A/N: So in this chapter demon battles occur (spoilers I guess but duh); previously I mentioned which song was used for the Judgement fight at the end, but from now on I'll be linking to these songs (except I can't because FFN hates fun) as and when relevant. I'll also be putting a title with the link in the format ~! song title here !~, to make it clear these are just said song titles and ensure people who don't want to/can't open these links know what's happening. I want to stress that these songs are included to help set the tone of the fight, support/create jokes, or for fun. They are not intended to be listened to while reading the text. I mean, you can, there's no law against it or anything no one can stop you. But the fights were not written with this in mind and, as such, might make for a non-supportive or outright less pleasant experience. Whether to listen while reading, check what the song is and then read, or just ignore it entirely is up to you. I'm just including the songs 'cause it's neat, and wanted to put this here to minimise any potential jarring from these suddenly popping up 15 chapters in.

PSA over, let's get to it.

So in retrospect, pausing next to the ominously smoking cigarette probably wasn't the best move Justice could've made. Not the worst by any means, but thanks to that minor misstep, right now Cerberus was more-or-less the only thing standing between Izuku's soul and the void of could probably handle 'Monica, but it wasn't like the demon to rush in without a few tricks up her sleeve. Of course, it wasn't like Izuku would be helpless thanks to his busted ability and crash-course in demon combat, and Modeus was… there too, but even so…

Yeah, better wrap this up quick.

"So, you gonna come out or faff about like a little bitch?"

Someone with regular eyesight would probably describe her surroundings as a thick smoke, vision all but impossible beyond half a metre in front of them. Thankfully, Justice had the power of soul vision.

She could manage two metres.

Sadly, all those two metres told her was that there was floor in that radius, and said floor was effectively just hardened smoke reminiscent of bare, raw stone. At least the one-way entrance, hazy surroundings and stench of burning flesh filling her nose made it obvious who she had the displeasure of dancing with today.

"Who're you callin' little?" the smoke began to part, giving her a clear view of the demon trying to light a cigarette in this haze; the only demon Justice could possibly expect in this situation. An 'ironically-worn' steel cross necklace, a voice befitting a chain-smoking asthmatic, and a demonic essence riddled with lung cancer.

"Zdrada." Justice tried to show a miniscule amount of respect, i.e. probably more than they deserved. Who knows, maybe they'd undergone a radical, fundamental shift in personality within the last couple of centuries, and would be amenable concerning an intended proposal to fuck off, "Any particular reason you're accompanying Pandemonica into the mortal realm?"

"Seemed fun." the demon got sick of failing to light the cigarette, hissing out a flame to accomplish the task and only incinerating half the stick for the effort, "Plus, I'm getting a good millennium's worth of smokes out of it. How could I say no?"

"Well, I'd say the same way you usually do, but something tells me Lucy wouldn't appreciate a ship sticking out of her office." Justice sighed, "Again."

"Yeah…" Zdrada chuckled, "Best damn Christmas I can remember."

"Don't suppose I can convince you to say 'no' in any way?"

"'Fraid not." her grin betrayed a clear hint of malice. Or maybe it was just run-of-the-mill sadism.

"Even if I got your cigarettes?"

"Even then."

"Even if I got you the 'premium' shit?"

"… How premium we talkin'?" she shook her head with a shrug, "Ah, nevermind, I'm sure I can pry it outta Lucy now you've offered. 'Supply and demand' 'n all that."

"Fair enough." Justice sighed, "Then can we get to the part where I kick your ass instead? Kinda in a rush."

"Fun as that sounds," she sported a shit-eating grin, "I've got somethin' else in mind…"

With those words, she blew out another puff of smoke. The small puff quickly became a flowing gale, shifting the smoke around it into a miniature whirlwind. Justice stayed in place; not much use in fighting before the stage was set. The gales whipped around in a seemingly chaotic storm, smoke gliding through the air before exploding outwards at specific points which Zdrada used to control the flow. Within seconds, the smoke was directed into taking shape…

Oh for the love of-

The smoke soon took form at Justice's feat, a simple floor made of rectangular smoke blocks with small grooves. The air in front of her became clear, giving her a perfect view of Zdara and, in turn, she of her. Justice could sense through the smoke without much trouble, but as Zdara could feel the smoke as an extension of her it would, by sane accounts, be far smarter to leave their battlefield a smoky haze. But as the burnt tobacco took further shape, it became clear what Justice's opponent had in mind. An oval-like shape for their platform; a raised section Zdara stood on before a wheel; three pillars central to the oval's longer side and spaced out more-or-less evenly; and of course the undulating lower floor beneath them, which lightly rocked their platform to and fro. Unlike the haze around them, Zdrada's intentions were crystal clear.

"You've really been spending too much time in Wrath."

Zdrada had fashioned an arena for them in the shape of a fucking pirate ship.

"Well, what can I say?" the faux-pirate fashioned herself a hat, eyepatch, and an ensemble of a black jacket, scarf and boots from the smoke. "I jus' be a seafarin' swashbuckler at heart! NOW!" she flung the wheel to the side, lurching the ship and throwing Justice off-balance as she pulled more smoke out of the wheel. A moment later, she was dual-wielding a pair of cutlasses. "Enough talk! I'll be sendin' ya ta' Davy Jones locker, and claimin' me booty!"

Justice scoffed, "… Ok Modeus."

"Oi, fuck you!" Zdrada was as quick to anger as ever.

"But I gotta say, I'm surprised." Justice sauntered across the deck without a care in the world, taking the opportunity to survey her surroundings. Zdrada had constructed a single sailing ship, with a design seemingly based on an early 19th Century frigate. About 50m long, three masts - of which one had far more notably large sails, all had rigging connecting them to either side, and the 'solid'-smoke making up bulk of the ship seeming to possess the same demonic energy makeup. From the way the floorboards felt as Justice walked across them, it seemed likely that they'd mimic the hardness of wood – something which could come in handy later. She was standing on the first deck, with Zdrada still on a raised quarterdeck, and apparently there were three fully outfitted gun-decks beneath them. From the energy concentrated into the cannons, it seemed like they were actually functional. There was also an apparent larder dedicated exclusively to barrels which could be filled with water or, let's be honest alcohol. But there was no obvious space for other food, ammunition, nor even a crew quarters.

"You really thought taking me on like this was a good idea?" Justice stopped to look back up at her foe.

"Heh." Zdrada carried a condescending smirk of superiority, "I've been sailin' this 'ere ship an' sendin' countless souls down ta' Heresy for these two 'undred years past! And what've ye been doin'?!"

"Oh, filing paperwork, sorting souls, my job. You know, trying to get us out of the logistical shitstorm we've been in." Justice ran a hand over the edge of the ship, relieved to find she could still bend Zdrada's smoke to some extent. Not enough to get out of the cloud, and sadly not enough to get them out of this stupid pirate roleplay she was obsessed with, but still enough to form a solid object under her own power.

"And ya' think that'll save ye here?" Zdrada scoffed.

"Probably not. But." she put the finishing touches on the object she was forming out of smoke. "You probably know why mortals tend to depict me as blind." she waved her off-hand in front of her face for emphasis, "But did you ever wonder why I always seem to carry a sword?" she showed the ebody-black rapier formed in her sword hand, a fine razor-sharp blade with a large handguard decorated to resemble a set of scales.

For the first time Zdrada's smile cracked ever so slightly, while betraying a clear tinge of curiosity. "… No."

Justice passed the sword between either hand, before twirling the sword in a graceful circle. She wanted to make sure the balance was perfect, in the process making the blade dance in her grasp before settling back into a poised posture prepared to strike.

"Ready to find out?"

In an effort to quell the panic bubbling up, Izuku took a moment to try and take stock of the situation:

Cons:

- We're trapped in an evil 'World Sphere' which empowers our enemies and traps us
- Our enemy consists of a hex-wielding, teleporting demon and her army of skeletons
- Our best fighter just got… eaten? by a cloud of smoke and hasn't come out
- Our living allies are panicking at the fact some of their allies are, well… not living.

Pros:

- Cerberus seems pretty strong
- I kind of understand demon combat a bit maybe
- Modeus… is also here

Izuku couldn't help but feel the odds weren't exactly in their favour.

"We can still take you!" but Cerberus didn't wait for Izuku do bemoan their apparent disadvantage, still eager to flaunt their apparent combat prowess over Pandemonica.

"And Zuzu isn't a slouch himself!" it was nice that she even thought he wasn't a complete deadwei- wait 'Zuzu'?

"Ah." Pandemonica's smirk only faltered to show mock uncertainty, tapping an index finger to her chin to complete the false expression. "But can you protect your little mortals in the process?" her apparently default sadistically smug smile returned as the demon's eyes fell over their living companions, taking stock of their positions like a predator prepared to pounce.

"Hah!" Cerberus' undaunted confidence reassured Izuku.

"What makes you think we care about them?" for all of three seconds. He loudly cleared his throat to get the attention of the Cerberus who hadn't spoken yet. She looked at him with an unchanged smile, apparently not understanding what he was trying to convey.

"Think Zuzu does though." Modeus filled her in. Apparently that nickname wasn't going away.

"Oh, right…" Cerberus' smile finally fell, "Damn…"

"Well, I doubt Zdrada will last forever." Pandemonica stuck her hand out dramatically, "Let's get this started, shall we?"

At the snap of her fingers, the horde of skeletons around the perimeter surged forward. Monsters scrambled forward in a chaotically organised way, somehow keeping perfect pace and not falling over each other despite moving in zig-zags in an almost rhythmic wave-

"Move!" Izuku dashed backwards immediately at Modeus' order, somehow instinctively knowing it was for him.

*fwoosh* and not a moment too soon. A pillar of fire exploded upwards from where he'd been standing a mere moment ago. Desperately seeking for a source, Izuku's eyes snapped to Pandemonica. Surprise, surprise, she had a demonic circle in her palm whose rotational speed matched that of the one which had almost cremated him.

Re-cremated? Whatever-!

The column of fire began to burn out before Todoroki sent a glacier forward, smothering the last flames in an explosion of steam that was quickly engulfed with more ice. Pandemonica effortlessly blocked with six bursts of flames tearing through the iceberg. A shock-wave of ice shards flew back, forcing the group to shield their eyes. Izuku's line of sight was barely broken for a fraction of a second, yet when he looked again there were two Cerberi fighting Pandemonica, using the scattered remnants of the glacier as launch points to try and reach her in the air.

Each of Cerberus' punches and kicks seemed to warp the very air around them, but with the advantage of aerial manoeuvrability Pandemonica was dodging as if it were naught but a game. She twisted and turned in the air with incredible flexibility and poise to answer Cerberus' brutal barrage in their dance of death-

Dance- right- demon combat! Shaking off the confusion, Izuku tried to listen to the 'melody of souls' or whatever the Hell he was supposed to do to not shatter himself-

"What do we do?!"

"Those things are getting closer!"

"Do we run?!"

"I'm not sure we can..."

"Fight?"

"How do you fight that?!"

But was distracted by his companions, living and dead, completely at a loss for what to do. Risking looking away from the main fight, he found a plethora of reactions.

Tokoyami had readied Dark Shadow, ready to jump in. Iida was holding him back and looking around frantically – for an escape route? To take stock of the enemy forces? Who knew (well, other than Iida). The 1B classmates were standing back-to-back, Shiozaki's hair growing further into the soil while Monoma's hair turned greener with a hand on her arm. Uraraka was looking almost shell-shocked between Izuku and… and where he'd almost been incinerated. Todoroki was in a battle stance, eyes cutting between Pandemonica, the oncoming horde, and occasionally back to Izuku. Hagakure was unsure, focus darting between the main fight, Todoroki, and Izuku. Cerberus was standing between Izuku and Pandemonica, clearly intent to defend him yet glancing back as if seeking something. Modeus was just staring at him curiously.

It was his gaze catching on Modeus, his thoughts momentarily wondering what she was waiting for, that made him finally realise why everyone was hesitant to make a move.

Him.

Their living friends had no idea what was going on. Todoroki and Hagakure had no clue how to fight demons (not that he knew much better). Cerberus was focused on defending him, and it sounded like Modeus was mainly focused on support. Justice had been their de-facto leader and organiser. With her out of the picture?

Ok, what do we do? The sight of his companions: confused, scared, and uncertain, combined with the oncoming threat made him put all other questions to the side. What was the main threat? Pandemonica. Currently being handled by two Cerberi.

"Can you keep Pandemonica distracted with those two?"

"Maybe?" Cerberus answered uncertainly, "I'm stronger, but she's slippery. I won't lose, but can't keep her from chasing you without three bodies."

"Right." If Pandemonica wanted to leave, they couldn't necessarily contain her. Why was she here? Izuku. Would he be able to keep her distracted? Apparently, if he didn't die.

Other threats? The demon horde, obviously. "Would one of you be enough to protect the others from the skeletons?"

"Ehh, too open here." not a question of combat ability, but positioning.

"Ok, everyone needs to run to the U.A. campus now."

"Wha-"

"The building has doors, corridors; choke-points." as much as he felt bad about it, none of them had time for them to be confused, "These two," he gestured to Cerberus and Modeus, "And Todoroki should be able to buy time. Modeus, talk everyone through demon combat basics once you're there."

"But you-"

"Have two of you." he reassured Cerberus with a smile, "That means we can stay in touch, but those things-" he gestured towards the oncoming skeletal horde, "-won't stay back while we hash out the details. Go." he grabbed Cerberus by the arm. "Keep them safe. Please." she met his gaze and held it, searching beyond his eyes and boring into his soul to decide whether she would comply.

"… Fine." she flooded Izuku with relief through a single word and a brief nod. "Don't do anything stupid!" she immediately began shepherding the group. Todoroki gave him another nod of confirmation, making an ice path before taking off along it.

"Wait-"

"But-"

"You can't-!"

"Todoroki!"

The living had complaints, but they couldn't exactly go against demons.

While they'd sorted that out, the horde of skeletons was maybe ten seconds from Izuku's position. It should take them longer to reach the others – they were heading further in to the sphere, meaning they'd be further from where the skeletons were pouring in at the edge. Thankfully Todoroki had made an ice wall between their group the rest – hopefully that would keep the skeletons off their currently-living friends for another handful of seconds. The fight against Pandemonica didn't seem to have changed, beyond Cerberus' clothes looking a tiny bit frayed from wind.

"Good choice." His demonic opponent gave him a smirk between dodges. "They would've just slowed us down, after all."

From Cerberus' acceptance, he could only hope the skeletons wouldn't make the fight against this infernal mage impossible. He recalled Pandemonica's words – if they could keep going long enough, hopefully Justice would return and prove the weight to tip the scales in their favour.

Pushing down his fear, Izuku stepped forward. He focused on Cerberus movements, Pandemonica's responses, listened to the rhythm behind the attacks. A renewed sense of hope surging through him, he successfully attuned to the melody of the fight. After finding himself able to hear it remarkably quickly he couldn't help but smile, enthused that he'd independently attuned to the situation's song for their struggle against Pandemonica-

~! Pokemon DPPt - Cynthia [QUMU Remix] !~

… You've got to be kidding me.

A hope that quickly melted to a nervous dread with every beat of the piano's strings.

~! Wellerman (Sea Shanty) !~

Zdrada leapt across the deck in an instant, bringing a cutlass down in a heavy overhead strike. Justice blocked the strike with scarcely a movement wasted, sidestepping the thrust Zdrada launched with her off-hand sword. Justice twisted her block into a parry; her rapier slithered around the still-overhead cutlass, forcing Zdrada to step forward or give up the weapon.

Being the overly aggressive masochist she was, she stepped forward. Justice took the opportunity to quickly jab at her face with an elbow, throwing Zdrada off balance long enough to withdraw her rapier with a backstep, quickly avoiding the frustrated swipe Zdrada made with her off-hand blade.

The miss gave Justice another opening; she assaulted Zdrada with a flurry of thrusts which forced the demon onto the back foot. Dual-wielding was cool and all, but they weren't that useful when you were ducking and weaving with all your might just to try and avoid getting stabbed by a better swordswoman.

Not that she didn't try and return the favour; a retreating upper slice, a horizontal swipe to try and regain control, a quick jab to try and catch Justice while she was recovering. A sidestep, a quick duck, a slight lean and counterattack all answered her efforts easily.

It quickly became obvious her skills at basic swordplay were lacking. She'd give an amateur a run for their money, but even a decently trained mortal would probably be able to best her in a formal duel. No, she hadn't been studying the blade for these past two Centuries, she'd been playing pirate.

"Try this!" and any decent pirate would easily beat even a trained sword master in a duel for one very simple reason:

*bang*

They cheat.

Of course, despite Zdrada keeping her off-hand sword hidden behind her back as she morphed it into a flintlock, Justice had seen the shot coming a mile away. Apparently in the heat of battle Zdrada kind of forgot Justice's sight wasn't simple vision like most demon's. If a gun suddenly appearing in her hand had been an actual surprise, it might have been useful for all of three seconds in such close quarters.

"Argh!" but seeing as Justice saw through the gambit in every sense of the word and used that brief moment of non-surprise to stab her rapier into Zdrada's shoulder, a shield probably would have been a better option.

As Justice recovered for another jab, tracking the gun's orientation all the while (because while flintlocks might need reloading after a single shot, the same may not be true of a demonic-smoke-made-fake-flintlock), Zdrada instead use the opportunity to dive through the floor. Smoky, dissolving planks flew back from the impact. Justice made to follow, but found the floor quickly regenerating to block her pursuit.

Another thing about pirates: They're sore losers.

Dammit… She could follow through, break through the wood and dive through before it could close. But thanks to her inferior control over the environment compared to its creator's, it would still take a second or two to achieve the same effect Zdrada could do instantly. If this became a game of cat-and-mouse, the smoking demon would have an inevitable advantage.

Justice was confident in her abilities to come out on top in the end, of course. She may be out of practice, but she wasn't going to lose to some upstart neo-arch-demon who hadn't seen a day of proper training in her life. But she was painfully aware that every second she spent trapped in this smokescreen was one that Pandemonica was enacting whatever plan she'd come up with. If it were most other demons, Justice wouldn't care. But sadly, Pandemonica wasn't an idiot – a compliment she couldn't extent to many among their ranks. She wouldn't have seriously come after their group without some way to deal with Cerberus, or at least snatch Izuku out from under them.

She could try and just force her way out of the smoke. But that would leave her guard down, Zdrada would take advantage of that, she'd parry and try to press her own advantage, Zdrada would slip away, rinse and repeat.

No, she needed to put Zdrada down. She needed to do it without getting into a goose-chase. If she could just force her out… But no, the whole problem was she couldn't force her out.

Can't… Justice had a thought, force her…

"You know, if you were gonna run away the second you had to deal with something tougher than a violent looter with a big boat, you could've just gone up to greed. Plenty of extra-tough office workers for you to struggle against." She couldn't force Zdrada to come out. "I mean, I get why you're afraid of me – I am better than you in, oh, more-or-less every way, after all. But seriously? That's all you've got?" Didn't mean she couldn't make her want to. "Heck, if you'd pestered Judgement enough she'd have probably thrown some idiots at you who were halfway-decent at combat." that Judgement would never waste her time personally with Zdrada went unsaid, "Would've taken a while but you're annoying as Hell, I'm sure you could've worn her down – I believe in you."

No obvious reaction, but she could see that Zdrada wasn't trying to retreat, patch up her wounds, or prepare. Plus, focusing on her form through the floor it became apparent that the negativity coming off her was slightly more intense than usual. So she had to believe it was having some effect.

"But I get why you wouldn't wanna risk talking to Judgement – she is pretty intimidating, after all. It's ok to admit you're scared of an angel, really!" she could feel a wave of irritation coming off her – right, this is the path to go down. "There's Lucy, she could probably… Nah, she's pretty on-edge nowadays, I can see why you'd be nervous about the idea of interrupting her. Obviously we couldn't ask Loremaster – no way the ultimate nerd wouldn't terrify you." she could feel that get a reaction. Even if she didn't have her soulsight, the sudden rippling of the boat's frame couldn't be missed.

"So I guess it's down to me to find you an opponent. Let's see… Clearly you can't take Cerberus or I, no shame in admitting that. Pandemonica is way too versatile for you to even think about. Malina? Nah, you love your li'l sister way too much to consider fighting her, and with all the strategy games she plays, she's probably figured out more than a hundred ways to take you down anyway." She could feel Zdrada's anger bubbling over at that last one, just one last push…

"Let's see, let's see…" Justice brought a hand to her chin in mock thought, "I'm running out of ideas... Who can you fight, who could it be… Oh! I've got it! Someone that you have a decent chance of beating, but isn't a total pushover?" she had to try to keep too much smug energy from seeping into her tone, "Modeus! Finally, I thought of a demon on your level!"

The floor exploded with rage. Justice merely smiled.

Gotcha.

Ok… Izuku began hopping side-to-side, psyching up to leap into the frenzy before him. He could see how Cerberus was attacking a flying Pandemonica despite not possessing flight herself. She leapt between leftover frozen wreckage with inhuman bounds, skidding and skating across the ice. She found the best paths to conserve momentum and turn it around to lunge back at Pandemonica, all the while weaving through glyph-formed flaming pillars which materialised in moments.

If he could use those tactics, One for All should mean he could help. He just needed to mimic the combat skill of an incredibly powerful demon despite only possessing ten months of strength training, half a Hero combat lesson, and an emergency verbal primer on demon combat. He could do that.

Definitely.

Ok… he swayed from side to side, slipping further into the rhythm that made his nerves stand on end. FYI, Dragon typing was ridiculous. Don't think about it… Just… One for All coursed through his veins, the familiar yet alien sensation of energy swirling around in a rhythmic chaos that he could direct by timing his movements.

Egg in the microwave… he breathed out, Egg in the microwave…

He tried to envisage his bones not shattering for once. From the effect it had on Judgement, Izuku imagined something similar to the Gehenna Smash could take Pandemonica out of the fight, or at least put her down long enough for Cerberus to get at her. But as Modeus was with the others, Izuku would then be dead weight. Worse, dead weight the enemy wanted to capture. Plus, he'd be able to put Pandemonica down, but not necessarily out. Would Cerberus be able to deal with her and protect him from the encroaching skeletal horde and finish off Pandemonica? The risk was too great; he couldn't let himself be put out of commission.

But how would you stop a microwave from blowing an egg to charred smithereens? Lower the cooking time…? But even a second is too much, maybe decrease the power-

'Come up with a better metaphor, kid.'

"Wha-" Izuku's eyes blinked open, and it was only by dumb luck and building adrenaline that he kept his focus and rhythm going. The only thing he found was the battle before him still ongoing, with a horde of demons now closer. "Who-"

"MOVE!" he leapt forwards on-beat just in time to feel a pillar of flame shoot up his back. He hated to think how much that would've hurt if his suit didn't have 'demonic fire protection'. Ok move and think moveandthink- Trying to get to grips with the situation, Izuku focused on evasion. He jumped from point to point with the beat of the music, trying to improve the distance covered by each with some measure of success.

Ok so live now think about ghost-voice later microwave metaphor bad? Could he trust the disembodied woman's voice that had come out of absolutely nowhere?

'Yes.' a disembodied man's voice intruding on his muddled thoughts really wasn't helping.

But I've not had success with the microwave yet when it comes to continued limb functionality, so maybe they've got a point. His thoughts took longer than he'd like to complete, dashing and weaving across the battlefield of shattered ice and flaming jets which was thankfully not overwhelmed by the horde of demons. Instead, they poured around the circle of their battlefield as if there were some kind of invisible wall.

Hopefully the others could handle it.

But ok microwave bad microwave bad… he tried to scrape together every brain cell that wasn't occupied with avoiding a toasty ticket back to Hell, Microwave bad… micro… waves good?

He tried to picture it: His body- or soul, whatever- an egg in the microwave, One for All the main box, and the demon duel dance thing was the microwaves themselves. Or maybe a transistor? Something which affected the main microwave's power but, more importantly, something which affected how the box's energy was transmitted to the egg. As well as lowering the main box's power – try 1% for now- he imagined the egg bobbing up and down inside. It rode the microwaves in time with the rhythm of the music, using them to make itself faster instead of taking the waves head-on and shattering before their might, or flinging itself off-course by heading in at the wrong moment.

He quickly realised this picture was completely ridiculous. Scientifically laughable. But seeing as that described his post-death experience quite accurately, he decided to go with it anyway.

The effect was immediate. Snapping his eyes open, his jumps of a mere few metres soon became bounds across the battlefield almost comparable to Cerberus. Flickers of green lightning danced around his landing spots, and his legs weren't even mashed into a pulp!

He continued dashing back-and-forth, quickly noticing Pandemonica struggle to keep up with his movements while dodging the two Cerberi. Cerberus said she could beat her, so hopefully two Cerberi and a strong soul would suffice?

We can do this…!

Izuku quickly adopted Cerberus' strategy, leaping between shattered spires of ice and trying to skid across them without tripping as he set up a good angle on Pandemonica. One bound. A second- dammit! He slipped, quickly recovering and jerking to the side to avoid a burst of flames. He stumbled back into the rhythm, succeeding in leaping to another patch- there! With Pandemonica distracted dodging a kick from Cerberus, Izuku flew in to try a punch.

"Hm." she blocked it by summoning a red circle, the momentum of Izuku's punch dampened and diverted downwards as he fell back to the ground. She summoned another inferno spear from her position, but the moment Izuku's feet touched the ground he rushed forwards, out of harms way as the flames scorched the no-longer-frosted earth.

She was far from defeated, but that punch had done something. He vaguely remembered Modeus' instructions that the duel increased the participants power as it went on. He and Cerberus were barely able to get a good hit in, but so far they'd scarcely been touched. If he could increase his strength relative to hers, they could win by attrition!

Gritting his teeth as he increased the power to 2%, he continued the loop: Dart across the battlefield, wait for an opening, strike! Pandemonica was launched back that bit further, took that bit more effort to block Izuku's attack. He noticed Cerberus wasn't able to connect at all, despite being demonstrably faster. He was still the weak link; beyond her occasional attacks, Pandemonica was clearly more focused on completely avoiding Cerberus' blows than she was Izuku's. Even her counterattacks were clearly more focused on interrupting Cerberus' rhythm that seriously trying to hit him. But even so, they were still winning. They just needed to keep up the attack-

"Oh, look at that." Pandemonica's voice took a casual tone, but didn't let her guard down, continuing to dodge most attacks with the same effortless grace as always, "Looks like they got one of your little friends." What- "Hm? Yes, make sure their death is excruciating." WHAT- he glanced over at the horde of demons, now surrounding the front of U.A.'s entrance-

"DUCK!" Izuku did as instructed, a wave of fire singing the tips of his hair before a wall of flames made him spin to the side. "She's just-"

"Urgh-" but the effort took a toll on Pandemonica! Izuku cranked One for All up to 5%. He could feel his soul ready to burst, an impossible pressure from his very core, but he didn't have to last long! If he could finish this quickly then he'd be free to help the others-

"NO!" Cerberus cry came too late, his body already launched upward towards Pandemonica and blinding speed. She pivoted in a backflip, clearly expecting the attack and already positioned to avoid it. Izuku grazed past at rocket speed and unable to adjust his course.

"Idiot." the smug demoness silently whispered. Missing his target, Izuku went flying upwards-

Oh.

His 5% rocket punch collided with the perimeter of the World Sphere above the U.A. entrance hill. The force made a crack in the darkness, the sound of ice cracking and flesh tearing wailing with a red pulse surging outwards. But within a second, as if someone was slowing time itself, the wave paused. The wails stopped, slowly replaced with a sudden twang of static that turned into an unnerving hum. The crack began receding, Izuku somehow stuck in place as the red pulse folding inwards to its origin.

To the crack Izuku's fist was still stuck in.

It would only occur to Izuku after the pulse collapsed, the crack healed, and he was sent flying back with twice the velocity he'd hit it with… that part of a demon's combat repertoire could involve a professional technique called lying.

As Midoriya stepped aside to fend off the demons, Toru was caught in a mixture of emotions. Relief, that someone who wasn't a demon seemed to have a vague clue as to what was happening, but that was overwhelmed by the shock of everything going so wrong so quickly.

"Wait-" Monoma stuttered, probably wanting more information on what was happening.

"But-" Iida failed to elaborate, his attention quickly drawn to the fact the skeletons were rushing at them from all sides.

"You can't-" Uraraka made to go after Midoriya.

"Todoroki!" Toru yelled at him by instinct. He stopped his ice tracks and instead made a wall between them and Midoriya before Toru could even process that she'd pointed at the ground, clearly urging him to do so.

"Wh- Why-" she took Uraraka by the shoulders before she could begin to form a counterargument. Toru's train of thought finally managed to get back on track long enough to actually plan her actions. But even subconsciously, she'd quickly done everything she could think of to ensure one simple thing:

She didn't want any more of her friends to die.

If Uraraka tried to get involved in a fight to the death without any plans training, she was almost certainly going to die. If she tried to get involved in a duel between demons with no idea of how demons worked, she was going to die. Under ordinary circumstances, she'd try to make Uraraka realise this with a calm and level head. She'd answer her complicated mixture of guilt, fear, regret, and more with sympathy and compassion, doing her best to keep her away from certain doom while ensuring she was content with the decision.

"Are you trying to get yourself killed?!"

But right now, they were in a rush. Yelling to make her back down until they were safe would have to do.

"Because if you over there,that's going to happen! Midoriya's already been taught how to fight demons so he doesn't bite it instantly! What will you do against the literal forces of hell, huh?! Think, Uraraka!"

"B- But I-"

"No buts!" she glanced over to the school, rapidly being descended upon by sppoky, scary skeletons, "We get over there, hold off the skeletons, Cerberus tells us how Midoriya's doing, and if we get that far without getting ourselves killed, we come up with a better plan! And if you have a problem with that-"

"Problem." Todoroki lightly raised a hand, "We took too long. We'll now be surrounded by skeletons before we can get to the front doors."

Dammit! Toru held her head in her hands as she took in the scene. Todoroki was right, they had maybe 20 seconds before the stumbling army of skeletons were there; looked like they'd need a crash-course in demon combat real quick-

"Not…" Iida coughed, eyes still darting around the battlefield before landing on Monoma, "Not necessarily."

"I- I haven't copied a mutant type in a while-"

"Doubt is a luxury those beset by fell forces cannot afford." Dark shadow nodded in agreement. Toru could hear a cacophony of clattering bones. They had maybe ten seconds.

"Right…" Monoma shook off his hesitation, "Then everyone group up!"

"Can anyone open the gates-" Iida was interrupted by Cerberus jumping over and kicking the gates clean off the hinges. Toru led Uraraka by the hand to group up with the rest as requested, and Dark Shadow emerged to form a sort of protective shell around them from the back.

"Keep your arms and legs inside the ride at all times, I guess…" Toru chuckled at her own stupid joke. They had a few seconds left at most before they were swarmed by skeletons.

We're so boned… the revving of engines behind her still gave a flicker of hope.

"Is everyone secure-" Iida started.

"YES! GET ON WITH IT!" Cerberus re-joined their to their group from the gates.

"Right!" the tumbling mountain of ancient bodies was on top of them. Close enough that Toru could practically see the deep frowns on their skulls. But even the cacophony of bones was drowned out by the engines behind her.

"Dual…!" Monoma yelled.

"Recipro…!" Iida screamed.

""BURST!""

*VWOOM*

In a flash, the view in front of Toru changed. One moment, they were just in front of U.A.'s wrecked gates, moments from being overcome by a deluge of calcium and despair. The next, they were right in front of the entrance doors, close enough to see the cracking, half-overgrown interior through the glass. A wave of wind came past them, throwing the doors open but thankfully not off their hinges.

"Ok, move!" Cerberus quickly yelled, practically throwing Toru and Uraraka through, before literally throwing Iida and Momoma through.

"Damn… You weren't kidding…" Monoma groaned from the floor, massaging the back of his calf in pain as a set of engine exhausts flaked away.

"I wouldn't dare to joke about such a thing!" Iida was far quicker to more-or-less recover, closing one door despite a light stumble as his legs emitted black smoke, while Cerberus took the other. "I fear these glass doors will do naught against…" he backed away from the doors, and the oncoming storm of death just beyond them. "That-"

"On it." Todoroki put his right foot forward.

*FWOOSH* the front door, wall, and surrounding walls were all coated in a layer of ice, thickening moment by moment.

"Ok." Toru sighed deeply, "Ok, ok ok ok." her gaze turned to Uraraka, "Sorry about-" she shook her head, "No, apologise later. We need to help Midoriya, right?"

"R-right!" Uraraka's face of uncertainty and fear quickly shifted to an enthusiastic nod.

"Right." she turned to Cerberus, "So how does demon combat work, exactly?"

Thankfully, the demon didn't try to play any games or irritate Todoroki, who was busy reinforcing the ice he'd laid over the front doors and grand glass surrounding it, using ice upon ice. The ever-growing wall of skeletons sending the occasional crack through it while their mass slowly blotted out the small amount of ominous red light from the dome showed such a task was necessary.

Instead, Cerberus gave them a spark-notes version of how demon duels were supposed to work.

"So…" Iida re-adjusted his glasses and stretched his leg one last time, "To make sure I understood you correctly… You're saying these skeletal foes are, in fact, of a demonic nature and, as such, must have a specific technique utilised against them, else any attacks we can mount will be of limited utility. A technique which involves…"

"… Dance battling?" Monoma finished incredulously.

"That's basically the recap, yeah." Modeus said, still on Midoriya's phone.

Glancing back to the skeletons, Toru tried to pay more attention to their movements. Apparently they could 'attune' to the song by trying to copy their rhythm. While she wasn't exactly an expert in dancing - why can't Ashido be here? - it only took a few seconds before a rhythmic sort of 'pulsing' became apparent within the horde. Unsure what else to do, she started trying to begin swaying her hips to the beat of the pulse.

Is this what Midoriya was doing? Back when she'd been stuck in the brimstone block puzzle guarding the gates to Hell and wasn't that a sentence, Toru had been able to see Midoriya off in the distance, talking with the demons for a while. He was too distant to make out specifics, but she recalled seeing something akin to light swaying before he zoomed off. How long did that take again-

THERE! She heard a few notes of a song, a handful of beats and some instruments which involved… Maybe a boney xylophone? The realisation made her flinch, and it was gone again.

"I heard it!"

"Wha- really?!" Uraraka exclaimed, re-doubling her dancing efforts to try and attune to the song as Toru had. "I can't hear anything."

"Nor can I, I'm afraid." Shiozaki was trying to copy them, but with a level of grace that left Toru envious of her competence.

"Perhaps we require more instruction?" Iida's was also trying to copy them, but with an amount of robotic flailing that left Toru grateful for her own level of competence.

"Perhaps dwellers of darkness remain mute to those basking in light." Tokoyami was doing a lot better than Iida, though gave a response beyond incomprehensible-

"That's pretty much it." Cerberus nodded- wait she understood that- WAIT THAT WAS RIGHT?! "Obviously living mortals can't naturally attune to a song of souls."

"Oh, o-of c-course." Todoroki deadpanned, with some difficulty thanks to the chill of his ice getting to him. "How f-f-f-foolish of-f u-us." Toru wondered if they had anything able to heat him up-

"Hey, wait." she remembered when he cauterised his wounds back in the tailor shop, "I thought you could get hot too."

"Oooooo-"

"Shut up Modeus." Cerberus sighed.

"I c-can't." Todoroki replied with a grimace, "H-healing wounds and m-melting others out of my i-i-ice is one thing, b-but otherwise…" he bit down on his lip, "I-I can't use my left s-side. I won't."

Toru wanted to protest, to point out that if he couldn't keep up the ice barrier they were all screwed and any hang-ups should really take a back seat to that, but it was obvious from Todoroki tone that it wasn't that simple. That this was important to him in a way Toru could scarcely envisage. That it was something she wanted to try and help him through, to help him move past, but that doing so would require a level of understanding unachievable in the 'ohgodohnoeverythingsgoingwrongOHNO' situation they were currently stuck in. As it was, there was nothing she could think to do.

"… Can I use it?" Monoma suggested an alternative.

"No."

"I can see this is really important to you." Cerberus walked up behind him, putting a hand lightly on his shoulder with a smile, "Don't worry, I wouldn't want to make you feel uncomfortable."

"… Thanks-" Todoroki's body was suddenly engulfed by flames, erupting from Cerberus' hand.

""Holy SHIT!"" Monoma and Uraraka exclaimed with a step back. Just as the group regained their senses and went to help, the flames disappeared as quickly as they'd appeared.

A lightly singed and still-steaming Todoroki flatly glared at Cerberus. "Ow."

"I didn't know you could do that." Toru whispered loudly. What the hell was her power-set?! "You ok, Todoroki?" he nodded in response, redoubling his efforts to keep the iced glass secure.

"But," IIda started, "If we are unable to hear this 'song'; if we are unable to fight these monsters…"

"Then how are we supposed to help?" Uraraka finished quietly. For a moment, no one was able to answer. But soon a voice came from quite possibly the most unexpected person:

"Working on it." Modeus continued typing on Midoriya's phone, a flicker of red energy occasionally visible.

Wait, she's actually helping?

"How many moons must we wait to delve into the darkness?" Tokoyami asked.

"Every time you ask that, it'll go up by one." Modeus replied.

"But," Uraraka turned to Cerberus, "How's Midoriya doing?"

"He's actually-" her eyes widened, head snapping in the direction of the Pandemonica fight. She cringed as the red light of the outer dome flickered for a moment. "Uh… Not…"

*BANG* *CRASH* A shock-wave rocked Todoroki's ice wall and the ground beneath them, a moment after a much larger projectile flew through one of the windows above them, at speeds too fast to make out what it even was.

"… Great…" Cerberus finished-

"Wait was that MIDORIYA?!" Uraraka was somewhere between disbelieving and frantic.

"Yeah." Cerberus sighed before getting into a fighting stance, "Now I've gotta keep Pandemonica distracted." she glanced back, "Modeus, take the mortals and check on Zuzu."

"'Kay." Modeus began walking back through the halls, attention not shifting from the phone.

"And you intend to get out how-" Monoma's question was interrupted as Cerberus leapt up to the ice wall and broke clean through with a single, flaming kick. She darted through the hole, charging through and above skeletons as she shifted into her hound form to return to the battle.

"Did she just-"

"Yes." Todoroki interrupted Shiozaki as he quickly re-sealed the hole with new ice before any skeletons could crawl in, "She did."

Oh, right, they haven't seen her transform yet.

"But- Midoriya!" Uraraka took off down the hall and, if Toru's memory served, towards the stairs. The main in the entrance stairways had collapsed from decay, so she was assumedly heading towards one of the other sets. Modeus kept pace with her the moment she passed.

"We should-"

"Go." Todoroki interrupted Iida, "I'll keep this secure, you all find Midoriya." the group froze in place at the idea. No doubt they were hesitant to leave their former classmates, but…

"You heard him!" Toru repeated the order – Uraraka, Modeus and an injured Midoriya were unable to deal well with an army of skeletons by themselves. After a brief glance between each other, Iida nodded and the still-living mortals took off.

"You too." Todoroki glanced at Toru.

"If I go…" she looked at the wall of skeletons that was now almost completely blocking the light outside, "Who'll pull you out of this mess when you're a todocicle?"

"I'll be fine." he insisted, though the flecks of ice on his skin that Toru could see forming made her doubt his sincerity. "Once it's thick enough, I'll leave. Should hold them while I get to the stairs."

"But still-" Toru paused as a horrible thought crossed her mind. "Uhh, Todoroki…?" she looked back towards the skeletal horde that were completely blocking the glass. "This glass goes up to the floor of the next story, right…?"

"Yeah, it-" his eyes widened as he made the connection Toru had. She'd really been hoping she'd missed something. That she was thinking about it too hard or that it was impossible. But no. They were fighting legions of skeletons, who could stumble over each other, and therefore probably climb over each other. Q.E.D…

"If I keep the ice wall up, they can cut to the second story…"

"… Giving them a straight shot to Midoriya." Toru finished the thought. "Which means the only thing we can do to stop that from happening…"

"Is let them in." Todoroki confirmed her fears. She was really hoping she'd missed something.

"You said you can use your… your 'left side' to melt ice if it's for your friends, right?"

"Yeah…" he sighed, "I will." he stepped forward, placing his left hand on the ice wall which soon started to steam. "We're about to be flooded with skeletons."

"Yep." Toru began shifting side-to-side, trying to get into their rhythm.

"You should go after the others." cracks began to form as the ice thinned, the skeletons' weight breaking through the ice and glass both.

"Haha." Toru handlessly cracked her neck in time with the beat, "Nope." the gaps in the ice began to widen, the cracking noise a clear tell they were moments from a wave of undead.

"Should we run to the stairs?" the cracks began centreing around a handful of points.

"We should…" Toru watched as the wall began to cave in, "NOW!"

Toru grabbed onto Todoroki with one beat, kicked against the ground for as much speed down the hall as she could with the next, and heard the glass/ice-wall collapse behind her on the third. Amazingly, 'tuning in' to the skeleton's song increased her capabilities tremendously, and suddenly she was bounding down the hall with Todoroki in hand, his weight feeling scarcely a fraction of what it should be. She slung him forward into both arms so he was easier to carry safely, turned a corner, and checked over her shoulder to confirm that, yes, the rattling jaws of death were right behind them.

"Wha-"

"This was faster!"

Todoroki, to his credit, simply nodded, before flinging ice back at their pursuers more-or-less in time to the music, apparently content for Toru to carry him through the halls. But not without adding a thought that came to mind:

"We don't tell Modeus."

Toru quickly nodded to the suggestion, not even bothering to try and suppress any blood from going to her cheeks – the mortal peril was already accomplishing that in spades. "Agreed."

A/N:

So when I started writing this I was thinking 'man, I hope this fight doesn't feel too short. I don't get how people can make combat scenes go on for thousands of words', and then I wrote it and now it's looking like this absolute mess is gonna take three long-ish chapters to get through (including this one).

Mission failed successfully, I guess.

I'm going to try (emphasis on t r y) to get the next chapter out next week instead of the usual fortnight because I know how frustrating it can be for a fight to span multiple chapters and go on way too long. Not that MHA fans would ever experience a fight which outstayed its welcome, of course.

Fight scenes are also probably where I'm still the least experienced writing-wise (at least where it comes to elements used in this kind of work); this was still fun to write but I know it's got various issues - I've been trying to do some research on how to improve writing and fight scenes in particular, so hopefully this aspect will improve over time. Or maybe you enjoyed it just fine and I'm just hyperfixating on a non-issue, who knows.

Also shout-out to 501awezome, your comment/review/whatever you call it on FFN gave me the motivation needed to finish this one.

As always feel free to comment with thoughts, predictions, concrit, etc. etc., wishing everyone a great weekend and hopefully see you next week!