Rescuing Eri
No one had come looking for Izuku, so he stayed in Eri's room. They'd sat together, side-by-side on the bed, until they'd both grown tired and fallen asleep. Izuku had found scissors in Eri's bathroom cupboard, so he'd cut his hands free. When he woke up an unknown time later, he was lying on his side, one arm flung over Eri protectively. Eri was on her back, her hand up by her head and holding on to a lock of Izuku's now black hair. She looked so young and peaceful. The tension and worry in her face was gone, but it came back as she shifted and yawned, blinking her sweet fuchsia eyes open.
"Good morning, Eri-chan," Izuku said with a smile, gently brushing her long, white hair away from her tiny horn. He had no idea what time of day it was - or even WHAT day it was. Still, they'd just woken up, so it worked.
"Morning, Tsuki," she answered sleepily. She sat up, rubbing her eyes.
"Do they usually leave you alone this long?" he asked, sitting up next to her.
"Sometimes." She tilted her head down so her hair hid her face. Her small hands gripped the blanket tightly. "But lately Overhaul's been making my curse come out a lot."
Izuku felt cold, the memories of that chair lurking in his memory. He forced it away and smiled. "Well, I don't mind it being just us."
She looked up at him, her expression relaxing a bit. Izuku had learned that was the closest she came to smiling. He got out of bed and used the bathroom. Eri used it after him. He poured them both a drink. She thanked him as she took the glass.
"Want to play?" he finally asked.
"Play?" She looked up at him with a look of pure confusion.
Izuku smiled. "You have a lot of toys. Let's play with some of them." He walked among the boxes and found one with Glitter Hero dolls. He showed it to her with a big smile. "Wow! These are the newest ones." He tore into the box and freed the rainbow-themed barbie dolls. "Which one do you want to be?"
She squinted in confusion. "I don't know."
"That's okay!" He went back to the bed and climbed on. "We can take turns with all of them. Come on."
"What do we do with them?" Eri asked, following him onto the bed. It was clear she wanted to play, but she didn't know how.
Heart aching, Izuku smiled at her. "Whatever we want!" He lifted the red Glitter Hero into the air. "Mine can fly!"
Eri's eyes went wide with wonder. She picked up the purple doll and tentatively lifted her into the air. "Mine can fly, too," she said unsurely, but her hand steadied and became more bold when Izuku smiled at her.
After flying the dolls around for a bit and doing aerial tricks, the dolls were now sitting in their laps talking over an imaginary breakfast. Unspoken was the hunger in both of them. How long had it been since they'd eaten? There wasn't anything to do about it, so they both did their best to ignore it.
"I want to go to the park," Eri said in a high-pitched voice, moving the doll's arms. She looked up at Izuku with a hopeful expression, her voice dropping to normal. "I've never been to a park, but I heard they're full of flowers. Sometimes they bring me flowers. They're pretty."
"They're even prettier in a park," Izuku assured her earnestly. "And we'll definitely go to one together." Then, making his voice high-pitched, he moved his doll to hug Eri's. "I'd love to go to the park with you!"
Eri's face relaxed, giving her version of a smile. Izuku swore to himself then and there that no matter what happened he'd make sure Eri got out of here and that she'd live a life where she smiled - really smiled - every single day.
Come on, Kacchan. Where are you? he thought anxiously.
…
At exactly eight o'clock Wednesday morning, Katsuki stood in his battle gear outside of Overhaul's compound. Sitting on his shoulders, a metal collar wrapped around the back of his neck. It was open in the front, containing empty cartages for his gauntlet cannons, which had been molded into in the shape of grenades and fit around his forearms. His sleeveless black shirt with the bright orange X vivid across the chest was woven with thin, black scales that acted as light armor and was also heat resistant. A dark green utility belt matched the gauntlets and held miscellaneous useful items. Loose, black combat pants were tucked into his knee-high black and orange combat boots. Metal plates strapped over his knees made them almost as dangerous as his fists. On his hands were large black gloves. The palms were orange and made of a special material that would keep his hands warm and sweaty while also letting his explosions pass through. At the same time, the material offered some protection against the heat of his blasts. Finishing off the look, a black and orange fin was hooked around his ears and came off the back of his head, holding his black eye-mask in place. The fin was reminiscent of the spiked edges of an explosion.
Aizawa was also in his hero costume. He stood next to Katsuki in loose black fatigues and combat boots. His capture scarf was looped around his shoulders and neck, and his protective, yellow goggles were already pulled down over his eyes.
Mirio stood on Katsuki's other side. His hero costume was skintight, really emphasizing his muscular form. He wore a long-sleeved white top with a gold 1000000 across the chest. Accenting his shoulders were gold shoulder caps with two bright green lines running through them. Those same green lines wrapped around his waist, dividing his dark blue tights from his skintight top. A white stripe ran up the sides of his tights, and he wore knee-high white boots. What stood out the most about the costume, though, was the bright red gloves and matching red cape. He wore no mask, and his hair was styled up and away from his face, bold and unafraid of a villain uncovering his identity.
They weren't alone. Nighteye was there with sidekicks Bubble Girl and Centipeder. Behind him were Fat Gum and Kirishima. Over to the left stood Ryukyu, Froggy, and Cheeks with that annoying Big Three girl. Then there was the dark-skinned hero and those two other ones Katsuki hadn't bothered to learn the names of. Then there was Hawks with his bright red wings flared. Next to him stood Birdbrain from their class.
"I'm new to mentoring," Hawks had said cheerfully when he'd walked up with their raven-headed classmate. "So if the other heroes felt this would be a good learning experience for their new sidekicks, I didn't want to deny Tsukuyomi the same opportunity."
The black-skinned hero had thrown a fit at another teenager being added to their ranks, but the operation was already in motion. It was too late to make changes. Birdbrain met Katsuki's eyes and nodded his head as if to say he was ready. Katsuki flashed him a savage grin in return.
Finishing off their group, there were fifty police officers in full riot gear. They were a fucking ARMY!
Everyone grew dead-silent, poised and ready, asa trio of policemen, one with a warrant in hand, walked up to the front gate of Overhaul's compound. The door burst open before the officer could push the bell. The officers went flying through the air from the force of it! A handful of red feathers swooped in, catching the officers by their vests and setting them gently on the street.
The villain that stepped out to meet them was huge! Seven feet tall, muscles bulging bigger than Katsuki's body, he wore a black bird mask that covered his entire head. The file they'd been given at the meeting flashed through Katsuki's mind. — Rikiya Katsukame. Quirk: Vitality Stealing. Triggered by touch.
"What the fuck do you assholes want?" the villain demanded.
"STAND DOWN!" the officer yelled. "We have a warrant!"
The villain drew back his fist. "Oh yeah?" he growled in rage. "I'd like to see you make me."
Katsuki tensed to meet the attack head on, but Aizawa grabbed his arm as Ryukyu yelled, "GET BACK!" Her body expanded in a blink of an eye, becoming larger than even the villain. She caught his fist in a dragon-like, clawed hand. The police cowered behind their riot shields as the resulting blast of wind pounded down on them.
"You guys go ahead! Before they move the target! Ryukyu Agency will handle this villain!"
Katsuki didn't hesitate. He exploded forward, blasting through the gate. A whole fucking crowd of thugs stood between him and the front door. Baring his teeth in a ferocious grin, he exploded past them, and the heat and force of his blasts knocked them all flat on their idiotic asses.
— Ochako, Tsu, Fumikage, and Eijiro moved without thinking. Whenever they were paired with Bakugo for combat simulation drills, he was always the commander. They were conditioned to move when he moved. They sprinted forward in his wake, using the path he'd forged, instinctively moving to guard his back. It didn't matter that that Ochacho and Tsu were assigned to Hero Ryukyu, Ejiro to Fat Gum, and Fumikage to Hawks. Right now, they were Bakugo's. —
— Aizawa's eyes flashed red inside his goggles as they caught on the villains about to land blows on his allies, but much like his students, he kept close to Katsuki, not letting too much distance grow between them. —
Katsuki flipped and landed. Lifting his hands, he blasted the front door inward off its hinges. Dust rained down; the BOOM rattling the walls. He stomped inside, shrouded in smoke. "We have a warrant to search your fucking property on suspicion of the manufacture and sale of illegal drugs! Stand down, assholes, or you will be met with force!"
Thugs poured into the entranceway. With a savage grin, Katsuki knocked the three in the lead out cold with a concussive blast near their heads. Then he dove in among the crowd. He swung his arm around in a chop, hitting an extra in the back of the neck with his grenade gauntlet while his leg snapped out in a roundhouse kick, his boot slamming across another asshole's face. It was over in seconds. Mirio had burst in almost at the same time Katsuki had. Between him and the 1-A crew, the twenty or so thugs were down for the count.
Hawks stood watching with Nighteye in the space where the front door had been, an amused smile on his smarmy face. "What the hell you teaching them, Eraser?"
"Don't you have something you should be doing?" Aizawa asked dryly.
Red feathers filled the air and shot off. "On it," the hero answered cheerfully. He pulled a feather from his wing. It elongated and visibly sharpened. Hawks twirled it like a sword. "Shouldn't take long to find a passage down."
Katsuki practically vibrated in his skin as he waited for the signal on which way to go. We're coming for you, Izu, he thought fiercely. And we're going to take you and Eri back.
…
Izuku was clumsily trying to braid Eri's hair in the bathroom after wetting it when they heard the muffled boom of an explosion. Izuku instantly went on alert, joy and relief punching through his chest.
"Kacchan?" Eri asked softly, fear filling her face.
Izuku wrapped her in his arms and got to his feet. "Kacchan," he confirmed, settling her on his hip. "It's time. We're leaving this place for good."
Eri tucked her face in against his shoulder, trembling as he carried her swiftly to the door.
The door swung open just as he was about to grab the doorknob. Izuku stared into a pair of cold, yellow eyes set above a sharp-beaked mask and felt his heart slam hard against his ribs. He instinctively held Eri tighter as those cruel eyes narrowed.
"Well, well, if it isn't Grim's quirkless bitch," Overhaul drawled. "I wondered where you ran off to."
"I heard crying so I came to see who it was," Izuku said tightly, adrenaline flooding his system.
"I'll make sure you stay where you're left next time," Overhaul promised, tone dark and threatening. He stepped back, giving Izuku room to move into the hallway. "Come. We're leaving. Bring the curse with you."
Eri flinched. Izuku cradled the back of her head protectively and stepped into the hallway. Overhaul wasn't alone. The masked henchmen in the white raincoat, Nemoto, and the thug with the drunk quirk waited in the hallway. Izuku was overly conscious of Eri trembling against him and Overhaul's gloved hands within reach. With only one arm, impaired vision, and trapped by the narrow confines of the hallway, Izuku couldn't guarantee he could escape without Overhaul or one of his henchmen taking him down, so he forced himself to duck his head and play along a little longer.
"Turn left," Overhaul snapped as they approached a fork.
Izuku turned left and slowed. A blonde girl in a school girl uniform and a man in a black and grey skin-tight suit and matching mask were leaning against the wall. Izuku flinched as Overhaul grabbed his shoulder and shoved him aside. The thug in white moved with Overhaul, sticking close to his boss's side. Izuku cringed when Nemoto and the drunk stayed behind and crowded him against the wall.
"Twice. Toga," Overhaul said coldly, greeting to the two waiting for him. "It's time to prove yourself."
Izuku's heart leapt into his throat. Toga! He recognized her now. From the woods at camp. She was with the League of Villains! She was the shapeshifter who was all over Kacchan! He nearly growled, but he forced himself to stand silent, hoping they didn't recognize him and blow his cover. He didn't have to worry, though. With his hair and eyes different and half his face swollen and bruised, the two League members didn't even look twice at him.
"Explosion's here," the blond girl said with a wide grin of delight. Toga bounced on her toes and clapped her hands like some innocent kid excited over ice cream. "I can't wait to play with him again!"
Izuku bit his lip as his anger spiked. If Eri wasn't in his arms, he would have punched her in the mouth.
"This is going to be fun! I hate this!" the one in the skintight suit shouted.
"Just make sure the heroes don't get past you," Overhaul ordered as he strode past. "If you fail, I'll have words with Shigaraki."
Izuku watched over his shoulder as they practically ran down the hallway. Damn it! If only Izuku had his phone; he could text Kacchan and let him know they were here! Could warn him to watch his back!
"Hurry up," Nemoto barked and shoved Izuku forward.
…
As Hawks promised, he found a passage behind some ugly-ass vase. There was some kind of button system to get it to open up. Katsuki snarled and slammed an explosion into the door. The force knocked his allies back and sent wood flying through the air. Smoke billowed up, the debris burning as it scattered all over the hallway. A thick metal door was revealed. Shit.
Hawks and Birdbrain stepped up. Hawks yanked another long feather from his wing. It elongated and sharpened, becoming a second sword. He slashed at the metal door with both feathers, leaving inch-thick cuts. Dark Shadow also scored the door, his powerful claws slicing into the thick metal. After several minutes, Hawks' feathers were shredded to tatters, and the two stepped back, panting.
Katsuki placed both palms on the door and let off two huge blasts. The sound was deafening as the explosion tore into the weakened metal. Katsuki skid back from the force only to run forward and slam his palms against the door again. This time the metal burst apart, sending shrapnel flying. There were screams just behind the door. Katsuki dove through the three-foot hole and blasted a whole crowd of extras down the stairs that they'd apparently just climbed up.
The dark stairway went down farther than Katsuki expected. At least two stories by his estimate. Once he hit the bottom, the stairway opened into a well lit concrete hallway that was a good fifteen feet wide and almost twice that tall. You could drive a semi down the damn thing!
The extras had picked themselves up and surged forward toward Katsuki with snarls on their faces. They went down as quickly as the group in the entranceway. After a brief discussion, a handful of the officers as well as Centipeder and Bubble Girl stayed behind to guard the exit and watch over the unconscious thugs.
"Fuck!" Katsuki spat, hands crackling as the hallway ended in fork. It was a fucking maze down here! "Where are these assholes?!"
"I got it," Hawks said as more feathers exploded outward, shooting down both sides. "Give me a second." Hawks suddenly took the right branch. "I sense movement this way!"
Katsuki ran after him, right on his heels. "The hell?!" he yelled as they turned and ran into a wall.
"I hear something on the other side," Hawks explained.
Mirio ran right through, his red cape snapping behind him. "Yeah! There's a path!" he called from the other side. "The wall's a front! There's something here!"
"Care to do the honors?" Hawks asked with a grin, bowing and gesturing at the wall.
Katsuki grinned as Hawks wisely stepped out of range. With a scream of defiance, he slammed his palm forward, exploding the thin concrete of the false wall to bits. The hallway shook from the blast. Dust rained down and one of the pipes along the ceiling burst, spraying water.
"Does he have to be so damn loud?" the dark-skinned hero complained.
Katsuki ignored him as he stomped through the hole he'd created. "Fucking come out and fight, cowards!" he roared. Mirio was standing over something. It looked like a small, shredded costume and an empty syringe.
"Looks like Trigger," the blond said, voice tense.
Just then the hallway began to distort. The ground rolled. The cops gave a cry of alarm, falling to their knees. Cheeks, Birdbrain, and Hawks took to the air, hovering in the middle so as not to get disoriented. Froggy crouched and stuck to the floor, keeping her footing stable. The rest of them were left trying to ride it out and not fall on their asses.
"What's going on?" Kirishima yelled.
"It has to be the villain Mimic!" Aizawa answered. His head turned this way and that as if looking for something.
"He can't possess anything bigger than a fridge!" the dark-skinned hero protested.
"He took Trigger," Fat Gum explained.
"Go on ahead!" Nighteye barked at Mirio. "They're trying to stall us! We'll catch up!"
Mirio's caught Katsuki's eyes. "I'll make sure to save her," he promised before turning and running down the undulating hallway, slipping through the walls.
"FUCK!" Katsuki roared, hating with a passion being left behind.
"I have to see him to stop his quirk!" Aizawa said, body tensed and ready to attack. "No explosions!" he yelled at Katsuki. "The debris may kill us!"
"I fucking know that!" Katsuki snarled back, frustrated.
Red feathers suddenly burst past Katsuki. They hooked into the officers' clothes and shot them down the hallway back the way they'd come as the walls slammed together where they officers had been standing.
Katsuki blasted backward out of range just as the floor and ceiling pinched together, trying to smash him like a bug. A feather grabbed both Aizawa and Nighteye, shoving them forward in Katsuki's direction. Aizawa had wrapped his scarf around both Cheeks and Red, so they were pulled forward with them. Birdbrain and Froggy flew/leapt forward on their own just as the walls slammed together with a resounding crash. There was a scream of pain.
"FAT GUM!" Kirishima yelled fearfully, slamming his rock-liked fists against the distorted wall.
"We're fine! Rock Lock got his foot pinned, but I broke him free!" the massive hero called back. "Go on without us! Rock Lock will lock the hallway in place on this side! There are some officers hurt! We'll get them to safety and secure your exit!"
The hallway rose up, trying to pin and crush them. They scrambled clear, but it was no use! There was nowhere to go! Eventually they'd run out of places to dodge. Red feathers almost seemed to explode from Hawks. They pierced the walls, floor, ceiling - pelting the concrete like a red rain. Katsuki and the others kept getting knocked around, barely dodging the walls as they pinched closed again and again, but Katsuki focused on those feathers. He saw the wall almost flinch in the corner.
"THERE!" he yelled, pointing.
Birdbrain ran forward. Dark Shadow lifted from his body and tore into the concrete like butter. There was a scream of pain as the asshole came half out of the wall, pulled out by Dark Shadow's grip. The hallway froze, warped and bent out of shape, but it finally stopped moving as soon as Aizawa got a clear look at him.
"I'LL KILL YOU ALL!" the madman screamed, spit flying from his mouth as Dark Shadow yanked the bastard the rest of the way free of the crumbling wall.
Nighteye threw something small at the idiot. It slammed into his jaw, dislocating it and knocking him out cold. Aizawa's scarf lashed out and grabbed the thug before he hit the ground face-first. Before they could even catch their breath, however, the floor suddenly crumbled as what looked like crystal speared upward toward them.
Katsuki blasted up, controlling his fall. Cheeks floated, and Froggy wrapped her tongue around the girl's waist to pull her safely down. Red hardened his body and fell with a loud crunch and thud as the crystal shattered under his bodyweight. Dark Shadow had grabbed Aizawa with one huge, shadowed hand while the rest of his body helped Birdbrain glide down safely. Hawks fluttered his wings, hovering over their heads. Nighteye wasn't as lucky. He hit the side of a spire of crystal and rolled painfully off. He pushed up into a crouch, but his arm was wrapped around his torso.
Cracked or broken ribs, Katsuki thought grimly.
"Oi, oi, oi," a laughing voice called. "Look at that. Heroes have fallen from the sky."
Three villains stood across from them. One was skinny and short, his mask a cloth bag that covered his entire head and his shoulders. The bag was held in place by a rope tied around his neck. — Soramitsu Tabe. Quirk: Food. Another was blond with a long, black-beaked mask. He wore a green dress shirt and pink tie. This was Toya Setsuno; Quirk: Larceny. The last was a tall, muscular, bald man. He wore a white surgical face mask and a loose black shirt that was half unbuttoned. — Yu Hojo; Quirk: Crystalize.
"You killed him!" Kirishima screamed furiously.
Katsuki snapped his head around, his heart in his throat, but it was only the fucking Mimic thug. He'd been unconscious when the floor collapsed and hadn't been able to react or dodge. Now he hung impaled on a crystal spike. Blood flowed down the spear, turning it red as a ruby.
"Our lives belong to Overhaul," the tall, bald one said in a deep voice. "It is as it should be."
"You're despicable," Nighteye spat, voice sharp. He stood tall and pushed his glasses higher up his nose. He looked pissed off. "You guys go on ahead. I could use a little break to catch my breath. Don't worry. I'll follow you shortly."
The blond Larceny asshole threw back his head and laughed. "You really think we'll be that easy, hero?"
"Yes. I do," Nighteye answered confidently. He shot a glare at the rest of them. "Get going. Lemillion needs backup."
Katsuki didn't need to be told twice. Izuku was down here in this hell hole somewhere, and he wasn't going to let anything stop him from reaching his side. He turned and sprinted through the doorway to the left.
"Capture them before my quirk wears off," Aizawa shouted as he ran after his students as they followed Katsuki.
"Here. Use this," Hawks offered and handed over one of his feather swords.
Nighteye took it gratefully.
…
Izuku could hear the faint sound of explosions and a strange rumbling through the walls as they walked deeper through the maze-like hallways. It was hard to say if the sounds were getting closer or further away. Nerves had sweat dewing his hairline and rolling down his back. Overhaul walked slowly at the head of their line, hands in his pockets, with the guy in the white raincoat next. Izuku followed a few feet behind them with Eri in his arms. Nemoto and the drunk loomed at his back, keeping him moving.
"It's over for the Shie Hassaikai, isn't it?" Raincoat asked, voice sounding slightly mechanic as it filtered through the beaked, black and gold mask that covered his face.
"No," Overhaul disagreed. "As long as the Boss and I are here, the Shie Hassaikai will not end." Almost bored, he continued, "It's no big loss, losing the filth back there. They follow the Boss, but they don't understand my thinking. They're not smart enough to follow the science or my plans." He pulled two cases out of his pocket. Izuku stepped to the side so he could see over the the man's shoulder to see them. "As long as we have this drug and the antidote, we will rise again stronger than ever."
"The perfected process took a month just to make five bullets," the henchmen said carefully.
"It only took that long because of the conditions we're working with. Now that we have proof it can be done, everyone will throw money at our feet, and we'll have state of the art equipment." Overhaul turned his head to Raincoat, his eyes narrowing. "Besides, even one of these bullets in the right hands at the right time could be priceless."
"Of course. You're so wise, Master Overhaul," the henchman practical groveled.
Izuku watched, eyes sharp as Overhaul put the two cases back in his pocket.
Suddenly there was the sound of boots running down the hallway behind them. They all stopped and turned around. Izuku's eyes widened as he watched Mirio come running toward them, his cape snapping behind him. The teen slid to a stop about ten feet from Nemoto and the drunk guy. He was panting, sweat rolling down the side of his face, but his expression was unflinching as he caught sight of Eri in Izuku's arms.
"Surrender," Mirio said firmly even as he was breathing hard. "I have a warrant."
"You shouldn't have been able to get here so fast," Overhaul complained from behind Izuku. He didn't sound overly concerned that a hero had shown up in front of him.
"I took a shortcut," Mirio quipped and braced his feet, no longer breathing hard. He lifted his fists in a fighting stance. "I'm here to rescue that girl. Please put your hands in the air and get on your knees."
When Overhaul spoke again, he sounded angry. "Back then you suspected I was hurting her, but you let her go. Because it was convenient for you. So don't act like a hero now, Mr. School-boy. Besides, she doesn't want to be 'rescued'. Right, Eri?"
Eri was trembling. Her eyes wide and frightened as she looked at Mirio. "Please…" she whispered, voice barely heard. "Please leave us alone."
"Eri…" Izuku murmured, heart twisting.
"You'll only get hurt!" Eri said louder, and Izuku realized she was trying to protect Mirio. "I'm cursed! Only Kacchan can save me!"
Mirio wasn't deterred. "Kacchan will definitely save you!" he exclaimed. "So it will be my job to stop Chisaki."
"We will talk about who this Kacchan is," Overhaul promised. Izuku looked over his shoulder to see the man glaring hotly, yellow eyes hard and dangerous. "Nemoto, Sakaki. Kill him."
Raincoat grabbed Izuku's arm hard enough to bruise and yanked him after Overhaul as the young boss continued down the hallway.
Izuku looked over his shoulder, eyes wide, to see Mirio stagger and fall to his knees. The drunk was walking forward. He'd finished his bottle of sake and threw it to the side, the glass shattering loudly against the concrete wall. Small throwing knives glinted in his hand.
"Ke ke ke! Don' get closh to me or you'll get sloshed!"
Nemoto pulled out a gun. He shot round after round. Eri screamed, her hands slamming over her ears as she cowered against Izuku's chest. Izuku felt One For All surge. He was about to tear away from Raincoat's grip, but Mirio rolled and dodged the rain of bullets. Those he didn't dodge passed harmlessly through him.
"I've felt worse while learning to deal with my quirk!" Mirio shouted and suddenly fell straight through the floor.
It was over just that quick. Nemoto and the drunk were knocked out in a split second as Mirio shot up out of the ground. Standing there, cape snapping from the fast upward movement, the young hero shouted triumphantly, "POWER!"
Raincoat stopped yanking Izuku forward. Mirio dropped through the floor again. Izuku whipped his head forward, looking at Overhaul, and saw Mirio fly up from the ground behind the man. His kick grazed Overhaul's cheek and slammed into Raincoat's face. The thug was slammed sideways. He hit the wall and collapsed to the ground unmoving. Then Mirio was standing between Izuku and Overhaul, protecting them.
"You don't look like you're here willingly," Mirio said, turning to flash a smile over his shoulder. "There are other heroes here. Please take Eri back that way. I promise you will both be safe."
"Eri," Overhaul said coldly. "This is your fault. Because you ran away. You got these heroes involved, and now they'll die. That's what your curse does. It kills everyone who comes in contact with you. Only I can stop it. Only I can fix you."
"How can you lie like that to your own child?!" Mirio yelled furiously.
Overhaul crouched down. He pulled his glove off and said, voice cold. "I don't have any children." He slammed his palm on the floor.
Instantly the concrete of the floor, ceiling, walls - disintegrated around them, creating a wide open, underground cavern. The concrete reformed in an instant in huge spikes that speared out of the ground. Mirio crashed into Izuku, wrapping him and Eri up in his arms as he leapt up just out of reach of the spikes. Falling, Mirio's boots came down hard on the tops of spikes, breaking the dangerous tips as they landed.
"I'll protect Eri!" Izuku yelled. "You focus on Overhaul!"
Mirio's head whipped around, eyes wide. "Deku?! What are you doing here?!"
"If you think having Eri and my hostage near you will protect you," Overhaul yelled. "It won't! If I put them back together again right away, I can revive them. Even if they're torn to pieces. Eri knows this firsthand, don't you, Eri?"
The ground erupted in spikes again, this time faster and higher. Izuku leapt, green static running along his body. Eri gave a surprised yelp, clinging even tighter to him.
"YOU FILTHY LAIR!" Overhaul screamed in rage. "YOU HAVE A QUIRK! I'll BREAK YOU DOWN TO NOTHING!"
"You'll have to beat me first, Chisaki!" Mirio yelled back, distracting the psycho as he launched himself forward.
Izuku landed just past the spikes in the shadows along the metal wall that was revealed after Overhaul had torn apart the concrete with his quirk. He caught her terrified eyes with his own and smiled. "Don't worry, Eri-chan. It's going to be okay."
"What are you doing?" she asked faintly, eyes wide in horror. "You shouldn't! He'll kill you!"
"He won't kill me," Izuku promised with conviction, still smiling. "I promise, Eri. We won't let him kill anyone. Believe in me, Eri-chan, okay?"
Tears filled the little girls eyes. She looked terrified, but she gave a hesitant nod.
…
Katsuki ran into a dark room. The fuck? He let off sparks from his palms and just barely dodged a fist the size of his head flying toward his face. Katsuki reflexively let off an explosion that should have propelled them both away from each other, but the thug stood right where he was, protected behind a shimmering golden wall.
"Hekiji Tengai, Kendo Rappa," Aizawa said sharply as the others fanned out behind Katsuki. "Stand down. We have a warrant to search the premise."
"Put your hands up and fight!" the muscled thug yelled in response and slammed his huge fists against the golden wall. "Tengai! Drop the barrier! I'll show them what it means to fight with your fists!"
"There are more here than we expected," a cool, calm voice said from the darkness. "Hawks. Eraserhead. And five unknown sidekicks. The others failed in their duty to Master Overhaul."
Suddenly the room shook, a deep rumble echoing. There was a huge fight going on somewhere close by, and Katsuki knew Izuku was caught up in it. "MOVE OUT OF THE WAY, ASSHOLES!" he roared, hands crackling. "OR I'LL BLOW YOU TO PIECES!"
"Tsukuyomi and I can handle these two," Hawks said cheerfully, eyes glinting with predatory intent. "Go and save the girl."
Suddenly, Dark Shadow - huge and monstrous in the near pitch-black dark of the room - grabbed them in a massive, clawed hand and flung them towed the doorway at the back of the room. They soared over the villains' heads, shielded from view by Dark Shadow, so the Barrier freak couldn't trap them. Katsuki blasted forward into the light of the next room only to be tackled from the air by his mirror image.
"I'LL KILL YOU!" his double roared and slammed a punch into Katsuki's cheek that knocked him clear off his feet.
Katsuki kicked out as he fell and the explosion aimed at his head went wide. He rolled and came up on his feet, cheek hot and head ringing from the punch. The extras stood bunched in the doorway, clearly confused, but Aizawa's eyes were already glowing red. Katsuki felt his quirk shut down and had to assume the double also had his quirk erased. He grinned at himself. It was on!
A high-pitched cry drew his attention. There were two Cheeks wrestling on the ground. One of the two girls got her arm around the throat of the other and began to choke her out. "… He… lp…" the choking girl gasped, slapping desperately at her attacker's arm.
Katsuki didn't get to see what happened next. He went crashing through the wall as his double tackled him through a weakened wall and out of view of Aizawa. The double sat on stomach, grinning fiercely down at him. The bastard lifted his palm to let off an explosion at point-blank range right in Katsuki's face, but Katsuki's hand was already aimed at the double's chest. He blasted the fucker off him and it instantly turned into wet goo that splattered the walls. Cheeks suddenly dove through the hole in the wall and that fucking muscled villain from the dark room they'd just left filled the space from the other side, blocking it.
"The fuck?" Katsuki growled as Cheeks ran over.
"What's going on? Are you okay?" she exclaimed, large brown eyes wide in panic.
Katsuki snarled and knocked the bitch's arm aside as she suddenly lunged forward with a knife, trying to gut him. His other fist came around in a quick jab aimed right at her throat. The girl backflipped, so the punch didn't land solidly, but it was enough to make her eyes water and cough a few times. Her mouth stretched into a wide, delighted smile.
"Explosion! I've missed you!" she exclaimed happily.
"You're that fucking psycho," Katsuki growled, hands crackling threateningly. "I don't have time to deal with your crazy ass."
"You remember me!" she exclaimed in delight and ran at him, keeping her body low.
Katsuki let off a blast, but she leapt up just before his hand exploded and flipped over Katsuki's head. Katsuki blasted forward, out the range of her knife, and spun back around with a vicious kick aimed at her ribs. She rolled forward, under his leg, her knife nicking his lower back as she popped up behind him. He spun, breathing hard. They stood facing each other, both catching their breath.
"You're so hot covered in red," she cooed, licking the blade.
"Fuck you!" Katsuki snarled and let off a big enough explosion that, even though she dodged most of it, still sent her tumbling across the room.
Suddenly, the spandex fucker from the League who had beaten him unconscious in the bar and the marble fucker who wore a mask and a top-hat ran into the room. "Go get 'em, Mr. Compress! Leave him alone!" Spandex shrieked excitedly.
One touch of that marble fucker's hand and Katsuki was finished. The villain ran toward Katsuki, his weird mask somehow making it look like he was grinning. Meanwhile shit was still going down with Izuku. The walls were still shaking and he could hear gunshots. Everything slowed as he made his decision.
Katsuki could hear his breath going in and out. He lifted his arm and pulled the pin on his gauntlet. BAAAH-BOOOOOM!
The marble villain instantly vaporized. A huge ball of fire and force chewed through the top layer of the floor and ceiling. The two villains were blasted into the wall, which exploded outward from the force. Aizawa, Red, Cheeks, and Froggy were suddenly there at his side. They were talking, but Katsuki couldn't hear anything through the ringing in his ears.
Chucks of concrete fell from the ceiling. Katsuki ignored that and ran forward. He found a trail of blood. It led away from whatever was going on deeper in the compound. His hearing was starting to come back, but it sounded like he was underwater. He had no idea what Aizawa was saying to him. His teacher grabbed his arm. Katsuki tried to pull away, but Aizawa's grip was unyielding. He reached toward Katsuki's head. Katsuki flinched, felt his teacher touch him gently by his ears, and pulled back to show him his fingertips. They were red. Katsuki was bleeding. Shit. He didn't have time to deal with that.
"Who. Was. It?" Aizawa asked slowly, exaggerating his mouth.
"The League!" he yelled. "There were three of them! One was a copy! Of the marble guy! I blasted them pretty good. I don't think they'll be a problem! We have to keep going!"
Aizawa did not look happy about this, but he let go of Katsuki's arm. Aizawa turned his head to speak to the extras, so Katsuki didn't catch what he said, but it didn't matter. Aizawa took off running deeper into the compound. Katsuki sprinted after him, right on his teacher's heels.
…
The sound of gunfire had Izuku's heart beating overtime. "Eri, I'm going to swing you onto my back. I want to see what's going on, okay?"
The little girl had never ridden piggyback in her life, but she nodded tearfully and followed his instructions. Soon he had her secure, both hands now free. He would have left her behind, hidden, but she was safer with him.
He leapt up onto a spike and peered over the edge. He watched as Mirio kicked Overhaul in the head, knocking him down, before falling through the ground and flying up to attack Nemoto who was shooting at him. The already battered thug went down hard, gun spinning away from his hand, but Overhaul was still conscious. The concrete floor turned into a deadly, spiked wave.
Izuku leapt clear. From the new vantage point, he could see Raincoat was crouched in Overhaul's shadow. Something snakelike whipped forward as Mirio attacked Overhaul again. Mirio gave a cry as the foot resting solidly on the ground was stabbed. Izuku began to fall from his jump, eyes wide in horror as Mirio stood frozen mid-punch. Overhaul - mask shattered and face exposed - snarled as he reached for Mirio's face with his bare hand.
It all happened so quickly. The wall to the side of Overhaul exploded inward. A chain of explosions rocketed Kacchan forward. Black tendrils shot out of Izuku's arm and wrapped around Mirio. Izuku yanked the teen off his feet toward him, out of Overhaul's reach, just as Kacchan did a flip and blasted Overhaul backward with a massive explosion. Izuku stood over Mirio protectively, breathing hard, Eri still on his back. He grinned widely at Kacchan who stood thirty feet away veiled in smoke with red eyes flashing.
"Kacchan!"
"DEKU?!" Ochaco came running out of the hole Kacchan had made. She wasn't alone. Eijiro, Tsu, and Aizawa were with her. Izuku's eyes went wide.
"Grab Lemillion and get back," Aizawa ordered. He stood with his scarf hovering around this shoulders, his body in a defensive position.
Izuku let One For All enhance his muscles and scooped Mirio up in his arms bridal style. The blond's body was stiff, but moved if Izuku applied pressure. He leapt and landed behind his teacher and classmates.
"What happened to you?" Ochaco demanded, panicked. "Why do you look like that?"
"I'll explain later," he said desperately.
"He has the child," Tsu pointed out. "Our first priority should be to escort her to safety."
"No!" Eri cried out, arms tightening around Izuku's neck. "Don't! You'll get in trouble! Only Kacchan can save me!"
"It's okay, Eri-chan," Izuku soothed her, reaching up to gently touch her arm. "He's saving you right now. It's all over."
"Froppy is right. Take the girl and go. You don't have a license. You can't be involved in this fight," Aizawa said, looking back at him.
Everything in Izuku wanted to protest.
"Izuku," Aizawa said lowly. "Trust us. You need to go. Get Lemillion and Eri to safety."
Uravity, Froppy, Red Riot - they stood before him battle ready, eyes hard with determination. And there was Eraserhead. They wouldn't let anything happen to Kacchan. Overhaul was on his last legs as it was. "Be careful of guns! His henchmen have them," Izuku said frantically. "Make sure to take the two cases in Overhaul's jacket pocket. They're important!"
"I will," Aizawa promised. "Now go!"
Izuku held Mirio closer to his chest and ran for the hole in the wall that Kacchan had made.
…
Katsuki ran forward, chasing after Overhaul, determined not to stop until the asshole was unconscious. He looked beat to hell even before he'd blasted the villain back. The memory of the joy and hope on Izuku's battered face rose up inside him and his hands sparked with a dangerous heat.
"DIE!" he screamed.
Overhaul, maskless and battered, looked up. He was crouched on the ground, slapping his bare hand against the concrete but nothing was happening. Aizawa had his back, erasing the bastard's quirk.
"CHRONO!" Overhaul screamed.
Katsuki was mid-movement of thrusting his hand forward and blowing the bastard up for good. He twisted to the side, but it wasn't enough. Something sharp sliced across his bare bicep. His whole body locked up and he fell, skidding across the concrete floor.
…
Aizawa watched Katsuki fall and felt ice flood his veins. There was nothing more dangerous than a super-villain on the verge of being captured. They grew unpredictable and suicidally reckless. "Red Riot!" he shouted. "Uravity! Floppy! Capture the one in the Raincoat!" He had to take Overhaul out fast. Before his students were killed.
"Just like a hero!" Overhaul shouted, expression wild. "Thinking you have control!"
Aizawa's scarf lashed out. "Surrender!" he demanded.
Overhaul dodged the coils, but he was hurt. He couldn't move as fast as he normally could. The scarf grabbed him as they snapped back toward Aizawa. Overhaul's deadly hands were neutralized as his forearms were bound together. Aizawa landed directly in front of the villain.
"It's over, Chisaki."
…
Ochaco slapped some debris and Tsu grabbed it with her tongue, flinging it forward. Once it had momentum, Ochaco released her quirk, sending stones flying toward the guy in the white raincoat. He flung himself flat, the stones flying over him. Two pale whips flew from his head, lashing the air as he aimed a gun directly at Uravity. Eijiro was suddenly there, putting his body between her and the gun. Tsu leapt aside to avoid one of the whips, the other stabbed at Eijiro without doing damage. The gun went off with a deafening BANG!
"SENSEI!" Ochaco screamed in warning, turning around to look behind her in horror. The gun wasn't aimed at them. It was aimed at Aizawa! And they were blocking the villain from their teacher's sight!
…
Aizawa dove to the side, but it was too late. The bullet punched into his arm. Pain screamed into his brain. He blinked. In that split second, Overhaul twisted his wrists in a show of dexterity and touched the scarf wrapped around his wrists. It disintegrated, even the part wrapped around his shoulders and not touching Overhaul. The entire scarf turned to dust. Aizawa leapt back, getting distance, eyes open and pinned to Overhaul, once more cancelling his devastating quirk.
"I won't let things end here," the villain promised, expression crazed. "You won't be able to stop me, hero."
…
Eijiro kicked the gun out of the villain's hand. Then, skin hard as rock, he grabbed the two whips that were writhing around the villain's head. Tsu and Ochaco rushed forward at the same time. Tsu wrapped her tongue around the thug, yanking him up, and Ochaco punched him right on the jaw, knocking him out cold.
…
"Nemoto!"
Aizawa watched as Overhaul threw something at a villain dressed in all black who had been hiding in the shadows. He looked like he was barely keeping his feet, but the thug caught the small object and loaded it into his gun. Everything seemed to slow. A bullet. Overhaul had given him a bullet. They had bullets that could erase quirks. Permanently. The villain lifted his arm and took aim. At Katsuki lying helplessly on the ground. Aizawa lunged.
"NO!" Katsuki screamed furiously, breaking free of whatever held him and pushing up into a crouch.
But it was too late. Aizawa crashed into Katsuki, taking the bullet in his shoulder. Katsuki wrapped his arms around Aizawa as they were knocked flat. He eased Aizawa down and crouched beside him.
"You idiot!" the boy yelled furiously.
Aizawa grabbed his arm. "Be careful."
…
Katsuki took in his teacher's anxious expression, the blood slowly pooling under his shoulder and saw red. "You extras! GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE AND PATCH HIM UP!"
Then he exploded up and was coming down fast on the villains who had shot his teacher. Overhaul spun around and grabbed the henchman in black. A blast of light and wind knocked Katsuki out of the air. He dropped directly in front of Aizawa and planted himself firmly in front of him.
"I'll have you return Eri now, heroes!"
Overhaul stood mutated. He had two sets of arms that were inhumanely thick and long, one set a pale red, the other a deep purple. His four hands, if you could call them hands, were enormous and clawed, like a massive tiger or some shit. Thick black lines that looked like veins ran from his mouth that was now twice the size and crowded with two rows of sharp teeth. The angry lines ran over his face, down his neck, and over both pairs of arms. He was monstrous.
Katsuki stood before him without flinching. "Fuck. You," he spat, glaring. He heard Froggy wrap her tongue around Aizawa and yank him back out of the line of fire. Cheeks and Red came up on either side of him, ready for battle. Katsuki's mouth stretched into a feral grin. "You're not getting anything, asshole. You're finished."
…
Izuku ran down the hall. He skid to a stop as Nighteye, Hawks, and Fumikage stepped out of a dark room. Nighteye's suit was torn to bits, the shirt and jacket practically falling off him. He was cradling his ribs protectively. Cuts were bleeding all over his torso and arms. His glasses were missing. Hawks didn't look banged up, but his wings were practically bare of feathers, the skin naked and pink underneath.
"Midoriya!" Nighteye gasped, eyes wide. "Mirio!"
Izuku hurriedly passed the still frozen teen over to Nighteye. "He was stabbed by a whip coming out of one of the villain's heads. Kacchan and the others are back there fighting Overhaul. I have Eri," he explained in a rush, lifting a shoulder to indicate the little girl still clinging to his back.
"His time had been slowed," Hawks said, looking over the blond in Nighteye's arms. "If he's still like this, then he likely got stabbed with the shorter whip. It will last an hour, but he should be okay once it wears off."
"You need to go back, Midoriya!" Nighteye exclaimed, panicked. "You're the only one with the power to alter the course of the future! Without you there, they're going to die!"
Izuku's eyes went wide. Eri dropped from Izuku's back and tried to run back the way they'd come, but Izuku caught her. "Eri-chan!"
"No!" she cried, trembling, pushing him away. "I'm cursed! I shouldn't have left! It's my fault they're going to die!"
Izuku set her down and turned her to face him, holding her shoulders. "Eri-chan. Look at me."
The girl stilled, but she was still crying. Huge tears ran down her flushed cheeks.
Izuku gave her a smile. "Your curse was never your power, Eri. Your curse was Overhaul. And we're going to stop him. Please trust me just a little longer, okay?"
Eri didn't agree or disagree, but she let Izuku pick her up and hand her over to Hawks. Izuku met the heroes eyes, demanding that he keep her safe. Expression more serious than Izuku had ever seen it before, Hawks nodded and cradled her gently to his chest. Izuku turned around and sprinted with the full power of his quirk back down the hallway.
…
Kacchan fired off explosion after explosion, but the bastard was healing himself as fast as Katsuki did damage. Concrete speared up like deadly spikes. Tsu had Aizawa wrapped in her tongue and was climbing to the ceiling where it was safe. Kirishima took hit after hit, the concrete spikes shattering against his body, but they were doing some damage. Cheeks was floating and dropping once the spikes stopped before she got too high. Sweat slicked her face. She wouldn't last much longer.
Fuck this shit. Katsuki lifted his arm and pulled the pin on his gauntlet. BAH-BOOOOOOM! The concrete spikes shattered and flew through the air like a deadly hail of bullets. Overhaul was flung back with such force he was impaled through the gut on a six foot spike all the way down to the root. His jacket was on fire! Half the skin of his face was burnt away. Two of his three arms on the right side were blasted off.
"Primus! Holy shit!" Kirishima yelled as he was knocked on his ass from the backlash.
"You're going to kill him!" Cheeks screamed.
Maybe he was, but Katsuki knew that they were fucking losing. Losing meant death. Katsuki wasn't fucking strong enough to end this fight without either him or them dying. And fuck! He wouldn't let it be them who died!
Suddenly everything went still as a storm of light and air pressure hit a second time. Holy shit! The asshole had gotten ahold of his other henchman. The one in the white raincoat. Overhaul fused his monstrous form with the third body, healing all the damage he'd taken. He threw his head back and roared! He now had six arms and hands, each able to use the Overhaul quirk. He had those fucking whips, too, coming off his head. They were nearly black, the same color as Overhaul's hair, so they would be harder to see and dodge. They whipped forward fast as lightning. Katsuki flung his arms up to block. His gauntlets took the blow, the arrowheads spearing into them and shattering them both.
"FUCK!" Katsuki flung off his metal collar. Without his gauntlets, the cartridges dead weight. He screamed and blasted himself up and away, forearms cut and bleeding from his gauntlets shattering around his arms.
The monster roared and flew up into the air by a pillar of concrete. Overhaul was grinning, mouth open with three rows of pointed teeth. He reached forward with all six arms. Katsuki blasted him, but Overhaul shielded with one arm, sacrificing it, and grabbed at him with the others. Katsuki used his other hand to blast himself sideways out of the asshole's reach, and exploded him in the side with a pinpoint blast that packed enough force to tear a normal person in half.
Overhaul laughed, blood spraying from his mouth, and disintegrated what was left of his middle before making it whole once more. Those spiked whips snapped out at Katsuki, but he used his hands to spin mid-air and slip around them. Katsuki flung his hand forward, this time aiming for the villain's head.
"DIE!" he screamed and let off a huge explosion.
Three of the arms were sacrificed this time. The last arm reached out to grab his leg as he fell. Katsuki's hands weren't in the correct position. He was going to get grabbed!
…
Izuku sprinted into the torn up arena of the chamber. Overhaul - massive, multi-armed, enraged - reaching for Kacchan. Kacchan blasted Overhaul, three huge arms exploding in a shower of blood and flesh. Izuku leapt toward the fight, but he was only able to close half the distance. Overhaul reached for Kacchan, and Kacchan wasn't in the right position, couldn't dodge!
Something inside Izuku twisted, and as he began to fall, his feet hit solid air. Izuku didn't hesitate. He leapt again, closing in on Kacchan as Overhaul's clawed hand was about to close on Kacchan's ankle. Izuku activated his black tendrils and yanked Kacchan toward him and out of reach. Overhaul fell nearly thirty feet to the ground.
"The hell?" Kacchan demanded. He stood wide-eyed, holding Izuku tightly. They were standing on empty air!
Izuku didn't have time to explain the weird feeling — an almost vibration that emanated from his feet. Overhaul shot up on another pillar of concrete toward them. All his arms had been restored. "I'll kill you all!" he screamed, voice layered and as monstrous as the rest of him.
"You won't!" Izuku scooped Kacchan into his arms and ran on the air as if it were solid ground.
Overhaul roared in rage, unable to leave the pillar he stood on.
Rocks and boulders the size of Izuku's body floated weightlessly in the air. He looked down to see Ochaco running around and touching all the debris she could, sending them floating upward.
"Throw me!"
Izuku's eyes went wide, but there was no room for doubt. He grabbed Kacchan around the middle and spun on his heel, flinging Kacchan forward as hard as he could. Kacchan pushed his quirk the the max and blasted Overhaul with the strongest explosion he could make. Overhaul was blasted off the column and slammed into the ground, leaving a crater.
Izuku ran in and grabbed Kacchan, climbing the air as if he were climbing stairs, trying to get past all the debris floating around them. "NOW!" he yelled. Suddenly, the screen of rocks began to fall. They rained down, leaving huge craters and shaking the floor and walls with their impact. The ceiling cracked.
"LOOK OUT!" Izuku screamed.
A huge villain and Ryukyu fell through the ceiling as it caved. Hado floated above the hole, eyes wide.
…
Tsu was safe against the wall with Aizawa. Eijiro was on his hands and knees above her, shielding her with his body. He grunted as huge rocks fell down on his back, shoulders, and head. Ochaco bit back screams as she huddled under him. She watched as Overhaul was smashed by several boulders.
Izuku's scream cut through the horrible noise of the debris falling. Eijiro grabbed her around the middle and hauled her sideways just as a huge chunk of the roof crashed to the floor, knocking them off their feet.
"Ryukyu!" she cried, coughing.
The dragon-like woman stood, debris falling off her.
Suddenly, there was a huge explosion of light and air pressure. Ryukyu was knocked over as Overhaul came tearing out of the debris, concrete boulders turing to ash around him. He stood almost eight feet tall. Eight massive arms with clawed hands arched around him. He had four sets of eyes embedded in his misshapen skull, each pair a different color.
Ryukyu grabbed Ochaco and Eijiro just as concrete spiked up in a huge wave under their feet as Overhaul blasted upward again. Ryukyu avoided most of it, her wings lifting them off the ground just enough, but she gave a horrific scream as one spike speared through her thigh and another impaled her lower abdomen.
"Ryukyu!" Ochaco screamed and slapped the hero on the shoulder, making her weightless so the weight of her body didn't push her further down on the spikes.
Eijrio dropped to the ground with a heavy thud.
Ochaco floated near her mentor. "I'll pull you off!" she cried frantically.
Ryukyu moaned in pain. "No. Keep the spikes in. I'll bleed to death if you pull them out now."
Ochaco's eyes went wide. "Red Riot! Break the spikes at the base! I'll make them weight less!"
Eijiro did as he was told and kicked the spike at the base, snapping it off. Ochaco slapped them, so they stayed weightless in Ryukyu's body. Eijiro pulled the hero back to the ground and Ochaco released her quirk on herself so she fell down next to them. A huge blast of force had them looking up to see Bakugo and Izuku still fighting the monstrous form of Overhaul.
"What can we do?" Ejiro yelled in frustration.
"I don't know," she answered, terrified.
"Uravity! Red Riot!"
She whipped her head over to see Fumikage with Nighteye.
"Where's Eraserhead?" Nighteye demanded. "We need his quirk."
"My quirk is gone," Aizawa said grimly, leaning on Tsu as he staggered over to them. He left a trail of blood in his wake. "I was shot with the quirk-erasing bullet."
A look of utter despair crossed Nighteye's face. "Then there is nothing we can do. They'll die fighting Chisaki. He'll escape. Just as I foresaw."
"No," Eijiro snapped. He looked furious. "We won't let that happen."
"There's nothing we can do," Nighteye said again, closing his eyes.
Ochaco shared a hard look with Ejiro, Tsu, and Fumikage. "Let's go," she said and they ran forward as one.
…
Izuku ran over the air, ducking the whips and spikes that lashed out at him. Overhaul was surfing the concrete, morphing it to his needs to chase them in the air. His eight arms swung in all directions, destroying and reshaping everything they touched. Kacchan was blasting around, exploding chunks out the monster again and again. Izuku kept grabbing the blond with his black tendrils, yanking him to safety or pulling himself out the way of Overhaul's reach. In and out, they wove a pattern of damage around the monster, but Overhaul was healing just as fast.
The hole at the ceiling was widening as the room took more and more damage. Houses were falling inside, smashing to pieces on the spikes down below. Suddenly, the hole in the ceiling was blocked by floating debris. Dark Shadow roared out of the darkness and dragged Overhaul down, trying to slam him down on those same spikes.
Dark Shadow wasn't solid. There was nothing to hold on to or stab, but Overhaul had four quirks at his disposal. He activated Vitality Stealing. Dark Shadow instantly shrank, losing his hold on Overhaul, and Fumikage fell to his knees. The debris blocking the light fell with a tremendous crash as Ochaco let go of her hold. It crashed down on Overhaul who roared with pain, destroying it as fast as he could.
Suddenly, Ryukyu, Fumikage, Ochaco, Aizawa, Eijiro, and Nigtheye were flung up toward the ceiling, made weightless by Ochaco's quirk. Tsu was leaping up the wall in great bounds of her powerful, frog-like legs. They were all racing for higher ground, leaving only Overhaul at the bottom of the chamber.
Izuku's eyes widened as he realized they were clearing the way! His black tendrils yanked Kacchan toward him. He caught the blond and ran on the air up toward the hole in the ceiling. "They're all clear!" he told Kacchan before spinning him around and flinging him down at Overhaul.
…
Katsuki wrapped his arms around himself — Let his hands pop in rapid fire bursts that put him into a violent spin — Becoming the center of a fire tornado streaking for the ground.
Overhaul stood directly below him, his monstrous mouth open in a inhuman roar, his hands grabbing the concrete around him and breaking it down, sending deadly spikes spearing upward.
Katsuki was sweating profusely in the center of the heat and fire. It took all his strength to pull his arms forward, resisting the pull of the centripetal force. He let off twin blasts that fed off the energy and fuel that Katsuki had spun around him.
During the festival, this move had blown up the center of a stadium.
During camp, he'd built his explosions up so that a blast from one hand had shaken the mountain.
He triggered the same force that shook the mountain — This time from both hands simultaneously.
"HOWITZER IMPACT!" he screamed in rage.
Katsuki was flung upward, force and heat slamming into him and sending him flying. The tips of his hair caught fire! His exposed skin turned red and began to burn, and he quickly crossed his forearms in front of his face.
He slammed into Izuku and they went flying up through the ceiling. That Big Three girl knocked them out of the blast and a tongue wrapped around them, yanked them down to street level and out of the way of the huge column of fire surging up like a volcano. Eijiro flung his body on top of them, shielding them from the heat.
…
Izuku sat up next to Eijiro and Kacchan and stared at the massive damage done to the street.
The houses on the edge of the hole had collapsed down into the burning pit. The houses that didn't get pulled in were on fire. The heat was incredible, even though it was nothing to when the explosion had happened. Izuku stared at Eijiro who had shielded them from the worst. The redhead's skin was blackened with soot, but he was okay.
Izuku looked down the street. There was a group of policemen and police vans. Yakuza were still being aressted. Fire truck sirens began driving over, their lights flashing. Izuku caught sight of Hawks. He had Eri, but the girl tore out of his arms and began to run toward them.
Izuku's tensed, head whipping around, as Ochaco screamed. Something nightmarish climbed out of the hole — It was as tall as a two-story building — With red bubbling skin — A dozen arms with massive human hands — Two legs with the muscles exposed and sizzling — A beaked, gaping mouth — Overhaul, looking perfectly normal from the waist up, with fur-lined jacket and all, hung suspended inside that mouth. One of the massive hands crashed down on a burning house sending a wave of heat punching out at them.
"Why won't anyone…" The voice boomed down at them, distorted and vibrating. "Look at the big picture? I'm going to tear down this world! It's very framework! You can't stop me! No one can stop me! ERI IS MINE! I'LL DESTROY ANYONE WHO GETS IN MY WAY!"
Four huge hands lifted high into the air, blocking the light of the sun, and curled into fists. Everything slowed. Izuku was aware of his friends sitting frozen — of Kacchan — of Eri screaming in horror even as she kept running toward them — No! No, he wouldn't let this happen! He wouldn't let this monster hurt Eri anymore! He wouldn't let him hurt Kacchan!
Izuku leapt in a flash of green static. Eijiro and Kacchan tried to hold him back, but they were far below him now. Izuku ran along the air, racing toward Overhaul's human body inside that beaked maw. Screaming, he drew back his fist.
Overhaul's monstrous hands reached for Izuku, his human face screamed in rage. — He froze. Overhaul's eyes went wide in terror as he reached toward his chest with his hand.
Before he could make contact, Izuku shot his arm forward. Black tendrils shot out and wrapped around Overhaul's wrists, pulling his hands out and away from his body. The horrific body began to break apart, crumbling. Izuku, still running across the air, caught Overhaul, the villain's arms still held outstretched by the black tendrils.
Overhaul's desperate eyes pierced into Izuku. His mouth moved, but no sounds escaped him. Izuku watched as those eyes went dull. Anger - regret - relief - tangled painfully in Izuku's chest, making tears burn his eyes.
He leapt down to the street, Overhaul's dead body in his arms. Grim stood on the other side of the street, one hand in his pocket, the other in a sling and held against his chest. Izuku choked on a sob, feeling the weight of Overhaul in his arms. Grim had killed him… For Izuku.
A little girl's scream cut through the air. Izuku's looked behind him to see golden light surging from Eri's horn. She'd fallen to her knees and looked utterly terrified. Izuku put Overhaul down and frantically searched his coat. "Please please please…" His hand closed around the two cases. He opened one, saw red bullets, and dropped it. He opening the other and grabbed the blue bullet.
"I need you to shoot Eraserhead! Hurry!" he thrust the bullet up toward Grim.
Grim took it without asking questions.
Izuku blurred back to his friends. "He has the cure!" he said desperately. "Let him!" Aizawa narrowed his eyes at the yakuza, but he nodded. As his friends surged to their feet with cries of alarm, Izuku used his black tendrils to fling them off their feet away from them. Only Kacchan remained standing, tensed, hands fisted at his sides, but still. Grim fired and Aizawa's body jerked as his other shoulder was shot. He dropped to his knees.
"DEKU!" Ochaco screamed in shock.
"Aizawa!" Eijiro screamed.
Aizawa curled forward over his knees, clutching his shoulder. Blood oozed between his fingers and over the back of his hand. Izuku felt nauseous at the sight, but his teacher uncurled and tried to stand. Eijiro and Ochaco were there instantly, helping him. Izuku grabbed Kacchan's hand tightly as he watched as Eri's back arched as she screamed again. The golden light was getting more violent. Two houses on either side of her just… vanished. Hawks was collapsed a few feet away from her on the sidewalk. The police and firetrucks that had been on the way had stopped, keeping back.
"Please…" he prayed, heart breaking. "Please help her. Please work."
Suddenly, Aizawa's hair lifted. The golden light snapped off, and Eri collapsed. Izuku gave a disbelieving laugh, practically falling against Kacchan's side. Aizawa turned to look at him, then past him to the man still standing by Overhaul's corpse. Izuku followed his gaze. Grim beckoned him over with a crook of a single finger.
"Midoriya…" Aizawa said lowly, worried.
Izuku gave him a begging look, one eye still swollen shut, face battered. "I have to say goodbye. Or he'll try to take me back. Please."
After a long second, Aizawa gave in. "One minute."
Izuku nodded and hurried back to the yakuza. Kacchan marched at his back, not letting him get more than a foot away from him. Grim's mouth quirked into a small smile as Izuku crossed the distance between them. Izuku stopped just within reach and his hand lifted to brush at Izuku's bruised face.
"Don't touch him!" Kacchan snarled, slapping the yakuza's hand away.
Grim back-stepped, expression going hard as Kacchan stepped in front of Izuku, hands raised threateningly, crackling with small explosions. Izuku flung his arms around Kacchan's shoulders from behind, pressing tight against his back.
"Wait! Don't!" he cried.
Grim's eyes narrowed. "This is your friend, isn't it?"
Izuku's arms tightened, alarm striking through his heart. "Don't!" This time the plea was for Grim. He pulled Kacchan behind him, his arms out-flung protectively. "Don't hurt him," he warned.
"The hell, Deku!" Kacchan protested, but he didn't push past him again.
Grim stared at Izuku. "So many secrets, Tsuki. You'll learn they aren't necessary between us." His expression softened. "He's yours." His eyes moved to Kacchan who stood glaring fiercely at Izuku's back. Something intense passing between the two. "Which makes him mine, too. I won't hurt him."
"Fuck you!" Kacchan snarled.
Grim actually laughed at that, but as he looked back at Izuku, a sad look settled over his features. "You're staying with your friend, aren't you, Tsuki?"
"Yes." Tears choked Izuku's voice. "I'll still help with the Institute, but… I have to go back."
Grim searched Izuku's expression. "Are you sure? You know I'll protect you."
Izuku nodded. "I'm sure."
Grim gave him one last smile and lifted his good hand in a wave. He turned his back and began to walk away. For some reason, seeing that hurt. Kacchan stepped up to Izuku's side and grabbed his hand. Izuku squeezed it tightly.
"You know where to find me, little hero," the yakuza called without looking back. "Don't keep me waiting too long."
Izuku held tight as Kacchan as they watched the yakuza disappear down an alley between two houses.
"You okay, Deku?"
Izuku looked up into his familiar, worried red eyes and burst into sobs. Flinging his arms around Kacchan's neck, Izuku went limp and buried his face against the blond's shoulder. Kacchan held him tightly, one hand cradling the back of his head gently.
"I've got you," Kacchan promised, voice rough. His arms tightened protectively. "I've got you. You're safe."
Izuku cried harder.
Chapter end.
A/n: I'm so sorry this chapter took so long! I wanted it to be amazing! What do you think? (bites nails anxiously)