Chapter 21: Breaking Point: Ch 5 (end)
Shout out to: Jeremy, the series' unnamed Nomu that I gave a name to last second and made like strawberries as a joke.
The monster who has been a background character in maybe, what, like 3 seconds of two scenes?
But despite this lack of screen time, his charming personality and roguish good looks, have turned him into something of an unexpected(?) fan favorite according to the comments.
But hey, I'm not dissing it, I'm all for it, in fact, I'm jumping on the bandwagon too!
*Pulls out a smol flag with "go Jeremy" on it*
Woo! Yea! That's ma' boi! Mess 'em up! Teach 'em uh lesson! Le's gooo!
-Rain of Sins-
-Breaking Point: Ch 5-
Perhaps if All Might had been in worse shape- if he had already used up his 3 hours, and had begun funneling the flames of his quirk to a successor, the Nomu's numerous enhancements would have made this a one sided battle.
And the same was true in reverse, if Nomu had not been made into "Jeremy", had not received such an immense upgrade that brought the beast to another level entirely, it would have floundered against an All Might in top shape.
But as it was, with All Might battle ready, and the Nomu enhanced well beyond its limits, well…
It was a clash of titans.
The unconscious bodies of the numerous Villains were blown away by the force of the two giants clashing. Each impact of their fists caused the ground beneath them the crack and shatter.
Truly it was a battle for the ages.
All Might and Jeremy traded blows, dodging, weaving, and finding with no small amount of surprise that no matter how hard they slugged the other guy, he just didn't go down! But when the Nomu threw a bit too much into an attack, All Might took his shot.
Sidestepping the punch with the same absurd speed he'd showcased earlier, All Might reared his right arm back.
"TEXAS SMASH! "
But instead of quickly ending the fight, like he'd thought would happen, Nomu jerked it's head to the side at the last second, causing All Might's fist to sail over its shoulder harmlessly.
All Might's eyes widened. Now he'd overextended.
Nomu grabbed the Hero's arm with both it's hands, sinking its claws deep into flesh, before using the momentum of the Hero's own attack to pivot and throw All Might across the clearing, and straight towards a stone outcropping.
Keeping his composure, All Might swept his arm out and used the force from it to not only avoid the rock, but also spin himself midair, reorienting himself upright. He grunted as he impacted the floor hard enough to crack the reinforced cement, but those cracks only lasted a millisecond, as All Might turned them into a full fledged crater the next, when he took off at max speed.
In the fraction of a second that it took him to travel back to the Nomu, he was surprised to see that it's eyes were keeping track of him without any problem- but thinking about it, he really shouldn't have been, considering it had been able to match him in most everything else so far.
Keyword, most .
All Might reared back his right arm as he rocketed towards the creature, and just as he anticipated, it moved to the left to avoid it- falling for the very obvious feint. His first was far too high up for an effective punch, but because the Nomu had moved out of the way, it allowed him to use his momentum to swing behind the beast, where his other hand joined the first for a downwards strike.
He couldn't help but grin at the surprise on the Nomu's face, and that smile widened as his overhead strike smashed down into the back of the beast's neck with the force of a freight train.
But that smile quickly turned into a pained gasp, as absolute agony erupted in his abdomen.
A fierce jab to the face stunned the Nomu for a brief moment, allowing him to jump backwards and away from the creature, and once he had some distance, it became clear what had happened.
The Nomu shook its head as it recovered from the unexpected attacks, it's tail flicking angrily behind it, a tail with a foot long bone spike on the end, one that was currently covered in blood.
With the pain in his gut, and the feeling of something warm and wet soaking both the front and back of his uniform, he didn't need a doctor to tell him that the damn thing had just speared him all the way through.
But meh, it was just his intestines, he didn't exactly have much of a digestive track left to damage anyway. He coughed, wiped the blood from his mouth with his sleeve, and stepped back forward to face his opponent.
He ducked under a vicious claw swipe and used the opening for two lightning quick jabs.
He deflected a punch, knocking the arm to the side, before grabbing the wrist, pulling back, and bringing his other fist down with a blow that snapped the bone in two. But apparently the thing didn't care about things as silly as broken bones, because it didn't so much as flinch, instead roaring and throwing itself into yet another frenzy of attacks.
All Might grunted as a fist made it past his defense, crashing into his chest and driving the wind from his lungs. He rode the force of the attack, hopping backwards to try to give himself space, but was denied as the Nomu lunged at him, forcing the Hero to dodge an attack from the arm that he'd just broken.
Seeing that it's attack wouldn't let up anytime soon, and that dodging wouldn't get him anywhere, he lowered himself slightly, and raised his left arm to tank a blow. He clenched his teeth as it impacted, the blow rattling his bones, but used the opening to deliver an uppercut with so much force that the blow to the beast's jaw lifted the entire thing a good ten feet off the ground.
The thing roared in either pain or anger, and tried to imitate what All Might had done before, bringing both it's hands down on him in an overhead swing as it came down, but it was far too choreographed, allowing All Might to quickly sidestep and avoid it.
But the Nomu had more than just it's arms, it also had that damn tail.
The brutal spike was flying towards his head from the side, just far enough that he wouldn't have seen it coming if he hadn't been looking for it.
It was already far too close, and moving way too fast to dodge, but All Might was the number one for a reason, and it would take more than a surprise attack to best him. Gritting his teeth, All Might stepped into the swing, grunting as the meat of the tail hit him with enough force to dent titanium. He looped his arms around the impromptu battering ram, and pulled .
The Hero forced his smile to stay on his face, and ignored the scorching pain in his shoulders as the Nomu sunk its claws into him. Instead he focused entirely on pulling with his arms, and pivoting with his feet, as he swung around, pulling the beast with him before it even had the chance to touch the ground, and hurled the thing as hard as he could, sending it flying into the artificial mountain of the USJ.
And not just into the mountain, but into the mountain.
Jeremy crashed into the stone, and just kept going, causing an enormous dust cloud and a fissure so big, that it damn near split the mountain in two.
Everyone stared wide eyed at the mountain, flickering back and forth between All Might and the dust cloud, with emotions ranging from disbelief to awe, and even horror.
But All Might kept his gaze firmly locked forward.
After ten long seconds of silence so thick you could hear a pin drop, someone started clapping.
The clapping turned into cheering from the students that he had evacuated to the top of the stairs in his first sweep of the hub.
"GO ALL MIGHT!"
"That was totally AWESOME!"
"That's why he's number one!"
Jiro, seeing that All Might was bleeding, started down the stairs to see if she could help in any way, but both her and the cheering froze.
All Might had his hand held out telling them to stop, his eyes still locked on the mountain.
The silence returned with a suffocating force.
… and then they heard it.
...
bam...
bam...
Bam...
BAM.
BAM.
!BAM!
The front of the dust cloud exploded outward as Nomu blasted out of it, running on all fours like a beast, it's eyes blazing within animalistic fury. The thing had very obviously been wounded by All Might's attack. It was missing several teeth, had deep gashes all along it, a large dent in the metal dome atop its head, and hunks of meat were hanging off the side of impact, flying behind it like satanic streamers.
All Might watched with an unflinching expression as the beast healed itself at a ridiculous rate, undoing all the effort he'd put in, while it's eyes promised nothing but death.
But he'd faced death before, and, here's the thing.
He'd won.
All Might rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck. He lowered himself into a sprinter stance, narrowed his eyes, and rocketed towards his opponent once again.
The Titans' fists met, and the entire USJ facility shook.
-Rain of Sins-
The Nomu had better natural equipment than All Might, it had sharp claws that could cut flesh with ease, and it's spiked tail often lashed out either as pinpoint spear thrust, or a brutal battering ram. It's tough scale hide, and thick skin beneath, combined with it's shock absorption quirk, protected it from AllMight's indescribable strength. And it's regeneration kept it in the fight, undoing any damage that did manage to get through.
AllMight was physically stronger than the Nomu, fueled by the fires of the quirk of a true Hero. On top of that, he was also far more experienced in combat, and had mastered numerous hand to hand fighting styles over his long career. Combined with speeds unheard of for someone of his size, he was able to block, deflect, parry, and dodge any lethal attack before stepping forward and striking with the force of an angry god.
It was odd, the two opposing viewpoints that had previously been trying to tear him apart, should have had this right up both their alleys. An opportunity to analyze a fight between All Might and Jeremy?
Analytic science that had to deal with both the most mysterious quirk in the Hero world, as well as his own creation?
Izuku should be all for it!
Instead, he was having a full blown panic attack.
"I'mDeadI'mDeadI'mDeadI'mDeadI'mDeadI'mDeadI'mDeadI'mDeadI'mDeadI'mDeadI'mDeadI'mDeadI'mDeadI'mDeadI'mDeadI'mDeadI'mDeadI'mDeadI'mDeadI'mDeadI'mDeadI'mDeadI'mDeadI'mDeadI'mDeadI'mDeadI'mDeadI'mDeadI'mDeadI'mDead-"
"Not yet, you aren't."
"HOLY SHIT!"
Izuku threw himself to the side, narrowly avoiding the giant ice spike, the size of his arm, that flew through right where he had been standing.
"Shoto…" Ibara glared at her partner.
"What?" Todoroki asked, genuinely confused.
"You agreed to keep wounds to a minimum."
"And?" He gestured forward. "Look, he's not wounded."
"That's not the point!" She hissed. "He could have been hurt, when you could have incapacitated him non-violently."
"Like what?"
"Freeze him in an ice cube, you know your quirk better than I do, this should be obvious."
"My God," Izuku scampered backwards from what would have been an obviously fatal attack, and listened to them talk about other things that would also kill him. "You really are all insane!"
But before anyone could do anything else, another form was launched over the top of the wall, blasted away by the wind from All Might and Jeremy's fight.
"Shit!" Tomura cursed in pain as he impacted the ground. "Crap, and I'd been so close! He was distracted! Just a few more feet and I woulda' dusted him!" He hit the ground in anger, and pushed himself up with a huff, before pausing as he saw everyone surrounding him.
"Oh, and of course I just had to get launched into some low-leveled cannon fodder to keep me from the boss!" He growled in annoyance before pointing to Izuku. "You! You're one of my guys right?"
"Uhhh"
"You're not wearing a U.A. thing, so of course you are!" He grabbed Izuku's coat with 4 of 5 fingers and pulled him forward. "C'mon! Let's show these brats what real Villains can do!"
"Wait, no I-"
"Let's see how mouthy you ' Villains ' are after I freeze you solid!"
"No! Hold on, I'm jus-"
"I'm sorry, but as much as I abhor violence, justice must be upkept!"
"Stop! Please, I-"
"Stupid brats, let's see you run your yaps after I turn you to dust!
Izuku couldn't take it anymore, with everything that had happened piling on top of each other one at a time, until it was nothing but an overwhelming tidal wave bearing down on him. He shoved Tomura out of the way, and finally snapped.
"I'M NOT A VILLAIN!"
He screamed with every fiber of his being.
"I'M A GENETICIST!"
The two Heroes stepped back in shock at his outburst, as Izuku panted heavily.
But before anyone could gather themselves enough to respond, be it Shoto, Ibara, or even Tomura, a familiar blackish purple miasma exploded into the clearing.
A black portal opened up between them and the Heroes, stopping any attack from getting through, while a second portal opened behind Izuku, two arms grabbing him and pulling him in. And Izuku gladly let them, anything to get away from this chaos.
But just before the portal completely consumed him, he managed to catch the end of the fight.
It was an incredibly important sight, and one that would burn itself into his mind for the rest of his life.
Jeremy screeching in rage as it threw itself at All Might, it's form covered in countless wounds and gashes.
All Might rushing forward, throwing his fist so hard that steam came off of it, and delivering a smash so powerful that it launched Nomu up and through the USJ roof.
All Might, battered and bloodied, raising his fist in victory as everyone cheered.
Quirks outdoing Science.
All his work, all his effort, and quirks bested it… just by existing.
-Rain of Sins-
Izuku groaned in pain, dimly noted that his mask must have fallen off during the teleport, and opened his eyes to the night sky.
Or at least that was his first thought, but his mind was quick to point out the very obvious differences once his eyes adjusted.
The stars were actually screens, countless terminals and computers beeping, whirring and glowing from around the room. Whereas the dark unending void of space that defined the night sky, was actually just an empty, poorly lit room.
Well, mostly empty that was.
After all, it was kind of hard to miss the giant metal throne in the center of the room, made all the more eye-catching by the numerous metal tubes and technological devices that were embedded into it.
And then, of course, there was the man sitting on it.
He was tall, like, All Might tall, easily hitting a high 6 or low 7 feet. But whereas All Might avoided looking awkward by being so overly muscled, his body mass actually matched his height, this man was toned, defined. And held himself with such purpose , that instead of looking gangly, he came off as sharp, almost predatory.
And of course there was the fact that the top half of the man's face was artificially concealed by shadows, like something out of a crappy villain fic.
"Izuku Midoriya," The man hummed and drummed his fingers on his armrest. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you."
"Who are you, and how do you know who I am?" Izuku asked bluntly as he pushed himself to his feet.
"Oh?" The man tilted his head. "You seem much less timid than I'd been told."
"Yea, well," Izuku gestured to his torn clothes, and roughed up shape. "I haven't exactly had the best day, and I'm not in the mood for any more crap." He frowned. "So tell me, how do you know my name?"
"Well, it's only natural for me to know about my good friend's successor."
"Successor?" Izuku blinked. "Friend? Ujiko? You know Ujiko?" The young man asked, suddenly deflating and letting the tension fall from his shoulders.
"Why of course I know Ujiko," The man smiled. "After all, I'm the one funding him."
"Wait, really!? You?"
"Yes, really. In fact, you were supposed to be meeting with me today, it was why Ujiko had you take the Nomu to such a far away lab instead of simply doing the test at yours." All for One sighed sadly and shook his head. "But you never showed up, and hours dragged on, until we got a Nomu with a location quirk to track you down- and we found out you somehow got involved in such a terrible situation…" He raised his hand to his chest. "I am deeply sorry about that, you have my apology as well as anything I can give to help make it up to you. Had I known about Kurogiri's sickness beforehand, I would have-"
"W-Wait, sir!" Izuku spoke up, interrupting the most powerful man in the world without realizing it. "Jer- T-The Nomu! He was launched away by All Might, we have to-!"
All for One raised his hand to cut Izuku off. "Don't worry, I'll have a team dispatched to recover it," He smiled at Izuku. "I won't let it hurt anyone else by accident. But… you must not say anything of this to anyone! I cannot protect you if you openly admit to being involved in a terrorist attack, do you understand?"
When the boy nodded his head, the man sighed in relief and leaned back in his chair.
"On the subject of that, you seem rather roughed up, do you need medical attention? I can have my personal doctor treat you, I'll cover all costs."
"Thank you, but no, I'm good."
"Are you sure? You're covered in bruises, and have more than a few cracked bones."
Izuku looked at the man oddly. "How can you tell that? From your distance, and in this light level, I mean?"
The man just chuckled. "Maybe I'll tell you when you're older."
"Look," Izuku shook his head. "I'm thankful for the offer, I really am, but I just want to go home . I-I-" He sighed and took a moment to pull himself together. "I just want to put today behind me, and n-not have to deal with anything."
The most influential man in Japan watched as the boy barely managed to hold himself back from breaking down. Really, it was understandable considering what all he'd been through in just one day, and now with the adrenaline fading and everything finally setting in, of course he wasn't going to be his best.
He hummed to himself, tapping a button on his armrest's keypad that opened the door, and nodded for the boy to leave.
All for One sent the boy a kind smile as he exited the room, but it quickly turned into a cruel smirk as the door closed, one that only widened as he received a message informing him that the operation had completed without any incidents. He kept the app open, swapped tabs, and sent a message to the assistant outside, telling them to help guide young Izuku out of the building.
And to think, his father had made fun of him for taking acting classes in school all those years ago…
Idiot.
His old man had been dumber than his brother, and that was saying something.
-Rain of Sins-
All Might sat, in his deflated form, in a hastily constructed medical tent, the sound of bustling paramedics rushing back and forth in a hurry, just outside.
They were currently in the middle of evacuating the wounded to a proper hospital, but an emergency outpost had been set up to treat those who weren't wounded enough to warrant being sent to the hospital, and for those who were so wounded that they needed treatment immediately.
But while part of him wanted nothing more than to be alone right now, another part of him was immensely grateful that he had a friend with him.
...granted that friend wasn't being all that helpful right now.
"You're going to have to be much more careful from now on," Nezu lectured as if All Might were a child. "Those new scars will stay between your forms, and make it much easier to recognize you."
"Tch, it'll be fine, I'll just wear jeans and long sleeves." Toshinori scowled.
"I was mostly talking about the one on your face."
He hissed and held up a hand to the bandage that was covering the right side of his face. Whatever the thing he'd fought was- and it wasn't human, that was for sure!- it had some really fucking sharp claws.
"Stop trying to avoid the issue," He growled. "How bad was it? I was only able to help those near the hub, and even they…" He clenched his eyes and gulped. "H-How many?"
"None." Nezu patted his friend's arm as he looked up in surprise.
"But that doesn't mean there weren't any close calls." The mouse sighed, and looked down in shame.
"Mr Kaminari nearly drowned, and had to receive emergency CPR as well as several shocks to restart his heart. Mr Kota wound up alerting a large group of Villains to his location, when he sent us that emergency letter, and was beaten unconscious, potentially suffering a concussion. Mr Sato ran out of sugar towards the end of the attack and was struck with a poison quirk." Nezu paused as he recounted the injuries, closing his eyes and visibly hesitating on the next part.
"Mr Tokyami was found with a building collapsed on top of him, he has multiple broken bones, fractures, and potential brain injury. Mr Aoyama is in a very bad situation, with a broken skull and severe head trauma, the medics inform me that we may be looking at a coma." Nezu flinched, hating himself as he saw grief overcome his friend's face, but he soldiered on.
"Both Ms Tsuyu and Mr Mineta suffered badly to a disintegration quirk, and Ms Tsuyu lost the majority of her right arm. Mr Mineta however… he received a point blank hit directly to his face, and while the doctors assure me that it's not debilitating in and of itself, he will have severely worsened vision, and be permanently disfigured for the rest of his life."
"Now I know you Toshinori, and I know that you'll blame yourself for everything that happened, hold yourself accountable for each and every injury even though none of it was your fault. I know that, and I know that nothing I say will make you change your mind, but please… Mr Mineta suffered the worst by far, and that fault doesn't lay on you," Nezu sighed. "…it's on me."
The small mouse looked away in shame. "That boy got in on a technicality during the entrance exam, multiple teachers told me he should be disqualified, but the next person in line wasn't any better, in fact they displayed more signs of a Villain than a Hero. I had hoped passing him and putting him under Aizawa would help build his character… I-I intentionally passed him even though he wasn't prepared. It's my fault he was in this whole mess to begin with."
All Might opened his mouth to say something, but paused, his arm half outstretched, and let it fall dejectedly to the medical bed.
Instead, the two old friends sat in silence, feeling the weight of their mistakes, while a thunder strike roared overhead, and the pitter patter of rain began to fall.
-Rain of Sins-
Izuku numbly trudged his way through the half flooded streets that lead to his house. With his mind blank, and only muscle memory for guidance, it was almost a direct copy of how he had been after that fateful meeting with All Might on the roof.
But as much as things were the same, it was different… oh so very different.
Once there had been a disillusioned child, desperately trying to cling to the hopeless dreams that had been crushed to dust in front of his eyes. Whereas now…
Beaten, battered, and bruised, the young scientist walked through the gray, abandoned streets alone. With only his lab coat to keep him company, torn and singed as it was, he walked, unblinking, through the sheet of rain that pelted his face.
Izuku was tired.
He wished he could go back to being that boy, that stupid, idealistic, hopelessly naive boy… It had been so much simpler back then. No dejection from All Might, no failed entrance exam, no almost dying in a freak teleport accident, no being mistaken as a villain…
He just wanted to go home.
He just wanted to go home, hug his mom, cry, and have her say everything was going to be okay. He didn't even care if it was a lie right now, he just wanted something, anything at all, that would just make everything STOP FOR A MOMENT AN-!
...
'… Wait.'
'… What's that?'
Izuku was cold and tired.
But despite that, he moved forward, pushing through the crowd of people in front of him. Off to his right, he overheard a conversation that a younger version of him would have been all over. But now it was nothing more than background noise to him.
"Mr Endeavor! Mr Endeavor! Sir, could you please provide a statement on what happened here!"
"A Villain decided to try to take hostages. I tried to stop him, but the fight got out of hand."
"But sir, how does that expla-!"
"QUIET! Shut up and move aside! I don't have time for the press!"
"Mr Endeavor!"
Izuku pushed the last person out of the way and stumbled forward, the rain pouring down around him, unable to muster the mental energy required to move his now matted down hair that was partially obscuring his vision.
… He wished it had obscured more
He was tired and cold and soaked and broken.
His knees wanted to give out, so he let them, falling to the cold and uncaring ground like a broken puppet.
And as he sat on the ground, blankly staring ahead, he barely noticed a thick leather glove patting him on the shoulder. The firefighter's words, nothing but radio static to him.
"...so sor… did everything we cou… no survivors…"
And as his home burned to ash in front of his eyes, the building consumed in a pillar of flame so fierce that the sheets of rain had no effect… he watched on in silence.
Tired, cold, numb, and broken.
His tears perfectly disguised, in the rain of the storm… in the rain… of sins...
-Arc: Breaking Point: End-
-Story: Start-
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