Chapter 84: Into the Hospital
The heroes walked up to the front doors, with Endeavor taking the lead. Doko found himself between Aizawa and Mandalay as they walked.
"A pity the two of us can't alert the staff ahead of time with our Quirks," Mandalay muttered to him.
"That would give Garaki and Yamishiwa time to prepare," said Doko. "They would hear our messages too."
"Yes, but all the same...this is going to get messy for a few minutes."
"We just have to stay focused on the task at hand," said Aizawa, tugging on his scarf to loosen it and prepare it for capture.
Doko thought about Shinso and Eri, safe back at UA. I wonder how Shinso is feeling. He must be frustrated.
Endeavor shoved the doors open. The rest of the heroes followed. Doko stepped into the wide white front hallway of Iwate Hospital, and was immediately hit with a sense of low panic. His heart was racing.
The staff milling about the front turned and gasped. "Endeavor?!"
"What are heroes doing here?"
"Hey, what's this?"
"Everyone get outside! There may be fighting in here soon!" Mandalay called. Pixie-Bob and Tiger began to help her escort the confused civilians away.
Endeavor kept moving. Crust and Mirko followed behind him. Doko hurried to catch up. Aizawa, Present Mic, Mirio, and Nighteye also kept going, walking in-between nurses and doctors that were demanding answers for their arrival. Doko broke past one of them, muttered an apology, and saw Endeavor turn a corner up ahead.
"This way! This way!" someone was yelling.
Doko reached the corner, and saw Endeavor pointing at someone. "Kyudai Garaki! One of the two men behind the Nomu…you're finished!"
It was the old doctor from the train, dressed in a lab coat. They called him Ujiko. He was halfway down the hall from them, but his eyes bugged out when he saw Endeavor. He let out a scream, and made a run for it.
"NO!" he gasped. "It's too soon, it's too soon, how-"
Aizawa's scarf snaked outward and wrapped around the man's leg, tripping him up. Doko warped forward and slammed him into the floor.
"Good work, Everywhere!" Endeavor grunted.
Aizawa activated his own Quirk, and suddenly, Ujiko grew instantly older. Doko gasped, and nearly released him out of disgust, feeling the skin wrinkle beneath him.
"I thought the registry said he was Quirkless?" Mirio questioned.
"Looks it was wrong," said Aizawa. "This is likely the same Quirk that All For One has used to stay alive for so long."
"Quirk Replication?" Present Mic gasped. "That's…"
"That's what they put into the Nomu," said Doko. "On the train, there were all kinds of little packets with Quirk labels. I destroyed them."
Ujiko/Garaki looked up at Doko and snarled. "You nuked my research, boy. But we were coming back from it…we were making progress…we didn't expect the heroes to make a move for another month…how did you find us here? The train wasn't traced!"
Doko gave the doctor a look of quiet rage. "Don't you know who I am, Ujiko?" he asked softly. "I was born here."
The old man's eyes widened. "Yamishiwa!" he cursed. "Yamishiwa, you fool…"
Present Mic stepped forward, and looked down at the doctor with furious eyes. "You had Quirk replication technology, and multiple healing and regeneration Quirks at your disposal…you could have used that to save so many people! Cure countless diseases! You really are the scum of the Earth!" He suddenly picked the doctor up by the shoulders and shook him violently. "How could you? How could you do that to Shirak-"
"Mic!" Aizawa interrupted. "Calm down!"
Doctors were coming up towards them. "Hey, what are you doing?"
"Get your hands off Dr. Garaki!"
"He's done nothing wrong!"
Doko backed away as they gave him and Present Mic a shove.
"He transferred to this hospital recently, right?" Nighteye asked the staff.
"Yes, but he's done work with us in the past…"
Nighteye reached down, and touched the doctor on the ground. His eyes flashed purple, and then he gasped.
"This isn't the future," he muttered. "It's another present, happening elsewhere…"
Dr. Garaki began to cackle in a low tone, and Doko felt his skin crawl. The man began to melt into a pile of goop. "Of course I wouldn't risk my own body to do public work in this hospital…" he muttered, as he melted. "I let this duplicate handle everything…while I finished my masterpiece."
"He's a Twice clone!" Nighteye snapped. "I saw the real one with my Quirk! He's in the morgue. Shigaraki is there."
Mirko grinned. "Everywhere! Lemillion! WE'RE UP!"
She leapt off the ground and bounced off the walls of the hall, zooming forward.
Endeavor gasped. "No, Mirko, wai-"
CRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAASH!
A huge hole opened up in the floor, kicking up debris and dust. Doko warped forward to pull a nurse out of the way. The other heroes were doing the same, rescuing, moving quickly…but as the dust cleared, they saw silhouettes rising up. Monstrous ones.
"I thought you all destroyed the High-Ends!" Endeavor grunted.
"We did!" Doko coughed, as the view of the crowd of Nomu grew more clear. "These must be…"
Middle Nomu. Not as strong as the High-Ends, but still numerous, and quite durable. There were at least a dozen of them. How fast can they make them? What kind of horrid science do you deal in, Yamishiwa?
They screeched and cackled, launching their Quirks and bodies toward the heroes and staff.
"Rock Lock! Wash! Get the civilians out of here!" Endeavor called. "Eraser, Mic, with me! Lemillion, Everywhere, follow the rabbit!"
Doko's eyes widened. He looked to Mirio, who was holding up his fists. "We should help with these things, at least…"
"NO! GET TO SHIGARAKI!" A Nomu dived at Endeavor, and he grabbed it by the shoulders, burning its skin. It began to scream.
Another Nomu flew over their heads, making a beeline for Mic. Aizawa grabbed it with his scarf and yanked it sideways, pulling it into the wall with a CRASH!
Nighteye sidestepped one Nomu, ducked under the blast of another, and threw his weighted stamps, pinning them to the floor.
Doko and Mirio exchanged a glance. "Just like the yakuza raid!" Lemillion exclaimed. "Let's go!"
The two of them went through the battle, Doko warping, Mirio permeating. The Nomu tried to attack them as they passed, but they moved through them, and reached the edge of the hole. Beneath was a darker hallway, damp and with a strange odor wafting up from it.
Doko tapped his earpiece. "MIRKO! Where did you go!"
"Come down the hole!" she called. "To the morgue!"
Lemillion and Everywhere jumped down into the shadow.
…
Mezo Shoji created as many dupli-arms as he possibly could and created a fleshy shield in front of Toru. "No closer," he croaked, his voice cracking.
Dabi laughed. They both knew it was a pointless gesture. Mezo had nothing to counter the scarred man's Quirk.
"You'll die for your friend, but you're so indoctrinated that you'll go on a murder mission when you're ordered to?" Dabi asked. "Such a shame. For every one of me, there's hundreds of other kids that get assimilated into the system."
"That's not…" Mezo began. "You…who are you? A kid who escaped the system, then?"
"You're not one worth telling my tragic backstory to," Dabi responded sardonically. "Now, be a good high schooler and die for me."
He raised his hands, and they glowed blue. Mezo closed his eyes. "Toru," he muttered to the girl beneath him. "I think I love you."
"I love you too, M-Mezo. I'm s-sorry…"
Dabi laughed insanely, and a blast of fire came out toward them. Mezo winced, bracing for the impact…
"RRRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRR!"
The wall exploded.
Mezo's eyes opened wide, and he braced his limbs again, shielding Toru and himself from flying debris. Dabi was sent backward across the room like a ragdoll, the remnants of his flames wreathing out and withering away.
Dark Shadow reared up in the hole in the wall, yellow eyes fierce. Tokoyami leapt into the room. "SHOJI! HAGAKURE!"
"Great," Dabi snarled, standing up and dusting himself off. Blood was dripping off a wound on his head. "Another one."
Mezo helped Toru to her feet. "Are you alright?!" he demanded frantically.
"No…" she croaked. "No, I'm not…"
His blood ran cold. He pulled his hand away from her side, and felt something sticky on his hand. Blood. Invisible blood. What had happened? Was it the fire she'd bent away before? Had it been debris? He couldn't even see the wound!
"Toru," he gasped. "Toru…Toru…" His mind swaying to panic and disbelief. What do we do? What do we do now?!
"You." Tokoyami pointed at Dabi. "You killed Hawks."
"Well, yes, of course I did." Dabi smirked gruesomely. "Pretty sure everyone saw that."
"As his student, I'm going to return the favor. You'll die alone here, Dabi. Whatever your plans are, they will never come to fruition. I'll ensure it." Dark Shadow curled up menacingly and wrapped behind Tokoyami, creating a huge dark hood above the boy.
"HA!" Dabi blurted. "Alone? I'm not alone! Because, as much as you think you apparently have the heart to kill…your classmates didn't. They didn't finish their job!"
Mezo's eyes widened, and he looked back at Twice. The man had gotten to his feet and, clutching his stomach, made a desperate run for Dabi.
"Burn 'em good!" he gasped…
Dark Shadow snaked out, and tackled him back to the ground. Blood sprayed. Twice hacked and coughed painfully…and created a double, that kept running toward Dabi.
Tokoyami gasped. "Dark Shado-"
A blast of blue fire came out toward them. Mezo, still gripping Toru, split from Tokoyami, letting the fire pass between them. "We need a plan!" he cried.
Tokoyami looked back and forth. Dark Shadow was keeping the real Twice pinned down, but the clone had reached Dabi.
"Go," Dabi told the clone. "You can still make doubles from your doubles. Just you is enough to make quick work of the heroes out there! You can still be of use…Bubaigawara."
"Yeah…" the clone coughed out, as if unsure of himself. "RIGHT!"
He took off out of the room and down the hallway.
NO! Mezo thought in panic. If just one of them got away, it could be disastrous…
He and Tokoyami both ran for the hallway together, all care briefly forgotten to stop Twice.
Blue light filled their eyes.
"GOODBYE, UA STUDENTS!" Dabi roared.
Dark Shadow yanked himself off of Twice and spread out wide, pulling up in front of the two boys and shielding them from the fire. "DARK SHADOW!" Tokoyami cried out in anguish.
The creature screamed in pain, the light and heat and fire weakening and shrinking it as it took more and more. Dabi kept blasting, increasing his fire power. He laughed. "Looks like I'm a bad matchup for you!" he called to Tokoyami. "How were you planning on killing me, exactl-"
He suddenly fell sideways, his fire curving up toward the ceiling wildly.
Tokoyami pulled Dark Shadow back to himself in alarm. "What the-?!"
Mezo understood immediately. "Toru, NO!"
She had tackled Dabi, and was now sitting on top of him, pummeling him again and again in the face with her fists. "GAAAAAAAAH!" she screamed.
Dabi cried out, and shoved a flaming fist upward.
His fire fanned out like a flower, Toru deflecting it, her body glowing like a rainbow. Some of it refracted back onto his body, and he cried out in agony. "FUCK…OFF…"
Mezo dashed forward and hugged Toru, pulling her away to safety, his heart crying and racing like crazy.
Tokoyami kicked Dabi in the side.
The man rolled out of the room, toward the outer hallway, toward the balcony.
He tried to stand back up, hacking up blood, and then Dark Shadow grabbed him by the shoulder…and threw him over the balcony.
Dabi plummeted out of sight, toward the lower floor.
Tokoyami raced forward, preparing to jump down with Dark Shadow and make sure the job was finished…
"Tokoyami…" Mezo husked. "Please. Don't."
Fumikage's head turned a quarter of the way around.
Mezo could see one of his red eyes. He was crying. "Shoji…"
Then, that red eye widened. He realized that Shoji was holding Toru. And crying, too.
It was the first time either of them had seen the other cry.
Fumikage looked at the balcony again, where Dabi had just disappeared. That video of Hawks flashed through his head again. All the man's helpful words to him. Dabi's on his last legs. It wouldn't take but a second.
Then he looked back at his friends.
Fumikage rushed over to Shoji and knelt down next to him, over Toru, who was laying out on the ground. At least, he was pretty sure.
He reached out with a shaky hand, and then awkwardly pulled it back.
"Wh-what?!" Toru asked shakily, in a voice that sounded like it was halfway in the grave. "B-been a year since our battle trial, and you're still afraid to t-touch me naked?"
Fumikage laughed weakly, feeling more tears well up in his eyes. "That was so long ago. I can't believe you would bring it up here."
"Yeah, well…" Toru husked, trying to adjust herself on the ground. "I think my life is flashing before my eyes, so…"
"Don't move!" Mezo gasped. "Stay still. We're gonna get you out of here and healed, Toru, so just…"
"No," she interrupted, softly. "No, you can't. There's no time."
"What are you talking about?! I don't care about the villains anymore. I won't leave you behind just to chase them."
"That's not the time I mean," she muttered. "Mezo…I'm…"
Mezo lifted his hands slowly off of her, and held them up. They had a curious sheen to them. Fumikage's eyes widened. Blood. Her blood.
He dared to reach down, and touch what he thought was her leg. It felt…strange. Wrong. Burnt.
"Oh my god," he blurted. "Oh my god. Oh my god."
Toru's body was completely destroyed. And they couldn't even see it. They could do nothing.
"Hagakure…" Fumikage croaked. "You…"
"It's okay…" she said, in a ghost of her bright tone that had lifted the class's spirits for so long. "We finished the job."
The boys looked over at Twice's real body, which Dark Shadow had abandoned. It didn't matter. He was no longer moving. A large pool of blood had gathered around him. He was either already dead or near enough.
"Toru," Mezo breathed. "I…I can't…I can't let it end like this. This can't be the last thing you do. It's too…it's just so horrible."
"Horrible? Yeah." She coughed, and Fumikage felt droplets of invisible blood land in his lap. "But…we were always supporting characters, Mezo. Stealth heroes…our jobs were never meant to be…glamorous. They'll never…never sing of us, but…" She coughed again. "Millions of p-people are safe because of what we did. And I'm h-happy with that, so…"
"Toru!" Mezo cried. "Please don't give up! Don't…" his voice broke entirely.
"I love you, Mezo. Tell the others…I loved them too. It's been an honor…to be your classmate."
Toru let out a soft exhale, and for a moment, her whole body seemed to shimmer. Fumikage saw the outline of a frail-looking, skinny girl, and then it was gone an instant later.
Mezo bowed his head. His tears marked the floor.
…
"Himiko Toga! Atsuhiro Sako! You're under arrest!"
They were on a lower floor of the mansion. An invading hero had captured the two of them with strange tendrils, which they were unable to escape. Himiko kicked and struggled, for all the good it did her.
"Oh dear, Toga!" Mr. Compress cried. "It appears your usual evasive techniques failed…these things must have sensory capabilities! I fear this is the end!"
NO! I can't let it end like this! Himiko despaired. She had just barely begun! Kidnapped and caught by some random hero…she hadn't even gotten a chance to face Izuku and Ochaco again! It just wasn't fair!
"It's over, League of Villa-OUGH!"
The hero suddenly grunted in pain, as a knife went through his shoulder. Behind him was a slouching Twice, stabbing again. "Get off," he deadpanned. "Get off, get off, get off."
"JIN!" Himiko exclaimed, starry-eyed. She'd never been so happy to see him in her life!
"Well done, Jin!" Mr. Compress called, as the two of them were freed from the tendrils. The hero fell, dead.
Himiko and Compress turned away to head down the stairs. "More doubles at once, Twice! Meanwhile, Toga and I shall make our escape!"
"Can't," Twice rasped. "Sorry."
Himiko turned. A shiver went up her spine. She noticed Jin's posture. He never slouched like that. Never.
"Jin…?"
"It's all I can do…just to keep this form together…my original body is already dead, I think."
He was slowly melting to goop, but he turned and looked at Himiko's face. "Toga-chan, that cute face of yours got hurt again." He pulled a cloth out of his pocket, the one she'd given him during the yakuza raid. "Here…let me give you back…your hankie." He wiped her face off delicately.
Himiko reached up, and pressed his hand against her cheek. She didn't know what to do. He was melting more and more before her very eyes.
"Twice…" Compress muttered. He took his hat off, and held it against his chest.
Himiko leaned forward and hugged him. "Thank you, Jin. For saving us. For…everything."
"Heh…" Jin Bubaigawara chuckled. "Maybe I had a good life after all."
He completely melted, the remnants of his body sliding out of Himiko's gentle grasp.
She lifted her hands and looked at them, his remains still dripping off of them.
And they began to tremble.
"Compress," she whispered, coldly. "I'm going to kill them. I'm going to kill them all."
…
Sir Nighteye bobbed and weaved, throwing his stamps expertly at the Nomu's weak points. I don't have enough power to defeat this thing on my own. But Endeavor was further up the hallway, occupied by two more. How far ahead had Mirio gotten? He knew the boy could handle himself fine, but he was nevertheless worried…if Shigaraki was truly "powering up…"
I need to get my hands on someone and see their future. I HAVE to know what's coming!
A voice came through the radio. It was Mandalay's.
"Wash, Ryukyu, and Thirteen have evacuated all the patients! The building is clear!"
"Crust and X-Less made it to the entrance of the morgue!" Endeavor called. "But…I think they're still behind…the ones who jumped down the hole…"
Aizawa kicked a Nomu away and whirled. "We have to get down there," he said.
Nighteye threw another stamp, rolled, and got behind Present Mic as the man shouted the Nomu against the wall. He winced at the sound, but at least it wasn't aimed directly at him.
"Mirko!" he called into the radio. "What's the situation!"
"The old man's running!" she called back. "I'm not sure if he's the real one…"
…
"...but a good kick to the head should tell me one way or the other!"
Dr. Garaki screeched in terror and took off down a dark hallway. He had abandoned his large, glowing computer, which had been haphazardly set up in this room with huge cables running all over the place. It emitted blue light, the only source of illumination down here in the morgue.
Rumi Usagiyama peered down the dark tunnel. Shigaraki and Yamishiwa must be back there. She could either dive in now, like the old her would have done, or wait for the two boys.
As it turned out, the Nomu did not give her a choice.
Two of them came running out of the tunnel, roaring and screeching. They were not High-Ends, but they were black Nomu, meaning they had regeneration.
Mirko cursed under her breath, and leapt into battle.
One Nomu reached up and activated its Quirk, sending out a strange curtain-like material that gripped Mirko about the arm, and tightened. She felt it cutting off her circulation. The Nomu whipped its arm about, and Mirko was yanked sideways toward the wall.
She gritted her teeth and flipped in midair, planting her feet against the wall, her legs cancelling the impact. She launched off, bounding toward the Nomu, and pulling with its curtain ability at the same time.
The Nomu screeched, its own Quirk turned against it as the two of them went flying towards each other. Mirko locked her legs around its neck and flipped over sideways, slamming its head into the ground. Its brain was crushed with a SPLAT!
The other Nomu reared up behind her, but its brain suddenly glowed purple and then was warped out of its body, falling limp to the floor.
The Nomu fell to reveal Everywhere and Lemillion behind it.
"About time," Mirko hissed. "Come on!"
The three of them took off down the tunnel. Another blue glow was growing in strength from up ahead. "That's Shigaraki's tank," said Katayama. "Hurry!"
They could see the end of the tunnel, opening up to a larger room. Mirko leapt forward, getting ready to kick the first thing that moved…
A gooey black portal formed up right in front of them, completely filling the tunnel exit. Mirko pulled up short, gasping.
The two boys behind her did not.
Lemillion permeated straight through the portal, continuing to run forward. And Katayama teleported past it.
…
The instant Doko saw his father's Quirk, his heart began racing faster. But it wasn't an uncontrolled panic. He felt focused. This is it! Right here, we'll nip all their plans in the bud!
…And then I can stop being a hero, and keep the world safe from what my Quirk can unleash.
He followed right behind Togata as they entered the final room of the lab. Shigaraki's tank was at the back of the room. The villain hung there, his sharply white hair floating out over his head. Silhouetted before him, backlit by the blue glow, were the two doctors, and two more Nomu.
"Welcome, boys!" called Kasumi Yamishiwa, spreading his arms out with glee. Behind him, Ujiko/Garaki was working on the tank frantically, slouched over it with his back turned.
"There's more than just us coming," said Doko. "You don't have the power to defeat all of us, with just two Nomu left. You should give up now."
"Our situation seems dire, it's true," Yamishiwa admitted. "But I don't need to defeat you, son. I just need to hold you off until my colleague here wakes up our trump card."
Mirio looked up at Shigaraki and hissed. "There's no time! Let's go, Everywhere!"
The two of them ran forward together, getting ready to activate their Quirks. The Nomu stepped up, blocking their view of Yamishiwa. Then a portal appeared in front of them.
Doko had to warp out of the way; it was too close to react otherwise. Then a Nomu managed to grab him by the ankle, and throw him.
Mirio had just run right through the portal, though, unaffected. As Doko warped sideways and activated his air-boots, landing safely, Lemillion looked back at him. "I'll take the young doctor guy!" he said. "His portals are solid! I counter him. You go get the old man, Everywhere!"
Doko looked back and forth between all the combatants. Yamishiwa was smirking at him. Do you dare to ignore me? his eyes challenged. You know you're the one who needs to stop me.
Doko straightened his back and narrowed his eyes. "Go for it, Lemillion," he said in a cold tone. "You can take him out."
The brief bit of shock that passed over his father's face was worth it. Doko warped in-between the Nomu, and then went for Ujiko.
Yamishiwa cursed and created a portal under Doko's feet. Behind him, Mirio came up out of the floor, and aimed a punch at his face. Doko dodged sideways, the Nomu zoning him away, while Mirio's punch closed in…
Yamishiwa created a portal on his face, and Mirio's fist passed through. He tried to close it immediately, but Mirio permeated again, and sank back into the floor.
The doctor backed off, the sheen of sweat on his brow. He was smiling nervously. "Well, you can avoid my portals, but you can't hit me either without solidifying the part of your body that's going to hit. It appears we're unable to hurt each other."
"Is that so?" Mirio popped up behind him, going for another surprise blow, but Yamishiwa managed to react just in time.
Doko warped for Ujiko again, who circled around the back of the tank. The Nomu grabbed Doko by the chest and threw him off again. Another portal from his father appeared on the wall he was heading for. Doko closed his fist, and activated Warp Field.
BOOOOOOOOM!
The wall blew halfway apart in a violet burst, and debris rained down on the Nomu behind him. Get to the tank now! NOW!
The Nomu were rising again. Doko reached out with his Quirk, meaning to warp their brains…
…Mirko slammed down on one's head with an axe kick. WA-POW!
"GO GET 'EM!" she roared.
Doko warped across the room and landed a kick to Garaki's back. The old man crumbled, screaming in pain. He warped again, and reached out with his Quirk. The blue glow of the tank filled his eyes. I'll shred the glass, and cut Shigaraki's life support. I'll end this now!
The black portal appeared so suddenly that he had no time to react. He passed right through, and was suddenly rolling against the floor on the far side of the room, a foul taste in his mouth.
Yamishiwa lowered his hand, as Mirio landed a kick to the back of his leg. He staggered, having taken the hit to protect Shigaraki.
"You can't keep splitting your attention like this!" Lemillion told him, falling back into the floor. "It's over, scientist!"
Mirko finished off the other Nomu, and leapt toward Yamishiwa.
Doko got to his feet. Time seemed to slow.
Both Lemillion and Mirko were closing the distance, but his father was looking right at him. And smiling.
Black goo completely enveloped Yamishiwa. Togata staggered, passing right through the man, his attack blundering. Mirko was not so lucky. Her fist passed into the goo…
…And Yamishiwa closed the portal.
"GAAAAAAAH!" Mirko screamed, leaping backward, her arm cut in half, reduced to a bloody stump. The other half of it, its fist still closed, landed at Doko's feet.
And Yamishiwa's grin widened.
Doko's jaw trembled. Mirko was gripping her arm, backed up against the wall.
Lemillion gasped. "Mirko-san!" He came fully back up in front of her, and turned, planting himself between her and Yamishiwa.
"You see, Doko?" Yamishiwa called to his son across the room. "I wouldn't even call myself a great fighter, but with my power alone, I have crippled a top five hero. That's what our abilities can do, son. They're cheat codes for reality. You're wasted as a glorified cop, doing the bidding of the government. You can be so much more."
"Wha…what is he talking about?" Lemillion asked, confused.
"Damn…" Mirko hissed. She had torn off a piece of her costume and wrapped it around her stump to stop the bleeding. "You haven't figured it out yet, dumb blondie? That's his father there."
Mirio's eyes widened in shock. "What?!"
Doko swallowed. His father had cut right to his lifelong insecurity. You're wasted. You're waste. He had gone to UA in the first place because he felt like he owed more to society, with what he'd been born with…but now Yamishiwa was saying even that wasn't enough.
"If I wanted your advice, I would ask for it," he shot back, trying to sound confident to make up for his hesitation.
"Katayama, why didn't you tell me? Why didn't you tell anyone?" Lemillion's voice was filled with fear.
Doko blinked, not taking his eyes off the man in the lab coat at the far end of the room. "Because he's never really been my father. Not in any way that matters."
Yamishiwa pouted mockingly. "That hurts, son. You know I would give you the world if you would just take it."
"No. You mean to give that the world." Doko nodded at Shigaraki in the tank. "I'm just a means to an end for you."
"Means to what end? Do you even understand me, son? Do you even pretend to?" Yamishiwa raised his arms again, and let the black goo swim across his palms. "I was a proper researcher once. I didn't have to slink around in the darkness. But the medical and scientific establishment cast me out, just as they did to Garaki. It was no wonder that we found each other, and All For One, in the process."
"They probably kicked you out for doing horrible, illegal things," Doko snarled. "Don't try and turn yourself into some victim. How many people have you turned into Nomu? How many bodies have you ruthlessly used to unleash chaos on society? Dozens? Hundreds?"
"I was trying to make progress on the research of Quirks!" Yamishiwa roared, an angry passion taking hold of him. "These inexplicable things that mark nearly all humans now! What are they for? How do they differ so much from person to person? All these things were at least of nominal interest to the medical and scientific communities, but they never wanted to make any progress! That's the problem with our society, Doko. We were given the next step in human evolution and we decided to use it all to recreate stupid comic books. Heroes and villains. Pah." He spat. "We still have the same systems, the same technology, the same lifestyles that we did two hundred years ago. We've stagnated, despite all of mother nature telling us to do otherwise."
Doko closed his fists. "You still can't fool me," he replied. "What you and your colleagues want to bring about isn't progress. It's not stagnation, either. It's regression. Forget two hundred years ago; what you'll do is send us back to the dark ages! You'd have us all ruled over in fear by some god-king!"
He took a step forward, his heart brimming with the truth. "I know there's problems with society right now. With hero culture and with Quirk law and the systems we've put in place. But if you want to be a revolutionary…you should offer a GOOD solution. Not this. You've put me in an impossible place, and I think that's by design. All you care about is making everyone else feel afraid, and backed into a corner, and…"
He trailed off. He wasn't sure how to finish.
"Then what are you going to do, boy?" Yamishiwa asked him softly. "Arrest me? Kill the thing in the tank behind me? What then? Does everything go back to normal? You've seen Japan in the past month. You've seen the public. Do you really think things can go back to normal after this? Be honest."
"We'll do our best," Doko said ringingly. "And that's a promise."
Yamishiwa smiled. Doko thought he saw a hint of perverse pride in that smile, something that made his head spin. "Well, son," he said. "That's good to hear. I'm glad you were able to have that conversation with me."
Doko raised an eyebrow. "Huh?"
"Because…I've been stalling this whole time." Yamishiwa whipped something out of his lab coat pocket. A gun.
Doko's eyes widened.
In that moment, everything happened at once.
Dr. Garaki crawled forward and placed his gnarled hand on a button on the tank's control panel.
Mirko leapt up from behind Lemillion and aimed a kick right at the tank, one last desperate attack.
Another Nomu came out of the tunnel exit behind them and shot piercing tendrils toward her.
Endeavor burst down from the ceiling, flames lit.
And Tomura Shigaraki's eyes opened.
Lemillion sank into the floor, dashing toward the tank. Yamishiwa fired the gun straight at the blonde.
Doko's eyes widened as he recognized what it was. Eri's terrified face flashed through his head. The Quirk-erasing bullets. NO! NOT AGAIN! He'd saved Lemillion from this fate once before, but he was too far out of range now. There was no stopping that bullet.
Doko felt someone push him out of the way from behind.
…
Sir Nighteye dived into the room, instantly understanding. The warped future he'd seen at the yakuza raid…it was simply a ghost of what was to come, an echo. Their real fates were all here, in this lab. This is where it would end.
Katayama was in his way. He pushed the boy aside, and activated his Quirk at the same time. Then he kept going. And going. And going.
Mirio activated his Quirk. The erasing bullet passed through him. It took Nighteye right in the chest.
Mirai Sasaki, once a sidekick of All Might, fell backward to the ground with a gasp, the bullet's effects spreading through his body.
He used the last vestiges of his Quirk to view Doko Katayama's future, as it flooded into his brain, a deluge of final information.
Unknowable things. A bloody seam in the fabric of reality. The end of the world.
It was the darkest future he'd ever seen, and the last.
…
"SIR!" Mirio screamed, turning and rushing to his mentor's side.
The Nomu that had stabbed Mirko in midair was suddenly attacked from behind, crushed by organic shields. Crust tackled it to the ground. "CAUGHT UP!" he declared. "Finally…" Aizawa and Present Mic ran into the room after him.
Mirko fell sideways, blood spraying from her wounds. Doko warped forward and caught her. "Mirko-san!" he cried out. "Hang in there…"
She coughed up blood and gasped for breath. "Finish…it…" she croaked. "The tank!"
Doko set her down, and looked back at Shigaraki. His eyes were open. On his face was an expression of such terrifying conviction that Doko was frozen where he stood, unable to react.
A gooey portal opened up beneath him.
Doko gasped, panicked, and fell into it. He was too late to warp free. The lab disappeared entirely.
…
Eraser Head took out Yamishiwa's Quirk a moment later, and then Endeavor tackled him to the ground.
"RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Present Mic roared, and the tank and all the lab equipment shattered into a million pieces. Shards of glass and debris rained down upon them.
Endeavor reached up and created a flame shield of sorts, protecting the heroes. Garaki was not so lucky. His face was cut by thousands of shards as he buckled and screamed. "NO! SHIGARAKI! MY MASTERPI-"
Present Mic ran up, and punched him across the face, knocking him out.
Tomura Shigaraki's limp body fell onto the floor, mere feet away from Yamishiwa. Fluid and little pieces of glass spilled everywhere.
Endeavor looked up and around. "Are we all here? Crust?"
"Got it!" Crust called, having immobilized the Nomu at the tunnel exit.
Lemillion was getting Sir Nighteye to his feet. Eraser Head was helping Mirko. Present Mic was dragging the unconscious Garaki back to the center of the room.
"Where's…" Endeavor blinked. "Where's Everywhere?"
Nighteye hunched over, clutching the spot on his chest where the bullet had struck him. "No…" he was gasping repeatedly, as Lemillion worried over him. "No, no, no, no, no."
"Hehehehehehe…" Yamishiwa chuckled.
Endeavor looked back down at him.
"I sent my dear boy away, heroes. I do appreciate you all setting up this chaotic scenario. He is so slippery and hard to catch, my Doko Katayama. But All For One and I…finally got him right where we wanted him."
"What?!" Endeavor demanded. "What do you mean?!" He grabbed the man and shook him by the shoulders. Yamishiwa only laughed harder.
"It was all a distraction…" Nighteye rasped. Mirio looked down at his mentor in his arms, horrified. "A distraction…so they could set up something worse…the cataclysm."
…
Doko landed on a concrete floor, hard enough to knock the wind out of him. He blinked, trying to force himself upward and take counter-action immediately, but his head was spinning too much. His vision threatened to cave in, and he swayed, unable to regain his feet.
The black portal closed above his head. Wherever he was, he was stuck.
And where he was…was a cell.
Doko recognized it immediately. The wall in front of him, the wall to his right. Glass. He turned to the left, and his heart skipped a beat.
Kurogiri was there, but he was not bound to the chair. He was standing up, completely free, yellow eyes narrowed. And standing next to him was none other than All For One.
"What…" Doko's mouth opened and closed. "You…how…"
All For One chuckled. "So good to see you again, boy. I know it's been a while. You've come to this place quite a few times, but never bothered to visit me directly. That's cold, you know!"
"How did you get out of your cell?! How are you here?!" In the distance, Doko realized he could hear alarms and screams. A mass breakout is happening. In Tartarus. Right now!
All For One fully laughed at that. "Boy, don't you know what I am? I was always able to escape from the start. I just never needed to until now. I confess all the fun and games you've been having with your father were just that. Games to rile you up, to prime you and your Quirk. It has all been building to this moment, where Yamishiwa has managed to bring you right to me, and I have you both here in the same room."
Kurogiri's eyes widened. "...Both?" he croaked, and Doko thought with a pang of shock that he could hear multiple voices inside the portal villain.
"Why yes, dear Kurogiri. You always wanted to serve me, didn't you? These meetings you've been having with the boy…I could have acted then, but the time wasn't quite right. Because your Quirk has to get riled up, just like his. And it is now, isn't it? You're losing control."
"I'm…I'm…" Kurogiri shimmered. "I am, but…please, master! I only live to serve you! I only want to serve you!"
"Good." All For One's voice was honey dripped over thunder. "That's good. You will serve me now."
Suddenly, the man lifted his hands, and the Quirk activation tendrils erupted out of them, and filled the room.
Doko tried to warp out of the way, but they stabbed him in the side, and they stabbed Kurogiri at the same time.
The entire cell darkened, and dropped twenty degrees. An ethereal purple glow erupted from both Doko and Kurogiri, and mixed together in the center. All For One was cackling in the distance.
Beneath their feet, the portal to the void began to open at last.
…
:)