-70-

Armageddon

Deep within the walls of the Villain Prison Tartarus housed only the worst of the worst. It was aptly named, the prison that held the Titans who were defeated in the War of the Gods, holding the worst that humanity had to offer, those who through their great power would topple and change the very nature of existence, who would by their very presence strike fear into the hearts of all those who were unfortunate enough to cross their paths.

In the very heart of the prison sat a decrepit man in a wheelchair. His face had horrible scars which left him completely blind, with only his mouth, which was twisted up into a wicked smile, remained of the features he once had. He was bound and chained to the chair, with video cameras aligning his cell, armed with heavy repeating rifles which were poised to fire at any moment the man dared to activate his quirk or move in any threatening way possible.

It was close to feeding time, but there had been a great commotion within the prison, he doubted that it would be on time today. Not that it mattered to him. He was kept in the dark about the world outside the prison, but he had a pretty good idea as to what was going on right now. If all was going according to plan, he would soon be free of these shackles.

The commotion began to grow louder as time passed on. He could hear gunfire, shouting and explosions. Though he was blind, he knew that his captors would still be monitoring him, so he dared not activate one of his thermal vision. He had to be patient.

As the minutes continued to crawl, the explosions grew louder, and the ground began to shake beneath him. His smile grew as the trembling grew larger. He knew the sound that was fast approaching him all too well. The sound of the stride of giant footsteps, tearing through the various walls and obstacles, seeking his location.

The sound of shouting, guns and fighting was close now. It was right outside his cell. He could hear the guards being subdued and killed, the cells around him being smashed open. He heard the sound of the cameras around him short circuiting, and he knew it was time. Activating his quirk, he could see the gigantic thermal form of one of his most loyal followers, accompanied by two more signatures that he recognized instantly.

"Gigantomachia," said All For One. "Tala, Luthor. I was expecting you."

"I'm sure you were," said Luthor.

"Has the invasion begun?" Asked All For One.

"It has," said Luthor.

"And Tomura?"

"Dr. Garaki is preparing him for the transformation now," Luthor replied. "The time has finally arrived."

"Good, good," All For One said. His smile grew as Tala used her magic to unshackle him. Soon, he would be free of this prison, he would be reunited with his student and successor, and the heroes would be too busy fighting the Hordes of Apokolips to stop him.

Everything was going according to plan.

Izuku and Togata ran as fast as they could through the UA High campus courtyard. They had to get to the teachers to warn them of what was happening. Hopefully, the League was able to get their message to them, but regardless, it would be clear in a few moments as to what was quickly approaching.

A crowd of students began to form outside the school, staring in awe and shock upwards as the skies began to grow darker as the swarms of Parademons entered their atmosphere. They would be upon them in a matter of minutes. They hoped that the heroes would have enough time to mobilize before it was too late.

"Deku!"

Izuku turned to see Uraraka and his classmates fighting their way through the crowd, trying to get to them. "What's happening?!" She said once they finally reached each other.

"What are those things?!" Shouted Mineta, pointing to the sky.

"Are they Nomu?" Asked Yaoyorozu.

"They're Parademons," said Izuku. "It's an invasion!"

"Invasion?!" Shouted his classmates.

"There's no time to explain!" Said Izuku. "We have to –"

He was cut off at the sound of an intercom coming online. "Students and Faculty," came the voice of Aizawa. It sounded tense and sharp, a far cry from his regular lazy voice. "We are under attack. Repeat: we are under attack. Faculty and students with a current provisional license, gather in the courtyard. The other students, please make your way to the auditorium. Your safety is of paramount importance, so do not dawdle. Repeat, students make your way to the auditorium, and faculty and provisional heroes gather in the courtyard."

"I need to find Tamaki and Nejire," said Togata, looking through the crowd. "Where's Eri?"

"She's safe, she's with Mr. Aizawa," said Kirishima. "He thought it was best to stay close to her in case he needed to use his quirk if she goes out of control again."

"Good," said Togata, relieved.

"Togata, we need to stick together. You need to be careful about…you know what," said Izuku slowly, trying not to reveal about One For All. "We're in this together and I'm not going to leave your side."

"I know," said Togata, placing his hand on his friend's shoulder. "Once I find my classmates, I'll meet you in the courtyard. In the meantime, get your class together. They need their leader."

Izuku paused before nodding. He turned to his classmates, who all stared at him expectantly. He never saw himself as much of a leader, but he supposed it would be pointless to try and convince himself that he was otherwise. The class looked to him for guidance more than he cared to admit. It was time to swallow his fear and embrace that fact.

"All right, you heard Aizawa," said Izuku. "Let's head to the courtyard, we have work to do."

Enji Todoroki stared at the sky in shocked disbelief. He has only had a short tenure as the Number One Hero in Japan, a spot for which he had been striving all his life to achieve, but instead of earning it for himself, it was handed to him on a silver platter when All Might retired. This was both humiliating and vexing to the pro hero. Earning the title by default rather than through his own merits was the last thing he wanted.

But at the same time, he couldn't help but notice that once he had achieved his goal, his life had suddenly felt…empty. For so long, the desire to surpass All Might, to be the best, had consumed his entire life. It was everything to him. And now that he finally had it, rather than relishing in the triumph he dreamed about for so long, he was left instead with this feeling of melancholy. He had begun to notice things around him, things he had never really paid attention to until now. Namely, he started to notice his family.

His daughter Fuyumi often talked to him, but she was the only one. His older son Natsuo usually avoided him completely, which he had simply ignored in the past in favor of his goals. But now, it seemed to be glaring upon him, like a light that was impossible to ignore. What's more, he began to see Shoto for the first time. For 16 years, Enji had seen him as his greatest achievement, his masterpiece, the culmination of all his hard work, the lineage of two great quirk holders merging into an unstoppable warrior. But now….all he could see was a 16-year-old boy. A boy who he knew next to nothing about.

What's more, he was seeing for the first time how Shoto truly felt about him. At first, he simply attributed his son's anger and cold demeanor to a rebellious phase, one that he would grow out of once he realized his destiny. But now, it was clear that the boy wasn't simply rebellious. It went deeper than that.

He hated his father.

He had come to watch him during his retake of the hero certification exam. Normally, he would have been rather annoyed at the fact that it had taken him two attempts to get his license, a weakness that he would squish out of him with more training. But now, it was as if he was looking at someone completely different, someone that was a total stranger to him. He saw a young boy who was learning, who was finding his own path, who was learning from his mistakes and growing from them. He no longer fought against his heritage, using both quirks with ease, in harmony and balance.

A boy who was accepting himself for who he was.

What's more, he knew that he couldn't take responsibility for that admirable trait. It wasn't something that he had taught him. It was his friend from school, Midoriya, who was able to help him through this. A boy who he would not have given a second thought to during the Sports Festival, but had come to see how powerful he was, even before he had a quirk. His feelings about the Batman aside, he couldn't deny that he had trained the boy well. Far better than he could have ever done.

In a cruel twist of cosmic irony, during his son's exam, he had actually met his hated enemy face to face for the first time since taking the spot of number one hero: All Might. He was almost unrecognizable now, a shell of his former, powerful self, but still carried himself with an air of strength and resilience. He felt the animosity between them begin to die as they talked, and he began to share with him what it truly meant to be the number one hero, and the burden that came along with it. He was the man who the country would look to for guidance, to help them feel safe in their time of need.

Time like now.

"Hawks to Endeavor."

Endeavor heard the voice in his comlink. It was the number 2 hero, Hawks, a young upstart who served as an annoyance and a hindrance to Endeavor if nothing else, but was a strong hero nonetheless. "Endeavor here, what is it?" He said.

"I'm scouting from above," said Hawks. "The creatures are entering the stratosphere. They'll be upon us in seconds. I hope you have the troops rallied."

"We'll be ready," said Endeavor.

"You'd better be. This is unlike anything I've ever seen before."

The comlink went dead. Endeavor sighed as he turned back to the trainees, sidekicks and heroes he had gathered. It was unlike anything he had ever seen before as well.

But they had work to do.

"The world is under invasion."

The students were shocked at the words of their Principal, Nezu. Although the existence of extraterrestrials was common knowledge, due to the existence of Superman and the Martian Manhunter, it was still words that they never expected to hear. But the sky was already darkening as the horde grew larger and closer. Izuku had never seen anything like it, but he knew that they were in for a fight unlike anything they've ever seen before.

"Our first priority is to protect the students of UA," said Nezu. "Gather with your home room teachers, and we will set up a perimeter around the school. Any invading forces are to be repelled. There's no time for further delay, let's move!"

Class 1-A began to circle around Aizawa. There was a tense air about them, and they worriedly pelted their teacher with questions.

"What's going on?" Asked Sato.

"What are those things? What's happening?" Asked Mineta.

"They're Parademons."

The class turned to Izuku, who had a dark look on his face. "They're mindless creatures from the planet Apokolips," he continued.

"Apokolips?" Asked Uraraka.

"Batman explained it to me," he said. "These creatures are beyond what we've faced, even the Nomu. They feel no pain and show no mercy. They will not stop until the Earth is destroyed." He finally looked up at them, a gaze of extreme severity met their eyes, which shook them to their core. "Forget about what you know about being a hero. This is more than just stopping a supervillain. This is about survival. Do not hesitate to put them down."

The class was speechless, several of them looking frightened. They knew that Izuku had a rule against killing, inspired by his mentor's philosophy. But if he was telling them to kill these creatures, then they knew that this threat was serious. They were shaken from their thoughts as there was a strange sound on the wind, like a faint buzzing. They looked up at the sky to see that the creatures were descending upon them, the buzzing of their wings getting louder as they approached.

"It's begun," said Aizawa. "Get to positions!"

The automated defense systems that were installed by WayneTech sprang to life as the Parademons approached. Railguns appeared from the perimeter wall and began firing upon the invading horde. Parademons began dropping like flies, but the swarm seemed endless. They continued to encircle the school and attempted to enter the courtyard, but a large forcefield sprang to life and formed around the school, stopping the Parademons and causing electric shocks as they touched it. More weapons appeared around the perimeter, firing large red lasers towards the creatures, causing many of them to vaporize into thin air. Others were launching mortars and rockets towards them.

The student heroes and faculty formed into groups around the perimeter. Togata had found his friends and was preparing for the assault. "Mirio, you shouldn't be here!" Said Amajiki.

"Your quirk is gone, you'll get hurt!" Hado concurred.

"Yeah, about that…." said Togata sheepishly. "Look, I don't know how to explain it, but my quirk isn't actually gone, it's just…changed."

"Changed?" Asked Hado. "Changed how?"

Mirio smiled, wiping his nose with his thumb. "You'll just have to see for yourself.

The creatures continued their assault on the perimeter, clawing at the forcefield, attempting to get through. Nezu was observing the battle from the control room in the school. He had activated the defense systems and was now using the manual systems to defend the school. He could see the defense shield was already starting to buckle under the strain of the Parademon's attack, dropping in percentage by the minute. He had to stem the tide somehow, but he knew that they would break through soon. The students and faculty were outnumbered 1,000 to 1, and they needed an edge.

He leaned over to his computer and began typing. He knew exactly the kind of edge that they needed.

A/N: Hey everyone, I know it's been a while since I last posted. I'm sorry about that. We finally got the move done, but things are still crazy. But, I'll be working more on these chapters so I should be able to update more regularly. Thank you for sticking with me.