Set Me Free

Chapter 20. The Monster Within

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"An eye for an eye will only make the whole world blind."

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Bakugou braced himself as Kirishima dropped into the fray, struggling to keep his balance as she rammed the catapults with all of her might. The red beast rammed her head into the largest of the machines and pushed with everything she had, but only managed to rock it. She didn't give up though; this was the only one big enough to launch those metal chains. If she did nothing else, this would be it.

Bakugou blasted off her back and used a full-power blast against the bastard that was lining her up with a ballista, taking out the wooden frame of the contraption along with him. They had redirected their forces to focus on Kirishima, and Bakugou could tell that this was going to be a pain in the ass.

"Hurry up, damn it!" The blonde gritted his teeth as he joined her, blasting rapidly at the machine alongside her. Kirishima forced her body to expand, and with newfound strength, she gave one final push. There was a moment of stillness before everything came crashing down.

She felt no joy in her triumph, and the burn in her chest was still unbearable. Her rage reignited as faceless soldiers readied their swords and spears. Her eyes stung as she fought to keep them wide and unblinking; every time her eyes closed, all she could see was Momo's lifeless form as she was carried away.

'Momo..."

Memories of the warm-hearted, raven-haired woman played in her head on an endless loop. However, it wasn't just Momo; they had treated her with more kindness than she had ever known possible. Yet, in the end, how had she repaid them?

No, she would explain everything. When this was all done, she would tell them the truth and explain why those murderers were wearing her scales. She would make it up to them—to Momo.

A small, sickening voice whispered in the back of her mind.

'If she still breathes'

She didn't know who started the fire, but everything began to burn.

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Bakugou cursed; he had lost a four-hundred-pound fire-breathing reptile. What the actual fuck had happened? He didn't know exactly what had been going through her mind, but it was like something had snapped.

The blonde hissed as sweat rolled into his eyes, and his skin prickled almost painfully with the scalding heat of the flames as they devoured the battlefield. It had taken great skill to not get swept up in the fury of the blaze, and he was increasingly thankful that the chaos was so deep into the fray that he didn't have to worry about anyone's skin but his own. He had doubts that many would have been able to survive such a vicious attack.

Their Red-Riot was truly living up to her name, and for the first time, Bakugou realised that she was a dragon, not only in name. The image of the chained beast in his memory was burned away forcefully when he finally locked onto the heaping mass amongst the scorching wall of fire.

"Holy shit." Bakugou blasted out of the way with hardly a breath to spare, watching as the place where he had been burst into flame. He was followed closely by the screams of the less fortunate, even the scaled armour unable to protect them from such overwhelming heat, leaving behind only the crimson gems they had so proudly adorned.

Kirishima was lashing out at anything and everything that moved as if she could no longer distinguish between friend and foe, and when he caught her gaze, he finally understood.

There was no longer any trace of her in those slitted crimson depths; what he found was something wild, almost feral in nature, and somehow he knew she was somewhere his words couldn't reach her. He lost her in more ways than one, and there was nothing he could do to help her; he could only trust that she would find her own way.

While he could not help her, he was not powerless; he would fight this battle by her side even if she didn't know it.

While Kirishima had lost all track of time and all sense of self, she wasn't all gone.

She had given herself over to her instincts, and what she had unleashed was a monster that she herself didn't recognise. What had happened to Bakugou? He was with her, wasn't he? She prayed that he was far away; she didn't want him to see her like this.

Her prayers went unanswered.

There he was in all his glory, seemingly unshaken as the flames devoured the world around him and unaware of the hail about to rain upon him as the best that called itself her kin took aim.

'Bakugou!' She screamed, but she knew he wouldn't hear her warning. Like a caged animal, she tore at herself from the inside as her own skin prepared to commit the gravest of sins.

Something changed within her as she tore through the veil and seized control once more, but it was too late. She could only watch in horror as her own power tore through the sky and collided with his years of battle-trained instinct, reacting in time to save himself from becoming one of her victims.

However, when the smoke cleared, she realised that it was not without cost.

From his fingertips to his shoulder, his arm was stained a deep black, cracks veining along the surface as the skin steamed in the place of once soft skin.

Monster.

The whispers of the many and of the fallen fell upon her ears as she witnessed the full extent of her rampage. Why had this happened?

Monster.

The man who had been her rock swayed on his feet before regaining his footing, and she wished she could see his eyes through his blonde hair, but all she could see was the pained clench of teeth and the sweat that ran down the side of his face.

Monster.

The final scathing taunt sent her into the sky with a mighty beat of her wings, so high into the sky that she felt a wicked chill to her bones, a cold that put out the fire in her blood but not in her heart.

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