74

Chapter 74: Sting

A/N: And here goes; the Heroes Rising finale! The last battle against Nine looms just around the corner, classes 1-A and 1-B planning and arming up in preparation. The question is, just what will the aftermath look like?

"You need to wake up, Izuku."

"It's your time now."

"Wake up. Nine still awaits."

Izuku shot up in his bed, launching the towel that was on his forehead off onto his lap. A surge of bugs sprang forth from his surroundings, forming a thin veil around his vulnerable bedridden form. They buzzed with intensity, poised out forth and ready for threats.

"Izuku!"

Izuku turned towards the voice, eyeing Setsuna standing just outside his field of bugs.

"Setsuna?" Izuku asked, the haze of his mind slowly beginning to clear. The veil of bugs surrounding him slowly lost their solidity. They descended to the floor, forming a strangely protective circle just around his futon.

"Don't worry about that. That's me."

"Right." Izuku sighed, closing his eyes. He leaned back until he was lying back onto his futon. "Sorry."

Izuku opened his eyes, turning his head to find Setsuna kneeling on his left. And just further beyond, just one futon beyond, also laid Manga. By the looks of the plate of food he was eating from, he'd already been awake for some time.

"Hey 'Zuku," Manga said in between bites. "As creepy with bugs as ever, I see."

Izuku sighed, turning his head again to face the ceiling. "What happened?"

"That villain you were fighting got away," Todoroki suddenly said, his upside face suddenly appearing into Izuku's vision.

"Gah!" Izuku jerked in surprise. Todoroki, who had been sitting at Izuku's head unnoticeably until now, merely let off a intrigued look.

"Sorry," Izuku breathed. "Didn't notice you there, Todoroki."

"Mmm," Todoroki hummed. "Usually you're more perceptive than that, but that might just have to do with your injury."

"Injury?" Izuku's hand trailed down to his bandaged side. "Ah, right. Looks like esoteric laser effects render spider silk body armor useless, eh?" Izuku let out a weak laugh.

"It's a good thing that that Katsuma kid had a healing quirk," Setsuna said. "He stayed up for hours healing you and the others up."

"Did he know?" Izuku muttered. "Huh. Guess I'll have to find and thank him myself later."

Izuku rose some of his bugs into the air, mapping out an image of the room. Pony was lying down on his right, still dead to the world. Kendo, Bakugo, and Monoma were absent — probably already out and mulling about. However, he did notice the unconscious forms of Tsuburaba, Awase, and Kaibara littering the floor that he laid upon as well.

"Hey," Setsuna waved an arm in Izuku's face. "You good?"

Izuku nodded.

"You sure? Looks like you're spacing out again." Manga remarked. "Though, I guess that you might be getting all that feedback from your clone right now, right?"

Izuku sent a look over a Manga. "Clone? What clone?"

"Umm… the one that you sent to the meeting a while ago?"

"Speaking of which," Setsuna butt in, "since when could your bugs work independently from you? Something to do with that 'final order before unconsciousness' thing you've got going?"

"He could be subconsciously directing them in his sleep," Todoroki offered. "Or the bugs gained a mind of their own due to the collective intelligence of Midoriya using them all the time."

"Independent clone," Izuku muttered to himself with a slight scowl. "Right. That."

"Yeah that," Setsuna said. "So? How long?"

A buzzing noise caught Izuku's attention, as did everyone else's. Looking at the doorway, Izuku spotted one of his swarm clones, acting and moving completely independently of him.

"Izuku. We need to talk."

Izuku felt a tinge of irritation traveling down his spine.

"Outside, and away from the others. And bring your flightpack too."

The QA-controlled mass of bugs skittered off into the hallway and away from the prying eyes of others.

Izuku sighed. "Right. I, uh, need to talk with my clone. It's… easier to share the information than through a mental link."

The others looked at him unbelievingly.

"Promise," Izuku added. And without another word, he started to pick himself off his futon.

A hand immediately grasped at his shoulder, pushing him back down onto the futon. "You shouldn't be getting up so soon," Todoroki said. "Your injuries were some of the worst among the injured."

Izuku sighed once more, gently pushing Todoroki's hand off. "I appreciate the concern, but I'm fine. Really." Izuku stood up, albeit slowly, but stood nonetheless. He turned around and faced all of his friends. "

"I promise to get some rest on the way to—"

"Mount Shiroyama."

"—Mount Shiroyama. And before the battle as well." He flashed them a smile. "Okay?"

Setsuna glared at him. Izuku took up his pleading eyes.

She promptly deflated. "Fine. Go, before I change my mind."

"Tokage—" Todoroki began, but was promptly cut off.

"He won't take no for an answer," Setsuna sighed. "I know that by now."

Izuku nodded. "Thanks! I promise that I'll make it up to you!" And then he was already walking out of the room and into the hall. Izuku spotted the QA clone at the end of the hall; he followed, taking turn after turn until he was far enough away from the others. And once they stopped, QA instantly got going.

"I'll explain what was discussed at the meeting later. And don't bother thanking Katsuma, I already did it for you."

"Seriously?" Izuku pinched his nose. "No, I'm thanking him myself later, thank you very much," Izuku rebuffed. "And what did I say about independently taking control of the bugs yourself and without my consent? It's—

"A dire emergency. I had the right to do so."

Izuku pressed a finger against QA, only for it to simply pass through the cloud of bugs. Nevertheless, he continued on. "You did not. I could have—"

"Focus on the big picture, Izuku. Focus on the civilians. Focus on Nine."

And that had Izuku sobering up real quick. He stepped back, wiping a hand over his face. His eyes were wide and unblinking, his fingers twitching in realization.

"I'm going to have to kill him, aren't I?"

Izuku sighed, leaning up against the wall of the hallway. Slowly, he bagan sliding down the wall until he was sitting on the ground. He sat there for a few moments, contemplating the meaning of QA's words and the realization of what had to be done. He lowered his face in his hands.

"If what you've said about Kentaro is true, and so far everything has, then I have too. Kentaro will honor the agreement, and he'll go without killing for six months. And that'll give the heroes time to find and stop him! It makes sense... Right?"

"But what if I'm wrong? What if you're wrong? What if Kentaro doesn't honor the agreement? Then I would have killed somebody with my own hands for no reason! I… I don't know if I can do this, QA? What if I fail? How many people are going to die because of me? Nevermind actually beating Nine in the first place! He's basically a mini All For One! And it doesn't matter if he's just a weaker version, because five quirks seems to be enough for him to crush us with!"

"He isn't invincible. We're pretty sure that his body can't handle all of the quirks. We just need to run him thin until we reach that point."

"Evn still! What if—"

"There's a way that we can beat Nine for sure. Without killing him, that is."

"There is!?" Izuku perked up, his head jerking towards the bugs. "How?"

"The pack."

Izuku eyed said pack, long since been laid against the wall. "What about it?"

"Open it."

Izuku narrowed his eyes at the swarm, but eventually did what he was told.

He felt the small compartment that controlled the pack's flight capabilities open up. His own bugs within said compartment hadn't moved, but that didn't mean that there wasn't any movement at all.

Suddenly, a small pile of bugs that he hadn't even been aware of moved. They remained clutched together in a ball, crawling out of their hidey hole and slowly ascending the height of the pack.

"Open your hands."

Izuku did. He watched as the clump of bugs made its way out of the bag, flying over to just above his cupped hands. The bugs then dispersed, flying off. In all the commotion, he almost missed the small capsule that had been dropped into his hands. But that didn't mean that he was any less irritated? Not at all?

"A quirk erasing bullet?!" Izuku whispered, almost afraid that he'd be overheard. "What is this doing in there?"

"It's for emergencies. You know, the whole reason I stole them in the first place? They'd be rotting away hiding in your termite mound back in your room."

Izuku was seething now. "And are you saying that you've been controlling those bugs in my pack just so I wouldn't notice them?"

"Well you wouldn't have wanted to take them otherwise! And look, we need it now, don't we?"

"That doesn't mean that you can keep going behind my back and doing all of these things, QA! We're supposed to be partners! I need to know when you're planning on doing something!"

"But you can take him down without killing him now, don't you see? You just need to inject with this, and BAM! Neutralized! It's as simple as that!"

"Even if—!" Izuku pointed out. "Even if—!" He took a breath.

In…

Out…

In...

Izuku sighed, his head drooping down to stare at the ground. "Even if we can do that… don't I still have to kill him?"

"One step at a time. We'll get to that point eventually, but only after once everything's cooled down. Then, we can have him captured. And you can make your choice then and with a much more leveled head. Alright?"

"Damnit." Izuku slammed his fists against the wall. "Why me?" He closed his eyes, resting his head back against the wall. He stayed there for minutes upon end, simply listening to the buzzing of the bugs. But eventually, he moved to stand, determination set into his eyes.

"Fine," he growled. "Fine. We'll do it."

The trek from their current base of operations on the island proper to the Mount Shiroyama castle ruins was — very fortunately — ultimately uneventful. Nine and his compatriots had yet to show their faces; something of which the defending heroes were grateful for.

Time was spent entrenching themselves in their positions, setting up traps and finalizing plans for upcoming assault. Everyone was moving into their final positions. The plan was set, and everyone knew what role they would play. There was just one crucial aspect left to discuss; and Izuku was dreading what was to come next.

And there he was, standing in the bowels of the cave system underneath the castle, waiting for what he essentially saw as a death sentence.

"It'll be fine. She'll understand."

"But will she?" Izuku asked with shaky breath. "Will she really? She's going to hate me! I— I don't think that I could handle that QA. And it won't even be because of something I did! You're the one who took the da—"

"She has to." QA interrupted. "She'll come around, trust me. Besides, you can't do it, and she's the only other one who can."

"But still. I just… I'm not sure if—"

"Stop. She's around the corner, she can hear now."

"Are you actually talking to yourself?" a familiar voice asked. "Nervous much?"

"Don't mess it up, alright?"

Izuku's eye twitched. Wow, vote of confidence there.

Izuku took a breath, willing himself to — however hesitantly — turn towards the owner of the voice.

"So," Setsuna said, resting a hand on her waist, "what was it that you wanted to talk about?"

Izuku looked on as his friend approached, remaining quiet for the time being.

"It's a bit weird of you to talk to me like this, you know." Setsuna continued. She walked forward, moving to lean herself against the cave wall opposite of Izuku. She crossed her arms together, eyes watching with undisguised mirth.

"Pulling me aside, just you and me, right before the final battle." She waggled her eyebrows. "Makes a girl wonder, don't ya think?"

In. Out. In— "Setsuna."

"Mmm?" Setsuna hummed, leaning forward a little.

"Well I… umm..."

"Uh huh?" She leaned closer.

"It's—"

"Yeah?"

"—about the plan."

"Gah! That's it?!" Setsuna pouted. "And you ended up getting me all riled up over he—"

"Setsuna!" Izuku yelled. "Stop, listen. For just a second. Please."

Setsuna paused, as asked of her. She fully leaned back onto the cave wall, an almost surprised look on her face.

"Well then. Something's obviously working you over. What is it?"

Izuku gulped. Here goes.

"Well, you know the uh… Bug venom things that I said you were supposed to use on Nine?"

"Mhm," Setsuna nodded. "The ones that can supposedly knock him out if enough get into his system. What about 'em?"

"They… um… Well."

"Get along with it; Nine won't wait all day."

"They don't exist."

Setsuna's eyebrows shot up. "Say what now?" She pushed herself off the wall. "What do you mean they don't exist? That's the cusp of the plan, Izuku!"

"I know! I know," Izuku held his hands up pleadingly. "And the plan's not changing. I just… lied a little, at the briefing. I mean, you're going to be essentially doing the same thing. It's just…"

Izuku sighed. He looked at Setsuna; eyebrows scrunched up, mouth forming a thin line, eyes lighting up in a paradoxical mix of apprehension and trust.

Damnit. Izuku reached into his flight pack, taking the small capsule into his hand. "Here." He took his hand out, the small gray shape meeting the open air. "It's best that I just show you."

Setsuna tilted her head, eyeing the miniscule thing between Izuku's fingertips. Her eyes darted back and forth between Izuku and the bullet, almost as if asking if this was some sort of joke.

But Izuku didn't relent, his eyes staying firm. And when Setsuna realized this, and she actually took the time to observe, that's when her own eyes shot up in realization.

"Is that a quirk destroying—!"

"Yes."

"But the only time we ever encountered those was when—"

"I know."

Her eyes dawned in unbridled disbelief. "But… But that means that you're the one who…"

"Yes." Izuku slumped in defeat. "It was me."

Setsuna's face morphed into a grimace. "You wouldn't be so worried about this if you did it for whatever government program thing you're under."

"No."

A pause.

"What the fuck Izuku!?" Setsuna turned and faced the cave wall. "You committed a crime! You lied to the police! You stole evidence — illegal and dangerous evidence!"

"I know! I know that! I— I know that what I did was wrong." Izuku's breath hitched. He looked on at his friend; Setsuna refrained from turning around to face him.

"And… and I'm sorry, okay?" He faced the ground, eyeing himself playing with his feet.

"I— I mean I know that that doesn't excuse anything or my actions but—"

"Are you crying?"

Izuku's head shot up, meeting Setsuna's concerned expression.

"Wha—?" Izuku raised a couple of his fingertips up to his eyes. He felt around, and as it turned out, he was crying. He hadn't done that since… since—

"Since before UA," Setsuna said, finishing his thoughts. "Manga and Pony told me you outgrew it. Though what I'm seeing right now isn't nearly as bad as what she described."

"You," Izuku wiped away the tears, "you're not mad?"

"Oh," Setsuna scoffed. Her hand floated forward, jabbing Izuku in the chest. "Don't get me wrong. I'm hella mad."

Izuku blinked. Turning to avoid Setsuna's gaze. "Oh," he sniffled.

Setsuna shook her head. "Look. You're my friend. And you're somebody I trust. And I know you. You wouldn't have taken the bullets if you didn't think you had a good reason. But that doesn't mean that I approve. It's just… Agh!"

Her other hand flew forward and hit Izuku over the head, eliciting a startled yelp from the green-haired boy.

"What were you thinking?!" Setsuna stammered.

"I wasn't," Izuku said. It wasn't me, after all.

Setsuna rubbed a hand over her face, groaning all the while. "Obviously."

She huffed. "Okay."

Izuku slowly fixated his gaze until it met Setsuna's. "Okay? You mean—"

"I'll do it," Setsuna reaffirmed. "For you."

"One condition though!" Setsuna exclaimed before Izuku could respond back. "You tell me everything."

"I—"

Setsuna glared at him, daring him to refuse.

"… Within the next week?" Izuku offered. "Or… first chance we get after we get settled back at UA."

She narrowed her eyes. "I'll hold you to that, Izuku." She swiped the quirk destroying bullet out of Izuku's hands and began to walk away. "See ya at the battlefield."

Izuku stood there, staring after her as she turned the corner. He slumped against the cave wall, eyes moving to stare up at the ceiling.

"See? That wasn't that bad."

"Really?" Izuku growled. "Not that bad? She's angry over something that you did yourself! It's your fault in the first place!"

"Mmm." QA hummed, not refuting the statement. "That's just how it goes."

Dawn. The sun breaking over the horizon, light shining onto the lands of Nabu Island, bringing forth the new day. The combined forces of classes 1-A and 1-B stood ready, armed and prepped for the upcoming assault. All that was left was to wait.

Minutes went by, tense and silent despite the gathered number upon the ridge overlooking the land bridge. Pony and Shoji watched on through their binoculars, eyeing for the villains approach. Izuku and Jiro did the same. Jiro listened in, her earjacks to the ground, while Izuku searched elsewhere, just in case that the villains proved more craftly than anticipated.

Eventually, their patience was rewarded. Nine, Slice, and Chimera appeared, slowly making their way across the land bridge connecting the island proper to Mount Shiroyama.

"They're nearly at the spot," Pony said after a few more minutes had passed watching the villains slowly cross.

"You ready, Momo?" Izuku questioned with his bugs.

"You're speaking through your mouth again, Izuku," Pony pointed out.

"Shut up! I'm a bit nervous. No, sorry. Not you Momo. Just tell Aoyoma to get ready. And sorry too Pony."

Not long after, a massive blue beam shot down at the villains. Not long after, explosive blasts rang out into the morning air, cannons blasting at the scattering villains. By the time the air stilled, the Chimera and Slice had been effectively separated from Nine. Phase one complete.

"And there goes Yaoyorozu and the Frenchie," Manga said. His leg was still in a splinch, Katsuma having worn himself off on the others before he could fully heal Manga. But the condition of Manga's leg didn't matter in the grand scheme of things — he was still capable of using his quirk, after all.

And if things really got into a pinch, Pony was there to get him out of harm's way.

"Even now I still find your vice representative's quirk to be quite amazing, Midoriya," Shiozaki said, her voice calm as always. "Her sheer capabilities are astounding, a true gift that has been bestowed upon here."

"I don't know about that," Monoma interjected. "I could definitely make explosions bigger than those if I wanted."

"Yeah," Bakugo scowled. "With my quirk, dumbass."

"Pfft. Like that makes a difference. It's a certainty that I could learn to use your quirk more efficiently."

"Oh yeah?" Bakugo challenged. "Want to test it out, huh?"

"Will you two shut up?" Setsuna blustered. "We need to focus on the battle."

The two grunted, tearing their gazes away from the other.

Izuku nodded in Setusna's direction. "Thanks, Setsuna."

"Hmph." She crossed her arms.

Izuku sighed, taking notice of the curt response. Still, there was much he could do about it now. And so, he turned to Monoma.

"You did practice with Half-Hot Half-Cold, right?" he asked the blond.

Monoma smirked, placing a hand on his chest as he spoke. "But of course, Midoriya!"

"And you're ingenious by the way," he said, tapping his pocket. "Suggesting to carry stray hair strands? I'm baffled that I didn't think of it before. But as per usual, I suppose that I shouldn't have expected any less from you."

"Stop praising the nerd," Bakigo growled. "He doesn't deserve it."

"I'd say otherwise — not that a brute like you would know."

"Would the two of you stop and focus, please?" Honenuki pleaded. "Why can't the two you you act like Yanagi and Kodai?"

Honenuki gestured at the aforementioned duo; the two girls were standing around all calm and quiet, watching the battle below as Sero and Uraraka continued with their barrage of boulders.

Bakugo, meanwhile, shot off a couple blasts in response. "You trying to compare to those extras?!"

"Shut up Bakugo!" Jiro seethed. "I'm trying to listen for everyone's signals here!"

Shoji slapped a couple of his arms over his face, lowering his own set of binoculars down. "We're going to die."

"Don't worry buddy," Kaminari patted Shoji's shoulder. "You're staying up here with me. That means we still have the caves to retreat to. And if we die? Well, at least we'd be last."

"Nobody asked you, Jammingwhey."

"I—"

"Shush," Jiro held a finger up. "Mineta's part is coming up."

The avalanche of rocks were released, crashing down the slope of the mountain and straight onto Nine. Mineta's balls stuck the rocks together all the while.

Silence reigned for seconds, Jiro listening in. Before long, she spoke up. "It's not enough. I can still hear him underneath all that."

"Message relayed," Izuku said.

But it was too late. The mass of rocks exploded outwards, the force of the blast pushing Mineta, Uraraka, and Sero back.

"Shit!" Setsuna cursed, already shifting off into smaller pieces. "Pony!"

"On it!" the horned girl said. Her horns launched out as per her command, Manga and Honenuki each taking one of their own.

All the while, Monoma and Bakugo had already shot off to enter the fray. Their explosions were already off in the distance, keeping the heat off of the injured Uraraka, Sero, and Mineta.

Manga, Honeneuki, and Setsuna followed suit, flying off to battle.

Shiozaki, Yanagi, and Kodai waited behind in front of their own horns, waiting for their queue. Izuku himself looked over to the latter two. Specifically, he looked over to Yanagi, who had his flightpack — flight capabilities disabled — in her hands.

"You two remember the designations, right?" he asked Yanagi and Kodai. "Where everything is, which bugs have what?"

"Mmm," Kodai hummed. Yanagi nodded at the same time.

"Good," Izuku nodded. "And the—"

"Mmm."

"Oh!" Izuku said, slightly surprised. "That's good! Really good."

"Wait wait wait," Kaminari interrupted. "You got something from that?"

Izuku turned towards Kaminari with a confused look. "Yeah…?"

Kaminari blinked, unbelieving. "Of course you did." He shook his head. "Okay. But now that I've got your attention Midoriya, remind me again why you have to actually go down there?"

Kaminari gestured down below. "You know, down right in the battle? When you can control bugs up here?"

Izuku grimaced. He looked away, down at the battlefield. The ground suddenly lost its solidity, Honenuki's quirk acting in full force and entrapping Nine in a foot of ground. One of Manga's words shot out in return, through predictably colliding with Nine's air barrier. Bakugo blasted a volley of explosions at the same time, which were also met by a barrier.

The dust slowly cleared, revealing Nine to be fine. He was even on one of his dragon's, using the construct to lift himself from the ground and out of Honenuki's softened ground. And he began his attack once more.

"I need to see it happen myself," Izuku said, barely above a whisper.

"Izuku… You really shouldn't need to," Pony said, a slight strain of her voice showing through as she weaved her horns in and out of Nine's attacks.

Another of Manga's words, but from the air this time — Monoma. He had switched from Bakugo's Explosion to Manga's Comic. After he shouted out, he began to lose altitude, inciting him to switch back to explosions. Again, not much in the way of progress.

Meanwhile, Honenuki came back, Pony's horns carrying him back to the others.

"My part's done," Honenuki said, stepping onto the ground. "Now back to the cave, right?"

"Right," Shoji said. "Make sure the others have ample backup just in case."

"On it!" Honenuki said, running off.

Kodai, and Yanagi each climbed up onto their own horns. Izuku took up the recently abandoned horn himself.

"Kaminari," Izuku said, "make sure that Pony can transport you out just in case. Even if it's with Shiozaki, alright?"

"I know bro," Kaminari said. "Now go."

And so they did. Pony led the three of them towards the battle. Even as they approached they could feel the battle; the heat from the explosions, the sheer cold of ice, and everything in between.

At this rate I might not have to worry about accidentally leaving some invasive bugs on the island.

Izuku looked over at Kodai and Yanagi. "You guys ready?"

The two nodded. As they approached, Yanagi activated her quirk. Miniscule dots rose from the flightpack, and shot forward. Kodai touched her hands together, enlarging the items into a deadly barrage. Supersized industrial nails, jagged rocks, and haphazard debris all shot forth.

Nine blocked the attack — though barely — seeing as the others were still keeping the villain occupied. Perhaps even more resourceful of the villain was his use of one of his dragons

"BOING!"

"WHOosh!"

Monoma was slowly down. After his use of Comic he had to resort to using Tetsutetsu's quirk to tank the attack coming for him rather than dodge it. Bakugo's blasts were slowly shrinking in size, with Manga's voice clearly straining from all of his yelling.

Sometime through the battle a stray air blast slammed straight into Manga, knocking him off of his horn. He began to fall, though he quickly stopped midair via Yanagi's quirk. Pony's horn slowly made its way under the wobbly form of Manga, who was barely able to stand. With that, compounded with his already straining throat, he was carried off the battlefield.

One of their own out for the count. But that didn't mean that their efforts were for naught. Nine too, was showing signs of trouble. His breaths were running ragged and thin, his movements slowly getting slower.

It was nearly time. Izuku relayed the commencing of the next phase to the others up on the ridge.

The attacks continued on. Enlarged items battering down Nine's defences, explosions, ice and fire coming from all sides, and walls of words littering the field.

All of that considered, it didn't come to a surprise to Izuku when the winds began picking up, the sky darkening to a dark grey.

"That's it!" Nine's voice echoed through the air. The purple tubes on his back suddenly stopped their glow, injecting whatever drugs were held in them into the villain. A swirling storm grew overhead, arcs of lightning flashing in the sky.

Nine looked around, gazing at each of his opponents. Nine readied his strike.

"Kaminari!"

The lightning bolt came crashing down, aimed straight at the large gathering of heroes. But Pony's horn had already been on their way. Kaminari came zooming in just in time to interject the electricity mid air — just as they had planned.

All while Nine had been ramping up his attack, Shiozaki's vines had already begun to erupt from the ground all over the battlefield. Of course, this didn't go unnoticed by Nine. Once the lightning came crashing down, purple lasers began to tear through the vines that were making their way towards the villain.

From behind Yanagi and Kodai bombarded the villain. And from above Bakugo and Monoma zoomed towards the ground, charging up explosive power with all their might.

All of the attacks coming from all sides — it was too much stimulus to handle all together, and Nine knew that.

His remaining dragon shot out towards the sky, right towards the incoming Bakugo and Monoma. But then it suddenly changed course, reared straight towards the forms of Yanagi and Kodai.

The dragon struck true, taking Kodai in its jaws and into the softened ground. In turn Monoma diverted his attack to the dragon in an attempt to dispel it. The array of attacks had all but ceased —it was time, and Izuku relayed it so.

"HOWITZER IMPACT!"

Nine easily recognized the move, making an air barrier towards the sky as the syllables were first uttered. He almost missed the cluster of vines that had shot in front of him, opening up to reveal several pieces of Setsuna.

With his free hand Nine shot out purple lasers at the incoming pieces; with his other hand occupied in preparation with Bakugo, Nine wasn't able to defend from the next vine. Just underneath it came forth, several more pieces of Setsuna bursting from it, one of which held the key to the fight.

Izuku shot his eyes over at Monoma, Kodai having successfully saved from the depths of the softened ground. Immediately, a swarm of bugs formed up right next to him.

"Todoroki's quirk! Full power, right now!"

"Wouldn't that be overk—"

"It won't; do it!"

The air shield flickered, Nine clutching his chest in pain. It happened just in time for Bakugo's attack to pummel through and strike Nine at point blank, and just in time for a giant pillar of fire and ice to strike as well.

…

Dust and smoke. It filled the air, blocking everything from view. With what he could tell with his bugs, Monoma and Bakugo were on the ground, completely spent. Kodai and Yanagi were blown back, but otherwise fine. Setsuna… he wasn't sure. As for Nine...

A burst of air, stronger than any of the others, whirled through the air. Izuku caught a glimpse of a silhouette through the smoke, speeding off away from the battlefield.

But then a second silhouette had split off from the first.

Izuku wasn't fast enough to dodge the blue blur that shot out from the smoke. All he could do was struggle in vain as he was pulled through the air, crushed between the jaws of a quirk, zooming towards the unknown.

A/N: Yeah… Well. This chapter definitely ran off on me. It's definitely a heck of a lot longer than I planned. And some parts of it definitely wrote themselves, that's for sure. But anyways, that's the end of Heroes Rising! I hoped you all liked it!

(Note: Nine didn't amp up all the way (or whatever the heck he did) like he did in the movie. So… weaker Nine because he didn't go Super Saiyan-third phase-Deus Ex Machina -limit break mode? Eh. Let's go with that).

…

Huh? What's that? Cliffhanger? What cliffhanger? ;) Well, till next time, everyone…

And just in case any of you were wondering where the others were… Well, here ya go!

Unconscious - Mummy | Awase, Kaibara, Tsuburaba

Slice - Ashido, Tokoyami, Kuroiro, Kamakiri, Rin

Chimera - Shishida, Iida, Asui, Todoroki, Kirishima, Kendo, Tetsutetsu

Nine - Bakugo, Izuku, Setsuna, Shiozaki, Yanagi, Kodai, Monoma, Manga, Honenuki | Aoyama, Momo, Uraraka, Sero, Mineta, Kaminari

[Monoma - Bakugou, Todoroki, Tetsu, Manga, Kamakiri]

Reserves - Shoji, Jirou, Sato, Koda, Hagakure, Ojiro, Pony, Komori, Shoda, Bondo