The villains might have been several yards away, but they didn't seem intimidated at all by Aizawa glaring at them.
"Eraserhead and Thirteen…The teacher's schedule the other day said that All Might was also supposed to be here." Kurogiri sounded disappointed. He was careful not to glance at Toru for an explanation.
"So, the trespassing the other day was the work of these scumbags?" Aizawa put two and two together with that.
Thanks a lot, Kurogiri…Now they'll be on higher alert in the future. Toru grit her teeth. Usually, Kurogiri was calmer and more composed than this. But there was the barest visible form of shaking in the smoke of his head. None of the other students likely caught it because they had never met Kurogiri but Toru noticed it. His eyes had narrowed considerably when he saw Aizawa too.
Is he scared of him? I suppose Aizawa can erase their means of escape so he is something to fear but if he made several portals with his arms and legs in different areas Aizawa couldn't look at all of them… Toru thought to herself.
Shigaraki however was in a much more apparent disappointed mood. The other 66 villains started flooding forward. "Where is he? I went to all the trouble of bringing this crowd too…All Might the symbol of peace…I can't believe he's not here." He didn't move from his spot on the fountain.
"I wonder if he'll come if we kill some kids?" Shigaraki realized taking a break momentarily from his little fit.
With those words Aizawa's elastic scarf's ends raised like tendrils as if to protect his students. His eyes glowed, knowing that in a moment he'd have to focus on taking all these villains down. He stood in front of the students as if his body could be a barrier.
Unlike Aizawa though none of the rest of the class moved right away.
For most of them this is their first experience with villains. It's normal for them to freeze up. Her classmates were frightened, Toru observed. She balled her hands up close together to mimic the fear the rest of the students had.
"No way…Villains? Here? I thought UA's security would have protected the students." Mina gasped. She was very visibly shaking but trying to put on a tough expression instead of collapsing.
Tsuyu nodded, hurriedly. "I've heard UA has a security sensor that's supposed to buzz in times of attack. If it hasn't, they likely have someone with a jamming quirk."
A decent theory. Toru nodded to herself. But unfortunately, all of UA's security systems rely on infrared alarms, to sense intruders body heat instead of just triggering when a door is open without permission or something. I assume things were made this way to try to protect against the rare teleportation type quirks, but it didn't particularly work out in UA's favor since I have a light bending quirk.
She had made short work of the security system before she had entered the building. All it took was concentrating for a brief second to disengage things and since nobody could see her facial expression it was hard for them to figure out if she was concentrating on something else.
Normal people like Tsuyu, or police officers after the attack would probably make the easy assumption that there was some sort of electrical based jamming quirk to stop the alarms from triggering and that out of the 66 villains Shigaraki brought one of them was responsible. But it was actually all me.
Toru couldn't help but feel a little confident as she looked at the stream of oncoming villains. She didn't recognize any of their faces, but one was sure to have an electricity quirk. They were rather common power-based quirks.
None of them know about me probably. Shigaraki just gathered a bunch of random villains for this attack and it would risk too much sharing the fact that there's a spy in UA. We don't want them to spill any league secrets when they get captured after all. That meant Toru was in just as much danger as her other classmates from these randos attacks. I should probably escape from the rest of my classmates and get to Shigaraki as soon as I have the chance so that I don't risk running into them.
Toru wasn't too worried. From what it looked like these villains looked to be intimidating but they were no big-name guys she knew about. Not only that but the way they walked wasn't unified nor did they look like they had anything aside from confidence. No experience or power was on their side. Their shoulders and expressions seemed relaxed even though Thirteen and Aizawa, both tough and dangerous heroes were here, meaning they weren't very smart either.
Aizawa looks like he's agile and has years of combat experience. Not only that but Thirteen can literally make black holes and kill. but they think victory is assured. They'll pose no trouble to me and I should be able to easily avoid them if I make a run for it. Toru had more experience than them and thus she could probably beat any of them.
Kaminari's hand was shaking. Jiro was trembling and trying to keep her eyes open to watch if Aizawa could save them. The classmates surrounding Toru's morale was low, all except Bakugo who was just glaring at the villains. Toru knew she should probably speak up, to increase her chances of not looking suspicious.
"Do you think there's a way to tell All Might we're in trouble? I mean…Aizawa and Thirteen aren't enough to take care of these guys are they?" Toru shook her hands, pretending to be terrified.
Her classmate's expressions looked grim. Mina bit her lip and did not make a sound.
"Thirteen start the evacuation. Try calling the school." Aizawa took a stance in front of Thirteen to protect them and the students. "It's possible someone with radio wave quirk is interfering…Kaminari try using your quirk to call the school."
Kaminari placed his hands on his earphones to attempt just that. "It's jammed! I can't get through!"
I wasn't aware Kaminari could use his quirk to communicate. I thought he just discharged electricity in a huge burst. That's something to note. Toru observed. There was still a lot to learn about her classmate's powers.
Aizawa didn't usually do close combat fights against numerous villains at once. This was a dangerous situation for him, but he couldn't stand by and do nothing so he jumped into action leaping into the air to jump down the stairs. He rushed towards the closest villain after the large jump, a guy with bullet fingers, some girl with weird hair and a minotaur shaped man.
The man with bullet fingers tried to shoot at him but Aizawa erased the quirk and grabbed them all with his scarves.
It's a little too far away for me to see the action clearly. Toru stood on her tiptoes. Her taller classmates like Shoji were blocking the view and she was in the back. Is now a good time to slip away or should I wait for Kurogiri to come out and split us up?
She experimented a little stepping slightly away from Shoji the person closest to her, Despite the man having multiple eyes all of them were glued to Aizawa's fight as if watching him unblinking would help cheer him on.
Wait….Could I just walk away right now? Toru realized. Shoji hadn't even acknowledged her presence. Nobody was. Which made this whole thing a lot easier.
I'll have to find a rock or something to hide my boots and gloves behind before I leave but I could probably chance it and start making my move past the sea of villains. Toru looked around for some rocks by the entrance to hide things behind. She easily spotted some nearby rubble and concrete in large slabs that would do nicely.
Aizawa punched villain after villain, grabbing one with his scarf and slamming it into the other, or slamming them into the ground. 25 or 30 villains didn't seem to have a chance against him as he canceled quirk after quirk of theirs. He was doing well, and the students finally elected to stop watching him and turn to focus their attention on Thirteen.
Thirteen gestured to the door, "Come! Let us escape!" They ordered. All of the students made a mad dash for the door besides Midoriya. Midoriya stood still watching Aizawa on the ground level fight. He was mumbling to himself comments on the fight. It wasn't the smartest move.
Toru didn't move much either, she mostly kept to the back of the pack since she could pass it off as just being slow. Darn. Midoriya is watching the ground level. He might notice me if I run past him now.
Midoriya was ruining her plans. How could she sneak off early to watch to see what Shigaraki did now that his plans had been wrecked by All Might not even being there if Midoriya was watching like it was some epic tv show?
I suppose I'll have to wait for Kurogiri's aid...Toru sighed and ran over to the rest of the classmates, passing Iida momentarily who had gone back for Midoriya. In the chaos she managed to shuffle herself even further to the back of the group. She was now next to Todoroki instead of Shoji.
From what I saw on the bus Todoroki's one of my least observant classmates. He's more in his own world than the world of making friends and paying attention to others. This worked out for Toru. She grinned.
Right on time, Kurogiri appeared in front of the students between them and the door. His face was huge and only his eyes were visible, he was mostly just a cloud of purple smoke. He was missing his usual snazzy suit.
"I won't let you escape." He said in a low voice.
This time it was Thirteen's job to protect the students. They took a stance in front of the terrified students like a mother hen. They stuck their arms out shielding everyone with their body.
"Nice to meet you. We are the league of villains." Instead of immediately separating the students, Kurogiri had to be his polite self. "It may have been presumptuous of us, but we have invited ourselves in to UA the school of heroes in order to have All Might, the symbol of peace, take his last breath."
Kurogiri…Did you have to be so polite? Toru wondered. And was it part of her Master's plan to let the school know they were being targeted by the league of villains? It must have been. Perhaps it sparked fear and paranoia? Or is this something Shigaraki ordered that I should report on?
She didn't really get the air of being a true villain, one with the fancy monologues and name recognition. She understood spywork and that was it.
All of the students were trembling from the name 'the League of villains.' She noticed a few of them, Midoriya in particularly stopped shaking once All Might's name was dropped though.
"I believe All Might should have been here. Has there been some kind of change?" Kurogiri asked politely as if he was talking to a customer service representative.
Toru shook her hands up and down lightly to imitate the signs of a scared student but to give Kurogiri the sign that yes, there was a change. She was shaking a sign language yes after all.
Kurogiri's eyes widened a little bit but he made no further indication that he had seen Toru. "Well, none of that matters. This is the part that I am supposed to play."
Was he given his orders by Master or Shigaraki though? Toru wondered. Who had told Kurogiri to tell the students the entire plan?
Thirteen opened their finger while he was talking to begin sucking up the warp gate. They must have realized the speech was the perfect time to attack. Before they could suck any part of Kurogiri up or do anything useful though Kirishima and Bakugo leaped forward into action. Thirteen could no longer attack without risking their lives as well and closed their finger.
There was an explosion from Bakugo's quirk making it difficult to see the area. Smoke and nitroglycerin filled the air. It was loud and nobody could hear well enough to notice the people by their side.
Thanks Bakugo. Toru smiled. That was all the opportunity Toru needed. She would have waited for Kurogiri to separate them but that didn't give her a good chance to hide her shoes and gloves. She made a quick dash towards where she remembered the slab of concrete being and removed her gloves and shoes, hiding them under them by touch. The smoke was finally beginning to clear, before it could totally be cleared Toru ran for it.
She jumped down from the top to the bottom of the stairs, similar to the way Aizawa had relied on getting to the villains quickly. Relying on the sound of Aizawa slamming villain after villain into the ground and whatever chaos was happening with Kurogiri, nobody noticed the sound of someone landing hard onto the ground.
There was a loud scream from behind Toru, and she looked up to the entryway where she had come from. A large half sphere encircled where her classmates were. Kurogiri must have swallowed them and was in the process of separating them.
Ah. As soon as the smoke dissipated Kurogiri must have noticed I was gone. He was paying attention to me more than my classmates were, after all. He must have decided to speed up his attack and teleport them immediately to back me up. Toru's mouth curled into a small, satisfied expression. Having allies that were reliable instead of untrained heroes was a good asset.
Toru weaved through the villains in the field and begin her run towards Shigaraki who was just standing there watching by the fountain, standing next to his Nomu. Toru was careful to dodge any stray villains Aizawa threw out of his way and any combat currently happening.
It's not about getting to Shigaraki's side faster than Aizawa. It's about getting there with 0 people detecting me. Toru had to make sure she was dodging and running as quietly as possible. And if she got hit even once someone would notice she was there so dodging was very powerful.
Aizawa has a slew of villains slowing him down. I have 0. Toru reminded herself.
Besides the field, Toru could only really see the ruins zone, storm zone and flood zone from where she was at. The ruins zone was filled with broken buildings and she had no sort of full view for it. The Storm Zone had a dome covering it obscuring her view. So it was really only the Flood zone she had to worry about someone spotting her from. And there was a large amount of villains in the water and a large ship so any classmates that might fall into there would be distracted.
There was a loud splashing noise from the flood zone. I assume that's one of my classmates falling in.
Toru felt a wave of relief that she wasn't there. I'm glad I elected to not go the teleportation route with Kurogiri. If he had accidentally moved me to the flood zone I'd have been discovered instantly. In water she just looked like a blank hole taking up space visibly. It always looked weird. She wasn't a water-based spy at all. Not only that but there was less light the deeper you went in water. If she needed to use her light bending it was difficult.
Aizawa was moving faster desperate to defeat the big enemy for his students, so Toru upped her pace too. She eventually arrived at the fountain plaza a little before Aizawa. She walked up the steps to Shigaraki although he didn't hear her.
She tapped him on the shoulder very briefly to give him a signal that she was here and to try not to throw any enemies towards her.
Shigaraki scratched his neck to signal back that he had felt the tap.
Shigaraki waited for a few seconds to pass after Toru had arrived before moving.
Aizawa was going around beating up villain after villain with his scarf, but Shigaraki had decided that enough was enough waiting around for Aizawa to get to him, he ran forward his arms out in front of him as if he was going to grab at Aizawa.
"24 seconds…20 seconds…17 seconds…" Shigaraki counted down ready to destroy Aizawa with just a touch.
He's got an erasure quirk! That won't do any good, Shigaraki! Toru knew she couldn't say anything. Her job was to mostly stand and watch. The Nomu standing there next to her didn't move. It just watched with a smile on it's weird beak.
Aizawa grunted and elbowed Shigaraki in the stomach before Shigaraki could hit him. Shigaraki grabbed Aizawa's elbow.
Toru was expecting that to not do anything but Aizawa's elbow started dissolving.
"It's hard to see but there's a moment when you're fighting and your hair falls into your eyes. That's when you finish an action. And the space in between those actions have gotten shorter and shorter. Don't push yourself, Eraser Head." Shigaraki said in a soft voice.
The skin on Aizawa's elbow flesh and his jacket dissolved. Aizawa jumped backwards and punched him again.
Huh. I didn't even notice Aizawa's scruffy hairstyle was a detriment to him. Good on Shigaraki! He must have been watching Aizawa's fight more closely than she had while he was waiting for Toru to get to the fountain.
She watched closer as Aizawa continued to fight, a few villains getting up and trying to attack him again.
Shigaraki got up too, a few punches not taking him out of commission. "That quirk isn't suited to fighting large groups, isn't it? This is too different from your usual job. What you're good at is surprise attacks and short fights. Even so you jumped right in to fight us at front, was that to protect your students?"
He's doing some good analysis on Aizawa. He must have seriously done his research to make Master proud. Although Shigaraki hadn't known he had been set up he was doing pretty good against people who weren't All Might.
Aizawa was breathing very heavily as he continued to fight. Shigaraki's analysis was clearly spot on.
"You're so cool! You're so cool!" Shigaraki cheered.
Uh-oh. Did his analysis and mocking stop? Perhaps there really was a time Shigaraki wanted to be a hero and now he's…fanboying a little? Shigaraki seemed completely overwhelmed with the joys of battle. His compliment was so genuine.
The Nomu started moving away from Toru, towards Aizawa. He hadn't noticed though.
"By the way hero…I'm not the last boss. He is." Shigaraki smiled behind his hand on his face.
The Nomu punched Aizawa in the face. Blood splattered to the ground.
Something prepared for All Might didn't give Aizawa a single chance to beat it after all.
It smashed and smashed Aizawa's battered body.
Toru was used to the sight of blood so she didn't grimace. She just watched as Aizawa was pounded into the ground. I doubt he's alive after this… She had seen many people die before and a lot less had taken them out.
Toru didn't look away though. She just kept staring. Watching this was her job. And if her job dictated watching a man die, then she'd do so and report like a miniature security camera.
I guess since All Might didn't appear Shigaraki really will kill the entire class. Toru realized between sounds of the Nomu smashing Aizawa. The rest of class 1-A might be doing all right against some random thugs. Well…Except Mineta. His quirk might not be useless during combat situations but he doesn't seem particularly smart enough to realize that. And fear seems to be effective against someone like him. He probably can't move. Midoriya probably wasn't doing great either with his bone destroying quirk.
The students left with Thirteen and Kurogiri by the entrance probably don't have much of a chance either. Toru knew how competent Kurogiri was. If he wished to kill them he would. And if he was just holding them captive Shigaraki would likely kill them in frustration because All Might hadn't shown up.
The battle seemed grim, entirely in Shigaraki's favor. She glanced around quickly to confirm that fact. Aizawa's legs had stopped moving. That was all she could see of him. Shigaraki was just grinning at the brutal display of the Nomu's power.
Then Toru spotted them. Distress didn't boil in her stomach but something she could only explain as annoyance entered her mind. Her expression was mimicking the expression Shigaraki had made when he realized All Might wasn't there after all. She hadn't even known her face could naturally contort that way.
Midoriya, Tsuyu and Mineta were in the water hiding and watching Aizawa's fight with Shigaraki. They were just there. Not in Shigaraki's plain sight but in hers.
So Mineta survived. That's too bad. She felt disappointed. Perhaps that her analysis had been wrong that Mineta would have a tough time. The league of villains sure is unlucky…No All Might and no dead Mineta. Toru held back a sigh.
"I'll tell you, Eraserhead. He's the anti-symbol of Peace. The bioengineered "Nomu." Shigaraki taunted, indicating that he believed Eraserhead was still alive despite his wounds. The Nomu sat on top of Aizawa.
Ah. This must be why Master believed Shigaraki would lose. His over confidence and tendency to monologue his plans, along with his desire to buy time when he grows bored. He's not telling the Nomu to kill Aizawa out right despite that being necessary. He's just playing with his food. Toru redid her initial analysis. Heroes were made of tougher stuff than she gave them credit for. Aizawa was likely not dead.
The battle would likely change the moment All Might did arrive, possibly at the end. And Shigaraki would be beaten in a matter of moments based on that although Shigaraki didn't know it. And her purpose was to witness that.
Toru made her hands into fake binoculars and squinted to be able to see slightly farther. She looked around as Shigaraki continued to taunt Aizawa and torture him. It looked like the doors of USJ might have opened farther off. Had Kurogiri let someone squeak by?
Iida perhaps. He's fast. She decided. It really is going to be a loss for Shigaraki. He also hadn't had Kurogiri split people up based on their weaknesses. He hadn't even tried to contact Toru before this plan to ask her about people's quirks so she could have told him not to drop Tsuyu in a water zone. It seemed like common sense not to drop the person who looked like a frog into water, but perhaps Kurogiri was also trying to make it harder for Shigaraki. Maybe he was also testing him based on his own orders.
The moment Mineta arrived I realized more and more wrong with his methods and this whole operation has quickly started unraveling into a mess. Toru thought. Bad luck.
"In the face of overwhelming power, you might as well be quirkless." Shigaraki confidently continued to taunt.
Aizawa tried to look at the Nomu but it crushed his arm.
Ah, and here's another problem for me to report. Even a quirkless person can still act intelligently. It's not about who has more power or not, it's about who acts smarter and faster. He thinks because he has more power than Aizawa it's an easy victory. That wasn't the way All for One taught. It was a disappointment.
The Nomu grabbed Aizawa's head like he was handling a baby doll and crushed it repeatedly into the ground.
Since this torture looked like it was going to take a while, Toru took a seat on the side of the fountain to wait for All Might.
Kurogiri appeared next to Shigaraki. "Tomura Shigaraki."
Ah using full names now are we? I wonder if that was also on Master's request? Toru decided, almost boredly resting her head on her hands. It was an interesting detail.
Shigaraki tilted his head not addressing this. "Kurogiri, did you kill thirteen?"
"I put Thirteen out of action, but there were students I was unable to disperse and one of them managed to run away." Kurogiri explained.
Hmm…So he kept Thirteen alive instead of killing them? And why wasn't he able to disperse some of the students? There was a lot of weird stuff happening that she couldn't quite pin down if it was something Kurogiri got as orders from All for One to further hinder Shigaraki's ability or if he was letting some students and Thirteen live himself, because of some other reason.
The tone of his voice deflecting and changing words made it sound like it was on him though that it was something he was trying to hide. Shigaraki had ordered Kurogiri to kill Thirteen so there was no reason for Kurogiri to purposefully mess things up on All for One's orders.
Is there a chance Kurogiri could betray us? Or is there some sort of personal feeling involved? And why had he chosen to appear moments before Shigaraki would probably tire of Aizawa and end him?
"Huh?" Shigaraki stopped torturing Aizawa for a moment and started furiously scratching at his neck.
Toru noticed Kurogiri was making specific movements of his head to not look at Aizawa and to watch Shigaraki.
Oh…? Could there be a connection between the two of them? Toru wondered. That might be jumping to conclusions, but she had experience observing even the smallest change in someone's action. And Kurogiri wasn't acting like his normal self. This is bad…Now that I think about it I don't actually know that much about Kurogiri's background and reason for joining the league having known him most of my life. She didn't know if Kurogiri was actively working against the league but based on his small subtle sabotages and gestures he might be trying to make sure nothing bad happened to Aizawa's class.
Why else would he throw a frog into water? Kurogiri isn't that stupid….She just hoped All for One had purposefully ordered him to mess with Shigaraki's plan to see his reaction to mistakes. For Kurogiri's sake…All for One didn't take kindly to traitors.
Perhaps Shigaraki had realized this too. "Kurogiri…You…You if you weren't a warp gate, I would have crushed you!" He yelled amidst the scratching.
Toru decided against her better judgement to get up from her spot on the fountain and walk over to Shigaraki. She tapped him gently on the shoulder to try to shock him out of his potential melt down.
Shigaraki stopped scratching his arms going limp to his side. The gesture seemed to work.
"We can't win against a dozen pros. It's game over." Shigaraki's voice had completely given up
Toru sat on the side of the fountain. It currently wasn't on. He's way too quick to quit.
"Man, it's game over this time. Let's just go home." Shigaraki decided glancing at Kurogiri.
Mineta in the water looked happy at this.
At least kill a few students before you give up. Like that one there. I'm sure hero society wouldn't miss him. Toru couldn't help but think the students had gotten off too easily. Specifically, Mineta. The brunt of the injuries was shouldered by Thirteen and Aizawa it seemed. Midoriya's finger looked broken but that was it. The students were doing fine. This wouldn't shake up hero society like Shigaraki wanted.
Mineta took this joyous opportunity to celebrate Shigaraki leaving by groping Tsuyu's breast. Since they were hiding from murderous villains Tsuyu couldn't say a single thing. Tsuyu's eyes went blank in horror.
Disgust creeped into Toru's stomach as she witnessed this. How awful. Taking the opportunity to grope someone during a villain attack? It was disgusting. It took everything in her to not stand up and march over to Shigaraki to pull his arm over into the direction of Mineta so he would notice him and create one casualty before they left. There really was nothing in Toru telling her that Mineta was redeeming enough to live.
She managed to calm herself down though and continue sitting. Tools don't have personal grudges. Just watch and observe. She did feel a lot more pity for Tsuyu in this moment though than any of the other heroes who were probably getting traumatized from this attack.
Tsuyu pushed Mineta's head into the water and off her breast. There was the sound of gurgling and struggling as Mineta started drowning from the water. The noise though caught Shigaraki's attention.
"Oh yeah…Before we leave let's smash some of his pride as the symbol of peace!" And with that Shigaraki moved forward with his hand to destroy someone, and unfortunately Tsuyu was in that path.
No! Toru wanted to get up and move forward If you're going to kill anyone kill Mineta! She wanted to yell. She wished she could get up and move Shigaraki's hand away to Mineta's face instead. But she wasn't allowed to.
So instead she did something she wasn't supposed to do. She closed her eyes for one brief moment so she wouldn't see Tsuyu's final moments, someone she greatly pitied in this moment. Shigaraki made the right choice intellectually…Tsuyu's death would effect the world more than Mineta's. Not enough people care about Mineta to mourn. He could probably see how dislikable he is just from his face alone or something.
There was no sound of screaming. There was only silence for a brief moment.
"Darn…Nothing happened. You really are cool, Eraserhead." Shigaraki said annoyed.
Toru opened her eyes. Shigaraki's hand was on Tsuyu's face, her eyes wide and her mouth agape in horror, but Aizawa's head had lifted up briefly to stare angrily at Shigaraki, erasing his quirk before the damage could be done. His eyes were open as hard as possible knowing his student's life depended on it.
You live another minute, Tsuyu. Good for you. Toru's mind was the only place she would allow herself to have a sliver of relief. She gave credit where credit was due though. Eraserhead was much stronger than she had given him credit for. And she was sure a normal human would describe it as 'cool'.
The Nomu smashed Eraserhead's head into the ground canceling the erasure. Midoriya acted faster than she could have ever predicted. Like a flash of light he moved through the air and launched his fist forward to punch Shigaraki as hard as possible. The air itself moved from the intense pressure.
All of the lights broke. A huge wave splashed away from them in the flood zone due to the pressure. Clouds of dirt rose from the punch. Toru fell backwards into the fountain but due to the clouds of dirt she was easily able to climb out before anyone had seen her. His…Full power is that strong? She had seriously underestimated Midoriya. How was this possible? Did Shigaraki…Just die?
Once the cloud of dirt had fallen to the ground Toru could see once again. The Nomu had moved in front of Shigaraki and taken the entire punch, not a scratch on it.
Midoriya looked up at it, his eyes wide. Had he realized he was facing an opponent on All Might's level?
Shigaraki was behind the Nomu out of Toru's sight. But his hand seemed to be off of Tsuyu's head since she could see Tsuyu. "You move well. Your smash is familiar…Are you a follower of All Might's? Oh well I'm done with you…"
From what I've seen of Midoriya he's a huge All Might fanboy so that checks out. Toru nodded. She supposed that made him Shigaraki's big time target now.
The Nomu now charged forward to destroy Midoriya. Tsuyu shot out her tongue to grab him but Shigaraki also moved towards her, this time two hands extended one for Mineta and one for Tsuyu.
The double doors from the entrance smashed open just before he could kill Mineta. A cloud of smoke appearing right near them. The sound of a familiar voice was loud enough for even them to hear. "It's fine now. Why? Because I am here." It was All Might. He had finally arrived.
Shigaraki's lost now. This battle is the one Master wanted me to witness. Toru realized.
Shigaraki had stopped focusing on the students. He was more optimistic than Toru. "Ah, we're getting a continue… I've been waiting hero. You trash of society."
The villains who had recovered from Aizawa were staring in awe at All Might. All Might rushed forward and beat them all, immediately appearing near Aizawa.
This is my first time seeing him in action in person too. Toru thought. She had seen many videos but had never been on scene for any of All Might's fights. Every time she had been sent to observe All Might she had gotten to see the end of his rescues, but not his actual method of carrying them out. He's faster than I expected.
All Might picked up Aizawa and then jumped to rescue Tsuyu, Midoriya and Mineta holding them all under his arms.
"Go to the entrance. I'm leaving Aizawa to you. Hurry!" All Might told them.
The rush of All Might charging past had made Shigaraki's hand he carried on his face at all times to fall off. He was looking for it desperately.
"It's no good…I'm so sorry, Father…" Shigaraki cried and grabbed the hand placing it back on his face, obscuring his vision. He seemed to calm down from that hand. "He hit me as he was saving them. It's the violence of a government official. He's fast, as expected I can't follow him with my eyes. But he's not as fast as I thought he'd be. I guess it's true after all that he's gotten weaker..."
Was that the information that Shigaraki had been given? That All Might was growing weaker? Toru decided to watch closely to see if that was true.
You'd have an easier time following him with your eyes if you didn't have a hand on your face. Toru decided to make a note of that for All for One too.
Midoriya grabbed Aizawa and put him over his back while Mineta held his legs pathetically.
"Be careful! He took One-He took a punch that didn't break my arm but didn't even twitch." Midoriya gestured at the Nomu.
"Young Midoriya! It's fine!" All Might made a peace sign near his eyes and gestured for Midoriya to leave.
I should start making that sign too. Maybe people will say I'm an All Might fan or something. Toru noted for her disguise.
All Might waited for the kids and Aizawa to start leaving. When they left, he charged forward with a Carolina Smash attack but the Nomu moved in front of Shigaraki to protect him.
Shigaraki just watched as All Might punched repeatedly trying the Nomu's chest and then face. All Might jumped back.
"It didn't work on his face either?" All Might started punching again. The air and pressure of the punches were affecting even Toru now and she elected to start following Midoriya towards the stairs to be in a better position away from the fight.
"It doesn't work because of shock absorption." Shigaraki explained, giving away the Nomu's powers. "In order to cause damage to the Nomu it would be more effective to slowly gouge out it's flesh." It was almost like a suggestion.
Giving away the way to let your enemy beat you is foolish. Toru frowned taking her new seat on the bottom staircase. All the other villains in the way had completely given up once All Might arrived.
"Thanks for telling me all that. If that's true then it's easier for me—" All Might grappled the Nomu and threw it backwards.
"Hey…" Shigaraki complained not realizing his monologue would be used against him.
Kurogiri had moved quickly though placing a warp gate at the point of impacting and allowing the Nomu to dig it's fingers into All Might's stomach from behind, splitting him into half.
"Were you trying to keep him from moving by sticking him in concrete? That won't work, because the Nomu is as strong as you." Shigaraki mocked further giving his enemy advice.
Kurogiri stood near All Might watching patiently. It seemed now that Aizawa was a safe distance away Kurogiri was actually fighting.
"This is good, Kurogiri." Shigaraki seemed to have forgiven him, "It's an unexpected opportunity."
All Might let go and tried to free himself. "This is your first offense? You better prepare yourself!" He yelled.
Shigaraki scratched his neck.
"I do not want blood and guts flowing around inside of me. But I would be happy to take in someone as great as you, All Might." Kurogiri said and started pulling All Might deeper inside him. "You are too fast to see with the human eye. Restraining you is the Nomu's job. And then when you are halfway inside of me, I close the gate tearing you apart." Kurogiri revealed Shigaraki's master plan.
Oooh good ideas. How's All Might going to get out of this one? Toru wondered watching patiently.
All Might did not get out of Kurogiri himself. Instead Midoriya handed Aizawa off to Tsuyu and started charging at Kurogiri hoping to distract him.
So Midoriya's the type to put himself in danger for All Might, despite All Might telling him to leave? Toru watched.
"How foolish." Kurogiri created a warp gate just for him but Bakugo jumped forward before Midoriya could be taken away. He blasted at Kurogiri again obscuring some of Toru's vision. She heard Bakugo yell 'move nerd!'
Ah. I see. Shigaraki didn't take into account the students. And that's why he'll lose. Because a symbol of peace sparks others to action. Toru finally realized.
Bakugo grabbed Kurogiri's collar pulling him down so he couldn't use his warp gate quirk.
Todoroki then ran into the fray and froze the ground and the Nomu along with it. Toru was glad she had moved to the stairs already to watch.
All Might freed himself leaping out of the Nomu's grip.
Kirishima also joined the fray trying to hit Shigaraki who easily jumped out of the way.
Toru heard something from above her as Tsuyu said "Please help us carry Mr. Aizawa." Waving to who she assumed to be one of the other students. Glancing up she confirmed that fact seeing Ochako rush over to help.
Toru carefully moved closer to the trees so nobody would trip on her on the stairs. She continued to watch to see what Shigaraki would do.
"Kurogiri, our entrance and exit has been overcome. We're in a pinch." Shigaraki frowned.
Bakugo laughed holding Kurogiri's metal collar. He lectured Kurogiri on how he had figured out that Kurogiri had a physical body but that didn't matter too much. Toru knew the villains had essential lost.
I wonder how they'll get out of this one. Will Shigaraki dissolve Bakugo and make his escape? Toru wondered.
"In addition to capturing Kurogiri, They're all uninjured…Kids these days are amazing." Shigaraki continued to speak like he was a fanboy. "They make the league of villains look bad." He turned his head. "Nomu."
The Nomu finally moved and pulled itself out of Kurogiri and shook off Todoroki's ice. He discarded his own arm and leg and regrew it.
"His quirk wasn't shock absorption?" All Might sounded surprised.
"I didn't say that was all he had." Shigaraki smiled, giving away more of his cards. "He also has super regeneration. He's been modified to take you at 100%. He's a super-efficient human sandbag."
All Might scowled and held the wound on his stomach.
"First we need to get our gate back, go Nomu." Shigaraki ordered. The Nomu flew at Bakugo but All Might must have been faster because Bakugo was thrown towards Midoriya's group and a cloud of smoke was around the place of impact.
All Might was coughing and looking quite beat up after the smoke dissipated. "Do you not know how to hold back?" He asked.
"It was to protect my comrades." Shigaraki replied. "Earlier that plain looking one—" He pointed to Midoriya, "he punched me with everything he had. Violence for the sake of others makes it admirable, doesn't it, hero?"
Toru frowned. He's getting too into philosophy; he's revealing too much. She was specifically worried about the fact that he had mentioned comrades as in multiple. He was referencing both her and Kurogiri since he didn't know where Toru was. She hoped the heroes assumed he meant the 66 other villains he had brought instead of the fact that there were multiple people here that Shigaraki considered comrades.
All Might glared.
"You know what, All Might? I'm angry." Shigaraki continued. "I'm angry at the world that categorizes the same violent acts as heroic or villainous, deciding what's good and what's bad. Symbol of Peace? Ha. You're just a device to repress violence. Violence only breeds violence! The world will know this once we kill you!"
Toru wished she could tune Shigaraki out. I have to stay till the end though. But when he gets all philosophical like this he's obviously going to lose.
"That's preposterous." All Might answered. "The eyes of white-collar criminals like you burn silently. You just want to enjoy this yourself, you liar!"
Shigaraki was smiling.
Todoroki looked like he was confident. "It's three against five."
"If we back up All Might we can win this." Kirishima added.
All Might walked closer up to the Nomu. "NO." He ordered. "Run away."
The students didn't look like they wanted to, and Toru heard slews of complaints from Todoroki.
"Nomu, Kurogiri, get him. I'll deal with the children." Shigaraki said while they were arguing, realizing he probably couldn't take All Might. "Now let's clear this and go home." Shigaraki sounded like he actually believed they could do it and ran forward.
All Might wouldn't let him have his victory though. It was as if he was hiding secret power and he seemed to get stronger, punching the Nomu with enough force to send Shigaraki flying.
Toru grabbed onto a tree keeping from falling to another area. I bet I can see this from the top of the area though. I should get to the other students and get safe. Being so close to the fight meant she would risk injuries since All Might seemed to do more damage to the surrounding area than she had predicted.
She ran for it not looking behind her but hearing the slew of several punches. She assumed All Might was taking the Nomu out finally by 'going beyond 100%' or something silly like that.
It was hard to climb the staircase with all of All Might's force but she managed it. She had gotten the information she needed after all that All Might could go beyond 100% and Shigaraki hadn't even considered it.
By the time Toru had gotten halfway up the stairs the battle was over. A large crashing noise came from All Might hitting the Nomu into the ceiling and he was blasted away.
Toru stopped running and looked behind her to see what Shigaraki would do now that he had thoroughly been beaten.
"He used a cheat? I can't believe he did that to my Nomu…" Shigaraki yelled. The clouds of smoke made it difficult to see. "What's going on? Did that guy lie to me? He's no longer weaker at all!"
All Might seemed to be standing in the smoke making it very hard to see him. "What's wrong? You said you'd clear this if you could. Come and get me." He taunted.
Shigaraki started shivering, he moved backwards and although he was very small looking to where Toru was standing, he looked visibly frightened.
"Well? What's wrong?" All Might mocked
Shigaraki started scratching his neck to deal with the fear. "If only I had another Nomu! That guy would be able to go up against him without thinking of anything!"
"Tomura Shigaraki!" Kurogiri tried to calm him down. "Please calm down." He then said something else, information by the looks of it under a whisper. Unfortunately, Toru couldn't make it out.
Shigaraki however seemed to be sparked into actions. Villains were getting up to attack Bakugo, Kirishima and Todoroki. And Shigaraki had stopped scratching.
"The last boss is in front of us. We have to do something." Toru wasn't sure if Shigaraki wouldn't give up again in the next few seconds, but he looked like he was going to act now.
Shigaraki and Kurogiri both charged at All Might but All Might didn't raise his hands. Instead Midoriya jumped forward faster than the eye could see, but both of his legs broke in the process.
He powered up his punch clearly aiming for Kurogiri's collar. Shigaraki shot his hand forward to touch Midoriya before then. His hand was shot by a gun moments before touching Midoriya's face.
Toru looked up. The other heroes had arrived.
Out of time. I guess they'll escape now. She noticed Snipe pointing his gun towards another zone, it looked to be the mountain one. He fired it off and Toru wasn't exactly sure what he was hitting.
"Sorry that we're late everyone!" Principal Nezu said loud enough for all to hear. "I gathered all those who were immediately available."
Heroes swarmed in from the school. Snipe, Ectoplasm, Cementoss, Midnight, Present Mic, Power Loader and Vlad king. Iida was also with them, leading the fray.
"I, Tenya Iida, Class 1-A representative have now returned."
Present Mic walked up and screamed loud enough for all the villains on the ground level to be hurt and damaged. Since Toru was on the stairs which Tsuyu was still climbing with the injured Aizawa she wasn't what Present Mic was targeting but it still hurt mildly. Toru clamped her hands over her ears and bit her tongue so she wouldn't scream.
Ectoplasm breathed out other Ectoplasms to fight the remaining villains and Shigaraki.
"Split up and protect the students." Nezu ordered and the heroes quickly split up.
"Aww…It's over now…Shall we go home and try again later, Kurogiri?" Shigaraki asked before he was shot several more times by Snipe. Shigaraki fell to the ground and screamed.
Kurogiri covered him and swallowed Shigaraki up so that they would disappear before Snipe further hurt both of them.
Thirteen tried to vacuum them up before they got away but Kurogiri managed to escape quicker than Thirteen could vacuum.
And the villains disappeared. Shigaraki had lost.
Toru had completed her job of watching Shigaraki's failure. It's a good thing that I decided to leave once All Might arrived. Not only would All Might's attacks have hit me eventually if I remained by Shigaraki's side but Present Mic's and Thirteens attacks would have gotten me too. And since they can't see me Thirteen might have sucked me up entirely and ended my life.
The attack on USJ was over. The heroes like Vlad King, Nezu and Midnight beckoned the students out the wide door ready to help any that would collapse from exhaustion. Cementoss put a cement wall around All Might for some reason. A lot of the other heroes were looking around for the other students.
I should probably hide in one of the zones so that they can find me and 'rescue me'. Toru decided turning around to wait in the landslide zone. Should I retrieve my boots and gloves? Would it look too suspicious if I didn't have them?
There were a lot of Ectoplasm clones walking around. I better not risk it…I'll just say as soon as Kurogiri appeared I got scared and decided my chances of survival increased if I ditched them. Toru decided.
With that decided she headed over to the landslide zone to hide. All that she really needed to do was act distressed and the heroes would probably believe her.
USJ's attack was over though. All that was left was observing the change this attack had made on the students and UA.
This was my least favorite chapter to write because it was a lot of just watching the anime and copying lines that happened there and trying to recap. The USJ attack was a very big thing but I didn't feel confident enough to write "and then USJ happened" or something even though you all know what happened there because it was season 1's finale in the anime. I felt like that would be a hole in the story if I just skipped it.
Anyway for those who haven't read the manga, this story will contain manga spoilers, specifically regarding Kurogiri's backstory.
I pity Tsuyu and she deserved better in USJ. I don't mind the fact that Shigaraki tried to kill her. I do mind that she had to be groped though.