'I believe fully that a time will come when the world will be close to total destruction and it will not be from nuclear warfare as our predecessors once feared. No, it will be due to the power of quirks. As more and more quirks appear, as more mutations and breeding programs alter quirk lines, a time will come when individuals will hold the power to end the world on a whim. This is as inevitable as the consolidation of military force amongst a few nations in the 21st Century. This will be far worse. A nation can be policed with laws and public opinion. But a person can have a bad day, and they will hold the power to sterilise a continent.'
—Excerpt from 'Reaching Perfection: International translation' by Dylan Salvatore
This is what it means to be amongst the few who have the privilege to witness the eve of the world ending.
To be Momo Yaoyorozu is to command wealth and power. Your eighteenth birthday present had been a new biotech company with emerging technologies that had interested you. One the day the world ends, you are explaining the potential of an organic metamaterial you produced with your quirk. And then, your quirk stops working. It is smothered by darkness and dread. You turn east and know the end is coming. All you can think of is Katsuki.
This is what it means to be Eijirou Kirishima, a budding revolutionary. You work with shady individuals to smuggle weapons and supplies, gaining their trust and eventually access to their network. You're sleeping on Mina's couch when time dies. Every future you've ever witnessed suddenly collapses to a singular, finite, and inescapable point. That singularity carries with it a songofeternaldeath and it promises no mercy.
The man known as Enji Todoroki is a man possessed of intelligence and willpower. Your son flashing away had been the first sign that something terrible was to happen. The second had been the aftershocks of copious amounts of godflame casually being flung around in the abyss. Before you could even get your family together, they appeared. Gigantic. Colossal. Titanic. Endless. Anathema. Each of these words runs through your bones as you feel their cloyingly dark presence threatening to Sing you out of existence.
This is what it means to be Kouta Izumi, grieving deeply and very, very confused. You had been watching cartoons when the channel had changed to an emergency news broadcast. Except, nothing about it makes sense. What is that blurry thing that gives you a headache to look at? Why is their panic everywhere? Why are the news people collapsing in their seats one after another? Why does it feel like something is tearing into your mind?
-TDB-
Izuku Midoriya warps towards his home immediately. There is no time to waste, not when the end of the world is imminent.
Blindness is an issue that he deals with by chopping off his head. When he wakes up in the depth of the abyss, barely any time has passed and he has a new set of eyes. They're not as good as the old set. Edges are blurry and there are occasional rips in his vision if he moves them too fast. Not great, not terrible.
He finds Kouta in the lounge staring blankly at the TV. Hisashi is with him, kneeling in front of the boy. There is worry in his every wrinkle.
Kouta snaps his head towards Izuku instantly. The dullness disappears, life coming back to the boy.
"Kouta, shut up," he pre-empts. "We don't have time for your questions. Hisashi, do you know what we're facing."
"The Singers," his father says, rubbing Kouta's shoulder absently. "Izuku, you don't understand. I've seen worlds consumed by the abyss and you only need godlings to ruin a planet, let alone gods or nightmare entities. The Singers stand above all others."
Do you remember, brother? When you first walked the abyss, the dragons warned even you against nearing their seals.
Izuku vaguely does. It was a blurry time and he hadn't been particularly sane. Still, there's something he needs to know.
"Stronger than me?"
"Maybe. I don't know. They've been locked in the depth of the abyss since before the godflame. They're… I don't even have words. I should have known this was coming."
"Worry about it later. Right now, we need a plan. Make one."
Hisashi nods. He ruffles Kouta's hair. "Listen to your brother." And then Hisashi is gone, falling through a doorway.
"What's going on?"
He kneels beside Kouta. "Bad things. Terrible things. Right now, I'm terrified but I have to make a plan. I'll explain everything soon enough. Please, just let me work."
It must be something in his eyes. Maybe it's his terror. Maybe his fear. Maybe his panic. Either way, Kouta only nods.
He heads to his room filled with communications equipment. The screens all have priority messages and incoming calls.
"Fuck."
He opens channels with the heads of Lightning Bolts and the League's former Division Commanders. There's no time to pander to their differences. They all need to be appraised of the situation at the same time.
He's glad they all answer.
"Listen to me before you say anything," he says sharply, voice hard as steel. "We're facing an extinction threat. Right now, I have an expert planning but there's no time for differences. We work together or we all die together."
Shuichi nods onscreen. "Things aren't pretty."
Izuku sees Kouta open his mouth and summons a tendril to smack him lightly across the cheek. He doesn't need any dissent right now.
"Reports are flooding in," Crawler says. "The incursion sites are spread across the world. New York City. Moscow. Asuncion in Paraguay. The middle of China. And ours off the coast."
Izuku's blood freezes as he does the maths. That's tens of millions in the immediate vicinity of the Singers. Hundreds of millions more in the regions surrounding them.
"Fuck," Shuichi says for him.
His chair is comfortable and the temptation to sit down and collapse in it is tempting. But he has ten people—eleven if he includes Kouta—looking to him for answers and guidance.
"The first thing we need to do is verify the safety of our bases. Once that's done, we need to start moving family members to them. No one can be trusted to follow orders if their families aren't safe."
"Understood. We'd started the first."
"Use the bases furthest away from the Incursion site. We need a full inventory of everything available to us. When everyone and everything we own is accounted for, we'll start planning our next move. Get to it. You have three hours."
He cuts the connection the Lightning Bolts leaving him with the division commanders of the League and Shuichi on the line.
"Contact Vancouver. I need to know the situation there. If they can offer any support, I'll be eternally grateful." He pauses, trying to remember everything in All For One's files. "Brazil as well. I need hard facts. Population statistics. The spread of abyssal influence. Fuck, I need to know if spawning grounds are appearing anywhere else."
"We'll start collecting and streamlining information from the network."
"Do that."
"I just…" She inhales. "Do we have a chance against whatever those things are?"
Izuku inhales. "I'm scared. Terrified. But that doesn't matter. My fear. Your uncertainty. Those emotions are irrelevant. We win or we die. Nothing in-between. I plan on winning."
He cuts the line, leaving only Shuichi. Izuku can see his fear but it is tempered by faith so foundational to his being that his wings almost seem to be shining. It is faith in Izuku and he knows he can't fail Shuichi. Can't fail mankind.
"Your orders?"
"I need you back. We're going to knock on the military's door. You have ten minutes to get ready."
"Understood."
The line cuts. Izuku takes a breath, centring himself for what must come. There's so much that needs to be done that he can't even envision it all. He'll trust Fumikage to get the Royals to play nice. Right now, he needs to deal with the military.
"Why are you working with him?"
Izuku glances at Kouta, feeling so damned tired. He knows that anger, knows that grief. He should have thought better of letting Kouta into the meeting. And yet, he didn't want to let Kouta out of his sight.
Kouta snarls. "He's the one—"
"I chose to forgive," Izuku interrupts, irritated. "He's the one who's kept you alive since the war ended. Do you want to know just how many times people came after you? Dozens and it's all because of me. I need someone I can trust to protect you and he's the only one I can name."
"No! Not him. I don't care if you forgave him because I don't. He's a criminal.
He grabs Kouta by the collar and lifts him up. "I love you but I don't have time for this. Hate me. Be angry at me. But remember, everything I do is for you. For that promise, you forced me to make. Shuichi is part of that. He's loyal and strong and he'll kill our enemies. Now, stop being a brat."
Izuku is indifferent to Kouta's kicking and screaming. He throws him into the dormitory designated for the mutants Fumikage adopted—and hadn't that been a surprise to learn. He glances at the oldest of them, a redhead with racoon mutations.
"Don't let him out no matter what."
Getting Shuichi is his next step. His disciple might not have the raw power or the connections to be as useful as others, but he is loyal. Izuku needs loyalty now more than ever.
His Disciple is overseeing the move from one of their bases near Tokyo. It is a beehive of activity and Shuichi is in the centre of it, directing forklifts carrying pallets of critical supplies and equipment to the helicopters which Izuku had no idea about. This is his first time in the wide and spacious facility that takes up part of an industrial park.
Izuku knew they had expanded greatly but seeing dozens of people working in concert just to move equipment is surprising. It makes him regret not spending time amongst them and leading from on-high like a king.
You're literally one of those, you fucking idiot.
Ignoring Mikumo is nothing new. He flags Shuichi down with a wave, glad that not too many people are focusing on him. They're focused on their tasks.
"Who do you have making the plan?" Shuichi asks once he's near Izuku.
"My father."
Shuichi's wings twitch, his snout curling in amusement. "No one will like his plan."
"No one ever likes his decisions."
Shuichi's laugh is sharp and has the slightest edge of mania to it. He's keeping his composure better than some of the people Izuku can see. Prayer is a source of comfort for some but most channel their anxieties towards their work.
A few cannot. Izuku does not begrudge them their weakness in these final moments. Not everyone has faced gods and come out the victor. Yet, he knows how easy it is to inspire people.
Summoning his wind isn't difficult and he uses it to dampen the noise in the warehouse. People stop, startled by the sudden lack of shouting, of revving vehicles and the whoop-whoop of helicopters.
"I'm sorry to disturb your very critical work," Izuku says, his voice enhanced by his wind quirk. He channels his memories of Toshinori's compassion. "I know you have no time to stop. I know I'm delaying you. I simply wanted to say thank you. Right now, we need more people like you working to save mankind. I know my thanks do not measure to your dedication but it is all I can give. From the bottom of my heart, thank you."
Izuku bows before them, allowing noise to fill the space once more. He looks up and sees many of them stand taller. That is enough for him to engulf him and Shuichi in lightning and then they're gone, warping across the country.
He keeps them to as close to the Earth as possible because the Singers are a terrifying presence, one he doesn't want focussing on him. The gigantic net of godflame stretching across entire layers of the abyss shields them. Barely.
"I knew he was your equal but I never expected this," Shuichi says, awestruck.
He doesn't bother to respond as they return to Earth, landing in the middle of a military training ground. They're in Zentsuji, Shikoku, home to the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the military junta's home command.
Their entrance surprises the soldiers there but they start firing immediately.
Izuku lets his shadows deal with the bullets whilst he focuses. They won't be on the ground or in one of the taller buildings. Too easily attacked from range. He casts his senses down, feeling every shadow as he goes deeper and deeper.
There. One room that has fifteen people in it. Their movements are calm and one person is giving a presentation. He grabs Shuichi and they warp into the room.
There is a moment of silence whilst the two groups observe each other, Izuku and Shuichi on one side, admirals and generals on the other.
Izuku waves. "Hi. You wanna help me kill that giant monster?" He uses his sweetest and most naïve voice.
Shuichi only snorts.
"How did—"
"I can warp. You know this. Let's skip the confusion." He claps his hands together. "That thing is an extinction threat. Let's not waste time with bullshit and political subterfuge."
One of the admirals reaches for his gun. In an instant, Shuichi's spear is at his neck. The admiral freezes, staring at the black blade ready to take his neck.
"Let me be perfectly honest, I want your junta destroyed and I'll make it my life's goal to see that happen. Ultimately, you have two options: you can oppose me now or you can oppose me later." The shadows deepen, writhing and twitching in preparation as a cold wind cuts through the room. "The fate of mankind, of life itself, hangs in the balance. Fuck your posturing. Fuck your goals. If you are not actively helping me, then you are an enemy to mankind. If ending you right now means mankind lives another day, don't think I'll hesitate."
In a sealed room, it won't take Shuichi more than a few minutes to kill the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The admirals and generals may have weapons or quirks, but they will all fall before Izuku's wrath. Finding their officer won't take much more than an hour.
It is ruthless and callous, but he can't risk any dissidence. Not in these final hours when everything is on the line.
"What's your choice?"
Izuku startles when dark fire materialises beside him. He sees Shouto and his father. And then he's being dragged along with them.
-TDB-
Fumikage Tokoyami is terrified. It is deep-seated, lodged in his spine and permeating his every cell. It is an instinctual fear, one coded into his DNA. If the double helix strands could speak, they would have one word to say. Run. Run very far and never come back. Don't stop running. Don't look back.
Fumikage ignores his genetic instinct to run from the Singer. Not that it would do him much good. He is blind from staring at a monster possibly greater than his divinity and weakened from a significant chunk of his powers being stolen. It isn't much of a good situation.
Especially not when he can feel the raw destruction that the Singers have created. His is slaveking, ruler of life under Disparity, the epoch in Creation that arose once darkness and fire reached equilibrium. His very soul is screaming out in rage at what these abominations have done. Their endless slaughter is beyond imagining. So many lifeforms snuffed out across universes and realms unseen all because these abominations exist.
The worst part is that he can feel their indifference. Who notices an amoeba on a planet a galaxy away? It is the same for the Singers. They destroy ceaselessly without thought, ending life by their very existence. They blinded him and didn't even notice his presence.
He summons forth his power and directs it to his eyes. Usually, healing from a wound doesn't take long. The knife wound he received minutes ago is already healed and probably won't scare. His eyes will take just as long.
Except they don't.
What the fuck?
What is destroyed by a Singer is extinguished from existence. Even the eyes of God.
Dark Shadow, cowering beneath Fumikage's divinity, sounds terrified.
"Then I'll grow new ones. But if they can do that to me, then the effect will be far worse on humans."
Sight isn't the barrier it once was. He might like being able to see colour but his senses allow him to know everything around him.
He summons his chains and they spread across the blackened earth. They encircle the ocean around the Singer, chains a mile wide and glowing royal purple, resplendent against the overwhelming darkness of the abominations. They will serve to stop the spread of abyssal influence for all the good that will do. Just looking at it had blinded him. Humanity won't stand a chance. He summons one of his dragons and orders it to immolate everything in a ten-kilometre perimeter around the barrier.
There are four other locations around the world and he does the same. By the end, he's nearly out of energy and he's had to kill thousands of people infected by the abyssal presence in the area. His sword is stained red as are his clothes. Thousands more will probably need to be killed to stymie the infection. For now, he has done enough.
Fumikage weaves time and space in a bubble around him. Space before him will contract whilst his own personal timeline will run far faster. It is his preferred method for crossing massive distances without entering the abyss.
Panic grips the Imperial Villa. It isn't the orderly or peaceful place he has called home. He can taste the terror and fear. Worse still, he can feel the snapped chains tethering people together. Whether it is due to death or something more sinister, Fumikage can't know. Not yet at least. He has more important things to do.
The emergency meeting of the Imperial Household has scarcely started when Fumikage stumbles through the door. The clamour dies down immediately. What a sight he must make, bloody and blinded, using a sheathed sword as a walking stick.
"I take it I'm late to the meeting," he says, forcing a smile despite everything.
"Inquisitor," the Emperor says placidly. "Your activities have not been unnoticed. We've been waiting for you. Maya, help him."
She appears beside him and helps him to his seat. He senses more than he sees the others at the long table, the heads of the Royal Lines and the remaining members of the Royal Guard. There are Special Assets and squad leaders as well. All of them are chained by their loyalty to the Emperor.
"You were amid these Incursions. Give us your report."
"He needs medical treatment," Maya says. "His eyes were…"
Fumikage shakes his head. "My eyes will return. This is more important." He stands and sways from the effort. "I have fought godlings and demons and all manner of creature from the abyss. You all witnessed the creature I defeated two months ago. Listen well when I say that these creatures are greater than everything in the abyss combined. They blinded me and stole my power. Perhaps you don't understand that impossibility but my powers are inviolable laws of the abyss."
He coughs, covering his mouth. His hand comes away red. Perhaps seeing them had affected him more than he thought? He just wipes it away.
"You can barely stand," Maya says, standing, and he feels her glare at the Emperor.
The Emperor makes a sound that is somehow a rebuke and sympathy rolled in one. "Guardswoman, calm yourself. We have faith in our Inquisitor. Show the same faith."
It takes a moment but Maya sits. Fumikage inhales, calming himself.
"Looking at one of these creatures blinded me and slowed my healing abilities. Nothing from the abyss has given me more than a few bruises. The Singers represent mankind's extinction. I've stopped the spread of their influence but that won't hold for long."
"What do we do?"
Fumikage hasn't thought that far ahead. It's been a trying day. Thinking up a plan isn't something he does.
"Now you listen to me," Hisashi Midoriya says, appearing in a burst of flame with Izuku and Shouto.
-TDB-
Hisashi Midoriya is living out his worst nightmare.
The end of the world is approaching and there is little he can do. His son wants a plan and by everything good left in this world, Hisashi will make one. He will make the best-damned plan in existence. It will be a plan greater than the one that let him move All For One and the Emperor as puppets decades ago. It will be a plan that makes the gods stand back in awe.
It must be the greatest plan in human history because if it isn't, human history will end. No one will remember mankind. There won't be anything left.
Hisashi doesn't know the minutiae of the plan. His enemies are the Singers, beings older than the godflame. Perhaps they're even older than darkness. Who can say when nothing, absolutely nothing, existed when these beings ruled?
All enemies can be beaten, the World Walker whispers, awakening for the first time in a long time.
Every enemy can be neutralised. His entire powerset is built around being able to neutralise threats before the battle begins. Given the power of his enemies, there are only three people who can face them.
Izuku is accounted for. Fumikage could be anywhere. Shouto, however, is easy to find. Anyone even remotely connected to the godflame could find Shouto. All he must do is follow the godflame net to its centre point. He is glad beyond belief that walking the net itself protects him from the influence of the Singers.
He's also terrified. The things on the earth were the size of mountains. They weren't even anything more than a shadow of their future intent and they were more powerful than just about anything Hisashi has ever encountered. The godling from Greece would have died within seconds of standing beside the Singer's physical manifestation on Earth.
The entities in the abyss, their truest form, are universes unto themselves. No, a universe doesn't even begin to describe them. Shouto's net spans the breadth of multiple universes but it's akin to holding back a flood with a towel.
If this is the best Shouto can do with raw power, then they're all fucked. There are no two ways about it. Hisashi, stubborn bastard that he is, will force a plan to work even if he must shoot a Singer with a gun.
He approaches Shouto. The boy—man, really, given that he towers over Hisashi—has his head tilted in concentration. His lips are pursed and there is blood on his face.
"You don't have much of as preservation instinct," Shouto says, hands twitching as though he is conducting a symphony.
"I've survived more in a year than you have your entire life."
"You realise that I've been protecting you since you left Earth." Shouto snaps his fingers and translucent flames surround Hisashi. "Your soul would have collapsed within a moment if I hadn't. I can barely keep mine in place."
His assertion is correct, Operator.
"Thanks."
Shouto opens his eyes. Or at least, he opens the gaping emptiness where his eyes should be. There is nothing there, as though his eyes exploded with so much force that even the tiniest traces ejected themselves from his eye socket.
It is a disconcerting sight, almost like staring at a living skeleton.
"Your eyes."
Shouto hums. "I forgot about that."
Ice covers his hands and Shouto brings them to his eyes, covering each of them. He keeps them in place for a few seconds more.
When he removes them, his eyes are back in place.
"These aren't actually my eyes," he says. "It's an illusion. Apparently, anything destroyed by a Singer is gone for good. Reversing entropy doesn't work. It's going to take forever to grow a new pair.
Hisashi swallows nervously. Shouto is a king, one of three genuine divinities. If they can affect him to this extent then what of the rest of humanity.
Your offspring had blood on his shirt, the World Walker says. He may have suffered the same fate.
"Knowing Izuku, yeah," Shouto says as though he's listening to the voices in Hisashi's head. "Why are you here?"
"Something slipped through," he says. "We need you back to form a plan."
Shouto clicks his fingers and godflame burns a portal to the human world. He cocks his head, staring at something Hisashi instinctively refuses to look at. Nope, he's definitely not staring at something that can immediately blind a king again, even if those exploded eyes are illusions.
Shouto raises his hands. A tidal wave of godflame surrounds the Singer's physical form. He feels four more massive flares across the world.
"I've anchored a godflame lens around their physical forms," Shouto explains. "It'll keep everyone from immediately dying just from looking outside."
"I need to know if you can kill them."
"Nope."
Hisashi starts cataloguing other realities to flee to. If Shouto, ruler of the godflame, can't kill them in his own domain then nothing can. This is where they should be at their weakest.
"Well fuck."
Shouto glances at him. "Oh, don't make the mistake of assuming I can't. Any of the three of us could. I just hope you have no interest in living on this Earth after. Or the Solar system. Maybe the galaxy. That's the kind of power we're talking about just to destroy the physical form."
He hears the rest of the unsaid sentence. "And the rest of it?"
Shouto shrugs. "No idea. If we chained them to the bottom of the abyss then the aftershocks might be weakened enough that there's still parts of this universe alive. I could probably cobble something together."
"That isn't good enough."
"I told you what I can do. If you want a better plan, then I hope you're ready to die."
Hisashi glares at him. "For my sons, I'd sacrifice my life."
"Your power is the ability to transition entities through your doorways. The only limitation is how much power you have."
Hisashi pauses, understanding what Shouto is implying. "Oh."
"I can provide the power. Even the Singers combined aren't greater than a king. It'll take me a bit to supercharge your soul, but I should be able to give you enough power to transport them." He smirks. "Great plan."
"Except for one thing. Two things, actually. I'll need to be at the endpoint if you want this to work. My gates allow five. I count as one."
Shouto blinks. "Well shit. The other problem?"
"Why do you think they'll follow me anyway?"
Hisashi takes a bit of pleasure in watching Shouto's blank façade crack. It isn't anything overt, a muscle twitching in his neck, a finger trembling, and the sudden eruption of black flames a galaxy away.
"Oh, shit."
"Let's get Izuku. I think I can make an actual plan out of your idea." Hisashi grimaces. "He's not going to be happy."
"His happiness isn't as important as mankind's survival."
Hisashi wonders how true that is. For his family, Hisashi would damn mankind. He wouldn't hesitate to do it.
-TDB-
Katsuki Bakugou is not angry for the first time in a long time. Anger has defined him, whether it's white-hot and choking, or frigid and calculating. Anger coloured by soul-crushing grief or even just low simmering frustrations have all been variations of Katsuki's anger alongside bitter anger and motivational anger.
For Katsuki Bakugou not to be angry is as improbable as the sun refusing to rise. He honestly thinks these monsters are more improbable.
Even through the filter of a screen showing an emergency broadcast and evacuation order for all of Tokyo and Chiba, Katsuki still feels like shit. Their presence is powerful enough that the tiniest glimpse of them on-screen had nearly sent him into hysterics.
Then he remembers seeing Izuku at USJ and knows, just knows, he should have asked more questions. Because these things remind him of Izuku after he died, that shambling abomination that threatened to sunder everything. The godling from Greece hadn't felt anywhere near as malevolent. In fact, now that he has more extremes to compare to, that godling feels closer aligned to Katsuki, to heat and life and warmth, than both Izuku and these creatures.
Once he's had his mini-meltdown, he shuts off internet access because those dumb fucks downstairs probably have the tiny sightings of whatever the fuck it is on repeat.
He stumbles over his couch as he searches for his phone. He finds it in a pile amidst his wallet, an empty bento box, some condoms, and some clothes he really should have cleaned. The warehouse he calls home is connected and his phone can serve as a hub. With one button press, he can activate the silent evacuation alarm.
That done, he calls the most important person in the world.
"Hey Momo, quick question—"
"You're not hallucinating," she says frantically. "Don't play any media of it. Half the people in my office died just looking at it. Cardiac arrest. Aneurysm. Heads exploding."
He shoves some clothes into his duffel bag and stumbles to find his suitcase where he keeps an emergency stash of hard currency. Hopefully, the other fucks are doing the same thing. They know the drill. There's a list of supplies and equipment that they consider critical, money and medical supplies most of all. By now, Intelli should be wiping their computer network and Shindo stocking a bag with a few weapons.
Katsuki isn't proud of it, but sometimes you need to negotiate at gunpoint. Whilst his quirk serves much the same purpose, everyone instinctively fears a gun. Shikoku is just that kind of region.
"All round shitty causes of death, yeah. I need a favour."
"Of course, you can use my helicopters."
"Great, but you know in every survival movie how people act like dumb fucks if their families aren't safe?" He hears her mutter a curse. "A lot of our families live in Tokyo region."
"I know exactly where your families live. You think I haven't datamined every aspect of your lives?"
He shrugs his bag on and picks up the suitcase, heading out. Everything he needs is packed. If he's left something behind then it probably isn't life-threatening. Quite honestly, he'd run with nothing but the clothes on his back.
"Just get it done."
"I've already sent people from the Tokyo branch of my security company to go find them. I'll send you the coordinates to the nearest helicopter we have."
"Thanks."
Downstairs, he finds the others moving to complete their duties. Shindo's schoolmates, Makabe and Nakagame are packing giant bags whilst Intelli is the picture of calm, sipping her tea and directing Jirou and Ibara. Despite her apparent calm, he can see her hands shaking. If all she can do right now is keep things organised then Katsuki has no intention of stopping her.
There is a reason Intelli makes the plans. The evacuation procedure had been her plan.
Shindo sees him first. Rage crosses his features and he stalks towards Katsuki, fists clenched tightly.
"You fucking bastard." He grabs Katsuki by the collar. "You fucking cut outside comms. I need to call my family. We all do, you selfish little shit."
"Momo's sent people to pick them up, you fuck." Katsuki shoves Shindo back. "You think I didn't fucking think of that. Now get your ass moving."
Shindo steps back, eyes wide. "Bakugou, you're—"
"The greatest there ever fucking was, now shut up. Time's up. If it's not packed, it stays. Shindo, I trust you armed the security system?"
"I did that," Ibara says, shouldering her two bags. "He was… just don't look at those things."
Katsuki rolls his eyes. "Whatever. There's a helicopter waiting for us. Two kilometres out."
The world outside is strange.
It isn't just the oppressive weight threatening to snuff them out. It might have to do with the crowds of people congesting the streets. The military is out in force keeping order but it's hard when people are quite literally losing their shit every minute or so. The people dead on the ground don't make it any better. The presence doesn't discriminate between children and women and men. Anyone is at risk of collapsing.
"Don't look east," Katsuki orders, pushing past a group of adults taking up space. "Don't you fucking dare."
Intelli pops up beside him. "We need to get to the side streets. We're not going to get to the helicopter in time. You know what'll happen if people see it."
Violence. Rioting. Military requisition. Fighting off dumb ass civilians.
Katsuki won't hesitate to fight anyone off. He's got people trusting him right now and he refuses to let them down. For whatever reason, he's their leader. He failed Kaminari. He won't fail anyone else.
He gently moves aside a mother and her two children and they cut through an alleyway. Instantly, the crowd thins almost to nothing. They dart between side streets, cut across private property and sometimes use the roofs to navigate.
The helicopter is waiting for them. It has the Yaoyorozu crest. The pilot is strapped in and a security guard is waiting outside. He has a rather large gun. One that he immediately points at them.
"Name," the guard demands.
"Katsuki Bakugou," he snarls.
The guard nods once, lowering his gun. "I'll get you strapped in."
It takes a few minutes. None of them has spent any time in a helicopter and have no idea how to work the harnesses or to fasten the restraints. He's glad the man points out the headsets which instantly cut out the noise of the helicopter wings. Whatever dampening technology they use must be amazing because he can't feel a single vibration.
He leans back because now they will be safe. Shindo, Makabe, Nakagame, Intelli, Ibara and Jirou. All six of them are in this helicopter with him. Whilst the pain of losing Kaminari will never leave, he's glad about those he has left.
"Where are we going?" Jirou asks over the comms.
He checks his phone quickly. "Momo's house. Our families will be moved there as well."
"Chiba and Tokyo are under an evacuation order," Shindo says. "It's been extended to Kanagawa. Why the fuck are we leaving when it's so far from Shikoku? We're getting closer to it."
"Have you never watched a move in your fucking life? Shikoku is already a shithole. There's going to be rioting and looting once the mass hysteria hits." He glares at Shindo. "Where the fuck else are we going to go? Our non-existent bases in the rest of the country? Tokyo?"
"He gets the point," Ibara says, eyes closed, and hands together. "No need to antagonise each other."
"Are you seriously praying right now?" Intelli scoffs. "You think God exists with something like that?"
"Even more so now," Ibara says, opening her eyes.
"That's the most illogical, pretentious—"
"Leave her be," Jirou snaps. "Just because you're scared—"
"I'm not."
They're fraying apart and there's only seven of them. They are a microcosm of what will happen across the country soon enough when things from the abyss start emerging. Katsuki hopes they don't. He doesn't want a spawning pit anywhere near his loved ones.
"Fear is human," Ibara says. "God places challenges before us, challenges that we fear. But he does so only out of trust."
"Those are monsters and we can't fight them."
"I believe in a just God. I believe in a benevolent God. One way or the other, we will prevail. Now, more than ever, we must exercise our free will. It is our choice to be petty, spiteful, and cruel. It is also our choice to be kind and compassionate."
She smiles and it so, so radiant that Katsuki almost forgets his fears. Almost. The dark presence covering the Earth is too oppressive to forget it exists.
He glances at Shindo's bag which has their weapons. Well, a bullet to the head would solve that. He blinks, surprised. Suicide is not something he's ever thought about. It's the kind of pussy ass shit he'd never do. For him to be thinking about it, what about others? What of those with a history or who have had a bad day before it got even worse.
"I hope you never lose that faith," Intelli says without spite. "Because I see an extinction event right here."
Before anyone can say anything, Katsuki mutters, "Shut the fuck up and let me sleep already."
Then he leans back and closes his eyes. He doesn't fall asleep because his heartrate refuses to drop to something manageable and he's pretty sure he's under a constant fight-or-flight response. Whilst he doesn't fall asleep, his apparent indifference to everything causes the situation to defuse before it blows over.
It takes a few hours, a refuel in Toyama, and a long loop along the Niigata coastline before they finally reach Momo's home in Kesennuma, a town north-east of Sendai. The last time Katsuki had come here he'd been thrown into a cell for a few hours only to find out Momo was leaving. Now, he knows it has something to do with Tianjin burning.
A lady is waiting outside for them. She is dressed formally in blue and wears the Yaoyorozu crest on her blazer. She also looks at Katsuki like an insect.
"Katsuki Bakugou?"
He shrugs. "The fuck you want with me?"
The woman nods. "Come with me, please. Lady Momo is waiting for you."
He's not going to say no to that. "Intelli, Ibara, make sure they aren't idiots."
"And you make sure you behave."
"No promises."
The estate is stupidly large. Large enough that they get on a cart to reach the first set of buildings of the manor proper. Which makes him realise that the buildings he'd been gawking at were nothing more than outhouse. The real estate takes his breath away.
No one family should have this kind of wealth. The government of Japan doesn't have a single building as elegant as this manor. It mixes traditional Japanese roofs with classical marble archways and modern glass and steel. It shouldn't work. It does.
"This is Momo's wing."
It doesn't surprise him that she owns an entire wing to herself. He wants to explore a bit more but right now, all he wants to do is see Momo.
The office she leads him to is bright and airy, larger than Katsuki's childhood home. Some couches probably cost more than anything Katsuki's ever owned and thick, lush carpets.
He sees Momo and can't help his grin. She looks busy at the desk, managing what looks like a dozen different things. There are papers and laptops and tablets strewn across the room. Katsuki doesn't doubt she knows everything on those devices.
"You got a fucking plan to deal with the end of the world? Cause I ain't got a clue."
Momo's head snaps up. "Hello, Katsuki. Thank you, Aimi. Dismissed."
"As you say." The lady who had led Kastuki bows once before heading out.
"I'm still not hearing a plan."
Momo's expression brightens a tad. "Well, we could build a rocket and fly away.
He takes a step forward, invading her space. "Doesn't sound too terrible."
When he kisses her, it is with the desperation of a drowning man reaching for air. This is Momo Yaoyorozu, someone willing to forgive him after his mistakes. She gave him a second chance and he will never stop being grateful.
He moves forward with her in his arms. They hit the desk which makes Momo yelp. He grins in apology. She slaps him lightly. And then he kisses her again. She drags him down by the collar of his shirt.
The devices are in his way. He sweeps his arm out, sending them clattering to the ground. One in the corner has a video of Tokoyami. He blasts it with a quick application of his quirk.
"Behave yourself," Momo says. "We don't have time for this."
He pulls back, seeing her in all her glory. Her face is as flushed as he feels.
"The world might end. Do you have a better time?"
She cocks her head. "Good point."
The minutes pass by, weighing down heavily on them. They move frantically, knowing this may be the last time, and knowing that if it isn't, they have people depending on them. There isn't anything gentle in their actions, just sheer, relentless fear.
When they're done, Momo wastes no time picking up a tablet. She buttons up her blouse as she goes through some information.
"So, what's the situation like?"
"To use your words, well, it's fucked." She throws her tablet to him which he fumbles with. "Three massive spawning grounds across Tokyo. The military's first attempt to deal with them ended in a slaughter."
"The military is fucking useless."
"My people got most of our classmates and their families out. Nothing on Kirishima or Ashido yet."
"That's good enough. And my guys?"
"Just got the report in now." She scans through her tablet. "We managed to get Shindo's family out. His area was the hardest but we managed it in the end."
"Oh, that's good." He swallows. "What about my family?"
"Katsuki, I tried my best—"
"Stop," he says coldly. "Just tell it to me."
Momo looks away. "Your dad refused to come. Your mother stayed with him. A few minutes ago, the quarantine was extended to Mustafu."
Quarantine procedures are something Katsuki has become familiar with. For small scale infections, it's enough to burn down the creature and run some medical examinations on the people in the area. For larger-scale ones, they declare a radius around a point. Anything within that radius is scorched to the ground.
When it comes to cities, sometimes it's easier to forgo missiles and bombs and simply go straight to nukes. It's been done already in America.
Realising that tips him over the edge. The world lurches as he collapses. His parents are gone. There's nothing that will bring them back.
Momo is beside him in an instant, holding him tight. For the first time in years, Katsuki Bakugou cries. His rage blossoms with each tear.
Whatever it takes, he's going to fucking kill these creatures.