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"For I am here."
That single sentence froze the entire room.
Every single one of the villains knew what All Might's presence here meant. Leaving aside the man's obvious level of danger, the fact that the number one hero had managed to find their base and had come here… meant he wasn't the only one.
Shigaraki recalled the words that the three teachers had said during the press conference.
{"Until we locate the villains and prepare to neutralize the threat, they'll remain under our protection."}
'They lied!' His eyes widened, anger surging. They had been feigning, getting him to lower his guard, thinking they were in the dark about their location.
And now, it was too late.
They were screwed.
'No, it will not end like this!' Shigaraki's teeth ground against each other, and his head snapped towards Kurogiri, eyes wide and desperate. "Kurogiri—Make a gate, now!"
They needed to escape immediately, before whoever All Might had brought with him entered and reduced their chances of escaping further.
"Ye—"
"Pre-emptive Binding—"
-Snap!-
"—Guh!"
"—Lacquered Chain Prison!"
Kurogiri didn't even finish the word. A lightning-fast wooden branch shot in from behind the hole in the wall All Might had blasted open earlier, wrapping tightly around him before he could move.
And not just him.
More branches whipped through the air with blinding speed, binding villain after villain, locking down arms, torsos, legs—everything.
In just a matter of seconds, all the villains had their escape route cut off.
With everyone immobilized, Kamui Woods finally made his entrance, leaping into the room by using his other arm to pull himself up from the street, and staring at all the villains with a fierce gaze.
"A wood Quirk, huh?" Dabi drawled, eyeing his bindings unfazed. Then, a smirk tugged at his burned lips. "Quite the bad matchup."
-Fwoosh!-
Suddenly, blue flames erupted from his body, licking upward, ready to engulf the wooden bindings—
"How impatient… Stay still, you rascal!"
—BAM!—
But before they could, a small but blindingly fast figure rocketed into the room, slamming a devastating kick straight into Dabi's nape. The villain's eyes rolled back instantly as he collapsed, his flames extinguishing along with his consciousness.
With the immediate threat dealt with, the small figure leapt back using the villain's head as leverage, before landing just beside All Might with elegance, stance still ready for combat at any moment.
It was none other than Gran Torino. Retired hero and All Might's old mentor, along with Midoriya's.
He, too, had come to play a little bit at this raid.
"...!"
Seeing their strongest ranged fighter go down that easily, Shigaraki's eyes trembled. His teeth gnashing against each other.
This was falling apart way too fast.
He needed to find a way out, now.
"...!"
That's when it dawned on him. His head snapped toward Kurogiri right away.
"Enough! Kurogiri, bring all the Nomus!"
Even bound, even unable to teleport them away from these heroes, Kurogiri should still be able to open a portal elsewhere—one that connected this place straight into the Nomu storage.
If the heroes wanted a fight so bad, then he'd give them a fight.
He'd drown them in monsters!—
"I don't think so!"
A voice cut through the chaos, followed by a blur streaking inside.
Just as Kurogiri was starting to open a portal—
-CLANG!-
A single, savage kick crashed into Kurogiri's metal collar, disrupting the villain's cast and sending him into a temporary coma for the moment. The only reason he didn't outright collapse to the floor was that Kamui Woods' bindings kept him in place.
And thus, just like that, the villain's last lifeline… was gone.
After knocking their ace out, the blur did an amazing flip in the air, before landing lightly a few meters away, hand on her hip, lips curled in a feral smirk.
Mirko the Rabbit Hero had arrived.
She laughed. "You sure got some nerve thinking you bring in more trouble here after all the shit you dropped on us!"
All Might shot her a look, sweatdropping slightly. "Mirko-san… language, please."
"Hell naw." She waved him off dismissively.
All Might wanted to say something, but gave up. It wasn't exactly the moment for such talk.
This mission wasn't over yet, after all.
From the doorway, something thin slid through the tiny gap between door and wall—a man flattening himself like literal paper before slipping inside.
"Pizza's here." EdgeShot materialized, silent and efficient, unlocking the door in a blink. "And we brought plenty for everyone."
The door swung open—
—and behind him stood a full squadron of armed police officers.
They flooded the room, weapons raised, surrounding the villains in a matter of seconds.
A perfect encirclement.
A true checkmate.
All Might lifted a fist, clenching it as his blue eyes shone with an intimidating light.
"You can't run anymore, League of Villains!"
"Damnit, caught like this—!" Compress complained, struggling to touch Kamui Woods with his hands to activate his Quirk, but too tightly bound to reach. "Shigaraki, do something!"
Sadly, his boss didn't do or say anything. He simply stood there, bound, eyes widened as if he had seen a ghost.
Pinned to the floor, Spinner gawked up at All Might, shaken by the sheer pressure rolling off the hero. "…So this is All Might, the hero you recognized, Stain-senpai?!"
The villain in question stared with trembling lips at the muscular hero.
"All Might…"
Pushed and pinned against the counter, Twice fought uselessly against the bindings. "Hey, let me go—bind me harder!"
"Too tight, it hurts!" Toga squirmed too, looking utterly displeased by the bindings.
Just like that, the villains were done for.
Heaving a sigh, All Might's rigid posture finally eased. This part of the raid had gone more smoothly than expected.
Feeling the tension drop, he walked toward Suzaku—who stood amidst the chaos with an expression bordering on bored—and gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder.
"It's okay, young Suzaku. You're safe now."
"Hurray," Suzaku mumbled, enthusiasm nonexistent.
All Might tilted his head. That… wasn't the response he expected.
Suzaku, meanwhile, was having his own thoughts.
'So much for coming here…'
In the end, not only would he lose his connection to the villain boss, but he also didn't even get to kill any of the minions.
Suzaku clicked his tongue inwardly, glaring at the bound villains with regret.
Who would've thought the heroes would get here so fast? He had assumed a day or two at least.
But apparently, these villains were even more incompetent than expected, letting themselves be found so easily.
-Sigh...-
Still, what was done was done. He had gambled on taking down the heads of the organization by letting the small fry live, and he'd lost the chance to kill both. Life was like that.
If they ever got out of prison—which was unlikely given how of a hellhole he'd heard it was—he'd hunt them down properly. For now, though, they were finished.
'What a waste of time.'
Suzaku shrugged All Might's hand off his shoulder and walked toward Mirko, who smirked slightly when she saw him.
"Seems like you're all in one piece. Were you scared, kid?" she teased.
Suzaku rolled his eyes. "I had them begging for mercy before you guys showed up and stole the credit."
"Sure, kid, sure."
Suzaku smiled faintly. "Anyway, why are you here? I figured All Might would come since he's my teacher at school, but not you."
"You kidding?" Mirko scoffed. "The second I heard you'd been taken, I volunteered to come kick the door down. I'm not letting some punk-ass villains snatch the kid who interned under me. That'd be a disgrace to my reputation."
All Might walked up again, placing a firm hand on Suzaku's shoulder.
"Indeed. Mirko-san was one of the first heroes to request joining the rescue operation once the news went public. Of course, she wasn't the only one."
Suzaku raised an eyebrow at that final comment, and curiosity tugged him toward the gaping hole All Might had left in the wall.
Down below, several police cars and officers stood guard, along with multiple heroes who, as usual, he didn't recognize.
Except for Gunhead, who waved cheerfully when he spotted Suzaku, and Endeavor, who snorted loudly as he too saw him peering down.
There was also a huge crowd watching from behind the barricades, despite police and heroes repeatedly shouting for them to back away.
'It's the same everywhere.'
With a snort, he stepped back and turned to face the bar again.
The armed officers were already hauling the villains out one by one.
This really was the end of the matter.
Now the only question was what kind of annoying welcome awaited him back at school. His classmates were probably furious. Aizawa too. And Vlad King… his decision to ditch them for the villains, even if technically due to them using hostages to threaten him into coming with them, was probably not so popular.
'This was so not worth it.' Suzaku sighed.
"So that's how you repay my master's kindness, huh?" A voice suddenly called out, snapping Suzaku out of his thoughts and making him turn to see the culprit.
Shigaraki.
No longer was he in a state of shock at how things had turned out; instead, his eyes were brimming with rage.
"...All that talk about accepting to join us, you sure went back on your word fast, brat!"
Suzaku chuckled, approaching Shigaraki and staring down at him before shaking his head as if disappointed. "Trying to frame me, huh, despicable villain? Unfortunately for you, it won't work, for I am an incorruptible symbol of heroism."
"You? You're just a traitorous cockroach!"
"It's useless to try and frame me, mummy man. Justice has, is, and will always be on my side… Do you know why?"
Shigaraki gritted his teeth. This brat had been so ready to join them hours earlier, and now he was pretending to be some righteous hero?
But then, Suzaku leaned closer, smirking.
"Because justice always wins. And I, especially, always win."
"You crafty son of a bitch…!" A vein bulged on Shigaraki's forehead. He knew his master had tried to recruit him, but now the redhead was practically admitting he'd never intended to join them.
And with everything he'd learned about Suzaku earlier that day, and the danger he would come to pose one day, Shigaraki came to one conclusion.
His head snapped toward Stain, who still stood paralyzed by All Might's presence.
"Stain, you wanted to kill this brat, didn't you?! I give you permission—KILL HIM!"
As his words fell, the room froze. Stain's eyes remained locked on All Might.
But then—
They snapped to Suzaku with unnatural speed.
"Yes."
—BZZZZZZ!—
A circle of energy expanded from Stain, startling all heroes.
"Oh no, you don't!"
Mirko and Gran Torino moved instantly, their figures blurring as they shot toward him, legs swinging down in lethal strikes—
But as they were about to hit—
"—?!"
—Thud!—
Both crashed to the floor, slamming into it as if their momentum had been turned into pure weight.
"W-what is this?!" Mirko groaned, trying to push herself up, failing miserably.
Gran Torino didn't look any better.
Edgeshot was the next one to attack, turning into a minuscule line that shot towards Stain.
But as before, as soon as he got within the strange zone surrounding Stain, he too collapsed on the floor, unable to move.
To make matters worse, the wood bindings holding Stain cracked apart and collapsed instantly.
"W-what?!" Kamui Woods exclaimed, composure breaking as he shot more bindings—only for them to crumble the moment they neared Stain.
"All Might, Gran Torino, Mirko-san!" All Might didn't hesitate, bolting toward Stain.
But as he neared him, he too buckled, dropping to one knee.
"The gravity—increased?!"
"Move aside, All Might." Stain spared him a cold, robotic glance before turning his deadened eyes to Suzaku. "I'm doing the world a favor by erasing trash that taints the title of hero."
"I won't let you harm that young man!" All Might forced himself upright, pushing against the pressure and blocking Stain's path to Suzaku, who remained standing near Shigaraki.
"As expected of a true hero." A faint light returned to Stain's eyes before dimming again. "But even you won't stop me from performing my duty."
The gravity zone expanded, reaching Kamui Woods and even some of Stain's villain companions, and slamming them to the ground as well. Friendly fire was not something on his mind at the moment.
All Might shoved a hand backward. "Young Suzaku, step back or you'll get caught by his Quirk!"
Suzaku's eyes narrowed, wrist twitching ever so slightly—
But before anything could escalate—
"—Ugh!"
Suzaku gagged suddenly, eyes widening as a huge amount of black liquid erupted from his mouth.
And he wasn't the only one.
All the villains began vomiting the same black liquid—Stain included, causing the crushing gravity to instantly cease.
All Might stared stunned at the turn of events, quickly moving to help Suzaku with whatever was happening.
But he couldn't help but come to a stop when suddenly a portal of that same black liquid tore open in mid-air.
His eyes snapped toward Kurogiri—still unconscious—and confusion hit him like a truck.
'That villain is still asleep... then who—?'
His thoughts were forced to a halt, however, when a figure stepped out of the portal, launching itself at him.
A Nomu.
"Wriiiiiigh—argh!"
All Might handled it relatively easily; with one punch, it was down.
But then it happened.
More portals opened, dozens at the same time. And not only around him, but out on the street too.
Nomus.
Mirko and Gran Torino had already stood up by then, also being attacked by the bio-engineered monsters.
All Might frowned—watching as the two got swarmed by them, and the heroes in the street got too.
Another Nomu manifested before him, but just like the first one, it went down in one punch.
All Might then looked ready to go aid his companions, more specifically Gran Torino, who, despite his prowess, was still an elder right now, and would get overwhelmed under such pressure.
"Young Suzaku...!"
But as he was about to move, he noticed that the black liquid the villains and Suzaku were throwing up was beginning to swirl around them, encasing each one like it was eating them.
And making the connection to the portals the Nomus were coming off, he soon realized what that meant.
He snapped his gaze to Suzaku, kicking off the ground and shooting forward to grab him.
But he was a moment too late.
Before he could reach him, Suzaku's entire body dissolved into the liquid, vanishing completely as if he had never been there.
The villains around him disappeared the same way, swallowed whole by that same black substance.
What had seemed like a success in their grasp... had now turned into an utter failure.
"NOOOO!!!"
…
°
°
°
| Some minutes away from their current location… |
…
What had been a normal-looking building—just one more among many similar ones—was now reduced to rubble, torn apart as if by a natural disaster.
And at the center of that devastation stood a lone figure.
"What a mess this is."
He dusted off his hands lazily, tone dripping with mock exasperation.
At his feet lay a hero.
Best Jeanist, who weakly lifted his head, glaring at the man standing before them, blood dripping from his head.
"So... you're the boss I was informed of."
The man turned to the fallen hero, tilting his head and speaking with an awed amusement. "Hmm? You survived that? And you even sent the heroes that had been accompanying you away from the attack's range while at it... As expected of a top-ranked hero. Unfortunately, your Quirk is useless, so I don't think you have much more use than this."
-BAM!-
"Argh—!"
The next instant, an air bullet shot from the man's finger, piercing Best Jeanist's stomach in a single strike.
"Truly unfortunate." With a mocking tone, the man turned away from the hero and faced what looked like empty space—until several portals ripped open mid-air.
From them, bodies dropped.
Among them, Suzaku's.
-Thud!-
—Cough, cough!—
As soon as he hit the ground, he began coughing with a hint of disgust.
"What the fuck is this shit?" he growled, spitting black residue and trying to get the taste out of his mouth.
"I apologize for the rather crude method, Suzaku-kun. But given our precarious situation, I was forced to act somewhat rashly."
"Ah?" Suzaku finally looked up—only for his eyes to widen.
Standing before him was the same man he had spoken with hours ago.
The one and only.
All For One.
"Hah." Suzaku laughed, lips curling upward. "Nah, you're good. In fact, you clutched there."
"Is that so?"
"Yeah… you really have saved me a lot of trouble."
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-To be Continued…-
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(A/N: Punched a punching machine too hard, and now my hand hurts when doing certain movements while writing.
This world just keeps nerfing me, as I am too powerful otherwise.
Also, did you catch what Stain's Quirk is?
I thought about it a lot and found I had already established a Quirk perfect for him earlier in the series.
Tell me if you recognize it.
Also, I saw this pic and saw it, but maybe I'm just squizo.)
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