Armageddon overtakes Kamino Ward. Buildings reduced to rubble and air turned to ash, only fire rises. Any civilians that were in the area are either buried or crushed. Cars lay overturned and on their sides. Anguished yells of the dead haunt ground zero, cries morphing into monstrous roars that continue to shake the trashed terrain.
Forcipules skitter up the leg of the giant villain that had appeared on site not too long ago, venomous claws of the equally massive centipede stabbing into the behemoth's thick hide. The predaceous arthropod wraps itself around the thigh of its prey, constricting to cut off blood flow to the limb. Black armoring pads each segment bearing of the much longer appendage belonging to the ghoul; the giant tries pounding at the scale shielding but to no avail.
A second centipede ties itself around one of Gigantomachia's arms, hindering the large villain's movements even further. The chilopoda squeezes at the hulking goliath's elbow, tightening until the bone joint bends inwards. Flaming plots of collapsed structures flicker out from the updraft that the giant's yell causes. A third centipede wraps itself around the villain's waist, adding friction. And a fourth snakes around the giant's neck, cutting off oxygen to the monster's throat.
Gigantomachia's screams are silenced as he gasps for air. He tries using his free hand to pry the centipede off, but the predatory appendage of the ghoul has already sunk its forcipules into the villain's flesh. But rather than hung up by a noose, the death trap tugs the giant down. The bigger they are, the harder they fall. Gigantomachia digs a grave, a crater of his own creation making his tomb as the rubble buries his body. A timbering tree would be putting the collapse lightly.
The draft of dust and debris that flies up into the sky reaches the clouds. Where the news chopper currently resides. Fog fills the air and conceals the vision of the helicopter pilot. The system beeps haphazardly when the rotors get resistance in the direction that they're spinning, causing the aircraft to hitch up and down. Everyone aboard grabs onto something tight and screams. Pebbles pelt the hull and the windshield, leaving dents in the metal and a few cracks in the glass.
The pilot pulls hard on the joystick, trying to regain control of the aircraft. It takes a few spins, but the helicopter stops shaking and comes to a fine altitude. Though the sensors are still going haywire and everyone's vision is still obscured from within the equivalent of a sandstorm. "Everyone okay?!", the aviator glances over his shoulder to check on the cameraman and reporter.
The cameraman is about to speak but covers his mouth before he can to prevent himself from puking instead; he uses his other hand to give a thumbs up regardless. The reporter gives a shaky nod alongside him. A moment passes before the pilot returns the gesture. But then, the reporter's eyes broaden and she points, drawing the aviator's gaze back towards the front.
"Look! Is that a.. Kid?!", she sounds as panicked as she had looked. And disturbed. Indeed, levitating like some sort of hanged man in the midst of the dust cloud is a young boy's silhouette.
But as they draw closer, they realize what they're seeing is no ordinary child. Attached to the young man's midsection, are tentacle limbs sprouting from his lower back. Those limbs are one and the same as the giant centipedes that had brought down the giant villain. The helicopter occupants realize too late what they're flying into when one of the monstrous appendages rises from beneath them like a living dragon that has also taken flight.
"Pull up! Pull up!", the cameraman shrieks alongside the reporter as they hang on for dear life. The aircraft bucks as the pilot tugs on the joystick to steer it away from the enormous centipede, barely unscathed by the close call.
As the news chopper ascends, the members onboard get a good view of what's below and through the foggy dust. The giant villain is still pinned down, struggling to pry himself free with one hand and pushing with his feet. He digs into the ground, legs shoving his massive body forward. But all the giant does is further deepen his own grave. The centipedes that have the behemoth bound continue constricting tighter and tighter, armored shell vs scale plating. The giant is losing.
The camera captures the devastating scene, broadcasting the footage through a live studio feed. Families watching at home are on the edge of their couches, paling at the shocking sight. But certain viewers in particular are especially grieved by what they're seeing. Hitoshi Shinso runs a hand through his puffy violet hair while exhaling in disbelief; he recognizes the ghoul at the epicenter of all those centipedes swarming the sky. From within the dorms of U.A, Shoto Todoroki also watches with a frown and clenched fists, emotions high from witnessing who he had believed to be his friend being apart of two major villain attacks.
But not everyone watches with disdain or anger. Some watch with sorrow. Like the girl that had been rescued from her capturers by the one that the world is ridiculing as a monster. Eri watches with watery eyes as her hero is called a villain. Her current guardian, Shota Aizawa, tears his own gaze from the television to her and hurries to wrap her in a hug. He's not the best at comforting someone, but considering the way he himself feels watching this turn of events, he's in need of a good cry too.
Quzin Yoshimura, the ghoul's former boss, takes a long sip from his cup of coffee. It's a slow night at Anteiku. Without his star employee, business just hasn't been the same. The television puts him in a worse mood, his drink also turning bitter. Yoshimura grabs the remote and switches it off. Then he grabs his coat, flicks off the lights, and closes the cafe.
All Might watches from the actual warzone itself, physically present. He's disturbed by the cataclysm to say the very least. But he has his own battle to fight. His arch nemesis attacks with another of his billion quirks, a bolt of electricity craning across the cracks in the ground. All Might leaps away before he can be made into an electrical conductor. But jumps right into a maelstrom of sewer water risen and controlled by All For One.
All Might fights the cyclone, using his signature Detroit Smash to clear the weather. The punch is powerful enough to help him land safely, but only momentarily. All For One is relentless, hurling steel beams and chunks of wrecked cars using a level of magnetism. The hero dodges and weaves, but also confronts some of the metal pieces head on. A front somersault to build up momentum and air pressure results in a California Smash. Scrap metal scatters the area.
All Might clears the football field distance between himself and All For One in an instant, winding up for a Carolina Smash. His hands in a cross position, he does a downward chop aimed for the villain's head with the intent to destroy the life support mask. But a seemingly invisible barrier puts a stop to that. "Nice try, All Might.", All For One says smugly before the forcefield expands and pushes All Might back.
Once again, the ground is uprooted and rock crumbles. All Might staggers back, huffing heavily as he tries to recover from the blow. The villain's killing aura weighs on the hero, a crushing pressure that makes his muscles sore and his quirk tingle in the base of his skull. Another shockwave crosses the expansion, and All Might braces for it. No time to dodge. He has to endure the force of the impact.
Suddenly, an explosion lights up the sky with the color orange. All Might turns his head to see the news chopper was struck by one of the ghoul's limbs, back rotor burning as it spirals out of control. It's going to crash. All Might squats down, calf muscles primed for takeoff. But he's suddenly blindsided by something swatting at his face. It was in his peripheral vision so fast that he had no time to avoid it. A long limb with a claw at the end of it cuts across his right eye.
The hero cries out and instinctively places a hand over the wound. His one good eye sees that the limb that cut him recedes back into All For One's hand. "Keep your eyes on me, All Might.", the villain continues taunting his opponent with a tone of amusement. All Might growls, vision in his damaged eye completely fading. It closes on its own, eyelids glued together by blood.
But All Might is only momentarily hindered. He forces himself to push beyond his limits and moves as fast as he can to intercept the falling helicopter. It's just about to collide with a weak structure when All Might catches it in his bare hands. The chunk of metal leans against the hero and makes his back arch as he tries to fight its momentum. The top rotor spins still, resisting All Might's grip.
While All Might is preoccupied with prioritizing a rescue, All For One begins prepping the fatal final blow. A culmination of powerful quirks transform one of his arms into a killing strike. Hypertrophy to enlarge his fist, another quirk that generates rivet-like growths, drill-like bone structures also applied, and several kinetic boosters combined with strength enhancers. Impact recoil and multipliers are added to the springlike limb quirk to top it off. The crucial combination aims for All Might to kill him with his back turned.
But one of the centipedes intercepts the strike, getting in the way. The armored scaling absorbs the hit, shuddering but not cracking or denting. Legs skitter along the ground before lifting off the earth to take to the sky. All For One retracts his arm so it doesn't get snared by the predatory pursuit. He's shocked by the interruption but only for a second.
His pet project is clearly distressed, not in the right state of mind right now. The ghoul is running on pure instinct. And the ghoul's pure instinct is to kill. All For One generates a wall of flames to act as defense, trying to ward the centipede appendages off. All the fire does is irritate the crawling chilopoda.
"All For One!", but the villain is forced to return his attention to his arch nemesis when the hero charges once again. All For One curses under his breath. He had been too distracted by the ghoul's sudden intervention that he didn't put up his forcefield. He reacts to All Might's attack by intercepting it with his killing blow. Their fists collide, sheer strength disrupting the crater they're in and sinking the surface even deeper. A sonic boom erupts from the power output.
Blood dribbles down from All Might's knuckles, his fist still grinding against All For One's. The amount of effort that he had to put into that punch drained him. Literally. Half of the hero's body has sunken in, muscles shrinking and steam wafting off his skinnier form. The time limit of his power is starting to reach its breaking point.
The reporter that the hero had rescued gasps when she sees what his true form looks like. The cameraman pulls back from the video recorder that he's holding, checking to see if what he's capturing is actually real. It very much is. All Might's true appearance is exposed to the world.
"D- Damn you..", All Might growls through gritted teeth as he continues struggling against All For One's fist.
"Ashamed that you can no longer obtain the symbol of peace you made yourself out to be? Well, have fear then.. Have fear. Because.. I am here.", the villain speaks with the voice of the devil with the accompaniment of a demon behind him, "Where is your smile now, All Might?"
The ghoul has reoccupied himself with the giant, finishing the villain off for good. Devastating roars of distress beat on All Might's eardrums, the external cry of torment sounding a lot like a vocalization of his inner feelings. It only gets worse when All For One continues to gloat.
"Perhaps this will provide some solace.. Nana Shimura has a grandson.", All Might's one good eye widens, "And his name.. Is Tomura Shigaraki!" In that moment, the hero is just Toshinori Yagi, fragile and small. "And he's always HATED you LIKE ME!", the weakened symbol of peace starts to fall as he's pushed back by All For One's mixture of sheer power and his revelation.
All Might recovers, coughing on his own blood, but fighting back still nevertheless. His feet dig into the ground and he pushes against All For One's fist again. His body begins reverting back to its muscle form as he puts in overtime and denies the villain's claims, "You're lying!"
"This is too good to be a fabrication. You know it's true because it's the kind of thing that I'd do.", All For One counters casually in contrast to All Might's desperation, "I've engineered the encounters between you and he like at USJ. You defeated him so soundly. You won, with a smile. So proud despite your ignorance! So sure of your own superiority!" Toshinori becomes more anguished with each sentence, feeling the truth behind the words like they're backhanded strikes. "Who is superior now?!", All For One laughs gleefully.
"HOW DARE YOU!", All Might yells back in the villain's face. Blood and spit splatters against the scarring.
All For One takes delight in his sworn enemy's rage, relishing in his anger and goading him to continue, "I haven't seen you this angry since I killed Na-"
"KEEP MY MASTER'S NAME OUT OF YOUR VILE MOUTH!", Toshinori's throat shouts in protest over his own yelling as much as his arm groans in pain against All For One's.
Katsuki Bakugo gawks at the entire exchange from where he's been knocked on his ass time and time again. He'd tried running in to help. He'd tried running away. Every time, the wind gusts or All For One's aura would put a stop to his movements. Not to mention whatever the hell his childhood friend has become. The blonde hero in training shifts his attention from his idol's battle to Izuku Midoriya's full blown transformation into a ghoul.
Centipedes went from restraining the giant villain to crushing him. Arms and legs bent inwards, the defeated goliath may as well have been gift wrapped and tied into a bow. Atop the now battered and beaten behemoth is the ghoul, back appendages encompassing him in a circular formation victoriously.
Tears in his eyes, Bakugo clambers to his feet once more. But not to interfere or flee. To shout at the top of his lungs, as loud as his throat will allow and as far as his voice will carry. "WIN, ALL MIGHT!", he screams for the number one hero to hear him. After witnessing the battles that had just taken place, he hates to admit not even he stands a chance, that only All Might can come out on top. Only All Might has a chance.
The other three spectators capture the U.A student's encouragement on camera before joining in. The pilot tosses off his helmet to be heard better. The reporter holds the microphone to her mouth. The cameraman tries not to shake the camcorder too much.
All Might's ground teeth begin to upturn. He gives them his signature smile, albeit his usual pearl whites stained red with blood. "Of course! That's why I AM HERE!", he promises them victory despite his muscle form collapsing. All that remains is the single arm holding back All For One's death blow.
"You're too weak!", All For One activates another quirk that amplifies the power of his arm's force. Additional arms begin to unfold from the original limb, also pushing down.
"That's because I wasn't putting my back into it!", All Might yells back while keeping his smile all the while. He gives it all that he's got. Everything that's left in the tank. From one arm to the other in one crucial swing. A power transfer from his occupied hand to the other.
All For One had manipulated Nana Shimura's grandson into becoming a villain after killing her. He had stolen away that boy's life and now another. The boy ridiculed for his quirk, called a ghoulish monster, set on that path because of this one true monster. No more. All Might vows that he'll never allow this man to destroy anyone's life ever again.
The whole color spectrum radiates from All Might's left arm to his right. Red arcs like an electrical surge, shifting to green and then sparking purple. His veins glow red and then yellow. He can feel the power of One For All's previous users culminating for this singular moment, "United..", he calls upon each of them to come together and make a decisive attack.
The arm holding All For One back breaks, becoming crippled, power leaving it in favor of the other. All Might's remaining arm bulks up, swelling in size and gleaming with energy. "States of..", all of the moves that he created are nothing compared to his finisher, "SMASH!"
The mask covering All For One's face shatters on impact. The scarring that had healed underneath reopens, muscle tissue and blood fresh. And the villain is carried down into the ground by All Might's most powerful punch yet. A cyclone comes forth, all of the wind channeling into that singular swing. Windows beyond the destruction site shatter from how far the sound carries when the hit connects. And All For One is buried into the ground, a grave just for him.
The last of One For All within All Might's system is gone. The red and blue suit of All Might hangs loosely from the skeletal frame of Toshinori Yagi, bloodied and tattered. He's just as worn down and bruised as the villain, the first time ever that the number one hero has been shown to sweat in combat. Ash and soot darken his face, splotches of dried blood crusting over his wounded eye.
But the hero's single remaining eye still stares ahead. Through the smoke. And at The Tokyo Ghoul. Toshinori's blue eye meets the red orb within the dark chasm. From across the way, they look directly into one another's souls and acknowledge the damage that's been done without any exchange of words.
The ghoul's weaponized limbs recede into his body, centipedes shrinking down to his size. He stands atop the giant villain the same way All Might stands over All For One. Neither of them make a move, but they agree that the fight is over so that whoever does move first does not break the peace treaty.
All Might moves first. He raises his unbroken arm up, high above his head. It's the stance he takes after every fight he wins. This is his final victory. The world sees him standing triumphantly in front of the only remaining threat.
Until.. All Might falls over. In what feels like slow motion, the camera captures the hero's descent. The symbol of peace's legs give out. He drops to his side, arm outstretched. And dies.
Rubble where the bar of the League Of Villains once existed begins to shift. Slabs of cement and piles of brick topple over so that Himiko Toga can crawl out from beneath. She coughs, a broken rib poking her liver. She's covered in so much soot that she's as dark as a shadow. Her hair's undone and matted to her face, caked in both blood and sweat. Through the locks hanging over her eyes, she sees the ghoul.
"Akatani!", she calls out to him as she tries to stand up but topples over. She looks back to see one of her legs is broken. When she faces forward again, she sees that her shout got his attention; he's looking back.
Behind her, more bricks shift and give way to other survivors. Tomura Shigaraki gasps for air, only able to get on his knees. Dabi and Kurogiri also pull themselves from the wreckage. The remnants of the League Of Villains are in no better shape than the dead.
But despite seeing that, the ghoul still turns his back on them. Himiko lets out a choked noise, watching his receding form as he leaves her with them. "Akatani!", she tries calling out again but he doesn't stop and acknowledge her this time, "Akatani! Don't go! Don't leave me!"
Himiko tries forcing herself to stand despite her broken leg, pushing off with the other. She hits the ground hard, scraping her hands and knee. Tears wash away some of the ash covering her woeful expression as she wails her boyfriend's name a final time, "Akatani!"
As she watches him leave, she has a feeling that's the last time that she'll ever see Akatani Mikumo. It's like he's somebody else completely. Across the way, Bakugo shares her outlook. There was no revival of his former self either. Izuku Midoriya truly is no more. Any reminiscence of then is gone completely. Now, he is just the ghoul.
Above, the glassy sky breaks and rain begins to fall. Himiko's heart shatters too as she weeps.