Disclaimer: I don't own Boku no Hero Academia
Chapter 123:
"Benvenuto! Welcome, to Italy!"
Midoriya Izuku walked away from the private jet he just disembarked from. Behind him, the plane started rolling away towards a hangar on the tarmac of the airport they landed at just outside of Milan, Italy. He looked ahead at the woman who just greeted them and was smiling wide for the group to see. She had on a blue costume that was tight to her body, though there were small circular holes dotting her costume all around and most condensed on her arms. Pasta Donna stepped forward and held her arms out to the side, and Hawks moved forward too with an awkward look on his face, but he accepted the hug of the woman who kissed him on either cheek before pulling back. "It is great to see you again, mi amico."
Help you once out of a sticky situation and suddenly we're friends, Hawks scratched his left cheek for a second and then nodded at the older woman with wrinkles on her face but a youthful smile. She had graying black hair that was short and frizzy over her head, wrinkles on her forehead and cheeks, and crow's feet at the sides of her eyes. "Pasta Donna, Michelangelo," Hawks nodded behind the woman at the man with grainy white skin who stepped forward with a stoney expression on his face. His lips were flat on his chiseled face, and he walked to the side of Pasta Donna to Hawk's right where he stood in front of the two younger men who came off the plane with Hawks.
"I'm Deku-" Midoriya realized he should introduce himself with that large man staring at him like that, but Michelangelo cut him off before he could continue or Tokoyami could speak up himself.
"I know who you are," Michelangelo said. He frowned at the boy with curly green hair and his classmate who were both in casual clothes Hawks had them change into because he said it was better than them wearing their school uniforms at least. Pasta Donna lowered her smile a bit too which Hawks noticed out the corners of his eyes though he kept looking at the male hero the whole time. "We requested Hawks," Michelangelo started. "When we heard you two were coming with him, we did background checks on you. And we found a large amount of collateral damage regarding the two of you."
Michelangelo's eyes shifted towards Tokoyami and he continued without pause, "Under the order of the Prime Minister, Tsukuyomi is not to use his Quirk, Dark Shadow, inside of Italy's borders." Tokoyami's eyes opened wide and they darted to Hawks but Hawks did not look back at him and just kept staring at Michelangelo with his lips curled down a bit in annoyance but also acceptance. Michelangelo continued right away while looking back to Deku as well, "Your provisional licenses are not recognized by Italy's laws, which accept hero licenses from other countries but not Japanese provisional ones." The man turned to Hawks and continued, "We will allow those interns of yours to assist, but if Deku, whose Quirk we are not restricting, does cause extreme harm to a villain or collateral damage to the city, there will be complications."
"Yeah, got it," Hawks said, lifting his left hand and making a small flick of his wrist towards the boys. "You don't have to worry about these two. I'll keep a close eye on them. Anything happens and I'll take the fall."
Midoriya and Tokoyami were both starting to frown at the man in front of them who had not waited to introduce himself or anything before saying all that to them very rudely. They spun towards Hawks though in surprise as his nonchalant attitude, and what he just said which put more pressure on Midoriya than his darker friend who did not need to worry about getting Hawks in trouble if he was not going to be allowed to fight anyway. Michelangelo frowned at how calmly Hawks took that without looking like he was taking seriously, but the stoney man with a chiseled jaw and hard expression just turned away. He wore a white costume that looked a bit like a toga only tighter at the shoulders and waist and with sleeves down the arms all the way to his fists that had thick white gloves on them just a little more white than his actual skin which was almost as close to white as it could get.
"Come on," Pasta Donna said, motioning at Hawks with a nod of her head after her fellow hero. "We've got a car waiting to bring you to your hotel. The Italian government has paid for you three to have all-inclusive gold passes for the Feloccio Hotel during your stay. Meals, room service, and spa access are all complementary." She sighed and brought her hands up to her face, rubbing her wrinkly cheeks and then saying in a tired voice, "I could use a good facial. I hear the Feloccio's spa can take years off of you."
"Don't know why you'd need it," Hawks said, and Pasta Donna turned with a sly smile on her face at the younger man behind her.
"Haha, you are a charmer. Well Hawks, we'll be in contact soon with the station to come to when it's time to work. Get yourselves situated, and go over the files you'll be getting in your rooms."
"Rooms?" Hawks asked, lifting his tone in a bit of surprise. He glanced back at the teens behind him and then said, "I'm surprised you're not just making us share."
"You have been given two rooms," Pasta Donna said. "So the boys need to share, but of course we would not make you all cramp into one after you came all the way out here. We are glad you came," she assured, saying it a bit more seriously to ensure her guests who Michelangelo was rude to right when they got off the plane. She said it and looked towards the other two behind Hawks too, and they nodded back at her with understanding looks.
"Thank you," Tokoyami told the woman after she let them know just how much the country was giving them. All the talk about spa access and fancy hotels made him feel a bit awkward, especially since they already told him that they were not letting him use his Quirk. He was starting to feel like his purpose on the trip was very diminished, and he wondered what he was doing there at all.
Hawks hung back a bit and then cupped a hand to the side of his mouth. He did not speak much quieter as they went, so it was clear that Pasta Donna could still hear him in front of their group of three. She did not look back though as Hawks spoke in that lower voice to his interns. "Don't worry about any of that stuff. We won't have the time to enjoy the nice hotel, nor will those rules Michelangelo mentioned matter much." The two younger men behind Hawks looked at him confusedly, and he turned his head more to face the confused-looking boys. "There're always a lot of loops to jump through when it comes to having heroes go to other countries to help. A lot of the time that paperwork gets filled out afterwards and a lot of stuff is overlooked when it's an emergency situation."
Hawks paused and then added in a more exhausted voice like this was all a tiring process, "Collaborations like this are always an issue though. Bureaucrats trying to show how much power they've got by being sticklers for the rules. Other heroes whose ideologies you can't account for. Italy's a pretty cool place, similar to Japan in a lot of ways when it comes to hero work, so don't worry too much. Tsukuyomi I might still send you in for backup, just make sure those calming flares and pulse lights on your costume are set for use. I doubt we'll be fighting in the daylight."
Pasta Donna kept walking without turning her head like she heard what Hawks said. The boys behind Hawks had darted their eyes to her wondering if she was going to counter him there, but she just pretended like she did not hear a thing. Hawks had already claimed that he would take responsibility after all, and she trusted him so she trusted his judgement here too. Midoriya felt himself relax a bit just as Tokoyami did at his side. The green-haired boy looked past Pasta Donna and towards the man ahead who called something up ahead of him and made a group of cops near a gate start rushing about to open it up and let the long black limo on the other side pull into the tarmac.
Midoriya focused on that man who was giving out orders to the cops, the gate guards, the regular airport workers around who he called at to go back to work, and to the driver of the car who he rose a hand at to motion the man inside. He spoke clearly (even though Midoriya could not understand the Italian the man was calling out to the others in), and yet despite his stern expression Midoriya also saw him nodding at people in appreciative ways when they did what he asked. He's assertive, and not afraid to speak his mind to anyone. I don't know what he considers collateral that I did… unless he means the Stain Cult fight, and that building I blew apart with Todoroki. Or, maybe the Inhuman fight and breaking the arena? Maybe it's not about past damage, and he was just warning me not to go any farther this time since he knows how much power I have.
"I'm looking forward to working with Michelangelo," Tokoyami started, and Midoriya looked to his side at the dark boy in surprise at him saying that. Midoriya lifted his eyebrows as if asking 'really' and Tokoyami nodded his head while looking ahead to the man who had scolded him immediately upon their arrival. To prove I am not what people think of me. Dark Shadow's Rampage will never fade from people's minds, but only I can make them see me for more than it. "The top hero in Italy. There will be a lot we can learn from him."
Midoriya nodded in agreement, steadying his own expression and pushing aside that judgement he made when the man was so rude to them a few minutes ago. Pasta Donna looked back after Tokoyami said that though, and she had a somewhat nervous look on her face. "I'd suggest not mentioning anything about rankings near him," she said softly. They were nearing the limo waiting for them, and Pasta Donna spoke quieter at the group, "The new rankings aren't available to the public yet but we already know ours. He got bumped down one by the Super Rookie."
Midoriya's eyes widened and he shifted them towards Michelangelo for a moment before bringing them back to normal-sized quickly to try and not seem suspicious. Metallore moved up?! That's amazing! He was a rookie just last year and is now already ranked 1 in his country. I thought Lemillion might be able to do that but he's still stuck at Number 5. Japan has more heroes, sure, but he must still be a very impressive hero. The Steel Hero: Metal King. That's what they called him when he came to Japan to help fight the Foresters in December. I want to take notes… Though, Michelangelo was Number 1 for years. I should appreciate that I have an amazing foreign hero to learn from anyway, as well as Hawks, and Pasta Donna is the most popular female hero in the country too only below Metallore in the total rankings.
"Get in," Michelangelo said to the group in front of him. His eyes narrowed at the green-haired boy who stopped thinking about Metallore fast. "We'll see you tonight. Make sure you're familiar with Operation Falco before you arrive."
"The files will be delivered directly to your rooms by a government rep once you've checked in," Pasta Donna added as she stepped aside, showing she was not getting in the car with the Japanese heroes. "Do keep a low profile while you are here. We do not want to tip off the, villains we are going after, that you have arrived for them."
The hesitation in that final sentence was noted by the Japanese men in front of her. Hawks did not react to it, but the younger boys shifted their eyes around towards the other people around them at the airport. Everyone was looking towards them. There was no way to tell who might have been looking at them with some ulterior motive and not just watching the foreigners who arrived by private jet a few minutes ago. Deku's expression hardened and he turned back to the limo that Hawks motioned for his interns to get inside. The operation's already started, Midoriya thought to himself. I need to be aware of my surroundings. This is not a leisure trip.
"No you were right," Hawks said to the woman at his side as they stood together in a the biggest police station in Milan. "That spa was great. Really relaxing." They were on the fourth floor of the building, a rising skyscraper that the Japanese boys with Hawks were surprised to see was all meant for law enforcement. Some hero agencies were posted inside the police headquarters for Milan, and the department doubled as a center for combatting villains across a lot of northern Italy.
Midoriya tried to keep a hardened look on his face, but he glanced to his side at Tokoyami only to see his darker classmate with a frown and a bead of sweat on his face at Hawks' attitude. I thought the note on his door was a joke, and he was out looking for leads, or something. Midoriya kept a straight expression and just focused ahead into the group of heroes in front of them who were speaking Italian to each other which was leaving them out of the conversation. He did not want to look as upset as he was by the fact that they were treating them as an aside, but he also figured he should not complain about them speaking their own language in their home country. Team Canada spoke Japanese with us, in Japan. I should study up on foreign languages. I never thought about any besides English, which I wish more of them would use. We can all at least use that I think…
The leader of the team, Michelangelo, turned from the others he was speaking to and nodded towards Hawks. Hawks stepped forward and so did his interns who had spent the entire afternoon going over all the documents given to them by a suited man in a pair of designer sunglasses. The government agent had handed it off to them in the most super secret way, pretending to drop something as he was passing the group on their floor almost at their room, then standing with two folders suddenly in his hands that he handed off without stopping. The information in the files had Tokoyami and Midoriya busy the whole day. They spent the time since they arrived at their room quizzing each other and memorizing everything that might be important enough that the Italians saw fit to give it to them in documents translated into Japanese.
"We've got a new tip," Michelangelo began. He spoke in English and the other Italian heroes turned too to face the group of three standing with Pasta Donna. The fourth floor of the building was emptied out except for the heroes around the room, and the lights were off so the projector would work better aimed at a flat white wall they were using for their planning. "We had an operation set up for tomorrow night, which we planned on running everyone through more tomorrow. There's an opening tonight however that we cannot give up."
"You just got this new information?" Hawks asked, frowning at the number 2 hero in Italy. There goes the plan for tomorrow. What the hell am I even doing here if they're not going to wait for more information gathering…
"We heard from an anonymous tip that we'll not only have the opening we want on the majority of the Gazpaccio Gang, but a high-profile client of theirs will also be there. Ever heard of, Espuci Vermon?" Michelangelo asked it and frowned deeply as the rest of the Italian heroes around him were.
"The fashion mogul?" Tokoyami asked. Midoriya glanced in for a moment at him in surprise but Tokoyami did not have a reaction to that look questioning how he knew that.
Midoriya had not heard the name before, but it sounded familiar to him. "Vermon?" Hawks asked, cracking a smile and letting out a dark laugh. He looked in at Midoriya who he saw had not recognized it, and he said, "That jacket I wore on my way in, was a Vermon."
Vermon! Deku pieced together that the last name was the same as the brand, and then he lost that surprised look for a grimace as he wondered why that mattered here. "Apparently Vermon's sudden rise in the fashion world isn't entirely legitimate," another hero behind Michelangelo began. The short man at just over three feet tall tipped his black top up with a nod of his head and showed that he was frowning as much as the others around him. "Which is especially disheartening, because Espuci got into the hero fashion business as well as of late."
"With the materials to make hero costumes legally at his disposal," Pasta Donna started in a darker voice than the interns to her left had heard her use thus far. "I'm sure he's been making trades for the Gaz to sabotage competitors."
"Probably hiding some under-the-table profits too," the short man added. "Get some tax evasion in there."
"We'll be able to investigate him fully, if we can catch him tonight with the Gazpaccio Gang in the middle of a transaction," Michelangelo announced again, getting everyone to settle down.
Midoriya got a confused look on his face after listening to all this for a few seconds. Wait a second, he thought. He looked around at the heroes and then wondered if his English was off or something, but it felt right by the way they had been acting. "An anonymous tip," Midoriya began, and the others all looked towards the teen in a green costume with his mask pulled back behind his neck. He continued, "Told us who was going to be making a deal with the Gazpaccio Gang, and when?"
Tokoyami hummed as that sounded suspicious to him too. "With that much information how do we know it's not a trap? Or just false info?"
"The tip sounded legit," a female hero with long blonde hair who looked in her mid-twenties began. She had a thicker Italian accent in her English than the others, which made it a bit more difficult for the Japanese boys who still tried to listen closely to her. "I heard it myself. They gave us information they couldn't have known that we knew already, information that would have gotten men currently without rap sheets into a lot of trouble. The Gazpaccio Gang are also very under the radar, setting traps is unlike them."
"Le Tenebre is right. There would be no point in them setting traps," Pasta Donna agreed. "They do not like to get caught with anything. Once they are, the rest of the gang usually pushes them out or the person we're looking for goes 'missing.' Either cut-off, permanently by the gang," she hinted there at the gang murdering each other then continued, "Or the gang keeps their wanted comrades in hiding and brings them out for times like these. Hopefully it is the second case, so that we will have probable cause to rush in at any time."
"But, how would the tip have known so much?" Midoriya asked again, still feeling like things were just moving past this tip too quickly. He saw some of the Italian heroes frown over towards him at the question but that only confused him more.
The short man in the top hat grinned though despite the others around him frowning. "Well my theory," he started. "Is that a neighbor saw something suspicious. Maybe they saw one of the wanted gangsters that the 'tip' did claim was going to be at the deal tonight, going into a building near them." Midoriya stared at the hero in confusion, then the short man continued, "And after seeing such a thing, this civilian decided to use their Quirk which was a long-distance hearing, or X-ray vision Quirk, and they did their best to assist us heroes in this endeavor."
"Nice theory, Marco," Pasta Donna began, but her tone was scoffing at him. "But a much more romantic setting is that one of these villains finally saw the wrong in what they were doing. The harm they do to our society," she shook her head and then added with a small grin, "and they decided to turn on their comrades. The reason there are so many details is because this informant is a member of the gang himself, and he wants us to shut everything down that he helped create."
Midoriya glanced next to him at Tokoyami, and the darker boy with a beak also felt himself getting a bit confused over the attitudes of the others in the room. The frowns and dark looks on the faces of some of the heroes, and the theories two of them made in joking tones like the tip's origin mattered very little, it made them both have a similar thought after their glances at each other. Must be an Italian thing.
"There he is, Espuci Vermon."
"Tip paid off after all."
"Just waiting to hear something incriminating. On top of them just being together with Micky Kappa and ReRaxer… Haha, and jackpot. Alright, we've got them."
"Let's move in."
"Keep the perimeter strong. Don't want anyone getting away," Michelangelo ordered, while he dropped down from a window and slammed into a dark floor that a bunch of lights pointed over towards. Michelangelo stood up and glared through the lights at the villains on the other side who started screaming and yelling at each other in panic at the hero's appearance. "Villains! Surrender now or prepare to fight!"
Deku stood on the edge of a nearby building that was low to the ground. There was an alleyway on one side of them, but on the other side the building cornered off with others wrapping around the meeting place of the villains gathered on the outskirts of Milan. The buildings around there were not as fancy and looked more like common apartments than the fashionable main side of the city where their Feloccio Hotel was. Deku leaned forward with one hand down on the ledge between his crouched legs. I want to be down there.
Tokoyami stood on Midoriya's left with white lights on at the sides of his waist. The small devices that were a part of his hero costume let off enough light around him that even if he released Dark Shadow his Quirk's power would be greatly weakened. He turned them on though, in case he did need to use Dark Shadow that night which Hawks told him not to be surprised if he would. Neither of the teens would be surprised either, after what they had read about this gang's deeds over the past year. The two of them looked closer with amazed looks though at the Italian heroes who rushed in from all sides, taking out the perimeter guards and sentries of the Gazpaccio Gang before rushing towards the middle of the area to take on the big shots of the gang as well as Vermon.
"Ah! Villains! Please help me!"
"Nice try, Espuci!" Marco Polo called out. The short hero tossed his top hat off his head and then leapt up in the air towards it. His body narrowed and slipped into the bottom of his hat, and then a thin line shot out of a pistol of a gang member raising it towards Pasta Donna. Marco's body slid out of the gun with his body expanding out of it, and he slammed a growing fist forward into the panicking mobster's face. As he punched the man only a few feet from Espuci Vermon, he called at the fashion mogul, "We've got everything on tape. You're going down for a long time."
"Burgandy!" Vermon shouted it in panic, and then he spun her head around in confusion as nothing was happening.
"Oh, your bodyguard?" Pasta Donna asked, while tying together a knot in some very al-dente spaghetti that the wrapped villains could not break out of. She pulled her arms away and the ends of the pasta strands broke off from the holes in her costume, then she started marching towards the man in a designer sparkly green suit with a fedora over his head. Pasta Donna smiled at the rich fashion star who she said to with a nod back at the building behind her, "I wrapped him up a few minutes ago. You have no help here, Vermon."
A couple of villains started running for a building's back door they were going to slip away into. A wall of darkness rose up in front of them and Midoriya and Tokoyami's heads spun that way with their eyes opening huge. Le Tenebre stepped forward though, the woman in a light red costume with long blonde hair using a Quirk that her costume did not give away in the least. Her Quirk, Darkness, wrapped up the villains and started dragging them into the wall of darkness that they tried scrambling away from. The dark wall collapsed down on them, and then it sucked them up through the top and the darkness condensed around them to show it was squeezing them tightly. Le Tenebre held her hands up and curled them into fists, making the darkness shift into fist-shapes too that were wrapped around the villains who begged her to stop already.
Another villain saw his comrades getting squeezed like that, and he lifted up his right hand that glowed bright red, then his wrist did too, and his forearm, elbow, and upper arm after that. His body parts fired out in rapid succession with smoke coming off of them, and then each part of him got knocked to the sides. The villain himself got lifted up into the air with a yelp of panic, and then another five around him who were still fighting the Italians got lifted up too. Red feathers flew in like a wave and swept away a group of the gang members, stopping their attacks and pulling their weapons out of their hands.
"Well," Hawks said, leaning back while on a building across the area from the one his interns were on. "That was fun," he said, and he let out a relaxed yawn as the villains held up by his feathers kept yelling in panic. Glad we came when we did. Great tip.
Midoriya stared around down below as the heroes started rounding up and arresting all the villains. Michelangelo was still fighting one of the gang bosses on his own, then a sidekick of his slid in from behind and took out the villain's legs. Michelangelo had seemed to be fighting him in an honorable way, and the villains started yelling something about it at him. Though Midoriya and Tokoyami could catch the gist of what the man was arguing about, and what Michelangelo started saying in his powerful speech as he walked up towards the man he had down like all the others, they didn't really get the same feel as all the Italian heroes who they saw were getting excited and smiling about the end of the fight.
Midoriya turned away as Michelangelo shouted at the villains something much louder, and his eyes darted around to check out the area around them. The operation was a success. The information we had all worked out, and the tip was real. The villains didn't seem to know we were coming… Midoriya darted his eyes around all the nearby buildings, then past just the surrounding perimeter. He looked farther out, and he stared at some taller buildings near them that were too far to station someone on for this mission. "What are you looking for, Deku?" Tokoyami asked his classmate.
The two of them had been using each other's hero names since they left for the police station earlier. Midoriya replied in a low voice, "Tsukuyomi, Hawks, I see…" Midoriya looked closer and he stepped away on the roof looking towards the roof of a tall building not too far from them but almost out of his range. As he was looking that way, he saw something move on that roof. Tsukuyomi had just looked over too and he stepped up to Midoriya's side as he noticed it. Midoriya's eyes widened though, as what he had seen before just sticking up over the ledge did not duck away, but the figure stood up fully and revealed themselves while looking their direction.
Hawks looked towards the boys and then turned his head and faced a tall building over in the distance. He lost his relaxed look and started frowning, and then his eyes darted around and he said in a lower voice, "It looks like our tip stayed to watch the fight."
"We have to catch them!" Midoriya called out, right as he saw the figure up on that building turn their head a bit. The figure turned and the angle of their body shifted a bit which better revealed themself as they looked towards Midoriya and not down into the middle area where the fight had been going on, and ending. The figure looked Deku's way, then took a step back. Midoriya was staring with his eyes wide though, at the appearance of the dark figure up on that roof who wore a tight all-black costume including a helmet over their head. The figure also had two sword hilts sticking out over their shoulders, and a katana behind their waist that had Midoriya's heart racing as fast as possible.
"What's going on up there?"
"Looks like the tip came by anyway."
"Deku-" Hawks started, but he grit his teeth and then just watched as the boy in a green uniform shot off the roof he was on. Hawks flew up into the air while glancing back down to his right, and he saw some of the Italian heroes who they were working with look up at him with frowns on their faces. Hawks sweatdropped and then shifted his gaze forward over another building with a perimeter hero on it who just turned their head and watched as Deku raced by them.
Deku turned his head a bit and watched as the Italian whose roof he was jumping on looked at him. He saw the look of disdain on the man's face above his costume's spiky orange collar, and Midoriya scrunched his face up before spinning back forward and springing right off that roof. Is this what they all meant by a "tip?" They're working with the Army of Death? Or, or was it really just a tip? They weren't lying about that. But, but most of them expected it was probably- and they just pretended like they didn't know. That's why they were joking about the theories like it didn't matter! Midoriya ground his teeth more and then leapt up high above the tallest building near the raid area. He reached up over it and his eyes opened even wider as he saw that dark figure had ran across the roof and then fired a grappling gun off the other side of it.
"Zach!" Midoriya shouted.
The dark figure turned their helmet a bit, then spun back forward and leapt off the roof. Midoriya shot down to the roof's edge and looked off, and his eyes bulged as he saw the man falling had missed his target with the grappling hook and started to flail as they fell off the roof. "Hold on!" Deku shouted, and he bent down off the ledge of the building, pressed his feet into the wall at the roof's edge until his body started aiming diagonally with gravity, then he sprang off at the perfect angle to intercept the man falling to his death.
Deku flipped himself around after catching the villain, and he kicked behind him with enough force to propel them towards the roof of a building across the road right as they were about to reach its roof. The force of his kicks cracked a line of windows behind him, and then Deku slammed down into the roof on the other side of the road as the taller building. He rolled over and over with the dark figure he had tackled, and he heard a modulated voice 'oof' a few times as they bounced on the hard building. As they finished rolling, the two of them ended up a few feet away from each other as Midoriya had had to let go on that roll.
Deku lifted his head up a bit, and the dark figure laying on his back letting out panting breaths lifted his head too. The man scrambled up to his feet fast, and Deku jumped up too. "Stop!" Deku shouted at him. The man froze, then he spun around and started sprinting away, fast. He raced over the roof going easily thirty miles per hour, and he serpentined as he ran to make himself a harder target. Midoriya watched for a second as the guy started running away like that, and he ground his teeth before sprinting forward in Full Cowling. His opponent darted to the left just as Midoriya came up behind him, but Deku could change his direction even faster and shot right after the guy to tackle him back to the floor.
The young hero in a green costume tackled the dark figure to the ground and they skid across the roof a few feet. Then Midoriya flipped the man from his stomach onto his back, while keeping him down with one leg and using the other to sturdy them by pressing it down hard on their side. "Zach?" Midoriya asked, feeling less confident of it than before.
The swords on the man's back, the grappling gun, the 'DEATH' written in English down his back, the fact that the guy had a similar body type as him but was a little shorter… they made him hopeful. As he started reaching down for the guy's helmet though, the man below him started going, "No no no no no…" he trailed off as Midoriya pulled his hands back from the man's mask. What the? Deku reached down again and the man started back up in his deep voice, "No no no no-" Midoriya grabbed the sides of the man's helmet and he started lifting it off. A look of disappointment spread over Midoriya's face, though it had already been growing to that over the past twenty seconds.
"Oh man," the man below Midoriya started. He shook his head back and forth and had a worried look on his face. He pursed his lips hard as he kept shaking, and he started squirming under Deku but the boy over him was not letting him go. Deku opened his mouth, but the guy leaned his head up and started in English, "Please let me go. I just want to go."
"What?" Deku asked. The guy was speaking fast, and he looked excitable and hopeful as he started smiling wide at him like he thought what he just asked would work. "No," Deku said, shaking his head once at the white man who pulled his face back with a crushed look on it. Is he insane?! "Are you in the Army of… of course you are. Well, who are you?"
The man slammed his lips shut again and he lay back flat on the roof. He squirmed a bit under his capturer, but he was not getting any looser at all. Oh shit. This is so bad. This was my first solo recon mission and I fucked it up! I said I could do it then I fucked it! There's only one thing I'm not supposed to do and that's get caught! "I- please let me go," Hyper started again, smiling hopefully up at the young hero who just frowned more at the man's repeated attempt. "Death's going to be so mad," Hyper gasped while pulling his head back again, shaking it with a scared look on his face. I messed up! I wasn't supposed to-
"Do you mean, Zach?" Midoriya asked. The man below him lifted his head a bit with his face scrunched up and looking confused. That look made Midoriya pull his head back with just as much a look of confusion at that reaction from the man he had pinned.
Hyper opened his mouth, then he slammed it shut again. I have to shut up! He lay flat on his back. Nice job though Hyper! Confusing Deku right there was great. Maybe that'll make up for it. I hope he's not too mad. Hyper tried to start saying something again, but he paused while looking up into the eyeholes of the hero's mask. Then he shook his head and started taking longer, calming breaths. I messed up. It's time to accept that. I got caught. I really, got caught. There's nothing to do.
Midoriya glanced at the man's sides at his arms. The guy stopped struggling, but Midoriya had not pinned his arms down or anything. He was just tackled to his back and had a lot of pressure on him, but the man was not using his hands or the knives on his waistband to try and get him away. "What is your name? Where is the rest of the Army of Death?" Deku asked him questions but the man just shook his head around with hislips pursed shut hard like he had to force himself not to speak.
"Deku," Hawks called down. Midoriya turned his head and looked up, and then he stood and yanked the villain up to his feet too. "So you caught him," Hawks said, looking at the dark figure not wearing a helmet who was standing there not fighting back. Midoriya grabbed his hands anyway and pulled them behind his back, using special zip-ties to bind him. Hawks frowned as he watched this, then he turned his head and looked back the other way in the direction of the operation's location.
"He's an Army of Death member," Midoriya called out.
"I can see that," Hawks replied with a nod. He let out a sigh and then continued, "Alright. Bring him over to the rest of the captured villains. We'll process him as another villain caught during the raid. You're not allowed to catch villains just anywhere…" Hawks turned and glanced at a tall building to his side. "You broke some windows."
Midoriya turned and looked towards the building Hawks was referring to. He grimaced at the sight of the apartment complex with cracked windows, and he looked through a couple of them to see civilians on the other side had come over to check on what was going on. He felt semi-relieved that he did not completely shatter them, then he looked back at the dark-costumed man he had in front of him. It was worth it.
Midoriya picked up the surprisingly docile Army of Death member and then leapt up in the air back above the tall building with windows cracked on it. "Sorry about that," Midoriya said to the pro hero who flew over close to him. Hawks shook his head at the teen who frowned more at Hawks' look right there. "I caught this terrorist without anyone getting-"
"Come on," Hawk said, turning and nodding back farther the other direction. There were police lights flashing back over at the area the other heroes were in now, and Midoriya leapt up to bring the villain he caught to one of those cop cars. He followed behind the flying Hawks, and he looked at his pro hero's back with his eyes narrowing down more as he tried to understand that look Hawks just gave him. Was he calling out for me to stop before? I had to go, I couldn't let him stop me. It could have been Zach behind that helmet. And even just this guy, he's a villain. The Army of Death are murderers and…
Midoriya landed down in the clearing the fight had occurred in. "So you caught him, huh?" Pasta Donna asked, looking towards the boy who landed with a dark figure with him. "Good job."
Michelangelo nodded over at the teen who he saw drop down with that dark villain. "Bring him over here." Michelangelo started walking forward as Deku brought him over, and Deku felt relieved as one of the heroes around him was not looking his way the same way as the others- with frowns on their faces despite the victory they just had over the villains. Deku's eyes shifted towards a few villains tied up together and waiting with some heroes for another transport to come get them. At first he saw some of those villains lean away and look afraid towards the dark figure, then they stared at the soldier's face and eyes became dark. The villains' looks turned more into glares, and some of them started yelling in Italian over at the soldier who darted his eyes their direction while trying to hide the fear rising on his face.
"Who are you?" Michelangelo asked the figure who spun back with his eyes wide to face the intimidating hero.
"I'm-" he froze and shook his head around, holding back and biting his tongue. "Just, you know," he started again, then he scrunched his face and shook his head. Is anything alright to say? What can I say? Can I talk my way out of this without giving anything away about the Army? What am I supposed to do here? All I know is I'm not supposed to fight heroes.
Michelangelo looked up at the boy in a green costume behind the man in black. "Did he put up a fight?"
Midoriya hesitated, then he shook his head once. "He tried to run," he started back.
"Hm," Michelangelo humphed and then glared back at the figure in black. "Nothing to say for yourself? Army of Death?" He turned his head a bit and looked closer at the villain's face, and then he asked in a lower voice, "New recruit, huh?"
"How'd you-" Hyper started, but he cut himself off again and then cracked a big smirk at the hero in front of him. "Damn, you're good- I mean," he ground his teeth again and pulled his head back, looking frustrated as the aspect of not talking was a difficult one. When he started with 'how'd you-' he had needed to grin as he knew the hero had caught him off guard with the question and made him talk, but not being able to give the man proper credit for it because he did not want to say anything else was too rough for him. He bowed his head and said quickly in a lower voice, "Please arrest me."
"Quite a lot of energy, that one," Le Tenebre said with a snort, then she laughed as the man lifted his head and looked towards her with a big smile. She shook her head at him and Hyper froze with his mouth open before quickly lowering his head to look back at the ground, cursing under his breath for failing to keep his conviction not to talk stronger.
"We'll get a different transport for this one," Michelangelo started as another black van was pulling up with blinking blue lights on top of it. Hyper let out a long sigh of relief while still facing the ground, but he lifted his head a bit and gave the hero a grateful look. Michelangelo did not return any friendly look which had Hyper looking down fast again. "We'll need an empty cell too," he said in a lower voice, glancing over towards the villains who the other heroes started bringing towards the arriving transport.
Tokoyami was looking in from the edge of the area with Hawks who just landed back down next to him. From farther away, Tokoyami was more able to observe everyone at the same time. "Watch carefully, Tsukuyomi," Hawks started to his intern of over a year now. "You'll definitely pick up on something here. This just got, a lot more complicated." Tsukuyomi turned his head a bit and his eyes widened at the grimace he saw over Hawks' face that matched similar ones on several of the heroes around the area.
"What happens," Tokoyami began with a bead of sweat forming on the side of his face. He turned his head and looked towards Midoriya, Michelangelo, and the figure in a black costume. "When an Army of Death member is captured?" Tokoyami asked.
Hawks nodded at his intern's question, and Tokoyami knew it was the right thing to be asking at that nod he saw in his peripheral. Hawks then shook his head though, a deep frown on his face and a bead of sweat forming on it too. His eyes focused in on Deku and he rose his left hand up to his forehead that he started rubbing around tiredly. I made a bad decision bringing him here.
Midoriya sat on a comfortable seat but he looked as uncomfortable as could be while sitting there. His hands were curled onto his knees and his face was covered in frustration. He turned his head to the side and looked out the round window on the wall into the sky outside the private jet. Just for breaking a couple windows, we all had to leave immediately. I don't… I wanted to stay. I want to know what happens with, whoever that man was.
The curly-haired boy leaned back on his seat and glared at the ceiling, but he tried pushing some of that frustration from his face. It's because, I broke the windows outside of the raid area. They said that if it had been broken as collateral in the mission location it would have been a problem but not one that wasn't understandable. But, it wasn't that far. And I was just chasing down a villain who- why did they all look at me like that? The Army of Death are terrorists. Italy is in agreement. The whole world has agreed to hunt them down, so why wouldn't…
"Yeah, yeah I hear you," Hawks was on the phone across the aisle from his two interns on the private jet with him. "Unfortunately it's not that simple for me," Hawks continued speaking into the phone. Tokoyami had been looking over out the corners of his eyes the whole time, but Midoriya turned a bit back now this time and listened as Hawks talked without caring if his interns were paying attention. "I already called in my report though, so there's nothing I can do about that. I'm sure Endeavor already heard about it. Yeah, I know, sorry. I am. You've got to send me that surveillance footage though. Don't delete it. It'll be a much bigger thing if you try hiding it… Yeah I know. Send it over. Don't worry. I'm sure we'll probably want to keep it under wraps too having been involved."
"Hawks," Tokoyami started, unable to help himself any longer. What is going on?
Deku glanced back at Tokoyami and then to the pro across the aisle who nodded a couple of times and then said farewell to whoever he was speaking to over the phone. Hawks lowered his cellphone and let out a long sigh before turning and getting up from his seat. He stood and then sat on the armrest of his chair while looking at the two boys on the other side of the plane as him. He hesitated and then looked farther towards the front in the fuselage. "Hey, mind heading up to the front for a bit?"
The two crew members back there with them not too far away looked surprised by Hawks' request but then turned and headed for the cockpit. Hawks turned back once the crew were out of range of a normal conversation's volume. "What is it, Hawks?" Midoriya asked. Why did he mention Endeavor? Does it have to do with the Army of Death-
"I just got off the phone with Pasta Donna. She told me that, a little after we left…" Hawks began. "A large force arrived at the jail our raid villains were all brought to for processing. And well, they took the Army of Death soldier away with them."
The teenagers facing Hawks opened their eyes huge as he told them that while scratching the back of his head. "They, wait- was there a fight?" Midoriya asked. Hawks frowned and he did not answer for a few seconds, and then Midoriya ground his teeth in way more frustration than ever as he thought about the way everyone had been acting since he caught that man. "Why didn't anyone stop them?" Midoriya shouted, standing out of his seat.
"Apparently no one saw the force arrive or take him away," Hawks said, shrugging his left shoulder and holding up his hand in a way like there was nothing to be done about it.
No one, saw anything? Tokoyami frowned more and he looked down for a moment at the aisle between him and his pro hero. Or no one wanted to see anything? Or is this all just a ruse and… Hawks mentioned that it was a large force that arrived, so how could no one see them?
Midoriya's fists clenched at his sides and he darted a look up towards the cockpit, then back to Hawks who looked relaxed albeit with a frown on his face at what he was saying. Midoriya glared down at the ground for a second too and then back at the tail of the plane, in the direction of Italy. It sounds like they decided it wasn't worth it to fight them… though, if it was Zach, could anyone have stopped him? I saw Michelangelo fight and I'm sure that wasn't all his strength, but, how many people in all of Italy could actually defeat Zach and his army?
"Was Death there?" Tokoyami asked his mentor who shrugged again at the question.
"I asked for the surveillance from the station. Pasta Donna sounded like she didn't want to give it up, but she's sending it over. Don't know how we'll be able to tell if it's Death or not though," Hawks added. "Considering that guy Deku captured looked just like him with his costume on."
Hawks felt a buzz in his pocket and he pulled back out his smartphone. He opened it up and then pulled open a video file that Pasta Donna sent him. There was a password that she had given him at the end of the call that he had to type in to be able to watch the video, and then Hawks held the phone out in front of him and diagonally to the left so all three of them could watch the same time. "Let's see how this played out. She was pretty vague with me," he said it in a reluctant tone, sounding like he did not want to know why that was.
The surveillance feed had several different angles on it, and Hawks reached forward and tapped a main one pointed outside of the front of the station. The camera pointed out of the police station was stationary and caught everything in a wide angle around the front of the building. It was late, so late that it was almost morning technically. Their plane was flying east so it was already long past sunrise outside of the jet, but this video from only a little white back still had it as dark outside. Yet even in the dark, the soldiers in black costumes were all too easy to spot as they came out from the edge of the camera walking at a slow pace into view.
The three watching the clip were silent as they stared at the three. The shortest of the group was in the middle, and even though he was shorter than the figures on his sides he was still average height for a normal male. He had on a tight black costume that was thick around him with padding on the chest and stomach, and around the parts of the arms where there were no joints. The costume was skin-tight up his neck and under his chin before the black helmet started. On his right side was a man a few inches taller than him, whose black helmet had a dark purple visor in the middle of it. The man had on a purple cape attached to his shoulders, and his gloves were dark purple too instead of black like the other two.
The third man walking into the frame walked on the left of the center figure, and his body was hulking. He was well over six feet tall, broad at the shoulders and with muscles that bulged so much they pushed his tight costume out to look like it could barely contain him. He had a large black shield on his back that covered up almost his whole body before thinning out near the point behind his waist. They did not have a great angle on their backs so they could not see the words going down them, but they knew without needing to see them. The three on the jet focused on the figure in the center of the group of dark figures who seemed familiar but did not have two sword hilts behind his back, nor a katana behind his waist. He did have a single katana on his back though with the hilt sticking up higher over his left shoulder, and he had another one on the right side of his waist pointing backwards in a sheath instead of horizontally across his back. He had two long straps of knives going over his shoulders and down his sides, as well as lots of knives around his waist with a couple of gun handles too.
The group of three walked towards the police station and right up to the front doors. Midoriya stared at the screen with his eyes opening wider and wider, and Hawks pulled back to switch to a different angle without saying anything. The bottom of Tokoyami's beak opened up a bit with his eyes bulging as he stared at the front doors of the police station from the inside. The doors opened up and the center figure in the dark costume stepped inside first. He walked in, and a cop leaning on the desk at the front of the building turned his head a bit. The woman behind the desk looked behind him and towards those front doors, and the two cops dropped their jaws as that dark figure stepped inside.
Then the two other dark figures walked in behind the first one. The main camera angle recording the whole first floor of the precinct that had its own city jail in it caught every cop in the building looking over towards the front doors. There were men sitting at their desks and women walking around, and a police captain leaned out of an office with bugging eyes as he stared towards the front of his building. An officer sitting at a desk near the middle of the room had stood up when he saw everyone staring nervously towards the front of the building, then he sat back down and started reaching to his right subtly. At a desk one away from him, his sergeant glared at him with a dark look and the man froze at her gaze. She had the face of a seal, but she looked serious and not cute at all as she shook her head at him before turning back to her own computer.
The three dark figures walked forward through the front of the precinct, then the front one turned his head and looked around the building. He looked to the right side of the floor where there was a set of steel bars blocking off the jail section of the police department. Before all the villains were sent to courts or larger prisons they all had to be processed, and the dark figure with a pair of katanas and a lot of knives on him just turned and started walking towards those steel bars. The taller men behind him shifted their gazes around the office while following behind the other, though neither of them looked ready to fight either. They just walked behind their leader who the cameras now showed had 'DEATH' written down his back when his back had turned so he could walk to the side of the building.
The man in the purple cape had 死 written on it right in the center, while the largest man with a shield on his back had a white skull covering a much larger area of the center of that black shield. The skull was dark and menacing, scary eyes and grinding teeth in its jaw. There were no crossbones behind it, just the skull. The officer at the desk when the group walked in had stayed where he was, completely still as the figures had gotten closer and then moved around his right side. He turned with them, then he looked back at the woman behind the desk who turned to her desk phone. He looked at it too, then up at her and shook his head with a look telling her not to do anything.
"What are they all doing?" Midoriya asked, though his attention focused back solely on the one he was convinced was Death. He watched as that dark figure stepped up to the steel bars and looked through them. There was no sound in the video, but Hawks zoomed back and then checked on another recording that got the middle of the cells on the cell block through that gateway. The camera could not look into the cells where the prisoners slept and used the bathroom, but right at the edges of the cells there were a lot of prisoners grabbing the bars and pulling their faces close. They were all looking towards one cell in particular as they yelled, and Midoriya figured out who was in that cell that the villains looked to hate so much.
The screen was split between the angles, but as Death reached the gate at the end of the cell block, other villains stopped yelling as much. Hands pulled away from bars. Villains backed away and disappeared into their cells. Death reached for a handle on the cell block's gate, twisted it, and nothing happened. He did not turn and look to the cops in the room. The two men at his back stayed there and facing the opposite direction as him, into the police station to watch what the officers were doing. Death pressed his hand next to the handle on a keyhole, and he flattened his palm out over it for a few seconds. Then he reached back to the handle and grabbed it before twisting and sliding the gateway to the side.
Death walked into the cell block and turned his head left and right. He looked into each cell individually, and then he walked all the way to the end and turned to look into the one at the end of the block. He stepped forward and put his hand down on the keyhole for those steel bars too, and then he opened up a door and let out a white man who ran out without any of his weapons on him but still his black costume on. The guy started talking rapidly, his mouth moving so fast it was like a blur, and Death reached up a hand and just patted it down on his shoulder. They could not hear if Death said anything, but the man he was facing stopped talking and smiled wide before lowering his smile and nodding with his gaze lowered to the floor. Death then lowered his hand and turned away from Hyper, and he walked back out of the cell area with Hyper following close behind him.
They walked out of the cell block, and the two ahead of them started heading back towards the doors of the building as well. Death turned his head to the right as he walked, and again they could not hear if he said anything but the entire station of police officers flinched at once. Then some of them started typing away at their computers, or walking around like they had things to do. Some of them turned to each other and started having conversations. It almost looked like they had been put under some big spell or something, except upon closer look those people kept darting looks to the front of the station. Some of them were grinning and had to hide small smirks, and one who had started up a conversation let out a laugh unintentionally before saying something else and continuing what had been intended to look like a serious conversation.
The four Army of Death members walked out of the police department, and then Hawks switched back to the front angle of the station again. They all immediately started running as soon as they were out, booking it away as fast as they could across the street and between two buildings that were close to each other but had a thin crack between them wide enough that that largest man could still squeeze through. Hawks lowered his phone after watching all of that and he let out a long sigh. He rubbed his left hand on his forehead and then rose his eyes up to the ceiling. "Well, that went about as expected," Hawks muttered.
"They just, let them walk right out of there with him," Midoriya said softly. Then his teeth ground and he got an angrier look on his face. "Are they even chasing-"
"Deku," Hawks started. He looked at the kid who lifted his gaze back up into his own still with that angry look on it. "You're fired."
Tokoyami's eyes grew wide and he spun his head to his classmate who froze with his mouth open and a shocked look on his face. "Wh-What-"
Hawks shook his head at the boy with green hair who looked stunned by what he just told him. I saw potential in this kid with the whole Cult thing. He really helped me out with the bomb there. Gave him an offer after the Sports Festival too, but, I think Tsukuyomi had me thinking I might like having these kid interns more than I used to believe. Tsukuyomi's different though. Hawks let out a sigh and then said while looking into Deku's eyes, "You made the wrong move chasing the guy who gave us our tip. That video's going to get a lot of people in trouble now. Including myself, since I bet Endeavor's going to have to get mad at me for not doing more to extradite him. Bet some of those cops will be losing their jobs too… maybe just suspensions-"
"They should have tried to stop them!" Midoriya argued, his expression getting defensive. His heart was racing and he was upset and confused at the man in front of him who he kept frowning at even as Hawks started frowning at him too in a more serious way. Midoriya's eyes narrowed a bit and he continued stronger, "Or, if we knew the Army of Death would come for their other member then we should've-"
"We didn't know," Hawks countered. Midoriya felt like the man was lying because of the relaxed way in which Hawks was acting or how he seemed to have expected this would happen. Hawks continued though, "Because no one usually catches AoD guys. In fact, I don't think anyone's ever caught one of their members before. No one really knew what to do when you went off and grabbed him-"
"He's a villain who was at the crime scene and we have a duty to-"
"That guy only stayed in the vicinity which got himslef caught, because he was watching to make sure the heroes could take care of it and didn't need his help," Hawks continued in a normal tone not defensive at all like Midoriya was being. Tokoyami stared at Hawks with his eyes wider again just as Midoriya's got. Hawks continued towards them, "He would've called in for some help if we needed it, or maybe for the one who brings heroes back to life if it had become necessary. And when you chased him, he didn't fight you because they don't fight heroes. That's one of the Army of Death's rules I heard from Endeavor: 'We don't fight heroes.'"
Midoriya started shaking his head and he argued, "That doesn't make them good guys. It doesn't make it alright not to capture them, when there are warrants out against them!"
Hawks looked back at the boy who exclaimed that and he just sighed again after a few seconds. "If that's what you think, that's fine," he conceded. Hawks scratched his stubbly chin and added, "Some pro heroes are hard-liners like that too. Stopping all villains, without really looking into the big picture or anything. Just stopping all of them right away because they're villains." Hawks lowered his left hand and then glanced to his right side. He paused, then he continued while looking from that side back to the boys, "But, let me tell you about how I lost my right arm." Tokoyami's eyes opened wide and he started leaning out of his seat, and Midoriya felt like this was a big secret as his friend who had been working with Hawks for so long looked like he had never heard it before.
Hawks' left hand rubbed up his right side and towards his shoulder where there was no arm sticking out of. His eyes got a bit darker but he just said in a relaxed voice while shifting his gaze back and forth between the interns, "I had infiltrated the League of Villains, just like Sazaki did." The seventeen year olds in front of Hawks stared at him with bulging eyes and their jaws dropped. Hawks continued without waiting for their shock to subside, "Not as good as the kid though, since I got found out by Dabi before I was even able to meet the boss…" Hawks trailed off a bit and he rubbed his side right over where he could feel phantom burning pains. "So it was all for nothing," he said, his voice darker as he mentioned it.
Midoriya felt his heart pound extra hard as he saw that look on Hawks' face. It was a look he recognized. He had seen it before, and he remembered back on the day Toga had infiltrated their school, before Kaminari had betrayed them. He remembered as they were isolated in that room and Zach told him what he had really been doing with the villains. " I did all of that, and it didn't even matter. I failed at escaping at VTS anyway. I, I did all of it. I gained their trust, and-" Midoriya started panting as he saw Hawks grind his teeth in frustration in front of him at what he just brought up.
The man in front of them rose his head a bit and continued in a darker voice, "I did some bad stuff, because I was asked to by the government, and because I was willing to in order to stop the League and get things back to the way they were before. Going undercover was tough though," Hawks said, and he shook his head to try and shake back into his usual mood as he knew he was getting too dark there.
Midoriya understood why he had that dark look on his face though. Hearing how Hawks had never succeeded at his goal, despite the things he was saying he had done to get close. He remembered telling Zach that he was trying to do what was right too, that those bad things he did weren't his fault. "But, that doesn't matter… everything I did, to get their trust… It just made me, it made me… It made me, a villain." That wasn't true though! I didn't agree with everything you said you did, but I knew you were just doing it to escape! And to stop the League of Villains, and, and… Midoriya clenched his teeth hard as he tried to separate what he was thinking of and what was happening now. It's different!
"Anyway," Hawks began again, looking towards Tokoyami as he did. "Sometimes, you have to make decisions based on the big picture, the greater good." He frowned as he said it, because the example he was trying to use he could not help but feel was a bad one when it did not succeed in getting him anything except a missing arm. That missing arm was enough of a punishment for him though and he rose his tone back into a relaxed one again. His gaze shifted to Midoriya and he continued, "And not to just arrest every villain you see right away without giving it some deeper thought. If your response is just that they were a villain so you had to, then you're not the one controlling your own actions as a hero. At least, that's my opinion on it. If you really wanted to do something about that villain, about the Army of Death as a whole, then you should have chased after and then pretended to lose him. Then we could have followed him back to those same guys who just went and saved him," Hawks offered it and nodded to himself while saying it as it seemed like it might have worked to him.
Deku's face scrunched up again in confusion. He thought Hawks was defending the Army of Death the whole time, but he just started frowning and feeling like he could have done that too. I thought it was Zach though- "What were those guys at the station going to do?" Hawks added. "Cops who can't use their Quirks, up against the Death? Most heroes would turn the other way at the sight of those three. Those officers were afraid, and yet it wasn't just that."
Hawks continued to the boy who turned back and faced him as he spoke, "The Army of Death's been doing their jobs for them. Stopping villains, handing them over to heroes who arrest them and bring them in. Or just sending in tips. Those officers don't have to go into as many live-threatening fights anymore. Last year was crazy for them, for law enforcement all over the world, and the Army of Death's been making their jobs easier and safer. You think those people were itching to pull weapons on the guys who let them go home safe to their families every night? You think they weren't all secretly glad Death showed up to get his soldier back before the guy was sent to an actual prison where he would have been killed on the first day, without question?"
Tokoyami was still staring at Hawks in some shock at what he talked about with infiltrating the League himself. Hearing that last part made him start thinking though, and he frowned deeply while lowering his gaze down. If everyone thinks like that, no one will ever stop the Army of Death. But, I'd rather they not be thrown in prison with the villains they put there themselves. I don't think they all deserve those kinds of death sentences. And designated as international terrorists, they wouldn't be getting sent to minimum security prisons. They'd be sent in with the worst.
"It's not always about right versus wrong, kid," Hawks said, looking at Midoriya specifically as he said it. "Think about that no matter you go to intern with next."
Deku's eyes shifted back down and he sat on the armrest of his seat just like Hawks was doing across the aisle and back a row from him. He wanted to argue with Hawks more, but in his mind appeared All Might telling him something that had confused him so much at the time because it seemed against all of his mentor's previous teachings. Why, did All Might let Eziano Mozcaccio go? I've never stopped thinking about that. A villain like Eziano… I was so determined to get him. I asked Zach what he thought, to see if he knew anything about him. Zach found out, and, and how could All Might let him go? I didn't think any reason was a good reason. Yet all those cops just let a villain walk right out. Even though that man could have been a killer, one of the Army of Death who murders the villains they go after. And, that's why they're going to get in trouble from that video. And they deserve to! If the Army of Death don't fight heroes, they wouldn't have fought those cops, so the cops could have caught them right there!
"I understand what you're telling me," Midoriya started. He balled his fists at his sides after thinking about it for a few seconds, then he rose his head and continued, "But I can't do that. I won't let any villains go, no matter what." Hawks started to frown at him but his eyes widened as the teen said, "Because if I made that decision here, then when I see Zach again… I'll never be able to arrest him."
Midoriya clenched his teeth so tightly as he hesitated at the end of that statement, but he knew it was why he was so stuck on this feeling. Tokoyami stared at his classmate and his face got a slightly hurt but also understanding look on it. Midoriya continued, "Zach, can't just do whatever he wants. Even if some people accept it, as heroes we can't. As heroes we need to stop people from breaking the law, no matter how much good others might think they're doing. No matter how much even I, might accept they do to help."
"I agree," Tokoyami said. He nodded at Midoriya and then turned to Hawks and said to his pro hero, "Zach leads a group of vigilantes designated as terrorists by the UN. I don't want to arrest my… friend, but there is no choice in the matter. It is not up to us to decide what justice is."
Hawks looked back and forth between the two teens in front of him. He did not have anything to say about their justice. The way they saw it was different than the way he did, but he was not going to argue about it any more. Instead he cracked a grin which confused the two in front of him, and then he said, "You two are talking a lot about Death like he is your classmate, Zach Sazaki." The boys nodded at him, and Hawks asked, "Are you sure about that?"
Midoriya nodded without hesitation. Tokoyami looked to him to see if they were going to talk about it, but seeing Midoriya's quick nod it seemed there was no need for discussion. Tokoyami looked back forward and nodded his head in agreement. Hawks smirked more which made the boys get even more confused and somewhat upset looks at him.
When Hawks started looking relieved, Midoriya asked in an angry tone, "Why are you smiling like that?" Tokoyami kept frowning at Hawks in an upset way too, and Hawks lowered his smirk a little bit.
"It's nothing, I just," Hawks paused for a second. "I, had contradicting information that made me think Sazaki was dead already." The two in front of them gawked at the pro hero who just smiled a bit more and then said while looking pleased, "So I'm glad to hear that he's Death. Makes me feel a bit better about Death too knowing he's for sure-"
"Why did you think Zach was dead?" Tokoyami asked fast, right before Midoriya was about to close his mouth and do the same.
Hawks shook his head and said, "It doesn't matter. Since the two of you are so positive about Death being Lifebringer, right?" He asked, and Midoriya nodded again though he was still frowning confusedly at the pro for what he just said there. Midoriya thought about the way that soldier had reacted to him asking about Zach too, but he shook his head denying that either of those things mattered to him. Hawks shook his head again and then sat back in his seat, "My information must have been faulty or something." You two knew that kid far better than me. If you think he's Death, I'll believe you. And I'm not just accepting that because I want to either. I think…
"You heard Zach was dead and didn't tell me?" Tokoyami questioned after Hawks had just leaned back in his seat.
Hawks frowned and glanced out the corners of his eyes at his upset intern. "Hey, what would have been the good in that? It wasn't confirmed, and apparently the information was wrong anyway. All it would've done is upset you for no reason." Besides, I didn't hear he was dead. I heard he was, captured alive. Could it be possible the information wasn't wrong? I thought I had confirmed it. Yet, Death is still out there. Did he escape? Again? Damn, I'd hate to see what the kid's body looks like now.
A/N Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Hyper gets snagged by Deku. Hyper gets released from jail by Death. The Japanese heroes are sent home early and the Army of Death shows what will happen if one of theirs gets taken. A very calm, nonchalant, prison break. XD
diddles321 chapter 122 . 18h ago
YEEEESSS! Real story progression. Also, am I the only one thinking Death needs more buffs? Midoriya is at 50% OFA. Death needs new super moves like Ichigo's Mugetsu. Black death sword kinda thing like Exodus' excalibur. Or he can make a death scythe! Thanks for the chapter and keep up the grind!
The story's progressing! Just, a bit slowly. I had a much faster route planned out for let's say the last 30 chapters, but every idea I had for Army of Death kept sounding too much fun to me and I kept adding more in there. Writing them is too much fun, though things are about to speed up... a bit. XD Death does have a new move though: Unlocking doors! Lol maybe that's not enough to beat 50%, maybe that's why we didn't have Midoriya, Tokoyami, and Hawks fight Gentle, Exodus, and Death this chapter... or maybe I didn't realize how much the hype would rise from the last chapter suggesting something coming that I should've realized much earlier... Whoops.
papaprep chapter 122 . 13h ago
I think that midoriya and zach's reunion is nearing.. Right?
Yeaaahhhh... nearing! Nearing, definitely nearing. Just not yet. Lol thanks for the reviews guys, and thanks to everyone who just read too, and those of you who faved and followed too! Thanks everyone!