The Ruins Zone

Itsuka stumbled, desperately trying to pull herself up. This man, this villain, waited patiently for her to return to her feet.

"You can surrender anytime now," she spat out, "but I need your name to give the police when they find you after I beat your ass."

He smiled a big toothy grin, "Anvil."

"Yeah, that checks out," She stood again, leaning against the wall. "Ok, ready for that ass beating," He nodded, raising his fists. She went to move forward, but her body collapsed.

"That is enough, Anvil," a woman's voice rang out. Itsuka lifted her head, and a woman stepped out of a doorway; she was wearing a black lace gown with a sweetheart bust line, and embroidered lace ran along her arms; her porcelain white skin shone through from underneath; it was an almost unnatural white, the only source of color was her red nails and ruby lips. Most of her face was hidden by a veil; her long black hair seemed made of shadow black cascaded out down her back just above the ground, and the tips were stark white, the same as her skin. They collected like dagger points, perfectly grouped.

"Yes, most holy," the man known as Anvil said.

"Miss?" the woman's hypnotic voice rang out.

Ojiro came crashing to the ground unconscious as his opponent landed gently. "Yes, most holy,"

"Enough playing," the woman chastised,

"You all should give up once I get my second wind…"Itsuka clawed towards Ojiro, putting her body between them.

"I see it now," Miss said quietly.

Itsuka was losing her battle as darkness began encroaching on her mind; she saw the woman approach and crouch near Itsuka. "Now listen carefully…"

-The USJ-

Niren struggled to his feet, as did Pony, gritting her teeth through the pain of her broken leg. She was not about to die, or worse, happen while she lay on her back. She was going to go down swinging just like her parents taught her. Reiko was by her side, watching as villains retook the field and the enemies' reinforcements came through.

With a mighty leap, Tsu landed beside her broken homeroom teacher; she heard him mutter about getting away. "Sir, that is not an option anymore," she struggled to lift the man to his feet when she managed to get back to Vlad and Tetsu as they retreated to the stairs. Denki appeared next to them with Hiryu; Denki moved to help Tsu, freeing Tetsu to take up the defense with Vlad.

Ochaco and Niren came from the top of the stairs, negating Aizwa's gravity and allowing him to be more easily transported.

Shigaraki stared sadistically at the small group of students, "Today is the day that you die for placing your faith in a system that has blinded you from the truth. Bring me their bodies!"

The villains grinned as they began their advance. Shigaraki didn't see the attack that yanked him into the air; suddenly, vines wrapped around his waist and threw him high. The Nomu spun, witnessing the group coming from behind; he saw Shigaraki airborne and went to catch his master, only for his legs to be suddenly encased in ice.

The villains about to attack began to scream, and 55-gallon drums and barricades rained down on them with the students from the Windstorm Zone's arrival. Jurota let loose a war cry as he came leaping over the railing and crashing down into the middle of them. Like before, Dark Shadow positioned at his back as they ripped violently at the surrounding villains.

Using the element of surprise, the rest of the students began to arrive, and an avalanche of violence descended upon the villains; their screams filled the air. Ejiro waded into battle side by side with Togaru; he didn't know what to think; he had been so wrapped up in his hatred for Izuku and, by extension, 1-B that he had been prepared to write them off. Yet, on the battlefield, he saw his other classmates, even those who shared his opinion, wading into battle next to those who had been prepared to write off.

He then saw him, Izuku Midoriya, the boy rushing in the point of a spear with Momo and Kyoka at his flanks as they waded into the battle. A simple but vicious brutality was displayed as he knocked down a villain. The girls would remedy that situation violently if that villain were not unconscious.

Setsuna took the air, relaying as much as she could to her group as she went to grab the makeshift stretcher that bore Kosei to get him to the doors where the other injured were being guarded as the battle in the plaza was raging.

There were so many villains that they couldn't be held in one area; those that slipped past thought those by the door would be easy pickings, only to find that those who had stayed up there were ready for their attack.

Shoto sneered at the monster he had encased, "You are done for the monster!" Bondo and he watched in horror as the Monster ripped its legs clean off to escape the ice; their horror intensified as they saw the torn limbs begin to regrow. Bondo launched his quirk at the thing's arms only to see the same thing.

"It has such powerful regeneration; how do we stop it!" Bondo yelled, backing away.

"Put me down," Toru said to Neito, who was trying to move around the edges to get her to safety.

"But you hurt!" he protested.

"And if we don't figure a way out of this, I am going to be dead, along with many other people," Toru said, quivering slightly. "If we are going to die, I want to die doing Hero Shit!"

Neito smiled, "Then let's go do Hero Shit!" he set her down. He heard her start to move away. "Don't die, Toru."

"You neither, Neito!" she called as she slank off to add more mayhem to the enemy's back lines.

Shigaraki was airborne when something emerged from his shadow, and with a mighty double axe handle smash, he crashed back into the ground. Shihai quickly retreated after his attack; as his group joined the battle, they saw the Monster ripping limbs away as it seemed almost desperate to get at Bondo and Shoto.

Mina ran forward and sprayed the thing with acid. It didn't scream, but she saw its flesh melt only to regrow; the monster fell through a portal only to appear a few feet away, fully healed. They didn't see it coming; a sense of self-preservation allowed some of them to guard. Mina got her hands up, but a massive blow still shattered one of her horns and sent her flying, her orbital socket broken.

Mezo could block part of the blow to his ribs, though they still cracked. His other arms sprang forth, trapping the limb against his body. When the other arm went to tear the boy apart, Sero's tape jumped forth, binding it to the ground. Ibara's vines grabbed the beast's legs. She screamed in pain as they pulled the beast to the ground, and they tore from her head. Shoto leaped forward and encased the creature in ice, pinning it to the ground and rendering it unable to move; only its head was freely pressed into the ground.

Shigaraki sprang to his feet as Kurogiri began to summon a portal to free their Monster. Fire erupted around Kurogiri. The mist villain screamed and fell back as staff flew, tangling Shigaraki's legs and sending him tumbling to the floor.

Shigaraki rolled and found a Halbred pointed at him and a sword wielded by two girls.

"Call them off!" a green-haired boy said as he picked up the staff that had knocked him to the ground.

"Stupid Mobs," Shigaraki growled; he kiped up, intentionally leaning into the Halberd to take the stab, throwing Momo off guard. His hand grabbed the blade, destroying it in an instant, and he kicked her in the gut. He spun narrowly, avoiding a sword swipe from Kyoka; when his hand flashed out to grab the girl by the face, Izuku impaled it. The villain grits his teeth through the pain, his free hand falling on the staff. It began to disintegrate; Izuku felt a pain in his chest as he watched his master's weapon disappear.

Kurogiri bit through the pain and opened a portal under the Monster; once able to move again, it tore its limbs free and landed on its feet, the ground shaking as it did. The students were nothing but dolls for it to toss around like toys.

Neito began to panic, but he knew he had to get them out of there before they died. He leaped on the Kurogiri in a frenzy to try and touch the man to copy his quirk; he grit his teeth and plunged his fingers into the shadow villain's eyes. He needed a target, and he needed to negate the villain at the same time. Kurogiri screamed as the boy's thumbs found their way home.

The Monster was about to crush Mina, who had been thrown into Mezo and Ibara, when a portal opened underneath them, dropping them by the doors. Neito felt like his head was about to explode from all the quirk usage, but he pushed through. It's just another scar; I can bear it for my class.

Shigaraki saw his targets falling into portals to safety. The rest of the student body rallied, desperately driving their attackers back. They could no longer try to disable them; the students were fighting for their lives. Desperation and watching more and more of their classmates took its toll. They began to snap, and the violence of the assault began to spread chaos through the villains.

Jurota broke the knife blade that was protruding from his gut; he reached down and, with a massive roar, tore the arms off the villain who had stabbed him. Yui was running out of things to disrupt the villains; instead, she leaped on one, savagely beating the villain until it stopped moving. Ejiro saw the blood bath beginning. The rage and fear were seeping out, infecting all it touched.

He didn't see the massive hammer that came crashing into his back, driving him to the floor, his hardened form cracking. He rolled onto his back and managed to deflect the blow aimed at his head, his arms cracking under the blow. The villain was a man who was slight in stature but had massively muscular ape-like arms. Without losing momentum, the hammer was high over his head and ready to come crashing down again.

Togaru saw the boy from 1-A fall as he ducked under a villain's attack; the villain's nails had grown long and black, sharp as razors when they ripped him across the chest and back. All Togaru's life, he had had to learn how to deal with cuts, how to fight with blades and not kill, not cut people down or end their lives. Add on his mutation, and his life had been one that carried a long, hard road to get where he was. He saw it all: his classmates and allies being hurt, the brutality they were not using to stay alive. When the villains would collapse upon a student, they were in a frenzy of violence and ill intentions. Clothing was being ripped and clawed at, and Reiko pulled the eyes out to villains that had descended upon her and Pony.

Togaru watched as the Monster had sent his allies flying through the air. It was all devolving so quickly. He then felt the burning from the wounds; he saw the unmistakable liquid glint in the light from his opponent's claws, the poison of some sort. He saw Ejiro fall; he saw the incredible blows from the hammer cracking and chipping the boy's body. Togaru knew how not to kill because he had also learned to do so. He could only think of his family, his little sister receiving the news that he was dead. He knew that he had to make it home to them; he had to make it out of this damn place.

When the attack came, he deflected with one blade as another formed on his elbow; the shower of sparks from the blades clashing gave him a clear look into his opponent's eyes. He saw no remorse, no sorrow, only a desire for blood and death. He gave them that; he spun past the attack, and the blade sprang from his elbow as he did. It traced across the villain's throat, severing everything but the spinal cord.

The world began to darken as the burning sensation was now everywhere, flooding his body. He continued his momentum; the blade scraped across the floor as he raised it in a rising slash. The Hammer Villain's arms were descending, ready to turn Ejiro into rubble; the sound of the blade, the flash of light as he saw it come into view, he saw the cut up and throw the villain's arms just above the elbows, severing them. Blood sprayed across Ejiro as he saw Togaru stumble and fall to the ground.

Shigaraki watched as he saw Kurogiri fall; he turned and reached to end the threat of the Kyoka. She fell back out of reach, but he grabbed her jack, and she screamed as she disappeared in his hand. He sneered as he was ready to fall upon her when a massive black sword removed his hand from his body, and a baseball bat cracked against his skull, sending him toppling to the side. Momo just punted the severed hand away as Kyoko pulled a knife and cut her ear cord just from the lob. As the decay was running up the line.

Shigaraki couldn't focus; his head had been cracked, he had lost a hand, and he screamed nonsense about the state of heroes. He didn't even see the massive black blade coming for his head; the Monster did. Izuku saw movement; he could place the blade flat to block the attack. It was what saved his life as he was knocked away and into the wall.

Reiko reached out with her quirk and yanked Izuku to the side as the Monster's Next attack would have splattered him. Nieto ran, seeing the severed hand; he prayed, and when he grabbed it, he knew what needed to be done. Toru lifted a baton that had been discarded to the side and wadded into the villains with brutal efficiency to find soft spots and spots that were not so soft, but after she was done, they were. Especially knee caps

He saw Shoto making it back to his feet. "Shoto, freeze it. I need to touch it." It was all in slow motion; as Shoto sent a wave of ice at the monster, Neito dived into a portal before dropping the mist villain's quirk and taking on Shigaraki's.

Shigaraki saw a portal open above the Nomu, and a blonde-haired boy in a ripped and battered suit came diving out; he saw the boy land on the anti-All-Might's shoulders. Neito grits his teeth and grabs the monster's exposed brain, activating the quirk. The monster's scream froze everyone on the battlefield as Decay went to work against the monster's Regeneration. The beast brought its massive fists up to squash Neito. The great black sword managed to cut one limb off, but Izuku stumbled and could not stop the second arm. It came up and just crashed into Neito's stomach cavity.

Blood flew from Neito's mouth; the quirk faltered; he could feel it. Ejiro was there, and with the mighty swing of one Togaru's blade, it bite deep into the monster's other arm. It screamed again, thrashing violently this way and that; Ejiro was thrown to the ground. "HERO SHIT!" Neito roared as he poured every ounce of his being into the quirk. All he had, with his last breath, was to end this monster.

Shoto saw the fight between this Monster regeneration and what every Neito was trying; he saw the massive fist inside the boy's body and then heard the cry as he saw someone willing to lay it all, to give everything for what he believed in. He wasn't even aware he did it as the pillar of flame exploded next to the beast, severing the other arm. It was a white-hot flame; it consumed the arm, and where it had cut the arm from the monster, it would not grow back.

Shigaraki, foaming at the mouth, blood pouring from the stump where one of his hands once was, was not about to let this raid end this way. He stumbled, reaching for Neito; the Nomu was not on its knees as it lost the Decay battle. Izuku saw him coming and went for Neito. He tried to move, but his body was a wreck from the Monster hit.

"FUCKING DIE YOU MOB!" Shigaraki yelled. Reiko's quirk flared out, yanking Shigaraki's hand out and away as a shot echoed in the USJ.

Shigaraki looked down at his chest and saw the blood begin to ooze out as his brain told him he had been shot. His eyes trailed up; there was Momo; she was holding a revolver in her hand, the barrel smoking. She fired again; it hit home. Shigaraki stumbled again as another shot rang, then another. He fell to his knees. His life is ebbing away. He looked down at his chest, then looked to the Nomu as it turned to ash, the blonde falling to the floor as he saw the gaping hole in the boy's side.

"No…it…I…" he coughed as blood came from his mouth, his lungs filling with blood. "Kill…All…Might…the League…"

"Is over," Momo's voice rang out over the silent battlefield. The next shot rang out, but it didn't hit him in the chest; instead, it would have pierced his brain. Shigaraki and Kurogiri fell into portals, but unlike the purple smoke, these were like a black oil-like substance. Neito fell to the ground, and as Izuku stumbled toward him, he saw tears in his classmate's eyes.

"Do you think it will be a good scar," Neito said as Izuku cradled him in his arms.

"It is going to be amazing, now hold on, ok. I need you to hold on, Neito," Izuku's voice broke as he fought back tears.

"There is a hole in me; I don't think there are enough bandages for that," Neito said with a smile.

"That's right, but I have something better than bandages," they turned to see Kinoko coming towards them, the air filling with spores that drifted down onto everyone. She smiled as they invaded the open wounds. She activated her quirk; the wound on his side was closed. "Mushrooms will save us all." Kinoko threw her arms in the air as her eyes rolled back, and she fell to the ground unconscious.

Kosei began to cough as his eyes opened, and mushrooms erupted from his stomach cavity. All over their wound, mushrooms sprouted; Togaru, who suddenly felt better, sat up and saw mushrooms sprouting from his chest; the poison neutralized, and the bleeding stopped.

The door to the USJ exploded as the faculty came storming in. The remaining villains just surrendered, the students too stunned to move, too broken to react. Izuku looked at the mushrooms sprouting all over him and everyone. "Quirks are bullshit," Izuku muttered.

After the faculty had given the signal, third years began to flood the area, taking villains into custody, moving students, and aiding the first responders as the mushroom plugs were great and all the underlying problems were still there. Being disemboweled was not magically fixed by mushrooms, but it gave the medical professionals a chance that wouldn't have been there without them.

All-Might looked upon the haunted faces of the heroic class, students and teachers being evacuated to attempt to save their lives. He heard some of the mummers from the students; this attack had happened in an attempt to kill him. These children had suffered through this because someone was trying to get to them. What if they had succeeded? One for All would have died with him. He needed to find a successor and was required to do so quickly.

The medical wing at the U.A. was well known for its state-of-the-art technology and top-notch staff, consisting of Recovery Girl and a few nurses. That was what the people knew; what wasn't known was the state-of-the-art trauma center under the medical wing and the dozens of Doctors and Nurses that staffed it in times of emergency. That emergency call had gone out as soon as Ida had come to the doorstep.

Emergency surgeries were underway within minutes of the wounded arrival. Everyone would be staying the night in the medical wing; not a single soul that boarded that bus was going home tonight or was in any condition to do so.

Nezu looked over the first years with rage, horror, and sympathy, with a helping of wrath. He knew that you have restrictions upon yourself when you go into a battle, lines you won't cross. Then, as the struggle continues and situations worsen, you begin to cross those lines to come home alive. Self-Preservation is a mother fucker. They were exhausted, wounded, and trying not to let the silence drive them mad because when it was silent, your mind would begin to question all the things you did to be able to lie in a bed tonight.

They would fall asleep, awake screaming, ready to fight, calling out for another student. He knew that not all would make it, that not only was U.A.'s reputation about to be dealt a significant blow, but the first-year hero course would never be the same.

Nezu was unique; there was nothing like him in this world. He would never marry, nor would he have children of his own. At least not again. He had a mate and offspring once upon a time; they didn't have names, but he could see them when he slept. See them and feel the love for them; he didn't know it was love then; he was too primitive. But he remembered what it was like when they were taken out of the cage and never returned. He made one of the scientists tell him how they died before Nezu killed him.

Someone had come into his home and tried to make him feel that loss again. What made Nezu so dangerous was when he focused on a single thing, a single idea. That idea today was revenge.

-Ejiro-

Of all the fucking luck, I am in goddamn bed next to this mother fucker!" he thought. He glanced over to see Izuku wake up and look around before settling back down. "Hey, would you tell me the truth if I asked you a question?" Ejiro finally said, using the buttons on the bed to bring himself to a sitting position; his arms were cast, as well as his chest.

Izuku looked at him, "Sure, I highly doubt you will believe me since you hate me."

"What?... I came in and apologized," Ejiro deflected.

"Look, your mouth said one thing, but your eyes said something else," Izuku said, still looking at the ceiling tiles. "Also, I know the look of hate; I have seen it enough to recognize it. You are not very good at hiding it."

"Why did you provoke Bakugo?" Ejiro said.

"I didn't; I hadn't seen Bakugo in over a decade," Izuku paused momentarily. "We knew each other when we were kids, same kindergarten kind of bullshit; when my quirk didn't come in, we stopped being friends. He felt this one time, and I offered to help him up. Yeah, yeah, that didn't go well."

"Your lying?" Ejiro said, clinging to the story he had made up.

"Why would I fucking lie?" Izuku said. "So you would like me? I could care less if you do or don't. Did you like to grow up with him or something?"

"No, I met him the first day," Ejiro said quickly.

"Then why are you clinging to this idea that he was a good person and not some piece of shit," Izuku sat up and looked at Ejiro. "Was it love at first sight or something? I have seen the videos he was talking shit to everyone; he called you shitty hair and told you to shut up."

"No, I wasn't in love with him," Ejiro stopped and thought about it. "He was just cool, I guess; he was confident, his quirk kicked ass. I thought that he would be a good hero someday."

"I would say you are stupid, but I know what you had to score to get into this school," Izuku replied.

"Fuck you!"

"So, let's just say in the 12 hours you knew and interacted with him, did you ever see me near him?"

"No," Ejiro said with a slight sulk.

"I didn't get a smartphone till after the fight, so that I couldn't have texted him. The last time I saw him, there was no way I would have had his phone number, and that was when my parents died and I moved. So genius, when did I talk to him." Izuku said. "You can say before or after the first day of school, but he seemed rather surprised to see me, so that would be a no, and obviously that meant we didn't bump into each other during the exam."

Ejiro wanted to retort, to keep the story he had fabricated in his head. "Yeah, but his quirk?"

"What about it? I kicked his ass; I could kick a lot of my class and your class's ass, but not all of them, no way," Izuku said with such confidence and tone that it came across as fact. "If I got the drop, then maybe, but straight up head to head, nope. I couldn't beat you without seriously hurting you with my sword."

"Your sword couldn't do shit to me!" Ejiro said defensively.

"Yeah, you can think that, but I would put it to the test if I were you," Izuku said with a shrug. "Bakugo has a powerful quirk, but he is all about beating the shit of villains. You have a great quirk for a hero, and so do many of your classmates."

Ejiro paused, and Izuku continued, "Look, man, I am quirkless; Bakugo attacked me for that reason. You probably don't like me for the same reason."

"Fuck you, man, I am not a quirkiest," Ejiro said, his anger rising.

"You and everyone around have a dream of being a hero, of being the next All-Might?"

"Yeah, so?" Ejiro said.

"So what happens when someone without a quirk can do the same thing and, in the case of some of you, better than you," Izuku said; he could see Ejiro about to respond. "Without your quirk, I would beat your ass because I have trained harder than you. I want to be a hero to show the world that anyone can be a hero, no matter their quirk, they can be a hero."

"I bet you I would bet you in the fight," Ejiro said.

"When we get out of here, I know a gym we can go to test that out, no quirk," Izuku said. "But we are getting off track. Bakugo attacked a quirkless kid and girl trying to check on his classmate; why?"

"I don't know…." Ejiro said.

"If Bakugo's whole identity is built around how he will be this amazing hero because he has this amazing quirk. What will happen when someone without a quirk also becomes a hero?" Izuku just stared at Ejiro. The other kids in the room were just quiet.

"You provoked him to weaken our class?" Ejiro grasped at his last line of defense.

"For what?" Izuku said, incredibly confused.

"So you can score higher in the Sports Festival or other team things," Ejiro responded confidently.

"Sweet Baby Jesus give me strength," Izuku said, looking to the ceiling. "I just need to graduate; your class means nothing to me. Before you say something about Kyoka and them, I offered to help them so they could stay in school. That is the dumbest fucking thing I ever heard. When I talked to Kyoka about training, there were supposed to be two guys, but they said no."

Ejiro stared at Izuku, "Listen, Ejiro, you need to figure out why you latched onto this image of Bakugo. Look at the facts, then make up your mind. You can hate me, I don't fucking care, you don't have to like me, I don't like you. All I need from you is to know that once I graduate, assuming you do the same, I can trust you to have my back in the field. That's it. So let me know, and if you want to fight, let me know that too."