Chapter 12

Izuku breathed a sigh of relief as he spotted an emergency exit sign on the back wall of the dome; a number of villains had stood in the path, but Bakugo managed to defeat all of them with relative ease—even when a few attempted to run and alert their comrades that some students were attempting to escape.

Thank Kami... if they'd gotten word to the rest of the villains here, we'd never have a chance.

Izuku looked to Casey, who was currently on his back; the latter had been difficult to move at first, but Izuku had managed a somewhat sloppy fireman's carry that was just good enough to do the trick. As they approached the door, Izuku noticed that Casey had stopped muttering to himself; his brother had stopped crying out shortly after being carried, and while he still shivered occasionally, it was clear that his panic attack was slowly subsiding. Upon reaching the door, Izuku gently laid his brother down against the back wall and observed his expression; it was still distant and full of fear, but...

"Casey," Izuku said, looking at his brother, "it's okay now. Everything is going to be just fine... I'm here."

At that, Casey blinked a bit and seemed to perk up a little. Izuku startled slightly at the response from his brother; Casey wasn't quite conscious yet, but he was getting there. How did that fix him...? Wait. All Might was the one who saved him that day...

Izuku placed his hands on Casey's shoulders and spoke as calmly and confidently as possible, drawing as much as he could on the example that inspired him. "Don't be afraid, Casey. Everything is going to be fine... because I am here."

"Wh... What...?"

That had done it. With a few more blinks and a slight shaking of his head, Casey came back to the present; Izuku felt emotion swell in him, and smiled as a few tears began to form. "Brother... you're back."

Casey looked back at him with a disoriented expression. "Izuku? What happened? Where are we..."

"Up a certain creek without a paddle, that's where," Bakugo said with a frustrated grumble. "The damn exit is sealed tight; I could probably force it open, but I'd have to hit it with a few explosions to loosen it up first."

"So why don't you?"

"Idiot," Bakugo said, not even looking at Casey, "Because if I do that, I paint a giant-ass target on all three of us. Teach is trying to keep their attention."

The Midoriya brothers followed Bakugo's finger to see a worrying sight; Izuku was the first to speak. "Mr. Aizawa's in danger!"

Their homeroom teacher was surrounded by unconscious villains and was currently facing down one of the lead villains—a strange man with hands all over him—but was being slowly overwhelmed by the remaining villains.

He's flagging, Izuku thought, and there are still a lot more of them left. But he's a pro, and I'm just in training... wouldn't I make it worse?

As things seemed to get worse for Eraserhead, Izuku gritted his teeth and started to move before he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Bro," Casey said worriedly, "please don't tell me you're planning to do what I think you are."

"You heard Bakugo; he can't get through the door without alerting the villains over there, and Mr. Aizawa can't keep them all busy for much longer. Every second counts. We need to get out of here as fast as possible and get word to the other teachers so they can come and rescue us, but we have to do it in a way that won't draw attention to this door; at the same time, if we can make Mr. Aizawa's job easier by taking some pressure off of him, it'll be easier for him to keep the enemy distracted as well."

Casey held him back again before he could take another step. "Izuku, stop! We're just trainees, we can't fight those guys! Besides, you still can't use your quirk without hurting yourself!"

"Who said anything about fighting them? All I have to do is get their attention and distract them to take pressure off of Mr. Aizawa and keep them from noticing Bakugo, then run away and hide. While I do that, you stay here and keep watch in case villains come here to stop Bakugo from getting those doors open, and I'll try and follow as soon as I can get away from the ones I pull off of Mr. Aizawa."

"Izuku—" Casey said before stopping and sighing. "Dammit, you're not going to listen, are you? If you're so insistent on doing this, then... just promise me you'll keep your distance and not get surrounded, okay? That hand guy and the black monster guy... they look like the most dangerous ones there. Whatever you do, don't get them after you, or you'll never survive."

Izuku smiled back at his brother and nodded as he ran off. "Don't worry, I'll be fine."

Dammit... that one's just sitting there waiting, thought Aizawa as he considered the bizarre hand-themed villain in front of him. He's been watching me, and he obviously intends to wait until I'm exhausted from fighting all his cronies here.

Eraserhead kept his eyes on the strange man as he effortlessly dodged and countered an attack from behind. I've taken out most of the ranged villains; if I focus on dodging for a bit, my quirk will have time to rest... but I can't keep that up forever.

Suddenly, the mystery villain charged him; clearly, whoever the man was he'd seen enough and was ready to make his move. Grumbling under his breath, Aizawa prepared to use his scarf when something both wholly unexpected and intensely worrying happened:

"HEY! Over here! Looking for a fight? Come get me!"

Aizawa's composure very nearly slipped as he reacted in a mix of anger and horror. Dammit, Midoriya...! "IDIOT! Get the hell out of here!"

His wayward student listened, but it was clearly not enough to prevent a not-insignificant number of villains from chasing him... Wait. Don't tell me he's trying to draw them away from me? Stupid kid! Knowing there was little he could do, Aizawa decided to take what little advantage he could get with the brief distraction to put distance between him and the hand-villain, as well as to get in the way of any of the remaining minor villains that might try to follow the boy as well. Fortunately, most of the villains still standing were wary of him by now, enough that he was able to get a few precious moments to breathe and rest his eyes before going after the clear leader. The villain in question had a bizarre stance, his palms open wide and stretched forward—judging by the hand theme, I'm guessing his quirk is touch-based; stay out of hand range, use flanking attacks and kicks with the occasional scarf flourish to keep him at a safe distance—but the man's movements were well-coordinated and had clear intent. This was no random thug, nor a self-taught instinctual fighter; someone taught this man how to fight. Someone good.

Someone very good, Aizawa thought bitterly as he desperately tried to gain the upper hand against his opponent; whoever taught this guy was obviously a genuine master of hand-to-hand combat. He knows precisely how to move and dodge efficiently, and it's clear he knows how to lean back with a hit rather than tank it. Had he gone into the fight fresh, Eraserhead was certain he could have dealt with the villain with relative ease; as talented and obviously trained as he was, the villain was clearly much younger than him, and the lack of experience did show with every other move or so. Unfortunately, fending off opponents from all directions for a few minutes beforehand had drained him enough to level the playing field a bit, and while he had managed to avoid any hand contact Aizawa was certain that it was only a matter of time before the villain connected, and when that happened he might not have enough left in the tank to erase whatever quirk the guy had before he learned what that quirk was the hard way.

"Heeheeheehee~! Eraserhead, you really are so cool~!" The freak let out a truly unsettling giggle as the fight progressed. "Even after all the fighting you've done already, you're still putting up one hell of a fight against me..."

"I haven't even started," Aizawa snarled.

This set off another hideous laugh. "Keheheheh~! Brave words, but it's obvious you're slowing down. I bet you can't wait to see what my quirk is, right? You'll love it, I guarantee it!"

Fine day to be late for class, All Might... if someone doesn't come soon, we might all die here.

"By the way, Eraserhead, I wanted to introduce you to Nomu, but I'm having way too much fun right now... so how about I send him to entertain your precious student? NOMU! Play tag with the green-headed brat!"

Aizawa had just enough time to turn in horror to see the gigantic bird-like monstrosity that had managed to get behind him take off after Midoriya... before his opponent took advantage of his distraction to place a hand on his face.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGHHH!"

One half of his face felt like it was being eaten away by acid, and though he managed to recover from the agony quickly enough to pull away, the villain managed to place two hands on his left forearm, causing it to begin to decay as well; it took every ounce of strength he had not to pass out, and even after he somehow escaped the villain's grasp and put some distance between them, Aizawa knew he was going to lose.

Dammit... I can't feel my right eye. Can't even open it... I think... I think it's gone. Most of it, anyway... my left arm is useless, too.

The pain was starting to overcome him and threatened to make him pass out altogether; with heroic willpower, he just barely managed to stay standing. No... can't stop now. This guy is clearly a sadist in every sense of the word; pain and suffering are a game to him. As long as I'm awake and standing, I'm an interesting enough toy to keep his attention off the kids...

As Eraserhead prepared for his final battle, he let out a prayer that he never thought he'd make, to a hero he'd always looked down on:

All Might... I need you. Please, get here and save them... save my kids...

The USJ incident ends next chapter! Read and review!