MHA: Dark Matter

[POV Shinji Nishiya, the Wood Hero: Kamui Woods]

Watching the battle unfolding before his eyes, Shinji Nishiya felt his own weakness more keenly than ever. When he'd been invited to participate in the operation to capture the League of Villains, he'd felt proud. It meant that All Might and the other heroes recognized his strength. Recognized him as a hero. But what was the result? He'd let all the villains escape. And now one of those villains was fighting on equal footing with heroes from the top of the rankings. All Might was fighting an unknown enemy. All he could do was rescue people from the rubble.

A stone flying past him pierced a building. With a distinct crack, part of a balcony began to fall on the evacuating residents.

"*Birth of the Forest.* "

Tree trunks shot from his hands, quickly filling the space above people's heads, protecting them from the falling debris. Exhaling in relief that he'd made it in time, Kamui looked up again.

Against the backdrop of Endeavor's flashing fiery attacks, five silhouettes danced in the sky. Surrounded by hovering gray ribbons, the villain in the black mask with the red grin seemed to know no words like fatigue or inertia. Constantly moving, spinning, effortlessly changing his position in the air, he continuously attacked the heroes, preventing anyone from reaching the battle between All Might and the unknown enemy. With his rapidly moving ribbons, he resembled a whirlwind. Elusive and deadly.

"*Black Boots: Misty Wind.* "

"*Hell Storm.* "

The resulting red-yellow fire tornado, caught by the swift whirlwind of air, tore through the air for hundreds of meters, engulfing the villain's silhouette. A second later, a slightly singed villain appeared over Nishiya's head.

This is my chance!

"*Great Wooden Prison!* "

A stream of wooden branches gushed from the hero's raised hands. Swiftly wrapping around the unsuspecting villain, they continued to grow around him until they formed a five-meter sphere. Kamui, feeling the immense drain on his strength from using his Quirk, didn't let his guard down.

"You never learn from your mistakes. This fight isn't for the likes of you. "

Hearing the villain's words reach him despite the meters of wood surrounding him, Kamui only channeled more power into holding him. The wood crackled. Lines appeared on the branches.

And then the wood hero watched in shock as the wooden prison, cut into dozens of pieces, began to fall to the ground. The next moment, he realized he was looking at his own severed hands, and a gray blade was approaching his eye.

[End POV Shinji Nishiya, the Wood Hero: Kamui Woods]

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Just as I was about to finish off that foolish hero, my years-honed instincts screamed.

"*Ninja Art: Beak.* "

I jerked my torso back and watched Snipe's leg, as thin as paper and as sharp as a blade, fly past my nose. I stabbed the modern ninja with my knife.

"*Ninja Art: Paper Man.* "

The number five hero's body twisted like paper, letting my knife seemingly slide off him. I used Rejection to kick the recovering wood "blockhead" away and rained a hail of knife and razor-sharp ribbon strikes down on Snipe. He swayed like a sheet of paper in the wind, clearly buying time to retreat. To use his "needle," his best technique for attack and escape, he needed to build up momentum. Then I felt movement behind me.

"*Black Boots: Steel Steps.* "

The gray ribbons quickly wrapped around the modern ninja's body, using Dark Matter's influence to pull him back into the "3D world," and I grabbed him with my hands, using his body as a shield against the black-clad woman's legs, her steel discs hovering around her ankles.

"Son of a bitch."

"Don't insult my mother, lady."

I shouted indignantly, dodging a stream of fire. Suddenly, another powerful explosion came from All Might and All For One's battlefield. They were really going at it.

"What the..."

The disbelieving voice from Endeavor, frozen in mid-air with a shocked face, was unexpected. Where was that overactive pensioner, anyway?

I grabbed the leg of the Tosaka family maid, who was still attacking me, wrapping her body with my ribbons, then slammed her body into the ground. And then again. And again. The unconscious former heroine's body was thrown at Endeavor, who'd finally turned his attention back to the fight. I flew up, dodging Snipe's "needle" as I went.

My gaze was fixed on All For One and All Might fighting in All Might's... civilian form. So All For One had managed to push him that far. And even...

"Incredible. Ha ha ha."

Endeavor, standing off to the side, gritted his teeth, while Snipe, hovering in the air, frowned. But I didn't care about them. Because I saw an amazing thing. That powerful, bright silhouette of All Might, like a bonfire among lit matches, was flickering. Flickering as if it were about to go out. I'd seen bright silhouettes fade along with a person's life. But for a Quirk to fade... That was incredible. So thrilling that I couldn't hold back my laughter. Dark Matter sang within me. True, the fact that the old man had interfered in the fight annoyed me. I needed to kill him. So he wouldn't annoy me anymore.

"Ha ha ha. Yeah, I need to kill him. To..."

"Wait. Why kill him, if my task is just to keep the heroes away from the fight?"

I froze mid-thought, remembering my last inner monologue. Admiring someone else's attacks, the thrill of battle, shifting so quickly from admiration to rage. I was too emotional. Maybe it was because I was in the Form of Noah? But my thought process was so smooth, as was my analysis of my surroundings...

"*Flaming Fist: Hell Spider.* "

I turned my head toward Endeavor, who'd flown closer. Bright gold strings of flame spread from his fingers toward me. I waved my hands. The hovering ribbons fell, no longer supported by Hardening. I needed all my concentration right now. I reached for that illusory, elusive sense of the surrounding space...

**

Endeavor's turquoise eyes watched intently as his strings of flame were about to cut the villain into pieces. He didn't care if All Might reprimanded him later. This villain was too dangerous.

**

...What was my "Choice"? The first feature of Dark Matter I'd mastered. It allowed me to shift my body in space, excluding its existence for one or more objects. But any contact with a Quirk or a Quirk user nullified these spatial manipulations. Why could I do that? And couldn't I do much more with this feature of Dark Matter?

The surrounding world turned to darkness, in which the hero's blazing silhouette stood out even brighter, the golden strings of flame centimeters from me.

...For example, if I could exclude myself in space, I could also return myself to my previous state. So why couldn't I return myself not to my previous spot, but a little to the side?

A second later, I looked at Endeavor's profile. The hero's face morphed into confusion before he noticed me hovering beside him. Feeling fatigue and pain spreading through my body from using Dark Matter this way, I stabbed him with my knife. Blood sprayed.

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[POV from the outside]

It seemed the whole world had frozen, watching the events in Kamino. Millions of people across Japan stared at their screens. The emaciated figure of the number one hero standing in the middle of the crater looked lonelier than ever. The villain in the classic suit hovering in the air, arms outstretched, savored his old enemy's suffering.

"All Might..."

"No... it can't be."

"He might look different, but he's still All Might."

"YOU CAN DO IT!"

"WIN, ALL MIGHT!"

As if hearing the crowd's cheers, Toshinori Yagi's eyes regained their former gleam. His mentor's voice came from behind.

"Toshi, we're taking all the injured and heroes now. Remember, it doesn't matter what you look like. To everyone, you're still the number one hero."

A smile appeared on his bloody, battered lips. His right arm expanded with a crack. The hollows of his eye sockets, blue irises burning with flames of determination, stared at the villain.

"AS THE SYMBOL OF PEACE, I CANNOT LOSE TODAY!"

"Teacher, I won't let you down."

"*Iron Skeleton, four Explosions, three Boosts, Multiplication, Stiffening, Levitation, Bone Drill. I was saving this combination for you.* "

The arm of All For One, reaching down to his knee, as wide as his waist, covered in iron inserts and drills, evoked horror and disgust in outsiders.

"...By the way, your successor is Izuku Midoriya, isn't he? Such an inexperienced boy. After you die, you'll leave a lot of unfinished business. Even as a teacher, you've failed."

Two fists collided. The shockwave finally shattered the ruins of the surrounding buildings into small pieces.

"You're right, as a teacher I messed up. And I'm ready to accept that."

Leaving a trench from his feet in the ground, All Might's figure was pushed further and further back under All For One's pressure.

/"If you realize you've reached your limit, remember..."

A beautiful girl with straight black hair in a dark blue bodysuit and a light cape on her shoulders smiled at her student./

"*I, too, until I've raised him right...* "

The hero's left arm bulged. The fire of One For All began to burn in his consciousness.

"*...WON'T DIE!* "

A straight left punch to the head forced the villain to recoil. But a second later, a mocking voice rang out.

"Is that all?"

All For One's left arm swelled, ready to unleash power comparable to an artillery barrage on All Might.

"Like hell it is!..."

His previously deflated right arm audibly expanded. Filled with all the remaining power of the eighth wielder's One For All, it involuntarily trembled the surrounding air.

"...I haven't given it my all yet!"

A fist slammed into the villain's face. The enemy's feet lifted off the ground. The fire of One For All flared in his consciousness.

"UNITED STATES OF SMASH! "

"Goodbye, One For All."

Toshinori Yagi slammed the body of his old enemy into the ground with force. A massive tornado from the used technique shot into the sky. When the air currents settled, the viewers saw the massive figure of the number one hero with his arm raised.

"He won!"

"All Might! All Might!"

"Yeeesss!"

"The villain... isn't moving! All Might won! The hero won... wait, what's that?"

A figure rapidly approaching the battlefield was caught in the camera lens.

[End POV from the outside]

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Damn it. Damn it. Damn it. My allied "final boss" lost, and now I had to save his ass. Plus, that tornado had kept me from finishing off Endeavor. The shockwave threw off my strike, and instead of a quick death, Mr. Torch got a stylish new "scar" on his face.

"Not so fast, brat."

The overactive pensioner appeared next to me. The hits he'd taken hadn't done his speed any favors. And he was the reason I'd failed All For One's request to hold back the heroes.

"You've gotten slow, old man."

I covered my hand with Hardening, knocked him aside with one punch, and broke his ribs. I jerked my head out of the way of Edgeshot's flying form and pointed my palm at him. I didn't have time to conserve energy or hold back.

"*REJECTION.* "

The shockwave of air carried the hero into a nearby building, completely destroying it. I flew toward the crater where All Might stood and All For One lay.

"NOOOO!"

I looked at Endeavor flying after me. The hero's eyes blazed with real fire, despite the bleeding wound on his face and his overall battered appearance. I frowned.

"Well, if you're begging for death..."

A knife appeared in my hand, and I prepared to give this hero a second "smile." But a strange sensation, coming from Dark Matter, sent a jolt through my nerves.

"*FULL INCINERATION!* "

On the edge of my senses, I felt an approaching spatial distortion. I covered my hand with the most concentrated Hardening, turning it black, and struck at the approaching red distortion field. A fraction of a second later, it deflected, and I watched the red spear pierce my chest. The golden flames of Endeavor reflected in the scattering droplets of my black blood. The spear, saturated with the energy of someone else's Quirk, prevented me from using Choice, and my body fell downward. A pillar of golden flame engulfed everything with its light and heat.

***A/N***

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