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 five: Attack on Mithralhall Stadium (part three)
Izuku was still fighting Shinso on top of Gigantomachia who was still rampaging against the northern sector of Mithralhall Stadium. The number one pro hero wanted to keep from causing too much damage to the former hero Siren, otherwise he could have ended their contest instantly. It was as Izuku and Shinso jumped back from one another that Shinso held a hand to the side of his head as he got a message on the comm device. He smirked in amusement, and Izuku could tell that the good news he got would be bad news for everyone outside of the Regime.
"...Well how about that," Shinso said, "I just got confirmation that Dabi and all of his fellows who were with him at the time have been killed."
Izuku's eyes widened out of shock to near impossible levels; was Dabi and some of his men really dead? Did the Old Rule Rebellion really score that harsh of a blow against the Regime? There was no way that this day was NOT going to go down in history, especially considering that the first person to ever be in the position of being the person who ruled the entire world had died. Izuku was barely able to keep himself from verbally responding, he still had enough sense of self to know that if he said anything in front of Shinso, it would be game over for him.
It was also kind of weird; Izuku, being the successor to All Might, supposedly was destined to fight and take out Dabi, by virtue of Dabi being the successor to All Might's greatest nemesis of all time, All For One. And yet Emperor Dabi had been vanquished by a member of the Old Rule Rebellion; knowing the rebels, they'll probably boast about their member who killed Dabi, make said member a name known around the world. That will only serve to put a target on said member's back; speaking of, there is bound to be a target on the back of the Rebellion as a whole after this attack.
Terrorism and the death of Emperor Dabi aside, the rebels had caused catastrophic damage to Mithralhall Stadium and had taken the lives of a currently untold number of persons. An attack of this magnitude was bound to make the attack that was memorialized by Mourning Day seem like paltry child's play in comparison. Izuku had to put such thoughts out of his mind, as he needed to focus on not only fighting Shinso, but being careful to not say even a single word in his presence so as to avoid falling under the influence of Shinso's Brainwashing quirk.
Given that the rebels now had Gigantomachia under their sway, this attack could go on for ages. However, Izuku theorized that taking out Shinso would help speed up the process of bringing the attack to an end, given that he's controlling the behemoth. Defeating Shinso, then snapping gigantomachia out of his brainwashing, will help to clear up a lot of the trouble here. But without Felgrand present in Japan, Izuku was figuring that a very powerful blow from himself, boosted by considerable kinetic energy from Fa Jin, would be necessary to snap Gigantomachia out of his brainwashing.
Izuku hoped that some relief would come soon. The heroes present at the stadium, in addition to having to deal with an enthralled Gigantomachia, also had to deal with rebels that swarmed into the stadium in droves to fight individuals on foot. The number one hero had no idea how things here were going to be resolved, but he hoped that they would be resolved soon either way. Resigning himself to continuing to silently fight Shinso, Izuku cast another Delaware Smash Air Force at the former pro hero Siren, continuing their dance anew.
The bus carrying Fuyuki and his classmates got to UA, Shihai more or less tearing through the front gate. The Scheming Hero's arrival aught the attention of many at the top heroic academy in Japan, with the girls from Shihai's year of UA's hero course all coming out to see what was going on. The girls were all led by Spinner, who was settling into his new position as UA's principal. When Shihai came out of the bus, he was immediately accosted by the greeting party.
"What are you doing tearing through the gate like that, Vantablack?" Spinner demanded.
"You guys must of heard on the news about the attack at Mithralhall Stadium, right?" Shihai said, "Yeah, I was able to get Shiro and most of his classmates back here to UA where they will be safe."
"Wait a minute," Itsuka said, "What do you mean most of your son's classmates? Who all did you leave behind?"
Shihai had a resigned, grim expression on his face. "...Setsuna's daughter was killed by a rebel before I got to the kids. I'm so-"
*WHUWAPAP*
Shihai was cut off when Setsuna slugged him right in the face, an enraged look on her own face. "Don't fucking joke with me like that, Shihai!" Setsuna screamed, tears threatening to run down the sides of her face, "Don't you fucking dare joke around with me like that!"
"I'm not joking!" Shihai screamed back, moaning in pain from a broken nose, "Those rebel fuckers really did get the daughter you and Nirengeki had together! I'm sorry!"
Right away, some of the other women turned to begin comforting Setsuna while Spinner and Itsuka turned to look at Shihai. "What of the other kids?" Spinner asked.
"They're all alive and physically unharmed," Shihai replied, "Although I suspect that they may have at least some trauma from seeing a classmate cut down right before their eyes."
"What about the men from our year of UA's hero course?" Itsuka asked, "They were all at Mithralhall Stadium with you."
Shihai, a regretful look on his face, gently shook his head. "I have no idea how all of them are. I fear some of the men in the northern sector of the stadium might also have been cut down, that was the sector blown up when Gigantomachia lobbed a huge ass hunk of rubble at the stadium. I think it was a huge chunk of mountain."
Spinner wore a grim look on his face. "Yeesh, Gigantomachia turning traitor against the Regime. We're gonna need Felgrand to take Gigantomachia down."
"I... don't think Gigantomachia is as traitorous as you may think," Shihai began, "Green Bean saw that Siren and a few other rebels were riding on top of Gigantomachia. Green Bean theorized that Siren may have been able to enthrall Gigantomachia with his quirk."
"Hitoshi did what?" Sakaki said, having heard what Shihai had said about her disgraced former pro hero husband. Shihai gave a few more details on what all he had on that front, but all it did was make Sakaki angrier. "...So my bastard husband," Sakaki began, "Who I STILL can't divorce from due to how divorce laws work in the Regime, is involved in an attack that is not only bound to result in many deaths, but already has been confirmed to result in Setsuna's daughter being murdered."
Spinner let out a troubled breath. "...We're going to have to call Felgrand back from his vacation, hopefully he'll get here before the rebels are able to cause too much damage with Gigantomachia." Under Spinner's guidance, the students that Shihai was able to bring back were all rounded up from the bus and escorted back to their dorm building. Some of the girls were crying, no doubt due to losing one of their own, and even all of the boys looked grim. Even Samidare Tokoyami, who had multiple issues with the late Anya Shoda due to her constantly invading his privacy in the one way he couldn't stop, felt that what had happened was too much.
The students could only hope that the rebels, and the enthralled Gigantomachia, will be stopped within short order.
Back at the besieged Mithralhall Stadium, Izuku was still doing his dance on Gigantomachia's back with Shinso. The former pro hero Siren leapt back to get some distance, then held a hand to the side of his head as he was getting a message. "...Yes, I hear you," Shinso said into his comm device, "What is it? I'm in the middle of a fight with Gre- WHAT?!" Shinso stopped short, exclaimed in a tone and manner that made it very clear that he was pissed off. "Who in their right mind would authorize and act like that?!" Shinso snapped, "We swore to leave them out of our vengeance against the Regime!"
Izuku, acting cautious, kept his distance, wary of what Shinso might be plotting. "Grr," Shinso growled angrily, "Aizawa-sensei will be fucking pissed when he hears about that." Shinso turned off his comm device and turned to look at Izuku. "Well I've just been informed that one of the rebels crossed a line that Aizawa-sensei made us swear to never cross," Shinso said, "One of the rebels had murdered one of my son Aizawa's classmates." Izuku's eyes widened out of shock and anger, and the number one hero was barely just able to keep from responding verbally; he still didn't want to take the risk of Shinso enthralling him with Brainwashing.
"...No, Midoriya, this is serious," Shinso said, able to figure why Izuku wasn't talking, "I'm not going to brainwash you. One of the rebels really did murder one of my son Aizawa's classmates. Believe you me, I'm just as pissed as you are, and this is to say nothing of how pissed Aizawa-sensei will be. We were just after the heads of Emperor Dabi and his fellows from his inner circle, we NEVER would murder a student the same age as my boy. I didn't get a lot of details from the rebel who informed me of what happened, but she confirmed it was one of my son's female classmates. From that, I can safely deduce that both my boy and yours are okay."
Izuku still wasn't talking, he still didn't trust Shinso. "...I don't blame you for not trusting me," Shinso said, "Were I in your shoes facing an enemy who could brainwash me if I responded verbally to them, I'd keep my lips zipped no matter what too. But still, being informed that a student was murdered..." Shinso gently shook his head in clear disappointment. "...My mood's ruined," Shinso said, "And I doubt it'll be fixed unless I track down the rebel who did the deed and kick their ass. We in the rebellion don't condone the killing of kids. I'll regroup with Aizawa-sensei, inform him of the situation."
Izuku still wasn't sure if he could trust Shinso, but he did sense that Shinso was being sincere in his expressing of utter disgust with the fact a student had been murdered by one of the rebels. Izuku still couldn't let Shinso get away, he had his pro hero duty to do, so he made a lunge for Shinso, only to be knocked aside by the large hand of Gigantomachia, who mindlessly swatted at where Izuku was at. The number one hero was sent flying off of the behemoth's back, but he righted himself in midair with Float. Izuku tried going back for Shinso, but attacks from the ground interrupted Green Bean.
Looking down, Izuku saw a number of rebels firing quirk attacks up at him. Knowing he couldn't ignore them because they were getting in his way, Izuku resigned himself to fighting the rebels trying to interrupt him. He needed to let some steam off anyway, he was really pissed to have learned that a student was just murdered by one of the rebels. That was bound to lose the Old Rule Rebellion what all sympathy from the common people that they might of still had left; there's simply no making up for taking the life of a student in their first year of high school.
What could be more difficult than making up for taking the life of a fifteen to sixteen year old?
The rampage of the enthralled Gigantomachia continued clear into the night, well after what all people in that area had evacuated to safety. It wasn't until the following morning, around a quarter past six, that things were resolved when Felgrand came flying in from an airport, zoomed right to where Gigantomachia was rampaging and, under orders from Spinner as Dabi was M.I.A., used Overhaul to blow up Gigantomachia's head, killing the behemoth instantly. No rebels were killed in the blowing of Gigantomachia's mind, as they all vacated when they heard Felgrand's roar.
Shinso was able to get away due to fleeing the moment he heard Felgrand fly in, escaping before the dragon even spotted him. The brainwasher, in addition to needing to report back to base, was going to inquire about who it was that had authorized the murder of one of his son's classmates at UA. Shinso also wanted to ask Aizawa-sensei about something else not related to the attack carried out with Gigantomachia, but that topic could wait, at least until they got their answers on who it was that decided authorizing the assassination of a first year UA student was a reasonable idea.
The attack more or less ended when Felgrand's roar was heard, and those rebels who weren't either dead, incapacitated, or otherwise unable to get away were... well, able to get away. After the attack was settled, the grim duty of assessing the damage and doing clean-up had to be taken care of. By Spinner's estimation, the death toll of the rebels turning Gigantomachia against the Regime was bound to be at the very least double of what was caused when the rebels were able to use the late Desumi Yango to terrible effect. Given the current death toll after the first day of clean-up had reached four digits, Spinner's estimation was sound.
It wasn't until the morning of day two of clean-up that the bodies of Dabi and his fellows who were with him at Mithralhall Stadium were recovered. It shook the world when word got out that the world-ruling emperor had been slain, and there was already talk of finding out who it was that had killed Emperor Dabi. Suffice it to say, when there is confirmation on the identity of the assassin who killed the man who ruled the world, that assassin will get what will be bar none the single highest bounty in world history placed firmly on their head, a head that would set someone up for life should they catch and turn that person in.
In addition to the recovering of the bodies of Dabi and his fellows who were with him, the bodies of pro heroes killed at Mithralhall Stadium during the attack launched by the rebels and the enthralled Gigantomachia were also recovered. Izuku and his year mates, including Bakugo, Tenya, Sato, Koda, and Mineta who were restored to true life after being dead for twenty years, were shocked to hear that the list of slain heroes included Todoroki, Kirishima, Kaminari, Sero, and Nirengeki. Shoji, who was also restored to true life, was terribly injured as he was in the same sector of the stadium as Todoroki and the others listed, but he was luckily able to survive.
It still didn't make Shoji feel any better, especially when a teary-eyed and relieved Itsuka told her returned beloved husband about how the wives of Todoroki and the others reacted to the news that their husbands were killed. Setsuna, according to Itsuka, went ballistic as she was told her daughter Anya was murdered by a rebel, and then she learned that her husband Nirengeki was also slain in the rebels' attack on Mithralhall Stadium. Setsuna was quoted as telling Sakaki to not bother seeking to divorce from Shinso who enthralled Gigantomachia, because Setsuna was going to murder Shinso.
Bakugo was reported by Itsuka to have been hit a hell of a lot harder than what she (Itsuka) had expected; Kirishima, Kaminari, and Sero were three of the members of his crew; the 'Baku-squad' as their group had been dubbed way back in the day. The surviving spouses of Bakugo's idiots, as well as the sons of said idiots, were all hit hard by the loss of their husbands and dads. Itsuka didn't have much else on the topic to say to Shoji, but she did mention how she saw Shihai offer words of condolence to Kinoko; Itsuka believed it's due to how they were classmates back in the day.
On the third day of clean-up, Samidare Asui's family, including his fiance Eri, got back from England; as Felgrand, Samidare had to rush back to Japan when he was told of the situation, forcefully cutting his vacation short. There was also how Toshinori Todoroki, the son of Dabi, was being prepped to assume the world-ruling throne, given that he IS the son of the late Emperor Dabi. In addition to how news about the attack that claimed Emperor Dabi's life had made world-wide news, there were signs in some of the various countries that they may try to break away from the Dabi Regime due to doubting Emperor Toshinori's ability to follow in his father's footsteps.
It was bad enough that the Regime took a critical blow, but now the Regime was showing signs of threatening to break apart at the seems. The Old Rule Rebellion, as well as other rebel factions across the world, were already trying to capitalize on this instability in the world ruling regime, hoping it would lead to the end of the Regime as a whole. This led the Regime's authority to try to do damage control, although it got to the point where Emperor Toshinori, aided by his late father's right hand man Spinner, had to resort to using Felgrand to threaten countries that were threatening to break away from the regime into falling back in line.
The threat of being immolated by the Dragon of the Regime made the rioting countries zip it, but it did unfortunately create some dissident. Again, something that the Old Rule Rebellion capitalized on. It was going to be quite some time, and on quite a rocky ride, until things were settled back down to a more manageable level for the remains of the Regime's ruling pro heroes of Japan, as well as those loyal to the Regime, were needed now more than ever before. It was going to be an effort that everyone would be lending aid to.
...Even those secretly sympathizing with the Old Rule Rebellion.
...
It was a week since Gigantomachia was vanquished by Felgrand, which ended the rebel attack on the provisional licence exams. Izuku, wearing a disguise, met with Shouta Aizawa over in Agatsuma Town. It was there that Aizawa confessed to Izuku that he had been the one to end the world-ruling late Emperor Dabi. "...If word of your role in Dabi's death gets out to the public," Izuku said in a warning tone, "You'll be the most wanted man in the world."
"Similar to how I wanna figure out who from Hizashi's squad it was that murdered the Shoda girl," Aizawa said, sounding very much pissed, "Mind Reading quirk or not, there was NO justifying murdering a fifteen year old girl like that."
Izuku shifted in his seat. "...You learned that someone from a squad led by Yamada-sensei had killed Anya Shoda."
Eraserhead nodded in the affirmative. "Shinso and I got it that Boros Kazekage himself had ordered a squad led by Hizashi to carry out the deed, citing how the Shoda girl's quirk constantly made Rebellion secrets public knowledge to the Regime, which leads constantly to rebel efforts being foiled. Boros is of the opinion that the Shoda girl's death is a boon to Rebellion efforts, as now our secrets can STAY as secrets."
The number one hero in Japan glared at the rogue underground pro hero. "...Please tell me you don't see it as a boon either."
"If doing so would undo what happened to the Shoda girl," Aizawa began, "I would gladly hand deliver all information the Rebellion has straight to Emperor Toshinori. I would also turn myself in immediately afterwards, even if it means Felgrand will rip my head off. I would turn myself in right now if it wasn't for the fact the Rebellion is still fighting to remove the Regime from power." Gently shaking his head, Aizawa went on, "The Shoda girl... Anya... what had happened to her, despite Boros's proud boasting of it, is by no means a good thing. Murdering an innocent teen like that is NEVER a good thing."
Izuku considered Eraserhead for a moment; Izuku did have it that a major reason why Aizawa had gone crazy during Izuku's first year as a UA student was due to how a number of the students in Aizawa's homeroom for that year were killed. The trauma re-awakening his grief over the death of his old friend Oboro aside, Aizawa's rarely crackable stoicness was shattered when students he was responsible for were cut down. Some of that trauma had healed when the Rebellion confirmed that Felgrand had (unintentionally) discovered he could restore the zombies raised by the late Desumi Yango to true life, and he proceeded to spam that miracle on as many identified undead as possible.
Aizawa further got it that Tsuyu was discovered to have been alive this whole time and was in hiding, recently coming out when the Regime's authority made it clear that they, despite what was assumed of them, had no desire to kill Tsuyu; this same deal was given to Tsuyu's sister Satsuki. Out of all of Aizawa's students from that year, the only ones who aren't alive are Monoma who died taking the hand villain from the USJ down in a mutual kill, the traitorous Aoyama, and Todoroki, Kirishima, Sero, and Kaminari who were all killed in the initial strike on Mithralhall Stadium.
That was another point of contention that Aizawa wanted to get to. "Todoroki, Kirishima, Sero, and Kaminari, they... they all were killed when the rebels attacked Mithralhall Stadium." Aizawa gently shook his head. "Shinso was likewise shocked to learn his actions inadvertently took the lives of some former classmates. The only saving grace here is that Shinso had no way of knowing, it was something out of his control. I just wished that none of my former students were assigned to that sector of the stadium, the northern angle was determined by Boros to be the best angle to approach at."
"To be fair, none of us on my side could have anticipated things either," Izuku remarked, "Shihai especially. He was put in charge of assigning which heroes would be stationed in which sectors of the stadium for security. He's beating himself up for unintentionally sending some of the guys to their deaths from what I was told, even though the widows of the guys who were killed all understand Shihai isn't at any fault here."
Aizawa nodded in understanding. "None of me and Sekijiro's former students from the last year we taught at UA before the Regime came to be could have anticipated what was going to happen." Looking up from his hands to Izuku, Aizawa asked, "...I don't suppose you can tell me how Eri's getting along now? I know I wasn't the best for her, but I was put in charge of her care for a while."
Izuku left it unsaid that Aizawa's care for Eri lasted up until she was hit with a quirk destroying bullet that left her quirkless. "...She's engaged to Tsuyu's younger brother right now," Izuku said.
Aizawa perked up a bit at that revelation. "...Eri's engaged to Asui's little brother? But I got it that Asui's little brother had died as an unintended casualty of a rampage Felgrand went on to deal with some rebel efforts in the early days of the Regime."
"Nope, it turned out that Tsuyu's brother was alive this whole time," Izuku said, "He and Eri first started dating after Eri graduated with a degree from a community college she went to. They got engaged shortly after the Rebellion's efforts with Yango were ended, meaning all of the Asui family was alive to see Tsuyu's brother pop the question to Eri."
"All of the Asui family?" Aizawa asked. Izuku then filled Eraserhead in on what all details he had on the matter; Tsuyu's parents were among those restored to true life by Felgrand during the efforts the late Yango took under Rebellion rule, not to mention how Tokoyami's house was attacked by some nomu who kidnapped Tsuyu and her younger sister Satsuki for reasons unknown. Fuyuki and a few of his friends rescued Tsuyu and Satsuki, including Tsuyu's son who is named after Tsuyu's brother. The teens even were able to get Felgrand to help them, surprisingly enough.
Aizawa nodded a few times as he considered the information. "...Yes, I did hear it that Dabi had his doctor friend Ujiko brought in for questioning for blatant defying of his orders. Was the continuation of that bastard nomu production the cause of it?"
"That's one of the reasons, yeah," Izuku replied, "Anyway, hopefully the Rebellion will stay settled down for the time being at least. We still need to do clean up, and there's also how UA is going to be doing its school festival soon. Security is bound to be tighter than ever, hopefully the Rebellion won't try anything stupid."
"Considering how we turned the heat up under us for what I did," Aizawa replied, "I'm going to strongly urge that we lay low, at least until after the Regime has done the necessary clean up." Izuku nodded in approval to the rogue underground hero; as much as he was pissed at Aizawa, Izuku at least was relieved that he by no means condoned the murder of Anya Shoda, and furthermore was planning to find out the specific member of Hizashi's squad had been the one to do the dark deed. There was not much else to say, so Izuku and Aizawa ended their meeting and parted ways.
Meanwhile in the city, Toshinori Todoroki, followed by Spinner and several women from his late father's inner circle, went to a secret prisoner holding facility. There, the group stood before a jail cell in which a straight-jacket wearing Ujiko was sitting on the floor. "...I heard about what happened from whispers from the guards," Ujiko said, "Your father had been killed, Toshinori. I am so sorry."
"I came here because one of the guards told me you wanted to offer me advice," the son of Dabi said, "Advice you said I would need when you got it that my father had been slain. Well, what's the advice?"
"Put all of Felgrand's relatives to death."
"Yeah, fuck that," Toshinori said, drawing a nod of approval from his mother Moe, one of the former zombies restored to true life, and now a widow (she and Dabi renewed their marriage shortly after the deal with Yango had ended). "Why in blazes would I have Felgrand's family put to death?" Toshinori asked.
"...You don't understand, young man," Ujiko said, "Much like how your late father didn't understand. Felgrand is too powerful to stop, he's virtually invincible, lacks any weaknesses." Ujiko let out a breath. "...Aside from his family, that is."
"You think Felgrand's family is a weakness?" Toga asked, sounding incredulous.
"Felgrand's family is a weakness that can be used against Felgrand," Ujiko said in a warning tone, "A weakness that the rebels should they learn of it will be bound to capitalize on, to collect and used to turn Felgrand against the Regime. If the rebels are able to force Felgrand under their sway, then the Regime is as good as finished." Ujiko raised his head a bit, looked directly at Toshinori. "...Please, Emperor Toshinori, I beseech you. Put Felgrand's family to death. With family, Felgrand is vulnerable to manipulation. Alone, he is untouchable, unstoppable, invincible."
The son of Dabi looked down at Ujiko. "...If I do end up doing as you're suggesting, Felgrand will turn on the Regime directly."
"That's why the deaths of Felgrand's family must be pinned on the Old Rule Rebellion," Ujiko pointed out, "Make him think the rebels are responsible. Felgrand will be without any weaknesses that can be exploited, and the rebels will be wiped out to a man. A win-win situation that I fail to see producing any down sides for us."
"It'll produce a major down side for Felgrand," Spinner spoke up, "He'll have lost his family."
"If the Regime that Emperor Toshinori's late father had established is to continue, Sir Spinner," Ujiko said, "Then it's a price that must be paid."
The son of Dabi gently shook his head in disappointment, wearing a likewise expression on his face. "There's no way I'm going to approve of putting Felgrand's family to death. Not his restored parents, not his sisters, not his fiance or his nephew or his one sister's husband. My father had told me that Felgrand had gone as berserk as he had during the wars prior to the founding of the regime because he thought he had lost his family. I do not wanna put someone of Felgrand's caliber through suffering like that, especially as I'm going to be needing Felgrand's aid as much as possible as I settle into the spot my late father had occupied."
Ujiko let out a troubled sigh. "Mark my words, you're taking too big of a gamble here, leaving an otherwise invincible asset with a major glaring weakness like that."
"We'll see," Toshinori replied as he turned around and left, the others all following him.
As the group walked away, Moe said, "Yeah, I can see why your father had never fully trusted Ujiko."
"The world is going to face a period of turmoil due to what happened during the provisional licence exams," Spinner said, "A turmoil you have to face as you're taking over the world ruling throne. But don't worry, we'll help you as much as we can."
Toshinori, named after All Might by Dabi as a middle finger to Endeavor, nodded in thanks to Spinner. "I'll be glad for it, sir."
"Oh, we're also going to have to look into having you father an heir," Nagant remarked, "You're literally the only blood related member of the world royal family left, so if you do down then the turmoil will be even worse." The son of Dabi stopped short, and not because of how Nagant had just said that things could go to hell in a hand-basket if he were to go down.
END, CHAPTER ONE-HUNDRED AND FIVE
Author's notes;
This chapter wraps up the provisional licence exam attack, which resulted in many deaths. The most glaring one is Dabi's, given that him going down meant that his son had to rise to the world ruling throne at something of a young age. There's going to be a lot of turmoil-like action going on for the next few chapters at least, and it's not just the loss of Dabi that people have to get used to. Hopefully, the school festival that will be going down soon at UA will help to perk people up a bit. But that will take a while, so until then take care.