Once Again From Better Days

Something heavy–heavier than chunks of earth–falls. The writhing mass hits the ground with a mighty crash. Katsuki catches a glimpse of scaled skin and hears the cries of classmates. The light of the above-ground world makes him blink.

He recognizes floaty first. Then froggy. Then Nejire. Ryukyu is the last he catches sight of. As the dust settles, it becomes clear that they used one of Chisaki's men to break through the cement. The villain lies motionless on the ground.

The last of the bits of ceiling to fall hit the ground and bounce out of sight. The mutated plagueface stands to the side of the large pile of rubble directly under the hole in the street above. Not so much as a muscle moves. It feels like the world has slowed down for a moment. It's quiet.

Nighteye drops to the ground, and the spell is broken. Plagueface is the first to move. He propels himself upward, using his quirk to disassemble the ground below him and form it into a rising pillar. All eyes turn toward him. The pillar stops rising, and it holds together for a moment before it falls to pieces, showering the heroes with bits of rock and dirt again. When the dust clears, the sky is empty.

Katsuki curses under his breath. Since there are other people here, they can deal with the injured. He unceremoniously walks to the group of four and tries to hand Togata to Uraraka.

She, however, is busy staring at Izuku. "Diakto? But wait–weren't you–why are you here?"

Izuku blinks in confusion. "Why wouldn't I be here?"

Katsuki clears his throat, pushing Togata toward Uraraka once more. "Take him, I'm going after plagueface."

"Plague–?" Uraraka begins to ask, sounding both shocked and vaguely amused.

Katsuki turns his back on her. To the side, he sees Izuku put Eri on her feet.

"Eri-chan, you'll be safe here," Izuku says.

Izuku takes a step forward, but Eri grabs the back of his sleeve, shaking her head. Izuku tries a little harder to pull away, but Eri is firm. She's still glowing. Katsuki realizes that Izuku's injuries have faded. She can heal, can't she? 

He remembers this. Her quirk that burst from her on a few occasions when they hadn't been quick enough to get her away from the battlefield. Healing–no, that's not quite right–she can turn humans back–backwards in time. Rewind . Her quirk. But it can't be–that would be ridiculous. One person could never have enough power to turn back the entire world, and he wouldn't remember anything if he had been rewound, but–Katsuki shakes his head. He's being stupid. There's no time to stand around and philosophize. Plagueface is going to get away if they don't move.

By the time he manages to focus again, Izuku and Eri are out of sight. Ryukyu's group are just starting on first aid. Katsuki breathes a silent sigh of relief–he can't have spaced out for more than a few seconds. He hears someone talking, but the words aren't clear.

The voice, he realizes, belongs to Nighteye. The words don't come easily, and it sounds like there isn't enough breath in his lungs. Katsuki just manages to catch the end of what he's saying.

"...I'm fated to die here." Nighteye coughs. He catches Katsuki's eye as he glances around. "He has a chance...since Eri is...with him. Tell him, tell him he'll be a fine success–"

"Tell him yourself," Katsuki snaps.

"I won't...be able to. I'm… fated to...d–"

"We'll f.u.c.k.i.n.g see about that." 

Usually he's polite to a.d.u.l.ts (other than his parents), but his nerves are frayed, and at the moment, he doesn't give a shit if he's rude. Turning to the others, he explains where the Iida's went. Jerking his thumb toward the door he used earlier, he adds "Fat Gum's group is all back that way."

Katsuki turns his gaze upward. No more dawdling around. He'll worry about everyone else later. And, besides, if they hadn't won their fights, more villains would have come after them by now.

He needs to go after plagueface.