Aizawa retreated several meters from the ferocious clash that was destroying everything. His gaze flicked to the man with hands, who was still clutching his ruined arm, shrieking in pain, and the smoky figure that appeared beside him and hovered protectively. If not for his own state, Aizawa would have gone after them without hesitation.
Then he heard it.
"Teacher!!"
Aizawa turned sharply. His students came from the water nearby. Midoriya, Tsuyu and Mineta.
"What are you doing here?" he barked. "It's too dangerous! You need to leave now!"
Midoriya said quickly. "What kind of heroes would we be," he said firmly, "if we leave our teacher behind?"
The other two nodded despite the fear. Before Aizawa could respond, another massive shock wave tore through the area as the ground broke and the trees got uprooted, forcing them to retreat further.
"What the hell is going on over there?" Kirishima shouted.
Aizawa glanced only to see more students running toward them, Kirishima, Bakugo and Todoroki.
They all looked on in disbelief as a blur of motion crossed their vision, a towering black monster with a bird-like head clashing again and again with Junsei, whose eyes burned with an unnatural glow.
Bakugo's eyes widened. "What is he doing here?"
"We need to help him!" Kirishima said urgently as he stepped forward.
Bakugo and Todoroki stepped forward at once, everything else can wait, but a far more terrifying shock wave blasted outward, forcing them to halt. Giant rocks flew from the location of the impact in all directions.
"No one approaches," Aizawa said sharply. "None of you are ready or capable of surviving a fight like that."
As if summoned by his words, the man with hands screamed again, his voice cracking with rage. "DAMMIT, NOMU!! KILL HIM ALREADY!! YOU WERE MADE TO KILL ALL MIGHT! LET ALONE A BRAT!"
A chill ran through the students.
"There's no way," Mineta said weakly, "that thing can take on All Might? "
The battle raged on for several more minutes before Momo and her group arrived next, drawn by the explosion and that they couldn't find anyone. They also came to a stop seeing the fierce battle.
Momo was now scared for Junsei's life and regretted asking him to help, she didn't know a monster like that was here.
Then suddenly, the massive doors of USJ were crushed open.
A powerful voice thundered through the facility.
"IT IS FINE!! I AM HERE!!"
Hope surged through the students as they turned toward him. The villains stiffened in alarm. Only Nomu and Junsei continued clashing, oblivious to his arrival.
All Might shot forward at supersonic speed and struck Nomu with a devastating punch, pushing it away from Junsei.
"Good job, Young Mori," All Might said. "Leave the rest to me."
On the sidelines, the man with hands shrieked, "NOMU! KILL ALL MIGHT!"
Nomu lunged again, this time toward All Might. Junsei leapt away, landing at a distance, his glowing eyes calmly observing.
A new storm of shock waves erupted as All Might and Nomu traded blows, the ground cracking beneath them. The two appeared evenly matched.
The students stared in disbelief.
"No way…" Kirishima whispered. "Even All Might can't overpower that thing?"
"Is it just me," Tsuyu said nervously, "or is All Might being pushed back?"
Aizawa narrowed his eyes. "Junsei was dodging the blows," he said grimly. "All Might isn't. But the fight is still equal, just like before."
The students' eyes widened in shock. 'Still Equal, just like before' was a testament of how powerful Junsei really is.
As for Junsei, he watched in silence. Momo had shown him recordings of All Might before, his battles, his overwhelming strength. He should have been far stronger than this.
Then Nomu's fist slammed into All Might's side.
All Might coughed, a fleck of blood escaping his lips as he staggered back.
In that instant, Junsei understood.
All Might was badly injured. The scent clinging to him finally made sense.
For a brief moment, Junsei considered letting the fight continue, letting the two destroy each other.
Then he shook the thought away. That was no plan. He needed to ensure the abomination's death.
The next moment, Junsei charged in again, his movements as ferocious and unrelenting as before. He struck at Nomu without hesitation from the side, his glowing eyes fixed on the abomination.
"Young Mori, stay back!" All Might shouted, alarm flaring in his voice.
"Two are better than one," Junsei replied simply, already attacking again.
All Might hesitated for a fraction of a second. He understood time was running out and he needed to finish this. He saw the boy's speed and strength and knew he could be of real help. He chose silence and moved alongside Junsei even as a part of him burned with shame and regret that he needed to put a student life in danger, but there was no room for that now.
Together, they struck.
From two sides at once, All Might and Junsei hammered Nomu with relentless force. The monster staggered, its massive frame struggling to react fast enough to the rabid, crushing blows raining down upon it.
The villain with hands screamed in fury, his voice shrill with panic. "What kind of heroes are you?! Two ganging up on one?! Can you still call yourself heroes?!"
The smoky figure beside him tightened its grip. "It's time to leave. We can't stay here any longer."
Before anyone could stop them, the two vanished in a swirl of black smoke.
All Might and Junsei did not slow down.
Their attacks grew faster, heavier. Junsei slipped behind Nomu while All Might remained in front, and the two began striking from both sides in perfect and brutal rhythm, one landing blows on Nomu's chest while the other striking the back. Nomu let out a distorted scream as cracks spread across its body, its quirks failing under the overwhelming assault.
Junsei saw this as an opening.
He drew deeper, pulling more power from life and as he did, his pupils began to expand till both of his eyes were completely glowing blue.
The next moment, he struck the back of Nomu's head.
Nomu's head was destroyed in an instant.
All Might stopped immediately.
Junsei canceled his power at once and his eyes went back to normal instantly, unnoticed as he stood concealed behind the collapsing body. All Might bent forward, breathing heavily, staring at the headless corpse and then at Junsei, who looked down at it with an unreadable expression.
[Because of my weakness, a student had been forced to kill.] All Might thought regretfully.
That thought struck All Might harder than any blow. To him, it was the greatest failure a hero could bear.
Junsei, however, felt only warm and relieved.
He sensed life returning to the world as it should be. Whatever cruelty had been inflicted upon that creature was undone the moment it fell. The abomination was gone.
He stepped past the corpse and past All Might.
"Young Mori," All Might said, straightening with effort. "Are you okay?"
"Yes," Junsei replied calmly. "It didn't land any blows on me."
That was not what concerned All Might at this moment.
The students watched him with a mixture of awe and fear. He was their age. He had no desire to become a hero. And yet, he had fought beside All Might, kept pace with him while they could take a step closer to them.
It struck at their pride and their confidence.
At that moment, more heroes arrived from outside. Cementoss, Present Mic, and Midnight rushed into the shattered facility, taking in the scene with sober expressions.
Momo moved closer to Junsei. "Are you okay?" she asked quietly. "Did that thing hurt you?"
Junsei shook his head.
She hesitated, then said softly, "I'm sorry… that I made you fight that."
"No," Junsei replied. "Thank you. I needed to see it. And to kill that abomination."
Momo stared at him, unprepared for that answer. "Are you… really okay?"
"Yes," Junsei said.
He began walking away.
"Where are you going now?" Momo asked, confusion threading her voice.
"To the school," Junsei replied. "There are still classes there."
The students were taken aback by the casualness of his words. All Might and Aizawa exchanged grim looks.
This was not a normal reaction to what he had just experienced.
In their eyes, Junsei was suppressing his emotions in an unhealthy way.
All Might said "Young Mori, the class can wait, please stay here with your peers and leave alongside them"
Faint smoke began coming from All Might's body. All Might seeing this said "I will go ensure that no other villains around then rushed out faster than anyone could respond"
No one paid attention to that except for Midoriya who had a worried look on his face and Junsei who remembered All Might's skinny form. Junsei suspected All Might couldn't keep his form indefinitely and suspected his power is related to how much food he eats based on his transformation on the roof.
Not long after, police and more heroes arrived at the scene. They began moving around and capturing the villains all over the place while checking on the students and making sure everything was okay.
As for the students, their biggest attention was on the silent Junsei, they still couldn't believe he was that strong the entire time, especially Bakugo who had mocked him before. Bakugo was no fool and knew in a straight fight, he would lose to that kind of speed and strength.
He glanced at Momo who talked before about Junsei's ability to control animals, did she not realize his strength and speed was a lot scarier than controlling animals?
He felt like a fool being played.