Consequence of Power

After restocking their gear and piling into Longsword, Midoriya and the others flew straight for the island that held Humarise’s true base of operations. “Say,” Issac began, “You’ve got that big ship, why don’t we just blow up that island and be done with it? Hell, you even have what looks like one big fuck off cannon on that thing. May as well put it to good use, eh?”

“Believe me when I say that even before I knew their base wasn’t in the city, I did some consideration to just blowing it up from the air. The first major problem was the fact that if I even used a single missile it would cause massive collateral damage. They’re made for ship to ship combat in space, and a single archer missile could level a city block. That amount of firepower alone is enough to make any post-cold war era military doctrine enthusiast blush.”

“What’s the next one?”

“The possibility that even if I did somehow blow up the transmitter, the bombs would still go off. “

“Well I don’t know about that. It’s simple, we blow up the thing that sets off the bombs and then they can’t set off the bombs.”

“If you break off a key inside a lock, does that open the lock?”

“No?”

“That scenario is what I’m worried about. It’s entirely possible that the bombs aren't completely remotely detonated. They could be on a timer, meaning that even if the transmitter is destroyed they’ll still slide.”

“Can’t you… jam them? Or use an EMP? Or something…?”

“Alright, ignoring the previously mentioned possibility that they might just go off anyways. If I try to jam each bomb individually, they will be some that aren’t in the covered range. If I try to jam the transmitter, I’d have to effectively shut down all public communications because those are the bands they’re likely transmitting on. And even if I somehow had a way to deploy an EMP, it would knock out all electronics in Otheon. That includes everything that our allied forces are using.”

Issac shrugged, “Look, I’m just trying to come up with alternative solutions.”

“Well if things go smoothly then we won’t need any of those alternate solutions. We just go in, put down Flect-turn, find the transmitter and remotely disable all of the bombs.”

“Maybe it isn’t my place to ask, but how exactly are you going to disable them?” Bakugo said.

“That’s actually where I come into play,” the copy of himself said, “Back where we’re from, one common tool humanity has under its belt is artificial intelligence. Highly advanced sets of programs made for the purpose of performing complicated and difficult tasks that people wouldn’t ordinarily do. Sometimes they’re made purely from code types up on a computer and sometimes they’re made from the scan of a brain. Regardless of how they’re made, due to their nature they’re all incredibly proficient at systems infiltration and-“

“Can you please just get to the point.”

He sighed, “In all things but name I am an AI, so on top of my previous knowledge of technology I know so much more that I think the original me would puke. Using a data chip with a universal connector I’ll be able to connect to the transmitter and disable the bombs myself. …Probably.”

“Probably?!’l

“Look, before you cast stones I suggest you try turning into a glorified computer program. It gives you a lot more perspective, and it’s a lot more difficult to be confident in your abilities when you’ve effectively had to re-learn how to walk and talk.”

Midoriya sighed, “Then I guess we’ll just have to go along with the plan and hope for the best.”

Aurdel spoke this time, “Sometimes all you need to have is a little bit of faith.”

“I prefer to back up my plans with bullets,” Issac said, raising his rifle.

“Yeah, well, beggars can’t be choosers.”

The cabin fell silent for a moment, then Midoriya asked a question. “Hey, Mr. Aurdel, how is it that you were able to make a prosthetic for Mirko so quickly?”

“Hmm? I always had a spare prosthetic leg in case my current one broke, I also had a bunch of spare parts from when I made the limbs for the dummies and the robot body.”

“Well yeah, but those would be your size. Wouldn’t you have to scale them down? It’s not like you and Mirko are the same size, and you said that you don’t have her measurements.”

“…I took them while I was preparing the new leg, then from there I adjusted the leg as needed.” He gripped the controls, Mirko smirked.

“Oh, is that what was happening in the medbay?” Issac said, a smirk on his face. “When I was walking by it sounded like something in there collapsed.”

“Alright, look. What happened in there stays in there, I don’t want any rumors spreading about-“

“Hahaha, you two totally fucking did it! And you even collapsed one of the tables!”

Aurdel looked over, his accent unintentionally slipping as a combination of embarrassment and frustration took over. “Listen here, that table was already structurally unsound and I ever had any time to fix it. The only reason it broke was because while I was working on-“

“Pahahahaha!” Mirko burst out laughing as he hastily tried to cover up what had happened.

“Oh come on, don’t you do this to me too.”

“Hey, it’s not often that I get something to tease you about.”

Midoriya blinked, “I, uh… I’m not sure if I’m following the conversation right. What happened?”

She leaned over, “We put a bun-”

“Rumi.”

“He went down the rabibit-”

“Please don’t start listing off a bunch of innuendos.”

The copy of him spoke up, “Look, either this conversation is dropped or I’m going to take the flight controls and turn this thing so quickly you all go into g-LOC.” The rowdiness quickly quieted down, and for a moment it seemed like no one would speak.

“…I don’t actually know what she was trying to imply,” Midoriya said, somewhat innocently.

“Let’s just put a pin in the conversation,” Aurdel said, “We’re about to land.”

Issac slid back on his body armor and picked up both the rifle and the rocket launcher, “No rest for the wicked.”

“At least not while still alive.” As the Longsword made its final approach towards the island it passed over the very visible front entrance, the squads of Humarise’s foot soldiers opening fire with small arms. Aurdel strafed them with the Longswords main gun, calculating around four to five dozen dead before setting the aircraft down.

“Alright, pull me.” He then pulled the data chip with his copy out of the console, slotting it into the back of his helmet. Doing so was a… unique experience. The feeling of someone so clearly entering your own head was strange, and it made him wonder how John had felt when Halsey gave him Cortana for that test. Not like he could ask him, though.

“How much time do we have left before the bombs go off?”

“Thirty six minutes and fifteen seconds from this exact moment, though I’d rather not test if they were honest about their five hour window. The access point for the transmitter is likely to be in the deepest section of the base.”

“Then what the hell are we standing around talking here for?!” Bakugo shouted, “Let’s move!”

“Right!” The Longsword’s ramp dropped down and the five of them rushed out, sprinting their way towards the entrance. He, Issac and Bakugo then opened fire as what looked like another fifty of Humarise’s soldiers charged out. It seemed less like a contingent of bodyguards and more like a small army’s worth of soldiers.

“Any small fry should just stand aside!” Bakugo chucked the bomblet dispenser towards the entrance, Aurdel touched the ground and raised it in anticipation of needing cover. But the explosions never came. “What the hell?”

“Don’t poke your head out!” Aurdel pulled Bakugo back as a pair of long tendrils covered with blades snaked their way across the side of the cover. As they retreated from the cover another pair of tendrils struck from above, slashing across Aurdel’s armored bracers before being dragged back and smashing through the cover.

“Who the hell are these guys?” Mirko asked. The source of the blade tendrils was eventually revealed, their owners being two male identical twins dressed in the same gray and red robes as the rest of Humarise’s foot soldiers. They stuck out their tongues in imitation of

“They’re a pair of two bit weirdos!” Issac leveled the rocket launcher and fired, the twins then let loose with their blades again. Striking the rockets out of the air, then staring with wild grins.

“We were the ones chosen to live in the next world.”

“We were the ones chosen to help guide the rest.”

“I’ll deal with them,” Bakugo said, “You all keep going.”

“Kacchan, is that-“

“It doesn’t matter if it’s a good idea, now go!” He blasted off towards the two Villains, the tendrils of blades chasing after him as he engaged them directly.

“Let’s move!” Aurdel pushed the others forward into the base’s entrance, using Overhaul to force their way through.

“…You know, by now I feel like the staff should be able to trust us enough to not saddle us with the problem children of Class 1-A.”

“Monoma, now isn’t the time to be arguing. Right now we need to focus on the crisis at hand.”

“Kirishima is right,” Mr. Aizawa fumbled through his pocket, making sure that he still had his bottle of eye drops with him. “Frankly, we’re lucky that any of you managed to still be here.”

“Then what exactly is going on?” Mineta asked.

“Overhaul has returned, and he’s going to make his move. His plan is to attack a bunch of prisons, then attack UA and steal back Eri.”

“Round two, huh…?”

“Sounds like Class 1-A really-”

“Monoma,” Aizawa raised his voice.

“Yes, sorry.”

“Do we know anything about who Overhaul has with him?” Honenuki asked, “Unless we get some information, it will be impossible to win.”

Another man walked up. “Overhaul only has Chrono and three of the Eight Bullets with him, the rest of his men are interspersed and heading to various prisons across the country.”

“And who is this supposed to be?” Kirishima asked.

Mr. Aizawa gestured towards the new man, “This is Daitaian, a former associate of the Shie Hassaikai who brought the knowledge to us of what was about to happen. I ask that you try to work with him, even if he has caused our class some trouble.”

“Caused our class some trouble…? Then…” He pointed at Daitaian, “Then you’re the one that was on the plane! You’re the one that gassed Uraraka and Asui.”

“Bringing harm to your classmates was never my intention, what happened was… No, forget it. It’s a moot point. My explanation won’t suffice, and there are more important things that need to be accomplished.” Kirishima balled his fist.

“He’s right,” Aizawa said, “With all the other Heroes deployed to stop members of Humarise and find the bombs they brought into the country, you’re the only ones that can respond to this threat. We don’t have any other alternatives.”

“Then do we at least have a plan?”

“Indeed there is one, and I shall be the one to help you take you where this battle will take place.” Another man walked up accompanied by a short woman with red hair.

“Wait, what’s that supposed to mean?”

Aizawa said, “Gentle will be providing us with our means of transport.”

“My elasticity quirk allows me to make bounceable surfaces even in the air. However, I insist that as we move you follow the exact same path that I do. Otherwise you may find yourself… Splattered on the ground?”

“Isn't there any safer means of transport?” Mineta asked.

“Unfortunately, no. Driving in a car to meet them is impossible, the roads are still filled with debris and impassable by almost any vehicle. The only other option would be traveling on foot, which is too slow.”

“We’re really scraping by…”

“All of you have a purpose in this fight. Honenuki, you have one of the more important roles in softening the ground under Overhaul. He needs to touch something solid for his quirk to work, and you’ll be able to deny him that.”

“Taking on the boss, huh…? Doesn’t sound like I have much of a choice.”

“Kirishima, it will be up to you to deal the most damage to the other Yakuza members that Overhaul brought with him. I will try to help you, but that can only happen once Overhaul has been dealt with and detained.”

“It’s been a while since we’ve fought anyone, but you can count on me!”

“Monoma, you’ll take copies of Honenuki’s Softening quirk, Kirishima’s Hardening quirk and my Erasure quirk. It’ll be your job to capture the less powerful Yakuza members, then once you’ve accomplished that you’ll serve as backup in case any of us fail in our roles.”

“A shame that I don’t get to play the main stage.”

“What about me?” Mineta asked.

“You’ll support Kirishima in taking down the other Yakuza members, but you’re also important in restraining each of them. We don’t have the police with us, nor the equipment they use to capture Villains with quirks as strong as these.”

“I shall also support you in this fight,” Gentle said, “Though I must say, my capabilities certainly are not at the same level as all of yours.”

“Then it sounds like we have a plan!” Kirishima said, hardening his fists. “Let’s do this, and lock these creeps up once and for all!”

Aurdel and the others sprinted down the hallways of the facility, Issac providing covering fire as they turned corner after corner. “We’ve got more coming from behind!”

“I see them!” Aurdel threw up a barrier and Issac took up a position at its side, ripping through another squad of Humarise soldiers “Damnit, there’s just so god damned many of them. And they’re almost all hitting us from behind.”

Aurdel peeked around the other side, firing with his own rifle. “If they’re only attacking us from behind, then that might mean there’s not much room between us and the transmitter. There won’t be any more troops either, so they’re trying their hardest to stall us for time.”

“Time isn’t something we have to spare right now…” He pulled back into cover, “I’ll stall them, you keep moving.”

“You can’t be serious. There’s dozens of them, and you won’t have any backup.”

“If making my last stand here is what it takes to make sure that at least one of you gets to the transmitter, then I’m ready to make my peace.”

Aurdel hesitated for a moment, then he heaved his rifle and ammo into Issac’s hands. “We’re counting on you.”

“Godspeed.” They then turned and began sprinting again in the direction of where the transmitter would likely be. He could hear Issac shouting at the top of his lungs, his voice becoming more distant the further they went. “Come on you fucking wankers, I’ve got your salvation for you right here!”

Then practically minutes passed by as they continued running, racing down empty corridors and heading down long sets of stairs. They had to be getting-

“Rumi!” He shouted as a Villain suddenly burst through the wall, tackling Mirko through the floor and sending the two crashing down onto one of the lower levels. He stopped for a moment to look through, watching her quickly break out of the hold with a kick to the Villain’s face.

“I’ve got this, go!”

One by one, they were getting separated. But they didn’t have a choice. If they stopped and all got held up in one fight, it meant they would have less time to reach the transmitter. And if they didn’t get to the transmitter there would be a lot more deaths than just five people. So no matter how much hesitation he held… he knew he had to go.

“Smash!” Upon making it to the end of the corridor, Midoriya kicked down the large set of wooden doors that blocked their way. Upon doing so they found themselves inside of what looked like a large library hall, one radiated with gold light and walls that were totally covered in a huge variety of books. Many of them were political texts, others were scientific journals and historical studies. But the most prominent item was the statue in the center of the room, consisting of a baby laying in a cradle at the top of a column. The baby was glowing.

“Get out. This is a sacred place, one that should not be tread upon by the afflicted race.”

Stage of the Apocalypse

“Afflicted race…” Aurdel muttered to himself in disgust. As Midoriya tried to take a step forward Aurdel pulled him back, the boy not having noticed many turrets bolted to the ceiling and walls. “Your plan to ‘save humanity’ is completely insane, nothing can ever be accomplished by genocide.”

Flect-turn took a step down the stairs. “You know Spartan, when I had first heard of your appearance in this world I thought that it was a sign. A blessing from above for our cause. I thought that you of all people, who should have been unafflicted by this curse, would know the threat that it poses. But in the end you turned out to be just like the rest of them.”

He curled up his fist, “The fact that you won’t even acknowledge the ramifications of your actions is proof enough that your ideology doesn’t deserve to see the light of day!”

“Come then, let me show you the inevitable fate that the birth of quirks has heralded in.” Aurdel and Midoriya launched forward and attacked.

“Smash!” Midoriya went in with a kick, Aurdel tried to get his hands on him so he could use Overhaul to instantly take him apart. But both of them were repelled and sent flying back. “It’s just like his name implies… Anything we throw against him will be reflected straight towards us.” If that were true… Then there would be no way to truly beat him in a fight. At least not a normal one.

“Yes, this is the power that I was cursed with. The one that made me realize my hatred for quirks,” he looked towards his own hands, “So long as I keep anyone else from experiencing this fate, I will take as many lives as I see fit.”

“How can we beat him if we can’t hit him?!”

“We can’t, but that’s not what we’re here to do,” Aurdel yanked the data chip out the back of his helmet, then put it into Midoriya’s hands. “Find the transmitter and disable the bombs, that’s all that matters.”

“Do not think that just because I offered you all the chance to stop us, I will let you do as you please!” The turrets suddenly shifted their aim and opened fire.

“Go!” Aurdel picked up Midoriya and chucked him across the room, throwing him through the set of doors on the opposite side of the room that went under the balcony on the upper level of the sanctum.

“Mr. Aurdel!”

“Filth, you’ll pay for your treachery!” Blast doors dropped down from above and covered each of the walls with several inches thick of steel, only having a number of openings in order to allow the many turrets to fire on him. Flect-turn walked back up onto the balcony and peered over, “After years of being smothered in the ideology of those who would destroy us, the world will finally be forced to face reality!” Aurdel hopped back and forth as the two dozen laser turrets fired at him from every single angle, weaving through the patterns to avoid being hit. Under normal circumstances he would have been more than willing to take a few hits, but because of his wings he was totally unable to use his armor's shields. Not having access to them was a big hit in any battle of endurance. Aurdel’s hands touched the floor for a moment and he formed a number of spikes to try and target the turrets, but even before they could get off the ground they were fired at and destroyed.. “Do you know why I’m doing all of this? It’s because quirks are a curse, one that was forced upon humanity and readily accepted because of the ideas of ‘tolerance.’ But tolerance has its limits, and now the quirkless, the pure, are being threatened by those that have quirks. Indirectly or directly. But that’s not all. Even those with quirks face problems because of the abilities they possess, I am one such example.”

Aurdel knew it was a bunch of ideological drivel, something he shouldn’t engage in. But he did. “So what, you had some trouble as a kid and now because of that you’ve decided to kill billions of people?”

“Some trouble?” Flect-turn raised an eyebrow, completely caught off guard by the remark. “My quirk reflects everything it comes into contact with, and it can never be turned off. Because of that I was denied everything. My parents could not hold me, those who I thought my friends would turn their backs on me and those that I tried to pour out my heart to would reject me. Because of my condition death was not a path out either, that is why I came to reject myself and this affliction that ravages me.”

“Then you’re even more pathetic than I first thought.”

“What?” That remark seemed to be even more surprising than the previous one, so much so that Flect-turn lost his focus for a moment. It allowed Aurdel the chance to run his hand across the floor once more and form a bunch of spikes to be thrown at the man. Only one would actually come close, but as soon as it looked like it was about to impale Flect-turn it was reflected and sent flying back. The turrets kept firing.

“You’re telling me that this is all because you couldn’t control your quirk? You really think I’m going to believe that bullcrap?”

“How dare-“

“Have a reality check. If you had absolutely no control over what your quirk reflected, then you wouldn’t be alive. No clothing, no air, no food. And you really expect me to believe that you haven’t made any progress with controlling your quirk? You have, it’s just that you self-pitied yourself so much that you put that effort towards using it offensively rather than as a normal person.”

“Shut up,” he could see Flect-turn’s expression visibly change

“I think even less of you personally, because you don’t seem to even see the massive gaping flaws in your plan to put an end to quirks.”

“There are no flaws in this plan. When the-“

He kicked up from the ground using his wings, then flew around closer to the walls to try and get the turrets to fire at each other. It didn’t work. “Your plan assumes that the gas will have a one hundred percent success rate, but that doesn’t account for natural immunity. You could easily have several million people with quirks survive. Even more absent-mindedlyyour plan doesn’t account for the quirkless.”

“The quirkless shall be saved!” The cult leader was becoming increasingly angry with him.

“Yeah, they’ll be ‘saved’ for one or two generations and then quirks will emerge again. Your gas kills people that have quirks, it doesn’t actually account for whether or not the quirkless person has any familial precedence for quirks or any future genetic potential for an emerging quirk. That’s not even considering the possibility that exposure of the gas to some who is either of those cases could lead to the awakening of a quirk, without also killing them in the process. Hell, this doesn’t even account for the fact you don’t have enough bombs to saturate the entire globe. Even if you do set them off, the rest of the world will hunt and put you down like a bunch of rabid dogs.”

“Shut up!

“In the end you’re just a genocidal maniac with a messianic complex and a curtain of victimhood to hide behind when the validity of your ideas are challenged. You’re one big failure!”

“SHUT UP!” That seemed to be enough to push Flect-turn over the edge, and the turret stopped firing for a moment. That was enough of an opportunity for him to fly up to one of the blast doors and use Overhaul to shred through it and a number of other walls. At the same time he used the debris that he was now screwing to launch a number of spikes. Six turrets were destroyed.. “You and that boy will not stop our salvation!” The remaining turrets all then fired simultaneously, this time aiming for Flect-Turn and the exoskeleton that he wore. The lasers were then all refracted by the mirrors on the exoskeleton and fired back at him in order to form one large beam that chased him around the room.

“It’s a good thing you’re not very smart.” Aurdel allowed the laser to chase him as he flew around the room, cutting through the supporting walls that held up the sanctum. At the same time, because the turrets were no longer targeting him directly he was able to get his attacks in. He dragged his hand along the walls, using Overhaul to create a series of spikes that flew all over the room and destroyed the laser turret. One by one they all went offline, the beam chasing him fading and eventually ceasing to exist. Soon enough Aurdel and Flect-turn were the only things left in the room. However the supports that held up the room and kept out the rock and dirt had all effectively been destroyed, meaning that with one more push the mountain would effectively collapse in on them.

Flect-turn had no means of defeating him, and Aurdel had no traditional way of defeating him either. But both of them knew that the other wouldn’t surrender. “I want you to answer this question for me, Spartan. If you were to have everything taken from you, all because of something you did not choose to be, would you lash out? Would you kill for that?”

“Yeah, I already have.” Aurdel touched the flimsy walls, breaking them down and destroying what was left supporting the ceiling above their heads. Then, the mountain came collapsing in.

“Alright everyone, just remember the plan,” Kirishima said, crouched down. “Honenuki, you’re going to go with Mr. Aizawa and disable or capture Overhaul since he’s the biggest threat. Mineta, you’re going to help me capture Rappa and Tengai. Use your balls to cover his shield the moment that Tengai puts it up. Monoma, you’re going to attack and capture Chrono and Nemoto.”

“Two against one, only someone like me could accomplish such a feat.”

“They’re not as powerful as the others, but that’s no reason to underestimate them. Just that make sure that you defeat them as quickly as possible.”

“Yes, I’ll play my part.”

“Alright, now we just need to wait for Overhaul and his men to show up.”

“Quiet, they’re coming into the street now,” Mr. Aizawa hushed him.

Kirishima peaked through a crack in the chunk of a wall he was hiding behind. By the looks of things it appeared that they’d already gotten into a fight, as Rappa’s knuckles were covered in blood. Daitaian walked out into the street, “Boss, you’re here later than the time we had set. Did something get in the way?”

“A few wanna-be Heroes got in our way, Rappa had to make short work of them.” Kirishima grit his teeth, hopefully they hadn’t run into anyone they knew. “What’s the state of the route I told you to check out?”

“Impassable, this one turned out to be a real crap feat. If we take this route we’re going to manage to run into every single top Hero left. I’d say that if we divert two blocks and-“

“The remaining Heroes that are still around are weak compared to the ones that hold the absolute top positions. We’ll sweep them aside.”

“Are you sure? I understand that you want to test yourself against them but-“

Overhaul suddenly raised his hand, making his underlings suddenly halt. “In the past you never carried a piece with you, you always did your job with a knife.”

“Shit.” Their cover blown, Daitaian drew his gun and opened fire on Overhaul at near point blank range. Nemoto jumped in front of the Yakuza boss and took the bullets.

“Take them out!” Mr. Aizawa shouted, erasing Overhaul’s quirk. They then all charged out to fight the Yakuza, the only exception being Gentle who began launching chunks of debris at their opponents from his vantage point.

“Kill them all, don’t let them stop my plans!”

“You won’t get the chance!” Kirishima beelined it towards Rappa, “Rappa, it’s time for that rematch!”

“Kid, you don’t know how long I’ve been waiting for this!” Rappa shouted,”Tengai, take down your barrier!”

“Not this time. Those rocks are still coming down, and the last time you fought this kid you lost. I’m not going to fail the boss a second-!”

“Take down the barrier or I’ll take it down myself by beating you!”

Tengai didn’t reply for a moment. “Fine, go nuts.” He then covered himself in a smaller barrier, allowing the one that enclosed Rappa to disappear.

“Alright kid, let’s see your blood!”

“Come on!” Kirishima changed into his unbreakable form and charged forward, Rappa meeting his challenge.

“Don’t think this will be easy, unlike last time I had some time to warm up!” Rappa was the first one to get any punches in, hitting Kirishima with a tidal wave barrage of punches. Just like the fight at the hideout it was nearly unbearable and already cracking his skin, but this time around he knew how to put pressure on Rappa. His barrage could only last for a few seconds due to the strain being put on his shoulders, anything longer would risk him some serious strain.

“And I won’t go easy either!” After seven seconds the barrage of punches slowed down and Kirishima was able to get his own blows in, Rappa bracing himself as he put all his might into his blows. And though his blows might not have the same volume, speed or power as Rappa’s, his smaller size and greater precision gave him an advantage that allowed him to strike more efficient body blows. That meant weaving between and around Rappa’s arms, going for soft organs like the kidney and liver just like Mr. Aurdel had taught them to. And with just a few blows that was enough to start seeing results.

“Rappa, stop playing around. Kill him!”

“Shut up, I ain’t playing around!” Rappa attacked again before Kirishima was completely ready, meaning that when the barrage began again his defenses weren’t completely up. As a result he took a few heavy swings to the skull before he finally managed to get up his arms and start absorbing the hits. He spit out a few teeth that were knocked loose.

“I won’t reach my limit, not this time!” By now the skin of his arms has been completely stripped away, just like the previous time they’d fought. And just like that other time that wasn’t enough to stop him. Kirishima hardened his flesh even further as he started his counterattack, beginning before Rappa had even finished his own. The two met each other blow for blow, gusts of wind blowing outward from the compression of the air between both their fists.

Another barrage of debris came raining from above, Tengai expanded his barrier to again cover Rappa. “I told you not to intervene!”

“I’m not intervening in the fight, just against this attempt at taking you out from a distance. If one of those chunks of concrete were to strike you on the head and took you out there wouldn’t be a fight to be had.”

“Just shut up and let me do this!” The barrier went down and Rappa’s barrage began again. Kirishima could feel the flesh and blood start to be crack and be stripped away from his arm, layer after layer being removed from the force fo each impact. Soon enough there would be nothing left of his arm. He needed to end this fight, now.

“Kirishima, hurry up and this guy!” Mineta shouted.

“You’ll fall by my fist!” Most of the flesh was stripped from his hands and arms, so he hardened one of the only things he had left. Bone.

“THEN SHOW ME THAT FUTURE, KID!” Rappa shouted with enthusiasm as both of their barrages opened up against each other. But neither of them defended themselves. Instead, they took each blow as they attacked the other. Rappa used the metal plates strapped to the top of his fists, Kirishima used the sharp and jagged bones of his knuckles.

“RAAAAAAH!” He shouted as he felt every blow get past his hardening, causing just as much damage as it would have done if he wasn’t hardened. But he fought through it. With his penultimate blow the bones of his left arm shattered, the end falling off to make what was like a sharpened spear. He then gave one blast blow to Rappa’s liver, punching the spot and damaging the organ. Dumping the toxins into his body. The two of them then stumbled back.

“I told you that you should let me use my barrier!”

“Shut up!” Rappa raised his fist to fight again, but he looked like he was on the verge of passing out. The pain overwhelmed his senses.

“Grape Cage!” With Rappa no longer to fight Mineta popped out from the side, throwing massive chains of the balls plucked from his head and completely ensnaring the barrier with an impassable cage that neither of the Yakuza would be able to break out of.

“Got you…” Kirishima spoke the words while out of breath, then collapsed onto the ground.

“Delaware Smash!” Midoriya fired blasts at the turrets that lined the descending hallway, having practically flung himself down the stairs at one hundred percent in order to reach the transmitter as quickly as possible. “Will you really be alright fighting Flect-turn by yourself?”

“We’ve been through much worse battles than this, one man with a particularly stubborn quirk won’t be beyond our capability.” Midoriya had slotted the data chip into a part in the back of the helmet Mr. Aurdel had given him, a last minute modification he’d made while on the ship. He was speaking to him through the comm unit.

“How much worse?”

“Before we came to this Earth, the last battle we fought was for an important planet called Reach. It was one of the last major military strongholds humanity had against the Covenant. We lost. Hundreds of millions of people died, and we were only one of a handful of survivors. One of very few of my comrades. The only reason we were able to survive was because we ran and his inside of a collapsed titanium below the surface, meaning that we would be safe from orbital bombardment.”

“That’s…”

“A lot? Yeah, I’m aware. Though while I’m sure that body will be able to survive this battle, I don’t know how much longer he’ll be able to go on like this.”

“He…? What do you mean?”

“When us Spartans were augmented, part of the procedure used a number of chemicals to augment our body and many of our organs. One of those organs affected is the adrenal gland.”

“The one that produces adrenaline right?

“Among other hormones, yes. The primary purpose of those chemical alterations was to reduce or increase the production of certain hormones, that way when they were needed, primarily during combat, they could be easily dumped into the body and achieve the desired effect. The problem is that not everything went as planned for us.”

“I don’t follow.”

“I- We… went through augmentations twice. The first time it was an outright failure, it was the reason we lost my right leg. But one of the other side effects was the damage done to our adrenal gland, causing hormonal balances. At the time it wasn’t too big of an issue, every year I would just have to go to the doctors for a check up and receive an injection to fix things if needed.”

“And the second time?”

“A success, but it worsened the damage done to my adrenal gland. They tried to transplant a new one into our body a number of times, but every time our body would reject it and effectively kill it. Thus the hormonal imbalance got worse and worse, something that wasn’t helped by an overactive atypical prefrontal and insular cortex.”

“By what?” Midoriya looked ahead and ducked, narrowly avoiding his head being taken off by one of the turrets. He then flicked his fingers against, firing blasts and destroying the turrets.

“The prefrontal cortex is the part of the brain that’s associated with personality, decision making and ideas of good and bad. The insular cortex plays a role in homeostasis and motor control, but more importantly it plays a part in regulating a sense of self and emotions such as empathy. That last part is especially important.”

“Why?”

“In effect, depending on the situation, it means that we would either become underempathetic or overempathetic. In the majority of cases it was the latter. That meant that any time we experienced even small events that are normally just somewhat disheartening, we could only process them as major. And when actual major tragedies occurred… Well, we took it much harder than most others did. And without the proper hormonal balance simple coping techniques weren’t nearly as effective. Combine that with years of battlefield stress and our past, and you end up with an incredibly unhealthy body and mind. I didn’t know the complete ramifications of how it affected my ability to think until I was separated from the problems.”

“Why do you keep saying ‘our’ or ‘we’ instead of ‘my’ or ‘I’? Aren’t you the same person?”

“In simple terms, yes. We are the same person. However if you look at it from a practical or psychological point of view it gets much more complicated. To put it in the easiest to understand way I can: Yes I am him, but I am a dissociated copy. We possess the same beliefs, memories and personality from before we were split, however I was not subject to the events that he experienced afterwards nor am I subject to the same biological problems that he faces. Theoretically you could say I’m a more rational and less emotional version of myself.

“It happened because of that thing in the back of your head, right? What if you were to-“

“Right now we don’t have the time to play brain surgeon, we need to focus on the mission at hand.”

Midoriya grit his teeth, “Right.” He looked a little further down the hall, seeing another pair of doors. They’d finally almost reached the end. “Smash!” Midoriya kicked down the doors and burst into the room. “This is…”

Inside the room were hundreds of server racks, all likely part of some network that Humarise used to keep data and contact members around the globe. In the center of the room he saw a single large computer surrounded by four glowing purple pillars, ones likely connected to it. Above the computer he could see wires stretching up towards what appeared to be the base of a tower extending up through the base of the mountain. “We have less than fifteen minutes before the bombs go off. Plug me in and I’ll take them offline for good.” Midoriya pulled the chip out of his helmet, then walked over to the computer and inserted it into one of the slots. Within a matter of seconds he could see work begin to be done, as the many stacks of server racks suddenly began to shut off.

“Did it work?”

“Yes, it worked,” he responded over an intercom in the room, “There were only ever fifty bombs, not nearly enough to accomplish what they stated would happen. Now that they’re disarmed I’m going to send their locations to people in their respective countries, that way they can be disposed of and-“

He was suddenly cut off as everything in the room shut off, “Mr. Aurdel!” He quickly retrieved a flashlight and walked over to the computer, pulling the chip back out and inserting it into his helmet.”

“-an EMP, but who? Humarise doesn’t have the capability to produce one.”

“Mr. Aurdel, what’s going on?”

“Someone just set off an EMP, a big one. Radius of at least one hundred miles with us near the epicenter.”

“But who did it?”

“That’s what I’m trying to figure out! Normally the only times you see EMPs this large are from nuclear detonations, but if we were nukes we would have felt the blast. The only possibility is…” He stopped.

“Is what?”

“No- No, that moron!”

“What are you talking about?!”

“That fighter from China, the one with the Scalar weapon. He followed us all the way here and he used it! We need to get to the surface right now!”

“You’re not making any sense! What’s going on?”

“Because I don’t have nearly enough time to explain! In less than ten minutes we are going to start seeing massive earthquakes and large ruptures in tectonics plates, everything below sea level will practically be wiped out. We need to move, NOW!”

Re-Destro sat with all of his lieutenants, busy organizing the continued relief efforts during all of this mess. With all of the Heroes, police and much of the military having gone to find the bombs the Meta Liberation Army was relied upon for delivering supplies and pulling security in some locations. “We’ve received confirmation about the bombs, the threat that Humarise poses is over,” Skeptic said, hunched over his laptop.

“Good, that’s good,” he wiped the sweat off of his forehead with his sleeve. “I suppose we should have not doubted Spartan, he would not have allowed such a catastrophe to occur.”

Skeptic looked up, “Then that leaves us only one question.”

“Yes… What is to happen now?” He began to pace around, idly noticing as Nine seemingly stared off into space. “The war against China is over, their soldiers still in the country having laid down arms. And with Humarise dealt with, the only major threat left is gone. I suppose that only leaves us to begin the process of rebuilding.”

“Do you really think that he will give us what we want?”

“I don’t think I can give you a guarantee, but I also don’t see any reason as to why he might suddenly go back on his word. He’s not exactly one to do such a thing, nor is there really institution left in the country to avoid his will”

“There are still a number of active Heroes, there are likely a number of them that don’t support the changes he intends to make.”

“They’ve followed his orders obediently up to this point, and with such a small force there’s no way that they could supplant his power by themselves.” He looked over to Nine, “Of course, we must take everyone’s opinion into account. Nine?”

“...I wondered what this body was up to.”

He raised an eyebrow, “I beg your pardon?”

“Because I gave him my power, I always had a slight inkling as to what he was doing. But it was always such a foggy view. But now… I see!” He laughed, something that made him uneasy. Geten quickly stood up and began to shield Re-Destro with his body, the others in the room doing the same in order to prepare for a fight that they thought might come. “Gaining the trust of the only group that could field the manpower needed to oppose me. That way, it could all be taken out at the same time...”

They realized who this was. “All For One!”

Before they could respond, All For One, in Nine’s body, had already attacked. From his back four dragon-like heads burst their way out and cut through the room, Curious, Trumpet and Skeptic all being suddenly caught within their jaws and crushed between them. The fourth came from Re-Destro, just narrowly avoiding the same fate as Geten shoved him out of the way and used his ice to hold it back. But within the next few seconds lasers fired out from Nine’s fingertips, mercilessly gunned down the protege he’s spent so much time grooming and training. “It’s a shame Nine’s allies weren’t here, perhaps I would have been able to capture them in a similar way. No matter. I’ll just have to find them by the time I reunite with my original body.”

Re-Destro began covering his body with his quirk, “Demons have no place among men-!”

“Then it’s a good thing that the only ones I’m surrounded with are dead men, isn’t it?” The four heads of the dragons each grabbed one of his arms and one of his legs, then crushed them between their jaws. He cried out in pain, limply being held up in the air. “After all, in Hell there are only but demons and dead men. And what better a place for the Demon King to rule?” He walked over, placing a few fingertips against Re-Destro’s head. “Now, let us add one more body to the pile.”