Chapter 192 - 11

Chapter 11

"To command is to serve, nothing more and nothing less."

– Andre Malraux

Musutafu, Japan - April 2197

Shigaraki Tomura laid face-first on the ground, stunned by the sudden blow to his right side. He panted heavily after getting the wind knocked out of him.

'What. The. F**K!?' He inwardly shouted.

One second, he was about to disintegrate those three girls, starting with the brunette in the pink spacesuit. Then, a floating arm shielded her from his touch. Before he could process what had happened, something hard suddenly slammed into his ribs–which were really hurting right now!

Grunting, he shakily pushed himself to his hands and knees, and then he realized something… his face was exposed!

Momentarily forgetting about the pain that he was in, Shigaraki sat up and frantically looked around for the embalmed hand. 'No! Where is it!? WHERE!?' He was internally relieved to find it a few meters away from him.

He returned to his feet, outwardly grimacing from the pain flaring in his side. It felt like a few ribs had been broken. Dammit! He immediately decided to kill whoever dared to attack him, but first…

"Father…" Shigaraki bent down and carefully picked up the hand–with four fingers only–and proceeded to attach it back onto his face. He released a sigh of relief at the reapplied pressure. "Please forgive me."

"Shigaraki," Kurogiri swirled into existence by his side, "forgive me for not acting sooner. Are you alright?" He spoke with a concerned tone.

"I'm fine!" Shigaraki growled, feeling his ire grow. His broken ribs hurt badly. "Who the hell hit me, Kurogiri!?"

With a black wispy tendril, Kurogiri pointed forward. "The one in the green suit there."

Shigaraki turned to face the young man clad in a dark green, militaristic suit with a white star on his chest, wielding a circular shield with the same white star design in the center. The aspiring Hero faced them while standing 10 meters (~30 feet) away, shooting them a stern, hardened stare.

That bastard! Who the hell did he think he was?!

Meanwhile, the three girls from before were running away behind him in the direction of the stairway. That greenette body splitter was also absent. Was this guy trying to play the hero and give them time to escape?

Tch. He clicked his tongue in annoyance. Such a noble thing to do, he thought. It ultimately would be meaningless though as he'd send Nomu to kill them momentarily. First, he needed to get rid of his newest and biggest annoyance.

Shigaraki grimaced as he felt his right side painfully throb, which only served to fuel his ire. The one responsible for ruining his fun and possibly breaking his ribs too was standing in front of him–glaring daggers.

What? Was that guy trying to mimic some old Shonen Jumpprotagonist? Was he angry because he tried to hurt his dear nakama or some bulls**t like that?

"Hand Man!" Shigaraki was interrupted from his musings as the jade student called out. "Are you the one in charge of this League?"

With his gaze focused squarely on the enemy, Captain Midoriya had just finished filling in his three female classmates with his impromptu plan.

"Do you three understand?" The Captain questioned.

"It makes sense, but…" Asui glanced ahead at the teal-haired man–who was shakily starting to get up. "Are you sure you can do it, Midoriya?"

Captain Midoriya didn't respond immediately. He unclipped an emerald 200 kg (441 lb) exercise band from around his right wrist and dropped it to the ground with a loud thud and repeated the process on his left wrist. The 400 kg (882 lbs) of weight broke apart the hardened ground from the impact.

Asui, Jiro, and even Uraraka were flabbergasted by the bands' weight.

'Holy crap, Izuku! I thought those were just regular training weights… Have you seriously been carrying all that around this whole time?!' Uraraka internally shouted.

"Someone has to keep them distracted long enough for us to save Aizawa-sensei and rally the troops." He responded. "I can do that. I'm counting on you three to play your parts."

"Izuku," Uraraka stepped forward with a very concerned look. Memories of the Nomu breaking Aizawa easily played through her mind. "I-I can't let you fight that thing on your own…" The brunette was so worried that she didn't even realize she had used Midoriya's first name.

"I have to…" The verdette glanced sideways at the three ladies. "You three know what to do." He looked back to see the black-clothed man return to his feet, placing one of those hands back onto his face. "I may be limited compared to the rest of you… but I can at least do this. Trust me."

Uraraka still wasn't comfortable in leaving her best friend to fight such dangerous foes, especially when one was strong enough to defeat their instructor with no effort and another that could turn something to dust with just a touch. However, after witnessing for herself what Midoriya was capable of in their training exercises, she knew that if there was anyone in their class who could hold their ground against these Villains… it was him.

Uraraka clenched her fists and resolved herself. "Alright, I'll trust you with this, but you better not die. Do you understand?!"

The emerald super-soldier nodded, smirking slightly. "Roger that, ma'am."

"Alright girls, let's get going." Uraraka suggested, earning nods of acknowledgement from Asui and Jiro.

With Uraraka in front, the trio ran away in the direction of the stairway. 'You better keep your word, Izuku! If you don't, I'll get Yaomomo to find some way to revive you… just so we can kill you ourselves!' Uraraka tried to suppress her anxious thoughts. She had to be strong!

As his three classmates safely retreated, Captain Midoriya kept his focus on the Villain in black standing ahead. The warpgate Villain, Kurogiri, warped by his side and was now pointing in his direction. Most likely to confirm that he (Midoriya) was the one who had attacked the enemy leader.

The veteran clenched his fists and steeled himself. His friends were entrusting him to do his part in this plan of his. He would not betray that trust by failing to hold them off and/or dying!

First things first though, he needed to get that ebony bird monstrosity away from their instructor. It would also make sense to know who and what he was fighting too. Perhaps he could kill two birds with one stone?

"Hand Man!" He called out, perking the Villains' attention. "Are you the one in charge of this League?"

"Tch," The Villain hissed, his red eyes glaring hard at him. "Yeah...I'm Shigaraki Tomura, the leader of this party. What of it?"

…

…

Captain Midoriya's mind went blank, his eyes slowly widening in shocked disbelief.

No… That name… It wasn't possible….

'It can't be. Is it just a coincidence? Don't tell me… this man is actually his descendant!' He was aghast over that possibility. "Shigaraki…"

Shigaraki arched an eyebrow, mildly confused. Why did this guy look so shocked? He was acting like he had seen a ghost or something. Was he already familiar with his surname? How? It was the Master's name.

Well, it wouldn't matter soon when he became a bloody smear on the ground, the man-child rationalized.

Captain Midoriya snapped back to reality, glowering at the teal-haired Villain. "Tell me, what do you want? What's your goal here?!"

"Simple. I want All Might to die." He sounded nonchalant.

Captain Midoriya glanced over at the black beast, recalling Kurogiri saying the same thing. 'I see. That thing must be how they plan to kill him then.'

"But since he isn't here, I figured I'd have some fun and destroy that symbol of trash's pride. You interrupted my game! To top it off, you actually did some damage to my health bar." He glared hatefully at the soldier. "No way in hell can I allow that to slide… especially to a noob."

"Nomu, to me," Shigaraki commanded, and the beaked monstrosity, Nomu, moved. In the blink of an eye, it suddenly appeared in front of Shigaraki and Kurogiri. A gust of wind blew in-between the opposing sides.

The Captain's breath briefly hitched in his throat. 'It moves as fast as Toshinori?!'

Shigaraki's blood-red eyes lit up with twisted glee as a sick ear-to-ear grin formed on his face. "Nomu here was made to kill All Might himself. He can take anything the great Symbol of Peace can dish out. He's basically a giant punching bag with the speed and power to fight back!"

Though he stayed mostly composed, the Captain perked up at one thing mentioned in Shigaraki's monologue.

'It was made?' His verdant gaze focused on the monster in front of him. Its beaked mouth was full of daggers, its eyes were dead and blank, and its body was a monolith of rippling inhuman muscles and scars. 'Someone bioengineered this thing… just to kill Toshinori…'

Who would have the time, goal, and means to pull off such a feat? One such person came to mind, but the Captain wasn't yet convinced it was him. After all, too much time had passed since their last encounter. Maybe it was an old organization carrying on his twisted legacy? It would make sense given the League's leader had the Shigaraki surname.

Questions for later, he thought. Hopefully…

Captain Midoriya entered a fighting stance with his shield out front, glaring at his adversaries. Nomu stood motionless, ready and waiting. He noted that it didn't even move until the Hand Villain had told it to. Could it be that this monstrosity was nothing more than a mindless drone?

Such a creature was quite the double-edged sword. On the one hand, the super-soldier wouldn't have to worry about Nomu strategizing against him. On the other hand, though, that meant Nomu would do whatever it was told; regardless of if it resulted in self-harm or even its own death.

Truthfully, the realization made the veteran soldier feel worse. Nevertheless, he quickly hardened his resolve. Regardless of how he felt, he had a job to do.

"It may be overkill to sic Nomu on someone like you, but you've already pissed me off. So, it's time to die for you. Nomu," he pointed at the Captain, "kill him."

Perking up, the beast took a step towards him and then charged forward. A bullet train of muscle darted straight for the emerald soldier. Though most people would be unable to keep up with Nomu's incredible speed, the Captain's enhanced mind could process things much faster.

His prior training sessions with All Might had also sharpened his enhanced senses as well.

In barely a second, Nomu was already in front of him with its bulky arms reaching out to grab him. Already anticipating its predictably direct approach, Captain Midoriya hunched down–bracing the shield in front of him–and took the charging behemoth's legs out from underneath it. Nomu flipped over onto its back and slammed on the ground hard, cracking it in the process.

Standing up, Captain Midoriya quickly slipped the shield off of his forearm and, with a mighty heave, threw it with plenty of force. As the Nomu stood up and turned back, the shield slammed into its beak and cleaved it in half.

CRUNCH!

Blood, chunks of beak, and broken teeth splattered across the ground.

With the massive beast momentarily distracted, Captain Midoriya ran forward and jumped high into the air, catching his rebounded shield in the process and slipping his left arm back into the straps. Somersaulting, he attempted to slam the shield into the top of Nomu's exposed brain. However, the Nomu reacted in time to punch its target away.

Fortunately, Captain Midoriya had brought up the shield at the last millisecond to block the deadly blow. The shield rang from the force behind the punch as the super-soldier went careening uncontrollably through the air, crashing into the concrete steps of the central plaza's large fountain.

Sitting up from the crushed concrete steps, the soldier grimaced from the hot pain shooting up his back. "AGH…ow… How did it–WHOA!" He opened his eyes just in time to see Nomu falling directly above him.

He swiftly rolled away and narrowly avoided Nomu's feet colliding into the steps where he had been lying. Chunks of concrete went flying as the impact created a bigger crater. Captain Midoriya rolled down the grassy slope to the bottom and popped back to his feet.

He looked up and was dumbfounded to see that all the damage he had inflicted on Nomu was gone!

"It healed!?" He exclaimed, shocked.

Nomu stepped out of the crater it had made and directed its blank gaze back towards the emerald soldier. The onyx titan rushed down the slope in an insane burst of speed with its fist cocked back. Captain Midoriya performed a backward somersault to barely evade the beast's incoming fist, which shattered the ground beneath it.

Landing gracefully on his feet a fair distance away, the verdette spun around and, using both hands, threw his shield with full force. Flying vertically, the indestructible disk sliced through the beast's right shoulder, creating a large and clean gash that revealed tendons and bone. The shield rebounded back off the fountain steps and sliced through Nomu's left shoulder from the back. Jumping up, Captain caught his shield and spun in midair to slice the shield's edge across Nomu's neck.

SHRANK!

More blood gushed out of the open wound. The red liquid mostly pooled onto the ground, but some did find its way on the shield and the Captain's uniform.

Returning to his feet, Captain Midoriya swiftly followed up by jumping up to pull both legs back, delivering his strongest kick directly into the monster's torso.

However, something unexpected happened. Instead of sending the onyx brute flying, the super-soldier felt all the force behind his kick suddenly disappear and promptly fell on his side. Nomu looked down at him, its shoulders and neck already fully healed. It was as if the injuries he inflicted had never happened.

Before he could get up, Nomu grabbed the Captain by his right leg and lifted him up. Dangling in the beaked monster's grip, the super-soldier twisted around to slam the shield up into Nomu's face again. More blood and teeth were sent flying as the Adamantium-Vibranium alloy easily crushed its beak.

Nomu, however, did not release its grip on him as its damaged beak suddenly repaired itself.

Captain Midoriya suddenly found himself being slammed into the ground. Nomu continued tossing him around from side-to-side like a ragdoll several times. The super-soldier hacked up blood mixed with saliva with each impact, his body flaring with pain from each impact. He thought he felt a few ribs crack as well.

But, in the brief moment he was being swung in the air, he gained enough control of himself to throw his shield with all the strength he could muster at the moment.

SHRANG!

The shield sliced clean through Nomu's right arm. The severed arm's hold on the Captain's leg was released, sending him tumbling along the ground. Coming to a stop, Captain Midoriya fought through the pain and pushed himself off the dirt. The shield rebounded and landed within the soldier's reach, clanging to the ground. He quickly reached for the shield and placed his right arm through its straps.

Looking ahead, he was met with a shocking sight as bones and muscle tendons miraculously started to grow back. In mere seconds, Nomu's right arm had fully regenerated!

It then directed its blank gaze at the Captain.

'It can even regenerate lost limbs…' The verdette sweated as he shakily stood back up, clenching his jaw shut. '...That's going to be a problem.'

Captain Midoriya wasn't given time to contemplate further as Nomu rushed forward at blinding speed, cocking back its new right arm. Despite the pain, the emerald soldier managed to hold up his shield and crouch low with one leg back to anchor himself.

DIIIINGGG!

A bell-like sound followed by a shockwave resonated across the plaza as the concrete beneath the Captain cracked around him.

'Shigaraki wasn't kidding around. That punch was as strong as Toshinori's…' The verdette went wide-eyed.

Nomu was undeterred by its punch being blocked by the disk and reared back its left arm for another. Shifting his shield, he successfully managed to block the second punch and created another shockwave as a result.

Nomu continued mindlessly throwing punches, trying to get past the shield; however, the Captain was still sharp enough to follow and successfully predict Nomu's movements to block every strike. He had to. Unlike with his prior training with All Might, these powerful blows were being dished out with the intent to kill!

Clenching his jaw shut, Captain Midoriya focused intently on blocking the colossal and unrelenting onslaught. His shield was the only thing keeping him alive right now. He couldn't afford to falter even for a second.

He just needed to hold out a little bit longer.

'It has the speed and power to match Toshinori… and rapid regeneration to boot!' He thought between each loud shockwave, grimacing from the loud ringing in his ears. 'But…' Peeking above the shield's rim, his eyes focused on Nomu's exposed brain. '...it does have one clear weakness.'

He had to go for the head. The brain controlled nearly every bodily function…including regeneration. However, given the Captain's current position though, he had no way of exploiting it. Right now, he was too focused on blocking Nomu's hits and trying to keep his footing steady under the cracking ground around him.

As Captain Midoriya tracked Nomu's movements and blocked its hits, he began to notice something peculiar. A faint bluish-green glow was beginning to shimmer off of the shield's metallic surface.

'Wait… what?' This brief moment of distraction was enough to cause the Captain anchored right foot to slip. As a result, the next mighty blow that struck the shield forced the super-soldier to his knees hard.

A pained shout escaped from Captain Midoriya's throat. He was in a very compromised spot now. He looked up to see Nomu balling its hands together and rearing back for an even more powerful blow.

'Not good…' He sweat-dropped behind the shield.

"Now!" A voice cried out.

Before the obsidian beast could bring its fists down, a viscous liquid suddenly rained down on its head and arms. Then, a focused blast of low frequency soundwaves suddenly bombarded Nomu. It fell to its knees and roared out of pain as its skin and muscles started to melt off while the powerful bass sound compromised its internal organs.

"GET AWAY FROM HIM, MONSTER!"

Moments earlier…

Uraraka, Asui, and Jiro rushed across the courtyard toward the path that led to the main stairway. Along the way, they were grateful that the large ugly creature holding their teacher hostage wasn't paying attention to them at all. Its blank gaze was focused squarely on the bloody haggard man underneath it.

Jiro nervously grimaced at the sight of their beaten teacher. "Are you guys sure about this plan?" She asked aloud. "I mean… It sounds pretty risky, don'tcha think? Shouldn't we focus on escaping instead?"

"Not like we can at this point. Kero." Asui pointed out. "Those Villains won't just let us leave without a fight."

"Tsuyu's right. Besides, Aizawa-sensei's life depends on it." Uraraka's expression hardened, "And I trust Izuku's judgment. He knows what he's doing."

"Izuku?" Jiro perked up.

"Kero?" Asui glanced at her curiously. "That's the second time you said his first name…"

Uraraka's face flushed a little. "Oh… uh… Hey, look over there!" She directed their attention forward, distracting them from her slipup.

By the stairway, they noticed their classmates, Ashido and Mineta, crouching in the shadows by the stair's walls–trying to stay out of sight.

"It's Ashido and Mineta. Just like Midoriya said." Asui noted.

"Hey!" Uraraka called out. "Ashido! Mineta!"

Ashido and Mineta both perked up and immediately spotted the trio heading toward them.

"Oh, thank goodness you girls are alright!" Ashido beamed.

"Yeah. I'd be a shame if anything bad happened to you fine ba–"

"Glad to see you're alright too, Ashido-san!" Uraraka cut in.

"Yeah. But why are you soaking wet?" Jiro curiously asked.

"HEY! Why are all of you just ignoring me?!" Mineta shouted, annoyed.

"We just came out of the Downpour Zone." Ashido replied. "I wouldn't recommend it, by the way. Not good for your hair." She then took note of their wet costumes and damp hair. "Were you guys in the Flood Zone?"

"Kero." Asui nodded. "There were a bunch of Villains in the lake, but we took care of them. Both of you were just with Midoriya, right?"

The pinkette and grape-head both nodded.

"He told us to wait by the stairs until that monster leaves Aizawa-sensei alone. Then, we could rush in to rescue him." Ashido turned her attention back to the monster still kneeling by Aizawa. "I don't know how he plans on getting that thing away from him though." She looked nervous.

"About that," Uraraka spoke, "we need to fill you both in quickly."

"Uraraka, Tsuyu, Jiro, I need you three to listen to me very carefully." Midoriya requested, making the three young women perk up. "Our top priority right now is rescuing Aizawa-sensei. To do that, Bird Brain needs to be lured away from him."

"How do we–" Uraraka was cut off as the emerald-clad soldier continued.

"I'll stay here and keep the Villains' attention on me. I'll provoke Hand Guy into siccing Bird Brain on me." Midoriya revealed. "Something tells me he's the one running the show here."

The three girls gaped, looking at the verdette as if he had lost his mind. The memory of Aizawa getting beaten down was still fresh on their minds.

"In the meantime, you three head to the stairway. Ashido and Mineta are both hiding there. Let them know what's going on and help them get Aizawa to safety. Then–"

"Hold on, we can't just run away!" Uraraka protested. "Let us stay and–"

"Let me finish." Midoriya firmly said, making the three women briefly freeze up. The serious, commanding aura surrounding their classmate was palpable. Even Uraraka was caught by surprise. "I'm not arrogant enough to believe I can take them on my own… at least not for long. But I can divert their attention away from you guys.

"When Aizawa is out of harm's way, Uraraka, I want you, Jiro, and Ashido to come back and initiate a surprise attack." The two present young women perked up. "Tsuyu, I want you to help Mineta carry Aizawa to safety up the stairs."

He paused for a brief moment.

"I won't sugarcoat it… My life and Aizawa's is going to depend on you three following through with this. Please, be as quick and efficient as you possibly can."

"Does that guy have a death wish or something?!" Mineta exclaimed fearfully. "He's going to get himself killed!"

"Not if we do our part!" Uraraka countered. "Midori-kun trusts us! We can't let him nor Aizawa-sensei down!"

Ashido considered the plan and nodded in agreement. "I'm in!"

Mineta naturally wasn't confident. "We really should just run away but…" He then recalled what Midoriya had told him earlier. "B-but it wouldn't r-really be cool if we just ran away l-like cowards. So, I-I'll help." He said, albeit nervously.

"Kero." Asui turned to the courtyard, seeing the monster Villain kneeling over Aizawa's battered form. "We just have to hope Midoriya can lure that thing away from–" The frog girl didn't complete her sentence as the onyx creature vanished in the blink of an eye. It swiftly appeared in front of the Hand Villain and Kurogiri across the plaza near the Flood Zone.

The group was speechless, collectively shocked by what had happened.

Jiro was the first to find her voice… barely. "H-how did it… m-move so fast…?"

"It was just as fast as All Might…" Mineta stammered.

Uraraka felt a deep pit form in her stomach. 'Izuku…' Her dear friend was going to fight something that moved that fast!? His words about how his life depended on them being quick echoed in her mind.

Shaking her head, she turned to her classmates with a determined look. "C'mon! Let's go get our teacher!"

The quintet sprinted across the open courtyard toward their instructor, running around or even jumping over the battered, unconscious Villains in their path. Reaching their instructor, each sucked in a breath at seeing how injured he was.

"Hey, is he…" Mineta trailed off, afraid of the grim possibility.

Jiro knelt down and placed her right earjack against Aizawa's neck, listening for any pulse. She looked back. "He's alive, but his pulse is–"

"What…" Jiro stopped and the group looked down to see the haggard man's right eye cracked open. "...are you… doing?"

Tears brimmed in Ashido's eyes while Uraraka, Asui, and Mineta sighed in relief that Aizawa was still alive.

"It's okay, sir. We're here to save you. Kero." Asui assured him.

Aizawa weakly groaned before passing out, the pain too intense for him to bear.

"I'll make him weightless, that way we won't accidentally injure him further." Uraraka swiped her hand across Aizawa's back, making him float. Asui and Ashido each grabbed hold of the haggard man by his legs.

"Alright. Let's get him to–" Before Uraraka could finish her sentence, a familiar metallic ringing sound echoed across the plaza. The group turned to see something crash into one of the flights of stairs on the central water fountain.

"What was that?!" Mineta exclaimed.

The quintet spotted something rolling down the fountain's hillside, and it didn't take them long to recognize it was Midoriya. The onyx bird-headed monster rushed down the slope at blinding speed and punched the ground, breaking it apart and creating a small shockwave in the process. Somehow, their classmate managed to leap back in time to avoid the hit.

"Holy crap…" the purple boy uttered.

The group couldn't help but to briefly pause and watch the fight. Midoriya seemed to be holding his own as his shield cut through the massive monster like a hot knife through butter. But it didn't matter as the beast shockingly healed its wounds in seconds.

"Is… Is he gonna be okay?" Mineta sounded unsure.

The gravity brunette wanted to rush in and aid her best friend, but–like he had said–they needed to get Aizawa to safety first. That was the priority.

"C'mon, let's make a break for it while we can!"

The quintet rushed back across the courtyard, yanking a floating unconscious Aizawa along with them as if he were a balloon. Once the group reached the stairway, nothing could've prepared them for what happened next.

DIIIINGGG!

A powerful sound reminiscent of a large bell blasted across the courtyard, forcing the group to cover their ears in a feeble attempt to protect their eardrums; Jiro suffered the most due to her sensitive hearing. A shockwave followed that shook the ground, causing the quintet to stumble.

"AGH!" Jiro grimaced, clenching her eyes shut. "What the hell was–"

Looking across the plaza, they paused at the sight of Midoriya using his shield to block the ebony Villain's punch. Two things ran through their minds. One, the strength behind that beast's punch had to have been insane, perhaps even at All Might's level! Two, Midoriya's shield had tanked it without any damage whatsoever!

Seriously, how could that thing be so strong?!

The onyx beast cocked back its fist to throw another punch that Midoriya successfully blocked once more. More bell-sounding shockwaves rippled across the courtyard like waves in a pond. With the exception of Jiro–who was covering her sensitive ears–the group looked on in shocked astonishment as Midoriya continued blocking the massive Villain's earthshaking blows.

"Kero…" Asui croaked apprehensively, "He can't keep that up… sooner or later, he'll…" Uraraka held up her hand to stop her.

"Tsuyu, Mineta, you both take Aizawa-sensei to the entrance. Keep him safe." Uraraka sounded serious.

"Kero…please stay safe you guys."

"Y-yeah…" Mineta stammered.

Asui gently placed Aizawa on her back while Mineta grabbed his legs. As Uraraka returned their instructor's weight, the frog and grape-headed pair ascended up the stairway.

Uraraka turned back to her companions. "Ashido, Kyoka, you're with me." The two girls nodded in determination. Touching their shoulders, the brunette removed gravity's pull on them. "Hold onto me!"

Both young women complied and immediately latched on to her sides. Via her helmet's visor, Uraraka activated her costume's air-thrusters and the trio soared across the courtyard toward the battle between the obsidian giant and the former soldier with a shield.

"Be ready Ashido," cautioned Uraraka.

"Right!" the pinkette nodded. "You can count on me!"

"Jiro, I know you're in pain, but–"

"It's alright…" Jiro clenched her teeth, "I can do it!"

Her head was ringing, and she was sure she felt blood leaking out of her ears too. Any more of this and the rocker girl was worried she'd go deaf. But her friends were counting on her! Refusing to let them down gave her the fortitude to push through the pain.

"Uraraka, I want you to use your Quirk on yourself, Jiro, and Ashido and fly over me. Tell Ashido to make the most corrosive acid she can and spray down that Bird Brain Villain, preferably its head area. Jiro, focus your sound directly onto it too. With its body being bombarded with acid and sound, it should give me an opening to finish the job… Do you three understand?"

Uraraka felt knots form in her stomach as her nausea crept back on her. 'No!' She shook her head. 'I have to tough through it!' She resolutely thought.

As they floated over the epicenter of Midoriya and Nomu's epic clash, Uraraka slowed down and carefully maneuvered the trio until they were directly above the titan Villain. Suddenly, Midoriya shouted out as he was forced to his knees in the cratered hole that the shockwaves had created.

As the beast balled its fists together and reared them over its head, Uraraka knew they had to act.

"Now!" Uraraka shouted.

Ashido immediately stretched out both arms and unleashed a torrent of the most corrosive acid she could produce. Making a selection on her watch, Jiro unleashed a powerful low frequency blast of sound.

Moments before Nomu could smash Midoriya, its body was assaulted by acid and sound.

"GET AWAY FROM HIM, MONSTER!" Uraraka fiercely yelled.

Stumbling off to the side, the Nomu roared in agony as Ashido's acid dissolved its skin and muscles all the way down to the bone whilst Jiro's focused sound blasts inflicted serious damage internally.

Captain Midoriya smiled at the female trio above him. "Great timing girls! Thanks!"

Nomu let out an animalistic shriek before falling to its knees with its arms dangling limply by its sides. Smoke sizzled off its exposed brain as its regeneration abilities went into overdrive to repair all the damage.

'It's working. Ashido's acid and Jiro's sonic attacks are disabling it. I have to end this fast!' It was then the Captain recognized that his shield was still shimmering with a teal-colored shine… and humming with a harmonic, metallic tune reminiscent of a tuning fork. 'Maybe… just maybe…'

"An impressive attack. Though I wonder how well its respective users will fare against it." Without warning, the swirling black mass that was Kurogiri appeared directly above Nomu to shield it from the sonic-acid attack as another appeared right in front of the three floating young women. "Let's find out."

"OH CRAP!" Uraraka used her air-thrusters to push them off to the side away from the portal, narrowly avoiding an onslaught of acid. But no sound came out.

Kurogiri was capable of negating sound and any ranged attack! The Hero students gaped at the potent defense.

"Leave them alone!" Midoriya threw the shield with such speed that the black mass had no time to react as it struck his bracer. He shouted out in pain as he was sent flying off to the side, his brace scratched and dented further.

"Thanks for the save, Midori-kun!" Uraraka cheered appreciatively.

'I allowed that blasted shield to hit me again!' Kurogiri shouted, frustrated with himself. 'But Tomura shall finish him off.' He then activated his Quirk.

Jiro's earjacks twitched as she heard something. She glanced down to see a black portal opening in Midoriya's blind spot…and the black-clothed Villain emerging out of it with his hand of death extended out.

"Midoriya, look out!" Jiro cried urgently.

"Too late!" By the time the super-soldier turned his head, Shigaraki had already lashed out like a viper with his right hand. He was too close to dodge or block and his shield hadn't rebounded yet. His fingers of death were only centimeters away from touching his enemy's face.

BAM! BAM! BAM!

Three gunshots went off.

"STAY AWAY FROM HIM!"

Moments earlier…

"Almost there!" Yaoyorozu shouted. "Just watch your step, please."

"Roger that!" Kaminari shouted back.

Yaoyorozu and Kaminari were currently trekking along a narrow rocky trail down a mountain slope, going over and around large boulders and rocks along the way. Tsunotori was piggyback riding on Kaminari with his arms hooked under her knees to provide extra support.

The Mountain Zone was naturally very steep and uneven, making it difficult to navigate on foot alone. The creation heiress considered making a jetpack, but immediately dismissed that idea–realizing she'd expend most of her lipids just to make it. In addition, it likely wouldn't be powerful enough to lift three people anyways.

For now, they'd just have to navigate the terrain the old-fashioned way.

"Hey…I'm not too heavy, am I, Kaminari-san?" Tsunotori asked, still dazed from her aching head.

Kaminari smirked. "Nah, you're light as a feather, Tsunotori-san."

"Thanks for carrying me again." Tsunotori frowned, feeling guilty. "I…just lost all my strength earlier…"

"It's most likely your body trying to recover from overusing Horn Cannon as well as the medicine I administered to you." Yaoyorozu explained. "We need to get you to a doctor soon."

"Don't you worry, Tsunotori-san." Kaminari reassured her. "Everything's gonna be alright."

"Thanks… Oh, you can call me Pony if you want." The blonde pony-girl mentioned absentmindedly.

"Eh?" Kaminari felt his face flush a little, taken aback by her offer. "Oh really? Uh, okay. Thanks…Pony. Um, you can call me Denki if you want."

Tsunotori smiled weakly. "Okay."

Yaoyorozu glanced back, smiling a little. 'Look out, Jiro. You may have some competition.' Before she could entertain that thought further, she spotted the end of the path up ahead. "Look there!" She gestured forward.

"Alright, finally!" Kaminari grinned.

From there, Yaoyorozu and Kaminarai carefully proceeded down the rocky slope and finally reached the entrance of the Mountain Zone.

"Yay… we made it…" Tsunotori smiled sedately, and then began to drift off to sleep.

"Uh… Tsun–oh, Pony?" Kaminari looked back, bewildered.

Tsunotori started snoring, fully asleep.

"Tsunotori overextended herself." Yaoyorozu explained. "She needs rest."

"I see," Kaminari looked back at Tsunotori, who was resting her chin on his right shoulder. 'This is freaking awesome! I bet Mineta would be super jealous if he saw this!' He mused, feeling good over his chances of possibly getting a hot girlfriend in his university tenure.

"There you guys are!" Yaoyorozu and Kaminari looked up to see Tokage's split body flying toward them; much to their surprise.

"Tokage?" Kaminari cocked a brow.

Yaoyorozu sighed in relief, smiling. "I'm glad to see you're alright."

Tokage's body parts connected as she landed in front of them. The greenette exhaled loudly, feeling the draining effects of her Quirk, said effects amplified after regenerating a new arm to replace the one that Shigaraki dusted earlier.

"Man… that's a workout." Whipping some sweat off her brows, she looked up at the duo and was surprised to find Tsunotori slumbering on Kaminari's back. The greenette shot him a toothy smirk. "Enjoying yourself there, Kaminari-san?"

"Uh…p-possibly," Kaminari looked away, feeling flustered.

Tokage chuckled to herself. "I guess Jiro better hurry before the Denki train leaves the station." She unknowingly echoed Yaoyorozu's thoughts from earlier aloud.

"Huh?" Kaminari blinked twice, befuddled. "What do you mean?"

DIIIINGGG!

The group flinched from the loud chimes of a bell continuously resonating across the facility, feeling their eardrums ringing.

'Oh, right! Need to focus!' Tokage chided herself.

"W-what the heck is that?!" Kaminari yelled.

"That's probably Midoriya." Tokage replied.

Both the ravenette and blonde looked at her in surprise.

"Midori-kun? Tokage, what's going on?" Yaoyorozu sounded concerned.

"Right… Well, I've got some good news and bad news. The good news is our classmates are okay at the moment. They were scattered across the facility by that Kurogiri guy. Also, we helped Iida escape earlier, so he's running back to campus as we speak."

Yaoyorozu and Kaminari relaxed their shoulders. Though the heiress had already strongly suspected that their fellow classmates had just been warped to other areas in the USJ, it was a relief to know they were okay. It was even bigger relief to know that help was on the way.

"But," Tokage continued, making the pair perk back up, "the bad news is they're also fighting groups of Villains, Aizawa-sensei got banged up pretty badly by that Bird Villain,…and I think Midoriya is fighting it now too."

Yaoyorozu's eyes widened as her breath hitched in her throat. She remembered seeing the onyx bird-looking behemoth from the stairs. By looks alone it seemed quite powerful. That appeared to be the case as it took down Aizawa easily. But now Midoriya was fighting that thing?!

"Midoriya asked me to send him some backup to buy some time before the Pros show up. I already directed Bakugo, Kirishima, and Todoroki in that direction but it may not be enough. If you guys are able, do you think you can–"

"Absolutely!" Yaoyorozu was undeterred, her gray eyes ablaze. "Just tell us where he is!"

"He's fighting in the central plaza. On the Downpour and Flood Zone's side." Tokage gestured toward that location.

"I wish I could help out, but…" Kaminari glanced back at Tsunotori, who was still unconscious.

"I can take her off your hands if ya want," the busty greenette offered. "They could definitely use your lightning!"

"Thanks, I would really appreciate that." Kaminari nodded appreciatively.

Tokage's arms popped off and moved to carefully pull Tsunotori off of Kaminari's back. "I'll get her to the entrance. She should be safe with the others up there." She recalled something important. "Oh! The Villain with the hands…he can disintegrate whatever he touches. Fair warning!"

Yaoyorozu nodded in understanding. "Understood! Let's go, Kaminari!"

"I'm right behind yah!"

"Good luck guys! I'll join back up with you soon!" Carrying Tsunotori, Tokage took off into the air back to the main entrance.

Yaoyorozu and Kaminari ran towards the trees and shrubbery that lined the perimeters of all of the natural disaster zones. It didn't take them long to reach the side of the plaza where the action was happening. Looking out over the open space they spotted Uraraka, Ashido, and Jiro floating in the air with Midoriya on the ground close by.

Without wasting another moment, the duo sprinted across the courtyard to lend aid, careful to avoid any of the downed Villains. However, the cracked and shattered flooring did slow the pair down. They couldn't afford to twist or break an ankle now!

Yaoyorozu noticed the pattern of the fissures strongly resembled a rippling effect of when an object was dropped in still water. Yaoyorozu followed the waves' fissures to its epicenter and spotted Midoriya standing in it.

Uraraka, Ashido, and Jiro were floating above with Ashido dousing the Bird Villain in acid and Jiro blasting it with heavy bass from her boot-speaker. Their attack was working as the Bird Villain was on its hands and knees, skin and muscles melting away to reveal the organs and bones.

The grotesque sight nearly made the heiress gag in her mouth, but she was confused by something. 'Why are they using such an extreme method to neutralize that Villain?' Yaoyorozu wondered. 'Are they really that dangerous?'

Before the heiress could ponder on it further, Kurogiri suddenly appeared right by Uraraka, Ashido, and Jiro and used his warping ability to deflect Ashido's acid right back at them. Yaoyorozu almost felt her heart leap into her throat, but thankfully the trio managed to narrowly avoid the attack.

A familiar shield was promptly thrown into Kurogiri's bracer, sending him crashing to the ground. 'I see. Izuku was right. That metal collar guards Kurogiri's real body.' Yaoyorozu internally rationalized. 'The mist is just to distract us.'

Speaking of her friend, Yaoyorozu's grey eyes turned to him at the moment when a black portal swirled into existence on his blindside. Coming out of it was the black-clothed Villain with hands on his face and arms. The sinister aura wafting off of him was palpable even from her position.

Tokage's words echoed suddenly through her mind. "The Villain with the hands…he can disintegrate whatever he touches. Fair warning!"

The Villain's right hand was reaching out to grab Midoriya's face.

Yaoyorozu felt her blood freeze at the horrifying thought of her dear friend turning to dust.

Without thinking, Yaoyorozu's thigh glowed with rainbow-colored light as she manifested a black airsoft rifle. In one fluid motion she stopped to lift up the rifle, take aim, and fired rubber bullets at the man's shoulder.

"STAY AWAY FROM HIM!" Yaoyorozu shouted with uncharacteristic furiosity.

Shigaraki stumbled back and shrieked, clutching his right shoulder as hot searing pain shot through it. He glanced at where the projectiles had impacted to see there was no blood. Though the rubber bullets didn't go through him, they still hurt like hell! They would definitely leave their marks.

With his enemy distracted, Captain Midoriya responded by kicking Shigaraki aside, sending him tumbling back across the ground.

"Tomura!" Kurogiri exclaimed in alarm, warping away to tend to his ward.

Without even looking, Captain Midoriya caught his rebounded shield with his left hand. "Thanks for the save, Yaomomo!" He smiled appreciatively.

Yaoyorozu and Kaminari finally closed the distance.

"I'm just thankful you're alright." Yaoyorozu looked relieved. "Please, forgive us for being late!"

"Actually, you're just in time." Captain Midoriya smirked.

As they talked, Uraraka gently lowered Ashido and Jiro to the ground and deactivated her Quirk. Feeling the backlash of Zero Gravity, the brunette stumbled a bit as her stomach did flips but quickly straightened up–ignoring the mild nausea.

"Y-Yaomomo… I'm so happy to see you're okay." The brunette smiled in relief.

"Yes, thank goodness you're all safe as well." The ravenette replied kindly.

"Yeah!" Kaminari pulled out his batons, smirking confidently. "Now that we're here, we totally got this!"

"Well…" Jiro nervously gestured to Nomu. "I wouldn't be so sure about that yet, Yammingway. Take a look."

True enough, Nomu was regenerating faster without acid and soundwaves bombarding it. The group watched in morbid fascination as its melted muscles and organs reformed and knitted back together with ebony skin instantly growing over it. In mere seconds, Nomu looked like it hadn't been injured at all.

"Holy crap…" Kaminari gasped, his confidence immediately drained away. "How in the hell do we–"

"NOMU, KILL THEM!" Shigaraki hollered out.

The massive Villain turned its blank, unsettling gaze on the group–making them flinch. Captain Midoriya immediately got into a fighting stance, preparing to defend his classmates.

As Nomu took a step forward, it froze–literally, as ice crept up its legs. A moment later, huge explosions bombarded the area and forced everyone, including Kurogiri and Shigaraki, to cover their eyes and take several steps back.

"Stay out of my way, Icy-Hot!" An angry voice roared. "I don't need any help!"

"I didn't hear any complaining when I helped you earlier." A chill, monotone voice retorted.

"Because I was busy beating the crap out of some punk who tried to jump me!"

Everyone looked on in bemusement as Bakugo and Todoroki ran into view; neither looked injured, but their banter was almost comical. Behind them, Kirishima didn't seem to agree.

"C'mon guys! You can argue later when our lives aren't being threatened by Villains. Oh, Mina! Glad to see you're all okay! Tokage told us you'd all be here. You guys need help?"

"YES!" Ashido shouted, frazzled. "Help would definitely be appreciated, babe!"

'Backup's finally arrived, but even with Bakugo, Kirishima, and Todoroki here,' he turned back to the three Villains, 'those three will still be a problem.' The veteran soldier's gaze focused squarely on Nomu, which was trying to break its feet free from the ice. 'Especially that thing…'

Jiro's earphone jacks twitched and she glanced over her shoulder. "Uh, guys…I think we're about to have a crowd." She gestured back with her earlobes.

Everyone looked to see that the majority of the Villains that Aizawa had fought earlier were getting back up on their feet, slowly recovering as it took them a moment to regain their bearings.

"Look, Shigaraki Tomura," Kurogiri gestured with his smoky tendril, "our allies are getting back up, Eraserhead and Thirteen are out of commission, and the Pros have yet to arrive. Though All Might may not be here, we should still take this opportunity to inflict as much damage to UA's reputation as possible. Such as, killing a few students perhaps?"

Shigaraki looked around and considered the Warpgate user's words. "Yeah…if we can't fight the final boss today, we may as well take out some of the minibosses… Alright then, all of you scumbags, listen up!" Shigaraki shouted out as the thugs looked at him in shock. "You have a new mission… Kill those students!"

"Wait, so we have to kill the brats now?!"

"Sounds easy enough to me. They're all just teenagers!"

"Ha! This will be a piece of cake!"

"Don't worry boss! We got you! We'll take care of these kids."

One after another, more and more Villains began to stand as they heard their new orders and focused their sights on their new targets, preparing themselves to murder the students.

Captain Midoriya furrowed his eyebrows, his enhanced mind analyzing the situation.

"Crap! This isn't good." Kirishima clenched his fists, frustrated.

"There's gotta be what…40? 50?" Kaminari sweated nervously. "How're we supposed to fight all these Villains plus those three strong ones over there?"

Most of the group looked nervous and unsure about facing off against another large group of Villains. They'd rather not tempt fate if they could help it.

Bakugo looked between the mob and the three main baddies, gritting his teeth in frustration. "We don't have time for this sh*t."

Though he wasn't particularly afraid of the horde assembling to kill them, the three main bad guys were already dangerous enough on their own. Even the prideful Explosion user would internally concede that splitting their focus on these "cannon fodder" thugs would make things a bit difficult.

Uraraka frowned, feeling apprehensive. 'We're outnumbered now. It's just like that textbook scenario from yesterday… What do we do here?'

Yaoyorozu anxiously tightened her grip on her rifle. 'This complicates things. We're fighting a battle on two fronts now.' She glanced sideways at Shigaraki, Kurogiri, and Nomu. 'Those three are already problematic enough. Todoroki has to focus on keeping Nomu trapped, but can he handle it all on his own? If we focus solely on these hoodlums, will the other two also join the fray? What's the best way to delegate all of our respective Quirks? What should we do?' Her mind went into overdrive, trying to determine the best course of action; however, the heiress's fear was making it very difficult to concentrate. 'C'mon, Momo! Focus! We need a–'

"Everyone, listen up!" Captain Midoriya exclaimed. "I have a plan!"

The group's eyes were now directed towards him; even Bakugo turned an eye on him as even he was in the mood to listen…for once. The authority present in the verdette's tone didn't go unnoticed by the students either.

"Todoroki," he called out, getting the dual-haired teen's attention, "use your ice to slow down Nomu. Go for its feet. Do everything you can."

Todoroki wordlessy nodded in understanding, exhaling a breath of chilled air as he focused on keeping Nomu contained in ice.

"Kaminari, Kirishima, keep those thugs off of us!"

"On it!" Kirishima didn't even hesitate as he spread his hardened skill all over his body.

"You got it, soldier dude!" Kaminari gave a thumbs-up, electricity sparking off his costume.

"Also, Kaminari, stay close by!" the Captain continued, "There's something else I'll need you to do momentarily."

"Um…okay?" Kaminari was unsure what his classmate meant, but he trusted Midoriya's judgment.

With that, Kirishima and Kaminari rushed forward with their respective Quirks activated. Kirishima clotheslined two guys into submission while Kaminari electrocuted several thugs that got too close, making them pass out again.

"Bakugo, keep Kurogiri distracted! Blast 'em to hell!"

"Don't tell me what to do!" The ash-blonde launched himself forward toward Kurogiri and unleashed a wave of explosions at him, but the misty Villain safely warped the explosions away. Nevertheless, the Villain was occupied for the moment.

"Jiro," the Captain called, "Focus on Hand Guy and Nomu. Deafen them. Make sure they can't hear anything!"

Jiro wasn't sure where her verdette classmate was going with this, but with no better ideas to offer, she decided to go along with it. Nodding in understanding, she selected a custom bass option from her smartwatch. She gritted her teeth and took aim.

"Alright…eat this, freaks!" The purplette focused everything she had on Nomu and Shigaraki through her only amp-boot, the low frequency sound washing over them like a tidal wave–bringing the latter to his knees.

"Ashido, stay close to Jiro and guard her!" The Captain paused as Nomu shattered Todoroki's glacier like glass but was immediately trapped in another sheet of ice. "When I give the signal, douse Nomu in as much acid as you can produce!"

"Got it!" Ashido nodded determinedly.

"Yaomomo! Uraraka-chan!" The two Heroines-in-training perked up. "Take to the sky! Yaomomo, do whatever you can to take the load off of Kaminari and Kirishima!"

"Right!" Both girls nodded in acknowledgment.

"Yaomomo, I need a pair of earplugs too!" He added.

"Oh, okay?" Bemused by the sudden request, Yaoyorozu created a special pair of earplugs in her palm and handed them to her friend. "Here you are."

"Thanks!" He promptly placed the earplugs in his ears.

"Let's do this, Yaomomo!" Uraraka tapped both of their shoulders, both levitating in the air. The brunette felt queasy from overusing her Quirk, but–with their lives on the line–it was time to go Plus Ultra!

Uraraka positioned herself above Yaoyorozu, wrapping her arms around her waist. 'Whoa… I never noticed how thick Momo's hips are–NOPE! Not the time!' Banishing that crass thought, the brunette activated her boot's air-jets to increase their altitude.

Yaoyorozu swiftly surveyed the battle below.

Bakugo was blasting away at Kurogiri while the Warpgate user dodged effortlessly but was otherwise distracted.

Kaminari and Kirishima were doing a good job of keeping the mob at bay. Kirishima used his hardened body to bulldoze through multiple thugs while Kaminari used his batons to smack them and used his electrified costume to shock anyone who touched him.

With Ashido guarding her, Jiro was blasting Nomu and Shigaraki with heavy bass, keeping the teal-haired psycho from getting too close, lest he blow out his eardrums.

Todoroki had the important role of keeping Nomu contained in ice, and, for the moment, he was accomplishing the task. However, she feared he wouldn't be able to keep it up with how fast Nomu kept breaking free.

From her perspective, everyone seemed to be strategically positioned quite well; even herself and Uraraka. But what was Midoriya's end goal? How did he plan to deal with the "Nomu" creature along with the rest of the Villains? No, now wasn't the time to ponder her friend's strategy, Yaoyorozu thought. Right now, she and Uraraka needed to play their part!

"Yaomomo, do you have something in mind?" Uraraka asked, unsure of how they could take down Villains from this high up.

"Yes, I do." Yaoyorozu slung her rifle over her shoulder and out of the way. "But I'm about to make something rather heavy. Do you think you can use your Quirk on it?"

"Yeah, sure thing." Uraraka nodded confidently.

Rainbow-colored light shimmered off Yaoyorozu's thigh as she fashioned herself a large paintball-gun with a massive clip and shoulder straps to help her hold it up. It was the same weapon she had created in the Mountain Zone earlier.

"Whoa..." Uraraka touched the gun's stock, removing its weight. "What is–"

The Zero Gravity user was cut off as Yaoyorozu flipped a switch and an onslaught of yellow paintballs pelted the mob. The Villains who hadn't been knocked into submission by Kirishima and Kaminari yelped as yellowish-white adhesive splattered over them, sticking them to the ground or even to each other.

Uraraka blinked twice before adopting a beaming grin. "That's awesome, Yaomomo!" She cheerfully exclaimed. "You're so freaking cool!"

The ravenette heiress blushed lightly yet remained focused. "Please…you're too kind." She demurely replied.

Meanwhile, Todoroki was doing his best to keep the ebony beast contained in ice, but it was relentless. It continued to free itself even at the cost of tearing off flesh, which would immediately regrow much to Todoroki's shock. What was this thing? Did it have more than one ability like him, he wondered.

Was it even human?

Nomu pulled its legs free once more, ripping off chunks of skin and muscle in the process. Then, displaying its incredible power, it slammed both fists down to create a fissure in the ground, shattering the glacier and earth beneath. With new leverage, the onyx titan ripped chunks out of the ground. The bloodshot eyes of the beaked monstrosity suddenly snapped to Jiro and the others before it tossed the debris underhanded at her.

Jiro tried to jump away, but Captain Midoriya dove in front of her with his indestructible shield held out in front. With a yell, he rammed the shield into the concrete and absorbed the force, shattering the debris into chunks.

"Are you alright, Jiro?" He glanced over his shoulder, concerned.

"Yeah, thanks for the save!"

"Just keep bass-blasting Nomu!" Captain Midoriya stepped out of her way.

Nodding, Jiro slammed her right leg forward to fire another sonic attack at Nomu.

Seeing that most of the low-tier thugs were being captured in Yaoyorozu's paste bombardment, Captain Midoriya decided to make the move to Phase 2.

"Kaminari!" Hearing his name called, the electric blonde turned back to the green clad super-soldier. "Make your way back over here!"

"Think you got this covered, dude?" Kaminari called out to Kirishima.

Kirishima threw a hardened uppercut that sent a thug flying back, knocked out. "Yeah, just go! Me and the girls above got this covered!" He assured him.

Giving a thumbs-up, Kaminari immediately rushed back.

Kurogiri growled in annoyance as he warped away more of Bakugo's explosions. So far, the Warpgate and Explosion users were locked in a stalemate. While Bakugo used his explosions to propel him through the air to get close to the Villain, he was unsuccessful in landing a decisive blow. Kurogiri had done well to avoid or warp away Bakugo's attacks but was unable to get close enough to use his Warpgate on the angry Pomeranian.

"This is becoming bothersome." Kurogiri narrowed his eyes, his body swirling around. "I have no time to waste on–AWK!" He was cut off as Bakugo pulled the pin of one of his gauntlets, resulting in a massive explosion that sent him hurtling back.

As the smoke cleared, it revealed Bakugo standing with his left arm extended out. "Shut your damn face, Villain…and just DIE already!" With that, he launched himself forward to resume his battle with the black miasma.

Shigaraki shakily returned to his feet, his eardrums still ringing from Jiro's attack. "Stupid little pawns!" He lunged forward with every intent of killing the rocker girl.

"Oh no you don't!" Ashido spotted him and swiped her arm, unleashing a wave of broiling acid that spread across the area. The flooring corroded away and sizzled all around it, making potholes and trenches that caused Shigaraki to stop in his tracks.

Just as Shigaraki was preparing to jump over the acidic trench, a familiar disk struck his blindside and sent him tumbling across the ground painfully.

"Stay down, kid…" Captain Midoriya remarked, effortlessly catching his rebounding shield.

He glanced curiously at the shield and the teal shine shimmering off its surface. He could practically feel vibrations pulsating through it, enough to cause his arm to tremble. The shield had been doing that since it tanked all those punches from Nomu earlier. He wasn't entirely sure what this phenomenon was, but he believed he might have a hunch now.

Directing his attention back to Nomu, he saw Todoroki's newest ice surge catch Nomu in another glacier sheet. Nomu growled and smashed the ice into pieces, jumping to the side while throwing a piece of icy debris. Todoroki managed to summon an ice wall in time to guard himself, but the debris shattered the ice and sent Todoroki rolling back.

'Strike now!'

"Ashido, do it now!" Captain Midoriya shouted.

"Right!" Stepping forward while staying out of Jiro's blast radius, Ashido extended her arms to spray down Nomu with a torrent of acid. Her palms definitely felt the burn as it was the most corrosive version she could physically produce, but she gritted her teeth and powered through.

Nomu shrieked loudly as the corrosive liquid melted away its black skin and muscle tendons like wax, producing acidic steam which was very unpleasant to smell. It made those nearby want to hurl in disgust.

The beast growled menacingly and wildly tossed an ice chunk with the intent to take out Ashido and Jiro. However, due to being partially melted, the beast's aim was way off, and the debris went flying toward the airborne Yaoyorozu and Uraraka instead.

Captain Midoriya gaped. "LOOK OUT!"

Right as Yaoyorozu used up her ammunition, she and Uraraka turned to see that the incoming debris was already too close to dodge. But right before the object struck the pair, multiple strands of gray tape shot out of nowhere and pulled them out of the way at the last second–-allowing it to fly over them and crash in the distance.

"Looks like we made it just in time!" The floating pair turned to see Sero being held up by Tokage's disconnected arms. Her head appeared while wearing a toothy smirk. "Nice save, Sero-san." Tokage praised him.

"My pleasure." Sero gave a lazy salute. "Hope you two are alright."

"Yeah! Thanks so much, Sero-san!" Uraraka nodded appreciatively. "You too, Tokage!"

Yaoyorozu smiled. "Your timing is impeccable."

Tokage grinned roguishly. "Hey! Can't have my friendly rivals gettin' crushed, now can I?"

Meanwhile, Captain Midoriya sighed in relief when his best friends were rescued by Tokage and Sero at the last moment. He quickly returned his attention to Nomu and, much to his morbid surprise, was slowly powering through Ashido's acid torrent.

There was no time to spare!

"Kaminari," the verdette glanced at the electric blonde now standing nearby, "Throw one end of your chain into Ashido's acid and channel as much power through it as you can. Ashido, be ready to step back!"

"You got it man!" Kaminari pulled the chain off his belt.

"Ashido, step back now!" the Captain ordered.

Ashido yelped in pained relief as she stumbled back away from her acid. Her palms were blistered and burned badly from Quirk overuse.

"Kaminari, go!"

While holding the other, Kaminari tossed one end of his chain into Ashido's acid trail that led straight to Nomu's partially melted lumbering form. "Here it goes… Indiscriminate Shock 2 Million Volts!"

Lightning sparked and arced around Kaminari, traveling across his chain and into the acid. Since acid was very conductive, the electrical current instantaneously traveled across the trail Ashido had laid out…and ended at Nomu.

The obsidian monster screeched as its body was bombarded with deadly electricity. Nomu's body went limp and fell to its knees, its motor functions compromised. The beast was paralyzed, albeit temporarily.

'Now's my chance!' The Captain immediately rushed toward Nomu.

Shakily returning to his feet, Shigaraki was shocked to see Nomu actually being disabled by the electrocution. When he spotted Captain Midoriya rushing toward it, he caught on to what the Hero student was doing.

"NO! NO! NO!" Ignoring his injuries, he rushed off to intercept the super-soldier but was stopped when a net of gray tape suddenly fell over him and caused him to tumble to the ground, entangled.

"I don't think so, pal." Sero grinned roguishly, with Tokage still holding him up in the air.

"Nice job, Sero-san!" Tokage complimented. "That net ain't too shabby."

"Well," Sero rubbed his neck sheepishly, "it's not pretty, but it gets the job done."

'Gotta thank Midoriya again for his input last week!' the Tape user mused.

Shigaraki struggled against the sticky net as his hands were pinned to the ground at awkward angles. "NO! Dammit, NOMU! GET OUT OF THE–"

"MAXIMUM VOLUME!" Jiro cranked up her right amp-speaker to its highest volume setting. Blood started to ooze out from Nomu's ears as the intensified soundwave bombarded it, blocking out any other sound, including Shigaraki's commands.

With Nomu temporarily paralyzed by Kaminari's electricity and Jiro's super bass, Captain Midoriya made his move. He cringed as the heavy bass crashed over him, his sensitive eardrums ringing. Thankfully his Yaoyorozu Earplugs provided enough protection for him to bear through it.

Once he was within range, Captain Midoriya vertically threw the shield into Nomu's face, smashing its beaked face apart for the umpteenth time, and then leapt high into the air. As the shield ricocheted off of Nomu, he flipped forward twice and intercepted the shield's path with his boots–slipping them through the leather straps.

'If the shield absorbed all that kinetic energy from the front, then perhaps…' As gravity took hold of him, the super-soldier pulled back his legs. '...I can unleash all of that energy by exerting force from the back!' With all his might, Captain Midoriya kicked his legs out and thrust the shield into Nomu's broken head.

What came next was nothing short of astonishing.

BA–DOOOOOOOONNGGG!

The instant the shield made contact with Nomu all of the kinetic energy it had stocked up from Nomu's punches was unleashed in one massive attack–manifesting in the form of a powerful, teal-colored shockwave with a thundering bell-sounding rumble in its wake that shook the earth.

The ground in front of the Captain shattered as the sonic attack slammed into the USJ's large central fountain, resulting in an explosion of concrete and dirt.

"AAAHHHH!" The shockwave sent Jiro, Ashido, and Kaminari careening back and rolling on the ground; the former groaned before passing out, exhausted from Quirk overuse.

In the air, Tokage and Sero cringed from the shockwave while Uraraka struggled to maintain hers and Yaoyorozu's control in the air. Yaoyorozu noticed her friend's efforts and shouted, "Uraraka-chan, get us to the ground!"

"Y-yeah…" she weakly replied. Activating her air-boots' downward thrusters, the pair quickly descended. The brunette's cheeks puffed out and turned green, her nausea too much to handle. "R-release…" Pressing her finger pads together, the pair's gravity returned as they fell on their feet.

Uraraka's knees buckled as she promptly fell on her butt.

"Ochako!" Yaoyorozu knelt by her friend's side, concerned. "Are you alright?"

"I… I…" Sprawled out on the ground, groaning painfully, Uraraka felt like her stomach was tied in many knots. She had definitely pushed Zero Gravity past its limit and was now paying the price. The brunette then turned her head away from Yaoyorozu, expelling glittery rainbow-colored vomit from her mouth.

Yaoyorozu grimaced from the sight but remained where she was. "It's alright… Just let it out…" She comforted her friend by rubbing her friend's shoulder. 'I didn't know Ochako could vomit rainbows and glitter… How peculiar.'

Clouds of dust were thrown up across the courtyard as the aftershocks of the sonic attack momentarily lingered. Moments later, the dust cloud steadily dispersed to reveal the aftermath. There was a shallow trench of shattered earth between where Nomu had been standing and the fountain. Speaking of which, nearly half of the fountain area had been reduced to rubble as water flowed down the crushed slope.

"Ugh…" Kaminari lifted himself off the floor, feeling rather woozy after using his Ultimate Move earlier. 'First time I could ever think straight after using that move…' He glanced at his breaker collar, noting its lights had turned from green to red. 'Looks like it did its job. Thanks, Midoriya.'

The electric blonde looked ahead and was flabbergasted. "Whoa… What the…?!"

"Whoa…" Sero gapped as Tokage lowered him to the ground, transfixed on the scene ahead. "I'll never underestimate shields again."

"Yeah…" Tokage uttered, dumbfounded. She reconnected her body and slumped her shoulders, feeling a wave of exhaustion crash over her.

Todoroki returned to his feet, albeit wobbly. He narrowed his dual-colored eyes at the destruction in reserved surprise. 'Midoriya did all this with just his shield?' He noticed something else becoming visible through the dust. Once he realized what it was, his eyes widened in shock.

Lying in a pile of rocky debris was Nomu…but its head and shoulders were gone. All of the shield's stockpiled kinetic energy released at point-blank range had overwhelmed its Shock Absorption. Blood poured out of the top and pooled around the black monolith of muscles and scars.

The only sign of movement was the occasional twitch from its hands and legs. Unlike before, the beast did not regenerate.

Nomu, the bioengineered Anti-Symbol of Peace, was dead.

For a moment, no one on either side moved. Stunned silence spanned across the plaza.

"IMPOSSIBLE!" Kurogiri yelled in shocked disbelief.

"You're wide open!" Bakugo shouted while blasting the Villain's metal brace. The warpgate Villain cried out in pain and crashed to the ground with Bakugo on top of him, effectively pinning him.

Shigaraki shrieked in utter rage akin to an unhinged child throwing a temper tantrum. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. How was this even possible!? His crimson eyes darted to a certain verdette shakily getting up from the rubble ahead.

HIM! It was him!

Shigaraki had the perfect plan to kill All Might, and that shield-wielding tryhard ruined it! It was all his fault!

The League leader wasn't thinking straight anymore. All he wanted was revenge! He wriggled free from his compromised position under the tape net and grabbed hold, instantly reducing it to dust. Without wasting a moment, the enraged psycho charged toward the central fountain in an impressive burst of speed.

Yaoyorozu spotted Shigaraki running away out of the corner and followed his path to see where he was going… and felt her blood run cold. Pulling the rifle off her left shoulder, she took aim and pulled the trigger… but nothing came out. She had already used up her ammunition. She'd need time to make more!

"STOP HIM!" Yaoyorozu cried out.

Tokage concentrated on splitting her body apart, but no dice. 'Damn! My stamina's shot… Can't use my Quirk!'

"No you don't!" Kirishima yelled, intending to swipe at him. Reading his movements, Shigaraki jutted to the right and lashed out, his hand grabbing ahold of his shoulder pads.

"Sh*t!" As the pads faded to dust, Kirishima dived out of the way on reflex. Shigaraki's hand swiped at him before Sero's tape stuck to Kirishima's back and pulled the spiky-haired young man away.

On her hands and knees, Ashido weakly lifted up her left arm and tried to shoot acid at Shigaraki…but grimaced painfully. Her palms were too blistered and burned to secrete any more acid.

"I got this!" Kaminari pulled up his chain, intending to swipe it at the teal-haired psycho; however, it was less than half of its original length…one end was partially melted due to lying in Ashido's acid. "...or not…" He wasn't fast enough to catch the Villain and he had no long-range attacks he could use without hurting his friends.

Todoroki lunged his right leg forward to send forth a jagged ice wall to intercept the League of Villain's leader. The ice blocked the unkempt Villain's path for only a brief moment as a section of it disintegrated when his hand touched it, allowing him to run past through it.

His target was within range!

Meanwhile, Captain Midoriya groaned groggily as he sat up from the ground. His head was ringing from Jiro's heavy bass. Thankfully, Yaoyorozu's custom earplugs had protected his hearing for the most part.

The super-soldier's green suit was torn and ripped in various places, predominantly in his legs. His red combat boots were barely holding together. Feeling a breeze on his head, he noticed he wasn't wearing his helmet anymore. It must've been knocked loose by the impact, he rationalized.

As the verdette returned to his feet, he cringed when he felt a sharp piercing pain in his left ankle. 'Damn! Must've sprained it… Could be broken…'

Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted his shield lying close by on its front. It was no longer glowing or humming anymore. He limped over and carefully picked it up by the straps.

'Looks like all that stored up kinetic energy was released..' He turned forward at the path of shattered earth between him and the half-destroyed fountain. Needless to say, he was dumbfounded by the results. 'I definitely wasn't expecting that though…' His verdant gaze shifted to Nomu…or rather what was left of it.

Needless to say, it was a gruesome sight.

He frowned solemnly. 'Nomu was probably a human being once… No one deserves to be turned into a mindless monster like that. May that soul rest in peace.'

As he pulled out his earplugs, he faintly heard a commotion coming from behind him. Turning around, he witnessed a jagged icy wall lance out from the ground. A section of it suddenly crumbled away as Shigaraki dashed towards him at noteworthy speed.

"Midoriya, look out!" Todoroki shouted, alarmed.

Without thinking, the emerald soldier utilized his honed instincts to bring up his shield just in time to block the black-attired Villain's outstretched hands. Shigaraki snarled in murderous fury as he clutched each side of the metal disk.

"You break my toys, I break yours!" Shigaraki bellowed, touching the shield with all of his fingers.

The League of Villains leader grinned darkly behind his hand-mask, eagerly anticipating the jade clad student's expression of despair as his precious support item crumbled away into dust. It's what he deserved for being a cheater, he thought.

Once it was gone, he'd take the bastard hostage and demand those other brats release Kurogiri. Then, he'd kill him anyway and they'd get the hell out of… Wait a second…

…

…

The shield was unaffected.

Shigaraki was left in stunned disbelief. There was no cracking…no graying…not even rust! He was touching it with all of his fingers, with both hands, so why wasn't it turning into dust!?

"WHAT THE FU–OOF!"

Captain Midoriya thrust the shield's edge up into Shigaraki's chin, blood flying out of his mouth as his head snapped back. The super-soldier followed up with a nasty right haymaker that knocked the Villain off his feet and to the ground. The hand clutching his head fell off, and blood poured free from his smashed and broken face.

Shigaraki groaned in agony, barely conscious.

"Shigaraki!" An alarmed Kurogiri shouted out. He attempted to use his warpgate, but Bakugo wasn't having it. He tightened his hold on the Villain's bracer and even ignited a few mini-explosions on his palm.

"Don't even think about it!" Bakugo roared. "If you even flinch I'll blast you to pieces! They'll be cleaning you off the floor for weeks! GOT THAT?!"

"That doesn't sound very heroic, dude," Kirishima sheepishly sweat-dropped.

Kurogiri angrily growled, feeling utterly ashamed from being at the mercy of a first-year Hero student. What a disgrace.

BOOM!

All of a sudden, the main entrance doors exploded open–ripped clean off their hinges–as shockwaves raced throughout the USJ facility.

Everyone turned to the entrance to see All Might, the Symbol of Peace, standing at the top of the stairway. Instead of his Hero Costume, he was wearing tan pants, a white shirt, and a tie. He wasn't wearing his trademark smile either as he gritted his teeth in fury.

"Have no fear, students!" He tore off his blue tie and tossed it aside. "WE are here!"

Upon his declaration, the rest of UA's Pro Hero staff appeared alongside him. Iida was standing behind them looking very worn out. He had fulfilled his role perfectly and brought reinforcements.

The students looked on in relief; some even had tears of relief freely falling from their faces.

"Everyone," Dean Nezu yelled, his voice easily heard from the stairs. "The students' safety is our top priority! Secure them and subdue all the Villains in the USJ! Move out!"

"Sir!" The Pro Hero instructors chorused before making their way into the training grounds.

Several Ectoplasm clones closed in on the assembled group in the central plaza while Cementoss formed a wall to protect them from any Villains with long-ranged Quirks.

Meanwhile, Midnight carefully approached Bakugo and Kurogiri's position. "Are you alright, Bakugo?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." Bakugo sounded exasperated, rolling his eyes. "Hurry up and knock this guy out already!"

"Is this the one with a teleportation Quirk?" Midnight directed her gaze to the blackish-purple haze.

"Yeah! This guy's their ticket out of here if I let him go for even one second!"

"I see. Well then, apologies in advance," Midnight pulled back the white fabric on her left shoulder, releasing a pink mist from her smooth alabaster skin. "My Quirk will unfortunately put you to sleep as well. You should be alright. Now rest, you did good work today."

Bakugo groaned as he felt his eyelids grow heavy and collapsed off to the side, unconscious.

"This…isn't…over…Hai–" Kurogiri swiftly fell victim to Midnight's Somnambulist Quirk and passed out before he could finish his sentence.

All Might, meanwhile, remained at the stairway overlooking the central plaza. He saw dozens of downed Villains scattered about, a few stragglers trying to stay out of sight; nonetheless, the other teachers would apprehend them shortly. In the distance was a cracked and shattered battlefield of broken ice and fissured floors. Additionally, the central fountain itself had been reduced to rubble as if a bomb had gone off.

He then spotted the Captain standing near the demolished fountain. His green uniform was scuffed up and torn, grotesquely covered in blood. The Number One Pro sincerely hoped that it wasn't the Captain's blood. He was missing his helmet as well, revealing a bruised, bloody face. The seasoned Pro could tell even from a distance that he was putting on a mask to hide the intense pain he was feeling.

All Might clenched his fists. This wasn't a training ground, it was a warzone.

A warzone that he had a hand in creating. Because he didn't listen to Nezu's advice about living on campus. Because he didn't listen to his friend Tsukauchi on hiring a personal driver to take him to work to reserve his time limit. Because he wouldn't let the Musutafu hero agencies do their job. Because he was stubborn and wanted to do everything himself…just like Gran Torino had told him years ago.

It was because of him that his students were forced into a life-or-death battle against actual Villains when he should've been there to protect them. It was because of him that Aizawa and Thirteen were injured so badly. It was because of him that Captain America had to see war again.

That last realization really cut deep into All Might's heart.

"All Might," Nezu stepped up beside the Number One Pro, snapped him out of his lamentations, "you're pushing yourself too far. If you insist on staying, please watch over the students on their way out. Your presence will hopefully bring them some peace of mind."

"Yes, sir." All Might agreed to the Dean's plan. "I can't do much in a fight in the state I'm in, but I'll go beyond if necessary."

"We could not have foreseen this incident." Nezu stated as the sounds of battle echoed throughout the facility. "An operation of this caliber takes careful planning, certainly not the common criminal type either. This training event was in the works for months, but your position as a staff member was only just announced last week. Something clearly does not add up here." The chimera was already using his hyper-intelligence to try to decipher the mystery behind this attack.

"That is worrisome indeed, sir."

All Might spotted Uraraka and Yaoyorozu running up to the Captain, both young women fretting over his condition while he tried to play it off. He couldn't hear them, but it appeared the two Heroines-in-training weren't having it as they each placed an arm over their shoulders–providing him support. It was a touching sight, he thought.

The guilt swelled inside him. 'I'm sorry, Captain. What happened today is due to my stubbornness.'

The Number One Pro exhaled heavily before he slapped his signature smile on and headed over to the group of students being led outside.

With All Might and the other teachers' arrival, the League of Villains were all captured, and the students were gathered together at the USJ's entrance. Police officers arrived shortly to take the criminals into custody and collect statements while paramedics provided medical help to anyone who needed it.

Shigaraki and Kurogiri were the first to be apprehended and immediately had Quirk-suppressing restraints placed on them. Additionally, Shigaraki was rushed to an ambulance to receive immediate medical attention for his broken face, cracked ribs, and bloodied neck.

With Yaoyorozu and Uraraka supporting him, Midoriya Izuku limped to an ambulance parked near the main entrance.

"Thanks for the help, girls…" Midoriya said sincerely.

"You don't need to thank us, Midori-kun." Uraraka kindly replied. Her stomach was still aching, but she had recovered enough that she could at least walk normally.

"Yes, it's no trouble. Let's just get you off your bad ankle." Yaoyorozu added, her tone soft. "Recovery Girl will have you fixed right up."

Both young women guided their taller verdette friend to the paramedics, who helped place him on a stretcher. He carefully removed the shield from his harness and handed it to Yaoyorozu.

"Watch over her, will yah?"

The ravenette smiled and nodded. "Of course."

As he laid down, he winced when he suddenly felt Recovery Girl's lips on his forehead. He was now being carried out by paramedics as he turned to his side. Several of his classmates were lying on stretchers too, including Bakugo, Tsunotori, Ashido, Iida, and Jiro. Aizawa and Thirteen were lying unconscious on another pair of stretchers close by. Recovery Girl didn't say a word as she immediately shifted her attention to Aizawa and Thirteen.

Midoriya's stretcher was then lifted up and rolled into an ambulance. He could feel the stamina drain hit him as he saw Yaoyorozu and Uraraka close in on him.

"It'll be alright, Midori-kun!" Uraraka assured him.

"Yes, we'll come by to see you. We promise!" Yaoyorozu declared, earning a nod of agreement from Uraraka.

Midoriya smiled warmly and gave them a thumbs-up. He began to drift off as the doors closed and the sirens blared.

As the ambulance drove off, Yaoyorozu glanced down at the shield in her hands, grimacing at the amount of dried blood splattered on its surface. Its pristine green and white paint job was faded. She could barely make out the star in the middle and the green and white rings around it. Nevertheless, the shield was just a tool. It could be cleaned up and repainted.

People, on the other hand, were not quite the same.

"Hey…you okay, Yaomomo?" Uraraka asked, noticing the ravenette staring at the shield introspectively.

Yaoyorozu lowered her head, frowning. "It's just…" She trailed off in recollection to when she and her classmates were stuck in-between the three bosses and the awakening Villain horde; Trapped between a rock and a hard place. The heiress had wracked her brain for a strategy to handle the situation, but there was little time…and she had froze up.

Her fear had gotten the better of her.

"Yaomomo…?" Uraraka gently placed her hand on her right shoulder. The contact snapped the Creation wielder out of her thoughts as she turned to the worried Zero Gravity user.

"Oh! Uh, my apologies…it's just…" Her thoughts shifted to Midoriya and how he had taken control. "...things could've gone much worse today if Midori-kun hadn't been there."

"Yeah, he really came through, didn't he?" Uraraka smiled wistfully.

Yaoyorozu wordlessly nodded, but frowned as she pondered over her own shortcomings.

"Hey, it'll be alright." Uraraka reassured her. "All the Villains were arrested, and none of our classmates were hurt too badly. Although," her smile fell a little, "Aizawa-sensei and Thirteen-sensei did look bad."

"They're alive though. That's the important thing." Yaoyorozu mentioned. "They'll be in good hands with Recovery Girl. I'm sure of it." She was confident about the outcome.

"Speaking of which, we should go check on our friends." Uraraka said. "We especially need to thank Iida for how hard he pushed himself to get back to campus."

"Yes, I agree." Yaoyorozu nodded and smiled.

As the pair walked over to their friends nearby, Yaoyorozu took one last glance at the shield and noticed the handprints where Shigaraki had gripped it.

It baffled her that Midoriya's shield did not disintegrate from Shigaraki's touch like everything else had. Did it have something to do with the Adamantium-Vibranium alloy it was composed of? Was its molecular structure immune to whatever effect Shigaraki's Quirk caused on objects? If so, how? In addition, how did Midoriya pull off such a powerful attack that killed Nomu and destroyed the central fountain!?

Her brilliant mind was analyzing various theories and possibilities…but she had to shelve them for now. She needed to make sure that her friends and classmates were okay. One thing the creation heiress was certain of was that things would never be the same for her or their class after today.