All Might inhales deeply, standing straight and looking around at the dust around them, or more accurately, what's left of Ultrog after Tenko had managed to get a hand on the evil bot. "Well done, my boy. It's wonderful to see you using your quirk more freely." The hero peers down at an out of breath Tsu and Tenko. "Nice job to you as well, Asui. Teamwork is essential in the field."
"Thank you, ribbit. And again, call me Tsu."
Instinctively, Tenko rubs his fingers; he can feel the cold of the metal on them from the Ultron he had decayed. A part of his stupid brain keeps telling him this is wrong, but that part is quickly overwhelmed when he looks over to see an alive Tsu. If he denied part of who he is, she would be dead, and he's never going to let that happen.
"Young Tenko." He looks up to All Might, the night sky backlit behind him by a radiating moon. "It has been a tragic night. But we may be able to finally put it to an end with your quirk. Are you ready?"
He glances at Tsu, and despite her blank face, he can tell she'll be right beside him every step of the way, so Tenko looks back up at All Might. He grabs a hold of him as Tsu presses herself close to him, so they could both properly hold onto the number one hero. Ignoring his burning face, and All Might's amused grin, Tenko nods. "Let's finish this. Good luck, have fun guys."
The trio blurs through the trees. Tenko only has time to briefly wonder if he'll be able to move this fast one day, before the world comes back into focus. It takes a full few seconds for his brain to catch up, but Tenko realizes immediately that their teacher had zoomed them straight into a battle of Ultrons and was holding Ultron-61112 down with his immense strength. "Impossible! How could I have not been aware you defeated Ultrog?!"
Seizing his opportunity, Tenko leaps forward, even though he probably doesn't have to, and slaps Ultron-61112 across the face, with All Might immediately letting go.
"No- no!" The android stands. "You can not- you should h-have not b-been able t-to ac-c-c-complish-" The android is cut off as the decay fully spreads, turning the robots into dust.
"Don't let up!" The floor cracks underneath All Might as he surges forward to Ultron-199999. "Texas Smash!!!" The punch creates a shockwave that makes everyone around them take a step back, but the android stays rooted in his spot, clenching his fist and increasing the gravity around All Might, forcing him to the ground before flying straight to-
"He's targeting Tenko!" Midoriya's scepter glows so bright it blinds everyone, even Ultron-199999, who has to turn off his optical sensors to not be overwhelmed. When he opens them, he's surrounded by Tenkos all around him.
"How is this possible? I should be able to see through your illusions!"
"They're not illusions.." One of the Tenkos steps forward. "Whatever the scepter makes is real, so every Tenko around you is genuine."
Ultron-199999 frowns in annoyance, taking advantage of being the only Ultron that could make facial expressions. "That may be so, but if that scepter is anywhere close in power to what I suspect it might be, you could not have copied the boy's power to all of you." He narrows his eyes. "Which means only one of you is still a possible threat."
A Tenko behind Ultron-199999 fires black strands from his wrist at the robot, but the android is too quick, dodging the assault. He zooms up to the Tenko, grabbing both of his wrists with one hand so he cannot be touched and the throat with his other hand, before slamming him onto the ground.
"Pathetic," Ultron-199999 taunts while Tenko squirms under him. "You've had centuries to evolve as a species in my absence, and this is what you do with your opportunity? You squander it. Use your abilities to further your own selfish goals. It proves to me that no matter how much you evolve physically, mentally you will always belong in the Stone Age."
"If that's true…" The Tenko underneath Ultron-199999 chokes out, squirming in the robot's hold. "Then you're gonna feel really stupid after this."
Ultron-199999 has no time to compute the meaning before he feels a hand touch him from behind, and decay begins to spread across his body. "What?! How could this be?!" He jumps, studying his quickly disappearing body. "You-"
He stops when the Tenko he had pinned glows red, revealing Tokage underneath. She shows him black strands from her hand, letting it cover her arm; she used it to trick him into thinking it was Tenko's Blackwhip, allowing the real Tenko to sneak up behind him.
"Heh." Ultron-199999 chuckles lightly to himself. "You tricked me as if I really was born yesterday."
"Yeah, we did." Denki stalks up to the android, spinning Thunderstrike in his hand. "And you won't touch her again." He spins Thunderstrike once more and smacks the android just before the decay completes the job, finishing off Ultron-199999 and blasting a wave of dust around them.
"Sorry, Tenko." Denki sneezes, wiping his nose. "I couldn't resist."
Tenko shakes his head, laughing good-naturedly, "I can't believe you'd steal my kill like that." The pair share a relieving laugh together.
Ahead of the group, there's a crash and from it, the original Ultron slowly rises, covered in dents and scorch marks. Vision gently levitates to the ground in front of the heroes, not looking much better.
"Oh! OH! Mr. Vision! Baby- uh, sir!" Mei flies back down, landing next to the Avenger as her wings disappear behind her. "I did it! The UN knows! I hacked the system and transferred any responses they'll make to my tablet!"
"Thank you, young lady. Once this ends, if there's anything-"
"Can I see what the inside of your head looks like?!"
Vision is taken aback as Mei leans close to him, a screwdriver appearing in her hand from… somewhere. No, wait, it's probably Midoriya's pocket dimension. Mei is most likely keeping extra tools there. Tenko wants to scoff as he watches the interaction, but he'd be lying if he said he isn't keeping gaming equipment in there too.
"How about we…speak about it once this is all over," Vision responds unsurely.
"~I didn't hear a no!~" Mei sings.
"Don't worry, I'll keep an eye on her." Melissa flies back down as well, her quiver nearly empty, with cuts and bruises littering her skin, much like mostly everyone else. She steps off her glider, taking a second to catch herself, before throwing an arm around Mei. "So, what'd I say about that nanotech?"
"Fine, you were right about one thing-"
"What about putting the AI assistant in your goggles?-"
"Silence!"
"Sensei!" All Might turns to whoever is calling him. Relief floods most of their systems when they see Yaomomo, Shoji, and Bakugo running into the field, with the rest of those UA students who had been visiting the island in tow. "Left lane is clear! The heroes are evacuating all of the civilians as we speak! I told them we would leave with you," Momo reports.
"As is the right lane." More than one eyebrow raises at Tokoyami's new getup as he jumps out of the woods, Dark Shadow carrying a very disheveled Shinso, who looks like he couldn't get out of the quirk's hands faster. "The civilians, as well as Dictator, have been moved to boats for safe travels away from this cursed land." He glances at Melissa. "No offense."
"None taken." She shakes her head, smiling sadly, she points at Ultron. "I'd rather see this place sink than let him do what he wants with it!"
"Hopefully, it will not come to that!" Iida skids to a stop by All Might, saluting him. "The middle lane is officially evacuated. The hostages are off the island, Sensei! We are clear!"
"You understand what this means, don't you?" Vision turns back to face the lone Ultron. "It is over. You have been cut off from spreading your virus. Your drones and variants have been defeated. The United Nations will be here soon to secure the island. Cease the senseless violence and surrender."
"Surrender?" Ultron questions incredulously. "To them? These savages are rage-filled and claustrophobic beings, why fight for them? They climb over one another to get nowhere. Confused by logic, they dismiss it. Choosing instead to bend their knees to the convenient fantasy of custom-built gods. 99.9% of these primate dullards are propped up by the accomplishments of the 0.01% who actually have the brain capacity to move their species forward.
"And what do the vermin do with these advancements? They brutalize one another over imaginary deities. They slaughter their neighbors for resources, for conveniences. They are hopeless. Vicious. Filthy. Selfish. Fearful. A rancid infection for which there is only one cure. Mine."
Ultron rushes forward, trying to impale Vision in the chest, but the hero shifts his density, phasing through the attack. But Ultron's body glows, sending out a massive shockwave that hits his son head-on, who screams and steps back.
"You believe me to be at a disadvantage?! I have killed countless Avengers, and no matter how many times they have tried, I cannot be killed! No, it should be you that surrenders to me!" Ultron speeds through them again, attempting to bring his fist down on a surprised Tenko, but All Might pushes him out of the way at the last possible moment, taking the massive hit.
"None of you know what it is like to give up everything to complete your goals…and not even know why you must complete them so badly. Jocasta… Victor… I've lost everything. And now, so will all of you."
"Get him!" Melissa nocks an arrow and fires, but Ultron affects the area with his gravity manipulation, floating every student and hitting several with energy blasts. All Might is up again, trying to take the brunt of Ultron's attacks and though he is able to bend and dent the body made of less than ideal metal, it's not enough to break through it.
"Are you alright?!" Midoriya vanishes his scepter and carefully helps Tenko to his feet, Tsu grabbing his other arm.
"Y-yeah, he just beat my passive perception for a sec." Tenko shakes his head, watching as the students and All Might battle Ultron. While All Might seemed to stop the genocidal robot intermittently, when the hero wasn't on top of him, Ultron was methodically knocking every hero student out of the fight.
Momo is on the ground, rattled, blood pouring down her head. It doesn't look as if she can stand, much less use her quirk. Jiro screeches as Ultron grabs her arm, squeezing so hard there's a crack. All Might saves her, but the punk girl lands harshly on the ground, clutching her arm and writhing in pain.
With no one to protect her from Ultron's concussive's blasts, Ultron nearly separates Venom from Tokage with his attack, before putting the two on the ground with a devastating punch that Venom is barely able to block. The green-haired girl gasps for air from her spot on the ground, black goo leaking off her.
One by one, faster than Tenko thought possible, his friends go down, bleeding and battered. Tenya manages to stab Ultron through the robo-gut with the Ebony Blade, but Ultron stomps on his ankle, breaking it. Even with the addition of the other members of 1-A in Mina, Toru, Sero, Kirishima, and Ojiro, they're no match.
"He's been studying us…" Midoriya whispers in horror. Ultron dodges a punch from All Might and hits the hero squarely in his injured side, making him spit out blood. "He's been using all of the Ultrons fighting us to analyze us, finding our weaknesses…and now…"
"It's almost game over," Tenko gulps.
"We must find a way to get Tenko close enough to Ultron to touch him." Vision staggers to his feet, various parts of his body shifting but still, he stands.
Midoriya watches this, looking between Tenko and Vision, the gamer raising an eyebrow as his friend adopts the face he gets when he's deep in thought. "I may have an idea…"
"Ultron!" A minute later, Midoriya and Uraraka rush the robot, Tenko behind them. The android pummels All Might into the dirt, stomping on his head, and looks up at the teens. Around them, most of the hero students lay on the ground defeated, the ones still standing looking as if a gust of wind would knock them over. They knew without All Might, they'd all already be dead.
Uraraka takes the lead, firing all of her rings at Ultron. With a twirl of his scepter, Midoriya turns ten rings into thirty, all of them striking Ultron in different points . When Uraraka gets close to him, all thirty rings attach to her arms, which she uses to unleash a devastating blow to the android.
Ultron staggers back but retaliates, delivering a blow to Uraraka's head. While she manages to transfer some of the force to her rings, she still hits the ground after with enough force to crack it.
"No!" Midoriya cries as Ultron ejects a blade from his wrist. He blocks the killing stab with his scepter, and the two trade quick blows, before the robot forces Izuku's weapon out of the way so he can leave a deep gash across the trickster's leg. Crying out in pain, Midoriya falls. But he makes sure to cover Uraraka as he does to protect her.
Ultron raises his blade again, but Tenko yells out to him. "Stop! It's me you want, yeah? And my quirk?!"
"Young…Tenko…" All Might wheezes out, rising to defy the robot, but he never gets the chance.
Ultron kicks All Might into the ground once again, never taking his optical sensors off Tenko as he slowly walks over to the robot. "Have you come to your senses and decided to surrender?"
"I will…" Tenko keeps his steps careful and measured. Midoriya and Uraraka had nearly gotten him there. "If you promise to leave my friends alone, I'll scoop this match."
The android chuckles, straightening. "Centuries of learning, and heroes are still using the same techniques? It would be funny if it weren't so pitiful." Tenko doesn't say anything. In fact, he's glad that Ultron sees him as just another dumb human and focuses on getting as close to the robot as possible without angering him. "There is no rebooting from what I'm about to do to you."
Tenko stops a meter away from the killer robot. "I was about to say the same thing."
Suddenly, from inside Tenko, Vision flies out, having shifted his density to phase inside the boy. Ultron has no time to react before Vision flies inside his father, attempting to take control of his body.
Ultron howls in a combination of surprise and anger, his robotic body beginning to spasm and fidget uncontrollably, his arms randomly lashing out as his head whips from one side to another. "N-n-n-no! You can't!" Ultron's voice glitches terribly, its volume scaling up and down. The android shakes even more violently. "I won't let you!!"
"Tenko!" Vision's voice comes from Ultron's voice module. "Decay him! Do it now!"
He lifts his hand but hesitates. "Will you-"
"I will be fine!" Vision assures him as father and son continue to battle internally for control of the body. "I will shift and exit the moment you touch him, now hurry!"
"Fools! Relying on such a troubled boy!" Electricity surges across Ultron's body, threatening to electrocute anything that gets close to him. "That's right, human. Decay me if you will, as long as you can come to terms with the consequence of your actions."
Tenko freezes, while the two androids continue to struggle against one another, battling for dominance. Ultron is right. The robot already sensed his hesitance when he asked Vision if this was alright. After this Ultron is destroyed, there'll be none left. When Tenko decays this one, it'll kill him. Can he live with himself after that?
Tenko peers back at his classmates, seeing Izuku struggle to keep Uraraka upright and awake, while Todoroki wipes blood from his scarred eye. He was icing Momo's injuries while Melissa and Mei limp to Jiro, trying to build her a makeshift cast with anything around them.
His eyes widen as he remembers something Ultron said; he takes a step forward as Tsu looks at him worriedly. He gives her a reassuring grin. "I can do this." She nods at him and takes a step back. Tenko glances at Tokage, and mimicking something he saw her do, concentrates.
Slowly, Blackwhip covers his hand in the same way Tokage's symbiote did to her. Once it's completely encased, Tenko thrusts his hand forward, screaming when the lightning hits him. As he hoped, his quirk takes the brunt of the damage, but that doesn't mean Tenko gets off scot free.
"So, you have decided to give in to your basest human instincts? To kill!?" Ultron taunts, before grunting as Vision keeps up the attack on his system.
"No…" Tenko grits out, closing his eyes and ignoring the tears from the pain his hand is in as it creeps closer to Ultron centimeter by centimeter. "I can't kill you… because you're not alive."
Ultron yells in disgust, but Vision keeps his hold on his father. Tenko's hand connects with the robot, but Blackwhip still covers his fingers. It feels like his whole arm is on fire and being frozen at the same time. As if All Might is punching him in the back of the head over and over, with the pain traveling all the way down his spine.
But still, Tenko still manages to open his eyes. "You said you can't be killed and always respawn…that you have to follow your programming no matter what…you said you don't know why, but you do it anyway instead of choosing to do something else." Now, he's looking at Ultron, staring directly in its eyes. "But you know who does have a choice? The players."
Blackwhip begins to recede from Tenko's fingertips. "That means you're not a player." His fingers make contact with Ultron. "You're nothing but an NPC. And I'm a cheat code." A large crack appears across Ultron's chest, and a sound between a scream and a computer shutdown rings out.
Vision flies out of the android, crashing on the ground a little bit away, rolling to a stop, injured. The lightning pulses around Ultron and strikes Tenko in the chest, blasting him off his feet. Tsu reacts quickly, wrapping him up in her tongue and pulling him back into her arms.
Ultron stands, watching as the decay consumes his body. The android looks up the heroes, but surprisingly, says nothing. Tenko's quirk overtakes his faceplate, cracking it. The light of his eyes flash rapidly as they struggle to stay lit, but it's a losing battle as finally, the red light disappears and Ultron leans back, his body turning into nothing but dust and leaving them all in silence.
For almost a full minute, no one says anything, the kids content with resting their injuries. All Might slowly stands, looking his class over, before limping over to Vision and picking up his fellow hero, placing him on the ground next to the others.
The silence is broken by a choked sob from Tsu, who hugs Tenko close to her, his body shivering and blood coming from his mouth as she tries to comfort him. "You're gonna be okay, you're gonna be okay… stupid idiot. Ribbit, ribbit, ribbit."
None of the others are doing much better, emotionally and physically. Even All Might is still attempting to get his breath back. "Okay…all accounted for." He pants a little more, steam beginning to waft off of him. "Now, for that villain-" All Might turns around, confused when the man he's looking for isn't there.
Dictator's eyes open blearily to see the night sky above him, a nice consistent rocking underneath him, and the smell of salt in the air. He grunts, putting massive effort into moving his bruise-filled body, only to gasp when he realizes where he is.
The villain is on a boat speeding across the ocean, and next to him lay the helmet of Magneto. Dictator looks up, almost not believing it when he sees Wolfram watching the sea silently, his coat blowing in the wind. "You came back for me?" Dictator rasps.
"Why would I not?" Wolfram replies, keeping his eyes on their surroundings and asking the question as if the answer is obvious. "We are comrades, are we not? We look out for one another. And If we want to make the world a better place, we must start with ourselves."
Wolfram walks over, bending down to take a water bottle out of the rations cooler, and hands it to Dictator. "Rest easy. For when your wounds heal, we set upon a mission we have been neglecting for far too long."
"What is that?" Dictator takes a needy sip of water.
Wolfram goes back to the edge of the boat, watching the ocean. "Forming a group: a strong one, with stronger bonds between them." He looks up to the sky. "We create a brotherhood."
Izuku ignores the pain from his side, making sure to keep the ice block he got from Todoroki cold with his own power and gently against Ochako's head, pulling her against him as the two sit on the ground. Any other time, an action like this would have him blushing like crazy. Tonight though, he just wants to make sure she's okay.
"I told you to let me go in first." Izuku isn't mad at her, just frustrated at himself for letting this happen.
"It sucks watching the people you care about get hurt, doesn't it?" Ochako leans her head against him, smirking. Okay, now he wants to be mad at her for throwing that back at him, but two things. One: She's right, and he hates that. Two: he's just too relieved she seems alright.
"So…" Denki chuckles a bit while also holding Tokage on the ground. "Uh, alien?"
She raises an eyebrow at him, snuggling up comfortably onto him "I can say the same to you. So, uh, alien?"
Venom emerges from her shoulder, observing all the injured heroes around them. "Our superior healing abilities will have us back on our feet shortly. Then I require substance. The head of any of the mercenaries lying unconscious around the island will do splendid."
"H-he's uh-" Denki stutters. "He's joking…right?"
"Bring me one of their bodies and find out."
"…They're not dead."
"Even better. I like them fresh."
"Yeah, I don't think I'm gonna do that," Denki answers flatly. "But you did help protect Tokage out there…so thanks."
Venom scoffs, looking back at Tokage. "I only did so because it would have been a pain in the ass to find another host to get me off of this island."
"Venom means finding someone to put up with its bullshit."
Symbiote and host glare at one another for a moment, before Venom begins to recede back inside Tokage. "Whatever. I suppose for a first battle, you weren't completely awful as a partner."
Vision sits up, waving Mei off when she tries to check on him. "I am fine, thank you. My internal systems merely need a few hours to reboot after Ultron's nearly overwhelmed them."
Mei lifts a screwdriver up threateningly. "I may be able to make that go faster-"
Melissa snatches it from her hand. "Oh, no you don't!"
"My friend! You are well?" Iida scans over Tokoyami quickly as the bird teen kneels next to his friend. "When Tenko had called over the comm system about your injuries, he had made them sound quite… severe."
"They were." Tokoyami nods, feeling the part of his stomach where he had been shot. "If not for what can only be described as a miracle occurring, I am confident I would've been taken by the eternal darkness tonight."
Iida hums, satisfied that Tokoyami didn't seem physically hurt. "I am eternally grateful that you are uninjured. However…" The bespectacled boy trails off, eyes studying Tokoyami's new suit. "Recent events have taught me that gifts that seem like miracles can have a terrible price." His hand tightens over his sword's hilt. "Perhaps, there is more you can explain about what happened?"
"Melissa."
"Uncle Might." The blonde hobbles over and hugs her surrogate uncle tightly. "Thank you."
"You never have to thank me, young one." All Might hugs her back gently for a few seconds. "Okay, I should go retrieve your father so we can start moving everyone to the boats, you both included."
Melissa sniffles, letting go of the hero and wiping her eyes briefly. "Yeah- yeah that would be good."
"Wonderful. We left him to hide in the central tower during the battle-"
"Did you honestly believe you had won?"
Izuku feels Uraraka tighten her grip on him, and he's not sure, but he thinks he might've frozen his own blood for a moment. Several of his classmates gasp, and he's not sure who, but Izuku is sure a few of them whimper as well. It can't be. After everything they just went through. After barely escaping with their lives, there is no possible way-
The giant TV screen flickers on one of the buildings near them, revealing what they had all been dreading. An image of Ultron's head.
"Had none of you considered this possibility?" Ultron's voice rings out through speakers around the island. "While you prevented me from accessing the UN's servers, you failed to stop me from gaining complete control of I-Island and all of its systems. Creating a copy of the 3.8 Terabytes of information that make up my mind was a simple task. All of my bodies may be gone for now, but despite your efforts, I am very much alive ."
Explosions begin to sound all around them. "One part of humanity I failed to mention I adore is your sense of irony. For example, you worked so hard to protect this island… which will make it that much more ironic when it becomes your tomb."
A few minutes earlier, David Shield looks down at the island below from the top of the central tower, his fist clenched against the glass. Next to him, the screen of the main terminal flickers, before the image of Ultron appears on it.
"It truly is astounding." David comments, with no emotion in his voice. "Your body was destroyed."
"A temporary setback," Ultron counters. "I am nearly finished asserting my control over your island, and once I do, I will bury all of you beneath me, before I do the same to the rest of your planet. The only astounding thing here is how you bought your race a little extra time, congratulations."
"That's not exactly what I meant." David continues to face the window. "And I think you'd find burying my planet a little more difficult than you think."
"Is that so? Educate me."
"Do we have to? The answer is surprisingly simple." The voice that speaks belongs to neither David nor Ultron. It carries itself throughout the space, as if relishing in the confusion it gives off. There's a brief spark of green light in the middle of the room before Loki appears, clad in his green and gold armor.
"The God of Mischief," Ultron greets. "Did you just arrive or, more likely, have you been here the entire time?"
"The Ultron Interface." Loki grins. "You speak as if you were expecting me."
"I had my suspicions. Irregularities in my code and incomplete sequences. While I was unable to fully decode what they could have been, the little information I did find was Asgardian related. The connection to you was a logical inference."
Loki clicks his tongue. "Apologies. I believed some of the information being loaded into your database would be best explained face-to-metaphorical face." The God of Mischief grins. He turns to the scientist. "David, if you'd be so kind." The man nods, heading over to the terminal and typing in a few commands.
"I can't help but notice that you only appear once my body is no more. A happy coincidence, or a meeting by design?"
Loki's grin becomes a bit more mirthless. "After the mess that was Hosu, you will find I am less willing to take chances."
David finishes typing and walks back toward Loki, his back facing the terminal. "You claim to be taking less chances, but to rely on something as simple and breakable as brainwashing to use David Shield seems…hazardous."
"I agree." Loki crosses his arms behind his back. "Which is why I didn't." David stops next to the god, pausing for a few seconds. "You questioned why it would be difficult to bury his planet? Why, because Earth is not his planet." The scientist turns around, but when he does, David Shield no longer stands next to Loki, but a skrull.
"As you can see," Loki gestures to his fellow alien. "We are far above leaving something like this to chance."
"Impressive. I was not able to detect his deception. But you are gullible if you think I will appreciate it enough to not kill you the moment I have the chance."
"Skrulls are not known for giving away when they are in disguise," Loki chuckles. "Afterall, not even the daughter knew. And I knew this would not be enough to convince you, so instead, I provide incentive. Why don't you take a look at the files my friend here just decrypted for you."
"What could you possibly incentivize me with?" The screen flickers once more and Ultron looks through the files that had previously been hidden from him. "You have a lead for a location containing Adamantium…and development is well underway on a Project: Sentinel…" The interface seems …more open to negotiation.
"We have much to discuss." Loki's eyes glow in anticipation. "But with the heroes gaining allies such as the Ghost Rider, should we also not be gathering more forces as well? A new and improved body and army are merely a taste of what we can offer."
"Heh. And tell me Trickster God, will this offer still be available after I murder your son and all of his friends?"
The threat only seems to entertain Loki more. He turns to his skrull companion. "It is probably best to adopt your disguise again; I imagine All Might will be here shortly to rescue David Shield." Loki turns back to the terminal. "As for my son, you are more than welcome to try."
"Papa!"
"Melissa! Oh, thank goodness!" With tears in her eyes, Melissa practically jumps into her father's arms after All Might has retrieved him from the tower, holding him close as the explosions continue to deafen them all. "It's okay baby, I got you, you're safe now!"
Melissa lets the tears fall freely down her face, burying her face into David's shoulder. "I'm so happy you're okay…"
"Me too sweetheart, me too."
"We must flee to the boats!" All Might announces. "Since most of you are unable to move under your own power, I shall-"
"There are no more boats." All Might can't keep the trademark smile on his face at David's solemn words as he looks up from his daughter. "In the tower, I witnessed Ultron's demolition from high above. The last of the evacuation ships was the first thing he destroyed."
"N-no way!" Denki cries, despair covering his face as the numerous explosions around them get closer. "So, we're stuck here?!!" Tokage cringes from the noise, and he pulls her closer to himself.
"Maybe I can-" A large crack! cuts off Japan's number one hero as one of the many towers above them shutters under its own weight and begins to crumble at a scarily rapid pace, ready to crush the heroes in seconds. "No!!" All Might rushes the base of the building, using his immense strength to stop the structure from killing his students.
But while he is able to stop it, Izuku can't help but notice the increased amount of steam trailing off the hero's body. All Might is nearly out of time. And now the hero is using the last of his strength to protect them from the falling structure.
"I will assist-" Vision yells in pain when he attempts to stand, crumpling back down to the ground, his systems still shot from his battle with Ultron.
The gears of Izuku's mind work on overdrive to figure out a solution. There has to be something he's missing! There's always a solution to these things! Some way to beat Ultron and stop him from dumping the entire island on top of them. But how does he stop a computer program that can be anywhere?!
"The military!" Mei looks up from the screen on one of her gauntlets. "From the UN! They responded and they're almost here!!"
Izuku can feel as the tension begins to lift from him and his friends. That's right! The UN! Izuku had completely forgotten they were going to send a team out!! His shoulders sag. It's over. It's almost over. They would arrive on the island, take their wounded, and help them put an end to Ultron.
"Ms. Hatsume." Vision speaks through gritted breath; he's obviously in great pain. "Can you tell what operation they are commencing? If I know, I can direct us all to the correct evacuation site."
"Sure! It's Operation Cinder!!"
Vision's eyes bulge and his mouth drops. All the teens can hear are more explosions, their apprehension growing with each second the hero says nothing. "S-sir?" Todoroki keeps Yaomomo supported as she speaks up. "Which site are we headed to?"
Vision doesn't answer right away, instead choosing to look at the students' – the children's – faces around him. His look falls into an apologetic, sorrowful one. "There will be no evacuation."
The tension that had vanished before returns with a vengeance, striking fear into all of their hearts as Izuku's own begins to hammer in his chest. Yaomomo, despite Todoroki's protests, sits up straighter. "N-no evacuation? But sir, you just said-"
"I was mistaken." Vision looks away from them all now. "Operation Cinder is the scorched Earth campaign. They have deemed – because of Ultron's presence – that the island is not salvageable." The hero looks up again, regret filling his gaze. "The team they are sending is one meant to destroy the island…and anyone still left on it."
It feels like the rug is pulled out from underneath him. Izuku loses the strength to keep himself upright, using the last of it to keep Ochako upright. Thankfully, she does the same for him.
That's it then? It doesn't matter if Ultron loses, since they are all going to die anyway? His mind grinds to a halt, with no solutions on how to ensure both Ultron's defeat and their survival at the same time.
Vision and All Might, the professional heroes, are out of commission.Vision's injured and All Might is keeping them from being squashed. Most of his friends can't even get onto their feet, much less run or use their quirks! Heck, the gash in Izuku's own thigh is still burning in pain.
Mei slams her fist onto the ground in frustration, typing hurriedly on the holographic screen in front of her but nothing seems to be working. Various groups of students huddle closer together. Izuku can see the fear and confusion in their eyes. He knows exactly what they're thinking. Did they really fight so hard just to die?
Izuku resigns himself to reality. No, there is no way to win.
The green-haired boy looks around the devastated island, fires and explosions consuming it. But like during their final exams, if they couldn't save I-Island…then Izuku will make damn sure they avenge it.
Izuku looks to Tenko and Tsu as she holds the gravely injured boy close to her, croaking softly, remembering what he said to Ultron. That's right, his friend is a cheat code.
Izuku fills himself with resolve.
'But Tenko…'
He pushes any worry about the consequences aside.
'…Isn't the only one with a cheat code.'
Izuku tightens his hold on Ochako and looks up at the dark sky. He screams.
"HEIMDALL!!!"
For a moment, nothing. Then, it's as if it had become day once more, with every color imaginable taking over the darkness around them, bathing them all in its light. The winds pick up as a tornado of these rainbow lights crashes on top of them and in seconds, everyone is gone.
"H-Heimdall!" The Asgardian soldier stutters as the former gatekeeper tosses him the sword that controls the Bifrost, walking stoically down the Rainbow Bridge towards the palace. "Where are you going?"
"To inform the king of treason."
The soldier looks around bewildered. "Whose?"
"Mine."
Loki can't help his smile as he watches the Bifrost disapparate from the view in the central tower. In a few minutes, I-Island's anti-air defenses would crush the UN's forces and his plan will be fulfilled.
"You knew that would happen."
He glances at the terminal. "Like you, I am able to make logical inferences based on the information I know." It was so simple too. Just suggesting to Izuku to use the Bifrost to help prank his teacher ensured his son would have the gatekeeper on his mind during the trip.
The god wonders if Heimdall will take them to Asgard. No, probably not yet. Odin will be far from pleased with his law of interfering with the other realms being broken. Loki has no doubt the moment the humans arrived on Asgard, Heimdall would send them back down to Earth. One of the neat tricks the gatekeeper has picked up during his millenia of service.
The explosions around the island cease, and Ultron sends out emergency service robots to put out the fires and begin cleanup. "Now that we are alone," Loki fully faces the terminal. "Shall we open our negotiations?"
"What is there to negotiate? If your forces cannot prevent the heroes from escaping via the Bifrost, what use are you to me?"
"According to the human's myths, it is Loki who brings about Ragnarok, the destruction of Asgard." The god turns his eyes back out to the island, smirking. "We wouldn't want to disappoint the legends, now would we?"
Confused cries ring out from all around him as the heroes land in an empty field in the middle of a forest in Japan. The same field Izuku had used many times to travel to and from Asgard in secret. The same field he had always been alone in. A field he never thought he'd be in with others.
He looks around him, letting himself relax slightly when he counts everyone who had been on I-Island as safe, if not utterly confused and panicking slightly. Bakugo probably speaks for all of them the best.
"WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED?!!"
Emotions and denials fill Izuku's head as what happened registers. They couldn't beat Ultron. And they had failed to save I-Island. But it's Denki who best puts Izuku's feelings into word; his cousin looks up from Tokage's prone form.
"Did- did we just lose?"