clap - clap - clap -
The noises came to us through a sea of fear.
"As expected of the Number four hero, Best Jeanist," said the villain. "I was trying to blast everyone away. But in an instant, you controlled everyone's clothes and pulled them out of the way! Your judgment, technique…you've got nerves of steel! But the strength that you possess is the result of considerable training and practical experience. Yours - I don't need yours…"
And we heard the sound - which we saw over the wall's broken side - was the sound of the villain blasting a hole in Best Jeanist's stomach.
"Your quirk doesn't suit Tomura's personality," he concluded.
In the blink of an eye. Everything got wiped out. My body won't move…
splash -
"Ugh, what the crap is this?!"
He'd been warped in from nowhere, it seemed, and he was coughing in front of the villain - Bakugou himself.
"Apologies, Bakugou," said the Villain.
"Eh?"
More noises - splashing -
And the League of Villains were there, crawling out of black sludge like portals. Shigaraki, Spinner (Stain's fan); a blonde girl in a school uniform, a guy in a top hat and tailcoat, a woman with long stringy hair and sunglasses, a guy in a black bodysuit, and two unconscious - the warp gate guy, and the fire villain we'd seen before.
"You've failed again, Tomura," said the Villain, but this wasn't reprimanding…"But you cannot get discouraged. All you need do is try again. I brought your comrades back for you, and this boy too, because you deemed him an important piece. Try as many times as you'd like. That's why I'm here. Everything is for your sake."
I turned and saw - Midoriya, Todoroki, and Kirishima had all started to move -
I reached out my arms and grabbed them, holding them in place.
I will protect you, this time.
Yaoyorozu had gotten Kirishima.
I have to think. We have to get away. …
"Ah, there you are!"
I jumped and tried not to scream.
No - he wasn't talking to us, he was talking to -
All Might came flying in from up above, and his fists slammed into the Villain's - the force of it shaking the very ground beneath our feet.
"I'll have you return my student, All for One!"
"Are you going to kill me a second time, All Might?" he taunted.
The force of their battle was tossing up rocks, swirling through the air with power and explosions. The wind was blasting over us, even behind the stone wall. We couldn't hear their conversation any more.
"He even stopped All Might!" gasped Midoriya.
The villain had blasted All Might with the force of his power through multiple buildings. As we watched in horror, he activated - somehow, even though he was unconscious - he started up the Warp Gate Villain's quirk. A portal was opened, and even as AllMight came back and slammed towards him again -
The League had turned to Bakugou, and were getting ready to grab him again and drag him away through that portal.
"All Mght!" cried Midoriya.
What were we supposed to do - how were we going to -
"Iida, everyone!" cried Midoriya.
He had that look on his face - like he had decided to act, no matter what.
"Don't even think about it, Midoriya," I told him.
"No!" He cried. "There's a way! Away for us to avoid combat, to rescue Kacchan, and get out of here too!"
"Spit it out already," said Todoroki.
"The thing is," he said slowly, looking down at his hand - and looking really sad for some reason. "This plan, if it's me doing it, it will probably fail. It's got to be you, Kirishima. You're the key to making this successful."
"Iida…" said Yaoyorozu.
"It may be a gamble," I said slowly. "But considering the circumstances, the risk to us is relatively low…above all, if we succed, then it will be worth it. Let's do it."
This was Midoriya's plan…
"First, we propel ourselves forward using my full Cowl and Iida's recipro. Then, we'll break through the wall with Kirishim'as hardening. The second we break through, Todoroki creates an ice ramp for us. Make it as high as possible, so that we can fly off on it. The villains still haven't noticed us. Up until now, we've always had to react to their moves, but this time around, we can make the first move! We'll cross the battlefield at a height where they can't reach us. Kacchan has been staying on guard with these opponents. He's been creating distance from them while fighting. The time to act is the moment he's more than two steps away from the villains. The villain's boss is keeping All Might's hands tied, but that also means his are too. Then it's up to you Kirishima. It can't be me, or Todoroki, or Iida, or even Yaoyorozu. Ever since we started school, up till now, you've built a solid relationship with Kacchan, as equals. If his friend calls to him, he'll listen!"
And as we soared through the air, way out of reach of the villains and their leader, Kirishima reached out his hand and called to him, "Come on!"
For about two seconds, I was scared that Uraraka had been right, and he wasn't going to listen. But then - with a blast like crazy - he was up in the air, and had grabbed Kirishima's hand, and was grinning back at us, "You idiots!"
"Bakugou," I told him. "On my signal, use your explosions - "
"No, you follow me asshole!" he screamed back.
"This is not the time to fight!" Kirishima yelled back at him- not a second too soon, cause we could see the villain in the top hat flying through the air towards us -
But just in time, the downed Mt. Lady, with a shout of her move "Titan Cliff!" had blocked him.
"Mt Lady!" cried Midoriya.
We heard her call back to us, "The rescue's priority. Go on, you dumb kids!"
And we'd made it - over the city blocks and into a safe zone, gently descending with Bakugou's explosions and my recipro - Bakugou safe now.
ch
"Midoriya, everything ok over there?" Midoriya had remembered to call up Todoroki and Yaoyorozu for us, to make sure they'd made it out ok, and now we could hear Todoroki's voice over the phone.
"Yeah! What about you guys? Did you make it out ok?" said Midoriya.
"Yeah, probably. We're running in the opposite direction from those guys. The pros are guiding everyone."
"Thank goodness! sighed Midoriya. "We're in front of the train station! Seems like it's outside of that shockwave from before. Our rescue was a success!"
"Listen, all right!" snapped Bakugou. "I wasn't rescued by anybody. I just figured escaping with you idiots was my best chance!"
"Nice choice!" Kirishima gave him the thumbs up.
"The reason I came was because I didn't want to get in All Might's way," said Bakugou.
The big TV on the side of a building was showing the fight we'd left. All Might had been blasted straight at the camera, and I realized seeing this that we weren't out of the woods yet. The speedy villain grabbed him and dragged him out of the way.
"It's like a bad dream!" said the news announcer. "In a flash, the Kamino Ward has been brought to a half destroyed state! Presently, All Might is battling with the villain thought to be the ring-leader of the group! Unbelievable! A single villain destroying the street, and now he is fighting on more than equal terms with the symbol of peace!"
People around us were panicking
"All Might looks pretty beat up!"
"They got him good!"
"What are the heroes doing? Aren't' villains getting a little out of hand lately?"
"Maybe the heroes are getting played?"
On the screen, we saw the villain level a blast at All Might - who didn't dodge - it seemed someone was trapped behind him, so he had to take it. Rubble kicked up and surrounded him.
And then, as it cleared, we saw.
There was dead silence from the crowd. Nobody could even say a word.
We were looking at a shriveled up skeleton of a man - an emaciated, bedraggled person in a loose fitting All Might costume.
Huh?
"Who is that? He's like a skeleton…" people were muttering.
On TV, the announcer said, "Um, what has happened? Everybody is able to see this, right? All Might seems to be withering away!"
ON TV, it looked like All Might was still standing strong - and then suddenly something changed. He was slumped over, his smile gone, and he was screaming.
"Win…" said Bakugou. The crowd was suddenly panicking.
"No, it can't…"
"All Might!"
"You have to win! Who can win against that?"
"Even if he looks different, he's still All Might after all, right?"
"Time and again, he's been able to do something, one w ay or another!"
"You can do it All Might!"
"Don't lose, All might!"
"You can do it!"
"WIN, ALLL MIGHT!" screamed Midoriya and Bakugou.
And on Tv, against all odds, All Might seemed to be coming back, buffing up his arm and preparing to fight All for One.
He was joined by Endeavor and Edgeshot - Kamui Woods and the others had joined to save heroes and people trapped in the rubble.
And all of us together screaming and cheering for All Might to win…
But the villain had blasted everyone out of the way - all those pros - and buffed up his arm into something - something so unbelievably gross that I'd never seen the likes of it before.
A twisted, scary abomination of multiple arms and metal rivets…
And he was aiming that monstrosity right - at - All Might!
We all sat frozen, then started cheering again. And the punch hit - the blast from it obscured the camera. When it cleared, our Sensei was being pushed back - despite everything he was doing to fight it off - he was getting ground down into the ground like he was fighting off a semi-truck.
Sensei! Please! You've never lost a fight before…
Then suddenly he hit the villain from the other side.
And buffed up the other arm - to land a punch on the Villain's face…the arm that had already been broken
He's hitting him again with his already broken arm?
I've only ever seen one person use such a technique before…
That person who is standing nearby me and crying like mad for his hero to win…
And buffed up the other arm - to land a punch on the Villain's face! And blasted him - against all odds - into the ground!
The debris cleared. We were on the edge of our seats…
We were all practically holding our breath.
Then All Might raised his hand - a fist - and the strongman, the powerful symbol of peace - had reappeared.
"All Might!" everyone screamed.
"It's a Victory for All Might!" said the announcer. "He is victorious! He's still standing!"
Everyone cheered - the crowd was swelling with the thrill of the moment! We cheered along with them! It was the greatest thrill - the strongest moment - that any of us had ever felt. Like everyone had gotten together - in one moment to cheer for him. To believe in one great future.
We moved along with the crowd, as everyone evacuated.
"They're distributing blankets over here! They're providing assistance at the emergency shelter over there! Please proceed in an orderly fashion…"
"Our mobility is in this crowd is rather limited," I murmured. "I wanted to link p with Todoroki and Yaoyorozu, though."
"In any case, let's get moving," I told them, pushing Bakugou along. "We have to let the heroes know about Bakugou, don't we?"
"Yeah," mumbled Midoriya.
Everyone turned around suddenly. The TV screen was showing the villain getting loaded into the maiden. And All Might had turned to the screen and pointed.
"Now…"
"Now, it's your turn."
The crowd roared in triumph.
"He's so amazing!"
"That's our hero!"
The whole crowd swept us away, again, in another moment of triumph. Another feeling of winning! Everyone was thrilled - with two excepttions.
Midoriya was crying, and next to him, Bakugou had a face like the world had ended.