The USJ continues! Izuku is on a tear, but there are many foes and only one of him. Perhaps some help may be appropriate?
Fast turnaround on the next chapter, ey? I really was into it lol, so...here's chapter 18!
Slice snickered at Izuku's declaration. "Aww, the poor boy is angry. I'll handle this Ni-"
No one saw Izuku move. He was there, then he was gone, standing where Slice had been, his body twisted in position of having thrown a powerful kick. Following the trail of where he'd aimed, Slice had been launched all the way across the plaza towards the fountain, blood spurting from her mouth, her side looking like it had been half crushed. The only thing that kept her from slamming into the stone fountain was the blue heteromorphic man jumping in the way, barely managing to catch her and being driven back a few steps from the sheer force.
"You're in the way," Izuku whispered into the silence that followed the echoing crash. His body was alight with green once more, emerald sparks dancing, emerald droplets falling from his limbs to scatter upon the ground. His radioactive gaze turned back to Nine, the villain's eyes wide at what he'd just witnessed. Izuku narrowed his eyes. "If you have a deity…I would suggest praying to it."
He bolted towards Nine, his feet cracking the ground. Nine brought up both hands, a trio of circular yellow discs appearing before him as a barrier. Izuku leapt up, gripping the edge of one of the discs and flipping over it, bringing his foot down towards Nine's head. The villain dropped the shield, leaping backwards, pink-purple blasts of energy firing from his fingers. Izuku brought up his own barrier, blocking the shots.
He spun about, putting his back to the barrier and launching himself towards it, the barrier folding around him, conforming into what looked like green armor, softly glowing and sparking. He gave another half spin, a disc within his hand flinging out towards Nine. Continuing his spin, he leapt up, rolling in the air as Nine fired another series of lasers towards him, the villain dodging the disc even as Izuku fired a second, and a third, all while rolling in midair to dodge the lasers.
"Mummy! Chimera! Kill this kid!" Nine shouted, leaping up and back, another trio of yellow barriers blocking the next discs Izuku threw.
Izuku leapt in the air, front flipping, forming a massive blade of pure energy in both hands. With a blank expression, he brought it down at the apex of his flip, slamming into the barriers with a resounding crack, the yellow barriers holding for a moment before shattering at the same time the green energy did. As Izuku landed, he had to leap away, the blue-furred heteromorph identified as Chimera's fist slamming into the ground where he was standing.
A half-dozen red bandage looking materials shot at him, Izuku bolting to the left and then back to the right to weave through them. His eyes sought out the one manipulating them, the red-covered man called Mummy. With a burst of energy, he shot across the battlefield towards him, forming a pointed barrier in front, a cone shape that the bandages bounced off of.
He spun as he went, using the field he'd wrapped around himself and shifting its form between attraction and repulsion on different sides back and forth, causing his body to rotate faster and faster. With the barrier in front of him and his spinning, he looked more like a drill than a person.
Slice managed to get to her feet, gripping her side as blood dripped from her mouth. With wild eyes, her hair shifted into blades and stabbed towards Izuku as he went by her, forcing the greenette to cancel his current trajectory and throw a field in her direction, using it to both block the damage and shove off away from her.
His blank expression twitched for a moment, eyes glowing faster as Mummy's Quirk gripped onto a dozen trees in the back, the bandages wrapping about them and forcing them to move as if they were golems under his control. The trees came flying towards Izuku, the greenette landing long enough to launch himself into the air, bouncing off another barrier and rocketing back towards Nine. His target was there…and he would not be stopped.
Himiko was terrified. She'd never seen Izuku act like this, never seen him move or attack like that. This was a side of her love she'd never seen and she could only imagine what the villain must have done to set Izuku off. The only thing she could think of was he'd hurt someone…someone like…Ochako…
"Fangs!" The shout from her left got her attention, seeing Katsuki and Eijiro running over to her.
"Oh, Kats, you're okay!" she practically shouted, throwing herself at her friend, the blonde catching her with a grunt.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Enough of this, we need to get to Zu asap," he replied, prying her off him after a quick return squeeze that she knew he'd deny till the day he died.
"What happened?!" Eijiro asked, his jaw still dropped ever since he saw the red-haired woman be launched across the plaza.
Katsuki clenched his fists tightly. "You two remember what I said about the villain who caused all our problems?" Eijiro and Himiko nodded, Toru tilting her head to the side in confusion (not that anyone could see). Katsuki took a deep breath and nodded towards Nine. "That's him."
"Oh…oh no," Himiko whispered, eyes going wide as she covered her mouth with her hands.
"We don't have time to fucking panic. We…we can't stop Zu, not when he's like this, but he'll get killed if he keeps fighting all of them. We need to get the rest off him, and let him focus on the fucker. Fangs, can you take on the bandage bitch? I'm going to take out the portal fucker before he makes everything worse. Eijiro, grab the furry."
"What about me?" Toru asked, Katsuki and Eijiro jumping as they heard her voice. Katsuki stared in her direction for a moment, before shaking his head. "Get to the top of the stairs, tell Cheeks what's going on. We need her too. We need everyone we can, if you find the others in the other zones grab them too."
"What do we do about the black creature? It's still standing over Sensei!" Eijiro asked.
"It's not moving yet. Maybe it's stupid or something. Invisa, ask Cheeks if she can maybe get it on the ground or something. Give someone a chance to get Sensei out. I have no fucking clue what these fuckers can do, but we have to be fast."
All four cringed as they heard a snap, looking back to see that Izuku's right was dangling oddly from his side, the blue-furred one having landed a powerful hit on it. Izuku did not look phased, his expression blank still. With his left hand, he planted it on the ground and dropped into a double kick that sent even the much larger villain flying, smashing it into the lake and sending it underwater.
"Go!" Katsuki shouted, rocketing into the air with his explosions and heading towards the spot where Kurogiri had just materialized. Eijiro nodded absently, his arms crackling and hardening as he bolted towards the lake where the furred villain went, ready to intercept. Himiko took a deep breath, before patting Toru on the shoulder and squeezing it.
"You got this, Toru. Let the others know. We're not dying here," with that solemn promise, two daggers appeared as if by magic in Himiko's hands, her form almost seeming to blur as she ran towards the bandage clad figure standing as far back from the main fight as he could while still using his Quirk.
Toru bit her lip, but obeyed the order, running as fast and as quietly as she could towards the entrance. In her head, she could only hope and pray they'd be okay long enough for her to get to the rest and get their help.
She ran into Sato, Todoroki, Tokoyami, and Koda as she tried to follow the treeline, wanting to avoid getting the black-skinned creature's attention. The four didn't notice her at first, eyes locked on the green figure that was Izuku with three confused expressions and one blank gaze.
"H-help!" she gasped out, skidding to a stop before them.
"Hagakure?" Sato asked, looking around him in every direction.
"I'm in front of you!" she gasped again, placing her hands on her knees. She gulped. "Listen, I don't know what's going on for sure, but Izuku's in trouble! A lot of trouble! Bakugo, Himiko, and Kirishima are going to help him, try and get the other villains off him, because Bakugo said something about them knowing the villain leader and that's the one Izuku's trying to get to. It sounded real bad guys, like…real bad. I'm going to the entrance to get everyone else's help and maybe we can get Sensei away from the black creature!"
Tokoyami's eyes narrowed as Dark Shadow peered over his shoulder, the Quirk's yellow gaze affixed firmly on Izuku. "Midoriya is consumed by rage, it would seem."
"He's really angry, Fumi. But it's not just anger. It's hate. I can feel it. He wants to kill the guy. We should let him, we should. That guy's bad news."
"We have discussed this before, heroes do not kill!" Tokoyami shot back at his Quirk, looking at it over his shoulder.
"You're the hero, Fumi. I just want to have fun. And Midoriya is fun like this. He should stay like this, it seems fun."
"We don't have time to argue! Are you gonna help or not?" Hagakure said, stomping her foot to call attention back to her.
"They are here to kill All Might. We cannot allow this. The black-skinned creature is their secret weapon. I will disable it. You four get back to the entrance, it isn't safe here," Todoroki commanded, walking off towards the creature hovering over their teachers.
"Todoroki!" Sato called, cursing as he was ignored by the other boy. "I'm pretty much tapped out, no more sugar left. I'd be a liability more than a help." Koda merely gestured around at the lack of animals.
"Dark Shadow and I will do what we can, but the lights do hamper our abilities," Tokoyami intoned.
"That's fine. At least get to the entrance and tell Uraraka what's going on, Bakugo said she might be able to do something about the black creature. I'm gonna go look for the others!" Hagakure didn't wait for a response, running off to the next zone she hadn't seen yet.
It didn't take long for her to run across Momo and Jiro, the two covered in dust, dirt, and leaning on each other heavily. Momo looked half-emaciated, and Jiro kept clutching at her chest and wheezing. Hagakure's eyes widened at the sight, running up to them and shouting so they knew it was her.
"Oh my god are you two okay? What happened?"
"Hagakure? Oh, you're alright, that's good to know," Momo said tiredly. "I am afraid we had to go overboard to stop the villains attacking us. I think Jiro hurt herself."
"I-I'm fine," Kyoka muttered, an annoyed tone in her voice. "It's nothing I can't deal with. Forget me, what the hell's up with Green?"
A massive crack resounded through the area, the three girls flinching as a wave of dust came flying at them from the plaza. In the center of it, Izuku stood, the jumpsuit covering his legs completely gone, his left leg visibly raw and red, with cuts oozing blood across it. His foot was embedded in a crater, pieces of concrete lifted up as if shields, one of them which he gripped and launched at the white-haired villain, the figure quickly destroying it with lasers that fired from his fingertips.
"Long story, all I know from Bakugo is that apparently they know that villain and Izuku's not um…not in his right mind right now and he's going to keep fighting until he can't. Bakugo, Himiko, Kirishima, and Todoroki are going to help. I was going to ask you two but…um…I think it's best you get back to the entrance. I'm gonna try to find everyone else!"
Momo reached to her side and pulled out a pair of binoculars, looking up towards the entrance, her body shivering for a moment from the chill she felt, using more of her remaining lipid stores. After a moment, she nodded. "I think most of the class is up there. The only ones I don't see are Tsuyu, Shinso, Aoyama, Ida, and the ones you mentioned."
"Okay, you go there then, I'll try to find the others!"
"Alright. Stay safe, Hagakure," Momo said, her grip on Jiro's worryingly more slack shoulders tightening. Toru nodded (not that anyone could see it), and began to run towards one of the zones she hadn't been to. Momo, wincing at how weak she felt, kept pulling Jiro along, trying to get her to entrance as quickly as possible.
"Uraraka!" Ochako turned at the call to see Sato approaching, Koda following behind him.
"Oh thank the gods, you two are alright," she said, wiping Thirteen's blood off her hands.
"Bakugo said he needs your help. He said the villain is one he and Midoriya know? That's why Midoriya's going crazy! He and a few others are rushing to give Midoriya backup, but he said he needed you too, said you could do something about the black creature and retrieve Sensei. Todoroki is going after it too, " Sato managed to say in one breath, gasping for air.
"...a villain Izuku knows? Wait…oh…oh no," Ochako's eyes went wide with terror. She'd seen the green glow, heard the crashes and impacts, but from her angle she couldn't see what was going on, and Thirteen remained wounded. She trusted in her partners and in Bakugo, so she'd chosen to stay up there to keep the rest of the class safe. But if Izuku was confronting him…oh no.
"Mina, Shoji, go get Sensei and bring him up here. I'll help Todoroki distract the big thing. Sero, if you see an opening, try to grab that bandage guy, I don't think he himself is strong so you can probably trap him. Kaminari, if Sero gets him, shock him," Ochako ordered, all of her lessons from Nighteye coming to mind. She was so glad he kept insisting on them all learning how to delegate, how to take charge during an emergency, how to keep others calm.
Mina and Kaminari were halfway to hysterical before she managed to get them in order, and though Shoji and Sero were fairly level-headed, she could see both of them letting their worries take over, in the way Shoji kept rescanning even though he saw nothing new, in how Sero kept fidgeting. She had to get all of them in order and get them busy, so they didn't have time to worry. The same thing she was doing to herself, compartmentalization. Izuku was in danger. Himiko was in danger. Katsuki was in danger. They all were, she didn't know for sure where they were or what condition, but she had to stay focused. If Katsuki identified the creature as a target she could handle, she could trust his word…he wouldn't let anything happen to Izuku.
As soon as she was sure the others listened to her, she turned to Sato and Koda. "You two stay here and watch Thirteen. I'll be back as soon as I can." Not waiting for a response, she bolted down the stairs, discarding her helmet so it didn't get in the way. She grasped at the cables coiled on her waist, letting them trail behind her as she ran, eyes narrowed on the target. The black creature had yet to move, and wasn't looking at her, just looking down at Sensei with a blank expression. This was her chance!
She whipped the cables out, both of them wrapping about its arm. Pulsing her power down the line as it seemed to ignore her, she reduced its gravity till it began to float. Now it seemed to fight back, almost frantically pawing at the air, but she ignored that. She spun about once, twice, thrice, getting as much torque as she could while it flew about her like a toy ball on a string. She released her grip on her cables at the third spin, launching it up into the air and over the plaza. It didn't seem to have any flight abilities, so if she kept it locked in midair, it was out of the fight as far as she could tell.
A moment later, Todoroki slid to a stop next to her, looking at her. "I was coming to disable it," he informed her as she winced at the nausea boiling in her stomach from its struggles.
"I got it. Go help the others if you can, I'll keep this thing away from everyone," she replied, keeping an eye on its form in the air. Todoroki stared at her blankly, before giving a single nod and forming a track of ice, sliding along it to approach the area where she could see green glows. Too much smoke and craters kept her from seeing the fight, but she had to trust in her partners. Izuku and Himiko wouldn't give up, Katsuki would win. She believed.
"Stay the fuck down!" Katsuki shouted, slamming his hand into the furry fucker's head. Chimera, as he'd learned his name was, just threw him off with a grunt of annoyance, catching Eijiro's hardened fist and spinning to launch him away. Katsuki had tried to reach the mist fucker, but he had teleported to god knows where as soon as he saw Katsuki coming.
"Pathetic!" Chimera roared back, his tail whipping out, Katsuki barely dodging it with a blast from his palms.
Katsuki glanced to the side, seeing Himiko weaving between the bandages of the Mummy fucker. She hadn't been able to get close enough to land a good blow, and every knife she'd thrown had been snatched out of the air by the bandages, but she was at least keeping him occupied. Which left…
"Got you now, brat!" Slice shouted, her hair, formed into blades, slashing through the air at him.
He pointed his palms down, launching himself upwards and over her. Completing his rotation midair, he brought both hands forward as she turned to look at him. "Stun Grenade!" he shouted, a brilliant flare of light blinding both her and the furry bastard for a moment. He caught a glimpse of something in the corner, and his eyes widened as he saw an opening. He launched himself backwards towards Mummy, sending a blast into the distracted man's side. He shared a glance with Himiko, the other blonde nodding in understanding.
Himiko vanished from view as Katsuki sent a second blast, a third, a fourth, pouring blast after blast into the bandaged man. His shoulders and arms ached, but he didn't let up, sending so many that it tore up the ground and made it impossible to see through the fire and smoke and dust. Bandages rocketed out of the smoke, wrapping about his limbs as Mummy stepped out of the smoke, eyes narrowed and body smoldering a bit.
"Blocking your own eyesight? Stupid. Now you're done," the man said in a bored tone. "And don't think your little blonde friend will get me, I know her tricks by now."
Katsuki grinned at the bandage-covered man, his teeth visible and bared in a feral smile. "Yeah…but wanna know something?"
"What?" came the bored reply.
"Did you know frogs are ambush predators?"
Mummy blinked, confused, before a pink tongue shot out from the left and wrapped around both of his arms and his chest, snapping them to his side. His eyes widened as Himiko leapt into the air, her daggers slicing through the bandages holding Katsuki in place. In a single blast forward, Katsuki had his hand placed over Mummy's face, eyes narrowed and his smile gone.
"Go to hell," Katsuki said quietly, as he unleashed another blast, using the momentum to slam Mummy's head into the concrete, the already damaged ground cracking beneath the pressure. He took a half second to take a breath, before giving a thankful nod to Tsuyu's visibly shaking form and Himiko, the other blonde gripping his shoulder.
Eijiro landed between the three of them, groaning in pain as he struggled to his feet. Katsuki rushed over to him, helping him up, turning to look over at Slice and Chimera, the two villains steadily walking towards the four of them.
"Give him back," Chimera snarled, his feet ripping through his boots, claws expanding, his chest growing as his body twisted and contorted, growing larger, stronger, taller. Slice's hair was sharpened once more, fanned wide out, even as she snarled through one bloody eye.
At that second, Todoroki slid up next to them, ice trailing behind him. Further back, Kaminari and Sero could be seen picking their way carefully around, trying to not be noticed as they approached. Katsuki wiped at his mouth, a small trickle of blood staining his glove from an earlier punch from the furred villain.
"Where's the other fucker, half and half?" Katsuki asked Todoroki, keeping his eyes on the villains before them.
"Uraraka had it under control," Todoroki replies, pointing into the air over the fountain behind them. Everyone followed his finger, seeing the Nomu struggling futilely in the air.
Katsuki let out a bark of laughter, before turning back to Slice and Chimera. "Give it up fuckwads. Your 'weapon's' useless and it's just you two versus all of us. Zu's gonna fuck your boss up!"
"...we'll see about that," Slice hissed, eyes narrowed as crouched down to prepare to attack them.
"Chimera!" the voice of Nine called out from the left, making the villain look over and open his mouth to respond, before going still, eyes wide and blank. The gathered students looked over, seeing Shinso with his mask on, one hand over the side, making small adjustments. With a shit-eating grin hidden beneath the mask, Shinso spoke in Nine's voice once more.
"Knock your friend out."
"Wha-" Slice managed to get out, before Chimera's massive fist slammed into her face, smashing her down into the ground and ripping her from consciousness. The red-haired woman lay on the ground, barely breathing, out cold from the strike as Chimera stood there, awaiting new orders.
"Nice trick eyebags. Good timing," Katsuki said, nodding to Shinso.
"Might not work on robots, but it sure as hell works on villains," Shinso replied, gathering with the rest.
"How long can you hold the blue fucker?"
"Until someone hits him or hurts him somehow."
"Perfect. That's all but one of the fuckers."
"...yeah, but what do we do about the last one, ribbit?" Tsuyu asked. As if in answer to her, a flare of green light came from behind them, a loud screech as two massive blue dragon constructs sped out towards the green glowing figure of Izuku, the greenette carving them in half with a hastily constructed blade of energy in one hand and a powerful kick from his uninjured leg at the other.
Katsuki flinched as everyone looked at him. "The rest of you need to stay back…I'll deal with Izu."
"Hell no, he's my boyfriend, I'm not just leaving him!" Himiko shouted, her fists clenched around her daggers.
Katsuki spun about to her. "You don't get it, he's out of control! He might hurt you if you're not careful! He'd never be able to forgive himself if he hurt any of you!"
"Oh but it's okay if he hurts you?" she shot back.
"I know how he fights when he's like this, I'll be fine."
"He's not fighting like himself! You know that as well as I do!" Himiko shouted again, pointing at Izuku, the boy in question standing with half his costume ripped off, his scars clearly visible. One of his arms hung limply, clearly broken, surrounded by green bands of energy, as his left leg was bleeding profusely from various cuts. His expression had not changed though, still disturbingly blank, uncaring, unflinching…very un-Izuku.
"Just trust me on this!" Katsuki shouted in her face.
"I do trust you, but this isn't something only you have to do! I love him too, I should be able to help!" she stepped up to glare back at him, the two blondes locked in a staredown. Todoroki interrupted them by pointing at Nine.
"What is he doing?"
As the group turned to look at the white-haired villain, who sported his own bleeding mouth and had lost his facemask, they witnessed him lift up his right arm, holding a small tablet-like device in hand. Glaring at Izuku, he pressed a button on it and spoke, his voice echoing in the sudden silence.
"Nomu! Activate Imbuement: Rampage!"
A loud, piercing roar echoed throughout the USJ, making everyone turn to look at the now glowing, red-skinned humanoid creature called Nomu floating in midair. It bent and twisted, its back arching, as bloody skeletal spikes erupted from its spine, stretching out like disgusting bone-like fingers. Its arms grew longer, twice as long as before, till they appeared as if they would drag on the ground if it tried to stand upright. It's jaw unhinged, the bottom lip splitting in half and growing new, serrated teeth. As its head snapped about to look over at the gathered group, its eyes glowed with intensity…and it vanished.
Nine was his. He would bring the villain down, he would stop him from ever hurting anyone ever again. Nothing would get in his way, nothing would stop his progress. This…this bastard, this creature, this monster had taken everything from Izuku, and he would take everything in return.
There was a strange stillness in his heart, where all this bubbling, roiling hatred seemed to emanate from it. It burned in his breast, yet the burn somehow felt good, felt righteous, felt freeing. He would not be shackled by anything else, he would bring him low and stand above the bastard's broken, beaten corpse and know that he finally had avenged his parents, avenged Kacchan, avenged all those who Nine had hurt indirectly through him.
Yet for all the hate, the rage, the pain as he kept flashing in and out from his past…everything inside him felt calm. Collected. Dispassionate. On some level he thought this might be an issue. Pretty sure his therapist would say he's disassociating.
His arm was broken in multiple places, but he did not feel the pain. His leg was carved up from the release of energy and the flying shrapnel, but he did not notice. He had a half dozen small holes in him, from where the lasers managed to get around his barriers, but he did not care. There was nothing before him but the target. Nothing but his will. Nine wanted someone with will to power and power to enact their will? Well, he got what he desired. Izuku had the power, and his will was Nine's defeat.
Idly he noted Katsuki's assistance, with the arrival of the others pulling Nine's allies away. He'd thank his brother later. He could tell Katsuki understood. There were times the two of them were on the same wavelength, and this was one of those. He saw it, the one time their eyes met, emerald green and ruby red. Katsuki had given him one nod, pained though it was, and that was enough for Izuku to know Katsuki understood.
Another kick and Nine lost his mask, at least a few of his teeth being cracked from the force. Izuku had wrapped nearly his entire body in bands of glowing green energy, allowing him to utilize his broken arm and damaged leg without issue. A beep came from his wrist, the fourth in the past minute, which he dismissed once more. It was unimportant.
Nine managed to push him back with another pulse of his own triplicate barrier, holding up to his mouth what looked like some tablet of some kind. Into it he shouted. "Nomu! Activate Imbuement: Rampage!" The cracking of bone in the sky had Izuku's head snapping about to look, seeing what everyone else had seen…the red skin, the skeletal limbs, the buckling and changing creature. His vision revealed another color pulsing, twisting, morphing the inky, oily black of its unidentified Quirk into a disgusting, viscous pulsating red-brown color. Only for a moment, as the Nomu…disappeared.
Izuku found where it was a moment later, when it's fist slammed into his chest, shattering the barrier he'd wrapped about it and breaking his ribcage in a single motion, pain erupting throughout his entire body as he was flung back dozens of meters, his body bouncing and skidding across the ground until it stopped, ramming his head into the stone staircase and causing stars to erupt in his vision.
As he lay there, even with the blood rushing in his ears and how muted everything seemed, he could hear the cries of his classmates. Katsuki's roar of rage, Himiko's scream, even the ones not as close to him cried out. Shoji had rushed down to his side, he could see the dupli-arms forming into various hands as he tried to help Izuku. Izuku appreciated the thought, and a part of him felt warm knowing that even though they'd only known each other a couple days, Shoji tried to help…but Izuku wasn't stupid. His mind was surprisingly clear, as he stared up at the ceiling of the USJ. He was pretty sure this was the end.
The beeping on his wrist hadn't halted. He knew that tone. Sub-10%. He had almost nothing left in the tank and it was draining fast, the organ that stored his energy in his chest was damaged, leaking. The broken ribs probably had something to do with it, he figured.
He'd been such an idiot. If Nomu did that to him, what could it do to the others? If he had just focused and helped his friends, they could have restrained it or something before Nine did…whatever he did. But he'd lost himself in his grief, in his hate, and now they might pay the price. Katsuki wouldn't be rational now, nor would Himiko. He knew his brother and his partner. And Ochako? If anyone had a temper amongst the four of them, it was her. He was so fucking pathetic.
He could see the black creeping in at the edge of his vision, the beeping now almost a screech. If only he could do something, anything, to help them! If someone had to die, it was good it was him. He already was destined to die in the field one day to pay for his sins, so here would be fine, just so long as everyone else made it. They had to make it! They had to win!
He could see them all. He could feel them. His eyes closed, in the darkness of the void, he could see his inner world. The lake of energy, draining and dropping, the tower that rose above it, the core of One For All in the sky. But as he focused, he saw…other lights in the sky. A brilliant orange nova, a shining pink singularity, a bubbling yellow star…other lights…blue, purple, red, silver, white, etc, etc, light after light after light, the lights of his life and love and friends. He…he would not fail them, not again.
Every muscle in his body screamed in agony, tensing and pressing and pulling as he tried desperately to reach, to reach into the sky, into the heavens, his left arm slowly, ever so slowly, lifting off the concrete. Blood bubbled out of his mouth as he saw the lake of energy swirl and roil, bubble and lift, following the course of his body, of his arm, lifting into the air and wrapping about his hand in a tempest of energy.
It felt like he couldn't do it, like he was just too weak still, but a hand cupped his within another. He could see it…the burning yellow vestige of All Might sitting beside him, a smile on his face, encouraging, driving, pushing. He could see behind him, the other vestiges standing there, encouraging, smiling, believing. Helping him raise his fist into the sky, into the heavens above, every ounce of who he was left poured into his hand as he managed to open his and gasp. With the last breath left in his lungs, fist shimmering like a beacon in the dark, Izuku's voice managed to carry across the field, his last desire, a single belief and prayer in one. Not a desire to live or survive, because that was not enough. There was only one desire that could suffice, the one his brother and oldest friend lived by every day of his life. His last plea to those he loved…
"Win!"
When Izuku was blasted across the field by Nomu, Ochako was bent over, vomiting her breakfast from the force when the creature had broken her hold over it. She could only watch with horror in her eyes as it crushed her beloved chest with one fist, Izuku's body flying across the plaza, bouncing, skidding, crashing lifelessly on the stairs, his eyes open and gazing up blankly. She saw Shoji run at him. Saw Mina collapse in fear once more, saw Sato rush to help Shoji. Saw Jiro collapse, eyes wide in terror. Saw Momo desperately reaching to her side for something, anything to help.
She saw Katsuki erupt into explosions, screaming in rage as he dashed at Nomu. She saw Himiko, tears in her eyes, jump on its back and begin desperately stabbing her daggers in repeatedly, screaming with every stab. She saw Shinso commanding Chimera to attack Nomu, but Nomu simply headbutt the heteromorph away, breaking Shinso's hold over it. A barrage of quills from the red-head scattered the fighting students, Todoroki putting up a massive ice wall to block her off, but having to fall back as she sliced clean through the ice with her hair.
Dark Shadow erupted from Tokoyami's chest, clashing with the approaching Chimera, the two of them pushing back and forth against each other, claws locked as they roared in the other's face. And all the while, Nine in the back taking a breather, picking up his mask like it didn't matter that he'd just had Izuku killed.
Ochako couldn't think. She could barely move. She wasn't sure when it happened, or why, or how, but she found herself stumbling towards Nomu. The creature had just stabbed Himiko with one of the skeletal spikes, the blonde screaming in pain as it went clean through her leg, lifting her off its back and slamming her into the ground. Its massive clawed arm swept through the air, grabbing Katsuki in its grip and ramming him into Eijiro, sending both of them flying away.
Barely able to keep herself upright, all Ochako could see was Izuku, pale, lifeless, unmoving. And Nomu, right there, right in front of her, the thing that hurt her Izuku, her Himiko. Hurt her friends. Hurt the people she loved. She wasn't able to really think, really focus, her eyes blurred with tears as she stared at the Nomu, blank, wide-eyes locked onto her target.
Nomu wasn't looking at her. No one was. No one noticed her reaching out, hands shaking, her fingertips glowing as she managed to make contact with its back.
CRASH! Everyone noticed her then, when Nomu slammed into the ground with so much force a crater was formed. Noticed her half falling onto its back, both hands pressed firmly to it, its entire body creaking with a sickening squelch. The skeletal spikes on its back cracked, crumbled, shattered under the force of gravity's press. Its arms, elongated and already misshapen, began to distort and crumple, a disgusting squeaking noise echoing out across the battlefield as they were crushed beneath the weight of her Quirk. Ochako knelt on its back, her eyes staring down at its broad, red-skinned form, staring blankly as her hands glowed with a flickering pink light.
Piece by piece, the creature's flesh and bones began to shatter and liquify…and then return to form a second later as its regeneration kicked in. Over and over, it broke and repaired, crushing and expanding. Blood and viscera were pooling in the crater, the ground cracking more and more, the earth slowly giving way to the force of gravity pressing down upon it.
Everyone stared for a brief moment at the sight, half the class having to hold back their own nausea at the sight and sounds coming from the two entangled forms.
"Retrieve the Nomu!" Nine roared, pointing at Ochako's still form over the Nomu. Katsuki stared at her for a moment longer, biting his lip in worry as he noticed the blood dripping from her nose, the red seeping into her eyes indicating burst blood vessels. She could not keep this up long…so they had to finish this quickly.
That was when a green glow made itself known, brighter and more brilliant than anything they'd seen before. Everyone spun about, seeing the panicked Shoji next to Izuku, the greenette holding one fist up in the air, a green sun grasped in his hand. Even from far away, everyone could hear Izuku's cry as he shouted "WIN!" to them all, the green sun rocketing up from his grasp. His hand collapsed limply, his chest no longer moving as he exhaled one more time.
It shot into the air, exploding at its apex, raining down lines of green energy that touched each and every student in the class. Energy surged, roaring, chasing, swimming through their veins with power and sheer desire to win.
Kurogiri nodded at Nine's command, having reappeared next to Nine a moment ago. As he opened a portal to swoop in and rescue it, his form was slammed into the ground, a hand around his neck brace and another one pressed up against him, hand sparking. Katsuki snarled. "Move and I fucking kill you."
Chimera tried to run past Dark Shadow, but the creature roared and grew, Tokoyami's eyes flaring green for a brief moment as he kept up the attack. Chimera found himself being pushed back, only to lose his footing as Eijiro's hardened fist rammed into his side, throwing him off from the impact.
Slice leapt towards Todoroki, but tape wrapped around her hair and yanked her to the left, making her hiss in pain at the pressure on her even as she cut through the tape…but not before Todoroki's hand reached her collar. He glared at her, green flickering in his eyes for a brief moment, before her entire body and hair were frozen, leaving only her face free.
Nine snarled, one hand pointed towards Ochako, the purple pink glow of his fingertips indicating he was about to fire. A knife slammed into his hand, piercing his palm, making him lose focus and growl in pain. He looked over to see Himiko, balancing on one leg with Tsuyu holding her up, one arm extended as another knife appeared in her hand as if by magic. He lifted his arms to the sky to call down a storm and finally end this, when the entrance to the USJ exploded.
"Fear not, for I am…here…" All Might proudly proclaimed, until his eyes caught sight of the tableau before him. Aizawa barely breathing, blood flowing freely. Thirteen unconscious, her back torn open. Most of the students wounded, tears freely flowing from some of them…
Katsuki, snarling, looking more enraged than he'd ever seen, holding down a creature made of mist…
Himiko, one leg bleeding profusely, eyes red from crying and barely standing…
Ochako, kneeling overtop of some abomination of a creature with glowing hands, watching it crush and knit itself back together, her eyes blank, blood dripping from her nose as she stared, unseeing, the very air around her quivering from force…
Izuku, his successor…bloody, broken…unbreathing.
All Might stared at this scene for one, brief moment, before leaving no time to think. He blurred, his body vanishing from sight as he pulled every injured student he could back to safety. With the brief distraction, Kurogiri sinks into a portal beneath Katsuki, the blonde cursing and then rocketing away as Nine sends a series of lasers at him. He falls back to where All Might is standing next to Ochako. All Might narrows his eyes at the remaining villains.
"Surrender…you have lost."
Nine glared at him, glancing about the area. Chimera was at his side, standing protectively in front of him. Slice was frozen in place, but they'd managed to retrieve Mummy. Nine let out an annoyed huff. "You may have bested us this day, but we will return…and you will die, and with you, this pitiful society you've built." Kurogiri's portals appeared underneath them, the group sinking into them, as a second one flared out with no warning and passed over the frozen Slice, Todoroki and Sero barely managing to dodge away from it in time. As Nine vanished, his voice called out "Too bad you still lost a child, All Might…some hero you are."
The doors filled with people, the rest of the staff arriving at that moment, Ida proudly proclaiming their entrance before freezing as he saw the condition the others were in. His engines kicked into gear, him bolting towards Izuku's broken form, skidding to a stop next to him as Recovery Girl quickly made her way towards the boy as well.
"Bakugo, check on young Midoriya…I must retrieve Uraraka," All Might commanded, his expression twisted. Katsuki hesitated for one second, but nodded, running towards the prone form of his brother as All Might grit his teeth and stepped into the gravitational field, feeling the pressure pushing down on him as he approached her.
Ochako sees none of this. Hears none of this. Feels none of this. She isn't here anymore. Ochako Uraraka is gone, she is nothing so human anymore. She's nothing but force and pressure and gravity, payment and pain and strength to hold the thing down she failed to hold before. Izuku is gone and it's all her fault, all because she couldn't do her job, because of her. All because she couldn't keep her grip on it. It hurt them…because she failed. They trusted her, and she failed them.
So she would gladly give up who she was, everything she was, to become force incarnate, become this thing's jailer, this thing's executioner. She was no longer a human, she was a singularity, a collapsing gravitational field crushing everything in her radius. This thing took from her and she would take everything it was and crush it, break it down until it was nothing but a single atom and then snuff that out!
She felt the form approaching her, stepping through the field she'd built around her, but she would not let go, not release. Nothing would stop her, not the blurred vision, not the pained throat or the burning mouth, not the taste of blood and bile nor how she felt like she was drowning in her own Quirk.
A hand touched her shoulder gently, a hand she was familiar with. Bright blonde hair, a wide smile, a gentle fatherly touch. He turned her face to look at his, her blank eyes barely able to see him through the blurry vision.
"It is alright, Young Uraraka. I will take care of everything. You can release your Quirk, it's okay."
She shook her head no in negation, dizziness threatening to overwhelm her from the simple motion. She couldn't let go! It could get up! It could hurt people again!
It was like All Might could read her mind. He smiled gently. "It won't hurt anyone else. I will take care of it. Trust me, I can handle it. Relax, it will be okay. I am here, and you will not have to worry again."
He wasn't sure if it was his words that got through to her, or if she simply couldn't hold it any longer, but her eyes mercifully rolled back as she passed out, his arms gently catching her and pulling her back to the rest of her classmates. When the field vanished, the Nomu began to piece itself back together, its body slowly reforming into a reasonable form…but midway through, it collapsed once more, its body seeming to deflate, as its skin began to hiss and dissolve and melt away.
As everyone gathered around Izuku's prone, unbreathing form, Recovery Girl shoved them all away and quickly went into analysis. She knew his medical history, and cursing as she saw the meter on his wrist, she muttered to herself as she examined him.
"His energy storage was damaged. He's run out. We'd need a massive amount of energy in him, enough for me to heal the damage and recharge him."
Half the students were panicking, Himiko's eyes filled with tears as Tsuyu held her up, but Bakugo's eyes lit up and he grabbed Kaminari by the shoulders. "Kaminari! Shock him!"
"W-w-wait, what?" Kaminari replied, eyes wide and watery.
"Energy, he needs as much as you can spare! You can do a fuckton, can't you?"
"I-I can, but I can't aim it, I'd hit everyone else too! I, I don't know, I-"
"I can help with that," Momo gasped out. She bit her lip, focusing with her eyes closed, wincing in pain as a sheet began to pulse its way out of her exposed stomach. As soon as it finished, she collapsed to her knees, body shivering, Toru quickly helped to lift her up, the invisible girl having finally found Aoyama and brought him back moments before. "I-it's an insulation sheet. Wrap the two of you in it and it shouldn't hit anyone else," she managed to gasp out.
"I, I don't, I can't, I don't want to hurt him, I," Kaminari's babbling was cut off as Shinso grabbed his arm and pulled at it.
"Kaminari," he stated, waiting for a reply. Kaminari's mouth opened as if to reply, but Shinso's Quirk took hold a second later. He took a deep breath before giving his orders. "Calm down. Deep breath. Believe in yourself. You can help Midoriya, you can. Now…take a deep breath." Kaminari followed Shinso's orders, eyes blank, returning to life a moment later as Shinso released his hold. Kaminari blinked into Shinso's purple eyes, something in them telling him the other boy was right, he could do it. They had faith in him, and he wouldn't let them down.
"O-okay, I'll try," he said. Sitting down next to Izuku, he placed his hands over Izuku's exposed arm, bending over so the sheet could be thrown over them both. Katsuki quickly secured a corner of it, Sato, Shoji, and Eijiro grabbing the other corners and holding them down. Himiko tried to move to help, but Tsuyu held her back, shaking her head no.
With a deep, bracing breath, Kaminari channeled every ounce of his Quirk, shouting as he discharged, willing it to go through his hands and into the unmoving boy beneath. Internally he pleaded with Midoriya to please, please be okay, begging the green-haired boy to come back to them.
The electrical storm almost escaped the insulated sheet, but the four boys holding it down held it long enough for the storm to fade. Quickly Katsuki yanked the sheet off, Kaminari with a dumb grin as Recovery Girl shoved passed everyone else. The group watched with bated breath as Recovery Girl kissed Izuku's cheek, the glow of her Quirk taking effect…watching Izuku's chest expand as he took in a breath.
Katsuki collapsed to the ground, not even trying to stop the tears falling from his eyes in sheer relief. Himiko fell beside him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders as she sobbed into them, the blonde boy wrapping one of his arms back around her and holding her close. Eijiro sat at his other side, breathing heavily, letting Katsuki lean heavily into his side.
Shinso pulled Kaminari away, gently patting the dopey looking Kaminari and telling him he did good. Recovery Girl sighed deeply as All Might arrived with Ochako in his arms, Himiko and Katsuki's relief vanishing as fear took hold once more, seeing the bleeding, unconscious, limp form of Ochako in All Might's arms. As soon as he lay her down, Recovery Girl began examining her and cursing under her breath.
"Neither of them are out of the woods yet. We need to get them to a hospital asap. I need the equipment to verify anything. But…they are alive. What is the ETA on EMS?" she asked, looking up at All Might. He turned to the stairs as Nezu hopped down them, the principal looking incredibly somber.
"Only a few more minutes. Will they remain stable until then?"
Recovery Girl scoffed. "As stable as they can be. I must check on Aizawa and Kurose now. Keep an eye on them oaf, and inform me immediately if anything changes," she said, glaring up at All Might. With a quick glance around, she reached over and grabbed Himiko's hand, the blonde looking at her in confusion. She kissed it, the hole in Himiko's leg closing in on itself. Himiko sighed in relief, and then wobbled, her entire body exhausted.
Shoji knelt down next to her side, his arms reaching behind her and Katsuki to help support the both of them as Katsuki almost fell back from the extra weight. He sent the masked boy a tired, thankful smile, the crinkling of his eyes showing that he was smiling back under the mask, as Recovery Girl went up the stairs to check on Aizawa and Thirteen.
"That could have gone better," Chimera growled, lighting up a cigar and collapsing onto a couch.
"Fucking brats," Mummy cursed, having regained consciousness shortly after they returned to the bar they had been using as a base of operations.
"T-t-the fuck was up with that g-green haired kid?" Slice said, shivering as she wrapped herself in another blanket, having only just gotten out of the ice prison she'd been trapped in.
"It does not matter, the boy is dead. Nothing would have survived that strike from the Nomu," Nine remarked.
"Yes, do tell me, how well did the Imbuement function?" a voice asked from a monitor in the corner, the screen showing static.
"Well, it started kicking some serious ass once it activated, but that one girl somehow was able to disable it entirely. Still not sure what the fuck she was doing," Chimera remarked.
"Some type of gravity manipulation, as far as I could tell," Nine replied.
"Unfortunate. Well, it should have collapsed by now, so they won't be able to get any information from its corpse," another, deeper voice came from the monitor. "I'm truly surprised you even needed to use Imbuement…without All Might even being there." Though the tone was conversational, the admonishment in the voice was clear, making Nine snarl as he downed a glass of liquor Kurogiri had just finished pouring.
"Those kids weren't fucking normal," he hissed back. "And whatever Quirk that green-haired one had was powerful."
"Why was he so mad at you, anyways?" Chimera asked.
"Hell if I know."
"Explain more to me. What exactly happened?" the voice from the monitor spoke. Nine sighed, before regaling the tale with an annoyed tone in his voice, frustration evident at how poorly the mission went.
"Hmm. It sounds like the boy you speak of had a vendetta against you. But you cannot think of why?"
"No idea, Shigaraki. I think I'd remember that Quirk if I'd seen it before."
"Well, no worries, if he's as dead as you say he is he won't be an issue. We'll need to lay low for a little while. Doctor, how many more do we have ready?"
"None ready for release, sadly. But I am almost done with six more, two of which will have an Imbuement factor in them!" the voice of the doctor exclaimed proudly.
"Next time…All Might will fall," Nine promised, his grip on the glass tightening as his eyes narrowed.
As Nezu and Recovery Girl sat in the backseat, heading to the nearest hospital so she could put her Quirk to use with the students who had just been taken, Nezu called out to the driver and asked him to raise the privacy shield. The driver nodded, the opaque black glass cutting the back of the seat off from the driver's seat, leaving just the two old friends in privacy.
"What is it you didn't want to say in front of the students, Chiyo?" Nezu asked softly.
"You need to stop doing that, it's creepy," she deadpanned in return, sipping at a small cup of tea she'd gotten before they got into the car. Nezu waited for her to answer, calmly sipping at his own teacup as she got her thoughts in order. She sighed. "I cannot be sure, so do not take this as confirmation, not until they get some tests and we can review them."
"But?"
"...but there is a high likelihood Midoriya's damaged organ will come back to bite him. I don't think we can fully heal it, not with the massive scarring he's suffered from his refusal to use it for most of his life. And the way he overdid it today, using both One For All and his Quirk the way he did…I'm not sure it can be fixed. And he was without oxygen for only a couple of minutes, but even a few minutes can cause…damage."
"That's not all that's bothering you though," Nezu encouraged.
"...Uraraka might be worse. If I'm right, and I reiterate I'm not sure if I am…she may have caused brain damage to herself, the way she used her Quirk. Bleeding both into your eyes and from your nose as signs of Quirk backlash is very bad. She never held onto her increased gravity that long, and from my understanding, the field she created was so strong only Toshinori could even approach her! I…I don't know. But between her and Midoriya…if anything happens to either of them, I fear what Himiko or Bakugo would do."
"A reasonable fear. But as you said, you can't be sure, and it may be premature to assume so much. We've called in a number of specialists to help each of the students…as this was my fault, I must do as much as possible to get them the care and safety they need. Let's just keep our hope alive, Chiyo. Some days, it is all we have."
I have never had a response like I did to last chapter. I guess making the traumatized cinnamon roll snap is something we all love haha. But I must remind everyone who wanted Nine dead that Nine is not a weak villain by any stretch of the imagination. It took both him and Katsuki going 100% to finish him off in the movie. And while this Izuku is much stronger than canon Izuku, he's not god, not yet at least :P Also...I want Izuku to have a few confrontations with him xD
How'd you like the Nomu twist? Imbuement is an idea I came up with of Nomu which have EXTRA Quirks implanted in them in a sort of temporary enhancement, like a Nomu version of Trigger. It causes the Nomu to die shortly after activation, broken down under the pressure of using more Quirks, but it turns them into an even more deadly and terrifying foe. Anyways...hope you enjoy!