Ch. 19
Author's Note
Hey everyone!
It's been a while, hasn't it? I'm sorry about not posting in so long. I became very busy with school and had not had time to sit down and write. Well, now that I do, I can finally publish again!
In terms of publishing however, it's not going to be every week like it once was. Whenever I get the chance to write and publish, I will certainly do so. But please rest assured, I have no intention of abandoning this series. I plan on writing it to the end and I hope you all will stick with me!
Thank you all very much! Enjoy this chapter! PLUS ULTRA!
An intense heat was given off by the Number One Hero-turned rogue. Meanwhile Jotaro, Hawks, and Midoriya were equally staring at the source of this heat.
Jotaro hooked up to his earpiece as he made a call.
"Kakyoin," he spoke, "It seems that the possession that has affected us has taken over Endeavor. Are you picking up anything?"
We're getting two more similar disturbances, he responded, one from an alleyway in the east side and-
Jotaro, Joseph yelled, Shoto's acting completely crazy! He seems possessed!
"Then it seems it was the two Todorokis who became possessed. It seems that he went after strong Fire Quirk Users, meaning that alleyway disturbance is probably Dabi. Send alerts to the Endeavor Agency as well as ours. And notify all Heroes about-"
His words were cut short after an impossibly fast movement by Endeavor sent a small bit of fire that destroyed the earpiece. He tried to go in for a punch but Star Platinum quickly reacted and met its speed. This sent Endeavor back a few meters.
"My, my," Endeavor spoke, "What fast reflexes you and your Stand have."
"All the better to beat you down with," Jotaro paraphrased.
"Endeavor, you have to stop this!" Deku desperately called out. "You have to come back to your senses!"
"You're wrong Izuku," he yelled as his yellow flames grew ever brighter. "I've only gained my senses after meeting Lord DIO! I've come to realize that in His world there is no need to be #1! And only by tearing this world apart can we bring about a new era! Now feast your eyes on the powers bestowed upon me!" He clasped his hands together in front of him, before moving each hand away from each other vertically, as a thin strip of fire emerged from his palms. As his hands drew away from each other, the yellow flames began to form the shape of a bow.
Eventually grabbing the bow he just constructed, he pulled back on the bow string, where a white flame condensed into an arrow. Pointing the arrow at the group, he let the string go, sending the arrow at such a fast speed towards them.
IGNITED ARROW…
Despite the great speed the fire arrow possessed, all three Heroes were able to dodge it. As it zoomed by, the arrow eventually collided with one of the nearby buildings, immediately igniting the entire building. The fiery arrow gave way to a huge whirlwind, burning with a white and yellow light. Within seconds, the building had been reduced to nothing but rubble and ash.
HELLFIRE STORM!
As the ashes settled, a greater sense of dread once more washed over Izuku and one of shock over Hawks, but Jotaro became slightly ticked off.
"Woah, someone's got an axe to grind!" Hawks broke the tension as he tried to regain his footing from dodging. He reached back towards his red wings as he pulled some of them out in the shape of a sword and dashed forward, attempting to inflict damage onto Endeavor's legs. But upon contact, the flames incinerated the feathers, and slightly burned Hawks' hands as he pulled his hand back.
"He's too hot…" Hawks continued with the lack of vigor he had in every previous statement. He was starting to get serious.
"You pests are getting troublesome," Endeavor spoke, "It's time I exterminate you!" He put his hand forward, where a yellow and white sphere kindled. With great rage he flung the sphere forward as it expanded and continued to burn until right in front of our Heroes, before it thinned out to form a straight line, and then…
DIVINUM AMBUSTUM PROMINENTIAE!
The line gave way to an intense heat wave, a solid wall of flames burning everything in front of Endeavor. For a few seconds the flames raged before settling down and the carnage finally laid itself out. Charred feathers, dolphin insignias, and a silver respirator were all that were left of the Heroes who stood in the way.
"Divine Prominence Burn...For your insolence you have paid with your lives," Endeavor said as walked away, "But I'm sure the Noble One has plans for you... in Heaven…" His feet blazed brightly as he began to fly away in the air, looking for the next targets of his Enlightenment mission.
But a little while after Endeavor left, there was some activity in the alleyway of one of the nearby buildings. Slowly but surely, a green turtle walked out into the nightlight, with a red brooch topping a gold key which sat on the animal's back.
On the streets…
A thick silence had taken over the whole block as the students finally got a look at their classmate. With his face down, Shoto's hair quietly moved in the wind. Despite the hostile environment, the students retained a slightly calm exterior.
"Todoroki," Momo asked, "Are you alright?"
The silence resumed after the question only to be interrupted by Shoto's response.
"Tell me…Why do you resist Enlightenment?"
The air around Shoto began to swirl with a frigid temperature. As he started to cool, a cold mist floated around him, before stopping and freezing into tons of little, thin, sharp ice needles. As he spread his hands across like an umpire giving a ruling, the needles shot forward in the direction they faced.
"Joseph!" Lisa Lisa shouted across the battlefield to him, and without further instructions, he knew what to do. His hands quickly charged with Hamon as the ice needles came at him and the students behind him. At a moment's notice he let some Hamon energy loose from them as he revealed the clackers and began to furiously spin them around, colliding and moving back every 180 degrees. This established a wall of Hamon as the icicles ran right into them, breaking apart on site.
Meanwhile, Hamon quickly flowed through Lisa Lisa's scarf, hardening most of the light fabric, and twirled what was left soft around like a drum major spinning a baton. Like Joseph's clacker barrier, the icicles disintegrated upon contact, shielding Momo and Lisa Lisa from the onslaught of sharp ice.
"Your ramblings are that of a madman's," Lisa Lisa shouted in response, "What you speak of is no Enlightenment, only madness and despotism."
"Dude!" Okuyasu yelled, "You gotta snap out of it! You're talking nonsense!"
"How is it nonsense when Lord DIO has promised me, no, everyone, a world full of peace and prosperity?" Shoto rambled. "Where there are no Heroes having to protect the innocent from evil because all submit their lives to him? Where I can move on from the trauma that has kept me down and ascend to levels of power I would have never been able to attain while on this plane?"
"It's all a lie man!" Kirishima yelled, "You saw what happened to me! You're being fooled! That'll never happen!"
"You're wrong! All I have to do to ascend to that realm...is to build it from the ashes and snow of this one!" He swiped his left hand across his side, as medium-sized yellow dots appeared on the ground, all of them right below where each person was standing.
"Uh-oh!" yelled Joseph, "That isn't good!" Everybody dodged as the flames began to shoot straight up into the sky. However, as they avoided the attacks, the flames began to turn around after reaching into the sky and make their way towards the ground, some of which went all over the place, scorching the nearby buildings, others moving towards the people who were trying to avoid it in the first place.
And once these flames made contact with the ground, large hot crystals spiked out from the impact spot. They remained a hot, glowy yellow-red for a few seconds before suddenly shifting into an ice cold pure white.
"Reverse Flashfreeze Heatwave…" Shoto subsequently yelled, as the flames on his right side were still kindling.
"Thanks to Lord DIO, I am no longer defined by my 'right side' and 'left side'. I am free to use the powers I was born with freely, to do as I please with no limitations! Now, who feels like submitting to His rule before I reduce them to ash and frost?!"
"Todoroki, I ask that you drop this charade at once!" Iida demanded.
"My, where's this attitude coming from?" Todoroki gleefully questioned, starting to embrace a bit of a cocky side, "As a Hero? Or maybe as my former Class President?" He had diverted his attention to the call from Iida when, from behind him, a small matryoshka doll that looked a lot like Yaoyorozu bounced on the ground before opening and revealing a flash grenade which stunned Todoroki for a second.
In the second he closed his eyes to recover from the flash, he felt a strong blow to his midsection. As he peered over, Iida had darted forward with his engines on as he sunk his knee into his friend.
"No...it's coming from a friend…" Iida said as Todoroki was sent flying a few meters. Before he landed on the ground, Momo stood behind him, firmly grasping a staff made of reinforced steel, a bit stronger than those she would normally make. Todoroki's flames only grew stronger as he was being bombarded from attacks.
"This isn't like you at all, Todoroki!" Momo yelled out, "What happened to saving people?! Isn't that your job?!"
The two stared each other down: one had anger burned all over his white, pale face, while the other had one of frustrated determination on hers. Their staring match ended as the latter turned and yelled, "Now Lisa Lisa!"
As Momo moved out of the way, one could see Lisa Lisa with a small, wooden catapult. And sitting in the bucket of the catapult was a ball of white cloth. With the pull of the lever, she fired the cloth straight towards Todoroki, unraveling itself mid-flight as it wrapped around him. With no time to think about his next move, his flames burned brighter...but that was his mistake.
As he burned brighter, the cloth wrapped more tightly around Todoroki, nearly suffocating him and snuffing out whatever flames remained burning on his body. He was unable to move.
Momo slowly began walking towards the captured target as she took a moment to catch her breath.
"Nitinol Alloy...it's what we used to take down Mr. Aizawa during the Practical Exam."
Todoroki stood still, silent. His eyes were hidden as he looked down.
"I'm not sure if those Zombies robbed you of your memories when they stung you," Momo continued, "...but you have to wake up and remember, Shoto! You're a hero! You're supposed to save people!"
Despite his face being hidden, they could hear a small gasp from Todoroki as his face entered a state of realization and shock. Everyone else still looked around, their faces showing a bit of uneasiness and apprehension.
A few seconds later, a slight smile showed up on his face as he let out a light chuckle. "I...remember…"
Everyone's faces became relieved with their own smiles, taking glee in the efforts of Yaoyorozu's persuasion…
"You're right, Momo...I am... supposed to save people…"
Well, everyone except Lisa Lisa.
"Creati, get back!-"
...Globus Glaciei!
Immediately, around Creati's feet, white ice began to emerge. This ice continuously built upon itself, until Momo was fully encased in a sphere of ice. It was thin enough that she could look out and others could look in, but when she tried to break it, it did not even crack.
The expressions on everyone's faces once again went into shock. The sphere broke off from the ground, with Momo's feet slightly caught underneath the ice.
Flames began to spark from Todoroki's body, their golden yellow color burning the alloy which wrapped around his body, setting it all ablaze. The Heroes nearby all shielded their bodies with their hands as the flames reached a very high temperature.
"I am supposed to save people…" Todoroki spoke, "...by showing them the path to salvation that The Noble One has lined out. I cannot allow myself or anyone else to be influenced by the words of a sinner."
As Momo attempted to free her feet and break free, she quickly noticed a small hole at the bottom of the globe of ice...then that hole, and the area around it began to glow a bright yellow, forming a circle on the ground similar to the flames which erupted earlier…
"Now to cleanse your spirit and your sins from this world!" Shoto shouted as he put his hand out, before firmly closing it to form a fist.
FLAMMAE MORTIS!
The pillar erupted from underneath and quickly spread out to encompass all in the ice. And yet, despite this sudden rush of heat, not a single drop of water fell from the ice. It was not melting whatsoever. Underneath all the flames, and all the ice, you could still hear Momo screaming sharply in pain.
"Momo!" Uraraka and Tsuyu yelled. Everyone else just stood still, shocked. Meanwhile, Todoroki began to walk down the street in the opposite direction, as if nothing happened.
"Dear God!" Joseph exclaimed, before falling into a fit of rage towards the aggressor. "Hey, get back here IcyHot!" He threw his clackers as they ricocheted off of each other and towards his target. Without even looking back, a small icicle appeared near Shoto and shot right towards the oncoming projectile, breaking the string evenly in half as the separated clackers fell right apart.
He then turned around, the neutral face of displeasure he was known for still visible.
"Consider the death of your friend a warning," he calmly stated, despite all the chaos going on around him. "Thankfully, her soul will still rest in Heaven...Campus Cineris!"
The area near his feet began to radiate brightly with fire, and everyone jumped away, knowing what was coming next. The flames sparked brightly upwards, masking Todoroki somewhere within this wall of flames. They were hot enough to cause a few light burns on some of the nearby Heroes' clothes, and some of their skin.
As the flames settled, they looked around to find Todoroki, nowhere to be seen. And they turned their attention back to the ice sphere Momo was trapped in, where the flames were still burning. Kirishima and Iida had been busy trying to break the ice, but it was either too hot in some places or still cold hot in others. They could no longer see Momo within, but they could still hear her.
"Yaoyorozu, hang on!" Iida yelled.
"We're trying to get you out!" Kirishima tagged on, his hardening not doing anything to the ice.
Luckily for them, the flames were starting to get weaker and weaker, but the ice was still foggy inside. And yet, right then, and there, the screaming got weaker and weaker...before it ultimately stopped...