Chapter 10: Into the Inferno! Part 2
Ceres opened her eyes to see herself falling into a lake crawling with aquatic villains. Thinking quickly she expanded her domain over gravity, hovering over the water, searching for anyone who could have fallen in with her. She looked at where the villains were headed and spotted Hitoshi being saved by Tsuyu, who pulled him with her tongue towards the boat. She flew towards them, looking down at the bloodthirsty villains. "Hitoshi-kun, Tsu-san, are you two okay?"
Hitoshi groaned as he got up, coughing up a bit of water. "Ugh, yeah… Izumi, what the hell was that about?"
Izumi sighed. "Remember what I told you yesterday?" Hitoshi widened his eyes. "Yeah, that."
Tsu placed a finger against her chin. "Midoriya, everything about you is strange, ribbit." She deadpanned. "Who were those three villains? Ribbit, they seemed to be after you specifically." Izumi changed back into her human form.
"They are, Tsu-san… It's a lot to explain, but I guess since you all saw it… I'll tell you once we're safe, okay?" The frog girl nodded as the teens turned their attention to the villains. "Let me handle taking them down. I'll need your help restraining them after, okay?"
Her two friends nodded, and she changed into a large yellow ape, the villains' eyes widening as her hands sparked with electricity. The water seemed to glow as she fried them, only letting out part of her maximum output, so as to not kill them outright. "Okay, now we bind them." She transformed back. "When we get to shore, go back to the entrance, and I'll help Eraserhead."
Hitoshi stared at her incredulously. "Izumi, are you insane? We need to get the fuck out of here. He's got this, remember."
She stared at him. "For now, Hitoshi. You know as well as I do that the longer a fight goes on, the riskier it is for him." Hitoshi frowned, hating the fact that she had a point.
"Fine, let's just focus on getting them restricted so we can get the hell out of here."
Momo, Jirou and Kaminari were surrounded by villains in the landslide zone. Momo focused on taking their melee forces with her staff, while Jirou kept them incapacitated with her soundwaves. She looked at the vibrating blade that had been added to her costume suddenly, considering taking it out. "Whoa, these things are great!" Kaminari cheered as the whips extending from his costume's metal gauntlets crackled with as much electricity as he could safely output.
"Watch where you're swinging those things, idiot!" Jirou complained as one of the whips nearly hit her. Though, she couldn't be too mad. Their numbers were dwindling, and soon the only one left was a large villain in a metal mask.
"You better give up unless you want a million volts to the face!" Kaminari threatened, readying a whip against the approaching villain. The man, however, didn't stop, inching closer and closer. "I'm warning you!" When the villain continued despite the warnings, Kaminari cracked his whip. Unfortunately, the villain was not at all fazed by the electricity coursing through him.
"Aaah, what a lovely little snack, boy." The man rushed forward and punched Kaminari in the stomach, before turning him around and trapping him in a headlock. He stared at the girls and chuckled. "You two take another step and your friend here is toast!" The two froze, Jirou looking at Momo, whose expression was hidden by her mask. "Yeah, that's what I thought. The weird hand guy promised a million for every kid we killed, but maybe we can have a little fun before that."
Jirou felt her stomach twist, disgust showing across her face. She was about to retort when she heard a whisper from Momo. "Fuck it." And a gunshot echoed through the USJ.
Tokoyami and Yanagi breathed a sigh of relief as the entirety of the downpour zone was covered in mushrooms, the villains that had attacked them begging for mercy on the ground. They looked between each other and the diminutive girl who had caused this massacre. "Spooky." Reiko commented.
"What a mad banquet of darkness." Fumikage nodded.
Kinoko skipped over to them. "These villains are mush! Let's get back to the entrance, shroom!"
They once again shared a look. "All hail the dark queen." They said in unison, confusing the small mushroom girl.
"This is getting out of hand, now there are two of them." Saadi grumbled as she peeked out of Fumikage.
"Mina, you gotta tell us what the heck that was! Why did that guy call you a Kraaho or whatever?" Setsuna followed Mina as they made their way through the conflagration zone, Mina finally being able to feel some semblance of warmth.
"Long story, Set-chan! Maybe when we're not about to die?" She pleaded as another villain appeared in front of them, the girls not even hesitating in taking him out.
They were drawn to the sounds of fighting, finding Itsuka facing three villains alone, bruised and struggling to breathe. They quickly jumped in, A vortex of body parts and quick stretching strikes, dispatching them all, leaving them unconscious in the heat. "Hey, Itsuka-san! You okay?" Setsuna helped the girl stay on her feet.
"Ugh, I can barely breathe in here… they got the jump on me." She coughed.
Mina looked between the two girls. "We'll get you out of here right away." Setsuna nodded, getting ready to run. However, just as they began their retreat, they were faced with the crab that had attacked Izumi at the entrance. "Shit. Setsuna, get her out of here. I'll hold him off."
Setsuna shook her head. "What? No way! I'm not leaving you behind, Mina."
Mina glared at her. "Someone needs to hold him back while the other gets Itsuka somewhere safe. I need you to trust me. I'll run away as soon as I can shake him." She stated, knowing it would probably be impossible.
Setsuna nodded, still uncertain. "Stay safe, Mina. I mean it."
"I'll see you on the other side, Setsuna." Mina smiled through the fear she felt welling up inside her. She looked as Setsuna retreated, keeping an eye on the bounty hunter as he finally detected her.
"Oh, it's the half breed." He mocked. "I heard the Kraaho were a proud, close knit species. Hard to think what pathetic specimen would lower himself enough to sleep with these mongrels."
Mina growled, taking a step forward. "Well, this half breed's about to kick your ass."
The bounty hunter chuckled. "Oh, you're approaching me? Instead of running away with your little human friends, you're coming straight at me?"
Mina's scowl turned slightly feral as acid began dripping from her skin. "Well, I can't beat the shit out of you without getting closer."
He snapped his claw menacingly, beckoning her. "Is that so? Well, come as close as you like, then."
Mina wasted no time in throwing the first punch, the acid coating her skin hissing in contact with the metal. "Like that? Turns out these 'mongrels' have some pretty cool abilities." The cyborg rushed to grab her with his pincer, growling as he missed.
"A parlour trick. it won't matter in the end." he dodged a kick that came for his head. "Sloppy." she reeled as he managed to bash into her.
"I'll show you sloppy!" She sweeped his legs, sending him tumbling off balance. She was on top of him in a moment, producing as much of her strongest acid as she could muster. An acid, it just so happened, that was highly flammable.
The cyborg writhed as he was consumed by acidic flames, screaming with rage. "You disgusting bitch! I'll put you down like the unevolved filth you are!" He lobbed a grenade at her, which she managed to dodge. She widened her eyes in terror as it exploded into liquid nitrogen.
"What, afraid of a little fire?" She raised an eyebrow. "Wait… you're a Piscciss Premann…"
He snarled at her. "That I am, mongrel. I fought against the Pyronites in that damn war. The bastards torched my body." He hissed, his armour groaning as it continued to melt because of the acid. "But flesh is weak. When I got my new body, I killed thousands of the rocky shits." He said with glee in his voice.
"You're a monster." She snarled, thinking of a way to beat him now that she got him talking.
He chuckled. "How naïve. There's no such thing as monsters, half breed. Just those strong enough to take what's theirs and survive, no matter the cost."
She clicked her tongue. "Sounds like something a monster would say. I can see why you're working for Vilgax."
The bounty hunter shrugged. "Oh, I'm willing to do just about anything, so long as I'm paid. Vilgax just happens to pay quite well." He narrowed his eyes. "Oh, right, he conquered that rock of yours, didn't he? Slaughtered your clansmen too, yes?" Mina growled as he continued to taunt her. "Pathetic. When you meet your ancestors in the afterlife, be sure to tell them Kraab sent you. Hell, I might even have killed some of them."
The girl's eyes went blank as she saw red, the sound of her heart pounding inside her was like a war drum. Mina let out a blood curdling screech as she was wreathed in flame and acid, charging the cyborg. He casually threw three more grenades at her, which hit her square on during her reckless attack. However, his glee soon turned to a certain fear as not only was she not hampered, her fire was burning hotter. He felt his metal body creak as she hit him, sending him backwards into a wall.
Filled with uncontrollable rage, she rushed forward, her hands digging into the metal in his chest, filling the hole with flaming acid, making him cry out in agony. "You won't beat me, mongrel!" He attempted to crush her with his enlarged claw, and widened his eyes as she caught it, and ripped it off in a fluid motion.
Mina snarled at him. "I AM NOT A FUCKING MONGREL!" She bellowed. "I am Ashido Mina of the Great Clan of Sulphur! Men like you helped Vilgax take my planet!" She once again dented his armour. "He killed my family!" Another earth shaking punch. "Enslaved my people!" His armour finally cracked for good. "My humanity gives me strength! It gives me hope when my people have none." Acid began corroding his internal systems, causing him unbelievable pain. "And I will not rest until the universe is rid of monsters like you!" She took hold of his legs and threw him towards the courtyard with a grunt of exertion.
Mina breathed heavily, the rage that had taken over her subsiding just a bit. She looked up, towards where she had thrown him. She began striding towards the courtyard, the flames on her body finally burning out, leaving parts of her skin blistered from the chemical burns. It was no matter, though. She wasn't done.
Todoroki landed on a frozen mountain, surrounded by villains. He barely reacted as they rushed to face him, only to stop dead in their tracks as he slammed his foot down, covered in frost from head to toe. "Nothing more than common thugs." He muttered. "They couldn't possibly have planned to kill All Might with this pathetic display."
The emotionless boy walked up to one of his frozen assailants. The man spat at him. "You're Endeavor's kid, right? Fuck you and him."
Todoroki just stared at him coldly. "You could never beat All Might with your strength alone, and you couldn't possibly hope to overrun him. You should know that… so why are you here?"
The man refused to answer. "You know, after a few minutes, frostbite starts to set in, and I could easily leave you to freeze to death." That got a reaction from him. "So tell me what your plan is."
The man looked to his side, seeing if he could break free. When he failed, he turned to Todoroki and sighed. "The guy with the hands promised us a million for each kid we killed. He wanted to see the Symbol of Peace broken by watching his students get killed off."
Todoroki wasn't quite satisfied with the explanation. "He said they wanted to kill him. How would they manage that?"
The man once again tried to struggle. "The beaked villains next to him!" He admitted. "The red one's supposed to take on Eraserhead, and the black one was meant for All Might. He said something about a bioengineered weapon. I don't know any more."
Todoroki hummed. "Fine." He said. "The ice should melt in an hour or so." The villains trapped in said ice began to shout in outrage.
"What?! That wasn't the deal! I told you everything I know!" He protested.
Todoroki simply stared at him blankly. "What deal? I don't remember promising you anything." He deadpanned. "You really should have thought things through before you decided to try and kill me." He turned to walk away from the mountain.
Suddenly, he heard something rushing behind him. Looking back, he saw a wave of water riding down the mountain, with a villain riding on its crest. Todoroki created another glacier to freeze the villain, shivering as he felt the cold start to affect him. However, he would only see his attack fail, as the ice melted and was incorporated into the wave.
"Whoo, I got myself a hero who fuels my quirk, huh? This is too good to be true!" the villain said as he rode the wave into Todoroki, who only managed to dodge by making an ice ramp and sliding across it.
"What? Gonna run? Big bad Endeavor's spawn's gonna run?" The villain pursued, unfazed as Todoroki blasted him with even more ice. "You stupid or something? Can't figure out you're just giving me more water to work with, dumbass?"
Todoroki's impassive face broke into a scowl. "I only need my ice." He snarled.
The villain laughed. "Suit yourself. Easiest million I've ever made."
They began fighting closer to the ground, the villain absorbing all of Todoroki's attacks and striking back with the added force. "Huh, you really are just banging your head against a brick wall, aren't you?" Todoroki refused to respond. "Farewell, Endeavor spawn." The villain prepared his finishing blow. Todoroki braced himself. He was too cold to dodge. His extremities already felt dull.
However, just as the villain began his attack, he suddenly convulsed with arcing volts of electricity. Shouto looked around, seeing the other villains similarly incapacitated. Just behind the villain, holding a crackling baton, Tooru's costume became visible. She turned to Todoroki, clearly upset, crossing her arms as she approached him. "Seriously, Todoroki?" She huffed. "He literally told you your attacks were just feeding his quirk!"
Todoroki glared at her. "What would you have me do, then?" His voice dripped with irritation.
"Oh, I don't fucking know, use your fire?" She shouted.
He clenched his fist. "I'll never use his fire." He growled.
Tooru rolled her eyes and groaned. "Then fight quirkless!" He blinked as she said that, as if the very notion was absurd. "I fight quirkless. Hitoshi-kun fights quirkless. Yaomomo fights essentially quirkless aside from the equipment she creates! Fucking Aizawa-sensei fights quirkless, and he's wrecking shop down there!" She huffed. "Just, anything besides making your opponent more powerful!"
He turned away from the invisible girl. "This is pointless. I have our objective now."
Tooru shook her head. "Yeah, fuck no. I heard your little interrogation. If that thing was made to beat All Might, it's gonna destroy you."
Todoroki scowled at her. "I will surpass All Might. Without using his fire."
Tooru facepalmed. "It's like talking to a brick wall." She muttered. "Whatever. If you do fight that thing, don't expect me to save your frozen ass." She turned on her heel. "I'm gonna look for people who need help and aren't completely delusional."
Todoroki grimaced as she left, clenching his fist as he left the heat of his flames warming him up. He hated having to use Endeavor's cursed Hellfire, but he wasn't so stupid as to think he was anything but half dead at that state. 'I might use it to warm myself up after the fact, but I'll never use it in combat. A fire that only knows how to destroy.' However, when he took even a single step forward, he collapsed, shivering. 'Damnit.'
Eiko grunted as she took a powerful blow to the face. A villain with a strength enhancement quirk had gotten the drop on her just as she was sent to a ruined building. They traded blows, neither seeming to gain any ground. "What the heck, dude? Attacking a girl outta nowhere? Not manly at all!"
The villain cackled. "What the heck? You serious? I'm just here to get paid, and for that I'll need to scalp you. You just drew the short end of the stick, there." He hit her stomach with another blow, leaving his head wide open.
"Red Counter!" She hit him with a hook straight to his jaw, managing to knock him out with the blow. "Now who drew the short stick?" She continued to make her way through the building, looking out for any other villains. Eventually she came across a group of five.
Thankfully, just as they targeted her, they were immediately trapped by a mass of vines. "Via Dolorosa!" She felt quite relieved at seeing Shiozaki appear in front of her. The girl looked at her, surprised. "Kirishima-san! You're here as well? Did you face any more of these fiends?"
Eiko chuckled as she shook her head. "There was one guy who caught me by surprise, but I took care of him no problem. Not as fast as you, though." She meant it as a compliment, but instead saw the girl grimace. "What? What's wrong?"
She shook her head. "I came to UA to save lives, to protect the weak and save the needy." She looked back at the villains trapped by her thorns. "I detest violence of any kind… Yet now I realise it's inevitable."
Eiko nodded her head. "I get that, Shiozaki-san. I do. My goal in becoming a hero was to be a shield. To protect." She smiled, exposing her sharp teeth. "But sometimes, to be a shield, to save people, you need to put down the ones that are trying to cause harm themselves."
Ibara pondered for a moment, then sighed. "You speak the truth. But those who live by the sword shall also die by the sword… to harm, to maim… it's a sin."
Eiko sweatdropped. "I don't really get all that religious stuff you're into, Shiozaki-san… but isn't protecting someone, even if you have to harm another, still good in the end? Like, if you're rescuing someone and a villain attacks you… shouldn't you fight?"
Ibara once again paused. "I suppose I could see it that way… a last resort. Just like Saint Moses…"
"Cool…" Eiko deadpanned, not really understanding the reference, before looking around. "But we should really get out of here." Ibara nodded. Suddenly, they heard sounds of fighting and roaring engines, running towards it.
Iida struggled against the group of enemies that faced him. The hallways of the building were too narrow and littered with debris for him to actually get any decent speed, so he mostly had to rely on his quirkless combat, with a few Engine enhanced kicks along the way. His enemies, though, Had quirks well suited for their environment, and though his skill, even as a student, surpassed thiers, they were beginning to chip away at his armour. He already felt some bruises forming.
"Hang in there, Iida-san!" He saw Eiko suddenly jump into the fight, stopping an attack that would have hit him head on. "Phew, made it!" She punched the villain that had attacked her on the jaw, dropping him instantly.
Not a moment later, two more villains were ensnared by vines, while a third managed to hack himself free with the blades on his arms. However, free from being harassed by the others, Iida managed to get a solid kick to his head, also knocking them out. "Kirishima-san! Shiozaki-san! I am glad you're both safe!" He said, bowing slightly. "But I fear for our classmates."
Eiko smiled slightly. "Good to see you too, Iida-kun! We were just about to head out and try to meet others back at the entrance."
"A good plan!" He shouted, and was quickly shushed by the girls. "We should leave post haste." He whispered, earning nods from the two girls.
"Find cover, girls!" Thirteen shouted from the squall zone, a stretch of highway constantly buffeted by winds. The street was littered with cars, which would usually be occupied sparsely by test dummies, which the students would attempt to rescue.
"Got it!" Ochako, Yui and Pony were trapped there with the hero, not only being harassed by the group of villains there, but by the Sotoraggian bounty hunter, who was managing to take up most of Kurose's attention. The girls hid behind a car just as a blast whizzed by them, exploding a nearby vehicle.
" Fuck, this is insane! Ain't there some way to get the heck outta here?! " Pony cursed, falling back into english. Ochako, with her limited grasp on the language, only just managed to understand what the girl meant.
"Not as long as that guy in the jetpack is distracting Thirteen." The brunette cursed, looking over their cover to see yet more villains approaching their teacher. "But we have to do something… They might be good at combat, but it's just a matter of time before they get a good hit in."
"Mm." Yui nodded, her face stern as she focused on her previous class' partner.
"My horn no fly too good here, and too small to handle all…" Pony grimaced, as Ochako once again turned to look at their teacher, who had just taken out a few of the villains with her strange guns.
"Still, we need to do something." She looked at Pony, who nodded. Then Ochako remembered the plan they had executed at their last class as she looked at Yui, and an idea came to her head. "Kodai-chan! Remember our plan?" The quiet girl nodded. "Try doing it to Pony's horns!"
The two girls looked at her blankly. Then, their eyes widened. "I don't know if it'll work…" Yui whispered as Pony detached her horns.
"We have to do something." Ochako said, looking at her companions with a determined expression, which they mirrored.
"Mm!" Yui touched the horns, willing them to grow, which they did, to about the size of a motorbike.
"Can control up to four! Let's do this!" Pony cheered as yet another pair detached from her head, another replacing them near instantly.
"Okay, Yui, focus on the villains surrounding Thirteen. I have another plan for the flying one!" The three girls nodded and set their plans in motion. Pony's horns rocketed into the villains, some being pulled into the sky and dropped, the others simply being simply struck and knocked unconscious. Whenever one of her horns was destroyed Pony and Yui simply replaced it.
A villain eventually got close enough to them to catch them by surprise. However, a last minute addition to their outfits proved to be just what they needed. Yui took a small black stick from her belt which she then expanded into a large staff, the tip meeting the villain's face as she did. She smiled slightly. 'Go-Go Gadget, concealed carry!'
She then smashed the staff against another villain who approached them. However, she responded by raising an armoured arm to block. Thinking quickly, she collapsed the staff, the villain's eyes widened as the attack slipped past her guard and the rod immediately expanded, hitting her square in the chest. 'Damn, who knew a stick could be so useful.' She reduced its size, returning it to the original stick, which she kept on her hand just in case.
While Yui was distracted, a villain with a rock mutation snuck behind her. "Stay away from friend!" Pony yelled as she struck his head with a devastating kick. Not only were her legs naturally stronger from her mutations, the steel toed boots she had been equipped further increased her explosive force. Pony and Yui looked at each other and smiled. "We got this!"
"Mm." She said, looking back towards the main fight only to widen her eyes in surprise. With most of the villains whittled down, practically only the Sotoraggian remained, dodging Pony's horns flawlessly. However, distracted by them, as well as by his ongoing firefight with Thirteen, he failed to notice a whole ass car hurtling towards him, nearly managing to knock him out of the sky.
Kurose looked back to see Ochako, panting, with a feral grin on her face. "Finish'im off, Thirteen-sensei!!" They nodded, smiling slightly at their students, before once again focusing their attention on the bounty hunter.
The Sotoraggian's garbled voice yelled as he continued to dodge her shots. "Thanks for the offer, but I prefer to live." The girls wondered how she could actually understand whatever the hell he was saying. He dodged another shot, mouthing off what must have been an insult, as Kurose just snorted.
However, the hit he received from Ochako proved to have impacted him more than he had expected. Thirteen furrowed her brows as she lined up a shot with her proto-tool in scope mode, taking even breaths as her students took some of the pressure off of her. "Let's see how you like this!" Her shot pierced through his jetpack. The boosters that kept him flying began failing, leading him to spin out and crash with a thud.
SixSix opened his eyes to see four figures standing over him. The gun on the human Plumber's hands had him dead to rights. He chirped, subtly tapping a pouch on his left leg, exposing a primed grenade. If he was going down, they would too. The Plumber noticed his move, however, and yelled. "Girls, get away!" He felt, in that moment, that he had won.
However, as soon as the girls stepped back, the Plumber's metal tipped gloves opened, revealing that her fingers actually contained a suction force that could rival a black hole. He felt the strain on his armour as his last ditch attempt at a pyrrhic victory was entirely disintegrated and he was shot with a round that channelled so much electricity into his body that his suit barely had time to warn him of the danger before he convulsed and fell unconscious.
Kurose looked back at their shocked students. They smiled softly at them, sympathetic to their fear. They had, after all, shot the bounty hunter in the head at point blank. "Don't worry, girls. He's still alive. The voltage I delivered to him wasn't enough to kill him with his power suit on." The girls nodded, still keeping their eyes on the unconscious alien, for fear that he might recover like Kurogiri had. "I know that my actions today have come as a shock to you, but I really am glad you're safe."
Ochako blushed slightly, finally meeting her hero's eyes. "T-thanks for saving us… Thirteen… Kurose-san." She bowed. "I-I didn't realise, back then."
The hero laughed. "Don't worry, Uraraka-chan." She patted the girl on the shoulder, turning to shoot the villain with restraints. "I was expecting this reaction when you finally found out, hehe."
The girl pouted, though couldn't help but crack up as well. "Geez, Kurose-san!" In the distance, she then heard a gunshot and saw a figure being hurled through the air. "What the heck?!"
Thirteen's levity faded once more, as they turned to her students. "Get back to the entrance. Group up with the other students and stay safe until help arrives!" The girls simply nodded as they separated, and Thirteen ran straight into the maelstrom.
Aizawa, Hound Dog and Snipe finally managed to whittle down the villains enough that they could regroup, though Snipe kept himself at a distance, where he was more effective. They now stood face to face with the seeming leader of this attack, an ominously pale man covered with several sets of severed hands. "Huh, I guess you live up to the hype, Eraserhead." The tired hero gritted his teeth. "That's what I really hate about you, and Sensei said I could destroy whatever I hated."
Two more villains came after him from the left, while Hound Dog handled some mutants that came from behind. "Hmm, it was seventeen this time." Aizawa wondered what the hell the villain was going on about. "You're getting tired, aren't you, Eraser?"
'Dammit. He noticed.' The hero grimaced. "Still more than enough to take care of you."
The villain laughed. "Ah, I wouldn't be so sure. You see, you've just been dealing with trash mobs. Of course you and your elite units could handle them." Aizawa furrowed his brow. "But these two right here? They're special DLC exclusives I got access to to complete this mission. This bad boy on my left here was created to kill the Symbol of Peace himself."
The three heroes nearly choked at the declaration. "Grrrr… I can't tell if yourrrr arrrrogant or delusional." Hound Dog growled, slamming a villain's head into the ground.
"Then let me give you a demonstration." The villain smiled. However, at the same moment, a figure made of mist appeared at his side, shifting his attention. "Kurogiri! Are they dead?"
"Shigaraki Tomura… I managed to get Thirteen to attack herself with her quirk." The three heroes felt dread overtake him at the declaration. Shigaraki smiled widely. "However, instead of falling over hurt… she had armour underneath her costume that completely negated my attack. She then shot me ten times and bound me." Their dread suddenly became a mix of relief and confusion. The Thirteen they knew wasn't like that.
"What?! You were captured?! If you weren't our way out of here, I'd turn your ass to dust!" He whined. "And All Might isn't even here! How can I get any rep like this?!" Aizawa raised an eyebrow. Was this a villain or a petulant child?
"That's not all… During our skirmish, before they could put me in quirk suppressant cuffs, three unknown individuals appeared and attacked the students. Especially one tall girl that could transform into weird creatures." Kurogiri said, without a hint of emotion in his voice. "It's what allowed me to scatter the students and thirteen to die at the hands of our troops."
Shigaraki stomped and clenched his fists. "Goddamnit! Now I have to worry about some fucking griefers ruining my raid and stealing my kills?!" He then paused. "Well, at least you three heroes will be here to witness the League of Villains massacre each and every single one of your students!"
They then heard a gunshot echo through the dome, and saw a metallic figure arcing through the air to land just in front of them. It seemed like a robot, with orange plating, steaming as he fell. Upon closer inspection, his armour was completely destroyed, with an arm completely severed and sparking, looking like he was on his last legs. "Shigaraki Tomura, this is one of the intruders."
"Hah?! This pile of scrap?" He then approached the bounty hunter. "What the hell are you doing here, you bastard, huh? Come to ruin my massacre?!"
The robot seemed to cough, his bright orange eyes turning to look at Shigaraki. "Like I'd tell you, you mutated mongrel ape."
"What the fuck did you just call me?! I'll reduce you to atoms!" Tomura, in his anger, didn't notice the liquid that still coated the cyborg, and forcefully placed his five fingers on his chest, in an attempt to use his quirk. An attempt that was ultimately catastrophic. His flesh hissed as he made contact. Eraserhead had activated his quirk, and he had just unwittingly touched an acid that could corrode even alien metal. "AAARGH!" He wailed, clutching his hand as his flesh melted, the smell of his burns nearly making everyone there puke. "You piece of shit! Nomu, kill him!"
The heroes could barely blink before the black creature seemingly teleported in front of the half-dead cyborg, and proceeded to obliterate him into scrap at speeds that did indeed seem to rival All Might's. Aizawa then realised that they did indeed have a plan to kill All Might… and since he wasn't here… 'Shit, we're going to die.'
"Haah. Goddamnit! Fucker destroyed my hand!" Shigaraki cursed. His eyes seemed to glow as he looked straight at Aizawa. "White Nomu. Kill the two extras. Nomu, let's have some fun with dear Eraserhead." Aizawa widened his eyes as the monster came right at him.
In the distance, near the central plaza where the fight was taking place, Three students looked on from the flood zone. Izumi, Tsu and Hitoshi were paralysed by the sight. Just as they were talking about reconvening at the entrance, they saw the villain heading straight for their teacher.
Eraserhead attempted to wrap the Nomu in his capture scarf and kick it in its exposed brain, not even noticing that its hands, that were previously raw, were pristine. His attack, however, was effortlessly blocked, the arm not even budging as his capture scarf was seemingly useless. "Poor Eraser. A shadow that terrifies most villains in the underground. But in the face of overwhelming force, you're helpless." The villain gloated as Aizawa was locked in a chokehold by the creature, desperately trying to pry himself free to breathe.
Shigaraki laughed as he approached him. "Hey, Eraser, don't go straining yourself." His good hand touched the hero's elbow, and it began to slowly crumble. Izumi had to put her hand over Hitoshi's mouth to muffle his voice, so he wouldn't alert the very dangerous villain of their presence.
"Shigaraki Tomura." Aizawa looked in terror as his flesh began melting into blood and dust, feeling just the slightest bit of relief as the mist villain took Shigaraki's attention from him. "After the gunshot, our jammer seems to have been incapacitated. It is very likely heroes are on their way."
The childish villain growled. "God! Fucking! Damnit! How the hell did he get beaten by some damn kids!" He threw his hands up with frustration. "Man, this fucking sucks… We can't beat a whole squad of heroes…" Izumi felt the tiniest spark of relief at his declaration.
"A-are they actually leaving?" Tsu whispered to her classmates.
"God, I hope so." Hitoshi answered.
However, Shiragaki began cackling madly. A shiver went down the students' spines. "If we can't kill the Symbol of Peace, let's just leave him so broken he won't recover." Izumi felt dread pooling in her stomach as she looked on, her hand hovering over the Omnitrix. "Nomu, get our dear Eraser acquainted with the floor." The beast didn't even hesitate before grabbing Aizawa by the back of the head and slamming it against the concrete, cracking it deeply, before raising it up as Tomura admired the Hero's broken face.
"NO!" This time, Izumi couldn't keep her and her friends from shouting. At the other end of the complex, Mina also arrived to see their bloodied professor, the rage she was feeling completely replaced by utter horror at the scene.
Shigaraki smiled as he turned to the noise, the three students freezing as he turned to them. "Oh, so some of you did get out alive. Wonder what All Might will think when he finds his students turned to dust and gore!" Izumi found her body going in slow motion as she saw the villain dash over to them.
She saw his hand, the one that wasn't half melted, reaching for Tsu. A moment that seemed to stretch out into an eternity. The image of her falling to dust, of Hitoshi being next, of the villain killing all of them before help could even arrive. Her hand was almost to the dial when he touched the frog girl's face. 'I failed! She's dead! I wasn't good enough! I failed…'
Her hand hit the dial and she transformed. The three students and the villain stood still as Tsu remained intact, letting out small, terrified ribbits. "Interfering again, Eraser… So damn cool." Shigaraki said with a twisted grin. Tetra felt her face twist into a murderous scowl as she looked between her friend and her bloodied professor. A rage so primal that she could only manifest it in a bellow.
"KHOROS SMASH!" She felt One for All thrumming inside her, a typhoon that she was now unwilling to hold back, as she brought her two left fists to annihilate the villain. The sheer explosion of force kicked up a cloud of dust, pushing her friends back just enough so they were safe. However, as the dust cleared, instead of having turned the villain into paste, her hands had simply punched through the chest of the Nomu that held Eraserhead.
Shigaraki looked at her, enraged. "How?! How could your punch actually hurt it?! He's got a Shock Absorption quirk! You cheater!" She threw the seemingly dead creature to the side.
"Shock Absorption, not Nullification. It has a limit… I simply punched harder." Tetra's four eyes narrowed at the villain.
"You fucking bitch! Nomu!" Izumi felt Danger Sense alert her, quickly enough to bring up her guard before the Nomu she killed began punching her repeatedly.
Coursing One for All through her body, she stood her ground, until she managed to catch its arms. She looked horrified to see that the hole she had punched through it was nearly completely closed. "You said its quirk was Shock Absorption!"
Shigaraki chuckled. "I did. But I never said it was its only quirk! This Nomu was engineered to have four! Including Shock Absorption and Super Regeneration!"
Izumi's eyes widened. 'It can't be… the name… the quirks!' It all came crashing down on her, the terror of the realisation.
'All for One!' She heard the vestiges rage inside her head. Her face twisted into pure rage as she brought her two other hands down, severing its hands as she kicked it back, watching as it regrew them yet again.
"Oh, how quick you are to chop away, hero!" Shigaraki taunted, confident that the Nomu would protect him. "You see, even your so-called agents of peace so easily disregard the loss of life when it's convenient." He smirked at her. "So who protects the weak from those who protect the weak?"
Izumi gnashed her teeth as once again she held back the Nomu. "Do you even hear yourself? You're the one's exploiting them. These petty thieves you recruited, this abomination you made… Of course they get hurt when you use them as human shields!"
"Heh, kill or be killed, hero. Your precious Hero Society taught me that. Its injustice carved a final lesson in my psyche:" She groaned and spat out blood as the monster got a hit on her. "That this society and all of its people are diseased. Free will is a myth. Heroism is a joke! We're all pawns, controlled by something greater." Izumi once more pushed the beast back, and looked at her friends, motioning for them to get Aizawa while the villain was too occupied with his rant. "Memes, the DNA of the soul!"
Izumi dodged a punch from the beast and pummeled it with eight of her own. "There's something genuinely wrong with you…"
Shigaraki scowled at her. "They shape our will, our culture, they are everything we pass on! Expose someone to injustice long enough, and they'll learn to hate. They become a carrier. Envy, greed, despair… All memes, all passed along." He laughed. "I hate this rotten society, and I'll destroy it so nothing, not even its memes remain! I'll pass on my own memes. Fear, despair and hatred!"
Izumi clenched her teeth as she held back the Nomu. "How about full of shit?! Is that a meme?"
Shigaraki blinked. "No it fucking isn't, you amoeba!" He regained a semblance of composure. "You can't fight nature, Hero. Wind blows, rain falls, and the strong prey upon the weak." He smirked. "You heroes see your Quirks as a tool, something that saves lives… a means of justice. It spares you the burden of all the lives you've ruined, absolved you of guilt when you've enjoyed your acts of violence. That is, until the illusion is broken, and all you're left with is a broken system, rotten to the core. A system that I will destroy. And it all starts with killing the Symbol of Peace."
Tetra huffed. "You don't even believe the shit you're spouting. You're a whining child, who realised he's lost, and just wants to spout pseudo philosophy taken from a centuries old video game villain! I've indulged your bullshitting, but now I just want to get this over with." Shigaraki widened his eyes. "You really think I haven't played Metal Gear Rising?" She smirked, holding the Nomu as she unleashed a flurry of blows onto his regenerating body.
"So here's an actual meme for you. Hope." The villain blinked. "No matter how much you destroy, no matter how much fear you force onto someone… You will lose. Because while Peace may be fleeting, people will always have hope. Hope for a better future. One without this corrupt, quirkist Hero Society. And certainly one without you and All for One."
"How do you know that name?! How do you know Sensei's alive?!" He screamed.
"A hunch. Thanks for confirming, you Monsoon wannabe." She smirked as she saw him bite his tongue and growl.
"Nomu, incapacitate yourself." A voice like Shigaraki sounded out, and Nomu complied with its command without hesitation, squashing its own brain and falling dead. Izumi looked behind it to see Hitoshi, smirking. "You're welcome, by the way."
Shigaraki screeched with rage, looking for his other Nomu only to see it had been wrapped up by a pink girl, who proceeded to cover it in a liquid that melted it, bones and all, into a red puddle. "You damn cheaters!" He screamed as he went to touch Izumi, before she could react. She then felt a tongue on her hips, pulling her away.
She looked at its source, to see Tsu, with tears freely flowing down her face. Shigaraki kept coming at her, but this time she managed to touch the dial on time, changing forms with a flash of light. The villain's hands made contact with her arm, and he smiled. "Too bad! You still lose, you bitch!" He then looked at her, expecting a terrified expression, and instead finding a smirk.
Her form was that of a blue-green crystallised humanoid. Shiragaki looked at his hand, making full contact with her forearm. However, nothing happened. "How?! You're cheating! My quirk can destroy anything."
Shard smirked. "Not quite, Shigaraki. It took me a while to figure out your quirk. Whatever you touch rapidly decays, but it has to be something that can decay." Shigaraki widened his eyes. "Ever hear that diamonds are forever?" He growled. "Still, it's a pretty dangerous quirk you have. I can't in good conscience let you hurt even more people."
Shigaraki blinked, feeling that something was wrong. He looked down to where his hand made contact with her arm. His middle and index fingers were gone, severed by a sharp blade jutting out of her forearm. "I'll fucking kill you! You hear me!"
Shard just sighed. "Yeah, like I haven't heard that a thousand times."
Shigaraki was about to say something, but the gates of the USJ suddenly burst open as a figure radiating insane amounts of killing intent entered the room, clad in futuristic armour, with an intimidating gun on her hands. Izumi smiled. "Oh, look. Mom's here." She looked at Shigaraki, then Kurogiri. "I suggest you run."
"I'll kill you, and her, and All Might!" He screeched, before suddenly falling into a misty portal, along with his severed fingers.
Inko was by Izumi in a flash, fretting over her precious daughter. "My baby! Are you okay? Did that bastard hurt you? So help me god if even a single one of you is injured, there won't be bodies left to find."
"I'm fine, mom… I don't know where the others are, though… I'll stay with the teachers and my friends, just in case another villain arrives…" She then got close and whispered. " He sent bounty hunters after the Omnitrix." Inko scowled. "One's dead. Villains killed him. The other two… I don't know."
Inko nodded. "I'll round them up at the entrance… and the bounty hunters better pray I don't find them." She left, immediately finding Kurose and bringing her along. When they were truly alone, they suddenly heard a slow clap from above them. The three teachers behind them were wounded.
They looked up to see the third bounty hunter, clad head to toe in black, the green triangle in his visor seeming to glow eerily. "I came to this rock expecting an impulsive annoyance at best." He grumbled as he lowered himself to the ground on his hoverboard. "But it seems the wielder of the Omnitrix is not the simple child she appears to be."
Shard frowned as she stood protectively between the bounty hunter and her friends. "Whoever you are, don't expect me to give up without a fight. I won't let you harm anyone." She especially looked at Mina, whose costume was half melted, and whose skin was raw from overexerting her quirk.
"Hmm, you speak as if it will be a real fight." He stated evenly. "I've seen you in action, while you fought against those humans. You've brute-forced your way out of any conflict by overwhelming power, yet your grasp on your transformations is merely surface-level." He then pointed at her. "Your understanding of this Petrosapien form of yours is rudimentary at best."
Shard's hands transformed into sharp blades as she readied herself for a fight. "Then it seems you're not very observant." She stomped her foot on the ground as a trio of spikes emerged beneath the bounty hunter, only to be dodged.
"Hmm, perhaps you do know more that the mere basics, but your fighting is simple nonetheless." He huffed. "You could never protect the Omnitrix from Vilgax as you are."
Izumi then noticed something just behind the bounty hunter. "Maybe I won't beat him alone… but there's this thing about humans…" The black suit was suddenly covered in arcs of electricity as Tooru snuck up on their foe. "We work better in packs."
The bounty hunter then grabbed Tooru's arm from behind him, throwing her towards Shard. She rushed to cushion her blow and glared at the alien as she held the invisible girl. "Hmm, a clever trick, but ultimately useless." He shot his blaster at her while her hands were occupied. She summoned a barrier that deflected the shot, only for it to shatter with his punch. "Even now, you've barely scratched the surface of this alien's abilities."
Izumi widened her eyes as he pulled a sonic blaster on her, barely dodging by the skin of her teeth. A strong enough blast would surely shatter her. 'Of course, he knows my weakness…' "And who made you such an expert?" She growled as she put Tooru behind her. "Everyone, get out of here!" She grimaced as they stood their ground, clearly intending to join in on the fighting.
"Placing yourself in danger to protect your companions, I admire your resolve. Still, I will secure the device." He shot her once again with his blaster, managing to strike her. Shard screamed as her most durable form began cracking from the sonic attack. She kneeled down, with Mina rushing to her side. "Stay out of this, Kraaho. This is between me and the wielder of the Omnitrix."
Mina snarled at the bounty hunter. "If you think I'll let you hand her over to that monster… I'll do to you what I did to your friend, the Piscciss Premann." Izumi stared at her friend wide eyed. She had seen the cyborg crashing into the plaza, nearly dead. Had Mina truly done that?
"He was anything but a friend." He said. "I'm rather glad he and SixSix were taken down. Saves me the trouble of doing it myself." The students looked at him in utter shock. He lined up a shot of his sonic blaster, priming a fatal attack. However, the gun in his hand broke apart as it was pierced by a crystal erupting from the ground, the resulting boom knocking him back slightly. "I must admit, I admire your stubbornness. Though you must be careful not to get in over your head. I have more than enough weaponry to take you on, your skill in that form is still lacking."
Izumi growled, supporting herself on Mina as she stood. "Again, what made you such an expert?" the bounty hunter's suit let out a hiss as his helmet began to open. The students stood in shock as another version of Shard stood in front of them. Mina's eyes widened in recognition, and her scowl deepened. "You… You're a Petrosapien… You're me…"
The Petrosapien huffed. "No. I am a noble warrior. You are a child wielding the most powerful device in the galaxy to play at being a hero." Shard growled. "And now, I will secure the Omnitrix" He clutched a gun at his side, ready to shoot.
Mina raged. "Noble warrior? Pah, don't make me laugh!" Izumi stared at her wrathful friend with shock. She'd never seen Mina with so much venom in her voice. "I know who you are… You're Tetrax Shard!" Izumi's eyes widened. She had heard the stories when she read about the destruction of Petropia. The first planet Vilgax had outright destroyed. "You betrayed your people, handed Vilgax the tool he needed to shatter your entire planet! Noble warrior? You're the furthest thing from."
Tetrax's hand let go of his pistol. His eyes looked resentful for a moment, as he clenched his fist. "I was young… I was impulsive… but I knew the consequences." He frowned as he glared at Mina. "I did turn on my people… and not a day goes by that I don't still see the devastation it caused."
Shard looked at him, feeling just a tinge of sympathy, but she began striding towards him, her arms turned into blades. "Yet you still work for Vilgax. You're still an agent of that tyrant. How many worlds have you helped enslave or destroy? Do you know how many lives would be lost if he acquired the Omnitrix?"
Tetrax shook his head. "You misunderstand, human. I am not going to give him the Omnitrix." The students widened their eyes at the bounty hunter's declaration. "I took the job as a mere pretext to find it… so I can revert my greatest mistake."
"What?" Mina whispered in disbelief.
"The tool I stole was Petropia's Heart Crystal. Within it lies the combined physical and genetic information of Petropia and all its inhabitants." Izumi looked at him, speechless. "Under a certain alignment of our System's Three stars, a unique being born among us, called a Crystalsapien, would be able to restore Petropia to its state right before destruction." He clenched his fist. "However, the Crystalsapien Sugilite was destroyed along with Petropia. The only way to restore my planet, my people, rests in the genetic information stored within the Omnitrix."
Mina shook her head. "Say we believe you, Tetrax. Why come here with those bastards and attack us?"
Tetrax sighed. "My plan was to catch them unawares and turn them in." He stated. "Then, I would secure the Omnitrix and keep it safe from Vilgax until I could restore my planet, and take him down with it."
Izumi grimaced. "Was? Has your plan changed?"
"I hope, for your sake, that it has." Izumi turned around to see her mother landing, holding in her hand a sonic rifle that had to be at least level 8 technology.
"Midoriya. I hadn't expected the Emerald Death herself." Inko grimaced at the use of her least favourite title.
"You really should have thought of that when you decided to attack my daughter." Inko spat, her finger still hovering over the trigger.
Tetrax hesitated. "... That does change things. I was under the impression that you had retired."
Inko smirked. "Then your information is quite outdated. I came back into service over a decade ago."
The bounty hunter nodded. "Then indeed, it seems my plans have changed." He stated, grimacing. "Vilgax is wounded, but recovering. It will still be a while before he will show himself. Perhaps there is less danger to the Omnitrix than I believed." He raised his hands, surrendering. "I will leave this planet. I trust you to keep it safe, but I must ask that you aid me in restoring my planet when the time comes."
Izumi nodded. "I promise, Tetrax. I do not have the Crystalsapien form unlocked yet, but I will try to help." Mina still stood next to her, eyeing the bounty hunter suspiciously.
"Then I hope we meet again, under better circumstances." Izumi smiled slightly, her form already beginning to regenerate as the cracks sealed themselves with fresh crystals. Inko lowered her gun and softened her expression as well.
"Indeed. I must bid you farewell." He then looked at Mina and his expression softened slightly. "You were of the Great Clan of Sulphur, yes?" Mina nodded, frowning. "I was there, undercover, when Vilgax struck." She widened her eyes. "I fought alongside your father… he told me of you briefly. He was one of the few warriors that day that managed to deal a blow strong enough to shake that monster. I hope you take solace in that."
Mina's scowl was replaced by a shaky smile that bordered on tears. "I must leave now if I am to evade Vilgax, but if you ever need to contact me, or vice versa… I leave you this." He approached Izumi, who now managed to stand on her own, and handed her a small, black communication device. "Be safe, Wielder of the Omnitrix." His helmet closed and he jumped on his hoverboard, disappearing into the sky.
Izumi's transformation timed out on its own, having used too much energy in the short time they had been there. Just then, the other teachers burst through the door. "WE ARE HERE! To save…" They all stared wide eyes at the destruction and the unconscious villains, restrained by the students and Thirteen.
"Oh…" Midnight felt sweat pooling in her forehead. "Is everyone okay?"
Setsuna brought an unconscious Kendo over, already breathing from an oxygen tank supplied by Momo. The black haired girl looked to be pretty out of it, and was being comforted by Jirou as they stood guard over a large masked villain, with a gaping hole on his shoulder. "Sensei! Itsuka-san needs medical attention. She inhaled too much smoke and took quite a beating."
Recovery Girl approached with the paramedics, placing Itsuka on a stretcher. "Are her injuries the worst ones here?" The class nodded. "Thank God. Still, check in with me at the emergency tent before you make your statements to the police."
The students nodding, Ochako looking back towards the plaza, smiling slightly as she saw her friends walking back with Inko. 'They're safe… Thank goodness.'
Shigaraki cursed as he fell ass first onto the floor of their hideout, a nondescript bar in the middle of Kamino ward. He once again clutched his hands, biting his tongue through the pain. The TV in the bar suddenly turned on, with a silhouette blurred out behind the words 'Audio Only'.
"Ah, Tomura, how was your attack on UA's little students and the Symbol of Peace. Did you manage to strike fear and despair into their hearts?" Shigaraki clenched his teeth in anger and pain.
"No, Sensei. It was a complete fucking failure, thanks to those fucking griefers and that cheating hero bitch!" The pale villain snarled. "Those pieces of shit destroyed both my hands. And All Might didn't even need to show up! They killed both my Nomus!"
In his dark room, All for One felt surprised for the first time in decades. They had made sure that All Might would have been exhausted by the time he made it from all the interruptions… but not having needed to go at all… It was beyond his wildest speculation. It was not a feeling he particularly enjoyed. Much less since the surprise led to them losing two Nomu and Tomura's hands.
"Doktor, we must salvage his hands by any means necessary. Tomura and Decay are too important for our plans." He turned to another screen, which showed Dr. Garaki Kyudai, draped in the eerie lights of his lab.
"It will be done, Master…" The villain then snorted. "Though, to lose to mere children and two heroes, one of which was a rescue hero, and the other with a quirk unsuited to fighting physically stronger opponents. What a disgrace."
"Silence, Doktor. Their failure was a given. This was always meant to cultivate Tomura's hate further." All for One coughed, making sure the audio to the bar was cut off. "He is not yet disposable to us. Prepare the operating table. Hopefully we can still salvage this mess."
"It will be done, my Master." Garaki's video cut off, and All for One once again addressed his project.
The Symbol of Evil spoke in a rather amused tune, despite his current irritation. "Tomura, your failure today is not the end of the line. Soon we'll be able to finish off the symbol of peace. Now, Kurogiri, what exactly went wrong?"
The mist villain reacted nearly robotically to his Master's command. "There were more heroes than we expected. Seems UA sussed out the meaning behind our intrusion. Snipe and Hound Dog were present along with Eraserhead and Thirteen."
All for One hummed. "Oh? But still, it should have been easy to dispatch them with the Nomu and the villains you gathered."
Shigaraki scowled as Kurogiri continued. "They handled the mob better than we expected, and it took me a while to teleport the students. They were guarded by Thirteen."
All for One coughed. "And what of it? That rescue hero should have been easy for you to dispatch, Kurogiri."
The talking haze hesitated. "Well, that's the issue. I managed to make them hit themselves with their quirk."
"Good, then she would have been out of the fight. What delayed you, then?" All for One let a bit of impatience at his puppet shine through.
"Yes, by all accounts they should have been… but then they got up, unharmed, wearing a different armour… and they shot me ten times with electric plasma." All for One choked at his explanation.
"What? That can't be! Thirteen? Using a gun? What happened afterwards? Did you kill her?" All for One snarled, making his two subjects shiver.
Kurogiri felt the pressure over him, but still spoke truthfully, as commanded. "Master, when I came to, they were fighting three unknown individuals along with another student, a shapeshifter. I teleported them to the places where we had set up the ambushes after that."
"Unknown intruders? What did they look like?" All for One was starting to really despise how the day had turned out.
Shigaraki snarled as he was reminded of the one who had landed in front of him. "All three seemed to be covered in armour. One resembled a crab, and from what was left of him, he seemed to be almost completely a machine." All for One hissed at the comment. "The two others were stranger still. One seemed to speak complete gibberish, and flew around on a jetpack shooting guns similar to Thirteen. The other, clad in black, did the least, and just stood on what looked to be a floating board."
All for one grinded his teeth. 'How did they get access to this kind of technology! Nothing like this should even be circulating? Perhaps a backer who has a Technopathy quirk? That would be rather useful for my collection…' "Did they say who sent them? What was their objective?"
Kurogiri shook his head. "Not outright. They only engaged Thirteen and the shapeshifter."
Shigaraki couldn't hold his temper any longer and raged. "That cheating bitch! She's the one who took out the Anti-Symbol of Peace, Sensei!" He shouted, his throat hoarse and his pain forgotten. "She turned into this red muscular thing with four arms! And then a thing made entirely of diamond! Not even Decay could hurt her! She ruined everything!"
"Now, calm down, Tomura. You'll get your revenge soon enough!" All for One chided. "Kurogiri, continue."
"Yes, Master. They fought, and from what I could make out once I awoke, they were after something the girl possessed. I do not recall its name, however." The mist villain relayed.
'Useless! Another unknown…' All for One coughed once more. "This girl… the shapeshifter… How did she defeat the Nomu?"
Shigaraki once again roared. "She punched clean through it! Shock Absorption did nothing to stop her! She kept it at bay like it was nothing!" All for One held back a growl. "And then when its regeneration couldn't keep up, some lanky shit imitated my voice and got it to kill itself! That Nomu was supposed to kill All Might! How could she be stronger?"
All for One's anger festered, before he managed to rein it in. "Tomura… I believe All Might has passed on his stolen quirk to her. Just like you are my successor, she is his. But do not worry. Next time you two meet, you'll get to kill her." Shigaraki then smiled wickedly at the thought, but then grimaced again as he remembered their talk.
"Sensei… That bitch knew about you… knew you were alive." He admitted. "Said some bullshit about how humanity will always have hope for a better future, or some shit like that, one without a corrupt hero society and without you."
All for One paused. 'That… that's impossible… how could she know? All Might surely thinks I'm dead. Did he tell her about me? And she still accepted his quirk? Something's definitely not right.' "The ramblings of a lunatic, Tomura. She's been infested by this society's lies and deceit, and that will ultimately be her undoing." Tomura nodded, though without smiling. "Now rest. Do not worry. Doktor will fix your unfortunate condition."