Heroes in the Dark chapter 49
Tokoyami wasn't oblivious. He knew what this substance was, and what it meant for him. And he hated that he'd been forced into a situation where the use of something as ugly and dangerous as Trigger was somehow the solution. The risks were well documented, as was the disdain of its use in the hero and villain worlds alike. But it was a drug that Overhaul dealt in and paraded like some sort of business accomplishment, as if the power he held over its distributions throughout the world was something remarkable.
A fog of exhaustion and delusion that was most certainly caused by blood loss lifted, and Tokoyami remembered that conversation he'd had with the yakuza boss. How enamored he'd been with the idea of Tokoyami at his most powerful, how convenient it'd be. For a fearful moment, it occurred to Tokoyami that maybe this was exactly what Overhaul had wanted. But everything up till now couldn't have possibly been part of a plan. He never had any intention of playing into Overhaul's destructive hands. No, he wasn't doing this as part of a ploy, but to make sure that Overhaul met his end no matter what. If he just stuck to that mentality and kept his thoughts focused, then… he would definitely…!
The thought immediately thereafter was that an acid was coursing through his veins. The drug ran through him like the instantaneous pain of a bullet being shot into him. It was a feeling only comparable to when Overhaul had laid his ungloved hand on him. His body, unused to such things, fought against it in a vain attempt at rejection, but he was already so weak that it only caused him to convulse while the drug seeped into him unhindered.
Tokoyami was dimly aware of Asui calling out his name, her hold of him the only thing keeping him from collapsing back onto the floor. The part of his mind that was still coherent wished he could express how much it meant to him, that they were here for him now. And how sorry he was.
Before all this, his quirk had been so quiet. A being usually keen on conversation, it had instead been focusing desperately on its own physical ability and remaining outside his body as a useful ally. But now it – he – his quirk – was screaming. At the sudden surge of power. And at the pain, and confusion, and betrayal as Tokoyami yet again denied Dark Shadow to rest.
"Tokoyami?! Please hang in there, we can get you out of here," Asui reassured, not understanding what had happened but continuing to support him anyway.
Somewhere off behind him he could hear someone calling out to them, but he didn't recognize the voice, nor could he be bothered to properly take in his surroundings when he needed to focus on the internal conflict happening within him.
This couldn't possibly be what every user felt when using a drug like this. A quirk enhancer shouldn't be so loud. But his quirk, sentient as it was, wouldn't forgive him for a second, every extended screech that reverberated through his mind accusing Tokoyami of the decision he had made. As though Dark Shadow wasn't enough on his own, even after all they'd been through.
At times he'd kept such an incredible power caged – suppressed in the hopes that it wouldn't lash out. But now any outdated idea of balance between quirk and user was a desecrated remnant, left shattered in the smallest corners of his consciousness. Shadows swelled in his thoughts, filling him, blinding him. Everything was a black mass as the darkness converged around him, taking hold and demanding retribution. Dark Shadow's screams left his body, resonating into the physical plain as a continuation of his outrage. The ear-piercing screech echoed off the crumbling stone walls, freezing the heroes surrounding him in their tracks. Asui's support abandoned him, despite her good intentions. But this time it didn't feel like he would fall. No, not now. Not when the shadows writhing around him were providing him with the only support he'd ever needed. They boiled beneath his feet, converging around him. The darkness that had been caused by Overhaul's new eclipsing figure now belonged to Dark Shadow, an extension of his power that only he was allowed to wield.
But nothing was his. Even though Tokoyami was the user, his frayed mind and rattled body could barely keep itself together. And amidst it all, he struggled not for self-preservation, but for victory.
Dark Shadow's ominous roar was joined by the desperate cry of Tokoyami making his presence known. And yet it didn't seem like the one individual that should've been the most important could talk to him. Dark Shadow had no words, no coherent sentience or audible voice that he could reason with. But Tokoyami knew better, even as his own stability teetered on the edge of falling inside the black.
Dark Shadow was still listening.
Tokoyami gasped for breath, his every movement achingly apparent. Shapes blurred around him, and all he could hear now was a ringing that refused to go away. But every slow, agonizing second made him more aware of what was going on. He was no longer relying on his own pathetic strength to keep himself standing. The ground was but an afterthought, replaced instead by the chillingly familiar form of a dark abomination surrounding him like a suit made for destruction. It was not unlike the own demented form that Overhaul had taken by sacrificing his own team members. Only Tokoyami found a small comfort that he alone was at the center of this beast. But the idea that he could just as easily hurt the people he cared about all over again quickly depleted that thin strain of comfort.
I can't tell… if I'm even in control… if I ever was.
No. No, it was different this time. This wasn't spurred by anger, although he could feel that emotion coursing through him much like the Trigger. This was a raw, instinctual ambition that directed his movements. Pain was an afterthought, filled instead with adrenaline. Even as everything seemed to fall apart around him, there was stability. The wound in his gut had stopped bleeding, a patchwork of thread-like shadows stitching his torn flesh to keep him from falling apart. Dark tendrils tugged at his sleeves and feathers, begging him to move, to direct, to do something.
His heart thumped wildly in his chest like a bird trying desperately to escape a cage. Tokoyami turned his head slowly, painfully, as though a great pressure rested upon him. And with that so too did the large beaked head of Dark Shadow hovering above him with blazing red eyes move in sync with him. Everything was a force pushing against him, and somewhere in his stuttering consciousness he knew that if he lost focus for even a second he would be torn apart.
Dark Shadow strained against his mind, desperate not to lose himself. This temporary solution wouldn't last for long, and Tokoyami accepted that if they crumbled it would be his fault. He didn't have much time. So he would make the most of it.
Tokoyami blinked the creeping darkness from his sight, honing in on the shapes shifting through the veil of shadows. The heroes crying up at him from below were like tv static, background noise that was incomprehensible. And then the full scale of what he was facing solidified before him. Overhaul's enormous body of stone and splintered bone emerged from the dark, closer to him than he'd ever wanted. That sharp, snarling beak, and the plethora of twitching hands emerging from his constructed spine were poised, ready to wreak havoc upon the world. But for a brief moment Overhaul's wrath, which had been heavily directed towards Midoriya and his retrieval of Eri, had lapsed. So that he could instead appreciate what Tokoyami had done to himself. A rumble reverberated through the underground, causing stray rocks to crash down from the edges of the hole surrounding them. And he realized – this monster was laughing at him.
"You're even sicker than I thought," Overhaul gibbered, his voice hoarse but resounding, followed by the scrape of metal against stone as the beaked maw protecting his disfigured core twitched with every word. "But at least now we see eye to eye. This is your last chance: prove your usefulness… and rampage with all your heart!" The earth quaked, becoming unsteady. Overhaul's arms twisted around the area until they found purchase on the surface above, where Midoriya was trying to make his escape. "And now I'll lay waste to all who oppose me. I can't lose something so useful, something with the power to rewind. It should be mine alone!"
Overhaul began to lift himself from the ruins of his own facility, leaving the crumpling mess in his wake. Arms reached skywards, reaching for the green speck suspended high in the air but falling fast. And as that speck came closer, highlighted by the weak light of morning, he could see the girl holding tightly onto the hero. But Overhaul's rambling refused to cease, only becoming louder in volume as his delusions built him higher.
"The power to extinguish one's quirk factor, returning them to normalcy!"
Tokoyami winced, his regret for the hero Lemillion still fresh in his mind. But knowing he couldn't falter now, he commanded his limbs to move.
"The power to destroy this world, built on top of quirks!" Overhauls tirade knew no bounds as his malformed body freed itself of the hole.
Tokoyami dug his giant shadowy claws into the ground above and followed behind as best he could, his breath labored but new-found power all-encompassing.
Within seconds of reaching the aboveground, Overhaul's hands were moving wildly, dissolving the landscape indiscriminately in its pursuit of destruction and attainment. Tokoyami cried out in surprise as Dark Shadow's large writhing form jerked suddenly, barely able to pull itself from the wreckage of the underground before the ground began to fall apart. The dark mass surrounding him dragged itself to more stable ground away from the edge of the hole, and every muscle in his body tensed to keep them from collapsing into the nearest building. But such concerns meant nothing to Overhaul. Then the yakuza boss's ear-piercing declaration rang out for all to hear as he unleashed himself upon the unsuspecting world.
"The power to destroy the way of things…That is Eri!"
Entire buildings were beginning to crumble beneath him, livelihoods lost, people meaningless. And trained within Overhaul's sights, the whole reason for this ruthless destruction, was Midoriya and a terrified girl who was seen as a weapon, a tool, a chance to progress his own sick ideals.
Some strand of reasoning within Tokoyami wavered in that moment, and he felt his claws curl dangerously as a battle-cry tore from his and Dark Shadows' collective throats: "I'll kill you!"
And he hurled himself into Overhaul.
Talons warped by the essence of a lost night plummeted into the stone skin and metal ribs of Overhaul's malicious body, shoving against his weight with everything he had. Several of Overhaul's arms braced against the shredded ground for purchase, while countless others lashed out like vines. Dark Shadow let out a growl of determination, and Tokoyami felt it reverberate through him, this maddening insistence to end the miserable insult to humanity that had opposed him, denied him, and terrified him for far too long ringing true. In his heart, Tokoyami could feel his hatred for Overhaul festering like the wound in his abdomen. And he knew that what he'd said, spurred by hate as it was, had been true. He wanted this man to no longer see the light of day, and instead be swallowed by the darkness.
Overhaul was forced to focus his attention back onto him, much as he hated to be distracted. His body dwarfed him in size, that hideously curled beak eclipsing him and the massive skeleton blocking out the light of the rising run. And still Tokoyami pushed himself, splaying his arms in front and directing every last shred of shadow towards him. His legs braced against a floor of shadow, and he knew that Dark Shadow was desperately trying to hold itself firm.
It had stalled Overhaul, if anything. For a brief lapse of time, no buildings succumbed to his power, nothing of importance was being lost, and Eri wasn't in immediate danger of confronting him. Even with Tokoyami filled with more power than he could ever want, to the point where his very blood felt like it was on fire, he still felt so weak. But if he kept this up, then that would be enough.
Overhaul's hideous black beak dipped down towards him, and Overhaul glared it his struggling form with unbridled loathing. "Is if you could ever accomplish anything like that!" he spat, words dribbling like venom from his twisted cage.
Two of his hands groaned and flexed, and then they lashed out one after another, eviscerating one of Dark Shadow's arms. Tokoyami felt a numbness spread through his limb and he let out a yelp. Dark Shadow faltered, and Tokoyami strained against himself but was unable to keep the massive vortex of shadow from collapsing into Overhaul's side. The skeletal monstrosity gave way under him before backing itself out of the way. Shards of rock cracked from Overhaul's grieving flesh, and bones scraped painfully together to move past him. The ground got closer as Tokoyami saw his efforts beginning to fall, but Dark Shadow's remaining arm remained firmly grasped onto one of Overhaul's ribs, and with an agonized groan of exertion he kept himself from collapsing entirely. Painful breaths ripped through him, and Tokoyami reached out his numb arm. Shadows formed around it at will, quickly creating a new appendage of destruction, and with a desperate scream Tokoyami plunged it between two more of those ribs, forcing himself as close to Overhaul as he possibly could. His claws sank through bone, rock, and steel, hanging on for all he was worth. Together, Dark Shadow and Tokoyami dragged themselves up using Overhaul as leverage, and their shadowy beak squared off against Overhaul's ugly maw. Tokoyami's words rumbled through every shadow, and he looked directly into his spiteful amber eyes.
"You don't deserve her!" Tokoyami roared, pulsing with anger that threatened to overtake him. Dark Shadow's red eyes blazed above him, a dark fire that crackled larger with every spike of emotion. It would be wiser to not speak at all. He should already know that it was useless to talk sense into these yakuza. But so long as this opportunity presented itself, he would take advantage of it. Because it was maybe the last bit of power he could ever exercise over another person after being held down for so long. "And in the end, it will be your hubris that will allow me to end you! Chisaki!"
Tokoyami could sense the way that Overhaul clenched at the use of his name, but with his claws curled between layers of his opponents body, shredding through the rock and bone, there was nothing else he could do except for stand strong in the face of adversary. He could feel the hiss of contempt from the stone skeleton, making his own body tremble, and an onslaught of arms came crashing towards him.
"Tokoyami!"
With a gasp, Tokoyami released part of his power and allowed his shadows to splinter into a less unified mass, shrinking Dark Shadow away from the area of impact as an unprecedented amount of brute force blasted into Overhaul's side. The mangled monstrosity was ripped from his grasp, sent skidding several blocks away from him with an animalistic yowl of outrage that shook the air.
Tokoyami grit his teeth, flinching from the weak rays of sunlight that threatened to pick away at the loose shadows crawling away from him. But this power was still his, and he called the shadows back together, stitching themselves up again into the body he hoped could continue to rival Overhaul. When he could finally make sense of what was happening outside his own struggles, he moved his head around, looking, hoping that the attack just now originated from where he thought it did.
A green bolt of energy spiraled through the air, crackling with barely contained power that threatened to slip from his mortal coils. The sheer force of the impact had sent him shooting back, opposite of Overhaul, and Tokoyami lunged clumsily towards the green speck.
"Midoriya!" Tokoyami managed to croak out the familiar name, begging the affirmation of his old friend. Midoriya hit the ground, making a crater around him, and just as quickly had sprung back up into the air on powerful legs. Tokoyami and Dark Shadow shifted, opening one of their solidified claws and giving a haphazard platform for them to land on. They landed in the center of his palm, convulsing with dark energy as it was. His claws twitched, threatening to close onto them through instinct alone, but Tokoyami clenched his teeth and kept his power at bay, even as it scraped against his flesh and banged at the insides of his head.
They both looked unharmed, and Tokoyami felt tears of relief prick at his eyes. Eri was secure, her little bandaged arms wrapped tightly over his shoulders and body swathed in the last remnants of Lemillion's cape. Her eyes were impossibly wide, taking everything in with fear and wonder. And as the duo stood upon his platform of shadows, he could feel a power different than anything he'd ever felt before, gently disassembling the shadows directly below Midoriya's feet. Their ground was tentative at best, the shadowy hand suspended easily twenty feet into the air, but every time Eri's power spilling out in its awakened form, erased the existence of the strands of darkness, others quickly took their place. Even under the influence of her rewind, the promise of darkness was eternal.
"Eri, Midoriya, you're safe," Tokoyami rasped. He wanted to feel relieved, but the ground shook with impending doom as Overhaul was getting himself off the ground.
Electricity flew off of Midoriya, the overflowing power coursing through him tangible. "You – you're in control!" he gasped. Eri looked at the hero in concern, but he quickly shook his head. "Tokoyami, even with my full power I can't defeat Overhaul if I can't hit him directly. I don't know what possessed you to do this, but now I need you to restrain him with everything you have. I'll do my best not to hit you, but it might get even messier from here on out."
Tokoyami's hand trembled, translating to the platform he'd given them to stand on, but he nodded his headful in willful confirmation. "I'll do that much and more if need be," he gritted out, words strained but determined. He steeled himself for what was to come, but it seemed as though so long as he did what he could, Eri could stay in good hands. This… this had to be the best, after everything they fought for. They were so close.
Even still, Midoriya showed the slightest bit of hesitation. His eyes trailed down to his feet, and a hand came up to hold onto one of Eri's arms, wrapped around his throat. "I don't know what's going to happen after this, but I need you to know that I'm sorry. I'm sorry I couldn't do more for you! And even though I'm dealing with my own loss, that doesn't mean I should give up on the people still in front of me. So let's get through this! We have to!"
That… hadn't been what Tokoyami expected. A pained smile lifted the corners of his mouth, and a choked laugh escaped him. He didn't know how to respond to that. There was so much he had to say, so much he wanted to tell his old classmates and teachers, his friends and family. But time was limited. Overhaul was back up in full, any damage he had already fully healed. They really would have to do this in one hit or he'd regenerate again. "Midoriya. Thank you for reaching me."
And with that, Overhaul was almost upon them, network of hands twisting into the ground and demolishing everything it could touch as it forged a path of destruction to get to them. The monstrosity had its sights set on Eri, and Midoriya looked ready to take off right before collision.
Bracing himself, Dark Shadow flung Midoriya and Eri into the air, far above Overhaul's desperately grabbing hands, and leaned into the force ramming into him. The shadowy mass threatened to topple over under the strength of Overhaul's twisted form, skidding into the streets and leaving a wake of broken up roads. Hands tore into the shadows, a frenzied hate that threatened to strip him of everything he had. Dark Shadow stuttered in panic, but Tokoyami knew that failure wasn't an option, even as Overhaul ripped him piece by piece. Claws of bone and metal came horribly close to his actual body, making light of all the defenses he'd managed to build. But the shadows knit themselves back together as fast as possible, fighting to protect him. This wasn't about having clear actions or playing the hero. This confrontation was about survival, and that was something his quirk wanted more than anything.
Feeling the futility of this body holding out, Tokoyami let his mind go blank. Shadows filled his mind, squirming with power and a deafening desire to destroy. Dark Shadow came apart, searing through the air like wisps of heavy smoke and coiling around Overhaul's touch to avoid his destructive intentions. Tokoyami fell several feet through the air, the ground coming up close beneath him. But before he could reach it, the shadows that had come undone swarmed beneath him, taking him back into the hurricane or darkness that kept him safe in the eye of the storm. Tokoyami's eyes snapped open, and red eyes blazed above him as Dark Shadow came back with a vengeance. Even further above, Overhaul was grasping at empty air, the shadows of his flesh having squirmed from his grasp. There was something impossibly intangible about a body made of darkness, a creature that could be tearing into you one moment and be nothing but a memory of mist the next. Meanwhile, Overhaul's body was every bit a part of him, and even if he could build himself up, it was all still connected to his body.
Tokoyami focused in on a central point, away from those disgusting hands, and saw that crumbling ribcage hovering right above him left wide open for attack. Dark Shadow's beak got larger as all the power he had concentrated into a single point of impact, and Tokoyami yelled out "Nightfall Spear!" Every shadow became honed into a single devastating spike that rushed skywards. It pierced through Overhaul's monstrous body, breaking past ribs and artificial flesh. Shards of rock and bone rained down, but Tokoyami pushed ever skywards. A hole ravaged Overhaul's interior, the sharp beak breaking through his defenses. The shadows swelled and spiraled, and the force was almost enough to lift Overhaul's malformed body from the earth. A screech of outrage resonated from Overhaul's wicked beak, and the body twisted wildly.
The two large beings toppled into the earth together. Several of Overhaul's arms broke, but more erupted from his malformed spine to take their place. Tokoyami caught himself, a newly formed arm of shadow propping him up off the floor. He lashed out with his other arm, destroying one of Overhaul's new appendages before it could reach him. He needed to get in close again, to hold him and suppress all he had so that Midoriya could get a good hit in.
Tokoyami and Dark Shadow moved as one, avoiding the arms as Overhaul worked quickly to undo the damage inflicted upon him. This time they aimed higher, the shadowy mass flying through the air. With a forceful movement and a fiery vengeance, Dark Shadow's claws grabbed onto either side of Overhaul's beak. Tokoyami could feel the sharp teeth piercing into his form, the pain resonating through Dark Shadow, but by now such feelings would do nothing to deter him. Instead, he went with it, making a movement as if he were opening a clam shell, and began to pry open Overhaul's beak.
Arms thrashed wildly, aiming anywhere they could. But whenever they were about to get close to him, a green bolt of energy would zip by and demolish them.
Tokoyami saw that he was now much closer to Overhaul's real body than ever before. The yakuza was straining, crying out for his limbs to work, respond, destroy, do something. But no matter what, the child he'd so wrongfully underestimated was staring him down with a burning hatred. "This power isn't even yours! Only I can be the creator of such strength!" Overhaul seethed.
"Your words mean nothing so long as you fail! And that's what I'm here to make sure of!" Tokoyami rebutted, his grip on Overhaul's beak tightening as he pushed himself further.
Overhaul's struggles became more frantic, less targeted and easier for Midoriya to avoid. Tokoyami was sure that one final push would end this form of his.
A flash of green directly above him caught his eye, and he looked up to see Midoriya and Eri. But Overhaul saw where he was looking, and before anything could be said a thin, newly formed arm burst from Overhaul's back at a blistering speed. It swatted the fleck off trajectory, colliding with the dynamic duo. The arm was destroyed in the process, crumbling into rubble from Midoriya's blast, but it had succeeded in shaking them up.
Tokoyami watched in horror as Eri lost her grip and began to plummet towards the two warring bird-faced creatures. Midoriya could use his quirk to recover, but Eri was alone, and Overhaul was determined to make his move the moment he reformed more arms.
Eye's locked on the small girl falling towards them, Tokoyami acted on impulse. Bracing his shadow claws against Overhaul's gaping maw, he used it as a handhold to propel himself upwards. Dark Shadow's head raised itself above Overhaul's, and on a command the quirk opened up its giant swirling black beak. Eri's screams of terror and confusion reached him as she plunged into the churning abyss of Dark Shadow's gullet, and a spike of guilt pierced his heart. But the demented hands that clamped onto empty air directly above him spoke of his success in retrieving her.
"Dark Shadow, take over real quick!"
Tokoyami left the control of the body up to his quirk, knowing it was dead-set on dismantling Overhaul piece by piece. The shadow held itself firm, claws still eagerly trying to rip open Overhaul's weak point. And Tokoyami's own arms were held open freely when Eri dropped into them.
Tokoyami caught her from her fall, barely keeping himself from going down with her. "I gotcha!"
The girl wasn't physically hurt, but holding her this close he was finally beginning to understand the extent of her quirk. The horn on her head radiated an energy harsher than what he felt before, and remnants of green electricity from Midoriya fizzled out around her.
Just in the few seconds where he was able to hold her, he could feel the adverse effects. Rewind, huh? He was aware of the wound in his stomach going back to a time where it wasn't normal. And he could feel his body going back to a time where it wasn't afflicted with the drug that granted him strength. But in Midoriya's hands, she had given him immeasurable power. Because he was a hero that used his power to break himself over and over. It was the perfect combination of recklessness and insurance. And it wasn't something that could help him. Even though his wounds were being healed, he could feel himself growing weaker. Eri can't be in my arms right now.
Tokoyami clutched her close, holding her one last time. "I need to get you back to Midoriya. But no matter what, I don't want you to ever lose hope again. So please live a life of happiness you won't regret!"
From the corner of his eye, he could see Midoriya struggling for control in the air behind him, hurtling through space unable to use his quirk to its fullest. And he knew where Eri needed to be.
Muttering a lame apology, Tokoyami let go of Eri. She didn't scream this time, giving him one last look of sadness and understanding. And Tokoyami voiced a command to his quirk to propel her out of the shadowy mass.
Dark Shadow released hold of one of his claws, twisting the arm around. Overhaul's beak snapped shut painfully on the remaining hand. Eri dropped from Dark Shadow's chest and into his open palm, and the quirk contorted awkwardly, the arm extending out a far distance from the body to get to Midoriya. The arm moved with a force strong enough to level a forest, but its purpose was not destruction. Instead, it had achieved its goal when it stopped beneath Midoriya, catching him as well, and the two were quickly reunited.
The arm moved to get back to Dark Shadow's body, the dark appendage seeping back quickly into the swirling mass. But Midoriya moved along the length of it, even faster than that now that Eri was back with him. Their perfect dynamic of power capable of bodily destruction and a reversal of injury was shooting towards the battling avian monstrosities.
"Every last one of you is missing the big picture!" Overhaul cawed, his desperation palpable. "What I'm trying to destroy is this "world!" The very structure that makes it so!"
Tokoyami turned his attention back to Overhaul. With every last shred of strength he had left, he forcefully pulled down on the bottom jaw of Overhaul's beak. His shadows splintered off from between the teeth, threatening to break free entirely, but he focused every stray shadow into keeping that claw alive. A surge of power could be felt running up the spine of Dark Shadow, racing up towards his head, and Midoriya's scream rang in the air.
Over that still, Overhaul continued his delusional rants. "And instead, you fake heroes, irrationally fixated on this tiny notion of justice that sits in front of your eyes… stay out of my way!"
Hands plunged into Dark Shadows core, threatening to tear him apart. But Dark Shadow and Tokoyami, together as one, had no choice but to persist, and even as their body began to suffer at the use of Overhaul's quirk they continued to hold out. It was everything just to continue suspending himself in the air as the shadows that had been holding Tokoyami up from below started falling apart. Because his body didn't matter anymore. The only thing that needed to stay strong – the points where he focused every remaining shadow – was the remaining claw prying open Overhaul's beak and his spine, where Midoriya and Eri was using his body as a path to race directly towards Overhaul's weak point.
Dark Shadow let out a mournful wail as his head and red eyes began to stutter in and out of focus. Wherever Midoriya ran along the length of Dark Shadow, the dark remnants tattered out behind him, the path collapsing with every step. Until Tokoyami watched as the green hero raced onto Dark Shadow's head, directly above him, and right up his beak.
Midoriya and Eri stood at the tip of Dark Shadow's beak, face to face with Overhaul. His claw was trembling in the toothy maw, open just enough to expose Overhaul's remaining physical mortality.
"If I can't even save a little girl and a friend standing right before my eyes… then how can I possibly become a hero that saves people?!" Midoriya roared.
The green hero reared back his arm. The molecules in the air began to tremble, shadows loosened, and Tokoyami looked on in awe. An enormous exertion of power planted itself directly into Overhaul's face point blank, knocking that loathsome mask from him and sending the villain reeling. It was the most satisfying thing he'd ever witnessed, even as he watched his own remaining claw become obliterated alongside the yakuza.
Overhaul's body crumpled into a garbage heap, bones snapping and arms breaking. Right then and there, the foe that had caused him so much fear and anger fell apart, power stripped from him in a moment of victory. He wanted to feel relief, but instead a rush of exhilaration filled him to the brim. Together, Tokoyami and Midoriya screamed victory into the air, everything they fought for having come to fruition. Overhaul's defeat at their hands was a surge of deserved triumph that bolstered his shadows and made his heart race. The target of his anger was no longer here.
Tokoyami struggled to calm his elation and made a command for Dark Shadow to catch Midoriya and Eri out of the air. His shadows were beginning to fail him, but they continued to cling to him. And yet the command went unheeded. A claw reformed, but it lashed out randomly, hitting nothing but air. It squirmed and jittered, and the shadows supporting him began to writhe wildly. There was no direction to them, no more focus. No matter what he tried, the shadows evaded him. But it was also becoming suffocating. There… was no more target. Goal accomplished and danger dealt with, he had nothing left to focus on. Dark Shadow worked with him to destroy a common enemy, and now nothing stood in their way. Each individual shadow moved with a mind of its own, growing, shrinking, and moving like a mass of snakes. And with a gut-wrenching realization he realized he couldn't control this.
Tokoyami struggled to speak his mind, but any attempt at communication was drowned out by incomprehensible gibberish as Dark Shadow began to crumble apart in his own way. And maybe he would've fallen apart right then and there, losing control and sense of self, if not for the Trigger that continued to supply power. Without direction, the shadowy mass turned from its bird-like appearance to a blob of incomprehensible darkness. It pulled at him, churned at the ground, and singed the air, hissing at the light and screeching in the shadows of destroyed buildings. And in the center of it all, there was nothing for Tokoyami to grasp onto.
Dark Shadow. I can't take it anymore. It feels like everything is only falling apart. It's… it's hurting me!
People were shouting at them from below, asking what was wrong and demanding that they stop. But nothing they could say or do left any impact on the young kids that had fought so hard only to be left fighting themselves. Familiar faces blurred, barely visible through the walls of shadow pressing in around him. Off to the side a large scaly pink body lifted itself out of the giant hole that led back into the underground facility, but he couldn't afford to give it any attention.
Tokoyami was losing track of what was happening. He knew that Midoriya and Eri had landed on the ground, but their screams were reaching him. Not screams of victory, but pain and confusion. They echoed through his own head, amplifying his feelings. But we won, right? So what's happening?!
A random claw from Dark Shadow stepped close to Eri, and just being nearby the vortex of power emanating from the little girl reversed those shadows from existence. Dark Shadow roared at the assault on his body and backed away, taking the wreckage of some unfortunate buildings with him. Stone turned to dust beneath him, and he couldn't stop. The quirk sought a target, a goal, anything that could direct the onslaught of power coursing within it. But nothing presented itself, and in the end it could do nothing but fester wildly in the open area of the city.
Tokoyami's screams of agony mixed with those of Midoriya's and Eri's, and a roar ripped through Dark Shadow's half-formed throat, a chilling sound that rang out for miles, guttural and animalistic. Shadows crept closer to him, drawn to the mass of power and seeking retribution.
And then an achingly familiar feeling spread through him, cold but welcome.
Just when Tokoyami thought he might lose himself altogether and get torn apart by his own quirk, the flow of power was shut off abruptly, as if the faucet supplying him had been roughly turned. Shadows skittered and petered out around him, falling fast. Dark Shadow's last action as Aizawa's quirk activated on him was a sudden, jerking movement that instinctively thrusted him farther from the people who might seek to bring him down. And farther from the very heroes he had been trying to work alongside. Tokoyami's quirk faded from him, suppressed and fading, and his body hurtled down through the air, two blocks from where the heroes had been converging. Dark Shadow squirmed inside him, incomprehensible and undignified. The quirk struggled to form coherent thoughts but nothing made sense, and even though the potential for power was still there, coursing through him, the ability to summon it had been denied.
All those shadows swirling around him earlier did little to break his fall.