Moving

Always moving

Up. Up. Crawling up. Always up. Never down. Always crawling.

Left. Right. Left. Right. Up. Up. Up.

Up is good. Down is bad. Good is up, bad is down.

Down hurts more, up hurts less. Always hurts, but up hurts less.

Ochako was the only voice the nameless thing could still hear. But she wasn't one voice anymore. Ochako had a hundred voices and a hundred bodies that wrapped around like thousands of hugs.

The hugs were good and melted the flesh.

But the nameless thing didn't care about the melting. Melting and breaking and crushing didn't matter much anymore. Pain was like water, the nameless thing couldn't imagine a world without it.

Ochako was everywhere. Her face, her voice, her arms, were everywhere, telling the nameless thing what to do.

"Climb." That was the Ochako on the arm. "You have to climb!" That was the Ochako that lived on the hip.

"Up" "Up" "Up" "Up" "Up" "Up" "Up" "UP" "UP" "̶̺̇U̷̺͑P̷͕̃"̸̝̚ ̷̒͜"̶͈͘U̶̳͋P̵͍̚"̶͍̿ ̵̱̂"̴̢̓U̶̫͝P̴̧̍"̸̧̍ "̴̧̨̘͓̝̘͔͍̞͑̎̂̿̄̔̀̀̅́̏͛͂̈́̚̚͘͜͠Ủ̴̢̪̘̘͎̫̙͑͘ͅP̷̢̨̛̪͓̞̬̣͖̳̻̹̪̼̪͕̘̅͆͒̓̂̀͆̈́͒̈́̐̐ͅ"̵̳͕͎̍́̅̈̾̀́̈̿̆̃̆̄̌́̋͝͝ ̴̧̞͈͇̖̝͔̜̩̣̱̖̏̈́͐͌̂͌̕͝"̶̨̓̔̋̽̇̏̓͂̇̋̈̈̀̎̕Ṵ̷̻̫̱͔̺̜̭̘̹̅̉̍̌́͋̆ͅP̸̛͕̆̎͋̾̿͂̀̌̕͝"̵̛̙͕̺͇̮͍̻̪̯̫̤̯̻̆̇̀̅̏͛̍͜ͅ ̵̱̤͇͈̈́̌̏̓͋̌́̀͒͊͜͠͝"̶̮̼̹̠̙̟̥̰̄̍̌̏̍̎͜͝͝ͅŲ̶̮̞͓̙͖̏̄͗͒͌̕͘͘Ṕ̶̡̱̟̣̔̌̊̎̇̍̓̈́̒̚"̷̢̡̞̺̟̹͔͍͚̞̻̹͉͍̠̭̪̈̍̆͆̄̈́͘͜ͅ

At her command the nameless thing started climbing again, moving up the rock wall. Then there was a sudden buzzing feeling

DANGER D̷̢̢̖̯̫̉̆Ả̷̗̀̈́̿N̶͔̪̪̳̂̈́G̶̛̖̑̄̕Ḛ̵̮̀̀̒̓R̸̮̹̙̎̄̐́ D̸̡̼̖͉͈̍͜A̸̰̲̘̮̥̅̾̋Ǹ̵̢̦͓̘̗͖̞͚̆̽̏̏̚͝Ģ̴̲͉͓͕̓Ȇ̴̲͑̒̂̀͒̌̚R̵̘̣͖̰̅͂͘ͅD̸̨̗̖̖̣̩̩̹͍̗̙͌̎̒̏̋̃̏̈́̈́̓͆̈́͑̈́͝͠Ą̷̧̞̹͕͇̱̲̼̻̦̝̫͙͚̮̝̉̒̾͂̈́̓̽̏̕N̴͙͔͛͂̋͊̕G̴̡̜̜̣͔̳̩̺̟̤̳͉̼̩͙̞̤͋̉͑͑̍̀̌̾͝Ȩ̶̗͓͖̩̪̗̳͓̠̏͜͜R̶̨̯͚̬̱͍̦͕͍̬̔̅̎̈́͛D̴̢̡͉̙͙͍͙̩̪̯̬̭̼̲̺̣̮̤͙̠͕̝͆̊À̵̢̧̛̛̟̗̲̬̲̪͓̼̺͙͓̬̗̬̣̱͕͈̬̗̻̱͊̑̃͋͛̎̈́̇̈́̿͋͌̌̾͌̓͛͠ͅṈ̴̢̤̼̞̞̦͚͖̗̣͙̾̆̐̈̓̊͌̑́͝Ģ̴̛̣̤̻̹̠͎̲̬̦̲͉̥̥̻̥̞̙̝̲̣̖͉̲̟͋̓͒̈́̈̉̏̈́͐̿̀̽̽́͂̕͝͠E̴̼̩̻̝̬̘̘̠̣̘̱͇̠̱͊͂́͆́̿̀͛̂̀͌̕͠͝ͅR̸̢̨̛͍̭̳̘̦͖̺̥̻̝̻͗̌̊̇͌̍͗̆̍͊̊̇̃̀̎̿̓̔̎̈͂̈̿̿͑͠ͅ

The nameless thing spun and launched thousands of massive tendrils in the direction of the danger. Rocks were thrown and vortexes were formed by the spiral of tentacles. The nameless thing only stopped when the danger feeling left.

One of the shimmers started making sounds, which was less common now.

"No! That wasn't real danger! My quirk activates on perceived danger. Which means until you get better it will activate on nearly anything, especially for humans, because everyone feels like danger to you right now."

But the nameless thing didn't hear any words, it was just another string of weird sounds from the shimmer. The shimmers had stopped making words a long time ago, maybe forever, maybe just now, the sounds were blurry. Maybe the sounds meant something? The nameless thing didn't know, the shimmers had been getting smaller and more shimmery and were gone faster.

The nameless thing didn't think about the shimmer very long. The nameless thing didn't like thinking.

Thinking too much brought the bad feelings. So instead, the nameless thing let its mind be blank and just did what the hundreds of Ochakos said to do.

There was no time in the dark. But if there was, the nameless thing would have been moving for a lot of it. Life turned into a rhythm of moving, climbing, breaking D̷̢̢̖̯̫̉̆Ả̷̗̀̈́̿N̶͔̪̪̳̂̈́G̶̛̖̑̄̕Ḛ̵̮̀̀̒̓R̸̮̹̙̎̄̐́, and moving. Always moving, always up.

The nameless thing kept going up and up and up and up and always moving and always up. At some point the nameless thing started seeing the rocks in front of it a little further out, instead of just in the green flickers. That was good, more colors was good, even if it only happened sometimes. But the nameless thing would get upset and throw rocks whenever the colors went away, because the nameless thing didn't like the dark. More dark had meant more pain, and more pain was bad.

Then something very confusing happened. The nameless thing ran out of up.

It could see more things since the colors were out, and there was no up around anymore, only down. But down was bad. But kEeP moving. But doWn Is bAd.

The nameless thing took a step forward before immediately pulling back as the only two thoughts left stopped matching.

All of the Ochako voices started screaming, telling it what to do. But they started saying different things, giving commands where it couldn't do both.

Don't stop, keep moving, don't move, down is bad

DON'T STOP, KEEP MOVING, DON'T MOVE, DOWN IS BAD

D̷̡͉͊O̸͙̫̊͂͘Ņ̶̭̭̌'̸̞͉̖͋̓T̵̺̪́͋ ̸̖̓͝S̴̡͛̆̈́Ṭ̴͚̏̒̽Ơ̴͉̗P̸̻͈͎͋, ̸̝̾͛͘K̵̛̜̖̝̏̊Ẻ̸̡̞͖Ê̸̛̻̣̅P̷̢̗͎̿̃ ̴̺̣̠̈́͠M̸̺̩͂́̔Ö̷͍̜̖V̶͍̓̒͜Ȋ̷̬͋N̷̦̭̆G̶͓̞̋,̷͈̫̖̈͝ ̵̖̣͒D̷͎̬̽O̶̲̐͜Ń̷̗̗̿'̵̡̐T̶̮̜͍͐͂ ̶̞̀M̸̓͆̐͜Ơ̵̟̻̳̇͌V̷̭̀͛̄Ē̷̗̳̟, ̴͓͈̬̌D̷̻͕͓̽Ǒ̵̼̊W̶̗̓͑̐Ṋ̷̛̤̆́ ̵̯͇̮̃Í̴͙̎͝ͅS̸̥̯̖̑̏ ̵̬̐͊̀͜B̸̩̈́́Ǎ̸͙̩͉̎D̶̫̋̇͝,

Ḏ̷̛̌͗͛̅̐̊́̌̽͘O̶̧̨̢͇̱͓̬̦̮̮̰̜̯̮̞̒͌͊̀͒͗͠͝Ņ̸̧͙͍̖̥̘̟̱͔̺̝̟͓̤̩̏͑͋̒̐͛͐̿̓̎̈́̅̕͝ͅ'̴̙͖̠̖͉̟̘̫̰̮̲̖̠̃̓̅̔͜͜ͅͅͅT̸̨̡͎̹̺͙̺̝̩͇̬̩̬͐̉́̏͒͒̇̀͒̆̊͗̑̋͘͜͜͝ ̴̨̣͇̳̙̌̊̎̆͛S̵̢̨͕͖̝͎̘̋̒Ţ̷̮͕̬̹̖͍̺̹̹̜̩̤̼̫̄̅͂͐͋̇̇͜O̴̧͖̜̝̮̲̳̣̣̱̻͓̯̥̯͉̓̋͛̔̍͂͘͘͜͝ͅP̶̨̡̛͎̥͓̘̤͎̘͈̱̀̀̈́͑͛̃͆͗̈́̕, ̷̟̤̦̖͍̩͎͉̼̠̫̮̭̭̝̤̄́̿̇̍̾̆̓̽̉̽̋̿̊̈́̋́̕̕͝ͅK̸͕̩̹̱͚͚̫̟̩̦̺͈̹̦̬̗͈̦̣̏͐̄̕Ẹ̷̟̓͐̅̃͊̾̓̀̈̚͝E̶̲͔̦̦̪̬̩̹̙̖̰̣̪̻̎͌͆P̵̨̺̰͚͖͙̝͙͑̓̇̈̅̃̃̑̊̎͒̍̉̐̂͊̚̕ ̵̩̗̳̱̲̤͕̉̾M̷͍͙̻͕̳̞̋̑̐͆̔̋͋̅͂͑̈́̈͊̀͝Ơ̵̙̜̗̙͍͇̙͐̏V̶̡̛͕̱͇̯̻͒̐̇̂͛̾̈̇̉͘͝͝Í̴̧͉̭̦̦̞͚͂͒̃̃͜N̸̨̡̢͖̮̹̣͔̱͈͎̟̯̼̰͑ͅͅG̶̛͖̳͖̹̦̰̙͊́͌̌͂̎͒͊͌̏̂̌̀͑̽̌̓̉̚,̵̡͉̽͒ ̵̖̝͙͓̳̀̔́̃̏̆̓͂̆̆̂̂̅̂͊͜͝͠D̷̢̞̥͙͚̹͉̰͙̯̗͚͇͖͇̱̟͔̖͖͛Ò̴̡̨͚͈̺̳̼͇̞̩̠̹͓̼̳̠̟̫̘̱Ñ̴͈̦̰̝̜̪̩̺̫̜͙̂͒͂͌͐̍̅̆́̄͌͝͝'̴͖̲̘͎͔͕̈́͜Ţ̶̮̝̲͕͖̪̯̦̲͖̪͈̠͙̈̔̾̒̈̍̅̏̓͛͂͆̓͠͝͠ͅ ̸͓̻̮̓̂͛́̿͗͌͛̀̓̊̾̈͘͜ͅḾ̷̧̤̯̠̫̗̬̝͕̙̳͉͈̓̃̅̈͜Ỏ̵̡̠̳̬̲̀̂̀̃̒̉̏̑̈̃͆̀̚͝V̴̧̤̠̟̺̈̌͊̆̓̇̿̅͋͌͆̈́̓̇́͑̀͠E̸̥̣̦̝͐̄͆͆̅́̃̐̀̀͗́̃̔̅̕͜͝, ̶̡̡̡̬̻͉̺̺̠̲̣̺̤̤̰̤̻̈̊̀͐̓͑̋̎̒̾̇̾̈́̓̕̕͠͠Ď̸̡͕̬̪̤̺͕̽̑̋̽̒͐͂͛̄̈́̅̉̄̕͝Ó̷̢̜̟̟̃̅̑̌͗́̚W̷̡̡̢̟͚͔͉̬̣͓̠͇̭͖̺̲̠͕͎͕̋̒͋̌͘N̴̨̙̰̣̟̿́̓̌̎̀͆͂̽̍̈͌͠ ̵̢̯̭̯̣̩͉̘͚̦̇̎̐͑̅̓̆̎̿̾̎̆̕͝͝͝͠͝I̵̢̢̨̢͚̙̬͚̙͙̗͖̝̜̲̻͔̻͊̅̈́̋͒͊̋̊͒̒̓̿̽̚̕͜͜͝͝͠Ş̸̭̝̖͈̬̘̖̩͍͕͚̖̪̠̻̥̹̳͓̇̈͂́̊̈͝ ̶̡̻̖̦̠̫͕͖̬͎̝̙͇̭̱̞͙̃̆͜B̴̛̦̠͖̦̩̊̏͊̈́͐͛̇̾͒͊̏͂͛̓̓̕͘̕͝A̵̡̻̩̜̜͙͍̰̘͓͉͔͆̉̊̔̈͗̓̊͛̔͌̀̌̀͘͝͝͝Ḏ̶̨̛̛̛͙̝͈̱͚̻̯̫̝͕̪̟͕̬̳̱͚̘̊̌̓͐͑͋̒̈́̽̎̐͋̈́́͑͘͝

D̵̛͚̬̞͙͗̅̑̕͘̕O̴̡̧̰̥̱̠̦̹͎̬̝͕̮̝̝͙̼̣̫̪̼͉̿́̽̈͂͆̈́̀̓̐͒̏̀̌̅̔̔̋̐̃̈́͆̕̚͘͜͝Ṉ̷̢̧̢̢͍̗͇̯̲̬͕͈͓͉͔͈̯͍̬̺̙̱̣̜͚̭̱̬̱̝͚͋̈́͂͐͆͝'̵̨̢̛͖͓͚̪̯̺̹̗̰̬̮̤̭̥̯͉͉̫̰̆̅͛̀̇̋͒̀͂̓͒̎͐̀́͗̒̀̇̕̕̕̚̚͝͝͠ͅT̵̨̨̢̛͎̳̜̳̜̮͕̺̖̹̅̋̓̈̇̀̿͘͝͠ ̴̗̑̑͋̀̑̈́͛̍ͅŞ̷̛̞͚̱͈̩̰̦̐̿́̂͑͛͒̇̒͛̊̈́͐̈́̏̒̋̈͛͆̀̐̕̚̕͜͝Ţ̶̢̡̡̧̠͚͖̖̜̪͇̩͕̤̙͍̱̜͕̱̪̥͍̼̝̄̔̇̊̈́̅̊̿̃̋̑̈͛͗͌̈́̆͂̀̿̏͂͑̉̽̓͛̐̌̐͜͝͝͝ͅƠ̸̢̡̝̱͔͚̪̯̰͎̙̦̳͖̩͖͎̪̯̒͊̉̀͑̽͐̍̓̀͆̇͛̄̋̎̂̿͊͐͗̾͊̋́̓͊̕̕̚͝ͅP̶̡̮̹͚͉̮͔͈̭̦̥̗̘̙̖̬͎̦̣̬̦͚̟̤̦̽̆͑̐͒̈́́́̊̒̔́͌̇͘̕͜͝͠, ̴̧̢̨̛̰͔͉͙̟̟͈̜͍̹͔͚̩͖͕̯̪̟̝̰̪̻̻͕̠͖̲̘̙̞̋̀̑͋̈́̈́̿̈́̍̀̋̂̒́̌̆̊̃̈́̊͑̚̚͘͜͠͠͝͠͠K̴̡̮̻̖̪͕͕̹͔͖̥̮̗̟̭̼̬̪̺̗͙̘̮̮͔͚̇̋̒͆̾́͑̎̎͊̕͘͝͝Ȩ̴̪͚̱̻̼̮̭̝̯̙̩̫̊̍̈́̅̍͊̔̀̏̀̌͑̽̈́̃̃͊̉͆̔̎͊̉̐͑͊̉͜͝͝E̴͕͕̗̤͔͚̗̥̫̫̝̬̦̟͑̈́̔́͐̀͊͌̂̓͆̕̕͜͠͠P̷̡̨̝̗͙͔̳̤̻͓͚͈̹̯̑͒̇̑̆̎̒̏̌̀̍͘̚͝͝͝ͅ ̵̢̡̧̧͍̭͚̖͈̠͇̪̪̯̞̩̜͉̞̠̳̦̩͕̠̤͈̱̺̖̼̔̅̀͗ͅͅͅṀ̷̠̞̩̬͊̄̀͗͋͛̓͌̑̔̀͌̀̄̆̓͌͑̉ͅƠ̴̡̧̛̛̰̼̦͎̭͈̺͔͈͖̜̞̖͖̬̭̞͚̬̝͖̯͖̩̟̬͉̜̥̝͖̓̌̃̉̓̆̄͆͋̽̆͌̄̍̾̊͂̊̓̓̉̕͘͝ͅV̷̨̡̛͕̤̹̗̣̪̖̙̬̦̠̥̪̜̹̼̹̎̀̚Ī̴̡̛̥̳͚̱͉̖͎͙̭͚͇͂̍̕͜͝͝N̶̡̧̛̛̫̝͉̯͎̬͓̖̖̩͈̲̟͓̰͉͙̘̘̩̠͈̻̥͈̼͚̟͚͇͚̎̎̒̉̉̀̆̓̃̀̓̌̌̾͂͒͛̈́́̾͛͜͝G̵̢̨̘͍̬̤͖̮̹͍͓̗̐̅͑͆̐͒͒̃͠ͅͅ,̶̧̛̯̹͙͍̘̱͈͕͇͎̘̖̥͙̮͎͋̏͑̔͂̀̀͛̄̌̽̉̔̋͒̋͑͑͒́̈́͐́̿́̈́̕͜͝ͅͅͅ ̸̢̧̢̛̛̹̦̗̣̭̰̠͚͈̼̻͙͓̘̼̫͈̙̻̽͊́̓̎̊̆̍̊̒̊̄̾͒̋͜͝͝D̶̢̢̡̧̩̳̙̭͙̝͓̜̰̪̥͎̩͉̭̖̜̣̰̦̯̻̝̪̮̜̋͌̀͌̃̈̈́̆̏̑͗̍̎̊̎̉͂̓̋̀͘͘͝͝͝ͅǪ̴̡̞̭̝̠͉̯̅̑̓̌̊͐̏͋̈́̍͐̍̆͋̉̀͌̍̔̔̀̌̉̏͘̚Ǹ̷͈͔̐͆̋̎͂̓̄̅̀͒̆̍͌̃̽̿͊͒̂̍'̵̢̧̢̞̺͉̼̟̤͕͖͙͔̞̝̞̰͇͙̬̬̫̺̪̩͔͓͉̀̈́̅̕͜ͅͅŢ̸̧̙̖͚̭͎̜̱̫̺̳̟̙̝̹͔̯̼̬͗̕͝ ̸̨̢̢̨̧̺̫̼̗̯̜̘̳̯̰̞̟̜̺̙̺͓͇͎̗̩̩̜͔̹̪͍̾̀̊̄̐͒͆̔̎͛̂̅̌̀͌̀̑̒̄͌͛̃̿͘̚͘͘͜ͅM̶̧̨̛̛̛̞͕̰̼̺̩̮͎̙͎̟̜̞̱̬̘̌̾̇͂̿̎̓͂̆͊̓́̾̆̎̉͗͆̆̎̚͠͝O̸̲̭̻̭̰̝̭̭̅̂͒̓͂̀̈͗́̇̿̂̈́̀̅͒̑̈́̆̽̈͛̕͝͠ͅV̴̧̢̡̧̧̛̛̠̦̭̫͔̦͇͈͙̬̫͙̺͈̲̫̗̘̟̯̯̼͈̰̑̐̑̊̓̀̽̅͗̔͗̔̾́͂̔̊͒̌͑̈́̏̅̍̐̓̿͘͜͝͝E̵̩̙͓͚̮͕͇̙̼̳̬͇͚̗͕̟̠̪̘̩̤̺͖͚̖̳̅͗̏̑͒͌̆͑̓͐̈̃̀͋͐̐̚͜, ̷̨̢̨̨̢̧̛̛̤̭̗͖͎̖͕̣̹̜̠͔͚̤͚̝͙̘͖̦̺̘̖̪̑̿̀̍̀͑̽̓̀̾̏̏̽̈́̓̄̎͋͐̽̅͑͊͘̕͠Ḑ̸̡͉̳̺͖̪̎̓̑̽͌̎̈͊͒̍̒̄̿̽̓̿̈̊̃̌̌̒̀́̈́̍̕̚͘̕͝Ơ̷̧̢̡̢̨̢̡̟͕͇͙͈͖̹̙̠̤̪͎͚͔͚̺̟͖͕̝̻͉̯̱̙̿̒̃̍̽̉͛̒̄͌͠ͅͅW̸̛͍̜̩̆̇̈͌͊̇͒̈̈́̌̈̒̄̉͘͜͝Ņ̸̢̣̩̦̙̱̲̼̮̯͙̣͔̈́̌̽̓̂͂̎͜͠͠͝͝ ̵̢̗̩͍͙̫̓̇̔̆̾͑̔̽̀̀́̋̿̈́̈́̆̅̑̂̾͐̊̕͘͝͝͝Ĩ̷̧͕̭͎̮̹͚̯̜́̇̿̕S̴̨̨̹̪̺̦͉̗͓̯̺̠̫̼̰͉͖̘̲̬̥̺̗͊͊͂̎̕ ̸̢̨̨̢̛̫͉̮͖̰͙̩͔̥͉͇̮͔̥̰̞̞͇̭̳͙̮̽̎͋͛͗̓̂̾̈́̑́͊͐̈͑̈̀̓̕̚͜͝B̸̡̮̬̖͍̹̜͍͕͔̮̻̬̍̿̂̇́̀̄̄̊̒̈́́̈̈̔̿̂͐̀̇̆̃̊͊̕͘̚͠͝͝Ą̴̨̙̰̏̐̅̐̋̈́̌̿͘͜͝͠D̴̨̡̩̙̼͕͕̦͈̖̙̦̹̜̏͌͗̃́̕

The nameless thing writhed in the sand. The two thoughts fighting each other. It didn't know what to do.

It started smashing its head into things, trying to make the screaming words stop. A big rock broke free, but the nameless thing grabbed it before it could fall and put it down on the most up place it could find.

Then the nameless thing moved up onto this rock, feeling better for now from being even a little bit more up.

If there was no more up, then the nameless thing would just make more up.

Hands and tendrils started pulling the underwater mountain apart in an attempt to build it up even higher. Making a giant pile of rocks at the top of it, one boulder at a time.


Uraraka sat in a large meeting room with various heroes, generals, and other relevant people. There had been dozens of these already, with important people trying to figure out exactly what to do about Izuku. This one was special though because they'd actually made some level of progress.

It had been over nine months since The Collapse, as people were calling it since the day long earthquake caused a large portion of Japanese architecture to collapse in on itself. Since that catastrophic day, Izuku had been moving east. Well, it had been a very wandering path, but he was generally heading eastward because there weren't any other options.

The first thing they had figured out when monitoring the path he'd taken so far was that it wasn't entirely random. Whenever he was given a clear option to, he would go up. If there wasn't an upward option he would destroy the area before going in a random direction. Unless something was done this upward trend would eventually lead him to land, which would likely mean a second catastrophe on their hands.

Reaching land by going North, West, or South meant crossing over/through a trench. Any time Izuku accidentally got close to them he would flee at full speed in the other direction. This meant that his oceanic wandering only had three real possible ending points, two of which were acceptable.

First, going far enough south that he ended up in Antarctica, where he'd only be a danger to glaciers and penguins. Secondly, he could find himself on some tiny uninhabited island in the Pacific, all they'd have to do is make sure any boats and planes gave him a wide berth and he very well may just stay there if his goal is to just find land (this option stops working if his goal is to find/attack people). And finally, there is the option that he'll arrive in North America, with South America being protected by trenches for most of its Pacific coast.

Usually his wandering kept him in the western Pacific, just because of how large the ocean was. But now that he'd gotten over halfway to Hawaii and it was making the Americans reasonably nervous. Those nerves were amplified after the issue of his possible landing points became common knowledge. While it wasn't good that their country was in danger as well, she wouldn't deny how helpful it was to have all of their resources available.

So far they'd just been surveying him from a far distance in fear of causing another country-leveling outburst by scaring or angerying him. They'd also been mapping his path to warn passing ships; they'd found that any boats, planes, or large marine life that came within five or six miles would be destroyed instantly.

The first few months after the Collapse were dedicated to creating a system that could reliably monitor his location while he was thousands of feet underwater. Unfortunately before they were able to track his erratic pathways a cargo ship had unknowingly gotten too close to him, causing the deaths of 27 more innocents.

Even that hadn't fully persuaded businesses to stay far away, because not even a week later a plane flew a bit too low and was blown apart by a boulder traveling at just under mach 2. This added another 213 names to his death count.

A video had been leaked of black tendrils spiraling around the ship and causing a massive whirlpool that ripped the massive steel ship apart like paper. This was the final straw that brought all Pacific based trade/travel to a halt. That meant they were facing an economic battle on top of the catastrophe they were already dealing with, because losing access to the Pacific Ocean was no small issue for an island nation, especially since even pilots didn't feel safe making the trip anymore.

Their cities were flattened, their fields flooded, oceanic trade had stopped, and after months of digging through the rubble the death count from that day had passed a million people. All together, saying Japan was struggling would be an understatement. With all of their resources focused on rebuilding, they really hadn't been able to do more than monitor his general location. Now that a country that wasn't flattened was funding the operation, things would go much faster.

Her thoughts came to a pause as some American in a fancy suit stepped to the front of the room.

"Hello everyone, my name is Jeff Cooper, I'm the head scientist with the American Hero Association. I'll cut right to the chase as to why you were all called here early, rather than waiting for the usual scheduled update. With a combination of quirks and state of the art cameras, we managed to get clear pictures of the subject for the first time without any of his defensive measures present."

A gasp went out across the room. This was huge. No one had been able to see what he looked like because as soon as any drone got close enough to see him the smokescreen would already be up and the drone would be swiftly destroyed. This was particularly important because there was one question that was vital but hadn't been answered yet. Was he a noumu?

If he was, then there was nothing they could do other than put him out of his misery.

But if he wasn't, then his lashing out could be attributed to the mental issues caused by being trapped in a trench and he could (potentially) be saved and rehabilitated.

"Part of the reason this was possible is that the subject has now moved from the Abyssal zone to the Twilight zone. This means that some amount of light can reach him now since he's been remaining at a fairly consistent depth of around 1600 feet atop an underwater mountain."

If that man kept talking she was going to throw something at him. She would normally care about every bit of information offered, but right now all she cared about was whether or not the photo of him had an exposed brain. She needed to know if he could ever be saved.

Luckily for the presenter, he decided to put one of the pictures they'd gotten up on the screen.

It took less than a second for tears to begin pouring down her face as she cried silently. She didn't know yet if the tears were from happiness or heartbreaking sadness. His brain wasn't exposed and he didn't have the blackened skin of a noumu either. He was still a human. But that didn't change the fact that his body had been morphed badly enough that she wouldn't have immediately recognized it as a person without being told what she was looking at.

The picture showed him curled up, sleeping on top of a pile of boulders. But at first glance it looked like something you'd see in an aquarium. A pale colored rock covered in starfish and coral with seaweed floating around it in the water.

But that seaweed was actually deep green hair that had grown unnaturally fast. The tangled bush of hair must have been long enough to reach his hips. It was so matted and long that it really did look like plant life as it floated above his head.

He was further disguised since the vast majority of his body was covered in starfish and barnacles that clung to his flesh. The creatures were clearly feeding on him but obviously he didn't care enough to pull them off.

The final, and most harmful, form of sea life on him was coral. Specifically deep sea coral that was growing in his water filled lungs, its branches having grown far enough that they had punctured his flesh and rose from his back. Tiny pillars of coral sticking out of his back like spikes, tearing his body apart from the inside out, but somehow he was still alive.

"The first thing to note are the added quirks. Here on the sides of the neck you'll be able to see gills that allow for underwater breathing. Secondly, over the last few days of constant surveillance we haven't seen the subject consume any food and he has no access to fresh water, leading us to assume there is some sort of sustenance quirk at work here. The third quirk we've witnessed so far is a powerful regeneration quirk, likely the same as those found in Noumu. There is likely a fourth quirk that causes him to be heavier in some manner, due to the impressions left on sand that indicate he is roughly seven times the weight he should be."

It wasn't easy to see most of his body though since he was curled up. The next photo solved this and showed Izuku crawling across the ground, using black tendrils to drag another rock over to the pile of boulders he'd been sleeping on. He then pulled out a laser pointer and began explaining why the love of her life was broken and deformed.

"The primary cause of the changes we can see here is a combination between an unrivaled regeneration quirk and being constantly injured by the crushing pressure in the trench where he was first spotted."

The picture then zoomed in on his abnormally long arms and fingers. Each arm had to be at least five feet long with his fingers more than double their original length.

"The lengthening of his arms is one of the most obvious changes. When a bone is broken, if the two segments of bone are pulled apart slightly while healing, then the body will fill that gap. This causes the bone to become a little longer. By pulling himself forward in this crawling motion while his bones were broken by the pressure, the subject's newfound regeneration would be lengthening the arms and fingers in small increments over and over."

The image then switched to close up of his legs, a blurred out square giving him a tiny bit of modesty since his clothes likely disintegrated in the water years ago. "Here we see the opposite issue caused by the same circumstances. By applying pressure to his legs while they were healing they have become about two thirds of their original length. If we were to somehow obtain an x-ray of his legs, the bones would likely be in a zig-zag shape from hundreds, if not thousands, of breaks healing in a crooked and compressed manner."

"The regeneration quirk also would increase the speed of building muscle since the microtears of working out would be healed faster. From what we can tell, he hasn't stopped moving for the entirety of his time trapped in the ocean. These factors, along with his increased weight, would mean he is far stronger now than he ever was before. Our estimates put him at being at least twice as strong now than any of the feats we saw during his career as the number one hero."

The presentation kept going, but she couldn't bring herself to focus on his words anymore. They showed an image of him crushing his own spine in order to fall asleep, and ripping his ear off because of what seemed to be an itch he couldn't reach. Somehow, what was even worse were his eyes. There was nothing wrong with them in a medical sense, but they were so vacant. If the eyes were the window to the soul, she was terrified that there didn't seem to be anything behind them.

It took a while for her to zone back in after all of that information. She tried to get herself to pay attention as some American general was finishing up his talk on strategy. "And that is why our best option currently is a nuclear strike to deal with the issue while it's far from any shores."


We finally have a reveal of what Izuku looks like!

I had initially planned on this being a mostly izuku chapter, but I think in this case less is more, because there really is very little going on in his mind at the moment.

Hope you've all enjoyed this story so far and that little cliffhanger at the end.