BEN 10 DOES NOT BELONG TO ME. MY HERO ACADEMIA DOES NOT BELONG TO ME. MY INVESTIGATIONS HAVE REVEALED THAT I DON'T HAVE ANY ENEMIES… WHICH MEANS THAT THEY'RE EVEN CRAFTIER THAN MY AGENTS! NO, I'M NOT PARANOID!
If I existed in a world with superheroes, I think I'd want to get into the insurance game. Premiums would be through the roof!
My Alien Academia
Chapter 56
Crescendo
Mirko knew that she had never looked so pitiful. Her arm was broken in six places, her leg had a chunk of flesh missing, and her costume was completely red from all the blood she'd lost. Still, she couldn't stop smiling; despite all the pain, she'd never had so much fun before!
The two remaining Nomu were the most challenging; one sprouted long tendrils from his head and kept at a distance, while the female Nomu did her best to keep Mirko tied down in close-quarters. Despite only being awake for a few minutes, their coordination was second only to their power.
At least the other three were dead, and Mirko had done her job of keeping the monsters busy while Lemillion went after Garaki. As far as she was concerned, she was winning.
"You're dying," the female Nomu hissed.
Mirko shrugged with her one working arm. "Heroes are expected to put their lives on the line. As long as the innocent are protected and the criminals are stopped, I don't mind giving up my life, especially if it means freaks like you are never made again."
The tendril-headed Nomu growled and lashed out; Mirko jumped back, but with only one good leg, she couldn't completely avoid the attack. Half of her vision suddenly went dark as a lashing tendril slashed across her right eye. She managed one more hop back, but then the female Nomu was in front of her; Mirko felt a rib break as the Nomu punched her, and then even more pain when the monster's fist exploded with the force of a grenade. Like the other times this had happened, the Nomu's hand regenerated in seconds.
Mirko staggered, and then collapsed; it was hard to breathe, and her skin had gone several shades lighter from all the blood she had lost. She could tell that unless she managed to stop the bleeding, she would die in minutes, at most.
Well, at least my last fight was a good one, she thought.
As if to prove her wrong, two things happened at once. First, a golden blur rocketed overhead to smash into the tendril-headed Nomu; second, a column of flame struck the female Nomu in the back, turning half of her body into little more than charcoal.
"About… damn… time," she managed to gasp out.
Endeavor knelt by her, examining her injuries with a practiced eye. "I'm going to have to cauterize the wounds. You'll live, but it will hurt. A lot."
Mirko's response was her usual grin. "Promises, promises."
Endeavor put his hands over the worst of her injuries and burned them shut with the skill of a master welder. Mirko passed out from the pain, but her smile remained; as far as she was concerned, she'd won.
With Mirko saved, at least for the moment, Endeavor glanced over his shoulder at his newest opponent. "You abominations are all very persistent."
The female Nomu hissed. "I will never stop! Not until I've slaughtered you all!"
Endeavor noticed how the Nomu's eyes darted around at the Heroes streaming into the lab, until her gaze landed on Lemillion, who was fighting the remaining Nomu with one arm, while keeping a Blackwhip-bound Garaki nearby with the other.
"Master!"
"Lemillion, get in the air, now!" Endeavor shouted, even as he pursued the female Nomu on jets of fire.
Without hesitation, Lemillion jumped to the ceiling, dragging Garaki with him; once he was up there, he used Float to stay suspended. Endeavor knew Lemillion had multiple Quirks—the sheer variety of his abilities couldn't be explained by a single Quirk—but his curiosity was shoved aside for the immediate situation.
The female Nomu leaped into the air, but her outstretched arm was sliced off by X-Less, a lesser-known Hero who could shoot a powerful beam of energy from one eye. The Nomu shrieked, even as her arm regenerated, but it gave Lemillion a precious moment to reel himself and Garaki to safety with Blackwhip. Now in the air, the Nomu couldn't avoid Endeavor's next attack.
"Flashfire Fist: Jetburn!"
The intense column of heat incinerated the top half of the Nomu, and without her brain, her legs fell to the floor in a lifeless heap. The remaining Nomu roared in outrage, but his tendrils were blocked by Crust's shields; a moment later, attacks from a dozen other Heroes shredded the monster to pieces.
"All clear!" Endeavor announced. "Crust, Eraser, get Mirko to the doctors outside; Lemillion, get Garaki to the police."
Crust formed a stretcher-shaped shield in his hands, which Eraserhead carefully placed Mirko onto. "Hmm, of all the places she could get hurt, I suppose this was the best option."
Eraserhead raised an eyebrow as they carried her out of the lab. "You want to tell her that? I'll be sure to put those words on your tombstone after she kills you."
Endeavor was about to follow after them, when Lemillion contacted him over the comms. "Endeavor, Shigaraki Tomura was further in the lab. He's in some kind of pod, with lots of tubes injecting him with… something, I'm not sure. He was unconscious, so he shouldn't be a problem to bring in."
"Today just keeps getting better," Endeavor mused, partly to himself. "We've destroyed all the Nomu here, caught their creator, and now the leader of the PLF is helpless. If things continue as they are, we should have this whole mess cleaned up by the end of the day."
"My thoughts exactly. I—hey!"
"Lemillion? What happened?"
"Sorry, Garaki just started… laughing. I hate it when they laugh after they're caught."
Endeavor frowned. "Keep an eye on him. I'll send a team to apprehend Shigaraki."
After a few curt orders to several other Heroes, Endeavor started to investigate the lab. He was no scientist, but he was fairly certain that none of the biological samples he saw had been acquired legally, or ethically. His skin crawled when he saw the ages of the 'donors' on some of the labels; the youngest had been only two years old, and Endeavor could only hope that the child hadn't died to fuel Garaki's insanity.
He was about to check another shelf, when he spotted a faint green glow, coming from underneath a crack in the cabinet. Curious, he managed to heave the cabinet out of the way, revealing a secret room behind it, where he found a computer. It was connected to a bank of small cylinders, each filled with a liquid that glowed a bright green. The screen showed a symbol he recognized—a white-and-green hourglass. Underneath the symbol were the words 'Synthesis Complete', and a request to upload some data to a flash drive.
"Garaki must have had this computer on some automated task," Endeavor mused, even as he approved the computer's request and placed the flash drive in a compartment on his belt. "I doubt any court in the world will fail to convict the bastard, but if we have even more evidence to bury him with, so much the better."
Then he felt it; a sense of overwhelming dread and despair that passed through like a cold wind, so strong that he could almost see it. Only the sheer stubbornness of a man who had been pursuing a goal with single-minded determination kept him from falling to his knees.
"What the hell was that?"
…
"Oh, crap!" Alien Queen's hand went over her mouth. "Midori, what happened to your dad!?"
Big Chill gently handed his father over to the paramedics in the rear before answering. "I don't know. He didn't wake up, and he's hurt. I…"
Alien Queen wanted to give her twin a hug, but they were on a mission, and the last thing they could afford to do was give any potential enemies an easy target.
"He's gonna be okay," she said, doing everything in her power to sound confident.
"I hope so." Big Chill paused when he felt a rumble through the ground. "What was that?"
A deafening roar shook the entire mountain, and the ground in front of the villa abruptly exploded upward. Nearby Heroes and PLF soldiers alike were sent flying as an enormous arm pulled an even larger body out of the tunnel it had created. Gigantomachia roared again as he stepped out into the open, and brought a fist down on a handful of Heroes; when he pulled back, all that was left was a red smear on the ground. A few more were incinerated by gouts of blue flame.
"Oh my god," Alien Queen breathed; it wasn't just the carnage that horrified her, but the cause of it. "I know that guy! He almost killed me during middle school!"
Cellophane nervously swallowed. "Um, I think he got an upgrade since then."
Big Chill's eyes narrowed. "Dabi is on his back. Those two together could destroy this entire operation!"
As if to prove him wrong, Gigantomachia turned his head and sniffed the air like a bloodhound. He then whirled and took off running, trampling anyone that got in his way.
"Well, so much for that," Cellophane muttered.
"It's not over," Sir Nighteye said as he jogged up to them. "That was Gigantomachia, the former bodyguard of All For One. Hawks' intelligence suggested that he now serves Shigaraki just as loyally, but he was only supposed to move if Shigaraki himself commanded it. If he's on the move, then Shigaraki must also be active." Nighteye's gaze followed after Gigantomachia. "He's headed for Jaku City."
Big Chill recalled what he had seen on the way to the villa. "Wait, aren't there some cities between here and Jaku?"
Nighteye's skin paled considerably. "Gigantomachia won't stop until he reaches his master, and he'll destroy everything that gets in his way."
"I'll stop him," Deku said as he turned into Jetray.
Nighteye blinked. "Wait, you can't—"
"I'm coming with you!" Alien Queen declared, and jumped onto Jetray's back. "If that big freak is as dangerous as he looks, you won't be able to take on both him and Dabi. I'll put out his fire, while you focus on the big guy."
"Are you sure?" Jetray asked.
"Just hurry up before I remember how scared I am."
"I'll need to fly fast to get in front of them," Jetray said. "Hold on tight."
Jetray had only just begun to lift off when a crowd of PLF soldiers took advantage of the confusion Gigantomachia had caused to burst through the Heroes' perimeter. Some of them got fairly close, until strands of tape tripped them up.
"Get going!" Cellophane shouted. "We'll handle these guys!"
Nighteye sighed; it seemed that decisions were being made without him, and things were moving too fast for him to come up with anything better. "Very well. I'll send reinforcements as soon as we're done here."
Jetray nodded and took off, with Alien Queen's startled squeak trailing behind. Nighteye sighed again, and then hurled one of his seals right between the eyes of a man charging him.
"Cellophane, I will secure the prisoners," he said. "I want you to signal the other rearguard units to regroup around us, and then find Gale Force. I suspect that we will need his help very soon."
…
Dabi noticed a shadow flicker past, and glanced up; he grinned when he saw a familiar flash of green light. "Hey, Machia, looks like we've got a real fight on our hands."
Humungousaur, and then Ultimate Humungousaur, crashed down in front of the charging behemoth. He reached out, grabbed Gigantomachia's wrists, and dug in his feet; even with his incredible strength, Gigantomachia's own power and momentum slowly pushed him back.
"Not bad, Midoriya!" Dabi called out, and aimed a flame-wreathed hand at him. "Too bad you can't stop me."
"But I can!"
Dabi whirled and blindly fired off a jet of flame, but it was reduced to steam by a torrent of acid. Alien Queen hung onto one of Gigantomachia's spikes on his back with one hand, while the other was dripping with acid.
"Bad move, little girl," Dabi said with a grin.
"Probably," Alien Queen admitted, "but I figured I'd make a few in my life."
"Well, this is gonna be your last."
Alien Queen noticed how Dabi's fingers were already starting to char. Let's see if I can outlast him.
…
I'm awake.
I shouldn't be awake. It's too soon.
How do I know that? Is it one of the Quirks Garaki gave me?
No. It's something else. I don't know what, but I should.
I feel… incomplete. It's definitely too soon. Something must have happened.
The Heroes must have attacked us. It has to be them. They're always in my way.
It's too soon to fight, but I don't have a choice.
This might be fun.
…
Other than the feeling of overwhelming dread, the first warning Endeavor had that something had gone horribly wrong was a slight tremor in the ground. Every instinct, honed from decades of training and experience, told him that whatever was about to happen was beyond anything he could handle.
"Everyone out!" he roared into his comms. "All teams, get outside!"
Rather than run for the stairs, Endeavor unleashed a column of intense heat straight up. He knew there was nobody there; the only Heroes were either in the lab with him, or outside the hospital with the evacuated civilians. He flew up from the thrust of the fire from his feet, straight through the hole and into the hospital's first floor. Other Heroes were right behind him, either using their Quirks to move quickly, or hitching a ride with someone who had that ability.
Cracks began forming in the floor, spreading rapidly throughout the entire building. Endeavor knew he wasn't responsible, and from the way things were turning to dust, he could only think of one person with that kind of destructive power.
How could Shigaraki's Decay be this powerful? He thought. It's spreading too fast, and—
Endeavor heard a scream, and turned his head to see Crust disintegrate before his eyes. He'd been trying to shield a few other Heroes from the Decay, but they all died in an agonizing instant.
Shigaraki's Quirk could only affect what he was touching with all five fingers, he thought with mounting horror. Did he go through an Awakening? Can his power now spread to everything?
"This is Endeavor to all units," he said, fighting to keep his voice under control. "This is a code red! I repeat, code red! Fall back from the hospital, and don't stop running until this attack stops!"
He could only hope that it did stop.
…
A universe away, Azmuth heard an alarm start to blare in his lab. Even with his intellect, it took a moment for him to recognize it, simply because it had never gone off before. As soon as he remembered what it was, he felt true terror for perhaps the first time in his life.
"Eunice!" he barked, and his assistant came running in.
"What's wrong?" Eunice asked.
Azmuth handed her a small tablet that grew to fit her hand. "There's a list of equipment that I need immediately. As soon as you have it, we're going to Earth to pick up Ben."
Eunice blinked. "Boss, you're starting to scare me. What's going on?"
Azmuth didn't even try to hide his fear. "Possibly the worst thing that could happen."
…
Ultimate Humungousaur grunted as Gigantomachia drove a fist into his chest. His armored plates took the worst of the hit, but it still hurt. At first, he'd thought Gigantomachia was some kind of super-Nomu, but other than having multiple Quirks, there were no other similarities. He could only assume that Gigantomachia had either been born with multiple Quirks—not impossible, but astronomically rare—or had been naturally strong enough for All For One to give him so many without risk.
Deku knew he was strong enough to handle most Villains on the planet, at least in terms of pure strength, but Gigantomachia was something else. His power was already close to Ultimate Humungousaur, and he was only getting stronger… and bigger… and were his fingers always giant claws?
With a roar, Gigantomachia heaved him through a building; metal twisted, glass shattered, and Ultimate Humungousaur heard screams as civilians tried to escape the chaos.
He's already pushed me to one of the cities? he thought in alarm. At this rate, we'll be at Jaku in no time at all!
A familiar scream caught his attention, and he risked taking his eyes off of Gigantomachia to see Alien Queen ducking under a stream of blue fire. Her jacket caught fire, and she coated her entire body in acid to put it out, but not before getting a nasty burn on her shoulder. Dabi had his own burns; the skin on his hands was seared almost black, and there was a nasty mark on his leg that hadn't come from his own fire.
Deku paid for his inattention when Gigantomachia slashed his arm. Ultimate Humungousaur's hide was tough, but the sheer power behind the blow cut deep into his flesh. He roared in pain, and smashed Gigantomachia across the face with his uninjured arm. Jagged teeth flew ahead of a spurt of blood, but Gigantomachia kept pushing. If anything, he was probably only fighting because he just wanted Deku out of the way. Deku wasn't sure if he wanted to see what the fight would be like if Gigantomachia's goal was to kill him.
Maybe Ultimate Humungousaur was the wrong call, he thought. I don't have enough time left for another Ultimate, and I only have about five minutes left as it is. I'll have to either go to another alien, or disengage until I get a full recharge.
He knew the second option was unacceptable; there would potentially be thousands of victims if he simply let Gigantomachia be on his way. He had to stop Gigantomachia, or at least slow him down long enough for the civilians to be evacuated by the Heroes—
Wait, there aren't any Heroes, he realized. Almost everyone was brought in for the operation! The police won't have anyone to buy time for the civilians to escape!
Well, that settled it for him; he would just have to do what he could to slow Gigantomachia down, and try not to get killed in the process.
As several deep furrows were carved in his chest plates, he knew that would be easier said than done.
…
Genesis looked on in horror as Jaku Hospital crumbled into dust, followed by everything else within eight blocks. Nearby buildings collapsed from the sudden change, cars swerved and crashed, and the roads cracked for miles around.
"Holy shit!"
If the situation hadn't been so terrible, Genesis might have been surprised that Iida had been the one to swear.
"What do we do?" Froppy asked quietly.
"I… I don't know," Genesis admitted, and tried to get her mind working again. "There… there might be survivors. We should get over there and do what we can to help."
"Good idea, Ponytail," Ground Zero muttered, and blasted himself into the air. At any other time, Genesis would have been pleasantly surprised that Bakugo had wholeheartedly agreed with her.
The other students ran down the street towards the devastation; they could hear sirens and screams all around them, but they'd been taught to investigate the worst part of a situation first, and then work outward from there.
"Hey, kids!" Ingenium darted out of an alley and ran alongside them, along with his newest Sidekick. "Okay, not really sure what the protocol for you guys is in this kind of nightmare, but just stay with me, all right?"
"That is greatly appreciated, brother!" Virtus said as he jogged next to Ingenium. "Do you know what has happened?"
"Not really," Ingenium admitted. "All I know is that Endeavor ordered everyone to run out of the hospital, and then… well, you probably know what happened then."
Triumph grimaced; as much as he hated his father for what he'd done, he couldn't bring himself to wish he was dead. At the very least, Japan's morale couldn't afford to lose two Number One Heroes in one year.
Part of him was happy to see Endeavor a moment later, pushing away some debris and helping other Heroes to their feet. Another part of him was severely disappointed that he was unscathed.
"Endeavor!" Ingenium sprinted over. "How bad was it?"
"Bad," Endeavor grunted. "Crust is dead, and so are most of the Heroes who went into the hospital. The only ones I can account for are Mirko and Lemillion, plus the Heroes here."
Ingenium was wearing his helmet, but it was obvious that he was as horrified as they all felt. "Oh, god… what about the civilians? The hospital staff?"
Endeavor looked around. "Maybe some got out, but it's impossible to say right now. It's not like Shigaraki's Quirk leaves evidence behind."
Genesis heard gagging behind her, and turned to see Earphone Jack on her knees, expelling the contents of her stomach. Grape Juice, who was closest, handed her a bottle of water.
"Screams," Earphone Jack gasped out, after she'd washed out her mouth. "I can hear so many screams. There are people under the debris, some of them are dying…"
Genesis fought to keep her own stomach in check; she tried not to think about it, but her mind had already started estimating the potential casualties. Even with the evacuations, the number was easily in the hundreds.
"We need to begin search-and-rescue efforts," Endeavor said. "Ingenium, I'm placing you in charge of that. Take any rescue-specialists and the students. I'll take any remaining fighters and go after Shigaraki; we can't afford to let him do something like this again."
"Oh, you're right about that."
The voice made Genesis' skin crawl; she looked up, and saw Shigaraki floating in the air. He had changed since the last time she'd seen him, with white hair and a black bodysuit that had segmented plates over his chest and legs; there was also no sign of any of his severed hands. He was far enough away that Genesis couldn't make out the details, but there was something else off about him, something about his eyes…
"Change of plans," Endeavor said quietly. "Get the fighters here now. I'll hold him off as long as I can. Everyone else… run."
Heroes had already started gathering when Shigaraki had appeared. They should have felt more confident—their numbers were growing by the moment, while Shigaraki was alone. However, something deep in their souls told them that they were vastly outmatched, and if the grin on Shigaraki's face was anything to go by, he knew it too.
"Well?" Shigaraki spread his arms wide. "Who wants to be first?"
…
Had things gone according to plan, the commanders within the HPSC would have been celebrating, or at least approaching the situation with cautious optimism. The threat posed by Shigaraki's army was the greatest Japan had faced since the early days of Quirks, and this operation would finally tear out that threat at the root.
But things weren't going according to plan. The staff should have been desperately trying to get things under control, and the commanders should have been on the phone with the very top of the HPSC to keep them informed.
Instead, everyone was dead. The lucky ones were still in one piece when they died; the unluckiest were spread across several rooms.
"Is this as cathartic for you guys as it is for me?" Slice asked, and shook blood free from her hair.
"Definitely," Chimera said, and dropped the body of a security guard that had tried to get in his way. "The chance to put down the ones pulling the Heroes' strings? Most Villains don't even have dreams this good."
"Speak for yourself." Compress gingerly stepped around some mangled remains. "If I must kill, I prefer quick and clean operations, not wanton slaughter."
"Have you even killed anyone today?" Slice asked.
"His role isn't to destroy the opposition," Nine cut in. "His task is to deal with security."
"Fine, fine." Slice glanced to her right. "You're awfully quiet, Toga."
Toga glared at her. "Jin is dead. I'm not in the mood."
The other Villains, including Re-Destro, gave Skeptic a look; the last thing he'd seen before security had cut out and the strike team had deployed was Hawks executing Twice. For most of the League members, that had hurt; not only had one of their most useful members died, but after he had started recovering from his trauma, they'd started to see him as a friend. Those were hard to come by for Villains, and since they didn't know where Hawks was at the moment, they were taking their anger out on the HPSC.
"Halt!" a security guard shouted. "Stop where you are!"
"Moron," Slice sneered, and fired a tuft of hair that impaled the man through the eye. "What, did he think we were gonna just roll over?"
"The Commission's security tends to be of low intelligence," Skeptic said. "They don't want their in-house muscle to get curious and poke around where they shouldn't." He typed away on his laptop for a moment, and frowned. "I was right about their firewalls; even when we're inside the building, I can't get their files."
"Then you'll do it the old-fashioned way," Nine said. "Toga, Slice, Spinner, Kurogiri, escort Skeptic to the server room and keep him safe while he takes the files. Everyone else is with me; we're cutting the head off this snake."
Once Skeptic's part of the team split off, the rest continued with the attack. With powerhouses like Nine and Chimera leading the charge, the security around the Commission's leadership didn't stand a chance. Normally, there would have been a few experienced Heroes as a final line of defense, but the elimination of the PLF had been deemed such a high priority that those Heroes had been attached to the operation.
It didn't take long for them to reach the room containing the Commission's true leadership. An armored door slid down as a last-ditch effort to stop them, but a few super-strong blows from Re-Destro shattered it, and the Villains strode in.
"Well, well," Nine said. "I was expecting more of a fight."
Of the half-dozen people sitting at the far table, only one of them remained calm; the others leaned back in varying degrees of terror, as if putting a few more inches between them and the Villains would somehow save them. The woman at the center of the table, however, looked somewhere between bored and mildly annoyed at their presence. She was the perfect image of a businesswoman, with a pressed suit jacket and skirt.
"Nobody here truly fooled themselves into thinking our security would stop the likes of you," the Commission President said calmly; she even had the gall to go back to looking at the papers in front of her. "Our best hope was to hold you off long enough for the Heroes to arrive, but that clearly failed."
Chimera raised an eyebrow. "You don't seem afraid, considering you're about to die."
The president merely raised an eyebrow right back. "Killing me would be the height of stupidity, considering what I have to offer you."
Re-Destro scoffed. "When an opposing force holds all the cards, the best option is to fold with grace. That's just basic business practice."
"Oh, I have one card left to play." She slid the papers in their direction. "That contains a full pardon for each of you. A clean slate—you'll have your lives back, and with only two conditions."
Re-Destro shared a glance with the other Villains. "For the sake of argument, what are those conditions?"
"The first is that you hand over Shigaraki Tomura, or at least provide actionable intelligence on how to defeat him." The president shrugged. "The other is that you go to some other country and become their problem. I only care about Japan's future, and it becomes much darker with you in it."
To their credit, the Villains considered what taking that deal would be like… for about half a second.
"I don't know what's dumber," Chimera said. "That you'd think we'd abandon Shigaraki, or that we'd give up, right when things are going our way."
The president frowned. "You don't know what destroying us will unleash on you. The world doesn't want Villains like you running amok; the world wants peace and stability. A threat to that will bring every nation down on Japan. The Heroes of those other nations will tear this country apart to find and destroy you. Can you really risk that?"
Nine loomed over her and chuckled. "Considering what Shigaraki is becoming… I think we'll take that risk."
…
Thirty seconds later, Skeptic's team rejoined the others, just as they emerged from the blood-splattered room.
"Aw, did I miss the slaughter?" Toga pouted. "I only got to kill one guard."
Nine ignored her, and turned to Skeptic. "Do you have the data?"
"I have everything," Skeptic said, the one eye visible between his bangs wide with excitement. "Every dirty secret, every scandal—everything we would need to destroy the Heroes in the eyes of the public."
"And after we kill them all, their reputation will be so ruined that no one would dare take up their cause," Slice finished, and elbowed Skeptic. "Nice work, for a nerd."
Furious, Skeptic opened his mouth, but before he could speak, Re-Destro put a hand on his shoulder. "Yes, excellently done, Skeptic."
"Thank you, sir." Skeptic glanced at his open laptop. "According to the plan, we need to rendezvous at the safe house. We'll remain there until tomorrow morning."
"You sure we can't go help Shigaraki?" Toga asked.
Nine shook his head. "Even if the plan had to be implemented early, the instructions were explicit. Shigaraki needs time to get used to his new power, and we can't risk getting caught in the crossfire."
"Oh, I know that." Toga grinned. "I just wanted to watch the bloodbath."
…
Recovery Girl sighed as she walked down the hall to her office. She knew about the ongoing operation, both in Gunga and Jaku, but it had been decided that she wouldn't be privy to the information as it happened. Apparently, people thought she was too old for that kind of stress.
Please, I work in a school packed with teenagers, she scoffed. If all the drama, fights and underage sex didn't driven me insane, nothing will.
As she reached her office, she frowned; she might have been old, but her memory was sharp, and she knew the door had been completely closed when she left. Had Eri gone off on her own? No, All Might should have been with her to prevent such a thing… unless he took her with her in some misguided attempt to keep her entertained. Because that was exactly what the numbskull would do—he never considered the consequences of his actions until it was far too late.
Recovery Girl slid open the door, and readied her cane to smack some sense into All Might. Instead, she felt a chill when she saw Eri tucked in on one of the beds; her eyes were closed, and she looked absolutely exhausted. To make matters worse, All Might wasn't there; instead, there was a young woman with a white coat standing over Eri. She turned as Recovery Girl entered the room, and the old Hero briefly wondered if she was suffering dementia; the young woman looked so alike that she could have been Eri's sister!
"You're right on time," the intruder said, and smirked, as if she'd told a joke only she understood.
"Who are you?" Recovery Girl demanded. "What have you done to the girl? And where is All Might?"
The other woman inclined her head, and Recovery Girl didn't fail to notice her horn, exactly like Eri's. "All I've done is help stabilize Eri's powers; she used quite a bit of energy, and it was causing her to grow sick. All Might didn't exactly make her comfortable before he left. As for who I am… you can call me Paradox. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to keep an eye on my friend."
There was a flash of light, and then Paradox vanished. Recovery Girl took half a second to make sure there was no immediate danger, and then hurried over to Eri. Sure enough, the little girl was only suffering from exhaustion, but seemed otherwise fine. She then thought about what Paradox had said.
"All Might, what did you do?"
…
Endeavor didn't waste time, and unleashed an enormous wave of fire at Shigaraki. He was completely covered by the inferno, and for a moment, Uravity let herself hope that it was over. That hope died an instant later, when Shigaraki calmly stepped out of the fire; part of his shirt was burning, but he patted it out like it was nothing.
Still grinning from his place in thin air, Shigaraki pointed a single finger at Endeavor; there was a loud bang, as a bullet formed around his finger and fired. The bullet not only hit Endeavor in the shoulder, but nearly severed his arm with a powerful explosion; the Hero let out a strangled cry and fell to the ground.
"The Doctor was right," Shigaraki mused. "Comprehension and Creation are a good combo. I can make high-explosive bullets."
"Creation?" Genesis whispered. "He… he has my Quirk? How?"
Uravity didn't have time to even try to answer; her heart jumped into her throat when she saw Ryukyu plummet from above, her massive claws ready to tear Shigaraki apart. Just before she hit him, Shigaraki flipped up and back with the grace of a professional gymnast and landed on her back. Ryukyu had half a second to look terrified, and then Shigaraki ripped off her wings; he didn't even use Decay, but simply slapped the back of his hand against each wing. She screamed in agony as she crashed into the ground.
Shigaraki laughed as he landed next to her. "So this is what strength like All Might's is like! This must be why he really smiles all the time, not that 'trying to make people feel safe' crap."
Someone screamed—Uravity wasn't sure if it was her—when Shigaraki kicked Ryukyu in the ribs, and she went skidding across the ground to Endeavor's feet. Blood was pouring from gashes in her back, there were now terrible scrapes across her body, and it was clear that her ribs were shattered.
"Two top Heroes taken down in less than a minute," Shigaraki said with a manic grin. "And I killed Crust a few minutes ago. Not a bad start."
Endeavor hurled a spear of fire with his good arm. "You haven't beaten me!"
Shigaraki leaned out of the way of the attack, and then vanished; a heartbeat later, and he was inside Endeavor's reach. With a lazy swipe of his hand, Endeavor's chest was sliced open like he'd been hit with a sword. Blood sprayed everywhere, and he collapsed by Ryukyu.
"Now I have," Shigaraki said.
Now that he was closer, Uravity could see what was off about Shigaraki's eyes—they were dark voids, with tiny lights, like stars in the night sky. It should have been beautiful, but Uravity felt a chill go up her spine at the sight.
Shigaraki looked over at Class 1-A and smirked. "Oh, look, the junior Heroes. I told my minions not to kill you at your little camp, but things have changed."
He leaned forward, but didn't move at blinding speed; he frowned, until his gaze landed on Eraserhead, whose eyes glowed and hair rose up.
"Ah, Eraserhead, I was hoping you'd show up." Shigaraki held up one fist. "Your Quirk might be the only thing on this planet that could slow me down."
"Run," Eraserhead said to his students. "We'll hold him off until reinforcements get here, but I'm not risking your lives."
"Sensei—" Genesis took a tentative step in his direction.
Eraserhead held his hand out to stop her, though he didn't take his eyes off of Shigaraki. "Now!"
Ingenium stood next to him. "I'll make sure they get escorted out of here. Gentle!"
"Of course, Ingenium!" Gentle bounced down from a platform of elastic air. "I will protect them with my life!"
In any other situation, Uravity would have been surprised that a now-former Villain she'd seen on the internet was somehow on their side. As it was, she was just trying not to let terror overwhelm her, and numbly followed after Ingenium's newest Sidekick.
…
Shigaraki grinned at the wavering Heroes. "Now that the kids are headed back to school, the adults can play."
"We're not here to play," Eraserhead growled. "And you can't use your Quirks anymore, so you might as well surrender."
"Why don't you come over here and make me?" Shigaraki slammed his foot down; even with his Quirks suppressed, his body had been modified to handle that kind of power, and the sheer strength kicked up a huge cloud of dust.
With Eraserhead's gaze obscured, Shigaraki immediately felt his power return. He dashed over to the nearest Heroes and brushed his fingers against them; some disintegrated from Decay, and others exploded in a shower of blood from Overhaul.
Then a golden blur rocketed up from underground, and a fist connected with his jaw. "POWER!"
Thanks to Comprehension, Shigaraki knew exactly what had happened, even though they had connected for just a moment. For a brief instant, Lemillion had channeled one hundred percent of One For All through his body; it had caused horrible aches in his muscles, but he had instinctively known that the only way to hurt Shigaraki would be to put his all into that blow.
All that information flooded Shigaraki's mind before he hit the ground. He rose to his feet, and his tongue explored a gap where a few teeth used to be.
"Ouch." He tapped his jaw with one finger, and then Overhaul rebuilt his broken bones. "Not bad, kid, but you're really dumb. All Might's successor or not, you shouldn't fight me alone."
Lemillion grinned. "Who said I was alone?"
Shigaraki spotted the shadow and looked up, but before he could get out of the way, Eraserhead got a clear look at him again, and his enhanced speed wouldn't activate. That was all Spirala needed to slam a huge spiral of energy into him from above, and when it faded, Suneater cracked him over the head with a giant clamshell. Shigaraki fell to his knees, but managed to punch Suneater's clam-hand; it shattered, along with most of the bones in his forearm.
"Tamaki, get back!" Spirala cried, and fired again.
This time, Shigaraki rolled out of the way and picked up a chunk of concrete. He hurled it with the force of a cannon, and the only reason it didn't take Spirala's head off was because Lemillion pulled her out of the way with Blackwhip. Shigaraki scowled, and then slammed his fist into the ground; another cloud of dust was kicked up, and his Quirks returned.
Eraserhead is the real problem, he thought. I kill him, and it's game over for these maggots.
Shigaraki moved at blinding speed; Lemillion tried to follow him, but Shigaraki waved his arm, and dozens of small bombs fell to the ground. Lemillion had to use Permeation to avoid the blast, but it slowed him down enough for Shigaraki to get a good lead. With his other arm, Shigaraki created a large shield of reflective material to protect himself from Eraserhead's Quirk.
An odd pain made Shigaraki glance at his arm; there were black cracks forming on his skin, and it felt like it was going deeper, down to his bones. He grimaced; Garaki had warned him that he needed to undergo the entire procedure, or he would only get so far before falling apart.
Other Heroes started attacking as soon as he emerged from the cloud of dust. He easily avoided the attacks that came from a distance, and a simple tap killed those who tried to get close. Eraserhead backed up as Shigaraki advanced; the Hero could tell that he couldn't affect Shigaraki through his shield, so he was giving his eyes time to rest.
Letting your abilities run out their cooldown while your opponent is using a defense buff, Shigaraki thought. Pretty clever, Eraserhead; if this was a real game, you wouldn't be someone I'd want to face in PVP.
It was too bad for Eraserhead that Shigaraki could use more than one ability at a time. All it took was a single leap, and he was inside Eraserhead's reach; his free hand reached out and grabbed Eraserhead by the throat, and only a desperate use of his Quirk saved the Hero from getting disintegrated by Decay, or turned to mulch by Overhaul. Erasure did nothing to prevent Shigaraki's inhuman strength, and there was a sickening crack as Eraserhead's larynx started to implode.
Before he could finish off Eraserhead, a wall of ice erupted upward, catching Shigaraki's wrist; his grip was loosened, and the ice separated him from his target. He knew that it was Triumph who had attacked him, but as he turned, a harpoon impaled him through the thigh; a burning pain that had nothing to do with the wound itself, and Comprehension told him that it was a potent neurotoxin from a species of frog.
"Get away from him," Triumph ordered calmly; behind him, Genesis and Froppy stood next to a harpoon launcher, created by the former.
Shigaraki immediately tried to create and fire an artillery shell to kill Genesis—Garaki had explained that, without Comprehension, there was no way he would be able to use Creation. Anyone intelligent enough to use it effectively could potentially be a serious threat. However, his Quirks failed him, because Triumph had melted a hole in his own ice, just so that a coughing Eraserhead to get a clean look at him. When he tried to slam his foot down to create another cloud of dust, Lemillion caught his limbs with Blackwhip, holding him in place until Uravity's prosthetic hand landed on his chest, and he started to float upward.
"My apologies," Gentle said as he landed by Eraserhead. "But they were adamant about protecting you. After all, you are our best chance of apprehending this miscreant."
With his throat partially crushed, all Eraserhead could do was reluctantly nod.
"He can't touch the ground!" Genesis shouted. "Sensei, don't let him use his Quirks! This is our chance to defeat him!"
It was then that Shigaraki knew there was a real chance of him dying. Eraserhead was suppressing his Quirks, meaning he couldn't heal from the harpoon and neurotoxin. His unfinished body was also starting to rebel against him; without time to rest and Overhaul himself, he wouldn't be able to complete his ascension.
However, as he rose into the air, he saw something that made him smile. He took a deep breath, and shouted at the top of his lungs.
"Machia! Come to me!"
A deafening roar, so loud that it shook the ground for miles, was all the warning the Heroes had before Gigantomachia, still in a pushing match with Ultimate Humungousaur, arrived on the scene. With no small amount of effort, he finally shoved Deku out of the way and barreled through a handful of Heroes that got in his way. He then leaped up into the air to grab his master; the sudden motion made Dabi and Alien Queen tumble off his back. Just as he was about to reach Shigaraki, a red blur rocketed through the air and crashed into him, sending the giant tumbling back.
"Sorry I'm late!" a familiar voice bellowed. "But you don't have to worry anymore, because I am here!"
Everyone was shocked by All Might's arrival, and even Eraserhead lost his composure and blinked. That was all the time Shigaraki needed to shake off Blackwhip, and then press his hand against his leg; Overhaul removed both the harpoon and poison from his body in an instant. He then dug deep into his supply of powers, and then Uravity's Quirk abruptly stopped working on him. He landed in front of a restored All Might and grinned.
"Well, this should be fun."
…
"Okay, it is weird having the house to ourselves," Ben said. "The kids have moved out, and Gwen, Kevin and Julie are with the Titans for at least a week."
"You're right, it is really weird." Kara sat on Ben's lap and grinned. "What do you wanna do?"
Ben grinned back and leaned in to kiss her; just before their lips touched, there was a flash of light. "Oh, that's just typical… wait, Eunice? What are you doing here?"
"No time for details!" Eunice all but shouted. "Azmuth is grabbing your kids, we need to go right now!"
Ben and Kara were on their feet in an instant. "Okay, what's going on?"
Eunice looked at them with terror in her eyes. "There's a rogue Celestialsapien on Izuku's Earth!"
Ben's blood turned to ice. "Oh my god."
And thus, the worst-case scenario has begun.
You might be wondering how Gigantomachia could manhandle Ultimate Humungousaur so easily. Keep in mind that Machia was able to completely destroy several cities on his way to Shigaraki in canon, while fighting an incredibly strong sedative, and a whole bunch of Heroes along the way. In this story, he's mostly just wrestling Deku the whole time; he might not have completely leveled those cities, but he sure punched a hole through all of them. And he's capable of leveling mountains without being at his best. He's no small threat, even to an Ultimate.
So, yeah, Shigaraki. That guy was stupidly powerful in the canon version of this fight, and I've made him even stronger. The body count is going to be very high.
And All Might is back, at full strength, no less! He'll have to be, if he's going to have a snowball's chance in hell at surviving this fight. What does this mean for One For All? Assuming both All Might and Lemillion survive, we'll have to wait and see.
As always, please consider buying my book, Alpha Sanction, by Josh Gottlieb. You can find it on my website (link in my profile), or on Amazon as both eBook and physical format. The sequel should be coming out this year, so now is a great time to get ready for that!
If you want to support me in other ways, you can donate to my P-atreon account (link in my profile). I lost one of my remaining two jobs, and while I did get some additional hours for my other job, I'm still low on money right now. This is especially bad, since I'm going to be getting an apartment soon (fingers crossed), and need to be able to afford stuff, even with a roommate.
I'd like to thank the following patrons for helping me stay afloat:
Serious Muffins: Nimrod009, Aaron Meek, Matthias Matanovic, Red Bard, Lokthar, Hakuryuken, Anders Lyngbye, Kristen Tyler, Patryk kawalec
Incredible Muffins: RaptorusMaximus, Crazyman844, CherryGoesBoom
Ultra Muffins: RangersRoll
Next Chapter: Deku joins the battle, the Rising Stars fight a monster, and the Tennysons try to outrace the oncoming storm…
Plus Muffin!