Izuku's eyes opened in surprise to see Promethys launch from the crater in the mountain at such high speeds. Even without Hansuke's time manipulation Quirk, the villain was still incredibly fast.
They clashed, slamming their fists together and generating a shockwave that rocked the trees and shook the snow.
Shoto struggled to stand up, but he managed to watch the fight sitting on the ground.
Promethys grew several tentacles from his back that snared Izuku's arms and legs, until Izuku countered unleashing Black Whip and wrapping it around the villain's neck.
Promethys roared out and the tentacles shrank back, only for him to slam his enlarged fist right up into the hero's gut.
Izuku's eyes watered. He fell to his knees and threw up on the ground. He looked up quick to see Promethys swing his leg and kick Izuku in the chin, flipping him up in the air.
Before his body hit the ground, Promethys blasted him with lasers focused from all nine eyes, burning and knocking him back farther.
Still, Izuku activated One For All at his highest power and got back up.
"Such might warriors. You were trained well. However, though your souls refuse to give up, your bodies...will break." Promethys said.
"You talk too much." Izuku hissed before blasting him with his Fire Sight.
Promethys hardened his skin, splitting the two lasers in several directions like a sunbeam hitting a broken mirror.
"Midoriya, jump!" Shoto commanded as he unleashed a wave of ice in their direction.
Izuku waited until the right moment, listening to the incoming ice, then stopped Fire Sight and jumped up as several giant shards of ice impaled Promethys.
Shoto continued to push his ice until Promethys was trapped within solid frozen water.
The heroes took a moment to breathe. Then they looked back hearing explosions coming from inside.
"Shit..." Shoto gasped.
"That must be Kacchan's Quirk." Izuku panted.
"He's right on one thing. We can't keep fighting forever." The half and half Quirk user said.
"...I can stop him... B-But it'll most definitely break me." Izuku sighed looking down at his gloved hand.
Shoto thought back to their first year of UA. How Izuku would break his body when he overused his Quirk. Then he thought back to the words of All Might, when the mighty hero saved the class from a handful of incredibly powerful villains, then again when he battled his ultimate nemesis All For One.
"You may have heard these words before. But I'll teach you what they REALLY mean!"
"Go beyond." Izuku said.
"Plus ultra." Shoto finished.
Promethys blew right through the ice with his hands outstretched. "You cannot imprison me! This ends with your deaths, or mine."
"So be it!" Shoto shouted.
Promethys suddenly disappeared, then reappeared in front of them. With one swift kick, Shoto was knocked back unconscious.
"SHOTO!" Izuku screamed.
Promethys backhanded the green haired hero then followed with a direct punch to his gut again.
In mid-punch, Izuku's eyes flashed green and he grabbed Promethy's arm, carrying the villain along in the force of his own punch.
The two of them tumbled and crashed through more trees for a moment before Promethys threw down his feet and skidded in the dirt.
Izuku activated Black Whip and swung through the trees, using the momentum to double kick Promethys in the chest, sending him back against a boulder, cracking it in half.
He activated Black Whip again and swung around while Promethys recovered and began firing at the trees Black Whip swung from with a laser from his palms.
"Ever since my divine calling, I've refrained from hating anyone immediately. But from the stories Nucleon told, to our first encounter, I knew I couldn't trust you. Someone with so much power...and none of it in your ancestry." Promethys boomed through the trees following after Izuku on foot.
"It most certainly 'pissed me off', as I said." He said chasing after the hero and blasting at him repeatedly.
Izuku continued to swing through the trees, letting go of each one blasted and quickly grappling a new one each time.
"I can't get too far from Shoto. I need to know he's okay... But I can drive Promethys away." Izuku thought to himself.
In that moment, he remembered All Might's example to him, and the times he was an example to others, including All Might himself.
Every one of his friends all became heroes on the same philosophy: a hero is someone to does the impossible, everything, and more, to save others and be a light in their dark world. Sacrifice. Whatever it takes.
In order to save his home, his family, possibly the entire world from this monster, he knew what he had to do, even if it did mean he would die as well.
Izuku used Black Whip to swing completely around, redirecting himself right at the villain.
Promethys, for that moment, looked shocked.
"Who is this warrior?" He thought.
"UNITED...STATES OF..."
Promethys realized something. He had been going too easy on them. Multiple Quirks, and still giving them time to breathe. Time to think.
He activated every Quirk within his body all at once, including Hansuke's time stopping Quirk.
Izuku froze in the air.
Promethys lunged at him and slammed his knee into the hero's chin. Then as Izuku fell back in slow motion, Promethys slammed his fists on to his back. And followed with a laser beam from all of his eyes.
Time resumed, Izuku fell to the ground hard, leaving a crater underneath his body.
Promethys landed directly on his spine with a loud crunch.
He picked up Izuku and grew a large sharp spike from his arm and raised it to pierce the hero's heart.
"STOP! STOP PLEASE!"
Promethys mercifully stopped and turned his head.
Izuku strained in the villain's grasp, making sure he wasn't getting choked, as he looked down to see Shoto standing before them.
"Sp-Spare his life... Please. Spare him." He said with desperation in his voice. "I can't stand to see my friend die..."
Promethys thought for a moment.
"You're here for people to join your side, right? Take me for it. Just don't kill Midoriya..."
"Shoto, no! Don't do that!" Izuku cried out. "Never surrender!"
"You think this was my first choice, Izuku?! We can't beat him!" He choked. "This is how he wins, taking us on one by one, making us concerned for each other and watch each other die. Where we're powerless."
Promethys nodded. "I've heard enough. You and I shall return to your friends and we'll establish peace from there. You're making a brave decision here. A wise one."
He dropped Izuku and marched up to Shoto.
Shoto nodded back, then quickly spawned an icicle right through his chest.
Izuku gasped and limped over to help but Promethys raised the blade on his arm and plunged it right through Shoto's chest.
"NOOOO!" Izuku shouted.
Shoto yelled out and gasped, struggling for air as he weakly gripped the blade in his chest.
Promethys melted the icicle out of his chest and regenerated, then picked up Shoto and pulled the blade out.
"No true loyalties are born from last minute decisions. You were planning to kill me from the start but it's just as futile as when you were honestly fighting me." The powerful villain hissed into Shoto's face.
Izuku cried as he reached out for the two.
Promethys turned and kicked Izuku hard, sending his body flying back, crashing through a tree headfirst, then tumbling down the hill, which quickly turned into a cliff out of view.
"I-I-Izuku..." Shoto sputtered.
Promethys held on to the young, mortally wounded hero, and teleported the two of them away, leaving the fate of Izuku to nature itself. And the river his body landed in.
END OF BOOK TWO