There are different kinds of dangers. Some that you are aware are coming but can't do anything against. Like a natural disaster. Even if you see a tsunami coming, no one has the power to stop it. Some dangers creep up on you slowly; the feeling of unease crawls up your skin like millions of invisible bugs. You see the signs, you see the tells, but you don't realize until the very end. Some dangers are the kind you know are lurking out there, in the shadows, in the darkness, or even in bright daylight, but still hidden from the eye. Like villains. They are out there. Everyone knows that. Statistics says the chances of someone walking past a murder is higher than one would expect. Then there are dangers that can happen, but there is nothing to be done about it. You know the moment you step out of your house, the chances of you being hit by a vehicle increases drastically. But there is nothing to be done about it. You can only take precautions for it. And then there are some dangers that no one expected. No one saw it coming. Like the day in the mall. No one had expected the mall to be attacked by the four villains.
Sure no one was injured, but they were traumatized. Children were held hostages. They could have died. But the people who had visited the mall had no idea it would happen when they stepped out of the house. There were no signs, or tells. No broken mirrors, or shoelaces.
The same way, the day for class 1 A started out fine. Izuku had no reason to suspect anything. Shouta announced they would be going for a field trip the day before, and distributed the permission slips. And no matter how much Izuku pleaded and bribed Shouta, his Dad didn't let out a tweet about the field trip.
Then the next day, he walked into the class as if all 20 students (yes, even Bakugo) weren't on the edge of their seats to know about the location of their field trip. But, Shouta only smirked and Izuku deflated right away knowing his Dad wouldn't give them any hint about the location.
While dressing up. Izuku noticed an extra suitcase present with the one that held his costume. He opened it and gasped. The weapon he had asked for had already arrived. A pair of glistening escrima rods laid in front of him. Along with it was an instruction manual.
Click the button near the edge to convert it into a whip.
"This is so cool." Izuku mumbled as he clicked the button and the escrima rod separated into connected pieces, forming a whip. This way, Izuku could use it along with Fire Breathing as both defense and attack. He couldn't wait to try it out.
Then after, the class representatives took the duty of herding all the students towards the bus. Honestly, no one apart from Iida did anything. Izuku almost felt bad seeing the way Iida's face was slowly turning red as he was imploring everyone to walk out in a single line. And no matter how many times Yaoyorozu told him to take it easy and just let the rest be, Iida refused.
Izuku was finally starting to believe all the outlandishly embarrassing stories Tensei told him about Iida's uprightness, and his desire to go by the rules.
All the students, and people who thought Shouta was a boring person clearly didn't have the skill to read emotions, because his Dad looked far too amused with the situation than he should be. Albeit the amusement was hidden behind his scarf. Izuku knew for a fact his Dad could've easily released Iida from his misery by one single glare directed at the students, but instead he only spectated from the sideline. Izuku was 90% sure he saw him recording Iida chopping his hand up and down while desperately trying to get everyone to form a line. That video was definitely going to be sent to Tensei.
"Please send that to me later on." Izuku whispered as he passed by his homeroom teacher. His Dad only snorted and nodded as they got on the bus.
The bus ride was fun. Iida was sulking in his seat about the seat arrangement. Kaminari, a brave soul, was teasing Katsuki. Kirishima by his side. Uraraka, another brave soul, was egging them on.
Izuku sat next to Asui, and Shinso. Making small chat with the frog mutant girl.
Everything was fine.
Izuku so badly wished it had stayed like that.
***
Izuku recognized the building the moment the bus drove close to it. He had only seen it a few times before on the internet, but given the hype for it, it was hard to forget.
"Woah, is that USJ?!" Kaminari exclaimed with excitement, practically bouncing on his seat. "Universal Studios Japan?"
Izuku snorted. So close.
" When was this built? " Nana asked, incredulously.
" How-How big is property? " Shinomori stuttered as they stepped outside.
" Corruption." En muttered. " No way it isn't. How much money does UA even have? Nana?!"
"Don't ask me! We didn't have this when I was a student!" Nana replied, crossing her hand in an X in front of her face.
" Can we go inside? I wanna go inside! Please, please, hurry up! I've never been into places like this. What's Universal Studios Japan?" Shigaraki rambled on, " This place is huge. Gosh, I'm so jealous. I've never visited places like this in my life, until now. Izuku, I love you. Thank you for giving me this opportunity. I'm pretty sure I've visited more places in the three years we've spent with you than I have in the two decades of my own life."
Izuku blinked, and side eyed the First vestige, "Really?"
Shigaraki nodded earnestly, " Yep ."
Izuku frowned. He realized Shigaraki, despite being the one who talked the most, was the one he knew the least about. "Why not?"
Shigaraki's mood took a sudden drop. His body tensed up for a short moment as the excited shine disappeared from his eyes. Izuku felt stupid for asking the question. Of course there was a bad history behind it. Why else would someone like Shigaraki, who seemed to love traveling, never travel anywhere?
" I uh… " Shigaraki chuckled, " I spent most of my life locked up somewhere. "
It was hard not to notice how hollow he sounded when he answered. Izuku decided, no matter how curious he was, he wouldn't push it any further. All the other vestiges had opened up about their past one by one with time. Izuku could wait. And if Shigaraki never wanted to talk about it, that was fine as well.
I'll try to visit as many places as I can!
Shigaraki smiled softly, and floated closer to Izuku. "Thanks buddy ."
"Alright, hellspawns, get moving." Izuku heard his Dad tiredly drawl once everyone was out of the bus.
Banjo snorted as they walked behind their teacher to the entrance gate. " Y'all are like ducklings following him. "
Izuku blinked. Huh?
" Nothing, kiddo ." Banjo snickered. " Keep waddling."
What.
" Ignore him. You should know by now he's got a few loose screws. " Shigaraki said.
" Just a few? " En asked.
" Hey! " Banjo complained.
Izuku decided to ignore them as Shigaraki and Banjo started their usual banter. Then he spotted Thirteen waiting for them inside, and felt his excitement sky rocket. He had so many questions about Thirteen's quirk. There was hardly enough information about them on the internet. HeroNet was out of his reach until he got his provincial license. And his Dad admitted not knowing much about Thirteen either apart from her name, and what she looked like.
Not enough information. Not even remotely enough for someone who's quirk is Black Hole.
"Welcome to Unforeseen Simulation Joint!" Thirteen greeted enthusiastically. The computerized white eyes on her mask curved into happy crescents.
But his good mood took a hit when he saw his Dad signing to Thirteen aboutAll Might, and then held up three fingers. Izuku easily deciphered the message: It means All Might was out of time and won't be joining them. Izuku winced inwardly.
Dad's going to be mad at him.
Izuku honestly had no clue All Might was going to join them.
" Your successor is an irresponsible teacher. " Shigaraki deadpanned, looking at Nana.
Nana sighed. " I can't say anything without being hypocritical."
En shook his head and sighed, " Eighth still has a lot to learn. "
"Oh my god, I can't believe I'm standing in front of Thirteen!" Uraraka squealed. "She's my favorite!"
"Mine too, kero." Asui replied.
Izuku looked around the interior of the building and took a whole minute to just admire the sight in front of him. From where they stood, Izuku could see every zone there was. Different zones in each corner of the building, each a perfect replica of a real disaster scenario. Tailored to train for all kinds of rescue missions. From Cityscape to Mountain Rescue. Gosh, he wished Dabi was here. The avalanche disaster side would have been a perfect place for him to train both his quirk without risking any heavy backlash.
Izuku was half paying attention to Thirteen explaining about quirk. It's not that he didn't want to listen, it's just that his mind was racing to figure out how the different disaster zones were controlled.
Then suddenly Situation Awareness, Aural Sense flared in his mind. He felt the hair on the back of his neck rise up and instinctively found himself moving closer to his Dad.
[Telempathy Activated]
[Eligible subjects include-]
[ Aizawa Shouta | Midoriya Inko | Bakugo Katsuki |Yagi Toshinori | Todoroki Touya | Takami Keigo]
[Possible connections at a time: 2]
[Subject found within range: 1]
Izuku manually clicked on Aizawa Shouta. Drawing the attention of a few other students. He ignored it in favor of staring at his Dad. He felt the connection established in his mind.
Dad
Shouta's eyes immediately flickered over to him.
Threat incoming.
His Dad's eyes widened by a miniscule amount. He immediately nodded, and stepped near the stairs, eyes scanning every corner in search of the oncoming threat. His Dad signaled to Thirteen to evacuate, or so Izuku assumed, given by the swift hand gestures (He assumed it to be most likely a Hero specific sign language) and the slight widening of Thirteen's digital eyes. The Rescue Hero smiled, the type to calm down panicking citizens, and instructed his class to go back outside. But of course, they don't follow immediately. Confused, and inquisitive.
Izuku wanted to snap at them, the ever increasing uneasiness coiling inside, tensed like a twisted rubber band. Making him impatient, and alert. Izuku also felt bad because of his urge to snap. It wasn't his friend's and classmates' fault. They aren't trained for this. Well, neither is Izuku, but he's already been through two villain attacks.
"Oi, you fucking nerds, she said get out. Now move!" Katsuki snapped. Most likely, he already noticed Izuku's tense posture, and the way his Dad was scanning the place. But by then it's already too late.
The thick metallic gate shut the exits with a loud thud. One by one, Izuku could hear, all the exits being closed.
Izuku felt it before it saw. All his senses, save his sight, tunneled towards the plaza with such intensity Izuku felt like someone had forcefully whipped his head around. And when his gaze shifted to the plaza, he saw it. A small, tiny dark color mist hovering mid air.
"The plaza!" He shouted just as he thought of it. The mist doubled in size, and several villains poured out. But, but, Izuku could feel there was something much, much, worse coming. Whatever was on the other side of the misty portal either had a quirk that induced fear into its victims, or whoever it was, they were strong enough to turn Izuku's sharp senses against him. And boy isn't that a frightening thought.
Izuku moved his hand the moment he felt someone next to him move. Using his hand as a barricade to stop them from going any further. "Move back!"
He saw his Dad glance at him, a slight proud look in his eyes.
"What's happening?" Someone asked, but Izuku was too focused on the seemingly never ending appearance of villains. He was too focused to realize that apart from him, no one in the group had heightened vision. Nobody could see what was actually happening.
"He's right." Shouta said, "Stay back. Those are villains."
And as if to prove his point, the man with severed hands all over him, stepped out of the mist, and the mist transformed into a humanoid figure. The moment the man with severed hand stepped out, Izuku felt the bloodlust hit him. Every inch of his body screaming that the man was dangerous. Too dangerous.
[Fear Resistance is in effect!]
Izuku mentally thanked his quirk as he felt his panic dissipate. A panicked mind in situations like this is dangerous. He needed to think clearly and stay focused.
[Concentration is in effect!]
"Eraserhead, Thirteen… hmm… As per the curriculum All Might was supposed to present as well and yet…" The Mist-Villain spoke. Izuku could hear all of it, despite the distance.Ki being buffed up with, Situational Awareness, Aural Sense and Concentration.
"Villains?" Someone said, the depth of the situation finally seemed to dawn upon the rest. "Get out of here, what kind of idiot would attack UA?"
"Sensei, what about the security alarm?" Yaoyorozu asked.
"Of course, we have enough set up." Shouta replied, "But most likely someone on their said has a signal jamming quirk."
"Are they only attacking here or…" Todoroki asked.
"Targeting USJ that is far away from the main building, jamming the security system…" Izuku heard his dad mumble quietly. His hand reached up to his Capture Weapon, "Thirteen, do the evacuation procedure and try contacting the school!" He took a step forward, "Kaminari, Yaoyaorozu, try using your quirks to contact the school."
Izuku noticed the way Shouta was slowly lowering his stance. Then he pulled up his goggles, and his hair started to float and he knew what his Dad was going to do. "D- Are-Are you going to try fighting them alone?"
Please no.
"Even if you suppress all their quirk, it's too many!" Izuku said, panic edging into his voice despite Fear Resistance. This isn't his Dad's style of fighting. Izuku knew being one of the best Underground Hero meant his Dad was more than capable of fighting groups, but there's too many!
Shouta glanced at him once more, before muttering, "A pro-hero is never a one trick pony, kid."
'I'm going to be fine, Zuku.'
Izuku knew he was lying even if his words didn't register as a bitter taste on his tongue because of Ki. The whole plaza was swarming with villains.
But before he could say anything, his Dad was already moving. Jumping forward, and running down the handrail at terrific speed. He couldn't shout and ask him to come back. He knew his Dad was putting up a front for the rest of the students. But-
But-
" Izuku, your dad is an amazing hero. He's going to be fine." Nana assured.
" You need to move, Izuku. " En said.
" Yeah, your Dad won't be able to fight in peace unless he knows you, and the rest are safe. "
Izuku pressed his lips together and clenched his jaw. He nodded and was about to move when a horrible feeling enveloped his body.
He realized too late what had gone wrong. Until now, Izuku had never had his Telempathic connection forcefully broken. He would always close it before walking away. But right now, as his Dad went away from his reach, he felt like someone was tearing him apart from the inside.
Izuku felt tears sting his eyes at the feeling. So far he had always been focused on the telepathy part of the skill, and not the empathy part. He had never realized how it felt to be connected. Never realized the feeling of safety and security that wrapped around him whenever he felt the extra presence in his mind. And right now the same feeling was being forcefully pulled away from him, out of his reach. It felt like it was being snatched away from.
" Focus, Izuku. " Nana said softly, cupping his cheek. The slight coolness of her touch grounded him just enough for Concentration to anchor his thoughts.
" Look, your Dad's fine, buddy. " Shigaraki said.
He glanced at the plaza, watching as his Dad took down the villains one after the other without stopping once.
"Zuku! Move!" Izuku snapped out of his stupor at Katsuki's voice. But just as he was turning around he noticed something was wrong.
Someone's missing. He realized.
Who…?
His eyes flickered all over the crowd of villains. Who? Who? Who's missing? Who's not there-
The moment he realized it, he also felt it. The Mist-Villain.
" Ninth turn now! " En said.
Izuku spun around, Selective Focus tunneling his vision to the three students in front, and the small mist forming in front of them.
"We need to evacuate now!" Iida said.
"Guys stop!" Izuku shouted, hand outstretched. He felt tug on both hands, as two invisible ropes wrapped around Mina and Jirou, and pulled. Just in time as a small mist expanded into a huge wall in front of them, blocking their path.
"Unfortunately, I cannot allow you to go any further." The villain said politely. Izuku moved forward. His mind urged his body to put itself in front of the rest. In the front from where he knew he could protect the rest.
"Greetings," The villain said, "We are the League of Villains. I apologize for the intrusion, but we took it upon ourselves to enter UA academy in order to engage All Might, the beacon of hope. We were wondering if we may be allowed to extinguish him, you see."
Izuku felt his blood run cold. They want to kill All Might.
" They're really fucking stupid if they think they can win against Eighth." Banjo spat.
" Or they have something up their sleeve." Shigaraki reminded.
" Stay alert," Izuku felt Shinomori place his hand on his back.
"We were informed that All Might would be present today," The villain continued, "Perchance, was something altered."
The villain probably was going to say something else, but before he could, Kirishima and Katsuki launched themselves towards him. Kirishima aimed his hardened leg for a kick to his head, while Katsuki aimed his explosions to his torso. But both their attacks passed right through the villain.
He doesn't have a corporeal body?!
"Bet you didn't think we'd do you in before you get the chance!" Kirishima said.
"That was quite perilous. Though, that was to be expected. You maybe be children, but you are heroes-in-training. In that case-" The villain replied, sounding a little disappointed as he expanded his mist. Izuku felt his breath hitch, and pulled Kirishima and Katsuki backwards, out of the villains' immediate reach. But he realized his mistake. With them gone, the next targets were Shinso, Jirou and Yaoyorozu. The mist enveloped them and they disappeared. "I will scatter you."
Izuku saw Thirteen flip open a switch with a red button, aiming a gun towards the villain and immediately pulled Iida, Aoyama, who were right next to Thirteen, back so the Rescue Hero could use her quirk easily. Izuku watched, horrified as the mist villain formed another portal behind Thirteen, using her quirk against her.
By the time Izuku could open his mouth to warn her, it was already too late. Black Hole was already used, and started ripping apart Thirteen's costume from behind her.
"No!" Izuku shouted, stretching out his hand to pull the hero back, but by then the villain considered her incapitated enough and let her go. Turning his glowing yellow gaze towards the students.
"Iida, Iida, we'll hold off the villain, use the chance to run. " Izuku said. Right now, apart from him, Iida was the fastest. But he needed to stay here. Katsuki, Sero and Todoroki were the only ones with long ranged quirk. Maintaining distance was the only way. And, if by some horrible luck, that failed, Oijiro and he were the only ones who knew how to fight hand to hand.
Iida looked at him lost and horrified, "There is no way I can leave everyone behind! It would be a disgrace to the class if-"
"You are not leaving anyone behind." Izuku said, a little frustratedly. Why isn't he understanding? Why isn't he understanding that calling for help isn't leaving behind the rest!
" Izuku, they aren't used to situations like this. "
Izuku glanced around and noticed everyone's eyes on him. It had only been a few seconds since Thirteen collapsed, and then Izuku instructed Iida. Both their teachers are now gone, and they were left to face the threat. And now they're looking at him, to him, because they think he's the only one calm enough to guide them.
"You are but a child, and yet you're calm enough to come up with a plan. I'm impressed." The villain said with an acknowledging hum. "However, I cannot let you." He added and once again extended his mist.
No, no, no. I'm not going to let you.
Izuku turned his hand towards the villain out of instinct. And it was only when he activated his quirk did he realize that he can only pull corporeal so his quirk would be useless against the villain and-
Izuku felt his thoughts come to a crashing halt when he felt a tug.
He does have a corporeal body.
The rope attached to something around the part where his neck would be. If we consider the area around his eyes to be the face.
"Guys move!" Izuku shouted and pulled the villain towards him. Just as the villain came flying towards him, he jumped out of the way. Izuku's startled yelp mixed with the villain's own surprised gasp.
"What…did you do?" The villain asked. The fake politeness slipping away as he stood up.
Izuku jumped back, both arms extended to his side to create a barrier of sorts between the villain and the rest.
They only had three long ranged fighters at the moment. "Kacchan! Sero! Kirishima! Attack 5 inches below his eyes!"
"What?!" Kirishima and Sero asked while Katsuki lurched forward to attack.
"He means," Katuski growled, aiming an explosion vaguely around the part Izuku had mentioned, "here!"
"Got it!" Sero replied, aiming his tape. The villain flickered as if miffed at the attack.
"Are you sure?" Kirishima asked, eyes glancing between Katsuki, Sero and Izuku.
"Fight or shut up, shitty hair!" Katsuki growled, jumping to land a kick.
Kirishima clenched his jaw and bolted forward to attack the villain. The villain seemed occupied enough with the three of them. Izuku took the chance to rush to Iida.
"Iida, I understand you don't like the idea of leaving," Izuku said, placing a hand on Iida's shoulder to ground him, just in case, "But you're not going to leave anyone behind. You're leaving to get help. You're going to use your quirk to save us. "
"Just like you did during the lunch break!" Uraraka added from behind him.
Izuku could see as the panic and distress changed to determination in Iida's eyes. He clenched his jaw and gave a nod.
" Go. " Izuku said, voice grave as he turned around. Behind him he heard Iida's engine growl to life and felt him rush away.
The villain turned his entire attention towards him and narrowed his glowing eyes. He divided his body to avoid Katsuki's attack, and diverted his attack to hit Kirishima.
"I have had enough." He said.
And before anyone could do anything, the dark mist surrounded them. Instinctively, Izuku pulled the two nearest to him towards himself just as they fell through the mist.
***
When the mist disappeared, Izuku found himself free falling. He flailed his arms around uselessly, and turned around. If he's falling, he needs to see where he saw falling. Luckily for him, he found himself falling directly towards a water body.
Izuku moved his body, until he was completely vertical. If he hits the water belly first it would hurt. A lot. He knew that from personal experience. He didn't have enough time to suck in a deep breath but pinched his nose as he fell inside the water.
As soon as he was underwater, Selective Focus flared, informing of an oncoming danger behind him. He spun around, letting out a muffled yell when he saw a shark head swimming his way. The shark head was too fast, he couldn't move away fast enough. He let go of his nose, and held up his hand, ready to punch.
[One For All is in effect at 5%]
But before the shark head could come close enough, something wrapped around his waist and pulled him out of the water. Izuku let out a surprised yelp, accidentally opening his mouth and letting some water enter his mouth. He felt himself hit something hard and opened his eyes to find himself on a ship.
Izuku coughed out of the water, turning sideways. Right then, someone else landed behind him. He glanced back to find Aoyama coughing out water.
"Are you okay, kero?"
Izuku looked to his front and saw Asui climb up the rail.
"Thank you, Asui…"
"Call me Tsuyu." She said instead.
Izuku looked around, and realized they were still inside of USJ, but simply scattered around the several disaster zones. "They knew All Might was supposed to be here, so they must have gotten a schedule somehow. While the teachers were busy getting the press off school property, they must have gotten in somehow and got a schedule… that's how they knew he was supposed to be here."
"But, isn't that a bit, erm…" Aoyama waved his hand around vaguely, "too much to try and hurt monsieurAll Might?"
"When you think about it," Tsuyu said, "They probably have a plan to kill All Might. Otherwise it would be absurd to go through all this just to get flattened, no? Are we really going to be fine until All Might arrives? Is he going to be fine when he arrives? The villain did say they were going to torture us."
Aoyama yelped at that. Lips wobbly as he muttered something Izuku couldn't comprehend.
"Come back here!" A villain shouted from the water.
Izuku frowned and looked at villains in the water, surrounding them. He checked their profiles. Most of them were E to D rank. His skill would work against them. He looked at Tsuyu's profile, as well as Aoyama. Both of them were D ranked as well.
"Tsuyu, Aoyama, hold my hand." Izuku said, hold out both of his hands for them.
"Pardon?" Aoyama looked at him confused.
"I need you guys to remember one thing." Izuku said, "No matter what you feel, or what your mind might make you think, do not believe it. I'm right here, and I'm still me. Please remember that."
"What are you saying, Midoriya?" Tsuyu asked.
"You'll understand," Izuku replied, "Just hold my hand. And remember it's just me."
They looked uncertain, but still placed their hands over his. Izuku gave them a grateful smile and nodded. Then he activated his skill.
[Dominance is in effect!]
He felt Aoyama and Tusyu tense up and squeezed their hand before they could snatch it away. Izuku, while training with his Dad, had found out that the effect of his Dominance could be broken.
"Izuku stop that." His Dad said, feeling Izuku's Dominance. Izuku knew it wouldn't work on his Dad, since he was an S rank. It barely worked on Dabi. But, he knew it would make his Dad feel uneasy.
His Dad looked up at him unamused, and sighed, "Izuku." A pause and then, "Thank you for stopping."
Izuku binked. But he hadn't deactivated Dominance?
"But I didn't?" Izuku said.
[Dominance has failed to affect!]
"Huh?"
It was after that did Izuku realize, if the person being affected by Dominance, realized that it was just him and not something dangerous or monstrous, Dominance stopped working on them.
"Guys, it's just me, remember?" Izuku said, giving another squeezee to their hands.
Tsuyu blinked, seeming to break out of the fear induced paralysis and said, "What was that , kero?"
Aoyama too broke out from his paralysis, but he still looked frazzled.
"Just my quirk." Izuku said, and stood up. He walked closer to the side of the ship and looked down at the villains. Just as he had been expecting, all of them were currently swimming away from the boat, cowering in fear. Even if they weren't actual animals, but rather people with animal based mutant quirk, they would still feel the instinctual urge to run away. The urge that arises when there is a strong predator around them.
"Wha-What are we going to do?" Aoyama asked, voice quivering.
"We have one choice here." Izuku replied,"We will fight back."
Tsuyu stayed silent for a while before nodding and croaked, "Okay. What's the plan?"
" Mon ami , are you sure about this?" Aoyama asked, nervously.
Tusyu shrugged, "Kero. If it wasn't for Midoriya, the mist villain probably would have killed us by now. Or the ones in the water. Plus," She stood up, "It's like Midoriya said. If we want to survive we'll have to fight back."
"I…" Aoyama looked down at his best, "I won't be able to help. Désolé pour ça , but my belt is wet and I cannot use my quirk like this."
"It's okay." Izuku replied.
"So, what do we do?" Tsuyu asked.
"I'm going to jump in first," Izuku started, "Then, I'm going to use my quirk to create a blast into the water. That should form a whirlpool and suck in the villains. We'll use that chance to run away. Tsuyu, I'll need you to do that. Can you jump with both me, and Aoyama?"
"Yep." Tsuyu.
"Okay." Izuku nodded, "We need to be quick."
"Got it."
With that, Izuku climbed up the railing, hand curled around the rod, as he readied himself. His dominance was still in effect, and the villains cowered away. Izuku pulled his mask up, a near feral look in his eyes.
He channeled his inner Katsuki and growled, "Die!" and jumped.
He waited until his body was close enough to the surface of the water. He concentrated One For All's power into his middle finger, and flicked it. Hard. The pressure from the flick blasted him backwards while creating a huge hole in the water to the point Izuku could almost see the ground underneath. The water started sucking, pulling the villains with it.
"Now!" Izuku shouted, still flying up from the air blast.
Tsuyu jumped from the edge, Aoyama on her back, and wrapped her tongue around his waist to pull him with her. They landed into the war far away from the whirlpool. As soon as they land safely Tsuyu uncurled her tongue from around his waist.
"We need to move." Izuku said, pulling down his mask
"What's our plan next?" Tsuyu asked, following after him.
Izuku pressed his lips together and gulped. His plan next was to head to the plaza. But he couldn't Tsuyu or Aoyama with him.
" Mon ami , we are not getting involved in that." Aoyama said, placing his hand on his shoulder.
Izuku clenched his jaw. He can't not get involved. Ever since his Dad jumped down to protect them, he had his uncanny feeling that something horrible was going to happen.
"He's fighting too many of them at once." Izuku said, "It's not the kind of fight he's usually in. He jumped in to protect us, even though he knows he's going to overextend himself."
"Midoriya-"
"I'm not saying we have to fight." Izuku said almost desperately, "I-I can't- We'll just see if we can find an opening and lessen his pressure."
Izuku isn't sure what Tsuyu saw on his face, but whatever it was seemed to be enough to convince her as she nodded. Even Aoyama stared at him with wide eyes before stuttering out a soft 'Très bien'. Izuku isn't sure what it meant, but he guessed it to be something along the line of okay.
As Izuku came closer to the fight in the plaza, he felt his heart drop to his stomach. In front of him, all the weaker villains were sprawled on the ground, unconsciousness. His Dad had fought off more than a dozen villains by himself and was still fighting. And Izuku should be amazed, but he isn't because right as arrived at the scene, he saw Shouta jumping back from the Hand-Villain, who had been gripping his elbow. And just as he jumped back, Izuku saw the way the skin, and muscles decay and turned to ash.
No!
Izuku screamed in his head. Too frozen to scream out loud.
Then, the villain introduced a bird looking beast (Izuku doesn't need to check, the moment he saw he knew it wasn't anything human. He could feel it wasn't human.) and called it a Nomu and said, "Nomu, attack."
The beast let out a bone chilling scream and lurched forward. In that moment Izuku realized the terrifying feeling from earlier, wasn't just the Hand-Villain, but also the beast. He let out a whimper, tears stinging his eyes as he watched the beast punch Shouta, making him fly backwards until his body hit the fountain
Shouta quickly got up on his feet, and jumped sideways just in time to avoid another direct punch from the beast. Izuku sucked in a sharp breath when he saw the way a crater formed around the part the beast's fist hit the fountain. The water burst out from there. And the water slowly turned red from Shouta's blood.
Even though Shouta was on his feet, Izuku noticed his body was swaying. In that moment, he also noticed the way his chest rose and fell at a rapid speed, and realized he was over exhausted. And on top of it, he was already wounded at multiple places. He was wounded and exhausted and because of it, he couldn't move away fast enough as the beast grabbed him by his leg and flung him to the ground. His Dad let out a loud painful cry; the sound of it made Izuku whimper.
He rolled aside just as the beast jumped on him to punch. But he wasn't fast enough to create distance. His Dad let out another cry when the beast pushed him down on the ground, and then grabbed his hand, right where it had decayed and crushed it.
Izuku heard the bone break.
He heard it being crushed.
In that moment, the Mist-Villain appeared. "Boss."
"Black mist…" The hand villain mumbled, "Then is Thirteen dead?"
What?
No. No. No way.
Did he kill her after he-
"I have incapitated him, however, one of the student managed to distract me long enough to let another escape."
"Huh?" The Hand-Villain scratched his neck, over and over again, "Huh? Huhhhh? Black mist if you can't do your job as a wrap gate correctly then our plan is crushed. If they throw a dozen heroes at us, then we surely can't win." He paused, and looked at the other villain, "Should we hop back?"
"Hop back?" Izuku flinched when he heard Tsuyu's voice, he had almost forgotten she was there. He had forgotten about the presence of everything around him except for the scene in front him. "Does that mean they're leaving?"
"Actually before we head back, why don't we take this opportunity to knock down the Symbol of Peace's pride a few notches." And before he knew it the hand villain was in front of Tsuya hand outstretched.
His heart felt like it froze inside of him, as the image of his Dad's elbow decaying away flashed in his mind. But…
Nothing happened.
The Hand-Villain chuckled, "Man… you're a really cool guy, Eraserhead."
Izuku glanced to his hand and saw his eyes glowing red, despite him pinned down forcefully, head pressed against the concrete by the beast's giant hand.
"Nomu, kill him."
No.
No.
No.
No. No. No. No. No. NONONONONO NO-
Rage, despair, helplessness, fear swirled inside of him like a growing storm.
[Sprint is now in effect!]
Izuku kicked the villain in the chest, and sent him flying back until he hit the beast. That made the beast hesitate in his movement. Izuku took the short moment of hesitation to jump forward, and aimed another kick, but this time to the monster's side. Nothing happened.
What?
Why did…
Was I not strong enough?
"Man, why is a NPC coming in between ?" The Hand-Villain grunted, as he got down on the ground. "Nomu, kill him."
Izuku let out a sigh of relief as the beast directed his attention towards him, and away from his Dad. He knew he wasn't going to be strong enough to fight the beast and defeat him, but he could hold him off long enough for help to come.
Izuku was reconsidering his thoughts when the beat punched him in the gut. He went flying back, and tumbled on the ground. He pressed his hand against the ground, ignoring the burn as he skid backwards.
Shit, it's really strong.
He got up and winced as sharp pain elicited from his side. Ah, I think I broke a bone.
But he wasn't too worried about it. He knew Regeneration could take care of it. Ignoring his pain, he focused back on the beast and jumped forward. This time he took in deep breaths as he focused his powers into his fist.
[One For All is in effect at 5%]
[Fire Breathing is in effect]
[All stats have increased by 20%]
Izuku let out a growl as he connected his punch to the beast's chest. This time his attack did have an effect. It sent the beast skidding back a few feet.
"Ah, boss," The Mist-Villain said, "This was the boy," the villain spat out, "that distracted me."
The Hand-Villain looked at him. Or Izuku supposed he was looking at him. "Nomu stop." He laughed, "Man, you must be something more than a useless NPC if you managed to annoy this guy." He said, pointing towards the mist-villain. "Let's have a bonus round before we leave. Maybe, you'll be more fun than your teacher." He glanced at his Dad, who was currently struggling to get back up on his feet, "He wasn't even a decent toy for Nomu-"
Izuku stopped listening. His body was filled with rage, despair, and the urge to protect. He aimed a punch towards the Hand-Villain. But to his dismay the guy dodged at the last moment.
"Oohhoo, look at his face." The villain let out a mocking laugh, "Hey black mist, you see that glare? Damn."
Izuku jumped back, and took a quick glance at the guy's profile.
[Name: Shigaraki Tomura]
[Username: -NA- ]
[Age: 20 years]
[Language: Japanese]
[Level:189]
[Rank: A]
[Quirk:Decay (S)]
[Description: Decay allows the user to disintegrate, organic and inorganic matter alike with five finger touch.]
[Status]
[Title: Leader of League Of Villains, The Abandoned One]
[HP:14500/15850 | EP:2400/2540 ]
[Statistics:]
Strength: 156
Dexterity: 198
Agility:157
Speed: 148
Charisma: 74
Intelligence: 165
Izuku faltered when he saw the familiar surname in the villain's profile. That moment of hesitation cost him. Izuku didn't see the punch coming his way and couldn't move when the beast's fist hit the side of his body. He choked, air pushing out his lungs. He grunted out in pain as he hit the ground, and tumbled back. When he stood up, from the corner of his eyes he noticed the other villains slowly starting to stir.
Shit, they're about to wake up.
He also noticed familiar figures headed his way.
"Ugh, you're no fun either." Shiga— No, the villain— mumbled, "Maybe he needs some motivation? Black mist, do you think he needs motivation?" He didn't wait to hear a reply, "Maybe this should work. Nomu-"
He didn't get to finish as Izuku pulled him towards him. And as the villain was closed enough, he kicked him in his stomach and sent him flying back. But the Mist-villain opened up a portal, and caught him.
"The fuck was that?" The Hand-Villain exclaimed.
"That was the quirk he used against me." The Mist-Villain said.
"You have two quirks?" The Hand-Villain asked incredulously, "Man this is unfair. This is unfair. Why does he- Ugh, you're ruining everything." He paused and scratched his neck once again and pointed at Eraserhead. "Nomu, bash his head to the ground." He said.
"No!" Izuku screamed, but he couldn't go forward as the Mist-Villain stepped in between, and the Hand-Villain jumped out of the portal, hands outstretched and aimed for his neck. Izuku used Sprint to jump back.
"What?" The Hand-Villain stumbled forward, staring at his hand, "How did he move so fast?"
Izuku wasn't paying attention anymore when he saw the beast pin his Dad down on the ground once more, pulled his other hand back until he let out a loud cry, and snapped it. Izuku felt bile rise up his throat at the sound of the bone cracking. And then, the beast lifted his head and bashed it against the ground.
For the second time, in his life, Izuku heard something inside of him snap.
The hurling emotions grew stronger and stronger until his entire body trembled. His breaths grew deeper and sharper until he felt his body's temperature rise up. The world around him no longer mattered. It didn't matter that the other villains were now awake. Or that one of them even moved to attack him. The familiar sound of explosions didn't matter, or when Katsuki intercepted the villain about to attack him. He didn't pay attention to Kirishima, or Todoroki. All his senses tunneled to one person: His Dad.
And that's all he cared about at the moment.
His Dad was hurt. His Dad was hurt badly. And he couldn't do anything about it. He couldn't wait anymore. He couldn't wait for All Might to come and save them. He couldn't wait for the Symbol of Peace to come and protect them. He has to protect them.
He couldn't let his Dad die.
No, no, he wouldn't let his Dad die.
[One For All is in effect!]
[Fire Breathing is in effect!]
[All stats have increased!]
[Ki is in effect!]
[Dominance is in effect!]
[Sprint is in effect!]
[Insight is in effect!]
[Hindsight is in effect!]
[Analyzing fight pattern...]
The mark on his skin glowed. Condensed white smoke escaped past his clenched teeth. His body temperature rose further and further. Bright green flames spread around his body. Electricity crackled around his clenched fists, and legs, as flames engulfed them.
No. No. Not enough . He needed more. He needed to be stronger . He needed to be faster.
[Concentration rising!]
[You have entered the Hyperfocused Zone!]
[All senses have been enhanced!]
His Dad laid on the ground, limp and surrounded by blood.
More. More. More.
Red flashed in front of his eyes, replacing the flurry of blue notification that popped around in him.
[Abnormal amount of hysteria detected!]
[Abnormal amount of hysteria detected!]
[Abnormal amount of hysteria detected!]
[Abnormal amount of hysteria detected!]
[Abnormal amount of hysteria detected!]
[User is entering a dangerous state of mind.]
[Adjusting…]
[Adjusting…]
[Adjusting…]
[All Stats have temporarily increased]
[Congratulations you have leveled up!]
[Congratulations you have acquired a new skill!]
[Dragon's Domain]
[Adjusting…]
[Adjusting…]
The hurling storm inside of him exploded into a crescendo before coming to a complete halt. The storm, the cyclones, the clouds, all of it was gone. Leaving behind nothing but serene, quiet calmness inside of his mind.
[ You have entered Berserk Mode ]
[For the next 10 minutes, all damages dealt by User will increase by 20%. All damages dealt to the user will decrease by 20%.]
" ⱧØ₩ Đ₳ⱤɆ ɎØɄ? " Izuku spoke. With his voice, the ground shook, and the walls trembled. And everyone, foe and friend alike, froze. That wasn't the voice of just one person. The voice distorted and reverberated as if multiple people were speaking with him. Izuku radiated a presence so strong, no one dared to move. No, they couldn't move. They were being forced to stay still in their place.
" ⱧØ₩ Đ₳ⱤɆ ɎØɄ? " Izuku repeated. The ground trembled with his rage, and the rage of One For All, and all his predecessors combined. Glasses around them shattered to a million pieces.
The smoke escaped that his mouth burst into toxic green flames. It curled around his neck and chest like two twin dragons. His eyes glowed in the same shade of toxic green, as pure power bubbled inside of him. Electricity crackled around him, cracking the concrete underneath him. Strong smell of ozone filled the air.
[Fire Breathing Third Form]
" Ⱨ₳₦Đ₴ Ø₣₣ " Izuku growled and lurched forward. Glowing red marks appeared all across his legs as the power of One For All concentrated in him. Faster than anyone could see, he closed the distance between him and the Nomu. Then he jumped and kicked Nomu. And this time, the beast went flying back, crashing through the fountain, destroying whatever little was left.
"What? What the fuck?" He heard Shigaraki blurted, "What is this? Phase two? He isn't even the main boss!"
Izuku ignored his words, and gently picked up his Dad's bloodied and broken body in his arm, before jumping back. He laid him down in front of Tsuyu, and Aoyama. Then he stood up and faced Shigaraki once again. With his Dad right behind him, he could focus solely on fighting them.
Izuku took a few steps forward, reached behind his back with both his hands, and whipped out his two escrima sticks. His fingers curled around them tightly. Flames from around his arms extended to the sticks, lapping and curling around them until they were completely engulfed in them.
[Fire Breathing First Form]
He pressed the small button on the side, and the sticks extended into fiery whips. He raised his hand up and before swinging them down hard. The whips cracked the ground before retracting back into the sticks, and sent out two semi-circles of toxic green flames that cut through the concrete, drawing a line on either side of him. Then, they lowered down to the ground and spread around, in front of the line. And with that Izuku swore: The villains won't be able to touch anything behind that line. Everyone behind that line was under his protection. And no one was allowed to hurt them.
[You have established Dragon's Domain.]
[A separate space created by Dragon's breath. Within Dragon's Domain all damages dealt by the user will increase by 30%. All damages dealt to the user will decrease by 20%. Regeneration speed will increase by 25%. All stats will temporarily increase by 50 stat points.]
" ₭₳₮₴Ʉ₭ł, ₭łⱤł₴ⱧłM₳, ₮ØĐØⱤØ₭ł , ₮₳₭Ɇ ₵₳ⱤɆ Ø₣ ₮ⱧɆ ₱Ɇ₴₮₴ " Izuku ordered. Eyes strained at the two villains and the beast. Izuku didn't bother waiting for their response and lurched forward, targeting Nomu.
"Nomu, kill him!" Shigaraki shouted.
The beast screeched and raised his hand to punch him but Izuku intercepted the attack with his sticks. It broke into interlinked segments and wrapped around the beast's wrist. Izuku then tugged it towards himself. The moment the beast destability slightly because of the pull, Izuku planted his feet against its chest and pushed. The moment he pushed he loosen the whip around the wrist, and to increase the effect. The beast cried out in main as it flew backwards. Izuku had no intention of giving it a chance to recover,or stand back up, so he shot forward. This time he used both his sticks to extend into whips and around the beast's arm near its shoulder. Izuku pushed the flames around his body towards the whip, until the flames grew brighter and hotter. And when he smelt the smelling of burning skin, he pulled the attacked whip back with all his might. The skin sizzled as it melted apart and the arm fell off.
Izuku jumped back to create more distance. Next his target was-
Izuku froze in his place as the beast stood back up and regrew his limb. He frowned. How troublesome.
"That thing was designed to kill All Might." Shigaraki bragged as if it meant anything to Izuku. So far the Nomu had shown two quirks: Super Absorption and Super Regeneration. So what if Izuku didn't even give it the chance to regenerate? And what if it overwhelmed the shock absorption. After nothing can absorb everything.
Izuky retracted the whips and used the Escrima sticks to fight.
Cutting Strike.
The Nomu attacked with a right hook. Izuku blocked with a wing block, using his other stick to jam the attack. He grunted at the sheer force of the punch that shook his body but refused to let it break his form. If he broke now, he won't be able to save anyone. He counterattacked with a backhanded diagonal strike.
The Nomu was strong, sure. But Izuku was way faster. He followed his counter attack with three more strikes, one to the side of the crown, next to the next, and then to the ribs. He planted his legs against the Nomu's chest before pushing himself backwards.
He skidded to a stop.
Selective Focus and Aural Sense flared, alerting him of the oncoming attack from his side. He took a step back, avoiding Shigaraki's left hand, but failed to see the other hand outside of his range of view.
Hot, burning pain erupted around his neck. He kicked Shigaraki back, and jumped out to avoid a punch from the beast. Izuku extended his hand and used Pull to drag the beast back before it could cross the line.
Preoccupied with the two of them, Izuku didn't notice the portal opening behind him fast enough. And so, he couldn't move away from the icicle block that emerged out of it and stabbed him in his stomach. Izuku gritted his teeth together and hissed out in pain. The portal closed behind him, and the icicle cut in half.
Izuku scrunched his face in annoyance as he looked at the Mist-Villain, " ł₣ ɎØɄ ₮Ⱨł₦₭ ₮Ⱨł₴ ł₴ ₲Øł₦₲ ₮Ø ฿Ɇ Ɇ₦ØɄ₲Ⱨ, ɎØɄ'ⱤɆ ⱤɆ₳ⱠⱠɎ ₴₮Ʉ₱łĐ "
[Cold Resistance is fighting against the cold!]
Izuku wrapped his index and thumb finger around the icicle and concentrated the fire there, just enough to melt the ice. Shigaraki took the moment to attack him. Izuku blocked his hand with his stick to Shigarakis' wrist. The villain howled in pain as the fire burned his skin. Izuku took the chance to hit him at his wrist once again, then his rib, and then jammed the butt of his stick to the other side of his ribs. Shigaraki cried out in pain as his rib broke.
By then the ice completely melted away, leaving behind nothing but a hole. Izuku clenched his jaw together and ignored the pain. But he faltered once again, and the Nomu grabbed his hand.
Izuku grunted in pain as the Nomu crushed his hand, and jammed the end of the stick into part of the arm where the radial nerve should be present. Nomus are artificially made humans, as per Shigaraki. Then his trick should work. Even if only a little. Izuku grinned when it did work, and snatched his arm out of the Nomu's now loose grin.
"What? How-"
Izuku snapped his wrist around 180 degrees, and hit Shigaraki's left crown. The villain cried out in pain and stumbled backward. Izuku took the chance to put distance between himself and the two of them.
He turned to the Mist-Villain. " ɎØɄ'ⱤɆ ฿Ø₮ⱧɆⱤ₴Ø₥Ɇ "
He extended his hand and pulled the villain towards himself. And once he was close enough, he used his stick to strike the part where he knew the villain's body was. A crack was heard and the villain's mist flickered. He grabbed him by the metal portion around his neck, and tossed him back to his boss.
"Ugh, you've ruined everything! Everything! Everything! You cheat! You used a cheat! It's unfair!" Shigaraki cried out scratching his face and neck.
" ł ĐØ₦'₮ ₵₳ⱤɆ " Izuku replied and shot forward once again. With his right hand out of use, he used his left to land a diagonal strike. All the way from Nomu's shoulder to the waist. The beast cried out as the fire seared into its skin.
The wound didn't regenerate. Izuku blinked. " ₳Ⱨ "
It can't heal cauterized wounds. How convenient. Izuku jumped and landed a roundhouse kick to the Nomu's liver (or where a person's liver would be) The creature skidded away.
"Shit! Shit!" Shigaraki shrieked and shot out his hand to attack him once again. However, in that moment the sound of a gunshot echoed across the area and a bullet tore through Shigaraki's hand. "Fuck! Fuck! Kurogiri get us out of here!"
Izuku extended his stick into a whip toland another attack before the two villains disappeared into the mist, but missed by a few centimeters. Still the flame from the strike was enough to burn Shigaraki's upper arm.
"We'll meet again."
With those two gone, Izuku turned his attention to the Nomu. Without Shigaraki and Kurogiri interrupting them, the Nomu wasn't that big of a problem. Izuku put away his escrima sticks in favor of fighting the creature with his fists and kicks.
He grinned, and in a split second moved right in front of the best. " ⱠɆ₮'₴ ₴ɆɆ ł₣ ɎØɄ ₵₳₦ ⱤɆ₲Ɇ₦ɆⱤ₳₮Ɇ QɄł₵₭ Ɇ₦ØɄ₲Ⱨ "
He concentrated the flames into his fists and legs, and launched a series of uninterrupted and continuous kicks and punches. With each punch and kick, its skin burned, and it was unable to regenerate.
[10 seconds left]
Izuku increased the power in his punches. Harder. Faster. Leaving the beast no chance to fight back.
[3 seconds left]
Izuku poured all his power into his last punch and aimed it directly to the center of the chest. The beast few back and crashed several meters away from him.
[You have left Berserk Mode]
For the 10 minutes that Berserk lasted, all his stat had risen up from the same level as that of an A ranker. But while the stats rose, his HP and EP still remained the same. He had burned through them after the first five minutes but pushed through through sheer determination. He had pushed himself long past his limit. And the backlash from the Beserk mode was now settling in. Izuku breathed heavily as soon as the effect of Beserk was gone. His body was still in fight mode, mind foggy with the desire to protect. Exhaustion blurred his senses and clogged his thoughts.
Dad.
Where's Dad-
"Oh my god, Shouta-"
Izuku whipped his head around to where his Dad was, and crossed the distance in a second. There were new people inside the building. People he couldn't see. People he couldn't recognize. He needed to protect his Dad.
Stay away. Stay away.
Izuku picked him up gently in his arms, and jumped back, keeping him closed. With the hand around Shouta's shoulder, he gently pressed into his neck and checked for a pulse. He let out a sigh of relief when he felt. Faint, but present.
Someone approached him. Someone strong and powerful.
Izuku bared his teeth and growled. "Stay back."
Izuku doesn't notice when someone signals another hero. But he did notice the rumble of the ground before a cement wall shot up, separating them from the rest. He jumped to the side.
"Izuku, Izuku my boy, it's okay now. You're safe." The person in front of him said.
Izuku growled once again. The word did reach him but his mind was still muddled, still high from the fight, and the effect of Berserk, and didn't comprehend the words.
"'Zuku" Another voice called. In the back of his mind, a part of him screamed at him: You know them! Izuku ignored it. Not right now. He needed to keep his Dad safe. He needed his Dad to stay safe. He needed- "Zuku, it's okay. Shouta's safe now. You protected him, kiddo."
Oh.
Now that he understood.
" Izuku ." A woman's voice spoke. " It's okay now, you can let him go now. "
" The fight's over ," Another male voice, gentle and serene, said, " You protected everyone ."
" You give him to them, buddy. They'll keep your Dad safe ." Another male voice said. Louder than the one before.
Izuku pressed his lips together and nodded. Okay. He didn't fight when the first person from before took his Dad from his arms. "Keep… safe."
"Yeah, okay. I promise, I'll keep him safe." The second voice from before replied.
"Promise?"
"Promise."
And with that, the last bit of his consciousness slipped away from his grip as soft red enclosed around him.