An Unlikely Partnership~Tododeku

18~ To Carry On is the Hardest Part

Todoroki sank down to his knees, all of his muscles tensing up and locking him on his knees. The sight before him was life changing and horrifying. 

Midoriya had been bitten by the Chimera. Blood ran from his neck and shoulders onto the floor, pooling ominously around his legs. He had a vacant look in his eyes and the glimmers were not present anymore. 

Todoroki screamed in fury and sadness, ice spreading throughout the room, freezing the Chimera in place but avoiding everyone else. The frost hung in the air, agitated.

Kirishima turned to Bakugou for comfort and saw too, that the blonde was crying. Bakugou's orange eyes were brimming with tears that he couldn't hold back. It broke Kirishima's heart to see such a bold and confident figure break down.

Something in Zumishi clicked and she slowly walked towards Todoroki. "Todoroki... He's gone... He would've wanted you to carry on. I know I'm your enemy and everything, but I also lost someone very special to me in a fight like this. His last words to me were 'Carry on with your mission and do what you have to do'. My main reason for wanting this power is to bring him back. If you join me to get this power, you can bring Midoriya back too!"

Todoroki closed his eyes and sighed, the room dropping down another five degrees. "Fine... But if I feel you try to do something that will let you take over the world, I'll stop you. Deal?" He held out his hand for her to shake.

She smiled weakly. "Deal..."

Bakugou took Kirishima's hand and walked over to Todoroki. "Todoroki... I know you want to bring him back, but that's against the rules of life! You can't bring back the dead!"

Todoroki and Zumishi looked at each other and simultaneously muttered, "I wish that the rules could bend for this one thing with the power..."

Something blazed to life on the far wall. It read:

To change the rules you have succeeded,

Go on to revive what is needed.

Two allowances it shall make,

Death shall fall and they shall wake.

Face the next challenge and power you shall find,

Or will your goal make you very blind?

Here is your final and only clue,

Don't look deep or dark, but into the blue.

The words once again faded, leaving another doorway visible. Zumishi approached it, obviously eager to approach the next challenge. They all stared through the door for a few seconds before entering. 

As they stepped out, as usual, the door behind them disappeared into nothing leaving them with no way out.

Kirishima turned, looking for the next challenge, only to be met with a seemingly never-ending ocean. The depths of the water were dark and foggy, like a veil was floating over it. It was still and extremely quiet for such a large body of water. 

There was also a walkway running around the edge of the water. It stopped at a wall after a hundred meters. There was no path after that. 

Todoroki studied the water and his head whipped around when he thought he saw something moving. Without delay, he created an ice crystal and chucked it into the water as far out as he could. The others watched where it went closely. 

Something shot up from the depths and grabbed the ice, bringing it down under with it. Bakugou recoiled in horror. That thing had a human hand, a rotten human hand. 

"Todoroki..." Bakugou's eyes seemed almost fearful. "Throw another crystal, but this time keep it suspended over the water..."

Todoroki seemed confused but obliged, throwing another crystal that was suspended over the water with a stalactites. 

Again the thing appeared, but this time they were able to see what it was. Bakugou gasped, Kirishima recoiled in horror, Zumishi sank to the floor and Todoroki stood there, analysing it. 

It was a hand. A human hand. Grey-ish decaying skin and very bony. Todoroki shifted his weight back and forth between his two legs before creating a pillar of ice that brought the creature up. 

It was, in fact, a human. Zombie-like and horrifying, it's hands clawed at nothing, trying to drag something towards it. There was a tag on its hand. Zumishi being a person with very good eyesight was the one to read it out. "Body #2735 Kurai Itsuki."

A/n Kurai-san is one of my OC's.... He has light blue hair, blue eyes, really pale skin and is an elf... Soo...

"Oh my god..." Bakugou breathed out heavily, "These- These are real humans who... Were alive... Those who died in previous challenges get sent here to... Do whatever this is..."

"It's pretty horrifying when you think about it... Does that mean Midoriya is somewhere here too?" 

Todoroki flinched and turned away from the water. "We can't get into the water, those undead people would pull us down, no matter what we do. We can't create a bridge cause it's obvious they can jump and I have no idea how far this streches out."

Bakugou bounced on his heels. "Wasn't there part of the riddle that said don't look deep or dark, but into the blue?"

Kirishima nodded, looking around the area. "Yeah. I don't see where we could apply the into the blue part though."

Zumishi walked around the area, stopping and turning whenever she could walk no further. Her eyebrows were drawn close together and her black and white hair swung around her body. Sometimes she would stop and look around, as if she was a dog that was onto a trail, but then carry on like she'd lost it.

After a while of them watching her walk around, she had come up with a conclusion. "What if... What it means by not looking deep or dark... Like we're not supposed to look into the water of just have anything to do with it..." The heroes stared at her, confusion written everywhere. "You know- Like... The water is dark and very deep as far as we can see right?"

Bakugou nodded and Kirishima raised an eyebrow.

"So.. That would mean we can get out of here without having to cross the water! The clue is here, somewhere around this little dock thing..." Todoroki had re-joined the group and was squatting by the edge of the water.

Kirishima and Bakugou looked at each other, finally realising what she had meant. It all made sense. The water and the creatures were there to confuse them and distract them. 

"The hardest part would be for us to find what happens next right?" Bakugou crouched next to Todoroki, the two looking around the dock.

Kirishima poked his head over the dock edge and a gleam of gold flashed at him. "Todoroki! Can you create a layer of ice between the water and the bottom of the dock? I know it's not going to hold, but I only need it for two seconds."

Todoroki nodded and ice formed under the dock and Kirishima leaned over the edge, reaching for the item when he slipped and fell onto the ice. He tried to get up but slipped further out. To prevent Kirishima from falling further in, Todoroki expanded the area of the ice and created places for Kirishima to grab onto. Soon the red-head had pulled himself back to a position where he could reach the thing. Placing it onto the stable ground, he was about to climb up when something from the water grabbed his ankle, dragging him towards the water. Towards his death.

And all Bakugou could do was scream.