Ochako sat in deep thought as she and some other heroes were transported to the ship Angvik in a helicopter. They had decided to send a group of American and Japanese heroes to intercept the ship. They would search for the container and determine if it is a hostage situation. Ochako was afraid that the latter was very probable.
"Stop worrying about him" Bakugo said, taking Ochako out of her thoughts.
"What?" Ochako wondered.
"You're thinking about Deku, I can see it on you" Bakugo replied. "I know you have conflicting thought about him and the revolution, but you have to put them aside now. You can worry about it later" He stated, leaving little room for discussion.
"I guess you're right" Ochako replied in a slightly nonchalant tone.
"Damn straight I am" Bakugo said brashly. "Anyways, we're almost there. I can see the ship" He added.
Ochako looked towards the medium sized container ship that had caused so much fuss. It was green with yellow stripes and a white bridge. And towards the stern there was a helipad.
Once the helicopter had landed and the heroes had gotten off it, they were greeted by the captain of the ship.
"It isn't every day that we get a visit from heroes on this ship. Welcome aboard" The Captain said in a slightly accented English. He was a middle-aged man with a jovial expression. He had light brown hair and a matching thick beard.
"We won't disturb you for long. We're just here to search for something" One of the American heroes said as they continued in English.
"And what would that be?" The Captain asked, losing some of his former jovialness.
"That is classified" The American hero replied.
"Look, I'm not against any authorities searching my ship. However, since we're on international waters, I'd like to know why. So unless you're his majesty King Håkon VIII, then I need to know more than just classified" The Captain said without room for debate.
"Fine. We're here to search for a container that we believe the Phoenix revolution is trying to smuggle into Japan. They're a known terrorist organization responsible for many death in the past" The American hero explained. "Is that enough for you?" He asked.
"The Phoenix revolution, I remember hearing about them some years back. Fought some super villain or something. Haven't heard much about them in the news since then" The Captain mumbled to himself. "Anyways, I won't stop you from searching after them. But I don't think you'll find anything here. I make sure nothing suspicious comes aboard" He replied.
"And we won't blame you if there was something you missed" The hero said and began directing the heroes to search the ship.
"He can't be a hostage. He's either in on it, or not the real captain of this ship" Bakugo grumbled to Ochako.
"I can assure you that I am the captain of this ship. I've been so for the last 10 years" The captain interjected with surprisingly good Japanese. "Now, if there is nothing else then I'll be heading to the bridge" He said, switching back to English so that the other heroes could understand. He then began walking up to the bridge.
"You might be on to something. I'll interrogate him and see if I can figure something out" Ochako said and began following the Captain. "Hey, is it alright if I ask you a few questions?" She asked.
"If you think it is important miss… uhm" The captain replied.
"Call me Uravity" Ochako said as the two entered the bridge of the ship.
"Uravity" The captain mumbled in a quiet tone. His face briefly turned to one of surprise before quickly shifting to amore thoughtful look. "I think I've heard about you somewhere. Doesn't matter. Anyways, the name's Roar" Roar said and offered a handshake. When Ochako didn't reach out her own hand Roar retracted his. He then turned around and said something to another crewmember in a language Ochako didn't know.
There was something about the Roar's behaviour that was off to Ochako, but she couldn't quite figure out what. Instead she decided to go ahead with her questions. "Is there a reason that this ship added a new stop to its' route after leaving I-island?" Ochako asked.
"Probably a customer who decided to have their cargo delivered somewhere else I guess. It has happened a few times before, but it is certainly unusual" Roar answered. "Not that I'm complaining about another stop in Japan. Always a nice place to visit" He added with a small laughter.
"Do you know which costumer this is about?" Ochako asked.
"No, this came from the top. Boss told me that some of the containers was supposed to be dropped off in Osaka. Didn't get any more details than that" Roar replied.
"Okay" Ochako said, still unsure if Roar was to be trusted. "Has there been any weird happening with any of the cargo? Any unusal sounds maybe?" She asked.
"No, not really" Roar replied. He then seemed to think over it for another moment. "Or well, Rare Are told some of the crew that he heard something similar to growls coming from one of the containers at night. But I wouldn't take that seriously, he's always been a bit like that, a bit weird" He explained. "Once he claimed to see a mermaid jump on the deck" Roar added with a chuckle.
"What container did he hear it from?" Ochako questioned.
"You think I paid enough attention to know that?" Roar wondered. "I don't know. But his patrol is near the bow so probably somewhere near there"
Ochako then relayed the information into her earpiece. And while she looked out of the bridge towards the bow, she didn't notice Roar's quiet whispers to one of the crewmembers. Nor did she notice the shadowy figure that entered the bridge
"Alright I'll go and assist the search now. Inform us if there is any other information that might be useful" Ochako said and began heading for the exit. She had barely taken a step before she felt something sharp piercing her arm and injecting something.
"I'm sorry, but I can't let you go now" Mushou said nonchalantly as Ochako turned around to face her.
Ochako quickly charged up one for all and went to attack Mushou. However, her legs ended up failing under her and she collapsed in front of the villain, unable to move her limbs.
"You see, we've got these orders to keep you out of harms way" Mushou explained as she brandished her katana in front of Ochako. "And if you went out there you would be in harms way. So we're actually the ones helping you" She added.
Ochako then heard a series of explosions coming from outside the bridge along with sounds of battle. She tried to push herself back up in protest, but was unable to do anything.
"You're really trying aren't you? I can see why Deku liked you" Mushou mumbled "Don't worry about your friends, it's only a distraction. I'm also sure someone will find you before the ships sink" She explained.
Mushou continued talking, eventually starting to talk with Roar, but Ochako was unable to concentrate on anything. She slowly felt her mind slipping as she lost consciousness. Eventually, everything faded out.
Then, something unexpected happened. Something that hadn't happened in many years. Ochako woke up in a dim street, surrounded by tall and dark buildings. The sky was black, but there were no moon, clouds nor stars to be seen. Ochako took another look around her surroundings and saw something that was new from the last time. Far away on the horizon there was a faint light. And with nothing better to do, Ochako began walking towards the light.
"Is Uravity taken care off?" Todoroki asked as he saw Mushou coming down a set of stairs.
"She's sound asleep on the bridge. And the heroes are preoccupied with the explosives and the nomu" Mushou replied. "Is everything ready here?" She wondered.
"The sub is ready to go, along with the container" Todoroki replied.
"And my crew?" Roar questioned as he and a few other crew members followed behind Mushou
"All except for you are on board and ready to go" Todoroki answered. "Now, let's get a move on" He said and entered the submarine that had been hidden inside the modified hull of Angvik.
Once everyone was on board and the hatch closed, the hull of Angvik opened up and the submarine was dropped into the dark depths of the ocean. Inside was the crew of the containership along with Mushou and Todoroki. They were responsible for transferring a very important container.
"I almost can't believe there's only a month left now" Mushou muttered as she looked inside the container. "We're almost there"
"Don't let your guard down. If anything happens now then all of this will mean nothing" Todoroki said. "And if that happens we'll have to implement contingency 1-alpha" He added in a dark tone.
"I know, but still. After we've secured the tube and sent Roar and his crew back home to Norway there isn't much left. Deku will be back" Mushou said with a hint of determination.
"Let's hope so" Todoroki muttered.
Izuku stood on the edge as he tried to make sense of where he was finding himself. He didn't know how long he had been here only that it had been a long time. Not that time mattered here in the endless wastes Izuku couldn't make sense of. Everything here was devoid of any logic.
All around Izuku there was a force that always pushed him towards the edge. It felt like a hurricane was pushing him forwards, but there was not a single sound nor trace of this force other than what Izuku felt. But for some reason, Izuku was always right at the edge and never over it. And he couldn't move further back either. It was like something was holding him back, but he was never able turn around enough to see what. However, he could see all the others who weren't held back by something.
Stretching into infinity along the edge were people of all kinds in the same situation as Izuku. Only they didn't have something holding them back. It also seemed like some had it easier than others. Some managed to hold on for a few minutes before disappearing beyond the edge. Some could hold back for days, weeks or even months. A few even manages to drag themselves away from the edge and to somewhere Izuku could not see. Most however, were pushed beyond the edge without a chance to fight back. By all rights Izuku should be in the latter category with the force that pushed on him. But he wasn't.
Then there was the ultimate mystery of this place. The thing filled Izuku with questions and nearly drove him mad with curiosity. The edge, or rather, what was beyond it. Because there was nothing beyond it. It felt like Izuku was staring into an empty void, like a part of reality had been erased. It wasn't black nor white. There was no light nor darkness beyond the edge. There was simply nothing. It was beyond comprehension, despite it being there like a massive wall along the edge that made anything that touched it cease to exist. It was maddening. However, Izuku didn't go mad. Because much the same way that he always stood right at the edge of existence, he felt like he stood on the edge of sanity. Unable to take that final step over the edge that called for him every passing moment.
And as Izuku trying to find reason where there was none to be found, something new happened. It was barely noticeable at first, but Izuku noticed it. It almost felt like a small tug that tried to pull him away from the edge. And suddenly, Izuku noticed that he was now standing ever so slightly further away from that all-embracing nothingness. 'This will be interesting' He thought.
A/N: Things are starting to move along now and will certainly get more interesting. What is inside the container? How will the heroes act? What is the revolution's plan? Why is Izuku here when he died in the first book? All will be revealed eventually. Anyways, I'm hoping you're all having a wonderful day. Goodbye.