Chapter Fifty
Izuku stood, frozen, and unsure. Tenya, Shoto, and he had, somehow, defeated Stain. They had done it, only for another Villain to appear. And, commanding the enormous red Nomu-like creature that now stood behind them, what else could he be?
"We're not letting you take him!" Ida declared, slashing his hand forward for emphasis, wincing as he did so, and splattering the alley-floor with his blood. The teen had been stabbed, repeatedly, and had pushed his Quirk to the breaking point, the exhaust pipes on his legs leaking smoke.
"Midoriya, run!" Todoroki ordered. "We'll hold him off." But Izuku could tell he was bluffing, almost as much as Tenya was. He'd been pushing his Quirk for extreme, rapid blasts of ice and fire, and while the boy was neither freezing nor feverish, he was tired.
And as for Izuku? He was running on empty. Every part of his body ached, and he could barely stand, muscles struggling to keep him upright without All Might's Quirk to bolster his strength. He'd let it go, thinking the fight over, and now fumbled for it, tiredness making it difficult to do so.
"You will? How quaint," the wolf-headed man smiled, reveling sharp fangs. "So full of fire, or you were. Now? You're all on nothing but fumes. Turn over the two of them, or die. Your choice."
Bullrush, the hero Stain had been hunting down, stepped between the Nomu and the boys. "All three of you, get away! I'll-"
The red-skinned giant leapt forward, so fast he almost blurred, and buried an enormous fist in the Pro's stomach. Midoriya staggered out of the way as the man was sent hurling towards them, Ida throwing himself to the side as well. Shoto, however, was clipped, and was sent sprawling to the ground.
As both the boy and man struggled to their feet, Wolf started to stride forward, as did the Nomu. "Last chance, boys. Do the smart thing. Live to be heroes another day."
"It's because we're heroes," Ida yelled, taking a runner's stance, "that we'll fight you."
As Wolf smirked, Midoriya shouted, "Wait!" but Tenya had already blasted forward, foot leading in a blazing-fast flying kick. Izuku watched as his friend closed in an instant, but the Villain was in motion too, and twisted, flicking his hands out as something glinted in the darkness.
It looked like Tenya was going to hit, until he just. . . didn't. It must've been an incredibly close dodge, as the suited man twisted around, before lashing out with his own hands, the screeching of tearing metal echoing as Ida hit the ground, stumbling, five deep, bleeding rents in the armor covering his back.
From the opposite direction, the Nomu grunted, and leapt forward, fist headed straight for Shoto's head. The thermokinetic threw up a shield of ice, but that barely bought him any time at all as the Nomu punched right through it. In return Todoroki blasted the creature with fire, but it opened its mouth wide and inhaled.
The river of flame was sucked up, until nothing was left, only for the Nomu to ignite. But rather scream in pain, it almost seemed to smile. As it leapt forward again, faster than Shoto could dodge, the question of who to save, Tenya or Todoroki was made for him as Midoriya spiked One-for-All and leapt forward without thinking, a cry of "Detroit Smash!" on his lips.
Meeting the enormous fist with his own, Izuku bit back a gasp of pain as the bones in his right arm fractured, blasting the Nomu back, sending the creature tumbling, but it flared with fire, the same way Endeavor did. Its arm was broken, just like his was, but it didn't seem to care as it slowed its tumble, before stopping, and rocketing back towards them, destroying any hope Midoriya had of running away. If it were slow, he might have been able to, but with it able to fly like the number two hero could?
No. They had no choice. They needed to fight.
"Freeze him!" Midoriya ordered, "Freeze him and keep freezing him!"
Shoto nodded, and Midoriya shifted attention on the other end of the alley, where Ida and Bullrush were fighting the Wolf, and it wasn't going well. The man had black metal gauntlets covering his hands, having expanded out from the sleeves of his suit.
Tenya's armor had been torn up in a dozen places, and the boy was bleeding from most of them, though none as badly as he had the stab would from Stain. Bullrush was the same, his arms and torso covered with shallow wounds.
But, that makes no sense, Izuku thought, even as he pushed his base level of One-for-All back up to eighteen percent, muscles shuddering under the strain, shooting forward. Bullrush tried to grab Wolf from behind, only for the man to somersault upwards, gloved hands reaching up to trace twin sets of red lines up the Pro's face.
He's playing with them, Midoriya realized, the force needed to cut deeply, with how casually wolf was slicing up his opponents, was miniscule. But even if that's true, I need to help them!
Closing on the Villain, Ida, slowing with every attack, tried for a low kick, only for the Wolf to step out of the way, seeming to fall backwards, only to put a foot down and pirouette around with a clawed hand that tore into Tenya's visor, viciously ripping off the faceplate and sending the boy stumbling forward into a knee that knocked Ida back once more.
Seeing his opening, Deku darted forward with a call of "Detroit!" Wolf turned around, smirking, already moving to dodge the punch, leaving himself wide open for the kick that Midoriya slammed into the man's ribs.
And was met with no resistance.
At all.
Midoriya flew through the man, as if he was nothing more than smoke, only for the Wolf's clawed hand to catch the teen's wrist, and, with the boy halfway through his own body, the Villain yanked with a grunt, diverting Izuku's flight directly into the alley wall.
"How delightfully underhanded," the Villain commented, his body reforming, untouched. "But not enough. I think it's time we stop this farce."
Bullrush charged the man from behind, as Midoriya, standing, his ribs aching, tried to warn him, but the teen had no breath to do so.
The redheaded Pro tried to tackle the Villain, who stood oddly, clawed hands curled inward and cupped in front of him. Bullrush passed through Wolf, just as Midoriya had, and it was only when it was too late that Deku understood.
Unable to see the man's hands, Bullrush passed through Wolf's insubstantial chest, only to run into the Villain's all too solid gauntleted hands. Almost cupping the Hero's neck with his claws, the Villain met Midoriya's eyes as he pulled, tearing open the other man's throat with ease, painting the teen with the Hero's blood.
"No!" Ida yelled, leaping forward with one last burst of speed as Bullrush, gasping, choking on his own blood slammed into Midoriya. The Wolf smirked, shifting, claws at the ready once more, and Deku, limbs shaking, leapt forward. He dragged Bullrush with him as he slammed into Tenya, taking the force of the other's boy kick as he felt a rib break, but knocking his fellow student away as the Villain, frowning, turned and tried to slash at both of them with razor-sharp claws.
Working on instinct, Midoriya lashed out with a 30% kick, not for Wolf's body, but his hands. The kick connected, and Deku could feel the metal pierce his boot, but could also hear the snap of breaking bones.
"Midoriya!" Todoroki cried out, but not in concern. Instead the half-frozen teen was begging for help as the Nomu, still flaming, held the boy in one enormous hand, having broken through a mountain of half-melted ice. Midoriya looked to the dying Bullrush, to the torn-up Ida, to Shoto, and didn't know what to do. The Villain, one hand mangled, stared intently at the teen, as if asking, ' Now what?'
"Get him away," Izuku ordered Ida, pushing the Hero at him and throwing himself forward. Wolf reached for him with his good hand, but Midoriya, a third of the way through his roll, pushed himself up with a powered-kick, missing the Villain's grasping claws by inches. Leaping high, Midoriya leapt off the wall in a descending kick as the Nomu slowly tightened his grip on the iced-over-teen, who desperately burned with flame to no effect.
The red-skinned giant turned, but Deku twisted, slamming a heel down on the arm grasping Shoto, breaking it as the familiar pain of a fractured bone shot through his leg. Hitting the ground, Izuku stumbled, pushing through the agony to remain standing, if barely, as Todoroki dropped. Both arms down, Midoriya thought.
And then the giant backhanded him.
Slamming into the wall, Izuku stared in disbelief as the Nomu's first broken arm, the arm Midoriya had broke his own to damage, looked perfectly fine.
Wolf walked down the alley towards him, as he sat, defeated, crumpled against the alley wall. "Ah, yes. Regeneration is such a useful Quirk, isn't it. Sadly, it's not one I possess. Now," the Villain said, dropping a single, blood-covered claw on Midoriya's head. "Time for us to go."
The Villain picked up the boy, with barely any effort, a flash of red from behind the Wolf-headed man catching Izuku's eye. Wolf hesitated, and turned insubstantial aa a knife flew through his body, and would've hit his hand if that didn't turn insubstantial as well, dropping the teen as the blade parted his hair.
"That boy's not yours, Inugami," Stain growled, staggering to his feet. "He's not a False Hero."
"And that's why he is mine," the Wolf-headed man, Inugami, taunted. "But kill the others, and you might have a say in what happens to him."
With an inhuman growl of rage, the Hero Killer pulled broken knives and lunged for the other Villain, who turned, insubstantial, claws reaching, but Stain twisted, knives parrying the man's clawed hand while swinging wildly, trying to find some point of the Villain's body that wasn't smoke.
At the same time, the Nomu moved forward, trying to punch Stain from behind, but Midoriya, barely able to move, pushed himself off the wall without thinking, leading with kick that broke his own already stressed leg, while buying the Hero Killer more time.
Stain glanced back, surprised, and that was all the opening Inugami needed, a metal-clad fist lashing out and knocking the other man out once more.
Midoriya, unable to stand, looked up at the wolf-headed man, who grabbed the limp form of the Hero Killer, and tsk'd. "Too little, too la-"
Shoto, who'd struggled to his feet, tried to hose down both men with a stream of flame, but, before it could touch him, it was diverted, sucked into the red Nomu's open mouth.
"Too late," Inugami finished, turning to Todoroki. "This one is meant to kill your father, boy, but this was a good test run. Nomu, kill the others, we're leaving."
The Nomu grunted, walked past Midoriya, Stain, and the Wolf-man, and hunched over, as if bracing itself, all three of its eyes starting to glow ruby-red, brighter and brighter.
Midoriya struggling to stand, even as his body screamed at him to stop, but he couldn't do it, as a whining sound came from the Nomu, rising to a fever pitch.
In desperation, Midoriya tried the only thing he had left, back from the first day of Quirk Testing, pressing three fingers to thumb as he aimed. One-For-All 100%! he screamed internally as he let them go, not having anything to hit the creature with, hoping air pressure would be enough.
"Wha-" was as far as Inugami got before, with a thunderous crack, Midoriya let go, the force of his blast slamming into Nomu's knees as an enormous red beam was released, going up and high as it cut into the buildings above them, the creatures face pointing up as it fell. From each eye in the triad, Izuku distantly noted, came a smaller laser, meeting in the middle and forming a larger one, combing their destructive potential.
We never had a chance, did we? the teen thought, as Inugami, unmoved, and still holding Stain, stared, down at him in surprise.
"Oh. Oh. I understand," the wolf-headed man muttered. "You're him. How couldn't I see it?" Shaking himself. "Nomu, kill them. We're leaving now!" he commanded, not nearly as calm as he'd been a moment ago, but trying to hide it.
Midoriya weakly tried to turn himself over, to use his other fingers, but Inugami's foot slammed down on his already damaged hand, causing him to cry out in pain. As the Nomu charged up again, Izuku almost blacked out from the agony, part of his vision going white.
A very specific part.
I'm hallucinating, the teen thought, as he imagined Ms. Mirko coming down from on high to save them all. She can't really be here.
With a call of "LUNA FALL!" the illusion dropped down like a meteor, like he'd seen before when he'd sparred with her, only twice as fast, slamming an armored heel directly onto the red Nomu's head, forcing the beam down, causing an explosion that picked up the semi-conscious boy and sent him flying, then falling, but he never hit the ground.
"I got you, " an illusion of Hawks reassured him, which couldn't be real, since Hawks' agency was halfway across Japan. "Almost too late, but I'm not too fast for my own good for nothin'."
"I-Ida," Midoriya bit out, turning to look in the other direction, where Todoroki, Tenya, and Bullrush floated, the last of whom was covered in blood, except for his throat, which was a pure, pristine white. They flew over the Villains on their own, as Ms. Mirko matched the Red Nomu kick for punch, pushing it back. Definitely hallucinating.
Hawks patted Izuku, "They're safe now, but it looks like I'm needed. Just hold on, 'kay?"
The teen nodded weakly, but the feathered Hero was already gone, descending on Inugami in an instant, two feathers extended out and hardened into swords, slashing right through the insubstantial man, who snarled something, and, carrying Stain, ran, leaping right through the wall like a ghost. Dozens of red feathers shot out from the Pro's wings, ripping into the masonry to reveal a few faint wisps of purple mist
The Red Nomu went crazy, blasting fire in every direction, forcing Hawks away, Ms. Mirko leaping back only to jump into the flames, slamming a kick into the Nomu's head and sending it flying back in turn.
The two pros worked together almost seamlessly, harassing the Nomu until, the two of them attacking at the same time, Hawks cut off an arm with his blades while Ms. Mirko broke both its legs. The Nomu, hit the ground, and tried to struggle to its feet, failing with an enraged howl. Then it started to expand, flesh distorting grotesquely as it started to glow, and Midoriya was lifted high, as Hawks darted to Ms. Mirko as she leapt, catching her outstretched hand as they both went higher, and higher, almost making it to Midoriya as the Nomu exploded, levelling the entire block, the force of blast slamming into Izuku, and darkness claimed him.
I paced Hawks' office, waiting to hear back from him. I'd flown back and waited, knowing it'd take him a bit to get there, even going as fast as he was. Was I worrying too much? I thought, nodding in thanks to Firebird as she brought me some tea.
"Waiting's the worst part," she told me, before leaving.
It was nearly half an hour later when I got the text: Made it in time.
"Well, that tells me fucking nothing," I groaned. No, I corrected myself. It told me just that, that he hadn't been late. That meant that something had happened, but he'd gotten there in time to stop it. Maybe he'd been the one to save Midoriya from that Bird-Nomu? I wondered. Originally it'd been Stain of all people that'd saved him, though I wasn't sure if that was more of a 'screw the League' or a 'save Midoriya' move.
Either way, I wasn't going fucking anywhere until I got details. I texted my mother, telling her I was fine, but Hawks was having me stay late. That was close enough to the truth I didn't feel too bad, though her near-instant reply of ' Thanks! Have Fun! ( )' made me wonder if I should've sent it earlier.
Checking the news stations, I tried to find report of Stain's capture, but all that played were reports of the attacks, the fires, and the explosions. There were casualties, because of fucking course there were, but thankfully that just meant people were hurt, not dead.
Regardless, over three hours later, when Hawks, scorched and missing half his feathers, walked in, I knew that something had happened.
"Oh, you're still here?" the pro asked, blinking.
" Duh!" I shot back instantly, before wincing. "Sorry, yeah. You said you made it in time, but, are they okay?"
The bird-man stared at me for a long moment, before he nodded, once. "They are. Bullrush's in critical condition, they're not sure if he's gonna make it. Your classmates got torn up somethin' fierce, but they'll be fine. The Commission's makin' sure they're getting cared for. How'd ya know?"
I could play dumb, but it was obvious what he was asking. Had I just outed myself as knowing more than I should? Probably. Did doing so help anything? I would've said maybe, but from the way Hawks was looking, that was a definitely. Was it worth it?
Yes.
So I needed to be. . . carefully truthful. "I had a feeling. Midoriya, the green haired one? Super shy, total dork, but, like, a good guy. For him to text his location to everyone out of nowhere? Kinda weird. He didn't use an App or anything, so he didn't just butt-dial us or something. More than that, he was in Hosu, where the Hero Killer was. Was it him?" I asked back.
Hawks carefully made his way to his seat, a sidekick I didn't recognize walking in with some food and tea. The feathered sidekick looked at me, surprised, then to Hawks, who nodded, and made a shooing motion. The sidekick left, and the Pro regarded me.
"Classified," he finally stated. "Officially, I can't tell you anything."
"And unofficially?" I questioned.
The bird-man looked at me seriously. "Unofficially I can't tell you anything either."
I winced, " Sorry, shouldn't have asked."
"Ya gotta be more discrete," Hawks warned, taking a sip. "Though, if we'd caught Stain, it'd be all over the news. Doesn't look like you think he would, either."
I blinked, connecting the dots. Hawks had seen Stain. Stain hasn't been caught. That didn't explain Hawks' burned feathers, though. Except, if Shoto was also there, because of course he would be, then a stray blast from the panicking boy might've hit him. The Pro had been very clear on how stupidly flammable his feathers were, and if he'd used them up saving people, that might explain things.
"Just to be clear," I stressed, "Midoriya and the others. They're going to be okay? Not asking any questions on who did it. I know there were Nomus all over the place. But they're fine."
The other man nodded. "No students from UA died tonight," he stated, which was very specific. "Nomu s? It's not a name?"
"Shigaraki, the guy who led the League attack," I replied, and Hawks nodded, as I'd already talked about the USJ battle. "He called the big guy that fought All Might Nomu, but, when he was bragging about Nomu's powers he called it this Nomu. Like it was a title, instead of a name. Didn't really click until I saw the others. They've got, well," I motioned to my head, "Kind of a distinctive look."
"And the big red one?" Hawks questioned, and I frowned. The one at the USJ had been black, and I remembered there being a couple blue-grey ones. Something about power-tools? No, that one hadn't been on the news, so it must've been one of the ones at the Summer Camp.
Fuck. The summer camp .
With Shigaraki dis-armed, would that still happen? Then again, the Nomus had attacked tonight, so maybe he was healed, or at least still in action. "I, I don't remember seeing a red one on the news," I finally responded. "The one at the USJ was like, oily black latex for skin? Except it was bursting out of it with muscles. Not a good look, to be honest."
My mentor regarded me, before laughing. "Yeah kid, not sure you could pull it off either. I've seen the pictures. Tell ya what, it's super late. Tell Night Owl you're staying the night, and he'll get you set up. We've got a few days left, and I want to make sure you get everything you can."
"Oh, um, thanks?" I replied, unsure, and he smiled at my awkwardness. "Wait, are you telling me you were taking it easy on me before?"
If anything, his smile got wider.
"See ya in eight hours, kid."
AN: As always, the next three chapters can be found up on .