YOOOOO. It feels like it's been a REAL long time since the last update, though it's only been 4 weeks. But WOW what a busy 4 weeks, huh, guys? Not to go into it but, erm, yeah. Interesting start to 2021.

Still, hopefully, this update will bring some smiles to some faces, so READ ON MY PEEPS.


Hitoshi moved as fast as he could even with a child on his back. Kota, of course, was hanging on for dear life. The poor boy had practically screamed as Hitoshi bounced through the forest, heading back towards the HQ. The fire had yet to reach it, and he was sure Kota would be safe there.

He also knew that the proper thing to do would be to sit down, get help, and tend to his wounds.

But Hitoshi wasn't going to kid himself, he couldn't stop now. Perhaps it was the power of One For All pushing him on, or maybe it was his heroic nature demanding he do all he could.

Maybe it was the very clear concussion muddling his brain.

It was probably all three.

Either way, he knew where he needed to be. There were enemies in this forest that only people with the touch of the divine could stop, and apparently, he was one of them, which meant his place was on the front line.

He was so deep in these thoughts that he didn't even spot the sudden figure looming out of the dark before him until it was almost too late.

Just in time, he summoned One For All back into his fists to strike, even though his arms felt weak and useless at his sides, and he dodged to one side in a juke so swift it almost threw Kota from his shoulders.

He turned, skidding in the dark earth to fight this new foe.

That was until the dark shadow parted, revealing a face he knew all too well.

"SENSEI!"

Aizawa had clearly been moving swiftly as he too came to a sudden stop, his eyes blazing with the power of his quirk. Hitoshi was caught dead in his teacher's gaze and for a second, he felt something deep within him, within his soul, lurch in pain. The world seemed to spin once again, and a strange numbness washed across his body.

Then his teacher recognized him, and the quirk dropped.

Hitoshi felt the world rush back and he almost stumbled from the slam of power back into his limbs.

"SENSEI!" He repeated as he felt Kota drop from his back. "There are demons in the forest and they're attacking from every angle and we need to stop them and I'm the only one who can stop them and I need to find the others and you have to-"

"Shinsou!" Aizawa's sudden bark stopped Hitoshi in his tracks.

The world was tilting to the left, and he had to blink hard to bring it back.

"What the hell happened to you? You need medical attention, now." His eyes flicked to the boy who was standing, unsure and scared, at Hitoshi's side. The teacher's eyes widened before he dropped to one knee and beckoned the boy over. "Kota, come here."

Kota didn't argue. He quickly ran to Aizawa's side and grabbed him tightly.

"H-Hitoshi f-fought the m-monster and saved me." He sobbed out, his tiny body shaking.

"Aizawa-sensei, I have to go, take Kota back to the HQ," Hitoshi babbled before turning again. Kota was safe, which meant he could go out and help the others. He had heard that horrific roar through the forest and he knew what that meant.

Nemesis was out there. Nemesis was unleashed.

He had to stop him. He was the only one who could stop him.

"I have to-"

"No!" Aizawa suddenly commanded, causing the boy to almost stumble again before looking back at him. "You're running on pure adrenalin and your arms are clearly broken. You need help."

Hitoshi paused for a long moment before forcing some clarity into his head. It wasn't easy, considering the beating he'd taken.

"Sensei. Tell me you heard it too." Aizawa hesitated as he looked to Hitoshi. "Tell me you heard Nemesis."

"I can deal with Nemesis."

"On top of everything else?" Hitoshi snapped out, his anger bubbling for just a moment as he glared at his teacher. "Sir, I can stop him, I've stopped him before!"

Hitoshi knew everything his teacher had said was right. Every part of his common sense knew he needed to stop. He needed to lay down and rest. But what true hero would do that? What true hero would allow others to step in then their job wasn't done?

He had fought against a lifetime of people telling him no, that his power could only be used for evil.

But now was his chance to prove them all wrong.

He could see the pain wrestling in Aizawa's eyes.

"I could stop you. Tie you up right now and make you stay in one place or knock you out for your own good."

"I'd fight you," Hitoshi answered without a shred of regret. "You know that, sensei. Please."

"… Dammit, fuck." Both the young boy and the teenager's eyes widened as the man let out the rather uncharacteristic curse. His fist clenched tight. "Go. But take this message with you. Deliver it to Mandalay, make sure you do this, Shinsou. I'll follow behind as soon as I'm sure Kota is safe."

Hitoshi nodded, and he listened. And as he listened, his eyes widened.

And he knew, instantly, this war was only just beginning.


Shoto was scared.

The walls of ice climbed up around him, surrounding the three people he was desperately trying to protect. Two of them were already out cold, with blood dripping from their mouths and noses.

Thankfully, Momo was still conscious, though just barely.

The gas masks she had made only moments before would hopefully help, though he could tell by the way she constantly coughed, crouching on the ground as she clutched her chest, that she had inhaled too much.

And god, the smoke just wouldn't stop.

Moments ago, everything had been fine. His old friend had been chatting away as she often did in their easy, comfortable companionship. Momo was someone he trusted, someone he had known before UA. She had almost forced a friendship with the boy, being one of the few other children her age in the ultra-rich circles they had run in. They had been reminiscing on those old times.

And then the gas had come.

It was a sickly, ugly yellow. The color of weeping pus and weakening disease. He could still taste it on the back of his throat as a deathly, acrid thing that seemed to be crawling into his lungs.

He had already spat three times, and yet the taste remained.

They had also spotted the bodies of the two students, and while Shoto didn't know their names, he knew them by quirk. One was the boy who looked remarkably like a praying mantis. The other was a girl, petite, blonde, and with a pair of tall, sharp horns.

Both laying on the ground.

Both weren't moving.

They had acted quickly, diving onto them as Shoto had done all he could to keep the gas away. Momo had attached masks to them and given one to Shoto before attaching her own.

But as Shoto had put the walls up, she had collapsed.

And now they were here.

And the gas was crawling in from above.

Was there anything more terrifying than seeing death coming slowly for you? Not a swift doom, not a knife to the gut or a bullet whizzing through the air, but a slow, amorphous thing that crawled inexorably onwards.

Unstoppable, untouchable, death.

No.

Shoto forced the defeatist thoughts from his mind and grit his teeth, even as he raised the ice ever higher, trying to cut the gas off before it could fall. They were wearing masks, sure, but attacking the lungs wasn't the only thing this gas seemed to do.

It had touched him only briefly, yet with a quick glance, he could see where his skin had risen, red and angry. Both the two knocked out students were almost completely red, with even some welts forming on their flesh.

This stuff was dangerous, and he knew if he didn't get them somewhere safe, they could die.

Yet it kept coming.

Dammit, he needed a plan, but he couldn't even see where the gas was coming from. But if he let the walls down, it would wash over him and no doubt start biting into his skin like some virulent, airborne virus.

"Momo." He called out, his voice harsh through his mask. "Can you make something to cover our skin or keep the gas away?"

"I- coughcough- Can try, but I need- coughcough- space."

Shoto frowned for a moment, then nodded. He had an idea, and by God, he hoped it worked.

"Then duck."

She didn't need telling twice. Shoto quickly raised his other hand, and with a quick thought and a spin, the air was engulfed in a ring of fire. It instantly ate through the ice that surrounded them, quickly bringing the walls tumbling down.

Thankfully, it worked.

The gas was thick and heavy, but its thickness meant it was affected by the force of the blast and as such, it dissipated around them. No, not quite dissipated.

It seemed to recoil like a wounded animal.

Shoto knew he had to keep the flame up, and yet he couldn't use too much. Any more and he risked setting the trees on fire, and adding that to their situation would only make things worse.

Momo gathered herself beside him, lifted her shirt to show her stomach and back, and her skin began to meld and bubble in that strange, non-Newtonian manner as her cells went to work. Shoto had no issues with seeing her bare belly, he had worked with her enough times to get over the oddly revealing nature of her quirk.

What concerned him more were the blotches of red, angry-looking skin that didn't seem to be reacting like they normally might.

"What's wrong?" he called out, his eyes darting around, trying to see something, anything in the living-sea of swirling death around them.

"I- I can't." Momo's head dipped before she pulled it up again. "It's hard to -coughcough- focus."

"Keep trying." He spoke not unkindly, but with an urgent tone, before he glanced around, growling to himself. "Where is it coming from?"

Then, as if someone was listening, his question was answered. As he circled around, the flame pouring from his fingertips and washing the ever-creeping gas back, he spotted him.

A single figure, as motionless as the trees, the darkness of his uniform standing out against even the strange, too-black shadows of the forest.

It was a boy. A boy with what he first mistook as some kind of green skull before realizing it was a long-snouted gasmask.

And as the fire flowed, the boy cocked his head, and Shoto knew instantly that they were not human.

He had no idea how he knew this, just that some deep, instinctual part of his damaged soul recognized a creature of Hell.

His birthmark seemed to burn with old, distant pain.

Before he could stop himself, he aimed his hand towards the figure and let loose a barrage of fire. The gas parted before the heat, yet inextricably gathered into a dense wall before the strange figure where it washed, almost wave-like, over them.

Shoto blinked and took in a harsh, thankfully filtered breath as he saw the boy emerge from the toxic air once more.

Too late did he realize he'd let the firewall down.

The yellow gas rushed towards them and the second it touched his skin he could feel it burning. Like a thousand tiny insects biting at his skin, the gas seemed to dive under his clothes and across his body. The sharp shock of it almost took him from his feet, but the sudden cry of Momo beside him brought him back to his senses and he again threw up the wall of flame.

Again, the gas fell back, but under his mask, Shoto was sweating. He couldn't keep this up forever. The longer he stood there, keeping the gas back, the more energy he was using, not to mention the burning touch of the toxin lingered over his skin like acid. It sapped at the strength of his limbs as a whisper of necrotic disease.

Sooner or later it would close in.

Sooner or later it would consume him.

He glared towards the silent, still figure of the boy. A deep hatred flared in his heart and he wished nothing more than to stride over there and bash his head against the nearest tree. He had never felt such a sharp shock of anger before, not even when he had faced the Heretic Killer.

Yet this thing, this hellborn thing, was standing there. Taunting him. Some sick, ugly part of his spirit wanted nothing more than to see it lying on the floor, bloody and broken.

"Shoto!" The cry of his friend brought his thoughts back to reality. He turned to Momo only for a terrible cold to grip his heart. She had only produced half of what looked to be a paper fan.

But even more terrifying was that there was blood inside her mask. Her skin was bright red and welting and, to his horror, even peeling in some places, bleeding and raw and terrifying. The two beside him looked even worse, their own skin opening and cracking as the horrific, skin-eating gas had washed over them.

"Shoto!" She breathed again, her voice harsh and forced. "I- I can't breathe! I can't- I can't-"

She stumbled and fell to one knee, holding tight her stomach which he had stupidly told her to reveal. How could he have been so idiotic? He'd exposed her to direct danger and now-

And now she might die.

Panic ballooned inside his chest. Panic so swift and sharp that it almost took him off his feet. His friend, his classmates, they were going to die and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

And the gas was getting closer.

He moved towards Momo, still trying to keep the circle of flame up but the second it dropped away the gas sneaked towards them again, forcing him to constantly be turning, spinning almost, as he tried to force it back.

Shoto could feel the eyes of the monster- no- the demon on him. He could feel them as much as one could feel their own skin rot from their bones. His mind was filling with the images of trenches, of gas, of soldiers choking on the blood filling their lugs, of drowning in pools of toxic water, crying out for help and-

"TODOROKI!"

The cry broke him out of whatever spell he had almost been placed under. His attention snapped up, and to his shock, he saw… a mouth. A mouth floating in the sky. One which grinned wide with unnaturally sharp teeth.

"THE GOD-SQUAD HAS ARRIVED!"

For just a second, he honestly couldn't believe what was happening.

Apparently, neither could the demon.

He glanced down to see the demon looking up at the mouth. And while he couldn't see the expression on its face, he knew surprise when he saw it.

Even more so when a fist suddenly smashed into the back of its head.

Before the demon could turn around, another fist hit it in the stomach, then a third hit it again in its head.

The demon seemed to stumble, and the gas began gathering around it like a shield.

And it stopped encroaching on Shoto.

He took his chance. He forced all his attention back on the demon and unleashed a sudden wave of ice that rocketed towards it.

The demon turned just in time as the ice hit it like a mallet hitting a brick wall. Within seconds it had consumed its legs, its body, and was swiftly trying to devour its head. To his horror, however, it began thrashing and smashing its small fits into the ice, cracking it open, and revealing a hidden strength that its childlike form wouldn't have otherwise told.

But it turned out the God Squad wasn't done yet.

Another mouth appeared beside the first one, this one grinning with a smile that Shoto instantly recognized. He had seen it on the boy who had taunted their class back at the beginning of the sports festival.

It had to be Neito Monoma.

"By the power of the Lord, our God, I hope you fucking burn you demon bastard."

All the while hands had been attacking, distracting, and harassing the childlike demon, even as more gas surrounded and poured from it. It was curling up, trying to head towards the floating mouths, though how effective that could be was anyone's guess.

It was at that moment that Shoto realized had only ever seen three hands.

Now the fourth arrived and in its grasp, he saw a small bottle of water.

The demon stopped, its entire attention turning on the hand. And he was sure if it could gasp or cry out, it would have done.

Especially as the water fell right out of the bottle and onto its head.

And it screamed. The scream was so horrific that Shoto had his breath stolen from him. Something was torn in his chest, in his heart, and again he felt his birthmark burn with some distant, horrible fire.

He fell to one knee, the exhaustion suddenly hitting him like a truck.

Yet he didn't take his eyes away as the demon erupted into fire. A great and golden fire that spoke of something holy and cleaning. A fire that swamped over the creature without burning anything around it.

A fire that ignited from every drop that the holy water touched.

It fell to the ground as the ice broke around it, its body a pyre of purifying flame. The gas was dissipating now. Without its master, it simply had no direction, no fuel to exist. It thinned, faded, and went back to whatever corner of hell it had been summoned from.

The demon thrashed and thrashed before finally, it went still.

Corpse still.

And Shoto had never felt more relieved to see something dead.

Two figures came running from out of the forest to the far right of Shoto.

The first was female, clad in a simple t-shirt and short-shorts combo. The mouth zoomed down to reconnect with her face, and Shoto finally took note of Setsuna.

She came to pause by the body, looking down on it with a combination of horror, disgust, and grim fascination.

The other, Neito, made his way directly to Shoto, who caught him mumbling, "and Katsuki said I was being paranoid…" He glanced at Momo and his fellow classmates, his expression no longer a mocking, vicious joy but heavy and concerned. "What happened? Are they alright?"

"Momo, the others, they breathed in the gas," Shoto spoke as he finally took off the mask. He took in great gulps of air, yet the acrid, toxic taste of the gas lingered on his tongue and throat and he wondered if it had somehow done permanent damage to him. "They need medical help."

"I'll… be alright…" Momo coughed out. She too flung her mask off, though as she did, Shoto noticed the pinkish blood on her lips and a trail leading from her nose.

His stomach tightened, and that strange anger came back. He wanted to find whoever did this, whether it be Tomura or his Fallen Lord, and rip them to pieces. This time however he found it easier to reign his anger in and he allowed his cooler, more logical thoughts to win out.

Neito frowned at her, even as he helped turn the horned girl onto her back. She looked pale and had a guttural, throaty breath. The rash on her skin was a terrible, angry red and the welts had become almost a greenish-yellow, promising a lingering disease of the skin that would last even after the demon's death.

"Can I trust you to get them back to the HQ?" Shoto asked the blonde.

"What? You're not going back with us?"

"You heard that sound before, from behind us. That was Nemesis."

He hoped he didn't have to push any further. Momo wasn't in the know and he didn't want to confuse her further with talk of monsters or demons. Not when she was clearly hurt.

"… you want to take on Nemesis? Alone? I've heard some shit from Katsuki, man. I don't-"

"I have to stop him. I can stop him."

"No! We're not letting you go face him on your own! Besides, Setsuna and I were the ones to take down that demon, you're better off helping us get the others back."

"Look." Shoto coldly, but firmly demanded. His anger was in check, but it still leaked into his tone. "You and Setsuna have the quirks to help get them all back to the HQ. You can carry them, or copy Momo's quirk and make something that can help them breathe. My quirk is better suited for attacking, and I know that Katsuki and Ibara are behind me somewhere. I can link up with them and together we can try and stop Nemesis. If you guys take the other route, you might find others who need help."

Neito paused at this, clearly thinking his options over, his jaw tight.

Then, suddenly, all three of them felt pinpricks rushing through their brains, and in a sensation that was bizarrely pervasive, they heard the voice of Mandalay in the minds.

"Students of UA! The villains are here to capture the student Izuku Midoriya! Therefore, Erasurehead has ordered that you are all allowed to use your quirks offensively. Do all that you can to defend yourselves and your fellow classmates! And Izuku, if you can hear this, please find your way back to the HQ. Whoever is with him, do all you can to defend him!"

The three of them blinked and shook the sensation off before looking to one another.

"They're… after Izuku?"

"Makes sense," Neito grumbled before looking to Shoto. "They wouldn't bring this much firepower otherwise."

"Which is all the more reason for you two to help get Momo and the others back to the HQ," Shoto pressed again. "Please. They're going to need your help."

There was another second's pause. A second where the taste of acrid gas and hot ash was on their tongues and the weight of every life before them seemed to lay heavy on their shoulders.

One wrong move would be all it would take for lives to be lost.

"He's right." They both turned to see Setsuna by Neito's shoulder. Her usually sharp smile was gone, and a look of distress and worry was writ across her face. It didn't suit her, but no one would tell her otherwise. "The villains are mostly attacking from the other direction, and if the gas has spread this far it might have got others on the returning route. Neito, we need to help them, and if they're okay we can link up and get back in force."

The blonde seemed to struggle with this for a moment before sighing deeply. "Fine…"

Shoto nodded and looked to Momo. "Go with them. I'll be alright."

She seemed to hesitate, and Shoto knew she was trying to think of an excuse to join him. But her coughing, along with more pink on her lips, simply answered for her. She gave a weak nod before rising to her feet, softly saying, "I- I can walk, help the others," before coughing once more.

Shoto glanced at the other two, gave a small nod, and then headed off in the direction of the ever increasingly desperate sounds of explosions.


The blade had sliced its way across her back.

And it was all Katsuki's fault.

He had watched it, dumbly, in slow motion even, as his attack had failed to catch the demonic monster off-guard. Then, just as he thought it would slice into him with one of its many elongated blades, he had felt someone shove him to one side.

Ibara had been there, screaming as the blade had cut clean across her skin. Blood had flared into the air in a fine spray. Her eyes had gone wide with shock and pain and the scream from her throat died within it, the very effort of her anguish being robbed from her lungs.

She had fallen to the floor instantly, and only by a sudden burst of explosions and speed did Katsuki save three more blades from stabbing into the ground where she had been.

As he held her, he could feel her blood coating his fingers. Her arms had wrapped around him, her head buried into his shoulder.

He felt like throwing up. He felt like shaking and falling to his knees and sobbing because he had failed to protect her.

He had failed to stop her from getting hurt.

He was angry and scared and hurt and he…

He started to run. He had never run from anything in his life.

From behind, he heard the monster giving chase. He heard the blades smashing into the ground around him, but he didn't care. He had to get her out of there, he had to help her. Goddamn it, he would never forgive himself if-

"Katsuki." She hissed into his ear. She was wrapped around him, yet her hair still flowed out, still being sliced and cut down, she was still protecting him.

And what was he doing? Running. Running like a coward in the night.

"Put me- put me down."

"Fuck no!"

"Katsuki… I can fight-"

"NO!" Katsuki barked and glanced at her as another blade shot by their head, followed by a low, terrible clacking from the monster behind them, a clacking that sounded too close to mocking laughter. "I'M GOING TO SAVE YOU!"

"Wait on the Lord." She panted out, her face growing paler by the second. "Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart. Wait, I say, on the Lord."

"Sh-Shut up!" Katsuki shouted as the ground before him became a pincushion of blades. He could feel her blood against his arm as he held her tightly with one hand while blasting with the other.

It was wet and warm and there was so much it was starting to run and drip down his skin and oh God she was dying.

Suddenly, the earth under him erupted as more blades crashed down, tearing the path before him, and causing him to step wrong.

He fell.

Katsuki twisted as he fell, landing square and hard onto his back. He felt his skin scrape against the dirt as he skidded to a stop.

And he opened his squinting eyes to see the shadow of the demon fall over him. Blades spiked from it like the tentacles of an octopus and they swayed monstrously in the night air. He could taste the distant ash on his tongue and already it tasted like the ash of Hell as he fell into the darkness.

He had no escape. He couldn't blast away hard enough to get out of its range, not now, and not unless he dropped Ibara which he wouldn't do. He wouldn't let her die to save himself.

"… Oh God." He hissed to the night as the monster chuckled softly, biting its many teeth together and twitching as three blades raised above it. "Oh God, please, save us."

It turned out that just at that moment in time, God was listening.

And He sent Katsuki a savior.

As the blades fell, as Katsuki gritted his teeth and prepared himself to meet his death like a warrior, something happened.

There was an explosion, but not of his flame.

An azure flame.

It detonated around the monster, causing it to cry out in shock and pain and the falling blades to dart and quirk around him. One cut hair from his hair, another sliced neatly, but lightly, across his leg.

Not one landed a killing blow.

Then, darting from the shadow of the woods, came a blur. A blur of shadow that rushed forward and smashed into the side of the demon, knocking it far back.

Suddenly, there was a beak in front of him.

"… Bird Boy?"

"Get up!" Fumikage shouted grabbing Katsuki by the arm and practically hauling him to his feet. "Get up!"

"She's hurt!" Katsuki barked back. "Ibara! She's hurt!"

Fumikage's eyes flicked to the blood that was now coating Ibara's back and along Katsuk's arm. Katsuki knew, just by the look in his eyes, that it was bad.

"We need to get her back to camp, we need to-"

"DEMON!"

The voice that roared into the night echoed with the crying voices of Hell itself, and Katsuki turned only for his heart to shiver from a cold chill and his scars to burn with old pain.

Nemesis stood before the demon, but not the hulking giant of shadow-black and azure fire. It was Nemesis wearing Izuku's skin. His tail was swaying softly, his talons sharp and, most terribly of all, an unholy halo flickered from shoulder to shoulder, noticeable even in the dark of the night.

Fire burned from his glowing scars and yet he stood, controlled, and focused and looking towards the suspended monster that twitched grotesquely before them.

"DEMON! We are Izuku Midoriya! We are Nemesis! We are the Morningstar, the Prince of Hell! We demand you stand down and return to your master!"

Izuku wasn't hiding behind the mask of humanity anymore. This was Nemesis, this was the beast of hell he had seen behind his childhood companion's eyes, slowly emerging as the years had passed.

And now they were here, standing before him.

Every nightmare from the USJ flashed before him, and he held the whimpering Ibara tighter. He had been prepared to die moments ago, and he would do so again, but he would rather die to the weird blade-demon than to Nemesis.

If he had to pick a preference, of course.

So, he couldn't understand why Nemesis wasn't trying to attack him. Why, instead, it had chosen to attack the horrific nightmare of blades and black leather and tough, deformed muscle before them.

He couldn't understand why Fumikage, the boy with the demon in his soul, was helping him move Ibara back and away.

He couldn't understand why those touched by Hell would help those in the light.

But for tonight, just for tonight, he would take the help.

The demon before Nemesis let out a long, slow laugh that convulsed its body as it was almost about to vomit. Long strings of saliva spat and fell from its lipless mouth, lined with too many clacking teeth.

Then it spoke.

Its voice was… was like listening to something try to attempt human speech but seemed to have no idea how to properly form the words. It was disjointed and strange and made Katsuki's soul shake within his heart.

"Prince… of Hell…"

Nemesis didn't reply. Only the sound of fire and distant screams echoed in the tense night air.

"Capture… Prince… For… Mistress Satani."

Capture?

As if answering his question, each of the teenagers shivered, even Nemesis, as Mandalay's telepathic message played through their minds. Katsuki's hair raised at the back of his neck at the bizarre, intrusive feeling, but after it ended, the picture was suddenly much clearer.

They wanted Izuku. They wanted Nemesis.

His eyes narrowed as the thing cackled before them as if it too somehow knew the message had been delivered.

Then, it attacked.

A dozen blades spawned from its twisted flesh and shot towards Nemesis, who darted suddenly. He moved a hand up to spray the thing with blue flame, but more blades shot out, keeping even the shockingly fast Nemesis at bay.

Katsuki had to admit he took a strange pleasure knowing that even the Prince of Hell couldn't close the gap on this monster.

"Katsuki, you must aid him," Fumikage suddenly demanded as they set Ibara down against a nearby tree.

"He can do it himself! We need to get her back to the others!"

"We can get back faster if you aid him, otherwise this monster of the dark will hunt us down."

"… FUCK." Katsuki snapped before looking to Ibara.

To his shock, she was still awake. Her face was milk-bottle white, but she managed a small nod. In the dark, illuminated by the flashes of dull, destroyer fire, her eyes seemed so bright and soft. "Go… in the name of… God Almighty. Defeat the demon."

Katsuki again felt his heart almost stop in his chest. He felt some mighty struggle within him, every emotion smashing against every other emotion within him. He could see it in her eyes. If they didn't rescue her, she would surely bleed out here in the dark forest.

The demon had to die.

And he had to help Nemesis to kill it.

Fuck. God was doing this to punish him, he knew it.

"… alright." He had never spoken a softer word. He took her hand and squeeze it. "Don't go anywhere."

She gave a nod, then looked to Fumikage. "Keep the pressure on her back as best you can."

"Of course."

He leaned closer, his eyes hardened, and in a voice as cold as ice he whispered. "And if anything happens to her, I'll fucking kill you."

To his credit, Fumikage only nodded once, never breaking eye contact.

Katsuki turned, his palms crackled with miniature explosions, and the caramel scent of his sweat reached his nose. He breathed deep, then with an almighty roar, he fired himself into the air and towards the beast.

Both the demon and Nemesis looked shocked as Katsuki joined the fray, and for a moment the green haired teenager had to move back as Katsuki hammered at the beast with an array of explosions that would put the Hindenburg Line to shame.

"FUCK YOU! FUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOU!" His scream was meant to be one of furious rage, but no one who heard it could ignore the screaming anguish. The hate he had for this monster that had spilled the blood of Ibara.

The friend who had done all she could for him, and he had done so little to repay her.

The friend who he would save, here, tonight, even if he had to team up with the devil to do it.

The friend who was more than a friend.

They landed either side of the demon, though the monster in question simply let out another scream as blades exploded around it. The two boys dodged in concert, avoiding the blades with expert grace, though anyone watching could see they were both almost exhausted.

And now that he had a better look at him, Katsuki could see that Nemesis looked as though he had been beaten to hell and back. His shirt was torn open and blood and bruises were across his entire body. If he were any normal human, there was little chance he'd be walking unassisted. What had happened to do that kind of damage?

No. Not the time. He refocused on the monster. There had to be a weakness, an opening, something.

"Katsuki!" Nemesis roared through Izuku's lips. "Do you remember the Sports Festival?"

"I fucking got third place!" He shouted back through the booms of his own explosions.

"Do you remember our fight with Ibara?"

Katsuki was about to shout how now wasn't the fucking time to be bringing up his past fights and bragging about them when Ibara herself was bleeding at the side of the road. However, in a flash of insight, he suddenly realized what Nemesis meant.

"OPENING MOVE!" Nemesis screamed again. "GO! NOW!"

And, even though in any other situation he would have planted his feet down and screamed at the monster for daring to order him around, he did as he was told.

He juked suddenly and using a blast of fire he moved not around the beast, but towards it. Across the way, he saw Nemesis doing the same. A lighting strike of azure flame that rocketed the unlight-clad boy to Katsuki's opposite.

The demon was not expecting this, and the shots of its razor-wire whips lashed too far forward, snapping into the trees and bushes, and even causing Fumikage to dodge as branches fell around him.

But Katsuki was focused on his enemy, just as Izuku was.

As they closed the gap under the beast, they twisted their bodies mid-air, and for a second it seemed the world slowed its great rotation as the two boys, seemingly in unison, held their palms up and out towards the monster.

And with a united scream, they let out their hurricane of fire.

Katsuki's was a barreling explosion that shot from his palms like a howitzer. A roar of fire that tore through the night air, utterly encapsulating the horrific, leather-clad monster. Izuku's was the opposite, a howling wolf-flame that rushed from his palms, riding the wave of Katsuki's to bite and rip and devour everything before it.

The monster screamed and it was like no cry any of the teenagers had ever heard. It was a terrible thing, the sound of something utterly inhuman, something utterly blasphemous, engulfed in a fire that tore and bled and burned every inch of its deformed body.

As the two boys collided with the earth in barely-together heaps, Katsuki looked up just in time to see the charred, blackened remains of the disgusting demon fall from the air where it had been suspended on its own wires.

And it fell to the ground with a crump that spoke of a corpse hitting tough ground.

He panted, his lungs burning from the taste of ash and fire and pure, utter battle-exhaustion. The sure weight of the fight was finally hitting home, and the mad mixture of bloodlust and adrenaline was wavering. The cuts he had suffered, razor-sharp as they were, at last, started biting at him.

He could feel a wetness that wasn't sweat coating his arms, his shoulder, his hip, and shin. He felt as though he had taken on every hero in the country one after another.

But those thoughts he could force aside.

While Nemesis slowly picked himself up, Katuski pushed himself to his own feet and staggered towards Ibara and Fumikage. He didn't trust Bird-Boy, and the second he could get back to Ibara's side the better.

She looked like hell. Her skin was so white he could see it in the gloom, her hair was falling limp and lifeless around her head and, as she looked up, he could see her eyes were becoming hollow and ringed.

Yet she still smiled, and his heart felt lighter at the sight.

"You… did it," She gasped as he drew close. How she was still even awake at this point he had no idea. She had lost so much blood, but she was also a Templar of God. He knew she was tough, but he was truly impressed by just how tough she really was. "By the… grace of God… you slayed… the demon."

"Stop talking." He spoke a command, yet it came out as a half-whisper. His heart was still hammering in his chest and he could feel a shake threatening his hands. No. He couldn't show fear. Not in front of Nemesis, or Fumikage, or especially in front of Ibara.

He had to be strong for her.

"God will… protect me."

"I'll protect you." He snapped back.

"We'll protect you." Katsuki turned his head suddenly to see Nemesis approaching them. His feet, his arms, all the way up to his neck were clad in that unholy unlight black. He could see it across his chest, as his shirt was all but ruined.

But even that couldn't hide how injured he was.

"What happened to you? Get hit by a truck?"

"Something like that." Nemesis replied in a flat tone, and beside him, Fumikage bowed his head. "We and Dark Shadow had a… discussion. Fumikage is keeping them within their soul, for now, in case the demon decides to rampage once again."

He glanced to Fumikage. He had never seen his quirk up close, but from what he recalled of the Sports Festival… had Izuku really gone one on one with that thing?

He shook the thought off. Ibara was the important one here.

"We need to get moving. She's hurt, and I don't expect you two to be carrying around any fucking first aid kits."

"Our apologies we could not get here sooner," Fumikage said as he began helping Ibara to her feet. Katsuki took her other side, not trusting her around either of the two damned creatures.

All the while he noticed that Nemesis looked on. He had to admit, he was utterly creeped out by this. His last memory of Nemesis was the huge monster that had torn the USJ apart. This… strange union of Izuku and Nemesis was unnerving to look at. If it wasn't for the eyes, he could almost imagine it was still Izuku, still the pathetic boy he had tormented for years.

But no. Instinctively he knew this was not that boy. Not anymore.

But it wasn't the rampaging monster either.

This was their union. This was the Prince of Hell.

And he felt his bowls tighten at the prospect.

"We could cauterize her back," Nemesis offered, stretching a taloned hand towards him. Again, Katsuki wondered how he was even doing that, as his arm looked bloodied and torn. How could this being shrug off such insane amounts of pain so easily?

"No," Ibara spoke, bringing Katsuki's attention back to her. "We… will suffer no scars… from you."

"Pride cometh before the fall, Templar," Nemesis responded with a coldly indifferent, echoing tone. "But fine. We can fly you back to the HQ, surely you wouldn't object to-"

There was a sudden shock of movement from behind Nemesis, and all of them jumped, their hearts leaping in their chests as the razor-demon leapt up from the ground.

Its arms and legs were now free from the binding of their precious form, and they were naught but charred bone and melted flesh, wires were already sprouting from what remained of their skin and their teeth were chattering madly in their lipless mouth, and surely anything like that should be dead, but it was leaping.

Nemesis was reacting even before Katsuki, fire in his palm and already raising it to strike at the beast.

But in that impossibly stretched second, it would all surely be too late. They would all die to the spinning death that was the razor-wired monster before them.

Then the air went into a thin, terrible chill.

A wall of ice as thick as a safe door smashed into the demon. It was almost comical, as for a moment, just for a tiny heart-beat of a moment, Katsuki saw its face smushed before it was utterly and completely enveloped. The many razor wires of its body were also encased, with one ending just before Katsuki's own nose.

Barely half an inch away.

He could see the cracks where the demon was trying to escape, but more and more ice was simply blanketed onto it, the ice-cold growing so severe that Katsuki was forced to pull Ibara back as the air was being robbed from their lungs.

The ice cracked around the demon as it tried to escape, yet the ice simply packed on, and on, and on. Katsuki could even see the monster through the ice itself, its body morphing and crunching as it was slowly crushed to death.

Finally, the cracking stopped.

"Looks like I got here just in time." The sardonic voice of Shoto Todoroki reached out across the path, and several of the party let out thankful sighs of relief. Even so, Katsuki could feel his heart pounding in his chest, so much so that his limbs felt almost numb from the tingling that was creeping into his skin.

He caught his breath once more as the boy came from the shadowed night with a light jog, quickly noting everyone before him with a sharp nod, though he stopped when he saw Nemesis, and again when he noted Ibara.

"What's happening?"

"She needs help!" Katsuki snapped. "Get over here and freeze her back!"

Shoto needed no further explanation, which was good as Katsuki was in no mood to give one. The teenager moved around to Ibara's back as Fumikage and Katsuki held her steady.

Katsuki couldn't help but notice his face pale at the sight of the ruined, open flesh that was Ibara's bloodied back. Yet, even so, the teenager held his hand to her, the air already cooling around it.

"This might hurt." He announced in a soft tone. "Be ready."

"Heal me… Lord," Ibara began in a breathless whisper. "And… I will be… healed."

Yet as she spoke, she did something else. Her hand began to grip Katsuki's shoulder tightly and feeling as though he had to do something to help her, he reached out his free hand and took hers.

Her fingers curled around his, and their eyes met in the dim gloom of the night.

"Save me… and I will be-" She hissed in a sharp intake of breath as Shoto covered her wound with a layer of chilled ice. Yet instantly Katsuki could see it was the right move to make. The wound would never truly heal and would leave a large and ugly scar for the rest of her life, but at least now the blood had stopped.

At least now she stood a chance of surviving the night.

"I will be… saved." She gasped, releasing a breath she didn't truly have. "For you… are the one… I praise."

"Amen," Katsuki grumbled before noticing the others were looking at him. He scowled deeply and barked. "What? FUCK OFF!"

There was a badly concealed snicker from Nemesis, before the mood was again shifted, though this time by Fumikage.

"Shoto, your skin!"

Katsuki turned and, focusing his eyes in the dark, he felt his stomach tighten as he saw how red and angry Shoto's skin was.

The teenager seemed nonplussed however as he lifted a hand up. "I had to fight a demon myself, it almost took out two of your classmates," He glanced to Katsuki, "and then Momo. I was saved by Neito and Setsuna. Without them, its toxic gas would have killed us all."

Katsuki smirked at that. "Heh, so the idiots are good for something after all."

"Where are they?" Nemesis asked sharply.

"They're heading around the other path back to the start of the trail, they're going to help anyone they find over there," Shoto replied. "I believe we should do the same."

"You can," Nemesis said. "We will fly the Evangelist back to the HQ."

"You think I'm going to let her go with you?" Katsuki snapped suddenly, his pinked teeth exposed in a snarl. "Fat fucking chance."

"Don't be stupid." The Fallen Prince now turned his full attention on Katsuki, and he could feel those glowing eyes burning into him. "She'll die if we don't."

"Like you care." Katsuki snarled. "Not to mention what if they're watching the fucking skies? They know you can fly, idiot."

"He's right," Shoto announced, causing both teenagers to look to him. "You'll be exposed in the air, and your natural heat might melt the ice. We have to make it back on foot."

Nemesis cursed deeply and opened his mouth to continue arguing before he suddenly froze. His pointed ears twitched, and his tail became low and still.

Katsuki frowned at this odd behavior, though inside his stomach flipped. "What? What is it now?"

Nemesis twitched, turning his head one way, then another, his eyes narrowing into tight slits before he hissed out, "someone's here."

The others instantly went on guard and surrounded Ibara. The girl herself, however, refused to simply be a useless pawn and curled her hair up around her. It was weak, waving, and limp, but it was a sign of how deep her strength truly was.

Then, just as the tension rose in the stained, war-like air of the night, they heard something.

Clapping.

It was slow, both deliberate and mocking and Katsuki couldn't place the direction. The forest was distorting it, causing it to echo from every tree.

He teeth clenched tight and his free hand curled into a tight fist. What now? What fucking now? What more could they throw at us?

Soft laughter now joined the clapping, bouncing from tree to tree before slowly focusing before them all, causing each of them to turn to look further down the path, away from the frozen demon.

The shadows began to pull together as a shape formed within them. As Katsuki watched, he felt goosebumps run up his arms. He felt a migraine forming at the very base of his skull as a pressure he had felt only once before gathered within the meat of his brain.

A pressure he had only felt from the being standing beside him.

The clapping came to a shivering stop as the shadows became solid, then slowly parted to reveal… a girl. A girl who looked their age but was no class member he had ever seen. A girl with a strange surcoat of white and gold that should have stood out in the shadow yet somehow seemed to melt in and out of it.

A girl with golden hair and a smiling mouth of sharp teeth and shining, utterly unnatural, golden serpentine eyes.

As a terrible unease, born of the blasphemous and impossible sight of the girl came upon them all, for even Nemesis seemed frozen in complete shock, the wide grin of the girl stretched ever more so across her face and she spoke a single sentence.

A sentence addressed directly at Nemesis.

"Hello, cousin."


BOOM.

TOGA.

ON THE SCENE.

WITH A KILLER LINE.

HECK YEAH.

Been planning that intro for SO LONG, and the next chapter with their confrontation is, not to brag, PRETTY DURN GOOD. By my standards at least. Either way I hope you guys enjoyed the Shoto fight, Hitoshi's running through the forest and the brief teamwork of Izuku and Bakugo. Also, poor Ibara's gonna have a real big scar from that wound.

EITHER WAY. I hope all you guys enjoyed the first chapter of the new year! Everyone keep safe, keep good, and thank you for reading! Till next time!