Chapter 280

Cut off by Dabi's firewall, the students outside try to raise anyone still in range. Emily has Chargebolt's head in her lap, apologizing for the botched shot and asking if he is hurt; he tells her the lap pillow is working out fine. Cellophane keeps calling.

Pinky rides Acidman through the flames, telling her frightened heart to dissolve, and shouts at Gigantomachia to go to sleep. The giant, however, has concluded that reaching Tomura quickly means shaking off everything clinging to him. His voice locks her up. This is the same creature she faced as a middle schooler, the one she drove away before collapsing in terror, and for a heartbeat she is that girl again. The canister leaves her hand. In the same motion Gigantomachia finally throws Mt. Lady clear and knocks her out cold.

The sweep of his hand nearly flattens Pinky, but Red Riot shoves her out of the path and eats the blow himself. Real Steel arrives to pull Pinky out, mentioning that Mudman is working on the fire and that he knew Red Riot had gone on ahead.

Believing the pests are gone, Gigantomachia collects the League onto his back, then spots Red Riot scaling him. The boy calls out his name and swears no blood will be spilled. Himiko's knife shatters his canister before he can throw it, but he caught Pinky's when it fell, and he sends it down the giant's throat rather than let her courage count for nothing. Lizardy swoops in and hauls him out as fire rains on Gigantomachia. Creati calls it: with the drug inside him, they need him moving so it circulates, and Majestic answers with a wave of pros. The giant grumbles that the flies never thin out.

Over in Jaku City, Endeavor's message to Tomura is that heroes will never bow to destruction with no conviction behind it, however much power he piles up. Tomura throws back that heroes hurt their own families to help strangers, quoting his father word for word, and startles Endeavor by claiming that if that counts as conviction, he has plenty.

Gigantomachia decides to clear the heroes off before continuing to Tomura. His voice paralyzes Pinky with the memory of their earlier encounter, and Mt. Lady is thrown clear and left unconscious.

Red Riot climbs the giant's arm to deliver the sedative. Himiko's thrown knife destroys his canister, but he throws the one Pinky dropped and lands it in the giant's mouth. Lizardy retrieves him as Majestic and other pros engage.

In Jaku City, Endeavor argues that Tomura cannot win without ideals, and Tomura counters with his father's words about heroes abandoning their families for strangers.

Twenty pages, published in Weekly Shonen Jump issues 36 to 37 of 2020 and collected in volume 29 during the Paranormal Liberation War arc. Pinky has the cover to herself, and Episode 121 adapts the chapter.

The title first ran as "Red Riot" before being amended to "Red Riot, Part 3" for the volume release. Chapters 144 and 145 previously shared the base title, though those two split one story across parts while this one stands alone.

Kohei Horikoshi's author comment mourns the mechanical pencil he had used for more than a decade, now failing and no longer manufactured.