After the message we received from Oni-chan, we immediately went into action. Thanks to the quick help of Momo and Uraraka, we managed to build a barricade to prevent the villains' attacks. The situation was demanding, as they outnumbered us. We didn't know exactly how many there were, but it was clear that most of them had gathered in this single place.
The enemy's strategy was to separate our group across the rescue zones and send their "strongest" to attack us, making sure that we, the students, became easy targets. It was a good thing my Oni-chan foresaw that and attacked the smoke villain — now he's fighting in the other zones to keep those villains from daring to come here.
Thanks to his intervention, our burden was slightly lighter, yet the situation remained critical. Iida barely managed to escape when some villains arrived and slightly injured his legs. He got away, but no one knew how long it would take for help to arrive.
Aizawa-sensei's quirk gave us an advantage by nullifying several enemies, while Shoto raised ice walls to block their advance and Kacchan detonated explosions everywhere, plunging the battlefield into total chaos.
However, despite our efforts, the villains kept pressing forward, forcing us to retreat little by little. The fight grew increasingly intense, when suddenly...
—BOOM!
Another explosion thundered through the landslide zone, even more violent than the previous ones. A deafening roar was followed by a massive cloud of dust that darkened the horizon. From the center of the blast, a shadow shot out at impossible speed, tearing through the devastated mountainous area in the blink of an eye. It only stopped for a few moments before heading straight to the fire zone, destroying everything in its path and causing even more chaos.
The villains froze for a moment — some even stepped back in fear. It was the perfect opportunity.
Without hesitation, we charged forward!
Shoto raised massive ice walls, splitting the enemies and forcing them to scatter. Bakugo propelled himself with an explosion, diving onto a group of villains and unleashing a rain of detonations that made them scream in despair.
—DIE ALREADY, YOU INSECTS!!
Aizawa wasted no time, erasing several quirks as his binding cloths whipped around like snakes, capturing and slamming down anyone trying to regroup. Meanwhile, the rest of us attacked with everything we had, targeting those who had temporarily lost their quirks to neutralize them so Aizawa could focus on other enemies.
We had gone from pure defense to total offense.
I didn't know exactly what my Oni-chan was doing in the rescue zones, but his intervention had given us an overwhelming advantage.
Maybe we could end this fight quickly, beat those villa—
—Watch out!!
Aizawa-sensei's shout snapped me out of my thoughts. Before I could react, his binding cloths wrapped around me and pulled me out of the way.
A massive black fist slammed down exactly where I had been standing, shaking the ground with terrifying force. The impact unleashed a shockwave that sent several of us flying through the air. When we finally got up and the smoke cleared, we saw it — a giant, muscle-bound bird ready to attack.
The most troublesome enemy... had just entered the fight.
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—Well, this is entertaining! —said Tomura with a sarcastic laugh as he watched Class 1-A mercilessly slaughter the villains—. Your plan to leave the Six Strongest Sins in the rescue zones and concentrate the rest here in the main area was a brilliant idea, huh, partner... Shigaraki?... That surname really doesn't suit you.
Tomura's mocking tone only irritated Shigaraki even more, whose expression instantly tensed. From his exposed eye, one could see the anger growing with every passing minute. That frustration, that barely contained rage... it was a delight for Tomura.
But he knew it wouldn't last long. Knowing Shigaraki, he would soon lose his patience and want to end everything.
And that's exactly what happened.
—I'm getting tired of this. —Shigaraki raised his hand irritably, giving the order in a harsh voice—. Nomu... finish them all right now.
Silence filled the area as the Nomu remained motionless — not attacking, not obeying... completely inert. The tension grew with each passing second, but instead of concern, Tomura could only burst into even louder laughter, savoring Shigaraki's humiliation.
—That's why you're a loser... even your own Nomu ignores you. HAHAHAHA! —Tomura shouted, laughing harder.
The mockery made Shigaraki clench his fists in fury. Immediately, he approached the Nomu, expecting it to react. But it didn't.
—ANSWER ME, YOU WORTHLESS PIECE OF TRASH! Weren't you supposed to be the strongest of the professor's Nomus?! Weren't you "upgraded" by those bastards?!
—(How pathetic.) —That was the first thought that crossed Tomura's mind as he watched Shigaraki lose his composure.
—Hey, answ…!!
At that moment, Shigaraki froze completely, his exposed eye wide open, gasping after he kicked the Nomu with all his strength. The creature collapsed to the ground without the slightest resistance, its weapons clattering down with a dry sound that echoed like a death sentence.
Tomura raised an eyebrow. That was... strange.
He watched as Shigaraki, suddenly alarmed, dropped to his knees before the Nomu's head and began to touch it frantically, as if he couldn't accept what he was seeing. His hands trembled, his breathing turned erratic. He was on the verge of breaking down. And then...
—Ma... mom... dad... I'm so sorry. This shouldn't be happening! —he muttered between sobs, his words barely understandable.
Tomura narrowed his eyes in irritation.
—Not this again... —he whispered, crossing his arms with absolute calm.
Even so, curiosity won over. He slowly stepped closer and examined the Nomu's inert body. He checked its abdomen, neck, and then the back of its head, searching carefully for any sign of what could've caused the failure. Then he saw it — and froze, surprised.
A clean, perfect hole pierced straight through the Nomu's head, right through its spinal cord. It had destroyed the nerves controlling its body, granting it a quick and silent death — nearly invisible at first glance due to the creature's mutations and multiple quirks that kept it upright with no visible change.
Tomura's expression shifted. It turned serious — contemplative. This wasn't normal. Who the hell could be that precise...?
—BOOM!
An explosion suddenly shook the landslide zone, spreading violently toward the mountainous region. The gray glare of debris and smoke rose like a chaotic crown over the landscape. It was... magnificent.
Tomura's heart pounded hard.
Slowly, he removed his mask. His red eyes gleamed with a mix of anticipation and awe. And then... he saw it.
Everything around him seemed to stop, as if time itself slowed down to capture every detail.
From amidst the destruction emerged a boy with green hair, riding atop a grotesque, bloated creature whose face was twisted in pure terror. The green-haired boy held it firmly, using black whips that writhed like living serpents.
His expression showed neither joy nor fear. There was no emotion at all on his face — only cold, unshakable seriousness that left a trail of chaos wherever he passed.
A chill ran down Tomura's spine — a sensation he hadn't felt in a long time.
It was... it was... Beautiful!
Quickly, he put the mask back on before his expression could betray him. Then, with a slow, almost ceremonial motion, he turned toward Shigaraki and placed a hand on his shoulder with unsettling gentleness.
Shigaraki tensed instantly.
—Relax, crybaby... —Tomura murmured with a hint of mockery—. I'll finish this myself.
And with a smile no one could see, he raised his voice, overflowing with raw excitement:
—NOMU... IT'S TIME FOR YOU TO PLAY A LITTLE!!!
Without another word, the Nomu obeyed. With a beastly leap, it hurled itself into battle, completely shifting the course of the fight.
Tomura felt his breathing quicken, his emotions at their peak. Without realizing it, his quirk began to seep into the ground beneath him, cracking it apart until it turned to dust.
Shigaraki barely managed to move away in time, dodging total disintegration by a mere second. He stared at Tomura in sheer alarm — but Tomura didn't notice. He didn't care.
In that moment, only one thing existed for him:
That gaze.
Cold, calculating, devoid of humanity.
And to him, it was... pure fascination.
He bit his lip, struggling to contain the restless thrill burning inside him. His voice came out as a low whisper, charged with raw emotion.
—Come on... come on... show me more of what you can do... "HERO"!!
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—BOOM!!
The roar of the explosion shook the ground beneath my feet as I barely dodged another strike from that aberration shaped like a mutant bird. My heart pounded. If that attack had hit me, if I had been just a little slower... I would have died instantly.
The thought of dying chilled my blood. Was this truly absolute terror?
—Midoriya, get away from that creature! I'll handle it! —Professor Aizawa's firm voice snapped me out of my paralysis. He stepped between us; his fierce gaze fixed on the beast.
The previous blast had ripped off his visor, leaving him vulnerable. If that thing attacked him with any ranged strike, his eyes would be in danger.
The creature took a step forward, its empty stare settling on the teacher with terrifying calm. But before it could move, the teacher acted.
—NO. 13, NOW!! —Aizawa shouted urgently.
A vortex of darkness appeared behind the creature.
Professor No. 13 emerged behind it, activating her quirk without hesitation. Black Hole's suction trapped the beast instantly, pulling it with force toward its inevitable end. The ground tore apart, stones were swallowed, the pressure rose.
It couldn't escape!
Aizawa still watched it. His quirk had it sealed.
The creature was finished... Or so we thought.
Just as its body began to tilt toward Black Hole's pull, it straightened suddenly. It planted its feet hard on the ground, brought its hands to its own head and...
—CRACK!!
It tore its head off.
The wet sound of flesh ripping made my stomach churn. With a brutal motion, the creature hurled its head far away, out of No. 13's quirk range. The rest of its body was absorbed without a trace.
We stood frozen.
—What...? —Aizawa frowned, not understanding what had just happened.
Did it... commit suicide? It made no sense. It was impossible! Why would it perform such an extreme maneuver? It had no logic, unless...
A memory crossed my mind with brutal clarity. My brother had once told me about a villain with frighteningly fast regeneration. It wasn't just that he could heal wounds or regrow a limb... he could regenerate his entire body from a single...!
Wait...! If it launched its head away from danger... that meant...
—Professor No. 13, watch…!!
But it was too late. The instant the professor tried to react, a shadow appeared behind her. The beast was intact. Not only did it possess superhuman brute strength... COULD IT ALSO REGENERATE COMPLETELY FROM ITS HEAD?!! DID IT HAVE TWO QUIRKS?!!
Before No. 13 could react, a monstrous claw sank into her back, flinging her with inhuman brutality. Her suit shredded, her body slammed into the concrete with a dry thud and went still.
—PROFESSOR NO. 13!! —I screamed in desperation.
Aizawa tried to move to help her, but the creature reached him in an instant.
With lethal precision, it shattered his leg with a single blow, sending him collapsing with a strangled cry of pain. Before he could react, it grabbed him by the hair and smashed his head into the ground with such violence the earth cracked beneath the impact.
I... I had to do something...!
But when I stepped forward... it was already too late.
I didn't see its movement, I only felt the brutal impact in my abdomen. Like a train hitting me head-on, the air ripped from my lungs in a raw gasp, pain exploded inside me and my body shot forward like a projectile, destroying the ground as I flew.
—IZUMI!!! —my classmates' voices were swallowed by the roar of debris.
I tumbled, bounced and crashed into multiple structures; my body traveled several meters before I stopped, slamming into the wall surrounding the collapse zone.
Dust enveloped me. My body shook violently. I tried to move, and a chill ran down my spine.
Was I still alive?
Fearful, I brought a hand to my abdomen, expecting to find fractures, blood, something to confirm the devastation I should have suffered. But... nothing?!
There was no unbearable pain, no broken bones, no ruined organs. I was... intact.
—What...? —I murmured in disbelief, my breath still ragged. That thing hit me with force that could have leveled the whole field... and yet I was still standing. Something didn't add up.
Before I could understand what was happening, a mechanical sound echoed in my mask.
—Impact dispersed. Fractures found: 0. Compensating energy distribution.
My eyes widened. I began to check my abdomen only to see, with surprise, an energy housed in my chest beginning to move toward the right glove of my suit.
—Energy diverted successfully. It can now be expelled. For the instruction, simply say "release."
—"Release"? What the hell are you talk…?
—Command accepted.
I couldn't finish the sentence. When I pressed my hand to the ground, an explosion generated immediately, replicating the same impact I had received moments before.
I froze.
—What... what is happening? Who are you? —I asked, breathless and with my pulse racing. Was I going crazy?
—Initializing presentation protocol... Nice to meet you. —the voice in my mask replied with inhuman calm—. I possess no nominal identity. I am an integrated artificial intelligence, designed by Master to protect his most valuable resource: his "little sister."
My eyes opened in disbelief.
—My... Oni-chan built you?
—Affirmative confirmation. This suit, in addition to its basic defensive functions, has been optimized to improve synchronization with your quirk. Its additional capability includes dispersion of kinetic energy through impact absorption. Stored energy is redirected to the user's fists, increasing attack strength proportionally if combined correctly with your ability.
For a moment, fear, pain and confusion fell aside. A warm feeling wrapped my chest. My sweet Oni-chan... he had given me this suit to protect me! He had cared for me enough to create something like this, something that would ensure I wouldn't suffer grievous harm in battle. How I loved him!
But before I could process it fully, a roar shook the air, reverberating like thunder across the complex. My heart, already racing, beat even faster as I turned my head toward the entrance.
All Might!
His imposing figure stood tall, lit by the flashes of destruction around him. He radiated power. It was as if hope had taken form.
But before he could say or do anything... he vanished. No. He didn't vanish... he moved.
In the blink of an eye, like a golden bolt across the disaster zone, he began evacuating students and teachers with absurd speed. In the blink of an eye, those who were injured or trapped were gone.
Within seconds, he had put them to safety.
Only then, when no one remained in the danger line, did he stop.
He turned slowly, his cape waving in the air current he himself had created with his movement. His gaze fell on the beast that had driven us to the brink of despair. And for the first time in the whole battle, the creature also froze.
The Symbol of Peace stood face to face with it.
Time seemed to stop.
Now, the real fight was about to begin.
But then, just as relief began to ease my thoughts, a sharp beep sounded in my mask.
—Alert: injured individual detected. Immediate assistance recommended. Loss of strength recorded.
I frowned, confused.
—Wait... What? Who are you referring to?
—Individual identified as All Might. Critical condition: severe wound located in the lower-left quadrant of the abdomen. Evidence of loss of internal vital organs. Immediate assistance recommended to prevent systemic failure.
My breath stopped instantly.
A shiver ran down my back as my mind slowly processed what I had just heard. All Might... was he hurt?
My lenses flashed and suddenly an overlaid image appeared before my eyes. It was a medical vision of his body, highlighting in red the most damaged area — his abdomen. My stomach turned at the intensity of the mark on his side. The AI was not exaggerating.
"Loss of organs." It wasn't a superficial wound. It wasn't something that could be ignored.
All Might was fighting with all his strength... but if that information was true... he couldn't win!
My chest tightened. Cold sweat trickled down my forehead. If All Might fell, there would be no one to protect us. No one to save us.
But then, amid the terror that paralyzed me, something inside my mind clicked.
My suit!!
It had withstood a blow that should have torn me apart easily. If it could do that... maybe it could help him.
—Izumi. Intention detected: highly risky —the AI's voice abruptly interrupted my thoughts, as if it had detected what I was thinking—. Although the suit disperses hits, its resistance is not absolute. And even if you split it to use it to your advantage, the previous impact was reduced only by 98%. The true strength of the attacker to withstand more blows is unknown, but the user is recommended to be more cautious.
My hands shook. 98%... that meant that, although incredibly resistant, the suit was not invulnerable. If the creature was stronger or had some hidden trick, any hit that lowered that protection margin could cause irreversible damage.
Terror swept through my body like a lash, paralyzing me. What could I do? I was only another student. What did I expect to achieve by trying to help? Everything seemed out of reach, and I was about to collapse completely... if not for a phrase that struck my mind with the force of thunder: "What kind of hero stops in the face of fear and the impossible?"
I couldn't stay still. Not while All Might was fighting alone. Not while my classmates and teachers were still in danger. That wasn't a hero's attitude. And it was even less something my Oni-chan would do. That thought ignited a fire inside me. Strong. Burning. Unstoppable. It didn't matter if I hadn't gotten along with them before, if I felt alone or if everything that was happening filled me with doubts. I was a heroine. And heroes save people, no matter who they are, no matter what it costs.
—I WON'T DO IT!! —I shouted with determination, feeling my voice tremble from the intensity of my emotions—. My Oni-chan would never give up. I'm going to help them. Even if at times they annoy me... I'm a hero. I'm going to save them!
There was a brief silence. Then the AI answered without pretext with its characteristic mechanical coldness:
—Confirmed. Survival and counterattack protocol level two: activated. Impact transfer duplicated. Recommendation: execute plan quickly.
—Understood.
—Confirmed. Survival protocol level two: activated. Impact transfer duplicated. Recommendation: execute plan quickly.
But just before I took the first step, I saw it.
A gigantic wall of water emerged on the battlefield, advancing with devastating force. The tsunami rose like a titan, its immense power sweeping away debris, soaking the earth, engulfing everything in its path.
My heart pounded. I didn't need to think it through. I knew it deep in my soul.
—Oni-chan...!
A comforting warmth spread within me, dispelling fear and uncertainty. I wasn't alone. He was here.
My chest filled with emotion. He was helping us again.
And that distraction cost the creature a few precious seconds. A perfect opportunity.
I gritted my teeth with determination, feeling energy swirl inside my body, ready to be released.
—Attention: user is recommended to prepare.
—I know. RELEASE!
With one last deep inhalation and a colossal push, I launched into combat at maximum speed.