11/02/2023

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The Emperor's Dragon
Emergence 46 - Planning Around Idiocy

Kaminari knew he wasn't the smartest person in his class but he also knew that his class, and 1B, were going to be heroes, and that's why he was here.

But he was definitely having second thoughts. The moment the masked and suited villain appeared was the instant he realised exactly how inexperienced they were. He realised how stupid they'd been to even think they could make a difference. The villains they'd encountered at the USJ was one thing… this man… He was something else.

They were lined up, backs pressed to the rubble and he knew the others were having trouble breathing. They all were. The man was that scary. Suddenly the lessons Aizawa had given them on 'presence' made sense.

Kaminari never wanted to feel anyone like this man again.

It was slightly better when All Might arrived but it was also worse. They weren't watching but they heard the crashes.

And they heard the talk. The worst was when Bakugou went silent but Shoji kept them from charging out. His arms held them back and a whisper had told them that Bakugou was okay, just unconscious. That was a relief. But… How did they get him out of there? With Todoroki?

Kaminari wasn't the best with plans and the sheer pressure he could feel from the villains was not helping his skills. He hoped one of the others could think of something.

The thing they had going for them was that the villain was focused on getting the other villains away. That could give them an opening. And he hadn't heard anything from Shouto. That was comforting. Shoji had confirmed that Todoroki was there and conscious but from where he was, that was all Kaminari knew.

"We have to do something," Yaoyorozu whispered. She sounded scared but she was at least coherent.

"We can't get in All Might's way," Iida said breathlessly.

"We can't fight," Shoji reminded them. While technically, their combat authorisation hadn't been revoked, they knew what the situation would look like. Even he knew that it would look bad for UA if they fought here.

"The problem is Bakugou," Kirishima whispered.

Shoji nodded.

"I can move him," Honenuki breathed the statement.

Kaminari had almost forgotten the class 1B teen was with them and when he forced himself to look over, he could see the way Yaoyozoru was nodding. While he didn't know much about Yaoyorozu he knew she was the reason they were here and her confidence in Honenuki was comforting.

"What about Shouto?" Kaminari asked.

Honenuki shrugged. "I can get them both."

"How?" Kaminari demanded happily. If they could get Bakugou and Todoroki then… they wouldn't have come all this way for nothing, and they could run. With All Might here, that would be the best thing they could do.

They weren't heroes yet.

"I can soften things with my quirk. I can make a wave to bring Bakugou here but-" the Class 1B student paused.

"What is it?" Iida asked. He sounded surprisingly calm.

"If there's a villain there, they'll be brought on the wave as well," Yaoyorozu answered for her classmate.

Kaminari felt his stomach plummet. He resisted the urge to look. With the villains out there, it wasn't that hard. He was curious but he was not going to risk their position because the one thing he knew was that they were uncomfortably close to the villains and… it was only luck that they hadn't been caught in the villain's blast.

"We can do it," Iida said firmly. Kaminari could see that he was frowning as he thought.

"How?" Kirishima demanded but, like Denki had been, he was careful to keep his voice soft.

"Kaminari and maybe Yaoyorozu," Iida indicated.

Kaminari knew he wasn't as smart as his fellow classmates, but he could usually work out something of what they wanted when a plan was suggested. This time he had no idea what Iida was talking about. Thankfully the rest of the group seemed to share his confusion.

"Kaminari, you can shoot electricity, right?" Iida asked.

He nodded, still not understanding. "I can't do it strong enough to knock out those villains. I could but only one," he corrected. Iida knew that.

"I don't mean strong bursts, just little ones. Enough to make a noise," Iida explained. "If you can shoot them around the field that will distract the villains, especially if Yaoyorozu can do something similar, like a slingshot. We don't want to hit the villains," Iida said forcefully. "We just want to take their attention."

The explanation seemed enough for 1B's Yaoyorozu to understand. "I can do that," she confirmed. "And then if the villains move away from Todoroki and Bakugou, Honenuki can wave them to us, and then we run."

"We can't fight them," Shoji said firmly.

"We won't be fighting them," Iida agreed. "We just have to distract them long enough to-" he paused as there was a whoosh of sound everyone from 1A recognised.

"Yes!" Kaminari hissed, while Kirishima popped his head up.

"Shouto!" he cried.

Kaminari popped his head up along with Iida.

Todoroki was standing behind a solid wall of ice. It looked gloriously familiar. Kaminari recognised it from a number of class exercises. Shouto was looking at them curiously, as if he couldn't quite believe his eyes.

"Where's Bakugou?" Kirishima yelled, while motioning for Shouto to come towards them.

He wasn't being that loud, and hopefully the noise would be missed by the villains.

Shouto gestured to the side, still looking a bit confused at their presence, then he seemed to shake himself and ran towards them.

Kaminari was surprised when he easily vaulted the wall and slid down beside them but he felt as if things would go right for them. Todoroki was a power house. They could get Bakugou with his help.

"Can you make a barrier around Bakugou?" Honenuki asked quickly. That was probably the best way.

Shouto shook his head. "Not strong enough," he explained. It was disappointing but something to know for the future.

"We can't do that plan," Shoji told them.

"Why not?" Iida demanded.

"One of the villains has picked up Bakugou," Shoji told them.

Kaminari's stomach fell. He felt sick.

"Is there any distance between the villains?" Yaoyozoru asked.

"The one carrying Bakugou is about 2 paces behind the others but they are moving towards the warp gate," Shoji told them.

Yaoyorozu's expression mirrored their own but Kaminari watched as the 1B girl's expression changed into something determined. Her eyes turned to him. "You knock out the villain," she instructed firmly, turning to her classmate. "Do what you can to separate Bakugou and the villain," she told Honenuki and then turned to Iida. "You run to grab him," she instructed.

Shoji nodded even without being given an instruction. "I will carry Kaminari," he said.

Honenuki looked at his classmate. "We can make sure the villain's can't immediately follow," he told her before he turned to Iida. "How accurate are you with your foot placement?"

"I can keep to a 4 inch path," Iida said.

Yaoyorozu's eyes narrowed at the information and she reached towards her stomach and pulled something from there.

"Wear them," Honenuki told Iida, as he took a deep breath. "They'll highlight the path," he indicated.

"Is everyone ready to move?" Iida asked as he crept to the side of the wall hiding them.

"This would have been so much easier if Bakugou was conscious," Kirishima muttered as he moved out of the way.

"We'll talk about that later," Yaoyorozu snapped, though she seemed to understand what Kirishima was going on about. Kaminari didn't. Obviously there'd have been a different plan if Bakugou was conscious but he had no idea what.

"Is everyone ready to move?" Iida asked as he crept to the side of the wall hiding them.

Kaminiari nodded even as he tensed himself. He'd like to think he had the easy job but he was scared about what was going to happen once he lost consciousness but…

Aizawa often said he needed to focus on the present, not on a future he wasn't sure about and so resolutely he pushed thoughts of the future from his mind as he gathered charge. It kind of felt as if he was absolutely full. As if he'd eaten way too much for ten meals running.

"Ready," he said through gritted teeth as he slowly pushed himself up to look at his target.

When he saw the rubble, he almost lost the charge. Gone were the buildings that had been there and all he could see was a clear field of rubble. Todoroki's ice wall was there and All Might was engaged with the suited villain and he was keeping the warp gate covered. The other villains were trying to get there.

"Go!" Iida said before he could take in any more.

He sighted the villain with Bakugou and as carefully as he could aimed at them.

"Go!" Kaminari yelled as he released the charge. He saw his bolt arch through the air and hit the villain on the shoulder. Thankfully it wasn't the shoulder Bakugou had been slung over.

The villain fell but so did he.

-ted-

All For One was fast moving from annoyance at All Might to true rage. Not that he needed a reason to feel rage at the Number One Buffoon, it's just that this was adding new depths and facets to his rage.

He hadn't been lying to Best Jeanist when he said the heroes would have a few more years of peace. Sure, Tomura would do a few things, but it wouldn't be anything they couldn't recover from. It would simply be marking time until he took over the boy's body and Izuku made a decision. He'd use that time to determine the basis of a new plan, one he could flesh out with his son before he began moving again.

Yet they would waste that time. And now…

While All Might probably couldn't hear the helicopter, he could. This fight would be televised and that would force Izuku to make a decision. And that was unforgivable. He didn't expect to win but… He did not want to force Izuku's decision. It would make it false.

And Tomura wasn't leaving! In one way it was touching that the boy wished to help him but in another… It was frustrating. The copy of his personality within his quirk would take over Tomura no matter where he was, but if he was dead then…

He would be taken to Tartarus if he was defeated. Tomura, had not yet performed acts that society would condemn him there and would most likely be executed if captured. That was an outcome that absolutely could not come to pass! Tomura would rage against the sentence but would not be able to avoid it with his current skills.

And the little mice were planning something. After so long, there were things he didn't even need to think about. The little mice, the ones who had been hiding when the heroes attacked were planning something. Now that the Todoroki boy had retreated, he knew they'd try something to get the other boy. It was a pity, really. If he'd had some time with the Todoroki boy he was sure he could convince him to turn. The other one, the one Tomura was interested in was one of those arrogant, self assured morons. The type who became heroes because they lacked the imagination to see any other path and somehow thought it was honourable or good to simply be the strongest. He could be made a villain but he would not choose it. Todoroki could be convinced he was doing what was right.

Very much a pity.

"Tomura, work with Izuku when he comes to you but be gentle," he advised Tomura. There was so much more that needed to be said there. Do not lord it over Izuku, or he would resent you. Do not reveal All For One, but he might discover it himself, so you would need to explain. Listen to his plans because he understands people better than you. It would remain unsaid.

"Now, go!" he said again before a kick from the side surprised him. It wasn't just a kick. It was accompanied by a gust of air. Another nuisance had arrived. Shimura's close friend. What was his name?

Gran Torino. An unimaginative hero name for an unimaginative man.

All For One wondered if Sir Nighteye would appear and in the brief pause in combat he checked the mice and fallen heroes. The mice were about to move, something All Might appeared to be ignorant of and the other heroes… were still unconscious.

"You're late," All Might told the old man.

"You're just too fast to keep up with," Torino snapped back caustically. "You still haven't beaten him?"

All For One glared as he got up. At least the arrival of Torino had gotten Tomura's comrades moving again, so that was something and then the mice moved!

There was the crackle of electricity as one of them fired something. All For One wasn't sure what it was but he saw one of Tomura's comrades fall. It was the one carrying Bakugou. Simultaneously, the ground softened and Tomura's group sank into the rubble while one of the mice burst forward. That particular student had to have a speed quirk.

All For One flicked a finger towards him but All Might interfered, blocking the blast. The ricochet at least kept Torino from interfering but did allow the little mouse to grab Bakugou. He seemed to be running on some sort of path as his footing did not falter.

"Heh, now, without holding anything back, I can defeat you!" All Might announced, as Torino headed towards Tomura, who was still not retreating. From his stance, he was going to attempt to disintegrate Torino, and while that was a nice thought, the old man was faster than he appeared.

All For One growled and moved. He was still fast enough for that. He grabbed Torino's cape, yanking the man back from Tomura, even as he extended his other hand. His fingers became the tendrils for forced quirk activation. This time he wasn't going to use them for that. Instead, he stabbed them into Tomura's comrade who had been felled, using them to pick up the body and drag him towards Kurogiri's portal. Along the way, Tomura's other comrades were collected and with a heave he pushed them through.

Tomura himself was on another path but he could easily be pushed through the portal. Infact, he had the tool in his other hand. The tendrils snapped back, allowing him to send another air cannon towards All Might as he swung Torino's cape hard. The fabric was strong and thankfully didn't rip. It allowed him to throw the old man into the boy.

"No! Sensei! With that body!" Tomura shouted but the two of them crashed through Kurogiri's portal.

"Continue to fight," All For One instructed. It was to both the boy and the impression of him within the boy. It would take time, but Tomura would come to him when his impression was ready. And then… Then it wouldn't matter what had happened here.

All Might screamed and tried to grab at his teacher but by then it was too late. All For One closed the portal as he braced for All Might's assault. He could hear the little mice running, they were getting more distant and while he could go after them, with the Number One Moron here, he couldn't afford to. There was also no need.

The arrogant brat would remain arrogant but perhaps this experience would provide some humility. And the Todoroki boy… he might go either way. It would be interesting to watch.

For now though… All For One turned towards All Might.

He couldn't tell for sure but the Number One Hero appeared angry. Good. It was about time the man understood rage. He leapt towards him.

"I do not wish to do this," All For One snarled at his enemy. He ignored the incredulous look he got. "I did not come here to fight you. But, since I despise you, I will fight. In the past, the fist of yours brought down my comrades, one by one. And yet you were celebrated as the symbol of peace. Standing atop society, on the bodies of those sacrificed to get there, the view must be nice from up there huh?" All For One hammered All Might with an air cannon. It drove the hero back but not enough.

He sighed. "And now… you are going to force my son to make a decision before he is ready and for that… I despise you all the more!" He gathered his strength. All For One did not think that All Might had passed on One For All, so he'd have to consider that with his moves but here and now… He could release his hatred.

It appeared the Number One Idiot shared his thoughts because he could see that he was powering up a punch.

"Detroit Smash!"

The time for thought was over. It was time to fight.

For Izuku, and Tomura, he would.

-ted-

Well, the differences are gathering. The rescue squad still got through but had to be more proactive and Tomura (and more importantly All For One, the quirk) are safeish for the moment, though they are encumbered by an unexpected passenger. And All Might is now fighting All For One.

What will Izuku think of all of this? Will he even learn about this bit since the damage has barely begun and the media is swarming but not yet there... Next time will give some answers!

My discord is on this code: TcBnRN7aDn FFN will remove links but you should be able to figure that out. There's a heap of other authors there, so come along and chat to us all!

-ted-

Loved it? Hated it? Found a spelling mistake? Let me know please!