Chapter 10: Dead

Tenya had to admit, when both Midoriya and Nagisa's phones went off during the presentation the Pro Heroes were giving, the Engine Quirk user was awfully miffed and frankly appalled his classmates had such audacity to not only keep their ringer on during class but also answer the phone text-call-alarm-whatever it was.

And then they started getting visibly frantic, the sound coming from the phone sounding just as panicked, then Tenya thought it must have been a tragedy they were alerted to. Maybe a mutual friend? A family member? They weren't related, were they? His heart went out to them in that moment.

Then it was "Aizawa-sensei! Ritsu, she—" and that's when things started to fall downhill. Aizawa took his own phone, as if to confirm whatever it was Nagisa was spewing, and then the villains attacked. Tenya still didn't understand how they knew, what was going on, who really was Ritsu. Wasn't she Nagisa's neighbor? She wasn't a hacker or anything, right? Maybe it was some sort of digital quirk— the suspicion didn't even have the time to grow as they were confronted by the strange black figure, apparently the villains' mode of transportation. Tenya couldn't think, couldn't breathe, only vaguely wondering if his brother ever had to deal with a rapidly beating heart while fighting villains in the field before they were all threatened and many of his fellow classmates suddenly disappeared—Uraraka, Midoriya, and Nagisa included.

Tenya's head whipped around, noticing so many more students were missing, over half of the entire class. "Where is everyone?!"

But the villain suddenly froze, his voice echoing both fear and surprise. "What?! I… I can't move!"

"He's… stuck?" he heard Satou mutter.

Tenya tensed among the sudden confusion—the body of students growing fearful for what if one of the villain's quirks spread paralysis? But Tenya knew that wasn't the case, he just couldn't put his… Wait!

That's it!

"It's Shio- Nagisa! Nagisa's quirk!"

"What?" the one called Ashido exclaimed, turning to him. Her eyes were caught between terrified and hopeful. "Nagisa did that?!"

He paused, remembering Midoriya's stumbled explanation of Nagisa's secondary quirk. A paralysis quirk that Tenya still didn't have the details on, but the main point was that this villain was paralyzed! The blue-haired trainee opened his mouth to explain further but stopped himself, aware that the villain, although paralyzed, still had functioning senses and recollection. It wouldn't do Tenya or anyone else for that matter to let the villains know of their quirks. Either to confirm or inform. He didn't know if they even knew their quirks anyway, but it almost seemed like they did considering they knew to come here at this exact time when no one else was using the USJ but class 1-A and only two Pros on site.

Instead, he revised his reply in his head, saying, "I don't know the details, but I'm most certain he did! I don't know for how long he can stay this way, however."

"Then we must be quick!" Thirteen exclaimed, taking in the vague information but knowing very well not to ask further. "Students, quickly! To the exit!"

Right away, they ushered their students to the exit behind the villain. The smokey fiend was tensed and quivering, which Tenya couldn't decipher if it was him trying to escape the effects of Nagisa's quirk or… or fear. Which didn't seem right, so Tenya moved along anyway, nudging Ashido and Sero with the group. They were all almost behind the villain before he let out a painful grunt, what Tenya assumed to be his arm spasming in the mist and bursting, as if it was set on fire.

"You…" he rumbled, his other 'arm' shaking uncontrollably as he tried to forcibly regained control of himself. Ice settled in the hearts of the students as he reformed himself in front of the students again, between them and their only way out. He didn't seem completely mobile, though; His movements were stiff, his left arm still wasn't moving. "... are not going… ANYWHERE!"

"Iida!" Sero shouted. "You have to run! You're the fastest one here!"

"Yes! Class President," Thirteen added quickly. "The alarms weren't tripped outside, that means the villains are all in here. You must run outside and get help! Notify the police and Pros!"

His knees felt almost numb, feeling jiggly at the prompt. He could only think of his brother, of how many villains he's fought in his lifetime, of how many times villains have almost got the better of him and yet he still pushes on because there are people to save, people to keep safe, to help. He glanced over the remainder of his class. These weren't just heroes in training, all of them were still so young, even himself. But they were still heroes in training. He was still a hero in training. A hero.

Clicking his jaw back, his brows furrowed in determination, trying his best to fight off the fear that threatened to paralyze him as well before firing up his engines. He heard Sero cheer, "Yes! You go, Exit Sign!"

"How foolish," the nameless villain almost sounded amused. "To be discussing your strategy in front of the enemy."

"Iida, go! He's still partially paralyzed, I'll hold him back! Now go!"

Thirteen stood in front of the class and lifted their hand, quirk activating and sucking in the black wisps that floated from his free arm. There was a crack and silence filled the area, and the villain huffed.

"Looks like a Disaster Relief hero can't measure up to even the more ordinary of heroes when it comes to a fight."

A black hole formed behind them, their own quirk being used against them and the moment they realized this, they shut off their quirk—but it was too late, and the Pro Hero fell on their knees before crumbling to the ground. Tenya felt his own legs almost give out too.

"SENSEI?!"

Stunned horror gripped the students before chaos ensued.

Shouji pushed Tenya forward, "Go!"

Tape flew past his head, wrapping around the silver armor the villain wore. Sero grunted, "There's- gotta be… a reason why you've- got this!" Satou then put his hands on the tape, offering his own support in keeping Sero on his feet after having taken a sugar packet beforehand.

"Why, you—"

"See if you can eat this!" Satou grunted, using his strength and momentum in Sero's tape to lift the villain in the air, flinging him behind the small class and back toward the stairs. Tenya didn't think, just revved up his engines and shot toward the exit, sending a silent prayer to keep everyone safe.

---

Izuku's eye twitched, burning when he refused to blink.

That… thing —the 'Noumu' (now why did that sound so familiar?), it snapped Aizawa's arms like twigs. It was amazing that he wasn't already passed out at this point. Izuku's rage was at a boiling point, just held barely under the hood and swallowed down like hot coals just to keep in control of himself.

He watched in choked silence as a black hole formed beside the villain, the same warp hole villain appearing.

"Shigaraki Tomura."

"Kurogiri. Did you kill Thirteen?"

"They're incapacitated," Kurogiri replied. "However, there were some students I couldn't warp away. One of them escaped."

The one called Shigaraki was silent for a moment, then he appeared to grow more and more irritated, hands raising to scratch at his neck. Izuku cringed.

"Kurogiri… I'd turn you to dust if you weren't our ticket out of here…" Then he paused. "We won't stand a chance against dozens of pros… It's game over…" Shigaraki straightened his posture just a bit. "We're leaving."

"Leaving…?" Uraraka whispered under her breath, her brows furrowed.

"I've got a bad feeling, Midoriya," Tsu muttered.

"To do this...ss-so easily?" It didn't make sense. They made all this effort to ambush them when their guard was put down, bringing in hordes of villains, all to kill All Might of all people, then to leave? And if they left, U.A. would be in more danger, placing all the pro hero teachers here instead of at U.A., then the villains will have the chance to strike even a little and…

"But before that," cackled Shigaraki, bringing Izuku could of his cluttered thoughts and muttering. His head turned toward his little group. "Let's leave a few dead kids…"

He rushed at them. Izuku already had his knife out.

"…To wound the pride of the Symbol of Peace!"

Two seconds was all Izuku needed to align his thoughts. He didn't need words, he didn't even need a quirk. A whole year in training taught him to never hesitate. Never hesitate.

Just strike.

And as he watched Shigaraki's skinny hand reach for Tsu's face, he saw in his mind the fingers connecting and Tsu's flesh giving way to dust. Disintegration, that must be Shigaraki's quirk. His whole hand or all five fingers? Like how he destroyed Aizawa's elbow.

Well, whatever, then. All he needed to do was avoid his hands.

Maybe he should just cut them off instead.

Izuku's hand shot out, gripping Shigaraki's wrist and he surged One for All into his arm, breaking the villain's wrist and shoving it into the water. He ignored the way his own hand felt like someone crushed it under a boulder, and with the other, brandishing his shock knife blade-out, he thrusted forward and sliced into the villain's face. Shigaraki cried out, "GAAAHGH?! MY EYE—"

"Tsu! Get away!"

"Kero!" He heard the splash of Tsu leaving the water, and he was sure she took Uraraka away with her, her tongue probably wrapped around her midsection.

The hand over Shigaraki's face broke away and his own unharmed hand replaced it as he screamed, falling into the water. Izuku scrambled out of it himself before the villain could do anything to him and he saw Tsu and Uraraka making their way around the warp villain. They met his eyes, relieved the other party was safe—before both girls' expressions turned snow-white in terror.

"Izukun," he barely heard Uraraka breathe.

That's when he felt it.

Something writhed inside of him. No sound he made could describe the way his insides twisted gruesomely and black dread filled him from head to toe, feeling like thick sludge in his body.

That's when he realized Shigaraki was standing upright in the water, right where Izuku was a second before, and had given the commandment, "Noumu, kill him!"

That's when he realized Noumu was right behind him.

He glanced back and the Noumu grabbed him by his face, tentacles wrapping around his body. The assassin's heart shot through his throat, and he lifted his hand holding his shock knife to stab into the beast's arm, but a tentacle tangled around his wrist, squeezing and shattering it. The knife fell to the floor soundlessly.

He couldn't breathe.

He felt his sides caving in.

He couldn't even scream.

And then the doors burst open, he couldn't even see his Hero tear open the doors with some heroes from school lining up behind him. The tentacles around him squeezed harder and despite the pain, despite the fact he couldn't even get a shallow breath in, he smiled. He felt something crack. Then it went black.

"FEAR NOT, I AM HERE!"

Nagisa could see from their exit from the Landslide Zone with Todoroki, the way the creature held the green form of Izuku, dangling lifelessly in its grasp. He held his breath, feeling a cold settle inside him as he watched the black thing toss the boy to the side, his body rolling and rolling until he came to a stop and didn't… get… back up.

"Izukun… Izuku!"

He didn't wait another moment before he took off toward the scene, Todoroki right behind him.

The blue-haired boy only glanced up at the appearance of All Might, knowing full-well the Pro can handle this. But he had to get to Izuku first. He did steal a glance though, and All Might… if there was any comparison, the reptilian would say he could easily rival Korosensei's "black rage" face.

Nagisa finally reached Izuku, where his body was cast aside yards away from where the beast had held him. The ex-assassin fell to his knees and he rolled the boy over gently, gasping at the sight of his friend. His left arm was red, bloody, and overall broken. Fresh blood drenched his face, soaking into his mask, ruining the smile into something gruesome. Nagisa desperately began to peel it down and off to help the boy breathe better. If he could even do that.

Wait. Was… Was he breathing?

Ko and Roka lowered their heads to Izuku as Nagisa leaned forward, forcing himself to keep his own breathing level as he let his snakes feel for vibrations on the green-haired boy.

Todoroki kneeled on the other side of the boy in silence, fingers pressed against Izuku's neck under his scrunched mask-slash-turtleneck.

There.

"He's still alive," Todoroki muttered.

He felt it too, his heart was still beating. Oh thank goodness, he was still alive.

Nagisa let out a sigh of relief before a gust of wind took both their attention away. All Might, he took his students and Aizawa— dear lord, Aizawa —to a spot of safety, leaving their mutilated teacher in the hands of Uraraka and Tsu and what appeared to be Present Mic, Midnight, and Snipe catching up from the stairs behind them. All Might's eyes then look to their direction and Nagisa couldn't even begin to process the emotions that flashed over his teacher's face before the three of them were grabbed from the one side of the plaza to the other, right beside Uraraka and Tsuyu along with the unconscious Aizawa, who looked just as bad, if not worse than Izuku did. All Might cradled Izuku in his arms, and the way the green-haired boy was curled up in such an unnatural way made him seem so small. Nagisa's eyes burned with tears as the hero gently set the boy down.

"Oh, my boy, I'm so sorry," he muttered under his breath and a tear slide down Nagisa's face as he fell to his knees beside his friend again. His arms were angled in the wrong direction and his breathing was so shallow, he could barely even sense the vibrations in his chest.

He turned his expression to All Might, heartbroken and enraged at the same time.

"Give them hell," he whispered with a cracked voice.

"Take Izuku and Aizawa and head to the entrance, all of you. Be gentle with them," All Might commanded, turning back to the only three villains that remained standing.

"All Might!" Nagisa began again after Todoroki helped lift Izuku by his pits. "He's… he's got them . I saw it. The tentacles…"

All Might pulled his hand back to him, "Young Nagisa!" Turning, he flashed him one of his widest smile, dazzling, unwavering, encouraging, before a peace sign was brought to his eye. "It's fine!"

Nagisa took a moment to study him, even after all this time knowing All Might, he could never get over his smile. Smile just as Korosensei does, though he knew All Might's grin was his own and not copied from anyone. It was original and genuine and offered hope in the dark of death. Despite the dread and rage that filled his heart, the assassin managed to smile back and nod, turning with Todoroki with Izuku in his arms.

---

Tomura had pulled himself from the water, one hand covering his face as blood oozed out from between his fingers. It drenched his face and dripped into his mouth, staining his teeth and the hands that he still wore.

"That kid… That kid…" he hissed, voice quivering and sounding on the verge of tears. "It's no use… I-I'm sorry, Father… My noumu… My noumu…" He stumbled about, broken hand scanning the area until he peeked from his good eye and between his fingers—there, his hand… it was broken, but still good… Reaching down, he pulled it from the edge of the ground next to the water and set it on his bloody face again. A harsh chuckle escaped from him.

"He… cut me," he mumbled. "He cut me… I've never felt so much bloodlust… so much… hatred… It's almost… yes… Heheheh…"

He turned slowly, watching as All Might launched himself at him. He felt invigorated, but calm at the same time. It was… new. Thrilling. Like having a boost in TP or mana. Maybe they could win this yet.

"Noumu."

The black beast shot in front of him and took the Carolina Smash head-on but didn't budge an inch.

Tomura cackled as he watched All Might give punch after punch, realizing not a punch had any use on his wonderfully crafted Noumu. Still, it wasn't nearly as perfect as his old one, the one that upped and died on him, but no matter. This one was just as perfect for this job.

"It doesn't work because of Shock Absorption," Tomura explained, feeling his cracked lips curl into a smile. "Newly engineered… to take any hit. In order to cause any amount of damage to Noumu, you'd have to slowly gouge out his flesh. Whether he'd let you do that or not is a different issue, though!" A thin bout of laughter left him and he bit his lip in excitement.

"Thanks for letting me know, then!"

All Might dodged another of his Noumu's tentacles and wrapped his arms around his back, turning to suplex his into the ground. The speed of his movement created a blast and Tomura had to lift his hands to stop his face-hand from flying off again.

---

The small group carrying two of the unconscious members made it to Present Mic who had raced down the stairs to greet them. Snipe and Midnight followed behind and the sniper had his gun pointed to the match between All Might and the Noumu.

"Oh, crap, is he alright!?" Mic asked as he reached the girls. Uraraka had used her quirk to make Aizawa lightweight and easier to carry. Now in Mic's arms, she didn't release her quirk yet, figuring it'd be easier to carry him.

Snipe tsk'd and lowered his weapon. "They're moving too fast to hit, and I can't risk hitting All Might."

"It's alright, Snipe. Let's just focus on getting the kids out of dodge," Mic maneuvered Aizawa into his own arms from the girls, adjusting him and being careful of his mutilated arms. He gestured to Izuku, grimacing slightly at the state of the boy. "Midnight, get the little listener over there. Geez, those monsters… Can't even give these kids a break… Poor kid."

Midnight nodded and moved to take Izuku from the boys, gesturing to keep going. "Come on, let's get you to safety."

Nagisa and Todoroki both glanced back at the fight then froze when an airblast shot their way, raising dust and blocking their view of the fight. The dust settled down and Nagisa felt his heart stop at the angle the Noumu now had on All Might, its body seemingly cut in two coming from the warp holes on the ground. Claws sank into the hero's side, his bad side. And tentacles wrapped themselves around his middle, seeming to squeeze tightly.

"All Might!?"

Snipe raised his gun again, aiming at the Noumu's arms and firing, three bullets for each limb. But Nagisa knew it wouldn't hit. It wouldn't have the same effect as it would to a normal human. And dammit… Dammit! No one had any anti-sensei material… If only… Tears filled his eyes and he ran off, Todoroki following just behind his heels.

The claws sank in again, blood seeping through the hero's white shirt. He heard Present Mic and Midnight shout for them, "Hey! Kids! No, stop!"

All Might readjusted himself, trying to tear the claws from his midsection, along with the tentacles. Then he smirked, forcing a hand to his back pocket, fortunately not covered by the black beast's limbs. "It's… a good thing I still carry around… some of these…!"

In his hand was an Anti-Sensei-coated cloth he kept around for just in case reasons. Or maybe sentimental reasons too. Yet, he didn't hesitate to slam it down on the creature's tentacles. It screeched, startled by the sudden pain of its melting appendages and quickly released his death hold on the hero.

Ice raced past Nagisa, Todoroki encasing the Noumu in ice, from its leg touching the ground to its claws through the black portal. All Might then took the chance of the Noumu's weakness to jump out and land nearer to the heroes and students.

"All I heard was you all are here to kill All Might.

Nagisa grit his teeth, proud of his classmate hero-in-training and taking out his shock knife once more, racing toward that villain with the hands.

The same warp portal villain from before appeared in front of him then, glowing eyes narrowed in contempt, hissing out, "Not so fast."

Nagisa's eyes widened as his quirked activated, meeting the villain's eyes and freezing him in place just as an explosion set off in his face, just missing Nagisa's Roka.

"Move it, Scaly!" Bakugou! He grabbed onto the metal guard of the smoky villain and slammed him to the ground. "Take that!"

The reptilian grinned and made a note to thank him later before racing toward that Shigaraki, his snakes rattling and hissing. He was glad they were never de-fanged when he was young. If he could help it, he'd let them bite that no-good filth of the earth. Watch him as his organs began to slowly melt away and—

Kirishima jumped on the villain, hardening quirk sharpened on his hands to knives, but Shigaraki dodged back. Nagisa took the chance to come in behind Kirishima and take a thrusted slice at the man, missing. He then swung around and threw his knife at the villain, sticking in his leg.

The villain gasped and fell to his knee, hissing to the assassin, "You… brat..!"

"Aw, you here to steal my thunder?" Kirishima joked, brandishing his knife-sharp hands.

Nagisa jumped back to Kirishima's side, smirking as he pulled his stun stick from its holster at his side, turning it on.

Kirishima whistled, "Dang, you're just full of weapons, ain'tcha?"

Nagisa shrugged with a grin.

Shigaraki stood still as the heroes and heroes-in-training surrounded him. He began to mutter out loud, "Kurogiri, our exit and entrance, has been overwhelmed. There are heroes everywhere… These brats keep getting hits on me… Noumu let All Might escape… We've hit a dead end… No more extra lives, no more bonus levels, no more stars… It really is game over… These kids… they're even almost all uninjured…"

A pale and skinny hand reached to the shock knife protruding from his thigh and tore it out, letting it drop to the floor. Nagisa grimaced, knowing he'll have to get a new one after this (no way is he cleaning off that guy's blood from it…).

"Noumu," Shigaraki calmly said, and the black noumu rigidly brought itself from one portal back out of the other, its arm and leg shattering off in an instant. Nagisa gasped back in alarm—tentacles curled from the gaps in its body, reforming the limbs it just lost.

All Might's expression grew dark at the correlation between the beast and their former friend, Korosensei. If this was a replication of Korosensei's antimatter-based quirk (which they knew it one hundred percent was considering the tentacles melted after the touch of All Might's anti-sensei handkerchief), then that'd mean it would have his old quirks, right? Speed, Regeneration, Shock Absorption, Quirk Immunity, the works. Rage spiralled in Nagisa's chest, eyes wide.

If this was the same thing. Then that means this League of Villains were the ones that experimented on Korosensei, made him how he was, experimented on Kaede , on Itona, on her and… and… He swallowed thickly. It was their fault he was dead. Their fault. All their fault.

"You…"

"Oh? You don't look surprised, All Might," Shigaraki cackled, limping forward once with his bloodied leg lame. "Have you perhaps… seen this quirk before?"

Nagisa swallowed again. He couldn't stop the shaking in his limbs. All Might was silent, scowl deepening.

"Ah, but even he wouldn't kill you, no matter how perfect he was," Shigaraki continued. "My perfect Noumu. And on top of that, you took my little Noumu from me too… But no matter, this Noumu was made to take you on at one hundred percent. And he'll listen to me. He's a super-efficient human sandbag!"

Noumu stood straight.

Nagisa knew his weapon wouldn't do anything on this guy, but he still raised it anyway. They all prepared for hell.

"But first, we need our gate back."

Shigaraki gestured to his Noumu and it shot off toward Bakugou.

In a flash, Bakugou was pushed aside and All Might went skidding through the wall dividing the Downpour Zone with the Central Plaza. Bakugou blinked, caught looking as though he was frozen in time with terror before he forced himself to look… calmer.

The dust cleared, revealing All Might with his arms raised, scathed and bruised but okay nonetheless. Shigaraki perked up. "He protected his student, huh… Wow, All Might, you never cease to amaze me…" A smile pulled at his bloody lips before he called for his Noumu again.

"Well, it looks like our play time has come to an end," he began slowly after a moment. Shots from Snipe raced toward him, but the Noumu took all the hits. Kurogiri formed beside him. Shigaraki continued, agitatedly scratching at his neck, "Only four players at a time can play. Don't you know that? I can't take on all these heroes… so unfair. So unfair! You're all cheaters, you know that?!"

Kurogiri formed a portal that the Noumu then faded into, leaving Shigaraki to stand alone for a moment longer.

Nagisa took his chance, he was already inching closer and closer off to the side, and he knew next to nothing of this villain, but he wasn't letting all these villains get away. Insulted rage had him gripped like a bird in a fist, choking but still somehow alive. The bloodlust screamed for him to finish the job, and he was in front of the villain in a moment, hands readying. The portal almost had Shigaraki's body hidden away, teleported somewhere else, with only his head and shoulders still on their side. Before Shigaraki had the time to question his presence, a loud and deafening clap rung through him, shocking the villain with a choked scream before he was consumed by the portal.

Nagisa breathed harshly. He had been holding his breath, and his knees felt weak. He grit his teeth, fists clenching before a loud scream of frustration tore from his throat. No, no, NO! They've tarnished Korosensei, used his results for such evil, and on top of that, they hurt Izuku and Aizawa… they could have been killed! They were almost killed! And they just got away?! He didn't even have enough time to draw his stun stick or retrieve his knife again, and dammit, he wish he could just…

"Hey, Nagisa, you okay, bro?" Kirishima came behind him. "You didn't get hurt, did you?"

"N… No, I'm- I'm fine. Where's All Might?"

"He's coming over, but he's… steaming?"

Nagisa grimaced, turning to All Might approaching form. "They got away, All Might. They took the Noumu."

"We'll catch them," All Might's reply came as he neared, albeit slowly. That's right; he was hurt by the full power of the Noumu's punch. "The ambulance is here. I'm off to find the other students, Iida said the students were all dispersed in the different zones?"

Nagisa swallowed, nodding. "Y-yeah."

All Might put his hand on his shoulder, smiling encouragingly. "You did well, Young Nagisa. All of you," he then addressed his other students. "No go up and follow the Pro Heroes outside. There's some ambulances and police officers waiting, they'll give you a checkup and then you'll need to give them a statement."

"Tch!" Bakugou growled, having finally gathered himself. "Stupid cowards! They couldn't take a fight between some kids, hah?!"

"Calm down, Bakubro! We're all safe now, aren't we?"

"I thought I told you to quit callin' me that!"

Nagisa tried to smile but found it fell short, falling even more when he caught Todoroki's intense gaze. He raised a brow. The half-and-half user said nothing to the gesture, instead turning his dual-shaded eyes in front of him and continued walking toward the stairs, where they saw the late-arriving heroes from school and around town.

Later, Ritsu tells him that All Might had brought along Snipe, Present Mic, and Midnight because he ran into them on his way to the USJ. The rest were notified by the principal after he sent an alarm for a school lockdown, and he was there as well, offering both support and helping the students speak to the police in a calmly manner, as well as giving his own testimony.

A seed of dread once again found its place in his gut. It grew once he thought about Izuku and what he'd have to tell Midoriya-san.