'I wondered how I would begin this. I considered putting my rather infamous quote but if you are reading this, then I would hope that you know it. It does not bear repeating after all this time. If you do not know those words then know this is an opportunity to learn who I am. I will start with the simplest lesson. Life gives, and we cherish. Life takes, and we mourn. It is as it is. Life is good.'
—Excerpt from 'My Eclipse' by Hawkmoon.
Shouto Todoroki is prepared to win. There is no other option for those he loves. Either he wins or he loses his mother, he loses Fuyumi, he loses his Natsuo and Touya. Even in his frigid heart, he finds it impossible to imagine a world without them. A world without Momo whom he hopes one day will stand as his peer.
The rest of humanity can, quite frankly, burn to death as far as he's concerned. He won't do that. If he does, then he can't give Izuku a throne that means anything. Mankind will live simply so Shouto can lord over them as kingmaker in the background. He'll work with Fumikage from the shadows to place Izuku on a throne over Earth. Whether they've consented to this is irrelevant.
The final launch preparations are going forward. He's been forced into a spacesuit. At least this isn't one of those clunky spacesuits from the first century of space travel. No, this one is sleeker, more like armour with how it fits. An astronaut is running Shouto through all the functions which he promptly ignores because they don't matter.
"Don't worry if you see things flashing on the control panel," the astronaut says. "We modified the shuttle to be controlled from here. All you have to do is sit back and relax."
So that is what he does. The shuttle is large enough to fit five or more people but it had been designed with a long-range trip in mind for a single occupant. With no supplies, Shouto can see just how vast the cargo hold is.
In the background, he can feel the abyss churning in anger. The creatures invading weren't born of the brighter parts of the abyss. No, they're entities from the very depths, attuned to darkness more than anything else. There are dozens of spawning grounds across the world and mankind is fighting to live.
It is a fight they cannot win. Mankind simply is not ready to stand on this level. Yes, fire can deal with the lesser threats, but what of those indifferent to thermodynamics? One day, Shouto imagines mankind wielding exotic weaponry and technology built from the abyss.
He is so distracted that he almost misses the launch sequence. He focuses on the world, answering the control team's insipid questions.
"Launching now. Godspeed, Shouto."
He smiles.
The shuttle lurches forward, magnetic rails accelerating it. He watches the velocity as it climbs up. Slowly, the acceleration forces him back into his seat, the gel cushioning confirming around his body.
The propulsions system kicks in. It's like being punched in the gut by Izuku when he isn't playing games, a sudden and violent lurch that propels him back in his seat. Shouto grins as the shuttle takes off, climbing through the atmosphere.
He wonders if his father is watching him. Hopefully, he isn't too distracted by being a badass.
The man is fighting confidently, summoning copious amounts of hellfire. He may not be a god, but he is the father of a god, and the godflame's divinity marked him as well. His father keeps fighting, his flames burning hotter and hotter till there is no point in simply calling them fire.
The clouds fall behind him and everything darkens as he enters space. It is emptiness, thick darkness that isn't flat or static but has a depth to it. It is emptiness, a place of nothingness.
Back down on Earth, his father breaks past the barrier of heat and fire and temperature. He ascends to touch electromagnetism itself, summoning radiation and lightning with impunity. He reigns down destruction, with such power even Shouto is awed.
Even that becomes too little and Enji starts calling upon the power of the Earth's molten core.
The shuttle makes a course correction. It feels like Shouto's entire right side is being crushed. He loves it. The shuttle tracks an arc to the sun, flipping over to perform a braking manoeuvre.
When it finally slows, Shouto is in orbit over the Earth. He can see the moon a few hundred miles from the nose of the shuttle. More importantly, he can feel the siren call of the sun behind him.
Shouto evacuates the shuttle, walking the vacuum of space without trouble. He burns away the spacesuit, done with that nonsense.
He is a god. If he wants gravity in the middle of space then there will be gravity. And if he wants to breathe vacuum then who dares to tell him he can't.
"Hello," he says to the sun. "It's good to finally make your acquaintance."
He hears the Sun and listens to it, listens to its fears and hopes. It speaks in solar flares and thrums of power, in light with a delay of eight minutes.
"We'll win," he promises. "Now, I need you to work with me."
He sits cross-legged and falls into a meditative state.
He draws upon the power of the sun, using it to summon godflame without summoning the Singers. It is slow going but subtle, unlike most of his other divine acts. He's shaping the godflame in preparation for when he can summon the rest.
A sudden flare of godflame forces him out of his slumber. He feels it from the space centre, feels everyone who dies in an instant. Everyone including his father.
"You're going to make mother sad," he says. "I promise I'll remember you."
Then, he senses them Sing. He feels endless death. One moment, humans are fighting against hope. Then, the waves of destruction travel outward. Millions in the first split-second and the number only keeps climbing.
Shouto places his faith in Hisashi's mad plan to remove four Singers. He entrusts his fellow kings to complete their duties and stop the last Singer.
With nothing holding him back, Shouto calls upon the godflame. He calls upon every star in the universe. He calls upon the energy of entropy and fusion and gravity over billions of years.
The universe bows to his will as he channels his power.
-TDB-
Eijirou Kirishima is filthy, matted in an unholy mix of dust and spider entrails and some unknown goop that gives off a funky smell. He looks and smells disgusting but that's fine. It means he is alive.
Unfortunately, the captain of the smuggler's ship doesn't agree. She's tied up the worst of them, Eijirou included, and submerging them in the freezing ocean water. Eijirou had tried to protest until one of her shipmates pointed a gun straight at Mina.
He'd paled and stopped protesting. The water was frigid and cut straight to the bone. At least it had removed the worst of the gunk, even if he'd been left shivering on the deck, a thin blanket thrown over him whilst his clothes dried.
He stands beside Mina in the cramped vessel, staring out at Japan to his east. The ship is bound for Korea which seems undisturbed by the insanity going on. Eijirou thinks it's stupid given that China is right next door and it has a Singer, but his future-sight shows this is the only option to survive. Well, not necessarily survive the Singers, but the one that gives him the longest period of being alive. Every other future had collapsed. Staying in Japan had been a death sentence no matter what he did.
An inferno of black fire suddenly sparks in the distance, like a second sun borne of malevolence. Enji stares at it in horror because it is spreading, a massive steam cloud rising all the while. It might make the black fire a bit murky, but it's still there.
It vanishes a moment later. Eijirou exhales, relieved.
"That was terrifying," Mina says. "That was Todoroki, right?"
"Probably. You wanna guess how many people he just killed?"
Mina shakes her head, her pink hair shaking. It's matted yellow by some form of viscera and there are smudges and scratched on her face.
His clothes are beside him, drying. They're not perfectly clean but they'll do. He grabs the shirt because that's disposable. Before Mina can react, he's picked it up and wiped a smudge from her cheek. His shirt comes away brown.
"The fuck?" He simply shows her the brown smudge. "Oh."
"Yeah."
He takes his time cleaning her face, knowing it may very well be the last time he ever speaks to her. They both know it. Everyone on this ship, on Earth, knows that today may very well be their last day. Everything Eijirou's fought for seems so minuscule in comparison.
When her face is clean of all smudges, he simply stares at her. She stares back. He knows what she's thinking. Their childhood spent running around, Eijirou hiding behind her. Their teen years at UA and the War that broke them. Their burgeoning adulthood built from the aftermath of war and unbearable losses.
Of all the people Eijirou has known, Mina is the most important. She's the only one who would ever be willing to stand against the world with him, against pretenders claiming the title of godhood.
When the end of the world begins, Eijirou feels it deep in his soul. It is a songtoannihilatelivingthings and everyone on the ship feels it, feels deep and endless dread. There is nothing they can do to face this entity.
It is a hopeless scenario for a shattered world. Mina pulls him down and wraps her arms around his neck. He hugs his sister in all but blood, watching as every potential future collapses.
It's over.
And then, it's not. The oppressiveness vanishes. The cold and indifferent force blanketing the world vanishes.
Eijirou doesn't believe it. Perhaps this is a fever dream brought on by the last moments in his life. The futures are still shrouded. No, they're all gone.
"They're gone!"
The cheers are sudden and brilliant. They shake the ship and rattle Eijirou's bones. He pulls back and sees Mina grinning.
Eijirou stares at the moon, terrified. He can feel its presence and the death it threatens to bring. Just because four have suddenly disappeared doesn't mean anything. One alone is enough to destroy them all.
He won't celebrate until the futures are clear.
"If you do one good thing in your entire life, let it be this." He hates himself for saying it but what other option is there? "God damn it, Izuku, win. Don't you dare lose."
Together with Mina, he waits and hopes for a brighter future.
-TDB-
Fumikage Tokoyami battles with all his heart, standing alone against an entire spawning ground. He stands to protect the Imperial Villa and all his allies within. He stands alone to ensure the portal remains stable.
He hates the precariousness of the plan. So much hinges on guesswork. But so much of it is necessary. He doesn't doubt that he and Izuku and Shouto could annihilate the Singers, but there would be no Earth left. It would be a victory in name only.
It is why he swings his sword and cleaves a giant in half. It is why Dark Shadow surrounds him, granting him the physical strength he has always lacked. It is why so much of his soul is out in the field: crystal hounds than tear through ghastly undying humans; glass crows that rip godlings to shreds; creatures born of reverse entropy fighting their battles in the past and future.
It is a hopeless battle, nothing more than a delaying action. His acts here will mean nothing if the rest of the plan fails.
That's why he isn't surprised when things go horribly wrong.
Fumikage feels them Sing in every fibre of his being. His soul shudders violently and he knows they are too late. It is a songtoendlife and promises to extinguish light and fire. It is an anathema Song that pervades his body.
In a split-second, he feels millions die. There is nothing left. No soul to scream out in agony. No dust to remember the dead by. They are gone and nothing will matter.
If they're this late, then it means he can use his powers. And if he can use his powers, it means he can move the last Singer. They chose to leave that one in China behind.
He holds faith that Hisashi will do his job.
Fumikage leaves his horde behind and spins spacetime to his whims, travelling the breadth of an ocean in a single second where tens of millions die. He finds himself in China and reacts immediately, refusing to fail once more.
This time, he looks at the abomination cloaked in the divinity of his power. The air around him decays and gravity distorts, the world unable to handle the power of a god walking freely. There is a circle of chains around it, untouched by the Song. Good. There's still hope that his power will be useful.
Though the Song has travelled past it, the chains themselves remain. His divinity is still greater than the Singers.
Thousands of chains surge up from the ground and wrap around the creature, suppressing its wave of death. Already, too many have died. Hundreds of millions gone in a few seconds by this one creature.
It is an abomination to everything Fumikage holds dear. It is an affront to his sensibilities. Its very existence insults his divinity. And he will not abide it on his Earth one second longer.
With one earth-shattering step, Fumikage is on the moon, staring down at the Earth. Dark Shadow surrounds his physical form like a second skin. Its roots burrow deep in his body, dark tendrils in his lungs and organs granting him the power to survive vacuum.
He summons his largest chain yet. It binds him and the Singer together. What he wishes to do is impossible beyond belief. It is infeasible. No story would ever write down what he is to do for its ability to shatter suspension of disbelief. But Fumikage is a God who makes his own fate, who writes his own story.
"Get off my planet!"
With one mighty heave, he pulls an abomination as large as any mountain of the Earth.
Reality itself shudders. The mass-energy of the Singer, far in excess of a dozen suns, distorts time and gravity and the laws of physics simply break down. It leaves shimmering trails of broken time and unending distance. That doesn't matter. All that matters is getting it away from Earth.
He blunts the force of the impact with his soul and that which he can't contain, he shunts to the Kuiper Belt where he feels thousands of asteroids vaporise from the force. He winces and says his goodbye to Pluto because it certainly isn't a planet anymore. The rest of the force he sends to the emptiness between solar systems, ruptures in spacetime permeating space like war scars.
With the Singer on the moon, he can continue to the next stage. He swipes the air and forms a portal to the abyss.
Shouto's light barrier has stalled the Singer's true form. Even having been prepared, having been told what to expect, Fumikage is still surprised. This entity is not simply vast. To say it is large is to say the universe is tiny.
This entity is universe upon universe of endless darkness, all contained in one form that even Fumikage can't fully grasp. It doesn't matter. Humans have a tendency of destroying that which they don't understand. Destroying the Singer will be the most human thing he's done all week.
You can't just bind a creature of that size, Dark Shadow says. The power disparity is too great and it is a creature of pure and utter darkness.
"Then what do you suggest?" Fumikage asks in annoyance.
Everything is made up of a thousand tiny components. Start with the smallest one and build a network of control. Steal its energy and take more and more from it. You may not be able to bind it to your soul. To do so is to go beyond your kingdom. But you can steal power.
He sends forth one chain to the smallest appendage of the Singer, a finger that is a galaxy of swirling emptiness. The emptiness there possesses energy, vast and endless tracts of power that already are trying to mutilate Fumikage's body.
It might be energy that he isn't attuned to, but if he can sense it then he can steal it. He was once gifted a pair of white knives. One he gave to Shouto and the other he has kept. They possess the ability to steal lifeforce.
What is lifeforce if not energy?
Fumikage accepts the influx of corrosive energy the Singer uses to annihilate him. It is acrid and cloying, unlike anything he's seen before. It is the antithesis of life, the antithesis of Fumikage's very soul.
The power it holds is beyond anything he can contain. It is like a human trying to eat a star. Impossible. His body cannot handle the raw energy. He feels cracks form on his skin. Through those cracks, energy as bright as the first light of the universe threatens to seek out.
Trust in your kingdom.
He shunts energy to Dark Shadow. It grows monstrously large. But even it has a limit.
So, he sends energy to his dragon. Watatsumi accepts it greedily. Its scales take on a new quality, shining bright with the energy contained within them. He sends energy to the rest of the dragons he has control over.
Slowly, the burden on his body lessens. There are so many creatures housed within his soul—his hounds and crows, loyal without question and eager to feast on a being of true dark; the ethereal serpents that grow larger and larger until they are as long as a galaxy; and every being from the Iron Giants to the dozens of godlings chained to his will. Tens of thousands of creatures housed within his soul.
He gives them power, grants them strength and feeds them.
And, for he is king, they tithe it back to him.
The influx of power is a heady rush. It heads straight to the endless reservoir of his dominion, not his mortal body. That pool, large enough to sustain them before, grows larger and larger until it is an ocean larger than the universe. His soul becomes universes unto itself, singular and whole in its perfection.
He opens his eyes, feeling whole for the first time. He feels like a God in his power, unconquerable and unmatched. The Singers power keeps trying to consume him but Fumikage's soul readily accepts it, growing larger and larger.
That doesn't mean much. He's only stealing a minuscule fraction of the Singer's power, but it is enough. The mechanics of his power are such that the beings in his soul always return whatever power he bequeaths them with interest.
That tiny fraction from the Singer grows exponentially as it is tithed back to Fumikage. And as he steals more, he gives it to the creatures within his domain for them to tithe back. It is a positive feedback loop, one permitted only by his inherent divinity.
Now, he can see the Singer in its entirety without harm. His divine presence shields him from its influence.
"I stand as guardian of this realm," he says, knowing that Creation itself listens. "You will perish for this slight against a king."
He summons his longsword, inky black and menacing, and shunts so much energy through it. Cracks develop along the blade as it accepts his energy, burning an incandescent purple. This is the power to extinguish the universe, to consume every star and black hole and dust particle and leave nothing behind. This is power to usher in a new epoch of Creation.
He swings the sword.
A beam of raw power slices forth across the endless void. It shatters dozens of layers of the abyss, annihilating everything in its path. Throne worlds are shattered and higher dimensions are brought low. Pantheons of godlings are burnt out of existence and the unique laws guiding each realm collapse.
Understand that a Singer's true form is not physical in a way that mortals understand. Imagine trying to hold the image of the universe, every star and black hole and dust-particle and every microbe on every distant planet. Imagine holding that image and comprehending it fully. With this understanding, you could map the outline of the smallest fraction of the tiniest appendage of the Singer.
A Singer is not a creature. It is endless universes of darkness and crystal madness, an amalgamation of anathema logics and a desire to snuff out every form of life that exists beneath the auspices of the godflame.
Understand all that and remember the greatness of a Singer.
The beam rips the Singer in twain.
The infernal engine at the very core of the Singer is exposed. It has hundreds, perhaps millions more, each larger than the solar system.
But this is the most important one. It is so large than it makes no sense. It is larger than the metaphysical shell of the singer, like a thimble holding the water of an ocean.
With chains the width of lightyears, Fumikage forces that opening to stay put. It takes everything he has to do so and force back its corrosive influence. Alone, he can't kill it. Thankfully, he isn't alone.
Behind him, having steadily grown, is a mass of godflame that puts everything Shouto has ever made to shame. And it is headed straight to the Singer.
-TDB-
Shouto Todoroki sits enshrouded by fire.
The power the suns grant is immense. He siphons billions of years off their lifespan, concentrating it to a single point.
A lens of godflame will amplify the power a trillion-fold. This power is greater even than a hypernova, a cosmic event so powerful that it is brighter than all the star's in the Milky Way put together, and it is magnified by the godflame. At this level of power, the laws of physics long ago broke down entirely. If Shouto wishes it, he could turn this into a naked singularity travelling faster than light and propagated outward in all directions. Simply put, he holds within him the power to scorch the entirety of Creation in his image and then forge a new one with the leftover energy.
It is the absolute bare minimum needed to even touch a creature like this.
When Fumikage materialises on the moon, Shouto smiles. When he physically pulls the Singer off Earth, his grin is bright enough to be another sun.
Shouto focuses on Earth.
Connected to energy and heat and life, he can feel so much. He can feel a thousand pieces of true dark on the Earth, some small as a parasite hiding deep within a young child and come vast as countries hiding in the ocean trenches.
He feels all of them and sets them alight in godflame. For now, it will help mankind. The barriers between this realm and darkness are thin now, thinner than ever before. Soon, there will be more portals, more abominations and godlings walking the Earth.
He looks towards the depths of space, to the Andromeda galaxy, and senses something gigantic. He brings his sight closer and feels monsters hiding in the depths of space, endless legions of undeath and sword logic.
This fight for mankind's survival is little more than the first battle in an endless war.
"It's never going to be over."
But for now, the battle can be over.
He lifts his hand and condenses the power of a million million stars to one burning spear that he holds. It is a shaft of raw godflame, surrounded by oscillating waves of hellfire amplified by the suns.
The universe should thank him that he chose to keep this weapon mostly in the abyss. It contains so much mass-energy that it would create a black hole larger than the universe, so much raw energy that it would return the universe to a state before the big bang.
With one might throw, he sends forth a spear of such power that words cannot fully describe its majesty. This is a spear to reshape Creation, a god's instrument to rewrite every law.
The power melts layers of the abyss together, shortening the distance between dark and light. It burns down barriers and unites that which should always be separated. The barrier between this universe and the abyss collapses. Humanity may not notice yet, but this universe is now one with the abyss. With this one act, Shouto heralds a new epoch in Creation.
The spear flies past Fumikage. It strikes the infernal engine of the creature head-on. A conflagration of godflame surges outwards, consuming the infernal engine.
He watches in satisfaction as the flames spread, consuming the creature in their cruel flames. The hellfire consecrates the Singer in his image and he eats of its strength.
Now, all that's left is the physical form on the moon.
He looks at Izuku who has just set foot on the moon and knows they will win.
-TDB-
Izuku Midoriya steps through the portal so many have died to protect. Now, it is his turn to return the favour.
Izuku walks the surface of the moon. The vacuum is cold but nothing he can't handle. He stands alone, his mind quiet and his soul empty. It is odd standing alone without Mikumo who has served as a quiet presence since the very beginning.
You better keep him safe, father. You better live a long and happy life, you bastard.
The anger he holds is borne of frustration and bitterness. His brother, in the end, saved Izuku without question. He died like a true hero and there is nothing Izuku can do but live. He owes the dead that much.
The remnants of Fumikage's power and Shouto's flames are everywhere, chain links floating in space and embers of godflame. They've done their job and dealt with most of the Singer in the abyss. Now, Izuku needs to do his.
It is an intimidating sight. The tallest mountain on the moon is ten kilometres, taller even than Everest. The Singer towers over that. But, without the endless and immutable power from the abyss, it is manageable.
Already, red crystal is spreading across the surface of the moon as it attempts to rebuild its infernal engines. It won't take much longer than a few minutes before the moon is an infernal engine. Perhaps in a few hours, it will have consumed the solar system.
The entity's perception focuses entirely on Izuku.
The Singer opens its maw and Sings. Fumikage's chains, scorched from the godflame and eroded by the Song, turn to dust. That isn't important to Izuku. No, what's more important is what he gleams from the song.
It singsthesongthatendsalllife and he understands one thing: it sings the song in praise of the shadowking.
His suit rips apart from the force of the song, so evil and insidious and cruel that it warms the deepest part of his soul. His flesh rips away, his bones turning to dust and his arteries exploding. Izuku Midoriya dies and in his place rises a shambling abomination of crystal nightmares and endless calamity.
Except, this time, Izuku is in control.
He feels the endless well of power within him. With it, he could shatter everything. He could consume the world, the galaxy, the universe, and create a line of tribute to empower himself eternally.
And he hears the Singer speak in truth.
/shadowking shadowking, father to us, you have returned. We sing your praise. This world we will sacrifice in offering to you, father/
The unholy god that Izuku controls simply raises one of its endless appendages. Green lightning coalesces in the scaled arm wreathed in corrosive black smoke, a surge of power that breaks reality by its very existence.
/End me, father. Shadowking, all that we are is yours to take. A thousand million trillion iterations we have tried to find you three. I offer myself in tribute. Sing us to sleep, father/
His lightning is a mark of his divinity. One For All was long ago incorporated into his domain. The shadows and dark belong to him, but his lightning is a manifestation of his ability to impose anathema laws on creation. His lightning is his right to judge creation.
Izuku brings the bolt of lightning down and casts judgement on the creature.
Green light illuminates the solar system. For one moment stretched to infinity, god's judgement outshines the sun, illuminating every dark corner of the solar system. The moons of Jupiter, hiding in its vast shadow, are lit up. Every asteroid in the Oort Cloud is like a diamond under the illumination.
The moon shatters under the auspices of green light. The very bedrock groans and cries in pain as it is torn asunder. The void consumes the grating sound of a moon breaking apart under the strain. Thick cracks like Lichtenberg figures spread across the moon, ejecta spewing everywhere. The massive ice oceans beneath the moon vaporise from the sudden pressure, great geysers forcing chunks of the moon away.
Through it all, Izuku, human once more, sits on the remnants of a mountain, naked as the day he was born. He watches the moon disintegrate under the force of his judgement. He watches as the larger chunks are caught in the Earth's gravity well, breaking apart to a thousand pieces. It will be like a thousand thousand missiles battering the affected regions.
Set to the backdrop of destruction and a pervasive green light, Izuku stands. He stares at his hands, finally understanding the power he wields. This wasn't anything more than a tiny fraction, an iota of the power at his fingertips.
Against the laws of the world, he opens his mouth and intones in a voice heard across the universe:
"It is done."