Disclaimer: I don't own Boku no Hero Academia
Chapter 110:
"Kyoka wait!" Yaoyorozu ran after her friend she finally spotted jogging back towards their dorm.
Jirou turned her head and her expression looked furious when she saw Yaoyorozu chasing after her. "Go back," Jirou snapped, then she turned and sped up back for their dorm building.
Momo just chased after her best friend faster. She frowned at that pissed-off tone her friend used with her, and she called out, "Class is not over. You cannot- Kyoka!"
Jirou ran straight to Class A's dorm and then through the door. She started for the stairs, but she stopped and clenched her fists at her sides as she heard Yaoyorozu's shout out the front door indicating she would be chased all the way back up to her room. She spun around while Yaoyorozu was running in, and she snapped, "What?"
"It is okay," Yaoyorozu began. She stepped towards Jirou and gave her a serious look, "To be upset over failing the practical exam, but you are-" Yaoyorozu paused, then she frowned deeper and she turned and closed the door to their dorm. Yaoyorozu took in a deep breath and then turned to Jirou seriously, "You have been so upset lately-"
"I'm not 'upset,'" Jirou snapped. "I'm angry."
"I know," Yaoyorozu began.
"You don't know!" Jirou yelled. She yelled it and her fists shook at her sides, and she started panting as she had sprinted here right after failing for fifteen minutes at destroying the ANT who had looped her around in circles while she smashed apart the arena to no avail. "He was supposed to be right after me, and how am I supposed to focus on fighting that stupid robot like that?!" Yaoyorozu started shaking her head at Jirou, and the shorter girl ground her teeth and balled her fists tighter, then Jirou snapped, "In that place! Making it look like the Sports Festival like- and everyone's got those looks on their faces, like you're all feeling so bad for Zach thinking about that day!"
Yaoyorozu's eyes narrowed and her fists started clenching at her sides. It had been a while since she heard Jirou say anything like this, and she began in a low voice, "Why are you being like this?" Jirou glared harder at Yaoyorozu, but her taller friend narrowed her eyes back and said in a mad voice of her own, "Why are you still mad at Zach? I thought you would-"
"I was betrayed too!" Jirou yelled. She yelled it at Yaoyorozu and then bit down hard at the wider eyes Yaoyorozu gave her the next second. Jirou ground her teeth and then said in a low, dark voice, "I trusted Kaminari too-"
"It isn't the same!" Momo yelled at her. Jirou lifted her eyes after looking down while speaking in that low voice, and it was her turn for her eyes to widen at how mad Yaoyorozu suddenly looked at her. Jirou just started frowning again after a second seeing that look, and she started shaking her head at the taller girl which made Yaoyorozu snap in an angry voice, "You- you're over it already!" Jirou froze with her head in mid-shake, and she spun back to Yaoyorozu with her eyes wide and pissed at that accusation. "I can see it!" Momo yelled at Jirou's shocked look that she was accusing her of being alright. Jirou ground her teeth in anger, but Yaoyorozu stepped towards her and said in a lower voice, "I can see it, that you are over Kaminari. I know you trusted him, he was a good friend and you cared about him a lot, but you had other people you trusted."
"Stop trying to defend him-"
"Your parents!" Momo yelled at the shorter girl, interrupting her. "Me! The rest of the class!"
"I didn't!" Jirou yelled back, stomping towards Momo and clenching her fists so hard at her sides that her entire arms were shaking. Yaoyorozu's eyes widened a bit, then grew larger as Jirou snapped, "I- I couldn't trust-" she bit down and shook her head with her eyes started to shake too. She clenched those eyes for a second and said, "My parents I could, but no one else. Not even you," Jirou said, opening her eyes again and staring to her left at the wall next to her.
Not even, me? Yaoyorozu stared at her friend with wide eyes, as she had never heard Kyoka say that before. She started opening her mouth to say something about it, when Jirou continued while staring in so much anger at that wall, "But Zach told me I could." Yaoyorozu froze with her mouth half-open, while Jirou glared so angrily at the wall next to her. "He held me one night, after Kaminari. And he told me things that I had stopped believing because they were things Raijin had told me." Jirou's hurt and angry voice turned back to solely angry as she snapped her head to Momo and yelled, "And then Zach betrayed us all and left! I'm so mad at him," she gasped out, saying it and then throwing a fist out in front of her and swinging it to her side in rage. "He knew I felt the same way, but instead of working it out and making a plan together or something! He just went off on his own, and now he's being insane around the world-"
"You think he felt the 'same way' as you?" Momo asked. She asked it with her eyebrows lifted up, and Jirou glared back at her but Yaoyorozu's hands were shaking angrily at her sides now. "Zach trusted one person. Not me, not anyone else, but he trusted Kaminari. He trusted him, and it got everyone he ever cared about killed." Yaoyorozu's fists shook more, and Jirou stared into her taller friend's eyes with less anger as she saw them start watering up in her own anger and frustration. The taller girl continued though, "Zach blamed himself for the deaths of all the people his mom and dad couldn't save because of him, so imagine how he felt when Raijin told him how he wiped out anti-heroes around the world. People who didn't care about the glory, who hid with secret identities to be heroes-"
Jirou cut her off, "They were breaking the law-"
"Zach didn't see it that way!" Yaoyorozu yelled right back at her. "He saw them as these great heroes, and by trusting Kaminari, he got them all killed! He may as well have been the one pulling the trigger himself. That night he was holding you and making you feel better, at the same time he knew that people were dying because of him! His aunt and cousin were missing, and none of us knew, and he probably suspected they were being tortured and killed while you were crying there!" Jirou's eyes widened for a second and then her teeth bared so much angrier, and Yaoyorozu yelled at her at that look, "You've acted so angry, and strong, and pissed at Zach because you think that out of everyone you're the one who knows most what it's like to be him, but you don't." Yaoyorozu whispered the last part with a shake of her head.
Yaoyorozu stepped towards Jirou and said in an angry yet such a sad voice, "Zach doesn't care about his own life, because Kaminari betraying him made his life forfeit! It made him revert to the life he had before he died, one where the only thing that mattered was changing the answer of whether it was good he was alive! Because how could he think it was a good thing, after what Kaminari did?" Jirou shook her head, and Yaoyorozu continued while stepping another foot closer to her, "He thought he was a monster, a- he considered he could even be the devil! Zach!" Yaoyorozu yelled it and then snapped in a whisper, "Do you remember USJ? Do you remember that look in his eyes, when he was so desperately trying to find a way to stop the villain without using his Quirk, and those screams after he realized what he had done?"
Jirou clenched her eyes shut, thinking on that day that had actually made her afraid of Zach. Yet she heard those screams Yaoyorozu just mentioned. She saw the terrified look in his eyes that he was going to have to use his Quirk. "You remember who Zach is?" Yaoyorozu asked, and Jirou opened her eyes to stare into Yaoyorozu's from only a few feet away. "Why are you so mad at him?" Momo asked softer, her expression showing the pain and the reason she had said all of this to Jirou in the first place. She shook her head and then whispered to her angry friend, "Why can't you just let it go?"
Jirou bit her bottom lip and then took a step back away from her friend. "It doesn't even matter now," she said. "Zach's gone," she said, leaning her head towards Yaoyorozu while saying it, as if she was reminding her that there was no reason to get so defensive over this in the first place. "Doing, whatever he wants. And he's never coming back." Jirou turned around and walked away. She walked to the stairs leaving Yaoyorozu behind staring at her back with her eyes wide.
Yaoyorozu felt her heart gripping, because she knew Jirou was probably right. She lowered her eyes down to the floor, thinking about the boy she had hoped for so long would come back, or be caught, or something. He's so important now. Jirou believes it too, that he's really, Death. No one straight out says it. Kirishima says he's in the Army of Death for sure, but no one else says anything about it anymore. I know he's really Death though. He created that army, and he's running it, and there's no, no chance he's coming back anymore. Yaoyorozu felt just a bit more broken after thinking that, and she turned without getting what she had come here for in the first place.
Yaoyorozu walked out of her dorm, and she started down the sidewalk to the street. She decided she needed to get back to class, even if she had failed at getting Jirou. As she walked, she lifted her gaze to the sky and stared out into the distance. Looks like it might rain, she thought, looking to a distant part of the sky that looked darker than it had earlier. She rose up an arm and wiped her eyes with it, then she started jogging to get back to the rest of the class and their Final Exams.
Behind Yaoyorozu up on the third floor of Class 2-A's dorm building, Jirou sat at her desk with her right hand pressed up against her forehead. She had her right elbow down on her desk and her head pressing so hard into that hand while she clenched harder with her left hand in front of her. She ground her teeth back and forth, then started panting and let out a gasp while she pinched her fingers into her head harder. I hate you. Why, do you- she still cares so much about you. I thought, she'd be able to forget you if I just… Jirou glared at the closed envelopes in her left hand, and she threw them in front of her so they slid across her desk, and she slammed her head down onto the desk afterwards and winced in pain.
In Jirou's head she remembered storming into her dorm room, in a rush because her parents were about to show up the day after the Lifebringer Incident. And she had seen that letter on the floor addressed to her. Her first instinct was to rip it to shreds, and then she had realized something else. She remembered how Yaoyorozu's parents had come to pick her up at the police station, and she thought about how someone was going to go to Momo's room to get her stuff now that the school was being closed, and Jirou pressed her forehead harder into her desk thinking about how she had run up to Momo's room so fast. I should just get rid of them. I'm never going to open them. I- I don't want to- you don't deserve to get a final goodbye like that you jerk! Asshole! How is anyone supposed to forget you, if you left letters… Except, I couldn't say anything about it to anyone, and no one's said anything like there were others. I knew there was one for her, but no one- why didn't they? Or was it really just to us?!
Jirou's eyes lifted and she stared at the envelope on her desk that had her name on it. "Why are you so mad at him?" Jirou slid a hand over the desk while lifting her head from it more. "Why can't you just let it go?" Her fingers curled up before grabbing the envelope she knew there was a piece of folded up paper inside of. She glared at it, and then she grabbed it and grabbed the one labeled 'Momo' and she pulled them back. She opened her desk drawer and lifted a rarely used book she slid the envelopes beneath then slammed the drawer back shut. I just can't.
"…although many believe Japan should follow in the United States' footsteps and change its policies on self defense against villains, the rising trend in vigilantism in the US has been associated with these law changes by top politicians and political scientists. Several famous cases have already taken place where the new Protect Yourself Law has been used as a defense, despite the defendants in question being found inside villain hideouts when the cops arrived at the scene." Midoriya Izuku flipped to the next slide on the visual he had accompanying his final presentation. "Crime in America has never reached the percentages that crime in most other countries of the world reached, however there is a far higher percentage of deaths of violent parties in villain incidents. Heroes are not punished for excessive force unless there is extensive evidence, which has resulted in many cases brought to trial only to be dismissed despite witnesses claiming that heroes unnecessarily killed the villains they were facing. In Adams vs the State of Illinois…"
Bakugo leaned back on his seat in the audience, staring up at the ceiling with a bored expression on his face as Deku's presentation went on and on. His childhood friend had a lot of evidence, a lot of examples of individual trials that had occurred during the time of his research alone as well as older ones that set precedents for ones he had researched. It was boring to the spiky-haired blond in the middle of the auditorium, who was only there because he was up in two turns and figured he should get some idea of the questioning since he had not gone to see anyone else's presentations yet. Fucking Deku won't shut up. The longer you make yours the shorter mine'll seem. Get off the fucking stage.
Kosei Tsuburaba was feeling a lot more nervous than Bakugo who he sat a few rows in front of. He had to go next though, and his research was in no way as extensive as the green-haired teen's who continued explaining his stance on America's harsh crime laws. At least Canada's a more boring place, so hopefully they don't call me out on not having too much! Kosei's jaw dropped as Midoriya threw up a graph on the slides behind him which had Mexico and Canada's villain death rates which were both lower than the US's, though he put it side by side with another graph that showed similar numbers for actual crimes committed based on if the populations were proportionate. Oh shit!
Also inside the auditorium, watching her classmate's presentation as she had for all the others so far, Yaoyorozu sat with a frown on her face as she listened to Midoriya. He has many good points. As expected of Midoriya. You are also, focusing your presentation very much on the negatives of America's policies though. What of the lower percentage of civilians harmed in villain incidents… Yaoyorozu's eyebrows lifted up as Midoriya started discussing that as a rebuttal for his own work. Then he added up the numbers of villain deaths on top of civilian ones though, and America's bar regarding deaths as a result of villain incidents was higher than the nations he was comparing it to.
The bar of civilians killed was proportionately smaller, but this… Shouldn't, the first graph matter more though? Momo hummed to herself and looked closer at the boy up there presenting his findings to the auditorium. Total deaths is not the most important, but the lives of the innocent. I know that's what Zach would think… But Zach was not correct. He is a radical. Yet, if it means that more innocent people can be saved, then should policies not be put in place-
"If Japan were to follow this example even knowing it could result in more deaths, it would be the same as accepting that some lives don't matter as much as others. Villains, are villains. There is no denying that what they do is wrong and they need to be stopped. However, they are given trials to determine guilt. They are sent to prison for certain lengths, where they will hopefully be rehabilitated, because in our code of law we do not have a death penalty. We don't have that, because the system accepts that everyone can change. It is established in a way to provide second chances for those who have gone down the wrong path. If all villains could be killed, if heroes could get away with killing someone just because they were villains…" Midoriya paused for a moment. He stopped himself and his teeth clenched behind his lips. He took in a deep breath through his nose before continuing, "Those second chances wouldn't exist. Heroes would be stealing the right to change from people who have taken a wrong turn in life. The law would accept that any villain could be judged as irredeemable by an individual. And certain heroes may have, they might be more inclined to accept the scrutiny after killing a villain if they believe it will be accepted by those around them. And even if that does become accepted, it will destroy the image of a hero."
Yaoyorozu stared at the muscular boy with curly green hair as he got a stronger more steady look on his face. He started to describe a hero, what a hero has to look like to the people around them, what they need to stand for. Yaoyorozu found herself staring with huge eyes at Midoriya as her thoughts shifted fast from one thing to the next and her breathing sped up though she tried keeping it silent. I thought, he was saying it at first because Zach went down the wrong path. But, but it seemed like he didn't want things to change, because if they do then what if a hero believes Zach is irredeemable and decides to kill him just because… But, but now. Everything he's saying, describing how heroes need to act, that's not Zach at all. The things I've heard the Army of Death has done to villains. It's not heroic. But at the same time, don't you realize it Midoriya?
Yaoyorozu put her hands on her knees and squeezed them with a look of frustration spread over her face. He doesn't want to be seen. Doesn't want to be caught, or noticed, so everything we hear about them has to be part of his plan. And if we are hearing terrible things the Army of Death does to villains, how do we know that is really true, and not just what he wants? I don't want to believe they're all truths. I, I think I knew- know Zach well enough, to say that he's tricking everyone. All to make villains feel fear of him. Make them think he'll just kill them all brutally… I believe that's so. I believe Zach's a better person than that! I, I really believe it's true.
"Haha, ha, hahaha!" Mineta started laughing, and the short boy rubbed a bruise on his left cheek before stepping forward and laughing harder at the ANT in front of him. The spectators in a different room were staring at the screen in surprise as the ANT struggled to move forward but had a pair of purple balls stuck to its feel. Mineta had just whipped a line of his Pop Offs into the ANT's chest too and stuck the other end to the floor next to him. "Take that!" He called out, crossing his arms and yelling in a victorious tone.
Unlike with Koda, Kirishima did not start cheering for the shortest student in their class. Kirishima got a more frustrated look on his face instead, as did half of the others in the class who hated that smug look on Mineta's face right now after so many of them had lost. And then they all stared at the screen with wide eyes, as the ANT started breaking apart. Mineta stepped back, his crossed arms lowering and his jaw dropping as the ANT's feet popped off of its body, and jets shot out from below its shins to rise it in the air. Its legs and arms and head popped off next, then the torso split into three pieces and the top and bottom piece merged together before the rest of it came back to merge too.
"No way!" Mineta shouted, panic spreading over his face as he turned and started running. He had tears in his eyes and he yelled, "That's not faiirrr-aaahhhh!" He flew up in the air as an explosion hit the floor behind him, and the half of the class who were feeling annoyed at him for winning a minute ago started feeling bad instead as he face-planted into the floor and skid to a stop letting out low moans of pain.
"I think that's enough," Vrishnuku said. The Indian hero who had been Class 2-A's homeroom teacher for the past four months tapped a few buttons on the keyboard in front of him and stopped the ANT's movements. Power Loader started typing with his only arm down the long table from Vrishnuku, setting up the final ANT for Class A's final exams.
"Aw, I really thought he had it there for a second," Ashido snapped her fingers in disappointment. "That makes ten now," she said with a sigh.
"More than half the class," Sero said disappointedly, shaking his head in agreement with the pink girl to his right. Ashido looked over, and Sero glanced at her too, and the two made eye contact for a second. Then Sero smirked and added, "At least it definitely won't get to eleven."
Ashido smiled back at him after a second and spun forward too, "Yeah! You've got this Momo!" She cheered her friend's name while some U.A. robots picked up Mineta and started making fun of him while carrying him to the nurse's office in Arena Alpha. Recovery Girl was already out of the spectators' room to go check on him, and the room was getting cleaned up with the main struggle being getting Mineta's Pop Offs out of there.
Between Sero and Ashido, Sato glanced back and forth between the two for a few seconds before grinning and looking back at the screens himself. Wow, wasn't even awkward this time. Just took a term, Sato chuckled and then turned and asked Sero if he really thought Yaoyorozu was definitely going to win. "…I think it all depends of what kind of Ant she goes up against. If she has to fight Todoroki's," Sato trailed off and glanced back as a boy walked back into the room with a bandage on the side of his face. "Oh, Todoroki," Sato said in surprise, not expecting his neighbor in the dorm to return so quickly after his fight at the start of the rounds that afternoon on the final day of Finals.
"You doing alright Todoroki?" Hagakure asked while turning to the boy with half white and half red hair.
Todoroki nodded at her, "Fine. Thanks." He stepped forward and just looked up at the screens showing he was focused on Yaoyorozu's turn that was coming up. Some of the others who wanted to mention something about how they were surprised he did not manage to beat his ANT turned away at his intense look. Todoroki's mind was not on Yaoyorozu or her fight at all though. His body was sore and his heart was swirling as he tried keeping his fists from clenching at his sides.
My biggest flaw, he thought, narrowing his eyes and letting his fists clench as there was no holding them back. Even using Cold and Hot at the same times, relying on those two Quirks isn't… the teachers are clearly trying to show me that too, so they knew my flaw as much as I do. As much as the two of them used together is so much stronger, against a villain who neither heat nor ice works against, I have nothing. Dad is… Todoroki loosened his fists and he thought about his father in the most recent televised battle he saw only a few weeks ago. Super strong, he can practically fly, long range, short range, great decision making in the moment, the experience of a true pro. I thought I had the experience to shorten the gap, but how far behind Endeavor am I still? Todoroki lowered his gaze down to the floor and his fists tightened again, gripping so hard wish his nails digging into his palms.
Is Touya that far ahead of me? Damn it. Don't, think about that. Todoroki shook his head but he could not keep his mind of the face of that man with spiky black hair who they had heard nothing about since the Lifebringer Incident. I need to focus on getting stronger, not on him. If he does have those things that Dad does too, then I need to get them as well. I won't be the weakest one! Midoriya, Bakugo, Iida, they all passed so easily- Todoroki's fists that were clenched loosened again even as he stared at the screens in front of the class with his eyes wide. He shook his head as he knew he should have expected it already, which was a main reason he was not frustrated as he saw Yaoyorozu standing there in front of a defeated ANT.
"She predicted what it's counters against her would be," Midnight said with a laugh while leaning back in her seat. Yaoyorozu's pouches on her belt and shoulder straps were opened up, and she had had the weapons she needed to defeat the ANT specified against her ready before she even entered into the arena.
"Perks of going last," Ashido began with a sigh.
"They are the perks of being prepared," Ectoplasm countered, darting a look back at the pink girl who leaned away and then nodded quickly in agreement with a beat of sweat dripping down her face.
Vrishnuku turned in his chair and stood up in front of the majority of Class 2-A who just watched the very last round of their Final Exams. "All of you tried your hardest, and that is what really matters." He smiled at them, and then he continued, "Except for those of you who failed." He looked certain students in their eyes and the kids leaned back at the teacher's upset and disappointed look. "I expected more of you to pass honestly. The amazing Class A and all, though, I guess a single mindless robot was just too much for most of you."
All Might leaned closer to the table in front of him and tried his best not to turn around and give the students a reassuring look. Mother Russia was an intense and scary woman, but Vrishnuku is… much worse.
"I know today is the last day of classes before winter break, but I want you to know that each of you who have received failing grades on your practicals will be required to come in for extra classes every day of break including the weekends." Most of the students in front of him started staring at their teacher with wider eyes, then the man continued, "I do not celebrate any holidays, nor do I take time off on weekends. I will allow you to take off on the days of your holidays, but every other day of break you are to report to our classroom at eight a.m. Do not be late for class or you will be held after." Vrishnuku turned and kept smiling in the same way as he looked towards Iida, Uraraka, and Midoriya who had all passed their tests. "The rest of you, enjoy your breaks. I look forward to seeing more from you when you return-"
"Vrishnuku-sensei," Midoriya started. He stared into the tan-skinned man's brown eyes and said after the man nodded at him to continued, "Would it be alright if I could take those classes too?"
Uraraka's eyes widened and then she spun to her homeroom teacher and said, "I'd like to too. I don't need two weeks off."
"I guess I'll correct myself," Vrishnuku started before other students could chime in. "Any of you are allowed to come to the winter classes. Only those of you who failed are required to do so though."
"Thank you, sensei," Midoriya said with a nod at the man.
Midnight grinned big as she spun from the computers in front of her. She looked towards Midoriya who leaned back at her red cheeks and huge smile, then she looked around and kept that excited look on her face as she saw the others who had passed looking around at their classmates and nodding when the others who failed looked at them to see if they would be going.
All Might turned towards his successor too, and he smiled towards the student who just rose the mood of the class higher than Vrishnuku had been able to break them down to. The homeroom teacher frowned a bit as the students started talking to each other wondering what his training over the winter would be, but his eyes shifted back to Midoriya as a couple of the students who failed started calling him out saying he didn't need the extra classes.
Whether it is for his own advancement, or in order to keep his class from being split in half between the failures and the successes, he has reached my expectations for Class A. Vrishnuku smiled again and then dismissed his class, telling them they could get out of their hero uniforms too and that they would not need to wear them through the winter break classes as they had been this entire week. The students walked out, and Vrishnuku turned to All Might before all the teachers could start discussing the most recent final exams they had to go over. "Your successor truly is impressive."
All Might turned to Vrishnuku and his eyes opened huge, and then he asked in a confused voice, "I'm sorry?"
"Ah yes, it is just a rumor I have heard," Vrishnuku said, while the room was suddenly silent and the other seven teachers in there were all staring over with hesitant expressions at the foreign hero. "I believe some of my students believe that you are breeding Midoriya Izuku to take your place as the Symbol of Peace. I thought I'd see if it was true?"
Midnight and Present Mic had been looking towards the confrontation with different expressions than the other teachers in the room. Both of them opened their eyes wider still at Vrishnuku's explanation, as apparently the Indian man had not heard anything about what Raijin had said about Midoriya having All Might's power. All Might answered his fellow teacher carefully, "I do not try to play favorites over my students, however I have formed a certain bond with Young Midoriya that I can see the other students perhaps becoming suspicious over. Especially with Young Midoriya's large jumps in strength…"
All Might gave an answer about potential he saw in Midoriya, but he also mentioned how he was sure Vrishnuku saw it as well just then. The other teachers had seen it too, and some of them relaxed a bit as All Might made the conversation seem not very awkward at all. He also made it out like Vrishnuku did not know what he was talking about, and their foreign teacher apologized for jumping to his own conclusions. Yet as All Might stood up to leave the room, he noticed other teachers in the room were shooting him odd looks that looked a tad too thoughtful. He walked out while pretending not to notice, though his expression immediately darkened as he walked away with his eyes narrowing ahead of him. This dangerous secret is no longer a danger to me, but a danger to Young Midoriya. And to his family. To everyone around him. Any rumors must be shut down as such, and Young Midoriya must do his part to keep his secret as well.
I am afraid, knowledge of One For All will spread too far in this uncertain world with villains getting stronger and stronger heroes rising to face them. An uncertainty plagues me. Nighteye's prophecy's timeline is running out. Am I in the clear, or is there little time left? At the end of All Might's scrawny arms his hands clenched into fists. I must make sure he is ready before then. Young Midoriya, I will not leave you unprepared.
"Ahh, AHH- Chh," Zach clenched his teeth and seethed air through them to stop himself from screaming. This is nothing. I will save you. I will definitely save you.
Blood was splashed around the room, and there were a couple of other bodies laying about that Zach had to get to. There were unconscious enemies nearby too, but the bodies Zach was focused most on were the ones in all black armor and splashed in red. "Can you save her?" La Brava asked, stepping up towards Zach's back with a worried look on her face.
"He has this," Gentle assured the shorter woman at his side. He looked forward and down under Zach's right hand though with a nervous look on his own face behind his visor. He turned and called back to a group of others in the room and out in the hall of the worn-down building they were in, "Keep searching the compound. There may be more Syndicate members in hiding who have yet to escape. Capture everyone here not part of the A.o.D." He repeated his command in his helmet holding a button on the side once the others around were all running off, though a few others kept staring over towards Death longer as they heard their leader let out a gasped-scream.
"Come on," Zach snarled, pushing his left hand on his right wrist to slam it harder into the chest of the woman below him.
Darling looked over from a body of an enemy soldier whose legs she was wrapping up after firing through them in the attack. Death had knocked the man out afterwards, but she was told by her leader to make sure the man she attacked did not bleed out so they could question him afterwards. Darling's hands gripped harder on the bloody wounds she was supposed to be wrapping though while looking back towards Death with his hands on the girl below him's chest. Darling's eyes shifted from Zach's hand placement up to the face of the woman whose helmet Zach had taken off though, and Darling clenched her hands harder on the legs of the villain which splashed blood out when she tightened that grip.
Zach felt the pain of his skull ripping open on two sides, his thoughts were scrambled for a second, and he focused solely on keeping his right hand down on Cee's body. "I won't lose you," Zach whispered. He felt cuts on his arms and legs, gashes on his sides and on his neck right over a scar that seared in pain worse than when he got it fighting Arma and Mongoloid two months earlier. "Come back," Zach whispered softer, pushing his head down and resting the top of his visor on Cee's forehead. He pushed his right hand down harder, and he could see the wounds on her arms and legs sealing completely a moment before he felt it. The sensation of dying, told him that Cee had come back. Zach felt Cee's heart start, and he let go of Cee's chest and slid his arm down to his side.
Cee's eyes opened while her chest heaved up. La Brava, Darling, and Gentle all smiled over towards the blonde woman who let out a small gasp as she opened her eyes. Zach looked softly down into Cee's eyes through his visor, and he asked in a low voice, "Are you alright?"
Cee's eyes started to close. Her head leaned back and her eyes were closing like the exhaustion was about to make her pass out. Then Cee's half-closed eyes snapped open wide, and her body snapped up while she rose her right hand and grabbed Zach by the collar as quickly as she could. A look of sheer panic spread on her face as she took in the biggest gasping breath ever. "It's alright," Zach started while putting his right arm on Cee's back to hold the panicking girl.
"We have to stop them!" Cee gasped out in panic, saying it without focusing on her breathing and just breathing it out between breaths. She coughed and then gripped Zach tighter, ignoring the memory of all the pain she went through before finally getting shot in the head ten minutes ago. She shook Zach and her shaking eyes widened more as she said it again, "We have to stop them."
"What do you mean?" Zach asked, grabbing Cee's back harder while the other three in the room all started over to gather around them.
Cee shook her head and pursed her lips. "I know what the Syndicate's planning," she said, thinking about the taunt of the man who had cut her up before killing her. She turned back to Zach's helmet and looked in his visor with a scared expression that unnerved the four who had been with her the longest. "On Christmas, I figured out- I know their plan-" She shook her head and then leaned closer towards Zach's head with her eyes wide with fear. "We have to stop them."
"We will," Zach said, and he put his helmet closer to Cee's face. "But what is it Cee? What are they-"
"Nuke," she whispered. Her eyes were trembling and Zach's breath caught in his throat as he stared into those eyes from inches away. "Zach," Cee said, a terrified look on her face. "It's a nuke."