Up and up Hisashi went, his eyes watering but never screaming. Instead, he gritted his teeth with pure determination as he soared upwards like a hero of old. The only time he opened his mouth was to let out a blast of flame from either side of his mouth to correct his course. A trick he and the Flaming Sidekickers had thought of back in the day, but never had the chance to put it to good use.
Then, just as he was at the creature's upper torso, Hisashi felt himself slow down and gravity take over once more. Panicking while refusing to give up, the man looked down while opening his mouth to unleash the full power of his flame breath. While he pushed it to its limits, far more than he had in years, it was still not enough. His weight and the force of gravity were too strong as he began to be pulled back to the ground. But, Hisashi didn't give up. With tears in his eyes, he tried again, digging a little deeper in the hopes that his quirk would suddenly evolve or something. Anything that could help him in this moment. But, alas, it was not to be as his second flame breath was nowhere near as powerful as his first.
Then, suddenly, just as Hisashi was about to try for a third time, he felt someone grabbing him by the armpits.
"You're lucky I noticed the flames," grumbled Endeavor, pushing flames out from his feet. "What the hell were you-"
"My son!" interrupted Hisashi. "Please, I need to get to him!" Endeavor was silent for a moment, looking at the man who had once worked for him with those piercing eyes before looking up at the hand near the head. He then looked downward, no doubt wondering if taking Hisashi down would just waste time, before looking back at the man in his arms,
"Fine," said Endeavor, the flames coming out of his feet tripling in their intensity. "Get him out of here and then have him fly your sorry ass back to the ground. I'm going to deal with this fool myself." With that, the two shot upwards. As they did, Hisashi could feel the heat rising from inside Enji's body. Flying around like this while carrying another person was putting pressure on the man. That, on top of what he had been doing up until this point, was probably causing him to overheat faster. But still, the man continued to push past all of that.
Soon, the pair were close to the hand and Hisashi could see him. Despite being covered in some white goo he knew, Hisashi knew, that that was his son.
"IZUKU!" yelled Hisashi right before Enji flung. The older Midoriya watched as his son just looked at him, no doubt gobsmacked by his sudden appearance. But that was something that Hisashi pushed to the 'unimportant files' of his mind as he landed on the fist and rolled for a bit. An act that barely stopped him as he got up, his cheap suit cut with blood running down from some of his injuries, and raced towards his son. There were no thoughts in his head, just grabbing one of the stone fingers and trying to pry it off of his son.
"Dad, what are you doing here?" asked Izuku, his voice sounding weird but still his.
"Getting out of here by any means necessary," grunted Hisashi as he continued to pull on the stone finger so hard that his hands were bleeding. "I've lost too many people who were important to me! I refuse to lose you!"
As he worked, Enji was having his own trouble. His cry to his son had caught the attention of the villain, who had pulled back one of his fists. Endeavor, who had been preparing to send a fire blast right into the unguarded face of the teen, saw the attack coming for him.
"Prominence Burn!" roared Endeavor as flames covered his entire body before shooting them towards the massive fist that was coming his way. The fire blast seemed to let out a scream as it flew through the air, impacting with the golem, which quickly turned bright red before melting away. Both Hisashi and Izuku could see the rock as it began to melt, falling downward and hopefully not landing on any of the heroes before. And, when it was over and the light faded, the entire rocky limb had been turned into lava, which was slowly cooling as it fell to the earth below.
"Fuck all of you!" screamed the teenage villain, appearing to Hisashi as more than a little unhinged. "You're all dead! Do you hear me? DEAD!" As the grip on his son began to tighten, Hisashi's body moved without thinking. He stopped trying in vain to pry his son out and instead got up to run. To run at full speed towards the edge of the fist and, with teeth gritted tightly, leapt off the fist towards the still raging teen. His feet kicked through the air as he swore the distance, grateful that the teen had brought Izuku close enough to him for Hisashi to do this, eventually landing close enough to grab the teen by the shoulders.
"Get your filthy hands off me you-" began the teen but stopped when Hisashi pulled himself up to the teen's eye level.
"You won't hurt my son!" bellowed Hisashi as he threw his head back and then proceeded to headbutt the teen. Said teen roared in anger in pain as the device on his head began to spark wildly while blood seeped from the massive gash on Hisashi's forehead. His vision began to blur while his grip loosened.
And, as he fell, a smile appeared on his face as his vision became fuzzy. Why? Because he could see that his son was free.
-x-
As all this was going on, Tsutsumi was moving through what remained of the Tower. She had a number of cuts across her body from the crash, and one of her legs still had a huge shard of glass embedded in it that she dared not remove. But, despite all this, she was not heading towards the ground floor. Rather, she was moving up ready to finish this mission.
For Midoriya, the boy who had given her the last few minutes of freedom she would ever experience. The chance to use her skills to do the right thing, to be the hero she had wanted to be the last time she looked like this. The now young woman held no illusions as to her fate. She knew too much and, as the former director had said before she shot him, her line of work wasn't something she could just walk away from. And they would never let her go. She would either be killed on sight or be dragged back to Tartarus, where she would be treated as something less than human.
Moving up the stairs as fast as her body would allow, her mind went back to him for some reason. The way his eyes seemed to sparkle when he first saw her. The way he held her to calm her down. The way he looked when he said he was going to take this stupid giant man-baby down before asking for her help. All those times made her heart thump. But why? She really didn't understand how she could feel this way with someone she had just met.
Shaking her head and feeling her cheeks burning slightly, Kaina continued to climb when she saw someone ahead of her. It was a boy, shirtless with skin that seemed deathly pale. His hair and body were damp with sweat and he needed to hold onto the railing in order to keep moving. In his other hand was a pipe that he slammed down on the ground whenever he began to sway in order to steady himself.
"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" asked Kaina as she rushed over to the teen, who turned to look at her.
"Same…as…you…I…guess," he managed to say between pants before turning away to continue up the stairs. "Whatever…we…can."
-x-
"DAD!" screamed Izuku once he was freed. Shooting out into the freedom of the night's sky, he knew that he had a chance to end this right here and now. To aim a flying, Divine Dividing fueled kick right into Will's gut before halving his power again. It would be so easy, as the teen was still thrashing around, wailing more like a wounded animal with that device sparking on his head. Instead, he zipped through the air before shooting downward to get his dad.
The moment he did so, one of Rockback's arms moved towards them, ready to bat them away with an open palm. But Izuku ignored it, just moving as fast as he could and hoping that the impact or any other sudden motion wouldn't snap his dad's neck. The man's eyes were closed already, his forehead bleeding.
Then…
"WILL!" screamed a familiar voice that stirred Angel. Out of one of the compound eyes, Izuku saw Andrew standing on the new top of the tower, shirtless and covered in sweat, with the wound he had seen in Angel's memory nowhere to be seen! How was this possible? The last he saw of Andrew was him swaying side to side while holding up a pipe as if it were a sword, making it look like he was ready to make his last stand.
Meanwhile, Rockback seemed to freeze completely. It seemed hearing his brother's voice had an effect on Will, though given their relationship, Izuku doubted it would be a good one. Rockback was probably just as confused as Izuku was, turning to look at his brother with shock, followed by the anger that so defined him.
"How?" yelled Rockback. "What does it take to put you down for good?!" Will then raised a massive fist, looking like he was about to slam down on Andrew. But it seemed whatever energy Andrew had was all used up as he fell forward over the ledge.
Just as Izuku was about to grab his father, Angel removed herself from him. It felt like pulling hair from the top of his head, except he felt that sensation all over his body. When it was over, Angel seemed to shoot herself towards Andrew's falling form, trying to shoot towards him like some sort of airborne jellyfish.
Izuku caught his father first, naturally, and landed on the ground while all this was going on. When he looked up, he could see Andrew reaching out for Angel with the symbiote doing the same with several tentacles reaching back desperately. However, Will was also part of this scene as one of his massive fists was colliding downward in order to crush them.
Seeing the fist coming down, Izuku shot out of the way while carrying his dad in his arms. And not a moment too soon as the impact sent up waves of dust and debris in all directions with enough force that it nearly knocked Izuku over. Thankfully, he managed to right himself before his feet touched the ground, his shoes skidding against the surface until he came to a complete stop. After setting his dad down, he turned to look at the massive fist still pressing against the ground before it began to shift back and forth. It was trying to grind whatever it struck against the pavement.
Then, the fist lifted, and Izuku couldn't hold back his smile. In the middle of where the fist had struck was a spike made of white symbiote material whose veins were a healthy shade of black again.
"The oath we made is still intact," came two voices, a mix of Andrew's and Angel's. "To be a knight of the galaxy. A warrior forged by blood and honour. Two minds and bodies brought together as one. We are Bleak!" As they spoke, the living mass began to spin around as it took the familiar form of the hero in training.
"Bleak!" yelled Izuku as he flew over. But, as he did, a small head similar to Bleak's appeared on the teen's shoulder along with two stubby arms, which began to hit the host of the symbiote over and over again.
"You dummy!" came Angel's voice as she continued to wail on Andrew. "Dummy, dummy, dummy. I thought I had lost you for good. Dummy! I would have stayed with you till the end. Maybe then…"
As the two stubbled arms reached around Bleak's neck to hug his neck, her head resting against the teen's temple, Andrew let out a noise of embarrassment. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I'm just glad you managed to survive…this…" Bleak then seemed to falter before suddenly pointing at Izuku. "Wait! He's quirkless too? And he has an ancient dragon spirit resting inside of his soul?"
'How did he…oh right, the whole memory sharing thing,' thought Izuku as he landed in front of Bleak.
"Small world," said Izuku before looking up at Rockback. Currently, the earth-using teen was examining his fist, no doubt realising that his plan to crush his brother into a blood paste was a failure. That was until a sudden flash of red filled the night sky, followed by several explosions. Before the flames died down, Izuku saw Melissa as she moved through the air, firing her massive cannon. Each blast was creating large holes in the rocky creature that still glowed red even after the fires died down and the rubble fell to the earth.
Then, she looked down at them. Melissa seemed taken aback as she hovered in the sky before flying down to them. As she did, the Angel's head and the two stubby arms she had been using sank back into the biomass.
"Ok, what's going on here?" said Melissa after she had landed. She then pointed over at Bleak. "I thought you were dead! That's why that girl went on a rampage!"
Bleak scratched the back of his head. "About that," he began. "I think I did die. But just for a little bit."
Melissa just stared at the teen along with Izuku, wondering how you die for just a little bit before getting back on your feet like it was nothing. Especially when, as Izuku now knew, you didn't have a quirk that could do something like that. However, that conversation had to be paused as the sounds of battle continued. Looking up, Izuku could see that Rockback wasn't moving like he used to and was still missing the arm that Endeavor had melted.
"We can talk about that later," said Melissa as she hefted her gun onto her shoulder while looking like she wanted to pinch the bridge of her nose. "Right now, we need to focus on stopping Rockback."
"Don't call him that," said Bleak, his tone going cold while looking up at the golem. "He's Will. But you're right, we need to deal with him. And we do that the same way you deal with a snake: cutting its head clean off!"
"You mean," began Izuku before gulping. For a moment, he imagined Bleak reaching his brother before transforming his hands into blades and slicing at the other teen's neck. It was an idea that didn't sit too well with the teen who wanted to be a hero, one who was still not ready to take a life in cold blood like this. Even Melissa looked stunned by this as she took a step back. Then, he noticed something. The symbiote suit began to quiver while letting out what sounded like a hissing noise. As Melissa took a step back from this, Izuku remained still as he tried to figure out what was wrong with Angel. She had, after all, made no secret from him or Albion that she wanted to see Will die. So why was she acting like that?
Then, Izuku's eyes widened. "You mean the golem's head!" he exclaimed.
"Well, yeah. What did you think I meant?" asked Bleak, sounding genuinely confused and seeming not to notice the relieved looks on the other two quirkless teens' expressions. "When my brother uses his quirk, he sends out these energy tendrils from various parts of his body. Those tendrils then find earth, reshape it, and then attach it to his body. What he is doing now is similar, just on a much bigger scale. If we cut off the head, we cut off the energy that is helping to keep that thing together. He'll have to reform the entire thing from scratch."
"Not if I have anything to say about it," said Izuku as he flexed his left hand. "I'll make sure he won't have the strength to do so, even with that device."
"I guess it's a good plan," said Melissa. "But the device he's wearing is a quirk amplifier that Dr. Shield made. It's what's making him so strong right now. So, I think we'd better go all out on this attack. Papa, remove all safety protocols and transfer all available power to the main cannon. I'm going to blast a whole right through that thing's chest."
"Unable to comply," said Papa, still using Dr. Shield's voice. As Bleak looked on in surprise, the A.I. continued. "There is a 99% chance that this action will result in system-wide failure and/or the destruction of this unit. Should that happen, I will be unable to follow my protocol to keep you safe. Even if all systems survive, they will still not be usable for some time and will make you immobile. This unit, thankfully, has a counterproposal. By redirecting all non-essential power to the main cannon and removing ten specific safety protocols, you will be able to fire a one-time attack with 125% greater efficiency and destructive capability. Warning: should you choose this option, there is a high likelihood that the cannon will need repairs before it can be used again, and you will not be able to continue the fight."
"Oh," replied Melissa before scratching her chin. "Yeah, I guess going all out was pretty overkill. Thanks, Papa."
"No thanks are necessary as this unit is only following its programming," responded Papa. "But the sentiment is appreciated."
For a moment, there was silence between the three teens, with the noise only being heard in the background of heroes still fighting. Will still thrashing around, causing chaos. Then, as one, the three nodded before heading out. Bleak stretched out his symbiote to the point were only his arm was covered before sling shooting himself upward and around so that he was on Will's back. Melissa took to the air, also moving behind Will. Once she got into position, she began to hover in place with the eyes of her dragon cannon beginning to glow a brighter shade of red by the moment.
At the same time, unbeknownst to the three, there was another figure who was taking aim: Tsutsumi. The Rifle user was on the ground, her quirk ready with one of her specially made bullets in the chamber, ready to be fired. Her target? Will's head.
As for Izuku, he took off. Moving at full speed, he fell up along the body of the golem to appear before Will. The villainous teen looked at him with shock and confusion, but before that could give way to anger, Izuku reached out to place his left hand on Will's head.
"Divide," said Izuku. As soon as he said that, Will began to sweat. The arms of his golem, which had been in mid-swing to slam down on the heroes, lost all its power and instead hung limply at his sides.
"What have you done to me?" yelled Will, looking panicked as he tried to move his construct. "You can't do this to me! I have power. I am a hero!"
"You may know that word," interrupted Izuku as he shot away, the wings of his Sacred Gear shining brighter as he flew up into the night sky. "But I think it's time we told you what a hero really is. Their people who work hard to stand up for the people who can't and train themselves to save as many lives as possible."
"Heroes," continued Bleak as he shot up off Will's back and into the air well above his head. While airborne, the symbiote began to move around his body. The arms and legs were still covered, but the rest went to form a massive axe. "They're people who are willing to do what needs to be done to fight evil! Even laying down their lives for others!"
"They're people who solve problems!" yelled Melissa, glancing at the readout on her visor as she aimed. "On the front lines or behind the scenes, they all work hard in order to make sure that tomorrow will be brighter."
"THEY'RE PEOPLE WHO GO BEYOND! PLUS ULTRA!" shouted the three in unison. Will looked ready to say something, but the first attack struck him before it could. A bullet was fired by Lady Nagant, striking him right in the middle of the quirk amplifier, causing it to malfunction. Will's eyes went pure white as he screamed in pain while Bleak fell down to the ground, swinging his organic axe, which enlarged massively down onto the golem's neck and sliced the head clean off. At the same moment, Dracotech fired her cannon, whose beam seemed to expand in size to create a massive hole right into the middle of the villain's chest. As for Deku, he decided to add one final touch. He shot down from the air, feet first and landed on the now severed head of the golem. The added force sent the head crashing down to the ground with additional speed, shattering it completely.
-x-
"Hisashi," came an old voice, spoken softly to the point it might as well be a whisper. But despite how gently it had been spoken, despite how familiar that the man knew that voice, Hisashi Midoriya felt his heart rate quicken. His eyes opened against his will. He wanted to keep them shut, to pretend that he hadn't heard anything. He knew that, once he did, he would be rightfully accused for his failures as a human being. To be reminded why all the people who bring him happiness deserve to suffer.
But, alas, his eyes did open. And, when they did, he found himself back on that day. Before him, the house that belonged to his grandparents was burning in the fire he had drunkenly started. Smoke rose up to the heavens as everything they had was reduced to ash. Only, unlike in past dreams, the paramedic was not standing above him to check and see if he was alright. In fact, he could barely hear the sirens or the crowd of onlookers. Not even heroes were present.
His neck then turned lazily to the side. And there he saw him. His grandfather, dressed for bed and looking at him. Though there was no anger in his eyes. They seemed softer, gentler despite how Hisashi had treated them for being quirkless. And when his grandfather looked back, he smiled.
"I'm glad," said his grandfather, tears running along his wrinkled and soot-covered face. "I'm glad you're safe." Hisashi felt his mouth moving, but words did not come out. That just seemed to make his grandfather cry a little bit more. "I know things were hard. On all of us. We did our best."
"Hisashi," came his grandmother's voice, though it was very weak. "We know you're going to go on to do great things. I just wish that we could-" And that was the last Hisashi heard from his grandmother. He felt his grandfather's hand tightening its hold on Hisashi's shirt briefly before releasing itself. Then, as the light felt his grandfather's eyes, darkness consumed Hisashi's world.
"NO!" yelled Hisashi, sitting up from…somewhere. For a moment, the man forgot that he should have fallen to his death as he just sat there panting. Was that a dream? A memory? Or had that been his actual grandparents from beyond the grave? He didn't know. All he knew was that, right now, he could still feel their hands across his chest the same way they had that night.
Then, he looked around, finding that the golem thing was gone. Now, in its place, was a large pile of rubble that took up many of the streets. Heroes putting out fires, checking on the wounded, and arresting the villains. But what he didn't see was his son.
Fearing that he had failed or that his efforts had been in vain, Hisashi launched himself to his feet and began running towards the pile of stone. As he ran, he tripped several times. More than once, he was able to right himself, but there was one instance where he fell on his face. But that didn't stop him. Hisashi quickly got back up and forced his body to move. His arms moved about frantically, as if he were trying to swim through the air. There was only one thought, one prayer, in his mind: please, don't take away my son!
-x-
Izuku landed on the ground in front of Will, his wings still extended as he looked down at the teen who had caused all this. It was safe to say that Will was not looking too good. Half his face was pressed against the ground, mouth open with blood and drool coming out. His lower arms and most of his lower torso were still buried under the rubble, most likely crushed under the weight of his quirk and delusion.
A moment later, Andrew and Melissa landed next to him. Bleak had, apparently, during his fall, reverted back into full costume to glide back down. Once his feet were firmly on the ground, he reached out with one hand where a tendril grew and reached down towards Will's neck. As for Melissa, her boosters and engines seemed to be having some trouble as she seemed to have a more wobbly flight than normal.
"He's alive," said Bleak as he retracked the tendril. "For how much longer, I don't know."
Then, sight returned to Will. He looked up at the three quirkless teens standing before him before his eyes fell on his brother.
"Your…fault," he whispered. "Mom…and…dad…punish…you." After saying that, a creepy smile appeared on Will's face before he closed his eyes.
"Seriously?" said Melissa as she brought her hands to her hips. "That's all he had to say? Not a 'it wasn't supposed to be like this' or even 'you only won because blah, blah, blah'?"
"To be fair, I was expecting that," said Andrew, sounding annoyed and tired. Then he let out a long sigh. "And he's not wrong. My parents are going to blame me for everything he's done." That caused Melissa to give him a strange look.
"There's no way," she said before looking over at all the destruction. From the nearly completely destroyed Tower, the building surrounding it, which had been destroyed, the pile of stones, and so on. Then she looked at Will before turning back to look at Bleak. "No. There is not a mental gymnast in creation that can jump through that many hoops to say this is your fault."
Bleak shrugged. "You haven't met my parents," he replied and Izuku felt himself shuddering. He recalled how easily angered Andrew's parents had been for just going to a bookstore on this island.
Izuku was about to mention this when they heard footsteps coming from behind them. Before they could turn around, Toga came shooting towards them with…was that a spork in her hand?
"This is for what you did to Pony," snarled Toga as she took the spork out of the wrapper. Then, without another word, she began to jap the plastic spork right on the spot where Will's flesh became buried under stone.
Confused, the three quirkless teens turned around to see if anyone else was going to appear and saw Itsuka and Gel rushing towards them. Though upon seeing Bleak, Gel began to tear up while doubling her pace. Meanwhile, with Bleak, his symbiote retreated back underneath his skin. And judging by his expression, he had not wanted this.
"Angel, what are you doing?" asked Andrew, his voice trembling as he took a step back. The symbiote didn't answer.
"Andrew!" yelled Gel, who then lunged at the teen, nearly knocking the two over. Her arms wrapped around him, holding him close before she looked up into his eyes. "I thought…I saw what that monster did to you. I went on a rampage, ready to kill him. But…I don't understand. How are you here? Did you somehow fake-"
"No!" cried Andrew, nearly yelling in shock as his horror filled his expression. "No, I-I would never do that." He paused before slowly, awkwardly, wrapping his arms around the slimy-haired girl. "I, er, this is hard to explain. I don't know what really happened. I think I did die. One moment I was trying to say something to you, and then the next, well, nothing. Then the next thing I know, I'm awake with that girl we found with Will next to me. I think…I think she used her quirk to transfer the wound I got to her."
At that, Gel's eyes widened before new tears formed in her eyes. Her grip on Andrew tightened as she held him closer, causing the young teen's face to turn red.
"When I saw you die," sobbed Gel into Andrew's chest. "Something inside me broke, and in its place was just something cold. All I could think about was hurting that monstruo." She then took a deep breath. "Please, don't do that to me again. I don't think I'll be able to pull myself from the edge again if I ever see you like that. Because, you…you're important to me. I just never knew how much until that moment. So please, don't make me feel like that again."
"I," began Andrew, gulping as he paused. He then looked to find everyone was watching the scene play out, his face turning even redder. He then looked down. "I…I don't want to make a promise I can't keep. All I can say is that I'll do everything in my power to make sure you never hurt like that again. That's all I can do. Because what I wanted to say back then is that you're one best things that has ever entered my life. Oh God, I suck at this."
Hearing this Gel managed to chuckle through her sobs. "Maybe just a little," she said, tears slowing down and a smile appearing on her face as she continued to hug him. "But that's ok. I get it."
As the two hugged, Itsuka began to walk towards Izuku. As she did, he studied her face. Itsuka was smiling with her face covered in dust. No doubt caused by that last one. Her dress was torn in places, though thankfully not in any way that would make him feel like he needed to avert his gaze. Which he was glad for.
He was about to ask Istuka how things were now that the chaos of the night was over, when he heard a familiar voice call out his name. Izuku turned away from his orange-haired classmate to see his father running frantically towards him.
"Dad?" was all Izuku could say before the man was in front of him. Before he could think any further, Hisashi Midoriya had placed his hands on his son's shoulders and stared at him with eyes that were wide. Like he wasn't sure if what he was seeing was real. But that only lasted a moment before Hisashi pulled Izuku in close. Izuku could feel warm tears running down his father's face while a hand ran through his hair.
"Oh, thank God," sobbed Hisashi. "Thank God. Thank God. You're safe." Izuku heard all of this, just standing frozen as he felt his father's embrace for the first time in so long.
Then…
"Ah, I hate to break up these sweet moments," began Melissa. "But has anyone seen my fa-, I mean Dr. Shield?"
-x-
David Shield sat on the ground, his back pressed against the remains of a building. Well, not just any building. A few hours ago, this had been his and Melissa's favourite ice-cream shop. He could remember the first time he had stepped through those doors and heard the tinkling of the old-fashioned bell from above. He was new to I-Island and had just lost his wife. Those had been stressful days, trying to fine-tune his research while moving into a new home and adjusting to being a single father. With that last one, he wasn't doing a stellar job and had forgotten to make dinner that night. Or lunch. Yeah, not his best move. So, dealing with a very hungry daughter, he had taken to the first place he could find to get some food in their bellies. And it just so happened to be this place. After that, it became their go-to place for celebrations. When he won a Nobel Award, when Melissa got accepted into the Academy, her first pimple. Everything.
Now? It was gone. Nothing but rubble with only the memories they had here remaining. The owners might be able to rebuild, but it would never be the same. Just like the rest of the island. Just like his relationship with his daughter.
As he sat there, noticing the smoke coming from the remains of the Tower, he replayed the last moments of the fight in his mind. Of the threat he had accidentally unleashed. With just one device, a young villain had managed to hold back a swarm of heroes. Just thinking about it made him shudder. Not at the failure of the heroes, but of the nightmare that almost became reality. If a stupid kid like that could gain that much power and cause that much damage, just imagine what would have happened if real, serious threats had managed to get their hands on it. Not even All Might had been able to handle it.
What really stung was what had saved them in the end. The very people he had said didn't matter, the next generation of heroes, had managed to take it down.
David heard some rocks falling to the ground on his side. Turning his head a little, he found All Might standing there, half covered in the shadows of the ruined buildings. Though he wasn't the same as when the fight started. No, this All Might was nothing more than skin and bones, the costume seeming to mock the hero as it appeared to slide off his form at any moment. Then there were his sunken eyes, the blue orbs glowing with a fury the likes David had never seen directed towards him before.
"Why, David?" was all the great hero said as he continued to stare.
"I," began David as he turned to look down at the ground. He saw a flyer there advertising the expo and offering family discounts. "I just couldn't imagine a world without you in it. It scared me more than I care to admit. So, in order to keep you in it, I was willing to become the very type of person we fought against all those years ago. To pay any price."
As he said this part, Dr. Shield's fingers traced underneath the spot where the word family was on the flier. To pay any price. Well, he was paying it all right. One price was the love of his daughter. It had stung when she began referring to him as 'Dr. Shield' instead of Papa. At the time, he had cursed the timing and her stubbornness to see the truth of his words. He had intended to tell her everything after the fact. Even if she didn't understand then, he had believed in his heart of hearts that she would come around once she saw all the good his act of villainy had brought to the world. Instead, she had found out in the worst and most stressful moment: in the middle of his heist. With emotions running high, it shouldn't have been a surprise that she would reject him outright.
That wasn't the first price he had paid. He had sacrificed all his morals, all his values, to create the device that would give All Might back his youth. He had become so numb to the loss of life that hearing a student dying while trying to stop him had only given him validation in his beliefs! What kind of monster thinks like that? He wanted to throw up.
Before he could empty his stomach, Dr. Shield heard movement from where All Might was standing. Like he had jumped or had skidded backwards. Slowly, he raised his head to find a purple-haired girl wearing the clothing he forced onto his experimental prisoners standing before him. She said nothing at first, just raised an arm. An arm, which then turned into a rifle pointed at his head.
"Then it's time to pay your dues," said Lady Nagant as she looked at Dr. Shield coldly.
-x-
Izuku flew close to the ground, his eyes heavy from all that had happened tonight. The adrenaline that had been pumping through his system from the fight was wearing off. That, along with being up all day and night, made him feel like he could crash at any moment now that the danger was over. More than once he dipped downward, nearly causing his chest to grind against the ground. Thankfully, those moments gave him enough of a shock as well as another dose of adrenaline to right himself. But for how much longer, he had no idea.
Hopefully, he could do one final thing. Once the fighting was over and Melissa had brought up that no one had seen her dad, they began to worry about the others. They at least knew that the other students from Detroit Mercy were ok from Himiko, who had taken a brief pause from her stab-a-thon to let them know. However, there were still a few unaccounted for. One was still in Melissa's lab. At least, that's where they left her. As for Dr. Shield, both Itsuka and Gel had left him behind as they wanted to make sure their friends were ok. According to the two girls, he had just sort of checked out after All Might had been defeated. Another person who seemed to be missing, worrying Izuku. And, finally, there was Tsutsumi.
So, once they realised just how many people were unaccounted for, the ground crew knew that their hero work was not done. Thankfully, Bleak said he had run into a girl who matched Lady Nagant's description. He, along with several other,s went to look for her as Izuku had only given a very, very vague idea of who she was. Mainly that she was one of the people Dr. Sheild had experimented on and had helped them. Meanwhile, another group led by Melissa were heading over to check on Pony…and to return the bike that Itsuka had 'borrowed'. As for Toga, she was going to stay with Will to make sure he didn't try to leave. Hopefully, by then, she would be done stabbing him.
This left the job of finding All Might and Dr. Shield to Izuku. The reason for this was simple: he was the fastest they had right now and could cover the most ground. His father had been hesitant to let him go, but did so, saying that he knew that Izuku had to do this as a hero in training. And saying how proud he was of him. And that he would like to talk to Izuku once everything was finally over.
After flying for maybe a minute or two down the back that Itsuka had told him about, Izuku found something that nearly made his heart stop. Ahead of him were two of the people he had been worried about. On the ground was Dr. Shield, looking up at Tsutsumi as she pointed her organic rifle at the man with a blank expression on her face. With them was…a homeless junkie? The man was all skin and bones, wearing a hero costume that clearly didn't fit him, as it was nearly falling off his body. As Izuku took in the costume, he realised it was All Might's, causing him to come to two logical conclusions: either the Symbol of Peace had given the homeless man his costume to wear instead of dirty rags, or the man had looted it when whatever motel All Might was staying in was destroyed.
"Tsutumi!" cried Izuku, ignoring the homeless man for the moment and instead focusing on the main threat. "Don't do this!" The only one who turned to look in his direction was the homeless man, as the formerly imprisoned hero and the doctor just continued to look into each other's eyes.
"Midoriya," said Tsutsumi, her voice barely having any emotion as he landed next to her. "Please, just walk the other way. You shouldn't have to see this."
"No, you don't have to do this," insisted Izuku as he held up his hands. A part of him wanted to grab her and use Divine Dividing, but stopped himself as he feared that doing so would cause her to shoot. And from this distance, it was almost certain that Dr. Shield would die, even from a half-powered shot. So, Izuku had to try and de-escalate the situation. "I know he has done terrible things. Things that are unforgivable. But that doesn't mean you should do the same. He's going to face justice. You've only killed one person. Once the HPSC finds out that you helped-"
Izuku was cut off as Tsutsumi laughed. And it wasn't a pleasant or happy one. No, it was bitter.
"Midoriya, I killed a lot more than one person," she said, some emotion returning to her voice. "Since the day they recruited me as a little, they trained me to be their tool. The director told me he was going to make me a hero. But all he did was turn me into their weapon, their assassin! I killed over and over for them, eliminating anything that would disrupt the sunny little image that the people had of hero society!"
Izuku froze when he heard that. She had killed more than one person? Since they recruited her? Izuku searched his memory on Lady Nagant, trying his best to remember which hero school she went to. But try as he might, he found himself going blank. Had she even attended a hero school? If she didn't, then did the HPSC recruit her when she was fourteen? But that was illegal!
Midoriya wasn't the only one shocked. The homeless bum nearly toppled over and had to place a hand on the wall to keep himself from falling over.
"You're lying," whispered the junkie, his voice trembling.
"I'M NOT LYING!" screamed Tsutsumi as she pressed the barrel of her rifle against Dr. Shield's forehead. Tears were now coming down her face as her eyes remained locked on the mad doctor. "This man is cut from the same cloth as the director! They think the same! Sacrificing lives in order to protect their false peace. And for a while, I believed it. I killed so many. Heroes who were selling out information to villains. Heroes who caused problems just so they had people to 'save'. Villains who were too dangerous to be left alone or that the heroes couldn't handle with the camera rolling. I killed them all. All so this society looked squeaky clean."
Tsutsumi paused, taking deep breaths as she did with more tears running down her face. As Izuku did his best to process this new information. At first, he wanted to dispute it. To say that heroes would never stoop to those sorts of lows. But the more he thought about it, the more doubt crept into his mind. There were a lot of heroes in Japan, all of them competing to be the first at a villain attack or to an accident, as well as trying to get fame. Being the first person on sight sometimes meant that you had a greater chance at getting money from the government. And the more fame you got meant the more sponsorship deals. And if you couldn't do either of those, your time as a hero would be over. Something he had seen in hero news more times than he cared to remember. But what if there were heroes who were so desperate to stay in business that they were willing to cross that line into villainy? To do the things that Tsutsumi said?
As these thoughts ran through Izuku's head, he looked over at Dr. Shield. The man was still sitting there, but now with a look of horror on his face. Like something he had believed in from the very bottom of his heart, was now being revealed to be a lie. And there was a part of him that couldn't help but concede that there was a chance what he was being told was the truth.
"Do you think, after everything I've seen and done, that they would just let me walk away?" she asked, her eyes hardening with hate as she looked at Dr. Shield. "The director told me as much when I all but said I had had enough. Then, when I thought he was going to silence me, I shot him. Rather than killing me, they sent me to Tartarus, where I was treated more like an animal. And after this is over, their either going to have me killed on the spot or dragged back to that hellhole." More tears poured down Tsutsumi's face as she pressed her rifle even harder against Dr. Shield's head. "I already have a life sentence. And thanks to this man, that life is so much longer now. If they send me back there, my hair will be shaved and I will be so much weaker. The things they will do to me while the guards there just…watch and laugh." Tsutsumi then gritted her teeth as she steadied herself. "They worked with Shield once. Either they will have him killed to cover up their dirty dealings, or they will hide him away to make more weapons for them. Something. So, before whatever happens to me, I have to do this. So that he never gets the chance to do this again!"
For a moment, there was silence. The only thing that seemed to break the stillness of the moment was the sound of breathing. Then…
"I don't believe you want to kill him," said Izuku firmly.
"Midoriya," growled Tsutsumi through her tears. "I have the barrel of my gun pointed right at his head right now. I have so many people in my life that I can sometimes see my hands coated in blood! One more death by my bullet will be just another drop in the bucket."
"Then why is he still alive?" countered Izuku, his words causing Tsutsumi's eyes to widen. "You could have shot him several times by now. In fact, there was no need for you to even be this close. You could have shot him from a distance." At that, the rifle girl swallowed hard, something that Izuku mirrored. But still he pressed on. "I think that, despite everything that's happened to you, you're not a cold-blooded killer. You're hesitating. Preparing yourself."
"…So what if I am?" she asked. "What does that change? It doesn't erase everything I've done."
"No, it doesn't," agreed Izuku. "But, I think that there is a part of you that wants to be a hero. A real one."
Tsustumi turned to face Izuku now, her eyes blaring with anger as well as something else. "Are you kidding me?" she shouted. "After everything I told you, do you really think I want to be part of the problem? Despite what I look like now, I'm not some kid staring up at the stars and dreaming about being a hero! I know the truth! It's all a lie. All I'll be doing is keeping this farce of a perfect society going!"
When Tsutsumi finished shouting, she stood there for a moment as she panted. As her chest rose and fell, Izuku could see her gun trembling.
"I…know society isn't perfect. Not this one," said Izuku as he looked down for a moment. "Before I got my quirk, my life was…different. Kids around me mocked me for having a dream. They laughed at me, bullied me, and even degraded me. More than once, they used their quirks on me in class. And the teachers, the people who were supposed to be looking out for me, just stood there and watched. Some even laughed." He then looked at his left hand for a moment, squeezing it into a fist before looking up at Tsutsumi, who just watched him. "It might seem small compared to what a lot of other people go through, but for me, it hurt. For me, the pain was real. Just like with my friends. Society allowed people to call Shinso a villain. Social norms and fear of what society would think of her led Toga's parents to treat her like a monster the day she discovered her quirk. That's why we're here now. Because if there's one thing I've learned since I started my journey, is that nothing will change unless you act. So maybe you could help us do that!"
"Y-You can't," said a shocked Tsutsumi as she slowly shook her head. "They'll never let you. And…I can never be a hero. Not with all this blood on my-" Tsutsumi was cut off at Izuku quickly closed the distance between them. At first, her eyes were wide with shock and betrayal, thinking that all this talk had just been to lower her guard before getting in too close for her to use her quirk. However, instead of punching her or using his quirk on her, Izuku just took her hand with his and held it. The sensation made her pull back at first, but Izuku held firm.
"I don't think it's too late for you," said Izuku as he held her hand. "I don't think you will ever be able to wash the blood off. But maybe you can lessen it? Be a hero again, one who saves lives instead of taking them. Work to make society more honest. And if you need help, you can reach your hand out to me and my friends. I don't know what I can do, but I'll help in any way I can. But these bloody hands that you hate? They'll never be clean if you keep doing the same thing."
For a moment, Kaina just stared at Izuku with tears running down her face while her expression remained blank. She then looked down at her hand for a moment before looking back at Izuku. And she smiled.
"Wow, it's like a I'm meeting a real hero for the first time," she said, her voice dripping with sadness while her quirk deactivated. She then placed her other hand on top of his. "I can't forgive him, though."
"That's fine," said Izuku. "You don't need to forgive him for what he's done."
"And they'll probably be taking me back to prison," she added, moving closer to Izuku.
"Then, when they do, we'll fight for you," said Izuku. "But until then, let's make sure that you can enjoy your freedom."
Hearing that, Kaina let out a laugh as the sun finally rose to shower them in the light of a new day. "My hero."
-x-
At the same time, Aizawa grumbled as he and the other teachers stepped out of the private jet. With bloodshot eyes, he planned on making sure that all of the U.A. students who were involved in this mess pay. Starting with Vlad's biggest problem child: Izuku Midoriya.