Chapter One Hundred and Eight
For a single moment I stared, Gobsmacked, having hoped for a save but not really expected it, certain I was going to die, as it was that or become All for One's puppet, and, with my powers, there was no question he'd win.
"YOUNG KAMINARI, YOU ARE INJURED. YOU MUST FLEE!" The Symbol of Peace directed, Rage, near-boiling in his tone, waving a hand back to the hole in the wall he'd come through, showing he'd busted his way through the building to get here.
I hesitated, but nodded. "It's All for One, he wanted me to join him, I told him to fuck off and hurt him," I rattled off. "His Gater isn't here, but Kurogiri only needs geographical coordinates to work, and, well, All for One."
The large man nodded, and I took off, well aware that I wasn't in the same realm as these two, let alone the same league, darting away with a crackle, running on metal-clad feet, leaping up through the hole and-
Ka-BOOOM!
The building behind me detonated, masonry flying, All Might, almost too fast to see, came up behind me, grabbing me, shielding me with his body as the blast-wave passed over us, sending us both flying.
All Might leapt off a piece of flying rubble, carrying me like I was a small child, coming down as dust-clouds spread out, the building we were in gone, as were the ones beside us, showing us to be in some kind of industrial district, but to the right an office-tower cantered to the side, slowly coming apart as it rained masonry onto the street, the sounds of screaming and car alarms distantly audible.
Clap. Clap. Clap.
In a single moment the dust clouds cleared and All Might set me down, stepping forward and putting himself between me, and All for One, who clapped damaged hands, the front of his suit having crumbled away to reveal chest full of scoured cybernetics that were slowly being re-covered by flesh, flakes of white metal from his mask falling away, the damage superficial, except for a single, glowing red eye that now peeked out at us.
"After all this time, and that's what you open with?" the Symbol of Evil sighed. "At least Kaminari struck out with deadly intent. I'd say you've gotten soft, All Might, that you'd lost your edge, but that would suggest you had one to begin with."
The Symbol of Peace scowled, rolling his shoulders to prepare for the coming fight, "Really? It's kind of hard to ignore that fancy life-support mask you've got on. I'd say that's edge enough, though perhaps we should finish what we started?"
You two have fun with this, I thought, wrapping myself with as much as light as I could, to turn ever so translucent, and fucking leave.
"Oh, it's cute that you think you can. Then again, that master of yours thought so too, and, well, look where that got her, hmmm?" AfO mused, as I, as quietly as I could, booked it.
"Ah, leaving so soon?" Quirk Satan mused, and I glanced back long enough to see him gesture, and, with the faintest of warnings, jump to the side, as the ground below me erupted into flaming iron chains, trying to grasp me, but between my acidic armor, and my electric limbs, which they tried to cling to despite their insubstantiality, I got free, but the message was clear: 'You can't escape.'
Too bad I sucked at listening.
All Might stepped between us, breaking line of sight, as I slowly pulled away, trying to obscure myself completely. "Your fight's with me, All For One, and I won't repeat the mistake I made five years ago," the enormous man stated, with a vitriol I'd never heard from him before. "You hear me? I will make certain you're locked up for the REST of your sad life. Right along with you despicable LEAGUE OF VILLAINS!"
With his yell, All Might launched himself forward, crossing the hundreds of feet between them, fist chambered for a punch.
His opponent, meanwhile, lifted a hand, the sleeve of his suit ballooning outwards as he casually noted, "Sounds like you've got your work cut out for you. But you were interrupting something, and I'd really rather get back to it."
Crimson-lined black lightning played along AfO's arm, and, the moment before impact, a massive shockwave was fired from it, bringing All Might to a standstill, and letting it off, sending the Symbol of Peace flying backwards.
I, too, was caught in the blast, but, seeing it coming, had leapt, arms turning to wings, and, using the training Hawks had given me, rode the shockwaves out of bounds, and up, even as, for at least a mile, every building within range was brought falling down, the lights of the city around us going dark.
With the Symbol of Evil's other hand, he gestured upwards, and globs of bright green fluid were fired from around him, towards me, but, banking, and hauling myself to the side by the layer of Acid that covered me, I barely missed it, the globules trying to stick to me, but only taking bits of barely-caustic fluid instead.
The stab wounds in my chest had healed, or at least enough to not hurt as I moved, another set of attacks prepped, but, as I banked more, gliding in a circle over the battleground, keeping an eye on the fight, they were dismissed, and a voice spoke, as if from right behind me.
"Yes, good," Quirk Satan practically cooed. "Let me take care of this annoyance, and we can continue our conversation. I wouldn't want to see you harmed in my attempts to keep you safe, after all, Denki Kaminari."
With a Yell of frustration, All Might blasted into the air, throwing his fists backwards and shooting himself towards All for One through the shockwaves alone, while his opponent smoothly lifted into the air, Superman-Style.
The two met, punch for punch, and a massive shockwave stretched out, further collapsing nearby buildings, and shoving me higher into the air, All Might shoved to the ground, bouncing right up back towards All For One, only to… Miss?
The Symbol of Peace rose up, fist leading, as his opponent seemed open, only for All for One to just… come apart, into white flower petals, another version of him suddenly a hundred feet away, and, with a casual, almost dismissive wave, sent a torrent of amber lightning at All Might, who twisted about and blocked the attack, but was sent flying back.
It only took a moment for Toshinori to re-orient, and he blasted himself backwards, down towards his opponent, who, chuckling slightly, the sound filling the space unnaturally, the noise dragging claws uselessly against Mind Defense, accepted the blow, only to explode, the detonation singeing All Might, the flames of the detonation lighting up the space with hellish light.
"Oh, you have degraded, All Might!" All For One announced. "Perhaps there was a day you could punch your way through your problems, like the foolish, thick-headed ogre you are, but today is not that day."
The blond man, panting, landed, grabbed a handful of gravel and hurled it so fast they crackled like popcorn as they broke the sound barrier, setting off grenade-like blasts all over the Symbol of Evil's damage suit.
"Ah, so you do have a brain. Explosive Retribution is useful, but still requires one to be hit, but Bludgeoning Nullification, if used correctly, can cancel that side-effect out," All for One mused. "I only seek out the strongest Quirks, yes, but while I normally would use them, as you do, brutishly and without skill, just to show you that even in that manner I am your better that does not mean I cannot do otherwise. Just as many so called 'Heroes' can take a weak Quirk, and, through dedication, inventiveness, and sometimes luck, turn them into something effective, so can I. It is merely that I prefer premium ingredients," Quirk Satan laughed, taking a half step to the side, the sharpened piece of rebar that All Might hurled next missing him by centimeters, as Toshinori adjusted to sidestep the bludgeoning nullification with a piercing attack.
"You, you weren't like this before," the Symbol of Peace noted, as, watching, I felt a slowly building sense of dread welling in my gut, making me sick to my stomach, as this wasn't what had happened in canon.
"I wasn't taking you seriously," All for One shrugged, unconcerned. "To be honest, I didn't need to, and I will admit, that was my mistake."
All Might jetted forward, going for a grab, only for AfO's arm to erupt in spikes of metal, the blond man barely avoiding them as they exploded outwards, thudding into the ground, before they brightened, and detonated again, filling the space with shockwaves, forcing All Might to punch through the blast wave, forcing the attack back, and revealing that his opponent was standing in a cylinder of clear air, that shattered like glass under the reversed shockwave, forcing AfO back a step.
A single step.
Quirk Satan continued the motion, falling backwards as All Might lunged forward, with a call of "Kansas SMASH!"
The knife-hand slammed forward, the shockwave of the blow carving into the rubble behind his opponent like an enormous blade had been shoved into it, but OfA hit the ground, which rippled, and fell through it, the man coming out a dozen feet away, rising up silently, bringing both hands together to form a rippling orb that felt nauseating to look at.
"BEHIND YOU!" I yelled, high up, wondering if he could even hear me, but All Might threw himself to the side as the orb was fired, growing as it did so, carving a trench through the ground as it removed everything in its path, before, at the end of its flight, rapidly expanding, before contracting, dropping a glowing ball of something into the rubble which, with a crack, punched right through it.
All for One waved a dismissive hand my way, and I felt several somethings crack against my Defenses in rapid succession, golden chains appearing from above me and trying to fall down, but a bit of ice fired upwards forced the mass of glowing bonds to wrap around it instead, disappearing to reappear by Quirk Satan's side, the Villain glancing at it, and shaking his head.
"I had hoped calm and rational discussion would carry the day," All For One stated, and, with a hand, an swarm of swords, each as big as I was, appeared and fired themselves at All Might, leaving trails of light that, as the Symbol of Peace expertly dodged the assault, and the beams they'd left behind, suddenly expanded anyways, the trails now flat planes of light stretching out, catching the 'younger' man, and slicing his red, white, and blue costume open, leaving him bleeding as he struck out, diverting the expanding beams with what seemed like raw strength, and pushed through them, only for a barrier of blades to come out of nowhere to strike down into the ground, All For One running a crackling hand along their steel spines, forcing them to explode outwards in an undodgeable shower of metal shards.
So All Might didn't, covering his head with one arm, closing on his foe, striking out, but AfO merely caught the blow, twisting about to lash out with his other arm, as force visibly rippled across his shoulders, but the Symbol of Peace caught that blow, locking them together, and AfO continued, unbothered, "So I suppose that base violence will."
And then, with All Might locked down, a spinning drill emerged from the suit-clad man's chest, tearing through the bits that hadn't been dusted by my attack, and slammed into the side of Symbol of Peace's stomach, the sound of tearing flesh loud, as Toshinori struggled for a moment, suppressing a scream of pain, before, with a laugh, All for One let him go.
All Might leapt backwards, stumbling, falling to the ground, and coughing up blood, his old wound reopened.
"Our games were fun," the Symbol of Evil mused, spinning up another set of swords. "But it's time to move on, as I've found something new to investigate."
Struggling to his feet, crimson leaking from his lips, All Might snarled, "If you think you're getting to Kaminari, you'll have to kill me first!"
"If you insist," All for One mused, sending forward another flurry of swords, but Toshinori was ready, moving, grabbing the first one and using it to deflect the others, twisting it about to catch the expanding trails with the weapon, which broke, but gave him enough time to get away. "Oh, All Might, do you understand? When last we fought, you held my brother's Quirk, which I do desire, so I couldn't kill you outright, only put you in a position to pass it on. And look, you did! Twice, in a way, though I'm sure you didn't mean to."
Toshinori dashed in, dodging a flurry of spikes that erupted from the ground, slipping past flaming chains, lashing out with a punch, which AfO moved to catch, a drill emerging from his palm, but, at the last moment, All Might broke off, shifting to strike the Symbol of Evil in the shoulder instead, sending the man flying with an aborted grunt of pain as he skipped off the ground twice before he lifted into the air, and casually set himself down, dusting off his dirtied suit, despite the front having been ripped and dusted apart completely.
"As I was saying, when last we clashed, I had to treat you with, as they say, 'Kid Gloves', lest I kill you, and lose my brother's Quirk," AfO mused. "Now that is no longer the case, well, you remember the fate of your master, Nana Shimura? She too was quite surprised to discover that I had merely been humoring her. Oh, the look on her face while she died," the Symbol of Evil mused. "Priceless."
"Keep her name out of your MOUTH!" All Might yelled, launching another attack, but, as I watched… it wasn't enough.
I remembered the fight from Canon, which had been one big 'Anything you can do I can do better' fest, which I'd been very into at the time, but… but had All for One originally thrown the fight?
As the man busted out dozens of different Quirks, mixing and matching them, and All Might struggled to keep up, burning through his timer, I realized that, for some reason, the Symbol of Evil had wanted to be sent to Tartarus prison, but had put up just enough of a fight to fool Toshinori, and it'd fooled me too, but, with the change of plans, Shigaraki sidelined, and with a new toy for him to play with…
All for One was going to kill All Might.
Part of me wanted to run, to say fuck it. Even with his Precog, I just needed to survive for a couple more hours, at which point my captures would finalize, I could get Sweet Home, and leave!
This was a fight I could not win, hell, I'd barely even be a player!
This wasn't really my world, I wasn't actually Denki Kaminari, I didn't have to do this!
So why, THE FUCK, couldn't I force myself to turn away!?
… "God dammit," I swore, laughing helplessly, not even sure if this would be enough to tip the scales but…
But what kind of Hero would I be if I didn't Try?
Twisting about, my reserves… could be better, but could also be a lot worse, and, under my Electrobody, my limbs were still thinly plated with Support-grade metal, so…
"Fuck it."
Turning, and with a jet of flame, I sent myself into a dive, pushing my copy of One for All as hard as it could go, even as it tried to buck and shift under my control, bouncing off my Defenses, but I needed it to work properly for this to work.
Coming in, I ran the vector calculations, doing my best to figure out the flow of the fight, and Created a thin spear of diamond, like Momo had, barely more than a large spike, but mine was riddled with faults, all wrapped around a gold core. Shifting my wings to hands as I gripped it, as I silently dropped from the skies, even as All Might, on AfO's other side, made another desperate charge, closing in on the Villain, who was able to predict his actions almost perfectly, some part of OfA blurring his precognitive visions, but the centuries old man was canny enough, and, as All Might screamed, "Detroit SMASH!" the shockwave buffeted me, but my acid-suit let me stay on target.
The Symbol of Evil almost contemptuously blocked the attack, sighing, "If that did not work the first time, would made you think-"
Which is when I came down from above, sinking my weapon in the space between his scapula and his clavicle, the weapon punching deep into his chest, as, twisting it, I shattered the gem-matrix into hundreds of sharp shards. Calling upon my Quirk, I grabbed the now- exposed golden rod and dumped several million volts through it, in the same Whip-Crack I'd used to pop Silverfish, the Ka-Bang! of the lightning strike painting the battleground yellow-white.
Launching myself forward on electric legs, burning off the last bit of momentum I had, techno-tentacles stabbed out at me, trying to impale me, but I slipped away, looking to a confused and worried All Might, as I gave him a devil-may-care grin of my own, even as my insides knotted up from stress, Mind Defense keeping me in the game from within as much as from without, as I gave the Symbol a Peace a thumbs up and told him, "Have less fear, for I Am Here!"
"Gah!" All for One spat, his helmet sizzling, and damn was I lucky that I was right about his predictive Quirks being Target Specific, deprioritizing me as I was 'no longer a threat'.
"Kaminari! I can handle this! Run!" the battered man beside me urged.
"And go where?" I replied, creating dirt spiders to try and bite into him, only for the palm-sized tarantulas to gnaw ineffectually on AfO's pants. "You go down, I can't run far enough to get away," I informed him. "Besides, he wants me alive, so I won't get insta-gibbed!" I added, as I Created a small Support-Metal spike, and, through splayed fingers, fired it at AfO with a Crack, revealing an invisible hexagonal bubble of force around him, the panel I'd struck fracturing in the process.
Standing with him, I could feel my connection to One for All, through All Might, increase, ever so slightly, golden lightning starting to crackle along my limbs. The Symbol of Peace looked to me, as AfO struggled to expel the crystal knives now in his chest, bits dripping out, along with burned out cybernetics, the helmeted man not bothering to taunt us, and, as one, we moved.
Blurring forward, All Might was still faster than me, but I could tell his plan, as I dashed forward, directly in front of him chambering the strongest punch I could, and, keeping safe minimums, distributed the OfA I had to Strike the barrier with what would've been instantly lethal force on a normal person.
My 'partner' for this, meanwhile, maneuvered past my foe, and, with a cry of "Detroit SMASH!" struck from the side, so our force vectors complimented each other, and, while AfO threw his hands up, he was a moment too slow, the motions pulling at his injuries, his shield breaking, the man sent flying.
Not giving him a moment, I ran forward, creating another spike, even as All Might leapt high, heading after our foe. My rail-shot went off with another crack, the projectile streaking forward, AfO's hand moving at it, blasting it right back at me, but I'd seen this trick before, and moved, dodging it while chambering another, Toshinori closing in that moment of diversion, and, with a hand lashing out, a small explosion erupted between the tan man's fingers as he caught hold of AfO's wrist, the force not enough to stop All Might from gripping our foe, and with a twist, spinning in the air and slamming the Symbol of Evil into the ground, hard, cratering the rubble, the shockwave enough that I had to press through it, as I closed, ducking low, ripping a piece of rebar out of the ground as I got ready-
"ENOUGH!"
The air thickened, and I slowed, but, with OfA pounding through my veins, a thick shroud of Acid surrounding me, I started to force myself through anyways, while All Might just grinned, taking hold of the air itself, and, with a heave broke through it, like he was tunneling through solid earth, closing on the Symbol of Evil, fist slamming right on the point of impact for my crustal spear, forcing the man back, the air loosening around us as Toshinori went for another strike, AfO coming apart in white flower petals again, but, to the side, in the shadow of a half-broken building, I saw him step out of a flurry of black leaves.
"There!" I called, shifting tactics, throwing my hands up and rail-gunning the rebar at our foe, the projectile crossing the space in an instant, All Might in quick pursuit, as, arms crackling with amber lightning, AfO had to try and dodge, batting away the attack, but a splash of blood painted the wall behind him as my attack went through his now-healed hand, the torrent of destruction he unleashed splashing over the battlefield, the fell lightning flowing over me, and, while I could divert it, the second I tried to absorb it, my Defenses went crazy, protecting me from… something, telling me that was a terrible fucking idea.
But my reserves were getting low, and I did have Defenses, so I did it anyways.
The flow shifted, sucked up into my gut, my body burning but, as I created more electricity, this yellow energy shot through with pulsating orange, I prepared to shoot it right back at him, and, as All Might closed on his foe, sinking another fist into AfO's gut, the man folded over, flying into the rubble and, there!
Seeing him emerge nearby, I turned, readying my attack-
And, with a flick of the Symbol of Evil's wrist, the air itself fractured, a flat plane separating, removing my leg.
"While I will not kill you," All for One commented, hate in his tone, even as he tried to keep it calm, and I fell to the ground, "With the Quirk you have, the Quirk you stole from one of my Nomu, that is a much higher threshold than you obviously believe."
"Kaminari!" All Might yelled, coming for me, even as I saw the air around me start to shimmer along another set of flat planes.
"I'm good! Kill him!" I spat, throwing myself to the side, Toshinori hesitating only for a fraction of a second, glowing blue eyes tracking, spotting the trap, and turning, charging our opponent.
They clashed again, and, while injured, the Symbol of Evil was able to deflect his opposite's blow, not fully able to counter him, but his predictive Quirks, on a single opponent, were able to focus once more.
With a thought, I made more spiders, with orders to climb onto the fucker's face, while, focusing, blood pouring from my stump, I shifted it to lightning, mentally extending it out into a 'limb' once more, limited by needing to keep it that way, but, standing, trying not to look at my severed flesh, I refocused on the fight.
I can still do this, I thought, desperately, pulse pounding, but able to keep fighting, as, with a stumbling step, I rebalanced, the pair of fucking Titans trading blows, shockwaves flaring in every direction, and I looked for my opportunity, All Might starting to Flag, and, if All for One was too, I couldn't tell.
Summoning my phone, I took a deep breath, coiled up Electric legs, waiting until…
NOW!
Dashing forward, as Toshinori was blasted back, I was in front of a surprised AfO, bringing the phone to bear, starting to dismiss it, the Symbol of Evil's eyes going wide in fear as I bent the light bac-
CRUNCH.
An enormous pair of dark-green scaled jaws appeared from the air, attached to an eyeless crocodile skull, and, while the back of the attack monochromed, flaking apart, the entire thing disappeared, taking my left arm with it.
And then, with an actual strike, All for One finally hit me, my ribs snapping under the enormous force, and I was blasted back, a mile away, into the rubble at the edge of the battlefield, barely able to move, the light lensing in front of me to watch as All Might, bellowing in rage, renewed his offensive, but it wouldn't be enough.
I coughed up blood, unable to feel my legs, well, leg really, warm yet terribly cold, as I could barely move, given a front row seat to the Death of All Might.
And, there, up high, was the news chopper I remembered, not having been given the heads up by the cops likely delaying it, as I felt weak, helpless, unable to do anything.
At the back of my mind, my copy of One for All thrashed, pounding against my Defenses, and, maybe it was the blood loss, or maybe it was my own tired, futile desperation, but I opened my mouth and spoke, my words thin, wet, and almost a whisper.
"Hey, One for All, can you hear me? One pulse for no. Two yes. three and more? I'm just nuts."
… Bam Bam, went the feeling in my head.
"Perverts," I mused, thinking of what else it saw. "Got a way, to save, All Might?" I asked, each breath painful, only able to manage a few words at a time.
This time, the Bam Bam was faster.
"Will I, survive it?" I questioned, barely hanging on to the edges of consciousness, the pulse in my ears no longer pounding, but hollow-feeling, and strained.
… … … Bam Bam.
"Not exactly, fillin' me, with confidence, here," I laughed, then cried out weakly from the pain. "I survive, it's a when, that fucker, goes down, not an if. So you, need me, Alive."
Bam Bam.
"You sure?" I checked. "I'll, survive?"
Bam.
"Well," I smiled wanly, "Least you're, honest. Cry Havok, I guess."
And, focusing inwards, towards that feeling, I dropped my Defenses.
And all faded into a Golden Glow.
Music
Clap. Clap. Clap. - My Hero Academia - All For One's Theme (HQ Cover)
Miss - 02 Satsujinsha no Me - MY HERO ACADEMIA 2nd OST 2
Try? - Boku no Hero Academia S3 OST - All Might with U.A. Students (Extended)
removing my leg - 'Vu~iran no shinkō' Villian's Invasion Theme Boku No Hero Academia [Original Soundtrack]
AN: What, did you think Denki would've been able to beat AfO? To see the exciting conclusion to the Captured Arc, you can see them all up on and Subscribestar!