At Any Cost (Part 6)

The trio landed on the ground, bending their knees in order to absorb the shock. It was a technique they had been forced to learn in order to graduate from their first year at UA. Kirishima instinctively raised his guard up, ready for an ambush. None ever came. The three students were alone in the laboratory. Shoto walked over to the destroyed holding tank. "This must've been where it came from." Chris glanced at the laptop nearby. "Check it out. They had programmed the thing." The three walked over to the computer and saw that the Nomu had been programmed to kill all heroes within its sight and then report back to another location. Shoto began typing on the laptop. Kirishima gave a quizzical look. "What are you doing?" "I really wish Momo was the one doing this, but I'm emailing all of this data to the Endeavor Agency. Maybe we can find out more about the Nomus." "Like what?" Shoto looked frustrated. "How they're made, how many there are, I don't know, ok?! Let me work!" Kirishima put his hands up in the air as he stepped back.

Chris stood in the center of the room and looked around, holding his arm. It was difficult for him to concentrate through the pain, but he knew something was wrong with the laboratory. There was just something off about the whole thing. He closed his eyes. "...how would Jason look at this…?" Chris opened his eyes again. He took another look around. Messy papers. Destroyed cabinets. The laptop still having data on it. Chris turned to his friends. "They weren't prepared for the Nomu to be destroyed as soon as it was. They were forced to vacate quickly, leaving behind all of the data." Kirishima turned to him. "Meaning they couldn't have gotten far. Still, how far away do you think they are?" Tires screeching from the next room made Kirishima and Chris rush through the door. It was locked, but Chris easily kicked it down, turning the metal door into scrap. They rushed into the garage to see a beaten up van attempting a getaway through an underground tunnel. Chris immediately sprinted after it, using 30% of One for All. Shoto rushed in. "What the hell?!" Kirishima ran backwards, shouting at Shoto. "I'll follow him! Tell the others upstairs what happened!" Shoto nodded and ran back inside. She aimed her right hand at the ground and used her ice to boost herself back up the hole.

Chris was catching up to the van. He was about to grab the back door handle when the doors swung open. Dabi raised his hands and blasted Chris. The hero in training fell and tumbled, the top half of his uniform on fire. Dabi smirked as the van continued to drive away, eventually going up a ramp and bursting out onto the surface. Chris slammed his fist on the pavement before getting back up and sprinting with 40% of his power. He sprinted up the ramp and stopped, trying to see where the van went. Chris wouldn't let himself fail now. Jason was so close. Chris saw the van. He raised his hand up, preparing a flick with 45% of One for All. If he missed, Jason might be lost forever. "Delaware Smash!"

The first responders arrived on the scene just as Shoto exited the underground lab. Paramedics rushed to help Fatgum. Tamaki stood up. "Shoto! What ha-" "The villains are on the move!" They both rushed outside. Tamaki sprouted wings and held onto Shoto, flying in the direction she pointed towards. Shoto tried in vain to call Chris and Kirishima. She took a deep breath. Jason had risked everything to save her when the League had captured her. She would make sure she didn't rest until he was safe too.

"There he is!" Momo turned her head towards Mina's shouting. The two girls exited the truck and ran towards the smoking crater. There were two large smoldering masses inside it. They hesitantly made their way towards the larger mass. As they suspected, it was the remains of the Nomu. It was completely torched. Mina took a sigh of relief, relaxing her guard. "I wasn't looking forward to fighting that thing without the others…" Mina knelt down next to Endeavor. She went to take his pulse, but yelped in pain as her fingers made contact with his neck. Endeavor's skin was still hot to the touch. "...I guess the Todorokis have a very high heat tolerance if their skin isn't melting from their own quirk…" Momo tensed up. She thought she had heard something. She very carefully put her ear to Endeavor's mouth, listening. For a scary moment, she thought she had just imagined it. Then she heard Endeavor's shallow breathing. Momo almost shed tears of joy. "He's breathing!" Mina got her phone out and immediately called the emergency number. "Dispatch?! This is Pinky! We need- You probably haven't heard of me because I'm a hero in training! Just shut up and listen! Endeavor is down and we need paramedics here as soon as possible! I'm sending coordinates!" Momo started creating bandages to try and seal Endeavor's wounds.

The shockwave hit. The van swerved and tumbled. It slid to a stop as Chris ran forward. Dabi got out of the back, holding his head. He looked up to see Chris's fist. Before the punch could connect, a powerful jet of water blasted Chris in the chest, sending him flying in the opposite direction. Chris rolled to a stop before managing to raise his head. Another person he had never seen before was getting out of the driver's seat. Dabi stood up, dusting himself off. "Nice shot, Wake." Wake smirked. "This is the other guy Shigaraki doesn't ever shut up about, right?" Dabi ignited his flames. "This is Chris. All for One had taken a heavy interest in him before being sent to prison, so Shigaraki has been trying to figure out what makes him so special." Wake took a few steps forward. "Well, if we're not going to kill the other guy, we might as well kill this one." Dabi grabbed his shoulder. "Careful. This guy is strong. Given the state he's in, it shouldn't be too hard for us to kill him. Just don't let your guard down." Chris stood up, bracing himself for what could very well be his last fight.

Dabi looked past Chris. "...that might be a problem." Wake also looked. "Who the hell is that?" Chris didn't look back, thinking it was a distraction. Then Kirishima ran up and stopped next to him, trying to catch his breath. "...you… are… too… fast…" Chris smirked. "With you here, we might actually win." Dabi ignited his flames. "Enough of this." He blasted the two heroes. When the flames settled, the two villains saw Kirishima had jumped in front of Chris and took the hit. Thanks to his hardened skin, Kirishima was almost completely unphased. Chris leaned around him and fired a shockwave with 80% of One for All at Dabi. It broke his finger, but Dabi turned into dust as a result. Kirishima tensed up. "Did you just kill him?!" "If I did, there would be a corpse. That was just a clone, courtesy of Twice." Wake blasted the two with a powerful stream of water. The two went rolling, too mentally exhausted to focus. Wake smirked. "Well then. I suppose I get to take the brownie points for myself." Another shockwave hit Wake in the back, turning him to dust as well. Chris and Kirishima both looked in shock.

His bottom half still in the van, Jason had crawled out and used what had remained of his strength to destroy the Wake Clone. "...your rescue mission sucked…" Jason passed out. The two guys sighed in relief and struggled to their feet. They limped over and picked up Jason. Tamaki and Shoto landed. Shoto was in tears as she ran over and threw her arms around Jason.

The team was reunited.