~~~
Kira and her friends end up stealing a small plane from the airport. There's no other way, with Midoriya still on the wanted list, his face known to the whole of Otheon and Klayd. Not to mention, Humarise are still after them, after having infiltrated the police force. They can't risk boarding a public plane, nor do they have the time.
As Rody flies the plane, Kira stands in the back with her classmates as the craft rumbles and soars on the waves of turbulence. With the size of this plane, it's drastically different than the one they used to first arrive to Otheon. There's only two seats at the front, one being used by Rody, while the back of the plane is narrow and long, with barely enough room to stand up straight.
Kira nosily examines the boxes and crates already belonging to the plane when they stole it. She lifts up one of the lids as the plane leans to the side a little, standing on her tiptoes to peer into the box. It's covered in protective material, but as Kira digs through, she finds that the items inside are of no use to her right now.
"Can't this damn thing go any faster?" Bakugou grumbles irritably, leaning against one side of the plane, his tall frame slightly bent due to the plane's low interior.
"I'm going as fast as I can!" Rody calls back from the front, leaning his head to the side, but keeping his eyes on the sky ahead.
"There's only thirty minutes left until the bombs detonate," Todoroki informs them, glancing at his phone.
Midoriya stands up from his seated position towards the cockpit, approaching Todoroki. "You contacted HQ, right?"
"Yes." He nods, pocketing his phone. "They know that we have the disarming key and are heading to the base to stop Humarise."
"So, what's the plan, exactly?" Kira wonders, closing the lid and joining her classmates.
Bakugou pushes himself off the plane's wall to meet Kira. "Easy," he says. "We blast those bastards to hell."
"That much is obvious," she replies, crossing her arms over her chest. "But, this base is going to be crawling with cultists."
"It doesn't matter how many there are," Bakugou argues.
"Kacchan's right," Midoriya speaks up.
He snaps his head to his classmate. "Don't agree with me, you damn nerd!"
Midoriya ignores him. "No matter how many Humarise members there are at this base," he adds. "We have to stop the bombs, or all the heroes will be killed. Not to mention, millions of innocent people."
"Believe me, I know." Kira sighs.
"You guys should get ready soon!" Rody's voice alerts them from the cockpit. "I think we're getting close!"
All four of them share a determined glance before grabbing their bags stacked up against the far end of the plane. It's time to get changed into her hero gear, to put an end to this terrorist group. Kira picks up her bag and looks around the small plane, before stepping behind the boxes she was just examining. She'll get ready here - at least she'll have a modicum of privacy.
As she pulls her jacket on, zipping it up to the collar, the plane rocks to the side and she slams her palm on the wall beside her for support.
"Is everything okay up there, Rody?" Midoriya questions.
"Seems like a storm is rolling in!" He tells them. "It's gonna get bumpy!"
"Great," Kira mumbles under her breath, as she removes her bottoms, replacing them with her hero gear.
She ties her boots firmly on, before pulling her gauntlets on over her forearms. She flexes her fingers, feeling how tight the gear is, but so natural. Her classmates are all already dressed, as Bakugou secures his bracers, Midoriya pulls his hood off his head and Todoroki examines his belt. Kira concludes by tying her hair off her face - this is going to get messy.
The plane rocks some more and Kira bends her knees to keep herself upright. For some reason, her fear of flying isn't churning her gut, or making her doubt her capabilities. Perhaps, it's the sense of urgency that has her distracted. She pulls her phone from her belt, realising that they now only have twenty minutes to put a stop to all of this.
"That's it!" Rody exclaims. "The base." The plane increases in speed, the nose pointing down slightly. "Going in for a landing. Brace yourselves."
"No. Rody, you turn back," Midoriya says, his tone serious and stern.
He approaches the side door of the plane and presses the button, causing it to fold open, sticking out the side of the plane. The cold wind and harsh rain hammers down on them and Kira raises her arm over her head so she can peer at the hazy ground below. Bakugou joins Kira, while Todoroki takes up the rear.
"Extras like you should stay out of the way."
"He has a point," Todoroki agrees.
Kira decides to chip in, looking back at Rody, realising that he's taken his eyes off the front window to gawk at the young heroes. "Don't worry, we'll be back before you know it."
Her fear is irrelevant; there's no opportunity for doubts. Kira follows Midoriya without even thinking about it, leaping from the plane's side door with Bakugou at her side. She can't see him, but she knows that Todoroki is right behind her. The rain is painful, drenching her suit and hair instantly, as it slams down on her body, her back, spitting into her face like jagged knives, blinding her slightly. She ignores it, pushes it aside, as the four heroes are abruptly met with a wall of gunfire and hard hitting Quirks.
Thunder crashes high in the sky and also all around her, as Kira continues to dive down towards the base, creating a shield around her body, one hand stretched out in front of her as she continues to plummet. The bullets strike her shield, but fail to puncture her strong defence, as Bakugou sends a barrage of explosions down upon the cultists. This is no time to be gentle.
Once some of the gunfire has ceased, she uses her Quirk as she falls, aiming her palms out to either side and bringing them together, her burning, white light charring the already broken cliffside, decimating the villains. Todoroki fires shards of ice, pinning his opponents to the walls, puncturing their limbs and clothing, while Midoriya uses his Air Force to force the cultists back, ridding them of their weapons.
A Quirk user amongst the weaponised villains reveals himself, his arms reduced to cannons, firing green balls of bizarre energy up at the heroes. Kira creates her shield again, the shots failing to stop or slow her down. Bakugou dodges the attacks with ease, firing a massive explosion at the cultist. He isn't holding back.
However, he got distracted by this one Quirk user, as another one decides to show themselves, using a power similar to Present Mic's. This villain screams up at Bakugou, a tunnel of purple energy causing Bakugou to falter, grabbing his head in his hands. Kira uses her Quirk to launch herself sideways, stepping on her white light in order to change her course dramatically. With her shield still up, she bumps Bakugou out of the soundwave with her shoulder, freeing him from its effects. She can hear how powerful the attack is, even with her light protecting her. Bakugou doesn't hesitate to get rid of this annoying villain, blowing him back with a powerful assault of his own.
This cultist's voice finally shuts up, as they disappear under a cloud of smoke. Bakugou continues to fire explosions, all while shouting crude retorts and the amount of cultists out here is greatly afflicted. This grants Midoriya and Todoroki access, as they both slide into the base on a wave of thick ice.
"We'll leave these guys to you two!" Todoroki bellows, his voice barely audible over the remaining gunfire and Bakugou's Quirk.
"Don't give me orders!" Bakugou retaliates, using this further frustration to defeat more villains.
Kira finds an opening to land down on the ground, getting up close with some cultists. They try to either clobber her with their guns, or sticks, but she dodges and counters with ease, beating them down with ruthless strikes of her own. She doesn't have time to play nice and offer them mercy. One simple strike is all she needs.
Kira protects herself as more gunfire is aimed her way, raising her palm to cocoon her body with her light. She finds openings, whether that's because they're reloading or distracted by Bakugou, she fights back with her Quirk, firing beams of white hot light, no doubt burning these cultists quite badly. But, she can't afford to let her mind linger on their wellbeing. Since when do they deserve her sympathy? They're all included in this horrific plan to kill millions of people. No - she won't feel sorry.
Kira dashes towards the remaining cultists, using this newfound anger to blind them with both palms and defeats them all with swift simplicity. Bakugou lands beside her with a sigh, stepping up close to her side and glaring down at the beaten villains.
"Couldn't be easier," he comments.
Suddenly, the ground starts to vibrate, the broken rocks around their feet rumbling. Kira looks around with a frown, part of her wondering if this is an earthquake, but her foolish insinuations should know better.
"Look out!" She blurts.
Both her and Bakugou simultaneously leap out of the way, as blades erupt from the ground, destroying the place they were just standing. There's now a humungous pit bridging a gap between Kira and Bakugou and this new villain. This Humarise member looks different from the cultists they just defeated - stronger, more unhinged.
"Why are you morons helping Humarise?" Bakugou speaks up from beside Kira. "You've got Quirks!"
The villain's mouth stretches, a sickly, vile grin that makes Kira's skin crawl. "Because we were personally chosen by Flect as the worthy."
"We?" Kira mutters, frowning at this psychopath.
Another villain, a twin, reveals himself from the shadows and Kira's eyes widen slightly. Something's wrong - she can feel her gut spiralling.
"We will work alongside Humarise and live in their rebuilt world!" The twin explains.
"Oh, I get it!" Bakugou retorts, his tone thick with disgust. "You're just trying to save your own butts! Talk about selfish! As expected of villains!"
The twins ready their Quirks, blades protruding all the way from their palms and up to their shoulders. It looks like the blades can be extended as well, snapping out of their bodies like whips. They don't seem at all afraid or worried about her and Bakugou's presence, those evil grins never fading.
"You should go with Icy-Hot and that damn nerd," he says, his voice quieter, as he too prepares for a fight, his explosions crackling at his fingertips.
Kira turns her attention to her classmate, peeling her transfixed gaze from the villains. "What? No way, Bakugou."
"I don't need your help!" He snaps.
"And I said you can forget it!" She retorts, allowing her Quirk to glow white under her skin. "There's two of them! You're outnumbered."
"That doesn't make a damn difference."
Kira lowers her voice, ensuring that her severity gets through to him in her tone. "I'm not going anywhere."
Bakugou sighs heavily, but not in annoyance, more in discontent at her stubbornness. "You idiot. You'd better keep up then, because I'm not gonna go easy on these bastards."
"Don't you worry about me."
Bakugou uses his Quirk to propel himself into the air, before quickly aiming his explosions at these troublesome twins. They dodge his attack with ease, using their blades to yank themselves out of harms way. One goes right, while the other goes left. Bakugou doesn't stop there though, one hand aiming at each villain, firing a barrage of explosions, chasing after these nimble cultists. Their Quirks are extremely versatile, allowing them to equally manoeuvre around Bakugou's explosions while also attacking.
Kira follows after her classmate, using her light to boost her up to his level, before leaping from location to location, using her Quirk as stepping stones. With the villains being twins, their powers are identical, their moves matching. They have two arms each, meaning double the amount of blades, as they detach from their bodies, soaring around, aiming to shred Kira and Bakugou to pieces. She refuses to let that happen, creating a large wall of light, both her palms facing these writhing coils of blades, her fingers splayed as the villains Quirks lash out at her defences.
The cultists retract their blades, recalling them back to their bodies and she cancels her Quirk, removing the wall of shimmering green light. Both her and Bakugou fire their next attack at the same time, their Quirks combining to create a cascade of destruction and determination. Still, the villains duck and dodge, always grinning, as if taunting them.
"They're too fast," Kira yells over the carnage.
Bakugou's response is to curse at the twins, causing them to cackle with glee, as their blades shoot off after Kira and Bakugou once again. She doesn't have time to react, her hands raising to create another wall around herself and her classmate, but these jagged blades snake their way up to her with intense speed, slicing through her arms and wrists, cutting the flesh with ease. She cries out, her fingers and joints locking from the pain. Seems like they've targeted her first, having realised her defensive capabilities.
The serrated razors tug back out of her arms and she feels her body get thrown with them, tossing and turning before tumbling across the hard ground. Bakugou's explosions get louder, stronger, a blazing inferno as he bellows his fury, but he's blinded by his rage. With no way of blocking these blades now, they soar towards him with unmistakable excitement. Still, Bakugou's mobility has always been superior, as he narrowly avoids the twin's Quirks from impaling him like they did her, the sharpness of their blades skimming across his hero gear, but it still draws blood and Kira hears him reveal his pain through gritted teeth.
The villains cackle in triumph, as Bakugou drops to one knee. But, he's too damn stubborn to call it quits so soon, so neither will she. Kira's gauntlets are practically useless now, so she shakes them free from her arms. They clatter to the ground as she forces herself to her feet. Her forearms are screaming at her, sending stabbing pains all the way up to her shoulders. Kira bites her tongue through the pain and clenches her hands into fists, then relaxes them, repeating this movement to try and get some kind of versatility back into her body.
Bakugou glances over his shoulder, noticing Kira getting back to her feet and she spots the blood across his face, across his eye, half of his mask torn. He scoffs in both relief and disbelief, before launching another attack at the twins. Kira joins him, firing her two beams of scorching white light at the villains. However, their blades are actually able to slice right through their attacks, cutting through Bakugou's explosion and Kira's light. Her eyes widen at the power these two cult members wield.
They both decide to get some distance, jumping back into open space. Kira and Bakugou remain crouched back-to-back as each twin faces them on either side.
"This is why I said we needed a plan back on the plane," she mutters, tilting her head to Bakugou behind her, but keeping her sights locked on the villain before her.
"Shut up," he replies, annoyed at these twins' relentlessness. "I have a plan."
The twins cackle in unison, their arms elongating again, their blades twirling around their heads.
"Really?" She jokes.
Bakugou scoffs shortly, as the villain in front of her bends his body, looking like he's about to lunge at her at any second. However, her tension simmers some when she feels Bakugou's gloved hand blindly search for her, their backs facing each other still. Kira subtly looks down at their bodies together, their hands fumbling with one another and that's when she spots his miniature grenades.
Kira frowns down at the items in her hands, her gaze slowly moving up Bakugou's body to his eyes, so angry and certain. She tries to read his plan in his determined visage, but all she sees is hatred for these villains. She'll follow his lead instead. She'll always follow him.
Bakugou turns to the villains, looking from one to the other. "You must not realise you're facing the best!"
He attacks quickly, grabbing the attention of both villains with a showy blast, lighting the stormy sky with oranges and reds, as he gains height. He's trying to get both of their attention - away from her? Why? Kira shakes off her delusions, crams Bakugou's grenades into her pockets and pounces into the sky after her classmate, her Quirk glowing brightly under her hero suit. Bakugou drives the villains higher and higher, dodging and ducking, but he's getting hit, little nicks here and there, droplets of blood seeping his clothes or raining down around her.
Kira grits her teeth, as Bakugou continues to lead the twins into the stormy sky. That's when it clocks in her head - she looks to the base's entrance behind them, held up by rickety pillars that are already weak from battle. Kira feels the small grenades in her pockets and she smiles at Bakugou's idea. He plans to crush them - that'll work.
Kira fights the urge to be by his side and subtly zips around the fight, as Bakugou holds them both off. They're too quick for him to take on alone though, so she too needs to hurry. She makes a show of joining in, flashing the twins with her light to hide the fact that she's planting these bombs in the base's structure. As she's doing so, one of the twins finds an opening in Bakugou's movements, his blades slicing right through his midsection, keeping him horrifyingly suspended for a few seconds. Enough for Kira to tear her attention from her goal, enough for blood to spurt from Bakugou's mouth, enough for her to feel rage swirling deep in her gut.
She calls his name, but his only response is to keep attacking, blood caking his hero gear. The twins chuckle in satisfaction, but Bakugou seems more determined than ever, firing explosion after explosion. Kira finishes hiding his grenades in the pillars, just as Bakugou leads them back towards her. He looks exhausted, his eyes narrowed as he tries to focus, but he's losing a lot of blood. She fires two beams of light from her palms, snatching the twins attention, gritting her teeth through the pain of her injured arms. Bakugou boosts his way over to her side, as Kira keeps herself airborne on her light. She creates a shield around herself as one of the twins tries to rid her from the fight. The blades bounce off her defence and the villain's constant grin flickers slightly in annoyance. Everybody has a limit.
Knowing his attack must be useless against her, the twin focuses back onto Bakugou, sending his bladed arms careering after her classmate. He looks back, noticing the razors soaring towards him and tries to boost himself aside sharply, but he's a millisecond too slow and the double blades scratch along his shoulder blades. The sharpness of the villains Quirks scrape across Bakugou's bones and he yells out, his back arching and his eyes squeezed shut in agony.
Again, she cries for him, tears springing to her eyes. Her adrenaline is racing through her as she lunges for Bakugou on her platforms of light, wanting to hold him, protect him. He knew the risks of fighting two on one, but he gave her the job of planting his grenades, trusted her to do so. The twins land on the ground, laughing at their success, retracting their blades as Bakugou continues to bleed out. They must have assumed they've won, but Bakugou just doesn't know when to give up.
He pushes aside the suffering and pulls the pin on his bracer, aiming straight at the pillars, rigged with small grenades. The stored up sweat from inside his bracer creates a massive explosion, causing the whole foundation to rumble and groan as Kira lands roughly beside Bakugou. He clutches his impaled gut as the pillars crumble apart and rain down huge chunks of debris on the twins, on those psychopaths. They get completely hidden under the rocks and infrastructure and it all goes deathly quiet, even the storm decides to take a breather.
Kira looks to Bakugou tentatively, not wanting to see his wounds, but also ready to support him if he needs it.
"Those idiots never saw that coming, huh?" He grumbles, before Kira can ask about his wellbeing. He turns his head a fraction towards her, one eye still closed. "Good job," he praises. "I thought you were gonna be too damn stupid to realise my plan."
Kira shakes her head slowly, still in shock. "No, I got it," she murmurs. "It wouldn't have killed you to explain it to me though," she jibes, earning her another scoff from Bakugou.
But, before he can reply, the rocks in front of them start to move, the ground rumbling. Her slight smile vanishes at the sight of the debris dislodging and four bladed arms shoot out from underneath.
"No way..." Kira mutters in awe.
Bakugou readies his body, changing his stance to defend himself. "These bastards..."
The twins reveal themselves from the rocks, looking even more unhinged than before, as they toss something aside. Kira looks to the small empty injectors discarded on the ground.
"Is that..?" She frowns at the needles, before turning back to the insane cultists as they crack their necks, their mouths widening eerily again. "They're on that enhancing drug!" She blurts.
The two villains look absolutely insane, their eyes wide and unfocused, their clothes tearing as four more bladed weapons shoot out from each of their backs. Kira takes an uncertain step back, as the twins twitch and practically shake with this unpredictable energy source.
However, Bakugou has a different response to the reinvigorated villains, readying his Quirk in his hands. If he's going to fight again, then Kira will too. No matter how insecure she feels, she won't leave Bakugou to fend for himself.
Bakugou is first to attack, like usual, lunging for the twins and Kira follows behind, her Quirk aglow under her skin, ready to finish these cultists for good this time. The fight is faster, her eyes darting about as the blades blur past her vision. Both her and Bakugou are already seriously wounded, the pain in her arms jabbing into her whenever she raises her palms to fight back. Kira mustn't let this agony consume her, so she shoves it deep down, where she can focus on the villains flying around her. They each now have six bladed weapons protruding from their bodies and she feels completely overwhelmed. Kira and Bakugou only just managed to defeat these twins and that was before they took that enhancing drug.
This feels hopeless.
But, watching Bakugou never hesitating, never slowing down to stop these villains gives her strength, it motivates her to share his perserverance, his stamina.
Kira searches for the particles, feeling her body tingling with potential and pounces from platform to platform, the light materialising under her boots as she brazenly leaps. Her body feels hot, her skin on fire and she feels as though she might lose control. She remembers her training with Shinso, but her heart always lingers back to Bakugou. He grunts as the blades slice his body repeatedly, across his torso, his legs, his arms.
Kira winces, as she raises her arms to fire her own attacks, ready to protect her classmate. More blades zip around, flying up, aiming to come crashing back down on the both of them and Kira raises her palms to the sky, blocking the razors with her strong defences. However, more blades loop around her barrier and she sees it in the corner of her eye. But, cancelling the shield above would mean that Bakugou would get hurt again, so she remains persistent. The blades rake across her back and she can feel it scrape across her spine, her ribs. Her eyes widen with the pain, but she keeps her shield active, her limbs locking.
Bakugou uses his Quirk to spin his body around, so they're now back to back and he fires a quick, repetitive flurry of explosions towards the blades that just impaled her. She feels his weight on her and she returns it, using one another for support. The twin that Bakugou fires at backs off, getting some distance and so her and Bakugou switch places, spinning in the air, as she removes her shield. Bakugou's explosions never cease, decimating the cliff wall beside them before raining down on the second twin, who was held at bay by Kira's defences.
They continue to use each other for support, pushing off their weights to launch their bodies towards the villains. Kira targets one twin, while Bakugou faces the other. Their attacks are in unison, as Kira readies one palm for defence, while her other hand heats up, firing continuous blasts of white hot light straight at the cultist. However, despite all her training, all her experience, she can't deflect all six of the blades that dart about, always scraping her skin, dragging the razors across her flesh. She tries not to buckle under their relentless attacks, hearing Bakugou grunt in exertion close by. They're both reaching their limits.
Kira still feels her body heat up all over, her exhaustion and desperation being two out of three things that drives her in this moment. Kira's Quirk burns under her skin - she can feel her calves scorching her flesh, her hero suit keeping strong despite the intensity. Her Atomic Power is on the brink of revealing itself, but maybe she should just let it?
She squeezes her eyes shut, seconds away from allowing her Quirk to control her, to consume her.
"Don't!" Bakugou's voice bellows, and her eyes snap open. "Didn't I tell you I don't need your help?!"
Kira relaxes ever so slightly, his words calming her Quirk down. Her focus.
But, one of the twins interrupts her moment of relief, firing more blades towards her. She deflects them, wrapping her body in a cocoon of light. The twin practically snarls in irritation at her incessant defences and turns his attention to Bakugou, deciding to tag team him instead. They must assume he's an easier target because of his lack of defensive abilities, but they couldn't be more wrong.
Bakugou allows the twins to impale him, gritting his teeth through the pain and spins his body around, using brute strength to drag them through the sky and slamming them into the cliff side. The force of that attack leaves the both of the villains trapped in the wall and they actually look stunned by the move. Kira knows she is, as Bakugou falls back to the ground. Parts of the blades have torn off, but they're still embedded in his flesh.
"I think it's about time that you two shut it for good!" Bakugou roars.
He fires his bracers at the villains stuck in the wall and blades shoot out from the villains mouths, a desperate attempt to deflect Bakugou's next attack. The sweat building up from this fight has been storing in those two bracers - all they need is something to ignite it. Kira aims her palms out peering through her hands, hoping she doesn't miss. Her light beams out from her skin, striking Bakugou's bracers. They explode immediately, the force of it blowing Kira back from her airborne position. The explosion wedges the villains further into the rock, preventing them from escaping as Bakugou starts to spin around from down below.
A whirlwind of explosions, fire and pure rage twirls around in a funnel of oranges and reds, igniting the dark sky like a beacon and Kira backs well away. She's seen Bakugou's Howitzer Impact before, but not quite like this. His screams echo through the night and Kira can feel the intense heat blowing in her face, threatening to take her down too. She decides to retreat, knowing that by getting involved here, she'll just get in the way.
The ground eventually greets her and she ducks down on her hands and knees, protecting herself with a meek, green shield. Her arms are on fire, her wounds scattered on her skin aching and itching. She can feel where her clothes are wet with blood. But, none of that matters in this instance. She watches Bakugou in awe and admiration as he spins around in the air, the eye of his storm. Smoke and dust and debris lifts up off the ground due to the force of Bakugou's ultimate move, but she can't take her eyes off him.
He's amazing.
And his words stopped her. Just his voice was enough to hold her Atomic Power back.
God - she needs to tell him everything. She needs to feel him close to her, beside her, with her.
Bakugou's Quirk concludes with a catastrophic explosion that rips the cliffside down, obliterating the entrance to the base, trapping Midoriya and Todoroki inside. But, that doesn't concern her. Not now. Kira can only just about glimpse the twins plummeting to the ground amongst the destruction before vanishing under the rocks. This time, their deaths seem definite.
Meanwhile, Bakugou lands nearby, his upper half completely exposed due to the ferocity of his Howitzer Impact. His hand is raised in some kind of victory, as he stands on top of a mountain of debris and Kira deactivates her Quirk, getting to her feet hesitantly. Bakugou looks wobbly, his wounds clearly visible now without his gear to keep it hidden. She scrambles to her feet, as Bakugou takes one drowsy step, before falling backwards.
Kira makes it in the nick of time, catching him despite her own painful injuries. Her arms can't hold his weight though, her wounds reminding her of its severity, so she places him down gently on the ground. She's getting an odd case of deja vu, as she sits on her ankles beside his body. He's breathing raggedly, his chest rising and falling awkwardly. She can spot several gaping holes in his midsection where he was stabbed, along with several markings littering his torso and arms.
Kira leans over his body, one hand on the ground next to him to support her own weakness, while her other palm cups his cheek. She can't move much more than this.
"You did a damn good job," she whispers, her face close to his.
Bakugou winces and his eyes open a crack. "Yeah, I know," his gruff voice replies.
His eyes close again and he finally passes out from the exhaustion and blood loss. Kira tries to stand, but her head suddenly feels light and dizziness overcomes her. But, she needs to get help for Bakugou and for herself. Midoriya and Todoroki could also need her help.
Kira feels like she's about to be sick, as she sways from her spot on the ground. She looks back to Bakugou's beaten frame, but before she can try to stand again, her eyes roll back and she collapses beside his body, her hand resting on his still beating heart.
~~~