Hey everyone! Thanks for continuing to read my story! Don't have much to say here cause I just want to get into it! But I hope you've been enjoying the story so far! At the moment, I'm not sure if I want to add on another small arc or two after this, but we'll see! Anyways, that's all from me! Again, thanks for clicking, and let's get on with the story! And thanks to everyone who left a review! They really help!
P.S Just so you guys know, I'm not dead! This story has not been dropped, not even close. I got some messages about it due to the long break between this and the last chapter. Simply put, I've been busy trying to get into graduate school, which has eaten up a lot of my time due to exams and the like. That said, I finally got some time (obviously) so please sit back and enjoy the chapter!
Disclaimer: I don't own -man or BNHA, all rights go to their respective owners.
Chapter Twenty-Four: The Final Storm
For a moment, the crowd of heroes and villains felt their souls leave their bodies. The monster which had destroyed large swathes of the city showed no signs of stopping, and, upon the terrible realization that the beast was impervious to their attacks, it truly seemed like they were staring down the barrel of the end of their lives. However, fate had other plans, as, right as they were about to be crushed, a massive blast tore through the being's neck. "Took you long enough, kid," Metal Meister thought with a slight grin.
Like a meteorite, the monster's head came crashing down. Putrid, toxic gas spewed out of the stumps, filling the area with a dense fog of death. "Somebody get rid of this!" Shigaraki ordered his soldiers. "That bastard dying won't save any of us if we breathe in this gas."
"You heard him!" Dabi said as he set the courtyard alight. The huge wave of hot air pushed the toxin away effortlessly, leaving behind the charred remnants of their assailant's skull.
"Ugh," Ashido thought, "It's hideous." Now that they could get a closer look, it was obvious that the being wasn't just some juiced-up villain. Simply staring at its corpse sent a chill down their spines like nothing before.
"What in the world is this thing?"
"No idea… maybe it's a—"
"It's not one of ours," a villain said, stopping the heroes' conspiracy in its tracks. Right as the words left their lips, the abomination's head twitched.
"Gah!" Uraraka yelped as its shredded tongue limped out of its jaw. "It's still alive?!"
"H-humans," it hissed. The stench of its breath was almost too horrid to describe. Every word brought about a fresh affliction of nausea, not to mention an equally unnerving sense of dread.
"Take a few steps back, everyone, we can't be certain that it won't attack again," Metal Meister said as his eyes darted to the top of the monster's smoking corpse. "Walker... what're you doing? How did you defeat this thing?" He'd been working alongside the kid for long enough now to be able to tell that that mysterious figure was him. However, thanks to their phone call being cut short, he was still in the dark on the specifics of the boy's past. "Still," he bit his lip, "Something's wrong here. You killed this thing too quickly for this to be just another mission." Walker had to have fought these beasts in the past, whatever they were, and he'd done it frequently.
"Metal Meister, did you see who downed that giant?" Aizawa asked as they heard a helicopter fly overhead. "Great," he thought, "the press is here." In a matter of moments, the surrounding airspace was packed to the brim with reporters and flying scouts.
"It's shocking that they managed to get here this fast," they heard one of the villains groan. "Should we shoot them down?"
"Don't be hasty, you idiots," Kamui Woods hissed as his quirk steadily blanketed the area in a web of branches, "That thing's not dead yet." Like a cockroach, disgusting, thin legs shot out of the monster's decapitated head. Kamui tried his best to hold it back, but it simply wasn't possible. "Crap, it's going to escape!" he realized as the branches snapped apart. However, just before it broke free of its prison, an unknown figure came crashing down from the sky.
"What?!" Midoriya yelped as the clearing filled with dust.
"He certainly knows how to put on a show," he heard Metal Meister scoff as the smog settled, revealing the cause of the abomination's demise.
"A… sword?" Jutting out of the dust was a large silver blade. Like the sun, it gave off a faint glow that washed over their bodies. The warmth this brought the tired onlookers was indescribable, however, it also came with a disturbingly familiar symptom.
"I can hear it," Metal Meister realized as he clutched his forehead. He wasn't the only one who noticed the singing, everyone from U.A. looked like they'd seen a ghost. Thankfully, this time, the voice was faint, and only seemed to scratch the back of their minds. Once they realized that the power wasn't strong enough to knock them out, 1-A leaped into the fray.
"Somebody get this smoke out of the way!" Bakugo roared as he haphazardly sent explosions rocketing through the area. Right after he did this, they all heard a foreboding thump coming from the giant's dismembered body. A person had jumped off the smoking wound that used to be its neck. They were covered in a white cloak and were exuding the same strange aura as the sword. As they stood up, the cloth flapped in the wind, giving off the illusion that they had a pair of large wings.
"Finally made your entrance, Walker?" Metal Meister said. At this point, there was no use hiding the truth.
"Walker? Wait… are you talking about Allen?" All Might added with his jaw scraping the ground. Metal Meister's words shocked most of the heroes, who heard about the quirkless student on the news, but especially those from U.A. High.
"How's that possible?" they all thought as their gazes turned to their missing classmate. Walker's new look was imposing, powerful, and almost monstrous. A complete upheaval of his usual persona.
"Was he the source of that voice?" Mineta wondered. A proverbial lightbulb flickered on above their heads as the truth came crashing down.
"Allen Walker… isn't quirkless. Well, isn't that interesting?" Shigaraki murmured to himself with a slight grin. All of them waited with bated breath as the boy stepped out of the cloud of dust. But, yet again, their expectations were flipped upside-down.
"Hey, wait, kid! What happened to you?!" Metal Meister screeched as he ran up to the boy. For, unlike his impressive silhouette, Allen Walker himself was barely standing. Covering his entire body was an uncountable number of deep wounds and injuries. Truth be told, he looked dead.
"Ugh," Walker groaned as he shambled toward the crowd, throwing up buckets of blood with every step.
"Kid!" Metal Meister yelled as he ran up to him, catching Walker in his arms. He could tell immediately: his body was barely holding together. "Get a doctor!"
"No… you can't," Walker muttered, "I brought this on myself." No matter how strong he was, no amount of power would change the fact that he was woefully outgunned. The heroes and villains had no way of knowing, but thousands of akuma were surfacing on the city's beach. The constant pounding Walker had taken since the battle began was astounding; however, in some sickening way, he was used to it.
"Don't be ridiculous! You can barely move and—" Metal Meister was cut off when, like a puppet, Walker's body violently spun into the air. With his injuries, little droplets of blood scattered across the clearing, making it look as if he were a flying rose.
"Death Orbs!" Walker thought as he sent a wave of energy toward the horizon. After being pent up for so long, the sheer power his innocence gave him was immense. The attack rocketed through the skies before splitting into an uncountable number of invisible projectiles, all of which burrowed into their targets in a blink of an eye. Soon afterward, he once again fell lifelessly to the ground. His classmates were quick to catch him, but he quickly returned to the battle.
"How in the world is he moving?!" Ashido thought as they tried to hold the boy back. However, Walker easily escaped. His power was, quite simply, mind-boggling. "We need someone with a strength-enhancing quirk." Immediately, they turned to Midoriya. But the boy was hesitant to step into the fold.
"Dammit, I can't let myself get distracted!" Midoriya thought as he slapped himself. Everything had gone straight to hell, and, honestly, it was starting to get to him. That said, he wasn't alone. All of them—especially the teachers—felt as if they were in a dream. "I'll help push some of those monsters back, Walker, you need to go see Recovery Girl!" He wouldn't have one of his classmates die on his watch! However, Walker ignored him and continued his reckless charge. Midoriya grabbed his shoulder, trying to stop him, however, the second he so much as touched the white cloak that completely enveloped his classmate's body, a splitting pain shot through his head. On instinct, his arm recoiled back, bringing back a sickening gift. "Blood," Midoriya thought as he stared at his palm, which was ruby red. "Hey! You're going to kill yourself!" he yelped.
"It doesn't make any sense. He should barely be able to move his wrists with those injuries," Aizawa thought. Right as he was going to turn away, though, he noticed something absolutely bizarre. "Are those... strings?" Now that he was in the light, he and the others noticed that the mysterious cloth that Walker was wearing wasn't just a fancy suit of armor. Instead, it was almost alive. Every time the boy got hit, the armor would contract around his joints and shattered bones, pushing him forward.
"Ugh," Mount Lady sneered, "What a horrible ability."
"That explains his insane endurance," another one of the students said. However, all of them knew that they were still missing something. And the source of this worry was obvious.
"It's strange, though, this doesn't feel like a quirk," a villain muttered. And they all agreed with her. Walker's abilities were abnormal, even in an age of superheroes. The cloak, at first, suggested a physical armor-like power. However, other facets, such as the boy's inhuman speed, strange attacks, and singing, suggested one that was more psychic in nature.
"An ability like All For One's?" Shigaraki thought. "No... there's something else." The villain could feel it somewhere deep in his bones, what he was witnessing was not of this world. Almost like magic. For one, the abilities were almost too cohesive, acting more like an extension of some unknown power than a normal quirk. "I'll have to take note of this."
"Get back!" Walker yelled as he was thrown through a group of buildings. Blood splattered throughout the courtyard as his injured body crashed into the many jagged rocks and pieces of debris, and yet he kept moving forward. It would be an inspirational sight if it weren't so sad.
"Boy," Metal Meister thought as he used his quirk to distract their gigantic enemies, "You know about these things, right? You've fought against them before. I'll bet that that's what you were trying to tell me during our call earlier." More and more, the identity of that mysterious runaway he met all that time ago back in the slums was becoming clearer. "Well, I might not be able to kill these monsters, but I can sure as hell drive them back!"
"Metal Meister, watch out!" Kamui Woods yelped as a giant foot came crashing down. Instantly, he filled the airspace with a dense bush of bark. However, no matter how hard he tried, it simply wasn't enough to stop the sheer amount of mass. Thankfully, they weren't alone. The villains, no doubt encouraged by the near-constant threat of death, leaped into the fray.
"Stop being so weak, heroes!" one yelled as he threw a ball of energy at a crumbling piece of falling debris. Like a swarm of locusts, the villains descended on the monsters. Many, of course, ran, but the more bloodthirsty and psychotic of the group stood their ground. Suddenly, the skies were littered with a volley of attacks, many of which broke off and destroyed portions of the surrounding city. However, given the dire nature of the battle, nobody really cared about this little detail. Being villains, most of their attacks targeted unusually cruel parts of the monsters' bodies, such as the eyes and nasal cavities. Of course, none of them were able to actually injure the beasts, but they were more than able to push them back using the sheer force of the blasts.
"Somebody go and help Walker!" Metal Meister ordered as he was tossed through a pile of shattered concrete. "He won't be able to move properly with his body mangled!" They all knew that that boy had something that they didn't—he was special. After recovering, Walker, still peppered with injuries and scars, marched forward. Blood flowed from his wounds like a waterfall, covering the ground in a sickening mess of plasma and bile.
"Please!" Recovery Girl said. "You've got to let me help!" She knew better than anyone that, at this rate, the boy was as good as dead. However, as she tried to push him back, she noticed something bizarre. "His wounds... they're closing!"
"Please, ma'am, let me go," Walker said as whisps of white energy floated around his torn torso. With every passing second, strange white particles rushed to his cuts. Like platelets, they clustered around the openings and sealed them shut. It was, quite honestly, a mesmerizing sight.
"He can heal as well, huh?" Midoriya thought as he bit his lip. He'd have to have a nice long chat with Walker later.
The second they unleashed their first attacks, the situation steadily devolved into absolute chaos. The monsters demolished building after building, and unleashed endless waves of toxic missiles, only to be slightly delayed by their miserable resistance. Walker, somehow, managed to destroy an uncountable number of the beasts. However, the boy was only one person. It was simply impossible for him to be everywhere at once, which was reflected in the astronomical casualty rate. While the trained heroes and villains were mostly fine, civilians of all shapes and sizes filled the gutters like trash, giving off a putrid scent of death.
"Hold out," Allen thought as he squeezed his crumbling body, "Please." It felt as if his entire nervous system was on fire. However, that pain was funneled into adrenaline-fueled strength, forcing out attacks that he previously never thought possible. With a single swing of his cape, Allen sliced through a handful of the gigantic akuma, sending their monstrous forms spiraling into a nearby lake. The innocence made short work of them after that, soon filling the lake's surface with a thick layer of dust. Now that he had a chance to breathe, Allen gazed over the destruction. The beachfront, where this chaos began, had been reduced to a smoldering void. With every passing moment, more and more demons crawled out of the ocean. However, amidst this hopelessness, Allen noticed something strange. Around a mile or so from the shoreline, a lone akuma stood watching the battle. It was a bit taller than its brethren and was covered in a thick layer of algae and sea life.
"Is that their leader?" Metal Meister asked.
"I don't know." Typically, akuma didn't follow the orders of their fellows, unless, of course, they were of a higher level. Either way, none of them could rest until that monster was dead and buried.
"Can you buy me a few minutes?" Getting back to the coast in his condition would be nothing short of madness. And, as much as it pained him to admit it, he'd need a distraction.
"Kid, if you ask, I'll give you an hour. Just say the word."
"Thanks," Allen said as he and Metal Meister exchanged warm, understanding glances. "You're a good person. You know that, right?" he told his friend out of the blue.
"Heh, I try my best. Go get 'em." With a smile, Metal Meister watched the boy—still bleeding like a sieve—rush back into the battlefield. "All someone needs to change is just a few words, huh?" He looked up. "If that's the case, then what words do you need to hear, Allen?"
The further he pushed towards the beach, the more it seemed like he was wading through Hell itself. Mounds of crushed bodies lined the streets, filling the gutters with putrid gore and the disgustingly familiar stench which now covered every inch of the city. It was a sight that would've left his classmates dumbfounded, but, for him, this view was all too familiar. "I failed again." Even with all this power at his fingertips, he could only walk so far. The akuma, drawn to his innocence, slowly pulled back from his comrades and began to surround him, creating a gigantic corridor that forced him towards their leader. The old demon was still staring at him from the coast, looking like a monstrosity straight out of Revelations. "I've got to get closer," he muttered to himself as he hopped into the water. The numerous piles of rubble created a sort of bridge, allowing him to bounce from rock to rock out into the bay.
"Crown Clown, stay strong!" Allen didn't hesitate as he jumped and shot his claw deep into the monster's shell. Like all giant demons, it had tough armor, however, thanks in part to the devil's decrepit body, he tore into its flesh like butter. However, much to his shock, the akuma barely flinched.
"Allen... Walker," he heard it say in a hoarse, disturbing voice. Not taking a moment to rest, Allen immediately began to scale the gigantic creature, using Crown Clown's belts to zip up its torso like a trapeze. Like a pair of white wings, his cloak furled out and reached into every little nook and cranny in the akuma's body. Feather-like wisps of innocence wafted off the holy armor, digging into his adversary's flesh like starved leeches. Instantly, the docile demon screamed, calling the others to its position. "Damn!" He couldn't walk on water like Lenalee. If he got thrown off here in the middle of the ocean, surrounded by monsters, that'd be the end. In a fit of desperation, Allen dug in his heels and threw his sword as far as it could go.
"Clown Belt!" His cloak reached out and grabbed his sword's handle, giving him a foothold in the mountain-like monstrosity. He'd take this thing down even if he had to crawl! With every scrape, the monster squirmed and screeched. Desperate to toss him off, it collapsed and dove face-first into the sea. "Damn!" The water hit him before he could do any real damage, flinging him back towards the beach. The other akuma, no doubt in an attempt to save their ringleader, rushed in, piling atop one another to form a giant cage.
"Kill the exorcist!" one of them yelled as an uncountable number of bullets filled the dome. With only seconds to spare, Allen dashed to a nearby piece of floating debris and covered his body in innocence. The cloak shielded him but wasn't able to redirect the raw force of the projectiles, causing his foothold to crumble beneath his feet. His battered body plunged into the sea like a concrete block, the clumps of rock and foundation dragging him down.
"Oh no!" Allen thought as he struggled to breathe. He was stuck between a rock and a hard place. It took every part of him to avoid being funneled into an untimely death, causing his fresh wounds to reopen and spew blood into the open water. "Not yet," he thought as he clenched his teeth, "I can't let it all end here. We can't let it all end here, Crown Clown." If his current strength wasn't enough to overcome this barrier, then he'd have to try something else, something drastic. "God... I'm not sure if you can hear me, or if you're even listening, but, please, just for one moment, grant me an ounce of strength." Perhaps on instinct, he grabbed his left hand and started to pray. "Our time, the exorcists' time, is over. I and the akuma, we don't belong here, I know that. Maybe this is my punishment for my greed, or perhaps this is just bad luck. But... either way... those people shouldn't have to pay for my sins!"
Slowly, Allen felt his consciousness fade away. His body simply wasn't able to handle his injuries on top of a severe lack of oxygen. However, even in this dire moment, the heavens granted him one last ray of hope. Suddenly, a jolt of energy shot through his body, setting his muscles aflame like a bath of adrenaline. "Crown Clown?" his left arm, which previously was battered and bruised, had started to pulse with a familiar, warm aura. It felt as if he'd been enveloped in a loving embrace. "Oh, that's right," he thought as his eyes widened, "I almost forgot." His powers weren't meant to just protect humanity. "This entire time, I've been so focused on helping my classmates that I neglected you all." As an exorcist, his first and foremost duty was to the akuma. That creed was one he carried with him since he swore to become an exorcist and was the very foundation of his strength.
"I pray that your souls shall find salvation." With that thought, an explosion of energy shot through the water. The nearby liquid instantly flashed and evaporated, giving off a tremendous amount of force. The demons who were unfortunate enough to be close were thrown back, their armor charred and cracked. In the distance, onlookers could see a large ray of light blast into the sky. It truly looked like a miracle. From there, Allen's senses began to blur, becoming more of a basic thought than any tangible feeling, as he tore through the army of devils. The rush of energy had given him a second wind, enlarging Crown Clown's armor to the point he barely looked human. "Fall!" With that, a wave of white fire drenched the akuma, melting off their tough hides like metal in a kiln. He'd protect this city or die trying.
Midoriya bit his lip as he and his classmates watched an unimaginable amount of destruction just over the horizon. Most of them were still busy processing Walker's sudden appearance, with reality still taking a few minutes to seep in. "Thank God those monsters left; I needed a moment to breathe!" Kaminari groaned as he loaned a civilian a shoulder.
"Don't get too relaxed, we aren't out of the woods yet," Metal Meister snapped. "Rookies, I swear." He knew Walker's class was full of impressive folks, but their mentalities were still too immature for real combat. "Then again, maybe that's a good thing," he whispered under his breath. Kids could only be kids once in their lives, after all. "The fact we even need them here is a disgrace." For some reason, he found his mind wandering back to his earlier conversation with Walker. An uncomfortable knot in his stomach screamed at him that something was amiss, but he just couldn't put his finger on anything concrete. "It's quiet," he muttered.
"Since those monsters left, should we attack them?" one of the villains asked Dabi. However, none of the League responded. The crooks' leaders were too busy thinking to come up with an adequate answer.
"Hold off for now," Twice chimed in, "Shigaraki's being cautious."
"That's the boss for you." With that, the grunts quieted down, allowing an awkward silence to fill the already-dreadful atmosphere. Of course, several heroes, like Mirko, Kamui Woods, and Endeavor noticed this, but they opted to ignore the villains' ramblings. At that moment, they simply had bigger fish to fry.
"Bring the injured to the field hospitals described in the emergency briefing! I want heroes moving on the clock to clear this rubble and make it fast!" a member of the Hero Public Safety Commission yelled as the fighting finally started to quiet down.
"Well, you heard the man," Ashido mumbled as she and a few others from U.A. headed towards a batch of collapsed buildings. However, she stopped when something incredible caught her attention. "What's that?"
"Hmm? Is something the matter?" Uraraka chimed in as she grabbed Ashido's shoulder. It was then that they all saw it: a massive wall of light.
"What the hell was that?!" Vlad King cursed.
"After everything that's happened today, I think trying to figure that out is a fool's errand." Soon after that surprise, silence once again fell over the city, only being broken by the occasional groan from the injured or the settling debris.
"The brass wants to send a scouting party to the beach!" one of the leading heroes yelled. "Any volunteers?"
"I'll go if that's okay!" Midoriya spoke up alongside Bakugo and Todoroki.
"We've got to go find our classmate," Todoroki said, "We owe him for that save earlier, after all."
"That's fair," Metal Meister responded, "Though I don't think that'll be necessary." Right on schedule, a familiar face shambled over the horizon. "I knew you had it in you, Allen!" Immediately, Metal Meister rushed to the boy's side like a doting father, eager to congratulate him for his efforts. However, that admiration quickly turned into horror once he saw the kid's condition. "Get a stretcher!"
"What's wrong?!" All Might yelped as he and Recovery Girl ran over. "Oh no." They were speechless, the condition Walker was in was... well... insane. His body was so covered in injuries that it looked like he'd been skinned alive.
"My quirk won't be enough for this," Recovery Girl said, "he needs immediate surgery!" With strength that would make some heroes blush, Recovery Girl carefully lifted Allen's motionless body off the ground and onto a makeshift carrier.
"Is there anything we can do?" Midoriya asked, but Recovery Girl shook her head.
"Leave it to the professionals, boy," Metal Meister grunted as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "Walker's in good hands. I'll just have to hope it all works out." For the moment, everything finally seemed to be slowing down.
"So, what should we do with them?" All Might asked as he stared at the menagerie of villains.
"As heroes, it's our responsibility to bring them to justice. Although, I can't say doing that just yet is a good idea." They still weren't sure if all of those monsters had been dealt with. Unless they wanted to meet their maker, they'd have to approach this situation with the utmost caution. "Keep your cards close to your chest, All Might."
"Roger. Make sure you and yours do the same." With that, the two heroes went their separate ways, with Metal Meister opting to head to the nearest evacuation center.
"I'd like to go see the kid, but I'd just get in the way if I did." In that case, all he could do was hold down the fort until that time came. For a brief second, he finally felt as if he could take a breath. However, as with most things in life, something unexpected happened. "Huh? What's that?" he muttered as he squinted toward the horizon. "Helicopters?" Reinforcements from the military weren't due to arrive for at least another thirty minutes.
"Whose flag is that?" Aizawa muttered after he also noticed the rapidly approaching fleet. The banner adorning what they assumed to be the regiment's main column was bordered in gold and covered in gaudy crucifixes. Honestly, it looked like something straight out of a movie. The swarm shot past them like a wave before circling back to finally land.
"Thank the heavens! That took forever!" they heard a woman yell from the flagship's cockpit.
"I keep telling you to be careful! We're already getting calls from the military about invading this city's airspace!"
"You're being paranoid. Trust me, right now, we're the least of their worries!" A chill went down All Might's spine as he watched the procession march out into the destroyed courtyard. He had a bad feeling about this.
"Are those... priests?"
Author's Note
Another day, another chapter. I hope you guys enjoyed reading this one! Cause I certainly enjoyed writing it! So far, on my end, things are moving forward at a faster pace than I expected. Again, I am so sorry for how long these chapters have been taking to get out! I'm kinda in a busy point in my life at the moment so I'm just trying to keep up with everything, hence the large gaps in release times. But, with Christmas coming up, I should be able to make some more progress! Thanks for sticking with me all this time!
Anyways, that's all from me, thanks for reading and I'll see you in the next chapter of ATOTE!
Chapter Twenty-Five: Running Low
