Chapter 26, man oh man I was ready to get this out. I don't wanna call this chapter hype necessarily but there's is naturally a lot of action in it. Not gonna lie, I've noticed when other writers get to this point in the respective fics it's not uncommon for their Izuku to have a paradigm shift and be just brutal and do something borderline evil. Even if the "Villain" deserves it he's still trying to be a hero at the end of the day. I like to think I avoided going down that same road as I want Izuku and ONE's reactions to situations to be realistic based on the person I've established that they are. Enough rambling, enjoy the chapter, especially the action scenes because I kept going back and forth on all of them to make them good.
Chapter 26 The power ONE's earned
It was the middle of the afternoon and in Kamino Ward. A blonde cyborg walks the streets making his way to the address he was given, he arrives at the location, scopes out the area and keeps an eye on the place. "There seems to still be no activity here." He thought to himself. ONE had contacted him this morning and let him in on a plan to take down the League Of Villains and he was more than in. He had been hanging out in Kamino all day, keeping an eye on both the league and All For One's hideouts. When the sun went down he could go into the next stage of the plan, but for now he waited.
At the training camp
"AAAAAHHHHH! Kirishima roared as he threw a right haymaker at ONE who easily deflected the punch with his left hand before pummeling the hard skinned redhead with a barrage of punches to his left side and face. Kirishima grunted in pain after he was knocked away and flipped across the ground after a brutal punch to his ribs. ONE raised his right arm just as Ojiro tried to smack him with his tail from behind, he blocked the attack. Ojiro was about to spin right and hit him from the left but ONE quickly dipped and spun left, hitting him with a fast, high spin kick that sent him across the training field.
He turned left just as he was rushed by Kendo, her fists enlarged and ready to fight, "I'm not done yet, ONE!" She declared as she unleashed a full power flurry of punches. ONE's fists met hers, matching her blow for blow with his smaller fists having much more power behind them. Their clash could be heard across the training ground and after a while Kendo began to slow down, her hands were hurting like crazy and the more she pushed it the more it felt like it was punching a damn mountain. After half a minute Kendo reached her limit, she tried to throw another punch but ONE flipped, used her left fist as a vault and spun to kick her on the left side of her head. The redhead skids across the ground in pain.
ONE hears a roar, "You have strong senses Shishida, but you're not using them properly." He spun and his left fist found its way into the beast boy's gut. Air caught in his lungs as he habbled back in pain. "Remember what I said, "Feel the life all around you." See it, feel it, smell it, hear it, taste it. How many times do I have to say it? An attack intended to harm will be felt before it's launched, and an attack intended to take your life will come with a distinct breath. Listen and feel for it." Shishida's body suddenly went on alert and he lifted his head to dodge ONE's jumping high kick that was a millimeter from connecting with his chin. "Good..But." ONE spun, locking his legs around Shishida's neck and flipping back, bringing him down to slam the beast boy's head into the ground, his head making a small crater in the earth and stunning him with pain.
ONE stepped away from the beast boy who groaned in pain. "Don't get cocky!" Kamakiri exclaimed as charged at ONE with blades protruding from both his forearms. He threw a right slash and the blade shattered from ONE's chop, the mantis-faced teen ignored the pain of another shattered blade and tried to hit him with his left, only for ONE to catch it between his right middle, index fingers and thumb. "This is training. Plus I'm here to whip you all into shape, so I'm definitely taking this seriously, Kamakiri." He said confidently with a smile that gave him chills before breaking the blade between his fingers and kicking him through the air. Kamakiri corrects himself and lands, produces more blades and comes back at ONE.
The mantis teen went all out against the independent hero, however his blades were shattered over and over again from a single chop from the hero. With each shattered blade he would produce a new one only for it to be shattered like the rest. He was exhausted, he threw another right slice with the blade being stopped by the hero's hand, "Your eyes are good for tracking small movements, but that can either be advantage or a distraction." Kamakiri took in his words as he struggled against his blade-like hand, "Don't get distracted by deceptions and faints! You need to be able to discern an attack intended to take your life. Feel the life around you, not just yours, but your enemies too, and the heightened stress will help you greatly." He said as the blade started to crack.
"A real attack, one that is intended to kill you will always come with a distinct breath, you need to listen for that "Breath Of Life"." Kamakiri's blade shattered as ONE took a swift yet crisp breath, "Like the one I just took!" He sliced Kamakiri diagonally, only cutting his clothes.
Kamakiri backed up from the shock of ONE's blade-like hand, dropping to one knee and touching the fabric of his now sliced gym uniform that exposed his chest. "Damn it." He said, irritated.
ONE held his hand down, still in the stance of when he sliced Kamakiri's shirt, he met eyes with his fellow greenette. "So Kamakiri, I count 27 blades. Surely you've got more up your sleeve." He goaded him with a smile.
Kamakiri glared at him, a whistle was blown signaling the end of the training day. It was seven o'clock in the afternoon and all of the students looked exhausted, especially those who had been training with ONE. He had been assigned a group of students to help train and improve their quirks, Kirishima and Ojiro had already asked to train with him and Shishida, Kendo and Kamakiri had joined in as well. After learning their quirks he was able to quickly come up with ways for them to train, the whole day was a combination of quirk and combat training. He pummeled Kirishima, while training Ojiro to increase the strength and control of his tail, Shishida trained his body while using his senses to improve his combat ability, Kendo's hands became stronger and her martial arts increased by throwing his power against hers and Kamakiri's blades became sharper, harder and his projection speed increased by constantly breaking them. All in all his group did pretty good for their first day, most of them could barely stand as he held back enough to push them without seriously injuring them.
ONE looked around at his down and exhausted group, Kirishima was on his back barely able to stand, Ojiro was on all fours breathing heavily, Shishida was trying to pick himself up off the ground, Kendo was on bended knee nursing her hurting head while Kamakiri was stuck with exhaustion. "Come on guys! We've only been at this for ten hours, surely you can keep going?"
The entire group silently groaned, most of them could barely move as it was. ONE's pushed them to overcome their limits over and over again today, none of them had anything left to give. However his words and their acknowledgment of him made some at least try, most notably Kirishima, who pushed past all the pain coursing through his body to stand up again. "Of course I can keep going…I was never gonna quit…No way." He said, pained through deep breaths.
The green clad hero looked at the spiky redhead, he cleared the distance between them in the blink of an eye and poked his right middle and index fingers into his chest. His sudden appearance startled the other boy who was in so much pain he couldn't even fall back, "There's a fine line between never giving up and tough talk, Kirishima. Before you say things like that, at least be able to activate your quirk."
These words hit the redhead who suddenly registered he couldn't activate his quirk, and when he tried his skin was slightly tougher, not even comparable to his basic hardening. He watched as ONE walked over to Kendo, "You okay Kendo?"
She groaned lightly as she rubbed her head, "I'll live." She gave him a small smile, "Thanks for the training, your martial arts is better than I thought ONE."
"Thanks, you've got some skills too. Your fundamentals are solid, you know how to use your body's strengths and you're good at incorporating your quirk with your martial arts."
Kendo smiled accepting the compliment, "Thanks, but I've still got a long way to go. Even when I teamed up with Ojiro we couldn't score one hit on you."
"It's all about practice. Remembering your training and learning your lessons truly counts despite how repetitive it can be."
"I'll try to remember that."
ONE gathered his group together and they walked to join up with the others, "How's the tail Ojiro?"
"Pretty numb, but I can tell it's getting stronger." He said, smiling through his pain and exhaustion.
"That is the end goal." ONE then turned to Shishida, "What about you, Shishida?"
"Body's really sore, you're a lot more intense than I expected, ONE."
"Not really, I just need to whip you guys into shape. Help you go "Plus Ultra" if you will."
The beast boy laughed, "Well you doing good for your first day!"
Kamakiri spoke up, "Speaking of, I've never met someone whose hands are stronger and sharper than my blades."
He met the mantis teen's eyes as they walked, "That all goes back to martial arts, Kamakiri. It's an advanced karate technique where by strengthening one's hand the strike of your chops can mirror a blade."
Do you think you could teach me that sometime?" Kendo asked.
"Sure, I don't see why not."
"While we're on the subject of martial arts, just how many do you know, ONE?" Ojiro asked
"I'm a master of five, but I know six in total." He answered.
"Which are?" Kendo asked.
"Karate, Taekwondo, Wing Chun, Muay Thai and Japanese Jiu-Jitsu. I've mastered those and picked up Kenjutsu."
Both Kendo and Ojiro were surprised to hear so many different styles, they figured he knew more than one but for him to know this many it wasn't surprising anymore he was such a good fighter. They linked up with the rest of the students, and ONE went to speak with some of the other students. The group he helped train for the Sports Festival had pushed it hard today and were looking less dead when compared to everyone else. He approached Tsubarama who was next to Kaibara, ironically the training they had been doing all day was the same one he recommended that day at the tavern. "Hey Tsubarama." He said as he lightly popped him in the stomach, the brunette immediately dropped to the ground, clenching his stomach with a weak "Why?". He had been doing the breathing technique the hero had recommended all day and it felt like his lungs were going to burst through his ears. ONE looked at the down brunette, "Natural reaction, good to know you've been doing it right."
Tsubarama held his stomach while curled up on the ground, "What cruel god would make breathing so hard?"
ONE raised an eyebrow behind his cowl, "Pick one, I guess." He helped the brunette stand up and looked around at the others, faces of exhaustion all around. Pixiebob and Ragdoll were ahead of the group standing near a table full of ingredients, "Alright, remember what I said? We're not making your food any more. Pixiebob stated.
Ragdoll waved her hand in an excited fashion, "If you want to eat you're gonna have to make your own meals! Starting with curry! She exclaimed excitedly.
"Yes ma'am." Everyone groaned."
Ragdoll couldn't help but laugh at their sorry state, "Oh man you guys look exhausted! But that doesn't mean you can coast by making sloppy cat-food!"
"She's right, you know." ONE added, "It's a hero's responsibility to look out for people until all their needs are met. So quit complaining."
IIda was the first to register his words, shaking off his own exhaustion. "I see. Part of saving someone from a disaster is caring for their physical needs, as well as spiritual. What a wonderful opportunity! Let's make the best curry in the world, everyone!"
"Okay." Everyone dryly replied.
Eraserhead looked at the scene, "Thank you, ONE. Iida drove that home but they wouldn't have figured that out on their own." The hero thought to himself. As he looked at the independent hero who was helping the students get situated he recalled the conversation they had early this morning.
Flashback earlier that morning
The students had been broken off to do their individual training with the pussycats having set up the training ground. ONE had been assigned a group of students to train and had them wait as he spoke to Eraserhead. He wanted to know the real reason why he changed his mind and just showed up at the training camp. They found an isolated area to talk and the older man's eyes narrowed when the hero explained, "The villains know where we are and they're coming!"
"That's right. I knew they were planning something and I pieced together last night that this is what." ONE answered calmly.
Eraserhead registered his words as he thought to himself, this all but confirms what one of the students was responsible for the information leak. None of them knew where the camp was going to be until yesterday, one of them very easily could have told them once they got here. He met the other hero's eyes, "How did they get that information?"
"Obviously one of the students tipped them off. I've been spying on them for a while and their leader didn't get the intel about the change in location until last night."
"Do you know what they want or when they'll be here?"
"They'll show up sometime tonight. As for what they want, it seems just to show that they CAN do this. You guys drop the ball again and it'll shake up the public's faith in you even more than it already has."
Eraser registered his words, he hated to admit that he was right. Despite the precautions they had taken they were still found out. Many thoughts went through his mind, which of the students tipped them off? Do we cancel the training camp? How many villains are coming? What mattered the most was notifying Nezu and keeping the peace. He turned to ONE, "So what exactly is your plan?"
"I'm ending this tonight. I have a guy monitoring their hideouts, we have the element of surprise and they don't know we're onto them. So my being here is a trap they're unknowingly walking into." He explained confidently.
Eraserhead gave ONE a serious look, "Come on, I need you to explain all of this to Nezu so we can plan accordingly." He said, gesturing to the hero to come with him.
"No."
"What?"
"I'm only telling you this because I'm certain you weren't the mole. Tell Nezu if you want but leave this to me and my partner, we've got this."
Erserhead gave him a look of incredulousness, "Are you seriously saying to leave this to you and do nothing after what you just told me?"
"I'm saying I don't trust how you people do things. If you were more meticulous you wouldn't have needed me to tell you this. In the same breath I could have kept all this to myself but I'm extending a little trust here."
"Trust? You just said you don't, how is passing along information and expecting us to do nothing trust?"
ONE faced the hero, unflinching. "Because you don't know how deep this goes. The leader of the LOV is a BAD guy and is the head of many villainous operations with connections all over Japan if not the world. The Nomu, the league, that situation on I Island it was all him and that's just the most recent on a long, dark and twisted career of crime." He paused for a moment, "You and I may never understand each other, but try to understand that someone like me is the only one who can nail him. He's scared of me, he's not scared of All Might. So let me handle this."
Eraserhead took in his words, the tone behind them did slightly move him but it wasn't enough. He couldn't trust the safety of the student and UA's credibility to ONE, of all people. While this did seem like a step in the right direction, this was not an appropriate time for that. He needed to notify Nezu and he would do the rest, they had to counter the impending attack as best they could, to protect the students and send a message to the villains. He doubted ONE would help with any of that but he could at least train the students and once this was settled they would move forward. He sighed before facing the hero, "ONE, you're welcome to stay and help our students train. But I'm going to do what's necessary for the good of everyone." He turned and walked away from the independent hero.
Back in real time
After a while, everyone had changed out of their gym clothes and began preparing the meal. Several class A students were by the barbeque pits ready to set the firewood beneath them on fire, "Hey Todoroki! Can you give us a hand with this?" Ashido asked.
"Sure." The heterochromatic teen replied before using his left hand to set the wood on fire.
"Thanks a bunch Todoroki!"
"Rely on others and you'll never learn to start a fire yourself. We should focus on acquiring new skills." Momo said as she created a lighter and set the firewood ablaze. Jiro was behind her and with a combination of exhaustion and annoyance just groaned at that statement.
Sero stood next to ONE, "Hey ONE, use your fire to light some of these barbeque pits?"
"Sure." ONE swirled his hands in front of him until they caught fire, he did a quick pose before firing several fireballs that ignited the wood. With a clap the fire coating his hands has extinguished.
"Oh yeah! Burn baby burn!" Ashido cheered at ONE's work.
"But not too hot okay." Ururaka said with a smile.
"It's fire Uraraka, kind of a hard ask." ONE said with a small chuckle.
Todoroki, who was watching that, finally understood. "I see, so THAT'S how you do that." Everyone turned to the heterochromatic teen, " Your fists move so fast the friction ignites the hydrogen in the air resulting in them catching fire." All who heard this turned to the green clad independent hero, waiting for his response.
ONE merely smiled, "Very perceptive Todoroki. You don't necessarily need a fire quirk to wield fire." His casualness shocked everyone who heard these words.
"That's insane!" Awase exclaimed.
"Wow, he's more impressive than I thought." Kendo said with a smile as she looked at the hero.
Tokage, who was next to her, gave her a mischievous grin, "You've been lowkey crushing on him for a while Kendo. We're done training so now's the perfect time to talk to him."
The redhead blushed slightly as she turned back to the vegetables in front of her, "Maybe later."
As this was happening a blonde boy from class B was gripping his chin with a sly smirk after having heard this most recent information. Something one of his classmates noticed, "What's with the evil look Monama?" Shoda asked.
"Evil? I'm offended, Shoda, I'm just impressed." Monama went back to what he was doing, very much intending on trying to copy ONE's quirk before the day was over.
Sero noted a pit that wasn't burning that Bakugo was crouched in front of, "Hey Bakugo, use an explosion to light that."
"This is so beneath me!" Bakugo complained before firing an explosion that destroyed the pit.
"Too much!" Tokoyami stated at the sudden destruction.
ONE sighed, "Bakugo, remember this is someone else's property." The blonde merely gave a "Tch" before getting up and walking away. "Is he always so impetuous?" He asked, not sounding rhetorical.
"Pretty much." Uraraka answered.
The sun had gone down and the food was prepared. After giving thanks for the food, everyone dug in. ONE sat at a table with Momo, Jiro, Kaminari, Kirishima, Sero, Ururaka and Asui. While the food wasn't great it wasn't terrible, and everyone was so hungry they truly didn't care, "If I got this in a restaurant I'd send this crap back, but after today I'll eat every bite!" Kirishima stated as he munched away.
"Don't say that!" Sero said, defending the work everyone put in.
Ashido, who was sitting at the next table, leaned back impressed at seeing Momo eat, "Wow, you're scarfing Momo!"
Momo closed her eyes looking dignified. Her upbringing had instilled in her proper table manners, so even if she wasn't pigging out like the rest of the students, her amount of consumption was still impressive. "Yes. My quirk transforms lipids into brand new atoms to create inorganic materials, therefore the more I eat the more I can make." She said proudly.
"Like how poop works." Sero joked with a mouthful of food.
ONE snickered next to Momo causing her to look at him shocked. A chuckle escaped him, "Sorry Yaoyorozu but you gotta admit you walked right into that one." Momo hung her head from that blow to her pride, she accepted the burn and went back to eating. ONE looked to his right and saw the kid from earlier walking away towards the woods.
"Kota, we're having dinner." Mandalay came out looking around, "Where are you?"
ONE had noticed that the kid named Kota had been spying on the group periodically throughout the day and he was curious about him. The boy was clearly the loner type but he sensed there was more to it. It was getting late and he would surely be hungry, plus he had to check on the LOV, they would be here in time and the last thing he needed was for someone to be alone in the woods when they showed up. Kota was already gone into the woods, "I'll be back everyone." He said to the people at his table before getting up and making a plate of curry. He followed the boy's footsteps all the way to a cave on the side of a mountain, he found him standing on the cliffside just looking out to the nature below. He didn't make a sound as he approached and he could hear the boy's stomach rumbling, "Uh Oh, I hear a rumbly tumbly." His sudden voice surprised Kota and turned to see ONE walking towards him with a plate of curry.
Kota was surprised to see the green clad hero, but he kept his neutral angry expression, slightly annoyed. The last thing he wanted was to be around a hero, at school he couldn't go a week without hearing about this guy as all his classmates loved him. It annoyed him to no end. ONE had made it to the cliffside, "Don't worry lil furry, here's some curry!" He rhymed playfully with a welcoming smile.
His presence irked Kota, "Get lost! Go back to camp with the other losers! And forget all about my secret hideout!"
ONE's smile didn't falter, "I was." He raised the food, "But a growing boy's gotta eat doesn't he?" Kota didn't answer him, ONE took a couple steps and looked inside the cave and then the woods below, "This is a pretty cool secret hideout. I noticed you've been spying on us all day, you know if you want to be around the rest of us all you have to do is ask."
Kota shot him an angry look, "Like I'd ever want to be around a hero…You're dumb!"
ONE was surprised by his words, the look in his eyes was telling, this boy was hurting inside. "I take it you're not a fan of heroes, are you Kota?"
He looked off the cliffside , "All of you are so stupid. Always showing off and focusing on your quirks. So pointless, to wanna be a hero." He said mockingly.
ONE stopped smiling, noting how serious he was. "What's so pointless about it? Using your abilities to help people is what being a hero is all about."
These words seemed to anger him, "Tch. Even if you die and leave people behind?!"
ONE took in his words, and they were truly telling. At first he thought he was Mandalay's son, but that's not the case. Kota hates heroes and quirks, it was almost surreal to think a child could think that way as almost every kid his age wants to be a hero. "Kota, you're too young to understand this, but in this world the only way for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing. Being a hero comes with the risk of death, but doing something is always better than doing nothing if it means saving lives." Kota turned to him, remembering Mandalay saying something similar once. Noting the slight ease in the boy's eyes ONE decided to press on, "May I sit down?"
"Do what you want." Kota answered, turning away from him.
ONE placed the plate on the ground and sat down on the cliff. The wind blew and the quiet calmness of nature was all around them, "I can see why you like coming up here. It's a beautiful scene, probably better during the day." Kota sat down next to him, put the plate in his lap and started eating the curry. He took a couple bite before looking at the hero who was still enjoying the landscape, "Hey Kota, you can keep a secret can't you?"
Kota swallowed his food and registered his question, "Sure."
"I didn't inherit any abilities from my parents."
Kota's eyes widened at this revelation, "Huh?"
ONE could hear his confusion, "It's a hereditary thing, these days it's very uncommon. When I was your age I tried to breathe fire…And use telekinesis…But nothing ever happened. Still, I wanted to be a hero more than anything…So I trained my body, mind and spirit as much as possible to make it happen."
Kota's angry look had softened upon this information, "Why?" He said weakly, confusion prevalent in his tone.
ONE turned to him, his tone of voice highlighted his confusion, he truly didn't understand why someone without a quirk wanted to be a hero. If he doesn't have a quirk he can't show off, but he's also so strong. "Because it's my dream. I don't wear this suit to show off, I wear it because it's a representation of the vows I made to myself." He looked the young boy in the eyes, "Always believe, and never give up on myself.. Become the greatest hero I can be.. And prove that quirkless doesn't mean powerless, or useless."
Kota lowered his head as the hero's words hit him. He continued to eat, as he did he thought about what the hero had just said. Heroes only care about showing off their quirks, calling each other names like "Hero" and "Villain" and killing each other over it. That's why his parents are gone, but if he doesn't have a quirk what's so good about being a hero that he wants to be one anyway?
In Kamino Ward
Genos was on the roof of the building across from the LOV hideout, since the sun had gone down he had been observing the area from above. The league was assembling, and as of right now Dabi, Toga, Twice, Spinner, Mustard, Muscular, Moonfish, Mr Compress and Magnae are the only ones to arrive. He was using his scanners to hear everything that was going on inside, at the moment Shigaraki was going through the plan. "And that's the whole plan. Any questions?"
Muscular perked up, "Just one. We're allowed to kill as many as we want right?"
"As long as it's not one of the targets, go for it." Shigaraki answered.
"Color me surprised Shigaraki, you actually came up with a plan." Dabi commented.
"Bye the way, YOU'RE in charge Dabi." Kurogiri stated."
"Alright." He said nonchalantly.
"Giran's brought support items that fit some of you, lastly there's someone else that will meet you at the camp. Try not to get on their bad side because they're technically not on ours. Also, Nomu won't be ready until tomorrow. If you want to go tonight then fine but extra muscle won't hurt." They all went through a portal made by Kurogiri and were gone.
"The plan has started Tomura Shigaraki, how do you think they will fair?"
"We have the complete element of surprise. Even if they fail, the fact they could do this will shake societies faith in UA as well as heroes." He picked up a picture of an angry Bakugo bound up at the Sports Festival, "Plus, villains aren't the only ones that are oppressed."
"You think this child will join us?"
"Look at him, does this look like a hero to you? Even if he doesn't join us willingly he can still be of use to us."
Genos had heard everything, standing up he readied himself for step two, "Just as ONE anticipated, the villains have begun their attack." He then took out his phone and let him know, the bugs had also been planted on Muscular, Moonfish and Dabi so ONE could get them whenever he wanted. "So their leader will have a Nomu ready for them by tomorrow." He thought out loud before he paused and collected his thoughts, "It's finally dark, let's see what you're doing in there AFO." He thought before heading back to the villain's hideout.
There were few people walking the streets when he arrived, the street seemed pretty quiet, perfect considering it was a villain hideout. Genos crept in the shadows at the side of the building where he found an open window with bars on it. Genos closed his right eye, "Seeker Eye" his left eye popped out of its socket and floated in front of him, his vision was still linked and he could see through it. Controlling it remotely he sent it through the window, the eye floated across the room looking at what was inside. His sight fell on several tubs full of a green liquid that was the only lightsource in the room, as his eye got closer Genos became more and more disgusted as he made out what he was seeing. In each and every tub there was an exposed brain of a developing Nomu. Genos' eye floated above the scene, his sight completely locked on what was before him, outside he clenched his fist with anger, "Disgusting…You sick bastard, so this is it. This is your Nomu factory."
Back at the training camp
Bakugo had just finished eating and decided to take a walk along one of the trails. The first day of the camp was in the books but after bath time he would have to do shitty remedial courses with the other extras. He may have trained hard today, but he still felt stuck. His consistent failures continue to piss him off, not to mention ONE was here and personally trained with the others, Two of which Aizawa flat out stated were ahead of him. These losers are getting ahead of him, the remedial courses weren't a help they are a waste of time. He needed to improve, he needed to blow by everyone here as quickly as possible. As he rounded the corner of the trail he suddenly felt a twinge in his chest, the air in his lungs left his body and formed a sphere around his head. He couldn't breathe at all, no air in or out and his eyes were going red from suffocation. This was clearly someone's quirk and he was being attacked but he couldn't see at all who it was, the darkness, coupled with the air sphere made it hard to see or hear anything. He truly felt like he was about to die when his stomach was hit with such force everything went black, and he fell into the void.
On the cliffside, Kota had finished eating and he and ONE were just sitting on the cliff. ONE was looking at his phone and as he was eating he couldn't stop thinking about what the hero had told him, ONE didn't have a quirk. As he was trying to make sense of what he said when the hero suddenly perked up, "Hey Kota, do you mind telling me what your quirk is?" He asked with a smile.
"Water Gun." He mumbled, just audible."
"Water Gun huh? Can I see it?" He asked with a warm smile.
"No!" He exclaimed.
"Come OOOOON. You can't say you have a quirk called "Water Gun" and not show it to me! I wanna see if you're Blastoise or not!" His lips morphed into a sly grin, "Oh wait nevermind. You're just a kid so you're definitely more like squirtle right now." He said goading him.
His words trigger some repressed memories in Kota. It was a time when his parents were still alive, his quirk had manifested and he was having fun with it. His mom had lined up some empty soda cans and bottles for target practice, "Alright my little Blastoise, take the shot!"
Kota smiled excitedly, put both his hands in front of him and fired streams of water. The streams were weak but they were strong enough to knock over two of the cans. However a bottle wouldn't come down, Kota shot two more streams at it only making it wobble a bit. He pushed a little harder and his streams managed to knock it over. "Yeah!" He cheered to himself.
"Way to go Kota." His dad complimented from behind him.
"Hey dad! Did you see what I did?!" His smile shined brightly.
"I sure did. Nice shooting kiddo. But you've got a lot of work to do if you wanna be a water hero too. Right now you're more like a Squirtle than a Blastoise." The father said with a cool smile.
Don't worry dad, I'm gonna keep practicing with my quirk and I'm gonna be a better water hero than you AND mom!" He said confidently.
Both parents laughed at the enthusiasm of their child. His dad crossed his arms while his mom who was behind him put her hands on his shoulders, "I'm gonna hold you to that." His father said with a smile.
Back in the present, there was a pause as Kota didn't even register the tears that slipped down his cheeks, something ONE noticed, "Are you okay Kota? Sorry, I didn't mean to upset you." His words were empathetic as the boy registered the wetness running down his face.
Kota quickly wiped his face, "I'm not crying!" He exclaimed, sounding tough.
"If I made you remember something painful I apologize…If you want to talk about it, I'll listen."
Kota couldn't take it, his emotions were everywhere right now and he was usually able to keep them bottled up. But this hero is frustrating, everything about this was frustrating. Why?" He said, lowely. "Why is everybody so crazy?! Calling each other names like hero and villain and killing each other because of it! Always showing off and focusing on their quirks just so you can get killed! What's so good about that?!" He snapped.
ONE, though slightly startled by his outburst, let him fully let out what he was feeling and say what he needed to say. There was pain behind his questions, he'd been relatively silent since he told him he was quirkless. The kid already didn't understand heroes and now he's even more confused, "I bet I don't even register as his concept of a hero." ONE thought as he took in Kota's words. This entire time he had been studying the young boy and he'd come up with a theory as to where this pain, frustration and confusion towards heroes originated from.
"Kota. By any chance, were your parents the Water Hose Heroes? With the water quirks."
Kota clenched his fist and his body language became defensive, "Did Mandalay tell you?!"
"No, she didn't. I'm a detective, Kid. You told me even if you didn't say it." This explanation didn't change the look on his face. "I'm sorry. I was actually a fan of theirs..And I remember reading about that incident a few years ago." Kota turned from him, fist clenched and his head hung low. "You asked me what was so good about being a hero. I can't speak for everyone so I can only give you MY answer." He paused for a moment, choosing his words carefully while also speaking his truth. "Doing right by others, and protecting those who can't protect themselves. Helping others however I can is what I love about this because this world could use more acts of kindness. Sometimes that's all that matters. People understanding, respecting and being nice to each other is all it takes to make a peaceful society."
ONE's lips morphed into a warm smile, placing a gentle hand on Kota's head, "I want to change things. I want to make a world where dignity, honor and justice are the reality for everyone…And as a bonus it feels nice." Kota's eyes widened at his words. "It may sound cheesy, but seeing people happy or thankful after doing something good for them just feels nice." His smile was so bright and warm Kota's negative feelings almost melted away.
"For most of my own life it hasn't really been like that, people haven't been the best to me simply because I don't have a quirk. I've heard it over and over, "You can't be a hero without a quirk." But I've accepted that it's just a one sided way of looking at it."
"What do you mean?" Kota asked
"I mean that there are two things when someone says that. 1 is obviously the first statement that you can't be a hero without a quirk. However, on the flipside of that, they're also saying, "You can't be a hero without a quirk.. Because I couldn't be." Once I realized that, that statement lost any and all meaning to me. I could be whatever I wanted. I didn't have to be like everyone else and fall short where everyone else does." ONE noted the change in his body language, he cocked his head, "C'mon, let's head back." He said nicely.
Kota was still processing what he had just said, "Okay" he replied before taking a few steps
ONE picked the plate and spoon off the ground, he then got an idea, "Hey Kota? Climb on." He said crouching down, gesturing to the boy to climb on his back. Kota hopped on and clung to his back, ONE then fully stood up and held the boy in place with his free arm, "Alright, hold on because we're about to fly back!" He exclaimed before leaping into the air with Kota letting out an excited and fearful scream while holding on to him for dear life. ONE Sky Walked through the air all the way back to the camp, after a while Kota adjusted and was amazed at how ONE was flying, his fear quickly faded into pure excitement as the hero flew over the lodge. They could both see people chilling outside, several of them waved at them. Some were cleaning up dinner and ONE decided to turn around when they passed over the hot springs and caught a glimpse of several girls from class B readying for a bath. Luckily they hadn't dropped their towels yet, that would have been a bad look for him.
They landed in the picnic area where they ate dinner and found Mandalay talking with Eraserhead while several students chilled around the area. The cat was surprised to see ONE with Kota, more surprising of all he was smiling a genuinely happy smile. "There you are, Kota. Thanks for finding him ONE." She said as she approached the two with Kota getting off the heroes back.
ONE raised the plate, "And feeding him, I did TWO things." He said playfully while holding up two fingers.
Mandalay smiled, "And feeding him, I appreciate it." She then turned to her nephew, "Kota, go get ready for bed okay."
"Okay." He said without argument. "Later ONE." He then walked into the lodge.
Mandalay looked at the green clad hero, many thoughts going through her head, "I haven't seen him like that in a long time. What did you do?"
"We talked…That kid carries a lot of pain, and he's confused. I like to think I helped him with that, at least a little."
Mandalay took in his words. He wasn't wrong, her nephew is a hurt and confused kid and even her dealing with him isn't easy on the best of days. But ONE was just able to come in and DO it, she made a mental note to ask Kota about what they talked about later. Before his parents passed, Kota was always such a cheerful little boy, he hasn't been the same since they left. But to see him smiling just now gave her so much hope. "Thank you, ONE." She said with sincerity.
"No need for thanks Mandalay, just being a hero." The woman nodded before walking back inside.
He looked around for a familiar head of spiky ash blonde hair. Genos did his job, Intech did his job, now he knows Bakugo is a target and has got to keep an eye on him." Not spotting the blonde in the immediate area, he walked towards Kirishima who was talking to Sero. "Hey Kirishima, you know where Bakugo is? I want to talk to him about something."
"Yeah, he went for a walk after he was done eating." The redhead answered. "Now that I think about it, that was a while ago."
"Ok." ONE responded, hiding his concern. "You know which way he went?"
"I think he went that way." Kirishima pointed.
"Thank you." ONE spread his senses to find the blonde. Momo, who was sitting at one of the tables with Ashido and Hagakure, got up, "I'll join you."
"Sure." No one around them questions this as the two head into the woods together. Once they were inside he spread his senses as far as he could and couldn't sense Bakugo. Momo walked next to him, now out of earshot she could speak, "I'm not sensing Bakugo either so it's just us for now. Why are you really here, ONE?"
ONE spread his senses, confirming that for the moment they were alone, "The league is here, I knew they were coming so I'm here to intercept their plans and bring them and AFO down."
Momo's eyes narrowed, "How did they even find this place?"
"If I had to guess, one of the students tipped off AFO after you all got here. Because they didn't find out that info until last night. I already spoke to Eraserhead about this this morning."
Momo's mind was rocked by this information, to think there was a traitor among them. It was good that Mr Aizawa knew but to think one of the UA's hero course students was working for the other side was unfathomable. Now she had to go on with the knowledge that maybe one of her trusted classmates was a wolf in sheep's clothing and just setting them up. It then made sense to why he was looking for Bakugo, "What does Bakugo have to do with any of this?"
"According to Intech they want to recruit him to their side."
Momo's cat-like eyes widened in realization, "Bakugo IS rather repugnant in regards to what you'd expect from an aspiring hero. But do you think he'd go to the other side?"
"Probably not, but that being said he could still become a pawn for them so we've gotta find him." ONE and Momo had exited the trail, it was a full circle so either he came back out and was just by himself somewhere or something really happened to him.
Katsuki Bakugo landed hard on the ground after he was violently thrown by his assailant. He was unconscious but still breathing, "That was too easy. You're welcome." Said the man who had so easily captured one of their targets. He had an average appearance with prominent cheekbones with dark brown eyes, pale skin with black hair that spiked to the right side of his head. He wore a black jacket over a gray shirt with dark blue skinny jeans and black sneakers. Every member of the Vanguard Action Squad looked at him impressed.
"Well damn, you made that look easy." Dabi stated.
"It always is."
"This piece of meat." Moonfish said creepily.
"Can I cut him?" Toga asked excitedly.
"Nice job darling." Magnae said.
Way to go Gale Breeze! You suck Mr Redundant Name!" Twice cheered and insulted.
He looked at the costumed villain, slightly annoyed. "You're too loud… Anyway, call the mist guy. If he joins you or not I don't really care, once I'm fully paid you can do whatever you want with him."
Muscular was pent up for a fight, "Come on! Just turn me loose! I'm ready to get started!" He said excitedly while clenching his hands.
"Shut your mouth you crazy bastard. I'm going to get Ragdoll, and you may wanna pack it up and get the hell out of here."
"For what? The fun hasn't started yet. Dabi asked.
Because ONE's here for some reason. And I didn't sign up for that kind of smoke."
Twice is the first to react to this revelation, "ONE! He exclaimed, putting both hands on his head. "Abort abort abort abort abort abort abort abort ABORT! We gotta go! He could legit kill me!"
"Try to relax Twice." Mr Compress said.
"How can I relax! Last time I faced that guy he took down my doubles with one hit!"
"Panicking isn't going to help either." Mustard spoke up.
Muscular let out a creepy yet excited chuckle as he smiled sinisterly behind his mask, "ONE huh?" He clenched his right hand before balling it into a fist, "You pansies can go, I'm not going no damn where!"
Spinner spoke up, "ONE was acknowledged by Stain as a true hero. Fighting him is definitely not why we came out here."
"Be that as it may, we have one of our targets. Let's send him to Shigaraki before we proceed further." Compress added, "Dabi?"
"Yeah Yeah." The patch faced man said as he pulled out a button to call Kurogiri, before he pressed it he turned to their other partner only to realize he was already gone.
Back at the camp
Ragdoll was on watch duty over the baths, she sat in the lane on top of the wall and leaned back, making sure no one tried to scale the wall like how Minetta did the other night as Kota did. She could hear the class B students wrapping it up and leaving the bath, class A would be in shortly and then she could go to bed. The students had done a good job for their first day of training, she was impressed with the effort of most of them, especially those who trained with ONE. She was able to talk periodically with the independent hero but he was so focused with training the student he barely spoke to the other heroes. "I wonder if he wouldn't mind teaming up with us again? Ryuko should watch her tendencies though." She thought as she leaned back in her chair.
Ragdoll began to feel strange as her breathing suddenly became uneasy, the air in her lungs seemed to be pulled out and a sphere of air circled around her head. She couldn't exhale or inhale or even scream as she began to suffocate, falling back in her chair she rolled on all fours as she grasped for air. She suddenly saw a figure appear before her, the air sphere made seeing clearly difficult but the light allowed her to tell someone was before her. She was close to passing out and her vision was starting to blur, the air sphere suddenly dissipated and for a moment she could breath, but before she knew what hit her she felt a kick to the stomach that knocked what little air she'd taken in back out of her. Darkness was all she could comprehend as she fell into the void unconscious.
ONE and Momo had just exited the walking trail, they were unable to find Bakugo and his instincts were screaming that something was off. He spotted Eraserhead who was following his students into the lodge as it was now class A's bath period. Eraserhead had spotted the green clad hero and approached him. Momo turned to ONE and though she couldn't see his eyes she was sure Izuku was giving her a knowing look. With a small nod she left the hero and went inside. The two looked at each other for a moment, "Don't you have remedial classes to teach?" ONE asked.
"We'll begin after the students are done bathing. You told her what was going on didn't you?"
"I did." He answered calmly and casually.
Eraser sighed, "So, how are things right now? ONE said nothing, only pulling out his hero phone and opening up a map that indicated the phone's location and three more dots 3km away. "So they're here."
ONE pointed in the direction, "Yeah, they're over there. I'lll go get them shortly."
Eraserhead took in his words, "Are our students in any danger?"
"No. That being said, I just found out Bakugo is a target and I think he may have gotten taken." He said calmly.
Eraser's eyes widened, "Bakugo! Why him?"
"Apparently they want to recruit him."
"You think he would join them?"
"Probably not. But you have to admit his personality and attitude don't exactly scream hero."
Eraserhead grit his teeth, he noted the flaws in Bakugos personality and wanted to do something about it. But he had to acknowledge the boy's pride carries him too high. Granted he has talent but that personality and mindset of his, while not exactly being evil, it IS a double edge sword in his development.
ONE sensed an unknown presence, he looked up in the direction, seeing nothing but there were definitely two people above them.
Eraserhead seemed confused by his sudden shift, "What are you looking at?"
"This presence seems familiar, but the other one…That's Ragdoll!" He thought before leaping into the air and landing a spin kick to some invisible figure. They, along with Ragdoll, became visible with ONE catching the unconscious heroine and a black haired man was sent to the ground with a loud crash. ONE landed and looked at the cloud of dust, Eraserhead also looked at the scene completely shocked as he completely missed that. Ragdoll was being kidnapped and he had no idea.
"Damn. And here I wanted to avoid a fight." He said as the dust cleared and he patted himself off.
ONE looked at the unconscious Ragdoll in his hands, noting that she was breathing properly, just knocked out. He then looked at the attempted kidnapper, he vaguely recognized him. "I know you."
"You know me do you? Well I only THINK I know you so take off that mask so I can see if I'm sure?"
"Not gonna happen." He then put Ragdoll down before turning back to him, "Why are you helping the league?"
"I was recommended apparently. I don't care at all about those idiots but for me to get paid I need that cat, I already got one of the targets so hand her over."
ONE was in his thoughts as he took in what the man had just said, "They already have Bakugo, damnit! Leaving it to him to get kidnapped. All this just to recruit him, that villainous personality of his WAS on full display during the sports festival after all. But why target Ragdoll?" He paused for a moment and it clicked, "This is All For One! Ragdoll's "Search" quirk could be a pain if he got it. Damn good that I noticed that and caught him." He thought, as he responded, "Hell no."
"Of course you'd say that, fighting you is the last thing I feel like doing or would have expected when I came here..Oh well, can't be helped I guess. But you should know that as a hero you have more pressing matters to attend to so…" The air began to swirl as he quickly made a massive tornado that then burst into a blast of air in all directions. The wind tore through the area, ONE had to hold Ragdoll and Erasehead from being blown away. The wind died down and the villain was gone.
"He's gone." ONE deduced. He sensed that he jumped when he released the wind but that same wind kept him from sensing him when he escaped, most likely by flying.
"Who was that?! Eraser demanded.
"I forget his name, but as I recall he was a ninja I met once." Still, that guy was a factor he didn't know about. He wasn't on the list of the new members he's identified. Recommended? AFO must have hired him. Seeing this guy's face took him back to his training days, a trip he took with the masters and several students to a school of ninjutsu.
"A ninja?" Eraser said surprised. He then grit his teeth at remembering the man's words, "Damn it all! They were after Ragdoll too and they already had Bakugo. They knew they were coming and couldn't prevent any of this. He relayed ONE's info to Nezu earlier and to his annoyance the principal told him to trust ONE. He saw the trackers and saw that they were 3km away, they couldn't mobilize in time to deal with them with them already attacking. He had no choice but to leave this to ONE. Swallowing his pride he faced the independent hero, "ONE..Save my student."
ONE gave him a smile before walking away and crouching down. "Of course." He said before leaping into the air like a missile homing in on his target.
"It's a bit early to receive your call, Dabi." The Misty villain said as he appeared before the group in the form of a portal.
"We have a bit of a hiccup. ONE's here." He stated calmly.
The black mist's yellow eyes screamed in shock, "What?!"
"Yeah, and Gale Breeze hasn't come back yet. But he did get one of them." He gestured to the still unconscious Bakugo. "Plus I get the feeling we all may die if we stay here.
"Fine, you obviously can't take on ONE. We got at least one of the targets so let's return to base and regroup."
"Thank you!" Twice exclaimed as he practically dove into Kurogiri and through the portal.
Aww, and I wanted to see if ONE was my type or not." Toga said before entering the portal.
Magnae, Spinner and Mr Compress all went through the portal, Dabi grabbed the still unconscious Bakugo and went through while Muscular and Moonfish, who looked bloodthirsty, did not want to leave. Mustard complained about not getting to use his support item as he stepped towards the portal. In an instant the black mist suddenly dissipated and there was a loud crash that kicked up a lot of dust. This sudden action shocked the three remaining villains on the cliff as they all faced the cloud of dust. The dust cleared to the horror of Mustard but the excitement of Moonfish and Muscular it was ONE, gripping the metal brace of Kurogiri's real body. "Hello guys…Were you going somewhere?" He asked with a sly smile. Kurogiri was horrified that he was now in the grip of the Masters greatest obstacle. He tried to use his quirk when ONE gave a squeeze that bent his brace causing him to groan in pain, "I remember you from the USJ. If you so much as try to use your quirk I'll crush this like a soda can." He didn't mean that threat but his grip on his brace and the wave of power aura he released made that threat feel very real.
Mustard backed up with fear, knowing full well he was way out of his league. Muscular sneered behind his mask while Moonfish took a couple steps and began to salivate, Such MEAT! Get to work, get to work." He said creepily.
ONE stood up while gripping Kurogiri's brace in his left hand, "So they got away with the Bakugo. I should have noticed he was gone sooner. Doesn't matter, I'm still in control, but they'll notice if Kurogiri is gone for too long, gotta wrap this up quick while everyone is still presumably at the hideout." He thought as he prepared to face the villains. "Normally I'd tell you to give up. But I know you two came here for blood, so bring it on." He said confidently, not smilinging as he stared them down.
"Fresh meat!" Moonfish exclaimed as tendril blades shot from his teeth towards the green clad hero, ONE disappeared in a flash and appeared behind the cannibal villain. All the teeth in his mouth shattered and he was suddenly pummeled by what seemed like the air itself before he was sent flying to the left where he went crashing through several trees. Both Muscular and Mustard had no idea what just happened, Muscular was so shocked by Moonfish's ass kicking he didn't register the blow to his left side that sent him flying. He bounced and skid across the ground before he was able to stop himself, he gripped his left side, he was certain all of his ribs were broken. He coughed up a little blood, ripped off his mask and lifted his massive body off the ground. He had the excited smile of a child who's finally able to do something they had to wait to do.
"Yeah, that's the stuff!" He exclaimed
"Goto Imasuji, Aka the Cardinal Murderer Muscular. On paper you're the worst kind of villain, you don't have one problem with taking the lives of anyone. Be they heroes or innocent civilians. Tell me, did it have to be this way for you? Was there ever a point in your adult life you strived to be different from what you are today?"
"The hell is this a therapy session? I'm exactly what I want to be. Using my quirk as much as I want, however I want is all that matters to me. So…" His body was then enveloped in muscle fibers and he lunged at ONE with his left fist cocked back, "NOPE!
ONE met his punch with one of his own, the muscle fibers tore and the bones in Muscular's arm shattered to pieces. The blow sent the villain back a bit who roared in pain from his now useless arm. He stared down the hero whose body language was expressing anger, disappointment and strangely calmness. In the blink of an eye he was kicked into the air. ONE leaped after him, shifting his body to where he was upside down. "Waves Of Blaze: Burning Wind!" He called out as he nailed Muscular with brutal kicks so fast his feet caught fire, he spun his body as he kicked up upward creating a flaming spiral while also setting the villain ablaze. They were high in the air when ONE spun and got above the villain and delivered a final burning kick that sent him to the ground so fast and hard he made a massive crater that shook and cracked the entire cliffside.
ONE landed and saw the down villain, Muscular was badly burned and beaten, but breathing. "That's the downside of being a hero. You can't save everyone." The entire area was enveloped in a thick gas. Inhaling it didn't bother him at all, for some reason he was immune to poisons. He could sense Mustard within the gas, he had quickly noted the villains outfit and size. "What are you doing?" He asked sternly.
"Isn't it obvious ONE? And here I thought you actually had a brain in that head of yours."
"I don't have time to play with you. You're clearly an upset and confused middle school kid. You still have a chance to not end up like the other two, and trust me when I say moments like this will define the rest of your life. So stand down, or I'm taking you down." There was no response, only a gunshot. ONE raised his right hand and caught the bullet in between his fingers. "Guns are the coward's weapon for a reason you know." He sensed Mustard moving within the gas, his eyes shifted to the left knowing the villain was behind him. "This is what I'm talking about. You bring a gun because you obviously can't fight, and I'll bet you're not even immune to the effects of your own quirk, hence the need for the mask."
"Shut up!" The villain roared as he fired five more shots into the gas cloud but ONE caught these easily. "How does he see those coming?" He thought to himself desperately.
"You're probably wondering how I know where you are, what you're doing and where you're aiming. Let's just say I've got ways. This is your final warning! I don't even need a gas mask, I'm trying to give you an out, here. Plus you're out of bullets."
Mustard pulled the trigger and saw he was truly out of bullets. "What?"
"Seriously, a Ruger Redhawk? An actually threatening villain would have had a Glock 19. And with that, you're out of chances." In a flash of speed ONE was in front of mustard with his back to him, slamming a left backfist into his mask breaking it.
Mustard felt the hit but it didn't knock him out, he backed up from the sudden pain in his face. "You IDIOT!" He yelled. The pain distracted him from the fact he's not immune to his quirk and inhaled some of it. He suddenly tries to cover his mouth but it was too late as he was put to sleep by the gas. The unconscious villain fell forward with ONE catching him before he could faceplant.
With Mustard having lost consciousness the gas faded away, "And that takes care of that."
"You haven't won, ONE." Kurogiri stated, still in the grip of the hero.
The hero brought the brace up so they were making eye contact. "Well obviously. I still have to take down All For One, which I will do in less than an hour."
The mist villain was surprised to hear this, "Are you implying you know where the master is?"
"I'll tell you once this is over, in the meantime I have to secure these guys." In a flash of speed ONE collected the other two unconscious villains and leaped back towards the lodge. As he descended he shifted his body tossing all three of them off of him, they all hit the ground with a loud thud. ONE landed and the sound caused Eraserhead, Mandalay and Vlad King to come out. The heroine was shocked to see the three beaten men on the ground, he was sprawled on the ground and his arm looked a mess but she recognized one of them. "ONE, Eraserhead explained and the police are on their way, what happened?" Vlad asked.
"Most of the villains got away but these three weren't so lucky. Also I got their get-away guy." He said, holding Kurogiri by his brace who groaned in embarrassment.
"That's the warp villain from the USJ. Where's Bakugo?" Eraserhead asked, concerned that his student wasn't here.
"Obviously not here. Don't worry, I'm still in control and I need these four restrained. Can I trust you all to do that? And Mandalay, before you understandably kick him just know I did plenty of that." He said, noting how she was looking at the defeated Muscular with the eyes of an angry cat in predatory mode and ready to pounce.
She sighed, "Alright, thanks for saving Ragdoll by the way."
No problem. Now I'm going to finish this."
Eraser clenched his fists, angered. "Don't worry Eraserhead, I know where they took him. These three have dangerous quirks, do not let them use them." He tossed Kurogiri to Vlad King, "Take him. DO NOT let him use his quirk." In a flash he was gone, booking it towards Kamino.
Going at Mach 20 he made it to the LOV's hideout in no time, as he descended the stairs towards the bar he could hear Bakugo's angry screams from inside, indicating he was okay and he could sense all the villains that escaped were inside.
ONE descended the steps and stood before the bar door, he brought a fist to his lips and cleared his throat. Taking a few breaths he began to bang on the door, "I wanna~ join your group~!" He exclaimed while doing his best impression of a fan struck teenage girl.
There was a moment of silence before he heard the sound of the door being unlocked when Twice opened the door, "Welcome aboard newbie! Beat it you scrub!"
ONE nailed the villain with a brutal kick to the chest that sent him crashing to the other side of the room. Everything moved in slow motion as he speed blitzed into the room, Bakugo was in a chair with his hands restrained to keep him from using his quirk. He slammed a fist into Dabi's gut before he spun and chopped Spinner in the neck. He kicked Magnae in the shin before hitting her in the face and then kneeing Toga before uppercutting Shigaraki in the gut, he shifted back and slammed his right elbow in Mr Compress's stomach. He stopped and everything went back to normal with Dabi, Spinner, Magnae, compress and Toga dropping with Shigaraki bouncing off the ceiling before hitting the ground. "Done and done." He said confidently with a smile as he faced the restrained Bakugo. "You okay Bakugo?"
"Doesn't it look like it!" He yelled, ignoring the fact of how he got in this situation.
"It does." He responded jokingly.
He swiftly broke the restraints, freeing the ash blonde and allowing him to stand up. Bakugo inspected himself, noting he was ok before facing the hero. "How did you where these shitty villains were hiding out?"
"I followed Shigaraki back here a few weeks ago and have been spying on them ever since."
Bakugo's gaze narrowed at his words, "Wait, did you know these idiots were gonna show up at the camp?!"
"I did. But I didn't learn you were a target until like half an hour ago. I was actually looking for you but by that time it was too late. That little hiccup aside, this all still went according to plan."
"Plan?"
"Let them show up, take them down. Even if a few got away it would only give them a false sense of security only for me to show up at their door and crush them."
Bakugo looked around at all the beaten down villains, "What about the warping guy?!" He asked, remembering he was a part of the group and he hadn't seen him.
ONE waved a hand, "I took care of it. Assuming your teachers don't mess up, it shouldn't be an issue."
Though annoyed he was in this situation, he wouldn't admit it but he was impressed. "I'm out of here." He turned to leave.
"Wait, I have to restrain these guys, plus I have to get you to the police before I deal with their leader." ONE got up reaching into one of the pockets on his utility belt and pulled out some restraints, he was about to round them up, starting with Shigaraki.
As he got closer the villain suddenly grabbed his forearm, his mask had been knocked off and he had a sinister smile, "Now turn to dust, ONE."
The hero just took it as the villain's hand gripped his exposed skin, ONE didn't try to resist. A moment passed with nothing happening to the hero, Shigataki's arrogant look shifted to one of shock. "W-What the he-" He tried to yell before his own forearm was gripped by ONE like a vice.
"Yeah~, my body's pretty strong." He pulled the villain into a punch, fully knocking him out this time. "He's just slightly tougher than I expected." ONE pulled out a restraint and tied up the villain and after a while he had everyone restrained.
"All the idiots are tied up, can we go now?" Bakugo groaned, ONE's already had to stop him from just taking off twice now.
"Relax Bakugo, there's an element here you're not understanding."
"Like what?" He asked arrogantly.
"How bad the leader of the LOV is. I'm trying to do this as smoothly as possible so as to not tip him off."
The TV screen on the bar suddenly came on, "It's a bit too late for that, ONE." The voice of All For One said, filling the room.
Both boys turned to the screen when suddenly a gray goo appeared and consumed the bodies of the unconscious villains, "Damn it, he's making a move. He probably noticed Kurogiri's absence." He thought as he turned to Bakugo as the same gray goo burst from his mouth and consumed him. "Bakugo!" He tried to grab him with the goo splattering and the blonde disappearing. "Crap! That happened." He then noted how everyone had been warped by the goo just as six portals of it appeared before him and multiple Nomu came through them. "Figures he can warp Nomu here. Genos said his hideout was also the factory for these things. The hell is he doing over there?"
At AFO's hideout moments prior
Genos' eye was making its way through the halls of the hideout, he had witnessed dozens of developing Nomu it was more than disgusting. This building was much longer on the inside than it appeared on the outside and after a while he was sure he'd seen most of it. All For One was going down tonight, guarantee it. His eye made its way down a hallway where he could see a lit up room, floating under the door it made its way inside. Here he found a large man wearing a black, futuristic mask over his head and sitting in a chair. He sat in front of a computer screen and seemed to be in the midst of a conversation with another man. He was bald with large green lensed goggles and a light brown bushy mustache "So tell me doctor, how are the High Ends developing?"
"Losing Fist a while back was a blow, but as it stands Hood is finally fully developed and the rest are following suit."
"I'm happy to hear that, be sure to keep me posted."
"That being said, wasn't Tomura planning something tonight? Ujiko asked.
AFO smiled, "Yes, he's actually taking some initiative and galvanizing his forces. The plan they're incating is one he himself came up with."
"Oh, so you're not lending a hand this time around."
"He'll have to grow up eventually, although I will admit I paid for a little extra muscle."
"I see. On an unrelated note do you have any plans for dealing with ONE? I'm still having a hard time believing what you told me."
AFO put a fist to his cheek, "Yes, he doesn't have a quirk to speak of. I've felt it…His raw power goes far beyond anything One For All could ever be capable of."
Ujiko was speechless as he watched his master through the monitor, AFO is notorious for always having a plan, with numerous angles of getting to it. But as he looked at him, though he wouldn't say it it was obvious he was afraid of ONE. Realistically how could he not be? Someone so powerful didn't have a quirk he could just take, and bringing him to their side was out of the question. "He's coming after me." These words snapped the doctor out of his thoughts. "Continue to progress as planned, Doctor."
"Understood." He said before ending his video call.
AFO listened to what was going on at Tomura's place, he heard two unfamiliar voices. "Wait, did you know these idiots were gonna show up at the camp?!"
"I did. But I didn't learn you were a target until like half an hour ago. I was actually looking for you but by that time it was too late. That little hiccup aside, this all still went according to plan."
"Plan?"
"Let them show up, take them down. Even if a few got away it would only give them a false sense of security only for me to show up at their door and crush them."
"He was on to Tomura? For how long I wonder. He probably got carless and ONE followed him back to the house." AFO thought as he continued to listen. He heard what seemed like Tomura try to attack ONE, confirming to him he was Immune to Tomura's decay. This revelation made him feel something akin to anger, "Even Tomura's quirk has no effect on him, just how impervious is he?" Tomura and his allies had been defeated and were being restrained by ONE, Kurogiri was gone and Kazamaki hadn't called about his money. ONE's been onto them for a while and he's planned every move with the complete element of surprise. Even HE wasn't aware of any of this. Still, his hideout was still a mystery. He could help Tomura and go from there, he had several complete mid level Nomu down stairs, which should serve as a decent distraction.
Back outside Genos still crept in the shadows, he called his eye back as all the information he just learned was setting in. "So, it's Ujiko. It was always Ujiko. One of the world's top quirk doctors is in league with AFO? Why and HOW?" He thought as his mind shifted to ONE. "ONE should have taken care of the league by now." He looked up towards the window, "I'm right here. Should I take him down now or wait for ONE?" He thought as his eye passed by the Nomu tubs with several of them rising up and a gray goo enveloping them and the monsters disappearing. "He's sending those to the other hideout!" Genos looked at his hand as his eye went back into its socket. "In theory I could eliminate this building and all the Nomu in it leaving me with just AFO. I still haven't unleashed my full capabilities yet." He made a fist and smiled. "I've decided."
Genos readied an incineration cannon, aimed it at a downward angle and fired. The building was incinerated by his blast creating a massive wave of fire that shot into the sky. The blast dissipated leaving nothing but flat burned earth, Genos stepped forward to find his enemy had been severely burned by his attack. "Been waiting all day to do that." He stated as he faced the injured AFO. He couldn't see his face, but the cyborg could tell he was angry and could see his flesh slowly regenerating from his attack. "Not a very enviable regeneration quirk you've got there."
The taller man rose up, "A fiery sneak attack. Seems very unheroic don't you think?"
"I've been spying on you fools all day, I know all about you and gave you a 40% chance of surviving that relatively weak blast."
"You attacked me unprovoked. You're either extremely arrogant or extremely foolish."
Genos raised a hand that emitted light and readied an attack, "Oh please. You're nowhere nearly as powerful as you think you are. All you do is take and indulge in your endless greed for power. The way I see it, you have two choices, ratchet fool. Either be eliminated by me, or be utterly destroyed by ONE. Not very preferable options are they?"
AFO had fully healed and most of his suit was burned away, namely his sleeves and pants legs. That attack did quite a number on him, admitely when he first felt it he assumed it was Endeavor, the "Weak Blast" as he called it may have killed him if he wasn't wearing his mask. Since ONE easily destroyed his previous one he had this new one made battle ready with strong resistance to heat. As he looked at his assailant many thoughts ran through his head, ONE was here in the city, the Nomu he sent to Tomura's wouldn't last long and the attack just now would clearly alert him to where they were and what was going on. This man or cyborg whatever he was was powerful and would need his full attention to deal with. He also said he's been spying on him all day, what exactly does he know and if he's working with ONE he would tell him everything.
As he looked at his enemy Tomura and his group suddenly came from the sludge portals, landing on the still hot ground. "GROSS! Hot hot hot!" Toga complained as the goo from her mouth had brought her back to consciousness and the hot ground she was laying on.
"What the hell!" Magnae exclaimed, still bound.
Twice had a flood of tears coming from his eyes, the pain of his broken ribs didn't hurt at all, he embraced it. "I'm alive you guys! I'm REAL!" He exclaimed as he continued to cry.
Shigaraki who was still restrained looked up at the man who had saved them, however he saw another person with their hand outstretched looking to attack, "Sensei?"
"You seem to have gotten yourself in a bind, Tomura."
"It was ONE! He came out of nowhere and I think he may have gotten Kurogiri!"
"I am aware of that. However, that isn't the biggest issue right now." AFO said, causing the league to turn to the cyborg the boss was staring down.
"And who is this guy?" Magnae asked.
"Your destruction, Kenji Hikiishi." Genos responded.
"It's Magnae!" He shot defensively. These words caused the villains to tense up as they were still restrained. Genos turned to the Bakugo, he was sure he could fight AFO and keep these villains in check long enough for ONE to show up but he needed to protect Bakugo. If he let his guard down for a moment they could warp away again and he couldn't risk that, having destroyed the hideout. "Bakugo, get behind me." He ordered.
Bakugo was still reeling from the shock of this situation, and the villain before him was giving him major boss vibes. That being said he didn't need some extra telling him what to do, "Don't give me orders!"
"You seem to be under the impression you're in control of this situation." His right arm enlarged as if filled with air as blackish-red lighting cackled, "Let me remind you how out of your league you are." He raised his hand as Genos came to meet him in a flash with a fire enhanced punch inches from his body. AFO's attack struck first as a massive blast of air that destroyed the area, sending Genos along with it, creating nothing but destruction. "What a nuisance." Bakugo looked at the destruction, horrified by what the villain just did. AFO went on to free the members of the LOV who couldn't free themselves, Tomura stood up after freeing himself, in awe at the power of his teacher. "Envious Tomura? Don't be, all of this is for you. You've gathered allies that share your cause, keep striving towards your goal." He said, charismatically.
Shigarai was wide eyed with emotion as he accepted the words of the man he respected more than anyone else. "This is all well and good, but we still have that ONE situation to deal with." Dabi stated.
"No need to worry about that, Dabi. I have been pondering ONE for some time, and I believe I've come up with a solution."
In a flash Genos was back, with a cocked back right punch, "You dare to claim you can handle ONE?" He questioned before he slammed his fist into AFO's gut. He drove the villain into the ground, "How SHAMELESS!" He exclaimed as he unleashed an incineration blast.
ONE had quickly made minced meat of the Nomu sent to the hideout, he took a quick glance at the blood and gore that covered the bar, "Damn it! I knew this could happen and I still couldn't prevent it." He booked it from the bar and made it onto the street. He was about to head to where AFO was when he suddenly felt a rumble and heard the sound of roaring wind and the crashing of metal. He jumped into the air and could see the fresh trail of destruction that lined several city blocks that originated from where AFO's hideout was. "Son of a bitch!" ONE thought as he saw a streak of light dash through the destruction back towards where it originated. "Way to get back up Genos. All For One, I swear you're going to pay for that!" He thought as he disappeared with Sky Walk: Flash Step.
The villains were blown back from the force of Genos attack, the heat from it was insane as it threatened to roast them if they got too close. "Sensei!" Shigaraki called out in concern.
Bakugo clenched his hands, "Pretty lame boss!"
Shigaraki turned to the ash blonde with murder in his eyes, he didn't care anymore about recruiting him. His plans had completely gone to shit and were doomed from the start thanks to ONE. Bakugo had refused his offer and he would have used Sensei's power to make him submit or just kill him, the latter was now his intention as he lunged at the teen. Bakugo used his explosions to get some distance as Dabi, Compress, Toga, Magnae, Spinner and Twice all came at him.
Genos kept his fist pressed down on AFO, "Did you really think a pitiful attack like that could take ME down?" AFO mocked as wind circled his left, ring, middle and index fingers, he swung them and three air slashed barely cut into Genos who crossed his arms to block. The cyborg was sent into the air and landed after tanking the hit. Genos assumed a battle stance and readied to go again, he caught a quick glimpse of Bakugo trying to fend off the league, but he needed to give all his attention to AFO until ONE arrived. "Not impressed." He said, staring down AFO.
"Meaning?" The boss responded.
"From that brief exchange I've figured you out. Your quirk lets you take quirks that you can keep or give to others, but with all the quirks you've stolen you haven't mastered a single one of them. You're just throwing power at your opponents. In all honesty, pretty lazy fighting."
"Lazy fighting that has seen the end of many foolish heroes." AFO Shot back before using Rivet stab.
The sharp tendrils came at the cyborg whose body emitted a light before disappearing in a flash, breaking the sound barrier and leaving shockwaves where he previously stood. Genos appeared behind the villain in mid swing "Machine Gun Blows!" He called out as he fired hundreds of punches that pummeled AFO in the back. Genos continued his onslaught before finishing with a right punch, firing a blast from his fist that sent the villain flying forward.
Bakugo was currently dodging knife swipes from Toga before blasting her with an explosion. He then dodged a lunge from Compress as Twice had made dozens of doubles and Dabi prepared to blast the blonde. Bakugo is rushed by Shigaraki and Spinner, the ladder of whom swung a ninjato with the decay villain narrowly missing to grab a hold of him. There was a flash of light before a metal fist slammed into Shigaraki's right jaw, sending him flying before Spinner was nailed with a fire enhanced spin kick. Breaking several of his ribs and sending him crashing into Mr Compress. Genos raised his left hand and fired an incineration blast that countered Dabi's flames in a burst of fire and heat. Several of Twices doubles were destroyed in their clash, Genos looked into the blaze, "I'll keep them busy, you get out of here and get to the police!" He ordered Bakugo, not turning to look at him.
Bakugo grit his teeth, ready to give a retort when Genos crossed his arms and bladed sprung from his forearms, "Don't you dare argue! Stop being an idiot and GO!"
Bakugo swallowed his pride and with a powerful explosion blasted away from the battlefield, he fired another explosion and got farther away when he was suddenly enveloped in the same gray goo from earlier and the next thing he knew there was a vice-like grip around his face. To his horror he was in the grasp of the boss villain, a look of fear was prevalent on his face as this man made him feel and see his own death. "You didn't think you could just walk out of here did you? While you may no longer be of interest to Tomura, your explosion quirk is rather impressive." His hand began to glow with a red aura, "I'll make good use of it."
Upon hearing these words and feeling strange, Bakugo pushed past his fear and tried to blast the villain only for no explosion to happen with his hand only slapping his mask. He couldn't describe what was happening to him but he didn't like it and the worst of it was he couldn't do anything about it. For the first time in his life he felt true, unadulterated fear. AFO seemed distracted for a moment as he began to turn his head left when ONE's right foot connected with his mask, shattering it. "I'm gonna need you to let him go! All For One!" The hero had attacked him with a flying kick that created a massive shockwave and forced him to drop Bakugo. The momentum and power behind his kick carried the two across the battlefield before ONE kicked off his face, sending the villain tearing through the ground. ONE flips in the air, correcting himself as he lands, he turns back to the ash blonde who was on the ground still shaken up. "You okay, Bakugo?" He asked genuinely concerned.
The teen in question was on all fours as he tried to collect himself. The words of him taking his quirk were fresh in his mind, instinctively he made several small explosions in his right palm. He sighed in relief at still having his quirk, he clenched his fist "yeah, I'm ok." He answered.
"Good." ONE said as he looked around, he could feel the life all around him, many people were injured in AFO's attack and needed help. He didn't blame Genos for this but for this much destruction to occur so suddenly really hammered home how dangerous AFO was. He turned to the cyborg who had finished slashing Twice's doubles and was holding the duplicating villain up by the face. "Genos! I can leave them to you right?"
"Of course!" He answers before tossing Twice at a reaching Compress who accidentally used his quirk on his comrade, before he could correct his mistake Genos snapped his right arm before bringing the villain's head down on his knee, breaking his mask, and several bones in his face. He then pressed a hand to the villains chest and hit him with a point blank blast that sent him back. He then speed blitzed and deck Dabi with a left hook and began to wail on the villains patch work face like a punching bag.
ONE turned back to AFO who was picking himself off the ground. His mask had been destroyed by that one attack and it revealed his hairless, eyeless and noseless potato head. As the villain turned to him ONE could sense the anger, malice and fear within the villain, as he fully stood up he put on an obviously fake smile, "Well well well, the quirkless wonder finally makes his entrance."
Bakugo heard these words and his wide eyes locked onto the green clad hero. ONE stared down his enemy and began to walk towards him, "With the mess you've made around here I thought it prudent to make an appropriate entrance just for you."
AFO smiled, "I'm curious. Just how long have you been onto us?"
"What does that matter? All that matters is that Shigaraki's not very observant, and I'm right where I planned to be. Having you cornered.. And ENDING this." His tone was serious as he closed the distance between the two.
AFO chuckled as he raised a hand theatrically, "Ending this you say. You ignorant child. If you believe defeating me will solve anything you are sadly mistaken. If anything, this world will become worse off without me."
"Oh please. You and I both know you don't care about the world or people. Everything you do is for your own damn SELF!"
"And what's wrong with that?" He said calmly, "My power has done nothing but restore order to a damaged world. Human beings are not the most intelligent of creatures, when there is chaos and they live in despair, they seek for one to lead them. To guide them to the better world they envision for themselves. That's all I've ever done, ONE… There have been those who could never understand that, and heed such progress, but all if does is lead to meaningless suffering, death and discrimnation."
"Like your brother?" ONE stated.
AFO's smile wavered as he knew what this meant, "All Might told you about One For All didn't he?"
"And then some. Is that how a sick brain like your gets its kicks, by planning the death of innocent people?"
"You misunderstand. I have never once planned the death of innocent people. However I find the prospect of coming up with a plan to a goal with multiple paths that will trigger a series of events that will allow me to achieve said goal to be most enjoyable. It's just that the deaths of innocent people are inevitable, but it's never about them." He answered casually.
ONE clenched fist, "And with that I'm done listening to you!"
AFO's right arm bloated as he aimed at ONE, "Strange, because I'm not finished talking!"
There was a loud explosion of air pressure that blew away Bakugo and most of the LOV. When the air died down Genos spotted ONE with his left fist raised and AFO missing most of his right arm as it was completely destroyed at the elbow. The news chopper was flying above and shined a light on the two combatants. AFO was horrified by the sudden destruction of his arm, before he could fully register it ONE rose up, shoving his right fist into the villain's chin, uppercutting him into the sky and leaving shockwaves in his wake. The Villain got above the clouds before he was able to stop himself, his arm was slowly regenerating but the pain of that hit was intense. He tried to sense for ONE, using Moon Walk to float, he descended below the clouds. AFO was on edge, he knew ONE was somewhere, with his speed he certainly wouldn't see him coming.
"Come out ONE, I know you're there." He thought aloud, on edge.
In a flash the hero appeared in his face with right fist cocked back, "You say that like I was hiding." ONE said as he throws a punch that gets around AFO's block and connects with his face. The villain granted in pain as he was sent flying across the sky, ONE appeared behind him and nailed him with a left spin kick to the back, AFO bounced across the sky like a pinball as ONE battered him all over the place. ONE kneed the villain in the left side of the head, as he flew forward ONE appeared in front of him again in mid swing only for his fist to be caught.
AFO gripped the hero's fist, an unamused look was discernible as he spoke, "A little advice boy!" Using his free hand he quickly pressed it into the hero's face and released a burst of purple fire, "DON'T PRESS YOUR LUCK!" The attack was so large and bright it could be seen from the ground, ONE was engulfed by the purple flame, AFO felt his arms be grabbed before the hero emerged from the flames unharmed and brought his feet to the villains chest. "NEVER EVEN KNEW I HAD IT!" ONE exclaimed as with a powerful kick he sent AFO flying as well as removing both his arms from his body at the bicep. AFO's blood spews as he flies back, ONE drops the arms and flips to correct himself, he kicks off the air and meets the armless villain in an instant before pummeling him with fiery fists. "Waves Of Blaze!" He called out as he wailed on his burning punching bag across the sky, the sound of each punch echoed as with one final punch he sent AFO's burning body towards the ground where the fight started.
The pounding of ONE's attack and the fire made it difficult for AFO's regeneration quirk to keep up, he hasn't been in this much pain since his fight with All Might. No, this was far greater. "I can't keep taking hit's like this. If I don't do something, one of these punches may kill me. My battle with All Might didn't hurt this much and I can tell he's not even going all out. Good, I still have a gambit to play." He thought as his body hit the ground, cracking it, creating a large crater and causing it to rumble. The flames engulfing AFO burned out and his body was badly beaten as he laid motionless in the crater. ONE landed, seeing that Genos had laid waste to the LOV and each of them were down, the two nodded at each other. He approached the down AFO, he was clearly faking it and his arms were slowly regenerating.
"You wanna cut the crap now?! I know you're not unconscious." He clenched a fist and released a wave of power aura that shook the ground and sent chills down AFO's spine and the eminent feeling of death washed over him. "I won't kill you. But a monster like you is going to remember who and what beat you."
AFO chuckled in his crater, buying time for at least one of his hands to regenerate. "You won't kill me? That's very interesting coming from you, I'm fairly certain the bar in Tomura's place looks like a murder scene right now. Six. you murdered six people and that was only recently. What about back in Hosu? For a hero you have a copious amount of blood on your hands." One of his arms was restored allowing him to lift himself back up, he had a new aura of confidence that didn't go unnoticed by ONE
"This coming from the man who rips people's humanity to pieces? It's blatantly clear the Nomu are nothing more than "Things" to you. I've made my peace with having to kill them, because-" He raised his right hand and clenched his fist as he released a wave of power aura, "It just means I have to take it all out on you…The lives you've ruined, the people you've hurt, broken, manipulated and discarded without a single shred of decency or mercy." He assumed his stance, ready to attack, "I'm that ONE person in this society you can't do that to." He gave the villain a confident smile that scared him at his core, "This genetic failure… Is about to become your worst nightmare." The pressure he was emitting bared down on the villain who extended a hand as if clenching something, his smile unwavering.
A breeze passed over the battlefield as ONE speed blitzed his opponent and threw a punch intended to nail him. To his surprise, AFO disappeared in a flash with his punch missing. He sensed the villain behind him, "Interesting. No power at all and yet so powerful. Let me guess, you're one of those fools who believed that hard work and training would make up for your lack of a quirk? " AFO asked casually.
ONE turned, jumped and spin kicked him, AFO blocked the kick, quickly grabbed his leg before tossing him through several buildings. AFO watched as ONE dug himself out of the pile of metal, his left hand still out stretched. "You're living in a lost reality. I told my foolish younger brother years ago, "Reality is no longer playing by the rules." Surely you of all people understand that?" He questioned before firing another blast of air from his regenerated right hand.
ONE, sensing the people near him quickly throws a punch that creates a blast of air pressure, the two attacks collide. The air canons shake up the area even more before AFO's is overwhelmed by ONE's and is blasted back. ONE speed blitzed the villain, ready to throw a right punch, AFO threw a left to counter with his hand breaking against ONE's fist. "Is all you know how to do is play mind games when you can't physically overcome someone?" ONE asked as his right fist connected with AFO's gut, leaving an imprint and sending him flying.
AFO gripped his stomach, the pain coursing through him was intense. This hero was becoming more and more frustrating by the second. His body couldn't keep this up and ONE wouldn't let his guard down for anything. There wasn't a single weakness to exploit. He was angry, truly angry. Everything about this quirkless anomaly made no sense, his brain was firing on all cylinders but not a single idea to get out of this situation was feasible. Tomura and his group were down, he above all else needed to get away, his entire plan depended on it. Even if he could make an opening there was no way he and Tomura were escaping both ONE and Genos, not without Kurogiri. He was on his last legs, and then it hit him, he needed to make the full use of the quirks he has, that should injure ONE enough for him to plan ahead.
AFO hit the ground hard and ONE stared him down, "I don't have a quirk for you to steal, being born without power doesn't make you powerless." ONE chuckled, "You're not that special. Hell you're actually lucky, if my masters were here you'd be dead by now." He looked at the villain who was slow to get back up, "All Might did a number on you didn't he? I take it that the mask I smashed earlier was keeping you alive to an extent?"
AFO picked himself off the ground, hand outstretched as his body emitted a dark blue aura and his muscles enlarged, "You're not wrong. This body is far past its expiration date, but that doesn't mean it doesn't still have its uses." He clenched his fists, "I came across a very useful quirk recently. "Physical Snatch" It lets me steal the physical abilities of another like speed, endurance and power."
ONE then noted of the times his hand was outstretched as if grabbing something, "Strange, you've been siphoning off my speed and strength but I haven't felt it at all."
AFO disappeared in mid swing behind ONE, "That's the thrill! Just how bottomless is your power?!" He exclaimed as he threw a punch that went right through ONE's head.
"That's between me, myself and I!" ONE answered as he appeared above the villain in mid kick before decking him with a triple kick that sent him sprawling across the ground, AFO coughed up blood as he struggled to pick himself up, those kicks nearly broke his neck.
Genos watched this fight from a distance, AFO was on his last legs and this was almost over. He had beaten down the LOV, all of them were battered, broken and unconscious, this was too easy all things considered, thankfully he didn't kill a single one of them but numerous broken bones and traumatic brain damage would make up for it. His scanners picked up a disturbance and he saw a black mist appeared before him, "Master!" Kurogiri called out, his yellow eyes visible as he appeared on the battlefield.
AFO sensed the black mist, this was the out he was hoping for. "Kurogiri! Save Tomura and his allies!"
ONE rushed AFO, "Genos! Stop him!" He ordered before kicking AFO in the stomach, launching him into the air. ONE leaped into the air after the villain.
Genos was already on it, his scanners had spotted the villains neck brace and in a flash of speed he homed in on it. He was within gripping distance of the brace when a portal appeared before him and Genos was going so fast he could stop himself from passing through it, "Damn it!" He cursed the situation as he disappeared into the blackness.
Genos?" ONE said with concern as he sensed his partner disappear.
"You shouldn't let your guard down, ONE!" AFO declared as he extended a hand and black-red lightning cackled.
The hero could sense the attack coming at him was not only to kill, but powerful. It wasn't ideal as he wasn't high enough, but he had chose to use that technique. Forming his hands into the hand sign he used it. Roaring Tiger Smash!" He called as there was an eruption of dark-red electric energy, his blast of air with the head of a tiger collided with the energy. The dark-red electricity grew into a massive ball of energy, seemingly overwhelming the blast of air. There was the roar of a tiger before there was a massive explosion of air that completely overwhelmed AFO's attack, blasting him with a focused blast of compressed air that created a massive dome of air above the city. All who saw this from below were in awe as the two figures at the center of this clash fell from the sky. One fell gracefully while the other fell like a dead fish, ONE landed gently while AFO created a crater, with every bone in his body aching in pain.
He had trouble just clenching his fist's, his entire body was in agony and his regeneration quirk didn't ease the pain at all. The physical abilities he'd stolen from ONE were leaving him, and for the first time in his life he was feeling true inadequacy. A useless, quirkless nobody was humiliating him like this. This wasn't happening? Something like this shouldn't even be possible! Despite his physical snatch quirk, there was a limit to how much he could steal. His physical abilities were greater than they've ever been but ONE didn't even notice. This was his worst nightmare, someone truly powerful without a quirk he could steal. It was so upsetting he was on the verge of hyperventilating. Kurogiri had gotten Tomura and the others away but he was sure ONE would track them and arrest them. All the years he'd been walking this earth and it was a quirkless person that did him in? Not possible! But the indescribable pain coursing through him right now was very real.
He honestly preferred All Might right now, as he could at least emotionally manipulate and torment him before killing him, but he couldn't do that to ONE. Still, he had his pride! He was All For One! The Demon King that ruled Japan from the shadows. He picked himself up, the news chopper shined a light on them, he grit his teeth in anger as he combined Spring-like limbs, Multiplayer x4, Hypertrophy, Kinetic Booster and several strength enhancing quirks on top of him still having the strength and speed he's stolen from ONE.
His body emitted the same dark blue aura as his right arm formed into a giant monstrosity of quirks, ready to end this one way or another, "You're just a quirkless nobody who comes from who knows where!" He lunged at the hero, "You can't beat me! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHO I AM?!" He roared as he threw his massive arm at the hero.
ONE raised his left hand, stopping the fist instantly with ease, creating a shockwave and shocking AFO, "I don't give a damn who you are because it doesn't matter." His head was lowered as he spoke before rising up, "WHOEVER YOU ARE I WILL BEAT YOU!" He declared as he brought up his left foot and a high kick sent him upward. AFO spit up more blood from the hit as he flew higher and higher. ONE leaped into the air after him, fist cocked back ready to put him down for good.
"Will you just fall already!" AFO yelled.
"It wouldn't do any good! No matter how hard you push.. I WON'T be thrown to the ground, so give up, on trying to make ME give up!" He threw a punch that carried a mighty cannon of air with it that blasted AFO.
The blast of air bombarded AFO, launching him higher into the air. In a flash of speed ONE appeared above the rising villain and fired another powerful blast of air, trapping him in between the one that was already beating him. ONE continued to fire shockwaves of air until AFO was trapped in the center of intersecting blasts of air that pummeled him from all directions. "Roaring Sky Barrage!" The pain the villain was withstanding at this moment was indescribable as he felt a blow in his back, this was ONE driving his fist into the villain and back to the ground. AFO felt every bone in his body break as he plummeted back to earth, creating a massive creator that shook the ground where the pain overtook him and he lost consciousness. ONE stood triumphant as he raised a fist in the air and the news chopper shined down on him. The battle was won, and great evil had been defeated, and it was time to pick up the pieces.
Many heroes had already arrived on the scene and were already helping any injured people. When ONE joined in everything sped up significantly, surprisingly there were no casualties but many were injured and needed medical attention. When ONE arrived on the scene the clean up went smoothly and efficiently. He still couldn't get over how no one died in the attack, he was grateful nonetheless. He had gotten in touch with Genos, apparently Kurogiri had sent him to the training camp and and thanks to Vlad King's idiocy he was able to get away. Fortunately the villains he left behind were arrested and he was on his way back. AFO was arrested and loaded up into the villain transport and would be in Tartarus by tomorrow. Unfortunately the last Spy Fly that was on Dabi was destroyed, for the moment he's lost the LOV, but with AFO away he took that as a much greater victory.
To no one's surprise Bakugo didn't leave the battlefield and go to the police, he was a witness to ONE's fight with AFO. Thanks to the other heroes he was able to get the teen to the police and come back to help the civilians, as they walked the steps to the station the blonde refused to enter the building. "Stop being stubborn Bakugo, just go in there and let them know of the situation. I promise they'll help you."
The ash blonde looked at the hero with a look that was a mix of confusion and anger, "Deku.. Is that you?" He asked, completely serious.
"Excuse me?" He responded still in his hero voice.
As Bakugo looked at him he noted the similarities between the independent hero and the nerd he hated so much. They were around the same height, worked in the same city he grew up in, practiced martial arts just like Deku did, and was apparently quirkless. Deku being the only person he knew that was. It's also the fact that he's an Independent Hero, he can't use a quirk and has to rely on his physical abilities. A useless person without power saved him from the strongest villain he had ever seen. His brain was racking as when the boss villain called him the Quirkless Wonder, his mind instantly shifted to Deku. A quirkless loser who UA wouldn't even let take their entrance exam because it would be a waste of time. "If you're not who I think you are then take off the mask!" He demanded.
"He's putting the pieces together." ONE thought as he registered his words. He may not look it but Bakugo was a pretty perceptive person, which is why he adamantly avoided interacting with him as ONE, he was sure he'd figure out his identity. Still, he didn't want him to know. Their relationship was so screwed up at this point, forget being friends, any chance of being civil was out of the question thanks to Bakugo's personality. Until he changes, even a little, it's not possible. "You're welcome to think what you want. But I can't remove my mask for obvious reasons."
Bakugo clenched his fists, "Deku..I swear if that's you under that mask." He said in a low growl.
"I don't know who this "Deku" is, but I recommend you do some self reflection. After all, there was a reason the villains wanted to recruit you." He said before disappearing in a flash, going back to help the civilians and leaving the ash blonde shocked with gritted teeth.
In an undisclosed location the members of the League Of Villains lay sprawled unconscious on the were in a wide, dimly lit corridor, Each and every one of them were battered, beaten and burned with multiple broken bones. Kurogiri had brought them to the safest place he could think of, his was sure the master had been defeated by ONE and was determined to obey his final order. As he checked on the injured Tomura he heard the sound of footsteps around the corner from where they were. The ONE responsible for the steps came into view, she was wearing a red tank top and black yoga pants with red sneakers. Her ash colored hair was in a ponytail and a fringe covered her right eye, her left, visible one was green and she had a look of annoyance when her sight landed on the group. Last I checked I was done babysitting the man-child."
"I know this isn't ideal, but please help them Tachibana!" The black mist pleaded.
The woman looked down at the beaten villains, they had clearly seen better days. Just from a quick glance she could tell their injuries were serious. While normally she wouldn't do anything for these people unless she was being paid, she quickly understood why they were brought to her. Gale Breeze had called in and reported a while ago, he should be back soon, at least they got the upfront payment. She sighed, "So, that finally happened huh?"
"Yes, it seems the master was defeated."
"By ONE, right?"
"Yes."
Tachibana smiled, "Pick up that phone, because I FUCKING called it~!" She cheered as she lifted Toga and Compress. "Grab the others and follow me. And full disclosure, this is not your new hideout. You lot are resting up, then you're getting the fuck out! Am I clear?" She asked with a wave of Power Aura that shook Kurogiri to his core."
"Y-yes ma'am." He stuttered fearfully.
They collected the injured LOV and made their way through the corridor, as they went on their way Tachibana had a small smile as she thought about what led them here, "Beating AFO huh... Way to go Izuku. Good to know you haven't changed a bit…Wish I could say the same."
And that ends it for chapter 26. For those of you wondering why All Might didn't make an appearance in this fight it's honestly because I didn't want him to. Full disclosure one of my earlier ideas was for All Might to show up, tell ONE it's not his responsibility to end this, use United States Of Smash and suffer a mortal injury because ONE didn't step in. which would have lead to me leaving it up to you all if he lived or died. I decided against it largely because I had to keep the focus on ONE, this fight with AFO has been building for a while now and even as he goes to Tartarus he'll never stop living this nightmare. A quirkless person defeated him. Someone who thrives on taking the most powerful abilities and stacking them, and it meant nothing here. All Might's retirement is coming, the paradigm shift for a lot of characters depends on it, I just didn't want to make it here. Looking forward to writing chapter 27, a lot of action and interacts will go down in that chapter, building up to ONE having to address the media and answer a question everyone has had, especially since becoming an Independent Hero. Leave a review on the chapter if you liked it, shoot ma a PM if your interested as I like engaging with you all and hearing your thoughts and ideas. "Next time, Izuku investigates the ninja, UA comes under fire, The aftermath of the Kamino battle, Izuku hangs with family and friends, Boros and the Dark Matter Thieves arrive on earth.
