Koto's POV

As we descend further into the city, the devastating damage becomes worse and worse. In the wreckage of what used to be a proud city of gardens and ancient imperial palaces, now stands mere rubble and ash.

"Hey Ingenium," Nejire calls as she flies next to us, "Why'd ya come with us again?"

"I am fully prepared to accept punishment for violating orders! But three of my classmates ran off and haven't returned! And two of them taught me a valuable lesson. They're my dear friends!" The boy declares this with a burst of speed. I cling on tighter.

"I can handle my own in there," I assure Nejire. "We gotta have all hands on deck!"

She nods and accelerates herself even faster. The battle comes into focus, but it's not looking good. Endeavor and our classmates are on the ground, Todoroki seeming to be the only one with the full capacity to move, as Shigaraki approaches on legs of dark rock. His limbs extend to hold him high in the sky like a giant spider.

Since when could he do that?

Spears of this new power reach for the injured heroes on the ground, but Nejire blasts Shigaraki with waves of energy, separating us from him as we approach.

"Everyone!" the girl exclaims, hovering over the ground. From my position on Iida's back, I illuse sharply into Shigaraki's head, making him wince as my fellow heroes pass on the information we've been sent to convey. The villain clutches his head with gritted teeth, and I watch as his lips continue moving, as if he's having an internal conversation with himself.

"A gigantic villain is making his way here," Iida explains. "We've informed the heroes fighting the nomu over there!"

"Iida," a hero with a blue costume calls out, also skidding to a stop nearby. Various other heroes continue to converge, dark specks growing along the horizon in all directions. It looks as if the issue of Shigaraki will be dealt with.

Iida stares down Shigaraki from under his helmet. "Now I can see why you all didn't return promptly!"

Todoroki looks up from where he's administering first aid to our classmates. "Get Midoriya and the others out of here!"

"I...have to stay near Shigaraki," Midoriya moans from the ground. He lifts himself to his elbows, blood seeping out of him. The assembled heroes try and fail to hide their shock. I glance worriedly down at the boy. He goes on to explain, "He's still coming after me! So just take Kacchan and Endeavor..."

"His healing has slowed down," Todoroki examines. "He's seriously weakened. Hado!"

Shigaraki continues to approach, his voice a raspy growl as he says "So many maggots crawling around..."

He shoots an attack with those rocky legs at the girl, and she has to swerve to avoid the attack. But that is not his only plan. The legs sprout from his back, spanning the whole battlefield and slamming down wherever they can find a hero. I cling onto Iida as he deftly sprints out of the way.

A dark leg sweeps for Iida from behind, and I tug on his shoulder. "Get down!" I cry.

Iida ducks and rolls, sending me flying off his back. I skim across the ground, grappling with my gloved fingers to stop myself. The air whooshes out of me as I pull myself up.

Another leg of dark rock swings for me, and I illuse a bang into it, shattering it up to Shigaraki himself.

A rumbling growl shakes the ground beneath our feet. "MASTERS," it seems to say. On the horizon, a cloud of dust and debris approaches rapidly, a massive villain in its midst, demolishing all in its way.

Todoroki turns his attention to the villain before us, the one we can handle. "Flash Freeze Heat Wave," he says, dropping the temperature of the air only to begin rapidly superheating it.

"Green Flood!" Nejire exclaims at the same time, adding her waves of pulsing energy for the white-haired villain.

The rocky legs under Shigaraki crumble everywhere the attacks hit. The ultimate moves couple their power and break through his defenses.

I extend my hands in front of me to make a wave and then a burst motion, signing my own Ultimate Move: Sonic Boom!

The blast rips out of me, tearing through the air in a deadly wave. I watch as it ripples the air around Shigaraki, slamming into him enough that his eyes roll back in his head.

"Run," Endeavor commands as the giant villain finally breaks through our ranks. He scoops Shigaraki out of the sky, cradling him strangely gently in his massive hands.

Iida pulls me aside, scooping up Bakugo's broken form as he goes. "Nejire! Shoto!" he calls out, noticing we've been separated from the other heroes by the huge villain.

"Put me down, four-eyes..." Bakugo grumbles. I look down at him and have to stifle my shock at his bloody and bruised body.

"You're awake! I apologize, I must not let you down given the damage you have susta–"

"We need...a complete victory..." the boy groans, barely even able to open his eyes. But from what I can see, they're clearly glaring at the villains.

Villains...

The League of Villains emerges from where they have been riding the giant monster down to Kyoto. I watch in horror as they stare us down.

"Haha...masters! I have come," the villain declares loudly. "Please give me your next order! Anything you want!"

"Oh there you are," a familiar dark-haired villain calls out from the giant's back. Dabi. "From here you all look like a bunch of ants. Ey! Shoto's here too, huh. Wonderful! Long time no see!"

My skin crawls at his words. What does he mean by that?

I can't hear what the others say, but the villain begins to pour something onto his hair, black dribbling off of it to reveal the snow white locks beneath. The only thing I can grasp from his monologue is when he says "Sure, my face may have ended up like this...but I had hoped that my own family at least would recognize me..."

All the thoughts in my head eddy away. He's...related to them? This just got a whole lot more messy.

He explains that his DNA tests are being broadcasted across the world, and this snaps me back to the battle. So what if the world knows? He's the one who turned out bad. The rest of Endeavor's children have been nothing but nice to me. If anyone dares assume the worst about that family because of one bad apple, then they're not very smart at all.

"Thanks for hanging in there until now, Endeavor!" Dabi continues, jumping down to the razed ground with the rest of the villains. Todoroki commands his area as the villain lights himself up with that devastating blue flame.

His arms raise, but are quickly tied up with thin wires from above, securing them to his sides. The fibers wrap around all the other villains too.

"Apologies for being fashionably late," a voice calls out. "Best Jeanist will now be returning to work starting today!"

The hero tightens his hold on the fibers holding all the villains down. My breath is stolen from my lungs. Best Jeanist...but wasn't he dead?

"So much for being missing," Bakugo grunts with a hint of a smile. He pushes himself from Iida's arms and tumbles to the ground. I hurry to help him back up, but he has already settled his arms below him to help himself rise.

Shigaraki struggles with his restraints. "This guy! You were dead. That was a real body."

Best Jeanist merely shrugs. "You bit off more than you could chew and it fell apart like some frayed denim!"

But Dabi refuses to be held back by the hero. He instead begins to burn. The blue light once again illuminates the crumbled debris. "Even if you're alive, the Todoroki family's past won't be brushed under the rug! Right, Shoto?!"

The giant yanks at the fibers, but Best Jeanist holds fast. The villain with the containment quirk, Mr. Compress, scoffs. "You're kidding me! He managed to detain Machia?!"

Spinner struggles against his own restraints. "Ugh! Trying to break free is too painful! Doesn't Machia have immeasurable strength?"

"Tighter," Best Jeanist exclaims, pulling on the strings to such a degree that the villain they call Machia begins panting.

Dabi, rallying his energy, turns his attention at the last moment away from Todoroki, instead blasting Nejire out of the sky.

"Hado!" Todoroki cries as her burnt form tumbles to the ground. Iida runs to catch her, leaving me on the far side with Bakugo.

More figures approach from far away, but not all of them appear friendly. "Bakugo, we have to get out of here," I say, holding a hand to his bleeding abdomen as he sways on his feet. I point to the converging Nomus, but he merely shakes his head.

He's too tired to even speak, growl, or anything! No way can he face a Nomu like this! Much less four!

"Lemillion! How are you here?!" Midoriya calls. I breathe a sigh of relief that reinforcements for our side are here too.

The boy smiles. "The mountain team contacted me! So I came as fast as I could using Permeation! Turns out Sir Nighteye's agency was closer than expected to the villain's hideout! Despite this, it's not like I've got the power to take out these Nomus in one shot. Somebody back me up!"

Nejire raises herself from Iida's arms and blasts the approaching Nomu with energy waves. From my side as I prepare to deal my own damage, Bakugo blasts up into the air.

"Bakugo!" I cry after him, horrified for his safety.

"I told you to stay put," Iida admonishes him. "You're going to get yourself killed!"

"Are you back from the world of the dead, 'Bakugo?'" Best Jeanist taunts his old mentee.

"That was just a placeholder name," the boy declares, soaring through the air. "I was saving the real deal for you! From now on, call me Great Explosion Murder God Dynamight!"

I blink in shock. Why did he choose such a long, ridiculous name? Enh, I guess it fits.

"Haha!" Mirio laughs. "That's a good hero name! It's pretty funny!"

"It's not meant to be funny!"

"'Without joy and laughter to balance the sorrow, the world can never hope to have a bright future.' My bad there! That's just my motto. Now, as long as the final boss is restricted in place, it's time to clean up the rest of this mess!!"

Machia breaks through his bonds with a roar that shakes the world beneath us. I wonder how far the sound reaches.

"Big trouble," Mirio exclaims.

Best Jeanist gasps, "He's restored!"

However, the giant stumbles and sways. With a great gnash of his teeth, he falls face-first back to the ground. "My strength..." he grumbles.

"There was a message from the mountain team," Mirio explains. "They said they didn't notice any effect, but the anesthetic worked!"

Anesthetic?

"The anesthetic is beginning to show effect," Best Jeanist reiterates. "This is undoubtedly not just some coincidence. So many people, one after the other, all wore down this powerful beast just enough for the drug to kick in. I have faith! A single strand may be thin, but banded together, they may form a strong rope! Had even one strand had been flimsy, then this wouldn't have been possible! I have faith!"

My heart swells with pride for my friends up at the mountain. I knew they would make a meaningful impact!

Best Jeanist and Todoroki use their quirks in tandem to secure Machia where he slumbers. However, a Nomu leaps from the wreckage to intercept them. Bakugo leaps in the path of the monster, blasting away at him.

"Great Explosion Murder God Dynamight!" Iida admonishes, using his full hero name. I think I'll just stick to Dynamight, I think to myself. "You're no match for them when your body can't even take a tumble!"

Sure enough, the Nomu feints left with a clawed hand, but goes right to bite down on Bakugo's shoulder. The creature shakes his head around, thrashing Bakugo from side to side. With a punch to the gut, our classmate flies through the air.

Not even a sound comes out of him.

"No," the word falls from my lips in a breathless whisper.

My feet stir into motion, running after the boy as he hits the ground, a cloud of dust rising from his impact. "No, no, no."

Though the action continues behind me, I run for my fallen friend. I illuse under my feet to race across all the debris. My strides eat up the distance in no time, and I fall to my knees at the edge of the rubble pile.

The boy had slammed into the side of a mound of debris, chunks of concrete tumbling over him while he lay there unconscious. "No," I say and illuse at the same time, shattering the concrete to rubble. I brush it aside with my hand. 

"Bakugo," I firmly say, pressing my hand to his abdomen to staunch the bleeding. "Ducky."

My voice shatters as the nickname unwillingly leaves my lips. A kernel of dread settles in my stomach. "Ducky, please," I cry.

I remove my gloves and shove them into my pocket, placing my bare hands on his bloodied skin. "Please," I whisper to him before closing my eyes and activating Echolocation into his body.

What I feel in response is a nightmare.

Bones are shattered, veins and arteries are ripped wide open. Blood leaks into his muscles, into his stomach.

My eyes flutter open as the power in me disperses. I don't let myself feel the shock for too long, though. I rip off his glove and hold tight to his hand.

I work as fast as I can, overlapping sections of torn blood vessels, illusing into the blood itself to push itself back in. It doesn't completely work, as my control on liquids isn't the best, but it keeps some blood where it should be.

Please hold on, I pray. I don't know if he can hear me or if his body is predisposed to defy every order, but his heart stumbles a beat.

I clench my eyes closed with all the focus I have to keep as I target my power into the outer muscles of his heart. Holding the vessels as closed as I can, I keep his muscles going. Just like our science teacher instructed us, upper, lower. Upper, lower.

The beat becomes one with my own as I pulse the blood through Bakugo's body.