From the shore of the lake Ikumi stared at the hulking Villain that loomed over their teacher. Her eyes were drawn to Noumu's hand, still bloody from where he had casually killed the other Villain. Next to her, Mineta retched. She couldn't blame him, not after hearing that sickening CRUNCH, horrifyingly loud even when she clamped her hands over her ears just before-

She shuddered with fear. Nobody deserved to die like that.

"...We are in serious trouble," Tsuyu murmured, face pale and eyes wide.

Ikumi nodded in terror. "That - He just killed that man," she murmured. She wanted to run, to flee, but her legs felt like they were stuck in cement. This was nothing like the Sludge Villain, nothing like the lake.

This was nothing more or less than true evil.

"And he was acting like the Shark Villain," Tsuyu commented. "Did - did they have the same Trigger?"

Eraserhead was standing there, teeth grit and Capture Weapon writhing in the air. The Hand Villain and Noumu loomed over him, the former leering and the latter staring blankly, mouth open and drooling slightly. For a second, there was a stand-off, then the Hand Villain snapped his fingers.

It happened almost too fast to see. One second, Eraserhead threw a spool of his capture weapon around its fist, trying to pin its hand shut as he darted forward. The next, he was flat on the ground, face pressed into the dirt by one mighty hand, the other delicately gripping their teacher's arm.

The Hand Villain shook his head with mock sadness. "See, erasing Quirks is a pretty neat gimmick. Too bad for you, you're going up against the answer to All Might - Noumu, the Anti Symbol of Peace! Against his bio-engineered strength, you might as well have no Quirk at all."

In the midst of the horror, Ikumi's mind latched onto that idea. Bioengineered?

Eraserhead tried to push himself up, glaring at Noumu to try and nullify his Quirk. The Hand Villain tutted. "Noumu?"

Sausage thick fingers squeezed. Ikumi winced when she saw Eraserhead's arm snap like a dry twig, their teacher barely able to stop screaming in pain.

As the Hand Villain sneered down at Eraserhead, Noumu gripping their teacher's head with a hand still sticky with blood, Ikumi braced against the bank. "What are you doing?!" Mineta hissed.

"They haven't noticed us yet, I don't think. And I-I can't just-"

Just before Eraserhead's head was smashed into the ground, a swirl of black-purple mist appeared near the Hand Villain, followed by yellow eyes and an elegant waistcoat. "Shigaraki, I have urgent news to report."

"What is it, Kurogiri?" Shigaraki rasped. "Can't you see I'm taking out this midboss? I hope you at least managed to take out Thirteen."

"Thirteen is in no condition to fight. However, there are two things I wish to report. The first is that some of our Villains are calling in about infighting - apparently several Villains have gone feral and are attacking Hero students and Villains alike. It's causing quite a bit of chaos." The Mist Villain - Kurogiri - spoke quite flatly, as if the information didn't matter.

Ikumi's eyes went wide with that information. There had been more attacks like what had happened at the lake? What was going on?

—

Momo and Jirou were not in the best place. When she had been dropped in the mountain zone with Jirou and Kaminari, the situation had been dire. Only her and Jirou's quick thinking and Kaminari pushing his Quirk to its limits had given them some semblance of breathing room.

Then another Villain had grabbed Kaminari while he had been stumbling around in a dazed state. He had demanded that they surrender to save his life. Momo had complied, Jirou surrendering with her.

He glared at them, gesturing for them to move. "Go over there, and don't move. He may be a fellow electric Quirk user, but I'll fry him if needed."

"...Yay…" Kaminari slurred, dopey expression beginning to twist in panic.

"Hey, just wanna know, why are you even a Villain?" Jirou suddenly asked.

Momo turned her head to look at her. "What?"

Jirou managed a shaky laugh, a bead of sweat trawling down her face. "Well, you could get a licence for just about any job. Your Quirk's pretty damn versatile."

Out of the corner of her eye, Momo saw Jirou's earjack slowly sneaking down to her boots. Carefully she kept her face as blank as possible. If Jirou could launch an attack-

"You thought I wouldn't notice?" The Villain brought his sparking hand closer to Kaminari's face.

Jirou grit her teeth, her Earjack getting pulled back. Momo winced - had she given Jirou's plan away?

The Villain just shook his head. "That kind of trick only works in goofy kids' manga. You Heroes should take these hostage situations more seriously."

Momo shuddered, then her eyes widened. A hulking Villain with a bear mutation staggered upright, eyes bloodshot. He seemed to glare at the Villain, then raised his claws. "Behind you!"

The Villain shook his head. "Really? You're trying that-"

Behind him, the bear Villain let out a bestial roar, jolting the Electric Villain. He spun around, grip loosening on Kaminari. The bear Villain swiped his massive clawed hand down, which the Electric Villain barely dodged.

A risky plan hatched in her mind. Momo ran forwards as the Electric Villain was distracted, managing to pull Kaminari free. The Electric Villain snarled, then nearly got hit by the Villain's feral swiping. With a grunt of frustration, the Electric Villain ducked under another ferocious swing then shocked the Villain back into unconsciousness.

He turned back, hands sparking with power, only for Momo to smash a baseball bat into his stomach. Wheezing, the electricity on his hands vanished.

Desperately Momo turned to Jirou, already darting to the side. "Jirou!" Not needing much more than that, Jirou's Earjacks slammed into her boots. A wave of sound crashed into the Electrical Villain, sending him keeling over.

Momo panted in shock, but managed to keep her hands steady. A spool of rope started to slowly unwind from her stomach. "Jirou, could you…?"

Jirou started, then grabbed the rope. "Oh! Right, sure…"

—

Ikumi sucked in a breath while Shigaraki growled with frustration. "Okay, so we've got more teamkilling idiots? Great! Fantastic! What's the other news, Kurogiri? And it better be good-"

Kurogiri shook his ethereal head. "Alas sir, it isn't. I was unable to prevent one of the students from escaping - the other students stopped me from reaching him before he sped away. I surmise that we will have unwanted visitors within half an hour at most."

A spark of hope went through Ikumi. It sounded like Iida had managed to get out of the USJ, at least.

With that, Shigaraki briefly went still before starting to twitch. "...if you weren't our way out I'd turn you to dust," he snarled, shaking with rage. "This whole raid has gone wrong! First All Might isn't here, then there's some team-killing assholes, and now a kid's escaped?!"

"With a powerful speed Quirk. I estimate that we only have half an hour at most before the faculty is alerted." Kurogiri bowed apologetically to Shigaraki. The Villain growled like a feral animal.

He paced, hands clawing at his neck while Noumu and Kurogiri stood still, watching. "If that brat gets to the teachers, we've gotta deal with All Might as well as dozens of Pros! Present Mic, Midnight, Ectoplasm, and that fucking rat…"

Suddenly Shigaraki went still. "Well, guess this raid was a bust. Kurogiri, we're gonna have to quit."

"Understood, sir," Kurogiri replied, a dark mist starting to spring up around his hands. Shigaraki stood there for a few seconds, taking a deep breath and letting it out with a frustrated air.

Behind her, Mineta grabbed Tsuyu in a hug. "Oh my god, they're leaving!" he sobbed as quietly as he could.

"I have a bad feeling about this, Mineta." Tsuyu paused, looking down at Mineta's hand on her chest with a slight blush and disapproving eyes. "Also, I'm aware that today's been stressful to all of us, but please stop grabbing me there."

"What - oh!" Mineta let go, flinching under Tsuyu's judgemental stare. "Not like I meant to, I've only got short arms…"

Ikumi urged them to stay quiet with a wave of her hand. This Villain group leaving sounded good but Shigaraki didn't seem like the kind of person who would just give up so easily.

—

Tomura let the tension drain from his shoulders. Angry as he was, the situation wasn't so bad - he'd just have to try again. "Yeah… Guess we'll DC. But before we do…"

He turned to point at the three brats who had thought they were safe, like he hadn't seen them. "Why don't we humiliate All Might… by leaving some dead kids?"

He shot over, hand reaching to clamp on on of their faces-

FWOOMPH!

-Only to pull his hand back hastily as a jet of flame shot in front of him. A shadow loomed over him - the freakishly tall girl with a vaguely sharklike face towered over him, teeth bared and hands clawed. A low growl came from her throat as she glared down at him.

"Get away from us," she rumbled, ears flat on her head. Behind her, the other students watched, terror plain on the small one's face but less so on the frog girl's.

It might have been a scary sight to somebody else. But as a Pro gamer and Villain, Tomura had seen and done much, much scarier things. He snapped his fingers in frustration, pointing at the girl. "Noumu."

Noumu, his beautifully min-maxed DPS/tank hybrid, perked up, then dropped Eraserhead. Tomura was vaguely impressed that this random girl had about thirty centimetres on Noumu, but Noumu positively bulged with muscle.

He pointed at the girl, and Noumu responded. It surged forwards, just as the girl managed to breathe more fire at Noumu, the air filled with a horrible smell - almost like cooking rotting pork but not quite. Engulfed with flames, Noumu reared back, screeching in pain as the flames licked its skin, the bluish-black flesh turning steadily darker. Then Noumu pushed forwards, the girl's eyes widening as Noumu pulled a fist back.

Tomura watched gleefully as Noumu slammed its fist into her midsection. Her fire sputtered out, the girl wheezing and trying to get her breath back. Noumu stood there impassively as she threw a sloppy punch that didn't even get a reaction. In response, it gripped her arm with an iron hold, pulling her away and into the water even as it burned.

Tomura leered at the remaining students, both horrified as he grinned. "Now… where were we?"

Once more, he lunged for the frog girl, watching with glee as she threw the purple brat away. Not like it would do her much good as his hand came closer to her face-

KA-BAM!

He stopped in place, then turned to see what had caused that noise. "Oh, what is it-" His breath caught in his throat. The one man he wanted to see was standing alone, face locked in a furious scowl. All around him, the brats at the gates stared up at him like they had

The raid boss had shown his face. He could still win this.

—

There were few things or people that All Might could say he truly hated. Only a few Villains had earned his enmity thus - the former leader of the CRC, a child trafficker that even now made his skin crawl… All for One.

But seeing the terrified faces of his students giving way to hope, the sight of Thirteen lying flat with their suit torn open, seeing two Villains about to attack young Asui, Mineta and Midoriya… All Might had passed straight from anger into the cold fire of wrath.

"Never fear, students." His mighty voice carried far, far around the USJ, almost further than it should logically travel. All Might could wear a smile in almost any situation, but not this. With a casual gesture, he tore his tie off.

"I am here."

The situation was dire, and he didn't have much time for nonsense. After hearing Iida's panicked account, there was no time to lose. And to think that all this danger could have been averted if he had been just slightly better at managing his time.

"I've been waiting for you, All Might. You worthless trash," the Villain covered with hands spat.

A bunch of punk Villains stared up at him. 'That's-that's him alright," one of them muttered.

Another managed a shaky grin, bracing himself for combat. "Who cares? If we just gang up-"

He never finished that sentence. All Might tore through the group to get to Eraserhead, wincing as he saw the state of his arm and face. "I'm sorry I took so long, Eraserhead. Can you stand?"

Eraserhead managed a tight nod, the remains of his capture weapon snapping around his shattered arm. "That huge brute he calls Noumu - he's on the same level as you physically. He's got some kind of regeneration Quirk - he's barely affected by that fire Midoriya hit him with. Deal with him quickly."

All Might glanced over at Midoriya and the other students. The larger girl had tears in her eyes, trying to tear her arm out of the burning Villain's grip. She looked up at him with eyes filled with desperate hope.

His eyes narrowed. He turned fully to face the students and Villains, and then he moved. The world seemed to be in slow motion as he darted around the still smoking bruiser, grabbing Asui and Mineta in one arm and Midoriya in the other. He knocked the hand on the Villain's face off as he sped around, which he privately considered a small price to pay.

In safety, the students stared, trying to figure out what happened. "Huh?" Mineta asked weakly. "How'd we…"

All Might waved at them to go, eyes fixed on the Villains. "Go to the entrance, students! Your safety is our number one priority!"

The Hand Villain grabbed his dropped hand off the ground. "Sorry I dropped you, Father… Still, now we see the violence inherent in the system," he rasped, snapping the hand back. "And you're way too fast - too fast for us to see." his face split into a ghastly rictus, cracked lips stretching over his face. "Too bad you're not as fast as you used to be."

All Might was immediately on guard. Not many Villains had the knowledge or insight to pick up on that fact.

Eraserhead managed to weakly push himself up, gesturing to his students. "Hurry!" Still shaken, Midoriya and the others started to move. Eraserhead and All Might traded a brief glance, then Eraserhead nodded, moving closer to the children to herd them away.

"I-I think Noumu has some sort of impact-reducing aspect to his Quirk!" Midoriya managed to gasp, clutching her stomach in pain. "I-I hit him as hard as I could and it didn't-"

"Hey! Stop helping All Might!" The Hand Villain complained, glaring at her.

All Might mentally filed that information away, masking his feelings with a smile. "Never fear, kids!"

He charged forwards, arms crossed. "CAROLINA… SMASH!"

Both arms chopped into Noumu, hitting the bruiser right in the middle of his ugly mug. All Might quickly ducked as Noumu barely reacted to his full force hit, instead going for a crude bear hug.

"That's a rather annoying ability - regeneration and shock absorption together?" In spite of his light tone, All Might was seriously worried. The nature of this Villain… A horrible thought wormed into his mind at that revelation.

"Exactly! You'd need to try slowly tearing him to pieces, but that won't be enough! Noumu won't let up, even for a second!" The Villain cackled with malicious glee.

All Might shook his head as he spun around Noumu. For all his boasting, Noumu had the fighting skill of a complete amateur. "I won't give him that opportunity!"

With that, he pulled Noumu back, ready to pile drive him into the concrete to at least slow his movements down-

—

In spite of himself, Eraserhead stopped as he saw All Might slam Noumu into the concrete, a huge cloud of dust emerging. Even if All Might was a rookie of a teacher, his skill as the Symbol of Peace was undeniable. Next to him, Asui looked at the scene impassively, a slight smile on her face.

"I guess they underestimated All Might, kero." Asui's comment was fairly polite and restrained.

"Kick him in the junk, All Might!" Mineta's was decidedly not.

For a moment, he couldn't blame them for staring at the scene with wide eyes, seeing a man so far above them in terms of speed and strength. Then Eraserhead's anxiety flared. "Be that as it may, you need to get to the entrance and away from here. This is no place for students."

This was a battlefield, after all. He was not about to see his students die. Not like Oboro. Eraserhead watched with a worry that didn't reach his face, trying to find an opening to help All Might.

Unfortunately, he couldn't risk using Erasure at this distance with all the dust from that explosion in the way. If he got All Might, then the Number One would die at the hands of Noumu, simple as that. Not just that, but All Might had practically insisted he get the kids out - the Rescue was the most important part of Heroics, after all.

All Might didn't have much time left today - maybe a few minutes. He had to make it quick-

Suddenly the impossible happened. All Might grunted with pain. And as the smoke cleared, Eraserhead felt dread settling in his stomach.

—

Mina couldn't help but stare, eyes wide. Just as her and Ojiro had left the burning zone littered with groaning Villains and had headed to the main plaza, they caught the explosion. She had hurried over with Ojiro to try and see what had happened… But she hadn't anticipated this.

The Hand Villain giggled, looking at All Might, bent over backwards to try and suplex the huge Villain. "Trying to immobilise Noumu? Not a bad move at all! Too bad Noumu's got the same insane Strength score you do."

Mina's heart skipped a beat when she saw All Might hack up a mouthful of blood as Noumu's fingers dug into his side. The black mist of the gate sprung up in two places, leaving All Might in an unfortunate position. Tomura grinned maliciously. "Good timing, Kurogiri."

The Warp Villain - Kurogiri - appeared next to All Might. "Thank you, Shigaraki. Now, I do despise having somebody dying in the middle of my Warp Gate… it makes such a mess. But for you, I shall make an exception."

Noumu started to slowly pull All Might through the portal. And as soon as Mina saw that, she felt the same manic urge that drove her in front of that hulking VIllain take over. She turned to Ojiro, a slightly shaky smile on her face. "Ojiro, I'm gonna do something incredibly stupid."

"Wait - what-?"

Pink lightning arced around her body as One for All flared up. High pressure acid shot from behind her, rocketing her towards All Might. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Midoriya suddenly break away from Eraserhead.

"MIDORIYA! ASHIDO!" Their teacher yelled. Pinned in place, All Might could only watch with a strained look on his face.

Mina heard him, of course, and she knew that Midoriya did. But at that moment, one thought remained in her head as she shot towards Shigaraki.

All Might, you've got a whole bunch to teach us! You've got to help me use your Quirk to the fullest!

Shigaraki looked surprised as she swung her fist at him, barely managing to dodge. Black-purple mist sprung up. Gritting her teeth, Mina prepared to try and hit that misty bastard-

KABOOM!

—

"EAT IT, MISTY!"

Katsuki relished the grunt of pain that the mist bastard let out as he was knocked down, his Warping ability winking out of existence. He glared up at Midori, his friend watching with wide eyes as he slammed the Villain to the ground.

"Kacchan-"

"You thinking at all when you charged this guy?!" Katsuki yelled at her. His prisoner tried to shift, only to wince when he slammed his hand down. "Oh, no. No moving for you!"

Midori teared up. "I - N-not really?"

A crack of ice from behind her caused them to both turn. The hulking bastard with All Might in his grip was suddenly half frozen, and the Ice Jerk was there. "I heard you people were here to kill All Might," the jerk said dully. "Too bad scum like you could never do it."

Shitty Hair tried to hit the Hand Bastard only to wince as the jerk decided to dodge. "Damn, almost had him!" Shitty Hair cried.

"K-Kirishima?!" Pinky yelled, that weird lightning surrounding her. Shitty Hair briefly turned to give her a thumbs up before turning to face them.

All Might pulled himself free, standing tall as the icon of victory Katsuki knew he was, staggering slightly and clutching his side where the Villain had gripped him. Katsuki knew that was likely just a bluff though - no way anybody could hurt All Might.

Curiously, the other Villain didn't seem concerned. "Well, you've locked down my hearthstone. This is a problem."

"S-Shigaraki-"

Katsuki ground the bastard's head into the dirt. "Ah-ah–ah, no moving for you. I'll blow your head off if you try that warping shit!"

"That's not very heroic, dude…" Shitty Hair mumbled.

While Katsuki really wanted to turn and yell, he wasn't going to risk it. Not while the other Villain was standing around like this was a casual day out.

—

"Okay, what the hell happened here? Did you pricks seriously no-hit my level? Man, my League of Villains should be ashamed…" Shigaraki mumbled.

Ikumi couldn't help but tense up. She had gotten really lucky that Noumu hadn't tried to break her arm like Sensei's - she had had to pull all of Dragonframe into her midsection just to soak that hit and even then, it was a close thing. Her telekinic shell was trying to flare back around her body but she had already used most of her energy on trying to hurt Noumu. Maybe Noumu looked a bit crispier-

"Noumu, kill the explosive brat. We need our warper back."

With a cracking of ice, Noumu, impossibly, pushed himself back up, tearing the frozen chunks of his body away.

"What - how's he still moving?!" Ashido shouted.

"Get back!" All Might flung an arm out, and Ikumi gasped as she saw Noumu, impossibly, regrow his lost arm and leg, bone and muscle seeming to come from nowhere.

"Please! Noumu's a living sandbag who can take whatever you miserable Heroes throw at him!" Shigaraki cackled at that, watching as his minion pushed himself back up.

This was far beyond what she had expected. How could a person even regrow that much lost tissue and not be affected? Noumu howled, screaming for dominance-

"EAT THIS!" Ashido yelled, a massive geyser of acid hitting Noumu square in the chest. And it screamed in horrific agony, flesh bubbling and steam coming from its chest as its body was slowly stripped to the bone once more, somehow, impossibly, still standing. Ashido's stream of acid shut off, a horrified look on her face.

"I-"

Noumu staggered, its body stitching itself back together again. To Ikumi's eye, though, it looked like the process wasn't as quick as before. His chest was discoloured to a corpse white, splatters of damage still on its relatively unharmed arms and legs.

Shigaraki stomped his foot petulantly as Noumu staggered. "What the fuck?! Stop ruining this plan! Noumu, get your stupid ass up and KILL THAT BLONDE!"

Ikumi's breath hitched. Desperately she flung herself in the way, knowing that she could never catch Noumu-

—.

KABAM!

For a second, Tomura was sure that the kid had been turned to paste. But when the smoke from Noumu's strike cleared, he sighed in disappointment upon seeing him next to the oversized girl.

"K-Kacchan?! Did you dodge-"

"Hell no," the brat growled. "All Might must've done it."

Still, Kurogiri was free and hanging just by him. And, of course, All Might was still alive, and still smiling. "Your friend doesn't know how to hold back, does he?"

Tomura glared at his nemesis. "Wow, anything to save an ally, right? Like before - the tall one and that pink girl came at me and Kurogiri with everything they had, all to 'save a friend.' But violence in the name of saving others is so good, isn't it?!"

He waved his hands. "I mean, that just pissed me off! Heroes are good, Villains are evil?! That's just the victors writing history all over again! Well, when I kill you, I'll rewrite that history and show the world how you're just a tool to get rid of those who don't fit in!"

All Might laughed at that. "You don't even believe that, young man. You're just doing this because you enjoy it."

Tomura shrugged. It had been worth a shot, at least. "Wow, you saw right through me."

Behind All Might, the brats started talking. "W-well, it's three on six, we can take him!" The red haired guy said.

The pink one managed a shaky smile. "Y-yeah, we can do it-"

Then All Might flung out his arm. "No, stay back children!"

"Things wouldn't have gone so well if I hadn't dealt with that Noumu," the candy cane kid bluntly pointed out.

"Plus you're-you're bleeding, All Might… And it smells like you're bleeding a lot." The ridiculously tall girl squeaked.

"Right you are, Todoroki! And don't worry about me, Midoriya!" All Might gave them a thumbs up. Tomura fought the urge to puke at his cheesy attitude. "Sit back and watch a Pro get serious!"

"Noumu, Kurogiri. Team fight All Might while I deal with the kids," Tomura waved at his minions idly.

All Might squared up as Tomura darted towards the group. "It's time to clear this fucking level!"

As Tomura came closer, he saw the kids trying to get into fighting stances. Not like it would help them much against his Quirk. Then All Might just had to get in the way, forcing Noumu to get in front of him to fight.

Snarling, Tomura was forced to jump back as a shockwave sprung up from their fists colliding. "You know he's got Shock Absorption, right?"

"So what?" All Might's fists suddenly blurred, and Noumu responded in kind, their exchange of blows blurring. "Too bad he can't nullify impacts!" Tomura growled angrily as All Might kept blabbering. "So if you built him to beat me…"

To Tomura's shock, he saw Noumu start to get pushed back even as its blows hit All Might. "...THEN I'LL JUST HAVE TO SURPASS MYSELF!"

"No, no, no…" Tomura muttered as Noumu staggered, reeling back as-

Frustratingly, All Might kept talking. "Say, Villain, do you know the meaning of the words?" He grinned. " PLUS-"

And then All Might hit his beautiful Noumu with a punch. For a second, Tomura was hopeful as Noumu stood still. Then Noumu shot away with the force of a cannon, smashing through the ceiling and boring through a cloud.

"-ULTRA!"

Tomura stared at the torn hole in the ceiling where Noumu had flown. His mind went blank. While the brats started blowing smoke up All Might's ass about how wonderful it was that he overwhelmed Noumu's Quirks, one thought went through his mind.

How…

He was snapped out of it by All Might chuckling. "I really am slowing down… In my heyday, I would have only needed about five punches. But that took me over a hundred blows!"

Tomura's eyes narrowed.

—

"You… You hacking bastard!" Shigaraki raged, hands clawing.

Internally All Might winced. He had maybe a few seconds left where he could safely move with his Quirk. He had to make them count. "Surrender, Villain! Unless you want to go another round?"

"Did-did they lie to me?" Shigaraki sounded lost, clawing at his neck.

All Might wanted to know who this 'they' was but knew he didn't have the time for a long, drawn out interrogation. He reckoned that he could take a couple of steps before he lost his hold on his transformation. "You were the one acting like this was a game. Come on, see if you can win!"

Just a little more time until the other Heroes get here!

Shigaraki scratched his neck hard enough to draw blood. "If only Noumu was still here… He took those hits so well!"

"Now, now, Shigaraki…" Kurogiri tried to reassure his master. "It looks like Noumu did some

real damage to All Might. If we team up, we can take him out."

Shigaraki stopped scratching his neck. "...Yeah… Yeah, the kids are hanging back as well. No way they can interfere."

All Might glared at them, trying to summon the rest of his power. "I'm warning you!" He took a single step forward, the Villains flinching back as he did. Unfortunately, he really had hit his limit at this point.

"We really should retreat-"

Shigaraki waved Kurogiri to shut up. "No way, Kurogiri! The final boss is on one hitpoint! We're so close!"

All Might grit his teeth as Kurogiri and Shigaraki charged forwards. Calling on reserves he didn't even know existed, he managed to bring up his arms, aching and bloody-knuckled as they were. He faced the Villains with a grim resolve.

It seemed that Sir Nighteye's prediction was about to come true. He had been ready for this to happen but it seemed so sudden-

Suddenly Ashido was there with a war cry of her own, pink lightning sparking around her as she charged at Shigaraki. His heart leapt into his mouth when he saw a gate open above Ashido's head, Shigaraki reaching a hand through with a disinterested expression on his face.

Then Midoriya leaped in front of Ashido, teeth bared and one fist pulled back. Shigaraki leered. "Well I wanted the pink one, but you'll do!"

All Might watched helplessly as Shigaraki reached out to grab Midoriya-!

His fingers stopped a centimetre away from her.

The Villain stared. "What-"

Midoriya's fist lashed forwards.

—

…I am very used to holding back. Everything's too small, too delicate for me to easily handle, but I manage. After so many broken pens and pencils, I can finally hold ones that aren't designed for my hands without breaking them.

Other parents and kids were worried that I'd accidentally hurt other kids if I played. Kacchan was the first kid who actually wanted to play with me since that was a risk. I-I think that was something I really needed to hear at that point.

…What I'm trying to say is, before now I never seriously tried to punch somebody full force. I knew that I was going to have to hit some Villains with everything I had, I just -

Like Mineta said, I'd really hoped that would be later. Not in our first week. But at the time, I was furious at Shigaraki for treating everything like a game, and I was terrified that Ashido and All Might were going to be killed.

So I hit Shigaraki, as hard as I could.

—

CRUNCH.

Mina stared at Shigaraki with wide eyes. Sure, she knew that Midoriya was strong - she kind of had to be given how tall she was. But seeing Shigaraki go flying from that hit, a visible imprint of Midoriya's fist still buried in his midsection as he spat up a stream of blood…

Everybody was just happy that Midoriya was so nice and gentle. Midoriya stood there in front of All Might, panting with a fist raised.

The Warp Villain's eyes widened. "Shigaraki!" With a furious glare at Midoriya, Kurogiri grabbed Shigaraki and the body of the four-armed Villain. Bullets flew past from the entrance - Mina saw that it was Snipe, trying to take out Kurogiri before he could flee.

Mina darted forward to try and grab Shigaraki or Kurogiri but it was too late - her fingers only managed to snag a fallen hand as Kurogiri warped away. "Dang it," she muttered. She turned back to Midoriya with as big a smile as she could manage. "Nice work, Class Prez-"

Midoriya slumped down, tears gathering in her eyes. All Might managed to step over, raising an arm. "Young Midoriya-"

As the teachers started to come in to help the students, Mina and All Might stood with Midoriya. Mina hugged MIdoriya as hard as she could, holding her. "I-I thought we were going to die!" Midoriya sobbed as All Might heped hold her up.

All Might looked down. "...Again, I'm sorry I wasn't here to help."

Mina managed a shaky smile. "D-don't worry, Midoriya. We've got your back, all the way. And we'll get that guy next time."

The thought struck her as she stood there with them. Next time. Mina knew she wasn't the brightest student around, but she knew that Shigaraki would try again.

But next time, they'd be ready.

—

AN: Sorry this took so long! In between procrastinating on my other works and having relatives over last week, I haven't been working on this as much as I could have!

So, the USJ has ended! Hopefully this was an interesting station of canon.

Regarding the Noumu fight and why Ikumi and MIna didn't simply kill Noumu, I'm just going to head it off with this: they're not training to kill but to save lives. Ikumi's fire isn't as trained or as powerful as Hellfire, and while Mina's acid could get more powerful you're instinctively going to stop when you see the grievous harm your Quirk can inflict. That being said, they massively helped by overworking the mix of Quirks Noumu had. Quirks are still physical abilities, and even if something is bio-engineered to be extreme there's still a stamina limit.

Man there was a lot of stuff in this that didn't make it. I really wanted Ikumi to hit Shigaraki but couldn't find a way to put it in the narrative organically. Trying to find the right place for it frustrated me but I want to actually get a chapter out vaguely on time.

EDIT: Fairly big change to the ending guys. I decided to have Ikumi hit Shigaraki after all. Should have some fun aftermath. I think it's a fair assessment that Ikumi's sheer weight class difference and superhuman muscles resulted in damage like that. Small differences in weight class in real life can result in the lighter fighter being killed, after all.

As always, thank Banchoking for editing this, and thank you for enjoying this. Please like and comment to tell me what you liked/disliked and any ideas you have!

Next time… Aftermath and conversations!