13 - ||

…

In a section of the Ruins Zone…

"Dark Shadow, constrict them!" Tokoyami commanded from beneath the shadow of a partially collapsed. His Quirk raced out to snatch a two handfuls of villains with an echoing laugh, smashing the two groups together before slamming them on the ground. "Kaminari, once more!"

The blond leapt from his cover and landed in the center of the villains, electricity crackling around him. "500 Thousand Volt Shock!" And unleashed his power, making the villains scream and shudder before going still, smoke rising from the pile. Kaminari himself stumbled out, groaning.

"Are you alright?" The bird-headed boy asked, keeping a watchful eye out for more villains.

"Wahey…hey…heh, yeah," the blond replied, shaking himself out, "I just about reached my limit there…"

"Worry not, I will safeguard our souls," Tokoyami intoned, his shadow writhing in anticipation, "These fools wander into the shadows, thinking they know what it means to live in the darkness…but they were not born to it! Molded by it! That they are not blinded by the light…they are no true denizen of the dark!" Dark Shadow raced out, clobbering a pair of villains with a screech.

"…Yeah," Kaminari said slowly, "I've got more juice left, Tokoyami, let's take these fools out for daring to attack us at school!"

"AIYO!" Dark Shadow shouted in agreement.

…

The Downpour Zone…

Tsuyu bounced off of a streetlight, dodging a blade of water that sliced the light off of it, bounding from building to street to light, leading a crowd of villains on a merry chase through the rain. "Catch her!" A shrill voice shouted, "All this rain is ruining my hair!"

The frog girl leaped and shot her tongue out to latch onto a light, swinging herself around the corner and disappearing from sight. The crowd rounded the corner a few seconds later to find Tsuyu at the other end of the street, perched on a traffic light.

"Finally realized…how useless running is?!" The apparent leader of the group cried, an oddly beautiful girl with blue hair nearly doubled over from panting.

Tsuyu's face showed no fear nor anger. She simply lifted a hand and pointed up.

As one, the villains tilted their heads and looked upwards. And shared one thought.

That's a big lady.

"WHAT'S UP, BITCHES?!" Mt. Lady shouted gleefully as she dropped from the roof of a building, a very toothy grin on her lips. Her feet impacted on either side of the group, the concrete buckling and launching them into the air, where her massive hands were ready to snatch them at their apex. "I've got a lovely bunch of idiots~!" She sang as Tsuyu hopped onto her hand, darting between the dazed and confused villains to restrain them, "Here they are all sitting in my hands~! Gotta keep a good grip, or else they'll all slip, and that'll make Tsuyu saaaaaad~!"

The villains ceased to struggle lest she actually drop them, letting the frog girl tie them up without issue. "We're good!" Tsuyu called, climbing up Mt. Lady's arm to rest on her shoulder, "Y'know, ribbit, I was trying not to laugh 'cause it would make tying them up harder, but I thought it was funny."

"Hehe, and I just thought of it, too!" Mt. Lady giggled, using her elbow to smash in a bunch of windows in one of the buildings, then blowing the glass shards to the other side of the room, along with a bunch of chairs, desks and miscellaneous objects before shoving the villains into the room. Tsuyu hopped down from her shoulder, with the giant blonde planting her hands on the newly made door frame and jumping, shrinking down in size as she stepped into the building, then collapsing into a puddle of gray sludge to reveal…nothing. The frog girl drew a red and black bundle from under her hair and passed it off to nothing, where the bundle floated away behind a wall, only to come back as a shorter blonde in a red and black costume. "Now, time to find out what the fuck's going on."

Tsuyu jabbed a finger at the blue-haired girl. "She was the one shouting orders, ribbit. And just in general."

Said girl balked and looked around at the other villains. "N-no, wait I'm sure it was, uh, T-Torio, yeah, who was shouting, he's definitely the leader!" She gave them a very unsubtle wink and nod.

The villains glance at each other. "No, nope, she's definitely the leader," they replied, pointing at the girl.

"Works for me!" Himiko said with a shrug, carelessly grabbing the girl by her long, looped blue hair.

"Aaah, no!" She shrieked, kicking her legs wildly, unintentionally flashing everyone with her short skirt, "How could you betray your Aqua-sama like this you baaaaastaards!"

The blooddrinker shoved 'Aqua' against a wall and drew her stiletto, laying the blade against the villain's neck, making her freeze. "Now, you're gonna tell me why you're here, who you are…and what's up with this 'magical girl' shit you got going on."

Said 'magical girl shit' meant a sleeveless dark blue dress, with detached white sleeves with blue and gold trim, the aforementioned criminally short skirt, a green bow with a blue gem in the middle, topped off with blue thigh-high boots and white socks, along with a round blue hair clip.

"Ah, haha, you see…" the girl cleared her throat and drew herself up, "I am the all-powerful, benevolent goddess of water, the amazing,the beautiful, the magnificent…Aqua-sama! Ta-daaa-oof!" She had forgotten she was restrained and thus when she tried to pull some jazz-hands, she instead gracelessly fell over.

"…Uh-huh," Himiko grunted.

"You see, once I was revered for my magical water abilities to heal the sick and destroy the sinful…! But then when I asked for just a teensy-weensy bit of worship, suddenly I was a 'villain' and then I had to make ends meet somehow, so I blessed a crew of dirty peasants thankful for my patronage and decided that if I was gonna be a villain, then I'd be the greatest Villain of all time!" She then proceeded to laugh obnoxiously loudly.

Himiko glanced at the closest villain, an average looking guy with what looked like sunglasses fused to his face. "She's got a water quirk that can heal, and kept demanding people give her all their money and shit, there's nothing magical about her," he answered quickly, "And none of us even like her, she's just not bad with the water and the healing is really useful."

Aqua gasped theatrically. "Y-you scoundrel! How dare you say such things about your goddess?! I oughta smite you right now ya heathen!"

"Shut up, bitch, your hair isn't even naturally blue!" He retorted.

The 'goddess' gaped at him. "T-t-that's not true! My magical hair is a sign of my goddess-ness and is totally natural!"

"The carpets don't match the drapes, dipshit!"

"Y-you-you-y-you PERVERT! YOU LOOKED UP MY SKIRT?!"

"You don't wear panties and your skirt is so short it should be a criminal offense!"

Aqua drew in a deep breath to scream, only to squeal in shock when Himiko sank the claws of her glove into her bare arm, and then she quickly passed out. "Welp, she's useless," the blonde muttered, checking her blood levels and noting the rise, "Kinda hot, though." She stood up and pointed at the more reasonable villain. "You. Why are you here?"

"I-I swear I don't know!" He paled, gulping at the brandished claws and knife, "S-some tweaker asked us if we wanted to kick the shit out of a bunch of hero students and we haven't exactly had a lot of wins lately so we took him up on it! He said something about a secret weapon and that's it!"

The two Heroes in training traded looks. "We should get back to the central plaza, ribbit," Tsuyu stated.

"Mm," Himiko nodded and the two moved to the window, preparing to leap out, only stopped by a cry of 'wait!' "What?"

The villain pointed his chin at the now-drooling Aqua. "Can you like, gag her or something? I know we're going to jail for this, but seriously, she's gonna scream so much when she wakes up…"

The blonde blooddrinker thought for a second, then shrugged. She tugged the 'goddess's boots and socks off, stuffing one in her drooling mouth while tying the other around her head. "There," she nodded and the two girls jumped away into the rain. "Now stay put."

…

"…Hey, Aqua's actually not bad-looking when she can't talk."

"…Shut up, Torio."

…

The Conflagration Zone…

"Where the hell are these brats?!" A villain with what looked like smokestacks growing out of his head shouted over the crackling of flames, receiving no answers from the other villains waiting in hiding. A swirling portal of purple smoke had appeared over the place the villains had chosen for their ambush, a mostly-burned building that wasn't too much on fire; but before they could even make a move, before the Baby Heroes had even touched the ground, they'd vanished in a streak of purple lightning. "Dammit!"

A sweaty villain came sprinting around the corner, eyes wide with fear. "R-run!" He shouted, waving his arms frantically.

Smokestack scowled, smoke angrily billowing from his stacks. "Where are the others?!"

"Run!" Sweaty repeated in panic, only to squeal in pain. Purple flashed behind him and he went rocketing forward, skidding over the ground on his face with a dark figure standing on his back.

Even through her faceless helmet, they could feel the glare Keqing was shooting them, flinching as she stomped on the groaning villain under her boot and plucked an uncomfortably long needle from his back. Then she flicked it and Smokestack dodged, the long metal implement sinking into the charred brick next to his head. "You miss-!" Lightning crackled and she was there, driving a fist into his stomach before seizing his face and slamming the back of his head into the brick with a crunch.

Keqing snatched her needle back and threw, zipping towards another villain, her boot meeting their stomach, pushing off to snap-kick their head and send them spinning, sending her needle into the air. She bolted upwards, creating one needle and grabbing the other, hurling both downwards then zipping to one with a leg extended. Surprisingly, her attack was dodged as the villain, a woman with unbound black hair, gracefully spun away and scraped the ground with what looked like bare, metal feet. A wave of sparks shot up at the contact then exploded into billowing flames.

The electric girl bolted to her other needle, which was at the feet of a man with half a head of brown hair, exposed skin covered in burns with glowing yellow eyes, wearing a ragged fireman's jacket. He bent over her fist as it was buried in his gut, but a sharp gesture from his hands made the flames around them explode in her direction, so she sped away to her other opponent, ducking under a graceful crescent kick to sweep the heel, but the villain cartwheeled away, once more dragging her feet on the ground.

Keqing grunted, lightning flowing through her being and darted back to the other needle. Time slowed to an ironically glacial crawl, allowing her to perceive what was truly happening. The villain in the fireman's jacket was mid-gesture, the sparks kicked up by the woman expanding into flames as he did. He has some kind of control over combustions, she deduced, remembering how nearby fire would grow at his command. Take him out first.

Mid-bolt, she formed another two needles and threw them, the carved metal sinking into his shoulders and disabling his arms. She appeared in front of him with a crack of thunder, yanking her needles out then speedily and repeatedly stabbing them into his chest, making him flinch and jerk with every shock. Kicking his foot, the villain fell to one knee and she ran up his torso, landing a flipping kick to his chin that sent him flying into the air.

Bolting towards the female villain, Keqing saw that she was spinning, kicking up a near-constant barrier of sparks. The electric girl summoned two more needles and clenched them in her hands, infusing them further with her power, then threw.

The dancing villain had a mere second to see a lightning-sheathed needle pass her body by a few inches before the other punched through her wall of sparks and sank into her sternum. Wreathed in lightning, Keqing bolted to her needle, palming the villain by the chest and carrying her onwards under the overhang of a burning building, slamming the villain into the wall. As the villain doubled over, she threw another needle above and zipped up, driving the woman into the overhang before letting go. Plucking her needle, she flicked it down past the falling villain and bolted down with a leg extended, stomping the woman into the ground with a crunch.

She did not get up again.

Keqing threw her needle up and zipped to it, seeing the remaining villains gathered around each other, doing their best to keep her in their sights. She thought it was cute of them to try. Summoning all five of her needles to her hands, she threw them in a circle around the group, her body briefly glowing like a purple star before vanishing in a glint of light.

And then there was chaos.

If one were able to pause time, they would see what looked like many copies of Keqing made of lightning, frozen in time as they kicked, punched and otherwise struck the villains with speed too great for the naked eye to see, darting from one needle to the other.

A second later and she reappeared outside of the circle sliding to a stop, smoke curling from her suit as what looked like a five-point star of purple energy shone, then erupted. A thunderous crack rang out as the air displaced from her speed realized it had somewhere else to be, hurling the villains every which way, each unconscious and sparking.

Pushing her visor up, Keqing coughed from the smoke and exertion, guzzling refreshingly cool water from her canteen. "Koda-san, that's the last of them!" She called, taking a second to kneel and regain her strength. The shy teen with a rock for a face peered out from behind a building, the villains they'd dealt with earlier slung on his shoulders. "Let us leave this place before we inhale any more smoke."

He nodded and together they restrained the villains in a daisy-chan, dragging them out of the Conflagration and into the clearer air of the USJ. Above the entrance, they could see a bright orange flare burning in the sky.

Humming, Keqing snapped her visor shut and rolled her shoulders. "Koda-san, please keep an eye on these criminals, I will go to the central plaza to support our teacher."

The rocky-headed boy bobbed his head gently, birds and squirrels and the like gathering around him.

The electric girl nodded and flung a needle, vanishing with a crack and glint of purple.

…

In another Section of the Ruins Zone…

"FUCK OFF!" Katsuki shouted, blasting a bulky villain away with a grin on her face as Eiri grappled another to throw out of a window, a jagged makeshift blade shattering on her forehead as she did. "You'd think, tryin' to invade fuckin' Yuuei of all places, these FUCKERS WOULD BRING THEIR A-GAME!" Small but intense explosions shot from her gloved hands as she jumped and spun, kicking a knife out of a villains' hand with one heel and kicking him in the face with the other, sending him cartwheeling into a wall. "But no! Extras! Extras, one and all!"

Eiri blocked the punches of a villain with spikes growing from her knuckles, grappling her arms to pull them in for a vicious headbutt, then flattened them with a hip toss that turned into an elbow drop that cracked the floor beneath them. She swept the leg of another villain, planting her hands and pushing off into a rising knee that sent the villain bouncing off of the ceiling. "This is what you get, Bastards!" She growled, boxing another villains' ears then grabbing them and rocketing her head forward once, twice, thrice, throwing the bleeding enemy to ground. "Imma break you all!"

"Maybe if you were faster!" Bakugou laughed, blasting a villain away casually, "WEAK!" She spun, kicking the legs out from another and launching a double blast into their chest, sending them flying, "USELESS!" She exploded, driving an elbow up into the gut of another, seizing them by the collar with her hand and pulling them over her shoulder, then blasting them out of a window, "FUCKING!" the topmost barrels on her gauntlets glowed before erupting in a mighty flash and thunder, sending many villains flying, "EXTRAS!"

The muscular redhead cracked her knuckles, giving the many unconscious, mostly smoking villains a satisfied smirk. "Maybe next time, you'll think twice about taking on 1-A!" She crowed, turning to the other girl with a palm raised. "High-five!"

"We're not fuckin' done," the explosive blonde grunted, not sparing her a glance, eyes fixed on the figure walking towards them, stepping over the bodies of the fallen.

It was a man, black hair pulled up into a topknot, dressed in the traditional samurai getup, jacket, hakama and geta, all colored blood red and trimmed with black, a katana tucked into an obi, topped off with a straw hat (also black.) "If they couldn't satisfy you, perhaps I can be of assistance?" He offered in a smoky voice, thumbing the tsuba of his katana to show the gleaming blade, "You'll see that I'm a cut above the rest."

Katsuki stared at him, an incredulous eyebrow creeping up her forehead before her cheeks bulged and raucous laughter escaped from her mouth. "L-look at this edgy motherfucker!" She chortled, slapping a knee, "Where the fuck do you think you are, Bushido-con!?"

The villain's eye twitched dangerously. "You-!"

"And the colors! Holy shit, I think that color palette is called 'It's Not A Phase, Mom!'" Bakugou added, nearly bent over from laughing so hard, "Lemme guess, you call yourself 'Ronin!' No, wait, 'Ronin of the Underworld!' No, that's not edgy enough, how about 'Shadow Ronin of the Underworld!" She saw his face curl into a scowl and laughed harder, "Oh god, I bet your first villain name was 'Original Character, Do Not Steal!' Ha!"

"THAT'S IT!" The very edgy villain howled, gripping his katana so hard his fingers were white, "DIE!" And then he blurred forward, drawing his sword and swinging down with all his might.

"Look out!" Eiri shouted, throwing herself in front of Katsuki, arms raised, skin hard as rock. The blade sliced down, meeting her skin and beginning to cut through it. The redhead gasped in pain, before her eyes hardened and she clenched her fists, growling with effort. Her skin became even more jagged and rock-like, stopping the katana cold.

With the villain's momentum meeting her immoving form by way of his sword, the blade shattered into silver shards. Then Eiri heard an explosion and glanced over at the blonde.

"That's my line."

Katsuki, powered by a blast, uncorked a spinning uppercut into the villain's chin, sending him into the air. She landed and took aim, catching him right in his floating center of mass and launching him out of the other side of the building. Sniffing, she stood and wiped her cheek where a shard of sword had cut into her flesh, giving the redhead an unimpressed look. "Yeah, I had that handled, dipshit," she said casually, cracking her knuckles, "If you hadn't jumped in front of me I would've cleaned his goddamn clock before he could bring his sword down."

Eiri blinked at her, feeling a little flatfooted. "Uh…you're welcome…?" Shaking her head, she squinted in thought with a small frown, "Wait, how, exactly?"

Bakugou scoffed. "An edgy bitch like that? Press their unimaginative inadequacy buttons a bunch and they'll default to the most basic strikes out of anger; which, for a katana, is an overhead slice. I was already crouched over 'n ready to explode and counter his ass."

The redhead rubbed her chin, coughing and refocusing on more important things. "Now that we've handled these goons, we should find everyone else and help 'em out." I guess she has explosive reflexes, too…?

"Fuck that, if they can't handle these goddamn extras," she kicked a groaning villain in the side, "Then they shouldn't even be in our damn class. The smoky son of a bitch, he's got a teleporting Quirk; as long as he's on the field, these fucks have an out. Taking him down, that's the winning play." A villain, having recovered from getting beat down, charged at Katsuki's back with a yell. She stepped to the side and held her arm out, letting him clothesline himself on her bulky gauntlet. Not even acknowledging it, she jumped out of the building and blasted away.

Eiri looked at all of the villains they'd put down and grabbed her restraints with a sigh, getting to work making sure they wouldn't run after recovering. "…Think I'm starting to see why Izuku wants to beat your face in," she muttered with a bit of a grin, "I wouldn't mind taking a couple shots myself…"

…

Central Plaza…

Aizawa was not having a pleasant day; not that he had pleasant days in general, just the occasional day that was less shit than most.

This was not one of those. The opposite, in fact.

And it had only gotten worse when 'The League of Villains' had shown up in force, scattering his students all around the building with who knows how many enemies waiting for them. And just because he specialized in fighting many enemies at once, punching through cannon fodder like All Might punched through rice paper just became tedious after a while.

Speaking of All Might: WHERE THE HELL WAS HE?

This thought became even more pertinent when the twitchy psychopath covered in hands had not only dissolved a lot of skin around his elbow, but had also ordered the smoking Villain to bring in 'The Nomu.'

No, Aizawa reflected, lying facedown on the concrete, his cracked eye socket throbbing in agonizing time with his shattered shoulders, this has not been a very good day. Though it would be a little less worse if this maniac would shut up. Also…ow. My bones.

"-Symbol of Peace!" Shigaraki ranted about All Might, again. "What makes him so peaceful, huh?! All the smashing, changing the weather and shit?!"

Aizawa blinked his one good eye and focused on the fight taking place near the entrance. The villains he hadn't taken care of because of the whole 'being pounded into the concrete' thing had gone for the students protecting Thirteen, though they had quickly learned to stay out of Sato and Shouji's reach. Using nearby trees taped together and covered in thick goop courtesy of Sero and Mina respectively as cover, the villains had hunkered down on the second platform of the stairs and the two groups had fallen into a diorama of super-powered trench warfare. Idiot children, he thought, gaze landing on a villain pulling a boiling ball of sort of liquid out of himself, holding it above his head, the door's open, you should've taken Thirteen and escaped. His eye turned red and the ball lost cohesion, splashing down onto the villain and spilling out around the ground, causing several of them to run screaming.

They were then nailed with sticky globs of tape and saltwater-strength acid, taking them out of the fight.

Then his eye went wide as he saw an armored form land a bit away, just out of the three Villains' line of sight. Oh no, not him. He saw the helmet turn as the student glanced between him and the others at the top of the stairs. Go to them! He tried to shout with just an eye and a pained expression, Help them, not me!

He blinked as what looked like green lightning briefly danced around Izuku's armor. Wait, what was that?

FIFTEEN PERCENT. His fingers dug into the concrete like it was cotton candy and heaved it over his head like the same, a chunk of gray stone three feet wide sailing through the air to land amid the villains on the stairs. Then the world blurred in Izuku's vision as he moved, crossing the distance between himself and the big muscled freak pinning Eraserhead to the ground, launching a cupped palm directly into its chest. He felt the black-skinned muscle ripple, but not give, then his pressure wave caught up and slammed into the creature's body, sending it sliding back on its heels. It absorbed the kinetic energy of my strike, he noted, bending to carefully grab the heavily injured Underground Hero and bolt away. Setting Aizawa down gently, Izuku sank his field into his teacher's bones, carefully but quickly pulling the shattered fragments of his shoulders back together. He could do nothing about the torn muscles and ligaments, but the bone he could fix.

"You…sneaky little bastard…" Aizawa rasped, only wincing slightly as shards of bone realigned themselves inside his torn flesh and fused together, "Have you…still been holding back…?"

"Not by choice," he replied, feeling just a tiny smirk at the way Eraserhead jumped at the sound of his voice. "Try not to move too much, Eraserhead."

The Underground Hero gave him a look of furious incredulity. "Don't be stupid, Midoriya! You're the second fastest, get out of here and get help!"

Izuku shook his head, pointing at the large, black-skinned beast with the exposed brain. "If that thing went through you, it'll go through them," he jacked a thumb at the students near the entrance, "Like paper."

"And you are one of them!" Aizawa retorted with an edge of desperation.

"I know," the earthbender nodded, standing to approach the trio of Villains.

"Midoriya!" Eraserhead shouted, too pained to do more than lift his head, his call passing Izuku by like the breeze. "…It can absorb kinetic energy!"

Izuku looked back at him and gave a single dip of his chin. "I know," he repeated, and dashed forward.

"Thi-this…that cheater!" Shigaraki screamed, scratching furiously at his neck, "Some NPC student pushed the Nomu back!"

"Oh dear, that is troubling," Kurogiri commented, "However, we don't know if it was the wind that did so, not the attack. So it may be that this student cannot actually stand up to the Nomu in combat."

"Yeah, yeah," the handy Villain muttered, breathing hard around the hand on his face, "Nomu! Kill that shitty cheater! Smash him!"

The Nomu opened a beaked, toothy maw and roared, leaping forward to meet Izuku's charge, moving faster than a creature that size had any right. Under his helm, the earthbender's eyes widened at the speed, drawing on Fifteen Percent again. Better! He declared in his head, dodging a wild swing and retaliating with a punch of his own that sank into Nomu's black skin.

It had no effect.

Very high absorption, he noted, narrowly ducking and weaving around massive muscled arms, launching punches and kicks into the monstrosity's beak and head. Fifteen percent is doing nothing, and I've only ever gone up to Twenty-Five…and that was on instinct. And I was Full Metal Armor. His mind raced with alternatives, his eyes locking onto the Nomu's beady gaze. …there's nothing there, he realized, barely deflecting a swing with a grunt, Just animal instinct…and besides, it has Shock Absorption, not Negation.

Pulling the obsidian from his Second Layer, he wrapped it around his right hand and narrowed the edge to the thinnest it would go, which was about a micrometer.

When the Nomu swung again, Izuku stepped into its reach and brought his obsidian-bladed arm down.

Obsidian with a freshly broken edge was one of the sharpest blades in the world. Izuku's field had sharpened it further.

It sliced through the Nomu's elbow like butter, the limb flying off in a spray of dark blood. Izuku ducked and cut through its knee and as it overbalanced and began to fall, he turned into its momentum and drove his hand straight through its chest, skewering its heart on his arm as his fingers punched out of its back.

Izuku turned to look at the smoke Villain and the handy one, hoping the intimidation of impaling their 'secret weapon' through the heart would be enough to make them surrender, unlikely as that was. He made to pull his hand free, but something stopped him. Izuku looked back. For some reason, the hole he'd just made was smaller. Much smaller.

"Ehehe…HAHAHAHA!" Shigaraki laughed, the horridly scratchy sound echoing through the plaza, "The Nomu doesn't have just Super Shock Absorption! It has Super REGENERATION as well!"

A spurt of blood heralded ropes of muscle erupting from the stump of the Nomu's elbow, forming into another hand complete with skin in under a second.

Izuku could only widen his eyes in the fraction of a second before a massive fist crashed into his head, and he found himself looking in the other direction, most of his helmet reduced to sand. He barely had time to register the pain before an equally sizable knee drove into his stomach, the metal and rock on his stomach and back pulverized by the force. He looked around, his neck protesting every inch, and saw the Nomu draw its arm back. All he could do was pull as much rock from the ground as he could to armor himself once more, and then he was sailing through the air, landing hard on his back with no breath in his lungs.

"Yes, yes!" The hand-covered Villain cheered, clapping his hands in glee, "Squash him, Nomu! Squish that cheater like a BUG!"

Through the fuzz that seemed to be packed into his head instead of brains, Izuku saw the massive form leap into the air, and knew it would come down on him. He desperately pulled on all the concrete around him, but his legs didn't seem to want to work. He threw an arm up, forming and launching stone knives as fast as he could, but they only sank into the Nomu's skin just a bit and popped out just as fast, or simply bounced off.

Impact.

Once more, what little breath he'd gathered explosively exited his mouth, and the ground cracked beneath him. He saw a massive foot rise, felt it hammer into his chest, felt the ground crack again, saw the foot rise again. His armor and field writhed like a living, panicked, dying thing…and the foot came down again.

…I don't want to die…

Impact.

…

From their position at the top of the stairs, Sato, Shouji, Sero and Mina saw Izuku take the first punch.

Katsuki arrived just in time to see him get kneed.

Himiko and Tsuyu landed as the uppercut did.

Shimo and Toru had just stepped off of an ice path when the Nomu landed on him.

Keqing, Koda, Ochako, Momo, Kyouka, Aoyama had regrouped when the first stomp shook the ground.

Eiri, Tokoyami and Kaminari had just left the ruins when the second stomp folded Izuku in half around a massive foot with an echoing, sickening crunch and tortured squeal of metal and rock.

They all saw as the massive creature withdrew its foot, and his armored form slumped back in the new crater, unmoving.

Someone screamed out his name. High pitched laughter rose in response as Shigaraki cackled at the top of his lungs. "That's what cheaters get, squished! Idiot! You thought you could take on my Nomu! The Anti-Symbol of Peace! Get wrecked!" And then he laughed once more.

A wordless, tortured scream savaged the air before Himiko dropped on Shigaraki's back, driving her stiletto into his shoulder and her claws into his chest. "YOU KILLED HIM!" She shrieked, eyes bloodshot, pupils mere slits, "I'LL BLEED YOU DRY!"

The Villain shouted in pain and flailed, trying to throw the apoplectic blonde from his back while trying to reach back and grab her. A dark cloud swirled at her back and suddenly she was Tsuyu, leaping high into the air above it, her blades leaving Shigaraki's flesh with sprays of blood. In mid-air, her features vanished, body twisting to avoid another cloud before a grapple launched from her belt and latched onto Kurogiri's chest, reeling her in. A portal of smoke began to form on the line and Himiko was suddenly visible and green-haired again, but Setsuna. Her body twisted unnaturally and avoided the cloud once more, then she landed on the smoke Villain to drive him to the ground, knife and claws sinking into his chest as she let loose a frenzied scream.

Then something blinked in the corner of her vision and she turned to see the massive muscled form of the monster who murdered her love closing in on her faster than she could react. …Izuku…

Arms wrapped around her and suddenly, Himiko was on the other side of the plaza as a grim-faced All Might set her down gently. "YOUNG IIDA FOUND ME WHILE I WAS ON MY WAY," he announced, stripping off his yellow blazer and tie, "STEP BACK AND LET ME HANDLE THESE VILLAINS! NEVER FEAR, STUDENTS! WHY? BECAUSE I-"

He chanced a glance down, but instead of relief he was met with tears and despair. Himiko looked up at him and even through her mask, he could feel her abject misery. "You're too late…" she whimpered, casting a look to the side.

All Might followed her gaze and found a crater that hadn't been there before, and lying in that crater was armor that he had inspired, lying chillingly still. "Young Midori…Izuku?" He asked faintly. He was answered by Himiko collapsing on her side and curling in on herself, sobbing brokenly into her hands.

…My successor…my boy…

Raucous, grating laughter rang in his ears. "You sure showed up quick, All Might! Only got to kill one of your brats…heh, I guess the encounter rate really is high…" He turned to look at Villain covered in hands as he gestured towards the unmoving armor, "Like my handiwork, Symbol of Peace?!" Shigaraki hissed, clenching his hand into a fist. "You're next! Boss Fight time! Nomu…kill All Might!"

The Nomu roared and then All Might was there, burying a fist in its gut. To his surprise, the creature didn't even stumble or flinch, and swung at him with speed that matched his own.

To the observers, it was a confusing though awe-inspiring sight; punches and kicks were thrown with such speed they were barely visible, with retaliatory strikes dodged and countered just as quickly.

"Shock! Shock Absorption!" Aizawa shouted from his place on the ground, "And Regeneration!"

All Might had figured out the first part, but the second came as an unpleasant surprise. I'll have to destroy the brain, then, he thought, teeth bared in a vicious grimace. Good. A skyscraper-shattering palm strike struck the Nomu's beak with a thunderclap, its head snapping back and All Might zipped around behind it, locking his arms around its middle and heaving it over his head…

But there was no impact.

Suddenly a pair of massive black-skinned hands appeared from under his back, grasping his sides and his wound and digging fingers in deep. He grit his teeth to muffle a roar of pain, seeing a swirling purple-tinged cloud where his suplex should've landed, and another just below his back. The Nomu seemed content to simply crush his ribcage and he couldn't move without tearing himself open.

Then ice encased the creature's lower half, along with one of its arms, and a beanbag launched at high speeds shattered both into pieces.

"DIE!" Katsuki screamed, rocketing up to Kurogiri and landing a kick that sent the smoke Villain tumbling until she stomped on his collar, hand crackling and pointed at his head. Despite the furious scowl she wore, her eyes were red and cheeks were suspiciously damp. "Move…even a centimeter, and I'll turn your skull into ash."

All Might planted his hands and somersaulted back, flinging a bisected and one-armed Nomu into the air. He saw Shimo with an ice trail leading up to her foot, and another Shimo in a red leotard with the same, and a kneeling Momo carrying a rather large cannon on her shoulder. He gave them an approving nod then glanced up, seeing the Nomu already regenerating from its wounds.

"Y-you-!" Shigaraki seethed, eyes wide and manic, one hand scratching at his neck, "SYMBOL OF PEACE! What a FUCKING LIE! All you are is violent, just like me! But just because you're a Hero, because of some fancy fucking TITLE, you think you can just create more violence, and-!"

"Whoever you are, shut up," All Might interjected with surprising calm, his burning blue eyes visibly trembling with fury, "Nothing you say matters to me; the bullshit you're spewing doesn't even matter to you. You killed my student…"

"…I'll Smash You Into Dust!"

Then the Nomu landed and All Might was there, pounding a fist into its exposed brain. For the first time, the creature shrieked in pain and recoiled. The Number One Hero, the Symbol of Peace pulled his fist back, muscles straining with the power to shatter mountains…I WILL destroy this creature! He declared in his head, lights flashing in his vision, I have to go BEYOND One Hundred Percent! I…! Blood spilled from his lips and his arm shook. No…! My strength…! It can't fail me now! I have to…I MUST avenge-!

"SENSEI!"

A voice they never thought they would hear again rang out through the plaza. As one, their heads snapped around to see-

…

Izuku blinked sluggishly, finding himself in complete darkness. Where…where am I? He wondered, his mind feeling more than a little fuzzy. Am I…in The Deep? Am I dead? He tried to move and his body recoiled as if he'd been shocked, pain emanating from his back. Ow! That's a no. But then…

It struck like lightning and he recalled the massive creature he'd impaled through the heart, who had retaliated with blows that should've flattened him like mochi. Scrunching his nose, his goggles rose from his mask sluggishly, the collar compromised but the seal still whole, and his vision became black and white. Above him he could see white blobs, flashing in tune to their heartbeats. …I'm underground…how the hell…?

The ground shook slightly and he could see two massive blobs grappling with each other. All Might! I have to help! He made to move but cried out as his back protested, gritting his teeth and trying to ignore it while also attempting to figure out how to move under the earth. He tried a breaststroke and while it sort of worked, it was also like trying to swim through molasses. Oh, wait, duh, he concentrated on his field and imagined it as a bubble around his person, slipping through the ground like water and shooting off. Holy shit! He mentally slammed the brakes and stopped, thankfully not jarring his injuries.

Looking through his goggles, he figured he was just beneath a wrecked building in the Ruins Zone, and so directed his bubble up through the dirt and through the foundations and then the wall of the building, emerging onto the rooftop with a pained groan. He leaned heavily on the lip of the building, and in the distance he spotted All Might fighting the Nomu, his classmates watching from the distance…and his empty armor sitting in a crater, looking for all the world like he'd been brutally snapped in half and murdered.

"Ah shit…I'm gonna owe Himiko a lot for making her think I died," he groaned, sitting himself down, scarfing down a meal bar, wrapper and all before sinking into his meditation.

Would've been nice to know about the Super Regeneration beforehand, he allowed himself to grumble, before focusing, But even that has its limits. Every function of the body, conscious, unconscious, subconscious, are controlled by the brain, even Quirks. So…destroy the brain…gladly. But Shock Absorption…Fifteen Percent didn't do shit. I'm not sure how high I can go, either, but…this thing needs to die. I must destroy my enemy…and my enemy will be destroyed…I need a force multiplier…

His eyes snapped open and focused on the largest building in the Ruins Zone, a not-quite skyscraper tilted to the left. …Like Gravity. It almost resembled a ramp, even.

I have an Idea.

Sinking into the building, Izuku pulled all of the metal he could find into his field, liquifying and condensing it as far as it could go, even as the building groaned and tilted dangerously. Once every micrometer of his field had been packed to the maximum, he shot back up to the roof, planted his hands on the lip and shouted.

"SENSEI!"

He saw them look to him with naked surprise, hope and relief on their faces, but he couldn't allow himself to be distracted. He pointed at the tallest building and shouted again.

"THROW IT!"

All Might blinked once, then floored the Nomu with an uppercut that would've disintegrated a cruise liner. Shigaraki, who had been about to leap in to join the bout, was sent flying by the resulting shockwave that whipped up a powerful wind, tumbling end over end and flailing to right himself, Kurogiri being shoved back as well before Katsuki stomped on his collar to stop him. Then the Hero grabbed Nomu by the legs and spun, hurling it through the air like a shot from a cannon.

Izuku saw the Nomu fly by and crouched, leaping from the rooftop, the building caving in on itself as he raced after it. The creature slammed into the face of the other building, cratering it and shattering whatever windows were left. His fist impacted its spine a second later, sharpened metal ripping through its spinal column, barbs of metal spiking out to dig into regenerating flesh, and the crater tripled in size with thunderous crash, the building beginning to tilt even farther.

Verdant energy crackled over his metal armor, sinking into his heart, his veins, his bones to fill him with wild power. Roaring with effort, he planted his feet and ran up the building, each footfall shaking the very foundation as he dragged the Nomu upwards, grinding its beaked face and exposed brain into the shattered glass, concrete and metal.

As he reached the lip, Izuku jammed a disc of metal between the Nomu's vertebrae, cocked his arm back and hurled it into the sky. The pressure wave rocked the building, the facade visibly cracking and crumbling. Then he planted his feet on the roof, crouched and leaped.

The top half of the building disintegrated, blasting outward in a cone of dust and debris.

Izuku shot up like a bullet, racing out to slam into the creature's back, his armor growing barbs that dug into the Nomu's back even as he locked his arms around its elbows and torso, metal flowing together into a solid band of silver steel.

There was a single solemn second of silence, only the sound of the rushing in his ears as they rose together.

And then, at their apex, he threw himself backwards, dragging the Nomu with him as they began to fall towards the ground.

And then they began to spin.

This is the end of you! Izuku screamed in his mind as they picked up speed, I will DESTROY my Enemy, and they WILL BE DESTROYED!

On the outside, they had begun to spin so fast they were a blur of silver and black, and then the very air began to twist around them, thin, thorned bolts of verdant lightning striking out.

All Might felt the ground tremble under his feet, a smile growing on his lips. My boy…

I WILL DESTROY MY ENEMY, AND THEY WILL BE DESTROYED!

"HAYABUSA…!"

One bolt became two, became three and four and then thick bolts of lightning burst forth into a spiraling drill of pure energy, the once-falling debris beginning to flow towards it in serene arcs.

I WILL DESTROY MY ENEMY! AND THEY WILL BE DESTROYED!

Destroy it…! He thought he heard a woman's voice say, …With a smile!

The ground grew closer.

THIS IS THE END OF YOU! He howled in his mind.

It began to fill his vision.

THIS IS THE END OF YOU!

He closed his eyes and inhaled softly.

THIS!

IS!

THE END OF YOU!

Izuku roared, and the world roared with him.

"…SMAAASH!"

Impact.

The entire USJ shuddered and bucked, the impact wave sweeping over everyone like a tsunami, a column of dirt and dust erupting into the air. When the ground no longer quaked and their footing was steady once more, All Might clapped his hands to banish the lingering dust.

Unveiled was a crater near twenty feet wide, the bowl smoothly carved from the concrete and the earth beneath. In the center of it, streaks of red, shredded meat could be seen, with a pair of black-skinned shins sticking out of it the largest pile of viscera.

There was a scuffle inside, and then Izuku emerged from the crater. Most of his armor was gone, including the costume beneath, with the exception of his arms and legs. His skin was pink and raw with steam rising from it, drenched in rivers of sweat as he sucked in lungfuls of air, his muscles spasming and cramping, dark splotches spreading beneath his skin where blood vessels had burst from the strain. He collapsed on the lip of the crater, eyes dull and almost unseeing.

Katsuki would forever deny that she'd been gazing at Izuku in relief when Kurogiri swept her leg and vanished into a portal.

"…You…!" A raspy voice hissed as Shigaraki grasped Izuku's armor-clad arm, red eyes nearly bulging out of his skull, "You…Cheater!" His other hand reached towards the earthbenders face, fingers crooked into claws.

Izuku looked at him, at the hand on his armor as the ragged metal began to disintegrate, then at the palm approaching his face. Spikes erupted from the metal, spearing through Shigaraki's flesh just before a fist crashed into the Villain's face, sending him flying back with a satisfyingly loud clang and the following thud. "…Don't touch me," Izuku mumbled, so tired that it sounded more petulant than intimidating.

Kurogiri appeared behind Shigaraki in a whorl of smoke, grabbing the younger Villain by the shoulders. "The day is lost! We must retreat!" And began to pull them back through the smoke.

"You…!" Cradling a profusely bleeding hand, Shigaraki didn't resist as he was dragged into the portal, gaze fixed on Izuku. "I'll get you! I'LL GET YOU!"

Izuku blinked sluggishly and silently gave him the finger.

Howling madly, the portal closed behind the last Villains standing, then two were gone.

He had only a second to breathe easy before a blonde missile slammed into his chest, and he was suddenly reminded that everything hurt. Screaming behind his teeth, Izuku couldn't even enjoy the arms embracing him as his muscles locked up and he fell backwards.

There was a woosh and All Might was there, a massive hand cradling his sweat-soaked hair. "Young Midoriya," the Number One Hero nodded with a smile, gently setting him down.

"Izuku!" Himiko called, her panicked, tear-stained visage appearing in his vision. "Are you alright?! I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you!"

"S'okay," he replied through gritted teeth, trying not to tear up or pass out, "Didn't mean…to make you think…I wa' ded…"

The blonde sniffled as tears of joy and relief streamed down her cheeks, resting her head against his shoulder.

"As glad as I am to see you alive, my boy, I'd like to know how you survived," All Might commented as the rest of the class gathered around the fallen earthbender, Ochako dropping to her knees next to him, her own eyes brimming with tears.

"I think all of us would," Momo added, leaning down over Izuku's head and giving him a gentle, thankful smile.

He couldn't even enjoy the sight of her breasts so close to his face, either, though it was nice. "Well…I think…when that thing was gonna…stomp me again…I felt my field…fluc…flcucto…" He grunted as his jaw refused to work more than it had to.

"Fluctuating?" Momo supplied.

"Yeah," Izuku sighed, blinking as dark spots danced on the edge of his vision, "That. And then, when it stomped…I kinda got pushed into the ground…never done that before…it was weird."

"And then you moved through the ground to find a high spot," All Might nodded in realization, "You're very lucky, my boy."

"Rather be lucky than…snapped in half," he gritted out.

"Don't joke about that!" Himiko rebuked, lightly slapping his chest. His whole body tensed as a muffled, agonized scream issued from his mouth, "Oh god, I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"

"'S…okay," he mumbled thickly.

"How are ya feelin,' Deki-kun?" Ochako asked gently, her hands trembling with the desire to reassure herself of his existence with her touch and her equally powerful desire to not cause him any more pain.

"Have you ever…been dunked in acid?"

Mina raised her hand, "Yeah!"

"Like that, but twenty times worse," Izuku answered, his eyes going in and out of focus as the pink-skinned girl blew him a kiss. "Hey," he asked generally.

"Yes?"

"Do I…still have a body?"

All Might scanned Izuku's heavily damaged but still present frame. "Yes, yes you do."

"Oh…" He sounded disappointed, "Can I…uh, not?"

"That would kill you," Momo helpfully pointed out.

"Oh, right…that would be bad."

"Very bad, yes."

The entrance to the USJ suddenly slammed open as every teacher on campus stormed in with Iida; even the Principal was there, sitting on Vlad King's shoulder. "THE YUUEI TEACHERS ARE HERE!" They all struck Action PosesTM, looking ready to throw down…only to realize it had already been thrown down a bit ago and had opened up a bed and breakfast.

"Oh, uh…" Midnight looked at the Even-More-Ruined-Ruins Zone, the students and All Might gathered around a collapsed Izuku by a crater that hadn't been there before, then at Aizawa lying on the concrete of the plaza, covered in dust, and finally at Thirteen, who was now sitting up and no longer bleeding though her outfit was a total loss, "…Villains beware?"

Mina shot up and clapped her hands to her face with a frustrated scream. "Iidaten! How the hell are you a Speedster, but you're always late to the damn Party?!"

…

…

…

…

…

A/N: …Hey, how's it going? Been a while, hasn't it? As you might be able to see, I was a little busy; had a bit of writer's block, li'l bit of depression, started playing the Yakuza series and FF14, though I and my buddy NSG started a new co-op venture called 'The Brockton Bay Riders' it's on my profile if you wanna give it look. He loves Kamen Riders and I've gained a new appreciation for everything slightly (or majorly) cheesy and fulla heart, so I finally gave in.

NS: Would definitely appreciate it. There're too few good Kamen Rider fics out there. It's also on AO3.

Oh yeah, and also banging out this monster of a chapter! That's the USJ and the first Nomu done and very literally dusted!

I've had the Hayabusa Smash playing in my head before I even started writing this story, and now I've finally gotten to use it. Thank you Ryu 'definitelynotaninja' Hayabusa and your fuckin' ard games for introducing me to that!

…even though it's been around forever. But whatever.

So! Quite a bit happened in this chapter, eh? The aftermath of the break (who could that've been, hmm?) and lookit that, Ochako decided to try a relationship with Izuku, yay!

And no, All Might definitely wasn't DM'ing a TTRPG to teach students about strategy, no sir, and definitely not out of a well hidden desire to play those, and he definitely didn't ask Izuku to make little models for the students and villains!

He actually didn't because Izuku did it without him asking.

NS: I'd read the hell out of Class 1-A playing DnD. Probably not all of them, because a 20-player campaign would be BEYOND insane. Plus Ultra insanity, even.

And then a good ol' showcase of just how prepared Izuku (and Himiko, who uses the same kinda belt with her grapples) are for whatever happens.

And, of course, the biggest part of the chapter…All the fights. I've found that music, especially hard rock and driving guitars really helps me get in the mood for flowing, brutal action. Hopefully the links work, and for FF without, the songs are:

Izuku elbow dropping on the villains: Yakuza 0 OST English Intro

Izuku realizes the Nomu ain't bothered by being impaled: Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance OST It Has To Be This Way.

Honestly, the second is more for the meme, the theme doesn't fit with Shiggy's dipshit rant about violence. Felt natural, though.

NS: Honestly not all that different from his canon rant, it just lacks All Might telling him that he can tell that Shigaraki doesn't even believe his own bullshit.

And then…Izuku getting his shit stomped, another thing I've had playing in my head for a long time. Turns out, beyond using smoke and flash bombs and wearing tabi shoes, he actually has quite bit in common with ninja. Also one of the scenes in my head that made me decide on Izuku having Geokinesis, too.

The 'dead Izuku' fakeout might be a bit played out by this point but hell, I don't care. As long as the fear made your heart race, I'll consider that a win.

As well as Himiko flipping the fuck out, showing who she might've become without Izuku in her life.

And then…the Smash. I've dreamed about that whole scene over and over again, and I really hope I've brought it across in writing. Times like that I wish I knew how to animate shit just so I could everyone even a rough idea of what I see in m'brain.

Of course, using that much OFA while also Izuna Dropping a giant mass o'muscle from more than a few stories up, also fucked Izuku up. He's not gonna be a happy camper next chapter, I tell ya.

And so we come to the end, where the faculty and Iida are late…again. Sorry guys and gals, but I'm afraid I've written the students as a bit more badass than usual. Though, the villains got a few good hits in here and there.

And no, the fact that some of them have names and descriptions isn't something to notice, why do you ask?

And that's the end of it, my friends. Months in the making with more than a few sleepless nights, and here it be. I sincerely hope you've enjoyed reading it because I honestly had a blast writing it.

Big thanks to NSG for being Weeb-Master General, General Soundboard and just all around swell guy. Give his stories a read, why don't you? And tell him I said hi.

He'll know I sent you, he's here too.

NS: Yo.

Let me know how you liked it, comment or review but as long as you had a good time, I'm glad you made it. Thanks for reading!

~Soleneus

P.S.: I'm publishing this chapter on my Birthday, Oct. 9, even though it was finished a day ago, just to give you all a birthday present from me to you, cause I love you all great big slightly-crunchy bunches!

…I am getting fucking old.

Still young at heart, though!

…Which I guess makes me spiritually middle-aged. Huh.

~still Soleneus

Koph is here.