"ARGHH!!"
Those questions would remain unanswered in his head, as his thoughts were interrupted by the sudden and guttural scream, His mind had begun to wonder and his attention taken from the fight, as such he did not see the Nomu land a powerful blow on All Might, directly on the side of his stomach.
It wasn't just Taro that was taken out of their reverie. The villains and his classmates had suddenly stopped their actions as soon they heard that scream coming from the number 1 hero.
"HAHAHA!! YES NOMU! KILL ALL MIGHT!"
Seeing that moment of weakness from All Might, Shigaraki shouted in great excitement and joy. This was it. This was the day the symbol of peace fell to his knees.
The villains watched in hopeful excitement, while the heroes looked at their symbol with anxious looks and knots in their stomach.
Aizawa had found himself experiencing a sense of disbelief, both him and his students were in shock. Was All Might truly going to fall here?
However, despite the looks of hope from the villains and the look of anxiousness from the heroes, All Might himself was far from being done.
A punch had managed to connect with his weak spot, but he was still standing. Such a direct hit on his weak spot may have forced the hero to let out a guttural roar from the pain, but he was far from being defeated.
Seeing that he was hit in a weak spot, All Might tried to jump back several meters, giving himself distance from the creature so that he could recuperate and breathe just a little.
Unfortunately, Nomu gave chase, refusing to give him a single moment of rest. His weakness had been exposed, and now the creature had begun gunning for that spot.
This force All Might to be on the defense, As the Nomu launched a barrage of attack, a flurry of punches that packed enough bunch to bend even the hardest of still, All Might had to block, parry each attack and do everything he can that would allow the pain on his stomach to subside.
He blocked a fist that had aimed at his stomach before being forced to block another that aimed for his face. However, Nomu was quick to deliver a knee to his stomach.
"Ugh!!"
He groaned and forced back the blood that threatened to spill from his mouth. He clenched his teeth and firmly grasped Nomu's hands before he began to spin.
He needed a moment, only a moment of rest before he ended this. However, Nomu was not going to give him that, so he needed to force it away. Hence why he firmly grasped its hand and began to spin
He spun his body at such speeds that he generated large gusts of wind before launching the Nomu like a rocket and sending it flying to the far end of the plaza.
Letting crash through several obstacles before it crashed and dented the wall of the facility
That gave All Might seconds of breathing room. Trying to pin the beast down didn't work, the next option would be to tear its limbs and overtax its regeneration; however , All Might did not have the stamina for, he only had a few minutes in his muscular form. He can't afford a battle of attrition.
That left only one option, the smile on his face returned, and he began to stretch his neck and roll his shoulders. He took a deep breath.
"All Might, you need to overtax its regeneration. Simply punching it won't work!"
Taro barked out those words. However, the symbol of pea e gave the lad a thumbs up and a smile.
"Fear not Young Taro, I already have a winning strategy in mind. Sit back and watch a pro at work!"
The hero reassured his student, The creature's power was shock absorption that didn't make it invincible.
"Absorption, not nullification"
He whispered to himself. All Might will be the first to admit that he wasn't the smartest person he knew. In fact, he preferred things to be simple and made easier. However, when he was told that punches wouldn't work, he thought fighting the creature would be much more complex and would need strategy, but he was mistaken.
"I just have to punch it to the point that its absorption is useless"
He figured while whispering to himself. Since it absorbs and doesn't nullify, that means there was a limit to how much force it could take. It was much like how a sponge absorbs water. Eventually, it gets filled with so much water that it no longer absorbs anymore, and that is what the hero planned for.
He didn't doubt that he had more than enough juice within him to accomplish such a simple task.
The Nomu didn't take long before it got back on its feet once more, All Might saw it and rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck while he approached it. The cadence of his walk showed his confidence and complete belief in his strength.
Once again, the two beings clashed for the umpteenth time, creating a shockwave as they did so. All Might let loose a hell storm of punches, and so did Nomu, their punches colliding with such force and power that the entire central plaza shook.
At this point, everyone had suddenly stopped fighting amongst themselves and witnessed the clash of titans of nothing but raw power.
For the villains if they win this would be a turning point, a point where they stood on top and for the heroes if they win, this was just another Tuesday, a day in the life of the number one hero.
For the heroes, a loss would be something new, and for the villains, a loss would be another drop in the bucket. It was quite ironic if one thought about it.
Taro watched with an amused grin on his face, his earlier thoughts about heroism and its necessity long gone, replaced by the child-like glee often felt by fans of shonen anime fans when their favourite characters is locked in deadly combat with a villain. It was exciting.
Nomu and All Might traded fierce blows packed with more power than most heroes were capable of, With All Might taking the punches from Nomu and then returning them with twice as much power, His gaze was focused and determined. He was not going to fall to a mindless beast.
At first, his punches did nothing. It felt like hitting solid stone. However, they continued to trade blows, a crack appeared, Nomu took a step back, and the symbol of peace took a step forward. In mere moments, the tides of the battle changed.
What started as All Might pushing back Nomu and soon became All Might began completely dominating the beast, each of his punches broke Nomu's bones, even though it quickly regenerated, its body started to feel each attack.
Seeing the sudden shift in the battles, Shigaraki could not help but pull on his hair in great frustration and anger.
"No,no,no, noo!! This wasn't supposed to happen. NOMU WHAT ARE YOU DOING FUCKING KILL ALL MIGHT!!"
She shouted however unfortunately his words fell on deaf ears, Nomu had begun to feel each punch from All Might and its shock absorption just couldn't keep up, each punch from the hero was delivered with more than 100% of his power.
All Might ducked under an oncoming punch and grabbed Nomu by the arm, before spinning the creature around then slamming it on the ground.
The ground cratered as Nomu's body was planted on the floor, All Might then jumped high in the air before he came back down, stomping on the creature's stomach and forcing it to spit out blood.
Its quirk that allowed the creature to absorb shock was no longer useful, each attack from All Might came with greater than the quirk could take, meaning the only thing Nomu had that could save it was its regeneration.
"Villains! you thought you could kill me just by creating a creature with multiple quirks?!"
He said, while grabbing Nomu by the leg and then tossing it to the nearest wall. His words were rhetorical, he did not expect an answer, but what he expected was to end this fight in the next exchange.
"A hero is more than just their quirk, just because a villain has more power is not a guarantee that the hero will lose, and even if they do. A true hero is someone who ensures that justice is served at all cost"
The symbol of peace explained, he could already see that Nomu had recovered and was coming in for more, however it was slower, its body had taken too much punishment but regardless it pushed forward, its orders were clear, it had to kill All Might.
"You may have heard these words before, but I'll teach you what they really mean"
All Might huffed and took a battle ready stance. He clenched his fists as hard as he could.
"To be a hero is…"
Nomu reached him, and All Might met the creature head on, they clashed once more and another bout of wind was generated by the shockwave of their collision.
"...To go beyond, PLUS ULTRA!!!!!"
His fist connected with the creature with such explosive power that its body bulged, as if it was going to explain before, the immense force of the hero's power then launched the Nomu off the ground and sent it flying as if it was a rocket.
Its body crashed through the rooftop and flew into the air dispersing any clouds on its path before it disappeared off into the distance.
All Might couldn't help but drop onto one knee, while his body steamed and was breathing heavily, the battle had taken a lot out of him and he had used up his power for the day, however he still maintained his form.
"Who's next!"
He raised his head and looked at the villains, showing not a shred of weakness to them.
Shigaraki couldn't help but be stunned in silence, his eyes looked at the symbol of peace with clear irritation and anger however he was able to calm himself, only scratching his forearms
"Honestly what a disappointment, Unsuccessful raids always leave a bitter taste in my mouth"
He said and let out a sigh, Kurogiri behind him began to open a portal in order to escape. The villains that had been recruited for this began to feel a little pensive as they saw the escape portal open
"Tomura-"
"I know"
He cut off Kurogiri before he could get a word in and prepared to leave. The Mission was a bust and they'll have to try again next time but with real killers and villains. It's clear his selection process was a bit flawed
"You win this round heroes but know this, all raid bosses are beatable, you just have to find the right strategy"
Was all Shigaraki said before be disappeared into the portal and the moment he did, the villains that had accompanied him suddenly scattered, having expected being left behind
Seeing the villains start running away, All Might began to speak, his body was still steaming and he was still on his knees.
"Aizawa, I trust you can handle the leftovers?"
or
He did not even wait for Aizawa to even nod to his question because he bolted towards the door and exited the facility. His time was over, and he couldn't let anyone else see his weaker form. Aizawa sighed and began to give the students some orders. He also knew more heroes should be arriving soon, so All Might was not needed.
...
A/N: The next chapter should close this arc. I apologise for the delay. I got busy all of a sudden. The next chapter should be out on Monday or Sunday
BTW if you like my writing I take commissions if you have a fanfic idea you can't write yourself, for a small 3 fee I can write it.