Welcome to hell.

As we made it to the top of the mountain, a thick grove of trees with two entrances revealed itself.

As we entered, the entrance behind us closed shut.

In the grove's center stood two teams of three each.

Best Jeanist, Death Arms, Kamui and Sir Nighteye's agency minus Bubble Girl.

"Are you sure about this?" Shoto asked.

"Sure as we can be." Aizawa-sensei replied, turning to Best Jeanist.

"What's the plan?"

Best Jeanist gazed out at the remaining entrance, leading off a cliif face.

"I'll zipline you all to the post office, west of their headquarters. From there, me, Death Arms and Kamui will jump back into the fray, causing a distraction.

While we draw his attention to us, the rest of you take detour across the hospital and capture Shigaraki."

"Capture? I thought the HPSC wanted him dead?" Shoto asked.

"Yes. But we want to end this war with the least amount of casualties. If the HPSC wants him dead, they can do it themselves!" Nighteye replied.

"Yes. We're heroes, not assassins!" Mirio added.

"I suppose it would be an easier victory with their leader held hostage." I said, taking a back seat in the conflict.

Not because I wasn't prepared for it but rather, because something curious had appeared on the battlefield.

Something I had specifically ordered Hijikata to bring into being.

A rippling wave of monochrome light burst through the thick canopy as the sky began to lose its blue, quite literally, draining in color.

The ground beneath our feet shuddered as an earthquake shattered it, cracks ripping through it like a tom and jerry cartoon.

"No time to talk this out! Go, go, go!" Nighteye shouted, as we ziplined down the mountain.

As the lush, forested mountain left our view, a horrid sight emerged upon the battlefield.

Fields of charred black craters enveloped in overlapping monochrome bubbles of decay littlered across the battlefield, decimating the forces of both factions, indiscriminately.

Multiple Shigarakis floated in the air at the center of each bubble, lightning crackling above their heads in the overcast stormy skies, looking like proper demon lords.

The heroes made a desperate retreat, even as their bodies began to fall apart like cucumbers in an extra pickle burger, skewered through, by exploding, meter-long rivets, dotting the land in a Vlad Tepes style impaling.

A literal hell of place and a hell of a time for all involved, as blood and guts caked the streets.

The city looked more like a vore fetishist's wet dream than a place of human civilization.

To their credit some heroes did fight back, only to get shot down by the constant lightning showers within the bubbles, like one of those plasma globes in a science fair, only far deadlier in the hands of deranged maniac like Shigaraki.

Just as planned.

Thousands perished within seconds, and tens of thousand more were well on their way, as bitter screams and wails rang out across the city.

Shoto looked on in horror while Deku puked his guts out, sans the rainbow.

"It's All For One." I said, "He's the only one who'd think of such a thing!"

"What matters here is, which one of them is the real one?" Sir Nighteye asked.

"In all honesty, sir, they are all real. At least for our pratical purposes. Even if most of them are clones and can be killed with a punch to the gut, who is going to do that? They are in bubble of decay. We'll die before we reach him.

Even if Eraserhead stops one of their quirks, I can see at least 8 others who'd seize the opportunity to kill us all." I explained.

"Fuck!" Deku cried, kicking the trash can.

"How can we even hope to win against a monster like that? Did you know he could do this? Did you?!" Death Arms asked Sir Nighteye, shaking him.

"No. This...this wasn't in the documents." He sputtered, awestruck.

"We're all going to die....hahhahhehahhahahahahahaha! We are all going to die here!" Kamui laughed, clutching his head, driven mad by the sight.

"We need to go. We can still get away if we go now. They haven't spotted us. We can make a move on them later, when they're done fighting here. Yes, that's why, we have to escape! We have to escape...we have to..Sir!"

Centipeder advised, shaking in fear.

I wiped the sweat off my forehead, the heat of the constant lightning, raising the temperature in the vicinity to midsummer levels in the first week of winter borne december.

"Sir, I might have a way." I said.

"A way?" Sir Nighteye asked looking at me.

"It's going to be dangerous, but we just might make it." I replied.

"Just might? Are you delusional? There's no way we can win against....that!" Kamui shouted.

Slap!

Best Jeanist slapped Death Arms and Kamui with his fiber covered hands.

"Get yourself together! You two are heroes! Act like it!" Best Jeanist screamed in their face.

"Now, Haru-kun, speak!"

"We will need to be very careful about this. If they aren't dealt with all at once, we're going to be screwed, and not just figuratively.

But I have a plan, that, if we are able to exploit, we'll be able to deal with them." I said, turning to the battlefield,

"See those two by the edge there?"

I pointed the ones closest to us, guarding the gate of the enemy base.

"They have overlapping decay bubbles, which means their reach is the lowest. They are also the farthest from any other Shigarakis. They're probably here to guard the headquarters.

We'll start with them. Aizawa-sensei will shut off the quirk of the one on the right, while I hold back the one on the left.

Once the first one falls to its death, we do the same to the second one. Then we mover counter clockwise and deal with the next three in the middle, before retreating."

Aizawa-sensei nodded as I continued.

"Meanwhile, I'll need Kamui and Best Jeanist to distract the other two of the three adjacent ones, while Deku and Shoto deal with them."

"Alright." Best Jeanist replied.

"I understand." Said Shoto as he began to mentally chart his route to the assignment.

"Unfortunately, Mirio and will have to deal with the remaining two, near the vanguard. Among us, you're the onky one who can reach them without recourse."

"The last of the Shigarakis, the one at the front of the line, is busy dealing with the military and won't move for another three minutes at least.

So that's how long we have to deal with the other seven. So we need to decide right now, do we go ahead with my plan or do we escale as Centipeder suggested? Because he is right.

Even under the best circumstances, Best Jeanist and Kamui, the two of you won't survive this encounter.

And I know it's too much to ask, but to save the lives of those who depend on you, those who look up to you as their heroes, their saviors, please, and....sorry! But please, remember.

Remember why you became heroes? What is it that heroes do? Kamui?" I said, looking him in the eyes, resolute.

Kamui looked at me, his eyes clear of the fear that had gripped him just moments earlier, gripping his fist tight.

"I...I was ...I'm sorry for earlier. It's just, it was overwhelming. Seeing that stuff.

But you're right. This is why I became a hero. I'll do it!" He said, biting his lip, as he shook ever so gently.

Brave man.

If I was in his place, I would've run. Run like hell and never returned.

Kamui was, no, is a better man than I'll ever be.

But good men don't make good survivors, heroes even less so.

"Let's go."

Sir Nighteye said, patting my shoulder.

"Yes sir!"

"And one last thing." I said, "If the Shigaraki you are fighting doesn't go down in a single punch, run! It'll be the real one. Run far and run wide. Lead that one away from the army.

If he's far enough, Twice won't be able to get to him, which means no more clones!"

"Is that all?" Deku asked.

"Yes. Let's get moving. Time's running out." I replied, as we rappeled down the side of the slop leading to the headquarters of the PLF, under Jaku hospital.

Everyone went their separate ways

"Sensei!" I whispered, "That one!"

Aizawa-sensei focused on one of the Shigarakis and undid his quirk, Air Walk, causing him to plummet to the ground, as I bound the other with Immobilization Eye.

Sir Nighteye, on the other hand, chucked a handful of darts at the bound clone, distracting it, as it disintegrated the darts, and the skin off of Sir Nighteye's hands, only to hear a wet thud just as his powers stopped working.

Another round of darts hit him, this time in the eyes, as he met the same fate as the other, both turning into a black goo.

"That was ...easy? Too easy in fact!" Aizawa-sensei commented.

"Lets not look a gift horse in the mouth sensei. We should go and help with the others." I said, shifting the weight of the matter.

Aizawa-sensei looked at me suspiciously, as Nighteye wrapped his decayed arm in gauze, tying up a tight knot, blood beginning to soak up in it.

"You do know where that saying comes from, don't you?" He asked.

"Will you two focus on the mission? Let's see if we can help the others!" Sir Nighteye shouted.

"Yeah yeah, I know." I told Aizawa-sensei, before turning to Sir Nighteye, "Let's go!"

"Of course." He said, looking back at the puddles with frowned brows, before following us.

How was it this easy though?

Well, here's a secret. I did it.

Crushing their internal organs, as soon as Aizawa-sensei shut off their quirks, they were dead even before they hit the ground.

But this was too fast.

At this rate, we'll be done with them in no time.

And that's no bueno! The heroes need to lose this war, after all.

Or at least until I can get my one-on-one with Shigaraki.

The real one at least.

And so, finally, to sabotage this effort, I cast a bolt of force across the battlefield, straight towards the true Shigaraki at the helm of the vanguard.

"Ghakh!" he cried, faltering mid air, as a welt rose up on his back.

He turned, and saw the two bubbles by the headquarters gone, just as Mirio dealt a death blow to the one nearest to him.

"Noooooo!" he screamed.