Their Hero Academia – Chapter 69: Living and Surviving on Island Time
"We need to do what we can to contain this," Tamaki Togata said, looking at Isamu and his friends. "If we're lucky, they've sent out a distress signal. If we're not…"
Isamu shook his head. It was practically unthinkable. An island was a closed loop. And since the madness they'd been fighting was touch transmissible, it would either keep circulating forever, burn itself out, or maybe not stop until everyone was dead. Two of those options weren't good and the other was optimistic in the extreme.
It had to be a Quirk of some kind. But whose? And where were they now? And what kind of Quirk was making people go nuts?
And more importantly, how had Togata resisted it? Nobody else had! It looked like he'd been fighting it, with the green glow of his Quirk pushing back against it. But Togata's Quirk was increasing his density, wasn't it? To give himself super-strength and durability by increasing the density of his skin and muscles? That didn't suggest any kind of mental resistance.
Midoriya didn't seem entirely surprised by it either, which just raised further questions. In fact, Midoriya had been extremely insistent that Togata not be allowed to go berserk. The same as Togata himself had told him. He'd taken it as just being cautious, but…
Togata looked over Isamu, Midoriya, Sero, the Iida twins, and his brother, David. "First off, you're all deputized now. I already deputized Haimawari, but as long as you're here…"
The Sidekick sighed. "I should be telling you to find someplace to hide and wait this out. But you've seen what it's like out there right now. And besides, I have a feeling that even if I did tell you, you'd find a way to get involved anyway."
"Except for you, Dave," he added. "I want you to stay with Tokuda. We cleared this area for the most part, so…"
David Togata nodded. "Yeah. I get it. I'm not made for fighting." He didn't seem happy about it, but he seemed to accept it.
"So what do we do, Tamaki?" Midoriya asked.
"I want to try and find the source of this," Togata said. "Which means getting as good a view of the island is possible. Fortunately, we've got some fliers." He pointed to the Iida twins. "I know it's crazy everywhere right now, but with a higher perspective, I think we can figure it out."
Tensei Iida nodded. "We look not for where it is and where it has already spread at large…"
"But by where it is not or where it is only starting to spread," Sora Iida finished.
"Right," Togata said. "Once you've given us a few probable locations, we can investigate."
"Anybody else weirded out when they do that twin talk thing?" Sero asked. There was a pause as everyone, Tensei included, glared at him. "What? Love you babe, but it's just creepifying."
There was the sound again, like jet engines. They looked up and saw strange robots, with long limbs and wings, flying overhead. The robots quickly spread out, likely seeking out areas of conflict…
"Not good," Togata said. He pointed at the twins. "You two need to get up there now. And be careful."
The woman who had popped up out of the ground was dressed all in black, with just her head and blonde hair exposed. Rei recognized her instantly: Nejire Togata, the Blonde Phantom. One of U.A.'s so-called Big Three who was doing her Work Study under the Underground Hero known as the Laughing Man. Quirk: Density Control.
Rei made sure to keep up with Pro-Heroes and others she might have to fight. It was just good sense these days. Third year U.A. students, especially the Big Three, were just about as close to Pros as it was possible to get, which meant she didn't have to feel bad about hurting her.
Togata's eyes fell on the corpses of the men Rei and Miss Compress had killed. They hadn't been good men, seeing as how they'd tried to kidnap the little girl, Hinata Otake, daughter of one of the scientists on the island for their boss, Chernabog, to use as ransom. But they were still very dead.
Heroes really didn't like it when people were dead. They were kind of stuffy that way. But some people, Rei knew, just needed killing.
She looked over to their escape boat, where Overdrive was waiting. Of course, their wheelwoman wasn't going to be any help. Instead, the silent woman simply made a hand motion indicating they should hurry it up. Rei just sighed. Fine, she'd do it herself.
"I was after those guys," Togata said, her face set in grim determination, "but looks like you beat me to it. Don't know why you got involved, but I know you're all on a lot of wanted lists. So this is your only warning. Stand. Down."
"Could we sit instead?" Rei asked. "Been on my feet all day and these boots ain't nearly as comfortable as they look."
"Well, I guess…" Togata started to say.
It gave Rei just enough of opening. She let out a scream and charged, knives sailing through the air. She just needed a couple of good slashes, just enough to draw blood. Then her Quirk could do the rest. But for all her moment of scatterbrainedness, Togata was quick to react, going intangible so that Rei's knives passed through her. Just as quickly, she turned one of her arms super-dense and smacked it into Rei, hard. She went flying through the air, hitting a stack of crates. She was pretty sure she could hear the kid scream.
"No more trying to trick me!" Togata snapped. "Fight fair!" Rei had to admit, her expression was kind of like that of a kicked puppy. At least that was how she sounded. It was a little hard to see straight with how her head was spinning.
"Yeah, well," Rei said, trying to get back on her feet, "why don't at least two and less than four of you come over here and say that!"
Shaking her head to clear it, Rei jumped through the air, knives flashing again. Togata turned intangible again and sunk into the ground, popping back up and delivering a flying strike that knocked her out of the air. Rei hit the ground hard, dropping her knives, which went clattering away.
"I can do this all day," Togata said. "I mean, I'd really like not to, because, in case you haven't noticed, it's kind of crazy out there. Oooh! Did you have something to do with that?"
Rei really wanted for her to stop talking. It might have been the head injuries, but her voice was like a drill through the skull. "…As soon as I get my knives back, I'm going to stab you so hard."
"Ahem." Miss Compress's voice got both of their attentions. She had a hand on Otake's head. "I do hate to interrupt the show, but allow me to make this very clear. Either you allow us to leave or…"
"You wouldn't!" Togata said.
"You don't know that for certain, dahling," Compress said. "And I can do it before you even get close. Assuming you can get past Toga. Though at the rate you're beating her up, I doubt that would be too terribly difficult."
"Oh, thanks," Rei snapped. The nerve of some people!
Compress shrugged. "It's true, dahling." She fixed Togata with a stare Rei could practically feel, even with Compress's mask. "I'll give you the girl, and you let us go. Do we have a deal, Hero?"
Togata hesitated and Rei could swear she could see the hamster on the wheel in her head running faster. "Deal," she said, reluctantly. "Damn you."
"Very good," Compress said. "Come, Toga." She gave Otake a shove in Togata's direction, even as she ran towards the boat.
Somewhat unsteadily, Rei ran after, catching up quickly. She didn't look back, but she could hear Togata comforting the girl, while Otake said something about how they'd saved her.
They dropped into the speedboat and she could tell Overdrive wasn't pleased with the delays.
"Say," Rei said, "you wouldn't really have…"
"My little secret, dahling," Compress said.
Overdrive engaged her Quirk and they vanished.
Tensei rocketed into the air, his sister beside him. At a carefully controlled speed, it did not take long to give the two of them birds' eye views of the island. Evening had started to fall and a series of automated lights had come on all over the Expo. But that light was nothing compared to the orange glow that came from all of the infected.
"So many," Sora said. She, like him, was applying carefully controlled and regular bursts of power. With the thrust from their engines, hovering was difficult, but it had become a skill they had mastered over the course of the first term.
"It staggers the mind," he agreed. Haimawari had hastily told them that their father had been infected, but had been knocked unconscious the last he had seen him. They were not certain where their mother was. She was supposed to have been giving a demonstration of her latest babies, so hopefully there were Pro-Heroes around who could offer protection. Not that she was incapable of protecting herself, of course. She was very good with a wrench to the head when push came to shove.
Below them, though, was nothing but chaos. From their vantage point, they could make out some details of individual groups, but not all. All over the island, there were large swaths of glowing orange. Many were still, but many more were not. Colorful bursts of power flew in every direction as infected, Hero, and civilian alike unleashed their Quirks. There were already several fires burning and at least one building threatening to topple. It would take considerable time for I-Island to be right again, even if—when—they stopped this.
The robots… They were of an unfamiliar design, though he recognized pieces of their technology and theorized certain other pieces at play. They were efficient, he would give them that. Capable of considerable suppressing fire, with what appeared to be nonlethal ammunition, able to operate from an elevated vantage point, they were making short work of many of the infected, quickly turning the tide in an area, before moving on to the next. Not all of them lasted, though. Several were quickly brought down by wild Quirks, including one that was simply ripped in half by a man with a monstrification Quirk.
"There!" Sora's voice cut through any further analysis of the situation. "Brother, do you see?"
He looked to where she was pointing. While neither of them had inherited their mother's Quirk, both of them were possessed of extraordinarily good vision. And even if they were not, it would be hard to miss what they were seeing from this high up. Towards the far end of the Expo, heading towards the hotels, was a solitary figure, glowing orange. That had to be it. Right towards where a number of people were already running to, trying to escape the rest of the chaos.
"That must be the person who has caused this," he said.
"Circumstantial evidence, but I am inclined to agree," Sora replied. "We must share this with the others. If we can get there quickly…"
"Perhaps we can put an end to this," Tensei finished.
All he had wanted was a simple vacation, a chance to see the newest in Support Gear and to spend time with his family and boyfriend. He was vaguely aware that many of their parents, his father included, thought Takuma was too laid back and attention seeking for his own good. He had hoped additional time around him would soften his opinion.
He had been told the life of a Hero was tumultuous. And he knew his father's had been even more so than was usual, with all of the Villain attacks before he had even graduated. But thus far, other than what had happened during their Internships, they had been spared that.
Or so he had thought.
He started his decent. There would be time enough to be angry with the universe later. For now, action was required.
At this point, Melissa honestly wasn't sure if things were getting better or worse. Jinsei's prototype combat robots were, at least, helping to contain the threat. And they were able to tell friend from foe fairly easily, which suggested his A.I. was fairly well developed. But there was also a kind of brutal efficiency to them she wasn't sure she liked. With precision strikes, rapid suppressing fire, domination of the battlefield, it all felt very military to her.
Heroes weren't the military. They weren't even the police (though the police in Japan were very different from the police in America). Did Jinsei really think this was the solution? With what he had lost, maybe he really did think this kind of swift, brutal response was what was needed these days.
But she also thought of all the fights that Mirio and Izuku had deescalated and stopped with words instead of violence, of the times they'd been able to let a Villain just tire themselves out by making themselves a target instead. Of course, there were times where they'd had to fight, and fight brutally, but this…
It left her feeling cold.
"Dammit," Jensei said, as several of the display screens winked off, in response to the robots being destroyed. "I should have made them stronger. Or more aggressive. They're failing…" There was a hopelessness in his voice, like he was failing all over again.
"They're making a difference," she said. She pointed to a screen. The American Hero, Insomniac, was leading a mixed charge of Heroes and civilians, taking advantage of the opening Jensei's robot had provided. On another, people were able to take cover while a robot's suppressing fire made short work of the infected. Even the robots that were being destroyed meant that, for the moment, the infected were focusing on them and not on people. Even if she didn't like their brutality, she could admit that much.
She'd lost track of David, but the last she'd seen, he'd been safe. Tamaki was leading Toshi and the others somewhere. Her eldest son had good instincts and she trusted that he knew what he was doing. She still wasn't sure where Nejire was, which was worrying to say the least.
They had less than half the robots they'd started with, but for a few moments, they'd made a difference. It looked like Tamaki was leading the kids somewhere too…
"Whatever you're going to do, Tamaki," she said quietly, "do it fast…"
It had already escalated by the time they'd gotten there. More people had fallen to the madness, turning their Quirks on each other and their surroundings. It looked like mostly physical Quirks, so if they could keep their distance, maybe they could be safe.
Tamaki took charge, giving orders quickly. "Sero, containment! Haimawari, suppressing fire! Iidas, evac the civilians! Midoriya, stick with me!"
"Right!" their voices echoed as one. They may have only been first-year Hero students, but they were, except for Haiamwari, the children of Heroes. They'd grown up on their parents' stories their entire lives, starting as fanciful bedtime stories which had eventually morphed into the earnest truth. Or at least some of it. He was pretty sure none of them knew the complete stories. But Toshi knew from Mom and Dad what had really gone down, how scared they'd often been, how closed they'd come to dying before their first year was even over.
And how they'd chosen to do the right thing anyway. Could he, could they, do any less?
Time and time again, Sora and Tensei zipped back and forth, grabbing the uninfected and depositing them behind the line they were creating. Sero unleashed strip after strip of his sticky Acid Tape, creating long strings between buildings and even laying some strips on the ground, in addition to roping up individuals and small groups of the infected. Haimawari took down those he could, firing bolts of blue-white energy at a rapid fire pace. And Tamaki did what he could without touching anyone, seismic stomps and air punches, even occasionally grabbing something to throw. There were so, so many of them, and there was so little they could do without risking becoming infected themselves.
Somewhere along the line, he'd stopped listening to the individual cries and shouts. With each person venting their own fears and hallucinations, it had just merged into a single, cacophonic noise that made it impossible to separate one from the other. He wasn't sure if that made it better or worse. But right now, he couldn't think about it. He needed all his wits about him just to survive. They all did.
"Wah!" Toshi let out a cry of alarm as a man with hammer hands nearly smashed him with those same hands. He sprung up and back, sailing through the air on low gravity. As he hit the building behind him, he pushed off and back down, sailing like a missile. At the last second, he increased his gravity as much as he could, sending a shockwave through the ground.
Above, he could see one of the robots the twins had spotted earlier. They'd said they were doing crowd control, concentrating on the areas with the highest outbreaks. If one had peeled off to find them out here, then either they'd successfully suppressed the outbreak or…
What if they were the last ones left? Just them and the robots and an island-sized mob.
No! He had to believe there was an end in sight.
The robot opened fire with its weapons, some kind of dart gun built into each arm. Probably some kind of sedative. Each time it struck someone, they went down quickly. A woman on fire. A man made of crystal. A man with tentacles instead of arms. They bounced off a small person who looked like a crab, but one of Haimawari's shots knocked them down instead. Toshi wasn't sure if he should be grateful for the robotic assistance or not. There was something impersonal about it, distant. Robots couldn't make the kinds of decisions people could. What if someone had a bad reaction to whatever was in those darts…
"Damn bugs!" a woman with an electricity Quirk screamed. She pointed and a bolt of lightning lanced out from her hands and struck the robot. It fell to the ground in a shower of sparks. So much for the robot.
But it had bought them a few minutes. He concentrated his own gravity and executed a stomp like Tamaki had been doing, knocking the woman off her feet long enough for Sero to tape her to the ground. At least his tape was non-conductive. So long as no one got close, they'd be okay.
This was his worst nightmare of a fight. His fighting style was dependent on being able to move, like Grandpa Torino. He could fight well otherwise, but even in a brawl, he needed to be able to touch and punch. He didn't even technically have super-strength, just more powerful blows, so he couldn't throw anything.
"Haimawari!" Tamaki screamed out. "Behind you!"
Toshi could only watch helplessly as one of the infected extended their fingers and wrapped them around Haimawari's ankle. At the sudden grip, his friend turned and let unleashed a bolt of energy, taking them down fast. But it was already too late. The orange glow started to spread up his body.
Tamaki whipped around and placed his hand on Haimawari's head. Haimawari was starting to convulse, his face twisted in a grimace of fear that looked quite out of place. "I know I'm not Deku," Tamaki said, "but I need you guys to do this for me… Please! Save him!"
There was a great flash of green light that passed from Tamaki to Isamu.
There had been a moment that had sent his heart racing a kilometer a minute and the world had gone very orange. Everywhere Isamu looked, he saw his friends and family. Mom. Dad. Deku. Midoriya. Kana. Kirishima-Bakugo. Even Shinso!
Faker, they said. We know you're a faker. We don't know how you got this far, but sooner or later, everyone's going to see you don't deserve all this attention you're getting from everyone. Luck can't last forever. You don't have the skill, you don't have the courage, and you definitely don't have the power to keep up!
Worthless son of Vigilantes, trying to keep up with the kids of real Heroes! You're never going to measure up! There's a reason your parents weren't Heroes! You just don't have it in you!
Why not quit while you're ahead, before you embarrass yourself?
Faker.
Faker.
FAKER!
He wanted to cry out that he wasn't, that no matter how much he doubted himself, there had to be some spark of heroism within him. It was true he doubted that he was worthy of the attention of greats like Deku, but he was a Hero! He would be, he knew!
He'd just have to show them all! Blast through all of them, each and every one until they understood! Yes, that was it!
Time to show them all! He started to call upon his Quirk. If he wanted to show them all, he'd have to blast them harder than anything he'd ever done before…
There was a flash of green and all the fear and rage seemed to melt away in an instant. The taunting visions of his friends and family vanished back into the shadows. But he could swear he could still hear voices…
So this is the kid my grandson's so impressed by, huh?
Are we really doing this again?
Don't worry, I understand it now. It's a lot easier to fight off now that I know what we're doing.
Getting spread kind of thin, ain't we?
Togata wouldn't have done it if he didn't think it was the right thing to do. We need to trust him.
Don't get used to this kid. One time only!
One shot. Don't waste it.
Okay, so he was apparently still hearing voices. These ones were encouraging, at least. His vision swam for a moment, and then he saw Togata standing in front of him. He felt good, he realized, brimming with energy. So much of the day's exhaustion gone. Truthfully, he almost felt like he had too much power. The energy of his Quirk was surging within him and all of his limbs felt like they were spring-loaded and ready to burst. His heart, already racing, seemed to pound more and more furiously in his chest.
"Thank goodness," Togata said. He was still powered up, but the glow around him seemed somehow dimmer. "I wasn't sure that would work."
"Wasn't sure what would work?" Isamu demanded. He was a patient guy. He was, he liked to think, an understanding guy. But today was a nightmare and the last thing he needed was people speaking in riddles.
"If we survive this," Togata said. "I'll tell you."
That was definitely up for debate. As he looked around, he could only see that they were surrounded. And if they were right, the one who was behind this was getting away.
"Behind you!" Isamu shouted, spotting one coming up from behind Togata. It looked like Sumire Hiwatashi, her lips pulled back into a fanged snarl. Had it really only been this morning that he'd told the tanuki-woman that he probably wouldn't need a guide around the island?
His Quirk surged as he fired a low-powered energy pulse and it hit her dead on as she leapt, impacting with a loud sound and flare of light, knocking her back several meters.
Had… had he done that? That bolt shouldn't have been that powerful! His arm was sore too; the kickback on the bolt had been greater than he'd expected. If he didn't reflexively brace himself with his adhesion power when he fired, he probably would have been thrown back just as far.
Togata fired off another air punch, knocking back a spider-like infected woman. "Throttle it back just a little," he told Isamu. "You're a little topped up right now."
What the hell did that mean?!
"Guys!" Midoriya called out. He landed hard from a jump, heavy-gravity. For a moment, the shockwave from the impact knocked the crowd down. But there were too many of them, many of them already getting back up on their feet. "We've got to do something!"
Sero swung around, wrapping up a trio of infected in his stickiest Acid Tape. He rolled badly when he hit the ground, came up slowly. "Starting to run out of oomph here, guys…"
The twins were fairing no better. Unable to directly engage, Sora and Tensei had picked up makeshift batons and were using their flight and speed to distract and strike.
Maybe someone was coming. Maybe there were more Heroes on the island. Maybe some of those robots were still out there to turn the tide.
It was a lot of maybes.
Maybe it was just down to them. He thought of the few people they'd rescued, the people sheltering in place or trying to run and hide. He thought of the rest of the world, if this should ever get out.
"Can you throw me over the crowd?" he asked Togata, firing bolts into the crowd. They were brighter, stronger than they'd ever been. He had to really concentrate if he didn't want to kill someone. "If you can get me past them… I'll go after whoever's behind this."
"You've got guts," Togata said. "It's risky but…"
"It's the only shot we've got," Isamu finished for him.
"Yeah." Togata nodded. "And you're playing the bullet." Glowing brightly, he grabbed Isamu and threw him.
As he sailed through the air, propelled by the power of Togata's throw, Isamu wondered if he'd made a mistake. Below, the crowd of infected craned their necks to watch his trajectory and several of them raised their hands to unleash their Quirks upon him. He could steer himself a little with some controlled blasts from his Quirk (Easy, easy! He had to use just a little power!), but there was no way he could avoid everything. It was all going to be for nothing if he was taken out that quirkly.
"Oh no you don't!" Togata shouted. As one, he and Midoriya slammed their feet into the ground, unleashing yet another powerful shockwave. Sero followed their actions quickly, unleashing rapid fire strips of his Acid Tape, pinning the crowd for a moment.
"Go get them, Haimawari!" Midoriya shouted.
Everybody was counting on him. No pressure or anything, right? Kind of like the pressure not to hit the ground, which was coming up awfully fast…
Mindful of the fact that he seemed to be super-charged, Isamu unleashed a careful burst of power just as he hit the ground. Even then, it was like being shot from the barrel of a gun. He throttled back even more, his own power feeling hot in his hands and feet. He slid along the ground easily, though he couldn't help but notice he was doing a lot more damage to the ground, rocketing up the path towards the lab buildings before skidding to a stop and standing.
Where had they gone? He knew he'd seen someone running up this way. How hard could they possible be to find? Especially glowing like that?
"Where are you?" he muttered to himself, looking around. Behind him, he could hear the sounds of fighting still. It was all he could do to ignore it to, to focus on his part in all this. No matter how much he wanted to check on them, he had to trust that they'd do their part… just like he had to do his.
No matter how much it made him feel like he was abandoning them.
Wait… There, in the bushes, was a flicker of orange. A full power blast would probably do it. Take them by surprise. Get them before they could get him or anyone else. Maybe put an end to this madness. Be the big hero. Save the day.
And save his friends. He was certain he'd just heard Sero scream…
Energy hummed and pulsed in his hand. It would be quick. It would be easy. The raw power was practically roaring in his body, practically demanding to be unleashed. It was more power than he'd ever felt before and he could feel it deep down in his bones.
He tried to pretend he didn't hear Sora Iida scream Midoriya's name.
He thought about his parents' stories from their Vigilante days, about people who had had their Quirks pushed to extreme limits and were experimented on, forced into violence and conflicts with the Heroes. He thought of Aunt Tamao and Mom, who'd wrought great destruction when possessed by the Queen Bee, but who had been saved with compassion, not the violence of Heroes. And he thought of countless stories of people who had lost control of their Quirks and caused panics. None of those had been quite on this scale, of course, but still…
It had all been so chaotic. But even when they'd been closest… they'd never seen anyone being deliberately infected with the madness. It a crowd, with it spread by a touch, it would be so easy for it to get out of control. With everyone driven towards madness and so many of them lashing out or wanting to fight, it wouldn't take much at even one or two accidentally infected to spread it far and wide.
No one was staying around to gloat or watch their handiwork. No threats, no taunts, nothing.
He let the energy in his hand fade away. He flexed his fingers to restore some feeling to them.
Instead, he forced himself to ignore the sounds and screams behind him and approached the bushes. There, huddled and frightened, he found the guy they'd seen running away before. If there was one thing he was absolutely certain of, it was that there was no malice here, no Villain.
The man's eyes snapped up and locked on him. He was glowing orange like the others, but there was something different about it, the way it flickered and pulsed like a heartbeat. "Stay back!" the man cried out, wrapping his arms around himself. He scooted backwards on the ground. "Don't touch me! I'll infect you too!"
"Don't worry," Isamu said. Mentally, he added that it was too late for that. He would also swear that he'd heard a voice remind him that it only worked once. "I don't want to hurt anybody. I'm just here to help… help everyone. Did you, ah, did you lose control of your Quirk?"
Was this a resurgence of the Quirk Virus that had broken out early into the school year? That had disappeared almost as suddenly as it had arrived, as though somebody had simply cast it aside. But maybe it was back? The man had to be in his thirties, at least, though he looked like he'd had years of hard living, making it harder to tell. Adults losing control of their Quirks wasn't nearly as common as children, but with the right Quirk and the right sudden moment, just about anything was possible.
The man pulled back, further into himself and away from Isamu. "All of it… all because of me. This place was supposed to keep me safe, keep me from hurting anybody. Those women, they pulled me out, turned me lose… I kept trying to get away, but it was so crowded, I couldn't find anywhere to hide, couldn't keep it from spreading… I'm so sorry… People are hurting because of me… Maybe even…"
His face, Isamu realized, was tear-stained beneath the glow. The way he was rambling, apologizing, he knew, in his heart, that this was no Villain. The mention of "those women" was a question for another day, something he could pass on to the authorities if he survived. Way above his paygrade, even if he'd been deputized.
"It's okay," Isamu said, trying to project a confidence he wasn't sure he actually felt. "Well, no. It's not. It's, ah, it's not good out there. I don't know how many of my friends or anyone are left unaffected. But I know you didn't mean for any of this to happen. So help me help you. How do we stop this?"
The man shook his head. "I can't… I can't turn my Quirk off. Every second I'm awake, anyone I touch, all I do is make nightmares…"
He looked down. "I tried living alone. Away from everybody. Put people kept finding me. So they put me here, put me to sleep. At least I wasn't hurting anyone…"
What kind of life was that? Isamu's heart broke for the man. He knew there were people out there with dangerous Quirks, but he thought most of them lived cautious, but everyday lives. Then again, none that he'd ever heard of had been as powerful as this guy's.
The man looked up, locking eyes with him. "My Quirk only works if I'm awake. It wears off too, but…" He shrugged, helplessly.
There were still the sounds of fighting behind him. But Isamu didn't look. He didn't want to face what he might see.
"I'm sorry," Isamu said. "I can't imagine trying to deal with that. I wish there was something I could do."
This time, the man looked up, at the sky. He sighed, wistfully. "I've missed being outside. But if this is the price, then it's not worth it. You were going to shoot me, weren't you?"
"I, ah, wasn't," Isamu began, but thought against it. From the way it sounded, this man had had everything in the deck stacked against him. He deserved honesty at least. "I was. I was going to take you down before you had a chance to do anything. I thought you were a Villain. But you're clearly not."
"I don't feel like I'm not." The man shook his head again. "Do it. Once I'm knocked out, it'll wear off on everyone."
Isamu blanched. He'd already hurt enough people who didn't deserve it today. He didn't want to add one more, one guy whose only fault was having a terrible Quirk. "I can't just…"
"My name is Setsushi," the man said. "Somebody ought to know it. I'll take my share of the blame for this."
Setsushi's eyes snapped to him again. "Do it. Knock me out. Be the hero."
Isamu brought his hand up, charging up a pulse. Just enough to knock the guy out. As gentle as he could make it. He just had to remember to compensate for the power boost. Setsushi had suffered enough, that much was clear.
"I'm sorry," he said, and fired.
Setsushi didn't flinch. He kept eye contact the whole time, something in his expression reading as "I forgive you." The bolt struck him square in the head and bowled him over. He fell back into the grass and the orange glow faded.
Behind him, Isamu could hear the fighting stop. It was like a light switch had been flipped, as sanity had been restored.
He guessed that meant they'd won. But it sure didn't feel like it.
Heart of a hero this one, one of the voices from before said. A woman's voice, kind, but strong. It was a lot fainter this time, as though coming from far away. He could almost believe he'd imagined it. Definitely going to expect big things from…
The voice faded away just as suddenly as it had come. And the energy that had left him feeling wired like he had drank a gallon of coffee was gone just as suddenly. He fell to the ground and let unconsciousness take him.
"Ah!" Isamu shot up with a jolt, as consciousness returned to him in a rush. It took him a moment to realize he was in a bed, in what looked like a hospital room. There were two chairs in the room, occupied by Midoriya and Togata. Both of them looked tired, but they were both very much alive.
"Haimawari!" Midoriya said, springing up from his chair. He'd changed out of his Hero uniform at some point, Isamu realized, both of them had, and looked like they'd had a chance to get cleaned up at some point. Togata followed quickly in getting up from his own chair.
Isamu resisted the urge to ask questions like how long he was out or where he was. Those weren't the important things to learn right now. Instead, he asked, "What happened? Is everyone okay?"
Togata nodded. "Everyone's fine. When you knocked Setsushi out, everyone went back to normal."
"We all made it," Midoriya added. "Sora and Tensei are checking on their parents. You gave Uncle Tenya a pretty good wallop and he was out the whole time. And Aunt Mei was in one of the Expo halls, but a couple of the Pros there kept everyone safe. Sero was around, but he went to get some snacks."
Isamu let out a small breath. He guessed that made it all worth it then. Even if he couldn't stop thinking about the profound wrongness of it all. Somebody who'd more or less voluntarily let themselves be locked up for something entirely out of his control and he'd had to hurt him. That wasn't the kind of thing he wanted to do as a Hero. He'd had to hurt a lot of people today. Assuming it was still today. He wasn't sure at this point. It was dark outside his window, but he didn't see any clock.
"Did anybody…" Isamu trailed off. Things had gotten crazy out there. People had lost control of their minds, bodies, and Quirks. It was too much to ask that there had been no casualties. No with all the power being thrown around and all the damage to the buildings.
"Lots of injuries," Togata said, "but no casualties. At least… not directly related to thisBut that's not your problem. We got lucky. Probably a lot of lasting trauma, but at least everyone gets to go home to process it."
"What about you?" Isamu asked Midoriya. "I heard Iida scream your name at one point…"
Midoriya looked down. "Yeah. They got me. Came out of it buried in the ground. Must have sunk under my own gravity."
Isamu didn't ask what his friend had seen. If Midoriya wanted to share, he would listen, but if he'd experienced anything like Isamu had, what he had seen may well have been deeply personal. The taunting faces of family and friends was still well etched into his memory. It'd be a while, he knew, before he could shake that.
He looked at Togata. "Couldn't you, ah, bring him out of it? Like you did for me?"
Togata frowned. "You remember that, then?"
"Most of it, anyway," Isamu said. "I heard voices." Felt like I was going to blow my arms off if I wasn't careful." He flexed his arm a little and there was no pain. Someone with a healing Quirk must have given him a once over. "Pretty sure I passed out when whatever it was wore off."
Midoriya and Togata were both looking nervous, he realized. Isamu pulled himself into a better sitting position. "But I'm also pretty sure that nothing about that had anything to do with density control."
"Haimawari, I…" Togata began. "I know what I said, but…"
Isamu crossed his arms, but quickly dropped them. The gesture made him look like a petulant child. Togata was clearly reluctant to tell him anything, but he'd felt something, some kind of power unlike anything he'd ever experienced. He deserved the right to know what had happened to him. "You said you'd tell me what was going on if we survived."
"I know what I said," Togata repeated, and Isamu could tell he felt guilty about his reluctance. "But you have to understand, this isn't just my story to tell. There's secrets that aren't mine to tell."
"You should tell him," a voice at the door said. "Or I can. They like him."
"Dad!" Midoriya said, brightening instantly.
Isamu turned. Deku was standing in the doorway.
Of course, Deku had been one of the Heroes to respond to the distress call I-Island had sent out. His family and friends were there, to say nothing of how he was one of the fastest people on the planet. But it had taken him time too; by the time he'd arrived, the fighting had been over and all he'd been able to do was assist with the cleanup. He'd already checked on his friends and their children, and was now checking in on his one-time intern. And then, with all seriousness, he'd told a story.
The story Deku had woven was an incredible one. About a power going back to nearly the dawn of Quirks, about an unspeakable evil, about a Quirk which could and had been passed on, including from All Might to Deku, about how two different Quirkless boys had been given the opportunity to become the greatest Heroes the world had ever known. If he hadn't heard the voices—the Vestiges, Deku had called them—in his own head, he might never have believed it.
"So you're the Ninth," he said to Deku, getting a nod in response. "All Might was the Eight." Another nod. Isamu pointed at Togata. "And you're the tenth, then? But you've been Deku's Sidekick for years. You said All Might was running on fumes after he passed it on…"
"Some of that was his injuries," Deku said. "But the situation now is a bit different."
Tamaki nodded. "I'm more like… Nine point One. Or Ten with an asterisk."
He looked over to Deku, as though seeking reassurance. Deku nodded. "I was Quirkless too," Tamaki said. "Which wasn't really unexpected. Mom was, so fifty-fifty shot. Of course, Nejire got hers early, so by the time I was four it… wasn't great. I was growing up with all kinds of Heroes around and, well… I wasn't taking it well.
"But Uncle Izuku here always believed in me. He didn't promise me anything back then, after I got my diagnosis, of course, but Dad, Mom, him, everybody told me they'd support me in whatever I wanted to do. He helped get people to train me, so that I could be a Hero, even without a Quirk. But when I was fourteen, he came to me with an offer."
Tamaki looked over to Deku, who nodded and picked up the story. "The thing about One for All is, well, it likes me. A lot. I even tried to give it away once, a couple decades ago, but it came on back. I've had it for over two decades now and I've learned how to talk to the previous users. We've got an understanding. So while they're not ready to go anywhere, they're pretty good with me loaning a bit of them out. There's… stuff buried in the Quirk so that I don't even need DNA to do it. I've given Tamaki, probably, oh, twenty percent right now. And when I am ready to step down, they'll go pretty willingly. I don't want to be running myself ragged until the end like Dad did. I've already built more of a life for myself than he had when he was my age, but this is a power that's meant to be out there, helping people. It's not something one person should horde forever."
"I don't have anywhere near that level of communication," Tamaki added. "I've only seen them three times now. And two of those were today: when I had to fight off the infection from Godzillo and when I asked them to save you. Which I really wasn't sure was going to work, but I'm glad it was. You saved everybody."
Isamu just shook his head. "Damn. This is a lot."
"It is," Midoriya agreed. "You're part of the circle of trust now, Haimawari. Not a lot of people out there who know all of this. But we trust you. After everything, well, you deserved an explanation."
"But you do have to keep this a secret," Togata said. "It's a burden to carry too."
At least it sounded like all the Villains who were connected with this legacy were dead. That probably made it less dangerous to know. It was still a big deal though. The rest of the world still believed that Deku was just a late bloomer, with a Quirk that had evolved down a very peculiar path of letting him apply stored power in a wide variety of ways. Wider than should have been capable from just one Quirk, but people liked nice, tidy answers. Even when reality was anything but.
A Villain that could steal Quirks though, that was interesting. His dad's mentor, the Vigilante called Knuckleduster, had had his Quirk stolen too… It had to have been the same guy. He'd have said it was a small world, but given how widespread All for One's influence had apparently been, there were probably lots of people with small connections like that.
"I know a few things about secrets," Isamu told them. Plenty he hadn't told his friends. Stuff about his own legacy that maybe he should. Deku had already figure it out, back during the Internships. And he was certain that both Aizawa and Vice-Principal Midnight did too. Maybe he ought to let his friends know. "It's safe with me."
A thought occurred to him, and his heart started racing as he considered the implications. "You said they liked me. I'm pretty sure the woman in there said she liked me, anyway. Please tell me you don't want me to take this up someday. Because I've already got enough pressure right now with the whole Sports Festival thing and Aizawa expecting more out of me and you wanted me for your Intern and even Mister Tokuda seemed to think I'm something special and…"
"Isamu," Deku said, holding up both hands, waving them in a placating gesture to try and calm him down. "Relax. I've already got a successor." He jerked a thumb in Togata's direction. "Remember?"
"And we're too close in age for you to be mine," Togata said.
"Pretty sure you're off the hook," Midoriya added.
Isamu let out a sigh of relief. The last thing he needed was more responsibilities and expectations thrown on his shoulders. He had enough of that as it was.
"For what it's worth, though," Deku said, "if I was looking for one, you'd be at the top of my list. I meant what I said before. You really do have the heart of a hero."
"Though if anything were to happen to me," Togata said, "you really would be a great one. You've got a good way with people, you're kind and thoughtful, but not afraid to take action either."
Isamu have him a wide-eyed look. "…Please stay safe. I really do not need the battle field promotion like that." He sighed. "Not sure I feel like much of a hero, though. I hurt a lot of people today who hadn't done anything but get caught up in this mess."
"And that kept them from getting more hurt, or hurting someone else." Deku shook his head. "One of the hardest parts of the job, when other people get put in harm's way like that. Never gets any easier. Of if it does, you're doing it wrong. Sounds like you're doing it right though."
"Maybe," he replied. "But… thank you."
It felt though, like he was forgetting something though. "Kana's statue!" he blurted out. "I left it behind! Oh, man, it's probably crushed…"
At that, Togata had to laugh. "Don't worry," he said. "Pretty sure we can get a new one for the hero of the hour."
Hero of the hour, huh? Maybe he really ought to just take the win for once.
Alone in his lab, Jinsei watched the footage from his robots' cameras. Not the best showing, really, but they had been instrumental in turning the tide in many of the battles that had been fought across the I-Island. He could use this data to improve their performance. The administrators were already talking about throwing more funding his way.
Still, it had been an excellent test of their performance. He still had a long way to go, but he had time. He could afford to be patience. Impatience, he had learned, would only cost him.
Melissa, bless her, had invited him to Japan to continue the research into those robot Nomu. Maybe he ought to take her up on it. It had been a long time since he'd been home.