I'm sorry I keep forgetting to upload chapters! Anyway, here's the start of the USJ arc! I hope you all like it!
Thank you, JaquelineIvy, for your lovely review! :) Means a lot, friend!
And thank you to everyone that's reviewed so far! Love seeing all the feedback!
Okay I'll let y'all read the chapter now.
God Bless and Good Day!
~The Lupine Sojourner
The bus had an open layout, which annoyed Tenya.
He'd taken to his new role of Class Rep like a fish to water, maintaining order easily. But there were times he just needed to chill, like now. He was slouched, grumpy at the layout of the bus, which 'ruined his boarding strategy'.
I laugh, leaning back in my seat next to Eijiro, who was next to Su.
"Iida, you really need to chill." Mina points out, laughing, as well.
"If we're pointing out the obvious, there's something I've been meaning to say." Su says, then turns to Izuku, on her other side. "About you, actually."
Izuku flinches. "About me? What is it, Asui?" He asks timidly.
Su smiles. "I told you to call me 'Su'."
"Oh, yeah. Right." Izuku replies sheepishly, hand on the back of his head.
"That power of yours. Isn't it a lot like All Might's?" She asks.
Izuku flinches, getting a bit flustered.
"What, really? You think so, huh?" He asks. "I guess I'd never thought of it like that." I chuckle. Not a bad save, but he's on thinning ice here.
"It is kinda similar, but All Might doesn't hurt himself." I point out.
Izuku subtly gives me a grateful smile.
"Yeah, and that makes a huge difference." Eijiro adds, incidentally adding to Izuku's cover. Izuku leans over a little, exhaling. "Still, I bet it's cool to have a simple Augmenting type'a Quirk." Eijiro continues and holds up his hand, Hardening it. "You could do a lotta flashy stuff with it. My Hardening's super strong, and can destroy bad guys in a fight, but it doesn't look all that impressive."
I shake my head. "Not true! It's super cool! Makes you look like a badass!" I reply. "I might draw attention using my Water or Earth Quirk, but still. I'll take whatever damage I can't dodge or block. You won't."
"But your Quirks are both so cool!" Eijiro counters.
"I think your Quirk looks really cool, Kirishima! You're definitely Pro material with a Quirk like that!" Izuku interjects.
Eijiro smiles sheepishly. "You really think so? Seems like it'd be easier to be a popular hero if I had something flashier." Eijiro replies.
"Nah." I counter. "It's not what the Quirk is, it's how you use it that matters. You can have pretty much any Quirk and still be a popular hero if you are willing to work at it and learn how to use your Quirk better. Mom and Dad taught me that when we started working on my Quirk together."
Su looks at me.
"I've been wondering, Takara;" She begins, "I know that the Yamada-Senseis are your parents, but...you don't look like them." She says.
I try not to flinch. It was bound to happen eventually. Someone was bound to ask.
"We-well, Mom's my godmother." I reply simply. It was how I usually explain it.
People were smart enough to piece it together and Su was no exception.
"Oh. How long ago?" She asks.
I swallow. "Since I was five." I reply softly.
Eijiro puts his hand on my shoulder. "I'm sorry." He mumbles genuinely.
I manage a smile back at him. "Don't be. It's not- -I've gotten so used to living with the Yamadas...it's not something I try to avoid talking about anymore. If people ask, I tell 'em." I reply.
"Still. That's rough."
I can appreciate his comfort. "Thanks, Eijiro."
"You know, you, Todoroki, and Bakugo all have pro Quirks, if any of us do." Eijiro changes topics and I go with it.
"But like I said, it's how you use it that makes a difference." I point out. Eijiro chuckles, but Denki is next to speak up.
"Now I think about it, you and Todoroki could form a power couple with your dual Elemental Quirks." He points out.
I flinch. "What? No way!"
"I meant as a hero team, not a couple couple!" Denki replies awkwardly. "Geez, Takara!"
I just laugh.
"You're right about Todoroki and Takara, but Bakugo is always angry, so he'll never be that popular." Su adds. I snort as Katsuki suddenly pays attention. His hands clench into fists and he growls as he glares at Su.
"What did you say?! I'll kick your ass!" He roars, standing, eye twitching in anger.
I laugh. "Case in point." I reply.
"Shut it, damn brat!" Katsuki bellows.
"Dude, we basically just met you, so it's kinda telling that we can already tell your personality is flaming crap mixed with garbage." Denki looks smug as he speaks up. I laugh as Katsuki whirls on him.
"You're gonna regret the day you applied to this school, you loser!" Katsuki growls.
"Oh, sit down, Katsuki! You know it's true!" I call and he seethes at me, but then as Katsuki, Denki and I were arguing, Mom looks out the window and then turns to us.
"Hey, hey!" She calls. "We're here! Stop messing around!" We all stand as the bus rumbles to a stop. Once we all exit, we find a hero in a space suit standing there.
"Hello, everyone! I have been waiting for you!" A female voice says over a speaker.
Instantly, I recognize her!
"It's the space hero, 13!" Izuku exclaims giddily before I can. "The chivalrous pro who's rescued a ton of people from disasters across the globe!"
I grin as 13 motions toward the door.
"I can't wait to show you what's inside!" She exclaims brightly.
We follow her eagerly and she inputs a code on the door before swinging it open and allowing us to go in first.
"Thank you!" I say politely as I pass her and I hear her chuckle.
Then, as we all take in the sights inside, I can't help goosebumps at the interior. "It looks like some kind of amusement park!" Eijiro muses excitedly.
I stand beside him, nodding. "It really does!"
13, now at the head of the group, motions to each section proudly.
"A shipwreck, a landslide, a fire, a windstorm, etc. I prepared this training facility to prepare you to handle different types of disasters." She explains, arms wide and pride in her voice. "I call it the Unforeseen Simulation Joint, but you can call it the 'USJ'!"
I laugh a little at the obvious nod to Universal Studios Japan, then watch as Mom walks over to 13.
"Hey, shouldn't All Might be here already?" she asks. I blink. Oh, yeah. Didn't Mom say All Might was supposed to help teach us? 13 turns to Mom as she tsks. "Let me guess; he booked an interview instead." I roll my eyes. Toshin-Oji didn't do many interviews nowadays, given that he had to use the vast majority of his time as All Might teaching his class and doing what he could as a hero. 13 walks over and holds up 3 fingers.
I remember Toshin-Oji saying something once to Mom and Dad about how his time as All Might was limited to about 3 hours a day total. Had he already used up that time?
Mom shakes her head and (I assume) replies before turning back to us. "Well, the clock's ticking; let's get started."
13 spreads her arms again. "Excellent! Before we begin, I just want to say one thing. Well, maybe two things, possibly three...maybe four…" She suddenly realizes she's rambling and clears her throat. "Anyway, listen carefully;" She holds up her hand. "I'm sure you're aware I have a powerful Quirk. It's called Black Hole. I can use it to suck up anything and turn it into dust." Izuku nods.
"Yeah! You've used Black Hole to save people from all kinds of disasters before, haven't you?"
"That's true," 13 replies soberly, dropping her hand, "but it can also very easily be used to kill." Everyone is stunned. I suppose she's right, though. It'd be very easy to suck someone up, turning them into dust before the person could fight back. "Some of you also have powers that can be dangerous." She continues. I realize that, used the wrong way, I could very easily hurt or drown someone with my water Quirk. Earth, too, maybe. If I had a better handle on it. "In our superhuman society, all Quirks are certified and stringently regulated, so we often overlook how unsafe they can actually be. Please don't forget that if you lose focus or make the wrong move, your powers can be deadly, even if you're trying to do something virtuous like rescue someone. Thanks to Mrs. Yamada's fitness tests, you have a solid idea of your Quirk's potential, and because of All Might's combat training, you likely experienced how dangerous your powers can be when used against other people. Carry those lessons over to this class. Today, you're going to learn how to use your Quirks to save lives. You won't be using your powers to attack enemies or each other; only to help. After all, that's what being a hero is all about: ensuring the safety of others." She then goes into a bow as we process what she'd said.
Everything made sense, but I hadn't considered it that much before. Mom and Dad had always said that control was the key to preventing accidents, that thinking carefully before using your Quirk would eliminate almost any potential for mistakes.
I never thought that, even with careful planning and strategy, you could still hurt people and even end up killing someone by mistake. "That's all I have to say. Thank you so much for listening!" 13 says, then straightens.
Once we got over the shock of what she'd said, we clapped and thanked 13.
"Right!" Mom calls, and we fall silent. "Now that that's over-" she stops short as the lights flicker off, small bursts of electricity coming from the sockets. I look at Denki, but he shakes his head. Confused, I turn around, then pale at what I see.
There was a fountain at the center of the areas, but it was starting and stopping, then suddenly a circling thick purple smoke starts expanding in front of the fountain. I step forward, fear gripping me.
"Mom, turn around!" I hiss and she does, eyes going wide as the smoke expands and a figure approaches through it. I flinch when I get a decent look at him. He (I think it's male) has a literal hand over his face. Not his actual hand, but a gross, greying, decayed looking hand, completely separate from a body. As he fully came out of the smoke, I saw another on the back of his head and all over his body. What the hell?!
"Stay together and don't move!" Mom growls, turning to examine what was happening as the smoke expands and two yellow streaks are visible. I swallow. What was happening?! "13, protect the students!"
By now, the entire class was on edge and Eijiro points down.
"Look!" He barks and we do as several more people emerge from the smoke. "That's not part of the training, right? I thought this was rescue training." Eijiro adds in a concerned voice.
I take a step forward to get a better look.
Mom's hand is on my chest in an instant. "Stay back! All of you!" She snaps, and I see terror in her black eyes before it's replaced by determination and she pulls her goggles up. "This is real! Those are villains!"
Everyone, now faced with the ugly truth, flinches backward. Mom takes another step toward the edge.
"Mom, no!" I bark. "You can't fight them all!" I plead, grabbing at her arm. I watch as a huge, muscly villain with a visible brain and large pointed teeth comes to stand by the man with hands all over him. Then a booming male voice echoes up to us.
"The only real heroes I see are 13 and Eraserhead. Perplexing. According to the schedule we retrieved from UA, All Might should be here, as well." I pale.
These guys were after Toshin-oji?!
Mom 's jaw tightens and she moves her foot back as if to jump. "So you scumbags used the press as cover and sneaked onto campus." She growls.
Mom's hair and scarf suddenly lose gravity and I gulp.
"Mom, don't!" I plead again.
Eijiro gulps. "Real villains? No way!" He's in denial, frowning and biting his lips. "How could so many of them get into a UA facility this secure?"
Momo steps forward next. "Yeah. 13, why aren't the alarms going off?"
I frown. That's a good observation. Maybe because they were suddenly inside? Or does this building not have sensors against whatever power that smoky stuff is? 13 turns her head a little.
"Good question." She replies. "Not sure…" It's clear she's as stunned as we are at this development, but more than that, she's probably worried about her chances in combat. She primarily focuses on rescues, hardly ever engaging villains directly.
Shoto tilts his head a little, frowning in thought. "Is the entire campus under attack, or is this their only target?" He points out rhetorically.
I flinch at the thought of the entirety of UA being attacked. There were already so many villains here in the USJ. How many would it take to attack the whole campus?!
"Either way," Shoto continues, "if the alarm sensors aren't being triggered, then one of those villains must have a Quirk that's masking their presence here."
I bite my lip. "That's a good point. I can't imagine the ones in charge could have recruited enough henchman to attack UA itself, so I think this is their only target."
Shoto nods. "I agree. They carefully chose this isolated facility as an entry point at a time when a class was being taught." Shoto's face hardens. "They're fools for trespassing here, but they've thought this out." He concedes. "Whatever their plan, they just have a concrete objective in mind, but what is it?"
I turn to glare down at the gathering army. "Let's go kick their ass an- -"
"No." Mom interjects coldly. "Absolutely not!"
"But Mom!" I protest.
"No! Stay here with 13!" Mom barks, holding her scarf in readiness. "13, get them out of here and alert the main campus." She instructs, going over toward the ledge. She then bites her lip. "Actually, if they've got the ability to block our sensors, then they might be jamming our regular communications, too." She muses, then turns and gestures to Denki. "Kaminari, try using your Quirk to contact the school."
Denki nods and puts a hand to his earpiece. "Yes, ma'am!" He replies shortly.
Mom then turns back to the edge.
"Wait!" Izuku calls worriedly. "What're you gonna do?! You can't fight them all on your own!" He points out.
Mom's jaw tightens again and she doesn't turn around.
"Mom, please! We can- -"
"Not a chance! Go with 13, Takara! Now!"
"But your Quirk and fighting style aren't suited for large groups!" Izuku protests. "There's too many of them! Even if you nullify their Quirks, your fighting style isn't suited for this! It's best for stealth and one-on-one fights!" He then bites his lip, looking down.
"He's right, Mom!" I agree, panicking.
Mom could possibly fight them all off!
"Takara, you can't be a pro with only one trick." She replies firmly, then readies herself. "I'll leave it to you, 13." She says, then leaps off the edge and down the stairs effortlessly.
I gulp, moving with Izuku to watch helplessly as Mom went into battle.
"Whoa, she's holding them off. Guess I shouldn't have underestimated her." He mumbles, watching as Mom takes down three villains in one go, then four total using one as a ram to knock the rest out.
I bite my lip. "I think we should go." I reluctantly say, leading Izuku away, but before we got far, that purple smoke suddenly appeared and blocked our way. My heart skips a beat as we all stumble to a halt.
"There is no escape for you!" The echoing male voice we'd heard before calls, blocking our way to the door. "It's a pleasure to meet you." He purrs, "We are the League of Villains. I know it's impolite, but we decided to invite ourselves into this haven of justice to say hello." There's an edge of humor to his voice. One I don't like. "Besides, isn't this a fitting place for All Might, the Symbol of Peace, to breathe his last breath." I flinch. What?! That was their plan?! "I believe he was supposed to be here, and yet I see no sign of him. There must have been some change of plans we could not have foreseen." I then grow bold and glare at the strange smoky figure. Whoever this guy was, he was cocky and believed that this plan would work, using his forces and honestly intimidating appearance to frighten information out of us. "Ah well. I suppose, in the end, it doesn't matter." Just ahead of me, I see 13 release a finger of her glove. "I still have a role to play." Despite that chillingly vague statement, I almost smile, but hold it in so as not ruin 13's plan.
We'd be out of here in minutes and we'd finally get reinforcements for Mom.
Then all of a sudden, Eijiro and Katsuki tear forward, yelling as they leap out. Releasing the small amount of water in my belt, I leap out to join them for safety in numbers and hopefully shield them from any attacks. I try a wave of water, but the figure evades all our attacks.
The three of us land on our feet, glaring in newfound bravado at the enemy before us.
Eijiro smirks. "Did you think we were gonna just stand by and let you tear this place to shreds?" He growls.
Katsuki's smoke hides the figure in the aftermath and we foolishly remain where we are.
"You live up to your school, and parents', reputations." The man says, in almost a chuckle. "But you should be more careful, children." He warns ominously. It's then that I notice a piece of neck armor. So he isn't entirely smoke! Ha! But, wait...did he say 'parents' reputations'? Does that mean...he knows I'm the Yamada's daughter? "Otherwise, someone might get hurt."
With that, we prepare to attack again, but then 13 calls out.
"The three of you, out of the way, right now!" She orders.
Before anyone could move, the smoke encompasses us.
"I'll scatter you across this facility to meet my comrades...and your deaths!" The man booms, and all I see is purple. Then, Eijiro suddenly grabs my waist, trying to keep a hold of me as some kind of wind begins to blast against us.
"Crap! What is this?!" Eijiro growls, tightening his grip.
"I don't- -gah!" A tendril of something curls around my neck, yanking me back and releasing me in a heartbeat, so fast, Eijiro couldn't react in time to stop my flying through the air.
"Takara!" He screams and then suddenly, I'm freefalling.
Just a short distance, then I crunch against something incredibly hard and unforgiving.
"Takara?! The hell?!" I hear Mom's voice and look around to see Mom in front of me, stunned, hair down, the scarf limp in her arms. I groan and stand, using the water in the fountain to form a series of arms that would bat away whoever got too close; a trick I learned from watching an american cartoon Toshin-Oji showed me, Avatar; Last Airbender.
"The smoky guy has a warping Quirk!" I shoot back in explanation as the villains regain their bearings and charge. I slam two arms into the frontrunners and snap more arms into the next group as mom then lassoes the flying villains and smacks their heads together with her capture weapon. Mom's back is eventually against mine, my strategy becoming predictable fairly easily and having paid in destroyed arms and blood sugar loss.
I stagger a little and pant as we prepare for another onslaught.
"You okay?" Mom asks softly. I nod subtly, raising my firsts and switching to a pair of batons with extra water in balls rotating about me to form shields were I need one. I need to get a snack from my belt, but can't risk showing my weakness in front of all these villains. I'll just have to beat them all up and then recover. I lose myself in the fight, slamming the batons into villain's heads left and right, but it wasn't enough; they just kept coming.
One thing I don't get; why send me to Mom? Did that man know I was Eraserhead's daughter? Did he hope that my presence would unbalance Mom and give them an advantage?
Guess they underestimated Mom cus she's still focused and strong.
I suddenly get an idea and grin at the villains while simultaneously gearing the water in the shipwreck zone behind me for a tidal wave. It would take probably most of my blood sugar to power, so I had to make it count. I dance around, waving my arms and moving a little closer to the water. "Hey, you lowlives! This is embarrassingly easy!" I bark. "C'mon, guys! Put up a fight!"
Mom turns to look at me. Her head subtly flicks between the water and me, and then she smirks and begins to take out the outliers in my range. No one's noticed anything, so I continue gearing up the wave. As I do that, I feel three people in the water, but they weren't close enough to get swept into the wave, so I don't react to it.
Once the villains begin charging, I back up more and then begin running toward them, raising my arms and leaping up as the wave obeyed and slammed into the villains, sweeping them up and into the water in a solid movement.
I land clumsily, staggering a little and panting as the toll wracks my body. Mom takes down the last few villains as I try to regain enough strength to attack. This was bad! I was almost passed out and we still had three of the more powerful villains to deal with.
"Final boss." I hear Mom growl.
I then feel those three figures again, this time so close I could barely hear them. It was Izuku, Su, and that purple-headed asshole!
I try not to react.
Turns out, there was something even worse awaiting me when I refocus on the battle. Mom was running toward the hand-guy, who was running toward Mom and then the man grabbed Mom's arm. "First, it was 23 seconds, then it was 24 seconds." The guy grabs Mom's capture weapon and keeps running. I flinch, trying to move quick enough to help, but am sluggish. "Then 20, then 17." There's a creepy edge to his voice as he finally reaches mom. I'm not fast enough! I have to- -shit!
"No!" I scream as the man grabs my mom's elbow.
The man leans in close. "It was hard to see when you were jumping around, but I figured out your tell; it's your hair." He notes, voice gravelly and almost amused, like this was a game. Mom's shirt turns grey and cracked. What the hell?! I feel panic grip me as I press myself to run harder. "When it's down, that means you're not using your Quirk." Cold terror adds to the million sensations I'm feeling as I run. I can't use my Quirk thoughtlessly or I'll pass out, but I have to help! "You're having to blink more often." I'm so close! Hang on, Mom! "Don't push yourself too hard now. You might fall apart." The man warns, the part of Mom's shirt he was touching now crumbling off Mom's arm, revealing the skin beneath, which began to turn grey, as well. No! "Wouldn't that be a shame?" The villain practically cackles. I hear cracking and watch as Mom's skin peels off and falls, turning to dust before it hit the floor.
"Get away from her!" I scream and am finally in rang to use a simple hook of water to yank Mom to me. I then have to subtly lean on her for support before dropping to my knees as she whirls and kicks a villain trying to get the drop on us. Mom's hissing in pain, but she still takes two more villains down.
I sit there, dizzy and reeling.
"That annoying Quirk of yours isn't much use in a fight against a big group, now is it, Eraserhead?" The main villain taunts, watching as Mom stands in front of me. I sneakily reach into my belt, pretending to be about to puke as I slip a chocolate into my mouth. There. That was starting to help. "Don't you think you're out of your element here, Eraserhead?" I glare at him.
"The henchman on the ground say otherwise." I growl. The snack had done it's work. I felt steadier, but I knew it was a band-aid at best; it wouldn't last.
The villain clicks his tongue. "She's better at working stealthily, known for surprise attacks, not fighting head-to-head." Mom again moves in front of me as I consider how best to help her. I had to make every formation count. Maybe octopus form again? Over the both of us? "And yet, despite knowing that, you didn't hesitate to jump into the middle of this fight, to put your students at ease." He chuckles evilly. "And now, you have your daughter to think about, too. Oh, Kurogiri is a genius!" He laughs and Mom and I flinch. I snap the water into formation. "But look at you; you're still standing! Still protecting your little treasure." I feel a chill down my spine at the way he'd said 'treasure'. I didn't like where this was going. I slam a few arms into the couple of henchman that were getting up, my arms grabbing weapons and using them to slam some henchmen into each other. Mom sways subtly on her feet. "You really are so cool!"
I glare at the villain, but before I can say anything, something very large and very ominous stomps up behind us. "Oh, and by the way, heroes; I'm not the final boss."
I feel panic freeze my blood and instantly shove Mom aside, dissolving the formation and trying to get us out of the way, but I miscalculated.
I ended up being grabbed by the leg, feeling like it was being torn off as I am dragged back and then the thing pounds my back into the ground. I scream in agony as a sickening crunch is heard and I see stars. I blearily beat at the thing's arms, even trying to make a geyser to shoot into its face, but the thing just sits there, grinding me further into the ground.
"Takara!" Mom roars, panicked, and I can't warn her before I'm grabbed my the chest and I'm used as a human battering ram, slamming into Mom with another scream, then the thing gets a better grip on my ribs (which I'm sure are broken) and it lets out a screech of its own before hurling me away, right into the rim of the fountain.
Yeah, those ribs were definitely broken. I can't move!