I batted away the smoke that filled my vision. Unfortunately, I had inhaled some of the smoke so I started coughing. I began moving toward an exit. While I was capable of moving within a three dimensional space completely without utilizing my sight, that skill was very much a rudimentary one that I had gained through great effort on both my part and my teachers. Thankfully, I was able to get out of the smoke after a quick sprint. I gave my surroundings a quick once over as I finally gained some sense of vision. The building I had just ran out of was obviously on fire. My eyes narrowed as I looked it over. I didn't recognize either the building or the street on which it was positioned. Even more, I couldn't find any markings on any of the buildings on the street that would give me any information on where I was or even what the buildings were used for.
Just where was I? I could see smoke rising across the horizon from several different places. I set off at a brisk pace over the dirt road and found the same dilapidated streets and rundown makeshift buildings. I hadn't seen scenes like this in a long time. Something that became all the more clear when I came across a dead body. Several bullet holes riddled the young man's dirty, clearly hand sewn clothing with nothing else on his person than his own weapon along with some ammo for said weapon. The blood that covered the young man was old and I could see no steady raising of his chest that would indicate that he was still alive.
I frowned but continued on all the same. Eventually I came across more bodies, all of which no longer possessed life. For a good thirty minutes I kept on searching but to no avail. None of the bodies had anything on them that could be used to identify who they were or even who they worked for. Just hundreds of dead men and women, many of which could be barely considered adults.
What is going on? I coughed trying to get out some of the sand that I had inhaled, the sand had started being dusted up as I had continued my search. I looked up and saw that a dust storm was incoming. I felt a bit nostalgic even though it was tinged with annoyance. How many years had it been since I had been in a dust storm? I sighed before running for a sturdy looking building in my view to wait out the dust storm. I found the underground bunker that most people usually built in their houses so as not to be caught out in a dust storm. It was easy enough to get in. Most people didn't have locks for such things anyways, seeing as how that would take quite a bit of money.
I waited a good thirty minutes before the bunker's inbuilt sightglass told me that the storm was over. Handy little bits of ingenuity the sightglasses were. They were essentially little holes to the surface that were encased by clear material and one could tell when a dust storm was over by when the sightglass stopped being filled. Of course they weren't exactly perfect, more of just a useful little thing that didn't require that much money or maintenance. Although they could be a real bitch to clean and empty depending on how it was constructed, and particularly harsh dust storms could fill the sightglass right up and make it useless.
Damnit, now I'm ruminating on sightglasses of all things. I quickly got out of the bunker and continued with my search with a noticeable layer of sand now topping everything. I kept walking on and eventually came to the discovery that there were more bodies the closer I got to the town's center. Wait a minute, the dust storm started when I was near the edge of the town. My eyes narrowed in thought. Something was driving toward the center. But why?
I picked up my pace first into a light jog then into a run and finally a full sprint. My gut was telling me answers would be found in the town's center. The smell of blood and gunpowder started filling the air as I ran until it became almost unbearable. More and more bodies littered the ground. I felt my hands starting to go numb and with a quick glance saw that blood was streaking down my hands from my fingernails digging into my hands so hard. I didn't want to see anymore of this. It hit far too close to home. Even so, I kept running toward the center to face what should have stayed in the past. I turned a final corner and saw him.
A teenager who couldn't be any older than seventeen with raven black hair and blood red eyes sat atop a pile of bodies a storey high. He was covered in blood and ripped clothing. He wore an animalistic smile as he looked down upon me as if he knew a joke I didn't and was waiting to share with me.
"You've finally made it." He spoke with an air of levity which failed to conceal his piercing gaze.
I looked upon the sins of my past. I couldn't speak. I had nothing to say. Not to him.
His grin seemed to widen to an almost inhuman degree before he spoke again, "I see. Blame little ole me. It wasn't me, it was him. Newsflash fucker, I am you. You can bury me, destroy all evidence of me, start over from zero, but you will never get rid of me. We're together forever."
"I know." I curtly responded.
"Oh ho, truly?" He slid down the pile of bodies until we came face to face. After fifteen years of living a whole new life I saw the face of the only person I truly wanted to forget. Myself. "Then you know you will never change." The manifestation of all my bloodlust continued.
"You are a monster." The voice of a young boy spat out.
I turned to look at the new voice and, once again, saw myself. An eight year old boy who wore rags and was covered in mud. Blood dripped off the knife he was holding fiercely in his hands even as they were shaking. His eyes were swollen and his cheeks were stained with tears. This was me after my mother had died, specifically the me who had just cut out the profitable organs from my dead mother's body as she had requested so I could have enough money to feed myself after her death.
"You failed at being the hero the first time around so what makes you think this life is any different? You should just give up and become what you truly are." My bloodlust tempted me in a smooth voice as if he were the devil himself.
"All you do is bring misery and suffering everywhere you go. Why should such a disgusting waste of life like you get a second chance at life? You should have stayed dead on the hill of corpses you built for yourself." The boy, my guilt, declared with unhidden rage and loathing coating his tone.
"No, don't listen to him. We've been given this second chance for a reason. The universe agrees with me. There are so many people that need to see the deepest pits of hell. We're just helping them along." My bloodlust whispered in a soothing voice which in another context would sound almost seductive.
"No, no, no, we are the sinners! We should go first, not last!" Guilt roared.
"Why?" A new voice questioned in a low almost monotone voice.
I turned once again to see myself once again. He looked just like the current me. An exact copy with only a single difference. His eyes were filled with desire.
"What does it matter if all of the others died? The only thing that matters is what's ours. If others stand in the way of that, then they deserve everything." The reflection of me, my obsession, articulated in a calm voice which did nothing to hide the slasher grin on his face.
"See, this guy gets it. What does all the rest matter? So long as ours are good then why do we need to hold back?" Bloodlust questioned as he put a hand on Obsession's shoulder in solidarity.
Obsession immediately swatted Bloodlust's hand away and retorted, "Don't touch me with your disgusting hands you lowlife. You forget that we have lost what was ours before. We failed and lost everything."
"But that wasn't our fault. We were just a kid; what could we have done?" For the second time in this conversation I spoke.
"Everything! We controlled hundreds of miles of territory as a teenager and yet we couldn't save our own mother. What a load of bullshit!" Guilt exploded into a rant.
"We couldn't save her because the world took her away from us. Because Fate decreed that she die. Fate decreed that we failed, but now we aren't beholden to it anymore. Now we can protect what's ours and destroy all the fuckers that would take them away." Obsession deflected.
"Yes, yes, yes, we will kill all of them." Bloodlust proclaimed with childlike delight.
"No! We can't. I can't. I promised. I must be better. I must do better. I must be good!" I cried out in a panicked voice, hands grasping my head which had exploded in pain.
"Promised to be good? What a crock of shit. We all know that's just an excuse for all that you have done. You aren't good, you're just a hollow shell of an imitation of a person." Guilt accused.
"Promises are useless. They won't help us; they won't save us, and they most certainly won't change what we've done." Bloodlust spoke with certainty.
"Promising to do what's right doesn't protect what is ours, so why care about it?" Obsession asked.
The pain assaulting my brain intensified and I screamed out, "Shut up! All of you just shut up! This isn't your decision, it's mine! So shut the fuck up!"
My head felt like it was splitting as the three shades approached me until they had me completely surrounded. I wanted to yell at them to back up but no sound came from my throat. Each of the versions of myself grabbed a hold of a different part of my body and started pulling. Pain exploded through the rest of my body.
I attempted to scream but no sound escaped my mouth as I was torn apart, limb from limb.
I jolted awake from my slumber with panic nearly taking complete hold of me. It felt like I couldn't get enough air no matter how much I gasped. I must have been sitting there for a good ten minutes getting both my breathing and thoughts back into order enough to notice that my alarm clock was going off. It was only upon looking at that I noticed how late it was. It was eight o'clock. There was only thirty minutes until school started. I had just slept in. I never slept in.
I immediately got out of bed and started getting ready to leave as soon as I could. After taking a quick minute long shower and changing into my school uniform I saw my bed in my peripheral vision as I was about to leave my room. I had to do a double take at what I saw. It was less of a bed and more of a pile of black sludge now.
I entered class 1A huffing and wheezing right as the last bell rang. Even my stamina had limits and sprinting the entire way to UA from my house had me completely exhausted before the day had even started. I slumped in my seat hoping Aizawa would leave me alone long enough so I would be able to lift a finger again. Who was I kidding? That man had it out for me on day one.
The USJ was an extremely useful tool for anyone in the Hero Course. It simulated a number of different extreme environments that a hero could be expected to face while out in the field. It was, as expected, an extremely popular training site. The site was shared by each class on a set rotation following a descending order. Now that both the third and second years had their time, it was class 1A's turn.
Excitement abounded in the bus that was transporting us to the training grounds. Unfortunately, it was not a very conducive space to resting. I had recovered greatly from the morning but I still had a lingering bone deep exhaustion that refused to go away. I glanced at the Tsumukari Muramasa again. It was still sheathed and wrapped up in a saintly shroud, but I felt a lingering darkness emanating from it. The demonic sword had been unusually active lately. It was requiring more focus than usual to keep the curses inside from leaking.
"Deku?" Katsumi asked from my side.
"Yes?" I responded. Despite my closed eyes I could tell I was being stared at by my blonde childhood friend. "If you have something to say then speak."
With a cute growl, my childhood friend looked away from me before speaking, "Just don't die on me asshole."
"Kacchan, I really doubt anything will happen today that will endanger my life." I responded evenly.
"Knowing you, you'll probably find a way." Kaede responded cheerily from one of the seats in front of me. She had been almost annoyingly happy ever since she and Kacchan had ganged up on me a week ago.
"Look, I'm not a kid. I have basic self preservation instincts… Probably." I riposted.
Kaede gave me an unimpressed look. I looked toward a rather nice looking hill in the distance for absolutely no reason that may or may not involve a certain Hime Miko.
"Ya know, I worry about you sometimes Boss." Kirishima said.
"Please, I won't even get a single scratch toda-" I challenged until I realized something. I wasn't thinking about it earlier because of how tired I was but we were going to the USJ for the first time. I wanted to deny it but my gut immediately denied my denial. I sighed and covered my face with my hands and muttered under my breath, "Can't I get a single week without crap like this?"
"I-zu-ku, is there something you'd like to share?" Kaede intoned in a sweet voice and a smile that promised pain if I didn't reply in a satisfactory manner.
"Somehow, someway, I blame my father." I replied.
"How come?" Shoko asked innocently from one of the seats in the back.
I gave her a complicated look before answering, "My relationship with my father is a bit complicated."
"Really? I thought you were really close with your father." Shoko responded.
"Oh, it's not like I hate him or anything. He's just really, how to put it?" I answered, taking a moment to think. "Have you ever met him?"
Shoko responded with a negative and Kaede responded to my query instead, "Come to think of it. The only time I've ever personally seen your father was when we first met."
"What was your impression of him?" I queried.
Kaede thought for a moment and then answered, "Well, he seemed affable enough, but he also had an air of confidence about him as well." Kaede's brows deepened in thought as she continued her recount, "A confidence that would border on arrogance if he was anyone else. It was like he knew exactly how the meeting would go word for word from the beginning. He was absolutely sure you would be able to wield the Tsumukari Muramasa despite the astronomical odds."
Kirishima immediately caught Kaede's slip up and asked, "Astronomical odds?"
"Not important. Continue Kaede." I quickly spoke.
Kirishima looked like he wanted to continue but didn't press the subject. Kaede resumed speaking her thoughts, "Everything that happened on that day seemed to follow exactly as he had planned. Even things he couldn't have possibly known like the knowledge that would be gained from the use of my skills which should have been completely impossible to know in advance. In fact, the knowledge that was gained from it seemed only to galvanize his belief even further."
"He did seem inordinately pleased with himself when it happened. Especially so considering how, unsettling, said information was considering the context." I replied with a slight frown settling on my face.
"Yeah, he acted like it had somehow perfectly lined up with his own plans despite the implications." Kaede responded.
"See, that right there is the problem. He'll orchestrate my life behind the scenes to try to somehow shape me into his perfect little heir. Every single one of his actions always had a double meaning." I sighed.
Kirishima seemed a bit surprised at my rant before replying, "Wow, that does sound rough, Boss."
"You don't know the half of it." I told my rock solid friend in exasperation.
"Hello everyone, I've been waiting for you." The Space Hero Thirteen greeted the class.
Everyone in the class started gushing after her greeting. While not the most popular hero overall, Thirteen was considered one of, if not the greatest rescue hero in Japan. As UA students who had been taught by All Might before it didn't last long and eventually everyone settled down. We were led inside the giant dome that encompassed the USJ. Aizawa and Thirteen spoke for a bit and then Thirteen gave a speech before we started about using our powers safely and responsibly. Six out of ten, not harsh enough in my opinion but I suppose we'll learn about the dangers of irresponsible Quirk use soon enough.
As soon as I finished that thought, as if the gods of dramatic timing were listening to my thoughts, a chill filled the air. A chill that I had long since learned the meaning of. Malevolent mana coated the air as an inky black portal opened in the middle of the central plaza and villains started pouring out. A man with smooth skin, glossy white hair, and piercing red eyes exited last. He was Tomura Shigaraki, of that I was sure but he also was not. None of the hands that adorned him in his early appearances in the show were on his person. Instead of a black jumpsuit, he wore a black business suit in what I assumed was homage to his master. He looked upon the class and even at this distance I could tell he was looking directly at me with a small confident smile adorning his lips. He announced the League of Villains and gave his spiel about killing All Might.
Aizawa yelled at us to stay back and for Thirteen to protect us as he ran towards the villains. Kaede and Momo both looked terrified and I couldn't blame them. I was certain that the Nomu was giving off a metric ton of malevolent mana. Even as someone who was unable to directly sense mana itself, the chill that had filled the room was more than enough information. This wasn't looking good. It was only then that I realized Kurogiri had disappeared.
"The villains have a teleporter. If he gets to you then first figure out where you've been taken and then attempt to link up with anyone else who might have been taken with you." I raised my voice enough to be heard by all of my classmates.
"What a smart young man. Of course, not that it will help you against the Young Master." Kurogiri praised me as black smoke filled my vision.
I reached for my sword but the black smoke was too fast. Now infront of me stood Tomura Shigaraki. Behind the young man stood his personal Nomu standing at attention.
"Ahh, it's nice to finally meet you Midoriya Izuku. I've wanted to have this little conversation for years now. Oh, how rude of me. I am Shigaraki Tomura." Shigaraki spoke softly and smoothly, never raising his voice more than what was necessary for clear understanding.
"Really?" I asked, quite surprised. While it was never outright stated, it had been pretty clear that my father had helped take down All For One along with All Might. I had expected Tomura to immediately try to have me killed. Some differences were expected all things considered but I never expected such a radical divergence from Tomura.
I frowned. I had no idea what I was dealing with and I didn't have the Tsumukari Muramasa with me. I had to stall.
Katsumi Bakugou blasted her way through the c-rate villains that were in her way. Kaede was trailing behind her providing support with her still stupidly versatile Quirk. A villain with a mutation Quirk lunged at her with absolutely no skill. She blasted him away with contemptuous ease. Dumbass probably never trained a single day in his life and relied on the strength gained from his Quirk. The wind changed direction and now instead of being pelted with fake rain from the front she was being pelted with fake rain from the back.
"Katsumi wait up!" The slowpoke desperately yelled.
"What!" Katsumi barked at the girl that was slowing her down.
"I know you want to find Izuku right now but we can't do that right now. I want to go find Izuku too, but right now we need to go find our other classmates in the area first." Kaede told the blonde bomber.
"They're hero students, they can take care of themselves." Katsumi curtly responded before returning to her search for Izuku.
"For Izuku to stand a fighting chance then he'll need the Tsumukari Muramasa. I can sense that it's been taken away from him but it's nearby. Let's just pick it up on our way there." Kaede argued.
"Fine." Katsumi agreed. She wasn't even going to ask how the girl could 'sense' the stupid katana.
As it turned out, the sword was actually right where Kaede led her. If it wasn't stupid enough that she had followed someone 'sensing' a fucking sword, the sword was actually just floating in place. She always thought that the sword was weird but this really was out of left field. As she got closer Katsumi could feel something. It was pouring out like a river from the cracks of the shroud that confined the blade. A black and red miasma that felt cold and spiteful. The sword hurt her eyes to look at and yet she could barely take her eyes off of it. In the back of her mind she could hear whispers to take the blade.
"It's worse than I thought." Kaede whispered to herself before taking out a few of her talismans and throwing them at the sword. The talismans took position in a circle around the katana and Kaede herself began chanting. The talismans gained a green light and started swirling around faster and faster as Kaede's own chant reached its crescendo. After a blinding flash the talismans disappeared.
"Ok, that should be good enough to carry. At least for a few minutes." Kaede spoke with a quiver in her voice.
"Then what are we waiting for?" Katsumi immediately reached for the weapon and took it in her hands. That was a mistake. The voice at the back of her head became a chorus singing right next to her ear. Katsumi immediately fell to her knees. "What the hell is this?"
"Can you walk?" Kaede asked with concern.
Katsumi pulled herself up slowly and responded, "Yeah, it just surprised me. What the hell even happened?"
"That's the reason why Izuku doesn't let anyone touch it." Kaede answered.
That didn't answer her question but Katsumi could tell she wasn't going to get a straight answer so instead she responded, "Whatever, let's just get to Deku."
This sword was bullshit, this world was bullshit, and most importantly Deku was definitely going to tell her just what the hell was going on if he didn't want explosions for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
A pillar of ice descended down the mountainous terrain freezing all villains stupid enough or unlucky enough to be caught in its path. Shoko Todoroki looked around to see if anyone else had been put here as well. She was still in the USJ. Why hadn't she been teleported to an underground dungeon or even just a random street if they wanted the students out of the way? It was odd. Why make them fight such weak villains in terrain ill suited for their abilities. It was obvious that these were just random villains from both their clear lack of training and coordination.
"Woah, you got all of them." Mina spoke with barely suppressed awe.
"Yeppers, ain't I pretty cool?" Shoko replied with a pep in her step.
Mina's face changed to a thoughtful expression as she looked upon the villains now covered in ice, "This attack was planned out in advance but none of the villains are working particularly well together."
Shoko nodded in agreement before adding, "This rocky terrain benefits both of us and none of the villains have Quirks that could effectively counter us."
"I think I see Tsu in the water over there. We must have been spewed out in random places along with the villains. Oh, there's Eijiro." Mina informed her as she cupped her hands around her eyes for better vision.
"This whole thing feels wrong. Teleportation Quirks usually have some limitations to their use, range, number of targets, mass limits. They're only as useful as one is able to plan around said limitations." Shoko thought aloud.
"Hmm, if they didn't want us around then they could have sent us away. Their teleporter doesn't even seem winded and he just transported fifty plus guys from what was probably quite a distance, seeing as how a group of fifty obvious villains getting anywhere near the USJ beforehand without alerting UA would be next to impossible. "
Eijiro Kirishima took out another group of villains, making sure they did not end up near any of the fires when they were knocked unconscious. His Hardening was strengthened to a degree he had not thought possible just a year ago. Boss packed a mean punch even with just a boken and the same could be said about All Might and his fists. Of course, that wasn't even taking into account One For All's power to enhance it even further. With One For All empowering him right now his skin was harder than titanium. Even high caliber bullets would have a hard time leaving a bruise.
Eijiro jumped to the top of the tallest building in the area and began surveying his surroundings. There were plenty of villains nearby but none of his classmates. He could see some had been left near the entrance and at least two or three in any of the other zones. None of them seemed to need any help at the moment. In fact, his classmates were dominating the villains. This did not surprise Eijiro in the least. UA wasn't considered the best hero school in the nation for nothing. Everyone in the class either had amazing Quirks or great skill to compensate, and some had both. Boss was standing next to the villain with white hair that seemed to be the head honcho. Nothing was happening between the two at the moment but Eijiro knew that would probably change quite soon. Eijiro immediately rushed to help.
"So, you wanted to talk?" I asked Tomura with my arms crossed.
"Just a little. Don't worry. I won't take too much of your time." The villain replied with a congenial smile, rubbing his hands together. I noticed that he didn't care whether all five fingers connected. Either his Quirk was completely different or he had a level of control over it that I hadn't thought possible.
I raised an eyebrow, "Really?"
Tomura's smile gained a more predatory edge before he responded, "Well you see, I have a few things I need to do today so I can't spend very much time on our little conversation. Anyway, I just wanted to ask a simple question. How are you able to use the Tsumukari Muramasa?"
I sighed heavily at the question. "I suppose you wouldn't accept that I just don't succumb to its corruption?"
"I would need more details." Tomura replied.
"I can't really give much more information because I don't really know the answer myself." I shrugged.
The white haired villain's eyes narrowed, "Perhaps your Quirklessness or maybe your lack of circuits makes it easier to handle it. Hrmn, of course your Pseudo Quirk Training must have built up both physical and mental resistance, but people better than you have tried before. How vexing."
My eyes nearly widened in surprise at Tomura's speech. It was fairly widely known that I didn't have a Quirk and I could see my Pseudo Quirk Training being discovered and leaked, but I could count on one hand the number who knew that I had no Magic Circuits. I had long since accepted that I was fairly famous in the right circles but it should be next to impossible to tell that I have no Circuits. Even those with the ability to see Od could only see Magical Circuits when they were being used. Most would just assume that I didn't use magic, not that I was unable. My father was considered the strongest mage in Japan so most would immediately assume that I had amazing latent talent.
"If I may ask, why do you want to know?" I prodded for information while Tomura was still silently thinking.
"The Tsumukari Muramasa is the most powerful weapon in all of Japan. Its previous user was a bog standard human, yet he stood shoulder to shoulder with the most powerful Red Dragon Emperor to ever live and a Campione so powerful that he was able to make his own brothers bow before him. Do you even understand the pure power that would take? The magnitude of influence I would hold if I was able to control its power? I would be unstoppable." The villain explained with a bit of heat entering his voice near the end.
That made sense, but I could tell that I wasn't getting the full picture.
A portal opened behind Tomura which Kurogiri formed out of. The Nomu appeared winded if such a thing could be applied to him. "My apologies Young Master, but I was unable to move the sword more than a few hundred meters." Kurogiri told his master in between ragged breaths.
"Disappointing, but not unexpected. Well, we still have our other objectives. We can just pick it up later." Tomura calmly responded.
"Like killing All Might?" I asked.
Tomura's smile widened to a near unnatural degree before speaking, "All Might is a pillar of society. His existence is important to the people. Killing him is the first step to destroying our current society. Much like your own father, Japan in its current state requires All Might to continue functioning."
"So, you seek society's destruction?" I prodded once again. He was being very amicable to my questions so far.
The villain in a suit raised his hand to stroke an imaginary beard before answering me, "Not exactly, but I don't suppose that saying so would be incorrect. You see, truthfully I don't really care about society or any such thing. What I really want is something far more basic."
"Power." I answered.
"In all of its forms. I want all of the power in the world so I may stand as the undisputed ruler of this world. Unfortunately, I can't do that with both All Might and your father in the way." Tomura clarified.
"Why are you telling me all of this?" I asked the real question.
Tomura chuckled at the question and asked me his own, "Why does anyone do anything? No, I suppose that's not the right question. Why does an insane supervillain do anything? That is the real question. Am I doing this because it amuses me? Does my ego require me to explain my motivations? Do I count on you doing something because of this information that advances my plans? A combination of all three?"
My eyes widened in realization, "You consider me a rival of some kind, don't you?"
"How astute of you. You and I share quite a few similarities you see. I'm quite jealous that you can use the Tsumukari Muramasa. A sword that is cursed to destroy everything that it touches. It should be mine. Not some snot nosed entitled rich kid's toy." The villain's face had traces of anger on it for the first time in our conversation. He gazed into my being with his finger twitching, clearly contemplating whether to kill me.
I stared deeply into Tomura's face. I don't know what I was searching for but what I saw made me rethink this whole situation. "How many similar attacks are happening around the country right now?"
Tomura's face quickly regained its serenity upon my question and he answered me, "Whatever could you mean?"
"This whole thing is a diversion, isn't it? Maybe that thing could take on All Might but there's no way it can take on him as well as Endeavor and your plan must have taken that into account. I don't think you really care if you kill All Might today. If you really cared then why haven't you killed me yet? I may not be as important but I am the only heir to the Amairin. Sure the Tsumukari Muramasa may be powerful but you clearly didn't expect to obtain it. So the real question is what the real goal of all this is." I argued.
Tomura frowned. "My master told me not to kill you yet, but being a villain is quite dangerous and accidents happen. I'm sure he'll understand. Don't move too much. I hate getting dust off my clothes."
I moved as fast as I could. Tomura was clearly underestimating me as he didn't move even as I reached for a talisman in my holder with my right hand. Moving my left up to my mouth I bit down on my thumb hard enough to draw blood. Finally, I brought the talisman up and pressed my thumb down. As blood contacted the talisman it began to glow and then flew up from my hand. A green shield extended in front of me as the talisman disintegrated into motes of green light.
Tomura smiled congenially at me from behind the translucent emerald barrier as he pulled back a fist and sent it flying. His fist met the barrier with a crack and it shattered. I grimaced and began backing up.
"Now, now where do you think you are going? The fun hasn't even begun." Tomura said in the same even tone he had been using the whole conversation. He walked forward at an even pace as I kept walking backwards. He looked me right in the eye and in a smooth motion reached out with an open palm and put it on my chest.
"Midoriya!" Aizawa bellowed as his capture weapon, a nanofiber weave mesh scarf, wrapped around me and pulled me back.
I landed on my feet but didn't take my eyes off Tomura for one second. I touched where Tomura had and didn't feel any different. Luckily Eraserhead's Quirk saved me just in time. The villain for his part was still standing where I had left him, seemingly in no hurry to finish the job. "Thank you Sensei." I expressed my gratitude to the man. The teacher did not like me at all but he still did his job.
"Are you hurt Midoriya?" Aizawa asked.
"No sir. Be careful, that villain is strong, very strong. Make sure that he doesn't touch anywhere on you without making sure his Quirk is erased." I responded.
"Eraserhead, right? It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I am Shigaraki Tomura. Hand over the boy and I'll get right out of your hair." The villain bargained.
"Surrender now villain. I won't tell you again." Aizawa declared.
"Oh really, I had thought you'd want to wash your hands of the heir of the Amairin. You know his daddy controls the Yakuza right? Ninety percent of all organized crime is his fault." Tomura slyly told Eraserhead.
"Surrender." Eraserhead proclaimed again in a calm, professional voice.
Tomura shrugged, "Oh well, I had to try. Now, where were we?"
I took stock of our surroundings as I kept my gaze squarely on Tomura. The Nomu Tomura had brought had yet to move. Kurogiri was gone for the moment. I felt the vibrations of feet through the ground. A few of my classmates were coming.
Tomura lunged at us with more speed than he showed before. He appeared before Aizawa faster than the teacher could respond. I tried to punch the villain but he simply dodged at the last second and lashed out with a kick of his own to my stomach. I was pushed back at least a meter but was still standing. I ran back into the fray as Tomura began his assault.
Aizawa launched his capture weapon at the villain but Tomura simply dodged in a masterful display of agility. The white haired villain kicked out and hit my teacher's head. Aizawa staggered but to his merit stayed standing and if his hair was any indication his Quirk only stopped working for a second.
My teacher launched a right hook of his own at the villain. Tomura simply grabbed the outstretched appendage and proceeded to throw the man directly at me. I caught the man but was pushed back a meter to exactly where I had been kicked to earlier. He was toying with us. The way Tomura held himself; the way he fought practically screamed power. Only people at the Peak of Reason exuded an aura like this.
"Ultimate Class." I grimly muttered.
"So you noticed. And here I thought I was hiding myself well enough." Tomura said nonchalantly in the same infuriatingly calm way he always did.
"What are you talking about Midoriya?" Eraserhead asked.
"He's stronger than he's showing us. We're being played with." I answered through gritted teeth.
Eraserhead responded with a grim nod. He had figured that out too, but that wasn't the question. Thankfully, it looked like he was going to let it go for the moment.
"What's the point of this display? If you wanted us dead then we'd already be six feet under. Earlier, you said you didn't have much time to mess around. So which is it? Do you have time to play or not?" I ventured.
Tomura launched himself at us with blinding speed in response to my query. Tomura kicked Eraserhead nearly ten meters away in a quick motion. I barely had enough time to respond as he redirected his attention to me and lashed out with a fist. I didn't have enough time to dodge so I blocked. This was a mistake. The villain's punch nearly sent me flying. The bones in my arms were cracked and the skin where the punch had landed felt like it had just taken a dip in lava.
"That was made of a titanium alloy that hasn't even been made public yet." I said as I gave my now completely destroyed arm guard a quick glance.
"Then you should be thankful I'm giving it some in field testing." Tomura responded as he masterfully weaved around my teacher's capture device again.
Once again Tomura was upon me. I kicked out and was promptly blocked by Tomura's arm. The villain launched his other arm and grabbed my throat, lifting me off the ground with one arm. I wheezed as I felt the hand constrict my trachea. I lashed out only for my hand to be caught immediately by the villain.
"I'm going to enjoy this." Tomura devilishly proclaimed.
"No, you will not." My teacher interjected. His capture weapon wrapped around Tomura and pulled. Tomura didn't move a single centimeter from his position.
The villain smiled as he looked upon the stupified expression of my teacher who was pulling with all of his might. Tomura was about average in height, if slightly above average, and while he definitely had muscles was on the skinnier side. My teacher wasn't surprised by the display of strength. No, even without a specific strength Quirk, anyone that took their training seriously would eventually reach levels of strength that would have been considered superhuman before the Quirk Revolution. The problem was that Tomura was standing completely still in a laid back stance. In other words, Tomura had no leverage.
It didn't matter how strong you were. If you had nothing to push off of it wasn't of any use. For instance, if someone with a wind control Quirk hit you with strong enough wind to make you fly and if you weren't holding onto something then you would fly because at that point it was a matter of mass, not strength. In this instance, Eraserhead was more than strong enough to pull Tomura but the villain wasn't moving despite holding onto nothing besides my throat at the moment.
The villain turned his eyes back to me and his smirk deepened as he spoke, "A neat trick I picked up a few years back. You like it? Afterall, why depend on something as fickle as leverage when you can make your own?"
I tried to respond but my words only came out as strangled gasps and gurgling noises. I was starting to gain spots in my vision and my head felt fuzzy from the lack of oxygen. I had been attempting to lash out with my hands and feet this entire time but now I had begun to still. It was beginning to become hard to stay awake. Everything was fading.
"Boss!" I heard Kirishima's voice ring clearly as I felt air fill my lungs again.
I coughed and gasped as I inhaled as deeply as I could. Kirishima's hand appeared in my vision and I took it and he pulled me up. I got a good look at Kirishima's face. He was concerned.
"I'm fine. Keep your eyes on the villain. He's strong." I told my friend.
"Kirishima, take Izuku out of here." Eraserhead ordered.
"What about you?" I asked.
"This is a job for a pro. I'll be fine. Just get out of here." Eraserhead responded with his hair down.
"No you won't. You need help." I riposted.
Eraserhead looked like he was about to respond but was cut off by the ground becoming dust which had nearly reached us. Thankfully Eraserhead was able to reactivate his Quirk just in time so we weren't also dust. It was a close thing though. There was about thirty meters between us and Tomura and the majority of the floor between us had just turned to dust in a single second. Less than half a meter separated the dust and us. The fountain that had once been the nice centerpiece to the central plaza no longer could be found.
"Having a nice talk without me? How rude. Aren't guests supposed to be treated with hospitality!" Tomura yelled at us across the dust bin he had just created. Heat had entered his voice. Clearly he was not a fan of being socked in the face out of nowhere so hard that he flew across the entire plaza.
"Woah." Kirishima gasped out at the sight in front of us.
"Focus, this villain's Quirk is being suppressed by Eraserhead right now and only you have enough strength to contest him." I told the redhead.
"So I gotta take him out while his Quirk is down?" Kirishima asked.
"No, he's still the stronger of you two. You're strong enough to be able to hurt him, not defeat him. We need to buy time for someone who can." I informed my friend.
"What? I'm at thirty percent and he's still stronger?" Kirishima nearly whispered to me.
I grimaced. "He's probably one of the strongest villains alive." I responded.
"That is exactly why you two need to leave." Eraserhead interjected.
This time both Kirishima and I were both about to respond but Tomura had decided we had enough time talking and zipped to us across the dust field. He was upon us in no time at all. Eraserhead moved his capture weapon and the fabric closed around empty air as once again Tomura skillfully dodged at the last moment. The villain ran toward me ignoring my two companions again. I dodged his first attack and launched my own that almost connected. The villain had clearly been surprised that I had dodged his attack and dodged himself on pure instinct. Kirishima took advantage of the villain's shock with a lightning quick kick that nearly launched the villain again.
Tomura had caught Kirishima's foot with his hands. With a quick movement Kirishima was thrown onto the ground. The ground cracked and splintered leaving a deep imprint where Kirishima had been hurled onto.
"You may have gotten me once but I can promise you there will be no second time." Tomura declared as he raised a fist to bring down upon Kirishima's prone body.
The villain smashed Kirishima at least a hundred times in the scant few moments it took my teacher to reach him. The villain's fist had become a blur of motion as I struggled to track it as Eraserhead finally reached him. My teacher sliced out at the villain's eyes with his right hand. The villain dodged the blow with a great leap. The white haired man looked upon that damage he had done in the few seconds he had been free to whale on my friend and laughed.
"Kirishima!" I shouted in concern. His body, which was being reinforced with his natural Quirk, was cracked all over. My friend raised himself up in a slow, ragged motion. I proffered my hand which he took and I pulled him up as he had done for me not a minute ago.
"I'm good." He grit out, clearly in pain. "It's mostly just cosmetic. Still hurts like a bitch though." The cracks in his skin were starting to knit back together so I left it at that.
"He's still playing with us. Just what is he waiting for? What is he getting out of this exchange?" I asked myself aloud. His Quirk was being nullified but his strength was far beyond us. Enough that this would be a slaughter if the villain chose to actually kill us. That trick with leverage was almost certainly some kind of magic.
I could see the smile on the villain's face. This was a distraction of some sort, I could tell that for a while now. The problem was I didn't know what distraction would require him not to just outright kill us. He wasn't trying to kidnap any of us so that ruled that out. Both All Might and Endeavor would definitely come to help us and that left them out of any attack that might be happening at the same time as this. All Might and Endeavor would still come even if everyone was killed so why not just get it over with already? There were just too many unknowns for me to understand what his plan was in the first place.
As Tomura was about to launch himself at us again a swelling of ice appeared from the landslide zone and separated the villain from us. Todoroki came riding a sheath of ice with Mina trailing not far behind on her acid and arrived near us.
"Reporting for duty Boss!" Shoko exalted with a mock salute.
"Same ere' captain!" Mina parroted before noticed Kirishima's state. "Kiri, you alright?" Mina asked softly.
The redhead nodded positively and Mina held onto one of his arms and began inspecting him.
I reached for a talisman in my holder, dropped a bit of blood on it and then threw it on the new glacier Todoroki had just created. The talisman dissolved into motes of jade embers in but a moment with a series of lime green cracks emanated from the point where I had thrown the talisman that grew to encompass the entirety of the glacier.
"What was that?" Shoko bluntly asked.
"One of Kaede's talismans designed to make whatever material it struck resistant to Quirks." I replied evenly.
"Why?" Shoko asked once again, tilting her head to the side in puzzlement.
"Because it will slow down the villain, even if only momentarily." I stated.
"Oh that, don't worry I covered that guy with like ten meters of ice. There's no way he's getting out." Shoko responded while puffing out her chest in pride.
As if guided by the god of comedic timing itself, the ground shook and cracks started to form on the ice as soon as the girl had spoken the words.
"Shoko, Mina, I need you two working to deny ground to the villain. Kirishima, you're the only one who can compete with the villain physically, you're the vanguard. Eraserhead, I'm sure you don't need me to tell you that we're all dead if your Quirk stops blocking his." I spoke as the fractures across the ice grew with each successive shake.
Three seconds later the ice finally gave way and in a moment was shattered into tens of thousands of tiny crystals of ice. Tomura stood seemingly unaffected by having been buried in several tons of ice.
The villain brushed off some dust from his suit with a hand and simply said, "I hate getting dust on me." Then he launched himself toward our group.
Shoko immediately blasted ice at the villain around him. The villain didn't stop in his advance and so was quickly surrounded by a tunnel of ice. Once he was surrounded Shoko switched to her fire. She got in front of the rest of us and sent as much fire as she could into the newly made ice tunnel. All of this happened in a single second but I was still able to keep track until Shoko's fire became too bright to look at. I had to close my eyes until the fire died down.
When I opened my eyes again I could see Tomura closing in on a surprised Shoko. I immediately reached out and pulled her toward me. The villain missed her by a hair's breadth and was met with acid to the face instead courtesy of Mina. Unfortunately, the villain easily dealt with the acid as it disappeared upon making contact with his skin instead of burning him. Thankfully, that seemed to take some concentration as he wasn't able to dodge a haymaker from Kirishima. The villain took a second punch from Kirishima to the face and was sent flying.
"Put my back in that one." The boy with sharp teeth declared with a smirk.
The villain landed on his feet at least ten meters away from us and was feeling the cheek Kirishima had hit with a hand. "I felt that one, brat." The villain said in half surprise and half genuine anger. I could feel a pressure begin to emanate from the villain. Things were about to go from bad to worse.
"Oi, Deku catch!" Katsumi screamed at me.
I twisted and saw Katsumi with Kaede coming from the rainfall zone. Then I saw in the air what Katsumi had just thrown. I could feel my lips form into a smile involuntarily. "Perfect." I stated as I caught the Tsumukari Muramasa in my hand.
We didn't have any time so I did something that in retrospect maybe I should have given advance warning. I lifted up the katana and pulled the blade from the scabbard. Discarding the scabbard, I turned the blade around so it was facing me and then plunged it into my chest. My eyes bulged as I felt the blade come to life. Out of my back where the blade stabbed out a red and black miasma flowed like streams around me. I pulled the now blood red blade out of my chest in a quick motion.
"What the fuck!" Shoko yelled at what had just happened.
"Hehehe, so this is what All the Evils in the World feel like. This oppressive feeling, the pure malice, amazing! I wanted it before but after feeling this, I need it!" Tomura shouted in glee.
The villain launched himself right at me with speed even further beyond his previous showing, dashing past the rest of my allies. This time I was ready. He attempted to punch my head off in a single strike. I intercepted the strike with the Tsumukari Muramasa. The villain pulled his strike at the last second to avoid my counter but was a second too late and was nicked by the blade's edge.
"Argh!" The villain groaned in pain as he backed off.
My smile threatened to split my face in two as I spoke, "My turn."
I pushed forward and attacked with all of my might. The villain was far faster than me but couldn't afford to get sliced by the blade and the same sword gave me a reach advantage that multiplied that fact. A green laser blast hit the villain as he avoided my latest attack sending him tumbling.
The villain righted himself midair and landed on his feet. Tomura shook the arm that had been cut earlier as if to shake off the curses. "This is starting to become annoying." The white haired villain states as he glances toward the Nomu which still hadn't moved.
Eraserhead's capture weapon wrapped around the villain in his split second distraction, finally capturing Tomura. Kirishima helped hold the capture weapon with Eraserhead. Shoko immediately encased Tomura's body in ice. I ran to Tomura and put my blade up to the villain's throat.
"Ok, ok I get it I've lost. I'd raise my hands in surrender if I could." Tomura amusedly said. "Hahaha, to think I would be beaten by such an interesting little group. A pro hero, All Might's successor, someone with such a powerful lightning attribute, and if my nose isn't deceiving me, two extremely powerful draconic Sacred Gears. Oh, and of course, you."
My eyes widened in shock but didn't move from my spot. He was trying to set me off balance and I wasn't going to give him that. Although, if what he was saying was true…
"Have no fear students, for I am here!" All Might rang out across the USJ as he announced his arrival.
I kept my eyes on Tomura as his placid smile twisted into a malevolent one at All Might's arrival. "Whelp, I'm done playing around." In a swift motion Tomura broke out of the ice encasing him and sliced through the capture weapon holding him with a knife he was now suddenly holding. He jumped back before I could slice him through with the Tsumukari Muramasa. "Nomu, kill All Might." Tomura said in a sickeningly sweet tone.
The previously motionless Nomu moved in a blur of speed and met All Might in the middle. The subsequent clash released pressure waves that pushed anyone near away.
Tomura was standing completely at ease while watching the fight. I wasn't sure what to do at this point. The villain looked ready to reengage but nothing we had thrown at him seemed to even slow him down besides the nick I did with the Tsumukari Muramasa. He had been taking care not to be hit by the sword again after the first time so he probably didn't have any way to deal with curses personally. Now that he had brought a weapon of his own out I had even less chance to win, but even so I was the only one who could win this fight.
"Support me, I'm going to take Shigaraki out." I ordered as I began sprinting toward the villain.
A green laser flew by me as I approached that Tomura parried with his knife. I slashed at Tomura's right with a feint. The villain didn't fall for it and parried the follow up. Shoko's ice came roaring at Tomura which forced him to dodge into a less favorable position. Mina's acid came from the villain's other side which forced him to dodge back into the ice. I continued to pressure him with five strikes that all occurred within the span of a second that forced his back to the ice that Shoko had just created.
Despite being backed into a corner, Tomura retained a smile on his face. Eraserhead's capture weapon went in low and wrapped around Tomura's leg and pulled. Katsumi launched herself at the villain and set off explosions right in his face. My own strike attempting to take advantage of Tomura's momentary surprise was deflected by the villain and in a smooth motion cut the capture weapon holding his leg and then cut right through the arm that Katsumi had been using to attempt to explode his face and then jumped out of the way.
Eraserhead was the first to react and caught Katsumi as she fell back. I could hear her groans of pain. Her forearm had sliced clean off. Blood was spilling everywhere and Eraserhead had repurposed his capture weapon as bandages.
I looked at the injury and suddenly could hear myself. I was breathing hard. I was inhaling and exhaling hard and fast and I wasn't slowing down. Everything that I always suppressed when I used to the Tsumukari Muramasa suddenly came into view. I felt boiling heat, I felt chilling cold, I was tumultuous, I was serene. Everything hurt, everything was amazing. My breathing became even faster. They were going to take what was mine. I would not lose it again.
"Kat…SU…MI?"
I looked at the one who had caused this.
I was furious.
Shota Aizawa never liked Izuku Midoriya and that was before the boy had ever even stepped foot in his classroom. After meeting the boy Aizawa wanted to never see him again. The boy had the eyes of someone who had killed in cold blood before. Izuku Midoriya wasn't cut out to be a hero and if Shota had his way Izuku would have been given the boot day one even if Shota hadn't known of his associations before. Still, the boy was determined and skilled. Even if Izuku didn't have a Quirk, in terms of capabilities, Aizawa had to admit that with his sword the boy was one of the strongest in his class. Considering UA was the premier hero school in Japan, that was saying something.
With all that said, Shota hadn't been expecting this. The villain he had been fighting was terrifyingly strong even by his own exceedingly high standards. The villain hadn't even shown all of his strength yet and was playing with them. Despite all of that he gave the fight his all. Midoriya's sword had been the only thing that had actually hurt the villain and given him pause. So, while it was suicidally stupid when the boy had begun the all or nothing attack, Shota tried to help. Bakugou's injury was par for the course really; honestly he was relieved that the girl had only been injured instead of killed.
But then he heard Izuku. The boy looked and acted like he was having a panic attack at Bakugou's injury. Shota was a little surprised as he didn't think something like this would break through the boy's stoicism.
But then he spoke, "Kat…SU…MI?"
It was chilling. When Izuku had stabbed himself through earlier, Shota had been angry. First that the boy had stabbed himself and then that the boy had a Quirk and didn't tell his own damn teacher. He wanted to chastise the boy at the time but stayed his mouth when he felt Midoriya's Quirk. It was cold and spiteful. It was like he could feel all the times he had felt angry, vindictive, spiteful, depressed, and hurt in his life all rolled into one distinct feeling that emanated off of the boy. The feeling as well as the red-black miasma that roiled off Midoriya had just magnified tenfold as he spoke Bakugou's name. Midoriya looked at the villain that had cut off Bakugou's hand and then promptly vanished in a blur of speed.
"What the?" Shota whispered as he continued his attempts to perform first aid on Bakugou.
"Keep stanching the wound. " Mariya ordered as she knelt next to him and started using her unusually multifaceted Quirk to help heal Bakugou.
"Kaede, what happened?" A new voice, Momo Yaoyorozu asked as she finally arrived.
"That villain cut off Katsumi's arm and Izuku, Izuku's not in control right now." Kaede responded in a grave voice that was shaking.
"Damnit, ok, ok, where's her arm?" Yaoyorozu questioned quickly.
"Why? Do we need it?" Kirishima asked with a quiver in his voice. He was trying to keep it under control and was partially failing.
"Yes, bring it to me now!" Yaoyorozu ordered as she knelt next to Bakugou with Shota.
"Stop fucking yelling, its not even that fuckin' deep." Bakugou spoke in a delirious tone.
"You have a Phoenix Tear?" Mariya half stated, half asked, her voice radiating hope.
"Mom doesn't let me leave home without them." Yaoyorozu stated as a bottle of red liquid appeared in her hand with a flash.
"Here." Kirishima said as he handed Katsumi's severed hand to Yaoyorozu.
"Ok, good. Aizawa-sensei, I need you to move your scarf off of Katsumi's wounds." Yaoyorozu told Eraserhead.
Shota looked in his student's eye. Bakugou had already lost a lot of blood and her wound needed to be stanched now. "Sensei, please trust us." Mariya pleaded. Shota turned to the girl and looked her in the eyes as well. Both of his student's gazes were resolute. Neither were the type to play around and often were the serious and responsible members of any group. Shota didn't know how the liquid that Yaoyorozu had conjured from thin air would help. The idea that the liquid would be able to reattach Bakugou's limb was crazy, but after everything that had happened today he was feeling rather accepting of crazy right now.
Shota started unwrapping the remains of his capture weapon from Katsumi's stump as quickly as he could. Mariya held the severed hand next to the arm it had been cut before starting to chant. Bakugou's body started glowing a faint green as Mariya finished her chant.
Mariya looked at Yaoyorzu before nodding and ordering, "Now!"
Yaoyorozu tipped the bottle in her hand and the red liquid held within began to pour out onto the wound. For a moment nothing happened. After an indescribably long moment, the wound began healing. The muscles reconnected and the skin fused together in but a single breath. After it was done it was like the hand had never been severed in the first place.
Shota was flabbergasted. This obviously wasn't the work of a Quirk. In fact, the liquid had appeared from thin air in Yaoyorozu's hand and not from her Quirk. Shota had never seen such powerful healing either. Recovery Girl was one of the best healers in Japan but even she wouldn't have been able to heal such a grievous wound so quickly or so neatly. The only thing he had seen that could compare to this were high end regeneration Quirks, and even those had limitations.
Shota looked at the other students nearby. Todoroki, Ashido, and Kirishima stopped the villains that were trying to get near them. Katsumi was still being helped by Yaoyorozu and Mariya. The formerly injured had even regained some of her vigor as she had begun yelling at her classmates again. Shota rose to his feet only to nearly fall over as the ground shook. Looking at the source of the faux earthquake, Shota saw All Might punch Nomu so hard that it flew through the ceiling of the USJ. The Symbol of Peace was shaking and could barely stay upright. Thirteen had told him that All Might had already reached his limit today so that didn't surprise Shota.
Finally, Shota looked toward where Shigaraki and Midoriya were fighting. It was chaos and destruction. Whatever Quirk, no, whatever power Midoriya was using was frightful. The boy looked and sounded like he was possessed. Still, the power that the two combatants had was undeniable. It wasn't at the level of All Might and Nomu's battle, but it was a close thing.
Shota tore his eyes off of the battle the two were having and focused on his students. "Everyone ready?" All of his students that were in the vicinity had gathered up now that Katsumi was up and walking again. "We're heading to the entrance."
Shota could see a few wanted to reject him but they didn't have time to since All Might had just arrived and spoke, "Eraserhead, I've dealt with the villain sent to kill me all of the other villains have been subdued. Reinforcements should be arriving soon."
"Good, we need to get the students out of here now. We don't know if these villains have any other tricks up their sleeves." Shota said as he felt a new spike of coldness settle over him.
All Might turned to look at the last battle going on in the USJ. "What happened to young Midoriya? I didn't know he was so strong."
"Hell if I know. I'd rather like some answers myself." Shota replied while glaring at Yaoyorozu and Mariya. He was certain the two of them knew what was happening.
"Yeah, I'd like a fucking explanation how you just reattached my hand and what ever the fuck is going on with Deku." Bakugou crassly interjected.
"That villain said something about Sacred Gears earlier. I saw Kaede and Momo flinch when he brought it up." Ashido added.
"Ooh, he also said something about All the Evils in the World right after Izu-kun stabbed himself." Todoroki supplied.
Kirishima didn't say anything but looked at the two girls with concerned eyes.
Yaoyorozu held steadfast under their collective gazes but Mariya quickly wilted under the pressure. The girl held for all of ten seconds before she sighed and answered, "So, umm, basically, uh." Mariya slumped and the tension in her shoulders left her as she seemingly came to a decision. "Magic and gods are real. Izuku's sword is possessed by a God of Evil and he's channeling that power to fight the villain on even footing."
Shota looked into the eyes of his student looking for any signs of deceit. He found none. Shota ruminated over everything that had happened since coming into the USJ today and found he couldn't refute.
…
…
…
If this world wasn't going to make any sense anymore then Shota was giving up. Honestly he'd take a drunken Joke over whatever the hell this was. That was saying something considering what had happened the last time Joke had gotten drunk.
Tomura Shigaraki had been trained by the Symbol of Evil and so knew how to hatch an evil plan. Always have multiple objectives. Always ensure that even if one part of any plan fails that it in some way could help another objective. Never create a plan that has a fail condition in the first place. Have contingencies in place in case any part of the plan fails in such a way that it could jeopardize the larger picture. Always have all of the information you possibly could.
Tomura had planned out this attack perfectly and as far as he could tell it was working swimmingly. While it would have been a nice extra, he hadn't bet on Nomu killing All Might. Likewise, obtaining the Tsumukari Muramasa would have been a nice boon, but given its nature Tomura doubted Kurogiri would have been able to transport it from the start. In truth, like the brat had figured out almost immediately, this whole attack on the USJ was just a huge diversion. Tomura knew that All Might would be attending and since the Midoriya brat along with his own daughter were here Endeavor would come as soon as he heard regardless of what was happening outside.
Unfortunately, that left Burnout still on the stage. Of course, Tomura had already done enough to ensure that the only other Ultimate Class hero in Japan other than the two that would be coming to the USJ was distracted long enough for his subordinates to carry out their own order relatively unmolested. Hopefully. You could never be too sure when it came to powerhouses at that level. Honestly, Tomura thought that was half the reason Campione were feared as much as they were. The sheer unpredictability that most of them had. Thankfully, Ultimate Class beings weren't even half as bad as those within Super Class. Still, it worried him.
All that being said, the kid in front of him was making him worried. The plan didn't really matter if he was dead after all. He had known the kid was insane just with him wielding possibly the most powerful cursed weapon in the world, but this was beyond even his expectations. The kid shouldn't have been able to hurt him at all considering the sheer difference in power between the two of them. Yet, the brat had cut him. Sure, the Tsumukari Muramasa was powerful but it was still a sword. If the wielder wasn't adequate then it would be as good as a kitchen knife. Tomura knew that he didn't really have the means to take a hit from the blade and so acted accordingly and yet he had been hit.
Tomura twisted his way out of another strike which only missed by a hair's breadth. That was close, way too close. It shouldn't be like this. Even with the rage powerup that the brat had, he was only low Ultimate Class at best. Tomura himself sat somewhere around the middle of Ultimate Class. The power difference might not seem like a lot as they stood within the same class, but Ultimate Class was anywhere from city buster to country buster in strength. The power of someone in the middle of Ultimate Class could destroy an entire prefecture if left to his own devices. In other words, Tomura should have the definite advantage, except that he didn't.
The brat was dodging and parrying blows before Tomura had even sent them. Anytime Tomura had tried to set up a trap it was immediately blocked and counteracted. It was getting ridiculous. The worst part of it all was despite the brat's obvious rage, the kid was wearing a slasher grin across his face instead of one of anger.
Tomura blocked another powerstrike from the brat and immediately tossed aside the knife he had been using. It was both cracked from the sword strikes he had been using it to parry with and starting to lose its enchantments as the curses kept eating at the spell matrices. Tomura had a couple trump cards under his sleeves that he could use to save himself right now, but the situation hadn't deteriorated to the point that he would need to use them yet. That being said, if the brat's current rate of improvement continued then Tomura didn't like the odds of his head remaining attached to his head.
Luckily, the rest of UA's staff would soon be here very soon, so Tomura only needed to hold out for another minute or so. However, what he had been waiting for had finally happened. The brat had gathered up an absolutely massive amount of curses on his sword. The two of them were apart from each other at a distance of around thirty meters so his opponent unleashed all of the curses in his sword in a sort of beam attack.
"Kurogiri!" Tomura bellowed out as the attack approached. His servant appeared right in front of him and then opened up a warp portal.
Kurogiri screamed in pain as the curses flowed into his portal but did not close it or move out of the way. Kurogiri was not able to fear for his life, nor was he truly able to feel pain. Still, the curses inflicted pain and fear despite the lack of pain receptors or the lack of any part of Kurogiri's brain to feel fear. Had Kurogiri been a normal Nomu then perhaps he would have closed the portal out of instinct. Perhaps, but his servant didn't just lack the ability to rebel against him, he was also completely loyal.
After a painfully long moment, the last of the brat's curses flew through the air and finally there was nothing. Kurogiri closed the portal and fell to the ground unconscious. The brat was kneeling and panting. The blast had taken a lot out of him and his enraged state was clearly beyond his current limits so it was likely burning through his stamina like lit gasoline. Even after the relatively short battle they had just had he was already running on fumes right now. The brat likely wouldn't be able to defend himself if he struck now.
Tomura took a moment to consider what to do. He ran through the advantages versus disadvantages that keeping the brat alive would have. His father believed the brat to only be of middling importance in the grand scheme of things and a useful pawn to be kept alive for future use. Tomura had just completely outplayed the brat so he would have to agree logically.
Except, his instincts were yelling at him that the brat needed to go now. That if he didn't kill him now then he would never be able to. It was a stupid thought. Why wouldn't he be able to kill the brat anytime he wanted. Sure, the Tsumukari Muramasa was powerful, that was not in doubt. But, frankly it didn't matter how strong or skilled the brat got with the sword. The only human Tomura knew of in Ultimate Class that didn't also use magic was All Might. That was it. Quirks had their power and uses. His own father could attest to the power of Quirks, but this brat didn't even have that. This brat had nothing and Tomura had half a dozen trump cards that he could use at any time to destroy the brat.
Even still, Tomura raised a hand. His father had taught him that sometimes no amount of logic would beat his gut instinct. Tomura readied himself until All Might appeared in front of the kneeling brat. All Might was talking now. Something about giving himself up. It was all a bluff. If All Might wasn't running dangerously low on time and energy then he would have attacked immediately instead of posturing. Tomura's lips curled into a smile. A two for one special.
Tomura leaned back instinctually. A bullet passed in front of him. The UA staff had arrived and he could already feel the heat from Endeavor's flames from over here.
Tomura picked up Kurogiri from the ground with one hand and activated a teleportation circle. It was unfortunate, but in life one couldn't get everything. With a flash Tomura was gone right as Endeavor's flames were about to swallow him up. A smile appeared across his face as he returned successfully and almost unscathed. His face contorted into a frown as he looked at the cut he had been given by the brat earlier. Almost unscathed.
Tomura should have been happy that his plan had worked even better than he had calculated, but he just couldn't get the idea out of his head that not killing the brat would come back to bite him.
Balance had to be maintained to utilize the Tsumukari Muramasa. Too much at once and you risk your body and soul being corrupted by the curses. Too little and you risk having too little power to fight the enemy. That balance had been broken for a moment. For a single moment my will had been broken and I lost control. The curses that I was holding back before flooded into me like a bursting dam.
It made me stronger, stronger than I had ever been before. At the same time I was weaker than ever. Luckily, I had been able to direct myself at Tomura so nobody had gotten hurt from my weakness. I hated losing control. Whenever I did, somebody got hurt. Usually somebody innocent. I wanted to be better than some mindless animal. I wanted to live up to the promises I had made to those I loved. I wanted, well, I wanted a lot of things.
Was I really so weak that just the sight of Katsumi getting hurt could make me lose control? I wanted to say that I would be better next time, but I knew deep down that if there was a next time then it would be no different. In the end, I knew that I was a deeply broken person. I clung to those I loved in desperation. It was a possessive, dark love. The feelings I felt were wrong. I tried to bury it, but I knew that fundamentally I was weak.
I felt the curses recede, if only slightly. Kaede was working her magic with her anti-curse talismans surrounding me in a formation. I could hear Kaede chanting in the background in her usual captivating voice. It wasn't enough to contain the curses, but it did help lighten the burden.
The scabbard to my sword was shoved into my vision. I looked up to see Katsumi with both of her hands attached. "Take it Deku." She admonished me. I took the scabbard back in a slow deliberate motion and sluggishly slid the blade into its sheath.
The curses receded back into the blade once again and I felt the full weight of the overuse of the curses hit me all at once. My eyes slid closed and I fell forward. I felt hands catch me before I fell onto the ground. What had a cursed being like me done to deserve all of this love? It scared me that one day it would be taken away, again.
After all, I was truly cursed.
Toya Todoroki, better known as Burnout, was patrolling as he usually did when a series of attacks simultaneously took place all over Japan. Toya stopped criminal after criminal after that. It was his duty as the strongest hero in Japan to stop as many of these criminals as he could in as short a time as possible. In just thirty minutes he had swept over three prefectures. Utilizing his Quirk and some good ole magic, he could fly at speeds well exceeding the sound barrier. It was draining but he couldn't stop now. As the current number two hero, he had to show the world that he was standing strong and taking care of the current ongoing disaster.
Toya sighed as he rocketed through the air. Toya had surpassed his father a few years back. Apparently, while his mother didn't use magic, she had extremely high magical potential. His father was an extremely strong mage himself, so Toya had inherited the best from both parents and was a magical powerhouse. Even Hisashi Midoriya, the greatest mage in all of Japan, had told Toya that his potential was equal to his own. Combined with his own Quirk that produced flames literally too hot to handle, he was strong. Stronger than his father, stronger than All Might, almost as strong as Hisashi Midoriya.
Burnout landed in front of a truck that a few villains were using to escape from the police after their villainous rampage. Blue flames lapped out from the soles of Burnout's shoes. Two lines of flame barely a few centimeters high and scarcely a centimeter in width ran from his boots to the wheels of the truck. The tires melted near instantly and the vehicle lost speed and came to a stop only ten centimeters in front of him. The villains immediately surrendered and Burnout put cuffs on them and left them for the police. Inventory spells were useful like that.
Taking off again, he took out several more groups before receiving a call. Toya looked at the caller ID before answering as fast as he could.
"Burnout, you're needed." Hisashi Midoriya, his boss, told him.
The flaming hot hero rushed as fast as he could to the shrine he had been directed to. Landing in front of the Torii gate at the front of the shrine, Burnout couldn't help but frown. An untold number of curses were flowing from the shrine as a black sludge attempting to consume all it touched. The temple's occupants were all working together to prevent the sludge from advancing, but he couldn't help but notice that the number of people resisting the curses was less than he would have expected given the shrine's size.
Burnout breathed in and then out. He could feel the flames of his Quirk grow out of his body and expand until they completely engulfed him. The flames burned at temperatures that vaporized steel on contact, but even that wouldn't be nearly enough. While Quirks did have a supernatural element to them, their effects were categorized as mundane. No matter how hot his flames got, they would never be able to burn away the curses as they were not physical things that could be burnt.
Burnout grabbed a cross he wore and began channeling its power through his flames. Japan had a small Christian population that was a remnant from one of the Holy Church's expansion attempts. As such, Christians were rare but not completely impossible to find in Japan. Today most of their influence could be seen in surface level aesthetics. For instance, someone wearing a cross would usually be seen as an interesting aesthetic choice rather than thinking that the person in question was a practicing Christian. In Burnout's case, he wore this cross for neither its aesthetic appeal or as a sign of belief, but because of its inherent power.
The blue fire that surrounded the hero turned a stark white and Burnout fired it out with all of his might. The sludge burned as it fought against the white flame's power. Burnout turned up the output further and the flames exploded forth with power. A solid five minutes passed before the sludge had been burnt through. Burnout entered the shrine with the rest of its residents looking for any remnant curses.
Another twenty minutes later and Burnout was looking at the thirty people who hadn't gotten away from the cursed sludge fast enough and were swallowed up in its wake. Burnout bent down and began channeling the white flames once again at a much lower power and purified as many curses as he could in the bodies of each of the victims as he could. Not all of them would likely survive, but most of them hadn't been covered by the cursed sludge for very long so he suspected that most would live.
"Sir Burnout, we have need of your help." One of the monks told him.
Burnout nodded and followed the monk to a large room that housed many of the shrine's leaders. They were all working on a large spell matrix that covered the entirety of the room. No, it covered the entirety of the shrine. This room was just a nexus point. Burnout's eyes widened in surprise as he realized what he was looking at. This room wasn't just a nexus point, the entire shrine was a nexus point for Japan's largest spell formation.
The curses had eaten through more than half the spell matrix in this room. Given that this room was likely warded even better than the rest of the shrine, Burnout didn't like the odds of the rest of the spell matrix outside of this room. Burnout got to work cleansing all of the remaining curses left in the shrine but the spell couldn't be saved. It would have to be rebuilt from the ground up and he would have to be the one to give the news to the boss.
The largest spell formation in Japan that tracked all unauthorized magic usage and prevented unlawful teleportation was down for the foreseeable future.
A/N: It's finally done!
Seriously though, sorry about the long hiatus. I really have no explanation. I will try to be more consistent in the future. As an apology this chapter is more than double the usual chapter length at 14k.
Moving on, Shigaraki gets introduced and we get a bit of perspective on Aizawa and Toya. Shigaraki is far more powerful and competent than in canon. The entire chapter was him messing around. The only reason he didn't get any kills was that he really wasn't trying and All For One had explicitly ordered him not to kill All Might's successor or Izuku. As for the reason why, you'll just have to keep reading to find out.
Aizawa's perspective was interesting to write for. As the only reasonable adult around for most of the chapter his mind certainly took a beating. Toya was likewise interesting as his entire character is completely different from canon and as I stated in chapter, he is currently the strongest hero in Japan.
All Might is stronger and has a longer time limit than canon. Hisashi can be thanked for this. As for why the man would help All Might recover better than in canon and yet not just give the man a Phoenix Tear, well you'll see.
On a final note, we get some more of Izuku's mental state and understanding of the world. He is starting to crack from the strain and we see him lose control rather than outright possession.
All in all a huge chapter with many ramifications to come from it.
Next Chapter: Aftermath
Until next time signing out.