The silence in the alley was heavy, broken only by the crackle of Endeavor's costume and the heavy breathing of the Red Nomu.
'Three mutants at once ...' Endeavors brows furrowed. 'Interesting.' He observed their positions.
Triangle pattern ... The way they stood. "You're boxing me in .."
Endeavor uttered with a stern face. "I'll assume you came for me then?"
He still got no reply. The Crimson Nomu raised its hand. CRACK! What followed were cracking noises and the sound of rearranging flesh as its hands transformed. From the creature's wrist, a thick, serrated spike of bone erupted, elongating until it resembled a spear.
It didn't stop there; similar protrusions burst from its shoulders and elbows, turning the creature into a walking thicket of blades.
Endeavor scoffed. "Hmph. I'll take that as a yes."
The Hero Killer's escape had left him sour.
These things had come from the same portal he had gone through, so they would have to do as a substitute for his frustration.
BANG!
The Crimson Nomu burst forward with explosive force, its bone spear aimed directly at Endeavor's chest.
Endeavor raised his hand. "Flashfire—"
A concentrated blast of high-pressure flames erupted from his palm, meeting the charging creature head-on. The collision created a shockwave that rattled nearby windows.
The crimson NOMU was blasted back through the alley it came from.
SHRIEKKKK!
The Nomu on the roof roared before leaping forward.
"Behind you!" A warning fell into the man's ears. From behind, the pitch black Nomu blasted forwards.
Endeavor didn't turn. His other hand shot out backward. "Jet Burn!"
A propulsive blast of flames erupted from his palm. The concussive force of the flame hammered into the Obsidian Nomu's chest. The creature was launched backward, crashing through a parked car with enough force to flip it end-over-end.
'Too easy.'
His gaze remained fixed on the one falling from above. The air heated up. His fire internalizing as he prepared to expel a massive torrent of explosive flames to incinerate the airborne threat, when—
BANG!
A figure appeared between them. Ingenium slammed his fist against the creature's side mid-air, his engines releasing a blue exhaust.
"RECIPRO BURST!"
The impact altered its trajectory as it crashed through a storefront window in the distance.
Ingenium landed. "Three-on-one isn't good odds, even for you."
"I had that," Endeavor said, his tone annoyed. "Use your speed to get these heroes and civilians clear. I can handle this myself."
"I apologize if you thought so," Tensei uttered. "But these things aren't ordinary villains."
Endeavor frowned. "Now's not the time for .. huh?"
BOOM!
The Crimson Nomu burst from the alley with explosive force, its bone spear swung like a sword. Flames still clung to its charred skin, but it moved as if pain didn't exist.
"Move!"
Ingenium was shoved aside as Endeavor raised both forearms in a defensive cross. The bone spear came down in an overhead slash.
The serrated edge of the bone weapon bit into Endeavor's forearms despite the heat radiating from his body. Blood sprayed as the blade carved shallow wounds across both arms.
The force drove Endeavor backward, his boots carving trenches in the asphalt. He rolled once, twice, before planting his feet and stabilizing himself.
The wounds bled, but the blood never touched the ground. Evaporating with the intense heat.
Endeavor's eyes narrowed.
In the distance, the Crimson creature roared. Under everyone's sight, the burns faded away at a rapid pace.
Charred flesh peeled away, revealing fresh skin beneath. The cracks in its bone armor sealed. Within seconds, the damage from his initial attack had completely vanished, the creature standing as if it had never been touched.
"I see. So you can regenerate,"
In the distance, Todoroki and Iida stood to their feet. "It's the same." It came out simultaneously.
Endeavor's flames stood to his feet. 'That was a stronger blast than what I normally use. To think it could deal with that ...' The temperature around him spiked.
He had aimed not to kill, estimating what would knock them out. Still, it was beyond what would have KO'D his normal opponents.
"Ingenium," he said without looking back. "Get everyone out of Sector Four. Now."
"But ..."
"That's not a request."
Before anyone could respond, the ground beneath them trembled.
The Black Nomu emerged from the wreckage of the car, its obsidian skin unmarked despite the point-blank Jet Burn. It opened its mouth, released a guttural roar, and unleashed the same torrent of flames Endeavor had wrought upon it.
BOOM!
___
The night sky over Hosu was no longer black but dark purple.
High above the skyline, the thrum-thrum-thrum of a news helicopter cut through the sounds of sirens. Inside, a reporter gripped her headset, her face pale.
"This is NHK News, reporting live over Hosu City," she shouted over the wind. "What began as sporadic reports of villain activity has escalated into a full-scale catastrophe. We are seeing multiple points of combustion across the residential and commercial districts. Early reports suggest the involvement of the League of Villains, the same group responsible for the U.A. High School incident. The chaos is absolute, and while Pro Heroes are responding, the sheer scale of the—"
She stopped, her eyes widening as a plume of orange fire erupted from Sector 4, momentarily outshining the helicopter's searchlights.
"My God," she whispered, forgetting her script. "It looks like a war zone."
The explosions didn't stop.
"There—zoom in there," the reporter said quickly.
The camera locked onto a wide street in Sector Four. Even from this height, the devastation was obvious ... cratered pavement, overturned vehicles, shattered storefronts.
Their attention was drawn when a streak of smaller attacks emerged several hundred meters away.
At a speed hard to follow with the naked eye, two figures could be seen speeding throughout the district.
'Is that .... Ingenium?'
The reporter was nudged out of her daze, quickly remembering her job.
"We can't get a clear shot of what's going on, but further off, pro heroes can be seen evacuating civilians from the area. Authorities are urging all civilians in unaffected areas to find cover, remain indoors and avoid Sector Four entirely."
The helicopter pulled higher, retreating as another shockwave rippled through the air.
"For now, this is all we can report. Hosu City is under attack."
[UNDISCLOSED LOCATION]
Miles away, in a room draped in shadow and the hum of life-support machinery, the same news broadcast flickered on a wall of monitors. The blue light reflected off the scarred, featureless face of the man sitting in the center of the dark.
"Such a noisy world," All For One murmured, his voice carrying a surprisingly smooth, cultured tone that greatly contrasted with the scarring of his features.
His eyes never left the destruction taking place on the screen.
Beside him, Dr. Garaki leaned forward, his circular glasses glinting. The doctor was tapping a tablet with manic energy, his eyes dancing across biological data feeds.
"The telemetry is fascinating, Sensei!" Garaki uttered, looking at a feed that showed Endeavor standing amidst the rubble of Sector 4. "But tell me, Sensei... do you truly believe Tomura's plan will work? Can these three truly bring down the man who stands just a step behind your old rival?"
All For One tilted his head and after a moment of silence, let out a small, amused chuckle.
"The honest truth, Doctor? No. The chances of those three defeating Endeavor in a head-on confrontation are slim to none."
Garaki blinked, surprised. "Then why the upgrades? We spent a great deal of effort perfecting that heat-resistant hide as well as giving them extra quirks. If they are destined to fail, why waste the resources?"
"Because, Doctor, I am a teacher," All For One replied calmly. "And Tomura is a student who currently believes that power is a simple equation of 'A beats B.'"
For years now, grooming Tomura Shigaraki had been All For One's second biggest problem. It was not something to be rushed overnight, but had to be instilled through a teacher even greater than he was.
Failure.
He had given Tomura six Nomu instead of three, and gone to the liberties of increasing the Nomu's strength and quirks, not because he expected success, but to move the needle from 'certain failure' to 'an interesting possibility.'
Even then, the deciding factor of this entire operation, didn't rest on the Nomu, but rather, on the Hero killer Tomura so despised.
Both were ignorant to think their plans would unfold easily without a hitch.
Unlike Tomura, he had studied the number two hero for decades. No matter how far behind he stood compared to his old rival, he remained the Number Two Hero for a reason.
The current capabilities of the Nomu without intelligence were far from good enough to beat the him head on.
"The harsh reality doctor, is if this were an open field, Endeavor would incinerate all three within three minutes."
"Then it's a sacrifice?" Garaki asked.
"It is an investment," All For One corrected. Tomura would soon learn all of this and would have to either adapt his strategy, or suffer another humiliating defeat in a short period of time.
It would increase his rage, hate and make him reach his full potential.
Either option was a win
___
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