Eri took a deep breath, as she watched an apple she had just eaten, reappear before her eyes, due to her quirk.

It took a few moments, but she managed to turn off her quirk, just as the apple finished reforming.

"Ok." Eri finally felt like she finally had a good handle on her power.

It was time.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Heading back into the cognitive Tomb, Eri quickly teleported herself and her two allies to the "boss room"

Yes, two allies.

Because Izuku had joined the team.

Given the serious nature of what they would be fighting today, Izuku had decided to join in.

They stood outside a massive doorway, that seemed to ooze darkness.

"Are you sure you're ready?" Ren asked.

Eri nodded. Her expression, resolute. "Yes. I'm ready."

Izuku smiled at her and rubbed her head. "My strong little Unicorn. Let's finish this."

With that, Ren kicked the door open, revealing a completely dark room.

Eri summoned her Persona and created some fire to make a bit of light before they walked in.

As they went deeper and deeper into the darkness, eventually, a light shone down from above, revealing, Shadow Eri.

The girl was dressed in her old tattered white dress, and her arms were covered in bloody bandages.

She also looked a bit more… Oni-like. She had two horns, long claw-like nails, and large fangs.

Shackles were placed around her hands and feet, she even had a collar around her neck.

And lastly, she was sitting in a familiar chair. Looking down at her feet.

Izuku's fists clenched so hard, that his knuckles turned white, and he nearly drew blood.

But he was far from the only one having a hard time looking at the grisly display before them.

Ren didn't show it, but his stomach was churning at the sight of Eri's shadow. He'd been told what happened to her, but seeing something close to what she would be like while still in that hellish place… made him both look forward too and dread what was most likely about to happen next.

Eri had also taken a good blow to her own heart after seeing this distorted reflection of her past.

But she didn't tremble. She didn't throw up. She didn't back down.

This had all been what she expected. She'd lived through this once. And she could do so again.

"It's time to go," Eri said firmly to her shadow.

"We can't escape." Shadow Eri said, still not looking up at them. "You and I both know that."

"I did. You stayed behind." Eri told her. "But now it's time to go. Our friends are waiting for us."

"Freinds? We don't deserve friends." Shadow Eri replied. "I deserve to be here. Now leave. Before he comes."

"Eri." Said a voice that sent chills down Eri's spine.

And then, Overhaul walked into the light, standing behind Shadow Eri's chair.

Even more chillingly, he didn't look any different. As if Eri could imagine no greater monster than this as he appeared in real life.

More lights activated, revealing that they were standing on a large patch of concrete in a pitch-black void, covered in blood. Eri's blood, no doubt.

It also revealed two more shadows in the room.

One was a giant bird wearing a white cloak. And the other looked more like a patchwork doll in the shape of a bird, covered in stitches.

"You all have been making quite a mess of my hideout. And you've even gone as far to try and take my offering to the Great Shie Hassaikai." Shadow Overhaul said. "The blood of this monster will revive our god. Her body and soul belong to me, and to them."

Eri shook her head. "I don't belong to anyone. And you and the Shie Hassaikai, are already long dead! I won't let you take my future!"

Suddenly, the ground started to shake, as a bird cage formed around Shadow Eri, and suddenly, needles connected to tubes appeared and stabbed into Shadow Eri's body.

"ARGH!" Both Eri's cried out in pain, as Eri too felt like she'd been stabbed all over.

"Eri!" Izuku cried out, helping his daughter back to her feet.

"Looks like the two are connected," Ren stated. He then pulled out his gun and tried to shoot the tubes with his gun, aiming in between the bars, but his bullet bounced off an invisible barrier. "And that cage is more than it seems."

Suddenly Ren flipped to the side, to avoid a barrage of feathers that had been shot at him by the cloaked bird. The feathers were in the shape of clock hands. Confirming that this was Shadow Chronotasis.

Shadow Mimic, suddenly rushed towards Izuku, hands bursting out of the it's seems to grab at him.

"Heracles." Izuku summoned his Persona and had it bat away the arms.

Overhaul touched the ground, and suddenly, it split into three parts. One part with Izuku and Shadow Mimic, one with Shadow Chrono and Ren, and the last with Overhaul Eri, and Shadow Eri.

Wall grew around Izuku and Ren. Trapping them with their respective villain, while Eri faced off against the man who'd hurt her, so so badly.

Overhaul the ground suddenly turned into spikes, with Eri teleporting on top of the bird cage. I can't teleport inside…she's stopping me.

Eri's persona tossed fire at Overhaul, who created a wall in front of him to take the attack, breaking it apart.

Then concrete hands grew out of the ground, and tried to grab at Eri, but then Eri teleported behind Overhaul. He turned around to face her, and Eri's persona socked him in the face, knocking him into the cage.

Eri then used her Persona to launch more fireballs at him, setting Overhaul ablaze.

For a while, Overhaul's body was completely engulfed in flames, before the flames went out suddenly, and Overhaul was revealed to be completely fine. Green energy crackled off of his body.

"Ahhhhh!" Shadow Eri and Eri cried out, as blood was drained from Shadow Eri.

He's sacrificing my blood to heal himself! Eri realized as Overhaul sent another wave of spikes at her, but Eri used her Persona to teleport to the other side of the cage, to give herself a second to breathe.

"Face it Eri, you can't win! You never could!" Shadow Overhaul shouted as made hands come out of the ground to grab her.

Eri simply teleported out of their grip, on top of the cage, and looked down at Overhaul. He can heal himself with my quirk. But he can't heal himself FROM my quirk.

Then, she tried activating her quirk.

Only to find that there was something she'd never felt before stopping her. An opposing will.

Eri looked down at her shadow and saw that it was resisting her attempt to activate her quirk.

She grit her teeth in frustration. "Why are you stopping me!?"

"W-We can't. That power…is a curse." Shadow Eri argued.

"No, it's not! Dad said so! Are you saying he was wrong!? Are you calling him a lair!?" Eri countered.

Shadow Eri went silent, and Eri felt the opposing well lessen a bit.

Eri was about to speak again, went suddenly more hands came out of the ground to grab her, making her teleport into the air to avoid them.

The hands continued to rise and try to grab her, but Eri kept teleporting away.

I can't fight her and Overhaul at the same time. Eri thought. I need to get her on my side. I need to destroy that cage!

Eri teleported in front of the cage and grabbed into the bars. Before trying to pull them apart. It was hard, seemingly fruitless, but Eri tried anyway.

Shadow Eri looked at her, befuddled as Eri tried to pry the metal apart. "What are you doing? Why are you trying?"

"It's futile!" Overhaul shouted as he got ready to touch the ground again Eri's persona teleported in front of him and started punching him, keeping him in place for a while.

"Grrrrrrr," Eri grunted as she tried to break the bars. "It's not! Futile! You've seen our future! A place outside of all this darkness! A future filled with family! And friend! A future filled with light!"

RRRRRRRRRR!

Suddenly the metal started to creak, as it gave way a little bit, and bent slightly.

Shadow Eri's eyes widened. "That's-"

"This is my will! Our will!" Eri said as she kept pushing the bars. "Mr Midoriya helped us, be we were the ones who ran! We escaped this place! And we can do it again! But I need you're-aghh!"

Suddenly Overhaul managed to touch Eri's persona. Making it explode, and sending a shock through Eri's body.

What's more, more blood started getting drained from Shadow Eri.

"I…need you! To fight back!" Eri said as she felt the pain of them getting drained.

"I-I can't! We'll-" Shadow Eri tried to argue, but Eri was having none of it.

"Dad and Mr Akira, are fighting for us! Are you going to let them down without a fight!" Eri shouted, and she forced herself back up and kept trying to push the bars apart.

"They should just leave. We don't deserve them." Shadow Eri said.

"Maybe. But even if that's true, they'll never stop! You know that! So we have to fight! To be worthy of them!" Eri shouted. "So get up! And fight! Even if it puts us in danger, we both know. We'd rather die than let Overhaul win!"

Shadow Eri was still for a moment, and then her fist clenched.

Then she grabbed onto the tubes and started pulling them out.

Overhaul looked at her in shock and anger. "ERI!"

Shadow Eri ignored him, and hopped off the chair, before grabbing onto the same bars, and started helping Eri pull them apart.

GRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

The bars started giving way, and suddenly cracks started appearing in the cage.

Both of the Eri's activated their quirk to heal themselves and restore their stamina and continued to pull the bars apart, until it shattered, disappearing and freeing Shadow Eri.

Overhaul touched the ground and made more hands to try and grab them. "YOU WILL NEVER BE FREE!"

The two Eri's held hands, and teleported away.

Suddenly, they landed on Overhaul. "GAH!"

"We're already free! Now go back where you belong!" Eri shouted as they activated their quirk again. "To the past!"

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Overhaul cried, as energy from Eri's quirk coursed through him, before in a flash of light, he vanished.

The two Eri's dropped to the ground, and Eri breathed a sigh of relief, before looking at her shadow.

"We killed him." Shadow Eri lamented.

Eri put her hand on her other self's shoulder. "If we didn't, he would have hurt a lot of people. Dad said it was right. So, are you going to say he's lying?"

Shadow Eri still looked…conflicted.

BOOM!

Suddenly, the walls of the concrete rooms burst, and Izuku and Ren jumped back onto the floor Eri was on.

"Looks like we're late," Ren said, as he looked at the two Eri's. "Or maybe we're just in time?"

Izuku walked over to Shadow Eri and kneeled down. "Hey, you beat Overhaul didn't you."

Shadow Eri nodded.

"And yet you feel bad. You feel like he didn't deserve death, even after all he did." Izuku said.

Once again, Shadow Eri nodded.

"Eri…when you saw Overhaul kill people. Did he ever feel bad?" Izuku asked her.

This time, Shadow Eri shook her head.

"That's what separates you from him. What makes him a monster." Izuku said. "Hold onto that feeling. Because it will help you hold onto your humanity."

Eri took her Shadow's hands. "We get to decide our future now. So, what do you want to do?"

Shadow Eri looked at her, hesitating for a moment, before saying. "I want to keep going. To be worthy, of their love."

"Then that's what we'll do. We'll keep becoming better and better every day." Eri said. "But we need to leave now. Are you ready?"

Shadow Eri took a second, to gather her will, and looked Eri in the eyes, Shadow Eri glowed, and the demonic parts of her faded away, as did the shackles that bonded her. "Yes."

Eri smiled at herself and brought her into a hug. "Persona."

And then everything went white.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Eri opened her eyes and felt like she was breathing fresh air for the first time.

A weight had been lifted off of her heart, and now.

Everything was right. The future was bright. And the past remained where it belonged.

Entombed. No forgotten, but no longer able to hurt her or hold her back.

She was well, and truly. Free.

And that's Eri's time with Ren done.

Please review and have a nice day.