King of Enchanters

by E-LuckArcher

AU. Izuku was born with a quirk, one that at first appeared to be a simple energy generation one. However, Izuku's desire for a true friend leads him to discover that his quirk is much more versatile than that. Watch as Izuku becomes the greatest Hero in history, enchanting his way to the top. POLY. AU

10. Chapter 10

Special thanks to Primordial Vortex, The Sinful, Salante, and Sparkydragon98 for Beta.

Disclaimer: I don't own My Hero Academia or any related content.

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Then, the lights all over the dome began to flicker before they started breaking. The entire dome was dark now, only illuminated by the small amount of light that filtered from the outside. Something is wrong, thought Izuku before everyone heard some kind of swishing sound. As if sand was swirling in place. They turned around to the centre plaza, seeing a swirl of dark mist appear, expanding rapidly and from within it. Several strangely clothed people appeared.

From the centre of the dark portal, a man covered in severed hands walked out. Only thing showing from his face was the hate-filled poisonous red eyes. Alongside him was a huge humanoid creature with a beak and exposed brain. Several other purple-skinned mutated creatures of various sizes and shapes moved to join them and the others.

Izuku's eyes narrowed at the villains—for they could only be villains—figuring out that the hand-dude and the creatures were the most dangerous-looking among them.

"W-What is this?" Mina asked, her voice breaking, and Izuku felt someone grab his costume.

He looked at his classmates and saw that everyone was pale, shaking and frozen in place from the malice, hate, and bloodlust that was rolling from the villains in waves. Izuku realised that he'd be the same if it hadn't been for the fact that he faced several villains already in the past.

His classmates were only broken out of their frozen state when Aizawa rushed. "Miruko, protect the students." He exclaimed loudly as his scarf started coming undone. "These are VILLAINS!"

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"No way! What Villains would be dumb enough to sneak into a Hero School?!" someone yelled out. Izuku wasn't paying much attention to it.

"Sensei, aren't there intruder sensors?" Momo asked Aizawa.

"Yes, of course!" He was ready to leap into the action. "Clearly though, they're not working for one reason or another." He growled out, looking at Miruko. "Miruko. Make sure the students leave safely and come assist me."

Miruko grumbled but nodded. "Leave some for me," she said darkly.

"I can't contact the main campus!" Kaminari yelled, his face twisted in worry. "Someone must be messing with my own quirk."

Izuku watched, eyes narrowed, as more villains poured out of the dark fog. He recognised some of them as small-time villains, but even if they were all D-Rank villains, their numbers would still pose a lot of problems.

But they aren't all small timers, thought Izuku ruefully. The creatures—for they didn't feel human—were strong for sure, as was the one with hands on his body. No one who went around with severed hands on his body was anywhere near sane. And insane could prove really dangerous.

"Sensei, you can't fight them alone!" yelled Kinoko just when Aizawa was about to jump. Izuku noticed that no more villains appeared, and the black fog was nowhere to be seen.

"She's right," agreed Izuku. "Against this many villains… Even you can't nullify all of their quirks. A head-on battle isn't something you're used to."

Aizawa turned to look at Izuku from over his shoulder. "No good hero is a one-trick pony." As he said that, he jumped, clearing the first flight of stairs easily before jumping again, getting closer to the centre of the plaza.

"Now, brats," shouted Miruko, getting their attention. "Hurry up and evacuate so I can join in the ass-kicking!" She grinned widely, her bloodlust showing on her expression.

Izuku wanted to join and help his teachers, but just because he fought against a villain or two, it didn't make him a Pro. He'd most likely end up in the way, as much as he hated it.

"I won't allow that!" A deep, guttural voice, like its owner hadn't spoken in years, reached their ears as a massive swirl of black fog blocked their exit.

"Greetings," it said, two luminous eyes appeared in the fog and it morphed into a vague humanoid appearance. "We are the League of Villains. I hope you'll forgive our audacity, but we are here today in U.A…" Several students shivered in fear at his tone, and Izuku stepped in front of Kinoko seeing that. "To end the life of All Might, the Symbol of Peace."

Ice crept upon their spines as they processed the words. The idea seemed ridiculous, but the sheer confidence and utter certainty the words were said caused doubt in their minds.

Miruko appeared in front of the man, leg poised to break him in half.

"Futile," he said and black fog surged from his body and engulfed Miruko.

"Miruko!" His wand was in his hand, brain racing to think of something that would help. The fog scattered, and Miruko was nowhere to be found.

Someone screamed, and everyone froze as they watched a top Pro Hero seemingly simply vanish.

"We were under the impression that All Might would be here today, but… it seems that his schedule has been revised?" What the villain said caught Izuku's attention. So they have inside information then. How much do they know? "No matter… My task remains unchanged."

Izuku's eyes widened. "Everyone, get back!"

His shout came too late as the black fog rushed like a tsunami, expanding to surround them all before closing on them. All Izuku saw was pitch-black darkness.

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He watched as the unknown Hero landed in front of his minions.

"Ranged Squad, let's move!" One villain with what seemed like barrels on his fingers pointed at the Hero. Shigaraki didn't know his name since he wasn't interested in low-level background characters so he simply decided to call him Finger Bullet.

"Fire!" Finger Bullet shouted, as two other ranged fighters joined him but nothing happened. "Huh? I can't shoot," Finger Bullet said dumbly. "I can't use my quirk!" He was panicking more now, but it was already over as the Hero unfurled his scarf, captured two villains and smacked them against each other.

Huh, Eraserhead then, thought Shigaraki, figuring out the identity of the Pro Hero. I didn't think we could get a limited edition side character here. All Might wasn't here, at least not yet, so this would be a good addition to his collection. There's Miruko too.

Shigaraki scratched the side of his neck erratically, getting increasingly annoyed as Eraserhead fought his minions. "He's good at Hand-to-Hand combat… And those goggles hide his eyes so we don't know who he's looking at…" He spat to the side, his scratching getting more frantic as his nails drew blood. He always hated characters with hax abilities.

"I hate Pro Heroes." Right, he hated those too. Shigaraki paused. Was there something he didn't hate? He had no idea. "It's like they have some conceptual advantage against small-time villains." He was talking to himself, but that wasn't something new. They say genius people talk to themselves, right? I'm a genius for sure.

He looked around at his minions and frowned. Something was strange. He didn't remember choosing half of these idiots, and he surely didn't remember the High-End Prototypes being included in the package. Hmm, maybe Sensei decided to give me free DLC characters? He'd have to wait for Kurogiri to get back so he could ask him.

Shigaraki wasn't worried at all about what he was watching. Sooner or later, the villains would overwhelm Eraserhead with sheer numbers since it wasn't like the Hero was going for the kill. Besides, not only was he still here, but Shigaraki still had his dragon—Shigaraki looked at the other Nomus and mentally corrected himself to dragons. Is it Nomu or Nomus for plural?

Still, he'd prefer not to go against Eraserhead himself. While he was a rare enemy to meet, Shigarki didn't think that as the boss of this raid, he should go against low-level trash, hax ability or not. He wanted to kill All Might. Where is All Might? Though Miruko's face twisted in agony as he dusted her would be great too. Probably more people will care about her death than a random homeless-looking Hero who is barely on the news.

At least he could finally get rid of her ugly face. Ugh, why are there people after the bunny bitch? Fucking basement dwellers. Shigaraki hoped that All Might wasn't going to be too late. There was a raid with special one-time-only rewards that he didn't want to miss. I'll make them wish they were dead if I missed it! He wasn't sure who 'they' was referring to here.

Kurogiri appeared beside him. "It's done," he said monotonically.

"Right… Where is All Might? Why is Miruko here and why are there people I don't remember choosing for my squad, eh, Kurogiri?" Shigaraki was beyond annoyed. He wanted to destroy something before he burst from sheer frustration. He hadn't destroyed anything since… since… half an hour ago!

There was a pause, and Shigaraki was tempted to kill Kurogiri. Ah, but his hax is so useful. Warp was an extremely useful quirk especially if Shigaraki needed to leave after he finished his raid. Later then! He decided, not that he'd remember anything about this passing thought.

"Orders from above," said Kurogiri. "Just… a nice present for you."

Ah, so I was right. Free DLC characters for him to play with. He always knew that Sensei was kind. Hmm… too kind! Not being a good villain now, is he? He'll have to have a talk with his sensei about how a proper final villain—though temporarily until Shigaraki himself was ready—was supposed to act.

Agh, he stamped on the ground in frustration. Maybe I should destroy Eraserhead and be done with it? He did think that Eraserhead was a worthy target after all.

Still. This was going great, all according to his plan. The game was easy, and he was sure he'd win this raid.

Thankfully, this was nothing like a Soul Game.

He hated Soul Games. Why did anyone ever think that making a game that hard was fun? He kept dying to the first skeleton. How was he supposed to fight with a broken sword!?

He had complained about how shitty the game was online—the game still has a sizable community despite being a pre-quirk game—and what did they tell him?

You're just a casual. In the immortal words of the ancient Roly Poly elder lords… Get gud, Scrub.

Shigaraki didn't take it lying down and told them to kill themselves. And they laughed at him!

So Shigaraki used the League's resources to track them down. The dying screams of the twelve-year-old, who dared to insult his skills, were invigorating.

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Kirishima's eyes widened as soon as he was out of the darkness. "The Flood Zone!" He screamed just as he hit the lake with a force that almost knocked the air out of him. He opened his eyes to see into the water, only for them to widen seeing someone just a few meters away from him.

It was a villain who had the appearance of a humanoid shark, possessing a fin along with sharp teeth and a long jaw. His eyes were yellow, his skin light blue and his hair was dark blue in colour.

His costume resembled a sleeveless jumpsuit, wearing a diving mask and diving cylinder strapped to his back on his suit.

"There you are!" The villain said, opening his jaws wide. "Nothing personal kid, it's ju—"

Whatever he wanted to say was cut off as multiple arms struck him at the same time, knocking him away, courtesy of Shōji. Shōji's right arm—the one he used to punch the villain—was made out of about a dozen arms while his left had arms growing out of it like a rope reaching to the surface. Most likely, he had a nose at the end to be able to breathe easily.

Kirishima gave him a thumbs up and they both swam to the surface, arriving near a small cruise ship in the middle of the Flood Zone. As soon as they were out, Shōji used his arm as a rope so they could climb the ship.

"Thanks, man," said Kirishima as soon as they touched the deck. "That was close."

Before Shōji could reply, they heard a noise that made them turn around, only to sigh in relief when the culprit was revealed to be Kōda, who was walking towards them with a grimace.

"I fell on the boat," the normally quiet boy explained with a wince.

"I'll get you, you octopus freak!"

Kirishima and the rest looked into the water, seeing the villain from before alongside several others in the water.

"This is bad," said Shōji, frowning at the villains swimming in the water. "None of us are suited to fight in this terrain, and they seem to be in their element."

"This isn't manly," growled Kirishima. "They should climb up and face us like men."

Shōji snorted. "Villains aren't manly, Kirishima." He crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes at the villains. "I don't like this… I don't like this at all…"

"Huh? What do you mean?" For Kirishima, it didn't seem like Shōji was talking about the villains in front of them.

"They knew our schedule," explained Shōji. "Knew that All Might should be here, and they seem to have been waiting for this… and prepared."

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"They know our quirks," said Tokoyami as he and the others ran from one burning building to the other, villains in hot pursuit.

"Why do you say that?" asked Kinoko. She glanced fearfully over her shoulder and saw nothing but flames. It wasn't a comforting sight despite the lack of villains at the moment.

"Look at us." Tokoyami gestured dramatically at all of them. "We're like moths about to be burned by the flames. Light and fire are the arch nemeses of our quirks." He gestured to himself, Kuroiro, and Kinoko. "And Asui is as resistant to it as a normal person."

Tsuyu nodded. "They certainly seem to have sent us to the area that put us at the most disadvantage…"

"Then we should escape their devious trap quickly." Kuriro was just as dramatic as Tokoyami.

However, their escape plan was shot down when they reached the opening leading to the mountain area, only to find it blocked by more villains.

"You're not getting out of here alive, kids."

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"So not only do they know our quirks, but they have people specifically to counter ours," said Shoto, glaring at the villain in front of him.

Said villain was sucking the ice out of the air as if he was some kind of hole draining water. The villain looked to be around a few years older than Shoto himself. Tall, muscular, and half-naked with spiky blue hair and blue eyes. The villain grinned cheekily at him, burping as the last of the ice disappeared in his mouth and a blue aura surrounded his body.

"That's right, brat," said the villain. "I'm Kaito, and this is my brother Homura." He gestured to a villain who looked identical except for his colouring being orange instead of blue. "Ice or snow, I will eat that shit like it's pepperoni pizza and get power from it. So please, do attack more!"

Shoto clicked his tongue. The terrain with the debris and ruins was bad for fighting anyway, but now he had to deal with someone who made his ice useless and even got stronger from it. And if Shoto had to guess, his brother was there in case Shoto wanted to use that man's fire.

The situation couldn't be any worse with Sero and Toru being his only support. There was a villain who looked like a short man with a very deformed appearance. He had a bald, elongated head with a wide set of teeth, and his eyes were spaced outward connected by stalks. His hands were solid iron, with his fingers being replaced with four large sharp claws. Two had animal mutant quirks: a humanoid bat and a guy with an elephant head.

They were clearly there to counter his two classmates who were standing behind him. Several more villains were there too, but they didn't look anything special.

"But how did they know about our quirks?" asked Toru, her voice quivering with fear.

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"It's the incident from the other day," Momo answered Uraraka's question. She, Uraraka and Sato were in the Landslide Zone, facing villains of their own just like everyone else. It wasn't exactly the best of locations to fight even if it did give Uraraka some materials to use for her quirk.

"That hurt," Sato complained, having just blocked an attack from a villain with a mutant quirk.

A hulking man with bluish skin. He had a single eye on his face, similar to a cyclops, and two large horns grew on either side of his head. He wore black sleeveless clothing, grayish brown pants, and a large white belt across his body. He seemed to be really strong, and he wasn't the only one that posed physical challenges with several other strong-looking villains.

"But they didn't say anyone made it in."

Momo shook her head, frowning at the man smirking at her. He was tall, lanky and wearing a white shirt with black pants. He looked just like your average Joe, yet Momo was wary of the confidant grin he wore.

Beside him stood another villain, a tall muscular guy. His body from the chest and upwards was that of a shark with blue scales. She shuddered at his grin, not wanting to imagine what those long and sharp teeth would do if they bit anyone.

"None that we know of, but given that guy with the teleportation quirk, I figure that they used the incident as a distraction for him to sneak in and steal all the information that they need."

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"Die!" The explosion sent the villain flying, but Bakugō couldn't help but click his tongue in annoyance seeing how much weaker it was.

"Shit! This rain is making my acid much worse!"

"As if it were any good in the first place, Pinky." He dodged a hail of spikes from one of the villains, hiding behind a tree.

Pinky turned to glare at him. "What did you say, angry gremlin?"

"Guys, this isn't the time!" Four Eyes shouted behind another tree. "They really chose one of the worst zones for our quirks."

The Downpour Zone consisted of a thick forest area with a constant deluge of water falling to simulate a rainstorm; there was even wind from some hidden fans here and there.

Full of trees, it made Four Eyes' quirk less effective, and the rain made the ground slippery. Meanwhile, Bakugō's quirk was far weaker here, with his sweat getting diluted because of the massive amount of water falling on them. He did have some sweat saved up in his Gauntlet, but he didn't want to use it up just yet.

Especially not with that thing in the forest with them.

The thing in question was a villain. When they first arrived together, it looked like a human made out of liquid, but the more time passed, the more the villain absorbed the falling water turning into a massive golem made out of water. Bakugō had his doubts about how effective his quirk would be against this guy.

Fucking villains.

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Miruko somersaulted and landed on her feet gracefully. She looked around, wondering where she was. At least it seems that I'm still in USJ. She looked to be in a plaza between the Fire Zone, Mountain Zone, and Landslide Zone. Shit, I hope the other students are alright. She doubted it though, as it was likely the villain sent them to other places. While she was excited to fight villains, always, Miruko had no desire to let any of these brats get killed. Yeah, she was a battle maniac, but she was a Hero first and foremost.

Before she could move to the nearest Zone and check it out, a swirl of black fog caught her attention. "I see, so I have my own welcome committee."

Five villains made it through, all looking like some Frankenstein monster. The first one was a large, black humanoid monster, standing taller than All Might, with a very muscular body that had many scars on it. His brain was exposed on the top of his head. It completely lacked eyes and wore a pair of beaten trousers and shin guards.

The second one was a pale-yellow winged monstrosity that had two bat-like wings, talons, and two eyes on each side of the brain. The villain appeared to wear a mask over its mouth similar to a gas mask.

The third one was leaner and lankier than the other two. It had pale green skin and four eyes protruding from its brain. It wore ripped trousers going up to its calves.

The fourth was a very large, muscular monster similar to the first, but with mint green skin. He wore black trousers ripped just above his kneecaps, and a brown belt. Like the previous villains his brain was exposed, but most of it was protected by a shiny, purple helmet with two red visors and a metal gag. The most eye-catching feature about him was the six arms that protruded from its back, each having a construction tool coming out of it.

The last one was clearly a female. It possessed a more feminine body type, having visible breasts and a shapely figure. Her brain was visible at the top of her head. Around her legs, Miruko saw stitches on her skin. Her scalp, flensed off to expose her brain, was left attached at the back of her head, creating a fin-like structure of flayed skin. She had similar structures on the back of both of her elbows. Miruko also noticed that the villain possessed some hair at the back of her head with several noticeable vertebrae that jut out of her back.

"All of this for little old me?" Miruko grinned viciously. She was going to destroy these monster-like villains. They think they can stop me from doing my job?

She was surprised when the last one opened its mouth—which was hidden inside her chin revealing two rows of long, jagged teeth.

"Time to die… Hero!"

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"Kyouka, Kaminiari, are you guys alright?" Izuku asked his two classmates. They, like the rest, were sucked into the portal and got a rough landing in the Mountain Zone.

"I'll live," said Kaminari with a wince. "It's nothing we can't survive."

"Yeah, but we need to survive that too."

Both looked at where Kyouka was pointing and saw a group of villains emerge from a familiar-looking black fog. None of them were anyone famous from what Izuku could remember, and several looked unassuming, but that was a mistake to make with quirks. After all, who would look at Shoto and think he's one of the strongest kids in the class?

This is bad. The villains knew their schedule and seemed to have purposely separated them into different groups. "These guys most likely caused the Media Rush the other day as a distraction to get their hands on inside information."

The other two looked at him in surprise. "Then they really planned everything?" asked Kaminari while keeping his eyes on the villains.

One of them—a tall, lean man with slanted grey eyes and beige, somewhat pimply skin—raised his hand and waved. Sparks of electricity flew from his hands. The villain wore a dark green sleeveless bodysuit with a white belt and black boots, and covering his face was a skull-shaped mask. That guy was mocking Kaminari for sure.

Izuku narrowed his eyes.

"Izuku!" Nana landed on top of his head. She had separated from Izuku the moment he was spat out of the portal in the middle of the air. "I've taken a look. Miruko seems to have been fighting some monsters in the second Plaza, and Bakugō, Mina, and Iida are in the Downpour Zone."

Izuku's eyes widened. "They know our quirks," he suddenly said, startling his friends. "They know them and they've separated us into the zones that might give us the most disadvantage. And if this guy is any indication." He gestured at the villain from earlier. The villains were walking closer to them, taking their time. "They might also have prepared counters to our quirks on top."

"So they really want to kill us and All Might then." Kyouka clicked her tongue in annoyance, but Izuku could detect the fear in her tone.

Kaminari turned to her, arms flailing in the air and eyes wide. "But he's All Might! There is no way they can kill him!"

"As much as I'd like to say that you're right," said Izuku warily. His mind was thinking of all the possibilities and their chances. Whoever was behind all of this was clever, powerful, and had a lot of resources. Izuku's biggest concern was the monsters he saw at the start. Something told him they weren't quite human anymore. "They've gone through the effort to organise all of this, so they might've found a way to kill All Might. After all, he's strong, but still a human at the end of the day."

"No way…"

Izuku narrowed his eyes. No matter their reason for targeting All Might, or whether they could do it or not. As things stood, they couldn't just sit around and wait until rescue came or they'd get killed. I might need to use that. It wasn't something he mastered yet, not anywhere close, but might save them or at least give them a better chance if it worked.

But first, we need to take care of these guys and… "Nana. I want you to fly to the main campus and alert whoever you find there. Go as fast as you can."

"Understood, Izuku." With that, Nana flew away. Nana might end up saving them all if they could hold out long enough.

"Kyouka, Kaminari," he called to his two friends, getting their attention. "We need to fight."

The two of them looked at each other nervously before glancing at the villains advancing on them—thankfully, the Mountain Zone was a massive wide area. They nodded after a moment, their expressions turning serious.

"Lead the way, Class Pres."

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He walked slowly, the sound of his breathing was like that of a slow scuba regulator. Sometimes he had to admit, while it hurt like hell and was troublesome, it did sound cool.

He was walking slowly throughout the halls of his museum. A vast underground lair that was never found—his treasure. It was something he did from time to time, to remember where he started, and everything he had achieved so far. It was both his trophies and last reminders of his "children".

He couldn't see with his eyes of course—he had All Might to thank for that—but a few quirks easily circumvent such an issue.

Of course, the most important collection was obviously that of his devil: One For All.

He stood in front of a large glass tube filled with green liquid that helped preserve what was inside. Above the tube, the words "Below is From Above" were inscribed. Inside the tube was a man floating upside down with his arms crossed over his chest. He looked almost peaceful if one ignored that one of his eyes was plucked out and the other protruding grotesquely, his hands were missing, and the number one was carved on his forehead.

That was Shigaraki Yoichi. His younger brother, the First User of One For All, and the one who fell from grace after denying his place by his side.

He had loved his brother once, still did, and always would. It was hard to let go of that feeling, not when he had made a promise, and not when he was one of the few who at some point did genuinely love him. Too bad that you refused my hand every time, Yoichi. We could've been great together, but you rebelled against your maker.

At least now, Yoichi's body was forever with him. Sure, it was empty from the inside—much easier to keep from rotting that way—but the frame still held… mostly. I only have to get your soul too, and then you'd truly have rejoined me, brother.

The next tube only held a pair of red eyes with the symbol of a snake wrapped around an apple above the tube. He couldn't help but sneer, a desire to destroy the eyes almost overcame him as it always did. Kudō, the Second User and the one who stole his brother from him was someone that he hated with all of his heart.

If it wasn't for this poisonous snake, then his brother would still be by his side. Imprisoned—though he believed Yoichi would've seen the truth eventually—but by his side nonetheless. But this man stepped in, and kidnapped his brother in body, and later in spirit.

Only Kudō's eyes survived the rampage that he unleashed on the man.

The third tube contained only a floating head connected to a spine. The expression of horror and pain was forever etched on that face, which always managed to bring a smile to his lips.

Bruce—a foreigner who migrated to Japan from his destroyed country—was present when his brother escaped, but he had long figured out the man as a mere follower of Kudō. A minion of no importance and his pathetic end always managed to cheer him up.

The Fourth User floated in his tube peacefully. His body was mostly intact aside from the hole where his heart used to be. This one was the most pathetic user in his opinion. A man who feared him, hid and passed away One For All without even facing him once. He had killed the man on his way back to his hiding place. He hadn't even registered that he was the Fourth User until later.

He didn't even bother to learn his name.

Banjō Daigorō on the other hand was someone he almost respected—that honour only really was reserved to All Might, his true enemy and rival. A man who didn't shy away and fought him several times. Banjō even had enough willpower to resist his quirk in that rare moment when he managed to use it on a One For All user. He still died though, just like the rest.

And now, Banjō was merely a headless and armless corpse floating in green liquid in his trophy room.

The sixth tube had the upper half of a man sans his right arm floating in it.

En wasn't an impressive user, and his quirk was frankly pathetic, but he at least didn't hide for decades like a pathetic rat. The man was reclusive and he didn't learn much about him. In truth, he was nothing more than a bridge from Banjō to the Seventh User.

Last but not least, was Nana Shimura. The beautiful woman floated in the liquid with missing hands, a hole in her stomach and legs that ended at the knee alongside various scars that marred her exposed skin.

It was a true shame. Her willpower, strength, and looks made her prime material for breeding—though he was loath to create any true progeny, but some fun and stress relief wasn't beyond him. She had refused when he offered her the honour of sitting by the feet of his throne, and she died for it.

A fool, at least the women who suffered that fate provided some needed pleasure before I killed them.

There was one last tube. It was empty and saved for his latest enemy, and hopefully his last one. He was getting bored of this chase by now, and at least All Might was a worthy rebel to his order. He didn't think he could take it if some upstart kid of today's brats became the next user.

The sound of an electric wheelchair caught his attention. "Garaki… Do you have news?"

"The villains that we have recruited have done their jobs well. All Might was seen running around like a headless chicken, and according to our calculations, he should be at his limit or nearing it…" The doctor grinned. It was such an ugly thing. "When he arrives at USJ and sees the dead bodies of his students, he'll be joining them too easily enough."

"I very much doubt that," he said. If he had eyes, he'd have rolled them at that statement.

The doctor frowned. "You have no trust in my creation then?"

He shook his head. "They're prototypes, not the final version," he reminded the doctor. "But no… this has nothing to do with them, and rather with All Might… All Might, no, rather Toshinori is someone that always has done the impossible. After all, he did this to me." he gestured to his own fucked up body. "And frankly… I want to be the one to end his life at the end."

The doctor nodded. "I understand… It's your battle after all…"

"What about USJ?"

"According to the data and footage, it is going well. As long as there's nothing unexpected—aside from Miruko being there—then things will proceed as planned."

"Good. Miruko's presence was unexpected but not important. There is nothing that should disturb our plan."

The sound of something bubbling drew his attention to Nana's tank. His eyes narrowed seeing bubbles forming for a moment. They floated upwards in front of her face and for a moment, they twisted her expression into a smile. In a blink, it was all gone.

I'm seeing things… Nana was dead, and he had destroyed her family. There was nothing that she could do now or ever.

"And how is that going?"

That was referring to a plan that started years ago. After his defeat against All Might, he had realised that his body couldn't take it anymore in his injured state, and was rather falling apart at the seams. He still had a good few years in him with the support of some quirks, but he was far from his prime, and there was no chance of getting back to it.

Something peculiar about the regenerations quirk is that when you get them from the original user, they only work to restore the body to the image that was already there when you first got the quirk. If a man had a missing arm when he got such a quirk, then he'd never get the arm back.

It was such an annoying weakness that they had discovered when they acquired healing quirks strong enough to help him survive after his encounter with All Might. They'd been searching for stronger and stronger quirks, and yet even ones that allowed the user to regenerate from a single cell—like the one the main prototype Nomu had—failed to regenerate to an earlier stage for his body.

Maybe what I need is some kind of a rewind quirk… if such a thing exists yet.

They didn't know if it was hardcoded in whatever genes that were connected to regeneration quirks or if it was merely a matter of time before a stronger quirk could surpass that limit. But he didn't have a lot of time to wait, so several plans were made to fix his problem.

The plan that he was asking about was one of them.

"Progress is good… I'm moving into the second stage," said the doctor proudly. "I should finish it and iron out the kinks in… about a year, then I need another year to add all the improvements needed."

"Are you sure that it'll work?"

"I'll bet my life on it if I have t—gah!"

The doctor floated in the air, his hands grasping desperately to remove the invisible grip from his neck.

"There is no if, Garaki… You are already betting your life on it."

He will tolerate no failure in this.

▬▬ι═══════

"They've not attacked us yet," said Kirishima, looking at the villains in the water. There were about a dozen of them, each looking like they belonged in the water rather than on land.

"Their quirks are suited for combat here," said Shōji. "I'd bet that most of them aren't as powerful on land, so they prefer to not climb the boat or they're underestimating us because of our quirks."

He turned to Kōda who was nervously wriggling his fingers together. "Do you sense any animal in the water or anything that you can use?"

Kōda shook his head. "There are no animals here in USJ, none that I could sense to contact."

Kirishima frowned. "Then there is nothing we can do? I can maybe take one of them out if we jump into the water, but that's about it."

Kōda shifted nervously before he pointed at the inside of the ship. "I think I saw some diving gear nside…"

Kirishima's eyes lit up. "That could work… maybe we can make it." It was still dubious. They'd still be at a disadvantage underwater, but they'd at least be able to swim.

"It's still better than nothing," said Shinji.

Inside, they found two scuba diving gear which Kirishima and Kōda took for themselves. Shōji had a way to breathe underwater while they didn't, so it only made sense.

As soon as they put them on, however, a massive wave of pressurised water passed through the ship, passing right between Kōda and Shōji. "What the hell is happening? The ship was cut in half!"

They rushed back to the deck, looking down from the railing to see one of the villains had his hand raised and covered in water. Evidently, he was the man who attacked the ship.

He was a tall, muscular man who wore a black full-body wetsuit with shoulder pads, accompanied by grey gloves and armoured boots. He had a pale, noseless, white face with grooves under the eyes, sunken eye sockets, and his lower jaw pushed underneath the upper region, giving his face the appearance of a skull. His eyes were blue with white pupils, and he had red markings on the cranium, a wide set of lipless teeth, and a gold, armour-like piece surrounding his entire lower head.

"I'm getting bored of waiting," he said gruffly.

"Shit, he's strong." Kirishima was more worried now. Someone like this could easily take them out in the water, and they didn't have an option of staying on the ship either. The boat was tilting and starting to sink. Slowly but surely.

The villain who attacked Kirishima first sneered at them. "That boat will go under in less than a minute." He laughed loudly, several others joining him. "Once you're in the water then you're fish food."

"Kirishima." Shijo moved closer to them, each of them trying to keep their balance on the sinking ship. "Can you take that one down fast?"

Kirishima grinned cockily. "Leave it to me. I'll give him a manly fisting that will leave him seeing stars!"

Both Shōji and Kōda paused and gave Kirishima a long look. Confused, Kirishima tilted his head. "What?"

Shōji shook his head. "... Nothing…" He turned to Kōda. "You jump the guy with the spear. He looks the most human out of them with no hint of mutations. I doubt that he controls water as that wouldn't give him the ability to breathe underwater, and he has no obvious diving gear."

Kirishima's eyes lit up in understanding. "So he most likely has a quirk that simply allows him to breathe underwater…"

Shōji nodded. "That's why Kōda, you jump on top of him and hit him with everything that you've got. I'll take the one on his left…" They all knew that this only took care of three of the villains, but they had no other choice. They could wait and surely die, or jump in and either take some down with them or at least have a slim chance of survival.

Shōji moved inside, grabbed a large table and threw it at the villains.

"Stop kids!" The villain moved his arm, another wave destroying the table in half, and sending a massive amount of water upwards.

"NOW!" Shōji screamed and the three of them jumped.

Kirishima roared as he fell. The villain he had his eyes on was looking at where the table was thrown and hadn't noticed him yet. Using his momentum, Kirishima hardened his arms and cocked back his fists.

"Take this!" He bellowed as he punched the villain right in the face, his fists connecting just as the villain turned to face him. Kirishima could feel something crack under his fist, blood coating his arms as the jagged bits dug into the villain's face.

He grinned when he saw the villain's eyes roll back just as the cold water engulfed him.

Shōji was as successful. He had multiplied both of his arms and unleashed a barrage of Octoblow on the villain's face. The villain's breathing mask was the first to be destroyed before his nose and cheekbones broke under the power of Shōji's punches. As he sank into the water, Shōji transformed one arm with a mouth at the end so he could easily breathe underwater.

Kōda was a peace-loving guy. He hated violence and had a gentle nature, but still, he did his job. He couldn't find it in himself to hold back when the lives of his classmates were in danger.

So when he jumped, he made sure that he headbutted the villain with the spear right in the face with his rocky head. A sickening crunch made Kōda wince as his head connected with the villain's face, and the blood that splattered made him nauseous.

He and the villain sank together into the water, and Kōda managed to wrestle the spear out of the villain's hand and sink its head in the villain's thighs, taking him out.

Things didn't go so well after that.

Kirishima's eyes widened when the strong villain used the water to cut his oxygen tank in half. He managed to take a deep breath, but he knew that it wouldn't last for long.

Shōji found himself immediately attacked by two villains and found that fighting with only one hand—or multiple arms on one side only—was hard, especially underwater since his attacks were much slower and weaker.

Kōda managed to take out another villain with the spear before it was cut in half by what was starting to appear as the main threat. And soon found himself being captured from behind by another villain, while another took his mask.

"Let's see how long you boys can hold out," the villain said, grinning maliciously at them. "Either you die from lack of oxygen." Water gathered around the villain's hand. "Or you die from my attacks."

The three of them gulped. Kirishima hardened his body to the max, while Shōji simply multiplied his arms and put them in front of his torso and head. Kōda had no such defence, and villains surrounded all three without a way to get oxygen.

"This is the end line for you, brats."

▬▬ι═══════

"W-What should we do?" Kinoko asked, looking nervously, her eyes tracking the movement of the villains. They were being surrounded on all sides by villains, cutting their escape and boxing them out in the middle of the Fire Zone.

The heat was becoming unbearable too. Their clothes were clinging to their bodies, sweat falling like waterfalls, and they were starting to get dizzy. They'd easily pass out from simply staying in their place without even the villains attacking.

Kuroiro leaned forward, getting into her personal space. "Don't worry I—we'll protect you."

Kinoko smiled awkwardly. "A-Ah, I—"

"Kuroiro," Tokoyami called out, Dark Shadow—in its reduced state—moved to separate the two, having noticed Kinoko's discomfort. "Can you fuse with Dark Shadow?"

Kurorio stepped backwards, frowning at Tokoyami. Is this another rival? He wondered. "Why do you ask?"

"Dark Shadow isn't as strong with all the light and the fire, so given you were similarly born in the darkness and adapted to it, I thought that if you fused with it, you could give it a boost and work together to take on as many villains as you can."

"That's… possible."

Tokoyami nodded gravely. He knew the villains were underestimating them, and he didn't think they were exactly wrong. Even with this, he doubted he could take down the dozen of villains around, especially since they had no idea what their quirks were in the first place. He turned to Kinoko. "Can your spores achieve anything here?"

Kinoko shook her head sadly. "No… The heat will kill them off before I can do anything with them… I may be able to force them to work for a moment, to grow fast, but they won't last more than a second."

"Keep it as an option… We might need it."

Tsuyu was nearly out of it. She looked the most affected by the fire and was panting heavily. It was clear that they couldn't depend on her to fight, and might even need to protect her.

"Get ready…" said Tokoyami, eyeing the exit. "Dark Shadow and Kuroiro will make a path to victory, and you use everything you've got to make as many mushrooms as you can to grow. It'll be our only chance."

Everyone nodded, Tsuyu moving closer so Tokoyami could carry her. Kuroiro slipped into Dark Shadow, and Dark Shadow swelled up, looking stronger than he had for the last few minutes. But it was far from ideal. If they were in the dark, Tokoyami was confident he'd only need Dark Shadow to take care of all of these villains himself.

"NOW!" He suddenly yelled, and Dark Shadow burst forward, easily taking out one of the villains. The others burst into action, Tokoyami carrying Tsuyu in his arms, and Kinoko running behind them as they made a run towards the exit.

"Don't let them escape!"

"Kill the brats!"

The villains were panicking at the sudden attack which was great news for them.

"Fry the bird and the other one. Keep the girls for us to enjoy!" one of them yelled and Kinoko yelped. Tsuyu seemed to have found a momentary burst of energy as her tongue rushed out and smacked the villain so hard that he was sent into a burning wall, his cries of pain music to their ears. That seemed to have completely zapped Tsuyu of her remaining energy as she passed out just as her tongue came back inside her mouth.

One villain opened fire at them, and Dark Shadow rushed to intercept, easily tanking the bullets before slamming the villain into a wall. Dark Shadow then proceeded to grab one villain and use him to beat another. Kinoko saw her chance and overloaded her quirk. Most of her spores died at the spot, but some did grow into large mushrooms that for a moment, got in the villain's way.

And for one hopeful moment, a path opened up for the group of students as they ran towards the exit to escape the Fire Zone into a better location.

Their hopes died as a wave of flame surged toward them, hitting Dark Shadow directly. Both Dark Shadow and Kuroiro cried out in pain—Kuroiro dropping out of Dark Shadow—as both were burned by the intense fire.

"Kuroiro! Dark Shadow!" Tokoyami and Kinoko moved to put the fire out.

Both were lightly burned, moaning in pain but Dark Shadow's durability and Kuroiro's hero costume at least prevented the worst, only allowing first-degree burns. Their path now blocked by a wall of flame, they turned around to glare at the culprit.

The man in question laughed. He was a tall, muscular man with tanned skin and long, spikey, golden hair. He laughed maniacally at them, his poisonous red eyes showing the glee he took in their suffering. He was half naked, with his upper torso covered in many scars and his lower half covered in baggy yellow and black cargo pants. His arms were encased in flames. and there was no doubt that he was their attacker. Behind him, the other villains gathered, grinning maliciously at them.

"Where do you think you're going, little heroes?" the villain mocked. "Name's Zancrow. Please don't mind me, but I want to burn you just a little. I'll make sure to deliver your ashes to your parents, hahahah!"

▬▬ι═══════

"Go to hell!" Another explosion and another villain was sent flying. Again, the explosion was much weaker, and the villains weren't taking any relevant damage. "Fucking dammit! I hate the rain!"

"Oh, I agree," said Mina, getting more and more frustrated as her attacks were much worse than usual. "And it gets everywhere!" She could feel how damp her costume was, and it was making her even more annoyed as she couldn't control it like she could her acid.

"Stop trying to act clever, Pinky!" Bakugō roared back, jumping to dodge a wave of water from the large slime-like villain. "Goddamn this asshole. How the hell are we going to defeat him when he keeps getting bigger and stronger?"

"Gaah!" Iida screamed as he smashed into a tree. A big, bulky man with gold-yellow skin emerged through the chaos, running at him. The villain had two spikes on the back of each of his shoulders. His eyes were red, his head was a pair of inclined plains with an apex in the middle, and he had a black crater in the middle of his forehead.

"Useless fucking extra," growled Bakugō, annoyed that he had to protect these two useless morons. That's why he hated extras. They were weak, and couldn't win on their own and the strong had to protect them while acting as if they were equal.

Using explosions to propel himself in a circular motion to create a tornado, Bakugō reached the villain, colliding with him at high speed. "Howitzer Impact!" He let out twin explosions that staggered the villain, sending him back a few feet, but thanks to how weak the explosions were, the villain wasn't knocked out.

"I WILL KILL WHOEVER DESIGNED THIS PLACE!" He roared, lunging on the villain with renewed vigour. His palm hit the villain's chest. "Die!" Another explosion followed, Bakugō didn't let up, as his fist connected with the villain's face, knocking his head back. Another explosion followed after Bakugō's leg connected with the villain's knee. "DIE, DIE, DIE DIIIIE!"

Meanwhile, Mina danced around one villain's attacks. He was tall, lanky and had rock-like skin except for his face. "Stand still, bitch!" Mina scowled, using all of her agility and reflexes to avoid getting hit, her own attacks splashing harmlessly against the villain's skin.

I need to get stronger somehow, dammit. She cursed herself for ignoring Izuku's advice from the other day. If I get out of this, then I need to get Midori and Yaomomo alone with me for two-on-one lessons! Her cheeks pinked as she realised what she thought. Well, I ain't going to die here! With that, she sidestepped the villain's punch and jumped on him, her eyes landing on his eyes. "TAKE THIS!"

"AAaahg!" The villain screamed in pain as Mina's acid—still diluted from the water—attacked his eyes directly.

Bakugō panted, his hands on his knee as he watched the villain fall after his berserker barrage.

A strange sound caught everyone's attention, and suddenly, Bakugō found himself on the ground, with Iida on top of him. "What the fuck are you doing Fou—!"

His angry shout was cut short when a crescent-shaped wave of water passed over them—just where Bakugō was—cutting every tree in its direction.

A loud noise made the three of them look, their eyes widening in horror as the slime-like villain was now as big as a mountain, looking down on them. Its body elongated upwards, two big yellow eyes grinning at them.

"Look out!" Mina screamed but it was too late. The creature sprang downwards, a massive amount of water rushing to crush them down.

"NO, YOU DON'T!" Bakugō raised an arm, aimed his gauntlet at the creature and pulled the pin. A gigantic explosion followed, hitting the wave of water creating another explosion. Steam filled the area and momentarily, Bakugō grinned, only for the grin to disappear as more water fell down, appearing through the thick mist and steam like a tidal wave of death. "Oh, shi—!"

All three cried out in pain as the water hit them at such a high speed. They blacked out for a moment, air escaping their lungs only to open their eyes and find themselves inside the creature.

Struggling to breathe, and suffering from the pressure, they wondered how they could escape. Mina herself thought she was hallucinating, as she looked up, seeing a giant green eye looking down at them all from the ceiling of USJ.

▬▬ι═══════

Things weren't going well for Yaoyorozu Momo. Not going well at all. At first, she had thought that with Sato and Uraraka they might have a chance, but that belief dwindled as the minutes ticked by.

Sato was currently engaged against the large blue-skinned villain. It was a contest of strength, and yet Sato didn't appear to be winning at all.

Aside from the man who gave her the creeps, and the Shark-man, the other villains were nothing to write home about. Just random low lives that they could easily take care of if they faced alone. Still, they had strength in numbers, and the main trio of villains were covering for their weaknesses.

Momo danced around one villain's attack. He literally looked like a normal person with an axe in hand. She had no idea what his quirk was, and so far, he showed nothing. No way he's quirkless, right? She moved behind him swiftly, intending to end him with a well-placed hit to the head with her staff, only for him to dodge her easily.

"Haa! I can see behind my back, no one can sneak up on m—!"

Momo felt embarrassed for the villain when one of his allies—thrown by Sato—crashed into his head from the side, knocking both of them unconscious.

Still, even with two down, there were many to go.

"Is it ready, Uraraka?!" Momo questioned, eyeing her classmate who was running around the area, avoiding the villains and touching the ground.

"Not yet!"

"I don't know what you girls are trying to do, but it's not going to work." A slimy voice brought Momo's attention back to the villain in front of her. He was the average-looking guy that she was wary of.

He rushed at her, his palms extended. Momo frowned at the telegraphic move and swung her staff. He blocked it with his palm, and her staff disappeared as if it rotted into dust. Momo's eyes widened seeing that, making her freeze for a moment. It was enough for the villain's feet to bury itself in her stomach.

She flew backwards, rolling over the rough ground as she coughed up some salvia. His kick was strong, stronger than his body showed.

"Hahaha!" The man laughed. "Surprised, pretty girl?" he licked his lips, making Momo shudder in disgust at the manic lust in his eyes. "My hands can unmake any item made by humans or quirks. We're made for each other, don't you think?"

Meanwhile, Sato grunted as he blocked yet another attack by the blue-skinned villain. His Sugar Rush had completely failed to affect the villain though the villain himself had failed to defeat Sato either. They were at a stalemate, but Sato knew that his time was numbered. He only had 3 minutes for his quirk, and he had already consumed a second ten grams of sugar to extend it.

He rolled to the side, avoiding a charge by the villain looking to impale him with his horns. "Gaah!" Sato cried out in pain as something slammed into him. He and his attacker rolled all over the ground a few times before Sato ended up with his back to the ground and the Shark-man sitting on top of him.

"Minotaurus wasn't the only one your size, brat!" The villain chuckled and started punching Sato, who crossed his arms in front of his face, trying to protect himself.

"Stay still girl, let me see what's under those clothes!"

Momo scrunched her face in disgust at the villain. The guy was a disgusting pervert, and she had no idea how to deal with him. Getting close to him wasn't an option given that the slightest touch would leave her naked. Her staff was useless, and Momo was racking her mind over what to do.

He was always on her, with other villains joining which didn't leave her with time to create any gun and aim properly, at least not on this terrain. If she was standing still for a moment on an even ground…

But they pressed her from several directions, the creepy villain erasing her items and the others attacking to leave her always trying to dodge. She panted, sweat ran down her face, and was getting tired. She knew she couldn't keep that up for long.

She noticed shadows flying above and knew that the plan was ready.

"NOW, URARAKA!" She yelled just as she created a pair of goggles and a flashbang.

"Wha—" The villain didn't get any time to say anything as the flashbang blinded him and his allies, allowing Momo to jump backwards and put some distance between them. A new weapon appeared in her hand just in case as Uraraka brought down all the debris.

They fell at high speed, and for a moment, Momo thought the plan was going to work. Her mind froze when while the debris did take out most of the villains, the Shark-man instead rolled, holding Sato's body up to shield himself, making her and Uraraka scream his name. It didn't stop there as the blue-skinned and horned villain appeared to be entirely unaffected, and the creepy villain used one of his allies as a shield.

The meteor shower ended and both girls stared in horror at Sato's battered body as it was flung to the side as if he were trash.

"I guess it's time to kill you, bitches," the Shark-man said as the one called Minotaurus rushed at Uraraka, while the creepy villain and Shark-man turned their sight on Momo.

On instinct, Momo shot several times. Her bullet went through the creepy villain's knees, making him howl in pain as he went down, but they ricocheted off the Shark-man's scales as he pounced at her.

The villain cackled, launching himself at an impossible speed. "JAWS OF DEATH!"

She could hear Uraraka cry out in pain as she was sent flying with a punch, but she couldn't do anything, standing completely frozen as rows and rows of long sharp teeth were centimetres away from biting her in half. She knew that she was going to die, and her body refused to move or do anything.

The villain's jaw opened further, ready to bite through her torso, and Momo could do nothing but stare her death in the face—years of training going down the drain.

I… I don't want to die…

▬▬ι═══════

Aizawa ducked under a punch and used his capture weapon to wrap it around the villain's fist before he flung him into another villain. Three more replaced the one he just knocked out. It's like there is no end to them. He was getting tired, and he wasn't exactly good for prolonged fights. Where the hell is Miruko? With her, they could've defeated these lot much earlier, but he saw the villain with the warp quirk send her away.

He weaved his way around their attacks. Mic would call it dancing, but Aizawa didn't dance, thank you very much. As he did, he eyed the ringleaders warily. The man covered in hands, the warp villain and the creature near them. He had no doubt that they were the most dangerous, especially the one in the middle.

Aizawa rushed at him, ignoring the villains around him. "You're going to let me defeat all of your minions without lifting a hand? I guess they chose the wrong boss to follow."

The man grinned. It was an ugly, chapped thing. Aizawa had been around people long enough to recognise that the man was insane just from the look in his eyes. "I was enjoying the show. Your quirk isn't suited for long, group battles and more to sneak attacks, am I right?" The villain seemed to have finally decided to move. "Yet you jumped to save your kids, right? I'm so moved~ You're so cool, Eraserhead."

"And that's why it'd be great to kill you. I'm sure I'll level up a lot from this!"

Aizawa threw his scarf at the villain, just as he jumped to avoid a hail of rocks sent at him from another villain, but the villain managed to catch it with his hand.

"You have a time limit on your quirk, don't you? It's subtle and will be missed in the middle of the battle, but your hair falls off every few seconds. That's when it turns off, right?"

Aizawa clicked his tongue, annoyed that the villain managed to figure it out. He pounced, attempting to elbow him with his eyes still trained at him, but the villain caught raised one hand to block. "With each time, you're able to use it less and less."

The villain leaned forward, grinning at Aizawa. "And that time is… up!" The villain's hand surged forward, his palm touching Aizawa's face near his eyes. Instantly, Aizawa screamed in pain as he felt his skin falling apart like rot which continued until it touched his eyes. His leg lashed out, hitting the villain in the stomach and separating the two of them, but the damage was already done.

Drip. Drip…

Aizawa looked with his right eye at droplets of blood and pieces of skin and his eye that fell to the ground. Shit. Pain he could ignore, but he couldn't see anymore through his left eye, and he feared that the entire thing might be gone.

Two villains attacked Aizawa, one with a sword and the other with what looked like a worm coming out of his palm. He unsheathed his knife, blocking the sword's swing, and used his capture weapon to stop the second. The sword user stepped back before attacking again, so Aizawa used the other villain as a shield before knocking both out.

The leader picked himself up from the ground, laughing like a maniac. "Hahaha, what are you going to do now with only one eye?" The villain gestured to the giant monster. "And you're mistaken. I'm not the final boss… It's him."

Aizawa didn't know what happened. One moment he was processing what the villain just said, and the next he was on the ground, the bird-like monster on top of him crushing him with the weight of a truck and his arm twisted and broken in two different locations.

"Meet the Anti-Symbol of Peace," the madman said gleefully. "The Bio-engineered weapon: Nomu!"

Aizawa gritted his teeth as the Nomu toyed with his arm. Anti-Symbol of Peace, so the guy must be their answer to All Might, but then what about the other five similar-looking ones? Are they all on the same level?

"Cancelling other people's quirks is such a neat hax, but nothing special with that limitation of yours." The madman continued, and Aizawa was getting the idea that he loved hearing his own voice. "Against pure physical strength, you might as well be quirkless."

Crack.

Aizawa's other arm snapped, though he refused to make a sound. He snapped my arm like a twig despite my remaining eye looking directly at the part of his body. That means this is simply pure strength and not part of his quirk! He might really be as strong as All Mi—

He didn't get to continue as the Nomu lifted his head before smashing it into the ground, breaking his nose.

"Kil—What the hell is that?"

The villain suddenly said, looking up. Curious, Aizawa craned his head to look up as well to see what saved his life for the moment and was surprised to see a gigantic green eye looking down at everyone from the USJ's ceiling.

Wait… that eye…

▬▬ι═══════

Even when Midoriya defeated him, Shoto didn't think he ever felt as useless as he felt at the moment. He had to admit that he may have relied on his quirk too much. But then again, his quirk was too powerful so it made sense at the time.

I might need to work on my physical conditioning and hand-to-hand combat when this is over. That is if he survived. At first, he had dismissed the villains as nothing but an annoyance. Thugs that thought too much of themselves, and while some were like that, he was proved wrong facing the two brothers.

Or at least one of them as the other kept trying to goad him to use his flames and otherwise didn't attack. As if I'd be stupid enough to use his flames in this situation even if I didn't have a problem using them normally. It was clear that the brother had a quirk similar to Kaito's but dealt with fire.

The villain's quirk was truly troublesome. Not only did it nullify his ice completely, but apparently, the man got stronger physically the more ice he ate, meaning that Shoto would only provide him with more power if he continued to use his ice.

Which was why Shoto was now flying through the air, falling down and rolling a few times on the ground before vomiting some salvia. All thanks to Kaito's punch.

What made matters worse was the fact that he couldn't exactly depend on his two teammates. It's not like he had anything against them or thought them weaklings exactly, but Sero's quirk—while useful—wasn't exactly good enough to take down someone stronger, especially with a villain that kept cutting Sero's tape. And Toru's power wasn't suited for battles like this, not to mention the two mutant villains were keeping track of her easily with their enhanced senses.

"Come on now, is that all you've got?" Kaito taunted, walking slowly towards Shoto. He was clearly someone who loved playing with his prey.

"Hey, let me have my fun too!" Homura said, walking to the beaten-up Shoto to kick him.

Shoto rolled to the side, dodging before springing up suddenly, his fist connecting to Homura's face, sending him to the ground.

Before he could take the chance to attack him more and take him out, Shoto cried out in pain as he was kicked in the head by Kaito. He grunted as he hit the ground, his costume tearing from the debris and rock on the ground, and he felt something wet go down the side of his head.

"Hey, leave him alone!" Toru screamed, barely dodging an attack by the elephant-headed villain.

Sero wasn't long behind her, extending his tapes to wrap around Kaito before throwing him against the elephant-headed villain, knocking him out. The next moment, the bat-like villain smashed into Sero, both of them rolling on the ground several times engaged in a wrestling match.

Shoto struggled to stand, his vision swimming from the hit. He could see Homura making his way toward him, and his feet connected with Shoto's chin before he could reorient himself again. The kick was far weaker than that of his brother and Shoto glared at him, about to blast him with a wave of ice—given that Kaito was still a few meters away—but before he could do that, Homura was thrown to the ground out of nowhere by an invisible attacker. The attacker—who could only be Toru who had taken off her gloves—had pounced on the villain with a large rock in hand and proceeded to beat the shit out of him.

Shoto stared wide-eyed, a laugh almost escaping his lips. His eyes widened seeing Kaito rushing at where Toru was, pure rage radiating from his body despite the cold blue aura around it.

His body moved on its own and he found himself standing between Toru and Kaito's punch, a wall of ice emerging from him to block it. The ice shattered upon impact, and Kaito's fist dug into Shoto's stomach, its power almost making him bend in half.

He vomited saliva, air escaping his lungs but held his place. "Hagakure!" he called out, knowing that she was looking at him, giving her gasp. "Get out of here, NOW!" His tone left no chance for her to refuse. A glacier of ice burst from in front of him, hitting Kaito dead centre. He didn't aim to freeze him, knowing that it was pointless, but he needed him away and the impact sent the villain flying like Shoto wanted.

That moment of reprieve was all he needed to freeze all the villains aside from Kaito, and the Bat villain who was still fighting with Sero—he couldn't intervene without harming Sero too.

Of course, he knew what was coming next.

Kaito wasn't finished with that attack, and with that much ice, the man gorged on it like a starved animal. In a few moments, he ate the massive amount of ice—leaving his allies frozen though—and grinned at Shoto. "Thanks for the meal, brat," he said as the aura around him intensified.

The ground cracked underneath him. Shoto blinked, and Kaito disappeared, he blinked again and a fist was just a millimetre away from his face.

Shoto's vision blacked out for a moment as he was sent flying with a broken nose. His back was scrapped against the ground as he fell, and he knew that Kaito was coming for more. The urge to call on that man's fire was there—Homura was knocked out by Toru's rampage—but he didn't reach out. There was no way he was using it. Ever.

He felt someone grab his ankle, and he prepared for more pain. Someone screamed his name, and through blurry eyes, he saw something large and green on the ceiling.

Shoto had no idea why he was glowing green.

▬▬ι═══════

Miruko smirked confidently. "You think you can kill me? Cute!" The ground beneath Miruko's feet shattered as she launched herself at the female monster. Jumping above her opponent, Miruko swung her leg downward. "Luna Fall!"

However, Miruko's eyes widened when the female monster's body liquified and twisted to easily avoid her attack. The Four-Eyed monster took his chance—his muscles bulged and he tripled in size—and attacked Miruko who was still in mid-air.

Miruko adjusted, avoiding his punch, and caught his extended arm with her hands. Using it as a bar, she rotated before she launched herself forward, planting her feet in the stomach of the eyeless monster, bending him in half and sending him flying.

"How do you like that?" She grinned before bracing herself as she was hit by a torrent of wind. Crouching so she'd not be sent flying, Miruko looked up and saw that it was the Winged monster who was generating the winds with his wings.

As soon as he cut off his attack, the Four-Eyed freak and the female jumped on Miruko. Things got weirder when the Four-Eyed monster opened its mouth and its tongue darted out before splitting into a huge web.

Miruko caught his tongue tentacles and proceeded to hit the female monster with him, sending her flying before still using the tongue of the villain to smash him again, and again into the ground.

"Ugh, I've got saliva all over me now." She turned in time to see the Eyeless monster in front of her. Fast, and she could only raise her arm to block his punch. Miruko gritted her teeth, the bones in her arm cracking as she was sent flying. Strong too.

She cartwheeled in mid-air and landed, only to duck as the chainsaw monster attempted to cut her in half. He moved his limbs, chainsaws and other power tools trying to cut her or pierce her, but she managed to avoid them by rolling on the ground.

Something grabbed her ankle. Miruko looked down and saw that it was the tongue of the Four-Eyed monster. "Shit!" She cursed before she was being spun in the air and then launched at the Eyeless monster.

Miruko smirked, twisting in midair to avoid the Eyeless monster's punch, her thighs wrapped around his head. "Many will kill to be in your position." She joked, still using her momentum to twist her body. "Luna Tijeras!" Miruko ripped his head off, smashing it into the ground as she landed gracefully. "One down!"

She jumped to the side, dodging another wind attack. Her eyes narrowed as the monster didn't stop. So once he attacks, he can't stop it until the attack is finished. The ground cracked again, and she ran to the flank before pouncing.

Her kick lashed out hard and fast, nailing the side of his head, sending his head flying to her surprise, and the villain fell to the ground. She didn't dwell on it as the female villain appeared in front of her and… expanded.

"What th—!" Her eyes widened as the female villain's body expanded before it ruptured, sending a huge spray of hard body chunks at Miruko. "Ugh!" Their hardness and speed left Miruko looking bruised. Her eyes widened even further as the female villain started regenerating the damage.

"Fuck me, don't tell me—!" She cut herself off when she saw the Eyeless Monster that she thought finished, running towards her. The only difference was that he had two heads instead of one. "WHAT THE FUCK!?"

He wasn't the only one as Four-Eye and Chainsawman-wannabee also joined the attack and Miruko had to dodge all three of them at the same time for a few moments. Getting sick of it, Miruko dodged, leading two of them to believe her cornered, and they pounced at her. Smirking, Miruko jumped.

The Chainsaw monster went through the Four-Eyed one, leaving him missing limbs and body parts. It dumbly looked down at its tools, confused that it cut through its comrade.

Miruko somersaulted above the Eyeless monster. "Double Luna Arc!" She delivered two powerful front-facing axe kicks to the thing's heads. The force of the impact travelled through the monster and cracked the ground beneath.

The sound of something exploding was the only warning she got before a hail of hardened body spikes hit her. She landed on the ground with a wince, feeling something wet dripping down her side. It seemed that her wounds from her latest mission had reopened. The heat on her back was unpleasant, too.

She looked at her enemies, her eyes widening again. The Four-Eyed monster was now back with twice the limbs that he had lost. The Winged one had two heads as did the one without any eyes. All five were up and about and looked to be stronger than ever.

That regeneration of theirs is incredibly annoying. Miruko waited, seeing what they were going to do, and was surprised when none of them made a move. She frowned and looked over her shoulder, seeing that she was on the border of the Fire Zone.

She looked at the monsters, and again, nothing.

Are they… afraid of the fire? Something in the back of Miruko's mind bothered her about this, and it took her a moment. It was a long time ago, back when she was in middle school. They were covering the topic of an ancient hero who fought a monster that regenerated with two heads for each one he cut. The hero only managed to win after burning the stump, preventing the head from growing back.

Does their quirk work the same? If that was the case, then Miruko knew that her job would be to try and send them into the Fire Zone if possible. She could leave, and enter the Fire Zone to help whoever was there—her ears did pick sounds from inside—but knew that she couldn't leave these guys alone or they could possibly go after the students in other zones.

So the best way was to stay and fight. She'd try to get them into the Fire Zone, or at least keep them in place until she found a way.

A memory from the past came to her, and she found herself smiling unconsciously, remembering the civilian—back then—brat who forced her to work together with him. Now where can I find Izuku to use that flame mode again? He could be anywhere inside USJ. She trusted that he was fine. He had to. He had balls, and Miruko wasn't going to forgive if he died after what he did.

With no option in sight, Miruko leapt back into the fray.

She fought against the monsters with vigour, intending to either kill them or keep them from harming the students, no matter the cost. They were strong, and each time she damaged them, they came back stronger.

Eventually, they were a mutated mess that closed on Miruko from all sides. Miruko was panting heavily, bleeding, bruised and with a few fractured bones and at least one broken rib. Still, she laughed, waiting for their attack as she suddenly felt stronger.

But the emerald light came first.

▬▬ι═══════

"Take that!" A powerful sound wave burst out of the amplifiers in Jirō's legs, knocking two villains away.

Izuku had his staff in sword mode: A black sword that seemed to be a type of Spatha or Viking sword but with the blade being wider at the base than was usual. A few emerald-coloured geometric designs decorated the blade. The edge was blunt as he didn't desire to cut down just any villain he faced.

Still, with Deus Armis buffing him up, and his energy running through the sword, Izuku made quick work of anyone who got into striking distance of himself.

"Come on, you bastard. Use your quirk, shoot your energy!" One of the villains, a guy with six crystal-like structures growing out of his back, shouted. It confirmed what Izuku already suspected: they had come with a quirk that countered theirs, and for some reason, the villain in question thought that he wasn't using his quirk.

Wait, maybe they have outdated information? Izuku suddenly realised as he jumped over a villain's attack before knocking him out with his sword. If that's the case, then this might be our biggest chance.

Kaminari's counter was obvious, but he couldn't see anyone who countered Kyōka's quirk… Izuku suddenly felt bad for the girl. Her quirk was awesome, but clearly, the villains didn't think so.

"Um, Midobro," said Kaminari with a grimace. "Can you at least take care of this guy? I can't fight well with him around, and I can't exactly use my finisher move with you guys around."

Said guy was the skull-masked villain that mocked Kaminari earlier. Both were utterly useless against each other given their quirks, and each time Kaminari tried to take out one of the other villains attacking him, he'd have his attack nullified by the skull-masked man.

"On it!"

"Where do you think you're going?" The villain who most likely had a quirk that 'countered' Izuku's stood in his way. "And don't think you can pass me without your quirk. My skin is too tough for that sword of yours!"

Izuku chuckled, shaking his head. He took a stance, ready for his next spell. Given the material his support item was made of, it'd made an excellent foci even in sword form.

"Don't move. You're in the perfect place." Izuku didn't care about the villain's confusion, slashing his sword forward. "Anemoi: Sirocco!" Putting enough of his energy in it, a massive tidal wave of wind burst from the sword, following its swing.

It hit the shocked villain dead centre and sent him flying. The villain flew fast right, colliding into the skull-masked villain, the crystal pillars on his back making the impact even worse before both were sent off the edge of the Mountain Zone.

Kaminari grinned at him. "You're scary, Midobro. Really, scary." He then turned towards the villains with a smirk. "It's time I tried my new attack, that guy kept messing it up."

Izuku raised an eyebrow seeing electricity surging around Kaminari's body but never more than one or two centimetres away from it. Electricity arced around his body, and his hair started floating a bit as if picked up by the wind. It seemed that Kaminari had put into practice what they discussed the other day at the restaurant.

"Time for my Super Saiyan to debut!"

Kyōka, who had just blasted two more villains, stopped and looked at him with a deadpan. "You can't use that name or you'll be sued. Try coming up with something original, idiot."

Kaminari pouted but he turned his focus back on the villains. "Get ready for this! You're going to love this, trust me. What you just saw was my normal state. This is… this is my Super Kaminari!"

Izuku laughed and even Kyouka cracked a smile and joined in. "No stop, Kaminari! If you do this now it will drain away all the brain cells you have left in that empty head of yours! And I say you need every last atom of it as is!"

Izuku cackled as Kaminari's shoulders slumped, turning to look at Kyōka with a pout that made them laugh harder.

Kaminari shook his head with a laugh of his own before he burst forward. Izuku's eyes widened in interest and glee seeing the speed and power that Kaminari moved at. Running electricity through his body clearly enhanced his physical stats considerably. But that wasn't just it.

"Stun Punch!" Kaminari yelled, his fist connecting with a villain. Both the impact of the punch and the strong jolt of electricity were more than enough to instantly knock out the villain.

"Super Stun Kick!"

Yes, not only are his attacks harder and faster, but you're also getting electrocuted at the same time.

With three of them working together, the trio made quick work of the villains, defeating them all with ease.

"Ha! That worked out great." Kaminari grinned and dropped out of his new form, immediately he was bent over, panting and sweating profusely. "Man, this form really takes a lot out of me… huff... Huff."

"I have to admit that it was better than you doing one wide area attack and becoming stupi—I mean even more stupid after that."

"Do you enjoy taunting me so much?"

Kyōka smirked. "It's my biggest joy in life."

"As much as I'm enjoying this," Izuku cut in. "We need to see how the others are doing. I suspect that we were the lucky ones, and I fear that they might be in trouble."

With that, Izuku focused on his support item. "Aesc Stab," he said and the sword glowed green before it started to change shape. It elongated into a long black shaft a bit thicker than his wand, and as tall as Izuku himself. At the end of the shaft from the bottom side was a sharp tip, while the top side—its head—split and widened into a large double helix shape with a large emerald rhombus-shaped crystal of some kind. From the collar—the place that separated the shaft and the head—three short and thin chains protruded. Emerald-coloured geometric designs decorated the black staff exactly like the sword.

What he was going to do, and what he probably might need to do would require a lot of energy and the Staff Mode of his support item was the best for this.

His next spell wasn't something he got to use outside of the time he created it. It required a lot of energy, and it had one flaw. It was bloody massive.

"ME!"

He pointed at the ceiling of the USJ building and shot his energy at it—he felt his reserve drop considerably. A moment later, a single massive eye appeared on the ceiling. Green, and an exact copy to his own eyes down to the light green cross now on both eyes—proof that they were linked.

And through it, he saw everything that was happening. Seeing what was happening to his classmates and teachers, a wave of deep rage coursed through Izuku's body, his feelings reflected on the giant eye as it glared at everything. At the moment, he wished he could just summon a meteor to smite those who harmed and were harming his friends.

Seeing his friends and teachers in danger, Izuku knew that he had no choice but to use that as fast as possible.

It was going to be his first time actually using that spell in combat, and certainly, he never tried it on this scale. It was going to take a lot of energy out of him for sure. There was no real guarantee that it'd work on top of that.

The thing was, that Izuku didn't simply create spells on the fly and use them easily. That might've worked for simple, normal spells but not complicated ones.

The stronger the spell or the more complicated, the harder it was to get it to work.

Everyone else thought that he only needed to imagine something for it to happen, and he certainly wanted them to believe it.

The fact was, that creating a spell was a far more complex work than he had let on.

The first hurdle was the amount of energy needed. The stronger the effect of the spell, the more energy it needed, and that was the same the more complicated it got.

Intent: Izuku needed to mean it and believe it. He needed to have the willpower to believe that his energy was going to affect a certain object or person in a certain way.

Imagination: Izuku needed to be able to imagine it. If it's a concept that was beyond Izuku's imagination then no amount of putting power into a spell would make it work.

Visualisation: Izuku needed to visualise the effect in his mind. It was kind of similar to imagination but not at the same time. It was a bit more involved.

Understanding: In a way, similar to Momo's quirk, the better Izuku understood the process or what he wanted to do, the better the effect. He didn't need perfect understanding or for everything involved in the process to be 100% scientific. His quirk compensated a lot for that thanks to imagination and intent, but Izuku needed to have a general understanding of what he wanted to do, and how.

Control: Izuku needed to control the energy he was using well. To direct it to the specific target he wanted, and decide how much energy he needed or wanted to use.

Mnemonic: Giving names and especially basing spells on concept streamlined the previous process and usually made casting spells much, much faster than without using one.

Training: Izuku in the end, needed to put the previous steps into practice again and again. Not only a lot of the time the spells wouldn't work or blow up in his face, but it helped him decrease the time needed for each spell. Constant hours of practice and failures were needed for each spell.

The spell that Izuku had in mind worked on the concept of changing the very geography of the battlefield. The idea was to control the battlefield and be able to swap locations of people and even objects at will. To be able to precisely put the person or the object in the exact location that Izuku needed them to be.

So far, he had only succeeded in doing it at a small scale in training, and without actually being able to decide where exactly he wanted this or that.

As such, he knew that he couldn't control exactly where each of his classmates ended up, but he had a few possible solutions to at least make the whole thing work. Sending them to the exit wasn't possible because of the current limitation of the spell, and because changing the entire building was going to warp the whole thing, effectively deforming the exit.

First, use the centre plaza as an anchor point for the whole thing, while moving everything else. Secondly, he could attempt to fling each of his targets in the general direction he wanted them to go. They'd not land in an exact spot but should arrive at the general location. He wasn't sure if all of them would succeed, but he had to try.

He raised his staff and spread his energy to the entire building and everyone in it.

"Deus Armis!" His first order of business was slightly boosting the power of every single one of his classmates and his two teachers. Despite not boosting them by a lot, the sheer number affected Izuku's reserves of energy.

Next was the real thing. Summoning all of his focus and going through all the steps, Izuku steeled himself and acted, feeling most of his energy evaporating on the spot and he yelled.

"UNIVERSE ONE!"

The world was painted in an emerald glow.

▬▬ι═══════

The change wasn't smooth. Mostly. The ground rose and twisted, fell and shifted. Almost everyone including Izuku was switched from their position to somewhere else. The building shrank and warped around itself, the Landslide Zone contorted and fused with the Mountain Zone, creating a large cave.

The Fire Zone expanded, encroaching over the Ruin Zone while the ground collapsed and broke up in many places, reducing the water in the Flooded Zone and creating rivers.

Some landed where they were supposed to get, while most landed depending on their luck. Everyone was confused for a moment, but the students proved their worth, acting quickly.

Round two began, and the villains weren't going to like the results.

▬▬ι═══════

Kirishima gasped, breathing sweet, sweet air for the first time in maybe more than a minute.

Kirishima looked down hearing the howl of pain in confusion. Some sort of Shark-man had his jaws around Kirishima's hardened midsection. His teeth were broken, and his mouth was bleeding from Kirishima's hardened body.

He raised both of his arms. How did I get here? He idly wondered seeing that he seemed to be on the side of the Mountain Zone, or at least what remained of it. And Kirishima brought both of his hardened hands down, with as much power as he could get, on the villain's head. He felt more powerful than he could remember.

The Shark-man howled once more, his eyes rolling back as he flopped to the ground unconscious.

Kirishima looked around, his eyes widening when he saw the injured bodies of Shōji and Kōda. He ran to them and breathed out in relief when he saw their chests moving slowly. They were still alive, but probably with a lot of water inhaled, and many injuries.

Seeing as if there were no villains around. Was there a cave before? Kirishima went to work to save his two classmates. He didn't know how they got here, but he knew that they were saved for sure.

Given the green aura around our bodies… Could it be Midoriya?

▬▬ι═══════

When the warm emerald energy washed over her, Kinoko felt safe. That was confirmed when she felt herself grow stronger, knowing that Izuku was behind all of this.

So while surprised, Kinoko was quick to get her bearings when she suddenly found herself in the Downpour Zone.

The cold rain felt wonderful on her skin after suffering from the heat and the fire of the Fire Zone. She was slightly injured, her costume was singed and she had small burns, but she was okay. Tokoyami had tried to protect them as much as he could, and she helped as much as possible.

Tsuyu was there too alongside Kuroiro, but Kinoko couldn't find Tokoyami.

"W-What happened?" Tsuyu asked, opening her eyes slowly. Her eyes narrowed. "How did we get here?"

"Izuku," Kinoko answered simply. "Are you alright?" She went through their supplies, bringing out the bandages and first aid kits.

"Y-Yes." Tsuyu nodded before standing up. "I was just… Fire isn't a good place for me."

Kinoko smiled. "Good." She turned to Kuroiro. He was the one injured the most, and was still unconscious. "Can you take care of Kuroiro for now?"

"Yes, of course."

Kinoko turned around to face the threat that she had picked up. There were sounds and shouts since they had arrived, and she had been spreading her spores since the start.

A familiar band of villains appeared from between the trees.

"Oh, you brats are here?" Zancrow said with a scowl. "I have no fucking idea what happened, but don't think that you brats are going to survive just because you took the fire away."

Right, thought Kinoko. Zancrow can only control fire, not create it. Though some of those with him can do that, they're not that powerful and this downpour will make them weaker still.

That couldn't be said about her own quirk now. Kinoko found herself smirking maliciously. These villains have enjoyed their panic and their game of hunting in the Fire Zone. They had tried to kill them and had injured her classmates. There would be no mercy here.

The witch took a step forward.

"This is the end of the line, villains," she said coldly and raised her hands, opening them wide. "Blackwood cauliflower shroom! Yellow night shroom! Enoki shroom, shiitake shroom! Inky cap shroom! Grow, grow! Cover the earth with me." Her grin was nearly psychotic as she glared at them. "Mushroom Kingdom's wrath!"

As if it were magic, mushrooms of all sizes, colours and types grew rapidly in the forest. From the ground, trees, rocks, and even on the villains' bodies. Like eldritch horrors, the shrooms spawned from every nook and cranny.

The villains attempted to destroy them, but for every mushroom that was destroyed, a thousand took its place, and Kinoko didn't stop, releasing spores and allowing them to grow and multiply. From above, below, and all around the villains the mushrooms grew, and so did their screams.

Said screams grew higher, and some began coughing and wheezing as the mushrooms made their way into their noses and mouths. Into every hole and crease of their bodies.

They fell, collapsing on the ground as they writhed and twitched, their fingers clawing on their bodies, struggling to get the mushrooms off just to breathe. And yet the mushrooms continued, covering their bodies as they fell, leaving the forest covered in a few feet deep cover of mushrooms.

It was only the fact that she was a hero and that it didn't fit any of the agreed exceptions—in regard to dealing with villains and killing—that Kinoko stopped short of killing them. They weren't going to get up any time soon though, and wouldn't escape unscathed.

Kinoko sighed and turned to look at Tsuyu. The girl in question stared at Kinoko with extremely wide eyes and let out a whimpered croak when she noticed Kinoko looking at her.

"What?" Kinoko asked, her voice full of confusion.

"You're really scary, Kinoko-chan… Really scary."

▬▬ι═══════

Tokoyami was confused. One moment he was suffering attack after attack from that Zancrow guy, and the next, he was feeling stronger and he found himself here. As for where was here? He had no idea. Tokoyami didn't remember that a cave existed in USJ.

Well, that didn't exactly matter to him. In fact, he'd rather be here than in that Fire Zone. Dark Shadow was growing stronger by the second, and he knew he needed to let him rampage soon.

"Tokoyami?" he turned, his eyes widened seeing Kyōka standing a few meters away from him. He was surprised that he didn't sense her, but he figured that he was confused by what happened. She had the same emerald aura that surrounded his body.

"Do you have any idea what happened?" he asked her. Tokoyami was worried for his friends. Were they still at the Fire Zone or were they somewhere else?

"I think it was Midoriya. He used that spell that made him stronger and well, I do feel stronger, and then this." Her eyes narrowed, looking at something in the dark. Her earplug extended and stabbed into the ground. "It seems that he had changed the entirety of USJ… He's honestly scary to be able to do that, and I have no idea why he did it."

"Well, if the situation was the same everywhere else as it was in my previous location… he probably saved our lives." The villains were clearly prepared and had them exactly where they wanted up until now. Tokoyami could easily unleash Dark Shadow on anything. Dark Shadow nodded, sharing his opinion.

"Well, whatever the case, we have some guests." She gestured at the darkness leading deeper into the cave. "There are more than a dozen villains and they're approaching us… Fast."

Tokoyami smiled. "Good. Dark Shadow is getting antsy. I shall unleash the wrath of the abyss upon them, so don't worry about it."

It didn't take long for the villains to make themselves known. They were arguing with each other, led by twins—one of them had orange hair, and the other had blue hair.

Tokoyami didn't even let them say a word when the villains noticed them.

"Let's go, Dark Shadow." Dark Shadow grew to a monstrous size. "Ragnarök!" It lunged at the villains.

They didn't stand a chance.

▬▬ι═══════

"Guak!"

Bakugō spat out a lungful of water, breathing heavily on his knees that now he was outside of the slime-like villain's body. His eyes were wide, and his body shook from what he had just gone through.

He had nearly died. The feeling of suffocating while surrounded by water was a horrible one. His lungs had begun to hurt, his face losing colour and his body grew heavier with each moment. Bakugō had never known fear in his life, but in those moments, with his vision darkening… he finally did.

Steam rose around him, and he finally looked around seeing that he was somehow in a building on fire. The water that surrounded him also got displaced and evaporated from the flames and heat.

I nearly died. Bakugō gritted his teeth before he screamed, twin explosions followed destroying the room that he was in. Nearly died to low-life villains before I even started!

He had never felt so humiliated before in his life, except maybe aside from the day when Izuku beat him and the Half-half bastard.

I can't lose. I can't lose. I can't lose.

He was the best. The one who will be the number one hero and surpass All Might. There was no way someone like him could lose like that!

Heroes don't lose… no matter what!

A noise got his attention. He walked close to a hole in the wall of the room—or what remained of it—and looked.

About two dozen villains were walking about, looking around them for something and arguing amongst themselves. Some of them were villains he remembered seeing in the Central Plaza.

Bakugō grinned. He has built up a lot of sweat in the heat of the flames, and it was time he let loose and showed the world that he belonged on the top.

▬▬ι═══════

Shoto had no idea what was going on for a few moments. He was being beaten up, then he was feeling stronger than ever before the whole world was dyed in emerald light.

When he opened his eyes, things were different… in a way.

He was still in the same zone and at first glance it looked the same… if one ignored that it was smaller as if someone compressed it, it was also cracked, and one part of it was actually a burning pile of rocks and a tree grew horizontally from one boulder.

The villains that were attacking them were nowhere to be seen too, and in their place was a gigantic slime-like villain made out of water that was looking around in confusion.

Sero was nowhere to be seen either.

Shoto blinked. He wanted to say the same of Hagakure but he had no idea if the girl was around or not.

"Hagakure, are you there?"

"Y-Yes!" Her voice came from behind. "What is that thing?"

"Never mind, just stay behind me," said Shoto. The previous villains directly countered his quirk, but now… now he could go all out, and the villain in front of him was incredibly weak to his quirk.

Hand in his pockets, Shoto took a single step forward. "Heaven-Piercing Ice Wall!" a gargantuan ice glacier instantly freezing the villain and everything in that direction.

Hagakure gasped in surprise. "Woah… I forgot how powerful you are…"

The corners of Shoto's mouth lifted up a bit unconsciously. "We need to go and see if anyone needs our help. I doubt Midoriya-" For who else could've been responsible for this? "Did this if things weren't bad."

"Stop right there!" Yelled Hagakure, making him pause for a moment. "You're not leaving this place before we bandage your injuries!"

Shoto scoffed and continued walking away. "There are more important things right now."

"Todoroki Shoto!" The use of his full name sent a chill down his spine and made him turn around to see Hagakure with a bloody rock in her hand. "You won't leave this place before we look at your wound or so help me god I'll use this rock to give you more!"

Shoto stared in shock at Hagakure for a moment before shaking his head and sitting down. He didn't want to argue too much, and it was faster to let her do her thing.

▬▬ι═══════

"I swear, Midobro… If this is a prank then I'll punch you after I congratulate you, and if it's not… I get the idea, but still, fuck you, bro…"

Kaminari deadpanned, kicking his legs to stay afloat in the middle of what remained of the Flood Zone. The villains—who were scattered and panicking when he arrived—were circling around him like sharks.

"Well… I better not use my full power." He didn't want to use it and then ended up sinking because he couldn't use his brain anymore for a few moments…

"Look at me, talking like I'm a big shot!" he let out a chuckle. "I'm only going to use 10% of my power, ha!"

The villains seemed to have finally decided to attack, and Kaminari smirked. "You've already lost, buddies. Indiscriminate Shock 1 Million Volts!"

▬▬ι═══════

Izuku nearly stumbled but he planted his feet firmly. "Deus Armis!" He enhanced his strength even further and the ground beneath him broke as he rushed at the monster holding Aizawa down.

As the centre of his Universe One, the Central Plaza was the least affected by it, and thus not much had changed. Izuku had no idea what happened in other zones and he only could hope for the best. He didn't have much energy left so he wasn't maintaining the eye spell to check.

He wasn't the only one here though. Uraraka, Sero, Momo, Mina and Iida were there too. Miruko was also fighting some kind of mutated monsters nearby, the two plazas having almost merged together. They looked confused, so it was up to Izuku to act.

"Labrys!" His staff glowed, changing into a new form. When the glow died, it revealed a large double-headed war axe with a very long handle. It was black with the edges being emerald and had emerald-coloured geometric designs that decorated the shaft and blades.

His appearance seemed to have startled the villains who looked at him in shock when he was suddenly into the large monster's guard and swung the axe so hard that it sent the monster flying away as dark sickly looking blood escaped from the wound that Izuku inflicted—a wound that spanned from one hip to the opposite shoulder.

While the villains looked in shock, his classmates seemed to have snapped out of it, moving closer to him quickly. Momo was already creating bandages and some first aid as she and Uraraka knelt down near Aizawa.

"Sensei, are you alright?" Izuku asked, wincing at the state their teacher was in.

"M-Midoriya," Aizawa wheezed out the words painfully. "Be careful. That Nomu is supposedly as strong as All Might, and the villain with hands on him can decay anything on touch."

As strong as All Might? That was a worrying thought. Izuku looked at the this Nomu that he had sent flying. The monster stood out from the hole he was sent into, and to Izuku's shock, the wound that he had given him was fully healed. Regeneration too?

"Izuku!" Miruko's shout interrupted them for a moment. She landed near them with a wince—she didn't look to be in good shape. "can any of your classmates can produce fire?"

"Why?" There was one, but he didn't know where Todoroki was and whether he'd be willing to use his fire.

Miruko pointed at the monstrous villains who looked far different than the start of the fight. They walked slowly towards them and looked like something out of nightmares about Eldritch horror. "Hydra regeneration!"

Izuku frowned for a moment before it clicked. "Momo, can you make a flamethrower?"

"On it!" She said and opened up her costume, making Izuku avert his eyes so he'd not see anything he shouldn't.

He looked at Miruko and started casting the spells. "Ignis Armatura!" A spell that created armour that protected against heat and flames with the unexpected side effect of the flames sticking on the armour. Izuku felt his cheeks sink in, and his stomach feeling hollow. He was running low on energy, and unless he pushed himself over the limit and injured himself—possibly worse—he wasn't going to use big enchantments going forward.

"Now, Momo, use your flames on Miruko."

Momo looked at him wide-eyed. "What!?"

"Do it!" Miruko snapped and Momo did as asked, firing a stream of flames on the Rabbit Hero.

"Oh, yeah, that's the stuff!" Miruko said, stepping forward out of the flames after a few moments. She looked like a demonic rabbit that just escaped from hell. Flames clung to her body, especially her legs, and her hair floated, looking like it was made out of fire.

"Now we're talking!" She grinned madly and jumped back to fight the monsters she was taking care of.

"Man… she's really hot," Izuku said before he could stop himself, making his classmates look at him with raised eyebrows.

"How?!" the villain with hands snapped. "How could you send the Nomu flying? No one in your class is supposed to be that strong!? And what you just did… it doesn't make sense! How are you cheating?!"

Izuku stood up, stepping between his friends and the villains. He pointed the axe at the man. "Are you the leader? Who are you?"

"I'm Shigaraki, and yes, I'm the leader. Now answer my question, you cheat!"

Izuku smirked at Shigaraki. "Well, whoever collected the information about our quirks, didn't get the right info about mine. You simply got an outdated document because I purposely lied about my quirk years ago… and it seems that worked out well."

Shigaraki glared at him, and Izuku could hear his teeth gnashing against each other. "So you are the one behind all of this? I see now. You're the one who ruined my run! NOMU, KILL THIS CHEATER!"

Izuku readied himself for what was surely to be the hardest fight in his life… so far.

▬▬ι═══════

Launching herself, landing feet first, into the stomach of one of the Four-Eyed freaks and watching it be sent flying was satisfying as hell to Miruko. The imprints of her feet on its stomach that didn't heal only made her grin wider.

Man, I love this mode! It made her smile, reminding her of that day. I have to admit that Izuku has balls of steel for a brat, and working with him isn't so bad. She caught herself and shook her head. Don't be stupid, Rumi, you know what happens if you work with others!

It felt great seeing the monsters back away in fear of her flames. I need to be stronger and faster! Her body was feeling hot, and her skin prickled. There was something wrong but she didn't pay it any mind.

The first thing she thought of was that she needed to take out the Winged monster as his wind might put out her flames.

She cackled as his first head was smashed by a flaming kick, and yet no other head grew in its place.

She winced as her fangs cut into her lip. Wait, fangs!? She didn't think much about it as the female monster attacked her.

Miruko dodged and blocked, and growled in frustration as the villainess's liquid-like body avoided her attacks. I need to be faster!

She could see from the opening that the battle with the monster wasn't going great for the kids, but she couldn't take care of it too until she finished her job here.

She had to admit that this was probably the toughest fight of her life. The monsters had insane strength, regeneration which made them stronger and deadlier, multiple quirks, and she was already injured at the start of the fight.

It made her heart beat faster, her blood rushing hot through her veins.

"Flaming Luna Ring!" She attacked, destroying the remaining heads of the Winged Nomu—her skin felt weird like something was crawling on it.

She dodged an attack by the Eyeless Monster, doing a split kick that staggered him. Miruko put her hands on his chest and used them to flip, her thighs warping around the villain's head before she twisted.

She landed on the ground with the head splashing like a wet bag, and she delivered two side kicks that destroyed the last two heads.

She howled at the three remaining monsters, her roar echoing everywhere. She hunched forward, her claws dug into the ground. She—

Miruko blinked, looking at her arms. They were covered in white fur, and her fingers had transformed into claws. She looked down at her body to see that she had grown taller, and her whole body was covered in white fur. Her hair was also twice as long as herself, and much more voluminous. Static electricity seemed to dance around her claws, feet and hair, mixing with the fire. Her tongue explored her mouth, touching sharp teeth and fangs.

If she could look in a mirror, she'd see that the white of her eyes had transformed into black, her red pupils shining brighter.

"What the fuck is this?!" Miruko screamed, looking at her own body in shock. Could this be…

She had heard of something like this happening before. Rarely, but under the right circumstances—usually in a tense situation or hard-fought battle—the quirk would undergo an evolution.

Is this… awakening?

Miruko stared at her body more, feeling stronger than ever before shrugging. Whatever, I'll figure it out later.

Right now, she still had three more villains to defeat and their chances had never been lower.

▬▬ι═══════

Izuku grunted, blocking Nomu's punch with his axe. The impact travelled through it, hitting him as he was sent flying, his bones cracking under the force. Shit. The monster proved himself strong, and only his weapon and his enchantment kept Izuku from being killed.

If this guy was as strong as All Might, then Izuku had no chance. I can't match All Might, let alone surpass him… It's impossible!

"Get away from him!" Mina screamed and launched a wave of acid at the Nomu. The monster didn't even show any sign of pain as half of his body was burned badly and melted from the strong acid. The regeneration kicked a moment later and the villain looked fresh once again.

It turned toward Mina and pounced on her. Izuku moved fast, his body straining as he reached in time. He swung his axe down, cutting the Nomu's arm in half as it tried to punch Mina. He put his hands around Mina's waist and jumped backwards avoiding a follow-up attack by the Nomu.

Izuku watched grimly as the Nomu's arm regenerated. Not Hydra like but it seems that it can regenerate from anything. Even Momo's flamethrower proved ineffective.

Shigaraki moved while they were distracted, his hand outstretched towards Uraraka. Izuku's eyes widened in fear, but at the last moment, a wave of ice sprung to life between them, protecting Uraraka just before Shigaraki could touch her.

"I'm your opponent," said Todoroki, stepping into the plaza. He looked like he had gone through hell and his body was covered in bandages.

"DIE!" A familiar yell followed by an explosion alerted Izuku as Bakugō came flying, firing an explosion against the warp villain.

Kirishima also sprinted from another direction. "Thanks for the save, Midoriya! We're here to help!"

Izuku nodded with a smile. Right, even if it seems impossible… there must be a way to win this.

He jumped back into the fray. The Nomu proved its strength as they both engaged in a fierce battle. Izuku switched from swinging his axe to punching the Nomu with each attack, and yet neither worked. Any injury the axe left was healed instantly, while Izuku's punch did literally nothing, not even staggering the monster.

Could it be… Shock Absorption? But that would mean this thing has more than one quirk!

Sero tried to restrain the monster with his tape, but the monster simply flexed and tore them off. Mina launched two more waves of acid slowing it down for a moment, while Uraraka shot a few large rocks at it thanks to her ability.

"Izuku-san, can you slow it down for a moment and make holes in its body?" Momo asked, moving closer alongside Iida.

"I'll try! But the window will be tight because it regenerates fast!" He thrust his axe forward, pushing the injured Nomu back as it regenerated. "Yari!" The axe in his hand glowed and transformed into a type of barbed partisan spear with the same colour scheme and runes of the other modes.

He swung, cutting the Nomu's left arm from the elbow, and twirled the spear—almost cutting himself—and cut off the second arm. He stepped forward—nearly stumbling as he hadn't actually practised using these weapons—and thrust the spear hard as fast as he could, creating several holes in its body.

As soon as he stopped the attack, Iida was inside the monster's guard, planting something in the wounds before he ran back. Izuku's eyes widened seeing frag grenades inside the holes.

"TAKE COVER!" Iida yelled as he hightailed it.

Izuku jumped back, creating a barrier around the monster—his cheeks sank in further. A moment later, a huge explosion rocked the place. When the smoke cleared, Izuku paled looking at the monster and he heard Uraraka vomiting to the side.

More than half of its body was blown to pieces, gore and blood covered the ground around it. And yet, the monster moved, its body regenerating the same as always.

"W-What a monster… can nothing take it down?" Said Momo, falling to her knees as she stared in shock at the monster.

"HAHAHA!" Shigaraki laughed as he decayed a blast of ice sent at him by Todoroki. "Nomu has Super Regeneration. It can regenerate as long as a few cells survive!"

Man, quirks are bullshit. Thought Izuku seeing the Nomu back in full health and running at him. "Momo, Iida, Sero, Mina. I want you to destroy any pieces of the Nomu around the battlefield including the blood. Don't leave anything… I have a plan."

▬▬ι═══════

Momo had never felt as helpless in her life as she did today. Seeing the rows of teeth about to bite her in half and deliver a certain death, she had never been so afraid before.

And yet before this happened, she felt a new strength fill her body before she was somehow transported into the Central Plaza out of nowhere. She was confused for a few moments, but after that, things became clear.

She had been saved. Izuku had done something that changed the layout of USJ—the whole place was messed up as a testament to her classmate's power—and in the process he had saved her from certain death.

Things didn't go well from there though. Seeing their beaten-up teacher was a shock, the insane and deranged villain made her shiver, and that wasn't to mention the monster that supposedly could kill All Might.

How were they going to survive that?

She felt useless as she managed nothing but provide a power-up for Miruko before she went to fight the monsters—had Miruko not been there to fight them, Momo knew that they'd have certainly died a long time ago.

Her flamethrower was useless against the Nomu, and her plan to take it out with the grenades utterly failed. Izuku was the only thing keeping the monster from slaughtering them. Shoto was busy fighting Shigaraki, while Bakugō and Kirishima were trying to beat the warp villain or at least keep him distracted.

So she did as Izuku planned—she noticed that he was showing signs of running low on energy, the same as she did. She and her classmates used flamethrowers to take out the parts that Nomu left all over the place.

There was a roar that confused everyone for a moment, but no one paid it much attention in the middle of the battle.

She watched in fear as Izuku fought the monster, her heart leaping into her throat each time he was close to having his head split open with one of the Nomu's fists. She gasped seeing one fist connect with Izuku's chest, and she heard the breaking of his ribs.

Shigaraki was upon him, trying to attack him, but Izuku jabbed the butt of his spear into Shigaraki's stomach, sending him flying just as Todoroki froze Nomu in his ice.

Izuku leapt backwards with a wince, putting some distance between him and the Nomu. "Everyone, prepare for the plan. Todoroki, when I yell, I want you to freeze it again!"

Just as expected, the Nomu cracked the ice easily, freeing itself. It was time.

Izuku moved forward, using the spear to cut the Nomu's arms. "Now!" Shoto sent a glacier of ice that froze the armless Nomu instantly. Iida, with Uraraka in his arms, ran as fast as he could, reaching the Nomu in a moment, allowing Uraraka to touch it.

Meanwhile…

"Schwert!" The spear glowed a dark emerald for a moment and when the light died, something else was in Izuku's hand. The black sword from the bus ride was in his hand.

The blade glowed with emerald energy.

Uraraka touched the Nomu from an opening in the ice, and the Nomu started floating in the air. The girl looked about ready to vomit.

Shigaraki screamed and ran at them, only for him to be stopped by wave after wave of acid by a pissed-off Mina. "Don't touch my friends!"

Sero used his tapes to bring Iida and Uraraka back as the Nomu floated in the air.

At the same time, Izuku stood, his sword held in front of him. The glowing had transformed into a torrent of emerald energy that spanned many feet. It would have been a pretty sight, and almost peaceful if it wasn't for Izuku almost looking like a skeleton, his skin taut against his body, and blood falling from his nose and lips.

Momo's heart was filled with worry for her saviour. Not even in her worst training sessions she ever reached that level of emaciation from lack of energy and lipids.

He ran forward, bringing the sword low—it easily cleaved through the ground as if it didn't exist—until he was below the Nomu, which only just freed itself from the ice, and thrust upwards.

"EXCALIBUR!" Izuku roared with all of his might.

The stream of emerald energy hit the Nomu straight before it exploded into a violent torrent of power that covered the Nomu and well, everything in its direction. The green energy was so bright that they had to close their eyes as shockwaves nearly sent them flying.

When things died down, and the light disappeared, Momo opened her eyes and gaped alongside everyone else.

Of the Nomu, there was nothing left as if it never existed. The ceiling of the USJ? It had completely disappeared.

A thud brought their astounded gazes to Izuku, making them gasp at his condition. He almost looked like a corpse with taut skin, sunken cheeks, and a pale face. He was breathing heavily and looked barely conscious.

Shigarki was the first to move, yelling like a madman before pointing his finger at Izuku. "This is outrageous, this is insane. Pause, pause! You were supposed to be a level one minion yet you just defeated the final boss of this stage so easily? How? What kind of exploit are you using, you cheater!? What is your secret?"

The villain had unnerved Momo. Whether it's the severed hands clinging to him, the ugly face with unkempt hair, the maniacal smile or the childish malevolence that he seemed to exude. Momo felt chilled by his very presence.

Izuku, tired, in pain, and coughing blood smirked at him.

"In the immortal words of the ancient Roly Poly Elder Lords… get guud, scrub!"

Momo couldn't help but snort.

The villain screamed like a lunatic.

Momo's eyes widened seeing the villain lunge at Izuku's prone body, his mouth stretched taut in a psychotic hateful grin.

She couldn't let him touch him. She couldn't let him kill her classmate. Momo couldn't let him kill the one who saved her life.

She acted without thinking, her body going through the motions and forming a familiar—though it was black and green this time—FN SCAR rifle.

The villain's palm was just about to touch Izuku's head. Just a moment and he'd be able to decay her classmates. She couldn't allow that.

Momo fired, still operating without thinking. The recoil hurt like hell, but Momo didn't pay any attention to it.

She was rewarded by a howl of agony by the villain. One bullet had pierced into his thigh and two others tore through his wrist, blowing his hand off and sending it flying.

She wasn't the only one who had moved.

Miruko. Beautiful and deadly Miruko materialised on Izuku's other side out of nowhere—Momo didn't even register that there was something different about her at that moment thanks to her speed and the fire. Still covered in flame, her feet connected with the villain's face.

There was a satisfying sound of bones breaking and sizzling of skin just as the air was displaced, and the villain's body was sent flying.

Momo was moving before even that. Operating on instincts she didn't even know she had, Momo moved in a trance just as Miruko's kick connected.

All the calculations needed were done and Momo's eye was trained on the spot the villain would reach.

Killing wasn't encouraged for Heroes. In fact, it was encouraged to take villains alive as most were small-time criminals. There were exceptions, of course. Such as killing to protect civilians and other Heroes or the villain being too strong that could only be taken out.

A villain with an extremely dangerous quirk attacking a school, leading a band of villains to kill students, hurt Pro Heroes, and was moments away from killing one of them?

No one would've blamed Momo for taking such a deranged killer out.

Black fog started to swirl mid-air. At the same time, the entrance was blown wide open and All Might—who wasn't smiling—burst through.

Working in machine-like efficiency, Momo fired.

The black fog engulfed the villain and vanished. A fraction of a second later, the bullet passed through where the villain's heart would've been just then.

Momo blinked, coming out of her trance filled with confusion.

She registered two things before her legs gave out. They had won, and Izuku was safe now.

▬▬ι═══════

AN:

Hello, well, this chapter took a while to write—my longest chapter to date for this story. I hope that you enjoyed it.

Also, thank you to everyone who favourited and followed the story. We hit two milestones here with 100k words and 2k follows (on FFN).

About the chapter itself:

Well, I wanted to show AFO as a true threat and someone who actually has plans, not asspulls. AFO is the final villain here, and I hope that I do him justice. He at least won't be the pathetic chuuni burned potato from canon for sure.

His plans would've worked for the most part, but Nana unknowingly foiled him. First, her advice for Izuku to lie about his quirk led to AFO getting old info, she helped train Izuku here, and later she was able to escape and bring the heroes at the last minute.

BTW, the story is AU so AFO's backstory and thought process isn't exactly like canon. I've left a hint or two about it and about future plans in his scene.

For the fights, I hope that I did them well. Fight scenes are really hard for me to write. AFO's plan basically put them at their worst in terms of enemies and surroundings, so they did really badly, especially considering their inexperience. Izuku saves the day here.

As soon as they're not at a massive disadvantage, the students show their powers and fuck up the villains.

Universe One is one of the moments that I've been waiting to write since I had this idea. He can't completely control it, and it's still at a small scale, but the potential is there. I also inserted some more explanation about how Izuku's quirk works, and I hope you guys liked the full showing of his Support Item.

BTW, in canon, the only reason the heroes won in USJ was because the villains were fucking dumb. Kurogiri for no reason left Iida, Ochako and many others right in front of the doors, allowing Iida to escape and call for help. If he had transported them like he did everyone else, then it'd have been game over.

And yes, Miruko got an awakening. Many characters will get an awakening and it won't be part of villain wank or Bakugo wank. More about Miruko's awakening will follow later, and some explanation, but basically, it's the Sulong transformation from One Piece. Thanks to The Sinful for this idea.

I think this is it?

Hope you enjoyed the chapter. As always, leave a review, follow and favourite and until next time.