"My hero name is Deku," I said, fidgeting nervously as I talked to the Director.
"I take it that means something in Japanese?" The Director said. I nodded, and opened his mouth to explain, but she cut me off. "Don't bother explaining it to me. I don't care. What's important is that you are heroes in your own world."
"Well, heroes in training," I said, looking at my feet.
"Close enough. And you want to help?"
"I mean, yeah. But what we really want is to go home," I said. "Skitter said that our best bet was to work for you guys."
"That's true enough," the male hero said. "But we won't be able to promise anything. Interdimensional travel is illegal for a reason. Getting an exception made is a...delicate process, and not something I can guarantee."
"And even that small chance is contingent on Brockton Bay not being quarantined," the Director added, getting stern looks from the heroes beside her.
"So what needs to happen to ensure the quarantine doesn't happen?" I asked, focusing on the problem in front of me.
"The quarantine itself is inevitable," the man said, reluctantly. "But I'll fight to get it lifted as soon as possible."
"Legend's efforts aside, what will help most is stabilizing the city. Keep the gangs under control, make sure the villains that came through the portal with you are captured, or at least stopped, and that people can go about their lives. Do that and the government won't be willing to simply write this city off, and wall it off so nothing can get in or out again," The Director said, coolly.
"They wouldn't really do that, would they?" I gasped, looking at the hero, Legend.
"Probably not," Legend said, glaring at the Director before sighing, "but they have done that before," he admitted, reluctantly.
"Then we'll do whatever it takes to make sure that doesn't happen!" I exclaimed.
"Good to hear. Now since we're cut off from all of our normal support, we won't be able to treat you like normal Wards. We simply don't have enough heroes to escort you around. We'll get the details worked out as soon as possible, but in all likelihood, you and your friends will be split into groups and under the command of either one of our Wards or the Undersiders," the Director said.
"You can't be serious!" the woman hero said, finally speaking up. "That's little more than making them child soldiers!"
"I'm entirely serious Miss Militia. We'll work out the exact details of how to do this, but the fact of the matter is we are only going to have three heroes left in the city; you, Assault, and Battery," the Director said, grimly. "If we don't want to turn over the city to the villains our Wards and these children will need to step up and act as full on heroes."
"I can probably at least give you Dragon," Legend said, grimacing. "Her remote suits should be fine, and thus there's no reason for her to worry about the quarantine."
"Umm, can I ask why there's going to be a quarantine in the first place?" I asked.
"Officially to ensure that there are no diseases spread from the portal opening," the Director said. "Unofficially it is because the Simurgh opened a portal to another dimension in her last attack, unleashing a horde of monsters upon the city, and this is similar enough that the government is overreaccting."
"Who is the Simurgh?" I asked.
"Another Endbringer," Legend said. "There's three of them. Behemoth, Leviathan, and the Simurgh."
"There's three of them!" I screeched, mind filling with horror at the thought of the battle we had fought being something that happened all the time.
"We don't call them Endbringers to be poetic," the Director said, dryly. "Now then, Miss Militia can you take our new 'recruits' to some temporary quarters? Then get Assault and Battery. We should get started on planning how we're going to maintain some sort of order."
"Yes Director," Miss Militia said, tightly. "Come on, lets go get your friends," she said to me, forcing a smile. I followed along, and got my classmates to follow me. Soon enough we were all brought to a large tent full of cots. "I'd ask that you stay here tonight, or if you must explore, at least do not leave the camp. I'll bring dinner around in a couple of hours time." With that Miss Militia stood there awkwardly for a few seconds before leaving. Immediately after she left my classmates swarmed around me.
"So Midoryia, what's going on? How can we get home?" was the common question asked. I stuttered and panicked, my words coming out in a jumble as I explained what I had learned. Seeing that I was trying to speak, my classmates calmed down enough so that I could try again. This time I explained our situation.
"So that's basically it," I finished.
"They really expect us to work with villains?" Ka-chan grunted. I shrugged and he rolled his eyes. "Should've known that bug bitch was a villain as soon as I saw her costume," he muttered.
"I don't like our situation," Todoroki said, grimly.
"Neither do I," I admitted. "But I don't really see what other choice we have."
"Uhh, how about doing nothing? They aren't going to force us to fight are they? So why don't we wait for the quarantine to lift and just let the heroes handle it?" Mineta asked.
"Weren't you listening? If they condemn the city, they'll never lift the quarantine and we'll be trapped in this city!" Mina shouted, flailing her arms.
"Still he has a point. We're just students. Would we even have a chance against full on villains?" Shoji asked.
"Ha! Maybe you extras will have some problems, but this will be a piece of cake for a hero like me!" Ka-chan said, sneering as his hand popped with mini explosions.
"I don't care who stands in my way, I will get home to my family!" Uraraka said, fiercely, clenching a fist. "I'll beat up every villain in this city myself if that's what it takes!"
"Yeah!" Mina said, standing up. "We can do this everyone! We'll kick butts, take names, and be the best damn heroes this town has ever seen!" I cheered alongside my classmates at her words, feeling much better about our situation.
"So what now?" Uraraka asked, looking towards me.
"Err, what? Why are you asking me?" I asked, feeling panic shoot through me at everyone's expectant stares.
"Come on Midoriya, you're pretty much our leader," Hagakure said, brightly.
"The hell he is!" Ka-chan roared, glaring at the class, who rolled their eyes or shook their heads.
"Sorry Bakugo, but you're not exactly public relations material you know?" Kirishima said, apologetically.
"Besides, Midoriya did win the original vote to be class president," Uraraka said, cheerfully.
"Err, I suppose," I said, looking away from Uraraka's bright smile. "But what about Iida and Yaoyorozu? Has anyone seen them?"
"Iida wasn't in the building when the portal formed. He had already escaped to go find help. I think Yaoyorozu was sucked into the black mist guy. I don't know where she ended up," Uraraka explained.
"Really? Um, we've got some other people missing too. Were they also brought into Kurogiri?" I asked, hopefully.
"Well let's see. Jiro, Yaoyorozu, Ojiro, and Aoyama are all missing," Uraraka said, counting each off on her fingers. "Does anyone remember being with them before being sucked through the portal?" The class muttered and talked to each other as we discussed the attack by the League of Villains.
"Okay, so Asui, Mineta, and I were one group. Ka-chan and Kirishima were another. Todoroki was with Hagakure, and Koda was with Tokoyami. Kaminari you were by yourself you said?" I summarized.
"Yeah, that's right," Kaminari said, coarsely.
"And Mina, you're positive you saw Aoyama come through the portal with us?" I asked, desperately hoping she'd say no.
"I am," Mina said, confidently. "I lost track of him once Leviathan started attacking us, but his cape smacked me in the face as we came through. I know it."
"Oh no. That means he's missing. He could be hurt or worse, and and he doesn't speak English, and he doesn't know where we are and-"
"And he could be dead," Ka-chan said, bluntly, cutting me off. "Stop worrying about it, you damn nerd. If he's alive, we'll save him. If he's dead, it's too late."
"Right right, sorry Ka-chan," I said, running my fingers through my hair. "Well hopefully Ojiro, Jiro, and Yaoyorozu are didn't come through the portal at all and are safe at home. Now other than Ka-Chan who else speaks English?" I asked. Todoroki raised his hand as did Shoji and Hagakure. "Okay, then we've got to make sure that if we end up getting split up, that one of us is in each group. That way we've always got someone who can understand what people are saying. What's next?"
"Should we come up with groups now?" Uraraka asked, stepping closer to me.
"It couldn't hurt. Hmm, I guess we should make them off how compatible our quirks are and what sort of combination attacks we could make. Oh, but what group size should we go with? There are fourteen of us. That's just short of five groups of three."
"Better we stick together as best we can," Mina chimed in. "That way we can watch each other's backs."
"So two groups of five with one group of four? I like it. That way, we can also have multiple people who can speak English in most groups," I said. "How about we split up into groups, and then talk about why we should be in that group?" I suggested. Before I even finished talking people began moving towards each other. Uraraka quickly moved to join me, as did Asui. Koda was watching us from a distance so I waved him over.
"That's four," Asui said. "We should grab Shoji."
"Too late. Looks like Ka-chan already has him as part of his group," I said, looking over at my friend, who sneered back. I had Uraraka, Koda, and Asui. Todoroki had Hagakure, Mineta, Tokoyami, and Sato. And that meant Ka-Chan had Kirishima, Mina, Shoji, and Kaminari. We stood in our groups for a few moments staring silently as each other.
"So now what?" Mina asked, clearing her throat.
"Right. Okay, so let's discuss our groups. So my group has Koda to scout with his animals and provide support from a distance. Asui is mobile and with Uraraka's help she can provide that mobility to everyone else in the team. And I can smash any opponent," I said,awkwardly.
"Yeah, once," Kaminari muttered, getting a glare from Uraraka and Asui.
"Well I chose to be on Deku's team because I know I can trust him. He's my friend and a great hero to boot," Uraraka said, loyally.
"Ditto, ribbit. Izuku is very smart and keeps calm under pressure. When the villains attacked us in the USJ he came up with a plan to get Mineta and I out safely even with the backlash from his Quirk," Asui said, plainly. Koda muttered something, tapping his fingers together.
"What was that Koda?"I asked, kindly.
"You're nice," he whispered. "Bakugo and Todoroki..." Koda trailed off, visibly struggling to find the right word.
"Are a little intense?" I offered. Koda paused and shrugged before finally nodding.
"Whatever," Ka-chan sneered. "I'll take out whatever villains we end up fighting. Shitty Hair acts as our shield. Arms finds any hiding villains. Sparks handles crowds. Racoon Eyes just sorta tagged along."
"Hey! Someone's got to make sure you don't go too far!" Mina said, offended. Ka-chan just rolled his eyes as she glared at him. "Also I want to keep an eye on Kirishima," she added, after a few seconds.
"Well I joined Bakugo because we worked well together when those villains attacked," Kirishima said, slapping a fist into the palm of his hand.
"Indeed. Say what you like about his personality, but his skill and power cannot be ignored. I'm confident I'll do the most good in Bakugo's team," Shoji said, seriously.
"He can handle himself," Kaminari muttered.
"What do you mean by that?" I asked.
"Exactly that. If I...if any of us messes up, he can handle it," Kaminari said, a little louder. He shrugged, "I just find that comforting, that's all."
"Hn," Todoroki grunted. "I took Hagakure for a scout who speaks English and Todoroki for scouting and extra firepower. Sato and Mineta joined us."
"I figured you guys needed some muscle on the team. Your quirks are all really powerful, but none of you are very bulky. So my role will be to get in close when staying back isn't an option," Sato said, with a sort of gentle confidence. "Well, for the times when Todoroki doesn't just one-shot the villain anyways," he added, sheepishly scratching the back of his head. There were a few chuckles and I switched my attention to Mineta.
"I don't want to fucking die," he said, sullenly. Immediately the relaxed atmosphere we had was gone, and I could help but glare at Mineta for bringing up what we were all desperately trying to ignore. "What? You all saw what happened to Sero. Thirteen and Aizawa are dead too. Just gone, just like that," Mineta snapped his fingers. "Well it's not happening to me! I'm going to survive, and I'm sticking with Todoroki because he's the most powerful person here."
"Jeeze, do you have to be so blunt about it?" Hagakure said, putting her hands on her hips.
"No, he has a point," Todoroki said, bluntly. "The stakes are much higher then we are prepared for. We shouldn't ignore this or brush it aside with platitudes."
"It doesn't matter though," I argued. "Unless we are willing to live in this city for the rest of our lives, we need to step up and be heroes. I don't care how risky it is, I'm going to make it home to my mom."
"Ready or not, we're heroes now with all that entails. Being a hero is inherently risky, so while we might not be as prepared as we would like, this will eventually be our lives ribbit," Asui said, standing beside me. Uraraka nodded, and joined us.
"I was born to be a hero. I'm going to wipe the floor with whatever lousy villains this shitstain of a city has, and I'm going to use this experience to be the next number one hero!" Ka-chan declared, loudly.
"Yeah, that's what UA is all about right? Going Plus Ultra? I don't think anyone expected this, but the same concept still applies!" Mina said, holding a fist up.
"Damn right! It wouldn't be very manly to just give up," Kirishima said. We cheered, but even so I kept an eye out. As I expected, Mineta didn't join in. He simply grumbled to himself, and sat on a cot. Surprisingly Kaminari didn't join in either. He raised a fist up with everyone else, but he was pretty subdued as well. Was he scared? Or was it something else? I mean, I didn't know him that well, but he seemed to be a pretty happy-go-lucky kind of guy from what I had seen. But he had been quiet and hadn't smiled or made a single joke since we got in this tent. Was this just how he reacted to stress? Or was there something else bothering him? I was the, temporary, class rep. Wasn't it my responsibility to keep an eye on everyone?
"So what now?" Uraraka asked, quietly, giving me a gentle nudge.
"Oh right. Thanks Uraraka," I said, giving her a quick smile before raising my voice. "Okay everyone! Dinner should be pretty soon, so I'd ask that you don't go too far if you want to explore. Also please stick in your groups as much as possible. The camp should be safe, but there's a bunch of villains around. One of the local heroes is going to be coming around soon, so I'm going to wait for them to ask them questions. Sounds good?"
"Yeah!" my class cheered. Almost immediately Ka-chan and his group left to go exploring, while Todoroki's group dispersed, with Todoroki finding an empty cot and going to sleep, while Mineta brooded and the others talked among themselves.
"Alright, do you guys want to go anywhere?" I asked.
"Not really," Koda replied.
"Okay. Well, while we wait, why don't we try and figure out some tactics we can use?" I suggested. Uraraka beamed and along with Asui we started strategizing and trying to figure out possible scenarios we might face with Koda occasionally offering an opinion as we talked. I took care to encourage him every time he spoke. He knew his own quirk best after all. I was pretty surprised to learn that he was afraid of bugs, and gave him a quick heads up about Skitter, her control over insects and her tendency to cover herself and others with them.
"I can't believe they are making us work with villains," Uraraka said.
"They must be really desperate, ribbit," Asui croaked.
"I'm surprised Skitter is a villain at all," I said, brow furrowed as I thought back to my encounters with her.
"What do you mean by that?" Uraraka asked, surprised.
"She, how do I put this? She acted like a hero I guess. She marched up against that monster with no hesitation. She had a plan, put her life on the line, and actually managed to hurt Leviathan. And when we asked her for advice, she was honest and pointed us towards the heroes. So I don't get it. Shouldn't a villain act more...I don't know, villainous?"
"Ribbit, maybe a different villain is blackmailing her?" Asui suggested, holding a finger to her lips.
"Yeah! Or maybe she's an undercover hero, learning the villain's secrets until she can arrest the whole group!" Uraraka said.
"Or maybe she's got a grudge against society," Miss Milita said, entering the tent. "Sorry, for interrupting but I heard you speaking and thought it was a good time to interrupt."
"No problem at all ma'am!" I said, shooting to my feet and smiling. "But what do you mean by grudge?"
"Whatever trigger event gave her her powers. If a corrupt cop or government official was involved that may have made her reluctant to become a hero. As much as I love this country, I'll admit it has a horrible problem with corruption. So it is pretty easy for an otherwise good person to become a villain," Miss Militia said.
"Is that what you think happened with Skitter?" I asked.
"I don't know," Miss Militia said, shrugging. "Since becoming a villain, Skitter has proven herself to be a formidable and vicious individual and most of the Undersiders recent victories can be attributed to her presence."
"The Undersiders are her gang right? Can you tell me a bit about them?" I asked. Miss Militia nodded.
"They are thieves for the most part, specializing in smash and grab operations. Hellhound creates those monster dogs, giving them mobility and punch to hit their target. Grue disorientates whoever is around. Tattletale tears through whatever security the facility has. Regrent disrupts anyone who resists."
"And Skitter?" I asked.
"She shuts down anyone below a certain level of power. If you don't have some way to resist or clear away hordes of insects, you simply lose right away. If you can, then she targets you and all of the Undersiders take you down. As a group they move fast, hit hard, and retreat early. It makes them one of the hardest gangs to deal with, well that and how concentrated they are," Miss Militia said.
"Concentrated? What do you mean by that?" Asui asked, cocking her head to the side.
"Their 'gang' is just five villains working together. They don't have any minions or any territory. Their crimes are primarily assaults and thefts. And with Tattletale and Skitter, catching them in a trap is almost impossible since they just retreat if it looks like it'd be too much trouble. If they weren't so reckless, it would be completely impossible," Miss Militia explained. I was surprised at how patient she was being. She hadn't even gotten into why she was here, but she was still answering all of our questions. Oh well, best to take advantage of this while we could. I wanted to know everything I could about the Undersiders. Why would they join the heroes if they were villains? Why would the Director even allow it? Wasn't that against the law anyways?
"In most circumstance it would be," Miss Militia told me. I blushed, realizing I had been speaking aloud the whole time. She smiled at me. "Mind you, we would likely still try and recruit them even in ideal situations. But it would be a much more favorable agreement, and they would be under a strict probation. However-"
"Wait wait wait wait!" Uraraka said, holding up her hands in a pause gesture. "Sorry for interrupting, but you'd recruit them no matter what? But they're villains!"
"The simple fact of the matter is that we are too outnumbered by villains to turn away potential heroes. The Undersiders are powerful, but have limited themselves to being small time crooks. And, despite a few notable exceptions, have mostly focused their crimes on the other gangs in the city."
"You're outnumbered by the villains?" I asked, horrified.
"By about a two to three ratio," Miss Milita said. "I take it that isn't the case in your world?"
"No! Everyone dreams to be a hero!" I yelled.
"That's unusual. Often the trauma from a trigger event...tarnishes such dreams," Miss Militia said, cautiously.
"That's the second time you've mentioned trigger events, ribbit. Can you tell us what those are?" Asui asked.
"You don't have them? I see. That's explains a lot, I suppose," Miss Militia said, tightly, frowning. She took a deep breath in and then let it out slowly. "I shouldn't blame you for that."
"Blame? What?" Uraraka asked, startled.
"Trigger events are intensely personal and horrible experiences that grant us our powers. The idea that someone gets to just...skip having one is almost infuriating," Miss Militia said, slowly. "But that's not even fair. Second generation capes often have relatively mild trigger events, so you not having a trigger event at all shouldn't bother me. No, it won't bother me. I won't let it."
I coughed awkwardly, not really knowing how to respond. I glanced at Uraraka and Asui who gave me supportive smiles. Koda was hiding behind us at this point.
"And everyone goes through this?" I finally asked.
"Everyone? No, only people with powers," Miss Militia said, confused.
"Only those with powers? That implies that most people don't have powers. Which means...are most people Quirkless?!" I asked, loudly.
"Quirkless? I take it that is your word for ordinary people," Miss Militia paused, and I nodded. "Then yes, over ninety-nine percent of our population would be 'Quirkless'."
"Oooh, I've got to talk to Ka-chan about that," I muttered, biting a finger nervously.
"Bakugo? Is he Quirkest?" Uraraka asked, narrowing her eyes suspiciously.
"Quirkest?" Miss Militia asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Someone who judges the value of another person by the power of their Quirk," Asui explained. "Typically they consider Quirkless individuals to be worthless."
"Ka-chan isn't Quirkest. He's just...um...got an attitude problem," I said, defensively.
"I'll say," Uraraka snorted.
"But underneath that, he's got a good heart. Nobody wants to be a hero more than him," I said, firmly, ignoring Uraraka's comment. "Honestly, working with the Undersiders is likely going to be more of a problem than civilians not having Quirks."
"We are well used to managing difficult personalities," Miss Militia said, dryly. "That said, unfortunately, you are going to end up working with the Undersiders quite a bit."
"Why is that, ribbit?" Asui asked.
"Because of Tattletale. She claims her power is mind reading, and maybe that's true. But regardless of what it actually is, she certainly possesses the ability to ferret out secrets with ease. And while we hope that the Undersiders will become heroes permanently, in all likelihood once things are back to normal they'll return to being villains. So the Director doesn't want Tattletale learning any of our secrets while she's working for us. But we can't just let them do whatever they want unsupervised either. So your class will be our go-to agents when interacting with the Undersiders in general, and Tattletale in particular," Miss Militia said.
"So she gets to learn all our secrets instead," Uraraka said, with a huff. Oh crap. All our secrets. That meant she was going to learn about One for All. And how I don't actually have a Quirk and how All Might is dying, and-
"Unfortunately yes. But she won't be able to do anything with them since you are all from another world. And if she tries, tell us, and we'll throw her in the Birdcage," Miss Militia said, interrupting my panic. She was right. Tattletale learning that All Might was injured or that he had given me his Quirk didn't matter. The only people who would care would be my classmates. And yeah, that would be an awful mess, but all that would get is Tattletale a ticket to this Birdcage.
"What's the Birdcage?" I asked, as soon as I thought it.
"An inescapable prison that we sentence our worst villains to. Going there is practically a death sentence for someone like Tattletale," Miss Militia explained.
"Oh, like Tartarus!" I said, brightly. "So are all of us going to be working with the Undersiders at once or did you have something else in mind?"
"It will vary from day to day. Sometimes yes, you'll all be working with the Undersiders. But as much as possible, we'll want at least one group of your classmates working directly with the Protectorate so we can watch over you and teach you how to be proper heroes in our world," Miss Militia said.
"Great! Um, is that when we'll be covering all of the other differences between our worlds? Because there's been a lot just in this conversation," Uraraka asked.
"Don't worry, we'll give you all a packet filled with what you need to know. It's usually meant for Case Fifty-threes, but it'll work for you as well," Miss Militia said.
"Case Fifty-threes?" I asked.
"That'll be covered in the docket. Now Director Piggot is eager to put you to work, but there's still far too much to do before she can officially send you out into the streets. So you've got the next three days to learn the docket and explore the city. There's a map of the city in the docket, and we'll be asking the Undersiders to give you a tour. Which should also serve as a bit of a test run on if your class can get along with them. But don't worry, we'll give you phones so if things do go badly, you can call for help at a moment's notice," Miss Militia explained.
"Okay, I think we can handle that. I'll go over everything you told me when everyone gets back for dinner," I said, confidently.
"Good to hear. I'll make sure you get the dockets alongside your meal," Miss Militia said. "Now, unless you have any other questions, I'd better get back to work. I've got a lot to get done tonight."
"Thank you for your time," I said, bowing. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Asui and Uraraka join me. "We look forward to working with you."
"Likewise," Miss Militia gave me a polite smile, and left. I talked a little longer with Uraraka, Asui, and Koda, but soon our dinner arrived alongside the packets of information about this new world we found ourselves in and we spent the rest of the night studying.
Author's Notes: So who wants a bunch of exposition for Christmas!
TL DR: Kami is being sus, Class 1-A is desperately trying to not thing about who died. Several classmates are missing, and they've split into three general groups.
As for recruiting the Undersiders, here's yet another blurb of exposition for that. No way around it I'm afraid. Last time the Undersiders made their case to the heroes, and now the heroes have to explain to Class 1-A why they are doing that. Along with a bunch of background information. And a bit of fanon.
Miss Militia also has a bit of a 'jerk' moment with her reaction to learning that no one in Class 1-A had trigger events. Which I feel is fair enough. It's just a sharp burst of 'that's not fair!' She's smart enough to realize how silly of a reaction that is and get over it.
Next chapter is Bakugo's! Enjoy!