Chapter 90: Everywhere and One For All

At the same time that the massive burst of power went into the sky, Gigantomachia closed in on the unconscious Shigaraki, bound in ice on the far side of the battlefield.

All the smaller monsters and heroes fighting them had stopped, stunned, watching the yellow pillar of light, but in that massive pause of distraction, Shoto Todoroki turned and looked back. Throughout the battle, he'd been holding the monsters away like the rest, but he'd also been dedicating at least five percent of his attention to Shigaraki encased in ice, because it was his ice…if the villain woke up and escaped, it would be Shoto's responsibility.

Well now, in all the chaos, the giant had gotten right up to Shigaraki, and was going to free him, carry him away. Shoto couldn't allow that. Have to close off all sides of the battlefield!

He slid himself across the way on his ice, through the gory ruin of the monsters that had consumed themselves on Koda's orders. He passed a stricken Aizawa and Shinso, but did not know what they were shouting about. He closed the distance to the giant's legs. I'll freeze them and he'll topple. Then…

Endeavor was watching, too. He used the last bit of his energy to follow. "Shoto, wait!" he roared. Behind them, the battle between the monsters and the heroes was entering a new phase, but they were missing it.

What does the fool boy think he's doing? "Shoto, get back here!"

The two of them closed the distance to the giant, one with ice and one with fire.

Someone looked down from Machia's back. A black-haired man. "Just the customers I was hoping to see!" Dabi shouted. On top of his already-gruesome scars on his jawline, he was nursing new bruises and wounds. His whole body slumped. His blue eyes shined with insane malice. He was grinning, but there was blood in his teeth. He was a dead man walking.

…

"If it isn't Endeavor. It really is a shame, old man! You never scouted me out for your fire-infested agency! I coulda been a real asset, ya know! Oh, and little Shoto too! Isn't this just FUN!"

Compress watched in concern as Dabi swayed dangerously on the precipice of Machia's shoulderblade. The giant was bending down now, meaning to pick up Shigaraki from the ground. "Master, Master, Master…" he muttered.

"Dabi, step away from there. And don't shout so loudly, you'll make your injuries wor-"

Dabi bulled over Compress's concerns. "Is the broadcast ready?!" he demanded.

Skeptic was looking down off the side. Not at Shigaraki, or at Endeavor and his young son closing in, but at the battle beyond. The monsters, alive and dead, and the huge one further out. The beams of light that were now meeting it in the sky. His entire body trembled.

"Skeptic! I'm talking to you!" Dabi barked. His voice was croaking now; he clutched his sides. Compress looked back and forth between the two of them. Spinner left, Toga left, Twice dead. Shigaraki nearly dead. Dabi nearly dead. Skeptic on the edge of sanity.

"There is no broadcast…" Skeptic mumbled. "We can't."

"What? What the hell are you talking about! That's the whole reason I brought you here!" Dabi snarled. He glared at Skeptic, then looked frantically back down at Endeavor and the boy, as if worried they would leave or something.

Skeptic lifted his computer up, and showed it to them. "Those…things…they've deadened the signal. They've deadened all signals. All my connections are gone. I'm…floating in the dark. Dead in the water." A shadow had fallen over his face.

"That…" Dabi began to tremble violently. "THAT CAN'T BE TRUE!" he screamed, desperate. He lurched over to Skeptic and began shaking the man by the shoulders. "THEY'RE DOWN THERE NOW WE HAVE TO DO IT NOW!"

"Do what?" Compress asked. "Does any of what you're planning…matter now, Dabi? Look around you, for God's sake!"

Dabi did so, giggling to himself. "Wh-what…all those…th-things? It doesn't…it's fine…it's all gonna be fine…no, everything's gonna go my way…that's how it was supposed to be…" Blood was spreading from the wound beneath his ribs, coating his dark jacket.

Gigantomachia scooped up Shigaraki. The two heroes on the ground rushed to his feet.

"DON'T KILL THEM YET!" Dabi screamed, as the giant prepared to retaliate to his attackers, lifting up a foot to stomp the boy.

"Master…confused…" Gigantomachia muttered, lifting Shigaraki up high. The sun shone through his fingers. The white-haired leader of the League of Villains slumped there, cradled, like a worn-out doll.

Mr. Compress took his mask off, and lifted his face. For the first time in what felt like years, he let the sun kiss his weary cheeks. Sorry, great-great grandfather, you unparalleled scoundrel. I wasn't able to follow in your footsteps, in the end. "It's over, Dabi," he muttered. "Our time has passed."

Gigantomachia groaned. A deep rumbling came up from his stomach. His eyes slowly closed, and he fell. The three men on his back fell with him.

…

Far away, Momo Yaoyorozu checked the time.

"It should be kicking in by now," she murmured.

…

Shoto and Endeavor slid to an astonished stop as Machia simply collapsed, without any input from them, mere feet away. And then they had to run back, as the giant hit the ground hard enough to kick up a small tremor, and a great deal of dust.

Shoto's eyes darted around as his vision cleared. The three men on top of the giant had vanished. Somewhere under him maybe, crushed? Holy shit. He looked back at his father. "We have to find Shigaraki's body!" he urged, over the sounds of the battle behind them. "We have to know where he is!"

Endeavor nodded. "Ri-"

"NO!" screamed a voice.

Both of them turned. Shoto's eyes widened.

Doko Katayama warp-ran up to them, reaching them in two flashy violet strides. He stopped and put his hands on his knees, looking at the downed giant in anguish.

"DAMMIT!" he screamed, tears pouring out of his eyes.

"Everywhere!" Shoto put a hand on his classmate's back and helped him stand up straight. "What's the matter?! I mean, besides…"

"We needed him! We needed him and now he's…they must have done something…shit." Katayama blabbered. "I don't know how…"

"The giant?" Shoto asked. "How did you think you were going to get him to fight for us? He was ignoring the monsters just to get to Shigaraki!"

Doko had a look of panicked indignation. "Because I got THEM to fight for us!"

He swept his arm back and pointed toward the battle. Shoto followed it, and saw…

Stain. Gentle Criminal. Kurogiri. Spinner. Kaminari.

They were joining the fight against the monsters. Tsuyu and Iida were coming as well, and seemed to have no qualms about fighting alongside them.

"Is Shigaraki dead?" Katayama asked.

"We're not sure!"

"He must be found!"

"I'll get on it," Endeavor boomed. He was badly wounded himself, and unable to use his fire anymore. He began to limp toward the unconscious giant. "I'll clean up this mess. Katayama…you take my son and go clean up yours."

The number one hero looked down at Doko. "Finish it your way."

Doko's mouth opened a little in surprise, and then he straightened himself up. And he nodded. "Thank you, sir."

"Now GO!"

Doko and Shoto looked at each other, and then turned back toward the fight.

…

The Leader of the Void raised its long tentacles and shot them toward the girl on the ground, who was now glowing with some new power. A multiplier, it thought, a tinge of concern entering its system. It should be fine. No multiplier that they have can be that exponential. It will stop at two.

Nejire moved impossibly fast, dashing past its attack and slamming her fist into the side of its lower body. KER-BOOOOOOM.

Yellow waves spread out in concentric rings from where she'd landed her blow, and the Leader skidded backward, gasping, unavailable to believe it.

I can be fast too, it told the girl. You will regret this.

Moving suddenly, it opened its maw and curved downward toward the ground, planning to trap her and consume her there. Nejire launched herself into the air, passing within feet of the edge of the gaping void, and clipped the top of the leader's "mouth", delivering an uppercut to it that knocked the leader back again.

She flipped in midair, and launched herself like a missile directly at it again. Two more blows, reinforced by her Wave Motion quirk. FROOOOOOOMM-FROOOOOMM. And then she flipped one more time, and kicked off its back with both her legs. KA-POW!

The leader sent a million tendrils into the air, probing for her. She dashed around like a pinball, impossibly faster than before, avoiding it all, until he predicted it perfectly and was milliseconds from grabbing her…

Izuku reappeared and with his Blackwhip, yanked the tentacle sideways.

Then, swinging on his own whip like a slingshot, launched himself toward the leader and kicked it in the head. The leader shot a confusion beam toward the boy, but he kicked up some kind of smoke cloud and vanished.

The leader looked around wildly. Both of them! He didn't just pass on the One for All, he SHARED it…he still has it too!

The girl had vanished, too, as the smoke billowed up in the sky. The leader sensed something to its right, and whirled, pulling all its tentacles to that spot.

Then, from its left, two comets, a green and a yellow, rocketed toward it and slammed it into its body with the force of the sun.

"MICHIGAN SMASH!" The two children shouted together, as they hit the king in two different spots, and suddenly it was flying backward. Through a building, which completely collapsed. Through another. Still going. Going and going and going until it finally slid against the ground, blood leaking from a dozen wounds.

The king snarled and got up, facing its oncoming attackers and closing its wounds. They mustn't know that I can bleed. Time to start taking this seriously.

…

Mina Ashido had seen Gigantomachia collapse, in between spraying two of the death-bugs with acid. For a moment, she had felt a tinge of disappointment that she'd been unable to help with that. But I didn't need to. She felt the unfinished business fade away, like a tether that had connected the two of them being carried off by the breeze. There was only Doko's war now. And she was in it to win it.

A burst of electricity suddenly enveloped one of the things right in front of her, and then Gentle Criminal of all people stomped down on it from above with one of his shields. Three bullets went through its jiggling maw and it fell over.

The woman who had fired them lowered her gun, reloaded it, and rolled sideways as another monster came at her. Mina fired acid at it. She wasn't sure who these newcomers were, but…

…More electricity shot the thing at the same time as her acid. When it fell, Kaminari was on the other side.

Mina's eyes bugged out of her head. "WHat the hell?" she blurted.

"Just go with it, ribbit!" Tsuyu called, leaping out of nowhere, over Mina's head, kicking another monster.

Lemillion and Bakugo, who'd been helping Mina hold the line, looked back in surprise.

Togata laughed as he fought. "I knew you'd come around, kid!" he said to Kaminari.

"I'm glad you believed in me." Denki's face was all business. He shot another disc at a creature and sent his electricity toward it in a line, which threaded its way past Mina and Bakugo.

Bakugo snorted. "I told you fighting with the villains was lame as fuck. Glad you got it through your thick skull." He spun upward and catapulted himself across three more monsters, delivering an explosion to each of their heads.

"Speak for yourself, Bakugo!" said another voice.

All their heads turned to follow Iida as he swept through the crowd, delivering kicks to the void-things at high speed. "You're fighting with villains now, too!" he said, and pointed back.

Stain and Spinner were fighting side-by-side, slashing and dicing with their swords. Stain was snarling in battle-fury, while Spinner was smiling with glee, looking as if he was having the time of his life.

"Don't let up!" the woman with the gun called to them. Mina thought she'd heard someone call her Nagant. "They're starting to…"

Kaminari had moved to electrocute another, but it had shot a strange beam over him, and the sparks dancing over his arms suddenly died. Its horrible mouth opened and it nearly bit his head off, but Tsuyu grabbed him with her tongue and pulled him aside.

Nearby, Bakugo was exploding a monster over and over, but its skin was reforming beneath his attacks. "WHy…won't…they…just…fucking…"

Several of the monsters were joining up together, growing, getting bigger before their very eyes. Mina suddenly felt panicked and claustrophobic. She slid out between the slimy skins of two of them, skating on her acid shoes. She nearly ran into Iida, who grabbed her about the waist and pulled her further away.

The void-things let out groans and low, evil chuckles.

The heroes and villains reformed their line on the far side, still standing between them and the battlefield behind.

Look around you, humans, they said.

Tsuyu covered her ears and screamed. Gentle Criminal swayed, but kept his footing. Kaminari threw up.

Do you think you're protecting anything? There are a million more of me emerging all over your world as we speak. From Sao Paulo to Siberia, from Nairobi to the Netherlands, from Queens to Queensland. And all over the world your heroes are breaking and running and dying, or fighting and dying. Your civilians will be slaughtered by the score.

"Shut...up…" snarled Stain, gripping his sword. The monsters seemed almost like one massive, horrible, bloated organism now, their tendrils probing out toward them.

"WHY!" Lemillion screamed. "WHY ALL THIS? You possess intelligence, so, why…?"

It is our nature to consume, they said. We have eaten our universe bone-clean, so now we turn to yours. It is the cycle of life. And your part in that cycle has come to an end, my friends. So this resistance…is pointless.

The tendrils came at all of them at sudden, lightning speed. Mina braced herself, wincing and throwing her arms around Tsuyu…

A dark flash swept through the tendrils, snipping them like scissors in a long line, snipsnipsnipsnipsnip. The air rushed by the ears of the humans and then expanded, as Kurogiri swept about and opened their portal wide, yellow eyes narrowed. "NOW!" they screamed, in multiple voices.

Ice spread up from the bottom of the mass of creatures, a huge wave of it coming from Todoroki's foot. Someone else skated up that wave, warp-running up it, leaping into the sky above the enemy…

Mina looked up, and her eyes glowed with happiness. "DOKO!"

Doko's own violet eyes flashed, and he closed his fist in midair, bringing it down toward the creatures in a swinging punch.

"VOID SHRED!"

BRRRRRROOOOOOOWWWWWWWWOOOOOMMMM.

The shimmering purple blast sent out shockwaves that warped them all backwards. Mina windmilled her arms, and she and Tsuyu stabilized each other.

Doko warped to the ground in front of them all, and landed like a hero, standing up straight and watching as the enemy was rended apart by his attack. The massive proto-organism they had attempted to form was breaking at the seams, as individual creatures were ripped off and began crawling around frantically, crying out.

Doko looked back at the people behind him. "They can try that again, and they will. They also have the ability to temporarily disable Quirks, like Eraser Head. Watch for the beams that their tendrils can shoot, and don't get eaten. We're going to clean this up. We must!"

Mina nodded. "We're all prepared to fight alongside you, Doko!" The others all voiced their agreement.

Kurogiri formed up next to Doko. "We're running out of time," the portal villain said. "Most everyone has been evacuated from the area, with the help of the fire-haired woman, but Endeavor is still at his task, and Shota and the purple-haired boy are looking for something and refuse to leave."

"Why can't they fight with us?" Todoroki asked.

"Not all Quirks are good for this situation, and the monsters really are coming out everywhere. We need more strength spread out over a larger area to save more lives!" Nagant argued.

Doko shook his head. "We need as many people here as we can. They are all over the place, it's true. But that-" He pointed. "That's the leader."

For the first time, they all turned and looked at the massive fight that had been taking place behind them.

The King of the Void was rearing up toward the sky, standing atop a collapsed building, as yellow and green dashes of light zipped about it like meteors, dealing damage here and there. It was at least half a mile away now, but the destruction that the combatants had left in their wake meant a clear visual could be seen through massive gaps and spaces of rubble and destruction. The noises of the fight came in low, like distant rumbles.

Bakugo's eyes widened. "Deku!"

Lemillion gasped. "Forget that! Is that Nejire?! Did she power up?"

Doko had a grim expression. "They're keeping Him occupied, but they can't hold by themselves for long. It will take many of us." He turned back to Kurogiri. "Go find the rest of my classmates. They should be getting attacks by now. Bring them here, and any other heroes, and anyone else who will come."

"The rest of 1-A?" Iida exclaimed in alarm. "They were assigned to the other battle! They'll be hundreds of miles away, and with their own responsibilities and worries…"

"The Paranormal Liberation Front is gone. It may not be gone gone yet, but it will be. Everything will fall and die and dissipate if we don't do this now. All of us. Now do it." Doko nodded at Kurogiri.

The portal villain…collective…thing…seemed to nod back. "I shall," they promised, and Mina heard a distinctly female voice in there. A caring, loving, mother's voice.

Kurogiri vanished. They all looked back at the monsters, who were preparing to attack them again.

"What about all of these, dammit!" Bakugo exclaimed.

"We stop them if they're about to kill someone, or if they're in our way." Doko raised his own fists, and they glowed lavender. "But they're like Kurogiri. They're a collective. If we all put everything into taking down the Leader…"

They all looked toward the massive titan battle.

"The rest will follow."

…

"ERI!" Shota screamed, running down a ruined side street, the battle in the clearing behind him. "ERI, WHERE ARE YOU?"

"She wanted to help!" Shinso was calling, chasing after him. "She'll be heading into the danger, not away from it!"

"I don't want to believe that," Shota breathed, gasping, already exhausted. "I can't believe it."

"She would. I've been spending more time with her recently than you. She's been antsy and wanting to contribute something." Shinso's eyes glinted strangely. "Just like me."

Shota rounded on him, hissing and pointing his finger. "It was your responsibility to keep her safe and far away from here."

Shinso blinked blankly back at him. "It was All Might and Nezu's responsibility to keep us both safe. I told you I didn't want her to come. She snuck into the ca-"

A monster landed in front of them suddenly and violently, snarling and kicking up rubble. Eraser Head jumped back, throwing his arms in front of Shinso to protect him. The thing rose up, its tentacles probing out for them…

It suddenly glowed blue, and vanished. When the space where it had been suddenly cleared, a little blue orb fell down…and landed into the hand of Mr. Compress.

"Oh," the villain said, in a breathy tired voice. "It does work after all."

"You!" Aizawa did not leave his defensive stance; his capture scarf flared up.

Compress lifted his hands weakly, holding up the blue orb that contained the creature. "Please, don't. I need to help trap these things. It appears I am effective at it."

"You abandoned your comrades?" Shinso asked testily.

"They were all killed, sadly," Compress replied carelessly. "Either that or fighting the creatures already. You must allow me to do the same."

Shinso had been prepared to brainwash him the instant he responded, but…now decided against it. "Alright, then. Come back with us. We're looking for a little girl-"

"Eri," Shota interrupted. "This scum knows. He tried to take her from us during the yakuza raid."

"Technically that was a clone of me," Compress muttered. But he followed the other two, with a slight limp.

…

Izuku was getting tired.

No, no I can't be.

He delivered a driving smash toward the King of the Void's underbelly, but the creature seemed to impossibly dodge, reforming its body in a curve around Izuku's blow so that he hit nothing but air. Then a tendril swiped Izuku sideways.

The creature was moving faster and faster, shooting out beams and reacting more quickly. And none of their blows were doing much damage, even with Nejire now at the same output of power as him…

He blinked sleepily as he launched into the air again. Nejire was there, wreathed with yellow lightning, but her arms were badly bruised. Maybe even broken already.

"You can't handle it!" he told her desperately. "Just back off for now and…"

"NO!" she screamed back. "You gave this power to me, so let me-"

The creature opened its mouth and sucked them toward it. Izuku punched the air between the two of them so hard that he nearly blacked out, separating them with a blast of wind that moved them aside from falling into black infinity.

It was moving back toward the main battle, where Gigantomachia lay sprawled out on the ground. Izuku's friends were down there, fighting the smaller monsters. What next? Izuku asked. Was he talking to the vestiges? He wasn't even sure. Everything was falling, falling.

The creature went low and slithered through rubble, a massive train kicking up the Earth as it moved. Izuku looked down through his shifting vision and saw that it did have some open wounds on its back. We did SOMETHING.

But then it pulled back into the clearing, sliding up next to the giant, and cackling. Awww, the big boy is taking a big nap! Did you all plan on him helping out? This was a monstrosity, a wrongthing developed by that fool All For One. A horrible misuse, a twisting of our creations we so graciously granted to you all. One Quirk for one person. That was the way of it. Anything that violates that natural order will burn with the rest. AND THAT MEANS YOU TWO!

Izuku couldn't keep up. He was falling behind. Nejire was pulling ahead of him.

A strange beam began channeling between the downed Machia and the Leader of the Void, as if the creature was siphoning the giant's life-force. The wounds on its back began to close, and its slimy violet-grey skin seemed to harden.

"WE CAN'T LET THAT HAPPEN!" Nejire shrieked, going faster and faster, not caring about her wounds, letting the flow of One for All take her along.

"Nejire…" Izuku croaked, beginning to fall in midair. "Nejire, wait…"

He'd fought Shigaraki and he'd fought the creature. He'd been fighting longer than anyone else…too long. I meant to share the burden. I meant to share it but I learned that lesson too late. I'm sorry I didn't learn what you taught me in time…

A violet flash enveloped him, and strong arms were holding him.

...Katayama.

Izuku looked up at Doko himself, who had caught him. They were safely on the ground.

Violet eyes stared into green. Doko smiled wearily, but with the grave steel of one who could see the end before him.

"You're gonna be just fine, Izuku," he said. "Gather the last of your strength. We need you for just a little longer."

…

Nejire kicked the void king in the side, trying to push it away from Gigantomachia, but it had planted itself in the ground with its tentacles, and she could not budge it. Even with all the power I've gained…

You've been a thorn in my side for too long, stupid girl, it said, and she took a faceful of one of those horrible beams.

The color of the world reversed, and her head spun, a wave of nausea hitting her. Suddenly, both Wave Motion and One for All died in her body, and she plummeted to the ground.

Nothing saved her. She hit the ground hard, feeling little rocks and bits of rubble cut her up, feeling all the bones in her body break…

Death was following just a moment behind. Time seemed to slow and Nejire became aware of all the pain in her body. She could hardly believe it. It had seemed so impossible to die, all the way up until then. It could never happen to me. It could never…

…And it won't, promised One for All. Not today.

The strangest sensation filled her body. A bright light was surrounding her, reaching into her, lifting her up. She felt her bones rejoin and heal. Her wounds closed. One for All returned to her. Her own Quirk returned to her. It was a reversing, a…rewinding.

Nejire gasped, and as she floated in the air she looked around, her blue hair levitating and fanning out behind her as she coursed with the lightning of a power not unlike her own.

Eri was standing there on the ground, power erupting from her horn, a confident look on her face.

"I'll hold that!" the girl promised. "So you don't break your bones. Now go beat up the bad guy!"

…

The villains were holding back the line of monsters now.

Stain and Spinner slashed through one together, the latter laughing maniacally. "It's just like my recurring dream!" he cackled.

"Ehh, what?" Stain asked, confused.

"I confess," said Mr. Compress, who'd just arrived. "I did not think this was how this day would go." He touched two monsters and compressed them instantly. Since he'd gotten here, more and more of them were disappearing rapidly.

"You're a massive help, magician man!" Kaminari commented. "We can clean this up in no time with you here!"

"Let us hope!" Gentle Criminal screamed.

Lady Nagant just rolled her eyes and kept shooting.

Meanwhile, the heroes had turned around toward the scene on the opposite side. Aizawa and Shinso had just returned. Aizawa pointed desperately at Eri, who had just activated her Quirk on Nejire and sent her back to battle the leader.

"We have to get her out of there!" he exclaimed, looking around at the students. "You all…listen! This isn't going to-"

"It's the only way," said a voice.

They all looked to see that Doko had arrived. He had Izuku in his arms.

He surveyed the crowd. The villains were still fighting behind them, but standing here was a lot of the help that Doko could have hoped for. Mina, Tsuyu, Todoroki, Bakugo, Mirio, Shinso, Iida, Aizawa-sensei. Kurogiri will bring more.

He set Izuku down, and the green-haired boy slowly stood up, clutching his side. The two of them nodded to each other.

"I am the last adult here, and your teacher," Aizawa said. "You will all listen to me."

"Once you said that I was one of the few of us that you'd trust to join you in battle," said Doko. "So trust me now. We have to hit that thing with everything we've got." He pointed at the leader.

"But Deku's run out of gas from fighting Shigaraki!" Bakugo barked. "And he had the most power! He was our best chance-"

"It doesn't have to be like that, Kacchan…" Izuku almost whispered.

The others all looked at him strangely.

"I have enough power left in me for one last hurrah, at least until I get about a month of sleep." Midoriya smiled weakly. "But in the meantime, I'm not the only one who can use my power."

"What do you mean?" Mina asked.

"I can share it with all of you. The past and the future demands that I do." He coughed up blood. "You will all be able to hold your own, with One for All."

"But we can't all do it without breaking our bones, like Midoriya did at the start of the year. That's why we need her, sensei." Doko pointed at Eri.

"Speaking of which, ribbit…" Tsuyu looked at the battle. "We gotta do this NOW, because Nejire-chan is fighting alone!"

"Right. Let's…"

KA-BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

The leader of the void had suddenly dived into the Earth, kicking up a huge burst of debris. Nejire shot after him, a yellow streak arcing straight toward the ground…

You think you can sit around and plan?

RRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

Another huge explosion wrecked the city, and the whole group was scattered apart, dust and rocks and everything raining down…

The Void-King towered up in the midst of them, rearing its tentacles out, its angry orange slitted eyes surveying them all. Its scales oscillated, showing little openings of pure darkness. There was a sucking feeling to the air. The void was calling them all. They would fall outside the universe and never return.

Doko regained his feet, looking up at the creature as the wind buffeted his hair. He matched its gaze with equal intensity.

You think you can be a leader, Everywhere? The king asked him directly. You are naught but a pawn. It was foolish to even attempt your plans.

"IT WAS FOOLISH TO ATTEMPT YOURS!" he shouted back, and warped in toward the thing's skin. He no longer cared.

"WARP FIELD!"

"VOID SHRED!"

He zapped around the creature, delivering magical blow after magical blow, rending it apart, pulling its scales further and further away from each other, shredding its skin. It howled in pain, but even as Doko worked at mach speed, he could see it healing. And he was getting sucked in, too. Sucked in toward the end of the world. He could see stars and galaxies swirling around down there beneath the flesh, and knew…

Even if I warped this whole thing apart, its mark would remain. The opening would remain and it would consume us all…

But how, then? How to defeat it? The physical body was one thing, but that…that inside…was another matter entirely.

…

When the second explosion happened, Nejire was separated from Eri's power and landed somewhere near…

Near…

Tsuyu.

It was her, the frog girl, on the ground. She was shaking her head and getting back up, even with the ringing in all their ears, with the foulness of the void crackling in the air as the monster rose up.

"Tsu…" Nejire croaked, walking toward her. "We've gotta…we've gotta…"

"Ribbit…" Tsu looked back at her senpai. Her tongue lolled out.

Nejire felt up the side of her own face, and her hand came back slick with blood. It is the only way.

"Tsu…take it…"

Tsu looked down at the blood, and her eyes widened.

"It's called One for All, and it's all we have left."

The frog girl just nodded, and her tongue shot out to lick the blood off of Nejire's hand.

Another eruption of light.

…

Izuku had managed to grab onto Kacchan when the explosion happened. The two of them went down together, landing behind a half-destroyed wall.

Beyond, Doko was fighting the monster, keeping it occupied.

Bakugo peeked out and cursed. "Dammit! Now how are you supposed to share it with everyone! We gotta-"

"One at a time, then," Izuku interrupted. He took Bakugo's hand, which had an open wound on it, and touched it to his cheek, where he had a bleeding cut of his own.

"EUgh! What? What are you-" Bakugo cut himself off, as his eyes widened, and he felt the power enter him.

Another eruption of light.

…

Mina had landed by herself, but as she got to her feet, she noticed something nearby. She had landed near the giant.

There was a silhouette of a person, half-under the giant and half laying out just beyond his arm. Crushed to death. A corpse. Who? She stepped over to see if she could look…

...And then a bright green streak leapt to her side.

Mina whirled about, astonished. Tsuyu was there, crouched in a frog position, but covered in green lightning. Her long hair was whipping about her head like it was in a tornado. She looked like some…some beast.

"Here you go, ribbit!" Tsuyu swiped out with her tongue, and licked Mina's cheek, where she had an open cut.

Mina's eyes widened. A pink glow seemed to fill her up.

Another eruption of light.

…

Todoroki and Mirio had both managed to hold, staying near the line of battle, where the villains were still holding off the smaller creatures from joining their master.

Todoroki looked back at Kaminari and Gentle, the closest two. "You should join us!" he said. "We need to hit the king with EVERYTHING!"

Gentle shook his head. "No! There are more and more of these coming! They seem to be trying to assist their leader! He's calling them in!"

Nagant nodded from a higher position. "Yep! There's a whole fuckton more coming down the street!"

Mirio's eyes widened. "If they're all coming here, that means…"

"...We're pulling them away from places where they could kill civilians!" Stain finished, swiping at another with his sword. "We will keep holding this, heroes! You fight your fight!"

"But…if Midoriya's power can be shared with everyone…" Todoroki blinked.

"In a way, we don't deserve to know that feeling, boy." Gentle Criminal smiled sadly. "We will do our duty as best we can. But other than that…"

And suddenly, both Midoriya and Bakugo landed next to them.

They were both holding tufts of their hair. Midoriya was holding his up to Mirio, Bakugo was holding his up to Todoroki.

"Eat this!" Bakugo barked, practically shoving the hair at him.

Todoroki blinked. "Huh? Is this how it works-"

"Don't question it, Icy Hot! We don't have any fuckin' time left!"

"Let's fight together, Lemillion," Midoriya said.

"Right!"

Two more eruptions of light.

…

Aizawa and Shinso had landed together, far too close to where the creature had re-emerged. Doko's attacks flashed before Shota's eyes. He watched the boy face down the demon that had entered their world, with no fear on his face, just righteous anger…and a sense of duty.

I must trust him after all.

"Aizawa! I found Eri! She's here!" Shinso had brought the girl back. She seemed unharmed, but she sniffled and wiped her face, which was covered in dust.

Aizawa bent down and tilted her head to look up at him. "What were you thinking?!" he demanded. "Did you WANT to get killed?!"

"No," she answered, looking him dead in the eye. "I wanted no one ELSE to get killed."

And her horn began to glow. Her lips lifted up into a smile. "It's okay, Papa," she said. "We're gonna win, alright?"

Streaks of light were surrounding them, multi-colored comets landing in a circle around Eri.

Midoriya stepped forward. He was glowing green. Behind him were all the other students. Aizawa felt a tear fall from his eye.

"You've all grown so much," he murmured.

Midoriya reached his hand out. "Now join us, you two."

Shinso's eyes widened. "...Me, too?"

"One for All does not discriminate."

Two more eruptions of light.

And then another, different one. Eri's horn, its forked lightning spreading like a web, touching to all the heroes, connecting them, sustaining them, keeping them alive, maintaining the balance.

All the smoke cleared away, to reveal a line of glowing fighters, as they saw the battle ahead. The void-king, and Doko fighting it alone.

Doko stopped fighting for a moment. He looked back and saw them all. He smiled, but his smile was full of sadness.

"DOKO!" Mina called. Pink sparks were erupting off of her. "What about you?"

"I can't take it," he called back. "I have my own thing inside me, and they'd make a bad mix." He nodded toward Izuku. "Your Nana Shimura knew that well enough."

"Then what do you need us to do for you, Katayama?" Shinso asked. His lightning was appropriately purple. "Call it."

Doko looked back up at the void-king, who was snarling down at them all in rage.

"Make me an opening," Doko growled.