When the Stars Align

Chapter 26: USJ (Part 6)

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"Like straight outta the comics."

Your little huddle of Hero trainees watched as the knocked Nomu finally disappeared from your line of sights, on its way to who knows where. You doubt it would make it too far, but All Might had done his best to get the current biggest threat out of the ring, and you couldn't be happier at the turn of events. For a second there, you wondered if the Pro would be able to hold his own when he was so obviously at his limit, but you couldn't believe you'd doubted him at all.

'Of course, All Might always wins...'

"He just smashed his way past the absorption. The ultimate bruiser..."

"And that power... the regeneration wasn't able to keep up with that rush of attacks..."

Finally, as the dust settled, All Might came back into view, still holding the pose in which he'd striked after sending the Nomu flying. The impact of both giants flying fists had been enough to knock out various types of debris and then some, obscuring the Hero in a big cloud of smoke.

But... even with that amazing win... the amount of steam that was falling off the Pro himself was starting to worry you, even with it being hidden among the other flying trash. It wasn't noticeable to the naked eye, not unless you knew it was there and how to look for it, but this looked to be about gallons and gallons of the stuff.

That couldn't be good, and while the momentary high you were on due to All Mights victory was blazing strong, you weren't able to stop your growing concern as you watched the Hero slowly stand tall.

Regardless of his fading strength, the blonde confidently locked eyes with the leagues leader, egging him and his partner on. "Well, Villain. How about we hurry up and finish this?"

"You cheated...!"

Hunching over in what you could only describe as despair, the Villain begins to rant hysterically, loud enough for you to hear. "You've weakened? Not that I can see... we're completely outmatched. How dare you do that to my Nomu..."

You'd had no intentions of listening to an insane man's ramblings, ready to just deal with the fallout as it came rather than wait around anymore, but you took pause when you heard something of interest, something that hadn't been mentioned before-

"He's not weak at all!! They... they lied to me?!"

Over and over like a record playing on distorted loop, you heard the words ring in your ears. The Villain had been... lied to? But, by who? That didn't make any sense, or fit with any of the original information the Commission had.

There had been no mention of a potential outside source- everyone had made it clear that this uprising group was likely being motivated by the constantly swaying media outlets and nothing more, so then why...

'Why would he say that...?'

If what he said was to be believed, it would have to mean there was more than just one possible organization pulling the strings of this operation, that these Villains had potential backers, that this league wasn't made by just some wishful amateur like what had been predicted.

The mere idea of an inside source, someone who knew enough to potentially bring the Number One Hero to ruin before he was ready, unnerved you to your core.

You shook your head at the thought. This guy had to be out of his mind- there's no way someone knew about All Mights fading power other than the select few chosen. You couldn't let this type of information slide just yet, however, in spite of where it was coming from. You had to get more specifics, had to compile it all for the Commission to look over later, had to help.