Death

by tmb1112

Death is a Quirk that can only kill. A perfect Quirk for a villain, but what if the boy who manifested that power just wanted to be a hero? Enrolling in U.A. might not be enough when all your Quirk can do is kill people. Follow Zach Sazaki from his first day in Class A on a story that spans years, as he learns to be a hero, finds out more about his Quirk, and too much to summarize!

246. Chapter 246

Disclaimer: I don't own Boku no Hero Academia... I just write really long books based on it and call them chapters. XD Enjoy!

Chapter 246:

Twenty-Two Months Ago…

"What do you mean, 'they quit?!'" Skeptic yelled at the projector screen in front of the board table where Trumpet was speaking to them from. "Your recruiters were the ones supposed to be getting more people-"

"It's the party ideology," Trumpet countered his comrade in the Meta Liberation Army. "They're all reading into Lifebringer's report too much. If he didn't write that before the Sports Festival Invasion-"

"His report is no more than a re-hash of our own ideals!" Skeptic yelled back, darting a look to the corner of his vision and the man sitting at the end of the table. Re-Destro's spiky orange hair was dipped forward as he had his chin just behind his folded hands. His eyes were dark and shadowed more by those spikes that looked to be losing some of their spikiness, and his hairline was retreating farther back than ever. Skeptic snapped his gaze back straight at the projector in front of him instead of their boss whose expression was dark and barely masking the rage in it that his executives could see plainly.

Curious leaned back in her chair on Re-Destro's left side though after glancing back towards the Meta Liberation Army's Grand Commander. The woman with pale blue skin and lilac-colored hair hummed to herself while glancing towards the window of this skyscraper and out over Deika City. Trumpet continued speaking once Skeptic's outburst had stopped. "The Hearts And Mind Party weakens as our hidden ideals become more mainstream. Those recruiters who quit were some of the most dedicated, but they simply do not believe the Meta Liberation Army is necessary to accomplish our goals any longer. Instead, they wish to flock to Lifebringer…"

"This kid becomes more and more interesting every day," Curious remarked idly while looking out the window behind her. She grinned big and put a pen up to the corner of her smirking lips. "If I could get an interview with him-"

Smack! CRASH!

Re-Destro's left arm was extended out and his face snapped with rage for an instant. His arm had enlarged eight times its size and was pitch black as his head slowly turned and his eyes focused on it. He looked past the end of his arm and at the wall that both Skeptic and Trumpet were staring at with huge eyes. "Curious," Re-Destro whispered in pain. His head pulled back at the sight of the woman's broken body flying through the sky past the broken window next to his table. Her corpse fell from the sky over Deika. Yotsubashi Rikiya's left arm shrank slowly and his left hand pulled back to his wide forehead.

Trumpet had a bead of sweat rolling down the side of his face as he looked back to their Grand Commander. In the corner of the room near the door, Geten stared towards Re-Destro and relaxed from the tense position he had gotten into when Curious was speaking. He had his blue hood up and just glared out from under it towards the projector screen and Trumpet's expression that reverted to normal as he refaced their leader. "That was foolish," Re-Destro said in a low voice, his left hand wiping down over his face then dropping to the table in a fist. He looked angry still but more pissed off at himself for what he just did unleashing some of his Stress in what was a very stressful moment for him. "Lifebringer is not the future of the Meta Liberation Army. No."

"Why don't they see it?" Rikiya's fists curled harder over his table. "More and more of them. From every sector of our network, they don't understand that this is not something that can be done, without revolution! Revolution is necessary. Destro's unfinished work," Yotsubashi glared back towards the shattered window. Skeptic whipped out his laptop and opened it in his arms. Re-Destro looked to his subordinate who was quickly attempting damage control over what he just did. Curious is- was, very popular. Trumpet can Incite the men to arms, but his Quirk works temporarily. It is not something that can just keep everyone loyal. How? How is he getting so much press? So much popularity?! This was fringe thinking, only a year ago!

"If, I could speak frankly," Trumpet began. Re-Destro lifted his gaze and nodded seriously, hiding the regret on his face that his comrade felt such a need to tiptoe around him after what he just saw. Trumpet was not even in the same building but Re-Destro could hear the apprehensiveness in that question. He was still appreciative that Trumpet was going to say what he was about to say though, considering it sounded like something he was going to dislike. Skeptic himself gave a harsher glare towards the screen as he was the one in Re-Destro's arm reach if Trumpet angered their leader any more right here. He got back to his computer quickly though and continued sending messages out around to different agents around Deika who could deal with the Curious situation.

"The Army we had, was really a collection of people who believed in an ideal. Destro's ideal," Trumpet specified. He paused, but then he added, "But a similar ideal to Lifebringer's. That first year student at U.A. A hero who is trying to stay in the system even though it has oppressed him," Trumpet lifted up his right palm and shrugged his shoulders up to show that he understood and was checking to see if Re-Destro also understood where people were coming from by believing in Lifebringer. "He's a sign to so many people who he doesn't even know about. He was a symbol to our followers long before he was to anyone else. Just by escaping from the League of Villains alone and returning to hero society alone, even after that trial condemning him, he showed us that there were different ways besides just abandoning this society altogether."

Showed "us?" Skeptic did not let what he just noticed show on his face. He stared seriously back towards the screen and one of their top members who he watched carefully. Is the disillusionment spreading this far?

"He spread his own ideology anonymously," Trumpet said in a low voice. "My followers believe that he's doing it himself. That he's pushing the change we want to see: more freedom to use our Quirks. He's pushing it from inside, without the revolution. It won't work! But," Trumpet assured that he was not part of this following that considered Lifebringer's way a possibility. He hesitated after saying 'but' though, and he glanced away before saying in a lower voice, "But they believe it will. And as long as they see the non-violent option there, a way to change things without risking their lives… I don't see our popularity rising. Our power, will only shrink more…"

"As long as his popularity continues to rise," Re-Destro finished in a dark voice. His eyes rose to the screen then shifted towards Skeptic who looked back with wider eyes at what Re-Destro sounded to be suggesting. "We cannot allow Lifebringer to get in the way of our plans. I once believed that he could be a useful ally, if we could reach him. That time is over. If he were to fall though," Re-Destro trailed off while lifting his head more and nodding to himself as he came up with this new strategy on the spot.

Skeptic grinned himself too and turned in understanding towards his leader. "Then Lifebringer would be the martyr for our cause. Renewed in popularity, to a point that those following would not accept anything but immediate change!"

"I, could use Lifebringer's name, after the deed is done," Trumpet said. He nodded in agreement as well and then said quicker and with a smile forming on his face again, "It would be exactly what we need to make the Hearts And Mind Party stronger again- even stronger than ever!"

"His internship with Bikergang would have been a great opportunity. Taking him out right in the middle of a fight against those League hoodlums," Skeptic said in some disappointment that they had missed a great chance.

"There will be other internships," Re-Destro said with a low chuckle. His fists curled over his table but more in determination now. "Skeptic. Come up with a story about Curious that could explain away her, unfortunate demise. Trumpet, maintain the party as powerful as you can until we get our next chance. I will personally form the team to take down Lifebringer." Yotsubashi stood up as he said it. "I need to make sure of their loyalty to myself and the Meta Liberation Army above all else. We can still use him!" Thousands of our forces who have abandoned the Army believe that we were more a cult following than a real "army." How many of those who remain can I trust? I am surrounded by those who want to look to Lifebringer- Not for long. Soon, I will eliminate him and return the strength of the MLA that I spent my life accumulating! I will not let it die so easily.

---

Sixteen Months Ago…

Curious' death was the beginning of the end for Re-Destro and the Meta Liberation Army. At the time their forces were already beginning to weaken, but the sight of Curious' body being thrown from the top of Detnerat's building was too hard for even Skeptic to cover up. Word spread in Deika, and people abandoned the MLA in large numbers over the next month before Re-Destro could even attempt to carry out an assassination. Though, it was not until the Lifebringer Incident that the last nail was hammered into the MLA's coffin.

Instead of being a martyr for the MLA's ideal that they could abuse, Lifebringer became a villain again. He became a villain and yet his popularity did not sink. No public figures could abuse his name though as publicly supporting Lifebringer was not popular as much as support for him was widely held across the nation. His name became synonymous with the demise of the League of Villains. The missing League who had not made a noise since the Lifebringer Incident. His popularity was finally back on the rise, but because of the slow build up back into good graces of the public eye, Trumpet was unable to utilize his disappearance immediately as was initially planned by the MLA. Instead, the MLA just lost more and more power as Lifebringer leaving the country did nothing to weaken the ideals he had left behind in his report that became more and more popular as villain rates continued to rise.

In a dimly lit grand hall of a mansion with an expensive electricity bill, Rikiya sat at the head of a table along with several of his closest supporters. His followers who he had gotten closer to because he needed to figure out who could be a good assassin for Lifebringer were sitting around him along with Skeptic who sat at his right side. "Some of those who left went and committed stupid crimes and got themselves caught. I don't know if they joined with any of the groups abusing the rise in villain incidents, but we need to make sure they stay quiet in prison about the MLA," Genial said in a low voice to those around her. The short woman with cropped red hair only two inches long over her head looked past Skeptic to her left at the head of the table and Re-Destro. "We have other members still loyal in the prisons who could take care of them."

"Very well," Re-Destro said. His voice was low and his eyes focused ahead of him down the table without looking towards his subordinate when she was speaking to him.

Near the other end of the table as their Grand Commander, Fuzumari Chiida sat back in his chair and then continued eating the food brought out for them at this meeting. Ever since the Hearts And Mind Party fell out of favor, we've done nothing but lose. The Army of Death are so powerful. They impact the hearts and minds of people all over far better than we can. What kind of power do we have compared to Lifebringer's now? Damn, and I actually wanted to kill him at one point for taking people's attentions away from us. What was I thinking?

"The mayoral election in Deika is coming up. Do we have anyone to keep in charge? Or…"

"With that new legislation already tabled in the Diet, what happens if they actually pass a law suggesting a weakening of Quirk laws?"

"That wouldn't be, necessarily a bad thing-"

"It would! They will never give us true freedom, and this legislation will only fool more people into believing that they are truly free! It is all an act!"

"I've heard, they're even nicknaming the proposed legislation, Lifebringer's… sorry, sir."

A boy who did not even know we existed. Re-Destro's hairline was pushed even farther back now over his forehead. He was balding in his increased Stress, though at least his body was looking larger and more fit than ever. His expression was dark and his teeth grinding as he heard the name of that hero who knew nothing of him. He does not even know me, and yet he has defeated me time and time again. They call it Lifebringer's ideal now. Like they don't even remember Destro proposed it first!

My people once looked to him as a sign that we were right. Lifebringer's reckless way of acting for good even without being a hero. Using his Quirk despite this society telling him he couldn't. No license, yet beneficial use of his Quirk! It was perfect. It wasn't until I read that school report did I understand how Lifebringer was my mortal enemy. Now look at us. As that boy wrote about society changing gradually, and how it needed to change- he didn't have an army then! No politicians. No undercover heroes. No media under his control, like I had carefully put together over years and decades. And yet, Sazaki changed public opinion. And my massive "army" as I once believed it was, fell apart as my "soldiers" revealed themselves to be nothing like a real army. Not like he has now. And he doesn't even hide it! How?! How can he get away with an army in this world, public to all society?!

Re-Destro lifted his right and left hands to his temples and rubbed them. The stress showed clearly on his face as his people discussed various things that all surrounded the existence of one person in particular. Without ever meeting me, he is defeating me. Destroying everything I have built. Brick by brick. Until nothing will remain of the power I once commanded. Until, I can no longer change the world to be what Destro envisioned. Until, I can no longer call myself "Re"-Destro. All I have will be lost. First Curious. Then Trumpet… just had to say something stupid. Tens of thousands of followers. The control we had over every part of society. In under a year, he has turned us into, this?

What can I do? They want to know the next move. The way that we can recover our lost strength. Do they still believe I can manage it? Cowards and traitors around every corner. Those who never committed any crimes in our ranks see no reason to stay. Believing us "radical" when we are not the ones who changed! It's everyone else… How? How do I recover strength? How, do I get it all back?

"Hey!"

"What the hell- WHOA!"

"HELP!"

Rikiya lifted his head and lowered his arms. He did not even notice it while he was rubbing his temples with his eyes closed, but the rest of his top executives and strongest members around him had quieted down and had been just staring towards him. He lowered his arms though and his stressed-out and thoughtful but frustrated eyes looked to the double doors at the end of the grand hall they were in at his mansion outside of Deika. Skeptic jumped out of his seat on Re-Destro's right, and he pulled out his laptop and checked the security cameras outside only for his eyes to bulge under his long black bangs. "Sir!"

"AHH!" The doors at the end of the grand hall pushed inwards and one of the MLA soldiers outside stumbled in and fell down to his butt while spinning to look behind him. He pushed his hands down below him and slid out of the way of the man in the doorway who had a hand attached over his face. His eyes stared between fingers of that hand and across the room straight at Re-Destro whose head lifted up more to stare back at Shigaraki.

Shigaraki Tomura walked into the hall full of the MLA's top members. He was not alone. Behind him on his right walked Dabi who had his hands down at his sides and engulfed in blue flames. Behind him on his left walked a tall woman with long white hair, and she motioned with her head forward which made a more muscular figure behind her step up as well. That man curled his hands with thick gloves on them and glared towards the villains who stared back at him in disbelief as they recognized this hero. Hypnos chuckled at the looks on the faces of her enemies, while Dabi's scanning eyes locked onto a figure in a blue hood who was glaring dangerously back towards them in a way that made him narrow his gaze at the strength he could sense from Geten.

"What the fuck are you doing here?!" David yelled while slamming his palms down on the long table and standing up. He bared his teeth while stepping past Fuzumari's chair that had skid backwards from the table but that Chiida was too anxious to get up from as he looked to leaders of the League of Villains. Fuzumari looked back at David like he was crazy, but David's hands were already growing in size and starting to glow dark purple.

Genial's eyes darted from Hypnos to the missing hero next to her. Then she darted her gaze across Shigaraki before looking back at Re-Destro. When she looked to her own leader, she froze in all her thoughts of counterattacks and the plans she was making. Her red eyebrows rose up instead at the sight of Re-Destro's expression that had lost its previous look entirely. He stared towards Shigaraki with his eyes huge at the confident way in which that villain walked into their hall. Lifebringer took everything from him. His power, Re-Destro doubted the thought he had while looking back into Shigaraki's eyes past those fingers over his face. His strongest subordinates…

Why? Why does he still look like that? "How?" Re-Destro whispered. He got up out of his chair while looking towards Shigaraki in disbelief. They're nothing but thugs. Hooligans who got too big and collapsed because they didn't know how to handle that kind of power… Is that really "them" I'm thinking of? Lifebringer destroyed them! Didn't he? Why then? Why does Shigaraki look as if… He can win?

Shigaraki smirked behind his hand as he saw the lost leader of the Meta Liberation Army look towards him like that. As if the answer to all of Re-Destro's prayers, Shigaraki had appeared. Re-Destro's subordinates who were cowering or preparing for a fight all looked from their leader back over to Shigaraki who had smiled creepily back at him. Shigaraki extended his right hand out in front of him while standing in the middle of the room just past the opposite end of the table as Re-Destro stood behind. "Let me show you."

---

Six Months Ago…

"Re-Destro! Please!" Fuzumari shouted up towards the glass window that stretched along a wall over a hundred yards wide. That window was eighty feet off the black ground of the huge box-shaped room though. Re-Destro could see his pleading and injured subordinate through the glass but could also see all the others around him who were closing in around Fuzumari. His loyal subordinate who had been one of the first to eagerly agree to killing Lifebringer with him, Fuzumari stumbled backwards as enemies charged him.

"Help me!"

"WAIT! Just let me leave!"

"AHHH!"

"Take this!"

"HAA!"

"DIE!"

Re-Destro stared into the room and watched as the battle continued. His expression was flat and dark, though he did not flinch even as he watched Fuzumari get gutted by a man whose glowing purple hand imbedded deep into his stomach. "David- why?" Fuzumari asked with trembling eyes, before coughing up blood as he stared through blurry vision into the crazed eyes of his comrade. David ripped his arm out of Fuzumari's chest though and then spun and punched his right fist that glowed brighter purple. He was not within punching range of an enemy sprinting at him, but the purple light on his arm transferred through the air like an aura that wrapped around his enemy and then yanked him twice as fast towards David who slammed his glowing left fist through his other former comrade's skull.

Bodies dropped all over the room. Re-Destro's announcement had only just finished, but many of the members of the MLA who were inside the room did not hesitate at all. Skeptic was the only member who stood alongside Re-Destro at the moment. Even Geten stood down in the room in front of Re-Destro. When he had heard the order though, Geten just nodded up towards the glass before turning and freezing comrades near him who were not ready at all for the sudden attack.

All of those who remain, Re-Destro glared darkly through the glass. There, was no way to tell who was loyal. No initiation to force loyalty. Nothing to keep them from leaving. After this, I will know their loyalty. I- Re-Destro bit down hard but tried to keep his eyes open. I, owe it to those who are loyal, at least. To watch. Thank you, for your service up until now.

Re-Destro and Skeptic watched from behind the glass as the massacre continued beyond the glass. There were heart rate monitors on everyone in the room ahead of him. The countdown on the wall opposite the glass window dropped rapidly for the first several minutes, then it began to slow down. Re-Destro stared deep into the room and watched as another six people were killed all by one of his soldiers who he did not even know by name before this. He rose up his orange eyebrows interestedly. Then he flinched as he spun to the right and spotted a comrade he did know the name of, ripped in half and thrown in opposite directions.

"Not long now," Skeptic said in a low voice. He stared out from behind his bangs and over a room he was also spectating on the laptop in his hands that had many zoomed-in angles on it. Interesting. Sometimes it does take a stressful environment to reveal one's true strength.

It took over an hour total. The four digits on the wall opposite Re-Destro had dropped into the triple digits early on, but the fight continued on much longer than that. When the lights inside the room in front of Re-Destro turned red and started blinking along with a loud alarm blaring over and over to signal an end, Shigaraki stepped into the spectator room behind Re-Destro who glanced backwards and directly into Shigaraki's eyes. Shigaraki had no creepy hands attached to his body. His hair was long and grayish-blue. The leader of the League of Villains stepped forward and looked through the glass to the opposite side of the room and the blinking number on the opposite wall. His eyes lowered down and into the room full of people no longer fighting and who all turned from that blinking number to the opposite side and a villain staring down at them from next to Re-Destro. "Are these the 100 I asked for?"

Re-Destro nodded his head. "The most loyal, and the strongest," he replied. His voice carried over the room in front of him that was full of over 1,000 corpses along with those 100 who were still alive.

"Good," Shigaraki said.

Skeptic looked through the corners of his eyes at the villain to his side whose presence aggravated yet unnerved him at the same time. "I have no need for weak pawns in my Army." Skeptic looked back forward and down into the room Shigaraki had made for them specifically for this occasion. Guarding the back doors of the room was Gigantomachia who was told not to let any escape. A few who did not wish to take part in the selection had attempted to flee, though most realized that their best chance for survival was in fighting anyone else besides Machia.

Liberation will not be won by those who do not have strong enough wills to do what is needed to be done, Skeptic thought. The amount of deserters in the Meta Liberation Army displayed a flaw in our plans for revolution. We needed them to show their loyalty and willingness to the cause.

"These 100 have the will," Re-Destro began. "The fortitude to survive against all odds. The power to make our revolution into a reality."

Only one hundred of the Meta Liberation Army remained in front of Re-Destro and his one last executive. Yet these men and women who had just murdered their allies all began kneeling while looking up towards the glass. They were soldiers who he finally knew he could trust. Re-Destro's 100. Re-Destro's, Liberators.

---

Present

"Listen to me now, fellow Liberators," Re-Destro spoke to a force of 100 men and women standing before him. "Go. Go out into this city and fight for our freedom. Our revolution is at hand!" Re-Destro swung his right arm out in front of him and curled his hand into a fist. The floor under their feet shook. The tunnel they had emerged from shrouded only those three in the very back of the 100 in darkness. As the ones still at the edge of the tunnel, Geten and Genial glanced over their shoulders at the small cracks on the ceiling of their hiding space. Dust fell from the ceiling as the buildings overhead vibrated from explosions going off on roads around them.

"We all knew this day would come. Peaceful revolution was unfortunately, never an option." Re-Destro turned away from the army at his back. He took the arm he had swung out and swept it in front of him now aimed down the road towards heroes and police who were trying to form a defensive line while also just too afraid to rush at these forces. Every single one of the 100 soldiers behind Re-Destro had scars and stitch-like marks along their arms, their legs, and any exposed skin on their necks. Their bodies were unnaturally large that the average of the group was larger than the size of a top bodybuilder. Re-Destro himself was a huge figure and had a recognizable face as well to a few people who spotted him leading these forces he yelled out at in a very scary voice considering what he was shouting. Worse was that he just turned and pointed towards them, and everyone dreaded the looks from the villains behind him who all started glaring their direction as well.

Eyes narrowed. Teeth bared and some lips curled up at the corners as forces moved forward on Re-Destro's sides. The forces readied their Quirks as he yelled out with men and women marching by his either side, "It is time that we create the world that Destro envisioned! A world in which everyone can use Quirks with no regulation. No infringement on our most basic of freedoms!" Yotsubashi yelled it out with his fist tightening and pulling back into his chest over his heart. "I give you this order as Destro's descendant. As Re-Destro! I send you to fight those heroes and authorities who would get in the way of this freedom. Go! Attack them now! Eliminate, all resistance."

Some of his forces dropped onto their hands and grew larger. A few jumped up in the air and flapped wings behind them or just started flying forwards. The heroes and police at the end of the street did not have the numbers to face off against these enemies who all yelled out and charged towards them. "HAAGGHH!"

"DIE! OPPRESSORS!"

"We take this fight to you!"

Re-Destro held out his left arm at his side. Skeptic glanced to his left at his leader whose right hand he stood closest to. Re-Destro looked behind him though at David who he just stopped from rushing forward. Re-Destro focused on those he held back behind him, "David. Genial. Geten." He looked over at the man with the long hair stuffed inside his blue hood that shadowed over his face. "You are the strongest of the 100. Do not be afraid to take on the strongest of our enemies! None are out of your range. So show me. Show me that you are worthy of inheriting this new world. Of leading others into the world we will create. Your successes today will pave the path forward to greatness in the society we build."

"We will not fail you, Re-Destro," Genial bowed her upper body and put one arm out to the side while bending the other in front of her chest. The woman with short-cropped red hair lifted her head back up and nodded at him once before turning to her left and pulling out a smartphone from her pocket. She lifted it and the screen turned on but showed no lock screen or any normal screen that Skeptic could pull up. A black grid opened on her phone while her eyes flashed blue, and green lines appeared on the black grid as she scanned her phone across the street and then up and down.

Geten turned the opposite way as Genial after nodding to Re-Destro. He felt a warm wind coming from his south, and he swung his right arm to the side and created a wave of ice that he rode on top of. Those with the most strength will rise above everyone else in the new world. They need a demonstration.

"I'd take anyone you ask me to," David said. He said it confidently and started moving forward again to pass Re-Destro's arm that started lowering to let him charge after the fleeing enemies. He was annoyed the others had already routed or killed all the resistance against them at the end of the road. Re-Destro put his arm back up though and grabbed David's left shoulder lightly as the man was about to go by him. David turned and looked at the man just shorter than himself but who started growing and became one and a half times David's height. "Sir?"

"In that case," Re-Destro started to his subordinate who was now looking up in his eyes. "I have a job for you. One I want you to complete without fail." Re-Destro squeezed David's shoulder and turned his head southwest from their position. "I do not doubt the League's ability to create powerful bioweapons. However, I do doubt that it will be able to do its job to completion while the target of all resistance in Musutafu and U.A., along with any reinforcements that may come to assist them. Evacuation of that school campus may occur. Future heroes who believe in the ideology that was unfortunately drilled into them by the false heroes of this age, must not be allowed to leave this battle and create a resistance against us." Re-Destro turned his head back and asked David specifically, "Do you understand what I am asking of you?"

David's head nodded up and down. His lips were flat but there was no hesitation in his response. He turned his body and Re-Destro patted him down on that shoulder while thanking him and saying to him 'Good man.' Once his expression was hidden from Re-Destro though, the right corner of David's lips lifted up. Skeptic noticed it out the corner of his own vision, but he avoided looking over if David was trying to hide that look from their leader. David bent his muscular legs down and then shot forward, sprinting down the street in the opposite direction as most of the 100 had gone.

"Well then," Skeptic began after glancing back and watching David run away. "Are you certain you do not want my… Understood." Skeptic cut himself off and just nodded at his boss who grew another size in his Stress while a dark veil stretched around more of his body and started to wrap around his eyes too. "In that case," Skeptic lifted his laptop and checked drone footage they had around the city along with cameras he was tapped into. "I'm heading to the secondary radio tower as Heroally." Don't want to get close to Raijin right now. I could tell he wanted nothing more than to kill Lifebringer himself. It was a dangerous gamble, but I checked the bomb myself. He was not holding back, he just expected that fight regardless. Skeptic sighed aloud while moving forward, speed-walking to keep up with Re-Destro's normal steps now at his larger side as they headed to the flaming roadblock littered in the corpses of their enemies. "I did promise Dabi, after all."

"Go, Skeptic. Listen," Re-Destro glanced once more to his side at his subordinate who was closest to him and had been an executive longer than any other had lasted. "Today, we make it all worthwhile."

"Every day has already been worthwhile, as long as I have been supporting your ambition." Skeptic replied with a genuine smile spreading on his face under his long black bangs that parted slightly so Re-Destro could see his touched and tearful eyes. Skeptic saluted with his free hand, then he just nodded once more at his boss who nodded back at him, before turning and running away. Skeptic rose that free arm he saluted with and rubbed his eyes real quick before putting it back on his keyboard and typing as he ran.

Time to begin. Re-Destro turned and looked towards Chiyoda. His body grew larger and his feet pressed down harder on the pavement that cracked under his huge body.

The Battle of Tokyo had started. The 100 Liberators under Re-Destro's direct command had started their attack. As for Re-Destro himself, he avoided the road between Heroally and where Class A would be moving towards it. Similarly to Skeptic, he wanted Raijin to have a battle that he enjoyed, if it would make him more amicable and easier to work with today. It was not out of camaraderie but just caution of the men who wanted to avoid any future issues with him. Re-Destro had a different target than the U.A. students though. And he knew that if Raijin needed any assistance against them, the teenager had many other ways to deal with that other than him.

The Karebo Office is an area that most villains would avoid. Re-Destro thought as he ran. Where the strongest heroes all were and what would clearly be the base of their operations moving forward due to the lack of villains in the surrounding area when the bomb went off. Intanzo suggested it before the battle. Did he know… No one could have predicted that Lifebringer would absorb the entire blast. Even with what "The Devil" warned us, I never thought- but Intanzo did know. He is sure to have gone that way, but with the lineup of heroes who were there, even if he has already gotten there and started fighting them, he will not be able to handle it alone.

Probably, Re-Destro corrected himself afterwards as he reminded himself: Intanzo is an unstoppable force of nature. Equal to that of Machia but far more cunning and evil. If all the heroes are already dead, I would be impressed but not surprised. I must act as if some of them are holding him off though. In which case, it would be up to someone to break their chain of command. Lifebringer showed how important destroying the means of coordinating a defense is to a siege. Death attacked a city with far better defenses than this one, with far fewer allies and much less infiltration than we did. He succeeded in a war where the odds were not in his favor. Here, the odds are in our favor. We have the experience and the means. We have the outline of how to do it successfully. All that one could doubt is the will of those villains aligned with the League. But the will of my Liberators is equal to- if not greater than those wills of the Army of Death!

Every one of them survived the enhancement procedures. They are more powerful than any mere human. They will be what turns the tide of today's battle, and cement our place in the new world.

But first, I must cement my own place. As a leader! Re-Destro saw the top of the building he was looking for. Far past it he could see down another road to the more-recognizable Diet Building, but he turned and charged straight at a road and a few heroes on it. Some of those heroes were running off at the behest of one of them in particular. Lemillion started turning his head and his eyes opened wide at the sight of the figure charging at him and growing two more times in size. "Stress: 65 Percent!" Re-Destro rose his fists up over his head and combined them together into one while Lemillion rushed towards him. And protect our victory by whatever means necessary!

Re-Destro slammed his hands down into the street in front of his legs. Lemillion slipped down through the ground, but he fell into the tunnel underneath the street. The ground above was breaking apart so he continued to slip through rather than turn back solid in a space that would immediately collapse on top of him. As he continued sliding through the ground though, his whole body was Permeating through solid surfaces which made it impossible for him to see. Light passed through him as much as matter. He intended on popping up behind Re-Destro, but not only the ground beneath him, but the tunnel below that were crumbling under Re-Destro's two-handed smash into the ground.

The gaps in space made it impossible to stop using his Quirk and just teleport up to the surface. Lemillion reformed partially to figure out what was going on as he did not pop up over the surface, to find himself in a subterranean tunnel with rounded walls that were cracking and falling as he became solid. His eyes darted up and he used his Permeate again, right as the ceiling above him would have crushed him in that tunnel.

"Lemillion!"

"Take him down!"

Other heroes on the surface yelled towards Re-Destro who focused his energy downwards and made his Stress collapse two layers of road rather than focusing his power down the street to hit the heroes behind Lemillion too. He looked up from the deepening crater he was sinking into, and then he started running forwards while digging his fingers into the ground at his sides as he ran. He swung upwards and released huge chunks of pavement that he had been trying to grip onto. These chunks did not break apart in his initial grabs, so they were still huge slabs of pavement when he launched them at the heroes ahead who were part of this command structure or could be relaying information to heroes around the city which would be a problem for him.

"STOP IT!" Lemillion yelled, sprinting up behind Re-Destro who turned his head sideways partially and glared at the younger man sprinting up a ramp of floor that he had just run up himself. Lemillion got back to the surface and only saw the end of Re-Destro's throws of those pieces of the broken street. As he ran after his enemy though, he had to watch just past Re-Destro as blood splattered on the windows and his comrades' broken bodies were thrown to the sides and tossed into the air. Lemillion jumped up in the air and towards the back of Re-Destro's head while screaming out at him to stop, because he saw the wounded heroes on his enemy's other side who were moaning or only mortally wounded on the ground.

The Spider robot's back left leg was already damaged, but when Re-Destro threw a boulder right through a hero's body so fast that it did not slow until it hit the leg, the dent was too much. The steel of the Spider was powerful, but it had also been stuck very hard into the ground by various heroes' Quirks. Cemedine that Plamo had covered the point of the robot's leg in held it too strong that the steel over that thin portion bent back from the huge thud into it. It became unstable and the weight bent down onto that leg that was one of four support structures on the giant robot. It started to collapse behind Re-Destro and over the injured heroes under it who were knocked back or had been hit while in the shadow of the beast.

Lemillion spun towards Re-Destro's head while keeping those heroes in his vision along with the imminent danger posed to them. His right leg spun towards Re-Destro's skull. His enemy's left arm snapped up and grew larger as it gripped around Lemillion's lower leg. That leg started passing through that massive arm, while he kicked his other leg up towards the bottom of Re-Destro's chin that was still turning towards him. Re-Destro flicked his right hand up towards his own head that was more covered in a black protective veil as he grew even larger. "Lemillion. A powerful opponent-" Re-Destro spoke as Lemillion's other leg came up under his chin which he suddenly saw in the bottom of his eyes after focusing on the first leg he just flicked crushed pavement towards.

Lemillion could not reform his right leg as the space directly next to Re-Destro's head where he had first been kicking became full of tiny pieces of rubble that would get imbedded in his leg if he tried reforming it. Re-Destro spotted Lemillion's other leg and stopped speaking to instead brace his jaw from the kick. Lemillion's left toe passed through Re-Destro's chin though and his leg continued passing up through his skull just as his right leg had passed through going horizontally instead of vertically. The way that Lemillion had twisted in midair to be able to kick from those two directions meant that neither leg had that much force in it. His body was yanked forwards though by his left leg's kick upwards through Re-Destro's skull. His leg passing through the villain's head also blocked Re-Destro's eyesight with nothing but thigh for an instant that Lemillion was swinging his right fist forward with all his power behind it.

His left leg finished passing through Re-Destro's head, and his right fist slammed into Re-Destro's face. Lemillion got more power behind it from his tactical approach. He put all his strength forward in his follow-through, then he let his whole body start Permeating through Re-Destro to get on the other side of him and closer to the heroes he needed to save. Lemillin's bland face had a frantic expression on it though, as he had seen the expression that his enemy had a moment after the flinch from getting punched in the face. Re-Destro's face had pushed inwards slightly as Togata's fist imbedded into it, but he did not step backwards. The man five times larger than Lemillion had an enraged smile on his face that shrouded in darkness. His entire body had covered in some strange dark power that unnerved Togata to see, though the fact that he had just pressed his fist into it and did not feel immediately weaker showed him that at the least it was not as powerful as Death.

Lemillion landed on Re-Destro's other side and continued sprinting forward without teleporting underground due to the tunnels that were sure to continue getting in his way. The ground was mostly collapsed around here anyway, but he knew now that the first tunnel underground was not the only one, which made sense to him because that tunnel was not actually deep enough to fit the Spider that must have lifted up through the ground on some sort of elevator. Unless it was constructed directly below, Togata thought while jumping from one piece of crumbled road to another. That means the tunnels underneath Tokyo must be extensive and deep to be able to move- The Digger! His true location that we faked in Turbonya. He was here in Japan. That tunnel in Koimou was not a one-off escape route they created.

Lemillion felt a footstep behind him and darted a look back as he continued to sprint for the heroes who a Spider was collapsing down on top of. He skid to a stop. His eyes darted back to the heroes he needed to save, then to Re-Destro who had just gripped much larger hands into the floor at his sides and picked up even larger sections of the collapsed road this time. If he throws those, Lemillion knew it was not just the heroes down the road who would be killed. There was nowhere he could bring them that would be safe either, but turning around to fight Re-Destro and prevent him from throwing those huge chunks meant that he was going to allow that Spider to collapse down on the injured. I- I need- I can't-

I can't do this on my own!

A tentacle wrapped around Re-Destro's left leg and yanked it backwards just as he was planting it to get better form before throwing.

"Hit him, Mirio!" Suneater yelled.

"I have them!" Nejire-Chan shouted on Lemillion's opposite side, right as she fired Waves into the body of the Spider. She changed its falling momentum into a part of the road closer to its front left leg that did not have anyone near it to be crushed.

Re-Destro yanked his right leg back forward while glaring over his shoulder. Suneater had tried to pull back against that tug but was not expecting the power in the kick forward that slammed the front of his body into the ground and caused his tentacle-arms to come off of the villain. Re-Destro looked away for a moment though. When Lemillion saw Suneater appear and attack his enemy, he also saw the shadow over his shoulder and in the air. Even before Hado assured him that she would protect everyone else, Lemillion was already moving towards Re-Destro again just from Tamaki's expression. Before his best friend even shouted at him to attack, Lemillion knew where he was needed and charged at Re-Destro again.

The ground under Lemillion was not bottomless. There was a bottom to the solid surface below his feet. He knew that at least two tunnels had collapsed below them here though, and with Re-Destro's heavy body standing on top and compacting the debris below them, it was solid enough if he timed it perfectly. The instant he slid through the ground, he popped back up and just on the left side of Re-Destro's right leg. Suneater's arms that came unwrapped from Re-Destro's leg snapped back forward even as Suneater lay on the ground with scraped on his face from how hard he slammed into it. Lemillion's body was twisting even as he teleported upwards through the surface. Both of his legs came spinning around, directly at Re-Destro's right kneecap.

Mirio's double-kick landed too hard and made Re-Destro's head snap back in agony. At that exact instant that he roared in pain, his body grew larger. It occurred because of his pain and frustration. It also occurred subconsciously, meaning that Re-Destro was not entirely prepared for the extra weight in his body. His right leg was in agony, and his left suddenly tugged backwards off of a small chunk on the ground that he had stomped forward onto. The small crack behind that chunk was enough to knock him completely off balance. The larger he was, the harder he fell. His back slammed into the ground and he winced from how hard he just hit. He was easily six times as large as the twenty year olds attacking him in the moment, but they had taken him to the ground and now he lay on his back and had to grip the floor at his sides to start getting up.

Nejire-Chan was flying up over his head when his eyes opened back up. His entire face shrouded with darkness that was defined and thick. His teeth showed bigger and yet his eyes were still the same eyes of Yotsubashi Rikiya. Hado Nejire appreciated that they were not glowing red. She smiled down at the villain who she slammed her hands down at, before yelling out, "Nejire Flood!" Bright yellow light spiraled around her arms just like it did around her legs and below her feet to keep her up. Those swirls grew much much thicker and brighter, and she fired them down in a full-output Wave into her enemy's chest down below her.

The ground between Suneater and Lemillion broke apart. Both of them leapt backwards even farther away from each other while raising an arm each to block their faces from the wind and small particles flying in it at them from Nejire-Chan's attack. Nejire kept flying through the air and she landed on the lower roof of the Karebo Office where she squatted on landing and panted a few times before catching her breath. Her smile faded for a moment as she looked back at the injured heroes who she had protected first. Hado could see the dead mixed in with them, and those who were close to dying but who she could not help at the moment. Her head had to turn the other way, and she stared into the dust blown up by her attack.

The former Big 3 of U.A. High School all stared at the silhouette getting back up in the shadows. Larger than before. Much, larger. He was growling now in a deep voice, but his words came out fluent and intellectual. "I was right to come here. I will not allow you three to interfere with our revolution. My revolution." Re-Destro's head snapped up and he swung his arms up at his sides. His elbows pulled in and his fists curled while he swung them upwards and made the dust around him blow away and show him in that crater looking undamaged. "It will not be destroyed by the likes of you! You do not have the desire that I possess. You do not have the WILL to defeat our change!"

"'Revolution?'" Amajiki Tamaki wondered in a dark voice. "Is that what you call this?"

"It's nothing but senseless destruction!" Nejire-Chan yelled down from the lower roof of the Karebo Office.

"Your 'will' to carry out these evil actions, will never be greater than our will to do right," Lemillion stated firmly and in defiance of this enemy. He glared him down and Re-Destro's entire body shook in so much more rage and Stress at the odd-phrasing of Lemillion's words. Lemillion's old classmates heard that phrasing as well and found their own expressions getting even darker too. "And we will defeat you," both of Lemillion's comrades and he all readied themselves, as he finished at his enemy, "because that's what heroes do."

---

"ALL CIVILIANS REMAIN INSIDE. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO FIGHT THE VILLAINS. OoooOOOO! OoooOOOO! 3149 KEMIN AVENUE IS STRUCTURALLY UNSTABLE. EVACUATION IS IN EFFECT. MOVE TO THE EIMBOU PLAZA FOR PROTECTION…."

"Keep pushing forward!"

Rabbit turned his head and looked at one of the top Jazz gang leaders who just yelled that at his men. The leader of the Beasty Bros, Leopold, shook his long flowing golden mane out behind his head and pointed a furry claw forward down the road at their enemies. "Behind the front line are sure to be other heroes protecting Eimbou Plaza. Give them no safe haven. No place to establish a resistance! KILL THEM! Kill them all!"

The twenty year old man listening to Leopold started jogging forward again. He turned his head and looked back behind him into the carnage left behind by this group he had started with. Diamondfist wanted us to split up so he'd have information later on everything that happened around the city today. It makes sense, but, I just wish I was with the guys. The gang who Rabbit had spent some time with back in Koimou had been who he continued hanging with afterwards when they escaped after the Massacre. None of them had known about the planned trap beforehand, and Diamondfist had been the only one to speak out about it and stand up for those of them tricked into that trap just like the heroes had been.

The young man had short red hair with small bunny ears sticking out of it that had red fur on them. They were hidden right now though under the helmet he wore that had a visor over his face too with some of the best tech in it. He was better equipped than most villains around him, and he was more well-known apparently too from what he had noticed since he joined with this large group before the battle. Rabbit bent his legs and leapt forward over several enemies, and he turned his body and pressed his feet into the chest of a hero who was flying down towards Leopold.

FlyGuy flapped his blue wings in front of him to pull himself off of the legs of his enemy who he had started leaning up to dodge from. Rabbit's feet pressed into his chest. The hero slightly got the pressure off by flapping himself backwards, but his dark blue eyes widened and he gasped out a mouthful of spit as Rabbit extended his bent muscular legs hard and sent FlyGuy into a building. The glass window shattered and FlyGuy bounced on the fourth floor of the office that had people still inside it.

FlyGuy skid across the floor tiles and he gasped out in pain that he felt in his ribs. I recognize that guy now, FlyGuy thought. He wheezed but flipped himself over onto his hands and knees from his back. A piece of glass cut his right hand where his costume was not protecting him, but otherwise he just felt the wind got knocked out of him. Maybe a bruised rib, he corrected himself when he tried to imagine that he was just fine, as it was difficult to get up. His head turned partly to the left though and he looked under the desk next to him. A woman in a black skirt had a terrified look in her eyes as she stared out at the gasping hero on his hands and knees with blood on his right hand.

"It's alright," FlyGuy assured. He pushed his hands down harder while being more careful of the glass now and did not even wince from the injury he already sustained. FlyGuy stood up and then spun back towards the windows as he heard yelps of panic and fear from people who had been staring over or thinking about going to ask FlyGuy what they should do. FlyGuy glared at the man who just landed on the empty windowsill that he had kicked the hero through. Rabbit had landed back on the street before leaping up to the window where he now stood looking in towards a hero who had managed to somewhat lessen the blow of Rabbit's surprise attack. "You," FlyGuy started. "Yukiiro, Samino."

"You know my name-" Rabbit began. He cut himself off though and his lips lowered into a deeper frown under his visor. "Actually, I go by Rabbit now-"

"You are under arrest, Samino." Rabbit's eyes widened behind his visor at that statement. He even shifted his gaze back to the open window behind him and looked out at a city under siege. Is he serious? "For association with the League of Villains. For the crimes of murder, including the murder of the heroes at the Koimou Massacre that you were a part of."

"I didn't actually kill-"

"Then you are an accessory. You incapacitated heroes, on live video, who were executed by your allies in the same fight." FlyGuy's expression darkened and his body turned straight towards Rabbit now with his wings extending out wide behind his back. "You are a villain. And you will not be responsible for any more death and destruction today." FlyGuy jumped off the ground and flapped his wings behind him. Rabbit leaned his body forward and his legs bent down hard into the floor. His feet curled into the ground, then he shot forward into FlyGuy who started flying full speed by flapping his wings as hard as possible behind him-

Rabbit ducked FlyGuy's arms and threw both of his own around FlyGuy's sides as they collided. The top half of FlyGuy's body bent over Rabbit's head as Rabbit connected and changed FlyGuy's trajectory instantly. The jolt of his changed momentum boggled FlyGuy's mind for a moment. He shook his head though and snapped his eyes down to the top of Rabbit's helmet that hid his red hair. FlyGuy rose his right arm and bent his elbow that he started slamming down- Rabbit decked FlyGuy through an office cubicle and into the wall behind it.

Computer parts and a desk cabinet blew apart around FlyGuy's back. His elbow lightly tapped down on top of Rabbit's head. Rabbit pulled his head back and looked up at the face of the man he had just imbedded into the wall. He was panting himself, but he smirked at the sight of FlyGuy's expression barely staying conscious after those blows. His wings were bent and the right one looked completely messed up to the point there was no way he could fly anymore. FlyGuy felt his left shoulder blade break on the corner of a cabinet that he broke apart getting smashed so hard into it. His legs, are so strong, FlyGuy's shaky eyes shifted down.

Miruko's were stronger, FlyGuy imagined the live-stream they had all seen of the failed raid in Koimou. His eyes slowly rose back from the villain's muscular legs to the visor that Rabbit's eyes were watching him from behind. But, that's not, a good gauge… FlyGuy's eyes started to close. His vision was already fading into a blackish blur. Then they snapped back open and his right arm that just started dropping down limply in front of him, snapped forward. FlyGuy grabbed Rabbit by the collar of his dark red and black costume, and he curled his fingers into the strong but stretchy fabric and yanked towards himself.

FlyGuy pulled Rabbit's head close to his own, and although his back was stuck in the wall, his head was free enough that he was able to headbutt Rabbit and shatter the visor. Both of their foreheads bled as the glass between their skin dug into their heads. Both men yanked backwards, with Rabbit stumbling a few steps back and reaching up to his skull, while FlyGuy just pulled his head back into the wall behind him. The hero clenched his eyes shut in the pain and to keep the blood pouring down his head more than Rabbit's from getting into his eyes. He had to squint them back open though, as he heard chachak in front of him.

Rabbit rose up the pistol he just cocked and pointed it at FlyGuy's head.

"D-Don't!"

"Get out of here!"

FlyGuy shifted his bloody and blurry gaze towards the office workers who started yelling at Rabbit. A few of them moved and started closer, yelling at him louder as he looked around at them too. FlyGuy tried yanking his whole body forward, but he coughed and tasted blood in his mouth. The bruised rib from before had been closer to cracking than FlyGuy realized, and one of them was poking through a lung. Through his bloody lips though, he spoke to his enemy in front of him who he struggled to continue fighting, "You villains, can't stop the-"

Bang.

Rabbit did not lower his gun when he was looking around at the people who started yelling at him. FlyGuy's head snapped back again into the wall and his whole body slumped but stayed stuck where it was. People in the middle of yelling and getting louder all froze and stared in shock and with huge eyes at the villain who did that. Rabbit tilted his head to the side in confusion at the shock on their faces from what he just did. "Did you think I was going to stop?" He wondered at them for those stupefied looks on their faces. He then turned the pistol in his hand on the man who dared to get closest of all the other office workers. "I'm here to kill heroes, not random schmucks who were just going about their days. Don't involve yourselves where you aren't needed." Rabbit pointed his pistol up and fired again, Bang.

"AHHH!"

"EEEE!"

He bent his legs and bounded back for the window he came in through. Rabbit dropped outside and he turned towards the Eimbou Plaza that had smoke rising from it now. As he looked that way though, he saw a flash of bright light and then watched as a man with a lion-like Quirk went flying out of an alleyway and bouncing across the street with burns all over his smoking body. Leopold's eyes were rolled-back into his head and he lay still on the ground after bouncing onto the opposite sidewalk from the alley he had been in.

Oh man, I am so late! What if they're all in trouble and I'm being too slow?! Did Raijin already... Aoyama Yuga ran out of the alley he had tried to use as a shortcut to avoid a larger battle on a different street. He had been moving through alleyways towards Heroally but could already tell that the way was too long and he was not making it on time. He ran out into the road he had just sent a Jazz villain he recognized flying when that villain tried lunging at him to get a kill on "the famous Class A."

Aoyama turned his head right and left. He kept it on a swivel just to be cautious, but he skid to a stop at the sight of a man who just took off his helmet because the visor did not completely break off and was now obscuring his vision partially. Rabbit dropped his helmet at his side then rubbed his forehead of some of the blood trickling down it. His skin had not been cut as badly as FlyGuy's had, but head wounds bled a lot and there was a trail of blood going down from his forehead over his nose and across his lips. Rabbit looked towards this student who stared back at him and slowly turned his whole body Rabbit's direction.

"I recognize you," Rabbit started at the sight of the young hero. His beams are fast. He can't use them continuously though-

"Frolick-san," Aoyama whispered. Rabbit's eyebrows rose up and then his eyes widened too at the watery eyes of the boy staring towards him. I saw him! Fighting Frolick and- and he… Even though Aoyama could picture Raijin putting his hands on the sides of Frolick's head and frying him, he also recalled watching this villain kick Frolick in the face. Part of the reason why he was wounded and able to be killed by Raijin. An enemy who his shaking watery eyes narrowed at in anger after a few seconds. "What a Dazzling costume! I cannot wait to see you in action in it, as a pro hero…" You never got to see me graduate, Frolick-san. But I will do it!

Aoyama glared down Rabbit who bent his legs and darted his eyes all directions for routes to bounce to before going for this hero with powerful destructive capabilities. Leopold was not weak. These U.A. students need to be taken care of. They aren't my real enemies… but I have to imagine them as heroes already. Pro heroes. There's no changing their ways now. Aoyama's stomach glowed and Rabbit's leg muscles tensed. The hero fired and Rabbit leapt to the building on his right before bouncing off towards the hero who jumped up so his missing beam would shoot him away from where Rabbit was coming down. Aoyama twisted as he flew backwards too, and Rabbit kicked off of the air that he was shooting down through, flipping over the top of the beam that cut underneath him then cut off as it was too strong and left a long melted scar across the building behind Rabbit.

Different parts of Aoyama's costume glowed as the energy output from his Navel Laser spread through his sparkly costume. Small circles all over it started to glow bright white, and Rabbit pressed his legs down so much harder into the floor on his landing so that the pavement below him cracked…

Down the street past Aoyama who was closer to the Eimbou Plaza than his opponent, other heroes were facing off against villains who were trying to get into the evacuation zone inside. The domed plaza had been put into lockdown and had much more protective barriers around it as well as materials that made the building in the first place that made it harder for enemy attacks to go through. Even green explosions on the outer walls had not broken through, though some had not even left marks as Tsuburaba Kosei and Cyn-Thia were both at Eimbou and doing their best to protect it.

"Ibara and Yui! Go with Shishida to the west entrance. An evac with wounded civilians is on imminent approach and needs protection on the intake!" Kendo yelled out. Shiozaki and Kodai spun towards Shishida who dropped back on all fours and sprinted back the way he came with that message to find more people to help out. He did not question Kendo to see if she could spare anyone else. Shishida just trusted that she gave him what she could without leaving them too weak over here.

Kamakiri backpedaled while scanning the street ahead of him. "We're getting real low on support over here. This is the main entrance-"

"And we've done the best at holding off all attacks so far," Kendo countered her classmate who spoke with his mandibles moving at the bottom of his insect-like head. "Now, Jack Mantis. You take the northwest and keep watch down 52nd street. Shinso! How are you holding up?"

Shinso finished tying up villains from the second wave of attacks they had just held off. The hero tied them up using his own white bandages that he used as weapons too. He looked back towards Kendo for a second from her right side twenty meters and nodded back. Shinso Hitsohi was panting but he did not need to call anything out to her to let her know that he could keep going. Shinso just gave her the nod then looked past Kendo and back at the sealed doors of Eimbou Plaza that could only be opened from inside where they had support waiting to switch out. He had not been a part of the first wave, instead running out after Kuroiro evacuated a badly wounded Kaibara into the building.

Kuroiro was on his way back out now and he nodded at the younger U.A. students who had provisional licenses too but were instructed by their senpais to be the secondary defenses inside and to guard the door. They waited until Kuroiro was almost to them before two of the young heroes threw open the doors and held them for Vantablack who they called out good luck to. Kuroiro was concerned about his friend he had just left to doctors in the evacuation center's core behind him, but he ran back outside and darted his gaze around but saw no villains he had to immediately focus on. "Where did everyone go?" Kuroiro asked in a voice not so much concerned for their friends but just interested as he could tell from Kendo's look that they had not been killed or anything like that.

Shinso saw Kuroiro come back out then the doors slam shut and lock behind him. He looked away while Kendo caught Kuroiro up on why their section of the building was so under-protected at the moment. Shinso's mouth was hidden behind his voice modulator hero tool. He frowned though as he stopped himself from panting, and he scanned the road ahead of him too that no villains were currently approaching from. Shinso's eyes darted to his right again and he grimaced deeper and in more worry as his classmates also felt behind him when they felt the city shake under their feet. Honenuki and Bondo went that way. I saw that, thing, fall from the sky. Honenuki was positive that they could assist whoever's dealing with that the best, but where is Mt. Lady? Is she still back over at Karebo? …Zach was-

Shinso closed his eyes for a second and took in a deep breath. He released it slowly while opening his eyes back up. Calm. Shinso imagined a fist punching towards his face from the opposite side as he was expecting. He felt a fist take him off his feet and knock all thoughts from his mind. And then, he saw that same left hand reaching down for him a year after it had knocked him out. His hands were on the ledge of the top of the mountain he had had to climb. Shinso had lifted his head, and he pictured the face of the black-haired teen who had reached down a hand to help him to the summit. He then winced imagining the sound of screams he had overheard in Fundong's FLICC. We have to do this without him. No revivals. No- Shinso pictured the screen in the courthouse that played the Siege of Wampajawa. No Death. No Zach, to save us.

He shook his head around and brushed off those dark thoughts he was having. Now is not the time. We must act with what we have. I can do this. I can be a hero, this time. More than just running, I can fight too. There! Shinso glared down the street as he saw a villain running out of an intersection only one road down from him. He suspected instantly that the man was a villain, but he could tell without any doubt as he saw the blood dripping off his fingers. This figure wearing a pitch black costume was muscular and intimidating with his, white, hair…

Shinso's breathing sped up. His eyes shook and his right foot lifted and stepped back. He stared towards a man with large spiky white hair who turned his head straight towards him and grinned madly from ear to ear. Shinso gasped at the sight of those eyes the instant they locked with him. "No-" Shinso gasped out the word but found his lungs empty as he opened his mouth wider to call for those behind him to help.

Kendo turned her head as she saw Shinso take that step back, but she could not see as far down the road Shinso was staring down as he could. "Shinso! What is it?"

"He's…" Shinso started. His voice was raspy and weak. He struggled to get even that one word out. "Twin Impact: FIRE!" Shinso's legs shook below him. He opened his mouth but no sound escaped his lips as he stared at the villain who smirked towards him and opened up his bloody fists at his sides that he rose back up. Shinso's eyes darted over towards Kendo, Kuroiro, and Kamakiri farther past them though his eyes were still focused on his own road and not on his classmate who he trusted to watch his own area. Shinso's heart crushed at that faith that Kamakiri had in him to not be rushing over here even after glancing his direction, because he could not shake this fear that filled him and had him shaking in his boots.

"You there! Who are you?!" Shinso imagined yelling those words at a green-skinned villain with long droopy antennae who only smirked towards him wider while charging through the bleachers directly towards him. The citizens behind him screamed out in fear and yelled at him to do something, but he did not have his support tools. He had no weapon to fight with. All he had was his Quirk, and his enemy who was clearly on Trigger knew exactly what his Quirk was. And in the Sports Festival bleachers, that insane villain holding knives in both hands was lunging at him. "Twin Impact: FIRE!"

Shoda Nirengeki's voice echoed in Shinso's mind. "You," he whispered in the present. In his head he could picture that green-skinned villain diving at him get crushed under a bleacher. That enemy had pushed his arms down still with his hands gripped around knives. His crazed look got more furious as he had pushed up and glared past Shinso at a chubbier but more confident enemy who glared back at him and never let the Triggered villain get a word out. The bleacher lifted up off the enemy then slammed back down on him with its force amplified, and then Shoda had spun towards Shinso without the hesitation that Shinso had felt. "Shinso, keep getting them out of here. I will take the rear and-"

Shinso's left foot picked up too and stepped backwards like his right had. He imagined the dust that rose up as a hulking form on Trigger landed just behind Shoda who started turning his head towards it. "Wai- AH-" Shinso could picture it in his head as if it was happening right in front of him now. He could hear the screeches and screams of horror from the civilians around him who watched as the hero who just saved them got crushed between rows of bleachers. The young student's body was broken and bloodied by the huge villain with short white hair who started laughing at the top of his lungs after killing a student of U.A.'s hero course.

"Are those Class B students I see?!"

Kendo and Kuroiro got behind Shinso at the end of the block connecting to Eimbou Plaza now. "What's wrong, Shinso?" Kuroiro asked intensely at his classmate who was staring at this villain in way more fear than he should be. Kendo gave him a similarly strange look considering she had just been fighting against other villains alongside him without him acting this way. The two of them looked past Shinso though and towards this enemy with long spiky white hair and a muscular body protected by tight black armor that accentuated his muscles. He was almost seven feet tall. His white spikes of hair made him even taller. Something about this figure made Kendo's breathing start to pick up, but Kuroiro still could not place where he recognized him from.

"He's- he," Shinso started.

"Wait a second," the villain heading forward slowed and stopped to stare directly at Shinso. "I remember you! You became part of Class B afterwards, didn't you? Even though, you ran?" His enemy's voice was taunting and chilling to Shinso whose feet planted harder in the ground as he heard that taunt.

I need to call out to him! Yell towards him now! Like- like I never did, Shinso's eyes filled with tears as the villain laughed at his terrified expression. Like I didn't back then! Shinso filled with regret and guilt as his body started leaning back forward. Kendo and Kuroiro both looked towards this villain with their eyes growing wider and wider in the realization of who this was. "Even though you left your friend behind? Crushed and bleeding out?!"

He was dead already! Shinso bit down on his bottom lip behind the modulator over his mouth.

Tears fell from Kendo's eyes. Rage covered Kuroiro's pitch black expression. There were heroes there, Shinso reminded himself. He was still breathing heavily but his fists shook in anger rather than fear now. Shoda told me to get those people out, and that's what I did! I- I wasn't running because I was, afraid. I ran because that's what a hero told me to do! But, afterwards…

"What do you mean they can't find him?!" Tetsutetsu had shouted at Vlad King. Shinso had been standing nearby behind the group of Class B students and their homeroom teacher who Tetsutetsu started screaming at.

Twice, Ganeshi, K-Blaster, Inhuman, and most other villains who had attacked the Sports Festival two years ago had been arrested. Some like Spinner had been killed during the battle. But a small few, escaped. Including the villain responsible for the death of Class 2-B, Nirengeki Shoda. Heroes had captured enough footage from around the stadium and city nearby that villains had fled through that they knew what he looked like. Shinso had been called in to confirm who the villain was and report on what they had done shortly after the SFI.

They never learned his name. All they had was the footage of him running from the SFI when his Trigger had run out. Even after losing his Trigger though, he had plowed through Tucker Train, a sidekick of an American hero visiting Tokyo who had arrived to help combat the villains in Musutafu. Tucker Train's murder was one of the few clips captured of this supposedly unnamed villain, but all of Class B knew how Shoda had died. It was not something Shinso liked talking about, but it was something they had pushed him to tell them and he could not refuse Shoda's friends.

Although Shinso had been pressured to tell them about his death, there was something he had kept from them more recently. "You don't recognize him? Look- look at this." Shinso had spoken in a more firm voice at a black-haired teen who stopped walking on U.A.'s campus and turned to look at him. Zach's eyes had shifted down from Shinso's face to the photo that Shinso had in his hand of a freeze-frame from security footage of the villain. "You don't know who he is?" Shinso had asked the man who returned to U.A. after so long and might have had the answer to a question Shinso always regretted not asking back when Zach had been at school with them before the Lifebringer Incident.

"Marin." Zach had whispered the name aloud before freezing and seeming to realize what he had said. His eyes lifted back to Shinso's that were huge and staring back at him in shock that Zach had the answer. Zach's eyes had glanced back to Shinso's and then shifted back to the picture again that he stared at in much more intensity as he had muttered under his breath, "He wasn't there…"

"Wasn't where?" Shinso had asked him back.

Zach had just shaken his head back at Shinso's question. "It doesn't matter." It seemed like Zach had something else on his mind but he focused more on Shinso and had turned to face him completely. "The League, had several contacts who were not directly associated with them. People with specific skills they needed when they did not have any members with that skill-set. I had seen Marin before, and his work. He wasn't the guy the League would call in when they needed someone tracked down. I don't know what in particular made him special, but he came back for payment with his hands soaked in blood. I, only heard about that one job Shigaraki called him for. I guess he was also called in to help with the Sports Festival… Shoda?"

Shinso steadied his expression in the present. As formidable as this enemy might be, he remembered his classmate who was a hundred times more intimidating to him from that one question. He just asked the name of the Class B student as if he instantly understood by Shinso's face that he was asking him about Shoda's killer. Or maybe it was from a single look at the picture that Zach had recognized a street in Musutafu and understood that it had to be the SFI. Shinso understood that it was both, because Zach knew it was the day of the SFI before realizing immediately why it was that Shinso was asking him. The jump so far ahead that he did not even have to explain why he was asking Zach had unnerved Shinso who just saw the anger flash over Zach's face along with regret as if Zach had wished he had killed that "Marin" a long time ago back when he was with the League. There had been more regret in Zach's face too as he had turned his head and glared away for a reason that Shinso still did not understand.

"Marin," Shinso said. He stated the name in a low voice and his voice carried to his enemy who closed his mouth while still smirking back towards him. Kendo and Kuroiro both gave Shinso surprised looks before darting their gazes back to the villain who they had still not known the name of.

"When did you…" Kendo started.

"Zach told me," Shinso replied darkly. He rose his voice and called out to the enemy facing them, "You villains can't win-"

"Cancel." Marin's voice echoed down the road and made Shinso's head lean backwards as he stared at an enemy who continued grinning towards him.

"Put your hands up…" Shinso started speaking but his voice was uncertain and shaky. His classmates stared towards Marin in disbelief for a moment, before immediately readying themselves as Marin cracked his neck to either side.

He rose his hands up over his head, then he started laughing towards the spiky-indigo-haired teenager who stared back at him in shock. "You ran away so fast last time that I never had time to show-"

"You won't-"

"Cancel." Marin lowered his arms and interlocked his fingers out in front of him. He cracked his knuckles and then lowered his arms down and uncurled his fingers slowly at his sides. Those fingers wiggled and still had wet blood on them as he looked at enemies who darted their eyes to his hands then back to his head. In that instant, they realized that this man's Quirk had nothing to do with his abnormally large size or however he had been killing people with his hands. The realization that his Quirk was not one with that kind of danger to it made them all the more afraid, especially because Kendo's hands just shrunk down too after growing when she prepared herself against him a moment ago.

The three teenagers who had been training for years to be heroes suddenly found themselves without the ability to use their Quirks. Against normal villains, they still felt confident in their competence as heroes even in a situation like this. But the villain in front of them was no normal villain. "Oh wow. Speechless, are you?" Marin wondered directly at Shinso. His eyes shifted slightly left to Kendo who was on Shinso's back right, "I wish I could make you understand-" Marin's eyes snapped to Shinso when the teen opened his mouth, and he stomped his right foot forward while giving him a harsher glare daring Shinso to speak and interrupt him in a meek attempt to capture him with Brainwashing again. Then his head snapped right and he glared at Kuroiro who just reached for a grappling gun at his side, making Kuroiro's fingers twitch though he did better than his classmates at hiding his fear of this enemy. It became a lot harder to hide that fear in the next few seconds though.

"You don't understand how free I feel right now. It's a great feeling, freeing yourself." Marin smiled at the teenagers he was about to kill. "I still get paid for my services, but without Mozcaccio telling me what I can and can't do anymore. I even found the courage to ignore his order to return. Freed myself, and just in time too. I mean, I'm confident in my strength and killing ability, but the old man wanted me to Cancel Death's Quirk?" Marin wondered it skeptically and chuckled at the idea of it. "Like that would have worked. He would have killed me anyway even without his Quirk. Maybe I should have warned Mozcaccio, but now he's dead. They all are, the mountains are destroyed, and that means I'm free to do, whatever I want."

Did he just say, Zach killed Eziano Mozcaccio?

"Mountains?" Yamagu- no, Kuroiro heard the plural use of that word. Korea. Zach fought the assassins? He won? That was, the night he came back.

Kendo's expression hardened more than the boys to her left. "We won't allow you to do whatever you want," Kendo retorted to the villain who met her gaze and even rose his white eyebrows as if impressed by her look. She paused at that amused look he gave her, but then her fists started growing again and she stated louder, "Don't bring up Zach's name, like you know-"

"Cancel."

Kendo's hands shrunk and then she made them grow again just as fast. "He would have wanted us to stop you!"

"He would have wanted you to finish what he started," Marin replied with a smirk.

"No," Kuroiro stated darkly. Marin gave him a skeptical look but the teenager said confidently, "We're heroes. Zach would have wanted us to act as heroes. He would want us to stop you because you're hurting people and stopping you will help save Tokyo-"

"There is no saving this city," Marin started back. He threw his arms out to either side and leaned forward with a big smile stretched across his face. "Look around! Last time I attacked Japan, at least there were several pros attacking me all at once in their attempt to stop me. Where are your heroes now?! Where are your-"

"We're right-"

"CANCEL!" Marin sprinted forward as Shinso opened his mouth and started to say something inspirational too and adding on to what his classmates had already began saying. Marin sprinted forward though and Shinso's eyes bulged as he was not allowed to have his say. He did not get part of a speech to give, and Marin's mouth slammed shut but in a huge grin as he sprinted at the kids ahead of him who all started reacting at once to the huge man barreling towards them so fast that it felt like his speed had to be a part of his Quirk. They even wondered if it was a composite, but they knew that it was just the different league that these assassins were all in that they were the worst enemies Zach ever had to face. That this was supposedly the last one, or a survivor at least while so many others were imprisoned or killed, also stuck in the back of their mind as a reminder of how no one had ever stopped him.

And they were Quirkless. Shinso jumped back while swinging his arms forward and lashing his strong white bandages towards the villain. Kuroiro stepped to his right and in front of Kendo who jumped back while making her hands bigger again as quickly as she could after they shrunk to normal size. Kendo thought to herself, Two, three, four- Three and a half seconds to get back to a larger size-

"Cancel." Marin repeated the word without speaking anymore between his Cancels.

He has to say the word… Shinso theorized while trying to yank Marin towards himself after catching one of his arms. Shinso wanted to come up with counters and a way to use his Quirk against this enemy anyway, but Marin twisted his arm around that was wrapped in a bandage Shinso realized in horror at that moment that his enemy had allowed his arm to be wrapped up, and Shinso was gripping onto his bandage too tightly that he was yanked off the floor when Marin tugged him in the way of the grappling hook that Kuroiro just fired. Kuroiro's reaction time was quick and he managed to yank his own arm away to prevent from impaling Shinso's back which was now between him and Marin's right shoulder that he had aimed at with a sharp hook attached to the barrel of his gun.

Kendo ran forward and jumped up with her hands in mid-grow. She could not wait the full three and a half seconds this time as Marin had seen her hands get back to normal size and seemed to use his Quirk as a taunt to her. She put her growing hands together over her head and slammed down towards Marin who just lost hold of his enemy on the other side of a bandage he was swinging. Shinso released it so it just waved around in the air as he did a barrel roll away, but he looked back and his eyes bulged as wide as his classmates' did as Marin sidestepped while wrapping his arm up in the bandage even more and grabbing farther down it with his second hand. His side-stepping towards Kendo put him too close to her that her swinging her arms down was going to make the combined fist pass just behind his head, if she had gotten the swing down in time. Marin was so fast though that he managed to slam Shinso's strong and durable cloth weapon into her chest and bend her upper body over the top of it while her legs kicked out underneath.

Marin twisted around and wrapped the bandage around Kendo's midsection. "Cancel." The smoke grenade rolling between his legs was already spraying black smoke, but Kuroiro skid out of the black cloud he was forming straight on his face on the pavement. Marin kicked forward but pulled his foot away just before he would have kicked all of Kuroiro's teeth in, and the loop of a white bandage flew by his kicking leg without the angle anymore to wrap around it and take him down. "Cancel." Kuroiro just got back in his smoke and started rising up behind Marin, when he reformed as a human outside of the Black he was traveling through. Marin had both ends of a white cloth gripped in one hand to squeeze Kendo's ribs tighter. Her fists hit him in the face and chest but did not hurt the man who just shrunk them as they were growing again. She was held off the floor and had no power behind her blows, and she was gasping for breath while Marin's second arm swung behind his body.

He did not even look behind him, but he did spin when his elbow just passed through wavy gray hair instead of denting into a hero's skull. Kuroiro knew as he passed through his enemy's legs that it was unlikely he was going to make it up to the back of Marin's head in his smoke before the villain Cancelled Black again. He was ready this time to land on his feet and he ducked immediately as he knew that Marin knew where he was. Marin started spinning but Kuroiro already used Black again and passed through the black smoke that had continued pouring out of the smoke grenade and gave him so much more to use now. The smoke wrapping around Marin's left arm tightened on it and black knives formed in the smoke where Kuroiro's head and upper body just formed up and stabbed down.

Marin released with his left arm, and Kendo pushed against him with both of her larger hands. Her left covered up Marin's face over his mouth while it was still growing. Why not just speak constantly? Kendo wondered while covering his mouth. Repeating "Cancel" would keep us from fighting back at all. "It's not just the weakness of having to say the word aloud, or maybe us needing to hear it, but there is also a time gap between when he can say it. The gap is short but the time it takes for us to start using our Quirks is shorter." Kendo's hand grew more and tightened its grip over Marin's head and face that her fingers were rising up from his nose and mouth to cover his eyes as well. She flinched though as her index finger spread to cover his eyes, because she could see that look in his eyes that matched the feeling of his lips curling upwards behind the rest of her hand.

Marin's right fist punched forward into Kendo's gut. Her hand came off his head and she flew back out of the black smoke that swirled violently around Marin at that moment and shot at his eyes and for his uncovered mouth. Marin held his breath and closed his eyes, and he sprinted through the smoke towards the sound of Kendo hitting the ground. Shinso ran towards her but froze as he spun towards the smoke that blew open with Kuroiro's head and body forming out of it in mid-sprint behind that hole. There was panic covering Kuroiro's face as he looked towards Kendo who had been calling out their enemy's weaknesses for him and Shinso to hear. Marin was focused solely on her, and Shinso's feet froze as he was running into the path between Marin and Kendo. His hands held the hero weapons of his fallen hero, Eraser Head. He had trained with them for years, but at that moment it was like his memory of all that training vanished.

He even forgot how to breathe. All he could see was the charging form of this villain who he saw murder Shoda. He saw the brutal death of another student in his shoes. It wouldn't take him a second, Shinso continued running after his feet froze on the floor like that. He was still closer to where Kendo just bounced and skid to a stop, coughing up spit and gasping on the floor from how heavy that blow was. I thought he was Triggered because of how strong he was, and he didn't even have a Quirk that could power up like that. Shinso flung his bandages at Marin, who swung his right arm forward and knocked the ends of them aside without breaking stride.

Shinso stood in the way between the class representative behind him who rose her head with spit down both corners of her lips to her chin. Her agonized expression filled with fear for Shinso who whipped his arms back to try a last desperate attempt at wrapping up this enemy. Marin's mouth opened, and Shinso's opened in response, so Marin just smiled wider instead of saying a final taunt to an enemy who could use that against him. He was just too conscious of Shinso's ability. Too experienced to slip up like that. But he was not expecting the direction that the next grappling hook was fired from.

Kuroiro fired from fifteen feet up in the air and on Marin's back left. Only his upper body had emerged from the top of a black cloud of smoke he carried over himself to a position in Marin's blindspot that would be hard to dodge from. Marin pulled away and turned his body, but the hook that missed his arm was yanked back and wrapped around his wrist before he could pull his hand away. The instant his wrist was caught, Shinso swung both arms hard to the right while diving forward. The bandages knocked aside at first by Marin lifted back from the floor they were skidding on and hit Marin in the shins of his legs that both just turned towards where those sliding bandages were coming from.

Black smoke shot down towards Marin's back. Shinso yanked towards himself while getting behind him. Kendo's huge hands gripped through pavement and she yanked her upper body up-

"Cancel."

Kuroiro fell out of the air and twelve feet to the ground. He landed on his hands and feet but his legs bent too much and his knees hit the pavement. Kendo's hands shrank and weakened, her fingernails digging into pavement and not breaking through anymore as her upper body slumped. Marin felt a tug on the front of his legs and he turned his head and looked down at the teenager trying so hard to knock him over. Shinso's tugging weakened and then stopped as he stared up into Marin's skeptical eyes that filled with bloodlust an instant later. "You first then," Marin said, and he smiled so much more from the fact that he spoke to Shinso Hitoshi who could have said something first but instead had just stared at him. He could see the regret and also the hopelessness on Shinso's face, because even though he regretted not saying anything, he knew inside that had he said anything the villain would not have made that final remark.

Shinso rose his hands in front of his face as Marin pulled back his right arm and opened his hand so all his fingers were curled inwards at him. Shinso brought his hands up to protect himself, and then his eyes opened huge and he stared at the gloves on his hands. They did not have the same utility as the gloves that Nirengeki Shoda once wore, but they resembled those gloves exactly. The radar-like pattern woven into them made Shinso's heart race but his expression only harden. Those hands that had risen in a futile attempt to protect himself, actually turned outwards and reached for the enemy he stomped towards with anger flashing over his face.

Shinso gripped onto Marin's costume. Marin curled his hand back inwards and grasped around the top of Shinso's skull. He squeezed. Shinso's hair pushed down over his eyes and he felt fingers digging into his temples and his forehead. "AHHHH!" Shinso screamed but tightened his grip in Marin's costume more, while pushing his heels down on the floor and yanking backwards.

"Together!" A voice screamed out above Shinso and the enemy who just started laughing as he squeezed the teen's head.

Marin's eyes snapped up. The blond haired teen dropping out of the air punched his right hand forward the same time that Mimi punched forward her left at his right side. Monoma's face twisted in rage after he had slammed forward his fist, because he instantly recognized the face of the villain who lifted his gaze. His hair was much longer and spikier over his head than the videos and pictures that Monoma had seen of him, but he took one look from up close and knew that this was Shoda's killer.

"Force Amplifier! Ten Times!" Mimi yelled out. The girl with a pink snout and ears of a pig to match punched her fist and it grazed past the side of Marin's face that yanked away rapidly.

Monoma took Marin's dodge into account better than the less experienced girl he had just dropped out of the air with. Turei Ioui dropped down behind them with his body turned completely into Stone. His skin and costume were all gray and he cracked the ground under him before sprinting forward to join the fight too. Monoma aimed his punch lower than Marin's face, hitting him in the upper left side of his chest. Monoma twisted his body in his downwards dive and followed through with his right arm that had turned back into Stone itself right as he amplified the force of his attack too. He saw Mimi aiming for the head and saw the villain's eyes focus on her fist specifically as he dodged, but his fist lodged into Marin's chest and pushed forward hard to knock the man off his feet and flying backwards.

Monoma hit down on the ground and slammed his left fist down as his left knee also turned to Stone to keep from getting hurt. Mimi stumbled on her landing and spun out into a fall as she mostly missed Marin. Shinso fell to the ground just next to her as Marin's fingers came off his head when the villain felt the force of Monoma's punch to the chest. Monoma got back up off his knee and brushed his right hand over Shinso's back while stepping forward. He swung that arm behind him too and tapped Kuroiro who sprinted ahead of the teens down on the floor.

"Cancel." Monoma stocked up with Quirks of all those around him. And then all at once, his Copy failed and he no longer had any of their Quirks stored inside him. Marin chuckled at the look on Monoma's face. He stood back straight up from how he landed in a hunched position without hitting the floor even after Monoma's blow. Marin swung his right arm in a few circles at his side while shifting his gaze around all the students, then he turned his body to the side quickly and let the steel arm pass by his side from where it just shot down through the air in a surprise attack.

"Nice try. But shouldn't you be more concerned about the students still on your campus, mouse man?" Marin wondered to the face of the robot turning towards him as it swept by in front of Marin's body. Marin gripped it by the wrist of its arm that it just tried slamming into his back, and he yanked hard while doing a one-eighty turn towards people rushing at his back. The second years and Monoma who just arrived still rushed forward at this villain to try and fight him with the distraction Nezu provided. The Intel-ANT that had carried the three newcomers to the evacuation site was aimed towards the very students it had been helping.

What did he mean by that?! Kendo thought in fear as she rushed Marin's left side. The girl in a black domino mask darted her eyes towards Musutafu for a moment before locking them back on the villain who had said something far too ominous for her liking.

"Get up, Shinso," Kuroiro grabbed his classmate under his armpit and helped him to his feet. Shinso had been grabbing the sides of his head where he could still feel those fingers indenting into his skull. He had a migraine, his head was pounding, but he lifted his gaze towards the other students and the robot that Marin was manipulating and dodging with ease. Kuroiro steadied Shinso at his side while also looking over towards Marin himself, a cloud of black smoke fading away behind them. Kuroiro glanced down at the one smoke grenade he had left on his belt, then checked out Shinso and the one white bandage he could still see wrapped at the top of Shinso's costume under his voice modulator. His eyes went back to the villain in front of them, "This assassins is skilled, but we have to find a way to take him down."

Shinso looked left and at Kuroiro's face that was examining their enemy's every move. Shinso thought of this classmate who he had teamed with in the second Sports Festival. He watched Kuroiro's eyes dart around and take in everything in front of them all at once. Shinso's own gaze shifted back and he cleared the pounding noises from his head to think more clearly. He's more skilled than us. More experienced. He always fights without his Quirk, and he has the advantage after taking away others' Quirks. He's stronger. Faster. More experienced! What do we have- numbers? That's… Something, at least. How do we win?

How would he? Kuroiro's thoughts were calmer than Shinso's. As much as the indigo-haired teen next to him wanted to focus and attack in a composed way, Shinso had less faith that they could actually do it than Kuroiro who did not feel that doubt. His eyes closed for a moment as he saw Kendo and Monoma attack from either side of their enemy who just broke off one of the Intel-Ant's arms by using its other one. Marin swung that broken arm around at Kendo while his head snapped straight ahead as he focused onto an angered Monoma yelling out while drawing a weapon from the back of his belt that Marin could not see yet. Kuroiro's eyes closed, and he only heard the action in front of him for a second as he thought, We had no right being in the finals that year. We didn't win, but Shinso's team dropping out meant we moved forward. Shoda, dropping out. Kuroiro imagined his dead friend's face but let it fade quickly.

As much as it felt like we did not belong in that next round, we got there because we got fifth place. Fifth was higher than I thought we could get. We got it. Against much stronger opponents. With better Quirks. Zach couldn't use his. I couldn't use mine. And Kaminari's… we had a clear disadvantage. That wasn't the only time. He beat Pixie Bob's Earth Beast. They wanted to show him he had enemies he could not defeat. They wanted to show him that there were things he could not do. Kuroiro's eyes opened back up as he imagined the tree in the woods that they got to fall on Pixie Bob's Earth Beast. It wasn't just Zach. After watching him from up close that many times, I know it better than anyone. No enemy is unbeatable. You killed all the assassins. You took down Eziano Mozcaccio. You took down Redfox, and the League of Shadows.

I can take this one man. Kuroiro's eyes narrowed and he sprinted forward while grabbing the second smoke grenade off his waist. His eyes darted towards Shinso for a split second and made eye contact with his classmate who he did not say his plan to. He just met Shinso's eyes then snapped his head forward straight at the powerful villain.

Kendo just made her hands huge and smashed them into the ground a distance from Marin who she had jumped away from to dodge parts of the robot he dismantled in front of them. Turei's body had turned into Stone before a chunk of Intel-ANT torso slammed into him, but the steel of that robot was harder than his body and pebbles flew off of the boy who screamed out in pain before hitting the ground and rolling away. Mimi spun towards him and yelled out, then she turned back and crossed her arms- Marin's swinging fist opened up and he clawed through her crossed arms with his razor-tipped fingernails that cut through her costume and her skin beneath so blood splashed into the air where the girl screaming in agony flew back from.

Smoke rose up from the rolling grenade coming towards Marin who smirked and sprinted out of the way this time. He ran towards where he just knocked Mimi to the floor with bad bloody gashes on both of her arms. Her eyes rose up and terror filled her like never before as Marin rose his right arm with his fingers covered in blood and curled outwards. "Cancel." He swung that arm to the right while twisting his body, but his swing went over an empty space behind the huge hands that shrunk down and showed that they were not in front of Kendo's face. Marin looked down and started slamming that arm towards Kendo's back as she had crouched down far and was leaning forward with smaller hands reaching for his legs. "You have a keen mind to-"

Black smoke rushed past on either side of Marin's body. Mimi grit her teeth but she curled both hands into fists. STRONGEST! She rose her arms up and winced from the gashes that hurt so much. "POWER AMPLIFIER!" She warned her classmates first, before she slammed her hands down into the ground in front of her sitting form.

"Such a powerful combo," Marin remarked, as black smoke pushed into him on one side, and growing hands gripped his leg harder-

Marin uppercut a punch into Kendo's face through the smoke that she could not see through well. He judged the location of her head based on the feeling of her gripping arms, and he laughed as he could also easily judge the effectiveness of that punch when her arms went flying off of his legs. "Do you expect me to Cancel your Quirks every time?" He wondered, while reaching his right hand out without turning his head that same direction. Kuroiro had cleared a small path for Monoma sprinting through with his arm coated in Stone, but Marin caught his punch and then lifted up the boy over his head and swung down on the other side.

STONE! Monoma started turning his back harder, but right before he hit the ground, Marin spoke. "Cancel." Kuroiro's smoke stopped moving according to his will and he fell to his knees, right in front of a kicking foot that slammed into his face and took him off his hands and knees. Marin finished slamming Monoma into the ground right as he kicked Kuroiro in the face. He had the blond's twisted arm in one hand, and Monoma screamed as Marin twisted to the side and popped Monoma's shoulder out of its socket.

"Stop hurting them!" Mimi screamed.

The girl who just stood up in front of Marin was shrouded in smoke. She ran forward, her mouth opening up, and she swung her right fist forward at Marin while yelling out, "POWER AMP-"

Marin stomped towards her and snapped his right hand out to her throat. He yanked towards himself and tears splashed out of Mimi's terrified eyes, breath gasping out of her mouth and spit dribbling down to her chin as he squeezed her throat. "Or what?" Marin wondered to the girl who had no friends in her immediate vicinity to save her. Marin could see at the moment that he responded to her though, a shadow through the blanket of black smoke around them. A silhouette back near where Mimi had just sprinted towards him. A silhouette so close to where he heard Mimi's voice yell out, that the first shout could have easily come from there instead of from a foot or two away where Mimi came running at him and yelling in the same tone a second later.

Marin's right hand around Mimi's throat was not snapping her neck as he wanted it to. His eyes did not shift all around him. They stayed locked forward, on the silhouette getting more defined as he walked forward into the cloud of black smoke that was starting to fade anyway without Kuroiro keeping it condensed anymore. "Let her go," Shinso Hitoshi ordered his Brainwashed target. Fingers loosened on Mimi's neck, and she gripped the hand with both of hers and pried it off. Shinso glared darkly at the man before him whose teeth pressed together hard. His eyes were locked on Shinso's, and Shinso started to sweat as that smoke was spreading out and making it easier to see the struggle on Marin's face.

Like Zach, Shinso ground his teeth too at the sight of a man struggling against his Brainwashing. Shinso imagined the villains in Wampajawa who used forms of mental Quirks against Zach. He thought of how he had been too intimidated by that to even consider attempting his Brainwashing on Zach, though at this moment he wished he had asked to try just to better prepare himself for a situation exactly like this one. "He's fighting it," Shinso called out to his classmates near him who had bloodied expressions, bruised limbs, some broken. Monoma's shoulder was popped out of place, and Mimi was rubbing her throat that had red finger imprints on it. She was trembling in fear from the feeling of how powerful his grip had been on her neck. Mimi knew that one twist of his wrist was all it would have taken to snap her neck.

He knows that they can't attack him now as he''s unable to defend himself, Shinso realized as he saw the twitching corners of Marin's mouth that were trying to go up into a smile rather than down in a frown. If he's hit too hard it will knock off the partial Brainwashing he's under. He knows my weaknesses. Even though we have him frozen for the moment, Shinso could see the injuries of his classmates around him and the younger teens who were also back up on their feet now and surrounding this temporarily paralyzed opponent. We'll beat him though.

He had faith. "Remember that look Zach had on his face?" Shinso began to the others around Marin. "When Shigaraki was in the middle of torturing him? Do you all remember what he said?"

"Midoriya, all of my classmates, they're going to destroy you League of Villains." Kendo recalled his voice. "I remember," she responded loudly. She remembered Zach and Midoriya flying off together in China to face off against the Fabu on their own. She could see out the window of her classroom where she had watched the two of them fight each other, and where she had seen Zach surrender himself to his friend he trusted so much. Midoriya's off fighting Shigaraki right now. Like Zach knew he would. The rest of us have to beat the rest of the League! She wiped some blood from the busted left corner of her lips and glared at Marin more intensely and with her hands growing huge as she stepped closer to him in preparation for his escape from Brainwashing.

Turei and Mimi both imagined Shigaraki carving his knife across Zach Sazaki's body. They remembered the screams of Lifebringer's childhood friend that he had been forced to listen to while he was being tortured. And they remembered the clip shown latest of what Lifebringer yelled at Shigaraki, "You messed up, fucking with Class A so much. With U.A. as a whole…" That includes us, Mimi imagined. The girl who had been a first year at the time of that incident gained a more confident and stronger expression again despite the marks on her neck.

Two years ago I couldn't do anything to help, Turei thought. But we're all stronger now. The League prepared us for them! Shinso's right, about Lifebringer being right!

Monoma saw Zach spitting in Shigaraki's face in a way so brave and without fear that Monoma had never looked up to anyone else more than he had Zach in that moment. "You only made them more ready for you, attacking them over and over again! You prepared them to fight you!" There's only one thing he was wrong about when he told off Shigaraki like that. "They're all strong. Stronger than me, and stronger than any of you villains." We aren't stronger than you. No one ever was. But we will live up to that expectation you had for us.

Monoma jogged towards Kendo and he tapped his right hand on her shoulder. "You grip legs and lower torso. I'll get upper body and his mouth. Make sure he can't say 'Cancel' again."

"He's shaking!" Mimi yelled out.

Kuroiro glared down at the pavement below his feet. It's not completely black. But… He bent down and put more of his body over a larger surface area of the street. MERGE!

Turei punched his Stone fists together and then ran forwards after Kendo and Monoma did the same. Marin's eyes darted every direction following his enemies while his body started shaking harder and harder. "We'll take him down together," Kendo yelled out. She smiled heroically while charging the foe who glared straight back into the orange-haired Class B student's eyes, and she yelled out unfazed by the assassin's glare, "And we'll protect the people we've sworn to serve!"

---

The Eimbou Plaza evacuation center had the protection of many young new heroes strong enough to protect those inside. Not every site that Nezu's Intel-ANTs told people to evacuate to were faring as well. In Arakawa, the Floura Cafe and Restaurant had had the metal sheets on its outer walls ripped open. The newer building had been renovated in the past year, and the owner had made a private deal with Nezu of U.A. to no expense to himself. The ability to turn his restaurant into a fortified bunker at a moment's notice seemed like an interesting installation idea to a man currently laying slumped against the bar shelf behind the counter on the fourth floor of the building. The thin business was four floors tall, though it also had a basement that many people had evacuated to earlier on.

Those people screamed behind the basement blast doors that were thicker than the outer sheets hidden in walls that could not be made any thicker without drawing attention to what was being done during construction. Upstairs were the villains and the AANTs with them that had killed the citizens willing to stay on the upper floors, and some who had tried fighting them, along with a few Intel-ANTs who came to assist when they were notified that the building's defenses were overtaken.

"Move back!" A villain yelled on the other side of the doors that some civilian men were pushing into on the stairs down into a basement crowded with terrified people.

The slamming on the steel stopped for a moment. The citizens on the other side started breathing again. Their eyes were filled with tears and fear. They looked to the door and wondered if just maybe, the villains had given up on getting through the door. Then an immaterial hand slid slowly through the door and curled for the inner handle. "Wait!"

"STOP HIM!"

"AHHHH!"

The door could be opened easily from the inside in case people stuck outside needed to get in at a moment's notice. In case the villains were right behind them, the citizens inside the door had the moral decision to make whether to open it up or to leave it closed and abandon people out there. Some of the people downstairs felt really good about themselves that they had opened the door back up to get in wounded people who had been fighting villains in the cafe upstairs. But the system put in place to allow them to show a stronger morality that Nezu had believed people would show in a disaster scenario, was abused by the Quirk of the villain whose hand became more solid and gripped on the handle he twisted, unlocking the door-

A man on the lower side of the door clawed the hand that was back to a solid form. Blood splashed out of the back of the hand that yanked through the heavy steel again. The second the handle was turned though, the latch opened. The civilians ran back towards the door they had leaned off of when the pressure stopped on the other side. The villains were more prepared for it, slamming back into the door that was not clicked into place. They hit it first, and the door swung inwards and knocked citizens down the stairs. And the horde of villains charged into the basement that would act as the grave for the people screaming and backing away, or using weak Quirks mostly untrained against those who had gone so deep into hiding.

A young barista hiding in a cleaning closet upstairs covered her ears as she heard the screams through the floor below her. They filled the vents, and she had to bring her hand from her right ear to cover her mouth with as she was about to scream or sob herself. Someone! Please help us!

Unfortunately, a few blocks away there were heroes backing the other direction from the evacuation center they had gotten warning from a flying robot that they needed to go help at. "Crust!"

"We need to regroup!"

"Where did you all come from-"

"RUN!"

"NO! Don't head North!"

"Why not-"

"There have to be over a thousand villains marching on Adachi!"

"WHAT?!"

A rocket flew over the heroes' heads from their left side as they were running back towards an area they knew there were more heroes in who could help them. Some ducked and screamed, while others just spun in panic as they tried to come up with a way to stop that missile from- BOOM! An explosion ripped through the sixth floor of an apartment building behind them. Flames exploded out into rooms connecting to the one that was hit, and people could be heard screaming inside it.

"We have to help them-"

"LOOK OUT!"

"AHHH- ugh…"

Down near the Port of Tokyo, the Koutou district was flooding. Selkie pushed back on Sirius' shoulder and knocked her out of the way of a harpoon firing up out from below the surface. Selkie dove back off the quick-made yellow raft of Banana Bou who yelled at his sidekicks to keep paddling before spinning and yelling to ask if Sirius was alright. Selkie swam just over the submerged pavement of the road towards a slug-looking villain who dropped his harpoon gun while diving for a crack in the pavement his body started squeezing to push down into.

Selkie would have given chase, but he snapped his head up and swung his arms in front of him to push back the other way at the sight of the swarm of piranhas that all looked connected by a cloud of swirling red mist that could have been the blood of recent victims. Behind the swarm, Selkie saw at least ten other villains swimming his way. Then his eyes darted to his side and back at the raft behind him, and his fists curled tighter and slammed back the other way than he just swung them. Selkie smiled back at the villains who hesitated as he changed direction again, with even the horde of piranhas all going wide-eyed at the sight of him charging the pack of them without fear.

A former intern of Selkie's glanced towards the port to her southeast as she bounced down the street closer to the center of Tokyo. Her head turned towards Tokyo Bay. Asui Tsuyu's plate-sized eyes scanned over the rising sea levels surely caused by some enemy's Quirk. Smoke rose from storage warehouses and industrial complexes near the sea. But smoke rose from all over the city, and her head turned back in the direction of a media building she had been hopping towards earlier before getting dragged into other fights on the streets.

"Ochaco-chan!" Tsuyu yelled out. She bounced again and darted her gaze to either side down alleyways but did not spot her classmate anywhere. The two had been together for a short time before getting separated in a massive clash between heroes and the U.A. robots that had come to help them, against a Spider, a larger number of AANTs, and a larger number of villains too mostly part of the Jazz though mixed in with Radian and League of Villain members.

Froppy had a small cut on her left thigh but a much deeper gash on her right arm that was actually dripping off her green costume's sleeve as she bounced. Her dark green hair fell straight behind her no longer with a a bow at the bottom to hold it together, as she was using that bow to help stop the bleeding on her arm. Froppy bounced again and again, getting back closer towards Heroally though she slowed down and skid on her feet in a crouched position on her next landing.

Tsuyu's head turned to the right. She was not yet at the next intersection, and yet she could see over the buildings on her right side. Ka-BOOOOOM! The city shook around her. Flames blew so high in the air over the roofs of those buildings. Smoke billowed around the shadow of a beast that was too tall. Too large. It stepped back as the explosion ripped across it, and then the ground underneath Tsuyu shook again as it stomped back forward and screamed in a voice that rang out from a couple blocks away. Her head snapped to the left, and Tsuyu stared below a giant Spider robot marching on its own with guns on the bottom and sides firing out around it at three blue robots trying to fight back for the people's sake.

She looked below that Spider, because some strange large metal tube just dropped out from the bottom and imbedded itself in the road. What are these things? Asui turned and leapt towards the Spider. I'm not running just because I don't want to fight that thing! She told it to herself, because of the shame that swelled inside her as she suddenly bounced this direction. Her expression hardened. I'm not, she repeated to herself. I'm not running. Don't get in your own head. I never forgave him- That's not… What are these things?

Froppy bounced to her right then quickly to her left. She vanished to sight but the shooting guns that switched targets to aim on her from the belly of the Spider were still tracking her around. Cool my blood, Tsuyu thought calmly as she continued to bounce around while using her natural camouflage. The targeting system of the Spider that had continued to track this target it lost sight of using thermal vision lost sight of her and the guns stopped firing. They tracked back onto the flying targets of the robots from U.A. that were keeping it occupied and from attacking civilian population centers around them.

Froppy did not continue to face this robot that she just got close to. She had seen some of her strongest classmates struggle to even damage it. On her own, she knew there was little she could do to fight it. What she could do though was investigate unobstructed. She bounced past the legs of the Spider and to the tube on its own on the street now. Tsuyu landed and she examined it from up close. Everyone's distracted. The villains aren't doing anything with these, yet, so no one's paying them much attention. I ignored the first ones I saw too. Someone needs to figure it out though before they're used against us. Ochaco-chan, stay safe. I'm going to stop this before it becomes a larger problem…

Farther north than Tsuyu and a little to the west, a horde of over three thousand people were moving at a brisk pace. Their speed bordered on running though the heroes were keeping them from going too fast as it could create a stampede and hurt even more people. "Get everyone south. It's the only way."

"The fighting's just as thick down there!"

"Don't run ahead! We need to be careful!"

"Where are we going?!"

"You have a plan, don't you?"

Pony Tsunotori looked to her right at an older woman who just asked her that. She was on the left side of the pack they had evacuated in the nick of time up in Arakawa. Her head turned more and she looked behind her as did those civilians in the massive pack moving quickly down the road. Pony stayed closer to the back than most of the pack, and the people back here included families with small children, and the elderly like this woman who was panting and could barely keep up with everyone else. Pony looked behind her because two of the older heroes also walking back here with her were talking to each other louder than they should have been.

"Do we go back there for him? He was already injured-"

"More than injured. We can't help him now. Crust… he'll hold off the villains as long as he can. We- We need to find somewhere to bring these people that's at least somewhat safe."

"There is nowhere safe!" The first hissed back at his fellow sidekick for a different pro hero who had already fallen that day. "If we lose another of the top 10- I mean, Crust probably was, but-"

"It's not 'if.' You saw that wound. He told us to run, and we listened. If we go back now, we're just going to die too."

Pony looked back to her right and flashed a smile at the people who looked back towards her and got surprised by that look that was more calming and made it look like the young hero girl thought things would be alright. The American girl looked back forward and called out, "Everyone keep up! We'll get to the next evacuation center and make sure you're all safe there-"

"That's what you said about the last place!"

"We can't keep- AHHH!" A young mother holding her baby in her arms as she ran paused and screamed out while looking over the buildings near them. Tsunotori turned her head and dark lines covered her face that flashed with fear at the sight of the head moving over the tops of those buildings. "RUN!" The mother screamed, sprinting forward and holding her daughter tighter to her shoulder, ignoring the baby's cries as it was more important to move fast right now than move as comfortably as possible.

"Wait!"

"Everyone keep calm!"

"Move together- hey! Stay calm and-"

"AHHHH!"

"RUNNNN!"

BAH-HOOOOOOM!

Bakugo flew backwards and bounced off the street then slammed into the wall of a building all the way down the road he just fired those blasts on. He had been up in the air around midway up the giant's body when he released the blast into his midsection. He had aimed upwards from the middle of Gigantomachia's body, engulfing the beast's upper torso, his neck, and his head. Bakugo was thrown backwards by the force that broke apart another set of green gauntlets. Pieces of those gauntlets were still raining down out of the smoke, flying backwards and bouncing on the pavement later than Bakugo who was thrown out of his own gloves and into a hard steel support bar inside the wall of the building he just collided with.

"That time it had to have…" Centipeder closed his mouth and he just shook his head in disbelief and extreme frustration.

"How many of those explosions can it take?" Sky-Girl screamed out.

"Just focus on capitalizing on his blows," Presto Change-o yelled back at the member of the Feisty Foursome up in the air above him.

Kuresta nodded his head on the other side of the road, and he sprinted forward and then jumped and slid across the road in front of the giant's feet. Out from the back of his heels and under the soles of his shoes, a toothpaste-like substance of lightish-blue and white sprayed out behind him. He coated the road in it and then curved in his slide and swept back the other way to coat more of the road in it. "Move!" Vixen called towards her fellow pro.

Kuresta jumped up in the air and Sky-Girl flew down to grab his hands he threw up for her. Vixen ran straight towards Machia who stepped forward through the smoke. Vixen's face was covered in sweat. The woman in a green costume with dark purple highlights unhinged her jaw and bent her whole upper body towards the floor so her chin touched it. A massive wave of blackish-purple sludge poured out of Vixen's mouth and coated the road. Heroes on both sides rushed behind or farther in front of Machia to avoid the sludge Vixen produced.

Gigantomachia stomped down into the sludge and toothpaste. His foot slid forward slightly, and then it pressed down harder and broke the pavement under the coated street. Vixen stumbled to the side and her eyes bulged as she tried to jump back only to find the floor below her cracking. Sky-Girl tossed Kuresta somewhere safe then started flying back as fast as she could. "Look out!" Spunky screamed to her teammates. The leader of the Feisty Foursome used her Quirk, Slow, by throwing her hands up in the green-and-yellow-striped gauntlets that they were in. "Ectoplasm!" She screamed out desperately for help, as when she started running forward she winced and her knees shook. Her legs almost buckled out from beneath her, a result from a long-term injury she sustained in the fight against Dandy after he had injected with Apocalypse.

Spunky aimed only on the monster's right leg instead of on all of its body. That foot that just pushed through the street had pulled back slightly after breaking the ground. Sky-Girl was flying down towards Vixen who reached her hands up for her friend's, and Ectoplasm clones leapt for the two women over the breaking pavement covered in sludge and toothpaste… Machia's eyes that were locked forward on the building ahead of him that Bakugo had smashed into and was still peeling himself off of, darted down for a moment at the heroes between the two of them.

Bakugo had no time to recover. He lost another set of gauntlets, but he could not wait a single instant. His hands snapped up at the window frame he made it back to and his wrists screamed in pain. Panic had just covered his face though as his eyes darted to the side and the building behind him that he heard people screaming inside of. An explosion just as large as the last one blasted out of his hands that he had pointed in front of him, pushing back against the hail of debris kicked up towards him and right through the bodies of Vixen and Sky-Girl that were thrown back broken and bloody and full of holes.

Ectoplasm's Clones were broken apart into the ectoplasm-like substance that they were made out of. Spunky and Plucky screamed out from Gigantomachia's other side as they saw their friends' bodies amidst the falling rocks. Ectoplasm darted his eyes up towards the building that a massive Explosion just blew off of and shattered most of the windows around it from the force, but Bakugo prevented that building from turning into swiss cheese at least and that was the only consolation at the moment. The substance that Ectoplasm's Clones turned into started sliding across the ground in front of Machia who stomped his right foot back down on the ground and now stepped his left foot forward as well. Both of his arms were moving towards the building that Bakugo had just shoved himself back into so hard that the support behind him broke and he was now stumbling back across an office floor to try and get back on the street.

Clones all over the road broke apart into ectoplasm and shot across the floor. Ectoplasm himself sprinted forward on his thin prosthetic legs, and he darted around Machia's back on his right side with a dart of his eyes up at the monster's right arm that dragged across the side of a building. It was just moving forward, and Machia himself did not seem to notice or care, but he ripped through several stories of that building full of screaming civilians. Even the steel plating that Nezu's robots had covered those floors' windows in was torn through without any delay at all.

Ectoplasm darted his eyes back down and sped into the middle of his gathering ectoplasm. The U.A. teacher and pro hero rose up out of the street and shot to forty feet, then sixty. He rose rapidly, growing in size to larger than Machia was when he first dropped down into the city. When he first landed though, Machia was not large enough to be seen over the tops of buildings, and just by moving his arms he was not destroying the offices on his sides. "We must stop him before he grows any more," Ectoplasm's deep voice was loud and carried to all those around him still fighting this monster.

"I can't even-" Spunky started, her hands shaking and her voice hoarse after watching two of her best friends since high school die like that right in front of her.

"If you didn't Slow him, who knows if Explosion King's blast would have destroyed all the debris the kick would have made," Presto Change-o said while walking forward himself behind the monster that had mainly been ignoring them. It was why he was so shocked as Machia looked down and chose to kill the Feisty Foursome members. It was a side thought. They were annoying him, but the kick was meant to send debris straight at Explosion King. "If not for you Slowing the kick, everyone in that building, and likely Gigantomachia's target himself, would all be dead right now. Remember that, Spunky. And keep fighting!"

"Sen…sei," Bakugo ground his teeth between panting breaths as he staggered back up to the broken wall and open windows of the office building. It was over forty stories tall that he was close to the top of it. Bakugo glared back towards this monster who his strongest attacks had been doing little against, but he had to look past his giant of a teacher first who got Machia's attention and his wrath. Rage twisted on Machia's expression. Even with his blank eyes, rage could be seen in them, though it was more pronounced with his sharpened teeth that bared furiously at another distraction getting in the way of the target "Shigaraki" sent him after. "I've got this," Bakugo growled in frustration towards the back of Ectoplasm's head.

His teacher was a terrifying figure himself. Ecotplasm stood massive in his trench coat that touched the ground and covered most of the street. His arms were hidden under that cloak, but at the size he was at, it would be hard for him to use his usual kicking fighting style. Machia slammed his right fist forward, and Ectoplasm's huge body absorbed the blow. He skid backwards on the street, but only far enough back that he was closer to Bakugo now who snapped his gaze down to the fist sticking through his teacher's back. "Aim for the head, Ba- Explosion King," Ectoplasm told his student over the past three years. His eyes darted back for a moment and he yelled out, "NOW!"

"Ahh, haahh, alright," Bakugo smirked from ear to ear. His wrists were blinking with green light. The blinking was getting closer together since he pressed the summon button a minute ago, and they were close enough now that he knew he only had a few seconds left to wait.

Bakugo leapt off the wall and blew Explosions out his palms to fly up over the top of Ectoplasm's head. Gigantomachia was annoyed by his arm getting stuck inside the body of this Clone giant, and he swung that arm up and to the right side, slamming Ectoplasm into the skyscraper on his right and Ectoplasm's left. The hero knew he could not hit that as a solid form, and even the enormous mass of his ectoplasm slamming into the building was too much for any window that he poured through and destroyed offices on the other side. Machia's arm kept going too through the thirty-something-th floor, as well as the floors above and below it.

Bakugo had been rising over his teacher's head ready to fire off a huge blast into Machia's face in a second that he was going to try and make stronger than any of the previous Explosions. He watched in the left corner of his eyes as Machia's arm smashed through a building full of people and broke supports in the corners and all across the building's walls. It did not go all the way through to the other side but he could see the building shaking in a way that had his heart racing and pounding in his ears. Need to finish this now then, his eyes never left Machia even as he watched that happen in his peripheral vision. And he could see that even as this villain was killing dozens of people, its eyes had locked on him when he came flying up over Ectoplasm's head.

Bakugo swung both arms back behind him. The wrists of his costume were bumpy and blinking with green light. Latches awaited clipping on. And the blinking green got so fast that it was almost a solid green light, and then it was. Then the two rocket-propelled green grenade-looking gauntlets came flying through the sky behind Bakugo and broke apart as they reached him. Each one broke in half and then connected back together around his wrists that were already swinging forward. Sparks came out of his lower back, out his shoulders, and out his legs this time as he focused on igniting some sweat collected in other pockets of his costume. They would counterbalance him at least a little to prevent him from smashing back into that building behind him for a third time.

"DIE! NUCLEAR DEVA-"

Machia's mouth opened up. "RAAAAAAOOOOOOAAAAAHHHHH!"

Bakugo's eyes bulged and his arms that he was swinging forward got swung out even more to the sides. His body blew backwards, and his eyes darted to the side in horror as the walls of every building on both sides of him were being ripped apart from that scream. Machia's larger body grew his lung capacity too. His size and strength were beyond anything anyone combatting him could have expected though, that a single breath would rip apart walls and sent people flying out windows that he breath flew into like a hurricane.

Bakugo flew back through the building behind him that cracked and bent. It trembled and Bakugo flew out the back of it in the same second that he had flown through an open window. Furniture and people and glass were all flying out of windows. Glass sliced people up who screamed out in terror or tried to and could not find the breath to do it from how hard they were just sent flying out of their building. Some people hit their heads on walls on the way out. Necks had snapped and so many bones were broken. Bakugo's eyes darted every direction around him, his sparks stopping for a moment as he looked for who to save, but there were so many people needing it all at once. And his head snapped back towards Machia who ran forward towards the building directly in front of that scream that had already been so damaged.

"BAKUGO!" It roared at the top of its lungs, not losing its voice at all from that last scream.

"STOP HIM!"

"Don't let him- AHH!"

"Kuresta!" Presto Change-o teleported next to his colleague and yelled at him. "Give as much of a soft landing as you can!"

"I'll try! But I can't get everyone!" Kuresta screamed back while already sprinting at full speed past the legs of Machia.

Gran Torino flew out of nowhere and intercepted two falling civilians just on Bakugo's right side. He grabbed them and locked eyes with the student on his left who saw him and opened his eyes wide at the sight of the hero flying there. "Don't. You draw Machia back there and keep him on that last road." Gran Torino shot over and grabbed three more people before zipping behind Bakugo and continuing to speak to him at rocket speeds, "He's coming after you! I've been evacuating the buildings around your fight, now get back there!" Gran Torino shot away, and Bakugo grinned while pointing his hands behind him again and blasting Explosions to get him back towards the last street he was on.

Bakugo flew towards the building that he had just got blown through. Gigantomachia reached it first. The building pushed Bakugo's way. Machia charged through it. His body was as large as the building itself that broke apart around him as he sprinted through it. Bakugo reacted quickly though, blasting Explosions out the soles of his feet and then cupping his hands together when he reached as high as Machia's face again. "FLASH GRENADE!" Bright light flared in Machia's eyes, and then Bakugo blasted an actual small Explosion into Machia's blinded eyes too to get himself farther from the giant's head and all the pushing debris around it that was about to fly at him.

Bakugo flipped backwards then blasted an Explosion out of his left shoulder, which twisted him in midair and right over the hand of Machia that swung below him. The wind from the swing of that arm dragged Bakugo through the air, but he kicked his left leg forward and blew an Explosion out of his left knee. That knocked him the other way and set him up to fire Explosions out both hands and fly up over Machia's spiky head. He blasted himself behind the giant and while falling set himself back up for the giant "Nuclear Devastation" blast he had just made up the name of. This time he was behind Machia's head, making it impossible for his enemy to blow him away, literally.

The young hero dropped through space previously occupied by a floor of a building that he had no idea how many people had gotten off of. All he knew was that a lot of dead bodies had just been dropping out of the air with him. People who Gran Torino had not reached yet in his evacuation of the area around Gigantomachia which he had known was his biggest priority the moment he saw that monster drop into the city. Gran Torino turned his head and he sweatdropped at the sight of Machia turning his head back towards a boy who was aimed straight ahead but had an angle where no buildings were directly behind Machia and would be blown apart by this next blast.

"NUCLEAR DEVASTATION!" Bakugo roared. Explosions came out of the sweat pockets on his back in all the right places to counterbalance his largest blast that broke apart another pair of gauntlets.

You have to be kidding me, Mei Hatsume thought. She stared down at a blinking red light and then rubbed her forehead with her left hand again while darting a look towards Tokyo from the U.A. campus in Musutafu. These are the last two I made. They're still prototypes- not even ready… I wouldn't have grabbed them, if they weren't going to work. He's just going to break these as quickly though! Then, he won't have anything left to fight, whatever it is that's taking all of those Explosions! Hatsume worried about the Class A boy who had worked closely with her on making his gauntlets better and more able to handle the largest explosions possible.

She opened up the case she swung off her right shoulder. Mei threw her arms back out in front of her chest and grabbed the joysticks quickly to stop the four spider-like legs of her special combat suit from stumbling around when she got the case off her back. She more carefully let go the second time so her all-terrain legs would stay in place, and she unclasped the latches to open the final case of gauntlets that she brought outside from the Development Studio that she had rushed to the moment things started going wrong today. She was not in her dorm when the action started, and she was one of the only people stuck in the middle of campus when that thing showed up that she snapped her head towards for a second before looking back into the case and quickly activating the devices Bakugo requested from her.

"OORaaaAAAA! KILL… EVERYONE!" Hatsume squinted her eyes in fear but worked even faster.

Two regular old security robots that did not look to have great offensive capabilities ran past her to go join in the fight. Nezu was really scraping the bottom of the barrel and his student could see it. Mei Hatsume sent Bakugo's gauntlets flying high into the sky then rocketing off towards him with their secondary boosters, then she turned after those robots and towards the training ground where the teachers had lured the Ultimate to. As she looked back that way though, the wall of Training Ground Xi broke apart. Most of the buildings behind the wall became visible to Hatsume who flinched and pulled back on her sticks to make her metal legs step back away from a fake town in flames. A movie theater's roof collapsed in on itself, as did the roof above a storefront that was just blown apart into the wall that could not handle that force, or the force of the hero who slammed into it and broke his back on the collision.

Mei's heart rate skyrocketed. She stared towards her teacher. And three years of time in the Development Studio flashed through her head, as she saw his face looking up towards the sky. It was covered in blood. He was not moving. His yellow helmet was broken and gone. Power Loader lay there, dying, and every robot that ran or flew by him to slow down the Ultimate was ripped apart. The ones that had just sped by Hatsume jumped at the Ultimate and self-destructed as it reached for them to tear them in half like it did the last ones. For a moment Hatsume felt some hope, which vanished as the Ultimate's pitch black head leaned forward out of the flames and roared again.

"Someone," she whispered. Her head spun both ways and she rose her voice, "Hey! Someone come… someone…" her eyes shifted back towards the training ground.

"Uh-ack, unngg…" the moans were soft. Cracking and raspy coughs came out weakly from the man laying on a broken wall looking only slightly worse than he did. His left arm was ripped in half, sparks coming out of the ripped wires and some black liquid dripping out. His body did not move. Only his mouth and eyes were moving. His moans and coughs turned into more just ragged breaths as he lowered his gaze from straight up to point down at his toes.

I can't, move, Maijima thought. His hero's heart pushed him to try harder, but nothing he did moved him even an inch. His neck could not even lift enough for him to get a better view, though he went from being only able to see the head of the Ultimate to seeing its whole upper body anyway a second later. The pitch black form had hard plating on its arms that looked thinner at the joints. Its head was thick and rounded at the top with no hair, and there was some discoloration around the red eyes that was a light shade of tan compared to the rest of its dark body. No brain stuck out of this creature's head. Its body stood eight feet tall easily. The Ultimate's shoulders were broad, muscular, like its torso that was sleek but ripped with muscles.

Both of the Ultimate's hands were engulfed in bright red flames. As it walked towards Power Loader, those flames grew brighter and cast a darker red glow over its face. The monster had no lips, meaning its sharp teeth were all showing. Mei could see that those teeth were soaked in blood. She could see behind this creature stomping towards Power Loader, the bulge on its upper back closer to its right shoulder than its left. She watched that bulge growing more, with a head first and then a body, tannish-blue bat-like wings flapping out, and then the entire Nomu's body dripping off of the Ultimate that did not even seem to notice as it produced another horrible creature behind it.

Mei heard screaming from farther across campus. "Someone…" she whispered once more. No one's coming. The other Nomus are terrorizing everyone. This one is the most dangerous. It's killing the teachers. It'll kill me- The Ultimate's hands opened up and she saw the sharp claws of the beast inside those flames. Her thoughts cut off.

Maijima's blurry vision became clear in an instant. He gasped and choked on his own blood, but he only coughed once before just staring in front of him in horror. "No-" he gasped towards the back of this girl whose bright pink hair put tears in his eyes to see. "R-Run-"

"Hahaha! Ha- haha but when else," Mei stopped and gulped as the monster stopped walking forward and stared straight into her eyes. Her face pulled back and there was sweat all over it, but her metal spider legs stayed steady as she gripped onto her joysticks tighter for a feeling of control. "Wh-When else, will I get such a good chance, to test out all my babies?" Her voice was full of fear. Mei was smiling wide but her actual legs shook where they dangled between her mechanical ones. Power Loader's mouth opened, but Mei continued with her whisper cracking and getting higher-pitched, "I don't know."

She answered the question before Power Loader could ask it, letting him save his breath and his voice as he sounded so weak already. "I just moved," she said, her voice cracking again even as tears filled her eyes where she stood between Power Loader and the Ultimate. The other Nomu flapped its wings and rose up over the Ultimate's head, and then it flapped those wings behind it and towards her. Mei brought the corners of her lips much higher up then pulled her goggles down with one hand quickly. "I wasn't even thinking! Haha- but, but I can do this!"

Mei pressed down on red buttons on the sides of the joystick rather than the ones on top of each stick. She yanked to the right side at the same time and slid her hands down on the shafts as well, bending the knees of the spider legs while dodging and then pulling back up and leaping into the air while at the same time firing out metal wires from the front two legs. The regular Nomu pulled up to chase after the rising student, and it could not change its momentum a second time quickly enough. Mei kicked both of her human legs back into the rear metal ones while calling out, "Boost!" The back legs had different uses just as the front ones did. She had a bag on her back full of tricks, and her combat gear was just as stuffed. Some of the oil in the back legs that could be used to slick the ground behind her in a chase also worked to fuel the blue jets that fired out of opening panels in her back legs and fired her forward right as her wires hit the Nomu.

Hatsume flew around the Nomu and wrapped it tightly before it could untangle itself. She landed down on the ground and slammed her sticks to the left, making her spider-like metal legs sprint towards the Ultimate that just ran forward to finish off a pro hero before focusing on the student. Its priority changed as the girl ran towards it and it saw the other Nomu it had created tied up on the ground and struggling to escape the thick wires made of material too strong for the creature to rip. Mei could not help but thank a friend in that last moment as she sprinted at the Ultimate which turned towards her instead of her teacher who tried screaming out her name only to choke on his own blood again. I just wish I had asked for more, she thought with her forehead scrunching up and the fear taking hold. She kept pushing forward on her sticks though, and she just opened her mouth and screamed out while slamming down on the red buttons at the top of her joysticks.

All the panels on the front legs opened up at once. Her gear had gotten a bit more advanced since she spent some time with Zach in the Costume Development Studio. She had asked him all about his arm, about tech that he showed her, and then he also got her in contact with people who could quickly ship some materials she asked for that U.A. did not have on hand. U.A.'s Development Studio had never been lacking in the tech department before. She always had whatever she wanted when she asked for it, even if sometimes the school took a little time to procure it. But the materials that Zach explained to her were in his arm and some of the tech he talked about, were things that she had to request from him personally. And he did not even hesitate to let her know exactly who to call to get that stuff sent straight to her. It was similar to how Zach got Dendo the same kind of flight gear he used himself. But Zach had only been back at U.A. for a short time, and Hatsume had not asked early enough. Most everything she had was still low-tech in her mind now that she had seen the kind of high-tech toys that Zach was playing with.

The wires that wrapped up that last Nomu were made of the same material as ones that had been inside of Zach's left arm. And the secret weapons sliding out the front of her combat legs' panels now were also inspired from tech that he had shown her. "HAAAA! Take this!" Mei screamed as the Ultimate turned towards her and rose its arms while pushing its feet down harder on the ground that cracked underneath it and started lifting up on either side…

BOOOM!

"Over there," a muscular boy who just phased through the wall of his dorm said. He had turned towards the explosion that was close to their dormitory. His girlfriend at his side who had been at his dorm despite her being in the department of support so she had a room in a different building, nodded her head while taking in and letting out a deep breath.

"Y-You guys can't be… I'm not-" the two in front looked back at Kazumi's classmate in the general studies' course who had a 5-Foot-Phase that allowed them to bypass Principal Nezu's lockdown measures. "I'm not going out there," Juono hissed at the other two like they were crazy to be considering this. "Y-You can see-" his head spun to the left as another explosion at a different part of campus went off from a weaker Nomu that was farther from the Ultimate these teens did not realize they had been looking towards. "We need, to get back inside! Listen to the Principal-"

"Go back in then," Kazumi told his classmate whose terrified expression flashed with shame while pulling away. Juono started shaking his head back and forth though while pressing back into the wall behind him, wishing his cooldown would be up already so he could get back in. It took another few seconds, then the blue-haired general studies' student slipped back inside before falling to his knees in front of his classmates who yelled at him for bringing out the other two, even though that couple had pressured him to do it.

Kazumi Hiro looked back next to him at the girl from Class H who he had been dating for almost all of high school. Sahara Kyomi had her red hair tied back behind her head in a ponytail. Kazumi's short but spiky brown hair would not get in the way so he needed no hair tie like Kyomi had put on before coming out here. They just wore their casual clothes that Sahara had shown up to his place in the night before and that Kazumi had put on when the first big news broke earlier that day. They did not have support weapons or tools. Kazumi had a kitchen knife with him though, and Sahara had a metal pipe that she ripped from the shower and took off the curtain that had been attached to it.

"Juono's probably right. This is pretty stupid of us," Kazumi admitted to his girlfriend.

"As stupid as sitting in there and waiting for it to come get us anyway?" Sahara wondered back.

Kazumi humphed with a grin as he agreed that he would rather go fight it than wait inside for fate to decide their, fate. They had heard the roars even from inside their locked-down building. They also heard explosions and screams from those who were trying to fight whatever monsters were attacking their campus. Class 3-C's building behind them was coated in thick steel blast shields that had protected the rest of Kazumi's class so far. He looked past the fiery explosion that they were staring over towards, and he could see the smoke rising from the cities past it. Shinso's out there. Wherever he is, he's fighting too. Just because I'm here for a business degree, just because I didn't choose to try and join the hero course like you did- so I could spend more time with Sahara! That doesn't mean I'm a fucking coward.

Kazumi was panting even as he had thoughts of being brave. As he tried to remind himself how he was no coward, he was panting and sweating like his girlfriend at his side who heard a roar from those explosions that they falsely assumed were caused by the villain and not from Hatume Mei's weapons. Her strongest weapons were designated as 'non-personnel.' She had created them under the provision that they were meant as support tools for destroying large pieces of debris blocking rescue efforts, or for drilling holes, and they were definitely not meant for attacking someone directly like she just had. Then again, not many people would consider The Ultimate a "someone." Based on its roars, Kazumi and Sahara felt the same way even without having seen this monster yet.

Sahara's breathing rate picked up speed as she started jogging forward. Kazumi jogged ahead with her. The two stopped hesitating and ran forward, but Sahara gulped for a different reason as she looked towards where they were running. If there's one person still on this campus who I'd bet is fighting right now, even if all the hero course people and the teachers are all gone…

The teenagers did not run on the road. It was too covered in bodies of their faculty and broken pieces of ANT and training and security robots. They avoided looking towards the bodies of two of their teachers close to each other at the intersection they cut diagonally away from to go straight towards Training Ground Xi instead. No one else in Kazumi's class had wanted to leave the building with them. Even those with the strongest Quirks that they sometimes used to some stronger degree during Sports Festivals felt too afraid when the time came to actually use those powers. 'Heroes will come,' 'The hero course can handle it,' 'The Principal told us to stay inside…' Those sentiments by Kazumi's classmates they had tried to convince these two with had fallen on deaf ears before, but they were suddenly thinking of all those things as they ran towards the sound of danger.

"Sensei! Get up!" Hatsume screamed.

One of her metal legs hooked into Power Loader's costume and dragged him carefully backwards. He bumped on debris though and Hatsume cried as she did not see his body moving at all, and she was terrified to move any quicker from there to get him medical attention when she knew that moving him could make his wounds even worse. Sahara skid to a stop as she looked towards the wall of Training Ground Xi that Hatsume was dragging their teacher out from the other side of where the smoke was still pouring up from whatever had exploded over there. "Mei," Sahara whispered in fear. Hatsume's head snapped back up and into the smoke that a shadow was stomping out of towards her, growling in more anger than she had heard it growl in thus far.

That growl carried over to Kazumi too and Sahara behind him who he just glanced back at when she stopped. He froze and his eyes squinted while his girlfriend's head tilted back with fear covering it. Kazumi snapped his head down, and he turned it quickly back to that training ground that he had never used himself. Why should we have to fight this thing? We could- I could just get Kyomi out of here! I have to… Sahara walked forward up on his right side, her fists clenching tightly with her right wrapped over the middle of the metal pipe that slid through her grasp. It slid down until she was grabbing one end of it that was slightly wider on the circular part that had connected to the wall with screws. Sahara's hand shook in fear but she put her left hand over and gripped onto the metal pipe with a second hand to get it to stop shaking as much.

I don't have to protect her, Kazumi thought. He smiled while flipping the knife in his left hand and sliding it into his waistband for now. We're a team. We'll fight as a team here. We'll win as a team! Or we'll, die as one… Kazumi forced up his smile even at that last ghastly thought. He stomped forward and curled his fists at his sides before bringing his arms up into more of a fighting stance. He tilted his neck to either side and cracked his knuckles in his fists. He was panting in fear but smiling nonetheless as he looked towards where he was about to charge their enemy. Then he mentioned out of the blue, "You know, if we survive this, we should get married."

Sahara's bottom lip dropped. She stared towards the hole in Training Ground Xi's wall in shock, then she spun her head towards Kazumi and furled her lip for a moment. He seemed to realize what he just said too and darted his gaze to his right anxiously at the girl who had gawked at him right there. In the excitement of the moment and with his adrenaline pumping, he had said something without really thinking first. His mouth opened back up, "Maybe you never Cancelled your Enamor that you hit me with last night-"

"I Cancelled it," Sahara whispered back, her voice hoarse as she said that to the boy trying to pretend like maybe her Quirk was partly to blame for what he just said.

Kazumi continued to smile and he looked back forward while bending his legs and nodding his head slowly. "Oh… heh," he chuckled under his breath and his smile grew brighter as he pulled both elbows in at his sides. "That's funny. I can't even tell that you did." Sahara's heart raced faster than it already was. Her head spun back forward itself and she smiled brightly with tears in the corners of her eyes. "I love you, Kyomi."

"I love you too, Hiro." Kyomi's body pulsed with pink light that flooded in front of her and around Kazumi who started sprinting forward at that moment.

"Hatsume! Get Power Loader sensei out of here!" Kazumi roared out while sprinting forward. He never felt more powerful than that moment, and Hatsume turned his way for a second and actually opened her eyes wider as Kazumi's arm muscles bulged followed by his legs that pushed down harder into the ground in front of Sahara and sped him up even more.

"We'll hold him off!" Sahara yelled out too.

"Kyomi?!" Mei gasped in amazement at her friend who was smiling wide as she sprinted into this battle. Out of everyone Mei had been calling to for help, her own support department classmate was the bottom of the list who she thought would actually come to help her.

Power Loader moaned in more agony even with his eyes closed now as he heard another young voice he recognized. Is this, the end? Through his mind flashed a city of people fighting. Heroes losing to the villains, leaving only children to fight against them. A last line of defense. Untrained students who would fight and die. He imagined all the kids on this campus piled up at the feet of the bioengineered weapon that had killed him too. I… can't save… any of…

Maijima Higari's slowed heart rate pumped blood one last time. Then it stopped beating. Hatsume had no idea that this had happened, and she continued dragging him away as Kazumi sprinted towards her and leapt up at the eight foot tall beast that just stomped out through the wall. "HAAAAHHHH!" Kazumi yelled out bravely. He screamed in rage and confidence, and he swung his right fist forward-

The Ultimate's left arm snapped out and its hand wrapped around Kazumi's upper body. Kazumi's right arm got caught between the thumb and other fingers of the monster that's claws dug into his back. His war cry turned into a scream of agony, "HAA-aahhhh AHYAAAOOOhHH!" Creaak- crack crack Kazumi felt his bones breaking and his entire body squeezing as the Ultimate swung in front of itself and released towards Hatsume who pulled up her front spider legs to try and protect herself.

The steel of her front legs bent and broke. Kazumi smashed through them and into her, breaking apart the main section of her combat suit and making her drop out of it and roll on the ground. Pieces of the suit fell down on top of Power Loader who did not even wince or make a noise as they hit him. "Sensei!" Hatsume yelled back out even with a scratch on the left side of her face that started bleeding badly, worse than the minor scrapes on her arms. She ran back towards Power Loader but stared past the pile of debris at the monster that jumped up and over it to come down straight on her.

Kazumi ran forward and tackled Hatsume out of the way. He barrel-rolled with her in his arms, and he screamed out in pain again from the cracked ribs and bruised other bones including in his arms that he thought had gotten so strong right there only to break from a monster apparently much stronger. He came out of the roll and spun back to the Ultimate that kicked around for him, and he ducked so fast that the leg passed over the top of his head. Kazumi doubted his own reaction time and knew as he felt the huge gust of wind pulling his body after that leg, that he would have died had he been hit.

"Die!" Sahara jumped up and stabbed into the Nomu's back with a broken metal pipe she grabbed from Kazumi's dorm.

The black skin of the Ultimate pushed inwards, slightly, then it pushed back out. She put all of her strength into stabbing the pipe in, and it did not break through. The Ultimate reached its left hand back. The arm stretched and extended out, looking like a thick black snake that allowed it to grip the girl behind it who tried holding onto its back to prevent being grabbed. As it grabbed onto her, Kazumi jumped forward and tried punching the Ultimate in the face-

The Ultimate opened its mouth. It bit down and chomped straight through flesh and bone. Kazumi hit the floor and bellowed out in more agony than he had ever felt. His right arm was gone below the elbow. And then he gasped out into the floor as something slammed into the back. Sahara was smashed down back-first into her boyfriend, so she was looking up at the sky instead of down at the floor as Kazumi was. She heard him gasp below her, just as she gasped and lost all breath in her lungs while several of her bones felt broken.

Hatsume snapped her head up for a second after dragging off a metal spider leg off of her teacher. She looked back down and begged, "Sensei, we need your… sensei?" Power Loader's eyes were parted open the slightest bit. His mouth was open and no breath was coming out. Blood dripped faster from Hatsume's chin as tears mixed with what was coming from the gash on her cheek. Her blurry eyes rose back up and she stared over her two fellow students who had tried to save her. The Ultimate's left foot lifted up over their piled bodies. Sahara was staring straight up at the sky, and so she stared at that foot that rose over her.

Kazumi was doing what he could to try and move, but he felt fingers touch his left hand so gently. A shadow came over him and he clenched his eyes shut. He gasped out in terror, but his left hand turned and his fingers interlocked with Kyomi's. Stomp!

Squelch

Hatsume winced and she pulled her head back. Despair flushed over her face at the sight of that foot hitting the ground. Blood splashed out around their bodies. Then the Ultimate rose its head and looked towards her again. Her hands trembled and she reached for the backpack she was still wearing that had a few last-ditch efforts in it. Hatsume's arms barely listened to her though, definitely shaking too much to open any zippers. I can't win, she thought. Her actions would be futile, again. The power of this monster for it to barely react to her strongest weapons was too much to handle. She was too smart not to realize how hopeless her situation was. Her hands started lowering from her backpack, her legs sprawling out underneath her farther to each side. "I don't want to die," she whispered.

Hatsume's plight was unbeknownst to the boy she was just assisting miles away. He was in no better situation than she was though, as his new gauntlets were still flying miles to reach him and had not arrived yet. He did not have the time to wait for them as Machia only stumbled forward from that last Explosion into the back of his head. Then the giant that had just pushed through a skyscraper turned back towards the boy bouncing in midair behind him. A few singe marks on the back of his spiky head meant nothing. The damage he showed was minuscule compared to what he'd done to the city around him.

No one can take- he's doing it. Bakugo thought about how impossible it was for anyone to take this kind of damage and keep going without pause. But he stopped himself from lingering on how impossible it was when it was currently happening right in front of his eyes. I have his attention. Bakugo blasted larger Explosions out his palms to shoot up higher in the air. He brought Machia's gaze up after him too, allowing Gran Torino to more easily dart about grabbing civilians and getting them out of there. The giant swung its arms and Bakugo kicked out to one side then swept his left arm up above his body to swerve underneath the second swing. How fucking fast can it be while this big?! Bakugo darted around Gigantomachia's arms then flew up over them and fired blasts out the bottoms of his soles to send him straight back into the beast's elbow. The area was slightly thinner-skinned but Bakugo's point blank Explosion into the inner elbow did not break through the rough skin of the giant.

"DAMN IT! DIE!" Bakugo blew himself away from the arm he just attacked, but he quickly had to readjust his hands and blow up more of the air in front of him. He blocked himself from sight of Machia for a moment, and when Machia's right fist swung through the flames it missed Bakugo who fired out more Explosions above himself to redirect below. He was too close and Machia was too quick to just try dodging, but Machia did not know where to shift his arm's trajectory when he heard the second blasts. Machia stomped his left leg forward though while dragging his right up through the street and sidewalk on the left side of it.

Cement and pavement tore up as if his foot was pushing through snow. Debris flew all over the place, and Kuresta spun and tried putting up a wall of toothpaste- only for a larger piece of pavement to break through the first one he managed to slow and stop. It plowed through the first piece and the wall of whitish-blue substance, into Kuresta and the two civilians he was trying to protect on the other side. Ectoplasm Clones managed to get in the way of other debris, though he did not have to protect much on the ground level as the majority was whisked up into the sky. Bakugo darted his eyes away from Machia's left fist that was swinging towards him. He propelled himself towards huge chunks of debris dangerously flying away, but he only blew up a few before stopping short in midair and backflipping with a double-kick in front of him.

He heard the loud stomps of Gigantomachia running forward when he started flying away to destroy the road debris before it could come crashing back down all over the city. He flipped himself over and charged the collected sweat in both of his knees and the shin guards that started glowing bright yellow. The toes of his feet fired off flash grenades, and Bakugo punched his left arm out and redirected so his body was spinning sideways near Machia's head. The monster sprinting forward stopped and attacked, but Bakugo spun around its arm while it was temporarily blinded again, and then both of Bakugo's legs exploded and broke apart all of the sweat collectors on them straight into the left side of Gigantomachia's head.

The explosions went into Machia's ear. His head snapped to the right, his legs lifting and stumbling over towards a building that Bakugo knew was empty which was why he chose it. Gran Torino had given him a signal that it was all clear down below, because as he kept Machia's gaze up towards him, his was pointed down at the enemy and gave him good view of what was below as well. Machia's legs each lifted but the monster did not fall into this building. He just took a couple of steps as his body kept turning, and his spiky back pushed through much of the wall with floors and windows all breaking apart as he pushed into them. "RRAAAAOOOOO!" Machia screamed out, pushing his head forward suddenly and making Bakugo swing both arms out from where he was still turning upright after those kicks that spun him out.

Bakugo put his arms forward and fired Explosions to blast himself away. Gigantomachia's head pushed through the flames and he chomped down, but Bakugo changed his direction slightly on the other side of the flames with an Explosion that came immediately after the first two. It pushed him slightly down, so Machia's jaw snapped shut above him… but Machia's chin that was pushing forward still slammed into the boy who shot like a missile away from Machia's head and into a building that Gran Torino was still evacuating.

Bakugo broke through the thirty-first floor, then the thirtieth, and he hit a support pillar on the twenty-ninth story that stopped his momentum. He gasped out in pain and spit splashed from his mouth. His eyes slammed shut for a moment, but he curled his hands onto the pillar behind himself and pushed off. There was a cut on his left arm through the tight sleeve he had over it. And the front of his costume had a rip in it as well right over the middle of the red X on his chest.

Explosion King's eyes lowered for a moment as he felt the pain in his chest where he had been cut during that. I'm not hurting him at all! I can't… For an instant, Bakugo felt doubt. His eyes locked onto the red X over the black of his costume. His gloves and his boots no longer had the orange highlights on them either. All the orange on his costume had been changed to red. It was the same matching red shade as Fantasma's costume had been. Bakugo's hands curled harder into the pillar behind him that he pushed off of. He started staggering forward then stumbled into a run, then an all-out sprint as he saw the monster outside the window ahead of him punching its left arm forward at the building he was in.

Bakugo shot through the open window and fired two Explosions behind him onto a floor that was at least evacuated even if Gran Torino was still rushing to get more people out of there. He fired himself out the building then to the right just past the side of Machia's left arm. The wind from that giant arm passing by him threatened to pull him along with it. The arm started moving left to hit him as Machia curled his own fist back instead of smashing it for no reason into the building behind Bakugo. Bakugo pointed both hands down though and blasted that arm farther off while also sending himself up and curving over Machia's right hand that just swung down as if to swat a mosquito onto his other arm. The smack of Machia's right palm on his left forearm echoed around them, while Bakugo fired off another Explosion to fly straight at Machia's neck this time. One of these times! I'll find a weak point! I just have to keep hitting him!

"…what an uncouth design…" Fantasma was not the only one Bakugo thought of as he flew back at this enemy. He saw a neatly combed man standing in front of him who he struggled against after the hero had tightened his Fibers around him. "You must give off more of an appearance of being a hero." Bakugo ground his teeth in anger at the thought of these people. One other popped into his mind. The woman who actually forced him to make the initial design changes (as only editing the colors on his costume was more recent). The main edits to his costume all came earlier, as Miruko had taunted him about his costume's sleeveless nature. The way she had laughed at him while asking if he was uncomfortable sweating too much that he would allow himself to be weaker for it. The cut on his left arm was through a white sleeve, which he had also changed from black a couple weeks ago.

His white sleeve was getting bloody but his left hand continued firing out Explosions over and over as he maneuvered himself around Machia's deadly swings, any one of which would maim or kill him for sure if it connected directly. Unlike Machia's bare neck that Bakugo was gunning for, Bakugo had a thick white neck-guard on above the red v-neck of his black shirt. The covering there was thick and there were connector tubes between his neck and top of his body over to his shoulders and the collectors on the backs of them that flashed bright at the moment that both of Machia's hands were clapping towards him. Both of Bakugo's hands were pointed out to his sides, but the green collectors on the backs of his shoulders went off while he fired smaller Explosions out the heels of his shoes too, just to slow how much he was going to be flipping around as he shot out of where Machia clapped.

Bakugo flipped over a dozen times but still knew exactly where he was to fire out to massive Explosions that ripped apart his boots as he flew in front of Machia's neck in an instant that left a trail of smoke struggling to chase after him. Bakugo flew back through that smoke as he made Explosions even larger than the ones that came out of his shoulders. Gigantomachia could not even start moving his arms back in towards himself when Bakugo flew back over them in the other direction, though he was reaching that way after a second without slowing down from those Explosions in his neck that barely left dark scorch marks.

Bakugo was panting as he flipped around while dropping down to the street level for the first time in a while. He had not seen Gran Torino around here and hoped the buildings around them had finished being evacuated by other heroes who had seemed to shift their priorities too to allow Bakugo to fight Machia while they all focused on saving everyone. The more tired he was getting, the more he was sweating, but he was running out of collectors on his body for all the sweat he was producing. Where are those gauntlets, Crazy Girl?! Bakugo thought angrily towards a pink-haired psycho who he really needed to send him his gloves already. The blinking lights on his wrists started getting closer together, but they were still too far apart that he knew he would not have his means of the largest explosions for another half minute or so.

Bakugo's expression twisted in anger as his enemy stomped back towards him and punched an arm down so much faster than his huge body looked capable of. Bakugo was faster, he had figured that out by now, but this was getting more difficult every second. And every second that he did not defeat Gigantomachia, Raijin was killing his friends, and the city was getting more destroyed, and more people were dying! His face twisted in a way that had made Meta hesitate earlier. The look on Bakugo's face had been something that the bald villain he fought earlier did not take lightly. Meta had recognized the editions to Bakugo Katsuki's costume that he never saw Explosion King with before. The neck piece that looked familiar to Miruko's and the red X on his chest and red gloves sticking out of his gauntlets that matched the color of Fantasma's costume had been things Meta picked up on quickly. He had noticed, but he did not think it was a smart idea to mention it. The sheer fury on Bakugo's face and the look of insanity the boy had was something Meta expected considering those other two he knew this kid had worked with, but because of the way he looked Meta chose not to use taunts of his dead comrades to try and make him sloppy.

Some heroes, it just was not worth it to risk pushing over the edge. Bakugo was one of those who even hardened villains who had spent decades in Tartaros and who were on the top 10 most wanted list in the country, saw the appearance of a hero who might just go that far. Gigantomachia was no mere villain though. No amount of intimidation fazed the monster that was relentless in its attacks. It never seemed to slow down. It was not panting nor did it even look injured despite how many of Bakugo's strongest attacks he had taken. Bakugo pointed both hands down between his legs as Machia punched his right fist down at the street level that Bakugo stood at. He fired off an Explosion that blasted him into the air, over the top of the fist that passed below him and broke through the ground and into a sewer below it.

The ground blew apart violently and in all directions. And a piece of pavement flew up on Bakugo's right side and hit him in the leg. He winced and his body twisted in midair. He pointed his left arm out and fired away from Machia's right arm that yanked back up from the ground after him. The wind spun out the teenager who fired out Explosions from both hands and turned into a tornado of flames spinning around away from Machia's right arm. He ducked down as Machia swept his left arm through the tornado, nearly taking Bakugo's head off but barely missing the top of his head. The swing was so close that it pulled Bakugo's ducked head away from his chest and changed his momentum to pull him back the other way.

Explosion King kicked down below him and fired blasts out the soles of his bare feet. His Quirk had grown so much stronger over the past years, but without the support items on his feet that he had blown apart in an attempt to hurt Gigantomachia, the Explosions that came out the soles of his feet were barely enough to flip him over so he could point his hands where he needed to in order to dodge Machia's next swing of his right arm. He blasted up above it, but he quickly spun and dodged the next one, then had to dodge the right arm again. Machia's moves were getting quicker, his swings more precise and missing Bakugo by less each time. Each swing of his arm sent huge gusts of wind down the roads and smashing into buildings. The winds broke apart on walls and blew out from intersections, hitting fleeing people who screamed out just from being within a few blocks of this giant's movements.

Thoughts of finding a weak point on Gigantomachia were dwindling. Bakugo's main focus was on not getting hit by the swings that were getting closer and closer. "DIE! BAKUGO KATSUKI!" Machia roared at the teenager who flipped himself and spun around by blasting Explosions from both arms as he twisted. He kicked in front of him and landed down on the back of Machia's left hand as the arm had been about to touch him. As soon as he landed, Bakugo slammed both hands behind him and shot up the length of Machia's body in a second. He slammed his feet down and jumped off Machia's shoulder, and he curled both hands in towards Machia's face to fire off tiny long-range yellow beams from his hands that exploded all over Machia's face and inside his mouth as the monster opened its mouth to roar out and blow Bakugo away.

As Explosions went off all over the inside of Machia's mouth, the beast roared again though this time it sounded like it might even be in pain. Machia's eyes closed and his head pulled back. He swung both arms up without being able to see or hear his enemy when the Explosions in his mouth were all that filled his eardrums though the left was still ringing from before. Machia swung his arms up and Bakugo turned his body sideways then continued firing out constant explosives at his enemy who had reacted to that differently from previous attacks. From the inside? I'm not letting myself get eaten, but is that really the only way to hurt him?! No. No there's damage on the outside. Just like Kirishima then? Bakugo focused down on Machia's neck that had blackened scorch marks on it from where he attacked earlier. If I target one spot-

Bakugo stopped firing all the constant explosives at Machia's face to swing his right arm to the side and blast himself out of the way of Gigantomachia's right arm that just slashed down at him. Then his eyes darted up and he pushed his left arm above and diagonally to his own left to dodge the second of Machia's arms that came swinging down in a sweeping attempt at him. His left hand sparked and fired. At that same moment, he felt the tug. Machia had swung his right arm down first so hard where he knew Bakugo was based on the direction all these Explosions on his face were coming from. That right arm dragged through so much air that the air on the sides of its slash pulled back in to fill the gap, and Bakugo was yanked by that tug before he could get off his next escape Explosion.

Machia's second arm was not affected by the pull of his other arm. Bakugo dodged that second arm, but his body did not move as far from it as he had attempted to. The left arm was swinging sideways and diagonally down, brushing through a wide angle of the air as Machia swept through to ensure a hit. Bakugo dodged below and just to the inside… but even though the fist missed him, the arm that followed-through that attack grazed onto the boy who spat up his breakfast that splashed through the air where he just was while he hit the sewer floor and splashed in something even more gross. He bounced up and through some pavement, then off the wall of a building that he spun off of before rolling along a cracked sidewalk. He bounced up on a lifted section of the sidewalk that made him gasp out right as he was breathing in, and then he flipped in the air and landed on his back and kept skidding for another second.

His fingers twitched at his sides. Bakugo groaned from the back of his throat but his eyes opened and he pushed down on the floor. He lifted his head and looked up past Machia's enormous arms. He looked up hundreds of feet and stared into the deadly eyes of the villain dropped here to kill him. Machia's left foot lifted up and rose over Bakugo. He was still pushing off the ground, but his fingers started sparking and he pushed down left, blowing himself up the sidewalk a little and straight into a cement wall that his back slammed into. He dodged the stomp that came down an instant after he blew himself away though, but he was coughing and gasping for breath as he leaned back into the wall he was cornered on. Wind and small debris slammed into the front of his body that he crossed his arms in front of for protection.

"Die. Bakugo-" Machia's deep voice cut off from bellowing down at his target he was about to kick through that wall with his right foot that had pulled back. He stopped speaking as he heard something in his right ear that pierced through the air and drew his attention.

"Fwweeee-eweeep!" The extremely loud whistle straight into his right ear made Machia start turning its head. The girl flying over the roof of a building behind Machia and on his right side lowered her hand from her mouth that she had put two fingers in to pull down her bottom lip and whistle that loudly. "HEY UGLY!" She screamed while putting her right hand onto the same train car that she already had gripped in her left hand while flying at Machia with. Uraraka twisted her body in midair and swung as hard as she could, before returning the gravity to the train at the moment she released it.

Bakugo's bottom lip lowered for a second as she swung that train like a baseball bat. His jaw dropped more as the train connected with the giant's face and snapped it to the side. Machia's foot that was up in the air missed its step coming back down, making the enormous giant start falling back and need to use both arms to catch himself on buildings his fingers dragged down the sides of as he slowed his fall. Uraraka kicked off the back of the train at the last second while reducing her own gravity, flipping backwards a dozen times through the air and over Bakugo's head who she looked down at while he was still staring towards Machia's face in shock. "Are you alright?!" She yelled down at him.

Bakugo lost the astonished look on his face instantly. He smirked and then screamed out while pushing back off the wall behind him, "WORRY ABOUT YOUR OWN DAMN SELF!"

He did not thank her nor act like he needed the help, but Uraraka still smiled as she looked down towards him then landed on top of the building that he stood at the base of. She smiled while lifting her head as he did not yell at her to run off and leave him alone either as she thought he might. Instead, Bakugo just started thinking of ways that she could help him out with Machia. The train broke apart on Gigantomachia's face, but when the pieces of it were all falling away, Uraraka's smile lowered down to see that she did not even break his nose with that attack. "What's he made of?" She wondered softly, though she curled her fists at her sides and glared down towards the face of this monster that it was shaking back and forth at the moment.

"He felt that," Bakugo growled under his breath. He smirked from ear to ear, as even though there was not a scratch to be seen on Machia's face after that attack, the way the giant was shaking his head showed that something had happened. "He can be hurt. So he can be stopped." Bakugo's fingers twitched at his sides and he lifted his wrists out in front of him. A new pair of green gauntlets flew down and wrapped around his wrists before locking into place. He had blood on both arms soaking through his white sleeves, and he looked worse for the wear, but his legs were steady and his eyes infuriated but determined as he glared down this enemy; the most powerful enemy he had ever faced before. I'll take him down first. Then Raijin. Then Shigaraki if I need to! I can't lose here. And with the city around us finally empty, I can really cut loose!

---

"Ryukyu!"

"Get her out of here!"

"RAa- I can… Get off-"

"Drag her!" Popfire screamed out for the other sidekicks who started dragging a badly wounded Ryukyu off the street. Popfire's hands burst brighter with orange energy that glowed in bright spheres as bright as her flaring orange eyes.

EntreX dragged Ryukyu back and begged her as he did, "Just let us get you some help! Please, Ryukyu!"

"You took down RifleMan and Toppa Fund! Let us handle some of their members!" Another sidekick begged the top hero who had taken down two gang bosses of the Jazz before getting hit by several enemy attacks all at once.

Ryukyu could not maintain her dragon form. The Dragoon Hero shrank down partly out of pain in her wings and all over her huge body, and partly to help those who were begging her and trying to pull her away. She gasped as she got back to her humanoid form. Blood spilled from the corners of her lips. The injuries she sustained a minute ago did not just go away as she shrank, and she had made them worse by continuing to roar and fight even as she bled all over the street. "Pop…fire-" Ryukyu gasped towards her top sidekick who was ahead of everyone else now.

Only one other sidekick ran forward to be at Popfire's side. "Go right!" Urukio Endo yelled out at his wife. He ducked down and the dark red arrow coming for his face turned lighter blue at the top of his vision before passing over and turning green. He dove into a barrel roll while Popfire slammed her hands down. Roady screamed to her, "LEFT!" He had Speedroute working on himself as much as on Popfire who swerved in midair to dodge another attack coming from her blindspot. Roady darted his eyes both ways and saw villains coming from roads on their sides through alleyways to attack on their left, right, and in front of them.

"We need to fall back! Evac Point Romeo is being overrun!" Gilgamesh yelled from one block away from the intersection that Ryukyu was just dragged onto.

EntreX had Ryukyu's bloody right arm wrapped over his shoulders and he was helping her limp away. He looked to his right and other sidekicks around him started sprinting back to help where Gilgamesh needed them. "Let's go!"

"We can't let the villains get into the civilian centers!"

"FALL BACK- AHHH!"

Nagiso yanked his Jello body to the right. His stomach sucked in and dodged the beam of green light. He punched his left fist forward and released it from the end of his arm, and the glob of purple Jello flew towards the villain who turned to run but got hit and slammed into the floor where he was stuck. Nagiso's right arm in the meantime finally started retracting back into his gelatinous form that was thick at the base and rounded at the top. He had shoved that right arm down a villain's throat and suffocated him by filling his lungs with Jello, and when he pulled his arm back the villain was collapsed to the floor.

His head spun and he looked back down the street to where he had come from. Jelloman's eyes scanned over other heroes who were backing up and running away. "What are we doing? We need to keep the fighting away from the Evac Center, not pull back…" Jelloman was talking to his fellow hero across the street from him who he thought was still there, though he had not seen him for the past twenty seconds while focused on villains on his side of the road. Nagiso's head slowly turned back and he stared at the four-legged creature with stitches and scars all over his exposed back. That figure was hunched over a body against a wall and making squelching noises while he shoved his face into Bouncer Man's stomach.

The villain rose his head and turned towards Jelloman who saw blood smeared all over his deranged expression. Bouncer Man's slumped corpse fell to the side and his insides spilled out, chewed-up and mangled. The enemy who just tore into him with his teeth had finger marks on both of his exposed biceps and triceps, and his arms were shaking like the damage caused by Bouncer Man's Grip had been bad, though the villain showed no signs of feeling that pain. Scars along his neck, his back, and on his arms and legs, showed off the experiments done to him to turn him into this creature that lunged towards Jelloman now. Nagiso yelled out in rage and sped across the road, slamming both arms of Jello forward into his enemy.

Blocks away, Cementoss backed up with the remaining heroes alongside him. He turned his head left and looked at the villains approaching from the east at the intersection he just moved into. "Behind us too!" Death Arms yelled out and made others look back to see that where they had been getting pushed back to was full of enemies as well.

"And on the right," Shiro Swan whispered. Her voice was hoarse and she had streaks of tears on her face. She noticed the enemies on the right but was still glaring in fury and despair at Bitchess 'N Cream who just casually stepped past the body of Ballerclava. Another villain walked up at Bitchess 'N Cream's back left side, and they put their left foot down on the fallen hero's face and leaned forward with a horrible smirk on his face at the reactions from the heroes ahead of him.

As they glanced to the right and another group of enemies, a shadow passed over them and made everyone on all sides of the group of heroes look up. The heroes gawked at the sight of the giant woman flying over them with blood coming out of her nose. Her head was snapped back and she gasped out in pain as she finally breathed again after getting all the breath pushed out of her. She landed on her back with villains running out of the way to avoid being squashed by Mt. Lady as she slammed down ahead of the heroes. Bitchess 'N Cream just stepped sideways and dodged the large woman's head as it slammed down at her side and bounced off hard pavement. Parts of her skintight costume were burned through. She had burn marks in the middle of her back and on both arms, her nose was busted, but she turned herself onto her side and started sliding a leg up on the ground while looking back the direction she just came from.

Cementoss looked out the corner of his eyes and back farther behind them. What is happening back at Karebo?

"Mount Lady!"

"Nejire look out!" Suneater swung out a tentacle that wrapped around the distracted Nejire's waist and yanked her out of the way of a fast-moving chunk of drywall that Re-Destro just threw her way. The shockwave from how hard it flew by her hit the two twenty year olds and made Suneater skid back as well as drop Nejire who flipped over herself and pushed her hands down to keep from hitting the floor as she used Waves to keep herself up in the air.

Lemillion shot up underneath Re-Destro and kicked him under his jaw, but the pitch black face of Re-Destro only snapped up then came back down hard. His massive right arm grew twice as large as he swung it at Togata's head. The blond young man slipped through it and through Re-Destro's body to start making the older man turn. As he was turning, he turned his face straight into an elbow already swinging back at him. Lemillion kicked into Re-Destro's stomach when Rikiya's face was blocked by the elbow in his eyes, but his feet just skid back on pavement and no more than that.

So sturdy, Tamaki took in a few deep breaths then reached into a pouch on his right side under his white cloak. "Keep him off me for a second, Nejire-chan."

Nejire Hado darted a look to her black-haired former classmate and nodded intensely but with a smile growing on her face at that determined look on his. "You got it, Suneater!"

Nejire slammed her hands behind her and flew towards Re-Destro to join the close-quarters fight with Lemillion. Suneater in the meantime pulled out a new snack from his pouch that he popped straight into his mouth.

In the time it took Lemillion to move up to 4th in Japan's national hero rankings, Suneater and Nejire-Chan each ranked up themselves into the 30s. Most of the focus was on the strongest of the Big 3 though and not on the two of them. Lemillion was the most popular. The strongest new hero who many believed might surpass even Endeavor before long. But in the last year, as Lemillion moved up one space because of Best Jeanist's death, the two of them had stopped more villain incidents than nearly everyone outside of the "supposed" top 5. Especially after the Koimou Massacre, the two others of the former Big 3 of U.A. took on even more responsibilities. They gathered up sidekicks from fallen heroes' agencies as well as their support staffs, and they took on all the missions and investigations those fallen heroes were in the middle of while Lemillion had been focused on bigger fish with the other top heroes.

Suneater and Nejire-Chan had worked together on many of these missions. They expanded their agencies while working together, and the two of them had stopped more villain incidents and arrested more villains, separately, than other speculated top 10 heroes Gang Orca or Crust had, combined. The two were known by many hero officials already to be in the top 10 at only twenty years old just like Lemillion. As Nejire-Chan shot forward in between Re-Destro and Suneater, she blocked her comrade from their enemy's sight and kept what he popped into his mouth from being seen by the man.

Lemillion also missed what Suneater just ate, and Tamaki thought to himself as he swallowed, I had been meaning to tell you about this, Mirio. You were so busy with Lifebringer and the League though, so I didn't want to bother you. But Manifest has adapted, and I have gotten much stronger. Suneater swallowed the mushrooms and scrunched his face for a second at the gross taste of the specific species of fungus he just ingested. Suneater's legs started to turn tannish-brown, and they connected into the floor and linked to cracks in the collapsed road that they were standing on.

His mycelium, the root-like structures of mushrooms, shot through the cracks in the ground and then shot up and wrapped around Re-Destro's legs as he tried dodging Nejire's Wave attack. Suneater had his upper body leaning forward too while pores on his skin started opening up wider. Nejire fired off her attacks into Re-Destro's side and his face, but she also shot more out from below her and flipped up over his head in the next second. "Lemillion!" She called out, reaching her arms down to her friend who was confused but jumped up and grabbed her hands rather than argue with her over running away right now when they had Re-Destro stumbling and looking like an easy target.

Nejire-Chan lifted her friend and they flew farther up and away from Re-Destro. Lemillion stared back towards his best friend and his eyes opened huge. His smile also grew at the sight of what Tamaki was doing. "Did he- that's not an animal technique-"

"He's been meaning to show you," Nejire responded with a similar smile on her own face.

Suneater had his mouth open and he swung his arms forward too while blowing ahead of him. The spores came out thick and blew down the road at Rikiya Yotsubashi who shook off the Wave attacks and turned back to the enemy whose mycelium he was ripping his legs from. Re-Destro pulled back and he brought a hand up to his mouth at the sight of what Suneater was doing. "You!" He yelled out from behind the hand he covered his mouth with. Rikiya's eyes were reddening though from a different cause than his Stress though. They watered and spilled tears down his enraged face. The giant form of Re-Destro stumbled to his right, his vision getting blurrier as his face was surrounded in a cloud of spores.

"The Calypso Mushroom, has a paralyzing effect to humans in its spores," Suneater said. He took in deep breaths and curled his fists tightly at his sides to keep them from shaking. I've trained for this. "The first few times I tried it myself, it didn't quite work… But I kept it up." There are animals with paralyzing effects too in their poisons, but I have to get closer for most of those, and without any exposed skin or a target that I could pierce through easily, spores work best. "You won't be able to stay up…"

"Just in case he can though," Nejire-Chan called out. She was still smiling even as Re-Destro steadied on his feet and glared in fury through his blurry eyes back towards Suneater. "Let's take him down for good right now! He's ingested enough!" She tossed up Lemillion then swung her arms down and fired Waves to clear out the air and give Mirio a path at their target. Re-Destro grit his huge angry teeth and snapped his head up, but that quick movement made him more wobbly where he stood.

Re-Destro threw both arms up, but in his vision he saw six swinging above him. Lemillion was also closer when he swung up but he suddenly appeared farther and yet blurring through a few of his arms at the same time. He could not tell if that was from Permeation or from the spores affecting him. Lemillion smiled wide though while pulling his fist far back on this dive at Re-Destro's face. And when he swung that arm forward, he pounded his fist at full speed into Re-Destro's jaw and knocked him off his feet this time as the villain could not see it coming.

Yotsubashi hit the ground and then flipped backwards and onto one foot and a knee. He kept his eyes shut but squinted them open to try and get back up. Everything was shaking in his vision. His right hand lifted up towards his head, and he was muttering while touching his right ear. Suneater's right ear changed shape and grew fur on it. His eyes widened and he called out, "Stop him now! Take him down before they get-"

"Whoa!" Nejire flipped backwards herself in surprise at the sight of the blue blur that just sped out of nowhere and stopped between her and Re-Destro. The villain who stopped behind the huge black form on one knee had stitches on his face and a grotesquely bulky appearance that appeared disproportionate to his head's shape and size.

"This side too," Lemillion said in a low voice while turning and then jumping away as both of the enemies sprinting towards him aimed and fired off long-distance attacks.

"He just called in reinforcements. Some of his 'Liberators,' he called them," Suneater explained to his comrades wondering where these enemies just started running towards them from.

"Just, give me a, few seconds," Re-Destro ordered some of his 100 soldiers who prevented the Big Three from finishing him off. "I'll be back up on my feet by then," he said. It was promise to his men yet a threat to the heroes who he glared back up at as he snarled it.

"Wish Mount Lady would get back over here already," Nejire-Chan mentioned. She kept up a smile and accepted the challenge of these new fighters, though she mentioned another of their comrades who had come to help them take on Re-Destro and all the damage he was causing.

Mt. Lady could not get back to those three twenty year olds to help them if she wanted to though. When she dragged one leg up the street and put her foot on the ground to get back up, Bitchess 'N Cream got behind that leg and rose her arms at the back of Mt. Lady's knee. Manika Esire fired thin lines of cream filling like power jets from the tiny holes in her costume. They pierced through Mt. Lady's costume and through her skin as well, hitting the back of her kneecap and causing the giant hero to scream in agony.

"Posso aiutarti?" An Italian villain wondered to the face of the woman that bowed in agony as she fell off the one foot she had risen.

"Help Mt. Lady!"

"Take them all out," Bitchess hissed while looking back up towards the heroes who changed direction to run to their helpless comrade's aid.

The Italian villain asking if Mt. Lady needed help smiled after the sarcastic question. The man had been freed from prison by the League of Villains who had shown up in Sicily for someone else entirely. He was simply repaying the favor by helping them out in this battle, but that did not mean he could not have fun with it. The hand he outstretched in front of Mt. Lady's face as if offering it for her to take, turned so his palm was pointed straight between her eyes. "Suppedo no." His hand glowed bright red but a black dot formed in the middle of his palm. A flash of red went off and the thin black pellet in the middle of his palm fired out…

The villain's arm swung to the right as a gust of wind slammed into him. An instant later, the ground under his feet curled up in a wave that Bitchess dodged away from but her Italian comrade did not dodge as easily. The villain with a glowing red palm tried to escape but Cementoss caught his legs and swung him at another villain who he slammed into and both tumbled off the road. Cementoss let out a breath of relief as he did not think he was going to get his Quirk off in time to save Mt. Lady.

His head turned to the left just as Bitchess' looked to her right and past Mt. Lady who curled up and pressed her forehead into the ground. Her face was in a lot of pain from her broken nose after Re-Destro hit her at 100% Stress, sending her flying. She was also partially blinded by that red flash of light into her already blurry vision. She squinted though and started dragging her head up on the floor to see who it was who just pushed her enemy's arm away.

The young man who did it lowered his arms in relief and put his own palms down on the floor again. Instead of touching the ground though of the sidewalk he had just sped down, his hands had a tiny space between them and the ground under his palms. He was down on all fours and hovering just an inch off the floor. A shadow passed over him and caused Bitchess and her villains as well as the heroes ahead of them to all look up. They glanced at a girl with a black domino mask on and twin tails behind her head who just bounced high in the air over the buildings.

"Who are they?" The European muttered. The foreigner Radian darted his gaze to Bitchess for a moment but his eyes shot back to the heroes who looked similarly confused by who this pair was who just came out of nowhere. The girl in the air seemed to have a kind of costume on, though it looked more like the costume an idol would wear than a hero. And the young man who sped out on all fours around Mt. Lady's head and in Bitchess' direction to block her off from the wounded hero, only wore a black hoodie that had a hero's name on the back of it.

Cementoss' eyes opened wide suddenly as he spotted that man speeding at the villains in total disregard of who he was charging at. Mt. Lady's eyes also squinted back open and her vision got less blurry as that boy stopped sliding to the left side of her head that she turned towards him. His head also turned left briefly as he checked on her face and frowned for a moment at the sight of her damage, only to smile as she got her eyes open and looked at him. And Mt. Lady's heart skipped a beat at the sight in front of her.

"AHHHEEAAAHHH!" The two of them could hear a scream echoing in their ears from a long time ago. Koichi's expression hardened and his smile flattened back out as he glared at the villains in front of him. He imagined the crying of the two women hunched over him. But it was not their crying that had woken him back up after he passed out again, but the screams from the top of the crater he had been revived in that made him stand back up. Koichi Haimawari thought of Pop and Makoto's faces that were covered in tears but also relief, just like Mt. Lady's when she saw him walking up to the edge of the crater.

Mt. Lady had been so happy when he walked up there. For a moment she was able to lose her own horrified and pitying expression for the boy who was screaming his lungs out while saving another person from the Trigger Incident in Musutafu that day. She had walked up to the person who she had fallen back on when the villain on Trigger had hit her. This man who had been speeding around on the ground and acting like a vigilante, saving lives until she could get there with other heroes who could fight. No other civilians around them had been killed, and the person Lifebringer had revived after him was the only other fatality of the day that could have been much worse. Mt. Lady looked at this person in front of her who faced down villains again in such an irresponsible way for someone without a hero license, but she did not feel any surprise as she thought about how she tried to scold him that day.

She had just started to do so, when the homeroom teacher of the boy reviving another victim turned and recognized the person who Lifebringer had revived first. "Crawler?" "It's Crawler! I- oh. Sorry I just- Eraser Head?! Great to see you!" Koichi had corrected him, so used to anyone who knew of his old vigilante name calling him the "Cruller" that it was reactionary at that point. He had been happy that Aizawa actually got it on the first try. "Long time no see-" "Still up to no good, huh? I thought you-" Eraser Head had stopped talking to him, spinning back to his student instead who screamed out in pain and caused his two classmates at his sides to wince at the sight of black waves of Death spurting out of his body.

"Is that, what it looked like…" Mt. Lady could remember this person turning his head and looking back into the hole her hand had squished him into. Koichi had looked back towards her and suddenly seemed to understand the pained and regretful yet relieved look on her face. And then she saw that man who had worn an All Might hoodie turn back towards Lifebringer who he stared at with eyes that had grown huge and just shook all the more as Lifebringer revived the second fatality.

In the present, Mt. Lady looked at this man in front of her who wore a darker hoodie than the last one she saw him in. And Koichi did not have All Might's name on it today. 'LIFEBRINGER' was written across his back that was exposed for everyone to see considering the way he slid around with his elbows and knees bent, and his feet and hands hovering just off the floor.

Koichi thought of the end of that last incident where Lifebringer passed out and was picked up by Midnight to get carried back, the other two students with her starting to leave. Eraser Head had stayed behind for a little longer and to help with clean up. "Right place?" Koichi thought of his old hero friend's voice echoing in his mind as a skeptical question. He imagined the man he had worked with before back when he spent more time actively patrolling around as a vigilante in an area that became more saturated with heroes over the years until a time that he could focus more on his own personal life and relationships, like the one with the pink-haired girl who skipped through the air using Leap. Pop-Step, or Haneyama Kazuho, flew overhead and then grabbed onto an outcropping of a wall high up on a building on Koichi's right.

Pop's eyes narrowed down towards Bitchess and the other villains in the largest group who had been cornering and bullying Mt. Lady. Her expression darkened just as the Crawler's did down below. Her boyfriend of two years had the hood of his Lifebringer hoodie bunched up behind his neck. His head was lifted up and his eyes locked on Bitchess' in front of him. The League killed Eraser Head. Killmore did. Lifebringer, didn't just bring me back. Koichi thought of the live footage he had watched at his kotatsu table with Pop as they ate together. The two of them had gotten up on their feet when Lifebringer tackled Killmore out that window during Killmore's Office Takeover. He didn't just save my life, and avenge Eraser Head's…

He saved everyone. "Hey there," Koichi said, staring at the crazy woman in front of him whose expression darkened worse than his or his girlfriend's could. "I think you should apologize to Mount Lady here. That wasn't very nice of you."

I remember him. The vigilante, Ken Ishiyama thought. Cementoss turned his head and darted a look around him again as he remembered how surrounded they were. I want to say that this was an irresponsible move on his part, but he knows what he just did. He came out here anyway. This isn't just to distract the villains or stall for enough time for more heroes to arrive. The Crawler knows that we need help.

"You…" Mt. Lady gasped out at the sight of the man who had distracted villains long enough to get the street evacuated that day, over two years ago now. She remembered the minutes of excruciating pain that Lifebringer had gone through too in order to bring him back. "What are… you doing…"

Koichi grinned and stared down the villains ahead of him with a heroic look on his face. The former vigilante with no hero license made Bitchess hesitate as she opened her mouth to insult this weak civilian for thinking they could make a difference here. The fact that not only Mt. Lady but Cementoss also seemed to recognize him made her pause more as she wondered to herself, Who the fuck is this?

Koichi called out in a loud and confident voice for all the villains in front of him but also those behind him and on both sides of the last intersection to hear. "I'm The Crawler! Be afraid, because we're not going to let you continue this rampage any longer!"

"And by we!" A loud voice amplified by a microphone on her chest shouted from above. Pop-Step jumped off the wall and did multiple flips with her body fully extended and her arms thrown out to each side as she spun around too. "He means that the team of the Crawler and Pop-Step!"

"Ooh! Pop-Step!" A twenty-eight year old villain behind Bitchess fifteen feet back exclaimed in excitement. The former street idol who had not done a show in years was surprised and annoyed to hear that call from one of the villains she came out to face.

Bitchess 'N Cream spun her head sideways and looked back in disgust and with a look asking 'really?!' The old fan shut his mouth quickly and pulled his head back at her glare, but Bitchess just snapped her head back up and then down again at this pair of crazy people who just jumped into odds that were clearly unwinnable. She was insane herself, but she still looked back at the Crawler and then pulled her head away at the look he gave her that had just a big smile and a confidence from a source unknown on it.

Crawler suddenly shot forward as Bitchess rose up her right arm towards him. Her eyes bulged as she fired out a thin line of Cream that missed as he darted to the right and just to her left side. His upper body leaned up, his left hand rising from the floor and pointing towards her side. "Shooty Go Blam!" A concentrated repulsion burst fired from his palm into her side, and it took Bitchess off her feet and threw her across the road through the space that Mt. Lady just pulled herself out of to get closer to the other heroes who ran forward to protect her. Koichi's speed to blur by Bitchess' side like that shocked her as much as it did everyone else on the road staring at this crazy civilian who was actually pretty powerful.

Mt. Lady looked back in shock as well. He, wasn't a fighter, she thought in disbelief at the sight of him throwing Bitchess across the road, even if the Radian did land it and snap a glare back his direction with her face turning deranged and insanely pissed off. Mt. Lady was stunned by what she was seeing as Crawler confidently glared back towards Manika but with a smile on his face. Or… he just knew, he wasn't allowed to fight, Mt. Lady realized in astonishment at that moment. She recalled yelling at him to run away like everyone else had, but she just realized that even though the villain back then had injected with Trigger, and everyone else had gotten off the road so it was just this "Crawler" and the villain facing him, he had not been injured when she arrived. He had not even been winded. Koichi had just been distracting the villain until she arrived, but the problem was that he had not run off when she started fighting the Triggered villain, which she questioned only now if the reason for that was concern this citizen had had for leaving her to fight alone before other heroes arrived…

"Seriously! Who the fuck is this guy?!" Bitchess screamed.

---

"Die!"

"Take this!"

A cluster of villains on a city street in Tokyo were grappling and attacking each other out of nowhere. The group that had previously been pushing smoothly and without slowing down up this street, were now beating the crap out of each other while the heroes evacuated civilians and sprinted farther towards a safe zone these villains were moving towards.

Two men pointed their rifles at each other and fired. One hit the other in the chest but the other who fired second still managed to swing his firing gun back in as he was falling backwards. He hit his opponent and former ally in the left leg and right arm, dropping him to the ground screaming only for the man to try raising his weapon and shooting at another ally. His gun was knocked up into the air though and then a foot kicked him in the face and sent him rolling away.

Kimmatsu Shi's long dark purple hair was tied into a ponytail that fell halfway down his back to his waist. His mouth was closed tightly and he was not breathing in as he noticed the thin veil of green mist that was filling the air around them. His eyes locked on an enemy who spun towards him from a villain who he had forced to attack his comrades, only for Varrenzo to quickly finish off his fellow villains and charge at Underguard himself. Kimmatsu Shi leaned his body to the left as he sped-walked towards the hero who had stayed behind unlike most other heroes who assisted with the evacuation. One who was farther than Underguard glanced back over his shoulder though as he took up the rear of the ground, and the white-haired man in a red costume grit his teeth then started sprinting back at the way the fight was looking for his comrade.

Kimmatsu Shi turned his body to the side and let an ally's slash go past him, but the villain who just missed turned the blade and cut back up at him. It was one of his own Bushido Dansei who slashed back up, and Kimmatsu Shi rose his wooden hilt and parried the blow. Then he slashed down through his ally's side and cut him nearly in half. He swung the bloody blade to his left and cut off the extending tongue of a different ally part of Varrenzo's gang, and he continued forward without caring about his comrades' screams.

Underguard jumped up and dodged Varrenzo's right arm that was covered in red fur but that Underguard noticed was standing on end and looked much sharper. The hero with a black mask on the bottom of his face spun around a kick for Varrenzo's head, and he nailed the villain in the side of the skull. Varrenzo's red fur glowed bright at the moment that Underguard's leg was colliding. A burst of heat escaped the villain who was still lifted off the floor by the kick and launched off the road. Varrenzo hit the sidewalk and flipped off it with the glowing red spikes on his back dimming for a moment as he shook his head around in confusion at what was going on.

Underguard had no time to focus on how he had just kicked Varrenzo out of the area that he had focused his gas Quirk. All Tight, how much more time do you need? I'm not liking this. Underguard spotted the villain holding his breath while he was still facing Varrenzo. The young man was only twenty three years old, and Underguard did not recognize him. His metal headband that looked like a ninja's had a line cut horizontally across the middle of it. His under armor was black and tight to his body, but he had on a gray hakama over it that had an empty sheath on the side.

This villain had not paused when his comrades tried attacking him. He simply cut them if they got in his way. He stepped towards Underguard with swift movements. His body leaned left and right as he sped towards the hero who stomped forward instead of away. Kimmatsu Shi swung his sword out while quickly taking two more steps forward himself at the hero who closed the gap himself instead of readying or stepping away. It was a technique opponents used to make him hesitate or slow, but he sped up twice as fast instead and closed the distance so his first swing was already in reach. Underguard yanked his head back, and the katana swinging at him rose up from its initial target of Underguard's chest, instead slicing right in front of Underguard's face and cutting through two tubes that wrapped from his mask to behind his head under his green hood.

Underguard snapped both hands to his face and grabbed at his mask that clean air poured out of. Kimmatsu Shi continued forward and slashed back the other way, but Underguard rose his right arm and blocked the katana with something hard that was under his right green cloak sleeve- Kimmatsu Shi slammed his right foot up and into Underguard's gut during that parry. Underguard gasped and breathed in his own Quirk that he had kept using because this villain had still not taken a breath.

Underguard was kicked backwards out of the mist and onto the pavement that he rolled back on. Kimmatsu Shi sprinted forward out of the mist himself that did not continue to be created as Underguard needed to take in breaths after that kick and no longer had a functioning mask to protect himself. Kimmatsu Shi jumped up and he put both hands on the light-brown wooden hilt of his katana. He slammed the blade down towards Underguard who snapped his head up then pushed himself back. Kimmatsu Shi released with his right hand and slashed upwards with his left, cutting across Underguard's cloak and making blood splash out.

"Underguard!" A voice screamed farther down the road.

Vlad King bit down in frustration but did not look back as he heard that younger woman's yell of frustration and rage back this way. He was almost at the fight himself, but he was not upset that Sameko had brought Kimmatsu Shi's attention up to him. He already knew this villain had spotted him. The green cloud of Underguard's gas that caused the villains to fight each other was already thinning out behind the ninja-looking swordsman who just swung his sword out to the side and flicked some blood off it.

Kimmatsu Shi did look behind Vlad King even if the hero did not look back at the girl with sharp shark teeth who started sprinting back this direction. The swordsman frowned at the sight of the young woman sprinting back towards him and glaring at him so furiously. "Unfortunate. It would be better if she continued evacuating the civilians." His eyes shifted back on the U.A. teacher who charged at him and jumped while pulling a fist back. "I don't care for any more of them to die today."

Kimmatsu Shi ducked under the punch as it was about to hit him in the face. He stepped forward and to his left. Vlad King's right arm passed over the top of his head. He passed under Vlad King's armpit and slashed into his chest- Splash! Blood splashed out of the hero's body, but Kimmatsu Shi could not yank his sword free as the blood that splashed way more than it should have all hardened around his sword. Vlad King brought his right arm down and gripped the back of Kimmatsu Shi's robe, and the villain was not running but just trying to yank his sword free.

"You don't want civilians to get dragged in?" Vlad King wondered in disbelief while yanking the younger man's upper body backwards. He glared down into the face of the villain and his dark turquoise eyes. "How many do you think will die today because of you?!" Vlad King roared while gripping tighter and then slamming his other hand down in a fist for Kimmatsu Shi's face.

Kimmatsu Shi tugged with all his might backwards and ripped his sword from the hardened blood shield that Vlad King had made out of his chest the instant it was cut. He pulled his face away too, and his hakama was ripping off, but Vlad King curled his left fist's knuckles and blood sprayed out the back of his white gloves. The support gloves pierced his skin, and Vlad King used his Blood Control to spray a wave at the ninja falling backwards…

"RaaaAAA!" Varrenzo dragged his claws through the ground and his body glowing bright red shot forward. He slammed his right claw into Vlad King's opened up left side because of the way the hero just swung down to his right. Vlad King twisted his body and tried to attack back, but Varrenzo already hit him. At the last moment too, Varrenzo's fur lost its spikiness and his nails retracted back into his claw. Vlad King felt two ribs on his left side break. His skin was not broken though.

The hero lifted off the ground and then skid back on both feet while glaring at these two villains looking more imposing and threatening than the rest of their allies still shaking off Underguard's Quirk. Underguard's sidekick was rushing in at that moment, and her eyes darted over to her twitching pro who was curling his fingers on the floor at his sides while a puddle of red grew under him. Her gaze snapped to Varrenzo though instead of the one who had cut down her hero she had been working with ever since the Cult of Stain had killed her mother, Gogogo.

Sameko slammed her left fist towards Varrenzo and screamed, "Shark Skin Punch!"

Kimmatsu Shi marched towards Vlad King who grabbed at his left side for a second before turning and glaring at the swordsman who was frowning deeply as he stepped this way. I made my decision. Why did I say anything in front of this man? Kimmatsu Shi glared at the hero whose words should not have been a surprise to him. Somehow they resonated inside though, and they echoed in his head over and over. Behind him he saw his fellow villains snarling and starting to move this direction, the same way that the civilians had been evacuated. Those civilians now had much fewer heroes protecting them, and they were likely being led to an area with even more innocents…

"I have nothing against you," Kimmatsu Shi told the hero who he stood before and rose his sword to point at. "However, honor demands I fight with those who are my comrades. Those who live in the same underworld as myself." Vlad King's eyes narrowed behind his orange mask. His teeth bared but he stared more in confusion than anything at this young villain who continued, "Yet, I do not care to kill civilians. I will do what I can to stop other League members who try to do so. You can die knowing you've done-"

"What are you talking about?" Vlad King snarled. "'Honor?' What is…"

The city shook underneath them. Their eyes darted to the east, to the sight of a building vanishing from the skyline as it collapsed. Flames rose and smoke billowed out into the sky. Other villains behind Kimmatsu Shi started cheering, laughing and pumping their fists, hollering in glee at what they just witnessed. "Where is the honor in this?!" Vlad King yelled back towards Kimmatsu Shi, running at him with his fists curled furiously. He had wanted to catch his breath but his chest felt heavy and the pain was not going away. Cuts and gashes were easy to deal with. Broken ribs were a different story. And if the villain beside Kimmatsu Shi could break two of his ribs in one blow, he had to protect Underguard's sidekick who was facing off against Varrenzo now and about to get outnumbered as well.

Vlad King curled his fists and made blood splash out on both sides of him. One side hardened quicker though into sharper blood blades that he slashed at Kimmatsu Shi who jumped up and flip-cartwheeled in the air. His legs went all the way over his head from his right side then over the top. He slashed down and parried the bloody spikes away, then he spun around and slashed all around him to keep clear the more liquid Blood that sprayed up at him. Vlad King was panting and pulled back a lot of that blood as Kimmatsu Shi landed and ran towards him. "You kill heroes, and yet say you want to protect the people-"

"This war is between our side and the heroes who face us," Kimmatsu Shi argued back at the man he ran at and cut with a lighter slash across his stomach this time. He ran around Vlad King's left side and cut upwards, then across the hero's back and then up on his right arm too. Vlad King spun and swung different directions with his fists, but he only tried using Blood Control on the first shallow gash before realizing that this villain was too quick for him and had adjusted his own attacks to not get his blade stuck anymore. Kimmatsu Shi learned from the first time he was caught. He was only in his tight black costume now as his ripped hakama and sheath had been discarded to the street.

"One side will come out on top and the rest of the nation will fall in line below them, whether under their old rulers or new ones." Kimmatsu Shi sounded uncaring. His tone was apathetic to the causes of either side. Whoever wins, my lifestyle will not change. I will live freely as I always do. I know though, that victory for villains will make it easier to continue living my free life… It will.

"You think that heroes rule people?" Vlad King growled in anger, needing to focus on more parts of his body now to keep them all from bleeding. Kimmatsu Shi jumped back as sudden spikes of blood came out from all over Vlad King. The hero had to yank them back into his body though and was gasping while darting a look towards Sameko and then behind him at other heroes who were coming to help just as Varrenzo landed a grazing blow on Sameko's side. She spun out with a scream and then rolled back to one knee and a foot, curling her rough hands on the floor and glaring up at Varrenzo who smirked at her with his sharp teeth baring behind lips that curled up so far at the corners. Behind Varrenzo stood dozens of villains who all laughed and marched forward menacingly and looking evil and deranged.

Kimmatsu Shi hesitated at the hero's voice in front of him more on the left side of the street than the right where Sameko was about to get killed by those villains before any hero reinforcements showed up. "Heroes, are servants," Vlad King said in a pained and frustrated voice as this villain stood in his way between him and Sameko. He just dropped to his right knee as his thigh had been slashed by Kimmatsu Shi on the last cut before Vlad King had forced him back. His right hand punched down on the floor and he struggled to stand back up. He could see Underguard's no-longer-moving body in a puddle not ten feet from him. He could see Sameko struggling back up onto both feet to at least die standing in front of her enemies. When Vlad King looked to Underguard, Kimmatsu Shi's gaze shifted into the corners as well and he stared back at that man who he had cut down while the hero stalled them for time for the civilians to get away.

"You are the only ones allowed to train your Quirks. You took all the power for yourselves. All the strength-"

Vlad King's head had bowed in frustration at the tone of this young man's voice that was so misguided and wrong. "Despite being the ones who can use their power, the people can take it from us just as easily." Vlad shook his head in rage and growled out, "It's the people of this country that have the most power, and villains want to take that from them. So," Vlad King's head rose partially and his eyes glared up under his white bangs at the face of the swordsman staring back down at him. "You cannot say you're being honorable as you help enslave the population underneath Shigaraki, and Raijin, and Intanzo." Vlad King's fists started curling harder and his right pushed back off the floor, blood piercing out of his glove and shoving him upwards so he could more easily get off his knee.

People can demand their licenses. The people allow heroes? Or is it that heroes have too much power that they won't give up… Heroes can't refuse giving up power. Laws change and it's the politicians, elected by the people who… but those laws don't change easily? Is that what we're fighting against? It being too slow? I'm not fighting for that. I don't care… Kimmatsu Shi watched Vlad King stumble and wince as he tried to stand too quickly because of the way Varrenzo was laughing at Sameko and ordered his men behind him to run past and block off the other heroes from helping. What Varrenzo just said would get those hero reinforcements to risk attacking earlier and more sloppily in order to save her, which was going to get all of them killed.

New rulers or old ones. The new ones, "…Shigaraki, and Raijin, and Intanzo." No one was moving in Kimmatsu Shi's vision. Time slowed and the world around him turned gray in his eyes. His comrades attacked Sameko which caused three other heroes to rush in haphazardly to prevent her death. Varrenzo cackled as he ran at the injured girl. Vlad King was swinging towards Kimmatsu Shi himself with one arm while reaching Sameko's direction with his other arm that was spraying blood towards her. Under heroes or, under the rule of villains who would kill them all if they don't fall in line. Shigaraki and Raijin tried killing millions today already. To think they won't do it afterwards would be voluntary ignorance.

I can't do anything to protect the civilians from villains. Why do I want to? Well, what did they do to me? What did… they do to deserve any of this? If my freedom gets in the way of theirs, then… That was not something I spent much time thinking about. I, never considered it. Where does my freedom end? It doesn't, unless, it interferes with theirs? My freedom ends when it interferes with the ability for others to live freely? But, that's not- they would stop me from living out my life as a wandering swordsman. They tried, and that's why I fought them in the first place. Why I had to hide. Why I joined Ramurai, and Dread, and… I just joined Shigaraki, so that I could stay free.

"Are you afraid?! Afraid that I might hurt you? Kill you?" Why am I thinking about that now? Kimmatsu Shi's heart would have started racing had he not been Paused in his own head. A master swordsman, not many of his allies actually knew that he also had a powerful Quirk to match it. He rarely used it, or at least they never knew when he did. Time did not actually slow. Only the time that Kimmatsu Shi himself was perceiving as he stood there in a gray emptiness. He looked towards Varrenzo who had just assisted him when Vlad King tried to get a heavy blow on him. Fighting alongside allies, and not betraying my own comrades, is that where I find honor? Fighting with them because I've already come this far? Or, is that just the easiest route? "You don't know! You thought you were safe here, but there is no safety for you anywhere on this world as long as I exist. And as long as you villains exist, I will be there! I will be in every shadow, in every corner, behind every door!"

"Do you fear me now?! Afraid to turn every corner in fear that I will be there?! Afraid to live your lives in peace because no matter how protected you think you are, I AM THERE! Is it scary? Does it make your hearts clench up in fear?! Do you know what it feels like now?! Do you have any idea now, how the rest of the world feels, because of YOU?!"

Kimmatsu Shi had felt something when he watched that livestream of a court trial. He had hidden it and kept his expression more stoic than many scared villains around him. And yet he had noticed the expression on the faces of many of those in the video ahead of Death reacting in a way that he had felt. Behind the Capos, he had seen brief moments of regret beyond just regret of being in that scary situation. He saw momentary looks of guilt. When they faded from those villains' faces though before they fought in the final charge of the Battle of Wampajawa, he had also allowed his own confused feelings fade. This entire day though, he found himself thinking too much about what he was doing. It's never this hard to know what I want to do. I just go with the flow. Did what was easiest to keep my freedom. I never put much thought into it. So if I'm thinking this much right now, then it must be because I'm doing something against the flow. Against what I can just do without thinking very much. That's my freedom. If I don't feel that way now, then I am just getting in my own way.

Stop thinking. It felt less free to be so lost in his own thoughts. He only ever Paused in order to make better moves in his fights. He used his Quirk when he needed time to think quicker, making better moves than his opponents to the point that everyone thought he was even more of a master of his craft than he was because of his perfection with the blade. Kimmatsu Shi mentally released a deep breath and then just let his body move without spending so much time thinking.

His eyes opened and the gray tint to the world shifted back to normal. Villains all around him stared at Kimmatsu Shi with their jaws dropped, as did the confused girl who was baring her teeth at an enemy who suddenly was blocked from her sight. Kimmatsu Shi did not attack from behind or suddenly slash the enemy he now faced. He just stood in front of him with his bloody sword raised, confusing Vlad King who spun to the empty space next to him then spun back in shock at where the swordsman just appeared, between Varrenzo and Sameko.

Kimmatsu Shi sighed while Varrenzo was staring at him in confusion and then growing anger at what he suspected was going on. Bushdio Dansei members started shouting at Kimmatsu Shi, but he just muttered to himself, "Guess my body understands it's not much of a choice to make." He was frowning after that sigh but his lips did lift up, because for the first time in a while, a weight he did not know had been pushing down on his shoulders lifted up. It had grown with each evil leader he had followed who committed worse and worse acts, starting from Ramurai but moving to where he was now in a city under attack by his own comrades. "I know it's too late for me to just change sides and come out of this unscathed."

Kimmatsu Shi spoke and the girl behind him was snarling at his back for what he had done not three minutes ago. The blood drenching his sword included that of her mentor and the man whose agency she lived at as she could not afford her own place yet. Sameko had already lost her best friend earlier at the Karebo Office where she knew Rubbergirl had been crushed when the first Spider emerged. "You're betraying us? Right here? Right now!?" Varrenzo yelled at his comrade from the Jazz who had become an executive like him after Ramurai's death. "Are you a fucking fool? Right when we're winning you think this is smart?"

"No, not really," Kimmatsu Shi responded. He grabbed his hilt with both hands as enemies surrounding him all started closing in, with Varrenzo's body getting spikier and glowing bright in fury. I won't be able to come out of this in victory or defeat and be allowed to continue living my life the only way I've ever accepted, which is however I want to. But, Kimmatsu Shi moved and slashed into one of his allies without that villain being affected by Underguard's Quirk this time. The lack of remorse or restraint he showed back when he cut into them before had echoed in his mind when he was talking to Vlad King, telling him that he already knew the answer to the questions he had. Allowing this girl to die after running back to save her mentor, while protecting innocents, left a much worse taste in his mouth when he considered it. Even though saving her meant that he would no longer be free.

"If I've fought for myself all this time," Kimmatsu Shi spun and blocked a spiky-armed swing that blew heat down at him. His knees bent and he leaned back as Varrenzo chomped forward trying to get past his blade. Kimmatsu Shi yanked his head away then smashed it forward and hit the metal piece of his headband into Varrenzo's forehead. The headband ripped off from some of the sharp spiky red hair on Varrenzo's head, but it did make his enemy stumble back while Kimmatsu Shi's forehead started to bleed too. "And yet I still failed my own honor code?" He wondered to Varrenzo who only stumbled two steps back before lowering his hand and glaring back at Kimmatsu Shi again. Three other heroes rushed in, and as much as Sameko wanted to hit this traitorous villain in his back, she turned instead and defended herself from a different one. Kimmatsu Shi grinned towards Varrenzo feeling more carefree than he had in a while, and he finished, "Then I have to even the scales by fighting for others in my final moments."

Kimmatsu Shi bent down and spread his legs. He pulled his sword down to his right side and then sprinted forward, slashing back and forth and knocking away two other swordsmen who were not even close to making him use his Quirk to need to see through their attacks. He cut across them with the sharp edge of his blade. Blood splashed to his right and left. It got on other allies of his who lost the shock on their expressions to instead fill with rage.

"You fucking, bastard," Bungou growled. He pulled a needle out of his pocket while leaping backwards away from Kimmatsu Shi for a moment.

Amurai glanced over her back and then looked back down in front of her at the shorter man who she bared his teeth at. The nine foot tall woman pulled out her own vial of Quirk-enhancing drugs as well. Kimmatsu Shi rushed forward despite her injection. He had to duck down under a large sword swinging at his right side though, and his ponytail trailing behind him got cut partially off. Strands of hair fell around him and made the swordsman's eyes narrow through the falling strands over at the enemy finishing his cut. He darted that way, then he leapt up in the air as five gray hands shot up out of the ground and grabbed at his legs. His legs slipped through their fingers, but then he tried yanking his body to the side in midair while losing focus on still slashing another large enemy's chest as repayment for cutting his hair.

A red-hot spike flew through the air and grazed by Kimmatsu Shi's left side. It cut through the black costume and sprayed blood out underneath Kimmatsu Shi's left arm he pulled away to avoid it from getting damaged too. He spun out in midair from the spike Varrenzo shot towards him. The villain who just shot that spike from his back dug his claws into the ground and started sprinting on all fours towards where Kimmatsu Shi was going to come down.

The ninja with a deep bloody gash on his left side and a smaller one on his forehead cracked a grin as he more easily avoided a giant woman's fist that was covering in pink spikes breaking through her skin uncontrollably. She roared out in rage and pain, but she still aimed at him and only missed because of Varrenzo's attack that shifted Kimmatsu Shi in midair. His eyes darted all around at enemies who injected with Trigger or who just focused on killing him.

"Ramurai never should have let you in!"

"I warned Dread that something was off about you!"

"YOU FUCKING TRAITOR!"

Kimmatsu Shi's eyes closed. He let out a deep breath while twisting his body to come down on his feet. He could hear his heart pounding in his ears. This is it. I don't feel as heavy anymore. This may slow them down… but only taking down Varrenzo will stop them. Their momentum will reverse if he goes down. I shouldn't accept death until I do it. Kimmatsu Shi's eyes snapped open and his head spun towards the man charging straight towards him. Others were rushing at his sides. A huge man with a sword taller than him if he put it straight up and down at his side, sprinted towards Kimmatsu Shi from his left, but he moved straight at Varrenzo while ignoring that sword pulling back to the villain's side.

Other Triggered villains slowed and jumped away. They jeered at Kimmatsu Shi even as he sprinted rapidly at Varrenzo who reared back on his hind paws and swiped his right claw forward. His left claw ripped the green baggy fireproof costume off his body and threw it forward at the swordsman who leaned his body away from the initial slash. The baggy costume got in between the two, and Kimmatsu Shi slashed his sword through it while Varrenzo dove off his back legs and slashed his left claw forward where Kimmatsu Shi's head was on the other side of his clothes.

The green costume turned to shreds. Kimmatsu Shi ducked his head but he cracked a smile even as he did it. No point, he thought in amusement at his own reactions. His reflexes were too good for him to not duck as that claw swept through the space he predicted Varrenzo would guess his face was. He ducked below it, even though he was doing nothing to dodge the massive double-edged broadsword swiping in at him at that moment. Even Varrenzo had leapt up while making that attack because he saw his giant comrade slashing horizontally and he used the slash as a way to make sure he connected with Kimmatsu Shi. The traitor of the Bushido Dansei did not jump up though, something Varrenzo knew he had to do in order to avoid being cut in half by that sword. So Varrenzo missed his slash completely, while a sword connected with his shoulder and slashed down across his chest so hard that it broke through hardened spiky red fur and dug through flesh as well.

Varrenzo ground his teeth in agony while his vision got blurry, but he had to laugh through the pain anyway even as he arced backwards with blood flying from his torso. Because there was no confusion as to why Kimmatsu Shi did not jump. Varrenzo understood that his enemy knew he was already dead and just made the simple choice of who to get killed by. Then Varrenzo's shaking eyes grew huge instead of closing, as a much larger splash of blood sprayed up in his face than should have when that massive sword bisected Kimmatsu Shi.

The giant villain who swung the blade opened his eyes huge as well. Varrenzo hit the floor and rolled, leaving a streak of blood across the pavement between his men who yelled out his name then spun back to Kimmatsu Shi who was shocked to still be standing himself. He turned his head to the left where he thought the blade was about to cut him apart. The spray of blood that erupted on that side and filled his vision all hardened after it was cut into. Vlad King was panting as he stood there with his right arm raised at his side blocking his neck and face, and blood from his body making a wall between them and that strong enemy whose blade was still pushing against it. "You don't… get to die, that easily," Vlad King growled.

The Class 3-B homeroom teacher pushed Kimmatsu Shi away with his left arm then pulled all his blood back inside while jumping backwards himself. A quick enemy on Trigger sped forward and smashed his hands down on the ground below where Kimmatsu Shi was just standing. Bungou then spun to where Kimmatsu Shi was pushed onto his butt. The leader of the Bushido Dansei placed his hands down on his sides while still leaning backwards after hitting his butt, and he pushed himself up into a backflip that avoided more gray hands that shot up out of the ground. Bungou leapt over those arms and after him too, but Kimmatsu Shi swung his bloody sword in front of his body and cut across his Triggered opponent who leaned away but was just within reach and still got cut across the left side of his face and through his cheek.

"Why?" Kimmatsu Shi asked while landing down on the ground. He looked to his right at Vlad King who jumped over a huge slashing blade and then kicked across the face of a taller and broader enemy.

Vlad King could see this villain and in the same shot he saw his friend's unmoving body not far away. He ground his teeth harder then snapped while landing down with his back to Kimmatsu Shi, "I don't accept that you turning on them here has made up for your crimes. I won't let you accept that either. You're wrong," Vlad King growled at his enemy behind him who was at the moment an ally. The look of satisfaction and relief that had formed on Kimmatsu Shi's face in that final rush at Varrenzo in a situation that would obviously get himself killed too, had made the U.A. teacher's blood boil and caused his body to move on its own. "You have to face those you've hurt by following Ramurai, Duke Dread, and now Shigaraki."

Kimmatsu Shi's expression darkened and his eyes scanned back over the villains around them who hesitated after watching these two take on some of the stronger members with less difficulty than they should have. They started making plans of attack and getting more cautious, while other villains and heroes continued to fight behind these two. He knows me? Kimmatsu Shi wondered. Or, has he just deciphered it from the situation? He doesn't know who I am. I haven't hurt… In his head, he imagined the facial expression of a shark girl not far behind him now. The look on that girl's face when he cut down Underguard flashed in his head for a moment. The calm and easiness he felt turned more restless, and his hands both gripped tighter on his blade even as blood ran down his left side fast. "Face them, huh?" He muttered softly.

"When the battle's over," Vlad King replied. "And you face up to your crimes as all villains must, only then you will have a chance to be free again." Kimmatsu Shi froze and his eyes darted at the hero next to him. Was he talking about the freedom in death that he did not let this villain have so easily? Or freedom from prison? Or just, freedom in general? Kimmatsu Shi did not know, but he saw Vlad King's eyes shift towards him and lock onto his own. "Until then, I won't let you die."

Face the music for what I've done? That, is also freedom. It'll be my choice to see this through now that I've made my bed. I could have switched sides earlier and warned them of this war to come. Saved, everyone. But I let it get this far. I chose not to make the choice. I pushed it off. That wasn't freedom. That was… but it was still, cowardice. Not making the choice. That's no choice at all. I failed to act. I failed to stand by my own code. People suffered. And this hero is right. Dying won't just make what I've done go away. So, I suppose, I just won't die.

---

"Are you sure about this?" Kimikaro Hone wondered, again, to the girl running on his right side.

Zeira Eleinie had on her black costume that was a perfect contrast to Kimikaro's all white one. Her short brown fur stuck out of the sleeves on her hands and above the collar on her neck. Zeira's long darker brown hair than her light brown fur fell behind her head and was tied in a straight ponytail. Her ponytail fell straight but spread out wavier after the hair tie and stuck up a little too behind her back. Her face did not have fur on it and was an even lighter shade of brown than her fur but was a darker shade than the pale white skin of her classmate, Kimikaro. She nodded her head firmly without hesitation at the boy's question. "I'm sure." He had come in second place in their Sports Festival almost a year ago now as they were nearly finished with their first year at U.A. She was the one who had told him to follow her though and was leading him back through Musutafu towards their school's campus.

Kimikaro glanced over his own shoulder again and frowned despite how Zeira assured him again that this was the right move. I should go find Masonery. We didn't get separated that long ago. I don't get why I'm going with Zeira. The battle is in the other direction.

U.A. has to be a place for coordinating a counterattack. If Mr. Principal is still there then he'll be organizing everyone who shows up to ask him what to do. Zeira's thoughts were calm and on a steady single track rather than hesitant and questioning what the right move to do was. Stay confident, she told herself while avoiding looking towards Kimikaro and just watching him out her peripheral vision. He glanced her way and opened his mouth again, but he closed it and kept running with her at the sight of her unwavering expression. Remember what Lifebringer said. How he said leaders need to act in order to get those around them to listen without wasting time. That flood scenario is no different from this. And, I know that U.A. is as much a source for organization as it is a target for our enemies. I saw smoke rising across Musutafu. These buildings are blocking it right now but if I'm right and that smoke was coming from the school, I'll be able to see it as we round the next corner.

God, I hope I'm wrong about that, Zeira added to herself. She held back from gulping at the thought of U.A. being under attack rather than being a source of safety and where some heroes actually had their shit together.

The two teenagers in their first year of hero high school ran down to the next intersection. "Right here," Zeira said. "Shit," she muttered too with her eyes up and seeing thicker smoke than before. Then she heard the distant blast that made her grit her teeth even more while Kimikaro's eyes grew huge next to her as he realized what was being attacked.

"The school- we need to get-" Kimikaro cut himself off from his shock to immediately get into action mode. He then started yelling at her about how they needed to rush there as fast as possible, but then he cut off again. This time he cut off though, he swung his arm out to the side and in front of Zeira while he stopped short.

They were at the next intersection and just turned right down it. Zeira's eyes were still up though and on the even thicker puff of black smoke with red flames inside that rose up in the direction they were running. "What are you-" her head snapped to her left at Kimikaro, then she slowly turned it and stared down the street in front of them.

The roads were empty. Musutafu had better communications up than were functioning inside of Tokyo where the battle really was. Sirens were actually working across most of the surrounding cities like Musutafu. And those sirens continued to go off around them as the two sixteen year olds stopped where they stood and stared down the road. "EVACUATE OFF THE STREETS. REMAIN IN YOUR HOMES. REMAIN INSIDE…" The messages blasting over the city faded as white noise in the backs of their heads.

One man stood down the road from them. He was off on the left side from where they were looking. His body was hunched forward over someone else who had their arms weakly raised and trying to push the larger figure away. Neither Zeira nor Kimikaro could move in that instant though to run and try to save him. Between them and the villain on the side of the road hunched over their senpai, was a street coated in blood and bodies. The bodies were not large. Most of them were smaller than average human bodies. And they recognized them.

Zeira and Kimikaro's eyes both locked on the closest corpse to them that was laying in the middle of the road near a car flipped on its side and still smoking. The girl's body was twisted so her upper half was facing towards them while her lower half was pointed the other way farther down the road. She had light brown eyes that were still open, and her right arm was bulked up in its muscular form still just as her right leg was. One of Oribia Kalla's small triangular silver horns was chipped, though the other was still just sticking up over her head that was pointed towards her classmates in Class 1-B who could not move at the sight of her mangled form.

An explosion went off at U.A.'s campus and made Kimikaro flinch and snap his gaze back up again and then down to the villain he knew was responsible for this. His heart rate sped up more and more. As he looked past the strongest student in Class 1-A who had defeated him in the final round of the Sports Festival that year. He looked past Pozaou Abba's body and over to another Sports Festival winner, the winner for the second years who had also won it last year when he was a freshman. Kimikaro's head pulled back at the sight of Yusuki Hideki's arms slumping down to his sides and his body looking to relax from its position slumped into the wall that the villain had him up against.

The figure stood up from Yusuki's body. His large hands he had down over the seventeen year old boy's corpse glowed dark purple. His muscular legs pulsed with the dark purple aura and seemed to get thicker. His feet pressed down harder into the ground under him while his head snapped back. His mouth was open and he inhaled a purple glow coming out of the boy's body and exuding up above him. "NNnnnn," David groaned in pleasure. He licked his lips and swallowed the Essence that left a lingering purple glow in his mouth for a few more seconds before fading.

Were they going back to the school to help? Zeira looked back up herself from Oribia's body and the bodies of many other students from years 1 and 2 of U.A. Some broken parts of U.A. robots were littered around the road with the corpses, but no pieces of robots from their enemies' forces. It's just him? Zeira looked towards a villain who turned his head and looked down the road to the intersection. He looked straight towards the frozen children unable to move a muscle at the sight of the devastation left before them.

They all thought returning to school was the best move too, Kimikaro thought. His breathing picked up speed as he met eye contact with the large man down the road in a tight black costume that showed off his bulging muscles all over his body. His hands were bloody. His feet were too from walking around in the puddles left by their mangled classmates. They were going back to protect the non-hero students there. Or to get help from Nezu, or because their pro heroes they were interning with had suggested it- I can see the smoke is coming from the school! Zeira was right. We have to get back, but- this guy. Is that his job? Making sure we don't…

"Poor kids," David remarked. His voice was cold and without the pity that his words seemed to imply in them. A smirk covered his face too as he got even luckier with new arrivals coming straight to him so he did not have to hunt them down himself. "Have you come to die too-" David's eyes rolled back into his head.

Zeira's did the same. The girl with tall stag antlers over her head ground her teeth in anger but locked gazes with the villain and then used her Mental Infiltration on him.

Kimikaro spun to his side at the girl who had informed him that she used her Quirk twice that day already. Zeira got into her enemy's head though and his mouth froze open. His body slumped and David stood still with his eyes rolled back so all that could be seen in between his eyelids were the whites of his eyes. Kimikaro flinched as he realized that he was suddenly alone. Zeira was not moving. The enemy was not moving. Nor were any of the bodies of their classmates and their rivals in Class 1-A, and their upperclassmen they had looked up to in the second year, and some of the pros who had been going towards U.A. with the students they were interning with. Some pros intended on returning the students who did not have their hero licenses yet but had been with them as part of work study groups, others had interns with provisional licenses but did not think they should be out there during this, and others really did just want to get to U.A. to see what Mr. Principal thought they should do.

Kimikaro started forward. He was cautious as he took his first step away from Zeira. The bulkier villain's body did not twitch though to show that he was still watching the boy with long white hair who he was facing. Kimikaro's black eyes had tiny blue pupils in the middle of them that darted every way as he continued walking forward. His eyes shifted down to Oribia, then he looked to his right over at Oran who was a friend of his in class and made him start grinding his teeth in more anger. His wrists curled out with a flick and his palms pointed at the ground.

Out from Kimikaro's wrists extended bones that pierced through his skin without drawing blood. The bones slid out and grew thicker and longer with sharp points on the ends of them. Kimikaro curled his hands back in and gripped onto the Bones that finished expelling from under his skin and split off from the rest of his bones that were still inside his arms. How do I stop him? This villain is insane! He would kill us both if Zeira's Quirk wears off. Kimikaro's grip tightened harder on his Bones. The weapons had sharpened tips. His eyes that were locked on David's rolled back ones, shifted down to the neck of the villain three feet taller than him. It was a reach, but his arm length and the length of the Bones he had pulled out would be long enough.

His foot came down as his eyes locked on his enemy's neck. And his foot froze as it touched the ground. Rage spread across Kimikaro's expression though, and his next step came easier after his last one came down in a puddle of red. He avoided the bodies on the floor but could not avoid the blood he started walking through. Each 'squish' under his feet made it easier to take another step even as his hands were shaking on his blades. Kimikaro marched right up to the terrifying villain who looked much less threatening with the blank look on his face now. David's body was unmoving and Kimikaro had to feel a brief moment of awe at how powerful Zeira's Quirk was that this villain who had killed so many of their classmates had been incapacitated so easily.

It won't last though, Kimikaro's thoughts got back on track. He lifted his head and looked straight up from in front of his enemy. Yusuki's corpse was on his left. Pozaou's body lay nearly ripped in two on his right. Her body was torn in the midsection and her guts were spilling out. Kimikaro's shaking hands steadied more at these sights in his peripheral vision. Lifebringer would do it. They killed him. Like they killed Fantasma, and all of them! Kimikaro imagined the scene at Koimou that had filled his mind constantly since it happened. He could not get those images out of his head, and yet what was around him right now was even more brutal. Villains died that day. Lifebringer killed too- all the time! He could do it! He knew that sometimes it was necessary! Even with Kurogiri who couldn't fight back… like this guy, who won't be incapacitated for long. That's why he did it.

Lifebringer was a great hero! We all know it! And yet he was willing, sometimes. And the school is under attack! Kimikaro's hands tightened more and his eyes locked on David's throat. A lump bounced up and down in his own neck as he started raising his arms. One thrust! Both hands just shove it in, and into his throat, like Lifebringer stabbed so many knives in Wampajawa… "Drop the field! Please!" Kimikaro's hands twitched and his eyes snapped down to them. Both arms started shaking again, as Lifebringer's voice rang out in his mind, "DON'T MAKE ME DO THIS!"

I can't, just kill a defenseless- Kimikaro's eyes shot open huge and darted to his right. Out of his ribs and his right shoulder and elbow, Bones shot out as a protective barrier that curved around him and sharpened at the end. He jumped back at the same time, and the enemy who swung a punch at him yanked that hand away at the last second to prevent his fist from getting cut up. "Zeira!" Kimikaro yelled behind him. He sprinted back and swung his right hand in front of him. The tips of all his fingers on his right hand opened up and fired out tiny cone-shaped Bone spikes that flew at the woman who just dropped out of the air from the arms of the man who had dove at Kimikaro.

Looking Lass twisted her body and dodged some of the spikes, but Kimikaro did not hit her anywhere important as she let her right side get hit by two of the Bones that pierced through her muscular shoulder and bicep. She slammed into Zeira while wincing, knocking the girl over and off the road where Zeira rolled and then flipped up onto a foot and a knee as she skid backwards. "Ahh! What the-" Zeira grimaced and snapped her head back towards David who she saw still standing.

Kimikaro was running towards Zeira and aiming his hands at the bulky woman who had stitches on her neck and arms just as the other two men behind him did. His aim at her caused her to pull backwards and stand still for a moment. Kimikaro saw where Zeira turned to though and a look of instant regret flashed over his face. He did not even have to turn around to tell that David's eyes rolled back forward. He spun around while reaching Zeira and put his back to her left side as she faced back towards the middle of the road from the sidewalk and he faced farther down it and towards U.A.'s campus. Kimikaro faced David and the man with large black wings who pulled those feathery appendages into his sides after landing down and standing straight up in front of his taller comrade whose expression was covered in rage. Zeira faced the woman with wavy lime green hair that stuck up in spiky bangs at the front. Her eyes were as big as an owl's, and they also darted towards David for a second before shifting to the hero in front of her who lost focus on her eyes and instead grit her teeth at the sight of the smug smile that spread on this villain's face.

"What are you doing here?" David growled in frustration at his comrades in the 100 who had come to his aid.

"Apologies, David. Re-Destro asked me to use my Keen Eye on our three strongest, you included," Looking Lass replied. The villainess spoke in a tone suggesting she was not wanting to anger the man who sounded pissed at the two of them. The guy in front of David even turned his head to the side and then stepped away to not be in David's path between him and those hero students. Looking Lass continued quickly, "Genial was the one who suggested the idea to our leader."

"I didn't need…" David grit his teeth in even more rage as he trailed off.

The other of the two Liberators who appeared actually smirked at what David just started with though. "You really didn't, apparently." Kurow chuckled while tilting his head back and looking down at those teenagers now surrounded by worse odds than before. Both knew how much worse their situation was now as well considering Zeira had used her Quirk three times that day. The black-haired enemy speaking to them in a cocky taunting voice continued, "You two really don't get how fucked you are, huh? We of the Meta Liberation Army's strongest 100, have all been adjusted with bio-enhancements that make us stronger than any normal human has ever been. Our Quirks already set us apart from the rest, but these achievements in bio-tech have made us perfect weapons for Re-Destro. And we won't hesitate to kill our enemies."

The way that Kurow just emphasized that made David's eyes shift back off the back of that man's head in a more amused way with his own smile rising back up. He looked towards his enemies and specifically the boy with straight white hair who looked down and then to the side guiltily at the girl next to him who was in as much of a crappy predicament as him right now. Zeira had also glanced to her side though when Kurow suggested what he had seen when he arrived there, and Zeira understood what must have been going on here while she was inside David's mind. She looked straight to her classmate first while he hesitated and looked down before turning his gaze onto her.

"Ha- haha," Zeira laughed. She smiled and laughed at the enemy she looked back towards. Kimikaro's face got more flustered still and his eyebrows rose up in confusion. She's crazy, he thought while watching Zeira pull out a grappling gun from her waistband and a knife with her other hand. She can't use her Quirk again, Kimikaro thought with his face scrunching up more, until he froze as she taunted Kurow back, "You really think Kimikaro would actually kill him?"

The thought that Kimikaro was "hesitating" was what was apparently funny to Zeira. Kurow's own confusion at why this girl was laughing at him turned into annoyance and his eyes shifted back onto the boy who was staring at his classmate with his eyes huge. "We're heroes," Zeira said to the villains like it was obvious. "We're going to arrest you three, then get to U.A. and help anyone there who needs it. That's what is about to happen here."

David's eyes had stayed on Zeira's weapons ever since she pulled them out. Unlike David who had been using exclusively his Quirk and his bare hands, his comrades each had tool belts and support weapons with them as well. Kurow reached down to his sides with his arms crossing in front of his stomach as he grabbed onto hilts. He pulled out two long black rods that when he pressed the button on the sides of them, surrounded in electricity that sparked around them. Looking Lass reached over her right shoulder and pulled off a rifle that had a net shooter on the bottom in the shape of a grenade launcher, twin taser firers on the sides of the barrel, and a glowing red line above the barrel itself that started turning brighter as she primed it for action.

As much as Zeira had just talked about how they were going to move right on to the next fight after this, her expression turned deathly serious as she saw the three enemies all getting ready to kill them. "You have any milk on you?" Zeira asked her comrade at her side.

Does she really think I wouldn't ever do it? Kimikaro wondered. He took his eyes off Zeira and glared at enemies in front of him instead. You're Lifebringer's biggest fan. I- I screwed up… no. No, I only screwed up because I couldn't think of a better way to incapacitate him. I should have stabbed him in the arms and legs. I should have- it doesn't matter what I should have done! "A bit," Kimikaro replied, his tone getting cockier again as he pushed aside the thoughts of guilt and regret that Zeira had already made go away mostly. All that matters is what I do now. She's not giving up. I'm the one with the functional Quirk here, you know? The right corner of Kimikaro's lips curled up. "Which of them do you want? I'll take the other two."

"Hmph," Zeira humphed at his cocky tone but smirked herself in a more confident way that his cocky tone came out for the first time since this whole fiasco started.

David did not get as serious as quickly as his other two comrades in the Liberators who would not underestimate these teens. Looking Lass had suddenly yelled at Kurow when they were a city district away for him to fly them as fast as possible to David's position because he had gotten caught. The fact that he was taken out by these teens made the two who knew his strength cautious of them, more-so than David was being as he could already tell this girl's Quirk was not that strong if she was not using it again right now on all three of them. His smirk while looking at Zeira's weapons made her own smile flatten for a moment. "Aw, looks like we have a Lifebringer fangirl," David remarked with a chuckle at this girl who he planned to kill for what she just tried on him (not that he was not going to kill her anyway). "Were these friends of yours?" David wondered at Zeira directly, locking eyes with the girl before pulling his left foot back and then kicking it forward into a body that he tossed up in the air and right at the other two.

The corpse landed in front of Kimikaro and rolled to a stop just in front of his legs. Zeira's teeth grit harder and her eyes darted back to Looking Lass and that dangerous-looking rifle again before snapping back on David who stomped his other foot forward and made both of his allies ready themselves to move as well. David's mouth opened, but Zeira yelled out first, "I am Lifesaver!" She flicked around the knife in her right hand. The knife twirled between her fingers and she snagged it with a flick of her wrist into a different position than it was just in. Her eyes darkened but she smiled even with a more menacing look on her face. "And yeah, these are my friends. Their sacrifices won't be in vain."

"They died for nothing," Kurow remarked tauntingly.

"Their deaths will be meaningless," Looking Lass added. She aimed her glowing rifle forward at Zeira who swung her left arm at the older woman and fired while sprinting at her.

"You have her then," Kimikaro said. He did not let his expression show how much those taunts had just gotten to him too, instead just smirking dangerously at his enemies while Bones ruptured out of his skin all over his body. They spread his costume and spiked out of his body. Bones emerged out of his arms and legs. They stuck out his fingertips in sharp points. Out of his jawline on either side spiked white shards that stopped three inches out of his cheeks. Six smaller spikes came out of his forehead and parted his white bangs. He sprinted forward while these Bones emerged, all of them sharp, all looking dangerous. His enemies had seen him fire his Bones at Looking Lass before too who had some blood trickling down her right shoulder and down that arm though she did not appear to be in any pain. Kimikaro ran at the two enemies he was going to take on, and Kurow yelled out while swinging both of his electrified rods in front of him and clashing them together. David just curled his fingers and made his knuckles crack loudly before running forward back at Kimikaro himself.

Kurow flapped his wings behind him and swung down his electrified weapons at the top of the teen's head. Kimikaro dove forward, pointed his palms down, and pushed back behind him. Thicker rods of white shot out of his palms and pushed him up into the air in a front flip. His right heel swung up higher and a bone shot out of his ankle, and Kurow's feathery black wings flapped and spiraled his body in midair. The bone that pierced out of Kimikaro's ankle just missed the flying villain, but Kimikaro continued swinging that foot and fired the protruding Bone out towards David who just swung his right arm forward with his hand starting to glow purple.

Whatever David's weird Quirk was, Kimikaro wanted no part in it. He caused David to curl that hand in quicker and then wrap it around the Bone that he caught despite its rapid firing speed. Kimikaro was not dismayed by his enemy's speed, just landing down on the ground after his flip and grinding his teeth at how his white costume got more splotches of red all over it. The anger translated into determination though as he sped up towards this powerful enemy who curled his right fist in tighter and made Kimikaro's eyes actually widen this time as bone fragments fell through his grasp showing how hard he had crushed it. David's hands both glowed purple this time and he pulled backwards. Kimikaro stared though a purple veil that surrounded him and suddenly yanked him forward twice as fast, and David's right hand that he just pulled backwards curled into a thick fist that shook and glowed so much darker purple.

Zeira had fired her grappling hook right at Looking Lass's rifle. She pulled it away and Looking Lass maintained one hand on it but her finger came off the triggers. Zeira retracted and pulled herself towards Looking Lass in an instant, and she spun around and kicked towards the left side of Looking Lass's head. At the same time, her free hand swept around and she stabbed in between the Bones that Kimikaro had shot into their enemy's right arm. She imbedded the knife through Looking Lass's black costume and made more blood spurt out, but the bulging muscles of the woman tightened in that spot and caught the knife there as Zeira tried pulling it out.

Zeira released the knife and yanked her left leg away quickly. She had landed the kick in the temple of the woman, but Looking Lass did not flinch from that nor from the stab wound in her right arm. Looking Lass's right hand that came off her weapon before swung towards the girl who released her own knife too late and got grazed by the swing of the older woman's arm. That bulky arm flinched in mid-swing, all the stab wounds at the top of it causing some nerve damage down below. And that nerve damage was the only reason the swing of her arm only spun out Zeira and threw her five feet backwards, which was still an insane amount of force that shocked Zeira at the painful feeling. She bruised and her right arm cut across a piece of the ground as she skid and rolled up onto the sidewalk she had started on before flipping up onto a foot again.

So strong! Those bio-enhancements are no joke. Her Quirk told her that that David guy was in trouble, so it's a sensory of some kind. This is just the raw power that they gave her through experimentation. Zeira grit her teeth and started to move again to rush at her enemy who shook her right arm out while jumping backwards. Looking Lass grabbed onto her powerful rifle again with both hands. But those experiments were recent, Zeira theorized as she rushed forward. She isn't used to fighting hand-to-hand as much as the others with combat-oriented Quirks. She hasn't spent as much time training as I have. That's why she's relying on long-ranged tech even with her new power. Same with that flying villain. Or maybe he just pulled out the rods because they recognize Kimikaro and know that they won't be able to hit him head-on.

As Zeira analyzed their enemies and rushed to keep a close distance between herself and Looking Lass, Kimikaro pushed Bones out the soles of his feet and rose himself six feet up in the air with an extra boost in his leap away from David whose purple glow dragged away from the boy changing his trajectory in mid-skid. Kimikaro swung his left arm towards David's legs, and eight sharp Bone projectiles fired at his enemy from different points along his arm. They shot at David and made the villain jump backwards himself.

David ground his teeth in frustration, and rage, and as soon as he landed he sprinted back at where Kimikaro was landing. Kimikaro landed himself and started running forward to meet David. He wanted to get close but did not like the purple glow that had pulled him faster towards his enemy. Now it just covered David's hands though, as well as his eyes that glowed bright with the dark color. Kimikaro saw something in his peripheral vision and watched the shadow approach out the right corner of his eye. He ducked at the last second and hunched his body extra far while kicking his legs off the ground.

Kurow slashed his weapons down again. He was higher up, but he leaned down farther and did not flap his wings as quickly to get back out of there when Kimikaro ducked him. That was the wrong move. Kimikaro eased his body to the right while in the middle of hunching forward, and out from the back of his white costume protruded five long spikes that shot from his spine and up in the air. Those huge Bones sharpened and curved while Kimikaro yanked his body forward, and he slashed across Kurow's right wing that the villain tried to flap down to get out of there quickly while pulling up. Kimikaro sliced straight across the wing from the bottom to the top, and half of it ripped off as Kurow screamed, "RAAahhAAOOhhhh!" His body spun out and he hit the ground at way too quick of speeds since he was going to try and pull out of there after his dive and before Kimikaro could attempt to shoot Bones at him again. The teenager had not even glanced back to show his enemy that he saw him coming, catching Kurow that much more off guard.

As Kurow hit the ground, Kimikaro jumped back out of his hunched state and sprinted two more steps. David was already upon him. Kimikaro pulled both of his arms back behind him and made Bones start protruding out the insides of them… then David punched forward, and Kimikaro smirked. Out of his sides, his shoulders, his collarbone, and his waist, Bones shot out and curved inwards in front of him. From his rib cage emerged a second exterior cage that strengthened in front of his torso. Out of his shoulders, his neck, and his waist, shot out longer Bones that had sharp points at the end and guarded all different areas that David was about to punch into with his right hand.

Crack! Crack crack crack- DOOF CHHH

The longer Bones all sticking towards David did not pierce his fist that smashed into them. They all snapped, cracking like twigs. Then his fist hit the external rib cage, and the thud rang out, right before it shattered and David's fist slammed into Kimikaro's chest itself. Bone fragments flew out in all directions away from the white-haired boy who flew off David's fist and back down the street. Kimikaro gasped but barely had any breath as it was all pushed out of his lungs by his crushing rib cage, the one that was actually inside his body. Those bones cracked on David's fist too. He felt them break, just as other bones all over his body bruised and sprained when he hit the ground and bounced, his whole body spinning around and flying past Zeira who spun her head after him.

Chance!

"Kimika-" she started yelling towards her classmate who came to a stop and was gasping out in agony face-down on the floor. Kimikaro rose his head up though, as even in all that pain he knew there was a chance his enemy was chasing him and about to stomp his head into the floor. He checked up to see if he was about to die and if he needed to roll out of the way, and his face filled with panic and fear. Zeira realized her fatal flaw at the look on Kimikaro's face. The fear not in pain of his injuries or of his own enemy who he was not even looking at, but in how he was looking at her and the enemy facing her who finally locked the barrel of her rifle onto the center of Zeira's chest in the moment she was distracted.

Looking Lass grinned at the moment she was given by her ally. She knew that the boy down on the ground was the more dangerous of the two based on her own research she had done which actually led her to recognize him and not his classmate. Looking Lass knew that he was the first of all the applicants at their site to complete his Hero Licensing Exam the first time he ever took it. She had seen his fight with one of the corpses on this street that led him to lose the first Sports Festival he took part in. And she knew he posed a threat even after that last blow he took, but she was not changing her aim to shoot him while he was down. David is the most bloodthirsty of the 100. His Power rivals Geten's even, ever since the enhancements that he took to better than anyone. His Essence Quirk was already dangerous and made him someone I avoided at all cost during the Culling, someone I kept Keen Eye on even back then to make sure we were on different sides of the arena, but his bio-enhancements made him more Nomu than man. And I won't anger him by taking his kill.

She fired. Looking Lass aimed towards Zeira in knowledge that pointing over towards the boy that Zeira had spun to herself would put her in danger of David's wrath. She had a bone to pick with this girl too who had left a knife sticking out of her right tricep. Kimikaro could not move to save her in time. Zeira's head was turning back and her body tensed as she thought of a direction to dodge to, but all directions were the same when Looking Lass's rifle was perfectly angled in the middle of her body. Looking Lass pulled the trigger-

Ba-KSHH! "AEEAAAHH!" Looking Lass screamed out in agony as the weapon exploded in her hands in a huge ball of red flames.

Even David lost his bloodthirsty look for a second that had stayed locked towards Kimikaro. His grin had risen even at the sight of the boy's survival, meaning he could play with him more. But he turned towards Looking Lass and stared in shock just as Kurow did while lifting his bloodied face that had skid on the ground. They looked towards their comrade who fell backwards out of the explosion that had blown her gun apart. She fell to her knees and bowed her head towards her arms that were pouring blood onto the floor. The explosion had not taken her enhanced arms off completely, as it would have without the experimentation done to her, but it did shred through her flesh and left mangled messes of both arms.

"What the fuck…" David muttered in confusion.

A backfire? The gun, jammed? Zeira thought in similar confusion as David's. Kimikaro's jaw was dropped too. He thought his classmate was dead for sure right there, and by some miracle of luck she had survived.

None of them knew the reason. It was something beyond their comprehension. All of their theories for the reasoning or assumptions of luck were wrong though. The support item that Looking Lass had brought into battle with her had malfunctioned and it backfired in her face. That weapon had been sabotaged a long, long time ago. No one knew it had been. Because only the ones who had made the support item in the first place knew, when they put the failsafes in it.

Adam Rasheed's guilt was well founded, yet had he known how deep Ganji's influence had been inside his company, he may have been slower to pull the trigger on himself. Seiki Ganji had trusted several of his subordinates with information about his anti-hero activities. People who were not kept in files in his secret basement. Workers who believed in what Ganji was doing, and who were smart enough to realize what had started going on inside their company after his death. Work orders were made too often. During the Age of Villains, "pirates" were running rampant in some parts of the world, so certain things could fly under the radar of heroes and the media.

Those secret supporters of the old anti-hero society could see it though. So as shipments started getting "lost," suspicious transports that were being scheduled started to be packed with faulty equipment too. If that equipment had reached its intended destination, the workers could have called the recipients and informed them that some faulty products were in the mix and required a recall. But when those shipments they had sabotaged specifically because of their suspicious nature had been stolen, the secret supporters of Ganji's anti-hero association felt no need to say a word. And some workers who implanted fail-safes into their equipment that were hidden from sight, activated those on the day of the battle. They sabotaged their missing equipment that the workers knew would give them away if they destroyed them too early, as they were cautious too having noticed the secret dealings in their own company. They knew why Ganji had been killed. And he had picked smart employees to trust with the knowledge of his extra-legal actions, ones who kept their own dealings even more secret than the Rasheed Corp.'s CEO had managed.

Looking Lass was not the only villain in the city to find themselves with faulty equipment that had worked while they were practicing with it. Weapons and equipment they had filled their armory with were self-destructing when the villains tried using them today. The hidden anti-heroes of the Rasheed Corp. had made their own preparations just as everyone else had. And those people had just unknowingly saved Zeira Eleinie's life.

"Raah- AHhcck AHEEEE! OH FUCK! Ahhh SHI-" Looking Lass was screaming in agony down on her legs while clutching her bloody messes of arms to her chest that had also gotten cut up a bit by the blast.

Kurow was not out completely, and he dragged himself more up to his feet as he saw Kimikaro down the road doing the same. David smirked though at the sight of his enemy getting back up. He ignored Looking Lass and refocused on what he was doing. Kimikaro Hone got up and staggered on his feet for a second. Zeira glanced at him but then turned back to their other enemies she stood in front of between them and her injured comrade. "Heh, don't you worry," Kimikaro said. Whether he was talking to Zeira who protected him or David who looked to still want a fight and was glad to see him up, it did not matter. Kimikaro lifted his left hand up and winced as he had hit down hard on that side at one point when he was flying off of David's fist.

Zeira smiled herself already while the villains each looked more confusedly towards this hero. Both had seen him in action at the last Sports Festival themselves. They all knew that the heroes training at U.A. would be their enemies someday. Kimikaro had worn his gym outfit during the Sports Festival though, and not his costume that he reached up to a shoulder of now. Kimikaro had recently updated his own costume. Instead of having pouches on his sides, and a protruding pack on his back, things that got in the way of him shooting Bones out in any direction he wanted, he made his costume slimmer. Now, it was impossible to tell where on his body the pouch full of liquid really was. The tightened pouch under his left shoulder blade but away from his spine had a tube attached to it that ran up to his left shoulder. He grabbed the end of the tube and pulled it to his mouth. He winced as he started to suck in as his chest still felt like an elephant was sitting on it… for another couple of seconds.

Milk sucked up through the tube and into Kimikaro's mouth. He sucked it down and swallowed. The boy took in a deep breath after letting go of the tube with his lips so it snapped back into place in his shoulder and disappeared in his costume. The chug was not just to refresh him. It was not because he was dehydrated which was why the Army of Death soldiers drank from their own similar tubes in a video he had watched that gave him some ideas. He drank the milk, and then he cracked his neck to either side and curled his fists a few times. Bones shot back out of his stomach and chest, creating a new barrier of sharp bones around him to protect him from the next of his enemies' attacks. And the bones inside his own body reacted to the milk differently than anyone else's would. The cracks on his bones sealed back up as his bones strengthened and got harder. Spikes came out from all sides of Kimikaro's body. His lips curled up and his teeth seemed to flash more pure white as he smiled at the villains ahead of him.

"Did you think I couldn't take that much?" Kimikaro wondered at his enemy who he started to realize did not actually want a good fight but just wanted to have fun murdering him. The way that David started frowning right there told him that the villain was more excited just about Kimikaro being alive still so he could kill him and hear his screams, rather than he was happy to have an actual fight which now presented itself. "Did you not see Lifebringer in that City of Villains?" Kimikaro wondered while marching forward and then stopping on Zeira's left side. She nodded in agreement with him though kept her lips flat while pulling out a new pair of knives she held pointed out to either side of her.

"If he can take that much in a city without civilians he needed to protect, then Skeletor can handle twice that in the most populated city in the world!" He yelled out in sheer confidence. He smiled wide while Zeira's expression became more stoic. David growled back towards them and started spreading his legs on the floor as he prepared to charge. Kurow snarled himself at the teens much smaller than they were, and he pressed a button on the sides of his electrified rods to make them charge up again. He crossed them in front of him and snapped them down- ZZzzpp! The handles of the rods suddenly electrified too, and Kurow dropped them while falling down to his knees and then onto his face.

Neither of the teenagers knew what the hell was happening with the villains' weapons, but David glanced at his ally and both of them took his distraction to their advantage this time. After all, they could not wait any longer. Not after the explosion they just saw larger than any of the others that came from U.A. They sprinted at the enemy who snapped his head back towards them fast and then sprinted their direction himself. His body started to glow dark purple over his entire form, wisping off his body that towered over the smaller heroes. "I'll add you to this pile of bodies and get on with it! COME ON!"

"White Night!"

"You're going down!" Zeira yelled, sliding onto both legs while Kimikaro leapt up in the air. Bones came out of all sides of him and stretched far from his body before curving down. David's fists both curled and pulsed with dark purple aura that also covered the teens, wrapping them in auras too. Neither were deterred. And they attacked the villain from above and below, together.

---

"S-Someone," Hatsume Mei pushed her hands down on the floor at her sides. She brought her hands back up and fumbled with the zipper of her bag she had swung in front of her stomach. Her hands shook on the zipper too much. Tears were flowing freely down her face. "Someone," she gasped out again while looking up then moving her hands away from her bag. She was torn between pushing away from the monster stepping towards her and trying to grab a weapon from her bag. Neither option would save her. She knew that there was no escaping. Mei knew that she could not fight it with weaker weapons when her stronger ones did nothing to slow it down.

"Ah- ahh, I don't-" she gasped and pulled her head back in terror as the Ultimate bared its sharp teeth and glared down at the girl with its glowing red eyes. "I don't want to die-"

The Ultimate rose up its right arm that bulged from the elbow down to its fist. It rose its fist up and blocked out the sun so a shadow cast over Hatsume's face. Dark lines went across her face that wrinkled up in the most terror she had ever felt in her life. Craters full of flaming debris surrounded her. Her teachers and classmates were all dead. She squinted with her eyes pouring tears down her face, "AHHHH!" She screamed out. Her sob filled the air and the Nomu's lips even twisted up at the corners, sentience shown in the pleasure it took from her scream.

"EEEeee!" A loud screech rang through the air and cut off Hatsume's scream. Even with her eyes squinted, she saw the red glow of the Ultimate's eyes snap up towards the source of that screech too. A falcon diving out of the air was changing shape after drawing up the Ultimate's attention and stopping it from swinging that growing fist down at Hatsume. The fist started glowing red, but as the Nomu started swinging up, it spun to the side and whipped its left arm up instead. The left arm extended out with an open hand towards the bird dropping out of the sky to save Hatsume.

The bird was mid-change though, and two huge black-fur-covered hands gripped the arm right before it grabbed the animal. The huge gorilla hands gripped just behind the wrist of the hand that still pushed upwards, almost changing the momentum of the gorilla diving down. The gorilla pushed both arms down though and did a front-flip over the arm that continued passing below it. Both of its hands connected. Its fingers interlocked, and the gorilla spun and slammed its double-fist into the side of the Ultimate's head.

Hisashi Kuredo landed on the ground. His fists started swinging back up, but the Ultimate did not even stumble a step away at the hit from the gorilla's fists. That red fist glowing brighter each moment rose up higher, and the Nomu's red eyes snapped back onto Hisashi's gorilla eyes that grew wide then darted over towards Hatsume. The gorilla opened its fists and jumped backwards, grabbing the girl off the ground carefully in mid-leap and then shielding her with its other arm.

As Hisashi leapt backwards, another figure blurred by underneath him and the girl he was saving. Hatsume's eyes barely caught sight of this figure who blurred underneath her. The shortest boy in Class 1 of Shiketsu's third years sped below them. He only had two seconds for Quick Step to last, but he sped up rapidly and reached the Ultimate with his hero support weapons whipping up in his hands as he grabbed them from his belt… Elinari's eyes grew huge. The boy with chestnut brown hair changed direction as the Ultimate's eyes tracked him even at the speed he was moving at. Its arm started coming down, changing direction as Elinari Shuu had wanted it to, but the Ultimate was turning its body faster than he had thought the creature would be able to.

Elinari pulled his body away as the glowing red fist came down close to his head. The fist passed in front of his face, and it glowed brighter in that moment with heat pulsing off of it and into him. Panic covered his face but his feet stumbled on a few rocks that made the ground uneven and harder for him to run on without focusing as his attention was suddenly shattered. He stumbled and started falling, his arms swinging in front of his body and crossing for some protection. The Ultimate smashed its right fist into the ground. KA-BOOM! The ground cracked under its fist and then exploded with a blast that threw the stumbling Elinari backwards and into a boulder upturned from the earth

Crack! "AHH-" Elinari screamed out with all the breath he had left. Then his head bowed and he slumped down to the floor. He was taken out immediately. Burns covered his arms and had singed through his costume too. Hisashi stumbled back and guarded Hatsume with both of his large furry arms that singed in the heat from the explosion the Ultimate created. His head turned towards Elinari though who was not moving on that boulder he was slumped against with his head bowed to his chest.

The gorilla boy bared his teeth and carefully lowered Hatsume down to the floor. He started to transform again, but in mid-transformation his head turned human for a brief second. His vocal cords changed more human for a moment too and he growled, "Get back." His arms were turning golden brown, and out from around his head started to extend a golden mane that he shook out while dropping his hands to the ground. Claws extended from his fingers. The lion stomped forward and snapped its head towards the Nomu that started sprinting at it, "ROOAAAAR!"

"RAAAHHHHHHH!" The Ultimate's roar was far more terrifying than the lion that pounced at it. Hisashi swung a claw at the side of the Ultimate's body though while ducking his head down. The Ultimate's left arm that swiped at the lion went through only mane, and fur flew up in the air as the swipe finished, but Hisashi connected with his own. The claw dug into the Ultimate's side and Hisashi ripped with all his might, pulling away and tearing flesh off of the beast that smashed its other hand down on Hisashi's back immediately after.

The left leg of the Ultimate kicked up into Hisashi's side that bounced off the ground after its right fist hit him down so hard. It kicked Hisashi up in the air, but as it brought back both hands and started morphing both hands to have sharp claws at the end, it had to snap those arms forward and catch two other hands that grappled with it. Dimarko growled in rage, his body growing in size as he grappled and tried to push back this monster's arms. His Quirk, Rage Fiend, made him even stronger as blood fell between his face and the Nomu's. It was from Hisashi's mouth as he spit up blood while being kicked up in the air.

Dimarko started bending the Ultimate's arms backwards. His body grew larger until he was as tall as the Ultimate he was leaning forward into. Then his eyes snapped down, to the left side of the Ultimate that Hisashi's claw had dug into and ripped black flesh out of. He could see red underneath that black. There was real human flesh inside, and yet it started to seal up rapidly. Black coating pulled in from the sides and its rough skin regenerated, and then both of the Ultimate's arms bulged twice as large and bent Dimarko's arms back this time to a roar of agony from the Shiketsu student.

"Dimarko!"

"Help him!"

Hatsume turned her head. She blinked a few times in surprise, then she shook her head around and pushed her hands down on the floor. I couldn't win on my own. But, they gave me a few seconds. Her head turned back and she stared towards the squished bodies of Kazumi and Sahara. Shiketsu is here. I don't know how they got here so quickly, but, I can help. I can help them win, and make your sacrifices mean something! Hatsume's hands steadied and she pulled open the zipper of her bag she had held closely when that gorilla boy jumped away with her. She was stunned as the lion turned in midair right before it hit the ground. Its legs all bent, but it was true what they said about cats.

Hisashi coughed up more blood from his lion's muzzle onto the floor below his head. His mane was missing large tufts of fur and looked uneven with the top of it all gone. He knew some bones were broken, and he thought in shock and frustration, It hits so heavy. This thing tore through Musutafu straight here. It's the only enemy. Powerful enough that the League thought it could take out U.A. on its own. Fuck. Hisashi bowed his head and coughed up more blood. Something hit a lung. I'm not going to be up for much longer. One move. Principal, what should I do? His head turned slightly to the side, and he glanced back towards Principal Memuria who had arrived with more of his classmates.

Those who arrived early had managed to save Hatsume Mei. That rescue was going to be temporary though, as it would be for all of the students locked in their dorms, unless the reinforcements could stop this Ultimate Nomu now. Hisashi's arms and legs shook as he tried standing up straight. Memuria ran forward ahead of many of her students and onto Hisashi's left side. "Throw, Sonar!"

Imino Kurinou whipped both of his arms forward and to either side of the Ultimate. Shuriken in the shape of bats flew into pieces of rubble they bounced off of. Red lights glowed on the bat-shaped weapons, but these ones did not glow to signal they were called back to Imino. They blinked twice each, then they each just glowed brighter red across the entire weapons. Memuria held her fists out in front of her pointed towards either shuriken as they bounced towards the sides of the Ultimate that's red eyes darted back and forth at the weapons. "Size-Up!" Memuria yelled. Her Quirk was exactly what she called out. The shuriken doubled in size, as did their explosive capacity as they reached the Ultimate-

The Nomu slammed both fists out into the shuriken right as they were about to reach it. They exploded on its fists, and it sprinted forward nonetheless and straight at the Shiketsu principal with graying and receding hair. Beams flew at the floor and the body of the student in a bright yellow costume who leapt up in the air and fired four different beams from within. Enjino's Beam Body was strongest at the initial firing, as he was not working his way up against such a monster. Dimarko ran back into the explosions from where he was thrown to the side ten seconds ago, and he dove in and tried tackling the Ultimate as he roared and pushed through more explosions.

"Hisashi, wait for my signal…"

"Move away!" Hatsume yelled out. Dimarko glanced back for a second and then bent his knees. He leapt backwards, and a long black arm stretched out after him. His eyes bulged as the hand curled around his right leg, then that entire arm glowed bright red. Dimarko snapped his gaze towards his friend Elinari who was unmoving over against a piece of rubble. The instant he looked, Rage filled him. And Rage Fiend became strong enough that he only felt excruciating pain as the Ultimate slammed that arm down and created a huge explosion along with hitting him into the floor at such powerful speeds.

Hatsume grit her teeth as dust and pebbles flew by, one sharp piece of earth cutting across the left side of her face and making more blood splash out. She winced but did not let her arms shift as she aimed the weapon she just created out of parts in her bag. The gun she put together looked funky and had too many vestigial parts sticking out of the sides. But it fired a spray of purple liquid that filled a clear container attached to the side of the gun with a hole on the side of it that supplied the weapon. Whatever it was got all over the Ultimate that had focused on stopping Dimarko from jumping away and did not dodge itself. It had no reason to dodge, as none of its enemies' attacks had done any damage to it thus far.

"Paralyzing gel," Hatsume said while panting and lowering her gun that she unloaded at the beast. It got all over the creature's torso and even some on its face. The purple goo stuck to it, dripping down a little but too viscous to slide all the way off without being wiped away, which the Ultimate was not bothering to do. "Even one drop is too potent that it could keep any villain down. It can even seep through skin," Hatsume boasted. She lifted the left corner of her lip ever so slightly as she imagined producing it in the lab. "Sensei! Let me show you! Here, just hold still-" "Hatsume! Stop it- stop!" Thud "See?" Hatsume imagined the annoyed look on Power Loader's face as he stared up at her from where he lay flat on his stomach. Despite the annoyance on his face, she also pictured how his eyes shifted down from her for a second and to where she smeared the goo on him using her special protective gloves which kept her from collapsing as well. She pictured the impressed look she had been happy to see, that only in this moment did she connect to a feeling of pride she imagined he had felt too.

The corner of her lip quickly dropped back down. It dropped at first because her nostalgic thoughts were corrupted by the pain she felt from losing that teacher from her memory. Then her face pulled back though and terror covered it as the Ultimate cocked its head while staring towards her. It rose its right arm up and pressed its hand up to the bottom of its face where the purple gel started. "Wha-" Hatsume whispered.

"Para-lyzing… gel?"

The Shiketsu students who had arrived and were trying to damage this thing all gawked in shock at the beast. It wiped down from its face and over its chest, then it flicked its arm down at the floor and discarded most of the goop onto the floor. A lot was stuck on its right arm now, but it shook that arm once, twice, and three times until most of it had flung off. The beastly creature had sentience. It was smarter than it had appeared and sounded with all the incessant roaring.

"ROOAAA-" The monster snapped its head forward and started to roar in an insane and terrifying voice that cut off a second later. There were a lot of new targets around it for it to kill. Its eyes locked on one girl with a bowl cut of gray hair though who had her right and left hands lifted up over her shoulders. Bibi's ring and middle fingers were pressed down into her thumbs, her index fingers and pinkies sticking straight up on either side of her ears.

"Shh," Bibi hissed towards the monster. Her head bounced up as she seethed at it, and both of her irises straightened out into vertical lines like those of a predator staring down its prey. Her eyes showed for an instant as her bangs parted from the movement of her head nodding up. I'm not afraid. Not of this thing. You helped me not be afraid anymore. Zach, you knew that bomb would kill you. You knew you'd lose friends in "Terra" but you kept fighting anyway. So as scary as this monster is, I'm not holding back!

Satoshi sped by Bibi's side and slithered towards the monster with his lower body looking like a snake's and his eyes matching Bibi's. Imino sprinted forward himself, and he pulled his hands out of pouches on his sides that were each full of smoke pellets. He slammed them down, while the Ultimate ran forward too. Its red eyes darted around in the smoke and it slammed its left fist forward towards a snake boy whose eyes worked similarly to how Imino's helmet allowed his own eyes to. Both of them had a sense of thermal or infrared vision, but so did this monster apparently that punched too fast towards Satoshi who pulled his body away but still got grazed by the rough skin of the Nomu's left fist.

Scales ripped off and his costume tore. "AHh-" Satoshi spun out. Imino jumped up and threw down sharper shuriken than the exploding ones before. The Ultimate tried stomping forward, but its legs struggled to move as easily as water rose up around them.

"HISASHI! NOW!" Kotsumura yelled out.

Hisashi's body grew in size. His fur turned white. He grew twice as heavy. His paws got larger as his muzzle extended off his face. The polar bear pushed up on stronger legs despite the bones inside still being sprained and bruised. Hisashi charged forward though while letting out a roar, and he sprinted straight through the smoke at the enemy he could smell perfectly. Imino's shuriken hit the creature and dug into its black skin, but the rough outer coat of the Ultimate was too strong and no blood spurted out. Some of the shuriken even just fell out of where they had impaled into, as the skin healed up and pushed out the weapons. The claws that hit it next were stronger, and the skin and flesh of the Ultimate did not heal as quickly as when the shuriken had hit it.

Imino had thrown his weapons before Kotsumura leapt onto the back of the monster. Both of his sticky gloves hands were gripping the sides of the Ultimate. Kotsumura held himself close and used Deplete on the biological weapon with far too many Quirks. Its infrared vision faltered, and it could not see the rising water through the smoke nor focus on blurring red silhouettes of students charging at it from all sides. Both hands glowed red and it lifted them up over its head. Kotsumura held on tighter and pressed his face into the back of the monster as he prepared for a dulled explosion. Both fists came down, and Hisashi leapt to the side while clawing again near the Ultimate's waist and taking out a chunk of flesh this time to reveal the bloody muscly flesh underneath that was not healing this time-

BOOM! A Depleted Ultimate still hit its fists into the ground hard enough to crack the floor. Cracks went under the feet of students charging at it. It even made Enjino stumble and have to stop early as his body that had replenished some was about to fire more Beams out of it. His Beam Body needed time to recharge but it had glowed bright near his chest and shoulders as he was about to fire at the Ultimate. He quickly stood back straight up and tried aiming, now much easier as he could see the Ultimate inside a thinner smokescreen from the blast rather than Imino's smoke pellets that had all just been blown away. Hisashi's huge polar bear body rolled away from the Nomu. Reika had her arms crossed in front of her face and water pushing into the backs of her legs, but she darted her eyes to the left and watched as Satoshi and Bibi both got thrown farther past her.

She lowered her arms and watched as three beams of yellow light fired into the Ultimate's body. One of those beams fired into a chunk of missing rough black outer skin, hitting the Nomu inside of its body and making the monster scream out in agony. The outsides of that gash of missing flesh had been slowly pulling back in, but the beam hit inside and the Ultimate stumbled a couple steps back. Enjino grinned and tried forcing out more, his body thinning out and glowing brighter on his edges as he used up more of Beam Body…

The Ultimate's red eyes darted to the side and its head turned partially to see the blond-haired boy gripping onto its back with all his strength. He was panting after that explosion, but the blast came from in front of the Ultimate so its large body had mostly protected Kotsumura from the heat. Reika's eyes grew huge and she forced forward all the water she had pulled up from underground pipes through the floor. She tried yanking back towards her on the Ultimate's legs, but it jumped to the right this time. It jumped away from the battle zone and made Enjino's beams pass by it then fizzle out as he snapped his head to follow after the enemy in surprise at its sudden speed.

The Ultimate landed hard down the wall from the completely broken section of Training Ground Xi's barrier. Everyone spun over to where the smoke trailed after but was a much more clear area. Some started running after the monster, only to skid to stops and freeze as it put its back to the wall behind it. Then it slammed backwards. "K-" Imino lost his breath fully as the Ultimate imbedded deep into a wall that cratered around it. Cracks shot away from its back all over the wall and up to the top of it that started crumbling.

"KEIJI!" Reika screamed while sprinting that way, the only one not to freeze as the Ultimate slammed backwards that hard.

"Kotsumura!" Satoshi yelled over as well, struggling his upper body up. His eyes filled with water as he stared towards the Ultimate that pulled itself back out of the wall. Kotsumura's hands were stuck to its sides, but his upper body limply fell backwards with his arms fully outstretched and stuck to the bio-weapon. And then, the Ultimate slammed backwards again while Keiji's head was tilted back, so it was the first thing to slam into the wall this time. The wall broke apart on collision and Kotsumura's arms came off of the creature's large body.

"Kotsumura-kun!"

"Kotsumura!"

"NOOOO!" Reika screamed. Her eyes bulged and she stumbled but then continued sprinting despite the rage and tears in her eyes. The Ultimate stomped back forward away from the crumbling wall that must have fallen on Kotsumura's body they could no longer see. The gashes all over it healed up rapidly. The speed at which it regenerated was clear to everyone as its body was not obscured by anything. Flesh sealed up and skin covered former injuries.

Memuria's breath hitched. Her eyes darted towards a teacher under her employ who was staring in shock towards the Ultimate herself, only to spin in confusion and surprise at the boy who sprinted by her side. Principal Memuria was not surprised to see him, but her heart was still racing at the sight of what just happened. We can't… This isn't an enemy we can capture here. Killing Nomus, isn't unheard of. It may not be fair of me, but I need you to do this. "Enorma," Memuria called to her subordinate who spun back to the older woman.

"Focus Tiona!" Kotsumura yelled out as he sprinted past some of his stunned classmates who all spun inwards to look at him.

Kotsumura had blood dripping down his face on the left side of it from under his blond bangs. His arms were shaking but his fists clenched at his sides strongly as he pushed his feet down hard with each step and ignored the tremendous pain in his back. Reika turned her head and stared in disbelief towards the boy who even the Ultimate ahead of her turned its head to and looked at in a seemingly confused way. Hisashi struggled back up onto his claws himself, one of the only ones like Memuria who was not surprised by this development. After all, when Kotsumura had told him to prepare for his signal, Adashi had been standing right behind Kotsumura.

Adashi Veleno hid behind a chunk of discarded scrap metal that blocked him from view of the Ultimate. It also blocked Kotsumura's real body that had gotten banged up when Adashi dragged his friend's soul back into it after the first collision with the wall before. Adashi was panting himself and his heart pounding in his chest, If I had taken a second longer- a half a second even! Kotsumura's skull would have blown apart and even pulling him back here wouldn't have saved him. You need to be more careful! His Quirk, Out-Of-Body, did not protect Kotsumura completely from injuries he was sustaining while outside of his real form. It did prevent enough damage though that he was able to sprint back towards the Ultimate to attempt to Deplete it again. The close proximity to his real body behind that rubble made it so Deplete was almost as strong as if he was using it without Adashi's support.

Kotsumura grit his teeth at the sight of all the Ultimate's healed damage though. He slowed down his sprint as he could not go head-on into this, and too many of his classmates were surprised to see him alive. They figured out it must have been Adashi though, and as frustrated as it made them that those two had not announced their plan (for obvious reasons of the Ultimate's proven sentience), they were far more relieved to see him alive. Seeing Kotsumura running back into the fight like that encouraged many of his classmates, but Principal Memuria had seen the potential for Kotsumura's death right there. Her students were all at too much risk.

Blaze shot up in the air with his legs on fire to draw the Ultimate's attention up. The ranked 1 student of Class 2 ignited completely in flames and looked to be made of molten rock inside. His hands rose up above his head and pulled apart, creating a larger and larger ball of fire he prepared to throw down- "Wait!" Hatsume Mei yelled up towards the Shiketsu boy. "I- I think it might get stronger from fire attacks!"

Really?! Ledoni thought, his head pulling back inside his flames as he glared down through bright glowing white eyes. That's not fair. Fuck, was this thing meant to be able to fight Endeavor or something?

"It has to be you," Memuria said to her subordinate. Behind Enorma, Memuria could see the smaller and weaker Nomus that had rushed back here but were held off by this one teacher alone. They had larger heads that were too heavy for their thin necks and smaller legs that could not hold up their bodies either. Ones with wings also could no longer use those tiny wings to lift their bodies up either. Chunks of earth and tiny pebbles that had grown multiple degrees of size rested on top of those Nomus and had them pinned down.

Memuria Alana's Size-Up Quirk was not the most powerful. Her ability allowed her to make something that she aimed her hands at larger, up to double its size. She could also shrink it back down but only to its original size. She could not make it any smaller. Enorma's Quirk was much more powerful than her old principal's. Memuria had recognized that their powers were similar back when she was an administrator over Enorma when she was still in school, and she had personally assisted in Enorma's training a decade ago now.

Enorma did not need to use her hands. Anything in her vision was fair game. She looked back at her mentor though and then darted her eyes back over to the Ultimate. "I- I don't know if I can. Not because I can't but because, I mean, I can't see-"

"You've used it on things you know are there before. Targeted beyond your sight," Memuria countered the younger woman. "I'm sorry, but the students' lives need to come first. It has to be you. I will do what I can to make the target easier for you to lock onto."

Memuria said what she needed to then sprinted towards the Ultimate herself. She rose her arms up towards it with fists clenched at the ends of them. Then those fists started opening up. The Ultimate was running at enemies of it, but it and all of them became confused at its sudden size growth. It was swinging an arm that stretched out towards Bibi's head, and she ducked but almost too slowly. Imino dove and tackled her, but he would have been too slow and hit in midair too. The sudden height growth of the Ultimate made its arm pass over their heads though. The wind from the swing got even stronger though as the arm grew twice in size, and Imino held his arms around Bibi as they rolled across the floor.

"What are you doing, Principal Mem-" Ledoni yelled back while flying down and trying to keep the Ultimate's attention. He was hesitant about attacking it directly himself when that girl from U.A. warned him not to, even though the last smaller Nomu that he had intercepted early on and kept him from being the first on the scene with Hisashi had not been fireproof. When Ledoni looked back though, he saw Enorma sensei glaring towards the Ultimate that grew past him. He slammed his hands out in front of him and shot away, while his eyes snapped back to the monster that rose both hands up to its chest and gripped over where its heart was.

"Sensei," Satoshi whispered in shock while looking over at Enorma who had a frustrated and pained expression on her face to do something like this. Enorma did not even know if it was possible, but Memuria knew her too well. She saw the heaving of the Ultimate's chest. Enorma could tell what was inside, and she had pictured it in her mind's eye. The Ultimate's size increase made it easier to target the spot inside its body where that heart was, a human heart. Because as much as the Nomus were bio-weapons, she heard this one speak, and she knew it was made of man.

Enorma grew the heart already doubled in size to a much larger degree. Memuria herself could not dream of targeting an organ, but she did what she could and made the Ultimate's body larger to give a larger target for her teacher and to protect the students. She was still a hero, and her years of experience with her Quirk fighting against villains meant even with its limitations she had skills and combat prowess. Enorma saw the close call of that arm passing over Imino and Bibi, and the hesitation was gone for a moment. The monster's heart exploded on the inside of its torso. Its plated black arms pulled in and it stepped backwards, its red eyes growing huge at the feeling of its heart bulging and then popping from the size growth…

And then its heart reconstructed. And the Ultimate snapped its head up and glared towards Enorma who pulled her head back fast at the sight of that glare. "One more time!" Kotsumura yelled towards his teacher. "Just wait for me-" a blur of black sped by him. Water came up over his ankles and yanked backwards, pulling him to the floor and away from the path of the Ultimate that Reika saw sprinting forward when Kotsumura started yelling towards their teacher.

Enorma's eyes snapped to a rock on the floor twenty feet in front of her. That rock grew exponentially in size to a boulder fifteen feet tall. She started dodging to the right while other students moved in to attack, when the rock wall she created cracked on her side of it. Her eyes started bulging, but the rock blew apart an instant after she saw those cracks of the Ultimate slamming into it. Enorma focused her Quirk on as many of the pieces of rock as she could, turning several into tiny pebbles by the time they flew into her. A few were still large chunks of rock though, as she had also focused on other pieces of debris flying farther from her but threatening her students. One sharp piece of rock cut through her right thigh, and another pierced her stomach, while a more blunt rock slammed into her chest closer to her right shoulder and threw her from the ground spinning out in the air.

"Sensei!"

"Kali!" Memuria yelled at her old student who just protected her from the rock that was only a tiny pebble by the time it slammed into her nose.

Enorma hit the ground but snapped her head up. Despite the pain and the broken bones and cuts she felt, she locked her eyes only on the Ultimate's right leg it was slamming down in its next step on its sprint towards her. That leg shrank rapidly, and the Nomu fell forward onto only its left hand. Then the Ultimate reached down its right and ripped from its mid-thigh and tore the shrunken leg off. A new leg rippled out of the torn flesh and slammed down into the ground while the Ultimate dragged backwards using its left hand that started shrinking too. The right smashed down on the floor and created a larger debris screen between its body and the teacher trying to slow it down enough for Kotsumura to reach it as he had yelled at Reika to let him go and was sprinting towards the fallen Ultimate.

"You!" Hatsume yelled towards a comrade from Shiketsu. She fired over the back of the Ultimate, and Sazzo jumped up and caught the end of the rope in her right hand. The class representative of Class 2 from Shiketsu slammed back down and dug her sharp nails under the floor. Hatsume's eyes grew wider at the sight of a Quirk so similar to her favorite teacher's, and she grinned as Sazzo buried the end of the rope deeper than just the spike at the end would have allowed-

Hatsume and Sazzo were each still holding onto the rope, and they were each thrown off the ground by the Ultimate jumping up without being stalled by the rope attempting to hold it. A rock under where it was stepping down grew double its size, and the Ultimate stomped down so hard that the size increase did not mean anything. Instead of tripping, it just crushed the rock under its foot. Kotsumura leapt at the Ultimate's back, and its left arm extended out and curved behind it. The hand of the Ultimate gripped around Kotsumura's face. "AHHHh!"

"Come back!" Adashi seethed through his teeth while grabbing onto Kotsumura's real body with both hands.

Kotsumura started fading from the Ultimate's hand rapidly. The closeness of Adashi to Kotsumura's soul form made it easier than last time to pull his friend back into his real body. Adashi yanked his body backwards and winced as he got Kotsumura's soul back into him. "Ah, haa, ahh, again?" Adashi asked, and Kotsumura nodded back at him before clenching his eyes shut as Adashi pulled his soul from his body. "Go!" Adashi ripped Kotsumura out of himself then pushed on his back and sent his friend running out from behind the chunk of metal to get back into the fight…

Kotsumura flinched after taking one step out from behind the metal scrap. He stared towards the Ultimate that had a hand on the back of Enorma sensei's head and was shoving her face into the floor. It lifted its right arm back, then it slammed down again and put a hole in the ground from how hard it smashed her into it. It was not that action that made Kotsumura flinch though. It was the sight of the Ultimate's eyes locked straight on his when he emerged from the hiding space Adashi was behind. "It sees us," Kotsumura said. He tried to keep his voice strong but it cracked when he spoke. "Get me out of here, Adashi. Find a new place!" Kotsumura started sprinting forward, while Adashi shot up from his butt he had collapsed onto. Adashi grabbed onto Kotsumura's unmoving form and dragged away as fast as he could, glancing over his shoulder once and pissing his pants but not letting go of his friend even as the Ultimate charged towards him.

Memuria focused despite the loss crushing her right now. It was intended to be resistant against Endeavor because he destroyed the last of these High-Ends that the League revealed. We all heard rumors about there being more Nomus out there, but I can't imagine there are others at this power. We have one of the League's most dangerous weapons in front of us. It can either kill us all and move on to a different opponent who may be able to stop it, killing hundreds in its path before that happens, or we can stop it right here. With only those of us who are fighting right now? Memuria thought as hard as she could. She could see her students around her. Most of her teachers she had left with the other group that went with Inasa, but Enorma had come with her to fight this monster. And now she was alone as the only pro hero and adult there. Her students were fighting desperately, but she saw the desperation and panic growing on their faces as well. The combination of Kotsumura and Enorma could have done it. It knows that though. It figured it out, or it just heard them planning on it- it doesn't matter. There needs to be a different way. A better one!

"RAAAAAOOOO!" Dimarko roared out. His fury was boundless. He dropped out of the air and tackled the Ultimate backwards. Dimarko gripped onto its arms and pulled away from on top of its back. "KOTSUMURA! DO IT-"

"I'll finish it this time-" Enjino started yelling over to Kotsumura. His body was still reconstructing with light particles himself. He yelled it out though and prepared himself for anything. Concentrate it all. Focus all power on one-

Kotsumura's Out-Of-Body ran at the Ultimate. Dimarko and Enjino were cut off. Their voices were lost as the Ultimate glowed bright red in the instant before Kotsumura arrived. Kotsumura dove and reached his hands out to stop it from getting off the more powerful blast. He was too slow. The bright red glow came in an instant and it went off in the next. The blast threw Dimarko up in the air with smoke coming out of his mouth. His head turned slightly though in mid-flight, looking towards the blond boy who was only slightly farther away than him but did not have the kind of powerful body to sustain that blast.

"Kotsumura," Adashi gasped while pulling his friend's soul back.

The figure he was dragging started to cover in burns. Kotsmura's costume matched how it looked right after that blast that threw a fading hero backwards. He disappeared before even hitting the ground, back into his normal body which caused Adashi to wince again while he was about to take a step. Adashi tripped and fell to his knees. Kotsumura was gasping for breath that he could not find. His face was burned but his arms he had reached out for the Ultimate were even worse. His gloves were gone and he had third-degree burns on both arms all the way past his elbows.

The Ultimate was not letting them get another attempt at Kotsumura's Deplete. It exploded then dragged up onto its feet and sprinted towards Adashi right away. Both boys heard the charging behind them along with shouts of their names from their classmates. Kerushi sprinted towards them, screaming out at the Ultimate and waving his arms to get it to shift its attention onto him. The Ultimate's red eyes did not move off those boys. It raced at Adashi and Kotsumura who spun around at the feeling of the steps vibrating under them so much stronger.

Adashi reached a hand up and yelled, "Wait-"

"Ahck-" Kotsumura tried to make a similar noise, but he coughed and gasped at the same time.

The Ultimate's hands snapped down and gripped them by their necks. It lifted up the teens and turned its head towards its next targets. Just as Kotsumura had watched it crush Enorma's head into the ground while looking straight towards him, it looked towards its next prey already before even finishing him off. Tears welled in his eyes that darted to Adashi's face for a second and the panic and terror covering his friend's expression. Sorry, he thought. His eyes shifted back forward and towards Reika who was sprinting towards him, screaming out in fury and pain, not ready to go through this a second time in a couple minutes.

Something flashed in all of their visions. None were able to track it. Only the Ultimate's eyes shifted and looked somewhat down because it was looking out ahead of it towards the students too slow to reach it in time. Its red eyes lowered, to the top of the head of the man with whitish-blond hair pushed back over his head. Two long stylized strands stuck up diagonally to either side. The students staring towards the Ultimate gawked at the sight of the shirtless figure whose clothes were all made now with no intention of ever growing in size so they could not handle the sudden size increase he had when he reached this area, panting and exhausted already.

"DETROIIIIT… SMASHHHHH!" All Might's fist passed between the students held in the Ultimate's arms. The hero swung his right fist into the chest of the Ultimate that dented inwards as he put all of his strength into it. Then he pulled that right arm out while snapping his left forward too, and he grabbed the kids that came out of the Ultimate's hands before they could fly away. Other students farther from him were blown backwards and many rolled on the floor, covering their faces from the loose debris that went flying too.

By the time those students lowered their arms from in front of their faces, All Might had shrunken. It was a brief instant. A mere moment that he had turned muscular and shot forward, using a form that he had not used in a long time. Something he had doubted he was even able to use before, as the last time he had tried he wound up coughing up blood for a half an hour afterwards and was scolded relentlessly by Recovery Girl for it. Trying to actually fight in that muscular form that had hurt him so much to even use just to display the hero he once was, was too much for the former top hero who let go of the boys at his sides and put his shaking hands down on the floor below his sunken-in face.

Adashi ignored his wet pants and the absolute terror he had just felt. He reached out and held All Might by his left arm when it seemed like All Might's elbow would buckle and he would collapse down to his face. Kotsumura reached his burnt arms out and held All Might by the right arm, but as the two were going to ask if he was okay, All Might's mouth opened and a bucket of blood poured out onto the floor. "Aagh- kah- uugh," All Might's body trembled in their hands. He was skinny and looked malnourished, his cheeks sucked in worse than they had ever been, his skin wrinkled, and his hair whiter than ever with the two strands that had stuck up in his muscular form drooping now and falling limply in front of his face.

A few of the students looked away from All Might's collapsed form and turned towards the buildings inside of Training Ground Xi. One of them just collapsed after the Ultimate had been thrown through too much of its supports. Dust rose up across the training area. "That's the number one hero for you," Ledoni Sama muttered while landing down next to Sazzo who just nodded her head dumbly in response. She was too shocked by that sudden appearance to say a word. Yet there was another reason she did not answer. That's just, debris falling in there…

Thud. Thud. Thud.

"No way," Reika muttered. She spun her head towards All Might and the boys next to him. "We need to get them out of here," she whispered quicker.

"We need to get out of here," Bibi hissed back, fear spiking within her too as she heard those thuds that were coming too rhythmically to be falling debris inside the training ground. The noise came from footsteps that caused All Might to gasp in agony and regret.

Even with everything I could muster, All Might thought in dismay. His head shook and rose back up. His chin lifted, and the boys holding him by the arms lifted their heads too and stared into the dust and at the silhouette walking through the darkness of the closest building to them that had cracking walls but had not collapsed. All Might looked into the shadows of that building and through a fading dust cloud, at a monster walking forward with its chest sealing back up and then covering in an even harder black plating like the ones that covered its arms rather than the smooth muscular coat it had at first.

Is it protecting vital areas?

It's way too strong!

And, even more Nomus are… Kerushi took a step back while looking at the heads of two Nomus that were pulling the rest of their bodies out of the back of the Ultimate. A pale one and a brown one dragged themselves out of bulging bubbles on the Ultimate and fell to the floor behind it. They then stood up and turned towards the students, while two more Nomus pulled out of the Ultimate's sides.

"Without Enorma sensei," Jaime Crowley whispered. She turned towards Nomus that were trapped on a different side of her. Her jaw dropped, and she pulled her head back in terror at the sight of the weaker Nomus that Principal Memuria had been doing her best to keep down. Their bodies had gradually grown and shrunk back to normal proportions though, while the chunks of earth and boulders covering them had turned back into small patches of dirt and pebbles. Those Nomus were escaping and now running at the principal who a few other students sprinted towards and yelled at her to make them larger so they could better survive against these bio-weapons. "What chance…" Jaime gasped in panic at the understanding of how screwed they were.

"You two, run," All Might muttered. "Go, now."

"We aren't going to-" Kotsumura started. His tone made Adashi snap his head up in sheer terror of his friend's resolve that was going to get him killed.

"I can't hold back, on the next punch. You can't be next to me," All Might used his strongest voice. He nodded his head while looking down at the floor below him. Kotsumura's eyes opened huge and he stood up, letting go of All Might's right arm that gripped the floor under them and felt so much stronger after All Might said that.

"Let's go. Let's go!" Kotsumura yelled, stumbling back on agonizingly painful legs. He turned and staggered away, and Adashi ran after him then put one of Kotsumura's burnt arms over his shoulders and helped him run.

"What are you two doing?!" Reika yelled at the two abandoning All Might in front of the Ultimate that stomped back through the broken wall and glared down at the once top hero.

"We'll just get in his way!" Adashi yelled towards the girl when Kotsumura only started coughing in his attempt to respond. "He- he must have held back because we were in its hands. So we need to…" Adashi started thinking about what he was saying. He slowed down, and he turned around while Kotsumura stopped coughing suddenly and then lifted his burnt chin up slowly too. Fear filled their eyes, in the understanding of why All Might really sent them away from him.

"He's the target, you idiots," Reika gasped out, stepping back towards All Might herself.

All four of the smaller Nomus that had ripped out of the Ultimate rushed at the former top hero. Even though Reika said that he was the target, the Ultimate was looking past All Might and straight at them as if daring them to run back his way. The Ultimate stood just past All Might. Toshinori Yagi turned his head as he was lifted off the ground. He looked towards the students, and he coughed more blood up instead of speaking or calling out to them. His eyes begged them to go evacuate the school and get themselves out of there, even if he could not say the words himself.

"All Might!"

"NO! Stop- please!"

"You understand us, don't you?! Listen to me! Why are you doing-"

"Pull." The Ultimate ordered. Each of the four Nomus that had just emerged from its body grabbed onto an arm or leg.

The Shiketsu students and their principal had never seen such brutality. They had never experienced a moment of fear more intense, or despair as deep. And despair filled every last one of them as blood splashed up in the air and out in four directions. The Nomus pulled the scrawny man in different directions. His body could not hold up. All Might's eyes bulged in the pain, and then he dropped to the floor, and his heart came to a stop. The Nomus dropped whatever limbs they had ripped off. And then they turned their bloody forms to the students whose bodies slumped. They slouched where they stood and stared in disbelief and anguish towards their hero. The hero of their youths. The man who was always there to protect them, and who had shown up just when they needed him to save them again…

"All Might," Ledoni whispered. He spun his head back towards the lower level Nomus he had gone to fight and was facing as twice the size he normally was. His principal had her right hand lifted towards his back, but even as he tried to grind his teeth in rage and find the strength to fight, he only felt hopelessness. Destroying them won't stop more from forming. And that thing just killed All Might. I- I can't…

Dimarko's eyes filled with water. His body did not grow any larger though. He could not even trick himself to feel more rage. Rage Fiend was something that came from within, and inside him he did not feel a surge of overwhelming anger. Just sadness. Doubt. The same despair all his classmates and comrades felt.

Hatsume dropped the new weapon she was trying to craft. The hopelessness from before filled her once again. The arrivals of the Shiketsus and All Might had only prolonged the inevitable that she knew deep inside. "Ahh, ahhhhhhh, All Might- ahhh," her eyes clenched shut and she bowed her head into her chest after having fallen down to her knees already.

"We can't do this," Kerushi whispered in shock. "There's no way…"

"Kill. Kill them all." The Ultimate ordered the other Nomus it had created from its own body. It looked around and scanned its enemies with its red eyes. "Die." The corners of its mouth twitched and then rose up. The beast leaned forward, it opened its jaw, and it roared out the most horrifying roar they had ever heard. "AAHHROOOAAAAGGGH RUUUAAA! DIEEEEE!" Its voice could be heard through the steel plating of dorm protections. The students who had heard the roars before heard speech mixed in with them, giving whatever monster was outside a sense of sentience that only added to their terror at the thought of.

Memuria's eyes darted all around her. She watched as some of her students dragged classmates who were not moving towards a more circular area they were backing up into. It's not getting any weaker. It keeps regenerating. And it's making even more of these Nomus, while getting stronger, and learning our… Even All Might- I don't… I don't know any way we can win. The demoralizing factor in what the Ultimate had just done weakened the heroes as much as any injury they had sustained so far. Nomus surrounded them. The Ultimate stepped forward and glared at its next victims.

The Ultimate stomped its right foot forward past the outer line of Nomus that had moved to fully surround the students. The creatures mostly had their brains sticking out of their heads unlike the Ultimate. They looked more like mindless drones than villain. They could listen to orders apparently though, and they were no weaker than regular Nomus even though the students doubted they had human cores considering they seemed to be produced by the Ultimate. Nine of them surrounded the kids; ten including the Ultimate. Its fists started to glow red, and the Nomus all started moving-

FWSSSHH DOOOF! A flash of white light dropped out of the sky in between the Ultimate and the blonde-haired girl standing between it and an injured boy on his knees reaching a burnt arm towards her back. Reika flinched and squinted her eyes for a second before slowly opening them back up huge.

The Nomus all turned their heads towards the Ultimate. The students could have capitalized on their distractedness, if they were not all looking towards that flash of light too. "Take the regular Nomus. I will fight the Ultimate." A Japanese voice came out of the figure's mouth, but his accent was strong and suggesting it was not his first language. He stood up from the crouched position he landed in. His white glow that had covered his whole body in a bright white light dimmed to just be an aura of white energy around his body. His fists still glowed brighter though, his right glowing much much more than anywhere else and swinging upwards- the left flashed with white light and punched over the black arm that went to block the uppercut that never came. The feint of the super bright right hand caused the Ultimate to move an arm away from its face into a position too difficult for it to quickly get it back in the way of the left glowing fist that sent the Ultimate flying.

Ledoni listened to that voice and spun back to the Nomu in front of him. He was still twelve feet tall himself, and he shot forward in a flare of flames and kicked his legs out. He nailed one Nomu in the face and brain with his legs, while punching out both arms to the sides and sending fireballs into other Nomus, only one of which managed to dodge by flapping its tan wings down below it.

A couple others attacked, and some of the Nomus attacked back. A few students just protecting the injured had to start fighting as well to make sure they were not killed by the attacking Nomus. The man who had just landed in their midst and attacked the Ultimate pointed both of his hands out to the sides and opened his palms up. Beams of white light flew out and seared the Nomus that just sprinted towards him to attack and get revenge for the Ultimate that rolled and skid away upon landing before flipping up and dragging trenches through the ground with its claws.

"Who…" Reika started.

"Who are you?" Sazzo asked in shock towards this man in front of them.

Many of the Class 1 students were still staring at him in a different degree of shock than the class rep of Class 2. They looked at this man who had short blond hair, and looks of recognition flashed on their faces. His head turned and stared off towards where he hit the Ultimate, and the rest of his body turned too. He wore a white t-shirt and a pair of black sweatpants. His t-shirt exposed much of his arms, and when he turned, his face became seen by those who had been directly behind him too. The right side of his face had a scar next to his lip that cut down to his chin, as well as a bad scar on the inside of his ear, and one on the side of his nose, and down on his neck. His arms were covered in scars as well. The man's blue eyes locked on the Ultimate's red ones that glared back in rage towards him, and it let out a roar of fury before bending its legs and preparing to charge him.

"I am just a regular Japanese." The man's grammatically incorrect response came out flat and cold. It was not a believable statement in the least. His expression and towering figure were imposing. He intimidated everyone who looked at him. And yet much of Class 1 recognized him instantly. They knew him from descriptions their newest classmate had given them of a man from a far away world. A man who he had once misspoken about, calling him by his real name instead of the name from his stories. He was a man Zach had talked about in many stories too. One he often referred to, as the "strongest" of all his allies in the war. This man was Excilian. The man who took up the middle in the Battle of the 6 Armies, leading the strongest forces as a diversion. They had seen part of his face and his blond hair sticking out of his cracked helmet when he was the first the land behind Zach in Wampajawa when all had seemed lost. They had seen this Quirk in use before. They had seen him save Zach and Gentle from an enemy too much for them to fight even together. And all the hope that they had lost instantly returned to them at the sight of him standing there and facing off against the Ultimate for them, telling them to take on the weaker Nomus instead which they were happy to do for him.

His arrival meant one thing. One thing that restored hope in a group of heroes who understood what it meant not just for them. Exodus was standing in front of them, and that meant…

The Army of Death had arrived.

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A/N Thanks for reading! Second longest chapter ever! Was wondering why it was taking me so long to finish, (though there were other reasons too). The Battle of Tokyo continues. Things look rough for the heroes, even with arrivals of the Shiketsus, a few vigilantes, and a betrayal of a villain against his comrades. Heroes are falling all over the city. Re-Destro and his Meta Liberation Army get a big part of this chapter. I've referred to them on occasion before, but I was far past the MLA arc in the timeline of Death when that arc actually happened in the timeline of BNHA. It no longer worked as a feasible arc to add in with hindsight (as I can manage with Dabi, and as I included Eightfold Cleanser stuff/Machia), but I think I managed to give a good explanation for why they decreased in power naturally due to Zach's efforts that worked against their cause without him even intending on it. Hope you enjoyed those flashbacks and their big introductions this chapter. Some Class B students come up against Shoda's killer Marin, a surviving assassin who ignored Eziano's last order which let him survive. Aoyama gets in a fight with Rabbit. Tsuyu investigates the strange metal tubes drilling into streets as they're dropped from Spider robots. And Uraraka shows up to help out Bakugo against Gigantomachia. Now all of Class A is accounted for in where they are around the city, as quite a few of them are not facing Raijin. At the end of the chapter All Might becomes the next victim of the Ultimate that is tearing apart U.A.'s defenses, only for another new arrival to show up at the end and revive the hope that was failing in the school's defenders. Exodus is there. The Army of Death has arrived. What will happen next? Is it the entire army? Can their arrival change the tides?! Find out next time! Hope I get the next chapter out sooner too, sorry about the month long break! Review response time:

Yamajiji chapter 245 . Jan 19

I liked the initial confrontation with Raajin. It was pretty cool. Intazo vs Endeavor was cool too. Touya vs Shoto was great too, and each of their introspections. were awesome to read. Inasa is showing up now too and thats great. Can't wait for more Deku vs Shiga. Bakugou vs Gigantomachia is probably gonna happen and it'll be awesome too. Kirishima and Tetsutetsu are fucked though, I wonder what'll happen there? Oh, and I think Zach is gonna make a comeback to kill Raajin. I just feel like he's not dead. Great chapter as always. Keep up the good work.

Glad you enjoyed those fight starts. Kinda sorry not many of them were brought up in this chapter. It's a big city though and there are a ton of characters in it I need to reference and show off what they're doing. The League prepared for resistance and there's quite a huge resistance outside of just the largest fights against the leaders of the villains and the most powerful heroes. Bakugo is struggling against Machia though in their fight. His Explosions are not doing enough against that monster that tanks everything thrown at it. We'll see how the fight continues though now that he has Uravity fighting with him! Will Kirishima and Tetsutetsu be able to handle the attack on the Royal Palace? Who knows?! Nice prediction at the end, let's see how it goes! Thanks for reviewing, and hope you enjoyed the new chapter!

the-lonely-night chapter 245 . Jan 19

ouch I love how you truly make me care for villains :)
most of the characters are "real" they aren't cookie cutters heros or villains and truly have a life and character to them! even if is one I hate (deku and his HERO! morals)
so good job man truly!

I'm guessing you're talking about Dabi there (maybe Taizo?). Yeah, I'll admit I got emotional writing that chapter and the interaction between those Todoroki brothers. The villains not all just being evil has always been a pretty big plot point in this story, which comes out a lot in this chapter with Kimmatsu Shi's change of heart mid-fight. Thanks for the review!

The Great Wolf 117 chapter 245 . Jan 21

Amazing chapter, your writing is always getting better.
Your character development is one of the best i have seen. And 'creati'vity for everything is amazing
What do you plan on writing after 'Death'? Is it close to the end or halfway there?
Only predictions i have: Zach will end up fighting the Ultimate unless All Might ends it with his "final smash".
Bakugo loses arms to defeat Machia.
Exodus helps Endeavor or bakugo.
Gentle helps deku or Inasa.
Drac has been long gone though, hope he makes an appearance. Along with Michael against Taizo.
Confident on AOD appearing after most of the heroes get beaten or during the fights.

Thanks! Glad you liked it. Don't know what I'm writing after Death but it's going to be a novel and not a fanfiction next time as I try to start up my career. It's been a couple years since college ended so I really need to get started already, but I love this story too much to abandon it before it ends. And it is coming to an end pretty soon... I did say it would end before Class A's graduation (which was like under a week away in story time when this battle started XD ). Nice guesses all around. Exodus shows up in U.A. though at the end of this chapter. All Might does attempt that 'final smash' against the Ultimate, but it just isn't enough from the former top hero who is much weaker than ever. Or, was... ;( Anyway, thanks for the review! Hope you enjoyed the new chapter!

Guest chapter 245 . Jan 28

WE NEED A UPDATEEEEW omg it's soo good can't believe I was following this story since the beginning I love you so much

Love ya too! XD Here's the update. Sorry again it took so long! Crazy you've been following since the beginning, and I'm real glad you've stuck with it all this time! Thanks for the awesome review, and hope you enjoyed the new chapter!