Top pic credit: Roro Kona

Ari POV:

"Tokoyami, take Hawks and Sammy. I'll give you the time you need to get out of here." I commanded firmly, watching Touya's stitched mouth curl up into a feral grin upon hearing my words.

Bird boy jr. immediately whipped his eyes at me like I was insane, trailing his gaze down my incredibly beaten body in pure disbelief.

"B-But, Hourglass-you're....you're bleeding...and burning....and shaking...and-"

"It doesn't matter. The longer this fight goes on, the less of a chance we're going to have of escaping. It's already gone on long enough. This will be the only chance you'll have of getting out of here, and Hawks is in dire need of medical treatment for those burns. I'll meet up with you guys, once I finish this." I explained in monotone, keeping my eyes glued to Touya, and Diane's rising figure in my peripheral vision.

Tokoyami opened his mouth to respectfully protest, quickly losing his train of thought when a crumbling brick from the wall came crashing down directly next to him.

Dark Shadow was the one to step in this time, sniffling softly in sadness as it held onto Keigo's broken body securely.

"I-It's true, Tokoyami. I'm looking at Hawks' back now-and....t-there's nothing left!!" The creature cried out in alarm, yet Keigo didn't even blink an eye to that statement, anymore....keeping his hazy gaze locked on me as he forced himself to speak coherently.

"Ari....s...stop acting stupid. You know you can't handle anymore-" He started saying, unable to even finish his sentence as a giant crash was heard from next to our group.

The sweltering ball of blue flames crashed into the wall directly next to us, shaking the entirety of the room, and even causing a lethal hole to form in that area of the floor now.

It was a hole that would fatally drop someone down countless, floor levels, if they accidentally fell through it.

Giving my injured hands a quick flex, I turned my attention away from Keigo, forcing my quirk to activate as Touya sent another flame towards our group.

My eyes widened in the utter searing pain that shot through my body from massive quirk overuse, yet all I could do was groan in frustration as I forced myself to press on.

"Yeah, well. Until you can stand up straight and stop me yourself, it doesn't look like you have a choice, birdie. Not to mention, there are now two kids in danger up here. They need our help. That's what you gotta focus on for now. It's not about you or I, anymore." I uttered to Keigo, ignoring the pain in my arms as I froze the wall of flames, mid air.

Keigo opened his mouth with more protests, but never got a chance to speak as I turned my attention back to a frozen-in-fear Tokoyami with a bit of a harsher tone to get him moving.

"Get out of here now, Tokoyami!! Take them already! I won't ask you again!!" I yelled out firmly, hearing another sizzling flame coming from our side, making me realize that Touya had switched positions in order to get an attack on Keigo.

"Shit-everyone, move!!!" I screamed out to my trio, quickly kicking Sammy in the back to force him out of the way of the flames, since I knew he wouldn't be fast enough.

Having a bit more experience as a real student hero, Tokoyami was able to grab Hawks in his arms, diving to the side as he barely missed Touya's flames.

With no one to char, Touya's flames slammed harshly into the railing of the balcony. The blue heat began to melt the railings that the giant chandelier had been leaning against-the chandelier that almost crushed me a few minutes ago, until Keigo had saved me.

I pressed my lips together at the sight of the melting balcony, realizing that once the railings had melted all together, the chandelier would most likely slide off the ledge and come crashing down onto the ground floor below-

"Ahh!!" Tokoyami yelled out a few seconds later, causing my eyes to widen as I quickly looked to my side.

He had been lucky to dodge the majority of Touya's flame, but a bit of it had still managed to land on his shoe and seep into his foot.

This is why he just needs to leave.

"Tokoyami!!! Hold on, I'll be right over to help you!!" I yelled, quickly getting back to my feet as I saw Touya going for another shot towards bird boys one and two.

Touya's objective right now is still to kill Keigo. This means, that whoever is holding the injured number two hero also indirectly has a target on their own back. So, in this case, the target is also apparently Tokoyami.

I grunted in pure agony as I stopped another flame from hitting the bird boys midair, allowing Tokoyami and Sammy to quickly get with the plan and continue trying to find a way to retreat out of the crumbling room.

Still holding the fire in place, I ignored whatever bullshit Touya was taunting at the boys, pressing down on my earpiece as I nervously reverted my gaze back to the chandelier in the hallway.

"Hourglass, this is Hourglass. If anyone can hear me, there's a flaming chandelier from the top floor, that's going to be falling in, probably the next few minutes. Look up, and you'll see where it'll fall. Please try to avoid this area, if you can. It will kill you, if you don't." I quickly commanded, feeling extremely nervous with a lack of replies, as I forced my attention back to the boys.

"Think for once, you burnt, little chicken skewers! Who's the ones who really need the saving? The salvation? All of you are so damn thoughtless!" Touya cackled out with his usual dramatic monologues, gearing up his hands for another attack.

Tokoyami's eyes widened in fear at the sight, keeping an iron grip on Hawks.

I was too far away to hear, but I noticed Keigo's mouth moving near Tokoyami's ear, seeming as if he was still awake and finally trying to give him orders and direction to help with this situation as best he could.

The floor jolted abruptly as another lethal hole had opened up in the floor, but that didn't stop me from forcing my feet to run as I exhaustedly threw myself at Touya's back, tackling him to the ground before he had the chance to use his flames on the boys.

"Towards the balcony. The area we're standing on is about to cave in. I can sense it with my fea-just go." I heard Keigo croak out to Tokoyami a little louder, coughing slightly as he tried to navigate the two teenagers around this lethal, sweltering maze of a room.

Just as he predicted, the area they'd been standing on quickly caved in to nothing, but luckily, the boys were already running towards the open hallway.

Grappling with Touya on the ground, I used my knees to pin down his arms, attempting to get my hands around his throat before he simply grabbed my wrists to stop me.

I smirked dryly at the way he was holding back. I'm so injured at this point, he could have easily shot a flame into my face to murder me.

But, he didn't.

"Still going strong on that promise of trying not to kill me, huh. It would sure make your life a lot easier." I taunted out, trying to anger him and keep his attention on me to get it off the boys.

Touya kept a tight hold on my wrists, looking up at me with exciting challenge, before he easily threw me off him and pinned me to the crumbling floor.

Still holding off on using his flames, he dug his jagged nails into my wrists, leaning his smoking face down inches away from my own.

"Funny. It almost sounds as if you want to die now. Maybe you're even trying to make yourself die, cause you already know that bird you love can't be saved, anymore. After all, I did burn him up pretty good, Starry Ari. It's a good guess on your part to assume that he's already good for dead. But, sorry to say. I ain't gonna kill you, Princess. No matter what." Touya drawled out casually, refusing to burn me anymore, as his searing breath hit my face with every word.

I felt a wave of distorted emotions churn up in my stomach as I took in his reasonings, unable to find the strength to full out deny them.

Locking a hand around my throat to keep me pinned down, Touya extended his free arm towards Keigo, Tokoyami, and Sammy...still preparing to blast them to hell.

The floor directly beneath my body began to rumble now as I realized the ground that Touya and I were on was about to give out and create another hole.

His eyes widened in slight alarm at the sound, faltering in his flame attack. His hesitation gave me the time to lunge myself up and grab onto his searing hand, attempting to twist it in my grasp and break it.

But, instead of fighting me, the blue eyed boy grabbed me in his arms, diving our intertwined bodies to the side as the previous space we'd been sitting in suddenly caved to ash....giving a nice preview of the endless drop below.

The momentum of the rumbling floor caused our bodies to roll across the jagged rocks, yet the growl I let out was one of anger and not pain.

"How is it that you just went through so much effort to save me, while also trying to murder everyone else!!! Can't you just channel this energy into something more useful!!!" I screamed at him in fury, slamming my boot down on his arm as he mindlessly tried to direct it back at Keigo and the gang in a bloodthirsty haze.

The movement of my foot caused Touya's flames to spray across the balcony railing instead-the force only inching the flaming chandelier closer towards the edge.

"I already told you why I plan to keep you alive, Starry Ari!! I want you to know how it feels to be miserable!!" Touya grinned out, elbowing me off his body before attempting to scramble to his feet on the shaky floor.

I pursed my lips together in disbelief for his words, taking a second to really think about his reasonings.

There's no way anyone would really go through this much trouble to keep someone alive, who they really hate. Unless, they had another ulterior motive.

"You know, even if he dies and I live.....that doesn't change things between us. If anything, it makes them worse. I will never love you, Touya. It will never be you, no matter the situation." I explained dryly, admittedly trying to get another rise out of him so he'd be more focused on attacking me instead of the boys.

And his eyes did light up in a new wave of triggered, painful fury at my words....

But, the attempt also backfired as the stitched man decided to take his aggressions out on everyone, but the person who had angered him.

My jaw dropped in pure shock as Touya abruptly shot a thick line of flames across the width of the crumbling room, before quickly shooting his other hand at Tokoyami, Sammy, and Keigo with fury.

Tokoyami squeezed his eyes shut at the incoming flames, holding Keigo tightly to his chest while quickly back pedaling his feet in the opposite direction to dodge the barreling attack.

Sammy aided in helping, grabbing the bird boy jr. by his shirt and yanking him backwards out of the way.

Yet, my brother's eyes were locked on me in pure fear, focusing on helping Tokoyami and Keigo get out of the building, but also making the mistake of trailing his eyes on the crumbling state of the floor, clearly trying to think of how he could get over here to help me out of this.

And he better not even think about it.

Touya kept his back to me for a moment, looking up to the pure blue destruction he'd caused that would surely cause the entire building to collapse much quicker than it originally intended.

The booming sound of the falling room suddenly became the loudest it's ever been, as pieces of the flaming chandelier slowly began sliding off the balcony and onto the ground floors below.

"As long as it's not him, I don't care, anymore, Ari. I don't care if it's not me. It just can't be him. Cause as long as it's not him.....then I know that you'll never be happy. Truly happy." Touya explained calmly, blue flames and falling concrete as his backdrop as he kept his attention up to the fiery room.

I felt a lump of pain form in my throat at his words, noticing a small area of hair near the nape of his neck that hadn't been the shade of pitch black.

It was white. Pure, snow white, just like I remembered. Normally covered by his thick collar, but that collar had been burned off now.

Closing my eyes in pain, I allowed my heart to break as I slowly placed my hand on Touya's shoulder, causing his entire body to tense up in pain.

Yet, he didn't shrug it off. He didn't fight. He didn't even turn around, allowing me to silently keep my hand on him as the room continued to crumble down around us in a fiery blaze.

"Yes, Touya. I understand. I understand that you think misery loves company. But, I can promise you....that making me miserable won't make you happy. Think about it. Think about the fact that you've spent the last year making my life a living hell....making me cry...making me hate you....and bringing us here today, yet the look in your eyes shows that you've never been more devastated. You don't want to do this. It's not too late to change. It's not too late for you." I stated softly, slowly pulling on his shoulder to turn him around to face me instead.

And this time, he moved with my motions, turning his body in my direction as he finally met my gaze.

Blood was running underneath his eyes like tears. He looked empty. Broken. As if I'd finally managed to dig through the rubble of his darkened soul, reach the very bottom, and pull out that Touya I used to know. The Touya I used to love.

It made me cry to finally see the recognizable sight of my old friend, past this facade of Dabi, as I involuntarily threw my arms around his neck. I didn't even care about the fact that I was being seared from his body heat as I gave him a hug.

I'm not sure what compelled me to do such a thing. I completely understand that we can never mend our friendship. I understand that we can never go back to the way things were. I understand that I'm still trying to kill him, and he's still trying to ruin my life.

But, I guess I just never realized until now....how much I...

"H-How much....I miss you. H-How sorry I am....t-that it's come to end like this. I never...wanted this for you, Touya." I cried out softly, knowing that he wasn't hugging me back, but also realizing that he wasn't pushing me away either.

He was silent. I couldn't see his face, since my eyes were closed, but I could feel his muscles weakening in my hold to show how much this moment silently hurt him, too. How much it internally meant to him to have this kind human contact.

And so we stood there in a fiery, cerulean blaze of his pain and sorrow, taking this silent time to say goodbye to Touya Todoroki and Starry Ari-the children who had already died much too long ago, to be recovered ever again.

It was only once the smell of my burning hands filled the air, that Touya slowly lifted his own hands, and gently pushed me away, boring his eyes into mine with a new type of pain....

And that was the pain of acceptance. Not content acceptance, but tragic acceptance. Acceptance and realization that I will never love him. That I'm not the same Ari he knew, and that he's not the same Touya I loved. Acceptance that he'd gone down one path, and that I'd gone down another.

Acceptance that it's time to move on from me and say goodbye to the one little girl who made him feel happy. Who made him feel like he was a superhero. Who made him feel as if he was the savior she so desperately loved, instead.

All that was left in his heart now were two emotions. Emptiness for me...

And hatred for Keigo.

"You're right, Ari. Making you miserable won't make me happy. But, I have my own goals now. And if you want me not to kill Keigo, then you'll need to kill me. Cause that's the only way I'll ever stop trying to achieve that." He explained emotionlessly, turning on his heel once more to make his way over to the man I love.

Only, before he could get more than a few feet, a loud, incoming rubble of something filled our eardrums, causing Touya and I to look to the side to see what the commotion was.

And coming straight towards both of us was a gigantic block of ice-no, a wall of ice that would end up separating the two halves of this room, once it landed.

Geten.

The ice wall that would finally give Keigo, Tokoyami, and Sammy the protection they needed from Dabi, and allow them to escape.

The ice wall that would seal my fate, depending on which side of it I end up on. I'd either be trapped here, or I'd be able to escape with my loved ones.

Clearly realizing these thoughts too, Dabi and I stared, gaping at the incoming ice wall, before simultaneously turning our attention back to one another.

I could see he was already thinking about how he could shove me back and separate me on the wrong side of the wall, away from Keigo and the exit.

But, before he could even finish his thoughts, my hands were already on his chest first, pushing him backwards as hard as I could and watching him fall to his back.

For the first time, he had nothing to say as he watched me with wide eyes, looking up at me in despaired realization as the ice wall finally came barreling in.

Looking down at him silently, I took a few steps on the opposite side to separate us for good, gazing at him in empty sorrow as I spoke our parting words.

"Goodbye, Touya." I simply said, yet I'm not even sure if he heard me over the aggressive crackle of the ice that had now fully blocked him from my sight.

Regardless, even if I couldn't see his face, I could mentally picture the sight of it as I blankly stared at the ice for a moment, seeing nothing more than my own gruesome reflection.

I looked like a monster.

However, before I had time to reflect further on my thoughts, the loud yell of pretty boy, Geten, interrupted my focus...causing me to quickly look atop his gigantic wall of ice and see him at the top.

"I've disrupted their siege!! Rushing into a fight is exactly what these guys want you to do!! Yes, the place is collapsing, but all of you better fall back and do as your told!!! No one's leaving until we exterminate all of these dogs!!" Geten commanded loudly, luckily not even noticing me on the ground as he was too focused on his own forces.

He quickly used another block of ice to head down a few floors below, disappearing out of my sight, almost as fast as he had entered it.

He must have been fighting and conveniently landed in this position with his ice. It was a very lucky situation for me.

....but, also a deadly one as the force of Geten's ice caused the building to rumble loudly, making the floor level start caving in fully.

Welp, we're about to go down another floor level, it seems. Or possibly, even crash all the way down to the entire ground at this point. Geten's ice structure is pretty heavy.

"Ari!!! Come on, hurry!!!!" I heard Tokoyami scream at me over the crashing of the room, causing me to finally turn my attention over to my beloved trio near the balcony.

My heart lurched in panic at the fact that they were still here, unable to find a way to escape, but also relief that they were temporarily okay.

My attention immediately went to Keigo, who was still in Tokoyami's arms, watching him cough up a bit of blood now, before he hazily met my gaze.

Not wanting, or even able to wait any longer, I quickly began running across the shaking ground, dodging the falling bricks and fire, and leaping over the growing holes that continued to manifest in the floor.

Just gotta get to the boys, and I'll be good. We'll get everyone out of here safely, and everything will be fine.

I felt my wheezing breaths picking up rapidly as I forced my feet to move faster, losing sight of the boys every so often as showers of smoky debris clouded my sight.

But, regardless, I kept my composure, keeping my eyes on them as I ran through the fire and the pain, feeling the ground directly below me starting to crumble out from under me.

"Fuck. Fuck. Fuck-I-I'm not gonna make it!!" I called out to Tokoyami, unable to hide my panic for my own well being now as I desperately tried to continue forward.

Having Hawks in his arms, Tokoyami was unable to come to my aid-simultaneously having Dark Shadow abruptly scoop up my little brother in its arms, as he tried to break away from the group and come to my aid.

"Ari!!! No-let me go!! Hurry up!!!" Sammy screamed out in panic, uselessly thrashing around in Dark Shadow's hold as he fearfully watched me play with my fate.

"You're gonna make it!! Come on, Ari!! Don't stop running!! You're almost here!!!" Tokoyami yelled in fear, causing Keigo to bite down on his lip in mind-blowing anxiety, before his brows suddenly furrowed in telekinetic focus.

His cracked lips began moving softly with the formation of clear words that were meant for me this time....

"I got you." He mouthed to me weakly, before I felt a wisp of fluff swirl around my nose.

The gentle action took my attention off Keigo as I continued running, seeing his last feather floating around next to me, dodging all of the falling fire and rubble as he controlled it.

"Kei..." I breathed out weakly, knowing he could hear me through the soft piece of heaven.

The feather twitched softly at the sound of my voice, about to latch onto the material of my suit and pull me the rest of the way to help increase my speed.

However, Keigo's dazed, bloodshot eyes widened out of his skull, from his spot in Tokoyami's arms, before his feather followed his actions and faltered-

"....hind you!!" I faintly heard Tokoyami and Sammy scream at me over the crashing sound of the room.

My brows furrowed in confusion, before I saw Keigo's tiny, little feather sharpen itself and zoom past me for something, causing me to quickly turn my own attention backwards to see what was going on.

I couldn't help but let out a surprised scream of panic as I saw two wild arms already lunging at my face, before quickly tackling me down to the unstable ground with pure ease.

"No!!! Stop!!!!! Ari!!!" Keigo screamed out with a burned voice, desperately trying to use his feather to get Diane Himura off me as best he could.

But, as I said before...Keigo's last feather was his weakest one. It's not sharp enough to make a lethal hit, and it's not strong enough to help, as Diane easily swatted the poor thing away, sending it swirling backwards across the room.

I looked up at the demon woman with wide eyes, not even recognizing the sight of her, anymore.

Her entire face was burned, practically beyond recognition, with the skin on her face oozing and flaking off to reveal raw bits of red. Her hair had also been singed a good majority. She was bleeding profusely from her stomach, and her arms and legs were lined with cuts and bruises from the falling debris showers that were currently happening inside this room from the collapse.

But, the thing about her that was most different was that she had completely lost her composure-no, she had completely lost her mind.

She was grinning widely, a grin I've never seen her make before, that showed her bloody teeth-some of which were now missing from the fight. Her eyes were completely wild and unhinged-filled with determination, and fury, and maniacal motivation as she bore them into me with purpose.

A sharp piece of debris fell from the ceiling, knocking her in the head, yet she didn't even care as she held me down tightly, letting her disgusting skin and blood drip down onto my face as she spoke.

"How many times do I have to tell you, that you are not different, little girl?" She seethed out mockingly, so incredibly infuriated that instead of keeping me pinned to the floor, she yanked me up and shoved me harshly out of the room.

My back slammed into the unburned parts of the balcony railing; with the force of it pushing the body of the flaming chandelier that much closer to the very edge of falling. The floor holding it up began to crack underneath the weight, signaling that the area would soon disintegrate into nothing.

But, I didn't get to think much about that as Diane harshly grabbed me by the collar, forcing me to my knees before digging my back into the metal railing.

I gasped as she yanked me backwards by my hair, forcing my head to hang off the balcony as she spoke again.

"You are not different. You will not be the one to ruin everything I have spent so long working towards! No. That is not who you are, Ari Parker. That is not the power you will have!!!" She shrieked out in delirium, attempting to push me over the edge of the railing before I harshly kicked her back with my foot.

My foot had connected with her stabbed stomach, causing blood to fall from her wound and her mouth as she stumbled slightly.

But, she was too angry to care, immediately stumbling her way back over to me.

"You're mistaken to think that you have any kind of power, at all!! Living off the corpses of children, and getting your success in such a cowardice way-You're the one who's nothing, Diane!! You are the one who's worthless!!!" I screamed out, no longer trying to escape as I ran full force at her, intending to take her down this time.

As I said, this all ends here. Right now.

I connected my broken fist with her face harshly, barely able to see it from my own blood that stung my eyes.

Her head whipped to the side, yet she immediately swung her arm back at me, getting a clean hit across my cheek.

"How dare you? How dare you say such a thing!!!! How dare you say that to the woman who gave you everything!!!" She countered lividly, lunging at me before tackling me to the ground again.

The hard force on the building caused the chandelier to shake again, making visible cracks in the foundation of the floor we were standing on.

But, neither me or Diane cared.

"A lifetime of trauma is not everything!!! You ruined my life!!! You ruin everyone's life!! That's all you do!!! Destroy everything!!!" I yelled over the crashing chaos around us, not allowing Diane the time to pin me to the floor as I grabbed a fistful of her burnt hair.

Yes, the fight between us was getting sloppy. But, Diane and I are both at our limit, too angry and close to death to worry about how extravagant our fight skills look.

At this point, it was just a fight for pure survival.

"Oh, give me a break, you shitty brat!!!! I treated you better than my own daughter!! Feel bad for yourself all you want, but you didn't have it that bad!!! You were just too weak to understand!!! Too weak to see that what I'm trying to do is for the greater good of our society!!!" She boomed out, attempting to reach her hand out to claw me, before I acted first.

I threw my entire body at her, pinning her down to the cracking floor, before I lost all of my composure and began screaming bloody murder in her face.

"IT'S NOT THE GREATER GOOD!!!! NOTHING YOU DID WAS EVER FOR THE GREATER GOOD!! YOU ARE A KILLER!!! A MURDERER WITH NO CONSCIENCE!!! AND YOU DESERVE TO ROT IN HELL LIKE THE PIECE OF SHIT YOU ARE!!!" I growled out unhinged, feeling angry drops of spit and blood flying off my lips and onto her raw face as I spoke.

Diane let out a cackle of insanity at my words, unable to do anything as I quickly locked both of my hands around her throat in a blood lust frenzy.

I ignored the vibration of the ground, knowing in the back of my mind that it was going to collapse underneath us, but too consumed with my own rage to actually see the chandelier slowly starting to fully slide off the ledge now.

"Oh, Ari, my dear. Your words don't hurt me. They don't change me, or make me feel guilty. If anything, this situation has taught me that I should have killed you much earlier!!! I should have taken you out when I had the chance-strangled you in your sleep, or stabbed you through your head. Drowned you in the ocean. Anything-ANYTHING!!!! You were never strong!!! I should have realized that sooner!!! I should have realized that you could never be a hero of the commission, because you don't understand what it means to sacrifice!!! You don't understand what it means to give it all for everyone else, and serve to protect!! You don't know what it means to make people proud and make them love you, and glorify you. And you never will, because you are selfish!!!" She choked out through angry breaths, having resorted to clawing her nails into my wrists as I finally had a good grip on her throat.

I felt my vision going white hot with blind fury as my iron grip refused to release Diane's throat, realizing that my entire body was shaking rapidly in anger.

The sound of my own heavy breaths grated harshly against my eardrums as I bore my wild eyes into Diane's.

I could vaguely hear Tokoyami and Sammy screaming their words at me, but I was too far gone to hear them, only able to think about how much this woman below me has tormented me.

How much she's tormented Keigo. How much she's tormented countless of innocent people and gotten away with it.

How much I wanted her gone. How far she pushed me over the edge. How much I wanted her dead, and how much I wanted to be the one to kill her.

And I guess my blood lust and refusal to hold back on my own deepest, darkest desires makes me no better than a villain now. Right? It's sad, really. I guess it doesn't make me the pure blooded hero that I always dreamed of being as a child. The hero I trained so hard to be.

Of course I wanted people to love me, Diane. Of course I wanted to make them proud. There was even a time that I wanted to make you, proud, Diane.

My dream has always been to do good. I wanted the little girls and boys to look at me in awe, telling their mommies and daddies that they wanted to be just like me when they grew up. I wanted to save people and protect them, I wanted peace for all and a world filled with love and happiness.

And I wanted to be kind. I wanted to smile. I wanted to be happy. I wanted to live a good and honest life.

But, instead, here I am. On death's door, in a war, a crumbling room, with my bare hands locked around a woman's throat in an attempt to legitimately end her life.

And the saddest part, is that I'm not even thinking about stopping.

So, that's when I realized something, something I needed to come to terms with...

Grinding down on my teeth harshly, I tightened my grip around Diane's throat now as I leaned down near her face to speak the hard truth that we all needed to hear.

"Guess what, bitch? I ain't no hero. You made sure of that, and you ruined it for me." I smiled sadly, as I kept my hatred filled eyes locked on Diane Himura, squeezing the life out of her as I succumbed to my own demons that I always tried so hard to fight.

And it seems that karma had it out for me with this entranced blood lust, as I was too wrapped up in it to hear the final cracks of the floor, until it was too late.

My eyes widened in shock, coming out of their maniacal daze at the ear piercing shatter of the ground.

I watched as the body of the flaming chandelier finally toppled over the edge of the balcony, starting to barrel full speed down to the ground floor now.

The insane weight of the object caused the entire back half of the room to finally cave in as well. The force of it caused me to lose my hold on Diane, as both of us went flying full force towards the center of the giant black hole of falling debris.

My sight began spinning rapidly in my vision as
My body relentlessly rolled towards the edge, realizing that if I fell over it, I'd plummet countless feet to my death.

I heard my loved ones screaming in blood curdling panic as I toppled over the the last edge of jagged floor, not even having the time to process the instinctive actions of me catching onto the edge tightly with own hand, allowing myself another moment to live as I dangled.

Finally getting a second to breathe and realize what had happened, my eyes went wide as my feet flailed around wildly in the air. I desperately clawed the edge of the floor with both injured hands now, hanging on for dear life as I already felt myself slipping.

I heard the shrieking of people below and crash of the chandelier reaching the ground floor a second later, causing me to make the mistake of looking down and seeing the jagged, hazardous object having plummeted down on countless people.

The flaming chandelier had landed directly below my position, meaning that if I let go of the balcony, not only would I die a painful death, but it would be a death of being pierced on one of the sharp, flaming crystals like a kebab.

"Fuck." I hissed out softly, digging my fingernails into the dirty floor as if to solidify my position.

The ground was still rumbling and shaking unevenly. I can't hang on forever. I've gotta pull myself up as best I can-

My eyes went wide as I saw another body coming rolling at me full force from the furious destruction of the building, causing me to scream in pure panic as Diane Himura crashed into me roughly.

I braced my entire body for the impact, practically feeling a blood vessel pop in my forehead as I tensed my muscles, trying to prepare myself to hold on for dear life once her body weight had slammed into mine.

And I did manage to hold on, but my strength alone was not enough to keep me holding onto the edge...

....but, the sudden, added strength of Keigo's last feather was.

I looked over onto my shoulder in desperation as I saw the perfect gem of red clinging to the material of my suit for dear life, working every bristle in its arsenal to hold me afloat as best it could.

Looking over near my loved ones, I saw Sammy and Tokoyami-both boys crying a river of trauma and screaming as they saw me gripping to the edge for dear life. The floor directly in front of them had caved in at some point, meaning that they couldn't even get to me if they wanted to.

But, as for Keigo...

He wasn't screaming, anymore. He wasn't crying. He wasn't even looking at me. Instead, his eyes were closed in focus. Pure, unadulterated focus. Brows furrowed deeply, breathing as steady as possible as he focused every single bit of brain power and energy on controlling his tiny, last feather to hold me up. His teeth were grit down tightly at the amount of effort he was giving, fists clenched to white knuckles to show that he had never experienced anything more stressful in his life.

He continued mouthing the same words to himself to try and stay calm, drowning out the screams of Sammy and Tokoyami as he repeated them.

"I got you." He kept repeating to himself. "I got you. I got you."

The feather strained itself tighter as it attempted to hold up my body weight that was much too heavy for its frail bristles.

And it was only forced to work harder as I now felt a hand grip onto my ankle tightly from below, causing my clawed hands to slide even closer towards the very end of the balcony.

I grit down on my teeth in desperation as I exerted my upper body, gripping on even tighter as I looked down to see what was weighing me down.

It was Diane Himura. She was gripping onto my leg tightly, as she dangled in the air, weighing me down with her presence.

She's always weighing me down.

She looked up at me, charred face numbed down to calmness and even a bit of content for the situation that we seemed to have found ourselves in.

"It's over now, Ari. As I told you, I am willing to die for my own dreams today. But, in order for my dreams to work, it means that you need to die, too. So, it seems....that we do this together. You and I. You did say we would meet in hell one day. And now, we will go there together. You can't ever get away from me, you see. Even in death...." She explained, starting to purposely sway her legs back and forth in the air as she tried to take me down with her.

I choked in pure fear at what she was doing, squeezing my eyes shut as my body began to shake in more exertion.

Becoming desperate, I tried my hardest to shake her off-needing to cease the movements a few seconds later as it seemed that I was only aiding in driving myself further off the cliff.

"L-Let...go!! You're always weighing me down. You're always trying to drag me down with you like this. It's what you do. You....you drag people down." I grunted roughly, feeling Keigo's feather straining even harder as it tried to keep me afloat.

I looked over seeing Keigo's eyes squeezed shut, with his entire body practically vibrating in exertion in Tokoyami's arms, putting every ounce of life he had into saving me from the iron grip of Diane Himura's hands.

"It's because you were always meant to be weighed down, Ari. You were always meant to need someone to control you, because you are nothing on your own. See, the thing is...even in death, I will still win. I will still be the one to come out on top, because my dreams are still the ones that will be coming true. I will rest easy, because I know that my mission with you will finally be complete. And that's okay with me." She stated calmly, gripping onto my legs tighter as she tried to pull me down into the dark abyss of eternal suffering with her.

I whimpered softly as I watched my hands slide closer towards the very edge, feeling tears prick my eyes as I felt the muscles of my hands practically splitting in half from how hard I was holding on.

"No, no, no!! Come on!!! Please!!" I cried out to myself, attempting to pull myself up and fight against Diane's weight, before my arms began to give out instead.

I'm only going closer to the edge of no return.

"K-Keigo...I'm sorry, Keigo. I-I'm sorry, Keigo. I don't think I c-can..." I cried out softly to the little red feather on my shoulder, watching as blood began to pool underneath my fingernails from the desperation of digging them into the hard ground.

But, even through my apologies of failure, Keigo's feather never faltered in its strength, not giving up on me as it held me up with everything it had.

From afar, Keigo's nose had begun to drip blood now, practically causing himself an aneurysm from his own telekinetic overwork as he refused to let me go.

Even through the chaos, I could hear him groaning roughly now as he controlled the feather to pull on me harder, finally open his eyes to look straight at me as he spoke loudly this time.

"Stop letting her weigh you down so much!! Come on! Pull yourself up! Break free from her already, and pull yourself up! You are stronger than her-you've always been stronger than her! It's time to let her go!!" He yelled loudly, ignoring the bleeding of his nose as he yanked me up even harder-

"No, don't listen to him, Ari!! You know you're not stronger than me!! You know it's impossible to change this! You're already almost over the edge now, see?!? You know you can't get rid of me, so why even try!!!" Diane screamed in my other ear, trying to pull me down harder.

She's speaking regularly and her words don't have the same effect on me, meaning that her coercion quirk must have possibly hit its limit now.

But, even so, she's built such a strong home inside my mind, that her words still affect me so strongly.

I gripped the ledge tighter with my hands, feeling the muscles of my body gradually starting to snap under the extra weight I'm unable to hold up.

Too out of breath to respond for a moment, Diane took the moment to try and solidify her dreams...

"I'm a part of you, Ari. I am such a big part of you. I've always been. You can't ever get rid of me, because my teachings. My memories. My philosophies and ideals live you in, every single day. I've already gotten to your mind and you know it. You know you're just like me, because I made you that way." She stated roughly, pulling me just a bit closer to that edge, before continuing.

"By hating me so much, you're really just hating yourself. Who wants a life of that, right? So, just give up already. Give up, let go, and put yourself out of this misery, because that's the only way you'll be able to succeed now. That's the only way you'll be able to finally make everyone proud and put yourself to rest." Diane said, not even caring about the fiery, painful death that would await her as she kept her focus on me.

And, yet, I kept my gaze on Keigo as she spoke, seeing him through the shower of falling, blue fire and crumbling bricks.

He was only half in Tokoyami's arms at this point, having collapsed to his knees on the floor as he kept his golden eyes locked on mine, shimmering with fear as they looked straight into my soul.

His feather continued pulling on me, nose bleeding as he smiled softly to reassure me that everything would be fine.

"You know she's lying, little dove. We've always known that she was lying, yet we still listened to her, anyways. We still let her ruin our lives for so long. But, no more right? It's as you said, now's the time....where it all ends. For Diane. So, work with me. Don't give up, and keep your eyes open. Come back to me. C'mon. I'm waiting for you. It's time for you to break free from her." My angel of the sky stated softly, yet even through the chaos and destruction I could see his lips moving and hear the very faint sound of his words.

Even now. Even in death. My angel of the sky still finds a way to protect me. Thank you, Keigo.

For years. I've let this woman destroy me from the inside out. Listened to every horrible word she spoke, absorbed every painful hit she threw. And gave it all to become a hero that I could be proud of.

But, it wasn't really about me, was it? It wasn't ever about me, becoming a good person in her eyes. It wasn't ever about me saving people, or making anyone proud.

Because my success has always been for her gain. Her selfish gain and her own dreams.

And it's time to stop living Diane's dreams. It's time to stop living the life she set up for me, and start being the person I want to be.

So, getting the strength to end this, I slowly lifted the leg that Diane wasn't holding onto, gripping onto the ledge tightly as I drove my foot downwards to slam against her shoulder.

Her smile faltered at my actions, eyes widened as her iron grip was forced to slide a bit down my ankle from the kick.

"I can't let you weigh me down, anymore." I grunted to her, giving her shoulder another rough kick with my foot and causing her grip to loosen once more.

My hands slid a bit closer to the edge from the ruckus I was creating, but I was committed now. I can't stop.

Keigo's teeth grit down tightly as he felt me sliding closer off the ledge, using his feather to keep me afloat as I tried to shake Diane off for good.

The woman below me started to show her desperation as I kicked her roughly in the shoulder once more, causing her grip to slide down to my foot, instead of the previously secured grab she had on my ankle.

"N-No!!! Ari, wait! Stop it. Stop it!!-you will not come out of this alive!!! You're already too damaged, anyways!! You can't!! That is not your purpose. You're ruining everything!!!-" Diane called out frantically, starting to sway her feet once more in an attempt to get me to let go of the ledge.

But, I simply shut her up by kicking the bottom of my boot into her burnt face, causing her hands to forcibly loosen once more around my foot as I could finally feel her fingers slipping away.

"You don't get to decide my purpose, anymore. You don't get to decide my fate, or the fate of anyone else now. My decisions are my own. My life....is mine to live. My dreams are my own. I'm not gonna let you take anything else away from me." I uttered calmly, squeezing my eyes shut in exertion as I gave her another harsh kick to the face.

A bone crunching snap was heard from the force, making me realize that I had broken her nose.

Even so, the woman was persistent, as she willed herself not to let go of me, yet....face dripping with blood as she desperately clung to me tightly.

"Y-You're making a mistake, Ari. You're wasting everything we worked towards. Years, and years of physical pain and emotional torture for this? You're throwing away your dreams of being the hero you always wanted to be-" She started out, before she was forced to stop when I kicked her again.

"No. I'm really not making a mistake. My mistake was allowing you to dictate my life. My mistake was believing everything you said, for so many years, and letting you stomp me to the ground every single day. My mistake was meeting you, and falling for your lies. Every mistake I've ever made in my life was only because of you. But, no more...." I explained roughly, straining my upper body muscles as I began trying to pull myself up the balcony.

"I'm trying, Keigo. I'm trying..." I whispered into his feather, wanting him to know that I wasn't giving up in my pursuit to fly freely with him.

Keigo's half lidded eyes remained locked on my own, hunched over in pain as he continued to give all of his energy into holding me up.

The feather pulled along with my own movements, both of us trying to fight against the weight of the woman on my feet, who was beginning to panic at her very real possibility of failing her one and only task.

"You can't navigate the world on your own!! Think about it, everything you've achieved in your life...everything good is all because of me!!! Even meeting Keigo!! You would have never met him, had it not been for me. Do you realize that? Had I never taken you into the program, you would have never become a hero, and never met him. You owe me for that, Ari. You owe me for making you happy. You can't succeed without me! You need me, and you will always need my help!!!" She countered a bit shakily, burned eyes starting to shine with, what looked to be tears for the first time, as she clawed her nails into my boot for dear life.

And even so, it wasn't tears for the fact that she was afraid to die. It was tears, because she was afraid to fail. It's the fact that she's become so obsessed with her own dreams, that she deems her entire existence and self worth on their success.

Diane Himura is a tragic woman. A woman, who started out with good intentions. A woman, who originally joined the hero force, because she wanted to make the world a better place and help people.

But, she lost her way. Forgot the reasons why she originally started doing this and lost sight of what it means to be good-not what it means to do things for the greater good...but, what it means....to actually be good.

And that is sad. That is painful, and if anything, it shows that Diane has her own story of flying too close to the sun of chasing her success.

I feel bad that it has come down to this. I feel bad that this woman has become so consumed with succeeding, that she seems to have a complete lack of regard for her own life.

And I feel bad that she's going to die today by my hands. Because even through the pain and heartbreak that she has caused me and so many others....

There was still a time that she was a kid with a dream, just like the rest of us.

But, the pull of Keigo's feather is too strong to ignore. The screams and cries of Tokoyami and my brother. The pounding of my heart, and the flashes of life within my eyes are too prominent to forget.

So, I'm sorry Diane Himura. But, it seems that I will be the one to ruin your dreams and break them. It seems that I am strong enough to destroy everything you ever worked for, and stop the wheel of your success.

And it seems that I am the downfall of your story. The sun that melted your metaphorical wings and forced you to drown in the demons that you always feared.

Once again, I felt myself slipping. But, Diane was also only one more kick away from falling out of my reach.

So, tightening my grip on the wall. Taking a deep breath to calm my frantic heart beat, I felt the sounds of the chaos slipping away, as I slowly looked down one more time.

I ignored the plummeting height we were hanging off of, ignored the bright blue flames of the bloody chandelier below our feet, and looked straight into the eyes of the tragic woman who was gripping onto me for dear life.

She opened her mouth to speak when she met my gaze, only to close it slowly once she truly saw the look on my face.

Soft tears slowly broke past her lids now as she held my silent gaze. Knowing my decision was already made up

"Is it really worth it to you? Even in your final moments, is material success really the most important thing to you?" I asked softly, feeling my brows furrow up in sadness as tears began to well up in my own eyes.

And suddenly, the maniacal look from Diane's face had faded away, almost as if she was finally coming back to the reality of her situation and assessing what it was I just said.

She was silent for a small heartbeat of time, slowly lowering her gaze away from my own and into the void of nothing as she was forced to reflect on who she was. On what she had become.

When the time had come for her to answer, she spoke a single word.

"Yes." She simply said, yet the word wasn't spoken with a condescending tone, or a malicious one.

It was spoken with one I've never heard in my entire life of knowing Diane Himura. And that was the subtle tone of shame. Guilt. Sadness. Disappointment.

And in the next second, I watched Diane's face go completely blank as she was the one to slowly release her grip from my foot.

My eyes widened in pure surprise at her actions, jaw falling slack as she kept my gaze, willing herself to let go of me as she began free falling through the air to her death.

Instinctively, I reached one of my hands down to try and grab her, before letting out a small cry of panic as I watched Diane Himura plummet countless feet through the air, noticing the way she looked at me emotionlessly, as if she was already dead.

I couldn't look away as I felt the memories flooding back. The saddest part is that the memories weren't happy ones, because there were no happy memories with her. It was just pain and suffering. Sadness. Despair.

And it's sad to say, that this is how I will remember her for the rest of my life.

Neither of us said a thing as we exchanged silent thought filled gazes, final words of internal struggle and departure as she fell from the sky.

Then, Diane finally met her fate, landing back first on the flaming chandelier, causing one of the broken, jagged crystals to stab all the way through her chest from behind, sticking out of her chest with ruby red blood coating the shiny gem.

Even from the ground, even as blue flames began to cover her body and burn her last bits of life away...and even as those cold, lonely eyes finally dulled away into nothing, she looked at me. And she died, looking at me....looking at the way that I was still hanging onto the ledge above. Looking at the way I was still living, the way she never wanted.

I simply stared at her in shock for the scene, still not believing that she even let go. Still not understanding why she even let go.

Whether it was because she knew she'd failed and she was too devastated to admit it. Or, maybe because she knew that she lost her way and didn't want to face the reality of all the horrible things she's done.

Or, maybe....because she finally had a moment of pity and decided to give me the one good thing she could ever give, and let me live. Let me and Keigo live peacefully...

I'll never know. I'll never know what compelled Diane to let go of me today.

I'll just always remember that she did.

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Now she dead! >:D

Next Chapter Title: Time To Let Go