Izuku dragged himself to his bed, only barely managing to remove his day clothes before doing so. He flopped onto the bed and just lay face down on it, apart from physical exhaustion, he just felt drained. He'd managed to stay awake long enough to get through the quick preliminary debrief, and the ride back into the city. He'd been awake for more than a day, and only now, after getting into his apartment did all the exhaustion he'd been holding back crash down on him.
Up till now, his confrontation with Bakugo had been weighing heavily on him. He wouldn't be able to avoid Bakugo anymore, he'd been keeping up with the news concerning him for the past few years but that wasn't how he'd expected their "reunion" to go.
Izuku groaned as another fact rolled over him, he'd met Kirishima, which meant now all of 1A, including Ochako, would know he had once been part of the QSU. He'd have to be ready for someone from the class, apart from Bakugo, to come and see him at some point.
Before sleep took him though, he couldn't help but remember the last time he and Bakugo had seen each other before yesterday. The funeral for his mother, the week he'd quit the QSU and left Mufustafu. Then his thoughts naturally gravitated to the day she had died, and with those memories, sleep finally took him.
It'd been about four and half months since the Three Day Liberation War, and Izuku had recovered from his injury. That wasn't to say that the world had been idle during that time.
During those four months, a new conflict had arisen. The League of Villains once thought to be defunct after their leader had been killed by All Might, had returned. Not only that, but they had a small army behind them, numerous sources of funding, and a contingent of bioweapons known as Nomu.
They had started spreading propagandist messages of how society had been decaying, how the Hero Association was corrupt and evil, and the current leadership of Japan was weak and mere lapdogs to the Association. Such messages weren't exactly uncommon up to this point, but there hadn't been any traction behind such messages until now.
The League of Villains, or "The Paranormal Liberation Front" as they were trying to go by, had uncovered and spread evidence to support their claims. The revealing of the Safety Commission as a branch of the H.A. that assassinated heroes, political enemies, and individuals labeled as "threats to the association and heroic society as a whole," had caused riots across not only the country but the entire world and allowed the League to garner a huge following in Japan, and even some global support. Smaller criminal groups had joined up with them as they saw them, and others were feeding them information and money.
To make matters worse, a huge scandal involving Endeavour had also come to light. Because quirks were inheritable, marrying for the sake of breeding new, more powerful quirks had come into focus. This had caused Quirk Eugenics to come about, and while it was illegal in many countries due to the ethical and oftentimes abusive relationships it caused, it had become popular among certain groups. Endeavour had apparently arranged his marriage with eugenics in mind, and while no evidence of coercion had been discovered, it had become clear that the Todoroki household had been regularly abused by Endeavour for well over a decade. His wife had even undergone a mental breakdown from the abuse. She had unintentionally scarred Shoto Todoroki's face with boiling water and had been promptly and silently put into psychiatric care since. However, the worst part about it all was that one of his children had been revealed to be Dabi. This last part had been met with some skepticism at first as Touya Todoroki had been registered as dead for a decade. Up until Endeavour had confirmed the rumors and had flipped everything on its head.
The outcry and riots had only gotten stronger, people had called for Endeavor's head but the government hadn't done anything. This angered people even more and the propaganda that the government were in fact mere lapdogs to the Association had come to be seen as true. Now the League had gone from the equivalent of a small criminal organization to a full-blown domestic terrorist organization in the span of only a few months. They posed an active threat to the government and everyone living in the country. Not to mention the terrorist cells that were rumored to have sprung up in other countries where the H.A.'s hold was strong.
At last, though, the government appeared to have had enough and was actually moving. They'd ordered the mass arrests of everyone in the Safety Commission, civilian and hero alike. While it wasn't confirmed as true or not, the rumors going through the base was that the Safety Commission not only trained normal heroes for the work but even took in children. Brainwashing them and turning them into weapons in the guise of a hero. If true, then things would only get worse publicly and quite a few heroes both inside and outside the Safety Commission would need to undergo psychiatric evaluations, and possibly deprogramming depending on how bad the brainwashing was.
Assistance from other countries had been sought on how best to deal with terrorist organizations as well since Japan had never had to combat domestic terrorism in any serious form. The QSU and the Special Forces Group (SFG) were chosen as the first to be taught how to combat terrorism. So while Izuku and Ahmya had been recovering, they had been undergoing anti-terrorism training as well. The entire organization was also being taught Krav Maga in its entirety, before now, they'd only been given basic tutelage in the martial art to help complement their training in CQC. So while CQC and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu were useful, the goal wasn't just to disable and arrest anymore. It was to neutralize the target as quickly as possible by any means necessary, something Krav Maga excelled at.In the last four months, Izuku and Ahmya had had as much information crammed into their heads as fast as possible. They'd learned quickly, even managing to impress the foreign trainers brought in to assist. Everything had been happening so quickly that Izuku and Ahmya hadn't even been assigned new teammates, as their current training was deemed more important.
At the moment, they were seated at a table in the mess hall. The training was over for now, and they had been given a week's leave to relax and reset. This would be their last night at the base before leaving to visit family. Izuku wouldn't have to travel far given the base's location to Musustafu, Ahmya on the other hand would be leaving on a flight early the next morning.
"So, got any plans for your break from training? Apart from visiting your mother, that is." Asked Ahmya.
"Not really, I don't have any other family that I know of and I don't have any friends back home either." Said Izuku, only a little morose about it.
"Ah." was all Ahmya said, she looked down at her food and focused on that a bit before looking back up.
"You know... if you wanted to, you could always visit me at my home sometime. I know my Aunt, the one who taught me Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, would love to see what you could do. Not to mention my grandfather, he's a big fan of martial arts in general. I think he used to be some kind of MMA fighter back in his heyday." she said, her ears turning a bit red.
Izuku felt himself getting a bit hot. He scratched the back of his head and couldn't meet Ahmya's eyes. "That, uh... sounds like it would be fun. Maybe at some point, yeah," he said, smiling.
The rest of their meal went by quickly, and they were about to deposit their trays when alarms started blaring out across the entire base. The entire mess hall went deathly quiet for a moment, as they all listened to the tone and cadence. Everyone hesitated to respond at first because none of them had heard the alarm signifying an assault by hostile forces outside of training. Then all at once, people bolted from their seats, some leaped out of open windows onto the grass and started running to wherever their gear was stored. Then a voice came over the loudspeakers.
"HOSTILE FORCES HAVE LAUNCHED AN ASSAULT ON THE CITY OF MUSUSTAFU, GEAR UP, AND REPORT TO THE ASSEMBLY YARD FOR ASSIGNMENT. THIS IS NOT A DRILL."
Izuku and Ahmya dashed off as well, each to their rooms to grab their gear, then to the armory to get their armor and weapons.
The entire base had turned into a flurry of activity as helicopters prepared for takeoff, troop transports trucks lined up for loading, and a single Kawasaki C-2 that had been dropping off supplies, prepared for an emergency takeoff and was being boarded by the SFG who were trained paratroopers as well.
Izuku and Ahmya had assembled upon the field, not sure where to go given they lacked a squad. Fortunately, a senior QSU officer who recognized them ran over.
"I'm assigning you two to squad G4 temporarily. They are in the middle of the road in terms of experience and will be assigned to civilian evacuation and protection. They'll be boarding a helicopter, tell the leader I've assigned you two to his squad for this mission." He said, before jogging off once more.
Izuku and Ahmya headed towards the helicopter boarding area and met up with the squad. The leader accepted them without question, and they all boarded the helicopter a few minutes later. They were joined by another squad and shortly after the helicopter was lifting off and flying to Musustafu.
Suddenly a voice came across their comms, and the voice of the QSU Commander barked into their ears, "All right, here's what we know!"
"Villains have warped in across Musustafu city and are running amok. We have confirmed reports of various high-priority villains including Shigaraki, Dabi, Toga Himiko, Mr. Compress, Kurogiri, Re-Destro, and a dozen or more Nomu as well. You will all be dropped off at points around the city and focus on getting civilians into shelters across the city. Then you will receive further orders on what you'll be doing from that point on. Be ready for anything, we don't know what these Nomu are truly capable of. The most we know about them is that they are extremely resilient, some have regenerative abilities, and are very physically strong on average. Should you come into contact with one, do not engage directly unless your squad has been given special permission to engage them. Keep it at bay as best you can and signal for support. Squads that are going to focus on aiding heroes and the police in fighting the invaders will receive orders from their coordinators. Genryusai out."
Izuku turned his helmeted head to look at Ahmya. They couldn't see each other's expressions but they both had a good guess as to what it looked like. The ride in the helicopter was silent, a grim atmosphere had settled over the squads and no one wanted to be the one to break it. A few minutes later they were coming up on the city and everyone looked out whatever window that they had access to.
The first thing they noticed was the dark, cloud-covered sky, with lighting ripping across the clouds in rare displays of sheet lighting. Then Izuku looked down to the city and his eyes widened. The whole city was burning, explosions happening all over, and random quirk attacks dotted the streets and sky. It was like Deika city all over again. His thoughts went to his mother and fear gripped him. Was she safe? That question and more swirled through his mind.
He felt Ahmya put a hand on his shoulder and he turned away from the window to look at her. She simply nodded at him, and he took a deep breath. When he breathed out he took his fear and anxiety and pushed them to one side like had in Deika City. He couldn't allow himself to fall apart, he didn't know anything, and until he knew his mother was safe or otherwise for certain he would operate under the assumption she was safe. He had a job to do, and he would carry it out to the best of his ability.
The helicopter passed over numerous buildings and battles being waged. Then it finally started to descend towards the streets. It touched down and the doors opened. The two squads filed out and the senior squad leader from the other squad patched himself into everyone's comms.
"The nearest shelter is just around the corner, other squads, police, and heroes are already gathering civilians and escorting them to the shelter. We will do the same, when our quadrant is clear we will act as border security while the police and remaining heroes get the civilians into the shelter in an orderly fashion. The fighting hasn't spread here yet so it should reasonably be safe but stay ready. Once all the civilians are secured further orders will come down from the top. Squad G4, you take the residential area down the left road. We'll take the building down the right. MOVE OUT!" barked out the senior squad leader.
Izuku and Ahmya's squad immediately started jogging down the road. Izuku glanced at one of the street labels and did a double-take. They'd touched down near where his mother's and Bakugo's apartment complex was. He jogged up to where the squad leader was taking point.
"Sir, I grew up in this part of the residential district. I know where all the people who might have trouble evacuating on their own live. Permission to take a point, sir." He asked.
The squad leader nodded, "Permission granted." he said then fell back into his own squad.
With Izuku taking point they quickly moved from apartment complex to small home, pointing out where he remembered elderly or infirm individuals to be residing. At some point, the squad leader must have radioed for a vehicle to help in the evacuation of said individuals because two pickup trucks turned down the road they were on. A small group of people consisting of the elderly and the occasional disabled individual was in the middle of the squad's formation as they continued to get people out of their homes. When they loaded up the elderly and infirm onto the pickups, they drove off towards the shelter.
"That's all the people I know of who might have trouble leaving by themselves. It would probably be best from here on to split up and start knocking on doors for anyone still left." He said, facing the squad.
The squad split up and quickly went from door to door, they found the occasional person hiding in their homes, but for the most part, everyone had left. Izuku was relieved to find his own home empty along with the Bakugo's.
It hadn't taken them very long to accomplish their objective thanks to Izuku's guidance, and now they were en route to rendezvous at the shelter. It took them a few minutes of jogging but they made it in good time. They arrived at the building the shelter was located at, and Izuku found it was actually a large underground area that had been made during WWII and had been expanded since in the event of a major natural disaster. A huge mass of people was milling around outside of it, chaos reigned and he could see heroes and police desperately trying to keep the throng under control. the squad he was in immediately wadded into the crowd, heading to the front. Their appearance in black uniforms bearing heavy weapons immediately quieted people they passed by and made way for them.
They got to the front and saw two heroes and two police officers trying to open large steel doors that looked like they hadn't been opened in decades. They likely hadn't, there hadn't been a need for this bunker use in a very long time, and was likely ill-maintained because of it.
"Out of our way." barked the squad leader.
The four people turned around, one of the heroes looking irritated opened his mouth to snap at the people interrupting but closed it immediately at the sight of Izuku's group. They immediately got out of their way and went back to the crowd to try to keep things civil.
"Open it." was all the squad leader had to say.
The tech specialist of the squad went to the door and examined it for a few seconds before turning back. "It's rusted together really well, this place hasn't been touched in at least thirty years and there's definite water damage. I don't want to blow it open if we can help it, but we might not have a choice. We don't have anyone with a quirk that's useful for this scenario." He said, sounding grim.
"We'll try opening it normally, but if we can't get the rust to budge then we'll blow the lock and see if it opens on its hinges. Otherwise, we'll bring the whole door down." Said the squad leader and put his gun on the ground as he approached the door.
Izuku immediately joined him as did Ahmya and two others. The door had several rods lining the outside of it and Izuku guessed the doors were originally designed for either a naval vessel or an old train. It had just been refashioned and repurposed for use as a door at some point.
All five of them gripped rods attached to the door and pulled when the handle was turned. They strained, veins popping from the exertion as some put a foot against the surrounding wall for added strength. Izuku felt his muscles strain to their limits, then beyond. There was the sound of snapping, ripping, and shattering metal, and the door burst open.
The entire group reeled backward and fell to the ground. They'd opened the door, but the hinges were now shot. Only one worked and now the whole door hung lopsided.
They got up and walked into the shelter and flipped the power switch. Lights blinked on across the large cavernous room and revealed a large number of boxes on either side of the door. They broke open the boxes to reveal rolled-up and plastic-wrapped sleeping mats. With other boxes possessing other disaster supplies.
Satisfied, they went back outside. Izuku and Ahmya were sent ahead to find a good place to hunker down and watch the roads while the squad leader and the rest of his team helped in getting people into the shelter.
They skirted the edge of the crowd, people shuffling out of their way. When they got out of the throng of people they turned around and just looked at the people for a moment, at the huge almost panicking crowd. When Izuku heard a voice off to his right that he recognized. He turned and saw his mother along the crowd's edge.
"Mom!" he cried and ran over to her, removing his helmet as he did so. Ahmya followed close behind.
Izuku's mother turned and saw her son and immediately ran to him as well. Izuku scooped up his mother and hugged her tight while she immediately started crying.
They stayed like that for a minute before Izuku reluctantly extracted himself from her embrace, but kept her close just the same.
"I'm okay mom, I'm okay." He said as she babbled incoherently.
It took another minute to get his mother to calm down enough to speak.
"Thank the gods you're safe, I was... so... so worried about you." she managed to get out through hiccuping sobs.
"I was worried about you too. But you should be safe now, we got the shelter doors open and now everyone can get inside now. I'm okay, but you need to get inside so I'll be sure you're okay." He said, a few tears falling down his face.
"I know, I know... Just... stay safe. Okay?" His mother said, giving him a stern look despite her tear-stained face.
Izuku smiled and hugged her again. "I will mom, you stay safe too." He said, finally letting go of her.
"I love you Izuku," she said finally.
"I love you to mom," he said back.
She turned and went back to the crowd that started to move into the shelter. Izuku put his helmet back on and just watched her go for a few seconds, slowly walking backward for a bit, before turning.
He was midturn when the world simply exploded into white.
He was on fire. Every inch of his body felt like it was burning and he awoke from unconsciousness screaming. He wasn't sure how long he spent screaming but eventually, he turned onto his side where his screaming turned into a whimper as his screams subsided and tears streamed down his face in agony. He didn't think pain like this could exist without dying, he almost wished he would die if only for the pain to end.
He wasn't sure how long he lay on his side but eventually, lucidity returned to him through the agonizing pain as it lessened and he adjusted. His lungs were burning, pain-wracked his body all over. He grit his teeth and looked around.
Everything was on fire, the concrete, the buildings, the cars, the corpses, so many corpses. He turned to face toward Ahmya and saw her lying on the ground, smoke rising from her body as she twitched occasionally.
It was around that point that he became aware of several things. Firstly, he couldn't hear anything as if he had suddenly gone deaf. He had also gone blind in his left eye and his sense of touch was definitely partially muted. Then when he tried to rise to his knees, he realized with a stab of panic that he couldn't move anything below the waist. His muscles just wouldn't work, despite having some degree of feeling in them. Enough to feel pain anyways.
He turned his head again to face the other direction towards the crowd. A column of fire stretched into the sky, he could see people flailing, screaming, charred bodies smoking, bodies burning, and he started to crawl towards it all.
He had eyes only for the small form ahead of him. He dragged himself as best he could, using his arms to drag his crippled body towards his mother. Eventually, he came to her, she was on her side facing away from him.
With shaking hands he turned her over and just stared. Her charred and burned body faced upward. Her eyes unseeing, and smoke rose out of her agape mouth.
He screamed in horror and despair, his cry joining a chorus of others that echoed off the walls of the buildings around them. He clutched at her body, and he choked on the smell of burning flesh that now pervaded the entire street.
Tears rolled down his face, and he let out choking sobs as they were the only things he could do. He looked up into the sky and saw a man floating in the air, suspended by bolts of lightning that arced to the nearby building and ground. The man looked down at them, and for a moment Izuku thought they locked eyes. Then in an explosion of lighting, he was gone, hurtling through back into the dark stormy sky he had come from.
