EDIT: I posted a second opening video for this story on youtube! It's titled "Invasion Opening 2", and if you are interested in viewing, PM me and I'll message you the link.
CHAPTER 20
STRENGTH THROUGH FAILURE
It took a couple days for Deku to fully recover, and then the heroes were able to resume their journey. With two of the generators destroyed, one still remained. And it just so happened to be located rather close to the alien spaceship, or at least much closer than the other two generators had been. Considering it was the last major energy station available to Teckh now, he would surely have powerful defenses guarding it.
"Time to go," Caitlyn announced, tossing Deku his green jacket.
"Right," he replied, feeling much more improved now overall. It had been rough dealing with the pain from his injuries, but thanks to the extra time resting, as well as Pina's healing magic, he was back to one hundred percent.
Seeing him now caused Caitlyn to come up with an inquiry. "That Quirk of yours. You used it at one hundred percent?"
"Huh?" As he returned to his feet he paused to think back to the last battle. "Yeah, I can tap into One For All at greater amounts, depending on the situation. But if I use it at one hundred percent, it…" He shrugged with the pause. "…Breaks my bones."
"Seriously?" Her curiosity got the better of her as she moved in closer, trying to inspect his arms. "That's the reason you broke your bones in that battle? It was from using your Quirk?"
"Pretty much," he said bashfully, rubbing the back of his head.
Caitlyn could only shake her head, almost in disbelief. "It must be a hero thing," she commented, giving him a friendly grin. "Still though, I hope you don't overdo it. That sounds like it could really mess you up."
Hearing those words caused Deku to think back to his previous lessons from All Might, as well as his visits to Recovery Girl's office. His penchant for injuring his body throughout all his training programs had nearly ended his super hero career tragically early in his life. With Caitlyn reminding him of the importance of maintaining his health, he knew that it was going to be vital to take all of that to heart. After all, there was still so much to do to save the world, and he would be tested more as things escalated. "I'll be more careful," he finally said in response.
"Sure you will." Caitlyn crossed her arms skeptically.
"What? You don't believe me?"
She rolled her eyes with a grin. "I don't doubt you." With that said, she picked up her machine gun and propped the door open. "You coming or what?"
It was time to get back to work. Deku's face shifted to one of motivated focus, and he went through the door. Caitlyn was right behind him. Both of them hurried outside to regroup with the others. The next destination was set, but there was still one problem. Dr. Bofoi knew where they were going next as well, and he would be ready.
(Elsewhere)
"Ew, ew, ew." Haruko was struggling to pull the sticky purple strands from her hair. The trap that had been rigged in Caitlyn's machine gun had caught her off guard, and although it hadn't been effective enough to contain her back in the cabin, it had still left material clinging to her skin and hair for days.
Fortunately, she appeared to finally remove the last of it today, and she revealed a pocket mirror to inspect her face. "Finally," she muttered, tossing the mirror off behind her. "Now then… where to go next…"
She revealed another object from her pocket; a tracking device. There was a beeping sound and a light on the screen, revealing the location of her target. During her scuffle with Caitlyn, she had managed to leave a tracker in Silica's hair. After checking the screen for a few moments, Haruko held up her left wrist and pressed a button on her metal band. It brought up a virtual map of the area, and she navigated it toward the targets. One minute was all it took for her to figure out they were headed toward the third generator.
Instead of being upset, Haruko smiled. "Nice job, kids," she spoke to herself with a sadistic grin across her face. "So far, so good. Keep up the good work. You just need to wipe out one more generator, and then he'll be crippled." She closed the configuration and then lowered both her arms, now staring out over the horizon. After a moment, she peered up into the sky, as if she saw right through the atmosphere into outer space. "All that power will be up for grabs… so I'll grab it."
With a loud whistle, Haruko signaled her Vespa, which came racing over to her on cue. She climbed on board and hit the engine at full throttle, barreling down the highway. There was still time to make it to see all the action.
Power. It was what she was really after. The more she thought about it, the more it consumed her mind. With every world she traveled to, her concerns for the lifeforms there became more routine to her. They always seemed to have the same primitive lifestyles. The ideas of compassion and understanding. The concept of peace. These were all the qualities of the weak and feeble. It made sense that humanity embraced the idea of caring for others because they themselves needed peace so that they could survive. In fact, they still killed themselves on a daily basis, regardless of their beliefs. And it wasn't just humanity. Plants, animals, all living organisms were desperately trying to survive all the time.
Who was holding her to that standard? Nobody. Haruko knew there was always power to strive for, and that it filled her with excitement. Settling down and accepting a simple life didn't suit her. Not when there was the thrill of power.
As she barreled down the road, Haruko peered ahead. She could see the sun breaking through the clouds, revealing a bright and cheerful path ahead. Everything looked primed and ready for her arrival. She would catch up to the group of heroes, but she still wouldn't stop them. Instead, they were going to do her work for her. They were going to destroy Teckh's army. Even when they inevitably failed in the end, things would be perfectly set for Haruko to march in and steal everything. All she had to do was keep them all thrown off with her antics. That was easy.
Suddenly, Haruko skidded the Vespa to a fast stop. At the side of the road, she spotted a moving object. Upon closer inspection, it was a white dog. The animal had been walking slowly but it raised its head in curiosity once it noticed Haruko. After a few seconds of hesitation, the dog let out a faint bark.
"What are you doing all the way out here?" Haruko asked with an impatient mumble at the end. Despite her wish to oversee her agenda, she still was drawn to the helpless animal. After all, the dog was all the way alone out here, and that meant it wouldn't survive much longer.
Eventually, Haruko left the Vespa to go check on the dog. When she got close, it barked happily and licked Haruko's boot for a few moments, and then sat down and waited patiently for her to offer her hands. Finally, Haruko groaned and petted the dog's head before permitting it to lick her fingers in a friendly gesture. She noticed the dog had a red leash still tied around its neck, and that caused her to take a glance back the way they both came. There were no signs of any living beings for miles around.
"You must be a long way from home," Haruko commented with a sigh. Strangely, she felt that she was unable to simply leave the dog here. For whatever reason, she decided to take the pet with her. "You better not need to poop. Once we hit the road, I'm not pulling over."
She didn't need much time to find out the answer. The dog quickly finished its business a few moments later, then wagged its short tail happily.
"Fine… guess you can tag along. But any complaints and I'll leave you behind."
With that said, Haruko sat back down on the Vespa, and the dog joined her, sitting at her feet. Despite how it seemed the dog had no means to stay secure without a seatbelt, Haruko revved the engine and resumed driving down the road. After a few moments, she slowed down, sensing the poor animal was feeling scared. She was back on track now, but going slower than she had planned. It annoyed her but still she pressed on.
(Back with the heroes)
Traveling would be easy for some of the heroes, but not everyone possessed great speed as an attribute. Not to mention, traveling by air made them targets for potential enemies to spot them. Perhaps, even targets for enemies to open fire on them. As vital as urgency was to them, rushing in recklessly could get them killed, and they had to remember that.
At least, Senku reminded them of it constantly. His suggested methods of travel revolved around the idea of concealing their position from being revealed. In addition, along the way, they took shelter in areas that didn't stand out geographically. Part of the plan of travel meant they didn't simply approach the final generator in a straight line. Instead, they moved south and passed through the forested area, hitting up some towns along the way which had places to restock on supplies.
When they passed through areas like this, repositioning the people trapped in statues remained a priority. Any chance they could get, it helped to move the statues to safer locations, so that they people would be clear of threats from the elements, or even Teckh's forces.
One day, Deku noticed that Genos had been silent for quite some time. Normally, the cyborg member of the team didn't mind speaking his mind, and he never hesitated to review information out loud. Lately, however, Genos seemed more distant.
Eventually, Deku hurried over to him when he noticed that the cyborg was about to leave the town. "Hey Genos," he called to him, "Where are you going?"
He stopped and glance back, barely turning in the process. "I'm retrieving wood for a fire."
"Mind if I go with you?"
It took several moments for Genos to respond. "Very well."
The two of them entered the woods, spotting a few really tall trees that looked like good choices. Genos revealed the razor sharp blade in his left arm and fired up his energy levels as he delivered a heavy chop. Despite how thick the tree was, the trunk was decapitated from a single blow. Before it could fall, Genos had both arms up to catch it, and he brought it down cautiously, making sure it didn't damage any of the other trees nearby. He also prevented it any loud noise from being unleashed, which could alert enemies that were searching for them.
When it was over, Deku nodded in approval. "Nice work. You really know how to use your powers with good calculation."
In response, Genos grew quiet again, lowering the tree to the ground carefully. From there, he revealed a saw blade in his left wrist this time, which he used to begin cutting sections of the trunk out to use for firewood.
It was obvious that Genos was harboring some sort of animosity, and Deku knew it. He just wasn't sure where it was aimed at. But when he reminisced on his previous time spent with Genos, he remembered the one thing the two of them had in common; they both looked up to a master who taught them how to be a hero.
Therefore, Deku would start with that. "What made you want to be a hero originally?"
Genos tilted his head to the side, apparently caught off guard by the random question. Even so, he gave it some thought before replying. "I joined the Hero Association along with Master Saitama. Before that I was… searching for someone."
"Searching for someone?" Deku walked over closer to the cyborg so that he could help with organizing the lumber as it came through.
"Another cyborg," Genos clarified. "One who destroyed my home city… and killed my family."
It was an intense thing for Deku to learn, and so suddenly. "Genos…"
"I am still determined to find that cyborg one day," Genos explained. "And when I do, I will avenge my family's death. However, along the way, I discovered that I was far too weak. Even if I finally located the cyborg who killed my family, I would be unable to stop him."
"In order to get revenge, I would need to be powerful. More powerful than the cyborg, no matter what. And without being able to grasp the kind of power my enemy has, I would need to do everything I could to prepare myself for a threat of any potential magnitude. That is why I need to become stronger. To become as strong as possible, and to constantly be increasing my power."
Upon first meeting Genos, Deku thought he was simply a hero. He hadn't expected him to possess such a dark story behind the scenes. In fact, Genos never even mentioned it to him or anyone else in the group before now. Deku could only nod and display sympathy for the cyborg, for he himself didn't understand what it was like to have his family murdered.
For now, Deku didn't want to push Genos closer to the darkness, but he still wanted to offer his help… somehow. "Your powers really are amazing, though. I can't imagine any cyborg having a chance of defeating you in battle."
Genos turned away from his work on the lumber and stared at Deku. "I have failed in battle. Numerous times. No matter how strong I get, I continue to fail. And I cannot see how I will ever be strong enough to avenge my family. I won't even be strong enough to overcome Dr. Bofoi and his army of machines." Without realizing it, he crushed a wooden log in his metallic hands, leaving the remnants falling to form a small pile on the ground below.
Deku held up both hands defensively. "You're right; Dr. Bofoi is a powerful enemy. And he has a ship, an army, and a bunch of powerful weapons. But we still have each other. That means that even with all those things to help him out, we can still defeat him. When any one of us gets tired, the others will step in."
"That's the reason why we are all here together. The reason all those portals showed up conveniently like they did. We're all meant to work together on this. This is how we're going to save our worlds."
With that said, Deku moved forward and lifted the next piece of lumber up toward Genos. "This may be a bit of a distraction from your path to find that great enemy of yours, but it is still a part of your journey. And based on what I've seen, you have tremendous power."
"But what about those times when I went down in battle? Surely, that is proof that I'm too weak."
Despite the point, Deku shook his head. "You really think your master didn't fall down several times before he became as powerful as he is now? He probably went through a similar journey. Besides, you won't be able to find out how strong you are unless you face enemies strong enough to defeat you. That's how you can gauge your strength. Not to mention, every time you were dropped in a battle… you always got back up again."
By now, Genos was starting to understand the concept better. After all, Deku had been through a journey of his own. There were some parts of that journey that Genos wasn't comprehending, even when he made the same mistakes over and over again. But Deku saw something that he was missing, and was trying to share it with him. Therefore, Genos had to listen closely.
"Please, Deku-San. Tell me again, one more time." Genos stood up, displaying a newfound drive and determination in his yellow eyes. "What must I do to become stronger?"
Although he didn't like being put on the spot, Deku sensed he knew what Genos needed to hear. With a quick breath, he gave it his all. "To become stronger, you must stop burdening yourself over each failure. Failures are inevitable if you are truly on a journey to become stronger. Along the way, each failure is an opportunity to grasp a weakness in your design, so that you can improve on it. It is also a chance for you to give up on your dreams. But you should never do that! If you really believe in your dreams, then you won't give up on them no matter what. That's how you'll know for sure it's the right path for you. And that's how you're going to become stronger."
In the end, Deku thought about something Caitlyn told him previously. Embrace your power. He couldn't resist feeling powerful right now. "You can't fail this way," he assured Genos. "Ever." Even after he said it, he felt it. This wasn't just something he was telling Genos. In reality, this concept applied to Deku as well. He could never give up either.
"Thank you, Deku-San." Genos leaned his head down in a respectful bow, and then returned to being at ease.
The rest of the time crafting firewood was spent in an uplifted mood. Both Deku and Genos were more fired up now than before, especially knowing that they were much further along their journey to stop Bofoi's invasion now. Soon, the battles would resume, but they were not going to last forever. Even if they met powerful enemies along the way, they were going to press forward. That was how they were going to reach their goals together. In truth, the path for each of them went beyond Dr. Bofoi, and he was just another obstacle. Since they had this enemy in common, they could work together to stop him. Once it was over, they could resume their pursuit of their dreams.
