An Eventful Evening Part 2
The trucks rolled over the rocky terrain that separated the airstrip from Tartarus. Due to the secrecy of the facility and added security measures, no one had been told where they were or the location of their destination. The only two people who knew all the details flew high above the convoy, not even the other heroes aware of their presence.
Tokoyami banked to the left, trailing the lead of the convoy, and scanned the hills below him. Dark Shadow spread its shade over his body, blocking himself and his mentor from sight.
"Eyes sharp, you two. They'll be coming at them over this next hill."
"I still don't like this, Hawks. Isn't there some way to alert the others?"
"Negative," his mentor kept his eyes on the horizon, almost as if he wanted to avoid what was coming.
"We've pressed the League hard since Jericho made land fall. Dabi and AFO are getting desperate. No one has had a trace on the old man since Shigaraki's death, and with him in the fight, we'll lose this war before it even starts."
"But my friends-"
"Are casualties of war. The Hero's Association has set the terms for this mission. Our hands are tied. If we deviate from the plan, even to save lives, and they'll disavow you. Might even execute me."
"This feels wrong. None of this is why I became a hero."
"Me neither, kid. But you wanted to see what was really happening behind the scenes. Well, you're in the show now. All guts, no glamor."
Tokoyami looked to the man who'd brought him into this world; a man he'd trusted. Hawks knew the anguish in his protégé's heart. He looked away.
"When our contact gives us the location, we move. Follow the body at all costs."
They flew on in silence, the dark truth festering in his soul. Ahead on the hill, blue flames rose high into the night sky. They had begun.
The road in front of Kirishima faded and became nothing but a patch of packed dirt. He'd figured Tartarus was remote, but was a dirt road really necessary to dissuade anyone who go lost this way? He eased off the gas and started cresting the hill.
"Alright Red Riot, the map says we're still twenty clicks out. Keep her steady."
"You got it Fatgum. You know, Mom was asking how someone like you stays single. I think she has friends who like them…FAT WE GOT VILLAINS!"
Outside in what passed for the road, Dabi stood in the way of the convoy. His hand went to his neck, plunging in a syringe. His body convulsed as fire began to pour fourth from his arms and legs, igniting the barrels lining the road and oil below. A loud explosion and a wave of heat were the last things he remembered before the world went black.
When he came to, Kirishima heard the din of combat and the screams of his friends. Flames walled off the scattered trucks, smoke filling the air and stinging his eyes. He got to his feet, taking cover by the overturned truck, and got his bearings. Off to his right one armored truck sped through the carnage, passing through the wall of flames and away from the battle.
That has to be Mina. She knows we need to keep that body away from the League. You were always the smart one, babe. We'll keep these cretins off of you for as long as we can.
Ahead of him Muscular was playing defender as Fat Gum, Phantom Theif, and Real Steel tried to get past his guard. To his left, Kendo Rappa and Moonfish were keeping Battle Fist and Maboromicamie on the defensive. He wanted to protect his mentor or to fly from the fight to make sure Mina got out of the field safely, but he knew his duty. He hardened his body as much as he could handle and charged into the teeth of Moonfish.
The spear like ivories glanced off his skin, but they weren't his main concern.
"Retreat to the trucks and regroup. I'll cover you!"
"Right!" they called in unison, falling back and picking up a body he hadn't noticed before.
Which one of us is already down? The thought had no time to linger as the fist of Kendo Rappa fell upon him without warning. Red Riot braced his arms to take the hits, but the harder the punches landed, the closer he came to cracking. When they started to show, the pain distracted him too much to notice Moonfish was waiting. Razor sharp teeth pierced through his arms, bringing the hero to his knees. One final punch sent him careening into the fleeing heroes.
Kirishima struggled to get up, blood pouring from his arms. He managed to reharden them to stem the loss, but the bones underneath were fractured. Putting weight through his arms only confirmed his suspicions, as his body weight forced the hardened plates in his arms to shift.
"At least, Mina got away. Take care Pinky."
"Babe?"
Kirishima looked beside him. His wife looked back at him, cupping her belly where a deep knife wound continued to bleed through the bandages.
"Mina, if you're here…"
"Baby, I'm so sorry."
The explosion caught everyone off guard. Mina slammed on the breaks, looking for anywhere around them that wasn't erupting in flames.
"Camie, get out there and give me a sitrep. Find me a route."
"Right. Steal, guard the body bag."
She didn't get a response, as the truck shook back and forth sending the metal hero careening through the back door. Mina got her bell rung but managed to keep eyes on the third member of her detail. Steal saw something ahead of them and took off.
"Steel? STEEEL GET BACK HERE!"
He ignored her. Anger flooded Mina's body till she followed his course. At the head of the convoy, Dabi poured flames in a wall surrounding the road, but through the middle of the road the full last strength of the LOV poured forth. Mina could make out the forms of Muscular, Kendo Rappa, and Moonfish charging toward them. They slammed into Fatgum as he tried to hold the front of the line, falling on Steel, Battlefist, and Phantom Theif as the heroes took position where they could. She didn't see her husband.
Slipping a hand on Rappa as he ignored him for Fatgum, Theif was able to gain his power and knock the retired yakuza into Fatgum who pinballed him out of the core of the fight. The heroes broke into two groups from there, splitting theirs and the villain's strength. They couldn't win like this. Every muscle in her body ached to go to them. The fight was here. The villains were here, but she knew what she had to do. The heroes would hold off the last of the league until she was away. Twenty kilometers separated her and Tartarus. She had to complete the mission. She'd get there. She'd send help. She threw the truck into drive and was about to step on the gas when the door opened. Camie looked up at her, battered with her uniform torn.
"Camie hop in. We don't have time to-"
Her breath stopped as a knife plunged deep into her side. She looked up at her friend, following her arm to the blade now sticking her just above her left hip. The words refused to come as Camie pulled her from the driver's seat and threw her to the ground. The knife pulled from her abdomen, cutting her more as it came out.
"Nothing personal, love," Camie called as she drove away, taking off like a shot through the wall of flames. Mina reached into her small pack, filling the wound with gauze, and patching herself up the best she could. All around her the desperate battle that had begun was already swinging to the villain's favor.
"Pinky, what are you doing here? You were supposed to be in the truck!"
Camie came running up to her, lifting her to her feet.
"You just stabbed me and threw me from it."
"How? I was looking for a way out."
Mina grimaced, feeling the knife wound shift even with the bandaging.
"I think you weren't really you. Looks like they got Toga back. That would have been helpful gahh!" She started to fall, but Camie caught her. Keeping her on her feet, they started moving towards Battlefist. They didn't make it.
Mina dropped one more time and stayed on the ground. In front of her Rappa was getting dangerously close to landing a hit on their friend. Mina could see Moonfish approaching. She'd be boxed in without backup.
"Help her. Leave me."
Camie tried to protest but Mina shoved the hero forward. As the woman joined the fray, Mina took stock of the battlefield the best she could. In school they were trained to face every challenge with a smile, and to go beyond their limits to meet that challenge no matter what form it took. There was no doubt in her mind that every hero here would fight to the death to make sure they completed their mission. A mission they'd already failed because none of them knew a shapeshifting assassin was going to be in the fight. If they'd just known…
"Miri…oh god, forgive us baby. Your mommy and daddy love you very much."
Tears began to pour down her cheeks at the thought of her daughter growing up an orphan.
Hawks nodded towards his protégé, waiting for the young man to close the distance between them. They'd been circling the fight since it started. His dark counterpart grew more and more agitated as the ambush deteriorated into a one-sided rout for the villains. Using his headpiece, Hawks could already make out four downed heroes near one of the trucks. If he was picking it up right, they were the two from Tokoyami's own class. A pair of friends the young man had attended the wedding for.
The older hero cursed himself for not better preparing the young man for the realities of this world. The Hero Association didn't broker failure. Safety at any price was the only goal, and that meant that a select few heroes had to get there hands not dirty, but filthy with the blood of foe and friend alike. It took a special kind of person to live in this world and not lose sight of their humanity. He thought Tokoyami could be that kind of man, but the more time he spent with him, the more he had to turn a blind eye to the truth.
For all his darkness, the guy's heart was too big and pure. He cared about what was right. He cared about justice, peace, and the triumph of good over evil. He was an idealist, and Hawks respected the hell out of that. It was also going to make life hell on them.
"She's enroute to the second location. Once we're sure the rest of the League is there and AFO is confirmed, we're moving out."
There was no response.
"You can't save them, Tokoyami. Once you accept that-"
"Respectfully, Hawks, go fuck yourself."
Dark Shadow erupted from the hero's body, coalescing into a living ebony armor around him. Hawks watched as the dark avenger's wings retracted into his form, and the man plummeted to the ground.
Hawks paused in the air, going over his options. He sent a message over his phone, pocketed the device, and resigned himself to the hell that was to come.
The blows reigned in from all sides, striking deep through his fat and crashing into his ribs, liver, and kidneys. During his entire time as a hero, Fatgum could remember each fight that pushed him to his breaking point. Everyone around him saw the jovial tub of goo as a stalwart hero and unbreakable mass. They never saw the built-up scar tissue from those early days, or the way his body took more and more damage every year. Those scars were the receipts of hard-earned experience. His lessons from the ring. Years of fighting through tougher and tougher enemies coalesced into a hero who didn't fear taking the hits to ensure victory. It'd always been a matter of outlasting the other guy.
But he'd gone soft elsewhere. Old age made him sentimental, and the love he had for the heroes that looked to him for leadership now turned to cold dread. Between the punches, Fatgum caught sight of his remaining comrades. The Kirishimas sat huddled over each other by an overturned truck. Behind him, Moonfish was drawing closer, and he could hear the screams of a young man as sharpened steel sliced through flesh and bone. Phantom Thief cried out again as his two hands dropped to the floor.
Trying to create an opening, Real Steal abandoned Fatgum's flank and charged into Muscular. The metal hero buried his arm into the exposed muscle fibers of the villain, only to be held in place as Kendo Rappa descended upon him. Punches that rocked Fatgum only moments ago fell on the metallic hero. The dents became larger and larger as the young man succumbed to the flurry of punches.
All of this tore at the veteran hero's heart, but the worse came from the final two members of the team. Camie and Battlefist were calling out to any and all available heroes. The desperation on their panicked faces showed across the battlefield, punctuated by the sounds of combat and the dying screams of the officers they'd brought with them. Dabi laughed as jets of flame crossed the field, silencing the scattered reports of rifles and small arms fire.
Thinking back to the girls on the comm, sorrow filled Fatgum's whole form. No one would be coming.
He'd been told days ago that he'd been taking over this detail. When given the roster, its lack of depth shocked him. They were prepared for a small rescue attempt from the villains at best.
"Ma'am, if I'm thinking about this right the villains are getting desperate out there. If they think resurrecting Shigaraki will help them turn the tide, they're going to throw everything they have at getting him back."
"We're counting on it," said the suit from the HA. "Nothing but total victory will convince AFO it's safe to come out of hiding. We have reports Kurogiri is dead, so we have a real chance to track the bastard to where he lives, but this only works if he believes he has won."
Now he understood. Total victory didn't just mean losing the body. The HA decided it would trade their lives for the location of their enemy. There was no backup waiting to save their skin. Total victory meant the villains needed to see the heroes dead. They needed to know they couldn't be followed. The woman in the suit, Hawks, everyone else in this mess knew that this was what they were setting up, and they refused to tell him. What rational leader would lead his people into such slaughter, just for information? They were supposed to be heroes. They were supposed to hold life sacred and find another way.
The energy from every hit he took, all his failures in this fight, surged throughout his body. He would not fail them anymore. Fatgum surveyed the enemy, fists clenched and ready for his counterattack. He just needed an opening.
Crashing into the fray, a monstrous being of shadow and rage erupted with a frenzied roar. The villains paused long enough to see what this new combatant was doing, and Fatgum took his shot.
His hands erupted as they slammed into the neck of muscular, throwing the deformed villain into the waiting arms of Dark Shadow. The two began to grapple, fear finding the roided out villain for the first time that night.
Fatgum pressed his advantage, punishing Kendo Rappa with a flurry of blows to the body. The former fighter roared with glee, grabbing his assailant's arms, and pinning them to his sides. Power surged up his neck and, in a desperation, move Fatgum threw his head full force into the bridge or Rappa's nose. The stunned villain let go of his arms.
Behind him, Dark Shadow toyed with Muscular, tossing the murderer across the field at will. He was worrying that an undisciplined Shadow might lead to openings the villains could exploit to regroup when pain erupted from his now fat free thigh.
Before him, Moonfish's teeth extended looking for more fleshy targets to hit. Fatgum broke the blade off piercing his leg and dodged the incoming teeth.
I have to maintain the offensive. I won't waste-
Three consecutive blows from the recovered Rappa hit his exposed ribs, hip, and face. Fatgum flew from his place and hit the dirt, rolling to a stop in front of the huddled mass of younger heroes. The pain the permeated his body was unbearable. He couldn't think, his shredded from tumbling across the road with the blade lodged in it.
An inhuman howl filled the air. Fatgum fought through the tears to see their only back up bent over the knee of Muscular, his spine broken in two by the unholy strength that villain possessed. It was over. Whatever hope he'd held onto extinguished with the pained gasps of their dark angel.
Around the battlefield, he heard the humming of a merry tune, and the sound of bodies being compressed into tiny marbles. The wall of fire rescinded. Its master stepped forward to the huddled heroes set to slaughter. The pyro zombie spoke.
"Take most of them for insurance. If any other heroes try to be funny, we'll want hostages. Leave the birdboy to die here. He might be broken but he'll be more trouble than he's worth if he decides to get cute."
Dabi knelt in front of him. Fatgum could see the hateful young man's smile. This was going to be it.
"You stay away from him, you bastard!"
"It's okay, Red Riot. You save your strength."
The flames began to swirl around Dabi's fingers.
Eijiro, please forgive me. I'm so damn proud of you.
"Save your strength and beat these assholes! I'm counting on you!"
The flames came fast, washing over her face and chest and searing him to the bone in seconds.
Kirishima watched as the man who believed in him the most, mentored him during his early steps at true hero work, burnt to death under the murderous flames of Dabi. His cries were cut short by the quick compression of his body into a marble.
