Danny and Deku emerge from the rubble, landing on the ground. Deku nearly falls over. "Ok, that was weird," he says, patting his body to confirm he's solid again. Plasmius stands before them, an amused grin crossing his face. "Ah, I'm glad you decided to see sense, Young Daniel. And you've brought a friend! Is he just as eager to perish?" "Nobody dies tonight, Plasmius," says Danny with determination. "Your evil ends here," Deku adds, clenching his fists.
"How amusing, it seems you're not the only one who likes to give those little heroic speeches," Plasmius notes. "This fight doesn't involve you, boy. Leave now, and you may just live a while longer." "Not happening!" Deku responds. "Danny's my friend. Everything you've done to him, what you tried to do to us, it's unforgivable!" His body starts to glow as green electricity sparks around his body. Deku has gone into Full Cowling. Danny's eyes glow green as ectoplasm forms around his fists. "We're taking you down, here and now," he says. The two heroes take fighting stances. "So be it then," Plasmius leaps towards them and the fight begins.
Danny shoots several energy blasts as Deku charges in to fight up close. Plasmius dodges each shot, doing a sweep kick at Deku, Ecto-flames trail his foot, nearly singeing his green hair. He follows up with an uppercut that catches Deku in the chest, knocking him back. Danny catches him as Plasmius flies into the two, knocking them back through a wall. They land on their backs as their foe hovers above them. Deku tried to land a punch, but Plasmius seems to twist away into nothing with a cloud of smoke.
"Wh-what just happened!?" He asks, confused. Danny gets up, "Vlad can teleport. Not sure what his range is, but he wouldn't try and escape yet. Not while he still has to heal with us." "Let's get back to back," says Deku. "Good idea." The two stand close, facing opposite directions, watching their surroundings, ready to fight at the first sign of movement. But the attack doesn't come head on, but from below. A pair of intangible hands grab one leg of each, yanking them through the floor.
On the level below, Plasmius spins them around, hurling them towards a wall. Thinking quickly, Danny grabs Deku and the two phase through. However, the villainous ghost has followed them, intangible and giving chase. As Danny flies them up several floors, Plasmius vanishes again. Suddenly, he appears above them. Landing a big punch to Danny's face, he and Deku are knocked back. They land on the floor hard, as Plasmius creates a large battle axe out of ectoplasm and starts swinging.
Back within the collapsed debris, the students continue their search for the Gauntlet. Uraraka even floats larger debris aside to speed up the process. Every once in a while, the walls and ground shake. "Sounds like they're really going at it," says Kirashima, moving aside some rocks. "We've gotta find that Gauntlet!" Uraraka sets down another piece. "They don't have much time!" "We're going as fast as we can, but we can't risk disturbing the structural integrity," says Momo.
Bakugo is getting increasingly frustrated, between finding nothing so far and not being able to help fight Deku and Danny fight the villain. Every bit of dirt and rubble he moves, only to reveal nothing, furthers his anger. "I found something!" Everyone looks over to see Todoroki pulling the Fenton Grappler our from under some rocks. The barrel of the launcher is cracked, not going to be shooting anytime soon.
"I don't think any of this tech survived the roof collapse," Momo says sadly as Todoroki adds the piece to a pile of other recovered (and broken) anti-ghost weapons. Finally, Bakugo's temper boils over at another dud. "This is getting us nowhere!!!" He roars as he brings his hand up high. "Bakugo no!!" Iida tries to stop him, but Bakugo slams an explosive palm on a fallen slab of concrete. It breaks, the walls around the students shake dangerously, a piece even breaking off, but everything holds.
"Damn it, Bakugo!!" Iida yells. "I get you're frustrated, but using your quirk like that could-" "Everyone, look!!!" Mina yells, pointing at the cracked slab. Underneath a broken piece are two white fingers, the tips of the Gauntlet!
Back on the higher floor, Danny and Deku are holding their own, but barely. The two can avoid and maneuver around so they aren't taking as much damage, but they can't seem to land a decent hit in return. "Nothing's working!" Says Deku, frustrated. He dodges a spear made of ectoplasm, one of several Plasmius is throwing at them. "What do we do? He must have some weakness!" "Vlad's vain, and he's got an temper the size of this building," Danny replies. "Get him mad, make him sloppy, hit an opening." "How do we do that?" Deku asks. Danny grins, "I have a few ideas." He splits into four and flies at Plasmius.
Plasmius also makes four clones and they engage in combat, Deku watching and waiting for the right moment. "So tell me Plasmius," says Danny as they fight. "What was the worst part about being stuck in an intergalactic jail? Was it the food? The fact that you had no powers? Or maybe that you had nobody come visit?" Plasmius growls and throws a punch that misses its target. Danny counters with a kick to the face, knocking him over backwards. Deku takes advantage and leaps into the air, delivering a punch to an unguarded stomach. "Texas Smash!!!"
The punch drops Plasmius hard, going through a floor and making a crater with his impact. He stands, a little shaken by the double attack. "That actually hurt," he says to himself, shocked. "How does a boy like him have so much strength??" He cracks his neck and he flies up towards Deku. The young hero spots him however, and with a quick charge of his fingers, knocks the ghost back with a Delaware Smash, Danny following it up with a blast of ectoplasm.
Plasmius sees the attacks coming and raises his arms in a guard position, creating an energy barrier. However the Air Force from Deku's attack is so strong it breaks through the barrier. Plasmius is able to absorb Danny's, but just as he's about to fire it back, he's met by the floor. Knocked through two floors this time before stopping, Plasmius gets up from the ground, his face twisted into an expression of unbridled rage.
"That did it," Danny says. He and Deku watch as Plasmius vanishes with a cloud of smoke. "Ok, which direction?" Deku looks around, pointing at an area above. "There!" Danny grabs Deku, throwing him up through the air. Plasmius reappears, his angered expression turning to one of surprise as he sees Deku mere inches away, flying towards him with a fist cocked. With quick reaction time, he goes intangible and allows Deku to phase through. Danny prepares to shoot ectoplasm, only to be grabbed by the arms.
"You're so easy to predict, Daniel! Are you ever going to learn to fight differently?" Danny grins, "Actually, I did learn how to duck." "What?" From above, Deku slams Plasmius all the way back to ground level with a powerful ax kick to the head. "Manchester Smash!!!" The two leap down to confront the villain.
Plasmius tries to stand, but now he's starting to get a bit shaky. "All this work and planning you put into these little schemes of yours. But they always end the same way. You know why?" Plasmius attempts use a Ghostly Wail, but Danny charges in and showers Plasmius with a relentless series of punches, yelling with each blow. "Because you're an arrogant! Entitled! Piece! Of! Garbage!!!" The last punch knocks Plasmius into a wall. "You can't see past your own mistakes, your ego gets in the way every time! Honestly, I don't even need to knock you around anymore. You're your own worst enemy! This is why you couldn't stop the Disasteroid, why you never got to own the Packers, and why you never make my Mom love you."
That last bit causes Plasmius to snap. His eyes glow bright red and his expression becomes that of pure malice and hatred. "Enough!!!" He thrusts his hands into the airs, tendrils made of ectoplasm shoot out and wrap around Danny and Deku. Plasmius then uses his Ghost Zapper ability, electrocuting the two as they scream in pain. Danny is nearly forced out of his ghost form, being drained of so much energy. Plasmius brings the two before him and tightens his hold.
"You know something Daniel, you're right! By dwelling on the past, I continue to create failures in the present. If I'm to truly move forward, I simply have to erase all ties holding me back. I think I'll start by killing your family! Your sister, your idiot father, and yes, Maddie as well!" The tendrils start to circle their necks, slowly strangling them. "But before all that, I'll start things off I'll eliminating the two of you!" He turns to Danny, "You for continually being a thorn in my side." He turns to Deku, "And you for meddling where you don't belong!"
Deku strains to glare at Plasmius, struggling to speak. "'Meddling... when you don't need to... is the essence of being a hero'!" he quotes defiantly. "Ha! If you say so, 'hero'," Plasmius scoffs. "I'm thinking an eternity as mindless slaves will be a fitting punishment for you two. I did promise the good Doctor more samples." He squeezes tighter, the eyes of his captives bulging and faces turning blue.
"HEY CASPER!!!" Shouts a familiar voice. Plasmius turns in surprise to see Bakugo coming at him mid-air. "DIE!!!" He fires a huge explosion to the villain's face, causing him to let go of the two heroes and fall back. They drop to the ground, coughing and trying to catch their breath. "K-Kacchan!?" Says Deku, incredulously. The explosive hero hops over on one foot. His other one splinted and raised behind him. "He doesn't get to kill either of you before I do!" Bakugo grunts to his rival before turning to Danny. "Hey Glow Stick," he tosses something to him. "Hurry up and finish this, you still owe me a rematch."
Plasmius is getting up. "'Die'?" He asks astounded by the audacity of this newcomer. "What exactly are they teaching you in school, young man? You can't kill a ghost!" "Of course you can't," says Danny. "But we can catch them!" He thrusts his hand towards his foe, now wearing the Gauntlet. A burst of energy starts to envelope Plasmius as he struggles to escape. "No!!! No, I will not be held prisoner again!!!" He attempts to fly away, but Deku leaps over and grabs his foot. Turning in mid-air, he hurls their beaten foe towards Danny. The white beam completely encompasses Plasmius and with a final yell against the inevitable, he's sucked into the Gauntlet, the hard fought battle finally over.
End of Chapter Eleven