Tomura Shigaraki hated surprise patches and hotfixes.

He wasn't opposed to necessary changes to the game. Sometimes patches were good! A little change to the status quo was healthy, which was just another reason why he and Master needed to shake things up a little bit. Society today needed a little jostling; not only had things gotten boring, but more importantly Tomura needed some good old-fashioned revenge on the stupid heroes.

But this was infuriating!

According to the schedule they stole the other day, All Might was supposed to be here, at the USJ. This particular location was ideal because it minimized the chance of discovery and – in the unlikely event that the rest of the NPCs were alerted – it was too far away from the main campus to be any real threat. He and Kurogiri could perform a tactical retreat if necessary. Master assured him that Nomu would be sufficient to kill All Might, but it never hurt to have contingencies.

But no, instead he was stuck with Eraserhead, Thirteen, and a bunch of stupid kids! Eraserhead was pretty cool for a pro hero, he would admit, given how easily he was dealing with the base units they brought to the raid. It seemed UA really invested in elite units, which were always a decent counter to zerg tactics. Thirteen was a support unit, so they should have been easy to pick off if Kurogiri did his job while Eraserhead was kited away.

"Where the hell is All Might?" Tomura asked as he scratched at his neck. "He should have spawned in by now!"

Nomu, ever the sparkling conversationalist, didn't have an answer.

At least he could safely analyze Eraserhead while he waited. Unfortunately, he lived up to the title of pro, but every quirk had a weakness. Kurogiri was limited to his own knowledge of the target coordinates, and his own had a pretty obvious downside of decaying anything he touched with five fingers. Even Nomu's quirks each had weaknesses, but that's why Master shoved a bunch of them into one unit; multi-classing was a good way to cover those deficiencies.

Eraserhead's was obviously the physical limitations of his eyes. He could only use his quirk so much before he (probably) got dry eye. His cooldowns were increasing, which was the whole problem with trying to spam the same ability over and over again.

You get predictable.

"ERK!" Two of his units grunted as Eraserhead slammed them to the ground with a stomp. The pro took a moment to catch his breath.

Now!

Tomura sprinted forward, already counting down in his head. First it was twenty-three seconds.

"The final boss!" Eraserhead foolishly claimed.

Then it was twenty-four seconds! Then twenty. Then seventeen.

Eraserhead threw out his stupid scarf, which turned out to be a feint. When Tomura went to catch the scarf, the pro closed the distance and threw his elbow into his stomach. Tomura quickly caught the elbow before Eraserhead could retract it, and that's when it happened.

His hair fell.

Like any good villain, Tomura decided to do a little monologuing as he clutched and decayed Eraserhead's elbow. Was it griefing? Probably, but it felt good, and Master said he could do anything he wanted.

Eraserhead managed to break free, and aggro switched back to the base units again. That was fine. An eroded elbow was a pretty good debuff and would only make the hero's job harder. Tomura whispered a command to Nomu and got to his feet.

"By the way, Eraserhead…"

In an instant, Nomu was behind the pro with an outstretched hand.

"I'm not the final boss."

Mina wasn't foolish enough to assume it was over.

Just because they'd managed to force that warp villain to retreat and free Iida to get reinforcements did not mean it was over. Yes, Kurogiri retreated and left them alone, but they were not out of the woods yet.

Thirteen was barely hanging on, their suit in tatters from their own quirk, and most of 1-A was scattered to the corners of the USJ. Thank goodness for Shoji and his quirk, or she'd be worried out of her mind that their classmates were dead after disappearing. Now that the immediate danger passed, maybe they could take a moment to figure out what the hell was going on.

"Shoji, what's going on? Please tell me…" Mina trailed, not daring to put her fears to words.

Shoji's arms were split up into multiple eyes and ears at this point as he scouted the area. "Asui, Mineta, and Ojiro managed to get to shore, so they're safe for the time being. Bakugo and Kirishima seem to be okay… wait, yes they're okay. They're walking out of their zone now. Todoroki seems to be doing well enough on his own…"

Mina glanced over her shoulder at the ice-covered mountain in the distance. Yeah, mister silent-and-broody was probably okay.

"...I think I hear Dark Shadow in the typhoon zone, so at least we know Tokoyami is alive." Shoji continued. "Yaoyorozu, Jiro, and Kaminari are still in the landslide zone, but… oh, no. One of the villains has Kaminari hostage."

At least there were no confirmed deaths, Mina realized. Small victories.

"Mr. Aizawa, though…" Shoji gulped. "The big villain with the beak joined the fight, and it… it doesn't look good. He's got Mr. Aizawa pinned. There's a lot of blood…"

Never mind.

"What about the others?" Sero asked. "Koda?"

"I don't see him anywhere, and if he's in the rain or fire zones, I can't hear him." Shoji replied. "He's a bit quiet, though, so I don't think I'd be able to hear him anyway."

"Aoyama?" Sato asked.

"I think I saw a flash of light in the typhoon area? Could be just the lights burning out, though."

"Toru?" Mina asked.

"..."

Mina facepalmed. Right. "Sorry."

"Midoriya?" Ochako tried.

A faint rumbling from the fire zone interrupted Shoji before he could reply, and the sound seemed to increase in volume and intensity as it continued. Mina exchanged a worried look with Ochako, who looked… smug? Wait, what the hell?

"'Chako, why are you smiling?"

"Never mind." The brunette grinned, and Mina couldn't tell if that confidence was relieving or worrying. "I think I know where Midoriya is."

Shouta tried – and failed – to bite back a scream as Nomu broke his arm.

Whatever the hell this thing was, it was probably as strong as All Might. He even tried erasing its quirk! Damn monster – because that's exactly what it was, given how obedient and mindless it was – snapped his bones like twigs anyway. Gods above, he was in pain. This thing was definitely as strong as All Might!

Talk about being outclassed and overpowered. Much as he hated to admit it, the Hand villain was right. He might as well have been a quirkless child right now. The only solace he took right now was that the main villains' attention was squarely focused on him, not the students. He was probably going to die, but hopefully help was on the way.

Shouta felt the ground rumble. What was that? All Might?

"What the hell was that, Kurogiri?" Shigaraki asked. Thankfully, both Handsy and the mist villain had been stupid enough to reveal their names. "Is that All Might?"

"I… do not know, Tomura Shigaraki." Kurogiri sounded confused. "It sounded like it came from the fire zone."

A very familiar roar echoed out, and Shouta couldn't help but smirk. Startled shouts came closer and closer. In a matter of moments, a small handful of villains ran past them, clearly panicked.

"Gotta find somewhere safe!"

"RUN!"

"HE'LL KILL US ALL!"

Shigaraki paused. "Did we put an elite unit in the fire zone by mistake?"

"We didn't assign any animal quirks to the fire zone." Kurogiri denied. "That roar isn't one of ours."

"Then who the hell – "

"You…" Shouta croaked out. Shigaraki's attention flew back to him. "...you talked about true, devastating power?"

"Yeah, what about it? You can't beat us."

Shouta coughed out a glob of blood before continuing. "No, I know…"

"Kurogiri, why do I hear boss music?"

The rumbling intensified until a deafening explosion erupted from the fire zone. Out of the corner of his eye, Shouta saw Deathwing's head crash out of the now-ruined dome. The dragon let loose a terrifying roar, and Shouta grinned.

"...But he can."

A dragon.

There was a fucking dragon among the students. What the hell?!

"THERE IS NO SHELTER FROM MY FURY!"

Tomura Shigaraki blinked as the massive (and heavily armored) dragon emerged from the fire zone like a lizard crawling out of an egg. Its armor plates glowed red hot; whether that was the result of its own power or a symptom of how hot it was in the fire zone, he did not know. Regardless, it did not seem to phase the dragon much. Tomura's eyes widened as he saw the dome start to melt underneath the dragon's grip with every step. It roared, and a blast of heat accompanied the sound; Tomura had to shield his face from the unbearable heat.

"Flee while you can, "villains."" The dragon growled, stomping closer. "You and your world are doomed."

This was one of the hero students? That sounded like something a villain would say!

"Shit!" Tomura cursed as he started to panic. "Did we trigger the enrage phase? We triggered a damn raid boss! Nomu! Do your job and tank it!"

Nomu screeched, released Eraserhead, and bounded off towards the dragon. It jumped up and delivered a heavy blow to the dragon's jaw, lurching the beast's head to the side from the impact. As Nomu fell back to earth, the dragon raised its enormous front claw and slapped the Anti-Symbol of Peace to the side like a fly.

Kurogiri blinked. "Tomura Shigaraki, we may wish to flee."

"H-how?!" Tomura screeched, still fixated on how easily his elite unit was being handled. "Nomu has shock absorption!"

"Deathwing's bigger." Eraserhead spat, somehow still conscious despite his injuries. He seemed to have some trouble speaking. "Shock absorption… doesn't ignore physics. Deathwing… has the greater mass."

Deathwing? What kind of hero name was that? That was the (admittedly really awesome) name of a villain! What was going on here?

"Meddlesome insect! I will END you!"

Tomura looked back up and grinned as he saw Nomu lunge back into the fray, ready to deliver an punch to the dragon again. This "Deathwing" was a strong opponent, certainly, but between Nomu's shock absorption and regeneration, he would win the war of attrition. Nomu was the perfect tank and melee DPS! They didn't even need a healer for this raid boss!

As Nomu flew towards its target, Deathwing snapped his head towards the oncoming Nomu-shaped missile…

*CHOMP!*

…and bit down, bisecting Nomu in half across the waist. The sickening sound of bones crunching and flesh searing filled the silence that followed.

"..."

"..."

"Kurogiri, he ate my Nomu."

"Yes, I can see that, Tomura Shigaraki."

Tomura scratched at his neck furiously. "HE ATE MY NOMU!"

"Crunchy." Deathwing grumbled with amusement.

"...it doesn't matter!" Tomura boasted with a cackle. "Nomu has regeneration! He'll be back before you know it! You can't win, Deathwing! Nomu is the perfect – !"

"Tomura Shigaraki, it's not working."

Tomura's head whipped towards the warp gate user. "What?"

Kuroigiri gestured towards the lower half of the Nomu, which was now sitting to the side limply. It was also not regenerating. Tomura was about to object when he saw why Nomu wasn't regenerating. Apparently the dragon's teeth were hot enough to immediately cauterize the wound. Normally, Nomu was trained to rip away any cauterized flesh so that the new wound could regenerate. Unfortunately, Nomu didn't really have any hands at the moment. Or arms, for that matter.

Stupid disarmed debuff.

"CHEATER!" Tomura screeched, his angry scratching only intensifying. "YOU CHEATED!"

Deathwing laughed, a deep sound that reminded Tomura of tumbling boulders and hissing magma. The dragon looked down, and suddenly Tomura felt incredibly small. Like an insect, actually. "Cheat? You believe I cheated? No, you lost because you are weak. Fragile."

"Tomura Shigaraki, the heroes will be here soon." Kurogiri pressed. "We must retreat."

"No!" Tomura insisted. "We can take him! I'll turn him to dust! Portal, now!"

Kurogiri obeyed, and Tomura instinctively plunged his hand into the vortex of swirling purple mist to his left. A small portal next to Deathwing's shoulder opened up, and Tomura's hand made contact with an armor plate.

In hindsight, that was a mistake. He should've paid attention to the passive AoE burn DoT.

"GAH!" Tomura cried out, yanking his now-burned hand back through the portal. He clutched it to his chest and noted just how violently puffy and red it looked, his skin already oozing and flaring from the burn. He looked up and glared at Deathwing, who simply stared back. The armor plate weakened, and a small grumble of pain came from the dragon. A wound opened up, and a large glob of something – wait, was that Iava? – bled out and plopped onto the floor with an angry hiss.

Then it started sliding itself towards him like a frickin' gelatinous cube.

Oh, hell no.

Deathwing laughed again, sending a chill up Tomura's spine. "Time to die."

The massive dragon took in a deep breath, and his chest grew brighter. It was as if a furnace inside was lighting up, and Tomura knew they needed to get out as soon as possible. They lost.

"It's a wipe!" Tomura backpedaled as Kurogiri opened up a warp gate. "Get us the hell out of here, Kurogiri!"

The last thing he saw before tumbling back through the portal to safety was Deathwing's open jaws, and a flash of liquid death. He staggered to his feet, now within the safety of the bar and thankful more than ever for Kurogiri's abilities. That was close, but his defeat still stung.

Game over.

"I AM…" All Might thundered as he crashed into the USJ. As soon as young Iida briefed him of the situation, he rushed over as soon as he could. He surveyed the battlefield, ready to save his students, but almost deflated at the sight of a battle that clearly met its conclusion long ago. "...apparently not needed. Huh."

"Sorry, All Might!" Young Uraraka laughed weakly. "All taken care of, but Thirteen and Mister Aizawa need medical attention."

All Might blinked. The teachers both looked grievously wounded, but aside from a few scrapes here and there, the students looked perfectly fine. It must have been a narrow victory for the villains to retreat after having already beat the teachers.

Then young Midoriya landed in his Dracthyr form, carrying several unknown restrained individuals – probably the villains – and plopping them down into a pile of similarly tied-up villains to the side. Many of them were either unconscious, grumbling at their present situation, or – and pardon the language – scared shitless. All Might wasn't entirely sure if that was because of his presence or young Midoriya's.

"Ugh…" Young Midoriya groaned, clutching his stomach. All Might immediately went to his side, fearing the worst.

"Are you alright, young Midoriya?"

"Yeah, just…"

The young man burped, and a plume of smoke wafted out of his nostrils. One whiff was all it took for the Symbol of Peace to reel back. All Might tried not to gag at the horrible smell, but it was a near thing. It smelled like charred flesh. Young Midoriya looked up at him with regretful eyes.

"Ate something I shouldn't have."