Chapter 34: Great Responsibility
Wolfheart
Marie was woken up to feel like the Earth was about to explode. Things everywhere fell in her room; pictures, movies, books, Marie didn't know what to do and she held on to her bed for dear life tightly. Oh GOD! EARTHQUAKE! MOM! JOEY! Every muscle in her was screaming she had to go to them, but the logical part of her brain barely reminded her that she didn't know where they were, she was blind and barefoot in a room that could be covered in broken glass, and her Mom was a Hero who lived in Japan; she had to have some kind for preparations for this. After all, her family had had plans for the flash floods, tornadoes, and hurricanes that plagued South Carolina. At least, she didn't hear the walls or roof of the dorms suffering any damage. The shaking subsided after a tense eternity, and Marie prayed that her Mom and little brother were safe. She heard knocking on her door and yelled, "Who's there?"
"Freeman-san! It's Iida!" Iida answered on the other side, "Are you hurt?" Marie answered, "I'm fine, Iida-san, but I don't know what my floor looks like. You might need to carry me out if there's a lot of broken glass!" Iida opened the door, and she heard a flashlight turn on before her room's light was switched on. "Stay in your bed, Freeman-san. You were right about the glass. I'll get you some shoes so you can walk on your own," he told her. Marie sat up and asked, "Has this happened before?" Iida was moving things out of his way as he answered, "Yes and no, I've experienced earthquakes before. But this was the strongest one I've ever personally experienced. Luckily, the dorms were well built."
Iida pulled out a pair of boots and a pair of socks that had fallen out of her dresser and gave them to her. Marie put her footwear on and followed Iida out of her room, cringing as she heard broken glass crunching beneath her feet. "Where are we going?" Marie asked. "There is a safe room that we need to go to in cases like this, in case of aftershocks," Iida said as she heard more of her classmates walking the Halls. They all converged in the Lounge Area, and then Iida led all of Class 2-A to a basement that smelled like it was made of an even stronger material than the rest of the dorm. "I can't see a thing," Mineta yelled. "Oh no, how terrible," Marie muttered loud enough for all to hear. Iida turned on his flashlight for the sighted students and they all went down a two-flight stairway into a new room.
A light switch was turned on and Iida said, "Alright everyone! Nedzu-sensei told me and Yaoyorozu-san about this safe room. There's enough water and food to last us for a month if necessary, longer if we ration it wisely. There is also a radio and wi-fi so that we can stay informed about the outside! For now, take a seat and try to find out what you can if you have your phones." Marie slapped her forehead, "Shit, I forgot my phone!" Jirou spoke up then, "It's alright, Marie. You can borrow mine. Just tell me what number you want to call." Marie told Jirou her Mother's phone number and Jirou put it in to let Marie try to call her. Marie waited as the phone rang, and rang, and rang, and hung up.
Marie's throat tightened as she asked Jirou to try her brother's number. Jirou put it in and gave it to Marie again. Someone who wasn't Joey answered on the third ring, "Moshi-moshi?" Marie took a second to recognize the voice, it was a girl named Kaoru who babysat Joey, "Kaoru-san, it's me, Marie, Joey's older sister. How is he?" Kaoru responded, "Joey is alright, but Midnight-san is gone. She was leading us to U.A., it's the designated shelter for this district, but then there were some Villains in the way. She went to deal with them, and gave a man alternate direction to U.A. She put Joey to sleep with her fragrance, and he's still sleeping. We're getting closer, I think I can see the U.A. building. The aftershocks are done for now."
Marie sighed, "Thank God… Alright, take care of Joey for me until you get here. Take care of yourself, Kaoru-san." "Goodbye, Marie-san," Kaoru said, and hung up. Marie gave Jirou back her phone and said, "Thank you, Kyoka. I can't thank you enough." Jirou just said, "That's what friends are for," and then started calling her own parents.
Marie stood up and made her way to a wall, and from the wall to the radio Iida had mentioned. It was old-fashioned and activated with knobs for volume and to change the signal. She turned on the radio and got static at first, loud static that made her jump before she turned it down. She quickly changed the signal until she heard a Japanese man's voice speaking, "…indoors. The Self-Defense Force is working with local police and Heroes are now in the process of evacuating those affected by the earthquake to designated shelters. Wait for them, they are coming to help you. Until you have been escorted to a shelter all civilians are advised to stay indoors. The Self-Defense Force is working with…" Marie changed the station, but all she picked up was static and different versions of the same message.
"Anyone have any news about what's going on outside?" Marie asked after turning off the radio. Midoriya answered, "Apparently it's been reported as measuring 8.7 on the Richter Scale." Everyone paused then. There would be catastrophic damage, many people injured or dead, whole buildings destroyed, property damage measured in the hundreds of trillions of Yen…
"They'll need us out there," Ochako said. "With something this big, they'll need all the Heroes they can get to help them." That was when Marie smelled Aizawa-sensei arrive. He called for a roll call and everyone answered. "Everyone follow me. As you're no doubt aware, we've experienced an earthquake," Aizawa-sensei declared as he led them out of the basement. They gathered in the Lounge area and Marie smelled her costume and the others. "As Uraraka said, we will need as many Heroes as we can get to help evacuate the civilians. Once you're all changed, I'll lead you to your assigned teachers or Heroes who will lead squads of three of each Hero Class. This is real work, now. Lives are on the line, you need to focus and go Plus Ultra now more than ever before," Aizawa-sensei said, his voice completely serious.
The girls all changed into their Hero Costumes in the kitchen, almost all the boys respectfully turned away to give them privacy and change into their Costumes, Mineta was blindfolded with Sero's tape to keep him from peeping. Once everyone was changed, Aizawa led them outside to the front gate. Marie heard the sounds of robots moving around and fixing what rubble was in the path and grounds of U.A. as they went. They soon arrived at the front gate, where there was already a large crowd of people filing in along with Class 2-B. Principle Nezu announced, "All Hero Course students, this is a situation I had hoped we would never have to face. However, Mother Nature has decided to prove to humanity how weak it is compared to it. Now, it is our job to help everyone that we can. The Hero Course students with their provisional licenses will all be divided into teams based on your Quirks and abilities, led by one of our teachers to lead you.
"Things will be different for the coming weeks; classes are officially cancelled so we can make room for the people coming to us for aid and shelter. It is likely that the dorms will be used as well. I ask that you all bear with this and remember who you are. You are the future hope of our nation; you must all rise up to meet the challenges ahead." Kendo-san and Kendo-san said, "Principle Nezu, I think I speak for all of us Class 2-B and 2-A when I say that we are ready to help in any way we're needed." The students all nodded and made noises of agreement. "Good," Principle Nezu said, "Now, let's divide you all into teams."
Thirty minutes later, Marie was in a large tank-like evacuation vehicle with Sero and a girl from 2-B who had a Quirk that let her change the size of things she touched, Kodai Yui, Hero Name: Rule. Sero was talking as Ectoplasm-sensei was driving the vehicle, "I can't believe you guys aren't nervous. I mean…if we mess up, people could die." Marie spoke first, "I was raised to do this. Dad trained me that protecting people was a Hero's most important job. Plus, this isn't my first rodeo, in case you forgot." Sero nodded, "Yeah, but that was all on surprise, I mean, I guess that the anticipation is really getting to me." Kodai-san then spoke up, "I know what you mean, Cellophane. But we need to stay focused, if we get nervous, people WILL die." Her voice was very flat and even, Marie's sensitive ears only slightly heard Kodai's nervousness, if she didn't smell the other girls' fear as well, she would have doubted that she was nervous.
"We're in our designated area," Ectoplasm-sensei announced, and then polled out a microphone and turned on speakers attached to their evacuation vehicle. "This is the Hero Ectoplasm. I am here with students from U.A. to help evacuate any civilians in the area. Stand clear and enter the vehicle in an orderly fashion and we will bring you all to safety as soon as we can," he said before opening up the back of the vehicle. Marie, Sero, and Kodai all ran out to direct the civilians inside. They…didn't move like Marie thought they would. Everything was orderly, no pushing or shoving, people made room for some pregnant women and assisted the elderly or disabled as best they could.
Soon, the evacuation vehicle was filled and the students all yelled, "That's enough! The evacuation vehicle needs to send those already inside to the shelter at U.A.! But it will come back for the rest of you! Now, please move out of the way so it can evacuate those already inside!" There were some grumbles of disappointment, but people moved to allow the evacuation vehicle to leave. Ectoplasm-sensei announced through the projectors, "Until I return, Rule, Cellophane, Wolfheart, gather the civilians together and divide them into groups of fifty. Tell me how many there are so we know how many need to be evacuated."
"YES SIR!" the young Heroes-in-Training yelled as Ectoplasm drove the evacuation vehicle to U.A. Marie then yelled out, "Alright people! You heard Ectoplasm-sensei; everyone needs to group together. Families try to stay together as best you can! Kids stay with your families! If there is anyone who needs medical assistance, we all have First Aid kits available!" Sero and Kodai gave similar instructions, and as the crowd grew, the three of them still, somehow, managed to maintain order. Those who were injured were treated from the First Aid kits, luckily, no one in this area appeared to be seriously injured. Civilians all gathered together, and after twenty minutes they all stopped.
Kodai and Sero counted the civilians, there were about 369 people gathered. Sero used his tape to mark out groups while Kodai helped keep track of them. The civilians all followed their instructions to the letter and were all soon huddled into their respective groups. It took about an hour in all to do this, and Marie sighed, "Sheesh…you'd never have this easy in America. It would have taken at least…fifty, maybe sixty Heroes back home, with police help, to get this many Americans settled down."
"Sheesh," Sero said, "I heard Americans were crazy but that's just nuts. No offense." Marie shrugged her shoulders, "God knows America's never been perfect, but it's home."
The three young Heroes walked around, paying attention to the people under their protection, made sure everyone could move under their own power. After another thirty minutes, Ectoplasm returned, and they evacuated the first group of fifty people into the evacuation vehicle. Ectoplasm then asked them, "How have things been? Should I leave some of my clones to assist you?" Sero answered for them, "I think we got everything handled, Ectoplasm-sensei. Though I hope you bring some food next time, we kind of were in a hurry and forgot breakfast." Ectoplasm nodded, "Understood, I'll see if I can also bring some food for the civilians as well. It won't be much, but it will be better than nothing. Call the school if you need assistance." Ectoplasm then got back in the evacuation vehicle and headed back to U.A.
After he left, one of the many children said, "Mommy, I'm hungry." Marie heard others starting to grumble about food, some even wondering if they could leave and go forage for some food. Marie spoke up then, "Alright, alright, I know you're all getting hungry, the same is true for us. Even Heroes need breakfast. But I promise you, when Ectoplasm-sensei comes back, he'll bring food for everyone who is still waiting to be evacuated. I know that this isn't a great situation, but we urge you all to be patient, and wait." Sero and Kodai said much the same thing as they walked among the people, trying to keep them calm. Thankfully, they all listened, and soon the grumbling quieted down, but talking about food made Marie's own stomach to loudly grumbled.
It was about thirty minutes after Ectoplasm had left when Marie heard a loud sound off in the distance. "Rule! Cellophane, I think we got trouble coming!" Sero and Kodai ran over and Kodai pulled out a pair of binoculars she had shrunk down in a utility belt. She looked and said, "This could be bad. I see a group of people, about a dozen men and women, looting. Most seem to have strength enhancing Quirks, one man is a bull-man, a woman has hair that looks like eels, and another man who looks like the leader. He appears to be a fire breather."
"How far away are they?" Sero asked. "Three and a half kilometers," Kodai answered. "They'll be here in at least an hour, maybe less. We need a plan," Marie said. Kodai spoke up, "We're outnumbered, and two of us have Quirks that aren't related to direct combat." Marie nodded, "Cellophane, Rule, you guys should focus on thinking up some traps instead of fighting directly. That will be my job. We need to keep the fight away from the civilians no matter what. That is our main goal. If we have to, we can just scare them away, let them fight another day. What do you think?"
"I don't think we have much choice," Kodai concurred. "Alright, I'll go tell the civilians, tell them to take shelter until we get back. You guys should go ahead and get started on making some traps for those guys," Marie said. Sero and Kodai started running ahead towards the looters, and Marie went back to their charges. She got them all to take shelter in some buildings that were still structurally sound, telling them to hide and wait until she and her classmates returned. They moved quickly, and after five minutes Marie ran in the direction of the looters.
She didn't have to run long before she smelled Sero and Kodai and went to them. They were hiding behind an eighteen wheeled truck that had been turned over by the earthquake. "How's it going?" she asked them once she was close. "They're gonna be here soon, they got some heavy-duty motorcycles that have let them move a lot faster than we thought they could," Sero explained. "We've got some traps laid out that should help us take them down. I just hope that we didn't miss anything, some of them look pretty tough."
The three of them stayed hidden, and after ten minutes, Marie heard the sound of several of the looters screaming in surprise. "Let's go!" Marie yelled as she ran out from behind the overturned truck. Sero and Kodai followed her, and soon they were in the thick of it. At least half the looters were trapped in Kodai and Sero's various traps and unable to get out. The fire breather who seemed like their leader blew fire in an arc at them, and they scattered to avoid his flames. Kodai pulled out a fire-extinguisher from her belt and used it to counter his flames while Sero shot out his tape. Marie ran straight for the pungent smell of the bull-man, who charged at her as well. She stopped and caught him by his horns and was driven back two meters before she dug her heels in and stopped him.
He was powerful, like a bull, but Marie had equal strength as him. She quickly pulled his head down into a knee to the chin that stunned him, and she pulled him down again before he could react into a second knee, and a third. For crying out loud! It's like I'm hitting solid rock! Marie thought before she tossed the bull-man aside. He recovered and charged at Marie. This time, she thought smart and sidestepped her opponent and let loose with a blade kick to the side of his left knee. The bull-man bellowed in pain as his leg effectively was snapped in half and he fell to the ground, beaten.
Marie turned her attention to Sero, he was battling the eel-haired woman and from the sound of things was pretty much even with her. Marie ran over and smelled that Sero's tape was tangled with the woman's eels and she made a wild guess and sliced through the eels with her claws. The woman screamed in shock and pain, giving Sero the chance to shoot out his tape and tangle up her head and body, beating her.
Three of the weaker looters whose Quirks were strength enhancers ran at Sero and Marie, swinging chains and crowbars. Marie jumped back in time to avoid a long chain, at least two meters in length. She felt a chunk of the road under her left foot roughly the size of a healthy apple and ducked beneath the chain to grab the chunk of asphalt. She jumped back against a third swing and tossed her rock accurately, striking her opponent's right shoulder hard enough to shatter it, making him let go of his chain. Marie sprinted forward and knocked him out with a hook kick to the head.
She heard Sero scream and she ran over in time to tackle one of the looters armed with a crowbar. She quickly got on top of him and moved into an armbar that let her quickly break his arm, then finished with a rear naked choke that rendered him unconscious. "Are you alright?" she asked Sero. "Ugh, he got my right arm. He snuck up on me while I was dealing with his friend, and I panicked, blocked his crowbar. I think it's broken," he explained to her.
"What about Kodai?" she asked him. He looked and said, "She got their leader. She looks mostly alright." Marie and Sero went and Marie heard as Kodai grunted, gagging the firebreather and hog-tying him as well with what smelled like a strong chain. "Alright, we got them all," Marie said, "Now what? Should we leave them, or take them with us to be evacuated and…what'll happen if we do that anyway?" Kodai shrugged, "I don't know. I think we should leave them I don't think there's room to detain any dangerous criminals in U.A., not with all the civilians that'll be there as well."
"But if we leave them, someone might help them, free them, and they'll hassle others," Sero pointed out. "Maybe Ectoplasm-sensei will know what to do? Sero, we'll tie them up for now, and wait until Ectoplasm-sensei get's back. Can you handle that?" Marie asked her classmate. Sero grunted, "Yeah, thanks." So, while Kodai headed back to the civilians under their charge, Marie and Sero headed back and tied up the looters that weren't already physically detained. Marie helped Sero make a sling for his wounded arm and they headed back to help Kodai. The rest of their time as they waited for Ectoplasm to return was uneventful.
In time he returned and helped disperse food out to the civilians with his clones. The three students told him of their adventure, and Ectoplasm thought about it as they passed out food. He then spoke, "Cellophane, you need to return with me to U.A. to heal your arm. You were right to wait for my return." Ectoplasm sent his clones out to watch over the looters, "My clones will remain here to assist you. They'll go with the last of the civilians to be detained in U.A. Until then, Rule, Wolfheart, keep your eyes open." Marie and Kodai agreed, and grabbed some food for themselves while Sero went with Ectoplasm back to U.A. Before he entered the vehicle, Sero said, "Take care guys. Marie, I'll tell Kaminari that you're doing alright."
"Tell Joey too, if he's there when you get to U.A.," she asked him. "Sure thing," he replied, before he shut the door and the evacuation vehicle headed back to U.A.
Marie and Kodai watched over their charges until the sun went down, luckily, it was peaceful for the most part after the looters were defeated. Marie was exhausted as she and Kodai headed back with the last bunch of evacuees and looters and fell asleep on the drive to U.A.