章 21: All for One
"Ok, I hate to be the one to say it, but I'm just gonna come right out and ask," Yamada said, "Is there a possibility Todoroki was taken because the league thought he had One for All?"
Nedzu shook his head, "They shouldn't have. That's why we went on with the sports festival like we did, despite All Might's death. All the students' quirks were on display and none of them were similar to All Might's."
"That being said," Tsukauchi said, "We are fairly confident that All for One is behind the league of villains. The existence of the Nomus confirms that much."
"So what are we supposed to do?" Midnight asked, "We can't just leave him alone, not if he's going to go after our students."
"Do we even have a choice?" Snipe asked, "If All for One is really as strong as All Might was at his prime, then how are we supposed to counter that?"
"If his quirk is what makes him so strong," Aizawa said darkly, "then we'll just have to take it away."
The teachers looked at each other and nodded. They would take down this villain no matter how strong he was.
They owed it to Todoroki.
Shouto sat unbound at the bar, watching with a mixture of amusement and horror as Dabi tried to hit an increasingly enraged Shigaraki with peanuts. Toga was sitting beside him, cheering Dabi on as one of Twice's personalities did the same and the other pleaded for him to stop annoying Shigaraki for all of their sakes. Kurogiri simply shook his head fondly and continued cleaning glasses. Already there was more love and camaraderie in this group than Shouto had ever felt at home and he wasn't quite sure how to deal with that.
"So, Todoroki, I see you made the right decision."
Shouto looked up in shock to see a smiling Midoriya sitting in the window, "Midoriya? What are you doing here?"
Toga almost knocked him over as she ran past him and threw her arms around Midoriya, who hugged her back without hesitation, "Mind-chan! Mind-chan! You're back!"
"Mastermind," Kurogiri said, "It's a pleasure, as always. May I get you a drink?"
Shouto's eyes widened. Midoriya was Mastermind? He looked over to see Midoriya shaking his head, "I'm afraid I'm here on business this time, not pleasure."
"Then get to the point!" Shigaraki grumbled.
Midoriya had finally untangled himself from Togas arms and he sighed, "I just thought you guys might like to know that the heroes and police are gathering outside. It looks like they're planning a raid to come rescue Todoroki." He looked at Shouto and gave him a knowing smile, "Too bad they're a little too late for that, huh?"
Shigaraki scratched his neck, "Annoying heroes! How did they find us? Cheaters!"
"Now Tomura," Shouto flinched as an unfamiliar voice came from the television, "It does not matter how they knew where to find you. All that matters now is that Mastermind was kind enough to tell us of their plans. How long do you think we have before they strike?"
Midoriya shrugged, "An hour at the most. If I were them, I'd likely use the planned press conference as a cover."
"Might I suggest retreating?" Kurogiri said calmly. "We have other properties that the heroes will not have discovered, and Mastermind has given us more than enough time to clear out this location."
Shigaraki stopped scratching, "I guess you're right, Kurogiri. Come on, guys, grab your stuff and let's go."
Kurogiri was already busy warping away his vast stores of alcohol as many of the others left to go pack. Shouto himself didn't have anything to do, seeing as they didn't bother to grab any of his things when they kidnapped him. He turned his attention to Midoriya, who was wearing what he now recognized as Mastermind's villain costume, but with the hood and mask down, "Are you a member of the league?"
Midoriya laughed and shook his head, "No, I've found I work best if I don't tie myself down to any one group. But I've done a few jobs for the league now, and I like working with you guys."
Shouto started when Midoriya referred to him as part of the league. When he'd agreed to become a villain with his brother, joining the league hadn't really been on his mind, but...he supposed that was what he'd done, wasn't it? It was weird being referred to as part of a group, like he'd finally found a place to belong. He shook his head.
"But you showed up in person for the USJ attack. Why go that far if you weren't a member?"
Midoriya's face soured, "Killing All Might was...personal."
Shouto waited for him to continue, but it appeared he'd said all he was going to say on that subject, so Shouto asked another question, "Then, why are you helping us now? From what the news has said about Mastermind, you mostly wait for people to hire you, but don't care what they get up to when they aren't consulting with you."
Midoriya smiled softly, "I see a lot of myself in you Todoroki. I was abused for years by the person who was supposed to be my hero while the people who were supposed to protect me turned a blind eye. No one ever saved me, not because they couldn't, but because no one ever wanted to. Ever since I turned to villainy, I've been happier than I ever was before and I want the same thing for you. I just couldn't let you go back to living in hell, not when I had the power to get you out."
Shouto found himself blushing. No one had ever cared about his happiness before, certainly not his father. And yet, here Midoriya was, acting like Shouto's happiness was important enough to work for. Even back at the sports festival, before Shouto even considered becoming a villain, Midoriya was there, letting him know that he was more than his father's abuse.
"Todoroki? Are you ok?" Midoriya was looking at him with concern.
"Shouto." He replied before he could help himself and he blushed a little more, "I don't want to go by my father's name anymore."
Izuku smiled and nodded his head in understanding, blushing a little himself, "Alright Shouto. You can call me Izuku, if you want."
Aizawa crouched on a rooftop halfway between the two raid locations. Vlad King and Principal Nedzu had just started the press conference, which meant that it was almost go time. Aizawa was just grateful that his quirk was part of the plan so he didn't have to deal with the vultures. He couldn't imagine the disaster it would have been if the villains had taken another student, say Bakugo. Aizawa shuddered. If they'd taken Bakugo, the school would have been blamed for broadcasting his violent behavior and UA would be in a lot of trouble. As it was, the blame was resting solely on the villains, for now, but a press conference was still deemed necessary for this big of an incident.
A voice came over his earpiece, "The Nomu factory has been secured."
"Thank you, Best Jeanist," Tsukauchi's voice said, "You and your team keep an eye out. The villains might try to recover them."
Aizawa sighed, one down, one to go. If he had to guess where All for One would show his face, he would bet on the bar, since that's where they were keeping Todoroki and where most of the villains were located. That meant that the most difficult part of the mission was still to come.
"Pizza delivery!" Edgeshot called out, then nodded to Gang Orca, who used a sonic attack to knock down the wall. Kamui woods ran in after him, ready for his first major battle since he had been injured by Mastermind months ago.
"All clear."
"What?" Edgeshot unlocked the door and walked in, "Where are they?"
The heroes looked around the room for a moment before seeing a yellow post-it note stuck to the counter. They crowded closer to read it.
Just missed us ; )
"We have a problem," Aizawa frowned at Edshot's voice, "They're not here."
"What do you mean they're not there?" Endeavor growled. He had been sent to the Nomu factory, since his fire was one of the few things that could harm a nomu and they were concerned this whole thing might really be an elaborate trap for the number one hero.
"I mean, the only sign anyone was ever here is a post it note saying, 'Just missed us' with a winky face. They obviously knew we were coming."
Aizawa ignored Endeavor's frustrated rant. If the villains weren't at the bar, where were they? And how would they get Todoroki back?
Suddenly the radio went silent and there was an explosion in the distance.
"Jeanist, come in, what the hell is going on over there?" Aizawa held his breath, but there wasn't an answer.
"Aizawa, go help them!"
Aizawa ran as fast as he could to the Nomu factory and almost jumped off a roof before he realized that the building that was supposed to be there… wasn't anymore.
"I don't need your quirk," a voice was saying, "It wouldn't pair well with Tomura's disposition." A grunt and Aizawa looked down to see Best Jeanist's eyes glaze over as a man in a black mask punched a hole through his gut. Endeavor was just starting to stand back up with rage in his eyes, while Tiger had been knocked unconscious by the blow.
"Tsukauchi," Aizawa whispered into his radio, "I have eyes on All for One."
"My apologies, heroes ," All for One said, "But I simply cannot allow you to take these Nomu. They are essential to young Tomura's success."
"Surrender, villain." Endeavor declared, "You have nowhere to run!"
All for One chuckled, "If I wanted to run, you wouldn't be able to stop me."
Endeavor shot a wave of fire at him, but All for One simply stepped aside and let the flames pass by him harmlessly.
Endeavor growled, "Flashfire Fist - Jet Burn!" He used both hands to create a massive wave of flames.
"Air cannon plus spring like limbs," All for One said calmly as a massive wave of wind blew the flames off course, sending them flying toward a bank of apartments that was engulfed within moments.
Screams sounded from the apartments and Aizawa swore, "Tsukauchi, get Backdraft or someone over here! I can't intervene yet, not if we want to capture this bastard."
"I already called him" Tsukauchi said, "Wait for backup and stick to the plan."
All for One and Endeavor kept fighting, neither landing a hit on the other but increasing collateral damage with every attack.
"Flame Tornado!" Endeavor yelled, jumping into the air and using his flames to propel him forward as he spun toward the villain.
"Air cannon plus spring-like limbs, kinetic booster x 4, strength enhancer x 3." He seemed almost bored as his attack flung Endeavor straight through the nearby buildings. Already weakened from the fire, they started collapsing almost immediately. It was only by using his fire to melt through the rock that Endeavor managed to survive. He wasn't going to last much longer if this kept up.
"Is everyone in position?" Aizawa whispered impatiently and almost sighed with relief when a chorus of affirmatives came over the radio.
Aizawa took off his goggles and set them on the roof. Powerloader had made him a special version of his hero costume just for this fight. It looked mostly like his standard one, except this one was made to withstand the heat of endeavor's flames and had a hood and mask that he pulled up to protect his hair and face. Finally he put on the new goggles, still painted gold, but this time fully enclosed with a mirror effect. A temperature regulator wrapped around his chest and he turned it on, shivering at the artificial cold.
After he finished adjusting his new suit, Aizawa took a deep breath and jumped off the building, landing in a roll. All for One and Endeavor were still exchanging blows as Aizawa crept closer. Despite the fact that he was in full view, All for One didn't seem to notice him, which was when Aizawa took note that his mask didn't have any eye holes. He must be using some sort of infrared heat vision to see, which made Aizawa almost invisible in the flames. All the better.
The fight shifted and Endeavor caught sight of him, nodding silently and retreating a few steps to put some distance between himself and All for One. Aizawa ran to stand in between the two fighters so that he could see All for One but not Endeavor and he activated his quirk.
"Now!"
"Prominence Burn!" A massive beam of fire shot past him, turning quickly from orange to blue and Aizawa started sweating as the temperature regulator on his suit struggled to keep up. He held his quirk for as long as he could, but he had to blink eventually.
"Midnight!" He yelled above the noise of the flames and Endeavor stopped his attack. Midnight quickly ran out from behind a building and cranked her quirk up to full force, completely shrouding the area in purple mist.
Aizawa heard Endeavor fall to the ground behind him and saw All for One collapse in front of him, heavily burned, but not dead. As the gas took hold and the police surrounded the area, Aizawa finally closed his eyes.
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