"Wh… what?!"

Tokoyami stood rigidly, posed in front of the shattered store-front like a deer in the headlights. His voice came out as a raw, incredulous whisper, and the air suddenly felt so much colder. The blatant accusation struck a chord that he never could've anticipated, and it left him thoroughly stunned. All the while, Miss Curious was staring him down smugly, as if her words had perfectly hit the mark. As if this was some kind of well-known knowledge that everyone was aware of except for him – a cruel joke, made just to tear him down even after all he'd done to struggle through the hardships that have been thrown at him time after time over the span of five grueling months.

UA's traitor.

That was what he had just been called.

He struggled to speak above the sound of fighting. "I don't know what you're talking about!" he wheezed. "I haven't… I haven't done anything wrong!" With his own words, he couldn't shake the feeling that he was lying, and it made his heart sink in despair. Judging from the journalist's expression, she could feel it too.

"You'd be better off not resisting," she purred. "And to make that happen, you'll both need to cooperate to my standards." Her smile dropped. With a wave of her hand, her loyal soldiers rushed towards them in full-force.

With the new influx of people, Tokoyami was forced back, away from the broken windows. Looking for an escape, he wondered if he could slip out the back door. But he was hardly given the chance before enemies were swarming into the restaurant, armed with quirks, claws, and weapons. More spilled in from the back, out of the corner of his vision. They had this place surrounded.

No! Don't step there!

Tokoyami jumped aside as one person swung at him with a bat, only for it to hit a table instead and set off another explosion. Toga was locked in combat at the back of the building, but the surge of people were driving them closer to each other. Tokoyami was starting to become frantic, ducking and weaving for all he was worth. He could feel his quirk flowing around him, deflecting attacks as best he could and guarding his open spots. Whenever the quirk wasn't immediately at his side, it would lash out at the closest enemy, pushing them further back so that he wouldn't have to deal with another immediate threat. Weakened as his quirk was, Dark Shadow was working overtime to ensure his safety. Everything else was on him, though. Tokoyami had his attention diverted every which way, and for a split second he lost sight of Toga among the growing throngs of screeching people.

He couldn't worry about that, though.

Maybe you should!

Something whizzed past his head, close enough to scrape his cheek. Tokoyami looked in shock as he saw one of Toga's needles fly by him and imbed itself into the girl that had been about to impale him with a javelin. Evidently, Toga had gotten closer to him than he'd anticipated.

"Careful!" Tokoyami barked, making out Toga in the center of a group of the so-called liberation warriors. She had five of her needles sent out in various directions, borrowing blood from various targets.

Above the noise of battle, Curious cut in with her take on the situation. "Syringes! I see! So you can suck blood and use your meta ability, Transform!" Her calculating eyes missed nothing despite the layers of battling confusion taking place in the small place. "And Dark Shadow appears just as advertised, as well! What a versatile ability, being able to use it at long and short range."

Tokoyami dodged out of the way of a soldier's long claws, only to feel another person right behind him intent on landing a blow. He dropped to the floor in time to see a spiked arm fly over his head, connected with the previous attacker. In that same moment, Tokoyami took advantage of the man's confusion to have his quirk sweep the assailant's feet out from under him. When he hit the floor next to him, Tokoyami made a mad dash over the felled body. He really didn't want to, but he unsheathed his sword, using the flat of the blade to push away flailing limbs and counter attacks from other weapons. At some point, the edge of the sword must've caught onto someone, because he saw a flash of blood and heard a pained shout as one of the people in front of him backed away, clutching his newly injured hand. Panic swelled, and he stammered out an apology before running away from the encounter. Glass crunched under his feet and attacks rained down from all sides. He couldn't stay in this enclosed environment any longer

All the while, the interviewer continued her analytical tirade, never stopping for a second to pick them apart in every conceivable way. "As for the way you two move, there's certainly a lot of training that must've been had! Why, for Toga to be just another mad slasher wouldn't explain how she can be so agile with these highly tuned survival skills. And Tokoyami, even as a student from a prestigious hero school, there's something particularly savage about how you maneuver, as if you're used to fighting for your life. How did you two turn out this way? I simply must know the details!"

Tokoyami reached the front door of the building, now blown off its hinges. By now, most of the people that had been motioned to storm the building were already inside, while Curious's personal battalion stayed next to her. Toga would make it out on her own just fine – he-d managed to clear something of a path between the people, leaving behind dazed civilians who'd either been floored or disarmed. More were still coming from the back, but he could worry about that when he wasn't in such a compromised establishment.

Tokoyami winced instinctively when the sound of several explosions going off at once assailed him. But he felt no burning and saw no smoke. Looking around, nothing had been displaced. He'd definitely heard it though. So then where…?

Then he saw the source. Toga was barely standing, racked with pain and bleeding heavily from her mouth and nose. Her clothes looked frazzled, and she twitched with the aftershock of the numerous explosions that had coursed through her body. She gasped for air, eyes wild in shock, and with a shuttered movement used her knife to cut off the syringes that had been supplying her blood. The red liquid trailed after her wherever she went, and she made a frenzied run to get away. The realization of what had happened felt like a knife twisting in his gut. These people, from their very blood, were Curious's personal explosive weapons.

"Wait right there, Tokoyami, I don't want you to miss this!" Curious taunted. "Did you see? It appears as though she was hoping to transform into one of us and blend into the crowd. But that won't work! I'm here to get answers, so I've come prepared to counter any tricks!" She kept talking as Toga jumped over the heads of soldiers in her haste to escape. Tokoyami stumbled out from the building. Even if it placed him in plain view of the others, at least it would be more open. It occurred to him, though, that he wouldn't be able to get out of this on his own.

"Our warriors won't balk at being turned into bombs! So while they use their meta powers to put you and your people on the ropes, why don't we get started with some background information? First daughter of the Toga family, born on August 7th, currently 17! Ran away from home just after middle school graduation!"

What is all this?!

Toga barreled clumsily out of the broken window, half jumping and half blasted away from the string of explosions following in her wake. Tokoyami slipped out of the way, avoiding most of the damage. But with crowds of people on just about every side, he was forced to a standstill in the center of the street. Over his head, Toga's battered body flew. In any other situation, he would expect her to land nimbly on her feet. But the way she was now, it looked an awful lot like she was ready to eat concrete instead.

Tokoyami lurched towards her, faster than the warriors scrambling to reach her first, and reached his arms out with Dark Shadow's claws. It felt desperate, and that's because it was. Tokoyami slid to a stop beneath her right before she could hit the ground. Inky claws covering his hands softened her fall, saving her from a hard landing, but the impact forced Tokoyami to his knees. His breath left him, his arms trembled. He hadn't even thought of what he was doing. She'd been in trouble – still is, and more accurately they're both in a bad situation – so he'd acted in the one way he knew how. Time and time again, he knew full well that he wouldn't pass up on helping somebody in need.

Which, maybe, was exactly what Curious had been waiting for. "And of course, the first son of the Tokoyami family! Born October 30th, age 15 – no, you'd be 16 now! Supposedly the greatest victim of the Kamino incident! But every news outlet is different, wouldn't you say? An innocent student kidnapped by the now notorious villain group… or a secret recruitment of the underworld working under orders to end All Might's career and squander UA's reputation?!"

Tokoyami stayed where he was, crouched on the pavement with Toga's limp body beneath him. She was still conscious, and he managed to prop her up on the ground. He thought he'd seen a lot of blood come from her before, but up close it looked so much worse. Dark Shadow faded from his hands, appearing in his little avian form next to him to safeguard from potential attacks from the groups of people surrounding them. But that just left him holding the bloody body of someone he wished he could hate, as the accusations of his crimes rang in his head.

"No…" he begged, too quiet to be heard over the journalist's tangent. "I didn't… I'm not…"

Toga looked up at him with sad, amber eyes. She wasn't free of her history either. Hers had been set in stone by her own actions, though. Tokoyami… he was painfully aware of what had brought him here. He hated it. Furthermore, he hated that other people didn't know, and as a result was being painted as… as…

Some kind of villain.

"—Did you two catch the news that day when the media rushed over to your parents looking for answers? Years apart, and yet oh so similar! What about when they interviewed your classmates? So many juicy sources for each of your cases! And they always said the same thing about the two of you! Such different individuals, but at the end of the day struck down by depravity!"

"My parents…" Tokoyami choked, holding back a sob. It was the one thing he tried so hard not to think about. Because if he did too much, he was worried he might finally break. "My… classmates…" They, unfortunately, were harder to shove to the side. Not when his experience with Bakugou still felt so raw in his mind. Not when Midoriya had fought next to him not so long ago… Or when Asui had held him in much the same way he was holding Toga now… or when Shinsou had tried to get him back after that hellish fight with Overhaul.

People edged closer on every side, closer and closer. And with them, Curious was front and center, leading her pack of ravenous wolves. She just wouldn't stop. "Every last one of them! They called Toga a cheerful, reasonable, and well-mannered girl. Tokoyami! They called you easy-going, friendly, and maybe a bit somber, but nothing ever bad! So then why? Why did you do what you did?!"

Toga wasn't looking at him anymore. She'd managed to stabilize herself on her knees without his help, but beyond that made no motion to get up. Tokoyami… could understand where that description of her came from, but it didn't line up with what he knew of her now. At the same time… the opposite was likely true. Toga didn't know him. How he acted in class wasn't a reflection of the guarded, more cynical person he was under the care of his hostages. How could he be easy-going when his world was crumbling down around him? Why be friendly when everyone around him was literally an enemy?!

They crept closer still, pressing in, ready to swarm them with all their different quirks at the wave of a hand. It felt bleak. Amidst it all, there was nothing left but to stay as close to Toga as possible. If she had the motivation to, the girl could hold him at knife-point. Sure as hell wouldn't be the first time. But given her current state, Tokoyami probably had more control of the situation than her. Granted, that wasn't saying much, considering just how many enemies were surrounding them. And… despite everything, he didn't want to hurt anyone, regardless of how delusional they were.

"Why did you abandon any hope of a normal life?!"

"Please… stop talking," Tokoyami groaned. His shoulder throbbed from the explosion. He could feel shards of glass buried in his back, and they stung. He could feel his emotions boiling over. Next to him, Dark Shadow fidgeted uncomfortably.

I didn't want to.

I didn't want to, either.

It wasn't my choice.

It wasn't my fault!

"I'd like to hear your version, if you don't mind!" Curious crowed. Her dark eyes shined with enthusiasm, thirsty for the scoop of the decade straight from the mouths of the kids she'd cornered. "Believe me, I know you must have suffered!"

"I…" Tokoyami clutched his head, desperate to keep her relenting voice out of his mind. He gripped feathers between his fingers and grit his teeth. He was trembling. So was Toga, but not for the same reason. She kept her eyes trained on the ground, as if doing her would make her exempt from responsibility. I did suffer. So, so much. You saw you know but you don't. You're making it worse. Just like that night in Kamino. Just like with the yakuza. The dark room with the nomu. You're provoking me! All of you, ever since day one!

"Why did you succumb to madness?! Tell me!"

Her hand came down. Her expendable soldiers rushed forward, a wave threatening to swallow them both if they couldn't keep their heads above water.

Succumb to madness. Is that what happened? Did he lose himself somewhere along the way? Despite all his fights, all his efforts, he was still… here. Maybe it was a choice at this point, he didn't know. Whatever the case, it was far too late to think he could be a hero. Not with a history of destruction as long and tumultuous as his. Not when darkness crowded him at every turn, threatening to overtake him. He thought he'd gotten better. But he'd only gotten weaker. He couldn't use his quirk the way he used to. It was weakened after the fight. That's the thought that came to him time and time again. It was because of Overhaul that he was the way he was now. Not his. He'd done everything he could. Fought so hard. And for what? To struggle in this weakened state/ to fight with a sword instead of his own damn ability?

No. It wasn't Overhaul's fault. Not in the way he wanted to believe, anyway. His own quirk was so much smaller than it used to be. And it occurred to him… that he was afraid. Afraid of what his own power was capable of. Fueled by Trigger, it could've leveled a whole city. It was an enormous force, unparalleled in brute strength. If he gave in… if he rampaged like he had in the past, how was he going to live with himself? He didn't want to be responsible for that much power. But he didn't wantto shackle himself, either. And he didn't want to be a public enemy! It might be too late for that, though.

Dark Shadow vanished from his side, but in his mind the quirk continued to churn, hissing and scratching like it was fighting invisible foes. Darkness welled within the bottomless pools of his mind, finding a way to overflow. He didn't want to be weak. He wouldn't show his weakness to people like this.

"I'm not going to lose myself," Tokoyami growled.

Toga looked up at him, the only one to hear his declaration. Her eyes were damp, but a toothy smile split her face. He didn't care if he got stabbed for this.

Tokoyami toppled forward, grabbing onto Toga so that she was immediately beside him.

And then the shadows spilled over.

Shadows coiled around him, thick and heavy like a hurricane while he and Toga were safe in the center. The air pressure dropped. All the power from before, every remnant he'd picked up and desperately held onto for the past several weeks, was rushing out of him. The dark energy boiled and swirled before releasing all at once with a broad sweep of his arm. It was like a wild conflagration, tendrils of the night spiraling out from him in one grand motion that shoved back everyone that had been surrounding him. Yelps of surprise came from the people as they were pushed to the ground and cast aside by the inky force. A culmination of Dark Shadow's energy… used like a shockwave. It was the only thing he could think of to distance himself from those who sought to hurt him. A protective wall. A thousand claws. He didn't know exactly what this power was or where it came from. It reminded him of the way his quirk had looked so haggard and shredded after a particularly dreadful fight, with wisps of darkness falling like ashes from a flaming husk. Yes. That was it. The way this attack behaved, swirling over these meta liberation soldiers and pushing them back, felt all too familiar, like something he'd seen over and over. They didn't burn their targets. They didn't leave behind scorch marks or fill the air with an acrid stench of roasted flesh. Nor did they shed light, instead spreading their darkness across the makeshift battlefield. But without a doubt, they were his own flames of the night.

Tokoyami shuddered as the remnants of his shadowy ability floated down like black snow. "Supermove… Ashes of Cremation."

An eerie silence had filled the air following his attack. For a brief moment, even their interviewer was at a loss. He was vaguely aware of Toga clutching his cloak, watching the shadows drift through the air in something akin to wonder. "Fumikage…"

"Can you move?" Tokoyami whispered.

She nodded numbly, and slowly dislodged her fingers from the tangles of his cloak. Emboldened by his attack, she struggled to stand. Tokoyami stood with her. He could feel Dark Shadow's power brimming at his fingertips, recollecting and converging back into itself. He'd never worked with an area of effect ability before… but it seemed as though it took some time to use it again. And anyway, he'd have to be careful not to let Toga get caught in the crossfire – she was hurt enough as it was. He couldn't just leave her, either. Not after this Curious person was trying so hard to make victims of the two of them.

Curious wasn't about to hold back, either. She gave a little, delighted clap, unfazed even while her own soldiers struggled to stand back up. "That power…! I haven't seen anything like it on any of the reports about you. As I thought, you two are truly manifestations of darkness in this super-powered society." She began walking forward again, unperturbed. Her loyal soldiers had shielded her from the blast, leaving her untouched, and more ranks came to fill their places like a never-ending army of undying fans. "Aren't you two tired? Don't you want to just stop all the madness and struggling? You're miserable. All your lives, you've been suppressing your meta abilities, and in doing so have driven yourself to the brink of death. But there is a significant difference between the two of you and how your quirks were handled.

"Himiko Toga! Do you know what's really to blame?" Too close now. Toga, on her feet again, was hobbling in her direction to meet the journalist head-on, slowly but surely. "Quirk counseling! Where they attempt to hammer out any bumps in your understanding of the world and program you to fit neatly into society's little boxes." Tokoyami cringed at her explanation, familiar with their ways. "It's a far from perfect process, of course. The counseling ends up emphasizing the inherent differences among us all, and that's one bug they've yet to work of the programming. But the true tragedy comes from where your desires and admirations stem from – wanting to drink blood was something that society was never going to accept!

"As for Fumikage Tokoyami and the unprecedented meta ability Dark Shadow! For years you've been trying to control this power coursing through you in the hopes that never again would you hurt the people around you. From a young age, always afraid of the dark and the emotions that stemmed from it. Your parents couldn't have possibly predicted such outbursts! So you turned instead to a path of heroism, all for the selfish reason of getting the help you'd need to learn how to use your quirk. Quirk counseling was never going to work for you! So you sought higher levels of help. And even then, they still failed you, resulting in your latest strings of cataclysmic tantrums against society – the forest, Kamino ward, and most recently the event at the yakuza hideout. No matter what help you get, you just can't control it! How… sad."

Tokoyami felt his limbs grow heavy with despair. He was ready to pluck his own feathers from his head. She really just wouldn't shut up, huh?

No! You – we – were getting so much better. It was helping! The hero training, that is…

You never liked the quirk counseling.

Dark Shadow whimpered in his mind. You didn't either! They wanted to pretend I didn't exist! Because they'd never encountered a sentient quirk before!

We worked so hard to get into UA…

And now we're here…

Tokoyami struggled to breath. He felt no anger or frustration at the flood of memories coming back to haunt him. Just sadness and regret. I miss them. I miss Mom and Dad.

Dark Shadow hesitated. And then he appeared next to his side, a bit larger than before. The quirk's yellow eyes glowed in the shadows cast by the large buildings surrounding them on every side. "That's the first time you've said that," the quirk murmured quietly for him alone. "I don't want them to see us like this, though.'

No. I couldn't do that to them. It's not selfish. I'm doing what I can so that the world can be safer. That was always had I had to believe.

He couldn't listen to this person anymore. Curious's words were harmful. It reminded him of the hollow feeling he'd felt in his chest when he'd first read the newspaper regarding his initial capture by the League of Villains. He didn't want to give in to his anger and feel overwhelmed. He just wanted to leave all this madness behind and not be tormented by it any longer. That meant running. From the press, from this army, from all these brainwashed people. He wasn't going to lose himself again. And that meant he wasn't going to let these people tear him down.

At the same time… he'd never seen Toga get so angry before.

"Shaddup!" she roared, springing forward and leaving him behind. Tokoyami had done everything he could not to give in to Curious's provocations, and even then he'd still relented to using his powers. But not like Toga. Not in a way that had him lunging for the throats of his enemies.

"Don't be reckless!" he warned, fast on her heels. She was so much quicker than him, though, even in her current state.

He wasn't able to be by her side in time, though. One of Curious's warriors equipped a strange weapon from around his wrist that formed a boxy glove and slammed her with an explosive attack that left her gasping for breath.

Tokoyami saw her hit the ground. What was she thinking?! She never acts this way!

"She must be really rattled," Dark Shadow growled next to his head, claws flexing in anticipation. "Whatever you do, stay composed."

Tokoyami's thoughts told him to wait, to take a moment to think. But he was still running forward.

"Don't interfere!" someone snarled, breaking away from Curious's group to land a punch on him. Tokoyami side-stepped, grabbing the person's wrist and twisted it hard so that they ended up sprawled on their back.

Curious had watched his approach all the while from where she was standing over Toga's battered body. He could hear her words.

"—you're living proof that our cause is righteous. You'll make the ideal sacrifice. Let's turn your death into a legendary tragedy, shall we?"

No, wait!

"You have to wait your turn for the interview!" Another nameless soldier. Another obstacle he made quick work of before reaching Toga's side.

"As a martyr, your tale will be a modern-day parable for the ages!" Curious purred. She was holding Toga while making a mockery of her.

"Don't touch her!" Tokoyami yelled, reaching them. He was ready to do… something. Anything to get Toga away from the mad woman if she couldn't do it herself. But those minions of her were endless. Right when he came close enough to lash out at the murderous journalist, a large man stepped forward to meet him, hovering over the two people on the ground. Tokoyami attacked with two clawed hands, only for each of them to be grabbed by the man, trapping him in a struggle of pure strength. He felt thick fingers wrapping tightly over the shadowy hands, the pressure almost enough to break through, and it occurred to him that this was the kind of person that could snap limbs like twigs.

Tokoyami dug his heels into the pavement, struggling to not be pushed back. Toga was right beneath him. Her eyelids fluttered weakly, her whole face a mess of blood. It'd be so much easier if he could just… run away. Tell himself that this wasn't his fight. But it was, as much as he hated it, and nothing he did was going to change that. Curious knew this, too. She smiled up at him from where she was crouched on the ground, so agonizingly close to him.

"Your desperation is unsightly. Don't worry, Tokoyami – you have tarnished the name of UA and betrayed hero society, but I won't let that be the world's last perception of you. You have such a rich story to tell. Brainwashed by villains, the troubled student was able to break free of his chains in his final moments and fought for the lives of the innocent against the very people who corrupted him until his dying breath. That sounds nice, doesn't it? It'd be easier to spin if you saw reason and killed this pathetic criminal, though. If I'm getting the details wrong, please tell me. I would love to hear it directly from you. Otherwise, this interview can't be completed!"

Tokoyami stared down at Curious in horror. "Wh-what?" he choked. "I'm trying to save Toga!" The pressure bearing down on him increased, and his feet began to skid back. His arms were trembling with exertion. The only thing keeping the man from overpowering him was Dark Shadow, and he could tell that even that was beginning to lose out.

Her smile dropped. She looked disappointed. "A traitor 'til the end, then? What a shame it had to be this way."

Curious grabbed a stone from her side and began to reach her hand out with it. Tokoyami's eyes went wide in alarm as her makeshift grenade was extended towards his exposed midriff. His arms were still locked, leaving him defenseless. But if he disengaged now, that would put Toga directly in harm's way.

Dark Shadow's strength weakened, forcing his knees to bend under the pressure. You can't take another hit! Dark Shadow wailed.

I don't want to! I don't want to be known as a traitor or a martyr. His knees buckled. I just want to be free!

"Noooo!" Toga screeched, lashing out at Curious blindly with a knife before running out from under them all. Tokoyami could feel the sharp metal pass uncomfortably close to him in that frenzied motion, tearing the fabric of his pants and grazing his knee. In the same moment, Dark Shadow vanished from his hands and Tokoyami disengaged just in time to watch the warrior's hands clasp blindly at open air. He staggered back, arms aching, and retreated as Curious's explosion was set off in the place where they used to be. It singed his skin and left a haze of smoke that concealed his vision.

"Wait!" he wheezed. "Don't leave me behind!" It felt pathetic. He wanted to make sure that Toga made it out of here, but he also didn't want to be left to fend for himself against an opponent like this. And yet… he couldn't help wondering who had saved whom in that moment of uncertainty.

This whole thing was becoming increasingly difficult to deal with, to the point where he had no idea of what to expect next. So maybe that's why, when the smoke finally cleared and he caught sight of where Toga had run off to, he could barely believe what – no, who – he was seeing.

It was Uraraka. The same bubbly, brown-haired classmate that was friendly with everyone in his class. But it wasn't. Past her familiar face and the noticeable pink pads on her fingertips it was definitely Toga.

"A transformation! Of course! From blood you had saved!" Curious cheered. She seemed to have lost all interest in Tokoyami – for the moment, anyway. He was a problem her soldiers could take care of while her attention turned back to the most interesting event at hand. "Oh my… I'm on the verge of tears over here!"

Tokoyami watched Curious go after her fleeing target. He wanted to do the same… but seeing her with Uraraka's face made him pause. And in those moments of hesitation, too many people to count were already in his way, flooding his view and making pursuit near impossible. Faces leered at him, as though he truly was nothing more than another villain. Or the victim of a tragedy. Someone to pity and resent. How long would they have him fight this fight? I don't want to fight my way through them all, but they're leaving me with no choice! "Leave me alone!"

Surrounded. Suffocating. All these people pressing in on all sides wanting him dead.

Summoning all he had, Tokoyami brought his quirk back out. "Black Abyss!" he roared, donning Dark Shadow like armor and sweeping through the tangle of meta liberation soldiers. Dark Shadow gave him all the power he had to maneuver through the crowd, faster and stronger than before. It was hard to maintain after everything else he'd been using his quirk for throughout this conflict, but it was the only thing he could think to do. He shoved people with his claws and forced his way between walls of treacherous bystanders, running low to the ground while shadows trailed out in his wake. And maybe he was just imagining it, but the crowds seemed thinner. He noticed some people were still knocked to the ground or standing off to the side, not wanting to get near him even if it was for Curious's sake. They were scared of him.

Tokoyami broke through the last line of people just in time to see Uraraka – no, Toga – get tripped up by a rope. She was laid flat, and Curious was on top of her in an instant. By the looks of it, the interviewer had gotten all the answers she'd wanted, and bore down on her with explosion in hand.

"Care to give me a final statement?!"

"Noooooooo!" Toga's desperate wail filled the streets. He'd never heard such terror in her voice.

The explosion hit. Tokoyami felt his blood curdle in fear for her life, a response he never would've expected. Maybe if it had ended there, his internal turmoil would've come to a bitter end, but at least it would've been the end of it.

Then he saw something. Everyone did, watching in stunned amazement.

Curious was floating.

Floating.

No. This can't be…!

But that's exactly what it was. Her body rose off the ground, getting higher and higher.

"Huh? …What?!" Curious was as confused as everyone else, watching the ground drift farther from her grasp.

Below, her subjects cried out in alarm. It only took seconds for her to get above the buildings.

In that stunned confusion, Toga was on the move again. She raced through the last of the crowd, tapping people along the way. And just like with Curious, they began to float.

Tokoyami could only stand there in shock for so long before the people around him responded with outrage. In tandem with the confused wails of Curious's army, he fled, running through the path that Toga had left in her mad dash to freedom.

This didn't make sense, though. It left him with a worrying realization that shook him to his core.

Far above his head came Curious's terrified voice. "But how…?! Her quirk profile clearly stated that the transformation is only external. Unless… she just powered up her ability?! Fear of death allowed her to grow!"

Tokoyami was fast on her heels, catching up to Toga with Dark Shadow's help.

Then she turned. Toga faced him in the middle of the street, and he stumbled to a halt mere feet from her. She was looking not at him, but at the people she'd used her borrowed quirk on. He watched with a sinking feeling as Toga held her hands in that familiar way.

"I just wanna love, live, and die my way. My normal way," she said, steeling her resolve. "I wanna be even more like the people I love." And then she touched her fingertips together.

Tokoyami turned around to see what she saw. Bodies dropped from the sky. Everyone she had touched, hurtling towards a gruesome death.

Save them.

Tokoyami staggered forward, as if he could make a difference.

They're civilians!

He came to a stand under the nearest person, catching them right before they hit the ground. The soldier looked up at his savior in bewilderment – and then anger. Tokoyami stumbled as the person squirmed and lashed out, dropping them the last few feet onto the concrete.

They're just confused!

He ran to catch another person, practically diving to meet her falling body. He barely made it, hitting the ground with outstretched arms and skidding his knees on the road. Her head hit the concrete anyway, and he felt a pang of distress when he saw blood begin to pool on the ground.

Tokoyami had to leave her like that, concussed on the ground.

He turned around at the rest of the falling bodies. "I never wanted to hurt anyone!"

Curious spoke her final words right before impact. "What a lovely quote… for this killer story!"

And then they all hit the ground. The sound of splintering bones, splattering blood, and cracked skulls filled the air. Almost a dozen people felled in an instant, never to move again.

Tokoyami stood there, watching their untimely deaths in stunned silence. There were so many thoughts filling his head, but the one that spoke loudest left his beak. "What… a terrifying quirk."