Despair (Part 4)

Chris, using his super hearing and what was left of his strength, ran to catch up to Jason. His quirkless friend hadn't gone too far away, but Chris was running on fumes. He could barely run. The only thing keeping him from passing out was the pain Muscular had inflicted upon him. He finally caught up to his best friend. "Jason!" Jason stopped and turned. "Holy fuck! Are you alright?!" Chris nodded, wincing in pain as he came to a stop. As soon as he stopped he fell to his knees. Jason took a knee, making sure his friend didn't fall over. "Christ, man. You look terrible." "...I feel terrible too…" Jason pointed in the direction of the cabin. "Go back and wait for the paramedics to get here. I'll go get Shoto." "...No…" "Dude, you are in no condition to keep going." Chris tried to stand up. "...I'm not… done yet…" He looked up at his friend. "...I can keep going…" Jason stood up with Chris. After a few seconds, he began smiling. "Alright!" Jason picked up Chris with the fireman's carry. "We'll save her together! Nobody left behind!" Chris pointed off to the right with his non-broken hand. "...I hear her that way…" Jason nodded. "Alright. You rest up. Oh, and I apologize in advance for the bumpy ride." Jason began running, carrying his friend through the burning forest.

Shoto dove to the side. A giant blade came down, striking the earth where she had once stood. She looked up to see three more blades coming down at her. Tokoyami's Dark Shadow reached out and caught the blades. Shoto nodded to Tokoyami before diving to the side again. The villain that had ambushed them was wielding a quirk that turned his teeth into infinitely growing blades. Shoto created an ice wall to protect herself. She needed a breather. She and Tokoyami had been in nonstop combat for an hour now. They had tried running, but this villain was much faster, using his blades to move around very quickly. Shoto tensed up as the blades dug into her ice wall. She quickly sprinted away from her make-shift cover as the barrage of blades finally shattered the ice. Shoto raised her hand and fired off a large fireball. It hit the villain directly. Tokoyami and Dark Shadow both looked up. The smoke of the attack slowly began to dissipate. "...More… food…" The blades shot out of the smoke at Tokoyami and Shoto. "More food!" Both students moved out of the way. One of the blades sliced across Shoto's arm. She held the wound and dove to dodge yet another blade. The villain was terrifying. He was unstoppable, quick, immune to everything the two students could throw at it, and was out to kill them both. Even his getup intimidated her. His black straight jacket restraining his arms was something she would have nightmares about. She felt her skin crawl just looking at the freak. The villain swung in the air. "Food!" Dark Shadow, with great struggle, caught the blades. Shoto couldn't move. She was gripped with fear. She had no idea why she was so terrified. She had fought the hero killer without any of these problems. She couldn't understand how this was any different.

"Fight for Jason." Shoto tensed up and looked at Tokoyami. "...What…?" The bird hero was struggling with Dark Shadow to hold back the blades. "You're scared. You need to focus on something other than fear." He dodged another blade that had come in from the side. "So fight for something you care about. Fight for Jason." Shoto processed what he had told her. She thought back to the USJ attack, when she watched Jason charge forward to fight even after watching All Might fall to the Nomu. She remembered their battle against Stain, when he refused to back down. Then she realized it. She wasn't fighting for herself. She had never fought for herself. As a kid, she would fight her father to make sure her older siblings wouldn't be in the line of fire. Then, as she grew older, she fought for her mother, wrongfully locked away in a hospital by Endeavor. Now she realized it. Shoto created an ice wall to protect Tokoyami from a lethal blade strike. "...I'll fight…" She turned on her fire as the monstrous villain faced her. "...And I'll keep fighting…" She unleashed the largest fireball she had ever created. "...So I can see him again!" The villain took the full force of the blast, which melted through his teeth. He fell. Dark Shadow and Tokoyami jumped at the opening. Dark Shadow reached out, grabbed the villain, and slammed him into the ground. Shoto rushed forward and placed her right hand on the villain. "Flash Freeze!" The villain became completely encased in ice. They had faced death in the face and won.

Shoto and Tokoyami turned to the sound of exhausted breathing. Jason had just run into view, carrying an even more exhausted and broken Chris. Dark Shadow took Chris from Jason, easily holding him upright with giant arms. Jason smiled at Shoto. "...You're ok…" Shoto looked behind her at the frozen villain before looking back at Jason. "Yep." Tokoyami nodded. "She fought courageously." Jason pointed to Chris. "So did he." Shoto got a good look at Chris. "What the hell happened to him?" Jason turned away. "I'll explain on the way. But right now, we need to get you to safety."

They all began speed walking back to the cabin. The fire hadn't reached where they were yet. Shoto and Tokoyami were both petrified by what Jason had told them. Jason kept going. "So to sum it all up, a team of villains are out here under orders from the guy behind the USJ attack, they're here for you, and two pro heroes are down. Did I miss anything?" Chris weakly spoke up. "...Fire…" "Oh yea. A villain set the forest on fire, so we'll need to be careful when we get closer to the camp." Shoto just stared at the ground. "...All of this is happening because of me…" Jason looked over at her. "Have you made any enemies recently?" Shoto shook her head. "I can't think of anything. Except for Chris because of me beating him in the Sports Festival." Chris weakly raised his fist in the air. "...It was me… I'm behind everything… Surrender yourself to the supreme Impact…" His arm fell down to his side as Jason laughed. Then he went back to thinking. "Well, your father is the Number Two Hero. Maybe someone expects a hefty ransom. Or maybe they just have it out for him." Shoto rolled her eyes. "Wonderful. Getting brought into my father's world. My worst nightmare." Jason smirked. Then they heard a laugh from above them. They all looked up to see a man in a tan trench coat and a black top hat looking down at them. He had a white mask with black markings all over it. "You all are exceptionally tough, to take out two of our strongest fighters. The pros haven't even taken out Magne and Spinner, but here you four are, taking on Muscular and Moonfish like they were nothing." He put his cane on his elbow to free his hands for an applause. "Truly, you all are worthy to be students of UA University." Jason and Tokoyami put themselves in between him and Shoto. Jason was exceptionally defensive. "You won't get her." The man picked his cane back up. "I suppose you all believe me to be a fool, thinking I could defeat you all. One of you beat Muscular for crying out loud, and even Moonfish is down. But there is a difference between me and them." He held his hand out towards them. "They were just here to look for a fight. I, on the other hand…" He flipped his hand. Now he was holding a tiny blue ball, smaller than a fingernail. "...Know how to get the job done…" He put the ball in his pocket and tipped his hat to the group. "Farewell, heroes in training! Look in the papers for Mr. Compress!" He began running across the branches. Tokoyami lowered his guard. "An interesting soul, to say the least." Jason turned and froze. He looked around in a panic. "Where's Shoto?!" Chris lit up. "That ball… Dammit! He compressed Shoto and took off with her!" The three heroes sprinted after the villain.

The group found a clearing. Dabi, Twice, Mr. Compress, and the Nomu were all there. Jason froze. "Shit!" Dabi looked over. "You were followed, Compress." He released a large blast of blue flames. Dark Shadow dropped Chris and took the full force of the attack. "Ah!" Tokoyami was worried about his counterpart. "Dark Shadow! Are you alright?!" "...I'm good, boss…" Chris weakly rose to his feet. Jason supported him. "You sure you're up for this?" Chris forced a smile through the pain. "...Always…" Jason nodded. "Alright. Stay in the back." Chris focused One for All through his uninjured hand, ready to fire off small shockwaves with what strength he had left. Tokoyami and Jason charged forward. Dabi readied another ball of fire, but Chris hit him with a shockwave. It was just enough for Dark Shadow to grab his arms and toss him to the side. Jason rolled. Twice threw a punch, but was no match for the experienced martial artist. Jason slammed his elbow into Twice's gut and threw him over his shoulder. Then he turned to face Mr. Compress. The villain tried to step backwards, but Jason grabbed his coat and tore it off. The fledgling hero rolled backwards and pulled the blue ball out of the jacket pocket. "Got her back!" Tokoyami retreated as well. The three villains regrouped. Dabi waved his hand. The Nomu moved to protect them from Chris's shockwaves. Mr. Compress smiled as he waved his hand. The blue ball in Jason's hand vanished, revealing a large stick. "If a magician has something in his pockets…" He took his mask off and stuck out his tongue, revealing another blue ball. "...It's because he has something he doesn't want you to see."

More villains arrived. The magnet guy and lizard swordsman, Magne and Spinner, presumably, arrived, exhausted from running. The lizard looked up. "We don't have long until the pros catch up to us!" A blonde woman dressed in a schoolgirl outfit skipped through the woods. "I made it!" Magne looked at her. "Toga! Glad to see you here!" The blonde hugged the guy. "Magne!" A purple portal opened up, presumably created by Kurogiri: the villain who was with Shigaraki at the USJ attack. Dabi looked back at the crew. "We're missing three. Where are they?" Toga, still smiling with a creepy smile, shrugged. "Mustard got taken out by some students." Spinner scoffed. "His poison gas didn't help at all." Mr. Compress pointed to Jason, Chris, and Tokoyami. "They took out Muscular and Moonfish." Dabi didn't seem to care as he waved everyone through the portal. They all walked through except for Dabi and Mr. Compress. The magician handed the blue ball to Dabi before walking through. The burned up villain smiled at the group. "You all did your best, but you just aren't ready to be heroes yet." Jason charged forward. Chris reached out to him. "Jason, don't!" Dabi let go of the ball. It vanished as Shoto reappeared. Jason dove, reaching his hand out to her. "Shoto!" The young woman's confusion was quickly replaced by complete panic. Dabi went to grab her, but Shoto sprinted forward, reaching out for him. "Jason!" The two were within inches of grabbing each other. Then Shigaraki came through the portal and grabbed Shoto by the neck, throwing her through. Shigaraki and Dabi nodded to each other before going through. Jason rolled and dove again, trying to get through the portal. The portal vanished as quickly as it had come.

Jason fell, not bothering to roll this time. He was now on his knees. Chris fell as well. "...We… We lost…?" Tokoyami closed his eyes as Dark Shadow retreated inside him. "...Dark days ahead…" Jason slammed his fist into the ground, cracking the rock. Tears flowed from his eyes like rivers. He tried to stand up, but fell back down to his knees. He felt sick. No. He felt like his heart had been ripped out. He looked up. Nothing could satisfy this amount of pain. All he could do was scream into the night sky.