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comicgeekscomicgeek · 3 years

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Their Hero Academia - Chapter 83: Of Sound and Wings

Continuing my nextgen MHA fic!

Earlier chapters can be found here

To say Toshi was worried was an understatement. While no one had said anything bad would happen if they lost the relay, that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to give it his all. Which meant he had to make sure he wasn’t going to let anyone else down either. And he was more than certain that, however the relay worked out, Aizawa and Uncle Kacchan would be using whatever he saw to help format their lessons going forward. Their teacher would just use any failings to push them all the harder.

He couldn’t allow his differences with Tatsuma to be the reason they failed. While there hadn’t been any more violence or any scuffles between the U.A. and Shiketsu students (Not even from Katsumi, which seemed to be a minor miracle in and of itself), there was still a strained feeling when some members of the two groups interacted. And Tatsuma had made a point of avoiding him.

He needed to be able to clear the air with the Shiketsu girl. Even if there was still bad blood afterwards, he needed to apologize and he needed to make sure that they’d be able to work together. Plenty of Heroes didn’t get along off the field but could put their differences aside enough to fight alongside each other. He would have liked to at least get to that point.

They had a few minutes before they had to start getting ready, so he sought her out, finding her standing alone. The other Shiketsu students looked to have already peeled off to find their respective U.A. partners.

“Ah, hey, Tatsuma,” he began. “Do you have a minute to talk?”

Tatsuma didn’t budge an inch. When she spoke she didn’t even turn around. “Later than I expected this to happen. The instructors have forced your hand.”

Toshi frowned and swallowed nervously. “You’re right,” he said. “I have been putting this off.” Not very heroic of him, really. “And the timing makes it look even less great than it already is.”

Best to just get it out there.

“I owe you an apology.”

She turned to look at him now. With her arms crossed and her stoic stance, it made her already tall figure even more imposing.

“For what?” The question is not one of confusion or lack of knowledge, but rather did he understand what he should be sorry about.

Toshi was of average height for his age, with maybe a few more inches to go, but the way Tatsuma simply towered over most people did nothing to ease the situation. “I was pretty insensitive when we talked near the beginning of the camp,” he began. “And didn’t do a good job of listening to what you were actually saying. It’s been pointed out that I don’t always see the privileged position my family gives me and I trivialized something very important to you.”

He looked up. “And for that, I’m sorry.”

Tatsuma listened, looking at him carefully before speaking. “Well I can’t find a realistic problem with your apology. So..thank you.” Her eyes narrowed a bit. “I’d argue it’s something many Heroes should see as important, but now is a pointless time to argue it.”

Toshi nodded. It was about as good a reaction as he could have hoped for. Tatsuma didn’t seem like the type to lash out violently, the way Katsumi might (Though in truth, Katsumi was always more bark than bite), but he’d been deeply afraid of making things worse. He was a Class Representative. He was supposed to be a leader, someone others looked to and who helped make things right, not someone who caused trouble with other schools.

“You’re not wrong,” he agreed. “I’ve grown up around enough Heroes, not just my family…” He winced slightly. A reminder of all that probably wasn’t the best choice of words. “But a lot of them question if they’re not good enough, if they’re not doing enough. And their failures stay with them too.”

Dad didn’t talk about it much. He wanted to keep a smiling face, especially for this family. But as Toshi had gotten older, he’d been more willing to talk about the lives he couldn’t save, the times he was too slow or too late. He’d wanted to impress upon Toshi that being a Hero could bring great joy, but that it would weigh you down too.

“I don’t know why the press or the public treated your mother differently. But she didn’t deserve that.”

For a time, he had had her attention. Maybe he’d gotten this right. Tatsuma was also a Class Rep. and as such she represented her school. As much as she may have wanted to show up UA, she had to know holding grudges like that weren’t good for anybody. And it was true that in the past, the rankings had led to a lot of damaging and toxic behavior. You just had to look at Izzy’s grandfather for that. But things were different now, right? But when he mentioned her mother, he suddenly felt the situation change, the hairs on the back of his next standing up.

Human life had started long after the dinosaurs had died out, despite what a lot of science fiction would have people believe. But if a man had been threatened by a t-rex, he was certain it would felt like what he was feeling now.

Toshi would later swear that he saw Tatsuma’s eyes go red. “Because of the damn rankings!” Smoke started to unfurl from her nostrils. “She fell from the all-mighty Top Ten! The heroes of all heroes! You think anyone says anything if someone drops a rank in the 20’s or 30’s? No, no one cares about their efforts. But if someone can’t cut being in the Top Ten-!” Her skin looked like a very thin layer of scales was forming.

“That's all my mother ever heard! ‘You couldn’t cut it.’ ‘Leave it to the men!’ ‘You weren’t meant to be among the elite!” All because of how the rankings portray what Heroes are supposed to be!”

She was now towering over Toshi now. “I won’t dismiss what your father has done for this country, or any of the others in the Ten, but if you can’t see how it has also harmed those who have done nothing but sacrificed-!” Her hands clenched. She was very, VERY close, then snarled and turned away.

“Seung’s worked too hard to keep her emotions in control. I can’t disgrace that effort.” Tatsuma let out a breath, a steaming hot one. “You’ll never get it. You’re too ingrained. I should probably just accept that.” She was quiet for a moment, before finally speaking up again. “What else did you want?”

To his credit, Toshi had managed to stand his ground during Tatsuma’s tirade, only taking a slight step backwards once. As it was, he could feel his heart pounding in his chest. “I’m sorry,” he began. “This is important to you, I can tell. And I’m sorry for the pain it’s caused you and your mom. What happened to her wasn’t right and wasn’t fair.”

He straightened up a little. Maybe this was too much meddling. But wasn’t meddling the job of a Hero? Tatsuma had so much anger in her, it was going to consume if she didn’t find a way to break it.

“And maybe I am too close to see some things. But I’m also close enough to a lot of things to see some of the details. When your mother started dropping in rankings, it was a different time. The world was still hurting from the loss of All Might and wanted its Heroes to be more perfect than they were, than they could actually be. I don’t know, can’t know, if that was the cause, but I’d be surprised if that didn’t have something to do with it. And none of that would make it right or fair if it did.

“But while I can’t quote you chapter and verse like Shota could, I can tell you that plenty of people have risen and fallen out of the Top Ten in the last decade or more, and only the trashiest and least reputable ‘news’ sources and commentators are bad mouthing them. Creati dropped down to Number Eleven a while back. And you know what she did? She congratulated Rodeo, who jumped up to Seven and knocked her ranking down.”

He frowned. “What happened to Ryukyu wasn’t right. I agree with you on that. And you’ve every right to be angry about it. But I don’t think it’s like that anymore.”

He shook his head. Maybe there was still something he was missing. But he had to try and bridge that gap. “But maybe you’re right. Maybe this is something we can’t agree on. But can we work together?”

She looked back at him. “If Ground Zero and Deku could learn to work together, it would be embarrassing and shameful if we couldn’t.” There is the vaguest hint of a smile. Maybe he’d said some of the right things. At least, he hadn’t made it any worse.

Toshi gave her a small smile of his own. “Oh, the stories I could tell you about that…”

***

The Rookies’ relay course was set up in the woodlands around their compound, virtually invisible from the treetops, but complicated once you got to it. There were bridges and swings, with complex structures built into the trees. The tree line itself was thick with trees and other vegetation, making it difficult to see where any attack might be coming from. Fortunately, their path was pretty straightforward.

“You got Tomodachi okay?” Inuzaki asked. He was ahead of Shota, in dog form, pausing every so often to sniff the air.

“Good enough,” Shota told him. The “civilian” they were rescuing was a training dummy, like the kind they used at U.A. It was about the size of an adult man and loaded with sensors that would tally up injuries and damage. They had immediately decided that he’d needed a name. Shota had him over his shoulders in a fireman’s carry. He didn’t need his arms free to use his Quirk, after all.

“He’s pretty heavy though!” Shota said. “Maybe he should run the course too!” He was in good shape—you couldn’t be in the Hero course and not be—but he wasn’t anywhere near as fit as Toshi, Kirishima-Bakugo, or Shoji. Even Inuzaki was in better shape than him when he was in human form. Still, his joke did get a laugh out of Inuzaki, so it was worth it.

Dad always said you had to take care of your body as much as your Quirk. Maybe he needed to start working out more. Toshi was always working out. But he got up so early to do it!

“Smell anything?” Shota asked.

Inuzaki stopped and shook his head. “Maybe. Lots of smells. I can smell people. Mostly the Rookies. They’ve been through here a lot. Might be trying to make it confusing.”

“Let me try,” Shota said. He took in a breath then started to unleash one of his sonar-screams, but stopped when Inuzaki started whining.

He cut the scream immediately. “What, what is it?” Shota asked.

Inuzaki winced. “Your scream hurt my ears,” he said, quietly. “It was like a knife through my skull!”

Crap! His Quirk and Inuzaki’s weren’t compatible? How were they going to do this? He had to scream to use his Quirk! When they got attacked, he’d have to use it! But if it hurt his friend, then what could he do? Maybe it was only certain frequencies?

“That’s only when you’re a dog, right?” Shota asked. “Change back for a second. I’ll get a quick look and then we can keep going.”

“Okay,” Inuzaki agreed. He stopped though, his back leg scratching at his ear. “Hang on, gotta scratch first.”

“Oh! How cute!”

The girlish voice seemed to come from nowhere. It could only be Ojiro! But where was she?!

Inuzaki sniffed. “Ah ha! Got you!” He jumped up and seemed to collide with something in mid-air. Ojiro reappeared as they hit the ground.

“Oh, dang it!” Ojiro cried out. She tried to get up, but Inuzaki’s weight was keeping her down. “I got distracted!

“Hold her still!” Shota said. They’d been given ‘capture cuffs’ so that they could harmlessly take their classmates out of the fight, though there was a good chance they’d have to do at least a little damage. He had some in his pocket, but he also had the dummy! Crap! What were they going to… Inuzaki changed back to his human form in a puff of smoke. He had capture cuffs too! Right. Why was he worried?

Ojiro was quick though, using that moment of transition to act. She brought her legs up, flipping Inuzaki over her, then sprang up to her feet. “So close!” she said. “But not quick enough!” Meanwhile, Inuzaki changed back to dog form in midair, landing easily. He and Ojiro circled each other warily.

Before he could help, the ground started shaking. Shota swallowed hard. He remembered now, one of Class 1-B had a vibration-based Quirk, didn’t she? Mio Yamaguchi, a dark haired girl.

The vibrations picked up intensely, knocking Shota off his feet. He hit the ground, twisting to minimize the damage to Tomodachi, but he knew he took at least a small hit. “Sorry, sorry, sorry,” Shota told the dummy. Carefully getting back to his feet, he looked around for any sign of Yamaguchi or anyone else. Behind him, he could hear the sounds of Ojiro and Inuzaki fighting.

He wanted to help. He really did. But if there was more trouble coming, somebody had to watch.

Doing the right thing sucked sometimes. But he had to trust that Inuzaki was going to be able to handle it. “Better hold your ears, Tomodachi,” he told the dummy. “It might get loud!” If he kept his powers really focused, hopefully he’d wouldn’t hurt Inuzaki either.

There. Yamaguchi stepped into view, looking beyond Shota. “Can’t you catch one dog, Ojiro?” she asked, sounding annoyed.

From behind him, Ojiro called out. “It’s really hard! He’s really fast!”

Yamaguchi rolled her eyes. “Okay, let me just take care of the kid and I’ll help.” She brought up both of her hands, unleashing vibrational waves that seemed to blur the air in front of her.

Dang it! Just because he was short and a few months younger, it didn’t mean he was a baby! Why did everybody treat him like he was a little kid!

“YOU’RE NOT GONNA STOP ME!” he shouted, clenching his fists. He unleashed his Quirk, turning a shout into a broad sonic wave. His wave met Yamaguchi’s vibrational blast in mid-air, where there was a small explosion of air as the two different waves hit each other, before his own caused hers to dispense. Somewhere behind him, he heard Inuzaki yelp. He just prayed his new friend could hold on.

“What?” Yamaguchi said. “How’d you do that?”

Shota grinned. “I canceled out your vibrations with my own!” Maybe not as good as Uncle Shota’s Erasure, but his sonic vibrations could stop hers well enough.

Again and again, Yamaguchi threw her vibrational blasts at him, but Shota kept canceling them out. Her vibrations were at least as strong as his sonics. Keepings up that kind of pace, matching vibration with vibration, was making his skull rattle. Even without the blasts hitting him, he could practically feel the vibrations in his bones. Even though he wasn’t used to fighting someone with powers even a little bit like his own, he was holding his ground, but if he didn’t do something, he was sure to lose!

“Okay, that’s it…” Yamaguchi said. A look of annoyance crossed her face. “Guess it’s time to bring down the house!” Her eyes narrowed and she brought both hands together and pointed them down, ready to unleash another vibrational blast. The air was practically humming as she charged up her power. He had to do something… now!

Shota took in another breath and screamed, hitting the ground under Yamaguchi with a carefully modulated sonic pulse. While he mostly used his Quirk for purely destructive sonic screams, he could do so much more than that depending on the frequencies he hit. Everything from sonar to force fields to all kinds of other effects. In this case, he could hyper-agitate molecules causing…

An explosion! It wasn’t a big one, but the ground underneath Yamaguchi exploded, knocking her off her feet and several feet back. As she landed, Shota rushed over, unclipping one of the capture cuffs from his belt. Yamaguchi was still trying to get her bearings when he slapped one end on her wrist and then the other.

“All right!” he cheered. “Got you!”

Yamaguchi just stared at him, then rolled her eyes. “Monoma’s never going to let me hear the end of this.”

Shota wondered why Monoma would give her a hard time. She tried her best!

“Oh, dang it! This is so unfair! How you can you be this cute and this tough?! IF YOU WERE CLOSER, I’D GIVE YOU SUCH A SMACK!”

Shota’s attention was instantly drawn to where Inuzaki had managed to corner Ojiro. She’d climbed up into a tree, and Inuzaki was back in dog form, circling the bottom of it.

Inuzaki transformed back to his human shape. “Can you get her down? I’m not so good with climbing.”

Shota nodded. “Let me try this one…” He let lose another scream, shifting the pitch a bit. This time, when his sonic attack hit the tree, it began to shake and vibrate violently, but it didn’t explode.

“Nnnnnnnoooo fffffaaaaiiiirrrrr,” Ojiro wailed. She was struggling to hang on and ultimately lost the fight. She fell, landing flat on the ground. “Ouch…” She held her up arms. “Just cuff me already.”

***

They’d probably gone another two kilometers, easy. Shota wasn’t really good with eyeballing distances. Every now and then, they’d trade off, with Inuzaki resuming his human form so he could carry Tomodachi and so Shota could scan the area with sonar. But the forest was so thick with trees and everything else, it was hard to see anything that way. Buildings were a lot easier.

“How much further?” he asked. He was pretty sure they’d been told how far they had to travel for the hand-off, but he may not have been paying the best attention.

“About another couple kilometers,” Inuzaki said. “I think. Everything looks bigger from down here.”

Not too much farther then. But there were definitely more of his classmates or schoolmates out there, waiting for them. Unless they were really dogpiling the other teams, there had to be at least one, maybe two more coming after them. Even Shota could do that kind of math.

“Do you smell anything?” Shota asked. It hadn’t worked so well last time, not with all the other smells in the forest, but maybe they’d get lucky.

Inuzaki made a weird face, one which looked even stranger on a dog. “I smell something,” he said. “Like ink, maybe?”

“Oh!” Shota said. He knew who that was! “Fukidashi!”

“The cartoon girl?” Inuzaki asked. He sounded a little annoyed, which was surprising, given how well he got on with everyone. “I tried talking to her a few times, but every time I did, she just kept going on about how cute I was. Just like the invisible girl. It got old really fast.”

Shota frowned, looking around. Where could she be? His eyes fell on a strange looking patch of ground. “Do you see that?” he asked, pointing.

“Is that patch of ground a different color?” Inuzaki asked, curiously.

Shota bent down and grabbed a stick from the ground. Getting back up with Tomodachi on his shoulders was tricky, but he managed it. He gave the stick a toss towards the patch of ground.

The stick hit something, making a small thunk sound. Instantly, Anime Fukidashi sprang from the patch on the ground, partially covered in leaves and dirt. “Aw,” Fukidashi said as she landed. “How did you know?!”

“The ground was a different color,” Inuzaki said. He bent down low, ready to pounce.

“Dammit!” Fukidashi yelled. Her head somehow got larger as she yelled, becoming larger than the rest of her body. “Betrayed by the drawing on the animation cell!”

Inuzaki looked over at Shota. “Is she all right?” he asked. Shota just shrugged. Even he and Toshi had no real idea how her Quirk worked or how it affected her.

Before any of them could act, suddenly, something snaked around Tomodachi, yanking him off Shota’s shoulders! There was Kaminari, coming out of the bushes behind Fukidashi, her Cords wrapped around the dummy and dragging it towards her. He could even see a few sparks dancing across her Cords and areas of the dummy lighting up as it registered damage.

“Nice job being the distraction, Fukidashi,” Kaminari said. Her expression turned slightly apologetic. “Sorry Shinso, but you’re not winning this one.”

He couldn’t get in a good sonic blast with her holding Tomodachi like that. He was in the way and she could still shock him either way. “Aw, c’mon, Kaminari,” he said sadly. “We gotta win this one! Everybody’s counting on us! I don’t want to disappoint everybody! I just… I just gotta…”

Her face fell as he talked. There. There was his moment. “Aaaaah!” Shota let out a shout, a regular one, and charged, tackling Kaminari about the middle and knocking her to the ground. He hated tricking her like that, but if everybody was going treat him like a little kid, then maybe he should take advantage of that. He landed on top of her, with his head on her… He jerked his head up quickly!

Kaminari’s Cords reflexively reeled in when he tackled her, but as she soon as she was able, her Cords poked into his back and unleashed a jolt of electricity. It wasn’t a strong shock, just enough to make him release his grip, but it still hurt. Shota let out a cry of pain and let go, as Kaminari shoved him off her. As he hit the ground, he could see Fukidashi trying to hit Inuzaki with a comically oversized hammer.

“Dang it!” Fukidashi yelled when her latest hammer strike failed to hit Inuzaki. “Why won’t the music change? Isn’t he a comedy character?!”

Kaminari, meanwhile, was back on her feet, heading for Tomodachi again. She was too close! If he missed with a sonic blast, he’d hit the dummy. But he’d been working hard on his Quirk all through the camp. And Bioshock helped him figure out some other pitches he could use. If he could go high, Bioshock had said, he could go low.

Infrasound.

He opened his mouth and pitched his sonic power low, buffeting Kaminari with waves of low-frequency sound. She stopped in her tracks, suddenly clutching her stomach. She wobbled on her feet, before falling to her knees, throwing up. Shota was already on his feet, running past her. “Sorry!” he called out. “It won’t last long, I promise! Sorry! Sorry! Sorry!”

As quick as he could, he hoisted Tomodachi over his shoulders again.

Inuzaki had Fukidashi cornered now, growling. She let the hammer fall from her hands and it vanished as soon as it let her fingers. “Sure, now the dramatic music plays.”

Inzuki reared up and hit Fukidashi hard with both front paws, knocking her to the ground. She hit her head on the ground and laid there, stunned, with little cartoon birds floating around her head.

Shota definitely didn’t understand how her Quirk worked.

“C’mon,” he said, moving as fast as he could. “They won’t be down for long!”

He and Inuzaki ran. Soon enough, he could see Kocho and Shida waiting up ahead, standing next to a small sign that clearly marked the second leg of the relay.

They’d done it!

***

Shinso and Inuzaki had definitely looked worse for wear by the time they’d arrived and handed off the training dummy (Which they’d named, for some reason.) to Koharu and Shida. The two had spun a tale of being ambushed twice, but had managed to successfully fight their way through. It gave her a good idea of what to expect. There would probably be at least four attackers then, though there might be more. She’d done the math. There weren’t quite enough students for a totally even split.

At least for now, Shida was carrying the dummy. With her spider-legs carrying her in a way that reminded Koharu a lot of how Shoji traveled with his own Quirk, she was able to hold the dummy in her arms and remain mobile. Koharu herself was flapping her wings, floating just a bit above ground level. That way, if they needed to engage, she wouldn’t waste any time on a takeoff. The forest canopy, for now, meant moments to fly really high were going to be few and far between, but there was enough space between the trees that someone could still fly under it.

And flying above the canopy had been strictly prohibited. Even if it wasn’t against the rules, there were several other students with flight Quirks and it was likely at least one of them would be playing the Villain for their leg of the relay. And she’d be leaving Shida behind if she did that, which seemed like it would defeat the purpose of the exercise.

None of which did anything to quell her body’s primary panic at the spider-like aspects of the Shiketsu girl. Given there were spiders that ate moths, it was a natural reaction for animal-type Quirks like theirs. She was getting better at it than when the camp had started, though. It helped that the other girl was incredibly nice (and, she admitted with a blush, rather cute), but her instinctive reaction was still just below the surface.

On the plus side, the two of them were going to be incredibly hard to sneak up on. Between Shida’s multiple-eyes and her own antenna, they had a range of extra-sensory perception.

“See anything?” Koharu asked quietly. Her antennae weren’t giving her any good information, unless you counted knowing where several squirrels and more than a few birds were.

“Not yet.” Shida said. If she’d noticed that Koharu tended to keep her distance from her, she didn’t let on but she seemed happy enough to be working with her. Her six eyes glanced about in multiple directions. “I doubt that will be the case much longer.” It didn’t help that she wasn’t sure where exactly to look. Knowing who the “Villains” were would have helped, but Heroes seldom had a heads-up.

“Me neither,” she replied. But Shida was right. Sooner than later was to be expected.

It didn’t take long for that sooner to become now. There was a great cracking sound and one of the trees fell, blocking the way forward for a moment. Someone strong then, or maybe Kaniyashiki from 1-B with her scissor Quirk? But even then, between her ability to fly and Shida’s legs, it would only slow them down for a minute. So what was their enemy’s plan?

A sound like jet engines told her what it was: a distraction!

Faster than a bullet, one of the Iida twins--Sora, she realized--blasted through the air right towards them. She was fast enough that Koharu couldn’t react in time to stop her, only to get out of the way. Iida stuck an arm out as she flew past, grabbing the arm of the dummy Shida was carrying as she tried to rocket away.

Like Koharu, Shida hadn’t seen Sora coming. She’d told Koharu before they’d set out that, while spiders had six eyes, their sense of sight actually wasn’t all that strong. She could see more than most people, but only by volume, not by magnification. There was no way either of them should have been able to see her coming in time. But somehow, Akira’s second-from-the back left spider-leg to shot out in a reflexive strike.

It was a solid strike, enough to send the Iida girl flying off course, slamming head first into a tree trunk. She still had the dummy though, which made things complicated. Already, she was scrambling back to her feet, although quite unsteadily. Koharu spat a blob of String Shot at her, pinning her to the tree with a mass of sticky strands stronger than steel.

“How did you do that?” Koharu asked, unable to keep the amazement out of her voice.

Shida bowed her head slightly and smiled. “My leg hairs. They’re very sensitive to vibrations. It’s a bit of an instinctive reaction to danger like that.”

“This is excellent tensile strength,” Iida said, as she struggled to break free. She sounded impressed. Koharu could hear the other girl’s Jetpack engines firing, but for the moment, her String Shot held. “I would love an opportunity to examine this at a later date! The uses are practically unlimited!”

“Sister!” a voice called out. It had to be Tensei Iida. “As much as I am in agreement with you, now is hardly the time for scientific curiosity!”

“It is always the time for curiosity, little brother!”

“I have asked you to stop calling me that!”

“Maybe you two could have this discussion another time?” Another voice asked. It was Shoji. He sounded very, very tired. Koharu didn’t blame him. The Iidas were very nice, but they could also be exhausting.

Shoji dropped down from between two trees, using his extra arms like spider-legs, free-falling the last few feet to land with a slight thud. Tensei Iida, meanwhile, dropped down with a series of shot Jetpack bursts to slow his fall. Both of them were between Koharu and Shida and the dummy.

She shot Shida a quick glance. “How long can you hold your breath?” she whispered. Iida and Shoji were playing defense for the moment, watching them.

“That’s a complicated answer with my mixed body. But I can “hold it” long enough. What are you planning?” Koharu remembered, vaguely, that spiders didn’t breathe in the same way as some animals, but she didn’t know how that applied to the spider-girl.

“I can drop a sleeping powder from my wing scales,” Koharu said quickly and quietly. Shoji was eying them warily, all six of his arms up in a fighting stance, while Tensei Iida attempted to free his sister and the dummy without success. “If I can cover a wide enough area, I can knock them out. Iida’s crazy fast and Shoji’s crazy strong. Probably the best chance we’ve got.”

“Hmm, I could use my legs to lift my body above the powder. Plus I should be able to use my leg hairs to feel the vibrations of where they might move even if I can’t see them,” Shida suggested.

Koharu nodded. These were all Hero students with months of training that she simply didn’t have. And many of them had even more than that, coming from Hero families. Neither side here had a full understanding of what the other could do, so evening out to neutral was the closest they had to an advantage. “Let’s do it.”

She flapped hard, gaining height and propelling herself forward towards the boys, already releasing her Sleep Powder from her wings. Down below, Tensei Iida looked up and let out a cry of alarm, while Shoji moved towards Shida, his top pair of extra arms stretching out to grab at her.

Shida saw Shoji heading for her, scanning above herself with her uppermost eyes. Staying on the ground was a bad idea as she had no idea how strong Shoji really was. She bent her legs, took a moment to look Shoji in the eyes, and gave the six-armed boy a wink that Koharu would have called flirtatious, before her legs suddenly unbent and sent her flying up into the air. Shooting well up past the smaller trees, Shida extended several of her legs to pierce and grab onto the nearest larger specimen. Others of her legs lashed out at Shoji.

Shoji dodged out of the way of the initial strike, pushing himself to the side with his lower set of arms. “Good reflexes,” he said, his voice smooth, like silk. He craned his neck to follow Shida, top arms extending out at her, but his maximum extension wasn’t enough to get him close.

Meanwhile, having recovered from his initial shock, Tensei Iida was rocketing into the air. He was a major threat, though without the armor and support equipment Koharu had seen him use during the final exam, possibly slightly less of one. And she had the advantage in maneuverability.

She flapped hard as she flew, releasing her Sleep Powder from her wings until the air was filled with the orange powder. Iida got the worst of it, flying directly into the cloud of it. He coughed and sputtered and was out almost immediately. Which meant that his Jetpack cut out and he started falling like a stone. Koharu cursed and went into into a dive, catching him in midair by grabbing his wrists. She let loose a cry of pain as her jerked to a stop. It felt like her arms were being torn from their sockets!

“Dammit,” she hissed. Iida was heavy, muscular and compact. She could just about manage to carry her own bodyweight when flying, but he was definitely heavier than she was. She dropped down low and released him, letting him hit the ground. He’d gotten more than enough powder that he didn’t wake up.

Shoji, meanwhile, was still standing. She’d had to stop spreading her powder to keep Tensei from dropping and he hadn’t gotten nearly as big a dose. His arms lashed out again, grabbing her wrists!

It had been a gamble that she’d be able to drop Shoji, especially as big as he was and as little powder as she’d been able to release. She was glad Shida had her back. As soon as she’d seen Koharu drop down to save Iida, the spider-girl had already been making her way down the tree when Shoji extended his arms to grab Koharu.

She watched as Shida did her best to land from an angle that she hoped was in Shoji’s blind spot. Her legs made surprisingly little noise when they were in motion, and she sped toward the big, six-armed boy. When close enough she extended her two front legs and brought them in a scything motion toward the back of Shoji’s knees.

Shoji was a big guy, which made him a pretty big target. The blow from Shida knocked him down, bringing him to his knees and making him release Koharu. Looking over his shoulder, he tried to swat at Shida with his Extendo-Arms, but the move was awkward and uncoordinated. Koharu used the moment to escape, taking to the air again. She swung out with her legs, striking Shoji upside the head. The blow wasn’t enough to put him down, but it did spin his head around. He looked back and forth rapidly, now caught between her and Shida.

Shida dodged Shoji’s clumsy blows easily, her eyes and leg hairs giving her incredibly reaction time to his attack. She used her four back legs as a brace as she used them to hold herself in an almost standing position. She launched her remaining arms at Shoji, each attempting to strike at the arm joints of his extended arms.

When it came to extra-appendages, Shoji was definitely unarmed by comparison to Shida. Even as he’d been able to turn to face her, her spider-legs struck home, nailing him in each of his Extendo-Arms. The silver-haired boy let out a cry of pain as his arms retracted, snapping back with a strange, stretching sound that was more than a little nauseating.

He’d done a remarkable job of staying upright, but between the pain from Shida’s attack, the blow to the head, and the whiff of sleep powder he’d gotten earlier finally making its way through his system, Shoji went down, slowly sliding to his knees and then to the ground.

They’d done it! Three hero students, and they’d managed to beat all of them! She’d even managed to take out two! Of course, Shida was also a Hero student, so that evened the playing field a little, but still!

“Let’s get the dummy,” Koharu said. It should still be where they left it, next to Sora Iida. She quickly glanced in that direction. The other girl was asleep. She must have gotten enough Sleep Powder too. Koharu stopped, her antennae moving rapidly. There was something stirring up a lot of air.

Anything Shida might have said was cut off as something swooped down and slammed into her. Rough, clawed feet grabbed her shoulders and she felt herself being carried into the air. It had to be Hizashi Koumori, the bat-like member of Class 1-B.

“Sorry, Kocho,” he said. “Totally most heinous to do the sneak attack, I know, but we gotta win this one!”

Just before Koumori had grabbed her, Koharu had seen Shida briefly give herself a smile of triumph. That had abruptly ended when Koumori struck. Koharu could see Shida move on instinct to try and help, but she stopped, as though remembering what Koharu had told her. They needed to get the dummy. Shida cursed quietly before heading over to Sora to grab it. With any luck she’d be able to secure it and get back quick enough to help.

But Koharu couldn’t count on that. She needed to do whatever she could to try and free herself.

It was the element of surprise that had let Koumori grab her. He was bigger and stronger than her, to be sure, but all he had was his feet around her shoulders. Her wings were still free. And he wasn’t rocket-powered like the Iidas. He was as dependent on muscle power and flapping for flight as she was, which meant his flight was a lot easier to disrupt. She flared her own wings out, spreading them wide. It attacked like an immediate drag chute, jerking Koumori back.

“Whoa!” he cried out. Reflexively, he released his grip on her as he sailed back. That was all she needed. For just a moment Koharu let gravity grab hold, then flapped her own wings, diving back toward the ground.

Just as suddenly, however, she was hit by what felt like a solid wall of force that set her bones rattling and seemed to echo through her skull. Flailing, she started falling again. It was hard to think clearly, everything was spinning…

Clawed feet grabbed her again, this time grabbing her legs. “Sorry about the sonar, dudette,” Koumori said. He did sound genuinely apologetic. She knew he was pretty mellow guy most of the time, though how mellow tended to change with how awake he was. “I’ll have you down in a second.”

No! She had to prove herself! She couldn’t lose now! “No,” she said, “I’m sorry… for this!” With his grip on her legs, she flapped her wings just once, giving herself just enough ot a push to swing upward, slamming both of her fists into his snout! Koumori let out a cry of pain and released her again. This time, she flapped and kept herself into the air, but hit him with a blast of String-Shot, pinning his arms--and more importantly, his wings--to his sides. A pang of regret shot through her as he dropped like a stone. Koumori was even bigger and heavier then Iida. There was no way she could keep him from falling…

Koumori, at least, was awake. He twisted in the air, trying to break free from her String-Shot, but hit the ground hard, letting out a soft moan, his eyes fluttering. That looked like it had hurt. Maybe she’d make it up to him back at U.A. with a fruit smoothie from her stash of exotic fruits.

Koharu landed next to him, bending down to make sure he was okay. Kuomori was still breathing and it didn’t look like he had any major injuries. Didn’t look like that had felt good, but it looked like he’d be fine.

It wasn’t the first time she’d had to hurt someone. She’d sparred with friends and fought in the Sports Festival and trained against others here at the camp.

It didn’t mean it felt good. Maybe Park had been onto something about children fighting like this…

Shida skittered to a stop next to her, the dummy safely in her hands. “That was amazing, Koharu! I came as quickly as I could, but it turns out you didn’t need it.” Skida smiled, but frowned slightly; she must have noticed the disturbed look on Koharu’s face. She frowned, all her eyes narrowing in concern. “Are you okay?” She didn’t specify if what troubled her was physical or mental, but there was something in her voice that suggested this wasn’t the first time she’d seen someone react like this.

Koharu shook her head. She had plenty of options that didn’t involve hurting people when it came to takedowns. Maybe she could learn to focus on that. But she’d have to fight anyway if she followed her dream and became a Hero. But what did that mean for now?

Maybe those were questions for another day.

“Just thinking about something your friend said,” she told Shida. “But c’mon. We can talk about that later. Let’s get this thing to the next marker.”

These were definitely questions that needed answers. But for now, she’d faced one of the first major challenges of her Hero training and she’d come out on top.

For now, that was good enough.

#my hero academia #their hero academia #fan fiction #fan fic #shota shinso #koharu kocho #toshi midoriya #my writing

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comicgeekscomicgeek · 4 years

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Their Hero Academia - Chapter 50: Things Go Beyond

Presenting a special, extra-length 50th chapter, raw and unedited, of my on-going, next-gen, My Hero Academia fic, Their Hero Academia!

Earlier chapters can be found here

Koharu could still not believe the direction her life had taken. She’d gone into the Sports Festival with the hope that she could impress the teachers enough to make it into the Hero Course for the second year. She never would have expected to have gotten Third Place. And she definitely never would have expected that, as a General Education student, even one who made Third Place, or that she’d be Interning with Deku, and also with the Voice, Hitoshi Shinso, golden boy of the General Education department.

Now, the Internship was nearly over. She’d learned a lot from everyone, including from her future comrades in the Hero Course, Isamu Haimawari and Toshinori Midoriya. The former was working with Deku as well, but like her, he had no Hero legacy of her own. It made her feel a little less alone in all this. Midoriya, on the other hand, was Deku’s son, and working with Lemillion, who, along with Glamour and Deku’s main Sidekick, the Shield, had also been participating in their mentorships. With so much attention being paid to them, she couldn’t help but feel a little unworthy of it all.

It just meant she’d have to work that much harder to prove herself.

She stepped out of the locker room after having changed into another gym uniform (Checking on her costume was the first step when she got back to UA.), when she heard a voice calling her name. Deku and Lemillion were supposed to be going on patrol together today and taking the three of them with them. Sure, since she wasn’t in the Hero Course yet, she hadn’t been allowed to do any fighting, but the off-patrol training regime had more than made up for it.

“Ah, Kocho! There you are!”

She looked up to see Lemillion coming her way. “Oh, Mister Togata, sir,” she said. “I’m not late, am I?”

He shook his head. “Oh, no, I just wanted to talk to you for a minute. And you don’t have to call me Mister Togata. Lemillion’s fine. Or even Mirio if you want. I’m easy.”

“Oh, okay, sure. What’s up?”

“Well, you see, I’ve got a son about your age, David, he’s in the Support Course. He’d probably kill me if he knew I was talking about this, but, well, he had a break-up with his last girlfriend, and…”

Okay, she definitely wasn’t expecting that. Koharu quickly held up both hands. “Sorry, Mister Togata. Lesbian.” Not that she’d been doing much thinking in that regard. All her focus had been on the Sports Festival. And now it was all on getting herself up to Hero Course standard.

He didn’t miss a beat. “Oh, okay! You’re probably a little young for my daughter, though. And I’m pretty sure she’s already sweet on someone, even if she won’t tell me…”

What was happening? Pro-Heroes had seemed so… distant before, even the ones who seemed personable on camera. Who knew they were as human and strange as everyone else?

***

This was officially the best week of Isamu’s life, and that was counting the fact that he’d won the Sports Festival the previous week. Working with the Number One Hero—Deku!—had been a dream he’d never have thought possible. He’d trained harder than he ever had before and more than a few small children had actually recognized him while they were on patrol. Sure, he’d been overshadowed by Deku in that regard, but who wouldn’t have been?

He’d even gotten to take down an actual Villain. Nothing fancy, just some guy with a Grasshopper Quirk turned purse snatcher, but Deku’d actually let him do the takedown. He’d been able to anticipate where the guy was going to jump, use his own Quirk to repel himself into the air, then come down and knock him right off his feet.

Maybe it wasn’t taking down the League of Villains or anything, but it was pretty good all the same.

Their patrol must have been quite the sight to the people down below. Lemillion parkour-ing from rooftop to rooftop, Midoriya doing his gravity-jumps to do the same thing, Deku actually flying, Kocho flying along with her wings, and him, doing his Slide and Glide, occasionally adding an extra-burst to launch himself to the next roof. But as Deku said, the public visibility was good. Made people feel safe, watched out for, and let the Villains know they were out there.

Deku landed on the edge of the next rooftop and waited for the rest of them to join him, before breaking into a grin. Isamu had seen him interviewed countless times and knew he smiled easily, but seeing it in person was something else entirely. It was entirely genuine, no pretention about it. He’d seen the man gush easily, about his friends, about his family (especially about his son), even about the progress he and Kocho were making.

But he’d also seen him turn serious in a heartbeat. Earlier in the week, when a Villain with a strength-enhancing Quirk had appeared, trying to knock down a tower, Deku had given him a chance to surrender, not wanting to fight if he didn’t have to. When the Villain had retaliated, Deku had been absolutely swift in his response, first binding him with black coils of energy, then using a single Detroit Smash to knock him out. The man had been threatening innocent people. Isamu understood the need for swift action there.

And just as immediately, Deku had returned to grinning, assuring everyone that everything was okay. And to everyone watching, it was.

That was the kind of Hero that Isamu wanted to be.

“Okay,” Deku said, “we’re here. I took patrol to this part of the city for a very important reason.” Whatever it was, he seemed excited. Practically vibrating, even. Isamu didn’t have a lot of personal experience to form a baseline of Deku’s behavior, but this typically seemed to accompany talking about another Hero or a Quirk.

“Wait,” Midoriya said. He rubbed his chin with his hand. “It’s Saturday, right? So that means…”

Kocho looked at him, with a confused expression. Isamu shook his head, because he had no idea what was going on either.

“That’s right!” Deku said. He gave his white cape a dramatic flick and pointed to the street below. A storefront with a multicolored awning was down below, part of a fairly expansive building. “It’s the grand opening of Herotopia Ice Cream! One hundred and fifty Pro Hero themed ice cream treats!”

Lemillion let out a laugh at that. “Oh, man, I can’t believe I forgot! I bet I’m delicious!”

***

It was, fortunately, early in the morning, so most people weren’t out for ice cream yet. In fact, it made them the first customers of the day. Despite the owner’s protests, Dad had insisted on paying, and then they’d all occupied a back booth. Toshi, like Dad, had gotten Dekulicious ice cream, which was a swirl of green, red, black, and white. He wasn’t entirely sure what each of those flavors was supposed to be, but it all combined to be pretty good.

Uncle Mirio had gotten his own flavor, Lemonillion. “Not a huge lemon fan,” he admitted, “but their hearts are in the right place. And I like the pun!”

“If they want to start marketing this for more retail spots, I am definitely talking my dad into stocking it,” Haimawari said. He’d gotten a cone of Red Cherry Riot.

“Definitely amazing,” Kocho said, between sips of her Pinky Acid Shake. Toshi’d been a little worried that she wouldn’t be able to find anything on the menu, but he should have known Dad wouldn’t have brought them there if that was the case. “Appreciate it, Mister Midoriya.”

Dad just grinned at that. “I keep telling you, you don’t have to call me that.”

Kocho shrugged. “Sorry. Can’t really turn off the politeness. Mom would track me down and smack me.”

Haimawari laughed at that. “My mom’s the same way. Of course, I think she just likes smacking things. Does that to Dad often enough. Kind of like Ojiro actually.”

“She did try to do that to Sero back at the festival,” Kocho agreed. “Is that normal?”

“Aaah, yeah, kinda,” Toshi admitted. “As far back as I can remember, anyway.”

Ojiro did have a tendency to strike out when she felt frustrated, usually at Sero or Sato, but she’d never done them any serious harm. She was just an expressive person. Which, Toshi supposed, was a thing you had to do when you were invisible.

“So,” Dad asked Kocho, “did they give you any idea which of the Hero Courses they’re going to put you in?”

The moth-girl shook her head, a movement exaggerated by her antennae. “No clue,” she said. “And I’m technically not in yet. Still have to finish this semester, pass my exam. And I still don’t know what other criteria they’re using to determine if I get in.”

She extended her proboscis and slurped up some of her shake before speaking again. “Though I’m guessing you or Mister Shinso or both are giving them some kind of report card beyond whatever usual Intern evaluations get done.”

That got a laugh out of Uncle Mirio. “Oh, she’s smart.”

Dad laughed too. “Pretty standard Intern review form, actually” he said. “Though Nezu and Aizawa did ask more in-depth feedback than usual.”

Wait… if Mister Aizawa was asking for feedback. “Dad?” Toshi asked.

Dad’s eyes went wide. “I talked about Aizawa, didn’t I?” He started shaking in his seat. “Oh no, oh no, oh no, he’s gonna kill me!”

“See?” Haimawari said. “See? This is why I know he’s scary! Even Deku’s afraid of him!”

Toshi did have to admit that their teacher could be scary and was super serious even at the best of times, but he was also an incredible teacher who clearly cared a lot for them. Dad, Mom, all his parents’ friends spoke highly and kindly of him. Toshi even had plenty of childhood memories of him, when Grandpa Might would bring him to UA with him.

On the other hand, there was good news to be had! “Looks like you’re going to be classmates with us then!” he said. “That’s awesome!”

Haimawari nodded his agreement. “You were really great in the Sports Festival,” he said. “Plus, you know, be nice to have somebody else around who isn’t part of the shared memory.”

She gave him a curious look. “Shared memory?”

“Except for Haimawari,” Toshi explained, “all of the rest of us grew up knowing each other.” Some better than others, based upon various friendship clusters between the adults, but there weren’t any strangers between them. Well, no stranger than Mineta anyway. “Still can’t believe they put all of us in the same class.”

All the Class A kids in one class, the Class B kids in another, and all kids who weren’t either in Class C. Weird when he thought about it. Toshi wondered for a moment just who had planned that out.

“Not my idea,” Dad said. “But it worked out well. Look at all the teamwork you guys pulled off!”

“So,” Kocho said, “that’s the two of you, and I already met Sero, Ojiro, and Sato back at the Festival, and Mineta, from the Festival is in your class?”

Haimawari gulped. Mineta did seem to like unnerving him. She seemed to have slacked off some since she’d met Izumi’s friend Shinji though. “Yeah.”

“Hooo-boy.”

“She’s really… not… that… bad…” Toshi said. They weren’t close, but the Minetas were still family friends. “She’s an acquired taste,” he tried.

“But I think you’ll fit in great,” Haimawari added. “And I’m not just saying that because it means I’m not the new guy anymore.”

“We were all the new guy at one point or another,” Dad said. “You guys all have the advantage, growing up together. My class had never met before. It’s going to make you even better Heroes than we ever were.”

“Maybe,” Haimawari said. “But our first year couldn’t possibly be as exciting as yours…”

***

He should never have said that, Isamu would later reflect. Because it had almost immediately gotten worse.

They’d left the ice cream shop when they heard it. A low whistle, growing steadily louder, like something falling from the sky. People stopped where they were, looking up and for the source of the sound.

“What is that?” Lemillion asked, shielding his eyes against the sun, looking up.

Deku pointed to something, a huge black spot that was growing steadily bigger. “Something’s falling…” he said. He squinted, trying to determine what it was. “Can’t make it out. But I’m betting it’s going to make a hell of a crater if it hits.”

“Step back, everyone,” Deku said. He took a couple steps back, then ran forward, tensed his legs, then launched into the sky. The force of the acceleration made Isamu’s hair flutter and made Lemillion’s cape snap back.

They watched for a moment as Deku rose to meet whatever it was. As he closed in on it though, the thing lashed out! Isamu let out a gasp as he watched Deku fall from the sky. Next to him, he heard Kocho scream and Toshi let out an anguished cry. He was pretty sure he screamed too, but he was too stunned by what he’d seen. What could possibly have been powerful enough to do that…?

He could only watch, helplessly, as Deku fell, hitting the ground hard enough to make the same kind of crater he’d worried about. He bounced twice, then pulled himself to a sitting position, holding his head. “Haven’t been hit that hard since…” he muttered.

“Dad!” Midoriya cried out, at his father’s side in an instant.

Deku looked up, seeing that whatever had hit him, it was still coming. “Toshi… get behind me.”

And finally, whatever it was hit the ground like a missile. The impact cracked the pavement, sending up a cloud of dust. When it cleared…

The creature was massive, much bigger than Deku or Lemillion, maybe even larger than All Might in his prime. It had dead, pale grey skin, bulging muscles, a face twisted into some kind of beak. Worst of all, its brain was exposed, the top of its head completely gone.

It let out a feral roar, like some kind of ancient dinosaur.

Deku flung Midoriya towards them, then was on the creature in an instant, flinging himself into the air. From his hands, black tendrils of power entangled the creature, lifting it into the air, slamming it into the ground again and again. Each time it hit the ground, the creature would let out another roar. But it wasn’t a roar of pain. The creature didn’t even look like it was feeling the blows. It was rage, pure, violent rage.

Lemillion had placed himself between Isamu and Kocho and the creature and he caught Midoriya easily, putting him behind him as well. “C’mon, Deku, you’ve got this…” he whispered, fists clenched tight.

“What… what is that thing?” Kocho asked. Isamu detected some fear in her voice, but he didn’t judge her for it. It was all he could do to keep himself from shaking. The creature was unreal, monstrous, a mockery of a man. Something about it just seemed profoundly… unnatural.

“I.. I don’t know,” he replied.

“It’s a Nomu…” Midoriya breathed. “I’ve only seen pictures… there aren’t supposed to be any more of them…”

The creature—the Nomu—broke free of Deku’s tendrils, lashing out. Deku dropped down and it struck out, hitting him with a blow which connected with a resounding crack. The force even knocked him back, gouging the street beneath his iron soles. He used the space, bringing up one arm. “DELWARE… AIRFORCE… SMASH!”

A mighty blast of concentrated air pressure struck the Nomu, smashing it into a nearby car. Considering how much their Hero Courses and Deku himself had talked about minimizing property damage, it must have truly been serious. But Isamu winced all the same. Insurance coverage for Hero battles was good, but could still take months to process.

It didn’t seem to matter. The Nomu sprung up again in an instant, roaring again. It leapt, covering the distance between itself and Deku like it was nothing and struck him again. He was more ready for the blow this time, dodging it, but it grabbed his white cape and threw him to the ground, hard.

“Dad!” Midoriya screamed again. He took a step back and Isamu could see the look of concentration flicker over his face as he manipulated his gravity. He was getting ready to jump.

The second he did, Lemillion grabbed him. “Toshi, no!”

“But Dad…!”

“He doesn’t want you getting hurt! You can’t fight that monster! I’ve got this!”

Lemillion rushed forward, cape trailing behind him. “Hey! Ugly!”

That got its attention and it struck out at him, the Nomu’s blow passing harmlessly through his torso. Lemillion struck back, hitting it with a haymaker that would have dropped almost anyone.

The Nomu didn’t even flinch. Lemillion’s hand made a sickening crunch.

Lemillion winced, biting his lip to keep from screaming, taking a step back and cradling his hand. But he had the monster’s attention now. It roared and slashed at him, but fortunately, he could still activate his Quirk.

Again and again it struck, but Lemillion kept its attention. Time enough for Deku to recover. He hit it from behind, knocking it through Lemillion, crashing into the street.

A burst of speed brought Deku to it again, as the Nomu recovered. It threw a punch, but he caught it, emerald and crimson lightning crackling over his skin. His face set and grim, Deku twisted the thing’s wrist, shattering it. Even then, it didn’t seem to feel the pain.

Isamu had seen plenty of news footage and pictures of Deku in action. He always, always smiled. There were, occasionally, brief flashes of grim determination, or even serious focus, when he was fighting a really serious Villain. But there was none of that here. He was more serious than Isamu had ever seen. There was only sheer focus on ending the threat in front of him.

What was this thing?

Deku drew back his other fist. “DETROIT…. SMASH!” With his free hand, he hit the Nomu with such force that its head spun around nearly one hundred eighty degrees, making the most sickening sound as it did so. Like a marionette with its strings cut, it fell to the ground.

“Holy shit,” Isamu said.

“Language,” Lemillion said, quick enough that it sounded like a reflex.

“Sorry,” he said, just as reflexively.

A moment of tension broke. Deku looked around, spotting the few civilians that had sheltered in place while he fought. Slowly, and with great effort, a smile did return to his face. “It’s all right, everyone!” he said. “I’ve taken care of the threat! You’re safe now! Because I am here!”

Yeah, okay, Isamu was man enough to admit his little fanboy heart soared at hearing that.

“Call it in,” Deku said. “I’m pretty sure it’s not getting back up, but we need a containment crew here, immediately. And we need to get your hand looked at.” He looked over at Isamu, Kocho, and Midoriya. “Sorry, kids, but I think we’re going to be working full time on this. Internship’s over.”

“We understand, Dad,” Midoriya said. He sounded more worried than Isamu had ever heard him. He was usually one of the most confident, encouraging people Isamu knew. If he was worried…

“Please tell me that kind of thing doesn’t happen all the time,” Kocho said. There was fear on her face. No surprise. She was even less used to this kind of thing than he was. And he was scared out of his mind.

“Deku,” Lemillion began. He was cradling his broken hand against his body, holding his Hero-phone in the other. “It’s not just here. Reports of attacks coming in all over the city. There’s more of them.”

Deku stopped smiling. “It’s an attack.”

***

It was an awful, foul, unnatural thing, the Nomu. Dead grey skin, its beak, its exposed brain… It made Izumi sick just to look at it. Afraid too. She had heard the stories, how one had been resistant to her father’s freezing power, how another had nearly killed her grandfather. To think that someone once human had been perverted into such an abomination…

“Just as ugly as I remember,” Uncle Denki—No, Chargebolt now—said. He lifted his right arm, readying his Sharpshooting gear. Electricity crackled around him, making his hair stand up.

Beside him, Grape Juice’s face was set in grim determination, two of his balls already in his hands. “Just so you know,” he said, “if we don’t survive this… it’s been nice knowing you, buddy.”

The Nomu let out a roar of challenge, looking them over with its cold, almost lifeless eyes.

“Hey, relax,” Chargebolt said. “We’ll be back with the wives before you know it.”

He looked back over at Izumi. “Izumi… lock us in. And keep it up. This thing can’t get through. We keep it focused on us and it can’t harm any people.”

“And don’t drop it until we tell you to,” Grape Juice added. “No matter what you hear.”

“But…” She couldn’t just leave them to that thing’s mercies. She knew about Nomu, knew that some of them had given even some of the strongest Heroes some of the most difficult fights of their careers. She loved her Uncle Denki dearly, but neither he nor his partner were what she would have called formidable.

“Do it!” Chargebolt shouted, racing forward, Grape Juice at his side. Grape Juice threw several of his balls, but the Nomu dodged. Right into the path of Uncle Denki’s first electrical blast. It staggered under the blast, but kept coming.

Izumi let out a gasp, but brought up both hands, drawing in as much heat as her body could handle. She formed thick walls of ice, as thick and tall as she could make them, until nothing would be able to pass through this side of the street without smashing its way through. The bands on her regulator harness were already glowing an angry orange from the effort and she could feel the heat rolling inside her.

But she could hold it for the moment. She might need to shore up the ice wall. And when the time came to do her part, she would not be found wanting.

Her ice was too thick to see through, but she could hear the crackle of electricity being discharged, the roar of the Nomu, and the rubbery sound of Grape Juice’s balls.

She wasn’t sure what was more terrifying, the sounds of combat, or what it would mean when it stopped.

***

“How soon until we’re at Tokyo?” Froppy asked. Her normally neutral expression given over to worry. Her voice quavered in a way that Akaya had never heard her speak before.

Rockhopper, manning the helm, gave her a grim look. “Still nearly an hour out, ma’am.”

Akaya frowned. They’d been out in open waters, when the call had come in. An All Heroes Alert for Tokyo had gone out, meaning anyone able to make it to the location should. Tokyo was besieged by creatures though to be extinct, abominations against the natural world called Nomus.

The Oki Mariner was far out, but they would try.

Her parents were based out of Endar, on the southern side of Japan. She didn’t know if they’d be heading there or not. But many of her friends on their Internships and their parents were in the greater Tokyo area.

She prayed that they’d be safe.

***

“Foul beast,” Tsukuyomi said, cloak billowing around him, “I shall not allow you to harm anyone else!”

It was a good thing he sounded so confident, because Takuma was scared out of his mind. Mom and Dad didn’t talk much about the Nomus they’d faced as students, besieged at random intervals by the League of Villains, but what little they’d said had been enough. Mom had talked about having nightmares for weeks after the USJ and Dad had talked about how he’d been left questioning how worthwhile his Quirk was when there were monsters like that out there.

At the time, Takuma hadn’t understood it. They were some of the most awesome heroes he knew (well, next to Deku, and Lemiliion and Red Riot and…). What could they ever have been afraid of?

And now he knew.

He hung back, watching from a roof while Tsukuyomi and Shadow-Dancer contended with the creature on the street below. Tsukuyomi had told him he was not to engage under any circumstances. Not even to rain Acid Tape from above. If any civilians wandered into the field of combat, he was to retrieve them, but that was it.

“I can’t hold it much longer!” Shadow-Dancer yelled. She’d possessed a shadowed section of the street, wrapping it around the Nomu. It struggled mightily, thrashing about as though it felt no pain, no matter how rush road rash it committed to its dead grey skin.

“Then let us end this,” Tsukuyomi declared. “Dark Shadow… Show no mercy!”

Dark Shadow leapt from the Hero and towards the creature, larger and more menacing than Takuma had ever recalled seeing it. It was early in the morning still, but the sun was starting to shine. It could only be Tsukuyomi’s fierce directive giving it such power.

Swarming darkness, its “skin” constantly in motion, its eyes yellow comets in its head, deadly claws flashing… Dark Shadow is more aptly named than he ever realized. If Tokoyami’s Frog-Shadow ever becomes half as formidable, she’ll easily be one of the most powerful Heroes in Japan.

The Nomu never stood a chance. Takuma found he couldn’t watch. He flinched and looked away. Judging by the wet sound he head, he didn’t want to look. Even that made him want to throw up.

He’d left his phone back at the Agency and for once, he didn’t feel its absence.

***

Time and time again, Tensei swooped down and grabbed someone off the street, jetting back to the safe zone as quickly as he could. “Safe zone” was only an approximation, only far enough to keep them out of the rampaging Nomu’s range as other Heroes battled with it.

“Keep it up, Jet-Blue,” Veloci-Queen told him, slowing down only long enough to get her own rescue back on his feet.

He slipped the straw inside his helmet in his mouth, taking a long drink from his apple juice reserves. An indicator told him he still had plenty of left for the work ahead. Good. He had the feeling he’d need every ounce to fuel his Quirk.

In the distance, he could still see Tailman and Tentacole, two other local Heroes, grappling with the Nomu. Tetacole had the monster in a wrestling hold, while Tailman slammed his tail into it, time and time again.

It did not fall and instead let out a mighty roar, breaking free from Tentacole’s grip.

Tensei took a breath and took off again. This was a high traffic, populated area and there were still so many people trapped in their cars.

Time to fly.

***

At U.A., the mood was grim. Water Spout and Doctor Izumi were not having a good conversation.

“You can’t possibly be thinking of going out there, Eri!” Water Spout shouted, pointing.

Doctor Izumi ignored her husband, continuing to throw items into her medical bag with rapid fire speed. “People are hurt out there, Kota. I’m going to Musutafu General. If I can help even just one person…”

Water Spout frowned. “There’s nightmares out there. Don’t you remember what Deku said about those things?”

She continued packing. “Of course, I do. And I remember what Dad said too. They’re not invincible. And right now, we’ve got damn near every Hero in the country converging on Tokyo.”

Finally, she turned to look at him. “And in case you’ve forgotten, I can take care of myself.” She punctuated this by clipping a large sheathed knife to her belt. “And besides, there’s no indication they’ve made it anywhere near the school yet.”

Nevertheless, the rest of the teaching staff was staying at U.A., to protect the students in case anything should happen.

“I can go with her,” Kimiko said.

Both of them looked at her like they’d forgotten she was in the room. They probably had. Doctor Izumi had started packing as soon as the Hero Alert had gone out and Water Spout had shown up not long after.

“Maybe I can’t fight,” she added, “but I can make sure Doctor Izumi can get away from anything out there.”

“…do you know what Aizawa would do to me if I let one of his students go out into danger like that?” Water Spout asked. Aizawa was his father-in-law, but he seemed deeply terrified of the prospect.

Doctor Izumi frowned, but nodded. “I’ll take the heat with Dad if it comes up. I’m going, Kota. The only difference is whether or not I go with extra stealth or not.”

Water Spout frowned too, but he stepped close to her, put one arm around her middle, and another on her face. He pulled her close and they kissed. “Stay safe out there.”

“And you stay safe here,” she said. “And if Dad asks if you’ve seen me, tell him you haven’t.”

She looked over at Kimiko. “Let’s go, Ojiro.”

***

The Nomu had Kestrel in its grasp, one wing in each hand. Many of her feathers were embedded in its skin, but it neither bled, nor showed any signs of pain. It had been faster than it had looked, its powerful long arms giving it greater reach than she could avoid. And now it was pulling.

Feathers fell from Kestrel’s wings and floated up into the air, stabbing ineffectually at the Nomu. Under such pain and stress, her control over her feathers had to be reduced. She could bring neither the speed nor force needed to wound it.

And if something was not done soon, it would separate her wings from her body.

Sora had been told to keep back. There was the implicit order in there that she was not to engage in combat with the Nomu. However, as mother always said, the line between implicit and explicit was where permission lived, so long as you knew how to look for it!

While her right gauntlet contained a capture cable, sometimes, more aggressive measures were needed. Her left gauntlet contained a small harpoon launcher, for entangling flying objects or for when more penetrative power was needed.

It was this she sighted on and fired. The harpoon and its cable raced across the sky and hit the Nomu right in its eye.

If it felt any pain from it, it did not show it. But its grip on Kestrel slackened as it looked up. Then, it let Kestrel drop completely and grabbed the cable with one of its dead grey hands. And it yanked.

Unprepared for such force, Sora’s jetpack was overwhelmed by its strength and she was snapped downward.

The tug stopped and the Nomu jerked, two of Kestrel’s feathers stabbing up from its jawline up through its brain. She smacked it with what remained of her right wing and knocked it back, getting weakly to her feet.

“C’mon, kid,” she said, wings flapping weekly to get herself airborne. “We gotta… gotta move…”

Her own stability restored, Sora fired her Jackpack harder, swooping down to grab Kestrel. The Nomu, seemingly oblivious to the injuries it had obtained, swung wildly at them.

“I am afraid we do not possess significant enough strength to stop it,” Sora said.

Kestrel tried to wiggle free from her grip. “Somebody’s gotta…”

***

“Red Riot… UNBREAKABLE!”

“Real Steel… INDESTRUTICBLE!”

Daisuke watched as the dead grey Nomu hammered away ineffectually at Red Riot and Real Steel, its blows not even pushing them back. The power of its blows against their super-hardened bodies made deafening noises, but did little else. But at least it was distracted for the moment fighting them. When it had dropped from the sky, it had taken them all by surprise.

Both bastions of manliness had instantly thrown themselves into the fray, but even their great strength was doing little to slow it down. Red Riot had managed to score several sharp gashes along it with his sharp edges, but if it noticed, it didn’t care.

“We need to get back to the Agency,” he told Shiro Monoma. “Mobilize any of the sidekicks, get the word out.” Red Riot and Real Steel were collectively the Number Ten Hero, some of the strongest in the field. If all they could do was hold it in place… And even that wouldn’t last long. As tough as they were, he knew neither could hold their maximum defense for that long.

But Monoma had gone white as a ghost, rooted in place.

Daisuke nudged him. “Hey. We need to move. I’ll carry you if I have to, but it’s not safe here.” Some of his classmates would have been raring to fight. Kirishima-Bakugo and Midoriya for certain. But Daisuke knew when the time to fight was and when the time to run was. They were students and that was a monster.

“I…” Monoma began. He was just staring at the Nomu. “It’s… it’s…”

Given the way in which Monoma’s Quirk let him perceive others to mimic their skills, who knew what exactly he was seeing looking at that beast? He supposed he couldn’t blame him for being frozen. Even with his own great strength, Daisuke found it absolutely terrifying.

Daisuke sighed and heaved the smaller boy onto his shoulders, using his Extendo-Arms to weave his way through the street.

“I couldn’t beat it…” Monoma continued, seemingly oblivious to anything else. “Not even if I had a million skills…”

“Run now,” Daisuke said, “existential crisis later.”

***

Kenta was certain he was going to die. When they’d responded to the report of a Villain attack, none of them of them had expected the monster that had been waiting. A Nomu. The thing that his dad, his Uncle Hanta, all of Dad’s class talked about in hushed and fearful tones.

Suneater and Nejire-chan had been on it in an instant, the former entangling it with tentacles while Nejire-chan blasted away at it with her Wave Motion shockwaves. They were the Heroes, rushing in. And he was hiding behind a mailbox, shaking, with a stupid, useless Quick that wouldn’t do anyone any good against that.

He was going to die. And Dad would be left all alone. And that thought hurt far more than the thought of dying. When Mom had died, Dad had built his life around him. It was only with Kenta starting U.A. and some encouraging words from his friends that Dad was starting to live his life again. And then he’d done this to him by going and getting himself killed.

“Tamaki!” Nejire-chan screamed,

There was a wet, meaty sound of fist hitting flesh. And then another. The mailbox Kenta was hiding behind shuddered as something impacted into it with a metallic clang. The Nomu roared, a terrifying, triumphant sound.

Kenta gathered his courage and dared to peek around the edge of the mailbox. Nejire-chan was slumped over on the ground, bleeding from a nasty head wound. A short distance away, Suneater was laid out as well.

A shadow fell over them and he realized it was the Nomu.

It let loose a low growl, raised its hands. It hadn’t seen him… but it was going to kill Nejire-chan!

If he leaned over, he might be able to get at its ankle. And do… what… exactly?

Could he? He couldn’t.

He had to. He had to do something.

Kenta stretched himself out, opened his mouth and took a big bite out of the thing’s ankle, teeth tearing through skin and bone and muscle like they weren’t even there. He spit out the chunk of meat, as it toppled backwards and pulled Nejire-chan towards him. She was surprisingly light and he got her over his shoulder as he got to his feet.

He could still feel chunks of Nomu between his teeth. He really wanted to throw up, but he kept going. And why did it kind of taste like metal in his mouth?

Kenta looked over his shoulder. Even without ankle to support it, the Nomu was struggling to get back up, as though it didn’t feel its wound at all.

***

“Just a few more moments, please…” Aunt Momo said quietly, her voice weak from the strain and sweat dripping down her face. The front of her costume was unzipped, as she concentrated on the machine she was creating. It was one of the biggest things Chihiro had ever seen her create.

And fighting the Nomu was Aunt Pony, two of her missile-like horns stabbing it again and again, while she rode on another two. She darted this way and that, sometimes too close for comfort, trying to keep its attention.

And Chihiro’s job was to watch Aunt Momo’s back. Neither had wanted her there, but she’s insisted on offering some kind of protection. She couldn’t just leave her unprotected like that, she just couldn’t.

“There…” Aunt Momo gasped, falling to her knees. “It’s done.”

Her head snapped up. “Now, Rodeo! Do it now!”

Aunt Pony shouted something in English. Chihiro didn’t understand enough of the language to pick up everything, but caught something about “fish” and “barrel.” She jumped off her horns and directed all four of them at the Nomu at maximum speed. They pierced its legs from above, pinning it to the street.

“I’m sorry,” Aunt Momo said to her. “Shouldn’t… have to… ask this… of you…”

Chihiro shook her head. “Gotta do what we gotta do. It’s why we’re Heroes, right?”

She plugged her Cords into the device Aunt Momo had made and gave it all the electricity she could generate in one massive blast.

At maximum charge, the rail gun fired, its projectile tearing through the Nomu like it wasn’t even there. Its top half slid the ground with a schlip sound, while its legs collapsed.

The top half started dragging itself forward.

They were in a bad wheeeeeeeyyyy….

***

Takiyo had been on patrol with Cellophane when the creature had struck, dropped out of the sky like a living missile. He would later deny the high pitched scream that he had made.

Cellophane’s visor dropped into place. “Radiance. I need you to run. Get back to the Agency. Hero Alert’s already going off, so more help will be on the way. But you’ve got to run.”

He launched a strip of tape while the creature vented its rage on a parked car. He was going to try and get above it, Takiyo realized. Didn’t he know how little his Quirk would work on a monster that size?

“And…,” Cellophane said, “and tell my wife and kids I love them. Please.”

He was… he was going to fight it anyway? When there were certainly other Heroes on the way? When his Quirk would do little more than slow it down for a moment? With a wife and a large brood of children at home, and two more children on the way?

Perhaps, Takiyo reflected, he had underestimated Cellophane.

Perhaps he had misunderstood just what being a Hero meant.

Could he do any less?

He let out a scream and unleashed all his light in a powerful, blinding bolt at the Nomu. Blinded, it let out a mighty road, thrashing ineffectually.

“Told you to run!” Cellophane said, launching himself into the air. “But thanks, kid!”

Takiyo ran.

***

Team Idaten was on the move. With the speed Quirks possessed by many members and the fleet of vehicles for the rest, getting from Hosu to Tokyo was easy. What wasn’t easy was finding out the city had become a warzone.

What wasn’t easy was discovering that the threat was Nomus. Ingenium dispatched Sidekicks quickly, sending them to various sections of the city, to rescue whoever they could and aid the Pros in whatever way they could, before changing in to engage one himself.

Which left Mika and Flash-Step on rescue duty for any civilians trapped in the way of its rampage. Flash-Step was zipping from place to place, picking up people and moving them out of the way. Mika was slower than that, but was carrying a little blue-skinned girl in her arms.

“I lost my mommy when everybody started screaming and running!” the little girl wailed.

Mika was not particularly good with children. She wasn’t even particularly good at being reassuring in general, unless it was Shiro, and that was because he was easy. She was very convincing, especially when it came to getting Chihiro to back her up, but that wasn’t quite the same skillset. She stroked the girl’s hair as she ran. “Don’t worry,” she said, “I’m sure we’ll find her. Everybody’s running this way. She’s probably really worried about you.”

The words felt like sludge in her throat. How could she make a promise like that? All Might and many of their teachers and parents talked about how a Hero’s first job was to make people feel safe, to make them feel like everything was going to be okay. But how could she do that when she didn’t know? What if it turned out her words were a lie?

“Yu!” Mika looked to see a blue-skinned woman, arms outstretched, standing not far away with other worried civilians. “Oh, thank goodness…”

“Mommy!” the little girl cried out, squirming in her arms. Mika handed her over to her mother.

“Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you,” the woman said.

“Of, of course,” Mika said, suddenly flustered. “Just… just doing my job.”

She spared a look back to where Ingenium was still fighting the Nomu. He was faster than it was, but his blows weren’t doing much to stop it. One moment, he was a little too slow and it connected, knocking him down. It let out a roar and raised its arm to smash him and Mika felt her heart seize up. No Sidekicks in sight, no nothing…

A bolt of blue energy struck the Nomu in the face, temporarily distracting it. She saw a gangly man standing in the doorway of a convenience store, a hoodie pulled up over his head and a bandanna wrapped around his face.

Not a Hero then… but what the heck? And where had she seen blasts like that before?

But it bought Ingenium the moment he needed, and he was back to hammering the Nomu with powerful kicks.

Mika had seen the Hero Alert and all the locations where Heroes were fighting these monstrosities. She hoped her friends were safe. She hoped Shiro was safe.

She hoped her parents were safe.

Right now, she’d swear off girls and boys forever if it meant everyone she cared about made it home.

***

Mei was as transfixed as everyone else in the workshop, stuck staring dumbly at the television.

“My babies…”

***

Asuka paced furiously, watching the televisions. Mob-Goblin had grounded her after Frog-Shadow had been nearly destroyed, focusing on her training within the Agency and not allowing her to patrol or venture out. It made sense, of course. Part of her had been badly hurt and needed time to recover. But when the Hero Alert had gone out, she’d been left alone with the Agency staff.

Left alone to watch the televisions. Reports were coming in from all over the city and news drones were relaying pictures of Heroes engaged in combat with the Nomu. She kept changing channels, watching. One showed her father, using Dark Shadow to tear the Nomu to pieces… only for each of those pieces to keep moving on its own.

No sign of her mother… she must have been too far away to respond promptly. But she was probably on her way. Maybe it would all be over by then…

“Heroes the Voice and Glamour, along with Deku’s Sidekick the Shield engaging near Lukas Park…”

Asuka watched the screen as Glamour called upon an illusion of Deku, letting the Nomu unleash its rage harmlessly on it, while the Voice sought to restrain it with his capture weapon. The Shield slipped in, faintly glowing with power as he hammered blow after blow on the creature, each with a clap like thunder.

Frog-Shadow appeared and perched on her shoulder. “They’re… they’re gonna win, right?”

Asuka reached up and took her hand. “We can only hope so.”

Other channels showed some of her friends out there with the Heroes, some helping with evacuations of civilians, others simply clearing out with the rest. And she was here, just watching.

Asuka knew most of the others thought of her as “Team Mom”, because she was straightforward, level-headed, and responsible, always keeping them on track and on task. Then what she was feeling right now must be a mother’s fears.

***

“Aizawa, get out of the way!” Rikido shouted, drawing himself up to his full, imposing height.

Aizawa shook his head. “You heard Nezu. All staff is to stay on campus in case those things reach the school. We’re protecting the students.”

“Dammit,” he growled, jabbing a finger into Aizawa’s chest. “My son is out there!”

His former teacher didn’t even flinch. “And my daughter is going out there to help. Which she can do, because she has a Medical Hero license. If you go out there, in your state, you’re just going to cause more trouble.

“So sit down. Or I’ll make you.”

***

“Mom, turn off the TV.”

Mina gave her second eldest, Haruto, a look, as he didn’t give her the chance, and turned the TV off for her. “Turn that back on!”

He shook his head. “Nope. I’m worried about Dad and Takuma too. But you don’t get to give yourself a heart attack or something that could hurt the babies.”

Her hand instinctively went to her stomach, trying to quiet the unease that she felt. Haruto had already had banished her third child, Yamato, from the room, taking Ren and Moji with him.

“Dammit…”

***

“Hey! You wanna fight somebody, fight me!” Katsumi roared. The Nomu had already taken out Aunt Ochaco, clipped her hard when she’d gone in to try and get her hands on it to use her Quirk. She was unconscious, but breathing. So Katsumi was going to hit the ugly fucker with everything she had.

She brought up her gauntlets, firing disks imbued with her explosive power as fast as they would load. Explosions dotted along the surface of the Nomu’s skin, ripping open gashes, burning away flesh, and all together doing absolutely nothing to slow it down.

Had this been the way Papa had felt, fighting Strongarm? Staring down a foe stronger than you, one who could rip you apart? But doing it to buy someone else a little time? Was this Womanly?

It was three meters away. Then two. Then one. She kept firing, keeping its attention on her. But she had to move. She couldn’t just stand here. Keep it distracted and… and…

Why weren’t her legs moving?!

Katsumi braced herself and closed her eyes.

There was a sudden, sharp blast of wind and something scooped her up into the air. She opened her eyes and found… Shinji?!

“What the hell are you doing here, you overgrown vacuum cleaner?”

The large boy looked surprisingly sheepish at the accusation. “I, ah, may have, ah, flown away from school as fast as I could when we heard about the attacks. I was, ah, worried about you, and Izzy, and Shota, and Mika…”

In spite of the seriousness of the situation, Katsumi slapped her face with the palm of her hand. “Only you. Put me down! We gotta fight that thing!”

Her irritation was replaced by terror that made her feel like someone had injected ice water into her veins. She hadn’t even thought about Izzy being out there somewhere… with Nomu everywhere. And she was with Uncle Pikachu and the Grape, who couldn’t possibly protect her against…

No. No. No. She had to banish that thought. If she got herself killed because she was distracted…

Shinji put her down on top of a roof. “I think there’s better people than us for that.”

Below, the Nomu was looking for new targets. Fortunately, it seemed to have found one. More Heroes had arrived on the scene now, that Phantom of the fucking Opera wannabe Laughing Man and Nejire Togata, who’d wailed on their class at the USJ.

Katsumi hadn’t liked getting beat to hell like that, but maybe they could unleash some of that hell on the Nomu.

She realized she was still breathing hard, her heart thudding in her chest. “Then let’s get Uravity out of the way.”

“Might as well risk my life some more,” Shinji said. “Dad’s going to kill me already anyway.”

This was still technically a Rescue Internship right? Maybe she could do some rescuing.

As soon as her hands stopped shaking.

***

"Vanish Veil, do you copy? Reports are in from all over the city. Heroes are already engaged but we need to get the word out further."

"I heard them myself already! I know what I'm doing." Mahoro huffed as she gave her hair a toss and looked out on the city. Might Tower was one of the highest points available, and a good map covered any blind spots. She checked the coordinates again. One, two, three... sixteen. It was a terrifying thought, but it was happening. She activated her quirk, several arrows blinking into view around her, before flying off in different directions, rapidly enlarging as they went. Within a minute, each of the Nomus' last reported locations were highlighted with beacons nearly half a mile high, with a red flashing demonic face topping each one. It would be almost impossible for any Hero to miss.

"Veil... are you sure you won't consider those art lessons?"

"Shut up! Don't distract me!" She focused on maintaining each of the illusions, while still listening for any location updates.

***

"Why! Won't! You! Stay! DOWN?!" Ravenous directed his Binging Balls to make another pass through the monster. Each time they left a neat hole, but the monster just ignored the damage being done to it. The beast was fast as well and had resisted Tamashiro's best efforts to focus his shots on a single point. As it charged him, finally moving in a straight line, he had three of his balls converge to slice off one of its feet, sending it momentarily off-balance. "RUSH, NOW!"

"ON IT!" Daichi Monoma, the hero known as Boost Rush, fired one of the protrusions on his arm at full intensity, sending him at high velocity to catch the Nomu mid-stumble. "Escape Velocity!" Before the creature had its feet on the ground again, he activated his other arm's rocket booster, delivering a punch that rotated his body and could have moved a car. It didn't inflict any visible damage to the creature, but it was propelled upwards several feet.

"Thanks!" Ravenous flashed a jagged grin as he directed all six of his Binging Balls at the monster's head before it had any leverage again.

***

"Keep it pinned down, Sandblast! Bioshock needs more time to get me ready." Bezoar had embedded himself on a rooftop as a gunner's nest. "I knew I should have taken more iron supplements this morning..."

"You're not the boss of me!" Sandblast sent another wave of Assault Dust at the Nomu, stripping a layer of flesh from it.

"Metabolism is at maximum, fire when ready!" Katsuma had completed maximizing the cell activation of Bezoar's quirk.

"GET CLEAR!" A pulse of light burst forth from Bezoar's jaws as they spread wide, and a roar of displaced air accompanied a high-speed hyper-dense projectile closing in on the Nomu.

***

"This way people, keep moving! Stay inside the tunnel and don't touch the sides!" Petal Princess had created a semi-circular passageway with her quirk, composed of the flowers created by her. Anything trying to press through would sustain significant damage. "Lady, behind you!"

"Rear Guard!" Lady Luminous, without turning around, unleashed her Queen Beam. A projection of light the width of her entire face shot forward one foot, before making two sharp turns, upwards and backwards, to catch the Nomu pursuing her and the fleeing civilians in the face. "Thanks!"

As soon as Lady Luminous had passed the point of the tunnel entrance, Petal Princess thrust both her palms towards the Nomu. "Perfumed Hurricane!" The tunnel dissipated as the flowers flattened, turning razor sharp and converging on the monster.

***

Shota screamed. The Nomu was the most terrifying thing he had ever seen, like a scary, monster corpse bird zombie thing. He and Ground Zero had been on patrol, when it had taken them by surprise, dropped out of the sky like some kind of bomb. It had smashed right through a car like it wasn’t even there and

Ground Zero had proven why he was the Number Four and instantly jumped into action. First, he’d grabbed Shota and thrown him out of the way, shouting “Stay down, kid!” He’d landed hard on his butt on the sidewalk. The patented Ground Zero Rescue Toss!

“DIE!” Ground Zero yelled, charging forward and blasting the Nomu in the face with both hands. It staggered backwards, blinded by the heat and light, but swung wildly, trying to tag him. He ducked under the blow and blasted it again, unleashing a powerful charge against its chest.

He pressed his attack, blasting it against and again. “Dammit! Why won’t you fall down!”

Ground Zero launched himself up and over the Nomu, slamming his hands against the sides of its head as he went. He unleashed more explosions and landed behind it, hammering another blow across its back. It roared and its skin was covered in burns, but nothing he could do was making it fall.

The Nomu spun to face him, its huge arms swinging wildly. A blow connected, sending him flying. Ground Zero crashed into a street light and slid down to the ground. The Nomu let out another roar started towards him.

It was going to kill Ground Zero! He… he couldn’t just…

And so Shota screamed again. He put everything he could into it, a high pitched scream that turned into pure destructive force. The blast struck the Nomu in the back, blasting a hole right through it. Shoto could see right through it and out the other side. He must have even blasted away part of its spine! The rest of its body seemed enough to support it, but he couldn’t help but feel a little guilty. Even if it was a monster, he’d never, ever used his Quirk on something alive like that…

At least, his attack got the Nomu’s attention. It turned to look at him, charred and burnt flesh barely hanging off its singed face. One eye was charged and burnt, the other grey and moving rapidly. It stopped when it saw him. Letting out a roar, it charged.

He couldn’t even scream. He couldn’t move. He was absolutely certain he was going to die. No matter how much he tried, he couldn’t get his legs to move, couldn’t scream, couldn’t do anything. Getting to be a Hero, it was his dream. Before now, it had almost seemed like all fun and games (And way too much studying. At least he didn’t have to worry about exams now.) and now it was just a nightmare.

I’m sorry, Mom! I’m sorry, Dad!

“Hey! Ugly!” a voice—Ground Zero, he was okay!—cried out. “Leave the kid alone!” Powerful explosions blasted the Nomu and then Ground Zero was above it, flying over its head. As he came down, the Nomu reached out… and grabbed his leg!

The Nomu let out another roar and grabbed Ground Zero around the middle with its other hand. He struggled against its grip, blasting it with explosions, but they did nothing to slow it down. And then…

It pulled.

From below the knee, Ground Zero’s leg… just… came… off…

He let out a scream. Not one of the ones he made before he smashed the bad guy… not even one of the ones he made when he was yelling at someone. But one that seemed to contain all the pain in the world.

The Nomu let him slip from its grasp. And Shota screamed one final time.

The waves of sound hit the Nomu and then it simply... wasn’t. The sound waves disintegrated it completely, like it was never even there.

Shota coughed, his throat raw. He hadn’t done that particular trick in a while and it took a lot of out of him. He felt sick. He’d done that. Done that to something that had once been human…

Ground Zero!

Shota rushed to his side. Blood was pouring from his leg and he looked pale. He had to remember his first aid training. He had to! Ground Zero had gotten hurt trying to protect him! It was already bad enough. If he died, he didn’t know what he’d do! They’d spent so much time on first aid, why couldn’t he remember it?!

“I’m sorry,” he sobbed, “I’m sorry…” He’d done it, he’d gotten one of the greatest Heroes of all time killed. He was going to have to drop out, everyone was going to hate him, Uncle Shota was going to be so disappointed in him…

“’s… okay, kid…” Ground Zero said, weakly. “’s… okay…”

***

The Nomu, somehow, even with its head completely facing the other direction, got back on its feet. Its balance was off and it roared and swung wildly, but it was as though it wasn’t even aware of how badly it had been injured. It wasn’t healing, like some of the Nomu that Izuku and other Heroes had fought years ago, it was simply as though something was keeping it moving despite its injuries.

The sudden revival took Izuku by surprise and it landed a blow that knocked him back. Having knocked him out of the way, it started towards Mirio, Toshi, and his Interns. Toshi was already trying to put himself in front of everyone else, while Kocho was taking to the air and Haimawari was moving into a position to slide out, all of them getting ready to protect the injured Mirio.

Against such a monster, they’d have no chance. He didn’t even have time to think, his body just moved on his own, channeling over seventy-five percent of the power of One for All. Like a bolt of green lightning, he instantly crossed the distance between himself and the Nomu and hit it with everything he had. No named Smash, just a straight up punch.

Its head went flying from its body, smashing into the nearby building and embedding itself there. Finally, the body fell to its knees and did not rise. It took a moment for the enormity of what he had done to sink in. True, the Nomu were not people, not anymore. They’d proven long ago that there was no going back for them.

It was not the first time Izuku had been forced to take a life. What few times he had still haunted him sometimes, in long dark nights. But this monster had been threatening his son, threatening a friend he loved like a brother, threatening the students he had been charged with the welfare of.

He would do it again if he had to.

“Are those… wires?” Izuku saw Mirio, with his unbroken hand, prod the head. He was right. Wires were dangling from its neck, still twitching and sparking occasionally.

“It’s a robot?” Toshi asked.

“Is it supposed to be?” Haimawari asked. “I’ve only ever read about these things, but I didn’t think they were robots…”

“They’re not,” Izuku said, firmly. Someone was playing games with them. Probably the same people who’d been behind the truck theft a while back…

“Dad, look!” Toshi was pointing upward, where numerous arrows were now illuminated in the air.

“Remind me to thank Maharo the next time I see her,” Izuku said. “Toshi, I’m counting on you to get Haimawari and Koharu back to Might Tower. Mirio, can you stay here with the, ah, body?”

Mirio nodded. “Yeah.”

His Hero Phone crackled to life.

“Unable to get eyes on Chargebolt and Grape Juice…

“Ingenium engaging Nomu…

“Kestrel wounded…

“Shoto, arriving to assist Cellophane…

“Voice, Glamour, and Shield engaging…

“Nejire-Chan and Suneater down!

“Uravity down…!

“Ground Zero… critically injured! Repeat Ground Zero, critically injured!

FLASH!

“FULL COWL! ONE HUNDRED PERCENT!”

The fires of One for All flared within Izuku, turning him into a beacon in the street. He flew into the air so fast he left sizzling after-images behind him.

***

The sounds of battle behind Izumi’s ice wall hadn’t stopped, though she’d heard both Uncle Denki and Mister Minoru scream several times. She’d even had to reinforce her ice wall twice over.

From above, there came a great crackling sound and a ball of lighting dropped from the sky. There was a great explosion and the lighting took off again, just as quickly as it had gone.

“Uh, Izumi?” came Uncle Denki’s voice. “You can let us out now.”

***

Dragging its leg behind it, the Nomu was still shambling after Kenta and Nejire-Chan. He’d gotten some distance, but it was still following. It just… wouldn’t… stop.

A green streak of lighting fell out of the sky and engulfed the Nomu, then took off again immediately, too bright for his eyes to see what had happened. When he could see again, the Nomu was on the ground, its head torn off of its body.

“What… what just happened?”

***

Tamaki Togata, alias the Shield, had been Deku’s sidekick for several years now, ever since graduating from U.A. He’d done so proudly, even if it meant occasionally having his dad embarrass him at work.

He had never as afraid as he was right now. Dodging out of the way of the Nomu’s fists, his body started to glow brighter.

“What the…?” he gasped. “Deku?”

From above, a crackling electric streak dropped down, slammed into the Nomu, and was gone again. His own glow faded as it did so.

“…He’s pissed.”

***

The Laughing Man, with his solid air shields and other tricks, and Nejire Togata’s density control were keeping the Nomu contained, but weren’t doing much damage to it. Katsumi scooped Aunt Ochaco into her arms and turned to Shinji.

“Can you really carry both of us?” There was none of the usual anger in her voice found when she spoke to him. Just desperate pleading. Even with a good relationship with good relationship she had with Shizuka, Aunt Ochaco had always been the true mother figure in her life.

She couldn’t just lose her, not like this.

“Of course…” Shinji trailed off, deflating like his strings had been cut. “Yes. I can. I promise.”

A streak of green torn out of the sky and torn the Nomu’s head off. The glow faded for a moment, turning the glow into Uncle Deku! He looked around, almost panic stricken, until he laid eyes on Katsumi.

“Go!” she yelled at him. “She’s okay! We’ve got this!”

He hesitated for only a second, and then was gone again, glowing like a comet.

***

Shota had peeled off his costume’s tunic and wrapped it around what was left of Ground Zero’s leg, holding it as tightly as he could. He couldn’t even call for help, he just had to keep applying pressure. He wasn’t even sure where the rest of his leg had ended up. If they could find it, they could reattach it, right? But it such an uneven tear…

What was he going to do? Ground Zero just moaned and was growing paler by the second.

“Izzat… you… Loud… Kid…?”

He… he couldn’t die… he couldn’t… it was all his fault…

A massive thunderclap and a sizzle in the air made him look up, and a bright green streak landed, cracking the pavement. The glow faded only slight, and it was Uncle Deku! Steam poured off his body from the force of the acceleration as he looked around.

“Where’s the…” he started, but his eyes snapped to Shota and Ground Zero. “Kacchan…”

Shota looked up, pleadingly. More tears fell down his already tear and snot-stained face. “Uncle Deku! You’ve gotta save him!”

“Hang on tight.” Uncle Deku unclipped his cape and used it to scoop them both up. “And take a breath. This is gonna be fast.”

***

Years from now, they would talk about how Deku had singlehandedly stopped the Nomus that morning. How he had sped from battle to battle like a comet, smashing his way through each and every one of them in seconds, saving the lives of countless civilians, his fellow Heroes, and numerous students out on their Internships.

But as Izuku burst through the doors of the hospital, all he could think about was how he had been too late to save his friend…

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