Chapter 17: War Zones
"Answer me!" Shouted Izumi, but to no avail.
The shadow villain wasn't saying anything. In fact, he remained on the ground as little more than a mass of darkness with his golden eyes bright with malice staring straight at Izumi. It was impossible to tell what he was thinking or feeling… or if he was actually feeling anything.
Furious, Izumi grabbed the metal collar of the villain (the only tangeable part of him) and slammed him against the ground. The villain groaned in pain.
"Izumi, enough! Izumi!" Iida called.
He had to forcibly pry Izumi from the crumpled villain.
"Damn it!" Izumi said and broke into pacing in front of Iida.
Izumi didn't know what to do. A part of her wanted to curl up and cry. The vast majority of her, however, wanted to curb stomp the villain until he told them everything. Iida glanced worriedly at her, all while keeping an eye on the villain.
What do they want with us? What are they going to do with the others? Izumi thought, her imagination playing horrifying scenarios. What are they going to do Ochaco?
That made her blood freeze. Ochaco had saved her at the last moment, and for all Izumi knew she might have been caught by the worst scum on earth. They could be doing all sorts of things to her.
No, don't think like that! Think Izumi! Think! She urged herself.
Izumi and Class 1-A had long learned the key to engaging villains, after all: first, assessment. They needed to learn and understand what they are up against. On that part, Izumi knew she had more than enough experience. Years stalking and studying heroes were finally baring fruit.
His quirk… it is an unprecedented space defying quirk, like some kind of Portal or Gate quirk, Izumi summarized, still marching back and forth. But the scope of his power is impossible! He brought an army and then he captured Class 1-A without a single break!
Izumi frowned. There was no way his quirk was that powerful, capable of moving around the country or maybe the city untroubled. It would have proven to be a far too dangerous weapon… and villains would have used it already.
For the first time since the engagement, Izumi looked at the captured mist villain and actually studied him. Lying on the ground, Izumi first thought was just how weird the shadow villain was. For starters, the living-fog appearance was rather new to Izumi, and that was surprising in of itself given how many quirks she had witnessed. The second thing that caught Izumi's attention was his attire: a metal brace around the next. There was nothing else he was wearing.
Izumi shook her head and gritted her teeth.
I am wasting time! I need to do something! She thought, frustrated.
Think, Izumi, what limitations could he have? Range? I have no idea where the villains were waiting. Did this villain need to know the place he was going to? Pondered the rabbit girl.
"Iida…" Izumi softly said. "We need to escape and call for help."
Iida blinked.
"You suggest we abandon our classmates and teachers?" Iida asked, outraged.
"I am asking to drag this guy to the nearest police station before he can escape!" Izumi shouted, pointing at the villain. "Look at this place, Iida. This guy probably is the villains' ticket out of here. Without him, they will all be trapped here."
Iida didn't react at first before he frowned. He clenched his hands into fists, visibly against the idea of abandoning their teachers. However, by the pained look on his face, Izumi could tell that Iida knew she was right.
Suddenly, Izumi froze and her ears perked up. Iida immediately stared at her, intrigued.
"Wait," Izumi said. "I heard…" she leaned to a side, her ears moving around like radars. "There! An explosion!"
Izumi rushed to the stairway, and atop the long way down, she studied the Ruins Zone. There, in the large open area that consisted of broken down buildings rose a large explosion cloud. Not only that. Izumi grinned. She had never thought she would ever be relieved to hear that voice.
"Die!" Managed to make out Izumi.
"What do you hear?" Iida asked.
"Bakugo!" Izumi exclaimed.
"Look!" Iida suddenly said, pointing at the Landslide Zone. "That must be Todoroki!"
And he was correct, for no one else could have created massive glaciers across the sloping zone. One after another, it looked like Todoroki was engaged in combat.
"He…" Izumi turned to the fallen villain. "He didn't take the others to their base… he scattered them across the USJ!"
"And into ambushes, by the sounds of it," hummed a concerned Iida.
There was a loud crash and Iida and Izumi looked at the Downpour Zone to their right. They were surprised to see a villain sent crashing out of the zone's dome and towards one of the USJs walls.
"That must have been Sato or Ojiro," said Izumi, smiling.
They are here fighting, Izumi felt ready to cry from relief now. Ochaco must be somewhere in the USJ.
"Change of plans," said Izumi. "We need to help our classmates."
There was a massive explosion from the Ruins Zone, one which Iida didn't miss.
"What about the villain?" Iida asked.
"We bring him with us," Izumi said. She turned to Iida. "We have to find an exit to evacuate everyone…" she trailed off, before adding "…and we must find Yaoyorozu or Thirteen."
Iida raised an eyebrow at her.
"Yoayorozu might be able to create a radio or something to contact people outside, and maybe quirk-suppressing handcuffs for the shadow villain," Izumi explained. "Thirteen, on the other hand, probably knows where we should go."
Iida opened his mouth to retort, only to closed it. He looked at Izumi, only to sigh and nod.
"I cannot argue with your logic," Iida said.
Izumi offered an apologetic smile. In turn, Iida replied in kind. Without another word, the tall teenager picked up the villain, keeping a wary eye on him.
"Where should we go first?" Asked Iida.
-.-
Alright, Bakugo was going to admit it: maybe the USJ wouldn't be as boring as he had first expected. Then again, the whole villain invasion hadn't been part of the curriculum. Not that Bakugo minded…
He dodged a punch and delivered an explosion on the gut of yet another loser, sending the idiot back across the room. Bakugo grinned with glee as he searched for another opponent. Not far from him, the weird-haired redhead was in a punching contest with a couple of villains. The multi-armed extra - Hoji, Toshi or whatever - was engaged on a fight of his own. All in all, it was a party over at the Ruins Zone.
"Alright you idiots, who's next?" Laughed Bakugo.
This time around, the few remaining villains were hesitant to engage. In all shapes and forms, some were intimidating, while others were outright pathetic. All of them, however, had piss poor fighting stances and training. They were more thugs than anything, and they were not expecting an actual fight. By their numbers alone, Bakugo knew right then and there that whoever had organized the poor-planned invasion had hoped to overwhelm them.
Given how the villains weren't going to attack, Bakugo decided to take the initiative and beat the crap out of the morons. Idiots. What did they expect would happen when faced against him? It took him only a couple of minutes before Bakugo stood triumphant over a pile of groaning and scorched villains.
Bakugo laughed, gleeful. This day couldn't get any better.
Suddenly, the multi-armed extra turned towards Bakugo, one of his six extremities turned into an ear, and spun around. Bakugo barely had time to duck as the guy delivered a three-armed punch. To Bakugo's surprise, someone had been standing right behind him, camouflaged with the surroundings. The chameleon villain slammed against the wall and remained unconscious thereafter.
Bakugo blinked only to scowl. Just great, now one of the extras had actually helped him. He looked around and noticed that all villains had been beaten up. That made him scowl even more. Things were going so great…
"Man, that was tough!" Said Shitty-hair.
The redhead caressed his hands, all while smiling. Someone had been punching a lot by the looks of it.
"You call that tough?" Scoffed Bakugo. "These idiots could barely fight!" He added, kicking one of the downed villains.
The two extras sweatdropped at Bakugo's enthusiasm.
"Shouldn't there be more of them?" Shitty-hair asked. He looked around, frowning. "I remember seeing a whole lot more of them outside."
Bakugo wasn't about to say it, but Shitty Hair wasn't wrong. Octo-Extra stood up straight and transformed his tentacles into ears. Bakugo took the opportunity to stretch a bit. Better to limber up. There had been an entire horde of morons out there, and Bakugo wasn't about to miss all of the action.
"Fighting," proclaimed Octo-Extra after a minute.
"Huh? There is someone else out there fighting the villains?" Shitty-hair asked.
As if to answer his question, the wall in front of them exploded into smithereens. The three boys braced for a fight. Bakugo smirked, ready for more action, only to finally see who had burst in. Standing over an unconscious villain, was the last person Bakugo had expected to see at the moment.
"Izumi!" Exclaimed Shitty Hair.
"Guys, are you alright?" Deku asked, hopping in.
Bakugo glared at the stupid bunny. She was supposed to be the god-damn useless nerd, the same parasite who had been little more than a nuisance for most of his life. Yet all he could see was a merry go-lucky and fluffy bunny girl. Yes, Bakugo had been convinced that Deku had been somehow the stupid bunny. However, he couldn't really bring himself to reconcile that truth. It was a tad annoying, actually.
"Yeah! More than alright! We are kicking butts and taking names, aren't we Shoji?" Shitty-Hair boasted, turning to Tentacles.
The six-armed teenager looked more than happy to see the rabbit girl and gave three thumbs up in response.
"That's good," sighed Izumi. "We need to help the others. In the next area, the Landslide zone, is Todoroki."
"Man, that's a neat idea. Todoroki is one hell of a powerhouse," mused Shitty-Hair.
Bakugo gritted his teeth. Half-Ice was nothing in comparison to him. Nothing.
"What is the plan?" Tentacles asked.
"Right now, we need to assist our classmates. All Might and the others are still fighting the villains at the central plaza… and it doesn't look good," said the damned bunny.
Bakugo was ready to scoff and throw in his two cents, when Shitty Hair beat him to the punch.
"We should help then!" Shitty Hair.
"No," said the bunny. She carried an air of finality that made Shitty Hair falter. "Firstly, we would get in the way. Secondly, we need to stop these villains from using anyone as hostages, or worse, take us somewhere else."
"Right, a hostage could force Aizawa or All Might's hand," grumbled Shitty Hair. He puffed up, grinning. "Then let's go help our classmates!"
From behind the bunny came in Four-Eyes. Bakugo's mood only soured at that. Just when he was starting to have fun, both Deku and the guy with a stick up his arse had to ruin the party. To Bakugo's surprise, he was carrying an unconscious looking mist-man. His golden glowing eyes were apparently closed, or missing.
"Hey, it's that guy! The teleporting-gate-thingy villain," Shitty Hair pointed out.
"Ah, Kirisihima, Shoji, good to see you faring well," Four Eyes said with a smile, only to turn to the explosive blond. "I see you are also here, Bakugo."
Bakugo scowled.
"Come on guys. We must be quick. Remember what we've learned so far," the little bunny said.
She turned around, carrying around an air of leadership that was just… wrong. Bakugo bristled. Who the hell did she think she was? Worse, why were the extras following her lead?
"Go help the other extras if you want," spat Bakugo. "I'll go beat the head villain."
Izumi froze dead in her feet and turned towards him. Her amethyst eyes appeared to shine with anger as their gazes met.
"Come on Bakugo. Now is not the time to be an asshole," Shitty Hair said, with Tentacles nodding.
"Fuck off!" Bakugo hissed. "I don't take orders from a tranny like you, Deku. Following your useless ass will get us all killed!"
Shitty-Hair, Tentacles and Four-Eyes glanced between the bunny and Bakugo, taking a step back from the two. They could tell things were about to get complicated and none had the guts to intervene. The bunny, on the other hand, clenched her fists and glared at Bakugo.
"Why must you always be such a- a…?" growled Izumi, shaking in fury.
She stomped towards Bakugo, the boys staring at her. Any other time, Bakugo was sure it would have been hilarious to see the puny bunny in such a mood, especially given how fluffy and petite she was. However, the arcs of lightning that jumped around her body, and the way her fur glowed, made Bakugo's skin hair stand on end.
When was the last time he had ever seen Deku so angry? Bakugo couldn't help but stare at the little bunny. No, Deku had never lost his mood. He had always been such a pathetic loser, taking all the punishment and never being able to stand up. Izumi, on the other hand…
"Ha, so now that you are a girl you grow a spine, Deku?" Bakugo mused.
A part of him knew he was being a spiteful idiot, the rest of him was still frustrated by the fact Deku had managed to one again follow after him like the little cockroach he was. He smirked as the little bunny approached and stood in front of her. She was so short, and so fluffy, it was ridiculous anyone could feel intimidated by her. And yet, Bakugo wouldn't deny he felt apprehension swell in his gut.
"Do you know what, Bakugo?" Spat the bunny. "You can go to hell, asshole."
Bakugo, and perhaps everyone else present, stared slack-jawed. Why the others had never expected the adorable ball of fluff to swear, Bakugo was still trying to reconcile the fact that Deku was actually the person swearing as well and that was just as shocking. Truthfully, the blond was starting to believe that Deku and Izumi were two completely different people.
"You are a flipping pig-headed asshole that made my entire life miserable. You picked on me, my dreams, my hopes and even my notebooks!" Shouted the bunny.
Bakugo found no sense of satisfaction in the bunny girl's confession. Had she slipped and revealed the truth the previous week, he would have been joyous. Now, though, it was different.
"But do you know what? Even if you made my life hell, I just don't give a damn," said the bunny. "What I do care about are everyone else out there. Call me whatever the hell you want. Call me a tranny, a useless nerd… I don't give a damn. All I want is to help everyone else, so please, for once in your life, stick your head out of your ass and actually try to act like a hero!"
Bakugo stared, dumbfounded, at the bunny. He had never been talked like that. It was weird.
"Your strong, smart and have a powerful quirk, not to mention how driven you are," Izumi continued. "Help me save the others, please."
Even if Bakugo did feel a bit flattered by the stupid bunny's comment, his pride wouldn't allow it. He just couldn't bring himself to allow the stupid bunny to lead him.
"Tst, why should I, Deku?" Scoffed Bakugo.
That was a mistake. Bakugo could only watch as the bunny's face hardened and her eyes turned emerald. It might have been his imagination, but he could have sworn that the bunny gained some height and her arms grew some muscle.
"Why you must always be such a prick?" spat the bunny. "Listen here, you jerk. Do you remember why Miruko ended up in U.A.?"
Bakugo merely raised an eyebrow. What did that have to do with anything?
"Because she allegedly looked down on a quirkless boy."
Far in Bakugo's back, a tiny voice told the boy that this was not heading in any good direction for him.
"Now, if you don't help us rescue our classmates, Bakugo, I will – I'll…" Izumi faltered. She looked like whatever she wanted to say was hard for her. Her hesitation was short-lived as all signs of reluctance vanished. "I will go straight to the nearest newspaper and get an exclusive interview and tell them everything. Believe me, you'll get something worse than what Miruko got."
"What's that supposed to mean, Deku?" scoffed Bakugo.
Izumi squinted at him, gritting her teeth. It looked like she really didn't want to do this.
"Oh, you know, how you picked on a seemingly quirkless kid for fun?" Izumi said. Bakugo frowned. "A kid that is, according to nearly every single news outlet, the alleged daughter of All Might and Miruko's niece?" Bakugo felt his breath catch in his throat. "I bet everyone will really root for you after that. I could tell them anything and I am sure they will believe them…"
Shit, shit, shit, thought Bakugo.
"…and our moms will know it all as well," softly added a despondent Izumi, looking at the ground.
Bakugo's eyes widened and he stepped back. His fear was quickly replaced with anger. Who was this dumb bunny to threaten him like that? How dare she – no, he – do that? However, Izumi didn't flinch or falter under his scathing glare. Instead, she remained strong and glared right back at him.
The blond teenager wanted to tell off the stupid bunny, to go his own way and do things his own way, but even if he was prideful, he wasn't so stupid as to not take into account the consequences.
Deku would never go through the threat, he thought.
Sadly, as he stared straight into those furious eyes of the rabbit, he mentally swore.
But this fucking chick isn't Deku, is he? Bakugo conceded.
Hence, Bakugo did the one thing he never thought he would do: he relented. He growled, swore and muttered, only to avert his eyes and release one final "TCHT" of frustration before going back to glaring at the stupid bunny.
"Fine, you dumb bunny," growled Bakugo. "We'll do it your way."
Izumi didn't smirk or relish in her victory. Instead, she sighed and her form returned back to a far cuter self. Without a word, the bunny hopped off to the broken wall and stood there, gesturing at the others to follow.
"Come on guys. Let's go!" Izumi shouted. "The others need our help!"
The other boys followed after her. She remained there, and gave Bakugo a meaningful warning look. He cursed and hissed, but in the end trotted over to the opening, an eyebrow twitching.
"Stupid bunnies," muttered Bakugo. He couldn't believe he was going alone Izumi's plan. "What has the world fallen to?"
-.-
When Ochaco fell into the darkness, the last thing she remembered seeing was Izumi's face. After that, there was only blackness. She might have believed she had died, had it not been for the feeling of gravity accelerating her downwards. The shadows quickly parted and, before she knew it, Ochaco found herself falling under the light once again, over a massive lake.
Ochaco screamed. What else can someone do when you are falling hundreds of meter straight towards a body of water? All thoughts of Izumi and villains vanished, replaced with her impending contact with the water surface.
It was perhaps out of instinct, or maybe some kind of reflex, that she slammed a hand on herself and activated her quirk. Ochaco lurched upwards and all downwards acceleration disappeared. Ten feet from the water, she remained there, hovering. With her doom avoided, Ochaco sighed…
…only for a shark-man to jump from the water and try to bite her with a dangerous jaw. Wide-eyed and shocked, Ochaco rolled to the side just in the nick of time to avoid being chomped. However, there was little she could do whilst floating. The shark-man missed, but all he had to do was dive away and give it another go.
Ochaco managed to dodge the second time and, by the third time, she worried that it would be a matter of time before the villain would manage to get a bite. When the villain shot off the water a fourth time, Ochaco felt something wrap around her waist and pull her away.
Dumbfounded, the girl watched as the shark-villain grew smaller and she was pulled into the mock vessel at the center of the artificial lake. It took her longer than it should to realize that she wasn't just anywhere: this was the USJ's Flood Zone.
Once she made it to the ship, some sort of mock large yatch, Ochaco deactivated her quirk and plopped down on her knees on the wooden deck. She was surprised to discover that Asui was there, and that it had been her tongue which had lassoed her to the vessel. More shocking, however, was the other person on the ship.
"Thanks for the save, Tsu," sighed Ochaco, offering a smile to the frog girl.
Asui smiled, only for the Mineta Minoru of all people to start crying.
"We are all going to die!" Sobbed Mineta.
The two girls glanced at the midget before studying their surroundings. As much as Ochaco didn't want to be a fatalist, being surrounded by a small troop of villains – all of which appeared prepared for the Flood Zone with scuba diving gear– was not exactly comforting. Her eyes wandered towards the central plaza, and up the staircase.
Her mind conjured the image of Izumi. What had been her fate? Was she alright?
"It would appear that we have been scattered across the USJ, ribbit," commented Asui.
"You think the others are in the other zones?" Ochaco asked.
"Yep, ribbit," Asui nodded. "Only three of us were sent here. Did you see anyone else out there?"
Ochaco shook her head.
"Then the portal villain sent us to the different zones, ribbit," Asui stated matter-of-factly. "It makes sense, from a strategic point of view. These villains all look suited for water-combat. Maybe the other zones have villains suited for the terrain, ribbit."
The talk of strategy reminded Ochaco of Izumi, and that made her fret. It was childish, and foolish, but she couldn't help but worry for Izumi, even though, admittedly, the rabbit girl probably was one of the best prepared for a villain invasion of all of them.
"Is it really that smart, though?" Mineta commented, face covered in tears and snot. "Why didn't they just send us to their secret base? And why did they send you here? I mean, of all of us you are like right at home, right?"
Ochaco and Asui exchanged surprised faces at that.
"Hey, don't look so surprised! I can make smart observations from time to time, y'know?!" Protested Mineta.
"Maybe the teleporting villain can't tell who is who once they are teleporting?" suggested Ochaco.
"I don't know, and we might never know," Asui shrugged. "In any case, even if I am better suited to the Flood Zone than the others, it doesn't change the fact we are outnumbered and outgunned, ribbit."
"That's right, little girls!"
Three heads snapped to a side, only to find a cackling villain. Some kind of axolotl-man of sorts clad in black scuba diving gear, he jumped at them with some kind of mace. From the water and over the railing, the shark-man made his appearance, baring a toothy grin and revealing his many razor sharp teeth.
All around the trio, villains crawled up the deck and rushed at them, jeering and cackling. In their eyes, they were easy prey, and they had the numbers to think so.
Mineta screamed in fear and a skirmish started. The axolotl-man swung his weapon at Ochaco with little to no finesse. Ochaco, out of instinct, side-stepped the attack and slammed a palm on the villain. The villain stepped back, a bit surprised by the slap, only to panic as he started floating upwards. He didn't get enough time to do anything before he felt arms grab him by the leg.
Ochaco grinned, and looked at the now stunned villains.
"You've messed with the wrong girl!" Shouted Ochaco.
The villains all stared, wide-eyed, as the girl proceeded to use their fellow villain as some kind of human club. Ochaco managed to smack a pair of the villains of the railing, before sending his impromptu weapon against one of the villains climbing from the bow. After that, Ochaco caught a couple more of the villains by surprised and slammed her hands against them, before pushing them upwards and straight to the ceiling.
Even if her hands shook and her heart raced, Ochaco grinned. It looked like Miruko's hellish training had paid off. Then again, compared to the crazy rabbit hero, those thugs were pathetic.
She turned back, only to stare, dumbfounded. Asui had the situation under control. She had wrapped her tongue around the shark-man and was using the villain as some kind of wrecking ball against other villains. Ochaco didn't stare for long, though, as more villains continued climbing from all directions.
"Take this! And this! AH!" Shouted Mineta in a shrilly voice as he covered a villains in sticky balls.
Ochaco lost track of the rest as more villains tried to get the jump on her.
On and on the trio fought. The villains kept at it, stubborn and perhaps to the brink of desperation, rushing at them like cannon fodder. Just when Ochaco thought the villain ranks would never end, the villains all changed strategies. They dragged their colleagues back into the water and disengaged.
A panting Ochaco and Asui cautiously approached the railing, only to spot the many villains glaring at them.
"I don't think they expected us to give them a fight," Ochaco summarized. She couldn't wait to tell Miruko, and Izumi.
"Why would they thing otherwise? We are first years and barely starting U.A., ribbit," nodded Asui.
"I… I showed those… bastards… not to… mess with me…" Mineta slurred.
"Are you alright, Mineta?" Asui asked.
The poor midget was trudging around, blood trickling down his forehead. All around the deck, it was covered in sticky balls, some of which had torn scuba attires or hair.
"I am peachy!" Said Mineta, giving a thumbs up and a dopey grin, before he slammed headfirst onto the deck.
Ochaco smiled. It seemed the little pervert wouldn't be entirely useless… even if so far all he did was throw sticky balls at the villains. She turned her gaze to the villains. The three of them had to do something. They couldn't just wait, or else the villains would come up with some plan.
But what? What could they do? They were surrounded and it wasn't like they could outswim them. Some of them looked just as water-ready as Asui, if not more so, and there was no telling what manner of water-related quirks they possessed.
I wish Izumi was here, Ochaco thought, she would find a solution…
Reality, though, was all she had. Izumi wasn't there, and it wouldn't do to whine about it. No, she would find a solution. Ochaco could do it on her own too, without Izumi's help.
Think, Ochaco, think! She told herself.
She looked down at the ship, grasping on the railing. What could she possibly do? Could they use a distraction of some sort? Lure the villains into a trap? And then what?
It was as she stared down at the railing, and at her hands, that an idea popped into her mind. Like wildfire, the idea grew into a plan.
"Guys, I think I have a plan," Ochaco said. She smiled, biting her lips. "But it is going to be real crazy… and we might need you too, Mineta."
-.-
When Izumi and company met up with Todoroki, it looked like he had pretty much handled everything fine on his own. All villains were trapped in ice or unconscious. Not only had Todoroki only defeated the villains, but he was halfway interrogating one of them. Izumi almost felt pity for the muscular thuggish villain encased in ice.
"Damn, you sure work fast," Izumi mused, hopping over to Todoroki's side.
"Izumi," acknowledged the boy with his usual stoic face.
He looked at Iida, Kirishima and Shoji as the boys trotted over to them. His eyes focused on the mist villain, who appeared unconscious in Iida's arms. Todoroki then glared at the still swearing and whining Bakugo, who kept gritting his teeth in anger.
"Don't mind him. We nearly had to drag him here," said Izumi. Before Todoroki could comment, Izumi interrupted him. "What's the situation here?" She looked around. "Didn't you arrive with anyone else?"
"Not that I remember," Todoroki stated. "As for the villains, I have dealt with all them here."
In response, Izumi's rabbit ears perked up and searched the area.
"Actually, you missed two. Over there," Izumi said, pointing behind Todoroki.
The ice-user glared at the spot and turned in the direction Izumi had indicated. The temperature started dropping when all of a sudden none other than Aoyoma and Hagakure (or at least a pair of floating gloves) burst from their hiding spot and cried at them to stop.
"Nous sommes amis! Don't kill us!" Yelled a pale and terrified Aoyoma.
"Yeah, we are friendlies!" Hagakure shouted.
Todoroki blinked, perplexed, while Izumi chuckled. Izumi gestured for their classmates to join them, which they did without much protest. In fact, Aoyoma and Hagakure dropped on the floor with visible relief.
"Why didn't you say anything?" Todoroki said, still confused.
"Are you crazy?! Before we could say anything you went all crazy about bringing the next flipping ice age! We had to run for our lives!" Hagakure exclaimed.
To his credit, Todoroki did look rather bothered by that.
"I… apologize," slowly said the dichromatic boy.
"Enough of that," Izumi told them.
She glanced at the frozen villain Todoroki had been interrogating, who in turn looked at Izumi. He appeared rather amused by Izumi's appearance. Big and burly, he didn't look much more than a lowlife thug.
"Did he say anything?" Izumi asked Todoroki.
"Only that their plan involved capturing us and killing All Might," replied the stoic boy. "From what I've gathered, this invasion was poorly planned."
"Yeah, I have the same feeling about it," Izumi hummed. "But I think they have the means to kill All Might."
"So do I. The villains appear convinced that they can bring All Might down," nodded Todoroki. "We should assist the teachers."
Izumi pondered about it. They had already gathered more than enough numbers to change plans. Not only that, but they had amassed a few of the class' powerhouses, like Bakugo and Todoroki. However, time was of the essence. If they wanted to help, they would need to act quickly.
"The last thing we need is to get in the way… especially between All Might and that bird-man villain," said Izumi. "But we also need to help them. Todoroki, you, Aoyoma and Shoji should head to the Central Plaza. Try to harass the villains from afar. Shoji, you'll be their eyes and ears. You can't allow any villain to get close to them."
The three boys nodded, although Aoyoma looked far less sparkly and eager to separate from the others.
"Hagakure, go with them and watch their backs," Izumi told the invisible girl. "Iida, Bakugo and I are the fastest here. We'll cover more ground and check the other Zones for the rest of our class."
Izumi sent a warning glare to Bakugo, who glared back. The blond probably wanted to be in Todoroki's place. However, Izumi couldn't allow it. When it came to the villains at the central plaza, Izumi didn't want to risk messing the teachers' fighting. Bakugo might have been strong, but he was a close-quarter fighter, and the bird-man villain could probably swat Bakugo to kingdom come.
"We should take the villain," Shoji said, pointing at Iida.
"I think the central plaza is the last plaza he should be heading to," Izumi said. "No, we'll take him. We need to find Yaoyorozu and have her build quirk-suppressing handcuffs. I don't think even ice will hold him back if he regains consciousness."
No one spoke after that. Izumi impatiently looked at her peers, who appeared unsure. She thumped her feet and took a deep breath. Was she taking the right choice? Should they focus on finding the others? Maybe if they found Thirteen she could turn the tide of the fight? Izumi shook her head. They couldn't waste any more time.
"Let's go everyone!" Izumi said.
The group of teenagers split off, with Todoroki commanding his own little group, while Izumi, followed by Bakugo and Iida, hurried across the rocky slope of the landslide zone. Being only the three of them, they moved rather quickly. Sadly, Bakugo's movement was far from inconspicuous.
"Bakugo, move from the Central Plaza. We'll head straight in," Izumi said.
"You aren't the boss of me, you hear me?!" Growled the explosive blond.
For all his whining, however, Bakugo did as told. Izumi and Iida might have sweatdropped at the blond boy's frustrating lack of teamwork, but the situation was rather dire to get distracted by that.
Izumi and Iida didn't take long to jump out of the Landslide Zone and climb up the Mountain Zone. Made of rock and stone, there were no villains in their way. Heading straight to the center, Izumi started to wonder if anyone had actually been sent to that particular Zone when she saw it.
Across a rather large plateau, dozens upon dozens of villains laid unconscious and immobile. However, at the center of the rocky area remained on villain standing, and he appeared to be holding the U.A. students in a stalemate. Yaoyorozu and Jiro stood a distance away from the tall muscular villain, Yaoyorozu covering herself with some kind of thick blanket all while glaring at the villain, while Jiro gritted her teeth in frustration. Izumi could understand why they couldn't fight the villain head-on: held in one hand, and threatened with lightning bolts from the other, the villain appeared to have taken a rather dumb-looking Kaminari hostage.
"Now surrender, little girls, and I might be merciful," said the villain. His tone was anything but honest, and there was a disgusting tone dripping in his words that made Izumi's stomach twirl. "Drop your weapons or the moron here gets it!"
Izumi glanced at Iida. He looked serious and stern. She signaled him to stay back. Reluctantly, he nodded. Izumi hopped off her hiding zone. It was a good thing her padded feet were rather silent. Yaoyorozo and Jiro didn't spot her until Izumi had stopped a good twenty feet away and come alit with One for All. She shot forward like a lightning bolt.
"Huh? What the-?" PAM.
And just like that, Kaminari was saved and a villain was sent straight to a stone wall. Buried halfway through the hard rock, he would not be waking up any time soon.
"Izumi!" Cried Jiro and Yaoyorzu, rushing to the rabbit girl.
Izumi stood there, grinning, only to realize that one of the two girls was getting really close. Sadly, it was too late.
"Argh!" Squawked Izumi as she was hugged tightly and suffocated against Yaoyorozu's ample bosom.
There was something else, however, that made Izumi desperate to pry herself from Yaoyorozu: the fact the tall girl's costume was in tatters.
"Momo! You are naked!" Hissed Jiro.
Only then did the rich girl realize her current state of undress and pushed the rabbit girl back, blushing, before covering herself. Iida, once he joined them, made it a point to busy himself with the downed villains instead of addressing the girls.
"Sorry about that," said an embarrassed Yaoyorozu.
"You sure came in at the right moment," Jiro said with a smile.
Izumi glanced at Kaminari, who was going around like an idiot. For some reason, he insisted in saying "whey" with thumbs up.
"What happened to him?" Izumi wondered.
"He might have gotten carried away with his quirk and… ehm… short-circuit?" Mused Yaoyorozu.
"He looked like an idiot," Jiro laughed. "A pity I don't have my cell phone here to take pictures."
It was in that moment that an explosion interrupted them and a familiar blond joined the group. Bakugo returned with a huff and with an unconscious villain. Someone had a bit of fun on the way to them.
"There were a bunch of these idiots running away," muttered the blond.
"Deserters," concluded Izumi. She turned to Jiro and Yaoyorozu. "Not bad, girls."
"What can we say?" said a smirking Jiro. "We kick ass."
Izumi chuckled and nodded. However, she turned to the rich girl, looking serious.
"Yaoyorozu, we need quirk suppressing handcuffs," Izumi said.
"I believe we need quite a few of them," said Yaoyorozu, looking around.
"These villains can wait. That one," Izumi replied, pointing at Iida, or rather the mist villain in his arms. "That villain can't wait."
"That's the mist villain," gasped Jiro. "How did…?"
Izumi just gave them a sheepish smile. Jiro laughed while Yaoyorozu giggled. They could hazard a guess about how it all went down between Izumi and the mist villain.
"Right, quirk suppressing handcuffs coming up," Yaoyorozu said.
The tall girl's chest started glowing and, like Iida, Izumi looked away and decided to study the fallen villains. As she did so, however, she faced straight to the Central Plaza, and the Flood Zone behind. Her eyes widened at what she saw at the Flood Zone. She wasn't the only one.
"What is happening over there?" Gasped a shocked Iida.
Jiro went to stand next to Izumi, blinking at the weird sight in the distance.
"Is that… a floating ship?" Jiro wondered.
"Ochaco," whispered Izumi.
It must have been her. Thinking about Ochaco made Izumi's heart skip a beat. Not only that, but a wave of relief washed over her knowing where Infinity Girl was. However, before Izumi could think more about her friend, she realized that there was something else going on with the ship. It was hard to tell from their distance, but Izumi was sure that something appeared to rain down on the water below them. Wait, were those Mineta's balls?
"Round Face is doing that?" Asked Bakugo with a raised eyebrow. "Why the-?"
He was cut off by the ship, which had climbed high into the air, suddenly regaining its gravity and dropping down. Something appeared to jump of the ship at the last moment, all while the falling ship caused a crater on the water surface, before all villains swimming around were pulled in. It was only then that Izumi realized that as they smacked onto the ship at the center of the turmoil, they got stuck on Mineta's balls.
Go Ochaco, chuckled Izumi.
"Handcuffs ready!" Yaoyorozu said.
"Great work, Yaoyorozu, I knew that – ArGH!" Iida was saying, turning around, only to see that Yaoyorozu wasn't covering herself any more.
"Sorry!" Squeaked a red-faced rich girl.
Izumi turned towards Iida to tell him to hand over the villain over to Jiro, when she noticed a critical detail.
"Eh… Iida, where's the mist villain?" Izumi asked.
Iida blinked, looked down at his arms, and then at Izumi.
"Oh you've got to be shitting me, Four Eyes!" Swore a particularly angry explosive blond.
-.-
All Might had his number of tough fights. There were villains who had created means to temporary weaken him and sometimes he fought incredibly powerful villains. There was one villain in particular who had proven to be the strongest and toughest opponent All Might had ever faced. Not coincidentally, he had been the same one who had wounded the Symbol of Peace and left him the shell of the Number One Hero that he was. This bird-man – Nomu - was a close second, if only because of how frustratingly invulnerable he was.
No matter how many powerful punches All Might delivered, Nomu would take it head on without flinching. Nomu's own punches were a force to be reckoned with. Thankfully, the Nomu was more beast than man. His fighting style was unrefined, and blocking and dodging were easy for All Might. The problem, sadly, was that the fight had turned a contest of endurance… and by the looks of it, All Might would not come on top from such a fight.
All Might's time was already limited, without adding how overexerted he was. He wasn't sure how long he could last, but he was certain Nomu would outlast him. The few lucky punches to his wound didn't help matters either.
Truly, All Might's opponent was a real mystery, and a terrible shock. He had strength, resistance and a stubbornness that made for a terrifying combination. All Might was actually more baffled by the lack of information on Nomu. A villain like him, after all, would probably have been a real problem before. Then again, All Might couldn't recall hearing about the teleporting-gate villain either, so that made for two shocks in one day.
While All Might tried to keep the Nomu creature occupied, Aizawa and Miruko fought through the hordes of villains. They were relentless in their attack, and the more Nomu stood its ground against All Might, the bolder they got.
Finally, All Might found an opening and, instead of punching Nomu like he had been doing, delivered an upper kick. While the Nomu didn't appear to react to what might have obliterated a normal person, it sent the giant of a creature high in the air and away from the plaza. That is to say, it allowed All Might to gain a short breather.
Miruko and Aizawa hurried over to him, eyes focused on the remaining villains. They too needed a breather, and no villain dared came anywhere near All Might. The two heroes were sweaty and breathing hard, while the villains were amassing purple eyes and bruises. Even if the fighting was one-sided, their fight was also a matter of endurance, and the small army of villains would outlast them without doubt.
All Might glanced at the creepy villain at the sidelines. He kept giggling like a real creep and giving the Number One Hero the shivers. Just what was that guy's problem?
"Hey, Miruko, how are you holding up?" All Might asked.
"I can keep this up for hours. What about you, old man? Need a nap or something?" Miruko countered.
"Oh, I am peachy here," replied All Might with a smirk. "My, is it my imagination or are you short of breath?"
"That's your age, old man," huffed Miruko.
"This isn't going well," Aizawa interrupted the two. He squinted at the mass of villains around them. "We will need to change strategies if we are to survive."
All Might and Miruko remained quiet. Neither liked the idea of defeat, but it seemed that was the only outcome of this endless fighting. The villains weren't stronger, but they sure were going to last longer than them.
However, before they could come up with a plan, Nomu materialized next to All Might, bringing with him a powerful gust of wind that knocked Miruko and Aizawa back. All Might stood his ground, and Nomu punched. The Number One Hero failed to block, and was hit on his old injury. He was sent back, dropping to one of the knees, and gritted his teeth as pain flared.
All Might rubbed his mouth and ignored the blood slowly dripping out of his lips.
This is bad, he thought. Damn it, how long can we last like this?
He closed his eyes. Whatever the outcome, he just hoped his successor would do the smart thing and escape.
Unfortunately, Nomu wasn't finished with All might.
Chapter 18: Showdown
"I can't believe that worked," exclaimed Ochaco.
Asui, hopping like a frog next to the brunette, silently nodded. Under her arm was an unconscious Mineta, with blood still rolling down from his scalp. The two girls were wet, tired and, above all, afraid. However, Ochaco would be lying if she said she wasn't a bit exhilarated. Their escape from the villains had worked far better than they had hoped and now their way was almost clear.
To a side, they had the artificial lake. On the other, stood the tall dome of the Downpour Zone. They could see the Central Plaza ahead, or rather the rows of trees and bushes lining up the area, alongside the long stairway out of the USJ. Given how they knew no other exit other than the main one, Ochaco had insisted on going there. Asui had pointed out the obvious: the way had been shut by security measures and it would probably be heavily guarded by villains. Still, Ochaco was mostly hopeful she would meet up with Izumi and others, or find some alternative route. All other zones were bound to be crawling with villains after all.
Speaking of which…
"That isn't good, ribbit," Asui said.
Both Ochaco and Asui froze dead on their feet and stared dead ahead. They had come across the entrance to the Downpour Zone (a large metal gateway that led into a dark corridor) which was guarded by a quartet of thuggish villains. Truly, they might have looked intimidating, but Ochaco had noted they didn't have powerful quirks, or any good fighting skills. Of course, there was always the possibility there was a really dangerous madman amongst them.
"They spotted us!" said Ochaco.
And indeed, the villains had merely glanced to a side, seen them and immediately charged towards them.
Asui and Ochaco braced for a fight. The frog girl unceremoniously dropped the unconscious dwarf and went on all fours, ready to jump. Ochaco, in turn, raised her fists much like a boxer, as she had been taught by Miruko. The villains stopped a few feet away and smirked with confidence. They jeered and sneered at them, cracking knuckles or flexing their arms.
Just as the villains were about to lunge at them, a shadow attacked them. The surprised thugs failed to properly respond to the shadow creature, who grabbed one of them and sent him flying towards the Flood Zone.
Asui and Ochaco saw their chance and charged. The frog girl delivered a powerful kick to one of the startled villains, while Ochaco dodged a punch and executed a perfect quirk-enhanced throw over her shoulder towards the Flood Zone. The villain screamed all the way in its untroubled way upwards. The last villain tried to run away, only for the shadow creature – which happened to be Tokoyami's Dark Shadow - to grab the thug and throw him into the water.
From the Downpour Zone, Tokoyami and Koda hurried out of the entrance, drenched like the girls. Leaning against Koda's shoulder and with his eyes rolled back, Ochaco saw Sato. Drool came off the side of his mouth and he appeared to be mumbling to himself.
"Guys!" Ochaco called, glad to see her classmates. "What happened to him?"
Tokoyami and Koda glanced at Sato, who in turn muttered a garbled mess of words that what sounded like "sweet dreams" and "Made of this".
"He went past his limit," Tokoyami stated matter-of-factly. "I presume the same happened to him?"
His beak was aimed towards Mineta. The little midget was no doubt dreaming about something perverted, for he had one of those creepy smiles of his.
"You could say that," sheepishly replied Ochaco.
She glanced towards the Central Plaza, where she could hear the sound of fighting. Was it the right choice to press forward in that direction? Shouldn't they help the others? They could be in the other Zones, after all. Still, that would be running around the Flood Zone and probably face any lingering villains that had managed to escape from them.
"So… what now, ribbit?" Asui wondered, looking around.
"We should press on. The teachers are engaged in a fearsome battle and we must aid them, before it is too late," Tokoyami hummed in his usual somber voice.
Ochaco wasn't sure that was such a good idea. She was rather apprehensive of the large bird man that was giving All Might a hard time as far as they had seen. Although she was aware that no one could hope to beat All Might, a part of her worried nonetheless. By the looks of it, Koda and Asui shared her opinion on the matter.
"Is that a good idea?" Asui asked. "If there are any villains capable of defeating the teachers, I doubt there is much we can do, ribbit."
"One man can tip the scales of destiny," Tokoyami rebutted. "We might not have the power to face powerful villains, but we might offer assistance in other ways. Moreover, if any villains do defeat the teachers, our classmates we'll be next."
Ochaco felt a knot form on her neck. Tokoyami was right on that last part. Odds were that their classmates were at the other zones, and they might still be fighting. If the teachers failed to contain the situation, then there was no telling what could happen to their fellow students, especially if the villain succeeded in beating All Might. Ochaco shuddered at the thought of facing the bird man.
"You do understand we could make matters worse, don't you? We should try to find a way to get help instead, ribbit," Asui said.
Koda nodded, agreeing with the frog girl. Ochaco, on the other hand, grimaced. In her opinion, it wasn't a better idea than Tokoyami's. The USJ was a bit isolated, and whoever had to go help would no doubt need to go far and that alone would be time consuming (unless they got the likes of Iida, Izumi or even Bakugo). Additionally, in the time someone left and actually found help, it would take time to muster a large enough force to deal with so many villains.
What truly concerned Ochaco was another matter altogether, or rather one particular individual: the mist villain. Even if they did get help and it organized quickly enough, the mist villain could easily just take his comrades away, and maybe drag with them students. Perhaps it would be best to make sure no student was captured. Given how lackluster the villains proved to be in regards to fighting, maybe there was a good chance they could actually fight back and help their peers. The problem was, Ochaco got the impression that the villains facing off against their teachers were on an entire level of their own.
"What do you think, Ochaco?" Asui asked.
Ochaco looked at her classmates, staring straight at her. Tokoyami and Asui's gazes were sharp and penetrating, filled with determination and a level of stoicism that Ochaco could only envy. Koda, on the other hand, looked panicky and terrified. Sato and Mineta… well, they were lost in their own worlds.
"W-well…" Ochaco mumbled, unsure what to reply.
Think, Ochaco, what should we do? She told herself. If only we knew more about the situation…
She blinked. That was it, wasn't it?
"I say we get close and check how things are going," Ochaco finally said. "For all we know All Might cleaned house and he dealt with all villains…" She grimaced "…or they might desperately need at least some form of distraction. If it is the worst case scenario" (and she prayed it wasn't) "we can run back here and go help the others."
Tokoyami hummed, stroking his beak, before nodding.
"That sounds wise," he said.
"I agree, ribbit," Asui added.
Koda, on the other hand, looked miserable at the idea of approaching the Central Plaza.
With a decision made, the group moved towards the Central Plaza. The sounds of fighting got stronger and they started to make out movement behind the bushes and trees. They didn't get far, however, before a massive pillar of ice rose high into the air and split the Central Plaza in half. The USJ shook under the glacier that formed.
"That must have been Todoroki!" Shouted Ochaco.
At once, all sense of care disappeared and they run forward. Finally, they made it around a corner and froze at what they saw. Their blood run cold by what they witnessed.
On one knee and blood streaming down his mouth, was an impossible sight: an injured and weakened All Might. In fact, the Number One Hero looked in pain, holding a side of his body and gritting his teeth. His breath was heavy, and his eyes looked unfocused. Never before had Ochaco ever seen the hero in such a state. She didn't think it was possible. On each side, a sweaty Aizawa and a panting Miruko were trying to help All Might up.
In front of the trio, at a fair distance, Todoroki's glacier had managed to separate the villains (at least the ones still standing) from the heroes. Coming from the Landslide Zone, Todoroki, Shoji and Aoyoma sprinted towards the heroes, looking winded and worried. The once pristine white ground was all broken and cracked, and the students had to circle around various fallen villains, some of who appeared still conscious and groaning.
"Come on, Old Man," Miruko wheezed. "We need to move!"
Ochaco was snapped out of her shock by Tokoyami and Asui (with Mineta in her arms) moving forward. The brunette followed after, hanging a bit slower to accompany Koda carrying the still mumbling Sato.
"What are you lot doing here?" Aizawa asked.
It really showed the severity of the situation when Aizawa couldn't manage his usual glares.
"The mist villain, he spread across the USJ Zones," said Todoroki.
He stood there, gritting his teeth and staring at All Might.
"I apologize for not intervening sooner. I just didn't see an opening to-"
"No," said All Might, before breaking into a bloody cough that made everyone wince.
The cough sounded awful. The hero glanced at his hand, tainted red, and tried to hide it and pull a confident smile. However, the students were far from convinced.
"It wasn't your duty to intervene…" All Might said.
"Where is Thirteen? You should have left this place already," Aizawa said.
"She was taken with the others. She must be in one of the Zones," said Shoji.
"Enough chit-chat!" Miruko exclaimed. "We need to get out of here before-"
But it was too late.
"Leaving already?"
Everyone felt their blood freeze in their veins as behind them, cutting them off from their escape, appeared a dark portal. Ochaco and the others stepped back, stricken by a sense of Deja vu, as the Bird Man stomped out, its blank stupid face fixed towards All Might. Behind the dark skinned creature appeared the leader with the hand-shaped mask. The dark portal shrunk back into the form of the mist villain.
Oh no, if he is here… then what happened to Izumi?Ochaco wondered, staring at the mist villain.
Ochaco then realized than in trying to save Izumi, she might have doomed her to a worse fate. With perhaps only Iida and Izumi against the teleporting villain, there was no telling what had happened.
"Shigaraki, we should attempt to finish this quickly," the mist villain said. "The other students are probably overwhelming what remains of our forces. It won't take long until they come here."
"Those damn pathetic mobs," scoffed the other villain, the one called Shigaraki apparently.
He started scratching his neck.
"Damn you, Kurogiri. If you hadn't failed and gotten yourself captured like a pathetic nweeb…" growled the villain.
For a moment, the villain didn't say anything. He kept scratching himself over and over, each time harder and faster. Ochaco felt the hair on her neck stand on end at the creepiness of it all.
"Fine! I guess we should wrap this up," spat the villain, finally ceasing his scratching.
Everyone stiffened at that.
"However," Shigaraki grinned, earning what appeared to be a glare from Kurogiri. "I think we can play a bit more…"
He raised a hand towards All Might.
"Nomu, finish Miruko and Eraserhead," Shigaraki commanded. "Make it painful, but keep them alive!"
The creature didn't say anything. Instead, it kneeled forward and vanished in one leap. The students gasped and watched, wide-eyed. Adrenaline pumped into their veins and braced for the worse. The Pro-Heroes, on the other hand, moved away, preparing for an attack. Unfortunately, there was nothing that could be done.
Nomu almost materialized in front of a shocked Aizawa and, before the Homeroom teacher could react, grabbed the Pro-Hero by the head and slammed Aizawa's face into the ground. There was horrible crunching sound of something breaking. Nomu released the unmoving teacher and turned towards Miruko. A pool of blood spread beneath Aizawa's face.
"Not so fast!" Shouted All Might, charging at Nomu.
The Dark-skinned creature turned towards the Number One Hero, only to receive one of Might's punch straight to the face. To All Might's credit, the punch did push Nomu a few feet back. Heck, the creatures entire face looked disfigured by the punch. All Might, however, wasn't done. He gritted his teeth and kept punching, each punch sending the Bird man back further and further. The creature tried to block and deflect, but his attempts were clumsy and unrefined. It had power, but it lacked proper training and fighting skills.
Ochaco felt her hopes lifting. The Nomu was being pushed back and All Might, with a furious glare, looked unbeatable. Finally, All Might reared one fist and Ochaco swore she saw the same energy veins that covered Izumi when she powered up. There were even faint hints of lightning bolts. However, the glow of the veins and skin were far weaker than Izumi's.
When All Might punched, Nomu failed to block and was sent backwards, straight towards the glacier Todoroki had built. The monster was clearly heavy, for it barely rose from the ground. It struck the ice like a cannon ball, and made the Central Plaza shake.
For a brief moment, there was only silence. Ochaco and the others would have cheered, hadn't All Might proceeded to kneel over and cough violent. Worse, steam was starting to rise from his back. Thus, the students watched, paralyzed, as the Number One Hero retched and coughed blood on the ground.
There was a loud crash, and everyone snapped their heads towards the ice. Ochaco, and everyone else watching, stared in disbelief and with mounting horror as the dark silhouette of Nomu stomped forward. A series of creaking sounds ensued as the monster's face readjusted back to its former self all on its own. Bones of the arms, chest and neck clicked and cracked back into position, and whatever patches of skin had been torn off grew back.
That- that thing can take on All Might AND regenerate?Ochaco thought in disbelief.
All Might glared at the creature, and tried to rise. His legs, however, failed him and he dropped on his knees. He could only helplessly watch as Nomu, finally healed, vanished in a blur of movement.
"No…" weakly wheezed All Might.
Shigaraki cackled.
"Yes, All Might! It is helpless! There is nothing you can do!" Laughed the villain. "What's the matter, All Might? Can't save everyone?"
"Shigaraki, we must hurry," cautioned Kurogiri.
"No, I want to relish this moment," growled Shigaraki, glaring murderously at the mist villain. "There might not be another chance!"
Miruko was jumping towards All Might when Nomu appeared in front of her. She managed to dodge the first punch, and tried to jump away, only for Nomu to re-appear behind her. Caught mid-leap, Miruko could only re-adjust her body a muscular arm slammed against her and sent her flying. Everyone watched as the rabbit hero skipped four times on the hard floor before crashing onto a tree.
"Oy, I said not to kill them yet!" Spat Shigaraki.
"The master warned you not to expect Nomu to follow complex commands," Kurogiri remarked.
"It wasn't a complex order! Damn it, he's ruining all the fun," hissed Shigaraki.
His bad mood, however, was replaced with glee as his red eyes fixated on the students.
"Oh well, guess we move onto the second course." He looked at All Might. "Which student first, All Might? Pick one. Who will you fail to save from me?"
Todoroki reacted by slamming a hand on the ground and forming an ice wall that rushed towards Shigaraki. It sadly had the effect of destroying the stairway towards the exit. To make matters worse, both villains reappeared not far away unscathed.
"Why thank you, brat, for trapping you all here!" Laughed Shigaraki.
Todoroki glared at the villain but didn't say anything. He wasn't dissuaded and kept trying to pin down the villains. Sadly, with someone with Kurogiri pulling the two villains away and even redirecting attacks back at Todoroki, it seemed there wasn't much the young man could do. Ochaco also noticed Todoroki's attacks were getting smaller, and that frost was starting to gather on his right arm. Throughout it all, Shigaraki remained pensive, even as he jumped from portal to portal avoiding Todoroki's charging walls of ice.
"Who should I kill first?" Shigaraki wondered.
Following Todoroki's example, Aoyoma and Tokoyami tried to attack. It ended up with Kurogiri creating a portal that redirected Aoyoma's laser towards Tokoyami's dark shadow. Asui tried to jump towards the villain, only for Shoji to hold her back, warily staring at Shigaraki. Ochaco could almost read Shoji's thoughts. They didn't know Shigaraki's quirk, after all, and something about that guy exuded danger and to keep their distance.
After a few tries, Nomu intervened to protect Shigaraki, taking on the walls of ice, punching one after another. This allowed the white-haired villain to just stand there and ponder on the matter at hand.
Meanwhile, Ochaco could almost feel like she was staring at some petulant child at a store, wondering what toy to demand be bought, only to be discarded after one or two times playing with it. There was an air of immaturity and arrogance that was baffling for a villain, although perhaps not for a madman.
"The frog-girl is too ugly, nobody will care about the midget, the tentacle-boy looks like a freak… forget about the bird…" Shigaraki said to himself.
"Shigaraki, we can't delay any further," Kurogiri interrupted.
"Kurogiri, interrupt me again and I will destroy you," growled Shigaraki.
As the two villains got distracted, Ochaco was startled by someone trying to call her attention. To her surprise, it was the wounded All Might.
"Leave… all of you…" whispered All Might. "I-I will break the ice behind us and- and distract them."
"But All Might…" murmured Ochaco.
"No! I will save you," All Might said, fists clenched. "No matter what."
Ochaco stared at the hero. Could they actually make it far? Should they just abandon All Might? Miruko was still too far away and Aizawa remained in near critical condition. Additionally, Ochaco wasn't sure All Might could pull another beating session on Nomu as he had before. He looked far too weak and injured. How had that happened?
"Nomu, attack All Might," grunted Shigaraki.
All Might's eyes widened, before a shadow fell on him. Nomu appeared right in front of the Number One Hero and punched. All Might blocked and managed to divert the hit from reaching his old injury, but he was unable to block the second punch, which sent him skidding backwards against the ice that blocked the path towards the stairway.
"No one is leaving, All Might," tutted Shigaraki, before his eyes gleamed with delight. "I have it! You!"
Ochaco snapped her face towards Shigaraki, only to step back, horrified. The villain was pointing straight at her.
"Your face will look good in the news," Shigaraki cackled. "The girl All Might failed to save before he died… yes, I love the ring of it!"
"Shigaraki," warned Kurogiri.
But Shigaraki was in a world of his own.
"I actually wanted to get that stupid bunny… your daughter All Might… but someone had to fail at capturing her," growled Shigaraki glaring at his companion.
Kurogiri merely squinted back at his leader. Shigaraki smirked as he turned to a furious looking All Might.
"Oh, don't give me that face All Might! I don't plan to kill her now! Oh no, I have far better plans…"
Shigaraki turned to the unmoving form of Miruko, smirking.
"…she could be just as your slut of a secretary, eh Miruko?" Laughed Shigaraki. "What was her name these days? Ah, yes, Z was it?"
Ochaco's dread swell in her chest. Izumi. The villains wanted to capture her, and to do horrible things to her. She was a bit confused about the mention of Z, but something told the brunette that whatever it was, it was a bad history she wouldn't wish on Izumi. It was with thoughts of the rabbit girl that Ochaco felt something snap in her. She clenched her fists, and gritted her teeth. No, she wouldn't allow it. She would fight to the end if she had to.
"I won't…"
Ochaco and the others watched in amazement as Miruko moved, looking straight at Shigaraki. She slowly turned her head towards Shigaraki. She had one eye closed, perhaps injured, and could barely move. Regardless, Miruko smirked at the villain with dauntless confidence, all while trying to push herself off the ground with trembling arms.
"I am not done, you freak," spat Miruko.
Shigaraki squinted angrily at her, but instead focused on Ochaco once again. The brunette, in turn, glared back.
"I guess I will be taking two bunnies back with me," huffed Shigaraki. "Where were we? Ah yes…" he grinned, red eyes burning with malice and sadism "…your death!"
For someone who looked thin and feeble, the villain moved far too quickly. In fact, he became a blur of movement that startled Ochaco. However it wasn't so much his speed that concerned her; it was the fact he had vanished within one of Kurogiri's portals.
"Uraraka!" "Ochaco!" "Behind you!" Exclaimed her classmates.
A Ochaco turned her head back. Her chocolate eyes widened. There, with that horrible smile of his, was Shigaraki, a pale hand hovering over her. She had no time to react. There was nothing she could do. It was obvious that whatever Shigaraki's quirk did, it probably wouldn't be anything nice and it required a mere touch.
Is this it? Ochaco thought.
She wanted to fight still, to make sure Izumi and the others made it to safety. And yet it seemed it was the end. The villain's hand reached her, and Ochaco closed her eyes. His disgusting dry fingers reached her face…
…and nothing happened.
The villain blinked. Ochaco blinked. Everyone stared, dumbfounded. The villain's surprise, however, was short-lived, as a cruel smile stretched on his face.
"Good to see you are still breathing…" Shigaraki looked behind Ochaco "…Eraserhead."
From the corner of her eyes, Ochaco saw the homeroom teacher struggling to keep his quirk activated. The brunette decided not to stick around. Ochaco sprinted away, only to find the villain porting out of a dark gate in front.
"Nomu, take care of Eraserhead!" Shigaraki cackled, rushing towards Ochaco.
Todoroki and Aoyoma tried shooting at a laughing Shigaraki, but their attempts failed. The villain would just jump to a side, straight into a dark portal, before reappearing closer to Ochaco. Tokoyami and Asui tried to attack Kurogiri, but the mist villain merely teleported away to a safe distance. Meanwhile, Shoji was working on moving the bleeding Aizawa away from the stomping behemoth, all while Hagakure (who Ochaco had failed to notice the first time around) sneakily went to help Miruko, who was struggling to get back on her feet. Somewhere through all of the chaos, Sato and Mineta were slowly recovering and trying to make heads and tails of what they were seeing… and All Might watched, helpless to do anything.
Finally, the chase came to an end. Ochaco was running away, when Shigaraki appeared in front of her. She tried to jump away, but the inertia carried her forward, straight towards Shigaraki's hand. This time, with all the confusion going all around her and with Eraserhead clearly unconscious from his last ditch effort, no one could save her. The villain, his upper body coming off a portal, smirked in triumph.
Aoyoma tried to shoot at Shigaraki and, to his credit, he might have had hit him… hadn't a black mist suddenly shielded Shigaraki. The laser bolt did found a target, but it was Todoroki's back, thanks to one of Kurogiri's tiny black mist portals. Todoroki hissed and dropped to a knee, a black burn on his back, all while Aoyoma gasped, horrified about what he had unwillingly done.
Shigaraki was truly enjoying himself, and was about to slap his hand on Ochaco, who gritted her teeth and prepared to grab the limb, when a bright light intervened.
"Hands off!"
Shigaraki didn't how it happened. One moment he was about to give the touch of death to the brunette, the next he was staring at furious emerald eyes. He would later recall seeing a grey blur give its back towards him as his hand was caught by a pair of furry arms. They were rather small, and it probably would have been impossible for a puny thing to do much against him. And yet, next thing Shigaraki knew, he was pulled out of the portal and over the newcomer's shoulder and up into the air. It was one hell of a throw, one that sent him flying away from his target. To think a tiny rabbit girl had executed it.
He was sent straight towards the ice glacier Todoroki had first created. He would have crushed against the ice, were it not for Nomu intercepting the young man in the blink of an eye. Of course, the creature being such a dolt, it failed to properly grab Shigaraki and he slammed against the creature's chest instead.
Ochaco knew exactly who had come to her rescue and yet she couldn't believe it.
"Izumi!" Ochaco cried, tears brimming in her eyes.
Izumi dropped in front of the brunette and grinned. Her form appeared to deflated, all while her emerald eyes gave way to amethyst eyes shining with glee. In an instant, Ochaco had her arms wrapped around the rabbit girl and held her tightly.
"Good to see you in one piece, Infinity Girl," came Izumi's muffled voice against Ochaco's chest.
"I was so worried!" Ochaco said, tightening her hold on Izumi. "I thought you might have-"
Before she could continue pouring her heart out, Shigaraki interrupted them with a loud scream of pain. Ochaco and Izumi stepped apart and snapped their heads to the villain. Shigaraki was no longer smile or enjoying himself. In fact, he had a strange look of indignant anger. Without the hand-mask, his face was entirely visible, and Ochaco had to handed it to Shigaraki, that mask sure was making him a favor.
"No! No!" Shigaraki screeched and screamed, all while held by Nomu. He kept scratching his face. "No!"
"Ochaco, we need to take down the bird thing," Izumi whispered.
Ochaco nodded, only to frown.
"It's called a Nomu," she whispered back. "And it has a powerful regeneration ability. Not only that, but it can take All Might's punches!"
"Strong, resistant and with fast healing… just great," grumbled Izumi.
"What's the plan?" Ochaco asked.
Izumi scrunched her face in a frown, and looked at Ochaco.
"I don't know if we could pull it off but…" she trailed off, unsure. "How about a special combo?"
Izumi smiled and a sense of hope swelled in Ochaco's gut.
"You give him a lift off and I give him a push?" Joked Izumi.
Ochaco frowned back at the rabbit girl, confused. She was going to understand one hell of a lot more than that if they were going to defeat the same villain that had put All Might to his knees. However, it seemed their time had run out.
"Kill them! Kill them both, Nomu!" Screeched Shigaraki, pointing a finger at Ochaco and Izumi.
Nomu didn't even hesitate or stall. It dropped Shigaraki and rushed towards the girls. Todoroki, wounded and gritting his teeth in pain, tried to slow the creature down, only for his ice to be broken to smithereens.
"What's the plan?!" Ochaco exclaimed.
"Just prepare to use your quirk that thing," Izumi said. She leaned forward, her body glowing with power and lighting cracking around her. "Get ready, here it comes!"
And came it did, appearing right in front of the two with an arm reared back. Izumi had clearly predicted the monster's movement, for she shot off and struck Nomu's head, kicking the villain's eyes before it could act. Wounded, the creature didn't appear to know what to do next and punched the air.
"Now!" Izumi shouted.
Ochaco still had no idea what the rabbit girl meant, until it suddenly clicked. She found herself grinning before she jumped forward. Perhaps it was Izumi's presence, but at the moment, the brunette was sure they could pull it off… whatever it was Izumi was planning that is. Ochaco slammed her hands on Nomu's stomach and give it a might push upwards.
The black-skinned villain tried to blindly grab onto the brunette, but missed by an inch. He remained still afterwards, as he floated upwards. Beneath him, a furious Izumi started glowing once again, lightning bolts racing around her.
All Might would later tell Izumi what he saw that day: all over the little bunny, All Might saw lightning bolts of different colors racing around her body. There were eight colors that jumped around her, all of which coalesced in one final bright light. The rabbit girl shone like a small sun and, then, she kicked off.
All eyes stared, barely comprehending what was happening as the tiny rabbit disappeared from the ground. For a brief moment, there was no cute fluffy bunny. Instead, there was an actual lightning smashing against the helpless Nomu.
"Infinity…" Izumi's voice echoed across the USJ "…KICK!"
Jaws dropped, eyes widened, and more than one person released a string of colorful words. Nomu had no such reaction. The big creature was propelled like a cannon ball towards the USJ ceiling and slammed into it. However, mortar and stone couldn't hope to stop the force of such accelerated mass and Nomu burst right out of the USJ, leaving a huge gaping hole.
Off to the sky went Nomu, up and up he flew without gravity to slow him down. And that was how Nomu, the weapon that would allegedly bring All Might down, was sent straight to infinity and beyond.
Back inside the USJ, Izumi fell from high above, swearing at the pain in her legs. They were broken, and they burned like crazy. In fact, it felt as if her muscles were on fire. She couldn't think of anything as she fell.
Izumi was about to crash on the USJ floor, only for someone to intervene. A pair of arms caught her, and a sense of weightlessness flooded her senses. Izumi blinked before she looked up at the face of her savior. Chocolate eyes shone with happiness and Izumi's own amethyst eyes glimmered with joy.
"You should stop dropping off the sky, y'know?" Joke Ochaco. "I don't think it's a good habit."
Cradled in the brunette's arms and against Ochaco's rather comfortable bosom, Izumi chuckled. Yeah, she wasn't the only one remembering the Entrance Exam. Any other moment Izumi would have blushed at being held so intimately by Ochaco, but at the moment, Izumi couldn't be any happier, pained legs notwithstanding.
"Well, there is someone who will always catch me," rebutted Izumi.
She winced at the pain of her legs, but kept smiling. Yep, it hurt like hell… but then again, Izumi really wanted to enjoy the moment. Izumi then buried her head against Ochaco's neck, enjoying the brunette's warm. Ochaco, in turn, placed her own head against Izumi.
Not far from the pair, a certain villain was dumbstruck staring at the girls.
"No… no… NO!" Screeched Shigaraki.
He glared at the stupid bubbly girl and the ridiculously stupid rabbit girl. His plans… destroyed by those girls. The shame… how was he supposed to ever speak to the Master after his failure? No, not failure. All Might would have to wait. Those two girls… those two girls were going down right away!
Without thinking, he rose and shot straight towards Ochaco and Izumi. They failed to notice him at first, before Shigaraki noticed the rabbit girl's ears perk up and her head immediately snap towards her. He smirked. Too late. The other students were shouting and moving, trying to help, but again, it was too late.
Shigaraki raised his hands, a long creepy smile baring his teeth. His eyes shone with malicious mirth. Vengeance was at the tip of his hands. He was there, hands looming over their stupid faces…
Suddenly, Izumi's form shifted and morphed. Ochaco didn't let go of the rabbit girl but she did stare, confused. Shigaraki's eyes widened. Such was the surprise to what he was seeing, that he almost stopped his charge right then at there to stare like an idiot. Almost. Still, how could he not be surprised? A mere feet away, instead of the stupid rabbit girl, there was a… boy? Well, a furious angry boy that was raising a hand towards him, a hand that was glowing with bright veins as a matter of fact.
"Delaware…" growled the green-haired boy. Ochaco held him, glancing between the two unsure what was about to happen "…SMASH!"
It was a hand flicker. A small simple flicker of his fingers. And yet, it was somehow enough to produce a gust of wind that lifted Shigaraki off his feet and backwards. Perhaps it was the shock, or maybe his second flight experience had come a tad too sudden for him, but Shigaraki couldn't help but release a pitiful screech of fear as his body rose high into the ground and spun under the strong wind. His dread rose as he saw the incoming ground.
Shigaraki never made it the floor, however. A pillar of ice shot off from a side and caught him mid-air, mere inches from the floor. Shigaraki blinked, momentarily dumbfounded, before he discovered that most of his body had been incased in ice, his hands and head being the sole exception. To make matters worse, he saw people starting to surround him.
Tokoyami, Koda and Shoji kept an eye on him, glaring at the villain. Shigaraki glared back at them, before releasing one helpless scream of fury. He had been, unfortunately, captured by the snot-nosed brats.
Not far from them, Kurogiri would have moved to assist his charge hadn't he been interrupted by a loud explosion behind him and something crash straight onto him. Kurogiri groaned as he was slammed onto the ground. With a strange feeling of Déjà vu, he glanced up, only to find the choleric form of Bakugo.
"Go on, motherfucker, make my day," growled the blond. "I had one fucking hell of day, so don't tempt me or I'll blow you to fucking pieces!"
As if to make a point, Kurogiri saw how Bakugo's hands sizzled. The villain glanced at the captured Shigaraki before slumping down on the ground. Just as he had feared, they had been beaten.
The now recovering villains watched in abject horror. Their means of escape had been neutralized, their leader had been beaten and the one thing that was promised to defeat All Might himself had been sent into infinity and beyond. Yep, they were screwed.
"Let's bolt!" One of the villains said.
However, a powerful gust of wind pulled them all back. It was a brief moment, but enough to make the running villains stop dead on their feet and turn to the source. To their horror, a furious Pro-Hero Thirteen (who had a limp and was being helped by Sero), looked at them, accompanied by a small army of Class 1-A students. The wall of ice that Todoroki had first created had been swallowed whole by the Pro-Hero's Black Hole, making all the villains far wearier of her power.
"Oh no, you won't," growled Thirteen. "Stay where you are or I swear I will swallow you to oblivion!"
The villains did the smart thing and raised their hands in surrender.
Ochaco and Izuku grinned, only for Izuku to wince, his legs and now finger hurting. He reverted back to his Izumi form. The brunette looked worriedly at Izumi, but the bunny girl replied with a bright smile.
Before long, the two grinned, relief once again seeping in their blood. They couldn't believe it. After what looked like a disastrous day, they had endured and prevailed. Not only that, but the two had succeeded in raising up to the challenge. They looked at each other, basking on the other's joy.
The euphoria of the moment filled their vessels. It was in the passion of victory that Izumi failed to react. She stared at Ochaco, Ochaco stared back at her, and, before they knew it, they faces moved towards each other. Their lips met and their heads, once drumming with the exhilaration of triumph, pumped harder the ecstasy.
Of all things, Izumi didn't expect her first kiss to happen in her rabbit form… but she really didn't mind that much. Izumi felt her ears drop down as she felt her body melt in the moment. Ochaco, on the other hand, moved a hand down her waist. Izumi might have squeaked at feeling hands grasping her so intimately, were it not for Ochaco who deepen then the kiss.
Izumi wrapped her own arms around Ochaco's neck and, locked in each other's embrace, the two forgot all around them. Heck, Izumi forgot all about her tattered limbs. They ignored the whistling and cheering from their fellow classmates (even a suffering Miruko had enough strength to add a whistle of her own).
The rabbit girl had never been happier than in that moment…
POOF.
And just like that, the moment was broken, and both kissing girls pried their faces from each other and snapped their heads to a side. They weren't the only one. Watching with gaping jaws and wide eyes, Class 1-A could only stare at the man that knelt where All Might used to be.
"Eh…" Toshinori Yagi, in all of skeletal decrepit form, managed to say.
He glanced around, before sheepishly scratching his neck.
"…Well, this is awkward."