The mountain ledge had gone quiet after the intense cry from Izuku, leaving the blond haired villain known as Muscular, precisely for the reason one would expect, alone with Mandalay's nephew Kota firmly within his grasp held in the air, pulsing fibers of flesh and muscle strips running around his body exposed, giving him his incredible strength.
It had gone quiet because moments later, the boy had quite literally disappeared after saying he had wanted away from it all. Muscular couldn't help but laugh, a slightly manic surprised laugh at the turn of events before grinning as he turned to face the little boy in his grasp.
He felt a surge of excitement as he felt the fear grow tenfold in his newest victim's eyes. "Well, guess it's just you and me, brat."
"H-HELP!" Kota cried, kicking his feet and making the villain scoff, pulling on all his minimal self-control to keep from crushing the boy in his grasp right away as he chuckled with a cruel mirth clear in his voice.
"Ah, come on, don't be like that! Dear old uncle Muscular's gonna give you some some great final memories! You can bond with your old man in hell over the-"
Before Muscular could finish speaking, very suddenly Kota disappeared from his grasp in a flurry of deep dark blue and purple orbs of light as a sort of chiming noise filled the air, before the same sounded to Muscular's left, making him turn back to where Izuku had first disappeared only to see a figure made of orbs appearing.
"W-What the-"
Then he realized that right beside him was the now orb-like form of Kota. Izuku felt his senses truly come back to him a moment later, his eyes taking in the mountain to see the stunned and gaping Muscular before him as his feet settled on the ground.
"W-What the fuck?! Who are you?!" The villain roared, rushing forward to strike with a punch, a punch Izuku was now aware enough to realize might have given even All Might trouble in his current state nowadays.
But Izuku felt no fear, no panic, only a sense of relief in fact as he ducked under it, as he imagined the camp in his mind's eye. The main location, where everyone was meant to be.
He turned to Kota and waved his hand.
"WWPC Outpost." He spoke with a firm, commanding voice and suddenly the orbs that were Kota were whisked away instantly as Muscular's fist collided with a wall before turning back. Izuku narrowed his eyes. "Now that it's just me and you, I'll admit I didn't know either."
"What the hell are you talking about?!" Muscular let out a confused and enraged yell as he ripped his fist out of the mountain and charged Izuku whose Marked hand flew out to his side before he felt familiar Shadows coating his entire body, yet he ignored every thought that might press forward as Shadow Brute activated and he activated One For All, shooting forward and grabbing the fist Muscular deigned to strike with, throwing it into the ground and punching the man's jaw hard enough in a follow up that a loud CRACK! Sounded out in the air.
"Am I a monster?" Izuku asked simply as Shadow Brute dissipated and he shot his hand forward, Far Reach firing out and wrapping around Muscular's waist. "Am I a hero?"
His gaze hardened as yanked hard and Muscular went flying into the wall behind him, before falling down to the ground. "Crazy, deluded, or just broken. I was worried about all those things."
His hand went forward, palm stretched out as his Mark glowed blue and he focused in on his opponent. "Bastard. Sky."
The next thing Muscular knew, his entire body felt floaty as a panicked yell escaped him, his own body turning into the same orbs that Izuku and Kota had turned into before, before they raised higher, and higher, and higher…
Then Izuku let go and stepped back as Muscular's form came rapidly hurtling to the ground, smashing against it with enough force to cause cracks in the rock and make the man bounce, a small amount of blood leaking from his lips now.
Izuku stepped forward calmly, his non-marked hand gripping Muscular, digging into the very fibers of his quirk that coated his body, while Far Tendrils and eldritch shadows began to wrap around Izuku's hand like a brace as he took a deep breath. 'One For All…' "But the answer was always there. I'm someone who helps, no matter how much it hurts. That's who I am."
And without hesitation he drove his fist straight into Muscular's chest, causing a roar of wind as pressure exploded all around and the precautions he took with his magic barely did their job of containing the power to stop Izuku's arm from breaking. It was enough though, letting him stand tall as Muscular collided with the wall, causing it to crumble and crack before he hit the ground, rubble falling around him as he stared into the sky, arms twitching. Even from a glance, one could tell his consciousness was fading away. "D-Damn… brat… I'll… break you…"
Marked stared down, then turned his back on the villain. "More powerful things than you have been trying for years. If life can't do it, what makes you think you can? Push as hard as you want, but I'll never break."
Muscular passed out before the end of his statement but Izuku didn't care as he stalked towards the cliff edge. It wasn't Muscular he was talking to anyways by the end.
No, he was talking to the universe itself. The universe that had been fighting against him for so long, that he spared only one more, final thought before rushing off to help the others. 'I win.'
The total time it took for Izuku to beat Muscular into unconsciousness couldn't have been that long, he calculated as he found himself orbing in front of the main training area, finding Mandalay groaning on the ground as a lizard-like villain came in for a sword strike.
With a huff, Izuku put himself between the two and formed Far Lance instantly, blocking the would-be fatal strike and delivering a boot to the villain's chest. "Gah! What the- Where did you come from?!"
"Trust me, you wouldn't believe me if I told you." Izuku snorted quietly as Dark Vision took hold as he focused it all on this confused off-guard villain, channeling more and more of his magic.
He saw the reptilian villain's next moves, a sword strike aimed for his neck. The world came back just in time for him to see him already rushing forward. "For Stain!"
The marked teen almost felt the urge to laugh as he side-stepped and Far Lance raised cleanly up at the Blade's hilt, slicing it in two before letting the magic dissipate as he delivered a clean, quirkless backhand with all his might at the villain, knocking him to the ground and out cold with his natural enhanced strength. "No special durability from those scales, huh? Shame. Hopefully you'll be able to think up a less stupid idol than Stain when you wake up in Tartarus."
"Midoriya, what on earth…" He heard the groan of Mandalay behind her and for the first time in what felt like a long while, he managed a somewhat genuine, if not big smile at her.
"Don't worry, everything's going to be fine. Kota's inside the building, go protect him." He told her and it was a testament to her commitment to her job, yet also her care for her nephew that she almost immediately sprinted before pausing and turning back to him.
"But- You can't-"
Izuku chuckled as he turned back, seeing a villain with a massive pillar approaching a barely conscious Pixie-Bob. With a light growl, Far Reach flew out and grabbed the villain before yanking them back with enough force they ended up flying into the wall of the Pussycat's headquarters and passing out.
"Don't worry about me, I'll take my punishment, but the number one priority for you should be your Nephew!" He told her with a serious look. "Especially since he had a run in with a villain, one I think he recognized!"
Yes, he had heard some of Muscular's speech when he'd been threatening Kota's life. It had made cracking the man's jaw open doubly satisfying. Fortunately, Mandalay reacted at this with horror, her face paling before she turned and ran.
He reached Pixie-Bob next, as she was clutching her head and helped her to her feet. "You know this place better than me, if you don't think you can fight, get some rope so we can tie them up."
It was a testament to how hard the heroine must have been hit that she didn't question being commanded by a teenager, just nodding and hurrying to a spot she knew she'd left some bindings they could use. Once they were tied up, Izuku didn't give her a chance to even see what he was going to do next before he waved his hand over her and the villains. "WWPC Headquarters."
He briefly worried about the potential ramifications of using his powers, not that he planned to stop. A moment later though, a voice went through the air, catching him by surprise.
"Students, this is Mandalay! I'm supposed to talk to Eraserhead first, but I can't reach him and this situation has escalated too far to wait. If you are in danger, do not hesitate to defend yourself with your quirks!"
Izuku hummed at that, before narrowing his eyes. He wasn't going to be stopped by 'the rules' in a situation like this, but this would definitely make his life a little easier.
Now, it was time to get to work for real. He clenched his Marked hand and the entire forest lit up, With a struggle, he pushed himself harder and all around, Silhouettes began to form.
Without hesitation, he bolted to the nearest group, which had consisted of two people who had fallen over. He noted the mist growing as he ran and held his breath, yet through Full Cowling and his own natural agility, he was making his way through it rapidly, enough that he quickly reached the first group that just so luckily seemed to be the source of said gas.
"A gun's just a coward's tactic, because you're too scared to use your own body to fight!" He heard a lecturing voice and winced as he slid into view, seeing it was that one redhead from 1-B, Kendou, the class president, talking to the villain.
He sensed it was more to rile them up than anything but… 'Wow, someone needs to talk to her about paying attention to the implications of what she's saying.'
And just as the villain raised their hand, said gun Kendou must have been ranting about in hand, as another boy with a steel body dived in front of her, Izuku came crashing in from the side, delivering a single One For All punch that cracked the mask of the villain they were facing down.
He hit the ground and turned with a growl but Izuku just matched his glare as his body sunk into shadows, a petrified shriek emanating from what suspiciously sounded more like the steel-bodied boy rather than Kendou as Shadow Walk came into play and seeped inside the villain, causing him to jerk violently before going limp. Izuku reformed again a moment later, turning to a wide eyed and pale pair of 1-B students.
"Sorry for the future therapy visit." He apologized half-heartedly as he came up to them both. "But more importantly, I'm going to teleport you to the main building. Be ready to help the people there."
"Wait, what? What are you-" Was all they were able to respond before Izuku waved his hand over them.
"WWPC Headquarters!" He commanded and just like Kota and Pixie-Bob before, they were surrounded in a flurry of orbs before disappearing. Izuku winced a moment later as his Mark flared with pain. "Fuck…"
He turned to look around again, Dark Vision turning on as he began sprinting to the next student, repeating the process over and over again of orbing as many people back to base as he could.
Students could get attention if needed, the heroes could regroup, and the villains would be tied up and outnumbered. It wasn't until he was deep into the forest again did he run into his first potential snag as he rounded a corner… right into the path of a Nomu.
"…" Its beady eyes remained listless, until they suddenly seemed to roll around to stare right at him. A small sigh escaped the teen. Especially when the chainsaws it had for arms began going off!
"Well fuck me gently with a chainsaw Nomu."
He very pointedly ignored the startled snort that sounded suspiciously like Yaoyoruzu in the bushes as he bent down. Before he could even rush forward though, a familiar blue laser exploded from another bush and collided with the side of the Nomu's head, making it screech and Izuku took his chance, rushing forward as Shadow Brute formed again.
He threw every single ounce of One For All he could safely take into his arms and grabbed the Nomu by the leg. He wasn't sure he could go for a straight fist fight, if the Nomu had any of the same absorption quirks as the one at the USJ then he wasn't going to risk testing if they could actually fight, and instead used his strength to pick the creature up, spinning it, and spinning it and spinning it until….
"Express Delivery for the fucking ocean!" He yelled as he let go and sent the creature flying skyhigh, way towards where the ocean would be. Based on how the monster was out of sight well before it started to plummet, he may indeed have managed to send it to his intended target and if he didn't, at least it was liable to either land in a ditch with nowhere to go or a city with pros who could focus all efforts on it, so all he had to worry about was his choice of quip.
…Okay, maybe his sanity was left behind a little bit on that mountain side but at least he felt like he could express himself again. He wasn't happy but he was awake, he was aware, he was alive and able to keep going and had a tracker land on his leg.
…
"…Yaoyoruzu, was that you?"
"Y-Yes!" The girl peaked out from behind the bush, looking both relieved and concerned. "I'm trying to track all our classmates if I find them, just in case."
"Well, I'm trying to send them all back to headquarters with my new power." He told her as he rushed to her side, turning to the bush that rustled as well before a panicked Aoyama appeared. "Speaking of, I'll send you two as well."
"W-Wait, what?" Momo asked with concern, dancing in her eyes, a small frown on her face. "What new power?"
"It's a long story. It's basically a form of teleportation and telekinesis." He explained quickly, feeling oddly smug that he could actually give an answer for once, albeit only because it felt so natural to him. Like it was meant to be part of him. "And I don't have time to say more than that so I'll see you soon!"
"Wai-"
"WWPC Headquarters!"
And with that, yet another two students were sent off to safety as Izuku sighed and continued on his spree through the forest. He was fairly certain he'd gotten almost all the 1-B students now (and he really hoped the girl he'd seen lying on the floor with the silverish-white hair would be okay, it seemed she'd taken in a concerning amount of the gas) so it was just his classmates left.
Well his classmates and-
"This is the most unholy thing I have ever seen!" A scared voice called and his eyes widened before he turned to see Shiozaki, the vine haired girl from before who'd mistaken him for a satanist, backing away with fear from a villain Izuku actually recognized.
"Moonfish?!" He called out as he rushed to the girl's side, her eyes widening as he stopped and he glared as bladed teeth erupted from "Get away from Shiozaki, you monster!"
"Must… retrieve boys. Boss want, but flesh… so tasty…" The villain groaned, making Izuku narrow his eyes. They wanted to take one of the students?
"Midoriya!" Shiozaki spoke and his Mark flared as a barrage of blades suddenly erupted from the villain's mouth like rapidly growing teeth that he barely jumped out of the way in time, aided by a vine that grabbed him around the waist and yanked him back. "You need to run! He keeps saying your name!"
"Wait, mine?" He asked in surprise even as he didn't run but instead found himself uncomfortably saddled with an overwhelming feeling of hunger. It made him groan as he knew where it was coming from.
"Gotta… return Midoriya and Bakugou to boss… maybe try flesh first…" The muffled manic mumblings of Moonfish above reached them and Izuku took a deep breath before Izuku got an idea.
"Shiozaka, can you make a shield out of your vines?!" He asked quickly and she blinked but then nodded as she did just that, the vines on her hair shooting down into the ground then up into the air, creating a shield that would protect them at least for a moment from the blades, though they would be chopped up quickly. "Alright, perfect! Sorry in advance!"
"Sorry? What for?" The girl asked in confusion as Izuku grit his teeth and focused on all the blades.
"How violent this might be. TEETH!" He yelled, just as the vines were chopped through and watched as all the blades all around them turned into orbs, before he threw his hand to the side just and they all went flying away, many crashing to the ground or into tree's, as suddenly…
"ARRRGGGHHHHHHHH!" Moonfish let out a yell of utter agony, blood exploding from his mouth and pooling massively on the ground as he fell to the floor, convulsing in pain as Shiozaki's jaw drop and her hands shot to her mouth.
"…I'm not going to lie, that was a bit more excessive than I actually thought it would be." Izuku cringed before shaking his head and turning to Ibara. "I.. sorry. I know you're probably majorly freaked out but I still need to find the last of my friends. I'm going to send you back to the headquarters now and… I swear I did not mean to come across as violent, I just didn't want you to get hurt."
She looked up at that, trying to say something more but before she could utter a word he once again had sent her and the villain away in a flurry of orbs. Just as he took a breath, a loud screech filled the air making him jump and whip around.
Only to pale as he saw the looming form of Dark Shadow in the air. Dark Shadow, ten times as big as normal and going wild, ripping the fiery chaotic landscape apart.
And though faint, he could hear Tokoyami screaming somewhere in the distance.
"Oh fuck…"