MY HERO ACADEMIA DOES NOT BELONG TO ME. BEN 10 DOES NOT BELONG TO ME. MY LATEST ATTEMPT TO GAIN SUPERPOWERS HAS RESULTED IN A VERY ANGRY RAT THAT I SHIPPED TO ONE OF YOU. I'M NOT TELLING YOU WHO.

We had one big fight last time, and now we have several more big fights!

My Alien Academia

Chapter 65

Multiple Fronts

"Answer me something," Ranger said, not taking his eyes off of Re-Destro. "How does the CEO of a hugely successful company become a common criminal?"

The criminal in question chuckled. "I was raised by the Meta Liberation Army to be the CEO of Detnerat, and Shigaraki proved to be a greater leader than I was. Wherever he leads, I will follow."

Cellophane scowled. "Got it, you were groomed for success, you found someone better than you, so you ditched the business world for killing innocent people. Man, you just suck."

"You haven't seen what I've seen," Re-Destro said, eyes bright with devotion. "The power of Shigaraki isn't something mere mortals like us can comprehend, let alone command. Submitting before him is the only path."

"Be careful," Ranger muttered to Cellophane. "He's a zealot. He won't go down easy."

"He will if I trip him up."

"You're angry," Ranger noted.

"He hurt my best friend's dad, you're damn right I'm angry."

Re-Destro grinned, and his body grew just a little larger, which Ranger noticed. "I've seen your file, and I know about your Quirk. For someone so confident, you seem to have a lot of stress."

"Considering everything happening today, and that I am serving a living god, I would say that my stress is entirely justified." Re-Destro cracked his knuckles. "You two, on the other hand, should be even more stressed, since you are about to die."

Ranger sighed. "Cellophane, stay at a distance, slow him down. I'll do the rest."

Rather than respond, Cellophane used a strand of tape to launch himself higher into the trees, while shooting more tape down at Re-Destro. Some of it bound his leg to the ground, and more tangled up his fingers. Cellophane's tape might have become much stronger over the last year, but Re-Destro was capable of shattering steel, and easily broke free of his bonds. He opened his mouth to taunt the Heroes, only for more tape to slap across his face, muzzling him.

"I'm getting real tired of hearing you talk, so why don't you shut up?" Cellophane tried to get some tape in Re-Destro's eyes, but the Villain turned to let it hit his shoulder instead.

The few seconds the distraction bought him was enough for Ranger to get in close. The Australian Hero's Quirk didn't give him any physical advantages, but he had trained hard to bring his body to the peak of human ability. That, combined with his Quirk, made him one of the most dangerous fighters in the world; simply called Highlight, it could guide him to the location of anyone he had already seen in person, but more importantly right now, it could point out their physical weaknesses, to guide him to the perfect strike. Fortunately for Ranger, while Re-Destro's Quirk gave him much greater mass and strength, he still had all the weaknesses of a human being. All Ranger had to do was hit hard enough, and that was something he was willing to do.

Re-Destro grunted in pain as Ranger struck him in the elbow, knee, groin and temple, all in quick succession. Ranger didn't have the raw strength of his opponent, but he was still strong enough to dent sheet metal without too much effort. After a few seconds of vicious blows, Re-Destro fell to one knee; he reached out to swat Ranger, but Cellophane snagged his hand in a strand of tape as he swung past. The momentum dragged Re-Destro off-balance, and he missed his target; instead, he pulled back with the arm covered in tape and yanked Cellophane back, and struck him with his injured arm.

Cellophane's helmet cracked as he was sent flying into a tree, and for a horrifying moment, Ranger thought he'd been killed, but the younger Hero managed a somewhat-graceful landing. By the time he got back into the air, Ranger was attacking again; this time, he drew a long knife and buried it in Re-Destro's bicep, all the way to the hilt. Before he could pull the blade back out, Re-Destro kicked him in the chest and sent him tumbling back.

"Are you okay?" Cellophane asked as he swung over; through the crack in his helmet, Ranger could see blood trickling down his face.

"I've had worse," Ranger said grimly, through the pain of an almost-broken rib. "Listen, I've got an idea. Keep taping up his legs; don't stop until he looks like he's coming out of a bloody cocoon. I'll do the rest."

Re-Destro had finally gotten enough time to peel the tape off his mouth, and roared as he charged. While in the middle of running, he wasn't steady, and when Cellophane taped up his ankles, he stumbled. It was only for a moment, but it unbalanced him, and Ranger took the opportunity to drive the heel of his palm into Re-Destro's chin with enough force to crack a few teeth. Re-Destro was knocked onto his back, and his legs kicked up, just long enough for Cellophane to tie those legs together with his thickest tape. Re-Destro tried to tear the tape away, but Cellophane taped one of his arms to the ground, and Ranger jumped onto the Villain's chest and began punching him in the face.

Cellophane knew he was in his element; he was humble enough to know that he wasn't built to take on powerful Villains like Re-Destro by himself. However, supporting another Hero was a different story. Every time Re-Destro started to fight back, Cellophane would tape him back down; after a couple of minutes, so many layers of tape might as well have been steel cable, and without leverage, Re-Destro couldn't free himself.

Eventually, panting and sweating heavily, Ranger drove one more punch into Re-Destro's nose. The ex-CEO's face was barely recognizable; his nose was broken, both eyes were swollen shut, and his jaw was shattered. Enough blood was dripping from his mouth that Cellophane wondered if he was even still alive, but the rise and fall of his chest told him he was.

"Please tell me he's done," Cellophane begged, his breath almost as ragged as Ranger's; using so much of his strongest tape had left him dehydrated and exhausted.

The Australian nodded wearily. "Yeah, he's done. Even if he wakes up, he's in no shape to fight."

"I'm not much better," Cellophane admitted, and removed his helmet to take a long drink from the canteen on his belt. He winced as the adrenaline faded, and he could feel the gash on his forehead. "Okay, that hurts."

Ranger took a look at the injury. "That's not the worst I've seen, but it's close to reaching your skull. You got really damn lucky."

"Great, another scar," Cellophane complained.

Ranger noticed the scar on his jaw. "How'd you get that one?"

"Bakugo, during the Sports Festival last year; I took an explosion to the face."

"Did that kid ever take a course on holding back?" Ranger asked. "People with powerful Quirks like his are required to take those lessons in Australia."

Cellophane shook his head. "Japan likes its Heroes to stand out, so that means we have to be as big and flashy as possible. Holding back means we don't get as noticed."

"No offense, kid, but your government has some fucked values when it comes to Heroes."

"Tell me about it; the government tried to hold another Top Ten event this year, but it got canceled after everyone, Heroes and civilians, started protesting."

"Yikes." Ranger waited until Cellophane took a deep breath. "Are you good? Got it all out of your system?"

Cellophane thought about it. "I'm not angry anymore, if that's what you mean. I'm still worried about everyone else, though."

"You and me both, kid; come on, let's see if we can find them."

…

Froppy groaned as she regained consciousness; the blow to her head had knocked her out, and her broken helmet had been the only thing to keep her skull from getting crushed.

Note to self, get a better helmet, she thought as she got to her feet and looked for Gentleman Jack.

Instead of seeing him, she heard him, or at least heard the sound of fighting not too far away; Kurogiri had dropped them all into a literal twisting maze of compacted metal and plastic. After she had been knocked out, Jack must have led Chimera away, to give her time to recover. Froppy was grateful, but she also wanted a little payback; she hopped onto the top of the closest wall, but immediately ducked when a beam of heat almost took her head off.

"I really don't like this guy, ribbit," Froppy muttered, and hopped to the source of the beam.

Jack was showing just why he'd been the United Kingdom's top Hero for so many years, because he was beating Chimera with the same nonchalance that Froppy would take during a walk in the rain. His Quirk, Double Reflect, allowed him to copy everything from a target—Quirks and talents alike—and used them at twice the effectiveness. Chimera was strong, but Jack was now twice as powerful; the only thing Jack hadn't copied was Chimera's physical appearance, but he was still able to beat him in pure strength. On top of that, because Jack could use his Quirk on more than one target at a time, he also had Froppy's powers, and was hopping around at a speed she couldn't hope to match.

"Your Quirk is fucking broken," Chimera grunted, and spat out blood.

"Would you be surprised that almost everyone I've ever fought has said that?"

Chimera hefted a piece of debris to use as a shield when Jack fired another beam from his mouth. Froppy saw the distraction as her chance to use more poison against Chimera; she could see discolored patches of skin under his fur, and he was moving slower than before, so she knew it was working. She secreted more poison and coated it over her tongue, then waited for the perfect opportunity; her moment came when Jack kicked Chimera's makeshift shield out of his hands, and drove him back with a one-two punch that briefly winded him.

Froppy's tongue lashed out, but Chimera whirled and ducked an instant before it touched him. With Jack so close, Chimera couldn't risk simply charging after Froppy, so he fired a weak beam at her instead. Froppy jumped to the side, but she winced as the beam glanced her shoulder; part of her costume burned away, and the skin underneath was seared and blistered.

"Froppy, go high!"

Instinctively reacting to Jack's order, Froppy jumped as high as she could. Jack then kicked Chimera in the side; the raw strength of the boosted Frog Quirk sent Chimera flying through a wall with the force of a cannon. Froppy saw that Jack had ordered her to jump because he hadn't had time to hit Chimera at a different angle; if she hadn't moved, Chimera would have collided with her, and likely killed her on impact.

He saved me, and still took down Chimera, Froppy thought with some wonder as she landed by Jack.

"Thanks, ribbit."

Jack waved off her words. "Think nothing of it; besides, your poison has slowed him down enough to make this a great deal easier."

Froppy was happy with the praise, but a thought occurred to her. "Wait, couldn't you have poisoned him? You have my Quirk, and it's twice as strong, ribbit."

"My Quirk doesn't always completely work when copying Mutant-types," Jack admitted. "I don't get anything that's too foreign for my body to handle. That means no poison or long tongue, and that's why I don't look like Chimera; actually, all I got was boosted strength, senses, and his heat-beam."

"Good to know," Chimera grunted as he pulled himself free of the wall. "Now I know what you can do right now."

"You are persistent, and I do not like that." Jack adjusted his cufflinks. "The last fellow who was this persistent is still in the hospital, and I put him there."

Chimera sneered. "That Midoriya kid hit harder than you."

For an instant, Froppy saw red. She remembered that Chimera had been half of the duo that had fought Midoriya before he was kidnapped by the League. Most of the injuries Midoriya had suffered had come from that fight. More importantly, she had been the one to stop her friends from trying to save Midoriya from the League of Villains; even though she knew stopping them was the right thing to do, a small part of her still felt guilty. This was her chance to clear that ledger, even if it was only to herself.

Froppy was moving before she realized what she was doing. Rage fueled her, and she moved at a speed she never thought she was capable of, ducking under Chimera's swinging arm and kicking his knee with enough force to crack bone. Chimera's tail swatted her aside, but she rolled with the blow, then wrapped her tongue around his other leg to swing herself up onto his shoulder. There was an opening for Jack, who blasted Chimera in the chest with another beam of heat, charring fur and flesh alike.

The heat from the blast instantly dried out Froppy's skin, making her burns even worse, but she didn't let that stop her. She kicked at Chimera's head with all the force she could muster; there was a simultaneous crack as both Chimera's skull and Froppy's leg fractured. Both of them tumbled to the ground, but only Froppy managed to drag herself into a sitting position; blood trickled from Chimera's nose and mouth, and only the slight rise and fall of his chest proved that Froppy hadn't killed him.

"Tell me it's over," Froppy hissed as she clutched her broken leg.

Jack checked the fallen Villain. "Nobody walks off a concussion like this one. I'll be surprised if he doesn't have brain damage."

Froppy's wince had nothing to do with the pain she was in. "I just wanted him to stop."

To her surprise, Jack chuckled. "With all the healing Quirks out there, brain damage isn't as bad as it used to be. I'm sure he'll be able to attend his own trial. Besides, if you didn't take him down, I would have, but my method would have been much more permanent."

"I'm not used to Heroes being so willing to kill," Froppy said uneasily.

Jack began using debris and some torn pieces of Chimera's pants to make a splint. "That's the thing about Number One Heroes. Essentially, our roles boil down to three jobs: either we make a show of taking down lesser threats or saving lives, to keep spirits up, or we are sent in against the kinds of threats that can kill millions of people. If your HPSC hadn't been so hell-bent on keeping up appearances, we would have known about All For One, and helped All Might put that monster down. This time, we're here to deal with a much greater threat—one that we cannot handle gently."

Froppy was reminded of the USJ attack, and upon seeing several dead Villains, Midoriya had mentioned that Underground Heroes like Eraserhead sometimes had to kill. Maybe he had never considered top Heroes might also have to cross that line; Heroes like Gentleman Jack were the strongest protectors of their countries, and if they had to save that many lives, killing one Villain might be a price worth paying.

Or maybe Midoriya hadn't known about that fact, or even considered it a possibility; he had still been in his All Might-worshiping phase, and his rose-tinted goggles had been pretty thick then.

Thinking about Midoriya reminded her that her friend was somewhere in this underground hell that Shigaraki had made, and there was every possibility that he was separated from everyone else. She was also reminded that he was hardly in the best condition, and any support might very well save his life. Froppy tried to stand, only to whimper in pain and fall back down.

"Don't move," Jack said sternly, but kindly, as he began splinting her leg. "You're in no condition to fight."

"My friends need help," Froppy protested. She knew he was right, though—her broken leg and the burn on her shoulder were bad enough, but the heat from the end of the fight had seriously dried her out. She was lucky to still be conscious.

Jack surprised her by gently picking her up, bridal-style, hopping onto the top of the maze. "You're right that your friends should get help, but you are in no shape to give that to them. I'll find somewhere safe to put you, and then I will help them. You have my word."

The calm strength in his words easily settled Froppy's nerves; his voice carried the same kind of charisma that All Might had—before she had lost faith in him, anyway—but without the bombastic enthusiasm. Or the volume, for that matter.

"Thank you, ribbit," she said quietly, as the last of her adrenaline began to fade. "Not just for this, but for helping Izuku."

Jack chuckled. "What kind of Hero doesn't help someone in need?"

"All Might, for the last year."

"Ah, but he's no longer insane, is he?"

Before Froppy could retort, the ceiling above them suddenly cracked, and then shattered. Gigantomachia let out a deafening roar as he plummeted down towards them, his massive talons outstretched. Around him, chunks of dirt, stone, and shattered trees rained down, along with what was left of the ceiling.

As the enormous monster came closer, Froppy saw Monkey King clutching onto his spiky hair, doggedly jamming his staff into Gigantomachia's eye. However, her attention was drawn to Alien Queen, who wasn't too far away from the Chinese Hero.

When she saw what happened next, all she could do was scream.

…

Five Minutes Ago

Alien Queen had thought she knew true fear when she saw what Shigaraki had done in Jaku. But as she and Monkey King ran for their lives, she realized that there was more than one kind of fear. The fear caused by Shigaraki was that born of despair and hopelessness, but it could be overcome by hope and rationality. This, however, was very different; the fear of Gigantomachia was that of prey fleeing a much stronger predator. It was primal, and it was overwhelming.

"Turn left!" Monkey King shouted. "On my mark, get ready to grab onto something!"

Before she could ask what she was supposed to grab onto, Monkey King put one end of his staff against her foot, just as she raised it to take another step, and launched her into the air. There were no branches for her to arrest her sudden flight.

"Reach out!"

With no choice but to trust him, Alien Queen stretched out her arms; a moment later, Gigantomachia's enormous head filled her vision. More specifically, it was his ear, which she managed to grab the edge of; she swung around and tucked herself behind his ear, and immediately started pouring acid onto the side of his head.

Monkey King had swung on top of Gigantomachia, and was slamming his staff into the monster's craggy hide. His Quirk shifted probability in a way that he was able to find cracks in his target, striking soft flesh underneath. However, his Quirk wasn't infallible, and it didn't directly affect other people if they weren't interacting with him. That meant that when he saw Gigantomachia's hand come up, all he could do was try to shout a warning.

He was too late.

Alien Queen screamed in pain as Gigantomachia swatted her into the air, just as he turned his head. She tumbled, helpless, as enormous jaws opened, and then bit down; a tooth as long as her arm pierced her stomach, and another impaled her back. She could feel her spine and ribs crack, then break, before the agony hit her, and she tried to scream, but her lungs were already starting to collapse from the pressure of Gigantomachia's jaws.

Some small, rational part of her knew that she was dead, that her remaining life was measured in seconds. Anything she did now would just be an act of defiance, a futile gesture in the face of certain death.

But I don't want to die.

That simple thought pierced through the haze of pain. She could only move one arm, and it took an inhuman effort to use her Quirk, but acid flowed out from her skin, and she punched the tooth in front of her.

Instead of an arm coated in acid, an arm made of acid melted clean through Gigantomachia's tooth as easily as hot water melted ice. The shock and pain were gone, almost as if she had never been hurt at all. Alien Queen tried to blink in surprise, but she no longer had eyelids. She wanted to say something, but she no longer had a mouth. In fact, she didn't have a solid body at all; her entire body had become living acid, kept in a silhouette of what she used to look like.

Her desire to live, and the physical stress she had been under, had triggered a Quirk Awakening.

With a liquid body, Alien Queen oozed out of the gaps created by Gigantomachia's melting teeth, leaving behind her shredded and bloody clothes, and fell to the ground. She splattered into a puddle, and then quickly reformed into a humanoid shape. It took her a moment to take in her surroundings; apparently, they had landed by the time she had transformed.

She wanted to figure out just what had happened, but Gigantomachia's roar reminded her that there was still a fight to be had. She did, however, note that she no longer 'heard' in the traditional sense, since she no longer had ears. Instead, she felt the vibrations from the sound, and that somehow translated into something she could hear through however her brain worked now.

She held out one hand to spray Gigantomachia with acid; what should have been a stream became a torrent that melted the thick hide on the monster's arm. It would have melted the limb off entirely, but before it could spread too far, Gigantomachia scraped off the melting flesh with a flick of his claws. The acid that hadn't hit him landed on the ground with a hiss, but it flowed back to Alien Queen; as it reached her, she felt herself growing larger. She was generating the acid, but now she could control it, adding that volume to her own.

Thinking quickly, Alien Queen dumped a huge amount of acid around her, and absorbed it just as quickly. In seconds, she grew to the size of her opponent, a titan of living acid. Recognizing the threat she posed, Gigantomachia lashed out with his uninjured arm, punching clean through her chest. His talons were half-melted before they finished impaling her, and he bellowed in pain; Alien Queen brought her hands together and slammed them down on the arm impaling her, melting flesh and bone in an instant.

As strong as she was, she wasn't sure how long she could last. Quirks had a limit, and she had no idea what would happen when she reached hers. For all she knew, she was already dead, and her Quirk was doing all the work, like a ghost made of acid. Whatever this was, she had to make it worthwhile.

Gigantomachia was healing, albeit slowly; he tried to put some distance between them, to give himself time to recover, but Alien Queen wasn't about to let that happen. One of her arms turned into a tendril of acid that whipped out and snagged his leg; it didn't just pull him back, but melted away chunks of hide and muscle, weakening him further. Alien Queen's legs merged into one long tail, which she wrapped around Gigantomachia's whole body; he struggled to break free, but any part of her he tore away immediately reformed.

Alien Queen knew that Gigantomachia wouldn't stop; he would eventually heal, and his stamina meant that he could likely outlast her. Her best option was to put him down for good, and there was only one way she could think of that could do that. She shoved one arm into his mouth, dissolving his teeth in an instant, and then pumped her most powerful acid into him.

Gigantomachia gurgled, but all that came out of his mouth was bloody foam. There was a sickening sizzle as his bones and organs melted into mush. Holes tore open in the weakened parts of his body, and a horrible mix of acid, blood, and half-dissolved body parts flowed out. After a few more seconds, an enormous corpse that wasn't entirely intact collapsed, shaking the entire area.

"M-Mina?"

Alien Queen turned and looked down at Froppy, who was being carried by Gentleman Jack; next to them was Monkey King, who had somehow avoided any injury, though he looked as worried as the others.

Acid leeched away from Alien Queen, dissolving into a noxious cloud that drifted away, until she was her normal size. It was amazing that she knew how to do all this, but she had read that people who underwent drastic physical changes from a Quirk Awakening often instinctively knew how to use their new abilities. It was like knowing how to lift her arms and legs; it wasn't something she had to think about.

"Hi," she said, the sound coming from her entire body; she clapped one hand over where her mouth had once been. Her voice was the same, but it was like she was speaking underwater. "Okay, this is… weird."

Froppy stared at her with tear-filled eyes. "I… I thought you were…"

"Yeah, me too." Alien Queen looked at the ground; the floor was sizzling ever-so-slightly. "I can't make the acid any weaker."

"You might be able to, in time," Jack said. "Your Quirk just underwent a massive evolution. Frankly, I'm amazed you are handling this as well as you are."

"That's probably the shock," Monkey King cut in. "You literally went from a solid to a liquid. Speaking of which, can you… turn back?"

Alien Queen looked down at herself and focused. She imagined her normal, pink skin and hair… but nothing happened.

"Okay, something to work on later," Monkey King said. "Right now, we still have Shigaraki to deal with, and if you can fight, we'll need all the help we can get."

Froppy sat down. "I can't. My leg is broken."

Alien Queen reached out to her, to give her friend some kind of physical reassurance, until she remembered that she was now a living mass of acid. Until she gained full control of her new abilities, she couldn't give Asui a hug—or anyone else, for that matter. For someone like her, who enjoyed physical contact, that was a kind of suffering she wasn't prepared for.

Later, she thought. I can freak out when Shigaraki is stopped, and Azmuth fixes Midori. And if Midori can be helped, maybe I can be, too.

After making sure Froppy wasn't in danger, the other three moved deeper into Shigaraki's fortress. Ashido just hoped that her condition was the worst any of her friends had to suffer.

…

Virtus did his best not to flinch when another chunk of masonry exploded nearby. Lady Nagant had been slowly whittling away at their cover for the last few minutes; soon, their choices would be to let her zero in on their position, or risk making a break for the next ruined building.

Next to him, Maccabee was much calmer; he measured the angle of the latest hole in the wall, and glanced in the direction it had come from.

"Seven hundred meters, give or take a dozen," he said quietly. "About thirty-five degrees up. There's a building, lots of windows; it's a good place for a sniper to hide."

"And we are not in any position to do anything about it," Virtus pointed out.

"Not necessarily." Maccabee considered the options. "If I can get you close, you'll have to take her out fast."

"Her? You know who we are fighting?"

Maccabee dug his fingers into one of the craters in the wall; his hand pulled back, holding a purple fragment. "Lady Nagant. Someone like her gets attention in the international Hero community, even when she's locked up."

Virtus felt his blood run cold. Lady Nagant's story had been among the leaked HPSC documents; ostensibly a Hero, she had been the Commission's assassin, killing anyone they considered a threat to the society they had forged and guided. Eventually, she had snapped, and turned on them; she had been caught and thrown into Tartarus, but had been one of many escapees. She wasn't the deadliest prisoner, but she was definitely the most calculating and disciplined, and that made her far more dangerous.

"How are we going to get to her?" he asked.

"We aren't. You are." Maccabee made a few mental equations before continuing. "I'll throw you in her direction; just as you feel like you're slowing down, give it all the speed you've got, and take her down fast."

Even with his helmet on, it was obvious that Virtus was doubtful. "I know that you are strong, but I don't think I can reach her, let alone defeat her, in the time you're suggesting."

Maccabee chuckled. "Oh, you will. Fun fact about my Quirk: once you leave my range, you'll have thirty seconds before it wears off. From what Deku told me about you, thirty seconds is all the time in the world."

"Oh." Virtus was suddenly much more optimistic about his chances. "Then I will do my best!"

"That's what I like to hear." Maccabee reached out to grab Virtus, but he paused. "She hasn't fired in a while. She's been chipping away at our cover, but she stopped."

"I read the file on her Quirk," Virtus said. "She turns her hair into bullets. Perhaps that limits her ammunition."

"Not that fast." Maccabee considered the possibilities. "She might be waiting for someone else to drive us out of cover, so that she can get a clean shot."

"And she may have been shooting at us to give that person time to approach!" Virtus realized.

Maccabee swore in Hebrew. "We've been here for too long. We need to make our move!"

Virtus only had time to nod, and then Maccabee grabbed him by the wrists; he spun in place once, then twice, and hurled him at where he hoped Lady Nagant was still waiting. Heroism, which Maccabee's Quirk had been building up since the operation began, launched him through the wall and into the open air at just under the speed of sound. Had Virtus not been training at those speeds for so long, the acceleration might have knocked him out; instead, he just braced himself, and waited for his speed to decrease.

Just as that started to happen, he spotted a figure, hunched behind a window frame. She wore a mix of purple and white that complemented her purple hair, but what really caught Virtus' attention was her arm; she had folded her arm back, and an enormous rifle had sprouted from her elbow.

That was the undeniable proof that this was Lady Nagant; nobody else had a Quirk like that.

The former Hero was already moving, adjusting her aim to focus on him. Virtus knew he would only have one chance.

His boosters screamed.

"RECIPRO TURBO!"

…

Maccabee saw a bright flash, and the crash of an impact, but he had no idea how successful their plan had been. For all he knew, Virtus had been shot out of the air, and had simply crashed close to Nagant. He started to emerge from his cover, but a noise from behind him made him whirl.

"Tenya, is that you?" Uravity, sans helmet, shoved aside some rubble as she emerged from the shadows. "Oh! Maccabee-san! I thought I heard Tenya a minute ago."

"He's fighting Lady Nagant," Maccabee said tersely. "We need to back him up."

Uravity's eyes went wide. "He's fighting that killer by himself? We need to hurry!"

Something about this whole situation felt wrong to Maccabee, and though he knew he needed to get to Virtus, his instincts made him take a second look at the girl. Her costume was scuffed and torn in a few places, and she had a cut on her left arm—wait.

Maccabee had seen plenty of injuries over his lifetime, and had trained alongside some of the best in Israel. Something about Uravity's cut looked wrong; it was too clean, too shallow, too perfect. He wasn't a betting man, but he would have put good money on that wound being self-inflicted.

"What was the thing you were worried about when you confronted us yesterday?" he demanded.

Uravity shook her head. "We don't have time for this! We need—"

"Answer the question, or I put my fist through your skull."

"Well, darn." Uravity giggled in a voice that wasn't hers. "I wanted to string you along a little, but you're not as gullible as some of the local Heroes."

Toga Himiko lunged forward, fingers splayed out as she tried to press her hand against Maccabee. In response, he spun around her strike, but had to backpedal as Toga came at him again and again.

"I can't wait to make you float away!" Toga cackled. "When you hit the ground, you'll make such a pretty splat!"

She can use the Quirks of the people she turns into? That wasn't in her file. She must have had a Quirk Awakening. That makes her especially dangerous.

Toga emerged from Uravity's skin like a shedding snake, but instead of Toga's face, it was Alien Queen's. She held out her pink hands and sprayed a stream of acid at him; Maccabee rolled to the side, but hissed in pain when a drop of acid landed on his forearm. He kicked a half-destroyed couch in Toga's direction, then quickly pulled his canteen off his belt to wash away the acid on his skin.

"Aw, Mina's Quirk doesn't make people bleed as much," Toga pouted; she then shed her current appearance for Froppy's. "Try running from someone this fast!"

With the proportional jumping abilities of a frog, Toga was able to catch up to Maccabee, but he was tired of being on the defensive. When Toga lashed out with Froppy's tongue, Maccabee ducked inside the strike and punched Toga in the chest; her disguise broke apart in an explosion of goo, followed by the crack of several broken ribs.

"You know, there are a lot of people in my country who would kill to have a Quirk like yours," he said. "Infiltrating terrorist cells would be so much easier."

Toga was too busy catching her breath to answer; gone was her insane grin, replaced by a hate-filled glare.

By now, Maccabee's Quirk was in full force; when he was younger, Heroism could take almost twenty minutes to really get started, but these days, he only needed three. He moved in a blur, catching Toga's arm before she could pull a knife completely free of its sheath. She tried to pull her arm free, but she might as well have been trying to move a tank.

"Surrender," Maccabee ordered calmly. "If you don't, I can't guarantee your safety."

Toga felt her arm start to break in his grip, and desperately transformed into one of the other sources of blood she'd ingested before attacking. Genesis had barely started forming before Maccabee tore the second skin away.

"You could have at least let me be her for a minute," Toga growled. "She's so pretty, especially after I put my knives in her."

Maccabee tried to hurl Toga over his shoulder, but she hung onto his arm, while drawing another knife with her free hand. She plunged the blade into Maccabee's bicep; Heroism didn't grant him superhuman durability, but it strengthened his body to handle the increasing power, so his muscles were so strong that the knife didn't go more than an inch deep into his flesh. Maccabee powered through the pain—more of an annoyance than anything—and slammed Toga into the ground with enough force to crack the foundations of the ruined house. She gasped in pain as bones broke throughout her body, and she spat out blood.

"You're lucky I'm a nice guy," Maccabee said. "Your government really wants to take you alive. Out of everyone in the League, they want to see if they can help you."

"I don't need help," Toga hissed through the pain.

"We're going to have to agree to disagree." Maccabee drew back his free hand, and punched Toga between the eyes hard enough to knock her out. "Okay, if this idiot gave Nagant the time to kill Virtus, I'm going to be very upset."

…

Lady Nagant swore under her breath as she barely avoided another kick. This kid was fast and strong; the only reason she wasn't unconscious or dead was because her opponent didn't have the kind of killer instinct to end this fight. He hesitated for a fraction of a second, which gave Nagant just enough of a warning to duck and dodge.

That wasn't to say she was completely unscathed; at the beginning of the fight, she had been so surprised by Virtus' speed that she had still taken a glancing hit to her left shoulder. More than a little flesh had been torn away, and the friction burn had seared the wound shut; it burned like hell with every motion, and with this kind of opponent, she couldn't stop moving.

Virtus kicked out again, then threw a series of punches that Nagant either avoided, or was able to deflect with some well-timed blocks with her injured arm. As she ducked under another kick that would have crushed her skull, she noticed that his boosters were not as bright as they had been.

Moreover…

Is he getting slower? Yeah, that last kick wasn't as fast as the first one. He must not be able to maintain that kind of insane speed for very long. I just have to outlast him for a little longer, then put some distance between us, and I'll line up a kill-shot.

Virtus seemed to realize that she had come to that conclusion, and his attacks became more desperate. One of his kicks was so sloppy that the only thing keeping Nagant from exploiting the opening was the sheer speed with which it was delivered. At that point, it just depended on who made a mistake first.

Nagant almost smiled when Virtus was the one who made that mistake. He was so focused on her that he stopped paying attention to his surroundings. His foot caught on a piece of rebar, and though he smashed through it after only a second, that second was all Nagant needed. She curled her right arm back, unfolding the enormous rifle that was half of her Quirk; she fought through the pain and used her left hand to take some of her hair and mold it into a bullet.

"Nice try," she said as she aimed and fired. At this distance, she couldn't possibly miss.

She didn't, but she also didn't hit where she intended. Somehow, at the last second, Virtus angled his boosters to move him slightly higher in the air; instead of his heart, the bullet tore through his stomach. She heard the muffled shout of agony through Virtus' helmet, but his boosters kept him going.

Nagant wanted to put more distance between them—at this point, she just had to wait for him to bleed out—but she realized that she had also stopped focusing on her environment. On one side was a corner, with nowhere to go; on the other side was the open air beyond a broken window. The only place she could go was directly ahead, and Virtus was right in front of her.

Cornered and with nowhere to go, Nagant desperately brought up her rifle to block Virtus' kick; his foot, boosted by his insane speed and Maccabee's own Quirk, absolutely shattered her prized weapon, and the only thing connecting what remained of her arm to the rest of her body was a single gory strand of flesh.

Blood gushed from the wound, splattering both of them as they collapsed. Amazingly, both of them were still conscious, and managed to lock eyes.

"Not… bad," Nagant gasped out. "I must… still be rusty."

"Or…" Virtus' boosters coughed smoke as he fought to get to his knees, but failed. "Or perhaps you… still know what it means… to be a Hero, and could not fight… at your best."

Through the pain, Lady Nagant remembered a time when smiling people would run up to her, cheering her on and thanking her for keeping them safe.

"Nah. I'm gonna go with rusty." Nagant chuckled, then winced as she tried to put pressure on her wound.

"Virtus!" Both of them managed to lift their heads as Maccabee jumped through the broken window. The Israeli Hero assessed the entire situation in a glance, and then rushed over to the student. "How bad is it?"

"I do not…" Virtus coughed, and blood dribbled through the filter in his helmet; Maccabee tore the helmet free to allow him to breathe, and he was thankful that his own mask hid his wince at how pale Virtus looked. "I do not think the wound is immediately fatal."

"It would be, if I'd used an explosive round," Nagant said weakly. "Didn't have time to mold one. You're fast, kid."

"Shut up," Maccabee said, not even looking at her. "Stomach wounds are nasty, but you're right; we'll have plenty of time to get you to a hospital." He paused; his next words were spoken with a hint of regret. "There's no way I'll be able to save you, Tsutsumi. You're losing too much blood."

Nagant, whose skin was growing ashen at an alarming rate, nodded. "Kinda figured. Nice move, kid; too bad you'll have my death on your conscience."

"You executed people without a trial," Virtus spat out. "I will not lose that much sleep."

"Keep up that grit," Nagant said, her voice barely a whisper. "If you somehow win… you'll need to be that strong… so that this country doesn't slip into… old habits…"

A moment later, her eyes closed, and didn't open again.

Maccabee hesitated, as if he wanted to do something for the former Hero, but turned away to help the one still living. "Come on, kid. Let's get you out of here."

…

Triumph watched as his long-lost brother stretched out on the couch. The room was eerily similar to the Todoroki home, down to the pictures on the walls; the only difference was that all images of Endeavor had been carefully burned away.

"It's almost a family reunion, isn't it?" Dabi grinned. "I mean, we're missing Mom, and Natsuo and Fuyumi, but my problems aren't with them. Maybe I'll say hi after I'm done here."

"They won't want to see you." Cold air wafted from Triumph's right side, and steam drifted off his left. "You're a monster, not someone to be pitied."

Dabi laughed, and there was a hint of madness in his voice. "Oh, I'm the monster? Who's the one who arranged a Quirk marriage to someone who hated him?" He rose to his feet and began to pace. "Who practically forced himself on a woman who wanted nothing to do with him, all to create the 'perfect' heir? Who forced his ideals on his kids, training them until they couldn't move, and then discarding them like trash when they didn't live up to his insane standards?"

By now, blue flame was licking across Dabi's fingers, and the smell of burning skin made Triumph grimace.

Endeavor tried to maintain his composure, but his stoicism morphed into a mix of anger, grief and regret. "Toya… son…"

Dabi snarled like a wounded animal, and blue fire roared over his forearms. "You don't get to call me that! You killed your son when you tried to force your dream on him! No, wait, it wasn't a dream, it was a fucking obsession! Everything I've done, all the people I've killed, it's all on you!"

"No, it isn't." Triumph slowly moved between his father and his brother. "Yeah, Dad treated us all like crap, and he's going to answer for it. But Fuyumi and Natsuo didn't go over the deep end because of what Dad did. You chose to do all those horrible things, and that means it's on your head, not his."

Dabi sneered. "And what about Mom? Don't tell me Dad didn't push her over the edge."

Triumph's hand went up to brush against his scar. "And she's spent every day since regretting it. Have you regretted anything you've done?"

"Nope." Dabi's mad grin returned. "Another thing I can blame Dad for."

"I've heard enough." Frost formed over Triumph's right arm, and fire burst from his left. "It's time you pay for what you've done."

"Try it, little brother."

There was a moment of silence as they sized each other up; then, they aimed their hands at each other, and the room exploded in red and blue. Endeavor, who had been off his game despite his words to his youngest, was blasted through a wall and into the next room. He tossed aside the burning debris and ran back to where his sons were fighting.

Triumph was on one knee, trying to create ice faster than Dabi could melt it; the older Todoroki sibling was cackling as he stood over his brother's shield, pouring fire without any regard for his own charring skin.

"Just let it happen, Shoto," Dabi mocked. "By the time I'm done, they won't be able to tell which burned corpse is which!"

"Sure they will," Triumph hissed. "One of us will have holes in our feet."

Dabi had about two seconds to process that, and then the icy floor erupted with icicles. One of them impaled him through the foot; he snarled, and smashed the ice with a flame-wreathed fist, before pulling what was left of his foot free. Blood gushed from the wound, but he seared the flesh until it stopped bleeding; it also made his foot look like a piece of charcoal, but even though his face had been restored, Dabi had long stopped caring about damaging himself.

"That's the biggest difference between you and me," Triumph said as the two parts of his Quirk balanced him out. "I can handle fire like you never could, but you? You'll burn out long before I hit my limit."

Dabi's lips peeled back in a mad scowl. "You think you know fire? I'll show you fire!"

The flame coming out of his hands was so hot that the blue became white; in fact, it was less like fire, and more like a laser. Triumph tried to make more ice to block it, but the fire pierced through it like it wasn't even there; just as Triumph was starting to feel his skin blister, something collided with him, knocking him out of the way just in time.

When his vision cleared, Triumph looked up to see that Endeavor had been the one to tackle him, likely saving his life, if the utter devastation going in a hundred-foot line was any indication. Surprise became horror when he saw what had happened to his father; Endeavor had shielded him from the intense flame, but even his resistance to heat hadn't saved his left arm and leg from getting vaporized. The wounds were cauterized, but there was no way he wasn't in agony.

"Shoto…" Endeavor wasn't even looking at his severed limbs. Instead, his eyes were locked on his son's. "Are you all right?"

"Me!?" Triumph couldn't believe what he was hearing. "How the hell are you not more worried about yourself!?"

"Because you're my son." Despite his efforts to sound steady, Endeavor's voice was growing faint. "And I won't let one of my sons kill another. Even if that means I have to die."

Before Triumph could say anything, before he could even process what he was feeling, he heard mad laughter.

"Oh, this was so close to being perfect!" Dabi's body was now all but consumed in azure flame; he looked like more like a demon than a person at this point. "If Dad had failed to keep you safe and you had both died, it would be perfect. Still, maybe I can make him watch as I burn you to ash, Shoto."

"You're the one burning, Toya." Triumph's left side erupted with fire. "I've only hit you once, and you're barely standing."

"And I only need to hit you once," Dabi said with a sneer. "This time, you won't be able to use the old man as a shield."

"I won't need to."

Dabi laughed, even as what was left of his skin burned away. "What, you think you can overpower my fire with yours?"

"No. But I should thank you for making it so hot, because that just gave me a lot more leeway with my ice."

At that moment, Dabi realized his mistake. The two halves of Triumph's Quirk got stronger after one side was used; more cold meant that he could safely use more fire, and more heat…

Ice formed over everything. The temperature dropped so quickly that it extinguished every bit of flame that was more than a few inches away from Dabi, who tried to push the ice back with even more fire. Triumph melted away the ice that was coating his body, and then aimed his entire right half at Dabi; everything on his left side melted away, but everything on his right was completely frozen, except for Dabi.

Triumph had expected Dabi to repel his cold with heat, and got the result he wanted: when extreme cold met extreme heat, it created an explosion. The sheer power from both of their Quirks created an explosion big enough to destroy the replica Todoroki house, and everything else within fifty feet.

Endeavor slowly lowered his remaining arm; Triumph had shielded him with a thick dome of ice at the last second, but the flash from the explosion had still nearly blinded him. When his vision returned, he saw his sons kneeling; Triumph had terrible burns on his right side, while Dabi's arms and most of his skin were all but vaporized.

"Shoto…" Endeavor called weakly. "Toya…"

Triumph slowly turned to face his father; the entire right side of his body was even more burned than the left side of his face, and his arm hung limply at his side. If Dabi was conscious, he didn't show any sign; even if he was, his muscles had been burned away, leaving him little more than a skeleton. The only reason Endeavor knew Dabi was still alive was because of the wheezing breath coming from his charred lungs.

"It's done," Triumph said, his voice tight with pain as he crawled over to his father.

"We can't do any more," Endeavor noted. "All we can do is wait, and hope that the others find us after Shigaraki is defeated."

"Yeah." Triumph was quiet for a moment. "We agreed to fight Toya together."

"I know."

"But you didn't do anything." Triumph's voice turned accusatory. "You didn't even try to fight. Why?"

Endeavor kept his eyes on Dabi. "Because no parent should harm their child. I learned that lesson far too late, but… but I couldn't bring myself to unlearn that lesson here. I'm sorry, Shoto."

Triumph sighed. "You're lucky I'm too tired. Also, I don't want to hit someone who just lost an arm and a leg."

Endeavor smirked. "I would applaud your restraint, if I were able."

"You tell a joke, and I'm the only one to hear it." Triumph sighed again. "Nobody will believe me."

"That's why I said it."

Triumph was quiet for a long moment. "I wish we could have helped more. Now, all I can do is hope that everyone else is okay."

"As Heroes, we must trust that the others are able to handle whatever may come their way." Endeavor sighed. "That being said, I remember how easily Shigaraki defeated me last year. I doubt we would do more than get in the way in that fight."

That didn't make Triumph feel any better. He wasn't normally one to pray, but he did his best, and hoped that Shigaraki would be defeated before it was too late.

…

Shigaraki leaned back in his chair as the door was kicked open. "Well, it's about time you showed up. I was getting bored."

Deku turned into Diamondhead as Stars And Stripes put him on his feet. "Sorry to keep you waiting. Let's do this."

And with that, it's time for the main event to get started. Shigaraki's lieutenants are all dead or captured, but the Heroes have been mauled, so Deku and Stripes can't expect much in the way of backup. Then again, it's Shigaraki on the verge of becoming a Celestialsapien, so there isn't much anyone else can do.

Sorry for taking so long with this chapter. The last couple of months have been hell. I had another surgery, this time on my other arm, and there were complications that made it hurt to do basically anything. Also, there has been family drama, and financial problems on my end that I'm still working on. On top of that, I had writer's block. This chapter was the only thing stopping me from getting to the climax of this story, and I'm super excited for what comes next!

As always, please consider buying my book, Alpha Sanction, by Josh Gottlieb, either on my website (link in my profile), or on Amazon, in both eBook and physical format. The sequel is definitely coming out this year, I promise! It's just, you know… life has been making it difficult to write.

You can also support me by donating via my P-atreon (link in my profile). Any support would be welcome, especially since I don't like working two jobs. I'd much rather write more than a few hours a week, and I'm sure you all want me to write more as well.

Thanks to the following people for supporting my madness:

Serious Muffins: Nimrod009, Aaron Meek, Matthias Matanovic, Lokthar, Hakuryuken, Anders Lyngbye, Kristen Tyler, JackSlap23

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Next Chapter: Shigaraki and Deku have finally come face to face, and the final battle begins…

Plus Muffin!