Group Message

12857: (Deku)

Sod

Mineta(panicking): He misspelled it!

87657: (Mr. Brave)

I thought you weren't talking to us anymore?

Mirko: No understand already!

12857: (Deku)

Sodhrki

58726: (Ms. Joke)

Deku, are you feeling alright?

Inko: No he's not!

72598: (Sir Nighteye)

It might just be a pocket dial, those happen sometimes.

Recovery Girl: It's not a pocket dial!

58726: (Ms. Joke)

True. I'll still never let him live this down.

Joke: He'd better survive first!

12857: (Deku)

Help

(everyone made a brief sigh of relief. The sos had gone through but... was it too late?)

72598: (Sir Nighteye)

...I don't think that's a pocket dial

Kirishima: Obviously!

58726: (Ms. Joke)

@12579 Eraser, do you know where Deku is? He should be on campus, right?

Koda: He's not!

12579: (Eraserhead)

He's not. He and his classmates went to the new mall in Kiashi ward to prepare for the summer camp.

87657: (Mr. Brave)

@#$&*. @12857 Deku, we need more information. Please respond. Are you safe?

Midoriya: No I'm not!

Iida: Please hurry!

72598: (Sir Nighteye)

His previous messages had typos, so he's most likely having to text without looking at his phone. It's likely some kind of hostage situation.

Nezu: He's figured it out at least...

12579: (Eraserhead)

I've notified Nezu and am on my way.

87657: (Mr. Brave)

Me too. ETA ten minutes. How fast will the rest of you be there?

Mitsuki: Please hurry...

58726: (Ms. Joke)

As soon as I can.

72598: (Sir Nighteye)

I'm on my way as well.

72598: (Sir Nighteye)

Hurry.

(everyone waited, tense, as the screen changed)

Izuku couldn't breathe, but he didn't know if that was from how tightly Shigaraki was gripping his neck or from blind panic as he felt the fifth finger touch his neck. Time seemed to slow down as he realized that this was it. Even if his SOS had managed to get to the heroes, Eraser was too far away to be able to get there in time. He was going to die. Izuku flinched, closing his eyes in preparation for the inevitable.

But nothing happened.

(everyone stopped, hoping)

Izuku's eyes flew open. Shigaraki was holding his neck with his left hand, the one that Izuku had almost destroyed at the USJ. Even if the finger had been reattached, it was likely that at least some damage had been done.

"@#$*(!" Shigaraki muttered. "Stupid glitch..."

(everyone breathed a sigh of relief but Shigaraki could always try again)

Bakugo: Deku run!

He raised his finger, most likely to try again, but Izuku didn't give him the chance. All caution got thrown out the window and he elbowed Shigaraki in the stomach and screamed at the top of his lungs, "There's a villain in the building! Everybody run!"

Mt. Lady: So much for not starting a panic!

The hit and his scream threw Shigaraki off just enough that when Izuku grabbed his wrist and squeezed as hard as he could, his grip loosened just enough that Izuku was able to twist out of his hold. Izuku jumped back as quickly as he could to put some distance between them, eyes tensely glued on Shigaraki as they stared each other down, ignoring the chaos and panic that had exploded around them.

(everyone started breathing freely again. Midoriya was alive. He could still make it out of there.)

"Cheater!" Shigaraki snarled. "It's your fault I have this stupid glitch! You did damage and corrupted my code! I'll kill you!"

Izuku resisted the urge to let out a panicked giggle. Shigaraki was acting like that was a bad thing, but that glitch had just saved his life. Disintegration was finicky and unpredictable on his left side due to damage at the USJ. It was nice to know, but Izuku wasn't going to bet on planning around that weakness. He didn't think he'd get so lucky a second time.

Inko(pale): Yeah... probably not...

There was movement in the corner of his eye, but he didn't turn to look as Uraraka slid to a stop beside him, already ready for combat, "Deku, what's the situ... is that Shigaraki?!"

Uraraka: Yes!

"Help evacuate and contact Eraser." Izuku ordered. "Tell our classmates not to use their quirks. Legally, being quirkless gives me a little more leeway to fight back as long as I don't use my weapons, but I don't want our classmates getting in trouble."

Rin: That's the least of your worries right now!

"You're already in trouble, you cheater!" Shigaraki yelled. "I'll kill every last one of you!"

He charged and Izuku rolled into a dodge, "I'll keep him busy, Uraraka! Get everyone out!"

Aizawa: Problem child!

Izuku couldn't afford to take his eyes off of Shigaraki, but he didn't see Uraraka as he continued dodging, so he assumed that she had listened. Shigaraki ran at him again, this time with his right hand outstretched, and Izuku had to dodge again. This was the highest stakes game of tag that Izuku had ever played, but if he could just keep it up until the heroes arrived...

"Close combat fighters! Form a line and keep civilians away from the main fight!" Momo instructed. "Long range fighters! Focus on evacuation! Use the second floor where possible to increase distance!"

Momo: Oh good it's me...

He didn't know exactly where Momo was at the moment, but out of the corner of his eye he could see Katsuki, Kirishima and some of his other classmates starting to surround the main plaza where he and Shigaraki were fighting. Behind them, terrified civilians streamed by, directed by the rest of their class to the nearest exit. Eraser would be proud.

Aizawa(stressed): I will be when you all get back safely!

"Kaminari, have you been able to contact Aizawa?" Todoroki shouted.

Kaminari's voice came from somewhere on the second floor. "He's on his way!"

Mic: Oh thank goodness...

"Ask him for permission to fight!" Todoroki ordered. "Hagakure, Jirou, Koda! Sweep the mall and make sure Shigaraki doesn't have any reinforcements!"

Kurogiri: He doesn't, at least.

Shigaraki snarled again and picked up his pace. His previous misses had led to some of the furniture and parts of the floor becoming partially disintegrated, so Izuku was forced to be more and more careful the longer the fight continued. All it would take was a single stumble, "Come on, Eraser, where are you?"

"Just give it up, extra!" Katsuki shouted. "The heroes are on their way and Deku's fast as hell! You may as well give up now."

Shigaraki: That's just going to make me mad.

"Shut up!" Shigaraki growled. "Stupid NPCs..."

"Attacking on our day off like this is super unmanly!" Kirishima yelled. "Why not wait until we have our licenses to fight back?!"

Dabi: Seriously?

Shigaraki shook his head and charged again, but Izuku smiled as he realized what his classmates were doing. They didn't have permission to fight back physically, so they were doing it mentally. The more taunts and jeers they yelled in Shigaraki's direction, the more distracted he would get and the more likely it was that Izuku would be able to survive for long enough for the heroes to arrive.

Twice: Oh yeah... Terrible plan.

"Keep going!" Izuku encouraged.

"Yo dustbin!" Sero yelled from somewhere. "Get some chapstick!"

Toga: No, yeah, seriously, Shiggy, you need it.

"Go troll some online forum, crusty!" Mina shouted. "Go be an incel somewhere else!"

(Shigaraki went red and started shouting at the screen while the League giggled.)

The insults just kept coming and Shigaraki got increasingly frustrated. A few times, he tried attacking one of Izuku's classmates, but every time, they would just dodge as well, which made Shigaraki even angrier, "Stupid cheaters! This is a boss fight! Fight me!"

"Nah, you're not even worth our time!" Katsuki taunted. "You're not a boss fight, you're just an extra!"

Dabi: Ooh, burn!

Shigaraki's face turned red and he looked like he was about to explode in rage, but instead, he exploded in laughter, "Haha, what, hehe, what's going on?!"

Joke(relieved): Oh it's me.

Izuku grinned and relaxed slightly, "Ms. Joke!"

"Hey kiddo." Joke jumped down from the second floor, landing in a roll beside him. She may have been smiling, but Izuku could still tell that she was completely pissed and it made her smile even more scary than a frown would be. "Eraser'll be here in a minute. We were just a little closer."

"We?" Izuku asked.

Aizawa: The rest of us must be there too.

Mr. Brave ran to his other side, "You didn't think we'd leave you on your own after you asked for our help, did you?"

Shigaraki scratched at his neck so furiously that it started turning red, "Cheaters! Bringing back up to a boss fight and changing up the levels like that..."

Spinner: For the last time, Shiggy, life isn't a videogame.

Mr. Brave quickly created a javelin-like weapon out of his hair and lobbed it at Shigaraki, who simply caught it and turned it to dust in his hand. Now that the heroes were here, the real fight was about to begin.

When Shouta got to the mall, he was expecting to find complete chaos. The media had already started gathering, but to his surprise, some of his students had joined with the mall cops and the few police officers that had already arrived to form a police line. Aoyama was smiling and playing to the cameras, assuring the reporters that everything was fine and that they were doing everything they could to evacuate the building and keep everyone safe, but refusing to give any other information as far as Shouta could tell. It was enough to keep them from getting angry and trying to force their way past the line, and also appeared to be calming the panic in the civilians who had just evacuated the mall.

Aizawa: Good work.

Aoyama: It's the least I could do, sensei.

"Aizawa!" Tsu waved to him as she herded a few civilians down the stairs. "That's the last of the civilians inside!"

Shouta nodded, running past her to get inside. "Good work."

He heard people yelling and laughing, which he hoped meant that Emi had arrived, and he followed the sounds until he was looking down at the main plaza. About half of his class had formed a line around the main plaza, most likely to keep civilians from getting too close to the main fight and a tired-looking Deku was just backing away as Ms. Joke and Mr. Brave took over the fight. Shouta jumped down and activated his quirk, "Shigaraki. I'm not going to let you hurt my students!"

Shigaraki: Yeah, you really won't let your kids get hurt huh?

Aizawa: Oh come on you too?!

Midnight: See Shou? Even the villains can see it.

Shigaraki's eyes widened as he was wrapped in the capture weapon, "Eraserhead?!"

He kept his eyes on Shigaraki as he and the other heroes advanced, "Give yourself up, Shigaraki..."

"Sensei!" Yaoyorozu yelled. "Behind you!"

Class 1A: Sensei!

He felt a sharp blow to his kidneys and Shouta whipped around just in time to see a last trace of purple disappear. Then everyone was yelling and Joke and Brave were lunging forward toward Shigaraki. Shouta felt his capture weapon go slack and hurried to whip back around, only to find his capture weapon cut cleanly through and no villains to be seen.

Gran Torino: Kurogiri...

He scowled in frustration, "Kurogiri?"

Emi sighed, "Yep."

"We should search the rest of the mall." Shouta said, shoulders slumping in defeat. "There might be more of them."

Twice: There isn't. There is.

"The first floor is clear." Hagakure's voice replied, almost making him flinch. "I searched everywhere, but there's no sign of any villains."

Hagakure: Wait I snuck up on sensei!

Shoji: Nice.

"Second floor is clear too." Jirou jogged up to them. "I couldn't hear anyone."

To his surprise, Koda was the next to speak up, albeit more quietly than the others had, "The roof and basement are clear too. I asked the pigeons and rats to check."

"It looks like Kurogiri just came to extract Shigaraki." Deku observed, walking up to the group. "From what I could tell, it was more of a spur of the moment thing rather than a planned attack."

Mitsuki: Yeah...

Shouta glanced over and he froze as he noticed that Deku was shaking. He had seen this kid fearlessly face down villains before. He got scared, obviously, he was just a kid, but for him to be this seriously shaken up... what had happened?!

Tamaki(shakily): He almost died...

"Well that was fun... " Deku chuckled nervously. "Now if you don't mind, I think I'm just gonna go pass out now and celebrate the fact I'm not dead."

Hawks: Yeah... that's a good thing...

That did absolutely nothing to make Shouta less worried. "You do that. Tsukauchi will take your statement when he arrives... Good work, problem child."

Deku gave a tired smile, but it didn't reach his eyes as he walked off to find any place to sit that hadn't already been turned to dust.

(no one was really talking much so Jana just went to the next story.)