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Chapter 25: Artic Battle
🕑 Added 2024-10-28 13:02:02 +0000 UTC“Text” – Normal speech
‘Text’ – Thought
“Text” – Quirk Spirit speaking in the human world
“Text” - Attacks
“Text” – Radio/Communication lines
“Text” – None Japanese speech
(text) – Subtext/meaning behind a spoken word
Chapter 25: Artic Battle
(Previously)
"Everyone grabbed the person closest to you!" Kendo yelled as she reached for Tokoyami and managed to grab him, but both were already halfway through. Midoriya and Tetsutetsu were already doing that, lunging towards the closest person—for Izuku, that was Asui. For Tetsutetsu, that was Yaoyorozu—but all of them had nothing to grip, nothing to stand on as the portals beneath them fused into one.
"Quick, hold onto me!" Midoriya looked up as Tokage sent a hand towards them, the girl having split into several pieces that floated safe from harm. It wasn't just her hand; she had sent other pieces to try and save people. Yanagi had grabbed Uraraka, the white-haired girl straining her quirk to keep herself levitating; Uraraka quickly tapped herself to eliminate gravity.
Yaoyorozu saw that Tokage had already sent her other hand and a foot to save Tsuburaba and Sato. Tsunotori held onto one horn while she fired another 2 toward Kamakiri and Kodai, but it wasn't enough. The heiress could see that many were already chest-deep in the portal and couldn't feel the bottom beneath her feet.
Aizawa moved quickly to try to find the villain. Still, another portal opened before him, and a villain came flying out, sledgehammer ready.
With Eraser distracted, if only for a few seconds, Kurogiri pulled as many students through as he could as Midoriya reached for Tokage's hand. Even if she wasn't strong enough to pull all of them, she could perhaps slow them down, give them more time, even only a second.
But that never came as they screamed and yelled as they fell through the portals, each one shutting once the body went through.
Tokage dropped to the ground, gathering herself as she slammed a fist into it and repeatedly yelled that she was so close to saving more. Yanagi placed Uraraka down, and to their horror, besides the two and Tokage, only six of their classmates and one teacher remained on. Vlad King, Eraserhead, and everyone else was gone.
"We are the League of Villains. We hope you all struggle as hard as possible, fighting with all you have. It will make it all the more tragic when All Might finds you all dead by our hand." The villain spoke up, appearing to the side like a shadowy monster, gleeful in his statement before he vanished again.
Line Break
Even as everyone panicked about the situation and tried and largely failed to save themselves or each other, Midoriya felt that temperature difference as he fell deeper into the dark void. Was the warp itself cold? He felt like he was out during the peak of winter. It was only when he fell all the way through that he realized that it wasn't the portal but the destination since as soon as he could look and hear, all he saw was white, the entire area covered in ice and snow with high winds crashing into him and the rest.
He also realized another issue. Whatever the villain's name who warped them was, he didn't seem to care if they survived as they fell towards the snow. He wasn't the only one who screamed as they saw the ground coming fast. He knew snow was soft, but how would they know how deep it was? It could be a meter or half a ruler for all they knew.
"Shit!" Hagakure's panicked cry drew his attention to her. However, he was lucky to see anything of her as the snow-filled winds made it nearly impossible to spot her gloves and shoes. Midoriya was close enough that he could grab onto her and pull her into their chest. His gloves flashed as he called on his first partner, who quickly responded by granting him her power.
“Shelter Aura!" Midoriya called out, forming a large green and brown dome around him and the rest; not a moment too soon as they crashed into the snow, but instead of a hard landing, they sunk into the white halfway, enough that the dome's edge was below the slow and some started to seep in.
“Is everyone okay?” Yaoyorozu was quick to act, looking around the group for any apparent injuries while glancing up, just in time to see the spot of black, though the chilly winds that were the portal that dumped them there closing up. Even just being there for 30 seconds, she was already feeling the chill, her costume offering no comfort as she rubbed her shoulders to get warmth.
“Someone, thanks for the save there, Midoriya.” Tetsutetsu gave a thumbs up, releasing his quirk, as his steel might have protected him from the impact, but damn, did it chill fast. Hagakure was the worst of them as Midoriya hugged her close. She had nothing to protect her from the bitter cold, and she did not even pants like Tetsutetsu had.
Getting up, Tetsutetsu let Asui go, having grabbed her during the fall to try and protect her, but she fell over with a weak croak. "Asui! What's wrong?" Tetsutetsu immediately had her side, the green-haired girl known for being blunt and honest, struggling to stay awake.
“Was she hurt in the fall?” Hagakure asked, worried for her before Yaoyorozu realized what the issue was.
"Her quirk is frog," she told them, which confused the two, but Midoriya instantly understood.
“Dammit, she’s cold-blooded." Midoriya cursed. He hadn't had much time, but he tried to ask everyone about their quirks over the few days they'd been classmates. While most refused with varying degrees of politeness, if at all, Asui was one of the few willing to answer his questions, with the girl explaining she could do anything a frog could with some extra details on specifics.
She didn’t give many details on possible weaknesses in case he tried to exploit them during a combat exercise. Still, it didn't take a genius to realize that a heteromorph with the physical characteristics of a frog would have the same weaknesses, such as a poor tolerance for extreme temperatures, much like the winter wonderland they were sent to!
“Wait, she is?” Hagakure asked as Midoriya released her.
“We need to-!” Yaoyorozu was already moving to create something—a portable heater or maybe a simple blanket.
"Burn through the darkness, Hinata!" Midoriya cut her off as he traded in his fox-like ears and tails for the flames, just like during their quirk assessment. Again, during his battle with Bakugo, he was cloaked in fire before coming out of it transformed, his blade drawn and burning bright.
"Everyone, stay close to me. We need to converse heat and figure out a way out of here," Midoriya said as he held his sword out, letting the others gather around it like they would a campfire. Tetsutetsu carried the drowsy Asui, who didn't seem fully aware anymore, nodding in and out of the waking world.
Yaoyorozu thanked him for his quick thinking, as she still created a space blanket for Asui and handed it to Tetsutetsu so he could wrap her up. Before creating long, thick winter jackets for the rest, Midoriya, coated in flames, didn't need or desire one. "He's right, but we can't stay here. We need to find somewhere we can shelter and figure out a plan of action.”
"I second that. It's so cold my brain feels like it's getting frosty," Tetsutetsu said, looking worried at Asui.
“Yeah, but that was a real jerk move sending us here! Wait…where is here?” Hagakure asked a good question. Looking around, they didn't see any landmarks they recognized, nor did they see or hear anyone else in the area, but with the winds so strong, they could just be lost in it.
Yaoyorozu picked up clues from the location despite the lack of clues. Namely, this couldn't be a naturally occurring blizzard as it was too powerful and well out of season. Even if one were to assume that they had been dropped on the northern edges of Hokkaido. However, there would have been some sort of news about this in the morning, yet when she watched the weather forecast as she prepared her breakfast, there was no such thing to be seen.
Even if the villain could drop them that far away from U.A., why not just send them into the middle of the ocean? It wouldn't be as deadly as trying to survive a snowstorm. However, most would still be considered lost at sea, with it taking hours for anyone to rescue them if they could even get some sort of SOS out. No, she imagined they had to be close to the USJ, maybe even within its dome.
"I believe it's one of the zones in the USJ, most likely for rescue operations in bad winter storms," Yaoyorozu answered, her mind having gone through the possibilities and arrived at one she could reliably trust in seconds.
“How the hell would I benefit from that? I can’t even wear a shirt without making my quirk useless!” Yaoyorozu had to agree with Hagakure. Perhaps the teachers would allow some to opt out of scenarios like this, but they'll only find out if they find a means to do so.
"Guys, I'm not sure how bad visibility is, but do you see the shapes of buildings ahead?” Midoriya, acting as their walking heat source, pointed into the distance. The rest strained their eyes to try and spot what he saw. They eventually picked up darker shapes, and while faint, they were there.
“Good eye; hopefully, one of them can be sealed to give us time to plan a means of escape." Yaoyorozu stood a little closer to him to gain warmth as they climbed out of the hole. However, in Midoriya's case, it melted his way out more as he kept the flame output constant for their benefit. Once out, they had a better view of things and found that it seemed like the area they were in was built to resemble a park, with trees, snow-covered benches, and even a frozen lake, the type one would find people skating across if the weather wasn’t so unforgivingly cold.
They started moving, but they didn't even get a few paces when Midoriya again picked up something in the distance, someone coming towards them. “Look out!” He cried as he lowered his heat and tackled Yaoyorozu to the ground, saving her from a spike of ice that would have impaled her. Around them, the snow started to shift like water, forming into tall golems that roared and charged them as ice continued to batter them through the white wind.
“What the hell?” Midoriya asked as he swung his blade toward half a dozen snow golems, sending out a slash of heat that cut all of them in two. While they fell over, the split parts regenerated, leaving him with 12 foes to handle.
“Midoriya, Yaoyorozu! Are you all right?” Tetsutetsu yelled at them as some of the ice crashed between them, leaving a frozen wall too tall to climb between them; as he found himself staring down a crowd of villains that looked eager to see them for all the wrong reasons, the white-haired boy gritting his teeth as he was handicapped by the fact he had two people with him that needed to be kept warm else they fall sleep and as he feared, not wake up.
“We’re fine, they’re villains here!” Yaoyorozu replied as she got up and lowered her jacket just enough to expose her shoulder, creating a staff to aide Midoriya in despatching the army of snowmen. Her classmate deciding that if they won't go down usually, he'll use larger attacks to melt them completely.
"Oh, just great. It's like we needed more problems!" Tetsutetsu yelled back before he slammed his fists together and roared at the villains; if they thought he'd back down to numbers, they didn't know the first thing about him. "All right, you baddies, want to taste a knuckle sandwich? Well, I got the nice frosted one for yeh!”
The villains were eager to take him up on that challenge as they charged him, Tetsutetsu needing to leave the girls behind to engage in a brawl in snow that was thick and uneven as hell. Whoever designed this park must have had an enjoyable time. The only benefit was that the villains were just as slowed by it.
With Midoriya and Yaoyorozu, the girl created a flare, cracked it, and threw it into the snow golems before the flare exploded, showing the area in red flames meant to act as a signal but served as a suitable means to handle the threat. One of the snowmen snuck up on Midoriya and attacked. Still, Hinata saw it at the last second and warned him, leading him to dodge and roast it and the other four that were coming to aid it.
Feeling his body heat up, Midoriya knew they couldn't last like this. “We don’t have time for this,” He said aloud, hearing just the faintest sounds of a villain laughing at them in the distance. It had to be the puppet master sending snow creations after them, but their voice echoed; he couldn't place them to launch an attack.
Creating another stick of dynamite, Yaoyorozu lit and tossed it into the snow creatures, taking out several, but more just replaced them. She noted the snow around them as the key, but they could not handle it. “I believe that’s the point; look at them.”
"Then we need to move; otherwise, we'll be overwhelmed." Midoriya turned the ice wall and called out. Tetsutetsu! Are Asui and Hagakure near the wall? " he yelled.
“W-we are!” Hagakure was the one to respond, her words coming out through chattering teeth as she did her best to keep Asui from falling any deeper into whatever hibernation she was in.
“Then get out of the now in 5 seconds!” Midoriya said as he sheathed his blade, shifting his stance as he started to spin, a dome of fire forming around him, which melted through the ice around him, lowering him into the growing puddle of heating and evaporating water. At the last second, as he turned back towards the ice wall, he concentrated all his power into his blade and drew it out in a slashing, quick-draw action.
“Fire Spin: Spiralling Fireball!” From the tip of his blade, a fireball the size of a car came flying out, screeching as it melted through the deep snow before crashing into the ice wall with a fiery explosion. Hagakure let out a scream, having just moved out of the way but still feeling an intense but comforting jet of warm air hitting her.
The attack alerted Tetsutetsu, who had just punched out a yeti-looking villain, seeing Midoriya and Yaoyorozu jump through the hole, the girl tossing another stick of dynamite the way they came, which exploded seconds later.
"Tetsutetsu! Get back here. We need to go!" Yaoyorozu called out to him as Midoriya picked up Asui. Seeing the situation, the boy followed suit, breaking from his fight and joining the others. They had the villains chase after them, but Midoriya handed him Asui to carry once he got close. He then blasted a better path for them through the snow, the water left behind even being warm. Yaoyorozu handled their rear, throwing flashbangs to distract and disorientate any would-be chaser.
Line Break
It took them a while, especially as Midoriya and Yaoyorozu had to fire off attacks in different directions to throw off any chasers. Still, they managed to escape the frankly, vast park and get into the town part. They couldn't go for the first buildings, as those would be first checked, so they navigated without the cold, winding streets for three blocks before they found an old apartment building and entered it.
Once inside, they closed the door the best they could behind them and went up the stairs, finding that the place was as bare as any other training ground. As Midoriya acted as the heater for the group, sticking incredibly close to Hagakure and Asui, the latter still asleep, Yaoyorozu and Tetsutetsu went about ceiling the windows and otherwise blocking any way that cold air could enter. That done, Midoriya's ambient heat made the living room more bearable for them. It was better when Yaoyorozu made a portable heater and small electric generator, giving Midoriya a chance to relax.
“Thanks.” Midoriya allowed Hinata's and his first partner's powers to fade back to her, leaving him slumped against the wall, sweaty and a little winded.
“You good man?” Tetsutetsu asked, walking over and trying to help him to his feet before noticing that the guy was warm, like a severe fever kind of heat. “Crap, you’re still hot to the touch.”
“Yeah, I don’t have the best resistance to the powers I can use,” Midoriya explained as he walked over to the rest and sat between Asui, who seemed to be coming out of it, and Tetsutetsu. “And using them burns through my stamina and energy. Good thing I had a large breakfast, am I right?” Before now, he had used his forms for longer times-yes, but never had it had to continuously output power like that. He didn't know how Endeavour could walk around with flaming facial hair without flinching. Still, perhaps that was merely a product of a natural quirk.
"Yeah, but we really can't have you exhausting yourself. We still need a way out, and you're both our lighthouse and heat source." Hagakure reminded him, bundled up nice in her jacket. Sure, she could be seen, but she'll take that over freezing to death.
Yaoyorozu has a suggestion for that. “I can make us better jackets with built-in warmers, but they’re a little complicated and delicate, not suited for fighting villains, who must be searching for us right now.”
Before anyone could reply, Asui finally stirred from her little hibernation. Blinking, she looked about, confused by their surroundings and wondering where they were. "(Kero) What happened? I remember us landing in the snow, the worst place for me…and that's about it." One quick explanation later, she was caught up with the situation and how bad it was for them. "Well, we might as well be fish 'cause they have us in a barrel."
“Adequate, given the situation.” Yaoyorozu sighed, as it wouldn't have been too bad if she had been told about the possibility of them using this particular zone; perhaps she could have requested some sort of winterization for her costume. Were they ever supposed to use it?
“Then there was what Jiro heard the villains talking about,” Midoriya moved some hair out of his face, frowning when he recalled how things went down before they were teleported. "A schedule…maybe that was what the break-in was about? They destroy the main gate and use the confusion the press caused to sneak in, grab a schedule, and sneak out."
Yaoyorozu hummed in thought. "A likely scenario, though, that still leaves how they would have roamed the grounds without detection or even know where to go. It's not as if staff schedules are hung out for all to see.”
Midoriya agreed with her counter. Instead, he shrugged. "Maybe they have someone with a quirk that helped; maybe they had someone that looked young enough to dress in a counterfeit U.A. uniform. We don't know enough to say anything but know that Tokage and Todoroki seemed right. They're jamming communications and waiting for us before the attack happened."
"Yeah, but that leaves the All Might-sized hole in their plans. All Might is the strongest dude there is. Why would they show up when they thought he would be here?" Tetsutetsu interrupted the two smarter students to remind them of what seemed to be a significant flaw in the villain's plans.
"He's got a point. All Might's insanely strong; we've all seen clips of him taking on about anything and dominating or blitzing them like he's speed-running hero work." Hagakure recalled one where All Might handled at least a dozen villains before anyone could blink. It was like BAM! One second, they were holding hostages; the next, they were down for the count/
"(Kero) Don't you think the villains would know that already?" Asui drew attention back to herself as she adjusted her blanket and jacket. "The only reason that they would still attack, even knowing All Might was going to be here, is that they have some way they think can kill him."
Hearing that, they wanted to call it insane. All Might was…All Might. He was unchallenged, unrivaled, and has been for over 30 years. Even in his brief time in the US, as a foreign hero, he managed something no one had done before or since, breaking into the top 20, placing 18th before returning to his homeland and claiming its number one spot in record time. Heroes had come and gone since. Many had tried to take his throne as the best, even fashioning themselves into symbols in their own right. Still, not one had managed even a fraction of the power or recognition that All Might had.
But couldn't one say that this entire was also insane? U.A wasn't just a school for heroes, but the school for heroes. They produced some of the best in the world, including All Might. For anyone to even think about making a move against them, they'll need to be insane-yes, but they also need a reason to believe they'll succeed.
Yaoyorozu started to seriously consider it. “They already have a villain among their ranks that can teleport people, and it looked like they got the entire class in one go, those few that weren’t taken more because they avoided it. I don’t know about you, but I heard that any quirk relating to teleporting is rare.”
Brow creased, and Midoriya agreed with her. "You're right. Teleportation and warp quirks are rarer than even healing quirks. Pretty sure the last hero with a quirk that allowed them to teleport was an American, and he retired 30 years ago." He had been one of the best, but his quirk didn't work like this warp; he could teleport himself and whatever he touched, but what they had experienced was closer to a gateway.
Much like healing quirks, teleportation of any kind would be greatly prized. Still, it was much harder to produce, as despite his mother finding ways to create numerous healing-type quirks for clients to use in hospital settings, she hadn't managed to crack the process for any true teleportation quirk.
"Yet the villains have such a quirk on their side, so it's not impossible that they also have the means to kill All Might, or at least they suspect they do." Yaoyorozu finished, which didn’t paint a good picture for them.
“Either way, there’s the question of if we can hold out long enough for All Might to arrive. If communication is really jammed, then someone’s bond to notice they can’t call us and come check things out.” Asui noted that was something good, but they deflated it, as with their luck, they'll be fighting back in the thick of it long before that happens.
How weird would it be for someone to notice that no one was answering their phones? Not much; one could just assume their teachers were focusing on the task at hand, and most of the students hadn't brought their phones, and it's not like any would be expecting calls during class. No, it wouldn't be unlikely that they were stuck waiting for at least an hour before someone noticed that they hadn't returned on time, with a man like Aizawa with them. That alone should be an alarm bell.
“And with all those villains outside waiting for us, we can’t just book it, even if we knew where the exit was,” Hagakure summarised their situation before loudly groaning, falling on her back and kicking at the air. "Man, this sucks! We just had to end up in the worst place ever!"
“I don’t think that was just chance,” Asui thought aloud again; all eyes were on her. "Think about it, they had a teacher's schedule and knew something we didn't: All Might was meant to be here. They knew about the zones and probably sent people best suited for them."
"Now that you mention it, all the villains I was fighting didn't seem bothered by the cold," Tetsutetsu recalled seeing plenty of people with large bodies covered in hair and fur; one looked like a snow leopard and hit like a bear.
“Asui-” Midoriya started.
“Call me Tsu.”
He corrected himself, blushing a little at how blasé she was with nicknames. "Tsu, you're implying that they also know our quirks and sent us to places where we'll naturally be at a disadvantage."
Asui couldn’t prove anything. "Well, it's either that or we have some terrible luck, as out of the five of us, you'll be the only one who can navigate the zone without issue. Yaoyorozu can do the same if she makes some clothes for herself, but Tetsutetsu, Hagakure, and myself? Well, we all saw how that ended."
Yaoyorozu thought about it. “Exceptional poor luck, indeed. So it would be best to work assuming they know our quirks." She muttered the first part but spoke up for the rest.
"Well, how the heck are we supposed to beat them then? Sure, they can't see me coming by. I'll be a popsicle in less than 5 minutes!" Hagakure stated that even if that wasn't true and they had terrible luck, over half were close to non-factors. Asui needed two layers and a heater just to be lucid; she couldn't use her quirk, and sure, Tetsutetsu wouldn't instantly freeze, but steel left in the cold long enough and didn't have a happy ending.
"Hey, Tsu, can't you fight wearing a super heavy parka or something?" Tetsutetsu suggested as the frog girl blinked before she thought about it.
"Maybe, but it can't be too big, else my mobility will be slowed, and I can't risk using my tongue, like in training." She answered, to which Tetsutetsu nodded with a sigh.
"Right, got you. I once got my tongue stuck to ice cream; with you, it'll be like 10 times worse." He replied.
"That's one way to put it," Tsu replied as Midoriya and Yaoyorozu considered the situation. Asui wasn't wrong that these villains must believe they had the means to counter All Might, and Midoriya would bet that it had something to do with that jacked-up villain with the exposed brain and beak. Faunalution felt the same way when she looked at him, but they still couldn't figure out why.
But why did they want him dead? Sure, he was the symbol of peace, the greatest hero on the planet, and the ultimate bane to any would-be criminal and villain, but that didn't feel like the full explanation. This attack felt…off. He hated how he could tell something was wrong but didn't have enough clues to make a good assessment.
“You and me, both Izuku. Even that one villain, I swear that just looking at whatever the hell it is makes my stomach turn.” Faunalution popped into being next to him, followed by a smaller white fox with ice-like attachments.
“It's scary," Hiroyuki added, despite this being an area where he could thrive.
“Then we're in agreement then. However, that still leaves the current situation. It would be wise to hunker down and wait for help. The team comp now isn't suited for this arena.” Shigeru stated, the feline-like spirit walking around the area, seemingly trying to find some tool or other means to aid them.
“But the villains must have realized that when they arrive, they'll look all over for them; we can't hide forever.” Hinata's fluffy rabbit body formed and jumped onto Asui's lap. The girl did not notice her, not truly, but she felt just a little warmer because of it.
“We can buy time by doing so, increasing our chances," Shigeru replied, looking towards the quiet one in the group, the white and golden cheetah-like spirit that followed them out but seemed uninterested in the discussion.
“Or allowing more of them to gather to fight? We don't even know how many are out there.” Midoriya agreed with Hinata, as this wasn't a waiting game that gave them much better chances if they went along.
“Fighting itself isn't the smart move; it risks the health of Hagakure and Asui.” Shigeru glanced at the two in question, Hinata frowning, though she knew he was right. Hearing that, Midoriya made his decision.
“We can’t hide here forever, but we also can’t fight…but there is a third option.” Midoriya started, getting up and addressing them. "We split. Yaoyorozu can lead the search out while I remain behind, draw as much attention as possible, and limit the enemies you’ll be chased by.”
"Are you insane? You can't fight all of them; you'll be overwhelmed." Tetsutetsu was immediately against that play.
Midoriya pointed at him, unmoved. "Don't forget that I can also use ice; it'll give me greater resistance to the temperatures outside if I can't access my flames long enough." Granted, fighting villains suited for the cold with ice would be a pain, but switching to lightning would be better as that form had little resistance to extreme temperatures.
“That’s still super risky.” Hagakure pointed out, worried for him, as Asui and Yaoyorozu expressed that with just their faces.
Midoriya shook his head. "It could be our only real play; we can't do this together; Tsu and Hagakure are just not suited for this place; it would be too dangerous." With that, he turned to head down the stairs, ignoring Tetsutetsu yelling for him to get back there. He only stopped when he reached it, returning to offer a smile.
“Stay safe, guys.” He walked down the stairs, and seconds later, the four heard the door open and close.
“What do we do…?” Hagakure asked after a few moments of silence, holding her jacket to her body tighter.
“(Kero) It’s not like he didn’t have a good point.” Asui didn't like it, but there was logic to Midoriya throwing himself to the wolves like that. How long would he last?
Yaoyorozu thought about it a moment longer before she made her decision. “We do what we can.” She started to undress to better expose her skin. As Tetsutetsu quickly turned around, forgetting she had her costume underneath, she began making supplies for their journey out.
Line Break
A little while later, a group met up to get details. “Have you found them yet?”
A woman covered in thick red fur shook her head. "Nah, I've already searched these buildings, and the team at the exit hasn't seen anything yet, either."
Another grunted, angry but a little amused as well. “So, they're hiding like a bunch of brats? Sooner or later, we're catching those brats, but I thought U.A. freshmen wouldn't be such cowards and hide like babies."
“Flame Charge!” Midoriya came crashing into them, and no one was prepared for it. They were sent flying, screaming in confusion and pain. Getting up from a crouch, Midoriya took an aggressive stance, his blade held in both hands as he eyed the villains. Only one of the 4 had been knocked out by that surprise attack, but the other three weren't. His attack had its secondary intended purpose, drawing attention as he could already see 2 dozen more approaching, surrounding him on the streets, rooftops, and alleys.
He could feel his energy reserves depleting and fear from facing so many enemies. Still, Midoriya didn't let that stop him as he remembered what a hero was and steeled his resolve as he met the horde. “Whose hiding? You want a fight? Well, you got one, villains!” In an air of intimidation, he sent out a pulse of flames around himself, the fur of his form catching light.
“It’s just the one?” one of the villains asked, but they didn't approach him, as he didn't seem like a scared 18-year-old.
“Don’t underestimate them,” a smooth, cold voice said as a woman walked up, clapping as she did so. Unlike the heroes, who dressed better for the cold or had quirks that gave them other means to keep warm, she wore a loose, thin white summer yukata with blue flower patterns and a rich purple obi across her waist.
Midoriya took in her features, as she was beautiful. That was clear, but she was beautiful, much like an ice sculpture, which was captivating, as he saw no warmth or love in her smile and those purple eyes. "That quirk of us is real strong. If we want to see him defeated, we can't mess around." She revealed her hands, from the tips to her wrist. Her flesh was blue and purple, seemingly having been taken by frostbite. Still, she could move her digits with as much ease as anyone else, and when she did, the snow around her gathered and formed into more snow golems.
“So you’re the puppet master, then?” Midoriya asked though he felt the answer was clear.
“Call me Snow Woman, boy.” Date yelled at him to dodge, which he did. Rolling to the side, he saw that one of the more prominent villains had tried to take him out. At the same time, he talked with the snow woman, who hardly batted an eye as she directed her golems to attack him, the same with the rest.
Meeting the challenge, Midoriya unleashed flames onto them, sending bursts and slashes toward the villains, dodging and blocking attacks where he could. Still, the numbers were quickly getting to him and his exhaustion as he sent out a slash that wasn't as strong as it cut into the golems, but not all the way through. Hence, they just regenerated and continued to mob him.
Evading a snow hand’s attempt to grab him, he shifted his stance into a defensive one. “Fire Spin: Resonating Heat!” He started to spin, creating a dome of flames around him that pulsated like a heartbeat. This kept him safe for a moment, but then one of the villains managed to get through, not with snow or ice, but with rock. Midoriya, seeing it at the last second, tried to block it, but he was still sent flying into a wall, slumping to the ground with a cough and wheeze.
He didn't stay down long, as he willed his slowly warming and sweating body back up and continued to fight, using flashy, decisive moves to keep attention on him and make up for the shortfall of being alone in the fight.
Using a villain's shoulder as a stepping stone, he flipped to face him and several others mid-air, making a gun sign with his hand as a ball of flames gathered at the tip of his two fingers.
“Will-O-Wisp!” He sent out a searing hot fireball toward the villains, engulfing all of them in the blast, which sent most flying, knocked out. Flipping to land on his feet, Midoriya inspected the progress he had made. Seeing that at least 2 dozen villains were down for the count. But he also saw that at least another 3 dozen had since arrived at the fight, leaving him worse off than at the start.
Wiping away the sweat forming on his brow, a shadow fell over him. When he looked up, he saw a snow golem the size of a building towering overhead, a fist cocked back to crush him. Quickly, he leaped to the side, barely avoiding the blow as he got up and sent a slash of flames towards it. Still, it hardly made a dent as the thick snow and ice forming its body absorbed the worst of the attack.
“It’s super not fair! She should come and fight us!” Hiroyuki complained as Midoriya was forced to retreat from her, the ice woman smiling the entire time he struggled against them and her creations.
“She is just doing it to the best of her strengths.” Date spoke up for the first time that day. Seeing another one of the massive golems forming, along with the smaller villains coming towards him, Midoriya had to use something drastic to solve the issue, something Hinata immediately picked up on when she felt him drawing on her power more, despite his state.
“Don’t do it, Izuku! You’ll exhaust yourself." Midoriya ignored her cries. He ignored his building exhaustion and sweltering body as he gathered as much heat as he could into himself, building on it until he felt the burn in his chest before he sent it all into his blade, which he rose into the air before stabbing into the ground.
“Lava Plume!" Midoriya called out as he released all that heat into the ground, causing an explosion that tore up the street, catching many villains in it, even catching the snow woman off guard as she was knocked onto her butt, her golems caught in the blast stood no chance as the heat and flames tore into them.
For a moment, it seemed like the area wasn't a winter storm anymore, steam replacing snow-filled air, allowing one to see that the street in front of Midoriya had been torn to shreds. Parts of the road were little more than dug-up rubble, still hot to the touch, while other pieces of stone had been heated so much that they were melting, leaving a sizzling orange glow.
But the moment passed as the cold returned, Midoriya feeling it harder than before as he felt Hineta's flame fade away. He barely had enough in him to switch to Hiroyuki's body, but even as his body started to cool, he had spent close to everything he had in the tank. 'That…that had to have been enough…right?' he thought.
He thought wrong as a slab of ice crashed into him, robbing him of breath as he was sent flying, landing in a tumble in the snow, his blade leaving his hand as he rolled to a stop. Coughing, he blinked to clear his vision of the spots before he was picked up by a snow golem, and with that, he heard clapping.
He struggled against it, but he didn't have any technique that could work; it wasn't like he could control ice or snow in this form. That was little comfort as the snow woman appeared; at her back were many villains. Midoriya wondered just how many the villains brought with them, as he had taken out well over 40 of them, yet there were still more.
"That was impressive, real impressive. And to think, you have an ice form too; you're just a bag full of tricks?" she asked him, but he didn't respond. Even when the golem slammed and tightened its grip on him, the most she got from him was a whimper. "Shigaraki might like you."
"Like hell, he will!" Both she and Midoriya jolted in surprise as Tetsutetsu came down, crackling like a madman as he punched the golem. Its snow body was soft, but even if it absorbed part of the impact, it was still driven face-first into the ground, releasing Midoriya.
“What?” the snow woman asked, her calm breaking from the surprise attack. She then heard a croak and saw a fluffy figure jumping into the fray, kicking off the rest of the villains.
“Tetsutetsu? Asui?” Midoriya asked, not being able to believe what he was seeing.
"Call me Tsu." Asui hardly spared him a glance as she continued to kick and jump around, making full use of her legs even while she was covered head to toe in a thick, white coat and pants. Wait, so was Tetsutetsu.
"That's us! And we're not alone!" Tetsutetsu, upon finishing the golem, pointed out that Hagakure made herself known by smacking the snow woman in the back of the head with a club and knocking her out. Midoriya saw she was wearing a complete winter outfit, just as white as the snow around them.
“So they snuck up while we fought? Sneaky, sneaky.” Date chuckled at the image.
“But…how? I said-” He felt a hand on his shoulder, and looking up, he saw Yaoyorozu's face, as welcoming and kind as ever.
“We know what you said,” she started, decked in white. But we're also training to be heroes, so it would have been shameful to leave you to fight while we fled. Besides, Tetsutetsu was far from pleased with you making decisions for the rest of us." She helped him to the side as the villains lost their biggest card with the snowwoman down.
Yaoyorozu helped Midoriya to the side so he could rest, pleased that they made the right decision to back him up. Though it had taken more out of her than she thought, she had managed to ensure that they were all better equipped for the fight, Tsu's having warmers in the jacket to keep her alert and active. But that wasn't the only thing she brought with her as Midoriya saw she had something strapped to her back and a gun-like device in her off-hand.
Punching a villain in the face, Tetsutetsu turned to him, furious that he had tried to leave them and do it all himself but relieved that they got there in time. “Damn straight, if you ever try that again, I’ll be the one that knocks your teeth in, you got that, Midoriya?”
Looking back at the fight, he saw that there were still a lot of enemies to handle, but he wasn't worried as he and Yaoyorozu had come up with something to help with that. "Hey, I said earlier that I have frosted knuckle sandwiches for yeh, but how about a nice hot meal?" Confused by his statement, the villains stopped as Yaoyorozu got up behind him and aimed her gun at Tetsutetsu's back.
Pulling the trigger, she bathed him and the street in flames, much to the shock of Midoriya, his partners, and the villains. "W-what the hell, Yaoyorozu?!" He yelled. Had she lost her mind? Why was he the only one reacting to this as Hagakure tied up the snowwoman while Asui cleared out of the way and stuck to the side of a building?
Yaoyorozu didn't let up, marching forward with the flame thrower still pouring out an inferno that pushed the villains back from the mad woman. But then they heard laughing from the flames before Tetsutetsu, his new coat gone and red hot, came barrelling out of the fire. "My quirk protects me from the cold and the heat!" He laughed as he attacked the stunned villains with a wide, threatening smile.
Midoriya watched in awe as the villains found their ice and snow quirks useless against the flames. Tetsutetsu might as well have been a burning wrecking ball as he quickly crashed through them. Even their bigger members found themselves defeated by him or unable to touch him, as continually bathed in flames made it dangerous to do so.
It wasn't long before they were all defeated, with the last having been knocked out when they turned to flee, only for Tsu to land on them with a thud as they went face-first into the snow.
"(Kero) You said earlier that it would have been too risky for us to join you, but that's the thing, Midoriya. We're training to be heroes, so risky stuff is kinda part of the job." Asui told him that as she got off the villains, she checked her coat to ensure it wasn't damaged in the fight.
Hagakure came over and smacked him on the shoulder, showing off the face she was wearing a rather sleek winter get-up, with the tights, despite being made for the cold, showing off her form nicely. "Plus, I got to rock this sweet new winter gear from Yaomomo. Sure, I had to be extra sneaky, but heroes need to be able to adapt and improvise."
"It wouldn't have been fair to leave you to do it all alone. If we can help even a little, then we must act." Yaoyorozu finished it, Tetsutetsu nodding to it as Midoriya didn’t know what to say, but he felt…good about this, especially when he looked at Yaoyorozu as those yes drew him in like only one other person had ever done.
“I like 'em," Faunalution stated.
“They’re amazing.” Hinata agreed as they could feel his feelings the same way he felt theirs, and they could tell that he wasn't just feeling gratitude towards the taller woman.
‘Yeah…yeah, they are.’ Midoriya thought back to them, blushing but feeling lucky for him. Hagakure and Yaoyorozu assumed the cold was getting to him as he got up. "Well, that clears up that. I heard they had people guarding the exit, but I think we can handle them, right?"
It was a unanimous decision from them. "Well vice-rep?" Midoriya turned attention to the dark-haired girl, who blinked in surprise before she smiled back at them.
Turning, she started to walk away from their defeated foes. "We have an exit to storm to find; let's not waste time." At her word, they followed. They might have been caught with their pants down, scattered by the villains to be killed. But they could adapt, regroup, and hit back—and hit back hard.
Line Break
Since I'm working on the plans for another project and writing out ideas for the future of the Emerald Furnace stories, this chapter was shorter than I wanted it to be. Still, I'm satisfied with the final product…is what I would have said if I wasn't on a role writing this! In fact, this chapter is longer than expected, baby! I wanted to stop, but I couldn't bring myself to end on a cliffhanger and wanted to see it through to the end!
Also, have you heard that the final MHA volume will have 60 bonus pages? Izuchaco shippers have him celebrating it all over Twitter, thinking that at least part of it will be confirming the ship and having them doing some couple shit, but…I don't know; if they do, it'll probably be after a mini time-skip since they'll both be pretty raw after the war, especially the entire thing with Himiko.
