The shattered night sky hung overhead, the fractured moon casting an eerie glow over the battlefield. The scent of charred debris and blood lingered thick in the air—suffocating, oppressive. Bakugo tore through the empty expanse of the stronghold, each step agony, each breath ragged and raw.
"Running away?" Akai's voice slithered behind him, a sinister whisper wrapped in mockery.
Bakugo wiped the blood smeared across his cheek with the back of his trembling hand, his lips curling into a tired smirk. "Tch, I need to get further away ..."His entire body screamed in protest, pulsing with unbearable pain. Blood dripped freely from his wounds, flinging off with every explosive burst that propelled him forward. "Just a little more ... I need to store up more ..."
"DO YOU SEE IT NOW, KATSUKI BAKUGO?" Tsuki's warped, unnatural voice boomed through the air, rattling his bones. "YOU'RE NOTHING MORE THAN TRASH. PERHAPS IF YOU PROSTRATE YOURSELF, I'LL THINK ABOUT KILLING YOU LATER!"
Her laughter tore through him like knives, slithering into his veins, wrapping around his very core. Bakugo's heart pounded violently in his chest, his ears ringing with the sound.
"Almost there ..." He gritted his teeth, forcing his failing body to move faster. The distant wail of sirens from the neighboring town finally reached his ears—hope, distant but present. "I just have to hold out a little longer ..."
"HOW PATHETIC!" Akai's voice dripped with venomous delight. "YOU THINK YOU CAN ESCAPE? DIDN'T YOU WANT TO SAVE YOUR PRECIOUS WOMAN?"
Bakugo spun mid-air, his body moving on instinct. His movements were fluid yet desperate, each twist fueled by sheer grit. He could feel it now—Akai's bloodlust, once suffocating, had begun to thin, his claws reduced to elongated nails, his once-dominating presence wavering. Tsuki's possessed body hesitated for a moment, her movements no longer seamless.
"What is he—?" Akai's thought cut off as Bakugo's arms wrapped tightly around Tsuki's frame, his grip ironclad despite the screaming protests of his broken body.
"This again? " Akai's confusion seeped through Tsuki's expression, but then, his eyes caught it.
The sparks.
Every drop of sweat rolling down Bakugo's scorched skin ignited in a flash, fueling a massive, condensed explosion. A feral scream ripped from Bakugo's throat as the explosion engulfed them, the sheer force sending them both hurtling downward. The earth cracked and splintered beneath them, waves of heat radiating outward in an uncontrollable inferno. Dust and debris erupted in every direction, swallowing them in a choking storm of destruction.
Bakugo's vision blurred, his hearing reduced to a dull, distant roar. His grip around Tsuki remained steadfast, his body trembling violently. The searing heat had ravaged his skin—blistering and raw—his right arm useless and mangled beyond recognition. He coughed, the metallic taste of blood thick on his tongue. His left arm hoisted him up, barely. His entire body screamed in protest. His breath came in shallow, rattling gasps.
"Did that ... do it?"
A deafening crack split through the air, and Bakugo flinched, his gaze snapping upward.
The moon—it was splitting apart.
"The hell ...?" he croaked, his voice barely a whisper. His wide, bloodshot eyes stared as Tsuki's body, still cradled against him, began to rise. Her veins glowed again, pulsating unnaturally, illuminating the intricate network of her nervous system like cracks in fragile glass.
"WA—IT!" His voice struggled to hang confidently in the air. "NO, DON'T TAKE HER!"
Bakugo reached out with his trembling arm, the bones reduced to shattered fragments beneath his torn skin. His face twisted in pain, his entire body shuddering with the effort to hold on. "Pl—uh—se ..." The word barely escaped his cracked lips. Heat flushed up his neck and into his face, his chest overwhelming with pressure. Tears threatened to swell his waterline.
The debris around them trembled, rising into the air, swirling into a dark, chaotic whirlwind. Leaves, shattered stone, and splatters of blood danced around them like a grotesque cyclone. Bakugo's fingers clawed against the ground, his elbow the only thing keeping him propped up as he fought against the invisible force holding Tsuki just out of reach.
Then, a voice—deep, guttural, laced with pure malice—cut through the storm.
"You ... YOU DAMN INSOLENT BRAT!!"
The words coiled into the wind, heavy and thick, sending ice through Bakugo's veins. The very marrow of his bones felt frozen, his chest tightening with the suffocating weight of it.
"That's him ... Akai ..."
"YOU DARE ... YOU DARE TO KILL ME? AKAI TSUKI NO KAMI?"
Bakugo gasped, feeling his chest contract violently. The sheer presence of the voice rattled him to his core. The overwhelming power—the malevolence—was unlike anything he had ever felt before. He wanted to scream, to fight, but his body wouldn't respond.
"IF WE ARE TO MEET AGAIN, KATSUKI OF THE BAKUGOS, I WILL WREAK UNIMAGINABLE HAVOC UPON YOU AND YOUR BELOVED WOMAN!"
The voice faded, its echo swirling upward into the sky, merging with the reddish hue that had overtaken the moon. Slowly, the fracture in its surface sealed, returning to its normal, ominous glow. As if released from its grasp, the bodies and debris crashed down with deafening finality. Tsuki's body, once glowing with unnatural brilliance, slowly dimmed, the pulsating light fading beneath her skin.
"TS—UKI!" Bakugo's voice cracked as he pushed through his agony, his arm outstretched toward her descending form. His trembling fingers wrapped around her wrist, and with the last of his strength, he pulled her into his embrace.
His chest heaved, his torn muscles spasming from the effort. His nostrils flared as a deep, shuddering breath escaped him. He cradled her tightly against him, his fingers threading through her blood-matted hair, his battered arm resting protectively on her lower back. His head hit the ground, his body finally yielding to exhaustion, yet a small, breathless laugh escaped him. Relief, raw and unfiltered, washed over him.
"I finally beat you," he murmured, voice cracked and barely above a whisper. "Idiot."
And for the first time in days, his entire body relaxed—broken, bleeding, but victorious.
...
Authors note: Sighs in beginning of resolution arc.
