on AO3.

Oh yeah, and also banging out this monster of a chapter! That's the USJ and the first Nomu done and very literally dusted!

I've had the Hayabusa Smash playing in my head before I even started writing this story, and now I've finally gotten to use it. Thank you Ryu 'definitelynotaninja' Hayabusa and your fuckin' ard games for introducing me to that!

…even though it's been around forever. But whatever.

So! Quite a bit happened in this chapter, eh? The aftermath of the break (who could that've been, hmm?) and lookit that, Ochako decided to try a relationship with Izuku, yay!

And no, All Might definitely wasn't DM'ing a TTRPG to teach students about strategy, no sir, and definitely not out of a well hidden desire to play those, and he definitely didn't ask Izuku to make little models for the students and villains!

He actually didn't because Izuku did it without him asking.

NS: I'd read the hell out of Class 1-A playing DnD. Probably not all of them, because a 20-player campaign would be BEYOND insane. Plus Ultra insanity, even.

And then a good ol' showcase of just how prepared Izuku (and Himiko, who uses the same kinda belt with her grapples) are for whatever happens.

And, of course, the biggest part of the chapter…All the fights. I've found that music, especially hard rock and driving guitars really helps me get in the mood for flowing, brutal action. Hopefully the links work, and for FF without, the songs are:

Izuku elbow dropping on the villains: Yakuza 0 OST English Intro

Izuku realizes the Nomu ain't bothered by being impaled: Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance OST It Has To Be This Way.

Honestly, the second is more for the meme, the theme doesn't fit with Shiggy's dipshit rant about violence. Felt natural, though.

NS: Honestly not all that different from his canon rant, it just lacks All Might telling him that he can tell that Shigaraki doesn't even believe his own bullshit.

And then…Izuku getting his shit stomped, another thing I've had playing in my head for a long time. Turns out, beyond using smoke and flash bombs and wearing tabi shoes, he actually has quite bit in common with ninja. Also one of the scenes in my head that made me decide on Izuku having Geokinesis, too.

The 'dead Izuku' fakeout might be a bit played out by this point but hell, I don't care. As long as the fear made your heart race, I'll consider that a win.

As well as Himiko flipping the fuck out, showing who she might've become without Izuku in her life.

And then…the Smash. I've dreamed about that whole scene over and over again, and I really hope I've brought it across in writing. Times like that I wish I knew how to animate shit just so I could everyone even a rough idea of what I see in m'brain.

Of course, using that much OFA while also Izuna Dropping a giant mass o'muscle from more than a few stories up, also fucked Izuku up. He's not gonna be a happy camper next chapter, I tell ya.

And so we come to the end, where the faculty and Iida are late…again. Sorry guys and gals, but I'm afraid I've written the students as a bit more badass than usual. Though, the villains got a few good hits in here and there.

And no, the fact that some of them have names and descriptions isn't something to notice, why do you ask?

And that's the end of it, my friends. Months in the making with more than a few sleepless nights, and here it be. I sincerely hope you've enjoyed reading it because I honestly had a blast writing it.

Big thanks to NSG for being Weeb-Master General, General Soundboard and just all around swell guy. Give his stories a read, why don't you? And tell him I said hi.

He'll know I sent you, he's here too.

NS: Yo.

Let me know how you liked it, comment or review but as long as you had a good time, I'm glad you made it. Thanks for reading!

~Soleneus

P.S.: I'm publishing this chapter on my Birthday, Oct. 9, even though it was finished a day ago, just to give you all a birthday present from me to you, cause I love you all great big slightly-crunchy bunches!

…I am getting fucking old.

Still young at heart, though!

…Which I guess makes me spiritually middle-aged. Huh.

~still Soleneus

Koph is here.