It was the day after…that had happened, and Izuku was grateful that the heroes had gotten busy.

The hospital's video security system no longer worked, but they had Hawks. His feathers wouldn't do TOO much good in combat yet, so he claimed, but he could send them out to do their echolocation-type ability. It was exhausting if he maintained it, so he was doing a complete sweep every ten minutes. "If Dabi sneaks in, this is better than nothing," he said, every feather gone from his back, probing all corners of the hospital.

Endeavor was increasingly peeling out away from the building and circling back, doing patrols in a flower-petal-like shape with the hospital at the center. According to him, so far, nothing.

Rei, Natsuo, and Fuyumi were nowhere to be seen. At least, Izuku did not particularly know exactly where they were. He figured they were together, finding solace as a family. Preparing.

Izuku himself was helping Nejire and Tamaki with the civilians.

Nejire was clapping her hands like a tour guide and waving the crowd down the corridor. "Okay, so when we give you guys the signal, you're going to come around here, understand?"

Cries of "Yes!" and "Got it!" could be heard.

"So, when you get to the stairs…" Nejire looked back toward Izuku, who gave a thumbs-up. "I'll be ready with the smokescreen. It will buy you guys plenty of time."

One man looked at him skeptically. "Can you show it to us?"

"S-sure." He lifted one arm and began to pour a bit of smoke into the corridor. A few gasps and murmurs echoed through the refugees.

"See? It's very opaque. You guys don't need to worry about rushing and panicking, okay? This will be behind you, and the villains can't see through it, just like you can't."

"But you're gonna stop them before they even get to that point, right?" someone said.

"Yes," Tamaki put in.

"Yep!" Nejire.

Izuku just nodded carefully.

A few people looked at him a bit longer before turning back to focus on Nejire's continued explanation of the plan. They like her better, of course.

Izuku adjusted Gran Torino's cape around his neck.

Gonna need to move on when the battle's finished, he thought. Not only had he stayed in one place for too long, but his thoughts about Rei were becoming too much of a distraction. Oh man, how am I EVER going to look at Todoroki or Endeavor the same way after this?!

You just have to get over it, I guess, said Nana. He could sense her shrugging.

I confess I am still confused as to what she needed your help with, said Shinomori, and why it required a kiss.

Buddy… En sighed.

I just don't…I don't know, thought Izuku. It was what we wanted. It seemed to make sense last night! Should I have rejected her?

THAT would have broken her heart, pal. She had already thought you were disgusted by her for finding her like that. And she's clearly had to deal with a lot. Banjo.

But what if it-

Kid, you got bigger problems, said Nana. Whether it was right or wrong, it happened. If she really was afraid that she'd die in this battle, then I think you probably helped her feel a little more prepared.

TO DIE?!

NO, no, just…just prepared in general. Maybe she even has more hope of survival. There are upsides.

And it is the upsides you must focus on, Yoichi put in. As you are, the entire world will gather around you. You will affect everyone you come into contact with, for better or worse. You will drive yourself mad if you always dwell on the negative waves that swell away from you. Because they will never truly go away, no matter how hard you work.

"Maybe I should go find her," Izuku muttered aloud. Moving on from Iruka was one thing, when the parameters of their encounter had been clearly established. Rei was different. And who the hell do I think I am, anyway?! Doing this twice? This wasn't how things were supposed to go! He wanted to be able to take a girl on a date! Buy her flowers! Listen to music with her while leaning on her shoulder! Go on a picnic! And now when he imagined those scenarios, the girl was a weird morphing of Iruka and Rei, or even both of them at the same time, and that was so, so unfair and he had to stop thinking that way right now.

"Are you okay, Mr. Hero?"

Izuku looked down. It was a little boy peering at him. He realized he'd been clenching his jaw and his fists, and immediately relaxed his body. Put on a weary smile. "Yes. Why?"

"It's just…well, we're done going over the plan…"

The boy was right. The refugees were now scattering, going about their business once again. Nejire was across the hall, watching Izuku with a concerned face.

"Your face always looks tired," the boy continued, pointing at him. "That is, when you're not wearing the hoodie. Do you not sleep at all?" He put his fingers around his own eyes in circles. "You have dark baggies here."

Shit.

"I sleep sometimes," Izuku admitted, "but think about this. When you sleep, does anyone around you stay awake?"

The boy thought about it, and then shook his head. "Well, my mom always falls asleep before me, but my dad does right after. I think. I can hear him snore."

"Exactly. No one around you is awake, but somewhere else, I am. I'm awake and watching over the area so that you and your parents can sleep soundly." Izuku gave him another smile. "Make sense?"

The boy nodded. "You guys should do that in like, shifts, though. Or whatever you'd call it. It seems like the other heroes are making you do it all the time. None of the rest of them have baggies." He skipped off.

Just then, Endeavor reappeared at the lobby entrance. The fire around his costume died, and he quickly stepped in to take a sip of water. "What time is it?" he asked no one in particular.

"Just past one," Tamaki told him.

The flame hero nodded. "Okay. I'll go for two more loops." He frowned. "It's quiet as a wake out there. No one's gathering."

"It could be that no one happened to see the video," said Nejire. "It was just a live broadcast, and anyone who's still got access to a TV who happened to be tuning in at that time is probably either a hero or still living comfortably somewhere. Not much reason for those types of people to answer a villain's call."

"I hope you're right, young lady." Endeavor turned to Tamaki. "By the way, the food order you requested came in. It's on the delivery truck at the loading bay." The flame hero zipped out.

"Food order?" Izuku asked aloud.

"For my Quirk." Tamaki put his hood up and walked to the lobby doors. "Where's, uh, the loading bay?"

"South corner!" Nejire put in helpfully. "Keep an eye out for yourself and the delivery guys!"

"...Yeah." He left the building.

Nejire tapped her foot on the floor. "It usually takes Endeavor about five minutes to make a full loop." A Hawks feather zipped past them, on the surveillance. "I think we've got this on lock, Deku."

Izuku had to admit that the hospital felt fairly safe and prepared right now. "Let's hope it isn't all just a feint, and that he really does intend to come. If we catch him he can lead us to the rest of the enemies."

Nejire's smile twitched at the word catch. "Hey, have you seen the other Todorokis around?"

Izuku sniffed. "No," he answered, in a clipped tone.

The blue-haired girl raised an eyebrow. "I'd like to at least tell them the plan for the rest of the civilians, even if they mean to do their own thing when Dabi shows up. And if they do, I kinda want to know what it is. Is that bad? I mean, I realize it's personal family stuff, but if it affects our overall plans, then…"

"Hado, Rei is very understanding. I'm sure she'll be able to discern what's too personal and what the heroes need to know, if you ask. She won't withhold any information that we need."

"If I ask? Would you not come with me?"

He didn't like that look in her eye for some reason. "I mean, I can if you want me to-"

"No, no, it's fiiiine…" Nejire walked past him toward the stairs. "I'll just go ask them myself. Though, I think they would feel more comfortable if you were there…"

Why is she acting so weird? "Hado-"

Danger Sense. No. Shit. So fast that it was only a split second of forewarning.

He was interrupted by the blue streak of fire exploding through the windows.

KA-BOOOOOOOM!

FWOOOOOOOOSH.

Azure flames and shattered glass and dust burst in all directions.

Izuku dived forward to protect Nejire. He got his arms around her and they went to the floor, ducking beneath a plume of fire.

People screamed.

An alarm sounded.

Dust and smoke and flames everywhere. More firing out.

Crap! Crap crap crap! Where's Endeavor? Where's Hawks? He came so fast there was no time to-

Somewhere, Dabi was laughing.

Izuku lifted himself off Nejire, and looked into her eyes for just a split second. They were all astir. Filled with the light of rage and energy.

He swept himself up and catapulted toward the sound of the voice.

"Delaware Smash…AIR FORCE!" Izuku flicked a blast of wind through the hospital, and the smoke parted like the Red Sea.

The man himself was hovering in the air above the now destroyed, charred lobby, wreathed in flame, laughing maniacally.

"SO QUICK TO TRY AND END IT, DEKU!" Touya Todoroki cackled. "BUT THE FUN'S JUST BEGINNING!"

The air around the man was too hot. Only Endeavor would be able to get close. Izuku shot a writhing mess of Blackwhips with his left hand. Dabi swept his arm sideways and disintegrated them with white-hot fire. Izuku swung around with his right and shot another air blast. Dabi, using fire jets out of his feet, zipped backward and out of the upper-floor windows.

His speed…!

Izuku gave chase. Dabi, still laughing, called to him, "ARE YOU PAYING ATTENTION?" The flames around him seemed to brighten for a moment, pulsing. "RING OF…FIRE!"

The villain spun in place, and a lateral wave of fire rotated off of him, curling across the entire hospital like a sword slash. KER-POWWWWWWWWWWW.

Deku wavered, falling backward from the accompanying wind blast of heat buffeting his face. The entire foundation of the hospital shuddered. Concrete cracked. Glass shattered everywhere. The building was collapsing.

More rounds of screams awoke him to the reality. There was no time to enact the plan! Where's Nejire? Is she enacting the-

He dived down into the hospital once again, the corridors and rooms sliding and falling apart, blackened and burnt. People were running and scattering in terror. It had all come undone so quickly.

He moved to pick up a civilian with Blackwhip, and Dabi's fire rocketed down toward him. Izuku dodged, pulling the civilian out of the way as well, as the man chased him.

"DON'T YOU GET IT? THIS IS ALL ABOUT YOU! I CAN COME TO MY FAMILY WHENEVER I WANT, BUT ONCE WE KNEW YOU WERE HERE, WE COULDN'T RESIST!"

Dabi flooded the ceiling with an inferno, a dreadful grin covering his face. "SO ATTEND CAREFULLY TO EACH PERSON YOU'RE UNABLE TO SAVE, IZUKU MIDORIYA!"

He curled his fist downward and sent a screwball pitch of fire around toward three civilians hiding far behind Izuku. In that moment, all of Izuku's own options seemed equally hopeless, and he had a split second to decide what to do. I can only stop fire with the wind force from releasing OFA but what if that brings more of the building down and-

As he turned, Blackwhip beginning to shoot from multiple places on his body, red objects slashed down the corridor.

Hawks dived across the open space, his feathers picking up people and zipping them out of the way of the attack. "GO!" he shouted at Izuku as he strafed the battle.

Izuku finished his turn and brought about one leg, kicking it upward in an arc. "ST LOUIS SMASH!"

The air reflected the fire back toward Dabi, though a huge portion of it still spread out across the area, far too close to Izuku's face for his liking.

More Hawks feathers were darting through the place, picking up more people and pulling them to safety. Hawks himself came back through, an expression of pure terror on his face, barely keeping himself upright with diminutive wings.

Dabi had been pushed backward by Izuku's latest attack, nearly to the big hole in the wall of the hospital, but he laughed again now. "THE LITTLE BIRDIE'S TRYING TO HEAL UP? WE'LL JUST HAVE TO HAVE A REDUX OF LAST TIME-"

Nejire's Quirk shot out of the smoke, a bright yellow spiral shoving Dabi out. The villain let out a strangled cry and accidentally forced a blast of fire upward against a corner. It ricocheted awkwardly and ruptured a column. Izuku whirled. A silhouette of a young woman was rising out of the clouds, but more of the building was coming down…

BOOOOOOOOM! The upper floors caved, the cumulative damage they'd taken too much to bear. Another wave of dust swept over Izuku, and his vision was lost.

He launched himself in a direction that he thought was forward, his heart racing with despair. Coughing. More flames roaring in the distance. More sirens. More screams. Where did Nejire go?

He almost ran into Hawks.

The older hero grabbed him by the sides and shook him, the two of them standing on barely stable rubble. "HEY!" he screamed. "TOGETHER, YOU AND I…WE CAN GET EVERYONE OUT OF HERE, STILL! YOU WITH WHIPS, ME WITH FEATHERS…" Hawks pointed at the sky. "EVACUATE UP AND OUT, THEN WE COME BACK AND FINISH IT!"

Izuku blinked smoke and tears out of his eyes. The plan failed. He came so early and so fast that even our preparations didn't come through. Dabi hadn't bothered waiting for Endeavor, or Shoto, or anyone else…he said he was here for me. To make me watch him kill people.

That meant that all that mattered was saving everyone left in this building. Rei.

Green lightning surrounded him. He nodded. "LET'S GO."

The two of them split up, and set about to rescuing every single person they could find.

"Drive away!" Tamaki yelled to the deliverymen, and they rushed back into the cab of their truck. The entire wall of the hospital in front and above them was getting covered in flames.

He ran out into the street as the truck drove off. Only have bread and salad and protein bars in my body right now. What could he even make to help? He wasn't great at controlling manifestations of plants, and they would just burn up in all that fire anyway.

Some refugees and people were fleeing down the street, away from the raging inferno. Sounds of battle could be heard inside. Tamaki waved some people along. "KEEP GOING!" he shouted at them. "GET AT LEAST FIVE BLOCKS AWAY-"

Dabi himself burst out from the glass above the hospital's entrance, high and even with the second floor. He was hovering, and Tamaki didn't know to reach him…he was all the way at the other end of the hospital. Two hundred yards of road separated them.

Then, he saw the other heads of white hair at ground level. Dabi's younger siblings had emerged, and were standing in the plaza out in front of the hospital. Dabi backed up over the center of the road and looked down at them.

A shadow flashed through a side street off to Tamaki's left, darting his attention. Someone had moved there, quickly and quietly. Only a street over from where people were fleeing, too. Perhaps allies of Dabi? People gathered to join the PLF?

If I can't go into the hospital, I need to protect people out here! With his Quirk as weak as it was right now, he had no choice.

"Brother! Sister!" Dabi cackled gleefully. "So good to see you again!"

Natsuo grimaced up at the man that he'd once known as a boy named Touya. "Psycho!" he spat. "If you want to fight us, then FIGHT US! Leave the rest of these people out of it!"

"Fight you?" Harsh laughter bubbled up from his crackled throat. From Natsuo's sister off to his right, an upshot of ice spiked up toward their brother in the sky. Dabi dodged easily. "Fuyumi, my dear, you're out of your element."

"How could you do all this?" Fuyumi shouted. "Home was terrible, but at least we had each other! Why didn't you just come back, if you were alive!" She tried another ice attack, but she was inexperienced, essentially only having memories of seeing Shoto do the same thing to go off of. Dabi just melted it.

A wave of heat was coming off of the villain, which Natsuo managed to neutralize around himself. All I can do is regulate my own temperature, which is totally useless except to protect myself, and I bet he can overcome it. Fuyumi had their mother's Quirk, and half of Shoto's, but she hardly ever used it. It just wasn't enough.

"Where's Mom?" Dabi demanded, still grinning. "She's the last one I still need to have a reunion with!"

"You stay away from her!" Natsuo yelled.

"Hypocrite!" Dabi suddenly spat back, appearing totally furious on the flip of a coin. Holy shit, he's totally lost it. "You'd protect her from me, but not from Dad? You two were always useless weasels."

"Then why don't you come down and kill us instead of staying out of range like a coward!" screamed Fuyumi.

"COWARD!" Natsuo echoed. He picked up a brick and threw it. Fuyumi pushed up more ice, heaving it up, a huge amount. Dabi sneered and went low and sideways-

A streak of orange flames blasted from down the street.

Mixed feelings soared through Natsuo's heart, making him dizzy. Endeavor had returned from his scout patrol.

Father slammed into son with the force of an oncoming train, and red and blue fire was ejected out in two half-moon arcs off of them. BA-FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM.

Natsuo and Fuyumi were lifted up off their feet and thrown backward. The furnace wind was scalding hot, and Natsuo only just managed to activate his Quirk before it burned him to a crisp. Fuyumi, to her credit, threw an ice wall in front of herself, which half-melted immediately, but protected her. Then she put another one beneath them, catching them and letting them slide to safety.

"We're not good at this!" she screamed to him. "Dad is-"

They both looked back. Endeavor was holding Dabi's fists, the two of them pushing against each other in midair. The former filled with rage, the latter smiling again.

"You're so predictable, Father!" Dabi tittered. "Going out on your little patrols to look for me? But I've been watching, waiting for the moment to strike in which you would be too late to save everyone…now I have your speed, too!"

"THIS IS THE END OF THE LINE, TOUYA!" Endeavor roared back.

Their powers forced them away from each other in another blast, both skidding back down opposite directions of the road in front of the hospital.

"We have to do something-" Natsuo began, but the next attack was already underway. Both combatants were now standing in the street at ground level, a hundred yards apart, shooting a huge amount of flame at one another. The two colors clashed right in front of the plaza, two walls of flame shooting up off of each other into the sky.

"We can't just stand by!" Fuyumi insisted. "We should help Dad."

Natsuo despaired, his eyes reflecting the raging light coming off of his family's display of power in front of him. He was right. We're out of our element. We're not fighters. If only Shoto were here.

The flashing glint of steel.

Natsuo and Fuyumi's gazes both darted to the street behind Endeavor. A rush of a red scarf. A running man. A leaping man. Natsuo's eyes widened. "HOly shi-"

The Hero Killer, Stain, hopped through the blast of heat-wind that orbited ten feet from Endeavor and threw a knife right toward their father's back. "DAD LOOK OUT-"

He'd been too focused on Dabi. The knife found its mark and planted there. Endeavor roared in surprise and pain, whirling about to sweep a flaming fist at his attacker. Stain ducked low and then hopped upward, nimbly taking the knife back out with a slash, dodging the flames and flipping out of melee range. Before he'd even landed, he'd licked the knife.

Endeavor crumbled to the ground, paralyzed.

Dabi's flames went out. He stared down the road at the new arrival, a stunned look on his face.

Natsuo's ears rang as the battlefield faded into a lull of silence. The only sound left were the little fires that had started all over the place, surrounding the area of combat.

"Stain…" Dabi breathed.

"Grrrr…." Endeavor was on his knees and elbows, trying in vain to get up, but he couldn't move. Stain's Quirk had activated on him.

The Hero Killer flipped his dagger back into his belt. "Now then," he rasped. "Endeavor, it's been a while. Much and more has been revealed about you since I was captured. It's time for judgment."

Dabi was laughing. "STAIN!" he shouted, like he was seeing an old friend. "Did you come thanks to my message? You know that was like, a ploy, right? The big boss just wanted me to make a play around the boy Midoriya. I figured I'd get some bonus shots in on my shitty family, but-" He cast his eyes briefly over to Natsuo and Fuyumi. "Not to say I won't take whoever shows up to join us! Stain, I've been waiting for this moment!"

The Hero Killer looked up and across the street, and scowled at Dabi, as if he was seeing something distasteful. "Why? What is wrong with you?"

Dabi's grin faltered. "Huh? Wh-"

"You are my second of three targets." Stain pointed his sword in Dabi's direction. "Taking life into your own hands and pushing the blame onto others. You are the worst sort of person. A twister of poetic justice."

"But…no. I started all this because of you. You inspired me!"

Stain spat. "A shame. There is a great difference between you and I. I don't enjoy what I do, but it must be done. You're here for pleasure. I cannot allow you to live. Now, if someone will bring me the murderer and false hero Hawks as well…" His eyes flashed over to Natsuo, and pure terror rushed down the Todoroki boy's spine. "...Then we can make this judgment quick."

Dabi sputtered for a moment, then lowered his eyebrows in anger, reactivating his Quirk, covering himself in blue fire and raising his fists. "That's not gonna happen. You think you get to kill my father? He's mine. Get away from him."

Stain lowered his blade over Endeavor's frozen neck. "I wanted to judge him fairly, and I'll still do so if you come willingly for your own punishment. But if you attack me now, I will have no choice but to finish it. I'm warning you."

Dabi looked over at his siblings again. For a moment, everything was at a standstill.

"Fine," he finally said. "Swing that sword if that's your decision. It would be mine, too. But just wait a moment. Let my father see me kill my brother and sister before you kill him!"

And suddenly he was shooting toward Natsuo and Fuyumi again.

Natsuo's blood ran cold. The sight of his glowing big brother filled his vision, gleefully preparing to incinerate them both…he wrapped his arms around his sister to hold her in their last moments.

Nejire Hado burst from the rubble behind them, rising up with one fist cocked back, wreathed in yellow coils of energy.

"YOU FORGOT ME, ASSHOLE!" she screamed. "WAVE FLOOD!"

The split-second look of shock on Dabi's face vanished behind a burst of light. SHOOOO-SHOOOOOOOO! Nejire's power undulated across the battlefield, slashing through it with so much power that every fire within twenty yards was blown out. And Dabi was thrown into the opposite building.

Meanwhile…

Izuku swept through the south wing of the hospital like lightning.

Fire and dust and screams cracked all around him.

There. There. Another civilian there. Room by room he went, pausing for mere seconds at each one, picking up someone else with Blackwhip. And again. And again. He skirted a fire, his floating array of rescued people lifting up behind him, and kicked through a wall. Grabbed two more people. There was not even time to listen to their complaints.

Go go go go go go. Racing to rescue against time. Hawks was doing the same thing on the north wing, he knew.

Up and out. Up and out.

But this was Rei's side. She was supposed to be over here. Where was Rei?

Not here. Not there. He picked up three more people. Blackwhip was starting to strain now. He was using Float and fifty percent of One for All just to hold up this many.

He came to the wider room at the end of the corridor, the very last place he had to check, and stopped.

Rei was there, along with the remaining half dozen people, cowering in a corner that was surrounded by fire. Looming between them and Izuku was a great dark blue hulking beast.

Dabi had brought a Nomu.

"DEKU!" Rei shouted, reaching her arm out. Her and the others had faces stricken with terror.

The Nomu spun about and growled at him. "Mother…target…you." It was one of the near-High-Ends, one of the group that had escorted Shigaraki away from the war. It had a long snout, and one of its arms inflated as if preparing to release power.

Izuku tied his Blackwhip around his wrist and then yanked the loose end of it through a knot with his teeth, tying it off so that the others would stay secure behind him. "Out behind you, Rei!" he shouted to her, not breaking eye contact with the Nomu. "Use your Quirk!" I'm about to blow this side of the hospital to smithereens.

Rei saw the green lightning around him brighten, and her eyes widened…then narrowed.

Ice grew out from her hands and feet, smothering the nearby fire, spreading and sending a cold wind through the hall. Whoooooosh.

"What now?" she called to Izuku. "I don't know how to think like you!"

"There's a window behind you!" he shouted. "Make a slide! DOWN AND OUT!"

Rei nodded. "With me, everyone!" She spun about and used her ice to stab the window, shattering it. Then she stepped to the windowsill and leaned out, making a downward slide of ice with her foot, leading to ground level away from the building.

The remaining civilians rushed through the window, hopping down onto the slide, hurtling away to safety. Rei was the last to go, with a lingering look at Izuku.

"One for All…" he growled, staring at the Nomu.

He maintained his fifty percent output steady and launched low and forward, crouching…

"FLORIDA SMASH!" He did an upward curving axe kick, straight up, impacting the Nomu and blasting out all the remaining fire. The ceiling was blown apart, debris scattering to the sky. BWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM.

The Nomu went flying, and Izuku went after it, pulling every other person he'd saved with him.

Their protests echoed through the now-open air as they went skyward, above the roof of the hospital. A writhing spread of whips fanned out behind him, a civilian wrapped in each one.

He did the same thing he'd done before while fighting Shigaraki, and made the exchange.

All the civilians were set down on the intact section of the roof, back to the north, his whips stretching out as far as they would go to set them down. It took all of his concentration to do it without injuring anyone. But once he felt that last bit of weight get relieved…

…All his focus, power, and energy sloshed back forward, up toward the Nomu, which was righting itself in the air above him.

It dived for an attack, spraying toxic shots at him from its arms. Izuku dodged narrowly and got a Blackwhip around its neck, yanking it further away from the civilians.

His earlier blow had removed layers of skin and muscle in a streak across its front, but that was now fully regenerating. Dammit. A near-High-End indeed.

Hawks appeared beneath him in the sky.

"I'm done with my half!" he shouted to Deku. "They're fighting in the street! Endeavor's back, and…I think there's something else going on, too!"

Deku strained, trying to hold the roaring, struggling Nomu in place in the sky. "Alright!" he shouted back through closed teeth. "Take the rest of the civilians if you can!"

"That'll take ages! A lot of my feathers burned."

"Just start with it! The hospital's going to collapse, and…I have to deal with this thing!"

While Nejire fought Dabi further down the street, yellow spirals and blue flames clashing against one another, Stain loomed over his prey.

"I'll…be able to move…soon enough…" Endeavor forced out. "We know how your Quirk works."

Stain hummed, unimpressed. "All I have to do is slash you again." He flicked his dagger out. "And you can't turn your Quirk back on while you're paralyzed, either." He leaned in, without fear of the other man's fire. "So…tell me, now that you're number one, do you think you deserve to live? I haven't made up my mind about you or Hawks. I want to hear your reasons before I decide-"

Plant stalks wrapped around his wrist and yanked it downward, wrenching the dagger from his hand.

Tamaki dived to grab it, growing more of the vines out of his body with his Quirk. "Hrrrgh-"

Stain's sword slashed downward. Tamaki got the dagger and rolled, springing back to his feet.

He and the Hero Killer stared at one another, sword against dagger. Nejire's power crashed in the distance.

Stain narrowed his eyes. "Who are you? Another student?"

"I'm Suneater." Tamaki tried to quell his terror. Stain. Holy shit. Of all villains it's him. His old anxiety was creeping back in. But that's the number one hero on the ground behind him! I can't let Endeavor die!

"Are you perhaps another friend of Midoriya? I have something I need to give to him." Stain reached into his pouch and began to pull out what looked like papers.

"You'll never get close to him again!" Tamaki declared. "I'm warning you!" He lifted up the dagger.

Stain snorted. "Your Quirk is…plants? I have no reason to kill you, but I would warn you not to dive in over your head." He nodded at his own dagger in Tamaki's hand. "You don't know how to use that."

"Suneater…" Endeavor grimaced. "Just…stall…"

Tamaki trembled. He had practically nothing at his disposal. His Quirk was incredibly underpowered right now. Think, think, think! You were part of the Big Three, you were trained not to just rely on your power, THINK!

"Why are you here, Stain?" he managed, his voice shaking with a mix of annoyance and fear. "So many heroes…have given up on society. Have retired. And you're not k-killing them? You're here to kill Endeavor and Hawks instead? When they're s-still out here, fighting? Do you think any of us left are f-fighting for glory or money at this point?"

"Like I said, I hadn't made up my mind yet. Now, give me back my dagger."

"Hawks only did what he had to do to prevent the war from being totally lost. Killed for the greater good. And w-wouldn't you know all about that? Isn't that all you do?"

Dark intent entered Stain's eyes. "I'm warning you, Suneater."

"YOU'RE the one in over your head. You'll find no hero targets here. Unless you're willing to help us with him…" Tamaki pointed across the street at Dabi. "Then we're going to take you down!"

Gathering all his confidence, he feigned to throw the dagger, and then shot out more plant matter. A few of the strands caught Stain off guard and wrapped around his waist, but the Hero Killer slashed the rest. Tamaki pulled the other man toward himself, but the plant material didn't have the strength. Stain wrenched himself free and used his forward momentum to rush Tamaki. "I just need you immobilized for a bit…"

Time seemed to slow down as the sword slashed laterally toward Tamaki's thigh.

Even when constricted by Blackwhip, the Nomu was managing to dodge Izuku.

"SMASH!" Another whiff. The thing had enough strength to make it a more even tug-of-war in the air, the tendril between them stretching and loosening and growing taut as they spun around each other in a game of chicken. Izuku was even getting pulled around a little bit. Okay, screw this, it isn't working.

Hawks had taken every civilian off the hospital roof, forty feet below them. Izuku put fifty percent of OFA into a downward swing of the whip, dropping the Nomu into the concrete. SLAM! A cloud of dust spread from the impact.

Izuku dived. It regenerates too fast, and unlike other models, its brain is covered. He needed at least three blows in rapid succession, each with increased power from OFA, in order to obliterate the thing. But he could only really manage to land one at a time, what with the fact that each hit from himself with that amount of power would knock it far enough away to dodge his next one. I have to outspeed my own blows! Fa-jin wouldn't be good for this situation; it made him blast too quickly in one direction. No, he had to simply maneuver with OFA alone. But I just need it to be still…for one second!

His prayer was answered in the form of Rei.

The horror at seeing her reappear there, standing atop a cascade of rubble just beneath the open hole in the roof, was immediately squashed by the wave of ice she created with the slam of her foot. It covered the Nomu in diagonal frozen spikes, immobilizing it…for just long enough.

As Izuku raced toward it, he continuously increased One for All all the way to eighty percent. "TRIPLE…"

A strafing kick to the Nomu at sixty two. He spun around at the speed of a bullet and zigzagged through the beast twice more, a slashing green streak through the air. "SMASH!"

The Nomu was obliterated. The resulting blast of wind from his power whirled out with the destroyed hospital at its epicenter. Izuku could only grab Rei about the waist and shield her with his body, sailing away and carrying her to safety…

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM.

That could only have been Deku, thought Tamaki Amajiki as he and Stain were suddenly blasted apart, the Hero Killer millimeters from slicing his leg in half. The roaring, whooshing wind swept over them all, knocking over the paralyzed Endeavor and causing Tamaki to slam his eyes shut, bracing for impact…

A full second later, he slammed against the wall of a building and felt the wind get knocked out of him. His costume had light armor that he could tell had just saved him from breaking all his ribs. Tamaki crumbled to the ground, the wind dying around him, the blast dissipating. Jesus, Midoriya.

He cracked his eyes open, and saw that the street and the hospital were basically in shambles…and there was Endeavor, still lying on the ground, but now twitching, as if he was about to be ready to get up.

And Stain was nowhere to be seen. He was gone.

Ten more seconds passed, and Tamaki managed to pick himself up and head over to the flame hero. Covering him. Looking around with paranoia. There was nothing. The side streets and dark alleys in front of them were empty.

"Did…did he get thrown somewhere and injured?" Tamaki wondered aloud.

"No…" Endeavor forced out through gritted teeth. "That one's a survivor. He's run away to reconsider his options. All we have now…" He looked toward the last remaining battle, down the road. "Is my eldest."

Nejire and Dabi had to stop and brace themselves in the midst of their own destruction as the wave of wind from Midoriya's Quirk passed by.

When it was gone, the two of them stood back up straight and appraised one another.

She had been attacking him nonstop with her spirals. Dabi's skin was smoking; new scars and burns were forming on his arms and legs of a more permanent nature. He was still nursing a blue flame in his palm, though, and that stupid smirk remained. "There goes my Nomu, I guess. My only ally here, in the end. No one else showed up but that masked freak I used to like. Hey, we match now, don't we? You and I." He pointed to his new burns and scars, and then to his own cheek. "Though not for much longer. All For One has a healing Quirk that can work on these newer injuries if I get back to him fast enough. And you…you stupid bubbly thorn in my side…will be burnt to a goddamn crisp."

"First you'd have to land a hit, loser!" As he rushed toward her again, Nejire launched upward and dunked down another spiral on top of him. Fire and wave met in a dazzling mess of sparks, and she kept climbing, making him chase, all her nerves singing.

It was true. Dabi had not managed to burn her again. She was dodging everything. She'd never done so well in a fight for so long. Her heart soared. I can focus after all! I can be as good as Mirio and…

Her exhaustion was catching up to her, though. Just breaking herself free from the collapsing hospital had taken up most of what she'd normally use in a fight. Nejire Hado was running on fumes. And the adrenaline that was keeping her laser-sharp in this do-or-die battle would not be able to sustain her much longer.

She turned and faced him again in midair as he came toward her. "You thought you could ruin us!" she shouted. "You thought you could make people hate us and like you. But you're too rotten to understand…people don't want to be villains. And that's why you'll always fight alone!"

"Such simple words from a simple girl!" Dabi cackled. "Don't pretend like this wasn't all about payback for you! You've got that same petty fire in your heart as I do!"

They prepared to clash again, and Nejire closed her eyes, putting all her remaining energy into this last blow. He's on the ropes. He wants to at least kill me now, but if he keeps fighting, he's gonna die too. I'll take you down with me, you prick!

Hawks' feathers whistled into Dabi's side, yanking him downward to the street. "NEJIRE-CHAN!" The winged hero shouted from below.

Nejire's blow faltered, her target suddenly out of the way. She stopped herself, floating fifteen feet above the road, and looked down. Hawks was there, but he was totally out of weapons. None were on his back; every single remaining one was pushing Dabi away down the road. The villain's feet skidded along the pavement. He puffed a little bit of fire out of himself and burnt them. The last of the feathers.

"Don't be silly-" he scoffed…

Midoriya appeared, a shining green meteor, and then Endeavor as well, a red comet. The two of them converging toward Dabi. Tamaki was running forward as well, not far behind. And the white-haired woman Rei Todoroki.

"DABI!" Midoriya shouted.

"TOUYA!" Endeavor echoed.

The villain's blue eyes shone. "There you are, Mother," he called, utterly calm even with the two strongest heroes in the world nearly on top of him. "At least I got to say hello."

Rei alone seemed to realize what was about to happen, and she stopped running, her face deadly calm. "Until next time, then…young man." A note of almost stern scolding entered her voice.

Dabi smiled, almost dryly, and then simply stated, "Nutmeg." It must have been some kind of activation word, because AFO's black goo teleportation Quirk swallowed him up, and he vanished right as Deku and Endeavor were about to grab him.

The two of them skidded to a stop, their Quirks dying, breathing hard, light still stirring in their eyes.

"Damn it!" Endeavor raged. Fuyumi and Natsuo were running up now, along with many of the hospital personnel and guards, and some of the refugees. "Dad/Endeavor!"

"Rei! Fuyumi! Natsuo! Are you all okay? Did he hurt any of you! GOD, I was away, I was away and then I got stuck, I didn't manage to…" Endeavor lifted his head and yelled at the sky in frustration.

Tamaki was pale with disbelief. "He…he got away? They both did? What…what was the…are you serious?"

Nejire closed her fist and threw a punch at the air off to the side. The rest of her stored up energy was released, a big loopy wave oscillating away in a direction nobody was in. She swore loudly, something she never did, and then collapsed to her knees.

"We're okay," Fuyumi was saying. "We're okay…"

Natsuo looked around, dumbfounded. More refugees were slowly coming back toward the site of the ruin. The flames had all been extinguished by the wind from One for All.

"It's alright…" Hawks was patting Endeavor on the back. "I think I got everybody…" He looked over at Midoriya, questioning. "Did we get everybody?"

Slowly…the green-haired boy nodded. Nejire stared at him. His face was dirty, his green costume was ragged, but he stood with a kind of confident grace, his hood pulled back away from his head, a gleam in his emerald eyes. "He said he was here to kill people in front of me," said Izuku Midoriya, "and he didn't manage to get a single one."

"Then…we won?" asked Rei, gazing at him with hopeful expectation.

Deku nodded in agreement. "We won." Then he collapsed, joining Nejire on the pavement.