[U.S.J. Central Plaza - Metal's POV]
"I'LL CRUSH YOU!" A villain with red skin and four arms shouted as he lifted his two sets of arms above his head before bringing them down on Metal.
THUD!
Metal held his forearms above his head, blocking the strike easily while making the villain recoil slightly in pain at the numb sensation running through his arms.
"Ah! shit! What are you mad—ACK!" The villain's eyes turned white before slumping forward as a small fist buried itself against his stomach.
"Jump him!"
"Get the little bastard!"
Two villains that looked exactly the same quickly rushed towards Metal's back in an attempt to take advantage of the opening.
Creak...
"What the fuck?!"
The twins' eyes widened in shock as Metal's head rotated all the way to stare at them.
Not one to waste an opportunity, Metal's hands gripped the red-skinned villain's knees, then his torso followed the same motion as his head before using the bigger villain as a stick to smack the other two away.
"Ugh!"
"Get off me, shit face!"
"We have the same face, dumba-"
Vrrrrt!
The two villains were knocked out as Metal's compact form ran them over without a care in the world as the robot made his way towards Eraserhead.
[Scanning...
Scanning...
Scanning...
Remaining Enemies: 91]
"TAKE THIS, HOBO!" A villain wearing a punk outfit shouted as electricity gathered in his palm.
At the sound of the unnerving voice behind him, the villain quickly turned around, but the only thing that filled his vision was the sole of a shiny sneaker.
"I told you not to kill anyone." Eraserhead said before kicking a female villain with cat ears right in the neck.
Eraserhead ducked under the fist of a villain with rock-coated arms before jumping back to stand beside Metal.
"How many are left?"
The Pro Hero asked without taking his eyes off the villains that were slowly forming a circle around them.
<89.>
"I need a vacation..."
Eraserhead blinked.
---
[U.S.J. Entrance - Mei's POV]
"Don't worry, I'm sure Metal will be fine! He's really strong!" Hagakure said as she put a gloved hand on Mei's right shoulder as they followed Thirteen towards the exit.
"Y-Yeah, you're right..." Mei replied in a weak voice as her grip tightened around the handle of her custom double-barrel shotgun.
"Plus Mr. Aizawa is with him, I've never seen him fight, but if he's a Pro Hero then he has to be pretty strong too!"
"Not strong enough if he had to take Metal..."
At Mei's response, Hagakure decided to stay quiet, though she kept her hand on Mei's shoulder.
'I'm worrying too much, we just have to get out of here and then Space-Blob can contact the school...but what if they're too late?'
Mei shook her head to get rid of that last thought.
'Metal is pretty durable, he'll be fine until they arrive, plus All Might should be at U.A. I'm sure he can get over here in a seco—'
Vwoom...
"Don't move!"
All the students stopped walking as the same blackish-purple cloud that appeared in the Central Plaza manifested in front of them.
"Greetings," a masculine voice echoed from the cloud as it slowly took a tall shape with bright yellow eyes at the top, "We are the League Of Villains, we apologize for coming uninvited to the home of the Heroes, U.A., but our goal requires us to take such drastic measures."
"And what is that goal?" Thirteen asked as they stood protectively in front of the students.
"Making the Symbol Of Peace, All Might, take his last breath."
'W-what? t-that can't be possible, no one can beat All Might.'
Mei thought as she took a small step back while the Hero Course students looked at the villain with shock in their eyes.
"We were under the assumption that All Might was going to be here, did the schedule change?"
The glowing yellow eyes of the villain focused on the class.
"Well, that's not my problem," the dark mist started spreading around the villain, "My role is right here."
Thirteen raised a hand before one of the lids covering their fingers lifted, but before the Pro Hero could do something, two figures jumped towards the villain.
'What are they doing?!'
BOOM!
"Did you consider that we can defeat you?" Kirishima asked as he stood beside Bakugo with his hardened arms in front of him.
'D-Did they get him?' Mei thought as she kept her eyes focused on the cloud of dust.
...
"How dangerous," the dust cleared, showing the completely unharmed villain, "U.A. students truly are valuable assets."
"No! Get back!" Thirteen ordered to the two students standing at the front, but the dark cloud was already surrounding the whole class.
"My role is separating you and killing you slowly!"
Fwoosh!
Mei held her arms in front of her face as a strong gust of wind pushed against the class.
'What is going on?!'
"Move!"
"Ah!"
The pink-haired girl let out a pained groan as her back met the floor after being pushed out of the weird cloud by a pair of floating gloves.
"T-They're gone!" Iida said once the fog dispersed, leaving nothing but empty space behind.
---
[U.A. Teacher's Office - Toshinori's POV]
'Maybe I should go and say a few words even if I'm late...'
Skinny Might thought as he put his phone back on the small table in front of the couch he was sitting on.
'I'm supposed to be teaching them, but I'm unable to due to what I decided to do outside the job,' Toshinori let out a sigh as he leaned back on the couch, 'it was stupid.'
...
'But still...my body should be able to hold for another three or five minutes!'
The skinny man slowly stood up from the couch before making his way towards the door, but just as he reached for the handle, the door opened on its own.
"Stop right there, Toshinori." The soft squeaky voice of the principal came from below as the small creature entered the room before the door closed behind him.
"Principal Nezu!" Toshinori slowly crouched down in front of the principal, "Your fur is well groomed, like always."
"Keratin is the key, but we have more important topics to discuss." Nezu rummaged his small pants before pulling out a little tablet, "Look at this!"
Nezu held the tablet in front of him so Toshinori could see the headlines.
"All Might solves five incidents within an hour and ten minutes, you went a little over your limit, didn't you?"
'I got caught!' The Symbol of Peace thought while flinching at his former teacher's words.
Nezu shook his head before letting out a sigh, "It's not your fault, but you shouldn't rush towards each incident you hear of, have more faith in the other Heroes in the city."
The principal walked around Toshinori before crawling on top of the couch.
"You're right," Toshinori said as he slowly stood up before facing the principal, "it's just...there were multiple hostage situations around and I just couldn't ignore them..."
"You haven't changed a bit, Toshinori..." Nezu adjusted his position on the couch before reaching for the tea set on the small table, "I admire that heroic spirit, but your time is limited, you should put your duties as a teacher above your duties as a Hero, it'll be for the best in the long run."
'I will never get used to watching him serve tea...'
"Here," Nezu gently pushed the tea cup towards Toshinori, "you should relax for a bit, I actually want to use this chance and give you a few pointers on how to be a better teacher since it seems like one of our students gave you a three out of ten."
'Three out of ten?!'
---
[U.S.J. Entrance]
"-They're still inside the building." Shoji said while scouting the dome with the multiple eyes and ears on the tip of his tentacles.
At Shoji's words, the students from class 1-A let out a collective sigh of relief before focusing back on the villain blocking the exit.
"What do we do now?"
"That Quirk is too troublesome..."
'Someone has to escape and get help,' Thirteen thought as she glanced over her shoulder at the group of students, 'Luckily for us we have the perfect candidate for that.'
"Vice-Rep!"
Iida turned his head to look at Thirteen.
"Yes?"
"I'm assigning you a task, run out and get help from the school."
The blue-haired male recoiled slightly at his teacher's words.
"Despite Eraserhead and your classmate fighting the villains, none of the alarms have gone off, that means that whoever is blocking the sensors is hiding somewhere, the fastest option is for you to run away and ask for help."
"B-But it'll be a disgrace to abandon my classmates..." Iida said as a bead of sweat formed on his cheek.
"Shut up, four-eyes!" Hatsume stepped forward to stand beside Lida while gripping her gun with shaking hands, "My baby is fighting a horde of villains right now! There's no time for cosplaying as a knight!"
"She's right, Iida," Sero said as he moved to stand on Hatsume's right side, "They won't follow you if you manage to get out of here."
"Use your Quirk to save others, Vice-Rep."
Thirteen's words made Lida grip his fists as the Pro Hero prepared to face the villain.
"It stung a little when Metal won against us in our specialty, didn't it?" Shoji asked as he too moved forward, "This is your chance to prove you're the fastest in our class."
"We'll cover you, Iida!"
"Yeah! Don't worry about us!"
Uraraka and Ashido said from behind Iida.
'They're all trusting me with their lives!' Iida's engines popped out from his calves as he prepared to run, 'I refuse to let them down!'
"Even if you don't have any other option, discussing your plan in front of the enemy is a stupid idea!" Kurogiri said before expanding his mist to surround everyone again.
"We did it because it doesn't matter if you heard us or not!" Thirteen lifted her hand before pointing her index finger at the villain.
"Black Hole!"
---
[U.S.J. Central Plaza - Tomura's POV]
'The fodder really can't do anything even in numbers, huh?' Tomura thought as he scratched his neck slightly, 'Especially with...that around.'
The villain's red eyes focused on the small sphere rolling around Eraserhead as if it were a shield.
'What even is that?...it doesn't seem to have a uniform...a security robot then? Is that U.A.'s response to our break-in? An extra support character?'
Tomura's fingers moved a little more quickly against his neck as he watched the small robot kick a villain on the face as they tried to hit Eraserhead from behind.
'Every time Eraserhead needs to catch his breath, that thing starts taking the hits for him...it's starting to get on my nerves, but like in any RPG, the solution is simple: take out the support first.'
With that thought in mind, Tomura spoke up for the first time.
"Nomu, get rid of that thing."
---
[Eraserhead POV]
"ACK!"
The villain below Eraserhead passed out as the Pro Hero landed feet first on top of his stomach.
"Stop dodging!" A villain with bone-plated arms said as he tried to hit the Pro Hero from behind.
"You asked for it."
Clank!
The villain's fist impacted against Metal's forehead as the small robot jumped in front of the attack before thrusting his right arm forward.
"FFUCKK!"
The bone villain fell on his back while clutching his lower region in pain.
"Was that necessary?"
Eraserhead asked as he looked over his shoulder at Metal.
The small robot had some scratch marks running down the back of his head along with the plate on his right shoulder having a dent, but he looked otherwise fine.
'He's been taking hits for me the whole time without issue, there's a chance he's even tougher than Kirishima.'
Metal answered in indifference while the now ball-less villain whimpered on the ground.
Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud.
Both Metal and Eraserhead turned to look towards the fountain as the villain with hands attached all over his body rushed towards them.
"The final boss?"
Eraserhead's eyes flashed red as he threw a piece of his scarf forward while rushing towards the villain, who simply grabbed it with his right hand.
Vrrrrrt!
Metal's small body passed by his teacher right side as the robot aimed for the villain's legs.
"You're not my problem." The raspy voice of the villain said as he jumped over Metal with no issue.
"Tch!" Eraserhead clicked his tongue as he arrived in front of the villain, who extended his arm towards the Pro Hero.
Eraserhead easily dodged the villain's outstretched arm before driving his right elbow forward towards the villain's gut.
'He blocked it?!'
The Pro Hero's hair fell down around him as he looked at the villain's left hand grabbing his elbow.
"Don't go overboard, Eraserhead..." The villain said as he leaned down to talk to the Pro Hero, "It's hard to see because you move a lot, but every time you finish an action your hair falls down..."
'What the-?!'
The teacher stared in shock as the black sleeves of his sweater started turning grey before turning into dust.
'Shit!'
Eraserhead reacted quickly by activating his Quirk again before punching the villain in the chest and jumping back, two other villains tried to ambush the Pro Hero, but he reacted by jumping up and letting them punch each other in the face.
'My arm is still okay,' Eraserhead thought as he glanced down at his right elbow, the whole sleeve was gone, but his arm was still unharmed.
"Ah...that's right, you're still a bit fresh thanks to your little support..." The hand villain said as he slowly stood while staring at Eraserhead with maniac eyes.
At the villain's words, Eraserhead's eyes narrowed behind his goggles, 'Why isn't Metal att-'
BOOM!
Eraserhead rolled to the left as an object was thrown his way before crashing against the bottom of the stairs, creating a cloud of dust.
'What was that?'
"By the way, Hero..." Eraserhead's eyes widened as a bulky figure with his brain exposed stood behind the smaller villain, "I'm not the final boss."
Eraserhead looked over his shoulder as the cloud of dust cleared.
The machine lay on his back against the stairs while sparks and smoke sparked from his joints, the robot's right ear was gone with wires sticking out of the hole that was left in its place, Metal's front screen was cracked on the left side while his right lens flickered as the robot tried to stay on.
'I'll have to apologize to that girl...'
The teacher focused back on the two villains in front of him while grabbing his scarf.
...
The hulking monster then threw something in front of Eraserhead's feet.
"Scum..."
Eraserhead's grip tightened on his scarf as he looked down at Metal's left arm.
Vwoom...
'Just what I needed...'
"Tomura Shigaraki." The purple fog said as it materialized beside the now identified Tomura.
"Kurogiri, did you kill Thirteen?"
"I left Thirteen out of combat,"
'Out of combat, not killed...'
"But I didn't manage to disperse all the students, and one of them escaped..."
Tomura turned to look at Kurogiri while scratching his neck, "Huh?...You only had one job and you messed up?..." The scratching grew more insistent, "Kurogiri, if you weren't our way out I would turn you into dust!"
"We can't win against every Pro in U.A....it's game over this time, let's just go home..."
'They're leaving? Just like that?' Eraserhead thought as he kept his eyes focused on the group of villains.
"METAL!" The voice of a girl shouted as someone ran down the stairs.
"Ah...that's right, before we leave...let's hurt their pride a little."
Tomura smiled as his eyes focused on the female running down towards the small robot.
---
[A Few Minutes Back - U.S.J. Entrance - Mei's POV]
"GO!" Mei shouted as she saw Thirteen fall forward after the villain used the Pro Hero's own Quirk against them.
"Damn it all!"
VROOOOOOM!
Iida shot forward as the engines on his calves came alive, but just as the Hero in training avoided the villain, a purple portal appeared in front of him.
"N-No!"
Iida tried to stop, but his own speed worked against him as he slowly slid forward towards the dark portal.
"Gah!" Shoji threw himself out on top of the portal, enveloping it with his multiple arms before rolling on his side. "GET OUT OF HERE!"
With the way cleared, Iida started sprinting again straight towards the exit.
"Impertinent, four eyes!" The top of the villain's mist-like body quickly stretched as his eyes focused on the retreating student. "You think I'll be that easy?!"
Meanwhile, Mei's eyes zoomed in on the villain. 'That's it!' The girl's yellow eyes caught the sight of a metallic plate surrounded by the dark mist.
Bang!
"What?!" The villain turned to look behind him as he was slowly pulled back.
"I was supposed to use this for my own mobility, but it works just fine like this too!" Mei said as she grabbed the handle of the double-barrel shotgun with both hands.
From the left barrel, a thin silver chain was slowly retracting back into the gun as the girl kept her finger firmly on the trigger.
"Insolent, brat!"
"Woah!"
'He's too strong!' Mei thought as the villain started dragging her towards him.
"Nice job, Hatsume!" Sero said as he shot tape towards the metal plate in order to help Mei.
"Give me that!" Shoji grabbed the tape and Mei's gun before yanking the villain back, making him fall down. "Uraraka!"
"On it!" The bubbly girl didn't waste a second before leaping forward and touching the plate with both of her hands. "I don't get it, but if you have this, then that means you have a body!"
"I'm floating?!" The villain tried to expand his mist again towards Iida, who was trying to pry the door open. "I won't let you!"
"Give up already!" Shoji said as he started spinning the villain around for a few seconds before letting go of the tape along with Mei's shotgun, sending the villain flying in the opposite direction of the entrance.
"No!" The villain tried to expand himself again, but it was too late as Iida finally managed to open the door.
...
'I really hope glasses is fast...' Mei thought as her eyes zoomed in on the villain floating away.
'What about Space-Blob?'
Mei's gaze moved towards the Pro Hero on the ground, with the back of their costume completely torn open.
"Release," Uraraka said after a few seconds while putting her hands together. "T-Thirteen?..."
"D-Don't w-worry, I've survived w-worse..." The Pro Hero said in a breathless voice.
"Don't speak!" Ashido crouched down beside Thirteen, and Uraraka did the same just a second after.
Meanwhile, Sero and Shoji stood vigilant in case the mist villain decided to return.
BOOM!
A strong sound traveled from the bottom of the stairs up until the top, making the students flinch.
"What was th—hey! Where are you going?!"
Sero grabbed Mei's arm as the girl passed by him on the way to the stairs.
"You can't go there, it's dange—OOF!"
Sero's doubled over as a knee met his crotch.
Mei didn't spare a single glance at the agonizing boy as she rushed towards the edge of the stairs.
Once there, her yellow eyes zoomed again on the cloud of dust that was slowly dispersing.
"METAL!"
Mei started rushing down the stairs without any thought the moment her eyes caught the sight of Metal's broken form.
'He can't die!'
---
[Years Ago - Mei's POV]
"Aaaand done!"
Mei stepped back before giggling at the sight of Metal.
The robot stood in the middle of the living room with a house of cards built on top of his head.
"You're a very pretty decoration, Metal!"
Mei put a hand over her mouth as Metal's red eyes flickered for a moment in what she learned to identify as frustration.
"There's no point, dummy!"
Mei responded as she stepped closer to Metal.
"Because it's fun, duh!"
The small girl tapped Metal's pointed nose with her fingertip.
"You should stop overthinking things! Not everything needs to have some complicated reason!"
Metal stayed quiet for a moment before slightly shaking his head, making the house of cards fall onto the floor.
"Hey!" Mei pouted as she glanced down at the cards. "Why did you do that?!"
Boop.
"Huh?" Mei's eyes focused on the metallic finger pressing against the tip of her nose.
---
[Present - Mei's POV]
Mei's eyes watered as she saw her small creation trying to stand up, only to fall on his back again.
The girl started skipping steps on the stairs in her rush to get to Metal.
'He's always been there!'
---
[Two Years Back - Halloween - Mei's POV]
Mei, currently wearing a small witch outfit, walked hand in hand with Metal while her parents followed.
"Do you like your costume, Metal?"
"Well, of course," Mei let go of Metal's hand before squeezing the red ball on Metal's nose.
Honk, honk.
"That's the point of being a clown!" Mei laughed as Metal crossed his arms before walking towards Miku.
Metal's sinister voice said with total seriousness as he tilted his head back to look up at the older woman.
"Don't worry, Metal, I think your costume looks very cute!"
The older Hatsume gave Metal a few pats on the head before pulling her hand back.
"Yeah! The white color really suits you, kid." Kyosuke said while giving Metal a thumbs up.
"See? You'll be fine. Now come on!" Mei grabbed Metal's hands again before pulling him towards a nearby house.
Riing!
Both Metal and Mei held two bags decorated as pumpkins over their heads.
"Trick or treat!"
---
[Present - Mei's POV]
Mei watched as the villain with pale skin approached Metal while the big monster behind him grabbed Aizawa.
The thing smashed the teacher's head against the ground before throwing him towards the mist villain, who made the Pro Hero disappear.
'I refuse to let my son die!'
Mei thought as she jumped the last few steps with all the intention of kicking the pale villain away from Metal.
---
[Two Years Ago - Christmas Eve - Mei's POV]
Mei looked at the box Metal, who was wearing a Santa hat, held towards her.
"You got me something?" Mei asked in surprise as she took the box from Metal's hands.
Mei put the small box down on the floor before slowly unwrapping the cover.
"This is..."
Mei slowly took the gift out of the box.
It looked like a regular wrench, but on one side it had #1 and on the other the word Mother.
Sniff...
"I-it is..."
Mei wiped her eyes with the right sleeve of her red sweater.
"M-Metal?"
The small girl looked down slightly as her robot hugged her.
---
[Present - Mei's POV]
Thud!
Mei landed in front of Metal as the hand villain jumped back at the last second.
"Stay away from him!" Mei said as she shakily raised her hands.
"'Him?'" The villain tilted his head slightly to the left in confusion. "I'm sure that thing behind you is just a bot, I can see the oil leaking out of it."
"Don't call him a thing!" Mei rushed forward with her right fist prepared.
"Nomu."
...
"Let me go, you freak!" Mei's legs kicked in the air as the Nomu held her by her right arm.
Mei tried punching and scratching at the dark limb holding her, but it was useless.
"Is that thing important to you?"
The villain asked as he walked out from behind the Nomu.
"Or were you just trying to act tough?... Not like I care anyways..."
"We're on limited time, Tomura."
The mist villain said from behind the other two.
"Tsk... I know, I know... but we have to make an impact if we want to be taken seriously..."
An unnerving smile slowly appeared on Tomura's face.
"Break her a bit, Nomu."
CRACK!
"AHHHHHHH!"
Mei's scream resonated through the whole U.S.J. as the Nomu snapped her arm in two before dropping her as if she were nothing.
'It hurts!'
Mei closed her eyes as choked whimpers escaped her mouth.
'Please make it stop! Please!'
"Open your eyes, I want you to see this,"
Tomura's raspy voice reached Mei's ears as the villain walked over her back as he made his way towards Metal.
"I don't know why you're so attached to this thing, but I'll be turning it into dust since it got on my nerves..."
Squeeze!
Tomura looked over his shoulder as Mei's right hand wrapped tightly around his ankle.
"You heroes always struggling until the very end, huh?" The villain turned around before pressing down on Mei's wrist with his other foot..
"AHH!! NGH!"
At the pain, Mei let go of Tomura's ankle while more tears dropped from her eyes.
...
...
...
A single red light stopped flickering, then locked onto Tomura's back.