AN: Thanks for reading and leaving reviews, everyone!
"Eraser-" All Might began.
"On it," Aizawa cut off the hero, activating his quirk.
Suddenly the menacing orange glow around the villains disappeared.
"They have a dispeller!" Tomura said.
"I see that," Homura said with annoyance in her voice. "Apparently he can dispel my buffs even after I hand them out." She let out a huff as she crossed her arms. "At least now we know."
"Don't worry, I got the frame data," Tomura said as he flexed his hands. "You're just going to have to stay out of Line of Sight."
All Might took a step forward. "You've lost! Reinforcements are here and your master plan failed."
"Has it?" Homura asked.
"Just because the enrage timer's run out doesn't mean we've lost," Tomura added. "Unfortunately for you, we're very good at winning under those conditions."
Without further warning, a smokey portal appeared in front of Tomura, and he dashed through, appearing inches in front of Eraserhead. While he was too close to use his capture weapon, the hero's reflexes were enough to disable the villain's quirk, so that when Tomura's hand touched his chest, nothing happened.
"Too slow," Shota said before he brought a knee up, knocking the wind out of Tomura. He was prepared to follow up with a finishing blow only to be knocked aside by Izuku. "What are you-"
Aizawa understood what was going on a moment later when he saw the Winged Nomu crashing into the space he previously occupied.
"Kurogiri is a lot more creative here," Izuku muttered quietly. "Homura's using him well."
"I've noticed," Shota said dryly. "Can this go any worse?"
Izuku laughed nervously.
Once Izuku had saved their teacher, Ochako sprung into action. The Nomu swiped uselessly at the air where Eraserhead previously stood, only to have a pink comet collide with it, sending it crashing to the ground where it slid across the plaza.
"No you don't," Ochako declared as she landed on the ground in front of the Nomu, ready to continue the fight.
She knew she couldn't stop the creature with brute force: despite all of its power, her control of One For All wasn't strong enough to overload super-regeneration yet. But she didn't need to. She just needed to keep it out of the fight - and away from Homura.
Unfortunately, this version of her nemesis seemed to wield Kurogiri with every bit of skill that she remembered. Which was only made worse this time because she had significantly more resources than a single Nomu and Kurogiri.
The good news was that it wasn't just her and All Might this time. Izuku was there, and Ryukyu, and all of her friends… They were all fighting right now.
It filled her with a nostalgic sense of warmth. One she hasn't felt since…
"Uraraka." Ryukyu came slamming down beside her student as she returned to her human form. "What happened?"
"We don't know," Ochako admitted. "But it doesn't matter. We've gotta win, right?"
"Hmph." The hero gave her a ghost of a smile. "You're right."
As the student and teacher turned toward the oncoming Nomu, Ochako felt One For All crackling to life underneath her skin, as if it responded to her new resolve.
Seeing the other teachers and heroes spreading out to help the heroes, All Might turned his attention back to the two Shigarakis - and the final Nomu.
If only he knew where Kurogiri was!
Looking over, he saw Aizawa take a moment to put drops in his eyes to keep them open for as long as he could. And standing next to him was Izuku. Locking eyes with his green-haired successor, he gave the teen a thumb's up. Izuku responded with a shaky smile of his own.
He then turned his attention toward Tomura and charged.
"What is he doing?" Shota complained as he saw All Might disappear in a flash.
"Giving us an opening," Izuku said as he wrapped himself in Full Cowling. "Let's go."
As Izuku raced forward, he saw the black portal open as once again All Might was wrapped in tendrils. This time rather than run away All Might held his ground, allowing the appendages to wrap around him as they fought to pull him through the portal.
"Go, Midoriya!"
Leaping over the portal, Izuku launched himself at Tomura, landing a kick that sent him flying. Not wanting to let him go, he landed and launched himself forward, determined to restrain his cousin before Aizawa blinked.
"Got you!" Izuku said as he caught Tomura.
"Are you sure that's a good idea," Tomura asked, grinning menacingly, "when the debuff timer is about to run out?"
Izuku looked over and saw Aizawa's eyes starting to close.
The Winged Nomu let out a ferocious howl as it charged the two, its claws swiping wildly in an attempt to hit them.
Acting with years of training, Ryukyu shifted to her dragon form and caught the creature, her claws wrapping around its arms as she fought a battle of strength to hold it in place.
"Whatever your plan is, act fast," the hero called.
Ochako bobbed her head and charged, preparing to touch the creature and activate Zero Gravity…
…When a sudden explosion rocked the creature, nearly blasting its head off.
"I knew it!" Baukgo yelled as he continued skyward from behind the winged Nomu. "You can't handle something like this. Let me show you how it's done!"
At the apex of his jump, Bakugo fired another explosion behind him, launching himself down toward the Nomu.
However, he failed to notice one important detail. The initial explosion also threw Ryukyu off balance.
With a defiant roar, the creature tore its arms free from the grip of the hero and lashed out. Time seemed to slow as Ochako raised her arm and fired a cable to pull her classmate to safety. The cable moved far too slowly compared to the Nomu, and Ochako had to watch in horror as the creature's claws tore into Bakugo's arm and leg, tearing flesh and exposing bone.
"No!" Ochako yelled as she saw her cable wrap around her classmate. Letting her training take over, she pulled him toward her, launching herself forward to catch him midair before landing on the other side of the creature.
"Damn it, what the hell is that thing!" Katsuki said weakly as he gripped his arm.
"Stay here," Ochako said as she gently set him on the ground. Looking up, she saw heroes already making their way toward them. "Help will be here soon."
"What the hell do you think you're gonna do against that?"
"I'm gonna stop it."
Wrapping herself in One For All, Ochako charged at the Nomu. She saw its claws coming for her, but Ryukyu managed to recover, grabbing the creature's claws.
"Why don't you take on someone your own size?" the heroine roared as she gave her student an opening.
Landing next to her mentor, Ochako reeled back and threw a punch at the Nomu's side. As her fist traveled, she opened it at the last second, swiftly transitioning to a palm strike. She felt her quirk activate as she made the connection, removing the creature's gravity. At the same time, the One For All-powered strike did its job and sent the Nomu flying, causing it to crash into a building.
Not wasting any time, Ochako launched herself toward the abandoned building, releasing her quirk in midair and freeing herself to use it a second time. Landing on one of the upper floors, Ochako pressed all ten digits to the floor of the building, increasing its gravity.
She felt her stomach rolling under the efforts, but the groan of metal and crack of concrete let her know she was doing her job as the already-damaged building collapsed under its own weight. With a satisfied smile, Ochako launched herself out a window, landing on the ground as she watched the building collapse.
Izuku fought against Tomura, his rage and grief overriding his sense of self until that fateful moment when his opponent managed to lay a hand on him. He couldn't do anything but watch helplessly as One For All raged, like a brilliant light sparking in defiance as his arm crumbled to dust…
In a brief moment of panic, Izuku shoved Tomura away from him, refusing to give the villain an opening.
He made a promise to so many people that he would come home.
Tomura's arm stretched out menacingly as he fell backward, only for a black portal to open up beneath him. As he watched, he saw his cousin crash into the ground next to Homura and slowly stand up.
"Shit," Izuku swore as he watched the woman reach out. And once again, Tomura began to glow with an orange aura.
The Nomu Woman's liquid-like tendrils fought to pull All Might through the portals; however, it took only a moment for him to figure out the relative strength of the tendrils and reach a stalemate with the creature. He knew that he was their real target and hoped that the few seconds he bought was enough.
He felt his smile widen as he saw Izuku use the opening to grab Tomura, carting him skyward.
However, his brief moment of elation was fleeting.
Without warning, he suddenly saw an orange glow reappear around the tendrils, and he felt himself pulled forward. His years of training were enough to keep him from stumbling into the portal, but it was far closer than he would have liked.
"Eraser-"
"I can't see her," Aizawa shouted as he moved; his eyes scanned the battlefield for Homura.
All Might was so focused on trying to keep the Nomu restrained that he almost missed the second orange blur as it charged towards him. Knowing that getting touched was likely a death sentence, he pulled himself free, freeing the Nomu Woman as he dodged Tomura's touch.
"Damn it, he's faster than we thought," Tomura complained. He watched his ultimate target flee halfway across the plaza. "Very well then, how about I get rid of the annoying debuffer in the meantime."
He knew he only had one shot to hit All Might before Eraserhead Erased his quirk, but at the speed he was moving, he didn't need his quirk to take down the hero. Turning, he saw Eraserhead's hair was raised in his 'tell' that he had activated his quirk.
"Yes, I think it's time to deal with the debuffer."
Tomura charged, closing the distance in less than a second as he threw what he thought was a lethal punch. Unfortunately, that was enough time to prepare for him, and he felt his fist hit the hero's signature binding cloth, which tightened around him before slamming him into the ground.
Tomura didn't waste any time getting back up and charging again. The hero raised his arm to block, but it wasn't enough. As Tomura's fist hit his foe's elbow, he felt the bone crack from the speed of the impact. Throwing another wild punch, he felt the elbow shatter completely, his arm going limp at his side.
The hero was annoyingly persistent in not letting pain slow him down and hopped backwards, giving him some breathing room as he attempted to use his capture scarf a second time. Laughing at the hero's vain effort, Tomura easily dodged the scarf-
-only to find himself suddenly frozen to the ground.
"You got him!" Himiko cheered as she saw Shoto's wave of ice trap the villain.
"Sometimes the brute force approach does work," Shoto said flatly as he walked toward his teacher.
"Damn it," Tomura hissed, "you're not supposed to be here! Where's the minions to help with the mid-bosses?!"
"We've taken care of two of them," Izuku said as he landed next to his cousin, already pulling out capture tape to restrain him. "And now we only have one left."
Shoto turned and saw what Izuku was talking about - a mere ten meters away, there was an area filled with a mixture of black fog and orange-and-black tendrils.
"It's over," All Might said as he approached the mass. "Your final Nomu isn't enough to-"
"Give my brother back!" They heard Homura shriek from inside the shadows.
Suddenly and without warning, they saw the mass of tendrils reform into spikes and explode outward.
Izuku didn't have time to process what he just heard as he saw the spikes coming directly towards him - and Tomura. Despite everything, he didn't want to see his cousin die. Letting his instincts take over, he stepped in front of the villain and summoned One For All, feeling the sharp spikes as they impacted against him.
Behind him, Shoto had summoned an Ice Wall, protecting himself as well as Himiko and their teacher. He stared impassively through the prism as he watched All Might make his final move.
Refusing to be phased by the attack, All Might charged forward, the attack barely slowing him down as he wound up a punch.
"California Smash!"
Releasing his punch at the edge of the bubble, he watched as the smoke was blasted away to reveal Homura, Kurogiri, and the Nomu Woman. The Nomu looked like she was missing the lower half of her body thanks to the attack as she held herself upright on the ground. Unfortunately, All Might could tell that would be short lived as she was already beginning to regrow her lower half.
And Homura had lost all of her previous composure, staring daggers at All Might.
"Why won't you just die?!" she screamed. She looked like she was ready to charge All Might herself and take him on but was stopped when Kurogiri touched her shoulder.
"We must go. We've already lost."
"But Tomura-"
"I'll retrieve him."
"Very well." Homura seemed to regain her composure slightly. "Save as many as you can."
Seeing the black portal appear, All Might charged only to feel the Nomu Woman slam into him. While she wasn't a threat, the moment's distraction was enough for Homura to enter the portal and disappear.
Take this! Aika threw a leaping punch at her opponent.
Her eyes going wide, her opponent leaped out of the way, allowing one of her companions - a large, muscular man wearing a skullcap and mask that hid his entire face except for his eyebrows. Raising her arms, Aika blocked the first attack.
This guy's strong, but I've had to deal with Mido and Raka's attacks! He's got nothing on them.
Several swift punches and one well-timed elbow later and her opponent was down for the count. She began looking for her true opponent when she heard a loud crash and felt the ground beneath her feet rumbling. She hoped that wasn't a bad thing.
"Holy crap! Uraraka just dropped a building on a villain!" Kirishima exclaimed from behind her.
Ok. Good thing! Aika clenched her fists tightly. And if Raka's fighting that hard, I can't lose here either!
"What kind of heroes are we up against?!" the woman exclaimed.
"We're class 1-A!" Aika exclaimed. "And we won't lose to the likes of you!"
Charging forward, Aika activated her quirk as the woman fired another sonic bolt at her. She crossed her arms and felt the impact, but refused to slow down! Pushing onward, she finally made it inside the girl's range and threw a punch.
"Aaah!" the woman cried out as she raised her own arm to block. She appeared to have some martial arts training, but her technique was crude and slow compared to the people Aika had been training against, and soon, she stumbled backward, falling on her butt.
Standing over her, Aika knew she should finish the job - that she had seconds to knock her out before another villain was on top of her.
But…
There was something about the woman's song that bothered her.
Taking a risk, Aika stopped singing.
"Your song's beautiful," Aika said.
"What?" the woman asked in disbelief. "What are you, stupid?"
Aika shook her head. "No! You've got a wonderful song. I've heard it here! You shouldn't waste it on destruction!"
"What do you know," the girl asked bitterly.
"I don't know a lot," Aika admitted. "But one thing I know is music!"
The woman on the ground gave her an angry scowl. "Well then, let me open your eyes."
Aika's eyes went wide as she saw the woman had a grenade in her hands. When did she get that?! She began to sing, hoping her quirk would come up in time.
Then she felt the wave of heat as the grenade detonated, its explosion sending her flying where she landed on her back.
"Oww…"
"Shizu!" Despite the ringing in her ears, she saw Kirishima standing in front of her, standing defiantly against their opponents.
"You're so naive, it's laughable," the woman said as she stood up. "Open your damn eyes."
"I-" Aika coughed. "If believing in people makes me naive, then I'll keep my eyes shut!"
The woman scowled and looked ready to attack when a cloudy portal opened up next to her.
"Tsukiko, it's time to go," a voice called out from the other side of the portal.
"Grr, fine." The woman lowered her hands and turned away.
Thinking fast, Aika pushed herself to her feet. "Aika!"
"What?" The woman froze, her gaze turning toward her opponents.
"Your name's Tsukiko, right? Well I'm Aika! Aika Shizu!"
"I don't care," the woman spat.
"But I do! I won't stop believing in people." Akia threw her hand out defiantly. "And I will stop you!"
"Fine! I can't wait until I crush you," Tsukiko replied before she ran through the portal.
Aika watched as the portal closed behind the woman, leaving a waft of smoke behind before that too disappeared. Quickly scanning the battlefield, she saw all of the remaining villains had fled, leaving the unconscious villains behind. In the distance, she heard heroes shouting as they moved to help. But she didn't understand why everything was starting to feel so hazy and far away.
"That was so-" Kirishima started as he turned around, just in time to see Aika collapse on the ground.
Returning as quickly as she could, she saw Ryukyu hovering over Bakugo as an Ectoplasm clone approached. Spotting the first aid kit in the clone's hands, she dashed forward, taking it from him.
"There's still fighting in the ruins," Ochako mumbled out. "We can handle it from here."
The clone looked like it was about to protest until Ryukyu gave him a look and a single nod. Deciding not to argue, he left. Not bothering to watch him go, Ochako knelt next to her mentor, already opening the kit and pulling out gauze and salve.
"He'll live," Ryukyu said as she took the supplies. "The scars are gonna be bad though."
"Why did he have to attack the Nomu…" Ochako cursed under her breath.
"He was trying to be a hero, just like you were," Ryukyu said softly. "He wanted to help."
Ochako scoffed. "Some help - he's been nothing but a pain in the ass ever since class started."
"Sounds like some heroes I know. Japan's already got Endeavor after all." Ryukyu smirked as she returned to working. "Weren't you the ones talking about thousands of pillars?"
Ochako laughed. "I didn't think we were that desperate." Letting out a resigned sigh, she watched the hero working. "What do you need me to do?"
"Apply pressure here," the hero indicated his freshly-wrapped arm wounds. Shifting position, Ochako took her mentor's place and began to apply pressure while Ryukyu began to wrap his legs.
As she stared at Bakugo's pale face, Ochako frowned.
I'll never forgive you for what you've done. But Ryukyu's right. Japan needs all the heroes it can get.
Will you actually step up when it really matters?
Izuku slowly lowered his arms, feeling the pain in his shoulders and legs from where the spikes hit him. Thankfully his costume took the brunt of it. Fortunately for him, his gauntlets and boots were designed to contain One For All's destructive power, and biological spikes weren't enough to compete.
Turning around, his eyes widened as he saw a black portal appear on the ground underneath Tomura - they were trying to escape! Taking a risk, he threw a single Blackwhip tendril, catching his cousin's legs and pulling him away from the portal.
"Ow- what are you-" Tomura complained before he slammed into the ground.
Worried, Izuku hurried over to assess the damage. He could've really hurt him! As he knelt, he saw that the villain's legs were fine. He had done it! It wasn't much, but for one moment, he managed to get Blackwhip under control.
Unfortunately, they only captured one of their targets, and Izuku couldn't help but mull over Homura's words…
She was Tomura's sister.
He had another cousin.