AFO laughed at the prolonged silence.

"Yes, now you see? It was all part of my plan. I knew it was going to be a temporary setback for me, but for you now? You lost everything, and now your successor is not yet ready to finish your mission. It's amusing, isn't it? A lifetime of struggling comes down to this."

All Might gasped. "You...fiend..."

Suddenly, laughter rang out, to everyone's surprise.

It was Shine.

She was still fighting the tendrils, but she was just laughing like it was suddenly nothing.

AFO directed his attention to her. "And what is so funny?"

"It's just as you said." Shine no longer sounded afraid. "It's amusing."

Wally grunted with effort, and suddenly he noticed Dabi was there, pulling him up.

Bakugo and Camie were there too (they'd followed) and Mabui was also. Endeavor was farther off.

Somehow, Shoto and Momo were now there... Camie had made some more texts.

Wally frowned at them, but then shrugged.

"I think you must have lost all of your senses," AFO said to Shine coolly. "Have you not noticed? I have you all right where I want you."

"Until now, I don't think I did realize just what sort of man you are," Shine said, "but all is revealed now. In the end, you're just the same petty, immature kind of loser as everyone else might be."

AFO seemed to recoil visibly at such language.

Bakugo kind of chuckled.

"All this--" Shine struggled against the tendrils more and finally broke out of most of them, slicing through the rest. "--just to get back at one person, for something that you caused. I mean, I thought you were a jerk before, but now I realize it's just pathetic. I mean, how old are you? A kindergartner might do the same thing. Just a child with super powerful toys-- I thought you made Tenko Shimura into that on purpose, and so you did, but I forgot: like teacher, like student. You can't teach someone to be something that you are not. I've learned that myself. And so, in the end, the most childish person was you."

AFO seemed speechless from sheer anger.

To be honest, Aizawa and All Might both thought Shine was being a bit too flippant and foolish. And Deku just didn't get it.

But Dabi laughed now. "Ey, she's right, you know."

"He--, this is kind of reminds me of our mission," Bakugo said, scoffing. "He's just like one of the Uchihas."

"Or Danzo, maybe," Camie said, "like, super petty and basic."

"I'd say he's more like Orochimaru, with the experimentation, but it's also pretty sad," Shoto said thoughtfully.

"Oh, come on, guys. It's kind of mean to just stand here and make comparisons like that," Momo said. "I mean, when he can hear us."

The funny thing was she was totally serious.

"Ach, unintentional sassy queen Momo strikes again," Camie snickered.

"Hmm, I'm new to this, but I concur." Mabui pushed her hair back. "He's not very impressive. All this amounts to petty revenge and a pitiful attempt at taking over society, but there's no ideology here. It really is just about control and spite. Disappointing."

All Might looked at them. "Why...? Who are you?"

"ALL OF YOU WILL DIE!!!" AFO finally regained his powers of speech.

And...the kids laughed at him, openly. Even Momo hid a smile.

"If we had a yen for every time we heard that!" Bakugo said.

Aizawa decided his class had lost their minds, officially.

"All of you, get away from here!!" he yelled.

"All Might, don't let this jackass scare you!" Bakugo yelled, ignoring him. "He's just an outdated comic book villain. It's the 22nd century, goshdang it!"

"I thought it was the 21st--" began Wally, but then stopped.

AFO formed an energy mass and shot it at all of them--but the kids were ready.

Shoto used ice to block it, and Momo reinforced it, while Bakugo blasted back to create a counter force.

Camie yanked them down after that to duck.

The energy petered out.

Aizawa marveled at their teamwork.

"Wow..." Deku muttered.

Shine smirked. "Kids," she said, "commence operation Done With This Crap, effective immediately."

"Roger that," Camie called.

She blew out a cloud of smoke that shot off noises like gun shots.

Bakugo and Shoto darted around the area in a wider circle, Shoto fencing it in with ice, Bakugo blasting stuff up like a wall.

Momo formed a large cannon and used it to shoot out some kind of sticky substance at AFO's feet, which hardened like cement.

This all happened in about 10 seconds flat.

Meanwhile, Wally was recovered, and he sped around, kicking up more rubble to help encircle and yanking Aizawa, Deku, and All Might out of the ring.

Dabi set fire to the rubble that was lined up, making a wall of flames encircle everyone.

Mabui was kind of tired still, but she motioned at Momo, and Momo handed her...was that a crossbow?

AFO would have stopped any or all of them, but the truth was they were so far away it was hard for him to actually know what they were doing. His infrared vision did have its limits. it wasn't the most clear thing. He knew they were moving, but they moved faster than he could power up another quirk.

Plus, Shine was distracting him, because she'd cut everyone else free of the red tendrils, so Wally could snatch them.

AFO tried to snag her and then realized by the heat of the fire that they'd entrapped him pretty neatly.

But he chuckled. "Come, Likstar, you know I can get away from here. I only have to warp." He began to try...and nothing happened.

"You know that warping this is a two way street," Shine said, casually eyeing her sword. "It blocks me, but I can block you back. Our two frequencies jam each other, you might say. But I'm sure you accounted for that, right?"

AFO hadn't known about that stipulation.

He gave a cry of anger. "You little upstart! Do you think it's going to be as easy as using a few kids to stop me?! All Might, where are you hiding? Are you really going to let your own students take the hits for you?"

"Oh, shut up," Wally called. "We all know you're just trying to get him to do something dumb so you can get the upper hand.Give it up, man. This is just sad."

"You be quiet, you pathetic speedster," AFO said.

All Might was stunned. "I have never seen him off-put. Ever... I don't understand. Why is this working? This is not even a good plan."

Deku wondered too.

Aizawa narrowed his eyes. "I think that's the reason... Look at him... He's so loud and intimidating, but if you're not scared of him, statistically, he's blind and has to be careful where he steps and aims, and he's alone, currently. He's not used to being weak, but perhaps we mistakenly thought he had an advantage over us all, just because of his quirks, but considering his weakness also, we may be about even. How many can he use at once?"

"I've seen him use up to 3 or 4," All Might said.

"If all of us can counter them--if I can block at least some of them," Aizawa said, "perhaps we could win this."

AFO's arm formed into some kind of screw-like tool, and he extended it toward the wall they'd made. "I will not lose to the likes of you! I've come too far for that!" He started to drill through the wall.

"Careful," Shine warned. "He's old enough to expect any kind of attack we have. He's got the search quirk too."

"Expect this, b----!" Bakugo tossed a grenade at AFO.

AFO caught it with his other hand. It exploded...and didn't seem to harm him at all.

"Yo, I don't think that worked," Camie said uncertainly.

"Shut up!" Bakugo snapped. "D--- it! We need a stronger blast."

Shoto shot fire, but it also had little effect.

"Perhaps he also heals," he said.

AFO tried to pierce through the stuff Momo had stuck him the the ground with also.... He yanked his feet out of it quite suddenly.

"He's getting away!" Camie announced unnecessarily.

Wally quick punched him a few more times, slowing him down.

Aizawa turned his quirk on. Holding...holding.

"Young Midoriya, now is your chance," All Might said.

Deku powered up. "DETROIT SMASH!!"

He kicked up and came down on AFO full force, knocking him into the ground with the force of a small reactor.

AFO wasn't knocked out even then, but he coughed.

Aizawa now couldn't see him, so he hoped that worked.

Suddenly, he found himself...way on the other side of the parking lot.

He looked around, confused.

4 teenagers were standing not that far off, watching the action.

"I can't believe we have to save this guy," one whined.

"You know Lord Ender has a reason for it," said another. "Just shut up and get on with it."

"Oh, shut up. Why don't you do it?" one of the girls snapped. She snapped her fingers.

More of the group found themselves tossed haphazardly all around the area.

Mirko looked around. She saw Switch.

"You again!" She kicked a rock at them. The kids ducked.

Then Mirko jumped and slammed AFO back into the ground, easily as hard as Deku had.

She laughed.

"Wow..." Dabi muttered. "She's scary."

Mabui and him found themselves at a distance also.

Mabui turned. "Who are those kids?"

"D----d if I know, but they're probably behind it," Dabi said. He lit up his hands.

"Hey, junior delinquents, wanna play?"

They looked over.

"Discombobulate," said one scrawny boy--Mixer, of course.

Dabi suddenly glazed over. "Huh..." he said, sounding like Kaminari when he'd shorted out.

Mabui's eyes narrowed.

Lifting her crossbow, she shot an arrow neatly through Mixer's jacket and pinned him into the wall that was not that far behind him.

Pipe formed a wall of rebar to block her.

Mabui held up her hand to aim, and then the wall disappeared and reappeared over Pipe and Paint's own heads, smacking them into the ground and pinning them there.

"Ow!! Get this off, you stupid idiot!" Paint snapped, pushing at it.

Switch glared at Mabui. "You want a piece of this, princess?"

Mabui blew hair out of her face. "Untrained children like you should stay off the battlefield."

Switch moved her so that she was smacking into a wall--but then Mabui put out her hand and stuck to it instead, with the reflexes of a jonin ninja.

Switch blinked. "What the h---?"

Mabui pulled some shuriken out of her jacket and tossed them at Switch, neatly pinning her to the wall also by her clothes.

"I think I nullified them," she said, tapping Dabi's shoulder. "Are you okay?"

"I...think I'm coming out of it. That was weird." Dabi rubbed his forehead. "Also...dang, woman, all 4 of them? Dad's gonna promote you."

Endeavor had watched all this, not sure he needed to interfere, but he was probably taking notes.

Now, however, he was coming closer to AFO.

"So we meet again," he said, holding up a hand. "I think we should end this once and for all."

AFO sat up instead.

"No," he said, "I will not let this be the end! You all will suffer for what you've done today, trust me, but not yet!"

And suddenly, despite what Shine had said, black goo billowed out...but...it wasn't like before--it didn't even seem to come out of his mouth, and there was more of it than there should have been.

"Endeavor, get back!" Shine's whole body tingled with a horrid feeling of trepidation. She yanked the much bigger man backward, but he did stumble a little towards her.

Wally grabbed Deku and Mirko, those only ones close still, and ran also.

The goo spread out farther.

"Don't let that touch you," Shine warned.

Momo and Shoto ducked behind some ice. Shoto muttered some kind of prayer.

Bakugo blasted, and Camie got behind him.

Deku tried to use his quirk to beat enough wind to send the stuff back.

AFO's hand came out of the blackness and grabbed at him. "I'll still take one trophy today," he taunted.

Deku froze in horror.

"DEKU, MOVE, D--- IT!" Bakugo yelled. He started to move. Camie grabbed him and held him back. "Don't!" she said.

Wally started to rush forward--but the blackness seemed to block him on purpose, and then he hissed. "Ah...what is this?"

He jerked back.

Mirko started to move also, but Wally stopped her. "Don't."

AFO's hand was closing around Deku's head--

But suddenly someone else shoved Deku aside. It was All Might.

"You leave young Midoriya alone!" he said. "His story is not going to end at your hands, AFO!"

AFO, in response, just smacked All Might into the ground.

"I have waited for years to do this," he said, raising his foot, "but now that it comes to it, it's almost unsatisfying with how weak you are---but I'll live with it."

"No! Don't touch All Might!" Deku tried to stop him. AFO used his blasting quirk to knock him aside, and then he stomped hard.

The impact could be heard all over the empty lot. And the Heroes gasped like someone had punched them in the stomach.

AFO laughed, and the goo swallowed him up.

It seemed like it would swallow all of them.

But Shine held up her sword, and the light gleamed. "Get back!"

Wally held up his hands too. "Yeah, clear out..."

The kids echoed them, all over the field.

The goo vanished into the air.

The sun reappeared. No one had noticed it had gone dark until then.

Mirko kind of gasped. "What...was that?"

"That...I don't know," Shine said.

"I touched it... It felt like ice..." Wally said. "I mean, really, really cold, freezing, sub zero ice." He shuddered. "It was horrible."

"All Might!" Deku cried. "All Might!!!" He was frantic.

Bakugo and Aizawa rushed up to him.

The others came closer too.

Deku knelt next to All Might. "All Might, come on...wake up..."

"Oh no..." Momo covered her mouth.

Shoto looked shocked.

"What?" Endeavor ran up also. "He's just unconscious... One of you can heal, right?"

"Momo, go," Shoto said.

Momo nodded and rushed up. She knelt down next to All Might and put her hand on his forehead.

But after a moment, she shook her head and started to cry. "I'm sorry...but I think...it's too late."

"No, it can't be," Deku said. "Maybe his heart just stopped temporarily, and we can restart it. Does anyone know CPR?"

"Let me try." Aizawa knelt down and tried a few things, then listened...then shook his head. "I think Yaoyurozu is right. I think's he's...gone already. That blow probably...made it instantaneous."

"What? No, it can't be true!" Deku cried. "It can't be." He was crying now. "Come on, we can do something. Miss Likstar?"

Shine was close now.

She looked at All Might closely.

Then she shook her head. "I'm sorry, De--Izuku... I think it was...it was just the time..."

Deku started sobbing uncontrollably.

Bakugo turned and angrily blasted a huge hole in the ground, yelling swear words.

Shoto looked shocked. "It.... All Might.... He...can't be..."

Endeavor slowly shook his head. "A Hero risks his life daily on the field. A Hero to the last-- I suppose that suits him. These things happen, Shoto."

Shoto looked angry. "I can't believe...that b-----d! All Might was no threat to him. He just did that for fun. I hate him!" He clenched his fist. "I---How could he---?"

Momo covered her face.

Endeavor...hesitantly put a hand on Shoto's shoulder. "Don't pity All Might," he said. "He protected his student. That is how he'd have wanted it."

[Art by Julianna Gardner]

"You know, it's horrible, but I think he's kind of right..." Wally said slowly. "Going out with your boots on is how heroes want to... I mean, for guy with no power, too, pretty cool... He's cool."

Mirko was just standing there, shocked.

Then she turned and ran away, no one saw where.

Hawks flew up. "The police arrived and some backup--Holy.... What happened?"

Some of them looked at him, then Dabi answered. "AFO, he got away. Some kind of trick quirk. He...killed All Might."

Even the Armageddon teens looked kind of shocked. They weren't even trying to get away.

But then they were just gone, and no one saw how it happened.

"Oh...I'm sorry..." Hawks said. "I...had no idea he was even here. I'm really sorry, guys... Him and Jeanist, huh?"

[Hawks' Art by the same]

"What?" said most of the people who didn't know.

"What the h--- happened to Jeanist?" Bakugo sounded dangerous.

"Um...he's...also made the ultimate sacrifice on the field." Hawks lowered his head. "Sorry, I didn't realize no one knew."

"Oh...wow..." Wally looked shell shocked. "Him too..."

"Where the h--- was Edgeshot this whole time?" Endeavor suddenly said, angry. "All this went down, and he hasn't been around."

"If he hasn't come back, I hate to say it, but what do you think happened to him?" Dabi spoke up.

Aizawa shook his head. "He could get away. He's probably dealing with the rest of the Villains who were hiding around here."

Shine slowly put an arm around Deku. "Deku...I'm sorry."

Deku just cried harder.

"We need to get away from here. There's still danger around here," Shine said gently. "It will be better to move. This is a place of death."

"Well...take him," Hawks said. "I got it." He lifted up All Might with his feathers. "AFO did it...huh...? I'm sorry, I should have been here. The police had all these questions, and no one else was around to help move the stiff...but...I should have put it off. I had no clue all this was happening over here."

"Oh, shut up," Dabi said. "No one is blaming you, Chicken Man. It's just AFO being a major d--- like he always is."

"Touya," Mabui said quietly, "I do not think that will help. He's just trying to...to be kind."

Dabi scowled. "Whatever."

"I don't know who you are," Hawks said, "but you seem pretty chill."

"That's my new secretary," Endeavor said. "She's getting a raise. Mabui, go talk to the police. I trust with your ability you'll have no trouble explaining what happened."

"Yes, sir." Mabui nodded and walked away. She was calm, at least. She was well trained not to lose her cool even in the face of tragedy.

The others were still shell shocked, but as Hawks flew off with All Might, they had no reason not to move, and they walked back slowly toward the barricade.

"Wally, could you find Rumi please?" Shine asked. "I'm worried she just ran off like that and got into trouble."

Wally nodded and dashed away.

* * *

Mirko kind of just blindly ran when she bolted, but she found herself on the far edge of the mall.

She hugged her sides and took some deep breaths, trying to get a grip.

"What are you doing?" Silk's voice startled her.

Mirko looked up.

Silk, Compress, Toga, and Shigaraki were leaning against a wall.

[Shiggy and LOV art by the same]

"You're...still here," Mirko said.

"We're waiting for Spinner," Compress shrugged. "We found a payphone, though. Crazy how they started making those again. But useful."

"You look horrible," Silk said, real sensitively. "Who died?"

Mirko suddenly looked at them very darkly.

"Heroes," she said.

Silence.

"I forgot for a second. I'm sorry," Silk said. "That was horrible for me to say."

"But you didn't like him that much," Compress said. "So really, getting mad at us, what use is it? We didn't kill him."

"You didn't kill All Might either," Mirko said flatly.

"Yes, because it wasn't the time." Shigaraki didn't understand what she meant.

"No, you dumba--.... I'm sure he'll brag about it later anyway, but I won't give him the satisfaction of being the one to tell you." Mirko sniffed. "AFO killed him."

Shocked silence.

"Didn't All Might lose his quirk?" Silk said. It wasn't really a question. Everyone knew that.

Mirko scowled more darkly. "Yeah."

"Master... When?" Shigaraki asked.

"A few minutes ago... All Might tried to save that Deku kid," Mirko said. "AFO killed him for that... No, he killed him for the fun of it, SOB." She kicked a rock. "All Might couldn't fight him. He's nothing but a psychopathic, cruel bully! Anyone else could have fought back...but...that coward."

"Master finally got his revenge," Shigaraki noted.

"And you missed it," Compress said dryly. "How ironic."

"Well, him doing it is just the same as me," Shigaraki said.

The ease with which he just let that go ticked Mirko off further.

"What a joke," she said angrily. "Like you really cared about All Might...or any of this mess. You're just playing at it, like this is all just some game to you! Well, our people freaking died! A--h---!"

"Hey, this isn't our fault," Toga said. "Leave us alone, Bunny Girl."

Mirko cast her a fierce look, and she backed up a little.

"Mirko, do not let emotion get the best of you," Silk warned. "Is always mistake. In saner moment, you know is not our doing. We were over here."

"But it doesn't matter to any of you, does it?" Mirko said. "It was all right for a while--no one was dying. I even thought I was protecting people somehow, but I didn't protect anyone, really, and somehow I managed to forget that none of you really care about us." She shook her head furiously. "No matter what we do, we're just chess pieces to you. Heroes, people without a face. Who cares if a few of us die?"

"I find that ungrateful," Shigaraki said, scratching a little nervously. "We spared you many times."

"Am I supposed to be thankful for that?" Mirko said. "Lucky me. I'm so special, right? Maybe because you don't take me seriously anymore. Well, take this seriously: I can't protect people who will not even care if the things I care about get destroyed." She flipped them off. "The deal is over."

Shigaraki stiffened. "Fine. You're being irrational, but if you're determined to take it personally, then fine."

"Sir, I don't think it's wise to answer her in kind..." Compress said nervously.

"Mirko, you know you don't mean that," Silk tried again. "Come on, you can't expect us to feel the same. We don't even know these people."

"Yeah, well, I did," Mirko said.

Silence.

"We are sorry for your loss, then." Silk seemed oddly frantic about this. "But please don't make choices we all regret later. We need each other."

"Why would I need any of you?" Mirko half knew this was foolish, but she barreled on anyway. "What good is it doing? I'm just putting the others in danger at this point."

"So you're going to stop us from leaving, then?" Shigaraki sounded tense.

Silence.

"No." Mirko looked away. "I said to get away...and it doesn't matter. It's too late now. Anyway, I can't take all of you on."

"True," Compress said.

"Boss," Silk hissed, "she's upset, is all. Don't overreact."

"Who's overreacting?" Shigaraki definitely sounded like he was. "If she wants to make dumb decisions in a fit of rage that's her business... Her and Hawks can be on their own, then."

Silk gave him a look. "What does Hawks have to do with it?"

"Don't you know jealousy when you see it?" Compress hissed to her.

Mirko huffed. "Fine."

She turned away. "Better not make Spinner wait."

"He's not here--" Compress said.

Spinner pulled up in a van right then, looking nervous.

"Oh...right...rabbit ears," Compress muttered.

"Mirko?" Spinner rolled down his window. "What's going on? The news is totally stumped."

Mirko didn't answer, just hopped away.

"We'll explain on the way. Just get us out here." Compress grabbed shotgun.

The others piled in the back silently.

"I'm sorry for her," Silk said. "They take losses on the job so personally. She's going to think it's her fault they died."

"Well, don't we all know what that's like?" Compress said, though he didn't. "But sooner or later that Pro has to accept none of us control anything." He slumped darkly. "Nothing at all."

Shigaraki just stared out the window.

* * *