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Chapter 39: Only to See It All Fall
🕑 Added 2024-10-02 21:17:28 +0000 UTCChapter 39: Only to See It All Fall
The storm that Pyre and Nine had kicked up was starting to weaken, but that didn't mean that it would just die out as while Nine had ceased controlling it while he handled his other part of their plans, he and Pyre had ensured that there was enough moisture in the rain clouds that they'll need to continue to let loose for at least another 10 minutes, after that, they'll be lucky if it would remain as a drizzle. That meant that the falling rain continued to drum against the tower around Pyre and his foes, its beat only interrupted by explosions, the shriek of ice, and the sizzling cry of fire, both red and green.
Spinning on his heel, Pyre kicked the spiked slab of ice into pieces, Todoroki's reaction being little more than narrowing eyes as Kirishima rushed in. Pyre glanced his way before sending a fireball at him. Still, both sides had realized that Kirishima was resistant to it, so he just tanked the flames that burned away at his remaining clothes, leaving him in a tattered pair of pants and a single shoe, the other having been turned into a melty puddle when his feet had been hit earlier.
Rushing through the fire, he roared as he pulled back a fist to punch Pyre, but the villain caught the frankly, embarrassingly telegraphed strike and would have made him pay for it. Still, then he saw Kirishima's hardened, jagged smile before he felt a sting as Ashido, having used Kirishima's distraction, had managed to get behind him and lob a large ball of acid at him, which burned through the stone scales on his back, drawing a hiss from him as the acid lingered, slowing down his healing.
With his attention shifted to her, Kirishima used the chance to punch him with his other hand, his hardened fist crashing into his stone face with a hard, sharp clang. The blow damaged one of the two joints that kept his jaw in place, but Midoriya tossed him into Bakugo, who was coming in for an attack of his own.
The blonde dodged his rocky friend as Pyre quickly grabbed his jaw and held it in place momentarily as it repaired itself. He had to abandon it when Bakugo closed the distance and launched a series of explosions at him. The flames didn't do anything, and the concussions were manageable with his stone scales, but they kept him blind.
Not wanting to be frozen to the ground, he leaped into the air as ice spread across the roof where he had just been standing. Landing with a hiss, the acid was still eating away at his back, leaving what must have looked like a severe gaping wound as green lava flowed out like blood.
With a click, his jaw fixed as he growled, "Just as I thought, you've improved Bakugo. Last time we fought, you hardly put up a challenge," Pyre stated, as he didn't feel fear despite the situation. Instead, he was eager to continue as the rain continued to fall, with the winds driving the mechanical hum of the wind turbines overhead.
“But maybe it’s because you have some good backup." He kept his eyes on Ashido, as the girl, and figured out pretty early that her quirk was the best suited for handling him and his regenerative abilities as that lost wound was only now closing up.
Add in that she could slide around by shooting acid out of her feet, which was crazy cool. She had three classmates to cover her: one whose quirk made it a challenge to burn him, another whose ice and fire made him their go-to ranged fighter, and Bakugo flying all over the place, and he wasn't able to take her out yet.
Bakugo ground his teeth together, hating that the rain was messing with his sweat, diluting and washing it off his body, weakening his explosions. But at least he was sure their opponent was also affected; after all, it can't be easy to build up and maintain high temperatures when freezing winds and rain batter you. “Like I let myself be beaten twice. You fucked up by coming you, you damn pyromaniac. You’re going down.”
Pyre's jaw fell open in a mockery of a smile. “Well then, come and take me down, Bakugo,” Pyre shifted, his body moving to face Bakugo but without warning, he shot off towards Todoroki, aiming to take him out first as he sucked in air for another attack.
Todoroki wasn't going to make that easy, as he had experienced with those flames, and he reacted quickly. He erected a wall of ice right as green flames crashed into it, melting a good portion of it, but the barrier held as Todoroki ran to the side, creating ice to slide on as he moved to the side of the ice barrier. This sent more Pyres his way and forced the villains to contend with that, sending another blast of green flames towards it.
With his attention again taken, Ashido slid over to launch another ball of acid at him. Still, Pyre scared the life out of her when his head turned 180 to face her, an easy feat once he realized that he had no bones in this form, so he could bend and shift however he pleased. He also liked seeing the surprise on people's faces when they saw it, but he could savor that later as he was already sucking in air for a blast.
"Look out!" Bakugo yelled as he blasted himself toward Racoon Eyes and grabbed her before she was cooked. The blast of flames petered out right as it reached the edge of the roof they were fighting on.
"Thanks, I did not know he could do that; that's freaky as hell," Ashido said as Kirishima got back into the fray, pissed that this villain nearly hurt his closest friend.
"I didn't know that either. Pyromaniac's got a few new tricks up his sleeve. Don't let him catch you off guard again, else I'll leave you to burn." Bakugo told her as he launched himself back into the fry.
“Geez, love you too, Bakugo!” Ashido yelled at him as she grumbled and followed him. As he handled the kids, Pyre’s coms went off.
“Kid, you and Nine should hurry up with whatever it is you're doing. The little Shield got past us thanks to some help and is about to retake the security system." Wolfram radioed, followed by him telling his people to retreat but not to make it obvious. Pyre wondered how those two even got past his temp boss. The guy was an unapologetic monster, but he wasn't an idiot or weak.
He had to chalk it up to U.A. students just being a different breed; they had to be for the ones he was handling to not be face down on the ground, beaten and burned by him.
“Nearly done here; head to the south side in 2 minutes and jump." Nine radioed in afterward, Pyre smiling, though it was hard to tell with his stone face.
He didn't respond to either to keep his opponents from realizing that they were about to take a significant advantage over them. Instead, he continued to fight them a little longer, slowly moving towards the south side of the tower, getting ready to both jump, but not before ensuring that they wouldn’t be following him as Kacchan could fly, and he couldn’t have that.
Line Break
At the same time that Pyre was entering the final parts of his 4 vs. 1 match with the U.A. students, the villains in the hostages started to pull back. The one who had been left in charge gestured to a group of scared guests, "Boss wants us to move. Grab a few of them."
“Got it.” Another said as they walked over with a couple others, grabbing onto some of the people at random, which terrified them as they all saw Iida being taken. He had yet to be returned, thoughts of him being put to death swirling in them and making them beg for their lives.
“What is it you’re planning-” A heroine in a cheongsam-styled costume tried to intervene. Still, she fell back with a yell of pain as a gunman fired on her, the bullet tearing through her shoulder and leaving her bleeding on the floor. The callous act received screams and yells from others, but a burst of fire into the air silenced them.
"Do yourself a favour and keep quiet, " the leader of the remaining villains told her as they walked out, closing the door behind them and sealing it shut before they started to jog away.
“Is it locked?” He asked one of his people who was dragging along one of the 6 hostages they managed to nab, 4 men and 2 women, all of whom were no doubt high class, which meant they would make for good hostages and, if possible, ransom.
"Then let's get the hell outta here. We got a maybe 20-second head start.” He told them as they sped up. They had left All Might in there, and they weren't dumb enough to think their guns meant much to a man that fast and strong.
“And the others?”
"They're too spread across the tower, don't bother." He told them. It sucked, but they didn't have nearly as much time or people to try and get everyone. The best they could hope for was for some of them to escape rather than none of them, as the boss would be getting out via their chopper.
Back in the reception hall, it wasn’t even 30 seconds after the villains left them that the restraints on the heroes just deactivated. “What the?” One asked as some guests, one of whom was a doctor, cared for their wounded comrade.
“The restraints?” Another asked, picking up the device and seeing it had no damage. It seemingly just shut off, but why?
“We’re free!” Another didn't care about the why, only the result as people around them followed their example; all Might got up and coughed into his hand, a little steam floating off him as he felt himself close to his limit, but he couldn't release his form-not yet.
'You pulled it off, young heroes, so now it's our turn to step up!' He thought to himself, proud that his students and successor had managed such a difficult task. Looking over the crowds, he took control of the situation. "Heroes, the villains are on the run; some of you remain here and protect the guests, and the rest will follow me in apprehending these evil-doers!"
“Right!” The heroes obeyed without question, quickly choosing who would go and who would stay based on expertise, skills, experience, and quirks. It wasn't long before 3 waved them off, their wounded comrade not counted, while All Might led the other 8 down the halls to search for the villains.
They weren't the only ones who found themselves freed. Jiro, Mineta, Kaminari, and Yaoyorozu, all of whom had been captured by the security bots, found themselves freed when the machines just let them go, retracted their capture wires, and deactivated. Jiro wondered what the hell was happening before she realized that there was only one thing this could be.
“Uraraka and the others did it!” She cried out in relief as the rest followed suit, exhausted but relieved that things seemed going their way.
“My head’s still a bloody mess, but hooray.” Mineta gave a shaky thumbs-up as his scalp still bled from all the balls he had pulled off during this crazy night. Kaminari wasn't much better as he was still recovering from overusing his quirk, so he could only let out a 'Yeah'. At the same time, Yaoyorozu, while lucid, wasn't in a position to act as she had nearly exhausted herself creating tools. The cannon that sat close to them and the ammo she had given Jiro to fire.
"That means the hard part's over," Yaoyorozu said through heavy breath as Jiro helped her stand up. Mineta did the same for Kaminari as they moved towards the elevator, which was now green and ready to be used.
"Yes, now All Might can intervene and end this," Jiro said, though she had a bad feeling about things. Once inside the elevator, instead of selecting one of the lower levels, she chose to go further up to where her friends were.
Speaking of those friends, who were keeping the pressure on Pyre, between Bakugo's explosions, Todoroki's ice, and Ashido's acid, they made it as hard as possible for him to counter, giving Kirishima plenty of chances to rush in and try and fight him. “What the?” Ashido's phone rang, and the girl had not turned on silent. Jumping back from the fight, she pulled it out and saw it was Jiro's number, which was insane. Didn't she know they were busy?!
“Jiro-wait, she can call now?” The realization caught up with her as if Jiro could call her, which meant that Uraraka and Mellissa had done it! With a big smile, she turned to the other 3 to deliver the good news.
“Guys! Uraraka and Mellissa did it! The security’s back online!” She told them, which made the 3 boys sigh in reprieve. At least they didn't need to worry about their enemy trying to even things out with robot backup, they had done a pretty good job at backing him towards the edge of the roof.
“Awesome, that was so manly!” Kirishima yelled back, never letting his eyes leave their foe who, despite everything, remained in the fight.
“SO that means,” Todoroki stepped forward, his ice side frosted over, but the frost broke when he heated himself up. “You’re cornered, Pyre.”
Looking at the 4 and seeing how they surrounded them with such confidence might have scared a lesser villain, but Pyre wasn't some lesser villain. Besides, if they thought they had the upper hand, it could serve him. "Oh, I wouldn't say that. After all, you 4 haven't managed to beat me. What makes you think whatever few robots remain will change that?"
Mellissa had just finished restoring the security to its proper setting, purging whatever virus or commands the villains had put into the system when she finally noticed something to the side. "What the? The silent alarm for the support item showroom?" It was the same place where she took Uraraka and met Ashido, Yaoyorozu, and Jiro. Switching the camera feeds from inside the tower to the showroom's interior made her realize how serious it was.
She could see on the screens that the ship she had been so eager to show was about to be highjacked, along with several other exhibits. “Oh no…” Whipping her phone out, she dialed the first number she could think of. Once she heard it connect, she didn’t mince her words. "All Might! We have a problem, well, 2 problems!"
Line break
Nine looked at everything he had managed to put into the duel purpose craft and everything he couldn't get inside. Still, he didn't have time to try or much space in the ship. ‘That’s everything I can fit into the thing. Time to leave, I need to meet up with Pyre in less than a minute.’ He had counted the seconds as he worked, and if he didn't leave now, he might not make it in time.
However, finding the proper way out of here with his stolen ship and goods would take too long, so he looked towards the ceiling. "First, I need to make a quick route for an exit."
Line break
“Boss, what about everyone else?” One of Wolfram's men asked as he exited the building onto the roof where several helipads lay, one of which was used by the chopper they had flown during the chaos.
Wolfram walked right past the man, carrying David over his shoulder like a bag of potatoes. "They'll use the secondary exit plans if they can. We can't wait for them." Mitnick followed behind his boss.
“U-understood.” The chopper pilot was shocked to hear that, as the plan seemed extremely thorough, but he still obeyed as he rushed ahead to get the engines started.
"Really, you'll think they've never had a plan be countered before." Wolfram shook his head at that, as he had always suspected that a couple would be lost, as even with an insider helping them and all the heroes seemingly handled, there was always something. In this case, All Might and his bratty students were unexpected guests.
“Kill me…Just do it.” He turned his eyes to David, and the injured man sounded tired and defeated. It makes sense as he had to accept that he had dirtied his hands, but Wolfram wasn't near merciful enough for that.
"I'll add a few more sins to your heart first, then you can die, " he told him as he walked up the stairs into the chopper whose blades were already starting up. As he opened the back to toss David in, he looked towards his computer guy, who was, as far as he knew, the only one who hadn't been taken out by brat hero students or was running from heroes.
"The plan's still the same; we'll rendezvous with the others at sea. They're in position, right?" He asked, to which Mitnick nodded, already wearing a radio headset.
"I just radioed them; they're minutes away." At least that was going according to plan, as they never planned to steal any of the boats or planes on the island; they would indeed all have trackers that would take too long to deactivate. So, they 'rented' one while they were in Hawaii and quickly modified it. Hence, it looked different enough at a glance and had some of his people man it and would meet with them 120 miles to the east, well outside the detection range from I-island.
But that plan also relayed to some extent on the heroes not being able to follow them, so they couldn’t wait for the others and had to bolt now, take full advantage of their head start, before losing them over the vast open expanse of the ocean. “Then they’ll be where we agreed to meet by the time we arrive.”
“Stop!” He turned to see one of those hero brats, the browned-haired one he had restrained earlier. She looked as beaten up as he expected her to be, her dress a mess, but she was still up, barely. "You're not getting away; I won't let you!"
Wolfram laughed at her persistence. “You are a persistent one, aren’t ya? All this just to ensure the professor can be brought to justice?” He knelt and touched the helipad, its steel shifting to his will as a pillar of it shot out towards Uraraka, who powered up One for All and charged in, but with a plan, as she didn't try and match him, but instead broke off pieces of his pillars as she dodged, getting closer to him.
“I don’t care about that! I’m here to save him from you! Because that’s what a hero does!” She yelled at him, her eyes bright with rage and determination to see it through.
“Even though he a criminal like me?” Wolfram smirked as he upped the pressure, making her dance just to avoid being crushed again.
“Of course!” Dodging out of the way, Uraraka destroyed one of his pillars with an open palm strike, shattering the steel. However, she was hit by another one, losing half the ground she had gained. She didn't stay down, as she was back on her feet, the adrenaline flowing as she evaded his attempt to end the fight then and there, though he wasn't making it easy for her.
“Well, it doesn’t look like you have the bite to back up that bark, little girl!” Wolfram laughed at her as she continued to fight, but his eyes kept her in sight, constantly adjusting and adding to his assault. The reinforced steel alloy roof was perfect for his quirk, as even if she destroyed one means to attack, he had several others ready to replace it.
“Just watch me!” Uraraka jumped over several of his attacks, pulling back her fist to hit him or whatever defense he could create.
“No, watch me.” But he didn't need that, as he merely pulled his gun out, the same one which had already put a hole into Sam and David, and aimed it at the wounded professor. The sight of his deadly weapon knocked whatever wind she had from her sails as she landed, grounding her teeth but reframing her from attacking because she was fast. Still, they both knew his trigger finger and bullet were faster.
Weakened by the toll of the night and his injury, David was still lucid enough to see what was happening and couldn't just let it happen. If his life had to be lost for justice to be done, so be it. He welcomed it after making such a colossal mistake that hurt so many people. That had seen his daughter's blood spilled. Oh God, what about the paralyzed Ingenium? None of the villains told him anything about that, and if Wolfram was willing to kill Sam and kidnap him…
“No, don’t stop, he’s going to escape!” He pleaded for her to act, but Uraraka couldn't which left her wide open for a surprise shot from the side. Wolfram hadn't lifted his hand, so he had a few tons of steel smack into her and send the girl flying with a cry of pain that he reveled in but only added to David's torment.
“Jeez, being a hero looks like an annoying gig. What, one life, and you stop dead in your tracks?" Wolfram mocked her as he shook his head, a mockery of a disappointed parent.
Not letting up, he continued the assault, though now Uraraka was solely playing defensive, her eyes never far from his gun; that split focus meant she wasn't nearly as reactive as body and got hit again, the metal having shifted into a hammer and burying her deep into the surface of the roof as he yelled out, blocking it with her arms but feeling them start to strain under the pressure.
"Such a pity, you fight all the way up the tower, and yet when it's time to go for the throat, you choke; I didn't even use much of my power!" Wolfram yelled at her but ceased the attack anyway. He was having fun but was here for business, and he couldn't do that from behind bars.
“You heroes, not the smartest bunch, aren’t you? If you’re gonna do something, do it with everything you have, and choose something you won’t regret. But it seems like your choice means you’ll never be able to achieve that.” He told her as he turned to board the chopper. "Take off; we don't have time for this."
His feet hadn't left the ground when he heard something, and when he turned, he was in for a surprise of his own as he saw a lump of metal flying towards him like an arrow. Without thinking, he slammed a hand into the ground, creating a barrier to stop it. “I told you…” Uraraka sounded weakened and exhausted, but he could hear the iron in her words as she slowly got up. Around her, dozens of pieces of metal were floating around the area.
“I’m not letting you get away!” She yelled as she punched the metal towards him, releasing its gravity halfway through its journey as she figured out something while training with Gran Torino a while ago. Any object or person she used her quirk one, and then made move, would continue at that speed even when gravity was restored. So, if she chucked a car at someone at the same speed as a baseball, it would remain that fast even with its total weight behind it.
“What the-she’s controlling them?” Wolfram asked how she was doing that was better than his own quirk, but he watched as she ran around, smacking them towards him, forcing him to block them.
"Now I remember, you're the one with the anti-gravity quirk, right? I forgot you can do stuff like this." Wolfram laughed at himself, having nearly fallen to some childish sense of anger at being bested at his own game.
"But if you think you can beat me at fighting with metal, you're sorely mistaken!" Wolfram expanded his defense into an aggressive assault. If she couldn't control metal, then he didn't need to worry about giving her as much ammo. She could send as much of it back as she wanted; it wouldn't matter.
Uraraka knew that, as she jumped off a floating piece of debris, said debris crashed beneath some steel jaws he sent her way; her mind worked to keep her in the fight despite the pain and exhaustion she felt from having to fight her way nearly 100 floors up. ‘His quirk, he can’t control metal if it’s not touching it. So as long as I keep up the pressure, he can’t take off without losing his advantage!’
“Uravity!” She spared a glance to the rooftop entrance, where Mellissa stood. Her eyes widened as she wondered what the hell she was doing here and prayed that Wolfram focused on her. Returning her attention towards her opponent, she felt One for All rise higher in her body, her muscles and bones crying out to her to lower it. Still, she didn't, using the increased speed and power to cut her way through toward that stupid chopper.
“Professor, don’t worry! I’m going to save you! We’re going to save you!” She yelled out, pulling back her first and meeting three steel ones, the many being obliterated under the power of One for All. She quickly swiped at the pieces, removing their gravity before sending them flying towards Wolfram like shrapnel. Even if she couldn't hit him, if she could damage the chopper, then they couldn't take off, trapping them.
“Save me…?” David asked as that sounded familiar. However, his memory was foggy. He couldn't recall when he heard it, so he turned his head away.
“Please…stop…I did this…all of it…”
Uraraka wouldn't let him fall into that pit, not so long as she could fight. She continued to charge through the swarm of metal, throwing back whatever she could, which kept Wolfram from using "Mellissa waiting for you! Don't just leave her, you have to make it up to her! And you need to be alive and around for that! So don't give up hope because I am here!"
Hearing that, the fog lifted in his mind. Yes, how could he forget? He had heard that so many times, from a different face, a different person, but somehow…right now, Uraraka and Toshinori could have been the same person. That spark, that conviction, that power that could make the world bend to their will if only to save one more person. Was this what Toshinori was talking about? Was this what he had failed to see?
“Uravity!” Mellisa's cry grabbed his attention as he returned to reality. The moment passed as Uraraka fell to her knees, holding her side, the pink of her dress turning red.
‘Dammit…I couldn’t dodge in time…I have to…stop the bleeding.’ Uraraka thought to herself, feeling like a complete idiot for not remembering that Wolfram could have shot her just as quickly as he could the doctor.
Still, the man didn't pull the trigger again, if only for the moment, as he looked at her with something close to respect. “I'll give you this; you act like a real hero. Those words are painfully familiar to a muscular blonde heroine that villains like me must always watch out for."
But that respect faded, superseded by cold rationality. “But that just means I have even more reason to take you out now before you become as much of a problem.” He fired again, but this time, Mellisa was there to tackle Uraraka out of the way, saving them both from lead poisoning. Narrowing his eyes, he thought about trying again but decided against it. They had wasted as much time as it was.
“Get us out of here before she gets a second wind.” He told his pilot, who nodded without the risk of debris being thrown at them and started to take off. Wolfram climbed aboard as the chopper started to lift off the helipad. The two girls glared at it and him as they started to escape, but Mellissa was more concerned for her friend as she ripped a piece of her dress to wrap her Uraraka's bleeding side.
"You've been shot; we need to look at that!" She told her when Uraraka tried to get back up despite that, and while she wanted her, she badly wanted that-it wouldn’t be fair to make her do such in her condition.
“Come back…don’t just leave…!” Uraraka yelled, looking at the chopper as it flew higher. “Don’t take the professor!”
“Don’t you dare lose that smile, you hear me, young Uraraka!” Her breath was caught in her throat, the same as Mellissa's, as they heard that ironic voice. At that same time, a blur shot up the side of the tower so fast that it was hard to tell what it even was. It shot past the chopper as well, throwing it off. Wolfram looked up and narrowed his eyes as he saw what it was.
“It’s fine now! Do you know why?” All Might, the one person he wanted to avoid, was there, seemingly so strong that despite not being able to fly or float, his power could still keep him airborne as he looked at him. His presence brought hope back into the situation for the students and dread for his side. “Because I am here!”
“I’ll have you return my friend to me, you fiend!” All Might shot towards them, a punch sending him flying towards the tower like a blonde missile, smashing through it in a blink of an eye, grabbing David, and exiting in the same move; such damage crippled the vehicle before reality caught up with them and the thing exploded.
Line Break
“What was that?” Kirishima asked as the tower shook again after the odd gust of air hit them not too long ago.
“It came from the top of the tower.” Ashido looked further up the structure to where Uraraka and Mellisa were, worried as neither had responded to her calls.
“It’s All Might,” They looked towards Bakugo, who cracked his neck and knuckles with a bloodthirsty smirk directed toward their opponent. “Who else could get up there that fast and blow some shit up?”
Pyre didn't counter this, which excited the two as Ashido cheered. “Oh sweet, All Might’s back in the game, so we’ve won!”
“Oh man, he’s really going all out up there.” Kirishima punched his fist into his palm. Now they just had to wake up for some much-appreciated backup, and finally, they could put an end to Pyre, get justice for Iida, and take one Thunder off the board. But Pyre didn't see it like that as he started crackling. “What’s so funny?”
“Oh, I know All Might must be up there but,” His words were punctuated by the tower shaking again, but it was much worse than before, with the sound of steel screaming as it was torn and bent ringing through the air, coming from the top. “What makes you think he’s the one causing all these tremors? Last I checked, he can’t control metal…but the boss sure can.”
He liked seeing how worried they got, as even if they didn't know what he knew, their faith in All Might wasn't absolute. But the countdown was seconds from hitting zero, so he had to pull back. "Still, as fun as this fight was, I've done my part, and it's time to leave." He stunned them by turning to leave as if this was a 9 to 5, and he'd just finished overtime.
“You’re not going anyway!” Kirishima yelled as he charged, ready to deck him for this disrespect. Still, he fell right into Pyre's trap as his back exploded, the stone scales shooting out like shrapnel, which had Bakugo and Ashido flying or diving for cover as Todoroki erected an ice wall. Kirishima didn't care, as he wasn't affected by it, but that wasn't the part for him.
With his back muscles exposed, so too was the cannon-like opening he had crafted just beneath the surface, one that was already charging up a fireball. Bracing, he didn't give them any time as he fired it, a giant ball of green fire flying towards Kirishima, who raised his arms to block but still felt the flames burning him as he carried off his feet.
This led to the final part of Pyre's plan. He had made sure to position himself so that while his back was to the edge, Kirishima, their tank, was also close to the edge, so that attack easily sent him over the edge as he started to fall almost 200 stories.
“Kirishima!” Ashido yelled out in terror upon seeing that.
“I got him!” Bakugo didn't wait. He blasted off, clearing the edge and seeing Kirishima as he fell. Aiming himself towards him, he let loose explosions as he rocketed towards his classmate and friend to save him.
“Goodbye, U.A. I have a feeling we’ll meet again soon enough.” The two remaining on the roof turned to see Pyre, his back rapidly healing as he stepped off the roof and back to the edge as he fell off.
“Did he just-?!” Todoroki asked, but his question was asked when Pyre came back, but he didn't fly like Bakugo did; instead, he knelt atop some futuristic aircraft, one that Ashido recognized from the exhibit she had been at earlier.
“Right on time, Nine, as always.” Pyre pat the side of the machine as it turned and left.
“I’m punctual.” Nine replied over the radio as the two started to make their grand escape.
“Dammit, get back here!” Todoroki yelled as he sent a blast of fire towards it. Still, Pyre countered that by opening his jaws and sucking his flames in, Todoroki cutting off his attack at the sight of that as he growled, knowing he couldn't do anything, not without damaging the tower more than whatever the hell was happening up top was.
“Bakugo, just let me fall, I can take it! Go after them!” Kirishima yelled at Bakugo as he hung off his back, Bakugo being slowed thanks to the added weight as his red eyes glared at that fucking pyromaniac as he made another escape.
“Not happening…you’ve never fallen from a height like this, I can’t risk it…I won’t.” But as much as he wanted to, he had another priority right now. Tsu would have chosen to save Shitty hair, and so would he.
“Bakugo…” Kirishima softly replied, frowning. Pyre also noticed that, as he had watched before, they had risen higher and vanished from view.
“What do we do now?” Once he landed with Shitty Hair, Ashido asked an important question, but one, as far as Bakugo was concerned, had just one answer.
“We keep fighting.” He told them, the 3 turning to him.
"Unless you can fly, that's not an option. That Pyro guy's already flying off!" Ashido reminded him, pointing at the now clear sky, the rain a little more than the drizzle.
Bakugo grunted as he pointed toward where they could hear what sounded like two giants having a boxing match. “Yeah, he is, but you heard the fucker. His boss is still here, and if he’s doing this, All Might’s gonna need some help.”
“We can at least secure him.” Todoroki saw what he was thinking, and while it felt like a silver medal, Pyre wasn't the prize here; it was the rest of the villains and their boss.
“Yeah...yeah! You're right; we still can beat them!" Kirishima agreed with them, Ashido not being sure about it, but didn't voice any opposition as they turned to run towards the doorway. With the security theirs again, they could call up an elevator and get to the roof faster.
Line Break
“Now, I think I know the best way to raise this price. I can charge whatever I want if it was used to kill the Symbol of Peace!” Wolfram laughed as he continued to try and do just that. His quirk was more vital than ever, more than he could have imagined, as he could feel the metal of the entire tower and reach out to hundreds of tons of it, bending it to his will like it was mere coins. His control was so expanded and refined that he could levitate hundreds of tons of it and send it flying towards All Might.
“Boss, I didn’t know you were that strong!” He heard a voice in his ear, distracting him from his happy time trying to kill All Might. Feeling more metal approaching, but one not in his control, he turned to see a strange airplane-like craft approaching him. Inside, he could make out Pyre and Nine, both maskless.
"Oh, it's you." He started. Did you finish whatever it was you wanted?" He asked casually despite going up against All Might, such was his new power.
“Yup!” Pyre gave him a peace sign from the co-pilot seat.
“Do you need help?” Nine asked, but Wolfram laughed it off.
“Nah, I can handle this. Consider our deal complete. I’ll give you time to get out of here. Just grab my boys as you do.” He shifted the metallic vines and pieces he had gathered around himself to reveal that his two men had also survived the crash as he had because he had bent the metal around them all to shield them from the impact and explosion.
“Boss?” Mitnick, bloody but alive, asked.
"Let me have some fun. You go on ahead!" He dismissed them as Nine navigated their ride closer to the fray. Wolfram's ginormous construct hid them from All Might and the two students.
Opening the door, Pyre waved at them to get inside. “Come on, you heard him. There’s…well, there’s room, I wouldn’t call it plenty.”
“I wasn’t expecting passengers.” Nine stated that Mitnick helped the wounded chopper pilot inside before jumping in. Nine found that it was cramped thanks to all the stuff Nine had cramped inside. With him in, the door was closed as they pulled back from the fighting before they were caught as collateral.
“Shit, have you ever seen All Might struggle like that?” The pilot asked, Mitnick shook his head.
“I don’t think anyone has. That quirk booster is no joke.” He replied, to which Pyre turned in their direction. Nine also turned his eye at them but kept his attention on flying.
“Quirk booster?” The flame user asked them.
“Yeah, the thing that the professor and his assistant wanted back was some kind of quirk augmentation device. It can do, well that,” Mitnick pointed to the fighting, or more accurately, to All Might being overwhelmed. A sight that he never thought he'd live to see. “Without damaging the user’s body or brain.”
"Incredible…no wonder they were desperate to get it back." Pyre looked on in wonder, as even if All Might wasn't at his best and no doubt close to that 3-hour limit, he was still a force to be reckoned with. With Nine, his mind wasn't on the fight but the device, as he didn't have it…but had its data.
‘Crown of Aegis…that was its name. To think, I stumbled upon such a game changer.' Nine's face remained impassive despite how fast his thoughts were racing. 'I can't let All for One learn I have this data. This…this is our key to ensuring his time as the underworld king will end, once and for all.' If such a device could make Wolfran this powerful, he didn't want to dare consider what someone like AFO would be like.
“Looks like the rest have arrived.” His attention was taken when they saw ice spreading across some of the metal, followed by large explosions.
“Weren’t you in charge of taking them out?” Mitnick looked towards Pyre.
The youngest person present let out a meh. "I was keeping them busy. I would have just knocked them out, but they've gotten stronger, and I was having too much fun; sorry about that." Despite that, he told the students that he didn't want to actually bring the tower down by burning it, which would have surely injured and killed hundreds; there was his little deal with Iida to consider.
"It's nothing to worry about; they can all fight him if they want; the boss got a little something extra from your employer," Mitnick stated, and Pyre felt his core grow cold at that.
“He didn’t.”
Mitnick did not notice that the change from either Pyre or Nine continued. "He did. So let's focus on grabbing as many of us as possible and getting the hell off this stupid island."
“He’s right, in fact,” Nine said, deciding to not think about that for the moment. “I see someone.”
Line Break
“Dammit, that little brat sure packs a punch," Swordkill grumbled as he felt like he had a bad hangover, having been woken up by the fucking tower shaking all around him. As he looked out at the hole the two brats had made in their entry, he was buffeted by harsh winds as some weird plane thing came up to the hole, the door opening to reveal Mitnick.
“Swordkill! We gotta go!” He yelled at him,
“Wait, why?”
"We'll explain later. Just jump!" He didn't explain, but Swordkill decided that he didn't need one as he jumped into the cramped plane. He saw Pyre and Nine already inside, the kid waving at him, which made him want to reach for a smoke.
“Where to next?” Nine asked.
"Gate 66, there should be another cargo container with a boat inside," Mitnick replied; Swordkill getting enough from that to understand that they were leaving, but where was the boss, and why was their chopper guy here and not flying the fucking chopper?
“You planning on using it?” Nine asked.
“You think we can fit anymore people into this thing?” Swordkill was the one that answered, as there was no way in hell they could fit even half their boys in here, not unless they lost some of the stuff, but he didn't think whether the boy would like that.
"Gate 66 it is, then." Nine replied as he turned them in that direction. Down below, they could make out security bots converging on a particular point. “Pyre, you handle the controls, I’ll deal with the heroes.”
“You got it!” Pyre saluted, eager to try and see if he could fly this thing.
Line Break
“Dammit, we’ll never make it!” In the streets, the remaining villains ran from the robots they had been controlling not even 5 minutes ago and the pros that were giving them chase.
“Back, stay back! You have hostages!” One of them yelled at the pursuing pros, but that didn’t stop them.
"Vile villains, surrender now. You have nowhere to go!" One of the heroes yelled back, but right as they felt like they were better off surrendering, the skies, which had been brightening, started to darken once more as storm clouds gathered.
“The rain’s building up again? It was dissipating just moments ago.” One of the heroes paused to look around.
“Look out!” Only to be tackled out of the way, as not a moment later, lightning came crashing down where he had just been standing. That wasn't the only strike as several more bolts came down, many attacking the robots, which might have been designed to be shielded against most electric quirks, but there was a big difference between that and literal lightning.
The result was that over half the machines were destroyed, the sight of which scaring observers enough to remain indoors, including two U.A. students, Sato and Sero, who had been debating getting involved in the chase to assist the heroes.
“Lightning?” One of the heroes asked as more lightning came down, forcing them to run for cover. The robots were not as lucky as they were wiped out in the dozens, and the street was torn apart with every strike.
“If you want to run, now’s the time!” The criminals saw Nine perched atop the craft he had stolen, controlling the lighting and storms to keep the heroes at bay.
“Right, let’s move people!” One of them yelled.
“The hostages!”
"Leave them. They're slowing us down! All Might could show up any second now, so we need to move!" Their temporary leader yelled, and the rest followed his orders as they left the hostages behind.
“They’re getting away!” One of the heroes yelled.
"I can't get through. Someone takes out that plane!" Another yelled, but when one tried, he had to dive back behind cover as a lightning bolt crashed close to where he was. Nine wasn't keeping a good eye on them.
“None of us have quirks suited for that!” The heroes cursed as they wished that All Might had been with them, as his punches could have handled this, but he was busy dealing with whatever the hell was happening at the top of the tower.
“Even if we did, we’ll be fried the moment we tried!”
Watching this, Nine was taking deep breaths to keep the pain from getting to him as he hadn't been healed in a while, and his quirk started to lash out, but he couldn't show weakness. "Nine, they should get there in a few minutes, so perhaps we should…leave an impression?” Pyre asked over the coms, sounding eager to set fire to something which made the white-haired man laugh.
"I already thought about that," He pulled a remote from his jacket and pressed one of its buttons. Back in the exhibit hall, makeshift bombs he had left to destroy what he couldn't carry went off, the entire hall being engulfed in flames as the blast shattered the windows of nearby buildings.
“What the hell was that?” The heroes asked, having felt that as one looked in the direction of the blaze and realised what it was.
“The exhibit hall!”
Line Break
And done! We've reached the end of the I-island arc, and man…I was late with this. But I really wanted to get this done, and then editing took a while. Technically, it's still Wednesday when I posted this, which means that I'm technically on time, the best kind of on time. But for all seriousness, I really did want this out at the regular time, but circumstances prevented it. But as this marks the end of the arc, there won't be updates for a few weeks as I work out the fine details of future chapters. Ideally, I want to get enough material down to be good until the end of the Overhaul arc.
