Chapter 62: Ash and Ice: The Unmasking
[The Ruined Warehouse - The Forced Departure]
The battlefield was a chaotic storm of groaning steel and settling dust.
"You are in the way," All For One stated calmly, his voice echoing with an authority that brooked no argument. He glanced at the struggling League members. "Tomura, you must leave. You cannot grow if you perish here today."
"NO!"
Shigaraki screamed, a sound tearing from his throat that was less like a villain and more like a terrified child watching his father die. He clawed at the ground, his red eyes wide with panic as he looked at his master's damaged suit and the two powerful heroes standing against him.
"Teacher! Your body... you're hurt!" Shigaraki's voice cracked desperately. He tried to crawl towards All For One, ignoring the chaos around him. "I won't leave you behind! I can still fight! I can decay them! Please, Sensei! Let me stay!"
All For One ignored the plea. His fingers twitched, activating a stolen quirk.
"Forced Activation: Magnetism."
The air warped. Suddenly, the bodies of the League members were enveloped in a repulsive pink force. They were yanked violently off their feet, flying backward toward the swirling black sludge portal that Kurogiri—unconscious but manipulated like a puppet—had opened in the distance.
"You're not escaping!" Aokiji roared.
Ignoring the screaming pain in his burned left arm and the numbness in his legs, Aokiji stomped his right foot onto the shattered concrete.
"Ice Block: Pheasant Peck!"
A massive, jagged wave of ice surged across the ground, rising up and taking the form of a giant bird's beak. It lunged with terrifying speed, aiming to snap Shigaraki out of the air and pin him to the earth before he could vanish.
"Not today, Ice Prince."
Dabi, who was being pulled backward by the magnetism, twisted his body in mid-air with surprising grace. He smirked, the staples on his face stretching with the movement.
FOOSH!
A concentrated lance of blue fire shot from Dabi's palm. It slammed into the ice beak, shattering it into steaming slush instantly.
As Shigaraki was sucked into the void of the portal, he locked eyes with Aokiji one last time. There was no madness in his gaze now, only a cold, crystallized promise of violence.
"Kuzan..." Shigaraki hissed, his hand reaching out as if to crush Aokiji's skull from a distance. "Next time we meet... I will crumble you into dust so fine that not even the wind will find you."
Vorp.
The portal swallowed them. The villains were gone.
Now, only the three titans remained in the ruined district.
[The Aerial Duel]
All For One did not wait. He levitated higher, ascending into the night sky until he looked down upon the two heroes like a dark emperor surveying his domain.
"What a wretched decision you have made, Kuzan," All For One spoke, his voice amplified by the quiet night air, dripping with disappointment. "You could have walked away. You could have saved your sister the grief of a funeral. But now... you have chosen to burn alongside the dying embers of this society."
Aokiji spat a mouthful of bloody saliva onto the concrete. He stood next to All Might, his breath visible in the cold air. His body was screaming, but his eyes were sharp.
"All Might," Aokiji panted, not taking his eyes off the sky. "Can you keep up with my speed?"
All Might grinned, wiping a streak of blood from his chin. His blue eyes shone with a ferocious, indomitable spirit. "I should be asking you that, Young Kuzan! Let's go!"
Aokiji dropped low. He didn't run; his legs were too damaged to sprint. Instead, he summoned a thick layer of ultra-smooth ice beneath his boots.
"Ice Track: Bobsled!"
Aokiji threw his hands forward. A massive, curving ramp of ice shot upward, spiraling around the floating King of Villains like a frozen roller coaster.
"GO!" Aokiji shouted.
All Might jumped onto the ice track. Using his immense leg strength, he skated along the ice at supersonic speeds. The friction was zero; the speed was absolute. He became a blur of yellow and blue, closing the distance to the villain in a heartbeat.
All For One fired a barrage of "Air Cannons" at the track, shattering sections of it into glittering dust.
"Too slow!" All Might roared, leaping over the broken sections, defying gravity.
Simultaneously, Aokiji launched himself into the air from a pillar of ice. He swung his good arm, creating a formation of weapons.
"Ice Spears: Partisan Shower!"
Fifty razor-sharp spears of dense ice materialized around All For One, converging on him from all directions like a cage of teeth.
All For One scoffed. "Pointless tricks."
He expanded an omni-directional shockwave, intending to shatter the spears before they touched him.
SNAP.
Aokiji snapped his fingers just as the shockwave hit.
The spears didn't just break; they detonated.
Inside each spear was highly pressurized liquid nitrogen. When they broke, they exploded into a massive, blinding cloud of super-cooled white fog.
"What?" All For One paused.
His vision was completely obscured. His thermal sensors were blinded by the sudden, extreme drop in temperature. He was trapped in a white void.
"NOW, ALL MIGHT!" Aokiji screamed as he fell back toward the earth.
From the white mist, a fist appeared.
"Detroit... SMASH!!"
All Might, guided by Aokiji's signal and hidden by the fog, slammed a downward punch directly into All For One's mask.
KA-BOOOOOOM!
The Villain was swatted out of the sky like a fly. He crashed into the ruins below with enough force to create a crater, sending a shockwave of dust and debris rolling through the district.
[The Safe Zone - The Giant Screens]
Miles away, at the train station where the fleeing students had landed, a massive crowd had gathered around the outdoor screens.
Bakugo, Kirishima, Midoriya, Yaoyorozu, and Iida watched in stunned silence, their hearts in their throats.
The news helicopter cameras zoomed in on the battlefield. The image was shaky but clear. They saw the spiraling ice ramp glinting in the moonlight. They saw the explosion of white mist. They saw Aokiji, battered and burned, fighting in perfect synergy with the Symbol of Peace.
"Look at him..." Kirishima whispered, clutching his chest, tears in his eyes. "He's hurt bad... look at his arm... but he's keeping up. He's actually supporting All Might!"
"He's creating openings," Midoriya muttered, his eyes glued to the screen, analyzing every micro-movement. "Aokiji knows he can't damage All For One directly with his current power level, so he's using his ice to control the environment and blind the enemy sensors. He's... he's fighting like a true Pro."
Bakugo stared at the screen, his fists trembling at his sides.
Don't die on me now, Ice Block. You stood your ground... now finish it.
The crowd around them cheered wildly.
"Who is that kid?"
"Is that the U.A. student?"
"He's amazing! Get him, All Might!"
Hope was rising. It looked like they were winning.
[The Cruel Turn]
Back in the ruins, Aokiji landed roughly, sliding on his knees to a halt. He clutched his burned arm, gasping for air. His vision swam. That combo... took everything I had...
All Might landed beside him, breathing heavily. Steam poured from his body. His time limit was seconds away.
"Stay back now, Kuzan," All Might warned, sensing the shift in the air. "He is not done."
From the crater, All For One rose.
His suit was torn. His mask was cracked, revealing grotesque scar tissue underneath. But he was laughing. A low, terrifying sound.
"Excellent," All For One dusted himself off. "Truly excellent. You two make a fine pair. But..."
He turned his head sharply. His sensory quirks picked up a faint heartbeat beneath a pile of collapsed concrete nearby.
"I am bored of this game."
All For One raised his hand.
Not at All Might. Not at Aokiji.
But at the pile of rubble where a civilian woman was trapped, too terrified to even scream.
Aokiji saw the direction of the hand. His eyes widened in horror.
A civilian? Here?! Trapped under the debris?!
"NO!" Aokiji screamed.
He tried to move. He tried to summon a wall. But his quirk sputtered. His "Awakening" earlier and the massive attacks had drained his reserves. His legs felt like lead. He was too slow.
"Air Cannon: Maximum Output."
All For One fired a blast of devastating power directly at the helpless woman.
"You heroes..." All For One sneered as the beam left his hand. "...have so much to protect."
[The Unmasking]
It happened in a fraction of a second.
Aokiji watched, helpless, as a golden blur moved past him.
All Might didn't attack. He didn't try to deflect the blast.
He threw his body directly into the path of the beam. He became the shield.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
The explosion engulfed All Might completely. The light was blinding. The sound was deafening.
"ALL MIGHT!" Aokiji screamed, shielding his face from the searing wind.
The dust cloud hung in the air for what felt like an eternity. The entire world—the students watching the screens, the news reporters, Aokiji standing in the rubble—held its breath.
Slowly, the dust began to clear.
Standing in the crater, protecting the sobbing woman behind him, was the hero.
But the Golden Age costume was hanging loosely.
The muscles were gone.
The towering height was gone.
The smile was gone.
Standing there was a skeletal, emaciated man with sunken eyes and spindly limbs. He was coughing blood, his body trembling from the effort of simply standing up against the wind. Steam hissed from his frail shoulders as the last vestiges of One For All flickered.
The silence that followed was heavier than any gravity.
On the giant screens in the city, the image was broadcast live to millions.
"Huh?"
"Who... is that?"
"Where is All Might?"
"That skeleton... is wearing All Might's clothes..."
The realization hit the world like a physical blow. The pillar was crumbling before their eyes.
Aokiji stood ten meters away. He stared at the back of his teacher. The secret they had guarded so carefully... the secret of the Number One Hero... was now naked before the world.
"Oh no..." Aokiji whispered, his voice shaking with grief.
All For One floated above the devastation, clapping his hands slowly.
"Bravo," the villain mocked, his voice echoing cruelly across the silent battlefield. "Look at him, world. Look at your Symbol of Peace. Just a pathetic, dying old man clinging to a fading dream. This is the reality you worship."
The despair washed over the city. Cries of denial erupted from the crowds. People fell to their knees.
All Might's legs shook. He looked ready to collapse. The flame was flickering out.
But then...
A sound.
The scrape of a boot on gravel.
Aokiji Kuzan, bleeding, burned, and exhausted, dragged his body forward. He crawled until he was beside the trembling skeleton. He grabbed a piece of debris to pull himself up, standing shakily beside his mentor.
Aokiji didn't step in front of him. He didn't try to be the hero.
He simply placed a supportive hand on All Might's frail back.
"They are watching, Sensei," Aokiji whispered, his voice thick with emotion. "Everyone is watching."
All Might heard him. He looked down at his own skeletal hands, then up at the floating villain. He felt the trembling hand of his student on his back—a student who had fought through fire and ice to be here.
A spark ignited in the skeleton's sunken eyes.
It wasn't physical power. It was something deeper.
All Might straightened his back. He wiped the blood from his mouth.
He didn't transform. He couldn't.
But he raised his fist anyway.
"I will not yield..." All Might's voice was raspy, but it carried the weight of a mountain. "My body may rot... my quirk may fade..."
He glared at All For One with such intensity that the villain actually paused.
"...But my spirit is STILL HERE!"
Aokiji summoned the last of his strength to encase his own arm in ice, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the skeleton.
The world watched in awe. A dying legend and a broken child, standing against the apocalypse.
.
.