Heroes in the Dark chapter 102.5: All-Out War
"Go slaughter those meddlesome heroes, my precious High-Ends!"
Those were the words that had echoed through this subterranean hellhole when the Doctor had unleashed his foulest creations. They were volatile. Unstable. Every last one of them – six in total, each with eerie yellow eyes and sinewy black bodies.
And they were fast.
But not as fast as her.
Miruko bounded through the labyrinth of testing tubes and wires, dodging attacks as she went. She'd had to fight them head on – for only a moment! – just to get past them and begin her mad dash to the target at the end of the tunnel. All the other heroes were behind her, still wading their ways through the lower ranking fodder that clogged the entrance to the hidden lab. How lucky, then, that she'd been able to make it this far!
And all it had cost her was an arm.
Aiming for their heads to take them down was easier said than done. She'd managed to bring one down – an unruly type with a plated helmet – but she wasn't going to make much more progress with them all ganged up against her. Another, still, had gone the other way to deal with the heroes pouring in.
That left four still giving chase.
Her only hope was just to keep running! Finding that Doctor and kicking his ass was a definite highlight, but her most important goal was tearing down Shigaraki. As orders would have it, she was to make sure he didn't wake up. That was something she could totally do!
…So long as she could keep evading the high-ends.
They were without a doubt the strangest enemies she'd ever been pitted against. An old, naïve part of her had once wished that she could've fought that one that Hawks had taken care of with the Number One, but she'd shown up a little late to that party. And yet, wasn't it strange? Her rushing adrenaline and heroic conviction was being undercut by a sensation that triggered her animalistic instinct.
Run, run, run!
She would've loved to keep fighting them. But she'd lost her fair share of blood already… and none of her hits were landing anymore. So all that was left was to keep pushing forward. All the while, they attacked with large, grasping fists, lightning fast tendrils, and speed that even she had to admit was pretty damn good. And they talked down to her – with real, cohesive voices that grated her sensitive ears in an unnatural way.
All except one, and that was the one that made her the most nervous.
They were all pretty intense adversaries in their own right – as she barreled her way through the laboratory with them hot on her heels, she was left with little time to form any sort of proper counter-attack, so the best she could do was dodge and hope for the best. It was clear to see that the ones talking down on her acted on the will of the Doctor.
The Crow had been a surprise.
One of those high-ends – maybe not as intellectually advanced, but certainly just as vicious – acted in a way she couldn't predict. None of its attacks had hit her hard enough to be a concern, but its mere existence got to her head in a way that she couldn't quite explain.
It was a noumu by all rights. Only it had a wicked black beak and curved talons instead of the more human-like qualities of the others. It didn't speak, either, communicating rather with low croaks and raspy caws that went unanswered by its brethren. Its unblinking yellow eyes trailed after her, viewing her less as an opponent it was ordered to deal with and more like injured prey.
Furthermore, she could swear that it wasn't following orders.
Had that damned Doctor released it by mistake? …Or was it freed from one of the test tubes that she'd been so unceremoniously hurled through? She didn't know! And Miruko guessed she didn't care, either! Because as fate would have it, that Crow was an indiscriminate attacker. The way it fought was so much more different than the others, as if it was a test subject working on a different, experimental software.
She'd been given an opening to run when that unhinged monster had lunged, only to latch onto the hulking noumu instead. She could still hear its outraged shrieks echoing in her ears. But it'd also been the first to give chase the moment it realized that she was sprinting away.
While a cacophony of voices were raised against her, declarations of how she wouldn't harm the Doctor and how foolish a hero she was, it was the hollow caws of that Bird that berated her the most. She thought for sure, with how close it sounded, that if she turned her head back now the only thing she'd see would be that avian monstrosity.
In truth, they were all hot on her tail, making her wonder if her injuries were catching up to her. A large hand took hold of her freely flowing hair, and Miruko snapped her head forward to rip it free. The remaining ranged fighter lashed out from the rear of the pack of nefarious hunters with its jagged tendrils, and she felt one scrape past her midsection while another tore through her right ear. Had she not jerked forward, that could've easily been her head.
Out of the corner of her eye, the female noumu reared her angular head and reached towards Miruko's leg – only to get knocked aside by the carelessness of the Crow, who used her as a launchpad to get closer to Miruko.
Her job here was only getting harder.
Gotta reach the old fart… and Shigaraki! Miruko thought to herself, grinning as she honed in on the passage ahead of her. Sensing she was getting closer, she put more force into her step. Quick as a rabbit! No sweat, just focus on running! If you're gonna die, get the job done first… Miruko!
And there they were! That cowering Doctor, screaming for her to stop. And Shigaraki – or what she assumed was supposed to be him, suspended in a glass tube and hooked up to a bunch of different things. Eyes closed, body still – an easy target! The light at the end of the tunnel… was her victory!
Two things happened, right then, just as her foot was about to come crashing down on the glass enclosure. She heard it, the sound that ranged fighter made when it sent out those projectile extrusions. It whistled through the air, and she felt it aimed on her – close, closer, inches away from piercing her raised leg. She couldn't shift out of the way, couldn't stop the attack –
Something else did, though.
A heavy black form barreled into her from the side. How it'd matched her movements so damn well, she didn't know. But she was knocked aside by the Crow noumu. It scrabbled to take hold of her as she kicked furiously, and she craned her neck to avoid its furiously jabbing beak. The wind had been knocked from her, but Miruko was still keenly aware of everything happening around her. Time slowed down. The world around her was changing in the moments it took her to hit the ground.
Looking past the Crow, she could see the Doctor, letting out a horrified wail. And she saw those tendrils from that noumu, the very ones that had been about to pierce right through her. Instead of stopping like they were supposed to once they'd hit their intended target, they kept going – right through the thick glass wall encased around Shigaraki.
Glass shattered across the lab, and a chemical-smelling liquid gushed from the broken test tube. A wave of medicinal fluid and glass shards washed over them all.
Miruko didn't see what happened to the slumbering form inside before the Crow's body blocked her line of sight.
They hit the ground, a tussling mess of wildly flailing limbs. Until Miruko tucked in her legs, planting them against the monster's midriff and summoning all the energy she had left in order to kick the damn thing off of her. It went flying over her head, crashing into a wall of vents and wires behind them. Then she finished the momentum by summersaulting into a crouch before pushing herself back onto her feet. Beneath her, liquid still flowed and glass crunched. And on the floor, face-down in the remnants of his own cage, was the unmoving body of Shigaraki.
Rolling flames leapt to life at the entrance of the lab, signaling the arrival of the other heroes.
They'd made it. They'd done it. The Doctor was cornered and Shigaraki was down for the count. All those other noumu that had torn into her were now succumbing to the might of the other pros.
All except for one.
"Miruko! Is that the last of them?" Endeavor roared from where he stood over the twitching body of the ranged noumu.
Miruko looked around her, surveying the innermost lab until her eyes settled on the Crow noumu. It'd freed itself of the wires and broken contraptions, only to remain where it was from the shadows. Without it coming after her, Miruko felt like she was seeing it for the first time.
You look so much like the kid.
If she let her mind wander, she could still hear that cut-off plea from the bird-headed boy that'd been at the site of the Kyushu attack. Tokoyami, the student that'd been captured by the League of Villains. Miruko knew that noumu were amalgamated templates from other quirk users. If that was the case, then could that mean…?
The Crow glowered at her, oily flesh rippling with feather-like protrusions. It let out a low croak, as if questioning why she wasn't fleeing like the little prey animal she was.
This is… just an animal… right? I don't even know anymore.
"Stop standing there and protect me!" the Doctor hissed, stumbling towards his devices and control panels.
The high-end didn't budge. It appraised her different from how the other noumu did. And then it began backing away, slipping into the network of tangled machinery behind it. Its glowing yellow eyes illuminating its hooked beak was the last she saw of it before the thing was gone without a trace. She probably should've said something – pointed it out to the other pros as part of clean-up. If they didn't deal with it now, then it would almost certainly show up again someday. But without the threat of danger, she turned back to the main objective at hand.
Miruko was dizzy. And drained of energy and battered to hell. But she'd done exactly as promised. She'd lead the way to Shigaraki, bringing the heroes deep into the heart of the lab. Already, the sounds of fighting were fading away as the heroes earned their victory. Endeavor approached to offer her support, since the world seemed to be swimming around her. And Mic had a tight hold of the Doctor while X-less went over to Shigaraki. Although her hand came away from her side covered in blood, everything had gone about as well as it could have. And she was still standing.
XXX
Miles or wreckage stretched out around them, filled with the din of blaring sirens and feeble shouts for help from underfoot. Each step while riding atop Gigantomachia brought them closer to the heart of destruction. Even though it was Tomura waiting for them in the distance, she couldn't bring herself to care about the outcome of that fight. Other people hitching a ride had their own agendas – and she had hers.
"Are you fine with this, Toga?" Mr. Compress asked, noting how close she was standing to the edge. "I know you've been scanning for them."
"Hm?" Toga hummed, trying to block out the old man's inquiry. Of course, he just pressed forward instead of backing off.
"Those U.A. scamps you and Tokoyami love so much! They're all heroes, aren't they?"
Toga clenched her hands into fists while watching the world those heroes claimed to care so much about crumble around her. Her heart ached in a way that she'd never felt before. She had so much love to share, and yet in the moment all she could feel was loss. "Where do they draw the line?" Toga murmured. "If heroes are supposed to save people… then was Jin not considered a person? Will they kill me, too? That's what I want to ask Izuku… and Ochaco. Depending on their answer… maybe I'll be okay."
When she glanced back, she could see the boys hovering over Skeptic's laptop. He was switching between editing Dabi's video for widespread distribution and checking surveillance reports in the area. She figured Dabi would be an excited mess, eager for his vengeance to come to fruition. But she hadn't seen him smile since meeting up with the remainder of the League. Their time of reckoning was nearly upon them, and all Dabi had to show for it was that video of sweet little Fumikage throwing himself in front of Jin. That… damn idiot. Playing her for a fool. Giving her everything she could possibly ask for in a happy life, only to turn around and steal the thing she'd valued the most – their friendship. Even though he'd said that they were friends, and she wanted nothing more than to blindly believe it, Fumikage had still left them behind in their darkest hour.
Toga could tell, without knowing all of what happened, that something between them had left Dabi rattled, as well. She had to assume that if they had that footage, then they also had video of Dabi letting Fumikage fly free. Him and that detestable hero. He hadn't mentioned it, and yet she knew it to be true.
A commotion sounded behind her, interrupting her sullen thoughts.
"Speak of the little devils, it's them!" Mr. Compress announced rather cheerily.
Toga's eyes focused on the images of her targets on screen. It was them! Tsu and Ochaco! She rushed towards Mr. Compress with a level of urgency. "Mister! Gimme my equipment!" she demanded, gripping his tailored vest and shaking the poor man until his marbles fell out. "Quick!"
Mr. Compress stumbled over his words, surprised by her aggressiveness, but complied, releasing her blood-sucking devices. She equipped them with trained swiftness and ran towards the edge of Gigantomachia.
"Not so fast, young lady!" Mr. Compress said, cursing himself for ever pointing them out. "Don't jump from this height, it's dangerous!"
She turned around to address them before leaving. "Being all confused and gloomy makes me feel sick," she explained easily. Judging by their downcast expressions, they probably felt the same. "I have to ask them. I have to."
"At this very moment?!" Mr. Compress huffed. "Say something, Dabi! Don't just stand there looking so grim!"
Dabi stayed uncharacteristically quiet, and when she looked back she could see him scouring over the footage still coming in. He didn't care.
It was Spinner that tried to meet her halfway. "Toga. I know we're just a gang of strays who happened to find each other, but you're not the only one feeling messed up… over Twice and Tokoyami. The boss probably wants us to stick together. The League was maybe the only place where Twice felt he belonged, and we went so far with Tokoyami that it was only natural that he felt like one of us, even though we had to have known…"
"Don't talk about him!" Dabi snapped, eyes flaring.
The leftover League turned to him, surprised by the sudden outburst. But he didn't elaborate further, as if he'd made a mistake by saying anything at all. You're hurting too, aren't you? Even if you don't wanna admit it.
Spinner shook his head sadly. It was strange to think how close they'd all become, being such starkly different people. "I… I just want to say what we're all thinking. So please, if nobody else, make sure you come back to us."
Toga jumped off, leaving the League behind. It wouldn't be for long – if things went south with her last few friends, they were the only ones she'd have left.
She navigated the ruined city with ease and athleticism, jumping from one crumbling edge to the next until reaching a more secure ground level. If she listened closely past the sounds of destruction, she could hear the desperate cries of trapped and injured civilians. Figuring any sensible participant in the hero world would be sure to hear them as well, she homed in on one such sound. It'd be easier to meet with them where they wouldn't attract too much unwanted attention. Ahhh, but who was she going to find first? Or, more exciting, who would find her first? Despite the feelings of grief weighing down upon her conscious, it made Toga's chest flutter. She wanted nothing more than to be friends with those students, the way she had been with Fumikage despite it all. And… and all they had to do was prove her worries wrong. Just a shred of support was all she needed to feel like she might belong.
"Heeelp…p-please!"
Toga tilted her head to the side, listening to the faint pleas. Judging by how strained they sounded, it should be an easy target. Any sort of bait would do.
She slipped into the shadows of a cramped side street. Admittedly, she felt quite at home in such a drab environment. Ah, but I don't think people will like looking at me the way I am now. As if by second nature, she let her features morph into something achingly familiar, feeling the shadows around her dance to her tune. And maybe it was a bit indulgent, still turning into him even after he was already gone. But she didn't want to waste what had already been drank, even if it was from such a dwindling supply.
Fumikage, he… he'd been bleeding when she said good-bye to him. Some of his blood was still on her hands, though she'd tried to save as much as she could. And, well, turning into him, it was convenient wasn't it? Hell, she didn't even have to change clothes – their training outfits were nearly the same already, even in terms of size.
Her hand came up, cupping the head of the shadowy amalgamation that had emerged at her side. I'm going to miss you when I run out, Toga realized, raking her fingers through Night Bite's inky feathers.
Toga crept through a broken door, into the wreckage of a partially collapsed building where the cries for help had originated. Sure enough, there was an older lady laying amongst the wreckage, pinned under some newly fallen rubble. There wasn't much, but it was enough to keep her from crawling to safety.
Hmm. How do I want to do this? Maybe if I just wait for her screams to bring a hero running and wait—
"I'm saved!" the lady wept, her voice cracking and tears falling down her dust-covered face. "A hero showed up after all! Oh, oh please won't you free me, young lad?"
Toga went rigid. "I'm not…" She clamped her beak down. When she looked like this, then by all rights she was a hero. And maybe it would be easy to kill the old lady on the spot and steal her blood. But she couldn't stand thinking about just how disappointed Fumikage had been when he'd seen the blood of her victims. Even if they deserved to die – even if they were easy to cut down in the midst of her rampage.
Her quirk fidgeted at her side, waiting for Toga to reach a decision.
With a desolate sigh, the transformed Toga approached the fallen debris and instructed Night Bite to start lifting it away from the vulnerable woman.
"Can you move?" Toga asked in a voice that made her heart pound sadly. She held her scar-covered hand out to the lady, taking hold and slowly retrieving her from the wreckage while her quirk created room to crawl out from under a heavy beam.
"A little worse for wear, but I should be able to walk," the lady said with visible relief, staggering onto the open ground.
"Great!" Toga said cheerily, before her grasp on the civilian's wrist tightened. "Now, I need you to do something very important for me."
The lady nodded nervously, uncertainty flashing in her eyes while she struggled to remain thankful to her savior. What a truly bizarre outcome. "W-what is it?"
Toga leaned in. "There's heroes outside. I need you to find one of my friends – one of the girls in training. I reaaally need her help, just like you needed mine. There's someone I can't save if I don't have somebody with me. Could you run out there? Could you direct somebody to me? Hurry, please, this is a very important mission and time is of the essence."
Toga watched the lady solidify her resolution, growing determined with the task that'd been entrusted to her. All she had to do was help this lady to the doorway and point her in a direction. Then the lady ran off, yelling enthusiastically for help to come her way.
Toga slinked into the shadows of the house, finding a place where she could keep a close eye on the door. And then she waited. And waited. Who, she wondered, would find her first? Ahh, if that lady didn't come through for her, then that'd give her a bad look. Saving someone? Knowing all her actions up to this point, it felt so laughable! Granted, it was only done to further her own selfish goals, but still…
Movement at the entrance demanded her undivided attention. Toga perked up as she came in through the doorway, poking around for anyone in need.
"Hello? Anyone home? I'm here to help!" Ochaco announced boldly.
Toga's heart felt so warm. She did come! Here to help her…!
"Ochaco!" Toga croaked. "I'm so… so happy to see you!"
Ochaco stiffened, her normally kind eyes flashing with surprise like she was seeing a ghost before hardening. "That's… that's a cruel joke you're playing. You're not Tokoyami! That's not what he looks like!"
What a strange thing to say! Her quirk didn't work any different from one person to the next. Did she really not recognize her own classmate – or had Toga already given herself away? "Ahh, I guess I did borrow his face the last time we met, too, huh? That's okay! I'm just glad we get to play again!" She receded deeper into the darkness of the building, feeling a thrill of excitement when Ochaco pursued her.
"I'm not here to play!" Ochaco insisted, growing impatient. "So tell me what you did to my friend!"
Toga looked between Ochaco and the looming visage of Night Bite. She hated to say good-bye to her quirk when their days were numbered, but she could tell that this appearance was going to be a distraction. It was with a heavy heart that she dropped the comfortable illusion, her hand raking through dissolving shadows.
"You can ask Fumikage yourself when this is all over," Toga said coldly. "I don't mean to be misleading, but it's not him I want to talk to you about. Because I already know he was okay… being my friend." Toga slipped through the hallways of the house, circling around Ochaco while her hand trailed to her knife. "I was hoping to chat with Tsuyu, too, because she's also my cute and precious friend… And with Izuku. I love him when he's all beat-up, which is like, always! He's so cool!" She tightened her grip and steeled her resolve. Would her time with these U.A. students also become so dreadfully hopeless? Toga didn't know if she'd be able to handle losing them. Not so soon after such heavy defeat at the hands of these heroes.
But she needed her answers, or else she'd never be satisfied. So Toga kept going, undeterred. "I love how cute you are, too, Ochaco. I wanna be just like you. So you gotta tell me…" Toga hesitated around the corner, readying her blade, and darted out in one swift motion with a flash of steel. She collided into Ochaco, bearing her knife, and they crashed onto the floor. Ochaco held her wrist in a vice grip, teeth clenched and face serious. Even with all of her training with Fumikage, Toga knew better than to underestimate the hero-in-training.
Her knife was stopped well before it could even graze Ochaco. Toga pursed her lips, wondering how this would turn out. "What do you… wanna do to me?"
XXX
Midoriya didn't know how he could've let this happen. It's as if the scenes of tragedy playing out before his very eyes were nothing more than a re-play of old experiences. He stood on this wasteland of desolation with the expectations that he could do something – anything – that would make a difference when this was all over.
Shigaraki had been after him. The villain had emerged from a wave of destruction only to demand more of the quirks surrounding him. He could feel the way he was being hunted, and had made the decision to lure him away as a result. But what was the point if, even after all that, he couldn't protect himself? Hell, he was still being protected by the very people he desperately wished wouldn't get caught up in the decades old rivalry between All for One and One for All.
It'd been foolish to think, if even for a moment, that everyone could've escaped this full-fledged confrontation without being scathed. And once again, he was dragging people he cared about into the bitter fray.
Just because the heroes surrounding him knew the dangers didn't make the outcome any less painful to witness.
Gran Torino lay in a puddle of blood on the ground. Eraserhead stood crippled, a stump remaining where his leg used to be. And Kacchan…
Kacchan had taken such a horrible blow from Shigaraki. The rational part of his mind tried to convince him that he'd be okay somehow – that Todoroki had him, and Kacchan wouldn't need to worry about fighting anymore. But the more frantic and demanding part of his thoughts replayed overlapping images in his head, over and over until it became too much to bear.
All Might wasn't here anymore – because All for One had killed him. Gran Torino wasn't responding anymore – Shigaraki had made sure of that, even if death hadn't been confirmed. Hell, Midoriya was starting to wonder if he was capable of keeping any of the people closest to him from succumbing to a grisly fate. He'd even come close to losing Nighteye, the mentor who'd managed to bring him to this point in time. Even if he wasn't here now, was he watching this gruesome battle unfold? Had he known that Midoriya would suffer such loss? Months had passed since he almost lost his newest mentor; the only thing that'd prevented that outcome had been when somebody else had thrown himself in front of Overhaul's attack. The image of Tokoyami being struck by that attack still haunted him, even so long after the events of that day.
And now it was happening all over again when all he could do was watch. Kacchan was slip, slipping away, blood gushing from the new puncture wounds ripped through his abdomen by Shigaraki's spidery black appendages.
For a moment, Midoriya had felt himself succumb to an intense rage that turned his vision white. He'd torn into Shigaraki, riddling him with one mutually bone-shattering blow after another, until his head had cleared just enough to make sense of the accruing damage.
And maybe his rage-induced carelessness had brought him too close. But he'd rather endure the consequences of his actions than grow comfortable with seeing his friends get struck down. Why else would he be here, if not to fight?!
And just maybe it was for that reason that he was shown inexplicable things. Things he felt like he wasn't supposed to see. Midoriya had borne witness to Shigaraki's own internal reasons – the things that made him fight and push himself beyond these mortal limits, no matter the cost.
From inside of One for All, he'd felt his anger simmer away. The past users had stood up for him, facing off against everything Shigaraki and All for One stood for in order to protect him. They believed in him, all these amazing heroes from the past – and that was all the more reason why he couldn't afford to let them down.
At the same time, he got to see the unstableness with which Shigaraki conducted himself – a relationship built on hate and bitterness. It was maybe the one thing keeping Shigaraki from giving up his control, if the power dynamic shown in that subconscious world had been any indication.
Midoriya was taunted mercilessly, and he didn't even have the power to defend himself. With all his failures lined up before him, it might've been easy to believe the poisonous words of Shigaraki's Master: that this was a mistake, and that it was pointless for him to have crawled this far in the first place.
At the end of that strange confrontation that had brought him out of his intense need to fight with anger, the First User had said something that stuck with him, even as his eyes fluttered open in the light of day.
"This young man is possessed by a drive to save others that eclipses all common understanding. Our power is his, and we shall follow him."
Then the voices were gone, and Midoriya was rudely brought back to the battlefield. As he fell from the sky, limbs twisting in pain, he felt panic momentarily burn a hole in his chest.
Did he steal it?!
His thoughts cleared, pushing aside those internal images of the past users and their unseen battle. Midoriya saw Shigaraki's mutilated yet regenerating body falling parallel to him. He couldn't say for sure what condition the villain was in, given the sick extent of his determination, but he could hope. He could beg with all his heart that Shigaraki would stop moving. And that maybe then it would be over.
But even after all that, it still wouldn't be that easy.
Midoriya knew he was falling. He didn't have the strength to lift himself out from this mess he'd gotten himself in. Thankfully, Todoroki was a reliable ally. He was still roughly holding onto Kacchan from the moment where he'd taken that last attack. And now he was rushing to Midoriya's side mid-fall to catch him, as well.
It was a rough landing, to say the least, with the three of them tumbling onto the devastated ground in a cloud of dust and ice chips. Midoriya didn't even really feel the ground – only the tremors coming through it, though he didn't quite understand what they meant.
Todoroki hovered over them, succumbing to worry. "Bakugou! Midoriya!" he called their names, desperate for a response. And then, after a moment, remembered who else was in dire straits on the battlefield. "Endeavor…" He didn't seem particularly concerned about the hero.
Midoriya gasped for air, the metallic taste of blood filling his mouth as he forced himself onto his elbows.
"Ah! You're all still alive!" Todoroki said, breathing a sigh of relief. "Hang in there while I administer first aid—"
Midoriya could feel the breaks in his arms as they grated together unforgivingly, and the damage made his breath hitch in his throat. He would pay dearly for all those consecutive punches dealt against Shigaraki.
At the same time, he wished he'd punched harder.
Midoriya scanned the area, watching in horror as those wretched black legs pushed Shigaraki out from the rubble, suspending his broken body in the air like a mangled prize. He was sure that the quirk was the only thing keeping him moving at this time.
"Tomura… No… you must retreat…" came his raspy voice, disjointed and alien. And Shigaraki responded in turn, speaking his will aloud for all to hear. "You're not… the boss of me!"
A wave of highly condensed, spiral-shaped energy plowed into him just then, causing the spidery limbs to stagger under the force.
"Everyone…!" Hado called from above, dragging their attention to the new team of heroes to join the frontlines.
Without hesitation, Iida rushed to their sides, making quick work of surveying the situation at hand. If he was just here to help them, that would've been fine. Instead, he carried with him the burden of bad news, proving that such a bitter fight could only be in their favor for so long before the scales were tipped once more.
"A gigantic villain is making his way here!" Iida grimly announced. "We've informed the heroes fighting the nomu over there!"
Midoriya continued to struggle on the ground, desperate to stand while Todoroki addressed their friend. "Iida, get Midoriya and the others out of here!"
He shook his head stubbornly, refusing the help offered to him. "No… I can't leave!" Midoriya insisted. I have to… stay near Shigaraki! He's still coming after me. So just take Kacchan and Endeavor…"
His words died on his bloodied lips. Already, they'd run out of time. A shadow, the likes of which could cover the whole battlefield, began to drift over them all. Shigaraki's reinforcements had already reached them, bringing forth a whole other team of vengeful combatants. How any of them were expected to keep fighting in such a beaten-down state, he didn't know. But that was no reason for them to give up now.
Such larger-than-life opponents demanded their full attention. But if Midoriya had brought himself to look past the looming monster and the brutal challenges it presented, then he maybe would've noticed something that stood out from the rest – a mere blip on the radar. Because in the distant sky, growing ever-closer, was a black speck flying towards them on wings of reckless abandon.