Shahryar - ... surprise :P
MosesArk Reborn2000 - To be honest, Star and Stripe's quirk alone throws everything out of the window. I had to segregate it into Class-Six Quirks category like OFA and AFO to signify that it operates under completely different rules and paradigms to make any sense of it (and I don't even get to specify how Class-Six are different, but Ties that Bind and Dead on Arrival do suggest a few things about it.
Regretfully my expanded universe is best read as a whole.
(***)
"Wait, if that's Hana Shimura, then doesn't it mean that…" Yaoyorozu wakes up first. Theoretically. Practically speaking, Midoriya believes that Mastermind was the first one but he immediately mentally ran off to calculate something. And was too busy with that to talk.
"... she knows where Overlook is located?" Izuku cuts in before sighing. "Yeah, she knows it. But she won't sell us out to the heroes, at least not yet. She considers the seat of the Grand Commander to be her birthright. She won't destroy the Paranormal Liberation Front while she can reasonably hope to take it back from me. And the heroes locating Overlook is the end for the PLF."
At least, Izuku adds in his thoughts, if they find it a bit too early. In a month or so this will stop being an issue altogether.
"In the meantime, I'm making things official." Izuku announces to the people in front of him. "Containment Plan, variant three, is in effect. Mastermind?" He glances at the High Priest of the CRC, urging to take the helm and explain.
"Midoriya is a paranoid little shit." Yoshihiro replies. "Before we even started the war, he used my quirk and its ability to analyze copious amounts of data to run a remote loyalty test on every single member of the Paranormal Liberation Front. The subject for the day: "who might be disloyal or dangerous if person X turns out to not be quite as dead as everyone suspected them to be". Variant three is, surprise, Entropy."
"I'm simultaneously amazed and terrified of you actually making that." Yaoyorozu states dryly. "And behind our backs, no less. How many Containment plans are there?"
"All for One, Overhaul and Entropy, for the main ones." Izuku replies. "There were several smaller ones for old leaders of our sub organizations, like Purity or Beast. Mastermind naturally updated the plans for our new recruits from the Tartarus raid. Past criminal history, old social media posts, the results of psychological evaluations that I've ordered through the CRC' therapists, everything compiled into one database."
The fact that the CRC seemed to have a surprising amount of medical professionals within its rank was a surprise to many from the remaining sub organizations. Izuku knew that it was mostly due to the CRC attempting to use charity works (plus, their status as unofficial healthcare providers in the poorest districts) for recruitment purposes.
Incense was basically running a hospital within Overlook now. And she had an actual medical degree.
"I, to be honest, didn't suspect that to be useful." Midoriya adds. "But I had Mastermind in my camp, so I could as well use him. He is my unofficial head of counterintelligence. Aside from making him create those loyalty assessments, I also obtained rather lengthy excerpts from governmental data about past operations of not just those villains but also people like Nedzu, Sir Nighteye, Ayako Nakahara and Saiko Intelli. He ran them all through his quirk, analyzing the patterns in their methods of infiltrating and or dismantling various hostile organizations and groups."
Izuku's biggest advantage was, in the end, time. Unlike his opponents he had weeks to plan things in advance, establish contingency plans to the major nodes in his long journey towards the eventual victory and so on. Intelli and Nakahara were going to be hard-pressed to catch up due to that gap.
Izuku planned to take full advantage of that.
"You seriously included Nedzu and Sir… of course you did." Yaoyorozu sighs. Mastermind gives her a slightly smug smile. Yaoyorozu's position in the PLF leadership was just slightly weakened… and he made it so that she wasn't aware of the whole thing until today. "What's the plan?"
"Heads of every suborganization are going to receive two lists of their subordinates whose loyalty was deemed as… not entirely sure in case of Entropy being less dead than we thought." Midoriya replies. Judging from the looks on their faces, they don't exactly enjoy that fact. "Yellow list will include those who might betray us under certain conditions, while red is the one that will certainly side with Entropy. Good news is that it's mostly the people we rescued from Tartarus."
He can understand their general dislike of the concept. No one wants to doubt people that worked for them for so long.
"People from both segments are going to be monitored by Mastermind." Izuku continues. Mastermind doesn't seem to be enjoying that fact either, probably due to the number of people he was going to have to monitor. "Red ones are going to be cycled out of the Overlook into positions where they can't be a threat to us if they decide to change sides. Step two, Hatsume."
"Yes?" Mei asks back.
"I want you to tinker with the TV, here in Overlook." Midoriya replies. "Make sure that it's all delayed by… fifteen minutes, let's say. If Entropy or one of her goons tries to address the new PLF that way, I want to know in advance, and with people in place to alter the transmissions if so I desire."
He doesn't expect Entropy to use that card on him, but… it's possible. And this can be easily made into a double-edged sword against her, for as long as they are prepared.
"In the meantime, I want you to refurbish the Five Under properly, and install the newest generation warp scramblers in the complex." Izuku continues. "That should be…"
"Wait, Five Under?" She raises her hand while asking.
Izuku really needs to rest.
"Right." He sighs. "Noumu Factory number Five, aka the Tomb of Armageddon. We used to call it Five Under, from the 'Five Feet Under' thing, due to it being underground and so on. Entropy knows where the facility is located, but the heroes don't. I have a few ideas on how to use it, for as long as we're cautious about it."
They were going to have to start from checking out if there were no leftover 'surprises' from Entropy hidden anywhere throughout the facility. Make sure that the garrison was strong enough to resist Entropy's assault until reinforcements would be warped there.
They just had to deactivate the scramblers to let them in. The facility - once refurbished a bit - should be impervious to most attacks. Even Dabi would fail to pierce through more than the entrance area from the outside. Gas attacks? Armageddon was inside, it was designed for invulnerability from such weapons due to a threat of the Ultimate-End Noumu's malfunction.
"I think…" His eyes meet Hatsume's. "... that Five Under would be the perfect location to move the Ascension Project to."
She nods. She has no idea why he is supporting that particular project so much. Oh, it might give them a massive advantage, but she also knows that he personally hates the mad science. And hates to rely on it.
Izuku has no problem with the mad science when it's a part of a contingency plan that he doesn't intend to use unless everything goes seriously off the script.
"In the meantime, you're all dismissed." Izuku adds dryly. He really wants to rest.
(***)
Fifteen minutes later, Izuku is wearing his pajamas (which might or might not be All Might themed, although it's only the color scheme to be honest), and in his bed. He is technically lying in it facedown, although the fact that Tsuyu is under him makes it a bit more complicated.
It's nothing perverted. He is too exhausted for it, but there is still some caffeine and adrenaline in his veins and he wants them out before he goes to sleep. As a result, Tsuyu is lying on her back, partially reclined on some pillows, his head on her belly and her fingers playing with his hair lightly.
She is also wearing her own pajamas. No knives involved. Probably.
"This was the longest day in my life, Tsu." Izuku says, his eyes on the wall to the side. "And I can't stress how happy I am that it's over."
"We agree on that, ribbit." Tsuyu replies. Yeah, he noticed her shaking hands a few hours earlier. The amount of deaths, the speed with which they were happening, it was… too much. "You saved a lot of people today. Through Tokoyami and his people, but…"
"You helped too." Izuku replies.
"How, by making you tea, ribbit?" She asks. Yeah, technically speaking she didn't do a lot, but…
"By being there for me." Izuku replies, before deciding (he probably shouldn't decide on anything while being this tired, but…) to take the risk. "You know, we've been living together for a few weeks now, but I just never really told you those words. So I'm going to do that right now. I love you, Tsu."
The fingers in his hair freeze for a moment.
"Ribbit?" There is something of a confusion in her ribbit, a fact rather adorable. At least to Midoriya.
"I love your frog legs." Izuku says. "I love your frog face. I love your cooking. I love your ribbiting. I love how kind you are. I even love how you're pouting and being vaguely irritated whenever I'm talking with another woman in front of you, even if it's Quicksilver with her 100% confirmed homosexuality. Despite your skills with knives and your past threats of killing me, I simply find that adorable."
There might be something wrong with him, then again… the list of things wrong with him is probably very, very long. Besides, she is trying to fulfill her dreams right before the end, it's understandable that she wants his eyes on her for as much as possible.
"Yaoyorozu can have sex with someone and not fall in love with said someone… just ask Jirou." Izuku continues. "But I guess that I'm not one to go into the 'friends with benefits' thing. I love you, Tsu. I love you so much that it hurts."
Weeks at it. Several. But the L world somehow never came. At least not from his side.
"I-Izuku, I…" Her voice is shaking a little. "... please, don't try to…"
Yeah. That's why it was… a bit of a problematic subject.
"I won't." Izuku cuts in, raising his head a little to look into her eyes up close. "I'm not going to try to leverage that into making you abandon your 'good death' plan. You lost… well, as much if not more than I did." At least his siblings were still around. "I can relate to feeling like living just no longer matters."
For him, the only argument to the contrary was Eri. Her smile. Her happiness. Being a hero at least to her.
He has a feeling that a hero should try to persuade Tsuyu out of it. But… he was no longer a hero. And sometimes, well, sometimes he felt like he was tempted to do the same thing as she was doing right now.
He had someone to live for, even if it was just one person. Uraraka was there as well, for years, but… nowadays he lost faith in the fact that she could be helped. Without those two, he would probably do the same thing. .
Denying her the conclusion she was so looking forward to would be a hypocrisy on his side.
"But I'm going to do my utmost to make you as happy as possible until the end." Izuku says, his eyes locked with Tsuyu's. "I promise you that."
"I…I…" She is looking to the side. "I want it, but… ribbit… I actually considered ending this, and…"
"What?" Izuku blinks at her in shock. He suspected that there might be… problems with his confession, just not that type of problems. "What happened? Did I do something wr…"
Aaaand he is freaking out. So much about the unshakable SSS-Rank villain.
"No, it's…" Tsuyu is still avoiding his gaze. "... it's because of Eri, ribbit. I don't want…" Oh, Tsu. You're just making him fall deeper and deeper in love.
"You don't have to worry about that." Izuku replies.
"But…" Tsuyu's eyes finally drift back to him. "If I stay with you, we'll get her back and then… how am I supposed to, ribbit, just tell her that we're together and then, what? Die on her? That's…" Tsuyu interspersing ribbits at random is just a clear sign of how distraught she was.
"Tsu." Izuku says, while staring into her adorably big eyes. She stops speaking, and listens to him instead. "Eri is sixteen years old. She is independent enough that she doesn't need a mother. She had Uraraka, Quicksilver and Hypothermia as her auxiliary moms when it mattered, either way. But she never had someone she could openly refer to with that term, and I'm sure that she'd like to change that, even if the… arrangement wouldn't last for long. And, not to forget that fact, I'm sure that she's going to be overjoyed that I found myself someone. She kept pestering me about my loneliness not being healthy for me for years now."
"You… deserve someone better." She looks down. Izuku sighs, extends his hand and lifts her head a bit to look into her eyes again.
"Maybe." He says. "But I want you. And you only. Even if it's temporary. Besides…" He sighs. "My first crush ended up being turned into noumu. My second crush was vaporized in a nuclear blast. My first real relationship ended up badly, although Hypothermia is at least still around. Even if I outlive you, I don't plan on ever looking for someone else. I think that I'm just tired of disappointments."
"Izuku, I…"
"Tsuyu." He cuts in once again. "You deserve to be selfish at least once in your life. We both know that your greatest wish is to have a family. Not just a husband, but also a child. You deserve to have Eri call you her mother, even if it won't last for long."
He doesn't look down on the scars, the ones that his head was resting on earlier. The fact that after that injury (which happened soon after Marukane Ward) having children was no longer an option for her has greatly contributed to Chameleon being replaced with Hopper, the death-seeking vigilante.
When the subject came up, she told him to his face that she deserved that, and she'd be angry at him if he claimed otherwise. Izuku managed to find a third option and told her that Chameleon might have deserved that, but Froppy didn't.
(Izuku was going to mention Eri's quirk eventually, but he was fairly sure that he knew her answer already)
Izuku wasn't the only one who was a composite character of many names. Analyst the UA Trainee, Notebook of the Meta-Liberation Army, Revenant the Grand Commander of the Paranormal Liberation Front. Each of them sometimes felt like different people inhabiting the same body.
"I… guess that I want to be selfish on this, ribbit." Tsuyu finally admits the truth. "D-do you think she'll like me?"
"Of course she will." Izuku replies steadfastly. He is absolutely certain of that. Then again, he has recently discovered that his image of Eri as a paragon of all virtues might have been… slightly false, so there is that.
"T-then I'm looking forward to meeting her, ribbit." Tsuyu looks down a little, but there is something of a faint smile on her face.
She's incredibly adorable when she smiles like that. That's despite the fact that Izuku saw her use her tongue to shove a grenade down someone's throat. Unlike Yaoyorozu, Tsuyu managed to retain something of a… normalcy? Innocence?
Izuku has no idea how to describe it, so he settles upon returning to his earlier position and snuggling even closer to her. She responds in kind, her fingers burrowing into his hair again.
"I think that I should tell you those words as well, ribbit." Tsuyu then says. "If my memory serves me, I only said that I had a crush on you in the past, you know, the first day of us. So I'll say it right now. I love you too, Izuku."
Looks like Izuku has one more anchor to keep him grounded. It might be temporary, but… it's nice. Especially as unlike him, she is less… flexible in her morality. Izuku doesn't trust himself anymore.
His mom would be disappointed if she saw him today, although she wouldn't abandon him over that. Re-Destro would be disappointed too, but he would understand what brought it all and he would probably blame himself for not predicting that the government would freak out enough to destroy Deika. All Might…
… he doesn't want to think about it.
"I think that I'm still high on adrenaline a bit too much to just go to sleep." Izuku sighs. Despite really enjoying his current position, he is clearly not in the state to just fall asleep. "Want to talk about something else?"
"What was your relation with All Might, ribbit? I was always curious about it." Tsuyu asks. Izuku actually raises his head again and looks at her weirdly. "What?"
"Nothing, I was just thinking about him right before you said it and now I'm suspecting you of having a telepathic quirk." Izuku replies. Tsuyu ribbits. It's the ribbit of amusement.
"I don't have it, but I'll let you in on a small secret, ribbit." Tsuyu replies. "I have a very good smell. Almost like a dog, I believe. And dogs can smell the emotions of people."
Izuku stares at her slackjawed. That actually makes her ribbit in amusement again.
"Ten years." Izuku says with exasperation in his voice. "We've known each other for ten years, and you're telling me that your quirk makes you sort of an empath now?!"
"You never asked, ribbit." Tsuyu decides to be smug about it. Their earlier serious talk is buried deeply enough under a slice of life moment. "Why do you think I can read people so well?"
"I'm going to ignore the fact that I grossly misjudged the capabilities of your quirk… mostly because I'm embarrassed by it." Izuku replies while once again returning to his lying position. Tsuyu ribbits in amusement for the third time. "And I'll answer your question instead. All Might was my biological father."
"Ribbit?" Yeah, this time it's a total surprise from her. Understandable. It was quite a bomb.
"We discovered that accidentally soon before his death." Izuku replies. "All for One, that bastard, was naturally involved. He manipulated my mother into meeting All Might, then secretly separated them once I was conceived but before she told Yagi Toshinori that he's going to be a father, then after a while married her himself. All of that because my mother was actually a daughter of All Might's mentor, and he wanted to jerk himself over to the sight of All Might discovering that his mentor's grandchildren are all villains working for him."
"... now I realized why you killed him." Tsuyu announces after a few seconds of digesting the news. "He was an asshole."
That's probably the lightest term Izuku could think of when All for One was involved. But somehow, in Tsuyu's mouth, it sounded like the worst insult ever.
"Never change, Tsu." Izuku says while snuggling as close as he can. She ribbits confusedly, then decides to focus on playing with his hair.
Yes, this is happiness. Even if temporary.
(***)
Mahoro Shimano always considered herself to be a simple person, not particularly interested in the concept of romantic relationships. She never really had any to begin with! It just felt… kind of odd? She was never sure why, but it just… didn't work for her.
Until Eri, her best friend, decided to do her little pretend seduction. Because then, wow. Mahoro Shimano was hit in the head with a red heart-shaped mallet. And nothing was the same anymore.
She was suddenly painfully aware of the fact that she had a crush on her best friend. The size of a planet, at the very least. It came completely out of left field for her.
How didn't she notice what Eri looked like before?! Sure, she wasn't particularly tall. Like, what, 1,65m? (Not like Mahoro was much taller than that, they were all a trio of midgets to be honest). In Eri's case, being harvested for drugs (she mentioned that it was a thing, just without details) in early childhood might have contributed, but…
She was eating quite well ever since, her father spoiling her lots. And it's not like the sweets she gorged upon were left to turn into fat. She was training herself very hard, her father apparently altering some old bodybuilding plan that he got from his own father to suit her better.
She might have weighed like 60 kilograms. But those were perfectly shaped kilograms. She was growing up to be the second Counterfeit or Hypothermia in terms of body-built, and Mahoro somehow realized it just now.
It was incredibly confusing to her.
Mahoro Shimano's last vestiges of cognitive ability when Eri was involved flew out of the window when her best friend (that she sooo wanted to kiss - and not just kiss) decided that if they are going to be escaping from that facility sooner or later, they have to be in shape.
The whole facility was large and had a lot of things for the kids to not feel bored during the free time. It was like a very long summer camp, to be honest - rather enjoyable, then again it was the 'gilded cage' type of enjoyable.
It included a pond. A VERY large pond, almost on the level of becoming a small lake. Swimming was actively endorsed, for as long as you notified the faculty so that there would be a lifeguard present.
Mahoro Shimano's virgin heart wasn't ready for the sight of Eri Midoriya in a swimsuit. The fact that Katsuma seemed to have a similar if slightly restrained reaction didn't change a lot.
(naturally, they remained utterly unaware of the whole zombie apocalypse happening outside, although Eri noticed brief preparations for emergency evacuation despite the faculty's attempts - it still took her a while to piece up what happened from things other kids overheard)
"I…" Mahoro says quietly while staring at Eri, currently busy wiping herself out with a towel. "... would sell my kidney to be that towel for just a minute."
"M-mood." Her brother admits.
Then things fly out of the window, because Eri freezes suddenly and stares at them with a frown of anger and disbelief.
"You what?" She says, and Mahoro suddenly remembers that her best friend/crush had an extraordinary sense of hearing. And she was already aware that something was fishy with their two friends, due to them acting weird (according to her) nowadays. So she was probably listening in on purpose.
Oh. Oh crap.
Eri doesn't wait for their answer, seeing them both clearly out of it. She shouts to the teacher/lifeguard that they have to leave for a minute, then drags her two friends by the ear after her.
Ouch.
"Explain yourself." She then says when they are alone in the forest patch. "Now."
The irrational part of Mahoro really loves when she is… commanding like that. The rational one wants to commit suicide out of shame. She has no idea what to say, but Katsuma does.
"D-do you remember that 'what if I was visiting you the w-whole time' thing you did after the R-Revival C-celebration?" Katsuma asks. Eri nods. "Well, it made my s-sis realize that she is h-homosexual and develop a truly massive c-crush on you. Also I have a c-crush on you as well."
Mahoro would have been proud of her brother to actually manage to say all of that if she wasn't freaking out internally, while blushing and shrinking externally.
"Guys, guys!" Eri replies after a few seconds of shocked stare. "Does anyone remember that we're, like, kidnapped?" Mahoro does, she just really can't keep herself in line right now. Eri pinches the bridge of her nose. "Alright, I have absolutely no idea how to process this revelation, so I'm going to do what's called a pro gamer move."
Right, she kicked ass in the videogames too because Uncle Tenko was babysitting her for her father a few times.
"Katsu, come here for a moment." Eri announces. When he does, she suddenly pulls him closer… and kisses him. Mahoro stares at the picture with shock (and maybe some horror), while Katsuma is clearly loving every second of the rather frantic lip contact.
It basically progresses into a full making out, before Eri pulls back suddenly. Katsuma looked like he hated that fact more than anything else in the world.
"Alright, I found that hot." Eri then announces. "Maho-chan, come here."
She does, with maybe a hint of hope on her face. The hope gets promptly rewarded when their lips lock. Mahoro Shimano finds her entire existence validated in that very moment and she's going to cherish that memory for a long time.
Also it costs her majority of willpower not to immediately try to squeeze those magnificent orbs of flesh in front of her while at it. Or anything else. Because holy shit that's Eri and they are making out and…
Then Eri pulls back again, leaving Mahoro panting heavily, red as tomato and hoping for more.
"I found that hot too." Eri nods. "Looks like I'm bisexual, cool. Also, we're now in a relationship, unless someone has an issue with that, just please for the love of God be less horny, our little… trip is almost ready and we don't have the time to be this distracted." Trip is a nice codename for an escape attempt, alright.
"Y-yes, I'm sorry for being so stupid and horny, I'll try my best not to disappoint but if I do you're free to spank my dumb as… nevermind!" Mahoro realizes that her mouth was digging her grave deeper.
Katsuma sighs when he sees the shit-eating grin erupting on Eri's face before she tells his sister that she should voice her agreement and consent with a short 'Yes, Mistress Eri'. So much about his sister's ability to think non-horny thoughts for a while.
At least they are almost ready to finish their little summer camp. Unless, of course, Eri's father finds them first.
(***)
There is rain, of course. And a rather intense one. It really fits the general mood in the country that just lost an island and close to ¾ of its inhabitants to a zombie plague.
Lemillion is surprised by hearing someone ring the bell of his house, on the verge of the governmental district in Tokyo (more of a suburb addition to it, most of the Top Heroes have a home here, although several were being emptied right now).
He's even more surprised when he opens the door to see Saiko Intelli standing in the rain, something… haunting in her eyes.
She looks like a mess. No sidekick to hold her umbrella for her. Hell, she doesn't have an umbrella. Her clothes look like a wet rag (not even her hero uniform, just some casual clothes)
"What the hell…" Lemillion says. "... are you doing here?"
"I…I don't know?" She blinks at him. "I just… three million people, Lemillion. I was supposed to save them but I didn't, I couldn't and I…"
So it broke her. Hard. And somehow, she actually wandered to his home in a daze. Was she this serious with her 'romance attempts' the whole time, or did she secretly hoped that he was an NVA mole and would sell her out to Nakahara just to no longer have to bear what happened?
Lemillion genuinely hates what the modern government of Japan was. And Saiko Intelli is one of its crucial assets and supporters. But he is also a hero. He has a (clearly crying, he can see the tears even with the rain) woman in front of him. Getting soaked in the rain.
"Come in." He says. If she keeps wandering like that, she'll probably end up leaving the governmental district and… this can end in many ways with her like that, not a lot of them particularly good.
He didn't exactly expect the day of the zombie apocalypse to end with him getting some hot chocolate for Saiko Intelli (who was wearing his clothes, her own being dried, while sitting on the floor in front of a fireplace and staring at it with empty eyes), but well. It happened.
Death of Shikoku
Final Tally:
Est. Number of Civilian Casualties: Approx. 2 800 000
Self Defense Force Casualties: 21 432
Pro-Heroes Casualties: 1523
Police Force Casualties: 4500
The Island of Shikoku evacuated.
Major city centers destroyed by tactical nuclear warheads.
Shikoku rendered uninhabitable for 5-7 years.
Days since the start of the Second Paranormal Liberation War:
16
Days until the Second Battle of the Marukane Ward:
22
(***)
The saddest part? If the faculty ever bothered to goddamn tell the students that there is a chance of a traitor in the school, Tsuyu would have identified Aoyama's smell of guilt and stress differently than just some sort of impostor syndrome and stress from being in the top school in the country. Instead, she tried repeatedly to cheer him up with some uplifting words, without realizing the truth.
The small mistakes somehow hurt the most.
I'm fairly sure that whatever quirk counselor she went to as a child noted that bit down, so it was all in her papers. They could have just asked too.
Also the status of Izuku as AM's son is elaborated upon in the Ties that Bind, the fic that is pretty much a 'bright' counterpart to this one, with only one relatively small point of divergence that spiralled into this.