Chapter 65 - Enter, Riis Perfected
Somewhere...
Dren looked away from his keyboard, assessing his associates in the dark. One large, possibly as tall as Kovik himself with a massive shield and spear. Another played with a flame in his claws, pinching it while hot ashes escaped his melded maw. One was hanging from a bundle of wires with a rifle fitting for a Vandal, his Devil's cloak hanging down.
"It seems the heroes are gathering from across Japan, they're aware of our movements," Dren's throat clicked. "Well then, looks like we're moving things forward, scatter and prepare yourselves for an early-morning welcoming party."
"Understood," The largest one complied, and behind them all, dozens upon dozens of blue eyes lit up in the dark, hanging from the rafters and wires.
Dren spun back on his chair, placing his hands together. "Soon, Archon, soon." Out the corner of his eyes, he spotted the lone figure crouched behind a barrier of red light, glaring into the back of his skull. Another to his right, sharing a whispered conversation with a white light in their palm.
[Nighteye's Agency]
"Azuru, may I have a word?" Yuki paused upon seeing Sir standing by in an empty part of the hallways interceting toward the meeting hall. Heroes from far and wide had gathered, Pros and students alike. Giving her friends a silent wave, she left their sides.
She couldn't make out his expression, remaining stoic as ever behind those glasses. He combed back his greenish-yellow hair, adjusting himself tensely. "Is something wrong, Nighteye?" Her innocent curiosity made his heart twist further.
"Before long, your half of this two-pronged assault will begin ahead of the other Heroes stationed to investigate the Shie Hassaikai," Nighteye relayed, placing his back against the wall with his hands together. "Do not think ill of my intentions, please..." "I wish for you to stay behind and act as both teams' eyes and ears."
Yuki's face didn't change, remaining neutral say for the determined look in her reddish-blue orbs. "If you're asking me, or ordering me, to stand back as a child's put through the same sort of hell I've experienced, to let Dren do what he wants with my stolen Quirk... then I refuse."
Nighteye held back his sigh. "Please, listen to me..." "If Kovik is as cunning as our sources say, there is no doubt he's anticipated your involvement, perhaps all of the Hassaikai at worst, we can't take that risk with-"
She held out her hand, looking grim. "You... saw it?" He didn't lower his head, facing the girl who had a right to know, even if it stung. "But you said you'd never use it on us... why? Why am I so special in that regard?" Yuki kept her tone low but no less jaded. "Others here have lives worth more than mine... you know how much this means to me, to Siva!?"
Sir didn't say a word, only fearing what he saw plague his sight prior to the end of their meeting days back... "Your death will be gruesome and torturous..."
The edges of the film were burnt and blurry, a red tint obscuring the dark, decrepit environment. Bloodstained the floor. Yuki fell to her knees, armour stripped away for her tattered clothing beneath, the colour in her eyes left shocked and shaken, a silent scream stretched from her lips at the sight of a long, static blade run through her chest by a large, armoured figure bearing the mark of House Devils.
He never let his eyes leave her own. "...at the hands of a Fallen with your power..." Every word felt like bile on his tongue, knuckles turned white. "You will perish against Dren, no one will be there to save you, so please give up on this vendetta before you follow All Might's path too!"
A cold shiver ran down Yuki's body, closing her eyes a moment to consider that her death was hanging over her, Death's blade nipping at her throat. She had 'died' once, the grief it left in its wake still haunted her, to know that she wasn't as strong as everyone says, that her strength was fallible as any other human on this planet. How many times could her death be avoided? When will she part ways with the people she loved for the final time?
"Your Foresight is never wrong, even when vague, but," Yuki opened her eyes, smiling confidently with a hand to her breastplate. "I will sacrifice every part of me toward a future where someone who's suffering can be offered a hand." Fate was a fickle thing, when has it ever been on her side? "I'm sorry to worry you, Sir, you're really kind."
She gave a short bow and turned to meet up with her friends and boyfriend, leaving the man speechless, hand raised in vain to stop her from running toward the same light All Might continued to strive for. Again, was his strength never enough to save those he was close to? Was he doomed to fail again and again?
He sighed, adjusting his tie with a dark but no less serious look on his face. "We will see."
[Raid Team Two - On-Route to Eastern Mount Fuji]
Huddled inside a helicopter, Yuki fiddled with a small cluster in her hand, toying with its angular faces to keep her nerves steady. On her team was Yukino, Jura, her Mom, and Jin. There were other officers and heroes present but those were the ones that stuck out to her. It wasn't long ago they parted ways with Izuku's group.
"So, guess this is goodbye for now, huh?" Yuki had her arms crossed before Izuku, Kirishima, Ocha, and Tsu. Tensions were high, many heroes conversing with their allies or with police on the subject as Yuki rubbed her bicep nervously. "I'm not the only one feeling jittery, right?"
"Same here, just hard to really wrap my head around what's happening," Kirishima admitted, stretching a grin with his thumb to his chest. "But we've gotta stop this guy, no matter what so we can't afford to be nervous!"
"Heh, amen," Yuki giggled, holding her fist out. "Then let's all do our best, we'll stop Dren and Overhaul and save Eri on two fronts."
"Right!" Kirishima bumped his fist with hers.
"We'll do it as a team!" "Together, ribbit," Ocha and Tsu smiled brightly, adding theirs to the circle with all of them looking to Izuku who kept his eyes on Yuki, sharing her encouragement.
"I failed before, so please, help me set things right, you guys," Izuku put his fist in with the others, vowing to do their parts as one.
"PLUS ULTRA!"
"-Alright," Akame alerted Yuki and the others, the woman sat with her leg over the other. "We're nearing the LZ - always wanted to say that - ahem, once we do we'll split into three teams."
Jin brought up a small whiteboard for all present to observe. Three teams, one red with the symbol of House Devils below; One blue marked with a medical sign; The last was green, tied to a shield.
"Red Team will focus on infiltrating the facility, taking down Dren and his operations from within. Blue Team will handle backing both teams, handling support or medical problems; Lastly, Team Green is to focus on handling the enemy's defences while maintaining a foothold ahead of the LZ, we lose that and most of us will be running down the mountain." Valstrax summed up neatly. "This isn't full proof, we have next to no info on the enemy other than assumption so consider the worst and prepare for a hell of a fight, clear?"
Many nodded in understanding, Yuki narrowed her eyes in the dark. "So we're heading inside, I can't see it yet but this sensation... so much technology is acting out nearby, it's almost mournful and... ticking?" That couldn't have been good. "Ready or not, Dren, we're going to stop you!"
Jura leaned forward with his hands on his knees, smirking boldly. "This is it, guys, you ready, Aksis? Velkhana?"
The similarly named girls met each other's gazes, a shadow of Velk on the wall, a radiance of heat and cold meeting. "We're ready."
For all you plotted | For this world | We shall test your mettle Dren
Not long after the helicopter lurched, the sight of a snow-covered plateau below and the trees decorating the LZ facing a large cliff. The rampart opened up to let a blast of snow strike their faces, soldiers and heroes marching out in droves to land in the rough terrain, sinking an inch into the snow. Yuki helped offload supplies alongside Jura while Hana aided Jin in scouting the frontlines, Akame keeping watch from the skies.
It wasn't hard to miss where to start investigating. Built into the rocky outcove were metal blast walls and pipelines feeding deep into Fuji itself. Columns and barricades are set in case of an assault with not a soul guarding the entrance. Erie, the facility appeared to be abandoned, though one quick scan by Yuki's feet told her how massive the web was spun, even if something blotted her view from any further details.
Jura had placed his hand on the grass below the snow, humming from under his armour made of literal granite, as though he were a walking stone knight compared to Iida's hero outfit. "Hrm, no volcanic activity, then again..." He opened his eye to look up at his best friend. "People really dunno what to label this place under, kinda annoying when you're an earth-based hero, huh?"
"Just a little," Yuki pinched two fingers close, eyes curved before flashing into slits. "Wait."
Jura stood up with her, ignoring the murmurs and commotion the others made in favour of following Yuki's head toward the facility a handful analysed up close. "Something's watching us?" One nod was all he received to clench his fists. "Velkhana, anything!?"
Atop a stationed helicopter, Hana let her deep-blue eyes scanning the environment for any hostile souls not catalogued by Velk. Her fingers flinched once a glare caught her sight. "Sni-!" A strong electrical current blew the top of her head off in an instant, knocking her back until black mist reformed her glare, seeping into the vehicle's shadow. Appearing once more, she waved a hand. "Get them clear of the frontlines!"
Atop the ridge, the Wire Rifle crackled and popped, lowering the weapon to view the scattering soldiers below like ants. The Fallen's armour was a dull shade of blue, the jumpsuit and barding pale greys and whites. Their body slimmer than most Captains, and with bandaging around her lower forearms, a cloak marked with that of a white symbol of... a wolf, lined with fur across her scarf. The helmet was designed akin to that of a bat's ears.
"|The human lived?|" She clicked her tongue, adjusting her scope carefully. "|Machine currs, every last one.|"
From the facility's overhang sprung two turrets infected with a blue variation of SIVA nodes, the blue wires feeding into the armour, splitting it apart. The second their muzzles locked to their nearest targets, blue plasma melted the snow and ricocheted off Valstrax's wings, covering her men's retreat until four shurikens lodged themselves between the turrets' armour, blowing them apart after three seconds.
"Their defences are down," Jin landed before her friend, gasping once Valstrax's wing defended her from the Fallen's rifle. "Thank you."
"Later, fall back now!" She ordered as many Splicers crawled from the woodwork, blades or pistols in hand as their chorus of roars rippled throughout Fuji.
Many erected trenches in the snow in a haste, others deploying metal barricades brought from the supplies as Valstrax fought to withhold the enemy's advance on the LZ. Gunfire and Quirks let loose among the chaos. Yuki decapitated a Vandal flanking, tossing its corpse into a Dreg, both... were metal?
"Not even these Fallen are Eliskni anymore," What had Dren and Kovik done to them? As much as her blood boiled at the idea, she shook away those thoughts. Yuki turned and fired two Devils Ruin to shred any approaching Vandals with rifles like that sniper above who took another shot at her, only for a hardlight barrier to backhand the bolt. Yuki glared back at the vanishing Vandal. "Who was that!?"
Drevis Wolf Baroness | She has been reborn | A mere revenant
"House of Wolves?" Yuki blinked, sliding behind a barrier while Hana swept the area ahead with a blade of ice, erecting dozens of spikes with just a flick of her sword, white mist frosting Yuki's armour. "We don't have time to fight off an endless army, we need to get inside."
"I can carve a path forward," Hana added, ducking from another wire bolt, grunting. "However, this 'Wolf' as you call it won't allow us further, we need a blindspot."
"Heh, leave it to us, the masters of distraction!" Jura's voice brought their heads around to find Valstrax grinning while flexing her wing vents with a puff of dragon element. "Those turrets came back online and are tracking anything that gets close, so that's what we'll do."
Akame patted her daughter's head, picking Jura up to fly above the chaos, spotting a shimmer among the trees. "Combo move-!" With a large burst of energy, Akame arched her posture, effectively building a red cyclone around her and Jura.
"Earth-Shattering Wyverns!" Jura concluded, leaving Akame's arms at a velocity, not even the Fallen had time to react, the ground around him erupting in a wide circle, his hands sunk into the soil. "Ultimate Move - Earth Dreadnaught!"
Several dozen pillars shot forth from the ground, slamming through proxy Fallen while shielding many from the turrets and Drevis who stared up in shock at what she was seeing. A monster of the Earth rising to slam like meteors into the ground it emerged from. Between the slithering pillars, Hana and Yuki rushed for the entrance to the facility with all their worth, using a runway of ice to slide between the pillars at a spectacular speed. Yuki using Winter's Rush to steady her skating, Jura following after them with a jolly laugh.
"Woohoo~!" Yuki whistled, seeing her Mom above swatting Drevis's attacks away like flies, firing her own barrage of energy to ripple and strip a chunk off the edge of the cliff, burying numerous Splicers under the debris.
"We've made it to our destination." Hana declared, bringing her ice pathway above the stairs, flicking her tail around to conjure a long blade of ice, severing the turrets completely to cease their racket.
"And 'that' is how you distract," Valstrax chuckled to herself, the dust from the counterattack concealing them. "It won't last but we can start to look for a way inside."
"Right," Yuki agreed, pressing her hand to the wall, stripping the welding back to fish her fingers between wires meant to power the turrets. She again struggled against the firewalls, not wanting to risk intoxicating herself. "It's hard... his network is so much more advanced than before, I-I can't even make out half of what's being admitted to me." "Like it keeps changing time?"
"|Don't worry, you'll see, Machine Spawn,|" All guards were drawn to the shadow stepping through the dust and snow, Drevis' eyes beyond her helmet bright with wonder, rifle poised to Valstrax. "|Come, and witness salvation!|"
'Salvation'? | What... does she mean? | That term...
"Siva, what's wro-?" Yuki's muscles tensed, then realized what the Baroness held in her off-hand. "Oh no..."
"|Fall.|" She hissed before any of them could act, releasing a trap door under their feet, closing it a second later to block Valstrax's immediate whiplash with her wings, scarring the metal with three slashes before Drevis's feet. She chuckled, tucking her cloak over her head before it shimmered, refracting the light to conceal her. "|Now...|" The Wolf's eyes met with the ninja woman battling her Fallen allies. "|To pluck another life.|"
Somewhere...
"Ugh?" Yuki coughed, feeling her eyes wince from a blue glare of light ahead of her. It ebbed and flowed like water. She must've passed out from the fall, and alone it would seem, great. Grunting from her uncomfortable position, she realized something much worse than a few aching muscles was unfolding. "Oh... not again," Lifting her head, realizing her mask had fallen to the floor she spat dirt from her mouth. "I'm starting to hate being the damsel in distress here!"
"You and me both," To her left, another sat against the barrier, their hands bound by hardlight handcuffs of the same make. The person was clearly feminine from their petite armour and lack of helmet. A hood down to reveal the bemused, amber eyes between spiky bangs of black and white. She flicked her wrist in greeting. "Welcome to hell, Yuki was it? That's what he's been muttering this whole time like a broken record."
"I have not, I'll remind you!" The voice made Yuki's heart sink further, bound to wires that connected to her armour by the forearms, legs, hips, even the back of her neck. "I have been a gracious host, at least I hope so given your... circumstances?"
Through the veil between them, Yuki glared back into the heartless icy eyes belonging to Dren. He looked no different from last time. Slim armour and barding, a curved helmet with horns against his cheeks, and a device tucked between his claws. He gave a curt bow. "My-my, what a pleasure it is to meet you again, Azuru."
"I'm dripping with excitement," She grunted, the girl beside her snorting a laugh.
"Yeah, I'd sooner believe it if it came from Mr Grumpy over there," The girl prodded her fingers toward another hardlight cell across the room. All she could make out was their icy blue eyes, the same as Dren's, glowering through the darkness.
The large facility was littered in converging wires toward a single point to their right, spotlights illuminated only the back portion of the room. It was twisted by nanomachines and more tainted nodes blooming like flowers from the ceiling and walls. A blue road leading toward Dren's many monitors and equipment fleshed out onto a wide, oval space surrounding a large platform... comprised of that Vex stone from the quarry? And a large, milky-white column of physical data streams. between the archway.
"Oh, noticed that did you?" Dren brought their attention back to himself, leaning forward to admire Yuki's predicament. "We have much to discuss, you and I... including Aksiskel."
That raised her brow. "You... know?" She blurted out, causing him to chuckle at her reaction as well as the armoured girl's own, murmuring something under her breath in stupefaction.
Dren placed a claw on his heart. "I have always admired Kovik's work, but I know that inside you my leader, the one who gave my life meaning lives..." He paused, holding out the same claw to Yuki. "The innovation of the House of Wolves-" He motioned to the now visible Fallen in blue behind the opposite barrier. "-The Light of our Great Machine from the Guardian-" The girl... was a Guardian? Yuki's stupefied face didn't last, returning to Dren. "-And you... all of you will help bring Aksiskel back to life."
To Be Continued...
And just like that, the Raid has begun with a significant canon divergence... for now. Yuki has landed herself in some deep trouble, and a Guardian and my favourite House return! I hope you enjoyed, appreciate the support as always; seeya in the next chapter, Heroes!
Fact: The name 'Riis' is the official homeworld of the Fallen, or Eliksni as they're actually called.
Next Chapter: Fallen From Perfection
Valstrax: Yuki... where are you?
Jura: We'll find her, wherever she is, I will protect her this time!
?: No, you won't.
Valstrax: Y-You!?
Jura: Uh no, next time, Fallen From Perfection!
?: Go beyond...
Valstrax: *Snarls* Plus Ultra!