Hawks laid against a log, huffing and puffing with his wings impaled through a couple of branches. His costume was torn in multiple places, and blood leaked from a wound on his forehead. He gazed at the destruction before him with wide eyes. Debris from trees and the ground was scattered everywhere and he couldn't see where Pain was. Only the outline of where the Almighty push stopped far in front of him.
He grunted and jerked his wings out of the branches, slowly stumbling to his feet. 'What... the hell was that?! I'm lucky I barely avoided getting impaled! He's never done that before! Can he use that more than once? Where are the others?!' He looked around with gritted teeth and ignored the aches in his bones. 'Damn it, Minato! What's taking you so long to come here?! I gotta get back to everyone else...'
He heard a familiar yelp of pain behind him through the still-standing trees and flew towards it, "Tokoyami?"
He beamed through the trees into another clearing and observed the scene. Blood seeped down Tokoyami's arm, and he stood cautiously against Kabuto, who was hunched over. They both turned to him with opposite expressions, "Hawks!"
Kabuto muttered, "Another distraction." He stared at the two side by side, and an unfamiliar memory flashed through his mind. His eyes narrowed, 'Have I... met these two before?'
Tokoyami asked, "What are you doing here? Weren't you dealing with Pain?"
"Yeah, I got blown all the way over here. But since I'm here now I'll help you finish this guy off, were you able to land 'that'?"
Tokoyami shook his head, "No, it's been rather difficult so far."
"I'll relieve some of the difficulty then. Then we can both go take care of Pain."
"Got it!"
Hawks dashed at Kabuto with a feather sword alongside Dark Shadow's arms and sliced at Kabuto, only for him to liquefy through it and whip around with his stomach snake.
Hawks swept underneath it and cut it off while Dark Shadow swiped at Kabuto again only for him to liquify.
Hawks grunted, "From what Midoriya told us, he's a lot more adept at liquifying than last time. I can see why you've been having trouble so far."
While Tokoyami and Hawks exchanged words, Kabuto had fuzzy images manifesting in the abyss of his lost memories. 'Why are these two so… familiar?' With every clash and word shared the images in his head became clearer.
What were once blurred remnants of the old him, cleared up and came rushing through his mind once again, making him remember everything. Upon this revelation, his eyes widened, and he briefly froze, giving Hawks an opening to cut him diagonally across his torso. 'Now's the moment!' Hawks slipped the syringe Tokoyami gave him out of his sleeve and attempted to stab Kabuto, but at the last second, a white snake pulled Kabuto far back out of Hawk's reach while another lunged at him.
The snake coiled around Hawks's arm and made him drop the syringe, causing a brief panic, but Dark Shadow grabbed it while ripping the snake off at the same time. "Good save, thanks." Hawks narrowed his eyes at the newcomer, and Tokoyami replied.
"Of course, looks like we have someone else to worry about now though..."
The two of them stared at an extremely disheveled Orochimaru standing in front of a slowly healing Kabuto on his knees.
Orochimaru sweated, "Kabuto, looks like... I came just in time..." Orochimaru thought, 'I just barely got here... That was close back there. Now just to deal with these two, I suppose if it doesn't go well, I can just absorb Kabuto and escape this war though.'
Kabuto remained silent on his knees, his hair covered his eyes, and he frowned slowly as he stood up. "Orochimaru..."
Orochimaru frowned and started turning his head, "You mean, MaSTER!!!" Orchimaru lost his breath as energy-scalpel-like fingertips ripped straight through his midsection.
Hawks and Tokoyami looked on with wide eyes, and Kabuto stated, "You're not my master, Orochimaru, never were. That title belongs only to Danzo."
Kabuto placed a hand on Orochimaru's back, and ripped his arm out of him, leaving a puddle of blood before his stomach snake swallowed Orochimaru whole.
Tokoyami clenched his fists, "Looks like he regained his memories…"
Kabuto's hard eyes flashed toward him like daggers, "The ones you caused me to lose, yeah."
Tokoyami briefly flinched before regaining composure. Kabuto looked at the ground and continued in a solemn tone, "With how much time has passed... my master is no longer alive, am I right?"
Hawks hunched his back and his feathers floated around him while an idea popped into his mind, "You'd be correct, but we have plenty of proof about how corrupt and messed up he was. If you really regained your memories, then our interests should be aligned now, don't you think?" Hawks suppressed the upcoming sarcasm that was about to rise in his throat, "Danzo wanted to save this country and do what was best for it. And AFO wants to tear down this country and the rest of the world with it, don't you think he'd want you fighting with us?"
Kabuto's silence stretched on for what felt like an eternity, his expression unreadable as he processed Hawks' words. When he finally spoke, his voice was cold and cut through the wind, "You're right about one thing, Hawks," Kabuto said, slowly raising his head to meet their eyes. "Master Danzo did want to save this country. He understood that sometimes you have to cut away the diseased flesh to save the body."
Hawks felt a sinking sensation as Kabuto continued, "But you heroes, you're the reason he failed. You and your naive ideals about 'saving everyone' and 'doing things the right way.' You brought down the very system that could have prevented this war."
Tokoyami stepped forward slightly. "The HPSC was corrupt—"
"The HPSC was necessary!" Kabuto snapped, an unhinged look appeared in his eyes, "Danzo created order from chaos. He made the hard choices that soft-hearted heroes like you refuse to make. And what happened when you tore it all down? AFO escaped. Shigaraki rose to power. Thousands have died and millions will follow. Danzo would have had AFO put to death right away."
Hawks tried to maintain his diplomatic tone. "We can rebuild something better—"
Kabuto simply laughed in response. "With the same heroes who let society crumble? Don't make me laugh even more... I'm different now. With the power I was given... and having absorbed Orochimaru... I have all of his power and knowledge, too, now. And I intend to make the most of it."
He began to transform, his body took on serpentine qualities as multiple white snakes emerged from his torso. "Master Danzo is gone, yes. But his vision doesn't have to die with him. I can succeed where he failed."
Hawks scoffed while getting in a battle stance, "And how exactly do you plan to do that?"
"By eliminating the weakness that held him back—heroes like you who interfere with necessary actions. I'll kill AFO myself, then reshape Japan into what it should have been. A nation where order comes before sentiment, and where the tough decisions can be made without worrying about interference!" His normal body slowly disappeared as large building-sized snakes ascended from his place into the form of an 8-headed Hydra.
The heads gazes fixed on Tokoyami with particular intensity. "If it's any comfort, this country will be saved, but you two won't be alive to see it. I'll be starting by getting payback for the amnesia you gave me, Tokoyami."
Tokoyami met his glare without fear and Dark Shadow grew larger despite the daylight. And they clashed like true titans, sending shockwaves out that blew the trees while sending tremors through the ground that shook rocks.
They traded blows and the Hydra would bite into multiple parts of Dark Shadow, but Dark Shadow had more raw power and would occasionally tear apart heads.
Hawks could only watch on, rooting for his student. Just when it seemed like Tokoyami was winning, a red dragon emerged from one of the heads and Hawks shouted, "Watch out!"
But the attack was unavoidable and Dark Shadow receded into Tokoyami as White Extreme Attack flashed brightly and disoriented him. Kabuto attempted to swallow Tokoyami, but Hawks saved him and flew a small distance away, "Tokoyami, are you—"
Tokoyami winked at Hawks and he blinked before smirking and flying back to Kabuto to take his attention away.
Kabuto laughed maniacally inside of one of the heads of the Hydra, "A small sword can't do anything to me, Hawks! Soon enough both you and your student will be dead!"
The heads of the Hydra swiped at and tried to swallow Hawks at blinding speeds, but he barely avoided them and tried to fly closer to where Kabuto was. "Just wait until I catch you hiding in there!"
"I'm basically immune to your attacks at this point! I don't even need to liquify!"
Just as he said that, a small arm of Dark Shadow discreetly stabbed the bottom of the Hydra with the syringe, and both Tokoyami and Hawks smiled. Hawks replied, "I might not be able to hurt you, but he can."
Kabuto turned back to where Tokoyami was previously, but he had already disappeared, "Dark Shadow... RAGNAROK!" Dark Shadow charged for Kabuto like a bull seeing red and tore through all of the Hydra's heads while tackling him to the ground.
Kabuto smacked his lips and tried to liquify, but as he did, the water quickly formed into a white solid gel and Kabuto fell out of the Hydra, "What?!"
Before Kabuto could land, Dark Shadow swiped through his waist. Kabuto tried to liquify, but his legs became a solid gel that separated from his body, and Hawks dove for him while he was still falling to the ground and sliced through his arm and the snake he tried to guard with. Hawks thought, 'A loyal idiot to the end. Danzo failed, and his ways will never bring about a bright future in the end! If you can't see that at this point, I won't try to spare you!' Kabuto tried to evade and block, but without being able to liquify or fly, Hawks cut him up piece by piece until slicing his neck and leaving him lifeless on the ground, dissolving into a white mushy gel.
Hawks stared at the gel for a while before he was satisfied and tapped his ear, "Kabuto and Orochimaru are taken care of for good."
Tokoyami stared at the gel with an unreadable expression and Hawks patted his back, "Give Momo my thanks when you can for that Hydrogel Polymer formula. Not sure how we could have kept him down otherwise."
"Yeah..." They both saw a large red flame flare up far off towards the destruction, and Hawks glanced at his half-destroyed wings.
'I'm down half... but I can still fight...' "We gotta go help the others. Pain isn't a villain they'll be able to beat alone." Tokoyami nodded and they both launched off away from Kabuto's dissolved body. One threat was gone, but a much greater one still had to be dealt with.
Similar to Hawks who woke up against a Tree, Nagant was in a similar but ultimately worse position. Far off against a fallen tree, Nagant was awakened from her unconscious state by the sound of static coming from her ear. Her heavy eyes opened and a voice announced, "Reports are coming in from multiple battlefields! Central Hospital has been secured and Hanzo has been neutralized! Kurogiri escaped, but civilian casualties were kept at a minimum thanks to the 1-A Students and heroes!"
Nagant thought, 'Nice to hear that the others are succeeding so far...' She tried to sit up, but quickly gritted her teeth and yelped when she felt a white-hot pain shoot through her torso. She looked down with petrified eyes as a tree branch was impaled through her stomach. 'No no no...' She felt her heart rate and breathing naturally increase, but she quickly tried to control them.
She took deep breaths, the best she could, as the broadcast continued, "The Jaku Hospital Ruins have also been nearly secured with the biggest threats of Kakazu and Orochimaru being dealt with thanks to UA students."
Nagant thought, "Ok... thankfully the branch isn't too big... and it's stopped me from. Bleeding out to death while I was unconscious... but I can't stay like this...'
She looked around, seeing the destruction around her of a large crater and uprooted trees, and then looked back down. 'This could have been a lot worse... but this is still shitty... Jeez, how am I gonna...' She tried to gather her strength and slowly gripped the long branch. She thought about pulling herself off of it, but the branch was too long, and the impact made part of it split off at an odd angle. She tried to remain as still as possible, but the micro-movements caused spikes of pain regardless. Her struggling grunts caused rustling through the foliage around her and she turned her head. A deer ran away with a broken horn and she got an idea in her hazy mind. She broke most of the branch down to her stomach.
"Dabi has also been taken down, and lastly, Kabuto has been taken out near the Gunga Mountain Villa Ruins. Continue the fight, everyone! We will win this war! We're already halfway there!"
Nagant placed her hands on the ground and prepared to try and scoot off the branch, but as soon as she tried to move more than an inch, she shrieked in agonizing pain, and tears involuntarily poured from her eyes. She weakly brushed hair out of her face and thought, 'There's no way I can do this... But... I can't stay like this or else I'll die...'
Her mind raced thinking of potential solutions while more blood started pouring from her stomach, and eventually, a light bulb went off. She looked at her and turned it into a rifle, 'Ok... this should work...'
She felt dizziness set in and her eyes became heavy, but she fought through it and raised her heavy rifle with all of her strength, positioning it behind herself against the fallen tree. This alone caused sharp pain, but she stifled her scream and took a deep breath, 'Do or die...'
The rifle fired and sent her off the branch in an instant, causing her to scream at the top of her lungs. Nearby birds flew high into the sky and she rolled on the ground momentarily while blood flowed freely, but she quickly regained her senses and tore off parts of her vest while leaving bloody prints behind.
Her adrenaline set in, making it easier to use her arms, and she packed the torn clothing into her wounds to stem blood loss. She followed up by taking off her belt and while using more torn cloth, she made a makeshift tourniquet around her midsection and pulled it tightly. Her pain continued, but it was light compared to what she had already experienced.
After the job was done, she rested on a patch of grass and looked up at the sky with her arms spread out while her bleeding slowly came to a halt, staining the packed clothing. As the adrenaline and pain faded, her eyes became heavy again and her body weakened against the soft grass that felt like a bed compared to the rough bark earlier. 'I gotta help but... at least for a little bit... let me rest my eyes…'
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I have returned. Strangely enough for the past 3 years I've struggled to write anything between the months of March and August and have been on hiatuses during that time. Got concerned about the readers interest lately but I'm back now sooner than usual. Let's finish this up.