Hope and Dread for the Future

Hello everyone and welcome to the final chapters of the Hideout Raid Arc. No guest review questions this time around, so let's head into the story!

Underground Lair of the Shie Hassaikai

'The battle up there is getting rather intense?' thought Chronostasis as he removed his mask to reveal a man with long white hair that ended in a few arrow points. 'Kai shouldn't lose, he's fought plenty of ferocious opponents.' At least that's what the Yakuza member wanted to think. But as he did, flashes of the one known as Lemillion went through his mind, causing doubts to form as he realized that the heroes sent after them were quite ferocious in their own way.

A stirring near his feet told him that Aizawa was starting to regain some movement. 'I hit him with the short hand, so he won't regain full movement for an hour. But it's already been several minutes since the confrontation started.' The sound of fighting intensified again as the dust from the roof was shaken off by the rumbling from above. It would continue on like this for a bit longer as Chrono waited for his leader to appear. There was even a point when all of the rumbling stopped, bringing a bit of hope to the Expendable member.

But fate had other plans as the rumbling of battle resumed. By this point, Aizawa was attempting to crawl away, inching little by little towards the door that led out of the room. 'Even if Master Chisaki loses,' he finally thought, 'I can still take the completed product with me and find a way to get it produced. A sample of the Erasure Hero's blood would also be worth having to investigate for future projects.' The Yakuza member proceeded to pull out a tanto-like knife, hesitating for just a moment as he made his final decision.

"For the Hassaikai," said Chronostasis, "and for Kai!" He gripped the knife with both hands as he readied to plunge it into Eraser Head's back where his heart would be. But a figure descended from the ceiling suddenly, swinging on a cable attached to a gauntlet on his arm. Chrono only had time to raise his arm to protect his head as the hero slammed both feet into him, sending him crashing to the floor and the knife sliding away into the shadows.

The new arrival dropped down completely next to Eraser Head, crouching protectively as he reeled the cable back into his gauntlet and scanned the room for any other possible enemies before his eyes settled back on the only other person in the room. "Kurono, better known as the villain Chronostasis," he said, "not that I expect you too, but the rest of your buddies have been either arrested or are being beat down as we speak. So why don't you make this easy on all of us and come quietly?"

"You'll never defeat THE HASSAIKAI!" exclaimed Chronostasis as he sent one of the grey arrows from his head at the hero, only for it to veer off course after hitting his skin.

"I already know the limitations of your quirk," said the hero as he managed to grab ahold of the arrow before it could retract, "as for mine, well, my hero name is Dark Matter so you try and figure out what that means."

"You…bastard…hero!" exclaimed Chrono as he struck Dark Matter with his short hand arrow from his head over and over again in an attempt to free his long hand. But it was like he was hitting a solid stone wall with all the weight of a boulder. No matter how hard he pulled or how many times he struck his opponent, the hero didn't even flinch. "You won't bring me in-!"

His outburst was cut short with the latest yank of his head as his opponent's weight seemed to suddenly decrease drastically until he was as light as a baseball. And like a baseball, he was rocketing right towards the villain. Chronostasis attempted to dodge the incoming attack, but given his opponent still had a hold of his long hand arrow that was attached and reeling back into his head, there was little he could do. Right before Dark Matter struck, his weight seemed to increase again as he kneed his opponent in the face with all the force of a swinging sack of bricks. The villain was almost certain he lost a tooth as he crumpled to the floor, unconscious.

"Geez, these fanatical follower types are always such a pain," said Slade as he pulled out some specialized hand cuffs he'd received before the raid commenced and locked the Yakuza member's hands behind his back. He quickly tossed him next to the door before moving over to check on Aizawa. "Hey Sensei, how's the feeling in your limbs right now?"

"I've been better," replied the 1A homeroom teacher as Slade pulled him up off the ground and slung his arm over his shoulder. Just as he was standing up, the door to the room opened, causing the hero and student to both go on guard until they saw it was a pair of police officers followed by a pretty injured Amajiki supporting a likely unconscious Mirio on his left side.

"Dark Matter, Eraser Head," said Amajiki, remembering at the last moment to use their hero names, "it looks like you've got things more or less in hand here."

"Kurono is out cold," said the U. A. student as he indicated the unconscious man, "Sensei is still recovering from the effects of that guy's quirk though. What about you and Lemillion?"

"We'll live," replied Amajiki, "I'm more concerned about what Mirio will do now that his quirk is gone." Slade was about to answer to that when his frog quirked classmate suddenly came bounding up to them from the hallway outside the door.

"You're all okay," observed Tsuyu as she stopped next to Sun Eater and Lemillion.

"And what about things on your end Froppy?" Asked Slade, "I notice the rumbling's finally stopped."

"It has," replied Tsuyu, "but you need to bring sensei up quick to help Deku and Clay!" Even with her frog features usually making her mood unreadable, it was obvious to Slade how worried she was, and with good reason.

In front of the Hassaikai Compound

Clay wasn't often lost for words, especially not after witnessing the grand finale that was All Might's United States of Smash against All for One. But even then he'd only been able to witness it from a screen several city blocks away. What had just happened before his very eyes, though, was still nothing short of amazing. Midoriya had managed to achieve and to some extent control One for All full cowling at a hundred percent power. He hadn't done it alone, of course, it was all thanks to Eri's power that he wasn't in pieces right now from using his own quirk at such an output.

The one who was in pieces, though, was Kai Chisaki as half of his body was currently sticking out of what could be considered the 'mouth' of the abomination he'd created by fusing himself with Rikiya Katsukame. 'Hopefully he stays down,' thought Clay as he turned his attention back to his friend who was still glowing with the energy of One for All while Eri's body was shining with its own yellow energy. An energy which seemed to be getting stronger. "Eri, are you alrigh-GAAAAAH!" Midoriya got his answer in the form of the little girl's quirk intensifying as the yellow light glowed even brighter.

"Midoriya, get her to switch that off or get her away from you now!" exclaimed Clay as he recalled how her powers worked. She was able to rewind people and other living things, even to the point of them disappearing completely. Now that Izuku wasn't exerting himself using his destructive quirk anymore, the only thing to rewind was him in his current state.

A sudden stirring caught the cloud user's attention then as he turned and saw a semi-conscious Chisaki somehow moving one of the massive arms of his fused body towards Eri and Deku. Thinking quickly, Clay sent two of his clouds out, cutting Mirio's cape off of his friend while using the other cloud to fling the girl right towards the monster's hand. "You want her quirk so bad then take it!" Exclaimed Cirrus as the horned girl came into contact with the limb.

As before, the reaction was fairly instantaneous as the entire body dissolved, or rather, separated back into the bodies of Overhaul and Rikiya. Clay reformed his clouds to catch Eri and bring her back to the ground as another voice rang out from overhead. "Gun Head martial arts!" exclaimed Uraraka as she came floating in from the side and grabbed Overhaul's wrists, pulling them both behind his back before floating him down to the ground in a submission hold.

"Your timing couldn't have been any better," remarked Clay as he set Eri down gently on the ground, "and sorry about flinging you through the air like that little o-shit it's still not stopping!" If nothing else her quirk seemed to have only grown stronger as the light intensified.

"What's the situation Uravity?" Questioned Ryukyu in her dragon form as she dragged herself out of the hole, followed by Tsuyu and Slade carrying Aizawa while Amajiki supported Mirio.

"Overhaul and Katsukame are both down," reported Uraraka, "Clay and Midoriya are safe too, but I'm not sure what's happening with Eri."

"Her quirk's in overdrive right now," explained Clay as they continued to witness the girl's glowing ability, "Not a single person can touch her while it's active or they'll be rewound back to nothing."

"Dark Matter, Froppy," said Eraser Head weakly, still currently unable to move his body. The two U. A. students understood his intentions, though, and held his head up so he had a direct line of sight. A familiar glow came to his eyes as his hair stood on end for a moment, the sign that his quirk was activating. As it did, the light surrounding Eri was extinguished as the girl collapsed onto the ground, unconscious.

"Eri!" exclaimed Midoriya as he rushed over and picked the sleeping girl up, checking her over for injuries. Everyone else breathed a sigh of relief at the scene as realization slowly crept into each of their minds. It was finally over, they'd won. But it had all come at a cost.

Nearby Hospital

"'This is a different future than the one I saw,'" Clay repeated to himself in his mind. Those had been Nighteye's parting words before he was put in an ambulance and rushed to the nearest trauma center. The rest of the heroes, students and police officers who had received any injuries were also sent there. Anyone else who was still able had assisted in rounding up the remaining Hassaikai members and loading them into armored police vans bound for prison.

Clay and Slade had been some of the few who hadn't been hit by Katsukame's quirk, so they assisted in checking the damage around the area with Nejire Hado and a few others. Afterwards, they'd also gone to the hospital in order to get Slade checked over, given he'd taken something of a beating from Twice's clone of Rappa. He and Izuku wound up with separate doctors checking them over, meaning the two were done at different times. This meant Clay somehow wound up being the one to fetch Midoriya while Slade went on ahead. But they weren't walking alone for long as, to their surprise, Aizawa was already back up, having apparently only needed ten stitches for whatever injuries he'd sustained during the raid.

"So, uh, how's everyone else doing?" Asked Midoriya as the three of them were led down the hallway by Aizawa.

"Kirishima received multiple lacerations and bruises from his fight against Rappa, but he'll be fine once it all heals up," replied Aizawa, "Amajiki has a cracked a bone in his face, but that's the only major injury he has and it won't leave a scar. Fat Gum suffered some broken bones in a few places himself, but he seems relatively well otherwise. The knife wound Rock Lock received didn't hit anything vital, so he'll just need some time for it to heal up."

"I'm glad to hear they're all okay," said Midoriya with an obvious hint of relief in his voice, "and what about Eri?"

"She developed something of a fever after I shut her quirk down," replied Aizawa, "she's still sleeping, but the doctors have decided to quarantine her."

"I take it there's still a lot we don't know about her quirk then," surmised Clay.

"All we know is what we saw when she was on Midoriya's back," replied Eraser Head, "she appears unable to control her rewinding quirk."

"So we can't even see her right now," said Izuku as he lowered his head slightly dejectedly.

"The only reason you were able to touch her in the first place, at least according to Clay, is because you were continually damaging your body with your quirk," said Aizawa, "there aren't a lot of people who have a condition like that. For the moment, I'm the only one who'd be able to stop her quirk if it went out of control again."

"Fortunately for you, her quirk only appears to affect people," said Clay, "that's why I was able to get her away from you with my clouds."

"Yeah, if you two hadn't stepped in, I'm not entirely sure what could've happened," admitted Midoriya, "so thanks for that."

"It will also make training her rather difficult," said Aizawa, "a quirk that rewinds people is not a simple matter, and that's before you factor in her current emotional state. Painful as it is, the most logical course of action right now is to keep her quarantined for the time being."

"It also means we won't be able to use it now," said Slade who was currently leaning against the wall outside of an automatic door.

"Oh Slade, how are you feeling?" Asked a mildly surprised Izuku. Clay had told him about the beating he'd taken, but he knew his friend was a stubborn one when it came to staying down.

"I'm fine physically," replied Slade, "but my mood is about to be shot to pieces." Midoriya could only tilt his head in confusion at that statement. "You'll see." The group proceeded to pass through the opening doors then. To the surprise of at least one of them, All Might was there along with Bubble Girl, Centipeder and Recovery Girl.

"All Might, and Recovery Girl is here too," observed the Green-haired boy.

"I called them," said Bubble Girl with a hollow tone to her voice as tears began to well up in her eyes, "I thought it was best…because Sir was…always talking about All Might." She couldn't continue as she began to break down in sobs before the gathered heroes and students. Centipeder was quick to hand her a handkerchief as a surgeon stepped forward to give them the news.

"We've done all we can," he said, "but he lost too much blood and his injuries were too extensive. It's amazing he's even remained alive this long."

"And in his exhausted state, there's little that I could do with my quirk either," said Recovery Girl in a somber tone as realization struck each one of them on who was being discussed.

"It is unlikely Sir Nighteye will live through the day," said the Surgeon. A sudden groan drew their attention then as All Might rushed over to his former sidekick.

"All Might," said Nighteye weakly through the oxygen masked over his mouth. He was hooked up to at least half a dozen hoses and wires around his wounds, all meant to monitor his vitals and deliver him the necessary emergency fluids. Despite his condition, though, the man somehow managed to add a bit of humor to his next line. "So you finally managed to come down and visit me."

"I don't really have anything to say to that," admitted All Might with a forced smile, "I put you through so much unnecessary pain after all."

"Nighteye," said Midoriya as he also rushed to his bedside, "you have to keep fighting, you have to do your best to live!"

"You don't need…to apologize," said the former sidekick to All Might, "I never….resented you. All I ever wanted…..was for you to be…..happy. If choosing to fight…..was truly your wish-."

"You should fight too," said All Might as tears started to form in his eyes, "give me a chance to atone for what I did back then and everything else up until now."

"There's no need…for you to atone," breathed Nighteye, "I was the one who…..wanted to change your future. I kept looking…for a way where…you wouldn't die. But to no…avail. It wasn't until I saw Midoriya today…..that I finally believed it was possible. Perhaps it has something to do with…..energy….and a strong vision with no room for doubt. I'm sure it wasn't just Midoriya…but the energy of everyone…believing strongly in it that brought everything together."

Nighteye paused to take a ragged breath before he continued. "I thought it was the result…of that energy…converging on Midoriya…and bringing about the future when it was…..released. The future really is uncertain…and it was you, Midoriya, that changed my thinking. That alone….is enough for me….my only true regret is-."

"SIR!" exclaimed Mirio in hospital clothing and bandages as he came limping into the room and over to his mentor's bedside. "You can't, please don't die! You have to live!"

"Mirio," said All Might's former sidekick as he took in the sight of his protégé, "you went through a lot because of me. If only…..I'd been a little-."

"I was only able to become strong because you taught me!" exclaimed Mirio as tears spilled forth from his eyes. "I'm able to live the way I am now because of you! So please, live, so that you can keep teaching me!"

"Forgive me…..Mirio," said Nighteye, "when I first had you brought to me…it was merely as a vessel for…..One for All. But you followed me….believed in me…..before I knew it, you'd become…..my greatest pride." He reached up and felt his disciple's cheek as his sclera turned black while his irises became purple, the sign of his foresight quirk activating. "You'll be….a fine hero…finer than anyone else. That is the only future….that should remain…unchanged. So remember to smile….after all…a society without humor or cheer…has no bright…..future."

The light left his eyes then but the smile remained on his face. The former sidekick and pro hero Nighteye passed away that day, having given his life to save one little girl from the clutches of a madman. But his hope for a bright future would continue to live on as those who remained vowed to press on and make it a reality.

And so the time of another one of the greats has come to an end, but they leave a legacy which aims for a brighter future. Now, depressing tone aside, I hope you all enjoyed this latest chapter and be sure to leave a comment or review about what you liked/disliked or if you've got any neat ideas for future chapters. Be sure to stop in next time as our heroes contemplate the aftermath of the raid. 'Til then.