Chapter 17_The Queen's Destruction
Chapter Summary: The Queen shows that her true colors are red. The clock's ticking and Shouta is on a time limit to save the dwarfs and get everyone out before the mountain becomes their graves.
WARNING:
*LOTS of blood (YMMV on the gore. Despite the blood, there's not a lot of bleeding), adult fear, and character death
*Oh, and even though I warned you at the very beginning with an entire chapter stating this, and the previous chapters should have offered you hint, I'll be kind and state once again that Himiko is NOT a nice person in this story and her blood lust is slightly exaggerated for narrative purposes.
The bird beast crunched on the bones of a monster. Over the past week, monsters had been appearing, trying to attack the pale human and the tiny ones. The creature didn't know why, but he felt it was vital to keep the monsters away, especially from the pale one. This was odd because this compulsion was at odds with another voice in his head telling him to grab the pale one and carry him away. The compulsion was strong, and he almost gave into it a few times, but whenever he got close enough to the human, another feeling would emerge. This emotion… was confusing, to say the least. His beast mind couldn't understand it and every time he ignored the order it felt like something was ripping and gnawing at his brain like claws against flesh. Even so, he knew that he had to protect the snow-white one.
Snow...White?
The roof of an old cabin creaked under his weight as the name seemed to ring in his mind all the way to his chest.
After he saved the man from the monster that day, he remembered feeling...relieved? Relieved that the pale man was okay. Then he was amused by the bright colors he wore, though he wasn't sure why. Why was he happy the man was alive? And why did he want to protect him when just being around the human hurt?
The bird turned his head to the mountain. The man and the tiny ones vanished inside a while ago and hadn't come out. For some reason, that made it anxious. He could no longer see the eight of them, nor could he follow them (and he had tried). He didn't like that at all. What if they were in trouble or hurt? What if they never came out again?
The beast spread out its four wings and took to the air.
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'No, no, no! Come back! Don't-'
Deep within the mountain caverns, hidden within stone halls, Shouta laid like the dead. He tried to get up to chase after the dwarflings, whom he could see being led away by the impostor through the crystal he was laid behind. He tried to call out, but his voice could not be heard outside of his head.
Shouta cursed this. He cursed everything.
He cursed the comb that had him lying there, he cursed the troll queen and her fowl tricks.
He cursed the storm that led them here, then he cursed the forest on principle.
He cursed Hizashi, who sent him off alone and then tried to play hero to protect him.
He cursed Shigaraki, who was the cause of this whole mess.
Shouta even cursed his departed mother for marrying the mad man all those years ago.
But mostly, he cursed his own uselessness. He couldn't even stop the tears that formed behind his frustrated eyes.
All he could do was lay there, like a discarded doll, as the dwarfs were led away by that madwoman. What would she do to them? What would she do to him? What would happen to Hizashi, who hung in the dungeon with no one to save him?
'Dammit!' Why was he so worthless?!
He had to do something, anything! But what? He stared at his reflection in the violet crystal, demanding a solution. Then it came to him; erasure! That ability was supposed to be able to nullify magic, right? So maybe it worked on magical items too. It was worth a shot, after all he had to try something!
Shouta focused as hard as he could, eyes straining.
'Come on-!' A gasp broke from his throat, and he was able to reach his hand up and ripped the comb from his head before tossing it to the side. Shouta tried to scramble to his feet but stumbled. His body was stiff and stung as if all his circulation had been cut off. Still, he gathered himself enough to run down the direction the queen had taken the dwarfs. He stumbled and even fell a few times but just gritted his teeth and pushed himself back up. He had to find them, had to save them before it was too late!
This task became difficult when he came to the end of the hall and saw that it split two different ways. The human cursed to himself, falling against a wall as he tried to figure out his next course of action. He couldn't dally long but if he chose the wrong path then the dwarfs would die.
'Shit! What do I do now?!'
"Hey? Whatcha doing here?" Shouta whipped around, eyes flashing as he leaped back.
"Whoa! Easy there, pal! What's up?" Fat Gum stood above him, looking down with worry. Shouta's surprise immediately turned to anger. Defying rational thought, not to mention self-preservation, Shouta reached up and grabbed the troll man by the collar of his hood.
"Where are they?!" he demanded, his lips in a snarl.
The troll seemed startled by the young man's fury. His eyes widen as he almost fell forward on the human. Luckily, he caught himself. "Who?!"
Shouta growled, his red eyes glinting. In this light, Shouta looked like the vampire everyone thought he was.
"The dwarfs! Your Queen took them to—who knows what!" he bellowed. His grip tightened. "Where are they?! Where did she take them?!"
Fat Gum glanced away, his eyes downcast. "Shit. Guess I was too late," he muttered. Shouta shook him.
"What?! What do you mean?!" Fat Gum took a breath.
"If the Queen has them, then she took them down to her blood chambers to… well, you don't need the details," he said, looking disgusted. The "blood chambers" did nothing to settle Shouta's nerves.
"I was hopin' ta warn ya before she got to ya, but…" Shouta shook him again, his own body shaking down to his boots. Whether this was from fear or fury he couldn't say.
"Where are the chambers?!" he commanded. "TELL ME!"
Fat Gum hesitated as he looked away. "I…"
The human gritted his teeth. Despite his demands, Shouta knew he would get nothing. While he didn't share the feeling, most people were loyal to their rulers to a fault, otherwise it was a death sentence. Hell, he was just as dutiful to his king until the bastard decided to kill him.
"Tch!" With no time to waste Shouta pushed the troll away—or tried to—then turned. As much as he would have loved to beat the answers out of the troll, Shouta's lack of skill just would have gotten him knocked out, or worse.
It seemed he would have to pick a path at random and hope beyond hope that he chose the right one. Otherwise-
A hand landed on his shoulder.
"Hold on," Shouta's eyes widen as his heart stopped. He didn't think of it at first, but if Fat Gum was loyal to the Queen then there's no way he would let Shouta go. He was probably going to take Shouta and toss him in the dungeon. If that was the case, then-
"That's the wrong way. It'll take you up, and you want to go down." Fat Gum explained. He removed his hand from Shouta and walked forward. "Come on, I'll show ya."
Despite the urgency, Shouta didn't follow. Blind trust used up, he stalled back and scowled at the troll.
"Why are you helping me?" he asked. Fat Gum came to a stop. "She's your queen, the ruler of your people, right? If you help me, won't you be executed a traitor?"
Fat Gum's back was to him, but even Shouta could see the sorrow fall over him. His entire body slumped forward as he leaned his hand on a blue crystal. In the jewel, Shouta could see the troll's expression. A forced smile was on tired lips, under heavy eyes.
"...Did ya know there used to be a village at the bottom of our mountain? A human one. Even a few humans lived in cabins on the mountain with us," he asked suddenly. Shouta remembered he and the dwarfs making camp at a single-room cabin. "Wasn't much, but we all got along and the like. We were all happy enough, 'specially after that war..." He winced as if remembering something he didn't want to remember.
"But then that all changed," he went on. "Dunno the details, but one of them cut themselves in front of Himiko, and I guess, she liked it. Liked the color, taste, an' smell… Trolls don't got that. Blood, I mean. See, we're made of earth stuff, so it's weird to us that other creatures are so—squishy.
"Anyhow, because it was new and unique to her she became obsessed with it. At first, she would just bleed animals, but then it grew to the point where she was drainin' folks like a vampire. It got worse when she started usin' it in her spells." Shouta's heart stopped for a moment before picking up its pace. Was that what she was going to do to the dwarfs? Bleed them out? Shouta tried to speak, but his tongue felt heavy, so Fat Gum went on.
"We tried to stop her, of course, we did! But back then, she had that mirror thing…" Shouta finally found his voice.
"A mirror?" Didn't Chiyo mention that Shigaraki had a demon in a mirror? Could it be that it was the same?
Fat Gum gave a long, heavy sigh. He turned and leaned his back against the stone behind him. He closed his eyes as his head fell back, then opened them to stare at the ceiling.
"Yeah. We found it 'bout sixty years ago. Dunno where it came from, but we eventually figured out it was cursed. Well, things like that tended to show up after the Demon War, so it wasn't unusual back then. But this… This was different. REALLY different. And really bad," he explained. "We knew right away we had to get rid of it, but we couldn't just toss it. Even then, we knew it would be bad in the wrong hands. But we couldn't destroy it! It was too strong and made out of pure diamond. So, we tried burying it, but it poisoned the ground, so we had to dig it up again. We were going to have the elfs do something… However, whenever we sent someone to get them, an imp killed 'em. In the end, we could only do one thing-we hid it."
"But Queen Himiko found it." Shouta guessed. The troll nodded.
"Right. Himiko—well, she was always slightly unhinged, but a little crazy's natural, y'know? After she found that mirror though...yikes," Fat Gum shivered. "She started to be able to do things, not only taking our shapes but our powers as well. Eventually, she used that power to kill the old Queen an' take over. Now, none of us knew who to trust because she could be anybody at any time. Not to mention that creepy mirror gave her other tricks too. In the end, all we could do was obey and hope for the best. Then Shigaraki came…" Shouta jumped at the name.
"Shigaraki?!" Fat Gum blinked.
"You know him?"
"Too well." Shouta snarled. Fat Gum flinched under his rage.
"Right… Ahem! Well, anyway, Shigaraki came by one day. After we told him what was going on he offered to take the mirror through the planes to the elfs. We figured that since he was an imp, he'd have a better chance of smuggling it through. So we helped him get it. But as soon as he had it though, he vanished. "Dunno what happened but not long after there was a massive flood in the imp valley, and everything froze over. I'm not sure, but I think he had something to do with that."
Shouta processed all the new information. Shigaraki met the trolls and they gave him the mirror with the demon. Is that how he—hold on.
"Wait. Did you say Shigaraki was an imp?"
"Er, yeah? Didn't you know?" Obviously not. Shouta thought about what he knew about imps, which wasn't a lot.
Shigaraki didn't have the pointed ears or long tails they were known to have, but then his ears might have been hidden by his hair while his tail was tucked away somewhere. If the All Might legend was correct, then Shigaraki had the eyes of fire that imps were known to have. Even so...
Fat Gum's whole body drooped until he looked like a sad teardrop.
"We thought once it was gone, she'd get better, the Queen, I mean, but… Mirror or not, she was still crazy and had power, more than any of us. Soon all there wasn't anyone left on the mountain but us." Shouta didn't think about it before, but there was a severe lack of animals on the mountain. Fat Gum's hands turned into fists and shook as he continued on, gritting his teeth together.
"And now she wants us to go further!" he said. "She's having us build tunnels all over the continent, so we can launch a sneak attack and kill everybody!
"You asked me why I'm helping? That's why. That's all why! Maybe I'll be executed as a traitor. But that ain't important! It's not about you! Or not just you and your kids," he said. "It's 'bout my kids and their future. See, they'll be leaving the nest soon, and I don't want their future to be stained in blood. So whatever the risk, whatever happens next—I gotta make the choice, for them. Someone shoulda stopped her a long time ago, but they didn't, so I have to! And I will!" Shouta was surprised at how well he understood that feeling. He looked up into Shouta's eyes with burning determination. "So enough wasting time! Let's go stop that psycho and save our kid's future!"
Shouta paused as he thought this over, then nodded, convinced by the other's words and love for his children.
"Let's go!" He hoped they wouldn't be too late.
The two men ran down the halls as fast as their legs would carry them. The halls became darker the further they ventured. The crystals had dark lines in them that resembled veins, some were cracked and even covered in mud. Shouta didn't think too much about this until Himiko and Fat Gum's words echoed in his head, and he remembered that trolls bled mud instead of blood. He tried not to focus on what the mud stains on the wall or crystal stones meant.
After coming a fair distance, the two rounded a corner. As soon as they did, the hallway spun around them.
Shouta scowled as he realized that they were back at the end of the hall where they had started.
"What-?!"
"Shit!" Fat Gum waved his arms rapidly to keep from falling. As he regained himself, Shouta tried to run towards the end of the hall, only to have it move again.
"What the hell is going on?!" Shouta demanded.
"Must be one of the queen's tricks! I told you she had a lot of them," Fat Gum explained. "She must have done something to make sure no one would follow!" Shouta cursed.
What do they do now?
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The dwarfs followed the tall, fair figure as he took them down a long, so thin, the dwarfs could only walk in pairs. Despite walking so close they were bumping into each other, they still held on to each other, afraid that one of the shadows from the dim lights would swallow them up. The crystals seemed to resemble eyes when the light glinted off them. At times the dwarfs could swear they saw faces.
They shivered as a cold breeze flowed, slithering and hissing like a serpent around them. Tsuyu trembled, hugging herself.
"Mr. Aizawa?" she called out. They expected her voice to echo but instead, the walls seemed to swallow it. "I-is this really the time to wander around?" Tenya cleared his throat next to her.
"Right! I-I mean, it's very late, and we're all kinda tired," he said. "A-and isn't it rude to be wandering around without permission in someone else's home?"
Mr. Aizawa looked back at them with a wink. "Don't you worry about a thing! Everything's going to be just fine."
Something about the way he spoke made the dwarfs uneasy. Actually, everything about the way Mr. Aizawa was acting was unnerving. He was too—cheery?
Mr. Aizawa wasn't grumpy all the time, but he was quiet and never the type to hum or wink.
Denki leaned over to Momo, who was closest to him, and in a hushed tone asked, "Did Mr. Aizawa snap?"
"I don't know…" Momo whispered back. "He seems to be acting...odd, though?"
"Maybe it was the mushrooms," Toru said from behind them. "They always make people sick or act funny." Remembering their experiences in the woods the others were almost inclined to accept this.
"Ah-ha! Here we are!" The others jumped as Mr. Aizawa suddenly came to a stop before a large brass door.
The door wasn't as big as the one that led to the great hall, but it still seemed to loom over them, like a beast. It was made completely of brass and stone and was filthy; mud seemed to stain it, dirtying the brass work designs. What really stood out though was the dark red, almost brown, stains that were sloshed about. There was even a handprint not much larger than the children's.
Izuku took a step back and gulped. "Mr. Aizawa? I-I don't think this is a good idea…" The others nodded in agreement.
"Hm? What's that? You don't trust me?" Mr. Aizawa seemed to pout, an expression that absolutely did not fit the man at all.
"N-no! It-it's not that…" Mr. Aizawa beamed.
"Then come on!" he sang. Then he winked. "I promise, what's in this room is a very special sight." He grunted slightly as he shoved the door open. He then held out his arm as he beckoned them to enter. The room was pitch black, not revealing a single detail. The others hesitated to enter such a dark room, especially Ochaco, Tenya, Izuku, and Toru. But after a minute, they pushed themselves forward. As they did so Ochaco and Denki gripped the remaining two gems with the rune markings in their pockets. The items had always given the dwarfs protection, so touching them made the two feel better. Though not much in this case.
SLAM!
As soon as each of the kids was in the room, the stone door swung shut. The dwarflings screamed out in terror.
"M-Mr. Aizawa!" They shrieked. They didn't like this. They didn't like this at all! They were terrified. Why was Mr. Aizawa doing this? They didn't understand. There were odd bubbling sounds in the black, and there was a putrid smell that had them gagging their dinners back down.
Mr. Aizawa's laugh echoed out. "Aww, what's wrong? Afraid of the dark?" he cooed. "Aw, there, there. Let me fix that." There was a sound of movement followed by torches igniting to life with a red light.
The dwarfs felt the air escape from their chests as their stomach dropped.
They wished they were still in the dark.
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'Shit, shit, shit!' It was just one thing after another for Shouta, wasn't it?! The good news was that the trap showed they were heading in the right direction, but the bad news was that the spell was doing its job in keeping them from their location.
After several attempts, Fat Gum slumped down a wall and groaned, "It's no use! We'll never get past this."
"Isn't there another way?" An equally exhausted Shouta asked.
"Think I'd be running up and down the halls like this if there was?!" Shouta cursed under his panting breath. There must be some way to get through this.
'Something must be controlling the spell, but what?' He looked around the hall, seeing if anything looked odd or stood out.
After a few minutes, he saw a crystal glowing at the end of the hall. If he had to guess, that was causing their trouble.
"There!" Shouta pointed. "If we could smash it, we might be able to continue forward!"
"Good idea, but we can't even get near it!" Fat Gum demonstrated by trying to do a mad dash, but the hall turn on him. He even tried a desperate lunge once, only to fall flat. Shouta growled, trying to think of a plan.
'It worked before, so maybe-!' Shouta did his best to activate erasure and focused on the crystal.
"Break it!" he called, not blinking for even a moment.
"We've already done this! What makes you think—!"
"Do it!" Fat Gum charged forward, then when he was close enough, he rammed his fist into the crystal. Under the weight of his fist, the dark blue stone cracked, then shattered. Once it was broken Shouta, allowed himself to close his eyes. He swiped his tears away with his palm. His eyes hurt so much…
"How did you-" Fat Gum started to ask, but Shouta cut him off.
"No time!" Who knew how long they wasted running this hall? "Which way now?!"
"Down the hall, down the stairs!" Fat Gum directed. "We need to keep an eye open for other traps." But Shouta was already running down the hallway, praying to whatever deity that was listening that he wasn't too late.
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The kids gasped and stumbled back at what they saw. The room was lit with green fire that blazed brightly from a large pit. Hanging over this pit was a cauldron that bubbled and boiled. Glass jars full of blood decorated shelves along with stains of dark red in all sorts of patterns. The stone floor was dyed in the dark color of dry blood, on it was was several clay pots and things that reminded the dwarfs of the strange "branches" in their woods. The "branches" dangled from the ceiling as well from tangles and tangles of ribbons in varying red colors. They cover the top of the room like cobwebs.
But none of those were what sent the terror through the children that made their bodies tremble like leaves in the wind.
No, the thing that sent terror through their very bones were the strange instruments that filled the room.
There were blades of varying sizes and shapes that gleamed in the firelight. There was something like a coffin with spikes in the corner and not too far from it was a stone table. Above it was a large, large blade that resembled a crescent moon or a wicked grin.
"What's wrong?" Mr. Aizawa's voice echoed from behind them. "Don't you want to play? I promise it'll be fun! Weeeell, for me at least." The children whipped around and starred, eyes round with fear.
Mr. Aizawa's eyes were red slits now, and his smile was unnaturally large with sharp teeth. In his pale, snow-white hands, he bounced a blade, long, razor-edged, and slightly smeared with blood. As the others whimpered, Izuku gritted his teeth as he stood between the others and the approaching danger.
"You're not Mr. Aizawa!" he accused.
The impostor giggled. "Nope!"
The disguise fell like mud, revealing the Troll Queen. "Don't worry, we can still have fun! I can't wait to see what Dwarf blood is like…" She took a step forward and the dwarfs backed away as they all squished together. They weren't able to go far as the heat of the pit hit them.
"Careful!" Himiko called. "You don't want to trip and end up broiled."
Momo, who was closest, glanced over her shoulder and saw that "branches" had filled the pit, feeding its fire. Above it was the cauldron that the floor was barely higher than it. The chains that held it told Momo that it could be lowered or raised by a pulley. Why she thought to notice it, she didn't know. Perhaps, it was because it was better to observe that, than the red liquid in the cauldron that brewed. Or what would happen if they fell in.
Tenya swallowed hard and glared at the troll. "Wha—what do you want from us?" he demanded, as bravely as he could, despite the wavering of his voice. "Where's Mr. Aizawa?!"
Himiko clicked her tongue.
"What do I want? It's quite simple really," she said. "I want to be more, more than clay, more than mud, more than the dirt people walk on. I want to have life course through my veins, I want a heartbeat—I want to be alive." With every word, she took a step closer, but the dwarfs had nowhere to back up. "You have so much life, so you can afford to share, hm? As for your Mr. Aizawa—don't worry. As soon as you're 'taken care of' I'll go and collect him." The dwarfs didn't like the sound of that at all.
Ochaco gulped and reached into her pocket, holding up one of their two remaining jewels. "St—stay back!" she cried, a frightened squeak sneaking into her voice.
She hoped that it would protect them as it always did. However, the Queen wasn't bothered by it at all. Her dark eyes gleamed with interest when she saw it.
"Ooh! How pretty!" She reached into her pocket and pulled out a colorful rock the size of a pebble. "I have a lot of pretty stones too! Wanna see?" She tossed it at the dwarfs and light exploded. The kids fell back with startled cries. The jewel fell from Ochaco's hand and rolled towards Himiko until she stopped it with the heel of her foot.
"It's very pretty," she purred. "But alas, not very interesting." She put her weight on it. The kids watched in horror as she crushed it beneath her feet. It was frightening for them to see the item that offered them protection for years so easily destroyed.
Himiko looked back up, sweeping the shards away with her foot. "That was interesting. Now, let's get back to it, shall we?"
While the others were stunned, Ochaco took a deep gulp. She then rushed forward to shove one of the clay pots over. This started a domino effect that toppled the others over as well. As they fell, dark red liquid sploshed out. Himiko let out a shriek of horror as they spilled all over.
"No! How dare you?!"
"Come on!" The children ran around the room, trying to find a way out, but it seemed the only way out was blocked by Himiko. Even if they could get past her, they had a feeling they wouldn't be able to move the door by themselves. It didn't help that they kept slipping on the blood that flooded the floor.
"Bad kids! Look at this! You've made a mess!" As Himiko stepped forward, Denki jumped between her and the others. It hurt his muscles and brain, but he managed to release an electric charge. Himiko was unphased and simply held up her knife, which caught the blast. The others stared, wide-eyed.
"Can! Can she do that?!" Toru squeaked. Himiko grinned.
"Oh, I can do a lot more than that." She swung he arm out with the blade, throwing the blast back at the dwarflings. The children were flung back, splashing in the blood as the charge hit them, temporarily stunning them.
As they laid on the floor, the troll let out a small huff. "Hmph! Cheeky brats!" Himiko made a motion with her index finger. From the shadow of the ceiling, a stream of dark-colored ribbons slithered down.
Momo let out a startled squawk as her leg was wrapped before she was yanked into the air. The others let out their own squeals and screams as they were caught as well. Soon they were all dangling and bobbing from the ceiling.
Himiko approached them, her steps sploshing in the liquid that pooled on the floor. "Well, that was fun! However, I'm going to enjoy the next part more…"
The children whimpered as they all thrashed to get free. Himiko stepped around them. With a flick of her hand, the dwarfs were all raised into the air where they dangled like a spider's prey. Her eyes glazed over them till she decided on her first victim. She stopped in front of Ochaco.
"Let's start with you, shall we? It's only fair since you're the one who ruined my collection!" She made a motion at the broken pots. Ochaco's eyes rounded wide with terror, tears jumping from her eyes. The others called out her name, but all she could focus on was the knife that glinted just below her chin. Beyond the knife, Himiko's eyes shown with a beast gold and fangs protruded from a wicked grin. The queen let out an airless sigh, her face flushed pink. "Ohh… I can't wait to see what's running inside you!"
Ochaco let out a gasp as the knife pressed into her skin. Dwarfs didn't get injured easily, so Himiko had to add more pressure than she would a human to draw the blood she wanted, though not much.
Just as the red droplets dribbled down Ochaco's shirt, the wall to their right exploded.
"Stay away from them!"
Everyone turned their heads and saw Shouta as he ran from behind Fat Gum, who stood with his fist extended.
"Mr. Aizawa!" They cried and gasped in relief. Shouta glared at the queen, his eyes blazing with fury.
"Let. Them. Go!" he snarled. Himiko returned his glare with a glower. She wasn't intimidated by him, but she wasn't smiling anymore either.
"That has never worked ever in the history of the world, and it's not going to work here." With a twirl of a finger, the ribbons pulled taunt. Each dwarf let out a startled gasp as the air was ripped from their chests. They then let outcries and screams as the bows started to wrap around them until they were trapped in silky cocoons. Their frightened calls for help became muffled, and the ribbons bounced with their struggles. The queen paid them no mind, however. Her cold and furious gaze was instead on the adults, who both stood with gritted teeth and clenched fists.
"Well, well! Looks as if we have a traitor in our midst," She said as she gave Fat Gum a pointed glare. She spoke as if they were all getting ready to sit down and have some tea. "I expected better the ones in charge of our future generation. What kind of example are you setting by betraying your queen?"
"I'm standing up to a tyrant!" Fat Gum snapped. "Haven't ya done enough?! Look around you! We are in a room literally filled with blood! And you have tons more hidden over this mountain! And even that isn't enough for you, you vampire! You've taken the lines of morality and sanity and tied them together to create a noose to hang everyone!" Himiko scoffed.
"So what? Organics are born every day. So what's wrong with killing a few and collecting their lives?" she said. She stepped forward. "In nature, it's hunt and kill. We're born from mother nature herself. Therefore it's only natural for us to do the same." Fat Gum's fists clenched at his side.
"Tch! Your nanny really dropped the ball raising you! You've developed a warped way of thinking!"
"And you've allowed emotion to warp yours."
With a twirl of her hand, ribbons snaked down and tried to envelop him, but Fat Gum tore through them like paper. Himiko let out a 'tch,' then waved her hand in another direction. The ribbons soared like spears before weaving together to form a wall, which Fat Gum ripped apart. After he did so, he noted the Queen was gone. Fat Gum was unable to find her until a glint caught his eye. He barely had time to lift his arm to block the attack. Thankfully he was wearing an arm brace that kept her from cutting into him. He grabbed her arm and made her throw the blade aside. As it skidded across the floor, Fat Gum slammed his head against Himiko's. Dark brown mud leaked from the wound that formed.
While the Queen was distracted, Shouta snatched up the fallen knife and ran to the wiggling cocoons. The ribbons were tough and thick, but the blade was fine and sharp, allowing the human to slice through the silk of steel like butter. One at a time, he freed each of the dwarfs from their prisons.
"It's okay, it's okay," he said to each whimpering child as he freed them, though it was more of a prayer than a reassurance.
In the ongoing fight behind him, Himiko snarled. She smacked her free hand into Fat Gum's chest. As she did so, the gem on her palm ignited and an explosion tossed him away from her. Fat Gum let out a cry as he rolled back like an egg. For a second, his vision spun. He regained himself just in time to see Himiko throw three jeweled stones at him. He simply held up his hand and absorbed them into his body. He smirked.
"Ha! Is that all you've-" His arm suddenly exploded and mud flew everywhere.
Some landed on Himiko, but instead of complaining, she grinned.
She wiped the mud off her cheek with her thumb before bringing it to her lips. "Nope! Just getting started!" She licked it.
Her body started to morph and change until she stood before Fat Gum as an exact clone. The original's eyes widen.
"Aw, shit!"
Shouta had just helped Tsuyu out when a loud sound made him wince. He looked over his shoulder and saw one Fat Gum leap forward and release a powerful blast. The other was tossed into a wall. One, whom Shouta assumed was Himiko due to the grin, jumped on top of the other and started to pound his face in. The real Fat Gum managed to throw her off but was injured. Shouta realized that if the fight didn't end soon, Fat Gum would be finished, and they would be next. He looked around and spotted the ribbons he just cut. He grabbed the longest one and tied it to a nearby crystal.
"Tenya! Tie this to that as tight as you can!" Shouta said, pointing to a crystal across from them. Tenya gulped and nodded before using his vast speed to run to the other side. Once he did as told, Shouta held the other end.
"Fat Gum!" He activated erasure to make the queen drop her copy. Fat Gum took the opportunity to aim a fist at her chest. When the woman stumbled back, Shouta pulled the ribbon tautly. This caused her to tumble backward off the platform and into the boiling cauldron below. The queen let out a shrill cry as the red liquid splashed and swallowed her whole. The dwarfs curled into Shouta, blocking out the sounds. Thankfully they ended as quickly as they began.
The room became filled with heavy breaths, some faster than the others. Shouta broke the silence first;
"Everyone okay?" he asked. Ochaco, who had her hand pressed to her neck the whole time, whimpered.
"My throat…" Shouta immediately turned to look at her. He tore a part of his sleeve off and wrapped it around like a gauze.
"Hold still; we'll patch it for now, then treat it when we get out of here." No one wanted to stay in that room any longer than they had to.
A voice called out from the side. "Thank goodness that's over! You know, I thought that would be a lot harder."
Everyone turned their heads and blinked.
"Um, who are you?" Izuku asked. Standing before them was a tall, muscular man who appeared to be wearing a mask and tattered clothes.
"Huh? Whatchu talkin' about, kid? It's me! Fat Gum! I just used a lot of energy fighting the Queen off."
"Fat Gum?!" Even Shouta was surprised. The troll looked nothing like the round egg of a man that they had seen at dinner earlier.
"What happened?"
"I told you! I used all my energy to fight against the Queen. Whenever I use my energy I tend to lose my bulk," he explained. "At least I managed to regenerate my arm."
Shouta decided that life was too short to question everything. He sighed. "Whatever. We need to out of here before any guards come to investigate."
"I doubt we'll have to worry about that. No one's allowed down here, 'cept for the Queen. Still, I agree. We should go and get the kids looked over."
Just as they were about to leave though, a hand hit the edge of the platform. With a gasp, they all turned and saw a figure claw her way up. The Troll Queen was covered in red, and her gown clung to her in charred tatters. Beneath the rags, her youthful skin looked withered. Her hair had singed away, leaving a clear view of the animalistic eyes and grin.
"Leaving already?" she sneered. "I don't think so!" Shouta and Fat Gum stood between her and the dwarfs who hid behind them.
She laughed as she pulled herself from the pit, the cauldron rocking as she stood on the rim.
"I should be in pain now. I should feel something. But I don't. I don't feel anything, not even numbness," she said as the giggles died down. "It's like my pretty mirror said; how do know if you're alive if you can't feel? We move, we talk, but at the end of the day, we're just clumps of mud." Her gaze snapped up, eyes glowing a bright gold against the red hue of the room. The manic look made the rest step back, splashing the red blood behind them.
"I miss my mirror sometimes. You know I was so sad when it was stolen. We got on so well. However, before it disappeared, I learned a lot of tricks. Over these years, I've carved a rune on every crystal in this mountain. Or at least enough for my final trick." She held her hand before her in a claw-like motion. The gem in her palm created a static glow before all the crystals around them lit up. They blinked in and out, almost as if they were counting down.
Suddenly everything began to shake as violent tremors erupted around them. Shouta and the dwarfs were knocked off their feet. A few rocks rained from above.
"What's-?!"
"She's bringing the whole mountain down!" Fat Gum and Shouta did their best to shield the dwarfs, who had gone silent as soon as the room started to shake.
Himiko let out a manic and shrill laugh. "If I can't bleed you out, then I'll just settle for turning this mountain into your graves!"
Shouta growled. He wanted to run over and beat the hell out of her but knew that wouldn't be rational at the moment. They had to get out of there, fast!
"We have to go! Come on!" He turned to the dwarfs, four of which had gone into shock. Toru was rocking whimpering to herself while Ochaco grabbed at her hair, crying slightly as well. Tenya stood, staring ahead while his mouth open and shut. To the left, Izuku was shivering, his body trembling worse than the area around them. All four had gone pale and didn't respond when the other three tried to speak to them.
Shouta's heart broke and fretted seeing them like this, but there was no time to figure out what was wrong. He bent down and swept all four into his arms. Fortunately, they were small enough that he could carry them.
"We're leaving! NOW!" The rest of the dwarfs were just as terrified but still had their wits about them. They followed the human and the adult troll out of the chamber. Shouta looked over his shoulder and saw that Himiko was gone. There was no time to think about it though, as the mountain rumbled.
It was hard for them to maneuver in the thin halls, but they managed to get to the thicker ones.
"I need to find my kids!" Fat Gum yelled suddenly over the thundering sounds of the collapse. The group came to a stop.
For a selfish moment, Shouta thought about just getting himself and the dwarfs out, but knew he couldn't do that. Rational reasons aside, Shouta could not and would not ever abandon any child to die.
"Which way?" he asked. Fat gum gave a grateful smile before taking off in a random direction, the others followed.
They ran through many twists and turns. Fat Gum cursed multiple times as several caverns had been caved in, blocking their way. He even kicked at a dirt pile at one point. Shouta was starting to worry that maybe they were too late and the troll kids had been buried already. Though it pained him, he brought it up. Fat Gum denied the notion.
"The nest has a stronger structure than the rest of the mountain," he explained. "It has to be to house trollings who are coming into their powers. But it won't hold forever."
The dwarfs were quiet the whole time except for the occasional squeak or cry here and there. The ones in Shouta's arms were completely still. He actually had to check a few times to make sure they were still alive. They clung to his tunic, bodies quivering. Shouta wanted nothing more than to comfort them and try to ease their worries, but even if he knew how, now wasn't the time when the mountain was literally raining down on them.
Despite her fear, Momo managed to keep her head and use their last remaining jewel—that she got from Denki-to light their way, which saved them from tripping over the debris. It also allowed them to see the damage of broken crystals, twisted metal, and broken structures.
"There's a clear path!" Tsuyu cried as she pointed ahead. She held Denki's hand to lead him as he was slightly dizzy and had trouble focusing, partly because his brain hurt slightly but mostly because of all the shaking around them.
"Great! Come on!" They ran down the hall, but as they did they passed a flashing crystal. It suddenly exploded, and Shouta was thrown forward. This was actually fortunate, as the hall fell in behind him completely.
"Mr. Aizawa!"
"Keep running!" Dirt and stone were still raining down on them. If they stopped for even a moment, they would get buried alive!
"We're not far now! If we keep going and nothing else falls in, we'll be at the nest in no time!" Fat Gum called.
It did take time though, as the paths ahead were blocked something or another. After their last turn Fat Gum slid to a stop in front of a wall.
"The nest is on the other side! Get back!" His fist glowed as he threw it forward, shattering the wall to bits. Everyone rushed through the hole.
They were inside a large, circular room of brass, copper, iron, silver, gold, and any other metal that might have existed. It appeared that the ceiling hadn't caved in, but things were still tossed and thrown about, probably from the quakes. This was confirmed when a tremor hit and nearly knocked them off their feet. A sound echoed in the metal, creating a screeching sound.
Fat Gum's voice managed to carry over it. "Kids! Kids! Come on, guys! This is no time for hide-and-seek!"
They heard faint cries from behind a giant crystal structure that had fallen over. Fat Gum tried to lift it, but it was too heavy. Shouta had to set the four dwarfs down and help him, but even that wasn't enough.
"Ochaco! I need you to make this lighter!" Ochaco stood, unresponsive as she covered her ears against the screeching sounds. "OCHACO!" His raised voice managed to get through to her finally. She nodded a quivering head then did her best to focus her quirk. This wasn't easy under normal circumstances, so she struggled twice as much—the shaking making her stomach woozy didn't help—but she managed to make it so the adults could lift the pillar.
Once they were freed, each of the trollings scurried into Fat Gum's arms, sobbing in relief.
"Shh! It's okay, kiddos, it's okay!" His words would have been more reassuring if the furniture wasn't currently rearranging itself.
"W-what's going on?"
"The crystals started to glow and then-"
Fat gum stopped all questions. "No time! We have to get out of here! Now!"
To empathize this, another quake hit the room, making everything echo and scream around them. The rumbling threw Momo to the ground and as her body hit the floor the jewel flew out of her hand.
"No!" Momo screeched as it skidded across the floor and disappeared into a small hole. Horrified, Momo ran towards it and tried to reach in, but her arms weren't long enough.
"Momo, leave it!" Shouta cried as he swept up the paralyzed dwarfs.
"We CAN'T!" Momo cried. "If! If we do, we won't have anything to keep us safe!"
"If we don't leave now, we'll die!"
Tsuyu rushed over to her and, with Denki's help, pulled the dwarfelle to her feet. "Momo, we have to go!"
"But-!"
"If don't we'll disappear forever! We have to get out of here! Now!" Momo bit her lip but knew Tsuyu was right. Fighting back tears, she followed as everyone followed Fat Gum to the other wall, where he punched another hole.
They ran back into the hallway, where everything continued to fall around them.
Shouta did his best to shield the kids. "Please tell me you know a way out!"
"Sure I do! I know lots!" Fat Gum called. "I just hope they're not all blocked!"
Shouta knew that the moment he said those words, the troll had cursed them, and he was right. Every path they found blocked their way. Fat Gum tried punching the blockage away but only succeed in compacting the dirt.
A pile of dust fell onto Shouta's head from the ceiling, making him stumble to his knees. All the dwarfs crowded around him in worry. Shouta gritted his teeth.
"Shit!" Was this it? After everything they had gone through, were they going to be buried alive under the mountain?
Shouta did the only thing he could and held all the dwarfs to him, clenching his eyes shut so he didn't have to see their faces. He couldn't bear to look at them after failing to protect them.
'Hizashi… I'm sorry.'
Just as Shouta was about to give up all hope, a stroke of luck broke through the dirt walls in the form of a large, golden claw.
"Power Loader!" Mei cried happily. A small man crawled out from the freshly dug hole, a golden helmet protecting him from the debris.
"What the hell is going on?!" he growled as he stood. "The whole mountain is coming down! Literally!"
"Later! For now, we gotta move or mother nature's gonna crush us with her embrace!" Fat Gum yelled.
The adults ushered the children in the hole after Power Loader, followed by Shouta then Fat Gum, who brought up the rear. Power loader ushered them into a large hall that bit Shouta with its chill.
"Ectoplasm is rounding up the others. We should be able to reach the haven easily from here. Come on!" Shouta and the others followed for a bit, but after three or four corners, Fat Gum stopped them.
"Wait, hold up!" he said, putting an arm in front of Shouta. The human crashed into it and almost fell backwards.
"What-"
"If you want to go to the imp planes, you gotta go that way and make a left!" Fat Gum pointed to the right tunnel. "After that, you should be able to literally slide out!"
Shouta hesitated. He didn't want to leave the trolls and risk getting lost, but on the other hand, he was a man on a mission. Shouta gave a quick, sharp nod.
"What about you?" he asked. "Will you be alright?"
"We will! But you won't if you don't get moving!" Fat Gum warned.
"Um! Goodbye, everyone!" Eijiro called over the chaos. "It was nice to meet you!"
"Um! Same here!" Momo called back.
Mei waved as Power Loader started to drag her along. "Hey! If we all survive, let's meet again, okay!"
"We will!"
"Come on! We need to go!" Power Loader snapped impatiently as a crystal bounced off his head.
Shouta motioned to the dwarfs.
"Us too! Let's go!"
Shouta led everyone down the halls, just barely noticing the temperature dropping dramatically. The hallways became slippery with ice causing Denki and Momo to slip. As the two slid past them, Shouta spotted a light in the distance.
"We're almost there! Keep running!" they did, but the moment they exited the tunnels, everything became a slope. Before they knew it, they were all literally sliding down the mountain as it started to crash and crumble beneath them.
They made it to the bottom and found themselves on icy ground. Even so, Shouta was able to gather the kids and pull them to a safe area where they were protected from the rubble.
Once they were all safe, Denki let out a breath.
"I dunno about all of you, but I am never entering a bloody tunnel ever again!" The rest of them vehemently agreed.
{To be Continued...}
A/n:
*Wow! Deja vu, huh? So, yeah this chapter was hard to write. Not because of anything in it. It's just my brain just did NOT want to push through. To other fanfic writers, do you just have chapters that just did not want to be written? That's this one. Therefore I hated writing this one the most. Despite that, this was one of the longer chapters. Over 8,000 words and 13 pages.
*I know that Power Loader was a bit of a Deus Machina, but meh. I did hint at him a little.
*I wonder if the story earns the M rating. I think it's more teen, but hell if I can tell with the rating systems. Meh, better safe than sorry.
*Is this the last we'll see of Himiko? We'll see.
Meta Notes:
*Fun fact: The final fight was supposed to be between Mt. Lady and Himiko. The two would have grown to giant size and fought until Mt. Lady smashed Himiko's head with a literal mountain top. Would she have died? Doesn't matter anymore. I just thought the idea of two giants fighting was cool. I was even going to have Birdzashi swoop in to help out.
Queen Himiko Facts:
*Himiko only has transformation magic, however, she works around that with runes that were taught to her. When her mirror was stolen she carved runes everywhere she could to keep control of her kingdom. Aside from being able to detonate the crystals whenever she wanted she could also use them to spy when she got suspicious. With the ribbons, she was able to sew the symbols on them.
**Meta Note: The paralyzing comb and ribbons were a call back to the original Snow White story.
Troll Facts:
*There's a bit of blue and orange mentality when it comes to organics in the trolls' minds. Some see it as no big deal killing them as more can be made easily enough (easier than trolls at least). Had Himiko not resorted to mass genocide a lot of the trolls would have just seen her obsession with blood as an odd quirk.
Dwarf Fact:
*When under a threat dwarfs will instinctively huddle together in an attempt to make themselves larger. However, what this does is make them a bigger target, so it tends to work against them.
**Meta note: I call it a fluffle when the dwarf kids do this as it reminds me of a bunny fluffle.