Yagi traveled as fast as he could without harming the children.
His chest hurt from having abandoned a colleague, but any Hero in his position would have chosen to save the young ones over themselves.
The streets passed below him as barely recognizable blurs, the wind strongly hitting the energy barrier he erected in front of him, in order to keep the girl as intact as possible.
The metal fragment still rested in her throat, shifting slightly and likely painfully in place. Removing it was dangerous in this situation.
Yagi did not look back, but he could feel the disturbance that indicated the outbreak of another fight. Aizawa was sending orders to the local Heroes, and he even went so far as to ask the young Tetsumaru to lend his strength.
He had to hurry. He needed to go back and put the League behind bars once and for all. Allowing such individuals loose in Japan was something he could not permit, as he didn't know when another opportunity like this would arise.
And even if it did happen again, he doubted he would have the power to do anything.
Two more powerful jumps brought him to the gates of Yokohama Hospital. His landing cracked the ground and sent a slight tremor through the surroundings, but he didn't care.
His abrupt entrance dislodged one of the doors, but he didn't care. His presence surprised and delighted people in equal measure, but he didn't care.
—Doctor, a doctor, please!— he called out hastily, depositing both youngsters onto a pair of conveniently nearby gurneys.
Task done, Yagi turned and quickly left the place, his eyes set on the area where the League was already confronting his fellow Heroes.
However, a blinding flash lit up the sky from another direction, stopping Yagi's advance dead in its tracks.
He turned just in time to see a massive whirlwind of flames descend upon some point in the city. That had to be Endeavor.
Yagi was about to use the communicator to ask for updates when the flaming whirlwind was suddenly dispersed from the center, sending scorching waves in all directions.
A dispersed, yet no less lethal, rain of fire fell upon people's heads, bathing the surrounding buildings with its heat and most likely injuring innocent people on the streets.
—Gran Torino, what is happening there?!— Yagi demanded, trying to communicate with his Master without any success. That couldn't mean anything good.
—Edgeshot, Jeanist, Power Loader! Can anyone hear me?!— Yagi continued, his chest sinking at the most terrifying possibility.
—All Might, that is a dead zone. No one who gets close can communicate with us— Aizawa explained through the shared link, his voice flat despite the sounds of battle around him.
—Stop wasting time, dammit!— Midnight growled, interrupting the meaningless exchange between the two. —All Might, go there right now. We'll handle things here!
—...Can you handle—
—Go!— Aizawa cut him off sharply. —We won't fall here.
—Yeah, they have me anyway— Tetsumaru added casually.
—Shut up!!— Midnight and Aizawa reprimanded him at the same time.
Yagi wanted to object to the decision to keep a student in the middle of that mess, but the situation was not ideal. In any case, young Tetsumaru proved himself capable in many ways, including combat.
—...I understand— he said, cutting the communication and shooting off towards the other location.
As he got closer, the flaming attacks diminished in intensity, now shooting from the ground towards the sky in brief but powerful bursts. Whatever Endeavor was facing, it was giving him trouble.
What thing could be capable of giving so much trouble to such a number of Professional Heroes?
Has another Nomu like the one at USJ appeared? Or perhaps it's...
The idea made Yagi clench his teeth and increase his speed to the maximum, regardless of the stamina drain it caused him.
Furious sonic booms reverberated behind him with every powerful leap that propelled him faster and faster, his vision slightly deforming and his figure blurring into a smudge barely perceptible to the human eye.
He cast one last look at the battlefield where the League was confronting the Heroes, noticing fragments flying here and there, bodies clashing in violent assaults, and a mysterious shower of dark material.
He placed his trust in the others and looked away, concentrating entirely on the scene unfolding less than a kilometer away.
A destroyed landscape, ravaged as if by a hurricane. Piles of dirt and rubble scattered on the sides, a half-collapsed building on the street, overturned cars, body parts, scattered organs, smears of blood, and civilian clothes.
—...Why?— he muttered with pain in his tone. He genuinely wondered why someone would do this.
What would they gain? What justifies it? Is it really necessary to devour innocents on the path to their ambitions? Does such an end justify these barbarities, these tragedies?
Yagi knew the answers to such questions. He knew them very well and had been confronting those who did not for years.
He suddenly discovered that, perhaps, punching their teeth out wasn't such a bad idea after all. That thought crossed his mind as the One For All roared once more, more intensely than before, as if it sensed Yagi's determination to deliver the beating of a lifetime to some bastard.
And he had the one responsible for this tragedy right in his sights, with his hand squeezing the neck of the Number Two Professional Hero.
The flames that permanently enveloped Endeavor had been extinguished; his expensive suit that exuded power and dominance was now nothing more than tattered remnants.
The man's sharp, condescending gaze was gone, his eyes completely white. Endeavor was defeated.
—...You sure took your time. I thought I would be ignored all day— All For One commented, lifting Endeavor higher before tossing him aside.
—The youth call that being toxic!— All Might roared with a bold smile on his lips, one that didn't reach his icy eyes.
The initial confrontation was brief but devastating.
Gusts of wind stirred up the existing dust and raised more, cracks like spiderwebs endlessly spreading across the rugged ground, shockwaves shaking the surroundings with every impact of the combatants.
All Might didn't mince words, riddling his opponent with an endless rain of punches and kicks, silently mimicking his student Terumi Mei's movement, but taking it to a completely new level.
All For One was subjected to an uninterrupted forty-second session in which All Might punched and kicked without taking a breath.
A small hurricane formed around them, cracks spreading behind the Villain and air explosions bursting outwards.
—Where are Pixie-Bob, Ragdoll, Hawks, Loader, Jeanist, Edgeshot, Torino!?— the Symbol of Peace questioned, each name accompanied by a punch stronger than the last.
All For One's defense was faltering, his forearms cracking with every new impact and no time to execute the lethal combination of his Quirks to send All Might flying.
A greatly reinforced punch sank into his chest with a wet crunch echoing in his enhanced hearing, a scorching pain assaulting him at that very instant and a powerful repulsive force sending him flying like a ragdoll.
An explosion of wind marked All For One's departure, who violently crashed into a mountain of rubble and buried himself deeper than All Might himself intended.
A ridge formed from the explosions of dirt and dust as All For One painfully navigated the desolate terrain, emerging on the other side and smashing through a building before falling onto the street, crushing a misplaced car in the process.
Back on the battlefield, Yagi was breathing heavily, the embers of One For All burning with the greatest possible intensity. That was the sign that they would soon be extinguished.
—Endeavor, find the others!— he ordered, hoping the dying man would hear his words.
He decided not to waste too much time and disappeared in a burst of speed, ready to finish the job he couldn't complete years ago.