The Harmony Suit started to awaken around Izuku, systems booting up in a whirl of light and sound. Out the workshop windows, he could see fire licking at the blackness beyond, casting everything into an eerie orange glow.
"Mei, come here and monitor the suit's readings," Momo commanded, already coalescing a staff from her arm. "If anything is off—"
"I'll let you know," Mei finished, diving for her computer terminal. Her fingers flew over the keyboard, calling up rivers of data. "Connection secure. Power output within standard. You're cleared to go, Izuku!"
He flexed his hands, feeling the suit react like part of his own body. The power of the forge flowed freely through the neural interfaces, as they'd designed. No stress, no recoil—just sheer, contained energy.
There was another blast inside the building, this one closer.
"Go," Aizawa ordered, and they went.
UA's corridors were chaos. Students ran past them, heading for designated safe areas as teachers formed defense lines. Outside the windows, Izuku could see black silhouettes flowing across the grounds of the campus, their shapes rippling like oil on water.
"There's so many of them," Momo breathed, her hands clenching around her staff.
She was right. What had started as a dozen shadows had swelled into an army. They swept over the grass in a tide of shadow, devouring everything before them. Where they touched, things appeared to warp and stretch.
Izuku's earpiece sprang to life with Mei's voice. "Multiple targets approaching from the north and east. The suit's sensors are picking up some weird energy signature—nothing we've ever seen before."
"They're changing," Aizawa snarled. "Changing. Learning."
They burst through the front doors to the main plaza. The one that greeted them made Izuku's heart leap. Present Mic and Midnight were already battling, trying to stem the tide of darkness. But for every one they could drive out, two others took its place.
"Midoriya!" Present Mic yelled over sonic waves. "Do something with that fancy suit of yours!"
Izuku moved forward as the power of the forge surged through the Harmony Suit. This was it. This is what they had been training for. All of those hours of testing, all of those calculations and tweakings—it had to work.
"There's only one way to find out," he told himself, and amplified the suit's core systems.
Energy coursed through the specialized conduits, amplified and focused by the configuration of the suit. The forge responded instantly, its power blending with the technology in such a way that Izuku's entire body vibrated. Light began to radiate from the seams and joints of the suit, building in strength.
The nearest shadows ceased their movement, as if sensing the threat.
"Everyone, back off!" Izuku warned. The power was building faster now, the light almost blinding.
And then he saw it—a larger shadow, not really one of the others. Back in the group, its form more defined, more. intentional. And it was looking directly at him.
"That's the one," he gritted out. "That's the first one."
The shape of the shadow rippled, and Izuku would have sworn that he saw it smile.
"Izuku," Mei's voice echoed in the comm, tense with worry. "Power readings are through the roof. If you're going to act, act now!"
He refused to back down, held his arms up, and for the first time since assuming the forge, let its energy flow without restraint.
The world exploded in a blaze of light.