(A/N: Formatting reminder "Dialogue heard throught an earpiece.")
...
Izuku had just started to scan the other camera views for where he was needed next when Tsuyu spoke up.
"Hiro-chan."
"Hmm?" Izuku responded, not looking away from the screen.
"If the Villain whose Quirk was blocking signals was taken out," Tsuyu said. "Doesn't that mean that phones would work now, kero?"
"…huh, you're right, Tsu-san," Izuku said, mentally saying 'duh' to himself. He reached into his messenger bag and grabbed his phone. Sure enough, there was signal albeit it a weak one. "There is signal but it's weak. Probably due to us being underground in here. I'm going to keep looking for whoever needs help. Do you think you can try to get a message through? A text would probably be better than a call because of the signal strength down here."
"Of course, Hiro-chan," Tsuyu replied, reaching for his phone which he unlocked for her. "I would use mine but I didn't bring it in case we worked with water today."
Hmm…perhaps a water proof communication device should be added to her gear.
Tsuyu went to his contacts, a list that was shorter than most but had been steadily growing since coming to UA. It consisted of his friends, Mei and Hitoshi having been the first of course, as well as a number of the teachers. Including…
"You have Principal Nezu's number?"
"Y-yeah," Izuku said, blushing slightly. "He's my teacher f-for improving my analysis."
"He takes on students even as the principal?" she asked as she typed out a quick message explaining the situation.
"Not t-typically," he answered. "Only those who c-catch his eye."
"That's impressive, Hiro-chan," Tsuyu said, finishing the message and began attempting to send it.
"Thanks," Izuku said. "Um, anyway, try for Nezu-sensei but also Yagi-sensei. He, uh, he's a teacher here too and can get in contact with All Might."
"Right," Tsuyu replied, glad to have something to do to help.
Izuku continued to scan the video feeds while Tsuyu watched him work silently, not wanting to distract him, as well as checking his phone periodically. The students in the other zones had already defeated their opponents and were heading towards the entrance. So, Izuku turned his attention to the entrance and connected to Thirteen's earpiece.
"Thirteen, this is Hiro," he announced to the teacher. "The Villain blocking the signal has been defeated. However, Kaminari is slightly incapacitated now and can't get a signal out yet. Asui-san is with me and she's attempting to get a message out with my phone but the signal is low here. We need to get word to the school about what's going on."
"Understood," Thirteen replied, much to the confusion of the other students around them. The Hero ignored them and addressed Iida. "Class President, I know you feel like it's abandoning your friends, but I need you to run back to the school and alert them to what's happening here. Please use your Quirk to save others."
Izuku watched Thirteen activate their Quirk to counter the Warp Villain and Iida, somewhat reluctantly, prepared to run for the door. Thinking that the Space Hero had it under control, he disconnected from them and turned his attention to Eraserhead.
Aizawa was thankfully still holding his own in the Central Plaza. He was kicking and punching his way through the throng of Villains. Their numbers had dwindled down significantly since the greenette had last looked. The Hero was making steady progress towards the handy man.
As he nullified Quirks and knocked out his enemies, he got closer and closer to the pale blue haired Villain. Izuku connected to Aizawa's earpiece but didn't say anything so he didn't break the man's concentration. This did allow him to hear what was being said around the Hero though.
Breaking through the last of the obviously small-fry enemies, Eraserhead shot towards the handy man who for some reason was counting under his breath. Aizawa's hair rose as he activated his Quirk and shot his capture weapon forward.
"So, you're the boss, right?" the Erasure Hero growled. His hair fell as he blinked. The Villain had grabbed the capture weapon and as soon as Erasure turned off, the material started to crumble in his grip.
Black hair rose again and the Villain started mumbling numbers again. Why is he…oh crap! Aizawa elbowed the handy man in the stomach, who slumped over and reached a pale hand toward the Hero.
"Aizawa! Don't let him touch you!" Izuku blurted out.
...
"Aizawa! Don't let him touch you!"
The Erasure Hero instinctively jumped back out of the Villain's reach. Hearing the student's voice suddenly was surprising, but recognizing it, he knew to trust it. "Why?" he hissed back.
"I'm not 100% sure but I think his Quirk could dissolve, disintegrate, or decay things through physical contact. Could possibly be the Quirk that destroyed the UA Barrier yesterday."
Shit.
If that was the case, the Hero needed to keep his distance. To test it, he kicked up some rubble, aimed it at the blue-haired man, and activated his Quirk. Each piece was easily caught and, once Shouta blinked, crumbled to nothing but dust.
"He was right," Shouta muttered as the Villain shook the dust off his hands.
"Looks like a five-finger application. Keep him from touching you with all five fingers."
The Villain covered with hands looked at the Hero with confused curiosity. "Who was right? Right about what?"
"Your Quirk, it disintegrates, right?" Shouta asked, ignoring the other's first question. "Either that or decays things. It would explain how the media got on campus yesterday."
"How did you…?" The decayer started to question. "Heh. Either you're more observant than I thought or this 'he' helped. Is my Quirk that obvious? Not that you're one to talk, Hero."
The Villain lunged forward, hands outstretched, and Shouta jumped back with his long black hair floating around him.
"It's hard to tell when you're jumping around," the handy man said, lunging again and again as the Hero dodged. "But from time to time, your hair falls. It's your 'tell.' The sign that you just completed an action and the time between is getting shorter and shorter. You're having to blink more often, aren't you? Running out of mana? Don't push yourself too hard, Eraserhead~."
The Villain lunged once more, but Shouta managed to kick him back without getting decayed, hard enough to knock him to the ground. Damn, Midoriya was right. He usually fought at night so Villains never noticed his hair rising. But in broad day light, it was definitely an obvious tell. This Villain in front of him may act childish with all his video game metaphors, but he was definitely observant.
From behind him, some of the stragglers of the small-fry tried to attack the Hero by surprise. But he was Eraserhead, a Hero who was used to fighting against those who fought dirty. Shouta ducked down and kicked both of his opponents' legs out from under them and knocked them out.
The blue haired Villain picked himself off the ground, dusting off his clothes. All the while prattling about the Hero's fighting style and how the current conditions weren't ideal.
"Despite entering a fight above your character level, you still jumped right in without a thought," the man-child continued. "You're just so cool. By the way, Hero…"
Out of the corner of his eye, Shouta saw a blur of black.
"…I'm not the final boss."
Shouta tried to dodge. He really did, but it was no use. Not only was he bruised, beaten, and tired from having fought so many enemies at once, there was no way he could have dodged the…creature. Whatever the thing was, it was too fast to avoid.
A large black fist punched Shouta's head, breaking his yellow goggles in the process. Despite using Erasure on it, the creature had enough natural strength to deliver a critical blow. The Hero found himself pinned face down on the ground with one strong hand pressing down on his back and another gripping his right arm firmly. He could feel the blood oozing from the wounds on his face where the jagged edges of his broken goggles had cut him.
"What do you think of my secret weapon, Eraserhead?" Shigaraki taunted at the pinned Hero. "He's the bio-engineered, Anti-Symbol of Peace. Otherwise known as Noumu."
The creature shrieked as its name, or rather what sounded like a designation, was said out loud. Its grip on Shouta's arm tightened further until there was the clear snap of bones breaking. The Hero let out a cry of pain, unable to free himself from the monster's grasp.
"Your Quirk allows you to erase other's powers," the decayer said, calmly standing as he watched the Noumu literally break the other man. "It's a pretty cool skill, but in the end not all that impressive. When facing true, crippling strength, you might as well be Quirkless."
Shouta turned his head to aim Erasure at the Noumu in hopes of escape, only to have the creature slam its hand down on his other arm and crushing it against the ground.
It's breaking my bones like they're twigs. If my Quirk has no effect on it, then that means this is its base strength. If so, it may be as strong as All Might.
The Noumu grabbed the Hero's head with a large, strong hand and slammed his head into the ground face first. The action had so much power behind it that it cracked the pavement. He tried to shake the hand off of his head but the creature simply slammed his head down again, knocking the Hero out.
...
Izuku had watched in horror as Aizawa was attacked by the black hulking mass. He was too shocked to look away. So much so that when Asui tapped his shoulder, he jumped. He turned towards her, but she didn't say anything as she stared at another video feed in dismay.
Following her gaze, Izuku took in the chilling scene occurring at the entrance. He had thought Thirteen had it handled. Had thought a man made of mist would be no match for the Rescue Hero's Black Hole Quirk. That's how it should have been but for one thing. The Villain had a Warp Quirk.
After the Space Hero had directed Black Hole at the misty man, the Villain had created a warp gate behind Thirteen and turned their own Quirk against them. Black Hole pulled at Thirteen's back, ripping a huge hole through their Hero suit before they could react. The Space Hero had more experience in rescue than combat and was apparently unable to predict the Villain turning the tables against them.
Seeing that the teacher was down, Izuku disconnected from Aizawa and switched to all the numbers stationed at the entrance. Getting help was top priority right now. But with how Thirteen was taking down, the students were frozen in shock and fear.
"Iida! You need to run!" Izuku called out, snapping the students out of their horrified stupor. "Don't let Thirteen's efforts go to waste!"
The Hero students jumped into action. Iida ran towards the door without hesitation. When the Warp Villain went after him, the other students used their Quirks to slow the misty man down. Shouji wrapped his dupliarms around the warp gate that formed in front of Iida while the teen ran past. The Villain escaped and shot toward the engine user again. As the man rushed forward, the metal casing was revealed amongst the fog. Uraraka ran forward and used her Quirk on the metal. Sero shot his tape at the casing and Satou grabbed the tether, slinging the Villain away. With all their efforts combined, Iida managed to escape.
"If he calls for help, it's game over," the Villain stated before he warped away.
Izuku promptly searched the cameras for him and found he had teleported next to the handy man. Quickly switching from the students at the entrance and back to Aizawa's earpiece, that somehow was still working, he was able to hear their conversation.
"Shigaraki Tomura," the warper said. Is that the handy man's name? Filing that away for later.
"Kurogiri," Shigaraki replied. Another name? Noted. "Did you kill Thirteen?"
"I was able to incapacitate them," Kurogiri answered. "However, there were some students I was unable to warp away and one managed to escape."
At that news, Shigaraki paused and then began to scratch. A lot. His hands were almost a blur on his neck. Is that Quirk related or psychosomatic?
"Kurogiri," the Decay Villain growled. "If you weren't our ticket out of here, I'd dust you. When the other Heroes come, we won't stand a chance. Damn it! It's game over."
Game over? Izuku thought as he watched the handy man order the Noumu away from Aizawa. What does that mean? Are they leaving?
"It does seem weird that they would just leave after all this," Asui chimed in.
"Y-yeah, it doesn't make sense," Izuku replied. At this point, he resigned himself to his fate of mumbling aloud in this situation. "Were you able to get a message out?"
"Yes, a little bit ago," Tsuyu answered, checking his phone to see that at least one went through a couple of minutes ago. "But there was no response, kero." She sounded a bit down that sending a message that may or may not have been read was all she could do at the moment.
As the Villains turned to leave, a loud crash rang throughout the USJ. Looking back at the entrance, they saw that All Might had arrived. And he was not smiling. Scanning the screens, Izuku and Asui could see the relief on the students' faces now that the Symbol of Peace had arrived. The greenette couldn't help but cringe a little. He had never seen the Number One Hero so angry.
"So, he finally showed up," Shigaraki spat out near Aizawa. Izuku was still surprised his earpiece was still working after getting his head bashed into the ground. Twice. "Having the Symbol of Trash make me wait pisses me off." The handy man started to scratch his neck again in irritation.
In the blink of an eye, All Might moved from the entrance to Aizawa's side, knocking out the Villains along the way. He had to maneuver around the Noumu and the blue haired Villain, the wind produced by his movements was enough to knock the severed hand off the latter's face. All Might picked up his battered colleague as carefully as he could and rushed back to the entrance. Placing the man in the students' care, he shot back down to the Central Plaza to confront the Villains.
Since Aizawa was no longer near the center, Izuku couldn't hear what the Villain was saying and so disconnected from his earpiece. He scanned the tablet for any numbers that were near the area, torn between hoping no one was there meaning they were somewhere safer and having someone near to allow access to what was being said. Three numbers were close to the Central Plaza and seemed to be heading towards the Villains instead of the entrance. Selecting the numbers to listen, he then scanned the screens to find it was Katsuki, Kirishima, and Todoroki.
I expect this from Katsuki who runs into any situation head on, but Kirishima-kun, Todoroki-kun, what are you thinking?
The Hero students were still too far away to hear anything, but they were steadily making their way over. Turning his gaze back to All Might, Izuku watched the man-child wobble toward the fallen hand on the ground. With great care, Shigaraki picked up the hand with one finger raised so he didn't decay it and returned it to his face.
Seeing the Villain trying not to use his Quirk reminded Izuku that All Might didn't know about it. Nor did he know about the Noumu or what it was capable of. On top of that, he didn't have an earpiece for Izuku to privately inform him of the situation. Plus, the students were still not close enough and he wouldn't have wanted them to give their location away just to pass on information.
Guess I have no choice, he thought as he selected the PA system for the Central Plaza.
"All Might, be careful!" Izuku called out, making both the Hero and Villains alike look around for the source of the voice. "The handy man, Shigaraki, has a Decay Quirk with five-finger contact activation. The misty man, Kurogiri, has a Warp Quirk. And the brainy one…they call it a Noumu and I'm not sure what its Quirk is or, more accurately, how many. But it's shown speed and strength so far. They say it was made to kill you!"
By this time, the three Hero students had arrived close enough for him to hear. They had hidden themselves behind some bushes near the scene.
"Who said that?!" Shigaraki screeched, looking around frantically. "Some kind of admin giving out cheat codes? That's so unfair!"
"Thanks for the information, young M-Hiro," All Might said as he rushed forward. The Noumu met him head on, literally, taking a Carolina Smash to its exposed brain.
The creature retaliated with its own attack which All Might managed to dodge and followed with a punch to the Noumu's stomach. But with each blow dealt, there seemed to be no effect on the creature. From the sidelines, Shigaraki let out a laugh and started to brag about the Noumu. How it had a Shock Absorption Quirk and the only way to defeat it would be to tear it apart, piece by piece.
Is he an idiot? To tell the Hero about his 'secret' weapon's 'special features'?
All Might grabbed the Noumu around the waist from the back. Bending backwards, the Number One Hero smashed the creature down head first into the concrete. Or at least he tried. The attack was fast…but not fast enough.
As the Noumu's head was forced down, Kurogiri opened two portals on the ground. The thing's upper body passed through one and came out the other, hands grasping the Symbol of Peace's torso. Izuku noticed its fingers were digging into his sides, right into the wound he had received years ago.
Oh crap, that's not good. He's already past his limit today. Any aggravation to his wound won't help either. There's got to be some way to get him out of that.
Kurogiri started to monologue about their plans to kill All Might. Stuff about blood and gore floating in his gate and that they planned to cut the Symbol of Peace in half. It was a simple but at the same time convoluted plan and Izuku wondered if the man-child was the one to come up with it. As the Villain continued to talk, Izuku addressed the three Hero students hiding nearby.
"Bakugou, Kirishima, Todoroki, this is Hiro," he said. "Can you hear me?"
Katsuki's brows furrowed in confusion, Kirishima jumped slightly, and Todoroki's brow quirked up. The latter was the one to answer.
"We hear you, Hiro," the ice user whispered, while Kirishima eyed the scowling blonde warily. At least Katsuki was trying to be quiet though, attempting to not attracted unwanted attention. "What's going on?"
"They have All Might pinned," Izuku explained. "That big brain Villain, called a Noumu, somehow has multiple Quirks including speed, strength, and shock absorption. The misty guy, Kurogiri, plans to use his Warp Quirk to cut All Might in half. We need to weaken the Noumu's grip while also disrupting Kurogiri's Warp."
"What do you suggest?" Todoroki asked. Kirishima tried to placate Katsuki while the blonde glared at the bi-colored teen since his question insultingly implied they needed any kind of help.
"Todoroki, use your ice on the Noumu," the Support student instructed. "If it's even partially encased in ice, All Might should be able to break free. As for Kurogiri, there's some sort of metal casing hidden within the mist surrounding him. Could be a weakness. Bakugou, Kirishima, if you go after that, you should be able to stop him. Also watch out for the Villain with all the hands, he has a Decay Quirk that requires physical contact. Don't let him touch you with all five fingers with either of his hands."
As he had been speaking, Katsuki clearly became more and more agitated over receiving 'help' and Kirishima couldn't hold the blonde back any longer. Like the explosive spaz that he was, Katsuki lunged towards the Villains yelling, "DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!" The other two followed right after him.
Typical Katsuki…
Firing an explosion with one hand at Kurogiri, Katsuki disturbed the mist enough for the metal casing to show. Which he then pinned down to the ground with his other hand, threatening to blast him if he tried to move.
Wow…what a 'heroic' thing to say…
Kirishima aimed a hardened arm at Shigaraki who dodged away. Todoroki planted his right foot down and sent ice towards the Noumu, freezing its entire right side. With the Noumu partially encased in ice, its grip was loosened enough for All Might to escape its clutches. He leapt away and took a defensive stance between the Villains and the students.
"Kurogiri, pinned down by some UA brat?" Shigaraki drawled out. "How pathetic. And annoying. They've captured our way out. On top of that, they cleared this level at full health and seized my Noumu as well. Kids these days really are something. Really puts the League of Villains to shame. Can't have that…"
The handy man turned his attention towards the half frozen Noumu still sticking out of two portals.
"…Noumu."
With just the call of its name, the creature forced itself back through the portal and breaking off the limbs encased in ice. The Hero and students watched in horror as it was still able to move. Suddenly, the remaining ice shattered off the Noumu as its mutilated right side began to grow back in a burst of muscle and bone.
What? That thing has some kind of Healing Quirk, too?
"What's this?" All Might asked. "Another Quirk?"
"As that admin so annoyingly spoiled earlier," Shigaraki sneered. "Noumu has more than one Quirk at his disposal. You've already experienced his Shock Absorption while this is his Super Regeneration. Noumu was designed to take you on at 100% power. Like a highly efficient punching bag that fights back."
As the Villain was talking, the Noumu's limbs finished re-growing. Its beady eyes swiveled around until the small pupils focused on its enemy. They all stared as the Noumu stood before them unharmed, the only evidence of injury being its tattered shorts.
"First, we need our escape route back. Noumu, get him."
There was a collective gasp as the Noumu shot forward towards Katsuki and Kurogiri, too fast for the blonde to dodge. The creature's attack was strong and brought up a cloud of dust, obscuring the scene. Izuku stared at the cloud on the camera feed as he silently begged for his childhood friend to be ok. The explosive boy may be an asshole, but he didn't deserve to be punched with a power that could rival All Might's.
The greenette let out a sigh as the dust began to settle and he could see that Katsuki had been pushed out of the way. But his relief was short lived as he saw that was because All Might had been the one to shove the student away so he could take the blow instead.
"You don't even hold back for children?" the Symbol of Peace seethed as he coughed from the dust as well as being low on time.
Shigaraki cackled and started to rant about how he was only defending his companion who was being threatened by a student. How labels like Hero and Villain dictated what kind of violence was socially acceptable and which was condemned as criminal. That it all pissed him off and All Might was merely a government-sponsored tool for violence. That the world would see violence only breeds more violence. A point that would be made known with the death of the Symbol of Peace.
"What a bunch of baloney," All Might declared, call the Villain out on his nonsense. "Trying to make your criminal acts sounds so noble. But I can tell from that look in your eye that you're nothing but a lunatic. You're enjoying this, aren't you?"
"Oops!" the handy man chuckled darkly. "Seems you saw right through me."
"We outnumber them four to three," Todoroki interjected.
"They may act tough," Kirishima chimed in, clenching his fists. "But we've got All Might so there's no way we can lose."
Izuku was about to speak up, but All Might beat him to it.
"NO," the Number One Hero barked as he stepped towards the Villains. "Don't attack. Get out of here."
The students started to protest but All Might shot them down. He thanked them for their earlier help but insisted that the students not to interfere with this fight. Assuring them that everything was going to be alright and for them to watch a Pro Hero at work.
Despite the Hero's reassurances, Izuku still worried. No one in 1-A knew about All Might's weakened state. That he had already used up his allotted time and was running on fumes at this point. And yet, despite the circumstances, the man still walked forward to fight evil head on to protect others. This was why All Might had been Izuku's favorite Hero ever since he was young. His unrelenting drive to help others no matter what happened to him.
Izuku and Asui, along with the other three students, watched as Shigaraki ordered the Noumu and Kurogiri to kill All Might. The handy man then shot out towards the Hero students who readied themselves into defensive positions. But the Symbol of Peace didn't allow him to make contact as the Hero ran to fight him. Unsurprising, the Noumu met him with a mirrored fist, the power behind the clashing dual punch sent everyone else flying with a sudden gust of wind.
"Weren't you listening before?" Shigaraki chided as he skidded to a stop. "He has Shock Absorption. Your attacks won't affect him."
"Yeah? And your point is?!" All Might shot back, letting out a roar as he continued to attack the Noumu.
The flurry of blows constantly sent out more blasts of wind, making it difficult for the others to stay still let alone stand. Nor could the Villains get anywhere near them to go on with their plan of attack. Kurogiri especially seemed to be having a hard time.
Well, he is made mostly of mist, so…
"You said it was Shock Absorption," the Number One Hero said as he continued punching over and over. "Not Nullification. Which means there must be a limit! And if it was made to fight me at 100%, then I'll just have to go beyond. PLUS ULTRA!"
At that declaration, All Might somehow managed to increase the speed of his attacks even faster than before. To the point that the punches were just a blur. The Noumu fought back to match him, getting some blows through the Hero's defense. But that only seemed to spur the Hero on to fight even harder. After what felt like an eternity, All Might delivered one last super punch that sent the Noumu flying up into the air, through the roof, and out of the USJ altogether.
The students and Villains alike stood stunned as All Might defeated the creature created to be his match. The Number One Hero began to talk about how he was getting slower and that it had taken over three hundred punches when back in the day it would have only taken five. Izuku resisted the urge to facepalm.
Don't tell the enemy that kind of information! Aizawa was right. He is a big blonde buffoon.
The other students were all in awe at the strength All Might had shown, but Izuku was distracted by something else. A cloud of dust had built up from the fight, obscuring the Hero in the haze. But the Support student could see the small tendrils of smoke seeping out of the Number One Hero.
Oh no. His time is almost up. But there are still two more Villains.
Despite this, the Symbol of Peace turned to the Villains, his smile hiding his weakness. "Now then, Villain," he said with feigned confidence. "You've been bested. Let's hurry up and finish this. Surrender. Or, if you think you can take me, bring it on!"
...
Blog name: ja0-s-blank-canvas-fic
Notes extension: post/628718466696871936/chapter-28-usj-heroes-villains-and-noumu-oh