Chapter Text
"What?! Nothing to say?! Well, allow me!!" He stopped moving, bent over in almost a bow while he addressed his father after all this time. "The past never dies. You will reap everything you've sown! Enji Todoroki! Let's fall together! Come and dance with me in hell won't you?! Well! Speak up Dad!!"
Sukime peered out past her hiding spot, heart hammering in her chest while she waited for what was to come.
Endeaver's voice drifted up from the ground below, utter heartbreak lacing every word, "My son is dead. These are disgusting lies."
"Oh, I'm very much alive. You're just a broken man who refuses to accept the truth," a cruel smile adorned Touya's face. "How could you not recognize your child? Is it because fire Quirks are so common, there's nothing special about someone who has one?"
Sukime was distracted when she heard Spinner and Mr. Compress react to Touya's grand reveal. She was right in assuming he hadn't told the others yet. Looking over the ridge separating her from them, she finally saw how badly Shigaraki had been injured.
Moving quickly to their sides, she dropped her pack; immediately pulling some of her basic first aid supplies out to help manage the worst of his wounds.
"There's not much I can do right now except try to patch up the worst of it. If he is in this bad of shape we have to get out of here." She threw a look to Mr. Compress. Of the still conscious League members, they were the only two that stood a chance at getting them all out.
Sukime could hear Skeptic's computer from where she knelt, the audio Touya recorded earlier fitting seamlessly into the video.
"It was hastily edited, but the end result was quite powerful. You should be impressed." Skeptic's quiet voice floated across Gigantomachia's back.
"Stellar work. Those camera's of yours got some great shots, I'm glad the rest of the world got to see 'em," Touya replied, quieting his voice enough that the heroes on the ground couldn't hear.
Sukime stood now, still somewhat hidden behind the ridges of the behemoths back, determination and rage filling her. If Touya was willing to throw his life away over this, then she was done hiding too.
Touya leaned back, dramatically cupping his hands behind his ears as if he could hear the hysteria their video was causing. He laughed, triumph already written in his expression knowing that he had ruined his father's life and career.
"Thank you for living long enough to see this day!" Touya leapt off Gigantomachia's back.
She ran forward knowing she would do whatever she could to aid him in this fight, despite the pit in her stomach.
"Flashfire Fist!" Blue flame surrounded Touya's falling form. They had spoken of his eidetic memory before; talked at length about how it allowed him to copy and utilize other fighters' moves without special training. It would seem he was putting that to use now. "Prominence...!"
Even from this far, she could feel the heat intensify as he began to utilize his fathers most powerful attack. But before he could even finish uttering the words Sukime felt rope, no, not rope... cables encircling her form; at the same moment dark cables wrapped around Touya, halting him mid-air.
Sukime wasn't sure if it had been hours or minutes, only that she was holding three compressed friends in her hand, with the blood of another still staining her fingers...
After Best Jeanist appeared the fighting resumed. Even through his bindings Touya could direct his flames with deadly accuracy; knocking a student hero from the air with a quick blast. Sukime watched her plummet out of view. From where she had been restrained she could also see Touya and Shoto clash, his younger brothers' red and orange flames unable to surpass the azure shield Touya had created.
He had cackled like a madman as the girl fell, his flames heating to the point of disintegrating the cables holding him. Deep concern flooded Sukime at the intensity of his power; there would be permanent damage after this fight, of that she had no doubts. Her mind raced as she considered what to do. The portals were useless if they couldn't move through them, Shigaraki was too hurt to offer any substantial help, and Spinner's Quirk couldn't cut through the cables pinning him and Shigaraki. Mr. Compress wasn't able to compress himself, and without being able to touch each other he was useless too.
The only one amongst them that could do something was Touya, but he was so consumed with revenge that Sukime wasn't even sure if he was aware the rest of them had been restrained. She observed him closely, noting the new burns and melting staples; he was holding his own, and in the long run hadn't even come close to his maximum fire power. He and Shoto exchanged blow after blow, the younger Todoroki unable to match his brother's inferno. The other kid from earlier, in the green, tried to intervene. She heard him try to plead with Touya's broken mind, heard him try to tell Touya that his Quirk belonged to him, not Endeavor... but that was never her lover's problem.
Touya laughed, "Everyone can see we're nothing alike! But c'mon, don't ya feel the least bit bad for me?! I'm a crime committed by someone claiming to seek justice. Evil is flourishing because hero society is collapsing. I know you idiots need to be spoon-fed a story so I'm showing you exactly who's to blame!"
Gigantomachia shuddered beneath her, his massive form straining against his binds. With a roar he broke free, remnants of the cables flying off of him in every direction.
"The future we're heading for is built on chaos! The lies you heroes spew won't matter anymore!" Touya shouted at the kid in green, his face twisted in a vicious smile.
Then, just as suddenly as Gigantomachia had broken free, Endeavor delivered an incredible blow to Machia's jaw. That alone wouldn't have been able to subdue the giant though - then Sukime remembered the fight in the forest with the students. They had managed to throw something into the behemoth's mouth, a sedative most likely, considering he was now unconscious beneath where Best Jeanist held them aloft.
Sukime was furiously trying to find a way out of the mess they now found themselves in, but everything she considered would fail. Without either herself or Mr. Compress free, every plan she formulated wouldn't work. From over her shoulder she could hear Mr. Compress and Spinner talking, trying to come up with a plan of their own. Spinner seemed confused; but as she heard Mr. Compress' words to him, she understood.
Tears dripped from beneath Mr. Compress' mask, "Our boss is the key. I'll buy you time to wake him up. Use it well. Every good show requires teamwork."
She watched on in horrified shock as her masked friend tapped his own hip, compressing a portion of his own body to free himself from the bindings. Before his feet even hit the ground, he extended a hand to compress Shigaraki and Spinner. His masked face looked to her, but she shook her head, directing him to Touya first. He sprinted toward where Touya was still battling his younger brother.
Best Jeanist attempted to restrain him with his own clothing, but Mr. Compress just used his ability to destroy his clothes, taking more pieces of himself as he did. She heard Skeptic call out from where he was trapped somewhere beyond her eyeline and caught the tell-tale flash of Compress' Quirk at work. He continued on his path to Touya, stumbling as he coughed up blood.
Sukime saw Touya and Shoto both fire off strong blasts of their flames at each other, but the younger Todoroki was no match for Touya's raw power. The blue flame overcame this brother's attack, blasting him backward before he fell to the ground.
"Touya!" Sukime called out to him, finally breaking through the haze that had consumed Touya's mind. His eyes flashed to her, seeing her jerk her head in Mr. Compress' direction, he flew down, hand outstretched, their hands had just met when there was another flash and Touya vanished.
Turning back to Sukime, Mr. Compress stumbled once more, his wounds bleeding heavily. He took a running leap, tapping her foot at the top of his jump. Her world shrunk to almost nothing, she was only in the tiny realm for a moment, but she could still see the outside world.
The next thing she knew, she had been reconstituted on the ground next to Shigaraki. She caught him before he could tumble over. Mr. Compress extended his fist to hers giving her the compressed form of their other companions.
"Don't let me down Sukime," he withdrew his bloody hand before running off to distract the heroes now charging in their directions.
"Thank you," she whispered. She knew he couldn't hear her, but she hoped he would at least be able to feel her gratitude. Glancing down, she spotted one of the burned and damaged hands that used to adorn his body in his jacket. "You need to remember who you are..."
The remaining members of the League of Villains were gathered around Shigaraki's healing body. Rain was pouring from the sky, sending icy drops down her back. The man who was speaking from Tomura's mouth had been impressed with her Quirk, especially when she had managed to get the League and the Nomu's all at once. The strain of opening enough rifts for everyone to escape had caused her to nearly pass out though. Thankfully, she had remained on her feet long enough to free Spinner, Touya, and Skeptic from their compression.
Touya knelt beside her while she recovered, a pang of quilt coursing through him when he saw the injuries she sustained assisting them. It could have been worse, but he had been so entirely focused on his vengeance he had nearly forgotten she was there. His own body was still aching from the fire power that coursed through him, new burn scars would add to his already patch-work frame. Luckily, he couldn't feel the pain of them, though they still made some of his movements stiff while they healed.
Shigaraki's prone form spoke, "Those poor fools like to think that tomorrow will bring them hope. But I'm not giving the world time to recover. It's my turn now. My turn forever."
Touya lifted his head to look at Spinner, the gecko-man's eyes were wide in terror and anger. Looking then to the woman at his side, she still hadn't opened her eyes. He knew that she was conscious, but the handful of times she had tried to look around them, even the dim light here had been too much; forcing her to clench her eyes shut to stop the pain from overwhelming her.
"Listen well, my tireless Nomu. It's time to give you an important task. Free my real body."
Touya's gaze snapped back to Tomura Shigaraki. He had known their leader was connected to All For One, he hadn't realized just how connected they were though. As he laid out his plan to take the prison, Touya couldn't help feeling relieved that the rest of the League would not need to be involved. Toga still hadn't caught up with them, and the few that were still around needed a chance to recover.
"Sukime," the dual-toned voice echoing from Shigaraki spoke. "You will need to send us as close to the prison as you can. We can find our own way back, of course. However, it is a matter of urgency that we get to Tartarus as soon as possible."
Still not opening her eyes, she cocked her head in the direction of All For One's voice. "I will send you tomorrow night. If you try to do anything more with Shigaraki today, you will kill him. Considering the time and resources you have devoted to your protégée, I suspect that isn't what you want."
Her voice was biting, each word clipped with disapproval and distaste. Touya had never heard her so angry before.
The voice of All For One was quiet for a moment. That moment stretched to two, then three, the silence stretching to an almost uncomfortable degree.
"You are right. Very well. Tomorrow night."