Chapter 33: Nature's Fury

Joey

Joey woke up while it was still dark, and the whole world was shaking like a snow globe in the hands of an angry giant! Midnight came running into his room and grabbed him. "What's going on!" he screamed. "Earthquake!" the Heroine yelled in Japanese as she took shelter with Joey in her room. He had never been there before, his adopted mother pulled him into what seemed like a large safe and they curled up together. The vibrations could be felt the entire time for she didn't know how long, the entire time Joey was holding onto her tightly, scared out of his mind. South Carolina never had earthquakes, not like this! Floods, tornados, hurricanes yes, but not earthquakes! The two of them held each other tightly the entire time Joey was barely breathing, while Midnight maintained the nerves of steel one would expect from a veteran Hero.

Finally, the vibrations stopped. "Is it over?" Joey asked. Midnight shook her head, "I don't know. We should stay here for a few more minutes. There might be aftershocks. Or worse." She had whispered the last part, and Joey didn't want to know what might be worse. He remembered watching old Japanese Kaiju movies that Marie sometimes watched for movie night, and the thought of a giant monster being awakened by the earthquake definitely counted as worse in his mind.

After what seemed like hours to Joey, Midnight finally opened the safe they were in. She carried him out and Joey asked, "What was that?" "A personal earthquake shelter," she answered, "Very expensive. It's a good thing I sprang for the large one that could hold two adults." Midnight let Joey down in the living room, a lot of pictures and dishes were scattered throughout the floor as well as the TV. Luckily, the path back to his bedroom was clear. Midnight squatted down to Joey's level and told him, "Alright, you need to go to your room and pack as many clothes as you can. Enough for at least a week at least, if not more. I'm going to pack my clothes and some of our important papers, maybe some food as well." Joey looked at the destroyed electronics and Midnight said in English, "Joey, focus. We need to take only the essentials with us! This has been the strongest earthquake in my life! Japan experiences a lot of earthquakes, this could lead to worse, like a typhoon!

"We need to get to U.A. as fast as we can, we need to get to Marie and see that she's alright, and after a disaster like this, we'll need all available Heroes to keep the peace, do you understand?" The boy looked at her wide-eyed and nodded, then headed to his room. He grabbed his bookbag and his suitcase, then stopped. He had to be smart about this if he wanted to pack what he needed. He took a few seconds to breathe slowly and calm down, before packing up his clothes. He finished by checking his phone, it was going to be cooler, so he put on a long sleeved black shirt and jeans with a pair of boots he had from home, he didn't know what he might have to walk through. He managed to stuff some books into his bookbag before leaving his room.

Midnight was dressed in her Hero costume still and didn't change, but she now had a pair of Japanese folding fans in her belt along with a whip. She looked ready for a fight. They left the room and headed to the fire escape stairs. There were plenty of people in front of them, and they had to slowly move down the crowd, the stairs were too packed for them to move aside, even for a famous Hero.

When they finally got outside, the street looked like a disaster, overturned cars and broken glass everywhere. The streets and sidewalks were cracked, and many wounded people as EMT's, firefighters, and police did what they could to help. One officer saw Midnight and said, "Midnight! Thank God, we need someone to lead the people who are uninjured to safety. Can you do this?" She nodded and said, "Give me a megaphone." One of the officers gave her one, and then Midnight climbed on top of a police car. She took out her whip and twirled it in the air until it was cracking like a string of firecrackers, that got everyone's attention.

She turned on the megaphone and yelled into it, "Everyone who can move on your own power! I am the Hero, Midnight! First Responders are working their hardest to take care of the injured! We need everyone who is uninjured or has received only minor injuries to come with me to shelter to let them take care of the more severely injured! I will escort you all to safety!" Midnight then jumped off the police car and yelled into the megaphone, "Follow the sound of my whip!" Midnight cracked her whip one more time. She handed the megaphone back to the officer and took Joey's hand with her left and held her whip in her right.

She cracked her whip in the air and they started heading out, it seemed like hundreds of people were following him and Midnight as they walked. Every five minutes or so, Midnight would crack her whip as they walked to make sure everyone was following her. The crowd started to grow bigger as they went, anyone who wasn't severely injured joined Midnight as she led them to shelter. Joey whispered, "How do you know where we're going?" She whispered back to him, "We've prepared for this. Every Japanese Hero is taught and drilled for emergencies like this in whatever city, district, or ward they are in. It's been a while since the last time we drilled, but they always inform us if the shelters change so we are prepared. I know where we're going, it's going to be a long walk though."

For an hour they walked, before they finally stopped. Midnight climbed on top of some rubble and twirled her whip to get everyone's attention. She then took a deep breath and yelled out, "EVERYONE! TAKE A FEW MINUTES TO REST AND STRETCH! THIS HAS BEEN A LONG WALK I KNOW! BUT WE ARE HALFWAY TO THE NEAREST SHELTER I PROMISE YOU! AFTER FIFTEEN MINUTES REST WE WILL CONTINUE! FOR NOW, REST YOURSELVES AND STRETCH IF YOU NEED TO!"

She climbed down and started following her own advice. Joey sat down and sighed, taking off his boots to rub his aching feet. He stretched for a few minutes before looking around. He then heard something in the distance. Joey wasn't sure what it was, so he took off his socks and shoes and transformed into his Wolfman Form. He wasn't imagining it, there were gunshots. "Mom," Joey said, and Midnight stopped stretching to look at him. "I hear gunshots, over there," Joey pointed out where they were coming from. Midnight looked through the crowd and got on the rubble again, she cracked her whip and yelled, "BINOCULARS! I NEED BINOCULARS IF YOU HAVE THEM!"

There was a rumble through the crowd, but eventual a woman came up and handed binoculars to Midnight. The Eighteen Plus Only Hero then looked through the binoculars in the direction Joey indicated. "This isn't good. Damn it, there must be something wrong, other Heroes should have stopped these guys," Midnight muttered low enough only people with superhuman hearing could hear her. She looked back at the people and looked forward to the Villains and criminals ahead. The sound was getting close enough for ordinary people to hear the gunfire now.

Everyone was getting restless, and Midnight quickly looked around. She ran into a shop and came out with a map and a pen. She quickly drew on the map and ran out. She then turned to a tall man that looked fit enough with large eyes. "You!" she called out to the man with the large eyes. He pointed at himself and Midnight handed him the map. "Take this path to the shelter, it's a little longer, but it will let you bypass those guys ahead of us! What's your name?" The man stammered, "O-Onosuke!" "Alright, come on," Midnight said, and pulled the man with large eyes, Onosuke, up the rubble with her.

"EVERYONE!" Midnight yelled, and the crowd she had led all looked to her, "THERE ARE VILLAINS AHEAD OF US! I HAVE GIVEN THIS MAN, ONOSUKE, A MAP OF AN ALTERNATE ROUTE TO LEAD YOU ALL TO THE SHELTER! FOLLOW ONOSUKE-SAN NOW!" She handed him the map, and then turned to Joey. "You need to go with him, Joey," she told him. Joey looked at her, and felt tears in his eyes, "No." She looked back at him, "Joey, this is too dangerous for you." "I don't want to lose my Mom again," he argued back. Kayama Nemuri pulled him into a hug and squeezed him tightly, "I love you." Joey smelled something soothing, and then he was asleep.

Midnight

Nemuri lifted up Joey and looked at the crowd, most of them were already following Onosuke-san. She then saw Joey's babysitter, Kaoru. "Kaoru!" she yelled, and the young woman looked at her. Nemuri went to her and handed Joey to her, "The shelter is in U.A. When you get there, try to find Aizawa Shota, and Marie Freeman. Alright?" Kaoru quietly nodded as she took the sleeping child. Nemuri gave him one last kiss on his forehead, and then turned to head towards the approaching Villains. She took her fans in hand and opened them. She didn't have to walk too far before she saw them.

The thugs were a mix of men and women, petty punks and wannabe rebels using the chaos of the situation to go on a rampage. They had been a regular occurrence since All Might's retirement. She cracked her neck as she got ready to use one of her Super Moves. She crossed her arms and hooked her thumbs on her sleeves, ready to tear them open. The punks all saw her and ran at her, surrounding her. They were yelling and screaming, some even firing shots into the air to intimidate her. "What do we have here?" one large man said, he had spikes coming out of his shoulders and elbows. "You should all leave now, put down your weapons, and be good boys and girls," Midnight told them. "Or what? You're gonna spank us?" the Spiky Man said.

The punks all laughed, and Midnight made her move. She tore open her sleeves and opened her fans, twirling and dancing around, spreading her scent, "Super Move! Gypsy Rose Dance!" Too late the thugs realized who they were dealing with, and soon they were all knocked out. Midnight sighed, and was about to turn around, when a gunshot almost hit her, cutting open her left cheek.

She quickly ran behind a ruined car just in time as more shots rang out. "Come on out, Hero! We saw you! We know you're there!" a loud voice echoed. Midnight yelled back, "Well then, come and get me! Or are you too afraid to take on one woman?" The voice was quiet, and a second one yelled, "Nice try, but I know who you are, Midnight! I know all about your scent." Midnight quickly felt a breeze come in, and saw it was just right. She tore her suit more to release her scent, and with one of her fans whipped it in the direction of the shooters' voices. She let out more of her scent as she ran, fanning it forward, using the wind to her advantage.

It wasn't enough to knock her attackers out, but it was just enough for them to feel drowsy, the bullets were missing her, and she saw where they were. "Oh shit!" was all one of the shooters could yell before he got a full dose of her scent, and he and his companion were out cold. She saw that they both had eyes that looked like rifle scopes and were armed only with an ordinary rifle. "They would have gotten me if it weren't for pure luck," she said aloud before seeing a nearby hardware store. She took out a few zip ties and cuffed the Villains before checking her bearings.

She would be late, but after a few blocks, she would be on another route to reaching U.A. She started to head that way, when she heard someone weakly moan, "Help…meee…" The Heroine sighed but headed in the direction of the voice. She saw that a young girl was trapped in rubble, maybe about to graduate High School. "Hold on, dear, I'm a Hero," she assured the young woman as she looked at the rubble. She had a little difficulty, but she managed to move the rubble off the girl. "You're alright now," Midnight told her. "You're not!"

Only Midnight's years of experience allowed her to dodge the stabbing knife, even then, it stabbed her abdomen enough to draw blood. The Pro-Hero ignored her wound, and looked closer, she recognized the girl now. "Toga Himiko," she realized. "I admit," the young Villain admitted, "You're a little old for my tastes. But, Shigaraki says you'll be useful for our plans. So, I guess I'll just have to capture you!" Toga threw a knife that Midnight wasn't fast enough to dodge completely as it cut deeply into her left thigh. Midnight stumbled back as she tore open the fabric on her legs, but Toga pounced on her. Midnight grabbed her hand as she tried to stab her, but the girl was fast and pulled out another knife. Midnight grabbed that hand too and the two of them briefly struggled, before her scent finally knocked her out

Midnight struggled up, "Damn, I really need to practice my self-defense more." She had to stop her leg and stomach from bleeding before she could move on. She turned to look and saw a man in an orange suit and white mask. "Abracadabra," the man said, and then she knew only darkness.

Author's Note: I don't think Midnight has any 'official' Super Moves, but the idea of her spreading her scent with her fans is Canon. I chose to call it 'Gypsy Rose Dance' in honor of famous burlesque dancer Gypsy Rose Lee, who popularized the 'fan dance'. Matches perfectly with Midnight's character.