"I guess we really are leaving tonight." Katsuma said, as he was ushered out of the convention center for the first time in almost a week. He squinted his eyes at the setting sun in the distance.
"I told you so." Kota said smugly as the two followed near the end of the pack of children.
"Single file now!" The elderly caretaker at the end said, and all the children made a half-hearted effort to straighten up. It wasn't very impressive, if the sigh Kota heard was any indication.
As they all reached the street a line of three buses could be seen, and many adults running around trying to organize the growing crowd of children. At either end of the street block a barricade could be seen keeping the convention center separated from the rest of the city. There were APC's parked next to each of them with a squad of JSDF personnel roaming nearby. The site of real soldiers, holding guns and all, drew the attention of the children, and it took much shouting from one of the men to get their attention focused.
They all began to line up on the curb at the adults' instructions, and Kota and Katsuma found themselves at the end of the line again. They were so far to the side in fact, that they were right next to the soldiers guarding the perimeter on the south side. One of them noticed the stares from the kids and shot them a smile before turning her eyes back to the empty road and letting out a tired sigh.
"Man, these guys must be bored." Kota whispered to Katsuma, who tried to contain a laugh.
Before they could continue to converse, the man who had gotten their attention before shouted out again. He was a police officer, if his outfit was anything to go by. He was definitely old, but not nearly as elderly as most of the caretakers the two boys had seen over the past few days.
"As you can see, you all are being moved today." The officer said in a deep voice. He quickly continued before the children could all ask their questions at once. "I'm sure you all are wondering where you will be going, so we have brought the one in charge of the place to explain it himself."
At the words, the gate on the northern barricade slid to the side, and what looked like a recolored SWAT Truck pulled in. All the kids watched in anticipation as silence finally filled the street. The truck pulled to a stop and the side door slowly opened, revealing a mouse… bear… thing? Whatever it was, it was finely dressed, and it strode down the steps of the vehicle with surprising grace.
"What is that thing?" Katsuma asked, and Kota just let out a knowing laugh. He had heard plenty of horror stories from her aunt about this maddening beast.
"Hello, young children!" The curious mammal said in a cheerful voice, producing surprised gasps from many a children present, Katsuma included. "My name is Nezu, and I am the principal of U.A. High School. Starting today, you all will be living at my school for the foreseeable future."
The kids' reaction was almost simultaneous. Cheers began to go crazy as they all heard the news. Every kid these days was obsessed with Heroes, and what place was more known for them than U.A. High? As the kids all let out their excitement out, Kota just scoffed.
"Damn, we really are going there…" Kota muttered, ignoring the eyebrow the nearby soldier gave him from the language.
"Oh, come on. It can't be that bad. They probably have better beds at least." Katsuma said, trying to cheer up his friend.
"I'll just have to put up with everyone freaking out about Heroes again now. I thought I was done with that shit after they all disappeared." Kota said in annoyance. As he grew annoyed at the growing chatter, the other side door of the truck opened, and someone walked out and around the truck to face the children. "What?! Who is that?"
Besides Nezu now stood someone about five and a half feet, head to toe in an armored Hero Costume. They shuffled nervously for a moment before giving an awkward wave. Everyone, kids and adults alike, stared at the person in curiosity. Even some of the soldiers had turned their heads as the street became silent again.
It was Kota who first broke the silence.
"Who the hell are you?" He said with absolutely no grace, ignoring again the looks everyone gave him at his language.
"Oh, right! I'm a Hero Student at U.A.!" He said through the mask. He pressed a button on the side of his mask, and the top half folded back to reveal a teenager with mossy green hair, grinning nervously at everyone around him.
"I thought everyone with a Quirk disappeared?" One of the kids pointed out, and many of the other kids nodded in agreement.
"Oh, well I was a pretty late bloomer!" He said, rubbing the back of his head with his armored gauntlet.
"Yeah right! You're way to old to get a Quirk like us!" A more skeptical kid said accusingly, and Kota nodded along. He was likely just some Quirkless teenager the rodent had found and dressed up in a spare Costume. "If you really have a Quirk then show us!"
"Yeah, what he said!"
"What is it!"
"Do something cool!"
The kids quickly began to spiral out of control, and Nezu tried to placate the growing pint-sized mob. "Now, now kids. I'm sure if you all calm down-"
Nezu and all the other kids were suddenly cut off by a metallic groaning sound. Everyone turned to look at the source only to see the Hero Student standing in front of one of the empty police cars, both hands under the bumper. Slowly, inch by inch, the front end of the car was lifted into the air, until he had nearly raised the vehicle bumper over his head. After holding it in that position for many moments, he let it drop to the ground with a clang.
"Oh, wow!" He said as he bent over to catch his breath. "That thing's a lot heavier than I thought. Pro Heroes make it look so easy." As he caught his breath, he noticed the children's silence, and gave them a smile between heavy breaths. "Umm… Was that good enough?"
The kids quickly exploded again, this time in cheers. As they all got excited, new questions started getting thrown out.
"That was so cool!"
"He lifted that truck like it was nothing!"
"He's like a mini All Might!"
"What's his Hero Name?"
"He didn't mention it, but I bet it's cool!"
"Hey, what's your Hero Name?!"
"My Hero Name?" The Hero Student parroted back, eye's widened like a deer in head lights. There was a panicked look in his eyes as he stood there silently, fidgeting with his gauntlets. "It's… umm, well…"
'Don't tell me he doesn't even have one? I knew all Heroes were idiots, but this takes the cake.' Kota rolled his eyes as the teenager continued to stutter. But he suddenly shut up and quieted, and everyone listened intently.
"It's… Deku! Like 'You can do it!'." He said with a sudden confidence.
"Wow." Katsuma couldn't help but get excited along with everyone else (Except Kota, of course) as they all stared at Deku.
"Yes, it's all quite exciting!" Nezu said, taking the now focused attention back to himself. "And you'll be able to see plenty more of Deku at U.A., so it's about time we all got going. Please follow the instructions of the adults onto the buses, and you'll be at the school just in time for Dinner."
At the mention of food and the chance to see more of their new Hero, all the kids quickly turned to the adults near the buses, slowly making their way onto them. As they did, Katsuma turned to Kota with a grin.
"Wasn't Deku super cool? And his name is super cool too! You can do it!" Katsuma repeated, pumping a fist. Kota just scoffed at the younger boy's excitement.
"Sound's more like 'good for nothing' to me." Kota said under his breath, sparing another glance at the Hero Student. His face quickly soured. "Oh crap. They're coming this way."
"Really?!" Katsuma swerved around, in a much more pleased mood. Sure enough the two visitors appeared to be walking in their direction towards the barricade, waving at all the kids along the way as they filed into the bus. They eventually stopped in front of the one of the soldiers and Nezu climbed up onto Deku's shoulder, producing a yelp from the boy.
"Thank you for keeping an eye on these kids for so long, Sergeant. I know your people are likely spread thin keeping things under control." Nezu said apologetically.
"Don't mention it, principal Nezu." The gruff soldier said, glancing back at the barricade casually. "Though it's not like you needed us for much. We haven't seen hide or hair of anyone since we set up. Of course, everyone is probably to busy going to the other shelters to come down here. I figured the police would be a better handle for this stuff."
"Maybe, but it's always best to plan for every eventuality." Nezu responded.
"I suppose, but it's not like there's any Villains to worry about, right?" The Sergeant insisted. "Even those Humarise freaks mostly use people with Quirks or hired mercenaries to do jobs. And I doubt anybody's getting paid in this economy. Us included!" He let out a laugh, before shaking his head slowly.
"Um… Mr. Deku, sir?"
Deku, Nezu, and the Sergeant all turned to see the excited face of Katsuma staring up at them. He was looking at Deku specifically with a look of wonder. "Y-You're so cool! Can you tell me about your Quirk?"
"O-Oh! Well, I think maybe we can talk about that at the school." Deku replied, nervous at the kid standing right next to him. As Katsuma continued to pester him with questions, Kota walked away in annoyance towards the south gateway. He reached the barred gateway, gripping the bars as he peeked through them.
"Not interested in the cool Hero?" The female soldier standing guard asked in confusion, turning towards him.
"Nah, Heroes are stupid." Kota said, not even bothering to look in her direction. He continued looking at the outside world, but he could see nothing but abandoned cars scattered about in the middle of the road.
"Not a fan, huh? Well, either way, you need to get on that bus, which is in the other direction. Trust me, U.A.'s pretty far from here. You'll certainly miss dinner if you had to walk." The soldier tried to say in a laidback manner, but Kota continued to ignore her. "… Look kid. Almost everyone else is already onboard, and I'm sure you don't one of us to carry you on. Can you please go get on the bus."
"Make me…" Kota continued staring straight ahead, wondering to himself how hard he'd be able to grip onto these bars. Before he could tighten his grip though, the woman bent down and picked him up, throwing him over her shoulders like a sack of potatoes. "What the-?! Put me down!"
"You told me to make you." She said with a laugh, as she turned to walk towards the bus, leaving him looking back over the gate from a raised perspective. "Come on, U.A.'s not that bad. I'm sure you'll make plenty of friends there."
Kota pouted as he stared down the empty street beyond the barricade, view bobbing with each step. "Like I care about that…" He trailed off as he noticed something in the distance. He swore he saw some sort of pale thing, weaving between the worn-down cars that littered the rows. "W-What the hell is that?"
"Nice try kid." The soldier said in amusement as she reached where Katsuma was still fawning to collect him too. But as she continued to walk away, the figure continued approaching, coming more into shape as the cover became sparce. It seemed to be human shaped, but its movements were anything but.
"No seriously, there's something really creepy out there!" Kota shouted frantically, attempting to wiggle out of her grip. The soldier complained but froze as a sudden clang sound came from behind her. They both turned to look at the sound, along with the group near Katsuma. What they all saw was nightmare inducing.
Standing on top of an abandoned car stood a bipedal creature, almost like a human. But it wore nothing but worn-out trousers and had sickly light green skin. The being's head was the most terrifying part though, with an exposed brain that had four eyes poking out of it. All four of them suddenly focused forward, looking directly at them.
Before anyone could react to the sudden creature's appearance it let out a bloodcurdling scream. Moment's later, more of its inhuman ilk poured out onto the street in a mad dash straight for the barricade. One was pitch black and eyeless, built like a tank. Another was yellow with great wings and claws. A final dark green one had over a half-dozen arms, all with chainsaws and other dangerous tools sticking out the ends of them.
"Open fire!"
The Sergeant quickly snapped out of his stupor at the approaching monsters, and the half dozen soldiers along the line all began firing their weapons. While most of their bullets hit their marks, it didn't appear to slow done the creatures in any way. In fact, a few could be seen regenerating from the wounds already.
"Sir! They have Quirks!" One soldier shouted over the gunfire.
"I can see that Private!" The Sergeant shouted back, before glancing over his shoulder and picking up his radio. "North team, status report!"
"There's no hostiles on the north side sir!" One of the soldiers on the other side of the street confirmed.
"What the hell is going on here?" The Sergeant questioned as he watched the monsters slowly approaching the barricade, trying to calculate the best move. The police officer from before quickly ran over.
"The kids are beginning to panic. Should we move them back inside for protection?" The officer suggested.
"Not in this chaos. If one of those things breaks through the barricade the kids could get caught in the crossfire." The Sergeant said, immediately shooting him down. "Are all your people ready to begin the escort?"
"Yes, but are you sure that's wise? What if there are more of those things out there?" The officer suggested worryingly.
"It's better than sitting here and potentially getting overwhelmed. We don't know how many of these things there are." The Sergeant declared. "I'll call for emergency support, but we need to move these children as soon as possible."
"And I've already called the training drones on standby at U.A. to come to my vehicle's location. They should meet us halfway." Nezu declared, putting his miniature phone back in his pocket.
"Then get moving already, while the north route is still clear!" The Sergeant shouted, before turning towards the ever-approaching beasts and grabbing his radio. "North team! Get your asses down here as soon as the escort has successfully left the gate."
The soldier holding Kota finally placed him next Deku. "Alright, now listen to the Heroes, okay?" She told him, turning to join her comrades on the line before he could get a chance to respond. Him and Katsuma just glanced at each other, and then at the remaining adults with growing panic. They flinched at all the loud pops of gunfire and screeches of inhuman origin.
"Alright then, let's get these buses moving!" The police officer commanded into his own radio, and a half dozen police cruisers all lit their lights.
"Wait, these two haven't gotten on yet!" Deku shouted to him over the gunfire.
"We don't have time to find space! Take them with you in that truck of yours!" The officer said as he sprinted to his own car. Nezu hopped off Deku's shoulder and followed after him, much to the young teenager's surprise.
"I'll be helping organize things with the police, young Deku!" Nezu shouted as he scurried off.
"Wait! Who'll drive the truck?!" Deku shouted in confusion.
"Young Melissa should have her license, and the Nezu-mobile is very easy to use!" Nezu explained as he hopped onto the shotgun seat of the police cruiser. "Now get moving Hero. This is the moment you've been training for!"
Nezu then closed the door before Deku could argue, and he let out a sigh. He grabbed a boy with each hand and sprinted with them towards the truck, hopping in the back doors. An older and younger girl could be seen inside, the later curled up in the formers lap frightened.
"Finally, you had me and Eri worried sick! Izuku, what the hell is going on out there?!" The older Girl said, clearly trying not to lose her composure at incessant amount of gunfire outside.
"Sorry Melissa, but there's an army of Frankenstein's outside, and the JSDF is holding them off while we escape." Deku, or Izuku as the boy's had now learned, said quickly. "Also, Nezu says you're driving."
"Huh?!" Melissa was clearly taken aback at the explanation.
"H-He said you can drive!" Izuku stuttered out.
"In America!" Melissa cried out, before shaking her head. "Right, emergency. I'm sure I can figure it out. That damn rat is going to get an earful later though."
As Melissa ran to the front seat of the retrofitted SWAT Truck, the younger girl looked at him, completely terrified. She had tears streaming down her face as she grabbed his hand. "Izuku, what's going on?"
"There are some scary people outside trying to do bad stuff. But don't worry Eri, you have nothing to worry about!" Izuku said, lifting Eri up and placing her on one of the seats.
"W-Why?" Eri asked, wiping the tears from her eyes.
"Because I'm here!" Izuku responded with a cheerful grin as he buckled her seatbelt.
Kota instantly recognized that he was trying to imitate All Might, and would have scoffed at the attempt, if not for the fact that it really seemed to calm the girl down. She was still scared but was no longer seconds away from a meltdown like previously.
The wannabe Hero quickly turned to the two boys. "You two should get seated as well. This could get bumpy."
"R-Right, Deku!" Katsuma said, quickly sitting next to Eri. Kota didn't say anything, but wordlessly followed suit. As the Truck began to speed off and Deku left to go to the front seat, Katsuma turned in amazement. "Wasn't he so cool! He was just like All Might!"
"I guess. Not really my thing though." Kota said awkwardly. Normally he would have told him to drop the topic, but it seemed to be distracting his friend from the creepy monsters that were attacking, so he could play along for now.
Too bad he couldn't buy into such idealist optimism anymore. He could sure use it himself right now. Never had the idea of being behind U.A.'s walls seemed so inviting until now.
Nine stood on a street corner overlooking the city streets of Naruhata in front of him, watching the flashing lights of the police escort as the sun slowly began to set. The first stage of their plan had begun, and if the gunfire echoing in the distance was any indication, it was going very well.
"Looks like all the military forces decided to stay behind. Makes are job a lot easier." Kagome said from behind him. She had retrofitted one of the ambulance's from Jaku Hospital into a mobile command center, as well as an inconspicuous cover in case things went south. She was using the Hospital's connection to the emergency network to listen in on the police, allowing Nine to read their every move. "They appear to be sticking to the original route. Should we proceed as planned?"
"Naturally." Nine said, staring as the vehicles weaved towards their location unaware. It really was going swimmingly. If one of the military vehicles had joined the escort he may have been forced to go all out with his original Quirk, potentially leaving him vulnerable. But even his new minions could deal with some cops. Especially since they're likely filled with nothing but old men after the Rapture. But just to double check…
He used his Scanning Quirk to confirm that there were no surprises in store for him. There was a cluster of lights around each bus, the Quirks of those children who have bloomed shining in his eyes. At this distance, they were too clustered together for him to get exact numbers, but they were obviously no threat to him. Looking over the police cars, he saw almost no lights coming from them, indicating that the force was entirely Quirkless. Except for one car.
"The lead police car appears to have someone with a Quirk. Be careful." Nine informed the team.
"It's probably just some kid, right? What's there to worry about?" Dragon said nonchalantly, only to straighten up as Nine glared back at him. "I mean, y-yes sir! We'll be careful."
Nine let out a small sigh under his mask as he turned back towards the convoy. Those fools were nothing compared to his old comrades, but it was slim pickings in this world. He can whip them into shape later. Scan activating once more, he turned his eyes to the final Vehicle trailing well behind the escort, the one from U.A. High.
"Impossible!" He couldn't help but let out a gasp at the four lights he saw within.
Scanning was a very useful Quirk, though it's usefulness could only be maximized by one with All for One. It allowed the user to identify the general abilities of the Quirk looked at with its vision. This showed up as various lights that changed in hue and color based on various factors. This included what kind of power and how strong it was. With how few people were in the vehicle, he could get a rough idea of what each ability was without issue.
The first was glowing a dull blue. It was clear to Nine's eyes to be a recently awakened water Quirk of some kind. He had no need for such a basic ability, especially once the powers of nature were his to freely control.
The light next to that one shown an almost pure white. He hadn't seen that kind of light before, but its function appeared to be some sort of time-based Quirk. It could have been the ability he was looking for and would have focused on it more if not for the light right next over.
That one glowed a bright green, as if to indicate that it was exactly what he was looking for. The Quirk was a form of Cell Activation and appeared to have no obvious issues in terms of use. It seemed too good to be true. The one Quirk that he needed to become the god of this world was staring him right in the face.
But some other force within his body forced his eyes onto the final light, as if drawn to it like a moth to a flame. After observing it with Scan for a few moments he understood why. For this final light was of no ordinary Quirk.
At first its light red glow indicated it as some sort of power-enhancing Quirk. But the light kept growing and dimming, as if the amount of power within was in constant flux. And then there was a flash of something yellow, and then green, and then blue. A rainbow of lights shined from within, almost bursting at the seems to be released. It reminded Nine of himself, when he looked in the mirror with Scan active.
This person had multiple Quirks too.
But how? There was no one else that took the Doctors process (and survived) as far as Nine knew. And while the possibility of others existing remained, how would they have ended up within U.A.'s care? But there was a voice in the back of his head that wasn't his again, telling him the same thing as before.
"So it's still here after all…"
"What did you say?" Kagome turned to him from her radio in confusion.
"Nothing." Nine quickly said, turning to Komodo. "Change of plans. Leave the U.A. Truck outside of the trap. I'll deal with them myself."
"Understood boss!" Komodo said with a salute, pleasing Nine with his lack of questioning. It seemed they were learning.
"Whatever changes you want to make, do so fast. They'll be here in a couple minutes." Kagome said, getting into the ambulance. "I'll be few blocks away on standby. U.A. and the military already have backup enroute, so don't dawdle."
With that, she closed the ambulance doors. Moments later the engine turned on and the emergency vehicle began to pull away to its hiding spot down the street. Nine's three Oni's quickly began to put the next phase into motion.
Their position along the route was planned and prepped well ahead of time. Naruhata was well known for its confined spaces, and this spot was no exception. The city block they chose had buildings shoulder to shoulder with each other, with only a single alleyway connecting it to the outside besides the road. At each end were entrances to parking garages, both filled with a tanker truck they procured from the abandoned streets.
As the convoy approached, Nine stayed hidden just outside the designated block while his comrades moved into the alleyway within. The police cars and buses all past by him unaware of the trap, and as soon as only the U.A. Vehicle remained before him, he pressed a button on the device in his hand.
Both tanker trucks suddenly shot to life, their modified automatic driving programs shooting to life as they sped out of the parking entrances at either end of the street. They immediately crashed into the opposite walls, trapping the convoy within. And just to make the message clear, Komodo and a transformed Chameleon both shot a laser blast from their eyes, engulfing both ends of the street in a wall of flames.
The U.A. truck had swerved violently to the side when the tanker truck had exploded and was still struggling to straighten out when Nine stepped out from the shadows and shot multiple Bullet Lasers from his nails at the front of the vehicle. The projectiles were weak as to not turn his target Quirk into a ball of fire, but the force was enough to finally send the truck careening out of control into a nearby convenience store.
Nine slowly walked over towards the crashed transportation, ignoring the dust kicked up it. He finally reached its back doors and swung them open, only for a plume of purple smoke to come pouring out.
"What?!" Nine activated Scanning just in time to see a rainbow light shooting forward. He tried to reach a hand forward to activate Air Wall but was still reeling from the smoke, and an armored fist slammed into his chest. He was knocked back to the other side of the street by the blow, but he quickly rolled with the landing, getting back to his feat just in time to see a young Hero walk out of the smoke.
This may have been the first time the two had ever met, but for some reason he felt like there were centuries leading up to this confrontation. Despite not caring one bit about the legacy granted to him by All for One, he shivered in anticipation. As he saw the power of the Hero's Quirk grow dramatically through his eyes, he couldn't help but let out an uncharacteristic chuckle as he felt his own power stir in response.
"So, we finally meet in person… One for All."
In a darkened alleyway along the outskirts of Naruhata Ward a lone man stood silently, listening to the reports from the police radio in hand. He tried to drown out the sound of gunfire and explosions in the distance as he focused on the panicked voices echoing from the device.
"Unknown Villains are attacking the convoy! They have Quirks! I repeat, they have Quirks!"
"This is Sergeant Sasaki! We've taken down a couple of those monsters, but we require heavy support for the remainder right now!"
"Understood! ETA on first wave of reinforcements is thirty minutes!"
'Thirty minutes, eh? A lot can happen in that time. Heroes, police, military. Always too slow to act.' The man let out a sigh. Didn't matter if nearly everyone had gone and disappeared. This out-of-the-way edge of Tokyo always found some way to end up in the spotlight. But real Villains? He didn't think he'd have to deal with any of them again for a good while after the Rapture.
"They've got us blocked in on 4th Avenue, between 27th and the 28th Street!" The radio crackled out, and the man let out a low whistle.
'These guys really aren't amateurs. If they've blocked in their prey at that location, then there's only one way in and out. Fortunately, I know these alleys like the back of my hand.' The man finally put the radio away and began walking in the direction of the Villain attack. He adjusted his brass knuckle gloves and gave one final tug on the black mask wrapped around the top half of his head. 'Do these bastards really think they can cause any kind of trouble they want with no Heroes around? Well then, it's time to show them that's not how things work here in Naruhata. Why?'
The man clenched his fists as he let out a toothy grin.
'Because I'm here!'
Next Chapter: All or Nothing
AN: I have updated the fic's description, but the upcoming chapters will have some spoilers for My Hero Academia Vigilantes. It's going to have a character (Who should be obvious) and their fate at the end of that manga as well as their full backstory will be talked about. If you haven't read the series, go read it. But if you don't want to that will be fine, I'll still explain enough so that it's understandable if you haven't.