Disclaimer: I do not own My Hero Academia/Boku No Hero Academia, or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.
Vlad King's Green Bean
Chapter one-hundred and three: Attack on Mithralhall Stadium (part one)
The men from Izuku's year of UA's hero course were all at Mithralhall Stadium, where this year's provisional licence exams would be taking place. It was just the men, as the women were assigned duty over at UA to help Spinner settle into the role as UA's new principal. Spinner, a member of the Regime Exclusive Party and the right hand man of the man who rules the world, Emperor Dabi, was given the duty of supervising Japan's top hero academy in light of Nezu being found out to have been secretly supporting the Old Rule Rebellion, supplying them with intel that had allowed them to carry out a number of acts ever since the current school year had started.
Nezu was removed from his position and, after much interrogation to determine the extent of what all he knew and what all he had leaked to the rebels, interrogation that was helped along by the resurrected Nemoto as well as the daughter of Mines and Lizardy, Anya Shoda, Nezu had been executed for the crime of High Treason against the Regime. Nezu's execution came as a shock to many from Izuku's year of UA's hero course, even more so when it was revealed what exactly Nezu had done to warrant such a harsh consequence. It would be safe to say that the execution of Nezu, the plugging of such a leak, was a major boon for the Dabi Regime.
...And a major loss for the Old Rule Rebellion.
That being said, the authority of the Regime had reason to believe that the rebels will be acting up even more, out of anger that their ear on the inside had been deafened. A lot of Izuku's peers were wondering how exactly the rebels will act up even more, considering that society was still trying to recover from the recent attack that had been launched by the rebels, where they had used the now late Desumi Yango to call up a zombie apocalypse to try and remove the regime from power. That vile act had been stopped, and Dabi's bodyguard Felgrand was even able to, surprisingly, restore some of the raised zombies to true life, a miracle among miracles.
Regardless, the damage was still done. Loads of buildings had been damages or wrecked, other property damage had been done, loads of people died (some even brought back as zombies, and a few of them among those restored to true life), and that's saying nothing of how many, many others, even those who never experienced the chaos that Yango at the rebel's word had conjured and unleashed directly and instead only saw videos or images, now suffer from nightmares and some variations of PTSD. Granted, a good number of lesser rebels were caught as a result, but all of the major players that are in the Old Rule Rebellion still remain at large to this day.
As a matter of fact, the rebels were able to spring Oboro Aizawa and Sekijiro Kan from prison, meaning what few major members among the rebels that were in Regime custody are now back out there again. Major names among the rebels escaping from Regime custody, combined with the overall damage caused by the rebels loosing a zombie apocalypse on a major city, had caused a good amount of faith that the people have in the Regime to falter. A good number of pro heroes, Izuku included, saw that this was one of the goals that the rebels had been hoping to accomplish; make the people lose faith in the Regime's ability to protect them. That loss of faith is bad.
In theory, the Regime could stamp out all of that and make things better by force. But that would be a bad idea; unlike the authority it had replaced a little over twenty years ago, the Regime allowed for the common voice to question. The Regime allowed the common voice to hold them responsible for what all happens. This is because the Regime does not want to repeat the mistakes of the authority it had replaced. The Regime believes that if it started to use to authority to stamp out all critics, then it will be no better than the authority that it had replaced. And there is strong evidence that the old authority had a tendency to stamp out critics and cover up messes.
As such, Izuku got it that Dabi was planning on a number or programs to help restore the peoples' faith in the Regime. Dabi was also going to increase how thorough the Regime is in sussing out rebel spies in the Regime. To this end, the Regime was planning to start up a new department, the Department of Regime Inquisitions, that will count among its members those who have quirks that will allow for the quick and easy sussing out of rebels. Nemoto, one of the members of Dabi's inner circle and the man who has the Confession quirk, is set to head up this department. There's plans to offer Anya Shoda, whose quirk is Mind Reading, an internship there as well.
The existence of the plans for the Department of Regime Inquisitions, as well as the soon to be existence of said department itself, were kept tightly secret. This is mainly because most of the members will, in theory, be those with quirks that allow them to forcefully invade the privacy of others. If such a department's existence was made public, even if it's confirmed that its sole purpose is to sus out rebels hiding among the Regime, then the people will be wary. Only Dabi, Izuku as the top hero in Japan, Shoto, Spinner, Rappa, Gentle, Nemoto, and Skeptic know of it right now, and that's because Dabi told them while telling them to keep things there secret.
Izuku, as he thought about all of this, was unsure how to feel. There's no denying that these plans will revoke a lot of privacy from the citizenry. But then again, the rebels having found out as much as they did, as well as them pulling off what all they had pulled off as of late, have kind of made such drastic measures necessary, due to the fact that if all rebel spies aren't sussed out, then the Rebellion will be able to go on with their acts of terror and sabotage with impunity. The Regime is doing what all it was doing because the rebels made it that necessary for them to do so in order to protect the people. Desperate times called for desperate measures, as some people out there would say.
Izuku was looking down into the arena of Mithralhall Stadium, saw that the students were already in there and were getting started on the provisional licence exams. Izuku saw that the exams this time around started differently than they did when he and his peers took them. Izuku also saw signs that Fuyuki and his peers in UA's current Class 1-A were for the most part being left alone by students from other schools. The number one hero could tell full well that the other schools were indeed too scared to act against UA's batch this time around, no doubt due to the fact Fuyuki's classmate Toya is with them, and Toya is the nephew of the world ruling emperor.
Looking around at the seating above the arena, Izuku was able to make out a few of his peers dotted here and there; Shihai, known as the Scheming Hero Vantablack, was put in charge of coordinating how he, Izuku, and their year mates would be distributed and assigned to specific sectors of the seating. Izuku himself, along with Shihai and a few others like Yosetsu and Juzo, were in the south sector of the stadium's seating. From there, Izuku could look straight ahead to the north sector of the arena's seating where, among other guys, Kirishima, Denki, Hanta, Shoto, and Nirengeki had all been assigned. Izuku couldn't clearly see the guys in the other sectors.
As Izuku was looking around, he was met up by Shihai. "See anything weird or otherwise noteworthy, Green Bean?" Shihai asked.
The number one hero gently shook his head in the negative. "No, nothing that would be cause for alarm or worry." Looking down into the arena, Izuku went on, "At least as far as security ought to be concerned."
"You worry that our respective boys and their classmates are essentially going to get a free pass here at the provisional licence exams," Shihai remarked, drawing an affirmative nod out of Izuku. "Personally, I fail to see why you're as upset as you are. Your son, my son, and their peers are essentially guaranteed to get their licenses for provisional work."
"But because opposition from the other hero academies are too afraid to try to eliminate any of them because our respective sons and their peers count the emperor's nephew among their number," Izuku replied, "Fuyuki, Shiro, and their peers aren't actually going to earn their licences."
Shihai scoffed at Izuku's sense of honesty. "It's equal parts privilege and burden, Green Bean. They won't be challenged too much, but at the same time they'll get a pass anyway and get one step closer to their goals."
"They won't be as ready for those goals if they aren't properly tested first," Izuku countered.
"They can learn in the field," Shihai countered back. Shihai took a phone out of his pocket, used it to check the time. "Hey, you figure I have time to go take a dump real quick before resuming work?"
Shrugging, Izuku replied, "I don't see why not." Shihai slipped his phone back into his pocket, turned around and went into a hallway of the stadium to go find a men's restroom so he could download a brownload as he said he needed to do. After turning his attention back to the arena below, Izuku saw that only Fuyuki's class out of all groups taking part in the provisional licence exams had no eliminations yet; all other groups saw eliminations, and at least two entire schools were knocked out of things here. It was getting close to the point where the second phase of the provisional licence exams would be started, and UA's Class 1-A had been virtually unchallenged.
Izuku, as much as he was happy that Fuyuki and his peers were passing, still wanted them to be challenged. The number one hero was certain that a number of the kids in that class, Fuyuki himself included, also felt the same way. Izuku hoped that, at the very least, the challenge would pick up during the second phase of the provisional license exams, so that Fuyuki and his peers would-
...Hang on, was that a meteor flying right at the northern sector of Mithral Hall Stadium? And it was coming in too low, as if it actually wasn't falling down from the skies above but rather was picked up from the ground and chucked straight ahead. The supposed meteor got closer, and Izuku, his eyes widening in dawning horror, saw that it was not a meteor, but rather a large section of mountain. Izuku used Float to soar straight up into the air to get a better view, saw in the distance that Emperor Dabi's bodyguard Gigantomachia, in full battle mode with his jaw mask over his upper face, was right behind, turning as if he had just finished throwing-
"EVERYONE GET DOWN!" Izuku bellowed, confusing most everyone else who saw Izuku float straight up into the air. However, everything came to a screeching halt when the mountain chunk that Gigantomachia had thrown at Mithralhall Stadium crashed into the northern sector, blowing out that entire portion of the stadium. Huge hunks of rubble were sent flying, people were sent flying, loads of other people started screaming out of fright and horror. For reasons that escaped Izuku, Gigantomachia had just turned traitor against the Regime, against his master Dabi, and had launched an attack on Mithralhall Stadium during the provisional licence exams.
"Attention exam takers!" a voice called out over the intercom, "The provisional licence exams are hereby canceled, due to the fact that a major attack had just been launched on Mithralhall Stadium! Everyone please follow Regime agents who will lead you in evacuating in a calm and orderly fashion!"
Izuku got back down and was met up by Yosetsu and Juzo. "Dude! Did you see what's going on?!" Yosetsu exclaimed, clearly in a panic.
"Yeah, Gigantomachia just attacked Mithralhall Stadium by flinging a large hunk of mountain at it," Izuku said grimly.
"Wait a minute, Gigantomachia?" Yosetsu said, "One of Emperor Dabi's two big bodyguards and the behemoth known for being absolutely loyal to a fault towards Dabi? Why and how did Gigantomachia of all people turn traitor?!"
Izuku was about to speak up, but got cut off when Shihai came running back over. "I felt the entire stadium shake while I was on the john," Shihai said, "Literally scared the crap out of me! What the hell happened?! Is it an earthquake?!"
Pointing to the ruined sector of Mithralhall Stadium, Yosetsu said, "Dude, the stadium is under attack by Gigantomachia! Izuku just saw him fling a huge ass hunk of fucking mountain at the place! Gigantomachia has turned traitor against the Regime!"
Shihai's eyes widened out of shock. "Oh shit! This is really bad!"
"You're telling me," Izuku said, "Even if every pro hero in the area teamed up together to fight Gigantomachia, there's virtually zero chance we can stop him! The only person stronger than Gigantomachia, and as such is the only one capable of stopping him with brute force, is Felgrand!"
Scowling, Shihai said, "And Felgrand's vacationing out of country right now with his fiance, in order to celebrate them getting engaged."
Arching a wry eyebrow, Izuku said, "Huh, weird. My adopted little sister Eri also recently got engaged to her boyfriend and they're vacationing in England right now." Gently shaking his head, Izuku said, "But that's not important right now." Izuku turned to look forward towards the destruction, with the other heroes with him looking on, although none of the others saw it that Shihai looked at Izuku with a hint of piqued interest and surprise. "We need to help with evacuation and trying to stop as much of Gigantomachia's rampage as possible," Izuku said, "Once we get the innocent civilians out of the way-"
"Dude, rebels are swarming into the stadium!" Yosetsu exclaimed, cutting Izuku off and pointing out that members of the Rebellion, mostly foot soldier types, were now swarming into the arena. To make matters worse, it looked like they were heading for the still fleeing hero academy students.
"Fuck, now we not only have to deal with Gigantomachia turning traitor, we also have to fight off rebels to save the students!" Juzo swore, "And right when Felgrand is out of country and unable to pitch in!"
Izuku floated up again, took a close look over at where Gigantomachia was at now. The traitorous behemoth was now close enough that he could tear hunks out of the stadium's building with his bare hands, so Izuku was able to see him better and more closely. To Izuku's surprise, there were a few people riding on Gigantomachia. The number one hero took out a mini telescope from a pouch on his belt and used to to look on ahead. To Izuku's surprise, he spotted Hitoshi Shinso among the fellows that were riding on Gigantomachia. He was the only person on Gigantomachia that Izuku recognized though.
However, it was enough to give Izuku a better idea what was really going on. Landing, Izuku told the others, "Shinso and a few others are riding on Gigantomachia. Shinso must have used his device that lets him imitate the voices of others to sound like Dabi, trick Gigantomachia into responding to him, which led to Shinso getting to enthrall Gigantomachia via his Brainwashing quirk."
"So Gigantomachia didn't really turn traitor," Yosetsu said, "He's being controlled by the Rebellion."
"We can argue about the finer points later!" Shihai said, "Right now, we need to deal with the situation at hand! Get innocent people out of here and try to contain Gigantomachia!"
"We tried something similar a little over twenty years ago," Juzo said, "And we had the girls helping us as well! Even so, we failed to stop Gigantomachia from reaching Jaku anyway! How in blazes can we stop Gigantomachia without any support from any of the girls, and during an attack on Mithralhall Stadium while we have to evac the innocent persons here AND fight off members of the Rebellion?!"
Looking down into the arena, Shihai said, "I can see our kids' class heading for a specific exit! I can meet them there, help lead them to safety! Wish I could of helped more students, but at least I can guarantee the safety of some of the kids!"
"Well what are you waiting for?" Yosetsu asked, "A kiss on the cheek? Get going already, dude!" Shihai nodded once in understanding before turning around and taking off to go help at least UA's Class 1-A get to safety. After Shihai had left, the remaining guys turned to look ahead at the destruction Gigantomachia was causing as more and more rebels pooled into Mithralhall Stadium.
"...Guys," Juzo said in a grim tone of worry to Izuku and Yosetsu, "Nirengeki was in the northern sector of the stadium's seating. I think Todoroki and the Idiots of Bakugo were also in there."
Izuku gulped nervously, silently praying that the guys who were in the northern sector of Mithralhall Stadium would get out of this mess alive. Regardless of his own worries, Izuku knew that he and the available heroes had a duty to try and stop what was going on, or at least get all innocent persons out of there so that the heroes would be able to cut loose to fight the rebels and Gigantomachia, who as it turned out was actually enthralled and had not turned traitor against Dabi and the Regime.
This attack was the last thing that the Regime needed, especially since its main way to deal with Gigantomachia was unavailable at the moment.
Inside one of the halls of the stadium, Fuyuki and his peers were running around scared. They were trying to evacuate as per what the intercom said in order to get away from the destruction that had just besieged the stadium. Obviously this meant that the provisional licence exams here would be ruled inconclusive due to how it's been interrupted to such a degree. Right now, all that mattered was Fuyuki and his peers getting out of this mess alive.
"What the hell is going on?!" Mineta screamed in a clear panic as he and the others ran for dear life, "This ain't part of the easy ride that we were getting!"
"I'd say that judging by how a huge hunk of earthen material had just been lobbed at the stadium," Toya began, "And it was big enough to blow out an entire section of the stadium, then my uncle's bodyguard Gigantomachia had to have been the one who chucked it!"
"I heard stories of that behemoth from Fuyuki's parents," Tenya said, "You're suggesting that Gigantomachia would carry out such an act that by its definition is an act of betrayal to his master he is absolutely loyal to?"
Class 1-A ran past some vending machines, one of which was one of those black metal blocky deals that had snacks in it. "I don't know what could have caused this to happen, Mr. iida," Fuyuki replied, "All I know is that we need to get someplace safe! It's bad enough that Emperor Dabi's elite bodyguard Gigantomachia has apparently turned traitor against the Regime! But I also saw some rebels pool into the stadium from outside along the destruction that had been made! This is obviously a scheme on part of the Rebellion! That being said, we can't let them catch up to us, or else we ca-"
"AIIEE!"
Fuyuki was cut off when he and the others heard Anya cry out in frightened panic; turning to see, the rest of Class 1-A saw that they were caught in a pincer attack by two groups of rebels, effectively cutting off their escape. One of the rebels, a heavily disguised man, held Anya hostage with a hand over her mouth and the point of a hunting knife against the side of her throat. Stepping forward, one of the rebels from the left side of Class 1-A's group (from Fuyuki's point of view) spoke up. "You kids are going to be playing nice with us," the talking rebel said, "Unless you wanna end up like Mines's daughter."
"We already are like Anya, you jerk," Sato scowled, "You've taken all of us hostage, same as you've done with her!"
The rebel who was holding Anya hostage said, "...Oh yeah, I'm supposed to teach this mind reading rat a lesson on how snitches get stitches." Then, without ceremony, the rebel holding Anya hostage shoved his hunting knife into Anya's throat, then pushed the blade outward, gouging out Anya's throat in the process. All of Class 1-A screamed in horror as they just watched one of their own get murdered right in front of their eyes.
"SHUT UP!" the rebel who fatally wounded Anya screamed as he let go of the doomed daughter of Mines and Lizardy, his yelling having a particularly forceful effect as a few of the students were even hit with the force of the yell's power. Pointing his bloodied hinting knife at the remaining students, the murderous rebel snarled, "That little lady had been a constant thorn in the Rebellion's side, outing Rebellion members working as our spies within the Regime, exposing those helping us from within to take down the Regime! She got in the way of freedom! She had to go if Japan, and the rest of the world after it, is to ever throw off the shackles we all live under!"
Fuyuki was tearing up out of horrified heartbreak over seeing a friend being mortally wounded; Anya laid on the floor, bleeding heavily from her gouged out throat, struggling to stay awake, to stay alive. Turning to look at the murderous rebel, Fuyuki bitterly scoffed, "So the Old Rule Rebellion is willing to go so far as kill innocent minors if it means they will have an easier time trying to enforce their ideals on the rest of us."
"Do you kids not realize that society in Japan," the murderous rebel said, "That society all over the world, is currently ruled by fucking villains?! Us rebels in the Rebellion are the real fucking heroes here! We're fighting, doing what all we can, to liberate the people so that everyone will know what freedom is like again, know something that has not been known for over twenty years! If we have to do some less than pleasant things in order to accomplish our noble goal, then so fucking be it!"
"You mortally wounded our classmate!" Sebas screamed.
"She would have gone on making things more difficult for the Rebellion to overthrow the Regime!" screamed the murderous rebel, "She would have made Rebellion secrets public knowledge to the Regime! It would have kept us from being able to save the world!" Throwing his arm from side to side in a wild and wide gesture, the murderous rebel went on, "Believe you me, when that villain Dabi and his bastard crew were trying to take over, they also took the lives of teens, UA first years same as you! They killed five at the attack on the USJ! Killed Ingenium's younger brother during an internship! Killed Katsuki Bakugo between Dabi's first and second war! So don't go paining the Rebellion as the bad guys just because we killed one teen, and out of sheer necessity!"
Stepping forward, Tenya with a firm look on his face said, "The villains who attacked my peers at the USJ were not affiliated with Dabi's group at all, despite being an earlier generation of the same company. I myself was killed by Stain the Hero Killer, an independent villain not affiliated with any group, and me and a few of my peers were recently restored to true life due to Felgrand. As for Katsuki Bakugo, he had deliberately provoked his murderer to kill him, said murderer wouldn't have done so if Bakugo didn't provoke him. And Bakugo is also one of my peers recently restored to true life by Felgrand."
Gesturing to the murderous rebel, Tenya went on, "I would have to say that you and the rest of the Old Rule Rebellion have been worse that what Dabi and his group had ever been, all in the name to restore you guys' view of how things ought to be run which, let's be honest here, was way more corrupt than how things today are run under Dabi's authority."
"Dabi and his ilk are still villains," the murderous rebel said, "They have to be removed from power! If they aren't, then the world won't know true freedom, possibly ever again!"
Fuyuki glared at the murderous rebel. "...Maybe society here in Japan actually prefers having the Dabi Regime in power. Did you ever stop to think that maybe, just maybe, the Dabi Regime has done a hell of a lot of good for the world at large?"
"Any rule by villains," the murderous rebel cut in, "No matter how benevolent, is STILL a rule by villains! By principal, the Dabi Regime cannot be allowed to go on staying in charge of everything! It HAS TO BE taken out! Dabi and his fellows HAVE TO BE removed from power! To let the Dabi Regime go on would mean that freedom will never truly be known by the world at large! Is that what you kids want, huh?! For you and everyone else to never know a truly free day in your lives?!"
Fuyuki would have spoken up again, but he was cut off when a number of Regime soldiers and a few pro heroes, including Shiro's dad Shihai, came storming in, shouting for the rebels to get down. The murderous rebel took out a smoke grenade and threw it at the ground, creating a cloud of smoke that he and a few rebels used as cover to get away. But at most, only six rebels escaped capture; the rest were all subdued.
With the remaining rebels caught, Shihai went over to where Anya laid on the floor, a pool of blood forming around her from where her neck was. The Scheming Hero knelt down, checked for a pulse. "...Fuck, she's gone," Shihai swore under his breath. The remaining Class 1-A students were kept back away from where Anya laid on the floow, they only saw Shihai's back. As such, no one had seen it that, although he sounded disappointed and upset, although he sounded like he had no idea how he would break this news to certain adults, Shihai was actually smirking in amusement.
Shihai rubbed his other hand down his face, his palm and fingers helping to rub the smirk from his face so that he could look grim for the others when he got up and turned to face them. No one who saw the Scheming Hero could tell that he actually saw a lot of benefit in Anya Shoda's death. None of them knew that he was secretly in cahoots with the rebels; the only two rebels who were at the Stadium that were aware that Shihai was secretly one of them had bailed before Gigantomachia's attack, disposing of what evidence there was that they had made Dabi's inner circle member Nemoto dead again.
As far as all present rebels knew, Shihai was still a loyal dog of the Dabi Regime. The Scheming Hero needed it to stay that way, and with the death of Nemoto who could have forced Shihai to spill what all he knew, as well as the death of Anya who could have read his mind to learn his secrets, Shihai's position was secure. All that he had to do was continue to play his part, and not only would the Rebellion be able to eventually overthrow the Regime, but Shihai would be able to enjoy something that he'd always wanted to have but could never get. Shihai had even arranged things to help speed things there along, another reason why it was good for him that both Nemoto and Anya were now gone.
"Kids," Shihai said, "You're going to have to come with me and a few of the lads here."
"What about Shoda?" Rin cried out as she gestured to where her late classmate laid on the floor in the stadium hallway, growing ever colder.
Grimly shaking his head, Shihai replied, "We can't do anything for her, I'm afraid. Let me inform her parents, by the way, both of her parents are old classmates of mine, I can break the news to them more gently."
Left with no other choice, the rest of UA's current Class 1-A left with Shihai and a few of the Regime soldiers as the remaining soldiers all stayed behind to keep an eye on the captured rebels. One of the soldiers even took out a sheet and used it to cover Anya's body. Fuyuki and his classmates would never forget this day, as they saw it as all the more reason that the Rebellion had to be stop, that for all the good the Rebellion claimed to be doing and was going to do, the bad they did in order to pull off their goals heavily outweighed all that (supposed) good.
They could only hope that the heroes will be able to resolve things here.
END, CHAPTER ONE-HUNDRED AND THREE
Author's notes;
This chapter sees Izuku muse about current events before a talk with Shihai about how Class 1-A is looking like they're being given a free pass by the students of the other competing hero academies due to Toya Todoroki being among Class 1-A's number. Then the stadium gets attacked by Gigantomachia throwing a huge hunk of mountain at the place; Izuku eventually spots a few guys including Shinso riding on Gigantomachia, showing that the behemoth is actually being controlled and did not knowingly or willingly turn traitor.
While Fuyuki and his peers escape, they're cornered by rebel forces where one of the rebels straight up murders Anya Shoda, citing her Mind Reading quirk as a thorn in the Rebellion's side that needed to be taken out so that the Rebellion can keep its secrets AS secrets. The students are then rescued by Shihai and a number of Regime soldiers, but what no one else there knows is that Shihai not only is secretly in league with the Old Rule Rebellion, he also benefits from the death of Anya as well as the re-killing of Nemoto in the previous chapter.
The next chapter will continue the attack, and see the heroes take more efforts to stop both the enthralled Gigantomachia and the free-willed rebels, but the rebels will still be able to pull off (at least) one more major win before they're forced to pull back. Until then, take care.