AN: RickRich809 - I did warn everyone early on that Emily is extremely fun to write, she brings a manic energy to any scene where I use her. Plus as you caught, I feel like any OC that is being used as a love interest needs extra development to sell them properly.
That said, I plan on fleshing out the rest of the Himisquad as well, now that I'm not rushing the timeline.
And I appreciate the comments about the girls. While I'm not going to develop all of them as much as they deserve (sorry, Mina and Toru!) I'm hoping a few scenes scattered throughout will show that they are actually getting the chance to live their best lives and are growing as people offscreen.
Oujiswan - thanks!
Amit Barabi - Regarding Himiko's attitude when she was first found - I could have made it work in several ways, I just went all in on the more tragic elements of Himiko's backstory (not that it would have mattered to Izuku either way).
"You!" Shigaraki seethed. "You're just supposed to be NPCs! We brought all those villains to act as crowd control! Why can't anyone just follow the script!"
Izuku clenched his fists in front of him. Seeing the childlike behavior of the man in front of him, he could have felt pity for him if he hadn't seen firsthand how dangerous he was - and that he was perfectly willing to turn his quirk on people.
"We may just be students, but we're training to be heroes too!"
Shigaraki stared at Izuku, and then began laughing.
"I see. So the NPCs believe they could evolve into future bosses if we let them. All the more reason to clear some of the trash mobs before the timer runs out. Nomu!"
Izuku, Tsuyu and Minoru saw the giant creature finally manage to tear its own arm off, and couldn't help but watch in shock as they watched the arm rapidly regrow itself, as if the creature never lost it.
"S-super regeneration." Izuku swallowed the lump in his throat. "On something that doesn't care about pain."
He had heard about some of the crazy stunts that class 2-Bs resident regenerator has done, but Ryo was always limited by his pain tolerance. The thought of going up against something that wasn't limited in such a way was terrifying.
"What are we supposed to do against that?!"
"Kero kero."
The Nomu once again rushed towards them, and Izuku felt desperation creeping in. Without time to formulate a better plan, he decides to use One For All at it's full strength, and drops low as he steps forward to deliver a massive punch to the Nomu's chest.
Izuku knew something was wrong when he didn't feel his arm shatter from the feedback the way he expected it to from previous experience. Looking up, he saw the massive creature simply standing there, turning its head down to look at him.
"Oh, didn't you hear earlier? Nomu here has had his perk tree carefully selected to deal with All Might. Of course we made sure to include Shock Absorption in his kit."
Izuku barely had time to jump out of the way when the Nomu tried to retaliate with his massive claws, landing with a dull thud. He was busy trying to scramble to his feet when he saw Shigaraki nearly on top of him.
"And I still owe you for that sneak attack."
Before Shigaraki could use his quirk on Izuku, Tsuyu managed to grab his leg with her tongue and pulled him away from Izuku, tossing him towards the lake.
"You stay away from him!"
Trying to replicate their earlier maneuver, Minoru tried to follow up by throwing his sticky balls at Shigaraki. Unfortunately for the students, they quickly learned that Shigaraki's quirk had no problem destroying the balls, preventing him from being trapped in the same way others have been. In mere moments, Shigaraki was freed from the trap and standing.
Suddenly everyone hears an explosion coming from the entrance. Across the USJ, students and villains alike paused their fighting as they looked at the clearing smoke, and they all saw All Might standing on the top of the stairs.
"Everything will be alright now, because I Am Here."
Throughout the USJ, the students began to feel their spirits lifted, knowing that help had finally arrived. Meanwhile, many of the villains began to feel a sense of dread. Even though they knew the plan was to kill All Might, these kids have been putting up more resistance than they were expecting.
From his position near the entrance, Meizo ran up to All Might. "There's still fighting going on in four different places. The students have managed to disable the villains in the other three zones, but the biggest threat is still active down in the central plaza." He used a spare limb to point to where Izuku, Tsuyu, Minoru were facing off against Shigaraki and his Nomu.
"Thank you. Young Iida was successful in getting the message out, and there will be other heroes arriving shortly. In the meantime, I'll take it from here!" All Might gave the remaining students at the entrance a reassuring smile before jumping off the ledge towards the central plaza.
Meanwhile, in the central plaza, Izuku normally would have been one of the students who found himself reinvigorated by All Might's words, but he noticed one important detail that chilled him.
All Might isn't smiling.
All Might always smiles! But for the first time since he began watching All Might's videos, he saw something different.
All Might is angry.
In all their conversations, All Might always stressed the importance of making people feel safe and comforted. To see him like this, Izuku knew the situation must be even more serious than he imagined.
Just who is behind the League of Villains?
Unfortunately he didn't have time to dwell on these thoughts as Shigaraki began to laugh from behind him. "Well, it looks like the main boss has decided to show up after all. I guess the raid is back on."
"And it looks like I have one last chance to clear out some annoying NPCs before the main event." Shigaraki attempted to rush the distracted Izuku, only to suddenly find his arms caught by a capture weapon.
"Did you forget about me already? Big mistake." Aizawa said, having somehow managed to stand. His arm was hanging limply at his side, and his right eye was swollen shut, but he was proving that he was still more than capable of fighting.
"Dammit! I thought we dealt with you!" Shigaraki yelled. "Nomu, deal with this vermin!"
Aizawa braced himself, knowing he wasn't going to be able to dodge the incoming Nomu. Fortunately, he was saved by All Might, who managed to reach him first and pull him out of harm's way, before reuniting him with the three students.
"Glad of you to finally join us." Aizawa commented dryly.
"I'm sorry, I was caught up talking to Nezu! You know how hard it is to escape once he gets going!"
"Hmph. I guess I'll have to have a talk with him then." He turned to his three students. "I thought I told you that your primary goal was to escape?"
"S-sorry." Izuku at least was able to look shameful. "Going through the central plaza was our best chance to escape." He lied lamely.
"Hmph. Since you're here, at least help me stand, that one guy's quirk is a problem."
"Kero." All Might gently set Aizawa down, while Tsuyu and Minoru positioned themselves so that Aizawa could lean on them and remain upright.
Izuku meanwhile, turned to All Might. "I want to help!"
All Might held out his hand. "This foe is out of your league, young Midoriya. Let me handle this thing."
Izuku looked like he wanted to protest, before finally conceding. "Be careful, that thing has a shock absorption quirk!"
"Thanks for the information, young Midoriya! That just means I will have to put my back into it!" All Might gave the group a smile as he turned away from them and faced the Nomu.
All Might braced himself, preparing for the Nomu to come at him again. Despite his preparation, he still found himself taken off guard by how strong the creature was when he slammed into him with the force of a train, driving him back a good twenty meters away from where he started. It's been a while since he has faced a villain capable of moving him like that! Uncrossing his arms, he responded by throwing a mighty swing at the creature, who didn't even block or flinch from the blow.
Instead, the Nomu raised its arm and returned a swing of its own, and the battle descended into a brawl as All Might continued to trade blows with the creature. Despite being near his limit, All Might pulled from hidden reserves of strength to continue fighting the twisted creature.
After what felt like minutes, All Might finally was able to find leverage and get a solid grip on the creature. With a triumphant cry he lifted the Nomu into the air and slammed him into the ground with enough force to bury him into the ground up to his knees. Due to the shock absorption, he was forced to find a more creative way to restrict the creature's movement.
However, even being buried in the ground like this didn't seem like more than an inconvenience to the Nomu. He simply used his new vantage point to wrap its clawed hands around All Might's torso, and begin burying its claws in All Might's chest.
All Might grit his teeth as he feels Nomu's claws find the old wound on his chest, burying themselves in it. He could feel blood beginning to seep out as he tried to hide the pain - he refused to show weakness against this foe. Unfortunately he was unable to respond in time as he suddenly felt himself being picked up by the creature. He tried to free himself, but it was too late - even half-buried, the Nomu was still able to lift him up and suplex him face-first into the ground.
The students gasped, and they could only watch helplessly as All Might tried to stand while the Nomu grabbed onto him again, ready to continue the assault, only for the temperature around them to drop as ice shot along the ground and froze half of the creature.
"So this is that Nomu thing those thugs were talking about. They thought this would be enough to take down All Might? Not very impressive if you ask me." Shoto said as he walked towards the scene.
"No, this isn't how it's supposed to end!" Shigaraki yelled. "Kurogiri, do something!"
"Of course, young master."
Kurogiri began to open a portal underneath All Might and the Nomu when suddenly everyone began to hear explosions. Katsuki had arrived, and with the villains' attention on All Might, he launched himself at Kurogiri and slammed into him, shoving him to the ground and leaning on top of him, his hands hovering over Kurogiri's metal plates.
"I may have missed last time, but that's because I didn't see this collar until it was too late. I bet if I blasted it at this range it's going to hurt, isn't it?" He said with a feral grin.
"Why are you all this bothersome!" Shigaraki attempted to lunge at Katsuki, only for Eijiro to intercept him and keep him from rescuing Kurogiri.
"Sorry, it wouldn't be very manly of me to sit on the sidelines either."
That gave All Might the time he needed to recover, brushing the dirt off of his shirt and taking a moment to compose himself in front of the students. "Thanks, young heroes!"
Despite his reassurance, Izuku couldn't help but worry about All Might - he knew that he had been active earlier and didn't know how much time he had left. It would be really bad if All Might couldn't last the entire fight. But Izuku already knew he didn't have the right quirk to help - since the Nomu was built to go up against All Might, that meant it would also counter him.
Still, there had to be a way to win without All Might burning himself out, he just had to find it.
As Izuku saw his classmates arriving on the scene he felt the missing pieces of the puzzle slide into place. Turning to Aizawa, Izuku quickly began speaking. "Sensei, I've got it! But we need to get Uraraka to pull it off."
"Ochako, Kero?" Tsuyu asked.
Aizawa glared at Izuku. "You want to risk another student to do what?"
"I just figured out how we can defeat that thing!"
Aizawa sighed. "You have one chance to tell me exactly why I should let you do this."
Izuku just looked at his teacher and nodded. "That Nomu is designed to fight All Might, which means he is essentially going to be immune to massive physical trauma…"
Shigaraki growled as he grew increasingly frustrated. "Nomu, stop playing around and end this!"
Everyone watched as the Nomu tore itself free - leaving chunks of flesh and muscle behind in the ice. And just like before, its regeneration kicked in and began repairing the damage.
Without waiting for the creature to fully regenerate, All Might dove back in, trying to catch the Nomu in a moment of weakness. Unfortunately, even in its current state, it was able to absorb his attacks as if they were nothing at all.
All Might grit his teeth. I'm running out of time! But I have to save these kids.
He knew that all quirks had a limit. Even for a monster like this, there should be a limit to either his shock absorption or his regeneration. It just was a matter of finding the limits on one of them - before he reached his own.
Reprieve came a few moments later, as Izuku called out to his mentor. "All Might, we're here to help!"
All Might called back, unable to look "I told you, young Midoriya, this thing is out of your league! You can't handle it."
"I know it's out of my league, but it's not out of our league!"
Surprised by the statement, All Might stole a glance and saw that not only was Izuku standing there, supporting Aizawa, but several of his classmates as well. When he saw the determination on their faces he couldn't help but smile at them. Leave it to young Midoriya to come up with a plan.
"What do you need me to do?"
"All Might, get clear!" Izuku called out.
Trusting his pupil, All Might jumped backwards, waiting to see what the students had planned. If this didn't work, he wanted to be ready to jump back in.
As soon as All Might leapt away, Izuku felt the air around him chill as Shoto sent out a wave of ice, once again encasing the legs and chest of the nomu in ice, leaving only its head and arms free. Having already learned how to free itself once, the Nomu immediately began clawing at the ice to free itself again.
That is when Eijiro rushed in, grabbing one of the Nomu's free arms to stop it from doing just that.
"I can't hold him for long!" Eijiro called. Even if his hardening kept him safe from the claws, the creature's strength was immense and it was a struggle to hold him.
"I only need a moment!" Ochako yelled from behind him as she rushed in and touched the arm that Eijiro was holding, erasing the Nomu's gravity. Her job complete, Tsuyu grabbed her and pulled her away quickly before Eijiro let go and leapt away himself.
"All Might, now it's your turn!"
"Got it!" Seeing Midoriya's plan in action, All Might recognized his part in finishing off the Nomu. He grabbed the arm of the Nomu, pulling him out of the ice as if it wasn't even there, and with no effort at all spun the creature in a circle before launching it at the ceiling of the USJ, tearing a hole in the ceiling and sending it far away.
"Release." Finally, after what they hoped was enough time, Ochako released her quirk.
"No no no!" Shigaraki called out in frustration. "He was supposed to kill All Might! How could a bunch of NPCs take him down!"
"It is because you underestimated these fine young students! You have failed!" All Might declared.
Shigaraki looked like he was debating taking on All Might himself, but the decision was made for him as everyone heard gunfire and several bullets hit the ground in front of him. Looking up, everyone saw Snipe in a firing position at the top of the stairs, with other teachers from UA beginning to rush towards the central plaza.
"Ugh, stupid enrage timer, he spawned reinforcements." Shigaraki complained.
"I guess the right move is to free the transportation." With a heavy sigh, he then charged at Katsuki.
Without anyone guarding him, Katsuki was forced to let Kurogiri go as he deftly leapt away from Shigaraki's grasp. Freed from the threat, Kurogiri quickly stood up.
"Thank you, young master."
"Let's get out of here, before anything else happens."
"Of course." Kurogiri wrapped the two in a dark mist, and they disappeared before the heroes could stop them.
We did it! Izuku let out a breath he didn't even know he was holding while his classmates executed his plan. They had done it, they had survived, and they managed to defeat that Nomu. As much as he wanted to make sure the rest of his classmates were ok, right now he had to trust the teachers will take care of everyone else.
"You did good." Aizawa spoke next to him. "Coming up with that plan on short notice. I can see why All Might has taken an interest in you."
"I-it was nothing." Izuku meekly offered. "I just saw what everyone was doing and put the pieces together?"
"Hmph." Aizawa's face took on a serious tone. "Don't think this gets you off the hook though. I am going to have a long conversation with your class about putting yourselves in danger when you were told not to."
Izuku merely laughed nervously and turned to look away from Aizawa-sensei, looking at All Might. He was simply standing there, looking deep in thought as he stared out into space. I have so many questions, but there are too many people around. Before he could say anything, Cementoss walked over to All Might and after a hushed conversation the two hurried off.
Meanwhile, a pair of Ectoplasm clones came up to the assembled students, directing them to leave the building. With his classmate's help, Izuku helped a limping Aizawa back to the entrance of the USJ where police and paramedics were waiting for them. The moment that they helped Aizawa lay down on a stretcher he passed out, hinting that he was hiding the full extent of his injuries. Next to him, Izuku heard Ochako gasp, and followed her gaze to see Thirteen, her wounds looking much worse without her costume hiding them.
"Don't worry, your teachers are strong." One of the paramedics reassured them. "They will pull through!"
The students were directed over to a different ambulance where they were checked out. Izuku learned that his self-inflicted injuries were among the worst in the class. It appeared Mashirao was the only other student to suffer any broken bones, and Izuku was watching the paramedics put a temporary cast on him while he was having his own splints examined.
Nearby, he saw Momo and Kyoka were being treated for burns they received from their own fighting, and from what he could tell, the four of them had suffered the worst of it. After them, the list of injuries quickly dropped off - from what Izuku could observe, a few of his classmates were suffering from quirk exhaustion, and the rest of his classmates had mostly gotten away with scrapes and bruises.
Once the paramedic was done tending to Izuku, he was ushered back to the buses where his classmates were waiting. Izuku saw Ochako and Tsuyu waving for him to come over, and he boarded the bus back to the school.
The trip back to UA was a somber one. All of the students were either quietly sitting, or talking amongst their friends for support. Once safely aboard the bus and separated from the adrenaline rush provided by active combat, the students really began to feel the effects from the attack. Izuku found himself quietly talking to Ochako and Tsuyu, trying to distract himself from the many questions he had.
When they returned to UA, Izuku barely had time to get off of the bus before he heard Himiko's voice.
"Izuuuuu!" He managed to at least clear the entrance of the bus before Himiko grabbed him and pulled him into a hug. She looked terrified.
"H-hey." Izuku said weakly, wrapping his arms around his sister. "I'm ok. It's ok."
"Th-they put the school in lockdown and told us that there was an attack on UA facilities. When Tomoe found out that it was the USJ I was super worried about you! You- you could have been hurt or killed and who knows how long it would have taken for someone to find out!"
Izuku pulled back slightly so that he could look at Himiko's face. "We won though. Aizawa and Thirteen were really hurt badly, but nobody else was seriously injured."
"Says the guy with two broken fingers, kero." Tsuyu pointed out.
"Wait." Himiko suddenly glared at Izuku, the expression a stark contrast to her tear-streaked face. "What did you do?"
"I may have come up with a crazy plan that involved going all out?" Izuku offered.
"It was a crazy plan, but it actually worked out." Tsuyu helpfully pointed out.
Himiko merely sighed. "Well if you didn't have a choice. Doesn't mean I have to like it though. C'mon, I'm technically here because I'm supposed to be escorting you."
Himiko detached herself, keeping one hand on Izuku's arm as she guided the three to rejoin their classmates and lead them to the cafeteria.
AN: Now I can actually say the worst part of the week is behind them and the kids will get a breather… for a while. Everyone needs some time to handle the fallout, and we need to check in on 2-B before the Sports Festival kicks off.
I was trying to experiment a little bit and write from multiple POVs within the same battle for the middle section, but I'm not sure if it worked or if it ended up being too confusing. If people didn't like it I can always go back to focusing on a single character POV for future fights.