Chapter 71: More Than A Feeling
"I'm having the time of my life!! Just like the second event from the Sports Festival, right Kacchan?"
"This is nothing like that!"
"It is if you squint a little!"
"Focus on the flying chicken of death, goddamnit!"
Midoriya snorts. "Look at that! We're already rubbing off on one another in different ways!" He and Katsuki soar through the air, the annoying demigod on the blond's back as they charge a winged Nomu head-on. Katsuki wouldn't have it any other fucking way.
"You're teaching me how to be angry, and I'm teaching you how to make jokes!" Midoriya switches from his daggers to his swords, realizing he'll need more reach with his blades.
"I already knew how to make jokes, you idiot! Now, hang on and don't die!" Katsuki turns sideways just before they collide with the Nomu, allowing Midoriya to raise his blades and slash the creature across the belly, eliciting a roar of anger and pain.
While the boys need a moment to reorient themselves, the Nomu needs no such thing. Already healed, it beats its massive wings, diving straight for the teens, mouth agape to reveal all of its sharp teeth.
"Blast it together and catch me after!" Midoriya doesn't give Katsuki a chance to reply, before jumping off the blond's back and unknowingly making Cosmo sigh and curse at how willing these kids are to jump from high heights and, as Peter would put it, 'let Jesus take the wheel.'
Midoriya raises both his hands as Katsuki does the same, also adding his legs to the equation. With a yell meant to match the Nomu's own screech, Katsuki rips huge explosions from all four of his expendages, just as Deku fires off a pair of energy blasts from his palms.
Green and orange mix together in a plume of smoke and power as they work together to send the Nomu careening away, screaming in anguish. Unfortunately, that power does the same to the boys, launching them both away from one another. Especially Midoriya, who had still not learned how to brace from his own energy blasts.
Katsuki is relatively quick to regain his wits, using a few well-times explosions from his feet to orient himself, because he's just that fucking good. His red eyes scan the air for- there! Flying green dumbass at two o'clock.
"Kacchan, over here!" Midoriya waves him over as if Katsuki doesn't see him, seemingly not bothered by the fact that he's technically falling to his death right now. "I think the plan worked! Maybe we should- wait, aren't you coming in a bit fast- oof!"
Maaaaaybe after running into Midoriya a bit harder mid-air than he has too, Katsuki saves the verdant and directs them to the top of a nearby building, with less flying and more falling with style.
The pair roll to a stop, taking a second to catch their breath. "Awww, Kacchan." Or at least, Katsuki catches his breath, 'cause apparently Deku is just incapable of keeping his mouth shut. "You saved me, you really do care!"
"Like hell I do!" Katsuki growls when Midoriya giggles at his yell. "I just know the rest of those extras wouldn't ever let me hear the end of it if I let you die!" He stands, wiping some debris off his pants. "And I still haven't earned the right to know that shit about you being an alien," Katsuki continues in a lower voice, causing Midoriya to frown. "Once I do that, then you have my permission to die."
"Thanks." Midoriya gets up. "So I guess the real question becomes, would you let me die then?" Katsuki looks away with a huff, trying to locate the Nomu he knows for damn sure they didn't beat. "That's good, because I wouldn't let you either."
Katsuki scoffs. "That ain't special. You wouldn't let anyone die, no matter what they did."
He raises an eyebrow when Midoriya shrugs, the other boy taking a moment to look up and around as well. The magic user creates an astral projection to look around the opposite side of the building for them. "True, but have you ever talked to Eri about the person who kept her prisoner? Overhaul? I might be willing to make an exception…"
Katsuki hates himself. Mainly because he can't stop what happens next. He snorts. He tries to quickly cover it up, but it's too late. "Dark fucking joke, Deku…I like it."
And the grin on Midoriya's face wipes any enjoyment Katsuki was having. "And here I thought you were the one that was trying to get my approval."
"Go to hell."
Midoriya looks over over the side of the building. "Uncle Logan said he went there once. Doesn't recommend it." He shakes his head. "Of course, I'd save Overhaul if I had the chance." His smile becomes a lot sharper. "Who else am I supposed to use to properly teach Eri the exact places to stab someone to cause the most pain without killing them?"
The shriek of the Nomu prevents Katsuki from questioning what he highly suspects wasn't a joke from Midoriya, as the winged monster descends on the boys at a frightening pace.
"Shoto Todoroki."
Shoto narrows his eyes, his quirks simmering just beneath the surface of his skin while his grip tightens on the elemental gun in his left hand. Behind him, Yaoyorozu and Jiro glance at one another. "Do I know you?"
Dabi casually saunters up to the trio, the Spirit Tree continuing to burn. "No, I suppose you never really have. But you will."
"And what's that supposed to mean?" The air is thick, and not just from the smoke. Dabi keeps up his easy-going grin while Shoto racks his brain for any memory, any hint, to the identity of the man in front of him, but he finds nothing. Dabi's grin widens as he slowly brings his hands out of his pockets, and the teens tense. Shoto lifts his leg, ready to encase both the villains and the tree in a glacier of ice-
"Hello! The name's Twice!" The other villain pops out from behind Dabi, waving exhilaratingly. "Nice to meet you! It'll be even nicer when we put you kids six feet under!"
Dabi facepalms. "You didn't need to introduce yourself, Twice."
"I thought that's what we were doing! You said his name! But you didn't even bother mentioning yours!"
"It doesn't matter-"
"His name is Dabi."
"Okay!" Dabi sighs. "I've got a big moment planned way down the road. Remind me to not have you near me when I do it."
"You got it, buddy!" Twice gives him an energetic thumbs up.
"Good, now back to-" Dabi has barely enough time to unleash a torrent of flames in front of the pair, blasting apart Shoto's glacier that had tried to take advantage of them being distracted. "Well, that wasn't a very heroic way of attacking at all, now was it, Shoto?!" Dabi taunts. Frost bites the air between the two sides. "Something your old man taught you, I bet?"
The two clones of Dabi stand next to their real counterpart. All three raise their hands with identical smirks as they unleash a powerful tsunami of blue flames down on the teen.
Shoto grits through his teeth, exhaling more frost as he readies more ice, but Jiro and Yaoyorozu pull him back.
Jiro takes a step forward. "Save your ice for the tree! I got this!" Banging her gauntlets together, she inhales deeply and thrusts both of her palms forward. She counters the flames with a massive soundwave that pushes a majority of the fire back, while allowing the rest to dissipate safely.
One of the Dabi clones screams in agony as he's covered in flames, melting. But just as quickly as he goes down, Twice creates a clone of Hirona that shields the other two Dabis from harm, before throwing an energy disc at Jiro. Shoto blocks it with a mound of ice while Yaoyorozu fires a giant black pellet at the villains. Hirona moves to shield them again, but the one pellet explodes into over a dozen smaller pellets that all explode, blinding their opponents in a thick black smoke.
"Our mission is the tree!" Yaoyorozu reminds the other two. "We must stop it from burning first and foremost! Then we can deal with the villains!"
Midoriya immediately makes several clones of him and Katsuki, confusing the attacking Nomu, who doesn't know which pair to attack as they all fly around the creature like annoying flies.
In its confusion, the Nomu is unable to stop Midoriya, with Katsuki's help, from getting above it and bringing his sword down on top of its brain, spraying blood and causing the Nomu to drop twenty meters before it could regain its flight.
Realizing that isn't enough to kill it like they had hoped, Midoriya jumps off the Nomu before it can retaliate. The creature looks down as he falls, getting ready to dive, but Katsuki plants a boot in its face, setting off multiple explosions to damage it before diving down himself to grab Midoriya.
"It can survive a direct hit to the brain!" Midoriya climbs on Katsuki's back mid-air, and the blond blasts them back up at the Nomu. "And it healed it! Maybe our attack has to destroy the brain completely to beat it?!"
Katsuki grunts. "So, what do you want from me?! A bigger explosion?! That I can fucking do!" They spin out of the way from the Nomu's next attack. A good trick. "But Spoonbill's ugly cousin back there isn't gonna just let us keep trying; it's not dumb!"
They have to dodge another sweep from the Nomu. Katsuki is forced onto the side of a building, running along the side briefly before jumping back into the air. "We can take out its wings! It's how I used to beat that little shit Tsubasa when we were younger!"
"If it can grow back its arms and legs, I bet its wings can heal from anything we throw at it! No! We need something bigger!"
"What the fuck could make a bigger explosion than me?!!"
Midoriya motions his head to the squadron of drones circling around them, a mischievous smile slowly taking over his face. Katsuki's smile promises nothing but pain to whoever he wants. Midoriya has a look that says he hopes that doesn't include him.
The hangar's power shuts down, bathing Setsuna in the dark as she loses sight of Kraven and his infuriatingly smug but punchable face. With a low annoyed growl, she carefully moves Kaminari from the middle of the floor to someplace safer. "Do you know where he is?" she asks Venom telepathically.
"No. He is masking his presence somehow. It is…vexing."
"For as long as I can remember, I have looked for an equal." Kraven's voice echoes through the hangar. "One who could push me, one who could surprise me... one who could even beat me. And do you know what I found?"
"Setsuna! There!" Letting Venom guide her, she hones it on the sound of the voice and fires a tendril in what she thinks is Kraven's direction. But she is sorely disappointed to only find a small portable speaker in her hand.
"I found him. My equal." Kraven's voice comes through the speaker and presumably many others hidden around the hangar. "Spider-Man. The ultimate prey." Setsuna feels a mix of emotions from Venom at the mention of the old hero. "Once again, my life had purpose. Had meaning. I assume the Spider gave you similar feelings, symbiote… until he discarded you like trash."
Anger and resentment build up in Setsuna's chest. It's so dominating that it takes her a few moments to realize that not only are those feelings very old, but also decidedly not hers.
Movement from one of the upper scaffoldings sends Venom's senses into a frenzy. Setsuna can practically feel his desire for revenge and blood on her tongue. She jumps onto the wall, letting black goo cover her legs, which gives her more than enough power to cover a leap towards the scaffolding.
Setsuna slams her hand down as soon as she lands, engulfing the entire scaffolding in deadly spikes. Venom roars in frustration inside her as instead of finding an impaled Kraven as they had hoped, all they see is several flashbangs.
Wait, since when did she want to kill-
Bam!
All of the flashbangs go off at once, blinding Setsuna and filling her ears with a shrill ringing. Venom is forced to retreat inside her body as behind her, the massive form of Kraven appears, his spear raised up at his side.
It's all happening too fast. She attempts to split apart her body, but Kraven is too quick, bringing down his heavy spear. Setsuna screams, raising her arm involuntarily, only to watch through blurry vision as Kraven slices it off with barely any resistance.
Before she can even register what happened, Venom coats most of her body once more, regenerating her arm. Hate seeps from every one of Setsuna's pores as she attempts to bring down a giant axe onto the hunter's head. But he creates an energy shield from his gauntlets, blocking it.
From his other gauntlet, he fires two wires, one attaching itself to an unused fighter jet below them and the other wrapping itself around Setsuna's neck. She understands what's happening too late as the wire goes taught, and she is dragged back down to the ground roughly by her neck.
"What adventures the Spider and I had!" Setsuna coughs, choking and gasping for air while Kraven speaks again. She rips the wire off her. "Tell me, do you recall the time I trapped him and so many of his allies and enemies in Central Park? Forced to wait in fear as I hunted each of them down one by one. No? Oh, my mistake. You must've meant so little to him that I deemed you unworthy."
Fury once again clouds Setsuna's mind, but she's more prepared this time. She has the clarity to shout in her head quickly, "Venom, no! He's trying-!" She doesn't have enough time before her partner's cold ferocity takes over for the both of them again. Venom screams, using their elongated limbs to lift several fighters and toss them around the hangar in a fruitless attempt to hit Kraven.
They jump from scaffolding to scaffolding, wall to wall, attempting to locate him, but all they find are speakers that they crush in their claws. Hoping some height will give them an advantage, the pair leaps all the way to the ceiling and looks down. But no sooner do they do than another trap activates, a net wrapping itself around them and coating them in some foul smelling liquid.
They attempt to escape but the moment they move, Setsuna and Venom are shocked with endless volts of electricity, forced down to the nearest platform once more, smoking, cold, and disoriented.
"The Spider truly did push me past my limits! Forcing me to, as your institution would say, 'Go Plus Ultra!' to achieve victory!" Kraven laughs sadistically. "But, I did. Not many know but I beat the Spider!" Setsuna stands once more, shaking her head as Venom corrects any imbalances in their head.
"I drugged him! I buried him! And then I became him! Not only had I successfully hunted my prey, but I became a better hero than he could ever be! Donning his suit, I accomplished feats of heroism he could only dream of! Putting a permanent end to a few of his enemies once and for all. Much like I plan to do today."
Venom and Setsuna take a step forward, getting ready to swing over to where they think the hunter is, but they can't go anywhere before they hear a click, and a machine sprays gas up at the pair. Almost instantly, Setsuna can't feel her legs, falling back down to the ground as they go numb.
But that's not enough to stop Venom, the symbiote shakes with anger as it creates a blade and cuts both of their legs off, regenerating them. Setsuna can feel even more of her control loosening. Every limb regenerated, every taunt by Kraven, it threatened to have Venom's emotions take over them both, and she can't let that happen!
"Venom! Stop! He's goading you! Trying to make you angry! It's why we keep running into all of his traps, dude, think!"
"That doesn't matter! Relinquish control Setsuna, and I will have both this pest exterminated as well as a good meal."
"That wasn't our deal!" Several crossbows fire arrows at her, and while Setsuna is easily able to swipe them away, it drives her attention away from the more advanced crossbows that emerge from the ground, piercing her with several laser bolts through the shoulder and legs. Yelling in pain from the heat of the lasers, they fall to their hands and knees.
A bang! reverberates around them. They hear Kraven land somewhere nearby, his heavy boots thudding against the ground as he slowly walks toward him. His spear produces a horrible grating screech that violates the air while scratching the ground.
"I had finally won," Kraven reminisces. "After proving my superiority as both the hunter and hero, I had nothing left to prove. Even when the Spider had eventually managed to free himself from his underground prison, I chose not to fight. We both knew that victory had been mine. With nothing left, and my life's goal complete, there was only one thing left to do."
Kraven finally appears in their line of sight. "With my last hunt complete and my life's mission achieved, I traveled home to eat a nice meal with my trophies and reminisce about my time in the jungle." He stops just ahead of them. "And then I put a shotgun in my mouth and pulled the trigger."
Lifting his spear, Kraven spins it around his hand a few times. "But, as the gun jammed, it appeared my time on this Earth wasn't meant to come to an end yet. It had to mean that one day, there would be another who could challenge me as the Spider did! If not the one who defeated Gorr, I thought it could be you. So, I hunted you as a man of honor."
Setsuna groans in pain as Kraven lifts her by the head, the injuries from the lasers still weakening her. "But it appears you are not a foe worthy of respect. I present to you every fiber of who I am, but you refuse to show me who you are, and you insult me by holding back!"
He throws her back on the ground. Setsuna attempts to roll back to her feet, but she cries out as the ground opens up behind her and several harpoons are fired from a mechanism underneath the ground. She is stabbed through several places on her arms and legs as the projectiles burrow themselves inside her, preventing escape. The wires attached to the harpoon electrify and tighten, dragging Setsuna to her knees.
"If you can't show me respect…" Setsuna gasps as two robot dogs drag Kaminari's unconscious body over to them. "Then I shall no longer fight with honor."
"Venom!" Setsuna calls out desperately, struggling through the pain.
"Setsuna! Relinquish control now! It is the only way!"
Kraven plants his boot on Kaminari's chest.
"No! It's not! You just want control because you're angry! Well, look where it's gotten us!" The wires send another shot of electricity through their body, making both symbiote and host cry out. "Do you really think we can win like this?!"
"…I suppose not."
"Besides, you made me a promise! By letting you stay, you promised to help me protect my friends and everyone I care about!"
Kraven raises his spear above Kaminari's throat. "Such a waste."
"And I promised to help you find a purpose! How about you start by showing this edgy Mowgli how much of a better enemy you were to Spider-Man! And you know how we do that?!"
"Together!"
"Together!"
Kraven brings down his spear, but is only met by a thick black coating protecting the boy. The weapon is yanked from his hand as his entire body is enclosed in a thick black goo, leaving only his face exposed.
The Hunter is lifted into the air, trapped, as one of the tendrils specifically wraps around his throat, choking him. Setsuna grows taller as for the first time, she allows the symbiote to cover her entirely.
"You want to see who we are?" Kraven's eyes widen. For the first time in a long time, as he stares into the milky white eyes and long fangs of She-Venom, he feels what it's like to be prey. "We are Venom."
Kraven's widened eyes shrink with anticipation and excitement. "Perfect."
"You weren't supposed to be here." It's oddly silent again as Hirona and Nejire stare at one another, save for the sound of the wind blowing the villain's cape or the dirt moving beneath her feet. She can even hear Tenko's shallow breathing at her feet.
"Neither were you." Hirona doesn't know why she flinches at Nejire's response. "But then again, that day at the mall, I wasn't supposed to be there either. I had been so excited when Mirio asked us to come with him on the first year's summer trip that I did all my shopping that night! And a little more the next day. I was only at the mall because Tamaki gets nervous in crowds. And my friends mean so much to me that I want to be there for them any chance I get! But then…I ran into you…"
Nejire looks around them. "Did you finally figure out what you want?" The explosions and screams blaring into Hirona's ears are clearer than ever. "Is this it?"
A nearby explosion splashes some dirt on Hirona's face, as well as staining her cape. She's quick to wipe it off but it leaves streaks across her cheek. "Yeah. And if this is what I have to do to get it, then so be it."
"What you have to do, or what you want to do?"
Hirona reacts as if she'd been slapped, desperately clicking on the communicator in her ear to signal Kurogiri to get her out of there. "What I- what do you want from me?!"
"To stop… this!" She waved to all around them. "To stop all of this! You started it, so you have the power to end it!"
"You can end it too." Hirona's voice becomes slightly harsher. "By just letting me take him," she taps Tenko with her foot, "and go."
"Or you can just turn yourself in." Hirona hates how satisfied Nejire looks when the villain gets very visibly annoyed with her response. "That would end all of this right now! Nobody else has to get hurt! But you don't want to, do you? Because you want to be one of those bad guys that destroys the world, right? But remember what you said?! If you do that, where would you live?!"
"I don't want to be one of those bad guys!" Hirona insists, thinking back to the talk the two had at the video store. She didn't realize she'd be that offended over the accusation.
"Yes, you are!" Nejire retorts. "Because you definitely aren't being a bad I can root for right now!"
Hirona rolls her eyes. "Wow!" Her voice is dripping with sarcasm. "Real life bad guys are a lot more complex and different from the ones in the movies?! Shocker! Next you're gonna tell me that we girls, in reality, don't wake up with our hair already perfect for the day!"
"I know, right?!" Nejire puffs out her cheeks (adorably) in annoyance. "I have to spend so many minutes using my quirk to spiral my hair in place!"
"At least you get to use your quirk! Some of us are stuck with a good old fashioned brush- wait, no!" Hirona shakes her head. "You aren't distracting me!"
"You brought it up!" Hirona opens her mouth to tell her that isn't the point, but Nejire surprises her. "And it shows you aren't like those other bad guys, even if you're trying to be like them! I mean, what world-ending bad guy is worried about their hair? Does your boss talk about his hair a lot?"
"That doesn't matter, he's bald! And- and none of this matters anyway," Hirona stresses, trying to get back on track. How did Nejire do this every time?! Pull her into a conversation she doesn't want any part in! "Real life bad guys aren't anything like movie bad guys!"
"Oh!" Hirona hates how genuinely curious Nejire looks. "So, your boss doesn't sit in a dark lair all day hatching evil plots and laughing to himself?"
… 'Don't break. Don't break. Don't break. Don't break. Don't break. Don't bre-'
Hirona snorts.
'DAMMIT!'
She moves quickly to cover up her laugh, but by the looks of the pretty 'not pretty!' smile on Nejire's face, she fails. Hirona tries to push past their current conversation. "So, what's your plan, Hado?" Hirona leans her head to the side. "Hope I give up and let you take me to jail?"
Nejire at least has the decency to look a little embarrassed. "Would you laugh if I said yes?"
"I- what? No!" Hirona shakes her head. "I wouldn't laugh at that." She sighs. "Just like I wouldn't turn myself in." It's Nejire's turn to sigh. "I'm doing this because I want to! Because I want to be free. Finally free to be whoever I want and make my own decisions. In what world do you see me going through all of this just to end up in a cell?" Hirona reasons. "You let me go at the mall, what's the difference here?"
Nejire chews her bottom lip. "I didn't let you go…" Hirona's eyes narrow. "I told the police about you as soon as I left."
She scoffs, the villain not willing to say hearing that hurt more than she's willing to admit. "I should've known," Hirona replies, voice cold. "To you, no matter which kind we are, bad guys are just bad guys, yeah? Just lock us up and throw away the key-"
"I asked them if I could visit you." Hirona trips over her words at Nejire's interruption. "And I talked to a couple of my teachers about it! They said that if you behaved, the longer I could visit! And maybe even bring stuff for us to do! Like board games or cards-"
"Why do you care so much?" The iciness had left Hirona's tone, leaving just perplexity at the hero student's words. "All I did was spare your life."
"And you made sure I was okay after!" Hirona seems befuddled at what she's talking about, so Nejire continues, a slight teasing in her voice. "The nurses at my hospital told me about the girl they found looking into my room."
Hirona's face becomes scarlet. "I- that- n-no we just needed medical supplies, that had nothing to do with you-!"
"You needed medical stuff, so you just so happen to go to my hospital and end up next to my room." Nejire placed a finger on her cheek, pretending to be in deep thought. "That's such a crazy coincidence!"
Hirona turns away, face still beet red. "I think I preferred it when you were trying to talk me into turning myself in…" she mumbles.
"At the mall, you weren't trying to blow anyone up…" Hirona looks back up at Nejire's softer tone, the red slowly fading. "Or hurting people. You just looked lost and confused. And believe me, Mirio says I've mastered the art of confusing people so I know what that looks like! And it's what you looked like at the mall and…and it's what you looked like when I landed here a few minutes ago."
Rolling her eyes, Hirona doesn't show how relieved she is when the redness fully fades from her face. "You meet with me a couple of times and all of a sudden, you think you know anything about me-"
"You like physical things."
"Eh?"
"At the mall." Nejire looks away, brushing some hair behind her ear. "You said you were there looking for some old movie to help settle an argument, right?" Hirona nods. "Then why go out and risk yourself when you could've just looked the movie up online?" Her mouth opens and closes. "Why also risk talking to me when it could lead to you going to jail? I think, like me, you didn't have many people to talk to growing up?"
Hirona's mouth just drops open at how much she had given away about herself without even thinking about it! How could she be so careless? It also doesn't help that she-
"Or…" Nejire taps her cheek. "I guess it's less about me having people to talk to, and more about those people not wanting to talk to me. My questions made them uncomfortable, so I taught myself to just stop talking…but that was then, and I have friends now who don't mind my questions, and they let me talk and talk and talk all I want! Sometimes I think I'm talking just to make up for all the not talking I did when I was younger!" She scratches the back of her head in a little bit of embarrassment.
"…Yeah." Nejire's eyes widen at her response. Hirona doesn't realize what she's said before it's too late, but no turning back now. "Yeah, you're right. I like physical media and maybe…" she says the next part kinda quick. "Maybe I like talking to you." She can't stop the next blush either. Nejire smiling again doesn't help! "Which is why I've probably let this conversation go on longer than I should have."
She places her hand on her ear. "Kurogiri, are you ready yet?!"
"Heroes…green-haired…tricking Nomu!" Hirona tries to adjust the communicator, but the portal user's message continues to be garbled.
"You said you don't want to be one of those bad guys that destroys the world…" Nejire looks unsure, "but you also said you're attacking here because you want to? So, which is it? Because you're not going to be very free if you have to sit in a lair all day."
"I'd never wanna be anything like him!"
"Then why are you acting like him?" Nejire looks around, confused. "Isn't this something one of those bad guys would do?"
Hirona's face twists, and she scrunches it as if she had just been slapped. She's nothing like him! She can't be! She would know!… wouldn't she? Shaking her head, Hirona exhales. "Kurogiri?" she tries again. "Hello?"
"Wait-"
"I'm not going with you." Hirona makes sure to look Nejire straight in the face when she says it, no matter how much the disappointment on the other girl's face hurts. "I'm taking Tenko and leaving."
"Well- well I meant what I said!" Nejire huffs. "Neither of you are going anywhere!"
Hirona narrows her eyes. She creates platforms under herself and Tenko to fly them away. "If you want that to happen… then you're going to have to stop us."
Nejire's breathing becomes quicker. "Please don't make me do this."
Hirona raises her arm. "It's your choice, hero."
Looking down, Nejire's hair covers her eyes, her hands balled into fists that shake. But only briefly before the hero student looks back up, her face hardened and posture changed, ready for battle. "I've made my choice."
Logan yells in both battle and pain as Daken stabs him through the chest, his son smiling wickedly as he feels his claws tear through the old hero's muscle, nerves, and flesh as if it's nothing. It doesn't last long as Logan grabs Daken by the arm, lifting the villain up and dropping his elbow onto the X-men's knee, breaking it.
Daken screams, more in frustration than pain, while he yanks his claws out of his father, the two mutants separating briefly as their healing factors do their work.
"Aww," Daken cruelly coos. He whips his arm out, forcing it back into place. "Whatever happened to 'I can't fight my son' or 'I know I can get through to him.' You just throw all that away? Like you did with me?" Father and son begin to slowly circle one another.
Logan catches his breath, using his advanced senses to once again check if they were alone at the Cortex. "I thought you were dead."
"Oh good, we're repeating the classics!" Daken cheers with mock excitement. "What is that, two different times you thought I was dead now? I'll give you props though, this time you actually went ahead and replaced me. How is dear old Laura these days-"
"Don't," Logan warns.
"Well, why not?" Daken drops the fake smile. "First, you think I died with mom. Then, you think I died during that whole… fiasco with the Beyonder. But here I rise again. And all I want to do is get to know you a little bit."
"Don't bullshit me," Logan scolds. "I ain't dumb. And I know you're not that scared little boy I thought you were. So, you want something from me? Ask me directly. Don't patronize me by pretending you want to fix what's wrong with us."
Daken stops moving, caught off guard by the words, but he recovers. "You've changed, old man." He makes a show of thinking. "So, that's it? A couple of hundred years go by and you've given up on me? Or is it that you don't need me anymore since you found that little rat in Mexico?"
"You're not getting it." Logan shakes his head. "Daken, I never stopped believing in ya. But if you wanna make me beat your skull into the damn dirt first to understand that then I will."
Daken takes the words as a challenge to continue, roaring as he leaps at his father, bringing both of his claws down on top of him, forcing Wolverine to raise his own to block. Clash! "Now who's the one pretending?! You gave up on me the moment you left! You gave up on both of us!"
In 1948 Japan, a two-year-old Akihiro giggles happily as his mother, a Japanese woman named Itsu, tickles his belly. He tries to get away using the only move at his disposal, flopping onto his side and rolling away, but his mother somehow sees through this genius tactic, catching him anyway to continue her tickling tirade.
Daken throws Logan off of him. "And you let her die!"
Akihiro and Itsu jump as they hear their front door destroyed, ripped completely off the hinges. A masked man covered in black stands at their entryway. All he remembers after that is his mother's bleeding body on the floor.
Slashing and stabbing at Logan doesn't get Daken anywhere as the old man dodges everything he throws at him, so he moves to the control panel of the Cortex, holding his claws over it. "If I destroy this, there's no way off this doomed rock for any of you, so what-" the threat has its intended effect, forcing Wolverine to attack him.
The pair clash claws again. "I was always going to come back to you both," Logan growls.
Little Akihiro looks up at his adoptive parents, his new father crying and hugging him while his new mother holds a strained smile. Father thanks God, for their prayers had been answered. Without the ability to get pregnant on their own, the Lord had delivered them a son.
Daken laughs, his arms starting to shake from the effort of keeping his claws pressed against Logan's. "I guess that's something else we have in common, ain't it? We both always come back, just never at the right time for the other, am I right?"
Akihiro had been lucky, being given to wealthy parents that could cater to his needs. But at five-years-old, he isn't blind. He's different because of his mixed heritage. And when his father isn't around, Akihiro can see the looks the servants give him. The harsh glares. The cold indifference of his mother.
Logan tries to force Daken off again but his son twists their hands before he can, pushing his father's claws out of the way and using the opportunity to plunge both of his claws into his old man's stomach, driving him to the ground.
Akihiro's nannies whisper about him behind his back. He asks his mother if she'd like to come to the store with him while Father is at work. She declines. Doesn't matter. The store owner throws him out anyway.
Now on top with the advantage, Daken sees red. Stabbing and cutting at Wolverine as much as he can. Trying to tear away his skin to see the organs underneath as blood pools from Logan like a gushing fountain. Maybe if he can get to the heart, Daken can stop it.
On his way home, Akihiro sees other children playing baseball on the street. They beckon him to join but when he gets close, they turn their bats onto him, beating the boy senseless into the gravel. Chanting one word over and over again.
The memory fuels Daken's rage.
They keep chanting. The same word. Again and again to let Akihiro know what they think of him. To make sure he is clear on how they see him.
Keeping Logan impaled, he begins to twist his claws underneath the old mutant's chest, feeling satisfaction at the sound of muscle fiber's ripping and organs being torn apart.
Akihiro doesn't know how many of his bones are broken. Only that all he can see is red. He's blind in one eye. And the other is covered in his own blood, but still, he hears their chanting. The Japanese word for mongrel.
"Daken!"
"Daken!"
"Daken!"
A dog with no identifiable breed.
Hey, Deku! Tell me, when you thought of this plan of yours, did you put any fucking thought into it?!"
"Asks the guy who went along with it!"
Izuku's plan to fly into the drones had worked!… somewhat. They had been able to trick the aircraft into shooting the Nomu like he had hoped, but not even they had enough firepower to take the creature down, as it always returned after being shot down. And there was another problem he hadn't considered-
"My bad for thinking you had some idea about what to do when the drones would obviously START FIRING AT US!!" Bakugo screams over the noise as the pair suddenly dive down, making the two drones that had been after them from opposing sides collide.
"I thought you liked a challenge?!"
"Fuck you!"
"You're welcome!"
What has become a very familiar roar sounds from below them. "Sounds like our other friend is healed and coming back!"
"Can't you make that thing do what you want like the last Nomu?!" Bakugo fires his legs under him, propelling them higher into the sky, the drones turning to re-squire their aim.
"No! They did something to the Nomus, that doesn't work anymore! I think no matter what we do, that thing is going to keep coming after us!"
The lightbulb turns on for them at the same time.
"I've got an idea!/I've got an idea!"
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking, Kacchan?!"
"No! You're thinking of what I'm thinking! I thought of it first, Deku!"
"We said it at the same time!"
"The hell we did!"
Sweat pours down Shoto's face. He does his best to keep his ice pouring out to negate Dabi's flames. The villain continues to laugh through the burns the flames give him. "What's the matter, Shoto? Can't take the heat?!"
He can… he thinks. But he's getting nowhere just fighting Dabi to a standstill while Jiro and Yaoyorozu deal with the clones! It's as Yaoyorozu said, the tree is the mission! He can worry about why this villain seems so interested in him later.
Igniting his left hand, he lights up some of the ice at his feet, bathing both him and Dabi in a thick steam. Shoto attempts to run around the scarred man to get to the tree, but he hears the villain begin to laugh. Dabi, unseen by Shoto, lifts his hand and slaps it on the ground, creating a wave of fire that both clears the smoke and forces Shoto back once again. "You didn't think it'd be that easy, did you?"
Shoto hears a shing! above him and looks up just in time to see Spinner diving on top of him- but the clone makes a choking sound as Yaoyorozu fires a tether around his neck, yanking him to the ground and electrocuting him until he turns back into sludge. "Apologies, Todoroki and Jiro. If you'd both allow me a few more moments, I can end our clone problem. What I'm trying to create is a tad complicated, and I do not have as much as experience with it, but I believe the situation calls for it."
"Don't talk about us clones like we're not here!" Twice tells indignantly, wagging an accusatory finger at the heiress. "We have feelings too!"
"But aren't you the real one?" Jiro raises an eyebrow.
"Yes!… I think. No? Maybe? Yes, definitely yes! But also could be no-"
"Crisis later! Clones now!" Dabi orders, forcing Twice out of his downward mental spiral. He creates Daken and Kraven, who charge at the teens as Dabi blasts more fire at them.
"Take your time, Yaomomo!" Jiro creates another sound wave down the middle of Dabi's flames that bathe the clones in his quirk, melting them. "These dudes aren't a problem!"
"Twice! Get her out of the way!"
Creating a new pair of clones, Taskmaster jumps away as Magne magnetizes both him and Jiro, forcing the purple-haired girl toward the mercenary. And while she's barely able to duck his sword, his swing kick hits her gut straight on. Jiro chokes out a cry of pain, hitting the ground harshly.
Shoto moves to help her, but Magne uses her quirk to pull him back toward Yaoyorozu, so in retaliation, he douses the clone in flames-
Bang!
Everything stops and Shoto goes cold, and it's not from his right side. He knows who Jiro had been fighting against. Forcing himself to turn around and promise the hottest fire he could produce to that clone if it had shot Jiro, he sees-
Taskmaster looking at his hand in shock, his gun lying a ways away from him and Jiro who was on the ground beneath him. Shoto had heard a gunshot, but if it wasn't from Taskmaster, then who had shot?
Behind him, Yaoyorozu adjusts the aim of her rifle and hits a switch on the side. "Stay away from her!" The vice-rep all but commands, firing the machine gun mercilessly at the cloned mercenary, making him jump away and have to pull out his shield to block the oncoming fire as he runs.
Seeing his opportunity, Shoto stomps his foot, using his ice to both pull Jiro and Yaoyorozu back to him, as well as freeze Taskmaster's feet in place. "Wonderful job, Todoroki." Yaoyorozu hits another switch on the gun and tilts it slightly. "Brace yourselves!" She warns them, before firing a grenade from the gun's underbarrel at the Taskmaster clone, blowing him up.
"W-woah," Jiro stammers as Shoto pulls her back on her feet, her face a little red. "You really pulled out the big guns, didn't you?"
"Yes, well…" Yaoyorozu looks over the weapon to make sure all the parts were holding up. "Due to their lethality and the fact they're illegal in Japan, I don't make them often. However, due to the clones not being real and us not currently being in Japan… well I thought there was no better opportunity to use one."
"Yeah, no kidding. But you sure look like you know what you're doing with how good you looked while using the gun." Jiro's face practically goes nuclear. "I-I mean with h-how good you are at using the gun! Yeah, that's it!! How good you are at shooting! Yup!"
"O-oh." Yaoyorozu clears her throat, a little spreading on the top of cheeks. "Thank you, but it's nothing. Certainly not as impressive as you using your sound waves to hurt our opponents with their own flames."
"T-thank you!"
"She's right." Thinking Jiro was red because of all the fire around them, Shoto creates a small piece of ice and puts it into her hand to cool her down. "Your control with your new gauntlets has come a long way in a very short time, it's impressive." For some reason, this causes her to somehow become even more red. Did she require more ice?
"And Yaoyorozu, your accuracy and speed of use with your gun was astounding as well. Especially as it's not a weapon you planned on using very much." He doesn't notice Yaoyorozu's face as he looks down at the elemental gun Peter had lent him on his side, giving him ideas.
"Fucking hell, I'm gonna puke." Dabi gags. "Twice!"
"I'm on it! Keep rushing me and I'm going to make a clone out of you just to punch it in the face!" But just as his new clones of Compress and Toga materialize, Shoto blasts them down with the basic energy blast mode of the elemental gun.
He hums, turning back around. "It seems my own weapon is effective as well. Between the both of us, we should be able to keep all future clones neutralIzed." Shoto looks behind him, both girls staring at him with even more red on their faces. Curses, the heat must be really getting to them. Shoto is going to need more ice.
"Neutralize?!" Twice yells in disbelief. "As if! Shigaraki's quirk can block anything you throw at us! So, get ready 'cause-" A nearby shriek interrupts him. "What the hell was that?!"
Then Shoto hears it. Voices. Voices he knows.
"Just admit we thought of it at the same time! You know we did!"
"I've got another idea! How about I let that thing eat you so I can get around faster!"
To his surprise, Bakugo and Midoriya land next to their group, with the former shaking the green-haired boy off him. "Ah, Midoriya. Bakugo. Good to see you," Yaoyorozu greets. The blond looks approvingly at her gun. "Nice work taking care of the Nomu, but I believe we should have things here wrapped up shortly if you wanted to assist someone else."
"Yeah…" Midoriya chuckles nervously. "About that whole 'taking care of the Nomu' part…" There's another shriek.
"You did beat it, yeah?" Jiro can't keep the trepidation out of her voice. "Because if you didn't, you would've just led it straight here and that'd be crazy!" Midoriya and Bakugo glance at one another. "Oh my gods that's exactly what you did, isn't it?"
"We had an idea-"
"I had the idea, Deku!"
"No! We did! We had an idea," Bakugo fumes, "that since me shapeshifting to give the Nomu orders wasn't working anymore, we could try it a different way!" Without any more explanation, green magic washes over Midoriya and Bakugo, turning them into Dabi and Twice.
"What the hell?!" Dabi looks down at him as the demigod turns him and Twice into perfect replicas of Midoriya and Bakugo. "What's the point of this?!"
"That is!" Midoriya points to the sky just as the winged Nomu emerges from the clouds and descends on its prey.
Or at least, what it thinks is its prey.
"Oh, no fucking way-!" Dabi cries as the Nomu attacks him and Twice, due to them looking like the teen boys. "You stupid piece of shit! Not me! Them!" The Nomu doesn't listen, biting into Dabi's arm with a hard crunch and lifting them into the air. "This is not happening! Twice! Get rid of that kid!" He drenches the Nomu's face in a whirlwind of flames, forcing the creature back down to the ground, and spilling the flames around them, causing everyone to jump away and for Shoto to drop his music player, letting the song play.
Izuku backflips through the smoke, moving farther back than the others as the flames hurt him more. But he's given no time to rest as the masked villain that was next to Dabi attacks him with a blade-like measuring tape that ejects from devices around his wrist.
Coughing, he dodges the first few strikes from the villain, not noticing the sludge forming behind the man. Turning invisible and leaving a copy of himself behind to distract his opponent, Izuku jumps over him, and spins around, stabbing at his back. But is surprised when he stabs a copy of Dabi instead. At the same time, Twice is unsuccessful in stabbing Izuku's copy, his blade going right through him.
Hero student and villain pause, looking back and forth between the Dabi melting into sludge and the intangible Izuku. Slowly, they both look up at one another, disbelief clearly radiating off both of them as they come to the same realization. They speak at the same time.
"You can make clones too?!"