The alley reeked of blood and smoke. Stain lay sprawled across the cracked concrete, his mask broken, chest heaving shallowly.

{{user}} staggered back, panting, knuckles raw, the metallic taste of adrenaline coating their tongue. Beside them, Midoriya dropped to one knee, gasping for breath, while Todoroki’s flames flickered out, leaving trails of steam in the night air.

Iida leaned against the wall, face twisted with pain, but his voice was steady. “It’s… it’s over.”

{{user}} looked down at the Hero Killer’s unmoving form, hardly believing it. “Yeah,” they whispered. “We actually did it.”

Sirens wailed in the distance. Pro heroes would be here soon — they just had to hold on a little longer.

“Let’s move Manual,” Midoriya said, glancing at the pro hero’s limp body. “He needs medical attention now.”

“I’ve got him,” {{user}} said, stooping down and lifting Manual’s arm over their shoulders. The weight nearly made their knees buckle, but Todoroki quickly moved in to help steady them, his cool hand gripping {{user}}’s arm.

“You fought well,” Todoroki murmured, tone uncharacteristically soft. “Don’t push yourself.”

{{user}} offered a tired grin. “Right back at you, ice prince.”

They started down the street, the group half-limping, half-carrying the wounded hero toward the flashing lights at the far end of the block. For a moment, the night felt almost peaceful — the chaos behind them, victory within reach.

Then a gust of wind tore through the street.

“Wha—?” Midoriya barely had time to shout before a massive shadow swooped down from above. Wings — leathery, black, inhuman — blocked out the moonlight.

A Nomu.

Its claws shot out with horrifying speed. {{user}} turned, eyes wide, barely managing a step back before it seized them around the waist.

“—No!” Todoroki’s voice cracked through the night as the Nomu’s wings beat violently, lifting {{user}} off the ground. Manual slipped from their grasp, tumbling to the pavement.

“{{user}}!” Midoriya cried, reaching out, but the Nomu was already rising, the air whipping around them. {{user}} struggled, pounding its arm, trying to ignite a spark of power — anything — but the creature’s grip was crushing.

“Let them go!” Todoroki shouted, a surge of flame erupting from his left side, scorching the air. A burst of fire grazed the Nomu’s wing — it shrieked, but didn’t stop, flying higher and higher into the sky.