Chapter 91: What Must Be Destroyed
The students and heroes at the mansion had begun to clean up the PLF, capturing the last few stragglers and even the troublesome Re-Destro…
...When strange things began appearing everywhere…
…And suddenly, there was a portal opening up beneath them.
…
Tenya Iida did not receive One For All with the rest of the group.
Instead, he'd noticed something else on the edge of the battle, and zipped away, because it looked bad.
Ojiro and Koda were struggling up an empty street, on the opposite side from several streets that were infested with running voidlings. They were both carrying girls on their back. Uraraka. And…Himiko Toga.
"Koda!" Tenya called, pulling up to them, waving his arms. "What's going on?"
Koda turned around. He looked panicked. "I found these three limping up the street. They're hurt bad!"
Ojiro had a bruise on his head, a cut on his tail, and another cut on his side. "Mine are shallow," he promised. "It just looks bad. The girls, umm…" He shifted to the side to show Uraraka's half-conscious form. She blinked sleepily. "Iida-kun…?"
"Uraraka! Oh my goodness, you…" Tenya looked her over. She had two bad stab wounds and numerous smaller injuries. He whipped around to look at Toga, who was being carried by Koda. "Did she do thi-"
"Yes," Ojiro put in. "But she's hurt bad too. We need to get them both to medics…"
Tenya turned back toward the battle, weighing their options. He knew where the rear-guard camp was from here, but it was a long way, and who knew if there would be any surviving heroes or medics left there. Besides, standing between here and there were a half dozen streets infested by void monsters.
That meant, the closest and easiest healing to reach was…
Tenya's eyes leveled to the bright forked lightning spreading out from the center of the battle, where the little girl Eri stood.
"We have to get to her!" he exclaimed, pointing. "I will carry you all over there one at a time! We can do it in a matter of a minute! Give me the girls!"
Ojiro looked wary, but nodded. He dislodged Ochaco from his back and handed her to Tenya. Tenya took her gently. My best friend. "It's gonna be just fine, Uraraka-san," he told her.
"Are you sure?" Koda asked, trembling a little. "Going back into the battle…"
"I'm going fast! Nothing will catch us! I promise!"
And Tenya zipped away toward Eri.
…
Darkness.
Wake up, Tenko.
He felt his chest rise and fall. He was breathing. He was alive. He'd never realized how good that felt before, not until he'd been on the edge of death.
Tenko. You have to get up.
"Shut...up…" he groaned. "That's not…who I am…"
What else would you be?
It's all you have left.
"I don't WANT to be…I can't…" he began to scratch his cheeks. "I can't think of what I did when I was Tenko…it'll make me go crazy…"
Tenko…
...It's okay.
It wasn't your fault.
"Shut UP!" he shrieked. "I don't CARE if it wasn't my fault or not! I WANTED to kill you all!"
Are you sure?
Remember, Tenko…
Remember what it was like.
"NO!"
Remember the good times.
"There weren't any!"
There were. Before, and after…
He thought of the League. His best friends. All the moments they'd shared. Yes, those had been good times…and now the heroes were tearing them all apart.
Not the heroes. Something else.
The end is coming, Tenko!
You'll truly have nothing left!
Stand. Stand and fight.
"No. No, I won't…not for them…"
Those good times you remember…they will all be gone.
"You're not…you're not them…I killed them and they can't talk to me…that's not how this works…"
He could feel all the Quirks swirling inside him. His master, his dead master…had warned him of the remnants of people…but that's not what this was.
It's you, isn't it.
The green-haired, green-eyed fool materialized in his mind.
It's always been you. You insufferable…wanting to be like All Might, wanting to save everyone. Well, you can't save me! So don't! Bother! TRYING!
Tomura Shigaraki woke up.
The first thing he noticed was that he was free from the ice. The second thing he noticed was Gigantomachia, unconscious and sprawled next to him. The third thing he noticed was Endeavor, clambering over the giant's back, looking around.
Shigaraki quickly used one of the Quirks at his disposal, which would hide his presence for a few minutes. It was on a timer, but he just needed to get away from Endeavor.
My body feels…okay. Alright. Definitely not up to snuff. I'd need another month to get back to full strength after the beating I took. But I have enough energy back to…
Shigaraki crept past the searching Endeavor and looked over at the battle. He'd expected the fighting to be over, but…
What the fuck…
A huge monster was towering up into the sky, as multicolored streaks zapped around it, attacking it. It roared and oscillated, and beneath its flesh was the end of the world.
This is what killed All For One.
Shigaraki blinked. His mind flipped over, processing this. The end of everything…
...Something else is going to destroy it all instead of me…
…I can't…
How do I factor into this?
His eyes focused on one streak in particular, moving slightly slower than the others. A green one. Midoriya.
Suddenly, a tentacle from the monster swiped that green streak, and it went flying back toward Shigaraki.
It landed close enough for him to see Deku's body, as he landed on the ground at a skid, slowing to a stop by planting his feet. He was coursing with energy and had a furious look on his face.
Tomura launched forward.
Midoriya had been turned around, but somehow seemed to sense his approach, and whirled about. Tomura slammed into him with the force of a truck, and they clashed. Midoriya grabbed him by the forearms. Tomura's hands reached and probed to touch him, his face mere inches away.
Midoriya grimaced. "Stay away, Tomura!"
"How dare you!" Shigaraki snarled. "Even now, you think you can protect me, with all your arrogance! That thing behind you is nothing! It'll be me to end you all! ME!"
"You don't have the strength you had before!" The two of them continued to push against each other, digging their heels into the ground, power erupting off of them in waves and spreading out behind them.
"I'll regain it! And I'll send you to hell, Deku! But not before I decay the whole world in front of you! You'll see your failure in its entirety!"
Midoriya just shook his head sadly. "You can't. You won't. You're distracting me."
Two more of the streaks had landed nearby. It was those two other fool boys, with the explosions and ice.
"Deku?"
"Midoriya!"
"The bastard woke back up!"
"STAY BACK!" Midoriya ordered them. "Keep fighting the king! I'll handle this!"
Tomura snarled. White-hot rage was filling him.
"Even now, you still think I'm some kind of small fry?" He sent his Decay through his feet, to destroy the ground around them. "That'll be your undoing!"
Midoriya simply floated upward, pulling Tomura with him. Decay stopped.
Tomura looked down angrily, and then spat in Midoriya's face. "FUCK YOU!"
Midoriya just retained that same sad, determined expression. "Please stand down, Tenko Shimura. Either that, or…"
"NO!"
Stand, Tenko.
Stand for something.
NO! NO, I won't…I can't…
…
"FINALLY!" Nezu declared, as the TV flickered to life. They had been trying for what felt like hours to get a signal, after all connections had broken. But Nezu and Power Loader together had managed to work their magic.
All Might sat with them. His jaw dropped as he saw the image that appeared on screen.
Firstly, the monsters. The ones from Doko Katayama's void. They were horrifying to look upon, and countless.
Outside, the walls of UA shook and trembled.
"They're here too," Nezu said in a hushed voice. "But the defense system is keeping them out…for now."
"That means they're all over the world," All Might said. All the determination was emptying out of him like a broken balloon. "I…I really am worse than useless…"
"No." Nezu said. "It's because of you…that that was possible."
He pointed at the screen. It was an overhead shot, meaning some helicopter was still out there and filming, in spite of everything.
The largest of the monsters was being held in place by what seemed like a dozen heroes. They were all glowing, flowing with energy…the energy of One For All.
All Might gasped. "Young…Young Midoriya? He shared it with…with all of them?"
Nezu nodded. "It's our last best chance. And there at the center…"
A different type of light was flowing out of the ground near the monster. And All Might knew that for what it was, too.
Eri.
…
The boy with the engines, Iida, had brought the last person over, and then zipped away to help the fighting heroes.
Eri looked at all of them in turn, now safely beneath the "umbrella" of power that had formed over her head, a barrier of webbed lightning about ten feet wide and ten feet tall. Yellow light flashed over their scared faces.
She smiled reassuringly. This is my chance to save more people! Now it's my turn! "It's going to be okay," she told the four students. Uraraka, Koda, Ojiro…and the other girl. Surely she was a student too.
Slowly, her power passed through three of them. It was complicated; Koda didn't need rewinding at all, Ojiro only needed a little, and Uraraka and Toga needed a lot. Plus the fact that they all needed less than the constant work it took to keep the One For All users alive far over her head. It was a lot to take in at once. But somehow…it was all flowing from her so easily. Simple, thought Eri. Was this what it was like? To feel…powerful?
She watched the wounds on three of them close, as they all began to stand up, awed, shocked. Uraraka blinked her big brown eyes, and looked down at Eri with love. She smiled back.
The blonde-haired girl's face seemed…blank. She turned in a circle, taking in all the sights around them.
The other three backed slightly away from her, warily. Eri wondered why.
The girl looked back at Eri. "You fixed me," she muttered, astonished.
Eri nodded. "Yep! Now you're okay to fight, if you want! Or you can run away. That might be a good idea, too."
"I'm fighting," said Uraraka, looking up at the monster above them. "Whatever I can do, I'll do it."
Koda and Ojiro both looked slightly nervous. "I fear…this might be slightly above me to help with…" Ojiro muttered. "I really am pretty useless after all…"
"That's not true," Koda told him. And he pointed to the back line behind them, where many of the villains were still fighting the smaller creatures. "Those are coming faster and faster, and they need all the help they can get. I can command the creatures; I know that now. And you're one of the best fighters I've ever seen, Ojiro. So let's go help."
The two boys shook hands, and they were off. Uraraka rolled her eyes, but she was smiling.
"I'll go where you go, Ochaco-chan." The other girl was fumbling with her own hands, looking down at the ground. "I'll follow you."
Uraraka just kept up her easy grin. "Cool. Let's see what we can accomplish, then…Himiko."
The two of them left the umbrella of safety, as well. Eri looked back toward the big battle, once again focusing all her efforts on sustaining the healing of the One For All users' constant injuries. She could sense them. A broken arm here, a shattered leg there…
Suddenly, a tentacle came down onto her umbrella, and through it. Eri gasped, and a horrible child-panic filled her body. The fact that she was merely seven years old suddenly returned in all its enormity, and she froze to the spot, seeing her death flash before her…
Two streaks zipped past and obliterated the tentacle, pulverizing it and causing gore to rain down. Eri rewinded it out of existence before any gross blood could land on her.
Aizawa and Shinso pulled to a sudden stop, both of them glowing. "Are you okay?" Aizawa demanded.
"We'll keep protecting you!" Shinso added.
"And I'll do the same for you!" Eri promised. "Now get back out there!"
…
We need an ending solution of some kind, Doko thought.
Todoroki sent a massive ice wave up the side of the King. It grew up even larger than his waves at the sports festival, and five times faster. The King broke free and tried to launch into the air, but a massive explosion from Bakugo, directly to its head, slammed it back down.
Doko warped in. "WARP…"
The tentacles came flying toward him. He shredded them with his power, but there were always more.
Tsuyu kicked the king sideways, into a massive wave-blow from Nejire. The King went low and dived into the ground, splitting the earth apart. Todoroki and Bakugo went flying.
Doko slammed his fist into the ground and warped it together, pinning a third of the King's body in a closing concrete gash. Mirio and Mina dealt two blows to its head. An arc of acid blasted backward through the air.
Doko warped in toward the creature's flesh once again. Its scales opened, and the infinite space called to him. The creature sucked in with air blasts, and Doko had to warp sideways to avoid being consumed.
Careful there, Doko Katayama, the king taunted.
"SHUT UP!" He let out another warp-blast, which was reinforced by a double kick from Nejire and Mina. The creature contorted at high speed, and dodged it all. Its mouth opened and fell down toward Doko, its shadow filling him, its gaze locked right on him…
And Iida, who was not powered with One For All but was running around on the ground covering for them, pushed him aside. And kept going.
Doko tried to attack again. The creature's flesh just pulled back away from his blows, leaving nothing but the void beneath. And it sucked him in every time. He was forced to retreat.
There's nothing you can do to me. Your Quirk is useless compared to these others. We put it in you for one reason only: to bring us here.
"SILENCE!"
Stop trying to redeem yourself. All your strategies, all your efforts…they don't cover for the fact that YOU DID THIS TO THE WORLD.
"NO! YOU'RE DOING IT!"
You could have stopped using your Quirk entirely when you found out, and this would have never happened. But you just had to play the hero, didn't you? And now look what you have wrought.
"Don't listen to it, Dokkun!" Tsuyu's voice.
I'm not. I'm not listening.
There must be a way. My Quirk is connected to them, but it seems to only work in their favor! There must be a way I can turn it around!
Shinso landed next to him. "Katayama!"
More tentacles came for them. Bakugo blew them up. Shinso had to launch himself forward, and Doko warped to keep up with him. They had a conversation at high speed, flying next to each other.
"What is it?!"
"We're protecting Eri, but…" Another radiation beam went flying past in front of them, and they were pushed aside by Iida. Tsuyu kicked the king in the belly, hopped upward, and slammed into its head.
"...Shigaraki woke back up! He's got Midoriya locked down!"
"Okay. Okay." Doko's head spun. A massive grouping of tentacles probed for them, and he used Warp Shield, blasting it back away. "Shinso. I need to know what you saw when you were brainwashed."
"Huh?!"
A massive blast of fire erupted from Todoroki, and crawled up the king's flesh. The creature roared in agony, but the burns were dissipating as quickly as they were forming.
"WHAT DID YOU SEE? WHAT'S DOWN THERE?"
"It's…it's…" Mina threw more acid at the king, which it dodged.
"It's the end!" Shinso burst out. "It's like a core of some kind…infinitely far away, back there…it's down through the portal. Down through the thing's mouth."
Doko took another look at the violet horror beyond the king's physical body, and knew.
It's connected to that core. And that core keeps the portal open, keeps their physical forms anchored to each other and anchored to the void. As long as that connection remains, they can still regenerate and wreak havoc and go wherever they want…
But as long as its physical body is holding us back, we can't get to that core…
The king wasn't just from the void. The king WAS the void. They had to kill it here on Earth, or else it would be impossible to reach the core. The king would just keep pulling it back, infinitely further and further away.
"I need three people," Doko muttered.
…
Tenya Iida was tired.
Ingenium will rush anywhere, anytime.
Todoroki, unaccustomed to being able to practically fly, was still mostly fighting on the ground. Tenya had to save him from fatal attacks, then save him again.
Ingenium will rush anywhere, anytime.
He couldn't keep Recipro Turbo up for much longer. His former ten minute limit had already passed. He wasn't even sure how he was still going at this point. Pure adrenaline? An inability to give up? Tensei always said I was stubborn.
Ingenium will rush anywhere, anytime.
Eri's Quirk was not being used on him. He could go over there and tell her to help him, he supposed…but he didn't know if her burden could even be increased. He couldn't do that to her when so many people were relying on her already. And he didn't have One For All, either…
Ingenium will rush anywhere, anytime.
He saved Togata-senpai. As he ran away, he saw Katayama warp up to the older boy and ask him to do something. They must have been preparing a big move. That was good. That was what they needed.
Ingenium will rush anywhere, anytime.
…
After telling Mirio what he needed to do, Doko found Mina.
"MINA!" he screamed, as she landed with a skid. Acid was dripping off of her. He wished he could kiss her, but she was fatal to the touch.
She looked at him. One For All had never looked so beautiful on anyone else. Her dark eyes glowed with freedom. "Doko," she said, her voice filled with love.
"Mina, I need you to do something. Last big hurrah. Everything you've got left in the tank. Full acid shot, right to the bottom of the king. It needs to be an open wound that can't easily heal immediately. It needs to draw blood."
"Okay, but…" Mina looked doubtful. "That's not gonna finish this."
"No. But the blood is the important part. I'm gonna go grab Stain. We need the creature to be still."
Mina's eyes widened. "OK! Got it! What are you going to do?"
Doko almost told her. Almost. But he couldn't bring himself to. She would never approve. And she'd be right to not. There was no guarantee of him coming back from where he was going.
"I love you," he told her, and ran to get Stain.
…
Mirio Togata prepared to die.
Katayama hadn't told him that he would, of course. But it was very much assumed. He knew it was hard to ask that of someone.
But there was no one else who could do what he was about to do, right? It had to be him. Only him.
I trust you, Katayama! I believe in your plan!
…
Stain had only ever been warped by Kurogiri before. Being warped by the boy was a new and different experience, a strange one. But here he was.
First, the boy had arrived and said they needed him to help fight the big one. The funny lizard guy promised that he'd hold the line in Stain's absence. And now…he was being teleported right into the fray.
The pink alien girl landed in front of him. Katayama warped away in a circle. The king's eyes followed him.
What's…?
It all happened in an instant.
The girl blasted a massive cone of acid into the creature's flesh. It cried out in agony and stretched upward, rearing its back.
A huge gash formed there, leaking black blood. Beyond, Stain could see the void that he'd seen in Tartarus. Now. I must go now!
He ran in toward the open wound, reaching out with his sword. Me, the hero killer. Saving the whole world. Who would have thought. But the kids trusted me with this task. So I will complete it to the end!
He buried his sword in the wound, and yanked it back out. It was drenched black. The blood reeked. Stain had no time to hesitate, though. Just hold you still for a second. Just a second, that's all we need…
Tendrils came down to stab him in the chest and face. Stain had no time to move. He tried to get the sword to his mouth, at least. At least he could activate his Quirk before he died-
An engine fired next to him, and he was pushed away.
Stain turned over in midair. The tendrils stabbed down into a different body. Red blood rained down on the ground.
Tenya Iida smiled at him. "I saved a guy first," he said, and the light in his eyes faded.
Stain did not hear his own scream.
Regrets about everything he'd chosen to do in his life flooded through him. NO! NO, KID, THIS ISN'T WHAT I WANTED! YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO! NOOOOO! NOT FOR ME!
And another voice. One telling him, don't let it go to waste.
Tears streaming down his face for the first time in years, Chizome Akaguro drank the king's blood from his sword.
…
The leader of the void stilled, vibrating in place. WHAT?! It screamed out, in disbelief. IMPOSSIBLE!
Mirio launched himself forward, and phased through the thing's flesh, into its innards.
Inside, he went mad.
…
Doko, Todoroki, Bakugo, Tsuyu, Nejire, and Mina all looked up in shock. The creature had stopped moving, and now it was swelling, ballooning up to bursting size as Mirio Togata destroyed it with One For All from within.
A tear went down Doko's cheek. So many people…so many I had to sacrifice…
I'll have blood on my hands for the rest of my life.
…
The leader of the void burst into a million pieces.
A storm of gore and guts rained down on them. At its center, a single person flew back out, and landed. His blonde hair and costume were drenched in black goo. Mirio stumbled, keeled over, and threw up. Then, he threw back his head and started laughing. "AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!" he screamed. Those nearby noticed that his eyes were now glowing, reflecting stars and galaxies.
The pieces fell down on them all. Eri shrieked as they hit her umbrella shield of power and rebounded.
There…in the space in the middle…a massive orb was glowing, at the center of a vertical seam in reality. Pure blackness dwelled beyond it. But that orb, that violet orb, the core…
Doko warped in toward it. He heard Mina scream, but did not turn. He had to do this now. Now.
Then, it happened.
All the pieces of creature flesh began to pull back. Revolving in a spinning cycle around the center, around the core. One struck Doko in the back of the head, and he fell, not reaching the orb in time.
The pieces connected as they closed in on each other, reforming, reconnecting. Doko looked wildly back at Eri, but none of her lightning was connected to any of it. It was not her.
Behind them, the increasing wall of oncoming smaller creatures were letting out hoots and hollers, like a cacophony of war calls. It returns it returns it returns it returns!
"NO!" Doko screamed. The pieces were towering upward as they reformed, the black blood pulling back and re-entering the space between them.
Like a fortress, the king regrew itself around the portal and the core, protecting it, blocking it. Its orange eyes reformed last. And they gleamed with victory.
NICE TRY! it cackled, fully back together now. THAT ONE REALLY HURT!
Mirio Togata laughed even harder.
The students all exchanged horrified glances. Doko felt his legs give out, and he landed on his knees.
Everything they'd just done was for nothing.
No…
No, that can't be it…
Iida's body was dead on the ground nearby.
NO!
The creatures had broken through the villain's last brave defense, and were coming toward them.
no…
Mirio was spinning in a circle, deep in insanity, lost.
I…
Doko steeled his face.
I'm not done yet.
He'd been wrong. The physical body couldn't be destroyed before the void. Nor vice versa. It had to happen nearly simultaneously.
Which meant they had to operate on trust and hope. That was all they had left. Well, it wouldn't be the first time.
He stood.
"It's not enough to break the thing's flesh apart," he said. "That's what One For All can do. We need more. We have to make it all disappear."
His head turned to the left, where an entirely different battle was going on. Midoriya and Shigaraki were still clashing.
"What, you mean…?" Tsuyu's eyes widened.
"GUYS!" Bakugo barked, pointing at the oncoming onslaught of creatures behind them.
Doko didn't know what to do about that. All he could think was to kill the leader. But they had no time. There was no other factor that could help them here. They were stuck, with no choice but to fight to exhaustion…
…A massive, dark portal opened up between them and the voidlings.
Kurogiri's yellow eyes opened near the top of it. "I HAVE RETURNED!" they boomed.
And out of that portal came everyone.
The rest of Class A and B.
Countless pro heroes.
Even members of the Paranormal Liberation Front, running out of Kurogiri's portal in waves, meeting the voidlings head-on.
Quirks fired and blasted. Screams and roars and shouts and cheers. A huge clashing of massive forces.
The great battle of our time.
Doko saw Dark Shadow rear up in the center, roaring, taking out huge sweeps of voidlings with massive swiping blows.
He saw Sero and Ibara working together. He saw Momo firing a gas at the creatures to make them sleep, right alongside Midnight who was using her Quirk to do the same thing.
He saw everyone working, working to buy him the time he needed. And he smiled, tears streaming down his cheeks.
He turned back toward Midoriya and Shigaraki. The last factor that needed to be resolved. There was nothing else left.
Midoriya, who'd always worked to save everyone…
I trust you on this.
Doko warped toward the king.
Come on then, Katayama! Meet your doom at last!
He prepared to use Void Shred on the creature's flesh again. Like before, it pulled back and showed him the void, sucking in air to yank him in, to kill him.
Doko did not warp away. He smiled victoriously and let it happen.
The king's orange eyes widened. Wait…NO!
Its flesh suddenly closed off, and it pushed Doko away with a tentacle, the cold realization of what Doko was trying to do washing over it.
That's not going to work! it hissed. Now I'll make sure you never get inside!
Doko stood up straight and wiped the blood off his face.
"One small problem with that," he said. "You made me a warper. And as a warper…I can go wherever I want."
…
Ochaco Uraraka got back to her feet.
She'd been fighting with the others to hold back the line, but then it had broken through…and now there were more heroes arriving by the dozens. She had been left behind.
She watched the battle engage before her, and beyond, she could see the void leader still standing strong. Their plan didn't work.
"Ochaco-chan…" It was Himiko. She had void-blood on her cardigan, and she'd lost her knife.
"I'm going over there," Ochaco said faintly, pointing. Her body felt limp. Even after Eri's healing, she felt like she needed to sleep for a week straight.
"I'm coming with you," Himiko said.
The two girls walked, stumbling, over toward the fight.
Ochaco saw Katayama there, warping around the king, circling around it. The king was fighting extremely defensively for some reason. What are we going to do now…Doko?
"Ochaco," Himiko said softly. She nodded toward someone on the ground.
Uraraka followed her gaze, and something inside her snapped.
"Iida? IIDA!"
She found the last of her energy and ran to his side, falling to her knees and cradling his head.
Blood was leaking from a half dozen wounds on his chest. There was a smile on his face. But he was dead.
"No," Ochaco whispered. "No…"
Himiko stood above her, and put a hand on her shoulder.
"No." Ochaco repeated. She felt the tears stream openly down her face now. Not him. Why did it have to be him?
She threw back her head and screamed at the sky.
As her scream faded, it was replaced with sobs. They wracked her body, her chest contracting as more tears came out. It felt like a months' worth of emotion, finally pouring out of her. All her misfortune and struggle leading to this moment.
"This is how it feels," Toga muttered. She rubbed Ochaco's shoulder. "This is how it felt with Jin. It never ends, Ochaco-chan."
Ochaco sniffled, and raised her head. She stared at the king of the void. "It will," she growled. "It will this time."
She'd felt it for a while now. Her Quirk…it had been stretching. Jumping at the chance to grow. To evolve.
"Himiko, take my blood. I need your help, too. We'll do this together."
…
"TENKO!" Izuku screamed, as the two of them still clashed. "YOU WERE MADE TO DO THIS! YOU WERE FORCED! THIS ISN'T YOU!"
"It IS me," Tomura snarled back. "You don't know anything about me, kid. How could you?"
"I do know," Izuku answered, his voice breaking. "I do. Nana knows, and she tells me even now." Tears were streaming down his face. "Your dog. Your sister. Your grandparents. Your mother…"
"And my old man," Tomura snarled. "Don't forget him!"
"Anyone would go crazy, Tenko! It's tragic! I know that better than anyone!"
"YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND IT!"
"But that senseless tragedy…it didn't happen because you were a bad son, or a bad person. Or even because your father was a bad father!"
"SHUT. UP. YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT!"
"It was your Quirk, Tenko. And you are not defined by that Quirk. It did not come from you. It was given to you, passed onto you by a cruel being who meant to use you like a puppet."
"ALL FOR ONE? ALL FOR ONE'S DEAD AND BURIED! I'LL FINISH MY OWN WILL, NOT HIS!"
Izuku shook his head.
"Is this really what you want, Tenko? To destroy everything just so you can feel better?"
"YES!"
"What if there was another way to make you feel better? What if there was a way to get revenge?"
"All the people I wanted revenge on are long gone! And this sickening feeling in me…it's still there…so I have to keep. Destroying."
"You're wrong!" Midoriya promised. "There is ONE more thing to get revenge on. One more thing to destroy to try and remove this feeling!"
"Do you mean myself?" Tomura cackled. "I'll save killing myself for the end, when it's all over. When the Earth has been wrecked."
"No. Please don't. Please don't do that." There was such desperation, such pity in the child's voice. It pissed Tomura off.
"I'll do…WHATEVER I WANT!"
…
STAY AWAY FROM ME! the king shrieked. STAY AWAY FROM MY CORE!
"I'm gonna get it!" Doko promised it. The One for All users were attacking again now, trying to hit blows that would open up the creature's flesh. The king was putting everything into dodging or absorbing now, refusing to use its former ability of pulling back its scales. It was slowly crawling backward, giving ground, practically on the run.
Todoroki and Nejire and the others hit it. Hit it. Hit it. Hit it again. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! A relentless onslaught.
Doko warped in toward the creature once again. STAY BACK! it demanded.
"You should have been the one to stay back. In your own dimension."
WE HAD TO COME! WE WERE STARVING!
"You should have rationed."
YOU WOULDN'T UNDERSTAND! A PUNY HUMAN LIKE YOU COULD NEVER UNDERSTAND!
"What makes us puny?" Doko delivered another percussive warp field to its underbelly. "You're the one on the retreat."
SHUT UUUUUPP! the king screamed, loud enough for everyone in the area to hear. They were closer to Midoriya and Shigaraki's fight now. SHUT UP! WE MADE YOU EVERYTHING THAT YOU ARE! YOU WOULD HAVE NEVER EVOLVED WITHOUT US! YOU'D ALL BE ORDINARY! WE MADE! YOUR QUIRKS!
Doko grinned.
Tomura Shigaraki's eyes widened, as he overheard. He kept clashing with Izuku, but looked up at the king above him.
"...What?" he croaked.
"That's right," Izuku said. "That thing is what ruined your life. And the lives of all your comrades, for being different or for being caught by the system that Quirks created. And my life, too." His voice cracked again. "That's why a bunch of your people are helping us now to kill it. Because we all understand now. We were pieces on a chessboard, and those things were the players. And the only way we can flip the board is if we all do it together."
Tomura shook his head. He refused to believe it. "NO!"
"Take revenge, Tenko. I think this last one will finally satisfy you."
"No, this isn't what I wanted!"
"Everyone from the past and future is calling for us, Tenko! Together, One For All and All For One…their own evolution, turned against them!"
"IT'S NOT THE WAY!"
"Remember, Tenko." All of his family called together at once.
He swayed, and released Midoriya. For a moment, the two of them stood there, facing each other…
BWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMM!
The entire body of the king began to shimmer and sink. It was vibrating, being pulled down, suppressed by some kind of wave of power.
The One For All users all looked around at each other wildly. It was none of them…
...On two opposite sides of the creature, two Ochaco Urarakas stepped away, releasing their hand from its body.
"KEEP IT UP, TOGA!" One of them screamed to the other. They were both crying.
Tsuyu gasped, as she realized. Ochaco-chan's Quirk evolved. She's not negating the king's gravity. She's multiplying it. It's being pushed into the ground under its own weight.
"GO, OCHACO!" she cheered. "YES!"
The king opened its mouth to scream. Beyond was the void.
Doko Katayama warped into it. He finally went deep into the place he'd been briefly going to for years.
Mina cried out. He vanished.
The king began to topple over, a huge shadow falling across Midoriya and Shigaraki.
Tenko Shimura took a deep breath. And he made his choice.
Together, the two of them turned toward the falling creature. Midoriya charged One For All through his fist. "UNITED…"
Tenko lifted his palm. What must be destroyed.
"STATES OF!"
The creature fell onto them. Tenko felt his fingers make contact, and the last bit of ecstasy flowed through his body.
"SMAAAAAAAAASH!" Midoriya punched.
A massive updraft of wind swept up into the sky, thousands of feet high.
KER-SWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.
The leader of the void disintegrated, in waves upon waves of dust.
They were carried away by the strength of Midoriya's power, higher and higher, unable to come together.
Gone.
All around the battlefield, the bodies of the voidlings simply collapsed.
They fell over in waves, dying by the score. None of them even made a noise, a cry.
All that remained was a massive, dark portal, slitted, like a crack in the atmosphere.
Foul whispering came from it. Wind howled out of it. Around it, shadows seemed to gather, as if something was trying to reform, trying to gain power once again.
But there was nothing physical to attack. All the heroes just stood, numb and frozen and mouths open. There was nothing they could do but watch, and hope.
Hope for Everywhere to finish his task, somewhere beyond that portal.
Mina let out a low sob. "He…he…"
He knew what he was going to do. Maybe even from the beginning, he knew, deep down.
She couldn't help but feel an overflowing despair.
Shota Aizawa was standing nearby. He was holding Eri in his arms. Her power had ceased. Mina looked down, and realized that One For All had left her. It had all gone back into Midoriya for now.
"It'll be okay, Ashido," her teacher said. His voice sounded completely drained, and the bags under his eyes were dark as pitch. "It'll be okay."
"Yes," said another voice. The voice of many.
Kurogiri floated between the two of them, headed for the open gash in reality that stood ahead. Evil sounds were now growing louder around it.
Aizawa gasped. "Wait. You aren't thinking of…"
Kurogiri chuckled. Mina heard a distinctly boyish voice in there. The voice of Shirakumo.
"It'll be okay, Shota. You said let's be heroes together, remember? Let me do this thing, and then…let me rest."
Kurogiri stepped into the void and disappeared.