The camp was already in complete chaos when yet another Nomu tore through the sky and crashed into the middle of the courtyard, kicking up a cloud of dust before rising again as though nothing had happened.
All around the camp, black portals opened and closed between the trees and several meters above the ground, spilling deformed creatures out one after another. Some were enormous, others had bodies far too slender, and some did not even move on two legs.
Aizawa moved through the center of the confusion, his capture weapon cutting through the space around him. His eyes glowed red as he kept the Quirks of three Nomus erased at the same time.
One of the creatures tried to grab him, but he ducked low, slipped beneath its massive arm, and wrapped the scarf around the monster's neck before yanking it downward into a knee strike. Then, using the Nomu's own upward momentum against it, he hurled the creature into another.
"Don't let any of them get to the kids!"
Tiger answered by stopping another Nomu's advance with a direct blow to the chest. The impact lifted the monster off the ground and sent it crashing into a wall of earth Pixie-Bob had just raised.
"We're trying!"
Pixie-Bob moved her arms, and the ground immediately responded. Two columns of earth closed around the legs of a group of creatures, trapping them in place before Tiger charged them.
Mandalay remained several meters behind, transmitting instructions directly to every student while simultaneously trying to keep track of the ever-growing number of enemies.
"Kids, get to the lodge! Don't separate from each other!"
Ragdoll did her best to guide and gather the more scattered students.
"I told you to stay together! This isn't training!"
Easier said than done.
One of the Nomus slipped past Tiger's flank when he had to duck beneath another creature's claws. Pixie-Bob tried to block its path with a wall of earth, but a second Nomu struck her from behind before the structure could fully form.
The creature that escaped charged straight toward the students.
Several members of Class 1-B instinctively backed away.
But Kirishima rushed forward and activated his Hardening in the same instant, planting himself in a defensive stance.
"COME ON!"
The Nomu's fist slammed into his guard with enough force to send him sliding several meters across the ground, his feet carving two deep trenches through the dirt, but Kirishima remained standing.
The Nomu charged again.
Kirishima lowered his center of gravity and caught the Nomu's hands with his hardened ones, holding the creature in place just long enough for Kaminari to appear from the side.
"Now!"
An electrical discharge surged through the Nomu the moment Kaminari touched its back.
The creature's entire body convulsed as electricity coursed through its muscles.
Sero fired two strips of tape around the Nomu's ankles before yanking hard and completely knocking the creature off balance, sending it crashing heavily onto its back.
Class 1-B stared for a moment.
Tetsutetsu blinked.
"How did they react that fast without even being scared?"
Kendo looked surprised too, though her attention was already beginning to adjust to the rhythm of the battle.
"They're used to this..."
Another Nomu dropped from a nearby portal.
And before anyone else could react, Pony stepped forward.
Her horns shot out.
Two struck the Nomu that was trying to rise, piercing through its clothes and pinning its shoulders against the ground. Another four circled around her body as Pony stretched out her hands.
"I can help too!"
She was still searching for Dash with her eyes whenever she got the chance, even though she knew he wasn't there. Worry left her hands cold, and every new explosion coming from the forest made her stomach tighten.
Kirishima glanced back.
"Nice!"
Pony gritted her teeth and launched her remaining horns at another Nomu approaching from the side.
Giving up on standing around, Class B began moving as well.
Tetsutetsu hardened his body and charged straight into the front line beside Kirishima. Kendo enlarged one of her hands and smashed a creature from the side with enough force to send it crashing into another.
And then there was an explosion.
Bakugo tore across the field in a blast far larger than he had intended.
The Nomu in front of him barely had time to raise an arm before Bakugo appeared above its head and detonated an explosion directly into its face. The impact drove the creature into the ground, but the force also launched Bakugo backward at absurd speed.
He spun uncontrollably through the air, opened his right hand to correct his trajectory, and fired another explosion.
But the second blast was too powerful as well.
"SHIT!"
Bakugo flew over an entire tree before managing to twist his body and fire a third explosion downward, landing with his feet dragging several meters through the dirt.
Something was still wrong.
Ever since that change in his Quirk, Explosion no longer seemed to work exactly the way it used to. For years, he had learned to calculate every movement through his palms. The angle of his hand, the amount of sweat, the direction of his arm, the strength of the explosion, and his body's reaction to the recoil. Everything had been connected to two specific points.
Not anymore.
Bakugo could feel the sweat across his entire body.
His forehead.
His back.
His arms.
Even the tiny droplets running down the sides of his torso felt different to his senses, as though his Quirk now recognized every single one of them as fuel waiting only for a command.
And he could ignite them.
That was the problem.
The first time he'd consciously tried using it, he'd detonated almost all the sweat accumulated across his back at once and launched himself forward far faster than expected.
This wasn't simply a new direction for Explosion.
It was a vastly greater amount of fuel available at once.
Bakugo stared at his own hand as tiny sparks appeared between his fingers.
"So it's not the power I need to reduce..."
Another Nomu came charging toward him.
Bakugo looked up.
"...it's how much I ignite, and where."
The creature swung its fist down.
Bakugo didn't use his hands.
A small explosion burst behind his right ankle.
The movement was so sudden that his body slid sideways by just enough for the punch to crush the ground where he had been standing.
Bakugo's eyes widened slightly.
"It worked!"
The Nomu turned its head.
Bakugo detonated another small amount of sweat beneath his feet, destroying his shoes.
"Ha!"
A short explosion erupted across his back and launched him forward. Before he could lose control, Bakugo ignited a small amount of sweat on his right shoulder, spinning his body through the air before slamming a palm explosion directly into the side of the Nomu's head.
The monster staggered, scorched and unconscious, before collapsing to the ground.
Bakugo landed just ahead of it.
The realization came quickly.
Until now, mobility and offense had competed with each other.
If he used one palm to propel himself, that hand was occupied controlling his movement.
Now his legs could accelerate him.
His back could propel him.
His shoulders could alter his rotation.
Even a tiny explosion from the side of his body could change his trajectory in midair.
And both of his hands remained free.
Bakugo's grin widened into something almost manic.
"Now we're talking."
He vanished.
Kaminari, fighting several meters away, turned his head when he heard a rapid sequence of pops.
"What the hell...?"
Brief flashes appeared at several different points almost simultaneously, marking Bakugo's path for only fractions of a second before disappearing. He moved between the Nomus too quickly for the eye to follow every change of direction, leaving only streaks of yellow light and tiny explosions suspended in the air as he appeared on one side, vanished, then reappeared several meters away.
He appeared above a Nomu.
Before the creature could turn around, Bakugo planted both feet into its face and detonated the sweat gathered beneath his soles.
BOOM!
Bakugo rocketed into the sky from the recoil, laughing like a lunatic.
"NOW I GET THIS SHIT!"
Sero watched with wide eyes.
"Wait... he's not even using his hands to move anymore."
Kaminari tried to track Bakugo as he crossed the field again.
"Since when can he explode through his feet like Takeda?!"
Bakugo heard him.
"SINCE I DECIDED I FUCKING CAN!"
Kaminari lost track of Bakugo again the next second.
"I can't even see him anymore..."
Sero pointed toward a sequence of flashes streaking across the battlefield.
"That's him."
"That doesn't help!"
On the other side of the camp, Violet floated several meters above the ground while three Nomus remained trapped inside separate force fields. A fourth tried to leap toward her, only to slam face-first into a purple barrier that appeared in front of it and sent it crashing back down.
"How many of these guys are there?"
Another portal opened.
Violet let out an irritated sigh.
"They just keep coming."
Meanwhile, Tony was handling two by himself.
The first tried to punch him.
Tony avoided the blow simply by tilting his head a few centimeters.
The second attacked from the side.
Tony twisted his body, caught the creature by the wrist, and used the monster's own momentum to throw it over his shoulder.
The first came back.
Tony looked directly at it, and his face shifted into a ridiculously confident expression, complete with an absurdly handsome sideways grin and one raised eyebrow.
The Nomu froze for a fraction of a second.
Then its own face tried to copy the expression.
Its deformed facial muscles moved against its will, forcing the creature to reproduce the same seductive look while remaining completely paralyzed.
"Get mogged."
Tony drove his knee into the Nomu's stomach.
The creature folded over.
Tony spun and kicked it in the side of the head, sending it crashing into the second monster.
"Two against one and you still lose. Embarrassing."
That was when a third Nomu appeared behind him.
Its mouth opened, and a jet of compressed water exploded forward.
Tony barely had enough time to turn his face before the stream hit him full-force, violently launching him sideways.
"Kgh!"
Kirishima saw Tony being thrown away.
"TONY!"
He rushed forward and placed himself in Tony's path before he could hit the ground. His hardened body absorbed the impact, both of them sliding several meters together before Kirishima managed to plant his feet.
"You okay?"
Tony blinked a few times, completely soaked.
"Yeah."
Another jet of water came toward them.
Kirishima's eyes widened before both of them threw themselves in opposite directions.
The stream passed between them and tore apart part of a tree behind them.
Tony landed in a crouch.
His hair hung over his face.
"You..."
The Nomu fired another jet.
Tony dodged by jumping to the left before sprinting toward the creature, which continued firing streams of water in rapid succession while Tony agilely avoided every one.
He slid beneath one of the jets and kept advancing, closing the distance with every movement until he finally got close enough.
His first punch slammed into the creature's face before beginning a rapid barrage of strikes, each one hitting a different part of the Nomu's face.
The creature stumbled backward one step with every impact, unable to regain its composure while Tony advanced right along with it.
He pinned the Nomu in place by stepping on its foot and continued punching without pause.
His right hand became practically a blur against the monster's face while Tony casually raised his left hand toward his completely soaked hair in the middle of the barrage.
He ran his fingers through it and slicked everything back into place.
Without ever stopping the punches.
Kirishima just stared.
"...Are you serious?"
Tony suddenly snapped his gaze back toward the Nomu with an exaggeratedly intense expression.
Half-lidded eyes.
Chin slightly raised.
The creature's deformed face was forced to mimic the exact same expression.
Even while clearly in pain.
Tony smiled.
"Thanks for the extra shine."
A powerful punch slammed into the Nomu's face, launching it into a tree directly behind it.
Tony stood still for several seconds, staring at the fallen creature.
He ran one hand through his wet hair again.
"And thanks for the shower."
He took a deep breath.
"I'm feeling much fresher now."
Kirishima remained silent.
"...You're really weird."
"Thank you."
Above the camp, Kurogiri watched everything unfold.
A portal closed beside him as another opened farther away, releasing two more Nomus onto the battlefield.
Even with the sheer number of creatures being sent in, the students continued resisting.
His eyes narrowed.
"You really are persistent."
But then he was caught off guard when a purple sphere suddenly closed around him.
Violet appeared beside the floating prison, her arms crossed.
"So it was you."
Kurogiri stared at her through the force field.
"You're the one bringing all these guys here through those smoke clouds."
Kurogiri clicked his tongue.
His body disappeared into his own mist, leaving the violet bubble empty.
Violet turned her head just as Kurogiri reappeared behind her and opened an enormous portal.
Dozens of arms emerged from the darkness.
Nomus began pouring through all at once, climbing over one another and forming what was practically a flood of deformed bodies reaching toward her.
"Let's see how much longer you can keep this up."
Violet's expression didn't even change.
She simply pulled one hand back.
Purple energy began gathering in her palm.
"I'd say long enough."
Kurogiri noticed the glow too late.
Violet thrust her hand forward.
A colossal explosion of purple energy consumed the sky above the camp.
Kurogiri and every Nomu emerging from the portal disappeared inside the flash. Violet light illuminated the battlefield for several seconds, causing practically everyone below to look upward.
Aizawa had his capture weapon wrapped around the arms and necks of four Nomus at once when he saw the entire sky turn purple.
He pulled hard and made the creatures crash into one another.
Then he looked around, only to see the kids fighting and restraining the Nomus instead of retreating.
"These brats never learn."
They were doing far too well, considering the situation.
But there was still one variable that worried Aizawa.
Takeda.
He looked toward the forest again.
Another distant boom came from that direction.
Aizawa wrapped his capture weapon around another Nomu's neck and hurled it into a second one before retreating several steps.
"Mandalay!"
She turned immediately.
"What?!"
"Take care of the kids while I'm gone!"
Mandalay's eyes widened.
"Wait, where are you going?!"
Aizawa was already heading into the forest.
His capture weapon fluttered behind him as he disappeared between the trees.
"To stop a disaster from happening..."
----------------------------------------
Toga leapt from one tree to another as enormous pillars of ice erupted behind her in succession, striking the trunks where her feet had touched only an instant earlier. Each new formation froze entire branches, spreading ice through the canopy and turning that part of the forest into an uneven stretch of white, crystallized trees.
She landed on a higher branch, immediately crouching before another frozen spear pierced through the space where her head had been.
A bead of sweat rolled down her forehead.
"This guy is really dangerous..."
Todoroki remained on the ground, slowly turning his body to follow her movements. He wasn't trying to hit Toga directly every single time. Instead, he destroyed her escape routes, froze branches, blocked paths, and gradually reduced the amount of space she had left to move.
Toga noticed that too.
And she didn't like it one bit.
On the other side of the clearing, a heavy impact briefly interrupted the sound of ice forming.
Mr. Compress hit the ground on his back and remained still.
Midoriya landed several meters in front of him after completing the kick, small cyan sparks running around his legs. He took a deep breath, watched the fallen villain for a few seconds to make sure he wouldn't get back up, then wiped his forehead with his forearm.
"Get some sleep."
His gaze immediately shifted toward Todoroki.
Iida had already left the area, taking Dash back to the camp, and Ryo had disappeared with the Nomu shortly afterward.
Midoriya could still clearly remember what had happened.
Ryo had charged at the creature and, in the very next second, the two of them simply vanished in an explosion of wind, tearing through the forest at absurd speed and leaving broken trees and churned-up earth in their wake.
Midoriya had no idea exactly where they were now.
But the distant booms gave him a pretty good idea.
He ran over to Todoroki.
"Need help?"
Todoroki turned his face toward him for less than a second.
"What does it look like?"
Midoriya grimaced slightly.
"Right. Stupid question."
Three knives came spinning toward them.
Todoroki slammed his foot into the ground and raised a wall of ice. The blades became lodged in the frozen surface.
"She's extremely agile," Todoroki commented, watching Toga move to another branch. "And these trees aren't helping."
Midoriya looked up.
Toga had already drawn another knife.
"Then why hasn't she run away yet?"
Todoroki looked over his shoulder.
Shigaraki was still unconscious several meters behind them, trapped inside a thick mass of ice that covered almost his entire body.
"I think that's why."
Toga didn't seem willing to abandon Shigaraki.
Before Midoriya could say anything, a tremendous boom erupted far beyond the trees.
The ground trembled slightly as both of them looked in that direction.
"Takeda..."
The fight between Ryo and the Nomu had already crossed a considerable portion of the forest.
The creature was blasted into a stone wall by a Gamma Burst, tore straight through it, and came out the other side before managing to regain its footing. The moment its feet touched the ground, it opened its mouth and fired a greenish beam of energy toward Ryo.
Ryo didn't even move.
He raised one hand.
The beam struck his palm and dispersed around his body, scattering energy into the nearby trees.
Ryo looked at his own hand, then back at the Nomu.
"You absorbed that?"
The creature roared.
The Nomu's body had begun assimilating some of the energy it received throughout the battle. Certain attacks seemed to have less effect than before, and even the gamma rays no longer burned the creature the same way.
But that wasn't making the fight even in the slightest.
Ryo disappeared.
The Nomu tried to react, but a strike slammed into its stomach and folded its body before Ryo appeared behind it, grabbed its head, and hurled it into the ground. The creature bounced once, flew back into the air, and was hit again before it could even complete its trajectory.
Ryo was only using 1% of Innert Transition to cause that much damage.
There wasn't even any need to increase the percentage.
The Nomu tried to attack him again, but Ryo dodged every single strike without difficulty.
"One percent..."
He caught the Nomu by the wrist.
"...and you still can't keep up."
Ryo twisted his arm and hurled the Nomu through several trees.
He calmly walked toward the creature without any hurry.
"You're not even worth the effort."
The creature tried to stand.
But Ryo planted his foot on its chest, crushing it deeper into the ground.
The Nomu grabbed his leg, trying to pull him off, but Ryo merely looked at the creature's hands before grabbing one of its arms.
"Was this what you used to hurt him?"
He pulled.
The arm completely lost its function from the brutal motion, dropping beside the creature's body as its regeneration immediately began rebuilding the limb.
Ryo watched without expression.
"You can fix yourself."
The Nomu tried using its other arm.
Ryo did the same thing to it.
The creature writhed, but its tissues immediately began reorganizing themselves once again.
"Good."
Ryo waited only long enough to see the limbs begin to return.
Then he stopped the regeneration from finishing the job.
The process repeated.
Arms and legs.
Ryo destroyed every attempt at reconstruction before the Nomu could complete it, forcing its body to continuously spend energy restoring damage that was immediately inflicted all over again.
"Do you feel pain?"
The Nomu let out a hoarse roar.
Ryo tilted his head slightly.
"He did."
The creature tried regenerating one of its legs again, but Ryo interrupted the process by tearing it off once more.
"When you broke his arms..."
Another attempt at regeneration.
And another limb torn away.
"...he felt all of it."
The regeneration began slowing down.
The creature's body was still trying to respond, but it no longer possessed the same speed as before. After so many consecutive reconstructions, the Nomu eventually lay motionless in the center of a small crater, reduced to a torso incapable of standing while its limbs slowly attempted to reform.
Ryo watched it.
"Since you enjoyed hurting him so much..."
The Nomu bared its teeth behind its mask.
"Do you like pain?"
The creature's eyes began glowing green, the same light appearing deep inside its mouth.
"No?"
He raised his foot.
"Of course..."
The Nomu tried to fire.
"...Nobody likes pain."
Ryo brought his foot down on its face with everything he had.
The impact seemed to explode beneath them.
The entire ground sank several meters as enormous fissures spread in every direction. Nearby trees toppled as the earth split beneath their roots, and one of the cracks continued along the side of the nearby mountain, tearing through the stone for dozens of meters.
The seismic wave raced across the region.
Back at camp, everyone felt the ground shake.
Kaminari nearly fell over.
"What was that?!"
Bakugo landed and immediately looked toward the forest.
Aizawa, already farther away among the trees, felt the vibration travel through his feet.
His expression tightened even further.
Midoriya had to spread his legs to keep his balance.
"An earthquake?!"
"No."
Todoroki stared toward the source. He knew perfectly well that this was just another one of Ryo's doing.
The branch beneath Toga's feet shook violently, and she threw out her arms to regain her balance.
"Whoa!"
Todoroki seized the opportunity and sent another mass of ice toward her.
Toga jumped at the last possible moment, but the next branch was still swaying. Her foot struck the wood at a bad angle and slipped, sending her falling from the tree.
Ice surged up the trunk before Toga could reach the ground. A pillar struck her from the side and pinned her against the tree, rapidly encasing her waist, legs, and one of her arms.
Todoroki let out a frosty breath as he sighed.
Midoriya did the same.
"Finally..."
Then they heard a scream behind them.
"AAAAARGH!"
Both of them turned to see Shigaraki awake.
The ice around him began breaking apart as he used Decay on it, freeing one shoulder first, then his torso, and finally part of his legs.
"Shit...!"
He fell forward, bracing himself with one hand against the ground.
"Why...?"
His breathing was uneven as his face twisted with rage.
"Why did everything go wrong?!"
Midoriya immediately assumed a fighting stance.
Shigaraki looked at the unconscious Mr. Compress.
Then at the trapped Toga.
Then at Midoriya and Todoroki.
He raised his only flesh-and-blood hand and began scratching his own neck.
"What did I do wrong...?"
Shigaraki began laughing.
"Again..."
He lifted his head.
"I'm wrong again."
His eyes locked onto the two boys.
"You..."
Midoriya felt his body tense as Shigaraki raised his bionic arm.
"You did this!"
He tried firing the zero-point energy beam, but nothing happened.
"What...?"
He looked at the arm and saw that parts of its metallic structure were still frozen.
"SHIT!"
He began striking the device with his other hand, breaking the ice trapped around its joints.
"Work!"
Midoriya immediately recognized the danger and shot forward.
Shigaraki raised his arm again.
But the arm was no longer there.
"Looking for this?"
Shigaraki froze when he heard the familiar voice behind him.
Midoriya's eyes widened.
Ryo stood directly behind Shigaraki, holding the severed bionic arm.
Midoriya immediately felt some of the tension leave his shoulders.
"Nice!"
A small smile of relief appeared on his face.
Shigaraki slowly turned around.
"You."
Ryo let the mechanical arm fall to the ground.
Shigaraki began trembling.
"YOU!"
He took a step forward.
"It's always you!"
Ryo said nothing.
"USJ! Hosu! My plans! My face! My arm!"
He slammed his hand against his own chest.
"Even my fucking disease!"
His voice rose even higher.
"You show up and ruin everything!"
Midoriya began approaching again.
"Give up. It's over."
Shigaraki let out a hysterical laugh.
"Over?"
He turned his face slightly toward him.
"You think this is over?"
Shigaraki looked back at Ryo.
"You can lock me up."
His smile widened.
"You can throw me into whatever hole you want."
Ryo simply watched him.
"But I'll get out."
He took another step.
"And when I do... I'll come looking for you again."
Midoriya frowned.
"I'll kill you one by one!"
Shigaraki kept talking as though he were describing something amusing.
"Maybe I'll start with your classmates and friends."
Shigaraki tilted his head.
"Or maybe..."
He paused briefly.
"...your mother."
Ryo froze.
It wasn't noticeable to Midoriya or Todoroki.
But Shigaraki noticed it.
The slightest movement in his eyes.
The small tightening of his jaw.
That was enough to make Shigaraki's smile stretch unnaturally wide.
"Ah..."
Ryo remained still as Shigaraki laughed.
"So that's it."
Midoriya felt that something was wrong.
"Takeda..."
Shigaraki continued.
"I looked into everything about you... I've got good ears, you know?"
Ryo lowered his head slightly, his hand straightening as his fingers extended together, forming a spear.
"Next time, maybe I'll pay your mother a little visit."
Shigaraki's face lit up with satisfaction.
"How about that? Huh...?"
He spread his arms.
"Ryo Ta—"
A wet, sickening sound tore through the clearing.
Midoriya went pale.
Todoroki stood completely still.
Ryo was standing directly in front of Shigaraki.
None of them had seen the moment he moved.
His arm pierced straight through the villain's abdomen and emerged from the other side.
Shigaraki opened his mouth.
But no sound came out at first.
His eyes slowly dropped toward the arm buried inside his own body before rising back to Ryo, completely wide with shock.
"Y-you..."
Ryo stared at him from up close, his expression cold.
"...There won't be a second time."