For several long moments, everyone turned their heads to the now-opened gates of the USJ. Wincing through the pain, Izuku looked up to see either a cloud of dust or smoke obscuring his view of who had arrived. Most likely created by the amount of force from opening the door.
Then, from out of the smoke, came an arrow made of some sort of lime-colored energy. It flew through the air with the speed of a bullet, making contact with the Nomu's raised arm. However, whatever this was didn't seem to faze the creature much. All it did was turn one of its eyes towards the spot where the arrow struck, seeing that it didn't even so much as leave a scorch mark before the arrow exploded into something akin to sparkling dust.
"What the?" Shigaraki's words were cut short as the smoke cleared, revealing four students and one teacher. Three of the students, each dressed in their hero costumes, were the other holders of the legendary weapons. Itsuki, the one who had fired the arrow, was standing at the edge of the steps with his bow still at the ready. As for Ren and Motoyasu, the pair stood on either side of the bow hero. While Ren held his sword in a defensive stance, ready to take on any villain who might have wanted to charge them, Motoyasu stood there with his spear behind his head with his hand lazily holding onto it on both ends making him appear cocky. And standing behind them was Ida along with an All Might who, in a very rare instance, could be seen not smiling.
"Help has arrived!" announced Ida loudly, his arms outstretched.
"Surrender now!" yelled Itsuki, pulling back on his bow as another energy arrow was formed. "More teachers are on their way and they will be here soon. If you lay down your arms then I'm sure the law will show you mercy."
None of the villains seemed to heed this warning. Rather, many who had fallen to Mr. Aizawa began picking themselves up, shaking off their injuries as they glared at the new heroes before them.
"Ah, man. Looks like they want to do this the hard way, which is fine by me," said Motoyasu, moving his spear over his head as he spoke to begin swinging it around several times until he ended in a stance ready to pounce. Now his cockiness was on full display as a wide smirk could be seen on his face.
Ren seemed impassive by the actions of his fellow weapon users, simply turning to look at All Might. "You don't need to waste your time on the small fry," the sword user said. "We'll take care of them and make sure everyone down there gets to safety."
All Might nodded grimly as he tore off his tie. "Very well Young Sword Hero. Let us show them why it was a mistake to invade this fine school!" Then, in a blink of an eye, All Might vanished from atop the stairs before appearing right above Izuku! The young shield hero watched in amazement as he saw his hero punch the Nomu right into its beak-like jaw with enough force that several of its jagged teeth flew from its mouth before falling to the ground. Nomu seemed to stumble back a bit, but other than that didn't seem too bothered by the attack. In fact, its teeth were already regrowing!
"Regeneration?!" exclaimed All Might, unable to keep the shock out of his voice.
"That's right All Might," exclaimed Shigaraki gleefully. The hand-covered villain was off to the side, completely ignoring Tsu and Kirishima as they backed away from the brawl. No doubt wanting to stay out of All Might's way. "Allow me to introduce you to the anti-symbol of peace: Nomu. Not only does he have high-speed regeneration, but he also has shock absorption on top of being naturally as strong as you are. Perhaps… even stronger."
A chill washed over Izuku as Shigaraki said that, his face twisting into a smile behind that hand mask of his. Even though Izuku couldn't see it, he could see the villain's eyes. They looked so depraved, so sickening that it made the green-haired youth's stomach turn. Even killers in movies didn't make the sort of look that this guy had!
But that smile didn't last long as a look of annoyance overtook his features as the other legendary weapon users took to the field. Itsuki was the first to make his presence known, firing multiple arrows from the safety at the top of the stairs. Each arrow seemed to sparkle with electricity, shocking the villains until they fell to the floor. Meanwhile, Ren raced towards the villains, slashing away like crazy at all the villains who had gotten up. On occasion, one of his swings would send forward a wave of fire or electricity that would sweep across many different foes at once. As for Motoyasu...he had leaped into the air and sadly landed next to Izuku. The blond spear user looked down at the teen, his expression displaying a mix of repulsion and anger.
"So, where the heck is Raphtalia?" asked/demanded Motoyasu. "Don't tell me you sent her off to fight your battles for you!"
Izuku could not help from shaking his head as he simply ignored the random accusation of his peer in favor of staying alive during this battle. Instead, he reached towards his belt pouch, pulling out one of his vials containing his healing potion. After taking off the cap, he quickly drank it in one go, causing the pain in his arm to lessen.
"Is now really the time for that?" asked Tsu, the suddenness of her voice causing Motoyasu to jump in surprise. When he landed, the spear user turned to point his weapon at both the frog girl and Kirishima as they approached. What amazed Izuku was that Tsu, who normally had a very neutral expression, was giving their upperclassman the same deadpanned and exasperated expression as Kirishima.
Upon seeing that they weren't villains, Motoyasu lowered his weapon while reaching out with his free hand to begin waving their words away. "W-Well you see I heard that Midoriya uses Raphtalia to fight his battles and takes all the credit. And since she normally sticks to him like glue…well, you know."
Izuku just let out a sigh as he tossed the vial aside. "That mist villain over there teleported a bunch of us to random locations," he said, gaining everyone's attention as he stood up once more. "I have no idea where Raphtalia is. Or any of the other students in our class for that matter."
As he spoke, Izuku briefly wondered if he should bother asking who told him that he used Raphtalia like an attack dog. However, as he glanced over the fight between All Might and Nomu he realized there were more pressing matters than the high school rumor mill. Like getting Mr. Aizawa out of there and finding the rest of their classmates.
Once Izuku was back on his feet, he motioned to the eraser-hero before telling everyone in a low tone that they needed to get to him while the villains were distracted. Indeed, the villainous Shigaraki was watching the battle between his monster and the symbol of peace with something akin to awe. It was like he was watching the series finale to his favorite show, with the action not failing to disappoint. If they were going to sneak past him and get their teacher to safety, now was the time.
Sadly, only two members of the group agreed with him.
"You have got to be kidding me!" exclaimed Motoyasu loudly as he pointed towards the back of Shigaraki. "The leader of these villains is right there, backturned. One good attack from my spear and he's down for the count!"
"Isn't attacking someone from behind unmanly?" whispered Kirishima with a frown.
"Hey, he's the one letting his guard down!," yelled Motoyasu. Before Izuku or Tsu could bring up that evacuating the injured should be their top priority right now, the blond upperclassman was already in motion. Once more he began to twirl his spear around, only stopping once it was overhead while the teen took up a position ready to throw it. "Lightning Spear!"
The group gasped as Motoyasu's spear began to brightly glow an electric blue color while the sounds of electricity crackling could be easily heard over the sounds of the fight between All Might and Nomu. The three younger teens reached out their arms in an attempt to stop him but it was too late. The Spear Hero pointed his weapon at the back of Shigaraki before thrusting it forward and spending a stream of electricity right at him. The attack was so powerful that Izuku had to hold up an arm to protect his face, his feet sliding against the ground as he was pushed back by the force. The attack seemed to hit, creating a massive cloud of dust with rubble flying all around.
However, before the dust had a chance to settle, Shigaraki came flying out of the cloud of debris at the same terrifying speed those from class 1-A had seen before. While shocked to see this, Motoyasu managed to leap backward just as Shigaraki finished closing the distance, swiping an open palm at nothing but empty air with a look of annoyance.
"You dodged?" gasped Motoyasu, still surprised. "But how?"
As Motoyasu shouted this, spear raised in a ready fashion, Shigaraki just tilted his head to the side in an almost comical fashion.
"How could I not?" deadpanned the villain, now sounding like he was talking to a child. "You were so loud and bright that it was distracting me from seeing All Might getting killed."
Then, Izuku noticed something in the villain's gaze. Between the fingers of his face mask, Shigaraki seemed to be taking in all of Motoyasu's appearance before his eyes narrowed in disgust.
"You know something?" began the villain, his previous immature tone returning with hate laced in his words. "You remind me a lot of one of those harem protagonists in the dating sim games I play sometimes. The kind of pretty boy that I really hate!"
Once more, Shigaraki lunged forward towards a now very confused Motoyasu. However, this time Izuku was ready as his Air Strike Shield appeared right between the battling hero and villain. The sight seemed to snap Motoyasu back to reality and just in time as Shigaraki slammed his open palm onto the shield, destroying it!
"Be careful!" called out Izuku as Shigaraki continued his charge. "He seems to have the power to decay whatever he touches!"
At Izuku's words, Motoyasu jumped to the side dodging an open-palm strike from the hand-covered villain.
"Thanks for the tip," said Motoyasu, no doubt trying to make a pun during the fight as he sent the tip of his spear towards the villain's arm. A move that the villain saw at the last moment, moving the appendage out of harm's way. "Guess you can be useful after all."
From there, the battle became a blur. Izuku, try as he might, tried to follow the relentless thrusting of Motoyasu's spear and the quick footwork of the villain. But, try as he might, it was just no use. He just couldn't keep up.
That is until Shigaraki somehow managed to get a handful of dust which he then flung into the spear-hero's eyes. Motoyasu let out a cry as he moved back, now holding the spear in one hand while his other began rubbing his eyes as a few tears formed. That was when Shigaraki pounced, knocking his foe onto the ground and placing his hand right over the student's heart. Before everyone's eyes, Motoyasu's breastplate crumbled into dust followed quickly by some chainmail the blond had under it. The decay would have probably reached the teen's chest had not Izuku and Kirishima stepped in, both rushing the villain on either side as they swung their fists aimed at either side of Shigaraki. Shigaraki saw this, leaping into the air and away from the teens.
"Damn it!" yelled Kirishima in frustration.
Izuku could only briefly glance back at Motoyasu who slowly stood up, using his spear as support while one hand tremblingly touched his now unprotected chest. The spear wielder was sweating, no doubt realizing just how close he had come to death.
Meanwhile, things weren't looking good with All Might. Kurogiri had the hero partially within one of his warp tunnels, slowly closing it while the Nomu held onto the bleeding, yes bleeding, All Might! They were all doomed if they didn't finish off Shigaraki soon and help the symbol of peace.
Luckily, before Shigaraki could make his next move, so many things happened at once that it took Izuku by surprise. Ice traveled across the ground as loud explosions rang through the air along with a very familiar battle cry. Just as Bakugo propelled himself through the air, colliding with Kurogiri's metal neck plate, Todoroki's ice moved over half of the Nomu's body. Due to a combination of the extremely cold temperatures and All Might's strength, the monster's frozen body shattered as it fell to the side. As the creature floundered on the ground, All Might took this opportunity to escape his confinement. And, the cherry on top of everything, Raphtalia appeared right in front of Shigaraki to plant the pommel of her hilt right into the middle of the villain's face.
"No, no, NO!" cried Shigaraki as he stumbled backward, his hand mask falling down to the ground. The decaying villain then raised his hand to his face, though not before Izuku noticed blood dripping from the League of Villains leader.
"Raphtalia! You're ok!" cried Izuku as he moved over to her, relief heavy in his voice while raising his shield.
Raphtalia, despite not turning her head as she pointed her sword at Shigaraki, gave her green-haired friend a smile. "Sorry, it took so long. But it seems we made it here right in the nick of time."
Izuku could not help but grin back as he watched more help arrive. Coming from the direction of the water zone were Todoroki and Mineta. Todoroki was walking towards them slowly, a long trail of ice leading towards the center of the lake behind him. It would have looked bad ass….had it not been for Mineta. The grape-themed hero had somehow managed to wrap himself around one of Todoroki's arms, holding onto him like some demented Koala while looking around nervously. Meanwhile, the taller of the pair was doing his best not to notice. At the same time, Ren and Itsuki were walking towards the group, having taken down all the villains in the surrounding area. As for Bakugo, he was kneeling beside Kurogiri with one of his hands sending out small explosions on the collar of the villain as a warning.
All Might then looked from Motoyasu to Ren and then to Itsuki, a deep frown on his face as he clutched at his wound to try and stem the bleeding. The man then opened his mouth to say something, but before a single word could be said, a change began to occur with the Nomu. Everyone watched in horror as not even losing half of its body could stop its regeneration as it was back to its original form within seconds!
"Looks like you all forgot this is a boss battle," cackled Shigaraki as he picked up his mask. However, Izuku noticed that he was holding out a pinkie as he did so. Like he didn't want to touch the object with all five fingers. "And now, you're on the second stage. Nomu, free our ticket out of this place."
With a cry, Nomu shot toward Bakugo with the intent to strike the blond bomber down. But, before he could, Izuku activated both his Air Strike Shield and Second Shield, placing them in between the villain and his childhood friend. Sadly, this had the same effect as it had when Izuku had tried to protect Aizawa. With a single punch from the Nomu both barriers were destroyed at the same time, the force of the attack being so powerful that the air pressure sent Izuku as well as everyone else within the area flying backward. The Shield user cried out as the world spun around him with his feet kicking in the air until he landed back down on the ground with a heavy thud. It didn't stop there for Izuku continued to roll on the ground until finally landing near the spot where the Nomu had almost finished him off, the teeth still lying there on the ground.
Before the teen could fully pick himself up, more wind swept through the USJ causing the teen's cape to billow out of control. Looking up, he saw that All Might was once more fighting the Nomu. Only this time, it looked like he was using more power than he had ever seen the hero use before in any of the videos he had watched. The man's punches were relentless, calculated, and powerful. Enough to start pushing the villain back despite the shock absorption.
And all the while, Izuku was there on the ground feeling helpless. His fingers clawed at the ground, teeth grit as he lay there with only his thoughts. There was nothing he could do to help All Might. All of his shields had been smashed to pieces by that monster effortlessly. Even if he did try something, it would be like using a piece of paper to stop a cannonball. That and he would probably just get in All Might's way.
But, that feeling quickly passed as Izuku grabbed one of the Nomu's fallen teeth.
'No Izuku, you're not useless,' the teen told himself as he stared at the tooth belonging to the creature that was giving the Symbol of Peace such a hard time. 'You were able to protect your classmates against real villains out there! You even stood up to Shigaraki! I may not be able to help All Might out now, but I will continue to get stronger. So strong that nothing will be able to break my shields!'
As Izuku got to one knee, dropping the tooth into the shield and taking the monster's power for himself, the green-haired teen noticed something. All Might and the Nomu weren't the only ones fighting! Off to the side, Raphtalia was fighting Shigaraki! The hand-covered villain had just lunged forward with his hand outstretched, ready to make contact with the Tanuki girl. Raphtalia, thankfully, saw the attack coming as she sidestepped it at the last minute. Midoriya then watched as his friend sent the tip of her blade into Shigaraki's leg before leaping backwards in a way that showed off her skill and grace. The hand-covered villain cursed, loudly complaining that she was using a cheap hack or something before moving towards her again, though slower now due to his injury. Seeing this, a smirk appeared on Raphtalia's face before she moved out of his reach again only to then leave a long slash along the villain's arm. Not a deep one, but just enough so that blood was escaping. When she landed, the Tanuki girl flicked her sword to the side so that her foe's blood dotted the ground before raising her sword once again was swinging her sword at the hand-covered villain using all of her grace and skill.
Midoriya couldn't help but marvel at how well Raphtalia was doing. Unlike Motoyasu, her blows were connecting. He didn't know if it was just because she was a more skilled fighter with her weapon than the spear user or if it was because Shigaraki was tired. Which would make sense seeing as the decay quirk user had fought Aizawa, Motoyasum and was now fighting an experienced swordswoman.
Then, as All Might and Nomu took their battle into the air, Izuku watched in horror as Shigaraki grabbed the blade after it had left a nasty gash across his upper chest. Blood leaked between his fingers, but the villain held onto it, his red eyes focused on Raphtalia's as the blade decayed into dust that was blown away in the windstorm around them. Raphtalia could not hide her shock, though she did not hesitate to reach for her sheath to use as a weapon. To continue fighting with everything she had. But, Izuku could see it in her eyes that she was worried, fighting desperately to stay alive. What was worse was that there were people close by who could help! The closest trio was their upperclassmen who all seemed to have tunnel vision at this moment as they watched the fight between the two battling titans. All that they had to do was just turn their heads to the side and they would see that Raphtalia was in danger! Well, he saw it. Gritting his teeth, Izuku leaped to his feet before charging forward as fast as he could.
"Air Strike Shield!" called out Izuku as he ran, his green glowing energy shield appeared in the air. Only this time, it was on its side the same way Izuku would use it like a platform. Trying something new, he willed the energy construct to shoot forward with all his might. And it did! The shield he created flew forward against the wind and crashed right into Shigaraki's side! Then, as the villain stumbled backward with his hands waving around wildly, Izuku closed the distance between them.
"Two-Headed Black Dog Shield!" The young hero in training could see the shock in the villain's eyes as the shield took on its darker form, two dog heads jutting out. Then, at the exact moment that All Might punched the Nomu with every last bit of his strength to send him flying through the roof of the USJ, Izuku bashed his shield against the face of Shigaraki! While the blow was nowhere near the same level of might that All Might used to defeat his foe, the amount of force Izuku used was enough to knock Shigaraki back while his mask flew off once more. What's more, while the villain was stumbling back, Raphtalia appeared behind him. With her illusion quirk now dropped, she slammed the sheath of her sword right into the villain's side with enough force that the sheath snapped! At the same time, the twin dog heads on the Izuku's shield stretched out and bit hard into Shigaraki's shoulders, drawing blood until he fell to the ground.
For a moment, nobody said anything. Izuku just stood there panting with his shield at the ready. Beside him was Raphtalia, gripping the remains of her sheath more tightly as she got into a lunging stance. No doubt so she could use it as a dagger or something. As for Shigaraki, he lay there staring at Izuku with his face completely exposed showing nothing but disdain for the young hero. Their eyes locked, green ones focused on red, hate-filled orbs. Neither looked away from each even as a portal underneath Shigaraki appeared allowing the villain to slip back into the same darkness he used to invade the school.
And then, he was gone.
-x-
The cleanup afterward was somewhat chaotic. Police and emergency medical professionals rushed to the scene along with the rest of the staff of U.A. Everyone there was questioned and asked to recount what had happened. It was during this time that Izuku learned that Todoroki had been in the flood zone along with Mineta, freezing the water along with the villains. Yaoyorozu had been with Jiro and Kaminari up in the mountain zone dealing with a small army of villains. While they had managed to defeat them, Kaminari had become stupid after using his quirk too much and was then caught by the person who had been jamming the signal. Thankfully, unexpected help came from Aoyama who used his naval laser to knock out the villain.
As for the three upperclassmen, Izuku watched as they did their best to sidestep the police's questions on why they were there. That, however, ended when Nezu showed you to explain that their arrival at the USJ had not been about sending help but rather as a punishment. While the three were doing well in most of their subjects, their grades in heroic rescue were in 'desperate need of improvement'. As such, Nezu had decided that they were going to receive some remedial lessons with Thirteen. All Might was simply giving them a lift to the USJ for some after-school lessons. Along the way, Ida had shown up after escaping from the USJ to warn about the villain's attack. And since they had their provisional hero licenses as well as the fact that time was a factor, All Might had decided to bring them along as backup.
As for All Might himself, the U.A. staff seemed to have helped him vanish from sight for some reason.
Later, after they were finished talking to the police, the class 1-A students were brought back to campus. Though most were not there for long. With the setting sun painting the horizon with a flurry of gold and red, Izuku watched as classmate after classmate quickly changed out of their hero costume before heading out the door in a mad dash not to miss their train. However, Izuku hung back waiting for Raphtalia in their homeroom with his recently purchased egg on his deck, his backpack open.
Eventually, Raphtalia entered the room. "Hey, Izuku. Were you waiting for me?" she asked with a smile when she saw her green-haired friend, waving at him.
"Y-Yeah," replied Izuku as he felt his cheeks beginning to burn hotter than ever before…and he noticed that she was blushing as well while averting her eyes slightly to look down at the ground. Yet, that only lasted as she quickly looked up at him.
"Thanks," she said softly. "After a day like today, I wouldn't mind some company. And I feel safer when I know you're by my side."
"R-Right," said Izuku. "But b-before we go there's s-something I-I need to do."
Now Raphtalia gave him a look that showed she was clearly worried about him. But Izuku didn't linger on it for too long as he instead reached into his bag, intending on keeping the promise he made to himself before the whole USJ incident.
It took Izuku only a moment to find the box he was looking for, pulling it out with one hand before presenting it to Raphtalia.
"I made this for you when I found out you had gotten into U.A.," he said. "Something to say congratulations. I just hope you like it."
With that, Izuku opened the box earning a gasp from Raphtalia. Sitting within the box was a bracelet with a zigzag pattern engraved into it while a large orb rested at the top. The light of the still setting sun reflected off of it, gleaming brightly. For a moment, Izuku was too nervous to even look at Raphtalia to see her reaction. But, when he did, he saw that her hands were covering her mouth with a few tears in her eyes.
"For…me?" she asked.
Izuku only nodded as he took the bracelet out of the box and held it up with a shaky smile. He then closed the distance between the two, Raphtalia holding out her hand to allow Izuku to slip it on. He did so with only slight difficulty, the band resting on her wrist perfectly.
-x-
At the same time, within a bar, Shigaraki sat on a chair shirtless as Kurogiri wrapped bandages on his shoulders as well as along his waist. The decay quirk user sat there, staring at the wall through the fingers of the hand the mist villain had retrieved for him.
"So. The mission was a failure," said a voice, cold and cruel, from a flat-screen TV hanging on the wall. There was no picture that could be seen, only noiseless static. "While the forces you amassed were taken in by the police, they are of little consequence. Little more than filth that can be easily replaced in time. What is more concerning is the fact that you lost the Nomu provided to you as well as returning injured. By first-year students no less."
"It wasn't my fault Master!" insisted Shigaraki, almost standing up in protest but was held down by his ever-faithful misty bartender. "All Might! You were wrong! He hasn't gotten weaker at all! He's still as strong as ever!"
"Is he?" asked the duo's dark master, chuckling as he did so. As if Shigaraki had missed something important that was plainly obvious to him. But, if Shigaraki was hoping to find out what that was, he would have to keep on waiting. "In the end, it was a valiant first step for you. For now, rest up and come up with a new plan. Take as many times as you need for I shall assist you in all of your endeavors."
"And while I'm at it, I'm going to find a way to get back at that kid," seethed Shigaraki. "The one with the shield who did this to me! He's going to pay for getting in my way! I'm going to make him watch as everything he holds dear crumbles into dust! Everything he loves will be destroyed! Then it'll be his turn!"
"Oh my. Such an ambitious desire. Looks like you'll be needing my assistance again." Upon hearing the new voice, one that was laced with sickeningly sweet falseness, Shigaraki glared over at the entrance of the bar where a red-haired girl in a U.A. uniform walked in with a wicked smile plastered on her face.