His body was burning, every cell crying out in unending agony as the power of Eri's Quirk flowed through him. Rewind, that's what Aizawa had called it. A Quirk that could be used to save so many people but came with a history marked by tragedy. A faint sound reached his ears, distant yet close; turquoise eyes opened a crack, but saw nothing. 'Someone's… screaming?'
He strained his ears, desperate to pick up anything else, 'Yelling. Shouting? Why?' His memory was hazy, he was holding something close to him; Eri. Why was he holding her? Villains. That's right, villains were attacking. His grip tightened; he had to protect her. The pain continued.
In the midst of his torture, an image formed in his mind: a muscular woman with black hair tied up in a ponytail, a small mole just below her bottom lip. She seemed familiar, yet he did not recognize her. Whenever he tried to remember, the pain tore through him, returning him to the present. The woman's mouth moved but he heard nothing. He opened his own mouth, tried to tell her he couldn't hear her, that he couldn't understand, but his voice failed him. A new stab of pain struck him, different from the fire filling his veins. His heart cracked, weighed down for reasons he could not remember. The woman's eyes softened, a sympathetic smile graced her lips. She repeated what she said slowly, allowing him to read her lips. 'What is your dream?'
Another image, the same woman looking at him, her expression one of… curiosity? Snowflakes drifted down from gray clouds as the two stood on the shore of a river, the shadows cast from overhead turning the water dark and glass-like. His voice, "I want to make a world where everybody can smile and live together happily. I want to be a pillar that gives people hope."
Their surroundings fell away but the woman remained, her matronly smile still on her face. She spoke silently once more, 'People are in danger, they're panicking. They need hope, help them.'
"I can't." he cried, mournful tears leaking from his eyes. He wanted to, his muscles strained in vain, but he was paralyzed. unable to move as Eri's Quirk rewound him. The irony was not lost on him: for so long, his body had ached from years spent pushing it to the limits so he could help as many people as he could. It was only after he lost his side, had it torn away in a blow from a monstrous inhuman amalgamation of corrupted flesh that decades of injuries truly began to take their toll. Now he could feel them vanishing, small pains fading away, tiny fires that had contributed to the inferno dying out, yet the inferno remained, growing stronger as more of his attention was filled by it. He screamed as his side burned, screamed until he could scream no longer, yet it did nothing to help him. Then all at once, it stopped.
The light that had blinded him faded away as a small weight slumped against his broad chest. He blinked as his eyes adjusted, the room quickly coming back into focus. His fellow faculty members were spread out over the room well away from him and young Eri, likely in an effort to avoid being affected by her Quirk. Speaking of Eri, he looked down. She was asleep, her tiny chest rising and falling softly as she snored quietly, a soft 'mhew' that reminded him of a baby kitten.
"Hmm, it seems that the activation and usage of her Quirk has left Miss Eri quite exhausted," an almost cheery voice noted.
"Principal?" All Might questioned, his voice hoarse. Weakly, he turned his head to find himself face to face with a dog-mouse-bear creature standing on the seat next to him.
"And Aizawa," the being said, gesturing to the open doorway of the private box where the shaggy haired teacher stood leaning against the doorframe, using it to support himself. His costume was torn in several places and he was breathing heavily. Behind him, All Might could just barely make out several forms lying limp in the hallway. "You have him to thank for stopping Eri's Quirk when he did. If things had continued as they had… well, best not to think about it." Nezu chirped cheerfully, "How are you feeling, All Might?"
The hero took a moment to mentally examine his body, "I feel…good?" he admitted, the surprise clear in his voice. "In fact, I feel better than I have in years."
"That's no surprise," Nezu squeaked, smiling eerily, "After all, it seems you have physically regressed nearly two decades in the brief time you were affected by Miss Eri's Quirk."
Time seemed to freeze around him, "What?" All Might choked out. Nezu responded with a mere gesture of his paw. Taking the principal's que, All Might looked down, taking in for the first time that Eri had managed to comfortably collapse against his now broad chest, that his side hadn't sent pain rippling through him when he moved, twisting in his seat even the slightest bit.
"B-but I'm not in my muscular form." All Might whispered, unable to hold in his surprise.
"Of course not, you no longer have a muscular form. You were rewound to before your debilitating injury was inflicted upon you. You're as close to your physical prime as you can reasonably get."
"But-"
"We'll have time to talk later," Nezu said, holding up a paw to stop All Might before he could ask any more questions, "As fascinating as this is, our current situation is not conducive to long conversations. We are under attack, the people need reassurance, they need you."
All Might took a deep breath, his shoulders set as he stood up, holding young Eri close to him. The girl didn't awaken as he handed her to Aizawa before making his way to the windows, looking out over the stadium below. Looking down, he could see his students, miniature figures at this height, trying their best to face threats they had no reason to confront. A swipe of his hand tore his suit from his body revealing his Hero Costume underneath, the blond not having changed out of it after his talk with Endeavor. The muscular behemoth crouched, bending his knees before leaping through the glass panel, which shattered, blowing outwards after him as he descended, dropping several stories in seconds to land in the stadium below, kicking up a cloud of dust as he landed. "Ya know," Snipe said in the sudden silence he left behind with his departure, "I think that's the first time I've ever seen him without that signature smile of his."
Yui Kodia, Class 1-B's resident kuudere, was shaking. Her body trembled, tears leaked from her eyes as she sobbed silently. She tried for the umpteenth time to move, to shimmy and shake, to do anything but stand there in the hallway frozen in place, but she could do nothing.
She could blink and move her eyes. She could breathe through her nose, her lungs in turn expanding and contracting as she inhaled and exhaled. She could swallow, but when she tried to do anything else, tried to move her jaw to speak, walk with her legs, or lash out with her arms, her body remained still. At most she could vibrate in place, her limbs softly shaking as she pushed her body to move, to do anything other than stand there and let-
"Aw, what's wrong?" A voice hissed in her ear, dripping with sinister glee. An arm draped itself around her neck, its skin rough and pimply leaving her feeling dirty as her captor leaned in close, practically pressing his skull-shaped mask against her face. "Are you trying to move? Don't tell me you're having trouble?"
Yui cursed herself for letting her guard down, for thinking this monster could have been a hero. She knew it was excusable, heading back to her seat from the restroom the man had approached her saying he'd been impressed by her performance. In these back hallways open only to U.A. students, staff, and those with special permission, she'd thought nothing of his presence. He'd held out his hand introducing himself as Tesla and when she'd gone to shake it, he'd acted; a shock raced through her system when their hands touched and she'd found herself immobilized. Frozen still standing. He hadn't stopped touching her since.
He explored her body, his bare hands slowly trailing down her sides causing her to shiver in disgust. When he reached her hips, he squeezed them before pulling a hand back to slap her rear. Yui couldn't stop herself from yelping, the villain immediately pouncing on her response. "Aw, did you like that?" He asked smugly. Yui merely glared at him balefully.
The villain laughed, "Don't give me that look," he snorted, amusement clear. "It's not my fault you assumed I was a good guy." He pulled a hand back and as she watched yellow lightning danced in the air between his fingers.
E–Rank Villain: Tesla
Quirk: Electric Charge
An electric-type, Tesla can harvest and manipulate electrical currents.
"An interesting thing about the human body that not a lot of people think about is that it runs on electricity. Every movement, from the simple act of breathing to the slightest twitch of your finger happens because of an electrical signal your brain emits. It's still a work in progress, but so long as I keep a hand on somebody, I can keep those signals from going through. Sure, the smaller, nonconscious stuff gets through which is why you're currently able to breathe and I can't keep your body from twitching, but the bigger actions like the act of punching me," Yui just knew the villain was smiling behind his mask, "those I can keep in check all day."
He laughed again, "Who would have thought infiltrating U.A. would be such a breeze? I mean seriously, they talk so big about their security yet here I was able to walk straight through the secure door with a wave of my hand."
"They'll catch you," Yui spoke for the first time, her voice surprisingly calm considering the situation she found herself in.
"Oh, I highly doubt that," Tesla said darkly. "I have no doubt that if I was here by myself I'd already have been caught. But the thing is," he leaned in close, "I'm not here by myself. I'm part of the League of Villains, and right now all my compatriots are out there in the stands running wild amongst the civilians. The heroes are going to have their work cut out for them, so I doubt they'll bother coming here to the section of the stadium reserved for those U.A's approved. That means, you're here all alone with me, and I have all the time in the world."
Yui felt her confidence shatter. If what he was saying was true, no one was coming for her. Sure her classmates knew she'd gone to the bathroom, but as Tesla'd said these hallways were supposedly secure, protected by U.A.'s infamous security system. There was no reason for them to believe she was in danger. She was alone.
Yui was brought back to reality as Tesla grabbed her and pushed her backwards. Her paralyzed legs kept her from moving and she 'eeped' as she fell, stars dotting her vision when her head hit the wall. Tesla straddled her, one of his hands came up to roughly grab a breast while the other grabbed the top of her uniform. He pulled on it roughly, but the fabric of the sports festival uniform was designed to handle students far stronger than him without breaking. Growling at the inconvenience, Tesla took his hand from her breast to grab the top's zipper, slowly lowering it, savoring the moment.
A black workout sports bra came into view, but was quickly torn away, revealing the pale flesh of Yui's bare breasts. Pink nipples hardened in the cold air as Tesla threw the remnants of the bra to the side and proceeded to grope her. Yui shivered as his hands roughly dug into her flesh. This was the dark side of heroics, one rarely touched upon in the news or spoken about out loud, but one that everybody knew about even if they preferred not to think about it: Heroes didn't always win, sometimes they lost, and when that happened, they didn't always walk away. Losing a fight as a hero left you in the villain's power, your fate tied to their whims. You could get killed, tortured, sold, vanish off the face of the Earth and into the shady underground never to be heard from again.
It was the truth, cold and brutal as it could be, and while they all had to sign a waiver for the heroics course saying they understood what could happen, it wasn't something any of them felt they would have to worry about for some time. U.A. was three years, and as they'd been told in orientation, each was designed with a particular focus. First year was all about training, growing stronger, both physically and with their Quirk; honing it, learning just what their limits were, and pushing beyond them to go Plus Ultra. Second year would be spent training to get their Provisional License and once they got them, interning with heroes in a support capacity. Third year would be about specialization and networking, choosing what area of heroics they wanted to focus on and then doubling down upon it. This was the year students applied for sidekick positions at an agency or set about planning to start their own.
As a heroics student, Yui knew what it was she was getting herself into, what she was risking by choosing this lifestyle. Death, injuries, capture, even the situation she found herself in wasn't discarded as a possibility. But that was the thing, wasn't it? It's a possibility, a statistic you only see or hear about until it happens to you, then it becomes all too real.
Having had his fill playing with her mammaries, Tesla hooked a hand in Yui's waistband and with an impatient heave pulled her pants and underwear down to her knees. Exposed, bare to the world, Yui shivered as the villain stared down at her, taking in the black patch of hair above a narrow slit. "I'm going to have fun with you," Tesla said after a moment, his voice a terrible promise of things to come. "I'm going to play with you until I get tired, then I'm going to leave you here for them to find. I can see it now, U.A. Attacked! Hero Student Found Raped and Murdered in Secure Hallway! The press will have a field day. I doubt even U.A. can recover from a blow like that, but then again, I guess that's not going to be your problem, is it?"
Yui shivered as Tesla reached for her, one hand going back towards her breast while the other slid lower. Footsteps sounded in the distance, growing steadily closer as Tesla leaned in close, breathing heavily from clear arousal until it hit them both at the same time: footsteps, someone was coming!
With a growl Tesla turned, still crouched over Yui, a hand keeping her pinned down. His hold on her did weaken though, allowing the girl to turn her head and watch as a green haired boy slowly walked into view, a black haired violet eyed one armed woman flanking him protectively. Yui's hopes raised ever so briefly fell, the boy was clothed not in a U.A. sports uniform or hero costume but in a regular pair of black pants and a faded blue t-shirt. No civilian could get back here, which meant this newcomer had to be another villain, come to have his way with her.
"Who are you?" Tesla asked, and Yui felt an expression of surprise flash across her normally blank face. He didn't know him? The boy didn't respond, merely walking forward, his steps steady. He appeared to be mumbling to himself, and while the woman cast a glance at them, she seemed more focused on the boy she was following.
"Oi, don't ignore me!" Tesla yelled as he stood up. Yui immediately went to move, but a yellow flash had her collapsing back against the wall groaning in pain.
The boy kept walking, ignoring the masked villain entirely until the man moved to stand in the middle of the hallway, blocking his way. The one armed woman tensed, a flick of her wrist and Yui's eyes widened as a knife suddenly appeared in her hand. However, before she could act, the boy spoke and all eyes turned to him, "Move." A single word spoken softly, but with such authority that Yui knew some of her weaker willed classmates would have obeyed immediately. For a moment Tesla seemed to want to obey, but with a shake of his head, the desire seemed to disappear.
"Are you telling me what to do?!" The skull-masked villain roared, hands cackling with electricity. "I don't care who you are, keep talking and I'll fuc-" A sweep of the boy's hand, the sound of something bursting, and liquid crimson splattered across Yui's face. Yui blinked, her brain racing to catch up to what she'd just seen. The boy had moved, his hand swatting Tesla like he was trying to ward off a bug. The man had seemed to swell, eyes bulging in fear and panic, then his upper body burst, splattering blood on everything around him. For a moment, Tesla's lower body had remained upright before it collapsed limply to the ground. Three pairs of eyes looked on, two in shock and one uncaringly.
The boy was the first to speak, "Disgusting." He said, simply. Gripping his shirt, he raised it to his face to wipe away a splatter of blood on his cheek briefly revealing a toned stomach underneath. Then he simply resumed his walk.
Between the girls, his companion was the first to recover, "Izu-kun there's still some left, let me get it!" The woman said, blushing wildly as she rushed to follow her companion, leaving Yui alone and exposed with the bloody half corpse of her would-be rapist.
For a moment, the girl continued to lean against the wall, just taking everything in before she slowly came back to herself. Reaching down, she pulled up her pants before zipping up her top, not bothering to even try and improvise something with the broken remnant of her bra. Pushing herself up shakily to her feet, Yui cast a glance down the hallway the two strangers had vanished down, but they were already out of sight. Turning her attention to Tesla's corpse, the corners of Yui's mouth twitched in what those who knew her would call a wild grin while the faintest dusting of red crossed her cheeks. "He saved me," Yui said softly as she eyed the bloody work of her savior.
Cheers rang through the stadium as All Might stood tall, his muscular back seemingly shouldering the faith, trust, and expectations of all those who believed in him. It was a heavy burden, one that would have unnerved if not outright broken others, but it was a weight All Might had endured time and time again.
"All Might." Itsuka said softly, tears in her eyes.
"Young Kendo. I'm sorry I wasn't here sooner, that you had to face this threat on your own without help. I'm so proud of you, but from here on out, don't worry, you can leave everything to me." Itsuka smiled as her mentor stood up, standing protectively over her and Bakugou. He was here now, everything would be all right. Finally, the orangette gave into her exhaustion and let unconsciousness overcome her, collapsing limply against Bakugou's body.
All Might smiled down at his successor. True, she was still in the middle of a battlefield, but now that he was here, he could draw the villain's attention away from her. His smile fell as he turned to look towards the villains in question, anger blazing. "To come here; to threaten the lives of my students. To endanger the people who wanted to come and support them. I will only say this once: surrender, stand down and allow yourselves to be arrested."
"Or what?" A single voice called out from the horde of villains.
All Might turned his head, "Or I'll show you the strength of the man who has held the title of the #1 Hero for decades and has retained it ever since it was given to him." His voice didn't waver, it was as if he was simply stating a fact, and everyone knew All Might never lied. The weight of his threat, his promise brought an imposing silence to the stadium for a moment, silence broken by the sound of clapping.
"Careful, with a speech like that, one might mistake you for a villain, All Might." Shigaraki hissed balefully.
"The only villain here is you and the thugs you brought. I already defeated your strongest fighter, now surrender."
"No, and I wouldn't count Nomu out of the fight just yet. He's still got some secrets left to show you." As if in response, a roar echoed from where Nomu had slammed into the stands. "Ah, and it looks like he's ready for round two." Before All Might could say anything else, the muscular black body of Nomu emerged from the dust sent airborne from his impact with the stadium wall. As the beast rushed forward, All Might charged to meet him, the two meeting with an impact that sent wind rushing through the stadium, and served as the starting signal for the other heroes and villains to resume their ongoing battle.
To anyone watching, the back and forth between All Might and Nomu would have been a blur, with only those used to moving at high speed being able to follow their movements. Numerous punches were launched, each second landing before being pulled back to attack once more. It was All Might though who emerged with the advantage. Ducking under a wild right swing, the blond's fist slammed into Nomu's chest, sending the beast hurling backwards. This time the hero followed though, rushing after him and grabbing Nomu's face mid-tumble before slamming it into the ground, their momentum carrying them for several meters as All Might used Nomu's head to carve a furrow into the dirt.
But All Might didn't stop there. When their momentum began to die down, he pulled Nomu upright, whirling around before tossing him back into the same crater Nomu had made when All Might first threw him. Nomu had only a second to begin pulling himself out before All Might slammed into him with a raised elbow, sending the pair backwards and out of view. For a few seconds, the only thing that could be made out was the impact of fists on flesh before a shape was sent hurling back out.
"It's All Might!" Somebody screamed unnecessarily, and indeed it was. The #1 Hero turned midair to land on his feet, looking up to see Nomu charging for him. Their fistfight resumed as Shigaraki looked on with his misty companion, laughing and cheering on his monstrous servant.
"How's it feel All Might," the crazed villain asked, "to fight against the being made specifically to defeat you? His Quirk, Shock Absorption, lets him tank your blows so no matter how much you hit him, your blows won't have any effect. You might as well give up and die already."
"Never!" All Might roared as he launched a particularly strong blow that sent Nomu stumbling back. "So what if Nomu here was made to defeat me? All that means is that I need to become even stronger."
"Fine," Shigaraki growled, "then why don't you handle his brothers as well?"
"What?" Before All Might could move, a portal opened behind the blond hero and even as he whirled to face it, instincts screaming, a pink web flew from the dark hole in space wrapping around All Might to hold him. It was only able to hold him for a few seconds, but that was enough time for another portal to open up at All Might's side. Those looking on screamed in horror, hands flying to their mouths as All Might stood there, blood dripping down to pool at his feet as the eyeless Nomu wrapped itself around All Might, sharpened scales jutting from its body and impaling the hero.
It was like he was dreaming. Able to do nothing but watch through his own eyes as his body acted. He was still there controlling himself, but it was subconscious. Much like breathing, he wasn't thinking about moving, he just was. He wondered why, but his thoughts were muddled, cloudy. It was the light, ever since he'd seen it, he'd been out of it. He needed Eri. Had to find her.
"Izu-kun. Izu-kun. Where are we going?" Ah, that's right, Himiko was there. Maybe she knew where Eri was.
"Eri. Eri. Eri."
"Yes, I know you're looking for Eri, but why?"
"Need her."
"But why?"
He opened his mouth, but paused before he could say anything. Why did he need her? What could a little girl offer him? 'Ignore her,' a voice whispered in his head. 'Focus on Eri. Find her.'
'Why?' Izuku slurred.
'Because I need her,' the voice hissed. 'We need her. She's the key, the solution to everything. We can't progress without her.'
'That doesn't make sense,' Izuku scowled as he tried to link one thought with another. 'Why can't I progress without her? She's a little girl, she's not essential-'
'We need her Quirk!' The voice howled, 'Her body, her blood contain the key to curing the disease that infects us all. You were beautiful once, perfect even, but now look at you. You're sick. Tainted. Cursed with the same disease that's inflicting all of humanity. But we can cure it, reverse what happened to us. All you need to do is find her.'
"No!" Izuku stumbled as his head pounded. It felt like his brain was being torn open from the inside, but his body was reacting as he wanted it to. He could feel himself taking control once again. The voice screamed in anger, trying to fight him for the mental controls to his body, but Izuku wasn't going to give in. He shoved the voice back, pushing it down to the recesses of his mind but as it faded away, Izuku managed to get a glimpse of his hitchhiking passenger. The bare face of Kai Chisaki glared at him, yellow eyes burning with hatred as the man disappeared into the darkness, just another shadow in a realm full of them. Izuku remained still, his eyes locked onto where the young yakuza boss had disappeared, mind racing, filled with questions.
A soft touch on his shoulder brought Izuku back to reality. He leapt back, hands raised as he activated Overhaul, but stopped when he found himself looking into the concerned violet eyes of Himiko's disguise. "Izuku?" the disguised vampire asked, her concern clear.
"Yeah Himiko, it's me." Izuku said as he let his arms fall to his side. "Come on, let's get out of here. My head is killing me and I'm not in the mood to be questioned over how we found our way into a secure area."
"Okay, Izu-kun," the ravenette said, following her boss to the nearest exit. Opening it the two slipped out into the crowd, quickly disappearing amongst the masses.
"What happened, All Might?" Shigaraki questioned gleefully as blood pooled at the hero's feet, "Didn't you say you were going to show me the strength of the #1 Hero? That you were going to surpass your limits? Well I'm waiting, and I have to say so far, I've been very underwhelmed."
"You call this an injury?" All Might said softly, yet his voice was still powerful enough to reach the entire stadium.
"Huh?"
"I said," All Might spoke as he slowly raised his arms, tongue still wrapped around them, to grab the eyeless Nomu's shoulders, uncaring of the scales that cut into his hands at the action. "You call this an injury?"
The eyeless Nomu growled, but said growls became shrieks as All Might tightened his grip on the being's shoulders. The scales underneath his hands began to groan before cracking as All Might looked up, blue eyes shining. "This is an injury," he claimed before pushing down. The eyeless Nomu shrieked as its scales gave out, shattering irreparably. A second later, its shriek grew more shrill as its arms were forced out of their sockets.
"That's it?" Shigaraki asked unimpressed, his tone bordering on bored. "Here I was hoping for some grand display, yet all you do is dislocate his shoulders." He lowered his head, shaking it like All Might was a child that needed scolded. "You act like you've accomplished something, like you've won, yet you haven't done anything."
"What?" The Nomu at his feet screamed in answer, standing as its arms slowly forced themselves back into place. The beaked Nomu behind All Might strode forward to stand behind the hero while Four-Eyes emerged from Kurogiri's portal, his tongue still bleeding from the cuts inflicted on it by its sibling's scales.
"Shock Absorption. Scalemail. Tongue Web." Shigaraki listed pointing at each Nomu as he named their respective Quirks. "But that's not all. Super Regeneration. Strength Enhancer." he pointed at the black skinned Nomus. "Absorption and Release. Muscular Augmentation." Four-Eyes. "Each Nomu here has multiple Quirks and is capable of going toe to toe with some of the top Heroes. You might be strong All Might, but you aren't immortal. You're human just like everyone else, you bleed, and when I kill you here in front of the world, everybody will know that no matter how great you are, heroes eventually fall."
"You're wrong."
"Huh?"
"I'm not going to fall. Not here, not ever. I am All Might, the #1 Hero. Upon my back, I carry the hopes and dreams of all of Japan. I am the Symbol of Peace, and I will never fall, not to villains like you."
Shigaraki growled, his eyes burning with hatred. "Then you can die, you old geezer! Die knowing that everything you've done, all you've worked to build, I'll tear it down! This is my era now, you're nothing but a remnant of the past that should know when it's time to take his leave! Nomu!"
The brain exhibiting beasts growled as they charged forward. Screams rang out through the stadium, cries of "All Might!" fueled with hope and faith as the blond stood tall and clenched his fists. Eyeless reached him first, fresh scales erupting from its body to provide a protective layer of armor that shattered immediately when All Might's fist buried itself in the Nomu's chest, sending it reeling.
Four-Eye's tongue lashed out at the blond, a web of muscles swelled and strengthened by Muscular Augmentation. All Might's form blurred as he dodged the attack and grabbed the tongue just before it split. Four-Eye's four eyes widened as the pro used the tongue to swing the green skinned Nomu about before slamming it into Beaky. Beaky's momentum briefly halted, the beast roared as All Might turned; using Four-Eyes tongue, he threw his captive over his shoulder, burying him into the ground. Four-Eyes let out one last cry before going limp.
All Might turned to face his anti-symbol, the beaked Nomu letting out a wild scream as it charged its target. An exchange of blows followed that sent wind billowing throughout the stadium. "Oi, oi, oi, I just told you Nomu's Quirk is Shock Absorption. Do you really think that you can overcome it by punching him harder?" Shigaraki questioned.
"His Quirk might be Shock Absorption," All Might said, answering the question despite the battle he was waging, "but it's not Shock Nullification. That must mean there's a limit to it then."
"Hm?" Two. Four. Six. Nine. Thirteen. Seventeen. Two dozen. Blow after blow landed on Nomu's chest and slowly the Nomu began to give ground. It lashed out, claws arching for the hero's head, but they cut only air. All Might roared as he stepped forward, fist drawn back flew and the beast was sent tumbling. Just like earlier, All Might followed; grabbing its arm, he swung the beast around before sending it flying towards the sky.
The ground cratered under All Might as he crouched before leaping upwards, sending dust flying. Nomu turned trying to orient itself before its eyes found All Might. Its beak opened as it screeched, turning towards the hero; it launched one final attack that All Might dodged. "Begone." Nomu's skin rippled, chest caving in as All Might's fist buried itself in the creature's stomach before it was sent hurling away into the distance.
"No. No, no, no, no, no, no. He was supposed to be weak. A relic of what he once was." Shigaraki's fingers tore bloody strips from his neck as he scratched himself, eyes cast skywards. "How can he still be this strong? It's unfair!" A shape descended from the heavens, slamming into the ground in front of him. The sudden impact cut off the villainous youth's rant, leaving him staring with hatred at All Might as the hero emerged from the dust his landing had kicked up. "You," he growled.
"Me." All Might agreed, standing tall. He was panting, sweat dotted his brow, and his suit and skin were littered with cuts and blood from where Eyeless had grappled him. "I'll only say this one more time. Surrender."
Teeth ground together hard enough to crack. "No." Shigaraki hissed, "I'll never surrender, not to you. Never to you." Eyes darted around and All Might could only look on with mounting confusion as Shigaraki seemed to smile beneath the hand that covered his face. "You're going to let me go."
"No, I'm not."
"You are. Not willingly, but I'm going to get away because of you, because of your desire to save others. I will leave here a free man and I will make you regret it. You may be the #1 Hero, All Might, but I will make people curse your name. When I'm done with you, everybody in this country, no, around the world, will wish with all their might that you never became a Hero. The people you've saved will wish you'd left them to die because you saving them will be the worst thing that ever happened to them."
"You're going to prison."
"No, no I am not. After all," Shigaraki tilted his head to the side, "I never did fulfill my promise of breaking U.A.'s oh so precious eggs. Nomu, kill the girl!"
All Might whirled, eyes wide as he saw the eyeless Nomu standing unevenly over the unconscious forms of Itsuka and Bakugou. Scales erupted from its arm as it screamed, preparing to bring the limb down and crush the two students underneath. "NO!" All Might shouted, kicking off from the ground with a burst of speed as he flew towards his successor. Behind him, at the edge of his vision, he could make out Shigaraki disappearing into a portal laughing madly, but the man child was all but forgotten. Despair was overcoming him, he was too tired, too exhausted from the effect of Eri's Quirk and his battle with the Nomu. He might be far stronger than he was only an hour ago, but he wasn't in his prime, even if he was closer to it. But that didn't matter right now, he was too slow, too far away. He wasn't going to make it.
And then Nomu cried out, stumbling backwards as a blast of fire severed its arm from its body. It screeched but hands were already wrapping around its head, a wave of flames burning the Nomu stronger and faster than Super Regeneration could heal. Then they let go allowing Eyeless to collapse first to its knees, then onto its back. All Might slid to a stop as Kendo's savior turned to him with a grunt, "All Might."
"Endeavor."
"The halls of the stadium are secure. I was in them when the attack began which is why I wasn't out here earlier."
"Thank you."
The #2 Hero grunted in response. Turning the top two heroes turned their gaze out towards the field, the heroes' numbers had carried the day and the few pockets of fighting quickly stopped when it became clear that both All Might and Endeavor were on the scene. As things died down All Might watched as Itsuka, Bakugou, and Yoarashi were loaded onto stretchers and carted off, leaving him alone with his thoughts.
His students, his successor, were children. They were training to be heroes, but they'd barely even begun to learn before they'd had to experience firsthand what it was they would eventually have to deal with. And what about the other students? Those who were here for an education, to be engineers, and business managers. Why should they have to be endangered, threatened in a school where they were supposed to be safe?
U.A. would need to update its security, and even then, All Might had no doubt repercussions would follow. There would be backlash from the public, from the parents, everybody would have something to say. U.A.'d always been a target, all hero schools were, but All Might couldn't help but feel he'd only painted a bigger one with his presence. The Commission might try something, if not other villains could easily see this as U.A. being weakened and decide to try their luck. The League's attack would embolden others to step out from the shadows. Their numbers would only grow with their success driving their recruitment up and inspiring others to follow them.
As for the Nomu, turning All Might could only eye the corpse of Eyeless, where it lay covered by a tarp. He'd already received the news that the beaked Nomu had been found and captured, the creature not even resisting arrest. He'd watched as Four-Eyes had been carted away. All three of these creatures, these Nomu, had multiple Quirks. His side, once torn away, ached, and he unconsciously raised a hand to cover it. No, he was gone, dead, All Might had confirmed it himself. He'd smashed the devil's head in and seen firsthand the body go limp. Torino and Sasaki had both watched as the corpse had been burnt before taking a portion of the ashes and hiding them, swearing never to reveal to anyone including each other what they'd done with them. Was it paranoid? Yes, to the extreme, but with an evil like that, there was no other option. He was gone, these Nomu had to be the product of something else.
But that was for later. Turning, All Might felt his stomach drop and heart grow heavy as he turned to an area covered in tarps. Beneath them, he could make out the rough shape of the bodies that lay underneath. Some had been heroes, other villains, but in death they all lay still. Swallowing All Might forced himself to turn away and looked up at the sky. The day, which had started sunny and bright, was now overcast; it wasn't raining yet, but a storm was no doubt coming. All Might could feel it in the way the wind was blowing, smell it in the air.
His fist clenched at his side. He might not know what was ahead, that was Sasaki's Quirk not his, but he would be ready for it when it came. He could feel One for All slipping away, slowly leaving him for Itsuka, but his time was not yet past. Eri's Quirk had given him a boost, a second chance he would not waste. A storm might be coming, but he was All Might, the Symbol of Peace and #1 Hero, he would be here to meet it.
Author's Note:
Hello everybody, I'm going to take a minute to be serious here. I apologize for my lack of posting this first quarter of the year but something happened back at the end of December and I needed to step away for a while. My p-atreons were made aware and I just want to take a moment to thank them here for their support after what happened. To respect people's privacy I won't go into details but more information is available over there for those who just need to know.
Anyways, I'm back! Thanks for being awesome and waiting for me. Spring break starts tomorrow for me and I plan to get the first chapter of the next arc written during it. My P-atreons get early access to stories. Vote on the new poll in my profile page, yada, yada. This arc is officially coming to a close. Next chapter will be answering some left over questions from this arc but then all we have is an interlude before we move on to the Hero Killer arc. I'm fusing it with the final exam arc which I found while researching Japanese schooling would be more accurately if called the First Term finals because the Japanese school year is divided up into three terms that run the course of the year. Huh.
As always thanks to my awesome editor DutchHorizon (hail) who possesses some knowledge of the laws of grammar I constantly flout. This month's reading recommendation will be Bearer of the Sky by Blazing47s. It's Percy Jackson where Percy gets left holding the, well you can probably guess by the story's title but I love it since it explores the politics of Olympus and features a rare PercyxAphrodite ship which I think we need to see more of. Ares is a d*ck and the literal beauty queen needs some love. Give it a read if you want.
Anyways until next time this is the devil that still can't get a date with DbD's eldritch spider goddess signing off,
- D'yavol Lucifer 3:)
*IMPORTANT NOTICE*
All the cover art for my stories are ones I found online. I am really interested in using fanart provided by you the readers to replace them. If you're interested draw something up and pm me so I can send you the details on where to send it or pm me and I'll give you some details so you can draw one. As I say in my bio if I use it I may add you as an oc in one of my stories! Isn't that exciting!
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