Back again! Hope you like it.

Several things happened at once.

First, Yaoyorozu disappeared from beside me. Panic hit first, then my brain remembered what Sero's tape sounded like when it was deployed, and I knew he had just pulled her away. But he couldn't get to me with the villain right there.

Second, even though I didn't know what this creep intended to do when he laid his hand on me, I could tell when his dry, rough palms cupped my face that it wasn't nothing.

But for a split second, nothing is what happened.

Third, Midoriya let out a shout, of fear, of pain, I wasn't sure, and I couldn't see because some stranger had his hand over my eyes. Then I felt the wind from an attack and knew he was defending me.

Finally, I felt something wrap around me from the other side and squeeze me like a tight hug, and I was ripped away from the hand. My eyes met with the villain's for a split second as he realized I was fine.

Déjà vu. Something about him, about this situation, felt oddly familiar. But I didn't have time to dwell as I was pulled out of range.

"Aizawa-Sensei!" I couldn't help the tears in my eyes as Sensei caught me with one arm under my legs and the other supporting my back, eyes on the villain to cancel his quirk.

He looked a little worse for wear, a strange patch of cracked skin on his elbow and bleeding from his scalp. But even with his goggles obscuring his eyes, I could tell he was livid. It felt very comforting and safe to be near someone who I knew would give up anything to make sure we were all okay.

Trailing behind him though was a string of villains he had abandoned fighting to come to our rescue. I squeaked a warning. If he set me down, I was in no condition to stand, let alone run or fight.

"I see them," he reassured me.

But not even my teacher could quell my fears when I saw where Midoriya's attack had landed. The beast had to have been even faster than the villain to have blocked one of his super-charged attacks. He'd used his quirk, I knew, even though Midoriya's arm seemed undamaged.

It grabbed him around his torso and I screamed.

"Hey, that was pretty good," the hand-covered villain said to Midoriya. "'Smash', huh? You an All Might fan?" He didn't wait for a response. "Not that it matters."

"Midoriya, get out of there!" Sensei ordered above me. But he had to weave around a coordinated attack from the villains with me in his arms, so he couldn't help. Sero sensed something coming and set Yaoyorozu down, then sent out another line of tape to wrap around his other classmate. The monster raised its arm, and Sero pulled the tape taunt, but Midoriya didn't budge. The villain ducked behind the beast, out of Sensei's line of sight, and reached for Sero and Yaoyorozu.

I watched with fear in my heart, clutching my teacher's smock. True, unshakable fear that my friends were going to die.

My stomach stopped hurting in an instant, and I thought, oh, it's because I'm about to die.

The door to the USJ flew off its hinges and everyone froze. A figure stepped out of the smoke with a face contorted with pure, unadulterated rage. "Have no fear, students," All Might called, voice reaching across the whole warehouse. He ripped his tie off his neck. "I am here."

I had only ever seen videos, but All Might was fast. 'Faster than the eye could see' fast. It was even more impressive because of his bulk. In one instant there were ten villains about to attack Sensei and me, and in the next, they were all laid out on the ground. One more blink and all of my classmates were beside us. Sero, Yaoyorozu, and Midoriya, alive and out of harm's way.

All Might landed between us and the monster, his back to us. At that moment, I was pretty sure he was a god.

"It's okay, Ryuuzaki," Sensei said, finally unwrapping me and setting me down. "You're all safe now."

I nodded, not wanting him to think I was scared even though that's practically all I was. Then I realized it was a moot effort because I was trembling uncontrollably. I still couldn't stand properly.

"Get to safety," Sensei ordered, and we nodded. His anger had faded some, but I didn't fool myself into thinking he'd be forgiving the villains anytime soon. Midoriya grabbed my arm and let me lean on his frame, but paused before following Sero and Yaoyorozu up the stairs.

"All Might, I think you should know… I just smashed that thing at full strength and nothing happened."

"Midoriya-shounen," All Might said, finally giving him the smile he was famous for. "No need to worry. I got this."

Midoriya nodded, and we turned around to skedaddle when the number one started swinging on the monster.

My childhood friend was oddly silent beside me. I could feel how tense he was under my hand. "What's wrong?"

He thought for one moment longer, then dropped my arm. "Can you make it up by yourself, Hotaru-chan?" I nodded, not because I thought that I could, but because he looked like he needed me to. "Good."

He turned around and dashed back toward All Might.

I ended up folding right where he left me on the stairs, but I didn't call for him. I was far enough away, though I was still wary of the villain covered in hands, even though Sensei seemed to be engaging with him. Now that the monster was being handled by All Might and the army of villains was defeated, it didn't seem like he was actually that much of a fighter. But he was stupidly quick.

Even though my quirk was silent for the first time since we arrived at the USJ, I was still so uneasy. No way we were all just safe now, right? I must have died and this was the afterlife. But, well. I was still going to watch All Might and Sensei beat the ever-living shit out of these guys.

So I was confused when All Might kept hitting the beast and it didn't seem affected. Was he holding back?

By then, the black and purple portals were familiar when they appeared first underneath the hand-covered villain, sucking him into the earth and out of Sensei's range, then under the monster as All Might tried slamming its head into the ground. It jabbed its hand into his side, actually piercing the skin and causing him to bleed, and I had to cover my mouth with my hand to keep from hyperventilating.

Yaoyorozu and Sero were cheering their hearts out further up, but I was close enough to see—the monster was matching his strength. All Might's strength.

Midoriya could tell as well. He ran in to help. The smoke villain appeared in the way out of thin air. I shouldn't have let him go, I thought, ready to tear my hair out. But even if I could move, what could I do?

Something zipped by me so quickly my costume billowed. Bakugou, back with a vengeance, exploding the smoke villain before it did a number on Midoriya. He actually managed to pin the slippery bastard down.

Rushing after him was Kirishima and Todoroki, who must have jumped off the bus to help Sensei after the six of us vanished. I was glad he hadn't been all on his own all that time, then. If Bakugou could handle some villains, my old simulation partner could, too. He froze the monster through the warp gate, giving All Might enough reprieve to tear free from its hold.

Sensei leaped over him simultaneously, grabbing the back of the teenaged villain's head and slamming his face down into his knee, but the severed hands protected him some and he managed to stay on his feet. Sensei tried to grab his wrist, but he avoided him, so he backed off while he blinked.

"Get Kurogiri, Nomu," the villain croaked. "He's our escape method."

Putting two and two together, I looked to Bakurogu with sudden worry. But it was too late, or rather, the monster—the nomu—was too fast. It flashed by, raising up a cloud of dirt in its wake, and emerged at the end of its attack with the rescued smoke villain in hand.

But as it settled some, there was Bakugou on the ground, totally unscathed, blinking in bewilderment.

"You're attacking children," All Might boomed, and I suddenly realized why my classmate wasn't minced meat. "Have you no shame?"

"These kids are no angels," the villain deflected. "That plain-looking one tried to kill me with a maxed-out punch, just because I was about to grab those girls. What kind of hero does that?" He cocked his head. "You heroes all think you can get away with doing whatever you want, completely unchecked, don't you? Face it, All Might, you're just another tool that the state uses to commit violence. And violence always begets violence."

I would be lying if I said his words didn't deeply terrify me. This guy had such a twisted sense of reality that he was driven to attempt to murder a class of high schools students and several beloved heroes and still think he was justified.

Luckily, All Might seemed unfazed by his speech. "You're nothing but a lunatic. You're not doing this for some higher cause, you just enjoy it."

I could tell the boys were rearing to go, but Sensei ordered them all back. They started to argue, even Todoroki to my surprise, but All Might quickly nipped it in the bud. "I will handle this."

The nomu charged, and All Might met it head-on. Their exchange of blows was nothing short of extraordinary, though honestly, they were both so fast that I couldn't make out much. The wind it whipped up was so powerful that my hair fell out of its bun. I clung to the stairs so I wouldn't be literally blown away. The nomu went flying at Mach speed after All Might's final punch, breaking through the ceiling of the dome. Tears freely streamed down my face, though if anyone asked, I would have sworn up and down it was from the wind.

He won.

Some of the underlings began to stir, but Aizawa-sensei went to take care of them before they popped back up. Yaoyorozu and Sero jumped in to help since they were closest to the army, tying up as many villains as they could.

All Might stood in the steam of his attacks and turned to the remaining enemies, standing tall and strong.

My eyes landed on the leader, who twitched and itched and trembled with petulant rage. "You cheated," he hissed. "That's why nothing went according to plan. You knew we were coming somehow." He charged. "You're gonna pay!" I wasn't about to give my enemies advice, but wasn't that being a little reckless? But my stomach churned once again at the incoming attack.

Something was wrong. All Might stayed put as he drew closer. But that wasn't a problem. All Might could handle anything. Right?

But I could either trust logic or my quirk, and I wasn't feeling too logical at the moment. My gut was telling me that the number one hero was in trouble.

In the blink of an eye, Midoriya surged into the air, arm cocked. He was so fast that it barely even registered in me that he had moved. But the villain called Kurogiri spread out to protect the other villain, and then there was a hand reaching out of his smoke. And Aizawa-sensei was busy, and All Might wasn't moving, and—

Shots rang out through the USJ.

I ducked, clapping my hands over my ears. When I looked up at the entrance, I saw a whole crowd.

The other teachers had made it. It was finally over.

I turned back to the villains, but they seemed to be backing off. I'm sure they were reluctant to just leave without accomplishing half of what they had come here to do, but a hale of gunfire sinking into their leader sent them packing rather quickly. It would have been better if they could have captured them, but to be honest, I was just glad they weren't able to hurt anyone anymore.

Midoriya was on the ground. I squinted, then scrambled to my feet when I realized it was because both of his legs were bent at awkward angles. He sacrificed his legs to get over to All Might in time, even if it only amounted to drawing the villain's attention for a second. He must have been in so much pain. But All Might was still alive, still standing, so it must have been enough.

And it made me wonder how he knew All Might needed help, too.

"Midoriya!" I called worriedly as I ran to him, partially aware that I was finally able to move my legs, though they still felt like jelly.

He looked back at me, and a moment later, a huge wall of cement shot up between us. I skidded to a stop, gasping, but it was only Cementoss. "For everyone's safety, please stay back. Leave the injured to us and head to the entrance with your classmates."

I looked between him the blockade. Overkill. But I was too drained, emotionally and physically, to read that deeply into people's words and actions at that point. So I just nodded.

"There you are, Ryuuzaki," Kirishima grinned as I jogged up to him and the other two boys.

I filled them in on the instructions. "They want us up the stairs."

We headed there together, passing by villain after villain being secured and collected by pros. I saw Aizawa-sensei speaking to a medic, Thirteen, and Principal Nezu. Sero and Yaoyorozu noticed our group and joined up with us.

"Everyone still alive?" Sero asked lightheartedly. He looked exhausted. I'm sure he used his quirk way past his limit today.

"These villains were a joke. They wouldn't even beat us in their dreams," Bakugou said.

"I like your confidence," Kirishima laughed, and I eyed him surreptitiously. Something was going on between those two. I think he actually liked Bakugou.

There were other medics waiting for us at the top of the USJ. Instead of asking us as a group if anyone needed help, they pulled us aside individually and went through a checklist of questions. Probably had a lot of experience with heroes-in-training who didn't want to seem weak to their peers.

Mine asked if I felt any strange sensations, and I mentioned my legs, so they sat me down and performed a quick physical. They tapped my knees, took my heart rate, and finally, used a special device to check that I hadn't been hit with some random quirk.

"You said you couldn't walk after a villain attacked you?"

I nodded.

"It's probably psychosomatic. You may have been in shock, but everything looks stable for now. You should probably go see Recovery Girl when you get back to school."

I thanked them, then met up with the other five, who had all finished before me and were standing with Midknight. "I'm sure you want nothing more to go home right now," she said gently, "but I have a few things to ask you all before we can let you go. That okay?"

We all agreed. We learned in our classes that it was best to do this stuff while it was all fresh. Especially after trauma, the memory faded quickly.

She needed a really detailed account for the records, but luckily everyone had been with at least one other person the whole time, save for the short period I went off to find Midoriya, so if anyone mixed up the order of events, it was quickly corrected. Bakugou, for as little as he said, seemed to have the best memory. He was able to give an estimate of how many villains he'd defeated. I didn't even want to count, and I had dealt with much less.

Todoroki filled us in on what happened on his end, too. The bus itself never made it off the property, though they did make it a safe distance from Kurogiri. The engine was shot shortly after we were all warped inside only barely laster a block. All of our classmates and Thirteen had been forced to fend off a horde of villains in the street. Todoroki was able to use his ice as a shield for Iida so that he could run off to get back up, and then he froze as many villains as he could to go help Sensei.

Bakugou and Kirishima arrived at around the same time and took the long-ranged villains by surprise, giving Todoroki an opening to freeze them all. The villains that really gave them trouble were Kurogiri, the nomu, and their leader. He managed to injure Sensei with his quirk—it decayed away at whatever he touched—and then Kurogiri suddenly warped him and the nomu away. Sensei was reluctant to follow them since that would leave them with an unhindered Kurogiri, but his hunch was that the other two had gone to finish off those of us inside the USJ. But Kirishima, Bakugou, and Todoroki swore they would take care of Kurogiri, so Sensei broke apart and headed inside.

I was lucky he did. If he had arrived a second later, I would be a pile of ash.

I must have looked quite out of it because Midknight's expression softened. "I'm sorry you had to go through all of that. Your classmates are all outside worried sick if you want to get see them."

Sore and dirty, we gratefully went outside and took our place with the rest of the class. They looked just as ragged, and Kaminari was in some sort of trance. But they perked up and cheered when we emerged.

While we waited for the backup bus to arrive and bring us all back to school, we formed one large group and filled each other in. They were eager to hear our side of the story.

"Sounds like you all had your hands full, kero," Asui commented facetiously.

Kirishima grinned. "You should see the other guys."

I watched the discussion unfold passively, still not believing our luck. Everyone was alive and safe. It was nothing short of a miracle.

"You were wrong, Master." On the floor of the League of Villains hideout, Shigaraki writhed in pain. Blood dripped out of each of his limbs, shot with pinpoint precision. Not to kill him, but to render him immobile so they could take him alive for questioning. He could barely lift his head at the computer screen on the bar. He screamed into the floor.

Who cared if he was acting immature. He'd had his underlings and his nomu stolen from him. His victory, stolen from him. "You were so wrong."

Kurogiri watched from the side.

"Hush," a disembodied voice tutted. "Not wrong. Merely overly optimistic."

"They knew we were coming," he spat. Blood dribbled onto the wooden finish. "The students were on their way out. We had no element of surprise."

The voice hummed. "Possibly a coincidence. We'll do some digging and see if we were truly found out. But don't worry. We have all the time in the world. We'll rebuild, this time efficiency over quantity. We'll smooth out our kinks. And then we'll have the power to kill All Might once and for all."

Power. That reminded him. "Master, there was also a boy there with this quirk…"

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