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All he could do was watch.
All he could do....was watch....as the building crumbled to the ground....and the remaining hope that he had in his heart, faded away.
The site of the villain attack was messy, and plenty of buildings had been very majorly damaged during the fight. Many heroes had been called to help with the aftermath and rescue mission; considering a certain Excavation Hero’s handiness when it came to shifting heavy loads, debris, and his wide knowledge of all the various structures, buildings and streets in Japan, it’s quite obvious that they would be some of the first called to the area that held the destruction.
But the clean up mission did not go to plan.
Oh god it did not go to plan at all.
Well, in most of the heroes eyes, it could not have gone worse...
—————————
Ectoplasm sighed as he picked up a large chunk of debris and carefully chucked it to the side, helping to clear a path for the other heroes.
His eyes stung from the dust. ‘What a mess....all these poor people.....their homes and families...’ he couldn’t help but let his mind wander slightly.
Yes, the tall man had been a hero for quite the long time, and had seen many scenes such as this one in front of him over the years of his hard career. But it always saddened him, seeing all those people that he, and many other heroes, failed to save.
Looking up, Ecto sighed again before walking over to the next pile of rubble that he needed to search and clear.
“Hruughhghhh what a fuckin’ mess....they really do like makin’ my job a lot harder don’t they?” A scratchy voice rang out through the communications device, the small earpiece crackling as the sound left it. “Though these ones seem to be pretty in tact so far so that’s a relief.”
Ecto smiled at the familiar voice that was complaining over comms and shook his head. Higari was always one for complaining about any little task he’d been given, but that’s just him being a grumpy little old man.
“Good to hear that everything’s alright on your end then, Higari.” He spoke into his earpiece, using his free hand to aid one of his own clones in lifting a large piece of concrete off of a young man’s leg, allowing other heroes to help him up.
“Yeah and we all know that he’ll be complaining about all of this from weeks to come, eh?” A particular cowboy hero chimed in, his exhaustion showing through the rasp of his voice....or maybe that was the hissing of the electronic.....eh, who knows?
Ectoplasm, Powerloader and Snipe. The three of them posted to different areas of the cleanup mission, however still managing to know exactly what expressions they each had plastered across their faces in response to each other’s remarks.
“Oi, quiet you!” Higari responded.
The other two could hear the rustling of his movements as he seemed to be escorting some rescued civilians out of the building he was in. They heard the small man mutter something about the amount of damage done to that building and something about the walls seeming quite.....they couldn’t quite catch the last bit.
“Hey! Hero! Over here!! Please, help us!!”
Just as he was about to say something, Ectoplasm was called over by a distressed couple who seemed to be trapped under some rubble. He rushed to go and help them, calling some other heroes to aid him in doing so.
A small sense of relief washed over him as he heard the familiar sounds of the police through the earpiece, coming from Higari’s channel. That meant he was outside and that he had managed to clear out all the civilians in that building...safely. Although, he still couldn’t shake this feeling that something wasn’t right.
“Hey, make sure you’re being careful...alright?” Ecto warned his mischievous mole of a husband as he looked up ahead, where he could see the buildings that Higari was patrolling.
“Yeah yeah, of course.....who’d ya take me for?” The scratchy voice replied, a hint of disbelief clear in his voice
“Hm...”
“With all due respect, Higari, we’re your best friends. And he’s also your husband......so it’s pretty safe to say we know you-” Snipe said with a overly informative tone, finding great amusement at pointing out the ginger-haired man’s over-enthusiasm when it came to accidentally blowing things up in and outside of his studio, before being cut off by him.
“Oh shush, I’m plenty careful!” Higari clicked his tongue and gave a roll of his eyes as he walked through the dusty hallways of the building he’d entered.
“Dear, sorry, but you once almost blew up the entirety of the faculty lounge just because you thought the ‘coffee machine’(which was actually the microwave) was broken...” Ectoplasm trailed off, the tone of his voice indicating that he could very much carry on with a list of semi-disastrous, chaotic and inconvenient mishaps that the small mole man had caused over the years.
“And don’t get us started on back in our days at UA-” The cowboy hero pitched in, his voice tinted with the mischievous intent of bringing back embarrassing memories of the past.
“-Okay, I get it! Ya got me there.” Higari interrupted him again. (Poor snipe, man, let the lil cowboy speak-) “Jeez.....you two ain’t ever gonna let me live those moments down, are ya?”
“Nope!” Snipe very cheerily exclaimed.
“Maybe if you took more care.......” Ecto started, pausing to hear a stifled snicker and a dismissive grumble, before continuing, “....then you wouldn’t have more of these little incidents for us to tease you with!”
Higari rolled his eyes yet again and shook his head. “Oh shush yer mouth, you....you an’ yer always being semi-right...”
Ecto hopped down from a boulder to help a small child retrieve their stuck Miruko plushie and gave a small frown of overdramatised disbelief. “Ahem? Semi?”
“Higari, what the fuck? You’ve gon’ killed him. You gotta admit that he’s right, dude, c’mon...” Snipe said with enthusiasm.
They did this very often. It was their little thing, easing any sort of tense situation with lighthearted banter and teasing. And it worked! Well....most of the time.
“Heheh.....ohhh sorry sorry~” Higari chuckled. “You’re always right, love, don’t worry I do know that very well.”
Ectoplasm smiled at his tiny husband’s little comment and gave the child, that was now hugging his leg tightly, a gentle pat on the head. “Aww, well I’m glad!”
“You two will never fail to be disgustingly adorable.”
“Oi!”
“Haha! Oh, but you love us really!”
“Unfortunately, yes.” Snipe shook his head with a smile. He couldn’t argue with that. The two of them were probably even closer to being called family to him than his own blood relatives!
After a few minutes of light laughter and helping to distract each other from the harsh reality of their individual tasks, they allowed the communications line to fall silent for a little bit, returning to intensely focusing on their work.
‘Dammit......something still isn’t right....’ the clone hero thought to himself. He felt uneasy.
The feeling in his stomach could only be described as a clouded glass of water, teetering over the edge of a high table.....if anything were to happen, it would go tumbling down. He was simply waiting...hoping, that it would not fall.....
And yet it did. The fragile glass came crashing down, the remnants of it burying itself deep within the floor that shattered it.
It started with a simple crack. Just a small crack. However, before they knew it, it had grown to be the abyss that led to the horror of the world collapsing in on itself.
“......this building feels a little.....off....”
The sound of his husband’s voice snapped Ecto out of his thoughts and he came back to his senses, before taking in the hesitant tone of Higari’s words.
“What...what do you mean ‘off’?” Snipe asked the question that Ecto was just preparing to ask, himself.
“I- well.....I dunno.....I just....can’t place it, it feels kinda unsteady...”
“Love, I think you should probably get out of there...” Ecto muttered, concern very clearly seeping out the cracks in his voice.
His suggestion was met with a small sigh. “Yeah...I know. The issue with that is there’s actually people in ‘ere too.....so I can’t right now.”
“Higari, Ecto’s right, I don’t think.....I don’t think it’s safe...” The cowboy hero mumbled, becoming a bit more worried as his friend continued to talk about the dodgy state of the building he was in.
“I’ll...guess I just have to be as quick as I can....as long as I can get these people out ‘n then evacuate....then.....should be fine, yeah?”
“Please be careful, Higari.”
“Yeah...”
—————————————
*Crack!*
An unsettling noise coming from the radio startled the clone hero, as he finished clearing another pile of rubble.
“What was that?” Ecto asked nervously.
“Oh no-” the wavering response from the excavation hero did not help the worry.
“What do you mean, ‘oh no’?” Snipe questioned, heart starting to race slightly as he pieced together the possibilities.
“I-”
*Creeaak*
“...shit-”
“Higari, what’s going on?” Ecto’s voice raised out of fear, his eyes darting up to where his husband was supposed to be.
“Oi.....” the cowboy hero broke off from the other pro heroes that he was previously talking to.
“Tell me that’s not what I think it is!”
“The building....” The other hero’s voice whispered out a fearful response.
*CRACK*
Higari dodged to the side as a huge chunk of the wall started to collapse beside him and the person he was helping.
“The building it’s- it’s-” he tried to stutter out an answer, his mind filling with all the fears and regrets of what could go wrong...and what could have gone right.
*CREAAAK*
Ecto clambered over the rocks that he was stood on top of as he realised what was going to happen.
“Oh my god....”
The sound of the building collapsing.
“Higari get out.”
“I need to get these people out of here!”
“Get out!!”
*Crash!*
The smoke and dust from the building, rising into the sky as the tall structure fell.
“I’m fuckin’ trying!”
“Higari!”
“I know!”
*Bang!*
The sight of the building crumbling apart.
“Dude get outta there now-”
“Higari, quickly!”
*CRASH*
The building was falling....
“It’s not gonna-*bzz*-gotta-“
“What?”
Falling....
“I-*bzz*-think it’s-*bzz*-no!”
“Higari, you’re breaking up, please fucking get out of there!” Ecto yelled down the line, tears threatening to fall as he scrambled towards the building.
“Shit-”
*CRACK*
Falling....
“Stuck-*bzz*-can’t-”
“No no no, Higari, no-”
“Shit- shit man, c’mon man, this isn’t happening-” Snipe covered his face in shock and terror, the knowledge that his friend was in there, eating away at his mind.
Falling....
“It’s not- not-*bzz*-budging-”
“It’s- it’s okay- you can- you can get out, please please get out-”
“Ecto-*bzz*-can’t-”
“No! No, you can- wait- please- I’m almost there- hold on!”
Falling....
“*bzz*-cto....sorr-*bzz*-y-”
“No nO NO-”
“SHIT-”
“HOLD ON-”
“Ec-”
*CRASH!!!*
......the building...fell...
————————————
Ectoplasm watched, paralysed in horror, as the building he was rushing to, crumbled to the ground, bringing half of the neighbouring buildings down with it.
‘No no no no-‘ his head spun as he forced his body to move forward, sprinting as fast as his body would let him as tears started streaming down his face in fear. ‘Higari, no, please-’
“Higari!” He coughed as the dust from the fallen building filled his lungs, his eyes taking in the sight of the demolished concrete that lay around him. “Higari, oh god, where are you-”
Clambering over the pieces of rubble, he scoured the sight for merely a glimpse of his husband, hoping - praying - that he was alright.
The line had gone silent as Ecto ripped out his earpiece, Higari’s side understandably silent and Snipe’s side unresponsive from sheer disbelief and fear.
“Higari!” Ecto called out, frantically searching through the pile of debris. “Higari, where are you!?”
He climbed further.
“Higari......” his voice croaked softly as tears continued to fall, “where.....where are you.....”
His head snapped up as his mind’s wailing was interrupted by a familiar flash of orange, hidden amongst the grey dust of the rubble.
His eyes widened, as he saw the Excavation hero shaking, his hands digging into the rocks as he weakly tried to pull himself up and respond to Ecto’s panicked words.
Ecto darted towards his husband in a panic, breathing his name in relief as he scrambled over the slightly bloodstained debris.
“..Ec....to....” Higari tried to call out as he watched his partner clamber towards him.
“Oh my god- Higari-” Ecto cried out, reaching out to his husband and placing his hand on his cheek. “I-I thought I lost you-”
“E-Ec....I...so-sorry...” tears spilled down the smaller man’s cheeks, leaving clear trails over the dust that had settled on his skin.
“No....please don’t- don’t apologise, love, it’s not your fault.”
Ecto cleared away the rubble that was keeping Higari trapped, and pulled him out, wincing at the awful state of the shorter man’s body as he held him closer in fear.
‘Just don’t leave me.....’ his mind screamed. ‘That’s all I ask....’
Higari wheezed as he tried to speak, the pain being unbearable already as he struggled to breathe, his whole body crushed under the weight of the fallen building.
His brain felt fuzzy. As if the dust from the rubble had settled in there too. It felt so different.....so different from Higari’s usually fast and witty mind. The mind that had saved so many lives from its quick deduction skills, a mind that had created so many things within the blink of an eye......now felt so...slow....so....sleepy.....
He reached up weakly and pressed his forehead against Ecto’s. This was their way of saying “I love you”....almost like their version of a kiss - in a way - but more gentle...and much more meaningful to them over the years.
“Echo....” his voice barely made any sound as he tried to speak to his husband.
The taller man looked down with sadness draped over his eyes. “Yes? What is it?”
The lighter haired man smiled weakly and lifted his hand to Ecto’s chest, his claws bloody and disfigured.
“D’ya....r-remem...ber.......how long...its....b-be..been....love?”
Ecto looked down to look at him, eyes softening as he held onto his partner’s hand, and noticing the wedding ring that was being clutched so tightly within it. He smiled, more tears rolling down his face as he looked back on their shared memories.
“....18....18 years.....” he whispered to the figure in his arms, “the most amazing 18 years of my life....sharing them with- with you, ‘gari.....”
Higari hummed, his eyes feeling heavy and his head spinning as he tried to move closer to the warmth of his husband’s arms.
“Y-yeah.......” his smile turned into a saddened frown. “18....years.......h-how I....wish....it could’ve be- been....longer....”
Ecto’s heart dropped at the words that came out of Higari’s mouth, his hands trembling as he knew that the person he loved couldn’t stay much longer. “No.....no, i-it can be! Higari- please, it can....please-”
Higari smiled another painful smile and gathered all his strength to whisper the last words he could probably ever say to his partner.
“...I-I’m..sorry, Ecto......I-” his voice collapsed on itself, his breath faltering him as he struggled to try and say more. He had more to say! No!
His mind started rushing and panicking as he realised his time was running out. ‘No, please!! Please, I can’t- I have so much more to say! Please- Ecto- no! I don’t...I don’t wanna go yet...please! Please......’
“Higari! No no no- please don’t go! Stay with me, please, Higari-” Ecto cried out in despair, clutching onto the smaller figure for dear life, as if that would keep him from leaving.
‘I don’t wanna go.....I don’t wanna leave you......’ Higari’s thoughts screamed out as his voice failed him, his hands clawing at Ecto’s cloak in pain.
“No! Please!!”
‘I can’t.....I can’t speak......I can’t breathe....please.....’
“Higari...” The taller figure weeped as he clutched the other, though he was interrupted by Higari’s hand reaching up and gently holding his face, drawing him down to make eye contact with his dying husband.
‘Ecto....I know you can’t hear me.......my words are no longer able to escape me.....’ Higari pulled himself together to smile at his partner, one last time, no matter how much pain he felt. ‘.....god- I just- I hope you know how much I love you........that will never change.......I don’t want to leave you.....but I guess- unfortunately........I have to........go.....’
Ecto whimpered softly as he looked into Higari’s eyes. He may not have been able to hear what he was thinking, but he knew what he was trying to say....and that shattered what was left of his already broken hope.
He watched as the light in his eyes flickered out like a candle fighting against a strong wind.
Higari’s beautiful grey-blue eyes that he’d gazed into so many times- the eyes that once held so much mischief, wonder, and creativity....so much life......now dark, hollow, and lifeless.
“Oh......no...Higari....no please........please.....” the dark haired man weeped in agony, holding his husband closely in his arms, his mind unable to process the horror of what had just happened.
He heard the broken sobs of their friend as he turned to see him arrive at the scene, his mask in his hands and pure pain shared in their eyes.
“......Higari.....it’s all my fault....oh god- I’m sorry.....”
All he could do was watch, as the building started to fall.
He placed his forehead against the other’s once more, shivering from the tears that shook his body. “....I’m sorry.....”
All he could do...was watch, as the life of the person he loved was slowly draining away....
“....why do you have to leave me....”
All he could do.....was watch....as the person he loved.......faded away in his arms.