OOF. So many of you guys have been burning for this chapter. Himiko vs Izuku! The Princess vs The Prince! It's a cousin showdown and fists will fly. But they'll make up later cos you can't hate your family, right?
Only time will tell.
So, without further adieu, read on!
When Aizawa had arrived on the battlefield, everything had been dust and chaos.
He had only gotten halfway back to the HQ before he ran into the teenagers he had left there, being led by Kan.
The HQ was no more. Or rather, the classrooms they were staying in were no more. They quickly explained that a villain had arrived, and by the description, Aizawa knew it was another clone of Dabi. Thankfully, Kan had dispatched it easily, though not before a large chunk of the HQ wall had been burned down. The fire hadn't spread thanks to the efforts of the students, but it was clear it was no longer safe.
And so, they had rushed to meet up with the others. The only safety now was in the strength of numbers.
With Kota reluctantly in tow, they had turned back towards the main field of battle. Aizawa had placed Kan under strict instructions to keep the boy out of the conflict as much as possible.
He had eyes that were dark, wide, and staring. He had already seen too much for one so young.
Surprisingly, it was Eijiro who had recognized this. He had volunteered to stay with the child, allowing the two pros to move forward and assist the others. Aizawa had been hesitant to allow it, but what other choice did he have?
Thankfully, it seemed that they should be fine.
It was clear that the villain's strength was at the clearing, pressing down on the beleaguered heroes and Aizawa internally cursed himself for arriving so late. His students were bloody and beaten, and they had holed up in an almost makeshift fort that Pixie-Bob had formed around them.
And assaulting the walls were… His heart almost stopped as he beheld the enemy, and a cold sweat broke out across his brow.
A small army of bestial monsters, some wolfish, others porcine, others reptilian, some a horrific mixture of all three, were assaulting the small barricades.
Aizawa had only watched for a moment as another one of Pixie-Bob's vast constructs were brought down by a screaming, howling tide of the things throwing themselves into it, crawling over the golem's earthen skin like insects before tearing them apart.
But they had one big weakness. All of them were being spawned from one man. One man who was on his knees on the other side of the wide-open space. The second one of the clones was beaten, turning into a slush of greyish-blackish goo by a strong kick or a sharp fist, another one would spawn from the man.
And this was where Aizawa's focus locked.
He cried out as he charged into the mass battle. Dust was on his tongue, carrying with it the distant ash of the azure fire, the heat of which he could feel on his skin even now, even in this madness.
He drew eyes, both those of the heroes and the villains.
Good.
The myriad demonic beast-men clones looked to him, scowling, and roaring in blind, mad rage at their new target.
But Aizawa wanted them to come.
And he hoped to God that his guess was correct.
The beast-men army turned as one and descended upon him. Their teeth flashed bright with salivating strings of furious hunger, their claws large and terrible, and their eyes consumed with a bloodthirsty madness.
And for a moment, his heart trembled in his chest.
Then he activated his quirk.
He felt a wall hit him. Not a wall of bodies but a fall of greyish, clay-like goo.
It washed into him like a tide, almost knocking him back, coating him as much as the dust had coated him. From the air around him, he heard an agonizing, piggish screaming like swine brought to a slaughterhouse.
They were dying in droves. The army was literally collapsing before him, and yet despite the wave that hit him he refused to close his eyes or look away. Like a bastion of strength, he stood tall against the darkness that washed over him.
Somewhere deep in his heart and mind, he gave thanks to the Lord for his quirk.
Just this once.
And then, like a knight of old, he stormed forward, his eyes blazing with a bright red light.
As the army collapsed, he caught sight of the two villains on the far end of the copse. The one clad from head to toe suddenly gripped his chest and began screaming into the night, though he lost sight a second later when the larger one stepped before him, blocking his view.
More beast-men began emerging from behind the armored villain, but they quickly began dying as they came into Aizawa's view.
Yet what almost broke his vision was when he heard a tremendous cry from behind him. Not one of fear, but one of battle as his students began launching themselves over the barricade towards the villains, intent on finally bringing an end to the battle.
Just for a brief moment, it seemed they had won. That perhaps this night would see the fall of the Heralds.
And then from the opposite path leading into the forest, came the desperate screaming of two girls.
Aizawa knew that screaming, he knew those voices. He turned his head, breaking eye contact to see Ochaco and Tsuyu rushing out of the forest.
And from behind them a shadow. A shadow that formed into man, covered in dripping gore that flowed from him, and especially from the two giant axes he held in either hand.
The girls were bleeding. Ochaco's arm seemed limp and Tsuyu was clutching her side. Their eyes were wide with terror, their wills utterly broken in the presence of the berserker behind them.
The attack from the other students faltered at this new enemy, one who quickly turned his gaze to the others and roared. The sound wasn't one that should have come from any human, reptilian or not. It was… primal. Something deep and mad and hellish was in that roar.
And then he changed targets. The reptilian man turned and began tearing towards the students. Aizawa turned to face the new threat, even though his stomach twisted as he realized his gaze was doing nothing to halt the attack. The students were scattered before him, and the second any stone golems rose up to attack, they were struck down by the pure force of the axes wielded with an inhuman speed by the dark paladin.
"The villains, they're escaping!" He heard Kan's voice roar somewhere by his side, but Aizawa knew just as well as Kan that there was no catching them. This new threat had to be dealt with, and fast, before it could bring those terrible axes to bear.
From the corner of his vision, Aizawa saw the two previous villains flee, then he refocused his gaze on the new arrival.
But he wasn't the first to attack. Just as the reptilian villain went to slice down at the girls, Tiger leapt before them in a roar of effort.
The axe fell.
Tiger's neck to his liver was simply carved away in a single, bloody torrent.
The murderer raised his axes high and screamed to the moon, "BLOOD FOR THE LORD OF BLOOD! SKULLS FOR THE THRONE OF SKULLS!"
And all Aizawa saw was red.
The five teenagers stood in complete silence. Complete stillness. Each, despite their powers and abilities, couldn't move a muscle against the tension that held them all, like prisoners to the night air.
It was Katsuki who spoke first, though his words sounded unusually hollow and uncertain. "… Nemesis, what the fuck is this bitch talking about?"
"Impossible." Fumikage followed, the spell of silence finally broken. His crimson eyes were wide, his hold on the weakened Templar almost slipping. "Impossible. Impossible."
"Izuku?" Shoto asked, one hand raised to his chest as if the girl would strike at him at any moment. "What's going on?"
A heartbeat passed. Then Nemesis moved.
He stepped slowly forward. Each footfall careful yet determined. It was the walk of a creature who saw before them another alpha, another predator of their own ilk.
As he stood before his friends, he could feel their eyes on his back.
He ignored them.
Since taking direct command of the body they both owned and shared, Nemesis had felt many things. It was not the first time they had taken control, but it was the first time they had ever done so without blanketing their human-self completely.
Izuku was still there, still a part of them. And it was that part of them that spoke now.
"… Who are you? What are you?"
The girl cocked her head, her smile remaining. "I am Himiko. I was once Himiko Toga, but now I don't think that last name really applies anymore. And don't pretend like you can't sense it. You know exactly what I am." She smiled, flashing long, serpentine teeth. "I'm like you!"
"She's lying, right?" Katsuki barked from him. "She can't be like you!"
"Want some proof?" Himiko replied with a laugh before she raised her hands, one flat out before her, the other pointing up.
Unlight came from her hand, turning her finger to a sharp talon, which itself drew sharp gasps from the others.
Nemesis flexed his own.
She brought the talon down to her finger and pressed it, before drawing it away. A single drop of blood welled before she turned her hand and held the finger up, allowing the drop to travel slowly down her finger.
"Do you see it? Do you smell it, cousin? Like you, I share the blood of a Fallen."
Nemesis felt a cold chill run down his spine.
Because she was right.
He could smell it as clear as he could smell the ash in the air, the fire in the distance, the ice trapping the demon beside them. He could smell her blood, the usual, coppery taste of humanity and… and something more. Something unholy. Something that mixed and corrupted and enhanced all at once.
Celestial blood, the blood of a Fallen, was flowing in her veins.
Just like his.
"This can't be true," Fumikage breathed out from behind Nemesis. "She's insane. No human can-"
"Leave."
The others looked to Nemesis. He didn't need to turn to them to know their expressions.
"… you can't-"
"Leave!" Nemesis turned, snarling at them, his eyes blazing in the dark light. "Leave, before she kills you all!"
His companions looked to him with the kind of eyes one might have for a confession of a terrible crime. All except Ibara, whose eyes were going increasingly dull and listless.
"We're not-"
"The Evangelist is dying. She'll die in the next half hour if you don't get her some help." Nemesis turned back to the girl before him. "We'll hold her off until backup arrives."
Himiko laughed, a light and airy thing that was as sweet as hemlock. "Oh my! You're handsome and brave? My heart is fluttering!" She bit her lip as she obviously eyed him. "And covered in all that blood. My, my, Father didn't tell me you'd be this lovely." She suddenly held out her arm and flicked her wrist, and in doing so, her hand twisted and changed. Unlight rushed across her fingers, changing them to wicked talons, and crawled up her arm. "I agree. Let's get a little privacy, shall we? We are royalty, after all, we shouldn't have to be distracted with common mortals."
"You're not royalty." Nemesis snarled back, his wings spreading from his back, covering his friends from Himiko's eyes.
"Well, maybe not quite yet," She admitted with her irritatingly light, airy tone. "But I will be. Maybe you and I can rule together, hm? How about it? I'm sure Father would love a union of our realms." Even as she spoke her body moved naturally into a fighting stance.
Nemesis copied her.
"Don't do this!" Fumikage shouted from behind him. "She's trying to capture you! She's drawing you into a trap, it's obvious!"
"Shut up!" Nemesis snapped back without looking at his friend. "You're wasting time! Go!"
"He's right you know, but also so very wrong," Himiko flexed her talons. "We are here to capture you, Father's orders of course. But I do want to see what my cousin is made of. So, let's fight, you and I, right here." Her grin grew wider, her gaze alight with manic energy. "Let me test myself against you!"
Let me test myself against you. The words struck Nemesis like few others ever had. And they struck because had he not burned for challenges of his own for so long? Ever since the agreement, the attempted union of his shared soul, had he not wished to do all he could to find great and greater contests to push their unity against?
And he could see it in her. He could smell the blood of another Celestial within her own, he could feel it in the air around her, and he could see it in her eyes. She wouldn't take no for an answer.
He wouldn't decline her. Not even his human self could turn down this fight, for this fight had purpose. If she fought anyone else, she would kill them. Only he could truly keep her at bay, at least until someone arrived to help. Then, maybe, they could capture her.
This was not a fight for glory, but a fight to defend.
Even so, even with all his bruised skin, bloody wounds, and possibly fractured bones, he could feel his blood rising faster and faster within his veins, like someone stepping down hard on the accelerator of a racing car.
He grinned wide, and fire erupted from his scars.
Someone shouted something behind him, Katsuki maybe, but it was all static and background noise.
It was the sound of mewling mortals, begging for the attention of Demi-Gods.
He shot at her like a bullet, his feet kicking up the earth behind him in a flurry of dust and soil.
Nemesis collided with his target with the force of a speeding truck.
And she caught him.
She caught him.
His fist has swung down to meet her, his free hand open to counter, but she had reached out and stopped his fist mid-swing, just as he caught hers.
The force of his attack shoved her back, though she too dug her talons into the earth, creating great tears within the path.
By strength of her will against his, she brought him to a halt, and a cone of air rushed around them in a flurry of leaves, dirt, and broken branches.
Only All Might and Hitoshi had ever managed such a thing before.
He was taller than her, though only by an inch, so Nemesis had no illusion that she could see his shock.
"YES!" She cried into the night air, her blonde hair whipping around her and her eyes now blazing gold with the power she had inside her blood. "FIGHT ME, NEMESIS! FIGHT ME WITH EVERYTHING YOU HAVE!"
He screamed a battle cry that was the ending of the world, the tearing of the human soul in twain, the opening of Hell's gates as the legions tore from their bastions.
She screamed back. Hers was a roaring nightmare of blood on marble skin, of pleasure in pain, of torturous rapture from the most debased forms of the human soul.
And it was joy in battle.
Just like his.
He launched again into the attack, a swift fist aimed at her stomach, yet she sidestepped easily and slammed her fist into his burning shoulder. Even with his resistance to pain he could feel the sharp, knife-stab of agony from the blow. She spun around him, a hand coming down to claw across his winged back. He barely evaded, ducking and arching under her blow to strike at her body once again.
Yet she dodged.
Again, he quietly marveled at this, and his blood raced even harder within his heart.
He marveled even more when a wave of fire he attempted to throw towards her was deflected, deflected, and then, from her own shadowed palms, she unleashed a wave of her own.
The azure flame leapt from her hand like a starving wolf, rushing forward towards him, and only through the base instinct of survival did he managed to avoid the worst of it, though the flame still bit and clawed at his body and he cried out again in pain.
It was getting more obvious, more notable. He could feel it more and more as his body struggled to continue fighting.
He was slowing down.
And yet his stubborn pride refused to yield to this- this-
What was he fighting?
He barely got a glance at her as she attacked again, forcing him to go on the defensive, his footsteps quick and darting along the dirt path. Her talons flashed in the night, razor-sharp and deadly, as they swiped in lightning strikes. He hit them off or misdirected them only for his own counters to be foiled by her almost serpentine movements.
Up close, he could see it. His heightened senses looking to where her own unlight coated her skin from her fingertips to the upper reaches of her arms.
While his own unlight was like a second skin, sometimes forming into spines, other times into something that was almost a fur, hers was more… reptilian. There was almost a shimmer to it that sent a shiver through him as his human heart remembered tales of the garden and of the tempting serpent deceiver.
His distraction cost him. He felt his arm grabbed tight and claws dig into his already bloody shoulder. He cried out as Himiko launched him down the path where he hit the ground hard. He could feel the skin on his back tearing and the shock taking his breath away.
Yet even as his super-human body rushed to repair and undo the damage, she was there again, teeth like the striking cobra clear in her mouth as she laughed into her assault.
"I thought you'd be tougher, Nemesis!"
He managed a quick roll and then, suddenly, he was on his feet, but he held his tongue.
Something wasn't right here. Something was… missing.
As she ran at him again, laughing in joy and pleasure at their fight, Nemesis took a heartbeat to do something that she clearly was not.
He thought.
And he made his move.
Before she could strike, he did not go into the attack as his darker thoughts wished, but instead, he launched back, and then up.
His vast wings were spreading from his back in moments, and the ground vanished under his feet as he took to the air.
Nemesis took a second to look down, only to see her wide, disbelieving, and furious eyes looking back at him.
And he grinned.
"So, she can't fly."
His success, however, was short-lived. Himiko turned and then leapt, jumping to the top of a tree, bouncing off branches before darting out at him. He didn't dodge in time, despite the mastery of his wings. His body wasn't responding as fast as he needed it to, and he knew he was becoming too worn even for his hyper-focused, hyper-powered soul.
She didn't quite grab him how she wanted, but she took hold enough to stop him from falling to the ground.
The two of them dipped in the air and Nemesis attempted to stabilize before she ended up snapping both their necks.
All the while, his heart pounded in his chest. His blood danced and the fire sang in every inch of his body. This truly was a fight to test him to his very limits, to push him to that edge that he had fallen from only once before.
The dark power in his soul begged to be unleashed, to teach this strange pretender a lesson. To show her what one of true Celestial heritage could do.
But the human part was shouting too. The human part of his soul that demanded control, caution, thought. The human part that knew down that path lay only destruction for them both. This was their true power over this girl. She was clearly lost to the unholy flame in her blood, letting it guide her every movement, and while it made her mighty indeed, it didn't give her something more important.
It didn't give her control.
Just as they reached the tree line, with Himiko laughing all the while, Nemesis suddenly took his wings away.
And they dropped out the sky like a pair of intertwined stones.
The look of utter shock on the girl's face was priceless as they plummeted, and since it was Nemesis controlling the descent, it was the girl who hit the ground first. They landed with such a crunch that the very ground beneath them cratered and split.
The wind was instantly taken from her lungs, and Nemesis rolled up and back. The shock of the landing might have knocked the daylights out of a lesser being.
But not them. Not the children of the Celestials.
Nemesis turned, claws out, flame ready, panting, and hot.
Himiko took a moment longer, however, to climb up.
And now he knew for certain.
She rolled onto her front, supporting herself with one bent knee and a hand. And then she vomited. The blood that fell from her lips was dark and red. It was internal.
And he could smell death pouring from it.
"We knew it," Nemesis panted, and that alone spoke of the effort he was putting into simply standing. "You're not truly one of us."
"Yes, I am," Himiko snarled in reply, deep and angry and determined. She looked up her eyes glowing golden and determined. "I am one of you! I am the daughter of Satani!"
"You have their blood, but you're dying. Your body can't handle it," Nemesis breathed, his voice echoing in the night. "You need to stop before you kill yourself."
"Never." Himiko crawled to her feet, her lips pink with her own blood which dripped in long strings of saliva from her mouth. "I've found my purpose, my reason to exist. I've found who I was always supposed to be. I will become a Princess worthy of my Father, and I won't stop. Ever." She roared her next words at him, her furious anger masking something deeper. "Once I kill Tomura, no one will ever be able to tell me who to be and what to do ever again. Once I kill Tomura, I'LL BE FREE FOREVER!"
He hesitated.
Every word she spoke seemed to stab into him, into both sides of his soul. He knew she was a killer, she had to be, but… there was something else. A desperation. A dying, bloody desperation that he knew all too well.
For had he not been searching for his own identity? Had he not burned to become the person he knew he could be?
And now he was hearing his own struggles, his own heartache from the mouth of another.
She was so like him as to be a dark mirror of his own faults.
He almost lowered his arms, the human part of his soul winning more and more. Pity for this foolish, damned girl before him was rising in his heart over the flame of his fury.
Almost.
But then he saw her smile.
And he knew, instantly, the trap had been set.
His ears twitched and he turned slowly, oh so slowly, as to be through water, to see someone new reaching out for him. A demon, he recognized in the flash of instant soul-sight, a demon with a face that was no face but a swimming mask of blasphemous symbols and shapes.
A hand reached out to him, and the voice of his would-be cousin called out, "let's fight again soon!"
And then there was only the ash-dark of the Hellscape.
Hitoshi's body felt as though he had dipped it in acid. Every muscle seemed to ache and burn, and he could almost hear the bones grinding on their joints. He wanted to sleep, oh how he wished to simply lay his head down and let the darkness overtake him.
But he was an insomniac.
And also, apparently, a masochist.
Because he didn't stop. He didn't lay down or even pause to take anything more than the barest of breath needed to keep moving.
He had delivered the message to the besieged pussycats and his classmates before darting off once again. He hated abandoning them, but what choice did he have? He had a job to do. He had to protect his friends. And, in his pain addled brain, this was a task that only he could do. He couldn't trust Nemesis to hold back when it came to attacking anyone or anything around them, so he had to be there to shut it down.
Or what about Fumikage? Fumikage who had a demon of his own living in his soul who could quite as easily rampage if not restrained by the power of Hitoshi's original quirk.
And then there was Shoto. Shoto caught in the forest with demons closing in around them and who knew what else lurking in the dark reaches of the forest. Shoto who might be able to hold his own, but for how long?
He owed Shoto a debt on that account. A mirroring of what had come before. He would find the one who made his heart hammer and repay that debt.
God, he wished his arms would stop aching.
The teenager smashed through the forest undergrowth, the tips of branches cutting at his skin like tiny spears, and the leafy, grassy ground under him crunching with every step.
He knew he was running blind, and that the slow march of the azure fire was creeping further towards him with every moment. But he didn't blame that on the villains, no, he blamed it on himself. He wasn't being swift enough, or strong enough, he had to push himself further, he had to go beyond his limits if he were to save his friends and-
A voice.
A voice broke through the madness of the night and somehow managed to lodge itself into his ears. It was a voice he knew from a thousand miles away because he knew of only one person who spoke in such a tone.
A tone that echoed.
It was Izuku, it had to be. Or rather, it was Nemesis speaking through Izuku's lips, but it was all the same.
He smiled wide as he quickly redirected himself towards the words, though fear gripped his heart when he heard a girl's voice bounce through the air in mocking laughter.
Hitoshi burst out suddenly onto a pathway, and without thinking, screamed into an assault as he saw figures before him.
He caught only a shimmer of golden eyes before his foot swung towards them, rushing through the air with a thunderclap of force.
Whoever it was he had aimed at, dodged without effort.
He landed into a skidding halt before tuning and looking up, his fists screaming in pain as he clenched them, ready for another fight and his dark-ringed eyes lighting up in the night.
He saw a girl. For a moment, he wondered if it was a classmate of his, yet her strange attire dispelled that notion even from his pain-wracked mind.
Her eyes, however, brought a new thought. They were bright and shining gold and… and suspended in a void-black. A void-black he knew instantly to be the sign of a Fallen. Blood ran down her front, dark and heavy, but he couldn't seem to see any wounds on her. Not ones like that, anyway.
That had to have come from someone else.
"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" Hitoshi's eyes turned to the other figure. A tall man in a strange, constantly shifting mask. He cocked his head as he looked without eyes at Hitoshi. "Another young hero. Out to make a name for yourself, are we?"
"Who- who are you?" He snarled as he desperately fought to keep himself standing, "Where's Izuku?"
'Answer the question, answer the question!'
"Izuku?" The girl replied as she cocked her head. "Oh! You mean-"
Her eyes went blank as Hitoshi reached forward and grabbed her mind with his quirk. For a second, he grinned in victory, even though he felt a strange, almost Izuku-like pull from the control he held over her.
Then a hand reached out and slapped the girl on the arm.
Instantly she snapped out.
Oh, yeah, there was another guy right there. Was he really so concussed that he had forgotten about him? Apparently so.
"What was that?" The girl suddenly demanded, a snarl deep in her voice.
"He's the one we were warned about." The strange man beside her, who was giving Hitoshi increasingly creepy vibes, rested a hand on the girl's shoulder and turned to him, his fingers playing with something small and marble-like. "He's the successor."
Hitoshi felt his blood run cold. They knew him. They knew him.
Which could only mean… it was true. All For One had to be working with them.
"Ooooh! The Guardian of Mankind!" The girl's vicious anger vanished and was quickly replaced with a grin. "How exciting!"
"Nice to meet you." Hitoshi gave a cocksure twitch of a smile, knowing that his Brainwashing wasn't going to work here. They knew him, and if he captured one, the other could break them out.
He needed a plan.
"So," he panted out, "are you actually going to answer my question or not?" His eyes narrowed again. "Where is my friend?"
"The Prince of Oblivion is right here." The man, who had to be some kind of demon, spoke with a calm glee to his tone. "See?" He held out a hand. A hand with a single, black marble sitting in the center of it. "He's trapped within one of my containment spheres. Think of them as tiny pockets of the Hellscape. He's perfectly safe."
Hitoshi's eyes grew wider and he felt a cold chill run across even his own numbed flesh. "… give him… give him back."
"No." The girl replied with a smile. "I don't think we will." Her eyes grew wide. "I like you. You look strong and brave." She bit her lip as she took some steps towards him. "And you're very bloody. Just my type. Not as handsome as Nemesis, but not bad in your own way."
Hitoshi smirked, and it thankfully hid his pain as he tried to raise his arms up. "Sorry, I'm gay."
The girl shrugged, though she didn't stop her advance. "That doesn't matter, I can become a boy if you'd like." She cocked her head as her eyes narrowed. "Wait… your heart belongs elsewhere, doesn't it? I wonder who courts your love?" Her grin became wider, and Hitoshi had visions of those fangs sinking into his flesh. "I can't see souls very well, you know. My sight hasn't developed enough, but I can see yours just about."
She paused, she was within striking distance of him and he knew if she tried, he'd be helpless to stop her.
Because he knew, now more than ever, that he was facing another creature like Izuku. She held that same aura of power, of blasphemous damnation mixed with the fallacy of humanity.
Yet while Izuku clearly held onto his as a pillar of his strength, she seemed to be eagerly casting hers aside.
"Who… who are you?"
"You can call me Princess Himiko, Daughter of Satani, for now." She chuckled softly, her fingers becoming talons. "Before I rip your throat out, of course."
"Please make it swift," The demon called back. "Our time is running short, and Kurogiri will leave us all stranded, favor of She Who Takes or not."
"Father will wait for me, I am their favorite." She snapped back at the demon before looking to Hitoshi. "Now, any last words?
Hitoshi, for all his sins, had nothing. He knew he would lose if he tried to fight her, he knew it. He could see it in the way she held herself, in the way her cold, cruel eyes looked over him not as an opponent to beat but as an annoying fly to swat aside.
And if they had somehow managed to imprison Nemesis…
He grinned. He wasn't sure why he felt the need to grin, simply that it felt like the most appropriate reaction at the time.
"You're not going to win, you know."
Himiko paused and something human flickered across her face.
"You can't win. You think your Fallen master really cares?"
"Father cares about me."
"Really?" He cocked his head, "I don't see the Ender of Days around here. So, I guess he was too valuable to risk losing. And yet Satani throws their own daughter into the field? Sounds like they don't give a shit if you die or not."
Her eyes began narrowing and Hitoshi felt the cold chill of absolute terror grip his stomach in a vise. A cold sweat broke out over the back of his neck.
"I'm going to enjoy tearing you apart." She raised her hand up, sharp claws of unlight flashing in the dimly lit night. "You annoying-"
The air heated up and a half-breath later, one which might well have been Hitoshi's last, a barrel of flame tore through the night air. It almost hit Himiko, though she dodged back just in time. The force of it knocked Hitoshi down, and he hit the floor with a painful spike that rattled his whole body.
He seriously hoped he could get back up again.
Himiko darted back with a speed and agility that was inhuman, and that only enforced his own belief that there was something unholy about her. Her demonic assistant moved too, quickly coming to her side as he ran with an unnatural grace.
"WE HAVE TO LEAVE!"
"I CAN TAKE THEM ALL!"
"I will not be cast into the pits of torment just for your pride, self-proclaimed Princess!" The demon snapped at her, earning another growl before, suddenly the air changed again.
A wave of ice tore through the night, rushing at them both only to be smashed into pieces by a strong swing of a fist from the girl.
More shouting, this time Hitoshi's pain addled brain began deciphering the words. He knew who was there, Shoto and Katsuki at least, and they were coming on quickly.
"You're a lucky one, handsome," Himiko called to the dazed Hitoshi as the teenager began crawling, painfully, back to his feet. "You might live to see the sunrise! But don't expect to last the week!"
And with that, the two were gone.
Hitoshi felt his own adrenaline take a dip. His body aching and wobbling but his resolve made of iron. He could keep fighting, so long as he had breath in his body, he would keep fighting. But he knew he was running on borrowed time, time that was quickly depleting with every passing second.
His heart lifted as he saw Shoto come into view. The wave of fire had been a long-shot, but either way, he seemed determined to give chase as best he could. However, when he saw Hitoshi, his eyes widened, "Hitoshi? What-"
"They have Izuku," Hitoshi breathed out, knowing they no longer had the luxury of waiting. "We need to capture them."
"How did they-" Katsuki began, but quickly stopped himself before growling, "right. Demons. Fuck."
"Good to see you too," Hitoshi again spoke in a panting tone. His mouth tasted of copper and spit and his lungs felt too tight in his own chest.
"We have to go, come on." Hitoshi went to move but his own legs seemed to fail him and he staggered.
Shoto caught him, but Hitoshi was in too much pain to let any feelings of romance come into the sudden contact. His entire being was set on a single, unstoppable goal. Find Izuku. Save Izuku.
"You're hurt- fuck me you're hurt." Katsuki barked out from Shoto's side. "We should send you back the other way with Bird Brain and Ibara."
Hitoshi wondered what they meant by that but decided to brush it off. "I'm fine, we need to-"
"No, he's right, you need to stop," Shoto spoke calmly, but his words felt like ice to Hitoshi's heart. Tears began entering his eyes and the pain in his limbs became ever greater, ever more pressing.
"I'm not- I can't, I can still fight, please." Hitoshi tried to shrug his friend off but found he didn't even have the strength for that. He was failing. He was letting them take his friend. He was going to lose.
And didn't that just hurt. More than any other pain in his body, more than anything the enemy could ever inflict on him, the thought of failure, of loss, of allowing them to use Izuku to complete their terrifying plans.
It was all too much.
And so, he grit his teeth, tasting blood on his tongue and forcing his body to co-operate.
"Every second we spend here they get further from us. We go. NOW."
"But-"
"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Hitoshi screamed at Shoto, his gaze intense and wild. "If they get him, we're all fucked! Every one of us! So, I'm not stopping until we get Izuku back and I don't give two shits what either of you think!"
The two boys looked at one another, then back to the half-mad Hitoshi. They knew they had no choice.
"Fine, but what's your plan, we can't catch up to them at this rate and we've no idea where they've gone."
"We do what Izuku would have done." Hitoshi snapped before looking up. "We get a bird's eye view, and then strike from above."
Himiko was overjoyed. As she danced over branch and brush, she knew she had won. She had won. She had succeeded where Tomura had failed! And furthermore, she knew after this that her Father would be proud of her.
That thought more than any sent energy through her limbs. And God knew she needed energy. The thrill of fighting Nemesis, her cousin, her fellow half-Celestial, had been the greatest high of her life. Nothing had felt so good as when they had exchanged blows in a manner that she knew hadn't been seen since the Fallen themselves fought against their Archangel siblings.
She only wished they had been armed with swords, or better yet, that Nemesis had been unhurt. That she could have fought him at full strength, alone, with no one to interrupt their battle.
Oh, how glorious that contest would have been.
She wasn't going to acknowledge, of course, how her limbs had been screaming with pain by the end of it. How even now some instinctual, human part of her senses that knew her body was ready to fall apart at any moment.
She had vomited more human blood before Nemesis. A sign of weakness she would never live down and she would have to make sure that the demon beside her would never speak of it.
If Tomura found out that little detail… well, he would never find out because soon, he would be dead.
He would be dead, and the power of his soul would just be another gift to her own ascendency to the ranks of the Fallen.
She would eat his heart before her Father, and Satani would give her the last of what she needed to rise above her mortality, her humanity, her failures of the past. Her family, the one she had been born into and utterly rejected from, would be forgotten forever, and she would become a member of a new family.
A family that appreciated her gifts, her bloodlust, her passion.
And then she would truly be free.
Her mind was filled with thoughts of what her throne would look like, what her own personal part of Satani's realm would be like.
"Princess."
She'd need a new name. A Fallen name. Like Nemesis but… not as obvious.
"Princess."
It had to sound cool and romantic and-
"HIMIKO."
She was wrenched from her thoughts and she turned her neck, which ached, to Compress beside her. "WHAT?"
"We're approaching our departure, but many of our numbers are missing. I already contacted them on the transmission device," and he tapped the side of his head where she knew his earpiece was located. "We have to wait for them."
"WHO CARES?" Himiko snapped as they approached a small outcrop. The place itself was free from the fire that came worryingly close to it. A creeping wall of azure death that had not abated since it had begun. Himiko hoped it would consume the entire countryside.
Why not? Soon everything would be consumed by the fires of hell.
They both landed with a heavy thud, their feet scraping on the earth before coming to a stop. It was all Himiko could do to stop herself from stumbling. Her body was burning. Burning from the inside with every move she made. She could feel the sapphire fire she had barely used eating at her, one cell at a time.
It hurt. It hurt so much, like a jaw filled with razor teeth biting through her body, but slowly, carefully, as if it wanted her to bleed out before it finally devoured her.
How the hell did Nemesis stand it?
Though again, inside, she knew the answer. He was a completed union of humankind and Celestial. She was… a work in progress.
But she'd get there soon. Very soon. She just had to keep herself together for a little while longer.
She took a breath which burned her lungs before forcing a smile onto her face. She looked to their rearguard agent with a smile. "Mission accomplished!"
The tall form of Dabi looked back at her with an uncaring expression. She liked Dabi, though she felt she shouldn't. But she liked anyone who smelled like blood and stood up for themselves. Even if it was against her own Father.
"Where's everyone else? Where's the Prince?"
"I have them." Compress held up the marble. "We need to-"
"Where's everyone else?" Dabi suddenly demanded, and smoke curled from his clenched fist. "We can't just fucking leave them."
"Why not? It doesn't matter," Himiko snapped, coming towards the man and growling deeply. "Captured or not, once we unleash Hell upon the world, they're all going to be free." She swiped a hand towards the forest around her. "Besides. I'm in charge of this mission and I say we leave them."
"No," Dabi replied with a flat tone. "You contacted them when you caught the Prince, right?"
"I did," Compress announced, his ever-changing mask swirling into something that could have been a serious expression if the mass of strange Rorschach-blobs could convey expression. "They should all return soon. If they are not dead, captured, or lost to their own madness."
Himiko growled. They were supposed to be listening to her and her alone. They had the Prince, and the more time they wasted the more they risked being captured. She had somewhat glimpsed the souls of the Prince's court. They were all strong, powerful heroes in the making. She had taunted them, sure, but that didn't mean she was about to underestimate them.
And the burning, gnawing pain within her own body was growing ever more agonizing with every second. She needed more of her Father's blood, just to stave off the ache of her humanity being disintegrated.
There was a sudden crashing within the forest and the three turned to see Magne and Jin rushing through the undergrowth. They seemed worse for wear, and Magne was missing her own hammer.
She looked desperate. "We need to go. Now."
"What's wrong?" Dabi quickly demanded as Jin staggered past him. He was gripping himself tightly and moaning. Himiko could smell blood on them both, but nothing more than what she expected.
She tried to focus her eyes on Jin, and though it burned to do so, she caught a glance of his soul.
Legion was within him, rushing and swirling and biting onto what remained of the mortal man's spirit. They were in conflict with themselves, and without proper guidance, they would probably split apart.
Another reason they needed to get going.
"Fine! See! They're here now." She snapped, trying to hide the desperation from her tone. The burning of her insides was getting worse, the pain was starting to reach up through her body inch by aching inch.
Her stomach was churning as bile reached towards her throat and her hands were starting to shake, so she quickly balled them into tight fists.
"We need to go!"
"Where's Shuichi and the other two demons?"
"Shuichi's lost to bloodthirst. The heroes probably captured him," Magne panted out, looking back. "But we need to go."
"Why?" Dabi asked again.
"Because they have an exorcist with them!" Magne snapped back, her tone harsh and her hands curling into fists. "The second he arrived on the scene he simply looked at Jin and almost banished Legion from him!"
The others paused in absolute shock, though none felt more fear run down their spine than Himiko.
Her soul had only just begun to change on her path to becoming one of the Fallen. If some exorcist suddenly showed up and removed that gift from her… she shuddered. An eternity of being tormented in the depths of Hell was not something she was prepared to go through. Not when she could become one of its rulers.
"That settles it. Kurogiri!" She ordered sharply to the night air. "Answer my summons and open your gate! Now!"
She was answered by a swirling vortex of darkness that sucked in the air around it like a gasping breath from a dying man. The form took shape, and soon a pair of piss-yellow eyes opened to glare at the Himiko.
"Do not order my obedience, High Priestess."
"Oh shut up, demon." The teenager spat back before glaring at the others. "We're out of time. Everyone-"
She paused in that half-second of a moment. Her ears, not yet pointed and sharp but no less sensitive, picked up on a sound.
A rush of fire in the night.
And before she knew it, she was diving back as something rocketed out of the sky and landed with an almighty boom in the space before them.
Himiko felt a pained breath enter her lungs. She was thankful her body had reacted before she had even thought of it, even though her blood screamed within every cell of her being that she had to stop, she had to get more of her Father's blood, she had to-
With a forceful shove of will, she pushed the thought aside and looked up.
Three boys. The angry blonde, the mixed-haired quiet one, and the beaten-up lilac boy from before had landed in front of them.
In that half-second, she was amazed that they had the absolute balls to continue chasing her.
Then she decided a few extra bodies sacrificed to her Father couldn't hurt.
It was Dabi who acted fist, fulfilling his role as rearguard by blasting a wall of cursed blue flame towards the three. It was met with a wall of ice that rose up in defense and would have collapsed upon them all if not for the pure raging heat given off by Dabi's attack.
The ice cracked and pieces fell like shimmering glass over the attacking villains. However, this was dispelled seconds later by a roaring explosion that shot out before them, smashing into Compress who was caught entirely off guard.
The demon screamed in a voice that was beyond his usual façade of humanity, revealing something of the monster that lay behind the mask. But that wasn't what terrified Himiko.
Himiko's stomach lurched as her eyes quickly spotted the single, shimming orb that was the contained Prince of Hell fly through the air. It seemed to almost hang, suspended, before the most injured boy, the one with the soul that seemed to shine brighter than any other she had ever known, darted forward. His arm purple and bloody with torn skin and ruin reached out for it.
The Princess of Hell was not about to let her prize vanish before her eyes.
Fire ignited once again with her blood, every sense rising to the point of dizzying over-sensation, every color, sound, smell, and touch was like lightning to her, but she still moved with an inhuman focus.
And her hand closed around the marble before the boy's hand could touch it.
She quickly pivoted back, moving away from the boy and towards Kurogiri, who was already opening more portals for the others to escape through.
"NO!" The boy's cry was savage in its desperation, but it only brought a sneer of joy to Himiko's lips as she bounced close to the shadowy warp-gate.
"Too bad, handsome!" She grinned as she spun on her heel, holding the marble between two fingers, her golden eyes glowing in the dark of her shadowed sclera. "You came so close!"
It was odd, the marble. It had a strange heat to it, like a living thing, and she could almost feel the unholy power that was stored inside. If she looked, she could almost make out the outline of something great and mighty within it.
It only made her fanged smile grow wider, knowing that soon she would rise to become something like it.
Something glorious, powerful, and free.
"LET HIM GO!" Another cry screamed out, the angry blonde, and another wave of explosive fire came rushing towards her.
However rather than hit them, it suddenly hit the tree that appeared before her. Compress was at her side in a second, his mask cracked with a long thin line. The strange blobs seemed to react to it, curling across its surface as if testing their boundaries. She saw black ooze dripping through it.
"Go, Himiko!"
Another wave of ice quickly followed, and Himiko hesitated though not against her better judgment.
Her blood was up, and an unholy power stormed through her. It was almost commanding her movements, like some other, demonic possession that had taken hold of her thoughts. She wanted, no, she needed to face them, She, needed to chase each one of them down and tear them to pieces.
Her body shook from the bloodlust she felt.
And a voice within her mind, one that sounded so like her yet somehow not, whispered, "We can kill them all."
Another cold wave of air hit her, and she gasped, not realizing that she had been holding her breath and squeezing onto the marble in her hand.
Another storm of ice tore through the ground towards her, followed by more screaming and shouting, though this was again met with a wave of destroyer flame.
"SHOTO TODOROKI!" Dabi screamed into the night with a peal of mocking laughter as he stepped before Himiko. "YOU HAVE SOMETHING OF MINE! I'LL BE GETTING IT BACK REAL SOON, SO DON'T GO DYING JUST YET!"
He then unleashed another wave of azure fire, the heat of which washed back over Himiko's already burning skin. Every inch of her was demanding blood, and her limbs were almost, almost moving on their own. Her hands had already become consumed with the unlight and her claws talons and-
A hand gripped her arm and pain shot through her. She turned to see Compress looking down at her and the world seemed to smash back into her senses. "You stupid, foolish girl! GO!"
She wanted to shout back, but her body ached too much. He was right.
With an effort of will, and to the dying embers of the azure fire around her, she gave one last look to the three boys before her, all of them were still charging forward, despite everything that threatened their lives.
"Admirable." She whispered as the shadows overtook her. "For mortals."
The shadows closed to the sound of the purple-haired boy's painful, desperate, and terrible screaming, echoing through the night air.
WOO. THAT SURE WAS A SOMETHING. I'll be honest with everyone, I was never fully happy with the intro to this chapter. It didn't seem as hard hitting as the rest of it, though I guess slicing Tiger in two was hard hitting enough. Right? Maybe. Also obvious Khrone reference was obvious.
But the BIG FIGHT. Hopefully you guys enjoyed it, even though I left it purposely unresolved. Will they get another chance to square off? Perhaps on more equal terms? Well, Kamino is right around the corner...
And yes, Izuku was stolen. Satani has their prize and Himiko will be rewarded! I'm sure. Well, she's convinced herself she'll be rewarded. Who knows what's to come though.
In the next chapter, Hitoshi and his crew are gonna have to deal with the fact the end of the world may well be upon them, Himiko gets to revel in her new victory, and of course, Lucy finds out what happened at the camp...
Thank you all for reading and until next time peep, keep safe and wear your masks!
