Hey everyone! Back with the next, actually action-packed chapter of A New Way Forward! Before we begin, however… man seeing that scene in the anime with Ochaco denying herself was honestly a little underwhelming… but still so sad to see. That's not what you do when your emotions are tough! Talk about them! And also, that manga chapter… ITS HYPE! I won't spoil too much but… ITS HYPE! Well, that's all from me! ENJOY!
*Edit: Made some small changes that were annoying me!
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Too Good
(Camino Ward, Abandoned Warehouse {Uraraka Ochaco POV})
"How unlucky for you villains! Why? BECAUSE I AM HERE!" Deku yelled out and I had to physically stop myself from groaning at his absolutely terrible, cheesy attempt to intimidate the villains… we had even talked about this! I mean he did say he would only TRY but still…
(Flashback to the Day Before)
"And then I met the teacher dad! She seemed super nice, she even offered me a cookie after the day ended for being good!" Eri yelled out from the couch, while Deku and I sat at the dinner table, relaxing before the day, the absolutely important day of our big debuts, that was tomorrow. Eri had started school today, we tried to keep her life normal as we didn't want to worry her. Ectoplasm was watching her every moment of the day, all of his clones spread out in the area to ensure no one suspicious even came near the school. We even had the school provide us the faces of everyone should be there; parents, teachers, staff, even people who worked nearby… we made sure it was safe. Across from us was Tokoyami who had asked to stay the night, his normally calm demeanor seemingly gone as he looked nervous. "So then I bowed and said thank you and she said you're welcome and then said I was very well mannered and I said thank you again!"
"Haha, very good job Eri! Good job remembering to bow too! I'm very proud of you!"
"THANKS, DAD!"
"Now why don't you go and get ready for bed, it's late for you. Your mom will be there soon to tuck you in."
"Ok, Dad! Bye, Mr. Toko-yami!" Eri was too adorable as she attempted to pronounce our friend's name, so adorable in fact that he visibly relaxed for a moment and nodded to her. Eri was an adorable ball of energy nowadays, it would have pained me to see her sad again. I remembered when she was so scared and nervous of people… I never wanted to see that again.
Eri waved and ran off to her room, well skipped really because she was surprisingly well behaved. There was no running like she was used to while inside, and she obeyed in her own way. "You two have truly become amazing parents… I would never have expected it from you two if I'm honest." Tokoyami pulled me from my thoughts, the nerves he felt were evident in his voice. "However… how are you two so calm right now?"
"How do you mean?"
"You two are acting like tomorrow we don't make our debuts and fight people that seasoned pros would have issues with. In fact, you two seem even more relaxed than when we were in school… what happened to you two?"
"Oh that. Well, we just don't plan on failing nor consider it an option that could happen tomorrow."
"What?"
"Our only option and the only viable outcome is success, so that's what will happen tomorrow."
"Yeah, we don't see any other way that tomorrow can go."
"We can die, we can fail, we can…"
"And we can succeed. Sure all of that is true but do you remember what we were told heroes must do, Tokoyami?"
"… Uh…"
"That even in bad situations, we must come out on top. That's what heroes do. No matter what happens we have to come out on top."
"… You say that as if this is simple. As if the darkness that surrounds us in this world, it has no way of overcoming us. You're acting as if things can't go wrong!"
"Tokoyami… that's just not true at all."
"Huh?"
"Yeah… Ochaco is right. Of course, we do feel like things can go bad tomorrow. In fact… I feel like something will and in a big way." Deku admitted, causing us to look at him as if he had slapped us. He hadn't said anything like that to me at all… every time we had discussed tomorrow we only saw it going well… "In reality, everything has been too easy. Too good to be true. How realistic is it for someone who has an, even a small one, association with heroes to have an old friend magically appear from thin air? I am not sure why, but I get this feeling that something is off. And it all stems from how easy this set up has been… but I know it won't actually matter."
Tokoyami just stared at Deku, his face blank and I was unsure if we had helped him calm down or just made it worse. "How so?" He asked and Deku chuckled at the question. I gave Deku a look as if to say, "What?" to which he shook his head with a large smile, before giving Tokoyami the most serious stare I had seen him give a friend beside Kacchan or Shoto. It quietly turned me on but also reminded that this was not the Deku of U.A. This, this was Deku, The Hero for All. Outwardly confident and always smiling for those who needed saving, the man who had every tool necessary to become the greatest hero ever.
"Because we will overcome the enemy! Why? I will be there!" ….
.
.
.
.
…. My only response was to groan while Tokoyami was dying of laughter. "Deku why…"
"What? It's true!"
"Please swear to me, no swear to god itself, that you will never, ever do that in front of villains. Ever. EVER."
"… But… it sounds so cool!"
"Cool or cheesy and cliché…? Honestly, Midoriya I know you love All Might as a hero idol, but this is too much." Tokoyami choked out in between laughs, pounding his fist on the table as he couldn't contain himself.
Deku pouted at that, grumbling something unintelligible about how it sounded cool or something about Tokoyami's weird habit of talking about darkness, maybe a mix of both. I laughed at whatever it was, leaning over and giving Deku a kiss on the cheek to cheer him up. He was shocked at the move but smiled after he quickly recovered. "You have to at least not have that be your debut line. For me, please?"
"For you… I will try." He smiled before giving me a quick peck on the lips, which I smiled largely at and almost made him make his ugly face. Tokoyami chuckled at our antics, causing us both to give him sheepish looks before he smiled.
"You two are truly perfect for one another. And will be excellent leaders of our generation of heroes. You two managed to calm even my nerves, which are always quietly bubbling at the surface. I thank you two."
"Of course Tokoyami!"
"Yeah! Anytime Tokoyami!"
"Thank you."
"… however, there is one thing I do wanna ask you…"
"Yes?"
"… How does everyone…"
"Mom?" Eri's voice interrupted us, her in a pair of my old pj's which made my heart melt. "OH! Sorry I didn't mean to interrupt." I waved off her apology as I walked over to her and scooped her up before giving her a kiss on the cheek.
"It's ok, we just finished our serious talk. Come on, I'll tuck you in. You two," I said while looking at the clock, seeing how late it was, "Should also go to sleep soon. We do have to be up earlier than what I assume is normal tomorrow."
The two nodded, waving goodnight to Eri as I took her to her room. I could hear them whispering about what Deku had wanted to know, probably about everyone else from our class and their views on us. I know it still weighed on him, even if we had more important things to worry about. That's just who he was. Always thinking of others. It's why from the moment I got to know the real Deku, I knew I was in love.
(End Flashback)
I may have loved Deku, but his love of cliché and cheesiness made me wonder about that love. "Haha! Well said Deku!" Plantero cheered, his voice happy sounding, "Now… you villains. I'll give you two options. Come quietly like a bunch of babies or go out like men! And I'll tell you… I want one more than the other."
There were well over fifty guys in the room, the room itself felt smaller than I expected as I could see almost all of the people there. Including six people who were very clearly the people, we were looking for. Including the man who had tortured Eri. Chisaki. "Uh… if we say we'll go like quiet babies will you be happy?"
Plantero blanched at that, completely not expecting at that. I had to hold back a laugh at how he had been messed with, he had not expected that at all. "But… But that's no fun!"
"You're right. The heroes Deku and Uravity, it has been a long time." Chisaki cut in, looking very obviously annoyed at this… But he didn't look surprised. That couldn't be good. Not at all…
"If we never saw you again that'd have been better." I retorted back, my distaste of Chisaki dripping from my voice.
"Agreed. Now come Deku… I want to see how you fair now."
"Hmm… No."
"Excuse me?"
"Yeah, he has his own target. Which of you is Shadow Walker?" A tall man behind the others raised his hand while looking at us confused… why I don't know… At that Deku rushed them and grabbed the one in the back, throwing him through a wall. Plantero leaned over and whispered, "Now Uravity, the man in the white coat? He's all yours... Chisaki~! COME HERE~!" Plantero rushed the group as well, reaching for Chisaki but was stopped by those three bodyguards who all jumped back. He chased after them, not relenting in his efforts.
Tokoyami soon began his assault, attacking the thugs of the group causing them all to run and split up. Even with some sunlight streaking down, Dark Shadow looked massive as he split the group up. That was when I saw my opportunity. The scientist had isolated himself, not thinking about being a real target. I made myself lighter and sprinted at the scientist, grabbing him by his collar. I didn't wanna use my quirk, I wanted to keep what I could do a secret. However, he seemed ready. He grabbed my wrist and then flipped me over his head. I instinctively planted my feet on his head before pushing off, digging my heels into his face. He immediately let go, trying to not be stabbed by my sharp heels. It was an improvement to my heels, making them sharp like spikes so that I could justify having them. He jumped back, his face bleeding slightly.
"What the hell… knife heels? What is this a bad American spy movie?"
"No, just your arrest."
"Wow, it's like that? You don't even know what my quirk is or if I have one."
"Your quirk is Calculation. Your name is Jo Otonari. You're a scientist for the Yakuza, have been for twenty years… anything else?"
"… Very well then. I guess you know me so well. But do you what exactly my quirk does?"
"Does it matter?"
"Why yes! It allows me to always win…"
"Not today!" I charged at him and feinted that I was going to attack his left but nimbly pushed off and came at his right. Threw a kick at his legs, which he jumped up and dodged. I followed that immediately with a punch to his face but that was blocked by his arm, using it to deflect my punch. That gave the perfect opportunity for me to grab him, which I did and tried to bring his face crashing into my knee. He blocked it, however, using his other hand to stop it from happening. But he was already trapped. I had touched him. And this time actually used my quirk, making him weightless. He floated but wasn't done yet, suddenly pulling a knife and swiping at me. It was extremely telegraphed, however. I quickly jumped back, he completely missed me. He was now just a floating body, spinning in front of me.
I ran up and quickly disarmed him, almost breaking his arm attack me again and so that he could not use it for any possible actions anymore. I then pushed him down to the floor, a body flying at me from where Tokoyami was dealing with the thugs. I quickly touched the body and made him weightless as well, then shifted the body's gravity to Jo and he was stuck to the ground due to being far too heavy now. I crossed my arms, standing tall over the villain. "See? Not today… Your quirk lets you see every viable option in front of you in a matter of seconds, meaning you can almost see everything before it happens. However, you need to know your information before you can do that. And since you don't even remotely understand what my quirk does… it was over before we started." I said before pulling out some cuffs that Plantero had given each person, cuffing him and sighing. "See Deku? No big problems… paranoid man you are."
"So you did know this man's quirk?" The scientist said, but something was wrong. He sounded… different? He usually had a plain voice but this time his voice sounded deeper but with a hint of mirth in it. He also said 'this man's' quirk instead of 'my'… "Too bad it doesn't matter~!"
I looked down and saw what he meant… wait, what!? "WHAT IN THE!"
(Moments before {POV CHANGE to Martín)
The four were running fast, a lot faster than I had expected them to do but still not too fast. "Now~ Now~! Come to papa!" I taunted, the four looking back at me like I was crazy. Which was good, that was the plan. Fear makes people do crazy things. Like, run somewhere that was not a good place to run to. Like an area with glass where I could use my quirk perfectly.
"What in the…"
"Oh my! What a cleverly placed trap! I wonder who did this?"
"… Who are you even?"
"Whaaaaat? Me? I am the great global hero! Plantero!"
"… Who?"
"… I'm the number one hero here in Japan?"
Four looks of confusion with shrugs and shakes of their heads.
"… whatever. It doesn't matter… it doesn't matter…"
"Uh…"
"WHY YOU ASK?"
"No one asked…"
"Enough Nomo Hideki! You four will remember the name Plantero! Why? Because I'm going to beat it into you!" I paused as I raised a clenched fist, a devilish smirk on my lips as I stared at them. "Now who wants to go first?"
"ME~!" Kendo Rappa, the one I had expected to want to fight, immediately charged at me. He was a ball of energy when fighting, he fought like he was machine gun, throwing punches at incredibly high speeds while also having immense power behind the punches. But this was common knowledge now. He had escaped prison with Chisaki, so it was not like weaker heroes had defeated him. The book was out on him.
He began by throwing a ridiculous number of punches, all of which I blocked or deflected. He stopped suddenly, not having expected to be so easily stopped in his attack. Then he yelled. Yelled and started throwing punches even faster than before. He was wearing his old mask, which was odd considering he only wore it because of what organization he worked for so I couldn't see how mad he was. However, if his loud yelling in between rapid firing of punches was any indication, he was mad. Especially since I was still blocking or deflecting everything he had. In fact… his punches seemed slower than I had anticipated. But as our information told me, he had to pause due to how his quirk worked. It made him able to turn his shoulders at crazy speeds, which gave his punches its power and speed, but it almost had a video game duration and cool down. And in that second, I threw a punch square in his face.
He went flying, my punch surprisingly strong enough to knock him off his feet and into a wall. It must have been the area I chose, Deku had almost perfectly gotten my quirk down to the T. But almost isn't completely right. When in sunlight, I could also go slightly beyond one hundred percent. But even then… "Uh… that's not good." Tengai Hekiji blurted out, the man who was called the shield to the spear who Kendo Rappa was supposed to be.
"Oh? What's wrong villains? Scared!"
"Yes?"
"… stop ruining my fun!" I yelled as I charged them, getting very annoyed at how cheeky they were trying to be. I threw a punch at him, but he blocked it with his quirk, which made sense given he could make barriers that stopped everything. But that was alright, he wasn't the only one I wanted. "HI NOMO HIDEKI!" I pushed off the barrier and swung my leg in a roundhouse kick right at the neck of Nomo Hideki. He was a shorter man than I was, which was how my kick connected with his neck… or his hands that were stopping my kick. "Oh good, someone who can fight." He could make his arms into swords more or less AND he was once a fencing master… better back up. I didn't want to fight a sword fight with fists. That'd be silly.
"Hmm… You know our quirks very well. Which means you know I can make my arms from my forearm to my hands into metal sheets that are as sharp as a rapier." Oh, that's what it was! Not a sword but a rapier! Right. "But the question is… can you handle a fencing master at his own game?"
"No~! But why do that?" I teased out before suddenly I was right next to his face, it wasn't like I was all that far away. Maybe seven feet. "When I can crush you in the face! NIGHT! NIGHT!" My fist connected to… a barrier at the exact moment I finished my thoughts. I gritted my teeth, it was like punching metal. 'ONE HUNDRED AND TEN PERCENT!' I mentally yelled out while I added my all into this punch. It broke through, but I could sense someone else coming at me from behind. I jumped up and twisted my body horizontally, grabbing the neck of Chisaki.
"NICE TRY!" I hit him with a thumbs up before grabbing the neck of Nomo, pulling him as I flipped over so I was hanging upside down. I brought Chisaki down on the barrier before he could touch me. If he did that I was for sure dead. That wasn't happening today. I pulled Nomo out of the barrier and threw him on top of Chisaki, before landing right in front of Tengai who looked very, very scared. I had broken his super barrier, he most likely thought that wasn't possible. Oh well, you do learn something new every day. "Now… where we Tengai?"
"NOWHERE YOU BASTARD OF A MAN!" Kendo yelled from my left, having recovered from my punch. I was impressed, I was sure I broke his nose. Given all the blood that was gushing down his face, I did. Badly. "NOW EAT THIS!" He tried another barrage of punches, this time the punches seemed even faster, having more power than before. It made me get even more excited. I started trading blows, knowing I could block all of these. For every punch he landed, I landed two more… which honestly shouldn't be possible I thought. His quirk should have given him the speed to at least match me, if not be faster. 'Odd… this is almost too easy.'
In my moment of thinking, Kendo had paused to rest and I felt a sharp object stab me in the side. "AHA!" Luckily, he didn't stab me anywhere vital, nor was the wound wide. It was deep, but it wasn't fatal or dangerous. I smirked at Nomo, at which he paled. "Oh no."
"Oh yes!" I threw a super punch into his face, it connected flush on his face and I could feel his face breaking under the force of my punch. I then twisted, not letting him fly away but instead making him buried into the concrete floor. He was only legs now. These guys were weak… "Uh uh! Nuh-uh! Nice try Chisaki!" I turned to dodge Chisaki's attack by jumping up and spinning into a kick square on the top of his head. I could feel his skull crack, my steel rimmed boots causing some major damage, and he went crashing front side first into the ground.
That was two down. Two more to go. "Hey, you two were weaker than this guy right?" A slow nod from Tengai. "AWWWWW! THIS IS NO FUN!"
"THEN HAVE FUN WITH ME!"
"OK~!" I yelled back as Kendo once again charged me, this time looking even angrier than before. Or sounding. I couldn't see his actual face, it was behind a now blood infused mask. He began throwing crazy fast punches, ones I didn't want to actually trade with. So, I dodged to the side, going low and swiping at his legs. To my surprise, there was no barrier, so I connected with Kendo's legs. I swept them out from under him and he went parallel to the ground. I laughed as I brought my hands up and brought them together, preparing my special move. "MARTILLO VERDE!" I yelled and brought my clenched fists down on his gut, which sent him through the floor almost six feet under the ground level. I looked up after seeing he wasn't moving, "So… it's just me and you. Finally."
"I SURRENDER!" … this guy, what a killjoy. "Or I would say… but why bother? You can't reach me. When I make the barrier smaller, it gets stronger!" OH! I LIKED THE SOUND OF THAT!
"MAKE IT AS SMALL AS YOU WANT! I WANT TO SEE HOW LONG IT WILL TAKE! TO! BREAK! IT!" I yelled, checking within myself how much power I had left. I for sure had enough for my plan and fighting normally for at least an hour. So I immediately charged and threw punches at one hundred and ten percent, throwing as many as I could in as short a time as possible. When something is strong like metal, it could be broken. I couldn't do it one go but repeated punches as fast as I could definitely do it. I was proven right within seconds, the barrier cracking under my assault. I could see Tengai paling, his heart most likely sinking as the barrier popped. As it did, I threw one final punch but quickly opened my fist and grabbed him by the neck.
I pulled him close to my face, his breathing now rapid as if he were panicked. He must have been terrified at being so close to me, knowing it was over. This was easy if I were honest, I had expected to be out of energy after fighting them and would need to recharge slightly. Something was off… were these guys just that weak? Oh well… I was here to do a job. "Now then… where are the drugs?"
"…"
"Uh… what the fuck. He was just…"
"HEEHEE! Nice try plant guy!"
"Huh? Did I break you so bad your voice got… girly?"
"NO~PE!"
"Wait… no, no, no, no! HOW?!"
… I had just fucked up big time.
(Earlier {POV CHANGE to Midoriya Izuku})
I rushed the group and grabbed the target, the tall one in the back, throwing him through a wall. However, just before hitting the wall, he seemed to disappear, vanishing before my very eyes... Then reappeared further down a hallway... but only half of his body was showing. I growled before running after him, his speed was unmatched, however. He was constantly disappearing and reappearing like he a magician... It was annoying.
'WHERE THE HELL DOES HE GO?! HE WAS JUST THERE!' I yelled mentally, panicking that I had lost sight of Shadow Walker. Almost immediately after I threw him, he suddenly went out of my field of vision as if he… 'Oh duh. He probably used his quirk. And he IS called Shadow Walker… so that means he probably can hide in shadows… and this place while dark, does have shadows thanks to the lights. But he has to pop out eventually… But maybe I can speed this up.' I looked around and saw that no one was around where I was standing.
I sighed before putting my hands behind my head, feeling the hooded mask I wore. I had to make sure no one knew who I was anymore if people knew my real name they'd be all over my house. Both media and villains would want a piece of my family. That was not what I wanted. Hence, a hooded mask. I looked around once more and yelled out, "Hey Shadow Walker, does your quirk work if the shadow you're hiding it disappears?"
"…"
"Shy? That's ok, I'll just find out for myself!" I picked up my leg, before smashing the ground with my heel using a one hundred percent smash before jumped back about five feet, "Oregon Smash!" The ground shook, before cracking and causing a mini earthquake that caused the walls and the roof to collapse on top of the hallway. I put my hands on my hips as if I didn't expect an attack. He could come from behind but that would be a mistake. The rubble stopped just before my feet, the special boots Hatsume had made me were working perfectly. They stored energy and allowed for massive attacks like this, or even more powerful ones if I stored more kinetic energy in the boots. As always with that psycho woman… excellence. I looked around to see that there were only giant piles of rubble, the hallway now just an open area that was shrouded in darkness. Before I sensed someone was behind me.
"Almost perfectly done… but you forgot…" He started but was quickly cut off by my elbow in his gut, my reaction time is faster than the blink of an eye… or rather my prediction skills were too strong. Not that he knew that I was that quick of thinking.
"That I, myself, still had a shadow? Of course, I didn't. I planned on you not wanting to miss it." I swung my knee up to where he had hunched over, but he was gone. He had retreated back into his shadows. But now there were only a few things left in the area. The rubble had no shadows as there were no lights left near it, behind me there were some chairs but that was it… except… "Oh! Of course! The lightbulbs in this hallway are dangling and leaving a shadow! How silly of me." I had brought my right hand up and made an ok sign with my hands before closing my fist, my pointer finger and thumb staying in an 'O' shape. "Rhode Island Smash!" I yelled as pointed my point finger at the light bulb line, using my other hand to pull down some goggles I had managed to procure. The action of flicking my finger released a small, bullet-like ball of wind pressure that destroyed every light bulb in the line for at least twenty feet down the hallway I had chased him down. Now the area was completely dark.
"HA! Smart boy… but what will you do now that you can't hear me?" Shadow Walker taunted as he was not necessarily wrong. If I were normal. But what he didn't know was I had spent a month being blindfolded while also being forced to fight a man who could move as fast as a fighter jet. Even the smallest of sounds would give him away. Like the rustling of clothes…
'Behind, to the right. Thirty degrees.' I heard him moving as if he were trying to be a ninja, being as silent as possible. But I heard his pant legs rustle. That was more than enough. I brought my right hand down and behind me, this time flicking my middle finger with my thumb, shooting out an even larger attack. "ARKANSAS SMASH!" It hit dead on as he grunted loudly. In a split second, I turned and dashed right on top of him, grabbing him and smashing head on the wall. I used my other hand to restrain one his hands, noticing he had some sort of knife on his wrist. I used it to silently threaten him as if I would use it to stab him. I wanted to leave nothing to chance. "Nice try, but I don't have time to play games."
"Tch… I knew this was a mistake."
"Oh? Trying to use trigger? Because… I mean I had hoped for my debut to be a less original takedown, like taking down several villains to save someone important, saving thousands of people from an attack, or even just defeating a super strong villain. Why?"
"I didn't ask… know what, never mind."
"…Ok, as I was saying, I wanted my debut to be less personal. Less crazy. Easy almost. Wh- uh well because I wanted to go slower. Not draw attention to myself. But… well, I guess when one admires All Might like I do, they just can't help but go big."
"… Why are you telling me this nonsense?"
"Oh… well honestly I had hoped for a long fight, so I guess I'm stalling? I doubt everyone else finished so quickly as I did."
"… HAHAHAHAHA!" His laughing was weird, considering I could easily end him with a simple movement of my hand… "Oh, oh man you really are a rookie! OH MAN! HAHAHAHA!"
"… Huh?"
"Ahhh…. So foolish. Did you think that this was our only plan?"
"Well no, I know you wanted to use Trigger to start a riot… but I was gonna find out why a riot."
"… Oh man… HAHAHAHA YOU GUYS FELL FOR THAT?"
"… What?" I gasped before, turning him around and pinning him to the ground with my foot and grabbing a hand while bringing a knife arm to the side of his neck. "Talk. Now."
"Hahahaha… Oh wow, you sound mad now! Well… firstly do you really think that shitty Yakuza is still around? Those guys were minor nuisances the last time they tried ANYTHING! They disbanded after their last failure two years ago!"
"No…"
"Secondly, did you really think it'd be so easy to get all of this information without it wanting to be leaked!? OF COURSE NOT! We purposefully lead on those two idiotic… well attention hungry, foolish morons who don't even know what they are! It was easy to convince them they were helping the Yakuza! It wasn't even hard to find an old 'friend' of the guy and pay him to convince him he was Yakuza, that 'Gentle Criminal' is an idiot! HAH!"
"No… no, no, no… if you aren't Yakuza, then who are you?!"
"Shouldn't that be obvious by now? Who else would want the top hero and the future top hero, aka you Midoriya Izuku, distracted while we moved."
"No…"
"DEKU!" I heard a buzz in my ear, the radio we were using coming to life. "DEKU COME IN, THIS IS HAWKS! WE HAVE CONFIRMED SIGHTINGS OF LEAGUE OF VILLAINS MEMBERS!"
"Shigaraki did say you wouldn't miss a chance to stop the Yakuza. Not since your little girl in Eri has a history with them. But now… now you must make a real choice." He hissed, his voice full of malice and mirth. I reached up and tapped the radio to respond but stopped at what he said next. "At eight-thirty, the prime minister of Japan will be crossing the Tokyo Gate Bridge. He is heading to the new state-run hospital, to commemorate the groundbreaking. At eight thirty-one, a bomb is set to go off at the end of the bridge. As we speak, it is now eight ten. You have at most twenty minutes to reach the Tokyo prefecture… we're in the Camino Ward. If you could fly, it'd take exactly five minutes… but you can't fly! HAHAHA! AND YOU STILL HAVE TO TRY AND STOP US! HAHAHA!"
"… That's more than enough time." I spoke with a resolve that surprised him. He stopped laughing, this time looking at me oddly. I smiled down at him, "I'm a hero! We always have to come out on top! Or else we're not heroes or at least able to be called heroes! So I will do what I am here to do!"
"God… you make me sick."
"Good," I said, before using my hand to smash his face and knock him out. I sighed as he went limp, shaking my head. I knew this was too easy. Luckily, I was only twenty or so miles away from Tokyo… maybe a little more to the bridge. I could close the gap in seconds! "Hawks come in, did you hear any of that?" I spoke into the radio as I picked up the villain and ran off to find one of the other groups. They should have been done with what they were doing by now…
"Deku! Yes, I am currently occupied with these pesky league members… can you make it in time?"
"I can jump three hundred or so miles in one jump. I can make 22 miles easily."
"Right! I'll leave it to you if you see Plantero, or the other two, tell them to TURN ON THE DAMN RADIO! I can't reach them."
"… Of course… Alright, will do." I sighed before reaching the entrance and seeing that Tokoyami and Ochaco were there, a large number of people there as well… not all of them the thugs either. "The police?"
"Yes, Hawks advised me to call them… what is wrong Deku? Has darkness come over the day as I thought?"
"AGH NO TIME FOR THIS! LOOK TURN ON YOUR RADIOS!"
"We can't! They're being jammed!"
"FOR FU—There's no time. The situation is dire and I have to go! THERE'S A BOMB AT THE TOKYO GATE BRIDGE!" I frantically yelled before turning to the exit and running outside. Then I started jumping, going rooftop to rooftop. I could faintly hear Ochaco and Tokoyami along with who I assume to be detective Tsukauchi given the voice yelling after me. Then my phone rang. Luckily, I had it set up to a Bluetooth in case the radio plan failed, the different frequency being able to get past whatever was jamming the frequency. I tapped the ear my radio was not in, and immediately heard Ochaco.
She was not happy. "DEKU! WHAT DID YOU SAY?"
"IT WAS A SETUP! THE LEAGUE BAMBOOZLED US AND HAVE SET UP A BOMB AT THE GATE BRIDGE! I HAVE TO GET THERE!"
"Oh my… ok, be careful ok? Please, please be careful!"
"I will! Ochaco… I do have one question."
"Yeah?"
"Did Shoto join his father's agency?"
"Yes. And Yaoyorozu joined another Tokyo based one… I see what you're thinking."
"Nuh-uh, remember code names when on the job."
"…"
"Just call Creati and Shoto and tell them to be there."
"HAI! … Love you."
"Love you too," I whispered back before tapping the Bluetooth and turning it off, refocusing on my jumping. I pushed my left sleeve up to reveal a watch, which told me it eight thirteen… 'Ok… given my current view of landmarks, I should already be halfway there. I need to pick up the pace. I can cover the rest in this next jump! In fact… I can see the bridge faintly! I wonder, however… where was Plantero?'
(Moments Before {POV CHANGE to Martín})
"Wait… no, no, no, no! HOW?!" I had just fucked up big time… before me, there was only one body. And it wasn't even one of the ones that were here… it was a young girl. In fact… she looked like… "HIMIKO TOGA?! HOW ARE YOU HERE?"
"Uh… my quirk? What do you think I'm doing here?"
"But… but you're supposed to be…"
"An ugly Yakuza dude? Who we killed two years ago in a burning car wreck? After taking his hands, of course…"
"BUT MY INTEL…"
"HEEHEE! You really are dumb! We, of course, made everything up~! We knew you couldn't resist a big crime, especially if you're 'infallible' sources told you it was true! SO, we tricked the two fake villains and… well, we did a little something special to your fave and longest standing friend. What was her name…"
"What… wh-what did you do to Illusions! I just saw her…"
"Almost a year ago~… right?"
"…What. DO. YOU. MEAN?" I hissed, having enough of this woman's annoying ways. I rushed over to her, quickly pinning her hands while also stepping on her torso so she couldn't escape easily. "TALK."
"Hmmm… well, do you remember when that 'Faker' chick died? Well, when you tried to send her in to spy on us… we immediately knew it wasn't her~! We took her body away from the coroner… so we knew that girl was a fake. So we trapped that weird girl, interrogated her, TORTURED her after she refused, and then… well, she broke around three months ago but I needed her for my quirk~!" My blood froze when she said that, I felt a radio buzz in my head but I quickly just crushed the radio… whatever that was could wait. A friend, someone I willingly put in harm's way was in trouble…
"Did you monsters…"
"Kill her? NO~PE~! She's alive… but I wouldn't call her well! But I'll tell you where she is!"
"… what's the ca-"
"But you should know… we planted a bomb at the Tokyo Gate Bridge! We're gonna blow it up and that crusty prime minister too! Usually, I would lament the loss of blood since I can't use charred bodies but…" Oh fuck. OH FUCK! This was not good… The choice was not easy…
On the one hand… if I didn't leave to stop the bomb, hundreds, if not thousands would die… But on the other hand, a close friend! Someone I had worked with for almost a year now was in trouble… What do I… Wait! Deku! Yeah, he could handle the bridge! Yeah… yeah, he can do that! At least… no. A friend in need must come first! It doesn't matter, I believe in Deku! "Tell me where she is!"
"Ooooh~! A spicy choice! There's a slip in my pocket. Take it, she's no far away! But time is ticking! She has maybe five minutes before… well, you'll see."
"I'll save her. Now… good night."
"Hmm- gurk!" She grunted as I knocked her unconscious, grabbing the paper slip. It was a map, she was in this very warehouse!
Just twenty levels directly below… No matter! I paused for a moment, letting my energy build up before I started punching the ground. Normally this would hurt but… but I was saving a friend. The first one to believe in us as heroes here in Japan.
(Flashback, Ten Months Ago)
I walked down the stairs to find Maria talking to a young girl, she was taller and blonde with oddly swollen looking lips. They seemed to be talking seriously but like she knew her, which was odd considering we didn't know her. Or at least I didn't... wait did Maria say someone she met and made friends with was coming? "Ah Plantero, you're here. Good. Allow me to introduce to the girl I was talking about: Camie Utsushimi!"
Oh, she had... I needed to listen, it's what people in love do for one another. "Ah yes! Camie welcome to our home." She gave me an odd look before laughing like a young teenager... so giggling.
"Hi! Like your totes what I didn't expect! You always look so serious but like you're having fun bro! So relax... I only came here to meet you and ask you something."
"Uh... Ok?"
"You like totes have tons of contacts right?"
"What?"
"Yeah! Like you totes have people who tell you everything, I would know that's what my hero specialty is!"
"Huh?"
"Yeah! My quirk lets me create illusions and like trick people! So that's what I wanna be doing with my career like forever!"
"Ok... so why do I need to..."
"I was getting there, silly! I want to work with you two! I feel as if you two are gonna like become big time here! So I wanna work for you!"
"You... want to work... with us?" I pointed between us to reinforce my question but she just nodded at me, looking at us hopefully. In my ten years of being a hero, not once had someone asked to actually work with us. They were always repulsed by how we, well really me, acted. And with how I viewed heroes... I knew I had to ask. "What is a hero to you?"
"Someone who saves those who can't save themselves! Which is why if I can help do that with my quirk but do so in the darkness... I'm cool with that!" She smiled at us, the smile being bright and her voice sounding like she truly believed every word she said. I was pleasantly surprised... she had the right mindset.
"And what about popularity?"
"Man this ain't high school! No need to worry about that!"
"... I like what I'm hearing... Alright! Come here tomorrow and we'll get you started!"
"Oi! Martin..."
"AWESOME! See you two tomorrow!" She waved before smiling at Maria and leaving, her youthful energy making me feel revitalized. I truly felt as if she had the right ideals... which I liked.
"... Are you sure?"
"More so than ever."
"... Ok. I'll trust you."
"You should. She believes in what we do. She'll make a great hero." My voice sounded happy even to me, but it made sense. We finally had someone who believed in the change I believed was needed. I had high hopes for her.
(End Flashback)
As I finished my memory, I knew I had to keep going. The pain was nothing in regards to saving this girl. Plus I was in sunlight, I was going at one hundred and ten, and I was running high with adrenaline. Nothing was going to stop me. I was already through three levels, constantly keeping my attacks up even as I fell between floors. I landed on feet before punching through again. It was for a friend, but I needed to be faster! I poured more into my plan, now eight levels deep. Nine. Ten. Eleven. 'Deku… I hope you make it.' Twelve. Thirteen. Fourteen. 'Because… it's my fault we're here.' Fifteen. Sixteen. Seventeen. 'But… I BELIEVE IN YOU!' Eighteen. Nineteen. TWENTY! I punched through the final level and fell into a large room… where a very beat up Camie was hung up, a drill closing in on her head. The clock said eight thirteen. I had to be quick. I ran up and before even thinking, just pulled her free… that was too easy.
"No…" Camie groaned… she was alive and conscious but barely. Her face was bruised and cut, her clothes an absolute mess and her breathing was just shallow... barely pants... She looked as if she hadn't been fed at all and was even missing parts of her clothes, revealing scars all over her body. But she was alive. "No… the bomb…"
"DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT! DEKU IS…"
"They att-…ached a mechanism… to that… if I was pulled off… the bomb goes off…"
"NO!"
(At that moment {POV CHANGE to Midoriya Izuku})
'Hmm… maybe I should shorten my jump… only go ten with this one so I can get in close… see what the situation is. I was closing in now, the final jump was enough to get me to the bridge… before an explosion. I checked my phone, it read eight fourteen! "WHAT!" An explosion happened, then another, then another before the bridge's end started falling down. 'THIS SHOULD BE IMPOSSIBLE! THE GUY SAID… oh my god, no.' The bridge was falling. I had failed… to stop this. BUT PEOPLE NEEDED ME! Immediately I shook my head and charged ahead, heading for the part of the bridge that was collapsing.
It had blown up in an odd way, it seemed as if the lower support beams that led to the city were destroyed, but not quite reaching the city; the beams about half a mile into the water were gone, now rubble… 'What a weird way to set the bombs… NO! If the beams can't support the bridge it'll slowly collapse! RIGHT WHERE THE PRIME MINISTER IS!' I knew I had to do something… that's when I saw the rubble and what it could do… 'Its tons of metal and concrete, some pieces larger than others… what if… YES! Wait… no that won't be fast enough. But what if… No… If only To-' I turned as I sensed the man in my thoughts arrive where I had been trying to plan.
"Midoriya?! What are you doing?! This bridge is going to collapse!" Todoroki yelled as he arrived, causing me to pause as I realized my plans in my head had been… shoddy at best. But Todoroki had arrived in time.
But Todoroki's ice could be fast enough. "Code names, please! But Shoto, I need you to make an ice path up to where I say!"
"What? Are you insane?"
"No! If I can reach the point I can hold the bridge! At least until Creati can make it and create something to support it!"
"SHE'S ON A MISSION OUT IN TOGICHI! She works for Ubawami and they're shooting a commercial out there! She won't make it any time soon, you can't hold a bridge for that long!"
"… You don't-" At that very moment, another series of explosions went off. I paled as I saw the other end of the bridge blow up. "Oh no…"
"MOVE!" Todoroki had grabbed my arm and made a beeline away from the bridge… as another series of explosions engulfed the middle of the bridge. "My god…"
"HOW BUSY WAS THE BRIDGE WHEN YOU ARRIVED?"
"Uh… not crazy… the Prime Minister's caravan blocked off traffic but there's still foot traffic…"
"I'll leave the people who were near the bride to you! I'll get everyone off!"
"IT'S COLLAPSING!" I paused before responding, turning with a smile.
"It'll be fine. Why? I am here!"
At that I jumped away from Todoroki, his yells being blocked out by the wind rustling by my ears. I reached the unstable bridge as it shook but I quickly saw the Prime Minister being led to the edge of the bridge with his security detail. I also saw quite a few others nearby, but the rest of the bridge was empty… at least in this part. I bolted for the group reaching them as the bridge finally started losing pieces of itself. "PRIME MINISTER! I AM THE HERO DEKU! QUICK! COME WITH ME! ALL OF YOU!" I yelled out as I reached them, holding out my hand.
"HUH? WHO ARE YO-…"
"I. AM. DEKU! IF YOU COME WITH ME WE WILL ALL LIVE! NOW HURRY!"
"WHO THE HELL…"
"Oh forget it…" I muttered before just simply grabbing them all and pulling them in close. I looked to the land and saw that Todoroki had realized my plan, having come up to the side on his ice. I knew what I had to do. "HOLD ON!"
At that, I jumped, the bridge beneath me falling soon after I jumped. It felt as if time stopped as I did. 'I hope I had enough… I wonder if this was a good call… what would All Might… YES!' My thinking was interrupted as I felt my feet hit the ice, Todoroki soon helping my momentum not take me off his ice platform. "… See? I told you you'd be fine!"
"Young man… Who…"
"I have to go back out, Shoto, make sure the Prime Minister is ok along with his security team… I can see people in the water! And parts of the bridge are still standing!"
"YOUNG MAN! THAT IS TOO RISKY! AS YOUR PRIME MINISTER I MUST IMPLORE YOU…"
"Sorry sir, but this is the duty of hero. But don't worry about me, I will be fine. Everything will be fine now sir."
"… How?"
"Because I AM HERE!" With that, I jumped back out there. I wasn't going to fail now. This was my moment. And I would not fail.
Not here.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
AAAND I'll stop it there. Whew, that was a doozy! I hope I did those fights justice and that I did Deku some justice here… They may seem short but the reason being is that it was meant to show how easy this was. Since it was all a setup. Also… the ending was tough for me, Idk why. I had another part written there but I really didn't like it… so instead I'm gonna use the scene for the next chapter instead! And I sincerely hope the fighting scenes were good… especially Plantero's because idk why but that one felt the best to me. It flowed well in my head… but also like it's hard to know if its any good from just my head. So please do let me know what you thought… and sorry not even remotely sorry for being so cheesy. I thrive on it.
(Deku and Ochaco walk in… honestly, they should pay rent at this point.)
Deku: Whoa… I was all cool acting for once.
Ochaco: Yeah! You were all like All Might! Going… (She start mimicking Deku, who blushes fiercely at the comparison.)
Awwww so cute. Oh speaking of those two… I read Dewyn's one shot called gravity… man, I almost cried! So sad! But still really, really good! Ahhh I love well written IzuOcha… well enough about the probable lovebirds, let's shout some people out! For the singles…
D: With a follow we have: FunYarron and Floofy911! And with the favs: kaa1isnumber1, Petyo1010, Framework, Neos the Final Builder, and Last Storm Chaser! We truly do appreciate the love, more than you know!
O: And with the doubles! We have TimeLord115, darkraizerGx1, justincalverley11, and Neroscurse! We appreciate you guys/gals so much!
Ayyy way to be gender neutral! Review response time!
Nerocurse: I am so happy to hear you like the story so far! I really appreciate it! And I hope your opinion on Plantero is constantly changing… it's how I want it to be! That he seems like he's not the absolute worst but is kinda hard to almost impossible to like/love! And I'm glad you're liking the A/Ns so much… they're some of my favorite parts too lol!
Well, that's all for me! I hope all of you have a read who have a good one! PLEASE REVIEW IF YOU SO PLEASE! GO BEYOND!
Everyone: PLUS ULTRA!