Requiem of the Broken

Chapter 68: Thin Line

Ochako's mind had gone completely blank, she just stared at Izuku's limp form in her arms. Dimly she remembered Sasakura saying Izuku had left with the assault teams to apprehend Zeus. She'd actually forgotten that after Yo Shindo had shown up, but then it all clicked in her head. Izuku probably masqueraded as a member of QSU, not exactly hard when he was once with them. Then when she had walked in on Izuku and Bakugo's confrontation in the forest Bakugo had called Izuku, Deku. She hadn't been paying much attention near the end but now it all fit.

Partially coming out of her stupor she realized he was still breathing and felt relief wash over her. The vice clamped around her heart seemed to ease, and she realized that she'd been holding her breath. She let it out and carefully set Izuku down on the ground.

"I'll... admit... you three are fucking monsters." Zeus suddenly said, the exhaustion in his voice evident.

Ochako looked up at him, and pure hate rose within her. She noticed now that Zeus had a long gash along the leg not impaled by a knife and another on his left arm, dripping blood onto the floor. Lighting arced across his right arms and chest but it seemed to have weakened at his legs and she noticed he was no longer hovering just off the floor. 

"But it doesn't change the fact that I'm still stronger." He said, and shot his right arm at Ochako, lighting flying from it.

She sent herself sideways, avoiding the bolt. Zeus meanwhile started moving as well, sending bolts at her. Now that he was free of the lightning rod trap, she had a difficult time closing in on him. Whenever she tried to make an attack he'd send a wall of lightning at her, forcing her to avoid it. Instead, she started throwing debris at him.

The chunks of earth, stone, and whatever else flew at him like bullets and he started intercepting them with thin bolts of lightning that took strange paths through the air, flowing in all sorts of different directions, often striking the large pillars. It was then that Ochako noticed that three of the pillars had been destroyed, all by Bakugo during his final attack. She spared a glance to the ceiling and saw several cracks had formed along it.

Then there was a huge flash of light and a massive bolt shot past her and hit the opposite wall. She focused her attention back on Zeus and saw he was now standing beneath the large opening leading outside. To her alarm lighting traveled down the pathway to Zeus. He caught it with his right hand, forming it into a giant bolt and then throwing it at her. She ducked behind a pillar and the bolt blew it apart, pelting her with rocks and some metal. Then through the shower of debris, a second smaller bolt hit her in the hip and she spasmed, losing control of her ability to fly and she crashed into the floor.

As she shook off the pain and spasms, she saw him about to throw another bolt when something blasted into her and she was sent flying sideways. The bolt slammed into the floor where she had been a moment earlier, which was now glowing orange from the heat. She looked to her side and saw Bakugo, arm extended toward her, smoke trailing from his hand before passing out once more. She focused back on Zeus and blasted herself toward him, she grabbed remnants of the lightning rods that were scattered around and formed a protective orb around her. Zeus fired a large bolt from himself at her, but the lighting traveled to the lightning rod pieces and turned them into slag immediately, which also disrupted her ability to use them. She discarded the slag and tried to slam into him full tilt but he rolled sideways avoiding her.

She came to a stop and spun toward him, closing the distance with a quick burst and sending a kick at him. He blocked it with his right arm and there was a burst of lighting. It hurt like hell, but it wasn't strong enough to penetrate her suit and cause muscle spasms. She kept up the pressure, but the fatigue of all the fighting was getting to her. She could tell she had slowed noticeably, but so had Zeus. There were still on even footing, and for every gravity-fueled strike she threw at him, he retaliated with an equally strong lighting attack.