The Moon Shot Jackpot:
Episode 1: Lone Wolf
(Warning warning anime only MHA fans, here be spoilers for everything up until My Hero Academia chapter 307, likely to be the end of season 6 of the anime, but as the story unfolds it will likely keep pace with the most recent manga developments. This story takes place after the SPOILER Paranormal Liberation War Arc. The minor details of some events, as well larger ones like who is alive or dead are subject to the whims of this story, so consider it somewhat AU alongside a few pseudo crossover character contributions. No dimensional shenanigans just interpretations of characters from other verses as if they were native to MHA.)
In a place you only dream of
Where your soul is always free
Silver stages, golden curtains
Filled my head, plain as can be
As a rainbow grew around the sun
All my stars of love who died
Came from somewhere beyond the scene you see
These lovely people played just for me
A blur of fur sped through the forested hills, a little human girl and her white rabbit ears fast as moonlight between the trees, her smile as wide and sunny as the blue sky above her. Her red eyes beamed just as bright, fixing on the top of a short mountain, its peak green in the warmth of a new spring.
Imma get there first!
The speedy hare raced on, shirt, pants and sneakers colored with a thicker layer of dust and dirt as she went, long white hair flying behind her in lieu of any cape, the rush of wind singing in her tall ears as excitement danced in her veins.
Faster. Higher!
With boundless zeal the girl leapt over fallen branches and scattered rocks with distance to spare, her leaps growing with her ambition, the steep incline of the mountain path quickly eroding to the industry of this rabbit. Eventually the landscape offered its challenge in the form of a particularly large boulder sat straight ahead. Following the path around it would mean slowing down, so...
I can clear it!
She took a deep breath, tensing her mother gifted and quirk blessed legs, springing high and reaching for the top of the rock. With a triumphant grin her fingers landed and took hold-for one second. Victory, as much as the rock, proved a bit slippery, the morning's rain not yet dry and sliding her hands clear off.
"Ah!"
With that yelp bold courage succumbed to gravity, the girl's smile falling with the rest of her.
WhydontIhaveclaws!?
Her wish for claws darted forth from the sky, a large furred hand suddenly catching her by the scruff of her neck, and just shy of a messy landing on the ground. There was however only a brief pause before she was lifted right back up. A long and lanky arm reeled her in until the small rabbit girl was face to snout with a towering grey wolf cut in the shape of a man, his bipedal posture at something of a breezy hunch beneath a polo shirt, small backpack and striped pants. For all the trappings of civilization his head and the lighter grey of his face were entirely lupine, those likewise grey eyes alert with instinct and regarding her closely.
The small girl breathed again, collapsing against the wolf and hugging him with much relief and care.
"Thanks pops!"
"Are you okay Rumi?" The wolf sniffed to make sure, his concerned expression delicate.
"Y-yeah" Rumi sniffed back, her eyes wet at the edges.
"And not scared, clearly" The wolf relaxed, sharp teeth bared only in a teasing smile.
"Only a little" Rumi pouted, drying her tears in the fur of his neck.
"Well I was scared too, so please, be careful. Looking before leaping is just as important for rabbits you know."
"I know."
The wolf raised her to his shoulders and sat her down gentle.
"How about we reach the top at the same time, call it a tie?"
"Okay" She conceded, briefly, her eager spirit quick to rekindle as she leaned forward to meet her father's eye and smile "Until next time!"
"Of course." The wolf chuckled, having little doubt as his tail swept the alpine air at a happy wag, father and daughter taking the rest of the path in calmer stride.
Though they hardly looked it at any superficial level, Legoshi and Rumi Usagiyama were family by all important measures and in truth, quirks allowing for a panoply of rather different and unique family trees. This one, whatever its disparate roots, had grown strong through considerate tending and heart, this sunny day one of many in the girl's happy youth.
As they ascended the view from the mountain seemed all the taller and grander from her pop's shoulders. The whole wide world rested green and healthy before them, stretching out in peace and possibility towards the horizon. Looking at it all with tranquility and birdsong in her ears, Rumi supposed it wasn't too bad to slow down some of the time.
They eventually reached the top just in time for lunch, carrot soup readied in a thermos for her, with a favorite egg sandwich wrapped in foil for him. Her father's mood soon turned pensive as it usually did around a meal.
"How beautiful it always is up here. I first saw this view with your great-grandfather when I was your age."
"Did you beat him to the top?"
"Despite the rather clear destination I got lost" Legoshi smiled modestly "Your great-grandfather found me and guided me up the rest of the way. If you want to take on big challenges Rumi, you do it with a little help."
"I guess, but the people who help, you gotta trust 'em right?"
"You do. It's always a leap of faith, sometimes a long one, sometimes with a rough landing. But trust me, you'll do more, and enjoy more in this world with good company and a friendly pack at your back."
The girl gave a gradual nod, vaguely registering the lesson before her smile stretched even wider than before.
"So does that mean I can work with you pops!?"
The wolf's ears and expression wilted sheepish with a nervous chuckle, his wife Haru likely loathe to entertain the idea of two family members working in danger strewn fields.
"Well, you see, detective work isn't like the movies, it's less car chases and explosions, more deliberate method and procedure, rigorous protocol. It's about late nights of waiting and watching, identifying common factors-"
"And catching bad guys!" Rumi jabbed at a few in the air "It's okay, when I'm a hero you can sniff 'em out and I'll beat 'em up! Promise?"
She extended her left hand and pinky in eager but solemn oath, while the large wolf shrank skittish, considering the pact before him carefully.
"Ah, a dangerous offer."
"Don't worry pops, I'll keep you safe."
Legoshi saw past all fear and dangers to the joy on his daughter's face, his resistance vanishing on a smile and a sigh.
"Only if it keeps you happy."
His pinky finger crossed with hers and hugged it close.
"Promise."
The sunny day and its promise vanished with a flash of lightning, the bolt striking so near and fast that it may as well have struck her for how its booming thunder crashed through her head.
"Ow! Ow! Ow!" Rumi shut her eyes and held her long ears flat against her face, waiting for the pain and its echo to fade.
"How'd that sneak up on you pops? You always smell rain a mile away!" She opened her eyes with a proud smile, only to find herself lonesome at the top of this world, no scent or sign of her father.
"Pops?"
The thunder boomed still, but the girl hopped up and strained her ears. There was no padding of his paws upon the ground or the swish of his tail in the air, the world quiet and empty in her ears except for the storm. A steady drizzle of fear fell back into her chest with the rain, carried by dark clouds that had swept in from who knew where. She set off into the treeline at a rush.
"Pops!"
There was no path here, the wood dense and wild, each step forward only revealing that there was yet more of a mountain climb to go, the ground growing steeper and muddier beneath her feet. The rain was now at a downpour, flowing wild with the tears on her cheek. She trudged on, the branches pressing closer until the thicket seemed to catch her hair, scratch at her face, roots gnarled to a tangle around her feet. Soon there was barely room to breathe, let alone move, this empty forest happy to hold her in cold cover forever.
So I'm hurtin'! So I'm scared! I still gotta help!
She burst free of the forest and into a clearing, feeling a little taller and surer than before, but so did the mountain, its true peak now a distant thing above a towering rockwall far too sheer for even her legs. This time the only way forward was a large double steel door, oddly but plainly placed right there in the rock of the mountain, a small sign beside it.
Jaku Hospital: Morgue.
The girl for once felt as tiny as she looked, stuck lost and uncertain, even when she had already seen all this before.
Be brave. Be strong!
Her hands wiped her eyes as dry as they could before balling to fists, Rumi marching up to the door, where she raised her foot and kicked. The cold steel gave as kind a reception to her effort as one might expect, the pain throbbing fast, her face set in a hard wince as she dropped to the ground.
Gotta be stronger than steel. Stronger than anyone else! Strong enough to do it all on my own!
She raised herself and her foot once more and kicked, again and again, pushing down and past the pain, focusing instead on how it felt for her kick to fly.
Cause there's still bad guys to stop! Still good people who need savin'!
Each kick knocking at the door was a lesson learned, her body working smarter, faster, in developing and soon powerful form, until it was the door shaking and groaning in pain, its very hinges upon the mountain jostling with each blow.
I made a promise! I'm gonna be-!
With a cry the girl jumped with a drop kick at the door, the whole thing caving before her as they both flew off into the mountain's morgue. Within darkness awaited, deeper than even any night without the moon's light. For here it was not enough for any corpses to idle and rest in peace, in here they walked, their bodies and the vestiges of their minds twisted in deadly design and despicable purpose: to lay all the rest of the world upon a cold slab. Their multitude skittered close, eager violence salivating wetly on the tips of their sharp teeth, a ring of knives and certain danger surrounding the lone intruder.
Rumi Usagiyama just smiled, because when she landed she was a small girl no more, but everything she said she would be, a woman certain and grown, a hero.
"Mirko!"
A gruff voice called her, its tone snug over comms in her ear.
"Endeavor! We got company!"
She answered back without delay, and attacked even faster than that, Nomus and all worst laid plans of rats and men but red smears in her wake, her muscled body trained and built with hard work and easy pride, for the protection of others, and some thrills for herself.
What a rush!
Purpose compelled as much as excitement, her mission calling her deeper still into the dark. The next wave of monsters crashed forth with a spray of glass and chemicals, tagging her hard enough to splash her own blood into the mix.
"Go slaughter those meddlesome heroes! My precious High Ends!" Some evil old fart cried, more pathetic than any of his monsters that lined up to kill her.
Mirko wasted no time getting back at them, eager to clear the way to their boss and kick that mustache right off his dumb face. His abominations proved a deadly company, cold intellect glaring out of dead eyes against her boiling fervor, hits and dodges decided by a matter of inches and seconds. She was no stranger to speeding down a fine line between life and death, brawny arms ever tensed in a firm grip on both lest they tear her in half, but today one side tugged a little harder than usual. An invisible hand took hold of hers and squeezed, the skin and bone of her left hand, and everything in between, crunching and spinning together until her blood was wrung forth like water from a towel.
She raged and answered such violence in kind, her legs finding red restitution as her assailant was destroyed between them. But its fellows cared not, kinder emotions clearly shaved away as they kept at her, deadlier and faster still, the sound of her true objective growing more vivid in her ears as the old fart busily worked away at a keyboard deeper and darker in.
This's fun but…no choice.
Mirko took one more gamble, turning her back on the vanguard of death and racing them to the last circle of hell, the lot nipping at her heels and taking some raw chunks for the road.
If you're gonna die, get the job done first Mirko!
She ignored the pain, flying into the final room, not one to be denied her audience with the devil after all her hard work. And sure enough past the old fart acolyte who attended him, there he slumbered, Shigaraki's cracked lips smiling in dark dreaming as he floated within a throne of chemicals and machinery. Each instinct she had screamed of calamity should he, this thing, awake. She moved to make sure he slept evermore but death caught up to her, its spears piercing her legs and side. They stopped her only a moment, this rabbit roaring past her wounds with a spirit undimmed.
Not done yet! Because a hero never, ever, gives up!
She swung judgment down on the heel of her foot.
LUNA ARC!
Her blow loosed a cry of shattered glass and broken steel, her kick cleaving the devil's throne in twain as machinery exploded off the walls, the reading on a nearby monitor freezing at a flickering 75%. Before her body could even hit the ground, she was yanked away, back to the last room with its demons, but not without friendlier company, a different hellfire folding one demon with a good hit to the dome.
"Mirko!" Endeavor roared as he caught her, the battlefield now crowded with heroes of all marks piling in to save the day, and finish the job, Present Mic, X-Less and Eraserhead barely glimpsed as they rushed towards the final room with the old fart and his pale idol.
"He's still back there…" Mirko rasped.
Heat soon seared her wounds, stemming her bleed.
"Add this to what I owe you from Kyushu, so you better not die." Endeavor answered, the fire in his voice at a softer burn.
"What the hell! You don't owe me crap!"
The din of battle buzzed with teamwork, the world turned so busy with others in a raucous, noisy energy, but there was something of a comfort in it too, and it nevertheless signaled victory.
A close victory. Nearly bought it too, so maybe-
Her ears twitched, a distant and hoarse voice, oh so faint, nevertheless cutting through the crowd and tracing a chill across her heart with two words.
"I'm cold."
It started as a far flung trickle before it became an oncoming roar, all the world around her crashing into turbulent and cacophonous destruction that was itself chased by silent oblivion. Soon even the mountain and all its darkness, and all the people within it, friends and foes alike, vanished to the white noise of the void as Mirko began to fall.
When she finally landed unfamiliar arms caught her, the world returning with all its noises, all its voices, but not like she had ever known them before. Shock and fear was on each pair of lips, with barely a breath managed past others, desperate cries raised urgently in the air.
One of Ryukyu's silver haired sidekicks carried her down busy streets at a run, her cloth mask askew to reveal a pale face doused with sweat. Past her tall emergency siren posts wailed ceaselessly, standing in grey silhouette against a sky streaked with clouds of smoke. There were no other heroes to be seen, the streets quickly filling with more civilians packing their cars or glued to their phones, a news broadcast ringing out from every vehicle and device.
"-the terrible and sudden scale of this destruction. Experts say-what's that? Excuse me. Yes. I see. We have a most urgent update on another developing situation."
A crack ran down the usually granite façade of the veteran news anchor, sweat spilling out from it, the man doing a brave job of holding his voice as steady as he read.
"Begin evacuating the affected areas. A supermassive villain is currently making a beeline directly north from Mt. Gunga in Wakayama Prefecture to Jaku City in the greater Kyoto region. The villain's predicted route will take him through Mino City, Kakun City, Nebaro City, Hando City-"
"That's right this way! Everyone in the car! Now!" Cried a mother to her family. Other citizens needed no such prompting to quickly rush for whatever household items they could carry.
"-Mosu City, Horisu City, Kuraudo City, Karida City, Karamari City-"
"Weren't, weren't they a ton of heroes fighting over there?" Asked a younger man of his friend, his body trembling beneath a smiling All Might t-shirt.
"-Suinara, Hau, Sairo, Shido, Anoto, Deno, Ota-"
"We gotta go get some support equipment while they're still on the shelves! This is it man! Like I've always been warning about!" Spoke another man to his fellows who followed in quick agreement.
"-Asaruda, Nabato, Kawa, Kohera-"
Mirko kept her weary eyes open against this strange new world, and fought for each breath. Ryukyu's sidekick soon joined the chorus, her voice defiant.
"Stay with us Mirko! You win this by staying alive! And you will win!"
The thunder called Mirko again, her eyes this time opening on a small but private hospital room, its dim light comparatively bright against the night storm outside. The boom of thunder brought comfort now, because whatever the storm outside, the world was still here, and so was she. As Mirko awoke she could barely do more than that, her gaze stuck on the window straight ahead, raindrops lashing across it with a steady drum, noisy in their multitude.
The rest of her body fared little better, battered in more places than ever before, and sprawled limp within a grey hospital bed and gown. The number 5 hero swaddled in enough bandages to suggest that the doctors might have opted for mummification instead of treatment. She may as well have been buried in some place beneath the sands of time. Between all the surgery, fever dreams, and bouts of unconsciousness, it was hard to say how many days or weeks had passed since visiting that other hospital. However long it had been, she still felt the blood of the last fight splashed across the cracked windshield of her mind, each hit still rattling what was left of her bones. Her eyes fell upon her left arm, only memories and a stump remaining of the hand that had linked pinkies with her father.
A loss she did not enjoy, but it still stood beneath the weight of a defeat that had buried heroes and civilians alike, their many funerals and tributes barely gleaned through a fog of medication and hospital TV.
The television sat quiet now but her left ear could hear well beyond the confines of her private room, reaching past the shut door and finding turmoil in hospital halls that were far too crowded, far too busy. Despair and doubt lingered still on many hushed tongues, broken only by the occasional sorrowful wail. Her nose itched, the smell of a society in flames creeping into her nostrils, and kindling a spirit that yearned to do something about it.
With a huff and a puff she tried to rise from her sheets, before pain and the medication meant to dull it, pressed her right back down.
"Tch."
Frustration and impotence soon dug deeper than pain.
Weak. If you'd gone just a bit further, been just a bit stronger, this, everyone...
"Bad dream?"
Mirko's right ear, recently shorn of fur and flesh at the top, twitched with mild surprise, apparently in as much recovery as the rest of her to have so clearly missed a woman standing right at the other window in the room.
"It didn't used to be" Mirko answered plainly, her eyebrow and curiosity cocked "Why, you a shrink?"
Because the woman who stepped forth from the shadows in brown cowboy boots certainly wasn't a nurse, her rugged sand colored leather top and dark blue jean shorts far too short for any typical medical professional. She was of a similar age to Mirko but made her proud declarations in ink, the bared flesh of her legs, arms and midriff a lovely and fit canvas for a panoply of tattoos in varied colors and styles. The young woman's pretty face however was marked only with a smattering of freckles, her brown eyes lively enough behind a pair of red frame glasses, her head crowned with rambunctious black hair somehow corralled into a wide ponytail.
"I shrink some things in my line of work darlin', but no. Today I'm just a fan with a plan."
No rabbit ears necessary to hear the woman's drawl echoing all the way from the southside of the United States.
"You've come a ways. Ya want an autograph or something? Think you're all out of room."
"I can always make more" Some of the ink on the woman's arm flowed right off, fluid and free through the air before splashing across a blank business card with stylistic flourish as she offered her own signature instead.
"Cool flair! Gutsy introduction!" Mirko enthused as she read the card, some personality a windfall in this humdrum room "Nice to meet you Nic Goldbein!"
Nic adjusted her glasses, retrieving and looking at her card with a brief grimace.
"Damn, typo. Try this one."
The woman produced a more typically printed card, if not without its own dramatic styling and font:
~ Nicoletta "Nico" Goldstein: Artisan of Arms, Arms and Armor ~
Villains May Cry Tech TM
Best Tech in the West for Aid in the Apprehension and Annihilation of all Devils, Demons, and Ne'er Do Wells
Mirko firmly approved of the bold confidence of someone sure in their work, though her enthusiasm did taper as she flipped the card over to meet an arm forged in metal giving her a thumbs up.
"What are you doing over here in Japan?"
"Well, the shit's hit the fan and I'm in the umbrella and raincoat trade, so to speak."
"And?" Mirko's voice cut somewhere abrasive and curt.
"A straight shooter huh? Just my kinda gal" Nico pulled up a chair alongside Mirko's bed, comfortable as you please as she crossed her right leg to rest on her left knee, her own handgun holstered in ink across her thigh "I make all kinds of tech and support equipment, but my real speciality is in prosthetics, a kind above and wayyy beyond what you're probably used to. I'm talking high class, gawk at in the Loo-vre state of the art, patented Villains May Cry tech. Tech so beautiful it'll put tears in the bad guy's eyes and yours."
"Then there's no shortage of someone else who'll take your work, inside this hospital or out of it."
"And help all sorts of folks I will, but I can't go out and put that much power in the palm of any old cowpoke, risk them going off all stupid psycho with it. And most any decent folk are well meaning amateurs, my work is best served in the most capable and professional hands. And darlin' you got the talent in spades. Dancin' with that many High Ends at once? All on your lonesome? Hooo boy. You had to be moving and thinkin' damn fast. Wish I could've seen you work'' Nico's grin spread wide beneath glasses that began to fog with enthusiasm, no flattery in such words when they were honest.
The earnest effort tempered Mirko's distaste just a touch.
"You can try next door, he's out an eye and an arm but he has guts, one of the better heroes you can work with."
"Oh he's next on the list, but right here and now darlin'? It's you and me. I want to honor your service with some of mine, help get you hopping back off to work quick as possible, armed to the carrot chomping teeth."
"Look, I can't trust some metal handout in a fight, it's never really gonna be part of me, I'll have no idea of when or how it'll go bust. There's no time or space in close quarters combat for surprises and mistakes, anything that might get me and the people I want to save killed. Only I know my body best, what it can do. I know when it'll give, when it'll break."
"Then you know you're half a rodeo shy of a dirt deep early retirement" Nico pulled out a smartphone, the rabbit hero's lengthy medical records reflected in her glasses "You lost a little off the top of your right ear, a chunk of your left calf, got two holes popped right through your legs, caught one in your right arm, plus another hole slugged in your side."
"Bastards took a fistful of my hair too." Mirko remarked dryly.
"Yeah well, that'll grow back, your arm won't. You'll recover on your own for most of it I'm sure, but you're gonna need a hand. I know it'll be something new, different. Each gram of metal has to feel just right when you swing it, do exactly what you expect it to when you want it to. Which is why I'd work closely with you, design the perfect arm just to your specifications."
Mirko frowned.
"Only weaklings team up. Relying on someone else in a scrap is just as dangerous as relying on a piece of tech, oftentimes more. Imma live and die on my own two feet, with one hand or none."
"And sometimes even the strongest of us are weaker than store bought moonshine if we don't got a team. You do know you wouldn't be breathing in this bed right now if it weren't for a whole lot of other people right?"
"And all those people and plenty more woulda been dead if I had slowed down and waited for anyone."
"Bingo. There you go, they need you, you need them, everybody needs somebody. Dunno how much news you've been able to digest past all the pain killers, but this ain't just a fight for you to shoulder alone on anymore. Everyone's in it now, civvies are fighting in the streets and what's left of your government just cleared student heroes for duty, and lethal force when needs be. Border's closed down too, so you can bet I'm all in on your side. Things haven't been this bad in a spell, Japan's splitting apart at the seams, and other countries are shit scared of it spillin' over."
"Because of traitors and cowards, and those who fell short of a job well done. Myself included. If I kept going, if I got a little further, I coulda made sure that monster was dead."
Brown eyes weathered the fire from behind glass before answering with a kinder warmth of their own.
"You did your best, and so did a lotta good people, fightin' and dyin' at all costs, leaving everything on the table, but it still wasn't enough. Which is why we gotta be better than best, together."
There came a rare pause between the thoughts that formed in Mirko's head and the words that followed, her voice firm but quiet.
"I'll take help when I need it."
Nico merely nodded, stowing away her phone as she stood and made for the door.
"I'm in your corner all the same darlin', so I'll check in on you some other time, swing by with samples. 'Til then, don't go givin' me too much new to work on. Beautiful as my work is, be a damn shame to replace anything else on ya."
Mirko tried not to listen, but the American's card and words lingered long after her departure.
One more day passed before Mirko could wait no more, shedding hospital gown and bandages for her typical purple and white costume, the leotard hugging her muscles and curves close and allowing for peak maneuverability. Her fit form had some ornamentation all its own now, scars scratched in lighter shade across darker flesh, but she paid them only passing glances, instead focused on stretching and flexing away the bed's soft vices as best she could.
The increased security in the hospital was so focused on keeping villains out that it did a poor job of keeping a hero in, especially when she leapt right from her private window into the cover of night. Her landing was a touch clumsy sure, but she was off and back on duty before anyone else could realize it, let alone object. Her wounds were harder to leave behind, her body shamefully protesting with aches already, but she reckoned she'd have time and distance enough to get back into the flow of things on her commute to work, and treat this first patrol back as a warm up.
The further Mirko got from the hospital, so did she from the vestiges of civilization, the lights and number of people thinning until the hero found herself leaping across ruined and emptied buildings. She could now concede that Nico had at least been right about one thing, the state of things in Japan was very bad. Mirko had caught up on the important details: Half of the government was dead and part had turned traitor, with whole cities in ruins and dust or on their way there, with every jail in the country but one busted wide open, bleeding villains and Nomu alike into open warfare with militarized civilians and whatever heroes were left. To say nothing of the two monsters in hiding who were nevertheless in charge, poised to reign over this island or sink it into the sea when they were done licking their wounds and preparing their plans.
Seeing this new reality for herself though, it gave even Mirko pause. The city ahead dark and becalmed, the dazzle of its entertainment district muted and lonesome, the few enduring and lit signs advertising to an already bygone era, outshone by fires burning rampant and bright in the distance.
More unnerving perhaps than anything was the quiet, only the wind calling her down empty streets. A hero feeling somewhat listless when she stood vigilant over a city cracked and vacant her ears straining with futility in the silence. So she cast a wider net, tapping in to the local police, hero and emergency frequencies on a borrowed radio.
Most of them proved as quiet and abandoned as the city, but after some surfing she found a voice loud and desperate against static.
"This is community militia leader Ikki Ikko- have villains engaging civilians in old town, I repea- engaging civilians in old town. Requesting hero backup over."
"We read you, Ikki."
Answered an emergency responder, though a lengthy pause following their prompt response.
"Try and escape to district Iwate."
"What!? We'll never make it that far!"
"We have no available heroes in your area" The responder bit out sadly, their voice as shaky as the line "Good luck."
"You can't-!"
The line cut off to the sound of a nearby explosion but Mirko was already off.
"No one's coming" Ikki stared at the doubly useless radio in his hand, even as a bolt of electricity carved another wild shot into the building overhead, scattering debris across the block. The man had been a lawyer not too long ago, his profession now feeling like a curious abstract concept in anarchy strewn streets. The ones huddled beside him inside a large grocery store were likewise everyday folk, once store clerks and salarymen, now citizen militia arrayed in desperate rear guard action for their families, armed with naught but support equipment and quirks that often only amounted to party tricks.
"Then we take care of these bastards here and now Ikki!" Juko Awase, Ikki's portly mailman turned second in command thumped a iron shield as wide as he was, his bushy grey mustache bristling like a walrus ready for war, a fierce courage desperate in his eyes "Or at least buy more time for the rest to get away. We prepared for this."
Ikki looked at the people who looked to him for leadership, thought of his family who had run out the back door, and took a breath.
"Right. We go with three teams again, same as last time. Team A, pour your fire down the south sidewalk, B takes the north, we want them marching down that road like a parade. Team C and I will provide the confetti. They want to use the cars for cover? All the better, gives us more time. All of you keep an eye on your buddies and stick together, unless a Nomu shows up, then we all scatter."
Against those monsters and any higher caliber of villain they could only win some time, not victories.
"Good luck and do each person beside you proud! Break!"
"Sir yes sir!"
For all the lingo there was hardly much of any military precision in his group, but these people were lions when their prides were on the line. Each one of them pushing past fear and scrambling messy but determined down the grocery aisles, shelves stocked with chips and salsas poor cover for the varied barrage of quirks the villains were firing down the street.
"And you kept saying you never wanted to run for DA" Juko chuckled, digging for humor in his foxhole, and hefting his shield up to deploy as a bulwark for Ikki to fire from, the lawyer's support cannon fed a steady diet of nearby soup cans and firing off metal chunks at a fast pace.
"No, I'm not going to run, and this time I'm not lying. Recently come to realize a quiet and simple life might be better than an ambitious and stressful one."
"I guess it's true, you only miss some things once they're gone huh?"
"Like heroes. None here now."
"Ah we relied on them too much, asked too much, always thinking they could fix all our problems. We all live in this world, so we should all take some responsibility, do our part."
And their compatriots did their part well, successful in flushing the majority of the villains into the cover of the cars lining and filling the street.
"Everyone's got to be a hero now."
Juko pressed his watch, all the manhole covers in the street jumping up in tandem amidst the villains before exploding in a flash of energy and shrapnel, hitting some behind or through their cover, and tossing others back into the crossfire on the sidewalks.
All at once militia morale pivoted with a cheer, and then swung right back on a pendulum's swing, a wall of smoke suddenly sweeping the villains up in new cover.
"You didn't put some smoke bombs in there too did you?" Ikki asked.
"And give them cover all the way to our line? No way!" Juko answered.
"A smokescreen that big means they have pros at the back."
"Then leave most of the supplies behind Ikki! Take what can be carried and run!"
"Agreed. Everyone lay down covering fire for a quick withdrawal, stuff what you can into your pockets on your way out!" Ikki howled to the militia as the smoke creeped further up the street, nearly at the store windows.
"We don't have enough time Ikki, you guys go on, I'll hold them up." Juko volunteered, his shield shrinking back to a more portable size around his arm.
"Bullshit. We're all heading back together right now."
"You all got your families to protect, you guys are mine. So let me do this."
"It's suicide!"
"'Come back with your shield or on it!'" Juko thumped his again, a bittersweet happiness in his smile.
"Your friend's right you know" Spoke a third voice from the floor, a lean figure wrapped in the tatters of a black cloak and hood emerging from Juko's very shadow, and sliding a long knife between his ribs "Suicide."
"Juko!" Ikki roared, hefting his support cannon for a shot but blocked as the skinny shade appropriated Juko's shield and slammed it into his face.
As Ikki and Juko hit the floor they saw their loose perimeter quickly overwhelmed and broken by more villains dashing forth from the smoke. The villains were elsewhere restrained and considerate in their violence, and perhaps that much more threatening for it, chains and lashes soon finding and binding each civilian where they laid.
"What are you going to do with us?" Ikki asked the man in black, his own wrists soon forced behind his back and tied together.
"Just simple business really" His captor explained with lackadaisical manner, a unfriendly smile peeking out from beneath his hood "Heroes have one thing right, lives are precious things, valuable commodities. If your friends and family won't pay up, the big boss man will. One always needs more lab rats."
"Then help him! Bind his wound!" Ikki pleaded, Juko bleeding out before him "I'll pay you!"
The man in black shrugged "I'm not a greedy man, some spoilage is ever a fact of business."
Ikki's pounding heart fell from his chest and into a cold pit in his stomach, despair wrapping yet thicker chains around limp arms and legs as he watched Juko slip away.
"Hey Mr. Shadowcaster Sir" Another younger villain approached the one in black, the mystery of his costume only running as far as which sporting goods store he had stolen his red tracksuit from "We got about a dozen, rest scampered off."
"That's enough for today I think, we'll get these wired up and moving, until then head outside and keep a lookout for any heroes."
"You got it."
The man didn't have to jog very far in his tracksuit, legging it only to the grocery parking lot where a fellow peer waited, his hair a little thinner and grayer with the years.
"What'd the boss say?"
"Keep an eye out for heroes til the bombs are on 'em."
They shared a look up and down the street, the whole busted mess empty for block after block. At that the older villain put his attention to a fresh cigarette.
"I tell youse, last time I take a vacation somewhere outside the states. Come for a week, stay for 3 fuckin' years. Get caught in all this Halloween bullshit."
"Well look at it this way, you're out early ain't ya?"
"And not a moment too soon. Going to get me some scratch and say bye bye to this fucking island."
"I hear ya, little more work and I'm on the first boat outta here, find me some nice cooze."
"Oh yeah?" The older villain asked, shifting his machine gun's strap from one shoulder to the other, his left acting up now and then these days "What's your type?"
"Strong, works out, killer body on both counts. I'm talking a perfect balance between curves and muscle. You know? Big soft tits. Firm abs. Thick thighs. Powerful legs."
"Sounds like the kinda girl who would bend you over hehehehe" Grey hair pointed a ringed finger at his younger peer "Careful what you wish for my friend, or that cat's paw gonna grab you by the balls."
"Hey, wouldn't mind that either."
"Oh! Get the fuck outta here. You into that weird quirked shit? Some pussy that looks like-"
"What? Fuck no! I'm talking maybe a little fur, some tail on my tail, maybe some on the different ears. You know, like a 1 to 5 ratio-"
The man's ideal woman landed on his shoulders at a less than ideal time, wrapping her thick, powerful legs around his neck and squeezing tight. His eyes went wide, mind racing in a quick reevaluation of some of his chosen kinks, reality proving somewhat less comfortable than fantasy, his hands futilely trying to pry her off before he slid to the floor and into unconsciousness. Mirko raised a punch for the other man but he proved something of a track fan himself, already off and in the breeze. She gave a blink before she gave a shrug, she could let one go, she had the hostages to focus on.
Inside another villain only heard the electronic ding of the market's main door before a kick sent him through the dairy aisle and into the produce section, an explosion of oranges flying through the air and rolling down the aisles. All at once each villain in the place turned, a ripple of fear and anger passing over each by different measure. Mirko, outnumbered, short an arm behind her old self and feeling rather stiff, nevertheless smiled wide.
"Listen up losers! You still got your teeth, and if you wanna keep 'em you'll give up right now!"
Their response sounded off in a variety of calibers and quirks, lead, acid and lighting tearing through the store as she leapt into action. She danced between them with what grace and speed she could find, her wounded body feeling sluggish and drunk, like dealing with game lag in real time. But they were amateurs and experience did count for plenty, even her slower self capable of reading and side stepping their numerous attacks with ease. She gave them love taps for their troubles, even her weaker punches and kicks plenty enough to deliver hard lessons and quickly drop them as bruised and bloody as the oranges in the aisles.
Mirko was halfway through mopping up the store when she spotted their leader, a hooded man dressed in black and preaching in front of the bound and gagged civilians like some lame goth prophet, both his hands stretching to the sky, and holding a detonator that no doubt matched the small bombs strapped to each civilian's chest.
"Not so fast hero! One more step and the hostages-" CRACK.
A piece of celery hit Shadowcaster's hand hard enough to break skin, the detonator barely out of his grasp when he felt the shadow of rabbit-eared death looming overhead, her foot tearing for his face. At the last second he vanished into the shadow of the nearby sign that declared the week's best deals, only to pop back into sight at the far end of the store, thrown across the floor with his hood and demagogue facade thoroughly askew.
"You cowards always have squirrely quirks don'tcha!?" Mirko called after him, taking the fallen detonator in hand and trying to break it. Curiously, the sleek black metal of the detonator's body held sturdy, no small feat against even her weakened strength. The hostages, lined with fear and explosives, watched on with baited breath.
"It's okay everyone, gonna have you outta here in a sec!"
She gave hostages and villains her smile by equal measure.
"Say, where'd you get this metal? Tell me and I won't shove it up your ass!"
The rabbit stalked after her prey at a steady walk. Shadowcaster clearly had a range and a cooldown to his quirk or he'd have run much further away already, his goons likewise falling back to the edges of the store. Shadowcaster was no longer smiling, sweat instead pouring off his distraught face as he cried out.
"We've got a troublesome one! Big Smoke!"
The wall nearest Mirko exploded as a whole tower of that black metal forced through it, totally armoring a bulky figure who stood a helmeted head taller than even her ears. He quickly proved fast for his size, a gauntlet as big as her head darting forward for a more direct size comparison. Her ears skimmed the cold underside of his arm as the rabbit hero nimbly ducked and side stepped, spinning around on the momentum of her dodge to throw a heavy sidekick at the giant's ribs. The blow landed with the sound of someone slamming a dull gong with a truck, the sound and impact resounding in both of them as the villain was kicked back into another wall. In the explosion of debris the tower of black metal dropped to a knee, but little else. For all the dust that fell over it there was not even a scratch on the armor's sheen.
"Heh." The villain sounded, his smile clear even beneath his smooth and faceless helmet.
Mirko's smile rose yet higher to the challenge, dangerous excitement glinting in her eyes "Overdressed for some shoplifting ain't ya?"
And then some, even her weakened kicks should have been able to tenderize steel, so this new material was either tougher than that or had some sophisticated shock absorption system active beneath it. Either way it meant there were tech enthusiasts flying in from abroad to arm and armor more than just heroes. Before Mirko could rush into crash testing that tech the smaller mystery of Big Smoke's name soon solved itself, the villain breathing forth a quick wall of odorless smoke that swept the battlefield and her in cover.
Mirko's head and ears cocked to the side.
Whatever that armor's made of, it ain't quiet! So they can't be thinkin' a gettin' past me without some kinda trick. Somethin' else to this...
There was however little time for caution as she heard those heavy steps stomping towards the hostages. She took after him, drawing an audible silhouette in the fog of war with her ears and aiming for his ankles.
Bettin' your armor's weaker at the joints!
Her foot was almost on mark when Big Smoke's armor dropped two canisters at her feet.
Flashbangs.
She had time and speed enough to close her eyes but not stuff her ears, before the blast split her head open from ear to ringing ear, her whole body reeling from the weight of screaming silence. Soon she was the one on the defensive, deaf and thus finally blind as armored punches and kicks sailed at her from the smoke. She dodged and deflected barely, but being so disoriented and weakened the attacks came closer and harder each time, painting her blocking legs and arms in blacks and blues, her aegis of experience and instinct crumbling away. There next came a flash of blue fire in the clouds, before they parted, his right hook flying forth with rocket power and speed. With a yell she knocked aside his right handed punch with her own, but as for his other rocket powered left-
"Rabbit season." Big Smoke declared.
His big metal gauntlet sailed past her stump and walloped her in the stomach, sending her body and head flying back with a hard smack against the wall, her lips coughing bloody as the villain walked over to recollect the detonator. With a wave of his other hand Big Smoke parted the grey curtain on their battle, tossing the detonator back to Shadowcaster who suddenly rediscovered his confidence.
"Splendid work Big Smoke!"
"No problem. We bounty or head hunting this one?" Big Smoke asked as he hefted the hero up by her ears, her breathing heavy.
"You beat her, she's yours."
"D-d-d….." Mirko tried to muster, her mumblings trailing off at a weak whisper.
"What's that rabbit?" He gave her a crude shake "Speak up, we don't all have ears as big as you."
"D-du..."
"Ah who cares. Hope your foot has better luck than the rest of you" His other hand gripped her leg harshly and began to pull "We'll find ou-"
With the man's two arms occupied Mirko's lone one sprang to life, lifting up his helmet as she lunged, her teeth catching the man's words in his throat. She tore both out at once, his boast and grip lost in a red and wet gurgle, Mirko falling down alongside the thud of his armor.
"Duck season" Mirko spat, removing the man's flavor from her mouth with some disgust, having been raised in a devotedly vegetarian household. Her parents had also told her that playing dead sometimes had its merits when dealing with dangerous animals. Looking down she saw that Big Smoke wasn't as good an actor, likely never would be now, his last performance pooling around her feet.
"JEEZUS CHROIST!" Roared one of the villains, the rest raising their weapons and quirks for attack, before Mirko gave the fallen man's chest a hard kick, another billow of smoke spilling out from the hole in his neck and now enveloping the lot of his peers. Though this fog was tinged with an ominous red as it rolled in, each villain soon jumpy in their own skin.
"St-stay back bunny or I toast the hostages!" Shadowcaster insisted shrilly.
"And then what man?" Questioned a subordinate with greater sense "She did that to Big Smoke while we have the hostages! What the fuck is she going to do to us if we kill them!?"
"Fuck it! I'll blow them away and we'll escape in the chaos! 3-"
Erupting from the smoke Mirko's leg found his arm before his thumb found the trigger, parting man from detonator and hand this time, just to be safe. Amidst a spray of blood the device fell to the ground once more, the disarmed villain writhing on the floor and clearly much too distressed for any more tricks. The morale of his goons however wavered on a knife's edge. The lot of them that much more jittery even as the smoke began to part, revealing the rabbit whose fur was now as red as her angry eyes.
"Time to give it up."
Though she was bluffing this time, she sold it well, no smile on her lips as she held them with a glare, their sweat dripping faster than her wounds. There were few herd mentalities as pervasive and powerful as fear, a dousing of it hitting one and soon spreading to the others, as they each began to back up, weapons going slack in their hands.
"We can take her." Whispered one of the goons at the back, his expression somewhere between crazed and desperate.
The concept gestated in silence among the crowd which now held still.
"Ye-yeah" Echoed another "Look at her, she can barely move I bet."
Mirko grit blood streaked teeth.
Shit.
The herd was a pack now and it began to circle in close, the weaklings covering her flanks, caught in the scent of possible glory.
"She's weak, this is our chance, we take down the number 5 hero and we'll have anything we want!"
"YEAH!" Roared the jackals as they rushed in.
Weak.
The word drove one more spike in her as she tensed her fist, a curious sensation bleeding from the fresh wound and pooling in her chest. Something she'd never felt in all the many fights of her life. She felt lonely.
It was yet another long night after many in Central Hospital, but thankfully Hisa Shime finally had enough free time to squeeze in a yawn at the front desk, the last couple weeks a blur of unpleasant days drowned beneath a sea of coffee. At midnight the deluge of wounded had slowed to a trickle, and now as the clock struck 3:18 AM the hospital driveway stood empty for the first time since that fateful day at another hospital. The young woman dared to wonder that perhaps crime did indeed sleep. She might consider the lifestyle swap if she could steal a few Z's, her eyes beginning to lid shut when there came a late night visitor with a crowd in tow.
Most of them were civilians, tattered but enduring beneath half busted jury rigged armor and store-bought support equipment, their leader Ikki lending a supporting shoulder to the woman who walked beside him at a limp. She looked like she'd walked away from a car crash, before getting hit by a bus, and then gotten into a couple fights, her body caked in a variety of red hues both wet and dry. She would have been almost impossible to recognize if not for her tall ears that fought to retain some posture and dignity like the rest of her.
"Got a few for ya" Mirko gave a tiny incline of her head to a pile of villains stacked on a dolly cart, her hand slipping away from the handle as her knees began to buckle "Save 'em for questioning."
"Miss Usagiyama!" Hisa cried out, shooting up and wide awake, the call echoing to the handful of staff nearby who snapped to attention as well, nurses, doctors and security alike swarming in with professional precision whatever their own fatigue.
"Don't worry, only some of the blood's mine." The hero smiled though her lips stood on as shaky ground as the rest of her, wounds, some old and some new, dripping on the floor "Help these folks out".
Now at the finish line finally she could collapse, hitting the ground at a thud, the parade of many busy feet turning blurry across the floor, the ensemble of voices lost in her ears. The whole room spun away and vanished until she could only feel the warm sway of a spring alpine breeze, the fur of a pinky finger linked with hers.
Sorry pops.
As Mirko passed out the crowd of medical professionals busied away, quick to save their hero from the brink yet again, their attentions understandably too preoccupied to notice the black piece of metal that had fallen from her pocket.
All save one. Cowboy boots crossed the lobby, a hand reaching out with pale fingers and nails as dark as the metal they plucked from the floor.
"Well I'll be" Nico flipped the piece over before pocketing it, her eyes following Mirko as she was wheeled down the hall.
The rabbit's wounds ran deeper than the flesh, but arm or no arm, issues or no issues, she had heart, and so long as she did, Nico could work with that.
Green grass and high tides forever
Castles of stone souls and glory
Lost faces say we adore you
As kings and queens bow and play for you
Yeah, they play just for you
Green Grass and High Tides - The Outlaws
(Thanks for reading! Please do share any comments or feedback.
Been a solid enough MHA fan for a while now but the last manga arc was so awesome and Mirko so badass within it that it deepened my fandom some more and I felt compelled to make something. Thanks Kōhei Horikoshi for the great work as of late and always, credit to him and Hideaki Itsuno of DMC for making two characters who are plenty fun to write for.
Really this idea itself sprang from as basic a place as "Hey Mirko and Nico are both cool and fun characters. Hey wait a second, Mirko lost an arm, Nico makes them, wouldn't that be an interesting meeting?" It took a more elaborate form when I quickly came upon a couple ideas that might give a little more heft to such a concept. Thought I could get in and out with the idea rather fast but one thing led to another and it ballooned from there. The plan is to tackle this story in two chapters, but depending on how much more fun writing that second half is or how interested people are, it may yet go longer than that. Have to say I rather enjoy the new status quo of things in the MHA universe as a rather interesting backdrop for more stories in general, so plentiful ideas abound even beyond this pair.
If you like hero and AU anime crossover stuff in general or just had a good time, please do give a look over at The Rebuild of Super Eva, a AU Evangelion x Kill la Kill long form series I've been writing and editing with a dear friend and great writer, Mines of Salmon. You can read that here:
s/12838955/1/The-Rebuild-of-Super-Eva
They also have a fun ongoing AU Persona 5 story where Kawakami is the star. They likewise provided some nice feedback and editing help on this piece so much gratitude for that!)