Here is the nineteenth chapter in this series released in keeping with my self-imposed upload schedule for this series. The initial attack is over but the villains are still there so now it is time for the climactic conclusion to the USJ incident so get ready for some more action packed fights with some additional characters thanks to the nature of this story. That is all the administrative stuff I have, however, and while there are no questions that need answers, or can be answered without giving away spoilers, but there are two guest reviews to respond to which I will do now. Do keep the reviews and PMs coming as I always like hearing how much y'all are enjoying my work.
To AutoHunterJ49 (guest), good to see that you're still enjoying my work. That is an interesting battle idea but I think the problem there is that Sienna Khan, based off what little we know about her, is utterly outclassed by Mereoleona Vermillion so it wouldn't be much of a fight. I do know that they, along with Tsu and Nero all share the same VA, I will be making a reference to the Nero and Tsu similarities at some point as they're one of the three sets of classmates with shared VA's as Mimosa and Shiozaki and Leo and Monoma share VAs (Oscar does with the first VA for Tsuburaba but they changed the VA for season 5 and Oscar's voices Amajiki and Marx so those would be the references). The one thing that does really interest me about at least a meeting between Sienna and Mereoleona is that they are the only two voices I've heard Rial do (that aren't animals) that I actually can't identify her as the VA for even in hindsight. I do hope to try and set up actual battles between characters with the same VA but it would have to be ones that fit well so most likely Tokoyami v. Tyrian (original not the eventual replacement as Tyrian's original VA has voluntarily stopped voicing him due to Rooster Teeth's issues), Endeavor v. Dante, Hawks v. Zenon (which also adds the whole amusement that Yuno's VA is Best Jeanist so it's interesting their scenes), or Hado v. Vanica. The biggest out classed one though is All Might or Yami v. Arthur Watts which wouldn't happen. There's a lot in the air though so it will be a while before a battle between characters with the same VA will happen. As for the Black Clover Manga, yup I am fully up to date with it, I read it every week when it comes out as soon as I can and yeah Lucius really started that off brutally. I didn't know about that for the Zogratis siblings and the Dark Tetrad, that is very interesting. All four will appear, one a lot sooner than the others, and play their own roles so I will keep that in mind. Do keep reading and enjoying my work.
To Guest (guest), as always thank you for your review and support. Yup the Eye of the Midnight Sun (not that anyone knows that name just yet) are here and have been incorporated into this series. Soon more will be revealed as to their goals and why they are working with the League of Villains but they are present as I have been able to somewhat adapt them into this series to add to the Quirk Knight foes though there will be no devils as of right now as they don't transition well so there will be a fair few changes to how the Eye of the Midnight Sun got started but again all in due time. Do keep reading and enjoying my work.
Anyway, that is it for this longer than normal pre-chapter note which means that it is time to sit back and enjoy the nineteenth chapter in Black RWBY Academia.
Disclaimer: I own nothing related to these three great franchises.
Chapter 19: Convergence on the Middle
Getting down to the ground level of the USJ from the top of the mountain took a little time but at least they didn't run into any villains along the way. If one of them could fly then that would have been a whole lot easier, but they couldn't. Well, technically Noelle might be able to fly to some extent given her Quirk but her at best shaky control of it meant that it wasn't exactly the safest way right now. As such they just headed to the edge of the mountain top and to a path that wound its way down to a grassy patch on the ground below the mountain that lead to the back of the Squall Zone.
Magna knew the way, so he took point with a still shoeless Nero right behind him, Noelle third to provide group defense if need be, and Asta at the rear with his new sword out just in case. They really didn't get how he'd gotten a new sword, nor did Asta know for that matter, but it seemed that his Quirk had the ability to make a second sword, one that was more useful in close quarters and for rapid fighting as it was lighter than his first sword. Right now it was probably the better of the two to use so Asta went with it, they could figure out how he got a second sword later as they moved down the path.
For the most part it was uneventful as they headed down as fast but as carefully as they could while the sounds of battle seemed to lessen as they neared the bottom. It was only when they got there and reached the grass when they heard it, a scream of pain that got their attention and they looked across the water, which didn't have a ship in it anymore though there was a huge cluster of villains floating in the middle all bunched together with what looked like Mineta's sticky balls holding them together, to see a shocking sight.
On the other side, in the central plaza of the USJ, was the giant, purple, bare chested, bird villain with brains spilling out of its head that was sitting on Aizawa's back having just broken his right arm. Overlooking them were the hand villain and the ginger man that Aizawa had called Torchwick who watched the finally pinned pro with indifference while all around them unconscious villains lay on the ground showing that most of the trash had been handled by Aizawa but that these three were the truly dangerous ones present.
The sight froze them as they watched. They couldn't hear words, but they saw Aizawa activate his Quirk again and a second later the massive villain slammed his hand down on Aizawa's upper left arm breaking that as well despite his Quirk being active. Then the villain grabbed Aizawa's head and slammed it into the ground with enough force to crack the ground likely knocking out the man.
Everything was looking dire but then the mist villain, or after what they saw more accurately the warp villain who that icy extremist had called Kurogiri, warped out of the air next to the hand guy. That was a surprise, but it was Magna who understood as the hand guy got clearly agitated and began to scratch his neck really hard as if having some kind of tantrum.
"If that misty bastard is down here then there's two reasons for it." Magna whispered to the others. "Either he's killed everyone up there, which is a possibility but given how agitated that hand guy is I'd say that it's the other, much better, reason. That is to say that I am sure that one of your class got out. Likely Ida as he clearly avoided the warping at the start of all this."
"That's good then." Asta said. "He's the fasted in the class when it comes to distance running, Rose is the fasted over a short distance, so he can run to get help the quickest."
"So, it's on its way?" Noelle asked hopefully.
"It is, probably All Might as he's supposed to be here as well but given what is going on I would presume that the other teachers will come as well and they're all pros." Magna said. "They…wait, shit, your classmates!"
Asta, Noelle, and Nero all stared wide eyed as suddenly the hand guy, who's Quirk they still didn't know, lunged at three figures in the water at the edge of the shore. Two had green hair, one of which was really long, while the other had purple balls so it was clearly Midoriya, Asui, and Mineta in the water and the hand guy was lunging his hand at Asui's face.
Even if they could react, the only one with the Quirk to help from here in time was Noelle and she froze in fear both of the villain and of her lack of control because while she could create a tidal wave it would sweep her classmates up as well. Noelle couldn't do that, but she did swear she'd work even harder to get everything under control so that she wouldn't freeze like this again.
Magna though was a third year and he'd been shown up by Asta earlier, so he was getting ready as his fiery baseball bat appeared in his right hand and a fireball in his left ready to hit it as the hand villain's hand closed over Asui's face. However, nothing happened and they all realized that despite the pain he had to be in and the giant villain that was sitting on him, Aizawa had lifted his head enough to activate Erasure and save Asui from the hand guy.
Unfortunately for him that allowed the bird villain to smash his face into the ground a second time which would end Erasure's presence on the battlefield but that brief moment had been enough to allow Midoriya to leap up and out of the water, his right arm glowing, as he tried to punch the hand villain to get her away from Asui. At the same time Magna tossed the ball into the air and hit it with a strange metallic ding and drove a line drive over the water at the hand villain's face just as Midoriya punched him.
What happened next was not what anyone expected, however. Rather than strike the hand villain with the punch that would have blasted him away, there was a boom and a cloud of dust appeared from the shockwave caused by the sheer amount of power Midoriya could generate with his Quirk hitting something. Said shockwave blasted any remaining villains off their feet, caused the water of the lake to roil, forced Asui and Mineta back and away from the hand villain, destroyed the light bulbs nearest in the lower ring of them, and extinguished Magna's fireball before it could get near the hand villain.
"Damn, that runt's got some serious power." Magna said impressed. "He snuffed out my fireball with just wind from that punch. That looked like it was on the level of All Might."
"Really, damn well do you think he…" Asta began but then gasped, they all did, when they saw that the punch had been blocked by the giant bird villain who'd somehow gotten between Midoriya and the hand villain in seconds and taken it in the stomach with no ill effects at all. "…oh."
"No way." Magna said his eyes wide. "That power was unreal, and the bird blocked it as if it was nothing. How?"
"Best to deal with that later but likely that thing has some form of shock absorption or damage nullifying Quirk." Nero said as the bird villain grabbed Midoriya's arm and pulled it back to lift him in the air as Asui batted away the hand villain's arm and spat her tongue out at Midoriya to save him while the hand guy went for her and Mineta again now that Aizawa was definitely out of the picture. "This isn't…"
Everything was seeming to happen in slow motion as Nero spoke but then there was a crashing sound and they all stopped and turned to see the doors of the USJ as they were punched clean off and smoke billowed in. Through the smoke the sound of walking was heard and then All Might appeared wearing his dress shirt, tie, and suit pants while carrying his jacket as he strode in and instantly his presence along brough relief to the students on that part of the USJ as well as those down in the plaza who could see him.
Asta may not really know much about All Might, he'd always idolized the Wizard King as the hero he wanted to be like one day, while Nero had been indifferent ever since she'd learned about him but still even they could feel the power and wave of reassurance coming from the man as he reached the end of his walk and stood there. This was a level they'd never seen before and Asta felt safe just looking at the man.
It was the reaction that he got when he'd heard the tales of the first Wizard King that Sister Lily had told him which had inspired Asta and Yuno to become Quirk Knights and seek to rise to that position one day. It was the reaction that Asta hoped to one day instill and there above him was the top hero in the nation showing what it meant to be a Symbol of Peace.
"Have no fear, students." All Might called out as he stood, smoke from is entrance still around him as looked down on the scene with cold fury on his face. "I am here!"
The entrance had allowed Asui to properly rescue Midoriya who she was now holding aloft with her tongue, but no one was paying that attention as they all looked up to see All Might there looking down on them as he tossed away his jacket. It seemed like they were safe but at the same time they knew that they weren't out of the woods just yet as the main villains were still in the picture.
"Come on." Magna said. "We've got to keep going around the lake and get to the stairs once All Might is down in the plaza. Leave it to him, we need to help Eraser Head. Please tell me that you knows first aid."
"Nope." Noelle said.
"Sister Lily used to heal our wounds but that was it." Asta said as he got stars in his eyes. "She's amazing like that."
"Sister Lily?" Noelle asked feeling suddenly jealous and insecure at what Asta was saying though she had no idea why she had those feelings in the first place. "Who's she?"
"The beautiful woman that I've decided I'm going to marry one day." Asta said stars still in his eyes. "She's the nun who helped raise us at the church in Hage."
"Sister means that she's a woman of the cloth, she can't get married." Noelle said dismissively as she let out a sigh of relief at that though she had no idea why she was now relieved or why she still had a pang in her chest over Asta's clear infatuation with this unattainable woman. "You know that right?"
"We'll make it work." Asta protested. "I'm sure we can manage it when I become the Wizard King."
"Asta's ridiculous delusions aside." Nero said looking to Magna. "I may not know first aid in the normal sense, but my Quirk does have some healing properties to it, and I used them earlier while making sure those villains were bound just to make sure we couldn't be accused of excessive force or anything like that. I can't treat burns or missing chunks of flesh, but I can repair lacerations, broken bones, and even seal up severed arteries or reattach limbs though the latter two possibilities are only theoretical as I've never had a chance to test it and would rather not."
"Right then the moment All Might gets Aizawa clear and likely gives him to your classmates we rush to help him." Magna said as All Might spoke about how he got here. "He needs it right away and any help will go a long way."
Nero nodded at that and as she did All Might ripped his tie off and then attacked the villains. That was their cue and quickly they were broken from their stupor caused by his arrival and began to make their way around the lake to lend aid where they could while the Symbol of Peace ended this attack on their school.
In a split second, so fast that all that could be seen was a blur, All Might was down on the USJ plaza floor having knocked away several of the remaining villains that had tried to engage and reached Aizawa. Carefully he picked the man up in his arms and apologized to him before rushing around the hand and bird villains and plucking young Midoriya, young Mineta, and young Asui out of the water and carrying them to safety while also knocking the hand off the leader villain's face with a blow in the process.
"All of you, get back to the entrance and take Aizawa with you." All Might said as he rose. "He doesn't have much time. If you can find young Swallowtail in the process then get him right to her, her Quirk can stabilize him and give him a little more time before backup arrives."
"Wait All Might, you can't fight them like normal, that brain villain took One…I mean I smashed him and didn't break my arm, but he wasn't fazed by it at all, he took it like it was nothing." Izuku said being as careful as he could as he, Asui and Mineta picked up Mr. Aizawa. "I've never seen a villain that can take that kind of a hit without any discernable damage at all."
"Do not worry about me young Midoriya." All Might said turning to him and smiling his trademark smile to reassure Izuku. "I've got this. You focus on getting Aizawa back and hopefully finding young Swallowtail along the way."
"Er, right." Izuku said trusting his idol and turning with the others to walk away and leave the current situation to All Might.
"Who?" Mineta asked as the hand villain seemed to have some internal conflict without the hand on his face and went to retrieve it. "Who's this Swallowtail he keeps mentioning?"
"Nero." Izuku said not paying attention to Mineta's lack of understanding who was in the class as All Might turned and began his attack with a Carolina Smash that the brain villain, apparently called Nomu based on the order given by the hand villain, leapt in the way to take it and the force sent water flying. "All Might is right; we need to find her. She mentioned to me that her Sealing Quirk can mend broken bones so she's our best bet of helping out Mr. Aizawa even if it is only a little help."
"Yeah but where is she?" Tsu asked as the water seemed to be parted and pushed away off to the side in an unnatural fashion while All Might and Nomu began to engage Nomu in close combat while the hand villain commented on why it wasn't going well for All Might and Kurogiri and Torchwick just looked on from a safe distance back. "We were all separated so we don't know where she is, but I did notice in the battle trial that she seemed to heal her own injuries, so I do agree that we need to find her."
"I'm still confused." Mineta said as they moved. "Why did he say Swallowtail and not Nero then?"
"Because my legal name is Secré Swallowtail." A voice to the side said and they turned to see Nero, along with Asta, Silva, and Magna running towards them, which with Noelle there explained why the water had moved in an unnatural way a moment ago. "But I go by Nero for my own reasons and leave it at that, got it pervert."
"Loud and clear." Mineta said as they reached them while All Might suplexed Nomu. "And it looks like All Might has got this."
"We can't help, we'd risk being hostages, but I'm still worried about that bird villain." Izuku said as the groups met up. "And that's worse than getting in his way. We must have faith in All Might."
"He's unstoppable so he should be fine." Tsu said though only Izuku knew the truth which was why he was worried especially with the three fingers Thirteen had held up earlier indicating that he'd used up all his time for the day already. "These villains seems to be nothing more than just your run of the mill villain who have gone for quantity over quality."
"Whatever the case we can't focus on that." Nero said as she got a view of their teacher. "Lay Mr. Aizawa down on his back and let me see. Noelle, can you create another water dome?"
"Yeah that's not too hard now that I've got the hang of it." Noelle said as she held out her right arm, holding her support item for added focus, and used it to direct her Quirk to the water and pull some of it to her while the fighting went on around them. "But I'm going to keep it small to avoid being detected."
"Works." Nero said looking around while the water came to them. "Asta, Midoriya, Magna, step away and stay outside the dome. You're better at defense and would get in my way. Asui…"
"Call me Tsu." Tsu said.
"Fine Tsu, you and Mineta stay here." Nero said as the boys did as instructed and left as the water reached them and formed a small dome around the girls, Aizawa and Mineta with whirlpools on them just like how Noelle had created it up on the mountain top plateau. "Mineta's small enough to be of some use and his Quirk could come in handy though right now I lack the skills to properly apply it. Tsu, hold Aizawa's shoulders steady while Noelle maintains this barrier."
"Got it." Tsu said as Noelle stood before them with the barrier up, her arms wide and maintaining it with ease now that she had the hang of it while Nero worked. "That's new from Silva though."
"Amazing what dire situations can lead to." Nero said as she knelt down and ran her hands over her teacher's arms to feel for the breaks in them. "Alright, it's as I expected. I can help a little but not with everything."
"What do you mean?" Mineta wailed. "You can heal people, right?"
"He's got broken arms and facial fractures." Nero said ignoring the tiny pervert as she knelt back on her calves and reached down to rip a strip from the hem of her dress though it wasn't as easy as before seeing as there was no damage there this time. "And some seriously strange wound on his elbow that isn't a burn. Rather, it looks like the skin has been disintegrated."
"That came from the hand villain's Quirk." Tsu said as Nero balled up the fabric, opened Aizawa's mouth, and securely put it in even though he was unconscious just to be precautious as his body might involuntarily react to her sealing his bones back together. "Whatever he touches with his hands will disintegrate. Thankfully, Mr. Aizawa saved me before that could happen."
"Ok then there's nothing I can do about that, and his facial fractures are too complicated to risk using my Quirk on them." Nero said as she grabbed his upper left arm and her hands glowed as she forced the bones back together the way they were meant to be before sealing the breaks back to normal. "And there is a lot of internal bleeding that need to be dealt with as well. I can mend his arms but that's it. That will stabilize him enough to be out of immediate danger, but I don't want to risk anything else."
"Makes sense." Tsu said as Nero sorted out the other arm this time though she left her teacher's elbow as it was. "And the gag."
"I have to shift the bones back into place, or at least close enough as they just need to be in a normal position, before I activate Sealing." Nero said as she sat back and fished the gag out to make sure he was breathing alright. "It's not exactly painless and there's an involuntary reaction to that kind of pain that might make you bite through your tongue. I did something similar to myself in the entrance exam when I broke my collar bone saving Asta though now that I'm used to it I can avoid that reaction like when I mended my broken ankle in the battle trial."
"That sounds unpleasant." Tsu said.
"My healing abilities aren't a normal application of my Quirk so yeah it's not pleasant and much closer to field first aid than actual healing." Nero said. "But it's a small price to pay for…"
"Er the boys have just run off towards the plaza." Noelle said a mixture of annoyance and worry in her voice. "I think All Might is in trouble and those morons went running to help him."
"Sounds about right for Asta." Nero said. "But leave them, I for one have faith in him to do what he needs to do and with his swords he's probably the best one to be there now that Mr. Aizawa is out cold. Drop this barrier Noelle and let's get our teacher to safety."
"You're right, Asta can handle it and Midoriya seems to be a little like him, at least in the reckless department." Noelle said as she dropped the barrier and turned to their unconscious teacher. "Let's get moving then."
"Did you saw swords?" Tsu asked as the girls hoisted Aizawa up between them and began to move with him to the stairs to get up to the top while Mineta walked in the middle, hands up to support Aizawa's lower back as best he could. "As in plural. I thought Asta only had one sword."
"Yeah Asta's got a new sword, happened with the goons we were facing." Nero said opting not to add the whole extremist thing. "But we can deal with that later. Our role down here is done, only Noelle has the offensive potential to join the boys in facing those villains and she lacks control. Best for use to retreat to safety with our teacher."
"As much as I dislike that I still lack control, I agree." Noelle said looking back and hoping that Asta would be ok. "Leave the rest to All Might, the boys and whoever else may end in the middle because knowing our class others are on their way to help out as well."
The others nodded as they continued their trip back to the stairs and past the unconscious villains. They had faith in All Might and their classmates to face down this evil and win just like he always did.
"Hey, did either of you two notice how Nero and that frog girl sounded a lot alike?" Magna asked the other boys as they looked at the smoke from the suplex while Nero worked in Noelle's water dome behind them. "It was eerie if you ask me."
"Now that you mention it…" Asta said thinking on what his senior had said. "But still, just a coincidence. They're probably from the same part of Japan so have a similar accent, that's all."
"True that would explain it." Magna said as the smoke cleared.
"Oh no." Izuku said having not heard the comment as he was too worried and focused on All Might and his gasp got their attention and they all stared in shock at the sight before them.
All Might was still in the arched ending of a German suplex, but Nomu wasn't buried in the ground as he had clearly planned. Rather Kurogiri had made a warp gate at the last minute so the torso and upper body of Nomu was in the gate with its legs in the air. At least it should be but there was a second warp gate right under All Might's back where it's head, shoulders, and arms were out with its hands on All Might's sides, digging into it creating a really strange sight.
It was as they looked at this that blood began to seep onto All Might's white shirt Izuku realized that it was because the hold was right on All Might's weak spot. This was really not good for All Might as it seemed like the villains really did have everything they needed to stand up to him.
"That was a bitch move if ever I saw one." Magna growled. "Not even that good for nothing portal guy on the Black Bulls who's always chasing tail would do something like that, Finral at least has class and sense when he uses his Quirk, not that he uses it in battle from what I've seen mind you."
"All Might was trying to bury that Nomu thing in the concrete, but a warp villain can avoid that." Izuku said worried now as the Nomu really dug into All Might's weak spot so All Might let go of the Nomu's legs to focus on prying its hands off from there but clearly the Nomu matched All Might in strength which was saying something. "We've got to help him."
"Right then let's go." Asta said as a pair of rends in the air appeared on either side of him and he drew both of his swords out to dual wield them as Kurogiri began to drag All Might, still in the Nomu's grip, into the warp gates as thy watched. "I get the feeling that closing a warp gate with someone half in them would be deadly."
"It will be." Izuku said as he began to run to help All Might as he couldn't let the Symbol of Peace end like this as there was a lot more he needed to learn. "I'm coming All Might!"
"Right behind you Midoriya." Asta said as he ran right behind his classmate.
"Damn first years, can't have you showing me up." Magna said as he too joined the charge a flaming bat appearing in his hand once again.
"No, stay back students." All Might said noticing the charge and Izuku leapt to him.
"Not a chance, I won't let them kill you All Might!" Izuku yelled but as he leapt Kurogiri turned to appear before him ready to warp him away from this battle. "Asta, can you…"
"Out of the way Deku!" A new voice roared as an explosion rocked the air above and Izuku was thrown back by Bakugo suddenly appearing from above with a roar as he blasted the mist guy right were that neck armor thing was. "This misty bastard is mine! I'm going to murder him!"
With a roar Bakugo brought the mist guy down by holding onto his metal brace and keeping it there to pin the bastard to the ground. He'd figured out from his first failed attack that this was where the villain's body was so if he held onto it then he'd be able to contain the bastard when he found him again. All he had to do was beat those pathetic excuses for villains in the Earthquake Zone where he and Shitty Hair had ended up, with some help from the latter though it was barely any, and then come to this fight because that was what a hero would do.
Almost as soon as Bakugo had pinned down Kurogiri ice shot in from the side to freeze one of Nomu's legs and the arm that was holding All Might's side in ice and thus stopping Nomu in its tracks and revealing that Todoroki had joined the central fight as well. Between that and Bakugo's actions All Might was in a good spot to get out thanks to the students.
"One of those poorly trained gutter trash villains that you brought with you told me you're here because you think that you can kill All Might." Todoroki said calmly as All Might realize that he could loosen the Nomu's grip and get out from it now that part of its body had been frozen by young Todoroki. "I won't let that happen."
All Might did just that and he was able to pry the fingers of the villain off him and then easily flip off of Nomu to land safely on the ground. That said he was still holding his side and grimacing in pain from it all but things were better now thanks to his students.
"All Might, are you ok?" Izuku asked but before he could get a response Kirishima suddenly flipped in, arms hard, and going for the hand villain but the guy easily evaded Kirishima's attack with a quick leap backwards.
"Damn that was…" Kirishima began as he was about to rise from his failed attack, but Asta had already called out to him as he ran past Izuku with his swords still in his hands.
"Stay like that and get hard Kirishima." Asta yelled. "I've got that guy."
"Wait, young Asta." All Might began but it was too late as Kirishima knelt down and turned his whole body hard just to be safe.
Asta didn't hesitate as he leapt up, planted his right foot on Kirishima's shoulder and pushed off it to launch himself up and at the hand guy who'd started all of this. He had both of his swords in his hands, the big one on the right and the new one in his left as he brought them over his head and then down, hard, as he fell towards the hand villain.
The villain didn't have the time to evade the attack, so he just got his hands up to catch the swords on the blades. Clearly he thought that this would work, Asta wasn't yet aware of his Quirk so in theory it would have worked if not for what Asta's swords could do, but Asta knew that his sword could handle it as he yelled and brought them down and into the villain's hands.
There was a distinctive thud and cracking sound as the heavier, longer, sword in Asta's right hand slammed into the villain's left palm and broke his hand, wrist, and lower forearm from the force of the blow though the villain still managed to get a hold of the blade with all 5 of his fingers touching it. The same happened with the left hand, new, sword though it lacked the weight to break the villain's right hand, just bruised it, as he grabbed that blade as well while Asta landed on the ground before him.
"Impudent brat." The villain said through his pain as he held onto the blades. "I'll kill you for that, once you're…wait, why aren't your swords disintegrating and why do I feel like my energy is being drained from my right hand."
"Huh, so you're Quirk makes you destroy what you touch." Asta said not sure about the whole energy thing but pulling the swords to him and out to the sides as he cocked his head back. "But you can't destroy my swords. Now take this bastard!"
Asta slammed his forehead into the hand on the man's face as hard as he could. The strange hand over the villain's face softened the blow, but it still staggered the man back as he let go of Asta's swords, his left arm falling limply to the side as he cursed from the hit. Asta didn't have time to slash him with his swords, so he just stepped forward, raised his right foot, and booted the man in the chest hard sending him sliding back along the ground with a gasp.
"Roman, what the hell am I paying you for?" The villain gasped out as he came to a stop and lent forwards, still standing, and panted from Asta's attack. "Kill that kid."
"You ain't paying me, someone else is because you can't afford it." Torchwick said calmly, his voice and the popping sound of something flipping up alerting Asta as he turned to see the ginger man holding out his cane with the end pointing right at him, the base of it flipped up to show a set of crosshairs there. "Nothing personal kid, just business."
With that he pulled a trigger on the cane as Asta leapt back and a blast of a high-powered round shot out and hit the ground right where Asta would have been blowing a hole in the concrete revealing that the rounds exploded on impact. Asta quickly back peddled from that as he got his swords up just in case while the man tracked him while reaching into a pocket on his jacket but before he could he suddenly turned right as another gunshot rang out from behind him.
That got everyone's attention and they turned to see Rose of all people standing above the still functioning fountain on a white glyph, her scythe in its gun mode and in her shoulder having just fired a stun shot at Torchwick's back. However, he'd somehow predicted she was there, mainly because the man was an experienced criminal who survived so he had some tricks and knew the sound of a gun being cocked, and had turned to it moving his cane fast enough to knock the shot out of the air with a clang showing not only his incredible skills with it but also that the cane was made of metal.
"Now what are you doing here Red." Torchwick said while a series of glyphs appeared on the ground in an arc from behind the fountain and Weiss Schnee sped over them at a high rate of speed to come to a sliding stop, sword in her left hand between Todoroki and Asta as the students present all backed up. "You're really annoying, you know that right. Just die already, you've ruined one operation of mine, don't ruin another."
"I should thank you; you made it so that I got into U.A. so that I'd have the proper training I need to stop people like you." Ruby said as she fired off another shot that Torchwick deflected away as he pulled something from his coat pocket, his hand had been in there this entire time, and loaded it into the chamber of the cane. "I won't let you escape again."
"Shame I don't intend on being caught." Torchwick said as he fired his second shot but aimed it right at the fountain rather than at Ruby herself. "Now be a good girl and stop bothering me."
Ruby had seen what that cane could do when he shot at Asta, she'd sped int the air to get above the fountain with Petal Burst trusting Weiss to put a glyph under her feet, which she did, to give her a stable footing to knock out Torchwick with a stun round as soon as she could. The girls had rushed here as fast as they could but some more villains had blocked their path, so they'd had to swiftly dispatch them, which they did without an issue or any fanfare, before they neared right as Asta attacked the hand villain. Ruby was after Torchwick though so she acted when she knew she could.
Now that she'd failed to take him down, however, she needed to regroup with the others, so she leapt off the glyph and to the side as Torchwick fired at the fountain and burst into her Quirk again to loop around just as Weiss had done on her glyphs only for Ruby it was in a spinning red tornado leaving red rose petals in her wake. As for the fountain, it was hit by the shot a second after she moved away from it and blew up in a spray of water and masonry.
By then Ruby was well clear and she burst out of her Quirk facing the villains and just above the ground so that she landed on it in a crouch, right leg straight and to the side left bent at the knee, Crescent Rose in her shoulder as she shot at Torchwick again as she slid past Todoroki to come to a stop next to Weiss as Torchwick deflected the shot with his cane again. Ruby kept the crouch as her fluttering cape came to a rest before she got up to stand at her full height still ready to fire, but before she could she realized that the situation was a lot more crowded than she'd expected.
"Huh, looks like a lot of others had an idea to come here." Ruby noted. "So, do we have the situation in hand guys?"
"I've got this smokey bastard." Bakugo said as things died down though whether it was in response to Ruby or not was up for debate. "He's not going anywhere."
"The Symbol of Peace will not be killed by delinquents and trash like you." Todoroki said simply. "I came to ensure that."
"Yeah, you're lucky your stooge saved you hand guy." Asta roared. "Next time I'm going to smack you so hard you won't know what hit you."
"As a third year with a provisional I had to come and lend aid." Magna added. "Plus I can't have first years showing me up, now can I?"
"Between all of us you can't hope to win." Weiss simply. "We won't let you get away with this."
"Kacchan, everyone…" Izuku said looking around to note who was here as they all turned to face the hand villain and Torchwick while the Nomu remained in the warp gate and frozen and Bakugo had the mist guy under control. "All three branches have come together, this…"
"Shut it Deku." Bakugo roared as Izuku wiped his eyes.
"Kurogiri, how could you let that brat find your body." The hand villain said, pain in his voice as he finally seemed to catch his breath but otherwise he appeared to be fine after Asta's attack. "That is really annoying you know, real predicament thanks to it seeing as you're our way out of this place."
"Not anymore, this villain got careless cos he's dumb." Bakugo said before looking down on the villain he had pinned to the ground and grinning. "It wasn't hard to figure the bastard out. Only certain parts of your body can turn into that smokey warp gate you make and then you use that mist to hide your actual body as a way to distract us from finding where it is or that you've got a corporeal form that can be attacked. That's why we missed you the first time, but I don't make a mistake a second time and when I saw this neck armor of yours I knew that you had an actual body under all that mist. You're not immune to physical attacks so long as we know where your body is and can hit it."
"Why you…" Kurogiri said but as he tried Bakugo let out some explosions on the neck armor.
"Don't, I've got you and you're not going anywhere." Bakugo said before getting lower to make sure that his point was made. "Try anything like that again and I'll blow you up right now. I'll make sure that they don't find all of you for weeks, got it?"
"That's not very heroic Bakugo." Kirishima said.
"Rather uncouth and unbecoming of a hero." Weiss added. "You do need to learn manners, Bakugo."
"Shut it Princess." Bakugo roared.
"The white haired girl is right." Magna said. "You can't behave like that if you're going to be a pro no matter what branch you end up in."
"Let me at that guy, I can stop him from warping." Asta said waving his swords around. "And knock him out in the process."
"Wait when did you get a second sword?" Ruby asked her eyes wide at it before they filled with stars at the new weapon that Asta had. "And it's different, what can it…"
"Ruby, now's not the time to geek out over a new sword, ask Asta about it later." Weiss said her own sword still up and pointing at the hand villain who was just standing before them. "Keep Crescent Rose trained on Torchwick and don't let him out of your sights."
"Right, wrong situation." Ruby said understanding things better now given how serious it was. "Don't worry, I'm not letting him get away a second time."
"Don't try loudmouth, I called the misty bastard so he's mine." Bakugo snapped. "He's not going anywhere while I'm here so focus on the others unless you're just some random extra in which case we don't need you here."
"Damn, those brats escaped the attack uninjured, captured my two strongest men and even injured me." The hand villain said getting all of their attention. "The kids at U.A. really are something else, they make the League of Villains look like amateurs by comparison and they're not even adults yet."
"Well, they are amateurs." Torchwick pointed out. "What did you expect from them? Most won't try to do something like unless they have the numbers on their side seeing as they're little more than thugs eking out a pathetic, forgotten, existence in the gutters of society. The men I paid for clearly aren't worth it either so Junior owes me a refund on them seeing as they're his men. Only that Heath dude and his men are of any value I'd say."
"Wait was Heath that ice guy in blue?" Asta asked getting their attention. "Who seemed to be obsessed with punctuality and was rather arrogant."
"Yes." Torchwick said his eyes narrowing. "Why?"
"Oh, I beat him and two of the guys with him then he killed himself rather than be taken in alive." Asta said pointing his sword up to the mountain. "Along with the others who I beat while a third got away. Really freaky dude, utter extremist."
"Yeah who was he?" Magna asked. "He didn't give us an answer to that."
"Well, that sucks but Heath did say he'd never be brought in alive." Torchwick growled ignoring the punk looking student brat. "That lot are like that though I didn't expect them to be beaten. Guess they are as useless as the rest of the trash we brought with us."
"It's not relevant, so long as they remain with us after this I don't care." The hand villain said before looking at Nomu. "Now we can't have this continuing as we must kill All Might before any other annoying pros arrive. Nomu, finish them."
There was a strange wailing sound from Nomu and then it pulled itself out of the warp gate that was still open with its core strength and tried to rise to its feet. As it did the ice on its left arm and leg shattered leaving it without the limps there much to the student's shock and Todoroki was sure that even frozen his ice shouldn't do that, at least not this fast. Regardless, it did do that and the Nomu seemed to ignore its missing limbs as it tried to rise but was staggering and wailing as its eyes rolled around while they questioned how it was still moving.
"Stay back, that thing isn't normal." All Might said and that was proven a moment later as the ice that was still on the stumps of the limbs shattered and muscles grew from them to reform what it was missing and return Nomu to how it had been before much to their shock and horror. "What is this abomination? I thought you said that his Quirk was Shock Absorption?"
"That is wrong on so many levels." Weiss said holding back her vomit from what she'd seen. "And gross."
"It's sick." Magna said his eyes wide. "There's no way that thing is still alive in the normal sense of the word."
"What is that thing?" Asta added.
"I never said that Shock Absorption was his only Quirk." The hand villain said ignoring the kids as he addressed All Might. "You see, Nomu here also has Super Regeneration as well as Shock Absorption. Nomu is a bioengineered being that had been extensively modified to take you on All Might, even at 100% of your power. Think of him as a highly efficient punching bag that hits back just as hard."
That really got their attention and instantly the class took combat stances. To them the best for this was Asta's swords as it might at least nullify those Quirks, especially if he could stab the new one into it as that might work best, but the sheer power it had on its own might be too much. Still, Ruby at least turned and fired a few shots at it, but Nomu didn't even recognize that it had been hit which only added to things, so she turned Crescent Rose back into her scythe mode and held it at the ready as she may be able to affect it better with her sweetheart like this.
"That thing is freaky." Asta said. "But my swords…"
"I don't thing it will do more than just annoy it." Izuku said shaking his head. "Mr. Aizawa used Erasure on it, and it still had freakish non-Quirk enhanced strength to it so even if you can nullify it with your swords you can't do anything about its raw strength."
"Yes, Nomu has been made to be able to withstand a Quirk that can nullify other Quirks." The hand villain said as he finally got an understanding on the swords that the short, loud, kid had used on him, so he was going to be extra wary of them from now on. "And now it is time we freed our method of escape. I really don't want to be stuck here. Get him Nomu, leave that brat as paste on the ground."
What happened next was too fast for anyone to see as Nomu shot at Bakugo. Only All Might could perceive and react to it and react he did just that to get in the way and toss Bakugo to safety as he took the blow on his arms and was blasted back and into a partition wall in the USJ between two of the Zones.
The force sent the kids flying back several feet with Izuku, Asta, and Kirishima all landing on the ground, Asta losing his swords in the process, as did Bakugo but he'd been tossed to the side. Meanwhile Todoroki and Ruby managed to land on their feet from their personal training and Weiss used a glyph to steady herself though she did stagger when she landed.
A moment later the smoke quickly cleared and revealed Nomu over Kurogiri with Bakugo nowhere to be seen. That raised a question of where he was, but he was right next to Izuku, and they all quickly realized that he'd been tossed there by All Might and not dodging the attack as first believed.
That caused them to turn to see All Might standing there in front of the broken partition and at the end of a long set of gouge marks in the ground coughing but still standing. He'd moved fast enough save Bakugo and now he was really pissed as he panted and looked at the hand villain.
"These are kids and yet you still didn't hold back, you haven't all along given your orders to your underlings." All Might said as he glared at the villains before him. "No wonder you've chosen a path of villainy."
"Hey, I am an associate and a businessman, not an underling." Torchwick complain but at this point he was kinda an afterthought to them what with All Might and that bioengineered Nomu thing on the battlefield. "I have underlings, I'm not one myself."
"Shut it Roman and besides I didn't have much choice in this situation." The hand villain said. "That blond explosive brat was threatening to kill my companion. These kids are not the angels that you make them out to be, they're no better than the likes of me really. The plain looking one tried to kill me with a maxed-out punch early, the loud little one broke my hand and arm with his sword and likely would have killed me with them as well if he had the chance."
"No I was trying to knock you out." Asta yelled as the tends appeared again and he drew both swords. "These swords are blunt."
"Then there are those girls, don't think I don't know Huntress weapons when I see them." The hand villain continued clearly ignoring Asta. "What kind of heroes do things like those?"
"Hey, I'm not using lethal rounds and the blades are coated to not be sharp!" Ruby yelled.
"What Ruby said for the blades." Weiss added. "We don't kill unless it's Grimm and those things are just manifestations of someone's Quirk it seems so they don't count. We don't kill humans."
"Don't lie girls, you are all the same heroes and wannabe heroes alike." The hand villain said angrily. "No matter the branch that you serve, you all think that just because you have authorization from the government that you can get away with being as violent as you want, especially if you say that it is for the sake of others. Well you know what, All Might, that really pisses me off. Why do other people get to decide that violence in the name of some amorphous, so called, good are heroic violent acts while others are villainous?"
The hand villain paused there as if he was actually asking a question but All Might only growled at that as a response. As such the man continued with his insane rant as if he was trying to justify his actions.
"Who gave you the authority to pass judgement on what is good and evil in this world?" The hand villain asked but he wasn't done so he continued without waiting for an answer from anyone, not that he'd get one. "You're not the Symbol of Peace that you think you are, you're just another government sponsored instrument of violence and violence always breeds naught but more violence. Don't worry, I'll make sure the world understands that once you're dead and no longer able to get in my way. I'd go after the Wizard King as well but I've got an associate who wants his head instead so I'll let him have it as it will keep him in line so I am content with just taking yours, All Might."
"You're nothing but a madman, a lunatic who is nothing more than a criminal trying to make your actions sound more noble than they actually are but in reality you are just using some twisted justification for why you can do the evil that you do." All Might said in response. "Just admit the truth of the matter, you're only doing this because you like the evil that you commit. Right?"
"Damn, he's got me figured out but then again I don't particularly care what he thinks of me." The hand villain mumbled. "Oh well, it won't matter once All Might is dead anyway."
"For the record, I do enjoy doing whatever I want to do whether society approves of it or not." Torchwick said unhelpfully. "I lie, cheat, and steal but I also survive so it's all for a good cause, that being my own survival and enrichment."
"At least he's honest." Weiss said. "Rare in a villain it seems."
"Sill annoying." Ruby added. "And he's a villain so he should be locked away."
"It's fine, we've got them outnumbered and we have the advantage of Asta's Quirk." Todoroki said surprising Asta with the recognition. "Plus, when it comes to incapacitation without needless injury the girls' weapons are our best bet there. I presume that you have lightning Dust in that thing Schnee."
"I'm a Schnee, Todoroki, of course I do." Weiss said with a hint of annoyance and haughtiness in her voice. "I got ice and fire Dust as well if you need them."
"I don't use fire in battle." Todoroki said simply which Weiss just rolled her eyes at, she may not know Todoroki well but his father was Endeavor so her father associated with him seeing as he was the number 2 hero, but it appeared that Todoroki had as many daddy issues as she did. "And I don't need your ice Dust to boost my power."
"Whatever." Weiss said dismissively. "Do it your way then, I was just trying to help."
"Seems like you know him." Ruby said.
"Our fathers are associated, that's it." Weiss said.
"Well Todoroki's right, we've got the numbers and skills plus Kacchan found the mist guy's weakness for us to go after." Izuku said. "Between that and Asta's Quirk we can prevent their escape. Then Rose and Schnee can incapacitate them while All Might handles that Nomu thing."
"These dudes may act tough or suave but Midoriya's right." Kirishima said. "We can take them down now that we have All Might with us."
"Don't attack them young ones." All Might ordered as he walked forward and held out his arm to show that they shouldn't go forward and engage the villains in battle. "This fight today is not for you."
"Don't forget that you'd have been in a lot worse shape earlier if weren't for me." Todoroki pointed out. "You need our help All Might."
"I acknowledge that your aid was vital young Todoroki and I thank you for your assistance when I needed it the most." All Might said. "You've been trained well and acted accordingly when I needed it. However, you of all people should understand that thing are different now. That there are times when you must let the pro work without aid so that you don't get in the way. Do not worry, everything will be all right. Sill back and watch a pro at work. All of you, you represent the future of this nation, you all want to be heroes in the various branches, but we are all united under the title hero regardless so watch a pro at work now."
"But All Might, you're hurt, bleeding and your ti…" Izuku began before catching himself but All Might just gave a thumbs up to his protégé and successor which was all that Izuku needed.
"Nomu, Kurogiri, kill All Might as planned." The hand villain said. "Roman and I will deal with the children."
"Fine but I get to kill Red, she's annoyed me too much." Torchwick said. "And I feel like if I let her live it will really come back to bite me in the ass."
"Done." The hand villain said as All Might braced himself for what was to come. "Let's clear the level before us and then go home."
At that the hand villain ran at the students who braced themselves for a fight after all when All Might suddenly rushed forward to be intercepted by Nomu who was matching his speed before they both tried to punch each other at the same time. Their fists collided with each other, and a strong wind blasted from the blow that had enough force to knock everyone, students and villains alike, back.
"Didn't you hear me, one of his powers is Shock Absorption." The hand villain said as the wind made him slide backwards. "You can't hurt him."
"So?" All Might asked back. "What about it?"
At that All Might punched Nomu in the gut before launching another punch that was blocked and then the top hero and the bioengineered creature before him began to rain blows down on each other in a head on fight that was so fast no one could see more than a blur of arms from both combatants. One thing it did do was generate a lot more wind which blew them all back and prevented Kurogiri from joining the fight while also keeping the kids a safe distance from the fight as well. Torchwick had to hold his hat down as everyone fell down from the sheer force currently being generated.
"Stay behind this." Weiss said as she raised her hands and a series of glyphs appeared before them blocking the wind forcing the students to remain behind it and stared in wide eyed amazement at the battle before them. "My glyphs won't be able to take one of those punches, but I can hold back the wind from them just fine."
"Absorption is not nullification!" All Might roared as the fight continued. "So that means that there is a limit to how much of a beating that you can take. Even a punching bag will wear out over time and that's just what you are, right, a punching bag that hits back."
All Might kept the blows coming as he and Nomu continued to batter away at each other. Even as Nomu landed a blow on All Might's injured side causing him to grimace and spit up blood the pro pushed past it declaring that if Nomu was made to fight him at 100% of his power then he'd just have to go beyond that to make him surrender.
True to his word All Might did just that and began to rain blows down on the Nomu that were above his max power while also targeting every single one of his punches until finally he broke through, and the fight got more wild with the ground being broken around them. Then suddenly the combatants were high in the air above the ground.
All the students could do was stare in shock as All Might used the space he now had in the air to grab Nomu under the arm and spun him around as they flew up before tossing the villain down hard enough to not only crater the ground but bounce off it and back into the air. As that was happening All Might came down to land before the rising villain.
"Now for a lesson that you'd best learn, villain." All Might said as he rose while Nomu bounced up before him. "You may have heard these words before because it is our school's motto but now I will teach you what they really mean so that you never forget. Go beyond! Plus, Ultra!"
At that All Might clenched his fist, and the students could feel the power that radiated from it before he slammed it into Nomu's gut with a level of force that no one has expected, the ruined ground cracking even more as he did. Nomu seemed to take the punch for a moment before it was blasted back and into the dome of the USJ with enough force to cause the lights there to explode and the whole building to shake so that even those in the closed zones could tell that something big was going on as Nomu was blasted through the dome and into the sky before anyone could blink.
All those who saw it knew what had just happened cheered at it be it the ones on the entrance walkway where Mr. Aizawa was now safely being looked after having been carried by Shoji, the two hiding in various spots in the USJ, or the ones down in the plaza level where Kirishima noted that the shock absorption had been beaten right out of Nomu, as they watched. Only the trio in the mountain zone didn't do much as they had a slightly different, much more pressing, problem to deal with.
"Well, that was impressive." Magna said his eyes wide as Weiss finally dismissed her glyphs. "I've always compared Captain Yami to All Might what with how they're both super buff brawlers who sound similar and always go beyond their limits but that was on a whole new level. Plus, the Captain's Quirk is not like that at all."
"That level of brute strength though." Kirishima said the amazement clear in his voice. "It's unreal."
"Just imagine having power like that." Bakugo said. "There's a reason why he's number 1."
"Woah and they say the Wizard King is the only one who is comparable to All Might." Asta said stars in his eyes at that comparison. "So cool."
"That is what the normal hero track is like." Weiss said as Ruby nodded next to her. "It's because of people like All Might that we Huntresses can focus in Grimm. He and the other heroes keep everything else safe while we handle those vile creatures so that the normal heroes can focus on stuff like this."
"All Might really is the best, there's no competition." Todoroki said as he finally got the firsthand realization of how his scumbag old man could never truly top All Might as the number 1 hero. "There never really was no matter how hard he tried."
"That is what it means to be a pro." Bakugo said still processing what he'd seen. "What we are all aiming for."
"All Might did it." Izuku said as he turned back to the smoke where All Might was standing looking at the last three villains of any significance who were still standing.
"Back in my heyday that would have only taken 5 blows to knock him out." All Might said as he rose and smiled, dust billowing around him. "Today, it took more than 300 mighty blows but no matter the number is, justice will always prevail."
"Hey, Kurogiri, send me back now." Torchwick said as All Might's eyes bore into the trio of villains still standing. "I was here for the forces I could provide; my deal means that you send me back when I asked. If you still want accesses to my underground network you'd better make good on that."
"True, you are more valuable to us free than captured and sent to Tartarus." Kurogiri said as a warp gate appeared under Torchwick. "As promised, you're free to go back to where you're based but when we contact you, you'd better come."
"Of course." Torchwick said as he sank into the gate before turning, smirking at Ruby, and doffing his bowler hat to her. "Goodbye Red, until we meet again."
Before anyone could react, mainly before Ruby could shoot him with a stun round, Torchwick was gone, and the portal closed. All Might growled at that as one of the most wanted men in Japan had just escaped but he couldn't move to stop it, he was almost out of time so he needed to end this now as he looked at the remaining villain.
"Face it, you've been bested villains, your one good weapon against me is gone." All Might said to them as the hand villain shook with rage at the situation that he was now in. "It's time to surrender. We all want to end this now."
The hand villain growled at that as he began to scratch his neck furiously with his good hand. He'd failed in his goal and things weren't looking good now that Nomu was gone.
"Come on, he cheated." The hand villain said more to himself than anyone else, but they could all hear it. "All Might is just as strong as he's always been, he's not weaker like I was told. I was lied to."
"What's wrong, why aren't you attacking me when you said you were going to clear this level earlier." All Might said glaring at the villain hoping that his taunt and bluff would work. "Come on and do so then, if you dare now that your ally is gone."
"Woah, this is intense." Bakugo said as the students watched.
"As I expected, with that thing gone there's no more reason for us to fight now." Todoroki said. "All Might has got this. Rose, keep that gun of yours trained on them just in case but we should drop back now that that Nomu thing is gone."
"Right." Ruby said as she turned Crescent Rose back to her gun mode to make her easier to use. "I'll cover the retreat back to the others."
"True, come on Midoriya." Kirishima said as they began to fall back. "We don't want to get in All Might's way now that this is about to end."
"Your class is right kid." Magna said looking at the green haired boy. "We've done all we can, the rest is up to All Might now."
Izuku however kept standing there because he saw the truth behind All Might's bluster. The smoke around him hid that there was steam coming off his body which indicated that All Might was about to transform back to his true, weakened, state. He was bluffing now because he was out of time so he couldn't fight them. He was just able to stand there and that was all that he could do.
"What? Are you too scared to attack me?" All Might said as he tried to stall for time as the other teachers had to be almost here by now and the villains took a step back which was good as it showed that they were hesitating which meant that his plan might just work.
"If only Nomu was still here, he'd end this right now." The hand villain said as he began scratching his neck even more vigorously than before. "He'd pound you into the ground and leave you nothing more than a red smear on the floor like you should be."
"Tomura Shigaraki." Kurogiri said finally giving a full name to the hand villain though it was one that All Might had never heard before. "Do not worry, look at All Might, all us not lost just yet. All Might is not what he once was, he's been weakened by Nomu's attacks. They were successful even if he was blasted away. All Might is on his own, the children are either frozen in fear or no concern to us. Plus, the underlings are recovering so we have a few minutes before the final reinforcements arrive. Together, we can do this, we can finish what Nomu started for us. We haven't missed our chance to kill All Might."
That got through to Shigaraki and he stopped scratching as he turned to All Might. The warp gate was right, they still had a chance to end this before the backup arrived.
"We have no choice Kurogiri." Shigaraki said seriously. "We have to do it now before the others arrive. After all, the big end boss is right before us, and his HP is low thanks to our Nomu."
"Hey, the lower-level villains are getting up." Kirishima said as he turned and hardened his arms, Bakugo, Todoroki, Magna, and Asta joining him. "Let's ensure that these guys don't interfere or hurt anyone else. We've shown that we can handle them."
"Midoriya, Rose, Schnee, will you be joining us?" Todoroki asked as Magna's fiery bat appeared, and a fireball was formed in his hand. "We could use your aid here."
"Midoriya seems frozen." Ruby said as she began to make some quick calculations in her head seeing as she saw an opening to take down Shigaraki the moment he began to move. "Weiss, aid them, I'll back up Midoriya. I think he's realized something we've not so I'll be the ranged support he needs while you help the boys out."
"Got it." Weiss said as she turned and joined the boys while Ruby shouldered her gun and activating the lightning Dust cylinder currently chambered so that the crackling electricity shot up and coated her blade.
Izuku was frozen not so much out of fear, though that was there for sure, but because he knew that All Might couldn't outrun the mist villain. He was done without aid so he had to lend it himself if they attacked because otherwise All Might would be done. He was right because just as he thought that Shigaraki took off at All Might.
"No, you don't." Ruby said as she tracked in front of Shigaraki and fired a single stun round right as Izuku leapt knowing that her shout was going to find its mark.
All Might knew that this was bad, and he couldn't even raise his hands to defend himself that's how close to his limit he was. That was when the shot rang out from Rose's gun and Izuku leapt closing in on Shigaraki before he could react and even faster than the bullet that had just been fired though he did break his legs in the process.
"What the hell Midoriya?" Kirishima said as Izuku held in a scream at his legs breaking while a warp gate appeared right before the stun round would have struck Shigaraki in the side with the other side of the gate appearing right behind Ruby that they didn't notice before it was to late. "What are you doing?"
"Don't you dare touch All Might you damned villain!" Izuku roared as he aimed at the metal brace on Kurogiri's neck while the stun round appeared and struck Ruby in her back causing her to let out a shriek of pain as the electricity from the round was discharged into her body and she collapsed to the ground unconscious from it with a nasty bruise where the special, non-penetrating round, hit her.
"Ruby!" Weiss said as her friend collapsed.
"Midoriya!" Asta yelled as Shigaraki's good hand shot through another warp gate and to Midoriya's face but now there was nothing they could do as Shigaraki had come to a stop and was cackling at being able to kill one of the brats before he turned his hand on All Might and killed him as well.
At least that was until another gunshot rang out and this time a real bullet slammed into Shigaraki's right hand, the one good one that he was using to grab Midoriya and nocked it away in a spray of blood allowing Midoriya to fall to ground unharmed. Well other than his broken legs and fingers from earlier but those were his own fault.
All the kids, even Weiss who'd fallen to her knees and turned Ruby onto her back so as to lift her friend's head into her lap to make sure she was ok, which she was just out cold, looked up to see that shot had come from the top of the steps. More precisely it had come from Snipe, one of the pros on the U.A. staff and the best marksman in Japan, well best since Lady Nagant had gone rogue at least but no one spoke about that fallen pro these days.
The pro then turned and fired two more shots to the mountain region, his Homing Quirk able to move them so that they struck the shoulders of the villain holding Kaminari hostage there thus saving him. The villain in question fell back to the shock of Yaoyorozu and Jiro, Kaminari was still in stupid mode so he had no idea what was going on, while the rest of the teachers came in with Ida leading the charge and declaring that he'd returned with backup.
All of the teachers were there with him and were there to end this. The villains who were still standing turned to try and stop them, but Present Mic let out a yell to down them with his Voice Quirk. This was followed by Ectoplasm using his Quirk to send out several clones to aid as the teachers prioritized helping the students. It was clearly over and Shigaraki knew this, turning to leave with Kurogiri when he was shot three more times, once in each leg and once the left shoulder with precise, non-lethal bullet placement from Snipe.
The lead villain fell to the ground and Kurogiri surrounded him with his mist to protect him from more bullets that were warped harmlessly away. It was time for them to go but Thirteen made one last stand as she used and entire hand while being supported by Sero due to her wounds from Kurogiri turning her own Quirk on her earlier, to try and suck Kurogiri to them to capture the last two villains. Alas it was too far for her capture Kurogiri in time and Shigaraki got away but he had some final words for All Might as he vanished.
"I may have failed this time but mark my words, All Might, your days are numbered." Shigaraki said as he disappeared with Kurogiri through the latter's warp gate. "I will kill the Symbol of Peace; I promise you that."
With that Shigaraki and Kurogiri vanished and the pros hurried down and quickly mopped up the rest of the villains in short order. It showed them all what the pros could, and had to, do to keep them safe. It was something they'd not expected nor were they ready for, but they'd survived, and it made them stronger for it.
No class had faced such a hurdle this early in their hero training, but they had, and they'd made it through with only minor injuries other than Izuku's self-inflicted ones and Ruby being knocked out. It would be because of this that All Might knew that Class 1-A was special, and he'd say as much later while he was recovering. For now, though, he needed privacy and Izuku was trying to get up but couldn't.
They had some words as All Might told Izuku that he, along with young Rose, had bought him the time he needed to survive and thanked Izuku for that. That was all Izuku needed to hear after failing in his mind to save his idol.
"The teachers are all here so the school must be safe." Todoroki said as things truly seemed to come to an end. "This facility must have been their only target. Let's go."
"Wait, Midoriya, are you ok." Kirishima said as he began to run towards his friend, an act which All Might saw as noble before realizing that his transformation had begun to fall and young Kirishima would learn his secret if he kept coming closer. "Are you hurt?"
"My legs are broken Kirishima so I can't get up." Izuku said as Kirishima ran over but he was getting close and might learn All Might's secret regarding his weakened state causing Izuku to suddenly panic. "Wait Kirishima…"
"Hey, redhaired boy." Magna called out getting Kirishima's attention and making him turn to Magna as a wall moved cement appeared behind him blocking any sight though Magna's actions were totally coincidental even if they ensured that the wall could be erected in time. "Stop. That's real manly of you to go help your friend out, I commend that, but you've got no training in first aid and no Quirk to assist it. A real man knows when to lend aid and when to let a pro handle it. Don't worry, you will learn how to be of assistance in the future but for now let the pros handle this."
"Listen to your upperclassman." A deep voice said, and Kirishima turned to see Cementoss standing at the end of the cement wall which made sense given his Quirk. "You will be taught how to apply first aid in time but for your safety stay back. Join your classmates at the front gate of the USJ and let us handle All Might and Midoriya. We can take care of them."
"Er what about Ruby?" Weiss asked getting their attention and they turned and stared at the unconscious girl that Weiss still had in her lap having not gotten up due to Ruby's condition.
"Holy…Rose what happened?" Asta said as Kirishima ran over to them.
"She tried to hit that villain with a stun round, but the warp guy made it hit her before we could stop her." Weiss said. "Knocked herself out, dolt. Should last at least half an hour, maybe longer given her age, height, and potential factors related to gender."
"If she's just been knocked out then take her up to the top and wait for Power Loader." Cementoss said to the students. "And tell him what happened. Rose is a Huntress track student, right?"
"Yes." Weiss said as Asta bent down and scooped Ruby up into his arms bridal style as he could easily carry her, his swords having been dismissed a while back without anyone noticing.
"Then he will have the schematics to what she was hit with and be able to tell Recovery Girl how best to treat her." Cementoss said. "We need to stabilize Midoriya's legs here but if Rose is just knocked out she can be treated right away and sent home before Midoriya gets back to campus."
"Ok, thank you." Weiss said with a sigh of relief and an odd feeling in her chest that she didn't get at Asta carrying Ruby the way Ruby had held her a few times already, a pang that would be shared by Noelle in a moment when Asta appeared carrying Ruby though Noelle's would be for the reverse of Weiss's. "Asta, hurry, let's get back to the gate."
"Yeah, come on guys let's get there." Kirishima said. "Midoriya will be fine."
The others nodded and they headed up to the gate as what would become known as the USJ incident came to an end. It was a stark revelation of what the real world was like and all of them would grow stronger from this but for the moment they were just glad that the incident was over at last and with minimal injuries, thankfully no one had died, and they'd all be fine, even Mr. Aizawa in the end.
In the end they had faced their first challenge as a class and overcome it to get stronger. However, this would just be the first of many challenges that Class 1-A would face over the course of the coming year, a year that would change the nation, if not the world, as they knew it and the first incident along that path was the attack on the USJ. For now, though, the heroes had triumphed and that was all that mattered as the USJ incident officially came to an end.
Well there it is, the USJ incident has ended, and the heroes have won while Class 1-A now knows what is out there. They faced a hardship and have come out stronger for it with the knowledge of the evil that is out there though they have no idea the depths of what is in store for all of them. For now they can relax and recover from the incident while they process it, the villains who got away regroup, and everyone begins to get ready for what is next on the agenda. Soon it will be time for that and after the USJ incident it will be a good distractions as everyone gears up for an annual event that gets the whole country's attention, the U.A. Sports Festival. That is of course still to come but this is all that I have for y'all so I will leave this chapter off here. If you like this story please follow, favorite (this story and me) to keep up with it and leave a review or PM, your support is what helps motivate me to keep up this work and any questions posed before the next chapter is uploaded I will try to answer. Until next time.
Stringdog