Creeping from rooftop to rooftop, Stain could tell his target was near. Soon, another fraud would be dead, and society would be just a tad bit cleaner. Though, Stain could never tell when he looked back on it. Dozens of corrupt heroes were dead at his hands, and dozens more remained to be dealt with. For every fake he killed, another hundred seemed to take their place.
It didn't matter though. A hydra could only regenerate so many times before all its heads got tangled together. Soon enough, Stain stopped moving and stood atop a lone building. He could hear the sound of engines nearby and knew his target was close. Looking down, he spotted a dust cloud rising down the road getting ever closer by the second. Now how to lure his prey, Stain wondered.
A nearby alleyway would give him the cover to remain hidden and leave Ingenium in a precarious spot. But how to get him there, play a recording of someone screaming in terror? Well, Stain didn't have a phone on him, even then who's to say the audio would be loud enough for Ingenium to hear? Break a window and make it seem like there was a break-in?
Again, it might not be loud enough for Ingenium to hear. So Stain decided to go for the simple route. Jump out for Ingenium to see, before disappearing back into the shadows for an ambush. With his plan set, Stain got into position, ready to climb down the building. That was until he saw Ingenium stop. At first, he assumed the hero had spotted him, but instead, he seemed to be talking to someone.
"Woah, woah, slow down, what is happening?" Ingenium muttered as Stain tried to sneak up closer to the hero.
"I just told you! The entire damn city's under siege, now the commission's calling in whatever heroes they can get!" someone on the other end of the call replied, urgency clear in their tone.
"Seriously? I won't reach Musutafu for a few hours, isn't there anyone closer?" Ingenium replied, concern clear in his words. Though where his words were more based on practical thinking, Stain could only hear arrogance. To think this hero didn't believe a villain attack was worth his time. Stain could only tighten his grip on his sword though, continuing to get closer to the fake hero.
"Everyone closer has already been called in, but the villains outnumber us three to one out here!" the voice on the other end told him, "Check the news for crying out loud, there have to be hundreds of these guys!"
"No no, I get it. I'm on my way," Ingenium said, before abruptly hanging up. Stain was now close enough to strike, and all he needed to do was climb down this rooftop. But before he could even move, Ingenium sped off in the other direction. It left him in a small cloud of dust, as Stain quietly grumbled. He was this close, and yet the hero ran off. What had he even been talking about? What was so urgent that he had to abandon everything here and run off?
The possibilities ran through Stain's head endlessly, as he sheathed his blade and began to sneak back into the shadows. Ingenium was probably off looking for another autograph session, Stain angrily thought. That was until something new caught his eye. Down below him, a crowd of civilians stood outside a lone electronics store, all watching the TVs on display.
"The situation is still developing as we try to learn more, however, it can be confirmed, that Musutafu is under attack. At around eleven AM today hundreds of unknown villains began swarming the city streets effectively unopposed. Local authorities have stated the threat is being combated with the country's best heroes. With this proclamation, though they have urged all civilians in the area to evacuate immediately," a newscaster explained, with the crowd gasping in surprise.
It caught Stain off guard as footage quickly appeared displaying the attack in full. At the same time, the newscaster continued to give off information, but Stain didn't fully listen. Instead, he simply saw the fire and death splayed out on the screen. Moments later a map was put on screen, displaying almost a third of Musutafu in a bright red, labeling the area as extremely dangerous. Somehow, Stain thought that was an understatement and sneered at the TV.
With all these fake heroes like Ingenium, it was no wonder an attack like this would occur.
All Might took a deep breath before running off again. In what little time he had, the symbol of peace had defeated half of the villains attacking UA. Over five hundred villains were knocked out, beaten, tied up, or unfortunately dead. They weren't dead by his doing though, no All Might thought grimmly. The villains had taken their own lives, after putting up a small fight against him.
To think any of this was happening. Quietly All Might reached down and felt blood trickling from his years-old wound. He winced in pain momentarily, before forcing himself forward. Eventually, All Might found a crowd of villains charging down a hallway.
"This way! The nonbelievers have barricaded themselves near the infirmary!" one of the villains shouted, leading the others.
"Our mercy shall be swift!" another proclaimed, in an excited tone. All Might scoffed at the notion. This was just slaughter, nothing merciful about it, All Might mentally remarked.
When All Might got close enough, the villains heard him running up behind them, but none could react in time to fight back. Instead, they felt a strong gust of wind knocking them off their feet, as All Might lightly punched the air in front of him. In seconds the villains flew into a nearby wall, with many being knocked out instantly.
Some remained conscious though and slowly tried to stand back up. They would look back up ready to fight, only to blink and find All Might standing in front of them. It took mere seconds for All Might to knock them out, only needing a single punch to beat them. While that happened though, a new group of villains appeared out of a nearby room.
"The false idol is here!?" one of them panickingly called out, drawing over All Might's attention.
"Shoot him!" a different villain yelled annoyed while holding down his rifle's trigger. The others followed suit, all shooting at All Might. However, they watched dismayed as bullets bounced off the hero harmlessly. Taking extra care to guard his still bleeding wound, All Might began moving towards the villains quickly. So they tried something else, stepping back as one brought up a flamethrower. Soon the hallway was in flames, the fire licking away at All Might's skin.
"Ha ha! Burn fucker!" a particularly demented villain taunted, "Burn in the glorious cleansing flames! So pretty."
The fire did nothing though, as All Might had felt hotter flames before. With the flick of his wrist, the fire was extinguished, and he rushed in to knock out the group of villains. It took mere moments as he punched what few stood before him. After he knocked out the majority, a few villains tried to turn and run. Of course, All Might couldn't let that happen. So he cracked his knuckles, before cocking his fist back.
"Texas," All Might began just as he threw a punch forward, "Smash!"
A strong wind launched through the hallway, crashing into the fleeing thugs, and knocking them out. Once they were done with, All Might took a single deep breath and again ran off. He couldn't take a break, not now. Not when everyone was relying on him. Not when his alma mater was under attack. Part of All Might couldn't help but blame himself, because he knew these villains. He recognized their colors, their logos, and their style. They were the Ninth Circle, a would-be yakuza he defeated years ago.
And that's how he remembered them, a defeated weak villain organization. Their case file had been closed for years, as their leader, Reaper, was imprisoned. So how? How were they here? Their organization was never this big, and yet hundreds of them were now attacking this school. Had he missed something all those years ago? Some key detail the Ninth Circle had hidden away? Perhaps it was All for One's doing, and this attack was part of his plan? But that assumed the villain was still alive, which All Might did not want to believe.
Whatever was true, didn't matter to All Might, as he found another group of villains. Each one looked at him with momentary shock, before shouting something.
"It's the false idol!" one villain called out panicked, before All Might's body slammed into him, audibly breaking one of the man's bones.
"You deserve no mercy All Might!" a different villain shouted before All Might kicked him in the chest. It sent the villain crashing into a nearby door and knocking it off its hinges.
"Kill the fraud!" another ordered, only for All Might to dash over to him, and knee him in the chest. The wind knocked out of him, All Might then slammed his fist down into the man's face, forcing the villain into the ground.
"Why do you oppose us!? We only wish to help the world! You of all people should understand!" a fourth villain stated, while All Might threw one of his unconscious comrades at him, knocking out another foe.
"Death is too good for you!" a fifth yelled, charging All Might with grenades in hand. Both the pins were pulled, but it didn't matter. All Might just uppercutted the villain's chest, staggering the man. Enough so he dropped the grenades in his hands, allowing All Might to catch them. Covering the explosives with both hands, All Might let the weapons explode, barely feeling pain from the blast.
He punched the villain soon after, and it sent the criminal flying into his compatriots, while All Might clutched his wound carefully. All Might could feel himself running out of time, but he had to do this. He could do this. The people needed him, and he could not give up now.
For Midoriya, everything seemed to move in slow motion. Rubble fell from the roof unabated, while ropes dropped with them. Soldiers ran into the room, while Miller raised his shotgun at the roof. Next to him, Uraraka stared up in shock, unmoving as everything happened. But soon, Midoriya felt the room go cold. Next thing he knew a wall of ice climbed up off the floor and sealed the hole in the wall.
The attackers moving to drop in through the roof, were quickly engulfed in ice. Looking around in shock, Midoriya spotted Todoroki weakly sitting up with his hand on the wall. Moments later the teen would collapse back into his hospital bed.
"Get the patients out of here, now!" Miller loudly ordered, the soldiers entering the room doing so quickly. At the same time, Recovery Girl smacked Midoriya on the arm getting his attention instantly.
"[You heard him, get her moving,]" the nurse ordered pointing at Hatsume, before stepping back while Midoriya quickly nodded. He grabbed Hatsume's gurney, while Uraraka moved to the other side. Once she was in position, both teens began moving Hatsume out of the room. The pink-haired inventor mumbled incoherently the entire time, causing Midoriya to worry. He said nothing though, instead focusing on the task at hand.
Reaching the infirmary's door, he led the gurney out into the hall, while gunfire echoed around them. The sound of ice shattering came moments later, the gunfire becoming ever louder now. It was met with screaming, as civilians poured out of the infirmary behind him. Soldiers followed behind them, escorting the wounded out or running in to support their comrades.
Part of Midoriya quietly hoped Miller was doing ok, while the other part told him to run back inside. There were people still in danger and he was waiting out in the hallway twiddling his fingers. Of course, before he ever could consider running back in, the ceiling above them slowly began to crumble. Seconds later it fell to the ground crushing a pair of soldiers, as enemies began to drop from the new hole.
Midoriya ducked when it happened, narrowly avoiding the rounds flying through the air. Quickly he dove behind a nearby wall, pulling Hatsume's gurney with him. Uraraka quietly did the same, the teen flinching as bullets struck the nearby wall chipping off bits of concrete. Once behind cover Midoriya unholstered his Pitviper and checked the chamber. Seeing it was loaded with tranquilizer rounds brought Midoriya some relief, as he glanced around cover.
"[You ok?]" Midoriya asked while he took a few deep breaths, trying to steel his nerves. Remember your training he thought to himself, you've done this a thousand times. Never with live ammo, he realized grimly, flinching as another bullet hit the wall he hid behind.
"[Y-yeah, I'm fine,]" Uraraka replied, the girl looking over Hatsume for a moment before slumping against the wall. At the same time, Midoriya continued to peek out of cover. Looking down the hall, he could see how fast things had deteriorated. It was like a World War I trench fight.
Both groups were so close together one could grab the other's rifle and force it away or wrench it out of their grasp. It made shooting a rifle awkward in such a cramped space. Now soldiers and villains couldn't shoot each other efficiently, not unless they were a good distance apart. So instead they beat the tar out of each other, using their rifles as shields or clubs. They unholstered knives and tackled their opponent to the ground, before slowly pressing the blades into some vital area.
This hadn't been covered in his training, not yet at least. But that didn't matter, as Midoriya gulped. This was what he was training for, so he aimed his pistol at the closest thug and fired. Thankfully this thug had no mask like the others, instead covering himself with face paint. So the tranquilizer round flew by quickly and struck the enemy dead on, knocking him out quickly. With one down Midoriya switched his sight to another villain, this one trying to stab a pinned-down soldier.
He again fired and watched as another villain was knocked unconscious. On and on this went, enemy after enemy. Eventually, he spotted Miller leaving the infirmary carrying Recovery Girl like a sack of potatoes. The old woman did not seem pleased by the action, but Midoriya saw she made no move to oppose it. Bullets flew by the door, while Miller returned fire with a pistol.
One of the thugs tried bomb-rushing through the doorway, only for Miller to kick the man in the chest. It knocked the man off his feet before Miller shot him in the head.
"Is that everyone!?" Miller loudly asked, before carefully setting Recovery Girl down. A few soldiers also trickled out of the infirmary next to him, carrying wounded, or laying down covering fire. Once Recovery Girl had been set down, a soldier tossed him a Mossberg 500, which Miller quickly used to blow a golf-ball-sized hole in another enemy.
"It should be!" a soldier replied, while Midoriya ducked behind cover again. Reloading his pistol he waited a few seconds before moving to fire again. Before he could though Uraraka grabbed him by the arm, and pulled him away. Midoriya was confused as to why, only for the ceiling above him to cave in. A piece of rubble landed right where his head would have been, and created a large crack in the ground.
"[Above us!]" Uraraka told him, with Midoriya looking up at the new hole in the ceiling. eight more enemies were beginning to rappel into the room. From what he could see most of them lacked armor or had armor that was heavily damaged. So acting quickly Midoriya fired up at them, knocking out at least four. At the same time Uraraka grabbed Hatsume's gurney and pulled it out of the way, the pink-haired inventor still rambling on. Once Uraraka was sure the other was in the clear, she began looking for some kind of weapon.
There wasn't much she could work with, so Uraraka resorted to throwing bits of rubble with her quirk. Midoriya meanwhile, was forced to run as the enemies above began returning fire. The brief lull in Midoriya's assault allowed three of them to drop into the room. Two of the thugs present weren't much to take note of, but the third one's arm had a hook. Midoriya began to question why, when the hook shot forward, impaling itself into Midoriya's thigh.
It thankfully missed an artery, but Midoriya cringed in pain nonetheless. Soon after he felt himself go weightless as the hook pulled him closer. Flying towards the thug Midoriya's grip on his pistol slipped before the thug sidestepped. Colliding into a nearby wall, Midoriya quickly forced himself to turn around. He did it in the nick of time, as the hook-armed thug was bringing a pistol to bear.
Before the thug could fully point it at Midoriya, the teen forced himself up and grabbed the man's wrist. He tried to twist the man's arm into dropping the gun like he'd been trained but found the man's grip wouldn't budge. Come on, Midoriya mentally shouted, both his hands trying to fight back. Slowly the thug began trying to point the gun at Midoriya's head, but the teen continued to force it away.
"[Hurry up over there!]" one of the villains shouted while fighting still raged down the hall. The villain Midoriya was fighting just grumbled in response for a few seconds, still trying to aim his pistol.
"[I'm trying, brat's stronger than he looks!]" the thug yelled back, as Midoriya slowly felt his grip on the man's wrist loosen. Slowly but surely the villain brought the gun closer to his head. Midoriya's breath only heightened while he continued to resist. Not like this! He couldn't die here, not now! But the gun got ever closer. A scream echoed around the hall catching Midoriya briefly off guard.
This almost doomed him, as the gun's barrel brushed up against his skull momentarily, before Midoriya forced it away. It didn't stop the villain from firing, a bullet quickly grazing Midoriya's forehead. It caused the teen to bite down in pain while continuing to struggle. He wondered fearfully who the scream was from, before getting his answer. Getting only a brief glimpse, he spotted Uraraka crawling down the hall.
Bleeding from her chest, Midoriya spotted the other two villains getting ready to finish her off. His eyes widened in terror, while Midoriya mentally yelled at himself. Come on! You wanted to be a soldier! You wanted to save people! So save her! Again he tried to force the gun out of the man's hand, and again he failed. Midoriya breathing rapidly watched as Uraraka continued to crawl, blood seeping into the floor.
His friend turned around momentarily, allowing him to see her face. Terrified, Uraraka looked up at the two villains, before her gaze fell on Midoriya. Uraraka forced herself to sit up while trying to float a nearby piece of rubble. Defiantly she threw it at one of the villains, managing to knock the rifle out of their hand. But it left the other still ready to attack. Midoriya silently pleaded for Uraraka to do something, anything! There was more rubble nearby, maybe she could throw it!
Maybe one of the soldiers would intervene! Uncle Kaz! Uncle Kaz was around, he would help! Just someone, anyone! Midoriya didn't want Uraraka to die, he couldn't let her die! Yet the villain began to aim his rifle. No, no, no, no, no, no, Midoriya mentally shouted. One of his hands let go of the hook thug's wrist, before punching the man in the gut. It gave him the brief lull he needed to finally disarm the man, but not before the villain fired off a shot.
A bullet flew into Midoriya's shoulder, causing the teen to cry out in pain. Struggling to raise his arm, Midoriya rolled over to pick up the thug's weapon. Raising it quickly Midoriya pulled the trigger three times. The bullets tore through the villain's chest, killing him instantly. Midoriya didn't stop to realize this, instead focusing on the next two villains. Before either man could attack Uraraka, Midoriya fired.
The teen unloaded the magazine onto them, the bullets tearing apart what unexposed flesh the men held. There they too dropped dead, as Midoriya's pistol clicked empty. The teen sat there for a few moments, his breathing slowly calming down. He blinked a few times before Midoriya looked at the gun in his hand. He… he… no… Midoriya thought, his hand shaking as he looked around again.
His eyes spotted the blood trailing from the three dead men. He killed them, Midoriya realized, the thought only now registering as the adrenaline wore off. They… they didn't need to die, but he killed them anyway. Looking away from the bodies, he turned to face Uraraka. The girl looked at him shocked, a hand slightly covering her mouth. It brought Midoriya some joy seeing her alive, but that joy was taken away quickly, once he felt the hook thug's blood trickle over to him.
He looked away from Uraraka downtrodden, his eyes reaching his still shaking hands. What had he done, Midoriya questioned fearfully. A gasp dragged him out of this thought before he saw something float in the corner of his eye.
"[Akatani!]" Uraraka shouted, causing Midoriya to turn toward her again. His eyes widened when he spotted her throwing a chair-sized chunk of concrete his way. Narrowly Midoriya ducked, barely having time to question why she threw it. The rubble subsequently slammed into something behind him, before he heard the crack of bones breaking. Turning around he found the body of a thug.
Looking over the thug, Midoriya couldn't help but turn green. The concrete had crushed the man entirely, flattening most of his body. The parts that weren't flattened, had been broken horribly. Turning to face Uraraka again, Midoriya saw terror still on her face, but now for a completely different reason.
"[H-he… I… I didn't mean to…]" Uraraka tried to say, looking over at Midoriya pleadingly. He looked back at her apologetically, trying to find the right words. His silence told her everything though, as tears began to form in her eyes.
"[No… no… no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no-]" Uraraka muttered, trailing on as she slowly began to cover her face. Neither of them noticed, but by now the fighting had mostly died down. Miller, who stood off nearby, looked up at one of the several holes in the ceiling, waiting for something to occur.
"Nothing on soliton commander," a soldier told him, carefully looking over his helmet's findings.
"Surprisingly few of the bastards this time," a different soldier muttered, with Miller quietly agreeing.
"This area was supposed to be secure, so they must've been a straggler force we missed," Miller commented, before pumping his shotgun quietly, and ejecting a spent shell.
"Doubt that's all of them though, so, all of you gather up some men and get up there. Don't want them caving in any more roofs," Miller ordered, the soldiers present nodding and walking off. The brief lull in noise caused Miller to sigh, and carefully stretch. Of course, he slowly began to remember something, and the commander's eyes widened. Looking around the room, he spotted Midoriya sitting next to Uraraka.
Both teens were bloody, wide-eyed, and shaking, but they were alive. Which Miller was quietly grateful for as he ran a hand through his hair. Yet something seemed off, Miller realized. It confused him for a minute, the commander now walking toward the two teens. The closer he got though, the more things began to click.
"Shit," was all Miller could say, as he watched the panicking teens.
Grizzly didn't know how long it had been since the attack started. Right now, he and his small cobbled-together group stood outside the main lobby, connecting to the primary entrance. It felt like it had taken them hours to get there, as he and his group had constantly darted through hallways, clearing out rooms full of enemies. Yet he didn't know if that feeling was true. Had it been hours? Because everything seemed to rush by him the more they went. Grizzly was tempted to check his watch, just to be sure. But ruled against it when a bullet whizzed by him.
Better to wait for everything to be clear, he reasoned, while pulling away from the door he'd just peeked into. This proved to be a good thing, as that first bullet was quickly followed by dozens of others. After a few seconds the gunfire would stop, the enemies inside not wanting to waste more ammo. Of course that meant Grizzly could now hear them talking inside.
"[This is ridiculous! Why do we continue to sit here and wait?]" one thug asked, while Grizzly looked at his IVAS's soliton. He grimaced when he saw twenty or so contacts in the other room.
"[I told you, our orders are to secure the main entrance, to let the rest of our brothers and sisters in,]" a different villain replied, as Grizzly looked over at the rest of his group. There he spotted Eagle holding out an odd cord-like object and pointing it down the doorway. Quickly Grizzly realized it was some kind of camera.
"[What brothers!? What sisters!? The heretics' tanks won't let any of them through!]" the first villain exclaimed before Eagle looked back at Ape. There the Lieutenant pulled out his Idroid and connected it to the cord-like camera. Instantly the device lit up, showing the inside of the room.
"[Their armor won't hold for long, not against our will,]" the other enemy proclaimed, the first one scoffing in response.
"[Sure… keep throwing bodies at them why don't you,]" the first enemy muttered. Again, Grizzly grimaced as he examined the camera's feed. Soliton had not lied, there were twenty people in the room. Each one focused on the door he and his group now stood by. Most had assault rifles, particularly Type 89s or 20s, but two other enemies had Sumitomo Minimis, three had Remington 870 shotguns, and one had a flamethrower.
"Think we can loop around?" Eagle quietly asked, the question not directed to anyone. Endeavor answered though, by quietly shaking his head no.
"Not possible. If these villains are smart, then the other entrances are covered just like this one," Endeavor told him while looking over the Idroid.
"Only way is through then," Ape muttered, before turning to face Endeavor, "Here's what we'll do. Most of us got flashbangs ready, we'll throw them in and wait a few seconds. Once the enemies are disoriented we'll move in."
"A sound plan. I'll deal with the flamethrower and the machine guns," Endeavor stated, stepping back to let a pair of soldiers past him.
"We'll deal with the others then," Ape commented, before grabbing one of his flashbangs. Looking around the hallway, Grizzly did the same. Ape seeing that Grizzly was ready, held up his hand, lowering his fingers one by one. Once the last finger dropped, Grizzly pulled the pin and tossed the flashbang into the room. Quickly he then looked away from the door and covered his ears.
"[Grenade!]" a few enemies called out as the flashbangs went off. The second they did Endeavor charged into the room, and the others followed him swiftly. Inside Grizzly was hoping the enemy would stand down. After all, they had been dazed and now were opening their eyes to find a gun in their faces. But nothing was ever that simple. Even while half deaf and blind, the enemy began to fight back.
So Grizzly opened fire at the first thug he spotted, sending three bullets into the man's chest and skull. He didn't stop there though, and quickly moved his rifle to a different pair of enemies. Both were trying to fire at him, but Grizzly held out his arm readying his quirk. With a great beam of light, both enemies were frozen over. With that done Grizzly looked out at the rest of the room. The first thing he saw was Endeavor bomb rushing the enemy flame thrower.
The thug tried to burn the hero, but the flames just licked at Endeavor's skin. Annoyed by the attempt, Endeavor gave the villain a taste of his own medicine, by chucking a wave of fire. It engulfed the flamethrower in seconds, causing the man to scream in pain before the flames subsided. With one down Endeavor then launched himself into the air, using his flames to hover for a minute before dropping down onto the machine gunners.
Endeavor practically acted as a meteor when he landed on a machine gunner, set him alight, and broke some of the man's bones. Before the other machine gunner could retaliate, Endeavor rushed over and grabbed him by the shirt. There he ended the fight, with a simple punch in the face. No overly powerful flames or flashy moves, just a single well-placed punch, on the villain's temple.
Grizzly couldn't help but be impressed, an actually competent hero. Of course, by now some of the enemies present were beginning to recover, causing Grizzly to run and hide behind the entrance's lobby desk. Bullets ripped into the wooden furniture, and quickly Grizzled provided covering fire. Soon enough Gecko slid up next to him, flinching as a bullet grazed his shoulder.
"Shit!" Gecko called out, before looking over at Grizzly "Still think this is better than Africa!?"
"Still on about that!?" Grizzly yelled back somewhat surprised, before firing over cover again.
"Of course I am! Why the hell did we even accept this contract!" Gecko replied, forcing himself to return fire as well.
"Better than fighting the warlords at least!" Grizzly pointed out, with Gecko scoffing in response. At the same time, Grizzly ducked down behind cover to reload.
"Hell no it doesn't! None of them were this suicidal!" Gecko countered, with Grizzly quietly agreeing.
Looking back out over cover again, Grizzly spotted a group of thugs running for the Minimis left behind. Not wanting that, Grizzly held out his arm again and aimed at the machine guns. With another flash of light, the two weapons were frozen solid. With that, Grizzly then picked off the thugs out of cover. Everything seemed to slowly die down then, as the last of the enemies were dealt with.
Standing up, Grizzly stretched for a moment, before checking his weapon's condition. The entrance had been secured, but he could still hear the battle raging outside.