Chapter 14: ——~(12)~——

"Obstacles do not block the path.

They are the path."

-Zen Proverb

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"Kurogiri! Bring out the Nomu now, All Might is here!"

Deku's words broke Kurogiri out of his abject stupefaction - say what you want about the man, he had an incredible presence - as he hurriedly pulled the Nomu out of a portal as close as feasibly possible to the famed hero. The person in question wasn't wearing his signature smile anymore, but a frown instead. The shadows on his face didn't manage to hide the flickers of red hot anger, as his tall and muscular frame bared down on all who dared to look up.

It was a pose that promised retribution for those who dared to harm who he cared about. But it didn't matter.

"Have no fear, students. For I am here!"

They had a monster of their own on their side.

All Might let out a couple of punches to test the endurance of the Nomu. The Nomu endured it. He tried to punch it in the face; no reaction.

"The Nomu is equipped with shock absorption. Your kryptonite, so to speak! To beat him, you'll have to overwhelm his quirk with one powerful strike, or slowly injure him until he can't keep it up anymore. Of course, he won't just lay down and take it~! I wonder how long it will take for him to kill you, and your despicable weakening power!"

Deku simply confined his internal ranting thoughts once again, instead of spewing them all out of his mouth. The air pressure of the attacks forced them all together again, so he got to hear the full spiel of Shigaraki right in the orchestra pit of the opera house.

'I simply can't understand why he has to tell the enemy about our trump card. Indeed, providing information on the Nomu doesn't rationally matter, but... Well, if they simply take it at face value and assume that he only has one quirk, it could work in our favor. Even if his quirks are very obvious.'

"Thanks for telling me all that!"

He gathered all the power from his abdominal muscles, his solar plexus, his biceps, and triceps, and he threw. Only to find himself in a bad situation instead. Deku's face blossomed with a satisfied glint in his eyes. Kurogiri had done a nice job with this one. Instead of the Nomu's body simply being stuck in the concert, a portal formed allowing Nomu's upper body to dig its' claws into All Might's stomach. There would be no way to get out of this.

And then two students started to run straight toward All Might.

15 seconds ago:

Kirishima lightly surveyed Bakugo and Todoroki. Neither of them was in good enough shape to go help All Might; one was collapsed with burns all over his body, and the other had entirely tuned out the world. He was especially worried about Todoroki, but right now they had to help All Might right now, or else... The others had begun attempting first aid on the duo, and he would just have to trust in that.

(Did first aid have any effect on traumatized people? God, he didn't know what he was doing! W-What if he messed up, and ended up killing everyone in the process-, no, don't think like that. We just have to save All Might from a monster thing - with an exposed brain, that wasn't creepy, nope - that has the same crazy strength as All Might-)

He forced himself to take a deep breath. It didn't matter what he thought! He had one of the few purely (for the most part) offensive quirks. He couldn't let people like Uraraka or Mineta go in there, and the plan better suited his quirk compared to things like Sato's quirk. He had used up a large amount of his stored sugar anyway, and the plan didn't allow for people's cognitive abilities to drop.

He lightly nodded with Iida, before jumping on his back. As the engines in the back of his legs reeved up, Iida spoke one sentence with utmost determination.

"...I will complete my mission this time, even if it kills me. I didn't manage to call for help last time, but I swear that I will get you there."

"...We're going to do this, Iida! But we're not gonna kill ourselves to do it either! It's not manly! Got it?!"

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Iida was instantly dumbstruck, before recovering into a determined facial expression.

"Sorry, that was stupid of me. It would reflect badly on this great school, and it's many great upperclassmen if I was killed by these villains."

Present Time:

'What are they doing? It seems like they have a plan... I can't see it. How do they plan to save All Might with an engine and a hardening quirk? There's no way that those quirks could release Nomu's claws from All Might. No matter, I simply have to deny them the opportunity.'

"Young Kirishima! Young Iida! What are you doing!"

All Might couldn't help but cry out, seeing two students step in the fray of danger. What were they doing?! Even he couldn't get out of this, and they, they were still kids! His conscience wouldn't be able to take it if they died because of his incompetence!

Regardless of All Might's internal pleas, the two hero students flew into the combat scene. Rushing over with his incorporeal body, Kurogiri reached them first. But the two of them didn't go into this without a plan. Instead of evading or even attacking Kurogiri, Iida threw Kirishima forward, then activated his boosters to go backward. The teen was now dangerously close to All Might and Nomu. Shigaraki was useless in anything but close-quarters combat, so it was it his turn.

Just as the teen was about to touch Nomu, a lightning bolt crashed right into his body from the make-believe gun his hand had formed-

(Kirishima knew in an instant. He had been hit with lightning. His heart was racing at a speed it had never even come close to, and his organs felt like mush. His brain felt like it was filled with white fuzz. But... he was okay. The lightning took a swim, and then swam out.)

-except, instead of the lightning bolt reacting as it would to a normal human, it was conducted straight into Nomu. The resulting numbness and shock were enough to cause the Nomu's grip to loosen, and All Might was free. Free and angry.

'What? H-How did that happen? It's not like his body turns into an actual rock! Even if it did, that wouldn't conduct electricity... Perhaps, does his quirk form crystalline chemical structures in his body? Or even metal chemical structures like graphite? That could explain why his body hardens up so much. There isn't enough information about his quirk. No, science hasn't even begun to understand how quirks work, so this is redundant. Focus on the present.'

Fortunately, before All Might had the chance to try and kill them, he was engaged by Nomu again. The duo rushed each other like a pair of ancient gladiators, egged on by the cheering in the stadium. Trading blow for blow, flesh for flesh in a race of time to see who would come out first. Who it was that would be vanquished. Each and every blow started to grow faster and faster until it was hardly more than a blur.

For everyone but Deku that is.

'This has the potential to be bad. All Might is landing many more blows to Nomu, then Nomu is to All Might. At this rate... It's a fact that the lightning made Nomu loosen his grip. Now with Nomu most likely losing, I'm going to be the scapegoat. This is very complicated...'

"...Kurogiri, I have a bad feeling about this. Just in case, prepare some portals to the bar."

"Understood."

Then, that man's presence changed. Like he had decided something, and he would never rest until it was a reality. No matter the injury, no matter the obstacle, he would continue walking regardless. It was indescribable, but it was at that moment when Deku realized that they weren't going to win. He could clearly see the blood coming out of his lips, as well as his stomach, but nothing had ever felt so definitive in his whole life. That man was going to win this time.

"...We're not going to win. Kurogiri, I'm going to go back ahead this time."

He then walked threw the portal and didn't look back. All Might had won the battle, that much was certain.

But he hadn't won the war.