Chapter 6: Recollections

A massive dome of yellow, coursing with purple electricity, enveloped what seemed to be half of the endless city. Its scope was horrifying to the red, spiky haired man observing a great distance away. He tugged on the top end of his black coat, gulping as the attack unfolded before him and disappeared shortly after.

"Jeez, hope everyone's alright," the man said.

"They're fine, Lea."

Lea turned, glancing around the crumbled, abandoned building he was in. The room was mostly featureless. Grey painted walls, flat, black floor, some glassless window frames, and a couple chairs huddled in the room's center. Sitting on one of those chairs was a blonde girl wearing a small, white nightgown.

"You can tell? I thought you were busy concentrating?"

The girl shook her head. "They're fine. I can feel it."

Lea weakly nodded in response. "Alright then." A brief, awkward silence followed before he continued. "So, how's it coming along, Namine?"

Namine squinted her eyes with a pout. "I'm trying, but he has something that's protecting him from my power. I've never dealt with something like this before, but I'm trying my best."

She was drawing on a sketch pad with a crayon, a whole collection of them at her side. The sketch was of Tomura Shigaraki with a couple scratches drawn over his chest, and a circle made of what appeared to be White Blood Cells covering his chest, with various scratches along it. The scratches went a quarter way around the circle, and were thick lines, the same type a prisoner keeping track of their days would draw.

"Tell me about it," Lea said angrily, scratching his head with a scowl, "I figured Luxu was enough to deal with, now this guy just pops out of nowhere. And I get Mickey's reason for- uh, sorry, The King's reason for leaving me to guard you, but it's just driving me crazy sitting here while everyone else is dealing with that guy. Like, I just wish I could just do something more than stand around here with you!"

The room went silent, an air of unease and guilt washing over Lea.

"I… I didn't mean to imply you aren't important. Sorry, Namine."

She moved the crayon up and down, forming another thick line around the circle. "It's not just that. What else is wrong?"

Lea's eyes glanced around the room, hesitating. "Keeping an eye on you while you mess with someone's heart… brings back bad memories."

With a final, downward motion, Namine completed a thick scratch. She lifted the crayon up from the sketch pad. "I don't like thinking back on that either, but it's in the past now. That's not who you are anymore, and all you've done since then is improve. Don't blame yourself for something you aren't anymore, okay?"

He sighed. "Thanks, Namine."

Lea's gaze returned to the window frame, looking over the faraway battlefield. "I'll feel a lot better once this Tomura guy's heart is destroyed." He exhaled. "So, any idea how much longer this whole process will-"

A ball of purple and black fazed through the building into the room. Lea and Namine jumped in place, startled by the ball of energy. Their eyes remained nervously locked on it as it traveled toward Namine, but morphed into another shape. From one moment to the next, the ball of darkness became Riku.

"Namine! Don't destroy his heart! The plan changed!" He shouted feverishly.

"Huh?!" Lea shouted back, his eyes widening in shock, "And just what in the world prompted not getting rid of the guy that's been obliterating so many people?!"

"Sora…" Both Riku and Lea's gazes fell on Namine. "He sees light in Shigaraki's heart, trapped under horrible darkness, and wants to bring it out."

"How… can you tell?" Lea asked.

"I haven't been focusing on Shigaraki's memories, I've been purely devoted to destroying his heart… but, that thought, the idea of Sora reaching out to him, wanting to help him…" Namine's eyes shifted back to the sketch. Coming closer, Riku and Lea saw her finger sliding down to a bright light glowing on his chest, surrounded by the White Blood Cells. "It's become a part of his heart. He holds it so closely, so strongly inside him, I didn't even find it. It's more like… it greeted me as I entered."

"Uum, alright." Lea said nervously, "As nice as that is and all, are there any guarantees we can change his mind before he, you know… does something bad to one of us? As much as I wanna go along with Sora, every moment we haven't dealt with this guy is more time he could make us regret it."

"You're not wrong, Axel." Riku said, "Going through with Sora's request is dangerous, and we don't know how this is going to end up going. But Sora's never steered us wrong before, and his heart is always in the right place. Doing this makes me nervous, and I couldn't care less about this guy, but I trust Sora, and I know you do too."

Lea rubbed his hair with a smile. "That sums up my thoughts to a T. Makes me feel a lot better knowing you feel the same way." His smile vanished as he placed his hand to his side. "So, we're not destroying his heart. What do we do now?"

Silence befell the group of three. They stood together, heads tilted down as they racked their minds for a solution. Lea crossed his arms, tapping a foot on the stone floor repeatedly, making a rhythmic, droning noise. Namine flipped to a new page on her sketch pad, nervously staring at an empty canvas as her crayon floated above the paper. Riku's eyes squinted as he looked to the floor, releasing a brief, quiet hum.

"Why is he doing all this?" Namine asked.

"I don't know," Riku said, not even facing her, "but I don't really care. If we're not destroying him, our next option should be incapacitating him."

"Well, I was saying-"

"He's no joke," Riku continued, speaking over Namine, "we'll definitely need to knock him out, although his healing ability might make that tough. Axel, you think you could-"

"Yo, Riku!" Lea said, snapping him out of it. "Let her finish."

Riku nodded. "Right. Sorry about that."

Namine motioned inward with her hand. Lea and Riku approached her as she drew on her sketch pad.

"Tomura isn't some Heartless, he's a person acting on instinct and ideas. That means he has beliefs that drive him, a goal he wants to achieve, and experiences that have led him to who he has become."

"Yeah," Riku said, "like an Organization member."

Hearing his words, Lea gripped his gut as his mouth crinkled. "Kinda like Isa and me."

"As if," Riku spat, "you're not nearly as bad as this monster."

"Maybe not anymore, but I used to be." Lea's head turned up to Namine. "You would know that really well."

Namine nodded. "But you weren't doing any of that because you wanted to or liked it. It was because…"

"A lot of reasons," Lea continued, "Xemnas lied to me, I wanted Isa and our friend back, I was forced to do a few things." Lea thought back to his time at Castle Oblivion where he wiped out member after member of his organization, sometimes with a smirk. He remembered an intense fight with Xion, and bringing her back unconscious to their castle before fainting, feeling heavy and drained. He thought back to the digital Twilight Town where he summoned a circle of flames around Roxas, and wielded his Chakrams against him.

"At the end of the day though, it's not like I was mind controlled or possessed by someone else. I did all of that myself, even if I was being threatened to do some of em." He let go of his gut, bringing his hand up. "But I think I get your point, Namine. If we're gonna have a peaceful resolution with this guy, we have to try to understand him."

Namine nodded with a smile. "Instead of destroying his heart, I'll use my powers to force him to remember memories that will make him reconsider why he's doing all this."

Riku stared at Namine with a raised eyebrow, looking at her curiously. "Are you guys sure about this? Gambling on him even having these memories? We don't know anything about him, he could very well be heartless." He gripped a fist, giving them an ice cold stare. "I say, we keep damaging his heart until he can't fight. Sora didn't say he needs to be in good condition."

"This isn't a gamble." Namine said, "Plus, if we want to do what Sora wants, we can't treat Tomura like some monster. Even if he's different from us, if he wants to be a good person, if he wants that light to outshine his darkness, then he needs somebody to be there for him, somebody to help him." Namine smiled at Riku. "At least, that's what I think Sora is thinking."

Riku remained silent for a moment, the sound of Namine drawing echoing through the room.

"I know," he said, "I just… I'm not gonna prioritize him over you guys. I'm worried that if we don't stop him from fighting back, something really bad is going to happen. If that does happen…"

He couldn't finish that sentence. His body froze up at the mere idea of it.

"Have faith in me, Riku," Namine said, looking up at him with a soft smile, "It's not like I plan on begging on my hands and knees. We're going to fight, but we're also going to treat him like a person, not some thing to control."

"Yeah," Lea said, "we usually fight in situations like this anyway. I don't see why any of us would stop now. Plus, I kinda feel like I need to help him after you compared him to how I used to be. It would just… feel wrong, you know?"

Riku's gaze drifted to the ground, his thoughts weighing heavy on him, a shaky, nervous frown on his face. Finally, his eyes squeezed shut, and his mouth scrunched up. "Namine, how confident are you that he has memories that'll change his mind?"

After drawing for some time, she placed her crayon down, and signaled for him to come to her. Riku and Lea approached, their eyes drawn to her sketch pad. "I already know he does."

"Seriously?" Lea asked, looking at the sketch. Namine made a drawing of Tomura Shigaraki standing behind a man in a suit and tie with a disfigured face, crinkled as if he healed from severe burns, with no features but his mouth remaining. Disturbingly, Shigaraki was plunging a fist through the man's chest as he held a demented smile, red liquid flying out from the hole. "Jeez. How is this supposed to be a good memory?"

Far above the vast Heartless ocean, Shigaraki continued his bid to dodge Mickey's assault as he was dealt blast after blast of magic attacks. Homing Firagas, nearly instantaneous Thundagas, and Blizzagas that he attempted to ensnare Shigaraki in a dome of, yet his air cannon shots kept him safe from all of it, say for a few stray Thunder Bolts that surged across his body.

(He's been spamming these spells for a good while,) Shigaraki thought as he flew across the sky, his hair and cape flowing in the breeze, (but that's all he's doing. He isn't trying to close the gap or do anything special, he's just been playing footsies with me. It's not like this benefits him. I'm dodging everything, and he should be wasting his mana or whatever with each blast.)

A bolt of lightning hit Shigaraki, coursing through him like a lightning rod before swiftly disappearing. (He must have some other goal in mind. Maybe Sora warned him about my powers, and is trying to see what I can do.) His eyes narrowed as he stared back at Mickey. (Or maybe he's trying to stall for time.)

He glanced down at the ocean of Heartless below him. (They may be trash mobs, but they definitely aren't useless. I need them to keep everyone split up, unable to communicate, and more importantly, unable to swarm me. Cartoon Nezu and Sora on their own aren't a problem, but all fifteen of them would be an issue.

(As much as I would love to kill them all while they're distracted, a Decay Wave would be a massive gamble. The mobs may not die, but they'll scatter to who knows where, and I can't call many of them back anymore. Plus, there's no guarantee enough of them will die to justify it.)

He activated Search. His rainbow colored eyes darted across the battlefield, taking stock of everyone's situation. (Then again, I'm on more than one time limit. Now that there's so many of em, they're thinning out the horde a hell of a lot faster. Once this batch is toast, I'll be on my own.)

He dodged a stream of water magic from Mickey, the water bursting like a balloon where he once was. (I have to make a move before then. I have to kill whoever's messing with my body. I just need Cartoon Nezu to get comfortable and screw up, he might start to panic if I make it obvious I'm looking around for them. He engaged me, that means he wants my attention on him. As long as I give him what he wants, that should make getting an opening just a bit easier.)

At that moment, Shigaraki's mind was assaulted. His thoughts of the battlefield were overridden, replaced by a memory that seemed ever so distant. The memory was so thorough and vivid, he felt he was reliving it once again.

Back in an unassuming neighborhood of Kamino City, he annihilated legions of heroes with a mere flick of his finger, launching an air wave resembling the strength of a typhoon. Those heroes, and everything around them, were all blown away before his eyes, scattered in the wind before smashing back on the ground.

Shigaraki, donning the same military bodysuit he wore now, without Beast's cape, grinned as he looked upon the carnage. He activated Search, and began marching forward as his eyes locked on a specific hero. The hero moaned in pain, trying to crawl away from the villain before him.

"As much as I love unleashing my power to my heart's content, this was one moment I simply had to hold back for."

Shigaraki reached the man, and placed his hand over his head. Streams of red energy began flowing from him to Shigaraki. "But do not worry. Your quirk will live on through me, the greatest Demon Lord this world will ever know."

After a few seconds, the red streams vanished. Shigaraki began chuckling, soon evolving into hearty laughter. "At last, you're finally mine! The search was long and arduous, but thanks to Network, I have finally obtained White Cell Program! This quirk is the complimentary inverse to Super Regeneration. While the latter heals my body's physical wounds, White Cell Program suppresses and restores any abnormalities taking place internally! Be it one of my organs ruptured, I come under attack by some pathetic virus, or even something as small as my vision going double-crossed, this quirk will negate and repair, or outright eliminate it astonishingly quickly!"

Shigaraki laughed again, his bellowing cackles echoing across the crumbling city block. "Perhaps now I should begin seeking out Invincibility? Or what about Body Duplication? Hell, Immortality itself is no longer beyond my reach! This world has become my plaything, everyone and everything within is subject to my whims and desires! Finally, I am the mightiest, the strongest this world has to offer! No one will ever hope to compete with my power again! There will not be a second All Might, a second Izuku Midoriya, or an eleventh wielder of One For All!"

Shigaraki chuckled. "No, One for All will never be passed down again. The tenth user-"

Shigaraki's body began shaking. His confident smirk was gone, replaced by a scared, open mouthed stutter. "Wh- what in the…? What is… happening to me?"

He stared at his vibrating hand, shaking faster and faster with each second. "It's… White Cell Program. It is having an adverse effect on my body. But… why?!"

His eyes shifted to the man he stole it from, still groaning in agony. "I must… get rid of it." He reached out to the man, the gaping hole in his palm glowing red. "But… I do not understand. My analysis of quirks is never incorrect. So why? Why does it fight off my own body?! It is almost as if…" his hand continued shaking rapidly, now going so fast it appeared to be in multiple places at once. "As if…"

A growth extended out of Shigaraki's hand. It seemed to be flesh, and it was growing bigger and bigger. Shigaraki's eyes bulged in terror at the sight of that growth.

"No! This cannot be!" He clenched his teeth and started yelling. "Tomura, stop resisting me at once! If you push me out, the heroes will kill us both! You know you couldn't have gotten this far without me, why aren't you showing me some gratitude?!"

The growth kept expanding, now going across his entire arm, and even up to his shoulder. Shigaraki became manic, his eyes were so wide they appeared bloodshot, and his yelling evolved into furious screams. "Stop being an idiotic child and listen to me! Do you not realize the mistake you are making?! If you push me out, then you will-"

After a small pop, the growth rapidly expanded to more than double its size before being ejected from his body, plopping on the floor a few feet from him. The growth was All For One, laying on the ground in silence.

(This cannot be.) These words echoed in his mind as he slowly lifted himself up, his gaze slowly, shakily turning to his former vessel.

Shigaraki took heavy, isolated breaths, squeezing his arms as if trying to hug himself while drool slipped from his mouth to the ground. His breathing slowly lessened, and as it did, he lifted his hands, looking at them, gripping them as if trying to grab an object. He almost seemed entranced by himself as he stood there in silence…

Then, he started laughing. He laughed joyously, obscenely loudly, as if he wanted the entire world to hear him. Shigaraki had a huge smile, one bigger than he'd ever had before. His laughter came to a stop as he looked up at the sky, a small ray of sunshine shining down on him from behind a storm cloud, his head tilted back as he took in the gentle breeze. The wind blew across his body as if caressing him, enveloping him in a warm, loving embrace as he took in the moment, blissful to the pain and suffering around him.

Just a few feet behind him, All For One looked on at his old vessel in complete and utter horror. His mouth hung agape, and the holes where his eyes once were gaped to an inhuman size. Weak, terrified stutters escaped him as his body kneeled, paralyzed in place.

His heart nearly jolted out of his chest when he saw Shigaraki turning, pounding him from the inside out as his former plaything stared him down with a cold, sinister grin.

"Flew a little too close to the sun. Didn't you, Icarus?"

As much as he wanted to deny it, he knew it was the truth. All For One was afraid.

(How unthinkable. I, All For One, a name that brings about heart-stopping fear, the man who plunged Japan into a Dark Age single handedly, is himself afraid?! Preposterous! In all of my wildest imaginations, I never foresaw this scenario. Tomura's body was supposed to permanently be mine after the merge was completed.)

All For One brandished a smile. (No matter. I can still salvage this.)

"Ah, Tomura! What a grand development this is!" He spoke to Tomura with a confident tone, loud and proud, his arms outstretched to his sides. "It brings me great joy to see you have finally passed my final test! Yes, like Gigantomachia before, this was all another of my plans built solely for you. I must admit, I did not believe you were ready to detach myself from you, but clearly I have been proven wrong.

"It may seem a tad anti-climactic, but finally, these past few decades of nurturing you, fostering a proper mindset in you have finally borne fruit. Long have I dreamt of this moment, and to see it living before my eyes leaves an indescribable feeling in my chest."

All For One rose a fist high in the air. "Let this moment mark the birth of the next great Symbol Of Evil, Tomura Shigaraki!"

He held his smile firm and true, but inside, his heart continued pounding away. (Even the connection between my original quirk in his body, and the duplicate in my body, has been severed. Over a distance, I can no longer control or communicate with Tomura's body.

(Should we make physical contact however, my consciousness will take hold once again. I will use that time to get rid of White Cell Program. I will not make such a foolish mistake again.)

Throughout this little speech of his, Tomura did not once react. He remained unmoving, maintaining his cold, sinister glare at his former master. All For One prayed for some sort of reaction, but to see this. It made him hesitate… but only for a moment.

Although still terrified, All For One began walking to Tomura.

"To celebrate the occasion, I have one last gift prepared for you. Consider this the final thing I can grant you. With this, you will have truly and utterly surpassed me."

All For One reached his hand out to Tomura. "I cannot wait to see what things you will do."

Time around him slowed to a crawl. In this state of focus, All For One was solely fixated on one thing. His dream. In this moment, it was the one and only thing he cared about, and he would reach out and take it, no matter-

Tomura's hand snatched his arm, squeezing it firmly and tightly. All For One whimpered in pain as his legs gave out, falling on one knee as his arm started emitting various distinct popping sounds.

Tomura looked at him with a snide smirk. "You really thought I would fall for that?"

In a swift motion, he twisted and yanked back, ripping All For One's arm off. Two loud popping sounds came from his arm, followed by a horrible scream of pain. Blood poured out from the newly made hole as All For One writhed in agony, helpless to stop it.

"This really is your own fault, you know?" Tomura taunted. "You could have stopped the bleeding if you stole Overhaul's quirk, or better yet, that stupid looking jean guy's." He decayed All For One's hand, turning it to dust before his former master's eyes. "I don't see why you didn't. It's not like any of this was for me."

All For One's composure continued to crack, his smile replaced by a pained grimace. It was too late to fool Tomura, he had to act by force. His remaining hand compressed into itself before shooting off at Tomura, lunging at him as the gaping hole in its palm shone a bright red.

Just before he could reach Tomura, he was gone. Faster than a blink, as if he teleported before his eyes, Tomura was gone. (What?! How?! He shouldn't have a teleportation quirk!) His teeth clamped together as his breath became shaky and unstable. (Where… where did he…?)

All For One flinched, feeling a sharp, intense breath down his neck.

"Everything you did…" Tomura plunged a fist through All For One's chest, piercing him from one end to the next in a matter of moments. "It was all for you!" He relished in the sound of his old master's bones breaking, tearing through his flesh and organs, hearing his cries of agony and misery. Seeing his tormentor in this state gave Tomura an immense smile. It made him so, SO happy.

Tomura ripped his arm out of All For One's chest, a squishy, wet, fleshy sound coming from the insides he mangled. The former Demon Lord let out another cry as he hit the ground, a pool of blood forming under and around him as he squeezed against the ground, clawing up pavement under his now bloodied fingers as if trying to burrow away from Tomura.

"I feel like such an idiot for not noticing sooner. Then again, that's part of the reason you chose me, wasn't it? I was never gonna look twice at my family, but you made the fatal mistake of shoving it right in my face."

Tomura thought back to his battle in Jakku City. After coming face to face with Izuku in the vestige realm, Nana Shimura came to the ninth user's aid.

"She left because of you. My father became who he was, and did what he did to me, because you killed my grandmother. Everything he put me through was all your fault."

Another moment flashed through his mind. Still in the vestige realm, All For One reached his hand out to Izuku, Nana, and his little brother. "If we simply join forces and combine our might, we'll have the strength to steal it. Don't forget, these are both people I already put in the ground!"

"I still hate her," he continued, "but you…"

His smile disappeared, overgrown by a furious scowl. His eyes heated up, glaring at All For One, losing control of himself more and more, until he exploded in a burst of fury.

"IT WAS ALL YOUR FAULT! YOU FUCKING RUINED MY LIFE!"

All For One continued to cower before Tomura, his severed hand and chest still burning like a raging fire. Although down, he was not intent on giving up just yet. The fingers he had dug into the dirt sprouted red and black tendrils, and he began controlling them to travel through the ground, arching downward then ascending toward Tomura's position.

(Your body belongs to me.) All For One maintained a semi-false fear as the tendrils dug closer to Tomura. (I will become this world's ruler, my own creation of all things will not usurp me!)

Just before the tendrils reached him, All For One keeled over in pain. Moments later an explosion boomed out in front of him. (Blasted body. Even using a quirk as simple as Rivet Stab is difficult in this state.) When he lifted his gaze, he saw a massive collection of Rivet Stab tendrils jutting out of the ground, enough to impale a person beyond recognition… but they hit nobody.

An undeniable wave of terror washed over All For One.

(How… how can this be?)

Lying helplessly on the ground, drenched in a pool of his own blood, he was faced with an opponent he did not understand.

(He is my vessel. I should know him as well as my own body…)

All For One, a veritable quirk god, faced someone whose power was beyond his comprehension.

(So how…? How am I…?)

Even his thoughts were stuttering, consumed by fear. As he sat there, in a split second, his eye holes widened and his body jolted back. Tomura stood by his side, right next to him. He hadn't moved an inch, he didn't even seem to be breathing. He just stared wickedly at All For One.

A light appeared in his eyes for a moment as he raised his hand in the air, holding it flat and straightened. "Gotta hand it to ya." He brought his hand down. A violent explosion of dirt and concrete boomed underneath as both debris, and All For One's arm, went flying. "It's impressive how stupid you are!"

All For One's screams of agony only grew louder, more desperate. They were abruptly silenced when Tomura slammed his foot into his head, pressing it against the pavement.

"I can't believe I used to think highly of you. Back at Kamino when you fought All Might, you really did seem like you were on top of the world. But you just couldn't stay out of the spotlight. It's almost like you have some compulsive need to control everyone around you, to be on top no matter who you have to stomp on."

The pavement below All For One's head began cracking. "So why don't you tell me what it feels like to be on the bottom now? And speak up, or it'll be hard hearing you from down there."

All For One strained himself just to speak, grunting against Tomura's force. "Y- You… you need me. Without me, you are-"

"You're wrong." Tomura took his foot off All For One. A glint appeared in his eyes as he aimed his hand at him. "I would've been better off without you."

Rivet Stabs shot out of his fingers, all stabbing All For One, gaining yet another shout of pain from him.

"As much as I'd love to keep you alive and make you suffer, that's a comic book villain mistake I won't be making." Tomura paused for a moment, then went down on one knee and placed his hand over him. A single red stream of energy began flowing from All For One to Tomura. "That said, I'll make sure this next move hurts like hell."

All For One's body began deteriorating, rapidly growing wrinkles, its tan color becoming gray. "I'll also be taking the doctor's quirk, not like you're gonna need it anyway. I'd give you even more quirks to make it worse, but I'll take all the power I can get. As much as I hate you, this body was a nice gift I'll be sure to appreciate."

All For One laid on the ground. As he shriveled up like a prune, bled out from nearly a dozen holes, and was being eaten alive by pain, one thought ran through his mind.

(We are… making physical contact… yet my consciousness fails to take hold…)

He looked up at Tomura, and for a moment, saw the spitting image of his younger brother staring back at him, unflinching and fearless, just as he was when he protected Izuku Midoriya.

(Little brother… why?)

His thoughts went blank as Tomura stepped back, the Rivet Stabs extending with him. "Enjoy your time in hell while you can, cause once I join you down there, I'll make sure you have a horrible eternity in the tenth circle of hell."

Were it not for his pained breaths, All For One would be indistinguishable from a corpse. Even without eyes, Tomura saw nothing but fear, pain, and regret consuming his being. He would want no other final image to remember his former master on.

Tomura gave him one final smirk before speaking.

"Forced Quirk Activation."

For a brief moment in time, All For One's chest shot up. The holes where his eyes once were widened, and he let out a horrific shriek.

A few still conscious heroes jolted to life, their heads converging on him with expressions of terror. They all stared with bated breath as All For One's screams enveloped the destroyed neighborhood they were in. His horrified shrieks echoed through destroyed homes, ruined streets, and a dark, hopeless sky.

His body began glowing, morphing, compressing, shrinking, growing, inflating. It became an indescribable, unrecognizable abomination of quirks all going off at the same time, blasting at full force. Beams of energy, blasts of air, explosions shot out all around him, gaining further screams as the landscape around him continued to be ravaged, still surviving heroes obliterated in the wild fire.

He continued growing, not from a size altering quirk, but because it seemed his body couldn't handle the gargantuan release of power. His skin grew forcibly against its will, growing to first double his size, then triple, and quadruple, quintuple. More and more he inflated like a balloon, his figure resembling a contorted, factory-error Piñata as everything around him continued to be destroyed by all manner of projectiles.

Until he grew to an uncontainable size. The whole time, his body forced him to scream, his lungs pleading to give out, but unable to stop from the overwhelming pain. Then, in a single moment, a massive pop emitting all manner of noises came from him as his body exploded. Bits of flesh, organs, and bone shot out like shotgun blasts, smashing into the surrounding landscape, kicking up dirt geysers by the hundreds.

Tomura held his hand forward, a yellow energy barrier projecting from his hand covered in guts and bits of bone. The barrier disappeared, causing the pieces of his old master to plop on the ground. His eyes stared at where his old master once was, smiling viciously.

(I'm gonna be so much better than you. I'll stomp your name into dust until history forgets you entirely. When I leave my mark on this world, no one will care about you.)

Nearby moaning caught his attention. Of all the lifeless bodies sitting amongst the carnage, one still moved. Tomura grinned as he approached it.

(All For One, All Might, both their legacies, heroes, and this rotten society. None of it will be left once I've had my way with it all.)

The hero panted in pain, but his breathing stopped on a dime when he saw Tomura standing over him. (When I'm through with this rotten society, everyone will fear my arrival as an Omen Of Death.)

The hero stuttered in fear and tried crawling away, but felt everything leave him as Tomura touched him. His body quietly decayed into nothing, his dust scattered in the wind.

"Goodbye, Shigaraki," Shigaraki said.

The memory came to an end, returning him to the present. The flashback was instant, the events running through him in the snap of a finger, yet his recollection was vivid and detailed.

(Huh? What the hell?) he thought, (Why am I thinking of this now, of all times?) He put a hand over his head. (What was that? It's like it was forced into my head. And the way I processed it, that wasn't normal.)

What Shigaraki recalled most strongly though, was the elation he felt knowing All For One was dead. The joy he felt from that fact was obscene and intense, so much so in fact, part of him felt content.

That insignificant part of him was drowned out by a sick, devilish smile. (I don't know what that was, but it's not gonna stop me. It'll just be a waste of time in the end.)

Mickey felt a cold, sharp fear pierce his chest seeing Shigaraki's smile. He could feel his body moving on its own, gearing up to cast Ultima, but he remembered Riku's words, Sora's request, and steeled himself.

The battlefield was quiet after the sea of Heartless tumbled from Shigaraki's air wave attack. Donald and Roxas stood tall on a rooftop, their Aeroga barrier disappearing as they surveyed their surroundings. Every Heartless as far as they could see was stunned, giving them some needed reprieve.

"It's this move again," Donald said, "Last time he did that, all of our phones stopped working."

Out of curiosity, Roxas checked his. To his pleasant surprise, it lit up as normal. "Mine works fine."

"Wak?! I guess Aeroga protected us from it!"

Going through the phone, he saw that a lot of his friends were currently offline. "Looks like almost everyone got affected by the attack. The only people still online are Me, Axel, and Aqua." He started tapping on the phone repeatedly. "Any idea when the Gummiphones will go back online?"

Donald pulled out his. Still unresponsive. "No idea. They might be disabled forever, or for so long the battle will be over by then."

With a final, heavy tap, Roxas pocketed the Gummiphone. "Then between not having our phones and the constantly moving Heartless, it's almost impossible to group up with everyone else. No wonder you guys are still separated."

Donald nodded weakly, beak and eyes scrunched in anger. "Even big spells like Mega Flare aren't helping. We need to stay on the move to avoid Heartless, and we're all too distracted to look for each other."

The Heartless around them began returning to their feet, recovering from their daze. "What should we do, Roxas?"

Roxas's gaze met with the small fry before him. He recognized every single Heartless before him. They were ones he dealt with, ones he knew inside and out. Although incredibly numerous, he was certain he and Donald could take them.

"I didn't think about it till now, but we do have a landmark to meet up at. One all of us know about."

Donald squawked in confusion, but it all made sense when he saw Roxas's gaze. The boy summoned his keyblades, and began smacking nearby Heartless into the air like golf balls. They were lining up with one another, seemingly forming a staircase upward.

He dashed to Donald, grabbing him by his collar. "Our meeting point…" The two's eyes followed the staircase up, not complete, but making a path up to Shigaraki. "Is him!"

Roxas jumped up at the Heartless, bouncing off of them like trampolines. Unlike Sora and Riku who had flow motion, Roxas simply jumped to them with sheer coordination and leg strength, all while holding Donald by the collar.

After reaching the end of the staircase, Donald casted an Aeroga whirlwind, further launching them upward. From there, they started gliding. A lengthy distance was still between them and their target, but that was just one of many things Donald and Roxas were determined to eliminate.

Riku and Lea looked in disturbed shock at Namine's sketch of Shigaraki and All For One. She drew him punching a hole in his former master's chest, chopping his arm off, screaming at him, and watching him pop like a balloon.

"Tomura really hated that man," Namine said, "but part of him felt content knowing he was gone. When he destroyed him, a small part of him no longer felt like fighting. A small part of him felt… happy."

"That's sick," Riku spat, "Anyone that feels happy to see someone go in such an awful way is an awful person."

"I'm not exactly against that, Riku," Lea said, "but based on what Namine told us about this Shigaraki dude ruining Shigaraki's life… jeez, that sounds like Xehanort all over again. Anyway, I kinda get where he's coming from. I know Roxas hated Xemnas the same way."

Riku held an angry stare for a moment, before returning to a neutral expression. He said nothing, keeping to himself.

In that silence, Lea's Gummiphone vibrated. He pulled it out to check it. "Hey, a message from Roxas," he happily announced before reading it aloud. "'With Donald. World destroyer used purple electricity to disable our Gummiphones. Avoided it with Aeroga.'"

"Nice," Riku said, "Donald must've helped him." He checked who was online, seeing it was only Roxas, Aqua, and Lea. "Seems like you three are the only ones who weren't affected. It's not much, but since we're all separated, we need to keep as many of us online as possible." Riku took Lea's phone and messaged Roxas and Aqua back. 'Prioritize avoiding the purple electricity. You guys are vital for communicating.'

With that, their attention returned to Namine, who was well underway drawing another sketch. "This is good. We learned a lot about him doing that, and I can tell that memory had an effect on him. It was slight, but it made him waver just now."

Lea rubbed his hair. "Well, we already knew this wouldn't be easy. Any other good memories in there, Namine?"

"Yes. He has a couple that are very strong, so prevalent and close to his heart, White Cell Program isn't even protecting them."

Lea and Riku both eyed the sketch pad, inspecting Namine's current drawing. It was of a blonde girl around their age, holding a small glass vial, shedding tears.

Shigaraki and Mickey's battle continued as normal, with Mickey and Shigaraki flinging projectiles at one another, just as they were before. The more spells Mickey casted though, the more Shigaraki became suspicious.

(That spell he opened with, the one that killed me in my vision. He's not using it anymore. He was spamming it for a while, but stopped after I read his emotions with Network. He stopped…) Shigaraki thought back to Mickey speaking with Riku. (When the kid came.)

(That's not the only thing that changed. There's also-)

Shigaraki once again felt another memory get crammed into his head. He was ripped from this battlefield back to another one, one that seemed not too distant.

Shigaraki stood in the crumbling, ruined remains of Hosu City. He took heavy, concentrated breaths, bled out from multiple areas, and watched his missing arm slowly, ever so slowly regenerate. It grew back at a snail's pace, and the bleeding wounds over his body didn't seem to be healing at all.

"Don't worry, Shigaraki! We won't let this guy touch you!"

His attention was drawn to a horde of Paranormal Liberation Front members, a man with Rotor Blades on his arms charging forward. In the blink of an eye, he was sent flying through the crowd behind him, a group of eight people pushed back with him, all violently smashing into a concrete building.

Their aggressor, Izuku Midoriya, floated in the air, a fist outstretched.

Izuku's hero outfit was dirty with blood, his face covered by his mask, green eyes with black pupils gazing at the henchmen protecting Shigaraki in furious anger.

In another blink, a blast of purple smoke propelled him forward, and he began blowing through the Liberation Front members one by one. He violently strangled them with Black Whip, channeled Smokescreen smoke into their mouths, noses, and ears until they fell unconscious, and bashed their bodies into stone buildings with incredible strength.

Any still conscious after his assault moaned and yelled in pain, some shouting about how they couldn't feel their arms and legs, couldn't see anything, wanted the pain to stop.

"How could you?" Shigaraki glanced over to the quiet, pained voice of Himiko Toga. She stared at the carnage, paralyzed by fear, her body trembling slightly as she whispered those words, a thin, clear object clutched in her hand.

"Izuku… I thought you were different. You always seemed like such a nice, loving kid. I always figured you'd reach your hand out to me too."

"Get out of my way!" Izuku screamed, barreling a fist into the head of a PLF member. "You villains. If any of you stand by that monster…" his arm began glowing red a split second before he clotheslined another PLF member. The man's body slingshot across multiple city blocks, soaring past Shigaraki and crashing through multiple buildings before leaving earshot. "Then I don't care what happens to any of you!"

Tears began swelling up around Toga's eyes. "But I get it now. The Izuku I thought I knew is gone. So, Ochako was right. We'll always be seen as freaks to be put down." Her voice began to crack as more tears formed. "Guess I never should've thought otherwise."

Hearing those words left Shigaraki speechless. Although pained, he went to move closer, trying to reach a hand out to her. But he was too late. Endeavor grabbed her from behind, locking her arms around his. He too was battered and bleeding from all over, any fire from his quirk that enveloped his body glowing faintly, if at all. His flaming mustache was gone, the glowing flames around his costume were out, and his clothing was ripped and torn all over.

The way Endeavor held her made Shigaraki's eyes bulge wide open. It was the same way he held him back in Jakku City before enveloping him in an unholy inferno.

"Get the hell away from her!"

His body sprang to life with those words. He ignored the searing pain battering him from all angles as he limped forward. Endeavor's eyes twitched as he glared back, his gaze demented and feral.

"For what you did to U.A…. to my son…"

The flames around his body returned, rapidly becoming brighter as a high-pitched, hissing sound emitted from his body.

"I'll show none of you mercy!"

For a split second, time seemed to pause. Endeavor held her, Shigaraki held his hand out, and a clear, thin object, a vial containing a minuscule amount of blood, slipped out of Toga's hands. It, along with her tears, slowly fell to the ground.

"I'll see you soon… Jin."

Time resumed with a massive eruption of flames, and a booming roar.

"PROMINENCE BURN!"

An unholy inferno was cast upon Endeavor and Toga's location. The nearby Liberation Front members were blown back by the blast, some of their skin peeling and charring. Shigaraki projected a yellow barrier as he stared on in shock.

"HIMIKO!"

He desperately cried out, hoping it wouldn't be so, but knowing his worst fear had already come true.

This fear was confirmed when the flame disappeared, revealing Endeavor standing alone, and a pile of ash by his feet.

All of Endeavor's flames left him. The last of his fire was gone. He stood there, beneath the remains of a human being, bleeding, panting, struggling to stand. With what little strength he still had, he pointed at Tomura.

"Now… It's your turn," he said, one eye meeting the villain's gaze.

Shigaraki was overwhelmed in this moment, experiencing sensory overload with all the emotions and thoughts barreling through his head. Then, in a single, decisive moment of clarity, with a slight twitch of his eye and shirk of his mouth, he snapped.

"I'LL KILL YOU!" He screamed as he kicked off the ground, flinging himself at Japan's Number One Hero. Endeavor held a forced, defeated smile as Shigaraki delivered a kick through his neck, creating a sonic boom on impact.

Enji Todoroki's body hit the ground with a thud, and seconds later, so too did his head.

Shigaraki continued beating away at his lifeless body, smashing his chest and kicking his ribs. "And you bastards call yourselves heroes! Who do you monsters think you are?!" He ripped up chunks of flesh with each hit, splattering it and Enji's blood across the pavement. "What gave you the right to murder us?! To treat us like things that need to be disposed of?!" A large blood splatter hit Shigaraki's waist, while his arm became a deeper shade of purple with each blow. "You're what's wrong with society! You've destroyed what you tried to become! You people aren't heroes!"

Shigaraki remained hyper fixated on the former Number One Hero, glaring at him with vicious, bloodthirsty eyes as he beat away at his body.

He was shocked out of his rage induced state by a person flying past him, yelling before falling silent when they crashed into a house. Shigaraki turned to see Izuku Midoriya slowly floating to him, piles upon piles of people laying on the ground behind him.

"This all started because of you." Izuku spoke firmly with conviction, yet his voice was dry and scratchy. "All this death is your fault. You're the odd one out. You're the one who makes things worse for everyone around you. For all of these people to die just so you could be happy was nothing but selfish."

Izuku's eyes turned from green to light-red as he glared at Shigaraki, while One For All powered up his body. "We'd all be better off if you put your hand on that body, and decayed into nothing."

Izuku lunged at Shigaraki with an outstretched foot. Shigaraki held his hand out, blocking it with a yellow energy barrier. As he tried shoving his hand forward, a torrent of purple smoke came shooting out of Izuku's back. The smokescreen gave him a burst of speed, preventing Shigaraki from bouncing Izuku off.

"Smokescreen." Izuku coldly said.

Shigaraki began sliding back as the smoke slowly became stronger, straining his body more and more.

Blood began squirting out of Shigaraki's arm as its color slowly changed from dark red and tan to a progressively deeper purple, gritting his teeth and straining his eyes to fight the pain.

"One For All…" The little bit of Izuku's visible hair changed from green to light-blue. "Five Hundred Percent."

His leg and arm gained a red aura. "Fa Jin."

His light-blue hair now gained streaks of light-red. The red streaks expanded, until his hair was light-purple. "And, the Second User's Quirk."

Izuku's red arm tightened into a fist.

"Washington…" Purple smoke blasted out of his arm, launching it forward. He shattered the yellow barrier and smashed into Shigaraki's arm and face. "SMASH!"

Shigaraki felt what he imagined as a train crushing his face in before being sent flying, a sonic boom reverberating from the point of impact. He flew through building after building, plowing through concrete, stone, steel, and glass before finally tumbling to a stop.

His face seared with pain. His nose was shattered, the whites of his eyes slowly filling with red, and his entire face was caved in, flat as a pancake. He tried feeling out the damage, but struggled to move his arm. To his surprise, his currently only arm was a destroyed mess. It appeared shriveled, compressed like an accordion, colored by a deep purple. It more so resembled a raisin than a limb.

"I never forgot Gran Torino's words." Shigaraki felt a shock rush down his spine as his head shot up. Izuku was once again floating to him. "'Sometimes you have to kill a person in order to save them.' I wanted him to be wrong, I wanted all of the past users to believe me, but you've left me no choice."

Izuku's right arm and leg were both limp, dangling lifelessly as his red eyes locked onto Shigaraki. "For everyone at U.A., Endeavor… and Tenko Shimura…"

His hair once again became light-purple. "I will kill you, All For One."

As Izuku lunged at him again, the memory came to an end. Like last time, it came to him all at once, yet he recalled it all vividly, even feeling how he felt at the time.

(These memories. Whoever's been messing with me seems to have changed their game plan… but why?)

Shigaraki's hand trembled for a moment. He recalled everything, most prominently what happened to Toga and Izuku's words. Thinking back on them both, part of him felt hollow and empty, that perhaps all of this sacrifice wasn't worth it.

His hand continued to tremble as he slammed it against his chest, giving Mickey an angry glare. (I don't care. They can play whatever stupid game they want, they're just wasting their time. In the end, Sora will give up on me too, just like Midoriya did.)

A legion of twelve Invisibles scoured the streets of The World That Never Was, peeking around corners and flying over the city. Their eyes darted across the landscape, ignoring the many, many lumbering Heartless. One Invisible flew over a tight, dark alley, failing to notice Goofy and Ven ducking in it. The two sighed in relief seeing the Invisible fly off.

"Thanks Goofy, I owe you one."

"It was nothing, Ventus. We may not know each other very well, but you're my friend too. I would never think of leaving you out in the cold like that."

Ven gave him a smile. "Same here." That smile soon faded, replaced by a frown. "At least, I'd try to…" He went silent for a moment, his gaze trailing off to the ground. "These things were way tougher than I thought they'd be. I've faced strong Heartless before, but it's like these are on another level."

He turned to Goofy, his eyes wide with fear and voice breathy. "If we're struggling this much with normal Heartless, what are we supposed to do to Shigaraki?"

The two went silent, neither jumping in with an answer or reassuring statement. The nearby growls, howls, and mechanical clanging of Heartless enveloped them, circling them from all sides… yet Goofy did not lose his composure. Despite the situation, he remained calm and thought about a solution, and soon enough, he was rewarded.

"We can't take him head on." Goofy said, an answer that somewhat unnerved Ventus. "We can't? But, we can't just do nothing."

"I didn't say we'd do nothing." Goofy added, "We can't spend our time being afraid we'll lose. We have to take everything as an opportunity to learn and improve. Don't think of it as "We can't handle these Heartless or Shigaraki". Think "This isn't what we're good at, so let's focus on what we are." Does that make sense?"

Ventus stared at Goofy with an open mouth as he thought back to Terra's words. (You're better off handling crowds of weaker Heartless, not these massive, strong ones. You get me?) Remembering that, he gave Goofy a smile and nod. "Yeah, I get it. We should focus on what we're good at. If we can't take down these guys or Shigaraki, we'll just make sure everyone who can has an easier time doing that."

Goofy nodded. "That's the spirit."

His eyes were drawn upward. Ven followed his, and high in the sky, they saw Donald and Roxas, as well as Kairi and Terra, flying up to Shigaraki and Mickey. Roxas and Donald were pursued by Heartless, but not Kairi or Terra.

The two looked to each other and nodded, and flew out of the alley toward Shigaraki as well. They flew with all the haste they could muster as the twelve Invisibles, along with numerous other flying Heartless, all chased after them. Some of the lantern shaped Heartless with tipped hats fired off magic blasts at them, and the Invisibles fired balls of purple energy. Goofy deflected the blasts as they came, if not outright taking them with no hassle, while Ventus focused purely on propelling the two forward as he tightly held the back of Goofy's vest.

"I got yer back, Ventus! Just get us close to The King, then he can take these guys out!"

"I'll do my best!"

The two continued advancing to Shigaraki and their friends. Although moving with determination, both of them were followed by trepidation. Both of them found themselves gulping as the same thought permeated their minds.

(What can I do to help?)

Riku and Lea both stared at Namine's drawing. She drew a blonde girl holding a vial with a red liquid, crying, an adult man badly wounded, that red liquid emerging from all over his body as he pointed forward, Shigaraki himself seemingly kicking something in furious anger, and a young adult in a green outfit, his face obscured by a mask with striking light-red eyes and light-purple hair, winding back a punch.

"That's it," Namine said, "That's the part of the memory that was strongest."

"Sheesh," Lea muttered, "this whole situation sounds like a disaster. He attacked them, they attacked him, he fought back, and in the end everybody lost something."

"So what?" Riku spat, "If their situation went anything like ours, Shigaraki is the one that started all this. If he attacked first, he deserved every awful thing that came his way." He gave Lea a cold, intense glare. "Are you seriously being sympathetic to him?"

That statement gave Lea pause, frozen by its severity, but he soon tightened his gaze and stared back.

"I'm not trying to excuse his actions, I'm just saying we don't know why he's doing this. Maybe if we know that, it can help us reach him."

Riku's face scrunched in anger. "I get that, but the longer this takes, the more at risk we are. He should frankly be grateful we're doing this in the first place. Without Sora, his heart would be toast."

"Without Sora, none of us would be here." Riku and Lea's eyes turned to Namine. She spoke while drawing another image. "Sora is the reason we're all together. I don't know where any of us would be without him, but I know it would be someplace much darker. Riku, I get that you're nervous, I am too. I don't know how all of this is going to end up, but I feel confident knowing Sora, knowing all of you, are with me.

"But… this will be a lot harder if we aren't on the same page. We can't afford to be fighting with each other, not now of all times. As long as we're united, as long as we have each other's backs, I know we'll get through this." Namine placed her crayon down and smiled at Riku. "Then again, I'm sure I didn't need to tell you all that."

Riku averted his gaze, his lip quivering as he felt Namine's smile pierce through him. "I…" Although struggling to speak, he soon found his eyes meeting Namine's, smiling back at her. "I'm glad you're with us too, Namine. It doesn't feel easy, but I'm with you."

His eyes shifted down to the sketch pad, where Namine was amidst another drawing. She had already completed one, a sketch of a man with white hair and cyan eyes, wearing a white shirt and adorning horrific burns. He held a hand forward, surrounded by blue flames as he looked on in disgust.

It had become part of his routine at this point. Shigaraki would evade a magic attack from Mickey, and fire back with an air cannon shot to keep his distance. It was starting to become formulaic, predictable. The familiarity began unnerving Mickey.

(He hasn't done much to retaliate, and he hasn't been doubling over in pain anymore. That should mean Namine isn't destroying his heart now.) Mickey bit down on a bit of his lip. (But then… Why isn't he fighting back? Doesn't he know he needs to make a move soon?)

The last thing Shigaraki was concerned with was Mickey though. His mind was on other things.

(Any second now…) he thought, and just a few seconds later, another memory from his past was planted front and center, consuming his senses so thoroughly, he felt he was reliving it once again.

Shigaraki stood in a forest, shrouded by both the brush and the dead of night. Rain droplets trickled from the leaves onto his skin, the damp air cooling off his still battered and healing body, one arm with various small bruises, the other a tiny, still reforming stump.

"This is all your fault." A white light shone on his chest as he spoke, an angered glare pointed at a man wearing a long, beige bandana, laying on the ground before him. He was tied up in a thick, tight rope, compressing his chest so much, blood was dripping from around the rope. "Tell whatever lie you want, you can't fool me."

Standing a few feet away, Toya Todoroki, garbed in a white shirt, watched the two in silence. His eyes were also red hot, filled with rage.

"To think I once wanted you on my side," Shigaraki continued, "now the sight of you just makes me sick. I can't believe another villain, no, you of all people would make things so much worse. The heroes were only able to mobilize on time because you warned them I'd be healed early.

"Well I hope you're ready to own up to that mistake, cause now…" He crouched down to meet the man's face. Shigaraki gave a soul-piercing, wide eyed grin. His captive, The Hero Killer Stain, stared back in petrified fear, not moving, blinking, or breathing in the slightest. "I'm gonna grind you and your legacy into dust. No one will remember you. Consider that payback for getting Toga killed."

Hearing those words, Toya's eyes twitched.

"What's the matter?" Shigaraki continued, "Got anything to say? You know you're about to die, right? Why not give some final words? Isn't that what losers do?"

Stain continued lying motionlessly. He'd have resembled a corpse were it not for the sweat dripping down his face.

Shigaraki sighed. "Suit yourself." He began extending a hand to him.

"If…" Stain whimpered, terror consuming his being, "If I knew what you would become, what you would do to society… I would have killed you when I had the chance… but instead…" Stain's eyes clawed their way up to Shigaraki, his expression ghastly and terrified. "I let this happen. Heroes, Civilians… Everyone is dead, and it's all my fault." Tears began streaming down his face. "All Might… I'm so sorry I ruined your legacy. I'm not worthy, I was never worthy to be killed by you."

Shigaraki chuckled. "That's pretty ironic. It took your dream dying for mine to flourish."

For a moment, Stain appeared confused, wondering what he meant by that… then his eyes shot open. "What…?" And he screamed. "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN BY-"

Shigaraki silenced him by shoving a hand over his face. He watched with a cold, wicked smirk as the light left Stain's eyes and his body turned into dust. Everything Chizome Akaguro once was collapsed into a small pile, quickly scattering beneath the unremarkable grass and dirt of this massive forest.

Shigaraki took a quiet breath. "Thanks for finding him, Dabi," he said, standing back up, "I know it doesn't change anything, but I feel a lot better now." He paused, exhaling. "Let's get moving. Time to regroup with Spinner."

As Shigaraki marched forward, a heavy weight formed in his heart. Thinking about what happened to Twice, Compress, and now Toga began overwhelming him. They may have wanted to reform society with him, but to die for all this, to be murdered for their dreams… it pained him. The reality of what they needed to do, the pain he felt in this moment, it was all truly beginning to set in, leaving Shigaraki with a question.

(Is this all worth it?)

Shigaraki's body was consumed by a wave of blue fire, enveloping him in a flash. The flames spread to the nearby vegetation, surrounding him in a ring of flames.

Shigaraki didn't so much as react to the attack. His body wasn't injured further, in fact he remained unmoving for a moment, before slowly facing his attacker. He was met with a furious Toya Todoroki, staring Shigaraki down with a demonic, twisted glare.

"Dabi?" Shigaraki stuttered, his voice shaking, "What are you-"

"How could you?" Toya snapped back with a whisper, before exploding at him, "How the hell could you lie to me?! You said you had room for us in your new world! You said you'd give us room to have our dreams too! So why…?"

Toya's arms ignited uncontrollably, consuming his upper half in flames, creating a vengeful spirit with piercing white eyes condemning Shigaraki. "Why did you kill Enji Todoroki?! He was supposed to die by my hands, not yours!"

Rain continued falling over Toya, creating little puffs of smoke and sizzling noises as the coat of flames slowly shrank. "That was the only reason I kept going. I dragged my sorry ass off that mountain top through goddamn hellfire, cursing these scars for years, just so I could see his spirit break. To kill that unshakeable resolve, and see the fire that kept him going extinguish."

Toya lowered his head. "My entire purpose, the only thing that moved me forward, was one day being able to kill that man. That's who I am…" His flames reignited. "and you stole that from me."

Toya fired off more flames at Shigaraki. These too, vanished quickly, and gained no reaction from him. No, Shigaraki simply stood there, eyes unblinking, mouth hung open. "You left me with nothing you bastard. No matter what I do now, I'll never be happy. I'll never have another dream, another reason for living. I'm nothing now."

Shigaraki had to fight past his wracked, destroyed mind. As his brain began to wrap around the situation, around Toya, a collection of rusty gears began churning inside him. "The hell do you think you're saying? Your dream? Your purpose?" His tone began rising, growing angrier. "At least you're still alive. You aren't dead like Toga, Twice, and Compress! Don't you get that?! Our friends are gone! Why the hell are you only concerned about yourself?!"

"None of you were ever my friends."

Toya's cold, remorseless declaration sent a chill down Shigaraki's spine, his heart pounding and contorting around itself.

"I never cared about any of you. I only joined you in the first place because I wanted to carry out Stain's will." Toya chuckled, and stared down at the ground where Chizome once laid. "I never gave a shit about the guy. He was in over his head, a big dreamer without the power to make things happen.

"You were different though. You were backed by someone powerful. You're only where you are now, because of All For One." Shigaraki grimaced. "Without him, you'd be nothing, and now you've gone and killed him too." Toya smiled. "All For One is who I should've been following this whole time. He was perfect, a wonderful man that would've inspired this world…" He glared at Shigaraki. "He would've let me do what I wanted. He wouldn't have lied to me like you did.

"All For One was so much better than you."

Shigaraki remained stunned. He opened his mouth, but nothing came out. Whatever he tried doing, his body failed him. Seeing his former leader's resignation, his defeat, Toya turned away from him and began walking. "I'm done with you. I never want to see you again."

With those final words, Toya Todoroki left what remained of the League of Villains. He did not look back, leaving Shigaraki to watch as he faded into the brush of the forest, vanishing like a spirit.

Tomura Shigaraki was left alone, his mouth hung open, eyes staring off into the distance, accompanied by nothing but the gentle taps of raindrops.

That silence was broken by a weak, pained question.

"Why?"

The memory came to an end, not taking up any time, just as they have been. Mickey and his surroundings hadn't changed, but a new weight sank deep in Shigaraki's heart. The memories of Toya made him retreat, blasting himself away from Mickey as the Keyblade Master gave chase.

(It didn't bother me when I was the one getting screwed. Jakku wasn't ideal, but at least I was the only one who suffered. But, knowing Twice and Compress died behind my back, and not being able to save Toga when she was right there…) Shigaraki placed a hand over his chest, squeezing it tightly. (… What? The hell's wrong with me? Why am I thinking like this? All of this already happened. Nothing's changed, so why…?) His gaze drooped, dropping down to the ocean below. (Why do I feel this way?)

As Shigaraki stared down dejectedly, his eyes focused on something, and widened. He propelled himself rightward, dodging a chunk of ice shards. Although he sent himself flying, he was still rapidly pursued by Roxas, who was a mere couple yards away and swiftly gliding toward him.

(Can't believe I almost fell for that.) Shigaraki aimed a hand at Roxas's face. A laser shot out from his hand, blinding Roxas, making him cover his eyes. "That's what I get for thinking my feelings matter!" The laser began flashing, grey air coming out of the palm of his hand.

The missiles never came out. Instead, a fireball slammed into his arm, creating an explosion from the fireball itself, and three smaller ones coming from inside the limb. A huge smoke cloud erupted over him, one he quickly blasted through and away from with an air cannon shot.

His arm was half gone, a gaping hole where the rest of it was moments ago. As his pained gaze went downward again, he saw Donald, still holding out his wand at him, also quickly approaching by gliding. (That's weird. They're converging on me now? What were they waiting for? It wasn't regrouping, they all kept fighting Heartless after that.)

He activated Search. Scanning the airfield before him, he spotted two more cyan dots rapidly approaching. They were Kairi and Terra. (So, it's not all of them. You'd think they'd all come at me, but I guess that's better for me.) Mickey, Donald, and Roxas all converged on Shigaraki from different angles. (They must be getting comfortable now. Good. Since I know they're not gonna kill me, I can take my time with this, and make sure I come out on top.)

In the span of a few seconds, right before their eyes, Shigaraki's arm grew back. First the bone, then muscle, and finally skin. It regenerated exactly as it was before. And, just like before, he placed his hand over his chest, squeezing it tightly.

While some of their friends dealing with lesser Heartless, and others setting their sights on Shigaraki, Terra and Isa continued their ferocious exchange with The Dark Inferno. Still shrouded by a dark aura, it continued trading blows with the two on its own. The two matched it blow for blow, avoiding obliteration solely due to their combined efforts.

The Dark Inferno lunged at Terra, swinging at his Keyblade and knocking him off balance. It went in for another blow, only to be smacked by Isa across the head, sending it flying into the ground. It hit the ocean with a crashing boom, erupting Heartless by the dozen into the air around it.

"You've noticed it too. Right, Terra?" Isa asked him out of breath.

"Yeah." Terra responded, panting heavily as well. He threw some white particles in the air. He and Isa were surrounded by green energy. "This thing isn't any more intelligent," Terra continued, still panting a little. "It's been repeating this same pattern. It attacks one of us, the other hits it away, then it comes in again and does that all over again.

"Your theory was right, Isa. Shigaraki did make this thing a lot stronger, but it's just as mindless as any other Heartless."

Isa nodded. Checking their surroundings, he reassessed that they were still high in the air, miles above the Heartless Ocean. Although some flying Heartless still persisted, this fight had largely remained a two on one. "Physically, this beast may be formidable, but without intellect or enough backup of its own, it cannot hope to defeat us both." He smirked. "Assessing the abilities of Heartless was a useful skill I picked up from the Organization, as did you training to become a Keyblade Master."

As he looked back to him, Isa's smirk slowly disappeared as he saw a dejected frown consume Terra. "I'm no Keyblade Master. My mistakes have gotten people hurt." He gripped a shaky fist. "My mistakes got Master Eraqus..."

Isa gently glided to Terra and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Terra. You cannot hold yourself accountable for things so beyond your control. You are one individual." Xemnas and Luxu flashed through Isa's mind. Xemnas, the one who turned Lea, his best friend, into his begrudging ally to be disposed of if necessary for over a decade, and the one who experimented on their friend like some puppet. Luxu, someone he thought he could trust now turned into an enemy bent on taking all of his new friends from him.

"The fact of the matter is, there will be people in your life who will make things worse for you, and you simply cannot control it."

That statement only seemed to deject Terra even further. He slumped downward, Isa's hand falling with him. "But." He shot up feeling Isa's hand squeezing him slightly. "You are not lesser simply because these things happen to you. It is unavoidable. The best you can do is cast out those who don't have your best interests at heart, and hold close those who do."

Isa smirked. "Sorry. I am feeling quite sentimental now that I remember I have a heart."

Terra smiled back at Isa. As he went to open his mouth though, they heard a boom from down below. Both their instincts kicked in, realizing it was The Dark Inferno charging for another assault. The two took defensive stances, ready to intercept it once more, but this time was different. This time, it was no longer shrouded by the dark aura.

It was far slower, neither of them struggling to track its movements anymore. Compared to before, it felt somewhat like slow motion, like they had engaged a state of Focus. Seeing this, it was less than a struggle for Terra to dodge its strike and begin wailing on it. He and Isa both barraged it with blow after blow, keeping it stunned, incapable of fighting back. With two final, ferocious strikes, the two smacked it in unison, Terra's Keyblade digging into its face, and Isa's thick club burrowing into its head. The two launched it at an angle, sending it crashing into the ocean with an especially powerful, loud boom. Where the last crash resembled a geyser, a mushroom cloud of Heartless spewed out from this impact's center, some of the Heartless disappearing altogether.

"How bizarre," Isa said, "That dark aura has vanished before earlier, but it always came back within moments. This can only mean that…"

The two turned their gaze skyward, greeting them to Shigaraki flying through the air, evading magic spells from Mickey, with Roxas and Donald nearly in range of them too. "I get it," Terra said, "Mickey has been keeping him busy, and with Donald and Roxas coming to engage too, he won't have a moment to spend on anything else. They're going to overwhelm him into submission."

Isa took an intense, silent look at the sky above, considering what their best option was. It did not take long to come to a conclusion.

"Terra. Go support them and engage Shigaraki. Although we are not the best at it, your magic skills are far superior to mine. That should prove vital in not getting too close to him."

"You are right," Terra added, "but unlike you, I have access to Cure. My reserves of healing aren't limited to items, unlike you. Being in a group with them would let them heal you."

Isa shook his head and smirked. "I've been keeping track of my inventory. Don't worry, I will defeat this beast then join you all shortly."

Terra looked back to the ocean, locking onto The Dark Inferno below. Still laying in its crater, he saw a segmented green bar underscored with nineteen boxes. Thirteen of those boxes were empty, with the other six green, and the bar about halfway empty. "Okay. If things get hairy though, I'll be keeping an eye on you." The two gave each other a smile and nod before Terra began gliding upward toward his friends and Shigaraki.

Soon after, The Dark Inferno came charging upward again, its sights set on Terra instead of Isa. Completely ignoring him, it barely even registered Isa before he landed another hefty blow against it.

(Focus on your fight, Terra.) He struck it again, and continued delivering a bevy of blows. (And I shall focus on mine!)

Riku and Lea both stare in silence at Namine's drawings. A tied up man wearing a beige bandana with a horrified expression, Shigaraki surrounded by blues flames as a man, Toya Todoroki, looked on at him in disgust, and another drawing of Toya, his back to Shigaraki as he faded into the brush of the forest.

"He really isn't Heartless," Namine said, "He really cares about his friends, even though it hurts him."

"Does that matter anymore?" Riku asked, "For all we know, he could feel totally different now. We still have no idea how long ago these memories are from."

"I can answer both of those." Riku's eyes squinted as he focused on Namine. "I may be altering his memories, but I can also see how he's feeling, both during these moments and right now. Those feelings of caring about his friends and being glad Shigaraki is gone are both still present.

"The thing I'm confused about is why he's trying to bury them. He seems to believe these memories are positive, and feels fondly of them, yet his perception of them is warped. When he thinks about these moments, he remembers them differently."

"How so?" Lea asked.

Namine paused, her eyes growing heavy posed with that question. "He's… suppressing the pain. He doesn't want to think about… how much it hurts."

Lea was taken aback hearing those words. His eyes widened and his mouth hung open as his mind wandered to a memory of his own, where he confronted Xion outside of the Twilight Town Mansion. He could only clearly remember a few words.

"What's your problem?!" He screamed in anger and desperation.

"Please don't hold back, Axel." Xion pleaded.

"You just keep running… but I'll always be there to bring you back!" He shouted, a fiery anger in his voice as he felt his hand grab hold of his weapon.

Lea returned to the present, his throat growing heavy thinking back on that moment. "Yeah," He choked, "I know the feeling."

Riku, too, was left in silence. He appeared more reserved than Lea, but still thought back to a time from his past. Images flashed through his mind, various moments of himself opposing Sora, Donald, and Goofy, siding with Maleficent over them, and watching helplessly as Ansem, controlling his body, tried to strike his best friend down. The terror he felt in that moment, the regret he feels knowing what he put Sora through…

Right now, he couldn't bring himself to say anything.

"But that's changing now." Riku and Lea's eyes went back to Namine. "He's opening up his heart, slowly but surely. This plan is working, I just need to keep at it a little more."

Everyone's attention returned to the sketch pad as Namine continued another of hopefully very few remaining drawings. Already, Namine had made a sketch. It was of a person with green scales for skin, stepping inside of a purple portal.

"Yah!" Roxas shouted as two chunks of ice flew out of his Keyblades. They came close to Shigaraki, but he propelled himself away, dodging that and two more ice blasts from Donald and Mickey respectively. As he flew back a bit, the three of them grouped up.

"He's just too fast," Donald admitted, "Our magic can't keep up, not even Thunder."

"That's not it," Mickey said, "I've hit him with Thundaza a few times before you got here. It's not that he dodges it, it just does nothing to him."

"That's weird," Roxas said, "He's not immune to our magic. Maybe he resists Thunder somehow?"

What was a completely innocuous comment from Roxas, one that was also just a random theory to Mickey, struck Donald like a bulldozer. His eyes went wide and pupils minimized, as the gravity of the situation barreled into him.

Dozens upon dozens of black and red tendrils shot out of Shigaraki's fingertips, obscuring the sky as they traveled above and at them. Donald dashed back and shot out fireballs while Mickey and Roxas shred through the tendrils with Keyblade swings, shattering them like glass over and over again, the stream coming continuously.

Until Donald noticed it ending, however. How it was ending horrified him. The tendrils continued growing outward toward them, but they were no longer attached to Shigaraki. What's more, the other end of the tendrils, that were still rapidly closing in on them, had begun fading into dust. That trail of decay traveled through the tendrils, soon reaching above them. The trail slowly scattered, small flakes of decay falling like raindrops over them.

"Get back!" Donald screamed in desperation, "Above us! It's above us!"

Roxas and Mickey met a sight they could barely comprehend, but one that they still understood.

(Worlds crumbling to nothing.) That message from Yen Sid played back in their minds as an immeasurable number of Rivet Stab pieces, all slowly decaying into nothing fell closer to them, littering the airspace like a locust swarm.

Like an answered prayer, a green typhoon appeared over them. Donald's Aeroza sucked in a vast amount of the decaying tendrils. They formed a spinning tornado of ruin, eventually being blasted out above like dirt blasted out from a vacuum.

Mickey and Roxas both jumped in, casting Aeroza over Donald's. Their typhoons combined with his, creating a single, colossal wind storm that sucked in everything. Every bit of debris, even whole tendrils themselves were sucked inside, shredded like paper, and all spat out the top, where everything safely faded into nothingness.

"I'll never understand Sora," Roxas said, "Whatever he sees in this guy, I wish I saw it too."

"Tell me about it," Donald said, "but at least he's a pushover. This is easy." He added with a smirk.

Roxas rolled his eyes. "Show off."

"I don't know either, Donald," Mickey said, "but I know he, Riku, and Namine can tell us all about it when we're done here." He spun his Keyblade to his side. "Now, let's try this again! Move out!"

Mickey, Roxas, and Donald all charged forward at Shigaraki. In their eyes, he appeared motionless, still holding his hands forward with his fingers outstretched.

To Shigaraki himself, he was conflicted. Although his eyes looked to them, his mind was elsewhere.

(I don't understand these guys. They already know all I want is Sora, but they're not handing him over. I could kill them all in an instant, but they're fighting so hard for him anyway. Why? What the hell are these guys so determined for?)

He once again felt another memory from his past shoved into the forefront of his mind.

Shigaraki walked through a purple portal, appearing inside of a stony, dry cave with Kurogiri at his side, and Spinner standing before him.

"Ah! Shigaraki!" Both excitement and concern escaped Spinner as he rushed to his friend's side, eyeing Shigaraki's still badly bruised and crumpled arm. One was fully healed, the other was still in awful shape. "Thank god you're alive. Man, now I really wish you let me come with you, but at least you brought Kurogiri." He looked at Kurogiri. "Seriously, good job bringing him back to us."

"I am not deserving of your praise," Kurogiri replied, "My existence is solely dedicated to the upbringing and protection of Master Shigaraki. My only purpose is to perform a "good job" at that task."

Spinner frowned while he rolled his eyes. "Jeez, you sound real fun at parties."

"I'm glad you didn't come."

Shigaraki's brief, cold words cut through the air. He looked away from Spinner, holding his two fingered, gold device donning hand over his face.

Spinner paused, looking confused, tensing up in shock. "W- What do you…?" Like a lightbulb turning on, his eyes widened. "Wait, where's Toga and Dabi? And what about Compress? Did you guys get split up or-"

"Gone."

That one word gave Spinner further pause. His mouth slowly opened, trying but failing to speak. Before he could…

"They're all gone."

Shigaraki confirmed his fear.

For a moment, the three stood in a paralyzing, chilling silence. Spinner stared back at his friend, frozen like a statue, while Shigaraki faced the floor, his gaze unable to meet anyone else's, and Kurogiri held his same, unmoving expression at them both. They remained there for some time. The scene would have resembled a photograph were it not for Kurogiri's swaying misty body.

When time finally resumed, however…

"No."

Spinner began to cry. Tears streamed down his cheeks, no differently from any other person. His voice cracked with each word, his throat straining itself just to speak.

"There's no way. Everybody? Sniff… That can't be true, there's no way. They gotta be alive somehow!"

It was plain as day in his voice. Spinner did not sound angry, like he was vehemently denying an accusation. He sounded defeated. Defeated and pained.

Eventually, Shigaraki spoke again. "There is good news. You know how many heroes we killed, right?"

Spinner calmed down a little, looking over at a nearby radio, resting on the ground. "Sort of. Sniff. For the most part, I know you guys demolished Japan this time. Somehow they knew about our plans for both Jakku and U.A., but they definitely didn't know about this attack."

Shigaraki nodded. "Japan is all but destroyed. There's only a couple heroes left, Izuku was badly injured, and these wounds aren't nearly as bad as the other two times. I'll be healed up in a week tops, then I can finish the job."

Hearing that great news, the fact that his dream, their dream, would soon be coming true… Spinner sniffed, trying to hold back tears. "That's great, but… it won't bring everyone back." He fell silent for a moment. "Hey man, I don't know if you'll like hearing this, but I've been thinking…"

He found his eyes glancing back at Shigaraki, noticing that he was shaking. His body shook as if he was in a freezer, yet it was warm inside the cave.

"Sh- Shigaraki?"

He turned to Spinner, still pressing a hand over his face. "For so long, I never questioned anything. I was content with killing All Might, hell, I was fine with just barely getting by after Shigaraki lost to All Might. I can't really remember ever thinking about whether all this was worth it. I just kept going, hoping to reach that day eventually…" He began clawing away at his skin, slowly peeling off bits of his chest. "But now… I really don't know anymore. I still want to destroy this broken society that left us all to rot, but I never imagined you guys would start dropping like flies one day.

"Seeing Toga burnt to ash, finding Compress's beaten body on a hospital bed, being told Twice was killed while I was still sleeping, and watching Dabi walk away as he said Shigaraki was better than me." He lowered his hand. Spinner was taken aback, laying eyes on his face. Although no longer caved in, his nose was pointed to the side, one of his eyes was a massive purple blob of swollen skin, and his mouth was littered with jagged bits of tooth.

What surprised Spinner most though, was that even through his injuries, Shigaraki's visible eye was downtrodden, and his mouth hung low. Despite knowing he'd essentially destroyed Japan and accomplished his dream… Shigaraki looked sad.

"I just want them all back. I want things to be normal again. I'd take being hungry and powerless any day over this."

As both Shigaraki's body and breathing continued to shake, Spinner was left equally shattered. This destructive wave of news created an amalgamation of emotions, all of them blending together and becoming unrecognizable. He was trapped in his body, watching the man he owed everything to shatter into pieces, unable to put him back together.

"It is of no concern, Master Shigaraki," Kurogiri said, "Their lives were expendable in comparison to yours. Dying for you was simply their purpose, and it is admirable they fulfilled that. I see no reason for you to mourn them."

In a matter of seconds, Spinner went from inconsolable to furious. Gritting his teeth and tightening a fist, he punched Kurogiri in the chest. The man of mist grunted in pain and fell on his back.

"What the hell is wrong with you?! Damn defective science project! Don't talk about them like they didn't matter! They're a hell of a lot more important than you, that's for sure!"

"None of us are important." Spinner gasped hearing Kurogiri's cold retort. "We are all Master Shigaraki's expendable pawns. Our lives and futures are solely devoted to him, nothing else." A hint of anger entered his voice. "Unlike you, I at least have useful skills for the new master. Even now, you offer nothing of value to him."

Those comments only made Spinner more furious. He grabbed Kurogiri by the collar of his shirt and lifted him up. "How about you can it before I knock your lights out?"

"Stop it."

The two broke eye contact on a dime, shifting their gazes back to Shigaraki. "Just stop it, both of you."

Another wave of silence washed over them, before Shigaraki again spoke. "I've got a request for you two. Spinner, yours is special." He paused again, another brief silence overtaking them, before he changed Shuichi Iguchi's life forever.

"I don't want you to follow me anymore. From this day on, never associate with me again. We never knew each other. Understood?"

If Spinner was broken before, he was ground to dust now. His knees became wobbly, his vision blurred, and he even covered his mouth as he could feel bile traveling up his throat.

"You can't be serious. Shigaraki, do you have any idea what you're asking me to do?" He became louder, more desperate. "You guys are the only people I ever liked. How is this fair to me?! I want the heroes dead too!" He began shouting. "You think I'm fine with losing my family?! Like hell I am! Now you're just telling me to leave?! Like hell I will!" His shouts became manic, uncontrollable. "I don't care if it's the whole world against us! I'm not leaving your side Shigaraki! You can't make me! Nobody can make me!"

"Spinner…" Shuichi froze as Shigaraki approached, and embraced him in a hug. "I don't want the only friend I have left to die."

Overcome by emotion, Spinner broke down in Shigaraki's arms. He hugged his last friend back while quietly sniffling. "I... Sniff, I don't care if I end up being cannon fodder, I don't want you to do this alone." Shigaraki could feel tears rolling down his back. "I don't want you getting killed out there too."

"Don't worry about that," Shigaraki replied. He backed away from Shuichi and signaled to Kurogiri. "Kurogiri, my request for you is that you follow me into this next battle. I have no intention of underestimating the heroes."

Kurogiri put a hand over his chest. "I would be honored to serve you, Master Shigaraki. Rest assured I shall be your shield if you wish it."

Shigaraki faced Shuichi again. "Don't get the wrong idea, Spinner. I'm not about to make a mistake cause I'm getting emotional. Endeavor and The Number One Russian Hero are dead, and the other top heroes from the U.N. are gonna be out of commission for weeks. The only real threat left is Izuku Midoriya, and he just broke an arm and a leg, literally. Once I heal, I can take him."

He started rubbing his hair. "Didn't mean to sound like I'd never return. Believe me, I have every intention of winning. Once all this fighting is over, of course we can see each other again." He gave Shuichi a soft, warm smile. "I can't imagine life without you anymore."

Spinner's sniffling intensified for a moment, then he wiped his tears away. "Alright… You win. But, where exactly should I go?"

Shigaraki grinned. "Open it." With that command, Kurogiri created a portal. "Kurogiri found a good spot for you. It'll be lonely, but you'll be safe. And don't worry about us being split up. Even if something happens to him…" Shigaraki's pupils turned rainbow-colored. "I'll always know where you are."

Spinner stood in silence for a while. They all did. Shigaraki and Kurogiri's gazes locked on him, waiting for him. After some time, Spinner grabbed a few bags near the radio, then the radio itself. "Okay… See you soon, Tomura."

With his back to them, Spinner entered the portal, its darkness casting a silhouette over him. As his shadow became smaller and smaller, Shigaraki clutched his chest. He thought about his friends, how all of this started, and how much had changed in just two months since waking up.

(This has to end soon. All this fighting. All this death. All this suffering.) He grit his teeth hard and firm as his throat tightened, straining it to the point his throat muscles were visible. (I just want it to end.)

The memory ended on that note. Although his sights never left the present, his mind was now scattered, unfocused. His body continued moving on its own, evading the enemy and staying on the move, but it all became background noise as his head rang out with thought after thought. His friends, how all of this started, how much had changed in such a short time.

It was plain as day, even on his face. Mickey, Roxas, and Donald all saw his absentminded expression. His dreary eyes, his distracted gaze, and his now mechanical movements. He no longer seemed to be with them. He no longer seemed to have his heart in this.

As the battle in the sky continued to intensify, things on the ground remained just as heated. Despite the fact there were two of them, Xion and Strelitzia continued having difficulties fighting off the Heartless and keeping Sora safe. After their temporary safe haven of the tight alley was discovered, they were constantly on the move, taking turns carrying Sora and fending off their foes.

The two were currently gliding through the air, Xion holding Sora in one arm and firing off magic blasts with the other, while Strelitzia darted around the two, bashing any Heartless that got too close. With no safe zones to recuperate in, the constant, relentless Heartless swarms began wearing away at the two.

A group of six blue monkey Heartless, Powerwilds, leapt into the air after them, swiping their claws as they lunged. Strelitzia intercepted them, slashing all of them into mist with a single Keyblade strike. "Sheesh," she exclaimed while panting, "are they ever gonna give up?"

Perched on a nearby rooftop, a collection of Blue and Cyan cannon Heartless, Ice Cannons, all fired off blasts of ice at Strelitzia. Xion retaliated by firing Firaga. The fireball blew through the ice blasts, crashing into the cannons and defeating them all with a massive explosion. "As if that'll happen," Xion said with a heavy pant, "a Heartless would sooner be wiped out from exhaustion than give up."

Xion felt a shudder over her shoulder and heard a shaky groan. Her and Strelitzia's attention went to Sora, who was groaning in pain and clutching his chest. "I… I can't…"

"Don't worry Sora," Strelitzia said, "we're handling ourselves fine. Just keep resting, and once you're ready we'll-"

A group of Heartless zoomed past her. About a dozen cylindrical shaped heartless with spikes for hands, Surveillance Robots, dashed past Strelitzia and surrounded Xion and Sora. The tips of their spiked hands began glowing, prompting a defensive stance from Xion.

"No! Xion! Sora!" Strelitzia dashed toward them, winding her keyblade back to cast magic, but the Heartless were already a step ahead. (No! They're gonna attack! I'm not gonna make it!) Xion feebly held up her keyblade, caught off guard by the ambush.

The two were surprised to see a massive purple orb appear. It enveloped them, going out thirty feet in all directions. Although having no effect on the three of them, the Heartless were flattened like pancakes and sent plummeting to the ground, their trapped hearts floating up as their bodies vanished in a wheeze of mist.

Strelitzia and Xion were both relieved to be safe, but wondered where that spell came from. It became obvious when they heard panting and looked to Sora, his Keyblade outstretched.

"I can't… wait any more."

He got up off Xion's shoulder, floating in place. "Sora! Are you sure you're okay?" Sora nodded, "Yeah. That pain was bad, and it is still there, but I feel way better now. Thanks for looking after me, both of you."

They both nodded and smiled at him. "So, what now?" Strelitzia asked. Sora turned upward, looking toward Shigaraki and his friends surrounding him. "We change his heart. The right way."

Following Sora's lead, the three began gliding to Shigaraki. As they slowly approached the faraway struggle, a single, prominent thought ran through Sora's mind.

"I can't thank you all enough." Xion and Strelitzia looked at him. "Trying to reason with someone as terrifying as him, I can't blame any of you if you don't want to do this. I'm not okay with what he's been doing, and to be honest, I'm kind of scared myself. I don't know how this is going to go, or if it will even matter in the end, but I can feel in my heart that this is what I have to do."

Strelitzia gave him a smile. "You really are a special person, Sora. Anyone would be lucky to have you for a friend. You're right, I am scared about all this, but if you think this is what's right, then I trust you."

Xion nodded. "Yeah. If anything, this Shigaraki guy should be thanking us. He should be grateful you're doing so much for him."

Sora smiled softly. "It's not like that. I just want to help someone that needs it."

As the three of them turned their eyes skyward, Sora winced and clutched his chest. He felt his chest, arms, and head all tense up in pain, but he pushed past it all, suppressing it with a tight squeeze and grit teeth.

A flurry of magic blasts and air cannon shots continued to be fired as the three made their way to change Shigaraki's heart.

Namine, Riku, and Lea all stared at the various drawings. One was of Spinner and Kurogiri arguing, another was of Spinner holding a couple bags and a radio, and a third showing Shigaraki hugging Spinner.

"Jeez," Lea said, "He just seemed like a normal dude in that one."

"Yeah," Namine added, "I'm surprised this wasn't enough to stop him. He does seem to have an incredibly strong will."

"Is it still working?" Riku asked, drawing the room's attention, "Did that shake his resolve even more? Does he seem more willing to stand down now?"

Namine nodded with a smile. "Yes. This memory was actually something of a breakthrough. I get it now, he was suppressing these memories out of pain. Opening them up again has been hurting him, because he misses his friends. But now, after revisiting those memories, he's starting to come to terms with things."

She flipped over the page on her sketch pad. "We're really close now. With just one more memory, I think he'll stand down and talk to us. Once that happens, Sora can take over the rest."

Riku stood there, staring at the sketch pad for a moment, before smiling softly. "Good."

"What's up with you?" Lea asked, noticing his change in tone, "I thought you wanted this guy dealt with like he was some heartless, but now you seem pretty eager."

Riku firmly pressed a hand over his chest. "I did. To be honest, it's because I was afraid, and that made me want to take the easy way out. Just eliminating him, eliminating anyone you don't like or don't understand, it'll always be easier… but, I guess that's why we look up to Sora. He always tries to understand people, even when they hurt him. It's a quality that makes him strong."

His hand's place over his chest softened, becoming weaker. "It's a quality… I don't think I have."

"Don't feel bad about that," Lea said, rolling his hands, "You're your own person with your strengths and weaknesses and a bunch of stuff along those lines you probably know already."

Riku nodded. "Yeah. It just hurts a little, having to rely on Sora so much. I just wish I could do more."

"Every little bit helps," Namine said, lifting her crayon off the sketch pad, "Even one small action can make a big difference. Don't beat yourself up just because you aren't doing the grandiose things. That stuff is a lot of pressure, anyway," she said, eyes returning to the piece of paper. Riku and Lea also eyed it. In their brief conversation, Namine had already made significant progress.

She was already nearly done with a drawing of a young boy, no older than five. He was standing in a room with a girl around his age, the two looking at a photo of an adult woman wearing a yellow cape holding her son, the two smiling widely.

The battle thus far has been lengthy and arduous, but finally, this dark, endless tunnel finally yielded a light. The conclusion of this struggle drew near, a fact Mickey, Donald, and Roxas were starkly aware of. Tomura Shigaraki's light had finally breached the horizon, the fading darkness causing his resolve to waver.

Seeing his vulnerable state, the three moved in to subdue him for good.

"Hyah!" Donald shouted, casting an Aeroga typhoon nearby Shigaraki, followed up by more in rapid succession. He made a concave of typhoons, resembling the mouth of a creature, one primed to consume him whole.

Shigaraki blasted the whirlwind, escaping the vicious jaws by traveling out its mouth. His body appeared lifeless as he flew away, his arms and legs dangling in the wind and his head hanging low.

With Shigaraki taking the obvious escape, Mickey responded with a timely spell.

"Magenza!" He shouted. With no time to react, a massive collection of circling lights and multi-colored spheres appeared right on top of Shigaraki, sucking him in like a whirlpool.

Part of Mickey, part of all three of them, assumed Shigaraki let The King follow up. He didn't seem to think much about their pincer maneuver. Even now, circling inside it wildly, he didn't seem to shout, resist, or fight back whatsoever.

"This is kind of unnerving," Roxas said, "seeing him act like that. This has gotta be Namine's work, right?"

Mickey nodded. "Seems like she's sapping his will to fight, instead of destroying his heart." He smiled, thinking back to when Riku informed him of Sora's plan, and where he most certainly was now. (Good job, Riku. Thanks to you, this is almost over.)

"Why?"

Mickey, Donald, and Roxas's heads all snapped to the low, monotonous voice of Shigaraki. "Why aren't you guys killing me? I've done so much to hurt you all. Does Sora really mean that much to you people?"

(I don't care,) Shigaraki thought, (about any visions. I just need to know how they feel.) Unbeknownst to the warriors of light, Shigaraki had activated Network. As he thought those words however, that white light over his heart changed to a bright yellow. Amongst the abundance of dazzling spheres and lights, the warriors of light couldn't spot the change nor the quirk at all. Even Shigaraki himself didn't seem to notice it. His gaze remained absentminded as he awaited a response.

"Wait! Don't talk to him!" Donald shouted, "He has a power that makes talking to him bad! It's not worth it!"

Roxas and Mickey paused, falling to silence. Soon, Mickey's gaze tightened, uncertainty replaced by resolve. "Donald. If we're going to do this Sora's way, we have to try understanding him. It may be a risk, but we have to try."

He took a deep breath before speaking to Shigaraki. "Sora is our dear friend. He's a special person who just wants to help people."

A moment of silence took place before Roxas spoke as well. "He's only ever wanted what's best for everyone, even his enemies. I was in a dark place one time, and I came at him with everything I had, but he never held it against me."

Donald held a nervous expression, but it soon vanished as he too spoke. "If you ask me, I would have wiped you out a while ago, but I trust Sora. I do get jealous of him, but he always does his best to keep everyone happy."

Donald, Roxas, and Mickey all spotted someone nearby rapidly approaching. It was Terra, now within range and still flying at Shigaraki. "I don't know Sora that well, but he still inspires me, all of us, to do our best." He wound his Keyblade back. "We would all be in a much darker place without him." He came within a few feet of Shigaraki, pausing mid-air just before the collection of spheres and lights.

"The least I can do to thank him…" In a flash, he went from just before Shigaraki, to just beyond him, moving so quickly it appeared to be a teleport. He floated beyond Shigaraki, his Keyblade now outstretched as if he swung it. "Is stand by him!" Moments later, blood spewed from Shigaraki's chest like a faulty fountain, spraying wildly in front of him.

For a moment, everyone was shocked. (What?) Terra thought, (Zantetsuken has never done that before. How did it-)

"Everyone!" Mickey's shout snapped him back to attention. "Freeze him!"

All together, Donald, Roxas, Terra, and Mickey aimed their weapons at Shigaraki and launched Blizzaza. Five icy veins closed in on Shigaraki before enveloping him in a flash of light. The flash was blinding but brief, and when it faded, everyone saw Shigaraki frozen solid, trapped in a small glacier of ice.

With that, the Magneza spell finally disappeared. Mickey cast an Aeroga whirlwind under the ice, leaving Shigaraki floating in place as the four gently floated to him.

"You sure that'll hold him?" Roxas asked.

"Don't know," Mickey said hesitantly, "but maybe we can finally talk to him now."

Tomura Shigaraki remained frozen before them. Within his icy encasing, he appeared peaceful as the world around him continued to stir. Even the striking slash across his chest that was bleeding moments ago, paused too.

(So this is real,) Shigaraki thought. (Even if it's not for me, they all really do want to help me. These people, they're risking the happiness of their loved ones to save some stranger they don't even know.)

His skin began to morph from tan to blue, the cold seeping into his body. He wasn't helpless by any means, he could still activate his quirks, however, he felt no pain from the onsetting frostbite. (Guess I'll be seeing Spinner sooner than I thought.) Instead, he simply held true a soft smile. (Maybe… the day all this fighting can stop… maybe, thanks to Sora… it's today.)

As the light in Shigaraki's heart continued rising over the horizon, various memories were planted firmly at the forethought of his mind.

They were all memories of Tenko Shimura and his family.

Sitting in front of a kitchen table, he could feel his aunt gently patting his head as his uncle placed some bowls of soup on the table. He seemed to struggle as he picked up a spoon, but dipped it in the soup and ate it. His aunt and uncle both smiled and laughed seeing this. Tenko and Tomura couldn't help but smile seeing that.

His eyes slowly opened, revealing the warm face of his smiling mother. She smiled as she looked at him and gave him a big hug. Tenko and Tomura, although physically dreary, smiled as the sensation of a loving hug overtook them.

Standing within the workroom of an average home, adorned by desks, shelves, and papers, two children stood, Tenko and his sister Hana. The two stared in awe at a photograph of a young boy and grown woman wearing a yellow cape, hugging each other tightly with large smiles. Tenko's bright, cheerful eyes remained glued to the woman as a large smile overtook his face too. (I'll be just like you someday grandma, just watch me!)

He was shown several more similar to those. Him as a small child being happy with his family. There was still negativity, he would get painful splinters and worry about his dog running out of the house, but all in all, he was happy.

When these memories came to an end, Shigaraki still held his smile, even as the frostbite grew worse. (Heh. So that's what this was about. If it wasn't for Sora, my insides would probably be wrecked beyond repair.)

He chuckled in his head. (I get it now. Society, complacent idiots, and heroes might have damaged me, but I never had to let them dictate my life.) He paused, thinking of the rest of his now passed friends. (Maybe, if we didn't fight for revenge, maybe if we just moved on from everything around us, and just focused on each other… maybe we could've been happy.) His thoughts went to Spinner, imagining him huddled up in a small, ruined building, listening closely to the radio. (Maybe… I still can.) His thoughts went to Toya, speaking with him before sharing a hug. (Maybe… we still can.)

He observed Mickey, Roxas, Donald, and Terra all slowly moving toward him, and he chose to let them. He did not fight them anymore. (Sora.) He could feel a great weight within his heart vanishing as the light inside of him finally rose over the horizon. (I don't know how to…)

But… his mind began to trail off. (Wait… I'm forgetting someone.) The beautiful sunrise in Tomura's heart darkened. The darkness soon gave way to a room adorned by desks, shelves, and papers. Sitting on a desk, a photo of his grandmother and the small child she hugged sat. (My life was fine, but then things changed.)

Tomura focused on the small boy. The kid was smiling widely, hugging the woman fondly. (Jeez, this long ass memory game's got my head on wrong. Shouldn't I know this kid? I know I've seen this photo before, why can't I remember him?) Seeing this happy, smiling child made Tomura sick to his stomach. (Why… Why do I hate him so much?)

"Tenko!"

A horrid, forceful voice blared through Tomura's head. He turned to the room's entrance, and saw his father standing there, glaring at him with cold, intense eyes.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, Tenko?! How many times have I told you to stop doing this?!"

The now young, fearful Tenko reached out to his sister, but she was no longer at his side. Instead, she now stood behind the open door frame with their family. Tenko's mom, aunt, and uncle all watched in silence.

His father stepped toward him. "Have I not made myself clear enough?"

Tenko could feel his heart drop, smash against the floor, writhing in pain like an insect that was stepped on. He called out, no, he screamed to his family, begging them to help him… yet it proved fruitless. His family, his flesh and blood, turned away from the two. Tenko could only watch as their familiar forms transformed into misty shrouds, unknown as a stranger.

His father grabbed his hand, squeezing it tightly. "Do not ever do this…" Tenko bawled as he tugged on his arm, trying to break free. "This is how we will feel…" His father raised a hand against him. "If you become a Hero!"

Within his glacial encasing, something inside Tomura cracked. His eyes shot open, and smile snapped into an angered frown, cracking the ice around his face.

The warriors of light flinched, all backing up at the sudden motion.

(You… you were the one problem, father.) Tomura found himself in pitch black darkness, the faint outline of a horizon before him. (No, that's not true. It wasn't just you.)

A figure rose from below the horizon, an unrecognizable misty shroud.

"You give your father too much credit." That misty shroud soon cleared, revealing All For One. "If anything, I am the one who raised you. I molded you into who you are now. The person you are now is all due to my influence." All For One began growing larger, soon towering over him like a building. "You are what I dictate you become. No matter how much you resist or deny it, that is the truth." All For One extended a hand over Tomura, casting him in a gargantuan red light, beaming from a hole in his palm.

"You cannot change what I have made you."

Standing beneath his former master's grip, Tomura grew deranged. He started shaking uncontrollably, his eyes grew veiny, and he huffed and puffed like a wild animal ready to pounce. "Shut up. You're not gonna control me again."

Within his icy encasing, small flames appeared over his body.

Tomura leaped upward into the light, holding a hand out to Shigaraki while letting out a ferocious shout. "I will not be the next you! I decide who I am!"

In this moment, Shigaraki's subconscious remembered something. The closer you get to the light, the stronger your shadows become.

His body erupted into flames, melting the glacial barrier in an instant. The warriors all backed up further, moving away from the intense fire as cinders blew past them.

"You guys sure are persistent," Shigaraki said, the fire engulfing him lessening, "but I get it now. Your belief in Sora, the trust you put in him. That's worked for you all so far, but you guys don't know anything about me."

As the fire reduced enough to reveal his body, the warriors noticed something, to them, unnatural about it. The fire was contained purely to the left side of Shigaraki's body.

"None of you know what I've done to get here, how many lives I've crushed," he said, the frostbite disappearing and Terra's slash stitching itself up before their eyes, "I've killed people younger and stronger than all of you while outnumbered even harder. Get this through your thick skulls, I'm not some thing for you to fix." The fire surrounding him flared up, evolving from red-orange to white-blue. "I'm the last thing you see before you die."

Although shocked, even frightened by his outburst, Mickey's resolve remained unwavering. "Everyone! Soak him!" The four warriors raised their weapons high. Streams of water began surrounding them.

Shigaraki smirked seeing that. (Too easy.) In an instant, the flames around him vanished, with crackling electricity taking their place. Already gearing up spells, the warriors were left with no time to react.

"Five Million Volts!"

He discharged a massive field of electricity, enveloping the four fighters encircling him. They all screamed in pain and lost control of their spell, causing the water to splash on top of them. Their screams only grew louder with that as their skin sizzled more, little burn marks quickly expanding to scathing blisters.

The discharge continued for about five seconds before ceasing. The four warriors were badly hurt, burn marks covering their bodies and smoke still emitting from them, but they all remained conscious. As they floated there, fighting the searing pain, they all slowly began to realize how unbearable this sensation was. It was the worst physical pain any of them could recall experiencing.

Shigaraki, however, began to free fall. Donald, Roxas, Mickey, and Terra thought he'd worn himself out, that he was simply all talk and no bite. But to their unease, he was still awake, and still seemed entirely in control of himself.

As he fell through the sky, a memory was placed firmly in Shigaraki's mind. Not one forced to the forefront, but one that crawled its way out through Namine's bilge.

Shigaraki and Kurogiri sat in a cave together. It had been a few hours since Spinner left, and Shigaraki was still slowly recovering, when a bright red light appeared over his chest. That light formed a line leading somewhere out of the cave, phasing right through the stone walls.

Shigaraki's eyes widened in shock seeing that light. "Already?! What the hell is wrong with him?!" He exhaled in pain, gripping his shriveled, purple arm. "Damn it, it's too soon. I can't even fight at half strength yet."

"I was afraid of this possibility." Kurogiri said, "He didn't seem to be aware of this at first, but this quirk allows him to re-activate my portals against my will. With such astounding pursuit abilities, we will likely not be able to escape from him this time." He looked at Shigaraki. "How should we handle this, Master Shigaraki?"

Shigaraki seethed, anger and fear pulsing through his veins, but in the snap of a finger, they both gave way to clarity. Shigaraki's widened eyes narrowed, and his once panicked tone became reserved and sharp. (I was an idiot for thinking otherwise.) He rose to his feet. (No matter how many heroes I kill, there will always be more. I can't just stop at Japan, I have to destroy them all. I have to kill them… before they kill us.)

His shriveled hand twitched as he approached the exit of the cave, Kurogiri in tow. (I don't care if I have to fight for the rest of my life. As long as I have one friend left to protect, I'll never stop fighting.)

Shigaraki clung to that memory, he clung to all of the pain and turmoil that led him to this moment. As his mind returned to and solidified on his current battlefield, he felt invigorated, fully prepared to do whatever it took to achieve his dream.

(Izuku Midoriya. I really thought he had it in him. I thought he was different, that'd be the hero I could finally come to an understanding with.) His pupils changed from red to multi-colored, and three spirals of visible, white air began circling him. (Now I know that was just a lie. If he gave up on me, these guys will too. I'll just show them how wrong they are about me…)

The four warriors braced themselves for his assault, still panting and cross-eyed, but determined to stop him.

"Watch out!" Donald shouted, "He moves really fast when he does this! Get Reflect ready!"

Heeding his advice, everyone primed up like a cowboy ready to quickdraw, ready to defend at any moment. Mickey however, noticed something odd about Shigaraki's glare. He wasn't staring at them. He stared past them, as if his mind were elsewhere.

In a flash, he turned away from the warriors, facing the ocean below and balling up in a cannonball position. They were all confused for a moment before he kicked back, releasing an incredible burst of air and a visible white ring. The guardians were blown further into the sky while Shigaraki came rocketing downward.

An indescribable feeling surged through Tomura Shigaraki as extended an arm to his side, and moments later, throttled a mach speed clothesline against the gut of an innocent life.

"Starting with you!"