Chapter Twenty

Victory in Defeat


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Of all Camie's injuries, Eijiro knew that the gashes on her ankles were the most likely to kill her. Her breathing was erratic while panic fueled sweat coated her face, soaking into her blonde hair. Her blouse was stuck to her chest, outlining her features. He could see how shallow and rapid her breaths were. When he reached out for her legs she flinched. "Hey, Camie. You gotta let me treat these wounds, ok?"

He could see the fear in her eyes. Something on the outer edge of madness seemed to be gnawing on her mind. This wasn't just pain. After she nodded for him to continue, he lifted both legs high into the air. He avoided looking down between them where they met under her short shirt. They were long and shapely but covered in blood. "Bear with me while I bind up your ankles, ok?"

Camie bit onto her lip before giving him a trembling reply. "Please…" Whatever she was about to say never formed into complete words. She instead replaced whatever desperate request she was going to make with another thought. "I swear I'm not normally like this, letting a guy get my legs up like this so soon after meeting them."

He smiled at her little joke. Humor was a good sign. "I won't tell if you won't" he tossed the joke back to her.

Her eyes widened with excitement and fear as Eijiro unbuttoned his shirt. He bought it less than a week ago for his date yesterday with Mina. It was fine silk, the only shirt like it that he owned. There was nothing else nearby that would substitute for a bandage, so it would be sacrificed for Camie's sake. He held her legs up with one hand while the other shrugged off the shirt, then he switched to finish the process.

She uttered a moan when he bit into the shirt, ripping the silk garment in half. His shark-like teeth often earned a negative reaction from people. He hoped that she wouldn't flinch away after seeing just what they could do. "Now hold still…" he muttered as he bound one of her ankles, ignoring how the blood soaked into the silk.

He didn't pay attention to how her blood trickled across his exposed torso. He did not know how that would look to her. Instead, he focused on the task of binding her other ankle. "Holy fuck…" she uttered as he finished his job.

That didn't sound good. "Are you ok? It has to be tight… and we have to keep your legs elevated, at least a bit…" he finally looked up from her ankles to her eyes. His heart skipped several beats at what he was there.

Camie's breathing was evenly paced, yet each breath was deep. Her eyes seemed to rake across his exposed chest and abs. "I have a fucking hot nurse binding my ankles up… yeah, I'll be fine."

Eijiro couldn't help but grin at the compliment. Part of him knew that his muscles were impressive, but he rarely thought of himself as attractive. He spent five days a week on them at the gym, often for two hours per session. To him, these were tools for becoming a professional hero and a way to live up to his personal idol… but he could see a reflection of himself in Camie's eyes, and the image was flattering, to say the least. "I've never been called a hot nurse before, gonna remember that one." He chuckled nervously. "You gonna keep your legs up for your nurse while he examines your other injuries?"

Camie nodded almost eagerly. "For you? Hell, yeah, I'll keep my legs up. It might be hard to do that though unless I had something to rest them on… like a pair of strong muscular shoulders…"

He almost went into a coughing fit when she dropped that bomb into his lap. He didn't know whether blood was going to rush into his cheeks with embarrassment or into his dick with arousal. The correct answer, of course, was both. "Humor is good. Keep it up…. You are joking, right?"

"I'm not the one who needs to keep it up. You'll have to play your cards better than that, though, to know if I'm teasing you or not." Camie winked at him, and he swore that his cheeks felt even hotter.

Eijiro covered his embarrassment with a lopsided grin that probably looked goofy. He knew that however sincere the physical attraction between might be that this was all just a way to cope with their uncertainty. Kamui Woods and the others had disappeared into the apartment building across the bridge in pursuit of the monster that had eviscerated Camie and detached her shadow, leaving him to play nurse and protector.

Just then the two teenagers heard a series of indiscernible shouts from within the building across the street. Whatever was happening in there it probably wasn't good. "Don't worry… Kamui Woods is one of the top ten heroes in the nation. If anyone can beat that monster and get your shadow back, it's him." Eijiro offered what comfort he could even if he barely understood what was happening. He tried to not look up at the sky, something he'd stopped doing hours ago. A monster that can steal shadows and worse things that somehow had stolen the entire sky… he shuddered inside even as he forced the grin on his face to enlarge, projecting false confidence that he only wished he could feel inside.

Movement in Eijiro's peripheral vision captured his attention. He turned his head in time to witness the body of Ingenium evaporate into fine particles of sand and drift away on the breeze, armor and all. Camie's body tensed under his fingers as both momentarily forgot about her injuries, scanning about for other more immediate threats. To their mutual shock, Ingenium's corpse was replaced by a series of small salt carvings. The statues were piled haphazardly where the hero once was, some standing on the concrete bench that once held him up while others lay scattered about.

Kirishima Eijiro tensed as he heard a soft feminine whisper from an unknown source. "You humans cannot survive without your shadow… that tiny seed of darkness planted long ago by the Ebon Dragon… the Shadow of All Things… it tethers you, binding your will down into your body… first, she will lose the ability to dream, then sleep at all… then her reason and ambition will slip away until finally, she goes mad."

Eijiro knew that a demon was whispering to him. Unfortunately, that was all that he knew. His hand moved instinctively to hold onto Camie's as though to comfort and protect her. "Who are you… and why are you telling me this?" he spat the words between sharp gritted teeth.

A single idol rolled towards the two of them as though it had been kicked. Bitterly he realized that is likely what set it in motion. "I am the Shadow Lover." The voice whispered to him. "I am offering you the solution to your problem… the only solution, as you humans have no other means to manipulate shadow substance."

"Eijiro… who are you talking to?" Camie's voice trembled with fear even as he held tightly onto her hand.

There was no time to answer her. "Utter a prayer, a wish… any desire you have at all. Hold the idol of Cecelyne and make your desire known to the Primordials. You have an interesting enough fate that the Arbiter of Prayers will answer you."

The statue was easily within his reach. Eijiro wanted to reach for it but held back. "Why would you help us?"

The world seemed colder for just a moment. Eijiro could almost feel a pair of soft icy lips on his ear. "Nothing is free."

That answer was honest enough that he could trust it. The red-haired deputy reached forward and grabbed up the tiny salt figure. It felt so light in his hand that he feared he would crack it in his grip. The figure it depicted was feminine, but he wasn't sure it could be called a woman except in an abstract way.

A shout from the distance signaled the others were coming back. Both Eijiro and Cami looked over and were glad to see Kamui Woods and Yoarishi Inasa making their way across the bridge… but their elation was short-lived. Their tagalong, Iida Tenya, was not in sight.

"Sir!" Eijiro reported as soon as the professional hero was across the bridge. "I managed to bind the worst of Utsushimi's injuries. After I finished that task, the body of Ingenium evaporated."

Eijiro did not turn his body completely towards the approaching hero. He told himself it was because he wasn't done checking on Utsushimi or her injuries… but his posture and arm position just happened to place his frame between Kamui Woods and the idol in Kirishima Eijiro's hand. A dark part of his heart wondered why he didn't mention the whispering voice to the returning hero.

The older hero nodded solemnly. "We defeated the monster that attacked young Utsushimi and have located where her shadow fell to but can't seem to retrieve it. I've called for advice and assistance on that topic. Unfortunately, Iida Tenya has disappeared… in much the same way as Ingenium."

Yoarishi looked off glumly towards the horizon, saying nothing.

Only after sharing this bit of information did Kamui Woods take in the scattered pile of salt idols. The older hero's eyes went wide with unspoken horror. "Kirishima… you didn't mention the idols that appeared."

When the younger man didn't say anything, Kamui rushed towards him. "Kirishima! Don't tell me… put it down!"

The younger deputy held the idol close to his chest as he leaned protectively over where Utsushimi Cami lay on the rooftop. "No! Not until you tell me… how are we supposed to give Camie her shadow back?! What will happen to her if we can't?!"

"Kirishima!" the other deputy, Yoarishi shouted. "That thing is dangerous! One of those made Tenya disappear! We don't know where he is right now!"

"You think I haven't figured that much out?! I know this thing is dangerous… but look around you! The fucking sky is gone! Camie is injured and she needs our help! What am I supposed to do, just play it safe while the world fucking ends?! What kind of a hero does that?!" Eijiro implored desperately, hoping that the older hero would have some words of wisdom, some alternative solution that didn't involve praying to a demonic god from another dimension.

"Eijiro…" Camie whispered. "Don't go that far for me… I don't want you to disappear… even if it fixes me." Tears streamed down her temples and into her hair, ruining her makeup.

The dam broke within Eijiro's heart, and tears flooded from his eyes. "Camie… we just met hours ago… and you did nothing to deserve what's happened to you. All you did was care for a lost child… you deserve better than this… I just to make you whole again… to heal you and give you your shadow back."

Only when the words left his mouth did Kirishima Eijiro understand his mistake. He could feel the edges of his body flake away into fine sand as he vanished. He could vaguely hear the shouting of Kamui Woods and Yoarishi Inasa… but more importantly, he felt Utsushimi Camie place her hand against his cheek and looked down in time to see that both of their hands remained clasped together as the two teenagers drifted into sand on the wind.

"No!" Kamui Woods rushed forward, vainly attempting to grab them away from whatever force was pulling them apart before his eyes.

Then Kirishima Eijiro and Utsushimi Camie disappeared from our world.


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Their team was now just a pair. Before Kamui woods had three deputies and now there was only young Yoarishi. With Kirishima and Utsushimi gone along with Iida Tenya, this was the worst failure Kamui Woods had ever faced… so far.

A dark mist formed suddenly on the other side of the rooftop. Six figures stepped out into reality and the mist receded into nothingness, vanishing as if it had never been there. None of the newcomers appeared to be normal in any way. Four of them were hulking brutes with full-toothed beaks, bulging eyes, and exposed brains. One of the remaining two appeared to be a well-dressed cloud of darkness, peering out from his own shadow substance with glowing yellow eyes. The last was a pale hunched figure covered in grasping hands, one of which concealed his face, except for a large blood-shot eye that gazed menacingly at the lone hero and his deputy.

"Just one hero and one deputy… one lion and one cub… this will make for a poor hunt, but it can't be helped, I guess. Better one than none, eh?" he spoke to his companion as though Kamui Woods wasn't there, as though the pro-hero was beneath their concern.

Instinctively the hero stepped forward, interjecting his body between the newcomers and his remaining deputy. "Who are you? Why are you here? What are you planning?" he shoots out the questions rapidly.

"Noumu… collect those statues." The pale man ignored the hero's questions as he sent one of his goons to their work. "Don't damage them. Those artifacts are extremely valuable."

"You don't want to do that." Kamui Woods warned them. "Those things are unpredictable… volatile. Three people prayed to them in the past hour and all of them disappeared, vanished into thin air. Look…" to his frustration, he was being ignored by the hulking creature as it brought a pile of idols back to the shadowy figure. "Put those down and walk away, and there will be no harm done. No arrests, no crime added to anyone's record. Everyone just walks away."

The pale figure laughed. It was a disturbing sound, more menace than mirth. "That is a boring suggestion. A hero wouldn't make an offer like that unless they were scared. You don't sue for peace unless the outcome is already decided in your head. Noumu! Kill!" the creatures all fell to the new command, entering a formation around their pale leader as he charged forward.

"Stay behind me! We're retreating!" Kamui Woods barked out the orders while projecting confidence and strength. Hero and deputy used their Quirks with beautiful synchronicity, armed with elongated branches and powerful winds, they increased the distance between themselves and the charging villains. "This is Kamui Woods, we have enemy contact at ground zero! I repeat! Enemy contact at ground zero! Six villains! I and my deputy are engaging in a harassing retreat! Backup! We need backup!"

As the two retreated, pulled by Kamui's long-reaching branches, their pursuers moved with alarming speed, consuming the space between them as though their chase was fueled by a ravenous appetite for violence. Whenever Kamui Woods lashed out at them to harass or delay them, their leader would use his own destructive power to corrode and destroy the offending branch while his lackeys gained more ground. Whenever Yoarishi used his wind powers to buffet their pursuers off course or knock them to the ground below, a portal of dark mist would open and deposit the hapless creature back on course.

All of that though was pleasant compared to what came next.

As hero and deputy beat their retreat, they continued to monitor their pursuers. They did not notice the entrapping portal until it was too late. Surprised, Yoarishi Inasa passed through it, propelled by his own Quirk. "No!" Kamui Woods shouted as he reached for his last remaining deputy, extending a branch arm to pull him back to this side of the portal. Then it shut, cutting his branch arm off. It felt like a high-speed saw cleft his arm in half. It wasn't pain that concerned the hero, though.

It was failure. It was loss. Under his watch, every deputy and civilian under his care was being separated and victimized. This had to stop. He had to stop it. Kamui Woods knew that if he didn't stand and fight then young Yoarishi would likely die.

Turning, he slowed his pace by clawing at the rooftop with outstretched roots. He would make his stand here, hoping that he could delay these villains long enough for help to arrive… if not for him, then for the young man that had entrusted his life to Kamui Woods.


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A merciless Green Sun beat down on them the moment they reformed in the Endless Desert of Cecelyne. Discarding the forsaken idol that brought them here, Eijiro instinctively leaned over Camie, offering her whatever shade he could. His exposed back burned under the hot gaze of an unrelenting and alien star. The sands gathered around his hands threatened to flay and cook his fingers, reflecting the solar fury back up onto his exposed torso.

His instincts forced him to harden his back and hands, but that did nothing against the merciless heat. Neither the Green Sun above nor the Endless Desert about him cared for his pathetic human efforts to survive.

Partially blinded by windswept sand in his eyes and silver light reflected from the dunes, Eijiro did his best to peer around them. Slowly the scene came into stark focus. A massive idol of salt stood not far from them. Nearby, a blood-soaked altar of stone rested in the shade of that great pillar, tempting him to run before remembering that Camie couldn't move in her condition.

"Where are we?" she asked. Her voice sounded small, like a frightened kitten.

"Nowhere good." He muttered in response to her. "Come one. Let's get to that shade."

Holding her in his arms helped block some of the silver light bouncing off the dunes just below them, letting him see just a bit more clearly. They arrived at the shaded altar just in time to see the last wisps of a silver sand dust-devil evaporate onto the breeze. A pair of ruined glasses lay discarded on the altar as the breeze slowly eroded the singular item of litter into even more sand.

The shade was blessedly cold, at least in comparison to the harsh rays of the sun. The pair fell onto the warm sands, panting, sweating, and grateful that at least here there was shelter from the worst this desert had in store for them.

They were wrong.

Sand shot up from the desert, coating the pillar of salt in layers of texture until it was clothed in a façade of life. Arms stretched out as though to embrace them as an emotionless three-eyed mask regarded them. The gigantic figure dwarfed them, easily three meters tall or perhaps more.

"For thousands of years your world has been silent to me, and now I have supplicants calling on my favors one after the other. How marvelous." The voice rang out like chimes on the wind, more synthetic than human.

Eijiro rose to face the animated idol. Placing himself firmly between it and Camie behind him, he stood firmly like a protective wall. "I'm Kirishima Eijiro. Who are you?"

"This one is polite… that's almost adorable." The thing bemused out loud to itself. "Human, you address Cecelyne, the Endless Desert and the Arbiter of Prayer. You are here because your desires were laid bare before my vast generosity. Pray to me, request my blessings, and I will grant you one thing you desire above all others." The feminine statue offered him a deal that was far too good to be true.

"It's not free though… is it?" he asked, knowing the answer.

"Think of it as a loan. It's a blessing now, something you want immediately… and in exchange, I will ask you for a small favor later." The voice sounded amused, yet the mask did not smile. It remained expressionless, lifeless, and unyielding.

"What about me? Why am I here? Are you offering me the same deal?" Camie implored from behind Eijiro's back. He winced, having hoped that she could be left out of this.

"Your fate is of no interest to me, female human. I, therefore, offer you nothing. You are not worth the effort of my power." The masked deity continued to gaze exclusively down at Eijiro and dismissed Camie without so much as a glance. "Now, as to what I can offer…"

Eijiro gritted his teeth hard enough that several of his sharpened incisors caused his gums to bleed, speaking from behind a gnashing maw he declared his intent. "I want to restore Camie's health and her shadow… to exactly the way she was before this whole attack started."

"No… you can wish for anything… and you'll owe this thing a huge debt… no…" Camie barely had the strength to whisper her plea.

He turned to smile at her, making sure to mask all the pain that was in his heart. Even as the weight of his spiritual debt lodged deep into his soul, Eijiro smiled for Camie's sake. "It'll be ok, Camie. I don't mind at all."

"A man who knows exactly what he wants and is willing to pay dearly for it," Cecelyne remarked. "You are my favorite breed of human. The bargain is struck."

The great idol leaned forward, cupping her hands together as a chalice of dark basalt formed within her cupped fingers. Within this nearly black cup swirled a smoky liquid that roiled a seething recoil. It leaned away from the burning light as though too much sunlight would harm it.

Kirishima Eijiro strode forward and took the grail from the hands of the desert goddess. He did not look her in the eye or thank her for the gift. He knew it was a transaction. There was no generosity here, not in this desolate place or in her equally desolate heart. Turning, he bore that smile on his face again as he kneeled next to Camie, offering her mercy and generosity while refusing to ponder what this would mean for himself.

Tears welled in her eyes just long enough to evaporate into dry desert air. "You would sell your soul just to make me well again?" Camie asked, begged, hoping he would reconsider.

Eijiro nodded, grinning down at her. "I'd do it without a second thought." He said.

She sharply inhaled, suppressing tears that threatened to consume this moment. "What did I do to deserve this from you? We only met… it's not even been a full day… I…" she seemed so uncertain, so lost.

"It's simple," Eijiro said.

Camie gazed up at him as though expecting the next words he spoke to be the most profound thing she would ever hear in her life.

"You needed my help, and I decided to give it to you." was all Eijiro said.

It was so simple, but to Camie those words meant everything in the world. Still… she hesitated.

Cecelyne interrupted their exchange, speaking out of boredom more than anything else. "The debt is already incurred. Drink and restore your shadow or spill the grail out on the dunes. Either way, it makes no difference to me."

Eijiro's back stiffened at the idol-queen's words, but his warm smile never faltered. With an encouraging nod, he pressed the chalice forward, urging Camie to take it. When he saw how weak she was he used one arm to help her sit up and take her first sip. The expression on her face told him how bitter and awful the shadow-potion had to taste. She bore through it though and consumed all of it.

Eijiro felt his jaw go slack with amazement. He watched as a shadow emerged from underneath her, stretching to fill out across the sand below her. Bruises and blood retreated along her skin as deep cuts faded from her body. It was as though the wounds were never there. If not for her blood-soaked clothes and the ruined remains of his shirt around her ankles it would be easy to pretend that nothing had ever been wrong.

Watching Camie be restored like this made Eijiro so happy that he almost cried. He was so caught up in the excitement that he forgot about the desert, the Green Sun overhead, or the salt-idol of Cecelyne just a few meters away. His heart leaped with joy as he helped Camie stand up on her own two feet, something he didn't think he'd get to see for a long time.

He was surprised, caught completely off guard. Camie continued her momentum after he helped her stand. Eijiro was frozen with shock as Camie jumped up into his arms and kissed him passionately. Her lips were soft against his. Faint traces of perfume mixed with the smell of her sweat. He was too caught up in the joy of the moment to remember why this could be wrong. His adrenaline-fueled heart was beating rapidly. Everything about this felt right.

However, Eijiro knew that it was wrong. He couldn't let this continue. He couldn't let Camie… let Utsushimi have the wrong idea. He didn't save her for some hope of a reward. That wasn't the man he wanted to be. He was also in a relationship; one he hadn't told her about yet. It would be unfair to her, to himself, and to Mina. Mina… he hadn't thought about her since arriving here, and that made him feel even worse.

He decided to end this as diplomatically as possible. He gripped onto Camie's shoulders and gently pushed her away until the kiss naturally broke. He didn't want to make it awkward or make her feel guilty for kissing someone else's boyfriend. He'd play it off as a fluke, a joke, a one-off. "What was all that?" he asked with a smirk.

Her lips formed into something between a pout and a playful smile. It was adorable… or it would be if Eijiro allowed himself to think about it.

"It's simple," Camie said. She paused for a moment then added: "You helped me in my time of need, and I decided to give it to you."

Eijiro choked on his own inability to process her words. He was caught completely off guard. She didn't say "I decided to kiss you" but instead something far more loaded with nuance. "I decided to give it to you" implied far more. Dangerously more. He was both excited and afraid.

Camie giggled. Oh god, she giggled!

"As entertaining as human mating rituals are," Cecelyne interrupted his thoughts, "it's time for you to leave. I will reach out to you when I have need of you."

Kirishima's heart felt as heavy as a lead weight at her words. What horrifying thing would he have to do for this monster? Before he can think it over any longer, he felt his body disintegrate into fine particles of sand. Camie was disappearing alongside him. The two embraced one more time, offering what comfort they could to each other. Eijiro didn't think hard about it when her lips grazed against his neck. He told himself that he would deal with this later, and to focus on the here and now first.


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Yoarishi Inasa was hopelessly lost. He found himself in an apartment building but was uncertain about which one he was in. Was he even within a single city block of his last location? Under other circumstances, he supposed that this spacious apartment would be impressive. Under his current circumstances though this place was a nightmare.

Normally he'd rush to the balcony and take stock of where he was… if not for the monstrosity waiting for him, its bulging eyes locked onto him. It walked forward, breaking the glass panel with little effort. The thing had obscenely long arms that ended with dark metallic claws. Suddenly the spacious living room seemed far too small for Inasa's taste.

The hulking creature rushed towards him, giving Inasa little time to think. In no time at all the tall teenager whipped up a storm of powerful gale forces, venting frustration and rage onto the monster even as he hurled picture frames and furniture at it. The monster anchored itself down through the floor using its powerful claws as it bore the impacts of multiple articles of furniture. Gritting his teeth, Inasa forced the air to move in circular currents even though he was too close for this move to be safe and lashed out at the mutant repeatedly.

Then it screamed at him.

This was not some high pitch human wail. The sound was far too powerful and disorienting, layered, with ultra and subsonic notes that rattled Inasa's bones. The poor teen felt like his eardrums would burst and bleed any moment now. Screaming in return, Inasa increased the power of the gale he summoned. He sent several large chunks of a nearby wall into the creature, hitting it with multiple wooden planks ripped from the structure itself.

Somehow that was enough to stun the creature. The screaming stopped. Inasa knew better than to let things rest as they were. The thing would doubtlessly recover, and far too soon. That pause though allowed him just enough time to take in the entire scene, and he was horrified. Lodged in a hallway nearby, another brain-exposed monster lurked. It had anchored itself in and had molted to reveal what could only be described as a cannon on its back.

The cannon was aimed directly at Inasa. The clawed monster was obviously trying to distract him, and it had worked. There was no more time. With a powerful blast of wind Inasa knocked himself to the side, forcing his way through the wall behind him just in time to avoid the projectile… and was horrified to see that the projectile exploded on contact with the walls, unleashing a sticky good that smoked and sputtered as whatever acid it contained melted the wall into putty.

That was the good news. The bad news was that Inasa had hit several structural studs on his way through the wall and was almost certain that he had dislodged or possibly broken his shoulder. How would he get out of this mess? Where was this? Would Kamui Woods hear him if he called for help?

Injured and cornered in the kitchen, he knew that his situation was dire. The clawed beast had recovered and was charging at him, making a straight shot for the wall he had just launched himself through. Outside of his range of vision, Inasa was certain the cannoneer was preparing the next shot, thankful that the walls would momentarily act as a blockade against the thing's aim.

Only then did he note the other doorway to the kitchen, the one someone installed on purpose. The cannon-monster merely opened the door as it put itself into firing position, even as Inasa was launching kitchen appliances and knives at the creature's frontline companion.

All seemed lost.

The unmistakable roar of jet engines dominated his hearing, drowning out all other sounds. A human-shaped silver comet ripped through the walls of the apartment, moving at a pace too difficult for Inasa to take in given the distracting circumstances. It moved like a thunderbolt, impacting hard into the side of the cannoneer. Inasa couldn't see clearly whether it was a full body slam, a punch, or a kick. Could this person move fast enough to have done all three?

Regardless of how often or how hard the human Jetstream had struck the monster; the end effect was the same. The creature was knocked hard to the side, denting deeply into the wall as it fired haphazardly. The projectile was far off its intended course, impacting the far wall and spraying its clawed ally with the boiling payload.

The silver figure did not stop there.

Before Inasa could take stock of the shifting situation he found himself picked up, impacted by the sudden inertial forces of the armored figure's movement. It all happened to fast that Inasa was certain at least one of his limbs had been dislocated.

Wait. Armor?

Inasa, far closer and moving relative to his rescuer, could finally take in the man's appearance. The silver full-faced armor was unmistakable. It was impossible, yet it was still true.

Ingenium, alive and well, had saved him. How? Inasa wanted to ask. He knew that questions would have to wait, though. "Kamui…" he croaked out the plea, hoping Ingenium would hear him over the roar of the jets and the rush of air about their faces.

"Brace yourself!" the hero called out to him just before the two impacted through a large glass pane and jumped off the proceeding balcony. Jets in Ingenium's arms and legs went into overdrive, their roar turning into a deafening scream. The force of their combined propulsion hurtled the two men together through the air before their thrust was used to ease their descent as the hero turned mid-air with precise manipulation of his Quirk.

Inasa knew it before Ingenium said it. "It's not over yet. Hang on!" before rocketing the two of them to yet another rooftop.


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Kamui Woods was isolated against four opponents, unlike anything he had ever been up against before. At almost every opportunity, the dark misted figure created portals to either help his allies dodge Kamui's attacks or to direct Kamui's extended limbs to unknown locations before severing them when the portal would shut. This forced the pro-hero into a purely defensive posture, making him react with tight fast movements that did not give him nearly as much space away from the close-range attackers as he would like. If not for Kamui Woods miraculous ability to regrow this would have turned extremely ugly.

As though it wasn't already.

"Show me what you heroes can do!" the pale-faced villain taunted him as he destroyed a wooden claw with his destructive touch, decaying it into ash before Kamui's eyes. He was flanked by two hulking monsters, each with exposed brains and showing little motivation of their own beyond feral cunning. One of them was growing larger and stronger as it continued to rip apart Kamui's branches only to consume them, using them as fuel for its own growth and power, sating an endless appetite with massive blunt teeth. The other's dark skin was no longer visible as it was engulfed in white-hot fire. The thing tore through Kamui's branches, turning them into torches that the hero was forced to discard, snapping his own limbs or offering the burning ends to be consumed by the hunger-beast.

"Why are you doing this?!" the hero demanded as he tore down a nearby wall, forcing his way to the other side just to get some breathing room. "What do you hope to gain?!"

"Survival." The pale man said, his bloodshot eye wide with excitement, visible even from this distance. The edges of a feral grin were clear even with a detached hand-mask obscuring his face. "I never believed in this society to begin with, so I won't feel sorry to see it go… but I'll not just go down with it."

Anger consumed Kamui Woods. The hero, born Nishiya Shinji, heroically named Shinrin Kamui before rebranding to Kamui Woods, has fought his entire life to make this society a better one. Watching someone betray not just the law but all of society repulsed him to his core. "You intend to be collaborators." he spat out.

"Is that so strange?" the shadow figure in the vest interjected, close enough now that he could join their conversation. "Do you judge collaborators harshly, when in our nation's own history, we made use of them while putting a boot down on the rest of Asia? Indeed, our entire history, from the Warring States to the Meiji Revolution is littered with collaborators… and yet we admire those figures now for their ability to see which way the wind was blowing before their contemporaries."

Before the hero could bark back his reply, the pale man pressed the point further. "Now the boot is on us, so why not try and make the best of it? Why not ally with the alien invaders… and look… they even gave us all the perfect way to get in contact with their leaders!" he held up one of the salt idols to illustrate his point like it was a simple toy radio rather than the horrible construct Kamui Woods knew it to be.

"Stop this madness! They're demons! They're not aliens! To them, we're just prey, not people! It's insane to work with them!" he pleaded his case desperately to them, taking advantage of the brief pause in their violence. Villains could often be counted on to have discussions like this, even with awkward mid-combat timing. The human desire to be understood was useful for that.

That didn't mean that Kamui Woods was safe. Even as the discussion continued, the villains moved in to surround him, prowling slowly into position as he found himself backing away.

"It's insane not to work with them!" the grey man shouted back. "Did you see what they did to All Might?! We've been puzzling out how to kill him for years, and just two of them nullified his power and captured him!" He said this while scratching hard at his own neck. "Capture is so much more difficult than killing when the target is such a powerful hero… We're outclassed… and I refuse to wait on the sidelines while you heroes squander our chance to negotiate a better deal."

Kamui Woods couldn't help but scoff. "A deal? They want to enslave us… or eat us… the things they've done to civilians already…"

The villain cut off his diatribe about the atrocities. "I know." The pale man said. He spoke those words so calmly that they were haunting, a sharp departure from his previous manic excitement.

"What?" Kamui Woods said, unable to believe what he was hearing.

"I know what they've done." The hand-masked figure continued. "And… I don't care… or rather… that's why I care so much. I don't want to be fodder… I want to carve out a nice place for myself… middle management maybe? Oh! I know! Human resources! That has a better ring to it." he snapped his fingers as that last bit of inspiration struck him.

Terrible knots formed inside Kamui Woods' torso as anger roiled within him. "You'd sell out your own species?" he asked far more calmly then he felt. He was too blinded by rage to monitor all his escape options.

The ash-faced man slowly clapped at the hero, reveling in his shock. "You're fucking right I would. Maybe… maybe they'd appreciate an offering when I contact them, them being demons after all. Kurogiri… make sure that kid we separated off is captured alive. We might need to perform a ritual sacrifice to get a good deal."

Something deep within Kamui Woods snapped.

"Don't you touch him!" Kamui Woods launched himself fully at the villains, swearing to take out as many of them as possible no matter the consequences for himself.

An entire forest of strength launched forward from within Kamui Woods. Tree limbs with the power to rend concrete into dust, branches, and vines whipping out with enough speed to trap moving vehicles. With everything he could muster, Kamui Woods flourished and grew outward toward the villains in a sudden onslaught of botanical fury.

Fire. The one that ignited itself launched forward, meeting strength with heat and flame. Branches cracked and snapped as the water within them evaporated instantly, then burst into dancing orange flames. Undaunted by this, Kamui Woods pressed forward, smothering the offending creature. He'd put out the fire and life in a single crushing blow.

Consumption. The ravenous giant lumbered towards the rooftop forest, grabbing and feasting as it waded through tree after tree. Sharp branches moved to impale the monster even as vines moved to strangle its exposed neck. With a loud roar, Kamui Woods used his powers to pick the hulking mass of flesh and gluttony from the rooftop, twisting it until the thing started gnawing on its own foot.

Insanity. The ash faced man rushed forward between his two flanking assistants. His touch killed branch after branch, causing them to erode into grey ash. Lacking a specific strategy against this man, Kamui Woods unleashed an onslaught of branches and vines articulated enough to ensure that even as dozens were destroyed more would rise to fill the ranks. The face-masked man had to contend with a hydra of fury and wood, growing faster than he could destroy it. Yes, this way Kamui Woods could in fact overwhelm even this opponent, until he could pin his and render his touch-based Quirk useless.

Death.

The others, from the ash-faced man's inciteful speeches to the brutal three-pronged attack… all of them were nothing but distractions for Kamui Woods to vent his rage on. A single well-placed portal was all it took. The dimming light from the greenlit sky overhead was the only warning Kamui Woods received.

One portal descended over his head and tightened around his neck… decapitating Kamui Woods in a single deadly stroke.

Time slowed down for Nishiya Shinji. His thoughts sped up. Words left unsaid poured through his mind. Faces he would miss flashed across his vision. Friends he wished he had known better emerged at the forefront of his thoughts.

The last thing he saw before darkness took him was the view from where his head landed… of Ingenium escaping with his last remaining deputy, young Yoarishi. Uncomprehending, he merely accepted this as a fact. He allowed his eyes to close, feeling just one less regret than before, as he wept a long tear of sap.

It was a small victory, but he was glad to have it.