I was going to work on another story, but then I noticed that this story wasn't touched for over a month, so I decided to correct that. Some stuff has delayed my university's giving us our results for the last year, and along with that, they've also pushed by 2023 registration so I have much more free time on my hands than normal. As I wrote this chapter, for some reason my mind kept jumping to Kaguya-sama which got me to laugh as I recalled some of the shit those students got up to, Muyuki's dad being voiced by the same Jap VA as Dio Brando is all the more hilarious as I can't help wonder if Dio would troll his son as much just for his amusement.
Chapter 54: Rescue
(Previously)
"My apologies heroes for their present condition, young Midoriya had information that we wanted and I wasn't able to see to him before we tried…alternative methods to get it." Back in the destroyed warehouse, the heroes all froze as a voice run out, along with the calm footfalls of someone approaching them. How was that even possible, how had none of them picked up on an additional presence?
"As for Ragdoll, she had such a useful quirk that I couldn't help myself and take it." They turned towards the direction of the voice to see a man in a fine suit approach but remain in the shadows enough so that they couldn't make out a face but what was clear was that he seemed…amused by them?
"That voice…you!" Yoroi Musha, on the other hand, recognized the voice, having burned it into his memory decades ago as his blades shot out, the light bouncing off the deadly weapons as he looked ready to charge the man.
"Hmmm? Oh, Yoroi Musha, it's been too long." Despite this clear aggression from the veteran pro, the unknown didn't seem all too bothered by it acting like it was instead a chance meeting between old friends on the street.
"You won't escape this time, monster." Yoroi Musha vowed, even if he had to take his head just to be sure, he wasn't about to let this demon among men continue to walk free and bring continued pain and death. Jeanist didn't wait for an explanation, he didn't ask for one as he used his quirk to use both his own and the fibers of the man's suit to restrain him, wrapping him up from feet to neck in enough fabric to restrain an elephant.
"I don't know who you are, but your presence here and Musha's reaction is more than enough to hold you for questioning." As he said this, he recalled what the police had told them about. He didn't know if this was him, or simply another follower but he wasn't about to leave anything to chance, he didn't need to turn to know the police had also turned their weapons on him just as the first of the transports arrived. The nomu could wait, this one was going first.
"Smart call on your part, but that won't be enough." The unknown man stated as his arm bulged out to nearly trice its size, the unexpected increase both in its size and strength snapping the fibers restraining the limb enough for him to raise it towards the heroes and fire. Just about all of them hadn't even had the time to react.
(And now)
"I see why you're the number 4 hero, Best Jeanist." All for One praised the injured hero as he lay on his back, bloody and still shocked by his display of power. With the exception of Yoroi Musha, everyone else was down. "That blast should have annihilated the lot of you, but you were able to manipulate everyone's clothing and pull them out of the way just in the nick of time." All for One had been mildly surprised by that, it wasn't every day that he found someone with such a fast reaction time.
"Consider me, impressed." While he praised him, Best Jeanist was still in shock as he took deep breaths of air, having never experienced something like this from a villain, even from other pros. Such power had only ever been reserved for All Might and yet, here he was, proven wrong.
'It's him.' Best Jeanist recalled the meeting, how they had been warned about such a foe but he didn't think he would show. They had planned for a quick strike, ensured that the villains wouldn't know what hit them till it was too late, and even gathered multiple top ten pros for this mission. He wasn't supposed to appear when they had made such a showing, it wouldn't make sense for someone as calculating as the League's mastermind to do that. Or…was he simply that powerful? Jeanist spared a glance to the others, to how Yoroi Musha slowly got to his feet, the two rescued in his arms while the others remained still but mercifully still breathing.
'Things weren't supposed to go like this, but that doesn't matter.' His gaze returned to the villain, his fear suppressed as he willed his fibers to move, pushing himself up to confront the threat. "A true hero doesn't believe in excuses!" Jeanist yelled as he sent his fibers towards him, but in an instant, the villain reacted. Jeanist didn't see him move, all he felt was the overwhelming force crushing into his chest, cratering the ground beneath him as the light left his eye as his body fell limp.
Overhead, watching his foe fall after a pathetic attempt to continue the fight, All for One mused to himself about what he had observed of his foe. "Hmm, while your quirk is rather interesting, your strength comes from practice and practical experience. Not something that would pair well with Tomura's disposition." It was a shame, fiber master was quite the useful quirk but alas, he would have to hold back on his urges for tonight. Movement drew his attention to the side where he noted his old enemy back on his feet, his armor damaged and his beard dirtied, but still in a fighting shape as he stood protectively in front of the still unconscious Ragdoll and little Midoriya.
"Oh, how careless of me, I almost killed our guests." He chuckled to himself. He had no real use for them, having obtained what he wished from the two but it would serve the league well to keep them in their grasp, and it would do All Might great pain to know he failed to save them.
"Y-you bastard…!" Yoroi Musha uttered, infuriated that both their plans have fallen apart, and for the fact that as long as All for One remained in the air, he wouldn't be able to actually attack him, whereas he could strike him down with another one of those blasts, no doubt made from the abilities of stolen quirks.
"I'm impressed, Yoroi Musha. I would have expected this from you 40 years ago, it seems that old age hasn't slowed you down as much as I would have thought." All for One mocked him as he could still recall when the man had first joined the fight against him, in the days before his current arch-nemesis, All Might. He was never a real threat to him, but he was still a skilled fighter and had arrested more than a few of his underlings over the years.
"Silence! Like you can talk." The veteran's blades deployed as he stood, ready to give his life to protect those that they came here for. He only hoped that backup would arrive soon.
Unknown to the pros present, the entire thing had been seen by the students, and by another one of Midoriya's drones that Mei had sent out. "What…did he…just do…?" Hatsume shook in her seat, she didn't want to be here anymore. She wasn't alone in this belief as Miyako was as white as a sheet.
"I…I don't...Fumi!" The elder sister immediately called her brother, praying that he and the rest hadn't been caught in that attack.
"We're…we're…okay…I think." Fumikage replied though he wasn't really listening to her, merely on autopilot as the group got closer, following Tetsutetsu's strange instinct over a coming problem. He wished that he had been wrong as they had nearly been blown away, the dust clearing enough for the group to watch from behind a damaged wall in the aftermath of the attack.
'Lord above…just what happened?' Shiozaki asked herself, looking away from it as she tried and failed to calm herself down.
'He…he just took out 3 pros, like it was nothing' Shinso nearly feinted, he couldn't believe that so many top pros could get folded so…so easily.
'We can't fight him, we…we have to run!' Kendo made the decision, they couldn't fight that…thing, they had to get the hell outta there before he noticed them but no matter what he did, her legs refused to work.
'Dammit! I…I can't move.' Bakugo hated how he couldn't even let out an explosion, the fear turning him into a scared, angry statue.
'Is this…what it means to stand before All for One?' Tetsutetsu couldn't believe that All Might had fought against such a foe. He wasn't even aware that they were present, but the ambient aura he exerted, it was unlike anything he thought possible, it brought him dread and chilled his bones, the exact opposite of All Might. None of them were given more time to try and collect themselves as they heard what sounded like multiple puddles forming from buckets of water being thrown into the ground, right after was the sound of people dropping to the floor, coughing.
"That was so gross." Bakugo recognized that stupid girly voice.
"This black stuff reeks! I love it!" They looked over the wall to see the villain in black and white cheering for whatever happened that brought them here. But he wasn't the only one as it seemed like the entire league was present.
"How did they…?" Tokage asked, fearful that things were only to get worse.
"Weren't the heroes supposed to be moving on them too? How'd they escape?" Kendo asked, were they wrong to assume the heroes would do that? They did only have this location thanks to Midoriya's tracker but still if here was the only target, where was All Might or Endeavour? Wouldn't they have brought in their big guns for this?
(At the now abandoned bar)
Unknown to the students, they had been right to assume that the league would be hit at the same time, only being wrong in the assumption that the heroes would be able to contain them from the same black sludge that allowed the league to escape, nomus came pouring out and attacked them and the police. The sounds of battle and gunfire thick as Kamui Woods couldn't believe that they had been duped. "I'm so sorry!" He cried out, ashamed that despite his best efforts, the league has escaped their clutches.
"This wasn't your fault!" Edgeshot replied to him, his voice as calm as ever as he dodged around the nomu and went to take it out, folding himself into paper-thin string and striking it through its heart and lungs. "None of us could have done anything. Kurogiri's quirk operates like a doorway, anything can go through it, but this was different." He moved back, his eyes narrowing as the Nomu seemed to ignore the damage he did and tried to attack him again.
"It targeted the league specifically, taking them and only them." He concluded that it must have been some kind of fail-safe, and if what they had been told about the league's shadow backer was true, something that they had been fooled to not consider, leaving them in this situation as he pierced the nomu again, leaving multiple holes in its heart, finally killing the inhuman monster as it fell to the ground.
Gran Torino was having less luck than him as while capable to dodge them at ease, his kicks simply weren't enough to take down those bioengineered villains. "All Might!" He called out to his former student as the man was being swarmed by Nomu, no doubt seeing him as the biggest threat.
"Oklahoma Smash!" All Might didn't need any more nudging as he spun himself around with enough speed and power that he looked like a mini tornado, sending the Nomu that had been attacking him flying through the walls and out into the street which was in chaos as the police tried to fight off the beasts but they just didn't quit as it seemed like their guns did nothing as bullets just bounced right off them, or in the case of one, sunk in but didn't break the skin before falling to the ground, like rocks thrown at a mattress.
"Focus on the Nomu out here! Leave the ones inside to the heroes!"
"Dammit, why won't they go down?! Out bullets aren't doing anything!"
"Monsters!" Before the police could either panic or be overwhelmed, Endeavour moved in and started to take out Nomu with his hellfame, landing powerful flame-assisted strikes, or roasting the mindless creatures.
"More of them? I thought we were supposed to have a handle on these!" The number 2 demanded as he took out his 6th Nomu, before turning to launch a wave of fire words another group, giving the police time to reload and continue to fight but he knew they couldn't keep this up, not when these things seemed bulletproof.
"Jeanist's group isn't answering me anymore, it's possible that they failed at the Nomu factory!" The detective replied back, nervous about the overall situation for things to have gotten this bad this quirk.
"This is putting a lot of stress on my power!" Endeavour reminded the man that he couldn't just burn these things forever, if there weren't police in the street then maybe he could roast them all in a single attack but that wasn't an option.
"Endeavour!" Both looked up to see All Might standing in the ruined bar, looking down at them as he coughed into his hand as the number 2 just assumed he breathed in some smoke from the fires spreading all over the place. "Are you keeping up?"
"Does it look like I'm having any trouble? Worry about yourself, you fool!" Endeavour threw the defeated nomu aside before he noticed one trying to attack him from the sky, which he swiftly reacted to by sending out a cone of red hot flames at it, blasting its burned body back as it crashed into a parked car. "If you're going to g after them, now's the time!"
"Right." All Might cleared his throat as he turned to the direction of the factory, they had planned for Shigaraki but he knew that this was the work of his master, as he had to get over there and make sure he hasn't taken any more lives to feed his unending evil. "I'll leave you to it."
"Those Nomu I sent should keep most of the pros busy, but we don't have much time." All for One addressed the League, also taking stock of the situation. As he had intended, he had grabbed all of them but it appears that both Dabi and Kurogiri were knocked out, a wise move on the pros' part to incapacitate them first.
"Master," Shigaraki uttered, looking at his master with a look he figured was both lost and awed.
"So, you failed once more, Tomura?" All for One spoke to him directly, walking up to him and placing a hand on his head.
"Don't be discouraged. You'll try again, that's why I brought along your associates, you even have your hostages. Try as many times as you can, I am here to provide you with help." He encouraged his apprentice to not let this setup stop him. He had made good calls in recent days and was on the right track so he could bail him out one final time. With that said, he took to the air once more, waiting for his nemesis to make his fated arrival.
"All of this is for you." He looked down at him for a moment before he turned his attention away. Back on the ground, Yoroi Musha wished to curse as he had the full attention of the league on him, the group moving to surround him as he moved to ensure he kept them in his line of sight.
'This isn't good. Not only were we blindsided, but it seems that the Raid team also couldn't contain them.' He didn't know how All for One did it, but he managed to pull his hoodlums and criminals out f the clutches of both number 1 and 2 heroes, and seeing how only two of them were down for the count, it was before the rest could be dealt with. Watching what was shaping up to be a mauling, the students didn't know what to do as they tried to figure out a plan of attack.
'Think, Tetsutetsu, think! Remember why we came here, it's only Yoroi Musha that's still up, everyone else is down and the whole league is here with All for One. We can't fight them, but we need to get Ragdoll and Midoriya out of there before they can take them again!' Tetsutetsu wished he could just rush in, he knew that his quirks would make them a near breeze, the only issue was that he couldn't use it nearly to the point where he could handle someone like All for One alone if he jumped the wall and tried to enter the fight, he knew he'll be made a bloody smear across the ruins before he could blink.
'He hasn't picked up to our presence yet, otherwise, he would have tried to take us out as well. There isn't much distance between here and there, maybe we can rush them and use the surprise to grab them and run-no. Whoever he is, he's far more capable than the League, it would be suicide to try.' Tokoyami was likewise trying to figure out how they attack, from their position to where Yoroi Musha was, he judged it was at least 15m, they could try to rush All for One and the unconscious leaguers while another group rescued the two, but that would be leaving the distractions to die.
'If we try and grab Deku and book it, those bastards will follow us and if he lets loose another one of those blasts in the middle of town…dammit, Deku when this is over, I'm going to kill you!' Bakugo came to a similar conclusion, that they lacked both the speed and firepower to be of any help in this, but he didn't come all this way to not even try. He was sweating like a pig, he had enough to maybe clear the distance, grab the crazy cat lady and Deku, and blast away before that helmet-wearing freak could fire off another air blast. If he stayed in the air for the most part, the League wouldn't try to follow him but it was a big risk.
However, before any of them could move, they were grabbed by Kendo and Shiozaki, both using their quirks to make clear their intent. "Don't you dare…! I told you, I'll make sure you don't go too far." Kendo hated that they couldn't do anything, but she would hate herself even more if she didn't try and protect the classmates she had with her, rather than let them rush in and die.
Ignorant of this, All for One picked up movement coming towards him, it was fast but it was also familiar. "Oh, there you are." He mused as in the distance, what was just a speck a second grew in size as it got closer, revealing itself to be the symbol of peace himself, the force of his impact with All for One.
"I'll have you return my student, All for One!" All Might declared as All for One held back his mighty fists from smashing into his face once more.
"Have you come to kill me again, All Might?" All for One asked him as he held back the number one hero with his bare hands, the force of their clash so strong that it blew away both the leaguers and Yoroi Musha who kept his hold on the two hostages.
"Wha!" Magne gasped as she was thrown back.
"Crap!" Spinner cursed as he had a rough landing and started to roll uncontrollably.
"Just like 5 years ago…!" Yoroi Musha noted to himself as he stabbed one blade into the ground and held onto the Ragdoll and Midoriya to keep them from being blown away by the power struggle.
"Hold on!" Kendo cried out through the raging winds created by the clash as Tokage did the same for Shinso as they hunkered down.
"What do you think we're doing!" Bakugo yelled, using his explosions as a counterforce will the winds dissipated as the two figures of legend broke off.
"My, it took you a while to find us." All for One shook his hand, it feels slightly numb from the power contest. "It's only around 5km from the bar to here, yet it's been at least 30 seconds since I sent the Nomu that you arrive. You're getting weaker, All Might." All Might didn't raise to the bait as he kept his gaze on him, taking in the different appearance from the last time they met.
"You're one to talk, it's kinda difficult to ignore that fancy life support mask you have on, aren't you overexerting yourself, All for One?" All Might wouldn't say it at the moment, but he was happy that the monster needed that mask just to walk around after their last battle, he only wished he had managed to finish the job.
"All Might, I have them." Yoroi Musha told him as he didn't need to look to see what he meant, he had seen them on his way in.
"Then get them to safety, I'll deal with him." All Might told him before he rushed towards All for One, his fist cocked back a Texas smash, in response, All for One rose one of his arms, the limb bulging out as he prepared another air blast.
"Is that a fact?" All for One asked as he fired his air blast right as All Might would have landed his blow, the two clashed one more but All for One proved the victor this time around as he sent the symbol of peace flying back, through multiple buildings with enough force that the first two collapsed. He wondered for a moment if they had people in them, that would be grand as All Might returned, covered in the blood of the people he tried so hard to protect.
"Holy-did he just?" Spinner asked as he got up to his feet, dusting off his slightly bruised body from this night of unexpected surprises.
"As impressive as it looks, Iguchi, that won't be enough to kill him." All for One told the young villain.
"Get off the battlefield, Tomura, and take those two with you." He instructed them as the coming battle wasn't going they could win, even if they remained, they'll only hold him back.
"Kurogiri, warp them away." He tried to Kurogiri, rivet stab activating on his hands as it rushed out, stabbing into Kurogiri but Magne stepped up while Twice and Toga kept an eye on Yoroi Musha.
"Hey, be careful with him. One of the heroes messed with him and he's unconscious. I don't know what's going on but can't you get us out of here?" She asked him as if he had brought them here, surely he can send them somewhere else.
"Sadly, my warp power is still new, there's much I still need to learn about it. It's far more limited than Kurogiri's in terms of range. And I can only teleport people to or from my location or with focus, to and from someone I'm very familiar with, that is all." He explained the shortcomings of his power, if he had a few extra weeks, he could have done what she asked but alas, that wasn't their situation.
"Forced quirk activation!" With that said, he forced Kurogiri's body to create a portal for them to a safe location far from here.
"What about you?" Tomura asked him as he directed his attention toward where he sent All Might as he came flying out of the building he had crushed into, heading right for them even faster than before.
"You're not thinking Tomura, there's still so much room for you to grow." He told his apprentice and successor as he used one of his many stolen quirks to take to the air to face the symbol of peace. The clash between them wasn't as explosive as the last one, but it was still a fierce clash, more than that, it freed the rest of the league to focus on recapturing Midoriya and Ragdoll from the outnumbered and surrounded Yoroi Musha.
"We'll be taking those two with us, we did go through such the hassle to acquire them after all, you understand." Mr. Compress twirled his cane as he faced the lone hero, Toga and Twice having their respective weapons out while Magne and Spinner served as backup. Yoroi only took a single step back before they jumped in, forcing him to dance and twirl around their strikes to avoid them.
'Dammit, I can't fight with these two in my arms, the others are still down and I can't escape with them harassing me like this!' The veteran hero thought to himself as he jumped over Mr. Compress, having read the report on his quirk, he knew that he was the 2nd most dangerous one there, behind Shigaraki himself but thankfully, the boy wasn't all that invested in trying to retake the hostages, keeping his gaze on the battle raging between the two behemoths of power.
'The ambulances must have been caught in that blast, most likely most of our reinforcements who must be tending to the civilians this monster has put in danger!' He rose his knee in a quick block of Toga's blade, it was small but he wasn't going to underestimate what she was capable of with it. He nearly fell over for this and only barely rebalanced himself before Spinner could attack, his bullet from his hidden pistol bouncing off his armor.
"Yoroi Musha!" All Might, seeing him in a bind, broke off from his fight to t
ry and clear the way for him, but had to jump back to avoid All for One's attack. Watching this, the students could see just how bad the situation was for the heroes.
'All Might! All for One is in the way, so he can't help Yoroi Musha escape with the two of them.' Tetsutetsu ground his teeth together as whenever All Might attempted to aid his fellow hero, All for One got in the way. The only upside is that All for One couldn't assist the villains either as All Might kept him in check, effectively leaving them absent from a situation that was already favored towards the villains.
'If things don't change soon, the league will escape with my friend, again!' Tokoyami felt Dark Shadow growing stronger from his rage and frustration, but he had to keep firm control over it if he went on a rampage, it'll only make things worse.
'They need help, and they need it fast but we can't offer all that much, they need-!' Tokage looked at the situation, taking in what they had to work with and what their goals were before she realized something. "Guys!" She turned to the rest of them, pulling Kendo up and away from the action.
"What is it, Tokage?" Kendo asked she was all for leaving if they couldn't do anything but she didn't think Tokage would seem so gung-ho about it.
"I have an idea, for us to get them out of there, and help the pros in the fight," Tokage told them, pointing back toward the van where they left their tech support, and their costumes. Realizing what she was intending, Shinso spoke up.
"We can't fight them, you know that!" He reminded the girl but she shook her head, her smile only growing larger.
"We don't have to!" She pointed to the group before she made a little bird sign with her hands. "We just need to set up the board and let the pros handle the rest." With that, she quickly explained her plan and got their approval as they all rushed off to get things ready while Tokoyami called ahead for his sister and Hatsume to get started on their end.
Sometime later, the balance of power hadn't shifted one bit, with the two heroes only barely holding on as All for One caught another one of All Might's blows, but it was far weaker than the earlier ones. "You're holding back. Afraid that the others will be blown away?" All for One taunted him, All Might keeping silent as he hated how his opponent had caught onto that. Noticing he was about to counter, the number one jumped back, creating distance as All for One chuckled.
"What a problem you have, so how will the hero prevail?" He asked him, he could tell that there were still civilians caught in the rubble, and he knew All Might also knew that. He wouldn't have put much stock into the unconscious heroes he had already defeated but All Might wasn't the type to let them die for their service. All Might knew he was running low on options, and time to execute any of them but fortunately for him and Yoroi, help seem to be on its way as everyone there heard the sound of a rocket coming in fast.
Heroes and villains alike paused to look toward the source of the noise, and indeed, they saw a large rocket flying toward them, shifting from mid-flight. "What the?" Twice asked, not knowing what to make of this.
"I didn't know there was a rocket hero!" Toga asked as the rocket's shape become more humanoid, arms and legs moving into place.
"There isn't." Spinner narrowed his eyes there, and while the league didn't know what was happening, All Might managed to recognize the rocket, from its color to its size, he had seen it before.
"It's-!" He didn't even get time to finish before the object came crashing down, right between the League and Yoroi, kicking up a loud dust of dust.
"Mk XII." From inside the dust cloud, they made out glowing green eyes as the machine stood to its full height, easily being the tallest thing as the dust finally settled, revealing its mechanical body as it looked down on its opponents. "Ready for duty." The newly arrived Tengu Karura didn't waste time as it rushed towards the villains, not used to something so large being so quick as it grabbed onto Magne's head, slamming her into the ground with a hard thud, knocking her out cold.
"Magne!" Toga cried as she and Twice leap at the machine to get payback, but from its shoulder, a compartment opened up, revealing a machine gun turret that quickly turned and fired on them, forcing them back.
"Dammit!" Spinner cursed as he found that the thing was well armed as he tried to attack with its attention seemingly on trying to fill Twice and Toga full of holes but gun barrels shot out from its chest and fired on him, barely missing him as Mr. Compress jumped back to observe the situation. With the pressure off him, Yoroi Musha used the chance to leap away, putting more distance between himself and the hostages, and the league.
All for One didn't much care for this new distraction as he rose a hand and fired a blast of super compressed air at it, but the machine picked up on this, much to his surprise, and avoided it, disengaging from the league as he flew towards him, firing duel blasts from its palms which forced the Lord of Evil to use a couple barrier quirks to defend himself from the unexpected attack. "What's going on?" All Might asked as the suit landed right on him, turning to face him.
"It's just like the exams, All Might. And I'm not the only one here." All Might didn't even have time to realize what the machine meant by that as they both heard Twice scream in surprised fear, both looked to see what he was pointing at, seeing that it was 4 large pieces of debris coming right down on them, forcing the league to scatter even more.
"Holy-!" Twice grabbed onto Magne and run around for his life.
"Rocks?!" Spinner cried as he did the same, the storm not relenting as they heard someone new scream, those who could looked and saw three people. The first was an orange-haired girl in a qipao with massive hands picking up anything and everything she could and throwing them at them, along with her was a boy with a dark bird's head, using this strange shadow creation coming from his body to do the same. Lastly, close to them was a boy with shining steel skin smashing apart debris for the first two to use as ammo. All Might recognized her, same as Yoroi Musha but the assault didn't stop as in the confusion and dust created from the mini meteor shower, a mass of vines crept up on them, creating a massive barrier between the villains and Yoroi Musha.
"I can't allow you to continue your sinful ways." The veteran hero turned to see that another young lady, one with vine-like hair and in a pure white robe with her hands pressed together as if praying as her hair shot into the ground and out some distance away, being the cause of the massive barrier, which Shigaraki raged on as he tried to get through, but she kept adding on more layers faster then he could decay.
"Toga, I need your help!"
"What?" Toga turned to where she thought he heard Twice calling for her, but the next thing she knew, she found herself in a trance, her body no longer obeying her.
'Got you.' Hidden in the rubble close to Kendo, Shinso smiled as he locked his control over the knife-wielding psycho. "Attack Twice." Toga wanted to scoff at this command as if she would do such a thing but she couldn't do that as her body began to move on its own, rushing her fellow villain with her knife drawn and while her attacks were far less precise and quick as normal, Twice couldn't capitalize on that out of fear of harming his friend.
"Toga, what are you doing? Try harder!" The black and white spandex-wearing villain demanded as he was forced to dance around both Toga and the shower of rocks.
"She's under some kind of mind control!" Mr. Compress realized but he couldn't get close to doing anything, even as he compressed all the debris in his way, there was always more. Spinner tackled him to the ground before he would make the final stretch and before he could accuse him of also being controlled, a massive explosion struck where he would have been. Up in the air, keeping himself airborne with explosions, Bakugo glared down at them, one of his gauntlets having been spent to launch that devastating assault.
"What gave it away, dumb-asses?" Bakugo crackled as he dodged a blast from All for One, who had to turn his attention back to the symbol of peace and mech-shit as he launched off another blast, this one aimed for some of the debris Kendo had thrown to turn what were just 2 large pieces of rock, into many dozens of shrapnel that rained down on the villains. With the League too busy to act, Yoroi Musha picked up on the eyeball and 3 sets of hands floating towards him, pausing long enough for the mouth of no doubt student to catch up.
"Aren't you?" He recognized the quirk from the Sports Festival but Tokage didn't give him time to talk, Shiozaki's defense was already weakening as Shigaraki decayed his way through it, his rage either causing him to work harder or increasing his quirk's potency, she didn't know and she wasn't keen on staying long enough to find out.
"Not important right now, hand them over, we'll get them out of here!" Yoroi Musha didn't push it, only nodding his head as he handed them to the floating hands who orientated themselves to have the best hold on the two, with that done, Shiozaki stopped reinforcing her barrier and booked it as she, the hands, and the hostages fled the field. With the barrier now left on its own, Shigaraki decayed his way through just in time to see their prizes getting away.
"Why do you brats always show up?!" He yelled out, creating an even larger hole but had to jump back as Yoroi Musha, now free to fight, lunged at him with his blades drawn. With Twice and Toga, the girl tripped on some loose rock, landing face first in the first and while it hurt, this proved enough to release her from Shinso's control as the boy said a small curse as he felt his hold break.
"What happened? Why am I-" Toga really didn't know what was happening, but as Twice tried to explain things to her, Tokage's screamed out for the field to her.
"I got them, let's bounce!" The rest of the students didn't need to see her or the hostages, her call was enough for them to immediately break off their assault as Bakugo tossed one of his grenades into the chaos below before blasting off whereas Kendo, Tetsutetsu, and Shinso made a break for it. With the students on full retreat, with Midoriya and Ragdoll, the villains found themselves in a pickle as the assault ceased, yes, but there was too much distance between them to try and recapture them.
"Who can do distance?" Mr. Compress, covered in dust and grime asked Spinner glared at the students as Kendo and Tetsutetsu collapsed a building behind them, blocking their view of them and covering their escape.
"Dabi and Kurogiri, but they're both down!" The sole mutant member of the league replied before both had to dodge an assault from the Tengu Karura, as it had broken off from assisting All Might and took to the air once more, launching one last barrage of bullets, lasers, and missiles towards them, forcing them all to duck and cover. They immediately got back to their feet, only to see it gone.
"When they get a boss like this?" Shigaraki was fuming as he watched their hostages escape them meanwhile, All for One kept his thoughts to himself as he battled All Might.
'I had thought it was still being repaired, that boy works fast.' All for One would be impressed that the boy was able to do it if he wasn't mildly irritated with the situation. Still, he had other concerns than some quirkless boy's creation.
That was the situation that the students left behind, while Tetsutetsu and Bakugo wanted to stick around and fight, reasoning that they could give All Might more breathing room, they were shot down as that wasn't their mission, rescue. However, as they raced off, it soon became clear that there were plenty more people in need while Hatsume confirmed the arrival of some old guy that Kendo recognized as Gran Torino from her description, she also confirmed that the battle between the heroes and villains had wide-reaching consequences as with entire buildings destroyed, and roads blocked, there were hundreds in need, crying out for help.
The students couldn't just let things lay, regardless of whether or not they'll be punished for their unlawful actions, heroes didn't stand aside and let people suffer so the group quickly branched off, with Kendo rushing off with Tetsutetsu to aid whatever few pros still standing in moving debris, Bakugo and Tengu Karura left to aide in rescue work and clearing away the roads to allow the dozens of ambulances rushing into the scene closer access to the hundreds waiting for medical attention as well as defend them from any of the stray Nomu while lastly, Shiozaki and Tokage helped the heroes in finding people in the rubble as Shiozaki's vines were both wide-reaching and sensitive enough to detect bodies while Tokage created as many ears and eyes as she could and send them into the small spaces in the debris to find anyone in need.
"I didn't think things would be this bad." All that was left was Tokoyami and Shinso to get their main objectives out of there as they carefully carried the two unconscious people on their backs through the chaos even at this distance from the main battles, there were fires raging from not just the clash between the two titans, but the Nomu as well.
"Let's focus on what we can do." Shinso replied, making a mental note to spend more time in the gym as Ragdoll wasn't that heavy and here he was, sweating like a pig. Neither said anything else as they rushed through the crowds of fleeing civilians, making sure that the other was always close before they finally saw their ride in the distance, still parked in the alleyway.
The two made it to the van, with Shinso placing Ragdoll down to bang on the side of it. "Hatsume, open the door, we're coming up!" The door shot open as the support student, stood shaky but ready for them as she furiously gestured for them to get them inside so they could get the hell outta there.
"Get in, the entire place is going to the dogs," Hatsume told the two as she helped them load the two in, the van had a bit more space with the giant suit deployed at the moment. Once they got them in, both jumped right in as Miyako started the thing and took off.
"Where are the others?" As she moved through the panicked traffic, she sparred the two a look in the rear-view mirror as Shinso wiped the sweat off his forehead with the bottom of his shirt.
"Helping the heroes get people out of this mess. But we need to get these to a hospital, they don't look too good." The seeming sleep-deprived teen replied, feeling some sense of anger that he couldn't be out there with them, but he squashed that quick as he looked at the two unconscious people in their care, he was already acting like a hero.
"Why didn't you look for an ambulance?" Hatsume asked as she freaked out over the two, noting how pale they looked and having no clue what to do, she was never good at biology, preferring machines to flesh.
"They're all busy at the moment," Tokayami replied as he helped her along, though his own knowledge was limited to the basics they had learned in a single hero class, and what little practical experience he got under hawks. He knew it was foolish, but he wished that the number 3 hero wasn't so efficient as the worst he had to handle was a scrapped knee, leaving him almost as clueless as Hatsume.
"Right." Hatsume seem to just realize that, seeing that she was handling the shit show even worse than they were, Shinso opted to try and distract her with something she was good at as Tokoyami did his best to keep Midoriya and Ragdoll, who both looked like they seriously needed medical attention, comfortable.
"How's the fight going?" He asked her, getting her t jump as she quickly sat back down in the seat closest to the onboard monitoring station as she switched the feed from where the suit was capturing a nomu via the use of one of its electromagnetic super-handcuffs to what the second drone was keeping an eye on the battle against All for One.
"The rest of the league isn't there anymore. Samurai guy, Flying guy, and All Might are fighting against the scary guy." Hatsume relayed what she saw on the screen, she didn't know where the league had gone but considering the portal one was present and also absent, they guessed they managed to escape via him. The battle itself seemed to be a terrifying slow affair as they had been used to seeing All Might breeze through his fights, but here, even with help from two others, he was struggling to gain any real ground.
"He's handling all three of them?" Shinso asked, scared about the power this one villain had.
"He has a lot of abilities." She replied as they kept quiet after that, with Shinso merely taking the seat closest to her to offer some emotional support. This became the norm as they continued to move with Hatsume keeping an eye on things as Tokyami tended to the two. They didn't even say anything when All Might was hit by a powerful attack that seemed to strip him of his power, leaving him a shell of the former hero they had all known their entire lives. Shinso suspected that they were too overwhelmed, Miyako knew they were overwhelmed by everything else, but they remained focused on their tasks, praying the others weren't in danger of getting pulled back into that fight.
After a few more minutes, the traffic thinned out as they escaped the worst of it, allowing Miyako to finally breathe a sigh of relief as she turned more of her attention to the back.
"How are they?" She asked, her brother pausing as adjusted the makeshift pillows he'd made for the two using the clothing he and the others had left behind once they changed into their hero gear. However, he had only been able to do so much as both were breathing heavily, sweating, and moving about as if trapped in some bad memory, a notion that considering their states, wasn't the craziest thing. The worst part was that both were unresponsive no matter what he tried to do to soothe or wake them up.
"I…I don't know, they're breathing." He replied, feeling like he was failing them. His sister saw this and decided to act, turning back to the road.
"Any of you know how to drive?" She asked, getting the three to pause and look at her in confusion.
"What?"
"Answer the question." She didn't let them refuse as Hatsume shakily rose her hand up.
"I know a little. But I mainly used forklifts." Her family owned a small garbage bump/recycling plant. She had been operating forklifts to move old cars and other heavy stuff since she was 10. It was also where she practiced her craft as who cared if she blew up some old engine? Hearing this, Miyako gestured her forward which she slowly did. Once there, she slowed down the van and moved from her seat, getting Hatsume to replace her as she gently guided her hands onto the steering wheel.
"Hatsume, stay on the road and head for the hospital, nothing fancy, all right?" She told the girl, giving her an encouraging smile as Hatsume nodded, giving her a smile in return as she got out of a funk, at least for the moment.
"Sure thing!" With that, the girl turned her full attention to the road. Sure, it was different from the dirty, mainly empty paths that she was used to, but she hadn't hit anything on those for the last 3 years, so this shouldn't be too hard. With that settled, Miyako turned to address the problem.
"Please step aside." She gestured for her brother to step aside, which he did as she took the seat, coughing into her hand as she did so.
"O-okay, what are you going to do?" Fumikage asked her, to which she gave him a smile.
"Help them. Dream Shadow." Like with her brother, a shadowy creature came out from her mid-section, only while her brother's had a much darker texture to it, hers was far smoother, with shades of grey and blue mixed in. its eyes were also a gentle, calming white as, without any prompt, the sentient quirk moved to act.
"On it." Dream Shadow said as it placed both its clawed hands on the heads of the two, before they started to sink into their heads without hurting them, quite the contrary as in less than 10 seconds since its hands reached into their heads, the two calmed down, their breathing leveling out.
"What is that?" Shinso couldn't help but ask as Miyako worked, building up her own sweat from the rather tiring activity.
"My quirk: Dream Shadow. I can send her into people's heads and view their dreams, I can also alter them and their perceptions to keep them comfortable." What she left out, but her brother knew from how he was looking at her and concerned for her health, was that she also experienced these nightmares and to some extent, they could affect her own health. Normally, it wouldn't be anything serious as she largely used it to care for her younger brother and relatives whenever they had bad dreams growing up, but there were two issues with this.
The first is that she was never the picture of health, suffering from chronic illnesses ever since she was a baby thanks to her mother being caught in a villain attack when she was pregnant with her and forced to give birth to her 2 months early, the fact she survived to the age of 5 being a miracle on its own. The second issue was that the nightmares she was seeing coming from these two were by far the worst ones she had ever experienced, they sent chills down her spine as she worked to suppress them and allow them some semblance of rest, even as Fumikage tried to make her comfortable instead, she really did have a sweet little brother, a fact she tried to convey through a grateful smile as she feared trying to speak would only lead to her coughing.
And we are done! I was gonna show the actual fight, one that involved Midoriya's mech, but decided against that as while All Might still retires, that wasn't the point of this.
Reviews:
TheRealD3lph0xL0v3r: Thanks.
Blaze1992: Time will tell.
Zukafew119: Yes, I am very much alive, the relatively diagnosed diabetes was unable to kill me, or make me yield! I am still the king of Wakanda(in my head) As for the NNN, it's essentially a challenge where for the entire month of November, you don't 'play' with yourself, or 'nut', hence why it's called No-Nut-November. I have no clue when or how it started, but the memes have always been funny and hearing how a friend sent some adult material to another friend during it just to make them crack always makes me chuckle.
I do really want to expand on the mental toll being hero students caught in the thick of it will have on the students, as again, we never really see the students ever talk about it with a teacher and that's strange. I'm not sure if it's because mental health isn't considered a big deal in Japan if Horikoshi is trying to highlight a failing of hero society by not giving its protectors adequate support, or like the whole mutant discrimination, he simply forgot to put in earlier. As for his visitors, in this universe, the two classes are somewhat closer so it's less them visiting another class, and more visiting a friend.
Well, I felt it would be obvious that the group that would form to try and rescue the two would be the ones that had the deepest connections to him, or the strongest drives to be a hero in its purest sense as someone like Shinso wants to just help people, nothing else. Even when he COULD have acted out, he held himself back, because like All Might, he believes that power is neither good nor bad, and it's how you use it. With the switch, there is no way that Bakugo wouldn't try to rescue the 'nerd', if nothing else then it would upset Inko if he never returned. Tenya was going to be the one to catch on, but I changed it as it would be too close to canon. Same reason they employed Mei as they needed tech support without Momo.
Hatsume's never been one to really let anything get to her for long, so her reaction to Midoriya's set-up compared to her own was something I've been waiting to showcase. Neko may be an A.I. but she was designed to be a hero A.I. so Midoriya took some liberties in her base programming, giving her reasoning to allow her to make the most heroic choice, rather than logical(which has nothing to do with how the most logical choice often means people die). The pros were also fun to write as with the tracker, they knew where the hostages could be, allowing them to better plan as they had no reason to think any were at the bar.
All for One is evil, but not pointlessly evil…most of the time, so while he doesn't really care if you're tortured, he most likely has other means to acquire information that's faster, and assured to offer up reliable information since actual interrogators have gone on the record multiple times to say that torture doesn't give reliable information as the person you're torturing either gives you nothing, lies to screw with you, or tells you whatever they think you WANT to hear, why else is forced confessions inadmissible in court? As for Midoriya's terror, this is the same person that got him, Iida, Yaoyorozu, Kirishima, and Todoroki to nearly shit themselves just from being near him, he's a force of nature almost as much as All Might, only he spreads dread and fear where All Might spreads joy and hope(false hope really but that's for another time).
Zukafew119: Nighteye will have a larger role in the story, or at least he'll feature more so I had to start early with his appearances, partly due to my desire to show their dynamic more as current All Might is in a similar position to Nighteye on the past, watching someone they care about destroy themselves for the sake of their duty. I agree, a discussion between the pro and the A.I. would have been fun to write, but I decided to just skip it as it wouldn't have really been important.
Shiozaki seems to be a bit sheltered, nowhere near as much as Shoto, but sheltered nonetheless, and considering her attitude, I wouldn't be surprised if she's never been on Twitter (lucky her…no, seriously, I wish I still had that privilege) The only sad thing that I wasn't able to add was Momo just using the chance to buy poor people's clothes as you know all her stuff is designer but Mei's reaction was a good substitute as you can't tell me that she enjoys shopping as that's time she would rather spend making babies, she even neglects sleep and hygiene if she's in the mood…which is most of the time.
Honestly, Deku's past is like the Mutant discrimination, we don't get much as you can make the argument that quirkless people don't have it that bad as Deku's class only made fun of him because he chose the hardest profession out there, and to study as a school with the highest standards of admittance in the country. If say, he chooses to go to UA but maybe for business or support, most likely Bakugo would still get pissed because he wanted to be the only one from their school to get in, but other than that? Nothing. Again, even though All Might recognised him as someone with the heart of a hero, he STILL gave him a quirk as heart or no, he wouldn't have even gotten into the hero course, much less actually surviving most of their encounters with villains. Here, I'm been trying to show that from the beginning, such as when Midoriya and Thirteen talk about it, and it's revealed he attends therapy.
When I mom loves and supports their child, they are to be cherished and respected. Why else is it completely justified to beat the shit out of a man if he insults your momma?