This was a story I originally started writing for the Heroes and Monsters AU to be posted BEFORE Godzilla unleashed his atomic breath.
Instead its being released just before the ending.
Anyway, I hope you all enjoy it!
"You're him aren't you? Inferno?"
He turned around. A man with a blond ponytail wearing some kind of uniform approached. Unarmed, but the dark coloring around his eyes suggested a potential Meta Ability. That or a bad tattoo.
He formed a fireball. "Who wants to know?"
The ponytailed man didn't flinch. "You need not fear me Inferno. I admire your…special qualities."
"You lead a gang?"
"No. I lead an army. One dedicated to protecting our kind from the weaker ones suppressing us. One dedicated to liberating us from being stamped into the ground by those jealous of our strength."
"And?"
The man smiled. "I want you to join us. Rise from the ashes of this gutter like a phoenix, become what you were meant to be! Not fighting small time criminals! Instead, become a part of something even bigger!"
He narrowed his eyes, then extinguished his flames. "I'm listening.
The sun was setting. The military helicopters flew over the thick forest, scattering the wildlife below. They flew low and fast. Their mission, end the war.
The copters carried a mix of regular soldiers, and people wearing bright specialized costumes. Pro Heroes. Named for propaganda their similarities to comic book characters, they were the only people in society allowed to use metahuman powers, now called quirks.
A new kind of law enforcement, made for a new kind of crime.
Tobi gazed out the helicopter. They cleared the trees, arriving at the burning wreckage that was once Deika City. Smoke billowed from the buildings, choking large sections of the city in an impenetrable haze.
Tobi clenched his fist. Chikara, you idiot. Look what your hotheaded stupidity has done.
So many lives lost, so many promising metahumans led to their deaths by the silver tongue of a fanatical, bigoted, narcissist. Tobi wondered how many genuinely believed his superiority garbage, and how many simply joined to survive?
By the time Tobi had left, their ranks were becoming infested with extremists from every corner of the globe. However, many others joined out of desperation, and Chikara hated deserters. So he wasn't sure.
A voice came over the radio. "Confirmed, King has left the city, moving northward. Area is clear. Operation Meta is a go."
Tobi took a deep breath. It was time. If ending this meant fighting with the government he'd once hated, so be it. Tobi only hoped Chikara was still alive so he could fry him personally!
"Hey, uh Phoenix right?"
Tobi glanced up at one of the soldiers, his allies (orders to shoot him on sight in case of betrayal notwithstanding). "How you feeling about this?" the soldier said with a dopy grin.
"Fine," Tobi said looking back outside.
"My son's a big fan of yours! He's excited about all this superhero stuff!"
Great, someone who was actually bought this PR nonsense. Tobi may like the independence Heroes had, but it made the bureaucrats and marketing even more insufferable. (Plus the name was pretentious. Hero was an honor, not a job title.)
The sucker continued. "He says he wants to be just like you someday!"
That made Tobi's head turn. "Why me?"
The soldier shrugged. "He thinks you're cool, nine-years-old and all. He also admires you turning on the Metas. After all, it can't be easy fighting your former friends."
"Former being the operative word," Tobi said. "Your kid have any other favorite Heroes?"
Tobi tried to downplay his sarcasm. After all, this guy was dense, but not malicious.
"Aquas. Cool fights, neat look, also that viral video of him playing with his kid. My son said he wished his dad was a living squirt gun!" The soldier laughed.
Tobi bit his tongue to avoid saying that Aquas' quirk had put him and his son's lives in danger from normies, especially when the war broke out. He wasn't sure why. The moment seemed too…innocent to ruin.
Besides, how often did he hear people talking about met-quirked like regular people?
"What's your name?" Tobi said.
"Atsushi!"
Tobi nodded. "Your kid sounds nice."
"Yeah, until it's time for homeowrk."
Tobi just nodded and turned back outside. Atsushi seemed like a good man. Naïve, but good.
They passed over the buildings, getting a clear view of the devastation.
Large chunks were torn from buildings, flames consumed various storefronts, while large grooves carved up the streets. There were so many bodies. Based on the grouping, most died trying to fight.
"Must have been some fight!" said one of the soldiers, Mizuku. They passed a tall building with a hole in the middle, a large a groove cutting into the ground behind it.
"It wasn't a fight," an older soldier, Ueda, said, "It was a massacre."
Tobi agreed. They never had a chance.
"Well," said Mizuki, "That's what happens when you don't know how to quit."
Several helicopters landed inside the city, dropping off soldiers and Heroes. They wore protective clothing as they swept through the city. They faced no resistance, beyond one or two survivors.
"What do you know," Atsushi said. "Some survived."
Tobi's copter flew low. They passed over a group of soldiers tending to some Metas by a deep groove in the road.
"They should just shoot them," said Ueda.
Tobi glared at him.
Ueda glared back. "You see how close they were to the ray's groove? They're already dead. Shooting them now's a mercy."
"Cold. How would you feel if it were you?" said Atsushi.
"I'd beg for that bullet."
Ueda tapped his ear. "According to command, most warriors died in the city. Most of the rest deserted. Grunts and noncombatants mostly, they just surrendered. A few elites fled into the woods. We're going after them.
"Any hint of Destro?" said Tobi
"Not yet. He's probably dead."
Tobi shook his head. "If anyone would survive, it's him. I won't believe he's dead until I see his corpse."
"Why do you want to fight him so bad?" Weren't you a Meta too once?"
"Technically, we all used to be Metas," Tobi said.
"You know what I mean! You were a high-ranking member of the Meta Liberation Army!"
Meta, short for metahuman, was once a term for everyone with meta abilities. Then it became a slur. Then the government, and their media-friends-pretending-to-be-independent coined quirks as the nicer term for powers, leaving Meta to be solely associated with the MLA.
"One of the elites. I left before the war."
The comms crackled. "Destro has been sighted! I repeat, Destro has been sighted in the woods. Prepare to drop."
Tobi straightened. The hunt was on.
Their copter turned into the woods, lowering them to the ground.
"Alright! Everyone off!" said the pilot.
Tobi leaped out first, followed by the others. The helicopter lifted off, while others landed nearby. The woods were rapidly filled with their forces, quirked or otherwise.
"Good to be on sturdy ground again!" Atsushi said to no one in particular.
Tobi he checked his swords. "Atsushi? Why did you join the army? You don't seem to be a natural fighter.
"My country's under siege by terrorists. Isn't that enough? Besides, some of them attacked a town a few kilometers from mine. They even hit the school. If he'd taken a different turn that morning, those could have my kids. Not gonna sit back and ignore that!"
Tobi nodded. "Not a bad reason. What did you do before?"
"Ran a toy store. Made some of the action figures myself as a hobby. They sold well online. What about you?"
"A fighter. Always was, always will be?"
"Anything else? Family, friends, a significant other?"
"Nope."
"Dude, when we finish this, you need to get a life outside of work. Maybe I can take you to a bar near my place to make friends. They've got great cocktails."
"No thanks." Tobi said. "I drink alone."
The rest started to move. Tobi's group took point as they moved through the woods. They moved fast and low, watching for an ambush.
The MLA would have seen them land. They knew they were there.
Tobi was one of the few Heroes in the front. The only others had sensory quirks as lookouts, while the rest stayed behind the first wave.
After all, soldiers were expendable. Heroes were not.
A Hero with a hound quirk stopped. The commanders signaled everyone to halt. Tobi took cover behind a tree.
The Hound Hero sniffed the air. "Metas. I count at least three dozen!"
"We found them," said Tobi. "They'll have trackers standing guard."
"Duly noted," said Ueda. "Won't save them."
Soon everyone was on the move.
Tobi's group went around, going for a flanking maneuver. While they ran, Tobi heard a high-pitched whistling approaching. He grabbed Atsushi and instinctively threw himself to the side as two objects flew over them. "Incoming!"
A soldier fell to the ground screaming with a spike in his chest. Two soldiers grabbed the man and dragged him behind a tree while the others took cover and fired. After a few seconds they stopped and waited.
Three Metas emerged. One stood eight feet, with gray skin and massive muscle scovered in tatters. The second looked like a werewolf, lean with lanky limbs and shapr fangs. The third turned his hands into a pair of daggars
"Freeze! Put your hands in the air!" one of the soldiers said.
The three…did as told, raising their hands and walking slowly forward.
"That was easy!" Atsushi said.
"Yeah," Tobi said. "Too easy." Then he heard a noise in the woods. A humming sound building in strength.
Tobi turned to the others. "INCOMIN-!"
A wave of energy blasted through the middle of their ranks, wiping out a third of the soldiers. Tobi was knocked on his back while the three Metas charged.
The muscular one picked up one soldier by his arms and legs, then slammed him into his knee, breaking the soldier's back. He threw what was left at another soldier. The werewolf and the one with the knives cut their way through the soldiers, sinking their claws and daggers into anyone who got to close.
Tobi conjured a fireball, but several objects flew from the thicket, impaling yet more soldiers. The soldiers took cover and fired at where the spikes came from while the Heroes attacked the three Metas.
Two Heroes with strength quirks picked up stones, throwing them at the muscular one. Muscles was knocked off balance, allowing one of them to slug him. Another Hero pulled swords from his body and dueled the one with the knives while the werewolf faced four army attack dogs and the Hero with the hound quirk.
"What should we do?" Atsushi said.
"Cover me. I'm going around."
Tobi ducked down and crawled through the brush, keeping his eyes peeled. He climbed a tree, trying to get a better view.
There.
He saw three Metas in the undergrowth. One was firing stakes at the soldiers, another had his hands together forming a pink energy ball, while the third conjured a glowing wall to protect them.
Two ranged attackers with a shield. Clever. But not good enough.
Tobi leapt off the tree, plummeting toward the three. He savored the rushing wind and conjured up a pair of fireballs.
The trio looked up. Tobi smiled at their look of shock before throwing his first fireball into Shield's face. Energy ball through his attack, but Tobi shot a jet of high pressure flames, pushing himself out of the way like a living rocket.
Tobi fired too more jets to direct himself toward the trees. Darts flew around at Tobi. One nearly hit Tobi's shoulders, tearing his clothes.
Tobi blasted himself into a tree with one hand and shot a defensive wall of flames with the other. The next round of darts were blown away. However, the Meta simply began to reload.
Tobi slammed into the tree and slid down. Darts ran around to get a clean shot, but before he could fire, Atsushi came out shooting.
Unfortunately, Atsushi missed and Darts turned around and returned fire. Atsushi ducked. Darts then turned around.
His eyes widened.
Tobi sprinted at the trio, his limbs coated in flames. He sent a flaming kick intoto Energy's Ball's face. One. Then a punch into Darts' gut. Two. They fell to the ground, while Shield threw up his hands.
"P-phoenix…" he said, shaking in terror. "I surrender!"
Three.
The battlefield had fallen silent. Tobi marched out with his prisoners, rejoining the rest of his group who'd already won. They tied up Tobi's prisoners and left them with their own. Then they continued onward.
"Your shoulder's winged," Atsushi said.
Tobi glanced at it. "Didn't hit me. Just grazed the coat."
"That's good!" He cocked his gun. "Wouldn't want to get taken out before Destro's dead or in irons."
Tobi looked toward the sounds of battle. Where Destro would be. A smile came to his lips. "No, I certainly wouldn't."
"Explain yourself!"
Destro raised his hands in an attempt to pacify him. "Some of our agents went too far. However, we are trying to resist an oppressive-"
"Bullshit! These bastards killed civilians! Kids even! And I find them in an MLA safe house?!"
Destro's eyes darkened. "What did you do?"
"Nothing. Yet. But tomorrow, I expect them to be turned in or dead"
"We're fighting a war! We can't throw away allies when-"
"They're not allies! They're murderers! And we're not at war. The equality laws are passing! All we need to do is-"
"Those are just to keep us quiet!" Destro said. "I will not stop until I've burned this world, and every weakling who seeks to control us to dust!"
He was silent. "How many of these attacks were you involved with?"
"That's not for you to-"
He drew his swords. Destro threw his desk against a wall and raised his hammer. Guards burst into the room. "Make your choice Phoenix. With us, or against."
He glared at Destro. "This isn't over."
He blasted a hole in the wall and leaped out. A day later, the two terrorists who'd attacked a mall were found dead outside a police precinct.
Both had burned to death.
Hope you enjoyed! Reviews make me smile!
