Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned here.
This story was made with the sole purpose of entertainment and is not intended to be taken seriously in any social, political or religious context under any circumstances.
As such, the actions and/or viewpoints expressed by the characters in this story do not automatically reflect the opinions of the author.
This purely fictional tale is not meant to neither educate nor serve as any kind of moral example to follow by whomever consumes this type of content willingly.
"My Hero Academia" and its characters created by Kōhei Horikoshi.
"Superman" and its characters belong to "DC Comics".
My Hero Academia: Heroes Fall
VI
Until The End
"Attention everyone! Please evacuate the factory! Try to remain calm and follow our lead! This is not a drill! I repeat, this is not a drill!"
As Iida's voice blared through the megaphone in his hands, every man, woman, and child of the Nabu island heeded his call. A river of people emerging from the factory, all journeying to the same destination.
Toru and Koda shepherded the crowd, guided them towards the harbor. The path towards deliverance…
Meanwhile, those who remained, they who would not yield, strode in the opposite direction.
With fire in her eyes, Kyoka rallied her friends to the gates of hell, the town in ruin where the greatest challenge awaited.
Uraraka, Todoroki, Sero and Mineta. Without question, they followed her lead.
Across the ravaged forest they raced. The trees around them bent and broken, missing entire chunks as if a ravenous beast had bitten them off. Powerful tremors shook the ground beneath, matching the rhythm of their frantic footsteps.
In time, the green, devastated woodland gave place to crumbling buildings and shattered streets. A thick, ashen mist engulfed the village, dimly lit by the amber glow of the evening sun.
Shards of broken glass upholstered the sidewalk, severed cables hung from the surviving electric poles, and many abandoned cars populated the highway.
"Where could the others be fighting that monster!?" Uraraka asked while she kept running.
"Not far from here," Kyoka answered hastily, maintaining her vision onwards. "Judging by the tremors! Let's hope we can get to them befo-"
"Holy shit!"
After Sero's exclamation, the group abruptly halted. They stopped near the intersection, since an empty bus swiftly blocked the road ahead.
The battered vehicle grinded forcefully over the concrete before reaching a standstill. Dust, sparks and pebbles filled the air.
"Holy shit…" Sero said again, vocalizing the thoughts of his classmates.
Once the bus settled upon the asphalt, another unexpected arrival occurred.
From around the corner appeared Shoji, covered by dirt, bruises and blood. Like a bride he carried Tsuyu in his arms, who shared his clobbered, barely-living state.
"Oh my God!" Uraraka yelled. "Shoji!"
A mere couple of steps later, Shoji ceased his advance and leaned into the closest wall. Then, he let himself slide down until he could sit on the soil.
Within a heartbeat, Kyoka and company surrounded their beaten colleagues.
"It's okay, we got you." immediately, Sero took Tsuyu off of Shoji's lap and placed her beside him.
"Tsuyu, a-are you alright?" teary-eyed, Uraraka kneeled next to her friend, only earning a feeble "Ribbit…" in response.
"We can't win…" Shoji suddenly muttered. "He's a monster… W-We couldn't even-…"
"You can rest now," Todoroki calmly interrupted him, also kneeling. "We'll take it from here."
"Sato… Tokoyami…" Tsuyu spoke weakly, faintly lifting her face. "They're still… out there… Help them… please…"
When she heard that plea, Kyoka gulped, tightening her lips.
It was one thing to see her friends being ripped apart in front of her. But seeing them suffer slowly, choke with their own fluids as life steadily abandoned them.
That made her muscles quiver in anger, sending a rush of adrenaline through her system.
'No more…'
She strongly clenched her jaw, coiling her fist.
No more tears. No more fear. This nightmare would end today, and she would be the one to stop it.
"Don't worry, we'll bring them back," she solemnly told Tsuyu, then turned to the others. "Todoroki, get Shoji and Tsuyu out of the town."
The aforementioned nodded quietly in agreement.
"Sero, Mineta, go find a good place to prepare the ambush. Make sure it's not too far, and let us know when you're done."
"Sure thing!" Sero responded enthusiastically. "Come on, man! It's our turn now…"
Thus, he and Mineta stormed off, heading for the entrails of the decaying town.
Afterwards, Kyoka reached for the walkie talkie in her pocket. She pressed the large button on the side of the device, and held it close to her mouth while speaking firmly into its microphone.
"Hello? Momo? Can you hear me?"
A brief silence ensued her question. But soon, Momo's voice sounded through the granulated echo of white noise in the speaker.
"I hear you, Kyoka. Loud and clear. What is it?"
"Are you done with the weapon yet?"
"No, not yet. I have to create it and assemble it piece by piece. I'm going to need more time."
"We really don't have a lot of time!"
"I'll inform you know as soon as I'm done. Please be careful, and good luck…"
With that, the walkie talkie hushed anew. Scowling lightly, Kyoka glared into the device for a moment prior to saving it in her pocket again.
She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, uncoiling her fist as the tension on her body eased.
This was their call to action. Their final hour to face their almighty foe.
Following this day, they would either live as champions, or die as failures. A title that would accompany them in the records of history.
On this day, they wouldn't lose, she swore…
"Uraraka, come with me!" Kyoka finally spoke up, spinning on her heel. "We'll have to buy time for everyone else!"
Speaking no words, Uraraka gave her a nod of approval.
Then, both began sprinting forward, leaving behind the shadows of the adjacent buildings.
Eventually, the two heroines found themselves standing in the main avenue. The golden glare of the afternoon sun shone above them like the aerial lamps from a stage play.
Before long, through the ashes of debris and consumed flames, the girls spotted a large heap of rubble. Upon it stood the devil in disguise…
Doomsday, majesty of evil incarnate.
Their classmate, Sato, was in his merciless grasp, holding him by his neck as he hung limp over the ground. At his feet, Tokoyami lied defeated. Their costumes torn and soiled. Their flesh battered and bloodied.
While their foe still looked unharmed, filled with strength aplenty.
As if they hadn't been fighting non-stop since the early hours of the morning.
"Oh, no…" Uraraka trailed off, remaining frozen in her stance. "I think we're too late…"
In first instance, Kyoka paid no mind to her friend's worries, being hyper-focused on the threat at hand.
However, her senses rapidly returned, and she lit a fire in her heart. An undying flame of determination that would take them higher than heaven.
"We can still make him pay…" she replied. "I'll get his attention! You go get Sato and Tokoyami out of here!"
"Are you sure?" Uraraka turned to her, grave concern clouding her expression.
"I'm the one with the 'power of friendship', remember?" Kyoka flashed a lopsided smirk, feigning confidence. "Go through the back alleys, I'll let him know that we're here."
Hesitatingly, Uraraka left her side and headed for a narrow alley between the nearby buildings, hastily vanishing from the vicinity.
Later on, Kyoka set her sight onwards.
She took another deep breath, then licked her lips, raising her hand.
Placing her index finger and thumb inside her mouth, she fiercely blew out, emitting a loud tune that echoed all across the decimated street.
A tune which managed to capture the interest from the grey goliath at the other side of the avenue.
Satisfied with her efforts, she stopped whistling.
Even from afar, Kyoka could see the harbinger of doom turning its rageful glare towards her.
The first part of the plan was a success. Now, she just needed to survive…
"Hey, asshole!" she sharply yelled. "Remember me!?"
Despite the distance, she heard it clearly…
"Hrrr… Hrrbhrrr…"
Doomsday's low, reverberating growl as he let Sato's unconscious being fall to the soil, and slowly began walking in her direction.
Kyoka's eyes widened, and her heartbeat quickened.
Alas, she couldn't move…
Those ominous, barely-human attempts of vocalization struck her with bewildering might.
"Brrrs… Brrrsstrdd… I… I kkrill… youuu…" the stone berserker managed to utter, each step he advanced was followed by a brief quake.
'He-He actually remembers!?'
That voice. Those words… They would haunt her in her sleep for the rest of her days…
"DIE!"
Releasing a booming warcry, Doomsday leapt high in the air, surpassing the surrounding buildings with a single bound. His malformed silhouette obscuring the sun like an eclipse.
In that moment, Kyoka retrieved her instinct of self-preservation managed. It gave her a simple order, a prime directive.
'Move! Now!'
So she rapidly dashed forth, focusing on getting as far as she could from the devil pursuing her.
After that, Doomsday crashed upon the concrete, mimicking a meteorite. A deafening crack sounded, and the asphalt below shook powerfully.
"Whoah-!" the subsequent shockwave detached Kyoka from the soil.
Gracelessly, painfully, her knees collided with the rocky land, a noisy hiss escaped her lips.
The residual force stunned her greatly. Her head was trapped in a daze, and her whole body felt languid, almost foreign to the movements she attempted to perform while facing the ground.
Nonetheless, a second tremor manifested…
Miraculously, clarity returned to her. Spinning swiftly, she immediately spotted Doomsday rushing towards her like an enraged bull.
On cue, her jack lengthened, plugged into the amplifier of her remaining wrist.
She moved her fist forward, and through it an overwhelming discharge of distortive sound emerged, perfectly channeled against Doomsday's head.
Surprisingly, the attack compelled him to stop dead in his tracks before he could inflict further damage.
Seizing the opportunity, Kyoka stood up.
"Is that the best you can do!?" she shouted at the staggered creature. There was no thought behind her words. Only defiance, rage unchained.
Unfortunately, as if understanding her taunt, Doomsday recovered from the assault, then turned his glare back to her with a snarl.
At that instant, Kyoka's determination faded.
She gripped the fabric of her shirt, feeling her chest tightening once she found herself in front of the unstoppable behemoth, alone…
But in spite of that, it was not her time to embrace oblivion.
Because Doomsday suddenly disappeared from the scene.
When a heavy truck ran him over without warning, crashing onto a nearby store that soon became a mountain of fuming debris and dented steel.
Still rooted to the spot, Kyoka glanced at her left flank, encountering Uraraka, not far from her current position.
Her arms were stretched forth, a pronounced scowl contorting her face. Her fierce gaze settled upon the heap of wreckage ahead.
"You…"she panted, steadily dropping her hands to her sides. "You will take no more from us, 'Doomsday'…"
Shortly later, the soil beneath Kyoka's feet jolted. It catapulted her upwards, forcing her to kneel so she could keep some stability.
It was then that she realized, the lad grew cooler, and crystalline, assuming the shape of a bridge linked to an adjacent building.
"You shouldn't taunt him like that," Kyoka looked beside her again. Todoroki's unamused expression instantly greeter her atop the ice viaduct. "He's angry enough as it is. Let's get to the building, now!"
Without questioning, she rose and traversed the narrow bridge, sprinting towards the rooftop ahead with her classmate treading on her heel.
Once there, they stared at the street below. Before long, Uraraka joined in their vigilance, from heaven she descended, gracefully landing by their side.
"Nice job, Uraraka," Kyoka said nonchalantly, trying to add some levity to the situation. "He's going to be real pissed now."
"What do we do now?" Uraraka dismissed her quip completely. "I don't think he's going down that easily."
"Same as before, we keep ugly there busy until-"
"H-Hello!? Anyone there!?" Mineta's voice, mixed with the loud echoes of interference, began sounding from the walkie talkie in Kyoka's pocket. "Is this thing on?"
Wasting no time, she pulled out the device and placed it before her lips.
"I hear you, Mineta! You better have some good news!"
"We do!" Sero's voice suddenly came through the speaker. "The trap is set! Can you take him to the local newspaper?"
"Newspaper?"
"The building with a huge star on top!"
On cue, Kyoka spun, her eyes scanning the rooftops for the aforementioned landmark. And soon she spotted it, the small building with a yellow sign shaped like a star on its façade, right at the other side of the street.
"The Daily Star…" she mumbled the words written on the sign. "So that's where we-"
There was a tremor, and a rumble in the atmosphere. Immediately, the three students turned their sights towards the source of the commotion, where they found Doomsday again, unearthing himself from the wreckage, like a living dead.
"Huh, go figure," Kyoka chuckled sarcastically. "Dropping a building on him didn't work."
"Then let's get moving!"
With that, Todoroki summoned another ramp of ice, one that descended to the back alleys amidst the block of buildings they found themselves in.
Later on, the young heroes traversed the frozen slope at full pelt, and returned to the street level. Once they were back on solid ground, little time passed before the three teenagers abandoned the shrouded alleys, emerging to the afternoon-tinted avenue.
Then, Todoroki created another wall of ice behind them, which severed the path between them and the grey goliath that had just started treading on their heels.
"That's not going to slow him down for long!" he said.
Then, with the curse of perfect timing, the icy barrier shattered in a million pieces, crumbling down as Doomsday, being more powerful than a locomotive, broke through it with enough force to create a subsequent shockwave that sent the three students to fly away in different directions.
With a yelp and a sonorous 'thud', Kyoka landed on her back, the bones in her spine crunching painfully as soon as her back met with the concrete.
"Th-That didn't-," she muttered between gritted teeth and low hisses, while the pain consumed her. "That didn't slow him down at all…"
There was one priority in the forefront of her thoughts.
'Get up!'
She devoted every single fiber of her being to fulfill that command, raising her torso from the soil and supporting her weight on her remaining elbow.
Steadily, she was going back to her feet.
However, their foe was faster, stronger, still in the fight…
Through narrowed eyes, she looked forward, and despite the fuzziness clouding her vision, she was able to see the indomitable colossus standing in the middle of the street, slowly approaching, as if he was savoring the moment.
Her eyes widened slightly, and she stopped breathing for a second, then she made a second attempt to stand.
But to no avail… Not even survival instinct was able to quell the gnawing agony devouring her muscles.
But then, a heartbeat later, there was a blur.
The swift projectile struck Doomsday's fibrous arm, and there it remained, glued to the surface of his stone-like flesh.
With apparent curiosity, he looked at the curious object stuck to his arm, compelling him to stop his advance. He almost seemed mystified by the occurrence.
But Kyoka instantly recognized them…
Purplish, viscous-looking spheres that could connect to anything, and there was only one thing they could foreshadow…
Then, out of the blue, a second projectile fell from above, and adhered to Doomsday, followed by another, and another. A self-perpetuating pattern that continued until was swarmed like a corpse among piranhas.
On cue, Kyoka spun on her heel, looking above. Her sight instantly found the flamboyant sign of 'The Daily Star' over the building behind her. And upon it she saw the last person she expected to challenge the grey goliath.
"This is for my thumb, you fucking alien!" Mineta yelled to the four winds, unplucking more and more spheres from the top of his head and throwing them downwards against their foe.
Blood oozed ceaselessly from his scalp, drenching his scowling face, but there didn't seem to be any restrain in his barrage.
"It's your turn to bite the dust! Sero!"
Kyoka turned forward again. Then, as if summoned by Mineta's very will, a pair of lengthened, pristine tapes emerged from the left flank, snaking in the air.
The tapes waved and formed a crescent spiral that Doomsday before they suddenly retracted, wrapped around his torso and legs like the tight enveloping of a mummy, immobilizing him as one.
Unconsciously, Kyoka's eyes followed the origin of the tightened tapes hovering above the concrete. A few feet away from their position, under the glare of the evening sun, Sero held the tapes tightly in his grasp. They were like the strings of a puppet. With him being the master, and the stone berserker playing the part of the puppet.
"Jiro!" Sero unexpectedly addressed her. "Whatever you're going to do, now's the time!"
Kyoka blinked, and held her breath for a bit, having some difficulties to process her classmate's words, and the whole situation unfolding in front of them. Precious seconds of calm to plan their next move.
Calm that was ultimately denied to them, as Doomsday effortlessly broke free from the tapes restraining him with a swift, powerful motion of his arms. Not even the combined adherence of Sero and Mineta's quirks was enough to contain the stone berserker.
An outcome they expected and were prepared for, but one that still injected fear into their hearts.
It was that same fear which helped Kyoka realize.
The plan was working…
That was enough to steel her heart and strengthen her resolve.
With newfound determination, she pushed herself onto her knees. It hurt. Her whole body hurt. She had never known greater pain in her life before. Her heart throbbing madly against her ribcage, like a ravenous beast demanding freedom.
That was good.
The agony lightened the embers of her rage. The rage pushed her heartbeat past its limits, and she could channel that into one hell of an attack.
Sucking in a deep breath, Kyoka lifted one of her legs and set her foot firmly upon the concrete. She put on her headphones that had accompanied her since the beginning of the battle. Later on, her jacks instinctively reached for her boots.
And then hell broke loose…
A mighty soundwave she unleashed, the mightiest she's ever produced. It shattered the ground below. It made the atmosphere itself rumble, and it made the inside of her head reverberate painfully.
But most importantly, it made Doomsday yield…
Trapped amidst the tunneling wave, Doomsday was forced onto one knee, his hands swiftly went to the sides of his head, covering his ears from the deafening attack enveloping him.
But this time, Mineta's spheres kept him in place, glued to the surface of the asphalt, while Sero created more tapes to keep him restrained from a safe distance.
Kyoka stopped breathing for a moment. Realization washing over her like a gentle ocean wave.
'Holy shit… We're winning…' she thought.'We're winning!'
At last they had reached the top of the mountain. The tables had turned, and now Doomsday was fighting in their terms.
A wide smile stretched her lips, and a single tear appeared in the corner of her eye. She felt warm inside, she couldn't remember the last time she felt this amount of sheer happiness.
However, one crucial element of their plan still remained unfulfilled.
And with the same string of divine fortune guiding them onwards, the game-changer made herself present.
She felt it, and it made her hop a little in her stance. Kyoka instinctively turned backwards, spotting Uraraka behind her, there was blood coating one side of her face, some scratches on her rosy cheeks, but none of that could diminish the frown directed at her. It was an expression of someone ready to face a challenge, to go the distance without expecting to return.
Kyoka started at Uraraka for a second, but it felt like much longer. They spoke a thousand things without uttering a single word to each other.
This was the moment of truth. The pivotal moment in the story where they would be remembered as either heroes, or failures.
"On my mark!" Kyoka suddenly shouted, hoping that her voice could surpass the ruckus of her soundwave. "You ready!?"
Uraraka gave her a quick, silent nod of her head.
Kyoka, too, nodded afterwards.
She turned her gaze forth anew. Luckily, nothing had changed. Doomsday remained on his knees upon the frozen concrete, wrapped in several layers of tape and ice, while the distorting vortex also kept enveloped him.
She understood immediately, they weren't going to get a better chance than this very moment.
So Kyoka swiftly unplugged her jacks from her boots while standing up, thus bringing an end to her own attack.
"Now!" she yelled.
And without delay, Uraraka jumped forward, towards the stone berserker. The distance between the two was quickly shortening.
But as soon as Kyoka's soundwave ceased, Doomsday was back on his feet.
With the same ease as the previous time, he raised his arms, tearing off Sero's binding tapes.
But he wasn't fast enough, because Uraraka had already played her part, her touch was upon him…
There was a swing, one swift and powerful enough to create its own shockwave that traversed the street.
But Doomsday's strike only tasted air and nothing more, as Uraraka was rapidly pulled out of harm's way by another of Sero's tapes.
Doomsday swung his fist again.
And then, his feet left the ground…
Slowly, steadily, the stone berserker began floating, ascending to the sky, where eagles fly, like a helium balloon left adrift.
As expected, Doomsday started thrashing around and clawing at the wind while snarling furiously, hopelessly trying to break the invisible tethers taking him heavenward.
In time, the students gathered at the center of the highway, all of them looking above in awe.
"Can you make him float to outer space?" Kyoka rose her remaining hand, blocking the sunbeams pouring onto her face, so she could get a glimpse of Doomsday's figure gradually fading in the distance.
"I-I'm not sure-…" standing beside her, Uraraka stammered. "He's-… t-too heavy!"
"Alright then, we'll stick to the plan."
Afterwards, Kyoka reached for her pocket, pulling out her walkie-talkie and bringing it up to her lips.
"Momo, you in there?" she spoke into the device. "It's done, he's in the air!"
"I see him," came Momo's response with a slight echo. "I'll wait a bit longer for him to get higher. Please tell everyone to take cover! The impact is going to be loud and dangerous!"
"Got it!" Kyoka lowered the walkie-talkie and spun to face her classmates. "Alright everyone, get behind something! Things are about to get loud!"
So they who remained from Class 1-A quickly split, sought shelter in different directions.
Kyoka and Uraraka sprinted together towards an enormous chunk of rubble impaled on the concrete. They crouched behind it, then settled their sights heavenward, where the minuscule, albeit darkened silhouette of Doomsday still writhed amongst the clouds, far above the buildings that remained standing.
"Come on, Yaomomo…" Kyoka muttered. "You can do it…"
Then, there was a rumble in the wind…
And a bright spark appeared in the distance, sailing the skies and leaving a long tail of smoke behind its trail.
For a minute, that felt like a whole hour, the students watched in silence as the luminous projectile neared Doomsday's figure amidst the clouds. Kyoka gulped, her eyes still gazing skyward while she unconsciously dug her nails on the surface of the rubble concealing her, only waiting expectantly for the moment of truth.
And like clockwork, it happened…
The volant spark collided with the floating behemoth. A second, more violent rumble shook the atmosphere itself, and an explosion of golden flames momently lit the town like the morning sun would.
"Yes! Bullseye!" with a rush of adrenaline, Kyoka stood up, laughing at the content of her joyous heart. In no time, the rest of her classmates did the same, temporarily abandoning their hiding place and cheering loudly at the sight displayed before them.
Eventually, the second sun looming upon the city began dimming, being replaced by a billowing cloud of dark smoke, from which another shadow, shrouded in fume, started plummeting back into the Earth.
And soon after, the mysterious mass met the ground with a thunder and an abrupt quake, shattering the already-cracked asphalt at the center of the avenue.
Then, there was cold…
In less than a second, the temperature around them dropped, and a thin layer of frost suddenly covered that section of the street. Upholstering the asphalt beneath, blanketing the façade of the adjacent buildings, even a few snowflakes began swirling in the now-chilling breeze.
Kyoka exhaled heavily, shivering. Immediately, she caught a glimpse of her own breath fuming from her mouth.
Glancing at her right flank, she found Todoroki standing in the middle of the road. From beneath his feet sprawled the small fraction of winter that reigned over their section of the street.
With a short gasp she turned her sight onwards again, her eyes widening at the scene ahead.
At the center of the street, a voluminous structure of ice encased the charred corpse of Doomsday. A frozen spire as tall as the buildings surrounding it. A cold mausoleum for the ruthless devil they had sent back to hell.
Then, at long last, there was peace. The young heroes were granted a moment of well-deserved respite.
Speaking no words, Kyoka emerged from her cover and steadily started walking forward.
Shortly later, she, Uraraka, Todoroki and the remains of class 1-A gathered around the icy structure ahead, fearing the worst, but encountering only stillness instead.
"Is it over?" Uraraka turned to her classmates beside her. "We actually defeated him? … K-Killed him?"
"… Seems like we did…" Kyoka replied somberly, her vision still upon the frozen tomb. "I mean, if he was still alive, he would've woken up by now…"
"So we won this time? For real!?" Sero suddenly exclaimed, letting out a chuckle, then a booming laugh of triumph.
"Yes, we did it! Ha-ha!" Mineta shouted, swinging his thumbless hand up in the air as celebration.
Even so, Kyoka continued looking into the cold crystal in front of her. She tried peering inside, searching for cracks or movement, but the ice was too thick to allow such insight. However, her ears couldn't perceive any other sound beyond the natural creaking of the frost.
"Jiro…" sensing a warm touch in her shoulder, she spun to face Uraraka. This time, there was no anger or sorrow in her expression. Her gaze and smile were both gentle, as they were in the distant age before this day of doom. "It's over, the plan worked! We did it!"
Kyoka stared at her quietly for a moment.
She lingered in those thoughts. The signals were clear, and they pointed to an obvious outcome she struggled to assimilate due to the sake of caution.
Because the outcome frankly seemed too good to be true…
They, as students of U.A. high's class 1-A, fought the scourge of life itself, and rose victorious…
Kyoka let out a short laugh, being oblivious to the small tear running down her cheek.
Then, she spun and let herself fall to the ground, sitting on the concrete with her back turned on the cold mausoleum.
Unexpectedly, the soreness on her body lessened. It felt as if heavy shackles were removed from her being. She smiled, and it felt good. She breathed in deeply, and the air refreshed her aplenty.
She looked up to the sky, and it was beautiful, serene. An amber glow blanketing the purple firmament and cotton-like clouds sailing the sky at the gentle pace of the warm breeze of the evening.
"We actually did it…" Kyoka whispered. 'We did it, Izuku…'
On cue, Uraraka sat beside her. But for a moment, her smile faded, and her gaze grew gloomier, sadder.
"I just-… I just wish the others could see this too…"
Kyoka turned to her gravity-defying friend. She could see it clearly, the somber claws of failure lurking around.
Yes, the sacrifice was too great. Yes, many lives were lost in the skirmish. However, by remembering Momo's words, Kyoka sought a piece of wisdom within herself, and made her mission to not let Uraraka be taken by the fiends of the mind.
The answer she gave left both of them awestruck.
"Let's not give up," Kyoka said. "Let's keep fighting, and become heroes that would make them proud… That's how we can honor them…"
For a moment, Uraraka looked at her vacantly, silently while she tilted her head slightly. But soon, her smile returned, and Kyoka was compelled to mimic that smile.
"So, what now?" Uraraka asked, maintaining her smile.
"Well, Iida and the others should be almost done with the evacuation. And Momo's drone must have made it to the mainland by now, so hopefully tomorrow morning we can actually get some help…"
Uraraka said nothing in response, but only widened her smile at that.
"Yeah… I don't know about you, but I'm really tired, and starving."
"Me too."
"Do you know any restaurant nearby? Preferably one that's still standing."
Uraraka giggled softly. "Maybe we can grab something to eat back at the fact-"
Kyoka couldn't hear the last bit, the deafening shattering of the ice prevented her from doing so.
Uraraka tried to speak again, but the blood gushing out of her mouth twisted her words into unintelligible gargles.
Immediately, Kyoka's focus centered on the long spear of whitish bone emerging from the ice and piercing through Uraraka's chest.
Her eyes widened. She gasped, then screamed.
And then she was sent flying away as the frozen mausoleum shattered and a raging wind pushed her back.
Greetings, true believers!
Apologies for being away for so long. Lots of things happening and changing in the real world have taken a toll in my free time, but I found enough stability to bring you this update, which I hope was of your liking.
On other news, allow me to invite you to the Jaded discord server. It's a wonderful, friendly place filled with many writers and readers who share the same passion for fanfiction. There is a channel for everything and rest assured that there are amazing stories to be read there.
You can find the link in the notes of the AO3 version of this story (you can find AO3 my profile name in the bio of this site).
You can also find me there as Knightly-Aedo#2939 to talk about my writing or just have fun together.
But regardless, thank you for reading and for your patience.
I'll see you again when the time is right.
Excelsior!