Encounter, Part 2
The episode starts at the Police HQ, where everyone is in panic due to losing contact with Endeavor and other heroes who were deployed to Jaku Hospital.
"We are still unable to reach any heroes who went into Jaku Hospital!" a female operator said while trying to establish contact with Endeavor.
"You still don't have any report of the scale of damage?" one of the senior officers asked.
"The effects of Decay centered around Jaku Hospital extend very wide, and the clouds of dust from the crumbling make visual inspection impossible," the male operator said as we witness the monitors in the HQ shutting down due to events happening on the site.
"Calling it bad doesn't even come close to grasping the reality of what's happening at Jaku," Nezu said in a serious voice. "Shigaraki has become a monster in a league of his own, and there are very few heroes who can actually stand up to him on their own."
Going to Gunga Mountain Villa...
"What's going on?" Fatgum asked, seeing a huge pillar of ice in front of him. But then, suddenly, he saw Tokoyami flying towards him while carrying unconscious Hawks in his arms.
"Tsukuyomi! There's a first-aid team on standby with the rear guard! Go!" he said, pointing towards the forest. Tokoyami acknowledged the command and flew into the forest.
Tokoyami sighed in relief as he saw himself successfully rescue Hawks and evacuate from the battle zone.
"Thanks, kid, for saving my sorry ass," Hawks said as he laid back in his seat. "I guess I'll be around to witness the shitfest that this country is going to turn into, no matter who wins this battle," he whispered the second part to himself.
Meanwhile, the rest of the heroes continued fighting MLA soldiers when suddenly a huge pillar of ice sent Cementoss flying back. On top of the ice pillar was Geten, glaring at the heroes below him.
"You provoking government dogs! I won't let you get in Re-Destro's way any longer!" he said and sent another wave of ice at the heroes, which clashed with pillars of cement created by Cementoss, surprising him. Then he noticed Cementoss manipulating cement with his quirk and glared at him.
"It's a good thing that Cementoss-sensei is present at the mountain villa to counter that ice user," Momo said. "Especially since both Endeavor and Todoroki, who could effectively counter him, are at Jaku."
"Then, I'll cover it from the top!" he said and raised pillars of ice above his head, sending them at Cementoss. However, before they could hit him, they were blocked by Mt. Lady, who threw a huge boulder at the ice pillars.
"You, huh?" Mt. Lady said, struggling back to her feet. "That hurt a lot!" she yelled at Geten for making her fall on her butt.
"Yeah, tell that, white-haired, pretty-eyed bastard!" Yu cheered for her on-screen self. "Show him what happens when someone embarrasses us like that."
"Lady, here!" Cementoss said and created a giant bat out of cement.
"Thanks!" Mt. Lady said as she lifted the bat. "I'll turn your brains into ice mush! Take that!" she yelled as she swung the bat and started destroying the ice making a path for the Heroes on the ground.
"Wow, that's a combination I never thought of," Izuku said with starry eyes and a wide grin on his face. "So in theory, she can use this combo with any hero who can create large constructs with their quirks. Also..."
"Should we stop him?" Ochako asked, glancing at Izuku, who was lost in his own world, mumbling to himself.
"No, don't. Let him be..." Momo said with a fond smile on her face.
"But it's annoying..." Bakugo grumbled. "Hey, Dek-"
"Bakugo, I. Said. Let. Him. Be," Momo said with a sweet smile that didn't reach her eyes, making Bakugo fall silent with a shiver down his spine.
"Follow Lady's lead! Catch as many as you can!" a hero said as they ran through the path created by Mt. Lady. But then, one of the heroes noticed Eel Boy with them and asked, "Huh? Didn't you capture Himiko Toga and Compress?"
"Wait a minute! Didn't Toga kill Eel Boy in the last episode?" Kendo asked.
"That means..." Ochako mumbled, fearing the worst. And in the very next scene, her fears came true.
Only for Eel Boy to pull out a knife and stab him. Then, 'Eel Boy' began slicing up all the heroes in their path.
Everyone stared at the screen with wide eyes, and someone mumbled, "What is going on?"
"That's Himiko Toga's quirk, Transformation, which allows her to transform into a lookalike of the person whose blood she ingests," Aizawa informed those who were not aware of Toga's abilities. "We learned about this when she kidnapped Camie Utsushimi, a second-year student from Shiketsu High School, and took her place in the License Exam by impersonating her."
'Wait! That means the girl who attacked me that day wasn't Utsushimi but...' Izuku thought with wide eyes.
At this same time, Mr. Compress was watching from the railings above. "Aw, man... This is such a mess..." he said as Dabi appeared behind him.
"You're not going to run?" Dabi asked as he walked next to him.
"You're a lieutenant! Where have you been?" Compress asked.
"You are, too, aren't you?" Dabi retorted. "This playing at the military thing isn't really working anymore. Where are the others?"
"Twice was killed... probably," Compress said, clenching his fist, while Dabi remained silent despite it happening in front of him.
'He didn't tell Compress that I killed Twice? Why?' Hawks thought to himself. 'Dabi, what the hell is going on in that messed-up mind of yours?'
"And then... I tried to stop her, but she went anyway. I can't believe Toga would lose her cool like that," he said as we witnessed Toga, who had disguised herself as Eel Boy, stabbing heroes left and right.
'It's hard to live here... a world that's easy to live in,' Toga thought as she sliced another hero's throat while her disguise started fading off. Noticing this, she climbed on a nearby ice pillar. "A world of only things I like," she said while standing on the ice pillar as the transformation wore off. Meanwhile, the heroes around them noticed the ground all around the Villa beginning to cave in. "You're in the way, heroes," she declared while glaring at them, as a giant hand emerged from behind Himiko.
"She is fucking crazy... and scary," Monoma said, shifting uncomfortably in his seat as he saw Toga's rage-filled eyes.
"Does she really think heroes should allow her to kill whoever she wants without any resistance? 'Ribbit'," Tsu said, narrowing her eyes at the screen. "If that is the case, then she is really out of her mind."
"Aren't all villains like that?" Komori asked. "That's why they enjoy hurting people, right?"
"That seems to be the case, 'ribbit'," Tsu said, nodding her head.
"Machia's moving!" Compress said in a surprised voice.
"He's awake, huh?" Dabi said, a smirk appearing on his face. "Shigaraki."
The scene changed, and we are at the Jaku Hospital crater, where Tomura stood in the middle surrounded by dust and smoke of his own making.
The atmosphere in the audience grew heavy again as Shigaraki appeared on the screen once more.
"Now, until Machia c-," suddenly, a voice begins to throb in his head, repeating 'One for All,' as Izuku's silhouette appears in his mind.
Izuku's body tensed as he saw his silhouette appear in Tomura's mind. Not to mention, all the eyes on him were starting to annoy him as well.
"What was that just now?" Shigaraki said while clutching his head, but before he could ponder on it anymore, he noticed Endeavor flying towards him. 'Oh, man, the number one hero right after I wake up?' he thought, smirking at himself.
Meanwhile, without wasting any time, Endeavor unleashed Hell's Curtain on Shigaraki, engulfing him and the surrounding area in flames. "It's a curtain of scorching hot hellfire! You can't run from it!" he declared.
Yeah... none of them were sure about that anymore. By now, they have seen High-End Nomus survive ridiculous attacks and situations, so they couldn't believe that some high-temperature flames were going to harm Shigaraki.
'This guy... I can't let him go a single step forward,' Endeavor thought, as we see Shigaraki standing in the midst of the fire, looking quite unbothered by it. 'I have to take him out of commission as soon as possible,' Endeavor thought and started charging another attack.
Endeavor nodded in agreement with his on-screen self's assessment. Shigaraki was a threat that needed to be dealt with quickly and effectively, and as the No.1 hero, it was his responsibility to see this through.
But he was shocked when Tomura suddenly jumped out of the fire toward him, forcing him to dodge. 'This isn't a temperature someone with no resistance to heat can move at. He's...' Suddenly, Endeavor noticed burned skin on Shigaraki regenerating itself. '...regenerating right after getting burned! I knew it! He's also-' Endeavor used his fire and spun behind Tomura, managing to blast him onto the ground.
"Everyone, this is Endeavor!" Endeavor said, contacting Burnin and other members of the Evacuation Team. "I'm currently fighting Shigaraki in the remains of the hospital! Anyone who can move without touching the ground should come and encircle it immediately!"
"Well, there aren't many who fit that criteria," Ryukyu said. "Quirks that allow users to fly are not exactly rare, but they aren't that common either."
"Well, just being able to fly won't cut it here; you need to pack a solid punch to be actually useful in the fight," Rumi said.
"Ohh! I can help!" Nejire said excitedly. "I can fly swiftly and pack an equally strong punch as well."
"No," Ryukyu said in a stern voice. "Nejire, you are not going to participate in that battle unless there is no other choice."
"But-" Nejire tried to protest, but Ryukyu's glare shut her up.
As Endeavor was talking on comms, suddenly Shigaraki's hand emerged from the fire, attempting to touch Endeavor. Reacting swiftly, Endeavor grabbed his hand, determined not to let him make contact. "I won't let you touch-" but he was caught off guard as Shigaraki unleashed a powerful blast from his hand, knocking him away with tremendous force.
"Great! Just what we needed! An enemy who can kill us with just a touch of his fingers, has an indestructible body, and now possesses who knows how many quirks in his arsenal," Jiro grumbled in a frustrated voice.
"Honestly, it feels like we chose the wrong year to attend U.A.," Setsuna added. "We can't even go a few months without any life-threatening incident."
"And your class thought we were happy that our class got attacked," Mina retorted.
"Hey! Not everyone in our class thought like that," Setsuna defended herself.
"The Quirks that Master stockpiled... it's like I've had them since I was born. This omnipotence..." Shigaraki said as he got back up on his feet.
"There is no such thing as omnipotence. Those who believed themselves to be omnipotent fell due to their own arrogance," Nezu said while sipping his tea. "His master, All for One, is one such example."
Then he walked back to the machine and recovered the remaining quirk-destroying bullets and a severed hand accessory from a nearby box.
"Shit! I thought X-less destroyed those quirk-destroying bullets," Midnight said with wide eyes.
"I guess not all of them were destroyed," Aizawa clicked his tongue. "And they are definitely going to bite us in the future."
"But why... am I not satisfied?" he said, and immediately the voice in his head reminded him of One for All. 'It was the only power that All For One wanted that didn't go the way he wanted,' Tomura remembered Garaki's words from before his operation. 'Something inside me is urging me on,' Shigaraki thought as Endeavor came rushing towards him.
'And Shigaraki is not going to get his hands on One for All either,' Izuku thought, clenching his fist.
Endeavor launched another attack at Shigaraki, which he blocked by generating a yellowish force field in front of him. 'As expected, he has multiple Quirks. He's like the Nomus?' Endeavor thought as he tried to break through Shigaraki's defense.
"Not like Nomu, but much worse than that," Hawks said. "A sentient weapon of mass destruction, craving chaos."
'I need to get it...' Shigaraki thought and said the next part out loud. "One for All..."
"One for All?" Endeavor, who was close to him, heard and wondered aloud, and his words were overheard on the comms by Burnin, as well as by Izuku who was standing behind her.
"What? What about One For All? Endeavor!" Burnin tried to contact Endeavor while we get progressively closeups of Izuku's fearful eyes.
"Well, at least we can be glad that One for All was revealed in this controlled environment, unlike in the midst of chaos and confusion as shown on the screen," All Might said, trying to find something positive in this bleak situation.
"This also gives us a chance to keep Midoriya safe until he is ready to be on the field," Aizawa said, and several people nodded their heads.
Meanwhile, Izuku glared at the ground while clenching his fists, hating the fact that people had to protect him instead of the other way around.
Meanwhile, at the Pussycats Agency, Ragdoll laments to herself, "It's so frustrating, meow. If I still had Search, I could help the others." The scene then shifts back to Jaku Hospital's remains, where Shigaraki was looking towards the city using Ragdoll's quirk, Search and found a few dots indicating a few presences there. "One for All..." he whispered to himself.
"That's bad..." Kaminari said, voicing everyone's thoughts. "How can Midoriya even hide from Shigaraki if he can track him anywhere he goes?"
"Stop panicking, idiot!" Jiro said, smacking his shoulder. "There must be something we can do, right?" she said and instinctively turned towards Momo.
"Well... we can ask Ragdoll about details of her quirk," Momo suggested. "Let's figure something out once we have those details."
"You all should evacuate with the remaining heroes!" Burnin instructed the students and started flying towards the Jaku Hospital remains with the rest of Endeavor's sidekicks. "Do what the police tell you to do! Get further away!"
Meanwhile, Izuku stood there with a horrified expression on his face, while Shigaraki wore a smile, "One For All is... right there," he said, his eyes holding a rainbow-colored glow, due to using Search.
"Damn it! I am putting everyone in danger!" Izuku thought. "I need to get out of there."
Then, Shigaraki pushed Endeavor back and pinpointed Izuku's location using Search. Then he squatted down and launched himself into the air. Meanwhile, Endeavor kept pursuing him. "Shigaraki is heading toward the evacuation site! Expand the battle area!" Endeavor urgently relayed the information over the comms.
On the other side of the comms, Izuku was listening to Endeavor and immediately realized that Shigaraki was coming after him.
All the eyes in the auditorium were flickering between the screen and Izuku because the reaction on on-screen Izuku's face immediately gave away the fact that he was going to do something idiotic, drastic, or both.
"Give orders for evacuation outside the city, too!" Endeavor said on the comms. As Izuku looked at the crowd of evacuating people, seeing the heroes and civilians desperately trying to get out of the area, he gritted his teeth and ran in the opposite direction from where the evacuation was taking place.
Aizawa sighed and resisted the urge to slam his head on something hard. The worst part was that he couldn't even blame Izuku for his actions because, considering the situation, it was the most logical solution for him to move away from the crowd. But that didn't mean he wasn't concerned over the fact that his student's first instinctual reaction was to put himself in harm's way.
"If you tell people your secret here, the heroes will split up their forces and try to protect you," Bakugo said as he ran along with Izuku. "Just hearing that he's heading this way after 'One For All' isn't much to go on, though! But since heroes try to protect everyone, you only had one choice, right?" Bakugo finished as he and Izuku activated their quirks and started getting away from there.
"I need to prioritize the safety of the civilians!" Izuku said with a determined look in his eyes.
"Anyway, your only choice is to move!" Bakugo replied.
"Unfortunately, these boys are not wrong," Ryukyu said. "Having Midoriya away from everyone is the best course of action for civilians and heroes who are evacuating them."
"But isn't doing that putting him in danger as well?" Mirio asked. "Especially if Shigaraki manages to find him isolated, away from other heroes."
"But what other choice do we have, Mirio senpai," Izuku said with a smile. "One life cannot stand in the way of hundreds of other lives. So if those people can be saved by just gambling on my life alone, then I say it's worth a shot."
Meanwhile, he completely missed the glare that Momo was sending at him.
"Hey, where are you going?" Shoto asked as Ochako, Iida, and Tsu stared at them.
"Oh! I forgot something! We'll be right back!" Izuku replied hurriedly, not stopping his legs.
"You should have told me, Midoriya," Shoto said, sounding a little disappointed in his friend. "I am strong; I could have helped keep you safe as well."
"It's not about how strong you are or if you can protect me or not. I just can't risk your lives when I am already putting everyone in danger just by being near you guys," Izuku defended himself, but Shoto didn't seem to agree with him and kept staring at him with disappointed eyes.
Then we see a shot of Izuku maneuvering through a destroyed city using Blackwhip, and even Bakugo not lagging behind as he too glides through the city using his quirk.
Izuku and Bakugo both stared at the screen with awe in their eyes. The former was excited to see himself using Black Whip so effortlessly and efficiently, while the latter had a proud grin on his face.
Meanwhile, Sero was sulking in his chair because swinging through the city was supposed to be his schtick.
'With that distance and those clouds of dust between us, I can't imagine that he'd be able to see me,' Izuku thought as he maneuvered through the city. But then he suddenly widened his eyes, 'But if he has another way to find me...'
'Hmm... a good train of thought,' Nezu thought to himself. 'He is trying to figure out the worst possible scenario... glad to see that Yagi's successor is at least as intelligent as Yagi was.'
At the Jaku Hospital ruins, Shigaraki, who was heading towards the city, suddenly stopped as he noticed, 'He moved,' he thought, noticing Izuku moving away from the others.
'Wait! There is another person following closely behind Midoriya and Bakugo,' Aizawa noticed another dot in Shigaraki's vision, closely tracking the two boys.
"This is Deku! Excuse me for using a private line," Izuku said as he contacted Endeavor over the comms. "It's possible that Shigaraki is after me! Please stay on the line with me!" he said as he and Bakugo kept luring Shigaraki to an unpopulated area.
"Shigaraki's after you?! What are you talking about?" Endeavor asked as he continued chasing after Shigaraki.
"I'll explain later!" Izuku said. "Since I'm too far away, I won't be able to see Shigaraki because of the dust. If it looks like he's changing course, please let me know!"
"I can't imagine how confused Endeavor must be right now," Hawks said, finding on-screen Endeavor's situation somewhat hilarious. "He's chasing possibly the biggest threat in the world's history, and then suddenly this first-year kid tells him that the same threat is after him and refuses to elaborate. Quite hilarious if you ask me."
'The data left by the previous user...' Shigaraki thought as he kept tracking Izuku. 'They saw him right before the Quirk was stolen.' A smirk appeared on Shigaraki's face. 'Lucky me.'
Suddenly, an alarming thought came to Izuku's mind. 'If Shigaraki or All for One can locate me anytime they want... am I putting everyone in danger just by being here?' he thought as the feeling of guilt started weighing down on his heart. 'Is staying here even a good idea? Should I go somewhere where I don't put everyone in danger? I don't even know what to do anymore.'
Then he tumbled down onto the ground, coming to a sudden halt.
"He's landed!" Endeavor said and attempted to take advantage and attack, only for Tomura to simply change his trajectory. "And changed course! He's moving southwest now!" he said over the comms and continued the pursuit.
"I knew it! Thank you very much!" Izuku said over the comms. "I can buy time to evacuate everyone! I'll draw him to me like this!"
'Does he even hear himself!?' Momo thought, getting outraged by Izuku's words. 'Didn't he see what that monster did to the entire city? How is he planning to face him if he caught him off guard? Idiot! Think before risking your life like that.'
'That communicator thing's a pain,' Tomura thought as he glanced at Endeavor, who continued chasing after him. 'I guess I can get rid of it at the same time.'
Everyone narrowed their eyes, wondering what Shigaraki was going to do next as they stared at the screen.
"Everyone, listen up! Shigaraki has changed course and is now heading southwest!" Endeavor said over the comms. "He has a Super Regeneration Quirk! He's not the same as he was before!" Then he thought, 'I don't understand it, but Midoriya was able to lure him over. Come on! Midoriya's in danger!'
Mirko glanced at Izuku and noticed a frustrated expression on his face. Honestly, she understood how he must be feeling right now. She had been in a similar situation a few episodes back, where people were all fussing over her. While it had given her a warm feeling in her heart, it was still annoying nonetheless.
"He said he's coming, Kacchan!" Izuku said without stopping his leg.
"I heard!" Bakugo replied, following right behind him. "Are you listening?! That scumbag's turned into a monster! It's all the more reason to make sure you don't get caught!"
After seeing Bakugo's interaction with Izuku on the screen, Class 1-A glanced at him weirdly. 'Bakugo worrying about Midoriya... yeah, he must be really stressed,' they all thought to themselves.
Suddenly, Izuku turned his head towards Bakugo and asked, "Kacchan, why are you following me?" with a hilarious expression on his face.
"I'll send you flying!" Bakugo replied with an equally hilarious expression of his own.
A much-needed wave of laughter echoed through the audience upon seeing Izuku and Bakugo's reactions on the screen. While the mentioned boys were embarrassed, the latter was even cursing the former under his breath.
"Under the circumstances, I was the only one who could understand what was going on without explanation and go with you!"
"Oh! Thanks!" Izuku said with the same hilarious expression from before.
Once again, everyone laughed at Izuku's hilarious expression on the screen. "I am stressed, okay..." Izuku muttered to himself, while Momo patted his back, trying not to laugh at his predicament herself.
"Don't think so highly of yourself! Follow you? What, you think you're the main character or something now?"
"I mean... Midoriya seems to be the narrator of the story, he is also on the cover of this disk, not to mention how Shigaraki is after his quirk, so maybe... he is the main character, you know?" Kaminari said.
"Shut up, Dunce Face!" Bakugo yelled, fuming with anger. "No one asked you!"
Meanwhile, Monoma scoffed to himself. The term 'main character' generated peculiar feelings in his heart.
"I've got business with that scumbag," Bakugo retorted with a frown as he remembered his kidnapping and All Might coming to save him. "As the man who ended All Might..." Izuku remembered his confrontation with Bakugo as he heard the said boy's words.
"Young Bakugo, I already told you that my retirement has nothing to do with your kidnapping," All Might said. "The last embers of One for All were already fading out of my body from the very moment I passed on my quirk. Not to mention my declining health. My retirement was always on the horizon; your kidnapping was just an event where it happened."
But All Might's reassuring words fell on deaf ears as Bakugo continued to glare at the ground, ignoring All Might's voice.
"You're the bait, I'm gonna get him back for that day! I'll get a complete victory!" Bakugo said with a scary expression on his face. "It's a great chance for that! Got it? Then don't let your guard down and get in my way."
"Man, that expression could give nightmares to a child," Sero said but quickly shut his mouth when he heard an explosion pop.
"Bakugo, that is not a face that a hero should make," Jeanist said, making Bakugo click his tongue in annoyance. "And the things everyone is telling to Midoriya apply to you as well. You are not ready to take on someone like Shigaraki yet."
"I wouldn't know until I try," Bakugo retorted, gaining a disappointed head shake from Jeanist.
'Damn Deku can use Full Cowling normally at 30% now, he brings it to 45% just at the moment of impact,' Bakugo thought as he followed behind Izuku. 'At Endeavor's, and with All Might's training, every time Deku got stronger, I hung on and tried to keep up,' we see Izuku and Bakugo training with All Might. 'At his 30% speed right now, I can keep up. I won't lose to you.' "I can't quit while I'm behind!" he yelled as he closed the distance between him and Izuku and flew right next to him.
"Damn right!" Bakugo yelled. "I am not going to lose to some generational quirk nonsense!"
"Let's see. Oh, right," Shigaraki said and suddenly jumped up high, reaching the sky. "The Air Blast from earlier plus Radio Waves," he said as we see Endeavor flying towards Shigaraki in the background. "Sorry, Number One. I don't have time for you right now," Shigaraki said as a yellow glow with purple lightning formed around his hand. Then he sent a yellowish wave with purple lightning all throughout the area, destroying the communication devices for all the Heroes and for the Police HQ, causing them to worry even more.
"Great! Now communications are down! As if the chaos going around wasn't enough already," Yu said with an irritated frown on her face.
Meanwhile, the wires left in the ruins of Jaku Hospital suddenly came to life and activated a group of Nomu-Housing Containers underground.
Everyone's eyes widened in surprise and fear as they saw the Nomu-Housing Containers coming to life.
'Th-This... This feels like...back then...' Izuku thought as he felt the same feeling they felt when they encountered All For One back at Kamino. Suddenly, Tomura appeared before them.
A heavy silence fell over everyone in the auditorium as the fear from before turned into sheer horror upon seeing Izuku and Bakugo coming face to face with Shigaraki.
"It's echoing inside my head, telling me to get it..." he reached his hand out towards Izuku as he and Bakugo started breaking apart. "Give me One For All, Izuku Midoriya."
"Over my corpse," Izuku muttered to himself, feeling the weight and fear that his on-screen counterpart must be experiencing right now.
"W... what was that?" Mina asked, feeling a shiver down her spine. "Were they decaying just now?"
"It was an illusion of death," All Might explained. "The aura that Shigaraki is radiating is telling their body and mind that the person in front of them means certain death."
"It's like the same kind of fear we felt at..." Iida started.
"Kamino..." Momo completed his sentence as she subconsciously grabbed Izuku's arm, though he was too focused on the screen to even notice.
But before Tomura could touch Izuku, Gran Torino appeared and saved them both, flying them away from danger.
A sense of relief washed over everyone as they saw Gran Torino saving the two kids.
"Once again, this old man had to save your sorry asses," Gran Torino said with a smirk on his face."
"After I heard One For All over the radio, I had a bad feeling," Gran Torino said. "Were you two planning on fighting that by yourselves? Shigaraki's Decay erases everything it touches! You'd die just from touching any piece of that downpour of debris! He's not someone the two of you could take on!"
"But-" Izuku tried to argue, but Gran Torino shot him down.
"The heroes aren't dead yet!" Gran Torino said while we see Shigaraki preparing to rush towards Izuku when suddenly he was disrupted by winds generated by Ryukyu's wings. "Everyone left will take him down together!"
"Old man is right," Endeavor said, nodding his head. "You kids should let pros handle the threat. You will only get in the way."
'Yeah... about that,' Izuku and Bakugo thought, as they knew each other far too well to believe that the other one wasn't going to jump into the battle at the first chance they got.
The winds generated by Ryukyu's wings sent Tomura into the sky while Ryukyu rushed towards him and tackled Tomura with her claw. Tomura placed his hand on her claw and tried to Decay her but was shocked to find out that it doesn't work.
"Idiot!" This time, it was Rumi's turn to hit her friend and glare at her. "What the hell were you thinking, rushing at the guy who can kill you with a touch of his fingers like that? Geez! And you have the nerve to call me reckless."
"But how did Ryukyu survive?" Kirishima asked. "We clearly saw Shigaraki touching her with all five of his fingers."
"Isn't that obvious 'ribbit'?" Tsu asked. "There is only one person we know who can cancel other people's quirks."
"The two Gran Torino saved just now... Were they Midoriya and Bakugo?" Aizawa asked as he emerged onto the scene, supported by Rock Lock. "Why are they here? Was he after those two?"
"Technically, he is just after Midoriya. Bakugo is there because of the hate boner," Toru said, earning a glare from the blonde boy.
Aizawa remembered Crust sacrificing his life to save him. "The number six hero, Crust... your sacrifice let me live." We see a young Aizawa standing in the middle of the rubble with a bleeding arm and a shocked expression on his face. "I've been kept alive... My Quirk... My life... In order to take you down... Shigaraki. Don't lay a finger on my students!"
"Woah! That was cool!" someone in the audience said with a wolf whistle.
"Shota, you can't keep blaming yourself like that," Nemuri said. "Especially for Oboro's death; it was not your fault."
"Even if you say that, it's not like I can stop feeling guilty, knowing that it was I who was supposed to die," Aizawa said, clutching his scarf.
"You really are cool, Eraser Head," Tomura said with a smile while falling from the sky.
Tsu shivered as she remembered hearing the same words right before almost dying to the same person she just saw destroying an entire city with the touch of his fingers.
Then he turned to his communicator and said, "Kill all the humans in sight," and activated the Nomu-Housing containers underground.
"I wonder what kind of Nomus are stored in those tanks," Ochako thought aloud.
"Definitely not something anyone would ever want to see, that's for sure," Rumi said, not sounding too thrilled about whatever creatures were inside those tanks.
Endeavor rushed towards Tomura while charging his body with fire.
"It would've been better to look at him after hiding, but if he were to touch the ground again during that time..." Aizawa said as he continued staring at Shigaraki with his quirk, Erasure, while Manual used his Quirk to help moisten Aizawa's eyes to prevent him from blinking. "Thank you, Manual."
"No problem. If I go overboard, it'll make your eyes sting, so we'll have to work together," Manual said with a smile.
A smile appeared on Iida's face as he saw Manual, the first hero he interned with, doing his best to help on a battlefield where he logically shouldn't be.
Suddenly, Endeavor appeared in front of Tomura, his body charged with flames, ready to unleash a deadly attack. Meanwhile, Shigaraki, who was in front of him, had a wide grin on his face. "Tomura Shigaraki... You have killed too many!" Endeavor said and unleashed a powerful blast to finish Tomura off for good. However, unfortunately, Tomura dodged out of the way with just a flick of his wrist, leaving Endeavor staring at him in shock.
"That hurt!" Tomura said with a smile while mocking Endeavor.
"That was one of my strongest attacks," Endeavor said with a growl.
"And not only did Shigaraki dodge it easily, but he also had enough energy to mock you back," Hawks pointed out, much to Endeavor's displeasure.
"I haven't released Erasure yet," Aizawa said in shock, just like everyone around him.
'It's not his Quirk?! That reaction was from his own strength?' Endeavor thought, seeing Tomura's strength. "He can move through the air with just a swing of his arm? That power's just like..." he imagines All Might and compares his strength to Shigaraki's.
"Nope! I don't want to believe it!" Kaminari said. "I refuse to believe that creepy hand guy is as strong as All Might."
"But he does have All for One's quirk-" Kirishima tried to say, but Kaminari cut him off.
"Nope! Not believing!" he said and covered his ears.
A little far away from there, Mic was holding Garaki by the collar while observing the fight. "Even though he's got Super Power, he's not as strong as All Might," Garaki said to himself. "Over-engineering his body would have burdened his brain."
"See! I was right!" Kaminari said with a big grin, puffing his chest with pride.
"But he can still break your spine with a slap on your back," Shoto said with a straight face.
"Todoroki! I didn't need that image in my mind," Kaminari said, his face paling.
"What kind of monster did you create?" Mic asked as he stared at Shigaraki with shock and horror in his eyes.
"The kind that should have died in that lab," Mirko said while glaring at the doctor.
"A bioengineered physique. In other words, a perfect Nomu?" Aizawa said as Rock Lock and Manual relocated him to a different location.
"Even so, the number one and number ten heroes have teamed up," Manual said in a hopeful voice.
'Manual seems to have too much faith in us,"' Ryukyu thought with a bittersweet smile on her face. She knew that their chances of winning against Shigaraki were low. With Eraser Head being present, their chances have gone up to a few percentages, but they will still need to battle with everything they have got before eventually, Eraser Head has to close his eyes. But it doesn't really matter since at the end of the day they have to fight Shigaraki to the bitter end no matter what the outcome may be.
"You monster!" Ryukyu said and tried to attack Tomura with her claw, but he dodged her attack.
'His movements are getting better and better,' Endeavor thought as Shigaraki dodged his attack as well.
"I'm awake now," Shigaraki said as he continued dodging Endeavor and Ryukyu's attacks.
"Well, we all feel you'd rather weren't," Setsuna said.
"Yeah, you looked quite good floating in that tank, not trying to murder anyone," Mina added. "Good times!"
Meanwhile, Gran Torino threw Izuku and Bakugo on the ground away from the fight.
"Gran Torino, just now, Mr. Aizawa..." Izuku asked while staring at Gran Torino.
"Yeah, he's sealed off Shigaraki's Quirk," Gran Torino replied.
"Gramps, shouldn't we be further away?" Bakugo asked.
"Gran Torino, he's..." Izuku tried to introduce Bakugo, but Gran interrupted him.
"Bakugo. He knows about the secret, right? I heard from Toshinori," Gran Torino said.
"Hey! Stop talking about me behind my back!" Bakugo said, sending a pointed glare at All Might. "And Deku, fuck you! I can introduce myself!"
'The second part was so unnecessary,' everyone thought with strained smiles, while one raven-haired girl was glaring at the blonde boy.
Then he answered Bakugo's question. "This area's the limit. He's moving faster than expected. We don't have many who can follow him. If we get too far away, it'll be like setting him free. You stopped him temporarily, got him away from the civilians, and put him within Eraser's field of vision," we see people still stuck in the city just a little far away from the raging battle. Then Gran turned towards the two boys and said, "You've already accomplished a lot. Now I'll go back and be Eraser's legs."
"Are you telling us to hide?" Izuku asked.
"Yes!" came a unanimous response from the audience, except for Izuku, who looked unconvinced, and Bakugo, who had a frown on his face.
"Apparently, All For One's Quirks were transplanted into him. That's what the DJ hero said," Gran Torino said, getting Izuku and Bakugo's attention.
"It's Present Mic, not DJ Hero," Present Mic said in a little disheartened voice. "I worked my head off for hours to come up with that name," he said while Nemuri had a smile on her face as she heard his whining.
"In the unlikely event that One For All is stolen, think about the worst that could happen," Gran said in a serious voice.
'But I could also be our greatest weapon against him,' Izuku thought. 'What's the point of keeping me safe if the people I care about are going to die in the process?'
'Well said, kid!' a voice echoed in his ears.
'What?' Izuku thought as he started to look around, trying to find where that voice came from.
Then a smirk appeared on his face. "If we can't take him down, then what's the point of this oversaturation of heroes?" he said, and we see Burnin leading the charge with a huge number of heroes following behind her.
A glimmer of hope appeared among the audience seeing so many heroes on the sight, but unfortunately, it was immediately crushed when...
But then, suddenly a horde of Nomus appeared in front of Burnin and the heroes following behind her. "Why...? Why are they okay? The whole lab should've fallen under Decay!" Gran Torino asked as he, Izuku, and Bakugo stared at the horde of Nomus with stunned wide eyes and gaping mouths. "Why are there Nomus here?!"
"Ok! What the hell is going on? Why are problems increasing for heroes with each passing episode?" Kaminari asked. "I can't even imagine the situation getting any worse than this."
"Kaminari!" Jiro yelled, startling the boy.
"W-what!?" he asked.
"You jinxed us, you idiot!" came the unanimous reply from the audience.
To be continued...