And we're back quickly with another chapter for "Through the Rough"! Happy Valentine's Day by the way! It makes me really happy that this story is getting as much love as it is, knowing that Season 1 is about to close.
Really appreciate everyone's comments and questions. I look forward to showing you just how excited I am to get to Season 2 along with the ideas that'll come in a much more expansive Season 3. For now though, let's dive in to the penultimate episode to the Season 1 finale! Welcome back to "Through the Rough"!
"All... Might..." both Izuku and Rebecca uttered out upon seeing the number one hero entering the USJ. As he stepped forward, he ripped his tie off, having a fierce expression of rage upon his face. He wasn't happy. No one would be in this current situation. All of the lesser villains were instantly caught off guard as they were taken down by All Might, who picked up the unconscious Shota. After apologizing to him for being late, he went ahead and retrieved Izuku, Rebecca, Tsuyu, and Minoru from the villains' clutches, all while knocking the hand off of Tomura's face.
"Huh?" the Pop Off Quirk user uttered, realizing that he and the others had been saved, now standing off to the side, "What the heck?" he questioned in surprise.
"The four of you take Aizawa and head back to the entrance," All Might advised while standing up, "You can leave the rest to me," he assured. Izuku and Rebecca both exchanged a worried look. They should've been glad to see the number one hero and have faith that he'd prevail. But after seeing how the Nomu had taken the One For All inheritor's full-powered punch without a scratch...
"All Might, please be careful!" the Leaper Quirk user pleaded, "These guys have really dangerous Quirks!" she pointed out desperately.
"Don't you worry, Young Bluegarden," the number one hero assured, turning to her and others while flashing a peace sign with his trademark grin, "I've got this!" he vowed firmly. Somewhat reluctantly, both Izuku and Rebecca then left, carrying Shota with Tsuyu and Minoru. That left All Might to face the villains alone. Rather, he was faced against the Nomu.
And his attacks were doing nothing to damage him. No matter where he punched the monster, he was enduring each blow with ease. Tomura explained that Nomu had Shock Absorption for a Quirk, meaning he was essentially a human sandbag capable of withstanding even the number one hero's punches.
"The only way you're going to beat him is if you slowly go ahead and gouge out his flesh..." the lead villain noted, "though I doubt he's going to let you do that so easily..." he mentioned with a chuckle.
"Heh!" All Might laughed, "Thanks for telling me how to beat him!" he yelled out, getting behind the Nomu and wrapping his arms around its waist, "All I have to do is wear him down..." he began, lifting the monster off of the ground, "and move on to you!" he declared, bringing his foe down in a powerful suplex that resulted in a huge burst of dust.
"Shit..." Sibir uttered out from afar while standing alongside Kurogiri, "You really sure this plan's gonna work?" he questioned. The warp villain narrowed his yellow eyes.
"It already is," he confirmed in reply. Meanwhile, Izuku and others continued to head toward the entrance with Shota still in their arms. The One For All inheritor knew that they could only put their faith in All Might at this point. They'd only be getting in the way.
But he knew about All Might's time limit. He knew about his injury. Rebecca did as well, noticing the troubled look upon her best friend's face. But there wasn't anything they could do. And when the dust settled, everyone gasped.
The number one hero's suplex had been thwarted due to the upper half of the Nomu's body being sent through a warp gate rather than into the ground. And where he popped up was right beneath All Might, grabbing his torso and squeezing tightly to hold him in place. The monster's fingers dug into his injury, making him wince in agony as blood started to spread. He tried to break free of his grip, but to no avail.
"You're wasting your time, All Might," Sibir noted as he approached, getting his attention as he saw the gold metal arm he had, which appeared to be adjusting, "Nomu's as strong as you are..." he pointed out, "Even if you break free, you won't be able to stop all of us from finishing the job..." he mentioned darkly.
Sibir! Quirk: Augment!
He can enhance the power of any weapon on his person tenfold! The only downside is he can only enhance one item at a time and for just thirty seconds! But he makes up for that with some sturdy tools!
"I know you...!" All Might realized after a moment, "You were a part of Drakken Joe's gang..." he recalled, causing the bald villain to perk up in surprise. He balled his hands into trembling fists, clenching his teeth together.
"Sorry..." he apologized, rearing his metal arm back, "but we're gonna make this quick," he declared, slamming his fist against his target's wound in a grunt. Hearing the punches echo from afar, Izuku hesitated. Even if All Might said he would be fine, even if there was nothing worry about... he was still his teacher. And he still had so much left to teach him.
"Izuku?" Rebecca uttered out, seeing the hesitance in his eyes.
"You guys take Mister Aizawa..." he suddenly told his classmates, causing them to blink in surprise as he lifted the unconscious Erasure Hero's arm off of his shoulder, handing it over to Tsuyu.
"Wh-What are you gonna do?" Minoru asked in a stutter. All of a sudden, they saw Izuku run.
"Izuku!" Rebecca screamed.
"Are you crazy?!" Minoru yelled. The One For All inheritor didn't want to lose the man who believed in his dream to become a hero. He had to do something, no matter how afraid he truly was.
"I'M COMING!" he cried out, causing All Might to perk up and spot him.
'Midoriya, no!' he exclaimed inwardly in a panic, 'What do you think you're doing?!' he questioned through his thoughts. Izuku reached his hand out... and then Kurogiri appeared in front of him.
"How foolish..." he remarked, opening a warp gate for the One For All inheritor to fall through.
"NO!" Rebecca screamed, suddenly speeding in and tackling her best friend aside in the nick of time... only for Katsuki to suddenly come in and blast the warp villain back.
"You better stay the hell outta my way, ya damn nerds!" he roared to the pair, who both sat up in surprise. They watched as he pinned Kurogiri to the ground after grabbing him by his neck brace, yelling all the while.
"Kurogiri!" Sibir exclaimed before suddenly winding up pelted by several rubber bullets as he yelped, falling back onto the ground. He looked ahead and gasped to find Weisz there with his assault rifle aimed at him, glaring all the while. At the same time, ice built up on the ground before the Nomu's feet, freezing his right side completely. What followed was Homura racing by and slashing its arm cleanly off with one of her energy blades in her hands. Thanks to that, All Might was able to free himself from its grasp as he hopped over to Shoto's side, wincing in pain from his bleeding injury.
"Are you alright, All Might?" the Soul Blade Quirk user asked of the number one hero as he put his hand over his wound.
"Yes, I'll be fine, Young Kogetsu..." he assured in reply, "And thank you too, Young Todoroki..." he added in gratitude to the Half-Cold, Half-Hot Quirk user. Meanwhile, Eijiro lunged in, attempting to swipe down at Tomura. But he dodged the attack, jumping back.
"Aw man, that was gonna be cool!" he complained.
"Magimech Attack..." a familiar voice started to echo from above as everyone looked up to Shiki coming down with his right fist clenched tightly, "GRAVITY FIST!" he roared. Tomura jumped away to evade the blow, but its force upon impact with the ground was enough to blow him back in an instant. The Satan Gravity Quirk user stood up. "What are you guys trying to do to All Might...?" he questioned in a low growl.
"Kacchan... everyone..." Izuku uttered as he stood up with Rebecca, seeing that their classmates had arrived to help. Wiping his eyes free of tears, he took on a determined expression as he stood in line with them, now only facing Tomura as he stood up.
"He's mine!" Shiki decided as he rushed out at him.
"Young Granbell, wait!" All Might called out. But the Satan Gravity Quirk user continued his course to the main villain, readying his right fist as his green markings glowed brightly.
"An Ether-Type, huh?" Tomura noted, "Wonder how long you can use it..." he muttered, narrowing his eyes behind the hand upon his face. At that very moment, the markings upon Shiki disappeared as he gasped in surprise. "Not long enough..." the villain realized, reaching out in an attempt to grab him. All of a sudden though, Rebecca sped in and tackled the Satan Gravity Quirk user aside, avoiding their foe's grasp.
"I got him!" Weisz called out, ready to fire off a round of rubber bullets from his rifle. However, it was suddenly grabbed by Sibir, who crushed in the hand of his metal arm. In return, the Machina Maker Quirk user grabbed that same arm with both hands. "MORTAL CRASH!" he roared as the yellow markings upon his body glowed brightly. All of a sudden, the metal arm of his foe burst apart into pieces as he stumbled back in a pained yell. He glared over at Weisz, who glared back just as fiercely.
"For the moment, I believe we have the advantage," Homura chimed in, holding onto her energy blade, "Let us hold our positions and keep these fiends at bay," she insisted of her classmates.
"Right!" Eijiro agreed, taking on a defensive stance.
"Kurogiri... Sibir..." Tomura uttered out, "How could you let children get the better of you?" he inquired of his subordinates.
"Because I happen to know one of your buddies!" Weisz shouted in response, getting everyone's attention.
"Steiner?" Eijiro uttered in surprise, seeing him approach Sibir.
"So all that stuff you told my mom about going straight..." he began angrily to his former friend, "Was that just a damn lie?!" he shouted as a question. The Augment Quirk user grimaced, balling his hands into fists.
"Weisz... it's not that simple..." he argued, "I got a life and a family outside of yours..." he pointed out.
"So that's an excuse to try and kill All Might?!" the Machina Maker Quirk user yelled back.
"Young Steiner..." the number one hero uttered out, "you know this man?" he asked of him, getting his attention.
"Hm," Tomura scoffed. Right now, Kurogiri was pinned, Nomu was stuck, and Sibir was left without a weapon. The situation wasn't favorable. But he knew that their fight wasn't over just yet. "Nomu," he said. At that very moment, the upper half of the monster's body sunk back into the warp gate.
Everyone looked on in surprise to see it stand up, with the rest of its right arm and leg breaking off from the ice that surrounded him. Even so, it was still moving. Rebecca and Shiki ran back over to regroup with the others.
"What the heck's happening?" the Leaper Quirk user asked, giving off a frightened look. All of a sudden, the Nomu's lost limbs started to regenerate. It turned out that it had a Super Regeneration Quirk as well.
"Now let's get our method of escape back first," Tomura decided, looking over to the pinned Kurogiri, "Get him, Nomu," he ordered. The beast lunged towards the students, more specifically Katsuki, as he was the one holding down the warp villain.
"KACCHAN!" Rebecca cried out. Without thinking, she lunged out to try and tackle him away from getting hit by the Nomu. There was a fierce blast of air from the impact of the monster's punch, blowing everyone back.
"KACCHAN! REBECCA!" Izuku screamed in fright as he stood up afterwards. He then spotted them right beside him, seated on the ground. "Whoa, you two dodged him?!" he inquired aloud.
"Shut up, no we didn't..." Katsuki muttered in response.
"Then... how'd you get over here?" Eijiro asked.
"I believe that answer is quite obvious," Homura responded, getting his attention. They looked over to see the dust cloud by a broken wall clearing to reveal All Might with his arms raised defensively. He coughed.
"All Might!" Izuku and Rebecca exclaimed. They watched as he breathed heavily, evidently exhausted. He was quick to point out that Tomura had the Nomu attack the students without hesitation. The lead villain argued that they had been just as violent, saying that they gave him no choice since Kurogiri was pinned.
He told All Might that it was hypocritical for heroes to commit violence and be praised, while villainous violence was looked down upon. He saw the number one as nothing more than a tool of the government to use in violent manners. And violence... would beget more violence.
"Allow me to demonstrate..." Tomura decided, suddenly grabbing Sibir by the back of his head and pushing him down onto his knees.
"Sh-Shigaraki...?!" he stammered out as the students and All Might watched on with shocked expressions.
"You knew one of those brats... probably how his Quirk worked, too..." the lead villain muttered to his subordinate, "Yet you went after him first, knowing he could beat you..." he noted, taking a tighter grip on the Augment Quirk user's head, "So now... you can die..." he decided. In an instant, Sibir's body turned entirely grey as everyone widened their eyes in disbelief, especially Weisz. They watched as he instantly disintegrated into dust and blood, falling onto the ground.
"Sibir..." the Machina Maker Quirk user whimpered out as he trembled, "SIBIRRRRR!" he screamed out as tears flew out from his eyes.
"His own comrade...?" Shoto uttered out, evidently stunned like the others were.
"Is that how you treat anyone who'd dare to try and think about their choices?!" All Might inquired angrily of Tomura, who cackled maniacally. Time was short. The number one hero barely had a minute left in his muscle form. But even so, he had to fight. That was because...
'I AM THE WORLD'S SYMBOL OF PEACE AND JUSTICE!' he declared inwardly, launching forward in an instant to everyone's surprise. He went ahead and attacked the Nomu, trading blows with it as their fists collided with each other. The force of their fighting made the wind blow about wildly, making everyone around move back as they struggled to endure it.
"He's... fighting that guy head on?!" Izuku exclaimed over the wind.
"It would seem so..." Homura noted, covering her eyes with her right sleeve. No one could get near them. But they could tell one thing. All Might was winning. In spite of his pain, in spite of his limits, he was pushing back with all his might. His punches weren't random. They were targeted, exuding more than 100% of his power. And with that, he brought the Nomu down to point where he was ready to finish him.
"Now for a lesson..." he decided, "You may have heard these words before, but I'll teach you what they really mean!" he declared proudly, readying his right fist, "GO BEYOND!" he yelled, rearing his extremity back, "PLUS... ULTRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" he roared, slamming his fist mightily into the Nomu's torso, sending it flying straight through the roof in an instant. Everyone watching was left in awe and disbelief.
"Wow..." Rebecca uttered out, smiling a little.
"That was incredible!" Shiki exclaimed as his eyes sparkled.
"A monster that could regenerate was just beaten almost so effortlessly..." Homura mentioned aloud.
"He was probably punching him so fast, he couldn't regenerate..." Katsuki added while narrowing his eyes.
"Yeah..." Weisz agreed. All of the students in the area thought the exact same thing. They knew what the top of hero pinnacle was. And that was how All Might got there. Izuku looked over to see the cloud of dust subsiding to reveal his mentor there.
"I really have gotten weaker..." he muttered out, "Back in my heyday, five hits would've been enough..." he noted, standing up firmly with a smile, "But today it took more than three hundred mighty blows," he said, holding his right fist over his chest. Both Izuku and Rebecca smiled with relief, having tears prick at their eyes. However, the latter of the two noticed the steam wafting off from their hero. Time was running short, and he could only stall for so much longer...
Sooner or later, we're going to be focusing on some big elements that'll include more Edens Zero properties/characters. Season 2 will have a lot to work with in that regard, and we're hopefully gonna get to start it by the end of this week. Hope you enjoyed the chapter!
I've got some interesting details to share with you all for next time!