Shahryar - Making Trumpet of all people a gigachad, truly a rare thing in fanfics lol.
(***)
If there was one thing that Ayako Nakahara found extremely irritating nowadays, it was the fact that Izuku Midoriya wasn't in Deika when the bomb fell. Not because she disliked him or wished him dead, no.
Ayako Nakahara knew that Midoriya Izuku wasn't involved in All Might's death. That his treatment back then was horrific, and one more deadly sin on the HPSC's conscience (as ifit ever had any).
In her opinion, the hero trainee going by the name of Analyst she met a decade ago deserved to become a hero, quirkless or not.
He would never hit Top Ten, because his status as a quirkless would cost him more popularity among the general population than it would buy him among the minorities. He would always be seen as inferior to other 'intelligence' heroes. After all, they had a quirk, right?
He would never attain the position that he genuinely deserved. Well, that was one thing that he and Ayako Nakahara shared.
For the HPSC she was always a weak-quirked girl that failed to pass the UA entrance exam and then failed to transfer to the Hero Course in the aftermath of Nedzu's resignation. A weak-quirked girl whose quirk wasn't an intelligence one - and yet she wanted to be treated like a 'proper' mastermind.
(Let's ignore the fact that the ability to instantly get a rough assessment of the quirks of people she looked at was useful for a field tactician, the only quirks she couldn't read were the 'meta-ones', if they even existed - so the ones not having any visible way of activation)
A girl that ended up becoming a proper hero trainee only by transferring from UA to Ketsubutsu. Which, wow, what a surprise, made it so that not only was she one of the former Nedzu students, but she also was a graduate of the school that Miss Joke worked at.
They spoke maybe once or twice, she was in a different class. But having Nedzu and Emi Fukukado in her backstory? Yeah, that ended her prospects for a proper career under this government. Ever since then, she was just waiting for the right moment to show the world how much she hated the HPSC.
Ryukyu asking Spyglass - back then the head of her sidekicks, despite her young age - to join the newest coup attempt could only end in one way.
So, yeah. Ayako Nakahara had no issue with Izuku Midoriya deciding to paint the country red. They shared the sentiment, to be honest.
The reason that she found Revenant's return from death to be incredibly frustrating was because she found herself delegated into an extra. A side-character of a completely different story.
It might have sounded shallow, but years of having her achievements ignored by the government and the population she was working for made such a thing a massive berserk button.
Her war wasn't going very well - on the surface, at the very least, Intelli still seemed to be completely unaware of Hokkaido - yes. But no one was looking down on her. No one was treating her as a background character.
Until the Revival Celebration. Because then NVA's long war against the government ended up sidelined. It was now the Second Paranormal Liberation War. Not the Vigilante War (however weirdly it would sound if that name ever became popular).
With the intensity of Revenant's raids, it was really easy to forget that the New Vigilante Alliance existed.
Ayako Nakahara decided that it was high time to change that. And while she was no tactical and strategic mastermind to equal Midoriya - nor did she have a warper of her own - the NVA had many experienced former pro-heroes with sufficient tactical skills.
Besides, that one move was inevitably going to cause chaos in the country. And right now, more chaos benefited everyone that wasn't the government and the HPSC.
(***)
Most of the ghettos in the country weren't actually walled. Their inhabitants were allowed to live on their own in more or less reasonable living conditions, for as long as they didn't try to wander off.
Then there were the ones that were slightly more guarded. Often because the people inside were genuinely unpleasant.
If being discriminated against automatically made you an angel, the world would look vastly different. How much it was caused by their nature or by the fact that they were discriminated against was the right question to ask.
The less nice ghettos had walls. Whether it was a fence with some guard force to respond to attempts to breach or even a regular wall, it varied from case to case.
But there always was some sort of base, barracks for the dedicated police/army/pro-heroes force supposed to respond to a serious riot. Because when you had an open-air prison for several thousands disgruntled people near some small, sleepy town… it was best to keep some armed people around.
It was just simple logic.
(***)
If there was one simple thing that many people often forgot nowadays, it was just how destructive some quirks could be. Even the ones belonging to the pro-heroes.
Even the villains - at least before the era where people like Hypothermia or Frostfire found a commanding officer that could use their abilities to their logical extreme - tended to half-ass it.
Destruction was rarely the goal. And too much of it made you become a number one target for the heroes. That was something that not many people could survive. Something that only a political radical fighting for the end of the Hero Society could willingly do.
After all, they were already going to become a number one target for the heroes if they ever got close to realizing their life goals.
The rampage of people like the Symbol of Madness, the Arch-Arsonist and the Ice Queen, spreading death and murder throughout the country at Revenant's orders, was a wake-up call. Something to make many people realize for the first time ever just how incredibly dangerous some quirks were becoming as they neared the Quirk Singularity.
Although they weren't the first ones to fully embrace the concept of applying certain quirks for purposes of mass destruction and terror. Revenant had that idea first, yes, at least theoretically. But it never truly happened during the First Paranormal Liberation War.
They didn't have that many quirk users of this magnitude. Geten was there, but he died too quickly, a massive asset wasted to fulfill Dabi's meaningless revenge. Dabi himself was there, but he was a weapon long past expiration date, a man held together with spite and hatred. He could go all out twice or thrice, then what?
Gigantomachia was there, and the damage it caused was intense before it was defeated for the second time. Because this time, Invincible ended the monster's career once and for all. Besides him, only Armageddon was there, and it was never used.
In the end, the world was going to remember Ayako Nakahara as the originator of that particular concept. Because the NVA's Four Natural Disasters were created and propped up as weapons of mass destruction precisely for the purpose of sowing terror.
They might have been heroes once. But Japan only realized after their defection just how much they always half-assed the destructive potential of their quirks. After all, they were pro-heroes. Leaving ruins behind wasn't their job, their job was to stop people doing that.
It wasn't going to be their first rodeo. They already had a reputation. Now it was just a matter of reminding the world that they existed. That the Paranormal Liberation Front wasn't the only group out there to be feared.
(***)
The first attack of that day happened in Okayama prefecture. That particular guard barracks had a distinct misfortune of being placed close to a mountainside. That sealed the fate of almost a company of soldiers, twelve pro-heroes and twenty police-officers normally stationed there.
Because that particular morning, the mountainside moved.
And it was angry.
Only a handful of the people stationed in that particular base were in a position to see what was coming. The rest only get to feel the ground rumble and screams of those who saw it, before a landslide of biblical proportions hit the building.
It wasn't a simple landslide. The impact alone crushed the building like a house of cards, dozens of people dying when the ceiling and walls collapsed on them, impaled by splinters, crushed to death by nigh-instant equivalent of hydraulic press that the rooms changed into. But…
Those that died instantly were the lucky ones. The earth alone moved with malevolence that only humans were capable of. Trapping those that left in its embrace, countering all attempts to dig out of it, consigning the survivors of the initial impact to die alone and in darkness.
One of them - an A-Rank hero - had a quirk to help him with that. So he managed to get to the surface.
He lived long enough to notice a figure of the attacker, a woman standing on the top of a mound of earth that was just turned into a barrow, a mass graveyard of more than two hundred people.
Very little was left from their past hero uniform, but the fake cat ears on top of the blond hair were unmistakable.
Landslide's 'magical beasts' tore him limb from limb before the hero managed to do anything, a person once known as Pixie-bob vanishing into the forest.
Destruction of the HPSC' Fast Response Unit and depletion of the Sword of Damocles' made things so much easier, in Ryuko Tsuchikawa's opinion.
(***)
The second attack happened in Kyoto. Here, the ghetto was a much more urban one, covering a part of the urban sprawl once completely destroyed during the last stand of Stain's followers.
It was a particularly devastating last stand, the Hero Killer amassing significant popularity, regardless - or perhaps because - of him switching to killing unworthy heroes in the more literal way.
Sure, it was less than twenty people. But less than twenty people with powerful quirks, the government deploying a lot of its own heavy-hitters. Endeavor and Scream were there, Number One and Number Four heroes at that time.
Tenya Iida rocket-kicking Scream into a fuel tank of a local gas station - his engines igniting the fuel and causing a titanic explosion - didn't help.
Here the local garrison of the ghetto guards was actually connected to the main police precinct of the area, the one where the local Riot Police Unit was stationed. Next to it was a ten story high building housing the agency tasked with overseeing the ghetto in question in particular, and some of its assigned pro-heroes.
It was also the one place that actually offered some resistance to the attack. Mostly because its surroundings weren't really government-friendly. The buildings were tough, surrounded by a cleared up space offering an ability to shower the attackers with bullets and quirks before they could actually enter the facility.
There were even some concrete barriers, supposed to deter someone from using a vehicle to simply power through it.
They didn't work, thanks to one of the vigilantes destroying them with their quirk. Then the truck sped forward, its explosive payload tearing through the significant part of the police precinct, killing dozens of people inside.
It was merely the beginning. A distraction more than anything. Because vigilantes also attacked from another side of the complex, a phalanx of ballistic shields covered by some force shield quirk approached the ghetto guards headquarters despite the best efforts of the defenders.
The communication chaos accompanying the initial explosion didn't help. If not for the deafening crescendo of firefight coming from the other end of the complex, most of the police officers wouldn't even realize that there was a follow-up to the attack.
And even then, most of them were more busy with what felt like more pressing matters. Like trying to apply first aid to their comrades injured in the attack. Like trying to tear their eyes off the bloody messes that seconds ago were their colleagues.
Less than two minutes after the beginning of the attack, Yo Shindo - known nowadays as Earthquake - touches the wall of the headquarters with his hands.
The building was prepared to withstand earthquakes. But not earthquakes of this magnitude, not earthquakes happening literally on the surface. The people inside screamed or tried to hold onto something as the building shook violently.
Unfortunately to them, Yo Shindo was a master when controlled demolition was involved. The defenders realized that when the ghetto guards headquarters - well, majority of it - collapsed.
Right onto the two story high police precinct right next to it.
Then again, that attack at least had some survivors.
(***)
The last two attacks of the day happened almost simultaneously, with less than a minute of difference. Narrowly, the one in Kumamoto Prefecture won.
It was, honestly, extremely quick, terrifying and thorough. Unlike Earthquake's attack in Kyoto, this one couldn't be considered a battle. It was a nigh-instantaneous massacre, performed by a single person.
One only truly possible in the age where the Sword of Damocles was no longer operational, and where the government's surveillance capabilities greatly diminished due to the chaos beginning to overtake the country.
Besides, what was left of it was focused on trying to counter the PLF' raids.
As a result, obtaining and secretly transporting massive amounts of explosives was no longer a problem. Or, to be honest, it was a problem, but when you had so much backing and so many operational structures thanks to Ayako Nakahara's tireless work…
It could work.
And Inasa Yoarashi knew how to apply them.
His quirk allowed him to create wind. In theory, it didn't sound that powerful, right? Wind was wind. A breeze, in most cases.
Of course, Inasa Yoarashi's winds were powerful. He could become a walking tornado! His villain name literally mentioned that. Powerful, right?
That wasn't what was truly terrifying about Tornado's power. It was his incredible precision of control. His ability to perform precise movements in the midsts of chaos brought by his quirk's activation.
The heroes, police officers and soldiers garrisoning that particular facility realizes this when first of the hundreds of grenades and improvised explosives brought by Inasa began to break through the window, exploding in the middle of their workspaces, barracks and even toilets.
Those that were in the rooms with windows died before realizing what was happening. Inasa - now floating above the facility - calculated it perfectly. Every window was breached by a grenade, primed to explode less than a second later.
Shrapnels and explosions themselves massacred everyone there.
Those deeper into the building at least had a chance. Tornado's barrage was much less precise there. Despite him feeling his air currents, that only gave him rough outlines of the interior. Grenades fumbled off the furniture, pins were torn off too early, heroes had enough time to destroy or repel the flying bombs, despite the raging wind.
They were good, after all. The villains and vigilantes had no monopoly on powerful users, it's just that their powerful members tended to survive the longest. And, besides, the defenders of that building were completely surprised.
Unfortunately, the bombs just kept coming.
And then, once the majority of the defenders were dead and who was left was too traumatized or injured to even try to stop that from happening, Tornado reminded them of the origin of his villain name.
The building was torn to shreds a few minutes later.
(***)
Of all the Four Natural Disasters that the NVA's leadership commanded, none was as feared as much as the Mad Flame - Moe Kamiji, once known as Burnin', the head of the Flaming Sidekickers, now known as Firestorm.
The fact that she actually earned herself an additional nickname - one as intimidating as the Mad Flame - was a telling one. There weren't many 'titled' villains in the country. Arch-Arsonist was there (both the first and the second). Muscular with his Carnal Murderer was there. Hypothermia with her Ice Queen title was there.
It wasn't quite on the level when the public considered you a Symbol of something. Moe Kamiji was no All for One, the Symbol of Evil. No Izuku Midoriya, the Symbol of Despair. No Aiko Shigaraki, the Symbol of Madness. No Hana Shimura, the Symbol of Ruin.
You needed a certain degree of fear to be there. Not a fear of being defeated by them, otherwise Re-Destro would join the list (although some heroes DID refer to him as a Symbol of Defeat, before Deika was destroyed).
Fear of something more than being defeated.
All for One killing the Symbol of Peace in front of millions of people huddled behind their TV screens set the bar too high, even if he was declared dead, his head almost crushed to pulp with All Might's last desperate blow before Kurogiri warped his unmoving remains out of Kamino Ward.
His return made many people distinctly unhappy. But it also set the bar for becoming a Symbol quite high for a villain, as stated.
Moe Kamiji was no symbol, however. And her quirk was a powerful and combat one, but she was at best someone to duel people, right?
Wrong.
Because green flames weren't normal flames. But… they also weren't that unnatural. There were many components that, if burned, could color fire green. Her quirk took that to the logical conclusion the day when it awakened, not long after Endeavor's death.
Her quirk was still the one that made her hair be replaced with flames that couldn't injure Moe Kamiji herself. But now, she could alter the properties of the fire. Change a normal fire to, let's say, 'fire of burning gasoline', for it to spread faster. Or, perhaps, a 'fire of burning magnesium' to damage eyesight.
There were many options. And Moe Kamiji quickly proved herself to be a master of playing various types of fire like a true symphony of destruction. Besides, she just had to be among the flames to be able to control them, even when they were no longer part of her hair.
Creating a controllable firestorm that she could alter at will.
She might have as well awakened twice in a short order. Or maybe it was madness? Madness sometimes unlocked something else in your quirk. Brought up something that was always there, something that your mind and body kept locked to avoid going too far. Frostfire achieved that when his fire turned white. Dabi achieved that when his fire turned blue.
Maybe it was something in the concept of fire.
The defenders of that particular facility in Iwate Prefecture did their best, fighting desperately to stop the flames from overtaking their buildings just as they overtook the forest surrounding it in short order.
The explosive flames of exploding munitions didn't break them. The choking and scorching hot flames of burning gasoline didn't break them. The blinding flames of burning magnesium didn't break them.
The flames of white phosphorus, eventually, did.
(***)
An hour later Momo Yaoyorozu finished narrating what she managed to glean from the initial governmental reports to the gathered group of the PLF executives. Skeptic standing among them… it still hurt.
Midoriya Izuku, for all his intelligence and skills, doesn't know everything. He can't immediately cross reference all the information they just received. Mastermind clearly managed to do it already, and it was obvious from the look on his face that he had an Opinion™.
In the end, though, it was Lady Murder that spoke first. Perhaps for the best. Revenant was never particularly interested in hearing Mastermind's opinions, aside from hearing his reports.
"I'm…" She says loudly, her face calm. It's the bad type of calm. "... going to fucking butcher every single NVA fucker I come across from now on. And don't you fucking dare try to stop me."
"What?" Midoriya asks, trying to ignore the fact that even Red Fang - normally so nervous and pacifistic - appeared ready to murder people. It wasn't anything good, was it?
"It's…" Mastermind decides to speak. "... the choice of targets." The fact that the look he is giving Rini is actually that of something resembling pity is…
"What are we missing here, exactly?" Yaoyorozu asks.
Lady Murder is still boiling with anger, clearly too beyond herself with rage to speak. Midoriya can see her muscles tensing as she clenches her fists, probably hoping to punch someone in the face.
Ayako Nakahara, judging from the context.
Izuku would still like to know why exactly.
"The ghettos the NVA just 'liberated' weren't normal ones." Mastermind ends up cutting in dryly. "They have a, so to speak, reputation. Reputation of being inhabited by the worst assortment of murderous mutant degenerates you could find in this piece of shit country. People that even our favorite rabbit bitch would prefer dead. People that weren't executed simply because our wonderful Prime Minister decided that mass executing those wretches would only strengthen the whole 'Japanese government is composed of murderous racists' vibe that ruined our international image so much. So they were put in high security ghettos instead of being put five feet under or cremated after facing a firing line."
Silence in the room. Everyone is busy processing the new information. Midoriya finishes it first, well, Mastermind was clearly already there. But Revenant caught up the fastest.
"Nakahara just unleashed several thousand weaker cousins of the Beast upon Japan." He says dryly. "People that, before being inevitably stopped by the heroes and police, will kill, injure, rape or rob thousands of people. Since the NVA will say that they just freed the people from random ghettos, a big chunk of the population will see all the negative stereotypes of complex mutants being confirmed."
"And then, we can expect anti-mutant racism to be on the rise once more, especially with the chaos in the country." Mastermind takes over. "So, people will attempt to launch preemptive pogroms on the local ghettos, especially when the police and pro-heroes are weakened enough that said people begin to fear that the ghetto will be breached. Which, in turn, will cause complex mutants from the remaining ghettos to consider violence to escape before they are targeted."
He doesn't add that, but Midoriya also expects a lot of 'adapted' complex mutants to have their discrimination rapidly worsened. After all, who knows when they will snap and do what complex mutants do best, right?
Midoriya Izuku sighs while leaning back on his seat, closing his eyes for a moment.
This was… honestly not far from what he envisioned himself doing in order to push the Quirkless Liberation Front into his camp if Eclipse didn't see reason. A slight manipulation of governmental response to drive the districts and ghettos where quirkless were more common in an open conflict with the authorities.
People were going to die too. But, less of them. And probably much less… colorfully.
Ayako Nakahara just inflamed the racial issues of the country tenfold, just to divide the government's attention further. From a purely professional point of view, Midoriya's respect for Spyglass and assessment of her strategic skills just grew.
As for his non-professional self… aside from love for Tsuyu and Eri, there wasn't much of that guy left.
"We can expect a lot of recruits to swarm both the Inhuman Supremacy Party and the Creature Rejection Clan." Midoriya replies dryly. "I hope you both are prepared for it. Rini, you're free to kill any potential new recruit who looks like he'll do anything potentially compromising to our PR whilst under our banner."
Marukane Ward is going to be so incredibly awkward after this.
Days until the Second Battle of the Marukane Ward:
15