A/N: Hello, just wanted to take this small moment to say... Thank You so very much, as Perfected has grown beyond 100,000 views! To me, that's a staggering amount to even consider for any story I've written, truly, you are all amazing. And so, enjoy this week's chapter, thanks again!
Chapter 117 - The Augmented
Over the streets of a city within the Saitama prefecture, Deku's form zipped between the buildings of one of a number of places in Japan not overly infested with villains and the Splicer iron grip. But the lack of heroes meant trouble would spur up often enough to cause unrest, though every inch of Japan felt like that now. Deku was a blur, pressing further to his goal in the rare day of sunlight, it had been over a week since his last encounter with a Baron. This one deserved his utmost attention from detaining escapees and villains.
~Young Midoriya, you mustn't engage recklessly!~ All Might castigated his pupil who caught wind of his conversation with another Pro.
"Is it true?" All Might had to confirm, listening to Hawks intensely.
~It's about as accurate as we've gonna get. Selas and one of the League were sighted not long ago at the border of the Splicer Sector in the Saitama Prefecture~ Hawk confirmed. ~Me and Jeanist plan to intercept, dunno about you and Midoriya though, since you've already taken care of two Barons~
All Might's face locked up, releasing a held breath with some exhaustion. "I wish it didn't come to this, but whoever Midoriya spoke with provided us with greater information than we've managed to gather on our own, and with news Kovik is working up north, Valstrax has been working double-time for our sakes," He scratched his cheek. "I'll let Young Midoriya know but he needs his rest."
~You sure it's smart to keep him in the dark, if you know who's the other target...~ Hawks trailed off.
"I won't, just until he's physically ready," All Might assured, unaware his pupil listened in from his spot on a bench, the food close to his lips falling back into his lunch box.
"I'll be fine, All Might, I'm closing in now," Deku answered, tucking his radio into his breast pocket. "Going radio silent to investigate, and to engage my Splicer Key," His 'Splicer Key' was the name he gave the device that tricked the security NARA implemented into believing Deku was a Fallen, if only to sneak through the outer wall.
~Wait-~ The radio went dead, Deku flying down into an alleyway directly in front of the Splicer Sector.
Unlike previous ones, this bordered on the outskirts of the city, overtaking the industrial district, resulting in an amalgamation of metal forged into a massive factory for Selas' creations. She was the new Dren for the Devil Splicers, outfitting the newest Fallen with weaponry comprised of NARA. Technology stolen by villains across the nation ended up here to be repurposed or scrapped. Black smoke pumped from chimneys.
Using a gradual release of smokescreen, Deku shifted the dark smog around to flow forward with slight wind pressure. Using the cover, he hid from view as a few Splicers on the wall's ramparts took note of the cloud but made no alarm. Deku pressed his back to the sloped wall of the facility, using one blackwhip and float to sling himself up and against a vent, prying it off to slip inside, locking the grate in place in seconds.
Inside, he found a catwalk below and leapt down, Danger Sense didn't trigger but the dull pressure was nicking at his mind, the area was giving him an awful sensation, leading him to where Selas and the villain in question could be. This was all a gamble, he didn't know who he'd run into. Dabi? Toga? Spinner? But, if he could wish for it, he hoped for someone other than them, other than Shigaraki himself.
Crouched, Deku crossed the catwalks suspended above the forges below, molten metal splitting out into iron casts as machinery worked overtime under the aid of Splicers. NARA had made its home in the corners, spanning the walls and twisting much of the former factories into one, solid structure. Many Devils wandered the same catwalks, forcing Deku to swing himself from the rafters to avoid being detected. Unlike before, his mission was to first gather as much intel he could on Kovik and Shigaraki's whereabouts, then he could handle the Baron and League member personally. Waiting on the other Pros may just steal this golden opportunity for everyone.
Noticing an inactive fan the size of a school bus, Deku nodded to himself, floating in the air to catch his hand on an I-beam, flipping over to kneel as a voice perked up next to him. "This must be where the Baron conducts her experiments, using that fan would be a good vantage point. I suppose," En agreed with Deku's thoughts, his eyes glowing in the dark. Patting Deku's back, En nodded. "Good luck, Ninth."
"Thank you," He whispered, catching the lip of the duct to sling himself over the heads of the Fallen, breaking his fall with a roll while skirting around the still fan blade. He peered over the edge, laying on his stomach to appear as small as possible, he may be invisible to NARA, but not eyesight.
The open area was much like Freksos' lair, pools of acidic fallout from fuel bubbled among the remains of various projects. A large cannon mounted to a walking tank that resembled a spider lay half-sunk in the acid, piles of scrap and old generators strewn about the area. Red NARA wires and pipes were suspended above the gateway leading from the factory and across to other facilities that overlooked the testing grounds. In the far back, a large NARA node hummed vibrantly, a large swarm of NARA gathered at the node with various smaller chunks of red and black metal snaking away from its, tearing into the ground and matter around it.
Standing before the large node was the Baroness in question. The large, three-armed Fallen, the lower right heavily modified with what could only be described as a dragon's mouth made of metal and NARA wiring. Her helmet's right eye was bulging with three scopes, tubes feeding out from a gas mask that left her bald head exposed.
Slung on her back was a trove of weapons and augments that extended over her arms like an exoskeleton, her cape wrapped around her waist like a windswept skirt. Selas, the Augmented.
And there, standing before her was the man that made Deku's body flinch.
Mr. Compress wore his yellow trenchcoat, tapping his cane off the rough ground while playing with a dormant cluster between his fingers as they spoke. "-I must say, your expertise surpass the late Dren's work, Kovik chose quite the star pupil for the task."
Selas grunted, looking around at her trove. "Fine tuning the Siege Engine will require more work, the loss of Freksos has slowed our fuel production, and my Splicers are spread thin compensating while completing the Final Shape," She rasped, pulling at her mask's tubes.
"'Final Shape'...?" Deku echoed.
"This could be more trouble than what Alya warned us of," Beside him, Shimura's spirit appeared, her brow creased deeply with worry. "What are they planning to do to Tomura?"
"I think that's what we interrupted," Deku added.
"That little troublemaker of UA has stirred up far more trouble than ever before, I don't understand why Kovik insists on not sending out that foul-mouthed assassin," Compress shook his head, quickly throwing a hand up in dismay. "Though I suppose there are ways of combating your worst foe, a performance like this requires more than brute strength."
"Tact is needed," Selas concurred, her modified arm humming. "To lure and detain."
"Ah, yes, such is why we agreed to this small check-up on affairs?" Compress nodded, his mask obscuring any clear sign of emotion as his cybernetic hand swung outward, the fingers releasing several marbles from the tips. "Lights, camera, action!"
Danger Sense flared up and Deku shrouded himself in smoke as several blasts engulfed the fan, bringing the blades down behind him while he slid into the spotlights' glare. "They knew I'd be here?" He was certain his Splicer Key was working perfectly? Inspecting his belt, it was indeed active.
"Why we saw you?" Selas growled, stomping toward the small teenager glaring up at her as sparks flew from his ragged clothing. "You believe I never took into account your intelligence? The saying, 'be the smartest man in the room', I simply allowed you to broadcast your signal the second you entered the city," She tapped her extended optics. "I see all technology, including your support gear, and that tampered cluster you tinkered with."
She shadowed his form, the maw of her arm splitting wide to vomit flames beside her. "You come for revenge, a pointless endeavor!"
"I must say your arrival was sooner than expected, but alas, this is where we must part ways," Compress tipped his hat to Deku, meeting the greenette's hellish eyes. "That look of yours... very unbecoming of a hero, then again, most certainly do not hold the values of one, not in a rotten society like ours,"
Levelling her weapon to Deku, she swung it wide, unleashing molten flames to burn across his right leg as he flew by. She predicted where he would evade. Mid-air, he put out the flames on his leg quickly, adjusting his form to unleash a barrage of air force smashes. The blasts slammed into Selas but her aim was unflinching, releasing a wave of magma through the sky to nearly burn Deku alive had blackwhip not brought him down to earth.
"Focus! This is your chance, the opportunity you've been waiting for!" He yelled and belittled himself, avoiding the explosions contained by Compress' marbles, his cybernetic firing them to intercept Deku, throwing the boy across a nearby elevated platform, hiding behind a barrier to shield himself from another wave of molten slag. "He holds the key to removing the Detainment, they can come home, you just have to pull your weight here and now, help them this time, Izuku Midoriya!"
Hitting the back of his head off the barrier, he pushed himself toward the nearest wall, and doubled over to avoid another hail of marbles that erected piles of scrap in an attempt to bury him. Deku kicked the air to further his momentum, grabbing a pile with a whip to obliterate the mound with St. Louis Smash, then his left craned down sharply across Selas' augmented arm. "Manchester Smash!" The acid pools rippled and the large gash through her barding quickly repaired itself as a fountain of magma skimmed by Deku's body as he slammed an uppercut through the Baroness' chin. "Maine Smash!"
Twirling through the air, Deku threshed his leg for the Air Force variant of St. Louis, the gust of wind slamming into the Splicer who warped a good distance away, hunching over as the ports jutting from her back's collection of augments turned a deep red. Compress tossed more piles of scrap to block Deku's approach, hiding behind the large Splicer as several whirling rockets shot through the smoke-covered sky, raining mortar fire upon the hero.
He weaved his way from the explosion radius with blackwhip, running up the edge of the testing ground's archway as the wall was obliterated under him. Diving backward as two whips wrapped themselves around shards of metal sticking out from the acid. His eyes flashed cyan, and his speed exploded tenfold, fists clasped together over Selas' head. "Wyoming Smash!" The destructive impact tore off her left arm, and shredded a good portion of her armour, Nara already starting to recode the damage while Compress tisked, tossing a few more marbles he kept in his pockets, watching the boy fly back from the blasts.
"I enjoyed helping to manifest Detainment, to see that wretched girl vanish!" Selas taunted, teleporting away from Compress to draw Deku's attention. "How did it feel, I wonder? To watch helplessly as those you cared for slipped away."
"Shut up," Deku warned, slamming another St. Louis Air Force through another rainfall of scrap, turning the debris into a shrapnel projectile to pummel Selas with, then she hunched over, unleashing her mortar bombardment once more. She easily cleared the sky again with a roaring hail of molten metal, but no sign of the hero as her left side buckled sharply, forcing a grunt from her mask as Deku stood a few feet away, tossing her severed arm aside.
"When did he move so... I get it," She watched the smoke fade into the sky. "Using the shrapnel as a feint he covered himself in smoke as my flames doused the area, having me believe it was my doing, clever."
As the battle ensued, Compress readied his hand for another barrage only to find his arms pressed tight to his body, falling over as a blackwhip ensnared him tightly, Deku had bridged the gap, holding him down with an iron-grip. He waved his right, coiling the black tendrils around Selas' still regenerating body, slamming her into the ground with a straight kick to the chest, pinning her augmented arm with more whips while her mortar augment was rendered useless on her back.
Compress struggled, watching the Splicer's armour fly from her body, each strike from Deku digging deeper toward her core, "These restraints are so tight I can't touch the whips! My quirk is useless... the only thing I can grab is my own butt, and Selas is a sandbag right now," His options were null and void, watching the dramatic turn of events unfold. "It is as Spinner said, none of us; Not Dabi, or Toga, nor even I... have achieved our dreams..."
The restraints became tighter, this was it, the end of the line. "Kovik... I know you... can hear me... but I really... love the league," He admitted as his lungs felt ready to collapse. "No matter who it was, one's past never came into question, we were just a group of deviants. This was quite the unruly bunch," He enjoyed it more than he could ever put into words. "The boss... is the key... now... for my next trick... I require... some volunteers!" He hand pressed hard. "I leave this all up to you, Selas, carry out our mission. My dream, my calling, the reason I am here!"
With a gruesome slosh of blood and viscera, Compress freed himself from blackwhip, tearing out a chunk of his own flesh. "I'll tear out a piece of my flesh to give my arm room to move!" With impressive speed for a fatally injured man, he reached for Selas as Deku was still stunned by the daring escape, unable to stop him from grazing the Baroness with his fingertips against her foot. "It's my turn for my badass moment, yes this is my... greatest escape!" Like a bullet, he snatched Selas' orb and dove away through the debris and wreckage before Deku could catch him.
"Get back here!" He yelled only for a burning sensation to strike his hip, the wire rifle lowered, and to his horror. A blue-cloaked Fallen knelt atop her perch over the testing grounds. "DREVIS!"
"Pop, pop, pop..." She chimed, and with a flicker of light, several copies of her appeared across the battlefield, all pointing their rifles at Deku who was forced to shroud himself in smoke, covering half the arena to give chase after Compress hopping away, scaling the wall of the factory with Selas in toe.
"With an injury like that, it'll be fatal!" Deku's heart thundered, avoiding stray shots through his smokescreen as he launched through the air, spotting Compress at the top of the wall, Selas, with a flash, returned into view, gasping on air as Compress tossed something to her hand.
"Escape and deception are my only skills, so I'll save Selas and the Detainment frequency from this crisis," "The heroes will be upon us soon..." He warned her, turning to Deku who fended off Drevis' wire shots with air force Delaware Smashes, but with multiple hardlight copies of her running similar weaponry, his attention was fractured.
Discarding his mask, Compress coughed up more blood with a smug grin as he stated with what little breath he had in his gasping lungs. "I am the elusive Harima's great-great-grandson! The man with the blood of the King of Thieves!" He proclaimed, the name ringing a bell in Deku's mind as he took out another Drevis, only it too dissolved into flickering code. The man Compress spoke of was a modern day Robin Hood, stealing from rich heroes to feed the less fortunate. To think, his descendant would be standing before him. "You thought I was just another background character!? That was just another one of my tricks! And the secret behind it is... well, I guess that can stay a secret because..."
Bloodied and weak, the man with curly brown hair held up his arms, marbles between his metal fingers. "I magician never reveals his tricks. Escape Artist, Mr. Compress! A once-in-a-lifetime show!" He dropped a marble from his real hand, catching it with his prosthetic. "The curtain rises on the greatest escape of a lifetime!"
Deku flew toward Selas instead, but a wall of debris and rubble from the battle below blocked him, Drevis' rifle still attempted to ping him from behind, forcing his head to burn with a million threats. Compress' stance wobbled, his hand hovering over his bloodied side. "This is it, the last of the tricks up my sleeve, I've got nothing left to show..." He felt Deku's arm catch his chest, knocking the last breath he had out of him as his consciousness started to fade. "It all hinges on a lotta luck, I'm a mere diversion to buy you some time. Drevis, Selas, you will play the role of my assistances... in my final curtain call..."
Compress was down, and Drevis moved to obtain a better angle on Deku, the masked teen holding Compress from hitting the ground as he tried to use what remained of the villain's coat to cover the bloodied wound forming a puddle beneath them. Her claw tapped the trigger only to freeze. Her head snapped right, and she almost roared bitterly. Her one chance to take the shot, and it slipped away. "Heroes..." She gave Deku a look, then, as quickly as she arrived, vanished like smoke.
"Deku!" In the sky, Hawks flew down as flashes of heat roared through the factory. The blonde hero landed only to stare wide-eyed at Compress' state. "What happened-"
"No time, please, see to it he gets medical attention immediately! He won't last long without a blood transfusion!" Deku pleaded with Hawks, scanning the industrial buildings for any sign of Selas. His gripped the bloodied ground under him, One For All hissing at the blood. "I can't let her escape, I won't let fail them, I have to find her!" "Selas is still out there, she can't be far!"
"Hey, hold up a sec-!" Hawks tried to grab Deku's arm but flinched when a stray bolt discharged and stung his hand. "His body's practically on fire... but..." He spared Compress a solemn look, closing his eyes with a clear look of disapproval. When he stared back, Deku was gone. "That kid's becoming obsessed - no, he's been like this since day one, All Might just hasn't noticed."
"Faster...!" Deku fired several air force blasts behind him, increasing his speed until the wind screamed in his ears. "You have to move faster!" His left fist clenched the hardest, the ring snug against his finger felt like it was about to break. "Keep your promise!"
Those that could continue in a tense state of normal life were very much aware of the dark looming presence of the Baroness who had overtaken the outskirts of their city, thankfully, nothing came of it, no one disappeared in the night, the streets were littered with destruction, although that's not counting the villains that liked to take advantage of the lack of heroes in the area. There were some, so a quaky peace was established, and trust was a dwindling luxury.
So when a whole street broke out in a panic over the sight of the towering Fallen charging her way through the city, that fragile peace shattered like a wine glass. Selas spared the people no mind, barrelling through anything or anyone that got in her way. She had to lay low, now with Pros within the immediate area she needed time to request a recall from her Kell. The time Compress bought her pushed her to run faster. "Your sacrifice will be paid."
Tearing between two buildings, Deku flew into the afternoon sun, spotting the Splicer below as he used the lampposts to sling himself around corners and through the streets at incredible speeds, tailing the Baron. He immediately altered his course, evading the molten slag that broke down any and all metal caught by the flamethrower's maw. With a snap of his right fist, a blackwhip caught the mortar pack, pulling him closer to the ground to feel his iron soles grind against the tarmac, skating across the streets, avoiding Selas' attacks.
She made a sharp left, throwing him onto the side of the building where Deku maintained the whip and ran parallel to the brick wall, diving downward with a hail of Air Force shots to pelt her back. The Splicer grunted, swinging her body to shake Deku off. He leapt onto a guard rail, shakily holding himself steady until he leapt onto a lamppost, diving down and over a tossed car, then to the right away from a trail of magma.
"I need to slow her down!" Thinking fast, he grabbed the tarmac behind him with another whip, his arms nearly pulled from their sockets but the strain forced Selas to stumble back. Releasing the second binding, Deku rocketed toward her, bringing his left leg sweeping wide. "St. Louis Air Force!" The tremendous attack ripped up the road slightly, the wind pressure connecting to Selas' guarded arms before she levelled her launcher straight at Deku.
"Burn, little rodent!" With a snarl, the maw opened and vomited a pool of molten metal, driving him back, she hunched over, the ports of her pack brimming to life. Deku's eyes widened, snapping his head around at the frazzled civilians in the area. "Which will it be? Your lust for revenge or the lives you swore to safeguard?"
Deku was upon her in seconds, fist bunched up with compressed energy. "Detroit Smash!" The fist connected, a sonic boom resounding behind Selas.
When the dust cleared, Deku was thrown back by a deep red barrier. She... deflected his punch? The brief stupor was enough for Selas to complete her wind-up time, unleashing a payload of mortars into the sky. The wailed, spinning through and over buildings, converging not on the streets, but the building roughly thirty stories tall behind her. The chain reaction riddled upper ten floors with holes, tearing through the rebar and concrete like putty.
Glass showered the panicked people below, leaving them in gridlock while Selas warped several times to escape Deku's sight, moving past the very building that let out an awful groan, the top section starting to sway toward the street. Deku's heart nearly stopped, his body lurching upright. "If that falls, all those people..." He didn't finish his thought, on instinct, his muscles clenched tightly. "Defeat her. Keep the building stable. Save them."
Fanning out a 'slingshot' with Blackwhip, En appeared as Deku pulled himself back, giving the young boy a blunt look. "We've told you, this move is still too risky, we don't know the repercussions of using our abilities all at once at this level will do to you,"
"I've given it alot of thought, adjusting my percentage not just in my body but the other aspects as well," Deku replied, keeping his eyes straight as the building started to teeter again. "If I focus on splitting up my percentages among my quirks then I can reduce any risk of a knockback effect," He got lucky the last time he attempted this move with Zarlik, but he noticed, after the battle, his back muscles were tight, and twisting in certain ways made that tension flare.
En couldn't exactly stop Deku so he sighed behind his collar, glaring at the building himself. "I suppose, this is unavoidable, you have one shot, ninth," He patted Deku's shoulder like always for good luck, disappearing when Deku left only a shattered impression in the road.
"Faux One-Hundred Percent!" His body tucked itself close, breaking a window to dive straight into the inferno raging in the floor the mortars landed. Without losing any momentum, he released Blackwhip without restraint, grabbing pillars, the ceiling, walls, anything that was still stable his whips coiled and pierced with the added kick of One For All. He'd get chewed out by Banjo for this later, for now, he had no room for failure. "Blackwhip - Webbing!"
Shooting through the other side of the building, Deku's entire body burned when the whips rubbed against his costume, but with his first action his momentum pulled him forward, using float to keep his trajectory in a long arc as he felt his body tremble, the building moaning in protest. He screwed his eyes shut, yelling against the pain threatening to tear his arms and legs off. Little by little, his whips pulled against the collapsing building, the strain was gradually lessening.
Cracking one eye open, he watched from over his shoulder as the building's collapsing top stabilized against the undamaged structure below. His whips snapped, giving him much-needed relief as a chorus of voices below told him the civilians were evacuating the danger zone for the time being. It wouldn't keep the building from falling, but, as he glided toward the earth, Deku relaxed, the burning section mostly collapsed in on itself now.
"He stopped it!?" Selas couldn't register what she had just seen. There was no probability of success, so how... how did a single teenage boy hold back a collapsing building, "Not only that, he stabilized it to collapse inward!" Her whole body shook with rage. "What is he? What the hell is this monster!?" Her lenses adjusted, taking in the boy who stumbled back to his feet before her, his energy levels were spiking, growing not stronger but smoother, the impurities were levelling out with some strain on the core muscles. Her real eyes widened in horror. "He's... moving at the peak of his core power!" "I'VE HAD IT WITH YOU, BRAT!"
Deku shot toward her, arcs of lightning burning across the ground as his left hook connected to another hardlight barrier. He refused to be pushed back, holding his knuckle against the burning surface. "Hahaha, it's a shame you can't disrupt my barrier, before that happens... I'll tear to pieces!" Selas gargled, locking her sights to his chest, expanding the shield to throw Deku back. Flames exploded in a fountain of heat and steel. "HaAH!?"
With a single, horizontal kick, her whole augmented arm was strewn across the ground, hanging by wires and twisted metal. NARA quickly went to work, replacing what was lost but it was far too late, Selas grabbed a shrapnel launcher from her back, stripping a layer off the road but Deku had moved behind a smokescreen, appearing behind her by her motion sensors, his body erupting back at its peak. "Your augments were fitted to my current attributes," Deku spoke coldly, and a painful sensation ripped through her back and out her chest in that second. "That... was before you pushed me higher."
"I... made you... stronger...?" She wheezed, spotting through the smoke, the hero clutching the NARA core between his fingers. "...but I... thought... revenge was... all you... wanted..."
"No," He replied, closing his eyes to be engulfed in her memory. "I just wanted them to come home."
Back within the mindscape, Deku felt the rush of relief at his success, but it felt bittersweet. "Compress is on the brink of death, all to buy Selas time to escape..." Looking around at the shattered warehouse floor and floating machinery, it was like he was back at Selas' factory. "...he was related to the 'King of Thieves', I see..." Deku stepped forward. "That was why you walked your path."
Taking his mind away from Compress' origins, the first scene immediately dropped Deku into a testing grounds of sorts. Several people stood by while a young woman with long black hair, round glasses, and mismatched eyes, the right hazel, the left pink. She wore an outfit fitting for a mechanic, displaying her creations. "A support gear manufacturer?" Deku murmured, listening to the memory.
"-this here's my best work yet," She plucked the goggles off the table, a familiar right lens with three scopes of various lengths. "The Optic-Core, with this, you can take immediate scans of your chosen target, their power fluctuations from their quirk, irregularities in their body, and with a little tweaking, how they might react, like foresight!"
An older man in a business suit looked pleasantly surprised by this, his associates keeping neutral faces. "My-my, Miss. Surena, this is truly a splendid device, and how soon could it be put into practical testing?"
"Give me a few days, gotta work out all the kinks, then she's all yours, boss," The scene shifted, showing her saluting in a joking manner. The memory faded to black, and the spotlights led Deku up a flight of stairs and toward a setting of an office of some sort.
The world brightened, and Surena had her hands on a desk, looking mortified as a T.V to the right reported on the latest breaking news. ~The hero known as Riptide has passed away in a skirmish with a villain using stolen hero support equipment. When asked about this missing equipment, the HPSC had this to say~
~Any and all property of the HPSC is just as susceptible to theft, to learn of a fellow hero's passing is terrible and the man responsible will be brought to justice, not just for Riptide but his family and friends who deserve justice-~ The T.V's image shattered, and Deku flinched back as the scene flickered, now Surena was standing upright, a wrench piercing the screen.
"Those bastards... she was right... dammit..." She fell to the desk, hiding her face in anguish. "...why... why did it have to be you..." Deku heard her sob quietly, his face softened with grief, the world turning dark to lead him on.
It was left to interpretation what Surena meant by that, but, if he pressed forward, he'd soon learn the truth, as bitter of a pill it was to swallow. Stepping onto a catwalk that overlooked the next memory, Deku knew what to expect, that same assassin of Kovik's, the one that nearly took his head off today, offering a cluster to Surena's tear-stricken face. She looked sleep-deprived too.
"-they stole my designs, and... they used them to kill..." She bit her lip, hanging her head.
"The deaths of those the HPSC claimed will never come to light, but you..." Drevis handed her the cluster as the rainfall pelted her cowl. "...you can change that, my Kell will see to it, and eye for an eye," Her claws grooved down her on visor, disappearing to leave Surena to wallow in the rain, head low in her arms, but a furious scowl on her face as her grip held the cluster so tightly it broke skin.
And that was all she wrote, the last pathway leading toward the familiar exit Deku had seen before, while brief, he felt the less the memories showed the more the consciousness was willing to share, or perhaps it was just coincidence. Surena stood with her hands clasped by her stomach, watching Deku hop across the broken pathway to land safely on the island. "Excuse me?" She looked up at Deku. "Was Riptide..."
She smiled sadly, nodding once. "I suppose we both were after the same thing, justice, however blind that makes us," She lost her kind expression for sorrow. "I know you've endured a lot for a child, but why would willingly throw yourself at the vanguard for a rotten system like ours?"
"That's not why I fight," Deku shook his head, meeting her gaze evenly with respect for the inventor. "Like you, I wanted to save people, there was no other motive, only now, I'm fighting to bring back the people I've lost, so everyone can smile again, not under rose-tinted glasses," He answered her, walking toward the stairway.
"Why did you want to look at my memories? At all of ours?" Surena placed a hand on her heart. "I won't pretend like I wasn't aware of my actions, so if anything, I'm a villain through and through, but you still look so sad... and for me?"
Deku closed his fists, then relaxed them, turning to her with eyes as tired as her own. "Many will scorn you for the atrocities you've committed, finding forgiveness afterward will be sparse," He looked toward the dark sky. "But I want to learn why you did the things you did, so that next time, when someone is going through the same pain you've endured, I can save them from it," Her breath hitched, the young, tired man smiling slightly. "That's why I'm fighting,"
"Thank you..." She whispered, adding quickly with her hand out. "Be careful, Drevis has been tailing you since Freksos' death, but now that you're aware she'll likely send others to either kill or detain you," Surena's eyes were filled with worry and contempt. "My Kel - erm, Kovik, he's watching you more furrowly than ever,"
"Right, thanks for the warning," Deku appreciated it, jogging up to the exit.
"And sorry..." She added, but Deku didn't hear her. As her mind collapsed, two strong arms wrapped around her chest from behind, holding her close as she closed her eyes to accept her fate. "I'll be home soon, my love."
Selas' body crumbled, her claw shattering an inch from Deku's face, even as he wandered her mindscape for what felt like a mere second, she still had the instinct to try and attack him. Pocketing the cluster alongside the others, Deku quickly brushed the scrap metal and dead clusters aside to find what he was looking for. A single device akin to an old phone. The Detainment Transmitter.
Crushing the device in his hand, a huge weight of relief left Izuku's shoulders. He let out a single, breathy laugh, looking around as people approached with caution. The greenette's head shot around the people and the street for any sign of a rift. Sure, he had only just broken the transmitter, so he could wait, if his speculation was right, Yuki should have felt her control on SIVA return. Waiting for over a minute, he heard a few people murmur about him, but he stood still, scanning the environment with his hand brushing against Yuki's mask.
One minute stretched into three.
From three to five.
...Deku lost the hopeful glint in his eyes in a fraction of that time, desperately he stepped forward, peering at every nook and cranny for even the slightest hint of space and time pinching. Nothing, just a soft breeze, and the talk of people. Akio was bouncing all around with jubilation. Rayla and Solaire weren't commenting on Deku's shredded costume. Tekres didn't comment on Selas and NARA and how his brain conjured several new ideas to implement. Velk was bowing in thanks to Deku nor Hana out of respect like always.
Yuki... wasn't looking back at him...
None of them were here...
Nothing had changed...
~-Midoriya!~ To break the silence, Deku's radio came to life again, All Might sounded worried. ~Hawks and Endeavor aren't far away, how are you? Any injuries? What about Selas-~
"I'm... fine, All Might," Deku forced the words up against his will. "I'm okay, I'll be moving now, too many people, I'll see you shortly," He removed his hand from the radio, getting a running start to jump away.
"Hey!" Someone drew him to a stop. It was a kid, probably ten or eleven. He stared at Deku with big blue eyes. "That was awesome! What's your name!?"
"...Deku," He replied, his heart clenching. "You should go, this place might not be safe."
"Uh, oh, right, sure! Thank you, Mr. Deku!" He nodded without complaint, when a hero a child admires speaks, how could any kid say 'no'? Deku was like that too.
With a burst of air pressure from his soles, Deku quickly crossed several blocks, eventually, his legs gave out after the sixth block, collapsing to his knees as his chest heaved, and his voice quaked. His head flooded with her face, her smile, laugh, jokes, everything from her silky bluish-white hair to her scarlet-blue eyes and mesmerizing scars, to how animated she was with or without her mask on, the expressions she'd make that brought a laugh from Deku.
He clutched his temples, hunched over toward his knees as he sniffled at the ground. His fingers dug at his jumpsuit legs. The moment he mastered one thing, another thick wall presented itself, halting his growth. Beyond it, those he cared for fought on while he stumbled around in the dark. Every pivotal moment they needed someone's help, he couldn't make it, he always tripped himself up.
Alone, Deku's anguish broke through his own walls, sobbing with his head against the ground.
To Be Continued...
I'm still unsure how to feel about this chapter, I said I wanted to give the League their stories too, even if not in full so it's not like my villains are shoving them aside, Compress was by far the hardest to put into place, his 'Last Act' happens in the War Arc but since that didn't happen, here it was as a last-ditch effort to stop Izuku from winning. Even at that, his success has born no fruit. What will become of him now? I hope you enjoyed, I appreciate the support as always; seeya in the next chapter, Heroes!
Next Chapter Intermission: The Hoarfrost
"We're back!" Alya announced, waving her hand at the screen as she was wheeled in by Surena. "Soooo, what's the docket today then?"
"The remaining Barons, Kovik is bound to send his best this time." The ravenette spoke, several images of the remaining Barons behind her and the young girl. "HE will be Deku's next target, that member from the Liberation Front with power over ice."
"Ugh, just thinking about him creeps me out, even when a Baron," Alya paled.
"Drevis and the assassin," To their right, the man who was once Zarlik sat with his arms crossed, eyes closed in thought. "If the kid's got any sorta heat, it'll be from that insect's newest toy,"
"Right, she used to work for the HPSC right?" Alya perked up at Surena who had a distant look on her face. "Well, in any case, coming up - The Hoarfrost!"
"Deku has made it this far, but he will need all the help he can get," Surena commented, smiling softly. "Well, how does UA say it? 'Go Beyond...'"
"Pluuuus Ultraaaa!" Alya cheered with former-Zarlik grunting in acknowledgement. "Oh, come on, at least say the line!?"