Chapter Text
Izuku ran back to the plaza in a panic. This was not how he expected this day to go at all. Granted, that's a sentence that could be applied to any day in the past ten months. He never expected to have his dream crushed by the number one hero, nor did he expect the same man to reignite it. He didn't expect to be offered his Quirk (and wasn't that something? A transferable Quirk!), or to spend months training his body so it didn't literally explode upon receiving it. He didn't expect to shatter the bones in his arm during the UA entrance exam, and he definitely didn't expect to still get into the school after. Almost getting expelled, fighting Kacchan, somehow almost becoming class representative, and even making some new friends when he's only ever had two!
"I don't know if I'd call Bakugou a friend." A voice that sounded suspiciously like his other friend said in his head. He shook it off, now definitely wasn't the time.
Anyway, where was he? Oh right, whatever the hell was going on here. His class had been taken for rescue training at the USJ (and what's copyright to the Rat God of UA) and got to meet the Space Hero, Thirteen. That's when things went wrong. A warp gate had opened up in the plaza and out of it came a hoard of villains. Though even at a glance he could tell only four of them had more to them than the rest. The man made of mist who'd most likely brought them there in the first place, the man with hands all over his body, the hulking creature with an exposed brain, and the girl with a mask, hood and goggles. His teacher, Aizawa (he was getting taught by Eraserhead!), had ordered Thirteen to get the students out of there while he fought them off, though that plan fell apart when the warp villain managed to escape the man. Kurogiri, as he'd introduced, said they were here to kill All Might before warping him and his classmates away to their probable demise.
Izuku had found himself in the Flood Zone with Tsuyu (call her Tsu) and Mineta, stranded on a boat surrounded by aquatic villains. Fortunately through their combined efforts, and the sacrifice of a few fingers so he could use his Quirk, they managed to escape that situation. Which is where he was currently, running to the plaza. The situation he arrived at was grim. Thirteen was down, and it looked like her own Quirk was used against her. Aizawa-sensei was caved into the ground, bleeding and missing part of his arm. He couldn't locate most of his classmates that had been warped, though a hole in the wall gave him some hope. He was looking for someway to help when the hand villain noticed them. Faster than he was prepared, the man was in front of him and his classmates, hand outstretched so probably a five point activation Quirk, which when considering the state of his teacher didn't fill him with anything other than dread. Only for him to stop before he could touch one of them.
"You're so cool, Eraserhead." His raspy voice chuckled.
Izuku looked to see his teacher glaring with his Quirk active, fighting through the pain just to make sure they didn't get hurt, only to get slammed into the ground by the muscular villain. The greenette couldn't waste this chance, not with his friends at risk, so he charged up One For All in his arm and threw a punch. Only for it to be intercepted by the villain with the exposed brain, seemingly doing nothing.
"What?" Izuku asked in shock. All Might's power and it didn't even budge. He was too stunned to acknowledge that he hadn't broken his arm for some reason.
"Attacking while my back is turned? Are you sure you're a hero student?" The villain taunted.
The other villain, the girl, spoke, freezing All Might's successor to his very core. "Tomura, stop playing around." She said, not really paying attention to them and voice painfully familiar.
He knew her. It shouldn't be possible, but he knew her. "Michan?" He asked in shock.
Shock that was mirrored when Mirabel, because who else could it be, turned to him. "Izu?" She asked.
Tsu and Mineta looked at him in shock, with even the hand villain looking at him wide eyed. It was then that All Might arrived.
"Worry not students, because I Am Here!" The man said, signature smile missing.
Any other moment he'd be ecstatic about his idol and mentor coming to save them, but right now he was too stunned to focus on that, even when the man moved at high speed to save them and take down some remaining villains.
His arrival had brought Mirabel's attention though. "There you are All Might. I was worried you'd miss your own show." She said.
"Stand down Young lady." Yagi said, hoping to end this quickly before he ran out of time.
"And why would we do that? The guest of honor has just arrived. And just in time to see the fall of the Symbol of Peace." She responded.
"You're not the first to try to kill me, and you won't be the last." Toshinori said.
Mirabel laughed, and Izuku had never heard a sound so sinister come out of her. "Kill you? We're not here to kill you." She said.
"I am." The hand villain grumbled, getting an eye roll from the girl.
"He is. And while it would be a nice addition, it's not the main goal." She amended.
"Then what is?" All Might asked.
The girl grinned. "Nomu." She said.
The hulking creature suddenly moved far faster than he could keep up with to attack the number one hero, with the man countering. The impact from their blows creating shockwaves, pushing everyone back from the titanic clash. They also blew the hood off the villainess's head, exposing the familiar curly hair, and crushing any hope the greenette had that this wasn't really his friend. He forced his gaze back to his mentor and noticed he was having more trouble than he should be. Even with how strong and fast the Nomu was, All Might should still be doing some damage but it wasn't enough. He then noticed the hand villain looking smug and opening his mouth, only for Mirabel to nudge him with a shake of her head. So they were hiding something, but what?
The boy thought back to his own punch. It had been blocked yes, but something he didn't notice before was how it's skin rippled, as if dispersing the impact away from the point of contact to nullify or at least weaken it. That's it!
"All Might, I think it has some kind of Shock Absorption Quirk!" The boy yelled.
The villain's eyes snapped to him, both shocked, before one melted into anger and the other melted into resignation and a hint of amusement.
"What?! I'm calling hacks!" The man yelled.
"That's Izu for you, Quirk nerd through and through." She shook her head with a chuckle.
Yagi took his student's advice, which added with the villain's reactions basically confirming it, and moved around a punch to instead slam the monster into the ground to at least hold him temporarily. Alas it was not to be, as he found himself suplexing it into a warp gate. He felt like screaming as a hand dug into his injured side, a result of the warp gate opening in a position to allow the Nomu to hold him from both sides and attempt to pull him in. The kids stared at him, fear in their eyes.
Mirabel chuckled. "This, All Might, is what we want. To show the world that you're as much a man as anyone else. That even the number one hero bleeds." She grinned.
Izuku was frozen. His mentor was in trouble, his friend was a villain, and he didn't know how to help. Fortunately others didn't have this issue. A massive ice attack from Todoroki froze the Nomu, allowing All Might to escape it's grasp. At the same time, familiar explosions sounded and an ash blond Pomeranian impacted Kurogiri.
"Gotcha you shitty villain! Couldn't hit you before through the mist, but I figured that brace meant you had a body in there. Don't move unless you want me to blow your ugly ass back to hell!" He threatened, palms facing the villain in warning.
Mirabel scoffed. "Why am I not surprised they let an asshole like you in?" She asked.
Katsuki looked at her wide eyed. "Madrigal?!" He asked.
Her gaze darkened. "It's Shigaraki to you, Bakugou." She hissed.
"Since when?!" Izuku got over his shock to ask.
Her gaze softened when she looked at him. "Since I realized heroes are a lie." She said.
What? His thoughts were interrupted when the Nomu escaped the ice, losing an arm in the process and having it grow back immediately!
"I thought it had Shock Absorption?!" All Might exclaimed.
She looked him in the eye with deliberate intensity. "Izu said that, and while he wasn't wrong, he had no way to know that wasn't it's only Quirk. Perfectly bioengineered to give you a real fight." She said.
Multiple Quirks? But that was impossible!
"As impossible as a transferable Quirk?" He asked himself.
"Nomu, get that brat off our transport." Tomura said.
Bakugou was saved from having his head caved in by All Might moving him out of the way, Kurogiri using the opportunity to escape.
"You kids have done well, but I think it's time to show you how a real Pro Hero operates." He said with a smile.
Then he moved, hitting the Nomu repeatedly with even more force than before.
"Didn't you hear my sister and your brat? It has Shock Absorption, that won't work." Tomura said. Wait a second, sister?!
The shock of that quickly turned into awe as All Might began to actually push the monster back.
"I did hear them. They said Absorption, not Nullification. Which means there's a limit to how much it can take. One that I just have to push past." Yagi declared.
He somehow became faster than before, hits blurring as the Nomu reached its limit.
" This is what it means to go beyond Plus Ultra!" He declared, landing a final hit and launching the Nomu out of the building.
There was stunned silence.
"I gotta admit, that was impressive. But it definitely cost you." Mirabel said.
She was right, which meant she somehow knew about his time limit. The steam signaling a return to normal was wafting off the man. They needed to do something fast.
"Madrigal!" Katsuki yelled, taking his chance to hit her with Explosion.
Izuku should have learned by now not to have expectations. He expected Kurogiri to do something. He expected Tomura to do something. What he didn't expect was for a wall of water to take the attack, before he was sprayed back. Both him and Bakugou looked on in disbelief. Because that was a Quirk. That was Mirabel's Quirk. She was supposed to be Quirkless.
"You...have a Quirk." He said.
"And it looks like I'm not the only one." She responded. Something in her gaze told him she knew exactly what that implied.
A bullet through Tomura's hand was indication that backup had finally arrived.
"Hermano!" Mirabel exclaimed as she checked on him.
"Ugh, hurts like a bitch." He hissed.
"Kurogiri, get us out of here!" She said.
"Of course Young Mistress." The mist villain said.
The greenette's legs moved on their own, he couldn't lose her so easily. He ran after her, arms outstretched to pull her closer, to hug his best friend, to stop whatever was going on, but he couldn't make it. With a final sad look, the warp gate closed, and they were gone. Leaving Izuku to wonder what exactly happened to her.