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comicgeekscomicgeek · 1 year

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Their Hero Academia -- Chapter 97: We Interrupt This Broadcast

Continuing my nextgen MHA fic!

Earlier chapters can be found here or by searching the “their hero academia” tag.

“So,” Isamu said, “Torino hasn’t gotten any less intense since this thing started.”

Ater another round of check-ups from the Festival’s medical staff, the various competitors had been led to waiting rooms while the Festival staff finished repairing the arena. Amani’s over the top stunt had done quite the number on it, enough so that he couldn’t help but wonder if SSZ would get stuck with the repair bill. U.A., Shiketsu, and SSZ each got their own room, while Ketsubusu, Isamu Academy, Seiai, and Seijin, having only one or two competitors left each, were sharing a single room. There were drinks and snacks like power bars, fruits, and vegetables. He’d chugged a GatorMade (an electrolyte drink with a gator-man for a mascot), but otherwise Isamu didn’t feel much like eating.

“She’s always been like that,” Midoriya said. He made significant eye contact with Isamu, a subtle tilt of his head seeming to ask, are you okay?

Isamu shrugged in response. How okay was someone expected to be after being assaulted by someone objectively faster and infinitely more skilled, who was somehow convinced you’d been gifted a power going back almost to the dawn of Quirks?

Except, the fact of the matter was, he didn’t have One for All. Not even the percentage that Deku had gifted the Shield.. Deku and Tamaki Togata had explained that he’d just been loaned a sliver of it, just enough to protect him for a few moments on I-Island before he’d exhausted those embers.

But how did you tell someone like that she was wrong?

“Don’t know why she went after you, Haimawari,” Mineta said. She was leaning lazily against the wall, nibbling on a carrot in a way that made Isamu both want to stare and look absolutely anywhere else at the same time. “Pretty sure she’s got the hots for Midoriya.”

“She does not!” Midoriya protested, waving his hands in front of him. “It’s really not like that!”

“Relax,” Mineta said. “You’re way too much of a goody two-shoes to ever cheat on Iida. But if there’s one thing I know, it’s attraction.”

“Nope,” Midoriya said, “not thinking about that one.”

“Don’t let Ojiro hear you say that,” Kocho said. She extended her proboscis and sipped from her drink. “She’ll rope you into rating couples like she did Asai from my old class.”

“You mean like how I know you’ve got a crush on…” Mineta began. Kocho instantly turned bright red.

Maybe Midoriya’s idea was good advice in general. He couldn’t worry about whatever Torino wanted out of him or whatever misguided expectations were going through her head. Right now, he needed to focus on the last portion of the competition.

But there was absolutely no way he could win this thing too, right? Not with people like Yoarashi, Torino, and Tatsuma in the mix. There was no way history was going to repeat itself?

Right?

Though given the course of his life these last few months…

Yeah.

Not thinking about it was better.

There was a brief knock and the door to the waiting room opened, revealing one of the Festival staff. Behind them, other competitors and officials could already be seen walking past.

“U.A.? It’s time.”

***

“All right, we’re back!” Present Mic’s voice rang out. “We’ve captured the flag, we’ve assaulted the tower, and now it’s time for the third event! If you’re a Sports Festival Fan, then you know Hero Schools around the country like to cap theirs off with a tournament round! And the National Sports Festival is going to be no different!”

“That’s right, Mic,” Mount Lady replied, “but just like everything else today, we’re going to be seeing a new twist on it. The Green Dagger is about to take the stage and he’ll fill us all in on the details.”

Below, Izuku watched as the Green Dagger took the stage, the midday sun shining brightly off his golden chestplate. He’d never worked with the man, though Kacchan had. He’d called him capable, but arrogant and judgemental. And then Ochaco had said something about that sounding familiar and Izuku’d had to get between them before any property got damaged.

Below, the Green Dagger approached the microphone.

“In the first event,” he began, “the young Heroes competing here showed their teamwork by working with their classmates and their ability to divide their labor and think on the fly. In the second event, we presented a situation where the odds were stacked against any one Hero. And even then, they showed that they could work together if they had to.”

He waved his left hand expansively. Around here, the sixteen kids were clustered in groups of four, neither their school groups nor the groups from the towers. Toshi was with Tatsuma, the girl with the three eyes–Makato, he remembered–, and Nozomi.

***

Steven Goodman looked down studying the groups of students with some irritation. Lionel Hopkins, seated beside him, arched an eyebrow. "Something troubling you, Headmaster?"

"I don't like them putting Ushimaru and Amani in the same match. It gives the appearance of favoritism, to say nothing of the unfair advantage."

"You must not have been paying close enough attention this past year, Mister Goodman." The other Amani, Konan, eliminated during the Tower Assault and now free to observe the matches, twisted his head around backwards to address the two large men. For the moment, he took on his sister's own face, while retaining his own voice. "Spencer is one of my dearest friends, but I would not put fair odds on him making it past this match."

"Why so cynical?" Another raised eyebrow and inquiry from Hopkins, his mane bristling in the wind.

"My sister does not suffer fools, and she does not want to be here to begin with. However, she would never be so disrespectful as to have refused your request, Mister Goodman, so here she has been."

A dry smile pulled at the retired Pro's face. "You expect her to take it out on Spencer?"

"I expect her to take it out on anyone she can reach, and my American friend is much too gentle to see it coming from a classmate."

***

The Green Dagger continued, “But as we all know, Heroes in the field don’t often get to choose who they work with. They can be thrown into situations with all kinds of other Heroes, with all kinds of styles and personalities. Which is what we’ve done with our competitors now, all done via random selection. Two sets of four on four battles, each going until four people are eliminated. Those remaining eight will duke it out after that, then the remaining four until only two remain, who will then fight for the top spot!”

…Well, that was going to be fun.

“The first two teams will be…”

He paused for a moment and put a hand to the side of his helmet. “I’ve actually just been informed that we’ll be taking a short pause while we sort out a few technical issues with the stadium equipment. Looks like maintenance wants one last look at some of the arena repairs. Sorry about that, folks! Shouldn’t be more than twenty minutes tops.”

***

A sudden buzzing sound, like a phone on vibrate, caught Kocihi’s attention. It started with Deku, then Rodeo, and then Uravity. Each of them looked pulled out and looked at their HeroNet Phones, with Grape Juice also pulling out and checking his, though it hadn’t gone off like the others. A frown crossed that smaller man’s face at that.

And then Deku’s eyes went wide.

“What?” Koichi asked. “What is it?” Next to him Kazuho put a hand on his arm. The Kochos likewise exchanged worried glances.

“HeroNet alert,” Deku said, standing. “There’s been a major Villain attack on an HPSC regional office. They’re asking for whatever Heroes that can get there.”

Koichi looked up and out into the stadium. All around the area, he could see people getting up and leaving their seats. Not a lot, but a decent percentage. From what Deku had said, a lot of the audience was made up of politicians, business people, and others who’d been lucky enough or who had the right connections to get tickets. There were only a small number of Heroes, some of whom were the parents of competitors and others had just gotten invites..

“We need to go,” Deku said. Uravity and Rodeo likewise stood up. “Wish I’d thought to bring my costume with me…”

Uravity shook her head. “We’ll manage.” She frowned. “Kind of selfish, but I really wished we’d gotten to see Toshi’s round.”

“Guess we’ll just have to catch it later,” Deku said.

“I see I didn’t make the cut,” Grape Juice grumbled.

“Oh, come anyway, Minnie,” Rodeo said. “I can carry you. Sounds like we’ll need everyone we can get.”

“Should we be worried?” Mrs. Kocho asked. Her large, compound eyes focused on Deku. They were hard to read, but Koichi could still see the worry there.

“This is bolder than anything we’ve seen in a long while,” Deku said. “But they’re calling in lots of Heroes. Whatever it is, we’ll stop it.”

“And it’s nowhere near here,” Uravity added. “We’re going to have to hustle.”

As the Heroes left, Deku lagged behind. “Mister Haimawari, can I speak to you?”

Kazuho gave him a curious look. “What,” she asked in a hissed whisper, “did you do?”

Koichi could only shake his head. Using his cane, he got to his feet, his bad knee protesting the movement fiercely. He’d definitely been sitting for too long without getting up.

He met Deku by the door. “What is it, Deku?” he asked quietly.

Deku leaned in close. It was strange, Koichi realized, to see the Hero on such a personal level. This wasn’t the face that smiled for the cameras, or the more serious one that battled Villains, or even the genuine displays of emotion he let show in interviews. It wasn’t even the exaggerated emotionality of the ever popular “Why is Deku Crying” videos that populated the internet.

Just a man, a husband and a father.

Koichi was older than Deku by several years, having practically been a veteran Vigilante by the time Deku had started his U.A. career. But right now, Deku looked older, the weight of all his experiences pushing down on him.

“All my instincts are screaming at me that there’s more going on,” he said. “But we can’t ignore this alert. There’s plenty of security here, both the regular kind and some of the Heroes are staying. You should be safe. But if anything happens… I need you and your wife to keep the Kochos safe.”

Koichi’s eyes widened. “I’ll do whatever I can,” he said, uncertainty making his voice shake. “Not sure how much good I…”

Deku cut him off. “I know who you and your wife used to be,” he said. “It wasn’t hard to figure out after watching your son and going through some old files. And everyone I talked to has nothing but praise for both of you and what you did. Tensei Iida, Midnight, even Aizawa if you read between the lines of his grumbling. But I need to know: can I count on you?”

Koichi swallowed hard. There’d be time to grapple with that particular revelation later. He wasn’t a young man anymore. And it had been a long time since he’d been in any kind of serious fight. Him and Kazuho both. He’d never been the same since he’d wrecked his knee. And her depth perception wasn’t what it used to be.

Koichi had never thought of himself as a Hero, just as somebody who helped out where he could, someone who offered a hand-up to people when they fell. Sure, he’d seen more than his share of action, but when he’d become the Crawler, that had never been his goal. He’d just done what he could, when it had needed doing.

But this was Deku, the greatest Hero since All Might. And he was asking Koichi for help, putting his faith and trust in him.

Could he do any less than to answer that call?

“I’ll keep them safe,” he said.

A bit of relief flooded into Deku’s eyes.

“Thank you.”

Koichi said a silent prayer to whatever gods were listening that whatever Deku thought might happen was just paranoia talking.

***

Burai Yamato, the Green Dagger, walked through the security corridors, helmet tucked under one arm. It’d been a good competition so far, if he was any judge of things. Somebody in the HPSC clearly recognized his potential, even if he was currently toiling away in the forties, rank-wise. He definitely deserved to be ranked higher than that. He was skilled and popular. Which was why this gig was going to be good for him; he was probably due to shoot up a few ranks from it. He might be able to swing that to some more merch sales, or maybe better promote his self-defense videos.

All things considered, it had been an easy job. He hadn’t had a lot to do so far beyond introducing the events. Maybe when the next round got started, he’d have to keep some of the kids from killing each other. The dragon girl from Shiketsu and the flying girl from SSZ were especially intense.

If the event even continued. Right now the Festival heads were debating whether or not to go on. They’d even sent the kids back to their staging rooms. Which meant he had a little free time…

He stopped at the main security office and knocked. “Hey, Reiko, you there…?”

When there was no answer, he frowned. His girlfriend and the other HPSC security officers were probably just busy, but… His own security pass would let him inside, so he swiped it against the door scanner. A soft-mechanical click told him it had unlocked.

Carefully, he pushed open the door.

“Everything all right?” he asked.

It was instantly apparent things were not all right. There were three armed men in the tactical gear used by the Kagawa Securities Group, one of them watching the monitors and messing with the computers, the other two keeping watch on Reiko and two other security guards, all of whom were on the floor and against the wall, unconscious or worse. Reiko had what looked like a nasty head wound…

There were a hundred questions to be answered. The Kagawa Securities Group had been brought in to shore up and supplement the Festival security. Had they been compromised? Was it just this group or were there more?

But at the moment, his questions didn’t matter. What was called for was swift action. And that was something he could provide in spades.

As he let his helmet clatter to the floor, Burai called upon his Quirk. Five minutes of super-charged strength, speed, agility, and reflexes, followed by another five minutes of cool down before he could use it again.

More than enough time for people like this.

“HAIYA!” he struck out, hitting the nearest one with a roundhouse kick that sent him crashing into the wall. The sound of the impact he made hitting the wall was extremely satisfying and left a sizable dent in the wall from where his helmeted head had hit it. He fell to the ground and did not get up.

The next Kagawa man tried to fire his gun, but Burai was faster, smacking it out of his hands with a karate chop. A second blow to the man’s neck dropped him to the ground in an instant.

By this time, the third had gotten out of his chair and was trying to bring his gun to bear. Burai crossed the distance between them in an instant, grabbing him by his flak jacket and slamming a knee into his stomach. The jacket’s padding reduced the impact of his blow, but in Burai’s super-charged state, it wasn’t nearly enough. He crumpled in an instant.

Total time elapsed, one minute, thirty-five seconds.

He knew he should have checked the security system first, or alerted someone to what was going on. For all he knew, the whole facility could have been compromised. But he had to see if Reiko was okay first.

He bent down next to her, making sure she was still breathing. He let out a sigh of relief at that. Head trauma was nothing to laugh at, but she didn’t look to be anymore seriously injured beyond that. The other two HPSC security officers were alive too.

Whatever was going on, it looked like they didn’t want murder on their hands.

Yet.

“What the hell’s going on?” Burai muttered as he got to his feet.

“Oh, my word!”

Burai looked in the direction of the door, where a well-dressed owl-man stood, a look of horror on his face. He vaguely recognized him from his own security briefing as one of the reporters covering the festival for the foreign news outlets. What was a civilian doing down here?

“What’s happening?” the owl-man asked. “Are we in danger? Do I need protection?” He tried to step into the room.

Burai had a well developed sense of danger. And right now it was screaming that something wasn’t right, beyond the obvious. He didn’t have time for this. He needed to secure the intruders, alert security, and secure medical attention for Reiko and the others.

“Sir,” he said firmly, “I’m going to have to ask you to go back where you came from.”

Dammit. His five minutes were just about up. He could feel his power starting to fade.

“<Bloody amateurs>,” the owl-man said, in English. “<Do I have to do everything myself around here? I ought to be charging extra for this.”>

Even if he was waiting for his Quirk to recharge, Burai was still a skilled martial artist. He could take this guy, whoever he was. He was just some bird. Burai charged forward, ready to deliver a powerful strike.

And then the owl-man slipped beneath his guard, grabbing his neck. Burai cried out in pain as sharp claws dug into his neck, before he was slammed into the ground, hard. He hit his head and his vision swam, the room spinning as he struggled to maintain consciousness.

Taloned feet kicked into his stomach and everything went black.

***

As soon as they’d left the stadium, Izuku had summoned the Dekumobile from Might Tower and it had met them on the way. Though he was more than capable of flying there on his own, the Dekumobile–an expanded, four-seater version of the Allmobile he’d had Melissa build for him years ago–meant he, Ochaco, Pony, and Minoru could conserve their energy. Plus it allowed him to change into his costume.

It wasn’t for any reasons of pride or anything like that. He’d done irreparable damage to his body as a young man, even with Eri and access to some of the best healing Quirks on the planet. He was a patchwork of scars, whose hands shook even on his good days, with bones that ached when it rained.

While he had gained more mastery over One for All than anyone before him and learned to make using its power as easily as breathing, it could still be a taxing Quirk if he wasn’t careful. His costume was heavily designed to keep him from doing any further damage to himself. If needed, he would not hesitate to throw himself at a foe, costume or not. He had a version of Melissa’s Full Gauntlet built into his watch, for when he was called into action away from his gear, but better safe than sorry.

The HPSC satellite office was located in a busy urban district, surrounded by other government buildings and offices on all sides. And it was currently under siege. Izuku counted dozens of attackers, maybe more, all in tactical gear, and almost all of them using guns. Mostly automatic weapons, but he spotted more than a few pistols as well. A few people did seem to be using their Quirks, but it was only a small portion of the attackers. He also spotted a surprising number of people with heteromorphic Quirks; there were many people with differently colored skin or animal heads.

Those had to be the weapons that Hitoshi had been tracking coming into the country. That was the only way to explain that much firepower in one place.

There were HPSC guards returning fire with weapons of their own and they were holding the line, but nothing more.

Fortunately, there were other Pro-Heroes on the scene already. Izuku spotted the columns of ice and flashes of fire that meant Shoto was already there, along with a flash of white feathers from Kestel and the wooden constructs of Sequoia Rose. There were others too, already fighting or just now arriving, including Inasa and his wife, and many other Heroes who’d been attending the Festival. The alarm had reached far and wide.

Izuku set the Dekumobile into hover mode and looked over at his wife and his friends. “Everyone ready?”

“Ready!” Pony–no, Rodeo now that they were in the field–said.

“Ready,” Grape Juice agreed. “Give me a lift, hon?”

“Of course!”

“Ready,” Ochaco said. Even without their costumes, they all looked steeled for action. She leaned in and gave him a kiss. “Stay safe out there, Deku.”

“When don’t I?” he asked.

“Do I have to give you a list? Because I’ve got a list.”

He just laughed at that and steeled himself as he called up the power of One for All.

And then he leapt into the fray.

***

Minoru would be the first to admit, he had been a cowardly, perverted student when he had first come to U.A. Pony had helped with the latter. He’d asked her out and had been blindsided when she hadn’t been aware enough of who he was to say no, and he’d had had no idea what to do next. Finding a girl who genuinely seemed to like him had gone a long way towards making him want to be a better man.

And Izuku? Izuku had always been one of the few people to show him kindness, even when he very much hadn’t deserved it. Izuku, who threw himself into danger and broke himself time and time again for others, no matter the odds. The most selfless person he knew had believed in him.

Izuku had made him want to be a better Hero.

Which was why, as he jumped off one of Pony’s floating horns and landed on the ground, he tried very hard not to be resentful of his friend’s raw power. Deku has no showboater, no gloryhound. Against Villains, he always gave them a chance to stand down, and he never used more force than was necessary.

An army of terrorists got no such mercy. Minoru could only watch, mouth agape, as Deku tore into them, moving almost faster than the eye could blink, wrapping them up with black tendrils of energy and throwing them into the ground hard enough to knock them out. In the blink of an eye, the number of terrorists still standing had been cut clean in half. Super-strength, speed, toughness, flight, energy tendrils, Deku’s Superpower granted him an excess of super-energy he could use in so many ways that it practically seemed like cheating!

That still left plenty for the rest of them to deal with, though it probably wouldn’t take long at this rate. Minoru spied another group, maybe five of them, weapons at the ready, heading for the building.

“Hey!” he shouted, getting their attention. “It’s grape to see so many people here, but things are about to get sticky!”

With a shout, he plucked and hurled the sticky balls from his head. His first volley clogged the barrels of one terrorist’s gun and pinned his feet to the ground. Another volley made sure he wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon. But his final volley passed through the other terrorists like they weren’t even there.

Surprised, he threw more balls, to the same effect. But none of them tried to fire on him in return.

Realization dawned on him. Especially since the others looked suspiciously identical.

“They’re not real!” His eyes darted around to the other Heroes on the scene and their fights. Every now and then, he saw an attack pass through a terrorist, just the same. Either they’d gone out of their way to recruit an absurd number of people with permeation-type Quirks like Lemillion or…

“Someone’s making illusions!”

***

Izuku hated going all out like this. As a child, he’d devoured plenty of videos where All Might moved faster than the eye could follow, watched them in slow motion to see every detail. He could match and even exceed that speed, easily. And had, many times over the years. And while he was always praised for his heroism when he’d had to act very quickly, like during the recent Nomu attack, he’d come to realize how terrifying it could be.

He was stronger than anyone had any right to be, with speed, flight, Blackwhip, and a host of other abilities that made him able to stand up to just about any threat, some of which the general public wasn’t even aware of. But such overt displays of power were often terrifying, even to the people he saved. It was why he did his best to keep smiling, to let people know he was there to save them, first and foremost, above fighting the Villains.

But in times like these, there were no smiles. Just pure, decisive violence.

And even though it saved lives… it did not leave him feeling very good.

Brr-ZAP!

Battle trained senses gave Izuku a moment’s advance notice, just enough to dodge out of the way of the incoming attack. He spun, cape whipping in the wind, to find himself targeted by more terrorists. These ones were wearing heavier armor than the others, shiny and new, and were carrying decidedly more high tech weaponry. Not pistols or automatic weapons, but some kind of laser rifle.

If guns were rare, high tech weaponry was even rarer. Why make a laser into a gun when you could just find someone with a laser or similar Quirk? Larger weapons, like U.A. or Tartarus’s defenses were one thing, or even U.A 's innumerable training robots, but personal weapons were quite another.

Izuku dodged out of the way of a barrage of blasts. Despite the power of One for All, it was always smarter to avoid a hit than to tank one if possible.

The shots became more desperate, but never once did they land a hit. And if they were shooting at him, they weren’t shooting at anyone else.

But he needed to end this, and end it quickly. “DELAWARE AIR FORCE SMASH!” He brought up a hand and flicked a finger, sending a powerful burst of air forward. The air blast knocked the laser wielding terrorists down and they stayed down.

He could hear the sounds of more laser shots coming from elsewhere on the battlefield. He hated to resort to such a cliche… but they were definitely bringing out the big guns now.

He drew up more of One for All into himself, his body crackling with green lightning. No more fooling around.

Time to end this.

***

Shoto stepped forward and released another wave of ice, perfectly capturing another set of terrorists. This was almost too easy. Attacking the HPSC, even a remote satellite office like this, with nothing more than armor and guns? There was no way they couldn’t have known Heroes would respond en masse. They couldn’t possibly have expected to succeed.

And only a handful of them had even tried to use Quirks. He was assuming that the rest had Quirks, but it was possible they were unsuitable for combat.

Or were they Quirkless, like Izuku had once been?

FWOOSH!

A blast of flame carved through his ice, rendering any speculation unimportant. He spun and saw that a pair of terrorists had snuck up on him and brought weapons to bear, more high tech than the guns the others were wielding. One was still trailing smoke from the barrel, obviously the source of the flame.

“So you like fire, eh?” he asked. A small smile spread across his face. “Let me show you how it’s done.”

He raised his left hand and released a blast of flame of his own, only for the second terrorist to fire his own weapon, blocking the flames with a blast of… ice?

“Well,” he said, “this just got interesting.”

***

With a flick of her wings, Kestrel rose up through the air, faster than the missiles that had been following her could match. As they shot out ahead, she fired a pair of her feathers at them, exploding them before they could course correct.

Homing missiles from shoulder-carried weaponry? Whoever was supplying these people had deep pockets!

Below, she saw Rollout bowl over a group of terrorists, before popping back up in human-shape. He gave her a wave. “Looks like we’re gonna miss our date night on account of these bums!” he said with a scowl.

Kestrel just laughed, giving him a wave in return. “I’m sure you’ll make it up to me!”

***

WHAM!

POW!

BAM!

WHACK!

CRACK!

THWACK!

THUNK!

Ochaco dusted off her hands as the last of that group of terrorists went down. “Rule Eight of Gunhead Martial Arts, boys: armor’s great, but it just means you have to hit the vulnerable parts twice as hard.”

***

Sometimes, Minoru thought, it was good not to be noticed. Without his costume and with his small stature, he was easy to miss in all the chaos of the ongoing battle. He wasn’t a skilled investigator like Lemillion, and he wasn’t even all that smart compared to people like Iida or Yaoyorozu. But he was smarter than your average Hero and he was keenly observant.

If someone was casting illusions on this kind of scale, then it was going to take a lot of uninterrupted concentration and, more importantly, a vantage point where they could see the whole battlefield, or at least most of it.

There. On the building across the street. It was tall enough, out of the direct line of fire from any stray Quirks. People wouldn’t be looking that way. And if he squinted, he could just make out someone standing up there.

He looked around and spotted his wife flying overhead. “Pony!” he shouted, pointing towards the building. “I need you to get me up there!”

She swooped down, riding one of her horns. “What’s going on?”

“At least half the guys here are just illusions,” he explained, “I think somebody up there’s causing it.”

She nodded, releasing another one of her horns for him to ride on. “Let’s go.”

As soon as he’d hopped on, they were off, zooming towards the building. There was a woman there, with heavy heteromorph features. She looked like something out of an old horror film, all pale skin, long fingers, sunken eyes, horrible sharp teeth, and huge ears. She had her hands on either side of her head, clearly concentrating.

She was looking down, not up. Which meant she hadn’t seen them.

Minoru jumped from the floating horn. “GRAPE DROP!” As he fell, he plucked balls from his head and threw them, not making an effort to aim. He just needed to break her concentration for now.

“Dammit!” the woman screamed, turning tail and running. Minoru hit the roof and rolled, coming up to throw more balls at her retreating back.

Under most circumstances, he’d have cursed his lack of aim, all of his balls going wild.

But he hadn’t come alone.

THWACK!

The woman’s head met Pony’s fist, rocking her back. As soon as he’d jumped, she’d swooped around and come up behind her. They didn’t get to work together often, but it was a simple one-two combo that they’d used several times over.

The woman spat, looking between the two of them. “Not today, heroes,” she snarled, a guttural growl. She reached into her coat and dropped a metal cylinder.

Too late, he realized it was a flash bang. The boom and flash was enough to make him shut his eyes hard and he heard Pony let out a squeal of surprise.

When he could see again, the woman was gone. The flashbang had, probably, been an illusion too. And they’d fallen for it.

But wherever she’d gone, it wasn’t to rejoin the right.

He shook his head. “Well, that went well.” Dammit. He should have figured she’d put up more of a fight.

Still, his world lit up a little when Pony smiled at him. “Good job figuring this one out,” Pony said. “You probably saved the day here, Minnie, even if we didn’t catch her..”

Below, he could see that the number of terrorists had gone down by more than half. And it looked like the other Heroes were quickly mopping things up, Deku’s green lighting dancing from spot to spot.

They just might get back in time to catch some of the Festival after all. Though this was going to be a paperwork nightmare…

Their HeroNet Phones crackled to life. “Need… Help… Festival.. Attack…”

As one, they spoke. “The kids!”

***

“Man, you’d think they’d make a decision already,” Emi groaned. She leaned back in her seat, staring up at the ceiling. “Instead, they’re keeping us in a state of updog.”

Kota gave his mother-in-law a curious look. “What’s ‘updog’?”

She let out a laugh and a familiar feeling of dread swept over him. “Oh, nothing much. What’s up with you, dog?”

He just stared at her for a long moment. “It’s a good thing you’re family,” he said finally.

In the row in front of them, the Ketsubusu students who’d been eliminated in the second round groaned. With all of his own charges competing, Kota had decided to join them until any of the U.A. students got eliminated.

“That was terrible, Ms. Joke,” Shamon Fujita, the one with the samurai armor, said.

Emi gave Kota a punch in the arm. “He falls for it every time. He has since he was a little kid.”

“Pretty bold for someone who can control access to your grandchild,” he teased.

“You wouldn’t dare!” she shrieked.

“Not when you can sic your husband on me,” Kota said.

She punched him in the arm again. “I don’t know why you’re terrified of him, kid. He’s really a giant softy.”

Yeah, he wasn’t going to ever believe that. He still wasn’t sure the man wasn’t plotting his eventual demise. He’d probably make it look like an accident.

It had been a good thirty minutes since the HeroNet alert had gone out and most of the other Heroes in the crowd had left. Kota would have gone too–attacks like that often did a lot of property damage and needed rescue work–but since he was chaperoning, he had to stay. He pulled out his own HeroNet phone, to see if he could get an update on what was going on. With Deku there, they’d probably take care of it pretty quickly.

“That’s weird,” he said. He gave the device light smack on the side. Unfortunately, it didn’t change the results he was getting.

“What is it?” Emi asked.

“I’m not getting any updates on the situation,” he said, shifting his voice to a whisper. “Or any updates. It’s like something’s blocking the signal.”

“That is weird,” she said. She pulled out her own HeroNet phone and pressed a few buttons on it. After a moment, she pressed the same buttons harder. “Mine too.”

Kota got to his feet. Every instinct he had told him something was wrong.

“There,” Emi said, pointing across the stadium. The students were sitting up now too, noticing something. People were moving through the stands. Lots of them, in some kind of uniform. And it looked like they were armed.

“Ms. Joke…?” one of the other Ketsubusu students asked.

“Stay calm, kids,” Emi said. “There’s got to be an explanation for this.” She slowly rose out of her own seat, flicking out a collapsable baton.

Scanning the crowd, he could see they were on all sides of the stadium now. On their side too. His eyes darted to either side of the boxed off seating area that had been reserved for them. Two ways in and out, on either side. And it looked like there were people heading out into the arena itself.

Kota started to generate some water, letting it bubble around his hands. If there was going to be a fight, then he wanted to be ready.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you, Water Spout,” a voice growled.

Kota turned. Three armed men on either side of their box. He was mostly a rescue Hero and a teacher these days. But he’d fought plenty of Villains too.

He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been threatened with guns.

He thought of Eri, and their new daughter Himari. He thought of the Ketsubusu students in the box with them,who looked damn near paralyzed with fear. He heard Fujita’s sword clatter to the ground.

He and Emi exchanged glances, both of them tensed for action. She was in her late cities, but still fit and capable. Between the two of them, they’d probably be able to get… four, maybe five of the terrorists in one go.. But not all of them. And in an inclosed space like this, a gun like that could do a lot of damage. Even the misses could hurt someone.

He let the water in his hands dissipate and held up his hands. “Easy,” he said. “No need to do anything hasty.”

One of the terrorists smiled, his teeth sharp and pointed like fangs. “We’ll be the judge of that.”

Better get back here fast, Deku.

***

Koichi was gripping his cane so hard that his knuckles were turning white. There was only one terrorist in the box with them, but there were countless others in the stands already and likely even more in the concourse.

“See?” the terrorist said. He didn’t have any obvious signs of a Quirk, though he was very obviously a Heteromorph, with pale gray skin marked with small pits.. But he was wearing body armor and had a big gun. Koichi had encountered very few of those in his time as a Vigilante and none of that kind of caliber. “Just keep it calm and nobody has to get hurt.”

He hadn’t used his Quirk in combat in a long time. He wasn’t entirely rusty, having helped teach Isamu to use his, but his skills and body weren’t even close to what they once were.

Kazuho could maybe have jumped out of the box, but that would have made her an easy target. And neither of the Kochos had combat Quirks. Mr. Kocho had explained that his Quirk was a simple immunity to toxins and poisons. And Mrs. Kocho had some moth-like characteristics, including compound eyes, but her wings were too small to allow her to fly like her daughter.

If he was going to do anything, he was going to have to pick his moment very carefully.

So he forced himself to watch and listen.

Below, on the arena field, he could see more of the terrorists. How’d they all gotten in so quickly? And how had they gotten all these weapons in? There were logistics here he wasn’t seeing.

How long had they been planning this attack? This definitely wasn’t something thrown together at the last minute. They had to have connections and intel. Most people hadn’t even known there was going to be a National Sports Fest until a few weeks ago.

Below, the center of the arena had become a flurry of activity. He could see a man in a pseudo-military long coat and silver mask leading the way, along with a massive insectoid… person. They were accompanied by several more of the armed terrorists.

The silver-masked man spoke something to the insectoid individual, and numerous smaller insects spawned from their body, a virtual carpet of them that scattered to all corners, heading into the stands.

Next to him, Kazuho screamed and clutched his arm so hard it hurt, her nails digging into his skin. Her other hand went up to her face, protectively covering her glass eye. “No,” she whispered, “no, no no no…”

He leaned in close. “It’s not the Queen Bee,” he whispered. “It’s not. This is scary as hell… but it’s not that. That’s not what this is. I’m with you, I’ll keep you safe.”

She looked as though she did not believe him, painful memories dancing behind her eyes. “C’mon,” he said. “Breathe with me. Pop.”

Slowly, her breathing slowed. “It was like being back then,” Kazuho said. “It just… all came back at once.”

He nodded. “I get it. Not good memories for me either.”

“Pheromones.”

Koichi looked over to Mrs. Kocho. “What?”

“Pheromones,” the moth-woman repeated. “The man down there, he’s controlling those bugs with pheromones. I can sense them, but I can’t interpret them.”

“Why isn’t anyone doing anything?” Mr. Kocho asked. “Surely somebody’s still here who can…”

He trailed off, uncertain, worried. “And what about the kids..?”

Any further thoughts were cut off as a dome of what seemed like pure darkness rose around the walls of the arena. In moments, the entire thing was completely enclosed.

***

KERCHUNK

All eyes went to the door to the waiting room. “Was that what I think it was?” Isamu asked. It didn’t make any sense. Why would anyone lock the doors? They’d been told the Festival was on a temporary pause, until whatever emergency had been big enough to draw most of the Heroes in the audience away had been either resolved or identified as being no threat to the Festival.

They’d been told they’d know soon, but it had already been at least twenty minutes.

Midoriya tried the door, but it failed to move. “Locked,” he confirmed. A frown crossed his face. He gave the door a harder tug, to no effect.

“Why would they lock us in?” Kocho asked. Her antennae twitched and rose up, the feathery appendages flaring out. Isamu knew that her antennae could be used for some kind of enhanced sensory perception, but he wasn’t entirely sure how they worked. Something like smell? But also more than that? He just remembered that she’d been able to sense Ojiro while invisible during the sports festival.

“Doesn’t make any sense to me,” Isamu said. He was starting to get a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. First they’d paused the Festival because of a distant Villain attack and now this? No, something didn’t feel right at all. This didn’t feel like a sensible security precaution. Especially without any kind of communication. Locks like that were more likely to keep people in than keep people out.

Kocho frowned. “There’s people in the hall. Four of them, I think.”

“Is it the other competitors?” Mineta asked. She didn’t look like she really thought it was the answer, her expression having turned serious. It looked extremely out of place on her face, her lips set in a hard line instead of a teasing smile.

Kocho shook her head. “No. And I’m getting something else too. Guns, maybe? It’s an… oily thing. I don’t know. Not something I’m familiar with.”

A palpable silence hung over the room.

“Festival Security?” Midoriya tried. There was a gnawing desperation in his voice, like he was begging for things to just be all right, to be some fluke.

“They lock us in, fill the hallway with guys with guns, and don’t say a word?” Mineta asked. She crossed her arms in front of her chest. “As my granny would say, ‘this stinks worse than a polecat convention’.”

“Too busy dealing with it to tell us what’s going on?” Kocho said.

No.

None of them believed that.

The Festival paused, the Heroes had left in response to some emergency, guns were in the hallway, and a whole mess of civilians, politicians, business leaders, and Hero students were perfect for potential hostages …

Whatever this was, it wasn’t good. They had to assume the absolute worst.

The four of them exchanged worried looks, then huddled up. They had to assume whoever was outside was listening at the door.

“What’s the plan?” Isamu asked, his voice a whisper, looking at Midoriya. “Could be anything out there. And none of us are bulletproof.”

“You want to fight?” Kocho asked, her dark eyes wide. She shook her head and a look of steely determination replaced her confusion. “Don’t have much choice, do we? I’m not going to be much good unless I can get some space to spread my wings.”

“And to think,” Mineta said, “we promised to be on our best behavior. Of course, saving the day would be pretty good behavior.”

She frowned as though she’d realized the inappropriateness of what she’d just said. “Sorry,” Mineta said. “Just nervous.”

“It’s all right,” Midoriya said. “This is way beyond anything we should have to deal with. But it’s what’s happening. This isn’t training. It’s real out there. Real, and real dangerous. And we’re not Heroes. We don’t even have our Provisional Licenses. So this is dangerous and legally dubious. But I can promise you, if any trouble comes down, you’ll have Might Tower’s best lawyers on your side.”

He closed his eyes and took in a breath. This close, Isamu could see that he was shaking. And it wasn’t hard to see why. Maybe they really did depend on him for leadership too much. That kind of faith and trust would weigh down on anybody.

But of course, he had a plan.

“So Haimawari, Mineta, I want you two ready with covering fire. I’m going to hit the door as hard as I can. Maybe it’ll take somebody down when I do. Kocho, I want you to tell us when we’ve got a clear window for it, but stay behind everyone else for now.”

He looked around the circle. “We get out, we find a way to call for help, we get anyone we can to safety. We only fight if we have to.”

“Good plan,” Mineta said.

“Got it,” Kocho said. She looked like she was going to throw up, but her eyes narrowed in determination.

“We’re with you all the way, man,” Isamu said.

***

Toshi swallowed hard, staring at the door. It was made of metal and slid into the wall, rather than swinging out on hinges. That meant that the locking mechanism was somewhere in the wall too. All of which meant that it was going to take a really good blow to knock it off its hinges. He could definitely do it, he just had to amp up his gravity enough to make it happen.

Manipulating his gravity up was always a balancing act. He could only do it up to a certain point, before it became too difficult to move. It still made for effective blows when he was bouncing around, but it required split second timing and concentration.

All of which was going to be a lot harder to do with his heart pounding in his chest.

Haimawari, Mineta, and Kocho were all depending on him. They were looking to him to give them leadership and guidance. They wanted him to have a plan, to take charge. They wanted him to get them out of this.

He’d tried to be there for his friends over the years. They’d voted him Class Representative unanimously. They trusted him.

Aizawa-sensei said they relied on him too much. That had been one of the criticisms of him from the final exam last term.

He wasn’t even quite sixteen yet. He hadn’t asked for this kind of stress, this kind of burden.

It wasn’t fair.

Toshi blinked back tears. He desperately wanted his mom. He wanted his dad. They’d have been able to handle all this without blinking, without flinching.

Dad… His dad was the Symbol of Hope. Someone who uplifted the world by his very presence, showed everyone that they too could be a hero.

How could he do any less?

He had not asked for this burden. But right now, he was the one who was there. He was training to be a Hero. And Heroes did what was needed.

“You see anybody who doesn’t look like they belong,” he said, “fire on them. We’ll sort the rest out later.”

He closed his eyes and took a breath. “Meteor… Punch!” His arm snapped out in a perfectly thrown punch. At the very last second, he increased his gravity as far as he dared push it without risking damage to his muscles and skeleton.

CLANG!

The door broke under the blow, firing off like a metal missile.

“Argh!” There’d been someone right in front of it. Propelled by the door, they hit the wall with a sickening smack that he’d probably be remembering for a long time. He could only breathe a sigh of relief when the man groaned.

Just down the hall, another door burst out of its frame as its guard prepared to draw his weapon. He too went down in a crumpled heap. Whatever bodyarmor they had wasn’t nearly enough for that kind of impact. It had to be…

Tatsuma stepped out into the hallway, ducking under the door frame in her draconic form. “Good to see I’m not the only one taking the initiative,” she said when she saw him.

And further down…

***

Nozomi inspected the door, furrowing her brow as she examined where it should have had some give. "Amani, think you could slip out, or compromise it?"

Her classmate stepped forward, one hand wavering into aqueous texture as she felt around the same area. "There is a gasket seal around the door, air and water-tight, and the walls here have none of the mobility or hydraulics the arena floor did.There is not enough water for me to rend them the same way."

"Which means, assuming we could even reach him, we're also sealed in too tight for your brother to creepy-crawl his way in to help."

There was a tiny smile from the water girl. "He would likely complain about your description, but not incorrect."

"I might be able to do something if I worked up enough momentum, but I can't risk having you two caught in the wind shear..." Nozomi took her chin in her hand for a moment, then took a fish-shaped energy bar from her pocket, tearing open the wrapper and devouring it with annoyance. "Ushimaru?" She wiped her mouth of some crumbs and bean paste.

The blonde boy had been half dozing, resting in preparation for the next round of competition, and he tipped back the brim of his cowboy hat, eyes turning to Nozomi. "Yeah?"

She pointed at the door. "Smash."

He smiled as he got to his feet. "Yes'm."

***

“Bronco Buster!” The third door went down, taking the third guard with it. Ushimaru emerged behind it, grinning wildly.

Only the last guard had time to react, bringing up his weapon. Toshi wasn’t anything close to an expert in guns, but it looked heavy and automatic. Ushimaru or Tatsuma might survive its assault, but…

“B.. b.. back in the rooms, all of you!” the man demanded, waving his gun through the air. His finger tightened on the trigger…

KA-POW!

An energy pulse of blue-white light sailed through the air and hit the man dead between the eyes. He was knocked over, his head hitting the ground hard. Ushimaru, the one nearest the guard, poked him with one foot, apparently just to make sure, then gave a nod to confirm.

Toshi looked behind him. Haimawari and the others were out of their room now, and he could see that his friend had charged up another shot just in case. He gave him a small nod of thanks.

Quickly, the others emerged from the Shiketsu and SSZ waiting rooms. Nozomi made eye contact across the hall. “Hey Toshi.” Beside her, Amani was assuming her water form from the waist down again, apparently as ready to act as the rest of them.

There was a rumble as the fourth door began to shake, until it took the form of a girl. The Seiai girl with the body construction Quirk. The others followed her out.

“We…we weren’t sure what to do,” she said. “When we heard the noise from you escaping, we knew we had to act.”

Toshi wasn’t going to blame any of them for hesitating. He’d very nearly done the same.

“Shinji!”

“Mika!”

Mineta and Shinji embraced, Shinji scooping Mineta up into a tight hug and letting her hooves dangle in the air. The others were all engaging in fast paced conversations, all of them voicing their worries, until the hall was filled with their voices, even in the hushed tones they were speaking in. He could give them a moment, but that was all he could give.

“Okay,” he said, loud enough to get everyone’s attention. “We need to get moving, before they send more guys. Check them for more guns and either break them or take them. If anyone has something we can restrain them with, that’s probably for the best also” Across the hall, Nozomi was watching him again, and smiled as she gave a nod of what he assumed was approval. It was somehow more terrifying than her ready to fight.

“If they’re at all organized, they’ll be checking in regularly. And we have to assume there’s more of them. Probably lots more. We need to find a way to call in help.”

There had to be a phone or a computer or something nearby, right?

“I’m not getting any signal,” Haimawari said, tapping the side of his helmet. “No radio frequencies.”

“And deal with anyone who gets in our way,” Tatsuma growled. She looked upward, towards what was probably the direction of the stands. It was quiet. Almost too quiet…

“I like the way this lady thinks,” Ushimaru drawled, pointing two fingers at her in apparent approval. “We got some mighty big guns among us, but there’s always a chance the bad guys got bigger ones.”

“Just tell us what you need,” Kayda Tsuchinoko said, the tip of her snake tail twitching.

“And what makes you think you’re in charge?” the purple ninja, Masuda, demanded. “Why should we follow you? Just because you’re Deku’s kid?”

“You shouldn’t,” Toshi said. “If anyone has a better plan, I’m more than willing to listen. But right now, every second counts, and we need to do something.”

“That was too easy,” Nozomi said, sounding a bit exasperated. “It doesn’t make any sense. They had to know those doors wouldn’t keep most of us contained for long. And only four guards for sixteen students? No. There has to be more going on here.”

As if to prove her right, the PA system crackled to life. The voice wasn’t one Toshi recognized, but it practically dripped with menace.

“I will make this brief and succinct: We are The Rejected, the castoffs of this superhuman society. I won't lecture you on why we're doing this, rather I will explain how you'll all be able to go home safely. Stay in your seats, don't harass the people with the guns currently keeping you company, and do not attempt to do anything to the field currently encapsulating the arena.

“Follow these directions and this will be a story you can tell your friends and family, don't.. Well you'll find out. Also, those of you with children participating in this ridiculous exercise, they will be fine so long as they stay in their rooms and behave themselves. Barring that, if they turn themselves over to our people inside. If they don't: See the politicians in the audience who decided that they wanted to demonstrate this nation's "strength" to the world? You can blame their arrogance for what happens.”

#their hero academia #my hero academia #fan fiction #fan fic #my writing #toshi midoriya #koharu kocho #isamu haimawari #mika (tha)

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