Chapter 20: Terminus' Pursuit.

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Musutafu General Hospital:

Kirishima slowly awoke, to a dry throat and even drier eyes. He squinted and groaned, blinking the dirt out of his eyes. He let out a tiny gasp, a slight pain assaulted his brain, and he lay on the soft mattress paralysed…and then it disappeared.

"I see that you're alright, that's good."

Kirishima heard a soft voice croaked out, and his eyes flew open. He shot up straight from the bed, his strength returning to him in a flash. Kirishima had never felt this energized, as he slowly sat up. No dizziness…he must have slept for quite a while.

"Setsuna…?" Kirishiima looked down at Setsuna in surprise mixed with relief. The crimson-eyed girl smiled wryly at the redhead beside her bed.

"Morning." Setsuna said. "Before you ask anything, we are at Musutafu General Hospital, and according to the doctor we have been asleep for three days."

"Three days!?" Kirishima stared at her incredulously. They have been out for that long!? Kirishima furrowed his brows, trying to remember the events which led up to this point. He and Ashido chased Setsuna in the rain to get her back. They somehow managed to be tangled in a drowning accident and Setsuna saved the drowning kid. She in turn was saved by Kirishima when the former could not swim. And then…

"That's right." Setsuna smiled at the boy. "You saved me, thank you Kirishima."

"Well…just don't do something like that okay?" Kirishima reprimanded the bedridden girl seriously. "You should have told us you didn't know how to swim. We were lucky this time…so please be more careful!"

Setsuna was quiet for a moment, and her lips were fidgeting as though she wanted to say something. However, a new voice caught both Kirishima and her attention.

"How do you do? Setsuna, Kirishima?"

Izuma strolled into the room with a basket of food in his hands, along with his sister Oruka dashing in with a frantic expression. Upon seeing her comrade awake, the daughter of Midoriya and Uraraka flew towards Setsuna and embraced the surprised girl into a tight hug, with tears of happiness running down her pink cheek highlights. Setsuna patted the [hypergravity] quirk girl lovingly on the back before facing her leader who was looking at the two hospitalized students with a relieved look.

"I-Izuma…I-!" Setsuna stammered, but was stopped short when her reply was met with Izuma shaking his head.

"You don't have to say anything. Ashido has told me everything I need to know while both of you were out cold; and there's nothing for you to apologize. She almost gave us a heart attack when she came running to us and told the class what happened." Izuma explained. He really meant it when the entire class had a heart attack. "Including Hanabi and her dad, even if they didn't show it on their faces."

"Really?" Kirishima could not picture that image. "Bakugo and Hanabi…I can't imagine it."

On the day of the incident, when Setsuna, Ashido and Kirishima did not come back after a while, everyone was starting to get worried. Then things got hectic when Ashido crashed through the door and shouted that Setsuna and Kirishima almost drowned. Izuma and his group especially were panicking when they heard what happened to both of them. They immediately went to the hospital together along with several staff members who got wind of the situation. After listening everything from Ashido, Hanabi especially felt guilty, feeling that this would not have happened if her words hadn't pushed Setsuna over the edge. Izuma felt even guiltier as he didn't think that an attempt to open Setsuna's heart would result in a twin drowning accident.

"How is the boy who almost got washed away? Is he alright?" Setsuna asked again.

"He's alright. A little shocked, but recovered nevertheless. His family wishes to extend their thanks to the girl who saved him." Izuma revealed with a smile. "You did well, Setsuna."

"Speaking of which, why are we in the same room? I don't remember hospitals putting boys and girls together." Kirishima wondered, looking at himself and Setsuna.

"Well that's…" Oruka started with a bit of a mischievous grin on her face, confusing the [hardening] quirk youth even further.

Izuma chuckled as well. "If can't be helped since you won't let go of Setsuna's hand no matter what the doctors did. Your hardened grip on her simply would not bulge, so it was a special arrangement." He said while pointing at Kirishima's hand that was still holding Setsuna's. When Kirishima finally realized this, he immediately let go.

"Woah! Seriously!?" Kirishima blushed furiously while the two visitors laughed. That was seriously so embarrassing. "Sorry about that Setsuna!"

Setsuna cast a small smile. "You don't need to Kirishima. It's because you didn't let go of my hand that I am alive right now. I should be thanking you instead. Thank you." Setsuna thanked Kirishima with much more emotion then she herself expected. Ever since she woke up, she felt as though a considerably amount of weight was removed from her shoulders, and she had Kirishima and Ashido to thank for that. Strangely though, a weird feeling was clutching her chest when she felt his grip on her own hand…this was something foreign to the [blood crystal] quirk user.

Izuma coughed into his hand, catching their attention. "You can fill me on details later. For now, it's essential that you fill your stomachs and recuperate; Sato worked hard on his sugar-free treats, totally perfect for anyone sleeping for two days straight. I'll also inform my dad and the others; they have been worried sick." He said as he presented a bento box full of deliciousness prepared specially by Sato to each of them, to help with their recovery. Kirishima almost wanted to cry tears of happiness by his classmates' manly actions.

"Enjoy your food," Izuma waved as he and Oruka walked out, giving Setsuna a strange look. "I'll have a little talk with the doctor so have a nice rest." Setsuna nodded silently and waved a goodbye back, and the two students were left alone again in their privacy.

Kirishima slumped back to the bed. "Man…I'm still beat. I think I'm gonna catch a few more minutes of sleep." He said while yawning. Even after two days of rest, a part of him was still tired, so a few minutes of shut eye wouldn't hurt.

"Hey Kirishima…"

"Hmm? Yes?"

"Thanks for that day," Setsuna leaned closer to Kirishima from her bed and bowed her head, making Kirishima slightly confused. "Come on, you already thanked me enough-"

"I'm not talking about that, I meant what you and Ashido said to me on that bridge." Her scarlet eyes stared straight at Kirishima's unflinchingly as she thanked the boy who risked his life for her. "You told me that we must press forward and move on regardless of our past, so…I'll think..it's only right for you to know something about me."

"To tell you the truth…I'm actually-!" Setsuna was about to say something when…

"KIRISHIMA! SETSUNA!"

The door slammed open, revealing Midoriya, Uraraka, Kaminari, Jirou, Hanabi and other students of the class 1-A entered the room with heavy breathing and relief plastered all over their faces. Kirishima was taken aback by the sudden group, and couldn't help but sweatdropped as he and Setsuna were bombarded with endless questions. It's nice that they were so worried, but this was still a hospital so tone it down for goodness sake!

However, the students of UA didn't care about all that and instead surrounded him and Setsuna. A nurse had to come in and hushed them down, but that didn't stop their cheery mood. They questioned Kirishima if they were okay and were relieved that he got most of his energy back after two days of rest. The girls made 1000 paper cranes to wish for their fast recovery while the boys brought a few games to pass the time together, as well as all the homework both of them had missed in the past few days, along with handwritten notes. Even Koda brought the bunny he's been taking care of for Setsuna to hug and cuddle with. Setsuna herself was taken aback by all this attention she was receiving.

"You were all worried about me that much?" Setsuna asked, blinking at their concern.

"Stupid girl…you're one of us aren't you?" Hanabi scoffed and nudged Setsuna's head lightly, as though she just asked an obvious question. "Don't keep us in the dark all the time dammit! If you have issues just throw it right at my face!"

"I think it means 'I'm your friend' in Bakugouese. Hanabi is a legitimate tsunde-gebuh!" Ikazuchi cooed and teased the daughter of Bakugo, earning a furious roundhouse kick in the stomach from the blushing girl.

"Don't fabricate my words you freaking ears!" Hanabi yelled at the [earphone jack] boy. "To be clear, that was definitely NOT what I said, you hear me!?"

"Sure sure." The son of Kaminari and Jirou groaned out as the rest of the class laughed, and Setsuna couldn't help but join the merry atmosphere as well; the dark world she had surrounded herself in was beginning to brighten with life, and she was certain that something within her was changing – she was no longer alone.

"by the way…" Kirishima finally wondered as his eyes scanned the visitor group and realized a few missing people. "Where are Todoroki, Yaoyorozu, and the three siblings? Are they not here?"

At those words, everyone's faces darkened considerably and the merry atmosphere turned cold. Some of the students looked at the ground while the future children had rather unreadable expressions.

"What's wrong?" Setsuna grew puzzled from their sudden change in demeanour. "Did something happen?"

"…We were planning of keeping this from you…at least till you come back to the dorms…" Iida started to explain with a serious tone, even for him. "But a lot has happened since you two were admitted to the hospital, in fact…the entire country is on the verge of mass panic."

"Hold up…you're scaring me." Kirishima frowned. "What the hell happened?"

"Endeavor's down." Ikazuchi stepped forward and cut to the chase, his eyes lost all joyfulness and bluntly stated to the two students. "The number 1 hero was taken down along with his 30 sidekicks. His whole agency was blasted to bits."

"…what!?"

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Musutafu General Hospital Emergency Ward:

Voices and footsteps echoed throughout the Accidents and Emergencies Ward halls. The family of three plus three future children and Yaoyorozu waited in uncomfortable silence as the light of the surgery room blared red. Fuyumi fumbled with her long skirt with teary eyes while her younger brother Natsu tapped his foot on the spotless hospital floor impatiently with a worried look on his face, sometimes stealing glances at Fubuki and his sisters; he still could not believe what his sister just told him…children from the future!? How could something like that…

Todoroki Shoto himself was sweating as he clenched his fist so tightly his knuckles were white, paying close attention to the surgery light for any possible miniscule change, prompt Yaoyorozu to grip his hand tightly and silently assured him. The three future siblings weren't doing so much better.

"Grandpa Enji…" Mio cried and hugged her older sister tightly, the youngest daughter of the Todoroki siblings was scared as though someone else close to her was going to get hurt again. "No…"

"Sweetie…everything's going to be fine okay…?" Yaoyorozu rubbed her daughter's head lovingly and rubbed her own forehead against hers. Your grandpa is the strongest hero in Japan right now, he's going to be alright."

Fubuki was pacing through the halls nervously, his white/black hair covering his eyes as his expression was unreadable. "No…this wasn't supposed to happen…!"

Guren stood up from her seat to approach her twin brother, shaking him slightly to wake him from his trance. "Fubuki…be calm. We have to wait till the operation's over first."

"You want me to stay calm!? How can I possibly be calm in this situation!?" Fubuki angrily slapped his sister's hand away. "This wasn't supposed to happen!"

The door of the surgery room grabbed their attention, as well as the quarrelling siblings when they looked up to see a white-clad surgeon walking out while removing his mask, his eyes heavy with weariness as he looked at Todoroki Enji's immediate family.

"Doctor…!" Fuyumi exclaimed with worry and concern as she ran towards the surgeon. "Is he…?"

"He's alive…just barely." The surgeon told the daughter of Endeavor, making everyone sighed with relief. "If he was brought here any later, his chances of surviving would have been nulled. He had a gaping hole through his stomach; if he had not cauterized his own wound with fire, he would have died of blood loss. If anyone should be amazed, it would be me."

"How is he now?" Shoto asked worriedly.

"We stitched up the wound, but his vitals are still extremely weak." The doctor with a third eye quirk frowned and continued. "He's not out of the woods yet. I have no idea what kind of quirk would cause such a devastating injury to your father, but that's for the police to fill you in. You can see him if you want, and feel free to use the buzzer if anything happens."

Clad in a blue hospital gown in the Intensive Care Unit, the unconscious figure of Endeavor in the white bed slept still in a deep slumber; his entire lower body covered in bandages and he had dark lines under his eyes. The Todoroki family gathered around his bed. Fuyumi proceeded to grab his hand, even if the number 1 hero wasn't aware she was there.

"Fuyumi…" Natsu tried to reassure his sister as he and Shoto comforted their usually cheerful sister as she began to sob, leaning her head against her father's limp arm.

"W-Why…? Wh…why did it have to happen…just when…the f-family's going to come back…t-together…? Why…?" Fuyumi struggled to get those words out as her sadness took over and caused her tears to pour out.

Hearing her say that caused the Todoroki family members to harden their gazes, and a cloud of surging anger looming over everyone from the sheer agony their sister was facing right now. The question on everyone's mind was who, or what caused this to happen.

"If I found out who's the one who did this, I will personally make sure they pay dearly for it." Shoto muttered for everyone to hear as pure anger appeared on his face in a long while.

"Seconded," Natsu agreed wholeheartedly with his younger sibling. He still had qualms for his previously abusive father, but seeing this in this state only filled him with hate. "The heroes won't stand for this; they will hunt whoever caused this…and throw him straight into Tartarus. He blatantly attacked the agency of our old man, that is practically a declaration of war."

Yaoyorozu flinched a little from hearing the words of Shoto and his family, even though she shared the same feeling of anger of how someone who be willing to wreak havoc on Endeavor for seemingly no reason. What was the villain's goal in doing so? To spread fear? Raise a commotion? Just what was the message in doing so? And finally, how could such a powerful individual be hidden for so long?

The door to the ICU opened and caught everyone's attention, as well as the sobbing Fuyumi's as they looked up to see a badly hurt young woman on clutches. Her once fiery hairstyle was dampened and the light of passion had faded away from her eyes. A few policemen and women stood behind the second survivor of the attack, probably indicating they were in charge of the investigation regarding the attack on Endeavor's agency.

"Fuyumi-chan…!" The sidekick of Endeavor began to cry as she hobbled her way towards the daughter of Enji, prompting the rest of the group to hold her steady in case she fell. Seeing the female sidekick she had seen a couple of times while visiting her father's agency, Fuyumi then bolted from her seat and tackled Burnin' into a tight hug, happy to see her alive. Tears continued to run down the girl's faces like waterfalls as they hiccupped and tried to control their tears.

Shoto, Momo and Natsu got up from their seats as the rest of the policemen entered the room, getting the crying sidekick to look at the Todoroki family, as well as Fubuki, Guren and Mio, whom she did not recognize.

"You're…Burnin' right?" Shoto muttered as he recognized her, getting her to force out a smile seeing the son of her boss doing well and healthy.

"I should be excited to see my boss' family…but the only thing I can do now is apologize to you guys for not being able to protect your father properly…!" Burnin' gritted her teeth in tears and frustration, only to feel the embrace of Fuyumi's arms growing tighter around her. "I-I'm so…s-sorry…! If only I was a little stronger…your father wouldn't have to suffer for us so much…!"

"Please don't say that. There was no way anyone could predict something like…this…happening…if anything…I'm glad you're still alive." Fuyumi consoled the devastated Burnin', but that only got her to cry harder.

While Fuyumi held on to Burnin' with the family of Enji watching them, the oldest man amongst the police forces stepped forward the showed his ID badge, revealing himself as the lead investigator of the assault case. He had a solemn expression to compliment his formal office suit with holster strapped to his waist, and deep eyebags indicated his lack of sleep.

"Pro-hero and sidekick Burnin', we could not thank you enough for your quick cooperation in regards to this case even though you are resting," The investigator thanked the sidekick before facing the rest of the youths in the room. "My name is Tantei Genso, you may call me Inspector Genso. My sincere apologies to interrupt your time with Endeavor, but we would like to ask if the immediate family of Endeavor would talk to us in regards to events of what has happened two days ago. Especially the two youths over there, you must be Fubuki and Guren Todoroki, right?"

"You know us?"

"I was specially briefed by Inspector Kenji himself about you two and your friends regarding your 'special' circumstances." Inspector Genso explained. "He had a hunch that you two may be able to shed some light on our possible suspect. Because right now…only Burnin' is the sole survivor of the attack on Endeavor's agency besides Endeavor himself who can tell us about the perpetrator."

Without much of a choice, the group consisting of Todoroki Shoto, Guren, Fubuki, Yaoyorozu Momo and Burnin made their way to a quiet part of the hospital. A few desks and chairs were arranged to accommodate this questioning, and everyone remained seated except of Fubuki and Guren, who chose to stand behind their parents.

"I know this isn't the best time, but I feel that it would be important for you to understand the events which led to Endeavor's state." Inspector Genso started to say as he motioned his subordinate to lay out several paper on the desk.

"Please tell us everything you know. We both know that the proper exchange of information will help to hasten the capture of the one responsible." Guren politely told the inspector, but her tone was bubbling with rage and quiet fury which got everyone in the room besides her brother to shiver slightly from the animosity this girl was giving off.

Inspector Genso nodded at her words and proceeded to state his findings. "I have spoken briefly to Burnin' before this, so if you wouldn't mind I would like to take a few minutes to recap Burnin' statement in regards to the attack. Two days before at 11am, a unknown male appeared in Endeavor's agency, and he destroyed the majority of the building in one attack."

"In one attack?" Shoto echoed in shock.

"A boy I guessing roughly in his twenties. He was rather tall…almost as tall as Endeavor himself," Burnin' recalled, her body shivering from remembering the horrible experience. "He had long blue hair tied into a pony tail and talks in a very lazy way. There was also some weird crystal sticking onto the base of his neck. He calls himself…as Noah."

"Noah?" Yaoyorozu asked, remembering a story that her mother read to her a long time ago. "As in the Noah who build the ark and survived the flood God had sent to wipe all living things from the earth? That Noah?"

"A character from one of the popular stories from the book of Genesis," the inspector added while flipping through his papers. "Most villains tend to give themselves out worldly titles due to being egotistical and arrogant, but the attacker this time had a powerful quirk to back up such a name. According to Burnin', the individual called Noah has an extremely powerful water quirk, powerful enough to entrap all 30 sidekicks while fighting Endeavor."

"Oh please don't get me wrong," the inspector quickly apologised towards Burnin'. "You must understand that we must uncover everything we know about this dangerous individual. Is there anything you remember about him? Or is there anything he said?"

"I…can't remember…" Burnin' admitted with a frustrated look. "After that bastard trapped me in water…my consciousness kept slipping in and out. At that time I only concentrated on my breathing. But…he did say something at the very beginning."

Burnin' echoed the words of the youth which haunted her ever since. "The floodgates of the heavens have opened…to judge the sins of mankind once more – is what he said."

"What the hell's with that…" Natsu sputtered. "Is that guy right in the mind? What kind of motive is that?"

"From the way that's phrased…we can assume that he's some sort of religious fanatic." Yaoyorozu reasoned. "Could he be someone from one of the villain cults hidden in Japan?"

"Interesting…" Inspector Genso frowned and leaned back on his chair as he continued. "We'll keep looking into it. His name and words are a good start – perhaps he could be the clue to what has happened in the last few weeks…"

"Wait. What do you mean?" Shoto asked. "You mean there are other cases?"

The inspector paused as though he was debating if he should blurt out a great secret, before he answered slowly. "There are a string of murder cases happening throughout Japan for the past two weeks. We were unable to identify the perpetrators, but we found out that the victims were comprised of not only prominent heroes, but major villains wanted as well."

"There are more? You mean to say that this 'Noah' took down more than just Endeavor?" Yaoyorozu asked with worry in her eyes. Things were already bad enough with the number 1 hero's fall, just how powerful was this villain!?

"It's not…Noah." Inspector Genso raised a file and distributed its contents for the family to see. "As you can see in these pictures…the cause of deaths are varied. Some of their bodies were burned to a crisp, some looked as though their bodies parts were chewed off, and for some weird reason others were found to have fallen from a tall height."

"Such brutality…" Fuyumi muttered in horror. "But all these deaths don't have anything in common…what makes you think they are all connected."

"Call it a hunch," the inspector answered grimly. "Something tells me that Noah is the least of our problems right now."

"This is the first time I heard about such a thing," Natsu stated in shock. "Why isn't such a big issue released in the press!?"

"We just barely recovered from the fall of All Might," the inspector stated with a grim and serious expression. "If we were to leak out this news to the state, only chaos will emerge…it's too soon."

"How long are you planning to hide the truth!?"

"Just long enough till we can figure out more evidence! There's just so much we do not know…" Tantei argued, before turning to Fubuki and Guren with a slightly hopeful look. "That is why I asked for you two to join us. If you are who you say you are, then you should be able to provide an insight to the current threat."

"We…" Everyone turned their attention to the two future children of Shoto and Yaoyorozu, but were answered with an unexpected answer. "…don't know a thing."

"Wh-what do you mean you don't know?" Natsu stood up and walked over to Fubuki, till he was centimetres away from Fubuki's unreadable face. "If you guys are really from the future, then why the hell can't you predict this!?" Natsu shook Fubuki angrily. "Answer me!"

"Like we said…we don't-!"

"We don't know who 'Noah' is," Guren answered for her brother. Her calm words sounded convincing, but Yaoyorozu was a little suspicious by how calm her daughter was. It was almost as though she was reciting a pre-written script. "It is possible that this individual is dead in our future, so we have no clue to his identity."

"But…have you heard anything about these cases from your parents, in the future? There will be serious consequences if you're lying." The inspector couldn't help but questioned in a more forceful tone. He was sorry if he was placing stress on these youngsters, but he had to get everything he could regarding these cases. "Anything?"

"I'm terribly sorry," Guren continued apologetically. "It is possible that this 'Noah' was taken down way before we were born, so we are unable to provide you with any intel."

"…I see." The inspector's face was crestfallen. Their supposed last ray of hope was shattered. "In any case, thank you for sparing your time. You may leave."

Just as Fubuki and Guren went out of the room first, Shoto found himself pulled aside by Yaoyorozu as she whispered. "Shoto, about what happened earlier…"

"Yeah, I could tell." Shoto narrowed his eyes at the two leaving figures of their future children. "They're hiding something."

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Outside the emergency ward:

It did not take long for the son of Shoto Todoroki to find his green-haired leader outside the hospital's rooftop. They had already arranged to meet there immediately after they are done with their respective visits, considering they are in the same hospital.

That was when things were about to get ugly.

"Hey," Izuma called out to the [Absolute Zero] quirk boy, as well as his sister walking towards him. "I heard what happened. With this, we can finally start on what we originally came here for. We should-"

"You knew when it will happen, don't you?" Fubuki cut him off, his eyes gleaming a dangerous light.

"…" Izuma fell silent upon hearing that, and the air between the three future kids became extremely tensed. When Izuma did not answer, Fubuki asked again with in a dangerous tone.

"Answer me dammit! DID YOU KNOW!?"

"I myself wasn't sure when exactly your grandfather would cross paths with Noah," Izuma answered quickly, knowing the mental state of his friend very well. "But I did have a rough idea of the supposed time it occurred thanks to Mirai."

"Then…you hid the truth from me…?" There was a hint of trepidation as Fubuki asked that, as though he could not believe his leader could do something so horrid. "I knew grandpa Enji would cross paths with that bastard, but you told me that we can avoid that the moment we entered this time period! You promised me that! IZUMA!"

"I'm sorry." Izuma turned towards the siblings. Fubuki's expression was a mix of sadness, frustration, confusion and betrayal. Guren was calmer, but her eyes glared disapprovingly at Izuma. "There was no other choic-!"

Izuma could not fathom how Fubuki was so fast, as a fist slammed into his right cheek and sent him careening into the floor.

"You lied to me…!" Fubuki snapped at the [One for All] user with a furious expression. "You could have protected him! You knew the timing!"

"…I was protecting our mission. If you knew Noah was going to come out early, could you have promised me that you won't dash out and fight that monster?" Izuma countered mercilessly while giving Fubuki a glare, wiping the blood from his own mouth. "You know yourself more than I do. You will abandon everything in the heat of the moment just to save your family, even if you have to sacrifice millions just to save one. Besides…you do know that he'll survive right?"

"HE'S MY GRANDFATHER!" Fubuki clenched his fist tightly as he heled Izuma by the collar. "HE COULD HAVE BEEN SAVED! If you have told us…he wouldn't have to suffer this much!"

"And get yourself killed in the process?" Izuma snapped back, preparing himself for a possible confrontation. "You and I know that Noah can't be beat, at least not by us. As long as the undeniable fact that he will survive remains, all will be good."

"YOU-!" the [Absolute Zero] quirk boy hissed out.

"You can't beat Noah…" Izuma's voice took a condescending tone. "Even if you were there, the most you can do is be cannon fodder."

"ENOUGH!"

Izuma moved for the first time to intercept the fist inches away from his face. He then grabbed the white/black haired boy's wrist and flung him across the rooftop.

"I said this before and I'll say it again. We only have one chance." Izuma impassively told a coughing Fubuki staring daggers at him. "I will not afford to have the entire future changed to an unpredictable route just to satisfy your selfishness. All will be according to plan."

"Don't talk like you know everything! What do you know-!" Fubuki spat out, but found himself pinned to the floor with enough force to form small cracks on the ground beneath.

"What do I know…? I watched my loved ones died right before my eyes while their deaths were being made fun of. I had the most precious thing taken from me while I was powerless to do anything." Izuma narrowed his eyes as he spoke, barely containing the rage roaring in his ears. "Every single one of us swore to destroy the ones who dared take our loved ones, and I will not hesitate to take down anyone who dares interfere with the plan, even if it's my own friend."

"DAMMIT!" Fubuki yelled angrily as he kicked Izuma away and created some distance. "But even so…just to let them suffer like that…!"

"We will have our revenge…in due time." Izuma took a step forward and gazed at his friend with hardened eyes. "With the fall of Endeavor, those bastards will make use of the chaos and unease to make their move, and when they do…we will be there."

For a moment, everyone was silent. Fubuki shot one last angry look at Izuma before stomping back to the stairwell, slamming the hospital door behind him and leaving Izuma as well as his sister alone.

"…what?" Izuma challenged a frowning Guren. "Care to punch me as well? If it means getting both of you to focus on our mission, I wouldn't mind being a punching bag. But my decision won't change…this is for the best."

"No, I'm not saying that you're wrong." Guren replied, twirling the locks of her scarlet/black hair inbetween her fingers. "But you truly are a horrible person, Izuma. If grandpa Enji were to die, and his death will be according to our 'plan', would you have gone along with it?"

"What are you trying to imply?" Izuma questioned. "Are you trying to say that we should sacrifice our entire future just to save the lives of a few? I merely did the math, and came up with the best plan possible."

"You still don't get it do you?" Guren remarked while walking back towards the rooftop entrance. "I'll get my foolish little brother to calm down, while you better prepare for what's coming. If those bastards are moving according to your predictions, then I suggest we get ourselves ready soon."

"Sorry for acting like that towards him," Izuma apologised without looking at Guren. "But I expect you all to understand…this is for the best. Being the most level-headed of the class, you know that don't you, Guren?"

"Don't misunderstand, I am still angry at you for hiding the truth from us. While part of me wants to burn you to a crisp, I will not do so." Guren spoke calmly and for a moment, Izuma could see her clenching her fists till her knuckles are white. "I just don't understand why can't you tell us? Aren't we your teammates…why is that the only way you do things? Why must you keep the burden to yourself?"

"Why ask when you obviously know the answer? All is for the sake of the mission. Nothing more…and most certainly nothing less."

"Do you enjoy being hated that much? If you just sat down and talk to us, there could have been another way to save everyone in the process." Guren reasoned heatedly. "Even if we were to stop Noah from hurting grandpa Enji, there could be some other way-"

"We both know that we cannot let the enemies know of our existence until the optimal time." Izuma cut her off. "Alerting the enemy and making them change their plan of direction is the last thing I want. I'm sorry for Endeavor…but we have no choice."

"That was your choice," Guren interjected. "Not ours."

With that, the daughter of Todoroki and Yaoyorozu left Izuma all alone on the rooftop. Watching the [Inferno] quirk user leaving, Izuma stared at the seting sun as though to take in this beautiful scenery for one last time before it disappeared.

…

"Would you rather me let Fubuki die?…" Izuma muttered softly, his voice slightly broken. "Rather than getting him killed, I would be contented with him hating me for the rest of his life. That's just how I am…"

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Niigata Mountain Region:

*Cough! Cough! Cough!* "Is everyone alright!?" Twice's shrill yelling cut through the smoke. He crawled out of a hollowed-out hole in the earth unsteadily while a constant ringing plagued his eardrums – probably due to that massive explosion which almost killed them

"Someone define 'Alright' for me." A snarky remarked flew.

"Someone help get Toga's ass off me!"

"Are you saying I'm heavy?" Toga scowled at the lizard hybrid squashed under her, before she rose up to her feet and looked around warily. "What the hell happened?"

"What happened was that I saved you." The villains turned to a panting Mr Compress and Dabi who stood in front of them; multiple wounds and lacerations on their bodies. Mr Compress' mask was partially scorched and his beige trenchcoat was filled with burning holes as well as charred ends, the man himself was worn out and almost down for the count. Dabi was breathing heavily, his arms steaming as he just fended off a massive inferno with his bare hands. "Aren't you going to thank me for selflessly taking the blunt of that attack while you guys are safely protected in the confines of my quirk?"

"You didn't do shit." Dabi snapped at the magician-like villain. "Last I checked, all of you were behind me while I did all the work of deflecting that freaking beam."

"Our hideout!" Twice screamed, looking at the sad remains of their dusty but cozy home. "No way!/we need to renovate anyway!"

"Enough." Shigaraki growled, looking around at the wrecked vicinity they once called their hiding spot. The entire place reeked of burning metal and cinders danced in the air. "Were we just hit with a nuclear bomb or something?

"And what's that humming sound?" Mr Compress added, his ears picked up an odd whirling sound like an engine, despite the constant ringing in his ears from the earlier explosion. "Wait…something's coming!"

"I don't hear anything." Toga grumbled, slapping her ears to get that annoying ringing out of her head. "Wait…"

Suddenly, a distinct sound of a turbine engine caught the villain team's attention. A figure descended from the sky and landed on the clearing with a tremendous shockwave and generated a cloud of dust.

Twice narrowed his eyes at the billowing crater that was made on impact. "What the hell…?"

Twice's questions were answered as a strange youth stepped out of the smoke. To the villains' surprise it was a rather young teenager with tanned skin and spiky snow-white hair. His electric-blue eyes sparked with a gleeful light and small cybernetic lines extended from his lower eyelashes. He was dressed in a mechanic's overalls, and a white cloth was draped over his right shoulder. His most prominent feature was an orange ingot embedded in his forehead.

[Greeting, League of Villains. My name is Terminus, and I'm sure as glad to see you human scraps alive.] A sneer crossed the boy's face as he continued. [More durable toys to play with. HYAHAHAHAHA!]

The reactions amongst the villains were mixed. Everyone except Shigaraki and Dabi were stunned by this mysterious individual. Tomura was frowning while Dabi studied this newcomer with a neutral expression.

"Who the heck is this crazy bastard?" Toga asked, readying her knife. Spinner was tempted to retort that she was the least qualified person to ask that, but he chose to clamp his mouth shut as something about the individual called Terminus was giving him a bad feeling.

[Oho…?] Terminus smirked at the group, studying the current state they were in. [Not bad…you had the guy with the compression quirk protect the majority of your team while the blue fire-wielding individual protected you all by offsetting my attack. I got to say, that's some quick-thinking you guys got there.]

"So you are the one responsible!?" Twice confirmed angrily as he took a step forward.

"Twice, DON'T!" Shigaraki gave an uncharacteristically loud yell and pulled him back. "There's something off about this nutcase."

[Let's see…let's see…] Terminus counted the members of the League with his finger. [We have Mr Facepalm, a magician wannabe, a crazy bitch, a discount Deadpool, scarface and…a hero killer cosplayer. What a group! HYAHAHAHAHAHA!]

"Who the heck are you?" Tomura muttered in annoyance, being the first to regain his bearings and glared at the cyberpunk boy through the hand on his face. "Some kind of fucking terminator surprise boss?"

Terminus merely smiled before his arm was priming into a heat cannon in a blink of an eye, streaks of neon blue appearing against his transforming arm. With a maniacal grin, he aimed the heated arm cannon towards the injured Mr Compress lying down in the corner.

"Shit!" Tomura cursed as he grabbed Mr Compress and flung him away, the bright blue laser scorching the ground where he had previous stood. Dabi quickly used this chance to send a wave of blue fire at Terminus, but Terminus countered by turning his left arm into a giant fan, blowing the flames away with a powerful gust of wind.

[Tsk tsk tsk…too slow.] Terminus gave out his grinding metallic laugh. [You will have to do better if you ever hope to defeat the great Terminus-sama.]

"His arm transformed?" Mr Compress gasped.

"Oi! That's dirty!" Twice shouted at terminus. "Who the hell targets a wounded person first!?"

[Are you sure villain scrap like you have the right to say that?] Terminus laughed. [But anyways, I thought I'll get rid of the weak ones first; they'll just get in the way of our battle. But if you are so insistent on protecting him, then you don't mind if I destroy you first right? HYAHAHAHAHA!]

"Oi Shigaraki, can I stab him already?" Toga complained, finding this individual rather annoying. "Can I?"

"Screw off." Dabi scowled. "Looks like that irritating laugh of yours isn't the only thing messed up about you. Who are you trying to talk after attempting to blow us up earlier? What the hell is your motive?"

[My motive? Sure, I'll tell you. I'm here to kill ya~!] Terminus fired away, holding nothing back and making his intentions clear. [You see…we have been tasked to identify and destroy specific targets. Which are especially powerful ones~! And you guys fit the bill!]

"We?"

[Whoops! Minor slip of the tongue there.] Terminus laughed as two racks of 25-inch missles popped from his back, his wide malicious grin turning a tad more crazy. [Less talking, more fighting!]

Terminus' missiles landed all around Shigaraki and his crew, blowing them away with great shockwaves and loud explosions boomed throughout the area.

"Bastard…" Shigaraki muttered as he glared towards the smug Terminus. His hatred for this teenage boy was rising steadily. "I'll kill you…and turn you into scrap."

[How scary~!] Terminus responded with an even crazier smile. [Let's see if your bite is as good as your bark-]

Without waiting for the cybernetic boy to finish, both Toga and Twice launched themselves straight at Terminus, both of them bearing impish grins as they blitzed Terminus with their respective weapons; knives and measuring tapes.

"Die!"

Terminus merely scoffed at this and grinned widely. When both Toga and Twice came into his range, he swifly transformed his feet into thruster-enhanced boots and spun a roundhouse kick, ramming his shin into both the villains. Twice felt the wind being knocked out of his lungs as both him and Toga was sent careening back like ragdolls.

[You two are pretty lively!] Terminus jeered and let out a boisterous laugh. [Let's see how you fare against this! DIRTY SALVO!]

Terminus let forth a swamp of missiles which aimed straight towards Toga. The girl's eyes widen in shock, but relied on her body's instincts regardless and rolled out of the way. However to her shock, the missiles took a sharp turn and followed back at Toga.

"Toga-chan!" Seeing this, Twice reacted quickly and dashed towards Toga, pushing the girl out of the way, bracing himself as the eight missiles headed straight for him. However, Terminus merely smirked as the missiles changed coursed once again and blasted right into Toga. A pained scream tore out of the [Transform] quirk villain's throat as an intense heat assaulted her.

[That's one down for starte-! Wait a minute…] Terminus frowned as the 'girl' he supposedly hit melted into a puddle. [A clone!?]

"Psych!" Twice yelled in satisfaction, having closed in from behind the white-haired mechanic along with Dabi.

"Chew on this instead." Dabi saw his chance and sprinted forward with his palms wreathed in bluebell flames. Terminus countered by augmenting his right arm with metal armour, enhancing its weight and appearance to withstand Dabi's cremation flames. However, Dabi turned up the heat and enveloped his opponent with a burning cloud of superheated fire. "This is my first time meeting you, and I have the greatest urge to burn you to a crisp. So just shut up and become my kindling."

Dabi and the rest of the villains strained their eyes on the fiery cloud and dust, waiting for any sign of movement.

"Did you get him?" Twice asked hesitantly.

[HARDLY!] The crazed engineer shouted unimpressed, answering Twice's question as he burst out from the smoke and walloped Dabi and Twice, with twin jet-thruster propelled fists. [THRUSTER!] The white-haired boy then grabbed hold of both Dabi and Twice's heads, and grinded them to the ground, dragging them through the dust in a brutal manner. [HYAHAHAHAHA!]

Dabi and Twice tumbled along the ground before coming to a halt, their bodies bruised from Terminus' brutal attacks. Terminus watched all of this while dusting some dirt of his clothes, virtually unscathed from Dabi's flames.

"Are you serious?" Mr Compressed barked. "There's not even a scratch on him! What the hell is this kid!?"

Shigaraki ignored their needless commentary as he dashed forward towards Terminus while the latter is still occupied holding both of his opponents down. "It doesn't matter what kind of broken power you have…as long as I crumble you to dust, it's over." Or so he thought, Terminus eyed him sideways and transformed his arm into a percussion hammer, slamming his newly formed weaponry down on the ground and blasted the area in front of the villain leader asunder. Tomura had no choice but to step back.

[Decay, isn't it. That quirk requires you to touch any solid with all five fingers to decay and destroy the object desired.] Terminus stated to everyone. [BUT IT'S USELESS IF YOU CAN'T TOUCH ME! HYAHAHAHA!]

Suddenly, an assault was lauched from behind Terminus, who merely stretched his hand to grab hold of the giant assortment of blades bundled together, prompting him to look at who would launch such a dull attack. A wide sneer spread across the mechanic's face as he saw Spinner glaring at him, gritting his teeth as he attempted to push his weapon past Terminus' iron grip.

[And you,] Terminus used his other hand to grab Spinner by the neck and held him high in the air, giving a vicious grin as he watched the [Gecko] quirk villain gasp for air. [Are just plain pathetic.]

Terminus' augmented arm gave off steam as it shot into Spinner's stomach. Spinner cried out in anguish as he was blasted back to his teammates. He went tumbling straight to the feet of Shigaraki and lay on his back, a trail of smoke wafting off from where Terminus hit him.

"SPINNER!" Twice screamed in horror, as he watched his comrade's state.

[And you are the noisiest among them all!] Terminus spat as he combined both of his arms to create a very familiar-looking long-barrelled electromagnetic cannon. [Perhaps I should wrap this up now and spare the whole lot of you from anymore agony.]

As Terminus' weapon began to power up with a humming sound, Twice's eyes widen in panic. "Everyone get down!" He quickly grabbed hold of the fallen Spinner and warned everyone. The exact moment when Terminus fired off his electrical weapon, the villains gave one last spurt of energy and vaulted away from the weapon's point of impact.

*KABOOOOM!*

The spot where the villains have been standing erupted into an explosion of dust. Though they have escaped the blast, the shockwave hit the team and sent them crashing into the ground. They rolled across the ground till they stopped at the edge of the mountain forest.

Shigaraki turned his gaze to the living terminator called Terminus and narrowed his eyes.

"We have to retreat," Shigaraki declared gruffly as he hurled Mr Compress up on his feet. "We can't fight him like this."

"We're running!?" Twice looked at his leader in shocked surprise, while holding up a limping Toga. "After what he did to us, we can't just-"

Twice was cut short when Shigaraki gave him a bone-chilling glare which made him shiver involuntarily. "If you want to die now, then go ahead." He snapped. "Those missiles and lasers of his are annoying. We have to use the forest as cover for now!"

"And then what!?"

"We'll figure out something!"

A sudden boom, and the two quarrelling villains saw a metallic figure flew to the air with jet-propelled boots and closed the distance with frightening speed.

"Shit-! Oi Dabi! Give us some cover!" Shigaraki shouted out with a pointed tone.

The wounded [cremation] quirk user was a little ticked off by how his leader was addressing him, but given the gravity of the situation he knew had no choice. "Tsk!" He could only compile.

Dabi stepped forward and waved his arms in a wide arc, swinging his burning arms in a wide arc to create a massive helix of blue flames. With the forest trees for additional fuel, the villain effectively conjured a smokescreen.

Terminus shot out an arm laser to blast a hole through the fire as he flew forward, only to find his vision obscured by a thick black veil of smoke. Clicking his tongue in annoyance, Terminus morphed his arms into two fan vacuums to defog the area. But when the smokescreen was removed, he was surprised to see no signs of the six villains.

He narrowed his eyes and scanned the distance, his scanners picking up six moving heat signatures dashing through the forest ahead. Seeing this, he only laughed and gashed his shark-like teeth in a feral grin.

[Run all you want,] Terminus bellowed to the forest beyond. [But you can't hide from the great Terminus-sama!]

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