Summary: The USJ continues to fight back.
Chapter Text
"Midoriya?" Present Mic's voice, much less exuberant than normal, brought him back to the present and Izuku looked over at Mei, who looked like she was about to throw up. How long had they been sitting there? "Are you and the other little listener ok? You went quiet there. And what was that about dust?"
"Uh," Izuku swallowed the bile that was starting to climb up his throat, "The, leader...his quirk...he just killed…it's my fault…"
There was a panicked flurry of noise on the other end of the comm, but the white noise in Izuku's brain was louder. He'd never seen someone die before. If it wasn't for Izuku's interference, would Shigaraki still have killed that guy? Probably not, so it was all Izuku's fault that he was dead.
"Slow down, Young Midoriya." All Might's voice wasn't quite the same as it was when he was in his hero form, but it still brought back enough memories of long hours in front of the computer to be slightly comforting. "Start from the beginning. First off, is Eraserhead all right?"
"W-what?" Izuku looked at the screen helplessly. Even though it seemed like the world had stopped for him, the fight was still going. Eraserhead was still slowly being overwhelmed by the cannon fodder as Shigaraki and Kurogiri watched impassively, as if they hadn't just casually left a body in the middle of the plaza.
"Eraserhead is fine." Mei reported, apparently recovering from the shock a little quicker than Izuku had been able to. "The villain killed one of his own men."
"He killed him because of me, Mei-chan." Izuku's voice cracked. "That man is dead because of me."
Mei looked at him, the emotions in her eyes swirling between pity, helplessness, and something else that Izuku couldn't' name, "I know, but they're gonna kill a lot more people if we do nothing."
Izuku took a deep breath and let it out slowly before addressing the teachers and throwing himself into his analysis. He could deal with... everything later, "The leader's name is Shigaraki. He has a disintegration quirk that seems to spread from wherever he touches. Most likely a five point activation quirk, just like Uraraka's gravity nullification. Unknown whether he can control the speed with which something turns to dust. The warp quirk user's name is Kurogiri and he appears to be the right hand, also more mature than Shigaraki. All other villains are most likely hired muscle."
Izuku still didn't want to use the guns that Nedzu had mentioned, but he went into the defense system and started booting them up anyway. If Shigaraki was willing to kill so easily, Izuku had to be prepared. Mei was right, all he could worry about right now was making sure Shigaraki didn't kill anyone else.
"Mei-chan, you take over the mountain zone." Izuku said. "I need to focus on the plaza."
"Will do, Izu-kun!" Mei turned toward the screen and her eyes widened. "Oh my god!"
"What?" Izuku turned to check what was wrong, only to end up with Mei's hands over his eyes. "Mei-chan! What are you doing? I can't see!"
"What's going on over there?" Powerloader demanded. "Kids!"
"We're fine, Powerloader-sensei!" Mei yelled. "It's just that Izu-kun doesn't need to see that!"
"I literally just saw someone die, Mei-chan." Izuku grumbled. "What's worse than that?"
"Well, it's just that..." Mei-s voice sounded embarrassed, "One of the girls in the mountain zone had a...costume malfunction..."
"I knew that costume was going to be a problem." Izuku grumbled, "Her quirk works through skin-exposure Mei-chan, it's not a big deal. If I promise not to look, can I have my eyes back?"
"Hatsume, please." Present Mic sounded somewhat desperate. "Midoriya needs to help Shouta.."
"Oh!" Mei snatched her hands back as if she'd just been burned, "I...I'm so sorry, I wasn't thinking and…"
"Sometimes trauma is like that." Hounddog interrupted patiently. "Experiences like this make the brain want to cling to any sense of normalcy it can get. Honestly, you kids are first years and aren't even in the hero course, you shouldn't be going through any of this..."
"If we weren't involved, you still wouldn't know about the attack." Izuku said resolutely. "We're fine. Crap, Shigaraki's on the move."
Izuku turned up the volume so he could hear Shigaraki's muttering, "...24 seconds, then 20, then 17…"
It took a moment for Izuku to make the connection, and when it did, he couldn't help feeling like he'd somehow gotten caught in Todoroki's ice quirk, "He's figured out Eraserhead's tell."
Eraserhead tensed and jumped away from Shigaraki as he ran forward and Izuku sighed in relief, "I was worried for a second that Eraserhead had been too busy to see Shigaraki's quirk in action, but he's keeping his distance, so he's safe for now."
"Eraserhead prides himself on having good situational awareness." Nedzu said. "He wouldn't be such an effective hero if he was unable to multitask."
"I've gotten almost all of the students out of the disaster zones." Mei reported. "Most of them are heading toward the entrance, but a few are trying to make their way toward the plaza."
"Get in their way, please, Miss Hatsume." Nedzu ordered. "We need to keep the students away from the most dangerous villains as much as possible."
"But…"
"Hatsume…" Powerloader said her name like it was a warning, which it probably was, although Izuku had no idea what the punishment for disobedience would be. Most likely no access to flammable materials for a week.
"Fine, have it your way." Mei huffed and started typing. Izuku glanced over to see Katsuki and Kirishima struggling to keep their feet as a mini-earthquake shook the path they were on. It wouldn't hold them back for long, but he trusted Mei to keep them safe.
Turning back to his own screen, Izuku stopped breathing as he realized that Shigaraki had stopped the cat and mouse game he'd been playing with Eraserhead and was now scratching his neck again. This couldn't be good.
"Stupid cheater." Shigaraki muttered. "If it wasn't for the stupid extra player with the cheat codes, I could have taken Easerhead out easily! His quirk isn't good for long drawn out battles with big groups…"
"No...good hero…" Eraserhead panted and shot his capture weapon toward Shigaraki, "...is a...one trick pony."
Kurogiri appeared beside Shigaraki and the capture weapon disappeared harmlessly into a portal, only to reappear at Eraserhead's ankles. Eraserhead rolled away and his hair started floating. The portals disappeared, cutting the capture weapon neatly in half as they closed. Izuku shivered slightly. If Kurogiri closed one of his portals while someone was halfway through...
"Would you like me to take care of him?" Kurogiri asked.
Shigaraki stopped scratching his neck and grinned widely enough that Izuku could see the expression behind the hand on his face, "No. Eraserhead might be cool, but he doesn't know that I'm not the final boss here! Nomu!"
Izuku didn't know how he'd missed the giant shadow that slammed Eraserhead into the ground, but if he'd thought about it at all, he would have assumed that the bird villain with an exposed brain was just another one of the thugs Shigaraki had hired.
He would have been wrong.
"What even is that thing?" Mei's voice raised in barely concealed panic and Izuku decided he didn't like it when she panicked. That was supposed to be his job.
"I...I don't know." Izuku stalled for a moment, ignoring the teachers barrage of questions on the other end of the comm as he analyzed the villain. "Everyone shut up!"
"Eraserhead is still alive." At least, Izuku hoped he was, but he could have sworn he'd seen the hero moving around a little, even after whatever that thing was had stopped beating him, "But the students are on their own now. He's not going to be able to fight anyone with those injuries. As for what attacked him...well, it doesn't seem human. It has a strength aspect to it's quirk, definitely, but it also seems to have some sort of bird mutation, which should normally come with more fragile bones and diminished physical strength that this villain obviously hasn't shown signs of…"
Izuku trailed off as Shigaraki started speaking again. Bragging, his brain corrected.
"What do you think of him?" Shigaraki said gleefully. "He's the bioengineered anti-symbol of peace, but you can call him Nomu. He's got his own set of cheat codes to beat the big boss!"
"Bioengineered anti-symbol of peace?" Mei repeated, horrified. "That thing was invented? That's somebody's baby?!"
"Their back up is going to be coming soon. Between the student that escaped and that noob with the cheat codes, it's game over." Shigaraki growled, and brought his hand up to start scratching his neck again, only to freeze right before he made contact. "How about we leave the symbol of peace a present to break his pride when he gets here!"
He lunged toward Eraserhead, but Izuku was already ready. He shot every weapon he could think of at the space between Shigaraki and the hero, but apparently Kurogiri was already expecting his attack. Each of the rockets, bullets and other projectiles he's launched were effortlessly redirected upwards, harmlessly exploding near the ceiling. Portions of the dome shattered from the shrapnel and bullets, and the remaining thugs ran for cover as shards started raining down, but even falling glass wasn't enough to stop Shigaraki from grabbing Eraserhead's face just like he had grabbed the blocker earlier. Mei and Izuku both held their breath as all five of Shigaraki's fingers made contact.
Nothing happened.
"You really are so cool, Eraserhead." Shigaraki grinned. At least he seemed to respect Eraserhead as an opponent, not that that would be enough to keep him alive. "Nomu!"
Izuku had already launched another net at the Nomu, hoping to cancel his quirk in time to soften the blow, making sure to shoot a rocket at Kurogiri at the same time in an attempt to distract him. The half-baked plan worked and the net wrapped around the monster, but even with the net canceling his quirk, the Nomu still slammed Eraserheads face into the concrete with an audible crack and the hero finally went completely limp. Shigaraki simply huffed and disintegrated the net like it was nothing before turning his attention back toward the now unconscious Eraserhead.
"How far out are you guys?" Izuku's brain whirled with a million plans as he addressed the heroes.
"About five minutes." Nedzu said. "But All Might could get there in two if…"
"Do it." Izuku ordered. "Power up and get over there. I'll distract them."
"Izu-kun," Mei warned, "don't you dare…"
"Young Midoirya, I really must insist…" All Might's voice overlapped Mei's and the other heroes' as they tried to stop him, but Izuku resolutely ignored them as he connected to the PA system.
Shigaraki froze with his hand only inches away from Eraserhead's face as Izuku's voice, slightly warped from both the technology and the acoustics of the building, echoed around the USJ.
"Hello!" He took a deep breath and forced a shaky smile onto his face in a poor attempt to both assure Mei and to make himself sound more confident, "You seem to be having a little trouble."
Summary: The conclusion of the USJ.
Notes:
Chapter Text
Shigaraki's entire body contorted in rage as he frantically looked around for whoever was speaking, "You're the cheater who switched up the levels! Who are you?"
Izuku looked to Mei, who was looking at him with wide eyes. There was no way he could tell Shigaraki his real name. The villain would be able to track him too easily and that would put Mom, Mei, even Katsuki's family in danger because Shigaraki could choose to target any of them to get to him. He also couldn't say he was Deku for many of the same reasons. He'd grown up with that nickname and it was way too strongly associated with Izuku Midoriya. It wouldn't take more than a few days of asking around to figure out who Deku really was, if Shigaraki asked the right people.
As his thoughts whirled, a memory of something that Shigaraki had said earlier popped into his mind and Izuku had to hold in a breathy sigh of relief.
"What kind of a question is that? You said it yourself, Shigaraki." For this to work, Izuku needed to be someone Shigaraki could respect. Someone confident and an opponent who he knew could counter him at every turn. He gave a cocky smile and leaned back in his chair, hoping to channel that same energy into his voice. "I'm Cheat Code."
Nedzu was beginning to understand Yamada's panic now.
He was torn between bursting with pride for his student's quick thinking and wanting to ground him until he was thirty for his recklessness. Why did he have to call attention to himself like that? The villains had a warp quirk for goodness sakes, what would happen if they simply warped over to the main campus and attacked Midoriya directly?! He was quirkless and didn't have any strength or training to defend himself with! Nedzu didn't want to lose his student before he'd even really had a chance to teach him!
But now wasn't the time for panic, now was the time for his intelligence to shine. It was the time for damage control and protecting his reckless student from himself so that his reckless student could protect the other children from the villains. Was this what parenthood felt like?
"Everyone, please only refer to Midoriya as Cheat Code from now on." Nedzu ordered. "Especially when we arrive at the USJ. We don't want him to become a target."
"Yes sir." All Might's voice echoed over the comms. "Young Iida is heading your way, he tried to stop me, but I decided to leave him to you."
"Ah, I see the little listener now!" Yamada said.
Iida was kicking up dust as he headed their way almost slid as he saw the teachers and skidded quickly to a stop, "Teachers! There is an attack! I wanted to warn All Might, but he ignored…"
"We know, young'un. We done been told by…" Snipe trailed off and glanced at Nedzu, who shook his head. Snipe nodded resolutely, "by a third party. Come with us, you best give your report on the way."
For a moment, Nedzu thought that Iida would collapse in relief, but after a second, he squared his shoulders and started running back the way he had come as the teachers followed, "Yes sir!"
As Iida filled in the gaps and described the attack, Nedzu couldn't help but feel like they couldn't get there soon enough.
On screen, Shigaraki was attacking his neck like it had personally offended him, "Where are you, Cheat Code?! Tell me!"
"That's the way your warp quirk works, isn't it?" Izuku asked, his curiosity getting the better of him. "You can't come stop me if you don't actually know exactly where I am. That's why you were so angry when your signal blocker couldn't tell you my location."
"Iz...Cheat Code." Mei said softly. "I've unlocked the doors. Most of the students are evacuating now, but there are a couple overachievers I'm having to keep away from the plaza."
Izuku nodded in acknowledgement. Faintly over the comms, he heard the sound of people cheering and smiled. It had been two minutes.
"That's the thing about having the cheat codes, Shigaraki." Izuku said. "Not only can I change the levels, but the boss is on my side."
"What the actual Goddamn fuck!" Bakugo growled as yet another wall collapsed in front of them, blocking their path for the fifth time in five minutes.
Eijiro was secretly relieved, "Dude, have you noticed that the walls only collapse if we try heading toward the fight? Maybe if we try heading toward the entrance…?"
"Shut up, Shitty hair!" Bakugo screamed. "I'm gonna take down their stupid escape route and a few walls aren't gonna be enough to stop me!"
"But did you hear that dude on the intercom?" Eijiro asked. "This Cheat Code guy is probably doing this! He's probably working with the teachers, so if we just leave…"
"I'm not gonna let some coward who won't even show his face get in my way!" Bakugo yelled and exploded another piece of rubble so he could get through. "Now are you gonna help me or not?"
Eijiro instinctively hardened as an insane burst of wind pressure whipped through the USJ and he hoped he wasn't imagining the booming voice that followed.
"I am here!"
Toshinori wasn't smiling. The situation was just as bad as young Midoriya had made it out to be. A broken Aizawa was pinned under a massive villain that he assumed to be the Nomu that he had been warned of, so now, his main duty was to save his coworker. If only he'd been here!
Toshinori lunged forward, calling the full power of One for All into the punch. Dust whipped up from the force of the attack and Toshinori was just getting ready to grab Aizawa and get him out of there when he realized that the villain...no, the monster, hadn't even budged.
"That's not going to work, All Might!" A young man with dirty blue hair and a hand over his face cackled loudly, "Nomu has cheat codes of his own to kill the big boss! The only way you're going to be able to beat him is to slowly gouge out his flesh, and I don't think he's going to let you do that!"
"Shock absorption." Young Midoriya muttering echoed around the plaza. "But he had a strength...no super strength was never his quirk, was it? That's why he was still able to hurt Eraserhead, even with the net, which should have blocked…"
"You're not as smart as you like to pretend, Cheat Code!" The young man, who Toshinori realized must be Shigaraki, the leader, said gleefully, "Are you forgetting that Nomu is a mod? He doesn't have to follow the rules!"
Toshinori really should read up on the teenagers lingo if this was how the next generation of villains were going to talk, because seriously, they might as well be speaking greek. All that he got from that was that Nomu was dangerous, but he'd already known that.
Young Midoriya's observations, however, were much more useful.
"Shock absorption, huh?" Toshinori rushed the Nomu and grabbed him from behind, yanking him up and forcing him to let go of Aizawa. "Thanks for telling me how to beat him!"
He bent backwards, careful to avoid the unconscious Aizawa as he supplexed the villain into the ground. If he could just stop him from moving…
Ow...that couldn't be good.
Izuku turned on some fans so that the dust would clear faster and he could get a clear visual of the fight. All Might had managed to get a hand on the Nomu, but unfortunately, the Nomu had also gotten a hand on him. Kurogiri had created a warp gate right where All Might had tried to bury the Nomu and created another one under All Might so the villain could grab him. The Nomu was digging his fingers into All Might's side and had apparently managed to open his old scar, if the blood staining All Might's shirt was any indication.
All Might desperately tried to pry the Nomu's hands away from his left side, but the angle was all wrong and Izuku still couldn't get his mind off what Shigaraki had said about Nomu not following the rules. What had he meant by that?
"Good work. Kurogiri!" Shigaraki grinned. "We've got him right where we want him now!"
"Normally, I wouldn't want blood dirtying the inside of my warp gates." Kurogiri said calmly. "But for a hero such as yourself, I am willing to make an exception."
Izuku's eyes widened as he realized what their plan was. The Nomu was strong, so if he was able to pull All Might halfway through the portal...Izuku couldn't let that happen, but what could he…?
He muted his connection to the USJ's PA system, "Nedzu, how far out are you?"
"We can see the building." Nedzu said. "We'll be there momentarily."
Izuku's mind raced as he thought about the quirks they had available, "Is Iida still with you?"
"Yes, he is." Present Mic said. "But we were about to send him to check on the other little listeners."
"Alright. Here's what you need to do." Izuku kept an eye on the plaza, where Shigaraki seemed to be taking his time toying with All Might before killing him. "Cementoss, liquify the cement under your feet so you can slide easily and have Iida use his quirk to push you to the USJ and get you there faster. If you can harden it right after you've passed so Iida doesn't have to worry about slipping, that'd be best. When you get inside, use your cement to immobilize the villain holding All Might. Present Mic, you use your quirk to tell the students to get out of the way. Got it?"
"YEAH! Hey, kids! Clear a path for us, ya dig?!"
Izuku noted that the comms were programmed to decrease the volume of Mic's voice when he activated his quirk. He'd definitely have to take a look at that coding after this was over, that was so cool! He listened to Cementoss briefly relay his instructions to Iida and then there was a sound of an engine before a grey and white blur launched through the front doors, stopping just before the steps. Within seconds, the cement under the plaza had come alive and hardened just short of All Might, neatly encasing the monster.
"Crap!" Shigaraki scratched his neck. "The heroes are here!"
"Perhaps it would be best for us to make our exit." Kurogiri said, already making a portal to leave.
"No! We can't let them get away!" Izuku yelled. "Does he even have a real body to target…?"
"Iz..Cheat Code-kun!" Mei yelled and pointed at the screen. "If he's got armor, he's got a body, I overheard Rock-kun and Bomb-kun saying something about it!"
"And armor is made of metal, which…" Izuku scanned through the weapons until he found a taser, then reconnected his audio, "Wasn't your objective to kill All Might?"
That set Shigaraki off, "Show your stupid face you cheater! If it wasn't for you changing the rules, our quest would be done by now!"
"Tomura Shigaraki, calm down."
Kurogiri was so distracted trying to calm Shigaraki's most recent tantrum that he didn't see the attack coming until the electricity hit him in the back. Immediately, he seized up and fell to the ground unconscious and the mist surrounding his body temporarily dissipated just enough for Izuku to see the man underneath, though the effect disappeared before he could get a good look at the villain's face. Knocking him out had also caused the portal to close, slicing the Nomu in half.
Izuku felt like he was going to throw up. Sure, the Nomu didn't seem human, but he probably was and it was Izuku's attack that caused the portal to close and kill him...wait, how was the Nomu still moving?
"I told you, Cheat Code," Shigaraki gloated as the Nomu completely regenerated his missing limbs, "Nomu doesn't follow the rules!"
"H-how?" Izuku watched in shock, "Multiple quirks? That would change everything we know about…"
"Fight now, nerd later." Mei reminded him. "Man, these students really wanna fight, don't they? It's just these three, but I'm running out of stuff to throw at 'em."
Izuku muted himself and looked over at the screens Mei was working with. It was Katsuki and Kirishima on one and Todoroki on the other. All extremely powerful students and all probably itching for a fight. Izuku knew he couldn't trust Katsuki not to try to explode Shigaraki the moment he saw him, but one of the other two...well maybe it'd be worth the risk to get Aizawa out of there so that All Might could fight without worrying about hurting him even more.
"Let Todoroki through." Izuku ordered. It would be too difficult to separate Kirishima from Katsuki. "I'll handle it from there."
Mei looked at him skeptically, "Are you sure? Nedzu said…"
"I'll take the blame if something happens, Mei-chan." Izuku said. "Just do it."
This was the oddest villain attack Shouto had ever been a part of, not that he had many other experiences to compare it to. First, the villains breaking into a secure facility, then the absolutely pitiful efforts of the front line, and finally, the way that the building itself had seemed to come alive to prevent him from helping in the main fight. That last one was probably due to Cheat Code, whoever that was. Shouto had heard his father ranting about idiots in support who didn't know when to shut up and take orders, by which he meant to say that they thought they could tell Endeavor what to do. Cheat Code must be someone like that.
Which basically meant that Shouto liked him already.
That didn't mean, however, that he was going to stop fighting. He had been training his entire life to be a hero, so he could more than handle these weak villains. It was stupid to make Aizawa keep fighting alone and outnumbered when Shouto could help. Cheat Code, however, seemed determined to make him leave, which meant that it was both relieving and incredibly suspicious when the environment suddenly stopped fighting him. Shouto wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth, so he rushed toward the plaza as quickly as he could and took stock of the situation.
It was chaos.
The teachers had arrived and were beginning to fight the last of the cannon fodder that Aizawa and his classmates hadn't taken care of, but they apparently weren't out of the woods yet. A giant villain was matching All Might punch or punch while trying to maneuver around Aizawa, who was on the ground, but appeared to be waking up. The warp villain was on the ground as well, but the leader was using the fight between All Might and the monster to shield himself from any potential attacks from the teachers. Shouto, however, might be able to get a clear shot at him. It would put him at risk, especially since he didn't know what the villain's quirk was, but living with his father was a risk too, so it was just what heroes did.
It was only years of his father's training that kept him from jumping when a loud voice echoed from a speaker right behind him, "Use your ice as a slide to get Eraserhead out of there and take him to the entrance."
Shouto knew there was no point in looking around, since it was almost definitely Cheat Code giving the orders, "Wouldn't it be better to attack the leader directly?"
"Prioritize the rescue." Cheat Code pleaded. "All Might can't fight at full power if Eraserhead is in the way, and he's in no condition to keep fighting right now."
Izuku held his breath as Todoroki hesitated, looking between Shigaraki and Eraserhead before nodding. Izuku let out a sigh of relief. There had been no guarantee that Todoroki would trust him, especially since the students probably didn't know he was working with the teachers, but he'd been hoping.
A slick track of ice shot forward from Todoroki's foot and froze the ground under Eraserhead, then more ice piled underneath him until gravity took control and Eraserhead, who was now awake, if extremely disoriented, was able to slide away from the fight. Honestly, on second thought, sliding him probably hadn't been the safest option with his injuries, but it was the only thing Izuku could think of that wouldn't put Todoroki at risk and he'd promised Nedzu that he would protect the students. Hopefully Eraserhead wouldn't be too angry at him.
All Might glanced over to Todoroki with a nod, "Take care of him, young Todoroki!"
For about half a second, Izuku wondered if Todoroki would attack the villains anyway, but then Eraserhead groaned quietly. Todoroki's eyes filled with something unreadable and he nodded to All Might before helping Eraserhead back to the entrance. Good. Now onto the Nomu.
"There's no way to know what quirks the Nomu has," Izuku broadcasted, grateful that he'd insisted on All Might saving his strength for the fight, "but if he was designed to beat you, All Might, he's probably got what it takes to withstand you at full strength."
"Then I'll just have to go beyond that!" All Might said. "Plus ultra!"
The surrounding fights came to a gradual stop as everyone had to anchor themselves to avoid being blown away from the whirlwind that was created as the two exchanged blows faster than Izuku could see. He couldn't help fanboying just a bit as All Might used a final punch to knock the Nomu through the ceiling, "Whoa…"
"Well, villain." All Might grinned. "You're outnumbered and your ultimate weapon is out of commission. Are you really sure you can beat this level?"
"No! Cheaters!" Shigaraki lunged forward and Izuku's breath caught as he realized that All Might was steaming! Going beyond his quirk's limits like that probably took the last of his strength, but he should have enough left to dodge...shouldn't he?
Shigaraki screamed as Snipe shot his hand and one of his legs, but the rest of the bullets were redirected by a purple warp gate.
Izuku swore and reached for his keyboard. When had Kurogiri woken up? Had they all been so distracted by All Might's fight that no one had noticed? He tried to think of something to stop the villains, but the warp gate was already passing over Shigaraki, taking him to god knew where.
Izuku caught one final complaint from Shigaraki right as the portal closed, "Sensei lied to me! All Might's not weaker at all! Why didn't he tell me about the cheater?!"
He sighed and muted his mic as he sat back, suddenly extremely tired as the adrenaline he'd been running on for the past thirty minutes left him in a rush. Next to him, Mei was in a similar state. Present Mic had taken Eraserhead from Todoroki and was now handing him off to paramedics, who were also taking Thirteen and a maxed out Kaminari. Katsuki looked pissed and Kirishima was trying to comfort him as Hound Dog escorted them out of the building. Cementoss created a rough wall to block the student's view and nodded to All Might, who took that as his cue to deflate with a bloody cough. It was only after he deflated that he seemed to remember about Izuku and Mei and he looked at the nearest camera in panic.
Mei's eyes widened at All Might's small form, "What the…I don't think I was supposed to see that."
Izuku glanced over at her and he knew he should be way more worried about her finding out All Might's secret, but quite honestly, he was too tired to panic anymore, "Yeah. He does that sometimes."
For his part, All Might looked slightly exasperated, "Young Cheat Code, this is serious!"
"Eh, it's just Mei." Izuku shrugged. "Better than the villains or all of class 1A. That's part of why we needed to keep the students away from the fight, in addition to protecting them. Didn't want anybody seeing that, you know? And she's not gonna tell anyone, All Might, right, Mei?"
"Right…" Mei collapsed back into her chair. "Ok...yeah...whatever, the number one hero has some secret transformation quirk. No big deal."
All Might coughed again, "I, uh, greatly appreciate your discretion, young…"
"Cheat Code?" Nedzu cut off All Might's rambling before it could begin, making both Izuku and Mei jump. "Are you and your assistant alright?"
Izuku and Mei exchanged a look and she giggled, "We just beat the crap out of a bunch of villains, we're exhausted! And Izu-kun is my assistant, not the other way around!"
Nedzu chucked knowingly, "I hid a blanket in your desk when I was creating your room. You never know when you'll need a nap after a long night of working, after all!"
Izuku raised an eyebrow as Mei dug through the desk's drawers and pulled out a giant fluffy monstrosity that really seemed larger than should realistically fit where they found it.
Mei gasped and nuzzled her face into the blanket, "Oooh! Izu-kun! It's so soft!"
"Rest." Nedzu said cheerfully. "You deserve it. You did well."
Izuku froze. Nedzu was..proud of him? Had that ever happened with a teacher before? What was he supposed to do?! Should he say something? How was he supposed to handle this?
Mei quite literally pulled him out of his thoughts as she dragged him to the floor and wrapped both of them in the blanket. Izuku was vaguely aware he should probably be panicking about something right now, but he was too exhausted to do anything but take the comm out of his ear and pass out.
And if Shinso happened to take a few pictures for blackmail purposes when he dropped by during lunch, well...Izuku could always find a way to hack his phone later and steal them.
Summary: The day after the USJ.
Notes: I am so sorry that this chapter is so late! Huge shout out to everyone on my discord server for giving me so many ideas for this chapter!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
They cancelled school the day after the USJ attack to increase security, which meant that Izuku was bored. Normally, he'd be taking notes on heroes or cool quirks that he saw on the news, but all that the news was covering was the attack and he...wasn't quite ready to think about that yet. He knew that he should analyze Shigaraki's quirk or Kurogiri's warp quirk or even the Nomu's mess of quirks, but every time he thought about the whole attack, he just froze. Hound Dog had pulled both him and Mei aside before they left school the day before and warned him that something like that might happen and that it was normal and expected, but he still felt guilty and frustrated. He didn't understand it! It's not like the villain's quirks weren't interesting! He just...couldn't bring himself to think about them without panicking about the fact that he'd challenged a powerful villain or thinking through everything he did wrong that led to Thirteen and Eraserhead being hurt.
What he really wanted to do was work on his quirk reports for the first years, but that required the notebooks in his workroom and the students' files, which could only be accessed from a UA computer. He'd already emailed Nedzu asking if he could come in and work on them, but had been told to take a well-deserved rest, so he'd, only half-jokingly, texted Mei and asked if she'd be down to help him break into UA.
She'd said no.
So here Izuku was, scrolling through his keep watching section of Netflix for the fifth time because nothing sounded good. It sucked.
Izuku was just debating whether it'd be worth it to get takeout for lunch when someone started pounding on the door. Izuku jumped a foot in the air and somehow ended up hiding behind the couch. Had the villains found him somehow? Was his poor attempt at a persona not enough to hide him.
Izuku frowned as the person outside knocked again. Shigaraki wouldn't knock. He'd just disintegrate the door. Same with Kuroguri. If he knew where Izuku lived, he'd warp straight into the house. But if it wasn't the villains, then who could it be?
"Izu-kun! I swear to God, if you went to UA on your own!"
Izuku squeaked and raced to throw open the door and let Mei in. She already had her arm raised to knock again while Shinso stood next to her looking slightly lost. Mei didn't waste any time pushing past him and dragging him back into his apartment by the hand.
"M-Mei-Chan!" Izuku stuttered. "Not that I'm not happy, but why are you here?"
"Making sure you don't do something stupid, apparently." Shinso deadpanned.
"Hey!" Izuku gave him a glare, then started grumbling under his breath, "It's not like I would have broken into UA on my own, that'd be stupid."
Shinso raised an eyebrow, "Like breaking into UA at all wouldn't be."
"Yeah, Izu-kun!" Mei said. "Look what happened to those villains yesterday! They had to deal with you!"
"Mei-Chan! That's supposed to me a secret!" Izuku glanced over at Shinso in a panic, but he just shrugged.
"She already told me you guys were involved when she texted me and dragged me here." Shinso said. "And it's not like everyone didn't already know there was an attack. Honestly, I'm not even surprised, you two are like...chaotic deities or something. Plus, there had to be a reason why I found you cuddling under your desk during lunch instead of eating."
Mei cackled over the sound of Izuku spluttering, "Oh Extra-Credit-Kun! You know us so well already! Plus, I had to tell him because I needed an extra brain."
Shinso's eyes widened slightly before almost immediately going back to his default bored expression, "You really need to practice not sounding ominous."
"Eh, that's boring." Mei shrugged and slammed her notebook open on the coffee table, "Look that these!"
Izuku and Shinso both leaned over the notebook and Izuku froze when he realized what was inside, "What...Mei-chan! I don't need a logo!"
Mei scoffed, "Of course you need a logo, Izu-kun! Imagine! Heroes are looking for the perfect analyst to help them on an important mission. Who else are they gonna pick besides Cheat Code! The victor of the USJ!"
Shinso didn't bother hiding his laughter as Izu-kun blushed and covered his face with his arms, "Mei-chan!"
"Hence why I needed Shiso." Mei huffed. "So! Extra-Credit-Kun! Which of these ideas is your favorite?"
"Hey!"
Shinso grinned at him and pulled the notebook toward him, "Hmm...oooh, these are cool!"
"Yep!" Mei grinned. "I'm thinking about making stamps, maybe even a paper embosser, you know, one of those texture things that leaves an imprint on the page?"
"Oh, I like that idea!" Shinso said, still grinning. The traitor. He was enjoying this, wasn't he?
"Me too!" Mei said. "It'll be perfect for when Izu-kun finishes his reports on the first years, because then he can just put his logo on the final page and…"
Izuku finally got enough control over his vocal chords to stop mindlessly sputtering and interrupt the two before they plotted to make him famous or something, "Guys! Don't I get any say in this?"
"Of course, Izu-kun!" Mei said sweetly. "You can pick the logo."
Izuku scowled at her, but when she didn't give in, he sighed and pulled the notebook toward him. Shinso wasn't lying, they were really cool. There were a few in various stages of completion from where Mei had obviously gotten bored before finishing them, but they still gave him a really good idea of what was going through her head as she designed them. She had obviously tried to lean into the gamer aesthetic with Cheat Code, which Izuku could appreciate, even if he really didn't want a logo.
A few of them were based on the d-pad from video game controllers, with different colors on each button. A few of them looked more like crosses, while others had buttons and others were more stylized. One even showed the d-pad on the controller, which Izuku thought was a nice touch, even if it made the logo look a little busy. Another one had the same problem, even though it went with a more hacking or PC gaming aesthetic. It was a laptop, and on the screen it had his codename written as if it was a piece of coding. There were only a few keys on the keyboard, though...just the A, the B and the spacebar, which said Start for some reason.
"Mei, why is this computer so weird?" Izuku finally asked. "I wouldn't be able to code anything with that keyboard! And why just those keys?"
"It's because it's based on a famous cheat code." Shinso said. When Mei and Izuku both turned to stare at him, he shrugged defensively, "What? No one wanted to play with the future villain, so I ended up spending a lot of time playing video games."
"No one wanted to play with me either, but I ended up chasing hero fights." Izuku pointed out.
"And I ended up inventing." Mei added. "But that's not important! Didn't you look at how Cheat Code is written?!"
Izuku leaned down to see the paper a little better, "Y-you mean the arrows on some of the letters."
"Ugh!" Mei groaned. "Izu-kun, you're hopeless! I thought you were supposed to be super nerdy!"
"That doesn't mean I know everything about video games!" Izuku yelled.
"I spent forever on that!"
"I"m sorry!"
"It's a stylized version of the Konami code." Shinso interrupted. "Up, up, down, down, left, right, left right, b, a, start. The arrows are all in your codename. Two ups on the h, two downs on the A, one left and one right on the T, another left and right on the E. Then the rest of the code is on the keyboard. It's a nice touch."
"O-oh." Izuku looked a little closer. "That makes sense."
The more he looked at it, he really liked the stylized way that one was written, with the arrows paying homage to a real cheat code. Honestly, it looked kinda bad-ass, like it was something that Katsuki would be jealous of.
Which obviously meant that Izuku had to have it.
He still didn't like the laptop though, "Would it be possible to combine that writing with one of the others?"
"Of course!" Mei said excitedly. "One of the advantages of that one is that you could just use it on it's own and use it as a signature if anyone ever asks for your autograph!"
...and now he was blushing again, "Mei-chan! I'm an analyst! No one's ever going to ask me for my autograph!"
"Never say never, Izu-kun!" Mei cackled.
"Can we just pick one of combine it with?" Izuku pouted.
"I like this one." Shinso pointed to the page, "Though I'm also partial to the ones with glitching effects, but they would be hard to use as a signature."
"I'm not going to be signing anything!" Izuku insisted. He looked at the logo Shinso was pointing to, which was one of the d-pad inspired ones. Each button was like an arrow pointing to the center and the top three were purple, green, and pink, while the bottom one just said Cheat Code. "I like it, but what do the colors mean?"
"They're us!" Mei said proudly.
Shinso blinked at her, "...what?"
"See!" Mei gestured animatedly toward the page, "Pink for me! Green for Izu-kun! And purple for Extra-Credit-Kun!"
Shinso was trying to hide his nervousness under a layer of skepticism, but to Izuku, he just looked slightly nauseous, "Why am I on there?"
Mei shrugged, "I needed another color and you're the first person I thought of."
"We could probably use another color!" Izuku offered quickly. "Why not orange for Powerloader?"
"Then the colors would clash!" Mei complained. "Purple works best."
Izuku really didn't want to make Shinso uncomfortable, which being included on the logo was clearly doing, "How about we just make those three buttons black? Then they'll contrast well with the white button and we can put the styled Cheat Code signature on that one."
"Ooh! I like it!" Mei said. "I still like the color, but black and white will work well too. It's all techie!"
Shinso shot Izuku a grateful look and he smiled back as Mei quickly sketched out the new logo, "What do you think?"
Izuku and Shino leaned over the page and Izuku couldn't hold back a smile. Even though he still didn't think he needed a logo, it had turned out pretty cool and it was a fun thing to do with his friends. He liked it.
"Now all that's left is to engrave it onto everything you own." Shinso said with a shit-eating grin.
Nevermind. Next time they needed to pull Shinso out of class, Izuku was going to send Mei. See how he liked being called Extra-Credit-Kun in front of his whole class. What? He was just practicing being petty!
Notes: Here were some the various ideas that Mei had in her notebook (from the discord).And the final logo!
Summary:
The students deal with the aftermath of the USJ.
Notes:
Some fun fanart of the logo from last chapter
Beehave Children
Grendelhaus
Kain
Other Art!
Thanks for beeing with me yall
Liz_Cygibi_386
And does it count as fanart if I drew it?
Chapter Text
On the one hand, Izuku probably shouldn't have snuck out of the house at dawn to get to UA early and work on the analysis packets for the hero course. On the other, Mei was already in the lab when he arrived, so it couldn't be too bad.
"Making up for lost time?" Izuku laughed when he saw her. "If you missed inventing so much you should have taken me up on my offer yesterday."
"Oh shut-up Izu-kun!" Mei swatted at him, but Izuku simply grinned and sidestepped as she grumbled, "It's not like breaking in when security was down for improvements would even be a challenge anyway…"
Izuku raised an eyebrow, "Are you saying you want to break in another day? Maybe test their new defenses."
Mei's eyes widened, "Do you think Nedzu would give us permission?! I could make so many babies for it and you could practice your hacking and can you ask him..?!"
"Maybe after the sports festival." Izuku laughed. "But don't you still have to fine-tune your support items for that? And we both still have to help Shinso get ready."
"Is that why you're here so early?" Mei asked. "Preparing for the sports festival?"
"Uh…no." Izuku rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "I, uh, I couldn't sleep."
Mei looked at him with pity and a level of understanding that made Izuku feel slightly guilty, "Me either. Nightmares?"
Izuku sighed and nodded, "I just...if I had...well, I wanted to come in and maybe get an abbreviated packet done for each student. If they'd had them a few days ago…"
"They still wouldn't have had time to implement your suggestions." Mei interrupted. "You know that, right?"
"I know! But…" Izuku groaned in frustration. "But I just can't help but wonder…"
"If maybe their support items were better, then maybe they wouldn't have had to go throught that." Mei finished.
It threw Izuku for a loop, but for the first time since he'd arrived, he actually looked at the invention she was currently working on. It was something like a taser, but didn't have a powersource, meaning that it was most likely designed for someone with an electricity quirk, one that the user couldn't consciously direct or control. Izuku saw a stack of blueprints under that one, and he guessed that if he looked through them, he'd see one for most members of 1-A and maybe some of 1-B as well, "You couldn't sleep either."
"I just need to make sure they have the best babies they can get." Mei said it like that was all there was to it, but even though he really hadn't known her long, Izuku could still tell she was using pragmatism to hide the tangled mess of emotions underneath. "Isn't that what a support engineer does? Gives a hero…"
"Their best chance." They said together, then ended up laughing.
"We're a mess, aren't we?" Mei asked.
"Yeah, a little." Izuku said. "But hey, where's the fun without chaos. I'll be in my workroom if you need me. I still, uh, I still have that blanket, if you need it."
Izuku felt slightly hot, and figured it was from the lack of good sleep. Mei nodded and turned back to her newest baby, "It probably won't do much good, but thanks."
Izuku nodded and left toward his room when Mei spoke again.
"Thank you." She said softly. "I don't know what I'd do without you, Izu-kun."
Izuku smiled softly, "Me neither."
He left his door cracked open and they spent the time before their classmates arrived in companionable silence, working on their own projects.
Shouto sat in the back row, half listening to his classmates talk about the USJ attack while mostly lost in his own thoughts. When the villains had shown up, he had mostly just been...annoyed? Was that the right word? But it was expected, wasn't it? Villains attacked heroes. It was what they did. It made sense. What didn't make sense was the mysterious third party that had seemed intent on helping them.
Shouto wasn't the only one curious either, if his classmates' before class conversations were any indication.
"It was kinda freaky, honestly." Ojirio told Hagakure, who seemed to be hanging on his every word. "It was like the building came alive all of a sudden and the fire was on my side. Every time I started going in the wrong direction, it would block my path and it would catch any villains trying to sneak up on me before they even had a chance. It was creepy...but in a cool way, if that makes sense."
"Cheat Code is a force of darkness." Tokoyami said seriously. "I cannot describe my experience in any other words than that it was as if a benevolent supernatural entity was haunting the rain itself and bending it to their will."
"Shut up about that fucking coward!" Bakugo exploded and glared at everyone. "If this Cheat Code fucker really wanted to help, he should have shown up in person rather than hiding behind a microphone like a scared little sheep! And he should have let us destroy the damn villains!"
"Come on, Bakubro! You gotta admit it was kinda manly how he protected us like that." Kirishima hit his fists together with a grin. "I wanna meet him!"
And that was the other weird thing, wasn't it? Everyone else who had ended up caught in the zones had said that the building kept fighting them until the very end unless they headed toward the entrance, but Cheat Code had allowed Shouto to get close enough to save Aizawa. Why him? Why not Kirishima, who was arguably kinder and more likely to listen? Was it just because Shouto had a more powerful quirkl? But Bakugo was powerful enough to fight as well, so if it was just about power, he should have been allowed to reach the plaza as well. If it was about effectiveness rescuing, wouldn't Uraraka have been a better fit? She wanted to be a rescue hero and she could have floated Aizawa out of there.
So what made Shouto different? Why choose him out of all of his classmates.
Apparently, that was a question for another day because Aizawa chose that moment to walk in. One of his arms was in a thick cast and there was a large piece of gauze taped beneath his eye, but overall, he seemed a lot less injured than Todoroki had expected. He flinched as the class erupted into loud cheers.
"Aizawa-sensei! You're alright!" Ashido exclaimed loudly. "We were so worried when we saw Todoroki leading you out…"
"It's fine." Aizawa interrupted. "It would have been a lot worse if the villains' full attention had been on me or if Shigaraki had managed to hit me with his quirk, but as it was, the old lady was able to heal most of it."
"Is Thirteen-Sensei…?" Uraraka asked, worried.
"They're still in recovery." Aizawa said. "Let that be a lesson to you to always be aware of your surroundings. Quirks are dangerous, even and esspecially your own. Always expect someone to use every weakness against you. You got lucky this time. The thugs the league of villains sent were low level, and Cheat Code protected most of you from the inner circle, but when you get out onto the streets, you're going to meet villains who are prepared to do whatever it takes to kill you. If you're not prepared for that, leave now."
Nobody left, not that Shouto was surprised. It probably hadn't really hit them yet, he supposed. Shouto didn't leave either. His father could have killed him hundreds of times over if he wasn't so worried about losing his masterpiece, so Shouto was used to the threat of death. Not to mention that the threat of death would become that much more real if he were to refuse to be a hero.
"Speaking of Cheat Code," Tsu asked tentatively, "who is he?"
Aizawa sighed and muttered something that sounded like problem child before addressing the class, "He's an analyst."
Kaminari and Ashido tried to interrupt, probably to whine and beg for more info, but Aizawa silenced them with a glare and Todoroki couldn't help but notice that he didn't activate his quirk like he normally would have so he must not be completely healed yet, "He is an analyst and that is all the information you will be getting. The UA staff has decided to keep his identity under wraps to protect him for now, since I think you each can understand why we wouldn't want villains getting their hands on him, so, no, I will not be telling you who he is. Maybe he'll tell you himself eventually, but until then, you'll just have to deal with your curiosity. However," Aizawa used his good arm to pull a stack of papers from his capture weapon, "he did stupidly decide to be overactive and give you these. Come up when I call your name."
The room instantly dissolved into whispers as Aizawa called up Aoyama and handed him a few papers. He read through them and swore softly in french as the other members of the class were called. When Shouto's name was called, he received a packet with two papers stapled together. The first section gave a brief description of his quirk, while the other sections gave bulleted lists of strengths, weaknesses, and suggestions for improvement. At the end was an imprinted sticker with some kind of logo and Cheat Code's name.
"These are abbreviated analyses of your quirks and fighting styles." Aizawa explained once all the packets had been handed out. "You'll apparently be receiving full versions near the end of the semester, once Cheat Code has had more of a chance to see you in action. He went to Nedzu early this morning, however, and insisted we give you these. Use them wisely. Analysts can be a hero's greatest alley or greatest enemy, depending on how you treat them."
"Whoa dude!" Sero yelled. "These are awesome! There's more where this came from? That's super cool!"
"More like super freaky." Mineta complained. "How does this guy even know so much about us?"
The class looked toward Aizawa for an answer, only to find that he had already cocooned himself inside his sleeping bag and was slumped against the wall asleep, so he'd be absolutely zero help. Shouto looked more closely at his packet and frowned as he read.
Strengths:
Ice Power Ice control Strategic thinking (?)Weaknesses:
Left side is left open to attack Danger of hypothermiaSuggestions:
Use fire half of quirk.The analyst only had part of the picture, but that didn't make Shouto feel any less annoyed at yet another person telling him to use his fire. He didn't have to listen to someone...Shouto froze. Hadn't he decided to trust Cheat Code in part because Endeavor wouldn't have? Ignoring his advice completely would be exactly what Endeavor would do, but he still couldn't use his fire…
There was a loud explosion and Shouto looked up to see Bakugo throwing the remains of his smoking packet out the window, "I don't fucking need this loser to tell me what I already fucking know! I don't have impulsivity issues!"
Aizawa crawled out of his bag, grabbed another packet from his capture weapon and slammed it down on Bakugo's desk, "He mentioned you might do that. Be careful with that one. If you explode it, you won't be getting a third."
Bakugo reached for the papers, sparks already leaping across his palms, but Aizawa snatched the packet out of his reach, "What the fuck, old man?"
"Bakugo." Aizawa said sternly. "If you don't want to be a better hero, or a hero at all…"
Bakugo huffed, but grabbed the papers without setting them on fire and slumped down in his seat, staring at the packet like it had personally offended him. Shouto could relate.
"If only we could actually meet this analyst in person!" Iida lamented loudly. "I have a great many questions on how to improve my quirk's functions and…"
"Suit yourself." Jiro shivered. "It was freaky enough knowing that he could make the ground collapse beneath us at any moment. My money's on him being even scarier in person."
"What a mad banquet of darkness." Tokoyami muttered.
It had already been a long day by the time Hitoshi reached the gym after school and started stretching, considering that Midoriya was probably still trying to pull Hatsume away from whatever invention she was currently working on. Hanging out with the two yesterday had been fun, but his foster parents had yelled at him when he'd gotten home, accusing him of going out and trying to join a gang despite the fact that he'd tried telling them he was going out with friends before he left. Too bad they wouldn't actually let him talk to them. Or at all.
And then all everyone was talking about was the hero course. Those lucky students with the perfect quirks and everything laid out for them without having to fight tooth and nail and convince everyone that he deserved every chance that they did. Even his kidnappers had spent the day focused on them, which was annoying, even though he really didn't have any right to be angry, considering that those two had been involved with the attack. At least they didn't think he was a villain.
Yet.
A slight sound behind him had Hitoshi jumping to his feet and whirling around to see an injured hobo nodding at him approvingly, "Good situational awareness. So you're Cheat Code's extra credit project."
Oh no. Hitoshi froze as he realized that this wasn't just any injured hobo. He was talking to Eraserhead! Eraserhead knew who he was!?
Hitoshi forced himself to snap out of his...well, his hero worship, for lack of a better word, "Uh, yes, sir!"
Eraserhead looked at him appraisingly, "You're doing physical training?"
"Yes sir!" Hitoshi nodded quickly. "I'm mostly focusing on speed and flexibility for now, since I don't have time to gain a lot of strength before the sports festival, but…"
"But there'll be time for that later if you get into the hero course." Eraserhead finished. "Don't underestimate stealth, either. You'd be surprised how often it can come in handy."
Hitoshi's eyes went wide. Was Eraserhead really giving him advice? He didn't know what to say. What was someone supposed to say when their favorite hero gave them tips?
After a too long moment where Shinso was freaking out, Midoirya burst through the door, his jacket covered in some sort of oil that must have exploded from Hatsume's most recent experiment, "Shinso! Sorry I'm late, Mei-chan...Oh, Eraserhead! I, uh, I didn't know you'd…"
Eraserhead interrupted Midoriya's rambling by bowing and Midoirya instantly turned bright red and started sputtering, "What…? Eraserhead, sir, I...uh, I don't...what?"
"You helped save my students." Eraserhead straightened. "Thanking you is only logical."
"I, uh…" Midoriya looked to Hitoshi helplessly, but he was still reeling from Eraserhead giving him advice! Midoriya turned back to Eraserhead and bowed back, "I apologize for not doing more."
Eraserhead snorted, "I knew you'd be a problem child. I don't know what else I expected." He turned to leave, but stopped at the door and fixed Hitoshi with a look, "You have potential. Don't waste it. It's not going to be easy to claim the extra seat in my class."
That challenge was apparently what it took to snap Hitoshi out of his trance and he couldn't help smirking slightly, "It won't be easy to be a hero either, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to do it."
Eraserhead gave a creepily wide grin and left, allowing the door to swing closed behind him. When he was sure he was gone, Hitoshi deflated, "Midoirya, I think I just met somebody even scarier than you are."
He ignored Midoriya's sputtering denials as he went back to stretching. He had a sports festival to win, after all.