AN: There's a minor addition to chapter 10 that addresses the customized shoes Izuku wears with his costume. There's really no need to go back and read it though. The only thing that's relevant is that the boots (which look like a streamlined version of his red sneakers,) have the sole removed, allowing direct skin contact to his quirk through the bottoms of his feet. He uses a small layer of quicksteel as a substitute sole when he's not flying.
For whatever reason, I'd forgotten to include that in the original chapter. Izuku isn't running around barefoot, though he probably could.
With that out of the way, enjoy the chapter.
Leave a review or pm if you'd like to discuss my reasoning for the events of this chapter, I'm sure there will be some controversy :s
Chapter 12
Fuck
oooOo Izuku oOooo
Izuku'd had a small taste of the danger heroes faced on a daily basis. The sludge villain from all those months ago had cemented that idea firmly in his mind, relatively early in his hero career.
But as the slender man with severed hands cradling his body stepped out of the swirling darkness with a small army at his back, Izuku had a hunch that this situation may be of an entirely different scale.
They had a warp quirk on their side for crying out loud!
"What's going on?" Kirishima asked, peering down at the swirling darkness. "I thought we were doing rescue training today?"
"Get back!" Aizawa shouted, throwing a hand out to block the redhead from taking another step forward. "This isn't an exercise…" He pulled a pair of slotted goggles up from under his scarf, snapping them into place over bloodshot eyes.
Even having a vague idea of their sensei's abilities, Izuku was still somewhat astonished at the change that overcame the normally lethargic hero. Dark brows furrowed in concentration as the man assessed the threat to his students.
The final villain stepped through the portal, a hulking monstrosity, standing several feet taller than its nearest companions. The contents of its grotesque, avian-like head were open to the elements. Even from the top of the stairs, its fleshy, unnaturally pink brain matter was visible.
The swirling void shimmered, coalescing into a vaguely humanoid shape, though it still writhed around the edges, form shadowy and indistinct.
"Eraserhead, Thirteen, and of course… The Symbol of Peace himself… It seems the information we secured was correct after all, Tomura-kun." The shadowy being's voice was deep and gravelly, though he spoke with an oddly cultured cadence that carried over the distance between the two groups.
The other villain in charge, Tomura if the warp quirk user's words were to be trusted, cracked a bone-chilling grin that was only partially obscured by the severed hand over his face.
"Hehehahahah! It's finally time, Kurogiri!" He turned to where they all stood huddled at the top of the stairs, "Congratulations, children! You're fortunate enough to witness a truly momentous occasion… The death of your beloved Symbol of Peace!"
"W-what?"
"He can't be serious, right?"
"We've been had," Aizawa cursed, his scarf uncoiling ominously.
"The security breach? It makes sense, but to think it had all been an elaborate plot aimed at myself…"
"But sensei!" Yaoyorozu said urgently. "Aren't there intruder sensors? They shouldn't have been able to get in without anyone knowing!"
"To be fair, they could be attacking the main campus as well…" Todoroki mused in his deep tenor. "But if this is an isolated attack, then it's got to be one of their quirks."
"Kaminari," Izuku said to the electric blonde boy. "Does your communicator have a signal?"
He shook his head with a frown after touching a hand to the device covering one ear.
All Might sported more of a grimace than a smile by this point.
"Children, please follow every direction young Thirteen gives you. It seems you'll be the rescued rather than the rescuers today… Eraserhead—"
"Yeah, yeah… I'll keep the fodder off your back…"
"W-wait, wait up a second!" Mineta cried in fear. "You can't just leave us!"
"Didn't you fucking hear him, grape drink? They're doing the opposite," Katsumi hissed. Her eyes narrowed dangerously down onto the plaza.
Izuku knew she wanted to stay and fight, and he couldn't help but feel the same way. Leaving the heroes, no matter who they were, to handle the situation alone left a bitter taste in his mouth. But whether they could hold their own against the villains or not, Izuku knew that their sensei would never let them endanger themselves, not so early into the school year.
But still…
"Eraserhead," Izuku sighed heavily. "I won't insult you by suggesting you couldn't handle these guys by yourself, but you have to know that they wouldn't come this far without a plan..." Izuku turned to All Might. "I'm sure people have tried to kill you before, but with how effective their plan has been up to this point…" He trailed off, letting them follow his train of thought for themselves.
"I understand the sentiment, Midoriya-shonen!" The massive hand that All Might planted on Izuku's shoulder might have shattered the spine of a lesser human. "But have no fear! As you've said yourself, this is not the first time evildoers have come for my head."
All Might paused, glowering down at the amassed army.
"But it is the first time they've endangered my students in the process."
Izuku had the odd urge to laugh despite the situation as several of the villains took a few unsteady steps back. His eyes only shot even wider as Aizawa sensei, though he was acting as Eraserhead in this moment, practically flew down the stairs towards the gathering of villains.
All Might followed, clearing the gap in a single leap, crashing to a stop before the amassed army.
"Come this way, everyone," Thirteen said with a level head. "Stay alert, we don't know if those in the plaza are the only villains here."
Izuku spared one final look, seeing Aizawa fling around the first wave of villains like ragdolls as All Might traded a few words with what looked like the leader.
"Looks like shitty eraser knows what he's doing, huh.."
Izuku turned to see Kacchan at his side, glaring down at their sensei. They may have been uncoordinated thugs, but seeing Aizawa singlehandedly isolate and dismantle the assembled villains by ones and twos with his personal style of martial arts was certainly a sight to see.
But those three villains in the back had Izuku hesitating to flee with his classmates. The hulking indigo-skinned monster in particular had his hair standing on end. The beastly villain stood so still Izuku might have mistaken for a statue were it not so grotesquely intimidating.
"Yoo, Midoriya, Bakugo! Let's go! Aizawa and All Might can handle it!"
Izuku turned to respond, only to narrow his eyes as that same distortion as before tingled his quirk.
"Kirishima! Get back!"
The swirling mass of darkness appeared nearly instantly before them. Two glowing yellow eyes came into being centered over a metallic collar-like chassis. Its form became vaguely humanoid once more.
Izuku noted the speed at which the villain teleported this time. It was so much faster than when he'd transported the army below. Was it because he was only moving himself? Or maybe the distance…
"Greetings," the being said conversationally in that same cultured tone. He loomed over their class and Thirteen ominously, "We are the league of villains. Forgive our audacity but… today, we've come here to UA, this bastion of heroism, to end the life of All Might, the Symbol of Peace."
Katsumi had moved before he could tell her otherwise, blast-jumping to the perfect angle where she could unleash a blazing round-house directly at the being's collar. Kirishima, seeing the girl's assault had followed with a hardened right straight a moment later.
Izuku bit out a curse. There was of course merit in a surprise attack, but he didn't like the chances of being able to damage that intangible body…
Curiously, the villain visibly ducked her kick, with Kirishima's reckless punch passing harmlessly through its torso. That he'd expected, but with the way the villain had purposefully avoided the first blow...
Maybe that collar was more than it seemed.
Izuku coiled a tendril of quicksteel around each of his classmates, attempting to yank them out of harm's way. But it was a fruitless effort as the void opened once more, swallowing the pair, along with a good portion of his quicksteel.
Izuku vaguely heard the shouts of the rest of his classmates as they too were consumed by the void, but his gaze was mostly locked on the villain's first two victims.
It may have been the prospect of fighting without his quirk at full power, or perhaps the defiant terror he'd caught at the last second in Kacchan's eyes. But Izuku wasn't quite ready to part ways just yet.
He leaped forward in the blink of an eye, ignoring the shouts of Thirteen and his classmates, and dove headfirst into the void after her.
oooOo Katumi oOooo
"Fucking warp quirks!" Katsumi cursed.
She unleashed a blistering explosion in a wide arc across the dilapidated rooftop. The wannabe villains scattered before her like the ants they were.
"Yoo! Bakugo-chan! You're totally badass and all, but I'm not fireproof over here!" the redheaded extra whined from where he'd landed after their unplanned travel through space.
"Fuck off, hair-for-brains," she said bitingly.
She really didn't have time to deal with weaklings right now. If this tomato-headed fucker hadn't gotten in her way earlier, she might have had a shot at taking out the villains' only way out of this pathetic assassination attempt.
Kill All Might? What a fucking joke.
Warp quirks by definition posed a regulation nightmare for obvious reasons. Even in a society of quirked individuals, being able to instantly appear at another location was both incredibly rare and immensely practical. It was an ability coveted and feared by various national governments around the world.
But in the hands of a villain organization?
Katsumi ducked a telegraphed swing from one of the more arrogant criminals.
Calling them villains at this point would be an insult to those who actually posed a threat.
His fist, armoured by some sort of bootleg support gauntlet whistled over her head, missing by inches. Katsumi jabbed a clenched fist in his gut, cracking him over the head with an elbow a split second later.
The hooded criminal heaved from the power of her blow, crumpling to the ground a moment later.
She carelessly kicked his drooling body away from her, turning to the group of villains, staring them down like they weren't even worthy of polishing her fucking boots.
"Who's next then?" she grinned, sparking her palms threateningly.
"So manly…"
Katsumi twitched, leveling a glare promising pain at her redheaded classmate. She'd almost forgotten about the last time he'd called her that shit.
Did this idiot have a death wish? Unfortunately, the current situation didn't allow any time for pounding the redhead.
The villains charged as one this time, letting out a collective war cry of jumbled threats.
"Get her! It's just a fucking girl!"
"She can't beat all of us!"
"Raaaah!"
"We'll show you what villains do to kids playin' hero!"
"Time to die, bitch!"
Why did this seem so familiar? Katsumi shook off the strange sense of déjà vu to spare her classmate a glance. It would be a pain to have to look after dead weight in a fight, but he seemed to have pulled himself together, standing ready to help.
As if she needed it.
Even without looking back to the charging villains Katsumi deftly sidestepped the first swing from the lead fighter, skipping out of the way of the powerful scaled tail that lashed out to follow.
Katsumi crouched low, swinging a crushing knee directly into the anthropomorphic alligator's solar plexus. The blow only stunned the thug for a moment, probably due to his mutant quirk granting somewhat thicker skin than most. But it had bought Katsumi enough time to be his undoing, a crackling fist to the face was enough to put him down permanently.
The whistling sound of an object speeding through the air was the only warning to the impending danger.
Katsumi blast jumped to dodge the speeding projectiles, her eyes snapping in mid air to the villain standing at the far end of the rooftop.
A ranged quirk? Or was it simply a support weapon? Either way, the projectiles had left deep gouges in the concrete rooftop. Katsumi couldn't quite pick out what was being fired, but avoiding them would probably be her best bet.
The sneering villain fired off another salvo which Katsumi parried with an explosion of sizable power. It was a bit of a waste of stamina, but until she knew what exactly she was dealing with, it was best to err on side of safety.
Her precaution was rendered unnecessary a moment later when her classmate charged the woman straight out. Katsumi's caustic warning died on her lips as the redhead tanked the next shots with barely a flinch, delivering a powerful haymaker to her head in the next moment.
Shit, maybe hardening wasn't as useless as she'd thought…
Now that the villain taking pot shots at her was taken care of, Katsumi was free to battle the rest unhindered.
Since they'd been deposited in the collapsed zone, the villains surrounding them had been mostly close-ranged fighters with the exception of the one they'd just taken out. Being limited to the rooftop did slightly hamper her mobility, but choosing to fight her in close quarters?
Were they insane?
Three fighters converged on her at once, attempting to catch her off balance as she landed from her dodge. But they didn't have a chance. They might as well have been hitting her with wet noodles for all the damage their blows did to her.
She parried them all the same, expertly weaving around the attacks as they came, finally putting all her experience brawling with Deku to practical use. The thugs barely posed a threat when compared to the nerd, but it wouldn't do to get into bad habits.
Seeing a slight opening in their combined attacks, Katsumi slipped in between the two leading villains before flipping over the shoulders of the third. She latched her legs around the villain's neck in a classic triangle choke before letting off an explosion of only concussive force and minor heat directly to his vulnerable head, knocking him out instantly.
Katsumi rolled away from the collapsing body, skipping away with a feather light step.
The downed villain's two companions attacked with renewed vigour, perhaps in some deluded sense of responsibility. Maybe they were trying to avenge their comrade or something… did villains even have a code of honor?
Katsumi hopped over a leg sweep attempted by the villain on the right, a guy with four arms who seemed to have at least some background in martial arts. He predictably tried to grab her while she was airborne and unable to dodge.
A tetrabrachial fighter going for a grapple… how original…
It might have worked, had she been any ordinary student. However, assuming Katsumi couldn't maneuver in mid air was the height of ignorance. It was where she thrived.
Katsumi tucked her knees towards her chest, curling in tightly before unleashing an explosion-aided sideways donkey kick directly into the villain's exposed chest.
She really hoped that snap she'd heard hadn't been any more than a fractured rib. Even under the threat of a villain attack, accidently killing someone would only bring more trouble down the line. It wouldn't do to become known for excessive violence before she even got her fucking license.
The force of the blast carried her in the opposite direction of the villain she was fighting. But unlike the thug that rolled to crumpled heap, Katsumi vaulted off a single arm, landing lightly on her feet.
She rushed the remaining villain with a running slide tackle. Not the most elegant of takedowns, but it proved particularly effective in grounding the tallest of the villains.
The man's legs seemed to be elongated and constructed of an odd metallic material. Given the proper opportunity to abuse the extra reach, such a simple quirk could pose a threat in a straight up kickboxing match.
But this was hardly a show match, and Katsumi was hardly a fair fighter.
As her sudden attack threw off the taller villain's unstable balance, she quickly leaped up level with the man's shoulders, delivering a staggering axe kick to the crest of his temple.
The villain jolted at the impact, before his eyes rolled to the back of his head and he toppled over backward with a heavy thud.
Katsumi landed lightly on the balls of her feet, primed and ready for more, but after a quick survey of the area, she realized the rest of the villains had actually run the fuck away.
Fucking seriously? If this was the best these idiots could throw at her, then their plan was doomed before it could begin. She paced in agitation, the adrenaline from the fight, as disappointing as it was, still coursed through her veins, her palms still sparking dangerously.
Kirishima gaped at her like a fucking whale shark, as if she wouldn't dispose of the fodder as easily as she had.
The hell did he think she was?
"Uh… Bakugo-chan, that was totally cool, but don'tcha think we should look for the others? If we're still in the USJ then that means they are too. I'm worried about the guys who can't really fight for themselves." He paused, glancing around as if searching for something. "Aren't you worried about Midoriya? Didn't he jump in after us?"
Katsumi continued her pacing, stepping over the bodies of the unconscious villains without a second glance. "Don't need to, he's up there," she said, jerking a thumb up to where she knew Izuku circled overhead.
Kirishima followed the direction of her gesture, gazing up at the nerd as he grew closer to their specific rooftop.
"Shit… you're right, how'd you know he was up there? Wait… on second thought why didn't he come down and help us!" He said, frowning slightly.
"The fuck did you just say two seconds ago, hair-for-brains?"
The redhead paused briefly, eyes widening in realization just as Izuku dropped the last several meters to the roof, landing in a crouch.
Katsumi shoved the idiotic feelings that rose to her chest at the mere sight of the nerd to the wayside, in favor of the more immediate danger their classmates were all in.
"You two alright?" Izuku said without preamble. He eyed the surrounding villains before his gaze settled on Katsumi.
"Fine," she said lowly. "What's going on, nerd?"
He heaved a heavy sigh, "From what I could see up there, the warp quirk user, Kurogiri, I think his name was, sent most of us to different parts of the USJ. Though this place is bloody huge so I couldn't see everyone from just overhead. Were these guys were waiting for you when you dropped out of the portal?"
"Yeah, dude!" the shark-toothed extra cut in. "They totally had us surrounded, but Bakugo took em out like nothing!"
"Of course, I did!" she hissed. "They were weak as shit, and even if they weren't, they were all melee fighters."
"Hmmm, so they planned to split us up ahead of time, but had no knowledge of our own quirks?"
"Looks like it." She bit out.
"Um… Midoriya," Kirishima hedged uncertainly. "You didn't happen to see Thirteen-sensei while you were up there, did you? He's probably got his hands full since we rushed ahead like that."
"—we!?"
"None of this woulda happpeded if we'd just let him suck up that mist dude." Kirishima continued, heedless of her interruption. "As men, we gotta accept responsibility."
Katsumi finally took advantage of the pause in action to settle her beef with the redheaded idiot. "What the fuck will it take to get it through your head, that I. Am not. A man." She said venomously, punctuating each sentence with a harsh jab to his chest.
Familiar corded arms coiled around her waist, instantly calming her ire, not to mention nearly turning her into a puddle of goo.
"Now's not the time, Kacchan," Izuku whispered gently in her ear. "I couldn't see the main plaza from here," he said, turning to the boy she'd nearly forgotten by this point. The smoke from the conflagration zone is blocking my view.
The hardening quirk user visibly deflated at the nonconfimation.
"I wouldn't worry too much about it, Kirishima. Kacchan would have gone for the takedown regardless of if you'd followed or not." Izuku turned to face her, "Anything you can tell me about the warp gate user?"
"I clipped something solid with my kick," she said, recalling the metallic clang her boot had made minutes earlier. "I could get him first try if I got another shot," she growled. The thought of that shitty warp villain getting the drop on her even slightly really pissed her off.
"I'm gonna make sure everyone's alright," Izuku said determinedly. His skyboard hummed with power, the sound strangely comforting to Katsumi for reasons she had no time to ponder.
"I'll come with you!" Kirishima volunteered immediately, but Izuku was already shaking his head.
"You'll only slow me down…" Izuku said, though not unkindly. "You and Kacchan should head towards to the exit and see if you can reconnect with thirteen. I'll send anyone I can find over there so you can all get out together.
Katsumi met Izuku's piercing jade eyes for a single frozen moment before giving into the urge that had been tugging at her since he'd dropped out of the sky.
Heedless of the redhead watching curiously, Katsumi quickly closed the distance between her and Izuku, crushing her lips to his own. She grinned into his mouth as he rolled with her spur of the moment decision, deepening the kiss shortly before breaking off just as abruptly. Katsumi flushed as she was left practically whimpering in need.
"Be safe, Kacchan."
With a gust of wind, he was gone, carried away in a split second by his quirk.
The silence stretched on uncomfortably.
"Not a fucking word, hair for brains…"
"Y-yeah…"
oooOo Toshinori oOooo
All Might had never imagined he'd be fighting evildoers in the very building where his students were meant to save lives. But if there was one lesson he'd learned over his many years of heroing, it was to expect the unexpected.
He should have followed his own advice…
Yagi stared down the unnerving blue-haired young man, beginning to regret the hours he'd spent stopping petty crime that morning. He suppressed a shiver at the sight of the severed hands hanging limply off Tomura's body.
There was only so much experience could prepare you for.
The clashes, clangs and various other sounds of battle echoed over the wide plaza as Shouta fought off the amassed villains, but even from a glance it was apparent that they stood no match against the pro's superior speed and technique. In a less dire situation it would have been a pleasure to observe his colleague's battle prowess in person. It was an opportunity rarely offered to anyone with the way the man operated in the shadows.
But in this situation, it could turn dire in an instant.
"Is it finally time, sensei!?" the man, Tomura, All Might vaguely remembered, spoke out loud, scratching viciously at his neck. A nervous habit from the looks of it, judging by the irritated patches of skin surrounding his collar.
All Might frowned. The title wedged an uncomfortable feeling into his gut, a twinge that was much different that the constant lancing pains of his injury. However, those pains were significantly more immediate, a relentless reminder of how little time he truly had left.
After a surprising a mount of villain attacks that morning, All Might was left with barely enough time to cover this planned afternoon lesson. He doubted he'd even have been able to last the whole period. But, with a stubborn streak to match his strength, All Might had insisted on coming anyway, intending to duck out of class in the last half hour or so.
But now…
He inwardly cursed his inability to ignore a person in need. It was the basis of his career as a hero, but even Yagi had to admit it got him into some sticky situations.
However! Overcoming those situations was what made him who he was, limited to three hours a day or not!
The warp villain from earlier had already swirled away doing who knows what else to his students, but he had to trust their safety to young Thirteen for the time being. They were all pros, and despite the overwhelming need he felt to protect his young proteges, they all had a job to do, and he was well aware of his.
All Might leveled an appropriate glare at the apparent leader of this so-called assassination attempt. "Tomura, is it?" he boomed across the distance between them. "As dire as your actions have been so far, you've yet to actually hurt anyone, young man! It is not too late to cease this pointless violence."
The man let out a sinister chuckle, as if his words were particular comical. "Violence huh?!" His voice rose to a hysterical pitch. "Have a look over there!" he shouted, slashing a hand, his own hand, through the air towards where Aizawa fought his minions. "That looks pretty violent to me, no? This is the cruel world of heroes and villains! The only difference between us is that your violence is government sponsored!"
The villain took off with an inhuman burst of speed. However, it was not Yagi he rushed, but Aizawa while he was occupied with a trio of villains with minor speed quirks. Eraserhead had just managed to subdue them, exploiting a speedster's obvious weakness to being restrained, limiting their boosted mobility.
Tomura had timed the strike at a perfect moment of weakness, right as Erasure wore off and Aizawa was unable to use it for a few seconds. In another situation All Might have been impressed by the boy's deductive ability, breaking down the weakness in his colleague's quirk in seconds.
But this wasn't class, and Tomura was not one of his students. If the villain thought he'd just stand by and let him blindside Aizawa so brazenly, then he truly didn't know who he was challenging.
All Might flashed after the speeding villain, appearing before him in the blink of an eye. He reached out a single massive hand, ready to knock out the boy as humanely as possible. A simple super-powered chop the back of the neck should have been enough.
He felt his shadowed eyes widen slightly as Tomura fluidly ducked around his attack.
What impressive agility! And from what he could tell, there was no overt application of a quirk. What a waste of obvious talent… All Might tracked the boy's movement through the air, adjusting for this new show of speed. How unfortunate that the boy would likely be locked away for life after this day, never to display such talent to the world again.
All Might swung a massive arm toward the dodging villain with a bit more applied speed than before, feeling the impact a moment later. Tomura was sent rocketing to the ground, spread eagle and back flattened against the unforgiving dirt. All Might quickly pinned the wheezing young man, primed to respond to any indication that he would make another threatening move.
"So t…this is your 'overwhelming strength,' Symbol of Peace..." Tomura coughed thickly, though the malice still bled through his labored breaths. "I hate pro heroes. Ordinary villains simply don't stand a chance."
Malevolent crimson eyes peeked through scruffy bangs and grotesque hanging fingers causing that same unnerving sensation to return. "But you miscalculated," Tomura grinned up at him. "I'm not the final boss!"
A hulking black mass blurred past where All Might had Tomura pinned, moving with a speed something of that size shouldn't be capable of. His head snapped to watch, unable to respond in time as the demonic being collided with an unsuspecting Aizawa and sent him hurling into the wall of the central fountain. The underground hero's frame crashed into the wall; elegant concrete engravings pulverized from the force of impact. Jagged cracks expanded from the location, leaking trickles of water onto the shattered tiles of the plaza floor.
A lance of fear shot through Yagi's chest to join the more visceral side effects of his injury. Arms… weren't meant to bend that way.
However, his attention was once again drawn to the young man before him, only this time by an agonizing burning sensation. Tomura had snaked a single splayed hand to just barely brush the now-exposed skin of his lower thigh. The thin material of his hero suit had been disintegrated in an instant, his skin following soon after.
All Might leaped away from whatever was rendering his skin to dust, righteous fury coursing through his veins. His brief moment of leniency had possibly cost Aizawa several broken bones if not more. It was an oversight he went to immediately correct.
The dark abomination stalked after Shouta, swinging another massive fist overhead, mercilessly eager to see if there were any bones left unbroken. The guillotine of a blow crunched redundantly into Aizawa's downed figure, but the monster clearly hadn't had enough, swinging back another arm to finish the job.
A burst of One for All, and All Might rocketed across the plaza
Fortunately, he crashed into the muscular villain in time to prevent any hits as devastating as the first, but Aizawa was still in a less than stellar condition. He sat hunched against the stone wall of the fountain, battered, bleeding and incapable of moving. Unconsciousness might have been a blessing at this point.
All Might stood locked fist to mighty fist with the villain who, by some terrifying means had come upon a strength that rivaled his own. His muscles bulged as he actually struggled to overpower the monstrous being. All Might suppressed a hacking cough, feeling the familiar pangs that indicated overuse of his quirk, but soldiered on. Now was hardly the time to succumb to such a weakness. Not while his friend's lives were on the line.
Not while his students were counting on him.
He gently, ever so gently drew from the shrinking well of power that was One for All. Even having yet to choose a successor, his body's capacity to handle the power was gradually dwindling. By this point his quirk was probably the only thing keeping his body functioning in the first place, but he couldn't afford to hold back here.
All Might reared back a single trunk-like arm, the familiar power writhing merrily beneath the surface of his skin. All Might clenched his butt, torqued his core and back, and yelled with all his Might!
"TEXAAASSSS SMAAAASH!"
He swung a devastating fist directly into the abomination's stomach, bracing himself for the expected kickback.
But… it never came…
The attack had connected; he was sure of it! But other than a slight grunt at the impact, the monster gave no indication that he had been hit! It was almost if Yagi's strength had no effect!
The monster swung an inky black fist into his crippling injury with an uncanny accuracy, immediately earning a grimace of pain and lung wracking cough for its efforts.
Did this monstrosity know of his weakness? That attack was no accident… but how?
All Might leaped away to reassess the situation, being sure to remain between the crumpled form of Eraserhead and the hulking villain.
"Heheheheheahah! Surprised, All Might?" Tomura laughed hysterically as he shakily regained his footing. "I'd like to introduce you to Nomu, the Anti Symbol of Peace! His shock absorption can stand up to even your absurd strength!"
The beast charged with that same inhuman speed, pursuing All Might with an almost animalistic fury.
All Might met the charge head on, shouldering the blow before letting loose another powerful hook with his left, following up with an uppercut to the beast's jaw.
Nothing.
Even the shock directly to the skull, a force that would even knock out some of the tougher villains he'd faced in his time, was shaken off with barely a flinch. The beast latched its arms around his torso in a steely grip, filling his nostrils with the cloying scent of rot and something else that reminded him of hospitals. All Might thrashed fruitlessly before Nomu turned, flinging him clear across the plaza.
All Might tumbled through the dirt, coming to a crashing halt against the sloping dome of the storm zone.
He'd admit that one actually hurt a bit.
All Might visibly struggled to his feet, thankful that none of his students were here to see him in such a sorry state. He paused to cough painfully into a fist, wiping away the expected stain of scarlet without a thought.
Nomu, huh? All Might peered with narrowed eyes at the monstrous villain, noting the gaping, beaklike maw lined with rows of jagged teeth, and its brain matter so obviously displayed for the for the world's viewing pleasure.
Its eyes were bulging and vacant, and All Might really couldn't see any sort of consciousness behind them. It was like some twisted science experiment gone wrong, and by this point he was debating with himself whether the beast was even human. As monstrous as some quirks made people appear, at the end of the day there was always the underlying thread of humanity.
But this abomination lacked even that.
Where did he even come from?
No, that was irrelevant for the moment, he only needed to figure out how to stop it.
He could wail into a shock-absorber all he wanted, but it wouldn't do anything besides kick up a lot of dust. It wasn't the first time he'd come across such a quirk before.
If that's how they wanted to play it, then let's see how it dealt with something a bit more creative!
All Might appeared behind the hulking monster in a burst of speed and latched his arms around its massive torso. If he couldn't beat it straight out, then burying it six feet under, in the most literal sense of the phrase, would probably be the next best thing!
With a mighty heave, All Might swung the gargantuan villain in a pendulous arc over his shoulder.
And directly into a swirling vortex of darkness.
oooOo Izuku oOooo
The closest zone to the one he'd been deposited in was the landslide simulation, and logically the first he flew to look over after leaving Kacchan and Kirishima.
He needn't have bothered.
All that was left of the once-earthy landslide zone was a frozen wasteland. The frosty blue-white hills sloped on for hundreds of meters, all clearly originating from a single point in the center of the mock-village.
As Izuku descended, crystalized statues adorning the landscape came into view, though on closer inspection he realized they were actually people encased in that same jagged ice, their heads left uncovered, presumably so they wouldn't suffocate.
Was this… Todoroki's work?
Izuku knew of the boy's quirk of course. But seeing the sheer scale of the destruction he could unleash with only his right side was humbling.
Izuku landed in a crouch, quicksteel revolving around his head, primed and ready to react to any sudden movements by the frozen villains. But they made no indication of aggression.
In fact, those closest to where he'd touched down appeared downright terrified at his appearance.
"H-hey man! We d-don't w-ant any trouble!" the closest of them shivered.
"Y-y-yeah! We g-give up! This was a a dumb idea anyway! Who the hell tries to take out All Might?!"
Shit, whatever Todoroki had done had put the fear of god into these guys… Though being frozen alive probably wasn't the most pleasant way to go.
Izuku willed a portion of quicksteel into a floating blade, leaving it humming against the man's jugular. "The boy that was here earlier, what happened to him!?"
"Woah woah woah, man! We said we give up, alright! What is it with you overpowered UA kids!?"
The quicksteel blade inched closer.
"He took off towards the plaza maybe two minutes ago! I swear!"
Izuku let the blade converge back into the main mass of his quirk.
"Appreciate the info," he grinned. "If you guys just chill here, I'm sure the police will find you eventually."
Their responding groans may have not had anything to do with the ice…
Izuku took to the sky once more.
So, Todoroki was already on his way to the plaza huh? He squinted through the windshear, actually having to look up at the next closest zone.
The true scale of the USJ complex was really put into perspective considering they'd managed to fit a miniature mountain range indoors… The massive simulation area sprawled all the way to the ceiling of the USJ, sloping back to level ground the closer one traveled towards the plaza.
But Izuku needed to go up.
The earthy hills of the landslide zone slowly became more rocky and jagged as Izuku wove through the increasingly larger cliffs.
It was as he slipped over a final ridge that a group of people came into view. Izuku dove, slicing towards the ground at a blistering pace, but as the figures grew larger, he came to realize that his classmates had once again proven their competence, dealing with the villains in the time it had taken him to reach them.
"Midoriya-san? What are you doing here?" Yaoyorozu said from her place under some sort of … blanket? Now that he had a closer look, it seemed Jiro was under there with her too.
Was she… naked? What the hell had gone down over here….
"Wheyyyy!"
"Pfftt Ahahahah!"
"Jiro-san this is hardly the time…"
Izuku blinked, waiting for his brain to reboot.
"Alright, someone's gonna have to fill me in. And Yaoyorozu… could you… put some clothes on? Please." Izuku said averting his eyes.
"Oh!" she gasped, flushing and pulling the cloth around her tightly. A fluorescent blue glow was visible briefly underneath before she removed the covering revealing her entire hero outfit, good as new.
"Handy," he commented frankly. Though to be fair, Momo's hero costume was hardly any less distracting. He may be firmly committed to Kacchan, but he'd have to be blind to not notice how beautiful some of the girls in his class were. Yaoyorozu in particular was quite the developed woman, and the scarlet leotard certainly didn't hurt her appeal.
Izuku smirked at the betrayed look Jiro shot him... It seems she was quite enjoying herself under there, but time was of the essence.
"I'm glad you guys are okay, well… actually, are you okay?" He said, eyeing Kaminari in particular as he roamed the rocky ground, shooting double thumbs up in random directions.
"He's fpfft-fine!" Jiro said, barely containing her snickers as the blonde let out another—
"Wheyyy!"
"He goes all loopy when he lets loose with his quirk, though now that I think about it, he never said how long this would last," she continued, fighting through her snickers.
Izuku nodded thoughtfully. "I can probably get to all the zones faster than most, so I'm just checking up on everyone I can find. I'd offer you a lift out, but I don't think I can take three…"
"It would probably be in out best interests for us three to stay together rather than risk slowing you down." Momo said, some of her embarrassment dying down. "As you can see, we are no longer in danger. Besides, it seems Kaminari-san will need a supervisor for the near future."
"Sounds good," Izuku said hopping onto his quicksteel and hovering at eye level. "I'll send anyone else I find to the entrance; we can meet up there. Hopefully the warp villain will be distracted enough to get out, but if not, we can figure it out then.
Both girls stood curiously wide-eyed, but a moment later it clicked. Momo had never seen him fly before, and Jiro had probably only seen it through a monitor.
Izuku didn't really put any stock in the way Katsumi had raved about how cool his quirk was in private, thinking it may have been her narcissism bleeding into her opinion of him. But judging from the girls' reactions, it may have had some merit to it.
"Stay safe!" he shouted, zipping off.
Any other time and Izuku would have been having the time of his life surfing through a fucking canyon, but now, speed was all the mattered. He leaned forward, near- horizontal over his board as he carved a path down the mountainside and straight into the smoky skyline of the conflagration zone.
If he didn't know any better, Izuku would have really believed a small town was suffering a major catastrophe below him. Pitch black smoke billowed out from the smoldering remains of unidentifiable structures. Some areas of the mock city were still visibly on fire, but everywhere he looked, destruction was the only constant.
Smoked clogged his lungs and brought stinging tears to his scrunched eyes.
He was practically riding blind by this point, but just as he was about abort any search for his classmates, at least in this zone, he came across the knocked-out bodies of several thuggish looking individuals. They all either wore filtration masks or possessed quirks that would allow them to survive in the noxious fumes of the surrounding fire. All except one, whose mask seemed to have been hastily removed, knocking his goggles askew.
Izuku quickly peered around as best he could through the hazy air, but relaxed a bit seeing none of his classmates among the fallen. It seemed that one of them had been there, but like the rest, had taken care of themselves.
Pride in his classmates swelled in his chest, along with an increasingly urgent need for clean air.
It was time to move on.
Izuku hastily surged through the billowing smoke, cutting his own slipstream with his speed until he finally exited the allocated area for the conflagration zone.
Incredibly, the air quality immediately improved. How the engineers that worked on the USJ had managed that, Izuku wasn't sure, but he had to give them props for authenticity. The burning in his lungs was certainly no illusion.
Izuku surged through the air into the next zone, the overwhelming abundance of blue that suddenly filled his vision almost as startling as the lack of smoke. This was apparently what UA's engineers had come up with for the flood zone.
But wasn't this going a bit overboard?! There was a difference between 'flood' and 'no land in the first place.'
A piercing wail echoed over the expanse of water just as Izuku zeroed in on the only spec of movement in the otherwise calm lake. A massive yacht floated around the center of the lake, though 'floated' was being a bit generous.
The ominous crack that bisected the hull of the ship probably meant the vessel had mere minutes of buoyancy left in it.
Izuku's eyes flew open at the sight of Tsu and Mineta stranded on the boat, surrounded by perhaps the largest gathering of villains he'd seen that day, disregarding the group amassed at the entrance of course.
They all clearly shared some sort of aquatic-themed ability, following the trend of all the previous zones. This aspect of the villains' plan clearly wasn't very polished. He'd already known that the groups of villains arranged throughout the USJ were selected based on their quirks, but now that he'd been to nearly every zone it was clear they'd given zero thought to even the size of their groups.
He swooped down, coming to a stop in front of his two classmates. "Need a lift?"
"Midoriyaaaa!" Mineta wailed, his eyes bulging out of his skull.
"Nice timing, kero." Tsuyu said with a composure that contradicted her situation.
"I can carry you if you can't balance well, but—"
"Yes, please."
"Oh, I get it!" Mineta burst out. "I try to cop a little feel as my dying wish and I get flattened, but Midoriya over here just flexes stupid muscles and you just… arrghh!" he trailed off
Izuku wasn't quite sure what to make of the sudden outburst. "Uh… so shall we go?"
"Yeah, sure, whatever." The diminutive boy sighed despondently.
Tsuyu hopped onto his skyboard which he widened appropriately, but the girl made almost zero use of the extra space, clinging tightly to his torso.
Izuku did he his best to ignore the way the frog-girl's curves pressed up against his body as he scooped up a still pouting Mineta, and and zipped off towards the closest bank.
The villains below almost immediately responded to the attempted escape.
A giant blade of rushing water sliced through his escape route, the slow-moving projectile proving more trouble than it normally would, burdened as he was by two extra bodies. He halted his escape, letting the attack fly past the nose of his board.
How unfortunate that such a powerful hydrokinesis quirk was being abused by a villain.
Izuku ducked the barrage of water bullets the villain fired after his first attack, materializing a shield of quicksteel to block what he couldn't avoid. Even hindered as he was, the superior maneuverability of his flight allowed them to escape with only minor scratches.
He slowed to a halt at the edge of the flood zone, turning to see if they'd been pursued. But once he and his fellow classmates had escaped past a certain distance, the villains had abandoned their chase.
Perhaps they'd been given specific instructions to remain in their area? Either way, they were safe for the moment
It seems that luck was on their side as Tokoyami and Kouda came dashing out of the Downpour zone, soaked, scraped and bruised to hell, but otherwise uninjured.
"Midoriya," Tokoyami called gravely. "I'm gladdened that you are unharmed, though I cannot say it comes as a surprise."
"Same to you," Izuku said, coming to a stop in front of the pair. He let down Mineta and Tsuyu, though the latter parted somewhat hesitantly. "You guys should take a longer way around to the entrance."
"You say that like you aren't coming with us, Midoriya-kun." Tsuyu fixed him with a stare.
"I've haven't run into Hagakure, Aoyama, or Ojiro yet. And I can stay out of reach if things get hairy." Izuku's eyes snapped to the sounds of destruction coming with increasing frequency from the main plaza. "Plus, something really doesn't feel right about this." He stared down at his classmates, steadfast in a time of danger.
"I can't say leaving you behind feels correct either, Midoriya," Tokoyami said regretfully. "But you're not wrong that of all of us, you'd have the best chance of remaining unharmed."
"Be careful, gero."
Koda nodded wordlessly, but still managed to convey his support.
Izuku took off towards the plaza without another word, covering ground as fast as possible.
The fountain soon came into view the once massive army of villains scattered about haphazardly.
However, it was as Izuku's eyes came to rest on the unmoving form of Aizawa crumpled against the rocky ledge of the fountain that the true scope of their situation became apparent.
Izuku's stomach leaped to his throat as he took in the sight of All Might himself in possibly one of the most precarious situations, he'd ever faced. Though only the man himself could possibly know that for sure.
All Might was stuck bowed nearly in half, having attempted some kind of wrestling toss on the hulking beast from earlier. But Kurogiri's warp gate had once again proven how troubling such a power could be in the wrong hands.
He'd opened two adjacent portals to give the monster a torturous angle of attack on the Symbol of Peace. The monster had already latched its powerful arms around the hero's torso, its cruel, beak-like maw stretched into a grin as it dragged All Might into the depths of the void.
Izuku could pick out a familiar scarlet color seeping through the material of All Might's costume.
To think that the beast could make All Might bleed. Just how powerful was this thing!?
Izuku tucked low to his board, squeezing out as much speed as he could as he raced to his sensei's rescue.
It seemed he wasn't the only one, however, as a frosty trail of ice raced towards where All Might had been restrained. The jagged shards of ice rapidly encased both halves of the monster though the frost deliberate avoided touching the symbol of peace.
Izuku seamlessly hopped off his board while molding it straight into a coating over his forearms.
"Midoriya-shonen! You should not be here! I-aghkkk!" The man hacked violently, a spray of crimson speckling the ice below.
That couldn't be good.
All Might had clearly seen better days… he was giving off so much heat he practically steamed. The sight was not particular encouraging to Izuku, All Might may be even more injured than he'd first thought.
"You're hardly in any condition to be picky, sensei!" Izuku shouted. He did his best not to cringe away from the gaping maw of the villain. Even crystalized into a frozen statue, the thing was terrifying, unnatural in a way Izuku had never seen or felt before.
Izuku molded a narrow blade of quicksteel, slashing across the tendons of the monster's wrists, flinching away from the spray of inhumanly dark ichor that spurted from the cut.
"You don't understand, young—
"You can scold me later!" With a great heave, Izuku tore All Might from the monster's weakened grip propping him over his shoulder in a single, fluid motion. He winced at the grimace that contorted the hero's face as he let out more heaving coughs with alarming frequency.
What kind of damage had the man taken to leave him in such a condition?
Had the monster really done all this to him?
Izuku leaped away, grunting slightly at the massive weight of the number one hero, but otherwise able to lift him out of the way.
Another portal swirled into existence before him, the owner of the quirk materializing a moment later.
"Quite admirable, young hero, but do you really think we'd just let you waltz away with the guest of honor?"
"You don't got a fucking choice!"
BOOM!
Katsumi burst onto the scene with impeccable timing, flanking the warp villain with an explosive haymaker.
Having adjusted her aim from her previous attempt, the blow struck true, rattling Kurogiri's metallic collar with the impact. Katsumi let the momentum of her swing carry her fully over the warp villain's clearly tangible body, pinning him to the floor with a palm full of fire.
"I fucking knew it, ya' bastard! You actually tried to dodge before, right?!" Katsumi growled viciously. Her hand crackled threateningly at the slightest movement. "If we couldn't hit you at all, you wouldn't have bothered. All that fog's just a cheap trick to hide your weak spot, hah?"
"I thought we agreed to meet at the entrance, Kacchan?"
"Same to you, nerd," she said, not taking her eyes off her captive. "Just couldn't keep your nose out of things, huh?"
"I couldn't help myself," he grinned, propping All Might up against the main fountain, just a few meters away from where Aizawa lay unconscious. "Is Kirishima ok?"
"I left shitty hair with the rest of the extras," she said, grinding the villain's body brutally into the concrete as he flinched slightly.
Izuku grinned. "Guess you couldn't keep your nose out either…"
"Somebody had to save your ass."
"Is this really the time?" Todoroki said, strolling over to where they stood with their backs to the fountain. He held a casual air, but the razor focus was obvious in the glare he leveled at the remaining villain. Frost ghosted from his breath, an indication that he'd recently used his quirk, not that Izuku needed any more evidence than the frozen villain towering over the rest of them.
Tomura's distinct wheezy drawl silenced them all. "Not only have you disabled our transport, but you're all at full health! Kurogiri, you just had to go and get caught by the other team…"
He stood much to casually for the situation he was in. Even with All Might's mysterious ailment, the villain still stood alone, all major pieces in his twisted chess match put out of commission for the time being.
So why was he so calm?
A hysterical giggle slowly bubbled out of Tomura's throat. "Today's kids really are something… Our league of villains should be ashamed!"
"This guy's unhinged…" Izuku said lightly.
"Don't fucking move," Katsumi hissed at the warp villain. "One twitch and I'll blow you to fucking hell!"
"Nomu, kill the explosive brat. We need our escape route back."
The shattering of ice could be heard all throughout the plaza, as the beastly villain, Nomu, tore itself out of its frigid prison. The monster thrashed about, heedless of how frostbitten flesh crumbled away from its torso, falling to the ground with hiss.
A few horrifying seconds later and Nomu stood before them, the majority of its right arm and leg missing completely.
Until it started to heal.
Writhing tendrils of muscle and skin knitted itself together at a blistering pace.
The whole process really was grotesquely fascinating. Izuku'd never even heard of a regenerative quirk so powerful, and if the thing was strong enough to go toe to toe with All Might of all heroes… What exactly was this thing?
"What's this!? I thought his quirk was shock absorption?" All Might gasped, confirming Izuku's earlier fears. The Symbol of Peace struggled to regain his footing, burdened by wounds that clearly surpassed the cuts and bruises that were visible on the surface.
"I don't remember saying that's all he can do!" Tomura giggled. "This is Hyper Regeneration. Nomu is a living sandbag bioengineered to withstand everything you throw at it!"
Honestly, Izuku was more alarmed by its speed.
Nomu rocketed towards Katsumi in a vicious charge, steadfastly following its master's homicidal command.
All Might lurched by his side as if moving to block the blow, but was overcome by another round of coughs, falling to one knee.
Luckily, Izuku had instinctively moved to protect her as well, barely appearing in time to tank the blow with a quicksteel coated cross guard.
The impact rattled his frame, and for a moment Izuku thought he might have lost consciousness.
He was launched halfway across the plaza, barely keeping upright as he skidded to a halt with a gasp of air. His ears rung from the impact, and Izuku could have sworn his forearm was smoking slightly… It certainly felt like it was on fire.
"Hoh?" Tomura growled dangerously. "That's the Anti-Symbol-of-Peace there, kid… What kinda powerups are they giving these UA brats!?"
Todoroki sent another massive wave of ice racing after Nomu as it came to a stop, but it was no longer locked in place by a warp gate, leaving it free to dodge away with an earthshaking leap. Nomu landed in a crouch, leveling a single, bulging eye on Izuku, clearly frustrated at being denied its kill.
The beast lunged, closing the distance between them in the blink of an eye, but luckily, he was prepared this time.
Izuku slipped through the grasping arms of the massive villain, abusing the slight advantage he may have had in agility.
But even that slight advantage hardly guaranteed his safety.
Each thunderous swing from the monster could potentially end him in a moment, and even with a coating of quicksteel, its glancing blows had Izuku's bones creaking under the impact.
So instead, Izuku weaved through the swipes, redirecting, rather than blocking completely, and lashed out with quicksteel-enhanced strikes in the brief opportunity between attacks.
Nomu was largely unaffected, but after seeing the beast regrow limbs in seconds, that wasn't exactly surprising.
Izuku darted away, trying to buy as much time as possible for All Might to recover from whatever was currently ailing him.
Nomu blitzed after him like an indigo demon.
He slid to a stop, squaring his stance and facing the charging villain, resolution glinting in his eye. He couldn't keep this up, not against this being of seemingly limitless strength and stamina. If even punches from All Might couldn't make it flinch, then attempting the same would only be a waste of time.
The key had to be suppression. All Might may have been interrupted in his first attempt at restraining the beast, but the hero's logic was perfectly sound.
The majority of Izuku's Quicksteel seeped off his arms to form a metallic shield, a clear invitation for Nomu to test its strength. But as the rampaging beast slammed into the quicksteel dome with a bone-chilling roar, it was not the sturdy surface it expected, but a pliable, sludge-like consistency.
Izuku ducked out of the way as Nomu sank into his quicksteel, latching tendrils of the material around the beast and solidifying them a moment later. The Nomu's powerful body bulged as it tried to muscle its way of newly formed metallic cage. Izuku hung on for dear life, the stress from restraining such an overwhelming power with quicksteel making itself known with a splitting headache.
"Todoroki, can you freeze it again?!" he shouted.
Nomu, as if vaguely understanding his shout, bucked like a raging bull in attempt to dislodge its captor, but barring the throbbing pain in his head, it looked like his quicksteel would hold strong for the moment.
"Deku! watch o—"
"As if I'd let you…"
A vicelike grip latched onto Izuku's left forearm, instantly disintegrating the thin layer of quicksteel that remained .
The flesh of his wrist followed shortly after.
"AAAaaaaaaaaaagghhh!" the scream tore from his lips unconsciously, echoing across the plaza.
It was like someone had poured lava over his wrist such was the blinding, blistering, all-consuming agony that engulfed his arm.
Tomura had apparently avoided attention in the chaos of the skirmish, hiding his presence until the perfect moment.
The villain'd slipped into his blind spot the minute Izuku focused all his attention on restraining Nomu, locking himself in place. And now…
The flesh of his wrist crumbled.
It hurt.
He'd never felt so absolutely debilitated by an injury before, and it wouldn't stop.
Izuku's eyes snapped to Tomura's other hand as it loomed towards his exposed neck, retaining enough awareness to lurch away from his grasping fingers.
The motion sent another spike of agony lancing up his arm, breaking the last of his conscious control over quicksteel. Nomu thrashed out of his weakened prison.
Todoroki's ice had reached their position, beginning to encase Nomu's monsterous feet, but Izuku knew it was too late.
In a moment that seemed to stretch on endlessly, Izuku met a single, scarlet eye peeking through the digits of Tomura's disturbing face mask.
…
Would his hand join the many that adorned the villain's body?
…
The searing agony of his flesh disintegrating snapped him back to reality.
The Nomu turned, its beak-like jaws drooling viciously, as jagged shards of ice lanced mercilessly through its legs.
It wasn't enough.
Nomu swung a massive fist, swatting away the annoyance that had dared try to capture it. Izuku mustered a halfhearted block with his right arm, but he might as well have guarded with a piece of paper for all the good it did.
All the force that he'd been negating with his quicksteel was unleashed on his unprotected body, pulverizing the bones of his arm and sending him hurdling through the air. Izuku skipped over the tiles of the plaza floor, coming rolling to a halt in a cloud of dust.
Tomura hadn't let go…
A desperate cry that wasn't his own echoed in Izuku's failing senses.
His vision blurred as an iconic muscular silhouette slowly paced into view, spidery cracks branching out along the ground from each pendulous step.
Izuku's world went black.