Izuku, Ahmya, and the last of the remnants from the hospital task force had had no time to rest. As soon as reinforcements arrived and the hospital had been secured, they'd been ordered to head to the front lines and aid them wherever possible. Re-Destro and the Division Commander Skeptic had been cornered at the city center but the resistance had proved to be far greater than anticipated. They'd already managed to eliminate Geten with Curious and Trumpet cornered in another corner of the city. That battle was largely under control, so every spare soldier was being sent to aid in the termination or arrest of Re-Destro. So after being given a couple of hours' rest, they made their way through the ruined streets to the city center where the last of the fierce fighting was taking place.
Izuku and Ahmya were currently crouched down behind a partially collapsed wall, embroiled in a firefight with several long-distance quirk users. Izuku took a pot shot at one assailant who seemed to have run into a problem with the support gear attached to his arm that seemed to extend the range of his attacks. The hastily fired shot deflected off the arm and the villain dived back behind cover. They didn't have any explosives left at this point, having used them all several hours earlier. They flinched as part of the wall to Izuku's left exploded, brick debris flying everywhere. Ahmya snapped up from her position and squeezed out a burst of bullets before having to get behind cover again.
"We need to get out of here! They'll break through soon! We got to retreat to a better position!" shouted Izuku over the noise.
Ahmya nodded and pulled out her radio and headset, the noise too much to understand what came over without the headphones. She and the person on the other end shouted back and forth for a minute before she stowed them away again.
"Our escape is cut off! Enemy reinforcements used some kind of mass movement quirk to swing behind us! They took out our relief and are closing in on our position! We have to either charge the enemy in front, behind, or sit here!" She shouted, surprisingly calm given their desperate position.
Izuku glanced over the wall at the villain's hold-up in the building in front of them. They didn't have much choice, charging the enemy behind them and exposing their flank. They had to charge the enemy in the building or be surrounded and cut down. They stared at each other for a moment, then looked back behind them at the remaining soldiers and QSU operatives that still remained, barely a dozen. Several nodded, all of them prepared for what might be their final moments. Then one of the infantrymen started shouting, got up from cover, and made a mad dash towards the enemy position, firing every round he had towards them.
The sudden act spurred them all to similar action, they vaulted over their cover and ran at the enemy, firing every round left in their cartridges until they ran out. They then pulled out their sidearms and continued to fire. By the time they had it halfway across, twelve had been reduced to six. When they finally got to the enemy position, six had become three, and the brutal melee began.
Izuku slammed his rifle into a villain's face, breaking his nose and sending him backward. Then he had to throw his rifle at a villain coming at him from behind, it slowed him down. He pulled the bowie knife out of its thigh holster and dove right to avoid a stream of some steaming thick black liquid. It splattered onto the ground where it boiled and steamed ominously. Izuku ran at the villain who tried to backpedal but tripped over a body. Izuku jumped onto the man, his right hand restraining the villains left, and used the opening to quickly slam his knife into the man's throat. Then he jumped forward off the body, rolling and avoiding the piece of rebar that had been swung right where his head had been a moment earlier. He picked up a piece of rubble and threw it at the villain behind him. It hit the villain in the thigh, not doing much but distracting him long enough for Izuku to close the distance. He grabbed the piece of rebar, but instead of wrestling with it, he slammed the crown of his head into the bridge of the man's nose. The nose broke easily and the villain staggered backward. Izuku dropped his grip on the rebar and slammed his knife up and into the man's jaw, the knife long enough to punch from the underside of the jaw and into the brain, killing his opponent instantly.
Izuku whirled around, ready to take on his next opponent but stopped as he realized there was no one left. Only he and Ahmya remained, the third person who had made it with them was on the floor, clearly dead.
"We can't stay here, we have to keep moving. Link up with a group further ahead." Said Ahmya, retrieving her rifle and scavenging what ammo she could from the now-dead QSU operative. She tossed him two clips and they set off.
Only a few minutes into their careful trek deeper into the city center, a purple-green blur stopped in front of them. The suit of a hero plainly obvious, and covered in scrapes, cuts, and bruises, the hero stopped when he saw them.
"Where are you two headed?" he asked.
Izuku noticed the black arrows decorating his suit and a weird belt that must have been a support item. The gloves however looked oddly bulky, as if something was inside of them.
"Trying to link up with another group, we just managed to escape a trap." Said Izuku, relieved at running into a hero.
"Well I was on my way to help a group trapped by enemy forces, I'm guessing that would be you two! Where are the rest?" he said, looking around.
Izuku shook his head, "There are no others, we're all that's left." he said.
The hero hesitated and looked them over. "Well further ahead there's a contingent of infantrymen with a few other heroes. They're at work trying to break down the final defenses of the enemy's fortress. Re-Destro is currently engaged in a fight with a group of other heroes as well, so the battle is almost won!" He said brightly as he started to walk towards them.
"You two go on ahead, I'll bring up the rear." Said the hero, walking past them and taking up said position.
The group started forward into the city, with Izuku glancing back at the hero. "You're Slidin' Go, right?" he asked.
"That's right," he said, the smile fading a little.
Realizing that now wasn't the time for his hobby to show itself, Izuku focused his attention forward. A few seconds later he heard a scraping sound and he turned back to see the hero speeding at them, gloved hands aligning themselves right at his and Ahmya's heads. Not fully understanding the situation, he shouted, "Down!" and dove down to the ground. Ahmya dived to the ground as well and the hero zipped past them.
Izuku flipped over onto his back to see the hero swerve back around and head back at them. His eyes went wide as he realized that Slidin' Go had actually tried to attack them. He tried to get to his feet but was too slow to avoid the traitorous hero's follow-up attack. The oddly bulky glove slammed into his chest and Izuku realized that there was steel inside of it as he felt several ribs fracture and was sent bowling over backward from the impact. He heard a cry from Ahmya around the same time and assumed she had been hit too. Izuku righted himself and clumsily lurched to his left, avoiding the next attack.
He went to raise his rifle, only to realize he had dropped it when he had gotten punched. His hand dropped to his sidearm and wrenched it out of its holster and fired a few shots at the hero. The shots went wide owing to the hero's prodigious speed and Izuku was forced to dodge again. Ahmya he noticed wasn't moving, just curled up on the ground.
A sense of rage and despair filled him, and he dashed to his rifle only to have Slidin' Go kick it quite a distance away. Izuku fired off another round and barely missed the traitor's shoulder, the hero merely making another sweeping turn and coming at him again, even faster than before. Izuku was out of ammo and given the hero's speed he instinctively knew he wouldn't be able to avoid him. So he pulled his knife and simply let the hero come to him.
As the hero came at him, Izuku sent himself falling backward, avoiding the steel gauntlet by centimeters, then held the knife out to his side. The impact of the hero slamming into his knife hand and arm sent him backward, while Slidin' Go pitched forward and went over end across the street until he slammed headfirst into a building. There was a brief cracking noise and then all was silent and still. Izuku stared at the slumped body of the hero for a brief moment, waiting to see if he would get up, but it soon became clear he was either dead or unconscious.
Izuku got up and ran to Ahmya, his heart hammering in his chest as he looked her over. He felt an enormous weight leave him when he noticed that she was breathing, shallowly yes, but still breathing. He went to use his radio, but both his and Ahmya were missing. After some quick searching, he found them on the ground, thoroughly destroyed.
"The traitor must have grabbed them as he attacked so we couldn't radio for help." He thought, now suddenly fearful. Ahmya needed medical assistance, he could do nothing to help her.
Now with little choice, he carefully lifted her into his arms, and started forward once more, jogging as best he could without jostling Ahmya too much. She probably had multiple broken, or fractured ribs, and internal bruising. She didn't have a punctured lung, but if he wasn't careful he could easily puncture one on accident.
He arrived at a friendly outpost nearly half an hour later. Ahmya had regained consciousness during the journey and with some assistance had managed to hobble along. While slow, it was still faster than the time Izuku had been managing before. They'd also removed their helmets for some fresh air to feel the breeze on their sweaty skin.
"Identify yourselves!" shouted a voice from somewhere nearby.
The two of them looked around for the source of the voice, but couldn't see anyone. They were in the middle of an intersection, and Izuku figured they must be surrounded.
"We're the QSU squad leaders for squads Red 2 and Gold 2! We were ambushed on route to provide assistance with a group of assorted QSU operatives and soldiers from the hospital. We're the only ones that made it out." He shouted back. feeling a bead of sweat roll down his forehead.
There was a brief pause, but eventually, the voice shouted back. "Go on ahead, the sentries will know to expect you!"
With that taken care of, they continued forward until they saw two QSU operatives slip out of the shadow of a mass of rubble. One of them gestured for them to approach, so they did so, the other didn't raise his weapon but followed them with his head.
"You're with squads R2 and G2?" said the one that had gestured them forward. A patch that had the designation C1 clearly visible on one shoulder.
"Yes sir." Said Izuku, straightening and giving a salute.
"We checked with the communications officer while you made your way to us. Says that he sent the hero Slidin' Go to where you were pinned down. Did you see him?" He said, looking down at them.
Izuku felt a bit intimidated by the man's stature and the way he seemed to tower above them with his face hidden by the helmet. Which Izuku supposed, meant that it did its job well.
"We ran into him on our way, shortly after we broke out of the enemy's containment. He said he'd escort us to this position and he'd bring up our rear. A minute or so after that he attacked us, he nearly killed me with a single punch to my chest. Izuku managed to get him to trip and since his quirk removed any friction from the surface he was on, he hit a building wall at an extreme speed and broke his neck. He managed to destroy our radios though, which is why we didn't report it." Said Ahmya, hunched over and wheezing occasionally. She held on to Izuku for support.
The two QSU operatives looked at each other and then one of them stepped away and started talking into his radio. After a minute of discussion with whoever was on the other end, he walked back over and gestured for them to follow. They walked to an intact door, where their escort strode in. They followed him inside and after navigating what was obviously a hastily erected command post, were escorted to a group of officers all milling about performing various tasks. The operative stopped in front of the most senior of the officers and saluted, Izuku and Ahmya doing the same.
The man standing above a map of the city was none other than the commander-in-chief of the entire QSU. A fully ranked Major General, he was in a full set of QSU armor with a special patch signifying his station on one shoulder and the image of a dragonfly on the other. He was tall, grey-haired, with weather-beaten features but still well-muscled despite his age. He looked every bit the stereotypical grizzled veteran, he even had claw marks running over one eye.
"Rikugun-Shōshō Genryusai, these are the two I mentioned." Said their escort, jerking his head in their direction.
"Thank you, you're dismissed." Said the general.
Their escort nodded, saluted once more, and left to go back to his post.
"You two are all that's left of the original hospital garrison?" he asked, gesturing for them to sit on two stools that a junior officer suddenly provided.
They sat, grateful for the respite. "Yes sir." Said Izuku.
"Well first off, let me start by saying I won't press you into the frontlines. Neither of you is in any condition to continue walking, let alone fight. You'll stay here and rest until the battle is over, but before that I want you to tell me everything that happened on your way here." He said, his gaze boring into them.
Izuku swallowed but soon began relaying everything to the general, with Ahmya interjecting every now and then when she was able. After nearly half an hour, the general stood up.
"Thank you for the information. You two can leave, find a medic and get some treatment, and some well-deserved rest. I might call on you again if I need to clarify a point in the future so don't go napping on me." he said, waving them off as his attention was suddenly directed towards a report he had just been handed.
They got up and started to leave but Izuku paused, a frown suddenly forming on his face. He looked at the ground, the strange action causing Ahmya to also pause.
"What is it?" she asked, also looking down.
"Is it just me, or is the building shaking?" he said, his frown deepening.
Ahmya was about to say something, but the general spoke again, this time obviously annoyed.
"What are you still doing here? This is a busy room, and you're in the way so move it." he snapped.
"Sir, I think an earthquake might be starting." Said Izuku, much calmer than he felt.
At this pronouncement, the whole room went still and quiet. Everyone focused on the building around them. A moment later, an officer gasped.
"Sir! Those aren't earthquakes, those are footfalls!" Said the officer, eyes now wide in shock.
As soon as he said it, Izuku realized he was right. The rhythmic vibrations which were becoming stronger by the moment came in regular intervals as if giant feet were impacting the ground.
Then an officer burst into the room, frantic, white-faced, and a look of horror on his face.
"A giant monster is bulldozing his way towards us! We have to evacuate! It's already past the city limits and it'll be in mere moments!" He said in a near panic.
The general wasted no time, yelling at the top of his lungs, "FULL EVACUATION OF THE BUILDING, EVERYONE INTO THE STREETS!"
The evacuation went surprisingly smoothly, everyone well-disciplined and trained to respond to disaster situations resulted in the whole building being abandoned in less than 45 seconds.
As the entire contingent streamed into the street they finally saw what it was that was coming at them. A giant, bigger than even Mt. Lady at her maximum size was quite literally running through buildings as if they weren't there. They could see no eyes, only a stony visor, the bottom of a jaw, and two giant tusks sticking up from it. It had giant claws on each hand, which he used to decimate all the buildings in his path. He went through the buildings like paper, and it was apparent he would reach their position in mere moments.
Everyone started running, all semblance of order forgotten as they desperately tried to get out of the path of the monster. They didn't make it in time.
The giant ran past them, roaring and flailing his arms about. One of the giant's claws hit a group of nearby buildings, the debris flying everywhere and colliding with even more buildings. The practical tornado of rubble tore into the fleeing group, Izuku saw a few people get hit by flying pieces of rubble, killing them instantly.
Then he felt something hit him in the back of the head, the world exploded into flashes of light, and then he fell into darkness.
He awoke slowly, he opened his eyes but couldn't see anything so he rolled onto his back. At first, he thought his eyes had stopped working, but after blinking a few times he realized it was only dark because it was night. He wasn't sure how long he lay there, breathing slowly barely aware of his surroundings. Eventually, he started to hear something, voices. He turned his head and saw lights coming towards him.
Adrenaline started to slowly flood him, the enemy had come back to finish the job. He flipped onto his stomach and using every ounce of his strength managed to get into a kneeling position, the strength to stand failing him. So with trembling hands, he groped for his pistol that he knew to be in its holster, all the while the lights go closer. His trembling hand found the grip of his pistol and fumbled it while trying to get a grip on it. Eventually, he pulled it free but by this time the lights had gotten terrifyingly close. One light shined at him directly and the voices suddenly increased in volume, he forced himself to raise the gun and aimed it at the light. Or he thought he did anyway, everything was swimming in front of him. Weakness stole over his body, but sheer willpower kept his hands up. He pulled the trigger and a shot rang out, several cries went up and the lights all around him went in random directions. The recoil caused the gun to fall from his hands, and now his hand hurt.
He could only kneel there, slouched over as if in prayer he lacked even the strength to lift his head. The lights finally came close enough that he could hear the crunch of rubble under their feet. One foot land in front of him, and he could see the tan soles and toe point of it. A hand gripped him by the chin and his head was forced upward. His mouth hung open as he took shallow breaths, gazing up at the figure that was looking him over.
"If you can hear me, I'm a friend, we're going to get you out of here. So stay with me, yeah?" said the clearly feminine voice.
His vision was blurry and dark though, so he couldn't see the details of the person who was now talking to people behind her. He couldn't focus on the words, a massive headache had started to form, or perhaps he had just become aware of having one. As his vision swam and his consciousness faded once more, a single point about the woman registered in his mind.
Pink.
The sheer lunacy of the thought actually caused him to try and laugh. He gave a small wheezing chuckle and then fell forward again, this time into the woman's arms as he fell unconscious once more.
The first thing he became aware of was the press of something soft against his back. He was comfortably warm, but he knew his alarm would ring out shortly and call him to full wakefulness in preparation for school. He didn't want to go, just wanted to rest here forever, but he knew that if his alarm didn't wake him up, his mother would.
As he slowly started to come fully awake, he opened his eyes and the hospital room greeted his vision. Then his memories started to return to him. Starting from the disastrous landing at the hospital all the way up to the giant monster charging through the city flashed through his mind. When his mind finally sorted everything out, he looked around the room. He wasn't alone, other beds were occupied, all in various states of injury. One had casts on both legs and bandages around his head, another looked fine apart from a full hand cast. It was dark in the room and everyone else was asleep.
Izuku then inspected himself, his arms and legs felt fine. His ribs ached, likely fractured and he had bandages on his head. He was in better shape than he expected, but as he came to that conclusion, Ahmya sprang to mind. She had been far more injured than he had, after that monster sent that whirlwind of rubble at them he hadn't seen what had happened to her. She could have been injured even more, or perhaps she had escaped unharmed.
"Or... maybe she died" the thought invaded his mind, and as that possibility sank in, his mind just went blank at the prospect. He struggled to fully comprehend the possibility, they had survived so much together, and the idea that she might have died in the end due to nothing but bad luck made him feel empty inside.
He wanted to get up from his bed and look for her, but his body refused to move enough to allow him this possibility. In the attempt, he just ended up tiring himself out, and he realized he wouldn't be able to do much until a hospital staff member came in or until he was strong enough to move by himself. With the hollow feeling only growing, he tried to sleep, but he was plagued by nightmares the entire time, preventing any sort of restful sleep.
When the next morning rolled around, and a staff member came in to check on everyone and ensure nothing had changed, he immediately flagged her down.
"Excuse me," he said, raising one hand as she came in, a clipboard in hand.
The woman looked over to him, surprise on her face but quickly smiled as she came over.
"Ahh, you're awake, excellent. How are you feeling?" she said, removing the pen attached to the clipboard and readying it in preparation for taking notes.
"My chest and headache, and I'm a bit weak but apart from that, I'm fine. Listen, I had a friend with me when I was initially knocked unconscious. Her name is Ahmya Baresi, do you know if she was taken here too?" he asked, the pit in the stomach only widening.
"I'm sorry, I don't know anyone by that name. I can run a search for her later and should be able to tell you if she's alive or dead at least by the time I come around later today." She said, making some notes on the clipboard.
Izuku sank into his bed and sighed, he supposed it was the best he could expect.
"Before I go though, I need to tell you that you've suffered from multiple fractured ribs and a cracked skull. Your ability to function won't be majorly impaired but when you're discharged we'll provide some guidelines for you to follow during your recovery. While I can't for certain how long your recovery will be, I would give a rough estimate of four months. That could be shorter or longer, but I'd say that's near the average. During part of that time, you'll also be relieved of duty, so you don't need to worry about anything your superiors might want. Our orders overrule any orders you may have received previously or may receive in the future unless they come from a General. You'll be given more detailed instructions on when that ordinance ends when you're discharged. Any questions?" Asked the woman, looking up, a smile on her face.
Izuku could tell that she had probably been giving similar speeches for the past few days, despite the smile she wore, Izuku could tell it was merely one given out of politeness and meant to help him feel at ease.
"No thank you, I'm fine. Thank you for your help," he said, smiling as well.
The woman got up, made one last note, and quickly moved off to the other patients. Izuku for his part just settled into his bed and tried to sleep more.
When the woman returned later that day, Izuku discovered that Ahmya had undergone surgery following a lung puncture from multiple broken ribs. They'd fixed her up as best they could, and about a day later she'd been given a kiss by Recovery Girl. She was now resting on a higher floor.
The news served to set him at ease, and he found it much easier to sleep in the following days. But he would still suffer from periodic nightmares for months to come, though never frequently enough to become a major issue.
