*Blasts through the wall* FEAR NOT, FOR I AM HERE!
Hello there, dear readers, it's been a while. Between creativity blockades, lack of free time and sheer laziness(guilty as charged), it took me way more time than I planned to finish this chapter. Anyway, here it is, the last part of that little arc. And if you're missing the fluffs and smut, well... things will get "complicated".
Meltdown [Part 3]: Eminent Explosion
"I swear, he's the greatest person there is"
Komori kept that thought to herself, but her dumbstruck face remained, not that anyone would notice, considering the situation. Here, at the top of an abandoned hydroelectric plant, surrounded by villains and without means to call for help, the heroes in training found themselves once again in more problems than they should have to deal with. Nonetheless, Midoriya surprised everyone around him with his display of true heroism. I mean, it's not all the time that you see a hero stating that he or she will save everyone, and every one included a villain. Or maybe ex-villain, for this case. Himiko also surprised everyone when she actually put into motion her plan of acting as a distraction to let them escape safely. But no one would be left behind, not on his watch.
"Let's go, everyone!"
Midoriya shouted as he held Himiko's hand, pulling her along with the team. The debris that blocked the way they came here crumbled and blue flames emerged from the hole. Dabi quickly saw the teens running and went after them. He wasn't going to let a bunch of kids escape that easy.
The heroes in training got closer to the edge fast, not showing signals of stopping. Without looking back, they simply jumped from the huge structure. In mid-air, Dark Shadow stretched his wings and held everyone together while Uraraka made them weightless, slowing their fall. Looking over the shoulders of the symbiotic being, Hado and Midoriya watched carefully for pursuers.
Some villains had wing mutations, others could sustain some form of flight, and there were the crazy ones that simply jumped after them. The emerald boy and blunette used their ranged attacks to keep the villains away, but they were slowly getting closer. At this rate, they would all be captured. But suddenly, something wrapped around Dark Shadow and pulled them to the side. Midoriya, already into a high alert state, quickly moved to cut whatever was pulling them but he recognized that white and sticky material.
"Wait, this thing is… Sero's Tape!"
As he said that a figure became more visible in the dark of the night. Standing on top of a smaller building at the base of the plant, the Tape Hero Cellophane was pulling them out of the danger, at least for now.
"Man, today must be my lucky day, I barely saw you guys!"
They landed and Uraraka released her Quirk. Komori helped Tokoyami to stand up while Yanagi floated Kodai with her.
"It's really good to see you here, Sero. You saved us back there"
"It was a big coincidence. I was looking for Tokoyami when I heard some noise and saw something jumping from the dam. When I saw a black thing warping I was sure it was him"
"Just how many of us did this portal guy teleport?" Next to Sero stood the purple haired midget.
"Sero, did you find- ~gasp~" A door nearby them opened and a pink skinned girl came out, followed by another girl with long green hair tied into a bow. "Izuku!"
Ashido ran at his direction and jumped on his arms, making him spin around. Right after Tsuyu also jumped on him, wrapping the two into a tight hug.
"I was so worried, Izuku"
"Ribbit, me too. We saw you flying with that Noumu, and then portals appeared everywhere, and-"
"It's okay, I'm fine. It's good to see you too but we have to go now. There's an army after us"
As he said that a boulder crashed near them, missing Mineta by inches. That was more than enough to put everyone to move.
"So you got teleported with everyone here?" Ashido asked the green haired teen, glancing quickly at the black haired girl on his backs.
"No, just with Kodai here. We met the others while we were trying to find a way out. We ended facing the villains and had to run"
"Ribbit, if I remember well they were after her, right?" Tsuyu pointed to the blonde running with them. Himiko looked away.
"Yes. The leader put a prize on her head, so we have to leave as soon as possible. We can't simply wait for the pros to arrive"
"Oh, speaking of which, we found someone else," Mineta said from the back of the group, trying to keep up with his friends. "Iida left a few hours ago. He said he would get help"
"Really? Then our chances as getting better. We will make it, guys"
Just as things were starting to look brighter something crashed right in their path, something big. A laugh came from the cloud of dust, one that sent shivers down Midoriya's spine. His eyes widened as a known face appeared, with an ugly replacement for one of the eyes. Once his normal eye landed on the green haired boy, a sick grin opened in his mouth.
"Yo, brat. I came for a rematch"
"Villain… Muscular"
She paced back and forth restlessly, glancing every five seconds at the wide monitors. Satellites, traffic cameras, anything that streamed video was being monitored in the search for the missing students, but that wasn't even close enough to calm Yu down. Across the door, in another room, Nemuri gathered the strength to make the call she knew she had to do. Miss Midoriya had to know and she had to be the one delivering the news. And sitting on the back or the monitoring room, arms crossed and a foot tapping impatiently, Rumi watched the blonde dig a hole in the floor with her pacing, to the point the tanned woman was nervous herself.
"Would you stop for five minutes, Yu. Worry won't bring him back faster"
"I know but… I hate having to sit here doing nothing" The blonde said in an exasperated tone.
"I don't like to sit down for long either but you have to keep it cool. Stay focused"
"I know, I know. It's just that… ~sigh~" Yu ran a hand through her hair for the umpteenth time this night. Rumi held an empathic smile.
"It's him, isn't it?"
"~heavy sigh~ I should really stop drinking"
"It's cool, I ain't telling anyone" She said in a low tone.
"Wait, you serious?" Yu whispered, looking around then getting near the tanned woman. "Why?"
"We might not be that close but you know how to hit hard and I respect that, enough for me to consider you a friend. Go live your happy life with the green boy, even if it's kinda fucked up"
For a moment Yu didn't know what to say.
"Oh, thanks Rumi. I also consider you a friend-"
"Plus, it's awesome to have you and Midnight owning me a favor~"
"Rumi, please"
"Worry about that when we get your boyfriend back. And Nemuri? Did she make the call yet?"
"I don't know. Aizawa said he would notify the parents of the missing kids but she insisted in telling herself to Miss Midoriya"
"She's feeling responsible…"
"Yes"
…
"Okay, one more heartbroken lady I have to knock some sense on. Just watch me work, Yu"
"Where do you think you're going?"
While Yu held the rabbit hero in place, inside the room the dark haired lady finally gathered the courage to press the call button. It rang for some seconds before being answered.
"Hello, how can I help?"
"Hi, Miss Midoriya, it's me, umm, it's Midnight"
"Oh, M-Midnight. Good evening. If you don't mind me asking, how did you get my number?"
"Erm, Izuku, I mean, Midoriya gave it to me, in case of an emergency"
"Oh, I see. Speaking of him, how is he doing? Does he need authorization for a trip or something? If so you have my permission already and-"
"Midoriya-san, you should take a seat"
Nemuri could feel the worry leaking through the phone during that minute of silence.
"You said he gave my number to you… for emergencies?"
"Yes… it is an emergency. About three hours ago the League of Villains launched a massive surprise attack to U.A. We managed to stop them but in the process… twelve students got teleported somewhere and ~sigh~ Midoriya is one of them"
The silence was cutting her soul, but not as much as the sobs that came after.
"... No… no, why? Why is this ~hic~ why is this happening again? My baby boy... ~sob~ Why it has to be my Izuku all the time?"
Nemuri didn't know what to say to comfort the woman so she had to listen to the hopeless cry of a mother worried to death. She would hug the short woman right now if she could to at least do something for her.
"Midoriya-san, I… I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, I… he was almost at my reach. If it wasn't for me, then-"
"No, no, please don't blame yourself ~sob~ I'm sure he wouldn't want that. You did ~hic~ you did what you could, I know it. It's just… ~sob~ this is part of his life now, the danger and the risk ~sob~ but I know he's going to be alright"
"How can you be so sure?"
"~sob~ Call it my mother instinct. I feel that he's going to return. My fear is that he might break another limb, ah haha ~hic~" She had to make a joke and laugh a bit, otherwise, Inko would turn into a sea of tears. Nemuri was once again impressed.
"I- we'll bring him back completely fine, we'll rescue everyone, I pro-"
"With all due respect, Midnight-san, we should only make promises that we can accomplish. ~sob~ I know you're doing your best but…"
"... No, you're right. Once again I must ask you to trust in my word. I will definitely bring him back, we just need to-"
Suddenly the door busted open and the room was invaded by Yu and Rumi. They looked somehow euphoric.
"Nemuri, we found them!" Shouted the blonde. Midnight widened her eyes in surprise and she quickly became filled with determination.
"Did you hear that, Midoriya-san?"
"Yes, loud and clear"
"~deep breath~ I'll bring him back, safe and sound. No matter what it takes"
"~sob~ I'll be waiting" There was this mix of hope and worry in the mother's voice, completely comprehensible given the circumstances. Her precious child had endured more challenges and death threats than some pro heroes already.
Ending the call, Midnight followed the two to the monitors. In one of the large displays, a satellite image followed an object moving at high speeds on a highway. It appeared only now because of the lights. Another display showed a traffic video feed, revealing that the mysterious object was, in fact, a person, using a very familiar white armor and with exhausts on the calves.
"Iida?" The teacher instantly recognized the hero costume of the Iida family.
"At this pace, he will reach the next city in half an hour. We have to be there to meet him so we can know where they went to"
"Assuming they all ended in the same place that is" Midnight didn't like to be pessimist, even less now, but this was almost a bet.
"Come on you two, we have a lead. Better follow it than sit here and wait for their exact location to fall on our laps" Rumi said as she already pushed the two pro heroes out of the monitoring room. She didn't let it show but she was also eager to find these kids, especially the emerald boy.
Back to the plant, the group of students got their path blocked by a dangerous obstacle, a villain that Midoriya already faced, Muscular. Honestly, last time didn't exactly end well for the green haired teen, with his victory being almost completely due to luck. The tall man was careless and he didn't know the length of the power Midoriya had within him, but now it was different. He was very aware of Midoriya's strength and he didn't seem to be underestimating him.
"Hahahaha, turns out getting late for the big warp was the best I could do. I was thinking of how many kids I would need to kill before finding you, but you came to me instead. Talk about luck" Muscular said nonchalantly as he stretched his arms and rolled his shoulders, cracking his neck and knuckles. A wide menacing grin crept into his face.
On the other side, Midoriya took many steps back, telling his friends to do the same. Just when he thought things would get better.
"Stay back, everyone. This villain… he's really dangerous"
"How do we get past him?" Sero asked with a hint of worry in his voice.
"We can't. No matter how fast we run he'll quickly catch up and it will be over for us… he has to be stalled here-"
"Stop right there, I know what you're thinking. You can't fight that guy alone, Midoriya" Kodai said, unconsciously hugging him tighter.
"We don't have time to discuss this. The villain army will reach us soon"
"Then you go ahead with them, I can handle this guy" Hado said, already taking a step forward, but she felt a hand holding on hers.
"Senpai, your Quirk is better to fight crowds and Tokoyami is not on the best shape. They'll go after Himiko… it has to be me"
"But Midoriya-san, your fingers…" Komori pointed to one of his hands, the one without the Air Force glove. He didn't complain until now but his fingers must be hurting as he used 100% of One for All.
"I can handle that, Komori-san. You all have to leave now and go as far as you can from here. I'll catch up"
"No, no, no, thousand times no! I won't leave you behind, Deku-kun" Uraraka held tight on his arm.
"We're not leaving either, Izuku"
"Ribbit, don't think for a second we'll let you do this stupidity"
Ashido and Tsuyu also held on him, almost knocking Kodai down. Midoriya gently got free of their hold and put Kodai on Uraraka's hands.
"It's me who he wants. I don't pretend to fight to the death, just buy us enough time. The more we get, the better are our chances of getting help" He said, taking steps towards the obstacle blocking their way out.
"Don't get me wrong kid, Shigaraki put a good bounty on the blonde's head, but crushing the fucker that put me on the prison? That's priceless"
"You can try if you want" Midoriya said, taking his fight stance, lightning crackling from his body as he activated One for All.
"No… no, no, no, Deku-kun-"
"Let's go already, Ochako-chan" Uraraka was cut by Himiko. Everyone looked at the blonde and their eyes widened in shock as she didn't even try to hide the tears flowing from her eyes. "He's buying us time so let's not waste it by not dying or being captured"
Anger immediately filled the brunette.
"If it wasn't for you!-"
"Ochako" Midoriya called her, his eyes not leaving his opponent. "Guys, go already. I promised, didn't I?"
His words made all the girls remember of his promise to save everyone here, including himself and Himiko. Reluctantly, the group began to move, quickly passing by the villain as he kept grinning and glaring at Midoriya.
"Ochako, are really going to-"
"Let's go, Mina, Tsuyu. ~sigh~ Just trust in him"
As they passed by him, Muscular laughed again, flexing his hands open and closed into fists.
"Are you done saying goodbye to your friends, brat?"
"It's just a 'see you soon'"
"Hah! Don't count on that. Dead men don't speak!"
He raised his fists and the muscular fibers of his arms and torso expanded and overlapped, increasing his size. The growth was such that some even snapped but the villain didn't show a single hint of pain.
"I had been waiting for the time I'll beat you into the afterlife!" Muscular shouted as he jumped forward, aiming a fist at Midoriya.
"Then you'll keep waiting!" Midoriya evaded the ground shattering blow with a side roll, quickly jumping at the villain to strike with a punch. He doubted Air Force would do any damage and Muscular didn't know about Shoot Style. Midoriya would seek for a breach to deal a surprise attack. His fist didn't connect as Muscular sidestepped, swinging his arm around to hit Midoriya on the backs and sending him flying. Thanks to his reflexes Midoriya managed to dissipate some of the strength, skidding to a halt a few meters away.
The villain dashed after him again, both arms raised to crush anything that happened to be under them. Midoriya dodged again as another crater was formed by the insanely strong villain. His attacks were wide and had a lot of openings but the sheer force of it turned any counter-attack a high-risk move to Midoriya. He wasn't even sure it 8% would be enough to phase him, then again he was only buying time for his friends. He didn't have to win this fight.
"Come on, brat! Show me that punch again!" Muscular taunted as he constantly slammed his fists on the floor, missing the green teen by inches. "Fight back, you fucker! I'll kill you and then maybe I'll go after your little friends. You know, just for the fun of it!" He faked a punch and predicted where Midoriya would jump to, striking him while in the air. Luckily, Midoriya at least held his guard up but the punch sent him flying again and he crashed into a wall. The air left his lungs for a minute moment but he quickly recovered and began to run around his opponent.
"I have to keep moving. Damn it, he won't stop until he sees me dead. Even if I run away, he'll keep coming after me. Guys…" "I need to stop him right here"
Midoriya halted and held his fight stance again, arcs of energy leaping from his body.
"Oho? Tired of running, brat?"
"I won't let you hurt anyone!"
Midoriya waited for Muscular to make his move and as he expected it was a straight forward dash to punch him. The guy was ridiculously strong, he didn't feel the need to be very tactical or deceiving. Once he landed a solid hit it was over, simple like that. Midoriya had to use this against him.
"Let's hope Kendo's lessons have some effect on him"
Instead of simply jumping away, this time Midoriya got around Muscular and hit his stretched arm that just shattered the floor. The villain didn't even budge, instead bringing his other arm back to hit the green teen. Midoriya repeated the evasion, this time hitting under Muscular's arm, but he swung it again, almost hitting Midoriya.
"Is that all you got, brat?! What?! Afraid of breaking a bone or thirty?!"
Yes, Midoriya was worried about it, not because of the bone breaking itself, but because that way he wouldn't be able to help his friends so yeah, no overdoing it this time. It didn't help either that one of his hands was practically unable to properly hit the villain. Broken fingers and all, but he didn't have time to think about the pain.
Muscular came after Midoriya swinging his fists like a mad man, not really aiming at the teen. Unlike the normal RPG archetype of a strong and slow enemy, his attacks were as fast as they were strong, which turned things even harder for Midoriya. In order for his plan to work, he had to stay at close range, but being near this villain was almost suicide. Punch after punch, Midoriya evaded his attacks by inches, hitting his arms whenever he could. Midoriya dragged the fight to the edge of the roof they were, then ducked under a fist and jumped back, landing on the rails, then leaping over Muscular to land a kick on the back of his head. That sent the towering villain out of balance and he almost fell to the shallow river bed beneath. The rails bent under his weight and strength. Infuriated, Muscular simply spun on his heels, tearing the rails from the concrete and spinning it around to hit the green teen. He barely missed.
"Are you fucking kidding me?! Make me fall must be the worst plan ever! Do you really think that little fall will stop me, you shitty brat?!"
Midoriya didn't answer back, he had to stay focused. So far he didn't see any changes but he decided to trust in Kendo. This time Midoriya went to the offensive, ducking under a powerful blow and hitting under the armpit and jumping away. Another dash forward and he jumped over Muscular's attack, landing a kick on his biceps and again taking distance. The tactic seemed to only anger the villain as he didn't show any signs of stopping.
"Weak. Too weak! Are you even trying?!" His muscle fibers expanded again and Muscular dashed forward, much faster than before. Midoriya barely had time to react and jump to the side, getting hit by a body slam and sent flying to the side.
"Where's that punch, huh?! The one that buried me into a rock! Try it again so I can strike harder!"
"It that really what he wants?!" This was really a rematch for the villain, but Midoriya really didn't have time for this.
He got up and into his fight stance, except that this time his body seemed under great tension. He grit his teeth as the energy coursed through his body up to 20% of One for All. He felt the strain on every muscle of his body and his bones felt like on the verge of shattering. This would be a one-shot and risky move, but he was really short on options.
"Focus… find the opening and…"
Midoriya dashed forward. Muscular brought a fist back, ready to counter the incoming punch. The annoying kid decided to finally us all his power, he could see that in his eyes. It was just like in the forest, to except that this time he would make sure to break every bone within the teen's body. Midoriya approached quickly.
"Detroit…"
"Come on, shitty brat!"
It happened in less than five seconds, but to Midoriya it felt like an hour. Focused and with adrenaline pumping through his veins, the world slowed down around him, almost like time has stopped. He saw Muscular's fist coming to hit him with full force, the weight shift on his legs to further increase the strength of the punch. It was now or never.
Midoriya never planned to measure his strength against the villain. You see, the good and bad point in shouting your attack is that the opponent kinda knows what to expect, or at least he thinks he knows. Midoriya jumped on the last second, leaning his left hand on the huge arm and spinning his body around, connecting a powerful kick on the side of the villain's head.
"St. Louis SMASH!"
The roundhouse kick with One for All at 20% sent the hulking villain backward, not flying, but tripping back uncontrollably. Midoriya watched as Muscular almost fell over the edge but he stabilized himself on the last second, getting straight up and glaring at the green haired teen while spitting some blood to the side. The glare furious glare was joined by a psychotic grin as Muscular laughed maniacally.
"Hahahahaha! That's what I'm talking about! But…" He crouched and aimed at Midoriya, who was still recovering from the strain on his body. "Just only that won't be enough!"
Muscular broke the floor as he dashed after Midoriya, who barely had time to react and avoid the incoming human missile. Muscular crashed into a wall while Midoriya landed with a roll and turned around, only to see the villain already closing up to him. This punch Midoriya didn't manage to evade, barely blocking it with his hands. Unlike Muscular, the teen flew across the rooftop and crashed into the remaining rails, not falling over by sheer luck.
Midoriya felt his whole body aching and his head was spinning. It was hard to focus on the five Musculars fading into each other. The villain slowly approached as he tried to get on his feet, only to have a huge hand grabbing his head like a ball and lifting him. Midoriya tried to pry himself from the painful grasp to no avail.
"That kick was something, but that must be the best you can do. Hah! Call it a lucky shot or whatever, it doesn't matter how I lost the last fight. You are dead, anyway"
The pressure on his skull increased slowly and Midoriya growled in pain. Muscular could easily end this but he was taking his time, laughing like a maniac. It was that typical moment in a fight where the bad guy clearly has the upper hand and the result is a clear loss for the good guy, but something must be said about these moments. Heroes are pretty scary when they fight desperately. Even the greatest villain acknowledged that.
So in a desperate move, Midoriya put one finger behind his thumb and flicked. Delaware Smash at 100%, aimed at the floor where Muscular stood. The wind blow shattered it and the villain fell over the edge of the rooftop, still holding the emerald boy. The moment he felt the grasp on his head loosen a bit, Midoriya activated Full Cowl again and kicked under Muscular's arm with all the strength he had. At last the technique Kendo taught him showed value as he hit a nerve and the villain's arm simply went numb.
"- the fuck?!"
Muscular reached with his other arm but Midoriya was quicker and also unutilized it with a powerful punch. The only problem was that they were still falling, or maybe not. He grabbed the villain and spun him around so Muscular would hit the ground first.
"You said that fall wouldn't hurt you? Let's put that to test!"
On the last second, the green teen jump/kicked from Muscular to slow himself at least a little. While Midoriya managed to step on a wall and land with minor damage, Muscular crashed like a meteor, making a small crater and lifting a cloud of dust. The green haired teen watched the cloud of dust set and after a minute of the guy not getting up, he let his body slide down on the wall, sighing in tiredness and relief.
"I bet it's harder to land without your arms. Luckily he will stay there long enough for us to leave -ouch! Iida-kun, I'm sure you're going as fast as you can but can't you go a little faster?" Midoriya spoke to himself while he got up. He was still feeling the strain on muscles from Full Cowl 20%, but at least he could move and except for the third broken finger, his bones were intact. Apparently, it also pumped some adrenaline into his system so using One for All helped to ignore his aching everything.
"Alright, now I have to reach the others and-"
"Why the hurry, you just fell here"
Midoriya froze when he head that voice. He turned around immediately bringing his fists up.
"Shigaraki Tomura"
The man with many severed hands stood a few meters away from him with his own shoved into his pockets. He scratched his neck before speaking again, sounding slightly amused.
"Well played, I have to say. Your party is taking distance from my army and you got to stop Muscular again. Very impressive, hero. But you won't go any further. Game over"
Midoriya was on high alert. If Shigaraki was so sure of his victory he must have a hidden trick or something. He came by himself against a combat type enemy and giving up on the element of surprise, which made the hero in training more nervous.
"Stay calm, Izuku. Fighting is not the only option, I can still outrun him easily. But… coming after me all alone. Something's not right here-"
"~sigh~ Guess I'll end this quickly" Shigaraki took out a small radio from his pocket. "Kurogiri, summon special unit" And so a warp gate opened and from it came a black Noumu. This one was very lanky, the hands were wide and the fingers awfully long. The creature leaned on its hands for support as his skeletal body didn't seem fit to sustain its own weight, so the backs were arched and the extra long arms helped it stand up. As usual, the brain was exposed, thought this one had a glass-like dome over it. The mouth was apparently sewed closed and it had an iron eyeshield attached to the face. Noumu ugly as always. But something in the creature stirred more nervousness into Midoriya.
"This Noumu… it doesn't even look menacing at all, it's barely standing up. Why would he bring something like that against me? They mix powerful combat Quirks to create these things"
"You must be wondering. Why bring such a pathetic looking unit to the field? Well, this Noumu here is one of those special monsters from my deck that have very special attributes. It might have low stats but it compensates with hax. Now, Noumu, erase that project of a hero" Shigaraki said in a half-bored tone, pointing to the green haired teen who got ready to evade when needed. It couldn't be that hard, right?
Wrong.
Instead of jumping or running after him or any other type of physical attack, the creature started to sniff the air like a dog, moving its head around clearly not seeing a thing, until it picked up something, rather someone. It focused at Midoriya's general direction, then it growled a little and the metal eyeshield opened in the half, revealing metallic eyelids that also slid open. Its eyes focused on his figure in a creepy way before it let out a high pitched screech. Some sparks coursed through the brain and it's eyes began to glow purple.
"That won't end well!"
The black Noumu shot a purple laser beam from its eyes, missing Midoriya by inches. It is left a deep circular hole where the beam hit.
"What was that?!" Midoriya shouted as he looked at the firepower the creature possessed.
"Let's see, heat vision and a disintegration Quirk similar to mine, but with the eyes. Heightened hearing and sense of smell. Two energy accumulators to keep it running. Oh, it also has that Search Quirk to find weaknesses. Once it sets a target there's no running away"
The mutant charged up again and shot another purple beam, leaving a deep line on the ground where Midoriya stood a second ago. Two things worried him the most. One, this beam was completely annihilating any matter it touched. One mistake and it was game over for him. Second…
"Search? Don't tell me-" "That Search Quirk! It's Ragdoll's Quirk, isn't it?!"
"What are you talking about? It belongs to this Noumu now, and it is one of my units"
"You bastard…" Midoriya felt completely infuriated getting to know what they did with Ragdoll's power but even though he wanted, and he wanted really bad, to turn that black atrocity into a pile of trash, he couldn't risk getting caught, or worse.
"Just do the same again. Immobilize and run away, but I swear this won't be over yet"
Rewinding a little, the rest of the students kept running. They didn't look back because they wanted to trust Midoriya and his promise. He said everyone would get away safely, and he was giving his all to keep his word so they had to at least avoid being captured. They got out of the rooftop and ran through a hallway to what they expected to be the exit.
"Finally! The exit!" Sero pointed to the simple gate separating them from safety, but as if someone had jinxed it, a swirl of dark purple mist appeared and the Vanguard Squad came out of it. Along with them, other warp gates opened around them and the villain army surrounded the teens.
"Damn it, the exit is right there!" Ashido said, getting ready to fight her way out.
"They really won't let us go that easy" Tokoyami said.
"What are we gonna do?! No one here is good enough in combat and they're so many! Aahh, I don't wanna die here-" Mineta was cut by Tsuyu, who slapped him with her tongue.
"Now is not the time to lose it, Mineta"
"Then what is your plan?! Fight them all until we get exhausted?!"
"No, that won't be necessary" The group looked at their senpai. Hado scanned the surroundings with her eyes, guessing the numbers.
"Hado-senpai, you're not thinking of-"
"Komori-san, if anyone gets near, use your spores to slow them down. Ashido-san, you help her with your acid" Hado cut the brunette. "I'll open a way for you and hold them here until Midoriya arrives"
"Senpai, that's crazy! Even you can't fight them alone" Kodai argued.
"We're short on options. That's the reason why Midoriya stayed back and I went ahead"
She didn't show it but Hado was feeling tired. She had been using her Quirk for an extended period since the training with both classes started. Her body felt heavier and slower with each shockwave she sent, but she wasn't going to let this stop her. Hado braced herself to fight. But then a loud noise sounded from the distance, the noise of something cracking. It got the attention of everyone so Himiko took the chance to get near the dry river bed to see what was happening, and she didn't like what she saw.
Back to Midoriya, he was having a bad time avoiding the instant death ray from the black Noumu. For a fragile looking being it was pretty agile to follow his movements, which was a huge problem. Midoriya also couldn't get near Shigaraki since it would double the chances of being disintegrated. The pale young man simply watched as the mutant at his command practiced its aim with the emerald boy as the target. And to make things worse, Midoriya heard some grunting coming from the crater nearby.
"Come on, not now!"
Muscular got up shaking his head and tripping a bit, but as soon as Midoriya entered his vision field, all disorientation was gone.
"You fucking piece of shit…" But before he could say or do anything else he had to avoid the purple beam that almost severed his right leg off, leaving a trench on the ground. "the fuck?! This fight is mine, asshole!" He shouted to the leader of the League.
"Don't give me that bullshit, you were sleeping until now. Why did I even bother to get you out of prison…?"
And while the two villains began to argue, Midoriya evaded more disintegration rays that were getting way to close for his liking.
"I have to at least prevent it from looking at me. If I get close fast enough…"
Midoriya waited for the moment the Noumu would charge and dashed forward, quickly getting close to it. He ducked to evade a shot but still didn't hit the black mutant because Muscular hit him first.
"Out of the way, freak show! This kid is dead and I'm the one making his grave" Muscular shoved the Noumu and cracked his knuckles, ready to beat the life out of Midoriya, but then he felt something hold his shoulder. Looking at it he found a wide hand with long fingers. The Noumu was holding him back.
"You had your chance. Now step aside and let it do the job you can't" Shigaraki said, a hint of smugness on his voice.
Midoriya barely recovered from the punch and he had to jump from the death ray that would hit him if the direction wasn't changed on the last second. Muscular pushed the lean creature when it fired.
"I said OUT OF THE WAY"
And so the villain ran to hit Midoriya again, who now had to dodge extremely powerful punches and disintegration beams at the same time, all that while worrying about the safety of his friends.
"Great. Now they're fighting about who gets to kill me"
This was dragging for too long. At this pace, the army of villains would reach his friends. They didn't know where they were or if there was help on the way. Even if they escaped the plant, it could take days to find a place with communication, all that having the League hot on their heels. Damn it, what if there was someone else here and they didn't meet? Kodai was still hurt, what if they encountered more enemies? And Hado-senpai had been using her Quirk nonstop for a long time, she was probably exhausted by now.
"Shit, there's just too much to worry about. I can't spend a single minute more in here. Think, Izuku, think! You can't match them in strength or firepower, not without bones breaking. I'm faster but only enough to avoid the danger. How to counter-attack…? How can I counter a disintegration ray?! Wait, I can't. And neither can he!"
Okay, new plan. Midoriya began to run around, dragging the attention of the Noumu while evading Muscular's ground shattering punches. The guy was getting angrier by the minute, which was equally good and dangerous for the emerald boy. The entirety of the next move would be extremely risky and he had no margin for errors. No second tries.
"Okay, this thing needs to charge before firing the beam, and the eyeshield keeps closed until then. Then maybe it won't charge again if it doesn't close the eyes. I just need to move at the exact time"
Midoriya ran towards the black Noumu with Muscular right after him. In a straight line and being so close, it would be very difficult to dodge the death ray, but he was counting on it. The green teen ran as fast as Full Cowl allowed him, watching the Noumu charge the beam again. Sparks crossed the exposed brain and the eyeshield opened to show glowing purple eyes.
"Damn it, this is going to be a close call!"
He was right in front of the Noumu, the tall black thing looking down at him ready to erase his body from this plane. Then, Midoriya ducked to get the impulse and made a flip over the creature, holding its head with both hands. Muscular was right after him, one arm drew back to deliver a powerful blow. He didn't react as quick as Midoriya. Muscular punched the black Noumu right in the face a second before it fired the beam. The result was catastrophic for both parts, Muscular losing almost his entire left arm and the Noumu having his skull shattered. Midoriya landed with a roll and immediately took some distance.
"Did it work?" He asked himself.
The answer seemed pretty clear. Muscular was screaming at the top of his lungs, one hand holding at what was left of his arm. The death ray made an incredibly clean cut, cauterizing at the same time it erased the member. The Noumu hit the floor backward and it trashed around, screeching and covering what once was its face with the wide hands. As for the leader of the League, Shigaraki watched it all speechless.
"No way… it must be cheating! My unit clearly had the advantage here!" He scratched his neck furiously. "That stupid ogre fucked up my S rank unit. It was a pain in the ass to get it"
The scratching stopped and Shigaraki let out a very long sigh.
"For fuck's sake, do I have to do everything around here?" The pale man said as he flexed his hands.
Midoriya knew about his Quirk. Once he touched something with his five fingers it would erode and decay, so close combat was the worst scenario.
Shigaraki took a few steps towards Midoriya but suddenly he was sent flying to the side. Muscular simply swatted him away, grunting in pain and breathing heavily. He took heavy footsteps towards the green haired teen, fueled by the sheer power of his anger.
"Kill… kill… I'll… I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!"
On what could be the very definition of rage attack, Muscular jumped at Midoriya, the muscles fibers of his arm and torso overlapping each other much more than the normal. He didn't hit Midoriya but the crater he left on the ground was absolutely terrifying. The villain jumped again to slam his fist on the ground, once again creating a huge crater and lifting a cloud of dust. Each attack and each move came with a furious roar of anger mixed with shouts of pain, and he didn't show any signs of stopping, which again meant problems for Midoriya. There was absolutely no way he would bring this guy anywhere near his friends, but he couldn't stay here any longer.
While he evaded another dangerous blow from the villain, another anguished scream hit his ears. Midoriya had a few seconds to look at the source of noise and get out of the way of the purple death beam, as it tore the floor. The black Noumu was standing again but looked even more fragile than before. It shielded its face once the death ray faded, but it sniffed the air and turned to Midoriya's direction. Shigaraki did say that it had a heightened sense of smell but Midoriya didn't expect the creature to keep following him after his master going down. More bad news, he probably had a target locked on him and the thing wouldn't stop until he was erased from this world. Repeating the last stunt would be too risky, even more now that Muscular went berserk.
"What am I going to do?! I have to get out, but with these two after me-!"
If it wasn't for his improved reflexes Midoriya would have lost his head. The Noumu dashed forward at surprisingly high speeds for its body and instantly shot a death beam at the green haired teen. This damn thing had even more Quirks implanted on it. Midoriya ducked and immediately jumped away to avoid Muscular, who kept slamming the ground furiously. Then, the green teen heard a loud crack. His eyes quickly looked up and went wide. One more problem, there was a huge trench on the plant's dam and cracks were spreading from it.
"Great. Now what?"
Midoriya was simply lost now. Should he worry about the disintegration ray Noumu first or the guy who wanted to turn him into mush more dangerous? Well, clearly the most dangerous thing here was the chance of the dam breaking but would those two monsters ever let him run away? Apparently not because he had to keep running around to avoid being erased/crushed. And let's not forget the army after his friends and their unknown current position.
"Shit! How do I escape this?! … what would All Might do in a situation like this- no, no, I have to think! I can't base myself on All Might. Think, Izuku, what are you not seeing?"
Something that he didn't notice yet, some small detail that could turn the tide to his favor. A little breach that would lead him to win over this extremely strong guy and the mutant creature and escape the flood that was about to happen.
"There's nothing so convenient! Damn it!"
Multitasking and thinking of many things while doing important activities, like keeping yourself alive, can be very difficult and sometimes we mess up. Well, Midoriya messed up, tripping on his own feet while avoiding another death beam, a common mistake that often happens. Even the way he fell was pretty common. The problem was, in this specific situation there was no room for errors. Midoriya knew about this, which was why he felt it was the end when he looked up. Time slowed down. Muscular jumped and was coming down to end his life, and for a second he thought it would be over for him, but something inside him lit like a flame, increasing in size and power quickly. He couldn't simply die here, he would not. He promised he would see his girls again, he promised he would save everyone, even himself. Funny how sometimes the mind wanders to unexpected places in the most improbable times.
"Kodai-san… reminds me a little of Momo…"
After that second that felt like hours, Midoriya felt the energy of One for All coursing through his body, accumulating on his arm. He would need every drop of power he had within him to survive this, though unscathed wasn't an option anymore. With his life on the line, perhaps he should also call this United States of Smash, single punch with all the power he inherited. Midoriya clenched his fist, arm ready to release all the power, but he never got to use it.
At the very last second, something pulled him from the place he was. The impact of the villain crashing like a meteor sent Midoriya flying a few meters along with debris and dust. He coughed a bit, still confused. One moment he was facing certain death and now he was, well, facing less certain death.
"What the hell was th-"
A hug.
"Izuku!"
A pair of arms wrapped around his torso tightly, making him wince a little due to his aching body. That voice, he knew that voice too well.
"H-Himiko?! What the actual fuck are you doing here?!" He shouted, confused about whether he felt angry, worried or even happy to see the blonde here, hugging him above all things.
"I felt you were in trouble, and I was right. Didn't you say you wouldn't-"
"The situation changed. But why are you here? You're the main target- wait, and the others?!"
"I don't know, I saw the dam damaged and I came here. Did you do that?!"
"Of course I- watch out!" He held her and jumped to the side, just in time to dodge the death beam. "Shigaraki brought a dangerous Noumu"
"How much danger?"
"Disintegration vision"
"Okay, this sounds bad"
"And how do I beat this thing?"
"How should I know?!"
"Didn't he told you guys he had that?!" Midoriya said, pointing to the black creature, charging up again. Meanwhile, Muscular came to attack again, so Midoriya held Himiko on his arms and ran again.
"Look, Shigaraki always kept his 'special units' a secret, and why are not running away?"
"These two are set to kill me. If I simply run away I'll lead them to the others"
"Then why not go for the Noumu. The thing is so lanky it'll break in one punch"
"It already took Muscular's punch to the face, and it is faster than it looks. Besides, it has Ragdoll's Search Quirk. He can track my movements"
"Wait, that's why Muscular lost an arm?!"
"Yes, what else could it be?!"
"... I have a plan!"
"You what?"
"Trust me, it'll work, but we have to be quick"
"Yeah, right. Like I would agree with something coming from your mind-"
"Though I love it, now it's not the time to be a tsundere, Izuku"
"I'm not- ah, damn it all, what's the big idea?"
"First you need to unlock my collar"
"What?! I can't-"
"I can't fight with it locked, can I?"
Midoriya hesitated a little but the raging pile of muscles after them was more than enough to convince him.
"Tsk! Voice command, Midoriya Izuku. Restriction Zero" The inhibitor collar on Himiko's neck blinked twice. "Now what?"
"We have to get close to the Noumu and bring Muscular with us"
"I get where you're going and it didn't do much when I tried"
"Trust me, it will now. One more thing… you have to let me bite you" If it wasn't for the situation Midoriya would have stopped on his tracks.
"No. No, absolutely not"
"Izuku, you have to trust-"
"No! Damn it! Say that again and I'll punch you myself!"
Even in this extreme condition, the blonde somehow got to stir these feelings within him. Anxiety, wariness… fear.
"Just this time, Izuku. Believe in me" She said, golden eyes staring right into his emerald green ones.
During all this time Midoriya avoided things like this. Getting too close or completely alone with Himiko, looking at her in the eyes. It would often cause some flashbacks and he would be back at the room for brief moments. But wasn't this the reason why he let her stay? To overcome this? He had to look at her without freezing, and perhaps believe in what she had been saying. Not about the plan she had, but about changing herself. So it was a double effort, believe that she couldn't hurt him and that she wouldn't. Dire choices made at dire moments.
"~deep breath in~ Okay, what's next?" He didn't sound a single bit enthusiastic with this but Himiko had a wide grin crossing her lips nonetheless.
"Let's get close. You said the Noumu has a Quirk to keep track of you, right? Lucky for us the Support Course gave me some boring but useful toys"
Midoriya then ran close to the Noumu, with Muscular still after them. Just how long was his adrenaline surge? The creature changed up but before it could fire Himiko threw a black ball on the floor, a smokescreen grenade. The white dense smoke completely enveloped them. The black mutant stared at it for a while, then a figured busted out of it in a rush. Midoriya ran around to get behind the thing, all by himself, but again the lanky creature was faster than it should possibly be. The death ray came way too close to him. Did he get too tired?
Though he evaded disintegration with a very lucky roll, Midoriya ended in the grasp of Muscular again. The hulking villain panted heavily and honestly he didn't look fully conscious. Holding the green teen by the neck, it would be like snapping a twig. Near them, the black Noumu was charging up again but Muscular didn't care. This kill was his, even if he died right after.
"You are… dead..." He said between grunts.
"Sorry, protein boy, I really can't die here" Muscular watched in confusion as Midoriya's smug grin gained fangs and his face melted, green looks turning blonde straight strands and emerald eyes becoming cat-like and golden. Himiko reached for the inhibitor collar at her belt and threw it at the villain's neck. The thing closed and blinked two times before it started buzzing. "I bet you pissed off Aizawa-sensei. Zap!"
Twisting her body, Himiko wrapped her legs around his arm and used all the strength she had to bend it and get free of his grasp. Before Muscular could react, the collar released an extremely high voltage discharge. It made his muscles spasm, which allowed Himiko to escape with only a minor shock. As the device electrocuted the villain, the Noumu stood idly looking at Himiko. It didn't understand what it just witnessed, but once she changed her face again the creature reacted and aimed at her.
But before firing it seemed to perk up at something. The mutant tried to turn around as it's heightened hearing picked up footsteps. It got confused. Why there were two targets with the same smell? The answer, the real Midoriya snuck behind the Noumu while Himiko distracted it, aiming at the supposed weak spot this abomination had. The poor victims of the process were lobotomized to make them perfectly obedient soldiers, but doing that also cut most of the brain activity, so if a particular part was damaged, no other cells would assume the tasks, basically an on/off switch. At least that's what Himiko overheard one time, and who knows the reason why Midoriya was actually doing this. He ducked under the Noumu, channeling Full Cowl on his legs and torso.
"New York SMASH!"
The floor cracked as Midoriya shot up, connecting a vertical spin kick with the chin of the black mutant. The second impact of the iron soles increased the damage, causing enough brain trauma on the right spot, near the cerebellum. The creature shot the purple disintegration ray upwards, leaving a straight trench on the ground and on the dam. And just to be sure…
"St. Louis Smash!" The next kick practically broke the glass dome on the Noumu's. Luckily that thing wouldn't recover from severe brain damage any time soon.
Panting and looking around, Midoriya saw that Muscular had finally shut down. He didn't have any idea of how much electricity coursed through his body but it took a solid minute for him to black out. Just what was this guy? Himiko joined him with a sly smile crossing her lips.
"I don't want to say 'I told you', but of course that's a lie. Come on, where's my 'sorry for doubting you, Himiko'?" She taunted playfully.
"Now is NOT the time to joke. But… yeah, you did well"
"That's enough for me, fufufu~"
"Let's get back to the others and-"
Crack! The low sound of concrete breaking cut his words. Midoriya and Himiko turned back and now the biggest of the problems. The dam was about to break. There was some water leaking through the fissures already.
"H-How? It took some damage but it held itself until now"
"Izuku, there!" Himiko pointed to the base of the huge wall and he spotted the leader of the League, his hand planted on the concrete and eroding it. Next to him stood that dark blue haired girl with curly horns. His voice echoed through the wind. It sounded like he was hurt, probably because of the hit he took.
"Well, you sure are a pain in the ass. Taking down my special unit, being alive and even saving Toga Himiko. How selfish can you be? This is to show you, heroes, that you can't win everything"
And after that Midoriya and Himiko watched Shigaraki leave the scene via warp gate while the huge structure eroded. Only one thing to do.
"Run!"
The two teens spun on their heels and darted through the dry river bed. The walls near the plant were too high for Midoriya to climb, and he felt completely drained. The adrenaline surge wasn't effective and his body refused to keep moving at the same pace. He began to fall behind the blonde, who noticed and stopped to go back and help him.
"Come on, Izuku, we have to keep running" She held his arms and dragged him but his legs stopped obeying his brain.
"~gasp~ I can't ~pant~ keep any longer ~pant~" Midoriya felt on his knees and hands. His heart was thumping on his ears and his vision began to scramble. Something within him wasn't right, or at least it was changing. He couldn't feel it at all, the energy of One for All.
Truth be told, he never thought about the consequences of overusing One for All, except for the power output breaking his bones. He didn't think it was even possible. All Might would tell him about such a crucial factor. Then again, it seemed that One for All reacted in a very unique way with him, which would be pretty interesting if it wasn't for the time and place it decided to act up.
Himiko dragged the exhausted green teen as fast as she could. It would be so much easier if it was the other way around. Looked at the margins, trying to find a way out, some ladders, a higher ground, anything to help her get out of here with him. Her eyes turned to the dam at the background every three seconds and she was honestly getting desperate.
"Come on, move. Move, Himiko!"
And the inevitable finally happened. The concrete walls eroded enough so the water pressure broke it, flooding the once dry river bed violently. In a matter of seconds, a huge wave of water and large chunks of the walls were above the teens. Himiko hugged Midoriya as tight as she could and braced for the impact.
The massive influx swallowed them and in the midst of a chaos of water and large debris, Himiko struggled to retain her hold on his body. They were tossed around and hit the floor sometimes, and they couldn't see absolutely anything. The strong flow negated any attempts at swimming to the surface. Their lungs began to ache for air. She held him as close to her as she could. If this was the end she was more than happy to go together with him. But… she really didn't want this. Himiko didn't want to simply die here. She didn't want him to die here too, it was just too silly, not heroic enough for him. But there wasn't much she could do about that, right?
On the verge of consciousness, she felt something wrap around her leg, something sticky. She wasn't sure if Midoriya had blacked out already, but he was just so exhausted.
"I don't want to die here… I don't want to… lose…"
Her vision faded to black for a moment. How much time has passed she didn't know, but suddenly she could breathe and she instinctively tried to sit up, checking if she was still holding a green cinnamon roll of sunshine in her arms. Thank heavens the answer was yes.
"Hey! Guys! Over here!"
Himiko looked to the side and she spotted the boy with the weird elbows at the border of the river, waving his arms.
"Tape-kun?!" Only now Himiko noticed where she was standing, on the palm of a huge rock golem, who stood unshaken by the force of the flood. And on top of the earthy giant stood Pixie Bob, now on her hero costume. She jumped down to the hand and came to the teens she just rescued.
"Can you speak? Did you hit your head or other parts?" Pixie Bob said as she checked Himiko's conditions, the standard procedure. Still a little confused, it took Himiko a moment to react properly, moving the pro hero away.
"I'm fine, check on Izuku. He was completely drained before the flood" Worry filled her voice as she kept holding the green haired teen on her lap.
Pixie Bob then moved the golem and lead them to the border of the river where Sero was, placing them safely on the ground. There, she checked his breathing. Nothing. She began the default procedures, compressing his chest with both hands, checking again, and repeating. Pinch his nose, blow air into his lungs, and repeat. Still nothing.
"Come on, kid. You've made this far, don't give up now" The blonde said as she looked at him, still not getting any response.
The other students came around and once they laid eyes on the scene, panic and fear filled their hearts. Uraraka was the first to try and get to him but Sero held her back.
"Let me go, Sero! He- he's-"
"I know, I know, but we can't panic now! Let her do her job, Uraraka-san"
"Nononono… this ain't happening… not again…" Ashido shrunk into a tiny shaky ball with hands holding her head, whispering to herself that she was seeing things. He wouldn't leave her again. She had to believe it.
Tsu instinctively held on the closest thing, which was Hado's hand. The blunette exchanged a worried look with the frog girl before turning to the scene again. Near them, Yanagi helped Kodai to stand up and both looked shocked, to say the least, Yanagi, in particular, held one hand close to her chest. Komori lost the strength in her legs.
Pixie Bob kept repeating, and repeating, blowing air into his lungs and repeating again the same compressions. Each count to thirty added to her distress, to the point she felt on the verge of crying. Being a pro-hero for some time gave her plenty of experience with this kind of situation but she simply couldn't keep a professional face when kids and young people like him were hurt. And Midoriya in particular, he had such a brilliant future, a whole life ahead of him, so many people that liked him. She couldn't afford to lose him.
. . .
. . .
. . .
"... uh…? Where...? Where am I…? Or where was I?"
There was nothing here, only the pitch black veil of the void, surrounding his body.
"... My body… I can't feel it… why I can't see? I feel my eyes open but… oh no, don't tell I'm blind!"
He looked around, or at least he believed he did. His body moved but it was more like a vague sensation that he was moving.
"That feeling, it is familiar. Where… no, when did I feel this before? It's like my body doesn't belong to me. And this feeling of being a spectator… there's… there's something here. I think I know what it is but-"
"Not something, someone"
Midoriya heard a voice echo from the void. It came from the void and it also came from inside his head, or at least it felt like that.
"Well, you really did it this time, this is the first time someone gets so deep in here"
The void wavered in a way similar to then you throw a pebble on a pond. The pitch black veil lightened up in a point of light that expanded until a defined shape appeared. After a bright flash, his eyes widened up. Good, his vision was completely fine. And in front of him, hands on her hips and a smile crossing her lips, stood the seventh inheritor of One for all, All Might's sensei and predecessor, Shimura Nana. She had her hero costume on, dark sleeveless bodysuit, yellow gloves that reached to her elbows, white knee-high boots, a belt with an angular golden buckle that held a skirt open in the front, and a long white cape buttoned on her shoulders.
She was fairly tall and slender, yet had a voluptuous frame and well-built muscles. Her fair skin contrasted with the dark straight shoulder length hair tied into a spiky bun in the back. A clump of short bangs hung above her forehead while some strands framed her face, adding up to her sharp intelligent gray eyes. The seventh inheritor surely gave off a powerful aura, but also a warm motherly sense of safety. It was very present on her look as she stared at him.
"Seriously, Toshi found an interesting one. It must be pretty confusing to you so I'll present myself, though I guess you already have an idea. I'm Shimura Nana, the seventh inheritor of One for All. Just Nana is fine for me" She said with a warm smile and holding her hand forward.
There was a moment of silence between them.
"Oh, right. You didn't manifest a body. Umm, can you imagine a hand or something? And since you're at it try to imagine your own face, I can only see floating eyes"
The pair of emerald green eyes looked confused at her, then got closed. He must be trying to focus. slowly the shadowy mass that shrouded Midoriya wavered and shifted, taking the form of a human body. His head, neck, and shoulders were completely formed, as were his arms, but the rest of his body remained pitch black.
"There we go. Huh, so this is the face of the boy Toshi chose. Mhmm, you're quite handsome, you know? In a cute way"
"Umm, t-thanks, I guess" Midoriya simply didn't know where to look at, mostly because everything around them was the same endless dark. He awkwardly scratched his head, noticing that Nana was still holding her hand forward, so he reached for it and they shook hands.
"Mi-Midoriya Izuku"
"Nice to meet you, Mimidoriya Izuku"
"N-no, I meant-"
"Pfft, I know, hahaha. Relax a little, you're way too tense" Her smile never left her features.
Indeed, Midoriya felt worried about something. He knew it was important but he couldn't tell what it was.
"Umm… Nana-san, are we inside my mind right now?" He said looking around.
"Interesting question. The answer is yes and no, as far as I can tell"
"What does this mean?"
"Well, I'm not one hundred percent sure but after passing One for All to Toshi I somehow found myself in here. After some time I gained 'consciousness', but I don't know much about how it works"
"I see. So perhaps when One for All is passed down to the next inheritor it creates this medium within the mind of the user and stores all the memories of the previous ones. So this isn't exactly my mind but I can access memories and other things as if they were mine. This would explain the vision from earlier and the shadows I saw at the Sports Festival and-"
"Hey, hey, hey, slow down the info train" Nana said as she looked pretty surprised with his famous mumbling spree.
"Sorry, it's an old habit of mine"
"Yes, I kind of know that"
"You- you do?!"
"Yeah, kind of. I have never seen it but it feels familiar. Guess I can access your memories too, to some degree"
While Nana thought more about it, something came to his mind.
"Ne, Nana-san, do you know why I ended here? I mean, All Might said he never experienced that, so why am I able to have these visions?"
"Hmm, good question. It's just a guess but… perhaps Toshi mastered One for All too fast?"
"Too fast?"
"Yeah. You can call him a genius for controlling One for All completely from the start. It is more than a stockpiling Quirk you can pass to others. One for All is the crystallization of power from all its users. The flame grows as the torch is passed down but it is like an onion, with layers"
"Layers?"
"Yes, layers. Each inheritor adds a new layer to the core. But it seems that we put more than just our strength and power on it. Our resolves, our will, the very essence of who we are is engraved into One for All. In a certain way, it's correct to say we live within One for All. Toshi got to access the full power at once so he didn't have to go through the layers. You, on the other hand, Midoriya, must be the inheritor facing more difficulties to control the power. That means that each time you make progress you go a little further into One for All"
"I see. It can explain why I'm having these visions lately"
"And why you unlocked a Quirk of another inheritor"
"Right! I can access other Quirks too. What is yours, Nana-san?"
"Hehe, I don't want to spoil the surprise~"
"O-oh, okay. Anyway, I never got to 'talk' with someone before. If I remember well I can only see the shadow of All Might, and there was this guy with the cool black jacket"
"You never went so deep within One for All. Mastering the power doesn't only mean using 100%. How you use it is also important"
"You mean Full Cowl?"
"Yes, that. You kind of overdid up there but using it for an extended period allowed you to get closer to the core"
"It does make sense. I forced my limits to- Nana-san, how do I get out?!" Panic filled his voice.
"Get out? It's your head. There's no 'out'"
"Am I sleeping or something?!"
"Perhaps. Let me check something"
"Check? How much of my mind can you access?"
"Until now, nothing. Looks like this development goes for both sides and…" Her words died and worry began to show in her face. She looked around and glanced at Midoriya. She hesitated for a moment.
"Okay, Midoriya, listen to what I'll say but don't. Panic. Okay?" He nodded but she could almost see 'worry' written on his face. "It seems that… you're in a coma. Maybe this is part of the reason why we can interact like this"
"No, no, this is bad. I was… what was I doing before- the girls! We were running from an army of villains, a-and I stayed behind to delay Muscular, then Shigaraki appeared with that black Noumu and-"
"Midoriya, calm down. Panicking won't get you out of this"
"But how do I wake up? I don't know what is happening around me. What if… if they got everyone… because I fell behind, I-"
"Midoriya! Here, focus on me!" Nana cupped his face and made him look in her eyes.
He stood still for a moment, admiring her quite pretty gray eyes. She gave off that crushing aura of power and greatness All Might had and a motherly look that comforted him and made him feel safe. She reminded him a lot of his mother, in many ways.
"I'll take that as a compliment"
"Did you… did you read my thoughts?"
"Guess our connection is that strong. Now, Midoriya, I need you to focus. Think about the girls that were with you, they are your friends, right?"
"Yes"
"Keep them in mind. Now think about the danger they're exposed to. People are counting on you, remember that responsibility" Midoriya closed his eyes and followed every word Nana said to the heart.
"Focus on what is most important to you. Your mother at home probably worried sick about you. You mentor that trusted you with a heavy burden. Everyone that is counting on you. What reasons do you have to live?"
Her last words sounded like an echo, fading away in the distance. Midoriya thought of everything she said, imagining his friends, his mother, his idol and all of his girlfriends while feeling the warmth of her hands on his face. Her voice was like a whisper in the back of his head, pulling him up and out of the sea of darkness. His body began to feel heavy, or maybe it was his own weight. The dark didn't look so dark now and he could hear voices, voices that he recognized. They sounded… sad. Hurt and sorrowful.
"... don't go… please don't go… I can't- we can't lose you. I didn't even ~sob~ I didn't even get to tell you ~sniff~ how I truly feel… please don't leave me… I… I love you, Izuku..."
He couldn't leave. Not yet. Midoriya remembered his promise to save everyone. Until it was fulfilled he didn't have permission to die. Damn it, he had to take care of his mom, he had to take care of so many lovely ladies, he had a mission to accomplish. How would he save people if he died here?
"Not today… I simply can't die today!"
His eyes opened wide and his organs jerked to expel the water. He coughed and took sharp breaths that he struggled to control, increasing the intake of air into his lungs. All around him the spectators were shocked, by a few different reasons. For starts, Midoriya practically came back from the dead. Pixie Bob repeated the CPR procedure more than thirty times and nothing. All her regret and sadness turned into relief once she saw the kid breathing again, just like Ashido and Tsuyu.
Then there was Kodai, Yanagi, and Hado, who got surprised with the touching confession Komori did. They were relieved to see Midoriya would live another day but yeah, shocking revelation.
And finally Sero, who was terrified with the brunette he thought he knew. Uraraka would have literally snapped Himiko's neck and broke every bone in the blonde's body if he didn't wrap her in a cocoon of tape.
Himiko went from the depiction of despair to relief and thankfulness, as she moved past Pixie Bob and tackled Midoriya on the floor, crying on his shoulder and hugging him tightly.
"~hic~ I thought you were gone! ~sob~"
Meanwhile, Uraraka trashed around in the cocoon with a mix of boiling rage and happiness because the love of her life was alive.
"Stay back, you all! Give him space!" The pro hero had to intervene, forcing Himiko away from Midoriya. Seriously, it was a default procedure and they knew it, what were they thinking? Then again, everyone here seemed to have some level of attachment to the emerald boy, so it was understandable. She knew pretty well how hard it could be to suppress a wave of emotions. Pixie Bob lend him a hand, carefully helping him to sit.
"Easy there. Midoriya, do you feel anything weird? Disorientation, sickness… broken bones?"
"~cof~ All bones intact… except for three fingers. I'll live"
"You sure will. Damn it kid, don't scare us like that" She said, putting a hand on his shoulder. Wait up, us?
Midoriya looked around and found his friends, all of them looking at him with eyes that told he was hanging by a very thin thread.
"Guys! What happened? Where's Tokoyami and Mineta, and-"
"Hey, slow down, man. It's almost over now. Iida did it, the pros arrived just in time.
A couple of minutes ago, the group of teens got surrounded by the army of villains, with the Vanguard standing between them and the exit. The damage to the dam drew everyone's attention and Himiko used that to escape and run after Midoriya. Uraraka reacted and went after her but she wasn't fast enough and the villains blocked her path. The enemy engaged and Hado took the front, fending as many of them as she could, but she quickly got overpowered by sheer numbers and due to her already drained stamina. But before the villains had a chance to attack the wind blew and three helicopters flew close to the ground. Some of the bolder thugs were disabled by Snipe while the other heroes dropped and rushed to rescue their students. In the middle of the fight, the dam broke. Sero, who was closer to the river, got a glimpse of the two teens being dragged by the flood and quickly made a tape net to grab them. Sure, the water was too strong for him to hold them alone but he bought enough time for Pixie Bob to arrive at the scene and form a rock golem and rescue them.
While the pro hero took the students to a safe place, the battle was almost over to the villains. One person, in particular, was very caught up in the fight. Midnight wasn't one to engage fully into combat, given the nature of her quirk, but this night she was fighting like she didn't in years. There was a lot of stress and anger she had to vent off, so sorry for the poor souls that came into her way this night. And curiously, another person was pretty active about beating the enemy army, the rabbit hero Miruko, though it was her more competitive side showing up. Seeing Midnight fight with so much energy flared up the tanned woman, and she wanted to see just who were these guys from the League that caused so much trouble. Unfortunately, once the helicopters arrived the Vanguard left and rescuing the students was a priority.
Within an hour the police arrived in great numbers and with many trucks to arrest this huge army. After Cementoss fixed the broken dam the police and heroes formed a group to search down the course of the river, while another group investigated the plant, looking for any leads on the plans or location of the League. And during this time the students that went missing had to report what happened. Hado would answer later as she practically shut down due to exhaustion. It was a long, long night but it was finally over, and just as he promised, Midoriya and everyone would see another sunrise.
End of Chapter
Aaand cut! Whew, three battle action chapters, I can't say I don't like to write those, but that's not the main focus of the story. That said and considering this is a fanfic from a shonen anime, I don't want to make it a 100% smut story with pointless meetings and all. The plot is important! Which is why I struggle to think of how to add the girls to the harem. The idea to try three girls at the same time came from the reviews, and so did Komori's past so keep 'em coming! And as always I accept critics with open arms. Thanks for reading, see you all next time. Number23 leaves *breaking another wall*