I had a plan. I promise!

I didn’t just attack Nomu for the hell of it. I was one of maybe five people in the area who could conceivably survive his attacks and give as good as I could get. Todoroki could freeze huge portions of the guy and All Might could body him. But neither of them was there.

So I moved in on him. Flames blasted across him, but he pushed through it even as the claw marks I’d put in his chest earlier scorched over into cooked flesh. I had enough time to realize what that meant before he suddenly was in my face, his fist pressing into my cheek.

And I took a hit harder than anything that had ever hit me, in Bowser or my former human form.

I felt blood fill my mouth. Red filled my vision. I instinctively pulled back into my shell when a pair of purple arms reached out to wrap around me. Just when the Nomu grabbed me, I began to spin.

I felt resistance. Insane resistance, harder than even stone or dirt was when I did the Bowser Spin. That must have been shock absorption at work. I forced myself to continue spinning.

I heard my spikes slice and tear flesh, the horrific sounds filling my ears before I was forced to come to a stop by a squeezing pressure around my body. I popped from my shell to find the Nomu trying to crush my shell, ignoring the bleeding wounds carved into his muscles. He was on my left now. Perfect. I twisted my left arm back, my right head grabbing his head as my feet pressed on the ground.

I began a judo throw. The Nomu’s strength, even greater than mine, tried to fight against it, but my tail smacked into his ankles, unbalancing him enough for me to lift him off the ground. I tossed him upwards, then tackled him on the way down, breathing fire as I went running through the courtyard, smashing through the fountain that stood on a hill in the center off the courtyard. His fists bounced off my shell as I ran, but still smashed on my arms and legs.

The pain of it. Nothing, not the building falling on top of me, not Izuku, not even Cow Lady’s strongest blows had hurt me that much. But the Nomu was a creature made to kill All Might. It wasn’t breaking my shell, but the rest of me was tearing apart.

“RAAAAGH!”

My fire burned the cuts on his body, cauterizing the flesh where my spikes opened up his skin. My plan was simple. I couldn’t beat him without severely weakening him first. My claws were barely ripping through as I held on and smashed into a grove of trees. Nomu smashed me in the chest hard enough to finally loosen my grip on him, forcing us apart. I unleashed a huge ball of fire, the burst of heat sending him back a step.

In a forest grove, we faced each other, eyes meeting. Damn it was tall. Until now, All Might had been the only person I knew personally who really matched me in height. But the Nomu was even taller than I was.

“Hrrrrgh. Hrrrgh,” he swayed forward, creepy-ass eyes spinning, his exposed brain pulsing momentarily. God. He was so... unsettling. Seeing him in reality, outside anime and fanart, with those wandering insane eyes... he really was a monster.

Blood burned to steam on my lips as I stared right back, fallen to one knee. I tried to stand.

“F-Fuck!” I buckled briefly, my leg shaking. I looked down at it. My scales looked deformed. Same with my arms. They were throbbing. God. Were my bones broken? Could that even happen to Bowser?

The smell of cooked flesh made me smile though, a small and vindictive smile.

“...That’s what I thought,” I mumbled to myself as I watched the cuts on his body heal… until they didn’t. Where my flames had burned, at those openings I’d clawed and spiked out, the regeneration struggled.

I struggled to raise my fists in front of me. My win condition was obvious now.

His shock absorption meant my strength was useless. I was powerful. But I wasn’t All Might strong, not yet anyway. So my only chance was my claws and fire. My fire couldn’t burn his skin, and he would regenerate the damage of my claws. But when I combined the two? Rip open the skin, cauterize the flesh below. I had a chance.

Right until he disappeared in a blur. I pulled my head into my shell, feeling a fist brush past my hair. I pulled back out and clawed at him, only for the speedier monster to back away.

Shit! I needed him to hold still! If only Todoroki or Mineta were there to slow him down with ice or sticky balls.

A lightning-fast blow struck my chest. I gasped in pain, then shock, as a snapping sound filled the air. I stared down.

My shell, across the chest of it, had cracked.

Ah… shit.

The Nomu stood tall over me, mad eyes swiveling, then raised his fists high. I grit my teeth, clenched my fists, and ran in.

“All right then! Raaugh!”

Moving into the stance Cow Lady taught me, I started clawing and punching, keeping my guard up and breathing flames, while the speedy super-strong monster began beating the shit out of me.

------

Izuku Midoriya

“Bowser!” Izuku shouted in shock as Bowser carried the Nomu out of the courtyard, moving into a grove of trees.

“Are you kidding me!?” the man with hands across his body, the one Bowser called Mr. Hands, shouted, moving to follow. Aizawa shifted to block him, glaring at the other man, who sank down. “Was that thing really a student?!”

“Yes,” Aizawa grabbed his bandages, moving into a stance as Mr. Hands (it was easier than thinking of him as ‘the man with hands across his body’ every time) and the remaining villains surrounded him. “A disobedient one. But a good one.”

“Rrrrrr,” Mr. Hands began scratching at his neck in apparent frustration. “How. How could this all have gone so wrong?!”

The villains rushed for Aizawa, the exhausted teacher preparing to attack.

“Rhode Island Smash!” Izuku felt his fist slam into a female villain's face before he knew what he was doing. She flew back, eyes rolling into the back of her head. “Aizawa-sensei!”

“Midoriy-” Aizawa was about to say, before he was cut off by Mr. Hands rushing him.

Then the villain stumbled, his foot stuck fast. He staggered, looking down at his foot.

A purple ball attached Mr. Hand’s foot to the floor. “W-What the hell?!”

“GRAPE ASSAULT!” Mineta screamed, throwing dozens of purple balls at the villains. His head began to bleed, but even as he teared up in pain, he kept attacking. “You aren’t touching him!”

“Get that ki-AUGH!”

A beefy villain rushing for Mineta was kicked in the face by Asui, who followed by twisting around to smash him in the face again with her tongue and sending him flying.

“I’ll have to discipline you all later,” Aizawa said in amusement. He wrapped a villain in bandages to hold him, then twisted to roundhouse him in the stomach, folding him over.

Izuku ducked under a villain punching at his face, and snapped his fist up in an uppercut that sent the villain backflipping backward. He winced at the soreness that filled his arms and back, muscles tearing apart, but forced himself onwards. “Y-Yes, sensei!”

“Stupid brats!” Mr. Hands dropped to a knee and grabbed Mineta’s purple ball. To Izuku’s surprise, the ball turned to dust, falling apart. “I’ll-”

“Yah!” Mineta tossed another ball, trapping the villain again. “You aren’t going anywhere, Mr. Hands!”

“Stop calling me that, you don’t even know what it means!” Mr. Hands shouted, turning the ball to ash again. “I’m going to-”

“Tomura,” the dark shadow man appeared at his side. He brought a small army of villains with him, increasing the number of enemies dramatically. They must have been from the other parts of USJ.

“WHAT?!” Mr. Hands asked, looking at him.

“We have to leave. The other teachers are here.”

The white-haired villain stared at the other villain. “Are you kidding-”

“You aren’t getting away!” in a burst of explosive fire, Bakugo appeared, blowing away two villains that Mineta had attached to the ground.

Kirishima smashed his fist into another villain, grinning at Asui. “Hey Tsuyu-chan!”

“Kero!” she said cheerfully, twisting to kick a strange villain that looked like a Venus Flytrap to the ground.

A beam of light smacking a villain to the floor was followed by a flamboyant knight dancing into view. “Bonjour les méchants!”

Mr. Hands reeled back as the reinforcements the shadow villain bought were attacked by the young heroes. “Oh, come on!”

A wave of ice-covered three more and left them unable to shift. Todoroki slid across the ice, barely noticing Izuku kicking a villain past him.

“We can still-” Mr. Hands said weakly.

“VILLAINS!” Thunder. A sensation fell across them all. The room turned to face the source of the voice.

And Izuku stared in shock.

The footsteps of a god echoed in the room. All Might ripped his necktie off. He wasn’t smiling.

“Students… You’ve done well. But the fight is done. It’s fine now. Why!?” All Might roared.

And he wasn’t alone.

Every teacher in the school stood behind him. Midnight, Snipe, Power Loader, Ectoplasm, Cementoss, and a few more who rushed off to other parts of USJ.

“Because we are here!”

A group of villains tried to rush them. One raised hands surrounded in strange pink fluid, while another raised a hand shaped like a rocket launcher.

Aizawa-sensei, moving quickly, glared at them, their quirks shutting down before they could fire. One of the villains threw a boulder his direction, forcing Izuku to jump in his way and shatter the boulder with a kick. The young man almost screamed at the feeling of his toes breaking, but he’d given the teachers enough time.

The stairs moved on Cementoss’s command, tossing the villains into the air on pillars of stone. Midnight unleashed a stream of her aroma, knocking them out. Another group tried to follow, only for Snipe to fire insanely accurate shots, rubber bullets sending them to the ground.

Just like that, around 40 villains turned to 20 or so.

All Might took a step forward.

And Mr. Hands gave in.

“GO, GO, GO NOW!”

“Damnit!” Aizawa snapped his head around, trying to get a look at the teleporting villain, but the chaos of the battle allowed the shadowy figure to hide from his sight behind the remaining villains.

Shadows surrounded him and Mr. Hands. Aizawa moved to get a better line of sight.

“This is just… unfair,” the villain said as he ran.

“Get back here, Mr. Hands!” Mineta shouted.

“For the love of-” the villain disappeared, just before an enraged Bakugo came rushing in, barely missing them as they faded away into a dot of shadow.

“GODDAMNIT!” Bakugo roared. He turned and exploded against a villain made of stone, sending him flying. “They got away!”

All Might appeared at Aizawa’s side in a flash. “Aizawa! Are you all right?”

“I’m fine,” Aizawa said, sounding exhausted. “But Bowser needs help.”

“Where is Bowser-ku-”

In the forest beyond, an explosion rang out in the distance. All Might’s face turned into something like stone, golden pupils glowing with rage.

“I see… I’ll be right back.”

“All Migh-” Izuku began to say, trying to warn him.

All Might disappeared in a flash, forcing Izuku and Aizawa to block their eyes from the dust kicked up in his wake.

“Damnit, rushing off like that,” Aizawa grumbled.

“Aizawa-sensei!” Izuku began to say.

“I know! That thing is likely what they thought could kill him,” Aizawa barked. “Ectoplasm! Get the kids out of here!”

“Right!” the math teacher sent off dozens of white blobs that transformed to copy his appearance, each one landing next to a student and pulling them out.

“Aizawa-sensei,” Izuku was about to say something, staring after All Might.

“He’ll be okay,” Aizawa said reassuringly. “Help get your fellow students out. Okay?”

Izuku bit his lip. For a moment, just a moment, he wanted to go anyways. To help All Might.

But then Snipe went running after him. Then Cementoss, Midnight, a few of Ectoplasm’s clones. Professional heroes.

Izuku swallowed and went to help.

“Kaachan, come on-”

“Shut up, Deku!!!”

Maybe he could have picked someone less abrasive to help first.

------

Bowser Koopa

He was so goddamn hard to cut!

Shock absorption made it so that any ‘slash’ attack I made on the Nomu just didn’t have the impact it should have. I’d slam my claws into him. Then my claws would stop, and I’d have to ‘dig’ my claws into his skin, ripping rather than slicing into his flesh. So all the cuts I made were shallow. It was like sawing into a sofa. A sofa that bled.

There was something interesting though. While the Nomu was fireproof, I could see that he wasn’t heatproof. As the forest around us burned and I continued unleashing my flames, he got easier and easier to cut into. In fact, I guess my own heat was rising too. It was like a hot knife slicing into already warm and melty plastic. My white-hot claws tore easier into the thing. Shock absorption did not prevent that part from working.

Or maybe something else was coming into play? In the (literal) heat of the moment, I couldn’t think about that stuff outside of a general awareness of it.

We dueled in the burning forest. I stood in the center of a clearing of ash, taking blows across my arms, shell, and chest, as the Nomu advanced on me, returning them with claws ripping and tearing, with gouts of flame, punches smashing into it’s chest and stomach when I couldn’t claw it.

I grabbed the Nomu’s arms just as it punched me in the stomach. I belched fire across his face on reflex at the pain that followed that blow, but dug my claws in deep into his arms. He pushed against me, arms and legs flexing, but I used my greater height and weight to force him to stand still, glaring down at the slightly smaller monster.

“Come on, you stupid...” I growled. Clearly I both underestimated just how tough this Nomu was and overestimated my own durability. This thing was made to kill All Might! Even in his weakened state Japan’s number one could punch so hard he could alter the local weather. I might have been tougher than most but I was still green as heck compared to the average pro hero, and now I was paying for it by being slowly broken down by a super tough and fast brain dead Frankenstein monster. I needed a way to turn the odds!

Wait… what was All Might’s original plan to deal with this thing before Kurogiri interfered? Drive him into the ground head first so he couldn’t move?T I mean, my plan was still sound, it just needed some… addendums.

Held in place, the Nomu began punching me in the stomach, fists cracking against my scales, ignoring my flames scorching his skin as I tore chunks out of his triceps. I took I don’t know how many blows before I slid around a right hook, tearing my claws out of flesh. The Nomu stumbled past me as his superfast punch whiffed, before I wrapped my arms under his armpits, then locked my hands around his neck, then into his neck, ripping handholds into flesh.

Just like that, a classic full nelson.

“Not so tough with no leverage are you, you bastard!” I cried as I held on for dear life as Nomu did his damndest to break my hold on him.

It let out an inhuman screech, bucking and bouncing in my arms. I squeezed hard, pulling it close and standing tall, using my leverage and weight to get his legs off the ground.

I roared before biting deep into his neck. My fangs tore and ripped, my flames heated up those wounds. Over and over, I dug into it, hot blood entering my mouth before cooking into steam. Damnit, where was All Might-!

The Nomu flexed its legs and abs. My teeth tore a chunk out of it’s back. It’s neck slipped down my chest then it’s legs were pointed up into the air. I gaped in shock as it flipped over me in a display of impossible flexibility and strength. Then it was punching down towards my head.

I pulled into my shell and spun at high speed, breathing flames as I went. The Nomu’s fist slammed into a blender of fire, the rotations sending his fist bouncing before his shoulder landed and he landed next to me on his knees.

Using the speed of my spinning rotations, I snapped out of my shell in a single movement, my claws out and clenched before they dug into its stomach. I forced myself to push through shock absorption, the horrific sound of ripping flesh joining the roaring flames around us, and tore out a section of abdomen before I forced up a fireball that exploded against his stomach, sending him back a step.

“Gah!” I fell to a knee, trying to breathe. My freaking chest and stomach was beginning to hurt. I’d never breathed so much fire before, not even against Todoroki. It felt like I was on my last bit of flame.

“GROOOO!” howling mindlessly, the Nomu disappeared in a blur. I raised my arms up-

Crack!

I was sent flying back like I’d been shot out of a cannon. It was twenty feet before I bounced off the ground, then slammed into a boulder, the stone shattering around me. I fell to my knees.

“Ahhhh…” I squeaked out weakly, trying to breath. “H-Holy shit…” I brought my left arm forward and pushed against the ground. And my arm bent the wrong way. As pain screamed through my body, I let out an anguished howl.

My arm was limp and hanging loose. I couldn’t move it. I tried to stand up.

Then the Nomu surprised the hell out of me. It grabbed the section on the back of it’s neck that I’d turned to burnt hamburger.

And ripped it off.

A massive chunk of cauterized flesh, removed like tearing a piece of cheese out of a larger mass to reveal blood soaked spin and ribs.

“Holy-” I said in horror.

In a blur, the Nomu was in front of me. He grabbed me by the neck and lifted me off the ground, then punched me in the stomach. I wanted to scream, only for another punch to slam my mouth shut and rattle my brain. I grabbed his arm and started clawing at it desperately with my right hand. My left arm continued to hang limp. I pulled and tore, but the Nomu ignored it, punching me in the stomach, chest, and head. Then he stopped.

I swallowed blood as the clawed up and cooked Nomu glared up at me. Then I kicked him in the stomach. The big asshole barely budged. I wanted to say something pithy, but I couldn’t think of anything.

Then I saw it. The chunk it had ripped out. It was healing back completely. I suddenly realized what happened. THe Nomu had pulled off the chunk of cauterized flesh to allow it grow back. Like in the original timeline, when Todoroki had frozen it, and it shattered it’s limbs to let it regrow.

Well. At least the rest of him was still covered in cauterized wounds...

I didn’t have long for that thought to pop into my head. The Nomu raised its hand up, preparing to punch me again.

Then a white and yellow blur smashed into it like an approaching storm. I fell for a moment before a warm hand caught me, gently lowering me to the floor.

“Bowser-kun! Are you okay!?” All Might said, looking me over. The Number One Hero smiled down at me.

I wanted to laugh. “Heh… leave it to the hero to show up in the nick of time.”

All Might let out a small sound of surprise. Then he smiled. “Ha. Of course, Bowser-kun. Everything is okay now!”

He turned around, facing the Nomu and standing tall. “Because I am here!”

I couldn’t help the relief I felt, hearing that. Still, I had to help.

“All Might. This thing has shock absorption and high-speed regeneration. That guy, Mr. Hands, said he was meant to kill you.”

“Oh?” All Might chuckled. There was a dangerous edge to it. Like an engine revving up. “There are many who have said things like that. As far as I know…” he stepped forward, a gust of wind erupting around him. “I’m STILL HERE!”

He exploded forward. The Nomu raised its hands, but was a hair too slow. All Might unleashed a combination of punches across it’s chest, ducking and parrying returning blows. All Might’s smile widened. “Bowser-kun. Thank you for weakening this beast for me!”

Weakening? Then I saw it. The cuts I’d torn into the Nomu. On its back, arms, legs, and stomach. Burnt sections of flesh that even now were struggling to heal. The Nomu was trying to fight back, but had to work with less muscle. It was slower, weaker than it would otherwise be!

My plan worked!

“As your teacher, allow me to impart a lesson!” All Might’s fist slammed into the Nomu’s fist. Then again, and again, and again. First, All Might punching directly into the Nomu’s fists, shutting down its attempts to counter-attack. Then, hitting the Nomu’s actual body, his flurry of blows sending shockwaves outwards. I felt my jaw drop. “Shock absorption is not nullification! Which indicates a limitation! All I have to do… is overcome it!!!”

The Nomu began to fall back. I felt the earthquake, gusts of wind following the massive blows. All Might’s punches felt like the blows of a god establishing his reign. Power almighty, unleashing it’s wrath. The Nomu’s back cracked, burnt flesh cracking and sending out sprays of blood. All Might’s smile widened.

The Nomu moved faster, trying to catch up, but All Might began to laugh. “Made to fight me!? Let’s see about that!”

Someone landed next to me. Ectoplasm. “Bowser. Come along-”

“No,” I brushed him off, standing up. “I… need to see this.”

“Final lesson for the day!” All Might roared. He grabbed the Nomu’s arm, spun around and slammed it into the ground in a perfect throw. The Nomu rolled to its feet, trying to face him. But All Might was already there, inside it’s grasp. “Remember this! Go Beyond! Pluuuuuus…”

His fist, reared back, moved into the monster’s belly. The shockwaves put out the fire that had burned the forest around us, sending trees flying.

“UUUUULTORAAAAA!”

The Nomu exploded. Thunder filled the air. In a flash of violet, it slammed into the wall of USJ, then through, shattering the wall apart.

Just like that. All Might stood. He smiled, turning to look at me. “Lesson’s over.”

“...You absolute fucking badass,” I mumbled to myself. Goddamnit, I had a dopey grin on my face. I chuckled. “That was… awesome…”

Why was the world spinning?

Suddenly, my cheek was on the ash-covered floor. The last thing I remembered before I passed out was the sound of Ectoplasm calling my name.

------

Toshinori Yagi/All Might

“Bowser!” All Might rushed forward, stopping next to Ectoplasm. The math teacher kneeled next to the fallen dragon-turtle. “Is he-?”

“He’s okay,” Ectoplasm said, sighing as he looked over the injured student. “He’ll need Recovery Girl of course, but he’s alive. Took heck of a beating though.”

“Thank god,” All Might sighed in relief.

“All Might!” Snipe, Cementoss, and Midnight showed up, rushing over. Snipe looked down at Bowser. “Is he-?”

“He’s fine.”

“Looks like he took quite a few hits,” Cementoss noted idly.

“A few?” Snipe looked over Bowser. “His scales are cracked! And I’m pretty sure those are his teeth over there…”

All Might sobered. It was true. The young hero looked as though he had been beaten to hell. “I’ll take him to Recovery Girl. Let me just- ugh!”

He winced, falling to a knee. In a burst of smoke, All Might shrank, his muscles deflating in a moment and leaving him in his weaker form. “Hurk.”

“All Might,” Midnight moved to him, helping him up. The beautiful superhero looked worried. “Are you okay?”

“Y-Yeah,” All Might said weakly, coughing a little blood. “Just did a bit more than usual today.”

“Uh… how do we move the kid?” Snipe noted, looking around. “Also is he bigger?”

All Might blinked, then looked down at Bowser. Now that Snipe mentioned it, the young man did look bigger. When he first met him, Bowser was of a height with his larger form. Around eight feet tall. Right now, however, he looked to be at least a couple of feet taller. He was already a giant of a student, so it had been hard to tell, but it was obvious when you knew what to look for.

“A transformation of some sort?” Ectoplasm asked.

“Whatever it is, we need to move him to the infirmary… does anyone know where Power Loader went?” Cementoss asked. “Or I could lift him with my quirk... maybe.”

As Bowser snored, All Might let out a small breath.

The USJ assault was over. All that was left was to clean up.