The Okami Hero: Amaterasu

Arc 3: A Mind Divided

Chapter 8: Akuma-Hana Part 4

[Sunday 27th March 2280]

[The Astral Plain]

Akuma-Hasu sneered down at Himiko, all three of his heads wearing the same disdainful expression, which looked quite intimidating with the half human, half mandrill faces they had, but despite that, Himiko glared back, her body in a combat stance and a pair of crystal knives in her hands. The Mandrill Demon felt he should consider himself lucky; Akuma-Saki was being chased around by Amaterasu and her bizarre Ice Oni rider, while Akuma-Tsuta was finding out how difficult it was to fight a fire user and an explosion user with nothing but his fists and his organ creating powers...but Akuma-Hasu? He only had one little girl staring defiantly at him.

And it made him angry.

The moment the Blond Girl shouted to Jin and Twice that she would save them, Akuma-Hasu found it harder to control his host body. Their incessant screams in his mind were becoming louder and more determined with every passing moment, and the Demon could already feel four of his six arms stiffening up as the insane man fought for control.

"You Little Bitch… do you think you can defeat me yourself? You, a mere human, think you can stand before one of the Twelve Infernal Brush Demons!? I am Akuma-Hasu of the Akuma-Hana Triumvirate! You are not worthy to occupy the same universe as me!" The Demon bellowed, lashing out with his flute.

Himiko narrowed her eyes and easily ducked beneath the first swing, then jumped over the second. On the third swing, Himiko leapt even higher and landed on the flute as it sailed through the air beneath her. The Mandrill Demon was roughly twice Himiko's height when standing on his hind legs, but he tended to walk on four limbs by using one pair of arms alongside his legs, while the other pairs were used to punch and swing the flute. To accommodate his new size, his flute had grown too and was now just barely thick enough for Himiko to stand on.

Of course, just because Himiko could stand on it didn't mean she could maintain her balance, especially as it was swung around, so almost as soon as Himiko landed on the instrument, she dropped down and gripped it with her arms and legs, holding on to it like a sloth. The Demon snarled and shook his weapon, even banging it on the ground as hard as he could, but Himiko's grip wasn't shaken. Furious, Akuma-Hasu reached out to grab Himiko and pull her off manually, perhaps even crush her in his hand for good measure; his palms were the perfect size for gripping and crushing her head.

Unfortunately for him, that was what Himiko wanted and the moment the Demon's hand reached towards her, she switched her grip so she was holding onto the flute like a circus performer on a trapeze, then swung herself at the extended hand. The audacious and acrobatic manoeuvre made the Demon hesitate, and in that moment Himiko sailed over the outstretched hand and landed on his thick arm. She stabbed one of her knives into it, inwardly apologising to her friend, then swung on the knife to launch herself further up the Demon to its shoulders. From there, Himiko was able to grab one of the Mandrill's snarling faces and force its mouth shut as she looked deep into its eyes.

"Jin-chan; I know you're in there! You need to fight! Kacchan was able to regain some control when he was possessed, and he was only 8 years old at the time! If he could do it, I know you can!" Himiko declared.

The Central Head snarled and reached back to grab Himiko, but the girl simply flipped over the angrily flailing limbs and land on the other shoulder, where she could force the left head's mouth shut and look into its eyes just as she had with the right; "Come on Twicey! I know you don't want to lose to that "Spicy Pomeranian!" You can't let this stupid monkey boss you around!"

Both heads had gone strangely still, and Akuma-Hasu's central head roared; "SHUT THE FUCK UP!" he reared up on to his hind legs and moved all six arms up to his heads, aiming to catch Himiko and finally crush her. Himiko put up a valiant effort, dodging two arms, tricking a third arm into grabbing a fourth and stopping its attack, but as she leapt off the Demon to escape the final two, she misjudged the speed of her jump versus the speed of the Demon's arms and found her head trapped in a single large palm.

Before Himiko could stab the hand holding her, Akuma-Hasu grabbed her blade between two fingers and yanked it away with his superior strength, before tossing it into the distance. The girl panicked and clawed at the palm holding her face, but no matter how hard she clawed or bit into the Demon's hand, he held her firmly. Himiko couldn't breath as her nose and mouth were completely covered, and she could only see out of one eye, which wasn't covered thanks to it being in the gap between the Demon's thumb and index finger.

Akuma-Hasu grinned cruelly; "Finally got you, Bitch. I'm going to pop your head like a melon!"

Fear entered Himiko's one visible eye as she searched around desperately for someone to help her. She could see Akainu and Kacchan battling the Gorilla Demon, and having a lot of trouble hitting him through his cymbals, while Aokiji and Izumi had finally cornered the Spider Monkey Demon and was now fully immersed in damaging him while also evading all the rib bones he had shooting out of the ground like Stalagmites. Hawks, who was supposed to be supporting all of them, was currently doing his best to avoid being tied up by Akuma-Tsuta's disgusting intestine attack, and the Non-Combatants were out of sight, acting on Izumi's plan.

Everyone was acting on Izumi's plan… and here Himiko was, captured and helpless. All she wanted was to help her friend and do for others what her sister had done for her! But right from the beginning, she was the load on their backs… She wasn't as good a fighter as Kacchan or Izumi, and didn't have a powerful or useful quirk. She'd not been wanted by her own parents. She'd led a demon possessed man into the home of the only people who loved her… and now she was failing in the one thing she'd promised Izumi she would do. Himiko had begged Izumi to let her do this and Izumi had put her trust in her! But Himiko had failed at that too…

Tears began to fall from her eyes, and Akuma-Hasu laughed; "You're crying? HA! Serves you right! You should have stayed as Akuma-Tachi's little pet, then you might have found a place at our Master's side! But you threw that way for Amaterasu and then you went and damned her friends by bringing me straight to them! Die, Himiko Toga, knowing this was all your fault!"

At that moment, something shifted in Himiko's mind. Her tears dried up, and she stopped struggling, making the Demon pause, curious as to why she wasn't fighting any more. Then, in a move that would horrify anyone, she slowly reached up and stabbed her nails under the Demon's own finger nail.

Akuma-Hasu shrieked in pain and immediately dropped Himiko so he could nurse his hand. Himiko rolled before she hit the ground to break her fall, then jumped up and grabbed the knife she'd left in the Demon's arm before. With a weapon back in her hand, Himiko straightened up and glared at the Mandrill Demon with pure hatred, something that made the Demon flinch.

"I should thank you… between your little diatribe about how worthless I am, and my own inner monologue saying the same thing, I learned something important. I've been a damn fool… when my parents abused me, I became their perfect little doll to make them stop hurting me. That should have been the end, but then I looked at Izumi, my saviour..." Himiko's eyes turned wistful as she looked over to where Izumi was fighting Akuma-Saki. The white hair of her Demi-God Form flowed freely as the Wolf Girl batted away all manner of bone attacks with her mirror.

Himiko smiled softly, "Being a doll for my parents… pretty twisted huh? But even after I was saved, I was still twisted. I love Izumi and in an effort to become someone that could be loved… I tried to become her. Saving people because she did… even fighting you on my own, because that's what she would do… But that's not who I am. That's not what Izumi wants me to be… It's not what I want to be. I am not Izumi… I am not Himiko Toga..."

Her eyes burned with determination; "I am a girl who loves blood, even if others find it creepy." she took a step towards the demon, who stepped back instinctively, "I am a girl who smiles too wide, showing my teeth that scare people." another step forward, "I am a girl who barely understands love, but wants to love and be loved by the people that stuck by me." another step, "I am a girl who wants to become a Hero, and change the world." and another, "I am a girl who can become anyone else with just a drop of blood… but what I want… what I want is to be no one but myself!"

She puffed out her chest with pride, "My name is Himiko Midoriya, adopted sister of Izumi Midoriya; the reincarnation of the Sun Goddess Amaterasu!" she roared. "She accepted me for what I am, just as I accepted her for what she is! Izumi is going to help my dream come true, and I'll do the same for her!" Himiko charged forward, "And I am going to save my friend! Whether he's Jin-chan or Twicey or both or neither! I will save all of him and make a world where he can be all of himself!"

"STAY AWAY!" Akuma-Hasu roared, swinging his flute at her again. Himiko easily dodged it and continued her charge, running and sliding under the demon before slashing her knife across the backs of the Demon's legs, severing some of the tendons on the back of his ankles. It was the same tactic Izumi and Hawks had used on Akuma-Yomi, and it worked just as well here, making the Mandrill Demon fall to his knees as he could no longer put weight on his ankles.

Himiko used this chance to run up the Demon's back and get up to his heads again, where she could land a flying kick to the central head's nose. Akuma-Hasu roared in pain and blindly flailed his arms to catch her, but he was limited to four now that he needed to use two just to keep himself upright, and Himiko flipped and dodged like an acrobat as she evaded them. As she dodged the fourth arm swinging at her, Himiko jumped and ran down it, using her forward momentum and trained body to maintain her balance on the swinging limb, before finally jumping and stabbing her knife through the back of the hand, making the Demon scream in pain again.

"Sorry Jin-chan, Twicey! I'll ask Izumi to heal any wounds you have at the end of this!" Himiko promised, her wide smile still on display.

Akuma-Hasu saw red, especially as his body once again began to rebel against him. Himiko was becoming a problem, and if he couldn't simply crush her head in his palm, he'd drown her in his power. Seething, he brought his flute to his lips and began to play an awful, screeching melody that couldn't truly be considered a song. Himiko winced as the sound grated on her nerves and made her shudder, but the purpose of the song wasn't to deafen her, as was made clear when gallons of red ink began exploding from the end of the flute. Himiko easily dodged it, but the moment Akuma-Hasu had succeeded in creating nearly a lake of the stuff, the ink flashed and darkened slightly, going from blood-like ink to actual blood. She frowned, knowing where this was going; the Brush Demons could control how and where they released their ink, but couldn't manipulate it after it had been created… however Akuma-Hasu's power, as described by Katsuki, turned his ink into blood that he could manipulate, like the hero Backdraft and his water quirk.

Himiko was bracing herself for some difficult dodges, since she couldn't exactly block or slash liquids like blood, but that was when Akuma-Hasu made a major mistake. Instead of attacking immediately with his blood, he allowed it to seep into the clouds beneath their feet whilst putting on a show of panting and wincing, as if the creation of his ink had worn him out. Himiko didn't rise to the bait, but she didn't move either, allowing Akuma-Hasu to complete his plan; making the blood he'd seeped into the ground shoot up around Himiko and cover her mouth and nose, intending on literally drowning her in blood.

"YES! NOW DIE!" he bellowed, sure of his victory… at least until Himiko, who wasn't struggling in the slightest, merely raised an eyebrow and looked at him like he was an idiot.

Then she began to drink.

Himiko's quirk was somewhat unique as while it used blood to allow Himiko to transform into a replica of the blood's owner, it also allowed her to consume a theoretically infinite amount of blood. Himiko and Izumi had done some experiments with drinking the blood of a Commission Employee with similar powers to Akuma-Hasu, allowing him to regenerate his blood infinitely, and they'd discovered that the blood Himiko drank seemed to take up no space inside her body, or even add its weight to her. She could consume literally gallons of blood and not be physically impacted at all, even when the blood she consumed exceeded her body in mass. Izumi had used some big words like "Quantum Entanglement" and "Parallel Pocket Dimension" but Himiko hadn't really understood.

All she knew was that no matter how much blood she drank, she'd never be full, something that came in very handy as she happily drank the blood now being used to drown her.

Akuma-Hasu was stunned, and tried to switch tactics, instead forcing the blood into her body with the intention of filling her up and making her burst, but the moment it entered through her mouth or nose, it was considered "drunk" by her quirk and disappeared, meaning his attempts to kill Himiko were only feeding her.

On Himiko's side of things, she discovered that the blood she was drinking was identical to the blood of the Demon's host; Jin. Himiko could taste differences in a people's blood and could identify whose blood was whose by taste the same way Izumi could by smell. The slightly smoky aftertaste and mildly salty and alcoholic flavour gave the blood away as Jin's, something Himiko only knew thanks to tasting his blood to show off her quirk back in the restaurant.

Recovering from his shock, Akuma-Hasu tried to drag Himiko forward by manipulating his blood ability to form a tentacle of the red fluid, but Himiko was able to resist the pull and leap back just in time to avoid a heavy smack from the Demon's flute. She couldn't quite dodge fast enough though, and the very end of the flute's spike scraped across her face, leaving a shallow cut that went from her left cheek over the bridge of her nose and up to her right eye. The wound wasn't severe, but it did make Himiko yelp as it cut her eye, essentially blinding it until she could be healed.

Thinking fast, Himiko activated her quirk and used the blood she'd just drunk to transform into a copy of Jin. She even allowed the transformation to extend to her clothes, giving her Jin's outfit at the cost of permanently destroying her own. She'd be naked when she reverted back to normal, but she had enough blood from Jin to ensure she could maintain the form for a while. Now in Jin's form, Himiko could see through her right eye again (wounds didn't carry over to transformations) and could use his body as well as her own, as well as utilise Jin's superior size and strength.

"You shouldn't use blood against someone like me… you just made this harder for yourself!" Himiko said, even speaking in Jin's voice, "Jin-chan! Twicey! I know you probably don't like this, but don't worry! You're still the real one!" Himiko shouted, before running and jumping at the Mandrill Demon.

She was going for another flying kick, but Himiko was expecting the Demon to dodge or block, which would give her the chance to get out of his line of sight so she could go for another sneak attack. However, unbeknownst to her, her words had reached Jin and Twice, and to Akuma-Hasu's horror, he couldn't move now.

Himiko's feet collided with the bridge of the central head's nose, surprising her as much as him, but she just rolled with it and bounced off the Demon's face, slashing his cheek with her knife as she went. She landed beneath him and quickly moved into his blind spot while she searched for her next point of attack, but Akuma-Hasu wasn't acting aggressively any more. He moved, slowly and rigidly, to face Himiko; his central face bleeding from his nose and cheek while snarling at her and trying to move his own body, while the other two heads were watching Himiko closely. The right head was watching her with narrowed eyes and a frown, while the left one was looking hopefully at her.

"What did you say?" the right head asked, speaking not in the cackling tones of Akuma-Hasu, but in a deep, echoing version of Twice's voice.

"Twicey? Do you have control?" Himiko gasped.

"Answer me! What did you say!?"

The girl frowned; "I just said you were the real one. I guessed from your reaction to seeing me like this..." she gestured at her transformed state, "...earlier in the restaurant was because you had a traumatic experience with your cloning power. Like maybe you weren't sure if you were the original or not. I just wanted to reassure you."

"B-But are you right?" the left head spoke that time, speaking in Jin's tone of voice, but with the same deep and menacing echo that Twice's voice had gained, "Am I the original after all?"

"Of course." Himiko said, holding up the knife she'd cut him with, "Your clones are made of this grey slime stuff, similar to my transformations. They can't bleed, but you can." she showed the blood on the blade, "If you can bleed, you have to be real."

"Real..." Jin said, the eyes of the head he was controlling growing wide.

"We're real…?" Twice added, his own controlled head grinning manically.

Akuma-Hasu, controlling only the central head now and unable to move any part of his host body, growled at them; "Damn Humans! You obey me! It has been me keeping you from dying in a ditch, alone and forgotten! You owe everything to me and my brothers! I order you to obey me! I command that you kill this brat!"

"Kill her?" Twice growled.

"Murder our friend? Our saviour!?" Jin added.

The two heads twisted to look at each other, then to the shock of both Himiko and the Mandrill Demon, four of Akuma-Hasu's arms rose up off the ground, leaving the Demon holding himself up on the last pair and his knees… then all four arms slammed their fists into the central head.

"FUCK THAT!" Jin/Twice screamed together, bludgeoning the central head unconscious. With Akuma-Hasu out cold, Jin's body began to give off a huge amount of black steam, causing the other two Demon Primates to look over in shock, while Izumi and the Konohana Fighters smiled in amazement. When a Brush Demon lost consciousness, they could no longer maintain their transformations, causing the host to return to normal. When the black steam cleared, Jin was left kneeling their, his clothes shredded and leaving only his threadbare boxers to cover him. He had a few slashes and stab wounds from fighting Himiko, and one of his eyes was still solid red, but otherwise, he was human again.

Himiko gaped at the sight, then let out a loud cheer; "YES! I knew you could do it! Jin-chan, Twicey; you're the best!"

"I owe you, Himiko."Jin smiled, "For so long, I struggled with not knowing if I was a clone or not… but thanks to you, I know that I am the real one!"

"I'm so happy for you!" Himiko cheered, rushing to hug the man, "Are you okay without your mask?"

Jin nodded; "I'm fine. I'm not splitting up any more. All the other voices in my head… I know they aren't real now. Except that stupid monkey, but Twice is still inside me, making sure that thing stays buried."

Himiko felt tears come to her eyes; "Thank goodness… Welcome back, Jin-chan." she said, embracing the man. Jin smiled and hugged her back, revelling in the feeling of being saved by his friend.

Meanwhile, the remaining Demons were staring in shock. "Hasu lost control of his host?" Akuma-Saki gasped, barely managing to keep Izumi and Aokiji away from him with barriers made of rib bones.

"The fool. Without the two of us inside the Original too, he was overpowered by the Human's split personality. A single Human's will could never fully overpower a Demon, but two seperate wills might just manage it." Akuma-Tsuta growled.

Izumi grinned as she watched Himiko and Jin hug one another. It looked like Jin really was Himiko's friend… that was a story the Wolf Girl was looking forward to hearing later, but first she had to deal with the other two Demons. Plus, even unconscious, Akuma-Hasu was still inside Jin; if she wanted to defeat him and finally get some peace, she'd need to deal with him too.

"Hawks!" Izumi cried, getting the attention of the Wing Hero. Said Hero was currently having a difficult time dealing with the Gorilla Demon's cymbals and intestine bindings, but he managed to get enough distance to fly to Izumi's aid.

"What do you need, Lil Pup?" he asked, panting slightly. In honesty, Hawks was easily strong enough to shred all three of the Demon Primates, but he couldn't do it without destroying the clones and allowing the Demons to possess someone else, and he couldn't defeat Demons by himself, since he lacked Divine Power. Holding back enough to avoid destroying the clones or host meant he could barely knick the Gorilla Demon's thick limbs and sturdy iron weapon, and he'd been too distracted helping Katsuki and Akainu get through those defences to notice the others.

Izumi pointed to Aokiji and Akuma-Saki; "Take my place over here. I need to help fix up Jin so he doesn't lose strength." she declared, already running for Jin and Himiko without waiting for an answer. Hawks simply nodded and flew past her, the two exchanging a high five as they passed one another.

With both remaining Demons properly distracted by their opponents, Izumi reached Himiko and Jin without issue. "Jin Bubaigawara, it's nice to meet you. Please, let me heal your injuries." she said, already preparing Rejuvenation.

"Sure thing. Twice says hello too, but he's busy." Jin smiled happily. He was so giddy at his revelation and new friendship that he couldn't stop grinning like a fool. Izumi quickly fixed him up, healing the stab wound on his arm and his legs' severed tendons, but she left his broken nose and cheek cut so as to save energy.

Izumi then turned to Himiko; "Are you alright? Is your original form hurt?" she asked.

Himiko nodded; "It's not serious I think, but my right eye got slashed so I can't see through it. I also had to transform my clothes too so I wouldn't be slowed down by them being too tight with this form, so I can't transform back without getting all naked." she smirked, knowing that the mere mention of nudity would have Izumi blushing.

True to form, Izumi blushed crimson, but quickly recovered and stripped off the jacket and jogging pants of her workout clothes, leaving her in a plain white tank top and spats. "You can put these on when you change back. They're a little loose on me, so they shouldn't be too tight for you." she said, her cheeks faintly red from having so much of her body exposed. She didn't look indecent at all, but Izumi was fairly shy and conservative about her body.

Himiko grinned; "Thanks, Sis!" She then proceeded to drop her transformation, returning to her normal form, which was of course completely naked. Jin was nice enough to look away while Himiko shook off the remaining residue from her transformation, then put on Izumi's donated clothes. "Alright, I'm already to go. Could ya fix up my eye, Izuchan?" she asked, pointing to her facial wound. Izumi immediately healed the eye, but left the rest.

With both Jin and Himiko back in good condition, Izumi turned to Jin; "The Demon inside you is still active, but I can't purify him yet. I need to purify him and those other two at the same time. Do you think you can help us? Your quirk should still be strengthened even if Akuma-Hasu isn't in control."

Jin nodded and created two more clones of himself, "I can actually do it…" he muttered with amazement, before pointing to his forehead scar; "After I got this scar, I couldn't make copies of myself any more, but now I can. I really owe you, Himiko. I'll start payin' you back by helping you and your Sis knock out those damn monkeys!" he said, pumping his fist and making his three clones cheer.

Izumi smiled; "In that case… Ishiko, are the others already in position?" she asked, turning to the Poncle on her shoulder.

Jin looked shocked at the tiny woman, but Ishiko ignored him; "They're all in place. I saw Mitsuki give the signal a little while ago."

Izumi nodded and turned back to Jin; "This is my plan..." she said, explaining what they were doing so Jin could understand it. She then included the change she'd made to accommodate Jin, "It'll be a lot easier if you can help us. Are you okay with that?"

"You're Himiko's Little Sis, right? Then I'll do whatever you need!" Jin said, giving a thumbs up.

"Great! In that case, stay here and wait for my signal. Himiko, you stay with him and I'll go back to helping deal with Akuma-Saki. Ishiko, go alert the others of the change. Once you get back, we'll start the operation." Izumi ordered.

Jin and Himiko gave mock salutes with big grins, making Izumi roll her eyes, while Ishiko headed off by herself, quickly disappearing out of sight. Confident that everything would go well, Izumi got back to the fight with Akuma-Saki.

Truthfully, while Akuma-Hasu had been tough for Himiko due to the difference in size and strength, which Himiko couldn't overcome with just a quirk, and Akuma-Tsuta was tough due to his bulk, restraining (and disgusting) techniques and thick iron cymbals; Akuma-Saki wasn't much of a threat at all. The Spider Monkey Demon was only the size of a Teenage Twice, even if he had the four extra arms and two extra heads, and his Sho made for a poor offense and defence. The bones he created from his ink could be dangerous for some people, but unlike the organs or blood of his Brother Demons, Akuma-Saki couldn't manipulate them once they were created, making them easy to dodge. A single smack from Aokiji's icy mace, or Izumi's Divine Retribution had been enough to break most of them. Ironically, the hardest part of the fight with him had been keeping him occupied without defeating him before everyone was ready and in position.

But a few minutes after Izumi rejoined the fight, a turnip impaled on an iron spike appeared from beneath the clouds, signalling the Non-Combatant Reserve Team was in position and ready to go. It was time for the plan to begin!

"EVERYONE! BEGIN THE OPERATION!" Izumi cried, using a Cherry Bomb to ensure everyone saw the signal.

Akuma-Saki and Akuma-Tsuta prepared themselves for whatever large and flash super move was about to be launched there way, but they were woefully unprepared for the ingenuity of humans.

An army of Twice Clones suddenly swarmed towards Akuma-Saki, making the Spider Monkey Demon shriek in surprise. He tried to repel the army with his bone spikes, but the clones simply clambered over their impaled brethren, using them as bridges and stepping stones to get to the Demon. They managed to grab him easily, with each of the Demon's eight limbs being grabbed by at least two clones, while three more clones each grabbed one of the Demon's heads to stop it from wriggling or biting. Even more Twice Copies crawled around their fellows to wrap their arms around most of the Demon's torso or grab his tail, leaving Akuma-Saki completely immobile and helpless. Aokiji used the opportunity to freeze the Demon's Sho, so that even if he managed to pull away from the clones, he wouldn't be able to play the instrument and create more ink.

Akuma-Tsuta saw all this and ran to help his brother, but the moment he took a single step, he howled with pain. One of Torikago's Iron Spikes poked out of the ground, impaling the Demon's foot. Two more of the same spikes appeared beside two of the Demon's fists (for the Gorilla Demon walked with two fists on the ground), and Torikago used the true power of her quirk; Prison Bars, to manipulate the iron rods into spiral restraints that wrapped around the Demon's wrists. Normally this would be no problem for the powerful Gorilla Demon, but the Maeda Sisters suddenly popped up from beneath the clouds and created as much crystal as they could on the ends of the iron spirals, essentially making them into pseudo balls and chains. As one of his three pairs of arms were weighed down to the point even his strength couldn't lift them, Akuma-Tsuta suddenly realised what had happened; when the Reserve Team had run off and hidden behind another barricade earlier, they'd actually begun digging through the clouds. The dark clouds were solid and full of static electricity, but the golden ones were under Amaterasu's control, so her followers could pass through them at will and with ease. They'd spent the whole fight working their way through the twisted clouds of the Contested Astral Plain so they would end up right below the Demons, ready to pop up at Amaterasu's signal.

The Gorilla Demon tried to use his cymbals to break the restraints, but Akainu grabbed one between his fists and turned up his flames, melting the black iron into slag while Katsuki teamed up with his father, still under the effects of Onigiri's quirk, to create an explosion capable of knocking the remaining cymbal out of his hand. The Maeda Sisters, Mitsuki Bakugou and Gin Maeda then fully emerged from the clouds beneath the Demon and grabbed onto his legs, weighing them down enough to stop him moving them either. With only his four remaining arms free and no cymbals to create his ink, Akuma-Tsuta tried to pummel those around him, but quickly found his arms being grabbed by Akainu and his brother Aokiji, who had run over from the other fight. Each of the Onikawa brothers held two of the demon's wrists in the crook of their arms, stopping his limbs from moving. Lastly; Doi Nazo, Tenji Iida, Ryuko Torikago, and Master Onigiri all jumped from the clouds and clambered up the Gorilla's body to hold his three heads in place, completely sealing his movements. To top it all off, Hawks and Sakuya flew up and landed on the Demon's shoulders, where they each held one one Hawks' feather blades to the central head's throat, pressing the flat of the blade into the flesh to make it harder for the Demon to breathe.

"You think holding us down is enough!?" Akuma-Tsuta roared, "Even if you purify one of us, the one you purify will be corrupted again by the time you reach the second! You'll never stop us! It's impossible!"

Izumi, stood beside the trapped Akuma-Saki simply smiled and placed her palm, which bore the Mark of the Sun, against the Spider Monkey Demon's chest. However, to the Demon's confusion, she didn't activate Sunrise. Akuma-Tsuta narrowed his eyes, but his attention was quickly drawn to a sharp pain in his chest; Katsuki had used small explosions to launch himself onto the Gorilla Demon, and was now holding on to his chest hair to keep himself in position.

"You think you've got us all figured out huh? Well how's this for a surprise, Mother Fucker?" Katsuki grinned wildly, showing Akuma-Tsuta his free hand's open palm.

There, inscribed in golden ink, was a simple circle.

The Mark of the Sun.

Both Akuma-Tsuta and Akuma-Saki felt terror creep up their spine as they turned their eyes to where Himiko was stood with Jin. Himiko smiled sweetly and showed her own palm, which also bore the Mark of the Sun.

Seeing the dreadful realisation hitting his massive opponent, Katsuki couldn't help but smirk viciously; "How's that for a surprise? Izuchan can let others use her powers, so long as she gives us some of her ink and fills it with her will. She drew these marks on Sunny and I after we figured out that we had to purify you all at once." he boasted, "You never thought a Goddess would share her power with us "mere Humans", right? Well guess what Fucker!" Katsuki slammed his palm against Akuma-Tsuta's chest, while Himiko placed her own palm gently on Jin's.

"You messed with the wrong Humans! We're the Sunburst Hero Agency, and once Sunny and I get our licenses, we'll be working with Izuchan to wipe you Demon Scum from the face of the earth!" he declared.

Izumi and Himiko grinned widely and pumped their fists in the air. Not long after Himiko had joined the family, the trio had decided to work together and form their own agency; the Sunburst Hero Agency. It would be the name of their Hero Team, since it carried the sun motif of Amaterasu, matched Himiko's bright and cheerful nature, and also played into Katsuki's more explosive temperament.

"Kacchan, Himiko; let's do this together!" Izumi yelled.

All three teens focused on the golden marks on their hands, and with smiles of victory on their faces, they declared as one:

"SUNRISE!"

Next Chapter: See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil

To be Released: May 17th 2021

And that's pretty much the end of the battle! The last two chapters of the arc will determine Jin's fate, as well as a character we haven't met before. Team Sunburst, or the Sunburst Hero Agency, is going to be Izumi, Katsuki, and Himiko's official team name in the future!

I hope the battle wasn't too disappointing; I'm not overly happy with it, but with so many characters all in one fight, it became a bit of a mess. Still, it served its purpose!

On Himiko's quirk: I took some creative license with it. In Canon, Himiko is shown transforming without drinking blood via some kind of internal stockpile (as shown when she transforms from Ochako into Camie in the Provisional License Exam Arc), and she is also shown losing her injuries when transforming in a later arc. I took these details and ran with them. The idea of Himiko having an infinite blood capacity was also put in place to give her a bit of an upgrade, to make her slightly more evenly matched with Izumi and Katsuki, since they're the main trio.

I hope you enjoyed! Please Comment and Review; it really encourages me!