Disclaimer: I don't own Boku no Hero Academia
Chapter 124:
In Qingxiao, China, a city of fourteen million people was starting off another busy morning. The sun was still rising but the day started early for a lot of commuters already in their cars on the way to work. A woman off for the weekend since she was a school teacher was out on her terrace watering her flowers. Her kids were inside watching Sunday morning cartoons, and she leaned down and took in a deep breath of the flowers she was watering before letting out an exhale with a smile on her face.
Across from her apartment complex, there was an office building where a worker in a suit arrived earlier than most of his colleagues. He had turned on the lights, and he was already on his computer and going strong for the day while his co-workers were still arriving. He had paused for a moment though to look outside and across the street at a woman watering her flowers a few floors below, and he watched her for a few moments before turning back to the door of the office and welcoming the boss who nodded towards him in greeting. The worker grinned to himself before getting back to work, satisfied he had shown the boss his work ethic once again and hoping for the raise and promotion he had learned was being handed out at the end of the month.
A siren rang out over the city, and the office worker glanced back out his window. It was a faint siren, but he knew he had definitely heard it as he spotted the woman across the street on her balcony looking away the same direction he had turned at first. An older woman a few stories above the gardening one was taking her laundry off a drying line, and she turned with a glance too before getting back to her laundry. It sounded like a police siren, and it had nothing to do with them so they all got back to their own morning routines.
A few blocks away, a police car pulled to a stop and then turned sideways on a street to block off the way ahead from pedestrians. A group of kids running down the sidewalk were stopped by a cop with bright yellow skin that glowed as he held his hands out and called out that no one could go any farther. The kids frowned and complained, and the whole group of them tried to find a good spot to look over the police perimeter at what was going on. "Look! It's Yue Fei!" The only girl in the group who wore a t-shirt and shorts just like the boys around her pointed up at the sky and a horse flying out of the air with a man on its back dressed in ornate metal armor with a red cape flapping off of him and a sword in his right hand.
The horse coming out of the air dazzled and then faded apart as Yue Fei jumped off of it. The hero swung his sword around and slammed the broad side of it down into an eight foot tall villain who was stepping back from another hero in the middle of fighting two of his comrades. The female villains ahead of him spun around in surprise as they had just started winning against their opponents, only to hear the grunt of their cowardly younger brother behind them.
"Shouldn't turn your back on a her-"
The ground started rumbling and Sheshou stopped talking. The female hero with an arrow in either hand whose bow was broken and laying to her side darted her eyes over towards her bow as it bounced around on the street. "Stop it!" She called out at the villains in front of her who she spun back towards.
One of the women she had just been fighting turned her head with big eyes and started shaking her head. "This isn't us- Whoa!"
"Sister!"
"Get away from there!" Yue Fei grabbed the big man with a bloody nose and busted up face (which he had caused himself), and he jumped the two of them to the side of the road. Yue Fei turned his head towards the perimeter on his left and yelled towards the cops who all started backing up. "Get everyone off the street!" A fissure had just opened up in the middle of the road, but Yue Fei snapped his head up in panic as he heard cracking and shattering sounds above him too.
"Look out for falling glass!"
"Cover your heads!"
"Permission to use Quirks is granted! Use forcefields and hardening! Make some cover!"
"Earthquake!"
A little boy wearing a yellow safety helmet was walking his dog two blocks away from the heroes and villains when the earthquake hit. He started running with his dog towards an open intersection ahead, staying near the middle of the road to dodge the falling glass from buildings on his sides. He slowed down to a stop and dropped his jaw though, letting go of his dog's leash while his dog just barked over and over at the tall building straight ahead of them. The building's front had cracked when they were running towards it, but suddenly that crack had turned into a hundred cracks, and then the building made one of the loudest noises the boy and his dog had ever heard. His dog started running forward towards the building, and the kid ran after it yelling, "Xifo! Xifo! Xi-"
The building that was falling ahead of them was falling the opposite direction, away from the kid and his dog. It fell backwards, and it slammed into the ground mainly intact though it did break up a bunch. There were other breaking buildings around, and cracks forming in the streets and sidewalks. One section of the city rose up a few inches, and cars that were stopped on the road tilted diagonally and fell off of risen sections of street. A lifted highway out of the city broke apart and started collapsing on different sections, cars sliding off and falling hundreds of feet. Some tried reversing to not fall off the highway as it collapsed, but other vehicles behind them rolled forward into them and pushed them off while the drivers who had gotten out of those cars tried running for safety instead.
A bridge over a river on the east side of town cracked, broke, and it fell down into the river below while boats that had been in the river drove away from that bridge. Fishermen and merchants started yelling off the sides and back towards the bridge, and an old man on a fishing boat with four others yelled at the crew around him to stop running and turn back. They all looked back towards the bridge and saw someone had dove to safety and just missed, hanging onto the ledge and then falling down into the river full of hard stone and people screaming and cars half-crushed and filling with water. "Get back there! We need…" His eyes shifted past the bridge and way up the river they were on where people started screaming at the tops of their lungs.
"Oh my-"
"Holy-"
"We're so screwed."
The little boy in a yellow helmet stopped chasing his dog through the street, and the dog ahead of him turned around and started running the opposite direction. Xifo ran past his owner's side and sprinted as fast as his little four legs could take him in the opposite direction of what they saw past the building that just fell in front of them. Far in the distance, the dam that supplied water for irrigation to all the farms around there and for the city itself had cracked during the earthquake that was just starting to settle. The kid looking that way felt a tad bit of relief as he saw huge cracks but not a lot of water breaking through.
And then the aftershock hit.
And the dam broke.
Workers at the dam shouting at each other and screaming about the cracks started running away. The foreman of a worksite up there had gone to the ledge to look down at the damage caused by the earthquake, and the aftershock knocked him off the ledge of the dam so he fell in front of it. As he was falling and screaming though, his breath caught in his throat at the sight of water pushing through all the widening cracks. Chunks of the dam pushed out towards him, and then all the pressure pushed out at once and sent a million tons of stone and water smashing into the man falling to his death.
The river below was flooded instantly, as was all the land around it. The wave picked up dirt, and debris, and it moved so fast and with so much force that there was nothing that could stop it. A couple of heroes rushing that way after the initial quake tried using their Quirks against it. Farmers ran the other way around them, boats slammed into each other in the river as they sped full-speed the opposite direction. A dirt wall rose up out of the ground and higher than the wave, and another hero ran up towards that wave and leapt up towards it before slamming her arms forward to fire the huge air cannons out of them. The water she slammed her wind into did not slow, and the wave slammed into the wall she stood on so hard that the water exploded up into the air a few hundred feet, before the rest of the wave behind the initial collision came in and smashed that wall down.
Qingxiao had fourteen million people in it, and the entire city was in chaos after the initial earthquake that was bad enough as is. Fires had broken out in different parts of the city where cars crashed into buildings and people's stoves and ovens broke apart in mid-use. Sirens were going off as the police and fire departments were all mobilized, but then the flood sirens went on louder than everything else. Panic and chaos was added to the fires and aftershocks, buildings that were unstable from the quakes were on the verge of collapse and since there was no power the elevators weren't working.
Despite the villains attacking that morning, Qingxiao had been a relatively safe place to live over recent months. Crime had actually declined in that city over the past two months now, and very recently a large villain group in the city was busted by heroes who were more popular than ever. But an accident can always happen. As much as the situation of the world became better, there was no stopping nature. So there was nothing anyone could do to prevent the worst earthquake they had seen in that part of China for over the past hundred years. It was just bad luck for the people of Qingxiao that the earthquake hit them. And yet, with their bad luck there was some good too. Because out of anywhere in the entire world that The Cloak of the Army of Death could have been that day, it was that morning that The Cloak was passing over Qingxiao on its way to its next destination.
"I'm not so sure about this," Excelsior began, walking up the middle of the high-speed jet and saying it towards the driver who turned his head a bit to face his fellow hero. The fourth ranked Korean hero stopped walking any closer to Endeavor and just continued from a few feet behind the man with flames coming out of his head, "I know it's all we could get on short notice, but I'd really feel more confident if we had the whole Task Force with us."
Four jets shot over eastern China together, though the heroes filling those jets spotted another coming down from the north as some Americans and Canadians flew in at their top speed. The other four jets were not flying as fast as they could, staying a steady pace to wait for that jet to come in from Alaska. It was the last one they were going to wait for, and Endeavor almost had not waited for them. He was not going to wait any longer though, and he said, "Sit back down, Excelsior. This is all we can gather at this time. Fortunately, the Chinese heroes in the ADTF will be there already." That's why they ignored the calls.
Flying a jet on the left of Endeavor's frontmost one, Queensguard looked to his right and frowned with some sweat sliding down the left side of his face as he watched Endeavor start speeding up again. He pushed the throttle forward for his jet too, but he was reluctant to do so. I just had to pick today to bring my findings before Endeavor. Death hasn't even come to Britain in weeks, months maybe… I mean, as far as I know.
"Hold on, look at their jet," Popfire leaned past Ryukyu and pointed towards the jet flying up towards them on their starboard side. "I thought we were getting a whole other team but there's only five of them?"
"It's all they could gather on short notice," Ryukyu said back to her sidekick who just started shaking her head in frustration at the sound of that. Ryukyu wanted to say something about how tightly-strung Popfire was being, but she grimaced herself while looking back forward with a dark look in her eyes. We've seen them in action. And we know that their numbers have only increased more since the League of Shadows. "Aahh," Ryukyu let out a sigh and then steadied her expression. She hardened her look and balled her fists in a readied way. Popfire saw her look and leaned back into her own seat, calming herself down and preparing as well. The Dragoon Hero looked down the middle of the jet and past Endeavor, past the front of it and into the distance.
Ryukyu's eyes focused on some dark clouds she saw in the far distance. We can't let them escape after the Italian fiasco. How that video got leaked is beyond me, but now we have to show everyone that that's not our stance. We have to prove that we're actually trying here. They'll run for sure, but some of them will be too slow. If they try coming back to get them though, like they went to free the one in Italy… Ryukyu's teeth bared behind her lips and her eyes got darker. What's more important to them? Their rule against fighting heroes, or saving their comrades? We're going to force their hand here. Endeavor's hoping it's their comrades, because of what Death said last time about saving them if we tried to arrest them. If he turns back to save his comrades we catch, then that's it. It's us versus Death then and, and I have to be ready to fight those people.
There were a number of heroes in the group flying over China who were new to the ADTF. They were replacements who needed to come in when a third of the Task Force pulled out of it after the League of Shadows. The majority of them were there though for the last time they met the Army of Death. Outback Man stood at the front of his jet just behind Endeavor's, and he thought about some of the soldiers in black uniforms he had fought with that day. Looking forward to fighting with that Sagitus fellow. We said we'd have at it next time if it came to fighting each other. The Australian man in a gray hat grinned and started scratching his blond beard. It's the main reason I stuck with this thing after all. Time to wrangle up these vigilantes once and for all. Wonder if I could take Death? "Heh," Outback Man chuckled under his breath once and lowered his head so the rim covered his eyes. As if. Way he took Zolo down, never seen something that cool in my life. Can't wait to see Endeavor take 'im on.
Five jets flying over a Chinese countryside moved at their top speeds and were rapidly approaching their destination. As they got closer though, they started to notice the ground below looking disturbed from the earthquake they had heard about just a little while ago. There were cracks going through some dirt roads below, some fallen trees that had lifted up the ground below them, and up ahead of them the ground only looked more disturbed. There were some cracks in hills, small fissures in the ground with other sections lifted up higher than the ones next to them. Then they got closer to the dark sky that had been in the distance earlier, and they could see the dark clouds as well as the black smoke below them that made the heroes wonder for a moment if the clouds were just a by-product of that smoke.
The jets started slowing down on Endeavor's orders. They could see Qingxiao where they had heard the Army of Death was currently out in full force. There were different parts of the city with black smoke rising from them, yet those sections of the city were not on fire. There was still black smoke billowing out of a few buildings, though many were just smoking a bit and had more steam coming out of them. The dark clouds above those areas with the thickest black smoke were pouring heavy rain down on the fires, and winds were picking up below that pushed the falling downpour into some of the windows on different stories of those buildings.
The hover-jets of the ADTF slowed down more and they started to see individual figures out there flying around in the sky of Qingxiao. In one building that had the thickest black smoke of anywhere billowing out, a figure flying on the back of a green serpent shot towards the building and right into a window that a lot of rain was pushing towards. The hero was wearing a costume of traditional armor, yet they had a black helmet with a gas mask on the front of it on as they shot into the building. Another two figures rose up behind Yue Fei and flew into the building, one of them without wings and just flying normally, the other with four wings that looked like those of a dragonfly. And both of those figures were in all black armor.
Yue Fei flew out of the other side of the skyscraper and he had a dozen people on the back of the green serpent he rode out of the building. The other figures had gone into different stories of the building, but they both flew out without anyone in their arms. The civilians who had called from up in the building had been told to go to a single floor where the rain focused until they were able to get help up, and the wind had been blowing through that floor too to keep the smoke away. The dark-clothed figures that flew out of the floors above and below the one Yue Fei went in then went another floor up and down, into stories of the building with a lot more black smoke.
The one without wings came out of the floor two up quickly again, but it took a few seconds more for the dragonfly-like one to emerged from the building. They had a person in their arms whose body looked badly damaged and burnt, with one leg dangling off and looking crushed up at thigh-level. That Army of Death soldier turned to start flying down into the city, but they froze while looking to the east and at five jets flying towards them that they recognized well.
"This city's in a hell of a state," Excelsior started, stepping forward more on the jet and looking around at the city below. He looked back at Endeavor who had stood up and was looking around out there with a similar look on his face.
Endeavor glared down at a dark soldier he saw flying out of the air. He glared harder because the figure did not have 'Death' written on their back in any language. Their costume was black and they were wearing a dark helmet, but the person who flew out of the sky did not have the marking of the Army of Death on the back of their costume. "Bring the jets down," Endeavor started. "We have two missions here. Capture the Army of Death, and give support to this city. We must…" Endeavor slowed down and he shifted his gaze over towards a hero in a black helmet who took it off while his green serpent lifted back off the ground. Yue Fei put his helmet down behind him on the ride he created with his Quirk, Imagination. He left the people he just saved from the crispy building down on the street level with some volunteers, police, and a few soldiers in all-black costumes.
Yue Fei flew up through some rain and then the serpent he was on curled around a plume of black smoke coming out of the building the rain still had not put out on its own. The black clouds above them were thicker in some areas than others, and there were also firetrucks in different parts of the city doing their part as well. While Yue Fei flew up into the sky towards the descending jets, two other Chinese heroes in the city started flying that direction too.
Lemillion looked to his right and over at a hero he recognized from their own Anti-Death Task Force. Why is Crane coming this way? I don't like the look on his face. Lemillion shifted his eyes past their fellow hero and to the edge of the city where he saw a line of vehicles heading out at a steady but quick pace. There were some heroes and figures in dark costumes out that way too, working to direct traffic flows and clear up any accidents that could happen on the widened road they opened up to get everyone to a safe place outside the city. There was an evacuation order out in the city for non-essential personnel, and the flood sirens were still going off.
As the three Chinese heroes were about to reach the jets that stopped descending at the hand that Yue Fei raised towards them, loud cracking sounds filled the city. The Chinese heroes spun, and the heroes on the jets all looked far past them and to the other side of the city. They were still high enough up that they could see the other side of the metropolis, and the flooded countryside beyond it. When they had arrived, one of the first things many of them looked towards was the huge dam constructed just outside of the city. It was only a couple hundred meters from the start of where buildings got crowded together and the city's limits could be considered, and it looked hastily-built. On the top of the dam there had been a number of people, and on the other side of it in the flooded area there were more dark figures moving about amongst the rubble.
Faye popped up above the surface of the flooded water, and she yelled out around her. "Everyone get up on some debris! Fast!"
Others who Faye had given gills were swimming up, and they climbed out of the water while other Army of Death members with wings started flying their ways. A few of the dark soldiers had dragged bodies floating in the water or between rubble lower down up to the surface, and their flying comrades grabbed them and the bodies they brought up, or sometimes just the bodies. The flying figures who could not carry both just grabbed the dead, and their own comrades used the rubble as stepping stones to try and get back towards the dam. More cracks sounded from the dam, and the figures along the top of it started running towards ladders on the sides. Some tried jumping, and Gentle shouted up at them all to leap off.
Men and women rushed to the dam from the other side where the water had been slower moving but still pressing against the huge wall they made with more force than they knew it could handle. Others stacking up steel bars and debris up against their side of the wall started backing up, and more jumped off from up top onto the ground below that they bounced off upon hitting. The dam cracked more, and huge sharp pieces of rubble, heavy chunks of houses and debris being washed hard to a lower elevation and pushed from water higher up that would not be blocked up any longer, all smashed through.
"Here we go!" Mark yelled, and he rose his hands and leaned forward with all his might. "HAAAA!" He pushed his palms out at the wall of water behind the dam as the whole thing started collapsing. The wall was collapsing, but nothing was rushing out towards them immediately as he pushed back against it all.
"Jetflame!"
"Fire Squad, do it!" Jetflame yelled.
All the debris falling with the front of the wall, everything sticking out of the water and falling forward as Mark pushed the flood back, got surrounded in a fiery inferno. Bright white light shot out of Exodus' fingers, and flames blasted out of Jetflame's hands. Iblis swung her wings in and made them grow as big as they could.
"Hold on Mark!"
"He hasn't recovered!"
"I CAN DO THIS!"
Blood poured out of Mark's nostrils and his head pounded like there were drums in his brain. Water started slipping out through cracks all over the section of dam that had broken apart, and more pressure was put on other sections at the same time.
"Destroy everything heavy!"
"He can't hold it-"
"Guardian, on me!" Gentle called out, while rushing forward towards the Fire Squad who all started moving back at the same time. Mark was collapsing behind them, but a new team rushed forward and started putting up translucent walls to block the rush of water that flew in at them. Gentle and Guardian layered their walls, and they ran side to side and put up as many barriers as they could. Guardian reached down into a pouch at his side and he pulled out a vial of Trigger, and Gentle saw him and grimaced but did the same as he saw a huge wave splash over the top of his Rebound Wall that could not bounce it all back.
"Get to work Carpenter!"
"You six! On me!"
"Keep the wall as strong as possible until they can evacuate everyone!"
The ADTF had looked across the city expecting to see the flood gates breaking and a wall of water rushing into the city. Instead, a new flood gate was being built up just a few meters back from the old one.
Endeavor looked closer than the group of dark figures just outside of the other side of the city who he had just been watching for a few seconds. He looked at Yue Fei who had already turned back to him, and Endeavor could see the man expected those people to hold back the flood there. "Yue Fei," Endeavor began. "Fu. Crane," Endeavor turned to the man on the right of the three last, the man who was in his own Task Force but had not responded to his call.
"Why are you here, Endeavor?" Crane asked. His eyes were narrowed in and nearly closed, his eyebrows pushed down over them, and the round hat over his head was pushed down too to shadow over them. He glared at the man with flames coming off of his face around his eyes and as facial hair. He had flames coming off of his huge muscular arms, and they flared at that question as his eyes narrowed back at Crane's question. The man he glared back at got unnerved by Endeavor's hard look, but he kept flapping his wings and hovering firm in front of the jets.
"Under the orders of the United Nations General Assembly, I have been delegated the task of bringing in Death and those who follow him. We are here to stop the Army of Death."
"The Army of Death aren't here," Fu said. The woman frowned at Endeavor and she crossed her arms while glaring at the Flame Hero who glared right back. "Sorry Endeavor. We'd like to help you in your search, we would. But right now we're dealing with the aftermath of earlier's earthquake. We don't have time for your games."
"This is no game," Endeavor said. His voice was cold and his eyes shifted to Yue Fei next. "We must be allowed to capture them here. We will assist you in-"
"I'm sorry Endeavor," Yue Fei began. Endeavor ground his teeth more, but the man in front of him wearing the armor of a traditional Chinese general just shook his head with a confused expression on his face. "The Army of Death are not here. I am afraid you came all this way for nothing."
"They are right there," Endeavor said. He looked past Yue Fei who turned his head and looked back as if searching for them. Endeavor pointed down towards two who he saw on a street looking up towards him, then he pointed again towards the dam in the distance, then over at traffic on the north side of the city. "They're all over the place. Acting with impunity." Endeavor grit his teeth as he said it, but he stood firm on his jet and then took a step closer to the Chinese heroes who all turned to face him. Endeavor saw Gentle blocking up the water with huge invisible walls, and Carpenter building up new walls behind that one. He could see white lights blowing apart debris, and spouts of water putting out flames, and dark soldiers carrying around civilians down below. "Whatever they are doing right now, they are murderers who-"
The Chinese heroes kept glaring at Endeavor as he said this to them, but when he took another step forward during his speech Yue Fei cut in, "You mean them? Ohhh," he nodded his head in understanding, then he kept glaring at Endeavor and said calmly, "Those are just other Chinese heroes wearing black. You are mistaken, but there is no Army of Death here."
Endeavor's fists clenched at his sides. He opened his mouth to say something, and then his eyes darted behind Yue Fei and the other Chinese heroes. Those heroes looked behind themselves too and towards a figure in a black costume who had dragonfly wings sticking out of their back. The woman's black costume pushed out at her chest, and she had her four long wings flapping fast behind her outside of any armor as she flew up to the group.
"What's going on? What are they looking for?" Firefly questioned Fu as she flew up behind the other woman.
Fu turned and replied in Chinese back to the other woman. "They think you're in the Army of Death."
Firefly lifted her head fast and looked at Endeavor in surprise. "I'm what?"
There were those in the ADTF who understood that conversation, including Endeavor who just stared disbelievingly towards the woman speaking fluent Chinese in that helmet. Then the woman in all black facing him reached her hands up and grabbed the sides of her helmet, and she pulled it off before tucking it down under her right arm in her armpit. She started in English that sounded good but was a bit broken. "Um, hello Endeavor. Sorry if I confused you. I just like a dark costume design better. If it is no problem to you, I must be continuing my help." The woman looked Chinese, and she smiled at the group of heroes in front of her standing on their jet. She turned around and flew off, lifting her helmet back up and putting it on her head. The helmet that was sitting on Yue Fei's flying green serpent had its microphone on, and Firefly had heard what they were talking about up there.
"Great… work… Fire…fly…"
"Death, are you-"
"Leave him be. Everyone keep up what you're doing. Ignore the ADTF."
"Understood, La Brava."
"Roger that."
"You got it!"
Where's my 'Understood, Commander!'? I'm the one organizing all of this- La Brava flinched at the scream that cut off her thoughts.
"RRAAAAAAHHHHHH…"
"Keep it up, Death!"
"We believe in you!"
Back on the hover-jets just outside of the city, Lemillion stepped forward behind Endeavor. "Well, at least let us help," he called over to the flying Chinese heroes in their way. "You look like you could use all the assistance you can-"
"Actually," Yue Fei started. "We have things under control." His eyes narrowed and he glared straight at Endeavor as he said it. His eyes bored into the leader of the ADTF's, and Yue Fei's green serpent below him bared its sharp teeth at the heroes gathered around. The heroes all stared towards Yue Fei in surprise and then in growing shock as light sparkled in front of his right hand and behind his curled grip too. A long greatsword formed in his grasp without him taking his eyes off of Endeavor, though the Flame Hero in front of him about to respond froze at the sight of that long steel sword appearing out of thin air. Endeavor's eyes darted to the sword and then back into Yue Fei's eyes in disbelief.
I will not allow you to start any conflict here. Many of them have gotten hurt in efforts to save our people, Yue Fei's dark gaze shifted from Endeavor over all the jets in front of him. "We don't need any more help," Yue Fei said to the heroes who were all staring back at him like he was crazy for drawing that weapon on them. "We are fine as we are now. Please, turn around and leave my country. I would not like to start an international incident here." His grip tightened on the sword in his right hand, and he did not budge an inch even as some of the heroes in front of him started glaring back in threatening ways.
Fu's fingernails extended out of her claws that she held down at her sides. She was sweating but she glared at a different jet as Yue Fei to show she was with him. Crane looked back and forth at the other Chinese heroes up there with him, then back at his comrades in the ADTF. And then his eyes narrowed at those comrades who had looked to him as if asking if his countrymen were serious. His look made them pull back as they could see he was just as serious as them about this. Crane bit down hard in his beak full of teeth, but he was not going to move from that spot. The ones who arrived first. Long before I got here. I will not let you go after them after they have spent all this time helping my people. Crane's head lowered a bit and his eyes were darker under the round rim around the top of his head. I do not trust any of you to keep to relief efforts alone. You will use the excuse that they are terrorists and that China agrees with that to pull something. Or you might, and that possibility alone is enough to keep you out. We are not overburdened. They are the immediate relief that we need, and we will get more once they are gone. Other heroes can come in to rebuild, and other countries can send aid if they wish, but the ones who stopped the flood from killing millions will not be betrayed here.
"Go home, Endeavor," Crane said. Endeavor turned and Crane glared him in the eyes. The thinner Chinese man lifted his head and his eyes were so dark under the rim there was no doubt he would try and fight Endeavor himself if it came down to it. "The Army of Death isn't here."
Might be hypocritical, but he doesn't care, Ryukyu stared towards her Chinese comrade and then lowered her gaze with a frustrated look on her face. We go to different countries to try and stop the Army of Death, to look for information on them, and yet no matter where it is no one ever wants to help us. Crane is now one of those people in the places we've gone to, someone who won't turn on the Army of Death after being helped by them. She rose a hand up and rubbed the side of her head. And in a situation like this…
There's nothing I can do, Endeavor nodded once. He saw a brief look of relief flash on Crane's face, then the man got back to his serious demeanor as he continued to fly there waiting for them to leave. "Our information was wrong," Endeavor said, his voice low and his teeth gritting as he said it for the rest of the Task Force to hear. He looked into Yue Fei's eyes and saw the Chinese hero glaring at him still, his expression not changing one bit. Endeavor remembered when he received a response from Yue Fei during his initial attempts to create the ADTF. There's no way I change his opinion now. He has only become more against what we are doing, and… and I messed up, letting them go last time, Endeavor realized while he turned and sat back in his seat behind the controls of the hover-jet.
He could hear some of his comrades start arguing, but they were few and they quieted down at the looks from the Chinese heroes. When those heroes looked around and saw they were alone too, looks of frustration spread but they knew there was nothing they could do against domestic heroes in the middle of relief efforts. There was nothing for them to do except leave, and for heroes faced with a disaster zone it was one of the hardest things for many of them to do.
Endeavor turned his hover-jet around and he started flying away, his teeth grinding and his face covered in anger. I should have arrested them back then. Now, even my own Task Force is turning to join with them. Endeavor thought of the men and women working to hold up a dam on the other side of the city, to give the rescue crews inside enough time to get everyone out. The Italy incident wasn't a fluke, I see that now, Endeavor thought with his teeth clenching even harder. Public opinion of the Army of Death changed. It's not just about them not being villains, which no one really thought from the start. This is dangerous. The worst case scenario… Not the worst, but, but it could be. There's no one who can stop them except for me. I know that. I know that! And yet I didn't even think I needed to stop them… I still don't know if it's the right thing to do, but I understand how big of a problem that is.
Because they're not a collection of vigilantes. They're not just an organization of villains or terrorists either. I can see now that the name Death labeled them as on the walls of Hatto's palace was intentional. They're a powerful, well-maintained, Army. More organized than I can get the ADTF with heroes from different countries with different views and different methods of fighting villains. It's impossible. Only meeting with them once in a blue moon, whereas they're in constant connection. The speed at which they were alternating who did what to build that dam in seconds. The faith in each other's abilities. None of them even looked back to check on the one who came to act like a regular hero. Endeavor's hands tightened on the controls of his jet, ignoring the conversations of the heroes around him wondering what they should do, or talking about how after they went home they would be returning without the ADTF to act as heroes in the relief efforts.
Endeavor glared off the front of his ship and he stopped grounding his teeth as hard. He thought back on their fight together, against the League of Shadows in their underground headquarters that stretched miles around and deep. Their attack on the League of Shadows was pretty organized, but Death's shouts of vengeance and justice made it seem more like an ideological group… I underestimated them. He was rallying his troops. He had given them different squad names but their organizational tactics broke down in that base, and it became more of a free-for-all. But, I should have taken them down back then. With more time they've only become stronger, more influential. The tips, their high-tech vehicles, their powers being utilized so perfectly and efficiently so everyone back there is doing something. It's a well-oiled machine that I've been trying to throw a wrench into, and each time I try I miss farther and farther. The huge problem with this though, is that they are the most powerful force in the world. That's a problem. It's a problem because… because, I need to stop them. Because those are my orders.
Endeavor's flaming eyebrows lifted up and his eyes grew bigger at the realization swirling in his head. I'm never going to be able to stop the Army of Death. Not with, conviction like that. My orders? I've heard their conviction up close. And I've seen their power… Who wants to stop them among the heroes? We are the only ones who really know how much they do. I told everyone that the tips were likely the Army of Death and to try and track them if possible, but barely anyone ever got back to me on that. They still pretend. Everyone pretends. And because we didn't stop them they now have more power than we do. I can't stop them. Yet I'll have to keep trying, or at least act as if I'm trying. We can't accept the Army of Death as legitimate, nor can we accept that they are too strong to be defeated in front of the world… nor do I want to look for a way to make the ADTF more powerful so that we can beat the Army of Death. I'm… I'm fine with the AoD being stronger than any government.
An annoyed look flashed over Endeavor's face and his bit down in frustration at that thought he just had. That's not the way for the Anti-Death Task Force's leader to think. Yet- that's right. If the time comes that I ever do want to stop them, I can get the power to do so. Because if they do something that loses my trust, they'll lose the trust of other heroes too who will want to fight them, and they'll lose the support of people around the world who do not call us when they see the AoD, and they will lose the vigilantes and new recruits around the world looking to join them. That's… That's impossible! They, they could turn into something else… Except, they really have a self-destruct switch built in. Villains despise them. Heroes tolerate them. The world accepts them. They couldn't survive if they turned...
If everyone in the world wanted them caught. I could, I could make that happen easily too. The way the world saw the AoD before and after Kazania was incredibly different. Yet, a closer inspection of Kazania showed it was the work of a single person. No other AoD incidents looked like that. I've come to doubt that Kazania ever was their doing. And most people have forgotten about that. Most people have forgotten about them. They appear once in a while. The media doesn't get any clear shots on them. No interviews. And most of what they do is accredited to the heroes. Endeavor stared out past his jet with his look straightening out and his heart steadying. Their goal is supposed to be to stop villains. So what are they doing back there saving so many? There goes the narrative as them being a bunch of murderous vigilantes. This will only make them more popular. It will only make more heroes quit the Task Force, as they will lose popularity by being on a force fighting them. Damn. Well, I'll keep a close eye on them. I'll continue to follow their actions, their every movements, the ones I can track at least. Even if the rest of the world stops caring I'll keep watching to make sure they stay on the path they've been on. And if they stray from it I will hunt them again. But for now… there's nothing I can do.
"…despite it being the worst earthquake seen in that region of China in over a century, casualties were remarkably low in the city of Qingxiao. Here are some pictures taken of the city and as you can see there are collapsed highways and fallen buildings. The Xifuei Dam to the east of the city burst as well and here you can see a view from the sky looking down over the flood plains between the dam and the city were completely destroyed."
"Evacuation efforts in the city have been completed, however there are still many people reported missing in the area. This story is not all bad though. Reports from evacuated citizens have been mainly optimistic about the future and grateful just to have their lives. We interviewed Sheshou earlier, a Chinese hero who was in the middle of a fight with a trio of villains in Qingxiao right before the earthquake. In what could only be described as a moment showing the most amazing side of humanity, the heroes and the villains stopped fighting each other and worked together in the ensuing chaos. Instead of fleeing the scene, the three thieves were reported to be helping protect people from falling glass and then assisting the heroes in rescue efforts. What is most amazing though, is that the Army of Death appeared in the city only minutes after the first earthquake."
"Pictures we have received from inside the city are just, amazing. Look at this. That right there is one of the villains, right next to Yue Fei, and around them are at least… I count eight! Eight Army of Death members all working together to put out a fire and evacuate people from that burning store. And look at this. This is a picture taken of one of the temporary dams the Army of Death were responsible for building to stop the oncoming flood from reaching the city."
"You know what else? We have already received reports of the deceased being brought back to life in Qingxiao since the quake. I heard initial reports of around seventy, but new ones coming in claim that over one hundred people are believed to have been revived during the immediate aftermath of the earthquake. Here's a picture we have of what most believe is Death, leaning over a child in the streets of Qingxiao."
"Now, I don't see a 'Death' written on the back of that man's costume. What do you think the reason for that is?"
"Maybe they took them off? Having that on each of their costumes is a fear tactic for the villains they fight, but they didn't need them here as they came to save this city from complete destruction. And experts have been saying that the heroes who were in Qingxiao alone at the time would not have been able to stop the flood. Based on their Quirks and the amount of chaos and destruction in the city at the time… well, let's just say it was a good thing the Army of Death arrived when they did."
"This is not to say that there are no casualties, and all of our thoughts are with the people of Qingxiao and the surrounding region who have been affected by this disaster."
"We'll have more on this story later. Anyway Raiyu, where do you think the Army of Death has been all this time? We haven't heard much about them since the League of Shadows. Just the occasional here and there."
"I was thinking the same thing when I heard about this story. Because from the images we've received from in the city during the earthquake's immediate aftermath, (as they're long gone by now), there were a whole lot more Army of Death members than I had thought. Definitely a lot more than back during the time of Mongoloid and SISIS when we had some pictures depicting them as more of a small group with thirty or so members in it."
"Maybe the reason we haven't seen them as of late, is that they're too busy fighting villains where we can't see them? Maybe, the declining crime rate around the world has a little something to do with that."
"We haven't heard of them doing nearly enough to give them credit for that. I will say I do always enjoy a nice Army of Death story, but let's not forget that these are terrorists on the run from the Anti-Death Task Force. I'm not afraid to give them credit where it's due, but you start to give them credit for more than that and you diminish how big a part the heroes have been playing. As well, as just the everyday people in many countries that have seen the biggest drops in villain activity ever since heroes were allowed to start training people to use their Quirks."
"Or even the places where training isn't required, and it's just permitted for citizens to use their Quirks to help out if there's a villain attack."
"Now I'm not sure I agree with you there. I think there do need to be some stricter regulations than that, but I will agree that what we have seen so far is that change, is, good. Took everyone a little while to realize it, but if you look at the world today compared to last year, there is a bright light ahead. The sheer number of villains being turned in lately is beyond anything I imagined possible. Worries me sometimes hearing just how many villains there were, but the idea that all those villains are being thrown in prison washes away my worry like that."
"In countries where vigilante justice is accepted, heroes are rounding up villains at record numbers. But in other countries too, heroes have been catching villains by the hundreds. And even in places where regular citizens like you and I can't technically fight against the villains, we're doing our parts. Anonymous tips are at a new all-time high after already being one of the biggest sources of information-gathering to help heroes catch villains."
"People heard how big of a deal it was. They were seeing how much anonymous tips were helping and they started being on the lookout more for villains. Neighborhoods are cleaning up as people who heard what happened to villains in bad ones where anonymous tips were called in start following those examples. No one's telling them to put themselves in danger, and we certainly aren't suggesting that either. But if you do see something, call the police. You have no idea just how much it might help the heroes in catching villains red-handed."
"I think we should stick to these anonymous tips. That alone is already having a great effect on our situation here in Japan-"
"Maybe, maybe. But I don't know. 'That alone,' might be something to help us out. I don't think people are satisfied with just that much though. Africa was one of the earliest places where several countries allowed vigilantes to act freely, heroes to train younger people to use Quirks, and after the chaos there last month the continent has calmed down a lot. More countries adopted the policies of the ones that had the least amount of chaos, and the vigilantes who kept the peace are being recruited as legitimate heroes. Militias are being set up as every adult in some towns are learning to use their Quirks, heroes training them so that they don't need guns which they're trying to help rid the world of. Every country in the world is in agreement to shut down any weapons' factories they find, and we're seeing the number of firearms in the hands of villains decreasing as well."
"It is getting harder for villains to get their hands on weapons like those. I don't know if we can attribute that to different policies regarding training up Quirks among the general populace, but there is something to be said about it. However, we've seen that change can come with a lot of resistance."
"But Yemen is calming down! Have you been following that lately?"
"Oh yes. I was quite relieved to hear about the unrest there settling down after a few of the recent skirmishes seemed like they might turn into something more. The two sides sat down and came to a compromise over Quirk usage laws just the other day I believe. The government's opposition that had support of some heroes did not get everything they asked for, as there will be regulations and not everyone can use their Quirks. However with hero training beforehand, and an easy-to-acquire certification after just a few weeks of practice supervised by heroes, anyone over 18 can get a Quirk license."
"Only a few weeks… That is one of the most free examples of Quirk-use in the world, put up against the more popular regulations in most places around that have already started allowing for Quirk training for specific jobs. And this is a 180 for a country that had been so against change and sticking with conservative values for over a year of debates now."
"Already thousands have signed up for those practice sessions in Yemen. The government has maintained power, and I'm hoping that this settlement will stop the violent protests and even deaths that had happened as a result of the clashing parties in the country. If so, then I can only see this compromise as doing good for a country that has had a big problem with villains taking advantage of their instability as of late. Villains will think twice before trying anything in a country where the entire population is trained to combat them…"
Click The tv's volume cut off and Raijin lowered his hand that he just flicked some electricity out of. He turned his head while getting out of his seat, "Welcome!"
Shooter and Diamondfist were still sitting on the couches on either side of Raijin's. They looked to him when he suddenly cut off the volume using his Quirk, but they spun the direction he was looking as did the two behind Raijin's couch to see who he was talking to. The former Tartaros prisoners turned League of Villains stepped away from the back of the couch towards the doorway into the dining room. That dining room had a beautiful chandelier on the ceiling, and the wood floor wrapped around towards the front door and grand entrance of the mansion. The sitting room they were in was huge, and there were windows covering the wall to the outer wooden patio that overlooked the forested valley of Japan the house was built on the edge of.
They were so out of the way, that someone arriving should not have been a surprise to four of the five men in the room. Raijin did not look surprised though nor was he upset when he called to the person supposedly in their house. A woman walked around the corner and into the dining room, sliding a hand over the curve of a wooden chair and dancing her fingers on it. She had long straight blonde hair that fell all the way down past her waist, and her eyes were a gorgeous blue. Her chest pushed up into the tight top she was wearing which pushed a lot of cleavage out, and she had on a pair of tight black pants pulled close to her sexy body. She was drop-dead gorgeous, and the four men other than Raijin all looked at her in less suspicion and more awe as the model walked towards them.
"Whoa," Meta said, moving his hand from the sidearm at his waist. "Hey boss, who's the babe?"
Sonic nodded in agreement but did not turn away like Meta did for a second to face Raijin. He just kept gawking at the woman who looked in her mid-twenties, with perfect lips, soft skin, and eyes that made him feel himself falling for her when she looked towards him and into his own. Sonic gulped as she blinked her eyes once at him, lowering them to the ground and then smiling a bit with a little cute laugh that made Sonic's heart skip a beat. I think I'm in love.
"How'd it go?" Raijin asked as the woman walked into the sitting room. She stopped near the entry and reached down to her side, and she pulled out a phone that she tossed across the room to Raijin. The blond seventeen year old lifted a hand and snagged the phone out of the air. He opened it up and a smirk crossed over his face, while at the same time, the woman ahead of him who tossed the phone started melting. The other four gawked even more as they realized who they were staring at.
"I don't owe you anymore," Himiko Toga said, as the face of the woman she was wearing seeped off her skin. The teenage girl lost her smile too as she said it, and she looked grossed-out for a second before shaking her head around and grinning as she looked back towards Sonic who pulled away at her crazy eyes. "Haha," she turned and stretched her arms up over her head while standing naked in between the rooms.
Raijin lifted his head back up and pocketed the phone that his fingers had been sparking on for a few seconds there. "Thanks, Toga. What are you going to do now?" He asked, as she had turned and looked ready to head out already.
"None of your business," she said, looking over her shoulder and sticking her tongue out towards him. He narrowed his eyes and his smirk turned dangerous, some sparks coming out of his left hand. She just kept smirking while looking towards him though, and Raijin tsked after a moment before cracking his own grin bigger and stopping the sparking. "Don't get caught," Toga said with a wave while spinning forward and heading back towards the front door of the building this time instead of coming in however she did before.
"Back at you. I don't want to have to break you out again," Raijin watched her go and he frowned as she said nothing and just walked out of the mansion. Doing whatever she wants. Annoying bitch.
Shooter was frowning the entire time he watched Toga go, and he grit his teeth after she was gone before shaking his head in annoyance. Meta frowned too, and when he saw Shooter's look, he turned towards Raijin with that frown on his face. "I'm tired of all this sitting around and waiting," he said. Raijin turned to him and saw the muscular bald man with a neck tattoo and scar over his left eye including on the eyeball itself was not looking happy. The former Tartaros prisoner who was supposed to be carrying out a life sentence ground his teeth as the teen looked at him in a threatening way as if daring him to keep going, but he went on anyway, "Other villain groups are going out and making names for themselves, getting everyone to forget about us."
"Even mentioning the 'League' nowadays," Shooter started, glancing back to his left himself from in front of the couch on Raijin's right. He dropped onto it to show he was not confronting but just speaking his mind, and he leaned back as he continued to the boy facing him now, "It just makes people think of the League of Shadows."
"Well, just the other day they were on the news again," Raijin started, shrugging his shoulders like there was nothing to be done about it. "Talking all about how the former Shadow Boss of the destroyed League of Shadows, King, was taken down and thrown in prison after a raid on a compound he was in with a few hundred villains under him." Raijin spoke mostly sarcastically there, and he smirked as he was going on about it. "That big of a villain got eliminated with all his powerful soldiers with him. A Shadow Boss, taken down like a bitch."
"We know it wasn't the heroes who took him down," Diamondfist growled. He had a bead of sweat on the side of his face as he said it though, and he sat down when Raijin looked towards him. "Those guys were handed to them on a silver platter. We know who did it."
"The fact remains," Raijin started again, speaking louder and in a bit of annoyance that had Diamondfist closing his mouth tightly. "That bigshot villain got taken down with hundreds of top-notch villains and mercs. The truth is, it's not the villains' time anymore." Raijin started smirking and he continued with a shake of his head, "But that doesn't mean anything is over."
The other four looked in at the blond boy who was smirking knowingly and without the fear that they each felt after what they were just speaking about. "Our plans don't need an entire world in chaos. In fact, the more peaceful things get, the less they'll see our move coming." And the best way to kill Zach, is once the world's calmed down, Raijin's smirk stayed like it was for a few seconds but it was slowly starting to slide down at the corners. I know I can't do it now. But I'm patient. I spent years in disguise, I can spend some in hiding too. If it means I can ensure that I never lose again, that I don't feel that humiliating, horrible… Sparks started flying from Raijin's hands and his face was twisted in rage at the thought of his loss, his only loss. "Our time will come," Raijin said to the crew around him who nodded at that confident declaration. Raijin's eyes narrowed and glared out the windows and into the distance over Japan. "And when it does, we will be the only winners in the world."
A/N Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed the chapter. The Army of Death pops in to save a city. The ADTF's not having much luck or motivation to keep after them. And Raijin's back... think it's the first time we've seen him since 93! Anyway, leave a review below telling me what you think and predictions for what's coming. Bunch of reviews today so I'll respond to 3.
QuestingforBitches chapter 123 . Dec 17
Man some of the 1A crowd are still really naive about things huh? They complain that what Zach does is wrong but refuse to think that their outdated way might be wrong.
My money's on Zach winning against Deku anyway. All he has to do is touch him and he's out. Sure Deku's fast but it's not like he has Spider sense
Well, he did kill a bunch of people in front of them, including some guys just trying to run away and one he had already caught... I think Midoriya's got good reason to want to go after him. We'll see about who would win in a fight b/w those two... I mean, maybe we'll see. Possibly? Well no spoilers, but we'll see... XD
grimXblade chapter 123 . Dec 17
Casually break him out of prison XD I was laughing the whole time.
Ps: I'm finally caught up to this masterpiece piece, THANK YOU FOR WRITING THIS! T-T
Haha glad you liked it! And thanks a bunch for this review, I'm really glad you've enjoyed Death so far!
xilios2000 chapter 123 . 19h ago
I love this fic and its the best thing i have ever read but i have 1 complaint that being the rediculous amount of eye widening in pretty much every chapter someone gonna get their eyes GO WIDE!
Yeah you got me there. I started hesitating a bit at the end of the last chapter because I know I do it too much, but there are only so many degrees of shock people can go through. *sigh* This chapter I went hard on keeping it a minimum (none at all maybe?), but the end of the last one was just nonstop reactions to stuff so... couldn't help it there I guess! XD Glad you're loving Death though, and nice call-out that's def something I gotta work on.
Yes chapter 123 . 11h ago
I'd say the story icon is a bit outdated, anyone wanna make a new art thing? Anyone? 1 out of the 780 people who've reviewed must be an artist right?
Zach once again, zero fucks given. Jirou being a bit of a bitch (understandable). She'll probably go apeshit if she meets zach again, that will be fun.
Hawks wonders what zach body looks like, no homo? :p
I'd never thought about the police views on AoD, makes sense
"walked away from the private just he just disembarked" WHAT IS THIS. A MISTAKE PERHAPS!
Private jet ma dud
Zach once again gives zero fucks.
Alright one more review (because you sent three after all ((as long as all the Yes's in the review section are the same person lol)) and because one of the things you mentioned I really wanna reply to). I totally agree with the art thing if anyone wants to draw up a new one. Not that I don't love this one I've been using for a while (thanks for that my artist friend who made me this!) but an older version of Zach could be cool. And that typo you caught, I went back and checked but I didn't see it there. (and when you go back to check, no I didn't just go and change it after seeing your review, of course I wouldn't do something like that and then write that there was never a typo in the first place... ;P ) Anyway, thanks for the review(s)!