"Alright, everyone, settle down!" shouted Mr. Aizawa over the din of excited students. When it was apparent many of them didn't hear his command, he repeated, this time much louder, "When I say settle down, you settle down!"
This time, it had the desired effect, and both classes 1 and 2 focused on Mr. Aizawa. "Finally, now, since you've all done well this past week, we've decided to let you have tonight off." Everyone had a collective cry of "Really!?" followed by Mr. Aizawa scowling at them. "Will you just be quiet for five minutes?"
Once it was silent again, Mr. Aizawa continued, "Everyone who passed their final exams, pair up; no, Kaminari, you can't be with one of the girls; everyone has to be with someone of the same gender."
"Awww, come on, teach! That's so not fair!" complained Kaminari.
To Izuku's surprise, Ashido also was complaining loudly, "What? What do you mean if you passed your final exam! Are you saying even though I did all these crazy workouts this week and I don't get to enjoy myself?! That's so not fair!"
Then, Izuku was hit with a sudden realization: he didn't take the final exam. He was absent for it. Surely, Mr. Aizawa wouldn't make him stay back with everyone who failed because he couldn't take the exam!
As if Mr. Aizawa could read his mind, he said, "That includes you problem child. I know you weren't there for it, but you haven't made up the test yet."
Damn.
He'd heard everyone else talk about it. He'd brought it up with Mr. Aizawa once, only to be told, 'I'll let you know when you can take it,' then given an entire booklet to review. Despite the booklet being at least a hundred pages long, he'd reviewed its contents not once but three times since he got it and felt more than prepared for any test Mr. Aizawa could give him.
For now, he stood with a handful of other students who hadn't passed their final. Ashido grumpily leaned against the building; Mineta sat on the ground with his arms wrapped around his knees, making noises like he was about to start crying. "Stupid test." Sato was seemingly indifferent, his hands buried in his pockets.
Then there was Monama.
The conceited jerk was laughing hysterically while saying, "Oh my god! Four of class 1A's students failed!? How embarrassing!"
Ashido scowled at Monama and spat, "Like you've got room to talk jerkwad. And technically, only three of us failed; Midoriya didn't have the chance to take the final."
Monama shrugged, a smug grin plastered on his face, "Does it matter? It just means that not only is class 2A better students, but we also have the decency to show up."
Izuku could almost hear Ashido's blood boiling. She stalked over, getting right in Monama's face, "I guess you didn't get the memo then. While you were failing your test, Midoriya was trying not to die and getting personally trained by three pro-heroes."
Izuku told the two, "Hey, it's okay, Ashido. Really."
"Then he should have had no problems passing the test then! But I guess Midoriyas' too incompetent to do that, even with all his special training!" Monama laughed again.
Ashido growled, then said, "Nah, anyone who bad mouths my classmates bad mouths me. And I take that personally." Suddenly, she kneed Monama in the groin, causing the boy to fall to his knees, whimpering in pain.
"Whoah, Ashido, didn't you take it a bit too far?" asked Sato nervously.
Ashido shrugged, "Probably, but he's been pissing me off for months."
At that moment, Vlad King stomped over, and after giving Monama an inquisitive look, he beckoned them inside. If Vlad King knew what Ashido did to his student, it seemed he didn't care. They were led to one of the classrooms; each took their seats and waited for Vlad King to start teaching.
"Alright, everyone save for Midoriya failed the final; some of you only just barely failed, so it seems that while you have a grasp on the information, you just lack a few details," he turned and started writing on the whiteboard.
Izuku tried his best to pay attention, but he found it a little difficult; he'd reviewed this information so much that it almost seemed like second nature to him. After an hour-long lecture on basic procedures for minor crimes, Vlad King handed out a quiz. Midoriya breezed through it and quickly handed it back. After a quick look over by Vlad King, he said, "Good, seems you caught up quickly, Midoriya."
"Thank you, sir," replied Izuku as he retook his seat. As he waited for the rest of his classmates, he looked out the window at the dark forest below. He wondered if everyone else was having fun during the trial of courage. He wished he could be with them.
In the distance, he noticed something odd. It almost looked like smoke of some kind, although he couldn't quite tell in the darkness. There was a distant rumble, almost like thunder.
He didn't remember seeing any rain in the forecast for this week, but this is Japan, sometimes rain just comes out of nowhere. Then, there was a seemingly odd shape near the tree tops. Izuku squinted, trying to spot what it was, but couldn't make out any details.
He got up out of his seat and walked over to the window, peering into the darkness. Something was definitely suspended above the treetops. "Is something wrong, Midoriya?" asked Vlad King.
Izuku didn't answer; instead, he kept looking at the figure, then he saw movement at the tree line down below. A man was walking towards the building, as he left the forest he touched a tree, then the tree burst into blue flames.
He recognized those flames. He remembered seeing a man back at the safehouse use them.
"It's the league," said Izuku. He had to act; he had to do something; if the league was there, they were in danger.
"I'm sorry?" asked Vlad King.
"Mr. King, we're under attack; the League of Villains is here!" said Izuku. He looked for a latch to open the window with but didn't see anything. He spun around, hefted one of the desks, and prepared to throw it at the window.
"Midoriya! What are you doing!" yelled Vlad King, quickly standing from his chair.
"Honestly, I have no idea," said Izuku as he threw the desk.
The window shattered, and he heard the desk break as it hit the ground below. Izuku ran and jumped out of the window, using black whip to attach himself to the building behind him to slow his fall. He hit the ground and rolled to disperse the impact, then shot a tendril at the villain.
Izuku's sudden appearance caught the villain off guard, so he couldn't dodge the black tendril wrapping around him. "What the?" Izuku yanked hard and pulled the man towards him. He had to incapacitate the man before he used his fire quirk again.
Izuku met the man halfway, punching the man in the stomach. Izuku knew he overdid it when he heard the telltale cracking of a rib. The man was blown back by the strike and slid to a stop a few meters away from Izuku. Then, the man melted into a pile of brown goo. "What the hell?" exclaimed Izuku.
"MIDORIYA! WHAT IN THE WORLD ARE YOU DOING?" yelled Vlad King from the room he just jumped out of.
Izuku turned back to him and said, "There was a villain. I hit him, and he turned into goo!"
There was a cold laugh behind him, and he spun to face the newcomer, "Well done, kid. That was quite the spectacular entrance you made." The man he'd just watched turn to sand walked out of the burning forest, a manic grin on his scarred face.
"Who are you!" demanded Izuku as he got into a fighting stance.
"Oh, nobody of importance really. Just a soldier following orders," said the man, "But if it's any consolation, you are right. I am a villain." The man bent down and touched the grass, setting it ablaze in blue flames.
Two more figures exited the forest, and Izuku noticed that each was the same man. Which meant one of two things, either this man also had a cloning quirk, or there was another villain here with one. He had to act quickly; somehow, he needed to both put out the fires and deal with the clones. But how was he supposed to put out the fires? His quirk was strong, but it wasn't capable of that!
There was a sudden shower of liquid from overhead, "GO MIDORIYA! I'LL TAKE CARE OF THE FIRES!" It was Ashido! The fires hissed and died as her acid started smothering them. Izuku took that opportunity to rush forward, grabbed a clone, and slammed him onto the ground in the blink of an eye. The man yowled in pain but didn't melt. Was he lucky enough to find the real villain?
The man growled, "You little shit stain!" and reached to touch him. On impulse, Izuku stomped on the man's hand, probably breaking a couple fingers. "Damn it," said the man as he turned into a pile of goo.
More villains gathered around him, trying to reach out to touch him and set him on fire. But Izuku managed to avoid them; he slammed his elbow into one of their noses, causing them to reel back, blood gushing from his face, "Damn it!" then the clone melted.
Izuku kicked another in the shin, causing him to stumble and fall into a burning patch of grass. The clone cried out in pain before melting. By now, Izuku was completely surrounded by clones.
Then, out of nowhere, Vlad King grabbed a clone from behind, hefted him with a single arm, and threw him into the building. The clone quickly melted, "Midoriya, when this is finished, you have detention."
"U-understood, sir," said Izuku. Why was he always getting in trouble for this kind of stuff?
He managed to capture two clones using Black-whip, then swung them over his head and into the ground. Once they'd melted, he tried to grab a third, but the clone managed to evade the tendril. It ran at him, his hand outstretched, "Come here, kid, I promise to only hurt you a little."
Izuku ducked under the clone's outstretched hand, then used the clone's speed against him by flipping it over his shoulder. Once the clone was on the ground, Izuku stomped on the clone's hand, breaking a couple of fingers. If Izuku was right, the clones could only survive a mild injury like a bruise. But if any bones were broken, then the clone would melt.
He was right in his assumption when the clone underneath him started melting. "Mr. King, you just need to break a bone! The clones will melt if you do enough damage to them!"
Vlad King, who was busy fighting four clones at once, nodded, "Good eye, Midorya!" Then, in one great swipe, he managed to destroy all four clones at once, "That should make things easier on us then."
Izuku felt an arm wrap around his neck from behind; he'd forgotten about the others! He struggled against the clone's grip, trying to loosen it enough to escape, but the clone, despite being as durable as paper, was surprisingly strong.
"Now, now, I thought Heroes would be better than letting someone sneak up behind them," growled the clone. "But I guess you're only a trainee for a reason."
The clone held up his free hand, blue fire dancing across his fingertips, "HEY, HERO!" Vlad King turned to scowl at the clone holding Izuku hostage, "Stay right where you are, or the kid gets turned to ash. If you hadn't noticed, my fire doesn't go out until whatever it's burning gets destroyed."
Vlad King scowled, "Damn you, villain."
The clone cackled, "That's right, hero. And kid, make one move to try and free yourself, and the rest of your friends get fried." He saw another group of clones exit the forest, all with a blue flame flickering in their hand.
Damn it all, he can't believe he let himself get captured like this.
"By the way, your name is Midoriya Izuku, right?" asked the clone.
Wait, were the villains here for him? Why would they want him? His mind raced as he tried to think of possible motives for kidnapping him. He wasn't from a wealthy family, he wasn't particularly famous, he wasn't even a pro-hero yet!
But he did have One for All.
A cold chill ran down his spine as he realized who was responsible for this attack. Were the villains going to take him to All for One? He couldn't let them do that; he had to escape.
But if he tried, then his friends might die.
He couldn't do that either.
What should he do?
What would All Might do?
The clone pulled him towards the forest, "Don't worry, Midoriya, I'll get you. No matter where they take you, I will find you." Vlad King spoke in an even voice, calm, reassuring. It did little to ebb his fear.
He took a deep breath, forcing the panic down; he had to stay calm. He wouldn't be able to find a way out of this situation if he didn't.
"When you're in a tight spot, you've gotta do two things. Stay calm and compartmentalize the issue. Make a list of things that have gone wrong and address them one at a time."
"Pfff, that's a pretty bitch ass way to deal with a problem; my advice, just hit them really, really hard; it seems to work for me."
Both pieces of advice from Ranger and Miruko suddenly popped into his head. While Miruko did have an impressive track record with dealing with problems, he thought that maybe violence shouldn't be the first method to try.
He had to think about what has gone wrong.
That's easy; he let himself get captured by a villain.
What can he do to solve that problem?
Shit, this was harder than it seemed.
Maybe Miruko's way was better. If he hit this clone hard enough, then he'd just melt.
But then there's the issue of his friends' lives being at risk. He didn't know the situation in the forest, but if this villain was working with others, he wasn't going to risk his friends' lives to save his own. He should wait for an opportunity when the villains weren't in a position to hurt anyone else to make his escape. Which was easier said than done. But his plan would only work if they didn't take him directly to All for One. He'd just have to pray that he was lucky.
As he ran over the plan in his mind, the villain pulled him through the forest, the blue fire continuing to crackle menacingly near Izuku's face. After about ten minutes of walking, they entered a clearing where two men stood. One wore a black and white outfit, while the other looked exactly like the clones.
"Ah, here they are," said the man hoarsely. "Now all we have to do is wait for the others to return. You did a good job, clone."
So this was the original, then? Did that mean that the guy in the black-and-white costume was the villain with the cloning quirk?
"Good to meet you, young man; I hope this clone of Dabi didn't rough you up too bad." Said the villain in the costume. "Come on! He doesn't look hurt at all! What are you, a villain or a chicken! Break some bones! Spill some blood, damn it!"
The sudden whiplash of tones from the villain was disconcerting. He was obviously mentally unstable.
"You're probably wondering what all of this is about, kid," said the other villain, presumably Dabi, by what the other guy said.
"I have an idea," replied Izuku coldly.
"Oh, do you know, that's refreshing," Dabi grinned.
"You must be brilliant; your mother must be so proud. Ooooo, look at the little smartass genus. Thinks he knows why we took him!"
Dabi rolled his eyes, "Ignore him; he's always like that. So, tell me, why did we come out here to the middle of nowhere just for you."
Were they testing him?
Did they actually not know?
It might be safer to not say anything.
After a moment, Dabi's grin faded, "Either you don't wanna say, or you don't know. Doesn't really matter in the end, though."
Izuku heard voices heading their way, and several more people entered the clearing; he only recognized two of them. The teenage blond girl and the lizard man. When they saw him, they had two distinct reactions.
The lizard man growled while the girl smiled, "Izu! We're finally reunited!" She rushed forward, wrapping him in a hug. "Too bad we couldn't be alone. Oh, the things I'd do to you, Izu; I've been dreaming about them since we last met." When she pulled away, he saw the glint of a bloody knife in one hand.
Who…who did she stab with that knife.
"I also found another playmate!" said the girl enthusiastically.
"Did you manage to get some of their blood, at least?" asked Dabi.
The girl nodded, "Yup, I got plenty!"
Were they still alive? Did she kill one of his friends?
He felt a rage inside him he'd never felt before. He didn't care which friend she stabbed; he'd make her pay dearly for it. He won't rest until she has paid for every last drop of droop of blood she spilled. Brief visions of the girl lying in a pool of her own blood, beaten within an inch of her life, flashed across his mind.
"Remember, kid, you try anything, and your friends will die. Not all of them; I doubt we could get them all. But definitely a few," said Dabi warningly.
Izuku realized that without meaning to, his quirk had activated, green lighting sparked across his skin.
He needed to remain calm. Be patient. Take the first opportunity to escape. He took a deep breath, willing his quirk to deactivate. "Good, don't try it again," said Dabi. He turned to a villain wearing a tophat and mask, then asked, "You get the other target?"
The villain nodded, "He gave me a few issues, but I was able to subdue him."
"Good, store this one away too. I don't want to take any chances." Dabi pointed to Izuku, and the other villain stood up.
"Very well, it will only take a moment," the villain reached out his hand to Izuku, and he felt as if he was being squeezed into a very tight place. The sensation didn't last long, and before he could even comprehend what was happening, he found himself in a small brick room, handcuffed to a cold, uncomfortable metal chair.
"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!" That voice was familiar. Very familiar.
"Kachan?! Is that you?" asked Izuku in a daze.
Bakugo seemed to take a moment to get his bearings, then said, "Deku? Where the fuck are we?"
Izuku looked around; the room was small, dark, and dank. "Good question."
"Some help you are," spat Bakugo.
"Like you're any more helpful than I am," replied Izuku.
Izuku felt a blinding pain strike the back of his head, "Fuck you, Deku!"
Gritting his teeth, he waited for the pain to pass, then yelled, "What the fuck was that for! We need to work together to get out of this mess."
"Speak for yourself, Deku; I can escape anytime I want!" replied Bakugo.
"Oh yeah? Why don't you do it then," said Izuku teasingly. After some grunting and rattling of chains, Bakugo fell silent. "Good job, master of escape."
"Shut the fuck up," muttered Bakugo.
Izuku sighed and experimentally pulled on his cuffs; they were tightly bound. He could probably break through them with his quirk, though. He tried activating his quirk but found it wouldn't respond. No matter how he prodded or pulled at the immense wellspring of power, it didn't react.
"Must be quirk erasing cuffs," muttered Izuku.
"No shit Sherlock, wanna make any other obvious deductions?" asked Bakugo.
Izuku had just about enough for today. Yup, this day can officially jump off a cliff and die. A moment later, a door opened from behind him. "I see you two are awake and lively," the voice was deep and smooth.
"Where the fuck am I, smoky bitch?" demanded Bakugo.
"The correct question is, where are we," commented Izuku dryly.
"Shut up, Deku, I'm trying to interrogate this asshat, I can't do that if you're butting in!" yelled Bakugo.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, Bakuhoe, I won't do it again, I swear," replied Izuku with a fake apologetic tone.
"Shu- did you just fucking call me Bakuhoe! The fuck does that even mean?! Zero points for creativity, Bichu!" yelled Bakugo.
"Bichu! You wanna say that to my face, you weak ass firecracker!?" retorted Izuku.
"Will you two shut up?" rasped a voice.
Izuku felt a chill of fear and a roiling anger. Shigaraki.
"That's better," said Shigaraki. "Now, be quiet. I can't concentrate on my game with you two arguing like a married couple."
Izuku was surprised that Bakugo didn't threaten Shigaraki. He was even more surprised when Bakugo remained silent after the two villains left. Izuku took this opportunity to think up a plan. These cuffs rendered their quirks useless, so he had to find a way to do without One for All.
Which seemed impossible. They'd never be able to defeat these villains without their quirks. Simple solution: they needed to get these cuffs off. But how? Without his quirk, he was only stronger than the average person. No way he could break these cuffs.
For the next hour, or at least what he thought was an hour, he kept thinking of a way to get these cuffs off. But nothing came to mind. Suddenly, the door opened again, and Shigiraki said, "Take that one. The other stays here."
There was a scraping noise as Bakugo's chair was dragged across the concrete floor. Izuku was left alone. He experimentally pulled on the cuffs; he kept pulling even when they felt like they would cut through his wrists. When nothing happened, he relaxed.
He needed to try again.
Mustering up all his strength, he gripped the chains of the cuffs and pulled with every fiber of his being. It felt like his arms would be ripped from his sockets, but he kept pulling. Then suddenly, something gave, and he tumbled forward onto the floor; the chain linking the cuffs had broken.
His hands shook as he sat up, his wrists cut and bleeding, but he was almost freed. He tried activating his quirk, and he managed to connect this time. It seemed that when the chain broke, the quirk representing technology shorted out. Before he could use this newfound victory, the door opened, "Alright, Izu, it's your turn!"
The blond girl stood in the doorway momentarily, frozen as she took in the scene.
It was now or never.
Using his quirk, he blasted forward, grabbed the girl by the throat, and pushed her into a hallway. She struggled against his hold, gasping for air; he could do it. He could avenge whichever of his friends she'd hurt.
He leaned forward, making sure the girl looked into his eyes, and said, "I'll make sure you're stuck in the deepest, darkest hole in Tartarus for what you did to my friend."
She struggled harder against his grasp; her feeble blows against his arms and torso did nothing to loosen his grip.
"Oh shit! He's escaped!" yelled a voice from down the hall.
His head snapped in that direction, and he saw a man with dreadlocks run back around the corner. As much as he wanted to make the girl pay, he needed to rescue Bakguo first.
He dropped the girl and rushed after the man. His speed far out, matching his, and he caught up within a couple of seconds. Izuku tackled the man to the floor and wrapped his arm around the man's neck; after a few seconds, the man went limp. Sure, it was excessive, but he was in a life-or-death situation. He shouldn't kill them, but he wouldn't be gentle with them either.
He heard shouting and footsteps approaching him; from the direction the man was running to, he estimated four, maybe five more villains. He had no choice; he'd have to fight them if he and Bakugo were going to escape.
The first to round the end of the hall was tophat man. Izuku didn't allow him to use his quirk; whatever it was, it could incapacitate anyone long enough to move and immobilize them.
Izuku grabbed the man's arm, pulled him around the corner, and slammed him to the ground. The man yelped from surprise and pain as he hit the ground. Izuku then punched the man in the face, shattering the mask he wore and incapacitating the man.
The next was the lizard guy; his sword was drawn, and as soon as he saw Izuku, he brought his sword down, trying to slash Izuku. Izuku took a step back, avoiding the blade, then rushed forward, striking the lizard guy in the jaw hard enough to send him reeling and having to support himself with the wall.
He shouldn't waste time with him. He had to find Bakugou and rescue him.
He rounded the corner and found what looked like a bar. Shigaraki stood at the far end, all but one finger resting on Bakugo's head. "Take another step, and your friend dies."
Bakugo sat in a chair, snarling at Shigaraki.
"I'd do what he says, kid; he isn't the joking kind," said Dabi to his right. The villain was lounging in a booth, a drink dangling from one hand.
Izuku glared at the villains and deactivated his quirk. Damn it. He was so close! They were so close to escape! Behind the bar counter, a villain made of purple mist spoke, "Would you like a drink, young man?"
He turned and looked at the villain; he was polishing a glass, "What?"
The villain filled a glass with a clear liquid, "You won't be leaving any time soon, and this is most likely your last night on this Earth. Why not have a drink?"
"Last night?" asked Izuku in shock.
The villain nodded, "Yes, my master will arrive shortly to collect his quirk from you." All for One is coming?! "And from what I understand, extracting quirks can be a painful ordeal, and considering how powerful yours is, it may kill you when the process is complete."
Izuku couldn't believe what he was hearing. All for One is on his way, and he might die!? He wasn't ready to fight All for One.
A woman at the bar dressed in a costume of some sort with a yellow cape shrugged, "Yeah, it's probably gonna be painful if All for One tries to suck that quirk out of ya kid." She turned on her swivel chair to face him, "I'd advise against letting him get a hold of it. After all, my lifes at stake too." She gave him a wink.
Was she
Was she another one of the holders? None of the others seemed to react to what she said, so he must be the only one who could see her. Odds are, she was one of the previous users.
"Of course, you could always just fight it out with him here, but my advice is run. Get out of here." But what about Bakugo? He couldn't just leave him here! "Sure you can, he's a tough kid. I doubt Tenko is gonna follow through with killing him. You're the better prize. He's gonna prioritize catching you."
That made sense, but "No buts, get going, kid. All for One's almost here. And you don't want to face him here."
She's right. He's got to leave. Bakugo'll be fine. Hopefully.
He powered up his quirk, and before any of the villains could say or do anything, he jumped up through the ceiling. He found himself two stories above the bar and heard Shigaraki yelling from down below. "DAMN IT! HE CHEATED! AFTER HIM, WE CAN'T LET HIM ESCAPE!"
Izuku dashed off, running through the building, and jumped out of the nearest window, falling down to the street below. People on the street stopped and pointed at him; a few screamed "villain" and started running, but he couldn't stop to correct him; he had to get out of there.
He ran down the street, weaving through the crowd as quickly as possible. He didn't stop until he was several blocks away from the League of Villains hideout. He hoped Bakugo was alright. The guy was a pain in the ass, but he didn't deserve to die.
Izuku caught his breath, looking around to see if he was being followed. It didn't seem like he was. "Thank goodness."
Suddenly, a long white limousine stopped in the street next to him; the car behind it squealed to a stop and honked. Izuku wondered what could be happening as the limousine's door opened. Then, a man stepped out.
The man was tall, wore an opulent black suit, and wore a large mask. Despite not seeing the man's eyes, Izuku instinctively knew the man was staring right at him. There was no doubt about it. No way he could mistake this man for another. Every cell in his body was certain that this man was the walking embodiment of death and destruction.
"Greetings Midoriya Izuku. I'm as surprised as you to meet here of all places; however, I suppose it was going to happen sooner or later," the man's voice was buttery smooth. If Izuku only heard his voice, he'd say this man was the friendliest man alive.
Everyone else around Izuku muttered and looked around for whoever this "Midoriya Izuku" was.
Izuku stepped back, bumping into a man. "Watch it, kid." But Izuku ignored him. He was fixated on All for One slowly making his way to him. The crowd parted for him to walk.
"EVERYONE RUN! THIS MAN IS DANGEROUS!" yelled Izuku; he had to get these people away from All for One.
The crowd looked at him confused, "Oh, Izuku, I'm no more dangerous as the sun is," said All for One. He then reached out and grabbed a man by the face. There was a flash of red light, and the man screamed. "From far away, I am benign, but as the story of Icarus says," suddenly the man went limp, and All for One released him, letting the man fall to the ground, "fly too close and you will be doomed."
The crowd screamed and scattered. All for One seemed to revel in the terror he caused, "Ah, yes, his quirk was quite interesting. Would you like to know about it?"
Izuku didn't respond; he had to get away. He had to get away.
"Of course, you would; you could add it to one of those notebooks you have. It's called, hmmm, let's call it unchain." All for One stepped closer, "It allows the user to break any bond they want, provided they have the knowledge of how that bond works. Useful, but only to someone with intellect."
Izuku could think of a variety of different ways to use that quirk, none of them good.
"But enough about my quirks, let's talk about yours." All for One was only a few meters away, and he towered over Izuku. "Let's see, you should have; how many? Seven, technically nine if you count All for One itself. Tell me, how many have you gained access to?"
Izuku couldn't think straight; his legs shook; he had to run, he had to run, he had to run, he had to run. MOVE!
"I suppose it doesn't matter, really; I'll be taking those from you." All for One reached out his palm a mere centimeters away from his head when Izuku's body finally listened to his brain.
He did the only thing he could; he jumped as high as possible. But even nearly fifteen stories up, All for One looked imposing.
"Fine, I guess we'll do this the hard way then," said All for One. Izuku felt something wrap around his leg, and he was dragged back to Earth. He slammed onto the concrete, the wind knocked from his lungs, and he struggled to stand back up.
All for One lunged at him, and Izuku barely jumped out of the way. All for One's fist broke through the concrete building as if it were made of tissue paper. All for One wrenched his arm from the wall and advanced on Izuku with terrifying speed.
Izuku rolled out of the way again, but All for One was faster and managed to grab him by his shirt and slam him down onto the concrete sidewalk. "Pitiful, really. Did Toshinori teach you nothing?"
Then All for One laughed, "No, I suppose I didn't give him enough time to teach you anything. Then I guess the fault is mine that you are such a pitiful fighter."
Izuku fought to stay conscious. He had to get away; he had to escape! He rolled over onto his stomach, wincing as he did, and crawled forward. "Where are you going, young man? Your destiny is this way!" He felt All for One's Goliath hand grasp him by the back of the neck and pick him up as if he weighed nothing.
Izuku struggled as much as he could to escape All for One's grasp but to no avail.
"Young Midoriya! Take my hand!" Through blurred vision, Izuku could make out the form of All Might. His hand stretched out to him. Izuku weakly raised his arm to grasp it.
"Nobody can help you, child. Give in, and you may just survive," purred All for One in Izuku's ear.
{"YOU OF ALL PEOPLE SHOULD KNOW I WOULD NEVER GIVE IN!"} Izuku twisted in All for One's grip and elbowed him right in the face. The man's iron grip loosened, and Izuku slammed down on the arm, holding him aloft, forcing it to release him.
Once he landed, he wasted no time and launched forward, his quirk going all out as he rammed his shoulder into All for One.
"Gah!" All for One regained his footing and said, "Finally, I was begging to be afraid my information was wrong." All for One's hand morphed into a large spike. "But It's clear you have my brother's quirk!" He lunged forward in an attempt to stab Izuku.
But Izuku sidestepped the blow and struck All for One in the face, {"HA HA! HAVE AT YOU FIEND!"} Izuku felt several fingers break, but he ignored the pain. He had much bigger worries.
All for One cackled, "You cannot defeat me, child! Not even All Might could best me! What hope do you have?"
{"AS LONG AS I AM BREATHING, THERE IS ALWAYS HOPE!"} Izuku felt immense power building up in his left arm, which could only mean one thing. {"UNITED STATES OF"} For a brief second, All for One seemed caught off guard by the yell. It was all Izuku needed to land the blow {"SMMMMMMAAAAAASSSHHHHH!"}
The moment the blow landed, there was an explosion. All for One was thrown back several dozen meters, loose concrete was scattered in every direction, windows up and down the street shattered, and the very air around him became a whirlwind. It seemed as if the very air itself was shattered into a million pieces. A few seconds later, it came crashing down, rain pattering on the sidewalk, drenching both Izuku and All for One.
Izuku felt his arm throb in pain; it was very clearly broken, most probably shattered. But if it gave him an opportunity to escape, he would gladly take it. But his body refused to acknowledge his desires. He stood there, waiting, a large grin plastered on his face.
"I have only known one man who was able to do that," said All for One. "You are not him yet; you have managed to impress me."
His being impressed didn't matter; if anything, it was revolting.
"You have won the day, child; I cannot continue this fight without sustaining severe injuries. I know when to withdraw." No, he can't get away! If he does, there's no telling what damage he could do!
The problem is that his body refused to do anything; the only thing keeping him standing is pure spite.
He heard sirens down the street getting louder, and yells of "The heroes are coming" filled the air.
"I bid you adieu, child, but next we meet, I will not stop until I have obtained that power." There was a puff of smoke, and All for One disappeared. Izuku raised his fist in the air in triumph; he'd won the day. But it's questionable if he'd win the war.
All around him, civilians came out from hiding, looking at the scene in trepidation; then one person said, "Oh my god! That kid just saved us from a villain!"
"What? There was a villain?" asked another.
"Sure was!" said a third. "He grabbed a guy by his face and did something to him, then that kid stopped him from doing it again!"
As people began realizing what happened, they started cheering. It was a couple people at first, but it quickly snowballed into a crowd. Izuku stumbled, his arm dropped to his side, the pain overwhelmed his senses, and he collapsed on the sidewalk.
Alright, so, that was longer than expected. I'd originally planned on writing a bit of Pro-hero work that Ranger and Rumi were doing too, but then this kinda rolled on like a runaway train and suddenly, here I am, with a single chapter of just Izuku getting thrown around by the League of Villains.
But in hindsight, this works. At least I hope it does. I feel like this should definitely be its own chapter. Since it's a major part of Izuku's side of the story.
I also hope that All for One was as threatening as he should be. Dude's supposed to have a shit ton of quirks, so when he fights, he should hit like a ton of bricks too. I've also tried to make him a more active antagonist, especially in this story. And hopefully I managed to convey the idea that running into him is about as close to a death sentence as you can get to. And just how outmatched Izuku currently is by him.
Anyways,
I do not own My Hero Academia and probably never will. Rangers armor is based on the Riot Gear from Fallout New Vegas, and I also do not own that.
This story is also loosely based off of other fanfictions that I have read. Any persons or events that mirror reality or another story are completely coincidental. If anyone wants to see any specific quirks or has any ideas about quirks they would like to see in the story, let me know, and I'll see about adding them.
Please leave a review. I love reading all of them, and it helps me know what to improve on writing-wise.
Why do seagulls fly over the ocean?
Because if they flew over the bay, we'd call them bagels.
Fun seagull facts.
They can eat squirrels.
That concludes fun seagull facts.