Notes:

***Okay, so, we have the final battle in this chapter. I did the best that I could because battles using magic/quirks is not really my specialty. I'm better at describing real historical battle scenes. I'm quite content with it, though.

***There is a gory scene in this chapter; in fact, there are a few icky/gory/spooky scenes I describe. As I've mentioned before, I am a horror movie/novel fan. I tried not to make it too bad.

***Warnings: Language, war, violence, some gore, battle scenes

***Please read and enjoy! Also, please see my few author's notes at the end of this chapter.

***There is only one more chapter after this one!

Chapter 24: Bat Out of Hell; The Portal Opens Part 2

Like a bat out of hell I'll be gone when the morning comes

When the night is over, like a bat out of hell, I'll be gone, gone, gone

Like a bat out of hell I'll be gone when the morning comes

But when the day is done, And the sun goes down

And the moonlight's shining through

Then like a sinner before the gates of Heaven

I'll come crawling on back to you-

~Meatloaf~

Izuku can see the world through new eyes as the memories of the past came flooding through him after his friends joined their hearts with his own. No longer was he a powerless human buried under the stigma of a useless omega. He is a being that is neither human nor demon; he's something new entirely in body, mind, and soul. The power of One For All and his friends fill his body with a strong sense of courage. Izuku can feel their strength and souls through his bloodstream; they are truly one body entrusted to the safety, peace, and happiness of the world. But some hearts are missing; Izuku hopes they will join him soon.

The scene of battle is not unlike the one from the past where everything went wrong. The sky red with clouds, the hundreds of dead bodies scattered along the ground, the smell of death and destruction in the air; all was the same. However, there is one key difference- and that is the status of his alpha mate. His Kacchan may be a demon now, but unlike the past, Kacchan knows what danger he is fighting. Izuku will not depend on Kacchan to join forces with him as Legion until the very end. For now, he will have to face All For One on his own though he does not have enough power from his friends. He needs the remaining four.

Izuku's eyes land on All For One, the Dark King, The Master of All Evil. With a loud, god-like voice, he sets his shining green on the Demon Master and says,

"Vicious creature of darkness, Your reign ends now!"

In an equally loud voice, All For One holds out His hands and says, "Oho, so, after all these centuries...Legion has finally awakened,"

"Hear me, All For One! I am the morning sun come to vanish this horrible night!*"

"DOM-OMEGA!"

Izuku hears the voice of Kirishima and smiles when he sees the other four flying towards him. Some Nomus try to stop them, but the moment the monsters touch the glowing forms they instantly burst into flames. Izuku watches as Kirishima, Iida, Sero, and Kaminari become orbs of colored lights and absorb into his body. Izuku gasps when he feels the added powers make themselves known to his body. His skin hardens like Kirishima's, bouncing away arrows and other sharp weapons shot in his direction. His boots spawn wings to give him Iida's speed. Encasing his new form is Kaminari's lightning, providing a shield that sends flying Nomus screeching away in terror. Izuku already knew how to use Sero's power and sends out a torrent of poison ribbons that targeted the Nomus. The only heart that's missing is his mates'.

'It's over now, All For One!'

Shoto, Dabi, and Inasa stare up at Izuku's new form, dumbstruck, and in awe. None of them could believe what they were seeing, and yet here it was, a being stronger than All For One who has the power to destroy them as well.

"He's like an entirely different person…" Inasa says.

"He was only human a short while ago," Shoto adds. "And now...he's Legion,"

"What do we do from here?" Dabi asks. "Everyone and everything is at a standstill,"

Inasa clenches his fists and says, "Izuku and All For One will clash! We'll keep the monsters and other demons from interrupting Izuku!"

"But where is Bakugo?" Shoto asks, using his wings to keep himself off his broken ankle.

"I say we take Bakugo down now while Izuku is distracted," Dabi offers. "We want to-"

"No," Shoto stops him short. "There is no way we can defeat Izuku if we take out his mate,"

"Are you giving up?" Dabi asks with a growl.

"I agree with Shoto," Inasa says, looking up at Izuku's new form. "Izuku will destroy us if we defeat Bakugo."

Shoto nods. "Yes. Let's instead help Izuku take down All For One,"

"But the portal is still open," Dabi points out. "Demons and Mirio, and even Nomus are escaping from here,"

"One of us should go with our army and aid Mirio," Shoto says. "Inasa, you will be good for that. Dabi, find Hawks and have the gargoyles help Inasa. We'll stay here with our dual powers to help Izuku."

"That's a fine plan!" Inasa says. "Let's carry it out!"

Bakugo, too focused on Izuku's new form as the rest of his court joined, did not notice Tomura's attack. He still has his heart in his palm. Tomura tackles him to the ground but Bakugo doesn't drop his heart. Tomura is trying to get it from him. What Tomura may have in power, he does not match Bakugo's physical strength and he tosses the villain off of him. He should get to Deku, however, Tomura is still in play, and he can distract Deku from All For One.

"It was I who made you into what you are," Tomura suddenly says. "I made you back then, even with your heart. Go ahead, put your heart back inside your chest," he dares with a grin. "I'll simply do it again. Only this time, Izuku will not be able to defeat us!"

Bakugo turns hard, red eyes on him. "I'm not the same person I was back then, and I can kick your ugly ass twice as hard now, if not harder! If you want a good old fight between two alphas for the right of one omega, then come at me with everything you've got!" Bakugo challenges him with a smirk and presses his heart to his chest.

"You can't possibly beat me without your heart," Tomura shoots back at him.

"Nice try, asshole," Bakugo mocks. "I'm only taking back what is rightfully mine!"

He presses the heart to his chest and flesh absorbs flesh. His heart leaves his palm and begins to beat inside, the thumping sending tremors through his body. With each heartbeat, there is a memory of his past, and he's never felt so alive nor so empowered. His memories all contained Deku, the stupidly smiling face, the laughing green eyes, the tender moments they shared as a mated pair; even the memory of conceiving their first child. The memories lasted for only a moment, and when Bakugo's eyes and mind clear, he only sees Tomura. The memory of this bastard turning him into a demon and forcing Deku to suicide ignited the long snuff-out flame of passion and the alpha need to dominate a rival. With his old powers joining his new ones, Bakugo reveled in the euphoric sensation of pure alpha dominance. The orange and yellow aura surrounding his body, he decides, is a very good look for him.

"I've got a bone to pick with you," Bakugo says to Tomura. "First, I'll take you out for what happened in the past. And then, we'll defeat your Master, for he is my master no longer!" Bakugo frowns when all Tomura does is stare at him with a manic grin, saying not a word, like he KNOWS something. "What the fuck are you smiling at, Ass-Face?"

"Just wait and see," All of the hands on Tomura's body point towards All For One and Izuku.

"So, you have finally awoken," All For One chuckles, lifting Himself into the air to face Izuku. "Nothing has changed. You are Legion; a savior of the human realm, a bringer of light, hope, and love. Such qualities are how I ended up banished from the world that I rightfully own to this place,"

"If you're talking to stall for time, then it's not working," Izuku warns Him. "This ends now!"

All For One laughs again and folds His hand over His chest to give a polite bow. "Before you end My life, I have a quick little story to tell you. Once upon a time, long, long ago, when the earth was new...only a few groups of people roamed the land. There was only one boy out of the many who felt that he did not belong, that he was different from those around him. He did not know that he was a roc among ducks. He acted like a duck to fit in, but he knew that he was more than a duck. He grew stronger by the years, and once he became a young man, a voice spoke to him on a dark, cold, windy wintery night.

'And the voice explained everything to him. The young man understood that he was not only different from the ducks, but he was a great beast of the sky, and all those ducks were his prey. He discovered powers that rival the elements and balance of the earth. He could draw life from anything around him and conjure it into something great! But he had a sickly little brother, a hawk with clipped wings. This roc gave his baby brother a smidgen of his power out of brotherly love. But when his power became too great, the brother betrayed him, and forced the older brother to be locked away.'

'But the young man used his powers to escape one day and sought revenge on his brother. His brother had grown stronger with the power given to him, and that brother passed on the power to another...another young man who had only been a toddler when the older brother first met him, a fledgling eagle. That strong young man wielded the power to banish the roc again. And the cycle remained the same, for when the roc returned, the hawk was gone, and the fledging eagle had become a great winged beast...a rival of the sky. Again, the roc is defeated and locked away, only to come back with a kite; a kite of great promise that desired a little green eaglet. But this eaglet inherited the power with a flock of his own, mated with a filthy bat, and the roc's kite was not quite strong enough to defeat this new power...a power called Legion; a being that is one of many…'

Izuku listens to All For One's story and easily pieces it together. The roc was All For One. The power He gave to His brother, the hawk, turned out to be His greatest mistake. The eaglet was All Might, who took on the powers from the hawk, but grew to be as big as the roc. The green eaglet is himself, and the kite is Tomura. Izuku fully understands now how One For All and Legion works; the power is passed down and each generation builds off of and adds to it. Izuku's past self added Legion, bringing the hearts and strengths of his Court to aid him in defeating evil. However, there was one question he always had in the back of his mind, and now it was answered.

All For One had ONCE been human.

How many other demons in this realm, like his friends, his mate, and the inhabitants were once human? Would someone like Shoto's ancient family bloodline have a human ancestor turned demon? But All For One mentioned a 'voice' that came to Him and explained who He was, a predator among prey with untold power. Who was the voice? The wailing in Black Ram Hall was his past self trying to get his attention. Or at least, that's what he thought. Was there another voice? Another element stronger than All For One and One For All? All For One's continued speech brought Izuku back to the fight.

"I not only had power, but I could also TAKE power! I can even copy power from others," He flashes an evil, devilish grin and holds out His arms. "I HAVE MY OWN LEGION NOW! AND I WILL SEE TO IT THAT YOUR POWER IS RETURNED TO ME!"

Izuku, as well as his friends inside of him, feel a tremendous maelstrom of evil encircle the floating body of All For One. To Izuku's utter amazement and disgust, All For One summons the dead corpses of demons and Nomus to build a shield around Him. The screams of the lost souls, monster and demon, penetrate the heart of each and every one of Izuku's court. The sight was a menace to see; pounds of writhing, screaming flesh all pushed and molded together in an orb of suffering. Inside the writhing mass of bodies sits a comfortable All For One, glowing with purple and black, while still calling the corpses to join the orb of agony.

Izuku floats a few feet back from the horrific sight. While he has the hearts, the loyalty, and strength of his trusted friends, All For One has a dome of the condemned shrieking with fear, agony, pain, and suffering. It is beyond anything Izuku could possibly have ever imagined.

'We are stronger than him!' Izuku hears Iida's voice from inside his head.

"Yes! Within our hearts, we carry the hope of the people!' Says Sero.

'But there is so much suffering,' Izuku tells them, swallowing hard. 'I fear that the world, both above and below, have embraced the evil because of the defeat and lack of justice. Can our spirits and hearts be enough to combat all the sadness and sorrow of the world?'

'Even the smallest heart can beat the loudest,' Tsu says, giving Izuku a bit of encouragement.

'That Legion is nothing but flesh,' Kirishima adds. 'Easily can be smashed! Let Shoji and I take on the role of breaking through the bodies to get to All For One!'

'Alright! Let's do this!' Izuku says and flies to the direction of All For One.

Izuku dodges blasts of purple and black energy in the forms of orbs and lightning. Kaminari's own lightning deflects the dark ones. Just before Izuku can use Kirishima and Shoji's strength, All For One retreats inside the mass of flesh. Izuku begins pounding away at the bodies while pieces of flesh rain down to the battle below. The faster Izuku tore at the flesh, the more bodies All For One called up from the ground.

'This isn't working!' Tokoyami says. 'We need to find a faster way to break through the barrier if we are to strike him!'

'Right!' Izuku uses Iida's speed and Tokoyami's wings to keep out of range of All For One's attacks while he tries to think of a strategy. 'That form just keeps getting bigger! There's more dead than those alive,'

"IZUKU!" Shoto flies up to him, "I'M HERE TO HELP!" he says while also dodging the attacks.

"Shoto! Tell your brother and the others to CEASE the fighting and retreat!" Izuku shouts.

"What? But why?"

"All For One is using the bodies of the dead to make that monster! We need to keep Him from growing bigger and stronger! Get the armies out of here! Get the gargoyles to fly away! Make this battlefield empty of the living! Guide everyone to the barrier and get them to the human world! Go now! HURRY!"

Shoto understands Izuku's plan and he flies away to relay the message to Dabi and Hawks who then begin to spread the word to retreat.

Bakugo finally tears his eyes away from the ball of bodies to focus his attack on Tomura. If he is going to help save Izuku, then he has to get this bastard out of the way. The man had summoned Nomus and sends them charging at Bakugo. With his new and old powers combined, Bakugo barely had to move or lift a finger to defeat the monsters. The moment the bodies touched his aura they would explode.

"I see they have no effect on you," Tomura says, and then from the air, he pulls a black curved blade cut with ridges. He makes the sword glow a smokey gray and he runs towards Bakugo.

Bakugo quickly draws his own sword and meets with Tomura, clashing their blades together. But Bakugo's blade crumbles and breaks apart, forcing him to leap out of the way of Tomura's blow. 'So, his decaying power is also in that sword,' Bakugo always carries secondary weapons on him, and thinking fast, he gathers his whip and snaps it at Tomura, forcing the other to stand down. 'I need to get that sword away!' With another snap of the whip, Bakugo aims not for the sword, but the hand holding the sword. He can't let the whip touch the blade or he would lose the weapons.

"You missed!" Tomura laughs and points his hands to the ground and a bolt of crackling black energy snakes quickly along the ground towards Bakugo. "A shame you can't fly!"

Bakugo manages to dodge the black energy before it could swallow him up like it did the surrounding rocks and ground, leaving a shallow crevice in the dirt. Tomura performed the attack again, chasing after him. The attacks were so quick that Bakugo found it hard to see an opening to strike while frantically dodging. Attempting to distract Tomura, Bakugo sends out small fireballs in a torrent of orange. The flames forced Tomura to stop and Bakugo lets out a roar as he snaps the whip at Tomura's face. The leather strikes, hard, and rips a layer of skin off Tomura's cheek.

"Gotcha!" Bakugo smirks. "I'll rip your skin off piece by piece if I have to, you shitty corpse!" With a battle cry of promised victory, Bakugo lets his body burst into flames, calling upon his old powers to charge at Tomura, head down to ready his horns, and shooting bolts of flames. 'He can't touch me surrounded by fire without burning off his hands!' But Tomura does grab his horns through the fire. Bakugo acts fast and with a snap of his head, he flings Tomura away, up and into the air. "DIE!" He cracks the whip and it grasps Tomura's ankle. The villain slams into the ground. Bakugo rushes over to finish the other off, but when the dust clears, to his dismay, Tomura's body isn't there. He looks up to see that a flying Nomu has snatched Tomura away and it's flying towards All For One. "SHIT!"

Bakugo knows he can't fly, but with his flames, maybe he can blast his way into the air. Holding his palms out behind him, he summons his fire to shoot out in quick jolts and propel him towards Tomura. "YOU'RE MINE!" But from the corner of his eye, he can see that Deku is struggling with All For One.

Izuku tries again to fly at full speed to All For One but the mass of pink can dodge and move as quickly as he can. All the while, Izuku has to dodge the orbs of power sent his way. Tsu's power took over and her tongue could easily bat the orbs away, leaving Izuku to keep his eyes on All For One. Using Kaminari's lightning bolts, he manages to stun All For One's legion, leaving an opening. Izuku figures it's not safe to strike just yet because the mass can move, so he calls upon Sero's poisoned ribbons to hold All For One in place. From his elbows, Izuku lets out streams of ribbons that latch onto the writhing ball of bodies. This way, Izuku can bring All For One towards him. But All For One reveals himself inside the mass and starts to pull away. Izuku calls upon Shoji and Kirishima's strength to hold the villain in place.

"WATCH OUT!" Came another voice and two forms swiftly fly past him. Izuku sees Shoto and Dabi calling their powers and attacking All For One.

'Let's attack now!' Iida says. 'I'll shoot us forward!'

'No! Wait! Something's happening!'

A tremendous aura of power comes from All For One and then, in an instant, black and purple spirals explode from the mass. The force is so strong that everyone is pushed away. Izuku would have landed hard on the ground but Tokoyami turned his back to stone and Kirishima kept his limbs from breaking when colliding with the hard surface. Izuku looks up with one eye closed to see that the legion body of All For One was not only untouched, but it had become bigger. 'He's hiding inside that mass for a reason,' Izuku thinks to himself. 'I know He's afraid of One For All, and He wants to take it back. I need to find a way to summon One For All at just the right moment to smash that flesh to pieces and leave Him unguarded!'

'Begin summoning One For All!' His past self tells him. 'You can use it in short bursts and it will give you enough stretch to take apart that mass! You already know what to do!'

'That's right! I do know what to do! I only wish Bakugo was here with me…I want to save the world together...'

Getting to his feet, Izuku finds the flame within him that contains One For All and begins channeling it through his arms and to his fists. Izuku remembers now how he had such trouble learning how to use this power when first given to him. If it weren't for his friends to help him by joining their powers with his, all of his bones would shatter. With the strength of One For All in his fists, Izuku spreads Tokoyami's wings and flies up into the sky, his right fist out and glowing with green sparks. 'One For All-' he grits his teeth as All For One gets closer, 'SMASH!' His fist collides with the legion mass of bodies, forcing his way through the screams of agony and doing his best to ignore the sorrow and fear surrounding him. 'I'm sorry,' he manages to say to the poor souls he was tearing apart, but he has no other choice.

A small point of black reveals All For One's spot and although Izuku was close to reaching it, a forcefield stopped him. It blew him out of the mass and way, sending his form spiraling through the air. The wings help to bring him to a halt. Though he didn't reach All For One, almost half of the Dark King's legion was destroyed. Piles of writhing, bleeding flesh litter the empty battlefield.

'Again!' His past self calls out. 'Summon One For All and strike again! Hurry, before He calls back the bodies!'

'Yes! ONE FOR ALL-' Izuku cringes when he finds he cannot summon the power as quickly as the first time. 'Damn it! What's wrong with me?'

'He's regenerating the bodies!' Shoji says. 'Look!'

Izuku grits his teeth. 'If I can't summon this fast enough, we'll be right back where we started!'

'Wait! Look there!' Says Tokoyami. 'Is that...Tomura?'

Izuku's eyes widen when he sees Tomura flying through the air towards All For One. Something isn't right about Tomura, though. How can the demon fly while so limp? All For One's legion lets out a shriek when Tomura lands on top of it. What is he doing?

'Did he…change sides?' Kaminari asks.

'No, that can't be it,' Says Sero.

'Wait! Look at what's happening!' Kirishima shouts.

Izuku watches in stunned silence as the pink mass starts to turn gray and crumbles. Tomura's touch can decay flesh! Once all the bodies had melted away, All For One is finally revealed, hunched over in the air, looking exhausted and spent. Tomura falls to the ground and Izuku quickly flies towards him while still building up the power of One For All. But when he lands, all of them get a great, terrible shock. Tomura is not alone- he's not even alive. Suddenly, Bakugo appears from behind, or rather, from INSIDE of Tomura.

Bakugo forces his arms out of Tomura's limp skin and kicks the half-filled corpse of the villain away. Covered in blood that is not his own, Bakugo smirks at Izuku and says, "Revenge is a bitch! That bastard ripped me apart in the past, so I did the fucking same to him! Now, we can strike All For One!"

Izuku can't believe Bakugo actually wore the skin of Tomura to not only trick All For One, but to use the decaying power to rid All For One of His legion. It was disgusting to say the least, but it worked.

"Come on, then! I need to help you finish what you started, shitty omega!" Bakugo grabs Deku in an embrace and allows his body to enter his mate, joining his powers with the others.

Izuku gasps as he feels Bakugo's power strengthen the flame of One For All and now, he can summon it entirely, and to full capacity. With a smile of victory, Izuku summons One For All and flies towards his enemy. With the combined powers of his friends and mate, (and even Shoto and Dabi helping to keep the blasts of energy orbs away) Izuku finally has enough strength to defeat All For One.

'ONE FOR ALL...SMASH!'

His fist collides with All For One, breaking through the villain's ribcage. The power of One For All travels through All For One's body in tiny white rivets of white light, slowly breaking the Dark King apart. Izuku looks at All For One's face and gasps softly when he sees the monstrous face replaced with that of a human's. As he watches All For One fade away into beams of golden light, Izuku can't help but wonder WHO All For One really was, how He became this way, and what was the evil that caused Him to become the Dark King?

Once All For One's body explodes into a thousand orbs of light, a sheet of blinding white light expands through the sky and the earth. It even reaches to the human realm. When the light hit certain demon soldiers, their dark forms faded away and they once again became human. The regular demons suddenly felt a sense of relief and peace from the light.

Mirio, Amajiki, and Inasa felt the calming power of the light as well.

With a big smile, Mirio throws his fist in the air and shouts, "HE DID IT! IZUKU DID IT!"

And I think somebody somewhere must be tolling a bell

And the last thing I see is my heart,

Still beating still beating

Still beating still beating

Breaking out of my body, and flying away

TBC

***When Izuku says, "Hear me, All For One! I am the morning sun come to vanish this horrible night" This is a quote from the Castlevania series. It is usually recycled as part of the series. This particular one came from Castlevania: Order of Eccelsia referring to Dracula.

***The design of All For One's legion was based off of the reoccurring boss in the Castlevania series called Legion (also Granfaloon). Legion is also a small verse in the Bible, where Jesus helps to extract the hundreds of demons possessing a man, and he calls himself 'Legion, for we are many'. This fits into All For One gathering the quirks as well as Izuku gaining the powers of the past users of One For All.

***As for the song, I was listening to it a while ago and most of the lyrics clicked for this fic, so I decided to use it.

***More will be explained in the next and final chapter of Legion in my author's notes. I just wanted to point out a small part of what helped me to create this story.