Consciousness returned to me not in a rush, but like a slow tide creeping up a quiet shore. First came the sound—a low, anxious murmur calling my name. Then came the sensation—a dull, all-encompassing ache in every muscle and joint, and a cold, hard surface at my back. I forced my eyes open, and the blurry world slowly sharpened into focus. The first sight to greet me was the face of Momo Yaoyorozu, hovering directly above me. The expression of relief on her face was so real when she saw my eyes open.
"Tatsumi-san! Thank goodness you're awake!" she whispered.
I tried to sit up, but a sharp pain lancing through my body made me wince and lie back down. "What… what happened?" I asked, my voice hoarse.
"You collapsed after the fight ended," she explained, helping me lean back against a large rock. "Your Quirk… the armor, it receded back into your body and you just fell. I… I didn't know what to do." I could see the faint stains of dried blood on her hands, and a makeshift bandage was wrapped around my arm. She had administered first aid while I was out. She didn't panic. She acted.
I looked around. The villains were still lying where they had fallen, tangled in metal nets or unconscious from their injuries. Near us, the cannon Momo had created lay like a monument to our victory. She had protected us both while I was helpless. A warm sense of respect and gratitude spread through my chest, momentarily masking the pain. "Thank you, Yaoyorozu," I said sincerely. "You saved us."
She shook her head, her jet-black hair slightly disheveled from the battle. "We saved each other, partner." She said it easily, as if our partnership was the most natural thing in the world.
I checked my condition. The heat in my chest that had been burning like a furnace now felt like an almost extinguished ember, cold and weak. I knew I wouldn't be able to call on Incursio again anytime soon. For now, I was back to being "Quirkless," just with an aching, bruised body. We couldn't stay here. We had to understand what was happening across the entire facility.
"We have to move," I said, forcing myself to stand while ignoring the protests from every muscle in my body. "We need to get to higher ground, see the big picture."
Momo agreed without hesitation. Carefully, we began to climb one of the steep cliffs in the Landslide Zone, using every handhold and foothold we could find. From the top, the view that spread out below us took our breath away. The USJ had been turned into a mini warzone. In the distance, I could see massive flashes of ice in the Glacier Zone—clearly Todoroki's work. On another side, sporadic explosions rocked the City Ruins Zone—that had to be Bakugo. Our classmates were scattered, fighting for their lives in different corners of the facility.
But our eyes were naturally drawn to the center of it all. The central plaza. There, a truly horrifying scene was unfolding. Aizawa-sensei, the impossibly competent underground hero, was fighting a losing battle against the man with hands on his face, Tomura Shigaraki. And beside Shigaraki stood the creature that would haunt my nightmares. It was a giant, muscular monster with dark skin, a bird-like beak, and an exposed brain on the top of its head. The Nomu.
We watched in horror as Aizawa moved with inhuman speed, erasing Shigaraki's Quirk and trying to fight him off. But the Nomu… the Nomu was on a completely different level. It moved with a speed that rivaled All Might's, catching Aizawa in an instant. We saw it, even from a distance, as the creature broke our teacher's arm as if it were a dry twig. We saw it slam Aizawa's head into the ground again and again. Each impact made my stomach churn.
"No way…" Momo whispered beside me, her hand covering her mouth in horror. "That creature… its power… it's absurd."
"It is absurd," I said, my eyes narrowing in a cold, terrified analysis. "Look how it took Aizawa-sensei's blows. No impact at all. It has shock absorption. And its physical strength… it's designed for one purpose."
"What purpose?" Momo asked, her voice trembling.
"To fight All Might," I replied, the terrible truth tasting like ash on my tongue. "That thing is an anti-All Might."
We realized we couldn't do anything. Going down there would be suicide. My power was spent, and even at my prime, I doubted I could scratch that monster. Our only hope was help from the outside. Our eyes shifted to the main entrance of the USJ. There, we saw Kurogiri, the mist villain, standing like hell's gatekeeper, blocking the exit. We saw a badly injured Thirteen using the last of their strength to try and contain Kurogiri. And we saw a small group of our classmates—Iida, Uraraka, Sero, and others—trapped near the entrance.
They had apparently reached the same conclusion we had: someone had to get out. We watched as they formulated a desperate plan. Uraraka made Thirteen float, Sero used his tape to pull at Kurogiri, and the others created a diversion. In the midst of the chaos, a silver streak shot out. Tenya Iida.
Down below, Iida felt the engines in his calves roar to life. This wasn't training anymore. This wasn't about being the fastest. This was about the lives of his friends, his teacher. An image of his brother, the Pro Hero Ingenium, flashed through his mind—his confident smile, his reliable back. 'I will make you proud, Tensei-nii!' he thought. With a roar full of determination, he pushed his Quirk to its absolute limit, rocketing past the distracted Kurogiri and bursting through the doors of the USJ. He had made it.
Seeing Iida get out, a momentary wave of relief washed over me. Help was on the way. But then my eyes returned to the central plaza, and that relief evaporated. Aizawa-sensei was lying helpless on the ground. Shigaraki was scratching his neck with a disgusting, agitated motion, chuckling. "Game over, teacher," he sneered. The Nomu gripped Aizawa's head, lifting him from the ground, ready to crush it. Midoriya, Uraraka, and Tsuyu, having just emerged from the water zone, could only watch in horror from the edge of the lake.
"It's time for the game over," Shigaraki said.
Just as the words left his mouth, a deafening BOOM shook the entire dome. The main entrance of the USJ, which Iida had just passed through, was blown to pieces, ripped from its hinges. A single figure stood in the midst of the smoke and dust. He was not smiling. His face was a mask of cold, controlled fury. His eyes, hidden in shadow, seemed to burn with a blue light.
"IT'S FINE NOW," a deep voice, trembling with rage, echoed through the facility. It was a voice everyone knew, but this time, there was no cheerfulness in it. Only the promise of retribution.
"BECAUSE I AM HERE."
All Might had arrived.
He moved faster than the eye could follow. In a single blur, he crossed the vast distance, snatching the injured Aizawa from the Nomu's grasp, grabbing Midoriya, Uraraka, and Tsuyu, and depositing them all safely near the entrance, all in less than a second. He stood facing the main villains again, his broad back a shield for all of us.
"I can't believe it," Shigaraki said, his voice filled with a childish disappointment. "I went to all the trouble of bringing so many friends... and you still showed up. You're cheating."
All Might didn't answer. He just stared at the Nomu, the monster created to kill him. I stood on the cliff with Momo, now just a spectator to the fight that would decide all of our fates. I knew from my memories that this would be a difficult battle, even for him. Help might be on the way, but time felt like it was crawling. Down below, the Symbol of Peace was preparing to face his worst nightmare. The battle of gods was about to begin, and we were in the front row.