The same hand that had been holding him steady while the earth rumbled under their feet was now shoving him away from the center of the crowd. People jostled each other in an endless circle, a mass of confusion that were rushing for solid ground without knowing where to find it. Only he and Spinner had vague ideas of what to do next amongst the turmoil, while the Liberation Army struggled to understand the storm that was coming for them all.

"I can handle myself from here!" Spinner reassured, yelling to make himself heard over the conflicting shouts of defiance and alarm. "But I still need you to do what I can't. Go find Shigaraki and Giran! Help them if you have to! We don't know what we're in for, but now that the big guy's here, anything could happen."

Tokoyami shoved himself between two of the soldiers, but Spinner was steadily getting lost to the crowd behind him. "Spinner!" Tokoyami wheezed, calling out to him once more before losing sight of him completely. "Look after yourself, alright? We have to meet up afterwards. So please, make sure you're still there when it's all over!" If Spinner responded at all, then it must've been drowned out in the excess noise. Hopefully, if his brief message of confidence reached him, then he'd make it through this battle without throwing away too much of himself. Spinner had always given off that kind of feeling – that if he devoted enough of himself to a person or cause, then he might just get lost in it all. But Spinner was smarter than most people gave him credit for. So he had to make it through this mess.

And now Spinner had left him a task. An inevitable confrontation, as it were. This mission – this bloody brawl – wasn't over until Shigaraki resolved whatever was happening up ahead. There was also the issue of whether or not they'd successfully recovered Giran. Considering he was supposed to be held captive in the tower that was now turned to dust, it was hard to ascertain his fate. Maybe he was already dead, and Shigaraki's continued fight was one of bitter vengeance and power usurpation. Or maybe Tokoyami will be pleasantly surprised when someone other than the League leader emerges from the ruins of this city.

Whatever the case may be, it was the direction Tokoyami was headed. He could only assume that the rest of the League was still caught up in their own things, much as Spinner was. Twice and the others have hopefully found cover by now. I don't want to imagine a scenario where anything else befell them when they were already vulnerable…

Time was ticking, though. Whatever the state the others were in, it would have to be dealt with on their own. Regardless of how much actual help he had been to them, it was on him now to make it the final stretch of the way to the city's center and whatever awaited him there.

Plunging through the confused crowds, Tokoyami made it back to the wall of store fronts and hopped through the nearest broken window, taking cover in the sparsely populated building and winding his way towards a back entrance. A few people tried to stand in his way – others hadn't seen the role he played in all this and didn't recognize who he was. Either way, he swept past them all the same, using Dark Shadow as a buffer to push them back when needed. And then he was back onto the streets, where civilians weren't so much trying to fight but rather run away from the nearest source of destruction.

Tokoyami didn't know this city well enough to try and direct anyone. Even if he did… well, by this point he thought better than to bring attention to himself by trying to yell directions. He wasn't about to place any more targets on himself if he could help it. So this time he kept his beak shut smartly, avoided the confused yells and frantic running of these Liberation Army people. They should've recognized the dangers of this place long ago. If it was too late for them, then there was nothing he could do to help them.

Despite the lack of a distinct place-marker to guide him to Shigaraki and Giran's whereabouts, he still knew where to go. The skyscraper that had stood as Deika's center point may have been obliterated to dust, but by now Tokoyami could hear the sounds of a battle taking place. He could feel it, too. Waves of surging power and frustration radiating through the air. It was distinctly different from the steadily approaching danger of Gigantomachia. He really didn't want to worry about the mountainous man right now. Not unless he was forced to, face-to-face. Target focused, he forced his legs yet again to go as fast as he could go.

As he felt that he was nearing the city's center, a thought occurred. There was nobody with him for this final stretch – other than his quirk, of course. But for the majority of this hellish escapade through the battle-stricken town, he'd had someone from the League there to accompany him. Now even the Twice clones were gone. This close to the center, they'd thinned out considerably. They were either starting to get equally distributed throughout the vast cityscape or the legions of soldiers were starting to control the ranks of Twices that had been in circulation. Whatever the case, everyone was preoccupied, leaving him to face this without any of them.

A shockwave of pure physical strength rippled through the earth, forcing Tokoyami to crouch down with his hands to the earth to keep himself from toppling over. He had no idea what abilities belonged to the Army's leader, but the sensation that washed over him felt like it had a name to it. Witnessing the way it caused buildings to topple into each other and cracks to splinter the streets, it felt like… an outburst of built-up stress. Whoever Shigaraki was facing off against, their battle was agonizingly close now. He could feel it in the way his bones hummed under the onslaught of force reverberating from a few disintegrated blocks away.

Only problem was that there was no way to see what was happening

It was like a wall. Just by looking at the toppled buildings and cracked infrastructure, Tokoyami could tell that this was the result of everything that had once stood in the center of the city being pushed aside. Some buildings were eroded by Shigaraki's quirk, that much he could see, but most of it looked like it'd just been shoved by some incredible force. Walls and whole stories of various buildings were piled atop each other, creating a blockade of concrete and metal beams. They were amassed over highways and clogged the sky, standing as a barricade separating him from the ensuing fight on the other side. Recalling how precarious his path had been when traveling in the shadows of the unstable buildings, Tokoyami decided he'd best not find a path through what remained of the streets. That meant going over the accumulated destruction.

Better start climbing!

It's more than that, though, Tokoyami assured his quirk as he entered through the broken window of a sturdy-looking multistory company business. I'm finding a vantage point. I can't make it from the ground with how blocked all the roads are becoming. But if I can just scope out the situation and see what's happening, then maybe there's something I can do.

Tokoyami traced a vague path through the destruction with his eyes, trying to rationalize what the most stable climb would be. He settled on a larger building that looked like it had withstood the test of battle more than the rest of its block. The biggest downside was the amount of debris heaped on every side and puncturing its lower walls, along with the fact that the building itself looked alarmingly tilted. But there's buildings that are perfectly functional even if they're a bit skewed, right? So it should be fine.

Dark Shadow squirmed nervously. That doesn't sound right, but I don't know enough about construction to argue.

Tokoyami began his ascent. Wary of where the rubble looked unsettled, he hopped over broken walls and scaled mounds of steel. His already sorry-looking cloak kept catching on things, so he paused momentarily to wrap it around his neck and shoulders so that it didn't trail behind him so much. He reached the building that had remained standing amongst the turmoil without further challenge. Up close, it didn't look as secure as he'd hoped, but he'd seen no better path forward. An exterior fire escape served as a clear way to the upper levels, where he'd hopefully be able to find a way to scale over and down into the battlefield on the other side. This close to the end, he could make out the voices of the city's destroyers. How long now had they been at each other's throats?

Tokoyami wouldn't be content until he saw it for himself.

When he finally reached the height of the building, it was as if a switch had been flipped. In all the time it'd taken to reach this point, the path had felt so undeniably precarious – filled with unknown enemies and twisting turns. There'd been both literal and theoretic road blocks stunting his progression, all while navigating a battlefield he didn't understand, even now.

But when he reached the top of the tilted building and looked down into the warzone below, he felt a wave of clarity reach him from the strangest of places.

It was Shigaraki, without a doubt. But it wasn't. Maybe he'd just never gotten much time to piece together who this person was, but he'd heard him speak. Tokoyami knew what the League's leader stood for, and what his position meant for the rest of them. It's just that he'd never seen those convictions put into action. True, unrestrained conviction and forcefulness. Because facing off against their newest threat was like seeing a whole new person.

It made Tokoyami wonder if something had changed in the sparse time that had passed. Could such a development really be had in so short a time? Dubious as he was, he couldn't deny who it was that marred the earth fought with all he had.

This fight was not what he'd envisioned. From the beginning, he hadn't known what to expect upon reaching the center of this brutal fight, but even this had caught him off guard. Even from this last bit of distance, Tokoyami could see the two figures clearly: Shigaraki, clad in tattered pants and admittedly not much else, facing off against what he could only assume was the CEO of Detnerat, Re-Destro. The businessman gave off this nauseating vibe, and Tokoyami identified him as the source of the "stress" that had rattled the city just moments prior. He'd assumed the form of a hulking form with grossly oversized muscles and murky, concentrated energy that warped around his face and body. The sharply pointed nose set in the middle of Re-Destro' face gave him a somewhat avian façade, and Tokoyami shuddered at the memories it evoked of a different, bird-like monstrosity from his recent past. Right before his eyes, he watched the villain equip himself in a mechanical suit. A final gambit, perhaps? At this point in the fight, such a thing didn't seem like it'd make much of a difference.

Even still, a strained battlecry carried over to him.

"One hundred… and fifty percent!" Why did that feel so familiar? He couldn't quite place it. It was sure to be a grand display of power exertion. And yet Shigaraki stood unfazed all the same, poised before him at the ready. If he responded at all, Tokoyami was too far away to hear it. Oddly enough, the League leader appeared strangely calm in all this – a stark contrast to the other desperate fights that had gone down in this city.

From Tokoyami's precipice, he could see the world and all its devastation laid bare. Before him, a timeless battle. Behind him, a new path being carved from destruction. The foundation trembled beneath him. Looking back, he could see Gigantomachia barreling through the city, closer than he'd ever been to reaching his goal. Distracted from Shigaraki's fight, he was realizing just how wretchedly precarious this position was. Just because he was physically above it all didn't mean he'd distanced himself from the dangers of battle. It wasn't what he'd been trying to do, either. He'd wanted to witness Shigaraki's fight and, if possible, help in some way. But standing atop this building made him realize just how small he was in all this.

Shigaraki's fight was his own. Unlike the others, it didn't feel like there was much he could do to sway it one way or another. On the other hand… the other threat was coming straight for him. Gigantomachia forged his path unopposed but for the desperate attempts from the Liberation Army to impede his progress. From his vantage point, Tokoyami could see that even the person who Dabi had been up against had given up their fight, shifting gears to focusing on the hulking beast headed straight to their CEO and Boss. The ice-wielding soldier threw barrage after barrage of dragon-like ice at the mountain, to little avail. For all the trouble this person had been giving Dabi, they sure didn't seem very strong in comparison now.

Tokoyami could only watch as Gigantomachia swatted him away like an irritating fly. So much for that. Nobody else appeared as willing to step up to him as that person had been. Which was worrisome, because it was the Meta Liberation Army fighting to keep him at bay when really Gigantomachia's target was Shigaraki, not Re-Destro. Tokoyami doubted the giant would discriminate who to crush, though.

So if that fight's over, then where's Dabi now?

Tokoyami scouted the area around Gigantomachia, trying to make out individual forms. He thought for a moment he saw a familiar white van careening through the fractured streets while a person was dragged behind it. Toga, Twice, and Mr. Compress should ideally be farther away from the path of destruction. As for Dabi…

A dark-clothed speck located half a block from Gigantomachia's rampage caught his eye. It was him, for sure. Dabi had found his own vantage point after breaking off his fight with the ice user. He was looking right in Tokoyami's direction, waving his arms to get his attention and yelling something that was drowned out by the sounds of the falling city.

"I can't hear you!" Tokoyami yelled back. Dabi's arms slumped back to his side. He started running over the rooftops to get closer to him while still avoiding Gigantomachia's war path.

That's when an unpleasant feeling spread through Tokoyami. The sky felt like it was weighing down on him, forcing his attention back to the focal point of the city. If he could, he would've rather kept his attention divided between the two monumental forces that were closing in on each other. Instead, he found himself focusing entirely on what Shigaraki was doing. That's when he saw that the villain had placed both of his hands flat onto the barren earth.

With a sinking feeling, Tokoyami thought of just how grossly familiar this all was starting to feel.

The ground splintered further, molecules ripped apart from each other and left scattered. Scars emerged in a radius around him, spreading out and emanating from its malicious source. The whole world groaned in protest as it was overtaken by this impossibly destructive quirk, this power that no one man should possess.

As for Tokoyami, he couldn't pry his eyes away from it.

That warped, crumbling horizon. I'd never seen anything more horrifying.

The already precarious infrastructure that had been serving as his dismal roost began to shift. Deep scars of black ran up the sides of the walls, racing towards him at harrowing speeds. Tokoyami felt his breath catch in his throat. These sorts of destructive quirks he was unfortunately accustomed to by now, but the fact that this one was coming at him from such a distance made it all the more devastating, as if this were something that could happen at any time. These attacks just felt so indiscriminate, guided only by the need to wreak havoc upon the unsuspecting.

Tokoyami felt his gut twist, almost as though he could feel them spilling. He clenched the fabric of his tattered shirt, recalling yet again the last time he'd been on the receiving end of an attack that was meant for another. He stepped away from that grim, crumbling edge. Away from the quickly approaching destruction, for all the good it did him.

Run. This isn't your fight. Just run away.

There's nowhere to run. I can't go anywhere. Not anymore.

The ominous feeling that his world was coming to an abrupt end held him in place. He'd come this far, and for what? To check in on the hell-bent villain leader whose misguided quirk was actively destroying the very foundation keeping him upright? There was a layer of irony that he didn't care to assess here. Toeing the edge of the void, a new memory emerged. One where he's leaning out the open window of a crappy apartment lamenting his lack of freedom.

If I can help you, you know I will. To escape this fate.

Tokoyami backed up from the edge as far as he could, but their ladder to the top had already crumbled away, leaving them utterly exposed upon the teetering construction.

A hysterical laugh erupted unprompted from the churning chaos below. "Ha ha ha! All will be… Destroyed!"

The building broke down beneath him, marred by decay, and at the very last moment Tokoyami leapt out from the range of the unrestrained quirk. Time slowed down. There was nothing there for him but a vast swath of open sky stretched over desolate wasteland. He wondered if the climb that had brought him above it all was only ever meant to end in ruin. It'd be his fault, then, that he'd strived too far and forsaken his own limitations. Or perhaps this descent to a decay-ridden earth was brought on by the foolish desire to seek out Shigaraki in all this mess. What an underwhelming ending, to become a splatter on Shigaraki's blood-soaked battlefield.

And yet, when Tokoyami felt the wind rushing past him and felt nothing chaining him to the ground but gravity, it almost felt fitting. Like a bird with no wings finally getting to feel the freeing sensation of the sky.

He's saying something. Listen.

Through the sound of air rushing past him and the shrieks of the damned, Tokoyami picked out Dabi's voice. Ah. It's so far away.

Dark Shadow manifested around him, taking shelter in the bedraggled remains of his cloak. Despite the fact that his quirk was a literal manifestation of darkness, Tokoyami felt a comforting sensation overtake him – a reassurance that everything was going to be okay. Then I'll say it with him, Dark Shadow hummed in his head.

Fumikage…

Another frantic screech from the barren earth. "You have to fly!"

…We have to fly.

Tokoyami looked up into the somber yellow eyes of his quirk. Behind his quirk and the ragged cape that protected him, the sky felt so much bluer, beckoning to him.

Flying? The ability that so many heroes craved. A power that automatically opened up a whole new world of possibility for the user. He could grasp it, just like that? If defying the ground was all he had to do to preserve his plummeting life, then so be it.

Tokoyami stretched out a desperate hand towards that brilliant blue sky, as if he could take hold of it for himself. Inspiration seized him. He did the one thing he should've always been doing and called out for help. "Dark Shadow!" He cried out for his quirk, already at his side. Always at his side in his time of need. "Take hold of me!"

"Aye!"

Thick, black claws wound their way across his midriff, holding him close as if in embrace. Realistically, it wasn't all that different than if he'd had Dark Shadow save someone else and carry them out of danger. But he'd never thought to save himself in quite the same way.

His plunge through the air began to slow. Not because his mind was playing tricks on him and prolonging the inevitable impact, but because he actually was slowing down. The feeling of wind rushing past started to ebb until it was but a breeze. As the ground began to near at a more subdued rate, he found that he didn't have to fear reaching it anymore.

And just like that, he came to a full stop mere inches from the ground. Beneath his boots, the earth looked like it had never known life, scarred and pitted by decay as it was. That diabolical wave of decay had come to pass, though. It could still be extending to the far reaches of the city even now, but in this space he wouldn't have to fear falling apart from contact alone.

Dark Shadow let him down the rest of the way onto solid ground.

Tokoyami staggered in the sea of dust. The strangely comforting embrace of Dark Shadow's inky claws were still wrapped securely around his midriff. But the impact of what they'd just accomplished together made it hard to find his footing. Was the world spinning or just him? Was he still tethered to this mortal earth, or had he felt his soul leave his body for a split moment?

He'd flown. Like a majestic bird, he'd fallen from the sky on wings of his own creation.

Tokoyami placed his hands over Dark Shadow's claws in stunned amazement. "Could we… always use that?"

Dark Shadow let go, uncoiling around him until he was hovering airily above the bird-headed boy. "A-ah, maybe? There was one other time before this where I grabbed you while you were falling, but I hadn't thought much of it… was it really so strange?"

Tokoyami looked up at his quirk, who now sported a concerned expression. He worried so much about these things. Tokoyami patted the top of his quirk's head. "He can hone this skill for the future. You've done nothing but incredible things today, Dark Shadow. Words alone cannot describe how much that means to me…" The quirk buzzed with excitement, butting his head into Tokoyami's open palm with enough force to make him stumble. "B-but we're not done here yet!" he hastily followed up.

The dust was still settling, leaving everything up in the air. He couldn't see Shigaraki or what had become of his opponent. Despite how much action had just shook the foundation of this thoroughly desecrated city, it wasn't over just yet. For one, the unstoppable force that was seeking out Shigaraki was still on the move, his thunderous steps closer than ever before. Shigaraki's wave of decay had done little to deter him.

Secondly, a person managed to clamber out from a pile of goopy Twice clones. Despite how foggy Tokoyami's head felt after the dizzying plunge, he recognized the person immediately and ran to his aid before any more trouble could befall him.

The target of the League's rescue mission stumbled around in a pained daze. He was looking all around, as if trying to locate the next batch of Twice clones that would take a hit for him. Instead he found Tokoyami, already at his side and hastily figuring out what would be deemed safe for someone in his predicament.

"Hey, you're Toko… Tokoyami, right? How did you get so…" Giran squinted at him through blurry vision. "Never mind. You're still with the League, right? Where do I go from here?"

Tokoyami didn't know that much about Giran. He'd been present when attaching Mr. Compress's new mechanical arm, but that was the extent to which Tokoyami had seen of him. That hardly mattered now, though. The League – or at the very least Twice – had been really passionate about rescuing him. Thinking of how Re-Destro and his men had tortured this man for info on the League left a bitter taste in his mouth. And after all of that, the broker was left in a worn and bloodied state. This man shouldn't be standing on an active battlefield.

Tokoyami tugged him by the wrist, gentle but urgent, and pointed to the ridge of settling destruction where a few city ruins had managed to stand. "Hurry! Take cover over there while you still can!"

Giran wasted no time hobbling to where he'd indicated. As he moved ahead on unsteady steps, holding his fingerless hand to his chest, he chanced a look back to where Tokoyami had stopped. "What about you?! I thought you were joining me. You're not going to stand between those two, are you?"

Thud. Thud.

Tokoyami shook his head. "Shigaraki's fight? No, not this time. There's more than them that we should be worried about."

Thud. Thud.

It looked like there was more that Giran wanted to say. But then his line of sight left Tokoyami, drifting skyward in horror, and he bolted to cover with renewed vigor as if the world itself was truly crashing down around him. Again, that is. He'd suffered enough for one day.

By now the tremors wracking the earth were so intense that each one lifted Tokoyami off the ground.

Thud.

A shadow eclipsed Tokoyami, larger than any building left standing. The tremors had stopped, if only for a moment. Tokoyami followed Giran's line of sight, up and up, until he was craning his neck directly to the sky just to see the mountain that had stopped before him.

Tokoyami stared up into the looming face of Gigantomachia. The largest obstacle of all had finally caught up to him. It looked like he'd given pause for only the briefest of moments though, a mere second spent acknowledging his tiny existence. It was an honor, really. And then he started to move again, right past Tokoyami like he was no more than any other speck of dust littering the ground. "Master's… Successor!" he rumbled, target locked on the only thing he cared about.

This was the monster that Shigaraki had spent the past several months battling – no, surviving against. And now the League's leader was locked in a completely separate match. He couldn't afford any distractions or added difficulty with how much was already being handled. Tokoyami had wished it wouldn't come to this, but with how close Gigantomachia had made it to Shigaraki, he saw no other option.

Dark Shadow. We're giving it our all here.

Aye!

Under Gigantomachia's shadow, Tokoyami felt darkness brimming in his fingertips. He called his quirk to his side and raised his claw-clad arms. "I can't have you going any further!"

Either Gigantomachia hadn't heard him or he simply did not care. "Master's…" The mountain didn't stop again for him.

Tokoyami rushed at him. Of course it was probably futile. Foolish, even, considering how much of himself he'd already pooled into assisting the other members of the League. But if he could stall for just a minute – no, a second – then that might make all the difference. In a high stakes battle unfolding behind him, everything mattered.

Shadow-cloaked claws hacked at one of Gigantomachia's legs. He didn't seem to notice, the attacks practically bouncing off steel-hardened flesh. It was hard to believe this man was even human.

The leg he'd been attacking rose off the ground for another grand stop. No, I can't let you! Tokoyami sent out Dark Shadow's arms, bridging the distance, and they gripped the mountainous man's heel. He was all but dragged along for the ride, feet skidding uselessly through the dirt. "Stooooop! You have to stop!" Tokoyami wailed. His outburst went unanswered. Then that heel he'd been clinging to was directly over him and coming down fast.

Tokoyami narrowly avoided being squished. Of all the ways he'd come close to dying, that would've been the most insulting way to go. Stepped on like an ant. He never could've imagined such an abysmal fate. All the more reason why he couldn't stop now.

When the foot cratered the earth mere inches from Tokoyami, he managed to stand through it. No backing down.

The claws that had stayed gripped to Gigantomachia began to grow, writhing with accumulating shadows like layers of building muscle. Instead of trying to pull Gigantomachia away, Tokoyami situated himself in front of him, rushing to brace himself. And he began to remember everything that had brought him to this point.

Tokoyami thought of Toga curled up in his arms on the brink of death. Of Mr. Compress barely scraping by amidst the chaos, and of Twice being left alone to deal with those demented puppets that had broken his arm and almost killed Toga. Tokoyami recalled Dabi's frantic battle against the ice user and his adamant rejection of help – and then Spinner's desperation in his own fight, where they were able to work together. He thought of the people who attacked him, but also of the people he couldn't save in this unjustifiable mess. Everything he'd done, everything he'd seen, had their own emotions attached. A lot of it entailed feelings of frustration and hopelessness. But it didn't have to be. Whatever it was that came to him, he brought it all to the forefront of his mind and turned it into power to fuel him.

Bigger! Stronger!

Feel the shadows inside us surge!

It was as if the light of day didn't exist. Shadowed by the giant, Tokoyami outputted his quirk as much as he could. Maybe it was dangerous. But so was Gigantomachia. So was every step of this hellish journey. And if he couldn't learn to wield this volume of power, then he may as well be signing himself up for an untimely demise.

Warped claws pieced from the fabric of the abyss continued to grow in size, the scythes of a hellish monster. Tokoyami knew this feeling. He knew that the only way to combat a behemoth monster of destruction was with his own. Frustration at his own incompetency fueled him, driving him to become more. More and more. It wasn't going to be like the night in the forest. Never again, if he could help it. So this power… it had to be his.

Fumikage…! I can't… hold it!

Tokoyami grit his teeth. Even with all this, he wasn't even keeping Gigantomachia at bay.

"Not… yet!" Tokoyami wailed, throwing his all into the herculean feat. Something about the gargantuan force he was contending shifted. It was by no means a full stop, but he felt the giant slow down ever so slightly. Eyes fell onto him, followed by an agitated growl that rumbled throughout the huge body. "Am I but a nuisance to you?!Fight me, Gigantomachia!"

He heard him.

Gigantomachia stopped in place for a moment so brief he could've just imagined it. Maybe the giant hadn't expected anyone to actually try apprehending him when his rampage into the city had been so easy. But since Tokoyami was giving his all, it was worth being annoyed. Gigantomachia stared down at the surging talons clamped around his leg and the sinewy shadows thrashing beneath him. With a grunt, he applied his own force. As if taking a meager portion of what he was capable of and powering through the smallest of obstacles, Gigantomachia walked right through his last stand.

Tokoyami and Dark Shadow were completely and utterly steamrolled.

Shadows ditched him all at once. The power he'd held vanished into thin air, quashed by one so much greater. He tumbled through the dust of the fallen city, cast aside from any chance of persevering against tyranny and needless destruction. Tokoyami covered his head to protect himself from jagged pieces of stone and metal that littered the area and prayed that Gigantomachia didn't tread over him then and there. His body vibrated with every passing step of the giant, the crunch of earth deafening and omnipotent. And just as quickly, the tremors seizing the earth came to a halt, leaving the world still. Without the mountainous man towering over him, the shadow had passed as well, leaving him out to dry in cold sunlight that only seemed to taunt him. The light offered him no warmth in the frigid winter air, and yet when he cracked his eyes, it still served to blind him, forcing them to be squeezed shut again.

Tokoyami coughed the dust from his aching lungs, wheezing with every labored breath. His head was ringing, muddling his thoughts, and he couldn't process the broken words that his quirk was trying to tell him. All his senses felt numb but for the dull ache that permeated every inch of his body. Through it all, he tried unsuccessfully to catch his bearings and figure out what was happening now. Had they unknowingly succumbed to a loss at the hands of this businessman's army? Or was the earth only so still because Gigantomachia had put a swift end to the weakened fighters, leaving nothing left worth the time of day to destroy. How insulting, it all felt, to be wallowing in the dirt of a mess he could do nothing to prevent despite it all. If he stood now, who would be waiting for him? The heroes of the city that loathed him, or the villains that welcomed him? If everything was already lost… could he just walk away from it all? Wash his hands of the blood that stained them. Or maybe it was too late for that.

He's talking – listen – Fumikage… do you–? – Destro's will.

Tokoyami brought a heavy hand to his head, carding it through dusty feathers while massaging his pounding temple. I can't hear you clearly, Dark Shadow. Talk slower.

A booming, gravelly voice rang through him, lighting his senses on fire. "A true successor!"

I'm missing something.

–Army is… command. He's giving… bad for... They're… Words dropped like rain falling in a bucket. He could only collect a few at a time. But it was more info than he was getting from the rest of the world around him. And yet, despite his quirk's valid attempt to fill his in on what he couldn't process in the sorry state he was in, it all felt so minimal. No, if he were to understand how this fight had reached its end, he'd have to push his drained and battered body up from the earth and see for himself the consequences of his personal failure.

I don't think I truly failed, though. Whatever happened was beyond my control. And even then… I can feel the potential of my new abilities brimming within me. I can't prevent inevitable outcomes or guard myself from the impact of those around me, but I must grasp onto whatever advancement I can, wherever it leads me.

While Tokoyami struggled with the mental and physical strain of lifting himself up and witnessing the end result of the destruction he'd unwillingly taken part in, somebody approached him.

A lone hand drifted into Tokoyami's peripheral, extending itself out to him. Eyes bleary, Tokoyami tried to focus on the looming shape that was standing above him, only to be thwarted by that damned sunlight blinding his vision. Nevertheless, a show of aid was rare for someone like him in such a distressing situation, and he wasn't about to shy away from help.

Tokoyami took hold of the outstretched hand, feeling four cold fingers clamp down over his own. He was pulled to his feet, his newly devastated cloak barely clinging to his shoulders, and he left the bed of dust behind. Tokoyami winced as his body complained at him for daring to move so much when it was finally getting some much-needed rest. There was no promise of a bed for him, but he should at least be on his feet for whatever happened next, regardless of how tedious it felt at this point.

Dark Shadow cawed a few more frantic words as Tokoyami found his footing, but they were lost on him. I don't know how you still have so much energy, Tokoyami grumbled as the world finally came into focus. He found that he was staring down at the hand that held his own: battered and scarred pale skin. There was something familiar about it – the way the pinky jutted out so that not every finger connected with him. But the other hand was torn and bloodied, with broken bones sticking out from smashed flesh and missing fingers.

A sinking feeling filled him, and Tokoyami thought that the world might blur before him again. Would anyone truly blame him if he were to pass out right now? But he wasn't that worn down quite yet, and he had to know what had happened. So it was with chilled nerves and half-formed thoughts that Tokoyami's gaze traveled up, appraising the peerless leader situated before him.

Shigaraki stood in a crater of his own destruction, surrounded as they were by a felled Liberation Army that was bowed in submission. His clothes hung off him in tattered shreds, revealing more scars of battle. But he stood victorious, a monument of success at the center of chaos. What had started as a rescue mission had panned out into something so much greater, the likes of which Tokoyami couldn't quite understand just yet. But most pressing of all was how cruel it felt to be helped up by someone that could end his whole existence with the twitch of a finger.

That was not to be the case, though. It'd been a long time since he'd last been so close to Shigaraki. No, things were different now. Their hands were grasped in comradery, and Tokoyami would give anything to let go. Instead, they ended up locking eyes. Tokoyami watched as a pained smile stretched slowly across the villain leader's cracked and blood-splattered face. The triumphant words that oozed from his broken lips pierced him like glass, ringing hollow in his exhaustion-ridden body.

"Mission complete."