Rejected Stones

Blackest Night

Beta'd by Poliamida and kylekatarn77

66. Blackest Night

While horse and hero fell.

They that had fought so well

Came through the jaws of Death,

Back from the mouth of hell

-The Charge of the Light Brigade, Lord Tennyson

No one pursued Izuku and the others up the slopes as they fell back, carrying their wounded as best they could. Looking back, Izuku saw smoke and flames engulfing Deika city. He felt sick, knowing they had left Iida and so many others behind. But he had no time for the dead, only for the living, and those he might yet save. Izuku soared ahead of the others, flying desperately to where he prayed Mei was.

As he drew closer to the clearing, he saw more fire and destruction. Several of the vehicles they had arrived in were in flames, some on their sides, others had been tossed about like toys. There were bodies everywhere, some crushed beyond recognition, others lying in crumpled heaps like broken dolls. He desperately wanted to land and look for Mei, but he forced himself to fly on to where the battle still raged.

A trail of destruction ran away from the ruined convoy, to where death still stalked the hills. Several dozen MLA soldiers were attacking a lone figure that stood at the entrance to a small box canyon, fighting them off. They rushed him in threes and fours, others firing ranged quirks at him. Nothing seemed to land home though, the figure popping into the ground and out again, but always coming back to bar their entrance to the canyon. Occasional spurts of flame licked out at anyone who drew too near the entrance aside from Togata, and Izuku could see a pink haired figure crouched behind a bolder.

No time to think. Izuku slammed down on top of three of the emitters attacking Togata, then fired his grapple through another soldier and into a tree, using it to yank himself forward and bowling down another group. Seeing another hero arrive, the remaining MLA soldiers finally broke and tried to run. Neither Izuku nor Togata let them go. They quickly hunted down the remaining few, breaking bones, heads, and leaving nothing but bloodied wrecks behind.

"Mei, is she alright?" Izuku panted as soon as the last of them were down.

Togata could only nod, gasping for breath. He waved towards the canyon, and Izuku ran forward.

"Izuku!" Mei popped out from behind the boulder, her flamethrower in her hands. Hari slowly stood beside her, holding a large wrench. It had blood and hair caked on the end. Apparently, things had gotten too close for comfort. "Izuku! You are alright! Our baby, it is hurt but ok! Where are our friends? Are they alright?"

"They're coming," Izuku said, kneeling and hugging Mei gently. He didn't get out of the Ultra Armor-there could still be enemies about. "Mandalay, Nezu, are they-?"

"Mandalay's hurt, bad. They targeted her first, and she tried to save us," Hari said grimly. "Nezu and Recovery Girl are with her, trying to keep Mandalay alive. But if Mirio hadn't come when he did...he arrived just in the nick of time."

"That's good," Izuku said. He picked up Mei and Hari. "Togata, get the others! We need to find working vehicles and get out of here!"

"What about Endeavor, the others?" Togata gasped, jogging up. His costume was shredded, covered in blood and gore. At least some of it was Togata's own. Izuku could see plenty of wounds on him, and even though most seemed to be superficial, that many had to be dangerous.

"They're coming. Those that are left," Izuku told him grimly. "We need to get out of here. I killed Re-Destro, but the MLA has thousands of troops left. We fight them now and they'll overrun us with sheer numbers."