Now things start getting a bit more serious...
"Pandora!" Prometheus shouted the moment he and Gregory had arrived in the cemetery. Prometheus took off running, looking for his sister. He ran deep into the land of the dead searching, before coming across what looked like a chapel in the center. He pulled the doors open, shouting his sister's name.
"Hello brother." Pandora simply answered. She stood within a magical circle at the altar, holding the Necronomicon. "You appear distressed, is everything alright?"
"Oh thank god… whew!" Prometheus sighed in relief. "For a minute there I thought things were going to get really bad…" Pandora cocked her head to the side.
"Really bad? What is wrong?" Pandora asked simply.
"We've been found out." Gregory entered the chapel next. "A church in a place like this… it must be used almost exclusively for funerals…"
"Greetings Gregory." Pandora promptly bowed. "The ritual is set to your specifications."
"Yeah, that's nice, but we've been had." Prometheus stated. "People are on their way here to try and stop us, the hell do we do now?"
"We proceed forward as planned." Gregory responded. "They have not only figured out where we are, but our plan. They know we have the Necronomicon and intend to use it to summon the souls of the dead to use them to revive my master. After tonight, it would be nearly impossible to infiltrate and perform the ritual here." Gregory walked into the magical circle and Pandora left it. "For this, it is either tonight or not at all. If we fail, our attempts will be in vain."
"Neat…" Prometheus responded. "So… then what's the plan?"
"…You both are capable of combat, correct?" Gregory asked.
"No shit. I've been saving your ass all week." Prometheus replied.
"Yes I am." Pandora replied. Three segments of a staff flew from various places on her person and combined together, lengthening out into a full staff.
"Then I will conduct the ritual myself. I will need you both to defend me; do not let a single person into this building…" Gregory said. "…Though, an escape plan I do not have… we can only teleport two at a time, not three. More over… it is possible that this excursion may not yield the amount of souls I require; I can only call forth souls of those tormented in death; unsatisfied with their lives… we take many risks here to do so without an escape…"
"Spatial Recall." Pandora said, tapping her staff on the ground. "I set up a return point back at our original location." A large blue magic circle appeared below her. "At my word, this circle shall open, and when we are assembled, we will vanish and reappear at the starting location, regardless of distance."
"Emergency technique just in case I'm in a bind and can't save her." Prometheus added. "We will need a new hide-out afterward, but it'd be a good strategy to dupe them."
"Then it is settled!" Gregory clapped his hands together. "You will defend me, and when the ritual is complete, I shall make fire burst from the ceiling! That will be your signal to return to me! When we are together, we will use your Spatial Recall to escape! Brilliant!"
"Thank you, Gregory." Pandora bowed. Prometheus snickered a little.
"Now, to your positions! The incursion is incoming!" Gregory tapped his staff against the ground.
-District 10; a fair distance away from the Cemetery-
"And you expect me to believe your story…?" Aizawa asked. The group consisting of him, Stiyl, Izuku, and Katsuki ran down the street, attempting to make it to the cemetery as quickly as possible. "I'll buy the notion that Midoriya and Bakugou should stay with us just in case this Gregory Augustine has more allies waiting in the shadows, but do you honestly expect me to believe your story about magic and reviving the dead?"
"Not at all." Stiyl replied. "Whether you believe me or not doesn't matter at this time. You will see your proof soon enough."
"Could try fucking proving it right now, you know!" Katsuki shouted.
"Prove what? You'd merely assume I have a fire-based quirk or esper ability in an attempt to accuse me of lying." Stiyl replied. "Besides, we don't have the time for me to give a proper introduction, time is of the essence."
"Magic or not… Gregory is going to do something sinister, right? It doesn't matter if magic is real or not, we have to stop him!" Izuku shouted.
"…Your words are not wrong, Midoriya." Aizawa replied. "For now, we must put our suspicions aside. Save the rest of the explanations and proofs for later."
"Good to see that we have come to terms then." Stiyl stated. The group quickened their pace, until they reached the front of the cemetery's entrance. They saw two males standing out in front of it, appearing as though they themselves had just arrived themselves, they turned to face the group.
"Hey Stiyl, what's with the grou-" Touma started, and suddenly stopped when he noticed Izuku and Katsuki. "W-what are you do doing here!? What did you do Stiyl!?"
"It looks like we got ourselves a raid-party, nya!" Tsuchimikado stated.
"We could ask you the same question you son of a bitch!" Katsuki shouted back.
"S-sorry Kamijou!" Izuku apologized.
"I knew you'd be familiar with him… but not this familiar…" Stiyl sighed. "These two had a conflict with Gregory. This man appears to be their instructor, who was on his way to deal with Gregory himself."
"Shouta Aizawa." Aizawa confirmed his name. "Pro Hero: Eraser Head."
"Huh… a pro hero… didn't expect to be getting this kind of support." Touma said, scratching the back of his head.
"And I didn't expect to be giving it…" Aizawa replied.
"They have a full explanation. Including magic, before you ask." Stiyl stated.
"After I worked so hard to cover everything up… even after Tsuchimikado used magic on Iida!" Touma shouted.
"Y-you're a magician too?" Izuku asked.
"Hehe! Guilty!" Tsuchimikado said rubbing his head. "Sorry for using potentially fatal magic on your friend Tenya-kun, nya!"
"P-potentially fatal!?" Izuku stuttered out.
"We will discuss this later!" Stiyl shouted, attempting to silence the group. "Now, do we have any additional information?"
"No, sadly, other than a confirmation that our friend Gregory is inside the cemetery, we got nothing. We just got here." Tsuchimikado explained. "Magical power is going crazy near the center; he's probably using the chapel as a kind of fortification to slow us down."
"Then we will just have to burn it to the ground." Stiyl said. With that, the group made their way into the rather large cemetery. It was dark; far darker than the well-lit streets of Academy City. The electric lamps in the area along the path were off, apparently sabotaged. The clouds had moved over the moon as they filled the sky, blocking out even the stars.
If it wasn't for the faint street lights and Stiyl's cigarette, it would be complete and total darkness. A fog started to roll in, and as they moved, the could have sworn that they heard faint footsteps and whispering.
"W-why did they have to come to a cemetery… and at night no less… and the fog is not helping…!" Izuku said.
"What's wrong? Scared?" Katsuki mocked.
"N-no! It's just-"
"Both of you, quiet!" Stiyl whispered. "We don't know where they might be looking, and giving away our position is a very bad idea! Keep your voice down!" Stiyl finished. "The sounds you're hearing… it's probably the Necronomicon."
"Yeah… the sounds and whispers you hear are the thoughts and the memories of the dead, given a voice and echo by the book's presence… don't worry, they can't hurt you, nya." Tsuchimikado added.
"O-ok then…!" Izuku answered. They continued for a time before suddenly the sound of something spinning rapidly could be heard, which was rapidly approaching.
"Get down!" Aizawa shouted and the group scattered, diving for whatever direction popped into their minds. A familiar looking scythe flew over them, just barely missing them all. If they hadn't taken notice and moved out of the way, the scythe would have sliced their legs in half at the knees. The scythe vanished into a fog without a trace.
"Well… it's going to be really fucking difficult to figure out who just did that…" Katsuki commented.
Before anyone could comment, a large number of arrows, made out of ice, started to fire off at them from all directions. The assailant hidden by the fog, all they could do was rapidly scatter and move to dodge the oncoming attacks. Just as quickly as it started, the assault stopped.
"Damn it… I'm sick and tired of this!" Katsuki shouted, cracking his knuckles.
"You and me both." Stiyl replied, forming fire in his hands. Katsuki triggered a large explosion in front of him as Stiyl unleashed a fire spell in a different direction, also causing an explosion. The two forces completely missed whoever what was assailing them, but did successfully clear the area of most of the fog. No one else was visible.
"Is everyone alright?" Aizawa called out. The group gathered again, searching for whoever had attacked them. As the fog cleared, it was quickly revealed that they were only about three yards away from the chapel they were searching for. As the approached it, a figure dropped down from a tall point of the chapel; it was Prometheus. His scythe in question was draped over his shoulders.
"Well, long time no see!" Prometheus laughed.
"Seems like you're a glutton for punishment, you smug bastard!" Katsuki grinned.
"Look who's talking! Let's see you deal with both of us!" Prometheus grinned back.
"Both of you…?" Izuku questioned. A blast of yellow electricity erupted form the top of the chapel. It was massive, easily large enough to wipe out the entire group. Touma leaped forward and held up his right hand; the electricity crashing into it. The electricity wrestled with Touma's right hand for a time, but shortly after making contact, a shattering sound was heard as the electric blast suddenly vanished into nothing.
"Too close…!" Touma sighed, his right hand steaming from the confrontation. Slowly, a secondary figure floated down from the top of the chapel. It was a girl they didn't recognize, teal hair and red eyes, wielding a large golden staff. She held it behind her as she floated gracefully to the ground, landing next to Prometheus.
"Brother." The girl spoke. "The black-haired one appears to be able to nullify my magic."
"I see! Well, that's more than just a tad bit rude, isn't it, Pandora?" Prometheus answered.
"Keep him away from me, brother." Pandora answered. "It will be bad if he can completely nullify me."
"Aye sir! I'm just glad we can fight together again…" Prometheus replied. "I feel so much stronger when I'm with you!" Prometheus' eyes started to glow again, this time much brighter, along with his scythe blade. He pulled back his left hand; a deep crimson flame rose from it, and the thrust forward, unleashing a powerful wave of crimson flames.
"The hell…!?" Stiyl commented, unleashing his own fire attack to meet Prometheus'. The two clashing and exploding the moment they met. "This Prometheus is an esper… how is he capable of using magic!?"
"Someone who is an esper… isn't supposed to be able to use magic…?" Izuku questioned.
"It's a long story; let's just say you're talking to the only exception to the rule, nya!" Tsuchimikado replied.
"We will just have to sort this out later then." Aizawa commented, pulling his goggles over his eyes.
"Aizawa-sensei, I don't think your Quirk will work on them…!" Izuku warned.
"I have more than just that up my sleeve." Aizawa answered.
"Brother… be careful." Pandora said.
"Aye, you too, Pandora. Just call for me if you're in trouble." Prometheus replied, lifting his scythe over his shoulders and into both of his hands, preparing for battle.
"Tsuchimikado…" Stiyl called out. "Red Spell. If they won't let us pass, we will just destroy the chapel and Gregory Augustine along with it."
"Blowing up churches, eh?" Tsuchimikado replied. "I guess when the stakes are high enough, destruction of religious sites is allowed, nya. You just better do a good job protecting me… and carrying me away afterward."
"Right…" Stiyl replied.
"I don't know what you mean… but I'll do my best to protect you!" Izuku stated.
"If all you need is that building demolished, you could have just fucking asked!" Katsuki shouted, bursting forward in a full speed run. Tsuchimikado smirked and ran back, towards the street, a fair distance away before stopping and turning towards the chapel, seemingly preparing some kind of magic.
"Come on big guy! Let's Rampage!" Prometheus charged forward himself. Katsuki thrust an explosive attack toward Prometheus, but he vanished at the very last second, appearing in the air behind him, aiming to slice off Katsuki's head. Aizawa leaped into the air next to Prometheus and spin-kicked him cross the face, knocking him into the ground and skidding through several graves.
"I can handle this one. The rest of you should take care of the girl!" Aizawa ordered. 'I don't know what this Red Spell is, but it seems that protecting Tsuchimikado is top priority.' He thought to himself.
"Like hell! I'm going to blow this fucker to pieces!" Katsuki shouted, running after the skidding Prometheus. He grinded to a halt only to see Katsuki charging at him. Prometheus unleashed another powerful fire spell, to which Katsuki's response to was to blow it to bits with his hands.
"I guess she's left to us then… such misfortune…" Touma commented, turning to face Pandora.
"Dragon." Pandora stated. She waved her staff around in a circle as ice started to form rapidly into an elongated dragon head, which was even capable of roaring. Shortly after its creation it charged forward, hell-bent on devouring the remaining three who stood against it. Touma leaped forward, smashing his right hand into the monster's jaw; his Imagine Breaker causing the beast to shatter almost instantly.
"Squeamish Bloody Rood!" Stiyl fired a prepared spell forward, the X-shaped blast of fire racing toward Pandora in retaliation for her assault. Pandora aimed the tip of her staff towards Stiyl and a blast of yellow electricity fired from it, smashing into the fire spell, the two canceling out. Using the clash as cover, Izuku rushed forward using Full Cowl, shifting into a spin-kick when he got next to Pandora, who blocked using her staff. Despite the kick's strength due to One for All, the staff did not shatter, and Pandora only flew backward unharmed.
"Knight." Pandora uttered. At her command a large over-sized suit of knight's armor formed and animated, drawing its sword and lifting its shield. The knight charged toward Izuku, preparing to swing it's blade down on top of him.
"5% Detroit Smash!" Izuku shouted, slamming his fist into the knight's shield. The knight shattered like glass from the force, but Izuku was blasted by a surge of electricity from Pandora, launching him backward.
"I do not appreciate you destroying my servants." Pandora stated. She flew into the air and flipped; Touma had rushed her attempting to strike her. Pandora fired a blast of electricity but Touma quickly turned and thrust his right hand forward, blocking it. Stiyl fired a blast of fire at her from behind, but Pandora crated a wall of ice to block the attack and escape.
Pandora was proving to not only be powerful, but difficult to attack. Prometheus was proving to be the same.
"Come on come on come on!" Prometheus shouted. "I'm not excited enough yet!" He flipped his scythe upside-down so the blade tip was aimed at the ground, then he swung the scythe upward, unleashing a wave of white energy forward towards Katsuki. He blocked the attack by forcefully dispersing it with an explosion the charged ahead, just narrowly missing with his attack due to Prometheus' teleport.
When he re-appeared, he found himself suddenly entangled in the various clothes around Aizawa's neck. He spun Prometheus around and slammed him into the ground, putting a foot on his back to pin him. However, Prometheus teleported out of his binds and appears behind Aizawa, kicking him in the side. Prometheus grinned wide, but it was cut-short when Aizawa suddenly turned and kicked him across the face, launching him a fair distance before he flipped in the air and landed.
"You know… you two aren't bad… not bad at all!" Prometheus taunted. His body tensed up, and suddenly his body started turning red as the crimson fire erupted from the ground around him. "Let my anger become my torch! Let my desire to kill become my blade! Let my pain become my power! Berserker Seal: OVERDRIVE!" Prometheus shouted as the aura around him intensified along with the flames. His hair seemed to stand on end.
"Let's go! I'm just getting warmed up! So much to kill… so much to pillage! This is what I live for! Carnage!" Prometheus charged ahead, leaping into the air and bringing his scythe blade down on top of Aizawa. He leaped to the side quickly to dodge; the scythe slammed into the earth below and seemed to outright split it in half, displaying a massive increase in strength.
"I don't know what the fuck you're screaming about, but you should be focusing on me!" Katsuki rushed Prometheus and slammed an open palm into his face, and then triggered an explosion to launch him. Mysteriously, Prometheus did not teleport and took the blast head on, flying through the air as a result. He landed on his back, and started to laugh.
"That's right…! That's right! Show me more!" Prometheus spoke through his laughter as he got to his feet. "Ninja man, explosion boy, you both are exquisite! Give me more! Give me the reason for my existence!" Prometheus was indeed injured by the sudden attack, but his apparent increase in strength and speed has not dwindled; if anything it has only gotten stronger.
"We are dealing with a real monster…" Aizawa commented. Katsuki clicked his teeth.
"Man, monster, whatever the hell he is, it doesn't really matter, does it?" Katsuki grinned. He seemed to be enjoying the combat more than one would like to admit.
Not everyone was enjoying combat like he was, however.
"Damn… we just can't get our hands on her." Izuku said.
"It's useless. Give up." Pandora stated simply, firing another intense blast of electricity. Touma moved in front of him to block the attack.
"Stiyl… we need a backup plan!" Touma shouted. Stiyl appeared to be chanting but stopped when Touma called his name.
"I've been preparing one." Stiyl lifted up his hand and from his sleeve; seemingly hundreds of cards with a pentagram on them flew into the air. They spread out far and wide, all over the cemetery. He then resumed his chant. "…Be manifested and become the power that eats into my body! Innocentius!" At his word, right in front of him, what sounded like an explosion could be heard. Flames shot out with reckless abandon, and a roar sounded. The flames converged and formed into a flaming giant that towered over everyone in the graveyard.
"W-what the hell is that thing!?" Izuku stuttered out.
"A Pope level spell. Innocentius! Destroy her!" Stiyl commanded. At his word, the massive fire monster ran forward, practically crackling with laugher as it did so.
"Knights! Defend me!" Pandora shouted, waving her staff. Three knights of ice spawned and then charged toward the large flaming beast.
Innocentius is a beast that burns at 3000 degrees Celsius. Ice would melt and vaporize almost instantly upon reaching him. Enchanted ice would fare better, but would not last long.
But this didn't matter; Innocentius' strength along was enough to shatter all three knights with one swing of its mighty arms.
A cross of white hot flames formed in Innocentius' hand and it swung it down onto Pandora. She channeled a blast of electricity and fired a constant burst of it at the cross to stall it. She then ramped up the power threefold to eliminate the beast entirely.
However, it failed. No matter how much she increased her blast's intensity, Innocentius would only be pushed back, never destroyed, not even so much as injured.
"What is this thing…? To resist my power so much…" Pandora asked, effectively only able to hold the beast at bay.
"Innocentius has no knowledge of damage." Stiyl answered. "It is a creature incapable of feeling pain, nor is it able to be harmed or destroyed. Go ahead, unleash your most powerful magic; let out all of your aggression before it burns you to ash so you can rest in peace."
That event would not come to pass. Touma rushed Pandora from her left side and smashed his right hand into Pandora's left cheek. A shattering sound was heard as the impact launched her into the air.
Prometheus' strength suddenly left him. His body returned to normal, and suddenly began coughing up blood. He narrowly managed to dodge an attack by Katsuki and looked across to see Pandora soaring into the air.
"Pandora, no!" Prometheus shouted, suddenly vanishing from Katsuki and Aizawa's sight. Izuku was getting ready to follow-up and Touma's attack when he was suddenly shoulder-checked by Prometheus, knocking him aside. Prometheus then caught the soaring Pandora in the air, and teleported a fair distance away.
"Brother… you didn't need to… I would have been fine…!" She said as Prometheus set her down.
"I felt that, you know? When that guy hit you… are you ok?" Prometheus asked.
"…It appears our link has been forcefully severed. It must have happened when he struck me…" Pandora replied. "I see… his ability to dispel magic must be automatic… with his right hand."
"Alright… alright yeah, that must be it." Prometheus replied, stepping in front of Pandora. "Alright, round two you pieces of shit!"
"Brother, you can't! It will take time to re-establish the link!" Pandora protested.
"Then I'll fight without it! No one hurts my big sister and gets away with it!" Prometheus shouted.
Suddenly, a mass of golden flames erupted from the roof-top of the chapel. It caught everyone's attention.
"The signal…!" Prometheus stated.
"Signal?" Stiyl questioned.
"Heh… guess we win the fight anyway." Prometheus smirked. He reached back and Pandora grabbed his arm and they vanished without a trace.
"…Tsuchimikado, please tell me it's ready!" Stiyl shouted.
"Almost… it just hurts a bit…!" Tsuchimikado replied slowly. Izuku looked back at him and was horrified. Tsuchimikado was blooding profusely form his eyes, his ears. Several parts of his body looked like pieces had outright exploded off of him. He also seemed to be outright overflowing with some kind of power.
"Holy shit… the fuck happened to him!?" Katsuki questioned. "Those fuckers were fighting us the whole damn time! When did they get through to do that to him!?"
"They didn't." Stiyl answered. "Pay close attention, this is what's supposed to happen when an Esper attempts to use magic."
"Heh… guess I make a good example huh!?" Tsuchimikado grinned through the pain. He resumed building up power and his chant. "…Using thy God to replace the nail! Shikigami Pistol!" The overflowing power erupted and shot into the sky. At the same time, Tsuchimikado coughed up a large amount of blood and fell forward, face first.
"Tsuchimikado!" Izuku shouted, running toward him, kneeling beside him. "What… what did he just do!?"
"Just watch." Stiyl replied. Izuku looked up at a bright light that was descending from the sky. The light was the energy that Tsuchimikado had just unleashed. It crashed into the chapel, easily engulfing it, before violently exploding, reducing the entire building to rubble, leaving behind a sizeable crater.
The battle was over. But the war was not.
As much as they searched the remains of the chapel, there were no signs at all of Prometheus, Pandora, or Gregory Augustine.