The sound of boots splashing on wet leaves and broken branches broke the unnatural silence of the forest.
"DEKU-KUN!"
Ochako's voice was a choked cry, loaded with panic. She burst into the clearing, skidding on the mud, followed a second later by Momo.
Both stopped dead.
"What... what happened here?" Ochako whispered, covering her mouth.
The clearing was a giant crater. Trees that had been there for decades were now splinters driven into the ground. The ground was torn up, sunken from a brutal impact.
In the bottom of the deepest crater, the villain Muscular lay. His body, a mass of exposed muscle fibers, was broken at impossible angles, half buried under a tree trunk that must have weighed several tons. He was unconscious, or dead.
"Izuku!"
Momo's cry was sharp. She saw a green blur among the debris near the forest wall.
Izuku was sitting on the ground, leaning against the shattered base of a tree. His hero suit was in tatters. His right ankle was swollen to nearly twice its normal size, covered in mud and blood.
Ochako ran to him, tripping over a loose rock.
"Deku-kun! You're hurt! The gas... you're breathing the gas!"
Izuku coughed, a dry spasm that shook his whole chest.
"I'm... okay... I'm... okay, Ochako-chan."
"You're not okay!" she yelled, falling to her knees beside him. Tears were already streaming down her face, mixing with the sweat and dirt. "You can barely breathe! Your ankle... oh my god, your ankle!"
Momo approached, her tactical mind struggling to process the devastation. Her gray eyes went from the crater to the defeated villain, and then to the third figure in the scene.
Standing next to Izuku, with an unsettling calm, was Inko.
She was dabbing a small cut on her own cheek with a handkerchief. Her civilian clothes were stained with mud, but she was otherwise unharmed.
Izuku pointed weakly at her.
"Mom... arrived just in time."
Ragdoll, who was kneeling near Izuku, looked up. The professional hero, a member of the Wild Wild Pussycats, was pale. Her green eyes, normally bright, were wide and fixed on Inko.
"She did it," Ragdoll confirmed. Her voice was a hoarse tremor. "I... I saw the whole thing."
"Whatever!" Momo's voice sharpened, switching back to the strategist. "Izuku, Mustard's gas! Your lungs are compromised! And that ankle... it's a compound fracture or a severe dislocation!"
She knelt on Izuku's other side. Her right arm glowed with her Quirk's light.
"I'm creating a portable respirator with an activated charcoal filter and a compression splint for your ankle! Don't move, Izuku! This is critical!"
Ochako, seeing Inko's hysteria, put a trembling hand on her shoulder.
"It's okay, Inko-san. He's alive. We're here. Momo knows what she's doing."
Inko sobbed, clinging tightly to Izuku's hand.
"I know... I know... I almost... I almost... didn't make it..."
Momo worked with frantic speed.
"Izuku, tilt your head. I'm going to put the mask on. It's going to seal tight."
She fit the oxygen mask over Izuku's mouth and nose and secured the straps. Then, quickly but gently, she wrapped the metal and polymer splint around his swollen ankle, securing it with compression straps.
Izuku coughed violently as the mask sealed, his body arching in pain. And then, he inhaled deeply for the first time in minutes. The clean, filtered air filled his lungs. The relief was almost painful.
"Thank... you... Momo," he breathed, his voice muffled by the plastic. "Air. I needed... clean air. Thank you."
"Save your breath," Momo said, though her hands wouldn't stop shaking. "You're not out of danger. That splint only stabilizes, it doesn't heal."
A second, much louder rumble shook the clearing. A massive explosion of fire and ice ripped through the trees on the opposite edge of the forest, about a hundred meters away.
Ochako yelled, dropping into a combat stance, her knuckles white.
"MORE VILLAINS!"
Inko leaped to her feet, her body instantly placing itself between Izuku and the new threat. Power swirled around her again.
Seconds later, something hit the ground of the clearing with a violent impact.
Bakugo landed in a crouch, his explosions leaving a smoking crater at his feet. His red eyes swept the scene, passed over Izuku and the girls, and locked onto the unconscious Muscular.
"WHAT THE HELL?!" he roared, his voice filled with a fury that went beyond the situation. "THAT BASTARD WAS MINE!"
A second later, Kirishima landed next to him, skin hardened.
"Dude! Calm down! Look, it's Midoriya!" He took in the scene: Izuku on the ground, wearing an oxygen mask. Muscular defeated. "Whoa! That villain looks super strong! Midoriya! Are you okay? Who took him down?"
Todoroki was the last to arrive, sliding in on an ice ramp. His gaze analyzed the scene in a fraction of a second.
"Midoriya, you're injured," he said, his voice calm. "And that guy is... finished. Yaoyorozu, Uraraka, what's the situation?"
Ochako stood up, her voice trembling, but this time with pride and shock.
"It was Inko-san."
Kirishima blinked.
"Huh? Inko-san? As in... Midoriya's mom?"
"Well," Ochako said, pointing to the woman now standing firmly in front of her son. "Izuku-kun's mother. She saved him. She... she beat him."
The reaction from Bakugo, Todoroki, and Kirishima was absolute silence.
Todoroki looked at Inko. She was the civilian who had come with her son; the small, soft spoken mother. Then he looked at the ten meter crater. His logical brain couldn't process the information.
"That... is not possible."
Kirishima was dumbfounded, his hardening fading.
"Your mom, Midoriya?! Seriously?! That's...!"
"WHAT?!"
Bakugo's scream silenced everyone. The sound was so sharp, so full of pure disbelief, that even the wind seemed to stop.
"AUNTIE?! DEKU'S MOM?!"
He spun on Ochako, his face twisted in disbelief and fury.
"ARE YOU F*CKING KIDDING ME, ROUND FACE?! HER?!"
He stomped over to Inko, who stared at him with cold eyes, not recognizing him.
"You? Auntie Inko?!" he yelled directly at her. "With what? Your hugs? Did you bore him to death?!"
Izuku, breathing hard through the mask, lifted his head. His voice was a distorted growl from the plastic.
"Bakugo... shut up."
Bakugo spun on him.
"WHAT DID YOU SAY, YOU DAMN NERD?!"
"I said... shut up," Izuku repeated, louder. "She... is stronger than you."
The statement hung in the air. The air around Bakugo's palms began to crackle. He was about to disintegrate Izuku.
"You... damn..."
It was then that Mandalay's voice echoed in their minds.
"TO ALL STUDENTS! THE THREAT IS NOT OVER!"
The shock of the voice in their heads paralyzed them all.
"What?!" Kirishima yelled, looking around.
"It's Mandalay!" Momo said. "She's using her Quirk!"
"THE LEAGUE'S VANGUARD IS MOVING! WE HAVE IDENTIFIED DABI, MR. COMPRESS, TWICE, AND SPINNER! THEY ARE HEADING DIRECTLY TO YOUR LOCATION!"
Everyone's eyes widened in horror.
"What?" Todoroki whispered, his face hardening.
"All of them?" Ochako felt the panic return. "They're coming... they're coming here!"
"THEY SEE YOU AS THE PRIMARY THREAT! THE FIGHT WITH THE VILLAIN DREW THEIR ATTENTION! I REPEAT, MIDORIYA'S GROUP IS THE PRIMARY TARGET! EVACUATE IF YOU CAN! I REPEAT, EVACUATE NOW!"
Panic instantly seized the group.
"SH*T!" Kirishima yelled, this time in real fear. "The final bosses are coming! All of them! Here! Now!"
Ochako clung to Izuku's arm.
"We can't! We can't leave Izuku-kun like this! He can barely move!"
Bakugo, on the other hand, broke the panic. A wild, terrifying grin split his face.
"Evacuate?! LET THEM COME! I'LL BLAST THEM ALL!"
Inko stepped forward. The trembling in her hands was gone. Her green eyes shone with an unnatural light. The power of her vectors began to swirl around her, lifting dust and small leaves from the ground.
"No one," she said, her voice quiet but firm. "Will get near my son."
Izuku, respirator on and splint on his ankle, struggled to sit up. Ragdoll and Ochako helped him lean against the tree.
"No... we can't run," his voice came out distorted by the mask, but firm.
"Midoriya, we have to try!" Kirishima yelled.
"I'm dead weight. And they're right... this clearing is a death trap. We're exposed. If we run, they'll hunt us down one by one."
Bakugo yelled at him, his hands exploding.
"Then fight, Deku! Or get out of the way!"
"THAT'S WHAT WE'LL DO, BAKUGO!"
Izuku's shout silenced Bakugo with the sheer authority in his voice.
"BUT NOT YOUR WAY! NOT LIKE MANIACS! EVERYONE LISTEN TO ME!"
Even Bakugo, reluctantly, shut up. All eyes fixed on him.
"We don't have time! We're not running!" Izuku looked around. "We're turning this trap into our fortress! It's the only option!"
He turned to his mother.
"Mom!"
Inko was at his side in an instant, her face serious.
"Tell me, Izuku. What do you need?"
"You'll be our shield! I need you to give us cover, now! Use your vectors! Rocks, trees, the debris from the fight with Muscular! Create walls! Debris shields! Make a fortress around us, right here, right now!"
Inko looked at the devastated forest, her eyes glowing with green power.
"Understood."
The ground trembled. Entire trees were ripped from their roots and flew through the air. Slabs of earth and rock rose up, beginning to form a makeshift circular bunker around the group.
"Momo!"
Momo, who was watching the display of power in awe, snapped to attention.
"Here!"
"Inside the fort! You handle the defenses! How are your lipid reserves?"
"They're full! I can create!"
"Good! Create traps! Anything to slow them down if they breach the perimeter! Glue mines, titanium alloy nets, sleeping gas! Conserve your lipids, just what's necessary!"
Momo ran to the center of the growing bunker, her arm already glowing.
"Understood. Resource optimization for area defense. I'll create net cannons and proximity mines!"
"Ochako!"
Ochako wiped her tears, her determination replacing the fear.
"On it, Deku-kun!"
"You're on the outer terrain! Get out before Mom closes the wall! Alter the gravity of the ground in front of the walls! Zero gravity zones so they float, high gravity zones so they sink! Make it impossible to get close!"
"Got it! I'll do it!" Ochako ran out of the perimeter, placing her hands on the ground and concentrating.
"Ragdoll, Kirishima!"
"Dude!" Kirishima yelled, his skin already hard.
"Here!" Ragdoll nodded, her own fear replaced by the adrenaline of duty.
"You two are on inner guard! You'll protect Momo while she creates and me while I coordinate! Kirishima, your 'Unbreakable' is our last resort if anything gets through! Ragdoll, I need you to watch! Look for blind spots!"
Kirishima slammed his fists together.
"You can count on me, man! No one's getting through! That's manly!"
"Understood!" Ragdoll said.
"Artillery!" Izuku finally looked at the two prodigies of the class. His voice was tense. "Bakugo, Todoroki!"
"Don't give me orders, you damn nerd!" Bakugo growled.
"STOP TRYING TO KILL ME FOR FIVE MINUTES, BAKUGO!" Izuku's authority was absolute. "You're our offense! The only ones who can keep them at bay!"
Todoroki nodded, ice already forming on his right side.
"Alright. What are the orders?"
"I don't want you attacking blind! I don't want fireworks, that's for you, Bakugo, I want precision! You will fire on specific targets, from the openings Mom and Momo will create! Suppressing fire! Coordinated attacks! Don't waste energy! Got it?"
Bakugo ground his teeth. Steam hissed from his hands. He hated this. He hated taking orders from Deku. But he hated the villains more.
"Tch. Fine," he growled. "But if you screw up and we get killed, I'll kill you myself in hell."
"Deal," Izuku said.
The makeshift fortress closed up. Walls of rock and tree trunks, three meters high, settled with a dull sound, surrounding them. Momo was already mounting small net cannons in the openings Inko had strategically left. Ochako was outside, her hands on the ground, altering the clearing's gravity.
A second later, the first blue flames appeared between the trees.
Dabi walked out into the clearing, hands in his pockets. Mr. Compress, wearing his mask, a loud Twice, and Spinner, with his knife sword, followed close behind.
Dabi's lazy voice echoed in the clearing as he looked at the debris bunker.
"Well, well. What's this? A rat's nest? How adorable."
"It's a fortress! We won't be able to get in!" yelled one of Twice's voices.
"It's just a pile of trash! We'll tear it down!" yelled the other.
Mr. Compress gave a theatrical bow.
"An admirable stage. Such ingenuity from the young ones. But the show must end."
Spinner raised his knife sword.
"For Stain's cause! Die, fake heroes!"
"Boring," Dabi said. He raised a hand. A massive blue flare, much hotter than Todoroki's fire, shot toward the fortress.
"Mom, front shield! Now!" Izuku's cry came from inside.
A wall of rock, thicker than the others, rose from the ground outside the fortress and blocked the fire's path. The rock sizzled, cracked, and glowed red hot under the intense heat, but it held.
Dabi lowered his hand, his lazy smile faltering.
"Impressive. They have someone who moves the earth."
"It's strong!" yelled Twice. "I like it! I don't like it at all!"
"But they can't hide forever!" Dabi pointed. "Twice, Spinner, left flank! Distract them!"
"Charge!"
Spinner and half a dozen Twice clones ran toward the fortress's left wall, screaming.
"Ochako, terrain! Left flank! Activate!"
The running villains suddenly stopped. The ground beneath their feet glowed pink for an instant.
"What?! I'm floating!" Spinner yelled, flailing uselessly as he rose half a meter in the air. The Twice clones laughed and cried as they floated uncontrollably.
"Momo, nets! Now!"
From an opening in the wall, a cannon fired. A thick, sticky, titanium alloy net enveloped the floating villains, leaving them completely trapped and suspended in the air.
Dabi clicked his tongue.
"Pathetic! Guess I'll have to burn the nest myself."
He raised both hands, preparing for a much larger attack.
"Artillery!" Izuku's shout echoed. "Todoroki, suppression! Cover fire! Bakugo, right flank, AP Shot the remaining clones that aren't trapped!"
Ice and controlled explosions erupted from the fortress. A huge wall of ice, bigger than Dabi's, rose up in front of the flame villain, blocking his vision and forcing him to back up to avoid being frozen. At the same time, Bakugo's "AP Shot," concentrated blasts, tore through the air and destroyed the remaining Twice clones with lethal precision.
Dabi fell back, his lazy smile completely gone.
"Brats... They're... coordinated."
Mr. Compress, who had been watching silently, clapped slowly.
"Bravo, bravo. What a defense. Truly admirable. But what will you do against this?"
With a quick motion of his hand, he touched a huge, ancient tree at the edge of the clearing, one that hadn't been damaged. The tree shrank in an instant, disappearing into a small blue marble he held between his fingers.
"Mom, intercept!" Izuku yelled, seeing the danger instantly. "He's going to throw something!"
Compress flicked the marble with his thumb.
"Too late, little hero!"
It flew toward the fortress at an incredible speed. It was a small, fast object. Too fast for Inko's vectors, which were designed to move massive objects.
Inko tried to catch it with her power, but her vectors passed right through it. The marble was already over them.
"Oh no!" Momo yelled.
The marble expanded in mid air, right above them, regaining its multi ton mass just before it hit the wall.
The impact was devastating. The makeshift debris wall, which wasn't designed to withstand an artillery attack from above, collapsed. Trunks and rocks fell inward, ripping a massive breach in their defense.
Izuku, watching the wall collapse, gritted his teeth. The pain in his ankle and chest flared.
"Crap. This is going to be a lot harder than I thought."