Third Person POV
The moment Shoto got separated from Aaron, he tried to rush back to his side — but Kurogiri's swirling fog expanded, cutting him off completely.
"Move!" Shoto shouted, sending jagged waves of ice forward. The shards tore through the air but vanished into the mist, only to reappear behind him, crashing harmlessly against the wall. Every strike he threw was useless — Kurogiri warped space around him like a puppet master.
The air was thick with screams and fire. Nomus swarmed the streets, clawing at anything that moved. Most heroes were pinned down, barely keeping up with the regenerating monsters.
Shoto didn't even see the shadow closing in from behind until a Nomu lunged at him with murderous speed—
A blinding flash erupted. A flaming fist struck the Nomu square in the chest, sending it hurtling through two buildings.
"Be careful."
Endeavor's voice was like rolling thunder as he loomed over Shoto, fire cascading off his shoulders like a mantle of wrath.
Shoto froze. His father — the man he despised most — had just saved him. A dozen words caught in his throat, but none escaped. He just nodded silently, anger and confusion twisting in his chest.
Endeavor scanned the battlefield — heroes locked in combat with Stain, others crushed beneath the claws of regenerating beasts. The Nomus had formed a living wall between the heroes and Aaron, isolating him.
The city looked like hell had cracked open. Flames, smoke, and twisted metal framed the skyline as monstrous silhouettes tore through the ruins.
"No matter how much they hit, the Nomus don't go down…" a hero gasped, barely dodging a swipe.
"They just keep coming!" another shouted.
Then Shoto remembered.
"The brain," he said suddenly.
"Huh?" Endeavor glanced back, confused.
"Their brain is their weakness," Shoto explained, breathless. "At the USJ — Aaron defeated one by destroying its brain."
Understanding flashed in Endeavor's eyes. He turned toward a hulking, eyeless Nomu tearing through a group of pros. "Got it."
As Endeavor surged forward in a storm of flames, Shoto's gaze drifted — and he spotted two familiar figures in the chaos.
Midoriya and Tenya. Both were facing the Hero Killer, Stain, fighting desperately to stay alive.
Shoto clenched his jaw.
If he couldn't reach Aaron, he could at least help his friends.
He turned and sprinted toward them, ice trailing behind his steps.
..........
Aaron's POV
'No matter how many times I cut him, he regenerates instantly. He's even guarding his brain now.'
I slid back, breathing heavily as I dodged another winged Nomu's swipe. My blade whistled through the air, slicing through its wings — but before they even hit the ground, the flesh was already knitting back together.
Useless.
Unless I can destroy their brains or hit them faster than they can heal, I'll be here forever.
Even with Shock Absorption, this was exhausting. My muscles ached, my stamina burning out with every dodge and strike. I needed something decisive — something overwhelming.
I deactivated Aerokinesis and activated Cataclysm.
No ripples left my body this time. The shockwaves were being eaten up instantly by Shock Absorption. From the outside, I looked eerily still. But inside, my body was a storm of coiled destruction.
The energy built up — pressure mounting, bones humming with contained violence.
Each movement, each swing of my blade, each impact I blocked… fueled it further.
It was a ticking bomb waiting to go off.
Without Aerokinesis, I was slower — my body taking more hits than before. Every blow reverberated through my core. Shock Absorption could take it… but not forever.
I knew the limit.
All Might had needed three hundred punches at full power to overload this quirk. Once it reached that threshold, the then immensely grown potent destructive energy — a shockwave equivalent to three hundred of All Might's blows, concentrated into one would be unleashed.
And I was planning to redirect it.
Toward the Nomus. Away from the heroes.
After the Sports Festival, I'd theorized this — a move so dangerous I swore never to use it unless I had no choice.
But now? I had no choice.
I steadied my breath. My right arm trembled, light cracking along my veins as energy leaked through.
This was it. My trump card. My gamble.
The other Nomus were already closing in — except for the hooded one, still standing guard beside Shigaraki like a sentinel.
Good. Let him watch.
I waited. Waited for the crack in my chest — the sign that Shock Absorption couldn't take any more.
Then it came.
A pressure spike — like lightning splitting bone.
I shut off Shock Absorption and switched to Clear Mind in a single breath.
'Redirect the energy. Through my arm. Away from everyone.'
Everything else — fear, sound, pain — vanished. Only the goal remained.
I pivoted on my heel, lined up the three Nomus, and thrust my right fist forward.
The world exploded.
BOOOOOOOOOOM!
The sound shattered the sky itself. The air turned white, the sound barrier collapsing as a roaring shockwave tore through the street. The winged Nomus didn't even have time to move — they were obliterated instantly, their bodies reduced to dust and blood mist.
The USJ Nomu tried to dodge, but half its torso was caught in the blast — its brain completely annihilated.
A hundred meters ahead, the city was gone. Flattened. Buildings erased, cars crumpled like paper, flames swallowed by the expanding void of destruction.
When the echo finally faded, I was left standing at the start of the devastation — alone.
I stared at my arm, or what was left of it. From my shoulder down, it was simply gone. Flesh and bone atomized. My regeneration kicked in instantly, tendrils of flesh weaving back together.
The pain hit next — white-hot and blinding.
"FUCK!" I screamed, clutching the growing limb as agony rippled through me.
I'd deactivated Clear Mind the moment the attack ended — because I didn't want to experience another surprise, another moment of numb, detached madness.
...........
Third Person POV
The tide of battle finally began to turn.
Stain, bloodied and gasping, staggered back as Midoriya, now wielding seven percent of One For All, pressed the assault with blinding speed. When Shoto joined in, fire and ice colliding in harmony, the Hero Killer's ferocity was smothered beneath their combined power. His blade fell from his trembling hand, clattering against the cracked pavement.
A moment later, Stain collapsed — unconscious.
Nearby, Endeavor's flames tore across the ruined streets like a living inferno. With Gran Torino and the other heroes at his side, they fought tooth and nail against the remaining Nomus that still rampaged through Hosu's wreckage.
"FLASHFIRE FIST!" Endeavor roared. His blazing arm slammed through the eyeless Nomu's skull, fire bursting out the back of its head in a shockwave of heat and light. The creature screamed once — then fell limp, smoke rising from its hollowed cranium.
Even with all five Nomus down and Stain defeated, no one dared to breathe easy.
Because through all of it — every punch, every scream — they could still hear the other battle. The one happening not too far away.
Aaron's battle.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
The explosion hit like a wrathful god descending to earth. A blinding flash seared the horizon, followed by a shockwave that ripped through the streets and sent heroes and villains alike sprawling.
Shoto barely had time to raise an ice wall before being flung backward. Gran Torino spun midair and crashed into a lamp post. The air itself felt like it had been split apart.
Only Endeavor managed to stay on his feet — his flames igniting at full output, thrusting him forward against the violent gale. Even then, he had to shield his face from the flying debris.
When the smoke finally began to clear, silence fell. Every sound — every cry and flame crackle — seemed to fade beneath the sight that awaited them.
A crater stretched across the city, about a hundred meter long, its edges glowing faintly red with molten heat. Buildings had been flattened like paper models, cars shredded to twisted heaps of metal.
When the gathered smoke had settled, there… standing in the face of that devastation… was Aaron.
His body was outlined in the settling haze, one arm hanging limp at his side. He clutched the regenerating limb with his other hand, breath steaming in the cold night air.
Endeavor didn't see the regeneration process as by the time he could see through the smoke Aaron's arm had almost fully regenerated.
And yet he stood frozen. His eyes, usually burning with pride and arrogance, widened in sheer disbelief.
He had known this boy was powerful — the one who brought down the USJ Nomu. But that victory had been possible only because of Aizawa's interference. This, however… this was something else entirely.
To level an entire street with a single blow. To stand at the face of such destruction and still breathe.
For the first time in years, Endeavor felt something rare — awe.
If there was one thing he truly respected in this world, it was raw, overwhelming strength.
Before he could take another step forward, a shrill voice echoed through the smoke.
"Over and over again, you keep ruining my plans! JUST DIE ALREADY!"
Shigaraki's furious scream cut through the air, his fingers digging into his neck until blood streamed down his skin. His red eyes burned with hatred as he pointed directly at Aaron.
While Shigaraki ranted, Kurogiri stood a few feet behind him, his form wavering as he surveyed the battlefield. The Nomus — their army, their distraction — were gone. And without them, there was no way he alone could hold back the oncoming heroes.
Through the haze, he saw Endeavor striding toward Aaron, flames flaring hotter by the second.
Kurogiri knew what that meant.
"The mission's over," he said, his voice calm as the mist around him began to churn. "We've caused enough chaos."
Before Shigaraki could object, the fog enveloped them both, but not before unleashing the Hooded Nomu. His strongest pawn till now.
"GO KILL THEM ALL." Shigaraki
The streets fell silent again, save for the crackle of burning ruins and the slow echo of Aaron's breathing.
Endeavor stopped a few steps away, still staring at the young man who had just leveled a city block.
For the first time, the Flame Hero didn't speak.
He simply looked — and realized that this generation was something even fire couldn't outshine.