Epilogue: Falling

A blinding flash. An incredible pain in his left arm, then nothing. Drip, drip, drip. The blood trickling from his wounds soaked into his suit, matting his hair like glue. He felt only the pounding in his head, seeing nothing but red stars, swirling in his eyes. He faintly registered movement, but he felt no senses. A faint blue light, a cooling sensation throughout his body; Toschi sighed.

He opened his eyes. Then he blinked. He was certain his eyes were open, but everything was still dark. He couldn't see his body, couldn't move. He was just a consciousness in the abyss. He felt a falling sensation, as though his non-existent stomach had leapt to his throat. Flashes of light spattered him from all sides. He tried to close his eyes, but it did nothing. The lights swirled all around him, blurring his mind as they began to form images.

A young, pink-haired child staring in awe at the baseball he had just thrown, frozen in place, a yellow light softly pulsing from it. His black-eyed friend flying back into the air, laughing wildly as he was sent off by his friend's Quirk. Two black coffins, slowly descending into the ground as his three-year old cousin gripped his finger. The images kept coming, faster and faster. The sound of his blood roaring through his ears filled the void as the images rushed through his brain, and a piercing alarm began to ring from the depths below. A blinding explosion, the mushroom cloud boiling and raging above him. The skin melting off the nuclear villain's skull, her agonized screech forever etched into his brain. A deep red beam cutting through the Symbol of Peace, the explosion of power from the top of I-Island's central tower, it all came back at him. Splashes of blood, agonized screams from the horrified criminals, and two glowing red eyes staring him down, a sadistic grin stretched across the teen's face, even as blood and tissue dripped from the gash bisecting his face. The screams from his cousin as he leapt towards the frozen orb of death, returning it back to its sender as his arm disintegrated, the massive wave of heat turning his left side into char. Screams filled the abyss, and he realized they were his own, then everything went dark.

Toschi was left panting, his head dizzy. He began to feel a pressure on his back, and he groaned, turning his head to the side. He was back in his body, his surroundings completely black. Beneath him was some sort of floor, reflecting his visage back at him. He sat up, spotting a faint light a few feet from him. Slightly wobbly, he stood, walking to the light. As soon as he got close, it disappeared, and another popped up a bit farther away. More lit up, and he saw them lighting a trail through the darkness.

For hours, Toschi followed the lights. He didn't know why, but there was nothing else for him to do. Besides thinking, of course. Is this limbo? Where am I? Isn't there supposed to be someone guiding me or something? People usually tell stories that someone comes to lead you off when you die, but I haven't seen anyone. So maybe I'm not dead? But what else could I be? What am I? I'm me. Am I? What is me, exactly? And why is this walk so goddamn long?

As he trudged onwards, he finally came across an obsidian chair, glowing purple as it sparkled in the darkness. He looked all around him, then reached out to touch it.

"Oi, oi!" He jumped as a deep, rough voice filled his head. Whipping his head around, he saw a cloaked figure standing behind him, a laptop clasped in a skeleton hand. The other hand cradled a steaming mug, and Toschi could have sworn the figure was wearing fluffy bunny slippers. Narrow, glowing red eyes leered out from the depths of the cloak. "Th' bloody hell are ye doin'? Get the fuck away from me throne!"

"Who are you?" Toschi asked, taking a cautious step back as the skeleton moved to sit down.

"Where the hell do ye think ye are, ya wee cunt?" The figure waved a bony hand over the vast emptiness. "Welcome to limbo!"

"Did I get isekai'd?"

"…Kid, ye've no got a fuckin' clue how hard I want ta punch ye right now." The figure sighed, slouching in his throne as he reached into the depths of his cloak and pulled out a set of reading glasses. He opened the laptop, lazily tapping away at the keys. "Alright, let's get this over with. Name?"

Toschi raised his eyebrow at the strange being. "I asked first."

The figure made a motion as though he were rolling his eyes. "I'm the milkman that banged yer fuckin' mum and spawned yer ugly ass, obviously. I'm Death. Ye died. Ye come here when ye die, and I tell ye where I send ye for eternity." He lifted the mug to the general location of his face, and Toschi heard a sipping noise. "Obviously, I wasn't expecting an unscheduled demise, but yer here now. Name?"

"Toschi Hatsume." Death made a choking sound and his eyes went wide, and pounded a bony hand on his chest, making a clacking sound.

"The fuck? Yer early, ye speccy cunt! Ye weren't supposed to be here for another…" his head moved closer to the screen, and his eyes narrowed. "…sixty-three years! The fuck happened ta ye?"

"I got in a fight with a villain." Toschi sighed, looking down at his left arm. "At least I have this back now. Also, what do you mean 'unscheduled demise'? I thought it was common for people to die early."

"Yeah, I got a list of everyone's scheduled deaths right here. It's kinda long, so we switched ta a cloud-based system instead a scrolls. At least I got this sweet computer out of it. Runs DOTA 2 at 60 fps. But anyway, yeah, all that shit's planned. People getting cancer and shit? Me twin sister Life has, like, a ten trillion-sided die that she rolls when some new person gets made that determines their life and death. Hell if I know how that works."

Toschi rubbed his chin. "So, you're saying that I died before Life said I would? How does that happen?"

Death took another sip of his drink. "It happens sometimes. Her die has so many sides ta it, sometimes she gets it wrong. Not often, though. The last time I had an unscheduled death was over two hundred years ago. Also, by the way, yer original plan was for ye ta get testicular cancer at fifty-three and have ta get yer bollocks sliced out. The cancer would have come back when ye were seventy-seven and spread throughout yer knob, and it would swell up so much that ye'd die from low blood pressure."

Toschi stared at the skeleton in utter disbelief. "Are you joking?"

"Nah, ye really got the shite ending, mate. But anyway, let's get down ta the serious talk." Death leaned forward, resting his chin on his fist. "Ya done a lot a good shite for the world, but ye've also done fucked up. A lot. Ye could've been great, but ye ended up bunging yerself up the arse getting mixed up with that mad loony Chiraka cunt." Toschi sighed, rubbing his forehead, and Death snapped his finger. A chair popped up under him, and Toschi sat down. "But ye know what? All that shite ye got yerself mixed into fertilizer with gets cancelled out by all the good stuff ye've done. I really don't like people, so ye can't stay here. I'll make ye a deal." Toschi looked up in surprise. "Ye get five minutes ta go back ta real life and do something. And if I was ye," he leaned forwards into Toschi's ear, whispering. "I'd go do something that'll make yer chums win this upcoming battle. It's gonna get balls nasty out there."

"…Alright. I know what I need to do. Send me back." Death held out his finger, then flicked Toschi in the forehead. He lifted into the air, then swirled and shrank down, like water down a drain, until he popped out of the realm.

Death tapped his fingers, waiting. His eyes snapped open as he heard a crack from above. Toschi suddenly fell from above, crashing into the ground in front of him.

"So? How'd it go up there? Ye fix everything alright?"

"At the very least," Toschi groaned, picking himself up, "They have a fighting chance now. With the Q.A, there's no way they can lose this fight."

"And yer completely certain it's no gonna make things worse for them sad cunts?"

"I'm positive." Toschi sighed, standing tall. "Well, guess it's time. Send me off, Death."

Death raised his hands. A beam of light shone from above, illuminating Toschi as he rose, eyes closed.

"Hey, Death. One more thing: how the hell do you drink stuff if you're a skeleton?"

"No fuckin' clue. The author was a raging autist and didn't think me design all the way through."

"What?"

"Never mind, kid. Enjoy yer life of luxury." Toschi faded out of sight, and the light disappeared. Death sighed, leaning back and tapping away at his computer. "Now, let's see which mangy knucklefucks might be paying me a visit." A video appeared on his screen, showing him a live feed of what was happening in the world. He squinted at a small blob, and zoomed in. Standing on the crest of a hill were eight figures, staring down at a city below them. Two of the figures stood twenty feet tall; one with a jagged, rocky jaw, and the other white and red striped, shiny black head interrupted by two clouded red eyes.

Tomura Shigaraki grinned down at the city. He began to walk towards it, but Dabi held out a hand to stop him.

"Why don't we just let the tanks do this?" he asked, jerking his thumb over his shoulder at Chiraka and Gigantomachia. "They could take this city out all on their own."

"No, no. This is all a psychological ruse, Dabi. Don't you see? If we send those two in, it'll make us look like a bunch of weak brats hiding behind the muscles. If we're gonna show those guys who we are, then I say let's show them who we are." He brushed Dabi's arm aside. "Besides, Twice looks like he's gonna blow if he doesn't get Giran back from those fuckers."

"I'll kill them all! He's probably already dead, there's no point! Come on, let's go save him!"

"Spinner, you're on Twice duty. Make sure he doesn't do anything I would do."

Spinner rolled his eyes, but slid two daggers out of his belt. "This isn't what Stain would have wanted," he muttered, but followed his friends down the hill.

Shigaraki turned, calling over his shoulder. "Machia, if things look bad, come on down. You shouldn't have to, but if we get into trouble, give 'em hell."

Gigantomachia and Chiraka stood at the crest, watching them go. "I am still not convinced that Shigaraki is a suitable successor to Master," Gigantomachia said, arms crossed. "I would never deny Master's wishes or beliefs, but if I were choosing, it'd be you. You're exactly the kind of raw, violent power Master loves." He turned to Chiraka as he heard a hissing sound. The vigilante had shrunken back down to his normal size, panting as he collapsed on the ground. He clenched his eyes shut, then they opened, clear of the fog.

As the villains entered the city, Toga skipped forwards, tapping Shigaraki on the shoulder. "Hey Tomura, I know this is a bad time, but I forgot to mention that we ran out of that drug we had Chi' on."

"…What?"

"Yeah, we ran out last time I gave it to him. Sorry, I just remembered." She gave him a grin.

Shigaraki stared back at her, scratching his neck. "When we get done with this, I'm going to kill you." He pulled out his phone, tapping a number into it. "Doctor, how soon can you get more of that mind-control drug to us?"

"I can have Johnny send some over in a few hours. Is he going to be dangerous until then?"

"He's useless without the drug. If he tries anything, Machia will hold him. Besides, he's stuck as a human when it wears off. What's the worst that could happen?"

Author's Note:

And with that, we say goodbye to Toschi Hatsume. He did a lot of good, he did a lot of bad, but in the end he redeemed himself. Also, Death is Scottish for whatever reason. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this side story to Slaughterhouse: New Mission. If you're waiting on the third installment of the main trilogy, make sure to get update alerts from my profile! Stay tuned for the next story, which will be even longer than this one! I hope you all are ready, for Slaughterhouse: Doomsday!