"Oh my god! We're all gonna die!"
"You are not helping in the slightest, Mineta." Sero deadpanned at the overreacting teen.
Or… was he overreacting?
The question that lingered in not only his mind, but the rest of his classmates kept him wary and cautious.
"I don't wanna hear it! We're not even past the first week of school and we're already being targeted by some super scary villain organization!" Mineta retorted with an accusing finger pointed at Sero.
"Alright, man. Sheesh. Calm down, would ya?" Sato took his turn confronting the panicking purple boy. Sato nearly regretted trying when Mineta spun around, facing him with an almost angry look.
"Calm down!?" The remaining students at the front gate collectively said 'uh oh' in their heads. "Calm down!? We're in the middle of a freaking invasion of dozens of super deadly and evil bad guys! I have every right to not calm down! All of the others either backed up or shrunk away from the shouting small fry. Not because they were afraid of him, but because they couldn't argue with his statement.
After all, all of them were slightly freaked out to some degree.
Here they stood, at the top of the USJ within the only light source of the entire place. The massive gate doors, creaked open from Iida's escape, gave a large enough glow to illuminate the entire front walkway. Shoji, Sero, Uraraka, Mineta, Tsu, Mina, and Sato crowded together as the last ones standing.
Those who weren't were the two teachers, beaten and unconscious, being attended to the best of the student's abilities.
With the only two pro heroes defeated, they would have to either rely on themselves for protection or wait for Iida to return with more heroes.
It was only a matter of time, and it would seem that Mineta was done wasting it.
"H-hey, where're you going?" Uraraka called out as she realized Mineta had trudged off towards the front gate.
"Where the heck does it look like!?" He shouted after spinning around to face her. He had one hand balled into a fist while the other hand pointed behind him in the direction of the doors. "The villains can't go outside, right!?" Mineta didn't give anyone time to answer before he continued. "So, that means all we need to do to get to safety is to go where the villains can't follow us!"
"But what about the others?" Sero chimed back in. "There are still more of our classmates out there. We'll need to stay here, where we can help them whenever they make it back." Sero couldn't sit comfortably with the idea of abandoning the walkway while there were still students of 1-A missing.
"What about them!?" Mineta shot back while he gestured to the two unconscious teachers. "We have no idea where everyone else is! How can we help them!? We should just take what we got and be glad that we all aren't dead!"
Nobody said anything for a moment. The realization was hard to swallow. Mineta had a point. If they were to stay here, then the vulnerable teachers could be put in danger.
Well, more danger than what they were already in.
The villains could not leave the USJ without triggering the alarms. It was indeed the safest.
But was it really the best decision?
Inexperience left them conflicted and unable to come to a conclusion.
Mineta on the other hand had long since decided.
"Whatever you guys come up with, it doesn't matter to me!" Mineta turned back around towards the door and began to stomp away. "I'm out of here, and nothing can tell me otherwise!"
*BOOM*
A large impact erupted past Mineta, sending a blast of dust over him and the rest of the students. They shielded themselves against a gust of air, accompanied by a small chill, only to feel warmth on their skin, as sunlight beat through the now wide-open doors.
All the students stood there in shock and in anticipation for what could have caused this. Their frantic eyes searched until they found what they were looking for.
Once the dust cleared, a silhouette appeared.
With the light of the outside behind the figure, their shadow stretching almost far enough to reach the students.
Even if they couldn't see his face, they knew exactly who had come.
All Might stood in his full glory at the USJ's entrance.
He has arrived.
"THERE IS NO NEED TO FEAR ANY LONGER, YOUNG ONES. WHY?" All Might brought up his right hand to his chest. It looked as if he had tugged on something, before the sound of fabric ripping could be heard. He lowered his arm back down, dropping something, his tie, to the ground. The smallest shift of his figure managed to alter the light around him, revealing part of his face and a bright sapphire gleam in his right eye. "BECAUSE I AM HERE."
A wave of emotion swept over them. Their savior had finally come with a grand entrance. What more could they have asked for?
Maybe for them not to feel slightly disturbed by the fact that All Might wasn't smiling anymore.
None, there was no smile. In its place was an expression of provoked wrath.
"ARE YOU KIDS ALRIGHT?" He asked after rushing over. Despite his visible anger, All Might spoke gently when addressing them.
"Yeah. W-well, we are, anyway." Mina corrected herself while she gestured to Aizawa and Thirteen. All Might set his hardened gaze on both of the teachers for a moment as Mina answered.
Some of the students saw the hero's fist clench even tighter.
"THE REST OF YOU?" All Might questioned.
"We don't know for sure, but they're all still here." Shoji said. He turned his head to look out into the vast darkness that was once the USJ. The opened doors did well to light up the front walkway, but still did little to fight off the thick shadows beyond. "Somewhere." Shoji finished after an ominous pause.
All Might followed his gaze around the lightless dome. Past his rage for the villains that dared to attack his students, he was a little stunned and curious about what had done all this. Considering that he was standing on a nearly limitless amount of broken glass shards, it must have been something big.
"WHAT HAPPENED HERE?" All Might soared his blue eyes across the vast darkness, searching for any other light, only to find none.
"The villains came through a portal made by someone with a body made of dark mist." Tsu began. "The same guy managed to separate all of us into different zones in the USJ. I myself came from the flood zone along with Mineta and Midoriya." Tsu recalled the events.
"WHERE IS MIDORIYA?" All Might asked before Tsu could continue, after looking around to find that the black-eyed boy wasn't there.
"He saved Mineta and me from some villains we encountered that had beaten Aizawa. After that, Midoriya distracted them long enough for us to be able to get Aizawa away. I haven't seen him since." Tsu finished with a fallen expression. A hint of regret in her eyes for leaving Midoriya behind with that beaked monster.
"Not too long after they got here, a villain used some sort of sound attack that was able to break all the lights in the USJ, somewhere past the middle from what we could tell." Sato said, explaining the dome's darkness. "Although…" All Might noticed his hesitation and unease. In fact, All Might noticed it upon all of the student's faces. "It… it sounded more like a roar than anything. And not the human kind." Sato stated slowly.
Just that alone managed to send a tiny chill down the hero's back. He looked around once more. Broken glass meant that the sound must have been not only at a high frequency, but also had to be loud enough to reach such a great distance.
What could possibly be capable of producing that kind of noise? Not even Present Mic was able to do that.
"All Might." He turned to Uraraka. She looked at him with pleading eyes. They all did. They were counting on him. "What do we do?"
All Might turned his gaze back to the mass of shadows. This was much more complicated than he had hoped. No matter of strength could gift him the ability to fight in total darkness. He had no idea where the rest of the students were, and there was no way he would be able to properly fight against the remaining villains, who might hold the advantage.
Damnit. He came all this way only to be rendered useless.
"Someone's coming." Shoji broke the tense silence, jerking around to face the stairs. Everyone else followed suit with All Might jumping ahead of them to fend off the potential villain. The light from the doors barely reached far enough to cast the first step in a very dim glow. From there, maybe a little less than fifty feet away. "There are two of them." Shoji updated them on the sound they weren't able to hear.
They all tensed even more, greatly anticipating the arrival of whoever was about to emerge from over that edge. All Might readied his right hand to launch a fist if need be. Some of the other students around him also got into stances, while the rest crouched protectively around the wounded teachers.
Just then, as Shoji predicted, two dark figures popped upwards. They were running and already up onto the walkway.
"STOP!" All Might commanded in a booming voice that made the two figures skid to a halt. They were closer now, but still a little too dark to be able to identify. Shoji on the other hand had managed to pick out who they were. But before he could say anything…
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Guys, it's us!" A familiar voice quickly came from the person on the right. A voice that one of the students knew very well.
"Kirishima?" Mina perked up when she realized that one of the figures was her red-haired friend. He began to walk forward again where the light was finally able to illuminate his facial features. Indeed, it was Kirishima. Next to him, the second figure followed, Bakugo making himself known.
"You guys made it." Sero voiced his excitement and relief upon seeing another pair showing up.
"Of course we did, soy face. You seriously think these wimpy thugs can take on someone like me?" Bakugo snarled.
"If your quirk is just as explosive as your personality, then it's not a problem." Sero mumbled to himself with a smirk and a surprising show of humor for this dangerous situation.
"The fuck'd you say!?" Bakugo must have heard as he looked ready to spring at the tape-slinging teen. Small explosions, meant for intimidation, burst from his hands, lighting up both his aggressive expression and Kirishima's nervous one.
"HEY." All Might called out a little quieter than a yell. It attracted everyone's attention and distracted Bakugo's annoyance. "NOW IS NOT THE TIME TO BE FOOLING AROUND." His command settled them down. All Might turned to Kirishima and Bakugo. "DO YOU KNOW ANYTHING THAT CAN BE OF USE? I HATE TO BREAK IT TO ALL OF YOU, BUT THERE ISN'T MUCH I CAN DO IN THIS DARKNESS. SHARING INFORMATION IS THE BEST WE CAN DO AS OF NOW, UNTIL MORE HEROES SHOW UP." All Might explained. The students understood his reasonings as they looked to the two boys if they had answers.
"Oh. Yeah. I think that maybe…" Strangely, Kirishima trailed off. Even more strangely, he expressed a look of uneasiness, maybe even fear. "U-uu-ummm-"
"Something happened to one of the villains. Nomu I think that hand freak called it." Bakugo interrupted seeing as Kirishima would have trouble describing the disturbing events they went through.
"You mean that ugly beaked thing that nearly killed Aizawa?" Mineta was thankfully no longer the blubbering mess, finally contributing to the conversation. Bakugo and Kirishima were aware of the Nomu, but not what it had done to their teacher. One glance to the bloodied man filled them in on that part.
But if the trained professional hero that was their teacher managed to be bested by that villain, then what really did happen to Midoriya?
"Yeah." Bakugo answered after a pause while giving a hard look to Aizawa. "I… I think it was killed."
A collective gasp alighted from the group. Mineta and Tsu especially, since they saw firsthand the capabilities of that monster.
"HOW DO YOU KNOW?" All Might quickly asked.
"I don't need a brilliant mind to imagine what flesh being torn apart sounds like." Bakugo averted his gaze to the ground as he made the low remark,sending chills down everyone's spine.
"SO YOU DIDN'T SEE WHAT HAPPENED?" All Might questioned confusingly.
"No. It happened not too long after that annoying screech broke all the lights. Before that, Kirishima and I were fighting against that hand villain and the mist guy who brought all the villains here. Tch, I even had the misty bastard pinned down. But just as I did, that Nomu or whatever came back. That was about when everything went dark." Everything that had happened came out of the conflicted Bakugo. He was pissed about the villain getting away. However, the ire didn't match up much against what could have happened, if whatever killed the Nomu had decided to stick around.
"There… there was a lot of blood on its fist when it came back." Kirishima's wobbly voice said the one thing that sent dread into those who had realized what had happened.
"…ASUI." All Might said slowly before turning to look at the girl. "DIDN'T YOU SAY THAT MIDORIYA TOOK OFF TO DISTRACT THIS NOMU?" As he asked, he realized the look of horror that was able to embed itself on her usually calm expression.
Her only response was a slow nod.
But it was all the answer he needed.
He had failed.
All Might felt his hand hurt with how much he squeezed it. But no matter how hard he squeezed; it couldn't compare to the amount of regret he felt for not being there. It made him all too aware of the throbbing burn in his left side.
"Someone's coming again." Another callout from Shoji set everyone on high alert. Bakugo and Kirishima backed away for All Might to step forward.
Mostly because they were unnerved of the newly arisen scowl on his face.
"HOW MANY?" The hero asked with a level tone, but the students could detect the hint of rage in those words.
"Just one this time." Shoji faltered. "But… something's strange about this one. They're not footsteps." Those three words caused the others to furrow their eyebrows in confusion. "It sounds more like… dragging." Shoji finally managed to find the right word to describe the odd sound he was hearing.
Nonetheless, he and everyone prepared for what was to come.
They stayed still and silent, their eyes glued on the edge of the steps. Whoever it was, they took much longer than when Bakugo and Kirishima came up.
But in the end, they were there…
In the form of an arm grasping atop the first step. There was a faint grunt before whoever it was managed to pull themselves up. Just like before, it was too dark to fully see who it was.
"Help meeee!"
Something about that cry for help made the situation feel more dire, despite everything. It was no voice they recognized. The person that was calling for help had to be a villain.
But… why was he calling for help?
"Please!"
His desperate call came once more. He was surely aware of the group due to the light behind them shining on their bodies. He must have known that they weren't his fellow villains and would capture him. What was going on?
However, All Might's duty as a hero drove him.
"WHAT IS THE MATTER? ARE YOU INJURED?" All Might called out to the man, ready to go help if it was necessary.
"Yes, I'm injured!" The villain exclaimed, as if it were obvious. For a second, All Might thought that if this villain could be sassy, then it couldn't be serious. That was until… "It tore off my fucking leg!"
That… without a doubt sent dread into their guts and filled them with fear.
It?
"Are you coming, or what!?" He shouted a lot louder this time, snapping them back into reality. All Might only pondered this a moment. Of course, he thought of this to be some sort of trap. However, from everything he'd heard so far, it gave some credit to this man's claims.
Not to mention All Might's experience in situations similar to these, he could tell the pain in the man's tone was definitely real. The panic, the shake, the desperation, all of it.
There was something seriously wrong going on here.
"YES. I'M COMING TO GET YOU. HOLD ON." All Might didn't give another second of hesitation before sprinting over. The further he went, the darker it got. Thankfully, his eyes had managed to adjust enough to better pinpoint the figure's details.
Still, he could not see facial features, but he was fully able to see the shaky extended hand that reached out for him. All Might reached out his own hand to lift him up. "DO NOT WORRY. AN AMBULANCE SHOULD BE ARRIVING SOON TO TREAT YOUR WOUNDS." The hero said reassuringly.
Their hands clamped down on one another's.
"Just get me the hell out of this damn pl…"
*gasp*
…
Normally, All Might would ask what was wrong.
He would ask why the man had gasped with such fear in his sharp inhale.
If only the man were still there.
Faster than he could have expected, the villain's hand was yanked out of his, and pulled down into the darkness.
There was no sound of a struggle.
No noise that indicated he screamed or anything at all happened after.
There wasn't a single trace to indicate that he even existed at all.
Nothing except for the wet and warm texture he now had on his hand, still extended forward, frozen in time as All Might tried to process the experience.
He was absolutely stunned, it wasn't until he felt the coolness of his sweat dripping down his forehead and over his nose that he snapped back.
Wait, that was strange. It wasn't cold in here.
That was when he realized the slow-moving chill nipping at his face. All Might wouldn't find this too weird… if it weren't for the fact that this wind didn't come from the open doors behind, but rather directly in front of him, down the stairs.
The second thing he realized was the thick putrid smell of blood. It filled the air so much that All Might could taste it. It made him think that he was coughing it up again.
But no, this was not his blood.
Then whose blood was it? And who was standing before him just out of light's reach?
There was a hiss, one that was deep in bass but cracked like rocks being grinded together. To the hero, it sounded like the combination of a large reptile and large cat hissing at once. It came slow and quiet, just barely reaching his ears.
But the unexplainable sense of fear?
That came full force.
"All Might-"
The hero jumped out of sheer fright as the voice came from behind him on his left. He instinctively brought up a hand to grab hold of someone's shoulder, Kirishima's shoulder. They looked at one another with surprised expressions.
"D… do you need any…" Kirishima didn't finish before he turned to see that there was no man. The stairs were empty except for him and the confused blond. "Where'd he go?"
All Might was now very aware of the fact that the third presence, the presence that came and went with the blink of an eye was no longer there.
No dreadful pit in his stomach that magically appeared and no feral hissing that blew death in his face.
No.
If All Might were lucky, then it was his mind playing tricks on him.
Hell, if anyone were lucky.
"LET'S NOT WORRY ABOUT THAT RIGHT NOW. WE NEED TO GET EVERYONE OUT OF HERE, NOW." All Might spoke low and serious, his hard glare not leaving the dark stairs for several seconds, as he and Kirishima backed away.
"We're here!"
A shout of triumph erupted from behind them. They turned to look past the group of students to see more silhouettes standing at the front entrance.
It was Iida.
He was back with the rest of the UA teachers.