"Deku"
"No way..."
"It can't be"
Everyone stood there frozen as they hear the voice. Uraraka slowly took a step toward the hooded figure, 20 feet away from her. She couldn't see his face, because of his hood, but she definitely heard his voice. It was Deku's voice, there is no doubt about it. She didn't imagine it and by the reaction of the others, she knew that they also heard his voice.
"Please... take out your hood." She desperately asked him. She needed to see him. Her mind got turned upside down. Izuku was with the EPF, working for them, then how the hell is he here? This is impossible. Deku couldn't be here with them.
Behind her, Bakugo and the others didn't move a muscle as they saw their friend, walking toward the hooded figure. They didn't know how to react. Was it save to go near him. Was this a trap and if it is, why did Jacke waited this long?
Bakugo tried to reach for Uraraka but got held off by Todoroki, who grabbed him by the shoulder, shaking his head 'no'. He also didn't understand the situation but he knew that they couldn't intervene. Uraraka deserves to be the one to know the truth first. Relanctely, the blond-haired hero took a step back with eyes fully focus on the stranger who sounded exactly like his childhood friend.
"You don't have to be this perplexed, you know?" The man spoke as he raised his hand toward his hood, grabbing it.
Everybody felt their body shake from anticipation as the hood was slowly getting torn off.
"WHAT" They all screamed, gasping from shock as they saw the man behind the hood. Scratch that- it wasn't even a man but a cyborg with green lines all over his face.
"Deku..." Uraraka said, teary up a bit. She truly believed that he was here, that everything in the past was a nightmare and he was here with her, right now and forever. Seeing a stupid robot, pretending to be him, made her explode from rage. She immediately turned around walked toward the person she was angry at.
Jacke raised an eyebrow as he saw Uravity, marching toward her with shaken hands. He internally sighed as he knew what will happen and frankly, he deserved it for hiding this secret. He didn't think it was the right time to tell them but now that she saw the robot, he will have to tell her the truth about it.
SLAP*
The smacking sound of Uraraka's right hand against his cheek, shocked everyone by the ferocity of her slap but they understood why she did it and they couldn't blame her for it. Bakugo had a small smirk on his face by the scene in front of him. No one messes with her and gets away with it. He learned his lesson a long time ago.
"WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS" She grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, pulling him until their eyes met with each other. You could literally see flames in them.
If he was careful, he could literally be set on fire, devoured by the flames of anger. Not wanting to die yet, he quickly responded with a calm voice.
"I know how it looks like but trusts me, there is an explanation-"
"EXPLANATION! I want you to explain to me how a cyborg is pretending to be the love of my life."
Seeing her friend slowly losing her temper, Mina reached out to her. Resting her hand on hers, her eyes pleaded her to calm down. It wasn't her at all. She knew that if the roles were reversed, she would have probably melted him with her acid.
"I know that you're angry but I think we should listen to him first before deciding what to do."
Taking a deep breath, she released her grip on him. Her eyes were still glaring at him, ready float him into space if she has to.
Sighing in relief he was about to thank Mina for her help but cut his tongue when he saw her glare on him.
"Don't think that I helped you. If your explanation isn't satisfying then I will melt you into the pavement before floating into space." Uraraka smiled at her friend's words and giggled a bit at the mental image.
He nodded at them, showing them that he took their threat seriously. Standing right next to the cyborg, he looks at them before signing.
"Ok then - What you are seeing, right now, is Subjet DM"
"Subjet DM?" Tsuyu raised her eyebrow.
"Subjet Deku Midoriya. As you all know, Bishop tortured you friend and broke him so he could control him. He is using him to make his plan easier. That part you already know, but What I didn't tell you, is that the EPF had another part of the plan. Way before torturing him, they tried to make a robotic copy of him. Using his DNA, they tried to create a cyborg which can have a quirk, the same quirk as your friend."
"How can a robot have a quirk?" Kirishima asked with eyes widened, not believing that they tried to create a cyborg with a quirk.
"With DNA of course and with the help of someone else. I don't know who but apparently my little brother managed to find someone with a quirk which mixed DNA with Object like a cyborg, giving it the memories and the personality of the human subject"
Gasped could be heard as they processed the information. Creating cyborg with human's DNA which contains the essence of quirk, would be devastating for the hero industry. Uraraka didn't know how to react. If she believed him, then the cyborg as her Izuku memories and personality. The only exception is that he is made of metals and wires instead of bones and muscles.
"Which means he is..." She shook her head at the thought. It wasn't her Deku, he's just a cheap knock-off of him. She can't pretend that it is him when it actually he isn't her lover.
In Bakugo, Todoroki and lida's mind, they were slightly panicking by the information that they just learn. If someone could make a machine with quiks of the user DNA, then this cyborg may have the possibility of having One for All in its system.
"Wait a minute" Momo took a step forward as she found a something strange about the situation.
"If they could have used his DNA to make the cyborg powerful as Izuku, then why did they decided to spend two years torturing him into submission if they could have used him in the beginning."
"Apparently, the guy who allegedly could create cyborg with quirks, turned out to be a fool. When the EPF created the DM, the cyborg had the personality and memories but it didn't have Deku's quirk. Angry by his failure, Buship cut out his balls and forced him to eat it."
The heroes cringed at the images in their head. How can someone work for the government while using this kind of methods? The bastard is absolutely a monster. If Kirishima has his hands on him, he wouldn't hesitate to beat him near death.
The people who knew about the secret of One for All were secretly signing in relief, knowing that they failed to transform his quirk inside of a machine. It was truly lucky and unlucky that they tried this experiment with Izuku. If they had used another pro-hero, Bishop would have seen the result and would have decided to create agents of cyborg under his will. It's heartbreaking for Uraraka to know that Izuku was the perfect subject to dismiss their plans on creating quirked-cyborg since One for All couldn't be duplicated or stolen.
"For fuck sake. Why did it have to be him?" She took a second to breathe before tears start to fall down.
Jacke continues. "Since their initial plan failed, then they decided to use Dr Sidak research on nanomachine to literally hack his brains with the same brains frequency coming out of my crystal eyes when I use my quirk."
"So... how did you manage to steal the cyborg from them."
"I didn't steal him, I took him from the incinerating room, after they tried to destroy it. I thought of using him as a helper for taking down the EPF and Bishop."
As he kept talking to the others, Uraraka's eyes were slowly travelling toward the robot itself.Since the conversation, he didn't say anything or move. She wondered what he was thinking about. Directly staring at him, she had a feeling that, even though he didn't have eyes, he's looking right back at her. It seems like he didn't know how to react in front of her. Frankly, she didn't even how she should interact with him. All she knows, is that she will have to talk to him later. Maybe he had some proof for their case. Hearing that he has the same personality and memories of Deku, made her wonder if he could help her cure her flesh Deku and help her to take down Bishop. in the past, facing off against dangerous villains, she always thought on how Izuku would handle the situation. And now that he was partially here, she needed to know how he would handle their problems. She needed to hear his voice again, telling her that everything will be alright because he is here. And since, he is actually here, inside a cyborg, then everything will be fine. Nothing to worry about.
She jumped a bit when she felt a hand on her back. Tsuyu could see that that the Cyborg was making her crazy. Trying to comfort her, she did a few circles around her back with her hands, gently rubbing it. Uraraka gave her a thankful smile as she took her mind away from the robot for a moment.
"You said that you had friends in here. Where are they now?" Momo was the one to ask. As she said a smoke bomb exploded, revealing a real modern day ninja behind the smoke. The ninja in question wore a completely black suit. He has two Katana blades on his back, each one of them sharper than the other. He wore grey gauntlets and grey greaves. He had little armour on him, probably because he preferred movement and agility than heavy and strong. Also, the man had a black faceless metallic helmet on his head. The front was covered with glass, which made impossible for them to see his face while he could look at them with no problem.
Shocked by his sudden appearance, Jacke chuckle a bit at his friend's intro. He always knew how to present himself to others.
"Wow, Shit. He is actually a real ninja." Kirishima exclaimed excitedly from seeing a real-life ninja in real life. He always thought that they were real manly. Not manly as the crimson riot but still manly enough for him.
"You're right Kirishima. He is an actually a ninja, and one of the lasts of his kind. He began learning ninjitsu at the age of three years old. He was taught the way of the ninjas; assassination, stealth, combat, disguise... Everything to be the perfect killing machine. Taking a good look at his back, you can see that his favourite weapon is the Katana blades. He spent his entire life practising it."
The group took a good moment to look at their new allies. With a man like him, he could slip inside a secure place with no problem. The man will be useful for spying mission, using the shadows for his advantage.
"What's his name" Mina ask with a huge grin, excited to meet the mysterious ninja. She wanted to know if the rumours the legends about them were true or not. As she stood there, completely froze while she waited for a response, the ninja simply didn't move or talk to her. He even refused to remove his mask. A sweatdrop fell on her forehead, feeling awkward as the man didn't say anything.
Seeing the confusion on their face, Jacke decided to fill them in. "He doesn't talk"
Mina confusion didn't disappear at his words. "What do you mean, he doesn't talk. Did someone cut out his tongue or what" She shivers at the thought of someone slicing off his tongue, silencing him forever?
"Relax, he still has his tongue"
Jacke said, figuring out her thought by the way she shivered under her skin.
"He can't talk because he made a loyal promise."
"A royal promise?" Tsuyu got intrigued by it.
"When a ninja makes a loyal promise, he isn't allowed to talk or to reveal his face to anyone until he completes his promise."
"Damn! the dedication is real. This is so manly. I don't even know if I will be able to do this."
"We have another Todoroki" Bakugo snorted, making Tororoki glares at him, to which he ignored him. He was fazed by haft and haft bastard.
"What's the promise he made." Momo asked, wondering how important his promise is, if he is willing to remove his voice and face until he completes it. She has to say that she's interested in him. What kind of secret does he have?
"I don't know. The loyal promise can only be heard by the ninja, who made the promise, and his master. Also, I can't reveal his identity, even if I'm not part of the deal. He is my friend, so for protecting his honour and our friendship, I will not reveal his identity. Thank you for understanding" He gave them a small bow.
Mina was a bit saddened that she couldn't learn more things about him. And Kirishima was disappointed that He wouldn't be able to learn about how to be manly as ninjas.
"Don't worry Kirishima?" He said seeing the disappointment in his eyes" I can still show you parts of his culture. You can learn a thing or two in combat or stealth infiltration."
The red-spiked boy smiled again at him, pumping his fist into the air.
"Now it is time for you guys to meet the third man of our team..." He got interrupted by a huge scream, coming from the second floor. All of them had their eyes upstair as they saw a childlike lizard skating on the rail.
"Don't worry guy, I AM HE-" He didn't have time to finish as he lost his footing and launched himself into the air.
The group started to scream as the human side lizard flew toward them. The lizard closed his eyes, waiting for the pain to come, his screams filling the room. He slowly closes his mouth as he realized that he wasn't falling anymore, the ain never happened and he was still alive. Opening his eyes, he looks up to see the ninja, holding him by the back of his shirt. He gave him an apologetic smile, fully knowing, that despite his mask, he had an unamused expression.
"Sorry" He gulped, feeling the rage within Jacke's eyes.
"How many time did I tell you not to skateboard in our hideout, you always break everything." Jacke said he hit him over the head before the ninja let go of his short. Just in front of them, the heroes didn't move as they were witnessing the banter between these two (since the ninja doesn't talk.)
"Who the hell is this guy" Bakugo already knew that he wouldn't get along with him.
"Excuse me Jacke, It isn't like your forcing me to observe the EPF's activity 24 hours a week." He crossed his arms, giving him a pout. "I need to have fun or else, I will go crazy in this place."
"If you're bored, then why don't you play with your video games or read comics."
"I already play or read, at least three times.
" How is that even possible. You have thousands of those. Don't tell me that instead of observing the EPF, you were playing videos games all day."
"Of course not. Who do you think I am. A turtle? If you ever think..."
Momo coughed, stopping both of them before they started ripping each other apart. With both of their attention focused on the heroes, they managed to take a good long look at the lizard. He wore a tear down purple jeans with animal stickers on them, he has a white T-shirt with 'I AM HERE' written on the front. He didn't look taller than 5,5". The heroes were wondering if he is a child or if he is just immature.
"Who are you exactly" Momo ask him. The huge lizard blinks a few time from her question, still in a daze from the argument he had with his friend. Once the sudden shock disappeared, a huge grin spread all over his face. In less than a second, he stood in front of Momo, shaking her hand. Dust trailed behind as he moved. Even she was impressed by his speed.
"WHAT UP DUDE/ DUDESS, MY NAME'S SANTIAGO ANDREZ BUT YOU CAN CALL ME SANTI IF YOU PREFER"
Momo nodded, her body shaking by the speed of his handshake. It is even worse than lida hand movement. Everyone was a bit put off by his care-free and boldness attitude. Eventually, Santiago was forced to remove his hand as he was being pulled by Jackie who gave him a death glare. "Act normal" These were the words, written in his eyes.
"I apologize for his behaviours, he's usually very excited when meeting new people. He likes making friends." He said before removing his grip on him.
"What do you do in here" Tsuyu asks him.
Taking a few seconds to think as he tapped his chin a couple times, he turned his attention back to the frog. Well... Dudette,If I'm not playing video games, reading comics and watching cat videos on my computer, I'm basically the one in charge into hacking inside the EPF system. I was the one who managed to give him, the new keycard, that Tooru used to get inside the security room. Speaking of Tooru, where is she"
The room fell into silence as the heroes look between each other, shaking their head as they weren't with her when they escaped. Uraraka started to panic from her disappearance until she heard the Lizard shriek in fear, followed by the sound of giggles.
"TOORU, You safe." She yelled at her friend before trapping her in a crushing bear hug, to which Tooru struggled to breathe in her arms.
"I'm... fine, you don't have to worry about me. I think you should be worried about the lizard dude. I think he got a heart attack.
Uraraka giggled as she saw him clenching his chest with his right hand, shocking out from the sudden shock of having an invisible girl touching him.
" Don't get me wrong, I'm glad that you are here but when were you here with us."
"I was here since the beginning, when we all entered the secret passageway. I have no clothes for me because I needed to get away from the others agents who were after me. Also I didn't speak until now because I had nothing to say and I thought that you all knew about my presence. Sorry."
"You don't have to apologize, It was my fault for not noticing you earlier." Their conversation got interrupted by a softball hitting Tooru right into her face.
"WHAT THE HELL DUDE"
"DON'T 'WHAT THE HELL ME', YOU WERE THE ONE YOU ALMOST GAVE ME A HARD ATTACK. I'M TOO YOUNG TO DIE. THERE'S SO MANY THING YET TO DISCOVER." He yelled back throwing a second ball at her face, which she managed to dodge it this time.
"How can you aim at me, I'm naked. You shouldn't be able to see me."
His dropped his third ball by the sudden realization that she was naked. Completely forgotten about this detail, he turns around flustered, even though he didn't matter that he was looking at her or not. With a shy voice he said.
"I can't see you but my nose managed to catch your scent and there is the fact that you are loud enough for me to guess where your face is."
"What do you mean I'm loud. Did you heard yourself lately?" She pouted at him before looking away, even no one could see it.
Wanting to continue any further, he changed the subject. "Anyway, like I was saying before, I specialized into hacking and surveillance."
"Is my type of guy." Mei said before charging at him until her face a haft an inch close to his, with twinkles in his eyes.
"You will have to show me your hardware. If you can hack inside a highly class secret agency working for the five top major countries, then you must a great baby in your hand. You will have to show me."
Mina pulls her backward, seeing that she was killing the poor lizard from embarrassment. "Calm down Mei, we don't want him to have a heart attack."
Successively pulling her away from her prey, lizard sighed in relief. He didn't how many time he will get an attack like this. Thankfully, Momo was the one who ended the banter.
"Back into the main topic, did you managed to steal information on the EPF that could help us redeem our names and expose the EPF for the crimes that they committed to the hero industry and to our friend." Everyone nodded, especially at the last part. Even Bakugo slightly tilted his head into a nod.
"Yes, indeed. I managed to find information on the members on the suicide squad and on the location of doctor Sidak."
"Suicide Squad" Todoroki said. Did he mean the villains like Dabi, who works with Bishop?
"Yes dude, you heard me right. The suicide squad was the villains that you all encounter. According to the file that I stole from them, Bishop recruited majors villains into their rank. They are part of a rehabilitation program, to help them become good citizens. Part of the program, they are obliged to work with the EPF in different kind of missions, including your capture."
"Why did they decide to use villains for their dirty work" Before Jacke could respond to Tooru question, Momo took over the conversation.
"Using the group of villains to do heroic acts while the heroes themselves are being questions on their integrity, will make convince the people that the government should have more control over each individual who is working in the hero industry. With his program, he will convince the parliament and citizens to hand the heroes into his arms, giving him full control on us and our friends."
"Momo is right about my brother plans. He will use the suicide squad to improve the EPF view on the public while they patrolled the city to capture all of us" Santiago confirmed Momo's educated guest.
"Because of the EPF base infiltration and the stage assassination of the president and his prime minister to frame Bakugo, made all of you the most wanted criminal of the country.
"Shit! Then we need to expose them very quickly and show the truth to the public" Everyone agreed with Kirishima.
But how can we do it. We don't have any proof?" Jirou asks.
"Luckily for Y'all I have a plan. I managed to locate Doctor Sidak inside a base near the Pacific Ocean, east of Japan. As all of know, Sidak was the one to built this nanomachine. We can use him as a witness. Plus don't forget, you have documents on the Kamiho project. Once I manage to unlock it, we can use them as evidence."
Bakugo didn't look convincing "This is great and all with you stupid plan except for the fact that the EPF control the NPA members."
"It isn't completely true. Not all members are convinced that you are criminal. Some of them found the result of the rogue heroes investigation sketchy. They think that the evidence tampered, making the heroes look like villains. Fortunately for us, the director of the NPA is of this kind. If we can bring the documents and a confession from Dr. Sidak, then all of your names will be cleared, including us since I illegally hack through their files." Santiago rubbed the back of his head.
"But how will we get a confession out of him. It's not like we can ask nicely."
Santiago had a creepy smile on his face when Jirou finished talking. The smile of his face, made everyone take a step back. "If he doesn't talk then I will have to take his balls and feed them to him." A nervous atmosphere spread through the lair, making them rethink on his sanity.
Returning into his carefree expression, ending the nervousness in the room, he said "Before thinking about how to press him for a confession, we will need to think of a plan to extract him out of his hideout..."
As Santiago continued telling all of his crazy plans, everyone listened to him except for Uraraka. Her attention was fully on DM. She couldn't keep her eyes off him as if something in her mind told her to do something about the situation.
"Why didn't say anything. Why didn't come near me for a hug or a sweet kiss, did he love me, does he know how much pain I am feeling right now?" So many questions filled her mind as she didn't know what to say to him once they are alone.
She got pulled out of her thought by Tsuyu who was staring at her, pointing her head to DM..
"Go talk to him" She said to him as she followed Santiago who was escorting them into his lab where he will have to share with Mei.
Uraraka looks back at the robot to see him entering a room alone. Seeing the Chance of finally talking to him, she walked behind him, leaning her head against the door frame to see her main objective.
The room had one bed inside with a bookshelf against the wall. DM had his back showed to hed. It seems like he also didn't know how to talk to her.
Taking a deep breath, Uraraka slowly walked behind him before opening her mouth gently. "How do I know that you have my Izuku memories and personality." She asked in a shy voice, afraid by what
Turning to face her, he took steps, closing a bit the gap between the two. "Remember the time I tried to confess my feelings to you but I couldn't do it because I was too nervous. The guys all ganged up on me and force me to confess in front of our entire classroom. This was the embarrassing moment in my life but also the happiness in life because it was the day that you became mine."
With tears in her eyes, she took another step toward him. She wanted him to keep talking, hearing his voice brought back so many good memories while making her forget about the current situation. "I need more proof than that"
Obliging to her command he continued "At the end of our fourth date, I tried to found any possible way to kiss you without forcing myself on you. I so wanted to kiss but I was afraid to mess up. In the end, you were the one who had more courage than me. I still remember your soft lips on mine and how I fell into peace, forgetting everything around me. You had my fullest intention."
"Keep going" Uraraka said as both of them, this time, took a step together, as they knew what the other one was thinking and what he will do.
With a small robotic chuckle, he said "Do you remember our first time together. If I remember right, you almost rape me in my own house."
His statement got a small slap on his facing from a pouting Uraraka. "That's not fair. It is not raping if the other what to continue. You begged me multiple to release out."
They both laugh at, reviving old memories. The laughter ended, when they stared back at each other but there wasn't any awkwardness between the two.
DM got suddenly shocked feeling Uraraka's arms around him. Wanting to protect her physically and emotionally, he returned the hug whilst rubbing her back for comfort.
"How can I help you." She pleaded to him, She desperately needed guidance for this mission. " I want to save you but I don't know how." She tightened the hug, as if he will disappear if she let him go.
"We've been together for so long, you already know what I will technically say."
Giving him a sad smile, she nods at his statement. "I know. You will say that I need to move on because you don't deserve to be saved. You want me to be happy and to do that, you hope that I can found another man to love." She said that last part barely into a whisper. "This is one of thing that I love and hate about you. Always thinking about others but at the same time not considering their feelings about the situation."
"Sorry I can't help myself but..." Pulling himself away from the hug so he could wipe away the tears in her eyes. "This time I promise you that I will save the real me no matter what. You deserve to be happy and know he can make it happen" He talked to himself in the third person, detaching himself from the original one. "Since I'm not technically him, I will do everything in my power to save him." With that said she brought her back into the hug.
"Until I save him from the EPF, remember that I will always be here to help and comfort you if you need me. Just listen to my voice and guide yourself into the good memories."
Ochako had a huge grin on her face, listening to every tales that sheand Izuku had in her life. She never felt this happy since the alledge death of her Izuku.