Chapter 92: That Which Is Worth Saving

Doko plummeted into the heart of darkness.

Howling wind echoed all around him, but that was the only sound. Distant streaks of dull violet pulsed, but that was the only light. And it was far, far away.

He wasn't sure if he was falling or rising. Up was down and down was up. North was south and left was right. Nothing mattered. He was in infinity. He was in the macroverse. He was in the Void.

A fragmented, angry voice tried to whisper out to him. Never…reach…make sure…

You're already dying, king, Doko whispered back. Shigaraki must have decayed it. Good. That was good. A last bit of redemption.

And this will be mine.

He wondered how many people had died from the monsters, in the hours that they had been loose. We reduced the apocalypse to less than half a day. That has to count for something.

But still, every one of those casualties was at least partially on him. The king had had something of a point there. Could they have beaten Shigaraki and the PLF without me? This is what I must wonder.

If they could have, then he should have just stayed home.

But then, one day…the void might have burst out of him anyway.

Better to have defeated it all today. Maybe.

In the distance, he could see the core. It was trillions and trillions of miles away, but so large that it seemed to swallow up his vision. Purple light stretched around it, like the event horizon of a black hole. Doko supposed that was what it was after all.

There were things living out here? No wonder they became evil. And insane. Doko would not pity them, though. Earth had to survive. To be a hero was to believe that Earth, in all its struggles and problems, had something intrinsically worth sustaining. Music, culture, food, love, life. He thought of the school festival, he thought of classroom antics, he thought of Eri and he thought of Akane and he thought of Mina.

Mina, Mina, Mina. What was there to say about her? The second person after his sister to show him real love. He hadn't ever thought he would share something so strong with anyone. He wondered how quickly she would move on. I want her to be okay. Please.

And all his friends, too. Sero, Tsuyu, Toru, Shoji, Tokoyami. Midoriya, Uraraka, Yaomomo, Todoroki, Iida, Ojiro…all the rest of them. Iida's dead. I saw that. The class rep had sacrificed himself to save Stain, a man who'd crippled his brother, a man he'd once desired to kill, a man who by most metrics probably deserved to die for his crimes.

It made Doko's heart hurt. No student should have had to die for this cause. Was that the Aizawa in him talking? He had to wonder. Well, hopefully I will be the last.

He hoped they would find his father, and kill him or capture him for what he'd done. Yamishiwa is one who can be unequivocally blamed for this disaster. Hopefully they will see that. And he hoped for a better system, too…one that would mean no other radicals like Yamishiwa would come about. One that would mean safety and comfort for everyone, whether they were Quirkless or had a Quirk that potentially made them dangerous.

If we do all that…it will be the void's true and final defeat. We must rise above the monsters they tried to make us into.

Doko knew he was just prolonging the inevitable by thinking about all this. He sensed, somehow, that not much time at all had passed back on Earth. That he could stretch this moment out for infinity and it wouldn't much matter. But the core was still ahead, and he would definitely starve or thirst to death before reaching it at this point.

He looked toward the core, and summoned all of his strength. One last teleport. The greatest distance he'd ever warped, but hey, he could see where he was going, right? Maybe I could always go this far. Maybe they were lying. Maybe there are no limits to Quirks, and we can do anything with them when we feel like we have to.

Doko closed his eyes. Took a deep breath. And summoned everything he had left.

WARP!

A brilliant violet light flooded his eyelids. When he opened again, the core was right before him, stretching impossibly far in every direction, completely overwhelming his senses. It was humming, like a massive beehive.

Within its darkness, Doko could now see violet strands interconnecting like a web. In the cells in-between these strands were faded afterimages, showing a thousand universes, a thousand variables, a thousand realities. Doko saw himself, he saw people he knew, he saw famous people that died a long time ago, he saw people who were yet to be born. He saw other beings, things he could barely comprehend, things he felt that he would forget like it was all an odd, surreal nightmare.

Doko saw everything.

Before the madness overwhelmed him, he reached out with both hands. He could see his own pale palms backlit by the glow of the core, could see right through the skin to his veins and fingerbones. A ghastly reminder that he was flesh and blood, and that he could not survive out here.

So it was time to end it. Time to complete his task.

As he said the words, he finally realized what they meant. What they literally meant this time, or perhaps what they'd always meant…what he'd always known deep down.

"VOID SHRED!"

He swept his arms across each other in an X-motion. His power shot from his hands and connected to the core, striking the web, and fragmenting it.

An intense cracking sound, like ice on the surface of a lake giving way, echoed around the core. The violet light burst out from the strands, brightening, widening. Everything began to spread apart, like ripped spider-silk in a breeze.

CRACK-CRACK-BOOM!

It felt absurdly easy. Doko lowered his arms and watched the destruction, now fully happening without his input. Like the core had been waiting for a kick, and was now just self-destructing, a cascade that looped back on itself and sustained to the very end.

The thunderous sounds slowly began to fade, and with them, the violet light. The whole void was darkening.

Doko sighed. Soon he'd be unable to see anything. Soon he would just be floating, waiting to waste away. It would be a tough last few "days." Oh well.

A darkness flooded the space above him.

Doko looked up in complete shock.

Yellow eyes were staring down at him.

He gasped. "...Kurogiri...?"

Their arms reached out and held him, floating there, carrying him bridal style, lifting him up, bringing him close.

Doko looked up into those yellow eyes. They were filled with hope and sadness. "No…" he croaked. "You can't do this."

Kurogiri chuckled. "Don't be silly, my child. There are still people who need you up there, and the window is closing."

Doko looked up, far past them, where he had just come from and where Kurogiri must have just teleported from. He could see a faint light glimmering there in a line. The seam, the portal. And it was growing smaller.

"Go through me," Kurogiri whispered. "You'll come out on the other side."

"But…there's still people who need you up there, too…" Doko's voice cracked. "I'm one of them!"

Kurogiri laughed again. Suddenly, they solidified their form a bit, showing a boy with cloud-blue hair. "I can't ever live in the form they need me to be in, ever again," the boy said.

"But, Shirakumo…you found peace…you could live…"

"Do you think this form is painless?" A note of sharpness entered their voices. "We achieved synthesis, but we are still fragmented. No. Better this way. Better for you to return, to the complete people that still desire your company…Doko. My boy."

Now Shirakumo retreated, and his mother appeared. A grey-haired, grey-eyed woman. Pretty. A soft, heart-shaped face. Doko saw her even more clearly now than at the hospital, despite the fading light.

"Mom," he muttered.

"I always loved you, Doko," she said. "Even though I did not even pick that name for you. Even though I never met you until…late…" Her voice crackled like static.

Doko felt the tears stream down his cheeks. "I'm sorry," he said. "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry it all turned out like this."

"It's okay…" his mother whispered. She was smiling. "Maybe one day we will meet again. Now go."

Doko moved to step through Kurogiri's portal, but then looked up at his mother one last time. "What was your name, Mom?"

"Mikazuki," she answered.

"I'll remember," he promised. He sniffled, but put on a brave face.

"Goodbye, son."

"Goodbye."

He floated into the portal.

When he came out the other side, blinding white Earth-light was before him. The crack. The opening.

He was on the edge of the void now, but the crack was closing. He could see the battlefield just beyond. With one last thought of Kurogiri, who would spend the rest of their days in here…

…Doko closed his eyes and warped forward, back into the world.

He landed in dusty rubble, stumbling and falling to the ground. Behind him, the crack zipped shut, air sucking in around it and then suddenly ceasing.

"Doko? DOKO!"

Mina had rushed to his side. She was picking him up, crying, hugging him. Others were rushing around them, forming a crowd. Doko remained limp and still for a moment…and then hugged her back. Buried his face in her neck. Their tears stained each other.

"I'm okay…" he muttered. "I'm alright."

"I'm so glad," she said shakily. "I'm so, so glad."

He felt the warm spring air touch his skin, felt the oxygen come in through his nostrils. Felt all his limbs weigh him down like lead. He became suddenly aware of how hungry and thirsty he was.

The two of them separated, and Doko was suddenly assaulted in turn by Sero and Tsuyu, both hugging him tightly.

"Whoa…haha…"

"Don't ever do something so stupid again, ribbit," Tsu told him, rocking back and forth as she hugged him.

"Yeah, I had the audacity to survive, so you better have," Sero added.

"I'm…I'm glad…I'm glad you guys made it through. It's…it's over now."

They backed away from each other, and Doko turned.

There were tons of people milling around all over the place, attending to wounded, cleaning up the void-corpses that still littered the battlefield.

Dozens of city blocks had been leveled. Destruction stretched for miles in the visible distance in every direction.

But the sky was blue.

Standing nearby were two more people, watching him with subdued expressions. Shoji and Tokoyami.

Doko's face brightened. "You guys! You made it. You-" He cut himself off. He suddenly realized. "Wait. Where's…where's Hagakure?"

Mina and Tsuyu's faces fell. "Doko…"

Oh, he thought. Oh, no.

…

Right after the portal closed, Izuku took a deep, long breath. The dark, shadowy presence that had been attempting to reform had completely vanished. It was well and truly over now.

He looked back at the person who'd just helped him vanquish the thing's physical form. The person who'd stood by his side to deliver the final blow.

Tenko Shimura stared back at him, slumped over, clutching his chest, blinking his sleepy, ragged red eyes.

"It's…it's done?" he croaked.

Izuku nodded. "The things that created Quirks to make us go to war are defeated." Defeated by the very things they made. Just like All For One had created One For All and it had turned into this power destined to defeat him.

It didn't all work out poetically, but it DID work out. And that's the important part.

Tenko Shimura lifted his face to the sky. The setting yellow sun touched it, and Izuku could almost feel the warmth.

The former villain smiled. "The sickening feeling in my chest…it's finally gone. It's gone for good. I can tell."

And then he touched his own neck with all five fingers, and turned to dust. The material that had been Tenko Shimura blew away in the breeze.

Izuku hadn't even been able to react, to try and stop him. He lifted up a hand, and then lowered it again, watching the dust float away.

How many times have I tried to sacrifice myself and been stopped by others? And I couldn't even help him…

But then, what life could he have led at that point? Maybe Tenko was just joining his family at last.

Izuku felt a ringing sense of absolution from Nana inside his head, and knew that feeling was right.

"Izuku," said a voice.

He turned around in surprise. It was Kacchan.

"You didn't call me Deku," he said.

The blonde was standing there, eyes angled slightly down. He looked exhausted, but unharmed, thanks to Eri.

"Eh, yeah. We can, umm…talk about that later."

Together, they walked down a cascade of rubble. "Did One For All leave all of you? It feels more…complete, inside me now, than it did during the fight."

Katsuki nodded. "Yeah. I guess it knows it belongs with you, in the end."

Izuku smiled. "It could belong with anyone. Everyone proved they were true heroes today. Even…" He nodded toward the two girls they were approaching.

One was Uraraka, who looked up at Izuku with a weary, but satisfied expression. The other looked like Uraraka but then melted away to reveal Himiko Toga. As he'd suspected.

Uraraka nodded at Izuku and Katsuki as they approached. "We did it."

"Yeah. Thanks to you, Uraraka-san. You evolved your Quirk; we all saw it. You were the ones that let Katayama enter the void and destroy the core."

Toga was rocking back and forth on her toes. "Izuku…I mean, sorry. Midoriya-kun. I don't deserve to call you by your first name."

Izuku shrugged. "You can call me whatever you're comfortable with. Even if it's Deku." He looked pointedly at Uraraka and Kacchan.

"Ah." She paled. "Well…I just wanted to…to apologize and…" She seemed desperately uncomfortable.

"Toga. It's okay." Izuku stepped forward, took her by the shoulders, and made her look at him. "You helped save the world today. You don't have to apologize to me."

Tears welled up in her eyes. She sniffed. "Th-thank you…you're going to be the greatest hero, I just know it."

"Well…" Izuku looked back at Katayama, who was grouped up with his own friends around forty yards away. "I may have some competition."

"Deku-kun," Uraraka muttered. "There's something else."

Kacchan nodded. "He's, ah…he's over there."

Izuku followed them. And he saw.

Stain was kneeling over a body. The hero killer was silent, solemn. The body was Iida's.

Izuku's legs moved on their own. He rushed over, fell to his knees, lifted up Iida's head. But he'd already been dead for a while, it seemed. The blood on his chest had dried.

And he was smiling.

"How?" Izuku breathed. The tears were coming now. "When?"

"When we destroyed the thing the first time," Stain muttered. "The pink girl made a gash in the monster's side and I had to drink its blood to make it be still. But it almost killed me before I could drink. He pushed me out of the way. He saved my life for the mission."

Izuku looked up at Stain. He…he couldn't believe it. "You…" he muttered, trying to wrap his head around it all. "But you…"

"I know, kid." Stain stood up, taking his sword. "You're a true hero, Midoriya. I've known that from the beginning. But…he was, too. And I learned that too late."

Stain walked away off the battlefield. None of them ever saw him again.

…

Momo Yaoyorozu walked from place to place, through the crowd, murmuring greetings to people she knew, and providing medical supplies where she could.

Over to the left, she saw her girlfriend reunite with Kaminari. Jiro punched him in the shoulder.

"OW!" Kaminari complained, rubbing where she'd hit and looking at her indignantly. "What was that for?"

"Everything, you idiot!" Then she pulled him into a hug, sobbing. He returned it.

Momo just smiled. Over to the right were some of the other… "villains." She recognized Spinner and Mr. Compress, standing around nervously as if waiting for someone to come and arrest them. But no one did.

She saw Gentle Criminal, and then she saw Sero and Ibara walk up to speak to him. There were smiles on all three of those faces. A good reunion with mutual respect.

A woman in a cloak walked away from the crowd, silently making her exit. Momo suspected that was probably another villain. A bunch of the people from the PLF were probably sneaking away. That was fine. None of them were big enough to make much trouble.

It will take a long time to clean all this up, she thought, looking around at the absolute ruin of the battlefield.

Her eyes zeroed in on the downed Gigantomachia, on the far side. She could see Todoroki-san over there, and his father, Endeavor. She wondered what they were doing.

It was my sedative that made him fall. But apparently it was mistimed. There was a chance the giant could have helped with the voidlings, and he wasn't able to because of me…

Momo shook that off. She would have no more regrets. She had Jiro now, and there were always more people to help.

…

Shoto climbed over the top of the giant and peered over to the other side. The small, dusty clearing was covered in shadow, as Machia's unconscious form blocked the sun.

"Dad…?" he asked tentatively.

Endeavor was sitting down, holding someone else in his arms. His face was dark.

Shoto slid down to them and saw that it was Dabi. The man was alive, his chest rising and falling softly. But just barely.

His head turned, and those blue eyes pierced Shoto. In an instant, he understood. He finally understood. The blue eyes connected everything.

Dabi must have recognized it in his shocked face. "Heh. You finally get it right before I'm gonna come out and tell you, little brother? That's pretty lame." He coughed up blood.

"Don't talk," said Endeavor. "There's still a chance…we can get you to Recovery Girl, or that little child with the rewind power."

"If you do that, and I regain my strength…" Dabi smiled weakly. "I'm just gonna try to kill Shoto. And ruin your life. My desire…hasn't changed."

"Touya," Shoto muttered. He fell to his knees beside them.

"You probably think you can save me, bro. But you can't. That Midoriya rubbed off on you too much."

"He's my best friend," Shoto said defensively. Dabi chuckled at that. "Sure enough."

"I'm going to atone, Touya." Endeavor took a deep, confident breath. "I'm going to pay back everything I did to you, and to Rei, and to the other kids."

"It will never be enough," Touya whispered. "The world will never find out. They were…they were meant to find out."

Shoto looked over to the other body, the one that was half-crushed by Machia. It was a man with long, dark hair.

"Stupid Skeptic," Touya muttered. "Couldn't get the satellites to work…damn monsters got in the way."

"Maybe I'll tell the world anyway," Endeavor muttered. "Maybe I'll fess up. That might be what's necessary." He looked at Shoto then. Shoto just blinked. He was conflicted on that idea.

"In any case…" Endeavor slowly let Dabi's head rest on the ground. "Your pops was never the greatest hero. I barely helped to save the world today. That was all…it was all you kids. You kids are gonna be what lifts the world back up."

"We could always use your help and guidance," Shoto said. "Even if that's true."

Endeavor nodded, sniffed. "I appreciate that. I will do whatever I can to help."

Touya chuckled again on the ground. "Whatever you say…old man."

The light in his blue eyes faded. Touya Todoroki died of his wounds.

Shoto and Enji stood there for a long, silent moment.

"We should bury him," Shoto said softly.

"Yes," Enji answered.

…

Nighteye, Ryukyu, and Present Mic returned to the battlefield to help clean up.

Ryukyu saw Tsuyu, Uraraka, and Nejire all talking together, and rushed over, despite limping from her injuries. She pulled them together in a big group hug, crying.

"Ryukyu-sensei, you'd never believe it!" Nejire was saying excitedly, through her tears. "Izuku has a crazy power called One For All that can actually be shared from person to person, and don't worry he told me it's okay that everyone knows now so it's okay for me to tell you, and he shared it with me, and then I shared it with Tsu, and then we punched and kicked the big monster over and over, and then Ochaco-chan evolved her Quirk and freaking increased the gravity on the monster and drove it into the ground, all so Katayama-kun could go into the portal and…"

Nighteye's eyes widened when he heard what happened. Nearby, Aizawa was standing, carrying Eri. Shinso stood with them.

Nighteye walked over to Aizawa, with Present Mic in tow. "What happened?" he asked. "The last future I saw showed me only catastrophe."

Aizawa shrugged. "Midoriya shared his power around and generated enough strength to destroy the monsters physically. He even brought Shigaraki around and got him to help decay the last one. And Katayama…Katayama went into the void to destroy the core. He only came back out because…" Aizawa looked over at Mic. "Kurogiri saved him, and stayed inside the void as the portal closed."

Mic nodded. His face was grave. "So Shirakumo is gone, after all."

"He's at peace, I think. He was the one to bring the rest of the forces here from the mansion, with his Quirk…we couldn't have done it without him."

"Katayama and Midoriya saved the world," Nighteye muttered. "In the back of my mind, I knew…" But what of the third factor? The third boy he'd believed in, the eldest? What of Mirio?

"Where's Mirio?" he asked aloud.

Aizawa's face fell somewhat. "He's, umm…"

He stepped sideways, and Nighteye saw him.

Tamaki Amajiki was standing there, along with Midoriya and Katayama both. A few other students. Healers were kneeling down next to the boy.

Mirio was rocking back and forth, sitting criss-crossed on the ground. A faint smile was on his face, and he was muttering things over and over, repeating them.

Nighteye walked over, devastation coming over him. No. No, it can't be. Not after all that's happened.

Katayama looked up, noticed Nighteye first. "It's my fault, sir." His voice cracked. "My first plan…my first plan involved Togata permeating the creature and destroying it from the inside. It worked, but…he saw too deep into the void. Only void Quirk users like me and Kurogiri can keep our sanity in there for very long."

"He did it to save millions of lives," Amajiki muttered. "Just like he said he always would."

"Hehehe…" Mirio looked over at Amajiki. "There's four of you waiting ahead."

A chill went down Nighteye's spine. He looked to the healers. "Is there anything you can do?"

One of them shrugged. "If he can get better, then it will take time."

"We could try my Quirk," Eri muttered, from Aizawa's arms.

They all turned to look at her. Her horn had shrunken down to almost nothing.

"You have to store up more power," Aizawa told her. "Then…maybe we can try. I'm sure Lemillion would appreciate it."

Eri's eyes brightened. "I can't believe you didn't just tell me no."

Shinso chuckled. "You just kept us all alive for a few hours. I think you've more than proved yourself."

"That does not absolve you of any wrongdoing, Young Shinso!" a voice demanded.

They all turned. All Might was hurrying up to them, Nezu riding on his shoulder.

"ALL MIGHT!" Midoriya shouted, and ran over to hug him. All Might returned the hug.

"I'm so glad you're alright," Midoriya muttered. "When I found out the monsters had appeared everywhere, I was worried…"

"Heh, I'm fine," All Might chuckled, patting his student on the back. "UA has quite the security system, isn't that right, Principal?"

"Indeed," Nezu said. He was staring at Katayama.

"You did so good, Young Midoriya. We saw a lot of it. To share One For All with that many…I would have never thought of it."

"It wasn't just me, All Might. I haven't just learned from you. I learned from my classmates, too…and the vestiges."

All Might nodded, and then looked up at Nighteye. "I'm…I'm sorry about Togata…maybe Eri can heal him eventually."

Nighteye nodded.

Then All Might turned to Shinso. "Now you, young man…you stole my car."

"Heh…" Shinso chuckled, receiving glares from both Aizawa and All Might now. "I did do that…but think of the stories I can tell! I stole All Might's car!"

Nighteye let a laugh escape him. He couldn't help it.

All Might glared at him, and then looked back at the boy. "Well, just because it all worked out doesn't mean you will not be punished."

"I…about expected that."

"Yes, yes, punished for the bad," Nezu said with a wave of his paw. "But also rewarded for the good. Young Shinso, you managed to paralyze the monsters. That is no small deed. Based on the data we received from Katayama's warps…there is a great deal we need to understand about the universe around us." He turned back to Katayama. "You will both be well remembered. And Shinso, you proved yourself a true hero. You have convinced me to finally listen to Aizawa and change our entrance requirements at UA."

"FINALLY!" Aizawa exclaimed with a groan. Eri giggled.

"Sir, what will UA be like now?" Katayama asked.

"Oh…" Nezu's eyes twinkled. "I do believe we fulfilled the Commission's requirements of defeating all the enemies before the end of the year, don't you think?"

"There will be stragglers," Katayama warned. "And my dad is still out there, too."

"He escaped during the first decay wave," Aizawa muttered.

"Even so…" Nezu shrugged. "It happens that the Commission was actually attacked. Right at the beginning of the day."

"Wait, really?"

"The limited information we managed to receive before everything grew more chaotic seemed to implicate Re-Destro and the PLF. But they would have had to be Twice clones, considering the real culprits have been apprehended and arrested at the mansion. With Twice dead, those clones have likely dissolved. But the Commission was almost completely destroyed. It will have to be rebuilt from scratch, sadly." Nezu's tone indicated that he was not sad at all about the idea of rebuilding the Commission from scratch. "In any case, we will continue to operate UA, but with new policies and new security."

"Hooray! School!" Nejire whooped. She threw an arm around Izuku.

"And, Katayama…" Nezu looked directly at him. "It will continue to be your home, if you'll have us."

Something strange circled in the warping boy's eyes. Nighteye had to wonder what he'd seen in the void, what he'd been through today since the hospital. "Of course, sir," he answered.

Midoriya returned Nejire's hug and love for a moment, and then turned back to All Might. "Sir? It's…it's Gran Torino. He…"

"I know," All Might nodded gravely. "We have him back at the rear camp in intensive care."

…

In the end, Gran Torino died from his wounds.

Pixie-Bob and Tiger had perished in the decay wave. Mandalay ended up retiring from heroism, and she and Ragdoll dedicated themselves to raising Kota.

Crust and Thirteen had also perished, protecting others in the decay. Ectoplasm, Snipe, and Cementoss had all been badly wounded in their battles, but stayed on to teach at UA.

Kamui Woods and Mount Lady had sustained near-fatal wounds, but were slowly recovering. In the meantime, Edgeshot took over the agency entirely, as the official number two hero.

Best Jeanist was never found, and declared dead. He was given a ceremonial funeral alongside Hawks.

Endeavor told the world that he had an announcement as the number one, but that it would take time to prepare, and for everyone to expect it.

Mirko gained a prosthetic arm to replace the one that she'd lost.

Mirio Togata aka Lemillion remained in the hospital in recovery, until sufficient mental healing could be prepared for his brain.

Everyone from Class B had survived.

Class A had lost two people: Toru Hagakure and Tenya Iida.

Stain and Lady Nagant had vanished.

Tomura Shigaraki, Dabi, and Twice were all officially declared dead. The Hero Network used the term eliminated. Later, Izuku Midoriya would make a statement in the news that he found this term to be callous and used in bad faith.

Tartarus had been completely destroyed. The grand total of escapees was somewhere between a hundred and two hundred. There had been many more people in the prison, but the monsters had killed them all. UA promised to round up the stragglers within the next year.

All around the world, a grand total of 4,267,518 people had been killed by the void monsters. An additional two hundred thousand casualties were tallied in Japan alone, from Shigaraki's decay wave and from Gigantomachia's rampage.

Data and statistical scans revealed that the logical number of casualties for the event, in the Japanese areas affected, should have been upwards of a million. But it was a mere two hundred thousand. The numbers of missing did not account for this discrepancy, either…there were less than a thousand people missing.

If you asked anyone on the street, they would say it was the young heroes who made it happen.

If you asked Ochaco Uraraka how she was feeling, she would say she was "at peace."

Slowly, surely, the world rebuilt itself.

…

Mina Ashido opened the door to her home tentatively.

"Hello…?" she called inside, as the door creaked.

All the lights in the living room suddenly came on, and she was assaulted by screams as her entire family tackled her at once.

"MINA!"

"AAAAH!"

The five of them went tumbling to the ground, laughing and choking and crying as they tried to untangle themselves.

Her parents backed off, and Mina managed to stand, dusting herself off. "What is wrong with you?" she shrieked, complaining.

Myra was still clinging to her legs, hugging them. "We miiiiiiiiiissed you!" her younger sister cried.

Milo, her older brother, was bent over to the right, laughing. Mina glared at him. "This was your idea, wasn't it?"

"No, it was Dad…" he forced out between laughs.

Her father smiled down at her. "We're so glad you're okay, Mina."

"You had us worried sick, dear," her mother added. "We tried to watch the news, but then it cut out…we couldn't even see what was happening."

Mina flattened her lips. "If you'd been able to see, that would have been worse."

"Well, one of those things did try and come into our home." Her father put his hands on her hips. "We melted it."

"You seem pretty proud of yourself for that one, Dad. Myra and Mom actually did most of the work," Milo told him.

"Someone had to be the leader. The idea guy," Dad said defensively.

Mina just shook her head at their antics.

Myra finally stepped back and looked up at her. "We heard about what happened at least," the little girl said. "We heard you used All Might's power!"

"Heh…yeah…Midoriya from my class inherited it…and then he kinda shared it with everyone in order to defeat the big one."

Milo's eyes widened. "Do you still have it?"

Mina deadpanned. "No. It all went back into Midoriya afterward. And if I did, I would not share it with you."

Milo wilted. "Damn. Worth a shot."

"Still, my goodness…" her mother shook her head. "To think that you went through all that…my daughter is becoming quite something. More than I could have imagined."

"It's all because she got involved with that boy," Dad said. "Katayama? Are you still together with him?"

"Yep!" Mina said, smiling. "He's doing well."

"You sound proud," Milo told her. "I'm glad you guys have stayed together for so long. Genuinely."

"Maybe they'll get married!" Myra put in.

Mina had to laugh at that, and Milo did too. But her parents' expressions were just…happy. Their eyes were twinkling.

Mina leveled her gaze at them. "What?"

"Hm." Her mother just hummed, and raised her eyebrows. "Well, dear, you never know."

"That's true," her father said, gazing at his wife. "You never know."

Mina stuck her tongue out at them.

"In any case…he was the one who went into that portal, wasn't he?" said Milo. "Your partner."

"Yeah…" Mina answered. He was prepared to die. It was only the actions of Kurogiri…his real mother…that kept him alive.

"It's like the entire world is on your shoulders," Milo muttered. "All the kids in your class, I mean."

"On their shoulders, but standing behind them as well!" her father boomed. "We'll support you, no matter what!"

Mina sniffled. "Thank you, Dad. You have…no idea how much that means to me. Especially because I know not all the families feel like that…"

"They will all come to realize what you have become," her mother said. "And that there's nothing they can do to stop the future."

"True that," her father muttered.

"I love you guys," Mina said.

"We love you, too."

…

She left her house at sunset. The world outside was growing dark.

Standing out on the street was Doko. He had a hoodie pulled up over his face, but it wasn't zipped up over his chest, and the inkblot design on his hero costume was visible beneath.

He was standing underneath a streetlamp. Perched atop that lamp was Mirko, one arm now made of metal and cybernetics, bunny ears waving in the breeze. She had cut her hair shoulder-short.

"How'd it go?" Doko asked.

"Good." Mina grinned at him. "They want to have dinner with you again soon."

He just smiled back wearily. "I'd be happy to."

"Yeah, yeah." Mirko looked off in the distance. "Are you two ready now?"

Mina raised her eyebrows. "Ready for what?"

Doko had a strange look on his face. "They found him."

…

Kasumi Yamishiwa moved hurriedly from station to station, mixing chemicals.

"OI! HURRY UP IN THERE!" The host's fist banged on the back door of the van. Yamishiwa shuddered as the whole vehicle shook.

"Just one moment!" he hissed.

"They're almost here!"

Yamishiwa rolled his eyes. It was bad enough that he'd lost access to all his equipment. But now he was reduced to making drugs for lowlifes just to turn a profit…

…I just need enough to buy a generator. It is still possible to open another portal…

He refused to believe that all the voidlings were dead. There was no way his son could have pulled off. But with Kurogiri lost, it will have to be the two of us. He'll cooperate, whether forced to or not.

Yamishiwa chuckled feverishly, pouring powder down a beaker. Smoke billowed out of it. A drop of sweat went down his brow.

The host banged again. "NOW!"

"YES, yes alright!" Yamishiwa shouted back, annoyed and on edge. Foolish addicts. His talent was wasted on this ilk.

"They're here! They're-" The host suddenly cut off, and Yamishiwa heard grunting. Feet shuffling.

A loud shout and then a BANG!

He jumped.

Then, the sirens began to blare. Red and blue light flashed through the murky van windows.

Yamishiwa stood up straight and let his Quirk course through him, preparing to escape. He would leave all this shit behind; none of it was worth his time. They've found me at last.

The back door of the van melted, dissolving into smoking goop. Yamishiwa was about to warp away…

...Then red eyes flashed at him from outside, and his Quirk died. Yamishiwa gasped.

A blast of purple, and his son was suddenly tackling him to the ground. SLAM!

They banged against the floor of the van, hard enough to rattle all the glass beakers and test tubes in the van.

Eraser Head and Mirko stepped into the van. "Holy shit," the bunny hero said, looking around. "He went full Walter White."

Aizawa raised an irritated eyebrow, but didn't break his gaze from Yamishiwa on the ground. "What are you talking about now, Usagiyama?"

"It's a show from the 21st century!" a bubbly voice put in from outside the van.

"You should watch media for your own age, Queen Pinky."

"Never!"

Yamishiwa tried to struggle out of his son's grasp, but Doko tightened his grip, pulling the man's hands behind his back.

Mirko leaned down and cuffed him. Aizawa finally blinked and turned away. Yamishiwa tried to escape again, but his Quirk was still dead. They put suppressing handcuffs on me. Of course.

"What? You're going to bring me in?" he snarled, as Mirko and Doko hoisted him to his feet. "You sure you don't want to kill me, Doko my boy? I meant to destroy the world. And I still will if you give me a chance. And you'll be there with me."

Doko just gazed at him for a long time. The boy's face was completely calm. Yamishiwa's own face was sweaty, snarling, his hair disheveled and falling over his eyes.

"Say something, you little brat!" he spat.

Doko sighed and shook his head. "You're just embarrassing, old man. Take him away."

"I'll never leave your head!" he called, as police pulled him toward their cruisers. "I'll be with you forever, Doko Katayama! RENT FREE! RENT FREE, I TELL YOU!"

"Something tells me it will be the other way around," Doko answered calmly, waving. His stupid little girlfriend was standing next to him, grinning.

Yamishiwa felt white-hot rage course through him. He kicked and screamed pathetically as they pushed him down into the backseat of a police car. "You can't! I am All For One's greatest servant! You'll all pay! You'll all pay for thi-"

The car door shut, and the heroes outside could hear no more. Doko turned away and looked back into the van-lab.

He never saw his father again, and thought of him very little.

…

So yeah…

Sorry about the lack of notes from me on these last few chapters, but I really wanted the climax of the story to speak for itself.

In case it was unclear, we are reaching the end of Everywhere at Once. At some point a little while ago, the story passed a thousand favorites and follows each, which is absolutely insane and I'm so thankful for it. I wish I had acknowledged it earlier. Thank you all for following this story for so long, and I hope you enjoyed it. It's hard to fathom that I'm here at the end, that I stuck with it for this long. I've never committed to a creative project this much before.

Anyway, there are two chapters left of "epilogue". Stay tuned for that.