All Might sprinted towards the USJ, his wake leaving a gale of wind that blew aside dust and leaves on the ground. He was careful to stay just below Mach 1, the rush was already devouring what little time he'd built up by resting, but he had to hurry. He'd had a bad feeling since he'd read the text from Young Midoriya this morning. It had finally gotten to be too much as he excused himself from Principal Nezu and used a segway to travel to the distant USJ.
It was only by luck that he'd encountered Young Hagakure, the invisible girl out of breath as she ran towards the main campus. She assumed he was a facility member, how right she was, and been in tears, crying about villains attacking her class, and killing one of the teachers. He had given her the segway, the girl sounded more out of breath than him, which said something as she thanked him profusely.
He'd waited a minute for her to get away before vanishing in a plume of smoke, the smoke scattered from his sprint as he sped towards the USJ.
As he approached the front door, he noticed a small gathering of students by the rented bus, a frantic Uraraka, Asui, and Iida were tending to the other students, a comatose Kirishima wrapped in bloody bandages, Young Tokoyami was sitting in a seat, reciting a poem, and the girls were holding a puffy mummy, Young Thirteen's body contained somewhere within the mass. Seeing they were okay for the moment, he headed inside, his rage diminished from the surviving students.
So lost in thought, he didn't bother opening the door wider, smashing straight through like a human cannonball. He slid to a stop atop the stairs watching over the plaza, spotting his successor below, holding a still Bakugo, standing in front of a unconscious Aizawa. Young Todoroki was still standing though he was covered head to toe in a layer of frost, ice encasing his right arm.
In a blink, he landed in front of them, his teeth grit in fury that billowed up at the sight of his protege and fellow teacher. Young Midoriya's arm was black, one eye drooping in exhaustion, all the fingers on his other arm were snapped like twigs. Because he had been slacking off in the Teacher's Lounge, his student had been forced to fight in such a state.
And Eraserhead... a tear dropped from All Might's eye at his fellow teacher, half of his face gone from something, his eye destroyed, one bony cheek visible among the wounds. Part of his leg was gone, his stomach in a similar state to All Might's own wound, a small pool of blood surrounding him from a multitude of wounds to the back, cowards!
He clenched his fist tighter, a small breeze coming as he looked at the villains who dared to hurt his students!
The one directly in front of him had his face covered by a hand, a small trickle of blood coming from underneath it. He had more hands covering his knees and elbows like macabre knee and elbow guards, set into the material of his black shirt and dark pants. He had a pair of simple royal blue shoes similar to Young Midoriya's own. He had shaggy blue hair hanging over his face. His left arm was limply hanging at his side, Eraserhead had went down fighting, as expected of the brave hero.
The young girl to the left had two messy buns of straw blonde hair, several strands sticking out. She wasn't wearing any clothes other than a long coat that dragged on the ground, the property of the first villain, judging from the two hands attached to the shoulders like epaulets. She had a switchblade in her hand, two sharp fangs poking her bottom lip. She had a massive bruise covering her face, a gift from one of the heroes?
On the other side was... a suit of armor. Multiple shiny plates overlapping in defense. Two partial shields were covering each arm, prepared to block if needed. The only visible figure in the armor was a young woman's face in the helm, bloodied and bruised from fighting. A small tuft of reddish hair was seen from the back of her helm as she shifted, her eyes switching between him and the hand villain.
In the back as a hulking behemoth of black muscle, nearly as large as All Might. It had a curved beak full of jagged teeth, and a brain? attached to the top, it couldn't be that exposed... right? The only clothes it wore were a pair of khaki shorts, stretched to breaking by the behemoth's muscled legs. It was staring blankly into space.
In the middle was a swirling cloud of black mist, a pair of yellow eyes shining through the darkness. As it shifted around, All Might spotted butler's clothes within the smoke. All the others were protecting him, was he their leader? No, All Might's instincts said the one covered in hands was the leader, he was the only one staring him down, the other two watching him for guidance, the smoking villain probably had a powerful Quirk, but wasn't suited for combat... a healer perhaps, that would be irritating.
All Might tensed, about to finish these villains off when the leader spoke, holding up his hands, well one good hand and none of his most likely memorabilia. "Wait, don't you want to know what our motives are, why we did this, what our big plan is?" He had a scratchy voice, fitting as he fidgeted, picking at his neck with his fingernails.
"Not interested villain!" He yelled as the leader began walking to the side. Their eyes never left each other, watching for the first move.
"Then, let's be more practical... you don't know anything about us, our capabilities, our Quirks." He pointed out, moving further away from the others before stopping.
'Is he trying to get them out of the line of fire, or distracting me so they can run or get the jump on me? No, he knows I've clocked him already, he's forcing me to keep my eyes on both him and the others, while also forcing me to choose who I go after first. The armored one is moving in the other direction, splitting up, but more than likely keeping just within reach if they have to cover the others, they have experience fighting as a group.' All Might analyzed, a talent that most wouldn't expect from the #1 hero, but you don't get far in this job by just SMASHing heads, pun intended.
"The hand guy can disintegrate things he touches, the blonde girl seemed to shapeshift, and the armored girl can create things with metal and breath fire." Todoroki announced through chattering teeth.
"Yeah, and the big guy in the back has some kind of Shock Absorption, I hit him with everything I had, and it didn't even phase him. The smoky guy can teleport things with his smoke, so watch out All Might!" Midoriya supplied, the #1 hero giving a thumbs up to the two boys.
"Hm, I just knew you were going to be annoyances that we should've dealt with, no matter... I'll appeal to the logical side of you, if there is one. You can beat us, without a doubt, but how long do you think it will take, All Might? Even if you could knock me out in 15, or even 20 seconds, that's 20 seconds your students our left exposed. It makes far more sense for you to let me monologue like a cliche villain and cover their escape while they get the Bomberanian and Mr. Beholder out." The hand villain stated.
As much as he hated to admit it, the villain was making sense, which meant he planned for that, he'd have to blow past his limits and finish them off in record time... or at least that was the plan until the villains next words, "That is, unless you're on a bit of a time limit?"
All Might felt a shred of worry enter his mind. They had planned for this extensively, they had to have. He was the one thing they couldn't beat with power, so they'd kept him busy and distracted. "Those attacks this morning on my commute, they were random at all were they, you filthy villain?" He accused as the villain shrugged.
"They were supposed to make sure you were tired before you got to the school; do you know how hard it was to scout your route. Harder still to find villains willing to sacrifice themselves to make you waste time. What's wrong All Might, is your age catching up with you? Sit down, and we'll have a nice chat, surely that shouldn't tire you out?" He was careful with his words, never actually saying what All Might was worried about. It was textbook psychological attacking, leaving All Might on edge and distracted.
'Calm down Toshinori! Losing control of your emotions is what got you that hole ripped open in your chest!' The hero could just hear his own teacher's words in his head as he took a deep breath.
"Young Midoriya, Young Todoroki, take Eraserhead and Young Bakugo and get out of here! Don't worry about me, I'll hold them off, you don't need to fear... why BECUASE I AM HERE!" All Might declared, his overwhelming confidence emboldening his students.
"All Might, I don't think that'll work... I broke my legs on my last attack, I don't know how I'm still standing, but I can't feel my legs." Izuku mumbled, his tone betraying his worry. "And besides, they came here to kill you, we can't just run off and leave you!" He added worriedly. Any other time, All Might would smile at his successor's concern, but this wasn't the time or place. But that certainly changed things, he couldn't expect Young Todoroki to escort all three of the wounded out of the USJ.
"Kill All Might, who told you such a ridiculous lie?" The hand villain laughed, having the nerve to find amusement at the students' fears.
"Don't try to deny it... your teleporter told us as soon as you arrived!" Todoroki accused, pointing a shaky finger at the villain.
The disintegrating villain glanced at his accomplice; a raised eyebrow visible just behind the hand covering his face.
"My apologies, Young Tomura, I thought it was such an outrageous statement that no one could take me seriously." The smoking villain apologized as Tomura looked momentarily stunned.
"We've covered this Kuro, you have one tone, and no FACE! It's literally impossible for you to express sarcasm! I swear as soon as we're finished here, I'm dragging you to Roppongi to clean out the casinos." Tomura disparaged. "Allow me to correct Kuro's assertions. We have no intentions of killing All Might today, we couldn't if we tried, and it wouldn't matter in the end anyways."
"What... How can you say that, every villain dreams of killing All Might! I mean, that just... it doesn't make sense..." Midoriya was mumbling again, audible enough for everyone to hear him.
"What would be the point in killing him? His death would only make him a martyr, igniting a fire under every hero in Japan if not the entire world. Perhaps it wouldn't have at one point, but he's already a dead man walking... right All Might?" Rather than wait for a reply, Tomura kept talking, a taunting smirk stretching his lips, "There is no point in snuffing out your flame when you barely have a spark left." All Might felt ice in his veins. This villain definitely knew about One-for-All and how it was passed on, even worse, he had already figured out Midoriya was his successor!
"If you aren't trying to kill me, then what's the point of all this, why expose yourself if I'm supposedly 'a dead man walking'?" All Might questioned, reining in his emotions, anger and worry mixing in his gut.
"Why, now you suddenly care about why? If you really care to know, we came here to kill Eraserhead. His Quirk would be a major obstacle in the long game, so we had to take it off the board. We failed it that regard, but really our objective was to eliminate his Quirk, so... really that's one of the problems with society, they don't care why we do anything. They only see the world in black and white, good and bad, heroes and villains." Tomura started rambling. All might was tempted to attack him while his guard was down, but he suspected Tomura wasn't as exposed as he pretended.
"Can I ask you a question All Might?" He didn't wait for an answer, a recurring theme in Tomura's diatribe. "If there were a man who minded his own business, paid his taxes, didn't cause trouble, and one day his little shop was destroyed in the crossfire between a hero and a villain. His daughter was gravely inured from some rubble falling on her, and the doctors did what they could, but she ended up paralyzed from the neck down. The man learned about an experimental surgery that could restore her mobility, but it was too expensive for him to pay for, especially since his shop, his livelihood had been destroyed. He tried to apply for insurance for his shop since he had coverage for villain damages, as is normal nowadays, but the insurance ruled that the shop was destroyed with the heroes Quirk, and so they didn't have to pay out. He tried to press charges against the hero, hoping for a payout to afford the surgery for his daughter, but the judge threw out the case, stating 'he should just be grateful for the hero protecting him'. Growing more desperate to help his daughter, he tried gambling with what little money he had, but it didn't work out, he sold his shop for what little it was worth, but it didn't change the doctors' minds. Finally, he grew so desperate that he turned to the last resort, crime. he walked into a bank, ordered the teller to give him all the money in the vault, and ran away. He never threatened anyone, he wasn't violent, and didn't want to hurt innocent people. Before he could get away, however, a hero caught him, the same hero that destroyed his shop and maimed his daughter. All the same, he didn't resist, once again, not wanting to hurt people, but that didn't matter to the court, or the news, both of whom painted him as a violent criminal because he had a dangerous Quirk. He went to prison and learned soon thereafter that his daughter had died due to complications from her earlier injuries. He hanged himself in his cell the next day and died." Tomura stopped, staring at the silent hero, and inquisitive hero students.
"Who would you say is the villain, All Might, who would you blame in this case... is it the hero who destroyed the man's shop and injured his daughter, or maybe the law he dismissed his needs because it inconvenienced them and the hero, perhaps the doctors who refused to perform a dangerous surgery, and is it the man who did nothing wrong but use every opportunity available to help his child?" Tomura tilted his head, curious eyes boring into All Might's.
"I know what you're really thinking though All Might, you're thinking about how you would help this person, how you'd've stepped in a comforted him or given the money to help with the surgery... you filthy hypocrite!" Tomura's tone took a sharp turn as he glared at the #1 hero, "This isn't some hypothetical question, hero, four years ago this May, Tadashi Oomitsu suffered loss after loss until he killed himself; the hero I spoke of, Endevour, and you, All Might did absolutely nothing about it. Heroes are given free passes everyday for bending the law, and people aren't allowed to question it or their called ungrateful!" Tomura roared, clenching his fist as Toshinori felt the verbal slap across his face.
"Innocent people walking around all day expecting 'All Might will protect us', 'All Might never fails', All Might will show up'. That's why I hate you oh Symbol of Peace, false idol! People walk around with smiles on their faces as if the man or woman next to them couldn't decide to kill hundreds of people if they wanted to. Everyone's armed with weapons nowadays, the only difference is some have knives, some have slingshots, some have handguns, some even have RPGs, and the rare few, the 1 in 10,000, the .01% are little more than walking nukes." Tomura spewed, throwing his hand out to the side in rage.
"Is that what you want, a world where people are terrified that they'll die at any moment, where the only thing keeping them alive is the whims of the villains?" Todoroki asked, an angry glare in his one eye, trying and failing to kill Tomura with his eyes alone.
"You blissfully ignorant child, THAT'S MY POINT, we already live in that world, where the only thing holding everybody back is simple self-control... what do you think happens when that's gone, when your life is in danger, you try to kill, when you're starving, you steal, and when you have someone, you want to protect, all bets are off. What value does the world have when your entire world is in danger? A utopia isn't free of crime because all the criminals are imprisoned, there is no crime because there is no need!" Tomura spat, the bicolored boy visibly recoiling from the emotion coming forth.
All Might, however, had heard enough, his vitriol overflowing after the verbal attacks. "Is that how you justify your actions, villain, how you justify attacking my students and attempting to kill my fellow teachers? You act like you have the moral high ground, but you really just want a world ruled by fear and animalistic desires! I won't let you have your way anymore, not so long as I'm still here, not so LONG AS I AM THE SYMBOL OF PEACE!" All Might righteously declared, his heroic aura lifting his students' moods while stunning the villains as they recoiled.
But not Tomura who twitched, stopping his fingers just shy of scratching at his neck. "Justification, justified, what justification do you use when you fail to save someone's loved ones? What justification do you give to a grieving parent when you didn't show up in time!? What is you JUSTIIFICATION WHEN SOMEONE'S BEING ABUSED BY THEIR PARENTS EVERYDAY WHILE YOU SMILE BLISSFULLY, WHILE PEOPLE DIE ALL OVER JAPAN BECUASE YOU NEVER HEARD THEIR CRIES? wHAt IS yoUR jUstIFICaTIoN for A liTTle bOY scReamINg in THe stREets for hElp as a VillAin MUrderS hiS FAMILY, only TO bE tolD noT to CrY becUase All Might WiLL ShOW up to Save THeM!?" The villain was shaking, his teeth clenched tightly as he stared daggers at All Might, not with anger, but with an all-consuming emptiness in his eyes.
"Well All Mi-" He started only for his eyes to widen as the towering hero vanished in a blur. He been so consumed by his emptions that he'd stepped closer to All Might, separating himself from his companions as All Might took his chance to strike. A well-placed Texas Smash would knock him out in one attack and end this invasion. He was careful not to put 100% of his power into the punch, villain or self-professed savior, he'd rather not splatter the young man's brains across the floor, especially in front his students.
Which was why it shocked him when Tomura reacted, managing to barely pivot his right leg back, avoiding most of the impact of his fist, though not his air wave. But All Might was on guard now as the hand villain used his momentum to swing his dangling arm at All Might. The blonde hero remembered Young Todoroki's words, stopping the desperate attack by grabbing Tomura's wrist. He only realized the true intentions a moment later as the air pressure from his Texas Smash slammed into Tomura, who didn't budge thanks to All Might holding him in place, although the hand covering his face was sent flying. Furthermore, Tomura had sacrificed his mangled arm, which he had no sense of, so any more damage would only serve to hinder him in recovery, not physical pain. And thirdly, All Might's keen eyes immediately spotted that hulking Nomu creature blast off towards his students, now that All Might was distracted.
He grit his teeth, already choosing to protect his students, but he had to ensure that Tomura wouldn't be able to help. If he took him with him, it was possible the young man would be able to recover and use his Quirk to damage All Might, and he could hardly rip the boy's arm off to keep him from attacking. So, he spun on his heels, using an improvised Oklahoma Smash to send Tomura flying across the plaza towards the distant Mountain Zone, sprinting back to block the Nomu's charge.
He intercepted the Nomu's one-man stampede, crossing his arms to block a heavy punch that sent the #1 hero hurtling back, barely missing his students as he left an All Might shaped impression in the stairs. He didn't take time to think, rushing back to protect his students, hands crossed for a Carolina Smash only to find his target missing, just landing behind the smoking villain.
"Sorry, I almost messed up the whole raid." Tomura's voice said, calmly walking up, his hand in hand as he placed it over his face before pushing it up with a smirk, the hand resting atop his head like it was patting him proudly. All Might also noticed it had the added effect of keeping his shaggy bangs out of his face. A single glance showed his attack had left an effect, the young villain's left hand was facing the wrong way, broken.
"I guess I shouldn't be surprised that you'd attack first without caring about what we have to say. I doubt you could ever understand how it feels to be so helpless, so powerless, especially with all that power flowing through you. I doubt you even care about those so far beneath you, the weak little Quirkless people." Tomura taunted as if All Might hadn't nearly caved his face in moments ago.
"That is the difference between you and me, villain! I will always protect those in need of help!" All Might declared, taking the chance to catch his breath after that small exertion of his Quirk.
"Really, then tell me how you help the Quirkless people, All Might? Did you know that Quirkless people are 60% less likely to be hired for jobs due to the simple fact that they don't have a Quirk that fits the job; strength Quirks for manual labor, speed Quirk for deliveries, brain Quirks for office jobs, and certainly combat Quirks for hero work. When's the last time you told a Quirkless child they could be a hero too, or did you just defer them to being a police officer or firefighter, because you can't beat villains without a Quirk, you false hero, peddling that hopeless dogma." Tomura needled, his words actually having an effect on All Might, and he didn't have to look to know Midoriya was staring wide-eyed at the villain as All Might's sins were laid bare.
"And since Quirkless people are less likely to get jobs, how long will it be until the government steps in, classifying that menial work is reserved for Quirkless people, jobs such as sanitation workers or sewage workers? And its only basic economics that if they don't get paid as much as Quirked people that buying basic necessities will strain their budget. Either Quirked people can buy the same goods and have leftover money, or prices go up to match those Quirked people's incomes, hindering Quirkless people from making ends meet between paychecks." Tomura paused, letting his words sink in like a professor teaching a lesson.
"Then, the government will say that they have to help the Quirkless people, giving them homes where they don't have to worry about rent, or food, or basic needs so long as they work. That's called indentured servitude, and you know they'll assign Quirkless to the care of powerful families or maybe even heroes, to clean their homes, prepare their meals, care for their children so heroes can focus on hero work without worrying about such unimportant things... next thing you know, geneticists will say that because Quirkless parents don't know how to raise a Quirked child, so they take them away from their birth parents to give them to Quirked parents who can raise them properly. Then comes the studies showing that Quirkless couples are 45% more likely to produce a Quirkless child, that they're contaminating the gene pool, so Quirkless people are only allowed to reproduce with their own kind." Tomura's words became more and more sibilant.
Then comes the big one... Quirkless people begin to realize that the government has stolen their rights: the right to employment, to housing, to have children, they've even taken away any children that don't fit, reducing their voice, shunting them off to the side. How many years will it take until they deicide the government can't take anymore because they have no more to give. That's not even mentioning that the government will remove higher education from the Quirkless, I'd be surprised if they didn't prevent them from attending secondary education for the simple reason that they'll have no need of it with their jobs. Far better to start training them as young as possible. And if Quirkless populations start to increase, they'll order abortions to keep their numbers down, just so they can't build up an army and revolt. They'll begin to rebel, to want their rights back, and you know what the government will say, that they're no different from villains and should be imprisoned. What will you do All Might, when you have to fight a Quirkless person with no way to fight back. What happens when your morality and legality come into stark conflict?" Tomura whispered, but the words might as well be an alarm sounding in the silence that followed his impassioned interrogation.
"You speak about this future dominated by hatred and fear, but that won't happen, I won't allow it, not while I AM HERE!" All Might declared with a stalwart expression, not backing down in the face of this villain's speech.
"Not while you are here huh? Have you ever read the Bible, All Might... it doesn't matter, you can look up what I'm saying later. Early on after the Israelites are freed from captivity, Moses, their leader, goes up to a mountaintop to talk with God... but he spends so long communing with God, that the people built golden idols to worship instead. You've been up on the mountain too long All Might, the people have already turned away. They've already started following after other desire of their hearts. Don't think I forgot how you didn't answer me earlier. When the last time you told a Quirkless person they could be a hero, at the end of the day, you see them as weaker and inferior, just like the rest of the people. If you really cared about them, you'd use that clout you have to support them, speak out against the discrimination, donate money to a charity for them or make an appearance in support of their union strikes. Just admit it All Might, you don't care about them, how could you with all that power, how could you understand how helpless they feel, the struggles they face every day just to survive the odds stacked against them!" Tomura snarled. He'd recovered, now pushing All Might on the backfoot verbally, attacking him psychologically.
"Shut up you villain, you don't anything about All Might! He's the greatest hero to ever live, he protects everyone, supports them, not tries to tear them down like you!" Midoriya yelled, standing to his full height, short though it was. "I... I was Quirkless, or at least used to be..." He whispered as All Might stared at his student, eyes wide as the green-haired boy poured out his heart.
"Young Midoriya... that's going too far." All Might mumbled, although with his booming voice it still carried in the still of the battle.
"I didn't have a Quirk... far so long... it hurt to see other kids play with their Quirks, to see how amazing they were while I was just Deku... 'Useless'. But still, one day I met All might and he told me, little Quirkless Deku that 'I TOO COULD BE A HERO!'. After that... I started training, I was going to be the first Quirkless hero because All Might believed in me! And then... I got my Quirk. The doctors said I might've always had it, and I subconsciously turned it off so I didn't kill myself as a little kid, but that doesn't matter, All Might didn't know that when he encouraged me, he still stood up for a Quirkless boy who wanted to be a hero!" Midoriya shouted, breathing heavily after his impassioned speech as All Might felt a tear well up in his eye, the #1 hero turning away as he wiped his eyes. Perhaps in his belief that Young Midoriya could become his successor, he'd forgotten that Midoriya was still worthy of being a hero without his help.
"Oh, then we have something in common little hero... we're both late bloomers. I still accidentally destroy things without thinking with my Quirk." Tomura admitted, a languid smile on his face as his attention shifted from All Might to Midoriya, the towering hero stepping protectively between them.
"You... Shut up! We're nothing alike! You're nothing more than a monster and a villain!" Midoriya shouted, his fists clenching painfully.
"Hmm, a villain? You keep calling me that, but I'm starting to wonder if you even know what that word means?" Tomura wondered aloud, shifting his weight on to his right leg, no doubt prepared in case All Might attempted to sucker punch him again.
"Are you really going to still claim the moral high ground after all you've done? After maiming Eraserhead and Thirteen, after your fellow villains so callously harmed my students, after all your fearmongering?" All Might accused, a small trickle of blood leaking from his teeth from his emotional outburst.
"No, I suppose not... Hero or villain, history will remember me either one way or the other." Tomura answered simply, not meeting All Might's gaze as he stared at the floor between them. Toshinori was sorely tempted to try and knock him out while he was distracted, but this villain had already proven to be quick on his feet, and he knew if he moved, then Nomu would attack the students, forcing him to retreat to protect them. If he was going to finish this, it would have to be in one Smash.
"What does that mean? What plan do you have to go down in history, world domination, genocide, maybe killing me?" All Might pressed, not showing any fear at Tomura's barbed words. He knew, any minute his fellow teachers would arrive to help the students, he just had to keep this villain talking a little bit longer.
"Hmm, oh no, I merely meant that history has a habit of shifting the perspective. I'm a force of rebellion, of change while you heroes represent order and law, er law and order. But your side is only right in the moment, today, ten years from now, maybe even a hundred years from now, who can say which of our sides will be right. After all, it once was perfectly legal to own another human being as property and freeing those slaves as equal to thievery. Today's liberal is next generation's conservative; marriage, sexuality, gender identity, all become more fluid as time passes, and those who once denounced them are labelled hatemongers, racists, homophobic, even transphobic. What would you call someone who refuses to pay taxes, destroys government property, kills government officials, and disturbs civil order? Nowadays they'd be called dissidents or maybe even terrorists, but a few centuries ago, they were called the Founding Fathers of America." Tomura pointed out as All Might felt his blood curdling with rage.
'This villain has the audacity to compare himself to those men! The pure arrogance and pride!' The blonde hero mentally roared.
"You dare-" All Might's anger was cut short as Tomura met his eyes evenly.
"If America had lost the Revolutionary War, do you think they would still be called heroes, or would England have made examples of them. Would the Indian War for Independence still have occurred, tell me All might would Hitler still be the monster he's remembered as if the Nazis won World War 2, and don't forget where Japan sided in that mess. History changes depending on perspective and the collective choice. Heroes and villains are titles given in the moment, but they can shift over time. In ten years, will history remember you as the hero who protected righteousness and justice, or me for tearing down the corrupt establishment. There will always be revolution, and those revolutionaries will always be called villains." Tomura mumbled, perhaps to himself.
'He's starting to lose it, now that his reasoning has been renounced, he's grasping at straws to justify his actions!' All Might observed as Tomura paused, staring off to the side.
"Kurogiri, we have company... gather the others to leave." Tomura ordered calmly; his eyes boring into All Might's seemingly pinning the hero in place. As the swirling black mist vanished, Tomura smirked, "This is your chance All Might. Our escape is gone, you can still defeat us and save the day, capture the villains like a good little dog. You probably have around," He glanced at his mess of a left arm, "30 seconds... five rounds of combat, wanna try for a Perfect Clear S-Rank?" Tomura seemed to almost shift into a childish tone, taunting All Might with how secure he felt.
"Of course, before we get to that point, maybe you'd like to know that you have a mole All Might." Tomura revealed, stopping All Might for just a moment before he prepared once more to attack the villain. Trap or not, he couldn't let him get away, he knew too much, but this could the source of his information... no, no one knew the things he was talking about except Nezu, Recovery Girl, and Young Midoriya.
"You're lying, just trying to distract me villain!" All Might shouted, pulling his arm back for one final punch. It would probably be his last one before he ran out of time, but if he could just capture their leader, the other teachers would show up, the villain's own words betrayed him, he knew he was cornered and was making a last-ditch effort to run away like the coward he was!
"Maybe I am, but you're smart enough to think about why I would show my hand like that. If I did manage to escape, I'll have lost a valuable resource. Unless I know you'll never believe me, and my mole can go undetected for months or even years before they get caught, and you'll know it could've been prevented if you listened to me. Or maybe I'm lying, and just want you to suspect everyone you interact with, after all no one wants to at the top of the list of suspicion. Or maybe I have more than one mole, and I'm selling out the one who has been slacking off lately, and once you catch them, you'll drop your guard, and my real mole can slip by undetected." Tomura taunted, crouching down as he prepared to dodge as quickly as possible. All Might watched his feet closely to track his movement, he couldn't afford to miss this time.
"You don't look very worried All Might; do you not believe me?" Tomura asked as All Might tensed, power surging through his legs as he pushed off the ground, leaving a small crater. "Or maybe you have a friend in the police force who can tell when someone is lying to them!" Tomura smiled triumphantly as All Might's eyes widened, leaping back to cover his students, but no attack came.
'You filthy villain, you heinous monster, you absolute COWARD! You knew I'd assume you would target the innocents around me, Aizawa, Kurose, Young Midoriya, Young Todoroki, Tsukauchi, he's after all of you to show how weak I've become, how I've failed to save those close to me! I cannot help but admit it is an effective tactic.' All Might bowed his head in shame at those closest to him being targeted to get him to run around, using up what little energy he had left. A small stream of steam started to leak from his body.
'I'm out of time, but I can't let it end like this! He's used my emotions, my companions, my secrets to taunt me all this time, while he spat his rationalization and justification. I have to push myself beyond my limits, for my students' safety and peace of mind, because I AM THE SYMBOL OF PEACE!' All Might thought, stomping a single foot to dispel the gathering smoke, his sunken eyes glowing with overflowing power and resolve.
"Hear these words and carve them in your blackened heart villain! I will not let you escape, nor give you the satisfaction of peace! I will go beyond my limits and stop you, PLUS ULTRA!" All Might roared with conviction, the other villains stepping back at the display of heroism, but Tomura just met his declaration with a challenging smirk.
"You're barely standing All Might, every step you take and punch you throw-" Tomura's taunting was cut short as All Might slammed into the ground in front of him, arm pulled back for a Smash. He still displayed amazing reaction speeds, jumping back as he tried to get away from the pursuing hero. It was only a half step, but it gave just enough time for Nomu to attempt to intercept All Might's punch, the beasts meaty palm grabbing his arm; he would've had more success trying to stop a train. The air pressure surrounding All Might's fist blasted the Nomu aside. But he did success in diverting some of the power behind the attack, a Texas Smash burying itself in Tomura's gut as he vomited on the floor, knocked back like a bowling pin, bouncing and skidding across the ground before breaking part of the water fountain and landing in a heap. All Might reacted in a second, the Nomu attacking him rather than the students as he blocked its jab with one burly arm, barely shifting from the force although he still felt it.
But he pushed through any pain as he grappled the offending arm, and when Nomu tried to attack with its other arm, he caught the punch, grappling that arm too. Restraining the beast for a second as it tried to muscle its way free, All Might reared back, giving it a Iowa Smash headbutt to the face, flipping the Nomu over his shoulder as he slammed it into the ground, standing over it as he landed blow after meteoric blow into the struggling body of the Nomu, the blackened creature trying to break free as All Might 's fists cracked the floor around them.
After the first fifty blows, he felt his steam running out but pushed onwards. After crossing the one hundred mark, he realized why Tomura had been confident in their ability to outlast All Might for the thirty seconds needed to escape. He could only spare a glance towards his students, ready to abandon his surge of heroic determination if they were in danger, but Tomura was in the fetal position on the floor, still coughing up blood from his opening attack, the other two villains surrounding him as they warded off Todoroki's slow waves of ice. Blasting past the two hundred mark, Nomu was still fighting back, but his attacks were weaker, his arms blown back by All Might's titanic ferocity. At a record breaking three hundred, he stood triumphant, Nomu broken in the bottom of a crater as he struggled to lift himself out of the hole, one of his 'antennae' drooping as his form started to shift.
"Nomu, stop messing around and finish this!" The knightly villain ordered, furious at the turn of events and body of Tomura.
"All Might, look out!" Midoriya shouted. That combined with the snapping sounds behind him, gave the #1 hero just enough warning to react, Nomu standing up, its arms bending back to normal as he slammed a heavy fist into All Might's side, lifting him off his feet. The blonde hero blocked most of the damage with a hasty block, but Nomu's follow-up sent him flying across the plaza, carving a trench in the stonework as he dug his feet in. He braced himself for another charge, but Nomu leapt in front of the villains.
A thick shell of concrete engulfed the students as bits and pieces of Nomu began to rip apart, turned to dust in seconds as it stood resolute, arms shielding the two female villains and heavily wounded leader. Its flesh bubbled like it was boiling, new muscle tissue replacing the lost, but it was barely keeping up as the attack kept it in place, protecting the others from the lethal damage.
"Moving concrete, and that attack! That can only be?" All Might wondered aloud, one knee to the floor as he fought to stay standing, his head looking to the top of the stairs. "The other teachers!"
Sure enough, the rest of UA's faculty were atop the stairs, Principal Nezu perched on Vlad King's shoulder. Thirteen leaned on Power Loader's arm, her helmet cracked through one eye as she held out her arm, Blackhole holding Nomu in place as it roared in pain.
"The teachers? Shit, where's Kurogiri gone?" The small blonde villain cried, her older companion standing up as Snipe let out a volley of bullets at the pair. The armored villain created a pair of long swords within a second, the metal weapons blurring n the air, sparks shooting out as she blocked the shots. She wasn't given any time to breath as Snipe's Quirk, Homing, was on full display, shots coming in from every direction as a few slipped past, denting her helmet before it fell apart.
That only seemed to further enrage her as she bit in the air, a bullet between her teeth as she crunched down, shattering the projectile. "I won't let him hurt him; I swear you won't hurt ANY OF THEM!" She shouted, slamming both fists into the floor, a wave of liquid metal pouring out as it formed a barricade between them, cutting off Thirteen's Blackhole.
She seemed to have focused on full frontal defense as All Might still could see them huddled together, the fountain splashing water on the trio. The redhaired villain stumbled backwards, sweat pouring down her face as she let the water wash over her, her eyes drooping with exhaustion.
"Nomuuu..." She mumbled, slipping into unconsciousness, leaving the youngest villain alone on the battlefield as she looked around.
"Oh God, we can't stay here, or that spacy hero's Quirk will tear us apart, but Snipe has the advantage at range if we get out of cover. Nomu, cover us!" She ordered, her body shifting under the coat into that of Sato's scooping up both Tomura and the other female villain as she took off towards the Landslide Zone.
She had to stop short as the ground broke open in front of her, Powerloader bursting from the ground, a column of Ectoplasms following. Panicking, she looked back to Nomu, only for the ground to start to cave in beneath him, slowly swallowing him as concrete began to cover it.
"Oh God, Oh God, OH God! Kuro, I hope you burn in Hell for abandoning us like this!" She screamed as the clones of Ectoplasm surrounded her.
Suddenly, electricity washed over the area, discharging into the gathered heroes. All Might didn't know how he'd missed the swirling black mist appearing from the fountain. The blonde girl vanished into a similar portal, reappearing behind cover as a boy with a heavily cracked ball for a head, sent out a wave of lightning that destroyed Ectoplasm's clones, and left Powerloader with a nasty shock.
"What took you so long?!" The girl asked the pair of eyes that appeared in the black mist from earlier.
"Heroes always show up just in time to save the day." He replied simply, earning a glare from her.
"Can we get out of here already?" A small boy yelped, one eye a milky white color and part of his cheek a raw reddish tint.
"I concur, let's begone." Kurogiri stated, only for Tomura to force himself on to his feet, a thick line of bloody phlegm leaking from his mouth as he wiped it away.
"Not without Dummy. Cover me." He ordered, sprinting across the open field towards the contained Nomu, who was writhing from the electricity coursing through its body. The tiny boy began to hurl balls at the open tunnel that Powerloader had disappeared into, blocking it off, although they all seemed to be aware that the Support teacher could reappear anywhere. The villain with a ball for a head lit up, a bolt of electricity leaping from his head to his hand as he thrust it out, multiple smaller bolts dancing across the plaza, attracted as several of Snipe's shot came in to disable Tomura, exploding them instantly.
The sound of rending metal echoed in the plaza as the armored villain's barricade was ripped in two by Cementoss's Quirk, leaving the gathering villains exposed however, Tomura's Quirk made short work of Nomu's containment, especially when combined with the monstrosity's brute strength sundering the ground as they retreated.
They reached the group just as All Might spotted Present Mic at the top of stairs, Young Midoriya, Young Bakugo, Young Todoroki, and Eraserhead in the arms of the other teachers. Thankfully, Midnight seemed to have sedated them to help conceal his secret. All the same, the Principal's plan was clear as All Might covered his ears, thankfully once more his Quirk wasn't Super Hearing.
"SSSTTTTTTTTOOPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP RRRRRRIIIIIIIIIGGGGGGGGHHHHHHTTTTTTTTTTTT TTTTTTTTTTTHHHHHHHHHHHHEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEE!" Present Mic screamed, his voice not carrying so much as barreling into the villains as they hit the floor, the electric villain's head cracking further. Tomura managed to pull his faceplate down, the thumb and pinky fingers covering his ears as he still wobbled dazedly. Nomu screeched in pain, literally digging into its own head in an attempt to destroy its eardrums. The blonde girl held up the best, her form quivering before settling on an older man as she tried to shove some of the others through the portal.
Kurogiri seemed so unaffected that All Might wondered if he didn't process sound the same way, reading lips given his lack of ears, but a few second later, his form vanished almost completely, leaving only a wispy metal collar as the sound wave scattered him like his namesake.
All Might felt victory well up within him, his victory music swelling behind him until the last villain stumbled to the front. He or she looked similar to Young Tokoyami in that rather than a humanoid face, they had a bird head. Unlike Tokoyami, theirs was much easier to identify as a multicolored parrot as they shook their head several time before bellowing back, "SHHHHHHHHHUUUUUUUUUTTTTTTTT UUUUUUUPPPP!"
The clashing sound waves met in the middle, holding each other back. It was easy to see the villain was running out of air quickly, no doubt unused to holding a note like that, but it did its job, allowing Kurogiri to gather himself together enough to form a portal as the villains vanished one by one into the darkness, the parrot headed villain the last one through as he fell backwards, tumbling away as Kuro's portal closed, the villains escaped.