The Nomu was a biological anomaly. Even under the crushing weight of my Cursed Technique Reversal, it wasn't dying. Its "Shock Absorption" wasn't just for punches; it was trying to disperse the gravitational pressure itself. I could see its muscles rippling, its black skin stretching as it fought to lift its torso off the shattered concrete.
"Nomu! Kill him! Kill the brat!" Shigaraki screamed, his voice hitting a frantic, nails-on-chalkboard pitch. "This isn't possible! You're an NPC! You shouldn't have a second phase!"
"I'm not an NPC, you creepy man-child," I hissed. My nose started to leak a single, hot trail of blood—a sign that my brain was starting to cook from the sheer output of the Reversal. "I'm the one who decides how much you weigh."
I stepped forward, my palm still leveled at the creature. I increased the output.
The crater deepened another foot. The Nomu let out a sound like a grinding tectonic plate, its bones audibly groaning under the pressure. But then, the monster did something I didn't expect. It dug its claws into the dirt outside of my field and used its raw, terrifying physical strength to drag its body forward, inch by agonizing inch.
It was adapting. Its body was reinforcing its own cellular structure to withstand the G-force.
"Fine," I growled, my vision beginning to blur at the edges. "Let's see you absorb this."
I didn't just hold the pressure. I began to pulse it. High-frequency gravity waves slammed into the Nomu like a jackhammer. CRUNCH. CRUNCH. CRUNCH. The creature's beak shattered against the floor. One of its eyes burst from the pressure.
But the cost was hitting me hard. My Reverse Cursed Technique was still running, trying to keep my brain from hemorrhaging under the stress of the Reversal, but my Cursed Energy pool was draining like a cracked bucket.
'Just a little longer... just a few more seconds...'
Suddenly, the Nomu let out a piercing shriek. It surged with a burst of "Super Regeneration" and "Power" that defied logic. It managed to plant one foot, the concrete beneath it turning to powder, and it lurched upward.
It was breaking the field.
The backlash hit me like a physical punch. I stumbled back, my hands trembling. The brilliant white light of my energy flickered. My brain felt like it had been dipped in acid. The "Positive Energy" was becoming harder to maintain as my exhaustion reached its limit.
The Nomu, now free from the crushing weight but looking like it had been put through a trash compactor, raised a mangled arm to strike. I was too tired to dodge. I was too drained to shield.
'Ah. Guess I really am a one-trick pony,' I thought, a weirdly calm sense of defeat washing over me.
BOOM!
The massive double doors at the top of the USJ stairs didn't just open—they vanished.
A silhouette stood in the dust, bathed in the light from outside. He wasn't smiling. For the first time in history, the Symbol of Peace looked like he wanted to commit a murder.
"I AM HERE!" All Might's voice wasn't a hero's catchphrase this time. It was a roar of pure, unadulterated fury.
He moved faster than I could perceive. In a blur of yellow and blue, he was in the plaza. He grabbed me and Aizawa in a single motion, depositing us several meters away in the blink of an eye.
"Young Uraraka," All Might said, his back to me. His voice was low, vibrating with a terrifying intensity. "You have done enough. More than enough. Leave the rest to me."
I slumped against the base of the fountain, my technique finally cutting out. The world felt light—too light. I felt like I was going to float away and never come back down.
"All Might..." I croaked.
"Rest, Young Man," he commanded, his eyes fixed on the Nomu.
I watched, my vision fading, as the two titans clashed. All Might didn't use finesse. He used raw, overwhelming power. Every punch was a weather-altering event. He was hitting the Nomu with everything he had, far surpassing his own limits to beat the "Shock Absorption" out of it.
'Three hundred hits...' I remembered the count.
I looked over at Aizawa, who was being tended to by Asui and Mineta. Then I looked at the entrance, where the rest of the teachers were finally arriving. We were safe.
My head hit the cool stone of the fountain. The white-hot pain in my brain finally cooled into a dull ache. I had unlocked the peak of my power, saved my teacher, and stared down a monster.
"I'm definitely... getting that mochi now," I whispered.
As All Might delivered the final, sky-shattering United States of Smash that sent the Nomu flying through the roof of the dome, I let the darkness take me. I was 108 points in the exam, first in the fitness test, and the first student to ever apply the "Reversal" to a villain's face.
I think I earned a nap.