One for All (Part 4)

Far away from UA, far away from All for One, and over 700 miles east of California, there exists a long mountain range referred to as the Rocky Mountains. The northern end of the mountains start in Canada and stretch all the way down to the south-west of the United States, ending in New Mexico. Very few travelers come out this far, and even those that do tend to visit Colorado's Rocky Mountain National Park. Still, the well traversed park is far from where All Might and Gran Torino had taken Chris. It is deep in these mountains, far away from civilization, where Chris was pushed to his limits nearly every day. All Might grabbed a water bottle and left the wooden cabin the trio had been staying in. He walked up to Gran Torino, who was supervising Chris. The student slowly stood up, drenched in sweat. All Might's eyes widened. "...Did he just finish a lap…?" Gran Torino nodded. The lap that All Might was referring to was a route Gran Torino had mapped out that crisscrossed through the mountains and forest. All Might nearly dropped the water bottle he was carrying. "...But… to finish in that time… Chris has to be-" "Chris's new top speed is 500 miles per hour." Gran Torino began shouting. "Chris! You still have a long way to go before you even come close to meeting All Might's speed!" All Might turned to Gran Torino and whispered. "Sir, even in my prime I was never that fast." Gran Torino smiled and whispered back. "He doesn't know that."

Chris heard their whispering, thanks to his heightened hearing. He stood up straight and wiped the sweat from his forehead. In the six months he's been training, he managed to get to the point where he could comfortably utilize 80% of One for All without any strain to his body. Now that he had the verbal confirmation from both of his mentors, he now knew he had finally surpassed All Might. He had wished his friends were here to celebrate this milestone with him, but he now understood why Jason encouraged this action: Chris was now far stronger than what would've been achieved if he was still at UA, trying to track down the League of Villains. If a weakened All Might nearly killed All for One, then Chris's current strength should be more than enough to end the villain once and for all.

A phone ringing wouldn't normally grab everyone's attention as quickly as it did, but it had been months since any of them had heard a ringtone of any kind. They had all left their phones in Santa Cruz, as to not give away their locations. All Might hurried inside and answered the phone. "Sir?" Principal Nezu's voice came over the other end. All Might had correctly assumed the caller, given that Nezu was the only person who knew how to contact them. "All for One is here, Toshinori. The others are going to hold him off as best as they can, but we need Impact. Now." "...Yes sir." The line disconnected. After a few moments of silence, All Might turned to shout outside. However, he found Chris was already running inside. "I heard. I'm grabbing my costume and I can be there in an hour." All Might shook his head. "No, Chris." Chris stopped. "What?" "I'm calling for a helicopter." Chris looked dumbfounded. "Are you kidding?! I can get to UA on foot before a helicopter even arrives!" "Chris, you've been training all week. Your body is exhausted. I don't want you to waste what little energy you have left running all the way to California. It will also give you time to rest." Chris took a deep breath. "Fine. However…" All Might was shocked when Chris grabbed him by the shirt. "...if any of my friends die because you wanted me to take the long route, I'm holding you accountable."

The alarm sounding through the teachers' dorm startled Eri. She was used to being alone for a few hours at a time, but this was the first time the alarms had gone off while she was alone. She saw a man in a metal suit walk through the door. Eri was about to scream, but then the man took off his helmet. "...Iida…?" Iida forced a smile. "Hi Eri. I need you to grab the bag you packed with Mina and Momo." "...The… the Go Bag…?" Iida nodded. "Yes, go get your Go Bag. I'm going to take you somewhere else." Eri ran to her room. Iida looked out the window and towards the direction of the school. Jason's words echoed in his mind: 'If All for One gets his hands on Eri, nothing will stop him. Get her away from UA. We'll hold him off until Chris gets here.' He sighed. "...Jason… I hate that I'm running away from the fight… especially given the danger… but I understand that it needs to be done… Eri must be protected… I just hope our new location for her can keep her safe…" Eri quickly ran back to Iida wearing a backpack and holding her stuffed bear. Iida put his helmet back on and scooped her up in his arms. "Alright, Eri, hang on tight. It's time to go really fast." Eri hung on tight as Iida powered up his quirk and sprinted towards the back of UA. There wasn't a gate, but it hardly mattered as Iida jumped and easily vaulted over the walls.

All for One smiled underneath his mask as he watched the students of UA evacuate under the supervision of their teachers. It reminded him of when people would panic at the mere mention of his name. As much as he regretted not being able to remain in charge of the criminal underground, he was glad he could enjoy this brief moment of nostalgia. Using the Sonar quirk he held, which is how he was able to see after losing his eyes to All Might, All for One heard Jason's familiar voice. The villain scowled, remembering what that brat had done to him. He wasn't alone, and they were running towards the school. All for One turned to the Nomus. "Hunt them down." All four of the High End Nomus jumped off of the building and ran towards the group.

Jason led the charge, his red cape billowing behind him, as the rest of his friends followed close behind, now dressed in their hero costumes. Jason shouted as they ran towards the main school building. "According to Nezu, All for One brought four Nomus! They all appear to be High Ends as well!" Denki looked at Jason. "I've faced one of those before with Momo! They have quirks that can counter ours, right?!" Momo turned towards him. "That wasn't a High End!" Mina joined in. "High Ends are incredibly dangerous! We've only ever encountered one and it went toe to toe with Chris and put Endeavor in a coma!" Shoto narrowed her eyes. "That was on top of all of us throwing everything we had at it. It was only killed thanks to Endeavor using every ounce of fire he had." Tokoyami's eyes narrowed. "So the nine of us are supposed to fight four of these monsters? I like a proper challenge, but I don't like our odds." Itsuka forced a smile. "All we can do is our best!" Kyoko looked at Jason. "Is Chris coming back?!" "The plan was always for Nezu to contact All Might and get Chris back here the moment All for One popped up, so Chris should be on his way!" Momo turned her head back to face everyone behind her while still running forward. "Which means all we have to do is buy time for pro heroes and Chris to arrive! If you can't beat the Nomus, focus on staying alive until backup arrives!"

Jason stopped in his tracks. The rest of the group followed suit. Before anyone could ask what was going on, they heard what he had heard: growling. Four High End Nomus slowly crawled out of the forest, revealing themselves. Itsuka enlarged one of her fists. "...I'm getting Cowell Park flashbacks…" Denki sparked electricity in his hands. "Tell me about it." Kirishima hardened his arms. "What's the plan, boss?" Jason glanced around at the Nomus before giving out orders. "Four teams of Two: Shoto and Mina, Kirishima and Denki, Kyoko and Momo, and Tokoyami and Itsuka." Momo created a sword and drew it from her arm. "What about you?" Jason looked towards the school. "...someone has to hold off All for One…" Kirishima glanced at Jason. "You can't go head to head with him, Jason." "I know, but I'm still the guy who knocked him on his ass and sent him to prison. He'll want to talk before killing me, and that will buy us some time." Shoto looked towards her boyfriend. "...please be careful." Jason nodded. "Ready everyone?" All eight of his friends nodded. Jason smirked. "Alright, let's rock!"