Shigaraki stopped.

That's right, he stopped.

The relief he felt at that moment was indescribable. The fact he actually had a moment to process what was about to happen gave him immense relief.

It also gave him and his classmates a moment to react.

But during that moment, all Izuku could do was watch as Shigaraki pulled back slightly and looked over his shoulder. "You really are so cool, Eraserhead."

Izuku caught a glimpse of what was happening behind Shigaraki. Mr. Aizawa was looking at Shigaraki, with his hair raised.

The Nomu obviously didn't like this, and next thing he knew, Mr, Aizawa's face was being slammed into the concrete once again.

This got Izuku to move and he moved backwards, away from the hand that was still much too close to his face for him to feel comfortable. Shigaraki turned back to him now that Mr. Aizawa was out of the way, and saw Izuku moving away.

His head tilted sideways. "Aw, what's wrong Izu? Afraid to get hurt?" He said with way too much glee.

Izuku barely noticed the use of Shigaraki's nickname for him, too focused on trying to not die. It was very difficult. Especially when he was in water and practically collapsing for exhaustion.

He leaned closer and whispered so that only Izuku could hear, "You should be more afraid for your classmates. We can't have witnesses, now can we?"

Fear froze his movements and his mind blanked. He barely comprehended how Shigaraki's arm was now moving towards his face again, or how Asui was trying to wrap her tongue around his waist to pull him away from his demise.

The hand stopped once again, but this time, it was Kurogiri who stopped him. The warp gate placed his hand on Shigaraki's shoulder, which he did not like, to stop him from reaching Izuku. "Shigaraki, you-"

Whatever Kurogiri was about to say was forgotten as an explosion rocked the ground. They all turned to see the entrance completely destroyed. Dust and smoke partially concealed who caused it, but they all recognized the huge figure emerging.

All Might has arrived.

The smoke cleared and Izuku noticed something: All Might wasn't smiling. It was more a grimace than anything else.

"Have no fear students." He faintly heard him say. "I am here."

Mineta burst into tears for the umpteenth time, "We're saved!"

"Ribbit." Asui said around her tongue, which was now holding Izuku around the waist. During the distraction, she had pulled him out of Shigaraki's reach.

Izuku's expression contorted into one of horror. "He's here," he said shakily, "All Might."

No.

All Might took no heed of the precarious situation they were in at the moment, and just tossed his yellow and black striped jacket to the side.

"Ah," Shigaraki said, ignoring Izuku, "Looks like our game is getting a continue."

...The gaming references were starting to creep him out. Then again, it was Shigaraki they were talking about, so it should really be expected at this point.

Izuku took notice of how some of the recruited villains got cold feet. They started talking to each other as they stared at the Symbol of Peace.

"Holy crap, it's All Might. I've never seen the guy in person before," one of them said.

"I didn't expect him to be so huge."

One of the villains scoffed, "This is no time to talk, you idiots!" He turned to look at them, "If we strike now, we can kill hi-" He was sent flying backwards.

The reason soon became apparent when Izuku saw All Might pop up out of thin air holding Mr. Aizawa. The injured teacher lay cradled in All Might's arms, barely even breathing.

All the other villains were now scattered across the plaza, and none of them seemed to be getting back up anytime soon.

All Might turned to them, and Izuku barely had a moment to see his eyes flash blue before he was being carried away. The wind whipped past them as they gained distance between the three remaining villains. It seemed even Shigaraki hadn't been prepared for All Might's attack, as he was currently bent over with his arms wrapped around his stomach.

The hand that was supposed to be on his face was now laying on the ground.

Izuku suddenly felt ground underneath his feet, and looked around to see All Might crouched next to Mr. Aizawa's unconscious body.

"Wh-what the heck?" He heard Mineta say. He felt like that was an accurate description for what just happened. Izuku has been about to get murdered when all of a sudden he was being carried away by the greatest hero of all time.

"Everybody back to the entrance," All Might said, "and take Aizawa with you. He doesn't have much time." With that, he stood back up to leave them.

His classmates quickly responded with a "Yes sir!" and "Ribbit." But Izuku just stared at All Might. Izuku knew more about these people and the Nomu than anyone else. He may be working for the bad guys, no how much he wished he wasn't, but he by no means wanted the Symbol of Peace to die. Unlike the people standing in front of them.

He had to do something. To say something. It's the least he can do.

"You saved us All Might." That's what he said first. The disbelief must be prominent to the hero. It's not like he was trying to hide it.

The other two classmates of his were working on picking their injured teacher up, and Izuku moved to help them. He didn't want to just do nothing to help his teacher when he was partially responsible. Sliding his arms and head into his shoulders, Izuku paused to look up to where All Might was still standing.

Izuku took a deep breath, "All Might, you can't! That No-" he caught himself, "That brain villain was sent here to kill you. It probably has some way to defeat you. It's too strong-!"

"Young Midoriya!" All Might three out a hand and at him, "I got this." He made a peace sign.

...Really? A peace sign?

Well, no, that actually kind of made sense. He was the Symbol of Peace, after all.

Izuku pulled himself out of his thoughts and looked back down to Mr. Aizawa's limo doby. Mr. Aizawa needed medical attention, and soon. Otherwise...

He didn't think about the otherwise. It wasn't going to happen. He would make sure of that. But in order to do that, he would have to leave All Might to face the villains alone.

Izuku made up his mind, and turned his head back to All Might. He gave him a quick nod, and then turned with Asui and Mineta to start walking back to the entrance.

Glancing back over his shoulder, he saw All Might cross his arms in front of him. "Carolina SMASH!"

Shot forward like a bullet, and the explosion that followed was by no means small.

It was at that time that Izuku nearly tripped on a rock, and barely avoided sending them all tumbling to the ground. He turned his attention back forward and just prayed that All Might would find some way to defeat them. Who knows, maybe if Shigaraki and Kurogiri were apprehended, Izuku could finally escape the League of Villains.

But that was a long shot. He had heard of the Nomu. It has been a long process, but apparently Sensei found a way to push multiple quirks into other people. This was of course was accomplished with the help of the Doctor.

The Doctor was Sensei's own mad scientist. Izuku had never actually met him, but he was okay with that. From what he had heard from the few recruits that were forced to meet him, it was not a pleasant experience.

"Hey, Midoriya." Izuku suddenly remembered that other people were present.

He looked at Asui, "Yeah?"

She was frowning. "How do you know that hand guy?"

Izuku's blood ran cold. "What?"

"That hand villain." She said. Her gaze turned from curious to distrust at his response. "He called you 'Izu'."

Oh shit. He did, didn't he?

He racked his brain for an explanation. "I-I, uh, ran into him once! Yeah!" He said.

Like that's going to convince her, he thought.

She just looked more suspicious, which was totally understandable considering his answer. "But why call you Izu? Ribbit."

He... didn't have an answer for that. Other than telling the truth, there was nothing believable that he could say. And he couldn't do that, or else they would know.

But what if they didn't?

Izuku paused at that thought. During this whole ordeal, he had been panicking and freaking out, which is to be expected. Nobody would question it if his heart rate increased in the middle of an attack.

Now was his chance to tell someone. But should he risk it? Who knows what they would do with the information, and they weren't even among his most trusted group of people.

"Midoriya," he flinched at her tone, "I can tell something is going on." His gaze lowered, "But I can also tell that you're a good person. Whatever it is that's happening, you can tell us."

Izuku hesitated. He opened his mouth to respond, "I-"

BOOM!

All three of of them turned around as fast as they could. The ground was still trembling, but they ignored it in favor of seeing what caused it.

The smoke made it impossible to see what was going on, so they were left to come up with their own conclusions. None of this was helping calm Asui and Mineta, and he could see they were clinging on to what hope they still had. Izuku wasn't fairing much better himself, considering the circumstances.

Asui turned back to him while they were waiting for the smoke to clear. It was obvious she wanted an answer to her question. "Well?"

He looked away, he couldn't tell her while looking her in the eye that he had deceived all of them this entire time. "I... I've been working undercover for the League of Villains. I know that sounds bad," he added once he saw their expressions, "but I didn't have any other choice. They-"

"Guys look!"

Asui and Izuku were both pulled out of the intense confession. He was both annoyed and relieved by Mineta's interruption.

Mineta was pointing to the area which had been full of smoke just a couple of minutes before. It was now mostly clear, and Izuku was free to taking in the bone chilling sight of All Might.

He was in a suplex, obviously meant to bury the Nomu into the concrete so that it couldn't move. But Kurogiri had opened up a warp gate where the Nomu was supposed to land, causing All Might to be stuck underneath the Nomu while it's head popped up near his side.

The Nomu reaches up and grabbed into All Might's side. It bleed heavily, which surprised Izuku. He hadn't known that All Might could be so vulnerable.

Nonetheless, Izuku felt an erge enter his bones, one that wouldn't leave no matter how hard he shook himself. He just couldn't leave All Might like that. Not when it was his fault.

He turned to Asui and Mineta, "Dk you think you can carry Mr. Aizawa the rest of the way?"

Asui looked surprised, "Y-yeah, but what about you?"

Izuku looked back at the fight, "I'm going to help All Might."