Chapter 81 - Presage of Perfection

As November neared its end...

"Okay, we're going to try this out on my armour, so it won't hurt me, and we have Mr Aizawa here too," Yuki explained as her forearms developed into their mechanical forms, flexing her black claws. "Ready?"

"Mmhm," The newest resident of UA for the foreseeable future, Eri, nodded nervously. She wore a simple blue dress with a white collar and buttons with a pair of black shoes.

The group stood inside Training Ground Gamma on the afternoon, a day after Eri was settled into her new home. True to their discussion, Yuki wanted to run a small test for SIVA to analyze.

"Midoriya, Azuru, wait a moment," After discussing the situation with Eri's living conditions, Mr Aizawa held the two back a little longer. "You both have seen the extent of her power, and how it works so I want you both when you're available at the time to be there when we start to properly train her how to use and control her quirk,"

"But not right away," Yuki surmised as the tired man nodded.

"Is that a problem?" He asked but Yuki wobbled her hand.

"Kinda... I just need one small test, that's all, so Siva can gauge a better understanding of her quirk, like what I've done with Izuku," The boy perked up at his name.

"But why do you need me, Sir?"

Aizawa looked between the two, "Aside from Togata, you two are the only people Eri trusts complacently, she may not notice it herself, but if she was ever to ask anyone for something it would be you three,"

"I don't want to hurt you..." Eri whispered until Yuki rubbed her cheek affectionately.

"You won't, I'm really strong, so is Deku, and Rayla over there," The Guardian was also present. "We won't let anything bad happen, Pinky Promise." Yuki held out her little finger for Eri to grab with hers. "The promise is made, so I can't break it, okay?"

"Okay," Eri perked up a little, placing her hands on Yuki's right forearm, closing her eyes.

"That's it, just let it out slowly, don't force it," Her horn was still small so it shouldn't cause her quirk to go rampant. "Can you feel something tingly, like a pulse?"

"Mmm..." She nodded her head, and a few gold sparks flickered.

"Focus on that feeling, push it out,"

Confirmed | Temporal fluctuations detected | Her psychological state is stable

Those same sparks fizzled out and died, Eri breathing heavily as Yuki held her upright. Her scarlet eyes were wide with worry. "I'm sorry, I can't feel it anymore," However, Yuki pulled her mask back to display her proud smile.

"You did very well, see?" She held up her forearm, and while it wasn't noticeable at first, two small, rusting handprints were stained on her black gauntlet. "Seems you can affect things that aren't flesh and blood too, thank you, Eri,"

Receiving praise brought her smile back, hugging Yuki tightly to which the machinist reciprocated, hoisting her up into her bare arms again. Mr Aizawa stared at his student curiously. "So?"

"It'll take time, but Siva has what he needs to cross-reference Eri's ability from today to our exposure when she released it all at once, but right now, she couldn't do any harm even if she tried," Yuki reassured them all.

"That's great, isn't it, Eri?" Izuku beamed, the silverette smiling too.

"Yeah,"

"Plus side, she can patch up scars pretty nicely," Rayla added, being the human test subject considering she can just have Solaire fix her up. She showed off her shoulder where a large scar used to be, now little more than a patch of white skin. "You, kid, are one handy nurse."

"T-thank you," She replied shyly.


"Hm-hm-hm, hm-hm, hm-hm-hm, hm-hm~" Yuki sang a little song to herself while working in the kitchen to make something, behind her, Kyoka and Izuku were talking privately.

"So you think the other successors' quirks could be manifesting inside yours? That's... pretty unbelievable," The rocker had been processing everything the pair had told her, asking Katsuki ended in the couple being chewed out for their lack of secrecy.

"I wish that were the case but so far I think I've been able to use an ability that lets me sense danger like a hot pulse in my head, though I don't use it too often because of it," Izuku explained as he caught an apple thrown in his direction by Yuki, the girl pouting.

"It makes it very annoying to get the jump on him when he does," She huffed, the apple tossed back at her to eat. "Still though," She swallowed a lump. "Pretty handy in a pinch, and the other, 'Float' was it?"

"All Might's master, yeah, as if you flying through the air with those air attacks wasn't already crazy enough," Kyoka rolled her eyes playfully, then narrowed her eyes at the pair. "You guys have been in some freaky vibe for a while like you know what the other's going to do sometimes..."

"An aftereffect of Unity," Yuki rubbed her temples. "I feel like Zuzu's memories and mine clash until we separate as if Siva's memories weren't already a headache."

I resent that | You didn't complain when it came to the action | Though not surprising

"I like the battle parts, sue me!" She scoffed, seeing Izuku and Kyoka laugh at her expense.

"Joke aside, I mean something else, you just seem really open, much more than you were before the Cultural Festival," Kyoka's investigative tone froze the pair up, Izuku trying to suppress his blush at what 'happened' that late afternoon. "Did something happen when we weren't around?" Her lips curled into a mischievous smile.

"What? Happened? Pfft, naaaah, w-why would anything happen? Just another tired day of work, haha!" Yuki stumbled all over her words. "Oh yeah, lots of work..."

"Okay, well, I can tell you're lying through your teeth, and Green Bean here's gone muter than you used to be, so I think I'll ask ya when we're behind closed doors," Kyoka shrugged, enjoying how easily the pair became red in the face. She had an idea but again, closed doors, she wouldn't do that to them. Especially since she didn't want to lose this bet with Ashido.

"They're here, everyone, greet them!" Iida declared, signifying their guests had arrived.

The three left the kitchen to join the class as they got quite the introduction. "Lock on with these sparkling gazes!" Mandalay

"We've come to lend a paw and help!" Ragdoll

"Coming out of nowhere..." Tiger

"Stingingly cute and catlike!" Pixie Bob

"Wild Wild Pussycats!" The team from the Summer Camp gave a little flair, even out of costume. Yuki just slowly hid her face behind her mask.

"You guys really go overboard like Mom..."

"What's that?" Oh dear God, it got worse. Yuki paled when she turned to find the silvery-red hair and blue eyes in her sights, only to be wrapped into a bone-crushing hug. "I missed you too, Yuki~!"

"Crushing... my... spine..." Yuki patted the woman's arm, that dragon strength never failing to surprise Yuki. "I... missed you as well, Mom," Yuki hugged back once her spine wasn't dislocated. "But I wasn't expecting you to be one of the guests?"

The draconic hero grinned, patting her chest. "I can get from one side of Japan to the other in under a minute, like I wouldn't stop by with my old friends too and see my awesome daughters."

"Hey, Mom!" Nana waved from the sofa.

Turning around, Yuki waved to Mandalay. "It's nice seeing you too,"

"You look like you're doing well yourself, Yuki," She smiled as Tiger approached her and Katsuki with his neutral expression.

"Sorry, I couldn't protect either of you back then," Tiger apologized as Katsuki grunted, looking away.

"Stop digging up the past." That earned a flick from Yuki.

"It's alright; as you can see-" She hugged Katsuki from the side, seeing him twitch angrily. "-we're doing better than before,"

"Get off of me...!" His palm shoved itself against her cheek.

"Nope!" She giggled.

"We're doing fine, right?" Kyoka gestured to the girls who were a little preoccupied with Akio.

"Paw Pad Buns! Paw Pad Buns!" Akio, Ochaco, Hagakure, and Ashido chanted, leaving Kyoka to rub her head with her jack.

"Forget I said that..." Kyoka sighed while Akame met her eyes.

"I see Akio and Viral are doing well?" She commented, watching Kyoka scratch her cheek.

"Viral's still having issues with Yukino's Nightmare but Akio's been pretty much the same as always," Then her jacks jittered sharply when his arms wrapped over her shoulders, placing his head atop hers. "Huh? A-Akio?"

"Love you too, Kyo..." He drawled, giving Akame a thumbs up. "Thank you for checking up on us, you were right, UA's pretty great, so thank you."

Akame chuckled behind her hand as he played with Kyoka's jacks, much to the girl's embarrassment. "I can see that, hehehe."

"Zuzu, look," Yuki prodded her partner's arm, pointing toward the young boy standing just behind Mandalay's leg. A familiar boy in a red cap with a yellow jacket was glaring around the room. What Yuki noticed, in particular, was the very familiar SIVA insignia stitched into the front of the cap in blue.

In a heartbeat, the pair flew toward Kota, with Izuku shaking his hand politely, "Kota! Long time no see! Thank you for the letter, I'll treasure it!"

"Whatever..." His voice froze when he saw Yuki crouched before him, seeing the pigment of her eyes had changed, and the subtle scales dotting her cheeks. "..."

"Oh, right, you never saw my little makeover," Yuki brushed her locks behind her ear. "A lot's happened since we met, I like the symbol on your hat," Mentioning it, his face reddened slightly as he tried to hide it.

"I-it's nothing, just decoration..." Kota reflected but paused when her hand patted his head, going quiet again.

"Midoriya, Yuki, look," Mandalay drew their attention toward the door where their shoes sat. A pair of familiar, red trainers were spotted. "He chose them himself, he said he definitely wanted red-" As she said this, Kota trembled in mortified embarrassment before his idols, swinging his arms frantically.

"Yaaaaah, n-n-no! It-It-It-...!"

Yuki snickered behind her hand again, and Izuku felt pride swell in his chest. "We match!"

Kota calmed down, smiling sheepishly toward the pair.

As the questions and general chatter continued, Pixie Bob revealed why they were going back into heroics after their hiatus since the Camino Disaster. "We received that report weeks ago from Tartarus, though, about what happened to Him."

The Wild Wild Pussycats turned their eyes to Yuki, the girl's expression stern as her eyes took on a pure ice blue shade. "Kovik was behind it," Even her tone of voice was sharp and strict. "Unfortunately, any Quirks stolen are now gone forever,"

"Wait, what do you mean?" Kaminari pipped up from the sofa.

Akame replied, "She's saying, or rather he, that All For One has been dead since the day of the Provisional Licences Exams," The tone shifted throughout the dorm, many sharing horrified looks at the revelation.

"Someone that powerful..." Yaoyorozu gaped.

"Are you sure it was him?" Shoto wanted to confirm with Siva who was in control. The Splicer's face didn't even flinch.

"Unfortunately, yes, AFO's cell was compromised without anyone realizing it," Siva held his hand out, staring at the palm. "He singlehandedly murdered the man that controlled the villainous underworld of this reality, since then, he has gone off the grid entirely, and with Dren gone there are not many leads on his whereabouts or the League,"

Yuki's eyes flashed again, and she shook her head. "Kovik's playing this much more methodically than ever before, he's not lashing out, probably after we took down Overhaul and Dren."

To change the subject, Akame clapped her hands. "Well, I think we've soured the mood enough with that iron-clad jerk, you wanna tell 'em why you're back in action?" Akame spun her fingers toward Mandalay.

"Sure; it'll be announced later, but we're back for the Japanese Hero Billboard Chat, we were ranked 411 for the second half of the year," She explained with a flat stare toward Akame's smug aura. "And silver wings over here is-"

"In the Top 20 baby! Woot-Woot!" Akame breathed a puff of red air in delight.

"Wait, seriously!? And you didn't tell me!?" Yuki gawked, swinging her Mom back and forth by her shirt.

"You~Never~Asked~!" She answered wobbly.

"I think I was nominated by my fanbase at one point," Akio raised his hand with a defeated expression. "But vigilantes aren't legal heroes so sadly it was only in spirit."

"Where the heck would you even rank, dude?" Sero inquired as he held up a whiteboard given by Nana who was still too transfixed on her texting to do much else, Kota sitting beside her. The board said 100. "That low!?"

"I know... I was aiming for 50," Akio sighed.

"Don't ever talk about rankings around Guardians, it never ends well," Rayla swung her hand wide, looking distasteful. "It always ends in a literal blood feud between Hunters and Titans over 'who is better', and the Warlocks just sit there like they don't care but deep down they do, and - grah, I'm getting agitated thinking about the last time it happened!"

"That bad?" Kirishima asked, earning a flaming snort from the girl.

"Still, last time you guys were ranked 32..." Izuku pointed out.

"I see, so it's because you guys dropped in the rankings!" Kirishima added with his fists clenched. "Do your best!"

"No, meow!" Ragdoll interrupted. "How can we still be in the three digits if we haven't done any hero work?"

That raised a valid point, one the class had no answer for. Tiger answered for them. "The approval rating component gave us a boost."

Pixie Bob crossed her arms, speaking gently. "There are people waiting for us,"

Ragdoll jumped in front of them all. "We can't just stand still!"

Yuki stopped yanking on her Mom's black rocker shirt as she stared down at her daughter. "I may be a higher rank than before, but that doesn't change the fact people need me, even if I was at the lowest point-" The Pussycats smiled at the Comet Hero. "-Any of us, it doesn't matter, a chart doesn't sway what we do as people with the duty to protect the weak."

"I see..." Kirishima threw his hands toward them with an emotional voice. "You're all so manly! The Sky Comet Hero and Wild Wild Pussycats!"

"Always the tough ones..." Rayla laughed under her breath, finding it endearing to watch.

"This will be the first chart since Camino, and without All Might..." Yuki murmured, glancing back toward Shoto, his expression unreadable. "After what he said to you after your training... I wonder what you think of him now, Shoto?"


[Kyushu District]

On the top floor of a well-established business, the Number One hero Endeavor, and the Number Two hero Hawks, spoke of the turning events across Japan. Of the League and their Nomu. However, he had one idea of the various rumors and events transpiring behind the scenes.

"There's one other thing," Hawks held his hand up to keep Endeavor from saying anything, the man's serious eyes staring toward the skyline. "A bit of an unsubstantiated opinion, but after UA, Hosu, Kamino, everyone knows how creepy these remodeled villains are, right?" He played with a toothpick between his fingers.

"Then there's the Devil Splicers at every incident that have taken center stage in all of them, usurping the Nomu at the top of their food chain, an endless, emotionless plague of machines controlled by one hand," Hawks broke down. "So I think some idiot is telling scary stories to stir up the uneasiness, and they spread across the country."

Endeavor didn't leave, listening closely despite his earlier disinterest in what the lax hero wanted. "That villain earlier yelled, 'Hooray for metahuman liberation!', right? That's similar, too,
where an old villain's biography was republished and has been selling pretty well."

"He was probably influenced by it," Hawks surmised. "Those sorta books sell more when society's uneasy, like they thrive. Some have even sparked talks of an old vigilante called the 'Red Dragon' and his ideology."

"Don't put on airs," Endeavor spoke up sharply. "Just what is it you want? Get to the point!" He had grown tired of Hawks' roundabout talk.

"I want you to become a dependable leader now that you're Number One," Hawks gave a thumbs up. "I want you to verify the veracity of those rumors and tell everyone proudly to stop worrying," Hawks smiled so frank, even when speaking about dark turns in society. "I'm not going to do anything special,"

He leaned back in his chair. "I said the same thing yesterday, but basically, I'm being the producer behind the Number One hero!" That easy-going smile and charm bothered Endeavor to no end, his flames flickering.

"Bastard..."

Hawks just put his arms up defenselessly. "I just want to take it easy, really; just go around on leisurely patrols, complain that nothing happened today, and then go to bed. The best life," He put his fist against his cheek on the table. "I want to make it a world where heroes have too much time on their hands,"

Neither spoke, with Endeavor's intimidating presence clashing with Hawks' tranquil state of ease, like a storm clashing with a gentle breeze. "..." Endeavor's eyes met the window, rather, the skyline in the distance with a sharp glare.

Hawks too shared this look. "Endeavor..."

"-here are your drinks, sir-" The waitress approached until Hawks threw his arm back.

"Get back, miss!"

Something dark materialized into view, before colliding with the window, shattering a large hole through the thick glass, frightening the woman shielded by Hawks. Endeavour moved to stand at the vanguard in an instant, facing the horror pressed to the glass.

"It seems I... misplaced my landing..." It growled. "Hello there, Number One, tell me..." The jaws didn't move, they only seemed to remain wide in a jagged smile. "Are you stronger?"

The monster was covered in black skin, wearing a black jacket torn at the elbows to allow his three small backward-facing spikes through. A pair of burnt trousers with thick leather boots, three horns piercing the shoe tongue. Its head was angular, bearing a shredded, permanent smile with two twisted eyes torn across the flesh with a single, diamond-shaped eye on its forehead.

All glowed a pearl-white with the right eye surrounded by a white tattoo depicting glass fragments. Its hair was wild and pulled back with a few stray locks.

Sprouting from the lowered hood were two black twin tails that hung like wings draped in darkness and chains. The brambles of thorny chains bound themselves to the abomination's whole body, some hanging limp on in its aura, a few sinking their bear-trap maws into the dissolving Nomu in its arm.

"Sorry, this one... got in my way," Its voice was charismatic with a sinister undertone, crushing what appeared to be a green flame inside the Nomu's chest, as its animalistic chatter was silenced, dissolving into dust for the monster's hand to press against the glass. "There we go... ah, I always hate eating souls, I'd much rather gamble with the shards first to see if I may acquire a new power," It shook its head. "Oh, well, you two will suffice, hehehe..." The head twitched.

"Hawks, evacuate everyone!" Endeavor commanded.

"Roger, what about you?" He asked, protecting the waitress

"They weren't just rumors, huh?" His gauntlets released a boiling hot jet of wind between the plates. "Must be my lucky day,"

"I am no Nomu, let me make that clear," It answered back.

"Oh, well, either way, this is what I came for," Endeavor did not waver. "Flashfire Fist-!" His arm struck the glass, turning gold as it released a concentrated beam of flames, practically converting into plasma to burn a fist-sized hole through the monster's chest, melting the glass in the process. "-Jetburn!"

It reeled back from the force, using its tattered wings to fly and greet the flaming hero that too flew above the city. "Come," His flame, his soul, was set ablaze. "I'll show you who I am."

"Endeavor, you can fly too!?" Hawks was surprised by this.

"I'm just not falling, you idiot, stay sharp!" He grunted, keeping his focus on whatever the monster was - no, he knew what it was, it crushed a flame inside that Nomu, he's seen and heard reports of this with something many heard called itself 'Chaser', and there were the two cases at Japan's top hero schools, 'Viral' and 'Velk'. "A Nightmare, huh?"

"That actually stung a bit, so that's pain, right, forgot that," The whole began to close with the black mist, a spine, and ribs setting in place while the black skin rolled over the black flesh beneath. "Sorry, I just haven't been hurt in a long time, so thank you," His eyes did change, narrowing at the hero. "I wonder... how much you can endure?"

"In that case..." Endeavour clasped a star in his fist, setting his whole body ablaze only to condense the eruption into his palm, five wires of plasma spitting out between his fingers. "Flashfire Fist - Hell Spider!" He brought his arm around, releasing the bottled-up flame into a series of plasma beams that wrapped their way through the air to surround the Nightmare.

"Interesting, here's my own... curse flame," He let his body be shredded by the plasma in order to wrap and clothesline Endeavour across the chest, slamming the flame hero through the windows and concrete, leaving a lingering, purple flame on the rubble as it suddenly erupted into two balls of purple fire, destroying more of the upper floors around Endeavor. "It has a lovely lingering... explosion, like it? I picked it up recently."

Endeavor grunted, the glass shattering from the extended chains' tensile strength as their maws anchored themselves to his forearm, spurting small purple flames on contact. Drawing his arm wide, the Nightmare sent his chains forward to sweep through the opposite side of the building with Endeavour still attached. There was a flash of searing hot embers, melting the chains and smothering the purple flames as the chains retracted through the hole.

"Hmm, I want to try those names..." The flames were extinguished, and the cracks in the Nightmare's skin turned a chilling blue, releasing a subzero vapor into the air. Ice crystals formed on its forearm, drawing the arm behind him to extend a massive blade of blue ice the size of two buses. "Iceborne - Calibur!"

With a single, almighty lunge of his body, the Nightmare swept the blade through the entire upper portion of the building diagonally, effectively splitting the floors from the rest of the structure, leaving only snowfall and rubble in his wake, arm slowly regenerating from the excessive force.

A great ball of fire melted through the rubble like a meteor as Endeavor stalled his velocity, collecting himself as blood trickled down his face from the narrow collision with the debris. "It overcame my propulsion." He bore his teeth toward the docile Nightmare, the building's upper structure beginning to groan and protest at the lack of support. "It's above me in both speed and power!?"

The Nightmare paused, looking back at the crumbling ruin to find dozens of trapped people flying through the air, much to his awe. "How are they... oh, Number Two hero, hahahaha..." He clapped for the marvelous display. "You saved every soul in that damaged section!? Now that's impressive, well done."

Hawks gathered back his feathers, blinking as a black arm was inches from his face had a sharp flash of pinpoint flames not severed the arm from the elbow. Endeavor intercepted as Hawks dived under the sudden torrent of frigid wind that froze a few feathers. Hawks moved far away as Number One rose to confront the Nightmare, caging it in various wires of plasma with both hands.

"Flashfire Fist, Hell Spider!" The firey webbing erupted around it, incinerating parts of the destroyed building and amputating the Nightmare's lower body, leaving just the torso, half its face, and the left arm.

It craned its neck toward Endeavour, narrowing one eye as the rest of its body began to regenerate quickly. "Is that the best you got?" Hawks challenged.

"Of course not!" Endeavor yelled, clenching his fist as the monster did the same. "I'll cut it into bits and burn it down!"

With a flail of his arms, Endeavour wrapped another webbing of controlled plasma around the Nightmare and ruined half of the skyscraper, melting through the structure like butter. It was so sudden not a single chunk of the building fell from the web that bent and consumed it and the villain, obliterating the skyscraper into pieces.

It wasn't perfect and left Hawks to gather the larger chunks with his feathers, tumbling down onto a rooftop as he sprinted backward, stumbling. "Woah, you've never cooked before, have you, Endeavor!?" The flaming man flew above. "Your 'bits' are chopped to roughly, you need to cut them into even pieces!"

"You should stop talking and save your strength for moving!" He countered.

"Well, when I lose too many feathers it makes it harder to fly," Hawks added, flapping his tiny wings a bit for emphasis.

"Sorry about that," Endeavor grunted.

What remained of the Nightmare spewed black mist as it reformed the right arm and its face, the legs and other arm coming along slowly. On the streets below, two heroes intercepted the creature, one firing energy fists to slam into its charcoal skeleton as it attempted to grow muscle back, another fired disks at him, releasing sonic blasts.

"One moment, I think I need to recharge," Its three eyes flashed, and the top heroes saw it immediately warp behind the two heroes aiding them, the displaced light materializing the Nightmare as it plunged its fists through their chests, crushing two colourful flames in an instant. By the time it warped back to the sky, the speed of its regeneration increased, rebuilding its body completely as the two heroes ceased to be.

"It can teleport too," Hawks tisked, flying below Endeavor.

"I'm starting to overheat..." Sweat trickled down Endeavor's face, seeing the monster stretching its arms and legs. "It's carefree, and only focuses on us because of our strength, mine in particular so it cut off any outside interference using a form of displacement, it warped back to where it previously flew and devoured souls to speed up the regeneration process."

Hawks left to intercept, leaving Endeavor with the Nightmare. "You've stopped using your flames... are you running low of steam?" It mused, setting a purple flame alight in its hand. "Unfortunately, since you aren't a Nightmare you can't just mend your injuries, and with my soul count my stamina exceeds yours, though I never expected you to last long,"

"Do not underestimate-"

"What, you?" He appeared with his back against Endeavour's, teleporting back before the fist could take his head off, waving his arms wide. "I've barely tapped into my power, in all honesty, this was just chance that we'd meet like this, I'm on a bit of binge, celebrating my success."

Endeavor's flames grew wilder, his limit was approaching but given his foe, he refused to pull his punches. "My body continues to fill with heat, that was the reason..." He saw an image of a young girl with white hair walking beside him. "That was the reason..." Three children stood in the background of their house. "That was the reason...!" Shoto controlling fire and ice was the final push.

His body released a thunderous wall of brilliant flames, effectively becoming a second sun in the sky. The sheer intensity excited a laugh from the immovable smile on the Nightmare's face. "That's it... release everything until your arms are charred like mine! This is how true strength is displayed, I like you Endeavour, SO DON'T HOLD BACK!" He screamed, gathering a small torrent of purple flames between his fists, his wings set ablaze as the Nightmare flew straight into the sunlight.

"Burn up in a purgatory where you can't run or regenerate fast enough, and be quelled!" Endeavor at the epicenter of the smoldering flame set the world before him on fire. Releasing a massive, concentrated beam of fire from his entire body, "Prominence Burn!"

The Nightmare was caught in the middle, body braced against the unbelievable force that vaporized his body before he could enact any form of teleportation.

"Just... watch me."

"I can't look pathetic... right now!" When the intense heat waves subsided, nothing remained, not even a flake of ash before Endeavour. For an instant, he let his guard fall.

"Endeavour! Watch out!" Hawks cry came too little too late.

"You really think-" A shadow appeared behind him, shrouded in black smog, bringing an arm covered in ice forward, the small spikes on the forearms conjoined into large, protruding blades. "-you can kill a Nightmare?"

It happened so fast that no one had time to register what happened. two of the Nightmare's fingers elongated as blades of ice, one digging a large gash through Endeavour's side, the other spraying blood as it sliced across his left eye, leaving an agonized look on the hero's face.


Inside a taxi, Fujumi covered her mouth in horror, Natsu couldn't believe what he was seeing, breathless himself.

At in 1-A's dorm, Yuki's face paled in horror, behind her, a small flame brushed itself off Shoto's paralyzed expression.

On the other side of UA, inside the Development Studio, Rayla was slack-jawed with Tekres staring silently at the screen, his tools gripped in his hands beside Hatsumei.

In the teacher's lounge, All Might gripped his destroyed stomach, wishing he could muster up even a spark to help, unfortunately, there was nothing he could but watch. "Endeavour...!"

Monitoring it all on his screen, Kovik lowered his hand from his chin, staring back at the news report with his expression hidden by his large, pyramid helmet, but he too was unexpectedly stunned by what he saw, his subordinates behind him included.


Endeavor couldn't move, a hand pressed to his bloodied face as ice seeped onto his skin, the right arm of the Nightmare drawn between them with the claws extending long enough to impale a human being. "I saw what you were before, strength was all you cared for, and now that has died out it seems," His fingers squeezed tighter, lowering his arm toward the streets below. "I have no use for your fragments, but your soul will be a nice addition once I'm done here,"

There was a flash, and a series of frozen rings expanded between them as Endeavor was blown into the concrete, laying on a slab as the road as nearest buildings were impaled by spikes of ice, rime coating the area as a flash indicated the Nightmare warped to greet the wounded hero. "So ends the so-called 'new symbol'," It almost appeared as though it smiled wider.

With what little Endeavour could move, he grabbed the arm that reached for him, burning his fingers deep into the monster's flesh, eyes shadowed. This action surprised him as it tried to throw the arm off to no avail. "What... how are you - oh, survival instincts, how annoying," It growled, tugging its arm back but again, the flesh burned, the fingers sank deeper. "Would you let go, I'm trying to kill you."

The chains wrapped around Endeavour's body, lifting the man had the flames not erupted into view, turning the bloodied, missing eye of his into a raging flame. Endeavor brought his fist forward, missing the creature as it chuckled. "Predictable,". It slammed its arm into the hero's neck, using his chains to thresh Endeavour around and through several slanted buildings, tossing him through the nearest one as the Nightmare freed its arm. The streets surrounding it were brimming with chaos and peril, the destruction palpable.

It started to laugh, bellowing out a manic melody that the reporters on the scene could hear far and wide. "You think your heroes can stop me!? I'm stronger than anyone else in this world!" He brought his arm toward where the most souls were gathered, dark purple flames circling and congregating with raw ice particles. "I'm the strongest one there is."

"Heyo," Akio gave a peace sign as he rubbed the back of his head, stretching his muscles after practicing the guitar for the afternoon.

"So you are alive," Rayla perked up, playing cards with Yuki, and Katsuki.

"I like to think so, I'm not wrinkling, am I? I don't know how the whole non-aging thing works with Nightmares and Hosts," He pulled at his cheeks. "Speaking of..."

Over by the sofas, the dark figure was muttering to himself, scratching at his scarred eye under his cowl. Moving past the kitchen as he planned to check for drinks, he stopped before the irritated Nightmare. "Viral? You look... well, you look the same, actually."

"My scar's acting up," He huffed, the others not really paying attention to how Akio's bright expression fell. His eyes and Viral's met. "He's back..."

"Oh... um," Viral slipped away into Akio's shadow as the brunette clapped his hands awkwardly. "We're just gonna... yeah, um, we'll be right... yeah," Before anyone could question the sudden shift in their tone, Akio leapt into a shadow, zipping through the doors of the dorm without a word.

"You sure about that?"

*Shiiing!*

The Nightmare recoiled as its arm was severed by an amassment of black smoke forged into a blade. Akio's eyes narrowed, his mark glowing a purple pigment. "Looks like he was right," Akio's voice was displeased, swinging his arms wide for a torrent of smoke to pollute the area, forcing the enemy Nightmare into the sky again.

The tattered cloak formed over Akio's body, the middle split into two halves as smoke gathered and lifted them into the air, copying the same method the enemy used. "So you learned to fly too? Now I don't feel special." It cackled.

"Harrow," Akio spat the name. "After all this time, now you show yourself? Why?"

"I feel that's my question to ask you, the coward who ran, what's your name again? Oh, right, Akio," Harrow dismissed, waving a hand toward the pair. "If I'm honest, I'm not here for you, or Velk-" He threw his arms wide. "-I'm celebrating!"

"What?" Akio's eyes slit a little in confusion.

"Don't you get it? I've done it, everything I need to steal away not just the souls of this world but so much more!" His grin never wavered. "My ability to fragment souls gives me so many more opportunities for abilities, and a world comprised of powers is a gold mine! I'm honestly happy you both fled to this realm, I couldn't be happier with the outcome."

"You're not touching any other souls," Akio's smoke burst in a ring around him, gathering them tightly between his fingers. "And we're not running anymore."

Harrow's three eyes narrowed. "What? With your ability to create gases, right? Pfft, I haven't a use for that," He mocked, cleaning his teeth with a claw. "But that brat with the multiple powers, perhaps the nanotech girl, or... that one with the sound powers, Jiro was it?" He saw the flicker of spite in Akio's soul, the flame enlarging. "Oh... that will be lovely to add, maybe I can overpower that runt, Echo."

Akio's fists shook with rage for a moment, then a skull necklace bobbed into view when he shifted his posture, chiming like a sweet song in his ear. That malice increased though now it focused into his quirk, expanding dark rings around his forearms. He smiled. "I won't let you hurt them, unlike you, I don't need to steal from my Nightmare to be strong,"

Harrow's eyes twitched, seeing the smoke develop and change into a pure black state. "I didn't spend all that time at UA wasting it, I grew stronger thanks to the people you see nothing more as fuel in the tank," Several large seals appeared around them. "This ends here,"

Harrow's own body erupted into purple flames, releasing a swirling cyclone in the direction Akio once appeared, various plumes of smoke slamming into his body with the equivalent force of a train. When he turned he laughed, having half his head slashed off as Akio dived down to grab at his chest.

Purple flames exploded, dispersing the smoke as an arm twisted Akio's and shredded it into ribbons, followed by a long pillar of ice straight to the gut, protruding from Harrow's sole. Akio slid down its mass, tossing two hardened spears of smoke that shattered against a hexagonal barrier of orange light.

His foot slammed through the barrier, expanding his regenerated arm with smoke to shred Harrow's torso in passing, diving into a spiral to evade a wave of explosive flames, the large protruding bones from Harrow's forearms containing the flames, propelling himself through the air like Valstrax would, bringing his leg across for a devastating roundhouse kick that slammed Akio through the rooftop of a building and out into the street.

Harrow flicked his middle and ring finger up, causing a large column of fire to spurt from the street, tossing Akio into the hood of a nearby car, his body covered in purple flames. "Oh, cra-" The resulting explosion slammed him into the tarmac, half his form forced to reveal Viral's true form underneath. "Okay, my turn - Gloom Grip."

Behind Harrow, the static seals released several dark hands to bind the Nightmare for a split second, a ring of ice disabling the magic as a purplish-red seal was pressed against his face. "Nightmare Rain!" Harrow warped back a few meters, bringing his arms forward.

"Oh, please," A great spiral of flames clashed with the unstable beam of raw power, the two destructive forces erupting into a multi-layered ring of fire and particles. Akio pretended to hold a sheathed blade at his hip, conjuring a blade of smoke. "Now I see, instead of your complex chemical warfare you're going for a mixture of raw Nightmare magic with your smoke, fascinating!"

"Shadow Sunder!" It was a blink of shade as Akio sliced through Harrow, leaving a black contrail that riddled his body with dark slashes. Turning around, Akio dived back from a blade of ice erected from Harrow's palm, the left side of his face regenerating that permanent smile. He swung it around on his arm, smashing it against the smokey blade that hung over Akio's head, the boy sliding forward to releasing a column of fire from his own boot. "Fire Scourge."

"Is that all?" Through the flames, a hand grasped his ankle, pulling him toward the jagged arm as spikes riddled Akio's body when he twisted his leg to free himself. "You are nothing like Nekros," When the embers and ice cleared, two hands gathering a black void between them pulled all matter toward its center.

*BOOM*

The force of the gravitation blast tossed Akio through a building and out the other end where a foot swiped his back, flinging the Host high for two feet to press against his stomach, that same gravity distortion lingering in the air above Harrow as it discharged, sending them hurtling toward the earth with enough kinetic force to leave a crater as wide as the street in their wake.

Through the dust and distant screams of civilians, Akio coughed and hacked up blood as a foot lay pressed firmly through his stomach, holding him down in the dirt as Harrow leaned down on his leg. "Do you know why I never put effort into hunting you or Velk?" He twisted his leg, enjoying the squirms and gasps from the brat. "Velk's ability was powerful, but Viral's is worthless, all he has is the ability to gather and remember all forms of knowledge he's been exposed to, nothing more, nothing less,"

With wide eyes, Harrow lowered his voice. "I. Don't. Need. You." Every word made his foot press deeper against Akio's spine. "So stick around as I raze this whole city."

Viral knew that all too well. His ability wasn't anything to admire, forced to simply recall memories as though they just happened, something it was a curse. He envied Harbinger's strength, Velk's, Ravage's, Infernal's, Scourge's, Magnar's, all of them were strong. And yet, Harbinger himself never abandoned any of them. This coward using his old friend's skin... was not Harbinger.

"Your turn, bud," Akio murmured.

"Harbinger..." Akio twisted Harrow's trousers, keeping him in place as he glared back with his regenerated eye tinted purple. "I know you're in there," It was Viral talking now. "You old man... you aren't like this, to be tainted so... easily, by some worthless human rat!"

"Shut up." Harrow huffed, relieving his foot from Viral only to be sent flying by the Nightmare's own explosion courtesy of the various seals hidden by Akio's jacket. The pale red tones faded, the hole in the human's stomach closing as Viral plucked himself from the dirt.

"I know you aren't weak, you never cared if we weren't strong, you just wanted us to find our own way," Viral breathed, climbing out the opposite end of the crater to safeguard the crowd of people behind him, some too afraid to move, or couldn't.

"I said be quiet," Harrow warned, his permanent smile creaking as static flaked his skin.

Akio's body was bloodied and torn to reveal the Nightmare beneath, panting heavily as Viral raised his Host's form. He knew everyone was watching them, but right now, he had to try and reach out for even the faintest ghost of Harbinger.

Viral smiled, laughing slightly, "You think you're strong? You're a rat, a dirty, little, rat who can't accomplish anything without stealing strength from others." Viral looked sickened by Harrow. "It's honestly embarrassing."

"Shut up... shut up... shut up!" Blue sparks trickled across Harrow, his eyes unfocusing constantly as the webbed bolts hissed against the concrete.

"The real Harbinger isn't some brat pretending to be a Nightmare - You're not worthy!" Meanwhile, his tail spun a circle under the distracted, enraged Nightmare.

"Viral-!" He froze, choking on the ether in the air as Viral snapped his fingers.

"Sunbreak,"

The incantation resulted in every window close to Harrow showering shards onto the street as the mere vibration the spell gave off left a molten puddle in the earth, a large sphere of fire consuming Harrow in a pyre of hellfire, blasting a torrent of flames backward.

The crowd was quieter, Viral falling to a knee from the exhaust of his magic but it was worth it. Through the dust, however, his smile fell before the rising pulse in the air, a tingling sensation in his throat. Harrow's eyes were thin slits on his face. "Harbinger is..." His arms were crossed into an 'X' close to his face, "GONE!"

Viral crossed his arms, sending two wings of ice either side of him as the sudden release of electrostatic energy sent him flying toward the crowd, a blue burn scarring his stomach while a deep gash resided in every building caught by the shockwave Harrow released, any and all electronics caught in its radius exploding from the surge.

Behind Viral's smoking body, a reporter's voice could be heard. "It... it doesn't look good! The arrival of the infamous Vigilante converted Hero has been left completely unresponsive, I-I don't - wait!"

"Not yet... just starting... to warm up," Viral hacked out a pool of black liquid onto the pavement, various voices cheering for his stubbornness as he wobbled into place, raising his fists. "We told you..." His hood was down, his remaining eye bright and determined. "No one else I going to die here, you want them? Then get through me!"

Harrow chuckled, raising his arm as the lingering sparks dispelled, and several radiant spears of light refracted from the sparks in the air, gathering to form the deadly barrage. "Don't mind if I do, I'll be sure to kill you both for all to see,"

"Crap, that's more than we can handle," Over a dozen spears were conjured, yet Viral held his ground, bracing his muscles.

"We're not really in the position to complain," Akio quipped, earning a slow nod from Viral.

"Oh, great," Spreading his arms, two grey bracers circled his wrists. "Sonic..."

Harrow ushered the lightning spears forward, their stray bolts plucking apart loose bricks and rubble. Closer and closer, Viral waited until they were within inches of passing him before drawing both hands front and center. "...Boom!"

The clap of thunder sent a quake through the road, releasing a wide wall of sound to disrupt and banish the dangerous attack. Unfortunately, a great spiral of amethyst flames slithered around him, nicking at his face. If he failed to block this, the aftereffect would hurt the civilians. Crossing his arms, Viral almost gasped had a sudden shadow not erected itself between the two Nightmares.

The snap and pop of ice freezing in place blew out the flames like a candle. Viral blinked, craning his head right to find a familiar ravenette approaching with a sword between her hands. "It appears I arrived a little too late, my apologizes."

"You..." Viral lost his surprise for a glare. "What do you want?"

Hana's face changed; her eye color light blue with a hand on her hip. Velk, "Viral, the person who fragmented my soul is behind this wall, what do you think I'm-"

"I don't care!" He retorted until she was up in his face. "I have this handled!"

"Really? Because nearly three dozen people would be charred bones right now if we didn't show up, your welcome!" Velk threw her hands up. "We agreed to this, you promise me!"

"Oh, so now we're talking about promises? How rich!" He scoffed, turning away from her as Velk fumed, her cheeks red with anger.

"You're... so stubborn! How does Akio or Jiro put up with you!?"

"Better than I can say about you!" Viral threw his arms wide briefly.

"Guys!" Their Hosts yelled.

"What!?" The pair turned to one another, then back at the crowd watching them, still, filming as the ice behind them started to break down from Harrow's explosive flames.

"Truce?" Velk spoke softly, taking her place to Viral's left with the sword sheathed to her back.

"Just shut up and fight," Viral groaned.

Together, a massive spike of soul energy was released once the wall came down, Viral's aura purple as he fully took over Akio's body, tugging his hood over his scar. Velk did much the same, hers an ice blue with a layer of frost at her feet while her tail merged with her sword.

"This is too perfect, both of you together at last!" Harrow cackled in the sky above. "Now this is getting interesting!"

"Hawks!" Viral called to the birdman above. "Keep everyone here safe, we'll take him down!"

"Already on it!" He didn't complain, he wasn't built to take a Nightmare on. Hawks frowned, adjusting his glasses, "Come on, Endeavour, ya need to wake up."

Harrow cracked his neck, leaning forward when he saw Viral with a pair of icy wings behind him. Velk spun Viral vertically, slingshotting the Nightmare toward the possessed Nightmare with a roaring coat of lightning over his body. His kick missed but left Harrow open to a sharp tail of ice to release a bloom of rime against a small shield projected from Harrow's hand.

He appeared behind her ear. "Want your ice back?" He slammed a massive glacier of ice against her stomach, Viral sliding down the massive attack to deliver a concentrated burst of smoke, slipping past Harrow's flames to snap the Nightmare's neck with a single right hook, the vertical slant from Velk's tail splitting the Nightmare's head in two as he laughed. "What great coordination!" His head slapped back together.

He flew forward, pulverizing Viral's ribs with his own punch, using his chains to strangle Velk as her ice permafrost his right side, though that hardly stopped him from slamming the two Nightmares together to share in a collective explosion of purple flames. He warped behind them, shedding his frozen limbs to release another shockwave of lightning.

"Nightmare Rain!" The pair cried out, combining their destructive energy into one helix of purplish-red light to split the clouds. Harrow brought his hands forward, manifesting a glass diamond prison around him, refracting the spell back at their casters.

The pair dipped and dived under, Velk tearing her tail off to use the sword freely, cleaving one of Harrow's kicks in two while flipping to avid his arms as a sudden explosion rocketed the air, tossing Harrow through the sky into Velk's impalement, herself spinning the corrupt monster around to plummet toward the earth.

"Let's me return the favor!" Viral hissed, clutching Harrow's chest as he released a sonic burst from his feet, curling up to punt Harrow down into the earth. Raising his hands, he brought down another Nightmare Rain, the destructive spell leveling the junction into ashen rubble. "Hah... hah... hah."

"Too slow," An arm backhanded Viral into Velk, her hand catching him to swing back into the fight, herself releasing a sudden halo of ice to instantly freeze the clouds, controlling them to converge on Harrow who raised both arms, one coated in toxic embers, the other a familiar white mist. "Hyrah!"

Two massive rings of fire and ice expanded from Harrow's form, leaving crescents of ice to cold-snap buildings or melt them through their internal structure like paste. Velk and Viral swept beside each other, diving over the intersecting arcs. Viral's eyes dilated, pulling back in time to avoid a thin wire of flames that flew past the city limits, exploding in the wilderness with a large dome of fire.

Velk was closer, using her wings to scatter several shards to expand and burst into ice needles against the monster's barriers, unfortunately, they didn't cover his whole body. She swung her tail down, grunting when a hand clasped it, drawing her closer to the swelling dark orb in his off-hand.

"Velk!" Viral noticed this, at that range she'd be knocked out by the fluctuations. Thinking quickly, he remembered one spell from a long time ago. Drawing two rings in the air, he brought his fingers to the inner ring, sketching a double-layered triangle. "Thanks, you old drake - Gateway!"

The red glyph sucked him through a needle, cutting between the pair as he caught Velk's hand, using his other to blast the gravity sphere with a blade of ice, flying high enough to avoid the sudden expunge of force that ripped through Harrow, leaving much of his right side warped and peeled.

"Thank you," Velk murmured, her hand shook off by Viral.

"Don't get too close to that spell, come on," The pair descended, leaving Harrow to gradually regenerate his malformed body. "We're not making a dent, and every attempt to take his soul is next to impossible."

"So that's what you're trying to pull," Hawks landed behind them, hands in his pockets while eyeing the Nightmare. "Yeah, seems pretty mad with you two."

"His name is Harrow, the Nightmare is Harbinger but he's been possessed by his Host's incredible will, which is frightening," Viral explained briefly. "If we can get close enough without Harrow capable of casting any of his abilities, we'd have a shot of ending this in an instant."

Velk turned to a strange source of heat, noticing the large arcs of flames over the city skyline. "Hey, look!" The pair turned to investigate, spotting the streaks of fire dispersing in the air. "It's Endeavour, he's okay."

"That's it..." Viral blinked, balling his fists tightly. "Velk, distract that rat up there, feel free to let loose."

"Are you sure? My power and Hana's-" She paused, seeing his expression, it was... hopeful. Her smile from under her veil returned. "I trust you."

"...right," He whispered, patting Hawks' chest. "Come on, let's give Number One a boost."

Hawks didn't quite follow at first, then his wings flexed. "Huh, I getcha."

When Harrow sensed the drop in temperature, he faced the ascending Velk, alone. "Come to be part of me forever? Well, I certainly wouldn't mind finishing you off personally," He flew after her, seeing that her sword was clasped in a scabbard on her hip. "Oh?"

"You took something precious from me," Her eyes were closed, avoiding his chains and arms with her senses, the bloodlust he released proved to be his downfall, feeling a deep pressure like no other against his forehead. Velk slipped through his defenses, placing her hand on his face. "So no, this isn't my power..." Her eyes flashed two tones of blue. "It's Ours."

She blinded the Nightmare with a mask of ice, slipping through his chains' shadow to appear behind him. There was one technique her sword possessed, a relic from another world, it could suppress their overwhelming frost with the midnite infused to the ice, but the alternative route? It could be a scalpel for their strength. "Release-" A streak of blue blinded Harrow with a ring of rime sawing through his torso. "-Clear White Sky!"

The City, for a split second, was shadowed by a literal ceiling of ice that tinted the environment a deep shade of blue, the ceiling fragmenting the moment it appeared, as though it were a mirage. Below, Velk's frozen armour melted and cracked, herself tapped out of hers and Hana's combined strength.

Propelled through the sky, Endeavour rose to combat the severely wounded Nightmare, itself was taken back by the unknown attack. "Ugh... what, can you... regenerate too?" Harrow coughed, staring back at the flames surrounding Endeavour's back.

"Don't lump me in with you," "I haven't been able to move for a while!" It took every last ounce of strength he could muster to even keep from falling.

Harrow swayed his frozen arm toward the hero, releasing a barrage of spikes from his arm to intercept. Endeavor endured the gashes, in fact, it only propelled him further. "Propel your body onward with heat!" He contested, encouraging himself to persist. "I'm grateful, I can stay conscious thanks to pain!" A few spikes did indeed pierce his flesh, that throbbing feeling kept him alert.

"Fix your eyes growing dim on the chance of victory!" Further, he pushed, Harrow's wings unable to fly away in time, he still needed to recover but the infused sword of midnite stalled his regenerative ability. Velk had done what he failed to realize, she hindered him - no, Velk and her Host combined. "Turn up the heat! Higher! Even More!"

"I gotcha, Endeavour!" Viral huffed, taking the brunt of the flames against his body to meld his form against the hero's back. "Use it, convert your flames into a twisted spear, and take out its soul!"

Endeavour glared toward Harrow. "I heard... it'll be bad for you if you lost that flame in your chest, right?" He saw it, a faint twitch in its central eye. "Go Beyond! Beyond its reaction time!" The two gave chase after the retreating Nightmare, itself unable to fly any faster, the wounds weren't closing.

"N-no... her ice," To Harrow's horror, ice had crystalized on his body. "I-Is that blade... a divine weapon, or that move she performed!?" He couldn't run, Endeavour and Viral were hot on his trail. "Get away!" He released a torrent of destructive flames, their tint a brighter magenta, exploding the instant they were released.

It didn't stop them at all, Viral was using his body to take the hits for Endeavour. "I'll go beyond, and I won't stop until I burn its ugly mug to ash!" Endeavor's face stretched with a fury unlike any other.

Hawks appeared behind Harrow, with him, Hana, her body partially covered in her icy armour with Velk's right eye visible, though it was close to passing out. The pair struck with their blades in a cross pattern, deflecting off another hexagonal barrier. Harrow changed targets, splitting his skin to release ice-coated spikes to shred the air of them.

One shattered Hawks' visor, while another pierced Hana's shoulder and stomach, her sword unable to parry them all. "Hawks!" She coughed, flexing her shimmering wings.

His own scattered Fierce Wings inverted their flight to join with Viral and Endeavour, combining with Velk's ice scales. Birthed from this merge was a pair of massive, radiant wings of fire and ice, sweeping the pair higher into the sky, faster than Harrow could muster.

"All I want is to live without running, to be able to let my guard down for the last time," Akio wondered as Viral tainted Endeavour's flames, turning them a dazzling fusion of black and orange flames with a hint of purple and red in between. "Who I was before doesn't matter, I know where I belong but I can't fully accept that until you're gone, until then, I won't be at ease entirely."

"I wanted to become stronger than anyone," Endeavour brought his fist back through the sea of flames, pressing all his might into one fist. "Yraaaaaaaaah!"

When his fist struck, the colourful flame spewed like a fountain of blood between Harrow's jaws, the grin snapped open to clamp down on the attack like a feral beast. "Like I'll let... SoMe HuMaNs StOp Me!" It gargled, biting harder as it managed to regenerate the left arm, claws pinching against Endeavour's costume where his chest was, only for a blade of smoke to form from the flames, slicing them off.

The pair were pushed back, their icy-flaming wings dissolving in the fierce flames. They were losing. "Hawks!" Endeavour called out, using an explosive force thanks to several red seals expanding the radius of his flames, Viral was almost tapped out, somehow, he and Akio kept holding on. "Hey, Nightmare... you, who have been tormenting this world, stealing powers - who is obsessed with strength-!"

Harrow flinched, no, Viral saw it, something else made Harrow's eye twitch again. As the last of Velk and Hawks' wings burnt up, a fair of cursed wings took their place, keeping Endeavour aloft with what burnt remains of Viral's cloak provided. "Oi, my feathers are basically cinders!" Hawks called up. "I can't help you anymore!"

They started to ascend, "It's enough!" Locking his arms to Harrow, he flew through the clouds. "Higher! Higher! Way up high where we don't have to worry about people or buildings!"

"Burn, erase it all down to the soul!" Viral persisted, his own skeleton beginning to show, unprotected by the flames that he infused with his own power. "We'll burn it all up, and end this horror!"

High above the clouds, alone with only two Nightmares, one to his back, the other burning in his fists, Endeavour spoke through dried lips. "You, Nightmare... you... are me... from the past... or another future..." He closed his eye briefly. "...burn up... and be put to rest..."

"For those shattered souls," Viral gurgled.

The nightmarish flames intensified, releasing a nigh-unstoppable pressure comparable to the sun in sheer intensity. "Yraaaaaaaaah!" Viral, Akio, and Endeavour screamed from the depths of their hearts.

"I've always hated this school motto..." Endeavour admitted, releasing a literal beam of condensed light that merged with the crackling red and purple matter merging with the flame. "PLUS ULTRA!"

"NIGHTMARE-!"

"PROMINENCE-"

"RAAAAAAAAAIN!"

"BUUUUUUUURN!"

All became silent as the sheer indomitable force of the brightest light and darkest force collided, becoming one in the sky as a beacon across the whole of Japan.


Back at UA, Shoto stared at the screen, sweat tracing his cheek. On the sofa in Yuki's arms, leaving forward was Kyoka, her eyes misty as she stared at the screen, the flames dwindling and dying out as a flaming mass fell from the clouds soon after. Her heart froze, and Shoto forgot how to breathe.


At Ketsubutsu Academy, Draco looked pale, clutching his cross necklace so tight it made his hand bleed a bit. Beside him, frozen from his initial chanting and screaming was Kaneko at a complete loss for words.


When the cars were blown away by the collision, no one dared to speak, the smoke and lingering puddle of flames burned on and on for what felt like hours. From the rising flames, a single, risen fist quelled the flames in a heartbeat, a damaged but standing Endeavour risen from the ashes.

Off to the side of him, laying atop a car, Akio/Viral put a thumb up too, still smoking from the attack, but otherwise alive.

"Endeavour is standing! He's standing! Standing with his fist raised high!"


With class 1-A. Shoto stumbled back to crouch, placing his hands together by the fingertips with his forehead against them. Izuku, Kirishima, and a few others ran to his side to check on him, seeing him breathing once more.

~A sign of victory - no - of his start!~

On the ground next to the table, Kyoka was crying with a smile on her face against Yuki's shoulder, feeling her heartbeat rapidly against her ribs, clutching the music note charm on her necklace.


Back at the battlefield, Hana stumbled toward the car as the distant crowd hailed for their rising symbol. "Akio, are you okay!?" She stumbled into the car to find him coughing up soot, thumb frozen to the sky with a blank, astonished look on his face.

"I can't feel my organs, I don't think that's normal - also, everything doesn't hurt, I think most of my nerves are still burnt away," Akio wheezed, sitting upright from his outline in the car. "You okay? Any... loss of everything?"

"I am still weak, I fear I may pass out soon, Velk is also tapped out from that attack of ours," She couldn't even lift her scabbard from her belt. "To think we'd use a spell that brought out divine magic, I did not believe it was true."

"Eve's influence in Nightmare relics is also more vast than people think, or that's what Viral says anyway," Akio murmured, staring up at the sky.

"And Harrow?" She inquired, almost worryingly.

"...no... he got away," Akio hung his head, glancing over at Endeavour lowering his arm, almost passing out where he stood. "When we reached for his soul something cut our hand off the second we tried, I think... a Nightmare was hiding in his shadow."

"Then, this is just the prelude," Hana exhaled, flopping down onto the road with her back to the car.

"Yeah, but I doubt he'll be wanting to try anything after that, even he'll take time to recover," He managed a small smile, flopping back himself. "But Viral's right."

"Hm?" She hummed.

The pair of them stared up at the clear sky, not a trace of fire to be seen. "The worst is yet to come."

Even with All Might effectively retired...

Kovik's eyes lingered on the screen of Endeavour, surrounding him were various containment pods, his Devils incubating before his eyes, several SIVA clusters on a lab table. One blue, white, and red thus far. Two spots lay empty.

Heroes cannot stop moving forward

The dark blue cloak of Chaser turned away from the radio, tossing a broken coin at his feet to summon a large rift for him to step through, in his left hand he held a flame, crushing it with wide eyes. His bounty complete.

And who will carry on his will...

Higher than any person could naturally reach, a single, white eye began to form in the air, a crooked smile hovering underneath, stretching with jubilation in its dark, stray cloud.

Is Us.

Yuki stared at the screen for the longest time, feeling Siva sit next to her, sharing her brief, grim expression through his mask. Behind her, Izuku mirrored their expressions, briefly, his irises flickering various colors.

To Be Continued in Season 5...


And there we have it, Season Four of My Hero Academia Perfected is over! This fight was by far my favorite next to Yuki vs. Vosik and Yuzuku vs. Overhaul. So many things have transpired, Izuku and Yuki's relationship blossoming further, their powers evolving, the introduction of Rayla, Tekres, Solaire, and many more.

Next on the horizon is where I really begin to change things in MHA toward Perfected's ending, with me needing to rely on the manga soon, so apologizes if what I put out comes before the release of Season 6 but that's just how things are, and I don't want to have to prolong a hiatus for Perfected until then, so to all anime-only watchers, my apologizes in the future.

Still, up next is my own original 'movie' so to speak, as in I'm not covering Heroes Rising or that third movie because they have no fit in the story. This will hopefully live up to the hype we all know and love, though. So for everything, thank you for reading, I appreciate the support as always; seeya in the movie and next season, Heroes!

Coming Soon - Movie: Timelost Heroes

Akio: Ready for a special Christmas celebration!?

Kyoka: Don't kill the vibe this time, old man!

Viral: It's only the first week of Decem-

Velk: *Giggles* Lighten up, Viral, for one day?

Izuku: This will be fun, right?

Yuki: A Christmas Themed date? Hell yeah, Zuzu!

Hana: I... am happy you invited me.

Sero: Ye-yeah, no problem!

Katsuki: Tch, I only agreed because the Mute kept banging on my door!

Ochaco: It'll be fun, Katsuki.

Shoto: Try not to cause a scene this time, Bakugo.

Yaayorozu: I'm getting a little nervous, this is very unexpected.

Akio: Let's get ready for one awesome day! Go Beyond-!

Everyone: PLUS ULTRA!