13

He connected to his swarm, calling out to them. That was his first action upon becoming aware. He breathed in, and out. He was calm.

But then he noticed his bugs, unable to reach his position, dying left and right as they attempted to reach him. It wasn't long before the cause of the problem came to Izuku's senses.

He opened his eyes. The heavy downpour of water fell onto his face, the heavy winds and the sound of thunder echoing in the background. It seemed that he was in the Downpour Zone; the place best suited to suppress his quirk's usage. 

He was lacking reconnaissance and an edge to his offensive power now. Without his bugs, he needed to rely on his skills alone. He would have to deal with it.

A groan from behind spurred him to turn. He found two of his classmates, then. The one with a bird's head - Tokoyami, his own head supplied - slowly rose up, rubbing his head. The other - Mineta - was nervously moving his head back and forth throughout the landscape. 

Izuku ignored them for now, instead calling out to his bugs again. This time, he relayed a single command.

Come inside. 

The bugs would find their way into U.S.J. They'd come into through the vents, any small cracks and imperfections within the infrastructure of the building. But that would be all, and then they'd continue on with their routines: scurrying, skittering, flying, eating. That was fine; all Izuku needed was for them to be there when he was ready.

For now, he needed to focus on the situation in front of him. He needed to get out of the heavy rain and wind. 

A mere 23 bugs that had been within his hair - not that they could do much in this weather - and his trusty eskrima sticks on his back were all he had to work with.

He looked back to his classmates. Mineta was a crying mess, muttering inconsistently about the villains, All Might, and the possibility of death looming around the corner.

On the contrary, Tokoyami was rather calm. He was simply eyeing the zone, until his gaze fell upon Izuku. He walked forward, his beak opening to speak.

"Midoriya, are you alright?" Tokoyami asked.

"Yeah." Izuku nodded, "I'm good. You?"

"I am fine," Tokoyami replied. He then gestured to the other, shorter boy present. "I'm not sure that I can say the same about Mineta here, though."

Both glanced back at their classmate, who was still panicking over their current situation. Izuku shook his head, and began to approach the boy. 

"Hey, Mineta." No response, the boy continued muttering.

"Mineta," Izuku said, more forceful. It seemed to snap Mineta out of his trance.

"Mi— Midoriya." His eyes widened again. "Villains! We can't handle something like this! We need to wait for the real heroes to—" Izuku smacked him in the face, revving him out of his stupor.

"Look. Are you going to just stand there, being useless?" Izuku said. "Are we going to have to carry you on our backs? Or are you going to help us get out of here?"

"I— I—"

"Midoriya. We have a problem," Tokoyami interrupted. 

Izuku turned his attention away from Mineta, and only then did he notice what Tokoyami meant. Various villains had converged upon their position, surrounding them from all sides, preventing escape.

"Shoot. Looks like we're gonna have to fight our way out of here. Tokoyami, surround Mineta. He isn't in a position to fight."

"Right. It is a good thing that we find ourselves in a pseudo darkness, then, within this storm. Dark Shadow!" 

Izuku watched as the sentient being that was Tokoyami's quirk rose from his back. "Oh ho ho. A fight? Oh, how I do love fights," uttered the shadowy being. It's claws lengthened as its size grew. A few of the villains visibly grew uneasy, but they held their ground. 

"Oi! You brats should just come with us quietly. You're outnumbered. Surrender yourselves now," exclaimed one of the villains.

"If you believe that we would just give in here, you are exactly the fools I depict to break into such a bastion for heroics," uttered Tokoyami.

The villain smiled, chuckling. "Perhaps so. But no matter, at least we'll have some fun." The others surrounding the students - Izuku estimated a little over twenty, - readied their quirks. Izuku reached for his back, wielding his only weapons against his foes.

Then it started.

Lunging at Izuku, a villain swiftly traversed the slippery terrain, their claws splayed out in attack. Izuku quickly rose his sticks to block the oncoming swipe, his body being pushed back by the force exerted by the villain. 

The villain's arm rose in for another attack, but Izuku found his footing before then, taking a low sweep at the villain's legs. The villain fell, unready for the maneuver. With a hard, steady smash over the villain's neck, they grew still.

A reflex parry blocked another incoming attack, this time two heavy fists from a four-armed opponent. Izuku shifted into a loose stance, focusing more on evasion. The villain continued his display of brute strength, his punches hitting nothing but air. Eventually, his stamina depleted, and he grew tired. This provided a simple opening for Izuku to place a hard smash over the villain's stomach, them reeling over in discomfort.

Izuku chanced a glance back at his classmates. Mineta was fine, but still on the ground scared out of his mind. Tokoyami was fending off three other villains, four already down at his feet.

Izuku swiftly turned again, continuing to defend against the onslaught of villains. 

One thing Izuku hadn't tried before was engaging in close quarters with villains. Sure, there was the Sludge Villain, and that one guy he fought in an alley to save that woman, but those were all singular, individual criminals.

He hadn't fought groups before, and for good reason. He knew that he would have been overrun without the use of his bugs. And he couldn't use his bugs for vigilantism if he didn't want to get caught under his identity.

The fighting lasted quite a while, minutes passing by as villains fell. One by one they fell, but so did Izuku's strength. He was vying for alternatives to end the fight.

One option he had was using the parasites he had noticed some of the villains were carrying. It was a novel alternative, but he scrapped the idea. The tapeworms would take too long to do any immediate damage, after all. So he continued fighting on.

Despite all the damage he was doing, Izuku didn't escape completely unscathed, having taken a few hits himself. His experience - or lack thereof - of a fight within groups showed; a rather large gash was on his arm after a villain's crystalline projectiles had cut through the durable spider silk.

Though he was growing tired, his breaths coming in loud huffs, Izuku decided that the situation wasn't too bad. He was lucky that he wasn't alone here, even if the only comrade he had was Tokoyami. He would have been overrun a long time ago, otherwise. Even if these villains were surprisingly weak for members of a so called 'League of Villains.' 

As Izuku finished off another enemy, this time with a double swipe to the back, he heard the distinctive sound of a sword being unsheathed.

Izuku knew that he wouldn't be able to block in time, but he still turned, readying himself for the blade. But it never came. Instead, the sword wielding villain was on the ground, groaning and covering a broken, bleeding nose. Izuku was at first confused, until he looked at the villain's feet. There lay a purple ball, pinning the villain in place. 

More orbs came, pinning down all the villain's limbs. Izuku turned, finding Mineta standing off to the side, holding his balls of hair in his hands.

"I'm— I'm sorry Midoriya," Mineta said to Izuku. "You were right. I— I signed myself up to U.A. to become a hero!!!" He turned his head off to the side.

"And other stuff," he muttered.

"What?"

"But that's besides the point!" Mineta yelled. "You and Tokoyami were being like true heroes! Going all: Bamf! Pow! Zap! I just— I just— I saw that guy with the sword and— and—"

"I got it, Mineta. Thank you for the assist."

Mineta smiled. Than—" and then he was blasted into a wall, making a deep imprint in the concrete and steel.

"I'm okay…" Mineta muttered as he fell to the ground.

Izuku turned back to face the villain that had launched Mineta into the wall. He was big, in a very muscular sense. His horns spiraled very much like a ram's, a swirling tail branching from his hind quarters.

"You should've stayed down, punk," the villain said to the now fallen Mineta. He turned towards Midoriya. "As for you, I think that I'll— Agh!" He was cut off, Tokoyami's Dark Shadow lashing out in a barrage of fury, subduing the unsuspecting villain into unconsciousness.

"Thanks, Tokoyami."

"No problem, Midoriya." 

Izuku looked around, noticing the silence; the ram villain was the last of them. He turned back to the position where Mineta had landed, wandering over to make sure the boy was okay. 

After a bit of observation, Izuku found that Mineta was mostly fine, even if he wasn't in any state to move himself.

"Don't worry Midoriya, I've got him." Dark Shadow emerged from Tokoyami's cape, taking Mineta in its arms.

"Good," Izuku said. "I believe that we're free to go. The exit is…" Izuku connected to the bugs outside the dome of the Downpour Zone. He focused on the bugs that he could to pinpoint the position of the exit. "That way." Izuku pointed down a street.

Tokoyami and Midoriya trudged through the heavy rain and howling winds, keeping an eye out for any stray villains.

"Tokoyami."

The bird-faced boy turned towards Izuku. "Yes, Midoriya?"

"If you don't mind keeping an extra eye out, I'm going to connect to my bugs right now, see how everyone else is faring against this 'League.'"

Tokoyami nodded. "Of course. Do you require any assistance to guide you, or…"

"No, I can walk. You can still follow me to the exit. My attention will just be split into multiple avenues, is all. I won't be all that good at spotting any villains around us"

"Alright. I'll leave it to you," Tokoyami said. They entered a companionable silence, Izuku leading the charge as a Mineta-bearing Tokoyami followed.

Within seconds, Izuku's attention was divided between the millions of bugs within his reach, and he finally gained sight of the people within the U.S.J.

Sato, Shoji, Ashido, and an injured Thirteen at the entrance, fighting off the guy with the teleporting mist. 

Yaoyorozu, Jiro, and Kouda in the Mountain Zone, a swarm of birds aiding their cause. 

Ojiro, Aoyama, and Hagakure - if his myriad eyes weren't deceiving him - within Conflagration.

Todoroki and Sero were making a bigger mess in the Landslide Zone.

And Bakugo and Kirishima were in the Ruins doing what they knew best: smashing and fighting. 

Then his view shifted to the more dire situation within the entire facility. He found a defeated Eraserhead, his broken body pinned down by the large, bird shaped villain.

And then there was Tsu, Uraraka, and a dazed Kaminari in the Flood Zone, just feet away from by the villain covered in severed hands, the teleporter, and the bird with the exposed brain. The one with the hands turned his way to the three students resting on the Floo Zone's edge.

"Shoot, that doesn't look good," Izuku said.

"Hmm?" Tokoyami hummed.

"Quick!" Izuku alerted. "We need to hurry! Some of the others are in trouble!" Izuku ran off into a sprint.

"Right," Tokoyami said to the furthering behind of his classmate. They quickened their pace, risking the chance that they'd end up falling upon the slick ground. 

With his bugs, Izuku began to take in the situation. Some bugs discretely gathered near the trio, with some landing on their backs in the area exposed above the water.

"—his pride as the Symbol of Peace." Izuku caught the villain saying. Then, he launched himself at the three with a burst of speed. Izuku was caught completely off guard, his bugs watching as the villain's hands went to enclose around Tsu's and Kaminari's faces. 

But the hands stopped just before they reached the faces. The hand-covered villain backed away a little, turning his way back toward Eraserhead.

"You really are cool, Eraserhead." The hero's eyes shone red with his quirk, eyes obviously canceling out whatever quirk the hand villain had.

Eraserhead's hurt. Real bad. Really, really bad. Bad enough that his body was nearly broken, probably by the villain holding him down right now. Yet Aizawa-sensei still went through the effort of canceling out the other villain's quirk. He saw him as someone Tsu and Uraraka couldn't handle, despite the obvious evidence that they had taken out the other goons in the water. 

The bird villain smashed Eraserhead's face into the ground, deactivating the hero's quirk.

Which means danger, a greater threat than before. And the villain stopped his advance as his quirk was canceled out, rather than continuing to just grab them. Which means — which means his quirk is based around his hands. Meaning—

Izuku acted to the revelation in earnest, rising the offensive bugs hidden on his classmates. They dashed forward, and - just as he thought - intercepted the incoming hands on the villain.

"OW! What the—"

The bugs were successful in their initial attack, stinging the vulnerable flesh of the villain's hands. The villain backed off, and Izuku stationed his bugs in a defensive line tens of thousands strong, guarding his classmates from harm. 

The villain went to grab one of the stray insects on his arm - a dying bee lacking its stinger. Izuku felt the bee disappear from his influence, almost like it had just slowly dissolved.

Emitter quirk, hand based disintegration, then? On contact, or when he closes his hand on the thing? The latter would make sense. 

"What is this!?" the villain said, considering the ramifications of somebody being able to control such an array of insects. "A mini boss who summons minions? And bugs? I can't grab those. Unfair. Unfair, unfair. Where are you! Come out!" he yelled, fuming and frantically searching around him.

What's with all the video game terms he's tossing around? And why am I the mini boss?

…

Huh, who would've thought that Manga's video game knowledge would come to use like this?

At the same time with Tokoyami, Mineta, and Midoriya, the trio came upon a large steel door. Amd with the flick of a switch, they finally made it out of the Downpour Zone.

Tokoyami and Midoriya could now see the incident with their own eyes, the Flood Zone being directly across from the Downpour Zone. They exited the dome as the hand villain spouted out the admission of a mini boss.

"Tokoyami," Izuku said, turning to the boy and gesturing to the other on his back, "get Mineta out of here. I'm going to stall for time and see what I can do with these villains."

Tokoyami gave Izuku a concerned look. "I'm not sure that is a wise decision, Midoriya. As much as I want to help out our fellow classmates, those villains over there—"

"Don't worry," Izuku said, cutting Tokoyami off. "I'm going to stay hidden over here, use my bugs." 

Tokoyami tilted his head at that, considering the prospect. Eventually, he nodded his head. "Okay. I'll take your word. Though, I advise caution." With that, Tokoyami ran away from the action, and back towards the exit. Watching the boy leave, Izuku quickly positioned himself behind a bush to keep himself hidden.

"Nomu." Izuku's bugs heard the declaration. So the bird guy's name is Nomu? 

However, Izuku's bugs noticed that the hand villain had ended his outburst, his head looking straight for the Downpour Zone, and directly at him.

Well, there goes the hiding part. He probably saw me as I hid behind the bush. Great. At least Tokoyami and Mineta are gone.

"Ki—"

Whatever the villain was about to say was cut off from a loud clang and explosion of metal. A cloud of dust covered the entrance of the Unforeseen Simulation Joint, a concealed figure slowly marching out from the cloud.

Out came a rather rare sight: an unsmiling All Might. He was still in his teaching attire, his tie and blazer thrown off and in his grasp. His frown shook up many of the villains present still conscious enough to fight.

His voice boomed in the open air, further enforcing his presence. "It's fine now. I am here."

With that, All Might launched himself into a speed that provided a challenge for Izuku's bugs all around the facility to follow.

The blur of speed unceremoniously beat back the rest of the minor villains around the plaza. After mere seconds of battle, All Might went off the rescue the hurt Aizawa, as well as remove Tsu, Uraraka, and Kaminari from the grasp of the hand villain. 

Unfortunately for Izuku, his position behind the bush seemed to have concealed his presence to All Might, leaving him stranded in the plaza as All Might brought the rest to safety.

This didn't go unnoticed by the remaining three villains within the U.S.J. The villain with the disintegration quirk opened his mouth to speak, but stopped himself at the last second. He paused, as if considering his moves, then opened his mouth to relay an order. "Nomu, fetch the kid over there." He pointed straight at Izuku.

Before Izuku could blink, Nomu was in front of him, its hand wrapped around his torso. And before he could even adjust to the sudden pressure around his body, he felt severely dizzy, reeling in from vomiting. It seemed that Nomu had zoomed back to its last position with him in hand.

Fast, really fast. As fast as All Might?

At the same time, a distressed All Might came before them, obviously worried with what the villains were going to do with Izuku.

Ah. I'm a hostage. That makes sense, I suppose.

"Ah, All Might. Glad that you could join us," said the teleporter villain.

All Might, still barring his frown, retorted back. "Villains, release the boy. There's no need to harm him."

"You!" yelled the hand villain, looking at All Might. "I've been waiting for you."

This isn't good. I'm just in All Might's way. He can't fight any of them if I'm here in this guy's grasp. I need to get out of here, see what I can do. This Nomu guy is tough, though, and probably just as fast as All Might himself. I have to hurt him, make him let me go.

"Hey, stop that muttering, kid!" yelled the hand villain. 

Izuku quieted himself, again berating himself for his habit of muttering.

Then, he ordered some of the bugs out of his hair: spiders, beetles, hornets and the like coming out from their hiding place and crawling onto Nomu's eyes. All at once by Izuku's command, the insects bit and stung at the fleshy orbs, rising a broken, garbled screech from Nomu. 

With Nomu effectively blinded, All Might sprung into action, launching a punch at Nomu. But what All Might didn't expect was the lack of response towards the attack, Nomu instead going to scratch at one of its eyes. The clawed movement removed the bugs, but did so by removing his entire eye as well.

However, even more surprising was the instantaneous regrowth of the eye within its socket, restored to pristine condition.

"Nice try," the hand villain said, "but Nomu here was designed to kill you, Symbol of Peace. He has shock absorption and regeneration."

All Might looked at the villain in a new light, uncertainty in his eyes. Izuku grew a bit more uneasy with the position he was in. 

However, the next words that came from the disintegration villain's mouth instilled a new worry into his head.

"Nomu. Kill All Might."

With that, the brain villain screeched anew, throwing Izuku out of the way and into the distance.

Izuku landed with a crack, the force of the throw knocking him nearly unconscious, with him barely able to stand.

Izuku attempted to rise from his crumpled state, but did little but move his head towards the fight. He watched on as All Might and Nomu fought, an uneasy feeling growing in his mind. He knew that All Might had reached his limit in the morning; he didn't have much time to fight the villain. And if that thing - that Nomu - had two quirks, and was supposedly made to kill All Might…

There's a chance that All Might won't make it through the fight. A shiver ran through Izuku's spine, the realization of the League's plan scaring him. They really have a chance.

As black began to fill his vision, Izuku ordered his bugs to act, however little he knew it would do to help.

Bite.

Sting.

"Kill."

Izuku fell unconscious.

Notes:

And that about wraps up the U.S.J. Incident. Well, mostly anyways. So, what comes next? Heh, that'll be for the next chapter, everyone.

But, one small thing I'd like to tease: Get ready for some non-canonical events soon.

'Till next time!