Chapter 15: Never Surrender!
A high-pitched whine was the first thing he noticed as he woke up. His eyelids felt like cement but when he finally gathered the strength to open them he immediately closed them against the bright lights pointed at him. He focused on his other senses. He was in a chair, something heavy and cold on his wrists. Restraints, probably. His mouth was dry. Had he been drugged? If so it would explain the killer headache and the vision and hearing problems. He could smell cheap beer and sweat, an undercurrent of ash. Where the hell was he?
Once his headache had receded and the whine wasn't quite so ear-splitting, he opened his eyes again. It took a minute for him to blink through the haze and let the amorphous blobs of color take full shape. He was in a bar? Were those villains? He must have rattled the chains binding him to the chair because a voice called out.
"Hey, you. You're finally awake."
"Shut the fuck up, Spinner." A rougher voice yelled back, from right behind him. A hand grabbed his chin and directed his face to look at a patchwork man. His skin was barely held together with staples, burns dominated most of his features. The rancid smell of burnt flesh was enough to jolt him fully conscious. "It's nice to meet you Bakugou Katsuki, my name's Dabi. We should talk."
Silence reigned over the Midoriya apartment, only broken by the gasping sobs of Inko and Nemuri's reassuring whispers. Inko clutched at Nemuri's shoulders, crying into her chest. Nemuri ran a hand over her hair, petting her head and doing her best to give the distressed woman hope. It felt slightly hollow to her, though Inko didn't even seem to be processing the words she said as she clung to her like a life raft. The other teachers were still at Central Hospital looking after the injured students and fielding the initial outrage from both the press and parents. Shouta was being treated for some small burns and Yagi had already gone to the police to begin coordinating the search efforts, so Hizashi had volunteered to go to the Bakugous and give them the news. Which left Nemuri to look after Inko.
Nemuri felt numb, like her heart had stopped. The league had attacked a camp where six pro heroes were watching over their kids and had made off with not only their target but a pro hero as well as an additional kid. Her kid. None of this made any sense. Why the hell would the league target Bakugou? If they wanted a hostage, Yaoyorozu or Iida came from far richer homes. If they wanted to send a message to hero society why not take Todoroki who was right next to him? This wasn't just a kidnapping, there was something far worse at play here.
A bowling ball of dread settled in her stomach. Whatever their game was, Izuku wasn't an expected variable in it. This was the same group that had tried to kill the Symbol of Peace within the walls of U.A. If Izuku wasn't part of their plan and they didn't need him… no, she couldn't afford to think like that. They were going to find them in time. They had to.
"I- I'm sorry." Inko's voice was weak and choked with tears. "I-I'll make us some tea."
"No, Inko, I can-" "It's alright." She smiled, wobbly with tear-stained cheeks. Izuku had given her the exact same smile a dozen times over the past semester to cover up his own pain. "I think that doing something with my hands might help. I'll be right back." She got up and made her way to the kitchen, leaving Nemuri alone in the living room. Soon enough the sounds of a kettle could be heard breaking up the silence. Nemuri's phone buzzed in her pocket.
Captain America
We have a location, raid is tonight
Be at Kamino in 2 hours
Expect heavy engagement. He will be there
A smile broke out on Nemuri's face. Adrenaline flooded her system, heart kicking back in for the first time since she received that terrible phone call from Shouta.
It seems like tea will have to wait, Inko. I've got a demon to hunt.
"So what are we going to do about our tagalong?"
"We should kill him! Aww, just let the kid go, Mr. Compress!"
"Shut it, all of you! Obviously we're going to kill him."
"Now Tomura, there is a certain order that needs to happen here. I still have plans for the boy."
"But Master! You said I can destroy anything that I hate!"
"In due time, Tomura. We cannot cut corners at this pivotal stage."
"Yeah. Yeah, we're not in a speed run, this is about completion. Getting all the achievements."
"Exactly right. Midoriya Izuku will get what's coming to him, I promise you that. For now, bring me our other two acquisitions. The doctor has special plans for those two."
"Kurogiri, open a portal. Compress, send them in."
"If I may ask, my lord, why do you keep the boy alive?" The doctor trembled as All for One savored the newest quirk to join him. "Would it not be more efficient to simply take One for All now and be done with him?"
The Symbol of Evil considered Giraki through the lens of the Search quirk. The very act of questioning his master had sent the coward's heart rate skyrocketing. If he hadn't proved himself so useful in creating his Nomu he would have simply killed the doctor and moved on, but even All for One could see the value in his pawns.
"Do you know what Einstein's definition of idiocy is, Doctor?"
"Repeating the same actions and expecting different outcomes, my lord."
"I have attempted to reclaim what my brother stole from me for almost two centuries. I've had two holders of that quirk in my hand and still they resisted. Midoriya Izuku has proven himself just as stubborn as any other of my brother's bastard legacy and far more powerful. So do you think I would try again and fail the same way? Do you think that I am an idiot, Doctor?"
"Of course not, my lord!" If he had more of his face left All for One would have sneered at the sniveling excuse of a human.
"To take back what is mine, I will force Midoriya Izuku to watch as I kill his master in front of him. I will break his spirit until there is nothing left to resist me."
"And if he still persists, my lord?"
"Then there are already contingencies in place. I will always win, Doctor. Even if it takes millenia, I will crush my brother's rebellion beneath my heel."
"We're just going to sit here and do nothing? Is that it?" Kirishima's voice echoed despite the many bodies of 1-A crammed into the hospital room. "I thought we were supposed to be heroes."
"We're not heroes, we're in training. " Ojiro snapped at him. "We can't just run off after them."
"Even if we did, we'd be acting as vigilantes. As villains." Tsu's eyes were full of pain at her own words but she forged on. "We wouldn't be heroes."
"Midoriya and Bakugou wouldn't let that stop them from doing the right thing."
"Is that what you think the right thing is?" Jiro asked from one of the beds. She and Hagakure were the last to wake up of their class and the remaining members had gathered in their room for this discussion. "You want to run into an active situation and potentially interfere with the police and the actual heroes?"
"Do you guys remember what Aizawa said to Midoriya on our first day?" Hagakure had her knees tucked into her chest, leaning into Ojiro at her side. "You can't save anyone if you're just going to be a victim yourself. The league took on all those pros at the camp and won. What good could we even do?"
"Izuku would do it for us." Shoto's voice cut through the room. "He would do it for any of us."
"Yeah, and look where that got him." Sero interjected. "He ran in to help Bakugou and got kidnapped by villains!"
More voices joined the argument, but Ochako stayed silent in her corner. Her heart had been ripped from her chest and stuffed back up with cotton. Ever since she had learned Izuku was taken she could barely breathe. Kirishima and Shoto were right about one thing: if the situations were reversed Izuku would move heaven and earth to find them. But Izuku was stronger than she was. He had this unending reservoir of strength in him to keep fighting no matter the odds but Ochako wasn't like that. How could she be like him?
Don't wait for life to hand you something because sometimes, life will just steal it from you. And you'll never be able to get it back.
Ochako felt determination begin to fill the void where her heart once was. He had been stolen, but Izuku Midoriya was hers and she wasn't going to just give up without a fight. Some villains thought they could kidnap her boyfriend? Well, they were going to have to redefine pain in the dictionary when she was done with them. There was nowhere on Earth that they could hide from her. If she had to rip the world apart and burn it down to find Izuku then that was what she was going to do. She shot to her feet just as a knock sounded at the door.
Aizawa pushed open the door, light bandages covering his hands but looking far better than he did after the USJ. He entered the room and gave the assembled members of Class A a critical look over.
"I hope I'm not interrupting anything." His voice was dry. Had he overheard them from the hallway? Kirishima clenched his hands into fists.
"Sir, what's the plan to rescue Bakugou and Midoriya? We want to be involved!" Aizawa, rather than sighing or anything that Ochako expected, nodded at Kirishima.
"It's natural for you to feel that way. However, I've come with an update that will hopefully prevent any of you from concocting hair-brained schemes to run off and try to save them on your own." His eyes narrowed toward Kirishima and Todoroki. "As of right now we are not sure that Bakugou was the League's only target so you all will be staying here until the situation is resolved. We have a police presence as well as Hound Dog and Cementoss on site to ensure your safety." He held up a hand to head off Kirishima's comments.
"Now, there are some who would rather I not tell you this, but I have the utmost faith in all of you not to abuse this information and I think it will help ease some of your concerns. There will be a raid tonight, timed with the press conference U.A. is holding. All Might, Present Mic, Ectoplasm, and Midnight will all be on the ground during the raid. The rest of the faculty will be on stand-by, except for myself, Vlad King, and Nezu, who will be running the press conference."
"Why tell us this, sir?" Iida's question broke the stunned silence. "Wouldn't protocol dictate that the raid information be kept only for the heroes involved?"
"While Asui is correct that you are still heroes in training, each and every one of you has put your lives on the line to fight the league of villains. This is as much your case as anyone else's and it's only rational for you to receive updates for the cases you are involved in." Aizawa turned around to leave but stopped in the doorway. "I'm putting my trust in you all not to share this information around. Trust in your teachers and the other heroes. We will save them. I promise."
The chained up boy snarled at Dabi, straining against his bindings. "What are you supposed to be, some brainless scarecrow reject? Did you lose a fight with a fireplace or did Dorothy not come back yet?"
"Something like that." Dabi's hand lit up blue, the heat of it intense even from where Himiko was sitting. "Do you know how hot flame has to be in order to cremate a body? Around a thousand Celsius. I can do it in six seconds." The flames snuffed out, the fear on Bakugou's face confirming Dabi's point was made. "But we're not here to talk about me. We're here to talk about you, kid."
"What the fuck do you freaks want with me?" Himiko sighed into her bloody mary. Or was it Marie? Maki? She didn't really remember which one it came from. This kid was just so not cute. He was all like 'rawr' and 'I'll cut your stomach out and wear it like a hat' which was just not her type at all. She had seen all the first years at U.A. courtesy of Shigaraki's spy, and her Izuku was definitely the cutest. And, they had him right here! But she wasn't even allowed to go near the marble he was trapped in because of Shiggy's master and his 'grand plan' or whatever.
It was so unfair! Shiggy had promised that she could play with Izuku and talk to him and now he was just locked up in a ball! She wanted to know what his blood tasted like. She wanted to know why Stain liked him and called him a true hero. She wanted to know why he had that feral look on his face during the Sports Festival. Sure, the kid they had now had looked feral and mean during his fights but he looked more like a seriously peeved off raccoon, all wild and rabid and just because her quirk prevented her from getting bloodborne diseases didn't mean she wanted rabies.
Izuku looked feral like he was fighting to let something out of him. Like he was fighting for something more than just to win or just to survive. He looked like he was fighting for something that mattered. She shivered and wrapped her arms around herself to stop from stabbing something in glee. She just loved a man of focus and willpower! It was part of why she loved Mr. Stainy so much. He was the most focused man she had ever seen until she saw Izuku. Mr. Stainy was willing to kill for what he was fighting for, but Izuku was willing to die for it.
Himiko would kill for a lot of things. Love, blood, food, because she saw something particularly shiny she wanted that someone else had. But she didn't have anything she would die for.
She thought about that girl in the forest: Ochako. She was willing to die for Izuku. Stain was willing to let Izuku live to be a true hero. Tomura's Sensei was willing to give up a golden opportunity to kill him just to keep him around for some later purpose. So what was so special about him? What was so special about Izuku Midoriya that everyone who met him was so affected by him? She had to know. She had to ask him.
But she couldn't because Shiggy was keeping him in a freaking marble!!
"I think you misunderstand us, Katsuki. Can I call you Katsuki?"
"I'd rather you choke on a dick." Dabi ignored him.
"We don't want anything from you, Katsuki. We want to help you."
"Bullshit!"
"First place in the entrance exam, first place in the Sports Festival. And what was your reward?" Dabi leaned in close to his ear. "They chained you like a dog and showed you off to the world. And did anyone care? Did anyone speak out about how wrong it was to muzzle and chain up a fifteen year old on national television?"
"Kinda like you fucksticks are doing right now? How about you let me out of these cuffs and I'll consider leaving enough of you to have an open casket."
"See, that's exactly what we want to bring out of you Katsuki. We want your fire. We want that rage. The heroes only care about putting up fronts and pretending like we all live in harmony, but we know the truth. They're going to try to break you. They're going to dress you up and take you out to be seen by the adoring public but they don't want the real you. They don't want the wolf, they want a lapdog. Are you a lapdog, Bakugou Katsuki? Or are you a wolf?"
"So what's your offer? I become a villain like you shitheads? No thanks, hot and crispy. I ain't buying it."
"This society is at a breaking point," Spinner said. He walked next to Katsuki and laid a hand on his shoulder. He quickly removed it again before it was bitten off. "Heroes are treated like garbage men by the public they protect. They laud the fakes among them and curse the true heroes. Which do you think they'll do to you?"
"No one will ever be able to stand up for themselves while heroes are in the way." Dabi took over the conversation once more. "They're enabling the public to be soft and lazy. They prop up the weak and drag down the strong. You won the Sports Festival but all the media would talk about was Shoto. Or worse, him." Himiko could see a vein throb in Katsuki's head and she knew Dabi saw it too. "Oh yeah, we know all about your little rivalry with Midoriya Izuku. What's that name you call him again? It's Deku, right?"
Katsuki couldn't breathe. He felt like he was floating underwater. He was slipping away under the waves and the only thing that felt real was that voice in his head. Dabi's voice. It kept pushing and grating on his mind.
"Don't you want to teach him his place? All the heroes adore that kid but none of them treat you with the respect you deserve. Villains though, they get real respect. Nobody looks down on villains. They fear us. They're so scared of us they even let us take you. How else do you think we would have known your super secret camp location?"
No. Nononono this wasn't right. Katsuki was a hero. He wasn't a villain. He was a hero. That splitting headache returned and he grit his teeth to stop from screaming out. He was a hero damn it. He was going to be the best hero! He wasn't some two-bit hack and he would never give in.
But damn it, why was this guy making sense? The teachers wanted to put a leash on him and make him play nice with all the extras. Heroes only wanted people who would look pretty for the camera, not someone who had what it takes to do what's needed. Didn't they?
A scream worked its way up from his chest but he bit it back. None of this was right. He was going to be the best. The best hero. They wouldn't break him. They couldn't. Nothing would get in his way. He'd kill every last one of them before he worked for them.
"Enough, Dabi, you've made your point." That raspy voice could only belong to that handyman freak, but Katsuki didn't see him in the room. Was he behind him this whole time? "Get him prepped, we're running out of time before the heroes get here."
"Alright, alright." Dabi plucked a napkin from the bartop and wrote something on it before tucking it into Katsuki's pocket. "In case you change your mind and want to be a top dog in this world."
"Fat chance, fuck-" there was a sharp pinch on Katsuki's neck and the world receded into black.
"Toshinori." He looked down to his mentor. Gran Torino barely resembled the man who had trained him in the wake of his master's death, but the same fire was in his heart. The same steel resided in his eyes. "You know once he sees you he won't be able to stop himself from joining the fray. This will become a war. We barely walked away from the last one."
"He has him, Gran. I have to go."
That knowledge ate away at the sealed edges of old wounds in Toshinori. Too young to save his master, too old to save his successor, but just old enough to watch his greatest enemy take them both. Regrets and what-ifs swirled in his conflicted mind. If he had just gone with them to the camp, if he had just insisted that Izuku stay and train at Might Tower for the week like Sorahiko had suggested.
If only he had made sure that monster was dead the first time around.
Here in the quiet space Naomasa had cleared out of the back of the Kamino Ward police precinct, he wasn't All Might. He was just an old man wracked by guilt over his own mistakes. But that's not who Midoriya and Bakugo needed. That's not who the world needed from him. So once more, for one last time, he would charge into action and do what needed to be done. Because he had the power to do so. Because someone had to.
Because He was Here.
The old man let out a sigh.
"Stupid reckless fools. Nana, you, that successor of yours, the whole lot of you need a good deal more sense and a lot less brave-hearted nonsense. I guess this is what I get for letting her talk me into being a hero all those years ago. Well kid, what's the plan?"
"Find Midoriya and Bakugou. Get them out and finish this once and for all."
"Not much of a plan."
"I'll leave the schemes to All for One. I've beaten him once and I'll do it again."
Izuku. My successor. My boy. Hang in there for a little while longer, son. I'll see you real soon.
Tsukauchi knocked on the door of the room before sticking his head in. The detective had certainly looked better, but not sleeping for the better part of two days would do that to anyone. Toshinori was sure that his blood was half coffee at this point.
"Ten minutes. You ready, All Might?" Toshinori felt the rush of fire in his blood as he inflated to his muscular form.
"You bet, detective. Let's get out there." As he passed Tsukauchi, Toshinori was stopped by a hand on his arm.
"Make sure you make it out of this one, Toshinori. I mean it. I know you're about to retire but this nation needs our symbol. Your boy still needs you too."
"Don't worry, Naomasa. I have no plans to die today."
Izuku flew through the forest. Float came far more easily to him than Blackwhip had, like he was singing the words to a song he hadn't heard in years. He knew what to do even before his mind caught up to the decision. Shoto called after him but he didn't have time to wait for them. Kacchan was in danger. He didn't know how to feel about his former friend but damn it he needed time to figure that out. There was a good soul in Katsuki somewhere. Somewhere inside him was that kid who adored All Might and shared his ice cream with him in the summers and helped him rehome that rabbit they found in the park with their parents. Izuku wasn't sure he could ever really forgive Katsuki for all the shit he had done but he couldn't figure that out if the other was kidnapped by villains for fuck's sake.
He was gaining quickly on the magician in the yellow coat. He swore he could almost see his eyes widen in surprise beneath the mask. Izuku slammed shoulder first into the villain's back, left arm moving up to wrap around his torso.
"Give him back!" His hand dug into the coat, tearing holes into the material. He felt one of the villain's hands grasp at his own arm.
"I'm afraid I can't do that, but I can interest you in a magic trick?"
There was a flash of blue light and the forest disappeared. Izuku found himself floating lightly in the air, magician no longer in his hand. The masked villain laid several feet away, groaning against the ruins of what used to be a wall and now was generously called rubble. His hat had been knocked off, lost somewhere, coat ripped and several blue marbles rolling loose on the ground. Izuku blinked in confusion and looked around him.
The destruction was everywhere. They were in a city, one Izuku didn't recognize because half the street had been razed to the ground. Dozens of collapsed structures ringed around where Izuku stood for blocks in all directions. Slowly getting to their feet were the scattered members of the group that had attacked the summer camp. He recognized the lizard guy and the lady with the iron bar from their fight with Tiger and Mandalay, the magician villain, an unconscious Kurogiri, and he would never forget the face of Shigaraki Tomura. He was the first of them to his feet, hand affixed to his face but lacking the others that had littered their body during their first meeting at the USJ. The heavily burned man looked down for the count with a large head wound bleeding sluggishly, but a guy with a mask and a- is that a tape measure? - and a girl in a middle school uniform both pulled out weapons. If the tape measure counted as a weapon. Seriously, how does he even use that thing offensively? Is it like garotte wire? A powerful gust of wind almost knocked everyone to the ground again. Izuku spun toward the source and felt his heart stutter.
All Might was here. He was fighting someone. A monster in the form of a man with a breathing apparatus and suit. Something settled in Izuku's stomach. One for All flickered on around him. That man. Something about him sent One for All haywire at the sight of him. It's like his quirk was trying to run away. A tendril of dread shot down his spine. The man shot another blast of hurricane-force wind that All Might took head on. A whisper in the back of Izuku's mind told him the man's name. Izuku wasn't sure if his fear was his own or the reaction of his quirk to those three words.
All for One.
"Well, now. Isn't this special?" The voice was elegant, refined. It sounded more at home in a boardroom meeting than a battlefield, but it still sent waves of terror flooding Izuku's nerves. "Two generations of my brother's legacy, here to die at my hands. Once I'm finished crushing you, All Might, it will be on to his turn."
"You won't lay a hand on him, monster!" All Might leapt in with a vicious right hook that was countered by another blast of wind.
"Tomura, claim your rival for me. Keep him alive long enough to watch his master fall."
"With pleasure, sensei."
Analyze the situation, Izuku. Where are my threats? His eyes darted from Shigaraki to the magician villain. I can't afford to let either of those two get too close. Izuku launched forward, Blackwhip trailing behind him like contrails of a rocket. Tendrils rushed forward to grasp at the villain, and Izuku pulled with all his might. He called up every memory of every baseball game he had ever seen and flung the masked villain as far away from the fight as he could.
"Mr. Compress, no! Haha, that kid just yeeted him!" The guy with the tape measure lashed out with the corded end of it. Izuku flew up above the whipping edge of it. The rubble he had been standing in front of split apart from the force of the blow. Who makes a tape measure with razor blades at the end of it?! Shigaraki lunged toward Izuku but he kicked out and the gust of wind it stirred up knocked him back to the earth.
"Hi Izuku!" A strong pressure forced itself against Izuku's left side, so he dodged to the right, just ahead of the knife blade that would have pierced his chest. He spun to see the blonde girl twirling twin throwing daggers in her hands. "I've wanted to meet you for so long~"
"Oh yeah?" Izuku flew over the next two knives and landed with an axe kick that she dodged. "Well, the honor's mine. What's your name?"
"Himiko!" Blackwhip plucked another knife out of the air. Izuku rolled out of the way of a stab from Spinner who tried to sneak up from behind. "I'm Himiko Toga. I'm your biggest fan!" Oh goody, my first stalker.
"Toga, focus!" The woman with the iron bar called out. "We need to capture him again, not chat with him!" The girl pouted before brightening again. Izuku used her momentary distraction to dash twenty feet back out of her range.
"The boss man said we couldn't kill you, but he didn't say I couldn't at least cover you in pretty blood first!" Well that's not concerning at all. Four copies of the tape-measure guy leapt out at Izuku. One latched onto his back, another grabbed at his arm while the others started to bombard him with punches and elbows. Hopefully I can still pull this off with one arm. Izuku started to spin and flew a few feet into the air, wind whipping around him in a mini-vortex.
"OKLAHOMA SMASH!" The duplicates were sent flying splattering into mud where they hit the ground. Izuku dropped back to the ground, stumbling as he landed. This was his third or fourth major fight in the last twenty-four hours and it was taking its toll. He was barely keeping up with eight percent and that was with the new quirks he had gained. He was wary of using the third's anymore until he could guarantee that it wouldn't turn more of his bones to powder, but he was starting to get worn out.
A lance of heat at his back had him dodging forward out of the way of a grasping hand Shigaraki. Izuku spun his weight to lash out with a punch, but their bodies glowed blue for a second before rocketing away from each other. Crap, this is that woman's quirk. What was she called, Magne? Izuku felt a tug at his center and he was pulled in the direction of a grinning Toga.
"You know, you really put the cut in cute Himi-chan." The girl's eyes widened from slits to almost pure black pupils, like an excited cat. Huh, I wonder if that's a secondary mutation to support her being a hunter? Does she also have a rough tongue- Bad Izuku! Fight now, think about quirks later! Toga's excited squeals made her next slash with her knife sloppy, so Izuku was able to dodge inside of it. The two of them slammed together in midair from the attraction of Magne's quirk.
"You called me Himi-chan! You gave me a nickname! That means you like me right?"
"Uh, sure?" I need to break line of sight on her quirk, but how?
"Oh that makes me just want to stab you so much!" Izuku felt himself sweat-drop at her attitude. Okay, note to self: flirting with psychopaths just makes them crazier.
"Perhaps I could be of some assistance, Nine." Dark smoke exploded out of Izuku. Cries of confusion and panic went up amongst the villains. Izuku and Toga dropped at the loss of Magne's quirk, Izuku managing to catch himself with Float. "Smokescreen is a useful quirk if you can use it wisely. You must not falter here, Izuku. Everything hangs in the balance."
Yet another ghost in my head. Fan-tastic.
"Aww, but I was really looking forward to seeing you bleed, Izu!" A knife flew past his cheek, scratching a thin line across the left side of his face and ear. Right, focus on the fight and think about the voices in your head later, Izuku. You got this.
"That seems like a little much for our first date, Himi-chan, but maybe I can tie you up a little." Blackwhip bound the girl from head to toe, leaving her panting. Izuku couldn't see in the middle of his still growing smokescreen, but he could feel the writhing motions of the villain within it. Alright, now to deal with the other one.
Izuku burst through the air, cocking back his unbroken left fist. As he broke the outermost section of the smoke he brought his fist down on the unsuspecting Magne. The mini-shockwave that sent Magne flying was dwarfed immediately afterwards by the next massive blow by the two clashing titans nearby. Izuku's smoke dissipated in the face of the windshear. Tendrils left the bound Toga in order to plunge themselves into the ground to anchor Izuku in place. Shigaraki and Izuku were the last left standing from the blow, the other villains scattered like motes of dust.
"I must admit, you've impressed me, Midoriya Izuku." Izuku turned toward the voice of the Symbol of Evil. That eyeless face contorted in an awful smirk. "You're the spitting image of your master in his youth. I apologize for not getting the chance to pay you my respects during your stay with Tomura. I was preoccupied with our other guests."
"Where's Bakugou?" Izuku called out. "What have you done with him?" The monster in a three-piece suit chuckled.
"Why, I'm almost certain he's back with the heroes already." Jagged black and red spikes shot from his hand and pierced into the bodies of Magne and Kurogiri. A warp gate spawned behind a confused looking Toga. "I'm afraid, however, that I've gotten quite caught up reminiscing with my nemesis and lost track of time. Even as we now speak insects are beginning to swarm our position and as much fun as it is to crush heroes beneath my heel, this is a party meant for two. Tomura, it's time for you to go." The spikes tossed the limp body of Magne through the gate, and a red glow surrounded Toga.
"Wait, what?" A blue glow emanated from the male villains in the area as all their bodies suddenly shot toward Toga and the warp gate behind her. "Hold on guys you're coming at me way too quic-" the villains dogpiled into her as they tumbled into the gate beyond.
"Master, no! Let me stay!" Shigaraki's hands clawed grooves into the rubble beneath him as he was dragged backwards by Magne's forcibly activated quirk. "I can stay and help, please!"
"Listen to your sensei, Tomura. Your time has yet to come. Claim this world in my place." First the left hand came loose then the right as Shigaraki flew backwards through the rapidly closing portal. Glossy black and green tendrils dove in after him, and pulled him back out as the warp gate closed with a pop.
"Actually, I think he should stay."
In the weeks and months to follow, that picture would circulate on every news network. It would be shown again on the anniversary of the Kamino Ward Incident year after year. Izuku floating above Tomura Shigaraki where he was wrapped and bound in unbreakable black chains. Lightning crowned Izuku, his hair beginning to stand on end from the power rolling off of him. Smoke and vines of black wreathed his silhouette. He looked like a harbinger, a creature whose existence foretold the winds of change. The world would look back to this moment and point. There was the dawn of a new age of heroes. There, a symbol was born.
Toshinori looked on at his successor with a mix of deep resonating pride and annoyance. Just get out of here, kid.
"Well now, this is a wrinkle. It seems despite your many flaws you've chosen well, All Might. Midoriya Izuku may even surpass you."
"Keep his name out of your filthy mouth!" A massive fist slammed into Toshinori's side, causing a gout of blood to spew from his lips. He hurtled through the air until a familiar high speed projectile caught him and redirected both of them to crash into the ground.
"Calm down, Toshinori! Keep your wits about you." The two of them crash landed in a former apartment building, sending rubble spraying into the air. "This is the same thing that happened last time. You can't let him get under your skin!"
"Yes, sir."
"Can you still fight? It's do or die time, kid."
"A hero will always find a way for justice to be served!" Toshinori slammed his hand into the ground, pushing himself to his feet. Gran Torino shook his head.
"You kids and your damn catchphrases."
"All Might! Gran Torino!" At his side, Gran muttered something that sounded like a curse against foolhardy meatheads and children. "I can help!" Izuku was floating over the rubble towards them, still almost a block and a half of collapsed buildings between them. Toshinori raised his hand to stop him.
When you think you can't go on, remember your origin.
This nation needs our Symbol.
Live for him.
I have to finish this. He risked a glance at his successor, and he was struck with the resonant image of that sobbing skinny fanboy he had been when they first started training together. I couldn't be more proud of you, my boy.
"There's no need, young Midoriya. Just stay back and watch a pro go to work. Everything's going to be okay. Do you know why?" In the distance, All for One's arm began to grow in a grotesque mockery of a human limb. The Symbol of Evil called out for his rival, but Toshinori was focused on the boy he had chosen.
"Because I Am Here."
All Might…
"Izuku!" He blinked at the sound of his name. He turned to the voice and saw three figures running toward him. Kamui Woods and Edgeshot trailed behind the third figure who sprinted with all out desperation toward him.
"Midnight-sensei? Oof!" His teacher slammed into him with a hug.
"Oh god, kid. Never do something like that again, okay? Now come on, we have to get you out of here."
"Wait, what about All Might?"
"The Symbol of Peace shall endure." Izuku had barely registered the presence of the number five hero but holy shit Edgeshot was right here and talking to him! "He won't fall here but you are injured and are not yet a licensed hero. You need to evacuate with the others."
"But what about him?" Izuku pointed to the bound and snarling form of Shigaraki. His hands were trapped against his body so there was no risk of him using his quirk but they couldn't just leave him there. Midnight bent down and slammed a palm over his mouth. Purple mist trailed into the air between her fingers. Shigaraki's eyes rolled up and he fell unconscious.
"There, problem solved. We'll just take him with us. Kamui, if you would?"
"Right." Wood replaced Blackwhip and trapped Shigaraki even tighter. "Now, we should go and leave All Might to it."
"I will go to support him, the rest of you get out of here." Edgeshot flattened into a ribbon launched into the air toward the brutal fight happening in the center of the crater that once was Kamino Ward. Endeavor had desperately started trying to buy time for All Might to gather his strength for the last stand.
"Let's go, kiddo." Midnight tossed Izuku's good arm over her shoulders. Izuku looked back to his mentor, his skinny form now revealed to the world. Please All Might. I can't lose you.
…
"You're next."