MHA : Shoto Todoroki - Modern-day Terrorist

Note : The scenes concerning Shoto are a beat off from Enji's : you can get an idea of what he's doing and when thanks to the clones popping up. There are minutes only between the present (Enji) and the 'past' (Shoto).

And both clones popped a couple of seconds from each other, not even a minute passing by.

All of the events are happening extremely quickly.

*

Volcanic lightning is a byproduct of particles spewed by an erupting volcano.

As they interact, they generate static electricity that produces powerful lightning bolts.

No one among the Todoroki had ever theorized the possibility of them mastering such an ability.

It was Shoto's use, and how much he favored the element over his fire or ice, that had given him this idea years ago, but he never had time to put it into practice.

Enji had turned the beach into a gigantic lava pit. Dark smoke was rising from crevasses, billowing around the giant hands. Ashes were snowing from the sky.

All for One was stunned, spread on the ground, muscles twitching, lingering lightning crackling over his skin.

All for One may have possessed a lot of Quirks, he never mastered any of them – the same went for his lightning. Catching him by surprise meant you could get the upper hand.

A loud, roaring noise that grew more intense with each passing second emerged a hundred meters away.

Enji looked up. His eyes locked with that of a camera hanging from a helicopter. So it was from that that came the rumbling noise he'd been hearing for a while.

Certainly the local police – or news – trying to understand what the hell was going on.

Enji braced himself and flashed forward, a blur to the world watching him.

*

Shoto's clone popping jolted him awake from a half-slumber.

He took in everything his first clone had been doing – trapping All for One in a barrier, taking his father away – with apparent calm, yet his fingers dug holes in the armrest.

Then all of the personal TV screens of passengers turned on simultaneously, people groaning as the crude light hit harshly their eyes.

They all got a front-row seat to the news flash live footage.

In big, bold, red letters was plastered : "ENDEAVOR FIGHTS ALL FOR ONE"

A helicopter was circling above a charred beach, titanic, monstrous, incandescent hands as tall as skyscrapers jutting from the ground, palms open toward the sky in supplication or as a threat.

There was something eerie about the place, abnormal in an unnerving way.

The helicopter's light went from All for One's bleeding, half-beaten form and Enji's, glowing, clothes torn apart, a gash above his eyebrow, breathing heavily.

And there, right in front of him, was Shoto.

He popped, disintegrated in a cloud of smoke on live TV.

Shoto, on the plane, blinked, processing everything quickly, finding that he either wouldn't have activated the seal if his father was in the vicinity, cursing himself for not managing to get him fully out of the way.

Whatever he'd done to get back to the burned beach so quickly, Shoto hadn't been aware of this ability.

Around him people were waking one after another, talking fast and loud, increasingly nervous. Their plane would be flying near.

Stewards were gathered around one of their private screens, in the corridor, whispering worriedly to each other.

Shoto unbuckled and stood up.

One of the stewardesses spotted him and jogged to him.

"Sir, you can't-"

He dropped the henge.

Her words died in her throat, strangled with a mouse-like squeak.

She'd recognized him.

Everyone on the plane had, and if they hadn't, they sure as hell had seen a perfect copy of him hundreds of kilometers away vanishing.

There was no point hiding : he'd kick All for One's ass to oblivion and for that, he needed to get out now. People would quickly add two and two and figure out who he was afterward, henge or not.

Shoto calmly walked to the plane's door, getting a good look at how high they were.

Clouds encased them in a whitish bubble, yet he could smell the sea.

Shoto cracked his neck and rolled his shoulders.

People watched him jump lightly on his feet, frozen in their seats, absolutely terrified.

He kicked the door open.

It broke off its hinges and flew out. A gust of wind rushed inside.

The stewards squinted and grabbed each other, holding onto anything they could. Children screamed.

An alarm rang in the plane, and people grew more and more anxious with each second passing by.

Shoto's hair flew all around his face.

He jumped without another thought.

The harsh, biting cold slapped him. He free-fell, arms spread wide, passing through the clouds.

The curve of Japan's north coast appeared among a sparkling sea. The sun had barely started rising.

Shoto had a rough idea of where he needed to go.

Blue fire burst from his feet and he adjusted his course.

*

"I'm going to kill you"

Enji smiled wickedly, warm blood trickling from his brow down his face.

He spit out blood, crystal eyes never leaving All for One's, wiped his mouth with the back of his dirty hand.

His muscles were hot, aching, his whole body shaking from exertion.

Lightning, even though any Todoroki worth their salt should be able to master it, was as hard to handle as he'd expected. His body was not used to it and it showed.

Viciousness glinted in Enji's eyes.

He raised his arm, imitating All Might's victory posture, something small, wet, and squishy in his palm.

The helicopter's light settled on him, and he knew the cameras were focusing on what he had in his hand.

"Can you ?"

All for One's sole eye narrowed dangerously.

"Don't-"

Enji crushed All for One's second eye between his fingers, drawing wicked pleasure from it, his fist catching fire and setting the remains ablaze.

All for One bolted forward, screaming.

*

Shoto was covering ground quickly but not quickly enough.

His heart was pulsing in his throat, tunnel vision making him blind to the whole world.

Faster.Faster.

He had to be enough. He has to be enough.

*

Enji's arm snapped in half like a twig.

He spat blood in All for One's last eye, blinding him temporarily.

All for One cursed whereas a mix of lightning and fire shot from Enji, going from his broken arm up to All for One's hand holding him.

All for One let him go with a hiss, staggered, and wiped his eye clean.

The lightning fell flat, extinguished, yet Enji was still moving forward, knife in hand, slashing and piercing.

All for One dodged and moved back, yet the blade's tip caught his jaw and teared a red river up his nose bridge.

His foot connected with Enji's stomach and he sent him tumbling back.

Enji rolled on the ground but got up, panting, whereas All for One was still trying to catch his breath.

They were exhausted, two old men on the verge of collapsing, yet unwilling to yield.

Enji was the first to engage once more.

Despite their exhaustion, both men moved fluidly, maneuvering around each other like few could ever hope to achieve.

All for One had trouble following the fight and reacting in time ; now that he had only one eye left his depth perception was off the charts, and Enji was playing along by making sneaky attacks from his blind spot.

Enji thrust his hand forward, knife going straight for his left eyeball.

The knife became two then four then six and kept multiplying, overlapping, as did Enji.

Cold sweat broke across All for One's back. Chills ran down his spine.

He jumped back a couple of meters away, using more energy than he should've when he was so painfully trying to conserve it.

Fire burst across Enji's skin and then died out.

All for One looked at his shaky, multiplying hands, ghost fingers overlapping over his.

"You poisoned me"

He was incredulous.

Enji quietly got back in a fighting stance.

His aloofness unnerved All for One.

There was no taunting, no cocky declamation, only a man, a soldier, who'd prepared for a fight to the death and who would fight to the death.

He didn't overly rely on his Quirk to get the job done like many – All for One – did. He'd brought tools according to the way he'd decided to deal with One for All and set his plan in motion.

All for One had thought the gun was the real threat, and Enji had anticipated it : he hadn't expected the knife, or that Enji – a Hero – would gouge his eye out without hesitation, maybe even with some glee.

This time, All for One fought to incapacitate.

They met and fought, fists and legs flying around each other, All for One hitting Enji's broken arm and Enji distracting All for One enough to get a clear shot at the gaping hole in his face, burning it in spurts of fire.

Most of the time All for One missed his hits – he had trouble following the fight, his mind was growing sluggish, and he couldn't pinpoint who was Enji and who was one of the illusory overlapping Enji.

Enji knew and he played along, moving in random directions and changing the way he fought to maximize the results of All for One's impaired vision.

Their gestures were heavy yet determined, both focused on-

All for One's head snapped to the right – there, at the edge of his senses…

Chills ran down his spine.

He tried to disengage but Enji didn't give him any breathing room.

Enji slashed and slashed and All for One tried to get to his legs.

All for One broke Enji's right leg simultaneously as his protection field activated, Enji's knife spinning forcefully in his hand before being pushed back, the blade tearing through his shoulder like butter.

All for One, wheezing, pushed Enji away.

Enji staggered, half bent, one hand on his wounded shoulder.

All for One's worried eyes momentarily went back to the sky.

He was sure he'd just felt-

Enji's hand grazed All for One's back : blue fire erupted from his fingertips, running on All for One, burning to a crisp what was left of his top, cooking and charring flesh and skin, wrapping around his neck and-

All for One's instincts took over : he turned around, grabbed Enji's wrist, broke it, a laser beam shooting from his navel, tearing a hole through Enji's chest.

*

Two fighter planes were flanking Shoto.

They'd burst out from the clouds suddenly and quietly and had not attempted to engage him.

Rather they flew close to him, forcing him to make a curve that was threatening to become a full U-turn.

They were asking him to leave Japan's premises.

He wasn't sure why they hadn't tried to shoot him down – maybe because they couldn't be certain that it'd hit him, and they didn't want to risk an all-out fight with him.

Shoto let them take the lead, though they were still flying in Japan's direction for now.

Seeing how easily the planes could keep up with him he knew it meant he wasn't nearly as fast as he should be.

He was faster when he ran, and even if he tried to run on water the rolling sea would be a hindrance that'd significantly reduce his speed.

Thus, Shoto did the only thing he could that would mean getting to his father in time : he coated himself in a thick layer of chakra, his body glowing blue, extending his senses as far as he could, grabbing desperately on the faint seal he'd left on his father neck.

If he failed, he'd be torn apart and Dad-

He couldn't let anything happen to his father.

Shoto closed his eyes and braced himself.

Then everything disappeared.

*

He didn't mean to do it. He-

All for One stood still, frozen, as Enji Todoroki, a hole in his chest, was staggering backward.

Eyes widened he looked down at his chest, confusion and fear flashing on his face.

He tried to speak but only blood, thick and dark, got out, dripping from his lips and down his chin.

His hand reached forward – an automatic gesture or cry for help ? - as the other closed around his throat. A sharp hiss rose from deep inside his chest as if he had trouble breathing.

His foot hit a rock and he fell on his back, unable to stop himself.

All for One stood there, paralyzed, watching Enji claw at his neck, eyes bulging, veins popping, skin turning a sick violet.

Dread pooled in his gut.

Enji wasn't supposed to die- he- he-

If he died, his son would murder him.

All for One shot forward, falling on his knees right next to Enji, hands glowing a faint purple.

He didn't have a proper healing Quirk – anything he had was mostly catered to auto-heal rather than help other people. He'd never regretted it as much as he did in that moment.

Enji's head was bobbing up and down, blood spilling freely from his lips when it should've stayed inside of his body.

Blood poured like a fountain from the gaping hole.

All for One cursed, pressed on the wound to keep everything inside. Enji's eyes fluttered, and his chest rose, yet he wasn't able to mutter the slightest pained noise because of the blood bubbling in his throat.

The wound wouldn't close. It wouldn't close.

Panic overrode All for One's thoughts.

That was it. The wound wouldn't close. He couldn't do anything about it.

The kid would murder him.

He'd murder him in the most painful, excruciating, wicked, vile way possible.

Worst was, All for One didn't even know why he and Enji had fought. He hadn't even wanted to.

But maybe everything wasn't lost. There- there must've been a hospital nearby, a dozen kilometers away or so.

If he could get him there fast enough, then maybe-

Enji weakly tugged at All for One's sleeve.

Their eyes met.

Enji's eyes were full of terror yet half-glazed, as if he wasn't fully there anymore yet conscious enough to understand what was happening to him.

All for One's first reaction was to move away but something – he couldn't exactly explain what – rooted him to the spot.

Maybe it was pity. Enji had fought well, way better than most people All for One had ever fought. He deserved someone to acknowledge it, to acknowledge him, to be by his side during his final moments.

Maybe it was empathy. All for One had nearly died quite a lot during the first Quirks War and each time he'd been reaching for someone, anyone, even strangers to stay with him when he thought he was going to die.

Certainly, it was fear because All for One knew that as soon as he left this battlefield he'd set in motion a revenge plot that would end either by his or Shoto's death. Most certainly his.

Thus, All for One stayed until Enji turned still and his eyes dull.

All for One stood up, took a few steps back, stilled, cursed, rushed forward, his hands wrapping around Enji's neck.

Crumbs of energy flew from him and up All for One's arm. The required five seconds had never felt so long.

Once it was done, All for One turned tail and desperately swapped away, praying that it'd be enough for him to be safe from the incoming disaster.