Ch. 6: Swan Song

[UA High, 10:04 AM JST]

3rd Person POV

The prestigious high school full of potential heroes was in shambles. The Grand Sight of the H-shaped building was no more, as two of the four towers had collapsed to the ground. The forest-like gardens surrounding the academy campus had also been swallowed by fire, with massive ruptures manifesting on the ground, plunging everything near it into the hot lava underneath.

The situation was like a massive riot. Everyone was thinking for themselves, as they were corrupted by fear. The teachers were trying their best to take control of the situation, but it was a really hard challenge for them, as over 600 students were rioting like panicking monkeys.

Suddenly, a bob-haired brunette covered with a sheet of fabric appeared out of thin air, lying limply on the ground in the middle of the red-bricked pathway towards the main building.

Her sudden appearance startled the panicking students and gained the attention of a long-haired, sleep-deprived teacher who was trying to calm the students down with his colleagues. The raven-haired teacher immediately rushed to her side, seeing the terrible bruise on her neck and her overall condition.

"Principal Nezu! We got a situation over here!" He shouted towards the line of teachers, who were trying to evacuate while also managing the horde of panicking students. Suddenly, a dog-bear-mouse-looking animal clad in a suit came to his aid.

"What happened to her?" The animal known as Nezu asked the raven-haired man, examining the horrible condition of her body.

The raven-haired teacher could only shake his head, in confusion while also telling the principal that this was not the right time. In his sleep-deprived eyes were only worriness towards the unconscious girl in front of him. He may not be the best example of a teacher, as the majority of the time he has, he used it to sleep to gain the energy he lost. But one thing for certain was that he cares about people in his own way.

"It's best to get her and everyone else out of here. We can find out about all that later when it's all safe." The man answered as he lifted the girl in his arms and began to rush out of the school, with Principal Nezu following on his tail.

They were the last ones to get out of the academy campus, following the students and teachers into a mountain full of trees and grass. On the way, they met many people who were also evacuating, horror and sadness plastered on all of their faces.

"Everyone! Follow us! We're going to the evacuation spot! You'll be safer with us!" The raven-haired man shouted towards the evacuating citizens, who immediately complied as they rushed behind him, following the group of students and teachers.

As they were running through the woods, the man looked back at the following citizens and saw a scene that made his heart ache.

A mother was carrying her daughter in her arms. She was not older than 30 years old, clearly attractive enough to get a saleswoman job just by her looks. And her daughter, about 3 years old, judging by her appearance, almost the time for her quirk to manifest.

"Mommy...w-when i-is this...g-going to e-end..?" Uttered a little girl in her mother's arms, her voice shaking in fear as she clung to her mother tightly.

The mother was uncertain of what to answer, as she was uncertain if this calamity they were experiencing has an end to it. But she didn't want her beloved daughter to hurt even more, so she simply stroked her hair and leaned down to kiss the top of her head, as lovingly as she could.

"Soon sweetie...soon.." The mother answered her daughter's question, her tone was kind and calming, and it made the raven-haired man's heart ache even more.

'...Will there be an end to this nightmare...?' He questioned himself, feeling uncertain of what the answer was. He shook his head and swallowed a lump in his throat, throwing away the thought, and continued to look forward towards where they were headed.

After a while full of running, they finally set foot on a meadow, a contrast to the scenery they rushed through before, a forest full of thick trees. It was like a paradise surrounded by hell. The grass was still green, not tainted by ash, and there were no fissures on the ground, making it an ideal spot to wait until they were evacuated.

The raven-haired man then set the injured brunette down on the ground, on top of the scarf he was wearing, and looked at her injuries. She was only wearing her undergarments, and bruises were scattered throughout her body, but the worst one was the bruise on her neck, as it was swelling purple.

"Poor girl...What happened to you..." The man uttered, before looking to his right, the sight of a gigantic pillar of flames blazing fiercely towards the heavens as it blackened the sky above it, raining molten rock and fire.

"What will happen to us..?" He silently muttered to himself, feeling an unimaginable dread slithering his spine.

Suddenly the sounds of rushing footsteps gained the attention of the people there. They all snapped their heads at the source of the sound, only to find even more people who were evacuating the city.

Out of the crowd of newcomers, the ones that caught the sleep-deprived teacher's eyes were The Number Four Hero, Best Jeanist, and The Number Ten Hero, Miruko. They both looked worn out, as they did their utmost best in rescuing the people who were in danger, but Miruko in particular looked childishly upset about something.

"Goddamnit! What's with the apocalypse suddenly happenin' huh?! I just wanted a nice day off, then suddenly a freakin' crack split the ground below me! I was orderin' a nice carrot smoothie to go with the apple pie I was eatin'! Can't it just delay like...a day or somethin'?!" Mirko grumbled as she stomped the ground repeatedly, creating small cracks beneath her rabbit foot.

The raven-haired teacher sweatdropped, seeing her childish reaction about this whole thing. But he was a bit envious of her since she had a day off but he didn't. 'Why can't I get a day off like her...I barely got any sleep last night, and the principal suddenly told us that a sudden training day was going to happen today...Damnit, I need coffee..' He sulked to himself on the sideline, still treating the unconscious brunette. But at least he was not thinking about the end of the world for a moment, which brought a slight smile to himself.

"Relax Miruko, once The United Nations sent The Golden Rays to evacuate the city and if possible, the whole country out of danger, you can have all the carrot smoothies you want. What we need to think about right now is the safety of the citizens, as our duty is to prioritize the safety of others before ourselves. Also...why are you grumbling about not having the carrot smoothie to me while this whole ordeal is happening...? Isn't that the most unimportant thing to talk about right now?" Best Jeanist sweatdropped at his fellow top ten hero, who gritted her teeth and glared at him, making him sweat drop even more.

'The Golden Rays?! They're coming?!' The raven-haired teacher widened his eyes as he cut out the rest of what the number four hero uttered. He got his eyes locked on The Rabbit Hero who began to bicker with the denim-clad hero, but he was not listening to them at all, as the attention he gave was to The Golden Rays who were coming to their aid. This thought process made him cut out all sounds around him, making him unaware of the principal approaching him from his left.

"Hmm? Mr. Aizawa, what is it?" The chimera principal asked, curious as to why the usually emotionless teacher was so shocked about something.

The raven-haired teacher now known as Aizawa snapped out of his trance and looked to his left, seeing the principal climbing onto his shoulder.

"The Golden Rays are coming sir?" He asked, asking for a confirmation from the principal.

"Apparently so, as I heard about that too accidentally when a conversation from behind me caught my ear. I guess we didn't get informed because we're a bit far from the city, where the announcement was being aired." Principal Nezu answered as he brought one of his paws to his chin.

"Aren't their hands' full sir? I mean I get that they're a whole army specialized in rescue, but I can't imagine them doing all of these evacuations spontaneously...especially since this calamity affected the whole world." Aizawa slowly lowers his voice as he finishes his sentence, confusion in his tone of speaking.

The principal brought a paw to ruffle the raven-haired teacher's hair, gently smiling at him trying to assure him that there was nothing to be worried about.

"No need to be so worryful, Mr. Aizawa. I'm sure they can handle it. Besides, isn't it a good thing that The Golden Rays are coming?" Principal Nezu answered his question with his own, even though he already knew the answer to what Aizawa was going to say, before looking at everything around him and jumped off Aizawa's shoulder, walking towards Miruko and Best Jeanist.

As Aizawa watched the principal walk away, he couldn't help but think about how the principal was handling this whole ordeal. He was too composed...way too composed. The world felt like it was going to end, yet there was no single feeling of fear from his expression, which got him thinking, 'How can he be so carefree about this whole thing? The world is basically crumbling around him yet he's still the same.' Aizawa pondered to himself a bit agitated, questioning the principal's actions towards everything that had happened. He then leered his eyes on the orange hue painting the sky, coming out of the giant pillar of flames in the far distance.

"De...ku..." A raspy feminine voice interrupted his thoughts. Aizawa looked down at the source of the sound, who was the lying brunette in front of him. Her whole body was quivering and shivering, and tears slowly fell down her eyes.

He immediately opened a bottle of water he brought and lifted the brunette's upper body.

"Here. Drink this." Aizawa said as he fed the brunette the water bottle, who immediately gulped it down as if she hadn't drunk a whole month.

After setting her down again, the girl slowly opened her eyes, brown pools hazily looking around her surroundings, still unable to fully understand what was happening, until her eyes met Aizawa's black ones.

"Who...are..you...?" The girl weakly asked the man in front of her, followed by her coughing violently.

"Sshh...you need to rest. Your body is in a bad condition, so you should rest right now." Aizawa said to her. But she completely ignored what he said, as she began to slowly bring her upper body back up again, hissing in pain as she did so.

"No...I need..to find...Deku..." The girl uttered, her eyes going left and right searching this 'Deku' she was talking about.

"Miss, please rest. You're in no condition to be moving your body right now. I'm sure this 'Deku' you're looking for is somewhere safe." Aizawa said, landing a hand on her shoulder as he gently pushed her down again, laying her on top of his grey scarf. As he was doing so, Principal Nezu came approaching them bringing a new set of clothing on his paws, smiling ever so carefreely.

"Here you go, a new set of clothing for the missy." The principal said as he lent Aizawa the clothes.

"Where did you get this, sir?" Aizawa asked as he grabbed the new set of clothes; a nice pink T-shirt complemented with white accents going down the shoulders in two straight lines and two more around the sleeves, with a black short-pants overall made out of soft denim to top it all off.

Aizawa then gently lifted the girl's upper body again and guided her to put the shirt on, the size somehow accurate to her as it hugged her body comfortably. He then slowly helped her to wear the overall, finally giving the brunette the sense of comfort she needed as it was unpleasant to only wear underwear with all of those people near her. Even though lecherous eyes was not the main issue at the moment, still it was uncomfortable nonetheless. As he was doing so, The Principal explained how he got them in the first place.

"A girl offered me her help in making the shirt, as she saw her condition when we were still on the move and was deeply concerned about her. Apparently, she came from The Yaoyorozu family. And as for the denim overall, it was a gift from our very own Best Jeanist!" Principal Nezu said bubbly, pointing to The Number Three Hero, who was addressing and taking care of the evacuated citizens with the other heroes on the scene.

Aizawa couldn't take it anymore, as he became fed up with how carefree the principal is acting about this whole thing. Everyone here was suffering, plastered on their faces the expression of sadness and grief. Yet here in front of him, Principal Nezu was smiling like his usual self, as if nothing even happened.

Shadows covered Aizawa's eyes as his expression became bitter. He gently laid the brunette down again to rest and stared at his fist. Battle-scarred knuckles turned white as soon as he clenched it. The raven-haired man then gritted his teeth and glared at the principal, who was still standing in front of him.

"Why are you so carefree about this whole thing?! People all over the world are in danger and they are suffering! We are suffering right now, and yet you're standing there still with that everyday smile of yours! With all due respect, the world is ending right at this very moment, sir! Aren't you at least scared that people you care about might be in danger?!" Aizawa lashed out at the chimera principal, who began to look down at the ground and closed his eyes, his expression that was cheerful contorted into an expression full of hopelessness.

"You're right Mr. Aizawa. The world might come to an end today...thousands if not millions are dying at this very moment...But if it all ends today," Principal Nezu uttered, before looking at him with tears welling up in his eyes, taking Aizawa aback at the sudden huge shift of emotions.

"Wouldn't it be better if it is a happy ending?" The chimera principal stated, giving him the brightest smile he could muster.

Aizawa widened his eyes in shock, as a revelation surfaced in his mind. 'He's actually taking all the burden for himself...His own fear, the students', and our own...He's smiling not to give hope to people, but to make people feel comforted, to erase all their fears as the world begins to cave in on itself...' Aizawa thought with a pit in his stomach. He hadn't thought about that, as he was too occupied by his own emotions, and lashed out at the principal brashly, which now left a feeling of guilt in him.

But out of the blue, a shriek of terror snapped him out of his guilt-ridden thoughts.

"W-WHAT IS THAT?!?!"

Everyone snapped their heads towards the source of the scream, to see a woman in her forties.

She was pale as ice. Her eyes were teary and shrunken in fear. She had fallen on her butt on top of the grassy ground, crawling away from something while shakily pointing her finger to the ashen sky.

They all looked at where she was pointing, only to feel death knocking at their doors.

A mysterious creature was diving at an alarming speed towards the field. The sound of wind surrounding it is similar to the sound of a speeding bullet and streamlines formed on the back of its jet-black wings.

It crashed on top of dozens of civilians with high velocity, creating a cloud of smoke around it while also cracking the ground. From the cloud of smoke, they could hear the sounds of agony and pain, accompanied by the sounds of tearing flesh and breaking bones ringing through their ears.

Color drained from all of their faces as they heard the shrill screams of death, and their bodies began to tremble in fear as blood sprayed aggressively everywhere across the ground outside of the smoke.

They all couldn't do anything except standing still. The fear of the unknown had taken over their minds. Aizawa and the other heroes could only witness the scene in fear and regret plastered on their faces. They cursed themselves as they weren't able to act in time, or even do anything in general, because the fear was too overwhelming for them.

Then, as the ear-piercing screams began to fade away, leaving only a dreadful silence as the smoke slowly began to disappear, an eldritch gurgle was heard with dozens of red dots glowing from within the smoke, striking the fear-stricken civilians with uneasiness.

Then the being inside the smoke began to speak, or vomit out words to be more precise. Its voice was almost inexplicable as it was too covered by the beastly growl the creature was making.

"ToYS hEre, tOyS THeRe, TOys eVEryWhEre! LeTS hAvE sOme FUN!!!"

Then with a swift motion, the cloud of smoke was blown away, revealing what the creature really looks like, and disgusting was an understatement.

It looked like a combination of a slug and a spider, and it sent a feeling of disgust towards everyone that saw it. Standing over 9 meters tall, the creature had eight limbs sprouting from the side of its slug-like body. Two pairs were used as legs, and the two others were used with the same purpose as hands, with razor-sharp talons protruding from each end. Its dark red skin was drenched in blood, and on the front side of its body, dozens of glowing red eyes were planted from top to bottom. And in the middle of those eyes was a giant mouth, grinning widely, showing off its giant spiky teeth painted with the blood of whoever unlucky souls were near it.

Its many eyes glanced around, looking at the horrified citizens with a psychopathic gleam as if it was looking at its next meal in great hunger.

Then, its smile grew wider, as it released such an unpleasant sound from its innards in satisfaction, making everyone shiver in their place. Even the heroes were stuck in place with wide eyes and pale faces.

Aizawa's stomach churned in abhorrence. It was as if he was looking at a creature from the very depths of one's cursed imagination, crawling itself to life.

'What...is that...?'

Hundreds of spikes grew out of its back, making it look like a blasphemous amalgamation of a hedgehog, slug, and spider. Each spike was roughly 95 cm long, with the diameter of a small missile. The spikes then began to rattle and twitch violently, making the people flinch anxiously. But no one really knew what purpose those spikes are for, except one person.

Aizawa widened his eyes in realization, before shouting to the fastest hero to handle the situation at the moment in panic.

"MIRUKO!!"

The Rabbit Hero in question snapped out of her trance as she heard the scream. She glanced at Aizawa for a quick moment, understanding what he meant, before looking back at the ecstatic monster, building up the courage in herself. 'Ya got this Rumi...These thighs are ain't for nothin'. These babies can topple a building for fuck sake! C'mon girl! Where's your cocky smirk?!' Mirko motivated herself, trying to gain the courage as time felt slow for her at the moment, even though in reality she was thinking for only a couple of milliseconds.

She took a quick breath with her eyes closed, before exhaling and adorning her classic cocky smirk on her face. 'There ya go, girl! Let's fuck this monster up!!' She cheered to herself, feeling the excitement she used to have coursing through her veins again.

"OI SLUGGY! HOW ABOUT BROKEN TEETH FOR BREAKFAST?!?!" She roared as she lowered her body and bent her rabbit legs, her calve muscles and quadriceps bulged in the pressure of the power she was charging up. With a shout, Miruko leaped off towards the monster with such force, the ground cave in below her and gusts of wind following her as she sped off like a bullet of a sniper.

The monster looked at the flying rabbit with all of its eyes, trying to pinpoint her location, but it was a second too late because Miruko was already in front of it with her rabbit feet planted on its jagged teeth.

"LUNA DIVE!"

Driven by the powerful force of her jump and the strength of her legs, Miruko instantly went through the creature's mouth and out of its back, breaking a third of its teeth. The monster screeched in pain, opening its mouth widely and flailing its tongue around as it spurts out blood from its mouth and the hole which Miruko came out of.

Covered in blood, The Rabbit Hero sled on the ground as the blood of the monster made the ground slippery, before looking back at it with a cocky grin, cheering to herself while also taunting the monster.

"HOW'S YOUR MEAL SLUGGY?!" Mirko provoked, to give a sense of determination to the other heroes, telling them that there was nothing to worry about and that they could handle this.

It struck down like a lightning, as their fearful faces began to contort into faces of determination. Mirko's taunt worked as a spark in their fuse, pushing them forward and breaking their shackles of fear. 'Take down the creature so that everyone is safe' echoed in their minds as they all began to unleash hell at the creature with war cries coming out of their mouths.

"COMBAT HEROES, TAKE DOWN THE CREATURE! RESCUE HEROES, TAKE THE CIVILIANS AWAY FROM HERE!! DO NOT FALTER, WE MAKE OUR STAND NOW!!" Best Jeanist took charge, glaring in concentration at The Monster, who gurgled out blood in anger as its wound began to slowly close in on itself. It seemed that the creature had some sort of a regeneration ability, but it was not as effective as the creature had thought, as the rain of attacks the combat heroes unleashed started to wear it thin. This annoyed the creature to no end, as the monster unleashed a growl from its belly with its eyes glaring in frustration at the tiny heroes attacking it from every side.

"ToYs DOn'T FigHT bACk, ThEy'RE sUpPOsED TO bE pLAyED WItH!!!" The monster gurgled out as its four upper limbs elongated, popping out its joints as they went limp by its sides. The spikes on its back also grew longer, rattling like a snake as it vibrated in anger.

The monster then began to flail its four arms around, the razor-sharp talons on each end cutting everything within its reach easily. With each swing of one of its limbs, two heroes fell to the hands of death as sliced up meat. Blood sprayed the battlefield as the sounds of pain and agony decorated it once more.

But the heroes still made their stand, either fear of death kept them in their place, or true self-sacrifice steeled their hearts from that particular reason. They kept on unleashing all they got, way beyond their physical limitations, ignoring the drawbacks they had as the only thing to drown out the pain was to let their voice break.

But the monster was too strong, too damn strong. The rain of attacks barely did anything to it, as it kept on regenerating and regenerating. Even though the regeneration was not as fast as before, it still kept up with the pace of the attacks the heroes sent out.

Best Jeanist coughed out blood from his mouth as he kept his focused glare at the monster, his eyes and nose bloodied from using his quirk for too long. The denim fibers on his costume were starting to dwindle out, as the majority of it was used to strain the monster from moving, even though it was useless as the monster kept on moving freely, easily tearing apart his fabric.

'Might as well make this my last stand.' Best Jeanist thought with no hesitation or uncertainty. With all the strength he had left, he slowly clenched his hands as he shakily brought them back, the veins near his eyes bulged as streams of blood flowed out of them. 'This is something I didn't think I'll ever use, as the repercussions it has on me is tremendous. But for the safety of others, I will not hesitate.' He thought before fully clenching his palms.

The monster's movement immediately stopped, taking the assaulting heroes aback. Its maniacal grin turned into a deep frown. The muscles under its blood-red skin were pulsating in pain as if something was controlling it against its will. The eldritch being's eyes frantically looked everywhere, trying to find the culprit, until they met Best Jeanist's turquoise ones, looking back at it with his own fierce glare as blood kept flowing freely out of his eyes.

"I WILL NOT LET ANY MORE LIVES BE LOST!!" Best Jeanist declared at the top of his lungs, shakily rotating his hands inward. As a result, the monster's body began to slowly twist itself. Its limbs began to mangle itself out, twisting and snapping as gruesomely as possible, and Its face (?) began to deform as it spurts out blood everywhere.

The heroes looked at it with horrified and disgusted faces, stopping their bombardment of attacks as they were too overwhelmed by the sheer horror the sight was. It was way, way worse than the gruesomest scene they had ever seen in their entire lives, and will probably imprint itself within their minds for the rest of their lives if they would still be alive after this of course.

"Q-Quickly, Finish..this monster off!! I c-can't do this...much longer!" Best Jeanist growled as he struggled to even stand, with blood now gushing out of his ears. The heroes snapped back to reality and began to continue their assault, but they were unaware of what was coming for them.

On another side of the battlefield, Aizawa was seen leaning the brunette on a tree near the crowd of UA students, before looking back at the gut-wrenching scene and noticed something that made his eyes widened in horror. He had always been a keen person, being able to notice and remember the littlest of details in the back of his head. He used that skill of his to be an excellent hero, even though recognition never really came to him. But he neither cared nor wanted that in the first place, as those were hindrances in his eyes.

When he first glanced his eyes at the monster, he knew the exact number of spikes that were growing out of its back. And when he looked at it again, gurgling in pain as its body deforming itself, he immediately knew that something was off. 'Where's the other three?!' Aizawa thought in a state of panic, before seeing heroes fall to their deaths one by one by an unknown force. He squinted his eyes to get a better look and immediately widened them back, as he instantly knew what caused their deaths. Three spikes were flying around like bullets, drilling basketball-sized holes into their bodies.

He immediately sprung into the scene, his legs moving his body as fast as they can carry. He immediately cut out all the shouts of his fellow colleagues and students, begging him to come back to them and yelling at him that it was too dangerous.

"Tch! That gloomy asshole!! He's gonna get himself killed!!" A tall and scrawny man growled in frustration. He had long blond hair curving upwards and adorned a classic rock-style/biker gang outfit. A speaker of some sort was strapped around his neck, and vibrant yellow sunglasses covered his eyes.

"Imma go after him. You all wait here!" He said before bolting off after the raven-haired teacher.

"Yamada wai-!!" A long black-haired woman shouted towards the man, but he didn't even steal a glance and kept on rushing forward. The woman gritted her teeth and sighed deeply, before looking back at the students who looked back at her, their young eyes showed worriness towards both of their teachers who were possibly throwing their lives away. She couldn't do anything to ease their worries, but she smiled back at them, reassuring them that it was all going to be fine, even though she wasn't so sure about that herself.

"They'll be fine. UA only hires the finest of heroes after all. Just pray for them.."

Back to Aizawa, he was darting his eyes around trying to find the three spikes but was struggling to do so. It was flying around with the speed of literal bullets, drilling holes into people like it was the easiest thing in the world. 'Damn it! More heroes will die if this keeps on happening! They should all just run away! They have almost zero chance of winning except for the top ten heroes! Come on! Come on! Where are those things?!' Aizawa thought as his legs kept on carrying his body with the speed of a professional sprinter.

Either the Universe was doing him a favor or just pure coincidence, one of the spikes was caught in his peripheral, but where it was heading made Aizawa's stomach drop. The spike was descending straight towards Best Jeanist who was kneeling on the ground with no energy left in his body. The number four hero's body was trembling, with veins of blood bulging out and pulsating throughout his body. He was already way past his limits, and if he pushes himself to keep going, he won't even last a couple of hours.

Aizawa without even knowing it himself subconsciously bolted towards where Best Jeanist was. And somehow the Universe was helping him again, as he arrived just in the nick of time where the spike was a couple of meters away from making Best Jeanist a doughnut. With his instincts kicking in like a jolt of lightning, Aizawa leaped towards the denim-clad hero and threw his scarf at the spike. The bandage-like scarf wrapped itself perfectly around the spike, stopping its drilling motion and descent towards the frail number four hero. He then spun himself in midair and threw the spike back at the monster.

Being free from the scarf's grasp, the spike started to rapidly spin again while flying towards the monster. Its velocity increased rapidly every millisecond passes until it was as fast as a .220 Swift with the force of twenty ballistas.

The spike instantly went through the monster, right through one of its eyes and out of its back like an exploding pimple. The monster screeched in pain as its organs exploded out of its body, raining blood and painting the green grass red. All heroes stopped their onslaught and looked upon in shock and astonishment, their bodies painted red by the blood of the monster.

'What...just..happened..?'

Aizawa threw aside his thought and looked at the giant hole he created in the monster. A blood-red crystal as big as his fist was seen right in the middle of it, surrounded by contorting and bulging strands of muscles to keep it in place. He didn't know the reason why, but at that moment he instantly knew that the crystal has a crucial role in the monster, so he did what he did a couple of minutes ago.

"MIRUKO!!"

"I GOT IT!! Jeez, my feet hurt from kicking those spikes away...What're they even made out of?!" Mirko mumbled to herself as she lowered her body. Her leg muscles bulged, charging up the power and velocity she needed to finish the job. She then leaped off towards the monster into the gaping hole in the middle of it and kicked the crystal with her forefoot, instantly shattering it to pieces. The crystal then immediately turned to dust and the monster immediately went limp, flatlined.

The Rabbit Hero flew out the gaping hole and high into the air, having accidentally used too much power on the jump earlier. And while in the air, the sight of the city was shown to her, and it gave her the sense of dread trickling down her spine.

Thousands of monsters were roaming the streets, tearing and destroying everything that they see. The Monsters were even more terrifying and incomprehensible than the one that she and the other heroes just faced, varying in sizes from small cars, up to monsters that were as tall as ten-story buildings.

Structures that were still standing a few minutes ago have now been flattened. Flames swallowed buildings upon buildings, landscapes upon landscapes, even unlucky people who didn't do anything wrong to deserve such fate, turning the once city of promising heroes into the city of flaming corpses.

The eldritch beings were doing whatever they liked, especially towards the people who were unfortunate enough not to be swallowed by the flames or flattened by falling rubbles. Eating them, flailing them like dolls, violating them like they're some sort of sex toys, or straight up just tearing them apart, spilling out their innards, and throwing them aside like trash.

The heroes that were still in the middle of the city were nowhere to be seen. Either they ran away, or death already came knocking at their doors.

Mirko let it all sink in as the time fell to a halt. And a feeling alien to herself surfaces inside her mind.

'The world really is ending huh...?

I suppose I should've done more in life...Done more charity to the orphans, meetin' the fans more... All I've done is just kickin' villain's asses and relaxin' on day-offs...

I guess I can never redeem myself to ma...I mean, who in their right mind would forgive their daughter for running away from home, from far south in 'Shima, all the way to Osaka just to fight tough guys?!

The last time I saw her was when I was only sixteen...can't believe it's been eight years since then...

I guess I don't live up to my sayings..."Live with no regrets!!" my ass, I'm regretting everything right now! The Hell!!

I guess a piece of shit like me deserve this, dyin' with their regrets resurfacing just in the last-'

"MIRUKO! WATCH OUT!!" A scream cut off her train of thoughts. Mirko blinked as she returned to reality and heard an inhuman screech from her right side. She turned to her right and saw a giant hairless bird with six human arms sprouting out of its chest coming at her at breakneck speed.

Since she was still in the air, she couldn't maneuver herself to avoid the monster. She could just splatter its brain to bits by kicking it in the head, but it would be risky since its beak was open wide, showing off its saw-like teeth. 'Shit.' The Rabbit Hero braced herself, clenching her eyes shut and crossing her arms to cover her head. It was a futile technique, but it was the only thing she could think of in the spur of the moment.

'Damn it!! I don't want to die!! Not Yet!!' Mirko thought in despair as tears leaked out of her eyes, bracing herself to become this monster's snack. But death never came, only the boom of a shockwave with the sounds of bones breaking and deforming flesh caught her rabbit ears.

As The Rabbit Hero slowly fell to the earth with her back facing the ground, time fell into slow motion. She slowly opened her eyes and saw a glimpse of grey flames, glowing red eyes, and black, shineless hair blurring past to her left. She didn't know who it was, nor she wanted to know, at least for the moment, as the emotional strain was taking a heavy toll on her. Mirko closed her eyes and exhaled a sigh of relief as a pure, grateful smile appeared on her face, and time went to normal again.

"Oopsie daisy! Got you." Mirko was then caught by a UA student, whose long, entwined periwinkle hair and entrancing figure stood out the most. A yellow swirl of energy was seen right below The Rabbit Hero's body, slowing down her descent towards the ground as the UA student accompanied her descent.

As they were slowly descending to the ground, Mirko couldn't help but ask.

"Hey girl, what's your name?"

The girl turned her face facing The Rabbit Hero. Her circular-looking, periwinkle-colored eyes showing off a ditzy, carefree, and curious nature somehow gave Miruko a sense of calm in this Apocalypse surrounding her.

"You're talking to me?" The periwinkle girl answered her question with her own. Mirko scoffed as a chuckle escaped her breath. The girl tilted her head in confusion, not having a single clue on why The Rabbit Hero was chuckling to herself.

"Of course I'm talking to you. Do you see anyone else this high up in the air?" Mirko questioned back as an amused smirk appeared on her face. The girl turned her head left and right, before looking back at Miruko while shaking her head.

"No." The girl answered Miruko's question, who could only deadpan at her answer, as the answer she got wasn't what she wanted. Or maybe she was just deadpanning at the sheer ditziness the girl was showing.

"What's your name?" Mirko asked again, emphasizing the 'name' part of her question.

"Ah! My name is Nejire Hado!" The girl answered rather too cheerfully in this 'End of The World' scenario they were in the middle of. 'What hit this girl's head when she was little...?' Mirko sweatdropped as she was a bit taken aback at how the girl was acting towards her, especially when everyone basically thinks that the world was going to end right then and there. Shouldn't people be more..depressed or scared, or something like that when it happens?... Maybe that's just her.

"Well, Hado...I-, erm...Did you happen to see...um..th-the one who killed that big ugly bird thing..?" Mirko asked rather embarrassedly, looking away timidly with a mild blush appearing on her cheeks. 'Ugh, never gave others my gratitude before...It's harder than I thought, and it's so fuckin' embarrassing...Guess being a tough girl has its drawbacks too huh...Becoming a stuttering mess when they're tryna say thanks to someone that helped them...' Mirko silently groaned to herself. The girl now known as Nejire put a finger on her chin as she pondered for a moment, before looking back at The Rabbit Hero with a smile on her face.

"Ah, I see! You like the guy don't you?" Nejire bluntly asked with a closed-eye smile. Hearing her question, Miruko's eyes went wide and the mild blush on her cheeks darkened. Her jaw dropped as she struggled to speak for a moment, bewildered by a personal question suddenly appearing out of the blue.

"Huh?! W-Whaddaya mean like?! A-as in romantically?! I didn't even see their face! H-h-how didya even made that assumption?! " Mirko stuttered. Nejire only giggled hearing what Miruko said, focusing her attention on the ground below as they slowly descended towards it.

"Besides, I just wanna...y'know....say thanks and all..." She continued as her voice shrank to a mere mumble. Hearing Miruko's response, Nejire looked at The Rabbit Hero and gave her a grin. She then threw it all aside and answered the question Miruko gave her.

"I was kidding, Mirko. As for your question, I saw it. Everyone did. That bird thing was blown to bits like a snap of a finger. It was in a blink, and its guts were already flying off everywhere. It was disgusting, yet so cool at the same time. All I saw was a figure with grey flames surrounding their body, flying with speeds that All Might couldn't even achieve, colliding with the bird monster and punching it in the face...? I think. It was too fast for me to see..." Nejire said as they began to close in on the ground.

Mirko's eyes widened as the last sentence echoed in her mind. 'Speeds that All Might couldn't even achieve?!?! All Might's way faster than I am!! And killing that thing in a single strike...We barely won against sluggy over there and this guy basically one punched that bird thingy...There's no way...' She trailed off, looking at the ever-blazing pillar of fire in the far distance.

"I guess it was too fast to see them clearly huh..." Mirko mumbled to herself a little disappointed. Nejire heard this and looked at The Rabbit Hero rather confusedly.

"Didn't you see it more clearly than I do? You were merely inches away from being that bird thing's snack after all. Surely at least you see their face right?" Nejire asked her again. Mirko looked at her periwinkle eyes and shook her head.

"Nope. All I saw were glowing red eyes and black, wild, shineless hair. It was way too fast, even from my distance, to actually capture their face. It was like a blur.." Mirko replied as they began to close in on the ground, the sight of heroes and civilians approaching them caught in her line of sight.

'Sorry, mystery guy...I'll say thanks to you later. I wanna have a carrot smoothie and a three-hour nap first..' Mirko said in her mind as if she was talking to the man who saved her telepathically. She and Nejire then finally landed on the ground, greeted by the heroes who had grief all over their faces.

It was silent, and the only sound heard was the sounds of roaring monsters wreaking havoc in the city. No one congratulated each other, and no one celebrated the defeat of the monster. Their loss was too big, too impactful to be celebrated with joy. All of their heads were held down, in respect to the fallen heroes who died at the hands of the wretched monster, and in regret towards the innocent civilians that were killed in the fray.

'Ah...I've always hated this...Mourning the losses we couldn't save...Makes me feel incompetent...Bah! The Hell am I saying?! Just show some respect ya damn rabbit!!'

Switching to a different sight, the bob-haired brunette shakily got up to her feet and looked at the ashen sky, in the direction where the man covered in grey flames was heading towards. Concern was the only thing readable in her expression as she slowly walked forward, stumbling here and there because she was still recovering. And just as she was about to set foot on the grassy field, she stopped.

Principal Nezu, who was not far from her, glanced his eyes at the girl whose back was facing him with curiosity sparking inside his mind.

Tears leaked out of the brunette's eyes as her lips quivered. She sniffled and sobbed, trying to hold back her tears but to no avail. She then began to silently cry to herself, wanting no one but her to bear the burden she was carrying.

~OOO~

Ochako POV

'Deku, what happened to you?

Where did those bright eyes go? Those circular orbs that had always brightened my day..? Filling me with joy in times of hardships?

They were so full of rage, Deku...Those eyes of yours...

I was so scared when I opened my eyes and caught a glimpse of you...Scared of what you may become...

But I was so happy at the same time! You finally have the ability to save people now! That's all that matters right?

...Right?

But even though I was so scared when I saw you...I felt....pity, too...

It was like you were in pain...in pain from the exact emotion you were letting out...

That flaming rage of yours...

But then...as I saw you disappearing in a blink of an eye, there came another reason for me to feel pity towards you...

It was as if...

You only exist to carry the burdens of other people...putting everyone on your back as you walk through fires and storms...

And it was as if...

Your whole purpose of existing is only to suffer...'

[10:41 AM JST]

To Be Continued