Chapter 8: U.S.J. Drama – Part IINotes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Shota jumped back, doing his best to hold back a pained scream. His elbow had been destroyed with little more than a touch.
- Hands Guy is too dangerous. Probably the one that destroyed the gate. Can't approach him without my Quirk. -
He moved down as a sword fell on him, catching another minion on his left with his tape. He turned, making the blade slide against the fiber, taking a hold of the arm that held it. With one last push, he made the two collapse on each other, putting them out of commission.
Shota's eyes darted around. The situation hadn't improved by much; too many enemies were still waiting around in the plaza.
The enemy's boss was busy monologuing, but he didn't have enough space to lend an ear.
What he got, instead, was Kaminari's voice.
"Professor! Behind you!"
He barely managed to thrust himself forward, avoiding the hand of the anomalous black giant by a hair's breadth as it went down to leave an impression on the pavement. Shota turned around to see the hulking figure staring at him with its empty eyes, the open mouth showing a row of rocky teeth.
"Now, now, checking the comment section is cheating, Eraser Head," the Villain boss said while clicking his tongue. "Nomu, crush him."
Aizawa found himself faced against a mountain of muscle, soon finding out that the strength that broke the cement with a bare palm wasn't a Quirk he could cancel.
- Mutation, or worse, base strength, - he thought, liking his chances less and less. The Villain had said that the monster was their anti-All Might weapon. Could he handle something of that level?
It took him numerous moves to get around the creature fast enough to use his capture weapon, but his hopes were reduced to ash in an instant as the carbon fiber snapped apart like toilet paper.
The beast was unrelenting in its hunt. It didn't growl. It didn't twitch. It was fully focused on accomplishing its task: breaking him apart. Shota was about to find himself out of breath when the misty Villain appeared again, urgently talking with his boss. Seeing as the man's scratching tic went in overdrive, neither seemed particularly pleased. Shigaraki then turned his attention elsewhere.
"Let's leave a present for All Might: a couple of dead kids."
Shota could only stare in horror as the madman cackled to himself, running off in the direction his student's voice had come from. There, by the water, Asui, Mineta, and Kaminari were observing the scene with sheer horror on their faces. They wouldn't be able to run away.
As the Nomu blocked his path and view, Shota realized that he wouldn't reach them in time.
Even though he usually talked about how his pupils shouldn't do illogical things, he still jumped forward, straight into the monster's arms.
If he could just get the chance to put his eyes on the enemy before it was too late, any broken bone would have been worth it.
Sentimentally speaking, Izuku somewhat appreciated the U.S.J. attack.
It had been terrifying to live through it the first time (and many more later), but the U.S.J. had also been the place where he had many first experiences.
This was where he had discovered that he could handle One For All without repercussions, where he had saved the lives of his classmates and All Might's, where he had built an unbreakable bond with Tsuyu.
But, emotionally speaking, the U.S.J. attack was a nightmare he'd rather do without.
Not because of the number of Villains. The cannon fodder was barely enough to give problems to a couple of the less combat-oriented students, and even then it was more or less good practice. Shoto, Eijiro, and Katsuki could have each dealt with all of them alone. Quantity over quality didn't work in these conditions.
Not because of the mess Kurogiri's Quirk made. Warp Gate could theoretically mess up all of his plans, but the Villain also couldn't just do whatever; he had to know specific coordinates to abide to. If Izuku was careful enough, the warping could easily be used to his advantage, giving him a chance to manipulate how the groups ended up. It wasn't even that hard to give a little nudge in a certain direction or whisper a helpful suggestion.
Not because of how his classmates could fail to let Tenya (and, recently, Toru) escape. Having his friend reach the school and bring in their reinforcements was a nice bonus, but All Might would have been about to arrive anyway. Besides, in extreme circumstances, Izuku just had to break his own body to help out and keep his mentor safe.
No, none of that.
The real problem came in a very specific set of circumstances that almost seemed bound to happen.
Tomura would try and put his hand on Tsuyu's face 90% of the time. Mineta, or whoever else ended up as their companion, was the remaining 10%.
The bastard never, ever thought of leaving without leaving a message for All Might. If not interrupted directly by Izuku and Shota, Shigaraki would always manage to complete the murderous action.
If the Nomu had gotten his hands on Aizawa, which happen three out of four times, things got much worse.
There was a low probability, around 20%, that his head would be crushed, causing the man to either die, collapse, or enter a vegetative state. Half the time the teacher's head would instead be held down or be turned the wrong way.
Aizawa managed to stop the Villain's Quirk only 30% of the time.
Izuku had seen everything from up close and from afar, from the midst of battle and from death's door. It had been burned into his mind, engraved into his deepest recesses, painted with an indelible ink. There wasn't any brain bleach strong enough to get rid of that memory.
The effect of [Decay] on flesh... on Tsuyu's face... on Mineta's head... on Kaminari's neck...
The simple thought was gut-wrenching.
Izuku loved and hated the fact that they'd been so lucky the first time around. He now knew how much he would lose even if only one step of his plan was out of place. But he also got to understand what a true Hero was supposed to do even when challenged by impossible odds. He'd never thank Shota enough for that.
And he despised how many tries he'd needed to make out those sadly precise percentages.
When it came down to it, even if all of the pieces had fallen into place, Izuku couldn't help but fear that he'd missed something and that he would have to go back again.
But forgetting would have been an insult to those he had failed, and that wasn't his hero's path.
So, when a burst of green lightning coming from the Conflagration Zone struck on the Central Plaza, anybody perceptive enough would have been able to see that the expression on Izuku's face wasn't friendly, cute, or even determined.
No.
He had murder in his eyes.
Tsuyu's eyes could see the man move, but her body felt frozen. Was it sheer terror, or was her reaction time too slow? Was it the severed hands or the Villain's killing intent?
As the palm began to cover her entire field of vision, the girl could swear her entire life flashed before her eyes. Not a particularly long one, but not that bad in retrospect. Her family would miss her, and that felt bittersweet on her tongue. She felt bad for having to leave her siblings. What would they tell Habuko? There were so many things she wanted to do...
Time seemed to slow down, but all she could do was witness the scene rolling before her.
Tsuyu felt the first finger brush her face, an index just above her brow, and a second one over her forehead.
The thumb was just about to touch her cheek when something black and green darted from above, catching the man's wrist.
Her vision cleared once again as the hand was tugged away with enough strength to tear apart a door from its hinges. She saw the Villain fly backwards with his eyes widened by the surprise, the start of a "What?" leaving his mouth. Her eyes darted, following the dark tendril to its source up above.
Sometime later, when Tsuyu was introduced to the theory of the Suspension Bridge Effect, she would connect the dots and think about the scene again.
Because the way her heart skipped a beat when she saw the lightning-clad form of Izuku Midoriya was not something she was going to easily forget.
The pale-skinned man didn't manage to turn completely before he was mauled from behind with an axe kick and sent crashing to the ground.
The greenette didn't stop for a second, using the force of the kick to catapult himself in the opposite direction, towards the black mountain of muscle that had finally caught hold of their teacher.
The Nomu was squeezing the man's arm to turn it into a pulp and raising a fist to complete its last order.
This time Midoriya's whip wouldn't have been enough to stop the movement, but it was capable of slowing it, buying the split second needed for the angry boss to shout.
"Nomu! Kill the brat!"
The creature changed its focus and turned using all the speed it was capable of, meeting the bottom of Izuku's metallic soles with a fist that could split the ground. The clash created a sound all too similar to a hammer smashing a church bell.
The frog girl bit the inside of her mouth as she realized that the teen couldn't win that kind of race against a creature bioengineered to compete against All Might.
Izuku was blown away, crashing onto the pavement like a meteor, as if in retaliation for his earlier axe kick. The impact engulfed the area in powder and earthy smoke.
Tsuyu was out of the water before she could realize that she'd started to move. She had to try to do something, anything, to shield him from the attack that was sure to come soon. She wasn't frozen anymore. He'd bought them time. She had to at least try to pay him back.
She felt steps behind her, but couldn't spare the time to look if Mineta and Kaminari had joined her.
Her heart was in her throat. Her legs were shaking. Was this what it was like to be a Hero?
In the next instant, as the smoke cleared, three things happened at once.
First, she saw Midoriya's arm move, pulling as fast and as strongly as he had twice before with the tendril that was still connected to his left arm.
Second, she saw Aizawa sliding towards them, his non-broken arm holding onto the black and green rope for dear life. He collapsed towards the end, hitting the ground with a groan, but raised himself to his feet without wasting a breath. Despite his mangled side, he appeared as heroic as he'd been while fighting.
Third, and most important, the U.S.J. main door exploded inward, letting her hear what they all had been waiting for.
"It's fine now. Why? BECAUSE I'M HERE!"
The entire group had been brought away from danger from Toshinori in the blink of an eye, and Izuku feigned exhaustion for a second more as he listened.
"You've done well, Aizawa, but stay back now. I'll take care of this." The blonde giant talked quietly, but it was evident that he was a volcano about to burst.
Aizawa didn't protest, as he was all too conscious of his own state, opting instead to offer his insights. "The giant could rival your strength. The misty one can teleport himself and others. Hands Guy can decay flesh with a touch."
"Got it, thank you. Take the kids to the entrance," All Might snapped off his necktie, balled up his fists, and jumped towards the invaders. "I've got this."
Izuku grit his teeth as he slowly got up, making his classmates stir in surprise.
"Midoriya! You're alive!" Minoru screamed with teary eyes.
Denki came closer to check. "Man! Did you break anything? That was a nasty hit."
"I'm fine," he assured, since he was, like, eighty-percent fine... or seventyish. "I've still got to help."
Tsuyu's face betrayed part of her fear, which happened only when it got really, really out of hand. "Midoriya, you can't! Only All Might can stop that thing!"
He hated making them feel that much concern, but it was better than the alternative.
"Don't move, Midoriya," Aizawa groaned. "Listen to your classmates."
- Sorry guys, but it doesn't work that way. -
Izuku raised himself despite the warnings, taking a few steps to move in front of their teacher. He placed his left hand out of the sight of his classmates, so that only the Pro Hero could see it.
"Midoriya, it's an order. I for-"
Shota stopped as he saw the three raised fingers and looked up to meet his gaze. Their non-verbal exchanges were always intense at first, but Eraserhead knew he wasn't the favorite for a stare contest. Before he could continue to disagree, Izuku's mouth moved to form two syllables: Ne-zu.
That seemed to placate him somewhat, the tiniest hint of a "Why now?" written on his face. "Don't get yourself killed. I can't stop them forever," the man gritted his teeth.
He nodded, taking note of how low Eraser Head's limit had gotten. From the redness of his eyes, something around six to seven seconds. He'd make it six in his calculations, just to be sure.
"Sensei, stall the warper. Mineta, I need three of your balls."
Eijiro followed Bakugo down from the ruins, running as fast as they could to the central plaza.
Well, he was running. Bakugo was... running, jumping, and exploding.
He couldn't help but grin after hearing that the Number One Hero had finally arrived to put an end to the miserable affair, but even from afar he could feel that the monstrosity with its brain out in the open was very bad news.
All Might could take them all, of course, but they'd seen how hard the Mist Guy was to hit, and Bakugo had said he had a plan!
What he hadn't expected to see was for somebody else to have beat them to it.
"The hell's that Shitheel doing?!" the blonde shouted.
Eijiro kept running, though he couldn't lift his eyes from the spectacle happening down there.
Midoriya had jumped into the fray following the Pro, carrying something black and purple over his left gauntlet. He moved to All Might's side with the agility of a panther, screaming something that the redhead couldn't hear, and the Hero changed strategy in a moment, going from a brainbuster to launching the opponent in the air.
Midoriya had followed the creature, clearly incapable of maneuvering itself without solid ground, by letting himself be thrown as well. Eijiro then recognized part of what Midoriya was bringing on his arm: Mineta's Quirk. A sort of black whip shot from the student's hand as he came in contact with the enemy, allowing the greenette to rotate around it without letting himself be caught.
The Nomu's speed and naivety was to thank for what happened next. It kept trying to catch Izuku as he moved around but, as it couldn't imagine the effect of Mineta's balls, got its own arms tangled and stuck against each other, its back, and its maw. Another two seconds and it fell to the ground like a too-heavy sack of potatoes just as the duo, plus Todoroki, joined the scene.
Eijiro could only grin and join All Might in supporting the greenette's strategy as he lunged to land a hit on the weird-looking guy covered in hands. He was too slow, still unaccustomed to his new strengthening, but the threat he posed was enough to get the Villain to back away.
"Good job, Young Midoriya!"
"That was great Midobro!"
A shout covered his. "Get the hell out of here, fuckers!"
Bakugo's explosion took care of keeping the damn Mist Guy away while Todoroki's ice completely covered the stuck creature, further limiting its movements.
Standing next to All Might and the other three, Eijiro felt like he could face the world.
The boss wasn't taking it too kindly. "That's cheating! Cheat! Cheat! No one said you could have a Player 2! Nomu!"
Eijiro and the others looked over to see the ice not moving an inch. Whatever the thing was, it wasn't a problem anymore.
"It's two-on-five," Todoroki pointed out, growing the ice cover just to be sure.
Bakugo took his tongue out mockingly. "AH! I'll blow you straight to kingdom come you pathetic excuses for Villains!"
"Well? Aren't you coming to get me?" Taking a few steps ahead to shield them from harm, All Might added his voice to the scorn. "Do you think you can take on my students and ME?!"
The dark Mist Man floated closer to its companion as the air vibrated, keeping his yellow eyes pointed towards the entrance. "Tomura Shigaraki... calm yourself. The Nomu hasn't dealt enough damage, and more Heroes are on their way."
The other wobbled, groaning. "Yeah, it's game over just before the final boss. Let's save and quit."
The black mist started to swirl before stopping as Kurogiri tensed in pain. Behind the students, Aizawa's eyes were red and on the verge of giving out.
"COME ON!" The Villain yelled, shaking the other as All Might lowered himself.
- Go All Might! Smash them!" -
Eijiro's thought were interrupted by a cough to his right, and he turned to see Midoriya collapsing to his knees, a small trickle of crimson coming out of his mouth. He screamed at the same time as the Number One.
"Midobro!" "Young Midoriya!"
The boy fell, being barely caught into his teacher's arms, as Shigaraki swore vengeance and promised their deaths on their next meeting.
The U.S.J. fell into a deadly silence for a handful of seconds before Ida and Toru arrived, bringing the entire school's roster of Heroes with them.
Izuku blinked his eyes a couple of times before focusing on the light-green walls of Recovery Girl's infirmary for the second time of the day. He had asked for permission to sleep a bit more after his brief discussion with Toshinori and Naomasa, and the lovable doctor had gently allowed it. In this case, not being a regular had its perks.
Some of his classmates had also come in to pay him a short visit before going home. Izuku really liked being smothered by hugs to the point of having the old doctor kick them all out.
He hummed softly, quite pleased with himself.
No one had gotten seriously hurt. Even he hadn't, since the only part of his act that he hadn't faked had been the Quirk overuse. Fourteen percent had been pushing it, but it was still within reason. He would have to reach sixteen by the end of the next week anyway, and keep aiming at seventeen percent. Sooner just wasn't possible, as much as he wished it was.
His muscles had stopped aching after a quick recovery kiss from the [Heal] user. He felt a bit bad about showing himself vomiting blood to Eijiro and Toshi, but he needed to draw their attention in that moment. It wasn't even blood, but a small pack of biodegradable plastic. He had just needed to break it to make a show of the moment, and then swallow it to erase the evidence.
Thanks to his act Tomura and Kurogiri had managed to escape, which was good. It kept the variables within reason.
Denki had proven himself useful once again. Putting him with Tsu and Minoru made their part too easy, so he'd have to work on their skills in a less-than-deadly manner. And Minoru needed the scare anyway.
Mashirao had helped Fumikage and Koji once again, and the trio had gotten themselves out of the downpour zone without a scratch.
Shoto, Eijiro, and Kacchan had been on their own, and that was just fine. At least they would risk hurting somebody else by mistake. Yeah... finding a half-frozen Toru hadn't been fun.
The group dealing with the escape plan had worked as he'd hoped, even managing to minimize the damage on Thirteen. The Heroine's back had seen better days, but she wasn't in critical condition and would make a full recovery in less than a week.
Shota had managed with a broken arm and a lot of fatigue, but his eyes and Quirk were undamaged. No Mummy-zawa for this loop.
All Might had gone very close to his limit, but he hadn't suffered another debilitating wound. His maximum time was probably around the two-hour point now, which was better than he had hoped.
All things considered, it had all worked out as well as it could have.
But now came the last challenge of the day. Mental, not physical, but a challenge nonetheless.
He breathed and sat up, letting his legs fall and turning to take in the rest of the room. The door was closed and the space was devoid of people.
Except for the chimera in a tweed suit that was observing him with curious, deep, black, beady eyes and the content smile of a predator.
"Hello, Izuku Midoriya. We should talk."
Notes:
Everything's fine. What are a few broken bones when you have cheats on your side?
The High Spec Chimera has come to bargain!
What will the two be up to?
Coming up next, some downtime and harsh looks.
Leave a kudo or a comment if you like!
Thank you for reading! 'till next time!