Harry's words had burned into him even through the smoke:
"You run when I say."
And then the curtain of Veil had closed, and there had been no choice but forward.
Iida's engines roared, his calves burning as the Feather spell buoyed him. Every stride carried him farther than he thought possible, lighter, sharper, faster. But even with the magic pushing him onward, the weight of responsibility pressed down heavier than lead.
If I fall, if I hesitate, everyone behind me dies.
The exit doors of USJ slammed past, but Iida didn't stop. He knew instinctively it wasn't enough. The facility was cut off, built for controlled scenarios, and the alarms here hadn't triggered properly. If he wanted help, he had to sprint the entire way back to the main U.A. building.
The campus stretched before him—long pathways, gates yawning wide, wind cutting sharp against his face. His lungs screamed. His legs shook. Every muscle protested. But his engines burned hotter, propelling him faster.
Ingenium would never stop here. He would run until his body broke. That's what duty means.
The mantra kept him upright, kept his pace steady. He tore across the grounds, vision blurring with tears, the Feather spell still clinging to his body like a second set of lungs.
The dome of the USJ shrank behind him. Ahead, the red roofs of the main building loomed.
He burst through the front entrance, nearly bowling over Cementoss. The teachers inside spun toward him, their faces flickering from surprise to alarm as his words came tumbling out.
"Villains—dozens of them! They've invaded the USJ—Sensei's fighting alone—the students are scattered—"
His voice cracked, raw from shouting and breathless from the run. He saw the color drain from Midnight's face.
"There's more," he gasped, clutching his knees, chest heaving. "They said… they said they have a monster built to kill All Might."
That broke the room's silence.
Snipe holstered his sidearm, already moving. Cementoss slammed his hands together, stone walls reshaping into shields. Midnight's whip lashed once before curling tight in her fist. And All Might—he was already halfway out the door, eyes narrowed, the weight of his presence suffocating.
"I'm going back," Iida wheezed, forcing his legs straight. "They're my classmates. I won't leave them."
Recovery Girl made a noise of protest, but it was too late. His engines ignited again, and he was gone.
The sprint back felt shorter, driven not by hope but by sheer dread. Each thunderous boom rattled through the ground into his bones. The air tasted of smoke.
The Feather buff was fading, but adrenaline carried him farther still. His chest heaved with fire, his eyes stung with sweat, but he refused to stop.
Don't fall. Don't fail. Faster, faster, faster—
And then the dome swallowed him again, smoke and screams pulling him back into the nightmare.
He arrived first, ahead of the teachers.
And froze.
The plaza was ruin. Stone cracked in massive craters. Fire still licked across walls blackened with scorch. Smoke curled in ugly threads, choking the air.
At the center of it all stood the monster.
The Nomu loomed like a nightmare—its grotesque musculature burned and blistered, yet still impossibly steady. Each breath it took was a guttural rumble, steam hissing from its scorched flesh.
And fighting it were Todoroki and Bakugo.
Bakugo's palms were blistered, his gauntlets cracked, explosions weaker but no less furious. His voice was hoarse from screaming curses at the thing. Todoroki's ice sprawled across the ground in jagged ridges, but cracks ran through it from overuse, his breath ragged, frost clinging to his skin.
They were stalling it, nothing more. Their bodies trembled with exhaustion. Their eyes carried the wild edge of students who knew they were seconds from breaking.
Iida's chest tightened. I'm too late. Even they can't stop it.
And then he saw Harry.
Not far from Midoriya's crumpled form, Harry lay face-down, his robe in tatters, his satchel sagging empty. For a breath Iida thought him unconscious, another casualty of the monster's rampage.
Then the scar on his forehead glowed faintly red.
Harry twitched. Not the stir of someone waking, but a violent jerk, as though invisible strings pulled him up. His arm rose stiffly. His head lolled before snapping upright, bloodshot eyes unfocused.
His lips moved.
The sound that spilled from them was not human. A hiss, low and sharp, sliding in and out of syllables that made Iida's teeth ache. It crawled across the plaza like a serpent.
Parseltongue.
The air thickened.
Static prickled across Iida's skin. His engines coughed, sputtering, as though the very air resisted motion. Dust and rubble trembled, pebbles dancing toward Harry as if drawn by his presence.
And then the Nomu jerked.
Its arms seized tight against its body. Its legs locked stiff, trembling. Muscle fibers strained, tearing as if crushed under invisible weight.
But there were no chains. No ropes. Nothing binding it.
Only the raw, unseen power pressing down.
The Nomu bellowed, its roar cracking the dome, body convulsing as invisible force gripped it. Flesh split along its shoulders where pressure mounted, blood running dark down its burned skin.
Bakugo stumbled back, eyes wide. "The hell—?!"
Todoroki's breath caught, his ice arm faltering mid-rise. He had fought monsters before, but never seen one shackled by nothing.
Even Shigaraki paused at the fountain's edge, grin twitching in morbid fascination.
Iida's throat locked. This isn't a quirk. This isn't anything we've learned. What… what is Harry?
Harry's voice deepened, the hissing syllables growing faster, harsher. Blood trickled from his nose. His face twisted with fury that didn't seem his own.
The Nomu's body fought, monstrous muscle bulging against the invisible grip. Its chest heaved, skin splitting in wet cracks, but still it held together. Its roar turned guttural, strangled.
For fifteen seconds, the plaza froze.
No one moved. No one breathed. The only sounds were Harry's inhuman hiss and the Nomu's tortured bellow.
Relief warred with horror in Iida's chest. Harry was saving them—and terrifying them at the same time.
And then it ended.
Harry's veins bulged, temples dark with strain. His nose streamed blood. His eyes rolled back, scar glowing red-hot. His knees buckled, and he crumpled forward into the dust.
The crushing force vanished instantly.
The Nomu staggered, gasping, its grotesque body trembling from the damage. But it still stood. It always stood.
Iida's knees shook. He couldn't move. Couldn't breathe. That wasn't Harry. That wasn't—
The thunder of footsteps behind him snapped his trance. The teachers stormed the plaza, quirks already flaring.
And then All Might landed.
The impact shook the ground, dust exploding outward. His massive hand swept Midoriya up from the ground in one smooth motion, pulling the boy clear of the Nomu's looming shadow.
"All of you—stand back!" his voice roared, filling the dome with certainty.
Bakugo collapsed onto one knee, spent. Todoroki leaned against the jagged edge of his own ice, eyes flicking uneasily toward Harry's still body.
And Iida stood trembling, staring at his classmate sprawled in the dust, scar still glowing faintly.
The question burned in his chest, heavier than anything he'd run with:
Was that really Harry Potter? Or something else entirely?