Chapter 11: A living dream/nightmare
"What's wrong dear?" Inko softly asked, she was giving Eri another class, helping her read, when the girl suddenly started to cry. The mother couldn't understand what was wrong with the normally happy girl.
"Izuku." The younger whimpered, Eri didn't know why, but she felt it, she was scared. She could feel that Izuku needed help, that he was in danger, but she couldn't do anything. After everything, after finally finding a place to call home, people to call family, she couldn't bear to lose it.
Inko brought Eri in a hug, softly caressing her long white locks, "I know darling, I know. I worry about him too." Inko gently pushed the girl so she could look her in the eyes. "But we have to believe in him. he made a promise to us, that he would always come back, so we have to believe in him." Inko carefully rubbed the tears from Eri's cheeks.
"I know there's not much that we can do, but we can hold onto hope, and that's more than enough for Izuku." Inko smiled lovingly and held the girl in her arms once again.
Eri felt hope, the feeling that warmed her chest since Izuku saved her. She could do that, she could hold onto this feeling that made her days brighter, she could do it for Izuku.
—
"Goddammit!" Katsuki's cry of pain and anger echoed on the empty building he landed. Doing a quick once over, he saw that he was now in a wide and barren room, but before he could look for an exit, another voice filled the room.
Quickly stepping away, he saw the darkness that had abducted him spill Eijiro on the spot he was a second ago. The redhead crashed on the ground with his quirk activated, leaving an imprint of his form on the ground.
"Ouch."
Katsuki almost snickered at the half hearted sound of pain, but he felt his instincts flaring up and in a second he was alert and ready for a fight. The hair on the back of his neck stood to end, he knew they were close, "Get up." His voice was leveled but still commanding.
"What?" Eijiro asked, trying to pry himself from the ground.
Katsuki answered without looking at him, "We've got company."
Not so soon after the blond voiced the thought, the Heartless materialized from the Darkness.
Katsuki glared, he thanked all the gods he knew for Izuku's notes about Heartless, notes he read and did his best to memorize, especially after the incident in the lunch hall.
Because of that he recognized the enemies in front of him, Armored Knights, a very thin, humanoid Heartless clad from head to toe in black, grey, and silver armor. Its spherical, pitch-black head and glowing, yellow eyes were visible in its helmet, and there were two red spirals decorating its visor. It also carried a sword with a gold guard and handle. With what he remembered being an Heartless emblem is on its abdomen.
There were at least forty of them, not the best odds but still manageable. Casting a quick glance over his shoulder Katsuki saw that Eijiro was now up and back to back with him. "Your quirk can protect you from the blades?"
"Yeah! at least I think so." He murmured the end, but to be fair who knows what those things were made from? It's not like anyone goes out of their way to be impaled by swords or monsters.
Katsuki started moving, his palms held out, explosions being set off threateningly. The monsters didn't seem to notice or even care. "Deku's notes said these things were not that strong, but don't let them swarn you." The nearest Heartless was blown up with an explosion before it could even raise it's sword, launching it on the ones behind it.
Eijiro saw Katsuki start, and remembering Izuku's quick lesson of how to deal with those monsters, activated his quick and rushed at the nearest one. The Heartless swung his blade arm horizontally, Eijiro brought his arm up to block and prayed that he could really tank it.
With a sharp sound, the blade grinds against his arm, thankfully it was unable to penetrate his hardened skin. Eijiro grinned, shouting while throwing a punch. "You'll have to do better than that if you want to beat me!"
With a resounding clank, the Heartless armor caved vanishing in a puff of smoke. The room then filled with the noise of explosions and metal, the heroes in training destroyed one monster after the other, but their numbers never seemed to dwindle.
"Can't you fuckers just stay down?!" Katsuki shouted between heavy breaths, his moment of distraction almost cost him. One Armored Knight tried to strike his back, but Eijiro was faster, putting himself in the path of the blow.
Katsuki bite back a curse before exploding the Heartless to oblivion. "Are you hurt?!" He saw the multiple scratches covering the redhead skin, but they didn't seem all that life threatening.
Eijiro shook his head, grinning as he punched his knuckles together. "That's nothing, Izu-bro said I could be an unbreakable shield, so they'll have to try a lot harder to bring me down!" He hardened himself again, his passion and his friends encouraging words giving him a second wind.
Katsuki responded to the grin with his usual smirk, but it had a softer tone to it. "Huh, good to see you didn't forget that yet Eijiro, now let's kill these bastards!"
Eijiro did a double take when Katsuki called him by his name, the conviction of the explosive blonde's tone just made it seem more manly on his eyes. Smiling ear to ear, he pumped his jagged fists against each other, "Count me in!"
Before they could restart the battle, the far wall of the room exploded, sending debris flying in and crushing some Heartless. From the smoke, something came running, Katsuki was confused for a second before seeing the symbol on its belly.
"What's that?" Eijiro asked, confused and ready to fight. Whatever this new opponent was, he wasn't willing to back down.
Katsuki's eyes widened, he remembered a page from the journal. "A Dream Eater, what's the name." Katsuki scratched his head furiously trying to jog his memory, "Staggerceps! That's it, but what's it doing here?"
Just on cue, the Dream Eater reached the group of Heartless using its pincers to throw the monsters up.
Ejiro starred watching the beast fight the heartless. "Well at least it's on our side."
The ones that weren't caught by the appendices were still sent airborne by the Dream Eater colliding with them like a bowling ball (and Katsuki could swear that the monsters made the sound of bowling pins).
Some Armored Knights hit the ground and survived, but not for long. From the broken wall, another Dream Eater came, a Kab Kannon if the blonde's spoty memory was correct, it promptly started to attack. From it's horn, it started to shoot burning orbs that exploded on contact. Without losing time the Dream Eater began to rain fire on their enemies.
"Well now that the cavalry's here, let's clean house and go find the others!" Katsuki got a nod from Eijiro, both joined the fray with renewed vigor, but the sense of urgency was getting only stronger.
—
"Guys, we have a problem!" Denki cried in panic. He, Momo and Kyoka were sent to the landslide zone of USJ, an uneven terrain with lots of dirt and half buried structures.
The three students didn't get too hurt in the drop, only a bruise or two, but they were instantly surrounded by Heartless. Momo had seen Izuku's notes, her mind supplying the details of the beasts around the group, "According to Izuku's notes, these are Earth Cores."
They had the same dark face, yellow beady eyes and jagged maw she saw in various Heartless depictions. But the difference from others were the multiple brown spikes sprouting from its back, making it resemble a porcupine. The descriptions were spot on.
"Anything on how to beat them?" Kyoka asked, frowning, the sound of the rock spikes grinding against one another were making her really uncomfortable.
Momo started to create a staff to use as a weapon. "Besides aiming at the face, the rocks protect the rest of the body, we unfortunately don't have much to work with."
Denki tried his best to think of something to help in their predicament, as there were at least twenty Earth Cores slowly closing in on them. "What would Izuku do?" His question made a metaphorical light bulb lit up, and a literal too if he was holding one.
"Hey Momo, can you make me a bat? A metallic one?" The girl in question nodded and quickly made a simple iron baseball bat. Seeing the enchenge, Kyoka asked, "What are you doing?"
Denki smiled, grabbing the bat. "Pulling a Izuku!" He channeled his quirk through his weapon, making yellow lightning arcs dance along it, "Bring it!" He twisted his body and smashed the sparkling bat on a Earth Core face, making the Heartless body light up like a christmas tree with the high electric current flowing through it.
The girls were admittedly impressed with the display. Kyoka didn't want to be outdone, turning to Momo she made a request of her own, trying her best to explain it.
The class Vice-rep passed her the weapon, a katana with a socket in the handle. Kyoka connected her jacks to it and whispered, "Anime don't fail me now." The blade started to slightly vibrate, the girl swung it at one of the monsters that came too close for comfort.
The blade slashed through the Earth Core without resistance, bisecting it in half. Denki whistled at it, Kyoka shot him a smug glance, one that Denki answered with a challenging smirk.
Momo seeing this gave an exasperated sigh before joining them. The three now armed teens started to curb the mob the fastest they could, but the Heartless kept coming back again and again.
"C'mon, enough already!" Denki's annoyed shout didn't deter the Heartless, but it got the attention of someone who could. A grinding sound reached Kyoka's ears, she turned to it's direction and saw something that made her rub her eyes incredulously.
"Hey, am I finally crazy or is there a white bowling ball coming our way really fast?" Kyoka's question got the other's attention. Momo squinted her eyes, trying to identify what it was, before another entry of Izuku's journal came to the forefront of her mind, "It's not a ball, it's a Tamma Sheep, one of Izuku's Dream Eaters in the journal."
"Those things are real?" Denki asked, swinging his bat threateningly at the Earth Cores.
"I think after everything we've seen, Izuku deserves the benefit of the doubt." Momo said, she thought about how she probably owed Izuku an apology. She had dismissed his feelings thinking them as nothing more than an overactive imagination.
The Tamma Sheep finally hit the mob of Heartless, hit in the literal sense. The Earth Cores were sent skyward, so high that the fall alone was enough for them to burst in smoke and rock fragments.
The Dream Eater stopped spinning after the last Heartless was defeated, this time without coming back, and sat on the ground for a second, the slight sway of its body indicating it's dizziness.
The three teenagers were just staring at the sheep, shocked by how something so small and admittedly cute could be so strong.
Momo was the first to recompose herself, approaching the creature slowly, she kneeled in front of it.
She saw its purple eyes focusing on hers, the pattern on it strangely compelling, "You're Izuku's friend, right?" It smiled in a way only a sheep could, jumping at the name of its master braying its agreement to her assumption. At least Momo thought it did, as it's face was part of the rotund body, what complicated reading it's body language.
"I saw what he wrote about you, your name is Cotton?" Momo could feel her friend's stares on the back of her skull, but she couldn't judge, she was talking with a sheep after all. The Dream Eater perked up at the mention of its name, giving a happy cry and hopping to its feet.
"Can you help us get back to our friends?" Cotton gave another cry and started trotting away. When it went a good distance away, the creature stopped and turned its head towards the group. It wanted them to follow it.
Momo stood up and turned to Denki and Kyoka. "Let's go, our friends need us and we don't have time to lose!"
The other two traded a glance, "She's right, and best the sheep than the monsters." Kyoka shrugged and started to walk after Momo and Cotton.
Denki was still unsure, but between following his friends and staying alone, he quickly made up his mind. "Hey! Wait up!".
—
"I think we have quite the problem on our hands, mes amies!" Yuga's usual tone and flamboyant poses didn't stop him from assessing the situation. He, Toru and Todoroki Shoto, one of the recommended students, were stuck in a pickle.
"Yeah, I can see that, and these things can see me apparently!"
His invisible classmate complaining didn't hide the worry in her voice, her most powerful asset was rendered useless as the monsters in front of them had an unknown means to track her, which almost cost the girl her arm if not for Todoroki's last minute save.
Yuga did his best to remember his green friends notes to try to identify their enemies, they looked exactly like the ones Izuku faced in the lunchroom, but more humanoid, the new look making the shadow monsters more intimidating.
That line of thought gave Yuga the mental push to remember the creature's names. "If Izuku's journal is to be trusted, these créatures are Neoshadows!"
"Midoriya knows about these things?" Todoroki's tone was cold, his eyes never leaving the shadow forms of the Heartless surrounding them.
Toru gave Yuga a small shove before he could say more. "Yeah, he knows a thing or two, you saw how he likes to take notes about stuff in his notebooks." The answer seemed to satisfy Todoroki.
Toru whispered to Yuga, "Let's try to keep it on the down low. We weren't even sure that any of that stuff was real. But if these things are real then we can only imagine what else is real from that journal."
Yuga nodded, scolding himself for his slip up, it wasn't his place to talk about things that frankly no one knew the entire truth about what was going on with Izuku. Even Izuku admitted that those dreams he talks about were probably nothing. Guess they were all wrong, the heartless in the school proved that.
His mental reprimands were cut short, he saw a Neoshadow jumping at Toru's back, claws ready to strike. Quickly pushing the girl aside, Yuga fired his quirk, the sparkling beam of light from his Navel Laser hit the enemy dead center, obliterating its torso and making the monster burst in smoke. The victory was short lived as a second later, the Darkness converged once again in the humanoid form of the Neoshadow looking like new.
Todoroki saw the display and frowned, "Did Midoriya have anything on how to defeat these Neoshadows permanently?"
Toru, remembering Izuku's quick guide of how to deal with Heartless (It was a working title) told her cold classmate, "They're like animals, they don't think, so if you can scare them enough they'll leave, hopefully."
Todoroki heard the last whispered word, but decided that following a baseline is better than going blindly. "Stay at my left." He said without looking at the others, raising his right hand, he focused on his quirk. A second later, a wave of ice spread, encasing the Heartless in ice, turning them in sculptures of dark frost.
"C-cool, but you could give a little m-more warning next time!" Toru was shaking like a leaf, she tucked herself like a burrito in Yuga's cape, trying to ward off the cold her classmate produced.
"I think the show is not quite over yet." Yuga noticed how some freezed Heartless were beginning to shake. After the sparkling boy warning, the Heartless burst from their ice prison, unbothered by the cryogenic experience.
"Now would be a nice time for some backup." Toru whimpered in the faint hope that one of their friends, preferably Izuku, would come to their rescue. Her wish was granted, in a way.
The three students heard the sound of something skidding on ice. Before them or their enemies could do anything else, a colorful form came blitzing through the frosty ground.
Just a glance was enough for Yuga to recognize it, while he didn't give much attention to the dark and twisted form of Heartless in Izuku's notes, the colored and dashing forms of Dream Eaters caught the boy's eyes. He could clearly remember the basics about the new arrival, "Looks like your prayers were heard, mademoiselle. With the floor freezed, an Iceguin Ace will be able the deal with our foes in no time!"
And deal with them it did, the penguin slided so fast it looked like a blur. Flowing through the enemy lines, the Dream Eater started to quickly and methodically take down Heartless. The heroes in training watched transfixed as the Iceguin Ace speared through the Neoshadows faster than they could react, and this time the monsters didn't reform themselves.
In the end, the Dream Eater stopped in front of the group. Getting up, the three got a full view of the Spirit symbol proudly displayed in its chest. The penguin made some soft cries and did a gesture for them to follow, before turning away and starting to march.
Toru was quick to run after their savior, "Let's go before we freeze here!"
Yuga complied and started to walk. Turning to Todoroki, who still hadn't moved. "Don't worry Todoroki-san, if a Dream Eater is here it's because Izuku sent it." With a nod, the ice hero student started to follow, but questions started to pile in his mind. Just who exactly was Midoriya Izuku?
—
"Is everyone all right?" Thirteen voice cut through the daze that settled in Ochaco's mind. She quickly shook her head, looking around, she saw that only some of her classmates were still with her at the entrance of USJ.
Tenya, Mina and Hanta were close to her. A little farther away, Shoji Mezo, a tall boy with six arms, and Sato Rikido, another boy of considerable height and musculature, were slowly rising. Thirteen was already up, standing between the mist Villain and the students.
They were still surrounded by Heartless, but fortunately the dark creatures seemed satisfied with blocking any escape route of the students.
"Some were able to escape my grasp." The villain said, absentmindedly.
Thirteen used the opportunity to convey her orders. "Iida-san, I'll hold the villain, run back to the main building and call for help."
"It's foolish to say your plan aloud when your enemy is right before you!" The mist composing the man rushed forward.
Thirteen pointed a finger at him, the cap at the tip opening, activating her quirk. The mist started to be sucked into it.
"Iida go!" Ochaco pushed him in the direction of the exit.
"But, I cannot just abandon you all here!" He protested.
Unfortunately the brief opportunity their teacher created ended, "You are a fantastic rescue hero, Thirteen, however you are not familiar with the battlefield!" The mist villain created a portal between him and the space themed hero, and another directly behind her back.
Ochaco blood ran cold, she cried from the top of her lungs for Thirteen to move, but it was already too late for her. The other students were also unable to reach the hero, the power of her quirk traveling from the portal to her back. When all hope seemed lost, thunder struck.
The light and sound made all those in the entrance blind to the world for a second. When their vision cleared, standing with Thirteen on its back, the hero completely unscathed, was Izuku's most powerful Dream Eater.
Ochaco and Tenya were silent, marveling at the imposing and regal figure. One thing was seeing Izuku's sketches, while detailed, weren't capable of conveying the sheer presence of Tesla, just standing close enough to feel the very air becoming charged with electricity.
Mina tapped Ochaco's arm, and in a squeaky voice asked, "Is that…?" She didn't know exactly what the question was, but she could only nod dumply. Tenya wasn't fairing much better, as what could be considered a mythical creature was right in front of them, and it was angry.
Spirits were made of good dreams, of love, of kindness. So seeing a bunch of children being terrified by a man with a heart surrounded in as much Darkness as its body enraged the Dream Eater, so now he would feel the rage of a storm.
Tesla raised a front hove, and with the power capable of smashing boulders, he brought it down like a hammer. Lightning rained down, decimating every Heartless that stood before USJ's gates.
They all watched as a being that was closer to a force of nature fell an entire group of monsters in a second. Gently, Tesla shook his body, Thirteen, who was still on top of the Electricorn's back, understood what it wanted and dismounted the Dream Eater.
Now free to exercise its powers to the fullest, Tesla slowly started to march in the direction of the villain. It's power flowing from its body, the energy coming forth as arcs of lightning that danced over its body, pebbles on the ground started to float from all the electricity that followed the Dream Eater in its warpath.
Tesla started to focus all this energy in the tip of his horn, forming an orb of lightning so powerful it could light a whole city for a day, and it aimed directly at the villain standing between Tesla and its charges and the exit.
All Kurogiri's instincts were screaming at him to get out of the way, and he was quick to follow them, warping away just as Tesla unleashed his wrath. In another flash of thunder, one that this time fortunately the students were prepared for, Tesla's attack carved a path of carbonized stone that led directly to what once was the giant steel doors of USJ.
The once proud barrier was nothing more than two slugs of molten metal that were forcefully ripped from the wall they resided and thrown dozens of meters away.
All witnesses of the power of Izuku's companion stood rooted in their spots, observing the destruction caused by the Dream Eater, while the villain was quick to recover from the shock and made a quick get away, the heroes in training and their teacher could only stare at the Electricorn.
"What was that?" Ochaco's voice became deafening in the silence of the scorched battleground, and it got the attention of them all, but the only one that moved was Tesla. They all freezed seeing the creature capable of so much destruction start trotting at the girl, no one capable of moving from fear of being the next one in it's sight.
Ochaco thought that this was it, that was how it ended for her, but Izuku's trusted partner surprised them all once again when it started to gently nudge its head against Ochaco's cheeks, eleticing giggles from the girl.
"You are just like Izuku, under all the power is only a big softy, right?" The girl asked, her fears dispelled by the gesture of affection and reassurance, but she was now greeted with the adorable sight of the imposing Dream Eater looking away shyly.
'Cute!' She and a few others thought all at the same time.
"Can someone explain?" Thirteen asked, lost by the sudden turn of events.
"Well, it's kind of a long story." Ochaco tried to deflect the question. Luckily, there were more pressing matters, "Fine, let's save it for later, Iida-san, go call backup."
Before Tenya could protest again to Thirteen orders, Ochaco intervened, "Tenya go, you're the fastest here, we'll be safe, right buddy?" She turned to Tesla, the Dream Eater giving a nod and making the air crisp with static.
Tenya clenched his fists, but in the end decided to believe his friends. "Stay safe, I will be back as soon as possible!" With his words said, he turned to the former gate and started to run.
Leaving his friends behind left a sour taste on his mouth, but he knew it was necessary, 'Wait just a little longer, I will be back to save you my friends!'
—
Ojiro was expecting a lot of things for his day. Have classes, maybe join the ever expanding group of friends his class have, do some different hero exercises.
What he did not expect was to be whisked away by a wave a black mist and dropped in a city that was on fire.
He also wasn't expecting to be surrounded by monsters, similar to the ones his class rep fought the other day, the exception being these were like floating cooking pots with two fiery horns on their heads, red lines marking their black bodies like rivers of lava in a volcano.
He was taken by surprise by all that, but he liked to believe he did his best in this situation, he fought the monsters the best he could. Unfortunately the creatures only kept reforming time and again, and the boy was getting more worn out.
Luckily, another creature appeared, one resembling a dragon. It was much more colorful than the ones he was facing, and much friendlier too, it helped the boy dispatch the dark ones, this time they didn't come back.
As he was catching his breath after the prolonged battle, the dragon, who barely seemed winded even after throwing moves that only he saw masters capable of using on the dojos he frequented, tugged on his gi, drawing his attention.
It pointed to the side, in the direction of the exit, making a soft cry before starting to move at the direction. Mashirao was confused for a second, but when the dragon stopped and turned to him with a tilted head, its intentions became clear.
The tailed boy started to follow, as after all the unexpected things that happened today, what was one more?
—
Koji was glad to not be dropped alone, especially when Heartless started to appear left and right. He didn't remember all the notes that his friend had on the Dwellers of Darkness that surrounded him and his classmate Tokoyami, but he remembered their names being Air Pirates.
He was also glad that his partner's quirk, while having a striking resemblance with Heartless, was still under his control and effective in protecting both from the winged monsters.
While Tokoyami and Dark Shadow could put the creatures down, more kept coming, and they were starting to get overwhelmed. As they were inside a building and in the Downpour zone of USJ, Koji didn't have any animals to use his quirk on. The boy wasn't much of a fighter, even with his considerable strength.
Most of all, he was glad that his friend Izuku sent someone to help them before things became too dangerous. He had to admit, Dream Eaters were even more beautiful in person, the colored form of the animal, one that even in a world of quirks was only believed to exist in legend, was a sight to behold.
The Pegaslick descended on the aerial Heartless like a hurricane, twisting its body in a dangerous dance that sent the Air Pirates directly to oblivion. Koji saw his companions' confusion and tried to explain the best he could while not going in too many details of Izuku's situation, as it was not his place to.
Now they were on the back of the Pegaslick flying to the entrance, and the quick and joyful ride was only one more thing to be glad about.
—
Shota was not happy with the turn of events. One normal class of basic rescue training turning in a villain attack would make everyone feel the same, but he had his problem child almost spell for him the severity of the situation and he still wasted time, which led to him and his students being warped all over the USJ, as the various signs of conflict over the building became clear.
Now he was in the middle of the plaza, surrounded by Heartless, that were immune to his quirk, wasting time trying to carve a way out of the horde of monsters while his charges were probably in worse places than him, facing the same odds.
All the while the villains that led the attack were only watching his struggles. The one covered in hands was seemingly amused by all the chaos, while the big one with the brain exposed was blankly staring at nothing. But the cause of his concern was the one in a bodysuit, for the body structure he could take a guess and say he was roughly the age of his students, but he couldn't be sure as he was covered head to toe.
What sent red flags on his mind was just how disinterested he appeared, looking at a random direction with his arms crossed, like all the mayhem caused was nothing worthy of note.
That could mean many things, but the more probable and concerning was he did that so many times it lost its novelty, or he was strong enough that a battle of this level was not noteworthy. And the worst was that his gut was telling him the answer was both.
The chill that spread over his body at that realization almost made one of the floating orbs with jagged maws tear his head with a bite, was not by the creature being destroyed by a buzzsaw of metal and lightning.
Aizawa let a sigh of relief, as it was proof that the only person in the building capable of doing something has arrived, and most important, he was capable of getting out of whatever pit of snakes he was thrown at.
Casting a quick glance at the direction the weapon came from, he saw something that made him raise an impressed eyebrow.
Coming from where the Flood zone met the plaza, and walking through water, was his problem child. While it was more accurate to say he was running, with each step exerting enough power to look like a artillery shell hit the water, which was enough for him to push himself forward without sinking, even while carrying two of his classmates, Asui on his back and Mineta under his left arm.
In another awe-inspiring show of power, Midoriya crouched down, the moment his feet hit the water's surface, he sprung up, jumping high in the air while the water exploded in all directions. At the top of his ascension, he called his Keyblade throwing it at the ground, right in the middle of the mass of dark creatures.
The blade hit the ground creating a shockwave of light that obliterated all Heartless in its range. The boy aimed his descend to the open space he created strategically close to his teacher. His feet hit the ground and in a second he and his classmates sprang into action, closing the rest of the distance between them and Aizawa.
"Good to see you sensei!" Izuku exclaimed with his usual bright smile. "I got worried for a second since this place was full of Dark Balls," he punctuated his statement by cleaving one of the floating orbs, Dark Balls as he now knew, in half, "And Invisibles!" He parried one of the blades of the humanoid monsters with heart shaped holes in their chests and tendrils covering its head.
"Ribbit, Izuku, why are they called Invisibles if we can see them?" Asui asked the question Shota already knew and dreaded the answer to.
"You can see them now! It's when they turn invisible that you should be worried!" He pushed the Heartless aside and batted it at others with his weapon.
"Good to know, I think it's better to call back up, like, right now!" Mineta gave a panicked cry when a Dark Ball tried to bite him while he was talking, but the Heartless only ended with his jaws stuck closed by a well timed sticky orb by his troubles.
"Yup, reinforcements coming right up!" Midoriya said, pushing all the closest Heartless away. Before EraserHead could ask what he meant by that, Izuku put his hand over his heart and called once again for the power of the Spirits.
Light escaped by the space between his fingers, and springing into existence in bright puffs of smoke, Dream Eaters appeared beside the heroes.
At Minoru's left was a Juggle Pup, the sea lion nodded to the boy, and both started to throw their balls at the Heartless, capturing and defeating the monsters in their barrage.
In front of Tsu, three forms came to life, a Sir Kyroo, a Chef Kyroo, and leading the other two was a Lord Kyroo. The three bowed to Tsu before turning around and hopping into the battle, the girl right behind them.
At Aizawa's side appeared a Necho Cat, in a deep and dark recess of his mind, he found the creature cute, but he couldn't see how it could face the Heartless in front of them, his doubts were dispelled when the Dream Eater spun around striking a Dark Ball with it's note shaped tail, sending it into another making both burst in smoke.
Shota already had made the mistake of wasting time with questions once that day, he wouldn't make it again. Saving every inquiry he had to his problem child for another time, the hero would simply believe his student knew what he was doing. With his priorities set, EraserHead jumped back on the fray with his feline companion following close behind.
They fought with renewed vigor born from the despairing odds they faced, the Dream Eaters helped to take out the Heartless, Izuku dealt with his share of enemies on his own. His Keyblade a blur of metal and power, One For All pushing him to a whole new level, as even in his visions, his memories, he wasn't capable of storming through the Heartless like that.
Every attack sent the Dwellers of Darkness flying, their defenses were crushed by the strength of the young wielder. He felt alive even while staring at death, because he knew it couldn't grasp him, he would keep its hands away from his friends. He wouldn't leave anyone behind, they were all coming out of this mess, even if he had to cleave a path through the darkness himself!
The power entrusted to him only seemed to burn brighter along with his determination, after a span of time that was simultaneously too short and unending, the battle was over. Among the dark smoke that was slowly dissipating, the heroes stood victorious.
"Weren't your summons supposed to be unbeatable? Why did they all die then?" The hand covered villain asked the masked boy.
"That's because the only thing that can destroy them is in the hand of Izzy over there, so if you don't want your little raid to fail, it's better to send your little toy after him."
The gimmick annoyed him, he suppose it made sense, with so many random NPC's one could have something capable of hurting his troops, but the end result would still be the same, "Nomu, kill that brat." He said, pointing at the green clad boy.
"Now let's head to the entran-." Izuku was cut by a familiar voice whispering in his ear. "Behind you!" Izuku didn't have time to think why he heard Eri's voice, in what was barely a whisper, in his ear, his body moved before his mind could, dodging a massive fist by the skin of his teeth.
Turning around, he saw the hulking villain, its black skin barely containing the muscles beneath, the brain exposed to the world, the blank eyes looking at him with all the emotion of a corpse.
Before Izuku could even get a word out, the villain's other hand shot out, grabbing his head, taking his feet out of the ground as the brute effortlessly held him. Izuku quickly pointed his Keyblade forward, its tip glowing orange, in a second flames spewed from it and hit his enemy in the head.
The villain cried in pain with the fire striking in its brain, letting Izuku go in favor of holding his head.
At that time, dark mist materialized beside the hand covered man, and Kurogiri warped himself into the plaza, "Shigaraki Tomura, there has been a problem in my end."
"Let me guess, one of Izuku's pets showed up and sent you packing?" Vanitas' voice was dripping with smugness, "Doesn't matter, we can still turn this around if we take Greenie there out of the picture."
Shigaraki could feel that there was something he was not saying, but Vanitas still had a point, if a mob of Heartless could keep EraserHead on the defensive, then they could do the same with other heros while his Nomu killed All Might.
"Not if we beat you fuckers first!" The voice followed by explosions took them by surprise, Katsuki came barreling towards them like a murderous missile. He tackled Kurogiri on his weak spot, dragging him away by the metal casing.
Pushing the mist villain to the ground, Katsuki kept a hand hovering menacingly over him, "Move and I send you straight to hell!"
"That's not something very heroic to say." Kurogiri rebuttal didn't change the fact he was now at Katsuki's mercy.
A loud clunk got his attention, he looked up just in time to see Izuku trying to defend against one of the Nomu's attacks that he wasn't fast enough to dodge, only for his Keyblade to be ripped out of his hands.
"Deku!" Katsuki shouted, seeing his friend being disarmed. Abandoning his prisoner, he used his quirk to propel himself.
He adjusted himself mid flight, aiming for the weapon skidding on the ground. Turning his body, he grabbed the handle, even if the weight of it almost dragged him along.
One thing that few knew is just how heavy Izuku's Keyblade was. People saw him swinging it around and didn't realize, but Katsuki already was on the receiving end of it.
He remembered how in Izuku's notes, a Keyblade was the power of one's heart given form, and even if trying to lift Heroes Rising from the ground was like trying to lift a mountain, it felt right.
He knew that Izuku's will to help others was just as impossible to bend as his blade. Since he was a kid that barely could function, he still put himself between someone crying and the world, and he never backed down. The blade in Katsuki's hand embodied that perfectly, and that was the only solace he found as the weapon seemed to judge him.
In a second that felt like it lasted forever, it looked at him, and he couldn't hide, he couldn't lie, it knew. It knew everything he had done, everything he regretted, everything he promised himself to make up for.
But it may have found something that it approved, because even if Katsuki had to put everything he had, his muscles bulging with the strain, it moved. With an overhead slash and a wordless war cry, Katsuki brought the blade down on the Nomu's back, leaving a deep gash in it.
The monster stumbled, before turning its vacant stare at Katsuki. The boy in turn had a maniacal smile, even while he could barely keep the Keyblade out of the ground, he smiled because he succeeded.
Heroes Rising disappeared from his grip in a shower of green sparks, the sound it made, something Katsuki's brain couldn't exactly place, it was a mix of a raging wind, a building storm, and a clash of steel. It was nothing more than the sound the Keyblade always made when it materialized, but now Katsuki could tell what it conveyed, it was an anthem on its own, and with it, the promise that a hero would be there.
A promise that Izuku always keeps. As the bioweapon started to move, a shout traveled through the plaza, "Gravity!" The purple orb fell on the beast, making it's movements slow, slow enough for Katsuki to dodge. An explosion and he was retreating, safely gaining distance.
Izuku was already at Nomu's back when Katsuki landed, the green haired boy slashing at the brute back like a whirlwind. Katsuki casted a glance back and saw that the mist bastard was once again beside the other invaders.
Cursing, Katsuki decided to go for plan B. With an explosion, he flew to his teacher and classmates, "Hey! Change of plans, we have to go!" He said quickly pushing them to the stairs that led to the entrance.
"Bakugo, you take them, I'll help Midoriya." Katsuki cutted his teacher path before he could do something stupid, "No, you're not, Deku is the only one fast enough to lose that thing, so we're going to stop wasting time here and go so he can too!" His eyes were staring at his teacher's, for the second time today Aizawa had to admit defeat.
"Let's go." While the words tasted like ash on his tongue, Shota saw the logic of his student, but it didn't change the feeling of failure he felt by letting one of the kids he was responsible for behind.
Izuku saw that his friends were almost leaving the plaza with their teacher and sighed in relief. "Just a little more and you can make a break for it kid, keep the pressure!" Nana's encouraging words didn't distract Izuku from his enemy, now slow enough for him to keep up.
But it didn't matter how many wounds Izuku inflicted, his adversary kept regenerating, the cuts closing in seconds.
"Give up, Nomu has a regeneration quirk, don't matter what you do, you can't kill him!" Shigaraki boasted, like a child showing their new toy. Izuku already deducted that, so with a strike to the knee, he created an opening and dashed to the stairs.
"Going somewhere, Izuku?" The voice made Izuku shiver, and in front of him, a wall of Darkness rose and blocked his escape route,
"We may have a problem." Izuku muttered with his voice full of panic. Turning around, he saw the Nomu getting up, walking towards his direction. In his mind Nana was trying to think of something to get Izuku out of his predicament when she felt a hand on her shoulder, she looked back and gave a sigh of relief.
'Okay, I'll like some help here!'
"Don't worry, I have something that should give you an edge." His own voice sounded in his head, what should be something normal, if not by the fact he was not the one who voiced those words.
"I hope it's something really good or I'm toast!"
"Hey relax, I don't just stay lazing around in my free time, you're not the only one going Plus Ultra to become a hero!" As the Other voice kept rising, so did the light that started to envelope Izuku.
"Well I'll be damn, looks like pulling an out from nowhere is a family thing." Vanitas' comment conveyed that he was honestly impressed.
He wasn't the only one, because now, standing against the Nomu was Izuku, fully clothed in armor. It was the same one he used in his Dive to the Heart, cape, prongs and plates in all its glory. But Izuku instantly knew the difference, now it was real, it was the true armor of a Keyblade Master. It's power born from his heart to protect him from the Darkness, if Izuku could believe in one thing, it was the strength of his heart.
He took a breath, even the air coming through his helmet felt different, the lingering smell of Darkness that permeated the building since the beginning of the attack to USJ being barred by the metal shell that now covered Izuku.
For a second he stood still, the world seemingly stopping in anticipation to the Master move, and in a blink of an eye, Izuku moved. His armored greaves carving the concrete beneath his feet, he shot at the Nomu like a bullet, passing the bioweapon, but not without striking.
With a thud, the Nomu's arm fell to the ground, being severed in the elbow. The beast roared in pain, but to Izuku's amazement, a new limb grew in place of the old one, the Nomu lunged at Izuku in rage.
The armor clad hero responded in kind, blurring into movement. He jumped at the last second, striking Nomu's jaw with his knee, the maw of the brute closing with a sound of teeth hitting each other. Reeling his left arm back, his hand lit up with a yellow glow, "Thunder Smash!" He brought his sparking fist down onto Nomu's exposed brain.
Lightning exploded from the point of contact, the brute started to spasm from the electric current flowing through his system. Izuku hit the ground already charging another spell, the tip of his Keyblade glowing an icy blue, aiming to the Nomu's leg.
The spell shot at point blank completely freezed the leg, Izuku pulled his leg back and with a kick that would have sent a ball into orbit, shattered the limb, making the Nomu drop to the ground. Izuku took a step forward to dodge the falling body, quickly turning around, his cape flailing behind him, he shot another Blizzard spell at the arm the beast was already stretched to backhand him.
The arm froze, Izuku destroyed it with an overhead slash. Feeling his magic build up, Izuku's body shot up, his arm was now glowing blue halfway to his elbow, a chilling wind flowing through it, "Blizzara Smash!" The fist hitted the Nomu in the jaw with a hook that sent the half dismembered and now completely encased in ice off the ground. But Izuku wasn't done, holding Heroes Rising with both his hands, he pointed it to the sky and shouted, "Thunder!".
Lightning crashed down on the frozen beast while it was still in the air, pushing it down to the ground and destroying its icy prison. Izuku panted slightly, a little out of breath, but he soon relaxed as the Nomu stayed on the ground, immovable.
"No, nononono, No! He cheated, Nomu should kill All Might, not lose to some brat!" Shigaraki started to furiously scratch his neck, cursing at the trash mob that revealed to be a hidden boss.
Vanitas shook his head, "Stop complaining, we just have to give your pet his own power up." He snapped his fingers.
Izuku felt a wave of Darkness converging on the fallen form of the Nomu, to his despair, the bioweapon stood up, now it was even more terrifying. Its form was now practically oozing Darkness, red veins marked its dark flesh, its eyes were now a beady yellow. In its chest, a Heartless emblem materialized, the creature roared, the air that was dislocated by it was enough to push Izuku back.
The Nomu fell, but a Juggernaut just rose from the dark. Izuku was silent, praying for a miracle, but instead, he got a hero.
Like a bomb, All Might hit the ground, his legs carving a trench at the entrance of the USJ, his feet pulverizing the already carbonized stone on the ground.
"I WAS CONCERNED WHEN NO ONE ANSWERED MY CALLS, BUT FOR IT TO BE VILLAINS INVADING UA," All Might stood up, all those that could see him felt hope swell up their hearts, but they all tremble when they saw his face.
All Might was not smiling.
"BUT YOU DON'T HAVE TO WORRY ANYMORE, WHY?" He ripped his tie from his neck, the dramatic effect only accentuating his escown.
"BECAUSE, I AM HERE!"
This epic battle (read chaotic mess) was created by me, and keeperofhounds put some Order on it.
I'm working in a new project that should be up soon, so keep an eye on my profile, or better yet, join the discord (don't forget to delete the spaces)
discord . gg / stAGY4V