Chapter 14 - I Am Here…
After the life fibers had been peeled off of the skin of his Nomu, Shigaraki was now enraged. In his state of frustration, he rushed over to Bakugo, who was currently on top of Kurogiri, stopping him from using his teleportation and interfering with any of the fight which was ongoing.
"Hey! Don't even think about it!" Bakugo yelled at both Kurogiri and Shigaraki, blasting an explosion at Kurogiri to stun him, and then blasting an explosion at Shigaraki to knock him backwards, but Shigaraki was able to dodge, launching his hand forwards.
Bakugo then dodged this as well, but his dodge required him to let go of Kurogiri. On instinct, Bakugo blasted Kurogiri, shooting away from the scene.
"Damn! That should at least put him out of commission for a while, anyways!" Bakugo stated.
"You all… you all make me so mad!" Shigaraki stated, beginning to scratch himself rapidly, "Nomu! Deal with this brat!"
The Nomu, listening to their master's orders, launched towards Bakugo at speeds which… were still incredibly fast, but compared to his speeds previously, were nothing but a slideshow for Bakugo, giving him enough time to narrowly dodge upwards, and then explode himself away from the scene, landing right beside Todoroki and Chopper, as Ryuko came running in from the sides.
"Nomu... just how the hell did you lose your life fibers?!" Shigaraki shouted, "Whatever... with that reindeer gone… you're all still doomed! Nomu has a strength on par with All Mights!"
"Ice bastard! Scissor girl!" Bakugo shouted, not having bothered to remember their names, "You guys can still fight, right?!"
"Yeah… but you can't tell me-" Ryuko muttered.
"We came this far, and I won't settle for less than an absolute victory!" Bakugo shouted with a smirk.
"Don't underestimate him… he may be weaker, but he's still on par with All Might." Todoroki mentioned.
"You think I care?!" Bakugo yelled with a smirk, as he blasted his way into battle.
"Hey!" Ryuko shouted, as she began running in as well, "Todoroki, let's catch up!"
"Right!"
With Bakugo at the helm, he used his explosions to catapult himself into the Nomu. He quickly unleashed a massive explosion on the Nomu's torso, but to no effect. The Nomu then tried to recoil with a punch, but before he could, Todoroki was on the scene, creating an ice wall which stopped the Nomu's punch, at least for a moment.
Once Nomu broke through Todoroki's ice, Bakugo then yelled out, "STUN GRENADE," attempting and succeeding to blind the Nomu, as Bakugo analyzed from Todoroki's fire that Nomu was weak, or at least afraid of these sorts of things. Bakugo then jumped upwards above the Nomu, attempting an explosion on his brain, but such an attack was just as effective as it would have been against any other point on his body.
The Nomu grabbed Bakugo by the leg, shocking him, but Ryuko intervened, attempting to slash the Nomu's arm. The Nomu quickly brought his arm backwards, placing Bakugo in the way of the blade, and causing Ryuko to hesitate. Todoroki tried to hit the Nomu with an ice wall in the side, but the Nomu rebounded forwards, hitting Ryuko with all his might, despite her blocking with her scissor blade, and then, he launched towards Todoroki with a kick, launching him backwards, even through an ice wall he attempted to use to block.
The Nomu then spun around Bakugo in his arms, and then threw him into the ground, making him cough up blood and get knocked out in just a single blow. The Nomu clocked his arm back, ready to strike Bakugo, but Todoroki intervened, using an ice path to quickly rush to and grab the boy, saving him from certain doom. Todoroki then rushed over to and rejoined Ryuko alongside the knocked out Bakugo.
"Shit! He's weakened… but we still can't do a thing to this guy!" Ryuko yelled, "He'll knock us out in just one hit if we don't block… and we're already tired out!"
"This is the power of the Symbol of Peace…" Todoroki noted, sweat falling down his face, "Are we really this hopeless without Chopper?"
"We still have a chance!" Ryuko professed, "That Nomu… he dodged my Scissor Blade, which means he's scared of it! If you can just freeze him…"
"Then you can get a blow on him!"
"Exactly!"
"Nomu!" yelled out Shigaraki, "Finish these brats off."
Todoroki put down Bakugo, and not a moment too soon. The Nomu had rushed towards them. Todoroki considered using his fire, as he knew it would stun the Nomu, giving Ryuko the perfect opportunity to slash it, but Todoroki decided against it… he couldn't use his father's power again.
Todoroki then used the same ice he used in the Battle Trial to attempt to freeze the Nomu's feet, shouting out, "RYUKO," before he did so, allowing the girl ample time to dodge by jumping. The Nomu also dodged, but he was now airborne. Ryuko attempted to slash the Nomu, but the Nomu simply used a punch to reposition himself, directing the air pressure at Todoroki, and knocking him backwards, and nearly knocking him out.
It was just Ryuko against the Nomu now.
"Crap!" she yelled out, as she knew that power-wise, she couldn't handle the Nomu.
Now not having to focus on two targets at once, the Nomu began shooting a barrage of blows at Ryuko, which she was forced to block with her scissor blade. Ryuko was nearly about to lose completely, when suddenly, an ice path shot straight towards the Nomu before it could even process the attack, freezing it.
This wouldn't last for long, but Ryuko reacted instinctively.
"EAT THIS!" she yelled, as she threw her blade over her head, and then struck it down into her opponent's right arm, and attempted to press it down… but, it got stuck before it could even cut into the Nomu, "W-what?!"
Before Ryuko could even try to get her scissor blade out, the Nomu swiftly retaliated, punching Ryuko directly in the stomach… The most solid blow landed in the fight thus far. Flung back all the way to the wall of USJ, Ryuko was completely knocked out… if not for her recent upgrade to her strength, she would've died on impact.
"Nomu…" Shigaraki began, "That 'Bakugo' brat… kill him."
"No!" Todoroki thought, as though he was injured and slowing down massively due to his quirk beginning to freeze him over, he created an ice path and used it to quickly get in front of Bakugo, putting his arms out and protecting him, "As a hero… I won't let you hurt him!"
"Then die, hero!" Shigaraki shouted, laughing maniacally as he did so. The Nomu clocked his arm back, and a few seconds later, rocketed it towards Todoroki, who shut his eyes.
"Thirty seconds left." a voice mumbled, before shouting, "SABAODY… SMASH!"
A firm punch found its way directly to the Nomu's arm, as due to the raw power behind it, the Nomu slid slightly back against the ground.
"Midoriya?!" Todoroki stated, as Izuku was back up and in the fight. Both of his arms were completely shattered, as he had used one hundred percent of One for All's power previously to knock back Nomu's attack.
"Twenty-six seconds." Izuku stated, as Shigaraki shouted,
"Nomu! Just get the job done and kill someone already!"
The Nomu then rocketed towards Izuku, but the boy, getting a sudden pain in his head, thought,
"Left punch, straight to the head."
Izuku then moved his head slightly, dodging the Nomu's attack. He then charged up twenty percent of One for All, and backed up, having saved his legs so that he could maneuver easily.
The Nomu, seeing that Izuku would be hard prey, quickly rushed towards Todoroki yet again, but after another sudden jolt in head head, Izuku foresaw this too.
"USJ… SMASH!" Izuku yelled, this time using his left leg with one hundred percent of his power in order to deliver a swift kick into the right arm that the Nomu was using to punch; the same one that Ryuko had cut into earlier. Izuku landed on just one leg, as Todoroki shouted,
"Midoriya!"
Attempting to aid him, Todoroki used that same ice attack from the Battle Trial yet again, this time freezing the entire right side of the Nomu, attempting to manage more, but being unable to before the Nomu moved again.
Landing on just one leg, Izuku used twenty percent to rush his way towards the Nomu, and then using one hundred percent of his power, he began doing flips in midair, and thought,
"STRAW HAT… SMASH!" as he attacked the same area of Nomu which was covered in ice… completely destroying the entirety of the Nomu's right side.
Each and every one of Izuku's limbs was broken, but the Nomu screamed out in an animalistic agony, as blood gushed out from his open wounds (he no longer possesses regeneration; that was only from the Life Fibers in this story)
"Three seconds." Izuku noted.
"Yes…" Shigaraki began, grinning maniacally, as he shouted, "Nomu! That brat just broke all of his limbs, kill him, now-"
Suddenly, Shigaraki's words would cease… as a presence filled the entirety of USJ. Those who were at the top of the plaza, watching the fight down below in pure silence and awe, now had tears welling up in their eyes… as their savior had arrived.
"FEAR NOT!" a loud voice shouted at the top of the plaza, "FOR I… AM HERE."
All Might, the Symbol of Peace, had arrived. And...
"He's…" Todoroki observed, "He's not smiling!"
"I had a bad feeling… so I cut my talk with the principal short and came right away…" All Might began to explain, "Then I ran into Mina along the way, and she told me what was going on here… I can't believe what all you kids went through!"
This incident made All Might's blood boil. The kids, they must have been so scared… and their injuries… the students and staff alike were both severely damaged due to his incompetence… his inability to be here!
Even so, All Might saw the Nomu, half of his body removed, and saw that the students had persevered, and were brave!
"All… Might…" Izuku stated as loud as he could, barely holding on to consciousness. All Might quickly dashed downwards off the stairs, and into the battle.
"Hahaha…" Shigaraki laughed, "I've been waiting, you worthless trash."
In an instant, All Might scouted out the entirety of USJ, faster than even Shigaraki could even see, and gathered up every student, conscious or not, back to the USJ plaza… taking him two seconds in all.
Ever since that fight with Luffy on the Sabaody Archipelago, All Might had learnt the Shave technique alongside Izuku during the latter's last three months of training. The technique allowed both of them to move at even faster speeds than ever before… and for someone already ridiculously fast, like All Might, that made his speed even more ridiculous!
All the students were now gathered up, as many were confused as to why there were so many unconscious bodies, and why All Might was so furious.
"Students who are uninjured!" All Might yelled, instantly commanding attention, "Take all those who are out of here! This battle will be over soon!"
The students, who were previously in shock, simply nodded.
"Yes sir!" they all shouted... but Todoroki stood still.
"All Might… you'll need help!" Todoroki noted.
"Todoroki…" All Might began, "You've done a lot more than you needed to… and I couldn't be more proud! But now's not the time for you to fight. Just remain calm, and save those who need saving!"
"Y-yes sir!" Todoroki stated, tears in his eyes, "That Nomu… he has Shock Absorption, and strength rivaling your own! We whittled him down, but he should still be pretty tough."
"Rivaling my own…" All Might thought, flabbergasted, "Just what did these kids have to fight through?!"
"Nomu." Shigaraki ordered, "Kill the Symbol of Peace."
Even with half of his body severely injured, in an instant, the Nomu arrived in front of All Might, and just as suddenly, the two began trading blows, creating a massive shockwave which Shigaraki could barely stand within.
"So, you were made to fight and counter me with insane super strength and Shock Absorption, eh?" All Might questioned, "Well then… seems I've got my work cut out for me!"
The students looked back at All Might, as it was insane how his strength instantly made even the mightiest foe that they struggled against seem tiny.
"Now then…" All Might began, before shouting, "Allow me to give you a little payback for the pain you've caused my students!"
With a firm hit, All Might slammed the Nomu, but just like he recalled had occurred years ago… that very same fist landed into his side due to a portal.
"I'm so very sorry for my delay, Tomura Shigaraki." the void villain stated, warping back beside Tomura.
"It's fine…" Tomura Shigaraki stated, "Nomu. Finish the job already."
Tomura was upset, as the Nomu, who was supposedly the ultimate killing machine meant to rival All Might… had done nothing. He had crippled a few students, but they would recover with time. At the very least… he could now kill the Symbol of Peace.
All Might was injured from that last blow, as he had given it his all, but his all had only severed to damage him…
"Crap! Need to dodge!" All Might thought, using the Shave technique to get out of the Nomu's range, forcing it to miss a blow it was planning to land on him. All Might was already pushing his limits since he did hero work earlier, coughing blood out of his mouth, but despite that, he merely smiled.
"You villains think THAT was enough to stop me?" All Might questioned, "I ought to pity you then! No… it'll take MUCH more than that to silence the Symbol of Peace!"
Pouring every inch of his power into this next attack, All Might put everything on the line, rushing to the Nomu with Shave, faster than Kurogiri could even see, while a sort of pitch black energy momentarily coated his limbs.
He hit the Nomu with a firm punch, launching him backwards. The Nomu tried to slide back and regain his footing, but using the Shave technique yet again, All Might caught up, and launched a flurry of blows on the Nomu which he was unable to block against in time.
Shigaraki, seeing that All Might was even more powerful than before, yelled out, "Nomu! Retreat!"
But it was too late, as All Might yelled out, "MY STUDENTS… THEIR SACRIFICE WILL NOT BE IN VAIN! NOW VILLAINS… ALLOW ME TO SHOW YOU THE MEANING OF PLUS… ULTRA!"
All Might unleashed a massive uppercut on the Nomu in the midst of his punches, a blow even mightier than ever before, with more than one hundred percent of his power going into it! The mighty attack launched the Nomu backwards several miles, far, far away from USJ. All Might breathed heavily, as he had won… putting his hand up in victory.
"Tomura Shigaraki…" Kurogiri stated, "I think it's best that we leave now."
"But we've done NOTHING!" Tomura Shigaraki yelled, with murderous intent in his eyes, "I'm not leaving without SOMEONE DEAD!"
Tomura Shigaraki then rushed towards All Might, not caring about the strength that he lacked in comparison to All Might… and because of that ambition; that bloodlust… a certain… energy… seemed to begin sparking off of him, albeit lightly.
"My apologies, Tomura, but I can't just let you throw away your life!"
Kurogiri then created a massive portal in the attempt to save Tomura Shigaraki, as the boy fell through it. Kurogiri quickly made a portal for himself as well, fearful of All Might's titanic power… and with the villains' retreat… the battle was over.
The pro heroes arrived at the scene a few minutes after All Might was able to defeat the Nomu, alongside Recovery Girl.
Ida, who had been teleported to an unknown location by Kurogiri, called into U.A. shortly after the attack. He noted that he was merely teleported outside of a city in Japan, and was able to get to a place where cell phones were in service quite quickly (for anyone curious, the city is the very same that the Pro Hero 'His Purple Highness' used to patrol in).
Of everyone who was at the scene, while the majority of the class was uninjured, those who participated in the battle against the Nomu were.
The only 'lightly' injured students were Shoto Todoroki, Tony Tony Chopper, Katsuki Bakugo, and Eijiro Kirishima, who were all knocked out and required medical attention, but didn't suffer any lasting injuries despite that. On top of this, pro hero Thirteen also made a complete recovery, despite her hero costume being completely destroyed, and being massively injured at the time.
Ryuko Matoi, due to unknown reasons, suffered no known injuries after the battle… However, two individuals came out of the battle with severe injuries unlike any other.
First was Shota Aizawa, otherwise known as 'Eraser Head', and the second and more severe case was Izuku Midoriya, who had broken nearly every single bone in his body in order to make sure all of his friends stayed safe.
The day of the USJ incident, Izuku was immediately taken to a hospital, before being relocated back to U.A. High, where Chopper took extensive care of him, while Recovery Girl focused on aiding Aizawa.
For a total of three days, Izuku fell in and out of consciousness, wracked with pain and a high fever.
"It seems you're finally awake, Izuku." Chopper stated, currently in his Heavy Point and monitoring over Izuku.
"Yeah…" Izuku mumbled, still very weak, "What happened back there?"
"Well… it's a long story, but at the very least, everyone's safe thanks to your efforts." Chopper told Izuku reassuringly.
"Thank goodness…" Izuku said, still lying down.
"Though… I should tell you this now, you can't keep breaking your arms like that." Chopper stated, "You break your arms just a few more times… and you'll probably not be able to use them ever again."
Izuku heard this, and simply nodded in response, which was all the response that Chopper needed. Now that Izuku had made sure that everyone was alright… he was finally free to think about and recall the last thing he remembered from the USJ attack.
The area that Izuku found himself in was pitch black. Below him, a floor of cracked rock and debris stood… and his body, which he previously had a broken arm after attacking the Nomu, was completely healed. When he tried to move it however, he was unable to, because a thick layer of black fog surrounded his body.
"Hello there." a voice called out from afar, as Izuku turned to look the way of the one who had called out to him.
The first thing Izuku took note of when he looked at the man was the scar he possessed right underneath his eye, making it look as if his face was cracked. The man additionally possessed somewhat messy, dirty blonde hair, as well as an expression of loneliness which Izuku empathized with.
He had tanned, white skin, and he wore a green, sweater-like object, as well as underneath that, a white shirt. He also wore white pants which looked to belong to a martial arts gi, held up by his belt, which made it seem like his pants and shirt were one. He also wore pads at the bottom of his gi, which held it up to ensure that the bottom of his legs and feet remained visible.
Izuku tried to say something, but he could muster nothing out of his blocked off mouth; the thick layer of black fog covered everything besides his eyes and hair.
"You've just been knocked out… you put up a valiant effort, but you have to begin looking at things more objectively."
Izuku questioned just who this was in front of him… he could see the man clearly, but at the same time, knew this had to be a dream… he was just at USJ, right?
"So…" the man continued, "Pull yourself together! One for All is growing… as well as all the quirks that are held inside of it!"
Izuku wanted to question just what the man meant, and how he even knew about One for All, but he still couldn't speak. In front of him, the man began disintegrating.
"It seems time is short. I understand that you're questioning the validity of this dream… but I do not have time to answer all of your questions. Whether or not you choose to follow my advice is up to you." the man explained, as Izuku decided that this was worth listening to, "My name is Hikage Shinomori… and once you activated that powerful burst of Conqueror's Haki against that friend of yours, 'Kacchan', you started to awaken my quirk, Danger Sense... and the blast after that against that 'Nomu' is what triggered this vision here."
"Conqueror's Haki?" Izuku thought, "I've heard of that before… from Shigaraki!"
"Seeing as you're struggling to maintain One for All as is, me and the other previous holders have decided to bestow upon you one quirk at a time." Hikage explained, giving rise to a whole bunch of new questions, despite answering some of Izuku's previous ones, "My quirk is known as 'Danger Sense'. In its current form, in exchange for inflicting pain upon the user, it will massively boost my Color of Observation and combine it with yours, allowing you to gain a sixth sense, if you will."
Izuku still questioned what Hikage was talking about, but Hikage's spirit continued to fade, without giving Izuku time to ask any questions… and the void which the pair stood in began to fade along with him.
"Be careful. Overuse of my quirk may lead to massive damage upon you… just remember to look at the facts objectively, and try to become the best that you can be." Hikage explained, as the walls of this void began closing in on Izuku, "Good luck… One for All's development will be accelerated past this point, but all of us vestiges will be right behind you."
After this interaction, Izuku awoke, and once he did, he saw that his arm was broken once more, and he heard the voice of… everything around him. There, he saw that Todoroki was protecting Bakugo… and sensing that All Might was on his way, predicted that he only needed to stall for 30 seconds, and leaped in to protect Todoroki.
Ideas flooded within Izuku's head as to just what all of what Hikage was talking about could mean… but one thing was for sure, once he was fully recovered, he had to bring this up to All Might.
"So... how have you been?"
Standing at the door to the room that Shoto Todoroki was staying in was none other than Ryuko Matoi. As mentioned earlier, she had miraculously sustained no injures from the USJ attack, but Shoto Todoroki had suffered from mild frostbite and other injuries.
"Just fine." Todoroki said, "You can go check on the others now."
"Yeah... not so fast." Ryuko interjected, "I wanna talk about something you said during the USJ."
"If I said something that offended you, I apologize now." Todoroki replied.
"Nah. It's nothing like that." Ryuko noted, "Nah... it was when you used your fire."
As if a fire was lit inside of him the instant Ryuko brought up his other quirk, Todoroki's face shifted from a neutral one to one of slight anger.
"You said that you'd, 'never use that power again'... and I just wanna know why." Ryuko explained, "I mean, fire and ice? That sounds like a pretty kickass deal... why not use it-"
"That's none of your business." Todoroki coldly stated.
An awkward silence filled the air a moment later. Ryuko said nothing, and neither did Todoroki.
"Alright then... I won't pry." Ryuko commented, "But... if you ever want to tell me, you know where to find me."
Ryuko then raised her hand above herself, and walked out of the room, leaving Todoroki by himself on his bed. Still retaining a slightly aggressive look, Todoroki looked at his left hand.
"I will not let my father win."
"Conqueror's Haki? Are you absolutely certain?" the voice of a broken, yet villainous man questioned, which rang through Tomura Shigaraki's ears.
"Without a doubt! He made the Nomu shake in his boots, just like any other wild animal would react to Conqueror's Haki!" Shigaraki explained, as he began itching himself, "Not only that… but he seemed to utilize the Color of Observation as well… he's no good… no good at all!"
"Izuku Midoriya…" the voice said, smirking mischievously, "With the rate his Haki is growing, there's not a doubt in my mind… he's the ninth wielder of One for All."
"What will we do then, master?!" Shigaraki asked.
"Let us be patient. U.A. will likely hold their pitiful little Sports Festival to try to save face after this incident." the master noted, "We'll see just how strong One for All's current holder is then… and afterwards, we'll devise a plan to take it for ourselves."
"Yes master."
"Remember Tomura, all of this is for you… my successor." the man, missing the top half of his face, grinned, "Anything else?"
"Yes… there's someone I want dead, master."
"Oh? And who would this be?"
"He was a brat. Blonde hair, and an explosion quirk… just thinking about him makes me so pissed off!" Shigaraki yelled, frustrated.
"I believe his name was Kacchan Bakugo, master." Kurogiri, who had been listening in but neglecting to speak up to this point, decided to mention.
"Kacchan Bakugo?"
The man paused, considering who this could be.
"The Sludge Villain incident… ah, a nickname." the smirk that was previously on his face evaporated, "My apologies Tomura, but I'm afraid that his death will likely not be possible… at least, not at this current moment."
"What?!"
"I'll admit, the boy's quirk had intrigued me even so far as back then… the ability to create explosions is quite the powerful ability." the man began to explain, "But… I decided to stop pursuing him once I realized his name."
"His name?" Tomura questioned, "What's so special about that?"
"Yes… though his quirk is quite strong, he would be no match for us if we tried to pursue him… but, what's special is that the boy also carries the former mark of those who had been declared the worst enemies of the World Government… the Will of D." the villain explained, smiling after saying this, "The very same mark that I bestowed upon you… Tomura."
Authors Note
References of Haki, the rapid development of One for All compared to the canon story, and the reveal that both Bakugo and Tomura Shigaraki possess the Will of D… there's a lot that's been happening in this story within the end of this chapter… and even more within the USJ arc!
Ryuko's absorbed the life fibers from Nomu, All for One is revealed to have access to the Life Fibers to give to Nomu, Tomura Shigaraki has been shown using Conqueror's Haki… and SO MUCH MORE.
Oh, and another thing to note: in Chapter 12, Chopper accidentally revealed what a Devil Fruit was to Tsuyu, but, Tsuyu will not be pressing Chopper about this information. She has no real reason to without knowing what a Devil Fruit is; after all, it's probably just a fancy Grand Line term for a quirk, or something like that.
NEXT ARC SYNOPSIS / SNEAK PEAK
Next time on Kill One Hero, the plot will finally derail from the original MHA story.
In an attempt to 'save face' after the USJ incident, U.A. decides to still host the 'Sports Festival', an event where the students of each year battle against one another in an attempt to prove themselves the strongest hero, or rather, to show off to the world just what they can do!
Join us next time on Kill One Hero, where tough battles await in the Sports Festival Arc!