Chapter 71 - Toward a Perfect Future
Target Neutralized | Overhaul is unconscious | We've finally won
Yuzuku continued to breathe loudly, their power continuing to fluctuate. Their glare softened, peering over their shoulder to the little girl pumping out temporal energy. "Eri, are you oka-!"
Their heart echoed, and golden light spewed from their mouth, consuming their form as Yuzuku collapsed to their knees, grunting from how their molecular structure fought against the subtle changes to their body beginning to grow. "I-If she keeps this up, w-we'll-!"
In an unexpected turnabout, Overhaul let out a final, desperate roar, the large brass arm crashing atop the pair suddenly. Eri's Quirk caught it, reverting its mass, deconstructing it to the point she healed Overhaul's injuries, Dren's body tossed toward the pit, although, he wasn't as fortunate.
Black lightning threshed around the area, the light intensifying beyond their control. Eri couldn't stop herself, her power was going haywire. "No... stop, they're going to die!"
"I always have to get my hands dirty because of your selfishness." Overhaul's words hooked into her ears.
"No...!" She was tearing up again.
"Every action you take results in people dying," That crooked hand was closing around her. "You're a cursed human."
"Please, stop!" Eri begged her power, silently screaming for something to stop her power from overflowing into their body. "I don't want this!"
*Blam!*
All heroes present were left starstruck, Eri's Quirk immediately dispersing into long, pale gold wisps in the air. A single white trace round emanating from... Dren? He lowered his now crumbling arm, the wire rifle rusted beyond repair. "Time... is very complex... for a child to understand."
When her Quirk ceased its overflow, Yuzuku immediately caught her, pulling her free of Mirio's cape to tuck into their arms. "Gotcha." They breathed, both staring back at the Splicer whose body was infected by what remained of the conflux, it started to devour him.
"It seems to rewind my injuries inadvertently forced the Vex network to continue its conversion of my body... I will be lost to time soon," He hung his head at their gasps, even Eri, who struggled to keep her eyes open, raised her hand out to him. She didn't want him to die, he was nice to her, even now he saved her too. Dren chuckled dryly. "Don't waste your breath on a Fallen like me... who isn't even a Devil."
"That's not true," Yuzuku found their voice, turquoise meeting ice-blue. "Aksis took you in, a Winter Splicer, you had a home, that's all he ever wanted for you."
Dren's gaze remained wide, even as his claws began to crumble into dust he didn't feel afraid; serenity clouded his terror. "I only wanted him to see that too; Our House was rebuilding but I wanted him to see that too, I... wanted him to stop worrying so much about us," His croaked chuckle faded. "...I'm sorry, Aksiskel, I'm so selfish..."
"You helped me," Eri forced out, eyes hazy, trying to stay awake a little longer. "Don't... go..." She passed out in Yuzuku's arms.
Dren's body chipped away further, managing to stand tall with his banner aloft in the wind to his right, he felt proud to have worn such a bold colour in his life. "Kovik... in time... he will come for you..." His head dipped in a bow, and despite the mask, Yuzuku felt his smile radiate in his eyes. "...good luck... Archon..."
The last of Dren the Anointed crumbled into the breeze, any trace of his vitals wiped from the world. Yuzuku bowed their head. "Goodbye, my kin-" They sat up sharply, an astral body of green and blue split from their body. A second later; Yuki was thrown to the right with Eri in her arms. Izuku landed opposite her.
"Ow...!" Yuki groaned, flopping onto her back. "That was weird..."
"I think my insides are all twisted around..." Izuku shared that unpleasantness.
However, with the battle over their mission was to continue. Ryukyu, after composing herself once her mind caught up to what she witnessed, her arm fanned out. "We still have a lot of injured people here; we need ambulances quickly! Check if we missed any victims!" She didn't stop. "The League of Villains might still be nearby, sweep the area!"
With everyone working overtime, Yuki walked over to Izuku, worry stretched over her face. Eri was burning up and with SIVA no longer empowered by her Rewind Quirk she couldn't do much to help. "Take her to a medical officer, I'll see what I can do to help - as much as I can at least," Izuku took Eri, then slipped something onto Yuki's face, surprising her. "Eh?"
"You dropped this," His smile was small, placing her mask over her features again. Blinking, her gaze curved before the two parted ways again, hands slipping away.
"Aksis!" Yuki slowed her jog to find Tsu flagging her down. Rushing to her friend's side, she found... a rather toned man beside them, he looked a lot like Fat Gum minus the Fat. Ocha was with them, and placed on a stretcher was Kirishima!
"Hey..." He croaked to them, cracking an eye open to see the blonde man tearing up in relief, Ocha and Tsu sharing in that feeling of comfort. Then his face turned to confusion. "Huh... Yu... ki?"
"One and only, Red Riot." She winked, holding her hands over his chest; Tsu motioning for the medical team to wait. "Okay... I got this... just like before." This wasn't like Consume|Enhance|Replicate, she had the control but needed to dial it back, even if to relieve so stress on his bones.
Blue stars refracted in the sunlight, spreading across Kirishima's chest as he winced, the tiny nanites mingling with his body. Sadly, at Ten Percent her powers weren't nearly as strong enough to heal others, estimating to around Twenty Percent compared to her original red state. And the fight had taken a lot out of her own stamina. Though Kirishima did relax into the stretcher.
"Sorry, I could only mend some of the more irritating injuries," Her eyes were downcast but the redhead grinned.
"Hey... it's fine; owe ya one..." With that, the paramedics helped to load him into an ambulance.
"His pulse is dropping, hurry," A paramedic nearby moved to wheel Nighteye into the nearest ambulance. Yuki's heart sank, running to Sir's side with Izuku.
"Nighteye/Sir!" The pair met his glazed eyes, the spike remaining lodged in his stomach. The officer behind them motioned for them to wait a moment.
"Can you hear me!? There's something I've want to tell-" Izuku was cut off.
"Midoriya... Azuru," He couldn't believe it, they had gone against the fate that was inevitable, redefining the future with their own hands as one. Nothing... nothing could have predicted the twist of fate. "...you twisted the future, you did the impossible."
Izuku's held back his tears, Yuki rubbing his back reassuringly. "Sir, about All Might; He said he'll live! He told me he couldn't face you again - so please, you have to live, so see him again!" His pleading was all he had, not even Yuki could do much to lessen the burden.
"I'm sorry but we're in a hurry, please stand back," It didn't take the medical team much effort to do so, helping Nighteye into the vehicle to be taken away moments later. Yuki hung her head, praying that this fate would turn in Nighteye's favour, he deserved it more than anyone else.
A gentle hand ruffled Yuki's hair, belonging to Ryukyu, "Midoriya; many people were hurt today so this isn't really the time to celebrate," Her face remained neutral before a kind smile broke through. "But... thanks for all you two did - even if I don't know how you got here, Yuki."
"Would you believe me if I said I was pulled through time itself?" Yuki joked lightly, rubbing her arm, face paling off to the side. "I never want to do that again..."
"Finally, the battle to save a single girl came to an end..."
Somewhere...
"You've collected the product?" The large shadow of Kovik sat atop a ridge peered down at the returning villains. Shigaraki stepped out of the vehicle first, Dabi staying with Mr Compress. The hand-covered villain tossed the red case into Kovik's claws. Himself inspecting the vials that remained. "Sadly, we cannot do much without Eri, nor has Dren's conflux survived, we are without a way to reproduce the full effects of the drug... a shame, not to mention our primary objective has now been delayed significantly without both."
"What now? Without anymore this becomes finite, not like it'll work on OFA considering you said it's evolving," Shigaraki wanted to depower that annoying brat Izuku Midoriya, and his accomplice, Yuki Azuru. He wanted him to watch as the person he treasures most was disintegrated before his eyes, unable to do anything more than scream.
Kovik handed the case back to him, hopping down with his hands crossed. "Now we plan ahead, Dren is gone but his work remains, it'll prove to be quite serendipitous, so long as we play our cards right," He needed to use this time wisely. All For One is gone, and that annoying biologist was suspecting Kovik. One fatal mistake could turn his plan on its head. "For now, let's see what that Nightmare is capable of and if our enemies can be extinguished? So be it."
The League watched as the Splicer Priest left through his own vortex, that symbol of his swaying in the wind.
At the hospital...
With the injured taken to the hospital, Yuki tagged along for the sake of inspecting her nanomachines with Dr Yoshiharu. Before that, the doctor who had performed a furrow examination of her stood at the door with a smile. Her clipboard is clean. "Well, the good news is nothing's wrong with your body, any injuries you sustained have miraculously healed - although you should tone it down with using your Quirk for a few days, your body has recovered, not your stamina, so don't do anything too strenuous."
"Okay, thank you," Yuki bowed her head, slipping her tank top back on. Once alone, she dialled a number into the computer, encrypting it with SIVA. What she saw looked as though a tornado swept the area. She deadpanned. "A mess as always, eh, Doc?"
The bushy-bearded man chuckled, ignoring one of his apprentices rushing with... a fire extinguisher? ~Ahahaha, all in the name of progress, my dear!~ He leaned closer. ~I heard about the early reports, though I won't press for details until later, why the urgent call?~
Yuki explained to him what transpired; from her capture and subsequent loss of SIVA, the revived Aksis who gave up his freedom for her, evolving SIVA into a higher state. Then there was Dren's conflux that he used to pull Splicers through time, even piercing a veil into the Vex Domain during their battle with Overhaul. And last, merging with Izuku.
Yoshiharu took it well. ~I see...~ Too well.
Yuki slumped. "I just dropped probably the biggest development in SIVA's lifespan with me, perhaps even before he came to our world, and that's all I get for it?" The man stopped rubbing his beard.
~No-no, it's all a fine discovery - I'm really ecstatic to hear what's to come of your newest abilities and prior developments!~ He assured her, frowning. ~However... this 'Vex Domain' has me concerned.~
"How so?" She tilted her head.
~Simply put; it's an unknown, even to Siva himself; All we know is that it is a place these machines use as a blueprint for their creations, many you've seen,~ Yuki nodded along with his explanation, feeling nervous all of a sudden. ~What worries me is why Dren was researching into it? What is Kovik attempting to do with a place considered a graveyard for discarded constructs?~
Kovik was the deadliest Splicer of them all. He could twist extraterrestrial lifeforms into weapons, would he do the same with the Vex? It was all up in the air, speculation was all they had. Then, to break their grim thoughts, the door behind Yuki opened.
"Azuru," It was Mr Aizawa. "Come with us."
"Right; you both look alright, that's good," She noted at the lack of injuries on Izuku and their teacher. Swivelling back, she stuttered. "A-ah, sorry d-doc I-"
His hand rose with a light laugh, smoke rising behind him. ~No need to explain, we have all the time in the world to discuss this matter further -~ The fire alarm in his lab went off, causing him to sigh. ~-If you excuse me~ He disconnected the call.
Once outside, Yuki quickly gave Izuku a tight hug, feeling like it had been forever since she could just hold him normally. He reciprocated it before they followed Mr Aizawa, hands interlocked. Their teacher noticed this, scratching his cheek. "I'm sorry I couldn't be with you both at the end when it counted."
"It's alright," Izuku assured, glancing at Yuki for a moment. "Please, tell us how are all the others?"
"Kirishima is covered with bruises and lacerations from head to toe, but he'll live. Amajiki cracked a bone in his face, and he has some minor injuries, but none should leave a scar," He continued as they turned the corner. "Fat Gum has a few broken bones but is otherwise fine. Luckily, the knife that struck Rocklock didn't hit any vital points so he should make a fine recovery."
"I'm so glad..." Izuku's hand didn't squeeze as much after that, making Yuki smile. Then Mr Aizawa peered back at her.
"Your side of things;"
"Akame suffered a light concussion, lacerations to her arms with fractured ribs. Given her durability, she'll be fine."
"You're totally worried about her - Ack!"
Akame sat in a chair facing the window with a bored expression, yawning once with bandages around her head, arms, and her whole torso though she didn't move much.
"Yukino is currently sleeping due to overuse of her abilities; after fighting a Nightmare and eliminating every last target inside the facility; coupled with the third-degree burns and dozens of shattered bones though with Velk that's not an issue so she's more or less in the same boat as you."
Yukino calmly slept in the bed beside Akame's, chest rising and falling with her sword by her side. Across the room from her, Jura stared up at the ceiling, mummified with only his eyes to peer up at the tiles.
"Nakami sustained the most injuries, fractured ribs, broken wrists, torn muscles in his arms too. His Quirk apparently evolved so that took a tremendous toll on his body."
Last, meditating in the sunlight; Jin sat with only a sports bra and shorts, her legs, arms, and face wrapped uptight.
"Lastly, Jin is recovering from lacerations to her body and a broken jaw."
Yuki sighed against Izuku's shoulder, feeling him lean closer. "Well, that's good to hear, thanks." But her woes weren't settled. "And sir? What about Eri?"
"Still feverish, and sleeping fitfully; she being quarantined for now." That irked Yuki but she understood, given the girl's power.
"Quarantined... really? Does that mean we won't be able to see her?" Izuku looked a little distraught; given what he's been through with the girl it made sense he was worried for her health.
"You know, they made that call based on your description back there," That surprised Izuku. "She's got a dangerous Quirk with no control over it, if something invokes her to use it again I'll be the only one able to stop her - whatever Dren shot her with acted similarly to my Quirk, so..."
"He saved her," Yuki's words drew their eyes to her certain orbs. "I don't know what the connection was with him and Eri, but he used the last of his control over time to disrupt her power, she's safe because of him." "In the end... he just wanted you to be happy, SIVA."
I know... | I failed to see that | The young ones never... needed to be burdened by me
Once at the lift, Mr Aizawa tucked his hands into his pockets. "The only way you two managed to counter her power was by destroying your body faster than she could Rewind it."
"Yeah," They said at exactly the same time. They pointed to one another. "What the - We did it again!?"
"Seems that strange merge you did also left some lingering impression," Mr Aizawa mused, he had never seen anything like it; Did they copy Overhaul's ability from before? "Well, at any rate, not many could pull something like that off - and who's to say how powerful she really is? We have no idea what her limits are."
"I know what you mean," Izuku had never felt something so limitless since he first tapped into One For All for the first time. Power over time itself, in such a small person too. "If Dren hadn't have stopped her, or if you weren't there, who knows what might have happened."
Once the elevator settled, they exited onto floor B2. "Teaching her control will be especially hard since her Quirk only seems to work on people," Aizawa added. "When testing on people the risk is exponentially greater, her emotional state will be a factor too. With so many unknowns it makes sense to keep her quarantined, for her sake and ours."
"She's a lot like you, Yuki?" Izuku's pipped up, meeting her eyes. "Your Quirk was hard to control years ago, you even refused to use it on others for that risk alone; but you fought that fear, you learned to take risks and trust in yourself to control SIVA." His words were bright and inspiring, making her scratch her cheek sheepishly.
"I-I mean... I guess I would know how to help..." Yeah, that seemed like a good idea."
"Unfortunately, we can't rely on the girl or her Quirk right now," His words were vague as they came to a stop before double doors.
"Huh?" What did he mean by that? Izuku thought.
"All we can do is accept it; come on, others have joined us," Looking past the doorway, they found Centipede, Bubble Girl, Recovery Girl... and All Might!
"All Might...?" The pair murmured again. Izuku continued for them. "You too, Recovery Girl, but why?"
"I asked All Might to come," Bubble Girl started to tear up. "Because *sniff* Sir... Sir always admired him so much!" She broke down as Centipede handed her a cloth.
"No..." Yuki's voice quivered. The machinery inside, the life sign that was faint. It couldn't be that... "Sir..."
The surgeon present shook his head. "There's nothing more we can do, if I'm honest it's a miracle he survived this long."
Recovery Girl looked at the situation no better. "My healing can't help him either, he's far too gone to save." The words shattered the teens' hearts, hands closed tightly together, shaking.
"Please, prepare yourselves, I don't think he'll live to see tomorrow." The surgeon offered them calmly.
Inside was something that stole the warmth from everything around it, cold, and dark. Nighteye's stomach was filled with pipes and wires to sustain him. There was so much Yuki couldn't begin to understand, her eyes were lost at the sight of Sir, his vitals were steady but nothing was improving biologically. His insides were degrading, she could see it all now down to the blood cell if she really tried.
"I'm sorry." All Might whispered; eyes shadowed over. His words, however, woke Sir from his haze.
"Is that you, All Might? You feel like talking now that I'm on my deathbed?" Nighteye's voice was so distant and dry, somehow, Yuki could tell that was one of his crude jokes.
"I don't know what to say; I was wrong, I pushed you away and I..." All Might couldn't finish his words. Soon, Izuku found the strength to approach the man's bed with Yuki, her eyes were just empty, like when she first reunited with her sister in her coma - he flinched. That... wasn't a memory he should've seen; that merge left more than just a few impressions. Some of her memories he could recall as if he were there.
"Nighteye, hang in there! Please, you have to live!" He begged him, fleeting as it were.
"You can't go..." Yuki dipped her head. "I still haven't punched you for looking into my future, jerk!"
Nighteye smirked a little. "I've never heard you so penitent before, All Might; but I never resented you for what happened between us," He closed his eyes. "I mean that; All I wanted for you to be happy... so if you've decided to fight fate, then I-"
"You should be fighting it too." All Might interrupted in his grief. "Please, give me a chance to make up for what I've done!"
"I only wanted him to see that too; Our House was rebuilding but I wanted him to see that too, I... wanted him to stop worrying so much about us,"
"They just wanted their mentors to be happy..." Yuki ground her teeth, scanning Nighteye. "I can fix him..."
|We cannot|
"There's something we can do! Our nanomachines are stronger, we-we can stabilize his vitals a-and-" Yuki was cut off again.
|Not at our current capacity|
"Dammit, I died and came back to life, why can't I do it for someone who deserves it!?" She screamed, punching the side of the bed, her knees buckling. "I have all this power and it's worthless!"
"Yuki..." Izuku hugged her from the side, keeping her from collapsing as she shook in his hold, tears stinging the corners of her eyes.
"Don't say that about yourself, Azuru," Nighteye assured. "You are stronger than you realize... and, All Might? There's nothing to make up for, I wanted to change the future to keep you from being killed, both of you; I looked for ways to alter the fate I've seen," He closed his eyes. "I tried but there was nothing I could do,"
"Then today, Midoriya and Azuru succeeded where I failed; I believe, it may be due to energy itself... a vision with no room for doubt... energy that wished for a future; I'm certain it wasn't just them,"
Fragments of battles on two fronts. Jin against Drevis. Valstrax and Jura battling Red Dragon. Velk with Hana against Infernal. Rayla, Tekres, Yuki, Aksis all pitted up before Dren. Then there was Mirio, fighting to protect Eri. Red Riot with Fat Gum in the darkness against Rappa. Eraserhead, Ryukyu, Ochaco, Asui, Nejire, Amajiki, Rocklock, Bubble Girl.
"Everyone there believed what they were fighting for could come to pass; Perhaps what we saw today was that energy converging on Midoriya and Azuru-" All of their driven convictions congregated toward Yuzuku, the colours of the rainbow radiating from their hands. "-you've changed my thinking," He gave them both an understanding smile.
A younger Yuki stood before Nighteye outside his agency. She had visited with Gran Torino discussing something to do with One For All and All Might. "Azuru, why did you refuse?" He questioned, looking appalled by her answer. He waved his arms down. "Of all people to inherit it, with your power you-"
'I still refuse' Her note signed, mask flickering to indicate her blinking. 'SIVA is all I need to save my sister, to be a hero - wasting it on someone like me would be a bad idea, you should know that'
"And what if that power falls to someone who's weak? Someone who cannot properly wield its power?" It was a good thing they weren't near the street. Yuki sighed, eyes curved.
'All Might misses talking with you - and I know you might unapproved of whoever he chooses, but... I know that whoever holds OFA will be an amazing person! Right?'
In all this time, Nighteye came to realize that the mute girl that day was right. "-you've shown me the future isn't set in stone, and that's enough for me." His eyes felt heavy again. "I only... have one regret left."
"Sir!" To startle the group, Mirio, who was still recovering pulled away from the nurse, limping up toward Nighteye's side.
"Togata-" He moved beside Izuku, leaning over to eye his mentor.
"Don't give up! Please, keep fighting, don't die on me!" His tears were showing.
Nighteye's gaze softened. "Mirio... I failed you... this is my fault if only I had...-" Trembling, Mirio snapped back.
"Don't say that! You were always there, teaching me how to be strong, everything I am now is because of you, don't you see!?" His tears fell in rivers, grief racking in his chest. "I'm not ready... please don't leave me..." He pleaded, closing his eyes to weep, Yuki's own welling up in her eyes.
"I only saw Azuru as a prime successor for One For All and she turned it down every time. You, Mirio, forgive me; in the beginning, I only looked at you with that same vision, a vessel for One For All," His remaining hand struggled to rise, using the last of his strength to reach out. "You followed me, believed in me, and before I knew it... you became my pride and joy."
"One last time, let me see." His left eye turned black with a purple clockwork design, peering through the unknown to see a vague but future pathed not with only blood and hardships... but hope. When Mirio opened his eyes, Sir's hand held onto his cheek. "You'll be okay... you're going to become the finest hero the world has ever seen," Mirio's tears trickled down his arm.
"That's one part of the future that shouldn't be changed," He breathed, lowering his hand one final time. "Work hard..." He closed his eyes, displaying a broad smile overflowing with hope. "...and be sure to smile."
Izuku felt Yuki's weight shift until she buried her face into his chest, smothering her cries wrapped around his arms tightly, his own head bowed to let his own flood through. "After all... without laughter and joy to balance out... the sorrow..." All Might bit his lip, his own silent sobs falling through his poker face. "...this world cannot hope to have... a bright... future..."
His vitals flatlined.
Sir's eyes glazed over.
His toothy smile persisted through death.
To Be Continued...
That last scene still gets me... fate is a cruel thing. Dren lost to time forever. Nighteye's sacrifice to see a future changed. And a dark battle looms in the future. This half of Season 4 is probably my top arc of the animated show so this was a lot of fun to write. I hope you enjoyed, appreciate the support as always; seeya in the next arc in two weeks, Heroes!
Next Chapter: Perfect Reunion
Yuki: With the Raids over we can finally go back to UA
Izuku: So much paperwork though...
Kirishima: Hey, at least we're not bedridden anymore!
Yuki: Right you are, my redheaded friend, up high! *High-Five*
Izuku: Up next, Perfect Reunion
Yuki: Hehe, Go Beyond-!
Boys: -Plus Ultra!