"I am the greatest! Haha!"
"Holy…" Sero began, his neck craning backwards.
"—Shit!" Izuku said, before shouldering Sero out of the way. A thick boulder cratered the space they'd just occupied. The dust it kicked up nearly choked him. Far overhead, Darkshadow lifted a whole building complex on its shoulders. It shook the thing a few times, casting out a handful of Proto-Nomus, before readjusting its grip.
It rained not just monsters, but also withered, dry concrete. With Darkshadow's wild shaking, concrete chunks of every shape and size broke loose. Small window sills, load bearing walls, thick corner chunks, and Overhaul's beasts hailed all around them. The beasts squirmed in the air, screaming as they fell—but Izuku couldn't pay them any mind.
He tried Danger Sense again—but the problem was even worse with proximity. Darkshadow was a shadow over his sixth sense, a blackhole in the world that absorbed all the danger for himself. By comparison, he couldn't feel anything. If Danger Sense was a compass, Darkshadow was his north star, now. Thus, it fell to his eyes to stay peeled.
Beside them, a door hit the ground, exploding into splinters. A puff of Smokescreen was enough to block the shrapnel, but it broke his attention. Wind whistled overhead as a thin shard of stone hurtled straight at his face. He tried moving—but his surprise at not feeling its presence was so visceral that it froze his legs. If he put his whole strength into dodging, it would still clip his face, and he'd become even more disfigured—
Sero's shoulder shoved back into his own, and the stone shard spun past his ear, taking a few frayed hairs with it. He glanced behind him, seeing how the little shard stuck out of the ground, edge-first. Then, he met Sero's eyes, and after hesitating, remembered his manners.
"Thanks!" Izuku said, before returning his attention to the path. He danced as he moved forward, avoiding meteoric debris with each erratic movement. Matching him with his own unique dance, Sero shook his head.
"We're even now."
A particularly large rock hurtled too-close behind him. He spun around on a dime, a Blackwhip manifesting with his continued momentum. It bisected the boulder with a single strike, stopping it from crushing Kirishima to death. Another meteor came a moment later—but instead of Izuku shattering the stone mid-air, Sero beat him to it. A tape shot out—and despite the stone being as large as his torso, managed to change the things momentum. The stone smashed the ground a few feet from Kirishima's skull—but he was fine.
They dodged and weaved more debris, but all along, a new thought began to form in Izuku's mind. Sero was surprisingly tough. That wasn't even considering how he was working at half efficiency.
In an instance where their individual pathing converged, Izuku barely spotted a matt-black stone coming right for Sero's face. He didn't seem to notice, and Izuku wanted to save every use of Blackwhip he could. His hand flicked out at the last second, and caught the rock before it bludgeoned Sero between the eyes. Instantly, pain flared up in his palm, but he shook it off. Squeezing his fist didn't result in any odd clicks or cartilage shifting—so nothing was broken. It still hurt like hell, though—and he gained a new respect for baseball players.
"No such thing as even, Sero. We do what we have to because we have to. Keeping score is only a distraction." Izuku said, speaking through a wince. He did his best to hide the aches that were steadily building up in his body.
He was beginning to feel the effects of carrying Kirishima. It was easier now that he was only carrying one person, but the end result would be the same—even if it took a little longer to reach it this time. Less whips meant less skin that'd go numb—but it wouldn't take any longer or shorter for the numbness to come. His only solution was to periodically change where the whips were coming from—but the act of summoning a whip took stamina he was reluctant to part with. Still, he tried not to let this show.
"But, if memory serves," Izuku continued, after dodging a spray of broken glass. "That would've put you in my debt."
A low, creaking groan drowned out whatever Sero's response might've been. The falling debris slowed to a few crumbles here and there—and in its place, Izuku's world nearly tilted on its axis. The blackhole in his skull twisted on itself as Darkshadow turned. Something was building in his brain, pushing and prodding against his cranium. At last, pain crescendoed with a near-incomprehensible sight. Darkshadow threw each building's half in two directions. A cold squeeze gripped Izuku's chest, just as a shiver born in his empty shoulder shook him to the core. Like the building, he felt pulled in two different directions.
With the first throw, Darkshadow toppled Katsukame, the mountain-sized man brawling Thirteen. The impact shook the earth, nearly throwing Sero and himself off their feet. It crumbled around him, crushing his torso and entombing him against the ground. With the other, however…
A shadow crossed over the land, blackening the already dark Ruins Zone. It crashed almost as fast as Darkshadow threw it—bulldozing straight through the exit whilst taking a building's worth of wall with it. While the first throw only shook the earth, the second shook everything.
What little glass remained in nearby buildings shattered as the shockwave tore through the broken city. Izuku dove to shield Kirishima, but the force tangled them alongside Sero. It shook not just the earth, but the very air itself—the foundations of nearby buildings cracked, crumbling around them even as the dome shuddered.
Patches of ceiling fell as a crack wormed through the structure's roof, jumping from skylight to skylight. The cracks spread, little pieces of stone falling with each inch. They spread far, but fell short of collapsing the whole ceiling.
The USJ groaned, whimpered in pain, and fell silent.
"Haha! Muahahaha!" Darkshadow laughed. His voice was the epitome of power, the pinnacle of nature—nearly as forceful as the impact of his second throw. The one he aimed at Izuku's friends.
He reached out with Danger Sense, praying to anything and anyone that he could sense his classmates over by the exit. But, like every time since his emergence, his whole world revolved around the behemoth that puppeteered his friend.
"Dammit all!" Izuku said. He felt useless—like a babe without his mother. It'd been so, so long since he'd lived without Danger Sense, he almost felt blindfolded. His understanding of the quirk was on the precipice of evolving, too. Never before had he felt so in-control, so aware of his surroundings—and now this titan of shadows devoured his light.
He turned, glancing to the growing stack of smoke in the distance. After so long in the dark Ruins Zone, the gaping exit shone a brilliant white, the bright sun just barely eclipsed by a cloud. The light shone down with near biblical beauty—but as quick as it came, Darkshadow's thrown building exploded into dust, smothering it.
Darkshadow stepped away from the exit, but paused, its black beak pointing down.
"Ohoho! A show!" It said, mirth slipping betwixt its jagged teeth. "Dance!"
It was hard to judge distance, with Darkshadow. It reflected no light, held no definite part in space. From his perspective, the monster could've been the size of Pluto, a hundred miles away. Or, the monster could be giraffe-sized, an arm's length before him.
A scream pierced his ears, somewhere at the base of Darkshadow, and he resolved himself to a jog. They were still rather far off—but that couldn't matter. A second scream echoed the first—but this one was less feminine, more inhuman, more familiar. He struggled to his feet, reaching behind himself to feel for the Blackwhips holding Kirishima. They were still there, though he couldn't quite count how many remained—the small of his back was nearing total numbness again.
He looked around, searching for Sero, and felt the numbness in his back spread into his chest. Like him, Sero tried shielding Kirishima, but he hadn't gotten back to his feet yet. Izuku rushed to roll the boy over, immediately checking his vitals. The boy blinked up at him, a little dazed, but sentient. Gripping each other's forearms, Izuku pulled him to his feet.
Sero stumbled, for a second—and after a nanosecond of further inspection, realized why. Most of his right quadricep was bare to the world, his skin-tight pant leg ripped free. Small scrapes littered the purpling skin, oozing tiny trails of blood.
"Broken?" Izuku asked.
Sero bounced his heel a little, supported under Izuku's arm. He sucked in a sharp breath, but shook his head. With his good arm, he spit out a long roll of tape and began wrapping his leg closed.
"Not broken enough to hold me back."
Izuku scrutinized him for a second, weighing his options, but sighed. In the distance, another yell made the decision for him. Sero stood and began shambling forward, at first walking, then half-jogging–half-dragging his leg, before loosing a great cry of pain and bursting into a full run. He could only offer the boy his silent respect as he followed.
After seeing Sero man-up, and hearing about Kirishima's sacrifice, Izuku couldn't help but reflect on what he'd said to Tokoyami. He'd told them about how 1Z takes polished gems and makes them heroes, and how 1A did the polishing—but some of his classmates stood outside that limited perspective. While he was positive the 1Z kids could probably sweep his class individually, there were a select few he couldn't help but find a bit more interesting. They were stronger, more resilient, more capable than a freshmen should've been—at least, historically speaking.
Izuku kept a firm eye on all 1A graduates and newcomers. The Sports Festival, when he was a kid, was the breeding ground of new talent. An ugly thought clung to him, before coming to 1A; one that made him a little sad, if he was honest. He worried, in no small way, that he was wrong. It was a total possibility that the students on the television only seemed so impressive because they were on television. In other words, he was afraid of his own parasocial rose-tinted glasses.
His classmates blew that expectation out of the water—even Sero, half-broken and concussed, was like standing next to a pile of diamonds. He was simply brilliant, even if a little rash and green. Hell, Izuku came to U.A. expecting kids like Shoto, and still, Sero impressed him. Mezou impressed him. Kirishima impressed him. Hitoshi impressed him. Toru impressed him.
Tokoyami… hell, despite the situation, it was a spectacle. The raw power—wild, untamed, but still malleable—blew his mind. When he said the class wasn't made for him… was he being presumptuous?
While he hadn't learned anything in the Introduction to Heroics course, he had learned a thing or two about suit design philosophy from Toru. He'd seen how a hero's mindset could pivot on a dime from Snipe. …Nedzu'd shown him how to parse through hero politics.
He'd learned about his weaknesses from Aizawa—even if it was from the hard way.
Sero and Izuku ducked into a building. He was careful to not let Kirishima's head bang on any doorways. The boy, despite having a broken leg, arm, and a concussion, led the way with surprising efficiency. They sped through the ground floor in seconds. Slipping through the second entrance, they revealed themselves to the shattered clearing that must've once been a tiny alleyway.
"Woah!" Sero said, suddenly sliding to the side.
The moment they stepped from the building, they had to grab onto something grounded. An inexplicable wind kicked up around them, pulling at their hair and clothes. Kirishima nearly flew away before Izuku tightened his grip. Reaching out, he snagged Sero and pulled him back inside.
He questioned where the source was, looking all around, before baritone giggles shook the door in its frame.
"Haha! Yes!" Darkshadow said, cackling. Each huff was a sledgehammer to his ears—across the Ruins Zone, it'd been like a powerful gong. Now, it was like sticking his head in a jet engine. He hadn't thought it possible, but the buildings between them dispersed Darkshadow's laughter by a magnitude, at least.
"Can you hear me?" Izuku asked, yelling at the wind-swept Sero. His bangs were swept over his scalp. He stared back at Izuku, dumb-eyed, before slapping his ears. The wind drowned out nearly all sound, pouring in from the doorway with seemingly no end. Sero nodded.
"Yeah!" Sero said, a little too loud. Izuku nodded, then pointed at his elbow.
"We tape our ears!" Izuku said, a little louder than might've been necessary. Sero paused, as if unsure, then his eyes traced Izuku's finger and nodded. While Sero unwound a sliver and twisted it into an ear-plug like shape, Izuku glanced at the doorway.
Izuku tried shutting the door, but the task was tiresome. The wind forced it open every time he got close, so he eventually just gave up and leaned against the threshold, where the wind didn't have free access to him. Sero joined him and dropped two tear-shaped glue-globules into his palm.
He fixed one in the ear closest to the door, and kept one ear free for Sero.
"Where's that damn wind coming from? How are we supposed to get anything done without it carrying Kirishima away like Dorthy's house? I—" Sero said, before a baritone voice cut him off..
"Yes, yes, yes, yes! Keep dancing!" Darkshadow cried overhead. His voice alone shook the building they hid in, loosening dust from the walls. Izuku swept the dust aside—then choked. Two gargantuan explosions nearly shook the building off its foundation. He clutched his free ear as it rang, a painful echo rebounding in his skull.
With no small effort, he forced himself to peek through the wind-abused doorway—and then another clap of thunder sent him flinching back into cover.
Darkshadow was applauding like a child. He took another glance through the doorway—and his eyes caught on. The quirk wasn't stagnant in its menace. It was, in a word, dancing. Its lengthy arms waved in the air, a clear, yet inaudible rhythm guiding its movements.
With each movement, an angry gust wore down the surroundings. His hands alone generated a storm—and when he moved his whole body, it was like a hurricane brought to life.
The quirk's back was to him, so he couldn't see what inspired this typhonic dance. However, between movements and claps, familiar screams rang in his ears.
"—ina! Ashid—"
"Slap 'em, Och—!"
Somewhere across Darkshadow, Izuku realized, were his friends. He allowed himself a microscopic celebration at their continued life before setting his jaw. Izuku withheld a blissful sigh as he released Kirishima, letting Blackwhip retract into his back. Almost immediately, his back flushed with blood, sending pins and needles through it—but he didn't have time to hold still and recover.
With a quick check, he confirmed Kirishima was still stable. Then, he set his gaze on Sero. His assessment earlier hadn't left him feeling any more comfortable about the boy's condition—but now, crouching behind their next obstacle together, he got a better view of the boy's coal eyes than ever.
They burned, and that was enough for him.
"How's your head? Your vision?"
"Crystal."'
He squeezed his fist. Standing, he grabbed Kirishima by the shoulder guard and dragged him deeper into the building. Sero matched him on the other side, and they found a secure storage closet to hide the boy in.
"Are you sure this is safe? What if a monster comes snooping while we're not here?" Sero asked, while Izuku propped the boy's head up against the wall.
"Nothing is safe—but it's this or giving him a piggyback ride. With that in mind, I don't think pressing my back against his stomach would do him much good. We'd just push that stone in deeper. I had to do the same thing with Satou, unfortunately—he was too heavy to carry for long, and I knew that you guys needed more help. He was still sleeping, safe and sound, when I last checked—right before Darkshadow woke up."
Sero tilted his head during his response, his lips turning a little pale as he pursed them. Before he said anything, however, another thunderous clap rang through the building—but no dust fell from the cracks. This part of the building was far more secure than the exit.
Izuku inhaled, acknowledging that fact in his head, and then turned to the exit regardless. He glanced at Sero in his peripherals. They shared a nod.
"Assist Ashido and Uraraka first, and I'll go up and talk to Darkshadow!" Izuku said, before popping in the second earplug. Sero followed his lead, running right on his heels as he stepped into the clearing once again. Instantly, another wave of wind tried sweeping them away, but this time, they were prepared.
Their paths diverged immediately. Sero shot a tape to the ground, far ahead, and let the next gust of wind pick him up. He swung around in a semi-circle, clearing nearly half the empty lot in one move. Then, he shot a second—this one having a smaller radius—that took him around Darkshadow and out of Izuku's sight line.
Izuku, on the other hand, didn't try to ride the wave. Instead, he challenged it with his own power. With his mask secured and his throat nice and wet, he let out a powerful blast of Smokescreen, launching him. It took him all the way to Darkshadow's waist, a good three stories, and then he readjusted. The wind was less aggressive here, so Izuku could propel himself with a steady stream of gas.
There was something different about this experience, he decided. He'd only ever gone this high once—during the entrance exam in Ground Beta. There, he had far more terrain to play with—tall buildings with plenty of safety holds. If he went this high and faltered, it wouldn't have taken much to tuck and roll onto a nearby rooftop.
Here, however? The closest safety hold was his objective. Thanks to Darkshadow, the nearest building was about as far away as possible. And, if his memory of Darkshadow's hand was reliable, then its texture was oily. Or, rather than grease, it was a cold gaseous body that condensated by a slight application of warmth, such as his body heat. Or, direct sunlight.
In other words, Izuku would slip right off if he tried to grab him. Really, it was fascinating—but he couldn't dwell on it. With careful adjustments on his speed and angle, Izuku rose higher than he'd ever gotten before—and with that height, he gained a rather ugly image of the USJ.
Looking down on everyone wasn't too different from parsing through his Danger Sense "Radar," but actually seeing it was far more upsetting. Across the USJ, towards his class's salvation, a pluming cloud of dust smothered all the light. From this distance, it was near-impossible to see what was happening, but one thing was obvious. Darkshadow's olympic building-toss scattered most of his friends, if not outright killing some. He could only thank the stars that he saw a few dark smudges running around amidst the wreckage.
That was stomach-curling enough—but then his attention shifted to the Plaza, where his teachers were. The distance killed the clarity, but a white smudge was still moving, and a black smudge was still standing—so his teachers were alive. Katsukame was motionless under the crumbled building. Surrounding Aizawa were several dozen bodies—except for one cloaked figure, who stood in the collapsed gangsters' midst like a spirit of war. They were talking, Izuku thought, before turning around.
Below him, he saw Sero between the two girls. He'd been correct—they were still alive, but something he hadn't guessed was the company. Opposite the three students, three Proto-Nomus faced them. Only two were a threat. The third struggled in the air like water in a space station. Izuku couldn't take the time to go down and help, however—not when a huff of breath nearly sent him off course. At last, he gave his target his due attention.
Darkshadow's face took up his entire vision. From his left peripherals to his right, a wall of darkness devoured his horizon. Only two yellow high beams interrupted the void—and they were both pointed at him.
"Tokoyami!" He said, yelling as loud as he could. "Can you hear me?"
Smokescreen's output faltered with his words, sending him down a few feet before a heavy effort stabilized him. Darkshadow did not blink—Izuku wasn't sure it could. Still, something flashed in the depths of its golden sclera. It was gone before he could put a name to it.
"Fumi is tired, bug." Darkshadow said—and the force nearly burst his eardrums, even with the earplugs. "Now leave. My toys are playing war."
A change in the air pressure almost sent Izuku tumbling to his death—and then that change's source reared its head. Darkshadow lifted its hand to Izuku and flicked. Whatever dull perception of Danger Sense Izuku still possessed went nuclear-red.
From each vertebrae, a Blackwhip burst out. Like a ribcage, they all encircled him, meeting in a breast bone shield right at the impact. The force of the flick shattered his guard, sending him spiraling out of the sky—but not his body.
The world spun out of control, forcing nausea to the back of his throat. He fought through it, putting his mind towards Blackwhip. They wriggled in a wild tangle around him, ignoring his call—even when he begged. With the ground fast approaching, however, he tossed the idea of begging out of his head. Reaching deep into One for All, Izuku wrenched Blackwhip's autonomy into his own hands, and commanded them to straighten. Like obedient dogs, they straightened out, and his uncontrollable spinning slowed by half.
Three heavy puffs of Smokescreen later, and his rotation stopped—and then a fourth, enormous blast slowed him to a stop. His humidifier was nearing the half-way empty mark as he touched the ground.
With a clenched fist, he collected all his emissions by his side—a good amount, given his ascension and subsequent descension. He didn't have the mind to compress it all, however—it was taking everything in his power to continue his hold over Blackwhip. Like a dog, it began to lose attention and respect for him the longer Izuku went without commanding it.
Not willing to waste another second, and a little hard for breath after flying so high, Izuku decided to follow Sero's lead. Blackwhip shot forward, burying into the ground before flinging him forward. It took one small puff of Smokescreen to adjust his trajectory. He managed to slip between two Proto-Nomus without their notice, landing between them and his friends.
"Status!?" He asked, sparing the three of them one glance. The girls looked well, if tired—but he couldn't be sure.
They said something, but he couldn't quite make it out. He twisted, showing them his earplugs while maintaining eye contact with one of the monsters. The monsters didn't seem to see him, however. To them, he was transparent. Their next answer was loud enough for him to decipher.
"We're alive! I saw you flying just now—is Tokoyami okay!?" Ashido asked.
"He's in there somewhere! We just need to get to him!" He replied. One of his classmate's must've moved, because one of the Proto-Nomus resettled its near-empty gaze behind him.
"Don't move!" He continued, taking a side-step to block any further approach. It stopped. "These things feed off fear and hesitance! Stand your ground or challenge it, and its chances of attacking are minimal!"
His mind whirled as he tried to concoct some sort of plan, but he was running dry. They could run, of course, but that wouldn't solve the ultimate issue of Darkshadow. There was also—
"What are you doing?" Darkshadow said, bellowing with the might of an angry god. "Let the weaklings scrabble! Fight! I wanna watch! I wanna watch the pups fall! I want to watch them die!" Darkshadow continued, but his tone shifted. At first, it seemed like an incorrigible deity—but the whine in its voice spoke of a petulant child. Despite the tone shift, however, Izuku couldn't help but wince. Its voice was awful, even with the plugs. Especially at the tail end, which nearly rattled Izuku's brain out of his skull.
A terrible sob echoed the quirk's complaint, and his vision flickered black. One of the Proto-Nomus, a black, emaciated thing, blitzed past Izuku's guard. The beast was nearly beyond his guard before he even noticed it moved.
"It's fast!" He said, warning his classmates—but when he turned, he felt his heart droop. It took less than a nanosecond to identify its target. Uraraka collapsed. She curled in on herself, moaning as she clutched her ears. Her sob hitched as her red eyes glanced up and saw the scrambling creature tearing across the clearing towards her.
Sero flung a tape in its direction, but it dodged—an awkward, marinette-like maneuver—and kept running. There was a good six meters between them, but Izuku couldn't bother to calculate. Flicking his hand out, he flung a Blackwhip onto the emaciated creature's ankle. It nearly pulled Izuku off his feet, but his other Blackwhips secured him against the ground.
The creature's hysterical strength nearly pulled the Blackwhip off his skin, but a second whip held him steady—but not for long. Its thin limbs held deceptive strength, and with two terrible pulls, wrenched Izuku and his Blackwhips from the earth.
"No!" Ashido said, reaching out with dripping hands—but she was far too slow. It raised a front limb as two wet clicks sounded, revealing a pair of bone-like claws bursting from its fist. Tumbling in the air, Izuku could do nothing but watch as it brought the two claws down on Uraraka's face.
Wind whistled overhead.
An orbital strike devoured Izuku's world. It was black as space, with the fury of a supernova—and only a hair's breadth saved Izuku from its wrath. Darkshadow retrieved its fist a moment later, a permanent knuckle-shaped impression in the concrete floor. In that crater, twice as deep as Izuku was tall, he saw the twitching form of the skinny marionette, flattened and broken.
"Fumi isn't friends with losers! Play nice, little pup, or feel the wrath of your god! Haha!"
Izuku retrieved what remained of the Blackwhip holding the thing's ankle—about two feet of it. The rest dispersed under the quirk's strength. Then, after closing his gaping jaw, Izuku sprinted around the crater to Uraraka's side. The second Proto-Nomu stood frozen, as if stupefied from the display. The floating one whined as it rotated in place. It was beginning to drift away.
He peeled Uraraka's hands from her ears and winced. Little trails of blood trickled down her left jaw. Peering into the other ear, he felt a small relief—Sero's earplug. His heart went out to her—no wonder she screamed in pain. A nanosecond inspection of Ashido brought a second wave of relief—her ears were safe, too.
Uraraka's eyes were dazed, aimlessly staring downwards. He brought her chin up to his level with his forearm, then snapped beside her left ear. Her eyes remained unclear—but then he snapped on her right, and she blinked.
Tears built up in her eyes—but Izuku didn't let them fall. Shifting ever-so-slightly to the right, he cupped her face and forced her to look in his eyes.
"Listen very carefully, Uraraka. You are alive. Repeat that."
With her cheek in his hand, he could feel her ragged breath. She swallowed a sob.
"I-I am alive."
He nodded.
"You are. Can you function?"
She echoed his motion. He sighed. It was an artificial act, one designed to come off easy. Inside, he was panic incarnate—but he couldn't let that show. Uraraka might be healable—but a burst eardrum was traumatic at best. There was no knowing for certain if she'd recover—and they both knew that. Izuku didn't need a sixth sense to know it scared her.
He moved his hand to her shoulder and squeezed. Then he extended his hand to Sero, and he handed him a small tape strip. This would suck later, but he retrieved a wad of cloth from his utility belt and taped it over her ear, hair and all. Izuku packed it on as tight as he could without hurting her, then pointed at Darkshadow's crater. A plan formed in his head.
"How much more can you de-gravitize?" He asked, enunciating with his best clarity, whilst also trying to remain low-volume. Uraraka didn't seem to notice it—but he figured that meant he did the right thing.
She raised her hands to her face, as if studying them. A frown tugged her lips, but it only took her a second to dismiss herself.
"About three more tons. Any more and I won't be able to maintain it."
Despite himself, a smile split his face.
"Perfect, first—"
"Hey!" Darkshadow said, interrupting them. "Why aren't you fighting? I said fight!"
Uraraka flinched, hard—but she touched her good ear and relaxed. Izuku helped her to her feet.
"Darkshadow, you need to let Tokoyami out! You're hurting everyone!" He said, screaming up in the quirk's direction. Like a living, obsidian mountain, the quirk leaned forward, absorbing the sky with its black skin. Its eyes went narrow.
"Fumi's friends are weak… He doesn't need you. Fight the pups, or fight me."
Izuku took a step forward, wrapping his fingers around Uraraka's wrist at the same time.
"Fine!" He said, yelling at Darkshadow, before looking at Uraraka. With a flick of his eyes, he gestured to the pit. "Follow my lead. The Nomus come first."
Then, he glanced at Sero, Ashido, and the final able-bodied Proto-Nomu.
"Handle him for a second!" Izuku said, and stepped into Darkshadow's crater with Uraraka in tow. The second he broke line of sight with his friends, he heard a wolfish howl.
Together, they fell to the crater's bottom. Izuku wrapped the brunette in Blackwhips, holding her upright and slightly off the ground. His boots landed with a wet squelch. A small kick flung graymatter from his boots—for the second time today.
The image burned into his retinas, but he was stronger than his nausea. He had to be. Using Uraraka almost like a tool, he tilted her orientation and urged her to press her gravity-nullifying fingertips on the Proto-Nomu's back. Already, the creature's broken, shabby form was unifying into a recognizable shape—but for now, it was helpless. After her touch, it immediately tried moving—but with a shattered spine, it could only manage to jut its chin. That was enough.
It lifted slightly off the ground, as helpless as ever, even as he watched the skin knit over a bare spine. It was grotesque, and horribly fascinating—but he couldn't dwell. He endeavored to remember every detail for later, but he had priorities.
He willed Blackwhip to pull them out of the crater, and they listened. Two arching whips dug into the stone and straightened, slingshotting them into open air. Uraraka yelped with the sudden movement—but he held her safe. Even as he dialed in on the brawl between Ashido, Sero, and the last Proto-Nomu, he made sure to snake a Blackwhip up Uraraka's neck, holding her steady. Whiplash with a burst eardrum was an agony he wished on no one.
Flinging his arm straight out, he sent a blast of Smokescreen sideways. The momentum forced him into a spin. He accelerated his torpedo-freefall by pulling his knee into his chest, building his speed with rapid-fire Smokescreen bursts from his shoulders. At the last second, he kicked out, using all the rotation's strength to roundhouse the creature's skull.
The ball of his foot connected with the wolfish-creature's beak. Pain flared in his foot—but the monster didn't go flying. In the same moment of contact, a thick strip of tape wrapped around the Proto-Nomu's neck. Sero pulled the beast in the opposite direction of his blow, and the opposing forcing forces created a wet crack in the air.
Izuku landed on both feet, though he was tender with his leading foot. The wolfish, beaked creature slumped to the floor, its adam's apple pointed in a different direction than its beak.
He set Uraraka down with all the grace he could muster. Taking a step forward, he almost fell over—his stunt left him a little dizzy. Sero, however, seemed to feel an even greater nausea, staring at the beast's crooked neck.
"O-oh god… we r-really killed it, d-didn't we? I… are… Wh—"
Izuku winced as Sero stumbled aside and vomited. He said nothing, but took a split second to drink in the creature's form.
He didn't like looking at it. There was something intrinsically nauseating about his own brutality—despite it all being for the sake of his friends. Even when he knew the thing wasn't dead.
It seems Sero didn't realize that in a few seconds, this monster would stand right back up, healed of all wounds—yet…
Bile threatened the back of his own throat. With a heavy, burning heart, he swallowed it back down. It wasn't a person. He gestured for Uraraka.
"Touch it." He said, before turning to Sero. The boy wiped his lips with a knuckle. Izuku leveled him with a stare. "They regenerate, Sero. You killed nothing—especially considering you didn't even hit it. I did. Now…"
He would take time to grieve what couldn't die later. All of that nausea, all of that fear—he put it aside. There was still a mountain to climb, literally.
Like two pillars of disaster, Darkshadow's fists crushed the ground around their group. The earth made a terrible cry of pain as a million cracks wormed between Izuku's feet. Blackwhips burst from his back, scooping up Uraraka, Sero, and Ashido. Using all his stored-up Smokescreen, he divided it between his friends and himself.
Curling his fingers, he brought his hand from his thigh to the crown of his head. Smokescreen followed his command. In conjunction with Blackwhip, Smokescreen surged into the sky, carrying himself and his friends with him. The force of Darkshadow's twin blows shattered the terrain they occupied seconds prior.
He'd never flown like this before—let alone with passengers, but it worked almost as well. Instead of using the propelling force of generating Smokescreen, he used the existing cloud as a sort of platform in order to elevate himself—and his friends. It stole his stamina in droves, but it left his lungs unburdened—and consequently, his ability to speak.
"Darkshadow!" He said, bringing himself and his friends to the quirk's level. "We're not your playthings. This is an emergency, and we need to help Tokoyami!"
"No!" It screamed. "Fumi doesn't want your help. He only needs me!"
Retrieving its gargantuan fists from the earth, Darkshadow reared back and tried swatting them from the sky. Instead, Izuku pulled them aside, saving them from being crushed like flies.
"Sero, grab on!" Izuku said, yelling over the screaming wind. A Blackwhip braid burst from the center of his chest, extending around Darkshadow's wrist. Joining it was a single, stark white tape. It wrapped around Darkshadow's wrist three times before coming to a stop. In one giant motion, Izuku pulled them all back. "Heave! Heave!"
Maybe the quirk let it happen—maybe they were stronger than they thought. Maybe Tokoyami was listening, somewhere deep within. Whatever the reason, when Sero and Izuku combined their strength, they were able to use Darkshadow's strength against it. Its strike was so poor that its center of balance could've toppled from a gust of wind.
Darkshadow flipped over itself as they pulled its over-reaching fist aside, landing on a string of collapsed buildings. Thankfully, it was on the farthest side from Kirishima possible. Massive dust clouds burst from these collapsed structures, but Darkshadow was larger still. It rose to its full height—but not before Izuku was back on the offense.
"Ashido, splash him! Heat weakens Darkshadow! Make it sizzle!" Izuku said, bringing the two of them closer to Darkshadow than the other two. Sero's tape snapped just as Izuku's Blackwhips retracted—but Darkshadow was dazed.
"On it!" She said, before crossing her arms. Immediately, liquid built up along her arms, more than he'd ever seen her use. Some dripped down to the Blackwhip holding her upright, but a second Blackwhip scooped her before he lost control. After another second, she caught his eyes. "Now!"
He flung her forward just as she uncrossed her arms, and a veritable pool of acid splashed across Darkshadow's arm.
Darkshadow roared—and that alone was nearly what took them out. Uraraka wailed, even as he placed himself between Darkshadow's maw and herself. The resulting bombardment on his eardrums nearly drove him out of the sky. Still, Sero's earplugs were almost entirely glue, and their thickness just barely protected him from Uraraka's fate.
His teeth chattered in his face as Darkshadow's cry of pain grew to moans. It was hard to see what happened to Darkshadow's arm—with Darkshadow's pure black form, Izuku's eyes played tricks on him. Perception was impossible to gauge with real certainty—but even he knew when an attack was heading straight his way.
Curving around another awkward strike, Izuku slipped past Darkshadow's guard, getting as close to his face as he dared.
"I know you're in there, Tokoyami! Please, I know you're strong enough to—"
The quirk's jaw—a crescent of jagged, lightning-shaped teeth, jutted forward. Its teeth clamped together mere meters from Sero's leg. The sound was like two hydraulic, steel doors slamming together. Izuku pulled everyone up, higher than the quirk could bite, and continued.
"I know you're strong enough, Tokoyami!"
"No!" Darkshadow screamed, throwing a backhand at them. "He's not! He needs me, not you! I'll kill all his enemies!"
The near-miss swept a typhoon through his curls, pinning his bangs to his scalp. Concussive winds tore at his cheeks, berating him like a true natural disaster.
"Remember how you helped me tie my suit, Tokoyami!? Remember the fun we've had in class!? Do you remember how strong you've always been?"
The quirk screamed, clutching its skull.
"You have to hear me, then!" Izuku said, watching as Darkshadow clutched at his head. The quirk moaned something fierce, but Izuku wasn't done. "You have a choice, even if Darkshadow doesn't think you do! I can only imagine how scared you are in there, but you have to remember to make the choice! Darkshadow doesn't have the authority to choose if you're strong enough or not, only you do! I know you're scared, but you have to choose strength for yourself! You can't let it be chosen for you!"
Darkshadow flailed in their direction as he moaned. It clutched its burning limb close to its chest, which only worsened his condition, since the acid spread to more surface area. Izuku pulled them away from the first awkward one-armed swing, then curved them into a crescent around another. The strike was weaker than before, but more controlled. It took everything he had to hold his Smokescreen clouds together under the windy onslaught.
"Can you do another?" Izuku asked, pulling Ashido by his side. She got close enough to touch, but he was careful to not. Her skin sizzled with the remnants of her attack. Their proximity made his question redundant, however—her eyes were half-drooped and she labored over every breath.
"N-no, I'm sorry… I gave everything in that one shot." She muttered. He cursed under his breath, but shook his head.
"You're fine—"
Danger Sense hit him like a hammer—dull and vague, but honest. With all his strength, he flung Ashido as far from him as he could.
Darkshadow's punch was pitiful by his own standards—but devastating, by Izuku's. Blind sided, the attack hit him straight on. He managed to hold onto Uraraka—but his connection with Sero broke entirely.
The impact squeezed out every breath he'd ever taken. Black crept into his peripherals as his world turned overhead, and he was vaguely aware of someone screaming beside him. His chest felt warm. The pain only burned for a second. A light breeze on his face felt nice—like a summer hammock nap.
"Kid!" Five said, manifesting between the dark splotches of his vision. His bald head reflected a light Izuku couldn't source. It was a brilliant, fiery glow. Warm. Familiar. "Wake up!"
Izuku blinked, and the ground blinked back, a few meters away. A hand reached out to him—pink wrist guards, pink-white skin, pink finger pads. He clasped their hands, and his weight disappeared.
They still hit the ground, but Izuku pulled Uraraka into a deep embrace, shielding her with himself. Instead of turning into a red paste, their impact only jarred his shoulder. He tried to say something, but choked—the air in his lungs was still up there with Darkshadow. Izuku tried to peel himself off the ground, but the very thought of moving sent an ache down his whole body. Something wet and hot covered his neck.
"Get a hold of yourself! They need you!" Five said, screaming into his ears.
It was enough.
Pulling himself from Uraraka, he spun back to Darkshadow. Without even using One for All, he sprung into the air, still weightless. His vision tunneled. For a moment, he couldn't even see Darkshadow. Izuku only saw Sero, hanging onto an unknowable perch by his tape. He held Ashido between his legs, clutching her like a crane.
When he readjusted his flight, he could feel his throat burn with the effort—somewhere along his fall, he lost his mask. That couldn't matter, however—not when Ashido was slipping.
His shoulder met Ashido's gut with a soft impact. Placing his hand on the small of her back, he used Smokescreen to readjust. Twisting, she hung over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. He locked eyes with Sero, then entwined Sero's hand with a miniature Voidlimb. Sero cut his connection to his perch—Darkshadow, he realized—and they fell back to earth. Still weightless, it was simpler than ever to adjust their trajectory. It hurt more than ever, too.
Two throat-burning puffs of Smokescreen later, and they landed beside Uraraka. Something glittery trailed down her cheek, but she wasn't bleeding. Setting his friends down, he took a step back, then collapsed to a kneel. He wetting his throat with his spit, but it went down screaming, tearing at his throat like broken glass.
He tried to speak, but his larynx felt like sandpaper.
"You… You little bugs aren't Fumi's friends!" Darkshadow said, nursing his arm. Izuku glanced at him, but it was pointless. Darkshadow was hard enough to look at. Depth perception was a foreign concept to that black-mass—but now Izuku's vision was swimming, too. Something sparkly dripped down his neck and landed on his empty sleeve. It smelled like vomit. Did Uraraka vomit a rainbow on him?
Were they going to die?
Darkshadow seemed, if Izuku had to guess, a little bit smaller, a little rounder around the edges. However, when he looked at the creature's arm, he grew puzzled. It hung normally at its side, as if not hurt at all.
"He got weaker!" Sero said, pointing at the quirk's skull. Darkshadow looked like the silhouette of Tokoyami, and thus had a skull that ended in frayed points. With its wild strength, those frayed points were alive, always moving, as if made of black fire. Now, they were firmly pointed. Inanimate and lame.
His form was still fearsome, however. Even acknowledging the odd, youthful addition to his features. Darkshadow slammed a fist into the ground, and it shook the earth—if ever-so-slightly less than before.
Izuku's ribs hurt—then, the pain doubled.
"R-release." Uraraka said. Immediately, the ache in his chest expanded with gravity's command over him. Gravity by its lonesome almost crushed him. There wasn't time to feel sorry for himself, however. He struggled to his feet as Darkshadow continued his tantrum, slamming his fists into the Ruins Zone like a toddler destroying sandcastles. A terrifying toddler.
"Is there anyone else in class who could weaken Darkshadow?" Sero asked.
Ashido shook her head, then let her neck go limp.
"Doubt it matters." She said, glancing aside. "God knows where Kaminari and Aoyama are."
"He's with the rest of class—" Izuku began, before a fit of coughs wracked his chest. A soft hand patted his back. "—over by the exit."
They all looked to the smoking apocalypse that Darkshadow turned the exit into. Izuku tried to suppress a shudder and failed.
"Can w-we—" Uraraka began, before her voice cracked. She cleared it. "Can we lure him t-to the exit? Show him the sunlight? He's weak to light, too, right?"
Izuku forced his shoulders back, trying to fix his posture, but nothing he did stopped the shaking. He dragged a foot forward, taking a step away from his group.
"I am the strongest! Bugs can't touch me!" Darkshadow continued, screaming in the distance. His rampage through the Ruins Zone seemed unorganized—but it never strayed too far. Before long, his attention would settle back on them. This, Danger Sense could tell him.
Diving deeper into the quirk, it was clear what he'd noticed before was true. The danger to everyone lessened, if only by a microscopic smidge. If Ashido had a hundred times her capacity, then maybe, in a few hours, they could wear Darkshadow down…
"And lure them straight into the heart of our class? Not happening. Collapsing the ceiling isn't an option, either." He said. His stub itched. Izuku's mind continued to race, but his heart was beginning to falter. No matter what plan he could form…
Darkshadow backhanded an apartment complex, shattering it into a million shards.
…Nothing at his disposal could quell this living nightmare. If he had Eight's strength, he could've handled this problem by his lonesome—but not only did he lack his predecessor's power, he also lacked his nerve. Even now, having already accepted his incoming sacrifice, his knees shook. He didn't remember All Might's knee's shaking.
"Guys.." he began, giving his friends one last glance. "I want you to start heading towards the exit. Find all the survivors. Get them out of here."
He turned back to Darkshadow. Their complaints fell on deaf ears.
Only a divine, shining miracle could put their friend out of commission. Izuku had nothing left up his sleeve.
That's when he saw the sparkle.
[x]
Her heart slammed against her ribs, beating harder and harder with every passing second.
Boom!
The ceiling rattled with the ongoing rampage. Her eyes stung as dust settled in them—she hadn't seen it coming, in the dark. She wiped the pain away, but more replaced it a second later.
Boom!
"Fumi's friends are weak!" Darkshadow crowed, his voice piercing through the thick, stone walls of the closet she hid in.
Boom!"
In some moments, she couldn't tell if the terrible earthen shudders came from her pounding heart or Darkshadow's terrible rampage. She'd only got a glimpse of him, several minutes ago, when he'd formed.
She'd been alone for a long while, running in the dead opposite direction than those monster-born screams—and then she'd tripped, when Darkshadow appeared.
The quirk was a cute little thing, in Introduction to Heroics class. Tokoyami used him sparingly, but with good effect—and Darkshadow always seemed polite, if a little quick to fight. She'd—gods above, she'd never even imagined how much of an understatement that was.
Hagakure shuddered when the ceiling shook. Every earthquake was a little closer, a little more dangerous. She felt like a moron with her pants down—but she couldn't bring herself to leave the closet. It… hell, she'd seen the debris, earlier, when he'd thrown the building across USJ. It wasn't lost on her that the stone-hail it created probably killed somebody.
Here, she was safe from being bludgeoned by a stray stone. Even if it meant being an otherwise sitting duck.
She had no physical defense. Her skin wasn't tougher than the average person's, despite its unique quality. Hagakure was skin and bones, except for her hips and torso. A pebble, thrown correctly, could hospitalize her. Sure, she was fast—but her speed came from core strength and low body weight. Nearly any and all force was lethal.
If she left her little closet, she was liable to get stepped on. No telling what a careless Darkshadow was capable of.
…She was delicate. Weak.
Turning her gloves over in her hands, she felt her heart burn.
Boom!
Maybe they were right. Her boots… her gloves—her vanity was no help. Hell, there was a scrape on her palm from where she fell—a sharp rock tore straight through her glove.
So, she stayed here. There wasn't much point in leaving, anyways. It wasn't like being invisible would save any lives today. Really, her only options were either hiding or running like hell. Hence, the closet.
In the distance, Darkshadow screamed.
Boom!
Hagakure paused. That explosion was rather tame compared to the others.
Curiosity ate at her. Her glove, sopping with blood, hovered on the closet's doorknob.
Boom!
That one was even smaller than the last. She bit her lip. A glance. There couldn't be any harm.
Slinking out of the closet door, Hagakure blinked. Her pupils dilated, turning the gray-blue smudges of the walls pitch black. She trudged forward, dragging her feet as she palmed her way down the hall. When she'd first arrived, she'd been able to see, but after so much time in the closet, she was borderline blind.
Her boot caught the lip of a staircase, nearly tripping her. She debated with herself for a second—but she'd already made it so far. The decision was out of her hands.
She made her way up the flight of stairs. At the top, a small crack in the wall let in some indigo light, shaping the room around her. There was another flight of stairs, and she took it, choosing it a little faster than last time.
Hagakure ascended two more floors, before her fumbling hands found a door. Opening it, she found herself near-blinded by the sudden light—despite, by all definitions, it being a rather dim sight.
She stepped onto the building's rooftop, and found herself looking at Mount Othrys. Darkshadow struck an imposing figure—six, maybe seven stories of void-born silhouette. Wind kicked up as Darkshadow struck at something in the air. Hagakure squinted, her vision still dull from the dark building—but even after letting her eyes fully adjust, she still couldn't quite understand. Darkshadow wasn't swinging at one little thing—but four?
Or, rather, four things connected by a rope.
Or, rather, three people, all being carried by a viridian rocket.
Maybe they were sunspots, born from her over-sensitive pupils.
She looked up to the cracked dome. The sun wasn't out.
Hagakure took a half-step forward, before jerking back. She was on the building's ledge. A small stone tumbled down to the ground, and the sound echoed up the alley. Glancing behind her revealed the door she'd arrived from, some six meters behind her. When had she moved?
Her eyes returned to the sky-battle.
It was, in a word, unbelievable.
Midoriya could fly, which was enough to have her nearly stumped. Sure, she'd seen him launch himself this way and that—but she'd never seen him maintain a hover. Let alone whilst carrying three of her classmates. It was… a spectacle.
He pulled away from one of Darkshadow's blows, then curved around the next. All the while, he shouted commands and battle strategy—and his charges listened. They didn't scream in terror, they didn't fall, they didn't struggle—they worked with him.
"Heat weakens Darkshadow!" Midoriya said, and despite the distance, she could hear him with utmost clarity. Then, like a cohesive unit, they moved. He flung Ashido forward, and her acid spread across Darkshadow's towering form.
Darkshadow screamed. It was a skull-rattling phenomenon—something that almost knocked her off her perch. She winced, but didn't look away. Before her very eyes, she saw how Midoriya's team avoided Darkshadow's tantrum, dodging and weaving his swings like he was born with wings.
She could only listen to his impassioned speech as he tried to break through to Tokoyami within. Hagakure shifted her weight between feet as Darkshadow screamed his complaints to the heavens.
"I know you're scared, but you have to choose strength! You can't let it be chosen for you!" Midoriya said.
Something cold crept through her gut. It started in her bowls, then worked up her intestines to infect her lungs. It grew colder as it wrapped around her heart. With ice-born fingers, something squeezed her very soul.
The sensation was soft—almost relaxing, if not for the mind-numbing coldness. But in one fell swoop, the gentle squeezes turned painful.
A dull echo rocked the Ruins Zone as Darkshadow knocked Midoriya out of the sky, taking Uraraka with him. Ashido went flying, spinning in the air like a ragdoll. Sero managed to grab her with a tarzan-swing, but no such luck for her green-haired friend. Her heart sank to her stomach as Midoriya plummeted to the ground, but her eyes caught something.
Darkshadow shifted—one, subtle movement—and shrank. Not by much. Maybe not even a story—but she swore he got a little smaller. In addition, the flames that thrived atop his head dimmed, then went stagnant. His eyes softened, going from jagged, angular shapes to softer triangles, rounded around the edges..
The air, once brimming with his very breath, seemed to calm a little. Her eyes traced the quirk's arm, where Ashido's acid did its work, and found it healed over. Darkshadow bellowed again, but its cry was a little weaker, a little less horror-inducing—
Then Midoriya burst back onto the scene, no worse for wear, and snagged Ashido and Sero. He slung her over his shoulder, whilst an arm of pure darkness took Sero by the hand.
How? She asked herself. How did he recover so fast, after being struck dead on? Hagakure knew the boy was strong—hell, she could feel it, when she stood close enough. The boy radiated power, if only in quiet moments. Still, that was nothing compared to Darkshadow, whose power dominated the very air. Midoriya should've been dead on impact—let alone survive the subsequent fall, let alone recover, let alone so fast.
The vice on her heart twitched. His words, deaf to Darkshadow's ears, resonated in hers.
"I know you're scared!" He said. She was. Terrified. It was a miracle urine didn't run down to soak her boot's inner fur lining.
"But you have to choose strength for yourself!" He said.
…
"You can't let it be chosen for you!" He said.
…
…Was that really true? Or was it some rule of thumb? Perhaps a secret code between friends?
Midoriya flew Sero and Ashido down to safety. It was a tumultuous flight, filled with awkward jerks, but they seemed to land safely. They landed in the opposite direction from her, a few blocks over.
Darkshadow's rage seemed unquenchable, even when her friends retreated. It continued to rage around, clawing and stomping nearby buildings. For a moment, she feared he'd come to destroy her residence, but he never strayed too far from Midoriya. The quirk smashed a building with one hand—and the debris headed straight for her.
Instead of sprinting back inside, however, she stood still. This must've been what it would've been like to exist in the heart of Darkshadow's storm, she thought. Fear burned within, demanding her to flee, but she just… didn't. Without running, she realized the stones were rather easy to avoid.
A large one shot right past her, breaking through the ground behind her. Like dominos, it crashed through the second layer, then another, and finally buried itself a few floors down. She stepped right to avoid a much smaller stone—and then returned to her previous perch to avoid another. The hailstorm was over.
Hagakure squeezed her bleeding fist. Her friends must've experienced the same hailstorm a dozen times over, fighting beneath Darkshadow. Not for a second had she believed she should've joined them. Her existence in that brawl would've surely been a hindrance. Darkshadow was simply beyond her—and with her invisible skin, protecting her would've required even more effort on her friend's end.
She would've been useless… Well, she was useless regardless. Here, having done nothing except hide away… she did nothing to help. Maybe… maybe this school wasn't fit for her. Or, if she was more honest, she wasn't fit for the school. Her friends were risking their lives to subdue the biggest threat in the dome, and here she was, watching like a civilian.
Midoriya crushed her in the Battle Trial. Her one skill meant nothing to him. She couldn't even design her own suit, apparently—given how much advice everyone offered her. Hagakure didn't have a heroic bone in her body. At least now, in an emergency, she wasn't worrying anyone. They probably forgot about her.
Then, something odd happened. The dark, musty, ruined city earned a little color. A comforting current of energy flew through her. Her gloves turned bright blue, just as her boot shone a warm beige. Below her, the dark blue building lightened, turning a bright gray, almost silver.
She looked out to the horizon, then, curious at the phenomenon, and frowned. It was still dark, navy, and clouded. Glancing behind her revealed most of the rooftop was the same. The light only highlighted her in a small circle, barely the width of her wingspan.
Looking up, she understood.
There was a hole in the dome—about the size of one of the villains' monsters. It was adjacent to the cracks in the ceiling, but she hadn't noticed it earlier. Before, it was overcast, with dark clouds matching the dome's color—but it seemed those clouds must've moved on. The sun shone down on her, only accessible via the one hole in the sky.
Maybe it was her quirk drinking in the sunlight, or maybe it was just the small warmth on her skin, but her mind felt a little more clear than a moment prior. With that clarity came an undeniable shame, yes…
…But so too did understanding surge through her body.
In the dark, she was at best a spy, invisible on all visible light spectrums. Hagakure's quirk was borderline useless—she was a fraud. It was true.
But she still was able bodied, no? Hagakure climbed these steps, dodged those flung rocks, and ran even though her lungs burned… She wasn't alone in that regard, either. Ibara must've been feeling quite the strain without the sunlight, and Kouda must've felt lonely without any animals nearby. Yet it wasn't hard to imagine the two of them doing their best—and that wasn't even considering the four battling Darkshadow.
Uraraka's quirk couldn't do anything to Darkshadow. Ashido's acid only worked once, to minimal effect. Sero's quirk was far more limited than Midoriya's—and of course, inversely, Midoriya always made due without a god-damn arm. Yet they put their bodies on the line, even when it seemed impossible. She let her weakness hold her back.
Hagakure was a failure of a friend; a useless, stupid baby in the darkness. But… Midoriya's words rang in her ears one last time, then settled in her chest.
"You have to choose strength for yourself!"
The words weren't meant for her, she knew… but they captured her heart regardless.
Her feet widened shoulder-width apart. Hooking her thumb under her ruined glove, she slid it off, then the opposite one. Leaning down, she swiped away any dust and pebbles below her. Raising one foot, she slipped off her boot, then the other, and set each piece beside her. At last, she balled her socks up and tossed them in one boot.
A shudder ran through her back. Despite her… "outfit," she'd never been this exposed in class before. It was a creepy feeling, despite her isoloation. She didn't bother trying to cover herself, however—instead, she spread her arms wide.
Light flowed straight through her. That was the most fundamental law of her quirk. In the dark, she wasn't much use beyond that one law. When the sun shone overhead, however?
It was impossible to say how long this period of light would last. Already, it was slowly darkening again, her corner of the building losing its gray color.
The sun's love flowed straight through her, yes, but with some finesse… it didn't necessarily leave. She sapped away at the solar power, letting nothing slip through. For a brief moment, she had a shadow—but not for long. Looking down at her chest, at the center of her breast bone, a small light began to concentrate. In the first second, it was little more than a grape.
Maybe she couldn't fill that hole in her heart. People would continue to disregard her, to ignore her, to miss her. Citizens would look to better, brighter, more powerful heroes—and she'd be left in the dust, time and time again…
Another second passed, and it grew to a golf-ball. Then a baseball. It began to fill out the limits of her chest, and it snowballed from there. She willed every inch of skin to absorb the dimming light, to flow into her, to charge her up. Her shadow was long gone, lost in the brilliance of her form. The murky blue of the rooftop began to fade, and her light was beginning to devour the darkness of nearby buildings, too.
…But none of that would matter, if she was given the chance to shine when it counted.
The consistent earthquakes slowed to a stop. Across the Ruins Zone, Darkshadow turned, meeting eyes with Hagakure.
"What?" It bellowed, taking a warped step backwards. It pressed its hands outwards, as if that would block her light—but the effort only burned his fingertips. They fizzled, slowly shrinking and evaporating into little black wisps. Behind the monster, Toru saw a little splotch of green swing towards Darkshadow. "Stop that! What is that? Stop, I said stop!"
The cold vice on her heart melted away with the growing heat in her chest.
Darkshadow howled, clutching his sides with his fingerless palms. He was already shrinking—but this wasn't enough. Just sitting here, acting like a flashlight, would never be enough.
She'd only been useless because she'd let herself be useless. Even in the dim lighting, if she'd tried hard enough for long enough, she could've gotten this charge. Maybe they couldn't fault her for playing her life, but she could fault herself for not stepping up before now.
If she was lucky, her friends would forgive her. Better late than never, she supposed.
Darkshadow's thrashing, after a moment, froze. It twitched, as though having an epiphany, but she didn't let it recover its wits.
Hagakure chose strength.
"Refraction Blitz!"
Every photon she stored up burst out in a beam, instantly consuming Darkshadow. It began and was over at the speed of light. The brightness blinded her, burning her retinas horribly—but Darkshadow's scream was even more horrible, and that brought a smile to her face, despite the pain.
A moment later, she collapsed. It took a good half minute before her sight returned in any capacity, and another before she managed to dress herself again. At long last, when she was able to truly see again, she nearly screamed.
Darkshadow was gone. There wasn't a hint of him left, except for Tokoyami, hung over Midoriya's shoulder. He stood at the very ledge she'd launched her attack from. Attached at his back were three floating monsters, fruitlessly struggling under his black rope's hold. At his hip, he held Uraraka aloft with a black rope.
Bandages wrapped the brunette's head, but she smiled at Hagakure with a warmth that almost made her blush.
"Hey, Toru," Uraraka said, and her voice sounded off-pitch. She reached out to help her up. Hagakure took it—and instantly felt the burdens of gravity abandon her. The girl pulled her close, and the three of them fell off the building.
This time, she actually screamed—but they only fell with the weight of a single person. Right before they hit the ground, Midoriya puffed green, and they landed with a gentle impact. Uraraka touched her fingertips together.
"Single release," Uraraka said, and Toru felt the burden of gravity once more. Bewildered, she looked around, and her mouth nearly fell to the floor.
The three monsters tried swiping at Sero's head, but Midoriya raised them up higher like balloons. Releasing Uraraka, he handed her Tokoyami, like he was a paperweight. From there, she held him such that Sero could wrap a tape around him. That brought her attention to Kirishima. He was floating behind Sero, a rock in his stomach, but seemingly fine.
Midoriya checked on everyone before he even said anything. When he spoke, Hagakure nearly winced—it was hollow, like he'd just finished drowning and coughed up a gallon of seawater. Still, watching him was a weird sort of ethereal. Like watching a captain assess his platoon—or an older brother checking on his younger siblings. The green haired boy had an aura of gentle authority—and everyone respected it.
With the way he carried Tokoyami and the monsters, it was like seeing a whole new Midoriya. It hadn't taken her long to realize it was Uraraka making everything light—but still. She could almost mistake him for having a super-strength quirk.
"How are your limits looking, Uraraka?" Midoriya asked, looking at the brunette—but she didn't react. A sour expression flickered over his face before he smoothed it over. Stepping to the side, he repeated the question, and received a thumbs up. Something about that made her queasy.
"I can hold everything up, at this rate, for another twenty-thirty minutes."
He patted her on the shoulder, thanked her, then turned to Hagakure.
Her heart skipped a beat. His eyes were tired, but deep and focused—and their whole weight settled on her shoulders. The scar on his cheek seemed brighter than normal, matching his abnormally red cheeks. Midoriya took a step toward her, and wrapped his arm around her shoulder.
Pulling her in, he gave her a single, firm pat on the back. His fingers specifically, were rough and stone-carved. He pulled back, and looked directly into her eyes. She nearly melted on the spot—but the giddiness in her stomach wasn't like before. Hagakure leaned into the feeling—but found something was lacking. Or, rather than gone, it was just different. The little crush she'd been holding onto bottomed out—and fell away. Hagakure met his eyes, and found a perfect mimic of her own. Pure respect.
"Thank you," he said, and her heart swelled. "You did amazing. You saved us."
She opened her mouth, intending to say something equally intense and graceful—but her lips formed different shapes than intended. With a glove, she wiped away the slime that now covered the side of her breast, then glanced at Uraraka and Midoriya's neck. Uraraka must've noticed her shift in attention, because her face turned crimson.
"Did you vomit rainbows on Midoriya?"
[x]
AN: I like this chapter a lot. Not so much my life at the moment lol-i spent thirty three hours reading yesterday. I'm aware theres only twenty four in a day, but my day was little longer than normal. Now that i'm finally done editting, I can go back to reading. Hopefully this burning desire lessens a little tomorrow, so I can get back on the horse.
In other news, this chapter was awesome. I wrote in my personal notes that this one probably ties with Izuku versus the Zero Pointer, the bridge, and the other good chapters. This one bangs, and I'm excited if I'll be able to top this for the climax of this arc. I'm running out of time for this story, but I promise we'll make it to the sports festival. On my life.
I'm particularly happy about how this takes Toru's story and pushes her character forward leaps and bounds. One weakness in MHA is its massive cast, and likewise, I can only focus on so many characters on any substantial level. I'm very proud that I managed to (I think) to make something impactful and enjoyable. And, of course, this reflects well on Izuku as well. He might be losing his grip on the situation, but he's still trying his best... I wonder how that'll effect him moving forward.
Review!