Chapter 19: Stormbreaker and King Lord Murdersplosion 5000 vs. All Might
Midoriya leaned against the railing, watching his classmates fare in their final exams. He guessed he wasn't shocked that his match with Bakugou against All Might would be the last; fate had a way of plucking his nerves like that.
His mind was locked in a vicious cycle as he watched his classmates pass or fail their exams - Kirishima, Sato, Kaminari, and Ashido were not so lucky in their endeavors. First, he would marvel at the strategies his classmates and teachers were using to counteract each other. Then, he would wonder about what sort of strategy he and Bakugou should use against All Might. Next would come panic, as Bakugou had no intention of actually working with him. Then came the dread of failing because - how the hell does someone stop All Might? Finally, he would try and focus on his classmates to take his mind off of the dread, and the cycle would begin anew. And each iteration was worse than the last.
He allowed himself a small smile when Asui and Tokoyami completed their challenge against Ectoplasm - while a few of the other classmates were a bit perturbed that she used her stomach to hold the cuffs, Midoriya was more impressed. I mean it was gross, sure, but that was really clever use of her quirk.
But when he saw Asui and Tokoyami grinning at each other after the victory, he felt something different in the pit of his stomach. He wasn't sure what it was, but he didn't quite like it.
Midoriya shrugged it off. Jealousy wasn't very becoming of him, and he certainly didn't have time for it.
He still felt a bit of relief when he saw Asui return to the viewing platform without Tokoyami, and scolded himself internally for it. He didn't want to be like that, and Tokoyami seemed like a cool guy.
"Good work, you guys did great," he said, giving her a small smile.
"Thanks, kero," she replied, smiling back. "... you didn't see me use my stomach pouch, did you?"
"We uh... we all did," he answered, rubbing the back of his neck. "B-but it was still really clever!"
She turned a bit red, but turned to watch the next exam with the smile still on her face. Midoriya couldn't help but notice how close her hand was to his on the railing of the platform.
He shook the thought from his head and tried to focus on the matches... and promptly reentered his cycle of dread.
He watched the last match before his, happy to see Todoroki and Yaoyorozu triumph over Aizawa with clever usage of Momo's creations.
He gulped as Recovery Girl told him to go get ready for his next exam, and he left the viewing platform.
Mjolnir in hand, he weighed his options. Well, one option. He had to run, right? That seemed like it was his only choice. Would Bakugou be willing to coordinate an escape tactic?
He was lead by Aizawa to their training zone, what looked to be an abandoned urban city area. As he walked next to Bakugou, he asked, "hey, what do you think -"
"Shut up."
Midoriya frowned at the response. He could see Aizawa look back at the two of them, slightly concerned himself.
He kept his mouth shut as he and Bakugou were left in the middle of a city street and waited for the signal to start. Resigned to whatever Bakugou was planning, he began spinning Mjolnir at his side to focus his electricity.
An alarm blared, and Midoriya turned towards the exit, flying parallel to the ground as fast as he could. To his shock, Bakugou used his explosions to follow him.
Okay... we're going pretty quickly! He thought, if we keep this up we can -
Midoriya's thought was interrupted as a meteor of some sort hit the pavement in front of Bakugou and Midoriya, sending shockwaves through the city and both boys flying into nearby buildings. Midoriya himself went sailing through a display window, and was thankful - after processing all his pain, of course - that his skin had toughened enough not to get lacerated.
"That... suuuuuuuuuuuuuucked," he groaned, picking himself up from the shelving units he had crashed into. He surveilled the scene, knowing they were supposed to be aware of causing collateral damage, but the teacher's had no such drawback. And who else could cause as much collateral damage as All Might?
He surveyed the scene out of the broken window; neither All Might or Bakugou were in sight, but he was soon answered to the sound of explosions a few blocks away. Jumping out of the window, he summoned Mjolnir and took off flying towards the explosions.
I could probably make a break for it, he thought, but I know it didn't fare well for Sero that Mineta did all the work. He furrowed his brow. We're supposed to be a team. Kacchan's getting my help whether he likes it or not.
He went further above the buildings to get a better view of his surroundings, and saw Bakugou fighting All Might an intersection a few blocks away. Although, "fighting," was probably a little generous. As Bakugou unleashed an explosion at All Might's chest, the Symbol of Peace reached through the fire and backhanded Katsuki into a nearby wall. Still, the burn marks and clothing damage on All Might's arms showed that Bakugou was at least getting some licks in.
Midoriya tried to plan out an attack when Bakugou rocketed towards All Might again. This time, the Number One Hero used one hand to grab Bakugou's entire face and slam him to the ground.
With no time to strategize, Midoriya landed to All Might's left and threw Mjolnir. It hit the Hero in the side of the head, knocking him off Bakugou.
If it had been anyone else, they'd have been knocked out or given a concussion, but All Might merely staggered a few feet away. Quickly, Midoriya recalled his weapon and unleashed a massive blast of Lightning that sent All Might flying down an alleyway - a direction Midoriya picked to limit any more property damage.
Before All Might could recover, Midoriya began to fly, grabbing Bakugou's hand and heading towards the exit. But as soon as Bakugou realized what was happening, he set off an explosion, burning Midoriya's left hand and sending the two skidding across the ground only a block away from where they had originally been.
"What are you doing?!" Midoriya shouted as he scrambled to his feet. "We can escape!"
"I'm not escaping!" Bakugou seethed as he climbed to a vertical base himself. "We won't be able to get away from All Might, he's too quick. Besides," he glared daggers into Midoriya as he added, "I'd rather lose than help you escape anyway."
The words were like a slap in the face to Midoriya as his eyes widened.
Bakugou, for as long as Midoriya could remember, was obsessed with winning. He had to have the best All Might merchandise, always get the best test scores, always finish a race the fastest, always had to finish lunch before any of the other kids. Bakugou, who had proclaimed he would always be the best, no matter in what way, and never lose since before they even entered school...
Would rather lose? Than cooperate with Midoriya?
He was so caught off guard with the proclamation, he failed to notice All Might approaching him from above until it was too late; he got punched in the face with a Detroit Smash and was sent sailing blocks away, hitting the pavement and coughing blood from impact, Mjolnir flying out of his hands as he bounced along the ground.
Midoriya had never been excessively prideful like his childhood friend, but something inside him snapped as he opened his eyes to the blue sky above him and the sound of the five minute warning alarm.
He had worked so hard to get to UA. Broken himself to master the power of Mjolnir, and pushed himself to win the Sports Festival. He'd fought dragons, skeletons, legitimate villains, and was heir to Asgard per Thor's decree.
He refused to fail this final due to the stubbornness of Bakugou.
But further, he didn't want to lose to All Might.
Something had been itching in himself ever since he learned from Thor that All Might had rejected the powers of the God of Thunder. While All Might was still his Hero, Midoriya had a secret yearning.
He wanted to prove All Might wrong.
His teeth grit, his eyes began to glow blue as he raised his hand from the ground Mjolnir snapped to it, and he could feel his wounds begin to heal.
The blue skies above began to cloud up with dark grey clouds.
He stood up and took to the air, flying back towards where Bakugou and All Might were. While he had recovered, All Might had hit the blonde teen with another Face Palm of Doom, though Bakugou was still trying to explode the hero's face from his position on the ground. Ready to finish the fight, All Might lifted Bakugou by the collar.
But before All Might could hit Bakugou with a Detroit Smash, Midoriya threw Mjolnir...
...into Bakugou's chest. The hammer knocked Bakugou into the wall of a building and pinned him there.
All Might turned to look at Midoriya, just in time to see Midoriya punch the ground with a cry of, "I SAY THEE NAY!". As he did, a bolt of lightning shot down from the heavens and hit the Symbol of Peace directly in the midsection. All Might was sent flying from the intersection, skidding down the road.
Midoriya kept a palm extended, but instead of recalling Mjolnir, he kept in place to pin Kacchan against the wall. As Bakugou struggled against the hammer, he looked up and made eye contact with Izuku.
"YOU SHITTY DEKU, PUT ME D-"
"You're right, Kacchan."
Bakugou's words were cut off in his throat. That was not the answer he was expecting, nor for Izuku to answer in such a confident tone. "Wha...?"
"We can't escape him." Midoriya agreed. A wry smile spread across his lips. "We're going to capture him. Don't you want a win over the Number One Hero?"
--
All Might coughed as he stood up, wincing at the burn on his stomach. "The kid's clever..." All Might groaned, "hit me right in my injury."
Despite the pain from lightning and explosions he had suffered, All Might grinned rather proudly, but this still wasn't why he had paired up Bakugou and Midoriya.
Their raw power was impressive alone, but they both needed work on things. Bakugou needed to learn teamwork, and Midoriya needed to learn not to hold back with his powers so much. And while Midoriya was certainly making progress on his side, neither of them were working together. "Looks like neither is passing."
He made an impressive jump to where had been, and was surprised to see Bakugou still pinned against the wall. Looks like they still haven't learned.
"Looks like it's just you and me, young Bakugou," he said, trying to sound like a menacing villain as he approached the teen.
All Might was shocked though as Bakugou looked up at him with a wild grin. Abruptly, Mjolnir zoomed from Bakugou's chest and struck All Might directly in the face.
Staggered, All Might left himself open as Katsuki dived forward, and placed a hand on each of All Might's knees before letting loose giant explosions from each hand.
The force of the blasts threw All Might's legs backwards and before he could even hit the ground, Mjolnir hit the small of his spine, pinning him against the pavement. Unable to reach the hammer to pull it off of him, he was trapped.
Trapped long enough for Bakugou to pull the handcuffs Midoriya had given him out of his gauntlets and slap them on All Might's wrists.
With thirty seconds to spare, Midoriya and Bakugou had apprehended All Might, the buzzer going off for their victory.
"WE DID IT!" Midoriya cried, recalling Mjolnir to his hand as he ran forward from the alley.
Bakugou cackled viciously from the victory, and before either two boys realized what they were doing, they high-fived each other.
With the action done, Bakugou and Midoriya gave each other wide-eyed expressions of surprise.
"... tch, whatever," Bakugou scoffed, turning away and heading for the locker room.
With Kacchan's back turned, Midoriya chuckled to himself lightly. Maybe, maybe the distance between them wasn't as great as it used to be after the Sports Festival. He turned back to All Might, who was getting back to his feet. "Are you okay, All Might?"
All Might beamed as he stood up, partially from pride and partially just from not wanting to reveal how much that battle had taken out of him. "OF COURSE, YOUNG MIDORIYA!" But as he noted that he was beginning to let off steam, he added in a hushed tone, "but let us go back inside, I'm sure your classmates are waiting!"
--
All Might certainly hadn't been wrong either; the second he returned to his classmates, he was merely tackled by his group of friends.
"Kero, that was amazing Midoriya~!"
Deku turned a deep scarlet as Asui hopped up to him. "Th-thanks Tsuyu!"
"To have been able to overcome our teacher in such a manner was incredible!" Iida cried, hands and arms flailing all over. "I was not expecting such a showing."
"You were like - BZAP - but then All Might was like - COME ON AND SLAM - and then Bakugou was like - nah - but you were like - NAY!" Uraraka gushed, resembling someone who had just inhaled seven cups of coffee in her eagerness.
"Good job," Todoroki added, calmly.
Deku laughed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Th-thanks guys. You were all really great too!"
With the results not being posted for a few days, Aizawa was more than happy to dismiss the classes for the rest of the day, happy it was Saturday and that he could finally get some sleep.
As the group of friends began to walk home, Asui tugged his sleeve. "Hey, Midoriya?"
He turned and looked at her, a bit confused. "What's up?"
They made eye contact for a bit longer than normal, and both looked away. "I have to run some errands around town tomorrow," she replied, hurriedly. "Do you... want to come with me?"
His face burned in a rush of emotions. "Y-yeah s-s-sure. W-what time?"
"Probably around eleven," she croaked, quietly. "Want to meet up where we usually meet on our walks to school?"
He nodded, and hoped no one else was noticing how goofy the look on his face was.
--
"I don't know what pleases me more," Thor beamed as the two looked over the land of Asgard from the balcony. "The fact that you stuck it to All Might, or that you got Kachow to coexist with you long enough to pull it off."
Midoriya laughed, feeling relief wash over him. "To be honest, I feel the same. It was nice. For a second I thought we could even be friends again."
"Loki and I were able to reunite over a common foe as well, many years ago," Thor agreed. "Though our history has always been filled with ups and downs. As many times as we've worked together, he's tried to be my undoing."
Thor looked over to see the alarmed expression Izuku was giving him and added, "I don't think Kachow would try to kill you though."
"I don't think so either," Deku admitted. "I'm just glad that after next week we get our summer break, and the camp."
Thor laughed heartily. "Oh? And what about your date tomorrow?"
Deku turned red and went to cover his face with his arms. "I-it's not a date, I'm just keeping her c-company around town!"
"Do you want me to lend you some gold to take her for a nice meal?"
"Maybe? W-WAIT, NO THOR DON'T!"
Thor's laughter echoed through the halls of Asgard.
--
The next day, Midoriya was up earlier than his usual Sunday morning routine, though he chalked it up to nerves.
He scoured his clothes until he found one of the few t-shirts he had that wasn't an All Might shirt. It was his t-shirt that read, "t-shirt," on it. "This will do," he muttered to himself.
As he threw the shirt on and walked out the door, (dodging questions from his mother all the while), he excitedly made his way to the corner with Mjolnir in hand.
He didn't realize a woman in disguise following him a few house lengths away.
Toga Himiko reviewed the photo Shigaraki had given her, and made sure she had plenty of blood to keep of the facade of the office worker she was appearing as. "So that's the kid I'm tailing?"
She looked up at Midoriya's back. She recognized him as the winner of UA's Sports Festival, but according to Shigaraki he had been a pain in the side of the League before then as well. And if rumor had it, HE was the reason Stain - HER STAIN, HER PRECIOUS, PERFECT, BLOODY STAIN - was in jail.
"What a boring assignment," she sighed, "Oh well. Let's see what you can teach me, Midoriya Izuku."