Zenless Zone Zero: Izuku's Story
Is it just me, or does Zenless Zone Zero look absolutely awesome?
I really loved the first trailer and I can't wait to see more of it! Here's hoping it comes to Android or the PS4 so I can actually play it. :P
Anyway, welcome to my (And the very first!) Zenless Zone Zero story, or ZZZ for short. This will take place before whatever awesome story the game has to offer, so think of it as a prologue of sorts. Who knows, if this one-shot does well, maybe I'll make it into a full series. But I wouldn't hold your breath. I suck at keeping multiple chaptered stories going as you may have guessed.
So, how will this story will go?
As of writing this, Hoyoverse has only released the one trailer, so if things or personalities don't match up later down the line, don't shoot me.
I'm also only using the Gentle House (Or Cunning Hares, which one is the main name?!) characters as the main characters. Mostly because I know what their names are. We have Anby, the girl in green and black, Billy the robot in red and black, and Nicole (My favourite of the Cunning Hares for *obvious* reasons, sue me. I'm sure she's almost everyone's favourite at the moment.). She's the pink haired girl. The cat girl of the group doesn't officially have a name yet, but fifty percent sure it could be Tsubaki, as she has that name on her leggings. So for the sake of the story, Tsubaki is her name. The other factions may be mentioned, but don't have a huge involvement.
I think that's enough explaining for now. Please enjoy the story!
Izuku Midoriya.
You know him most commonly in the prime timeline, as the ninth bearer of One for All, a powerful quirk that was passed down to him by the number one hero All Might.
He's also had many branching variations within the multiverse. Sometimes he has his own quirk that he uses to get to the top, sometimes he is a mastermind villain hell bent on destroying the heroes for wronging him.
Sometimes he is a she. Sometimes not even human. Or even working with or against other powerful individuals whose own universes clash with his.
There are many, many stories about Izuku Midoriya and his friends within the multiverse. This one is no different (A/N: Or as I like to imagine, all Fanfictions are their own timeline. Fanfictions in general ARE the multiverse! Makes sense, right? I thought it was a clever way of thinking…). Only this time, Izuku has been pulled from his own universe into an entirely new world.
Interested? Perfect. Allow me to tell you a story about how Izuku Midoriya became fully fledged member of the Gentle House Faction.
…
This world is a dangerous place that is constantly under threat of the mysterious calamities known as "Hollows." Large domes of mysterious energy that is home to creatures known as Ethereals. The black and green creatures ravage the area that they appear in until there is nothing left. Subsequently, almost all living things on the planet have been wiped out as well.
However, there is still one place that has the ability to combat the Hollows, should they try to attack the surrounding area around it. That place is known as New Eridu. A bustling metropolis that holds the last of the world's mankind. The people of New Eridu continue their lives as if the rest of the world wasn't in complete ruin, because of the harnessed energy from the Hollows. And that's thanks to the courageous actions of the various factions and agencies of Defenders around the city, who are there to clear out the Ethereals and rescue people trapped inside so the scientists and other professionals can harness the Hollows energy. One such agency, is known as the Gentle House, also known as the Cunning Hares. They're one of the most successful groups when it comes to dealing with the Hollows.
Why may you ask? Well, that's because they have a genius mastermind leader who can read a situation and come up with the most optimal solution within a few moments. And he's not even supposed to be living in this world.
Sitting outside of a small café at one of their tables, Izuku stared at his phone with a concentrated expression, scrolling through the various news reports on the other factions and their fights against the Hollows. He wore a get up that was eerily similar to something he would have worn to a world heroes' mission or something. It was black with bright green lines all over it. In the seat next to him, was his Bangboo, who kept its eyes trained on the green-haired boy. Slowly, it inched its stubby little arm out towards the small basket of chips laid in front of Izuku, intending to steal one. Just as it was about to grab one though, Izuku's green eyes snapped up to the Bangboo, who froze like a deer in headlights.
"You can't even eat them. Why do you even bother?" The Bangboo remained frozen for a moment before swiping one of the chips. With a flick, it threw the chip into the air, where it was snatched up by a passing bird. Izuku stared at the Bangboo in disbelief as it put its nubs on its his hips triumphantly. "You planned that with the bird, didn't you?"
With a Bangboo equivalent shoulder shrug, it plopped back down into its seat, causing Izuku to shake his head.
"You're lucky you're useful." He said seriously, causing the Bangboo to glance at him. "Otherwise, I'd have gotten rid of you some time ago." That was a lie. Izuku could never bring himself to do that, thanks to his heroic nature. It had the desired effect though, the Bangboo stretching up in alarm. It was sent into a panic, jumping out of its seat and waddling up to the side of his, hitting his leg with its arm. He had to stop himself from laughing every time he heard the comical squeak as it hit him.
"All right, all right! I was joking!" The Bangboo paused its assault to stare up at him, it's green ring eyes wobbling slightly. Izuku chuckled to himself as he picked it up and gave it a big hug. "I'd never get rid of you, don't worry. After all, it'd feel weird losing my little rabbit twin."
True to his word, the little Bangboo was almost a splitting image of him. Its entire body was the same shade of green as his hair as well as a few freckles drawn onto its darker green bandana. The jacket it wore was a plain black that sorta matched his own green and black one as well. It was a plain and simple Bangboo that you could easily see the resemblance of who it was based off of if you looked hard enough.
As Izuku cuddled the Bangboo, something even softer than the Bangboo pressed up against the back of his own head, causing him to stiffen. Before he could do anything, two hands covered his eyes, shortly followed by a voice he knew too well.
"Guess who?" The definitely female owner of the voice asked him. In an attempt to save his face from burning up, he answered with who he was ninety-nine percent sure it was as quickly as possible.
"N-Nicole?" He asked timidly. There was a pause, Izuku getting more and more flustered by the second. His nervousness shot through the roof within seconds when he felt a soft pair of lips kiss his cheek, turning his face into a neon red.
"Correct!" He was let go of and he spun around in his seat to find the pink haired beauty standing behind him, a cheeky grin on her face. "How do you always know it's me though?"
"Well, your boobs are a dead giveaway. If you stopped smothering him with them, maybe he wouldn't know who it was right away." Came a monotonous voice from behind Nicole. Another girl stepped around Nicole and stood next to Izuku, offering him a sharp nod. "Midoriya."
"Anby. Y-You know you can call me I-Izuku right? We've known e-each other for at least a year now."
"Affirmative. But I would rather call you Midoriya." She glanced to Nicole, who had a hand on her hip. "Only your girlfriend should call you by your first name."
Yep. You heard it right. Nicole, the pink haired beauty, was Izuku's girlfriend. He was still trying to wrap his head around why the busty girl had fallen for a quirkless nobody like him, yet she somehow had. And she loved to remind him at every chance she got.
"But I don't call him that. I call him Zuku. Much more fitting, don'cha think?" She said with a playful wink. Anby shrugged before turning her attention back to Izuku.
"I see you're looking into the news again. Anything of interest?" She asked, deciding to steer the conversation away from the couple.
"Y-yes actually." He grabbed his phone off the table and showed the girls the screen. "Apparently the Victoria House Keeping agency took down a massive Hollow last night. It was said to be at least two stories high!" Anby hummed quietly.
"Those two sure are something. I don't think we've fought a two-story Hollow before."
"I don't think so. But if we did, it'd probably be hard to keep Billy and Tsubaki in line. All they'd wanna do is kill it, which is fine, but we need Zuku to give us the correct cues to have at it." Nicole sighed as she flopped dramatically down into Izuku's lap, causing the Bangboo to be knocked off of his lap by her butt and make his almost fully disappeared blush to reignite even brighter than before. "Am I right my little Proxy? Or am I right?"
"S-S-Speaking of B-Billy and Tsubaki, w-where are t-they? If y-you guys are h-here, that must m-mean we have a c-commission to do." Izuku stuttered, trying very hard to ignore the way Nicole was "subtlety" wiggling her butt softly against his lap. She certainly knew how to get a reaction out of him, didn't she?
"What? Who said we didn't just come to see your cute face? Not everything is about work you know." Nicole tapped Izuku's nose in a loving fashion. "I'm deeply offended that you think that."
"Billy and Tsubaki are coming from the other side of the city. They're on their way to pick us up and take us to the Hollow that appeared in the market by the station." Anby corrected, causing Nicole to pout.
"You're a real party pooper Anby. You know that?" Nicole grabbed a few chips out of the basket and popped them in her mouth. "But yeah, we got commissioned to take care of it. Are you ready to go Zuku?"
That was one thing that bothered Izuku about this world. Whenever a Hollow opens up, the people of the affected area had to pay for the services of one of the few factions around New Eridu to come and deal with the Ethereals and make it clear to harness the Hollows supernatural power, instead of someone showing up to save them out of the goodness of their heart. He'd brought it up with the rest of Gentle House many times, but was always told the same thing. Money makes the world go round. Unfortunately, Izuku didn't have a weapon of his own to fight against the Hollows, so he couldn't just charge into a Hollow on his own to save everyone. He was tasked with being the team's Proxy, essentially a guide that watches everything through the eyes of an indestructible Bangboo and gives them advice and commands while he was safe and sound at Random Play. Random Play was a variety shop that was kind enough to let Izuku sit in one of their booths and give Gentle House advice. He'd asked Nicole if he could join them in the Hollow Arenas multiple times, only to receive the same reply every time. "Sorry, but without a weapon of your own, you'd be put in too much danger. Can't have my cute little boyfriend having his head lobbed off by an Ethereal, now can I?"
That was her excuse every time. Without fail. It was just another one of the things that annoyed him to no end.
"Yeah. I'm ready. Didn't have anything else planned for today anyway." He gently pushed Nicole off his lap, standing up from his seat and stretched his arms to the sky. "What's the commission entail?"
"Oh, you know. The usual. Clear out the Ethereals and rescue the civilians. Same old, same old."
"Ok. Are you girls prepared to go then?"
"Affirmative."
"Don't you know it!"
The Izuku Bangboo offered him a quick salute.
"Alright. All we need to do now is wait for-" He was rudely interrupted by the sound of a car horn not that far away. All of a sudden, a white station wagon like car drifted around the corner not too far away from them and tore down the road towards Izuku and the girls. Hanging out of the window, was another girl with short black hair and cat ears, who was whooping with joy.
"Out of the way everyone! The Cunning Hares are coming through!"
"Yeah!" Behind the wheel, was a humanoid robot with spiky white hair and a red jacket, his glowing yellow eyes wide with excitement. "Out of the way!"
As the car raced towards them, Izuku realised that they weren't slowing down. With a swift movement, he grabbed Nicole and spun her out of the way while Anby simply stepped to the side. The car flew past them, turned to the side and screeched to a stop a few metres away from them. There was a heartbeat of silence before the cat girl front flipped out of the window and landed gracefully on her haunches.
"Please! Hold the applause! We're already aware of our greatness."
"You gotta admit, that was kinda cool though, right?" The robot asked as he stepped out of the driver's seat.
"Oh one hundred percent! That was awesome!" The cat girl glanced to Nicole, who was still wrapped up in Izuku's arms from the near miss. "Why don't you two get it on in a room already? You clearly love each other very much. Why not just make it official?"
"You nearly ran us over Billy!" Izuku exclaimed, his face brightening again at the implication that the cat girl, Tsubaki, was referring to. He yelped when he felt Nicole running her own hand along his arms before she grabbed his hand. Before he could stop her, she'd moved his left arm that was wrapped around her shoulders protectively and planted his hand firmly on her breast. Then had the audacity to moan. If Izuku's face wasn't bright red already, it was now almost as bright as the sun.
"Ooh, Zuku! I didn't know you were so bold!" she said slyly. Izuku practically wrenched his hand away from her breast at lightning speeds, turning into a stuttering mess.
"N-N-Nicole! P-Please don't d-do that!"
"Why? You clearly liked it. You know they're the best of the breast!"
"I f-feel like I'm taking a-advantage of y-you." Nicole's facial expression soften a little.
"Zuku, babe. I'm the one who likes to tease you. You're not taking advantage of me. You're my boyfriend after all. We should be doing fun stuff like that. If anyone's taking advantage of anyone, it's me taking advantage of your nervousness."
"B-But-"
"No buts! Just know that if I do something like that, it's because I trust you. I love how you don't make any perverted comments and you try to be a gentleman about it. If I did something like that to anyone else, they'd try and get into my shorts." Izuku glanced back to her, his blush still present, but a look of understanding on his face. It quickly vanished hen Nicole's cheeky grin returned. "And besides. The only one I'd let into my shorts is you! I can't wait for that day babe!"
And his face lit up again. This girl!
"As touching as that was, we still have city ending problems to deal. Remember?" Anby reminded them, snapping everyone back into reality.
"Right. Everyone in. Let's get this show on the road!" Billy shouted excitedly.
"Nya!" Tsubaki was quick to leap into the back seat through the window again. Anby went around the front of the car and hopped into the front seat next to Billy.
"After you." Izuku said, opening the door for Nicole, who chuckled at him.
"Such a gentleman." As she went to slide in, she paused for a moment before leaning forward and pressing her lips on to Izuku again. Only this time, it was smack dab on his lips, causing him to reel back a little. "I love that about you." She said with a wink. Poor Izuku blushed yet again before slipping into the back seat next to her. After his Bangboo had jumped into his lap, he closed the door. The second it closed, Billy's foot was on the acceleration, and the car burnt out a little before tearing down the road towards the Hollow.
…
One question you might have (Amongst many more, I'm sure.), is how Izuku arrived here in this dangerous world. How did he meet the Cunning Hares and why did Nicole fall for him? Well, the last one is pretty self-explanatory. Take Ochako for example. She fell in love with his heroic nature, whether she wants to admit it or not. Similar case here, but we'll get there in due time.
How he ended up in this world actually happened not long after meeting All Might for the first time.
About a year ago…
'What am I doing?!' Izuku screamed to himself as he flew through the air, latched onto the number one hero's leg. Up until a few moments ago, he'd found himself waking up after being attacked by a slime villain, who thought it was a great idea to take a quirkless nobody as a meat skin. Only to discover that he was saved by All Might of all heroes! He'd even gotten the large man's autograph that spanned across two pages of his singed notebook. But before he could ask him any questions, the man had quickly dismissed him and prepared to launch himself into the air. For some reason, his brain told him "Hey. You know what'd be a good idea? Grabbing onto a leg of All Might as he's about to take off."
The worst part is, he'd actually listened to it.
To say All Might was surprised would be an understatement, the hero's eyes nearly popping out of their sunken sockets.
"Hey! What the heck are you doing? I know I have huge fans, but come on! This is a little extreme! Let go!" Izuku panicked slightly when All Might tried to push him off.
"If I do, I'll die!" He shouted. All Might's pushing ceased almost as quickly as it started.
"Ah. Right. Well, keep your mouth shut and hold on tight! I'll find a spot to land." Izuku decided that it was probably a good idea to listen to him and did what he was told.
The next five minutes passed in a blur. Upon landing, Izuku discovered that All Might had been weakened enough to the point that he couldn't hold his hero form for more than three hours a day, thus turning him into a scrawny skeleton of a man whenever he wasn't saving people. When he eventually got to ask him if he could be a hero without a quirk, he was ultimately shot down. While it hurt a lot hearing it coming from his favourite hero, he could understand where he was coming from.
He stood there on the rooftop for what felt like an eternity after All Might had left, just staring at his feet, thinking about what he'd just been told.
"So that's it. I can't be a hero without a quirk. Well, I can't say I didn't see it coming." With a sigh, he leaned against the railing of the rooftop, staring out into the cityscape.
A dark part of his mind decided to remind him of Katsuki's earlier words before he left school, but he quickly shook his head, dispelling the idea entirely.
"I can't let mom worry like that. Even if I can't be a hero, I won't let that stop me." With a determined huff, he clenched his hand into a fist. "I will find a way. Maybe I'll look into becoming an analyst or something. Heroes are always looking-"
He was cut off from his inspirational speech when an explosion rang out somewhere in the city. He jolted to attention, spotting the smoke rising into the air not too far away from where he was.
"Or I can go and check that out. Maybe a new pro hero will show up!" With a spin of his body, he was running towards the door that All Might had gone through earlier. If he was quick, he could probably make it there before it was resolved.
However, the second he reached for the door handle; something changed his life forever.
His hand suddenly glitched out like a computer screen and it phased right through the handle. Izuku paused, not understanding what just happened. Then, the rest of him followed suit, glitching out sporadically. It didn't hurt him, but it was freaking him out.
"What the-"
And that the moment Izuku Midoriya blipped out of existence in his own reality.
…
"-hell?!" Izuku finished shouting. He quickly shut his mouth when he realised that he wasn't standing on the rooftop anymore.
He found himself standing in the middle of a ruined building that looked like it had seen way better days. Everything was covered in ivy and greenery that spread out across the entirety of building. What wasn't covered in plant was covered in a very thick layer of dust. The room was lit up by moonlight as it glowed down on him from the massive hole in the roof, Izuku looking around, rightfully nervous and confused.
"Um… What just happened?" No one answered him, but that was about what he expected. "And why is it suddenly night time?"
With nothing better to do, Izuku began to slowly walk around the area, looking for any clues as to what the heck happened to him. Dust flew everywhere as he moved, causing him to cough at one point. He moved to the computer closest to him, in hopes that it would provide some form of answers. But as he expected, it yielded no results, the screen remaining black no matter how many times he pressed the power button.
"Come on. Something has to work around here." Despite everything, Izuku was finding it easy to remain calm for some reason.
Maybe it was the lack of anything attacking him or maybe it was just calm atmosphere that was preventing him from panicking. Either way, he was glad for it. Shifting his backpack onto his back properly, Izuku decided that it was best if he headed out of the building, see if there were any clues as to what happened to him. With his hand covering his mouth, Izuku waded through the dust towards the first hole in the wall that was big enough to fit himself through. Which wasn't hard, the walls were riddled holes. However, upon exiting the ruined building, his hopes dropped.
Outside, were more rundown buildings that looked like something had ripped them to shreds. The sky seemed to ripple slightly, as if something was covering this place. The calmness within Izuku was beginning to pack its bags and leave as he looked around the area.
"What… Happened here?" If it was a villain attack, he sure as hell would've known about it, thanks to his love of heroes. But it looked like it had been this way for years on end, which most certainly couldn't be right.
There was a flash of movement out of the corner of Izuku's eye, the boy whirling around to see what it was.
"Who's there?" Strangely, no one was there. But as he looked around, he heard a growl. Slowly looking up, he came face to face with a green and black creature with a black orb for an eye, the edges of the eye glowed green. Izuku gulped, the calmness within him having finally clocked out for the day. With a rightfully earned scream, Izuku turned and ran as fast as he could in an attempt to get away from it. The creature however, had other ideas. With a leap, it landed where he'd just been standing, and started crawling after him. To say it was terrifying him would be an understatement.
"Help! Leave me alone!" He shouted, hoping that someone would hear him. In the meantime, he had to race down the destroyed street, dodging broken down cars and rubble. The creature wasn't giving him any respite, getting closer and closer to catching him, despite his best efforts to avoid it.
After what felt like an hour of running, Izuku heard something semi reassuring.
A gun shot.
Spotting a nearby alleyway, Izuku grabbed a pole before it and slid around the corner, the creature not being quite as nimble as he was, tripping over its own two feet and crashing into a pile of rubble a little ways away. Izuku ran as fast as he could, trying to get as much distance between him and the creature as possible. When he exited the alleyway however, he came to a screeching stop.
There were lots more of the creatures in the clearing, all gunning it for a group of four that were holding their own against them. There was a guy with two pistols, a white-haired girl with a sword of some kind, a tanned girl with cat ears that was slashing things with two daggers and a pink haired girl who was smashing one of the creatures with a... Suitcase? Behind the four, was what looked like a massive sink-hole that the creatures were trying to drive them back into. Despite the odds stacked against them, they were winning, killing the creatures and dwindling their numbers. Each one killed glitched out in a similar fashion to how Izuku had a few minutes ago.
Before Izuku could think of how to approach them, there was a crash behind him in the alleyway. Glancing back, Izuku panicked when he saw the creature from earlier barrelling towards him. Not wanting to die a horrible death, Izuku began running again. Only this time, he ran towards the group.
"Help!" The girl with cat ears was the first to spot him as he raced towards them.
"What?! There's another civilian in here! Billy, help him out!" The guy with the pistols heard her, but when he went to aim at the creature chasing Izuku, another nearly sliced his arm off.
"Damn! I can't get a clear shot! Anby! Can you-"
"Occupied." Came the white-haired girl's monotonous reply as she slashed one of the creatures that got a little too close for comfort. That only left the pink haired girl. Izuku turned towards her, pounding his feet against the pavement. The girl hadn't noticed him yet, finishing off another creature in front of her. She must have heard him coming, because she quickly turned towards him, suitcase raised up high, only to gasp when she saw him.
Then, Izuku's exhaustion caused him to trip. With a yelp, the timid boy fell face first into the girl, knocking the two of them over just as the creature behind him jumped. With a confused yelp, it flew over them and sailed into the edge of the hole. It threw its claws out, desperate to grab onto something to stop its fall. With a crunch, its claws smashed into the side of the pit, sliding to a stop. It growled loudly before scrabbling up the wall towards them, only to freeze when it heard the cocking of a gun.
"Sorry pal. End of the line." The guy stood at the top of the pit; his pistols aimed at it. Without remorse, he opened fire and gunned it down, sending its glitching body down into the depths of the hole, bringing the clearing into relative silence.
Now safe, Izuku let out a sigh of relief, happy to be alive.
"Thank you so much! I thought I was a goner…" He trailed off, feeling something very soft against his face. Slowly lifting his head up, he discovered that his troubles might not be over yet.
The pink haired girl stared back at him, a look of both confusion and amusement across her face.
"I get that you're grateful and all, but do you need to shove your face in my chest?" She questioned innocently.
Sure enough, Izuku had knocked the girl flat onto her back and he was now lying on top of her, face now resting right on top of her boobs. With a screech, Izuku was on his feet in less than a second, face red as a tomato.
"F-FORGIVE ME! I A-AM SO S-SORRY!" He shouted. The girl chuckled to herself as she stuck an arm out towards him.
"It's no problem. Can you give me a hand up?" Izuku, who thought that she'd call him a pervert, was surprised at the question, staring at her hand for a moment before the question fully registered in his brain.
"O-Oh, uh, s-sure." He took her hand and pulled her to her feet, trying not to think about how soft her hands were.
"What the heck are you doing out here in the first-place buddy?" The guy asked as the others approached Izuku. "Hollows are off limits before we clear them out."
"H-Hollows?" Izuku hadn't heard that phrase before. He turned to face the guy, only to realise something. "Holy c-crap, you're a r-robot?"
"Well, yeah? I feel like that's obvious." Izuku bowed in embarrassment.
"Sorry. I j-just... Haven't seen such life-like robot b-before." The girl with the cat ears raised an eyebrow.
"You haven't seen Billy before? But we're all over New Eridu, surely you have at some point."
"New E-Eridu?" Izuku parroted. "Can't say I've heard of such a p-place before. Is it apart of America? Or maybe Australia?" The emotionless girl with white hair tilted her head to the side.
"America? Australia? Did you bump your head when the Hollow formed or something? New Eridu is the last city in the world." The reactions he was getting were making Izuku increasingly worried.
"Um... They're c-countries around the w-world. I'm from J-Japan."
"Never heard of it."
"What do you mean?!" The pink haired girl, who'd been quietly thinking to herself, glanced to Izuku.
"How'd you get into this Hollow anyway?"
"O-Oh! I was s-standing on top o-of a building in Mustafu w-when I just started g-glitching. K-Kinda like those creatures t-that were attacking us." The girl remained quiet for a moment before she brought the others into a huddle.
"I have a sneaking suspicion that he's not from this world."
"What?! That's crazy! Surely not!"
"It's not that far-fetched. I mean, look at Anby. We don't know where she came from."
"Affirmative. For all I know, I could've come from another world too."
"So what do we do with him then? If he really is from another world, we can't just let him go. He'd be eaten alive out there!"
"I highly doubt that Billy. If he stays in New Eridu, then he'll be fine." The pink-haired girl cast a glance back to Izuku, who was waiting patiently for them to finish. "He looks like he can be useful. I don't know what it is about him, but something tells me he'd make a good Proxy."
"Are you sure?"
"Positive."
"Oh great. We're kidnapping another lost person to add to the Cunning Hares." That earned the robot a smack on the upside of his head from the girl in question. With a nod of agreement, the pink-haired girl spun on her heels, grabbing Izuku's attention.
"Ok. We're done. First of all, I'm Nicole Demara. This is my team, Anby Demara…"
The white-haired girl nodded sharply.
"Billy…"
"Sup?" The robot asked.
"And Tsubaki."
"You're in for a wild ride kid, nya."
"Together, we make up the odd-job agency, Gentle House. Or the Cunning Hares if you'd rather." Izuku gave them a quick bow.
"I'm Izuku Midoriya. P-Pleasure to meet you. Thanks a-again for saving me." Nicole waved a hand dismissively.
"It's no trouble. Right place, right time you know?" A cheeky smirk crossed her face. "Normally I'd charge you for our services, but because your appearance here seems a little odd and the fact that I've taken someone in a similar situation to yours under my wing before, I'm willing to let this slide one time. Meaning I won't charge you…" Izuku gulped. Sounded like he'd dodged a bullet there.
"T-Thanks-"
"…If you join us." Nicole finished casually, causing Izuku to stumble in place.
"What?!"
"Well, you see, our services are on the pricier side of the spectrum. Professional services require pricey payments. Money makes the world go round; you know?"
"Then why are we always in the red when it comes to money?" Anby asked.
"NOT IMPORTANT! So, if you don't want to pay, you can always lend whatever skills you have to the Cunning Hares. We're always looking for new recruits."
"We are?"
"We are!" Nicole glared at Billy, clearly trying to get a message across. "Look. To tell you the truth, I'm only doing this because you look capable. And cute." She muttered the last part, only Tsubaki picking it up.
"But…" Izuku looked down to his feet, a little nervous about what he was about to say. "Who would want to work with a quirkless nobody like me? I'm just a useless deku who can't do anything right."
"Quirkless? I mean, there's nothing wrong with not having one. Take Tsubaki for example. One of her quirks is that whenever she lies, her ears twitch and the tips of her tails turn stiff."
"Hey!"
"Oh no, I'm t-talking about my superpower. Eighty percent of the w-world has one, while I landed in the twenty percent that doesn't have one."
"Superpower? I mean, that would be cool, but no one in New Eridu has a superpower. Could you imagine if everyone had a superpower of their own?"
"The entire city would be turned into ruin within the month." Anby stated. "Then the Ethereals would finally finish destroying the world."
Things were clicking in Izuku's brain now. These guys had no idea what a quirk was, let alone had one, they were offering him a place in their group and apparently, this "New Eridu" was the last standing city in a world ravaged by those creatures.
All things that he'd never heard of before.
He wasn't in his world anymore, was he?
…
Present time.
"Hey, didn't we just go past the exit for Random Play?"
Billy's car roared down the street towards the market, barely missing a pole on the edge of the corner. A sly smirk crept onto Nicole's face.
"We did."
"So… Shouldn't we have made a turn there?"
"Nope."
"Huh?" Her smirk turned into a full-blown grin.
"Let's just say that things are going to be different this time around. Can we leave it at that for now?"
"I don't understand."
"Just trust your girlfriend. She knows what she's doing." Tsubaki said from Nicole's left. "You'll see soon enough." This confused Izuku, the oddity of their words making no sense. Was he going to guide them from just outside the Hollow? He'd done it before, but not often.
"Ok…" He leant back in his seat, trying to work out what was going on.
Not long after that, Billy brought the car to a crawl, a crowd of people blocking the road. However, they weren't the issue.
Right in front of the crowd, was a massive black dome, with light blue criss-cross pattern all over it. The authorities were keeping everyone back, preventing anyone from entering it while a few scientists were seen taking readings of the dome on various machines. Upon the authorities spotting Billy's car, they set about moving everyone out of the way.
"You'd think people were used to seeing the Hollows by now, yet when one appears, it brings people out in droves, without fail." Tsubaki commented.
"It's a human trait these days. Something happens, they'll either pull out their phones and record it or they'll run. Guess we know who these people are." Izuku said dryly.
"Hello! You guys must be the Cunning Hares." A humanoid bird in a lab coat approached the group as they hopped out of the car. "You've arrived just in time."
"Do we have a count on how many people are missing at the moment?" Nicole asked, going into her business mode. The bird nodded in response.
"Ten people were picked up on our scanner. Thankfully the market was getting ready to open when the Hollow appeared. Most were able to get out fairly easily, but there are a few missing."
"Right." Nicole produced a little notepad from her back pocket, licked her fingers and flipped a page. "So, ten people are missing, so the rescue fee would be… three hundred Dennies. For the-"
"Nicole! Now is not the time to be worrying about payments!" Izuku nearly shouted. "There are people in danger! You need to get in there and save them!" Nicole pouted a little before shrugging.
"Fine." She glanced to the bird. "We'll work it out later. For now, just give us ten minutes before we head in."
"Of course. Take the time you need." With that, he walked back to one of the machines.
"Ten minutes? They might not have that much time! You need to go now!" Izuku was beyond confused now. Usually, they'd head in straight away. Why were they pausing now?
"Calm down would ya. All will be explained."
"What she said. You're going to like this though." Billy said, the sound of his voice conveying his non-existent smile.
"What?" Anby opened the boot of the car and pulled a case out of it. Passing it to Nicole, she nodded.
"Make good use of this. It was expensive." Make use of it? What did that-
"Wait…"
"Yup." Nicole finished, opening the case with a click. Izuku didn't even try to hide his gasp of surprise.
Inside the case, were two large metal gloves and two black metal combat shoes. They matched his outfit almost perfectly, if not for the metallic sheen that came with anything metal. Carefully, Izuku pulled the gloves out to examine them.
"These are…The Air Force Mk III, Type: Melee!"
"Don't forget about the shoes! They're just as cool too, you know."
"But why?" He looked to Nicole, tears beginning to form in his eyes. "These are the newest model. They would've cost an arm and a leg!"
"It did actually. We had to sacrifice one of Billy's arms and leg as well as the right amount of Dennies." She said a little too enthusiastically, causing Izuku to wince. He glanced to Billy, who rolled his arm a little.
"To be honest, their replacements are still acting up a little." He said to himself. Nicole wrapped her arms around her boyfriend.
"As for why, I felt as if you were ready. I know you've been working out a lot recently, so I spoke with the others and they agreed that we should get you on the team. Your role as our Proxy is super helpful, but now? You can help us out from the inside." Izuku let the tears freely fall down his face, crying into Nicole's shoulder.
"Thank you so much. I promise I won't let you down." Nicole patted his back softly.
"I know you won't Zuku. Now, can you please stop. I'd rather not have to deal with wet boobs and shirt before we go in there." Izuku broke the hug, a small blush on his face, only this time, it was of gratitude rather than embarrassment.
"S-Sorry."
"Could you even call that a shirt?" Tsubaki commented, earning a glare form Nicole.
"Alright already! Enough with the mushy stuff, let's get in there already!" Billy exclaimed loudly, quickly joined by Tsubaki, who cheered in agreement.
As the others headed to the warp pad, Izuku slipped the gloves onto his hands. With a click and a hiss of air, they locked themselves to his wrists. As he examined them, he caught sight of his Bangboo, still sitting in the back seat of the car. It made an over exaggerated point of sighing to itself.
"You're worried that you're useless now, aren't you?" The Bangboo slowly looked up at Izuku, its eyes wobbling again. It nearly broke Izuku's heart seeing it like that, so he quickly thought for a solution. "Hmm. What if…"
He trailed off, staring at it for a moment. Then, a light bulb in his head turned on.
"I got it!" He quickly opened the boot of the car again and looked for something. The Bangboo, now curious, hopped out of the car and stood by his feet. With a triumphant cheer, Izuku produced two disk like objects.
"Magnets! Here…" Izuku picked the Bangboo up and placed it on the now closed boot. "If I slip this in here…" He pushed the magnet down the back of its jacket before doing the same with the other one down the back of his costume. Once done, he turned them on and stuck the Bangboo to his back.
Now Izuku stood there with the Bangboo attached to his back like a backpack. The Bangboo tilted its head to the side as Izuku scratched the back of his head.
"I know it's… Not the best solution, but it's only temporary. I'm make something better when we get home." The Bangboo gave him a reassuring nod, just happy to be along for the ride.
After swapping his shoes out, he joined the others next to the warp point at the edge of the Hollow. The bird gave them a thumbs up.
"Alright, who's going in first?" Nicole put a hand up.
"I will. I want to see Izuku's reaction to entering with my own eyes." She said cheekily.
"Reaction to entering? What does that mean?" Nicole gave him a quick kiss before stepping onto the warp pad.
"You'll see." Was her response. With a wink, she glitched out before disappearing into thin air. Anby nudged Izuku in his back.
"You next."
"It doesn't hurt right?"
"No way! I've done this plenty of times and never felt a thing."
"I was asking Anby and Tsubaki. You're a robot."
"So?"
"You can't feel the effects it has on a human!"
"It doesn't hurt. It just tingles a little." Tsubaki pushed him right onto the pad, despite his protests. "Quit bein' a baby."
"Ok then." With a nervous thumbs up, he nodded to the bird, who pressed a button on his console. The next thing Izuku knew, he was glitching out in a similar fashion to when he first arrived in this world.
…
Suddenly, Izuku was promptly shot out of something, causing him to yelp as he flew through the air. He soared by strange formations of rock and twisted metal that certainly wouldn't have been there prior to the Hollow appearing, before spotting Nicole on the rapidly approaching ground. With a little bit of finesse, he pivoted in the air and slammed his new gloves into the ground and slid backwards to a stop. Nicole clapped her hands silently.
"Wow, that was impressive. Was it wrong of me to think you were going to face plant?" She whispered teasingly.
"Maybe a little." Izuku stood up straight and joined Nicole off to the side of the small clearing between the now partially destroyed market tents. "What was that all about?"
"Well, during the forming of a Hollow, the dome is weak, letting people get out of it in time. However, when its fully formed, the outside becomes hard and doesn't let anyone in, hence why we had to rift in. People can get out, but it's a hard process. It's easier to wait for help if the dome is fully formed than try and shove your way through it. Not only does it make a lot of noise that attracts the Ethereals to you like a pack of seagulls fighting for chips, but the air is super dense around the walls and hard to breathe." Nicole explained. She was slightly surprised when she found Izuku scribbling something down in a notebook. "Babe. Do you always have a notebook on you?"
"Of course." Nicole nearly burst out laughing at the serious face he wore, only quelled by the fact that they were supposed to be hiding. "I'd like to be prepared for any situation here. Hence, I write down new things to review it later."
"Suit yourself. But no note taking when we're fighting please." She booped him on the nose, Izuku's face glowing yet again.
"O-Of course. I wouldn't do that."
A weird noise drew the couple's attention away from each other to find Anby flying through the sky towards them. With expert precision, she landed on the ground with a quiet thud, rolling towards the two shortly after.
"I'm not interrupted anything intimate I hope." She asked in her regular monotone voice.
"No, no. Nicole was just-"
"Yes, you did Anby." Nicole said with an exaggerated huff. "I was just about to start stripping before you arrived. Can't two lovers have some peace and quiet."
"Oh. I'm sorry. But there's probably way better places to have se-"
"She's joking!" Izuku nearly screamed, held back by the fact that they were trying not to draw attention to themselves. "Please don't take her seriously!"
"You're no fun Zuku." Nicole said with a pout. "But I suppose Anby is right. Sex is better done in a bed, not here when we'll be fighting for our lives in a minute."
"N-Nicole! P-Please don't t-talk like that now! W-We need to s-save those people r-remember?"
"Yes, I remember. But we'll finish this conversation later." She winked at him in her usual flirtatious manner, making Izuku pull his hood over his eyes, wanting to hide in shame.
Soon, Tsubaki and Billy entered the Hollow as well, the five members of Gentle House now peeking over the top of a tent. All around the market area that they could see, were Ethereals. They were tearing up the market, obviously looking for something. But then again, they were always looking for something. Billy squinted his eyes in distaste at one of the Ethereals that broke a tent that had some skateboards inside of them.
"Ok Izuku. What's the plan?" Izuku quickly scanned the area, confirming that there was a total of eleven Ethereals.
"Best course of action would be to split up and take care of them one at a time. They seem like the weaker ones. I'm guessing that the stronger ones are more towards the center of the Hollow."
"Do you think Sceptre will show up this time?"
"Maybe. We can't know for sure yet, but if you see it, try and dispose of it safely. Don't be afraid to call for help."
There was one Ethereal that all of the factions had come across at least once. It was a massive one that was always holding a large sceptre in its hands, hence the nickname Sceptre. No one had managed to kill it yet, as it kept slipping away at the last moment, seemingly having control over the smaller ones. Izuku theorised that it was a leader of some kind, one that knew how to avoid the Defenders. Still, Unagi had issued a kill on site label upon it with a reward of 10,000 Dennies on the line.
"Got it. Everyone ready?"
"Yeah!" Izuku clenched his fist closed, the glove feeling satisfying on his hand.
"Let's go then!" With a leap, Gentle House sprang into action.
Izuku raced for the Ethereal closest to him and threw everything into his punch, catching it in the jaw. Thanks to the slightly weird gravity in the Hollow, the Ethereal went flying, crashing through a few tents. Izuku couldn't help but feel a bubble of joy build up within him.
"I can be a hero!" He shouted to himself, his Bangboo cheering for him. He crouched down and launched himself towards the fallen Ethereal, who was struggling to get back up. "Screw you Kacchan! Screw everyone who doubted me, and no offence All Might, but screw you too!" He brought his foot down in an axe kick and slammed it down into its chest. The Ethereal let out a strangled cry before glitching out of existence, leaving Izuku to fist-bump the air.
"Yes!"
"Awesome job babe! There's plenty more to take care of, so don't go spacing out just yet!" Nicole called out as she smacked an Ethereal sneaking up behind him with her suitcase. She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek as she passed by. "Keep it up!"
"Oh my god please stop with the PDA! We're literally fighting for our lives here!" Tsubaki called as she sliced up another Ethereal with her twin blades.
"You're just jealous Tsubaki! Just because you can't find love doesn't mean you can't let em' have their fun." Billy shouted as he shot a dog like Ethereal.
"Nya! Can it bolts for brains!"
"No can do! This is too much fun!" He twirled his pistols around in his hands. "All-Out Firepower!"
Tsubaki had to duck as Billy went a little crazy, shooting at every Ethereal in his vicinity, laughing the entire time.
"Hey! Cool it Nya! You nearly shot my ear off!"
"Sorry. But I got em' all, didn't I?" Sure enough, most of the Ethereals were glitching out around them. Tsubaki pouted, placing her hands on her hips.
"And what about me huh? Which ones do I get to fight?"
"Uhh…"
"Take these ones then." Anby jumped over the arguing pair with elegance. Chasing her, were three more Ethereals. Tsubaki grinned, getting down on all fours.
"Awesome! I'll use you to sharpen my claws!"
"Hell yeah!"
"Leave one for me please." Anby stated as she drew her sword from its sheath across her lower back, crackling blue with electricity.
Back with Izuku and Nicole, their fights were going well. Izuku used the air force function in his gloves to flick a blast of pressurised air right into the face of an Ethereal that got a little too close for comfort. Nicole leapt over his head and landed in front of him, her suitcase having open to reveal the large barrel of a plasma cannon. With a shout, she took aim at the Ethereals and pulled the trigger.
"Right back at you!" The plasma blast rocketed in towards the last two Ethereals and exploded upon hitting the ground, wiping them out. With a twirl, Nicole found herself securely in Izuku's arms thanks to the kickback of weapon.
"Why don't you ground yourself before you shoot that thing?" Izuku asked as Nicole looked up to his face.
"Because I know you'll be there to catch me." She smirked, earning a blush from Izuku again.
"We're all clear here." Anby stated as the others walked up to the couple. "Where should we go next?"
"Let's do a quick search for the civilians first, then we'll move to the station. The Ethereals seem to like the train stations and yards."
"You know, I've always wondered why that is."
The group split up again, quickly scouring the area they'd cleared. Now that the danger had passed, people were more than willing to come out from their hiding places. In total, they found and rescued eight of the ten people missing.
"Thank you so much!"
"You're all so brave!"
"I'd be dead if it wasn't for you guys! Keep up the good work!"
"You're my hero!" The sense of pride continued to build inside of Izuku. He was called a hero! No one back home had ever said that to him. Why wouldn't it make him happy?
"I think I heard a commotion at the station. You have to check it out before it's too late!" One of the civilians said as Tsubaki carefully pulled her out from under a wrecked tent. "I think I heard screaming!"
"Don't worry lady. We've got it covered." Billy reassured her before looking to Izuku and Nicole. "What's the plan bosses?"
"Let's head there now. If the last two people aren't here, then they have to be in there." Nicole nodded before pointing at the two.
"Billy, Tsubaki. Can you help the civilians get out of the dome safely? Keep any Ethereals off of them as they get out."
"Can do."
"Aw… I wanted to fight Sceptre." Tsubaki shrugged nonetheless. "But fine, I'll help."
"Thank you." Izuku cast a glance to Nicole and Anby. "As for us, we better get to the station. Who knows what's going on in there?"
"Sounds good Zuku. Your weapons got enough charge?"
"Affirmative. It's running at 56% at the moment."
"My gloves have 50% to work with."
"And I have 50% as well. Shall we head out?"
"Yes ma'am!" Izuku and Anby cheered. Well, Anby cheered in her own monotone way.
…
The group of three traversed the Grand Central like station, eliminating any Ethereals that got in their way. While the station wasn't huge, trying to get through the slightly more powerful creatures was taking its toll. Izuku blasted and Ethereal over the edge of the platform they were going through with a blast of air. They'd had to go in through the tunnels because of the sheer number of the green and black creatures outside the entrance to the station. Preserving their weapons energy was the key to their success.
"These guys don't know when to quit, do they?"
"Zuku, babe. They're Ethereals. They stop for no one."
"Fair point." Anby added as they reached the bottom of the stairs leading up to the main foyer. However, as Izuku's foot touched the bottom step, a pained scream echoed down the stairwell, causing Izuku to panic.
"Crap! Someone's in trouble! Come on!" Without waiting for an answer, he took off up the stairs, taking two at a time, his Bangboo bouncing helplessly on his back.
'I need to be quicker! I need to save them!' Taking a page out of Katsuki's book, he threw his hands down behind him and used the air from the gloves to propel himself up to last few steps. When he reached the top he practically flew out of the stairwell and skidded to a stop on the marbled floor.
"Never fear citizens! For I am…"
Blood. So much blood. Probably an organ or two as well was splattered across the floor. The Ethereal responsible craned its head up from the poor humans remains that didn't get away in time. Izuku felt the need to hurl, but he held it back.
"N-No…" He trailed off. He vaguely heard Nicole and Anby approaching behind him with gasps of their own, but he paid no notice. He wanted to destroy this monster. So badly. His gloves shifted into a full assault mode as he glared at the Ethereal.
"Don't… Attack it!" Came a quiet shaking voice. Behind it, up against the wall, was the last civilian they needed to save. His legs were twisted in a way that they probably shouldn't have been pointing.
"Don't worry! We'll save you!" Izuku held his arm up to blast the Ethereal away.
"No! It… has a hostage!" The man whispered, pointing upwards. Following the direction of his outstretched arm, Izuku felt his blood go cold.
Above them, was the Sceptre. It was bulky in size, covered mostly in black plating. Unlike the other Ethereals within the Hollows, it didn't have an orb for an eye. Instead, it had an almost triangular green mark on its face that was separated by the black plating, staring down at the three Defenders. In the other hand that wasn't holding its precious sceptre, was a small girl with white hair barely older than six. From what he could see, she was dressed in white rags as well as some bandages over her arms and legs. Her ruby red eyes staring down at them, absolutely terrified at the ordeal she was going through.
The most obvious feature about her though, was the small horn on the right side of her forehead.
Izuku's previously cold blood began to boil, seeing the way it was holding the girl so roughly.
"Let. Her. Go." He snarled, surprising both Nicole and Anby at the foreign emotion he was using. "Or I WILL come up there and claim your bounty myself." The sceptre wielding Ethereal seemed to ponder this for a moment.
"Why should we do that?" A booming voice in his head rang out, startling the three.
"Wait, it can talk telepathically?" Nicole asked no one in particular.
"Because she doesn't deserve to go through this. Your fight is with the Defenders, not the civilians!"
"But you invade our homes. Why should we spare anyone?" Izuku's anger continued to grow.
"Your homes?! You're the ones that open up Hollows in New Eridu! If anyone is invading, it's you! Now let the girl go or I will come up there and fight you myself!" Sceptre pondered on it for a moment before growled.
"You've wasted enough of our time. It is time we feast!" With absolutely no remorse, it chucked the screaming girl at the other Ethereal, who stood up and readied its claws to turn her into a Swiss kabob.
"NO!" He unleashed a massive blast of wind at the Ethereal, who was knocked off its feet. "Nicole!" The girl in question snapped to attention as Izuku crouched down, hands together. "Save her! Protect the civilians!"
"On it!" Nicole took a running start and jumped into Izuku's waiting hands. With a grunt, Izuku flung her towards the falling girl, Nicole reaching out to catch her. Thankfully, she made it in time and wrapped her up in a protective hug before hitting the ground with a harsh thud. The two skidded across the floor and came to a stop right next to the other man. Izuku let out a sigh of relief.
"Thank goodness." He turned his attention to the monster of an Ethereal as it slowly got back to its feet, a low but loud growl emanating from its body. "Anby. You're with me. Let's take this monster down."
"Roger. Target locked." She said as the Ethereal roared at them. Izuku cast a glance up to where Sceptre was and was extremely annoyed to find that it had disappeared again. For something so large, it really didn't like sticking around, did it?
The monstrous Ethereal began barrelling towards them, intending to kill them. Anby quickly drew her sword and slashed at its eye. The Ethereal saw it coming from a mile away and dodged to the side, bringing its arm up to swat her away. Thankfully, Izuku was there to help, blasting it with a full forced flick, the pressurised wind throwing it through several holographic screens on the lower level of the station foyer. Anby and Izuku nodded to each other and quickly gave chase, not wanting the murderous creature to get away with what it had done.
Nicole, meanwhile, slowly loosened her grip on the girl, but still held her tight enough to give her assurance that nothing was going to happen to her.
"Shh… You're ok now. That big scary monster is gone now." The girl sniffled a little, obviously still terrified beyond belief.
"Can they handle it?" The man asked, his voice a little shaky.
"Of course. Izuku and Anby are two of the best in my team. If they lose, I'd be a little concerned."
"Only a little?"
"Fair point." She sighed, not really wanting to ask her next question. "Was… Was that someone you knew?" She asked gingerly. The man looked down to his broken toes.
"Yes. She… She was my… Fiancé. We were going to get married tomorrow…"
"Oh my god. I'm so, so sorry. Izuku said we needed to be quicker but I wanted to give him his gear…"
"It's not your fault." The man assured her, tears beginning to stream down his face. "It's that damn Ethereal's fault. I would've killed it myself if I had the means."
"And this girl? Is she yours?" The man paused his weeping to shake his head.
"Sorry, but I haven't seen her before in my life. We only met her a few minutes ago when we came in here. She was very disoriented and was very wearying of us. Before we could assure her that everything was going to be ok…" He began to break down again. Nicole turned her attention to the small girl in her arms. She was still shivering with fear, but seemed to savour the contact she was receiving.
"Hey Sweetheart?" The girl looked up at Nicole, the fear in her ruby eyes very much evident. "I know this is a little scary, but can you tell me a little about yourself? I want to make sure we get you back to your parents safe and sound." The girl buried her face deeper into Nicole's cleavage.
"The bad man… won't take me away again?"
"Who? The big scary guy that was holding you up in the air? Nah, it's a big coward. It likes to push the little guys around a lot but doesn't actually do any fighting itself."
"No… the other bad man… the one that… takes me apart and puts me back together again." Nicole nearly choked on air from that little tidbit of info. Someone was abusing her? But what did she mean by "taking apart and putting back together?" Something didn't sit right with her, and she sure as hell wasn't going to let someone abuse this cute little girl.
"Not if I have anything to say about it." She declared. The girl unburied her head from Nicole's chest to stare at her. "If someone is hurting you, I won't stand for it." She offered the girl a big grin.
"Y-You can't! He'll... Kill you!"
"I highly doubt that my boyfriend or team will let that happen. If he comes back to get you, point him out and we'll take care of him. I'm Nicole, by the way. Nice to meet you." The girl blinked at her friendliness. Obviously she hadn't seen so much in one place before.
"Ni… Ni… K…" She was struggling, so Nicole decided to help her out.
"You can call me Nicky if you like. Normally I can't stand being called Nicky, but for you, I'll make an exception. Can you say "Nicky?"
"Nic… Ky… Nicky?"
"Yeah. There you go. Now, what can I call you kiddo? I doubt I can call you Sweetheart forever." The girl was silent for a little bit before Nicole heard her speak up again.
"…Eri. My name is Eri."
Back in the lower area of the foyer, Izuku was becoming increasingly annoyed to find out that the monstrous Ethereal wasn't going to go down without a fight. They'd been hitting it with everything they had, but it just refused to go down. Time to switch tactics.
"Anby! Change to formation five!"
"Formation five? What's formation five?"
"Something new I literally just thought of, but with so little time, we're going to have to adapt the situation. Can you do it?" A small smile crossed Anby's lips, the most emotion she'd ever show.
"Affirmative. Let's do it." The two split up from the display they were hiding behind and ran in opposite directions. The Ethereal saw this, but couldn't do anything about it. It opted to chase after Izuku and worry about Anby later. With a roar, it leaped onto a bench and used it as a launchpad to spring itself at the green-haired boy. Izuku was ready though.
"Surprise!" He shouted suddenly as his gloves shifted again. He spun around to face the Ethereal and with a determined shout of his own, he let loose a small tornado, certainly catching the Ethereal by surprise. It screamed loudly as it got caught in it and was whipped around at a high speeds.
Anby took that as her que and used the last remaining energy for her sword to electrify it. Silently, she too used a bench to launch herself into the air, the sword raised up to slam-dunk it. She landed back on the ground by the tornado and slammed it into the ground, the electricity once held in the sword now spreading out in a circular fashion. Surprisingly, the tornado seemed to absorb the attack and turn itself into a lightning tornado, causing the Ethereal to scream in pain as it was shocked. Not one to miss an opportunity ever again, Izuku did what he thought was right.
"New Eridu… Smash!" One final blast of pressurised air was enough to completely blow it and the lightning tornado away. The Ethereal crashed into a wall with a loud crunch before slumping over, defeated.
"We… We did it!" Izuku couldn't help but feel overjoyed at his achievement. Anby released a sigh as she stabbed her sword back into its scabbard.
"Note to self. Never take on a boss sized Ethereal with only two people again." She doubled over in exhaustion. "That was horrible."
"Noted." Izuku chuckled. "But great idea electrifying the tornado. I didn't even think about that. I was under the impression you were just going to slice it in half." She shrugged in her usual nonchalant way.
"You said to adapt."
"That I did."
"Also, New Eridu Smash? What kind of attack is that?" Izuku blushed a little, scratching the back of his head sheepishly.
"Its… a little homage to someone back home is all."
The two were interrupted when a ball of plasma whizzed by their heads, slamming into the Ethereal that was sneaking up on them. It roared in pain once more before glitching out of existence. Izuku and Anby glanced up to see Nicole with her foot on the railing holding her suitcase up, the barrel smoking a little. The little girl was on her hip, hands over her ears.
"You didn't even check to see if it was dead. Come on, I taught you both better than that!"
"Oops. I guess I got a little excited about knocking it out."
"Sorry. I should have checked." Nicole shook her head in disbelief.
"Well, I think we're done here. Let's get these guys outta here."
"Yes ma'am!"
…
"There was an eleventh civilian in there?"
Izuku and the girls had helped the man and Eri out of the Hollow, meeting up with Billy and Tsubaki in the process. Now they were waiting for the scientists to work their magic to make the Hollow disappear. Nicole adjusted Eri against her hip as she talked to the bird again.
"That's right. This girl, Eri, was found by the couple right before Sceptre and the monster Ethereal showed up." Eri glanced over Nicole's shoulder to spot Izuku talking with some of the other civilians caught in the Hollow. He held a smile on his face, despite the danger he'd just been through.
"Hmm… That's odd. There were only ten people confirmed to be trapped in there, so where did she come from?"
"Maybe your machine got it wrong?"
"Impossible. It's never wrong."
"Well, she's here, isn't she?"
"That's what baffles me." He sighed heavily. "But I suppose we need to do the right thing. Here, I'll take her to the police so they can sort this out. I'm not qualified for that shit." Nicole was quick to cover Eri's ears.
"Stuff. You're not qualified for this stuff." She corrected with a glare, softening it when she looked to Eri. "Now Eri, you're going to need to go with this man to help you find your parents. They'll help you get the justice you deserve." However, when she went to pass her over, Eri clung to her tightly.
"No! They'll just take me back to the bad man! I don't want to be taken apart again! It hurts!"
"He does what now?!"
"Right, I forgot to mention that she said she's being abused." She looked Eri in her eyes. "Eri sweetheart, he won't do that."
"He will! He pays off other people to get me back if I run away!" Nicole looked torn. She wanted to let the police handle this, but a part of her wanted to deal with it herself. Izuku chose that moment to approach them.
"Is everything alright Nicole?" She shook her head as Eri continued to cling onto her for dear life.
"Fraid' not Zuku. Eri seems to have a less than… pleasant upbringing. Or at least, that's what she tells me. She won't let go." Izuku looked at the girl in Nicole's arms, to which, she stared right back.
"Eri, was it?" She nodded timidly. "I know this might be scary, but Nicole isn't the right person to help you. We're Defenders, we protect the people from the Hollows that pop up around the city. The authorities though, are more qualified to help you."
"But…"
"Please? They'll be more help than Nicole could be."
"Hey!"
"What?" Eri stared at the two, Izuku's words sinking in. But she had one last trick up her sleeve.
"I want to stay with Mama." That got the couples attention, Nicole's cheeks turning a bright shade of red while Izuku began to panic.
"W-What are you t-talking about?"
"Mama?!"
"You and Mama saved me from the bad things." She looked away shyly. "I don't want to go back to the bad man. Saving people is what heroes do, right?"
"W-Well yes, but h-how does that m-make Nicole your-?" Izuku was interrupted when Nicole made an odd sqee of joy. She squeezed the girl softly as she spun around.
"You're so cute! I don't know how anyone could ever do bad things to you! But worry no more!" She lifted the girl up into the air. "Mama's going to make sure nothing happens to you ever again!" Tsubaki, who'd just walked up to the group alongside Billy and Anby, raised an eyebrow.
"Since when did Nicole get a kid?" She asked. Izuku chuckled sheepishly.
"We found her in the Hollow. She's grown quite attached to her thanks to the fact that she saved her." Izuku informed them. "She's only now started calling her Mama."
"But wouldn't that make you the father?" Anby asked innocently.
Nicole's head whipped around to Izuku upon hearing Anby's suggestion, a huge grin on her face. Izuku on the other hand, panicked.
"What?! No, no! I'm not-"
"Zuku." Nicole said in a sing-song voice. "As my boyfriend, you need to help me out here."
"But-"
"No buts!" Nicole's grin softened as she lowered Eri back down to her hip. "I know it might be a bit much ask, but I can't do this on my own. You wouldn't want to upset this beautiful face now, would you?" To make a point, she turned so Izuku could see Eri's face over her shoulder. He felt his heart melt when he saw the worried look in her eyes.
"I guess I couldn't." He winced as Billy slapped his back.
"That's the spirit! Now the lovely couple has their very own kid!"
"Billy! Don't put it like that!"
"I mean, is he wrong Nya?"
"I… Guess not." Nicole stepped over to Izuku and held Eri out to him. The girl clearly didn't want to let go, but Nicole smiled softly.
"Don't worry kiddo. Izuku here is my boyfriend. He's the most trustworthy person I know. He won't do anything funny."
"What does that make us then huh? Are we not trustworthy enough?"
"Where are you going?" Izuku asked, ignoring Billy's protest. Nicole's soft smile turned into a huge grin, one that Izuku was almost certain that he saw Dennie signs in her eyes.
"Mama's goin' to git our pay!" She said as she swivelled on her feet and walked towards the bird again, who noticeably flinched when he saw her coming.
"Mama's funny." Eri said as Izuku sighed, knowing full well where most of their pay would be going.
"That she is. Maybe a little scary too."
…
"Welcome kiddo. To my abode!" Eri's eyes lit up a little as she stared at the weird looking house she'd been brought into.
So basically, Nicole's house was a bunch of shipping containers stacked together in a so called "artistic style" as she liked to call it. They were piled up in a plot of land just outside the industrial district of New Eridu. Because of her need to show her house off whenever the opportunity arose, she was always first to offer to host, thus, Gentle House had decided to make it their official HQ. Most of their commissions came through the internet anyway so Nicole didn't often have many people show up at her doorstep. Izuku watched as Nicole put Eri down and let her walk tentatively around the living room, eager to check things out.
"Are you sure you're up to looking after her?" He asked as Nicole let out a sigh.
"It's your fault, you know."
"What? How is it my fault?"
"Your damn heroic nature is rubbing off on me. I couldn't just let leave her to the police. I'd never be able to sleep knowing I could've done something." Izuku chuckled, taking his shoes off and placing them to the side of the doorway.
"Sorry. I can't help it."
"I know. But you do it unconsciously. I wouldn't be surprised if you had infected the others with it by now."
"Knowing my luck, I probably have." He barely got to walk into the living room before Nicole wrapped her arms around him, turning him around to face her in the process.
"I never said I didn't like it. In fact, I find it quite intoxicating." She smirked a little as Izuku blushed brightly for the umpteenth time that day, before pressing her lips to his for a deep kiss. This time, Izuku returned it, the two standing there for a good thirty seconds before they broke away. "Now, about our earlier conversation about sex…"
"N-Nicole…"
"Come on. We've been dating for how long and you still haven't pushed for it."
"We've been dating for two and a half months." Nicole raised an eyebrow.
"You know that off by heart?"
"I want to be the good boyfriend that remembers birthdays and anniversaries, so I have to know."
"Damn Zuku. Makes me want to peg you even more now." She said, a hint of lust in her voice and eyes. Izuku felt himself slipping down a slippery slope. And he wasn't sure if he could get back up it.
"Well…"
"Yes?"
"I suppose-"
"What are you talking about Mama?" Both Izuku and Nicole nearly jumped out of their skins when Eri spoke up. She stood near them, a finger to her chin in a childish manner.
"Jesus Ch- Eri! I thought you were exploring!"
"Why would you want to "peg" him? That sounds like it would hurt." Nicole, face red as a tomato, turned to Izuku, only to find he'd broken out of her grip and was crouched down in the corner, facing the wall. She could practically feel the heat radiating off his face.
"Er… It's not a bad thing Sweetheart. It's one of the many term grown-up's use when they want to get a lot closer to one another." Izuku had to admit, Nicole was really good at dealing with kids and their curiosity.
"Oh. Ok."
"Now that I think about it…" Nicole was quick to change the subject. "…I don't think you have been properly introduced yet." She patted Izuku's back gently, causing him to stir.
"You're right." Izuku turned around to the little girl, a smile crossing his face. "It's nice to meet you Eri. My name is Izuku Midoriya. But you can call me Izuku."
"Izu… ku?"
"That's right!"
"Nice to meet you Izuku." She gave him a small bow. "Thank you for saving me."
"Not a problem. If I had the chance to do it again, I would do it in a heartbeat." Eri looked to her feet shyly.
"Are you and Mama going to be spending the night together?" Thankfully, Izuku's brain picked up on the proper meaning behind her words before the perverted meaning snuck in there, so he was able to hold back the blush.
"No, I have my own apartment to get back to. But I will come by in the morning to help out. I'm sure Nicole will want to go shopping to get you some proper clothes so be prepared for that." He was nearly pushed over as Eri quickly grabbed him.
"Please stay! I don't want to be left alone. If the bad man comes back to take me back, I don't think Mama would be enough to stop him. I don't want him to kill Mama for my sake." Izuku glanced to Nicole, who gave him a sincere nod.
"I suppose I can spend the night. I'm sure Nicole would love that."
"Thank you." Eri said shyly.
"Oh Zuku, you don't know how much that sentence has made my day." Nicole said with a smirk, wrapping an arm around his shoulder when he stood back up from his crouched position. "Unfortunately, my couches are not one of your options of where you'll be sleeping tonight, your only option being my bed. I hope you don't mind."
"I suppose it won't be too much of an issue."
After having a nicely cooked meal made by Nicole, Izuku found himself lying in Nicole's bed with said girlfriend. As much as Nicole had had other plans for him, the presence of Eri between them quickly threw those options out the window. But it didn't seem to bother her too much. Eri on the other hand, had to lie with her tiny back up against Nicole, so she didn't fall victim to suffocating in her sleep thanks to Nicole's bust.
Despite the hectic day that he'd just had, Izuku found himself at peace. He'd finally gotten to become who he'd wanted to be for all of his life. A hero that saved people. True, it wasn't in the way he'd initially hoped, but it worked nonetheless. With that one last thought, he glanced to the sleeping forms of Eri and Nicole. He let out a content sigh as he leaned over the smaller girl to kiss Nicole's forehead.
'I don't know who brought me to this world, but if I ever meet you, I will shake your hand and thank you profusely. I promise you that.'
Unbeknownst to Izuku, a star somewhere in the night sky twinkled a little, as if reacting to his vow.
Who knew making a story about a game that has one trailer and very little info would be hard? I certainly didn't at first…
The thought process behind this story was a simple "What if Izuku was a part of the ZZZ world?" Ideas kept piling up after that and thus, this was born.
Now. Time for some explanations.
Izuku's costume: It's his World Heroes Mission costume that he wore in the beginning of the movie. I thought it would be the most fitting thing for him to wear in a setting like Zenless Zone Zero. It's just so cool! Why the hell did they advertise the movie with him wearing it, only for him to only wear it for less than ten minutes?! That sucks. He should've worn it for the whole thing! So, here it is again, getting more screen time!
Izuku's gear: Let's just say that with the gloves (Which looks basically the same to his canon gloves.) lets him become a combination of other characters. While wielding his gloves, he has his canon abilities that involve flicking his fingers (I KNOW the wind comes from One of All, but for story purposes, the gloves produce the wind.) as well as a wind version of Explosion (Katsuki's quirk.) and two attacks curtesy of the Anemo Traveller from Genshin Impact, Palm Vortex and Gust Surge. Basically, his gloves turn him into a melee OP wind user. Deal with it.
Nicole: As of writing Nicole's section here, I had no idea what her actual personality was. Aside from being downright sexy in every possible way, she seemed like the kind of girl to mess with people using her sexiness. Specifically, Izuku. And yeah, I figured Izuku could use some love because Ochako wasn't around. I knew she probably wasn't going to turn out that way in the official game, but that's the charm of writing a story on something we have almost zero idea on how it will play out. I can do what I want! But recently, we got her personality traits. Not sure if you could see it, but I sorta incorporated her cunningness partway through. I don't care what her bio says though, I'm keeping her as a sexy flirt if I continue this story. Also, I feel like she'd be good with kids.
Billy: Energetic comic relief. Need I say more? From the trailer, Billy seems like the kinda guy to do things impatiently, so this version of Billy was born. I hope you like him. Also, while his name hasn't officially been revealed on the website and ZZZ's Twitter, I'm fairly certain people have confirmed it to be Billy. If not, then I'd be surprised.
Anby: Not much to say about Anby, as I had her information right from the get-go. She's probably the closest to what her canon self will be.
Tsubaki: Like I said earlier, I don't actually know what her name is. The only clue being the name on her leg. I figured it'd be a safe bet to call her Tsubaki for now. Again, if it isn't Tsubaki, then I'll be surprised. Either way, whatever her name will be, she'll be known as Tsubaki to me. The name's kinda grown on me.
Proxies and Defenders: Proxy is obviously the MC's role. They control the characters throughout their time in the Hollow Arenas, switching to another character from time to time. Defenders are the name I gave to the combat characters. I couldn't just keep calling them factions, because that's what the groups are called. Speaking of factions, I personally only know the name of two. The Cunning Hares, thanks to the website and the Victoria House Keeping, which is the kickboxing wolf and little girl with the bear and the buzzsaw. The rest aren't as easily describable.
Bangboo: If you haven't worked it out yet, they're the rabbit mascots! I'd like to imagine that they're how the Proxy communicates with the Defenders. If you recall, Billy asked the Bangboo which way they needed to run. Now, I don't know about you, but I find it hard to believe that they can talk on their own. Maybe excluding the ones outside the shop. So maybe the Proxy can see things through their eyes and talk to the Defenders through them? And they look so squishy that I think that they'd be pretty hard to destroy.
Eri: To be honest, she was a last-minute addition. There I was, minding my own business writing the part just before Izuku and Anby fought the boss Ethereal when my brain was like "Suddenly Eri." And it stuck. Forgive me if she seems a little out of character. I've never written a story with Eri yet. She will appear in HC1SCC at some point, but as of yet, I haven't reached that part. And I know you might be wondering why I didn't have Eri get super attached to Izuku like in canon and to that I say, there are plenty of other stories that already have that approach. Is it weird for me to have her attach to Nicole instead? But anyway, at least she's away from Overhaul right? Maybe he'll get reckless in his fruitless attempt to get her back and get himself arrested? Who knows? I'll leave it up to your imagination.
And I think that's about it. I hope you enjoyed the story. Once the game comes out, I expect this place to be filled with more Zenless Zone Zero stories you hear? Let's make this category even more popular than Naruto, Harry Potter and whatever else is high up in the popular section right now!
Yes. It twas I who got this category made! Mwahaha! And if it ever does surpass those other categories, I'll be happy to know I was the one to start it.
Talk next time!