The Rage of Achilles
It Is Fine Now. Why? Because I Am Here!
-All Might
They were drawn up in the hills just outside a small town called Kesil, a mining town that straddled the highway north. While a lot of quirks largely nullified terran advantages, there was still something to be said for a strong defensive position. Izuku and the resistance were currently perched atop a line of ridges, with their backs to a more gentle slope and the southward faces more steeply inclined.
Below them lay a large, somewhat flat stretch of ground that was full of rice paddies and fields for live stock. They were still a few wandering animals, but the people were long gone. Kesil itself was a burned out ruin, having been the sight of several clashes between the PLF and Izuku's forces already.
Half an hour earlier, Izuku's lead elements had clashed with PLF scouts and even some nomu, but those had quickly fallen back when the nomu died, not attempting to hold the ruins. They'd left a few traps behind, but those had been sorted out quickly. The main worry Izuku had now was that they maintained control of the highway so they had a clear line of retreat, should it prove necessary. He didn't think there would be any running from this fight, but it was good to keep your options open.
"They're coming," Mei told Izuku, looking down over the farmlands below. "I can see them." She had her goggles on top of her forehead, and was squinting slightly. He guessed her quirk really was coming back.
He could see the foe as well, deploying in a line across the rice paddies. It was a stupid way to form up and charge, but the PLF wasn't really a military organization. They were a collection of angry people with powerful quirks. That was something he'd learned at Denkai. They had numbers and strength, but no tactical or strategic sense.
"Uraraka?" Izuku called over the radio. "Have you got those zones sighted in?"
"Yep, don't worry, I took it easy, my quirk is ready to go," she told him. "We'll rain hell down on those bastards as they come."
"Hmm," Izuku rubbed at his chin, though since he was in two layers of armor it was mostly just a nervous gesture. "I don't like it. Shigaraki's not stupid. Shinso, any word?"
"Believe it or not, he really is this stupid," Shinso answered. "Legacystain says he's looking to punish the PLF for their failures. Culling the weak, he calls it. He thinks he can win this on his own, or with just a few of his chosen circle. He thinks this is all a game. Only ones he really wants dead are Togata and Bakugo. He's pissed at them. My guy thinks he actually did care for All For One, in a sick, twisted sort of way."
"Alright, but he's got others working for him. Dabi, Spinner, Hanabata, Iceman, Curious. They're not this dumb."
"Curious is back at HQ," Shinso replied. "Dabi continues their efforts towards Kyto; I think he's the only one Shigaraki really trusts at this point. As for the others, well, Hanabata's a good politico and his quirk makes him good at making shock troops, but he's not a general. Spinner's a fanatic, but he's not got a lot of tactical sense. And Iceman, well, he believes the same thing as Shigiraki: if you've got the stronger quirk, you'll win.``
"So they're really going to do this?" Izuku said, half not believing it as he watched the PLF advance down the highway and across the rice fields. "They're just going to charge our position?"
"Well, I mean, Shigiraki does have one thing right," Shinso said, sounding nervous. "He's got a hell of a lot of men. We've got less than 300. He's got way more than 10,000."
"And at some point, terrain, quirks, and discipline only count for so much," Izuku sighed. "At some point, sheer weight of numbers is all that matters."
"Well then, time to even the odds," Mei declared, having apparently been listening in on the conversation. "Ochako, ready?"
"On your mark," Uraraka agreed.
Mei looked to Izuku, and he nodded. "Commence bombardment!"
"GO MY BABIES!" Mei cackled. "GO MAKE MOMMY AND DADDY PROUD!"
Several hilltops suddenly seemed to turn into fountains of flame, as missile launchers that had been carried up them opened up, packed with a mixture of Eraser Bombs and high explosives. Izuku gritted his teeth as he watched them ascend, then drop down towards the PLF forces, still miles off.
"Wait, what's that?" Mei muttered. "Who is-Izuku! It's the Hand Man! And there's lots of him!"
Izuku's gaze snapped down to the PLF forces. Sure enough, Shigaraki had lifted up on his crimson wings above the PLF. But there wasn't just one of him. There were dozens.
"I thought we got Twice!" Izuku snarled.
"We did!" Shinso answered, sounding panicked. "It was confirmed! But he-oh shit. Izuku. He's All For One."
Izuku's blood ran cold. "And quirks don't just vanish when you die. They're a part of you. If he got to Twice's body…"
The Shigaraki clones raised their hands, and waves of destructive beams, spurs of bone, and ripples of force emanated out from them. The missiles were knocked out of the air well before they were able to hit their targets.
"Hold fire!" Izuku barked. "Do we have missiles for a second barrage?"
"Yes, but our babies will just blow up again!" Mei cried, looking half panicked.
"Set the first wave for air burst, and make it mostly Eraser Bombs," Izuku ordered. "Those are quirk manifestations. Yes, the impact will be severely lessened, but Twice's clones should evaporate from those, and that will let our HE punch through."
It took precious minutes for the adjustments to be made, and in that time the wave of PLF soldiers continued forward, now moving faster.
"Ready!" Mei cried at last. "Firing!"
More tongues of flame shot out. Izuku could see the casual arrogance with which Shigaraki and his clones raised their hands to cut down the missiles again, but when the first wave exploded, all but the first Shigaraki were vaporized into goo. Then came the rain of HE missiles, impacting with a rippling roar that shook the mountainside.
"YES!" Mei hooted, jumping up and down in excitement. "Our babies are the cutest!"
"Uraraka, open fire!" Izuku ordered. "Before they recover! Rifles squads, pick your targets and let them have it!"
"Mei, fall back," Izuku ordered as he opened up with his own cannon. "Get ready to retrieve the wounded."
Mei gave Izuku a terrified look, then fled. A small weight lifted from Izuku's shoulders, but he knew this wasn't over, and she wasn't safe. None of them were.
The snarl of small arms fire started up, and boulders the size of houses began to rain down on the PLF's ranks. Izuku saw lasers and other long range quirks began to fire as well, slowly at first then growing in intensity. Despite the carnage, despite the destruction, the PLF was not slowing. Yes, the first ranks had been decimated, as they had been formed mostly of Nomu. Thos monsters were frothing at the mouth as they broke into a run, charging Izuku's ranks.
"It's Hanabata!" Shinso reported, as familiar music began to drift across the field. "He's using his quirk, Incite! He's goading them on!"
"Steady," Izuku ordered. "Let them get closer. They're charging our prepared positions."
It was sickening. Wave after wave of PLF were cut down, and soon the slopes below Izuku were smeared black and red with the destruction. Still the PLF came on, and they began to open up with their own quirks, causing cries of pain as Izuku's forces began to take casualties.
"Bakugo?" Izuku called.
"Friggin' FINALLY!" Bakugo roared. "Now?"
"Not yet. All forces, fall back," Izuku ordered. "Retreat to the town."
At once, the heroes and police turned and ran as fast as they could, leaving their positions and scrambling down the slopes, dragging their wounded with them. The sight instilled fresh resolve into the PLF, who immediately redoubled their efforts.
Izuku lifted off into the air, watching until the last of his forces made it to the base of the hills. The PLF was in hot pursuit, some already cresting the slope and starting down the other side, screaming out battle cries.
"Now," Izuku told Bakugo.
There was a sound like thunder as Bakugo charged forward, and a bellow that echoed across the battlefield: "DIE!"
Bakugo slammed into the first hill, letting out a massive explosion and punching with the strength of One For All at the same time. The hill collapsed, tumbling backwards as the earth shook and trembled. Bakugo raced to the end of the line, hitting the next hill, then springing back and doing it again, until the entire line of hills that the PLF had been scaling had turned to rockslides that were tumbling down into the valley below, burying thousands as they did it.
It was triumphant, and it was nauseating. How many had Bakugo just killed? Not enough, unfortunately.
"All forces, CHARGE!" Izuku roared, and he dove down, landing amidst settling rubble, looking for targets. Behind him, his troops surged forward, shouting in triumph.
The PLF was in complete disarray. Some had survived the rockslide thanks to their quirks, but they were stunned, injured, or trapped, and their resistance to the heroes assault was minimal. Izuku personally delivered the coup de grace to a dozen PLF soldiers, none of which managed more than feeble resistance. For a few minutes, it looked like the battle was over.
And then death descended from the heavens in a wave. Shigaraki, it seemed, had been creating more clones of himself, and they all dove out of the sky onto the line of heroes. Wherever a copy fell, it landed in a wave of destruction and decay. Izuku saw dozens die with a touch, their bodies withering and rotting. Most sickening was that Shigaraki was indiscriminate, his attack slaughtering friend and foe alike.
Izuku managed to lift off just in time, and fire his Nullification Beam at a crimson winged figure. It turned to sludge and vanished, and Izuku swore, turning and pointing it at another, and another. They all disintegrated with a single hit, but there were so many.
Other heroes were fighting back. A few solid hits were enough to destroy a clone, though no one could get near enough with close ranged quirks to manage it. Izuku saw Todoroki's flames engulf two clones, and Aoyama's laser cut another in half.
Izuku charged forward, the beam cutting down one, then another clone. He turned the beam on a third just as it was about to slaughter a group of police. This time, however, instead of vanishing, the figure hissed in pain, and turned its attention to Izuku.
"I've found-" Izuku shouted, but then Shigaraki shot forward, slamming into him. For a second warning sirens on his suit blared, but then it started to turn to ash around him, Shigaraki grinning face leering at Izuku through his helmet.
"Now you die, you quirkless freak," Shigaraki hissed. "I'll-"
A barrage of missiles exploded around Izuku, and he cried out in pain as he was shaken. He and Shigaraki fell to the ground, and Izuku managed to eject himself, the remains of the ultra armor exploding around him.
"No one, hurts, IZUKU!" Mei's voice screamed.
Dread filled Izuku, and he turned his head slightly. A new figure in a Power Suit had landed not far away, discarding an empty missile pod. The helmet was on, but Izuku knew. It was Mei.
Shigaraki snarled, charging forward. Izuku moved to intercept, firing his laser attachment, but Shigaraki's hand slashed out, and the arm with the laser dissolved. Izuku screamed in pain, crashing to the ground. Thankfully, it was just his right arm, and not his left, but he was going to be too late. Shigaraki barreled towards Mei.
"DIE!"
You couldn't fight Chapstick up close, that quirk of his would reduce you to nothing in a split second. And so, Bakugo used the Black Whip to grab Shigaraki, tossing him aside at the last second before he could touch Mei. The bastard's other quirks still lashed out, shredding her armor and causing her to scream in pain. Bakugo was pretty sure Izuku could have dodged or fought back, but Mei wasn't experienced enough, and she had no head for combat.
"Get here out of here!" Bakugo roared at Izuku as he sped forward. "This isn't either of your fights!"
Shigaraki spun about in mid air, flapping his wings to reorient himself, but Bakugo didn't let that happen. He stretched out both hands, sending out a wave of explosions that flung Shigaraki further away.
"No more games!" Bakugo screamed. "You and me, Chapstick! One For All, against daddy's hand me downs!"
"You insolent brat!" Shigaraki hissed as he stood out of the dust, his hands before him, trembling. "You're not even the one I wanted to find first! I'll find Lemillion, and end him!"
Bakugo smirked. Not likely. Togata had been fighting at the other end of the line, using the last embers of One For All and his phasing to destroy the Shigaraki clones one at a time. There weren't many of those left, but Bakugo was worried Shigarki would start making more of himself. He couldn't let that happen. Keep the pressure on.
"Guess you'll have to make do with me!" Bakugo snarled. He punched the air, creating a gust of wind that caught Shigaraki's wings and flung him upwards. Bakugo sprang after him, hurling explosion after explosion to continue to batter his opponent.
Shigaraki was a tough bastard though, and he sent pulses of destructive energy and streams of crimson feathers after Bakugo. Some he dodged, some he managed to explode, and others cut him, slicing his cheek, arms, and legs, and shredding his clothes.
"You'll bleed before you die," Shigaraki cackled. "And I will take One For All from your corpse!"
"Fuck you!" Bakugo answered. Witty banter wasn't really his thing.
"Bakugo, heads up!" Uraraka's voice shouted, and he looked just in time to see a boulder floating towards him.
He grinned, dropping down to grab it, then launched himself back at Shigaraki, who was barreling towards him. Bakugo flung himself around, smashing the boulder into Shigaraki as he heard the cry of "Release!"
But the boulder faded into dust, dissolving as it hit Shigaraki. Bakugo smashed through its remains, diving down and around, then grabbing Shigaraki with the Black Whip. The villain snarled and tried to turn, but Bakugo used an explosion to propel them both towards the ground. He flipped about at the last moment, hurling Shigaraki into the earth. As he did so though, the villain's hand reached out, touching Bakugo's left foot.
Pain bloomed along Bakugo's leg, and he roared in anguish and rage as his foot dissolved. Blood spurted out, and he could feel himself weakening.
"No," Bakugo snarled. He dove down, ignoring the pain, and let fly with more explosions, driving Shigaraki into the earth. "Die! Die! DIE!"
Shigarki's arms suddenly extended, snapping up and swiping at Bakugo. He barely dodged to the side, flying back, unable to land with his weakened leg. He snarled as Shigaraki floated up, a hideous grin on his face.
"Help from your friends? Well. That's just a weakness." Suddenly, Shigaraki split into three, all of them diving away from Bakugo.
His eyes widened, and he managed to dodge to the side, hitting one with an explosion. It vaporized, so it wasn't the real thing, but the other two didn't try to attack him. Instead, they continued backwards.
To where Uraraka stood with their friends. She didn't look afraid, just mad, even stepping forward as she hurled a rock the size of a refrigerator at Shigaraki and his clone.
"No!" Bakugo barreled forward on an explosion, slamming into one physically. It turned out to be a clone, vanishing into sludge, but not before it slashed at Bakugo's chest. He gasped in pain, tumbling to the ground and rolling over and over, clutching at himself. He was bleeding badly, he could tell, and he couldn't catch his breath. Some of his ribs, half a lung, they were gone. He tried to float up, desperate to save Uraraka. Something slammed into his shoulder, and he tumbled back into the ground.
"Friends. Family. Weakness. That's all they are," Shigaraki laughed, a smile on his crack lips as he turned away from Bakugo, satisfied his foe was already dead. "And so it ends.
Bakugo looked behind Shigaraki. Uraraka was alive, her face a mask of anguish, though she looked unharmed. She and several others were racing forward, and her fist was extended as she tried to some how reach Bakugo before he bled out. Casually, Shiguraki raised one hand before himself. He would just bat her out of the air, and she would be gone. Ash.
Desperately, Bakugo tried to use Float, the Black Whip, even his Explosions to catch up to Shiguraki, to somehow close the distance, but he could barely move. The strength had left his body.
"Help," he croaked, blood flecking his lips. "Someone...I can't do it."
That was when Mei flew into the fray once more, Izuku riding on her back, steadying her arm as she aimed the Nullification Beam, ripped out of Izuku's own destroyed suit. They fired it, and it impacted Shiguraki square in the chest. He screamed in pain, his flesh seeming to bubble and writhe from the sheer number of quirks he'd taken. What had once been his greatest strength had just turned into a crippling weakness.
Suddenly warmth filled Bakugo's body, and he felt as though a hand lifted him back up. He could see Shiguraki still pressing forward, Uraraka still charging, even as Izuku and Mei's weapon began to overheat and smoke. He didn't have much time. But it would be enough.
"STRENGTH!" Bakugo screamed, and he called upon everything he had. He threw caution to the wind, using an explosion to hurl himself forward with one hand, the other stretching desperately toward Shigaraki.
Shigarki turned just as the Nullification beam blew up, his body already regenerating from the damage he'd taken. He grabbed Bakugo's arm, a pained grin spreading his chapped lips wide. "Foolish. And pointless."
Bakugo's arm began to melt, and he knew he'd be dead in a moment. But he did have a foot still. It snapped up, slamming into Shigaraki's jaw, every ounce of force from All For One focused into the limb.
"DIE!"
Shigaraki's head exploded in a fountain of gore, and he swayed there, but Bakugo wasn't finished.Izuku had given him an opening. He was going to make the most of it. Bakugo's other hand snapped up, and Bakugo unleashed the most powerful explosion of his life, right into Shigaraki's chest. Half of it vaporized as Bakugo was flung backwards. He slammed into the ground, his body broken and bleeding.
He gazed up at the sky, which was filled with smoke and dust. He couldn't see the sun. When had it started to get so dark? Wasn't it only noon?
A dim shape entered into his vision, crouching over him. Bakugo couldn't see, couldn't hear, but he knew. It was her. She bent over him, and with his one remaining arm, Bakugo reached up, and drew her down to him, kissing her on the lips.
"It's yours," he whispered. "Take it."
She said something, but Bakugo couldn't hear. "Was...was I strong enough?" he asked.
No. He hadn't been. He never was.
Pain enveloped Bakugo, and for a moment, there was nothing but agony. Then, all at once, it was gone.
He sat up, looking around. He was in a field of stars again. He blinked. "Shit, am I dreaming?"
"Not quite," a familiar voice rumbled. A hand reached down to Bakugo, and he took it. All Might hauled Bakugo to his feet, smiling down at him. "Young Bakugo. You have done it. You won."
"You sure about that? Cause I'm pretty sure I got my ass kicked," Bakugo said, looking around. "Where are the others?"
"Sleeping. I must too, soon. I was the closest to you, however, so I waited, here at the end with you."
"Guess I'm dead then?" Bakugo said, looking around. The void swirled about him, and slowly, stars started to go out, their lights fading one by one.
All Might paused, then shook his head. "Not yet."
"Wait, no shit?" Bakugo asked, surprised. "Thought I was."
"Your heart no longer beats," All Might said quietly. "You will be dead in moments. But here, at the end, time goes differently. I thought I'd wait with you while all fades."
Bakugo nodded, trying not to weep. "Ochako...did she...did she get One For All?"
"She did not. Things are...uncertain," All Might said, looking worried. "But, All For One is destroyed. Perhaps the need for the Bearers has ended."
"Hmph. Guess it's just nothing now, huh?" Bakugo said, watching as the stars continued to vanish, his hands shoved in his pockets.
"No, there is never nothing," All Might told him. "Even if One For All has left the world."
"So, what? We just hang out in the void? Or 'sleep' or get reincarnated or whatever?" Bakugo demanded. "You said some shit about Dante. Looked him up. So I guess I go to hell now? What about you?"
"Hmm? Oh, no. Neither of us shall go to torment," All Might said, looking around as the stars faded. He seemed anxious. "I just...I wanted to see him. But I suppose I shall have to wait."
"See who? What, did Togata get it back? He's alive, right?" Bakugo demanded. "But if we're not going to hell, then what? Sleep? Guess I could use a nap."
"I shall sleep until judgement day, when I and the others who knew him not in life, but still sought him, shall await," All Might said. "You, however, will not."
"What? Talk sense. Dante was all about hell! The inferno! So tell it to me straight! I know I wasn't a good person!" Bakugo ranted. "Shit, my last 'sacrifice' was so I could save Ochako! I did it for selfish reasons!"
"You really don't understand what real selfishness is," All Might chuckled. "It seems I must go. I hope we meet again one day, Bakugo. Farewell."
With that, All Might just vanished, like the stars. Bakugo looked around, frowning. "Well? Now what? Come on!"
Then suddenly, there was light. Instead of the darkness, blinding, all present, light. Bakugo covered his face, expecting to wince and be in pain. But he wasn't. He frowned, confused. And then he saw him. The source of the light. And then there was a voice.
"Well done, my good and faithful servant."