My Hero Academia Perfected

by silentslender

In a society filled with Heroes and Villains, some are unfortunate not to be as gifted. Sometimes the world can seem almost out to take away all you ever desired, and other times it will feel as though there are no heroes to save you at all. So what if a chance of improbable odds were to befall you? What if someone without a Quirk, so to speak, were to become a Hero?

93. Chapter 86: Movie, Timelost Heroes

A/N: Time for the big finish then it's off to season 5 and... whatever else I plan to do to the series. Review Time.

To Maniacalharp747: Unfortunately, won't be seeing Kabr and his team, my Corridors of Time is completely separate from Destiny's version of such, but it isn't out of the realm of possibility that they'd be found in the Shattered Isles.

Enjoy.

---

Chapter 86 - Movie, Timelost Heroes

"And now you remember," Viral stood on the opposite end of a white void, staring down at his Host, the boy whose heart was crushed in a single night, who locked himself behind magic to escape his own anger and sorrow. He sat there, staring at the gravestone manifested within their subconscious. "Before you slumbered for decades, you always asked me about your past, and I'd clam shut, then I admitted you asked me to erase your memories, then... you slept."

Akio stared at the tombstone, the names Saria and Gareth Elnur etched into the stone. He ran his hand down their names, feeling pain twist in his chest. "She said I was 'cool', heh, even smiled, just so I'd be okay, okay with... with what I had to do," Fresh tears ran down his face, biting his lip. "I'm not mad at you, I wanted this, I..."

Viral's gaze curved, bowing his head in shame. "I wish I could've done more, I should've!" Knowledge, and yet he was so foolish.

"Okay," Drying his eyes, Akio stood up. "She said I was cool-" He smiled at Viral, his heart stung with pain, but it burned brighter than ever before. "-and right now, the people who need us are in danger, this time, we're saving, everyone."

Lifting his head, Viral saw the hand of a little boy who discovered his shadow, smiling, a soul more honest and pure than his own. He blinked, then chuckled, reaching out his hand for Akio's, the Prince that he would follow to the ends of the earth. "Harrow is going to pay for everything he's done,"

"Then let's go, Kyoka needs us," The light blinked and soon it flickered out.

Drowning into the depths of ether, Akio's body was beginning to flake and break apart at the edges, the creatures of these depths feeding off his ether. Then, a hand twitched, and so did his heart. In a sudden convulsion, Akio swung forward, gagging on water that wasn't water, nor was it air, a strange, constant flow of energy itself weaving into his thoughts.

He spun around, noticing that they had sunk far enough to be within the circumference of the core, Akio felt it, breathed it, pure matter. Blinking, he fanned his arms wide, and a large, dark grey seal circled him, banishing the creatures of the depths as his gas magic broke into two intersecting rings, the second turning purple like Viral's.

Together, they rewrote the glyphs, the arcane runes beginning to bubble and rearrange in the ether. Unbeknownst to either, their movements were synchronized, and their marks formed around both of Akio's eyes. His irises turned a jagged shade of amethyst and emerald.

"It feels like this place is tearing our bodies apart!" Akio curled up slightly, taking another intense wave of pressure that threatened to split his soul into pieces.

"Life, Time, Magic, Flesh, all of it comprised of ether, no, we can reject it!" Viral assured as Akio brushed his fingers across the glyphs, ensuring the script was written correctly. "A new Nightmare spell, one of Our creation!"

"To banish all curses," Akio saw his brother Cyrus scorning him, the nobles mocking him. "To ward off tragedy when all is hopeless," His father's last words, his sister's kindness. He carved it deep into the spell. "Nevermore." The glyphs turned a purplish-red, dissipating in the ether as Akio threw himself forward again in pain. "Viral... we need to go... Now!"

A radiant, purple pigment covered Akio, his eyes bright white, slit in pain as he clenched his fists, feeling his body begin to bend and break, something was forcing his and Viral's bodies to change, it burned and yet his skin was ice cold. Despite this agony, he broke for the surface, swimming with powerful riptides behind every kick and thrash.

The light grew so much brighter.

---

"Dren!" Kirishima rushed to the Splicer's aid, seeing his soul flickering desperately in Magnar's grasp. Reaching out his hand, the redhead moved with the weight of the mountain pressing down on his spirit. "Come On!"

"I..." Magnar craned his gaze to Dren, something was wrong, he tried to crush his soul but... he couldn't. "I will... hold... the line!" Dren's rasped breaths seethed with rage, grabbing the arm plunged through his chest.

"Tch, hmph!" Magnar sneered, bringing his left fist forward to crush the Fallen's skull only for Dren to grab the wrist tightly, locking the Nightmare in place. "He stopped it!?" There was no way a single Eliksni could do this, especially a weak one, so how, how was one holding Magnar back? "Such strength, having one's soul pulled from their body while they're alive is the most painful experience imaginable, and he's withstanding it!?"

"Hold your ground!" Dren hissed at Kirishima. "Conserve... your strength, for Harrow... have faith in your House!"

"Let go of me, let... go of me!" Magnar struggled, tightening his hold on Dren's soul, prying his wrist free, nothing, nothing was working and he began to panic. "Graaaaaaaaah!"

"Graaaaaaaaah!" Dren screamed back, "I... will never let you hurt another again!"

The tension was thicker than fog, the indomitable spirit of a single Splicer crashed against the almighty strength of a Nightmare, either could back down. Their roars shook the teens to their cores, Kirishima, felt his spirit batter in its cage. "Sero!" The ravenette jolted at Kirishima's voice. "Protect the girls with your life! Do it for Dren's sake!"

"Hey, wait-!" Sero couldn't stop him, but he silently did as he was asked, the group watching Kirishima charge toward the Nightmare at full speed.

"Red Riot - UNBREAKABLE!" His body was a shield, an unwavering defense thrown toward the enemy like a spear. Bringing his right arm back, Kirishima rammed toward the pair at unbelievable speeds, sending tremors through the earth.

Magnar saw this, the boy was going to be a problem and he couldn't move, Dren refused to let go, even as blood spilled from his gut.

*BooSH!*

Everything paused, taunt expressions relaxed, twisting toward the crystal blue droplets sent flying into the air from the pool of ether. Someone gripped the edge of the pool, yanking themselves free of its glare, rising to their feet. The liquid quickly vanished into the air like motes of light. In one action, the atmosphere was captivated by the person.

His clothing consisted of an olive coat, the sleeves rolled up at the elbows with shoulder pads, and a belt both dark grey. Underneath, he wore a white collared shirt and a light red bandana around his neck. He also wears black trousers and dark red boots colored black at the toe.

Most distinctly, his hair was a creamy white with faint black locks. His eyes were a jagged infusion of green and purple, and two markings of crescents surrounded his eyes. Ochaco was the first to find her voice, feeling her heart race again. "Akio!"

He acknowledged her before stepping toward the girls, kneeling down at Kyoka's side, her breathing had gotten worse, and her soul was fading. Pressing his hand close to her chest, and the Wormhusk shard, a purplish-red glyph spun around his wrist, cascading a blue aura over her body.

"Woah!" The girls exclaimed, the shard slowly dissolved into black dust, and the large hole in the girl's chest began to close over, leaving bare, peachy skin exposed through her shirt that he carefully covered. Then Akio quickly grabbed a roll of cloth from his belt, handing it to the misty-eyed Yaoyorozu.

"Ngh... a-a-akio?" Groggily, Kyoka forced her eyes open, seeing his startling change of appearance but he smiled silently, tapping her forehead to keep her from rising.

Leaving her in their care, he stepped by Sero's slack-jaw expression, pushing the boy's jaw up and patting his shoulder in thanks. Then, his cheerful smile fell to a deep frown, glowering at Magnar, then to the sight of Dren barely holding onto life, his soul held behind his back.

"What are you... you're different now?" Magnar glared before a gust of wind severed both his arms, and another hand snatched Dren's soul, carefully pushing it back into the Splicer's chest as he gasped in pained relief, falling into Kirishima's arms who rushed to their aid.

"Take care of him," Kirishima heard Akio's voice, but also Viral's. Nodding, he helped Dren to move closer to the rest, leaving Akio to stare daggers at Magnar. "Our thoughts are merged, is this what Yuki and Midoriya felt?" He gave it some thought, then focused on the threat in front. "'Virkio', hm, that'll do."

"Their souls have unified, they're giving off an entirely different vibe now, I hardly saw that attack, was that a spell?" Magnar quickly brought his fists forward into another stance. "Third Art, Chamber!"

Virkio crossed his arms, drawing them down sharply as several colorful rings of glyphs appeared, one for each forearm and shin, another around his neck, and two hovering above the backs of his palms. Magnar made the first move, striking the ground with his foot multiple times, releasing a powerful wave of volcanic eruptions in a linear path.

"Aegis," He braced and warded off the attacks, vanishing in a flash of light. Magnar gagged as a fist struck his stomach, hoisting him off the ground as heat bubbled against his stomach. "Fire Scourge," The great column of flames propelled him high into the cavern where the Nightmare crawled across the massive crystal he was buried into.

"You forgot I'm immune to fire?" Magnar tisked, launching down with a frontflip, his foot ablaze. "Fourth Art, Erupt!" A great mass of volcanic lines webbed the ground under Virkio's crossed arms, a gust of wind triggering their eruption as Magnar was flung out to the side, blocking two frost-glazed forearms from decapitating him, losing his own arms again.

Sliding against the basin wall, he dove over Virkio's Will o Wisp, only to seize up, seeing his hand clasp tightly. "Soul Scatter," Hundreds of flames ruptured within his chest, pulling at his innards as a slab of stone followed Virkio's foot, taking one of Magnar's legs clean off, the creature spinning around to slam his molten foot against Virkio's raised arm, flames bursting past his hair. "Counter," The glyph on his hand shimmered, and Magnar crashed through a massive boulder.

"Ah, hah...!" Blood flew from his teeth as a hand clasped his face, crushing his jaw in a second. With a bloodlust evident in his narrowed eyes, Magnar slammed his fist into Virkio's face, only for a tail to sweep high and slice the appendage off, tossing him into a sudden beam of destructive light, Nightmare Rain tasting like copper and venom down Magnar's throat, the vapor trailing from his stump.

Magnar stomped the ground, "Sixth Art-!" A massive glyph in the form of a volcano appeared, turning the cave red, his regenerating face half complete, revealing the haze of mania in his eyes. "-Pompeii!"

Virkio stood in front of his friends, raising one hand forward, purple and white sparks beginning to pull from the etheral air, his right drawing back some of those threads, forming a taut string at his nails. The wisps of light formed under the intense heat, embers scattered by a hot wind by Magnar, his veins boiling red as that molten center expanded outward by his hands, setting the cavern on fire, a wall of intense, unavoidable flames barreling toward the group.

Two words were uttered.

"Wish Ender."

In a flash, the wall of flames bulged and squeezed inward before popping like a balloon, showering the frightened observers in warm cinders as only a faint wind howled through the silence. Virkio lowered his arms, the burns regenerating almost instantly. The ground ahead had been blackened and torn forward as if gravity twisted the earth violently.

Standing at the opposite end, Magnar's arms fell to his sides, in the middle of his chest, bobbing within the massive hole a few centimeters from breaking, was a single, dying flame. His head was marred, leaving only his shocked mouth in its place. Then, despite his body refusing to regenerate, he stepped forward, startling the group.

"Please," Someone grabbed Magnar's right hand. "Just stop already,"

"Who are you?" He asked, taking another step. The girl had short marigold hair, her gentle blue eyes tearing up, begging Magnar to stop. "I can't, I need to kill them, I have to."

"But why?" She demanded softly.

"If I don't become stronger, I can't kill the Gods, I won't let anyone stand in my way," He snapped, trying to pull away but her hands gripped his tighter.

She smiled warmly, "Thank you, you've done enough."

As Magnar's head began to reform, Virkio held his hands forward, seals glowing brightly for the counterattack that never came. He blinked with a stupor, seeing Magnar plunge his fist through his own, withering soul, scattering the embers himself. He smiled, a faint flicker of gratitude at that moment.

"He countered everything, using a Nightmare spell I've never seen, and another I've only heard of, he won the moment he used that technique," Magnar finally admitted, feeling his muscles bulge, filling in the holes in his body. "Enough, it's over, let me die as I should've."

WHO SAID YOU COULD DIE?

The girl pulled Magnar's hand, and his body swayed left to see her determined smirk at the demonic shadow looming over Magnar, demanding he lived. "Sorry, but he's my Nightmare," She then winked, sticking her tongue out at the shadow's tempering flames. "Go rot in hell for us, bleh."

"His body, where is he going?" Virkio waited, then, Magnar fell to his knees, his arms raised as if he was reaching out to someone, his body dissolving into dust. Slowly, a held breath left his lips, closing his eyes to silently mourn for the fallen Nightmare, "It's... over."

In a flash of purple, Akio and Viral were spat out of the light, both clasping their mouths, Akio wore his new clothing while Viral held onto their tattered black robes. "Ugh, I think there's ether in my mouth!"

"I'm still tasting that potion, so bitter!" Viral turned green a moment.

"Akio/Viral!" The group ran to their sides with joyous faces, laughing blissfully at their victory.

"That was the manliest fight I've ever seen!" Kirishima rubbed his eyes, then shot up in shock. "Wait, Dren's-!"

"Already gone," Viral interrupted the happy mood, staring at the Fallen with his hands placed on his chest, staring blankly up at the ceiling. "But, I did sense it, he was still here when we won, for that... I'm thankful,"

"If we weren't so lost in the ether then..." Akio shook his head. "No, he kept his word, I shouldn't say that."

"I wish I could've helped but he told me to watch the others," Kirishima bit his cheek, angry at himself - no, at Harrow. "That monster, Dren told me to save my energy for Harrow, I ain't gonna let him down now!"

"None of us will," Yaoyorozu declared, looking emotional but furious herself. "We did nothing but stand by while you three risked your lives, we have to make up for that."

"You will so don't beat yourselves up about it," Viral snapped, waving an arm. "Your job was to protect Kyoka until we found a cure, if Dren fell, it would've been you who had to suffer more, and now, your chance to avenge him is now."

"Kyoka?" Akio realized then that the person they fought to save was still silent, himself lost in the combat that he hadn't checked if the spell worked. "Kyo-"

Two arms quickly wrapped around his back, bringing him close to the girl's shoulder. "I'm right here, dork," Her voice sounded stronger, and her soul, it was bright and beautiful, glowing like a purple star. "You kept your promise..."

"I..." Everyone smiled a little more, their hard work, Dren's ultimate sacrifice, it all paid off to see Akio burst into tears, wrapping his arms around Kyoka tightly, herself tearing up happily, stroking the back of his head.

"You held your own against one of the strongest Nightmares I've known," Viral smiled, holding onto a red flame that he set free, giving it a final look at the pair reunited. "Thank you for protecting them, rest easy, Splicer."

Once Akio had calmed down, he turned to Viral. "Right, we should get going,"

"But, how do we find them?" Ochaco raised a hand. "I mean, wouldn't it take hours to cross the islands again?"

"It would, but I have a way we can travel there instantly," Viral gave them a boastful smirk. "Being exposed to that ether gave our mana quite the boost, we should be able to open a rift there easily,"

"Okay, let's try it!" Akio beamed, pecking Kyoka on the cheek before running to meet with Viral. "If Harrow's still alive, we need to fight as if it were our last day, everyone ready!?"

"I've been waiting for this, let's go!" Sero yelled.

"Dren gave up everything for us to beat this guy, let's bring in the cavalry!" Kirishima hardened his arms and chest, glaring forward.

"I've got a few surprises of my own I've been meaning to try," Yaoyorozu stated sharply.

"That freak's the reason I had to slog through that ordeal," Kyoka raised her jacks, conjuring her own seals around her wrists. "I'm feelin' pretty pissed off right now,"

Akio nodded to Viral, and the two stood part, drawing a red double circle, in the middle, the two slid past one another, etching two triangles to form an abstract archway in the rings. "Gateway!" Their hands struck the glyph, and the scarlet radius peeled away to form a bridge to another scene many miles away. Immediately, Akio drew his right arm back against Viral's left, conjoining a reddish-purple seal. "Nightmare-!"

---

*Ting-Crack!*

"*Gasp*!" Hana's eyes widened, blood puked from her mouth as Velk caught her quickly, dragging her away from the array of black spikes protruding from Harrow's corpse as it dissolved. "My blade... I swore I cut it!"

"HeheheHahahahaha!" Standing atop the mechanical beast's head, Harrow bowed one arm against his regenerating chest. "That was very close! But honestly, you think I'll fall for that trick twice!?" His face crinkled in disgust, rolling his shoulders to click in place. "I'll admit you hit my soul or at the very least, a fragment of one."

"He tricked us..." Rayla grunted, flames expelled from her lips. "He can fragment souls, he just tossed a random one into the fire!"

"Correct you are!" Harrow giggled, hopping down before them. "All that hopeful effort crumbles away, what a shame, I suppose I'll reward your efforts-" His aura suppressed the atmosphere in a chilling blue pigment, their breaths becoming visible as water crystallized in the air, shattering against the ground. His left eye slit with the other two wide, "-with a painless death."

Several explosions rang out, alerting everyone to Katsuki who spun and slammed into one of Harrow's barriers, or one of his explosions did as he pivoted around the shield, blasting the monster across the side and into Yuki's awaiting uppercut that sent him flying into Izuku's steel-like shin, spinning the monster around to swat face-first into the earth.

"Stop gawking and murder him!" Katsuki snapped them from their dazes while blasting the surrounding area to blindside Harrow for Izuku and Yuki to pincer. "All he did was weaken himself, let's force the bastard to use up his weak-ass powers and beat him to death!"

Rayla snorted, rubbing her cheek. "Ya know, could've said that better but at this point, hell with it-" Her body sparked, neon blue bolts striking her bones, electrifying between her eyes. "-Let's bury this guy in the mud!"

Within the plume of dust, Harrow cracked his jaw in place, chuckling. "You know I can still hear-" His head was severed by a long polearm spun around Yuki's back, herself rolling away from a wall of spike and ice meant to skewer her. Purple embers spread through the dust only to be dispelled by a roaring orange flame cast under Izuku and Yuki's feet by Shoto.

Yuki grabbed Izuku, linking elbows to toss the ninth holder like a bullet atop Harrow's three-thick barrier, the ground flattened down around the Nightmare's feet by another St. Louis smash, the pressure holding him in place for two cold fronts of ice to catch his feet. He repelled Izuku with a Refraction, knocking him straight into Yuki.

Harrow tossed a singularity toward them, only for the gravity field to miss as Yuki warped them onto the ground in a flash of blue nanites. He leveled his arm with the pair but flames from two different directions blinded him, melting his flesh while something cold banished another fragment from his own soul, Hana slipping away from his chains. On instinct, Harrow warped into a shadow, tumbling out beside Kranon's corpse. He lost his ability to teleport alongside lightning discharge.

By now, he looked tired, and furious, his permanent smile beginning to chip at the corners, circling himself in a glowing dome to deflect their attacks away from him. Spreading his chains, he whipped the area as something blinding and paralyzing slammed into his back, pulverizing his spine as he rolled into both Izuku and Yuki's fly kick, breaking his nose.

"Thundercrash, still needs work though," Rayla whistled, bursting with energy, before a wave of cursed flames could erupt, she shot through the sky again, weaving away from the spiral of amethyst cinders.

"You... are so... annoying," Harrow heaved, blocking Velk's tail, shattering the blue ice while yanking her forward. "I'll take your whole soul - Ackaaaahh!" His hands were suddenly split apart by Velk's wings threshing down like cleavers, leaving him wide open to the ninja appearing from the darkness, for a moment, he looked terrified.

"Clear White Sky!" Shoto shielded the others with a thick wall of ice, only to crumble under the might of the massive, wide halo of snow and frost that tore through Harrow's soul again, another flame was snuffed out, his secret weapon, singularity, was stolen. "Huh!?" Hana gaped, finding a layer of ice had locked her legs in place.

"Okay, now I'm pissed!" Harrow snarled, his smile forgone for anger, choking the girl with chains while using barriers to ward off Velk and Katsuki's assaults, even Rayla's Thundercrash only tore through two of the five layers of hardlight containing the struggling Host and Harrow. "You little brat, you should have never spared that useless Thrall."

He drew his hand toward her chest, her own left catching his wrist only to cry out as blood spewed from her arm, spikes protruding from Harrow's palm. "You risk coming outside your Nightmare, naughty little girl, now, you pay the price!" His hand plunged itself deep into her cold spiritual core, seeing her eyes widen in agony. "Hmhehehe, there it is...!"

"Hana!" Velk cried, slicing apart another layer with her frozen claws, leaving ice in her wake. Rayla swung together with Yuki, cutlass, and flaming hammer destroying the next barrier.

...

...

...

...

"-RAIN!" A large, concentrated beam of chaotic matter collided with Harrow's face, vaporizing his head in a split second as the last barrier was torn down by the intrusion of a triangular rift, a line of tape catching Hana as she fell into Sero's arm, himself swinging his other elbow to pull the two far away from Harrow's grasp next to Velk.

"Hey, looks like we made it in time!" Sero called, waving to the others before looking down at Hana's speechless face. "That was close, you okay?"

"I..." Her face slowly went from white to red from the neck up. "Um..."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Velk hugged Sero, giving his whole body the chills.

"S-s-s-sure, a-a-anytime!" "Man, she's freezing my blood!" His body turned blue.

"Hey, asshole!" Harrow slowly trembled out of the fiery pit the blast created, only to have his ears bled by a vibration of a heartbeat. "This is for ruining our day!" Her jacks tore themselves from his head before the snap of his chains could catch her, the furious rocker hiding behind Kirishima's solid right hook alongside Akio's, the pair knocking Harrow down into a pair of hands.

Ochaco threw his levitating body high into the air where the buckshot of a cannon resounded, gouging out his innards with grapeshot courtesy of Yaoyorozu, the girl panting at her rapid creation sat beside her. "Release! Get him, Katsuki!"

"Howitzer Impact!" The violent, exploding tornado unleashed a cloud of flaming hot air and sweat, blasting Harrow with the force of a missile, burying him through the spire, the entire structure trembling from the abuse.

"Nightmare... Rain!" Akio was pulled into Viral the second a similar beam tore through the floor, throwing Viral backward beside his companions as Harrow rose through the gap with his wings, wheezing as his body's regenerative functions progressively slowed. "You didn't think I couldn't use that too? Or did you forget as much drowning in memory?"

"It's over, you're done, Harrow," Viral huffed, seeing the old Nightmare shamble forward.

"Me? I'm not through yet! No-no-no-no, this... this is just the opening of the third act! I've still got some fire in me!" His crazed eyes were continuously unfocused. "Scourge, Magnar, Ravage, Velk, and even You can't stop me!" He patted his chest sharply. "I'm stronger than all of you! I'm the strongest one there is!"

"Yet here you are, beaten and ragged again, and this time, Scourge won't be there to save you," Viral disappeared, reaching out to plunge his hand through Harrow's soul before he could react. This was it, the last move to end hours of torment. "For Dren's sake, rot in hell!"

"Viral, move back, now!" Velk snapped loudly, and her friend did so before his body could be torn apart by another barrier of light.

"Heh... hehehe... hahaha - HAHAHAHA!" Harrow devolved into hysteria, rolling back onto the ground as his body leaked fluids and mist, his shredded hands clapping away. "You're too late, Viral, I WIN, HAHAHA!"

The whole structure began to shake, the runes painted or carved into stone and metal shining snow-white as the very skies shrouded over in black clouds, a faint echo of screams and unfamiliar voices resounding like memories. Everyone stood back slowly, steering clear of the ritual that tore up more of the land around it.

"What is this?" Viral murmured.

"Kranon..." Izuku muttered beside him, "He's done something to that thing's corpse, we're... too late."

"No, we're right on time for the final boss," Katsuki clicked disappointedly, fingers twitching.

Harrow stumbled to his feet, his cheeks pulled back into an inhuman grin. "The greatest power that shook the Realms... AND IT'S MINE TO CONTROL-!"

*CRUNCH!*

The jaws of the corpse swallowed Harrow at that moment, and the land supporting Kranon's body fell from the tower with a metallic cry. All that was left were a few crumbling ruins and the earthquakes that slithered up the tower. Not a soul budged, staying close together.

"What now... what's going to happen to him?" Yaoyorozu worryingly asked.

"We have to do everything in our power to stop him, he cannot leave this Realmless world!" Viral swung his arm around, turning to them. "Our world, the Corridors, and countless lives across the Realms are in danger, we're the only ones left that can stop this!" He saw it, the fear in their eyes. "We've never backed down before, against insurmountable odds, we're not heroes, but right now, tell me, think you can kill a Vex?"

Everyone looked around, none took a step back, standing with one another, the resident Guardian laughed. "Don't think we have a choice."

Something untamed was distorting the world; sound and an earthquake that could be felt down to their bones shook and splintered the land around them. This was the end; the final hand dealt to them since arriving in this unfair world.

Weapons, quirks, and otherworldly powers were primed. The acrid air blown from the surge of energy was astounding; the hairs on the back of their necks stood up from the static, and while fear grew wider and wider, they kept still.

A large brass arm covered in black flesh and chains soared into the air from the lightning behind the spire, smashing its mechanical fingers through the stone. At the same time, another did the same, lifting the shadow to loom over the group with a large, glowing array of spotlights upon them, crushing all that obstructed it, flattening the spire's peak.

*UUUUAAAAHHHH!*

The screech of metal felt like razors to their ears, the trembling in their vision subsiding enough to bask in the shadow of the massive construct. The mechanical beast rose to its full height. A massive beast, its body serpent in form, coated in metallic, dark purple scales and jagged brass plating curved along its sides. Strange, sapphire crystals protruded as opals along its vertebrae.

The head was a maw of teeth into a white void, large forward-facing horns curved to guard its face, a single, glowing vortex for an eye glowering at the ants beneath its mighty wings. The membrane of the segmented bone structure formed of pure energy, twinkling like stars.

"He's merged his soul with a Vex," Yuki blinked before craning her head back to the many islands below. "Everyone run!"

Not a single person fought against that order, bounding over the spire in time to see a beam of purplish-white plasma bubble and eradicate the tower's peak, rubble, and fire-spewing off the sides as Harrow hunched over the ledge, staring down at the falling children with a growl, tearing his body down the length of the tower with his front claws.

"Windwalker!" Viral chimed, enchanting everyone with a pale-blue coat that made their fatal descent slow, gliding down toward the nearest landmass ahead of the tower and trees. "Run and fight, he's not a Vex, so he's still vulnerable if we can find a weakness!"

"I can get behind that plan!" Kirishima held a thumb up, rolling to steady his landing. "But how the heck can we do that when he's fly-"

*CRASH!*

Harrow crashed into the ground with a roar, setting the trees and land ablaze, clawing after the group on the ground, his wings folded. Half of them deadpanned toward the redhead. "Forget I asked, my bad!"

Yuki darted to the frontlines while those best suited for support stayed at the back. She brought her arms forward, cranking SIVA up to twenty-five percent before charging her energy. "Devil's Ruin!" The two beams tore against Harrow's chassis, but her attacks did little more than burn his rubbery flesh. "I hate overpowered bosses,"

|Valorgod!|

SIVA triggered her nanomachines to absorb the metal in the surrounding ruins, giving her ample amounts of metal to fly away from the lumbering swipe of Harrow's arm, clearing the ruins and foliage with a single sweep. "Woah, thanks for that, Siva!"

I've got your back | Focus on attack | I'll handle defenses

"Perfected Burst!" Several blue spheres erupted against Harrow as Katsuki flew around the towering beast, releasing high-impact blasts against its hide, the smoke clearing to reveal little damage done to the Vex that continued its forward march, crushing the land under its body.

"Let's move, Midoriya!" Rayla ran ahead, striking with her hammer in a wide, rising crescent, followed by a horizontal kick across Harrow's left arm, the combined effect of wind and fire cast aside as the arm slammed into the pair, flinging them into Velk's waiting talons, herself puffing her cheeks to blast the arm with ice, stalling its grab for her to fly away, the hand crushing air.

"We need to coordinate our attacks, otherwise we can't pierce its hide!" Izuku commented, dropped off by Velk who gave a wave. "Velk, you and Viral use your magic together, try to make Harrow stand upright, his belly should be unarmored!"

"You got it!" Velk agreed, moving alongside Viral who flew through the air while the others retreated, the gliding spell giving them all the boost they needed to jump the wider gaps. "Ready?"

"Always - Arcane Nightmare-!" He chanted, bringing his right arm against her left as it crystalized against her armor.

"Squall Nightmare-!" Rime and etheral light swirling into a maelstrom, the pair lingering above Harrow's vertebra between the wings.

"-RAIN!" The double halo of white and blue shattered the sound barrier, cascading down atop Harrow's back as he let out an ear-piercing wail, slumping slightly as his body flattened a forest the teens narrowly escaped through, using the trees to leap higher from the arm's reach.

Harrow growled, raising his body to shadow the Nightmares who quickly doubled back in a spiral, evading its teeth as Harrow pursued them, swiping the air with his torn wings, the winds viciously throwing the air around. Viral floated upside down, holding his arm wide. "Shadow Sunder!" A streak of black smoke tore across the massive eye, followed narrowly by Velk's bombardment of ice shards, making him recoil.

Below, the powerhouses of the team saw the fleshy stomach exposed. "Izuku, now!" Yuki grabbed his hand, and with a great deal of strain, forced themselves to merge, becoming one as their power skyrocketed beyond their limits.

"One For All, Perfected, Eighty Percent!" Yuzuku waved, bringing their fist back as the reddish veins burned across their skin, peeling the armor apart to condense the excess energy into a single point, their arm a blur of green and blue. "Perfected United States of Smash!"

The towering dragon slid back slightly against the swirling pressure and heat gathered at its stomach, as Yuzuku continuously held their fist against the thick hide, above, Katsuki was sent flying by Kirishima, blasting the wall of flesh ahead of him with a massive eruption of fire. Rayla merged her attack with his, Thundercrashing the stomach with multiple waves of Arc lightning rippling between the outer scales.

Behind them, Shoto's face broke out into a sweat, gathering a massive chaotic fire ball above his hands, once the others retreated, he sent the globe down in a great combustion of flames, consuming Harrow's lower half in molten flames that tore the whole island they left apart, Harrow's body sliding down toward the white void.

"Look out!" Sero threw Shoto and Yaoyorozu back from the edge as a large claw gripped the ledge, tearing out the soil as Harrow flew up in one great thresh of his wings.

"Thank you, Sero!" Yaoyorozu graciously breathed, helping Shoto move until he recovered from exhausting his flames, using ice against his chest. "Just recover, we'll keep you safe."

"Thanks," He puffed, shakily looking back at his friends continuing to rain hell upon the unstoppable Vex.

Viral and Velk hovered in the front, a long strip of earth acting as a bridge toward the next large body of land. "He's not even taking a dent now," Viral shook his head angrily. "How do we come back from this?"

"I..." Velk gasped, staring down at Harrow who took swings at Yuzuku, the person splitting into two, but that alone didn't stop Izuku or Yuki from attacking the arms. But further than that, Velk felt it deep in her chest, it was resonating, the lost part of her soul. "It's still there," Then, that presence began to build like a storm in her gut. "Viral!"

"What?" He swung his head forward, and his eyes widened. "No...!"

"Are you guys alright!?" Kirishima yelled atop a slope in the bridge, seeing Yuki helping Izuku to stand, the two recoiling from the fusion as she mended Izuku's arms with shock absorbers.

"Yeah!" She waved, wrapping her arm around Izuku's waist. "Come on, we can't stay here,"

"Nothing, there's no weakness at all," Izuku saw it, when scanning Harrow's body through Yuki, nothing stood out, all signs indicated the damage was dealt but it simply vanished. Panic flooded his face. "I can't find an opening-"

"We'll find it," Yuki pressed forward, holding his waist tightly with narrowed eyes. "He's not completely comprised of Vex, if that's the case, there's a weakness somewhere, we can find it but not if we can't slow him down."

"How do we do that?"

"That I haven't figured out yet," Yuki sighed, turning back only to freeze. "Izuku...?"

He did the same, seeing Viral flying down toward those on the frontlines in fright. "HE CAN USE KRANON'S POWER!" That sensation he felt merged with Yuki, it wasn't that their attacks were doing damage, no, they were being absorbed, the energy discharged from their quirks, it was fueling him.

IMPRESSIVE NOW DISAPPEAR

Harrow reeled back, a low rumbling like a charging generator resounded within his hide as he flared his wings wide to blanket the area in a twisted, starry night. "RAAAAAAAAA!" From the faults in the Shattered Isles, various portals tore open like fresh wounds, bleeding forth an array of milky-black beams that stripped through the land like a scalpel, melting rock and burning any and all plant life across various islands.

His wings flapped, holding him steady until he could crash down onto solid scorched land again. But while many survived mainly impart to Viral he too collapsed after throwing Katsuki to the ground, his right arm, hip, and left wing slowly regenerating from the vicious blast back. "You could've warned us of that!"

"I didn't know he - wait..." His arms sprung his body upright, staring down at the void. "No…!"

Below, Yuki had fallen, her own metallic wings obliterated down to wires and dripping metal. She shook her head, her mask destroyed as her forehead bled. In her haze she realized her body was plummeting, choking on the air, she tried to harness her clusters to form but nothing happened, she hadn't the metal on her barding to transform into Valorgod again, she... she was going to vanish.

Waving her hand forward, nothing happened, "Warp! Come on, you need to warp!" Panic settled in, she couldn't warp, was it Harrow? Was he distorting the air? Yuki squeezed her eyes shut. "S-Siva... I..."

|We'll go together then-|

"Gotcha!" Her eyes sprung open, staring at a scarred hand belonging to her boyfriend who fell with her, his body's electricity bouncing off her skin. He smiled, but the emotion behind his eyes, it was as warm and gentle as his voice. "It's my time to save you,"

"I...zuku?" Her words fell apart, her hand trying to grip tighter, a long gash on his hand mixing his blood with her own, an odd, tingly sensation entering her bloodstream, the familiarity exciting her nanomachines.

This power | Izuku Midoriya! | What are you-

"Thank you, Yuki Azuru, for believing in me," He spun her around, pressing his boots against her back to release a final move. "One For All... please look after her - St. Louis Smaaaaaash!" Not once did he hesitate.

"NO!" She screamed but his feet released their strength, propelling her high above the island where a gloomy hand pulled her away from the void and onto the edge where she rolled. Scrambling to the edge with a fountain of tears, she saw the green dot falling toward the void. "IZUKU!" Yuki's voice cracked.

He disappeared without a trace of his vitals.

"No... no-no-no-no..." Yuki grabbed her temples, staring down into the void. "Please... please come back..." She croaked. But no one answered her.

Katsuki stared at the edge where Yuki screamed with pinprick eyes, punching the ground, something in his chest stung sharply, his expression was utterly lost. Ochaco shook her head from afar, unfortunately having seen it happen alongside Kyoka, her arms at her sides, losing whatever energy she had left.

Viral's blood began to steam, closing his fists tightly. "Midoriya, he… saved her." Akio's voice trembled.

WEAK PATHETIC HUMAN

Harrow's right arm swept the area, swatting Velk like a fly as Kirishima blocked the arm with his own, legs driven back in the ground as his arms buckled, his defense had protected those unable to fight directly with Rayla relying on Solaire to heal her. As his left arm bent toward Viral's group, the Vex didn't notice the dark ambiance surrounding Yuki.

"One For All..." Her voice choked, her tears evaporating as she turned around sharply, vanishing into thin air. A flash and her fist bent backward, displaying the hellish anguish in her neon bluish-red eyes. "Perfected-" She slammed her feet down on his face, the air whistled and puckered around her knuckles. "-One Hundred Percent!"

|Destroy him|

"Detroit Smaaaash!" Her right hook tore across Harrow's bulging eye, the sheer force swaying his head sharply, seeing blood and viscera fly through the air with Yuki's arm, only for a metal prosthetic to take its place as she swayed her waist, carving the same attack from the left. "Grrrr!" Again, she obliterated her arm, metal reconstructing the new limb. "He's made of metal, I'll just use his!"

Every punch made her head throb with memories of the green-haired nerd. The vibrations in her newly built arms as they broke, she saw Izuku break his body many times in the face of adversity. When blood flew as more of her arms were converted into cold-plated steel, she only saw Izuku stand up again, defiant against his body. When her tears fell, she wondered how many times he cried for her when she did something so stupidly reckless.

Confirmed | Consume, Enhance, Replicate | Initialized

Over and over her fists tore more of Harrow apart, his attacks delayed by her vicious strikes, the girl's feet peeling away at the metal sticking out from his flesh, refueling her body as the scent of copper flooded the air, a haze of red clouding his gaze. She kicked back, evading the arm that snuck up to grab her, bringing her hands forward like a nozzle. "Full Cowling - Devil's Ruin!"

The deep red beam stripped against the red cloud, barreling down on Harrow's scalp like a ray of sunlight, sparks spitting from the impact. But then, her attack was cut short, feeling her stomach lurch backward from the wing that slammed into her torso, propelling her against the ground beside Kyoka and Yaoyorozu.

"Yuki!" Kyoka slid to the girl's aid, but flinched when she saw the look in Yuki's eyes, they were ice-blue, bearing her fangs like a violent animal. Yuki was in a state of mania now. Steeling herself, Kyoka grabbed the girl and immediately slapped her across the face, seeing her dilated pupils expand again. "Wake the hell up, you idiot!"

"Kyo...ka?" Yuki's voice was unnaturally soft, then the realization kicked in, making her sniff back more tears. "I..." Gently, Kyoka lifted Yuki from the small pit in the ground, hugging her tightly.

"It's okay, we... we need to focus, Izuku didn't just sacrifice himself for you to waste it," She bit back her own feelings as they moved back with the others attempting to ward off Harrow, the massive creature still recovering from Yuki's assault.

"H-he's gone... I-I couldn't, I c-c-couldn't..." She hiccuped while burying her head against Kyoka's chest, shivering in place.

"Yaomomo, look after Yuki," The rocker asked softly as Yuki embraced the ravenette, watching her best friend turn to face the great abomination. "I've got my own venting to do,"

"We both do," Shoto's eyes held little to no emotion, his lips spread into a snarl. "Perhaps if we freeze his mouth open that might prove an effective weakspot."

"Sounds good to me," Kyoka agreed.

"Hey, come on now, after getting Yuki to calm down, now who's being crazy?" Sero tapped their shoulders, giving an honest smile as he scratched his nape, a hand over his redden stomach. "Look, I... I need you two to do something for me, and... it's risky,"

Kyoka's brow rose at his request. Shoto stared silently, listening patiently.

---

The pair of Nightmares spun around through the air, evading to more rift beams as Harrow plummeted down from another, slashing at the pair to no avail, slipping away through another to realign to the land the teens ran along to escape the ensuing destruction. Viral shook his head, firing various spells at once, seeing the elemental fallout seep into the crystals along the monster's back.

"We're going to run out of energy," Velk panted, her regal ice armor broken and messy, simply trying to reinforce her hide was proving difficult. "We might last longer but the others won't make it,"

"I know, I know, we gotta do something to slow him down for a bit," Viral agreed, hovering next to her shoulder. "Let's align our moves, if we do we might be able to get a few good hits in on that all-seeing eye of his."

"I'm with you," Velk said, the pair landing on a small island, Harrow lumbering left to see them knelt there, waiting. He hissed, summoning several rifts as pillars of stone collided with the island, the pair flying above the impacts as more pursued them through new gates.

Landing on the pillars, Viral shredded through them with his claws, slamming a wide kick through two for Velk to mince the next wave with her tail, curling forward for Viral to hop over and down the middle of three more, spinning with Shadow Sunder tearing the stone columns apart, reaching out his hand to grab Akio's who appeared, throwing Viral forward as his arms glazed themselves in ice.

"Coldheart!" The twin cross-chop rendered the stone blockade to rubble, Akio seeping back inside his body. Above, Velk slid down the curving pillars, creating barriers of ice in the air to reflect the lasers that bled through the rifts above, keeping them at bay long enough to reach out and grab Viral's hand. "Release-"

Spinning in a vertical posture toward Harrow's large, swirling eye, he couldn't perform a countermeasure in time, seeing dark shadows and ice conjoin into a single full moon at the edge of Velk's divine tail. "-Clear White Sky!"

The dark blue ice and pure-white snow left a titanic circle through the air, carving the island below in half as the bamboo forest clattered atop Harrow's flailing body, dragging his face through the mud as the Nightmares slid across an ancient pathway beneath a looming island that was strangely connected by dozens of lines of tape.

"You guys, this way!" Kirishima waved them through a large archway of natural rock now covered in crumbling ice.

Kyoka and Shoto stood nearby, their heads low enough to obscure their eyes, but grief wracked around in their souls, then they spun around where Sero stood, his hands bleeding as he held onto several strands of tape, breathing heavily. "Sero, come on!"

Harrow started to crawl over, that's when Sero flashed them his winning grin. "I'm giving you guys a head start!" He winced, the veins in her arms visible as he pulled down with all his might. Blood now dripped down from the tear in his shirt, the wound had widened. "Thanks for the assist, Todoroki, Jiro, I owe you big for this!"

"What's he doing?" Hana flew from Velk's chest, moving forward as Viral held the girl back. "Viral?" She saw it, his eye closed while looking the other way.

"If you leave, Velk can't survive without a Host," He gritted his teeth. "I... can't put anyone else through more death,"

"Hey, Hana!?" She shot her head toward Sero, just as the land above started to fall apart, visible fissures in the bottom half beginning to widen. Kyoka had weakened the land above with her vibrations, giving Sero enough room to pull the whole island down on Harrow, and, atop himself. "It's been fun, sorry never got to take ya on a solo date!" "I was dead anyway, might as well make it flashy!"

"Hanta... no...!" She reached forward but Viral held her back, much to his own anger. "Wait!"

"Here's for Midoriya you one-eyed freak! Choke on it!" His arms strained, and the island above suddenly let out an almighty 'crack' as tons upon tons of rock and soil gravitated toward the island with tremendous force. "I call this my Web of Collapse!" Only a brazen smile split his otherwise shaking eyes, coughing up some blood.

"HANTA!" Velk pulled her Host back, flying backward onto the island above before the two collided landmasses could destabilize. Nothing could be said or done now, only watch at two islands sandwiched the mutant Vex until thousands of boulders and ruins from the island above.

Dust rose like a storm cloud into the air, the backend of Harrow swaying high before falling with a crash. It wouldn't kill him, but it definitely kept him down for a good amount of time, seeing as hundreds of tape lines strung together like spider's silk, binding the boulders and Harrow under a mountain of rubble. Sero had done it, in a single attack, he pinned the massive Vex for them all.

Everyone was teary-eyed as a blue burst of nanites sat beside Hana, in Yuki's arms, she carried Sero's motionless body. "I... found him... b-before he could... d-disappear," If only she had the strength to do so for Izuku, if she just borrowed One For All instead of him handing it off to her, maybe they could've done more. "I'm sorry..." She whispered, setting him down carefully.

Hana fell beside Yuki, pulling her ear down to the boy's chest to hear nothing, not an echo of a heartbeat or a flicker of a soul. That suddenly broke the stoic girl's facade as she sobbed against his chest, hugging his lifeless body against her own.

"He was wounded for so long, how... why didn't he say?" Viral was breathless, chipping a tooth. "I... I could've saved him!" He hissed, punching a nearby rock into fragments. "Not again!"

"No...!" Kirishima felt nothing but dread in his heart, another of his close friends was gone right before his eyes. "I hate this so much!" Some looked to him, the redhead staring at his feet. "Everything we've done's put us backward, how many of us need to die to stop this guy!? And what's worse, I'm stuck watching as my friends, people I fought with every day to get stronger die out of my reach! What kind of man... what kind of friend does that make me!?"

"I... don't know," Rayla murmured. "I ran, but my fireteam, they just kept smiling, despite how much I lost, they wanted me to keep trying, beating ourselves up won't change things, right now, Midoriya, Sero, they gave us chances to live a little longer, even if we don't deserve it, we can't waste the time regardless,"

"No more," Velk placed her hand on Hana's head, playing with her hair as she set Sero's body down carefully to look at Velk through teary eyes. "I have a plan, but you won't like it," She kept her voice soft and gentle like snowfall, stroking Hana's cheek. "I'm sorry I wasn't a strong enough Nightmare to save them, but I hope you can forgive me,"

"Velk, no... not that," Her voice trembled as she grabbed the hand against her cheek. "I-I-I don't - I can't lose you too,"

"Velk?" Viral spoke up, his frown deeper. "Velk!"

"It's okay, I know I'm selfish," Velk smiled, placing her forehead to Hana's. "I'm the selfish older sister, I know I am,"

"Velk, please..." She lifted her head, wiping Hana's tears with a thumb.

"I ran before, I left the people I loved to die and to suffer," She pressed her hand to Hana's soul, a soft, arctic breeze washing over her. "Not this time, I'm going to make this right." She slowly stood up. "You saved me from my own fears," As her hand slipped away from Hana's she gave the girl with raven-white hair a warm smile. "I love you, little sister."

"Velk!" She reached out, but frost was all that remained and a single, cloth-wrapped blade of ice.

"What did she just do!?" Katsuki blinked, looking to Hana who curled her fist into the ground.

"She... joined her soul fragment," Just then, Harrow's body lurched upward from the rubble into the webbing of tape, reeling in agony as ice suddenly flourished from his chest, expanding into a small black gash in his chest, the ice pumping out from the wound, forming blue thorns of ice across the tape, a twisted, radiant garden of blue ice ensnaring Harrow as he twisting in pain. "Viral, you can do it, you can kill Harrow."

"I... can?" He flinched back, dumbfounded.

PLEASE

All their eyes snapped to the Vex, seeing a ghostly visage of Velk's wings holding Harrow'a arms at bay, her fingers prying the chest wound wider for them with a loving smile, full of content and acceptance.

VIRAL USE WISH ENDER AND KILL US

He felt his and Akio's hearts stop momentarily, thundering once in his head. "To... kill you?" Sweat rolled down Viral's cheek before a flat glare replaced it. "Hold him down." He drew his left arm forward.

"..." Hana stood up, passing by her sword as frost spilled from her body, coating the area in ice until the white vapor spilled over the edge of the wide, oval island of ruins and forest. She raised one hand, and the sheer volume of ice that expunged from her palm dropped the temperature immediately, the ice solidifying the cracks Harrow's thrashing made to a shivering twitch. "Ngh..."

"Hey, she didn't say you could move," Beside her lost gaze, Shoto pressed his hand to the ground, showering the frozen tape in his ice, allowing it to spread down to cover and bury more of Harrow's body, holding him steady. "Relax, I can handle some of the burden," He too shared her sorrow, losing his friends, he would lose his fingers and more for them.

Nodding, Hana let her quirk pour forward without restraint, all in an effort to contain Harrow's monstrous cries. Behind them, everyone watched Viral convert energy in the air into a large, etheral bow of purple and white, manifesting space into a physical form. In his right, a string pulled back the arrow tipped in starlight.

He hesitated, then taut his muscles, "Wish Ender!" His fingers shook, creased by the string but his arm refused to budge.

"I know it must be hard for you-" Akio's voice rang as Viral's eye trembled. "-but this is our only chance to make it end, Velk knows this, she wouldn't ask you to do this if she didn't think you could do it."

"But... I, what about her? This spell could destroy her soul too," Viral shook his head, glaring at a puddle beneath his feet at his own weakness.

"She wants this, we failed Ravage, Scourge, Magnar, Dren, Midoirya, Sero, Harbinger, my Dad and sister... we failed them, but if we don't stop Harrow now, how many more will we lose? How many deaths would be for nothing?" Akio hated this, he didn't want to pull the string, he wasn't strong enough for that. "I'm right here with you until the end."

"It's okay," He gasped, seeing Velk's ghostly form standing before him, her hands cupped to his cheeks with a caring smile. "I know you'll never completely forgive me, I'm okay with that, remember?" She leaned closer. "I'll still be with you, I'll still love you, no matter how many years pass, I will never hate you, Viral,"

"Velk..." His scarred eye parted slightly, feeling a pair of ice-cold lips peck his before vanishing, leaving a calm, dull aura over his soul.

"You're not Neckros, you're Viral the Cursebreaker."

With a furious yell, his fingers let go, bowing his head as a tear streaked down his right eye, screaming out the words he buried and denied since that day she ran. When they reunited at the Exam. Their fight outside the dorms. The battle against Harrow over the city. And the smile she wore when she held the prize he won for her.

The arrow shattered the ice, Harrow lunged forward, destroying the massive glacier Shoto and Hana held with all their might until their energy was spent, both frostbitten by the exhaustive use. Piercing the dark, Harrow's eye widened, body jolting backward as the arrow plunged through his heart and into the dark.

Deep within his soul, Velk stood alone in a white void, smiling fondly at her soul in her hands, its icy-blue texture whole again, dancing happily as the white veil cracked like an egg, revealing black cracks with the head of an amethyst arrow pushing through the wound. "I'll be joining all of you soon, you'll be able to rest easy now, your friends and loved ones didn't waste your sacrifices,"

Velk closed her eyes, accepting her fate with a light skip in her heart. "Viral, you really are... the most powerful Nightmare of all." The last thing she thought of was of her sitting with him, their tails curled together as Hana listened intently to Akio's storytelling with keen interest. "Goodbye."

---

Harrow's body began to crumble and fall apart, the corpse of Kranon rotting and withering into dead particles that fell toward the void of the realmless world. Viral had fallen to his knees with Akio rubbing his back alongside Kyoka, his expression hidden as he shook on the spot, various blue roses sprouting from the snow as more fell around them and the ruins of a battlement behind them.

Hana covered her face as she cried silently, Shoto sitting by the edge, his head low as he tried to hide his grief, staring at the monster that raised an arm to the sky, the fingers peeling away as colorful embers escaped the chest cavity, disappearing into the afternoon sky above.

Yuki stood alone, staring toward Harrow's dissolving body until the last flake vanished, her fists clenched, worried it may not be over, rather, she just wanted a reason to not think about the friends she lost. But Izuku flooded her mind, making her eyes red and puffy.

Katsuki approached her with Ochaco pressed to his side, when she saw him, she hung her head, his hand against her shoulder with a scowl facing the world beyond, he didn't feel like talking anymore and let the two girls mourn. He... failed as a hero... he failed Izuku Midoriya.

Kirishima suddenly punched a nearby wall, bearing his teeth before headbutting the cobblestone. "What's the point in any of this if they died!?" Rayla stood behind him, slowly putting her arms around him with her head against his nape. "Dammiiiiit!" He lost the strength to stand, letting Rayla and Solaire comfort him silently, the ghost's shell hung low, his eye dimmer.

"We won..." Viral lifted his head, tossing a rock toward the edge. "...so what? There's no victory in this, all for power, that's all he wanted because someone hurt him and he couldn't move past it!" He shoved past Akio and Kyoka to stand and face the void, waving his arms out. "Was it worth it, Harrow!? Did you get what you wanted!? TELL MEEEEEE!"

"Viral?" Akio tried, but his own words fell apart. "I wish I could change fate, I really do," He'd do it all again if he could.

"...We should head back," Yuki was the first of those most affected to speak up, lifting her head to dry her tears. "The others need to know too, their families, our friends, I... I can't stomach it," Her fist shook. "Not until we tell them, I can't just stand here, I'm afraid I won't be able to move if I do."

"Yuki's right," Yaoyorozu sniffed, drying her eyes a little. "I know it's sudden, but we can't afford to stay lost in this world forever, correct?" She asked Viral who nodded slowly.

"Unfortunately, I can open a rift home but if we lose the remnant origin energy from where we enter it could be problematic," Viral shoveled dirt over his heart for a while longer. "Pick yourselves up, save your mourning until we're home."

"Thank you," Yuki smiled slightly but her eyes were hollow. "I guess I'm the tenth holder now... how ironic," She dismissed the feeling, she didn't want to think about it now. "Let's go... ah..."

Hearts that were already clenched suddenly burst at the seams. Yuki's chest hunched forward a little, then, a sickening 'crunch' burst from her chest. Yuki's breath caught in her throat as a pained hitch, twitching as a black hand clenched her ocean-blue soul tentatively. She tried to speak, mouth opening and closing in peril. "Ah... I-I...!"

"Yuki...!" Kyoka's voice strained, stopped by Akio from moving too close, himself staring silently in terror.

"Would you look at that," Behind her shoulder, a horror straight from hell stared with three glossy white eyes. "I just murdered the very person Kovik couldn't even scratch in years! How funny is that?"

Harrow gave a twisted laugh, crushing Yuki's soul as her body vanished into dust with a brush of his hand, dusting her particles off his coat. "Hahahahaha, you actually believed that stupid plan would work!?" Harrow berated them, holding his stomach as he doubled over. "All that emotional tension and it surmounted to Nothing!"

His snigger creased against the tempered, sweaty palm belonging to Katsuki, their motioned a crawl as time stalled to show the utter resentment peeling at his features, venom spewing from his throat in a hellish yell. "Raaaaaaaa!" Flames that would put Shoto's to shame, shook the world, expanding dozens of meters into the sky with Harrow in the center.

Through flames and smoke, his charred-blasted face slowly healed back up from the force, constructing his grin with one arm twisting back into its joint, the finger bones snapping toward Katsuki's alarmed expression. His hand caught Katsuki, pulling the blonde off his feet to slam through a nearby wall of the battlement.

"Hahahaha!" Harrow laughed as Hana's murderous eyes gleamed, carving her blade through Harrow's spine and through his chest while Viral plunged his fist through to crush the monster's soul within the living carcass. Trepidation flooded their heads, Viral's hand couldn't crush the scorching ember, and Hana's blade didn't even scratch the flames. "I merged my essence with a Vex, that means... I'VE CHEATED EVE'S DESIGN!"

Hana slit a massive crevasse through his back, a thin layer of skin peeling away from Harrow as his new skin was carved with purple scales in various points of his body, white tattoos forming a flaming ring across his chest and back as his chains sprung from the scales, they too tipped with draconic armor, snapping at Viral and Hana, the latter grunting as her left eye was sliced open.

The Nightmareless girl recovered, catching herself on a glade of ice as her blade unraveled from the cloth. "Clear White-!" She performed a kick-flip over Harrow's snapping chains, swinging in a wide, vertical slant. "-Sky!" The crescent of ice split his whole body in two, carving frost deep into the ground.

Viral spun around, craning his right leg horizontally as that split smile refused to fade. "Mantle Snap!" He then split the two halves into fours only to grunt as a hand grabbed his face, burning Viral from the inside out with cursed flames, tossing him across the island like a softball through several walls alongside Akio.

Black smoke flooded the four halves, stitching Harrow together again with a slosh and gurgle of blood and viscera. This time, Harrow spun around, raising a barrier to divert the swing of Rayla's hammer, his left snatching forward to swat her head into a red paste on the ground. "Like I'd fall for that again," He spun, striking her headless body with a straight kick, burying her back into the mossy steps, swiveling to avoid Hana's blade nicking his hair, grabbing her own hair to throw her into Shoto who was about to burn the Nightmare Vex.

"Nightmare Rain!" Viral appeared, Akio within him to combine their magic, their right hand interlocked with Harrow's that was obliterated by the blast. Instantly, Viral leaned down on his hands, spinning with Mandle Snap to break the right arm, hopping around as Shadow Sunder carved through Harrow's neck and out his waist with Viral's cloak. "Soul Scatter!"

Closing his fist he dove back from an array of spikes as Harrow convulsed from the spiritual assault, but he slowly shrugged it off, appearing in front of Viral to throw a punch that tore out his gut, a chain strangling him, flinging his old ally through a tree before whipping him down into the dirt with a crash.

Behind him, two massive blades of ice tore into his barriers, Harrow casting embers to erupt, blasting the ice into pieces as he rushed Hana and Shoto, the two bringing their hands forward despite the frostbite eating away at their hands. "Not this time!" Kirishima's fist connected with Harrow's jaw, all it did was make him crack his neck in place again. "No one else is dying! For Yuki, everyone's sacrifices!"

"Go ahead then, useless hero," Harrow teased, leaving himself open to Kirishima's one-two punch, the sturdy hero slamming fist after fist, hearing bones break, the vibrations against his knuckles encouraging him to strike harder and faster until his fists became a blur, leaving gashes and impacts across Harrow's torso.

Taking a step back, he just watched the monster dust off his chest only to be assaulted again, Kirishima screamed, slamming both fists diagonally at once, seeing Harrow slide right into place. "Now!" That made his left eye rise curiously to the sky.

Below, Yaoyorozu had laid out sticking balls that acted like glue, anchoring the Vex while Kyoka's vibrations caused the ground to split open, effectively creating quicksand. Above, Rayla came crashing down like a blue missile, leaving a deadly web of lightning in her wake, seeing Harrow's neck bend the other way for Katsuki to be released by Ochaco alongside Viral, the pair casting their hands down.

"X-Catapult!" Slingshotting the Nightmare toward the earth, Viral pressed his hand against that stupid smile of Harrow's, filling his throat with Fire Scourge, Downpour, Sunbreak, Vile Spine, and Will of Wisp. The colorful array of glyphs layered along his arm as he drew his right back, gathering them like the tip of an arrow.

"For my friends - Elemental Ender!" Releasing the string, everyone recoiled under its fluorescent glare, several halos of color expanding across the snow and grass with a soft chime

Viral stumbled away only to be yanked closer to the pit by a thorned chain, eye stricken with fear. "That hurt, lemme show you what I can do," Harrow snapped his fingers, ripping reality asunder as the portals spat a breath of purple flames from them, injuring or impairing those surrounding the battlefield before he dug his fingers into Viral's skull, tearing him and Akio apart, slinging the Nightmare into his Host, casting them across the dirt toward the others.

Bullets rang off his skin, alerting him to Rayla reloading her pump shotgun. "Come on then you son of a bitch!" She channeled, firing another slug as the Nightmare flinched but ultimately stepped forward, taking another slug to the teeth, every slug made them take a step. By the fifth, her shotgun was smashed into pieces, yanking the raven-whitette off her feet. "That all... you got!?" She hissed.

"Yes," He drew her closer with a snarl. "You all saw to that!" He threw her up only to blast a fist-sized hole through her chest, discarding her into the snow. Raising a barrier, he blocked Hana's blade again, herself leaning up against the shield, glaring down at him before a Refraction pushed her back.

"Hyrah!" She swung around her hip, the blade shattering into pieces upon contact with Harrow's hardened forearm, leaving her bewildered, her final connection to Velk lost, covered in her own blood as a foot shoved her to the ground, seeing the hand of her murderer poised toward her face.

"What a waste you were," His lips curled, eyes slit. "You stole my power."

"It... was never yours!" Hana fell to her back. "Kill me, but sooner or later, someone will be stronger... than you," She cracked a grin, not an ounce of fear in her heart, only acceptance like her Nightmare. "I can't wait to see that look on your stupid fac -" He buried her head into the ground with his foot, swaying toward the one that made his ears ring with a sharp bolt of sound.

"Then there was you," Of all people that made his frown itch the most, that girl with the mutated earlobes had him pick at the skin at his ears. "I'm going to enjoy this, how does it feel? You lost your closest friends, watched them die for nothing, and now, all their efforts to save your life will be snuffed out under a single boot, I can't say what could be more humiliating or embarrassing, can you?" He chuckled once.

"You wouldn't understand then," Kyoka's eyes flickered to Akio, bleeding down the left side of his face, clutching his left arm in pain. "Losing people, maybe you did before, but you let anger turn to greed, you drowned in despair and called it righteousness," Akio shrugged in a mocking fashion. "You're not some hero, a person who has suffered more than others, you're a monster playing the victim, you're lower than even my brother was,"

That smile twitched again, only it briefly curled down with a solid stare, neither backing down for a time. "I'd say 'any last words', but you've expended yours," He drew closer. "Rot with your sister,"

Akio fell to a knee, coughing up blood yet refusing to move away, defending Kyoka. "Want her? Then kill me," Raising a jittery hand, sparks were forced to the surface to form a small ring of light, the glyph of Nightmare Rain weak and barely stable, but sparks turned to tiny motes around his fingers.

Then, an earjack wrapped around his and Kyoka's arm pressed to his, completing the weak seal with shades of light grey, her sound magic bridging the gaps to channel the full might of the circle. Kyoka offered a weak smile, one Akio mirrored with both holding their hand straight for Harrow's heart.

He blinked, rolling his shoulders. "As you wish..." He waved a hand, drawing his own, impressive circle of black and purple lightning, encompassing the area in darkness.

"To the ends..." Akio quipped, holding Harrow's eye.

"Of the earth..." Kyoka finished with a small laugh.

A Vex stood before two defiant souls basking in one another's light. "Nightmare..." Black particles flickered, a glow cast against his palm.

...

...

...

...

"Hm-hm-hm hmm hmm hm-hm-hm hmm..." The world was still, distress, panic, hopelessness frozen on faces and postures. Viral ran from a shadow, barely recovered, trying to reach out to his Host.

Kirishima did the same with Rayla, the two charging to intercept as Katsuki lunged from above Harrow, eyes dead-set on victory, that hadn't changed. Hana clasped her broken blade in both hands, using her own ice to form a new blade, Yaoyorozu tending to the injured Shoto with a large metal shield to ward off fallout from the attacks, seeing his exhausted body lean against the wall.

The person who sang paused, frowning a little. "So much sorrow," For a moment, they raised their hand only to pause, reflecting on that choice before standing between Harrow and his victims. "Huh? A Nightmare Vex? Tch, this is troublesome," They scratched their head before grabbing Harrow's wrist, severing the forearm with a playful chop of their right. "Boop."

With that, they snapped their fingers, and time resumed. "-Raaai... what? Huh? My arm? When did - how did - haAH!?" Harrow blinked back, looking at the stump as it refused to grow back. Below, Kyoka and Akio felt their magic fade, staring bug-eyed at the person that intervened, appearing from thin air.

The person, a woman with short raven hair with the odd streak of purple shades in her unkempt bedhead stood before them. Her eyes were very peculiar, the pupils appearing like a demonic cross with ember-tinted eyes. There's also a thin black tail with a jagged point and two black horns jutting from her temples toward her cheeks.

She wore a black and grey crop-top under an equally short white jacket with short sleeves. The woman wore a white skirt with black shorts underneath. Lastly, a pair of white shoes with purple stars decorating the tops, a few charms around her right wrist, and a choker necklace. Most noticeable were two forest green markings around her eyes, a unified Host.

"That was close, you know, I don't recall seeing a Nightmare Vex..." She pointed with Harrow's hand, then used it to rest her chin, squinting into space. "Or do I? Hrm... there's the spell... no, no that's not it..."

Harrow sneered, swinging a chain to grab the woman only for it to simply... dissolve when it caught too close like an invisible force stopped him. "No, definitely never seen one before, nope!" She clapped, tossing the old arm aside. With a fanged smile, she cocked her head at Harrow. "You've gotten too dangerous... uhh... Harbinger - no, sorry, Harrow, right, the little rat that's taken over Harbinger - I miss him, he was very endearing to listen to," She sighed in thought again. Then she poked Harrow's nose with a pout. "You're mean, he was a lot nicer without you,"

One flick and she obliterated one half of his face, leaving Harrow star-struck from the recoil, gasping in agony. "W-w-what the - h-how did you do that!? Graaah, I-I-I can't regenerate!?" He chuckled with an anxious sweat. "B-b-b-b-but I'm immortal! I can't be killed anymore, hurt, no-no-no!"

She gave him a flat stare, "No one likes a show-off, buzz-kill, so be quiet I'm trying to ask the cute couple a question," Spinning around, she knelt down with a cutesy smile at Akio and Kyoka, both with unhinged jaws. "I'm sorry, how are you now, Jiro? Is your soul feeling better after that incident?"

"I... uh," She had no words.

With thinning patience, Harrow drew his other arm toward the woman's head, and she didn't need to sense it to see the panic well up in the teens' eyes as she stood up, turning to put her right knuckle against Harrow's head, his magic refusing to trigger as she deadpanned, bending her two fingers back against her thumb. "I said to be quiet - bye-bye,"

"Eh?"

In a single, measly flick, she sent the all-powerful Nightmare that became a Vex, a creature none could so much as a scratch, flying further and further away into the Shattered Isles. Patting her hips, the woman smiled sweetly. "Now, let's change the scene, hold on now," She raised her hands to clap twice with a white flash.

When the group recovered, they only gasped, finding themselves right back in the valley their journey began, the temperature returning to a summer warmth as the snow began to thaw. "Ah, this is much nicer," Her cheesy smile slowly turned remorseful. "I... wanted to apologize, had I come sooner, if Harrow's interferences with the Corridors of Time not kept me, I may have saved your friends from death, for that, there is no excuse on my part."

"Who... who are you?" Shoto was the first to speak, drawing the woman's eyes.

"Hm, call me East, though that's to save us a lot of time with questions, sorry," She put her hands together politely but Shoto nodded carefully. "As for that Nightmare, I'll see to it he's properly taken care of - but really, I'm amazed, really!" East's smile grew brightly. "All of you took on a Vex, a feat not many could achieve alone, it's just a shame it was a tainted one like him,"

"We didn't beat him," Rayla huffed, sitting down on the grass. "Everything, it didn't matter, all of them threw their lives to a hope that was never there!" She hated to say it, but there was nothing that could spin the truth into a fancy lie. "They're gone, and we can't do anything about that!" For the first time that day, Rayla felt tears run down her face, hiding them behind her arm. "Just like my fireteam, dead for nothing!"

"I know," East said firmly, feeling the crashing waves of heartache around her. "Nightmares are a double-edged sword, they can be guardians like you or monsters like Harrow, so long as light and dark remain knitted together, that will always be the case," It was life, she knew this well.

"Yuki was right," Kirishima stood up, his nails digging into his skin. "It hurts, I want to just fall apart right now but I can't do that because then their deaths were for nothing!" He turned to Rayla. "They weren't for nothing! We're all still alive, we're breathing because they became what we all dreamed and trained to be! We lost them but I won't let that stop me from becoming the greatest hero just like they were." He began to hiccup between his words. "Ev-*hic*-en if we-*hic*-we wished f-*hic*-or things to ch-*hic*-change, we gotta ke-*hic*-ep liv- *hic* living!"

The others felt his words strike at their emotions, a few bursting into tears again at the raw, pure honest truth of the matter. Grieving won't bring them back from the dead, they had to move forward against that pain.

"Unfortunately, your world was not so easily unscathed," East's words made their heads snap upright, her own staring toward the waterfalls. "The Endless Night before it dispelled had ravaged your world with calamities, your homes may have suffered irreparable damage due to the distortion of energy, the fact it can remain tethered to the Corridors is a miracle if I'm honest,"

"You're kidding, then, all of this was... for nothing," Kyoka blurted out, that pain in her chest twisted hotter than the Wormhusk that was lodged there. "Mom, Dad, everyone's... they, they didn't do anything wrong..." Her shaky eyes wandered the isles for an answer that never came. "That's not fair, none of this is..."

"I know," East couldn't say a word, it was why she disliked doing work like this, the feelings that swelled around her gathered like poison in her stomach, it never got easier. "I can't bend fate, even though I could just snap my fingers," Her smile was fake, dropping to a frown.

"No..." Akio broke the mourning with a stern frown, leaving Kyoka's side to stare directly at East. "No, fuck that," He hissed, stretching his hand toward the isles. "We couldn't even scratch him, and you just flicked him like a fly that landed on your shoulder! You warped us miles across this world with a clap!"

East raised a curious brow, listening to the boy laugh. "You said you were fixing his 'interference' with the Corridors, you can manipulate time itself!" It was a gamble, a one-shot chance to do as he said, to change fate itself. "No one can bring the dead back to life, it goes against everything ethical, even if we hate it!" He slammed his fist against his heart, declaring it for all to hear. "So take all of my time, and turn back time to before the Endless Night ever began!"

"What?" "Huh!?" "Is that possible?"

Their murmurs raised various questions with Akio standing firm. Before East could open her mouth, Akio continued, throwing his arms down exasperated. "I've been alive for centuries now thanks to Viral, I have plenty of time you could use to dial our time back before Harrow ever finished his spell, use my whole existence to bridge a way toward a better future, one where you don't have to sit idly by and do nothing, where no one has to shed any more tears!"

East's expression scanned Akio carefully, "You're aware if I do this, theoretically, not only will you disappear, soul and all, but no one will remember you," She turned to face him entirely. "Only Nightmares, Hosts, and Gods can recall the lost."

"We're aware-" Viral punched Akio's shoulder, seeing him wince as the Nightmare jabbed a thumb against his chest. "-so take both our time, that way, we won't just disappear, at the very least, everyone forgets we exist, seems like a fair trade for thousands of lives, no?"

"Wait, hold on-" Kyoka tried to input but East's lips curled into a tiny giggle, then laughter that had her wipe a tear.

"Hahahaha, I like you two, that fire is infectious," She rolled her eyes playfully. "I suppose that doesn't break the rules, more so bend them... hmm, okay, but you are aware there will be no third chances, once I rewrite time, that's it, if you fail to defeat Harrow this time all will pan out as it should, am I clear?" Her tone was stern, almost unquestionable.

"Yes," They agreed, with Akio glancing at Viral's nonchalant stare.

"What? In this 'till the end, better both of us than one," He shrugged, glancing at Kyoka for a second. "Um, I'll just stand over here..." He slid back a bit.

"I..." He paused at East's kind smile, her hand up.

"It'll take me time to prepare, I suggest you... say what you need to," With a bow, she brought her hands out to form various circles and glyphs never seen before, creating a diamond around herself.

"Kyoka..." She quickly grabbed Akio, staring at him angrily.

"No, you... no, Akio, no-!"

"I know, it's dumb it's-"

"Stupid! I get it, I do I-I just," She started to hyperventilate. "I-I-I don't want to forget you, Viral, a-a-any of this!" He cupped her cheek gingerly as she frantically pulled at his shirt. "It's not fair, I don't want to... to..."

"Hey, come on now," He rubbed her cheek as a tear rolled by. His kindhearted face didn't waver. "I'm not leaving forever, I just... have to start again, I guess," He looked around as the others shared Kyoka's concerns, "There's no other way, I have to bring them back."

Katsuki didn't say anything, glaring with conflict in his soul. "Akio, are you really sure about this?" Ochaco had her hand in Katsuki's nervously. "We'll forget everything, it'll be like we never became friends."

"Tch, you better damn come back," Katsuki turned his neck off to the side. "So hurry up already and fix everything this time!"

"Think that's the most honest we'll hear him," Akio blinked.

"I know I said it was pointless but..." Rayla bit her cheek, looking away. "I'm sorry,"

"Don't be," Viral reassured them, "We'll make it hard for you to forget us, maybe I can mess with Eraserhead again like the good ol' days, hehe,"

"Old Man," Hana murmured, a tiny smile on her tear-stained face.

"Hey, I'm trying to make this a delicate moment, you little rat!" He boomed as several found their laughter again at Viral's pout. "Tch, I'll make you regret it next time, mark my words, girl."

"I'm shaking..." She shot back.

"Akio, Viral, I don't think there's much we can say to convince you otherwise," Shoto spoke up, and for once, he smiled lightly. "But thank you, even though it's very little in the way of gratitude."

"I'm sure the others would say the same if they were here, so thank you so much!" Yaoyorozu bowed graciously, wiping a tear.

"Yeah, I just, well... man!" Kirishima frantically frazzled his hair, coming up to hug Viral tightly with a strong pat. "I'll miss you guys, so you better help us out when this is over, got it!?"

"Uh, yeah, will do bud," Viral patted the boy's back awkwardly. "Please let me go..." Viral was like a plank.

The banter continued but Kyoka still shook like a leaf, staring into Akio's stupid, innocent eyes with emotions boiled down into anger. "You make me remember you," She punched him lightly. "I don't care if I'm stubborn, or stupid, or it sounds crazy and unbelievable but you make me remember you!"

Akio held her hands, bringing them close to his. "I promise, I'll make your head spin, mess up your whole life, and... fall for the same amazing, talented musician that made my life more than just running and hiding," He leaned closer to her affectionately, "...'cause I'll always love you, Kyoka."

She squeezed her eyes shut, pressing her lips to his to savor it as though it were the last time she could, pulling her arms around his shoulders to hold him closer. Feeling his arms wrap around her waist to embrace her as they parted softly, staring nose-to-nose fondly. "...I love you too..."

"Fun fact, I remembered everything," He grinned goofily. "Turns out I was a prince, I even had a younger sister called Saria, she acted just like you!"

"Huh!?" Kyoka blinked, then snorted stupidly into a laugh. "A-are you serious!?"

"Yep!" He then leaned in until she felt his breath on her lips, making her blush a little. "Guess that makes you royalty then if you're romantically involved with me, right?"

"Sh-shut up, you and those stupid, corny lines of yours," She muttered, but her hands refused to let go of him. "I'll miss you..." Kyoka added sadly, feeling him pull away. "I'm scared..."

"I am too, but I have faith," He replied, holding her left hand tightly. "You'll believe me, even if it sounds crazy," He motioned to her ears. "That sharp hearing of yours never fails to see through a Nightmare's lies,"

"You two, it's time," East replied, a large circle of white bearing a striking semblance of a clock engraved into the dirt, several turning around the circumference.

Viral stepped in first, giving them all a short wave of his hand. "It's been an unforgettable time, I can't really say emotional stuff off the bat but... I'm grateful to have fallen into your world,"

"We're glad you caused chaos as Viral the Vigilante too!" Ochaco giggled as a few shared a laugh.

"Heh, I'll be sure to leave a mark you'll notice, watch the headlines," He concluded as Akio slowly stepped inside the border. There was no turning back, once they did this, everything they had built, connections, and bonds would be wiped clean. Kyoka... will forget they ever met in that dirty alleyway in the rain.

"Hey!" Kyoka drew Akio around to catch a silver object in his hand. Inspecting it, he found a silver necklace with a glimmering music note attached to the end, Kyoka standing at the border with tears held back. "So you'll have to give it back... you better give it back," Her shoulders sagged, lip trembling. "Why did you have to make me an emotional wreck like I'm some love-sick teen in a crappy b-rated romantic-comedy!?"

"That was a mouthful?" Viral quirked a brow.

"Shut the hell up, Old Man, you actually like them!" She jabbed.

"For the joy of berating them!" He argued.

"What a strange trio," East snickered behind her palm. "It's almost done, and even if you may not know it, many people can't thank you two enough," With an honest bow of her head, she held her hands close. "I do hope Eve watches over you both," She gave a wink but said no more.

"Kyo?" Akio put his hand on the thin barrier placed between them, holding a worried smile for her. "'To the ends of the earth', that was a saying said by the main character's love interest from that old cartoon you watched as a kid you made me watch, right?"

If she wasn't overcoming the turmoil that any second now she'll just forget the person that changed her life, she might've cringed. "Y-yeah?" Her voice choked.

"I remembered when she returned home that she recalled that promise they made; even though they were worlds apart, that memory of a promise that seemed so impossible it was childish, recalling it, imagining that moment those words were spoken, they gave her hope, a single memory made her pick herself up, to see tomorrow and the days that followed with her head high,"

As the spell began to turn, everyone listened, no one spoke, not a breath was heard, all ears focused on the brunette moving to stand at the edge of time, smiling confidently, in complete serenity.

"Worlds apart, years go by but both remembered those words, and what seemed like an eternity, the two reunited, an impossible promise kept over a lifetime when their worlds crossed paths again. It wasn't just down to magic or to chance," His hand touched the barrier, never once taking his eyes off the girl he loved, her hand against the opposite side. "In the end, they just had faith."

East raised her right hand, snapping her fingers. "Stop; Rewind."

"...and I have faith in you." Akio smiled.

"...we both do," Viral added.

*Shatter!*

...

...

...

...

In a white space, Viral tapped his foot impatiently. He then huffs as he notices Akio. "You took your time, something I think we're both on the edge about."

Akio walked through the familiar space, bewildered. "Where...? What is this?"

Viral smiled, "Well, just my soul left, so I ensured you'd come here one last time... here we are." He waved with a lack of dramatic flair.

Akio then gasped at the realization, "Viral... but we said-"

"You think your time is enough?" He rolled his eyes, crossing his arms. "I'm a Nightmare, I have no time limit, I'm more than enough, but... you will still be forgotten, fortunately, you will live in my place," He wondered slowly, seeing the dread on Akio's face. Viral's features softened. "It was always going to end like this, you don't need me anymore,"

"No, I do," Akio gulped, "You're my best friend, family, just like Kyoka!" That excited a gentle sigh from the Nightmare's lips, almost relieved. "I'm not like you Viral..."

That made Viral scoff, "Of course, you're not!" He flicked the boy's nose, "You're the best of both of us," His appreciation didn't get a word from Akio, so he stepped closer, patting his biceps sharply. "You have my magic, your memories, the power to kill Nightmares, it's yours now,"

"No, it... it was always you," He shook his head, scowling off to the side. "I was just some stupid Host, just... borrowing other people's time."

Placing a hand on Akio's chest, he let that familiar, summer warmth from his soul resonate to his palm, within it, Viral siphoned his own, a fragment of himself as a parting gift. "You are my friend, more than you know,"

Sniffing, Akio hung his head with a sad smile. "Thank you, Viral... when you're gone..."

"Don't get sentimental, hmph, our job is not over, I will still be here until the very end, that hasn't changed," As he offered a purple shimmer across Akio's soul, the light began to encompass them, their time was running out. So Viral gave the biggest grin he could muster. "I'm glad... I'm glad you saw me, Prince."

"Heh, yeah, I am too," He placed his head against Viral's until the light overtook them both, their souls parting ways.

---

"Ah!" Akio stumbled back into an empty stall, grabbing his chest tightly with sweat trickling down his face. The crowd was boisterous, as to be expected from a market. It took him several seconds to realize he wasn't dead or floating in an abyss like before. No, he was back to long before the Endless Night, when a majority of the group had gathered.

"Ve...lk...?" Ahead of him, Hana's voice croaked, spotting the Nightmare in human form, the girl whose soul remained fractured, the same that smiled in the face of reckless abandon to offer them a fleeting hope against Harrow. Velk was there, tears streaming down her face. "Velk!"

"H-Hana!" The two girls embraced as Hana buried her face against Velk's chest, sobbing into the girl's arms as Velk petted her Host's head gingerly. "It's okay, I'm right here... I..."

"Woah, what's wrong, Hana?" Sero blinked, unaware of all that had transpired.

"Did something happen?" Kyoka asked but the ravenette, now flustered shook his head.

"I dunno, they just suddenly broke down in front of me," Sero was worried, alongside Izuku and Yuki who shared worried looks for the pair.

"H-Hanta…?" Peeking up from Velk, Hana's face contorted with a swirl of emotions as they overflowed, that frightening sight of his lifeless body causing the ravenette to launch herself into the unsuspecting boy's arms, sobbing against his shoulder. "You're *hic* okay! Thank you… thank you!"

He in turn blushed profusely at her embrace but gradually wrapped his arms around the crying girl that would otherwise withhold her emotions. "Hey, it's okay, right? What happened?"

They didn't see him, Akio hanging his head as his hand pulled at his shirt, feeling the lingering embers in his chest, yearning to be unleashed. "Thank you... for this gift..." He prayed, and both his eyes flashed an emerald-amethyst pigment, two markings staining the edges of his eyes.

In a sharp flash of light, Kyoka felt a hand shove her behind Akio, the boy startling her as he shoved his hand through the disguised Magnar, seeing the monster's face twist in pain as his soul spasmed between Akio's fingers. "Be with her now," In a soft voice, Akio crushed the Nightmare's soul a second before those molten fingers could graze his cheeks.

"Woah!" Sero gaped, recoiling as Yuki gathered blue nanites in her hands, standing in front of Kyoka.

"Get back, it's another Nightmare!" Yuki didn't even realize it before it... killed another? "Wait, why did he kill...?"

"Yuki, let's just wait a moment," Izuku ushered, himself keeping his eyes trained on Akio, the boy sparing them a glance. They didn't know him anymore, he was... just an echo now.

As the cinders and ash blew away from the breeze, Akio's hair shimmered in the light, turning a creamy-white again with black highlights. "Hana, Velk, take care of them," He flexed his arms sharply, summoning two magic seals as the wind gathered beneath his coat. "I'm settling the score,"

"Akio..." Hana stared up at him in wonder, she thought he was to be erased to. Then it sunk in like an anvil tied to her stomach, Viral had given it all up for Akio.

"Gateway," Without needing to draw the red glyph, a triangular portal split the street, and Akio leapt through, closing it behind him as to keep the others from harm.

Over by a cliffside facing the crashing waves of the ocean, Harrow recoiled, placing a hand against the eye he remembered being torn from his flesh, unable to regenerate. "That's not possible! Why... why was Eve there!?" He saw it, those demonic eyes in Harbinger's memories, it shook him down to his bones, even just to be touched by the Goddess made his skin crawl. "No, that's not fair! I had it! I had immortality in the palm of my hands!"

Letting out a distasteful snarl he threw his arms forward, casting his magic over the runes carved into the boulders and rocky landscape with the odd convulsion of his head. "You think you've stopped me!? Endless Nig- ack!" His right arm was caught by his left, pulling the casting hand away from the runes. "W-w-what!?"

"How long... I waited..." A deep, elder voice reverberated in his mind like a migraine, three blazing white eyes in the dark stained his thoughts. "It's time... for you... to rest..."

Harbinger's chance had finally come, holding Harrow back as he spun around, trying to gain control over his own bodily functions as spikes pierced his own flesh, cursed cinders exploding within his body. "You're nothing but a relic from a forgotten timeline!" Harrow shivered, holding out his hands until he gained proper control. "Shut up, shut up, shut u-"

*Schwaff!*

Black mist and goo stained the ground, lurching Harrow's chest backward from the powerful bolt of light that struck his stomach, melting his innards. Up above on a ridge between the trees, Scourge lowered his crossbow arm with a snort behind his bandana. "I've always wanted to do that,"

"Grah!" Purple flames engulfed the forest, but no trace of Scourge was left, only a faint silhouette of a hat being bowed in the embers. "There's still time, there's still ti-"

*BOOM*

Fire and brimstone collided with the ritual site, all of Harrow's efforts laid out before him in smoldering rubble and burnt grass. The runes lost their power, in that single moment, his entire plan, all that he saw laid out in his memories as a certain future, slowly crumbled beneath him, the ties to that future severed by a single boy landing on the grass in front of him.

"W-w-what have..." Harrow's voice huffed and puffed, frown etched into his cheeks, a savage fury like no other flaring to life. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!?"

Akio moved in a blink of an eye, curling his right fist to cave Harrow's left cheek in, punting the Nightmare high through the smoke, far into the orange sky. "Tch - Gateway," He disappeared, focusing the warp gate to simply displace his body.

When Harrow recovered his jaw, it was immediately severed with a sharp, bronze kick to the face, his body spinning toward the ocean that suddenly expanded with a bowl of waves, ice super-freezing in place of Harrow's feet. Raising his right arm like a wave, he sent a massive glacier flying from the ocean, one Akio exhaled and swatted aside with his right fist, his own iced arm slicing it in two.

Shattering the platform, Akio punched Harrow deeper into the dark ocean, spinning around to swish his arms. "Downpour!" Two cyclones ripped through the tide, drilling against Harrow's barriers until a blade of smoke shattered the flimsy shields, carving a deep wound through the monster's stomach, slamming him against the ocean floor. Craning his left arm back, lightning buzzed through the liquid. "Nightmare Rain!"

Harrow saw the glare and evaded, losing his right-wing while the left sprung forward, snap-freezing Akio within a gargantuan ball of ice. Immobilized, the water slowly pulled into a vortex, broken down into the singularity between Harrow's claws as he tossed the gravity bomb through the ice.

"Boom," A click of his fingers, and the sky above was revealed through the massive vacuum in the sea. With a rainbow cast on either side of the flooding ravine, Harrow only winced as his barriers fell away, another striking boot planted against his stomach, tossing him up as Akio spun around, bringing his heel down on Harrow's nape, burying him down into the seabed. "There's no way... you..."

A pale blue aura washed over the boy, Nevermore healing his wounds up quickly until only the bloodstains remained. "Not so fun now, huh?" Not a trace of mirth could be found, Akio wasn't speaking to Harrow, it was the presence of a King. Holding his hand down, two more glyphs appeared. "Fire Scourge, Sonic Leap," The combined magic spun in a crescent, severing Harrow's right arm as his left warped him behind Akio, showering the flooding basin in cursed cinders.

One spark and flames erupted from the hole, a geyser of hot water jetting high into the sky, dispersed by two rings of orange and purple fire at the edges of their fists. Thrown back by the recoil, Akio flew upside down, covering a vast area in a massive storm cloud of smoke.

Harrow whipped his chains wildly, separating the cloud but no sign of the boy's aura could be placed, the magic fallout made it harder to track amongst the sea. That was when he felt it, heat was rising in the smoke, tiny fireflies dancing amongst the shroud. "Will o Wisp." Akio closed his fist, and the sky lit up in a firework of golden-orange embers, his hand creased against Harrow's ragdoll body, "Vile Spine,"

"Graaaaaaah!" Even his mouth produced a toxic, purple spike as several onyx blades sliced through Akio's palm before he released Harrow. The winds gathered, and struck down with a vicious sickle of ice, only Akio blocked with his frozen arms, his feet splashing against the vicious current. "I'm a through with you BOY!" He slapped his hands together, his index and middle fingers pointing up. "Endless Night!"

While not nearly as potent, a small radius of the sky was bathed in a starless sheet, the air distorting almost immediately. To Harrow's cackle, Akio didn't budge from his position. "Realize it now? You could attack me for hours but you won't be any closer to beating me, not that it would be fun," Casting his hand toward the motionless boy, two Nightmare seals manifested. "I'll freeze and atomize you all at once, then your friends, and everyone you ever met!"

A glade of ice and torrent of dark energy blew a sizable rift through the ocean, obliterating any and all sea life in its wake. Hovering forward, Harrow's eyes slit before widening with a shiver. "Lost lives can never return! They can never come back!" Over Harrow's missing left shoulder, Akio's expression was devoid of light, hatred, scorn, repulsion bled from his pupils. He cast the limb aside as the Nightmare fled back a few feet with a sickening glare.

"Those innocent can't do what Nightmares and Hosts can do, why would you rob them? Why trample over their lives like those that hurt you?" The air felt heavier, something trembled within Harrow's mind. "What's so entertaining? What's amusing about this?"

"Where have I heard this before?" Rubbing his temple, the image of Harbinger standing beside him, the boy who wanted to bring about justice, rang within the echoes of his mind. "I don't remember this? Was that me?"

"You must've shed tears once, struggled against a cruel world, right?" Akio demanded. "Why can't you understand? How can you forget?"

"Oh, shut up already!" With a hand raised to the side, Akio warded off another blinding sickle of ice with Aegis, shattering it. Harrow grinned madly, floating with a lofty expression. "Who cares if I had!? While I'm like this, I can't die, I can regenerate, grow stronger than some weak, ugly human rat! Like this, I can live for eternity, surpass those that think they can control me!" He bent his chains through the sky, surrounding Akio in an iron prison of thorns. "I'll become the freest living being in the world! Everyone else is just fuel in the tank!"

"Fine," Akio whispered, yellow bolts discharging from his muscles. "I understand now." With a Volt Barrage, he swept headfirst into the iron maiden that slithering closer in a tight cage to rend his flesh to the bone.

"You arrogant rat, you seriously think you can stop all my chains at once?" Amused by this, Harrow pulled his arms back. "Goodbye, Viral's Host."

Two pale-white glyphs surrounded Akio's arms, producing a refracting shimmer across his forearms. "Setting Summer Haze," The glass showered the air ahead of him, causing his body to flicker, becoming a ghostly visage that released a halo of multicolored light to deflect the chains, slashing a circular crevasse through Harrow's chest.

"Huh, he cut through!?" Harrow grit his teeth, feeling dark pressure build at his stomach.

"Nightmare Rain!" A single, piercing blast sent the Nightmare sailing toward the cliffside several miles away, Akio immediately pursuing him.

"Akio!" In a panicked voice, Saria's worried state screamed his name. "Breathe, you need to breathe!"

"Gah, *cough-cough*!" He paused mid-flight, wiping the black tar from his lips as his state of mind flooded back to him, his unified state with Viral's fragment subsiding. "That... that was close," Looking around the air, he softly smiled at the sky. "Thanks, sis, I nearly died there, hah... hah, okay, just one more push,"

Unbeknownst to him, his arms held on to a linger shimmer of white glass, the edges reflecting various colors. By the time Akio arrived at the ruined ritual site, he had to narrowly evade a bombardment of ice slicing through his clothing and across his cheek. The multicolored glass spread up to his elbows as he spun forward, slamming a kick covered in the glass into Harrow's barriers. "Mantle Snap!"

With Refraction, Akio was tossed across the dirt. "Will you just keel over already! I'm sick of seeing that defiant look on that ugly mug of yours!" He raised his hand, releasing a sphere of gravity, missing Akio by a hair.

"Good, the feeling's mutual!" He taunted, evading the crescents of ice that froze the land at his feet.

"Once you're out of the way, I'll have enough magic to open a way back to the Shattered Isles!" His attacks continued to miss but kept the brunette at bay, or so he thought, a column of white flames sparkling with multicolored glass blending across his left side. "Ngh, what's with the glass?"

"Not gonna happen!" Akio threw a right hook, his face creased against another barrier as it tossed him into a nearby wall. He stretched his arms, conjuring two more Fire Scourges to intercept, blinding the Nightmare until a hand coiled around his right wrist. "Gotcha!"

"Get off of me!" Leveling his free hand, Harrow slammed wave after wave of Refraction against Akio's feeble body, the pressure tearing through his body that refused to fall. Angling his wings, he fired a blast behind Akio, slamming his back into the ground, then again, tossing him the opposite way. His hand was still clamped.

"I'll never understand people like you!" With a thunderous charge, his Volt Barrage coated in colorful glass cracked his head against Harrow's stomach. "People who only care about strength, making others weaker than them suffer for it!"

"Because all you need to live as you see fit is power, everything else is just an obstacle in the way of freedom!" With a powerful blast of ice, he thought he skewered Akio, unfortunately, that same burst of ice had been deflected onto him, piercing his chest with a strange sensation within the pure white ice. "Again with that glass! Why is it spreading over his arms? His magic? It's not divine but something close."

Akio pushed forward onto his feet, staring with resolve tempered by grief. "You hurt Kyoka, all of my friends!"

Harrow cracked his neck, cursed flames gathering at his fists. "And what are you going to do about it?"

Raising back his right arm, the glass stained his seals, faintly, images of memories were stained into the shards, something ancient had awakened. "I'm going to ensure you never hurt anybody again!" Lunging, destroying the ground behind him, his own pure white flames tore through the sky, slammed against the oppressive wave of dark exploding flames. "Raaaaaaaa!"

"Rrraaaaaaaa!" Harrow's arm buckled but refused to let up, flames melting through the soil, boiling the air, either clothing swept backward by the scorching drafts. "Grr... I still don't have the Vex's essence!" Desperately, Harrow threw everything he had into overpowering Akio, he had to so why were his flames receding? The glass within the flames kept growing with violent intensity.

"You don't have any respect for innocent life...!" Akio growled, taking trembling steps forward, a faint apparition of a black, ruined cloak at his back.

"But I will be free!" Harrow wailed, his skin flaking, soul unable to withstand the heat.

"That's why... I won't allow...!" Another step closer, his fist split for his fingers to come within an inch of Harrow's heart. "A monster like you to live forever!" Raising his hand he dug it through flesh and bone, piercing the corrupt soul frightened within the tornado of white and purple flames that shook the heavens. "RAAAAAAAAAAA!"

"AAAAAAHH!" His desperate cry burnt up in the flames above Akio, leaving onto ashes to cast away the cinders, leaving Akio standing with a large, white flame clutched in his hand, the glass dissipating around the bulging ember.

The spiraling flames exploded in a ring around Akio, and the heat rose with a cold ocean breeze. "It's over," Crushing the flame, the two souls and thousands more were released from their captivity, a small slither of blue flying over the ridge to return to its owner once more. Akio lowered his burnt right arm, the markings of glass fragments tattooed into his raw skin.

Letting out a pained gasp, the brunette finally let his body collapse to his knees, head tilted back to suck in that salty sea air. Taking in a well-deserved breath, Akio never realized he had drawn a few to his location. "Akio!" Velk ran toward him, no longer struggling to exsert herself now that her soul appeared whole again. "Is it... did you..."

With a slow nod, he gave her and Hana a cheesy smile, his eyelids struggling to stay open. "I did it," He didn't cry, but he felt a pang of sadness in his chest. "It's finally over, Viral gave it all and it worked,"

"Viral," Velk remembered it through Hana's memories, the Nightmare had done the same as she had, sacrificed his time for them all to have a second chance. "You dummy..." Wiping her eyes a bit, she managed a weak, loving smile. "He was really the coolest Nightmare,"

"I know, he just didn't realize it," Akio agreed, seeing those of his class had gathered, climbing down to the cliffside.

"What the heck was all that!?" Kirishima gaped, waving his arms. "That was seriously intense I felt I nearly got blown away!"

"What my energetic buddy is trying to say-" Yuki pinched his lips, staring at Akio. "Who are you? A Host like Hana?"

"Uh, sorta?" Akio quirked a brow, struggling to stand without Hana's help. "I think I'm about tapped out, sorry,"

"We heard your name's Akio, right? What happened?" Izuku asked, still a little on edge but that was understandable.

"Yeah, I'm good friends with Hana and Velk here, my Nightmare knew Velk personally," Akio replied, then his throat felt like it was clogged, another person stepping in beside Yuki with their signature aloof gaze hiding all the emotions beneath the surface.

"That much seems obvious, think we're more askin' what's with the Nightmare stalking us, then you just up and 'poof' away to fight another, bit hard to digest," Kyoka shot with a sharp tone, mistrust evident.

"'Never take a Nightmare or their Host at face value'," Her brow rose prominently at Akio's chuckle. "Yeah, that's an important rule,"

"How do you...?"

"I have quite the story to tell you guys," He offered humorously though his tone was drawn and weak, staring directly into Kyoka's wonderful eyes. Realizing this, he looked down. "S-sorry, I just... you remind me of someone, that strict look of yours,"

"We should return to the others, explain what's happened," Hana spoke, her heart still pounding. "Hanta, can you help me carry Akio?"

"Sure thing, he doesn't seem all that bad if you guys know him," He didn't question her request, looping Akio's left over his shoulders. "Alright, we're set."

"Thanks..." Akio murmured, looking up at the sky as the others asked questions that Akio tuned out, staring toward the clouds sailing by. "Hey, Yuki?"

"Hm, what's up?" The girl spun around curiously to the brunette's inquisitive stare or was it more concerned. "Are you okay? Si - erm, my quirk, your heartrate's really uneasy,"

"I'm okay, I think, but tell me, do you think fate can be changed?" That drew the nosy ear of Kyoka, glancing between her bangs. "That, even if the goal seemed impossible, that there's a chance a better path could be taken?"

"Oooh, that's a tough one," She tapped a knuckle to her chin, brow knitted. "Not really-" She saw his eyes fall briefly. "If I'm honest... there's no such thing as fate, nothing is set in stone, there's a whole wide universe out there filled with countless possibilities, if fate did exist, then the universe would be a much smaller, lonely place,"

The bluette scratched her blemish with a fanged grin. "Your fate's what you make of it, I guess, you just have to have faith,"

Kyoka listened to it, the change in Akio's heartbeat, it steadied itself, beating in a soft, enrapturing tempo to her ear. What she saw was a single tear slipping down his left eye. "I see," He wiped it away against his shoulder, staring straight ahead. "I hope you're right."

End.

To Be Continued In Season Five...

Ending Song - Turn the Page by Divide Music

---

This movie marks the end of Season 4 toward the unknown of Season 5 and beyond, and the wrap-up of Akio/Viral's story though I may have a side project I could work on the expand on how the pair came to know Kyoka but no promises.

This massive chapter was a rollercoaster of emotions and drama, I think when I 'killed' off Izuku people grew to suspect I may pull a do-over or something, like I'd be so heartless! Aside from the 'movie' which I really hope was to everyone's liking, I did my very best to make it special. The rest of Perfected and Yuki's story is far from over, and we've seen our girl grow over the months, but how much more lays ahead for our hero, Aksis?

Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for supporting Perfected for two years, and I cannot wait to show you the true ending to her tale against Kovik and his Splicers. Seeya all in the next Season, Timelost Heroes!

Season Five Preview...

Yuki Azuru, the girl blessed with a quirk, so to speak, has undergone startling developments and tremendous trials that have put the spirits of herself and Class 1-A to the test. Her enemies grow stronger, all hopes, dreams, and ambitions converging toward an inevitable climax. With the very fate Yuki sought to war against begins to catch up, can she and those wishing to be heroes emerge victorious? Or will the vicious cycle of despair drag them down into the deep? The world of heroes hangs upon a thread, and Aksis must make a daring choice to save it all.