Trigger Warning:
- major character deaths
- death
- blood
- gore
- mutilation
- burns
- impalement
- evisceration
There are only two reasons preventing me from entering into battle headfirst.
One, I care about my life.
Two, the Pro-Heroes - people who are supposed to have the most experience combatting high-rank villains - are struggling to keep up.
I managed to catch up with Bakugou and Midoriya. Midoriya's excuse that he forgot something was a blatant lie, but for Bakugou to go with him … that's when I understood that something was up. They were hiding something. A truth that they were only privy to. Usually, I am not one to intrude on other's secrets, but I didn't like the vibe that my friends gave off.
It's okay. When you reach them, you can just ask them directly what is going on. Remember when you asked Midoriya outright if he was All Might's love child? He answered honestly. He'll do the same thing now.
At least, that is what I had believed. Upon arriving at the scene, I developed second thoughts about confronting them.
My brave-to-the-point-of-stupid friends decide to tackle Shigaraki. The same guy who not too long ago decimated an entire city to rubble. Also the same guy that had been amassing an army since January. Utterly genius idea!
Shigaraki collapses, heaving for air face down. Endeavor stands some distance away, studying him. Clouds of dust, piles of debris, and the numerous injuries on their bodies belay the story that unfolded.
"No matter how much power you obtain …" Dad begins. His voice comes out so hoarse, I fear that he burned his vocal cords. "We will never yield to destruction without conviction!" I hide behind a chunk of metal that managed to survive the onslaught. The vantage from this position allows me to survey the entire battlefield. Together, all parties present form a square pyramid. In one sector, Midoriya and Bakugou appear just as battered as Endeavor. Across from them is Aizawa-sensei, being supported by Rocklock and Manual. Jet occupies one corner perpendicular to the two groups, and I complete the square base. Ryukyu hovers overhead in her dragon form. In the center of it all is Endeavor and Shigaraki.
Shigaraki manages to lift himself into a crouch. "All of you … heroes …" I recall the villain always having a raspy tone, but it is even more prevalent now. I hope that's the result of the damage Dad inflicted on him. "You hurt your own families … just to help complete strangers," he continues. One knee comes up. "Those were my father's words!" His voice becomes stronger. The other knee rises. "If that's conviction, then I do! I do have it!"
By this point, Shigaraki can straighten his two legs. I wonder why the Pro-Heroes haven't attacked so far. What are they waiting for? The villain to stand up fully before resuming the fighting? Some nonsensical sense of chivalry? Rocklock drags Aizawa-sensei and Manual toward a makeshift shield nearby. Jet seems to be nursing a wound.
"You heroes pretend to be society's guardians. For generations, you pretended not to see those you couldn't protect and swept their pain under the rug. It's tainted everything you built." Shigaraki had a severed arm, but immediately a new appendage grows from the stump. Muscle, sinew, flesh. As if the amputation had never existed at all. "That means your system's all rotten from the inside. With maggots crawling out. It all builds up. Little by little, over time." The guys' monologuing his bullshit and none of you are going to attack? Seriously?! But no. Everyone is all too eager to give him the time to recuperate and finish his speech.
Dammit! Am I going to have to tackle this myself? And then I realize I can. Shigaraki and the heroes have all seen each other's faces. But no one knows that I'm here, too. The element of surprise is on my side. I can use it to give the heroes an advantage.
"You've got the common trash, all too dependent on being protected," Shigaraki continues. I mull over the best strategy of offense. "And the brave guardians who created the trash that need coddling. It's a corrupt, vicious cycle." He decayed my wall of ice earlier, so launching the same attack is pointless. But with fire … Dad's been using flames the whole time and he's still up and moving. Something else then. "Everything I've witnessed … this whole system you've built has always rejected me. Now I'm ready to reject it. That's why I destroy. That's why I took this power for myself. Simple enough, yeah?" What about a fusion of my powers, then? The stunt at the Sports Festival battle with Midoriya? Or the one at the Provisional License Exam? "I don't care if you don't understand. That's what makes us heroes and villains." At this point, Shigaraki is standing on both feet. And my time to devise a plan of attack is up.
Fortunately, Dad made better use of the time than I did. A sea of orange fire washes over the wreckage, blocking all vision of the setting beyond. "Thanks for the breather!" he heaves. "And since you're on death's door and all, prepare to-"
Shigaraki literally says sike! He leaps an impossible height into the air, safe from the flames. A malevolent grin mars his ugly face as he descends on Endeavor. At the last moment, Jet intervenes, shoving Shigaraki off his trajectory. However, as soon as Jet prepares to punch him face first again, Shigaraki grabs hold of one of his feet. Blood spurts from the site immediately, and Jet greets the ground with his face this time. Midoriya and Bakugou sprint forward, emotions and adrenaline running on maximum.
They're too late. I know it. They haven't even covered half the distance when Shigaraki thrusts his hand into Jet's chest. More blood explodes, washing Shigaraki's face in a disgusting red. I want to vomit. Indeed, the quick breakfast from this morning churns in my stomach. Midoriya's suicidal scream of rage is of no help, either. Just as he smashes the spot where Shigaraki was bent over Jet's body, Shigaraki dashes away at supersonic speed. The only thing damaged in the process is more rocks.
I watch him chase Aizawa-sensei, who has yet to hide behind the broken remains of a house. Ryukyu swoops in before he can reach Sensei. It's no good. Whatever Shigaraki had planned for Sensei … Ryukyu takes the brunt of it. The fist she had wrapped around his entire body is penetrated in the same manner Jet's body was impaled. One palm slams into the other, crushing all metacarpal and phalanges in one go.
My body stills completely. Fear courses up and down my spine. It really was a mistake on part of the heroes. They should have incapacitated him while he was ranting off about hero shortcomings. No. Not just incapacitated. That was the prime opportunity to kill him. The Pro-Heroes should have killed him.
And now there is no way to reverse time. It doesn't matter that Ryukyu halted Shigaraki's progress. It doesn't matter that Midoriya ambushes Shigaraki from behind, grabbing him in a chokehold. It doesn't matter that Midoriya shouts, "I will never forgive you!" or that Shigaraki does not even deign to look at him as he mutters, "And I won't forgive anyone."
It doesn't matter that Shigaraki wedges his elbow back so hard into Midoriya's stomach that my friend coughs blood.
It doesn't matter that Midoriya's tendrils of black matter coil around Shigaraki, immobilizing him completely.
It doesn't matter that Endeavor summons every dredge of willpower inside him to blast a blaze like no other.
All I can see is the sadistic smile that never leaves Shigaraki's face and a tiny vial he plays with his fingers. He punches through Ryukyu's other hand, eliciting a deafening howl from her. Midoriya uses the full force of his super strength into knocking out Shigaraki. His forearm wedges in between Shigaraki's teeth, obliterating his jaw.
And it is not enough. I know it's not.
With a flick of his fingers, the vial shoots like a gunshot, embedding itself into Aizawa-sensei's leg.
Maybe my body couldn't handle remaining immobile any longer, or maybe the offense against Aizawa-sensei is what it took for instinct to kick in. Whatever it is, my body starts moving without volition. Forward. Slowly and steady at first. Slowly picking up speed. Sensei pulls out a knife from somewhere in his costume and begins hacking away at the limb. Mad kudos to you, Sensei, I think distantly. The thought is as faint as everything good in this world. My only priority is saving my teacher.
I can't let my teacher die.
Midoriya is thrown back with the same strength he gave.
I can't let my teacher die.
Shigaraki escapes Ryukyu's grasp.
I can't let my teacher die.
Dad's surmounting power hits Ryukyu point-blank.
I can't let my teacher die.
Shigaraki charges at Aizawa-sensei and clamps his hand around Sensei's face.
I won't let my teacher die.
That last conviction channels forth dagger-sharp spears of ice that impale Shigaraki in their course. "SENSEI!" I scream, as they narrowly miss my teacher's face. I used up my element of surprise. It is Midoriya's turn to complete it. He pummels Shigaraki into the ice, sending chunks into the air. Seeing Shigaraki's blood on my assault rather than my comrades washes away the lingering doubts and fears in my mind.
Is he dead? I hope he's dead. Final boss dead means war over.
Although, I should know better. With all the grudgingly admirable tenacity Shigaraki's shown all day, of course he wouldn't go down so easily.
As the ice settles and smoke drifts away, Shigaraki's voice rings out, taunting us. "After you protect him, then what? Even if you so desperately try to delay it, the only thing that awaits your destruction … is my demon."
Everyone pauses at those words. Bakugou, who is tending to Jet's wounds; Aizawa-sensei, who lost an eye because I wasn't fast enough; Rocklock and Manual, who assist Sensei onto his back; Midoriya, who cries freely and foams at the mouth simultaneously; Ryukyu, who reverts to her human form out of the exhaustion; Dad, who wears a cape of searing flames.
There's someone else? What other tricks does this maniac have up his sleeve? No, he has to be bluffing. He's buying time again, just like he did earlier. I won't fall for it again.
Dad notices me summoning ice from his peripheral vision. He shouts my name. "I have to help Ryukyu and them first," I explain, never leaving my gaze from the actual demon in front of me. "Cool off with that ice. It should at least provide some comfort."
Midoriya bolts to check on Jet. Then he races in the other direction to check on Sensei. Rocklock pleads with him to run away. But Midoriya has made up his mind. Combatting the demon for so long has brought out Midoriya's inner demons.
If he's going to see this to the end, then so will I.
All of a sudden, a massive gash appears on Shigaraki's body. Coursing all the way from his right shoulder to his heart, muscle parts, revealing bone.
"Ah, I see." His words are utterly juxtaposed with his situation. How he has the audacity to be so dismissive after everything that's happened, I will never know. Don't care to, either. "I get why I was all busted up just a second ago. I had to push past my body's limits to keep moving. Whatever. Hyper-regeneration is still working." And with those inspiring words, he squats and slams his hand against the ground. "One touch should end this!"
Before I can make a move, my body rises into the air. The hell? Black coils wrap around my waist. Around Rocklock, Manual, Aizawa-sensei in one bunch; Endeavor, Bakugou, Ryukyu, Jet in the others. We're floating!
Shigaraki's joined the party, too. He is entwined in a rope of his own, far, far away from the rest of us. I trace the ropes back to their origin. Midoriya is in the center of it all.
Propelling himself forward toward Shigaraki, he swings the rest of us back.
"Up here … is where I'll beat you! I swear it, with all I got!"
Midoriya releases his hold on the heroes. We crash unceremoniously on even ground. Dad is quick to give orders. "They need first aid, now! Get to it, Shouto!" I reach for Jet, who is the closest to me, and scoop him into my arms. We move toward a safe location. Well, as safe as we can be in this rampage. Rocklock and Manual will handle Sensei. I have to trust them when they've held up for so long.
The gaping hole in Jet's chest takes no name of stopping. I press my left hand against his forehead and my right against the hole. Crystals of ice creep around the periphery of the wound. His condition is already critical, but I cannot carry him to an ambulance. Part of me regrets my decision to follow after Bakugou and Midoriya. The other part of me tries to console myself, saying that my sneak attack gave everyone another chance.
There are problems than my moral dilemma. Focusing on buying time for Jet, the skin around the wound purples.
Meanwhile, the others holler at Deku.
"Hang on, Deku!" yells Bakugou.
"You're the one guy who needs to keep his distance from that creep!" chastises Rocklock. "He's no longer being held back by Erasure!"
Midoriya calls back, "But who else can keep Shigaraki off the ground?"
The conversation is going nowhere. It's pointless because even Shigaraki thinks his input is necessary. "You like the sky that much? Good! 'Cause after I steal One for All, I'll send you straight to heaven! Same goes for that old fool and the others down there!"
There it is again! Those words! One for All.
Midoriya vows, "You're not gonna hurt them anymore!"
The showdown commences.
Both lunatics charge toward each other, but it is Midoriya who inflicts first blood in the scuffle. Safely dodging while Shigaraki's regenerating laceration is torn fresh again. Midoriya veers back to deal an even mightier hit. But I can't help notice that with each subsequent attack, his arms receive the reciprocal damage. The sleeves of his costume are torn up the shoulder. A patchwork of black and blue bruises decorate his arms like gauntlets. Bits of bone peep out of the skin, shiny with blood and pus.
Jet's bleeding has slowed, but it is nowhere near enough. Manual and Rocklock, having finished tending to Aizawa-sensei's wounds, assist me. Even so, our team of three cannot resuscitate Jet. At the rate Midoriya is going, he'll become one of the critically injured, too!
Punch after punch. Smash after smash. Each move is more powerful than the last. Midoriya does not give Shigaraki any time to counterattack. While Manual marvels at his resilience, I agree with Bakugou that he is going to destroy himself.
"He's using his legs and 'Air Force' to avoid the recoil while already controlling several quirks," Bakugou explains, aching to participate in the fight, unable to because of Endeavor's injuries. "Deku's pulling every move he's learned until now just to keep Shigaraki in the air. Since he couldn't completely take him out with the first attack, it's turned into a war of attrition. Just wearing each other down. In that kind of situation, there's no way he can hold out against a guy with 'regeneration.'"
Which exactly seems to be the case. The flashes of light from the clashes make visibility almost nonexistent, but what little glimpses are discernible show that Midoriya is physically in a far worse state than Shigaraki.
Bakugou keeps going, frenzy increasing with each word. "Within minutes, he'll get his ass kicked and power stolen! He turns to me. "Todoroki, you finished yet?!"
"Yes, but wh-"
"Shut up and grab on!" I dare not protest when a manic, frantic energy envelops him. "Endeavor! Hold off on the fire! I'll make sure you get up there. Todoroki, keep Endeavor cooled off as long as possible!"
Maybe it's such terrible timing on my part to notice that twice Bakugou has called me by my actual name and not 'Icy Hot.' I might have almost voiced it, too, had not Dad smartly intervened.
Endeavor heaves, "I'll use my greatest firepower to bring him down." His face is smoking from his quirk. "Leave it to me."
Rocklock starts to complain, and it is my turn to interrupt. "Take care of our teacher!" Bakugou has a plan. I bet my bank account it's reckless as hell, but at this point, I'll take whatever we got! So beneath my feet a tower of ice constructs, propelling Bakugou, Dad, and myself straight to the center of the feud.
"Aim for when Black Whip is completely extended!" Dad orders. "When I head up there, you two return to the ground! Or you'll get caught up in it!" Midoriya, hold on! Closer and closer. Every second counts. We cover tens of meters in mere moments, waiting for an opportunity to open. There! A wayward black coil drifts toward us. "NOW!" Endeavor boosts himself off the platform, and Bakugou and I fall over. He catches it. And before either Midoriya or Shigaraki can process what happened, Dad unleashes his most powerful inferno yet. Prominence Burn. I can count on one hand the number of instances he used that specific move.
Light so bright that it momentarily blinds me. Heat waves tickle my cheeks, aching to singe me. Bakugou and I are lucky to be just far away from serious harm. I cannot imagine how torturous the sensation must be for Shigaraki. Engulfed in the flames, howling a primal scream that only animals make on the verge of death.
It has to be over now. But what we did not anticipate was the backlash. Endeavor gets trapped in his own ambush. Together, Bakugou and I shout his name.
Even when the fire dissipates enough to see the outcome, it is not relieving in the slightest. Shigaraki is charred to a crisp but still breathing. Dad's face is badly third-degree burnt and too much blood pours forth from his mouth.
Again, my body refuses to move. I drift toward the earth. The jolt from hitting solid ground doesn't even faze me. The shock is numbing.
Bakugou, though … he doesn't have the same fate as mine. Amongst all the ricochet, somehow his explosive gauntlets function. Blast after blast shoots himself back toward the air war.
Shigaraki, whom we believed to have witnessed all his new powers, pulls out another from his arsenal. A dark mirror of Midoriya's Black Whip. Shadowy spears with red veins launch like missiles from him, straight for Midoriya.
I see Midoriya's death coming.
My emotions die with him.
I accept it.
But never did I anticipate Bakugou's demise.
The spears impale him.
Shoulder, thorax, abdomen, leg. All vital organs pierced and penetrated. He slides down the spears, while a horrified Midoriya watches him die.
Miraculously, my strength to move returns. With it, my emotions, too. Both Dad's and Bakugou's bodies descend at terminal velocity. Propelling myself with flames, I snatch Endeavor's forearm with one hand and Bakugou's leg with the other.
This cannot be happening! This cannot be happening! This! Cannot! Be! Happening!
But it is. My friend dying is happening. My father dying is happening. My teacher dying is happening. And now … Midoriya dying is going to happen, too. I am powerless to stop it.
Shigaraki, whose regeneration is not nearly fast enough to compensate the ravaged state of his body, seethes, "This fight today … has shed a lot of useless blood … But that just now had to be the most useless of all."
Useless? Bakugou's sacrifice was useless?
Apparently, Midoriya feels the same. As he should! Gritting his teeth and snarling like an animal, there is not much to distinguish between him and a rabid beast. The determination with which he skyrockets toward Shigaraki is all the indication one needs to realize that he has completely lost his mind.
"Take. That. Back."
That is all Midoriya gets to say.
A silent scream escapes my mouth as Shigaraki's hand slaps his face. This is it. Midoriya's gone now. One finger was enough for Shigaraki to decimate everything to dust, and right now all five cover Midoriya's right half. I want to reach for him. Shove him out of the way, just like Bakugou did earlier. But I can't. Not when my friend and dad need help.
So I watch helplessly, as Shigaraki's spears reach their intended target this time. "Finally touched you," he jeers, satisfaction oozing with every chunk of singed flesh that crumbles off his husk of a body. "Now be mine, One for All."
I'm still falling. Drifting like a feather. I should use my abilities to cushion us. But I don't have the strength to.
Element of surprise be damned. Tenacity be damned. Ending the Paranormal Liberation Army be damned.
It is futile.
We're all doomed.
The finality of the statement lets me slowly close my eyes.
And someone has the idea to do precisely just that.
Where this person came from, who they are, when they arrived … I know nothing.
The only thing I know is that they resemble an angel.
With wings as black as night and body awashed in red, the angel of death eclipses the sunlight, welcoming our journey to death.
The angel swoops down, grabs my arms, and transports us safely to the ground.
Oh, the angel wasn't here to kill us.
Maybe it's the delirium, maybe it's the exhaustion … I want to thank the angel.
Before I can touch it, the angel flies away, toward Shigaraki and Midoriya.
And it grazes Midoriya's neck.
Note: I have copied some dialogue from one of the English-translated versions of the manga. The links to the chapters are here:
.online/manga/boku-no-hero-academia-chapter-280/
.online/manga/boku-no-hero-academia-chapter-281/
.online/manga/boku-no-hero-academia-chapter-282/
.online/manga/boku-no-hero-academia-chapter-283/
.online/manga/boku-no-hero-academia-chapter-284/
.online/manga/boku-no-hero-academia-chapter-285/
.online/manga/boku-no-hero-academia-chapter-286/