9/11/2020: In honor of the real heroes who ran and helped those in need 19 years ago. Your acts of bravery and sacrifice will never be forgotten.

I cried writing this chapter.

Chapter 9: Aftermath

When Uraraka, fish head, and I arrived at the scene of a collapsed multistory apartment building, we were met but a daunting sight. Nothing would've prepared us for the scene of rubble that laid before us. The battle against Shigaraki and the League of Villains had ended but the rescue had begun. Multiple cities were basically turned to dust thanks to that fucking bastard and his behemoth minion, Gigantomachia.

To avoid over exhaustion during the rescue, the heroes had set up shifts. They gave us U.A. students shorter shifts and assigned us in two or three-man teams to spread the rescue efforts. They made sure that our quirks were compatible with each other to best assist with the rescue.

"There's another over here!" Ear Phone Jack yelled toward Thirteen. They were about twenty meters in the pile of rubble ahead of us.

"Alright. I'll be over as soon as I can, let me finish with this one." She called over her shoulder. You could see the exhaustion in the way her shoulders slumped.

Pink Alien ran over to weird ears, "Don't worry, Thirteen, I've got this one!" She began to systematically melt debris with her acid, careful to avoid shifting support beams and crushing the person beneath.

I stared at the steel, concrete, dust, and fires around me, 'How the fuck are we going to save everyone before it's too late?' Flashbacks of the battle between the heroes and All For One entered my mind. Unbidden memories of those around me bloodied and possibly dead resurfaced as the realization hit me, 'I'm going to have to face such fucking images once more.'

A firefighter with dark hair walked up to us, "You're students from U.A. High, aren't you?"

None of us verbally answered but someone must have nodded because the firefighter said, "My name is Benjamin but you can call me Benny. You three will be coming with me." Based on his name, he must've had foreign roots. He started to walk to the most western part of the wreckage that had fewer people searching and we followed wordlessly, the shock and urgency of the task ahead of us heavy on our shoulders. A large wall piece of the building loomed beside us as we walked.

The firefighter spoke again, "I was informed of your quirks earlier. Anima, do you think you could go find some animals that can assist in looking for life? Uravity, you can use your quirk to gently remove the debris and avoid causing any sort of shift that may injure those we are rescuing or yourselves. Bakugo, if you could stay on solid ground and use your quirk to dispose of the debris passed to you. There are buckets to dump the pieces in that myself and a few others will help to carry away."

"I hate being told what to do but whatever," I said dryly.

"Alright." He turned to look at us, "Let's start digging and save these people. They are counting on us."

Anima walked off to look for some animals while the rest of us started to dig. Uraraka and others tried their best to avoid falling into any voids while they dug and passed debris to me. With no need for them, I took off my gauntlets and laid placed them out of the way. Benjamin and some extras, who looked like civilians, carried away the buckets as I filled them with particles and they brought them back empty.

After a while, the fish head came back with four dogs, seven cats, and two birds following him. He carefully climbed to the rubble and started digging. The animals scattered over the rubble, searching for signs of life. About forty minutes later one of the dogs started to howl. He had found someone. Those digging quickly and carefully made their way over and formed a line to pass the debris with Uraraka in the front.

"Benny! We've got a fire over here!" The man next to Uraraka called.

"I'm coming!" He hollered, putting down a bucket and climbing towards them. He must've had some kind of water quirk because once he reached them, he circled his hand around his mouth and water started to spray. 'Pretty fucking efficient quirk for his line of duty.'

Even with the use of quirks, we spent hours trying to dig this person out. The task seemed endless and even though mine, Uraraka's, and fish head's short shifts ended, we stayed and continued to get this person out. We weren't fucking idiots to leave such a duty half-finished. We'd see it through to the end and make sure we'd get this person's ass out alive.

I continued to break down debris the entire time, pushing my body beyond its limits. I could see Uraraka occasionally vomit, a clear sign she was pushing herself as well. The fish head had followed his animals to lead others to more survivors, but even he looked exhausted before he left. Benjamin and other first responders, as well as some heroes, tried to make us take a break but we refused. We weren't going to let such a fucking lame excuse as a limit stop us.

It was sunset when I heard the cheers coming from the wreckage. Slowly, a woman on a stretcher was raised out of where my group was digging. A line quickly formed as they passed the stretcher down and out of the wreckage. I stopped breaking down debris and joined the line.

Those around me cried and clapped as we waited for the woman on the stretcher to be passed to us. Uraraka followed behind it, straining to use her quirk to make the woman and stretcher lighter. I expected the woman to be terrified and confused, maybe even passed out but when she was passed to me and the others, she was wide awake. Her body was covered in bruises and blood and her leg was in an unnatural position.

Even through her oxygen mask, you could see the smile on her lips as her eyes darted around to every face, "You guys are all heroes. Thank you so much." Her eyes met mine, "Thank you for saving us."

She continued to glance around as we passed her on, thanking everyone. It was then that I noticed her stomach. 'She's pregnant!'

Uraraka placed her hand, except for one finger, on me as she walked past, "We did it!" Her smile was tired but bright. I returned with a half-smile.

We walked off the wreckage to solid ground as the woman was loaded into an ambulance and driven away down a cleared path.

Someone draped their arm over my shoulder and I turned to see Benjamin. I was too tired to shove him off.

"It feels good doesn't it?" He asked looking at the disappearing ambulance, "To know someone was saved because of your efforts."

"Fuck. I guess it does." I answered.

Benjamin removed his arm and laughed, "You've got some mouth on you, kid. Once you grab your gauntlets, follow me. Some volunteers came to cook up some fresh fish and rice for us rescuers."

I walked away towards my stuff, "Sure."

Uraraka joined me a few moments later. She looked exhausted and ready to pass out and by the look on her face, I must've looked the same.

"We did it Bakugo, we saved someone. Actually two someones, the woman and her unborn child." She said tiredly pumping her fist. She silently stood beside me as I put on my gauntlets, utility belt, and other elements of my hero costume. Once I finished she said, "Benny said there's food waiting for us."

"I heard." I grumbled, "I'm starving."

"You and me both." Uraraka walked towards the fireman.

"On a nickname basis now?" I tried to mock.

"You bet after the shit we did today. We spent hours beside each other digging."

We followed the dark-haired man down a few blocks to where a tent was set up and a bunch of civilians was making food. Fish head rejoined us right before we got on line. The three of us and the fireman grabbed our meals and sat on the ground nearby.

While we ate, the firefighter spoke, "You kids did great! Watching you three today gave me hope for the future." He took a couple of bites before continuing, "Such fire and determination in you guys."

"I've got a question for you." I barked a little harsher than I meant to.

"Ask away."

"I saw your quirk from where I was standing. How come you're a firefighter instead of a pro hero."

"Because kid," He placed down his empty bowl, "I don't wish to draw attention to myself. I just want to help people. In fact, I have to help the people." He looked at his hands, "When my quirk developed, I knew it would help me become a fireman. All I ever wanted to be was a fireman."

'Tch! Not the answer I was expecting."

Uraraka struck up a conversation with him about his family and I tuned them out. 'I never met someone so simple and yet he seems to love what he is doing. He wishes to be a quiet hero and yet everyone around us seems to know him and calls him Benny, even the civilians. He must be a great fireman in this community.'

After we finished eating Benjamin told us to go back and get some rest. "We'll save more people tomorrow!"

The next two days we pulled out three more survivors. It was worth the long hours of digging and over exhausting our bodies because the reward of knowing another person was going to live another day and see their families, was priceless.

On day four, however, we dug up and pulled out our first body. We knew they were gone the moment we started digging and the weight of the loss was heavy on all our minds. It had taken five hours the dig down and reach the body. Pulling the body out and passing them down the line out of the wreckage was one of the hardest things I'd ever done. Seeing their pale broken and bloodied form as I passed them along hit me to my core.

Once we had finished Benjamin hugged me and told me to take the rest of the day off. I walked a good distance away, sat down, and held my head in my hands. We had trained for search and rescue but not for this. I didn't want to witness this and know that their families would never see them again. However, I knew that if I wanted to be a hero this was part of the job.

Uraraka came and sat next to me, grabbing my hand. She sobbed loudly next to me and eventually laid her head on my shoulder. I was too emotionally and physically exhausted to even give a fuck about shoving her away.

I clenched my fists and without looking at her, I half yelled, "We're heroes for fuck's sake! Heroes always win and save everyone!"

Benjamin must've wandered over when he saw us. His voice was shaky, "We did win. Shigaraki and most of the League is in custody. But with something like this, no matter how much we exhaust ourselves and how hard we try, we fail to save everyone. It's a difficult reality to accept and live with."

I looked from the firefighter to Uraraka. Tears streamed down both of their faces and to my surprise, warm tears began to run down my own cheeks. This was the reality; The reality of being a hero.

PLEASE READ BELOW

On 9/11/2001, I watched in horror, along with the rest of the country, as such a tragedy unfolded before us. There are no words to describe the feelings the ran through me that day. It was an unthinkable concept back then: we were attacked on our own land, with something that wasn't even considered a weapon, resulting in thousands of deaths in less than a few hours.

In 2012, I bought a bracelet with the name of one of the victims on it. When I unwrapped it the name inscribed was Firefighter Benjamin Suarez. To honor his bravery, sacrifice, and memory, I added him in this chapter. This is a story about heroes after all.

"I have to help the people" is what Benjamin told his wife before heading to the World Trade Center.

-JFDragonFire