-This is made by Starrshard on Ao3 and Wattpad, please check them out. I have been given permission to upload this to , as they do not have an account on this website-

Dabi didn't respond to Endeavor's threat with words. Instead, he threw a massive plume of ice-blue fire towards him, blazing through the podiums in the process. The oak wood caught flame as Endeavor merely raised his palm and countered the attack with his own gust of orange embers. The only light in the domed room now was the blaze of the fire and the too-bright illumination from the floor above, streaming into the destroyed hollow through the massive hole in the ceiling.

"We would never voluntarily release your students," Dabi drawled, lowering his smoldering hand. "Fight us all you want, but we'd never allow our hard-earned subjects to simply slip away after such a struggle obtaining them and developing their cases."

"How cruel." Ryuukyuu stepped out from behind Endeavor, her mahogany cloak drifting around her. Nejire gasped; Yaomomo glanced down to see that her eyes, so devoid of light and life, were suddenly sparkling with a sliver of hope. "Holding these poor children hostage, and forcing them to kill each other…" She lifted a hand to her lips, grimacing, her expression twisting with sorrow. Of course. Ochako… was her pupil too.

Dabi didn't allow her to continue, tching and throwing a second plume of flame at her. In a split second, a smoky cloud erupted around the Dragon Hero, and she transformed into her massive, serpentine form, her wing shielding the heroes behind her from the flames. They left no mark on her peachy scales.

"Monsters," she growled. "Monsters, each and every one of you." She turned to her ally. "Endeavor, give us the word, and we're ready to attack."

"Of course." The Number One Hero himself readied his hands; flames danced across his body, transforming him into a living torch. "Heroes, go! Remember your objectives!"

"Yes!" In one unified battle cry, a mass of heroes stormed into the trial room, many familiar faces making their appearances in the crowd. Yaomomo huddled closer to Shouto, releasing his hand in favor of pressing against the wall. Nejire and Tsuyu backed into them as well; all four of them were cast in the shadow of a red velvet curtain. On the other hand, Hitoshi curled up against a podium, separated from the group, clutching his friend's limp, pale hand. He was oblivious to the battle waging around him; his world had been Denki after Mashirao died, and now his world was gone.

Amidst the chaos, Toga, Dabi, and Compress attempted to hold off the onslaught of heroes -well, it was mostly Dabi creating walls of fire- while being quickly outnumbered. The raven-haired delinquent tapped the communication bud behind his ear again. "KUROGIRI! HURRY UP WITH YOUR REINFORCEMENTS!"

Before one could say, "Already done," a massive, indigo portal opened up in the ceiling, over the trial circle. A swarm of villains, enough to match each hero in one-on-one battle and more, came tumbling out and into the fray. The trial room had transformed into a battlefield, a cacophony of noise; not one of truth and lies, no, but of good and evil, of quirks matched up against quirks.

One villain hurried near the group of survivors against the wall, a girl that looked about Toga's age who wore a white blouse with an orange ribbon, a black skirt, and a matching jacket thrown over her shoulders. There were gold-rimmed glasses perched atop her face; the glass shimmered in the pale lamplight. "Well, we can't let you four be running around, can we?" She took a fighting stance in front of them, her navy hair cascading down her back. There were twin switchblades in her pale hands. "I'll keep you all right where I want you."

Surveying the situation -and their new villainous guard, who had immediately gotten to work dueling with a hero with long, chocolate twintails wearing an hooded, olive-green cloak-, Yaomomo could tell this wasn't going to be a fast nor easy fight. "Shouto!" She had to yell to be heard over the cacophony filling the chamber. He turned to her, wide-eyed. "What should we do?!"

"They're here to rescue us!" he yelled back. "We should try to stay put!"

"They don't have a chance getting near us! There's too many villains!" Nejire cried out. "We should move!"

"What?!" Yaomomo's eyes widened. "That only puts us in danger! No matter where we are, the villains are still surrounding us!"

"Th-Then split up!" Tsuyu suggested. "Get to the heroes! The villains wouldn't hurt us, right? They don't want to give us up."

"Good point." Shouto surveyed the chamber. "Nejire and Tsu, go left, towards Ryuukyuu. She could fly you two out, or at least get you to someone who can." Nejire nodded, clutching Tsuyu's hand. The Swimmer was standing at her side, determination clear in her expression. "I think I could help that hero there with our guard," Shouto continued. "Yaomomo, go to Hitoshi and make sure he's safe." His bejeweled eyes were warm with trust as he regarded her, and a pang shot through her chest.

How sweet. He still trusts you so.

"Shouto…" The Detective faltered. "How could you still trust me..? I betrayed you. Why are you still protecting me instead of leaving me to die here?"

"Why do you believe that?" His lips turned to a frown, his voice softening. "It's not your fault, okay? If anything, I should be the one apologizing for putting so much pressure on you, carrying all of the investigations and verdicts. I thought you were so strong, so steadfast..."

"Well, clearly you didn't know me well enough." The ravenette's voice cracked. "I'm not strong, Shouto. Even now, I'm not."

"But you still care." The Theorist smiled slightly. "You still love your classmates, your friends, even if they turn on you."

"How can you be so sure of that?" Yaomomo couldn't bring herself to meet Shouto's eyes, instead fixing them on her shoes and bunching up her skirt in her hands. "I don't even know myself. I don't know why I killed Tamaki."

"You made a mistake because you were hurt. It's okay." His voice was gentle; warm and comforting. She still couldn't look up. "It happens to everyone."

"Not everyone winds up killing someone else."

"Yaomomo…" There was a shuffling to her right, and suddenly Nejire had wormed in front of her and had wrapped her arms around her shallow midsection, her head buried in her chest. The ravenette stared at the waterfall of pale blue hair that cascaded down the shorter's back. "It's okay, r-really. Nobody blames you."

"..." Yaomomo wasn't sure exactly what to say to the Beauty Pageant Star, the one whose only friend she'd murdered. Finally, she settled on just placing her hands over the small of Nejire's back. "Thank you."

She looked up, and silver eyes met flickering, mismatched beacons.

"Let's all escape together, okay?"

"That's a promise." Shouto chuckled softly. "We've gone too far to fall now."

Nejire pulled away; for once, she didn't cry. In fact, she was grinning; she looked like a blurry reflection of her hero-self, smiling and ready to help those around her. "Let's go. We can finally escape the game..!"

"Sure. No hesitation now." Yaomomo looked to Shouto. "Give us the word."

"Okay." He smiled, a perfect face of hope, of excitement. "See you on the other side."

Swift as an arrow, he sprinted out and tackled the blue-haired villain from behind. She yelped and twisted to stab him with her blade, only for the brunette hero to lunge and grab her by the wrist "They'll be fine," Nejire soothed, ripping Yaomomo's attention away from the tussle. She took Tsuyu by the hand. "Let's go… trust Shouto to keep his word."

With that, she bolted for Ryuukyuu on the other side of the chamber, Tsuyu matching her every step. Yaomomo found herself standing alone by the wall, Shouto's task for her urging her to move. Hitoshi… She glanced over to the violette, who was still curled up in a fetal position by Denki's body. Villains and heroes swarmed around him, but he seemed physically unharmed. She slipped silently between the many battles throughout the room, weaving around heroes and making her way to the crater.

"Hitoshi," she murmured, hesitantly approaching him. He didn't reply; she didn't expect him to. The ravenette didn't move to sit down or comfort him; he was inconsolable. He wouldn't want her sympathy, after all she'd done to him. Instead, she settled to hover awkwardly over him, unable to do anything but wait for a hero to make it to them and lift them away.

She hated waiting, hated being powerless to do anything, whether positive or negative. Her fingers tingled with nervous, unspent energy. I have to do something. Anything…

"Hiyah!" Someone called out behind her, and Yaomomo ducked and whipped around, nearly stepping on Hitoshi in the process. He peered up, his face cast in shadow, a single violet pupil gazing blankly up at their attacker.

"Aw, darn, I missed." The villain was a young girl, shorter than the one whom Shouto had attacked. She had long, glossy, blue hair that cascaded down her back in a rippling wave. Her wide, teal eyes and delightful grin were fixed on Yaomomo; when the latter met them, she found nothing but crazed bloodlust in those dark rings.

The villain wore a pink and white dress that went to her knees, ripped at the edges and spotty with suspicious, dark stains. A frayed pink bow sat atop a thin headband in her navy locks. Her pale, knee-length boots were splattered with muddy magenta. In her hands, clutched in fingers bearing hot pink nails, was a simple kitchen knife, the silver edge shiny with fresh blood, the fluid still dripping.

She'd recognize this girl anywhere.

"You're Dancing Death, aren't you?" Yaomomo tried her best to sound confident. Without taking her eyes off of her, she reached over to her right and picked up a broken beam of wood from the destroyed podium, hefting it like a weapon.

"Ooh, I'm flattered!" The girl grinned, revealing pearly-white teeth. "Damn, I'm happy people can recognize a celeb when they see one." Using her blade, she whipped her hair over her back, streaking the blue with hot pink blood in the process.

"Unfortunately, our little meet and greet is about to end! Get ready to fight!" The girl's eyes sharpened, and she suddenly charged for Yaomomo, hefting her bloody knife. The blade gleamed in the dim light; her eyes seemed to glow. The ravenette swiftly raised the wooden beam, deflecting an attack. Even without practice, she was a hero at heart; a fighter in the name of blind justice.

"Hmmph." Yaomomo wielded the beam like a shield or a lance, both blocking Dancing's swift strikes and jabbing at her with the splintered end. The villain was faster than her, though; Yaomomo was finding herself herded farther and farther away from Hitoshi.

Geez, this girl is stronger than she looks. I don't know her too well, beyond her name... Is she some violent teenager like Toga? She sure has the looks for it. I don't know her quirk, either… She didn't seem to do anything strange during the USJ attack… better watch out. Yaomomo's head spun with the rapid-fire observations she was picking up with every sense on the battlefield, unconsciously sorting them and utilizing anything she possibly could to her advantage. Her skirt fluttered around her as she was pushed back by another blow from the serial killer. Damn, she's fast.

"Impressed, aren't you?" Dancing smirked, flashing her perfectly white teeth. She moved to stab Yaomomo again; the ravenette jumped to dodge. "Most people are. I sure look young, don't I? I'm actually in my twenties, but please don't go around telling people that. It ruins my image," she added hastily.

"Wha..?" Yaomomo blinked, momentarily stunned with surprise. Is she… reading my thoughts..?

"Yup! You're absolutely right!" Dancing giggled and took advantage of the opening the Detective had created, slashing her across the cheek. Yaomomo cried out in pain and stumbled backwards, clutching the beam to her chest with one hand, the other plastered to her cheek, which burned and stung as if her skin were on fire. When she removed her hand to inspect it, her palm was coated in blood, warm and wet and hot pink. Liquid was still dripping down her face, sickeningly metallic in scent.

"I'm a mindreader! Pretty cool, right? It's super helpful, but people don't like it." The girl grinned, slashing joyfully at Yaomomo. She messily parried the blade with her stick, pushed back by her rapidly advancing blows.

She… seems so familiar to me for some reason, and not because of the USJ thing. I feel like I've seen this girl somewhere, but I've certainly never fought someone so fast and consistent in the streets..!

"Of course you've seen me before!" Dancing paused, feinting left before slashing her right. Yaomomo stumbled and tripped over her own foot, hitting the ground and landed on her behind. She clutched her beam, but it was covered in slashes, ready to snap at pretty much any second. "Everyone has!"

The ravenette scowled, her fingers gripping the wood so tightly her knuckles were beginning to pale. The girl was standing over her, grinning with her knife raised. In her shadow, her azurite eyes seemed to glow like a cat's, a particularly cruel panther that had cornered its prey at long last.

Haha… so is this how I die? Yaomomo mused, bracing herself for the inevitable pain as the knife swung towards her faster than she could possibly roll away. The wood was going to splinter if it took another blow; she could feel it bending in her hands. Survived a Killing Game in which all of my friends died... only to be killed by a villain in the end anyway.

It's… so unfair…

This shouldn't be happening..!

But it is.

And it's all that you deserve, you filthy, spoiled murderer.

You're only receiving your rightful retribution, the one Denki so valiantly protected you from, you pathetic creature.

Cynthia… how could you be so cruel..?

All of the thoughts flashed through her brain in an instant, every emotion and thought engraved in her skull in a mere millisecond. Any moment now, the blade would pierce her flesh and cut her apart, leaving her to bleed out on the ground, a heap of organs and flesh more than a person.

She tightly shut her eyes. There was nothing left to do but wait.

One… two…three…

But nothing came.

"Eh?" Confused, Yaomomo blinked and looked up.

There was nobody standing over her. An icy shock jolted through her, and she scrambled to her feet. Did I..? No, I couldn't possibly have hallucinated something so vividly…

But as she looked to her left, she found the bluette villain on the ground, tussling with a hero with red hair and a goatee. He was wearing a red and white visor and a matching jacket and jeans. They were engaged in a deadly fistfight, the girl's knife abandoned on the ground.

"Regroup with Shinsou!" the hero called when he noticed her watching them with wide, silver eyes. Silver rings clipped his ears. "Someone will fly you two out!"

"O-Okay..!" Dazed, she stumbled to her feet, dropping the wooden splinters on the floor. She hurried back to Hitoshi; he was curled up in a ball next to Denki, still unwilling to abandon the body. He was watching her with wide, indigo eyes.

"Are you okay?" he inquired, more monotonous than caring. Yaomomo didn't mind; she nodded and crouched down next to him to catch her breath, although she was ready to fight if it came to it. "What should we do?"

"I think... we should stay put," the Detective sighed. "A hero will come over… soon enough."

The two huddled together in silence for about half a minute before a hero came crashing down next to them- quite literally. Yaomomo and Hitoshi both jumped as a man with spiky, brown hair tumbled down from the ceiling, breaking his fall an inch above the floor. He was hovering midair- probably his quirk, Yaomomo decided, having jumped to her feet in alarm.

He wore a black shirt with yellow shoulder pads. There was a black, spiked collar around his neck, and a pair of silver wings were attached to his back. He wore plain, black pants that matched his top and a utility belt. "Hey there. I'm Peregrine. My partners and I'll get you out of here, okay?" He had dull, olive eyes, a neutral gaze that seemed to pierce yet never quite reach Yaomomo all at the same time. Peregrine looked away. "Ah. There's Pixel Kit."

A girl with pinkish hair that fell to her shoulders approached them. The girl was flying down on a pixelated sort of hoverboard, kneeling on the glowing panel and gracefully descending next to Denki's body. The board vanished in a puff of light as she landed, dropping her off safely sitting on the cracked floor.

Yaomomo's eyes widened slightly as the hero got up. She knew who this was; she was the Gaming Hero: Pixel Kit. On top of being a hero, she often did modeling, given her cutesy, young appearance- that was how Yaomomo found out about her, through an idol magazine Mina was flipping through in class.

Idol magazine…

"Hey, hey." Her voice was soft; the glowing cat ears on her head pulsed pastel pink. Without even taking her sweet, rose-colored eyes off of Yaomomo and Hitoshi, she calmly raised her left hand and shot out a shining, pixelated spear from her palm- it reminded Yaomomo of her own quirk, producing guns from her skin. It struck a snake-headed villain square in the chest; while the blunt tip didn't draw blood, it knocked him back and to the ground. "My hero name's Pixel Kit. I'll help you out."

"When can we start running?" Hitoshi mumbled. He was watching her over his arm with sharp eyes. "You two together should be strong enough to safely get us out, right?"

"We're leaving right now. Come on." Peregrine bent down to help Hitoshi to his feet. Meanwhile, Pixel Kit continued firing off pixelated spears of light at the approaching villains. Yaomomo allowed the two to flank her and Hitoshi as they began to slowly make their way around the trial circle, closer to the ruined elevator.

"Hey, Pix!" The Detective turned to see that Mirko had called out to them. A girl with messy, burgundy hair and one with shorter brown locks followed closely behind the Rabbit Hero. The former wore a dark maroon bodysuit with lighter, crimson stripes up her sides and a massive black cloak and hood. The cloak's edge was frayed and ragged. A utility belt around her waist held a plethora of pockets and a frightening array of- were those scissors?

On the other hand, the latter with shorter, neatly cut hair was donning a dark blue bodysuit. Similar to her partner's attire, lighter stripes ran up her sides, flowing with her smooth, rounded curves. However, she wore an LED cat headpiece much like Pixel Kit's, albeit her ears were larger and the LED was flashing like an alarm, revealing the banded pattern the lights followed, much like a bat's ear. A piece of pink-tinted plexiglass covered her face, reminiscent of Ochako's old hero mask.

A third hero, another woman wearing a leotard like Mirko's in style but sea-blue with dark purple swirls, was hurrying at the Rabbit's side. There was a green, starfish-like bow in her dark viridian hair. She was as built as Mirko herself, who presently barked an order to her. The shorter nodded and ran off on her own, probably to kick some ass, judging by the way she let out a battle cry and leaped into a group of villains.

The other two were keeping the attacking foes at bay while their leader made her way to Yaomomo, Hitoshi, Peregrine, and Pixel. The one with the cloak was wielding a long, silver lance. Meanwhile, the one with the cat mask was screaming at the approaching villains. Whatever she was saying, the words must've hit home pretty hard, because the victims of her assault doubled over or stumbled back in pain.

Mirko bounded over to where Peregrine and Pixel Kit shielded the two survivors against a podium from a sudden wave of villains. Peering over the pinkette's shoulder, Yaomomo could see her blasting away Spinner with a wall of pixelated, pastel green light. In a blur of white, Mirko dove at him as he backed off, kicking him away with a snap of her tanned, gloriously toned legs. She tumbled into a roll and jumped to her feet, completely unscathed. She flicked her long, white ears over her head, dusting them off. Meanwhile, her sidekicks ran after her, batting away the remaining small fry.

"Yaoyorozu and Shinsou, eh?" Mirko eyed the two over Peregrine's shoulder. "Well, this should be easy. Ryuukyuu has Nejire-chan and Froppy already!"

"Don't jinx it," Peregrine grumbled, unfurling his left wing and whipping around to slice another villain across the chest with the sharp, metallic feather points.

"Nah. I could kick all these nasties to kingdom come, if be it!" Mirko's confidence was infectious; after so long of feeling out of control, to see someone so confident in their success, in a good ending, offered Yaomomo a sense of relief. "Come on, I'll take these two from here! Rose, Serp! Let's get these kids outta here and beat some villain ass while we're at it!"

"Got it!" The shorter grinned, while her taller friend sighed, bent over in exhaustion already. Nevertheless, they took over Peregrine and Pixel's jobs of flanking the two and began to slowly continue circling back to the elevator.

"Gahh! Look out!" The brunette with a mask suddenly cried out, and Yaomomo turned to look up to whatever had struck such fear in the bright girl.

Another portal had opened up, and out poured a wave of Nomus.

"Wh-What?!" Her sidekick yelped, clutching her lance to her chest. "H-How-? Those are High-Ends!"

"Tou- Rose, could you trigger Syo to come out? We have to get out of here, and fast!" the shorter woman -presumably "Serp", as Mirko called her, although Yaomomo hoped that wasn't her entire hero name- exclaimed to her partner. Mirko was trying to hurry them along so they could escape faster without any injury from the League's reinforcements, but the villains began storming their huddle, and even her expert martial art expertise could only get them so far so fast, forcing their advance to a slow shuffle. Yaomomo roundhoused a villain in the ribs before punching him in the face, sending him to the ground.

"I… Sure." Yaomomo looked up to see Rose sniffing up a container of pepper. "Ahh… Achoo!" She sneezed, doubling over. As she straightened, there was a new and wicked sort of bloodlust in her expression.

"Haha! I've been kept out of the limelight for far too long!" Rose's eyes lit up, suddenly confident and mad with energy. A frighteningly long tongue lolled out her mouth as her hoodie fell off her head. It was as if she were a different person.

She blinked, eyeing the lance in her hands and the ruined trial room they were in, as well as the hordes of villains surrounding them. One with gray, scaly skin was racing towards her, brandishing his metal claws. She huffed and tossed the lance on the ground, whipping a pair of silver scissors from her belt. "So we're fighting, eh?!" The maniac ran and met the villain midway, and in a swift whirl of platinum, he was lying on the ground, blood emerging from a startling number of wounds and soaking through his clothes.

"Syo! Stop there!" Serp ran up to Rose- Syo?- Syo/Rose and grabbed her wrist from behind. Syo/Rose jumped and pulled back, turning to face her. "What did I tell you not two weeks ago, when you got your license returned?"

"...no cutting villains up into tiny bits?" Syo/Rose seemed to pout, her ridiculously long tongue lolling. "But Serpent! Hurting those- those tiny children." She tore her hand from Serpent's and pointed her scissors at Yaomomo and Hitoshi, who were backed against a podium with Mirko keeping a close eye on them as she dueled a short but heavily built Nomu. "These sick creatures should be punished, and I'm just givin' them a nice little- little- uh- retribution!" She found her desired word with a wave of her bizarre weapon of choice. Her glare returned to the villain on the ground; she raised one foot and ground her heel into his rough cheek.

"Well, our job is to get these children out of here." Serpent grabbed Syo/Rose's hand and dragged her back to Yaomomo and Hitoshi. "Let's keep moving!"

"Um, Miss Serpent?" Syo/Rose was darting around them and effectively ruining any small fry who dared approach them while the stronger pros took on the Nomu, so as they began walking again, Yaomomo caught the brunette's attention. She looked over with inquisitive, olive eyes.

"Yeah?"

"If I may ask… what's up with her?" Yaomomo pointed at Syo/Rose.

"Oh, Syo?" Serpent looked up to where the maroon-haired woman was knocking villains out of the way and clearing a steady path for the three. "She has D.I.D.. Dewrose was the one you met earlier. This is her alter, Genocider Syo. She's… quite something."

"I can tell." Yaomomo watched Syo do her work and allowed her to guide them along. "It's quite incredible to watch, honestly."

"She's strong no matter what, really." There was a warm admiration creeping into Serpent's voice, her eyes softening as she watched Syo slice up a villain. "I've known her for ages. She really is amazing."

"'Ay, Serpent's Tongue!" Syo turned to them and called to her fellow sidekick. "Are you gonna walk along jabberin', or are ya gonna help me get these kiddos to the exit?"

"A-Ah! Of course!" Serpent ushered the two survivors along with an outstretched arm. "Let's go! Syo's clearing the way for us!"

The four of them had nearly made it to the exit when they were inevitably intercepted.

"Well, well, well. Lookie here." Dabi tched, his skin smoldering with blue flames. His icy pupils fixed on Yaomomo, then Hitoshi, then Serpent and Syo. "Sorry, but I can't let our subjects escape."

"Why are you doing this to us anyway..?" Hitoshi whimpered. He was clutching Serpent's hand; she stepped forward in front of him. "Why..? Why make us suffer instead of killing us, like you killed everyone else?"

Dabi sighed. "All tests have subjects and factors, constants and and results. You're the subjects of our test." He readied a blaze in his palm, poising to throw it like a baseball. "And… despair is the result-!"

He released the flames, an inferno headed straight for the group of four, who scattered in opposite directions. Yaomomo dove to the ground by a podium; heat brushed her back and her calves. When her eyes snapped open, she found herself laying behind Syo. The latter's cloak was draped over her, protecting her from the heat of the fire.

"Stay back there, Yaoyorozu!" Syo leaped to her feet while Yaomomo dragged herself to her own. The sidekick pulled out her scissors and made to run for Dabi. "I'll kill you, villain hottie!"

Dabi huffed and fired flashes of cerulean flame towards her, bursts of light that she dodged with ease, running in a zigzag. She leaped at him; he dodged, attempted to burn her again, and she ducked to avoid it.

"Let's run!" Serpent grabbed Hitoshi by the wrist and hurried over to Yaomomo. "Are you okay?! We have to go now, while Syo's handling him!"

"Right..!" Yaomomo cast a glance over her shoulder as she ran, following Serpent and Hitoshi. Syo was still even with Dabi, neither managing to land a hit on the other.

However, when the three of them had only managed to run a few meters, Dabi huffed and whirled in a circle, spraying flames in a wide arc around him and incinerating everything within close proximity. Syo yelped and leaped back, but it was too late; her cloak had caught fire, as well as her leg.

"Syo!" Serpent yelped out and faltered, wide-eyed as she glimpsed her friend tumble a few meters away from her adversary. Yaomomo and Hitoshi halted as well, uncertain. Should we run, before Dabi turns to us-?

That second of hesitation, with Serpent distracted and Syo on the ground, allowed Dabi to turn and throw a second blade of blue towards them, an arc that curved around them and billowed inwards, forcing them to run away from the exit and back towards the podiums. Syo, who put out the fire on her clothes and was now limping steadily as she dashed towards him, and Serpent, screaming at the top of her lungs, were doing little to deter him. Mirko was nowhere to be seen.

"Come on, now…" Dabi huffed and fired off weaker spurts of flame, pushing Yaomomo and Hitoshi closer to the podiums. A well aimed, arching wave that crashed down upon them, much alike a real wave breaking against the coast, sent a jolt of panic through Yaomomo and drove her to jump over a podium, into the center of the vacant trial circle, while Hitoshi ran sideways.

"Y-Yaomomo!" She turned back to see Hitoshi yelling out to her. "Watch ou-!"

"I've got you right where I want," Dabi growled, before blasting a wide plume of flame around Yaomomo, setting fire to the ring of podiums. Within seconds, the blaze, like an infectious disease, had spread to every piece of wood in the vicinity. Over the roar of the blaze and the ringing in her ears as heat began to flood her every pore, she could hear heroes and villains alike screaming outside the cage of ice-like fire.

"Say goodbye." Dabi leaped over one smoldering podium and began to slowly stride towards her, sitting on the ground, her legs having given out in a fit of panic and exhaustion. Around them, heroes were beginning to attempt to put out the flames, water and sand alike pouring onto the blaze. Dabi huffed and easily sprayed more flames across the wood, setting it ablaze even stronger with each time it was extinguished. The brilliant, blue inferno was rising, trapping them. The floor, her skin, her hands, Dabi growing closer and closer to her- it was all cast in a vibrant, cerulean aura. Yaomomo could barely hear now; her head was pounding, her heart in her throat, running like a jackrabbit.

There was no escape.

She was trapped, and she was going to die.

Again?

After everything, too, huh?

Pathetic, isn't it?

Oh, how unlucky you are, you poor thing.

Even seconds before her own death, the voices in her head wouldn't shut up.

Voices. Were they mere voices, or were they the spirits of Kyouka and Cynthia beckoning her to hell?

She couldn't tell and would never know.

"Why..?" Yaomomo's voice rasped as she stared up at Dabi. She felt as if it were just her and the villain within their fiery prison, one whose key was the Detective's bone, melded and carved using her blood as molten fuel for the furnace and her sternum as the sharpener. "Why are you… doing this to me..?"

"Didn't Hitoshi ask the same thing two seconds ago? I already gave my answer." Dabi hadn't extinguished the flame in his smoldering hand, despite the burns starting to creep up his arm, but he was clearly in no hurry. Yaomomo's heart was sinking with every passing second; there was no help for her now, not in this strange purgatory with no exit door.

"Why won't you kill me already?" she whimpered. "Why have you… trapped me… alone?" Tears welled up in her eyes- out of despair or sorrow or fear or hate or just because the heat was getting to her, she wasn't sure. Maybe it was everything hitting her at once, and her heart was unable to contain it all anymore, not after pretending to be strong for so long.

Dabi paused. "This is a test, and you are the subject." A manic grin spread across his lips. "The variables are all in place- a trapped environment, alone with someone stronger than you, and the hope of rescue extinguished. And the result: you're breaking apart." He rose his hand, preparing to engulf her filthy, reanimated corpse of a body in an inferno of blood. "It's truly beautiful, how even the strongest, the fittest of the fit, the survivors, are so easily crushed."

He brought his arm back a fraction of a centimeter, and the blaze erupted tenfold in his palm, engulfing his entire arm in blue tongues, each hotter than the last.

"Bye-bye, our dearest little detective."

He swung, and Yaomomo squeezed her eyes shut, bracing herself.

I'm sorry, Shouto.

I couldn't escape like you so wished.

I broke my own promise.

YouI'rem just pathetic.

Pathetic.

Pathetic.

Pathetic.

Die now.

The blaze was about to engulf her, eat her alive, burn away her very soul, for there was no afterlife dark enough to house it.

Except it didn't.

For the second time that day, the pain never came, and this time, she didn't want to know why.

She opened her eyes in time to see a smoldering body falling in front of her.

N…

No…

Red and white hair, silky even when ablaze with blades of sapphire, fluttered in the smoky, ember-strewn air.

How..?

He collapsed to the ground, writhing and struggling, shrieking as he struggled to put out the flames on his clothes, his skin, his body.

I was alone! There's no way he could've gotten in here!

"Shouto!" Yaomomo cried out and desperately began stifling the flames with her skirt and hands, ignoring how they burned her skin and singed the cloth. Patting away at the blaze, it crackled and seemed to burn harder, if anything.

After a few seconds, she realized Dabi had stepped back. He was watching them with an icy expression, observing her futile attempts to put out the flame. "What are you doing?" she cried out, still trying to wrangle the fire. "Why aren't you still trying to kill me?!"

Dabi merely shook his head and took another step back. She glared at him and returned her full, frenzied attention to Shouto. "Shouto, um- try to roll if you can and smother them!"

With difficulty, she managed to help Shouto roll back and forth until the flames had been reduced, at which point she stifled them with less difficulty. Panting, she pulled back to assess the damage.

It was horrific. He had pretty much ran sideways into the blaze and blocked most of it from striking Yaomomo, who was on the ground, so only his left side was burnt. Looking at herself, she was practically unscathed, much to her horror. Parts of Shouto's clothes had been burned away, and what remained was horribly singed. His skin was a blistering, bubbling red, and blood dripped from where the blaze had burned into his flesh and cracked it like a desert's earth. For a moment, Yaomomo was reminded of Kouji's death, one she and Kyouka had mourned together.

There was nobody to mourn with her now, though. She was alone, trapped in an impenetrable cage of flame with a villain and her dying best friend, the single person she cared most about, the one fucking person she had wanted to survive with her if she was forced to pick and choose between them.

"Shouto." She stared at his bloody, burnt face. His hair was ashy at parts, and his breaths were coming out swift and shallow. A pitiful whimper escaped his throat. "Shouto, are you okay?!" Desperation seeped into Yaomomo's voice. She knew better than to try to touch him, though. Most of his body was probably ravaged; she'd wager their severity likely exceeded any third-degree burns the local hospitals had ever seen before.

"I'm…" Shouto coughed and winced, the slightest movement aggravating the wounds tenfold. "I'm… sorry…"

"No, no, no, don't give me any of that," Yaomomo muttered. "Why would you jump in front of me?! How did you even get in here?!" Tears were flowing down her face, hotter and more blistering than even the cerulean flames that now imprisoned them. "Wh-Why..? Why would you do this?!"

"S-Sorry…" Shouto's voice was small; weak. "I saw him trap you… while this hero, Medusa, was flying me out… so I made him drop me in."

Yaomomo sobbed, her arms wrapped around her stomach. Her eyes burned; she couldn't take them off of him, though, not even for a second- not when he was dying for her. "Wh-Why... have you done this at all? WHY DO YOU CARE SO MUCH?!" she wailed over the roar of the fire behind her. "WHY DID YOU BREAK YOUR PROMISE?! WHY?!" Her broke and tumbled to a whisper again; her hands raked through her hair and teardrops cascaded down her cheeks. "Why, why, why, why, why..?"

"You're… asking a lot of things… from a dying man…" Shouto murmured. He was struggling to keep his eye open; the scarred side of his face was still bleeding, and his teal eye was squeezed shut, while sticky, pink fluid flowed over it. Yaomomo's heart was pounding against her ribcage, and her palms were sweating. Her stomach flipped.

"There's no way… you could die..!" Yaomomo sobbed. "Not after… after you promised us you'd see us out of here, not after Izuku..!"

"Ah… Izu… ku…" Despite himself, a tiny smile slipped onto Shouto's face. "I… I just want to be with him again… Ever since his death…" A faint chuckle escaped his lips. "I'll get to see him… and you can live… it all works out… right?"

Oh… he's never really let go of Izuku's death this entire time, hasn't he? Even if he said he has... "How are you so strong..?" A memory flashed through Yaomomo's head, a memory of Shouto telling everyone to move on and let Izuku and Eijirou get what they wanted. Was he lying? He must've been. "Why do you keep fighting?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Shouto was still smiling. "Even… if I want to give up… I can't, can I? Not with everyone… relying on me… and you… it would be too villainous to do that, right?"

Yaomomo couldn't reply to that. She could only sit and openly sob, tears falling to the ashen ground below while Shouto struggled to breathe. "I'm… sorry..!" she sobbed. "I love you! I love you more than anything in this world! P-Please… forgive me..!"

But when she opened her eyes, her vision blurry with tears and heat, Shouto's eyes were shut.

"Shouto..?"

He didn't respond.

"No… No, no, no, no, NO!" she screamed, her voice rising with every word. "THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING! SHOUTO! SHOUTO!" She shook him by his unburned side, but he was limp as a ragdoll.

He's dead, you stupid girl, dead because of you.

You killed him.

You kill everyone, ruin everything.

It's your fault.

"Shut up!" Yaomomo screeched. Her throat was dry and raw, but she didn't care. She tugged at her hair, raked her nails against her skull. "Shut up, shut up, shut up!"

"You poor, poor thing." She barely registered Dabi's voice as he strutted towards her. The flames were rising, growing taller and taller, higher and higher around her. "What despair, seeing your dearest Shouto die because of you." She didn't have to look up to know that he was smirking, standing over her, a flame readied in his palm.

"I suppose I'll just have to put you out of your misery. Sweet dreams, Yaomomo."