....BOOM!!
One moment, the creature was crouched at the fountain; the next, it was a blurred silhouette of purple muscle and exposed brain, cutting through the atmosphere of the USJ dome.
"Get back!" Kazama roared.
He didn't try to dodge. He knew the speed of this thing—if he moved, the Nomu would simply plow through him and the others.
He had to redirect the force, or at least most of it. He manifested a barrier around his entire body, preparing himself to absorb and vent the impact upward. It was a technique his father, Minotu—the Pro-Hero Full-Stop—had drilled into him during those grueling midnight training sessions. 'If you can't stop the ocean, Takeru, you have to become the shore.'
But the truth was, he knew he couldn't absorb all of it.
Kazama surged toward the villains, shifting the battlefield so the shockwaves wouldn't reach the students behind him. The Nomu's fist, larger than a human head, collided with Kazama's crossed forearms.
The impact was cataclysmic. A shockwave rippled outward, shattering the stairs beneath them and blowing nearby villains back like autumn leaves.
Kazama felt his bones groan. His Quirk screamed as it fought to scavenge a portion of the force. He managed to absorb perhaps thirty-five percent of the impact; for the remainder, he triggered an Aether burst to deflect the kinetic energy toward the ceiling. Kazama slid back twenty feet, his boots carving deep furrows into the stone, but he stayed upright.
The Nomu didn't give him a second to breathe. It moved with animalistic violence, closing the gap instantly.
Left hook. Kazama pivoted right, using the creature's massive forearm as an anchor to swing out of its trajectory. Right cross. He formed an Aether blade around his left hand, dropped to a crouch, and sliced through the creature's leg like tofu.
It regenerated before the limb even hit the floor.
The move created just enough of a window for Kazama to take flight, putting distance between the monster and his classmates. The Nomu caught up to him in a single, monstrous leap. As it grazed his barrier mid-air, the sheer force sent Kazama crashing back to the ground.
He recovered into a rhythmic, defensive dance. He wasn't just blocking; he was redirecting. As the Nomu's fists rained down, Kazama caught the blows with shimmering, Aether-coated palms, using circular motions to guide the force past his shoulders. With no one nearby to be harmed by the redirected shockwaves, he let the earth take the punishment.
Absorb. Twist. Release.
His mind was running at 200%, scavenging every scrap of energy to fuel his next move. But the toll on his body was immense. Even with the barrier, the punches that grazed him left deep cuts and blooming bruises. Kazama was battered, bleeding from several places, but his focus didn't waver.
He tried a new strategy: as the Nomu swung, Kazama stepped onto the creature's fist and vaulted upward. He enveloped the Nomu in a shroud of raw energy, lifting the massive beast into the air. The Nomu thrashed, swinging wildly in the empty space. For a heartbeat, it felt like victory—until reality came crashing down. The Nomu smashed its hands together, creating a sonic boom that dispelled the shroud.
As the creature fell, Kazama saw his opening. He used an Aether burst to dive directly beneath the plummeting monster.
"Takeru! Stop! You're going to break!" Hiroki yelled, trying to surge forward before Jiro held him back. Hiroki knew Kazama's limits better than anyone; he knew exactly what his friend was about to gamble.
"Aether Refraction: Total Mirror!"
As the Nomu brought both hands down for a double-handed smash, Kazama crossed his arms and pushed his mind into overdrive. The punch that should have turned his legs to pulp hit the refraction point. In the instant contact was made, the energy coursed through his frame and was expelled twice as fast and twice as hard.
BOOMM!!! SHAAA!!!
The reflected energy slammed into the Nomu, blasting it toward the ceiling of the facility. A cataclysmic dust cloud erupted. Kazama lay in the center of the crater, drained. His body had been pushed to a superhuman limit to facilitate the release, but he was shattered. He struggled to his feet, his limbs shaking violently.
His energy reserves were at an all-time low. He moved toward the convulsing flesh of the Nomu, his face darkening. He had expected that move to be the end. Is it still regenerating?
The creature's head and brain had moved just enough to avoid the direct path of the blast. It had survived by animal instinct. Its legs were gone and half its torso had vanished, but it was already knitting itself back together. It was slower, but it was still a threat, and Kazama was in no state to fight. His overworked mind screamed in despair.
"Agghhh!!!!!!"
He clutched his head. He had to finish it while it lay broken on the earth, but his vision began to swim.
Across the plaza, the other students had finished dealing with the low-level thugs. Seeing Kazama in danger, several moved to intercept, but they were too far. Kazama had led the fight too deep into the central plaza to keep them safe. By the time they reached the halfway point, the Nomu had already healed eighty percent of its mass.
It lunged, throwing a heavy punch toward the swaying Kazama. He took the hit directly to his ribs—he had nothing left to redirect it with. He heard the sickening crack of bone and felt himself hurtling backward, crashing into the base of the USJ sign.
He had reached "Aether Drought." The world turned gray. His heart labored. Darkness pulled at his mind, inviting him to surrender.
But as his eyes fluttered, he heard them. Hiroki was screaming his name, his voice thick with terror. The others arrived, desperately trying to hold the line. Shoto encased the monster in ice; Bakugo blasted it point-blank. Yet it wasn't enough.
Nearby, Kurogiri had recovered and moved toward Shigaraki. The villain leader was scratching his neck, laughing like a maniac. "See... these 'heroes'? You are nothing in front of power. Where is your so-called All Might? Why isn't he here to save you? Hahahahaha!"
Kazama heard the upcoming heroes being tossed aside. He heard the screams. He couldn't take it anymore. In the void of the Aether Drought, the empty reserve vanished, replaced by an infinite, hollow ache that demanded to be filled.
Suddenly, Kazama had become a vaccume.
Lying on his stomach, he began to rise, suspended by an unseen force. His head hung low, eyes clouded in a near-faint, but he began to draw in energy at an abnormal, terrifying rate. He felt the thermal heat of the Fire Zone. He felt the electrical hum of the facility's power lines. He felt the kinetic potential of every heartbeat in the room.
His will, detached from his fading consciousness, acted on instinct. He wasn't breathing; he was drinking the WORLD. His form began to crackle and glow in a brilliant, unstable azure. Then, the aura erupted.
"Aether Domain."
The azure dome expanded like a tidal wave of solidified will, stretching nearly a kilometer in every direction. Within this space, the very laws of physics seemed to bow to Kazama's unconscious command.
The Nomu, under Shigaraki's absolute order to kill, fought the pressure. But the Domain was a parasitic force. The more the creature struggled, the more kinetic energy it generated—energy that the Domain immediately stripped away and turned against it. The creature's muscles began to bulge and ripple unnaturally. Under the crushing weight of the atmosphere, the Nomu's own strength became its executioner.
"Struggle feeds the trap; stillness might have spared you."
Every attempt to lunge resulted in its own bones splintering. Its legs buckled, femurs snapping like gunshots, only for the creature to force itself up again, further liquefying its own tissue. Its Super-Regeneration worked at a fever pitch, steam pouring from its mangled limbs, but the Domain was faster. It was draining the very biological energy the Nomu needed to heal. Slowly, the creature began to sag, turning into a grotesque paste of purple gore and shattered bone.
Suddenly, the front doors of the USJ groaned. Under the influence of the Domain, the heavy metal didn't fly off—it dented and crumpled as a massive force hammered from the outside.
All Might pushed through, his face a mask of absolute fury. But as he stepped onto the platform, he hit a wall. He felt a suffocating, crushing pressure that demanded his energy, his very life. Even the Symbol of Peace felt his knees tremble.
He looked at the scene: his students frozen, the Nomu being ground into the floor by an invisible hand, and Kazama suspended in the air. All Might realized that if the boy didn't stop now, his heart would give out from the strain.
"YOUNG KAZAMA!" All Might's voice roared, cutting through the humming static. "LET GO! IT IS ALRIGHT NOW!"
The voice reached him. To Matt Wills, it was the voice of the hero he had watched in another life. To Kazama Takeru, it was the Sensei he respected above all others.
The Symbol... is here...
The tension snapped. The azure dome flickered and evaporated. All Might was there in a blur, catching the boy before he hit the concrete. He looked down at the battered student with profound respect.
"You did more than enough, young man. You protected them all. You truly are a hero."
Kazama's eyes closed, a small smile on his lips as he finally surrendered to the dark.
All Might stood up, his gaze turning to the plaza. With a speed that made the previous fight look like slow motion, he moved through the remaining villains that were struggling. One by one, they were knocked unconscious before they could even register his presence.
Finally, he turned to the fountain. The Nomu was trying to heal, but the process was sluggish. The Aether Domain had drained it so deeply that its regeneration was barely functioning. It was weak. It was vulnerable.
All Might stepped forward, his fist clenched in fury.
"NOW THEN... LET US FINISH THIS."
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A/N:
How do you like this chapter.
I revised a lot of things and cut down many idea's that made it longer.
It would get boring if I make it any longer.
If you like the chapter leave a comment or a review.