Chapter 10: End of the Nightmare
Emi sighed a breath of relief as she looked over at the clock. The period would be over soon. She just had to wrap up this lesson. "And so, in conclusion, the main –"
SLAM!
The green-haired woman looked over to see that her door was slammed open by Nemuri, whose face was painted with concern. "What's going on?" Emi asked.
"The USJ, it's under attack by Villains," Nemuri said.
Emi's heart dropped as she thought of one person.
Shouta.
My power's declining even faster… Toshinori thought to himself. Even so, I have to stop these Villains… because I am… THE WORLD'S SYMBOL OF PEACE!
BOOM!
Blasting ahead, he matched Nomu's punch with his own, creating a shockwave around them. Punch after punch, the two of them traded blows, so fast, normal eyes couldn't see them.
POW! POW! POW! POW!
There's gotta be a limit to what this guy can take!
POW!
"GRRAH!" All Might grunted, as the monstrosity punched him in his old wound. Still, he did not relent, as he kept punching, and punching, until he found the Villain's limit.
Slowly but surely, he saw that his punches were beginning to affect the creature, as it began losing rounds against him. It's working! But I need more! I have to go over my limit!
"RAAAH!"
BLAM!
Going over 100% of his power, he successfully sent Nomu flying back towards the pavement. But before the big bastard could get back up, Toshinori already launched himself towards the big guy, kicking the creature square in its tooth beak, and shouting, "A REAL HERO WILL ALWAYS FIND A WAY FOR JUSTICE TO BE SERVED!"
Grabbing its arm, he sent it flying back down into the pavement, before falling himself, and shouting, "GO BEYOND! PLUUUUUS… UUUUULTRA!"
BOOM!
In that one instant, All Might put everything into his punch, hit the Villain square in the abdomen, and then sent the creature flying, string th through the ceiling of the USJ.
KRAAASH!
Ochako could feel her stomach flipping over this revelation.
The Villain in front of her created One For All.
But why? And when? Why would a Villain create such a Quirk, much less pass it down to a Hero? And All Might said he was given that power from someone else, which would mean that the Villain in front of her would have to be older than All Might, at least!
KRAAASH!
"What was that?!" Ochako shouted, snapping out of her thoughts.
Looking up, she saw that there was now a crater on the ceiling of the USJ.
"Ah, it seems that my Nomu has been launched straight out of the facility," All For One said, standing up. "The Doctor is going to be quite mad at me for losing Nomu. Ah, well…"
"Aha! So, that means you've failed, right?!" she asked, hoping this was over.
"On the contrary," the masked Villain said. "Now that Nomu has sufficiently weakened All Might, it's time for me to go in and deal the final blow. Come along now, One For All."
"No!" Ochako shouted. "I'm not going to let you hurt him –"
GRAB!
Ochako could feel one of All For One's hands wrapped around her neck, not hard enough to choke her, but tight enough to keep her from moving around.
"You're coming, whether you want to or not. It's time for All Might to face… reality."
KRAAASH!
Kurogiri watched as the Nomu was sent launching through the air and into the ceiling, and straight into the great outdoors. Good. That meant All Might was all tired now.
Waiting a few more seconds, Kurogiri watched as the door opened, and –
"Everyone! I'be returned!" the boy with the engine legs shouted. "Help is on the way…"
Before he could continue, however, he looked down to see the injured Thirteen and the students who weren't moving. "Perfect, you're here, too," Kurogiri said. "And without any backup."
"The teachers are on their way," the bespectacled boy said. "They'll stop you."
"Oh, I believe you," Kurogiri said. "However, you foolishly rushed in ahead of them to try and help your comrades? Isn't that right? No matter, we need you, too."
"What? For what purpose?"
"To witness history," Kurogiri said. "Now, join your fellow classmates. We depart for the central plaza of the USJ immediately. Don't struggle, or Thirteen shall suffer even more."
All Hitoshi could feel were bruises.
For the last ten minutes, he was being toyed around with by that masked bitch. Oh, sure, Mr. Compress also played dirty, but the most that asshole did was dodge and weave, with the occasional smack of his cane to the leg or an exploding marble full of pocket sand to the eyes.
Megethos was a completely different monster.
She would use her blades to create light cuts all over the purple-haired boy's body, only to punch those same places later on with those metal gauntlets of hers, just to make the sting hurt even more. Add in those roundhouse kicks she was doing, and Hitoshi was screwed.
Her speed was on a whole other level. It was like being punched by an evil genderbent version of Eraserhead, only if you swapped out the scarf for blades, along with the color scheme.
Okay, bad analogy, but Hitoshi might have a concussion, so sue him.
KRAAASH!
Yep, he definitely had a concussion. How else could he explain that huge bird-brain Villain flying overhead at the speed of a rocket and getting smashed right out of the USJ?
"Ah, that appears to be our cue to leave," Mr. Compress said. "Megethos, let's go."
"Wait…" Hitoshi said, as he crawled towards the two Villains. "Kodai… give her back…"
The duo looked at the downed boy before nodding to one another. Then, Mr. Compress put down a marble, while Megethos dropped down a flashbang. Wait, flashbang –?!
BANG!
Hitoshi hissed in pain as he heard the ringing in his eardrums. To make matters worse, that thing was thrown point-blank at his face, so it would be a few minutes before his eyes were back to normal, worst case scenario. Best case, it would be under a minute.
Still hurt, though.
"Shinso… Shinso… HITOSHI!"
"Huh…?" he slurred out, as Hitoshi's eyes readjusted to see… "Kodai…?"
"What happened?" she asked, checking him over.
"Two Villains jumped us. One of them had a Quirk that compressed you into a marble, the other had a bunch of blades all over her body. The bitch got me real good," he groaned.
"You're going to be okay," Kodai said, as she gave him a lookover. "None of these cuts seem to have hit any arteries or anything serious. Recovery Girl will fix you right up. You'll be fine."
Getting up, he said, "Thanks for the reassurance, but I still feel like shit."
Kodai gave him a soft smile, and said, "Sorry I couldn't help."
"It's fine… I'll live… Anyways, we need to get out of here."
"Mm," she nodded, as she helped carry him. "Something's happening in the plaza."
Katsuki remained still as he watched someone else fight his battle for him.
For the last ten minutes or so, Shitty Hair – no, Kirishima – had been duking it out with that Rapper guy, but even he knew that it was an uphill battle.
That dude's punches were no joke. Every time they hit Kirishima's hardened body, it would crack, forcing the redhead to re-harden himself, which was starting to drain him.
"ALL RIGHT!" the Rapper shouted. "GIVE ME MORE!"
WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! WHAM!
This was wrong. Katsuki had to do something, or else Kirishima would be beaten to hell and back. But what? His explosions couldn't do jack squat to the guy, he needed something stronger… no, what Katsuki needed was something sharper, to take down this guy…
Wait… something sharper? That's it!
This was an insane theory, but he had no other choice. Making a circle with one of his hands, he created an explosion with his other, making it go through the hole. He could see the explosion become smaller, more concentrated, and soon enough, it headed straight for the Rapper –
BOOM!
"AH, DAMN! WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!" the Villain shouted, before looking towards Katsuki. "INTERFERING WITH A ONE-ON-ONE?! THAT'S SUPER UNMANLY!"
Oh, God, is this prick just an evil Kirishima?!
The Rapper readied his arm, ready to punch Katsuki, but before he could –
KRAAASH!
"Aww, dammit. That means our fight's over," the Rapper said, before he pointed towards Kirishima. "You, manly dude with the red hair. What's your name?"
The downed teenager said, "Eijiro… Kirishima…"
"Manly name! Rest assured, we'll fight again! But for now, we've gotta head to the plaza!" the Rapper said as he walked away. Turning back, he asked, "Aren't you coming?"
Katuski could only stare in confusion as he watched the masked Villain just up and leave. Picking up Kirishima, he asked, "Wait, where the fuck are you going?!"
"To watch the reason the League of Villains came here today."
KRAAASH!
Momo could see Kyoka wince as the explosion happened. The recommendation student couldn't exactly tell what had happened, but whatever it was, it was big and loud.
"Guess All Might defeated Nomu," Larceny muttered under his breath.
Nomu? Does he mean the big black Villain? Momo wondred.
"Aaaaand… we're here," Punch Drunk said, dropping Kyoka. "Hic!"
"Sorry for the rough trip, ladies," Larceny said, as he put down Momo next to Kyoka. "But we have arrived at the main plaza, and right on time to watch All Might be beaten."
"Enjoy the show! Hehehe!" Punch Drunk laughed, as he and Larceny left.
Kyoka groaned. "Ugh… Momo, do you feel any better?"
"My equilibrium is still shot," the raven-haired girl said. "But my eyesight is indeed getting better. From what I can tell, I can see All Might in the distance, saying something."
"I can hear him," the purple-haired girl said. "He's saying he's getting weaker.
Weaker. Weak. Me. Momo winced as she remembered how and Kyoka were bested by two bickering Villains. She grimaced. No. If she was going to let those two fools escape, then she was going to at least make them fight for their victory a little bit more.
Within her body, she began creating a weapon she was very familiar with how to use…
Shoto noticed that Asui was slowing down in her running, and he immediately scooped her up. "I think you're suffering from a minor temperature shock," he explained. "I'll stabilize you."
"Oh," the frog girl said. "Thank you, ribbit."
"Hey, guys, look!" Kaminari pointed. "It's Shinso and Kodai!"
"Hey, guys," Kodai said, as she carried a half-beate Shinso.
"Dude, you look like shit!" Kamiari yelped.
"I feel like shit," Shinso said. "Any of you heard that explosion?"
"Yeah, it came from over there," Asui said, pointing towards the main plaza.
"All right, then let's go over there," Shinso said.
"I really have gotten weaker," All Might chuckled. "Back in my prime, five hits would have been enough. But today, it took more than three hundred mighty blows to bring this guy down."
Unfortunately, while the students cheered, steam started to appear.
Time's up, All Might realized. Gotta end this fast.
Clap, clap, clap, clap.
Turning his head, All Might saw one of the Villains clapping, all while young Uraraka was just standing there, mortified. What was going on? Why wasn't his successor fighting back?
Why did she look so afraid?
"Well done, All Might," the Villain in a black mask said, as he slowly clapped his hands. "An excellent show. I suppose this is the part where we evil-doers surrender, and let justice prevail?"
However, All Might didn't move. He was too stunned, too afraid. Because…
I recognize that voice…
What was he doing here? Leading a small gang of criminals, invading the school, attacking the students, was that all his idea?! Why does he have young Uraraka?! Why, why, why, why –?!
The Symbol of Peace calmed down a bit. He couldn't move, couldn't show to the world his weakened self, much less his nemesis. And as far as he knew, All For One didn't know that young Uraraka was his successor. All he could do right now was bluff.
"Give it up, now," he growled. "Your plan has failed, the authorities are coming."
"Hmm… tell you what, All Might, if you manage to knock me over, we'll surrender. Come on, one little tap to the cheek," he said, pointing to his mask. "Or is it that… you can't do it?"
All Might's breath hitched, as the students watched in morbid curiosity.
"You can't, can you?" the Villain asked, the glee in his voice obvious. "From the distractions during your commute, to Nomu, you have spent your time limit for the day, haven't you?"
The students around them began whispering, wondering what the Villain meant. Scanning his eyes around, he saw that all twenty of the students were within All Might's line of sight, some of them even being held hostage by the Villains. What was their plan?
That's when it hit Toshinori.
Breaking into UA. The distractions earlier today. The Nomu itself. All of those things were to track him down when he had a class, and drain him of his time, all to expose him to his –
"Let's test that theory, shall we?" All For One asked, as he approached Toshinori when he was too busy freaking out in his own mind. Stretching out one finger, he placed it on his nose –
"Boop."
POOOOOF!
Steam erupted from the No. 1 Hero's body, covering the two of them, and then… he was visible.
"What the hell…?"
"Is that… All Might…?"
"No way…"
In front of them was no longer the giant of a man they called the Symbol of Peace, but instead, he was a skeleton, a husk of a person wearing a suit that was too big for him.
All For One did it. He exposed Toshinori's true form to the entire class.
But it wasn't over just yet.
GRAB!
"BEHOLD, CLASS 1-A!" the Villain shouted, as he held the skinny All Might in the air by the collar of his suit. "YOUR SYMBOL OF PEACE! Look at his sunken eyes! His shriveled face!"
Toshinori tried to pry the monster's arms off of his collar, but he couldn't. All he could do was watch as the horrific realization set in for all of his students. Denial, shock, grief, they were experiencing all of it at the hands of the Villains who were forcing them to watch.
SLAM!
"THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU PLACE THE WEIGHT OF THE WORLD ON ONE MAN, NO MATTER HOW POWERFUL!" All For One shouted, as he slammed Toshinori into the concrete, before lifting him up again. "HE IS NO GOD! HE IS A MAN! A WEAK, FEEBLE MAN!"
Then, All For One was silent, before turning his skull-like helmet towards young Uraraka, pointing towards the girl, and saying, "You. One For All's newest wielder."
"No… please…" Toshinori begged, squirming. "Don't hurt her… please…"
"Don't worry, All Might, I'm not planning on killing your successor," he said, loud enough for all of Class 1-A to hear him. Then, he threw Toshinori, right into Uraraka's arms, sending them both back a few feet. "Make sure to not do things alone, otherwise you'll end up like your master."
Ochako looked back at All For One. "Wait… that's it?"
This was all? These Villains broke into her school, attacked her teachers and classmates, and beat up All Might, all just to tell her to not do things alone, and to rely on others?
"Yep. That's all I came here to do. LEAGUE OF VILLAINS, WE'RE LEAVING!"
"I don't think so."
The Villains, All For One and the members of Class 1-A all turned around to see that, up in the stairs, Nedzu had arrived, with over half of the Pro Hero staff of UA. Ochako could see Midnight, Present Mic, Cementoss, Vlad King, Snipe, Ectoplasm, Ms. Joke, and several others.
"Surrender, Villains," the white-furred mammal softly said. "You have trespassed on my property, attacked my students and staff, and worst of all, have made me a tad bit angry."
Most of the people near the area suddenly got chills. All except…
"Ohh, I'm so scared!" All For One sarcastically said, waving his hands around to exaggerate his "fear" in a comedic fashion. "What's a teeny little mouse going to do to us?"
Nedzu remained carefully blank for a few seconds, before saying, "Snipe, shoot him."
The cowboy-themed Hero nodded, and pulled out his pistol. "Yippee-ki-yay, mother–"
BANG!
"AAAAAAA–"
"""SNIPE!"""
Everyone looked in horror as they saw blood explode out of Snipe's shoulder, making him drop his gun. The purple-haired sniper dropped from her nest, and that's when all hell broke loose.
"TOUYA! GETEN! ICE WALL, NOW!" All For One shouted.
BOOOOM!
In an instant the two hooded Villains erected a giant wall of ice that separated the students from the newly-arrived teachers, while Ochako could hear Present Mic and Cementoss trying to destroy it from the other side. "Well, this has been fun. Kurogiri, time to go."
Ochako looked back to see All For One had ordered the smoke Villain to turn back into a warpgate, with all of the close-ranged Villains going through, as the sniper lady and the one with the blue fires guarded the ice wall from the approaching teachers.
"Hic! It's been fuuu–"
BANG!
"WHAT THE –?! MY WING!"
Ochako, and several of the other students, were shocked to see that Momo had made a shotgun and used it on the flying support gear of one of the Villains, sending him falling towards the earth. One of the other Villains yelled, "LEAVE IT BEHIND!"
"But my wings –"
"Hephaestus can make you new ones! We have to go!"
The mask-wearing Villain whimpered, before removing his artificial wings, and ran through the portal along with his comrades, leaving All For One as the only one left.
"Well, it's been a pleasure to finally meet you face-to-face, Ocahko Uraraka," All For One said, as the last of the Villains left behind him. "We'll be seeing more of each other soon enough."
She reached her hand out to try and stop him, shouting, "Hey, wait! STOP!"
"See you soon, One For All," he chuckled, and then, sank through the portal.
And just like that, the League of Villains was gone.
"YEEEAAAAAHHH!"
Even as Present Mic destroyed the ice wall, and even as the rest of the Pro Heroes checked up on her classmates, Ochako stood still, as she carried her teacher's beaten body.
Even with the most powerful Quirk in the world, Ochako Uraraka felt weak.
"Good, all the remaining students are accounted for," Naomasa Tsukauchi said, as he turned towards one of his subordinates. "Let's get these students to the main campus."
"Detective, what about our friends?" the invisible girl asked.
"Kirishima has several bruises, and a minor concussion. Sero and Shoji were also hit in the head during their fights, so we are making sure they don't have any serious injuries. But in terms of serious injuries, Asui and Todoroki, and possibly Kamiari had it the worst due to the possibility of shock they might have due to the sudden temperature changes. Oh, and Shinso has several cuts and bruises all over his body. Thankfully, they're all being treated right now."
"Um, sir, what about our teachers?" the pink-skinned one asked.
"There's no need to worry there. Despite some lacerations to the back, Thirteen is gonna make a full recovery. Snipe, while he may have had the worst injuries, will be able to use his arm again in the future. And even though All Might was slammed to the floor, he's a tough one. He isn't suffering any life-threatening injuries. They'll all be fine. Now, let's get you back to class."
He heard several kids saying "okay," before heading off to their bus.
Looking over to his second-in-command, Naomasa said, "Sansa, I'll leave this to you."
"Yes, sir," the cat-headed officer said, giving him a salute.
"Tsukauchi, sir!" one of the other officers yelled.
"Report."
"Someone thought to be involved in the attack was just apprehended in a wooded area nearby," the officer said. "He has no apparent injuries and seems to be complying with officer commands, for now. He hasn't said a word, though. We're not sure if he can speak."
"Hmm…" the detective thought to himself, before he saw the principal leaving the building with some Heroes. " Nedzu, I'd like to investigate every inch of this school just to be safe."
"Of course, please do!" Nedzu said. "You'll have full access to the campus! We definitely need your assistance on this matter! I don't care who makes a fuss, you have my blessing."
Naomasa nodded, and yelled, "Teams! Proceed as planned."
Ochako knew that All Might was going to be fine, Recovery Girl had said so. However, a small part of her couldn't help but look at the old man on the bed, and feel the tears leak.
He was out cold at the moment, but Ochako had to say this to him before she left.
"All Might… I'm sorry… I'm so, so, sorry…"
Shoto remained silent as he walked back to her home.
The police decided that today was too stressful for the students to properly give them accounts of what had happened, and decided to let them go home for the evening.
School was canceled tomorrow, allowing all of Class 1-A time to come into the station and give their testimonies, in order to help with the investigation concerning the attack, including the students who had to stay behind and be treated by Recovery Girl.
But Shoto didn't know what to think. Was his older brother truly alive? Was it just some Villain's trick? No, they were trying to conceal their faces, so it had to be an accident. Unless that was what they wanted him to think. But most importantly of all…
What would Endeavor think if he discovered any of this?
Walking through the front gate, Shoto unlocked the door to the house, and –
"SHOTO!"
…Fuyumi tackled him into a hug.
"I was so worried about you! The police called and said that there was a Villain attack at your school! Are you okay, you weren't hurt, were you? What about your friends, like that –?"
"I'm okay, sis, I'm okay," Shoto said. "The police called?"
"Yeah, they left a message telling me what happened. Not only that, but the media already got their hands on the story a while ago, they might have blown it out of proportion."
"I see," Shoto said. "Thanks… I'll… I think I need to relax for a bit."
"Okay," Fuyumi smiled at him. "I'll go start dinner."
Shoto nodded, and while his sister disappeared into the kitchen, Shoto went into the living room, plopped himself down in front of the couch, and turned on the TV.
"BREAKING NEWS! There has been an incident at the UA's Unforeseen Simulation Joint, where Hero Course students have been attacked by a gang of Villains. According to on-site journalists, the criminal forces called themselves the "League of Villains," and it's been covered that their leader managed to injure All Might. Out of the thirteen Villains present –"
Huh, that's weird, Shoto thought to himself. Fuyumi said that the news about the incident already broke out, so why are they calling it "breaking news" at this time?
Next to Shoto, the landline phone remained off. Which was odd, considering the fact that any voice messages left on the phone would have lit up on the landline's button,
Maybe Fuyumi already deleted the message? Shoto thought to himself.
As they made it back to the bar, Tenko removed the hands from his body. They may not have been the original ones he was given, but the plastic substitutes were still nice.
Looking over to the leader of the League, he asked, "How do you think it went?"
"I think it went well." Taking off his helmet, Izuku Midoriya smiled. "I think it really went well."
Author's Note: DUN, DUN, DUN! Didn't see that coming, did you?
Before we continue, I want to make an announcement: I have come bearing a gift in the form of a new weekly series, a collaboration between myself and my good friend, Infinite the Celestian. A crossover between Re: Zero, Dark Souls, and the Elder Souls V: Skyrim, that we have dubbed… the Elder Souls. The links are here, for both ( s/14313467/1/The-Elder-Souls) and ArchiveofOurOwn ( /works/52723891/chapters/133355623)! Now, the comments!
DragonWhite04: Yeah, surprise! Touya Todoroki isn't Dabi this time around! Also, is that all you realized in this chapter, because you kinda cut off, let me know!
Knightmare Lord: Probably the same reason Geten is part of the League now.
And now, for the last bit of shilling…
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- Ernalore