The battle of Kamino has begun, and the battlefields begin to take shape.
Kyoka bolted down the street, hearing the soft cries and worried whimpers of a young child. As she ran, the air around her wavering with a purple tint, she jabbed one of her jacks in the direction of a three armed Nomu about to attack a young couple who were fleeing for their lives. With but a thought, a massive wave of sound rocketed out of her jack, slamming into the Nomu and causing it to collapse immediately, the noise she'd created specifically designed to mess with the Nomu's inner ear, causing it to collapse and crush its brain. Brutal and something she was trying very hard not to envision, but the voice of Daigoro in her ear was encouraging her by reminding her that the Nomu was already dead, and what she did was likely a kindness more than anything else.
She shook her head to clear it, tossing out a strand of Blackwhip and pulling herself along faster, trying to reach the little boy she knew was out there. This…connection they all had with each other meant that they were sharing ideas and emotions in real time, enough transferred along that she knew her boyfriend was terrified for Kota's safety, and she intended on making sure the little boy was safe so he could fight freely. Once Koji had indicated where the boy was, she'd been on the move immediately, using the boost from One For All to run faster than she ever had in her life.
She wasn't familiar with how Blackwhip worked, beyond what she'd witnessed from Izuku, so she wasn't willing to try and fling herself around like Daigoro apparently used to, not yet, and he agreed. But she could use it to pull herself along faster, which was what she was doing, following the indicator from her hearing and the thoughts from Koji bleeding over.
Idly, she thought about how much of a blessing it was right now to have Koji's new powers helping them the way they were…somehow, the gentle boy's Quirk had combined with One For All in such a way that he was now plugged into every single animal, insect, or non-human creature in the entire area, and flying in the sky as he was, he could see through all of their eyes at once. He was acting like a conductor for the group, his thoughts and feelings filtering through to direct them to the next threat, the next person needing saved, the next place they needed to go. Which lined perfectly with the fact he hated fighting but felt such guilt that he felt useless if he wasn't, so the class was quite happy to have him playing this more supportive role, helping them do the best they could.
She shook her head to focus. She had to find…there he was! Skidding to a stop by a collapsed building, she ripped away at the metal wall in front of her, the boost from One For All making it easy for her to pull it aside. Inside, she saw Kota, the young boy shrieking in fear and curling up in the corner, his eyes closed. Kyoka cursed internally…she hadn't meant to spook the boy, and now she somehow had to calm him down, which was not her strong suit.
She took a deep breath. Hopefully he remembered her. "Kota? Kota, you're safe. I'm one of the students from the training camp, remember me?" she cajoled, trying to keep her voice level and soft in the hopes he'd look.
His cries cut off for a moment, one eye creeping open to glance over and see her. He opened both eyes and stopped crying, but his face was twisted in a grimace and he made no motion to move towards her…which made her really unhappy because she could hear the remainder of the building creaking as if it were not sound, which considering its condition seemed likely. "W-where's Mister Midoriya?" he asked, his voice quavering.
"Izuku's okay, I promise. He's helping save people right now, just like we all are. He's fighting off some of the monsters, but I'm here to take you to safety," she said, smiling as gently as she could. She pictured Momo's soft smile whenever she was trying to teach any of them, and focused on trying to emulate that as she held out a hand to the boy.
"Y-you're sure? He's okay? I-I need to thank him, he saved me," Kota replied fearfully, but looking marginally better.
"I swear it. Trust me, we don't let our boyfriend go down so easily," she replied, the words slipping out far more easily than she realized…especially as she realized the boy probably didn't know they were dating.
"...he's…your boyfriend?" Kota asked, the fear fading as he blinked in confusion.
"...one of them, yes. It's a long story, kiddo, and we really gotta get out of here. I'll tell you later if you want, but for now, could you come here so I can take you somewhere safe?" she asked, internally wincing as she started to lose her best attempt at being comforting. She really needed to just sit down with Momo and Ochako and just to follow along with them, somehow they had the whole 'comfort' schtick down pat.
"...that's weird. You're weird," Kota replied. He shifted slightly, getting to his feet and wobbling in place. "...but if Mister Midoriya trusts you, I will too. Okay. Let's go, I wanna go home."
Kyoka's face split into a relieved smile as he took her hand, letting her pull him to safety. With Blackwhip, she wrapped a tendril around him to secure him to her side as she focused her thoughts to Koji, asking him where the nearest trauma center was. Unerringly, her mind pointed her to a region to the southwest, giving her a clear path to run to, as well as a warning of three Nomu, but a moment later she felt an indicator not to worry, as she felt Hanta moving to intercept and clear the way for her. She grinned, tensing her legs and focusing One For All through her once more, the purple wavers in the air around her becoming more distinct, before launching herself down the path indicated. Time to get this boy to safety…and save everyone else in trouble.
Shoto sighed, his shoulders slumped, as he stared at the sight before him. Ahead of him and to his left, Toya stood, his body ablaze with blue as he snarled his words across the way, to the man standing ahead and to Shoto's right…Endeavor. To the older mans credit, he was not reacting in a hostile manner to his eldest son…if anything, he seemed to be trying to be professional and courteous, but the two of them had spent the past five minutes arguing over what to do with Shoto and he was wondering if either of them intended on asking him what he wanted anytime soon.
His musings were cut off by the sudden arrival of his girlfriend on a motorcycle that was moving far faster than it had any right to, Momo skidding to a stop between the three men and cutting the argument off. She ignored both Toya and Endeavor, turning to Shoto.
"Himiko needs us. We've gotta go," she said calmly, swirls of gleaming silver and rainbow lights flickering about her skin, her eyes glowing with a rainbow gleam.
"You are going nowhere, young lady. You and Shoto need to get to safety," Endeavor growled, crossing his arms over his chest.
"I really hate agreeing with him, but you guys need to listen. You're still students, and you're not authorized-" Toya began, but Shoto cut him off calmly.
"We were authorized by our teacher to defend ourselves and escape. In the current situation, it is unclear where it is safe, and so we are still operating under that authority. If you attempt to rescind it, I'm just going to ignore the both of you. If Himiko needs my help, I'm going to go."
"Shoto," both men began, cutting themselves off to glare at one another, before Shoto held up his hand once more.
"...Father, for once in your life, give me what I want and do not interfere," he said, his voice quiet and yet still somehow piercing through the wailing sirens, the explosions in the distance, the chaos surrounding all four of them. "Himiko is a trusted companion and one of the people I am in a relationship with. If she needs my assistance, I will go to her side. Izuku is moving to face a monster of terrible proportions, and truthfully, he could probably use your help, father. Go to All Might and Izuku…help them stop All For One. As for you Toya, my friends could use help defeating these creatures. Please…trust me to do what must be done."
Toya blinked at Shoto, mouthing 'relationship?' in confusion, while Endeavor stood there, a similar gobsmacked expression on his face. Idly, Shoto noted that they looked very similar right there in their confusion, which was mildly amusing and disturbing at the same time. Shoto tilted his head to the side, realizing what was tripping them up and wondering why Momo was giggling behind him. He could feel her amusement through the bond, and though it warmed him inside and made him want to crack a smile, he forced it down to continue speaking bluntly.
"I may have forgotten to mention that I have joined a relationship with nine people within it, myself included. I believe the correct term is 'polycule'. Himiko is one of them, as is Momo. As is Izuku. I spoke to you about him, remember, Toya? We have now started dating. It is very new, so I have not spoken about it yet, and much has happened. That said, we are in the middle of an emergency, and I would think the Number Two and Number Seventeen heroes should be saving civilians."
"...Shoto…you're just a student. You shouldn't be out there fighting. If you're friends…uh…girlfriends, are in trouble, just let us rescue them too!" Toya responded, trying to focus on that over the sudden knowledge his little brother was dating.
"There are hundreds of Nomu loose in the city, and thousands of civilians in danger. We can help. Once again, I intend on ignoring any attempts to revoke the authorization we were given to fight. You can try to stop me if you wish…but you will find it far more difficult than you realize," Shoto's response was followed by his body suddenly coming alight, small flickers of flame and twinklings of frost appearing and vanishing moments later, white smoke slowly coalescing about him and entwining with his limbs, the area around him becoming misty and difficult to see through.
Toya stared at him, his jaw working, before he nodded abruptly in acceptance, knowing a losing battle when he saw it. "...fine. Just…stay safe, little brother." Shoto nodded at him, watching as Toya's body flared with blue flame, the hero Pyre launching himself into the air and towards another one of the hotspots of Nomu activity. Shoto turned to glance at Endeavor, the flaming visage of the Number Two hero still staring at him with wide eyes.
Shoto tilted his head to the side, taking one step back towards Momo and her motorcycle, the taller teen kicking the kickstand up as he approached. Endeavor's staring contest broke for a moment, reaching one hand out towards the boy, pausing as he saw Shoto's eyes narrow, Momo's mirroring the expression a second later. Endeavor swallowed thickly, indecision writ plain on his face, but after a moment, something seemed to click and he straightened his shoulders. "...Shoto. I…you said All Might is fighting someone?"
"All For One. He's the one responsible for all of this, the Nomu, the attacks in Hosu, our kidnapping. He's the true mastermind behind the League of Villains. He can take Quirks from people…so do not get close. Only All Might and Izuku are immune to that. He is over there," Shoto said, pointing in the direction Izuku had flown off to.
Endeavor worked his jaw in a mirror to the way Toya just had, once again reminding Shoto of the weird similarities in some of their expressions, before nodding slowly. "Very well. Do…do as your brother said, Shoto. Stay safe."
"I will keep him safe, sir," Momo said softly, steel in her voice. It was clear she was not saying that to comfort Endeavor from the expression on her face, but she still would vow it for the sake of her relationship with the split-haired teen.
Endeavor nodded gravely at her, turning away from them and launching himself into the air, heading towards the area Shoto had indicated earlier. Shoto turned back to his girlfriend, her expression softening for a brief moment as she touched his cheek gently. She pressed her lips to it, making Shoto blink in surprise (and wonder why his face suddenly felt like it was on fire yet he had not activated his fire side), before allowing him to climb on behind her and rev the motorcycle once more, the sheen of Gear Shift applying to it. Once she felt him secure himself behind her, his arms around her waist, she wasted no time, kicking it into gear and vanishing in a flurry of smoke as the two headed to the meeting place Himiko had indicated to Momo.
"So…do we have a plan?" Katsuki dared to ask as he flew beside Ochako, the two of them rocketing as fast as they could in the direction Izuku had indicated Nine was.
"Beat the ever loving shit out of him?" Ochako asked, shrugging as she launched another Blackwhip tendril to pull herself along faster.
"...that sounds like one of my dumb fucking plans," Katsuki deadpanned, risking a glance over at her even as he weaved between fallen buildings and blasts from Nomu, occasionally sending a quick explosion at one as they passed by, but trusting his friends to deal with them.
"I dunno what you want me to tell you, Kats, I've got no clue how we're gonna stop him any better than you do!" Ochako replied, annoyance in her tone. Blackwhip wrapped about a Nomu that was chasing a child, yanking it up into the air where Katsuki slammed his hand over its head, the brilliant orange glow of his Explosion blasting the creature's head clean off as Ochako let it drop back to the ground.
"We've got to come up with some ideas, Cheeks," Katsuki replied, his voice quiet and unsure, very unlike him.
"I-I know, but…we saw him at the USJ. If he's got so many Quirks, I'm not sure if we can actually stop him ourselves…and I know you're thinking the same thing," she replied, just as unsure as he.
"It won't just be us. Once the other three are out of the way, you know Fangs is gonna bring us the cavalry. We just got to kick his ass until then and keep him from hurting anyone else."
Ochako took a deep, bracing breath. "...yeah. I know. I just…I'm just worried. Izuku's going to face All For One and I'm…I…"
"I get it," Katsuki cut her struggling off, his own concern for his brother bleeding through the bond and entwining with his future sister's feelings. "But he's with All Might…No way the two of them go down. They will beat that fucker down and put him where he belongs, in the goddamned ground."
Ochako chewed on her lip for a moment, her eyes focused on the area they were flying to, now just barely able to see the man in the distance, standing midair without a care in the world. "...yeah. You're right. We can do this. We'll bring this bastard down. For Izuku…and for you," she added softly, risking a glance over at him.
Katsuki opened his mouth to protest, meeting her gaze after a moment and letting his shoulders slump ever so slightly. He chuckled ruefully. "Just don't take any risks, Cheeks. Izu would kill me if you got so much as a papercut."
"Right back at you, brother," she replied, a smile crossing her face as the two of them skidded to a halt, Nine finally noticing their approach.
The white-haired man quirked an eyebrow at them. "I assumed Midoriya would be coming for me, not sending his pathetic friends instead."
"He's got more important things to deal with than the D-Lister riding on All For One's coattails," Katsuki replied, his hands popping menacingly with sparks, orange lightning mixed with small pops of orange and red skittering about his body.
Nine sighed. "I expected more than schoolyard insults, and yet-" his words were cut off as his eyes widened, seeing an entire building coming flying towards him rapidly, making him send his hands forward in a panic, pink lasers cutting through the building and then forming his barrier to shove the rubble away. His jaw dropped as he saw Ochako, her eyes alight with a pink and white glow, black tendrils of energy stretched off her and floating another three broken buildings behind her.
"Not in the mood for your villain monologue. It's time you fucking paid for what you did," she snarled at him, not giving him a chance to respond as she spun about, all three buildings being flung from her tendrils towards him, forcing him to quickly try to dash away. He barely managed to bring his shields up in time, as Katsuki appeared before him, both hands placed in front as he sent out a rippling explosion of tremendous force, the brief respite Nine thought he had halted a second later as he felt one of the buildings impact his back. He barely managed to call upon Hydra in time to rip it apart, but it still sent him flying and scrambling across the ground.
With a growl, a tornado began to whip up near where Ochako was, forcing her to quickly fly away from it, losing her focus on the buildings. As she fled from it, he quickly thrust his hand in her direction, Ochako's eyes widening as she felt the telltale sign of lightning roiling above, the white-hot bolt of sheer destruction reaming towards her…only to suddenly turn on a dime and go flying off into the distance, its force being absorbed by a small figure in the distance. She felt the amusement from Denki in her mind, and knew that he was focusing on their fight enough so he could keep calling the lightning to him instead.
Mentally she sent back her thanks, feeling the returning warmth from him, as she felt Katsuki moving to flank Nine once more. She quickly spun out a dozen tendrils of Blackwhip, grasping every large piece of rubble she could as she applied her Quirk to them all, sending them screaming towards the villain in the hopes of keeping his attention on her.
Katsuki had activated Gear Shift on himself (taking into account the warnings Second gave him about the repercussions on his body), so he was far, far faster than she was right now. But she could tank it, with her ability to fortify herself and using the rubble around her as shields, so that's what her plan was. She'd force Nine to keep his attention on her, bashing against her control over one of the fundamental forces of the universe, and let Katsuki dip in and out of the fight to keep striking the man from every direction he was not expecting. Not the most detailed plan…but it would work. She was sure of it.
Gritting her teeth, she forced more of One For All into herself, quickly ripping up the ground around her and turning it into more weapons. It was time she made this bastard pay.
Toshinori grunted as he slugged another Nomu, sending it flying away from him but feeling a second getting a quick hit on his back. Fighting off a dozen of these Nomu, which were as strong if not stronger than the one at the USJ, all the while All For One taunted him and sent an occasional attack at him, was making this incredibly difficult. The only saving grace he had was the surge of power in his veins, a sensation that he hadn't felt in quite some time, as if One For All was still with him.
At first it had worried him, but once he'd heard some of the reports trickling in, of his students fighting the Nomu and winning, and the occasional feeling he got through what he recognized as his bond with Izuku, had him realizing somehow, someway, Izuku was funneling energy to him and it was helping keep him going. He couldn't help but feel grateful, because to be frank, he wasn't sure if he could do this without that.
He'd managed to put down three of the Nomu so far, and he'd witnessed Jeanist, Gang Orca, and Hawks take down a fourth. Miruko was currently fighting another one with Gran Torino at her side, but that still left him with seven…and of course, All For One. A moment later, a sudden surge of pure heat screamed by his left side, the Nomu that was coming up to strike him shrieking in agony as it burned, falling to the side in flames.
"Endeavor!" he shouted, glancing over to see the man. Last he'd known, Endeavor was heading to the kids, what was he doing there? "Weren't you-"
"Shoto sent me! He said this was the mastermind behind the League," Endeavor growled, clearly not appreciating the callout.
The remaining Nomu collectively seemed to step back, surrounding All For One, the helmeted man raising his hands up and giving a mocking bow. "Why yes, Endeavor, I am, in fact, that mastermind. Surprised your son knows of me."
Endeavor ignored the man, glancing over at Toshinori. "Where's the other one?"
Toshinori blinked in confusion. "What other one?"
Endeavor worked his jaw for a moment, replying quietly. "Shoto said his…uh…his boyfriend was coming here. Izuku?"
Toshinori's eyes went wide in horror. No, no no no no, he couldn't come here, that would be the worst possible…his panicked thoughts were cut off by a sudden surge of power in his veins, a feeling that made him just…know…to look up and to the left of All For One, seeing a slight green spark for a brief moment before he cursed under his breath as he heard a familiar voice.
"Zephyr…SMASH!" came the screamed words, a piercing lance of green slamming into All For One and exploding, sending both the villainous mastermind and the half dozen Nomu sprawling. A second later, green lightning slammed into the ground next to Toshinori, Izuku standing tall, panting slightly as energy flooded off of him.
"Izuku! What are you doing here?! Get out of here right this instant!" Toshinori snarled, glaring down at his successor with every ounce of presence he had built up over the years.
Izuku swallowed, shaking his head slowly in defiance. "I'm sorry, Toshi, but…I can't do that. You know you can't take on all of those, and…I can see it. The remaining Nomu have that weird trick the one at the USJ did, that berserker mode thing. He just hasn't turned it on."
"It's called Imbuement, young Midoriya," All For One replied with a mocking tone, getting to his feet and dusting off his suit. "Truly an ingenious little trick of the Doctor's, it's a time limited boost to a Nomu's capability. Only so many Quirks can be shoved into a body before degradation, after all! Unfortunately for all of you, while it is time limited, three of these can stay in Imbued state for well over ten minutes, and three of them are very, very special…they can survive for well over thirty minutes! Far less time than I'll need to end all of you."
Izuku glared at All For One. "Do you practice villainous monologues in the mirror, or does the Doctor write your scripts for you?"
All For One chuckled. "I'm afraid any attempts to rile me up will fail, child. I've long been inured to judgment for my choices."
Izuku paused for a moment, seeming to listen to something, before shrugging. "Dunno, your brother says you'd still get pissed if he brought up your fifth grade school play."
All For One froze in place, before a snarl sounded from his throat as he clenched his fists. "You tell that useless brother of mine to keep his mouth shut! Once he's back where he belongs we'll be having a long talk about what family means! He should never have turned on me in the first place!"
"Turned on you? Turned on you!?" Izuku gaped. "Are you fucking serious? I can see his memories! You're the one who decided to cosplay as a demon lord for no good reason! You're the one who turned on people!"
"I helped people! I protected the Quirked from the Quirkless back in the chaos that emerged from the Dawn of Quirks! I saved those who suffered from their powers and gave those who were powerless the chance to fight back! Do not lecture me on my actions, boy!" All For One shot back.
"Don't you dare try to claim nobility, All For One! We all know your motives were purely selfish in doing so!" Toshinori replied, his own fists clenched as he glared at his nemesis.
"Oh and no heroes do things for selfish reasons? No heroes have selfish motivations and desires? Please, don't preach to me from atop your gilded throne, All Might," All For One replied mockingly.
"...fuck you," Izuku snarled, the pro heroes around him turning to glance at him in askance at his language. "Don't play your stupid fucking games with us. Yeah, things aren't perfect. Some heroes are selfish. Some heroes are corrupt. Lots of people are arrogant, selfish jerks who only focus on themselves. But just because there is bad in the world doesn't excuse you from doing bad yourself! You've killed countless innocents, blackmailed others into serving you, all for some stupid ideal of becoming an evil fucking god! Keep your whataboutism to yourself. You're nothing but a sad, pathetic man who decided he's better than everyone else and is willing to hurt others to prove it."
All For One's gaze could not be seen beneath the black helmet he wore, but Izuku could sense the glare through it. His voice was quiet as he spoke. "I see you are your master's student through and through, Izuku Midoriya. Fine. I'm done playing with either of you. It is time you understand the true depth of what you face. Nomu, activate Imbuement: Cataclysm!"
At those words, the gathered heroes and one hero student were witness to a sickening transformation taking place. Three of the Nomu fused together, its body mass of black oozing and shifting, forming together and growing larger, piece by sickening piece, until it resembled nothing but a massive ball of black ooze and flesh. A dozen eyes blinked open, a half dozen arms and more tendrils rocketing out of its every side, it lifting itself off the ground from what looked like skittering spider legs that exploded from beneath. Dozens of mouths opening, some humanoid, some larger and more animalistic, teeth bared and noises coming from all in a screeching cacophony of horror.
Izuku wanted to gag, seeing the transformation and now suddenly smelling a disgusting scent wafting off it. The quirk energy around it was amorphous and a dark, piss-yellow that made him feel ill to just look upon, but he was given little time to react as the other three Nomu began to transform as well.
One, a hulking behemoth that resembled the one from the USJ but with a weird flesh hood over its skull began to shift and grow, one, two, five, ten, a dozen arms ripping from its sides, even more hands sprouting from each centimeter, its skin turning a deep crimson. Another, chainsaws and drills on a multiple of arms slumped over, its lower body shimmering and shifting until it formed into what looked like a six-legged skeletal horse, the upper body now featuring wavering balls of floating greenish-blue brackish looking liquid, drips from it seeping down below it and slowly flooding the ground beneath. The last, formed from what looked like a woman's body, changing the least, save her eyes suddenly were now a single, glowing eldritch eyeball that was flickering about with little to no pattern, blood dripping from the sides of it.
Toshinori stepped forward, fists clenched, but his voice was quiet as he spoke to the boy at his side. "Tempest…as your teacher, as your mentor, as your friend…you need to stay away from All For One. Leave him to me. You may assist the others in dealing with the Nomu, but let them handle most of it. You're still only a first year student."
Izuku stared up at him, every ounce of his heart telling him to just ignore the man, all of his fears about the price Toshi would have to pay when he next faced All For One bubbling up to the surface, but he could feel Toshinori's fear and worry for him, washing over him like a warm hug. He worked his jaw for a moment, letting out a sigh. "...on one condition. You can't do to me what Nana did to you. You have to promise me you're making it out of this!"
"Izuku-"
"PROMISE ME!" Izuku screamed, his voice echoing across the battlefield and causing most of the gathered people to turn and glance at the sparking young man, his eyes glimmering with unshed tears as he held the gaze of the strongest hero in history with his own.
Toshinori kept his gaze locked on the boy, his boy, his successor and the young man he was most proud of…before giving him a slow nod. "I promise. I still have much to teach you, after all. I will be here, young Izuku…I will always be here for you."
Izuku gulped, nodding slowly in return. After that brief moment, he closed his eyes and focused inward, drawing upon the strength that All For One had unwittingly given him as he channeled every ounce of his Quirk into himself, his entire body erupting in green rivers of energy. With clenched fists and determination in his heart, he used his senses to find the energy signatures of the heroes about him…the burning orange flame of Endeavor, the entwined blue threads of Jeanist, the reddish-orange flitting feathers of Hawks, etc, etc…and snapped his eyes open, green tendrils of energy flooding the air around him and slamming into the various heroes around him. Izuku had no need to find Toshi's signature, nor a need to send the energy through the air, the connection between them snapping taut as he sent as much as he dared through it and into his mentor.
Endeavor jolted as he felt the sudden surge of power, turning wide-eyes to glance down at the strange young man who was apparently dating his son. He could see familiar consternation in the faces as they felt the same jolt, the same surge, all staring at the young man before them. He had little time to comprehend it though, as this villain before them seemed tired of waiting, and began to advance.
"Come and try to kill me a second time, All Might!" All For One said, chuckling as the Nomu began to move towards the gathered heroes.
"This time…you fall," Toshinori replied, eyes locked on his target. One For All sang in his veins like it never had before, the connection with Izuku making it feel as if he once again had full access to it…and it was time to rectify his mistake from six years back. This was the end of All For One, he swore it.