PARANORMAL LIBERATION WAR ARC
— # part four
content warnings: very descriptive gore, vomiting, and descriptions of violence.
— IZUKU COULD FEEL the searing sensation of vermillion seeping into blackwhip's shadowy form.
laying prone after a barreling descent, he dug his left arm under his chest, pushing against the ground with a flat palm as he forced himself to sit up. blood lay thick in his viridian curls and dragged them low, vying with the drip slowly descending the length of his freckled cheek.
with a grunt elicited through gritted teeth, he clasped his hand around the dark tendril shot from his palm. blackwhip clung to syd's body, snaked around her waist like a rope as its smoky wisps curled up to each blotted bloodstain. the sight made him sick.
it was only a moment before blackwhip followed izuku's command, bringing her to lean against him.
his uninjured arm then rose to twine around her waist instead, battered body held aloft by his strength. izuku held her like a river holds a petal, palm cradling the back of her skull as his calloused fingers brushed away the strands of cherry-colored hair laid on her neck. two fingers curled to syd's pulse, and he stroked her hair in a gesture of relief upon feeling the faint heartbeat. izuku sighed.
"i've got you," he murmured, feeling irrevocably useless as he tried to press his other hand to the bloodied orifices littering her stomach. it was all a riptide of blood. izuku's tear blurred eyes couldn't make out where any of it was coming from. "it's okay, i'm not — i'm not letting you go."
each breath was shakily drawn. izuku scrambled to hold her body as close to his as physically possible.
katsuki roughly landed on the ground beside them, wiping the trickle of blood from his lip with the side of his sweaty forearm. the effort was futile, as more blood spilled from his mouth upon a cough shaking his upper body.
"stupid cherry head." he spat, "she's not... right?"
"she's breathing."
just as izuku's words touched the earth, a thick cloud of dust billowed through the battlefield in the distance. shigaraki's jagged tendrils dug deep into the cracks of hardened ground, a move of leverage in pulling his scorched body into the air. the villain dangled from the sky like a grotesque puppet, terrain below buckling as his power took control.
carmine eyes locked upon the three of them, shigaraki's seared hand slowly raising in preparation for an attack.
however, before the crimson energy can shine from the center point in his palm, a spiral of familiar golden light shoots through his chest. the villain's stumble was immediately followed by hado's figure appearing high above, palms outstretched far in front of her.
"found 'em!" she shouted.
iida then shot over the wall of wreckage with a burst of heat from his calves, sharply avoiding each crackle of shigaraki's power as he blasted himself far into the midst of the battlefield.
"a gigantic villain is headed this way! we've already informed the heroes fighting nomu nearby—!"
manual whipped around, "you're here, too, iida?"
"get midoriya and the others to safety!" shoto immediately demanded, wasting no time in standing straight up and pointing to the three of us nearby.
iida nodded, landing firmly on a safe patch of ground before taking a brief moment to eye the ruins around him. eyes dancing upon the bloodied heroes, our teacher's unconscious body, aizawa's foot twelve meters away from the scene; horror stuck his expression.
"this is... no wonder why you guys never returned..."
"make sure — make sure she's okay, iida." izuku stumbled out. "i need to stay here, i can't — i can't leave, shigaraki wants my quirk. he'll follow if i run off."
"he's not healing near as fast as he was, he must be weakening." shoto said, arms blazed with a whip of fire and frost as he whipped around to face the villain. "hado, help me! let's put pressure on 'em!"
"got it!"
glaciers of ice shot high with the thrash of shoto's arm, frost whipping like a hurricane as it blanketed the wreckage in glittering azure. with each fast step, the iceberg extended in length, its point barreling toward the villain in piercing fervor. immediately following his attack was hado, hands outstretched in front of her with golden spirals shining along the reflection. she floated high above and shot endless blasts of energy to shigaraki, each flash enveloping the midst in streaking blindness.
then, as usual, it only took a split second for everything to go wrong.
"master!"
a cliffside collided with their bodies, sending the two of them flying back into the center point of ruin.
each gaze followed the line of rocks as it shattered the glacier like a hammer to glass, arms stretching in length and heavy under the earthquake-inducing steps. dust scraped as its bouldered fingers curled, clinking around shigaraki's bloodied body.
gigantomachia rose to its feet.
the brush of its hardened skull met with ivory clouds, blanketing the battlefield in a shadow that mocked midnight's darkness. it paid little heed to the ants of heroes and villains alike, careless to the little creatures that scrambled to climb the spikes littering its back. all of gigantomachia's attention was to its open palm, stained vermillion with the trickling pool underneath its master's form, bathed in furious observation.
deep into the captured machia's shadow, the heroes are granted a moment of silence. perhaps it's not as much of a blessing as it seems; with a kaleidoscope of gore, blood, and pain consuming them.
but a moment of silence is all that it is, and for just a moment, the wreckage is bathed in quiet.
✧
pain blazed everywhere.
the kiss of adrenaline had left me like running water, washing away the dusted winds and leaving me dehydrated. i could feel the crackle of bones deep inside of me, the sting of debris climbing into the ravines inside my abdomen, the squelch of each purple and yellow vein as they spewed their contents onto my hero costume. nausea settled upon my body like a tsunami, though any vomit that threatened to escape was already spilling out of the cavities in my stomach.
then, immediately following the throb of my heart threatening to claw out of each break in my ribs, the firm press of a foreign sensation elicited a secondary blossom of pain. it forced a pathetic tremble to my fingers and a quiet whimper of strangled breath from my lips, shakily lifting my soaked hand to grip the source — whatever it was.
fingers curling upon scarred skin and calloused veins, i found izuku's hand.
i tried and failed to murmur his name. it was a whisper too faint to be carried up, too meaningless in comparison to gigantomachia's roars as they echoed throughout the ruins.
concentration riddled my mind, fingers tightly closing around izuku's wrist. streaks of vermillion dried upon the freckled skin as i pressed upon the azure vein, letting my eyelids fall and focusing upon his heartbeat like it was a lullaby. it must've alerted him, because izuku was talking about something to someone — screaming, actually — and i wasn't quite sure if the anger was directed at me. i hope not, at least.
"master, i'm here... what is your next order...? i will... do as you command..."
meanwhile, endeavor dove to shoto's side following machia's words, his bloodied palm hovering an inch over his son's back in a pitiful attempt at compassion. "shoto, are you alright?"
"yeah, i'm—"
"— hey, there you are!" dabi cried. he sauntered to the edge of gigantomachia's back, one hand resting upon the bouldered spire as the other shook a water bottle close to his chest. "from all the way up here, everyone looks like tiny little ants!"
the villain let go of the spire, violet scarred hand moving to shield his eyes from the sunlight as he leaned down, scanning the battlefield with his azure gaze.
"ah, shoto's with you. perfect."
endeavor's breath hitched in his vermillion-pierced lung, shakily shifting his body to face the beast and the villain standing on top of it. his teeth gritted against the blots of acrid copper taste, eyes narrowing in threat. "dabi..."
"hey, now, don't be rude."
dabi flicked off the cap of the bottle and lifted it over his head, turning it over and letting the water pour. almost immediately, the cool waves soaked deep into the raven strands and traveled down to each jagged tip, washing away the dark color in its wake. ivory strands arrogated once again, welcomed with the toothy grin that the villain flashed.
"you're acting like we've never met!" he exclaimed, carelessly tossing away the empty plastic bottle. "call me toya. after all, it's the name you 'n mom gave me."
endeavor's breath hitched even farther in his chest, azure eyes flicking to gigantomachia once again with heightened focus. upon the sudden strike of weight dragging each frayed muscle, his palm finally fell to shoto's back with the sound of a quiet smack.
if shoto felt the touch, he didn't acknowledge it. the two of them were much too drawn to the scene in front of them to care.
"yeah, i know, my face is pretty disgusting now — but it's still surprising my own family didn't recognize me. it's honestly kinda shitty, y'know? i didn't forget our family. i've been watching you from the shadows this entire time." toya shook his head like a lecturing teacher, grinning. "out of everyone in the world, you should be beyond reproach, number one — and so, a prerecorded video of my life's story is currently streaming on every device in the country."
violet scarred hands clapped, and with each spin of toya's body with the thrilling high he'd received, the weight inside of endeavor's chest only grew.
"oh, man, i didn't expect this! i'm starting to have fun!"
his boots shuffled against gigantomachia's back, laughter bellowing.
"i'd wondered how i could make you suffer, how i could ruin your life! ever since i burned up, it's all i've thought about! at first, when i realized your little puppet shoto was complete, i figured i'd kill him — but then you unexpectedly became the number one hero! who woulda guessed, huh?!"
toya let out a scoff as if he was impressed with himself.
"i was suddenly so invested in your happiness! can you believe in kyushu, i was actually afraid you were going to die?! it must be a heavy burden to finally achieve your dream after so long — is that why you finally decided to try to bond with your children?! just keep looking towards the future, and you could be a better man?!"
he turned around and placed his hands on his chest, leaning forward like he was pushing his father for a response. toya shook his head upon the frozen quiet that followed, still grinning like a child who's just received a piece of candy.
"what, nothing to say?! well, allow me! the past never dies — you will reap everything you've sown, enji todoroki! come and dance with me in hell, won't you?! well? speak up, dad!"
endeavor's eyelids flickered, a shaky breath drawn through his teeth as he slowly shook his head and lowered his gaze.
"my son... is dead... these are disgusting lies."
toya scoffed, back straightening as he twirled on the heel of his boot. "oh, i'm very much alive, you're just a broken man who refuses to accept the truth! how could you not recognize your child?! is it because fire quirks are so common, there's nothing special about someone who has one?! if you doubt me, i'll happily give some blood or a chunk of skin — you can do a dna test! obviously, i've already done one! thank you for living long enough for you to see this day, endeavor!"
with that, toya kicked off the stone spire he previously leaned against, flames dancing down the lengths of his scarred arms and licking burns from the gaping flesh. the blaze of azure enveloped his body, illuminating the ivory strands of hair that whipped over his eyes.
and endeavor was left to do nothing but stare as his eldest son leapt toward him with a blistering heat of righteous anger. "i looked for you... everywhere..."
"dammit, he's fast!" shoto stood up, his fists clenched tightly enough to draw blood. "you ready?"
oxygen remained hitched and caught in endeavor's throat, the number one's shoulders tightening and sinking lower to the ground. "i believed you... to be alive..."
"protect midoriya and suzuki — hado, bakugo, and i will hold them off! dad, snap out of it!" shoto's voice had raised to a scream, "please! we'll deal with this later!"
the midst of the battlefield was illuminated in azure blue as toya grew closer, clenched fist reared back in preparation for performing his father's ultimate move. just as the flames explode around his body and begin whipping away from his skin, a slash of golden light strikes the flesh of his back, splitting it to the world in a guttural splash of blood.
"what the—?!"
"hands off, dabi."
sam's calloused fingers curled around the flash of golden light. his right arm shoots back, left leg shooting forward. my brother's foot swiftly cracks through toya's ribcage.
the villain heaved an angered grunt as his arms limply shot in front of him, body forced back. it was only a split second before the azure flames licked upon his scarred skin once again, centering around the clenched fist closest to the hero. fire slashed in an arc through the air, leaving little room for sam to jerk out of the way.
still, the hero's right hand immediately shot forward and sent another sharp blast of light to toya's chest, slamming the villain into gigantomachia's side. twining threads then snaked around his body and sealed his arms to his torso.
"apologies," best jeanist said, "it was our intention to arrive far earlier."
"where did they come from?" izuku murmured questioningly, eyes squinted above as he slung my arm over his shoulder and brought both of us to stand.
katuski scoffed, tilting up his chin pridefully. "and they said jeanist was missing."
meanwhile, toya struggled against the threaded binds, azure eyes wide and trembling upon the sight of the pro hero. "you're supposed to be dead! the corpse i saw was real, so how the hell are you alive?!"
"greed has caused your plans to fall apart, like cheap denim!" jeanist exclaimed.
the eldest todoroki son gritted his teeth, eyes narrowing in indignation as flames danced along his skin. "alright, fine, you're not dead — that doesn't make my past any less real, right? you saw it, shoto!"
the boy in question leapt from the midst of the wreckage, saffron flames blazing around his tightly clenched fist and billowing forward with the thrash of his arm. amber collided with pacific blue, the fire growing around the todoroki brothers as if their surroundings were gasoline.
hado soared through the air behind shoto, golden spirals collecting in her palm. she scanned her eyes over the surrounding area, expression sullen before flickering to horror as toya's flames shot like a bullet towards her. the fire danced upon her skin, fraying away at her hero costume and tearing open the angry flesh.
the third year's shrill scream immediately follows, forcing shoto to whip around.
"hado, hold on!"
"oh, endeavor!" toya said in a sing-song voice, "you let somebody get burned again! another kid with a bright future ruined thanks to you!"
his bellowing laughter burned the azure flames brighter, licking away at the threads of best jeanist's binds and incinerating them without mercy. arms slowly freeing, he raised his hand to thrash an arc of fire to the fallen student, before hado's snatched out of the sky by iida and brought to the ground.
vermillion blotted my vision like watercolor on paper, sending an unsteady hitch to my lungs as i pulled my hand away from my stomach and found not a single trace of skin uncoated with my blood. izuku was talking to me, but i didn't listen. i couldn't listen.
scarlet energy curled adjacent to my fingers, blending with the painted streaks of my flesh.
"destroy it all..." shigaraki staggered out, carmine eyes just barely flickering open. "machia."
with his master's command, gigantomachia roared, the threads of ropes binding it pulling like candy and sharply snapping. the beast's bouldered fists swung, sending vigorous slashes to sam and jeanist as they both lurched forward, soaring through each collision in pursuit of recapturing it. the heroes cut through the flames of amber dancing with each wave of blistering heat, shoto's fire blazing with toya's in each furious arc.
"you pushed those villains to attack our family?!" he screamed, dodging the lick of azure fire as his arm was engulfed in flames, "one of them almost killed natsu! why, toya? you used to cry to him, what happened to you — what if he'd been murdered?!"
toya simply let out another shriek of laughter, "i was kinda hoping that would be the outcome, think of how much endeavor would've suffered—!"
"you've gone completely insane!"
"— you've got that right! long lost brother can't feel a thing anymore!"
upon another sharp collision of blazing flames, gigantomachia was captured in tight binds once again before they frayed and snapped to the cliffside-like muscles of its shoulder blades. best jeanist furiously whirred around the beast of rock, sam circling where the league of villains stood and vigorously shooting away their attacks.
then, as best jeanist rears back his arm for another string of wire, a billowing yell echoes from the distance.
the hoard of violet-skinned nomu whipped up from the battlefield, claws digging into the debris-lined hill we stood upon and propelling them into the midst of the wreckage. crackles of one for all zip from izuku's skin as he tugged the three of us out of the way of the abomination's slashes, each of them chasing shigaraki's body like dogs chasing meat as all might's successor leaves katsuki and i go join the fight.
upon reaching the precipice of the hill, they dug their bodies into the cliffside, immediately leaping up and whipping into the air. drills of bloodstained metal whirred, spinning off the remains of dust and flesh in their vigor as they shifted their focus to the pro heroes subduing gigantomachia.
however, before the sharp edges of slashing metal can dig into jeanist and sam's flesh, a flash of light fizzes out of machia's body. spit flying like they'd been violently punched in the jaw, the surrounding nomu recoiled and fell limply back.
mirio grins down at us.
"the pros at the villa gave us a heads up, so i rushed over using permeation! the nighteye agency was scouting a villain hideout nearby!" the blond glanced back at the beast, eyebrows raised as he floated down from his place in the shadows. "dang — he's a big boy, huh?"
slowly, mirio fizzed into the dirt, angling his body deep underground and then shooting up behind gigantomachia.
"i wanted to end this fight quick, but it looks like it's gonna take a lot more than just one punch!" then, with a wavering smile, he glanced back at the three of us. "hey, uh, somebody?! help!"
katsuki and i lock eyes for a brief instant, exchanging a quick and silent nod before our gaze focuses forward. the air was thick with the pungent scent of sweat and tears, blood's acrid taste flooding my teeth as i bit upon the inside of my lip, willingly falling victim to the adrenaline as it crashed over my body like a tsunami. with the aches of the ravines inside my stomach, shoulder, and thigh dulled; we're back in the fight within the next second.
light flashed from the center point in katsuki's sweat-streaked palms as he thrashed straight up and cut through each nomu's patchwork skin, blasting it apart with incinerating power and leaving no room for counterattacks.
"were you able to look beyond yourself, bakugo?" best jeanist said, squinting through the drips of blood at his former intern.
katsuki huffed, chin tilting up as he addressed the pro hero. "i chose a hero name, and i wanted you to hear it in person first — from now on, call me great explosion murder god dynamight!"
best jeanist recoiled.
meanwhile, mirio grinned and wiped the trail of sweat from his eyebrow, one hand on his hip upon leaning back to view gigantomachia successfully captured. "looks like the big bad's in the ropes, if we handle the rest of these creeps, we'll be golden!"
toya soared down from the stone spire once again, azure flames consuming his body and thrashing around his little brother.
"looks like your friends are having fun over there — but you look distraught!" he tilted his head to the side in mock compassion, slashing a blazing arc of blistering heat with his right arm. "i'm worried you're not enjoying yourself!"
shoto leapt out of the way, "yeah, well, neither are you! your body's burning up!"
"i'm glad you were raised to be a nice boy — don't worry 'bout me, i'm not sure i've ever felt better!" toya's eyes flicker to endeavor, the hero frozen at the ground. "look at that face! you may be his little masterpiece, but you're about to be killed by his greatest failure! see how broken he is? it's too good! shoto, can you imagine the expression he'll have when he watches me melt the flesh off your blackened bones—?!"
toya's words fall into bellowing laughter as his body becomes entirely enveloped by the azure flames, blackwhip immediately splitting shoto from the fire's vigorous grip.
just as izuku whipped around to speak to the burning villain, gigantomachia let out another deafening roar.
the white threads tightly coiled around it lit up with the fraying strands, each small snap further sending the beast to pursue its inevitable freedom. bouldered arms ripped from the wire's vigorous capture, stretching out and letting the villains on its back take shigaraki in their protective hold.
"the future we're heading for is built on chaos!" toya screamed, blasting back the students with a thrash of azure flames. "the lies you heroes spew won't matter anymore!"
mirio reeled back, "uh, guys—?!"
"— he's breaking free!" best jeanist exclaimed.
gigantomachia charged forward, the enormous, mountain-like arm thrashing in a wide arc of cutting wind. sam leapt out of its way without a moment's interval, immediately firing a series of golden beams directly at the beast's shoulder. the powerful lightning-like strikes heartlessly slammed into its immense arm and pierced the dusting flesh underneath.
sam's vigor never faltered, avoiding each counterattack from gigantomachia with practiced ease.
he swung himself above the giant's shoulder, firing down a fresh barrage of rapid golden beams. each flash buried itself deeper into the small, exposed area where the beast's arm and shoulder met — a single point of vulnerability, one merely accidentally exposed.
machia's jaw slacked with another roar to the lord of evil, thrashing to attack the heroes. just as the colossal fist rose to its highest point in preparation for a devastating slam with enough strength gathered to shatter the very earth it stood upon, sam shot under the beast's raised arm, shooting like a bullet toward machia's shoulder.
then, in a swift kick, his foot swung to the shattered and weakened bone, slicing straight through.
gigantomachia's bellow tugged into a cry as its shoulder was torn from the rest of its body, the giant's amputated arm being immediately captured by gravity's eager embrace. much to the surprise of the surrounding heroes and villains alike, machia staggered back, shaking with a presumed sob as the attacks of the nomu harshly faltered.
another piercing cry was unleashed, the shrill, guttural wail cutting through the sound barrier with a blast that rattled everything around. each spike lining the beast's plummeting arm cracked under the pressure of the whipping wind, all but one.
only one spike remained untouched by gravity's heartless force, sharp as the tip of a knife.
and the heroes' exultant cheers were almost deafening enough to cover the sight of the only remaining spike piercing straight through sam's chest.
my jaw tugged into a slackened position, eyes fixing forward as the gales of wind swept through his hair and limbs. its insatiable mitts ripped him from the sky and dragged him to the ground along with the falling amputated limb, crimson melting into the white garments of his hero costume.
the thud of meeting with the earth below sent his limbs moving into positions that were most unnatural to his body — muscles pulled too far, bones snapped in too many directions, skull barely hanging onto the rest of his neck with a single piece of his spine. the spire was still inside of his body, digging a tank-sized hole into his chest.
my lips uttered a few breathless sounds, incoherent.
katsuki's hand grasped my shoulder tightly, trying to convey the sense of urgency that his voice was screaming, all with little to no avail. my eyes were focused on the blood-soaked scene that had been painted vermillion within my sight, the quiet grunts of pain only serving to push my senses closer to the edge.
gigantomachia's words may as well have been in alien language for all that my brain understood, so utterly entrenched in the labored breaths that were coming from my lungs and the aching that had taken root within my legs. the beast thudded to the ground like it'd been sedated, but i couldn't find it within myself to spare a glance in its direction.
what happened, what happened, what happened?
sour liquid flooded my esophagus and clawed its way up my throat, spit rushing through my mouth and tying with thick heaps of clotted blood. my shoe splashed with the vermillion pool beneath me as i took a strained step forward, knees immediately buckling and slamming onto the dirt as i released countless heaps of bile below.
gigantomachia shifted with gravity's tug, forcing the spike to sink further into sam's chest. blood squelched and bubbled along the rim, pushing flesh to seep out of his disconnected neck and splatter onto the chin hanging far away, strings of severed yellow veins hanging.
i vomited again.
my arms wrapped tightly around my stomach as if doing so would push inside the organs and flesh seeping out of my brother's body. my heart beat thousands of miles far, forcing a violent tremble to my hands and sending a tingle of numbness to coat my skin.
it was hot outside — so hot — so hot that it burned my hands and my body and my head and my eyes.
"selene," iida said seriously, and i almost paused to ask where he'd come from, "selene, stop. you're hurting yourself. i get it — i get what you're feeling. you need to get off the battlefield."
the cool metal of his hero costume dug into the gashes and gaping wounds carved inside of me, eliciting a whine from my lips and weakening my struggles. vermillion stained the metal like it stained my fingertips; drip, drip, dripping everywhere.
shigaraki's carmine eyes then flicker open with life, his back jerking up like a bolt of electricity had been blown through him. an earth-shattering wave of wind immediately followed, brushing up the debris and flinging it back as the surrounding heroes were sent flying against their will.
my hands failed to grip the ground beneath me before the air swept my legs from the dirt, hurdling from the midst of the wreckage. rocks and debris sliced brutally into my limbs as i skidded upon the ground below, drawing arcs of vermillion so sharp that it splattered into my eyes.
shigaraki then stood up, staggering to the edge of gigantomachia's back with all for one's voice echoing out the cavity in his throat.
"i must say, tomura has some admirable friends. power is drawn from the heart — the more he embraces the pain and hatred born from his past trauma, the stronger my will becomes within his body."
he smirked.
"long live the king, tomura."
veins of black protruded from shigaraki's skin, creeping like poisonous roots along the length of his neck and twining around the bone of his jaw. the villain shifted slowly, every movement precisely and chillingly controlled, the even tone of his voice a frightening contrast to the malice lurking beneath.
viridian cracked through the air with heightened vigor as izuku lurched forward — followed by mirio, shoto and katsuki, along with iida in tow.
my fingers uncurled against the dirt beneath me, rising and reaching out toward the scene.
i clamored for more time, more strength, a single respite, but nothing could prevent me from failing to command it. with the dozens of cavities that decorated my frame and the flood of vermillion continuing in its eager pursuit, my vision became clouded. darkened spots took over, the aching in my head and the burning in my throat intensifying with each moment's pass.
izuku couldn't fight all for one alone. i wouldn't let him.
with the falling of that thought, inky shadows slowly encroached around my body, swallowing the burn of the ever-pursuing sun and dragging me to darkness once again.
wc: 4921
date published: 1/28/24
edited: n/a
AUTHOR'S NOTE!
so how's everyone's day going?