The morning sun shone on Izuku's face as he stepped off the plane behind all the children.
They had finally arrived at I-Island, and the kids had nearly stampeded off the plane in excitement. As the people from I-Island and the workers they had brought along tried to organize the children, he walked down the steps onto the landing strip with Melissa and Eri at his sides. He couldn't help but let his view wander up to the great seawall that separated the artificial islands airport from the rest of the megastructure.
He could see why Nezu thought they'd be safe here.
"It's impressive, isn't it?" Melissa said, noticing him staring upwards.
"Yeah." he said with amazement. Eri seemed to be staring too.
"Wait until we actually get onto the island proper." She said teasingly. "I can't wait to show you everything!"
"Yeah, yeah. You two will have plenty of time for your date later." Mr. Oguro said from behind, producing much sputtering from them.
While the two were denying Mr. Oguro's comment, an older woman in a lab coat and a middle-aged American man walked over to them from I-Island's group of employees.
"It's good to see you back, Melissa." The elderly woman said, and Melissa immediately turned to face her with a cheerful face.
"Granny Pleione!" Melissa cried in excitement, wrapping her in a hug.
"I told you not to call me granny." Pleione said with a sigh, but nevertheless returning the gesture.
Melissa released the older woman, only to greet the man next to her just as excitedly. "And Uncle Sam! I'm so glad you're okay."
"Likewise, Melissa." Samuel said in relief. "I've heard about what happened to you while you were away. All those Villains attacking. Your experience there must have been terrible."
"It has been rough. But if I had stayed here, I wouldn't have been able to help." She said, glancing back at Izuku with a smile. "And I also wouldn't have been able to meet Izuku Midoriya and Eri."
The two scientists turned as well, and Izuku brought up his free hand to wave at them, surprised by the sudden attention. Pleione was the first to walk over to him, holding out a hand to shake.
"It's nice to finally meet you, young man." Pleione said. "Nezu's told me a lot about you. I'm glad to see you're still in one piece."
"Don't worry ma'am. Those Villains didn't do any lasting damage to me." Izuku told her.
"I wasn't referring to the Villains." Pleione chuckled.
"R-Right…" Izuku tried to not look back at Mr. Oguro or Nezu nearby. He instead focused on Pleione herself. "Melissa called you Pleione, right? As in Dr. Pleione, Winner of a Nobel Quirk Prize for the discovery of Q-Fields, and the former Head of Board for I-Island?"
"That is correct. Though due to the current crisis I've unfortunately been forced out of retirement." Pleione admitted, before giving him an inquisitive look. "I'm surprised you mentioned my Nobel Prize. Most people know me more for my work on the Board nowadays."
"Oh, that's because I've read all the dissertations that resulted in a Nobel Quirk Prize." He casually revealed, not noticing the ways everyone's eyes shot up at the statement. "I won't say I understood everything in your paper, but it was a very fascinating read. In fact, some of the ideas in it have helped me gain control of my Quirk."
"I-It has?" Pleione said, this time being the one left stuttering. She stared down at him with renowned curiosity. "Well, I can see why Nezu has taken an interest in you. You certainly have a good eye, Melissa."
"W-What's that supposed to mean." Melissa said, blushing fiercely. She then pushed Samuel forward, who held out a hand in greeting. "Izuku, this is…"
"You're Samuel Abraham! You work together with David Shield and are an expert in measuring the quantitative factor of Q-Fields. It's an honor to meet you sir." Izuku said excitedly, shaking the man's hand enthusiastically.
"Oh. Thank you, Midoriya. I'm just as surprised as Pleione to hear you know so much about me." Samuel said in honest bewilderment. He quickly recovered, clearing his throat. "But anyways, I must thank you for taking such good care of Melissa. I hope you continue to do so."
"Of course, sir." Izuku said, laughing easily. "But I won't have to worry much right now. We're on the safest location on earth right now."
Samuel let out a weird laugh at his statement. "Ah, that's right. Perfectly safe…"
There was a tug on Izuku's hand, and he looked down to see Eri looking up at him nervously. Pleione noticed her as well, turning her own attention to the girl.
"Ah, you must be the girl with the Rewind Quirk. It's nice to finally meet you, young lady." Pleione said gently, bending down to her level and extending a hand.
"Um…" Eri looked between the hand and Izuku for a couple moments, before hesitantly shaking her hand. "M-My name is Eri. You know about my Cur-, Quirk?"
"Yes, I was one of the people Nezu asked to look into it." Pleione explained. "It's a very powerful ability. You could save a lot of people with it."
"I could?" Eri seemed confused by her words, looking down sadly. "But all it can do is make people disappear…"
"You just need a bit more practice." Izuku assured her. "Katsuma may be able to heal injuries, but once you learn how to use your Quirk, you could rewind a body to before the injury even happened!"
"Really?" Eri looked up at him, not entirely convinced.
"Yeah! You can do so much good with your abilities after some more training." Melissa said as well, trying to encourage the girl.
Before she could continue though, the sound of jet engines echoed in the distance. Everyone turned to see a formation of jets approaching a nearby runway, escorting another airplane.
"Are those X-66's? Why are American jets here?" Melissa asked, recognizing the black, V-shaped jets instantly.
Izuku squinted as they made a pass, and his eyes widened in recognition at the symbol adorning them. "No way! Those are the Rogue Squadron, Star and Stripe's personal air-fighting team! Why would they be here?"
"They've been tasked with escorting duty, it seems." Nezu said, finally wandering over to join the group. He watched as the plane they had been guarding landed on the runway next to them, adorned with the seal of the U.S. "I was unaware you were having other visitors, Pleione."
"They invited themselves, as usual." Pleione replied with clear annoyance in her voice. "I'm afraid I'll have to wait a bit longer to discuss my findings on the Rapture, if our new visitor is any indication."
"Is that so?" Nezu asked, curiosity leaking through as he observed the plane approaching down the runway. "Well, we have to organize the kids anyways, so a slight delay is fine. We can discuss work later." He turned to Melissa. "How about you show Midoriya and Eri around for a while. I'm sure there's a lot you want to show them."
"Of course!" She immediately turned and grabbed Izuku by the hand, dragging him and Eri along towards the entrance to I-Island proper.
"I'll get going as well. I'm sure you two will have much to discuss with them." Samuel said nervously, sparing a glance at the approaching plane as he walked of after the children.
As they slowly walked away, the U.S. plane finally came to a stop nearby, and a single figure disembarked from it. The man was dressed in a military uniform, with clear decorations and awards clipped over his breast, and four stars along his shoulder.
Nezu recognized the man as Richard Adams, a Four-Star General in the U.S. Army. He was likely one of the highest-ranking members in the U.S. Military's chain of command after the Rapture. Meaning whatever he had been sent for must be important.
"Ah, General Adams. To what do we owe this sudden visit?" Pleione asked politely as the man walked down from the plane.
"I'm here because you seem insistent on stretching the rules we have set for you in regards to certain research materials." The General replied pointedly.
"Well, I believe that our current crisis constitutes as extenuating circumstances, yes? Surely now is the time to finally allow for… full access to these materials" she said.
"The U.S. will be the judge of that." Adams declared, leaving little room for argument.
The General then turned back to his plane, and with a gesture more people began to walk off of the plane. Some were other U.S. officials, but a few were seemingly ordinary Japanese citizens of various ages.
"There were a couple Japanese citizens that were left in our country and requesting to return home. While we were unable to devote any resources to their request before, we figured that we should take them along with us to here, so that they could be returned along with those children once that Villain of yours has been dealt with." Adams explained.
"I see." Nezu nodded, watching the people disembark with wonder, looking up at the seawall as Izuku had moments ago. "I'm sure the Japanese government appreciates your assistance in this matter. I'll mention this to Mr. Ogata at our next meeting."
"And it's not like we don't have any space for them here. Though a little warning would have been appreciated." Pleione sighed. "Well, lets get going then. I've got some more accommodations to arrange, it seems."
She and a few other I-Island employees ushered the group of citizens along towards the entrance to I-Island. Many of them quickly snapped out of their amazement, following allow with their orders.
The group contained mostly elderly citizens, likely on their retirement vacations. Quirklessness was prevalent in the older generations, after all. But there were a few outliers. A few adults, teenagers, and quite a number of children who had likely yet to develop their Quirks, who were probably left alone after the family they were travelling with disappeared.
But among them was a rather noticeable outlier.
He appeared to be a rather well built yet handsome man, likely no older than his thirties. Yet he stood almost a whole head over the rest of his group. He was dressed in a fine suit, and one might mistake him for a businessman who got stuck overseas. And that is likely what he would have told you if asked.
However, what stood out most about him was his short white hair and piercing red eyes, which seemed to stare not up at I-Island, but down at the three children walking together in the distance.
"This place is ridiculous."
Izuku stared out from the window of Melissa's lab within I-Island Academy in amazement. The landscape he could see was but a fraction of I-Island, and yet it felt like an entirely different world.
The three of them had ended up at I-Island University after a quick tram ride, and she had just finished showing him her own personal lab space.
"Yeah. The people here say I-Island is the land of the future, but you don't realize how serious they are until you leave it. N-Not to say Japan is backwards or anything!" Melissa quickly assured.
"No, I know what you mean." Izuku said, turning away from the window. "What's the quote again? 'Without the advent of the Extraordinary, humanity would be enjoying interstellar travel right now'? I guess without Villains to deal with here, technology has really had the chance to advance faster than the rest of the world."
"Yeah, but even still, most of the work done here is in relation to Quirks and Heroes one way or the other. Getting funding for projects that aren't directly related to them is a nightmare." Melissa said sadly. "Then again, that funding usually comes directly from other countries that need Support work done. So I guess we don't have a right to complain, huh?"
Eri continued to look out the window with wonder in her eyes. "Why did they make this place so big?"
"That has to do with its origins." Melissa said. "The place has to be this big to be both safe from dangerous weather and also self-sufficient. The stuff outside isn't even half of what is going on here. I-Island has dozens of stories of space underneath here, filled with clean energy generators and artificial farming. There are even larger testing grounds for some of the larger experiments."
"This place was funded by the countries and corporations of the world to research Quirks and Support equipment, right? I always thought they went a bit overkill for just some labs. Was it worth it making this place so big?" Izuku asked.
Saying I-Island was big was underselling it. The place would make one of Tokyo's biggest Wards feel envious. I-Island was split into four above-ground areas. The first was a residential area, where the scientists, workers, and other people of I-Island lived with their families. Next was the educational area, where one of the largest and most prestigious schools existed, that went from kindergarten all the way to University. Then there was the 'fairground', the entertainment area that is usually frequented the most by tourists, always swarming with Hero related activities.
Each of these three areas were divided off in a triangle formation around the central and most important part, the business district. This is where most of the people on the island worked, creating state-of-the-art inventions for the rest of the world. The central tower was two hundred stories tall and was considered the tallest point for a manmade object that rested on water.
There was so much more to I-Island than its buildings though. The surface level was ringed by a forest of surprisingly dense greenery, and there were massive lakes dividing each area mentioned before. And as Melissa had explained, there were also multiple underground levels filled with advanced technologies.
And it ran almost entirely on green energy. There were solar panels and wind turbines built into almost everything on the surface. While the energy system used to move the megastructure through the Pacific was considered classified, it apparently had zero emissions. Rumor was that it even had a way to gather energies from underwater volcanoes that are close enough to the surface of the water.
"You certainly know your stuff, huh?" Melissa suddenly said, and Izuku realized he had said most of that out loud. "You're right that it was overkill for just being used to research Quirks. As much as the current people in charge would like you to believe, the origins of this place wasn't some grand story about humanity coming together to help Heroes in need. In truth, this place started construction long before Quirks even existed."
"It did? That seems like something that would be brought up more." Izuku admitted.
"To be fair, it wasn't actually finished until a generation or two after the collapse, so people usually don't bother to mention that." Melissa began to explain. "As you probably know, before the advent of Quirks, there was a growing fear about the changing climate and a possible energy crisis. It slowly reached a point where a group of the richest people around the world began to pool resources together to create a habitat that could survive anything, while being totally isolated from the outside world."
"The leaders of the world were fine with some people just building a giant structure in the middle of the ocean?" Izuku asked in disbelief.
"Most of the people funding it were those leaders." Melissa said with disgust. "You know how society basically collapsed worldwide when Quirks began to emerge? One of the leading causes was those leaders taking their best people, resources, money and running to a half-built I-Island, while the countries they left behind crumbled."
Izuku shook his head sadly. He'd heard of the Collapse in textbooks. About how many places couldn't hand the change caused by Quirks. But to hear why, it was almost sickening. "That's terrible. But what happened to change things?"
"The U.S. did, as usual. I'm not sure what exactly happened, but they blockaded I-Island with an entire fleet! They say it was to 'bring peace back to the affected countries', but I think that's a load of rubbish." Melissa said, glancing around before continuing. "I think one of the people who fled to I-Island took something from them, and they were determined to get it back."
"That's… certainly a theory." Izuku said. "But maybe they just wanted the money back from their citizens that left?"
"There's no way it was that simple. After the blockade ended, the U.S. made a deal with I-Island. The U.S. created the Board, who were to heavily regulate all work done on the island. They then created a trade deal where any inventions that were approved could have the rights to production be purchased by the U.S. government, allowing for the continued funding of I-Island." Melissa said. "Other countries eventually joined the trade deal, but the Board remained a group solely beholden to America."
"Wait, but when you explain it like that, it makes it sound like the people who ran away from their responsibilities got everything they wanted in the end! Surely, they were punished in some way?" Izuku asked desperately.
"Nope. They got away with everything. And history outside of I-Island doesn't even see them for the Villains they were. Want to know why?" Melissa asked.
"Why?!"
"Because they're the ones credited as the Silent Saviors." Melissa revealed.
Izuku froze as the history he had been taught began to slide together with what Melissa had revealed.
"Who are they? The… Silent Saviors?" Eri asked, trying her best to follow along with the conversation.
"They were a group of investors, scientists, and engineers who managed to create an easy, effective, and renewable reactor for Nuclear Fusion." Izuku said. Eri looked confused, so he tried to simplify it. "They were some people who made it very easy to power things like lights."
"Oh, they seem like good people! But why are they called that funny name?" Eri asked.
"I was taught it was because their discovery was overlooked at the time. People were still trying to build a superhuman society from the rubble. Near-perfect clean energy didn't seem that important at the time." Izuku began to explain, not noticing the way Eri immediately lost attention and looked back out the window. "It wasn't until much later that people realized that their discovery was what allowed governments to focus on Quirks instead of powering their cities off dwindling resources. The name was supposedly due to their names not being kept in history, but that's not true, is it?"
"No. It's because the new governments refused to acknowledge that the people responsible for the Collapse are the ones who fixed it as well. Their names used to be treated with reverence on I-Island though, until a big push in educational reform resulted in them teaching us most of what I just told you." Melissa let out a sigh, spinning in her chair. "Anyone involved with the founding of this place is long dead anyways, so there isn't much pushback these days to keep their images squeaky clean."
"Wow." Izuku definitely was going have to do some research into this himself when everything was back to normal. He knew there was always a bit of corruption in large organizations like governments, but to think it was that bad in a place as perfectly presenting as I-Island.
'Maybe those conspiracy theories about the HPSC aren't so crazy after all...' a nagging voice said in the back of his head. He shook it away though, focusing on the current discussion. "I don't see what all of that had to do with the initial blockade though?"
"Oh, that's because the Nuclear Fusion research came out shortly after the blockade and was the first thing that the U.S. bought the rights to use. My theory is that the U.S. discovered whatever was brought here had the potential for such a breakthrough in technology, and used gunboat diplomacy to make sure they got their foot in the door, so to speak." Melissa finished.
"America using their warships to encourage sovereign islands to make deals with them. What is this, the Perry Expedition?" Izuku asked sarcastically.
"You know the saying, 'The more things change, the more they stay the same'." Melissa responded just as sarcastically, before letting out a sigh. "Sorry for just dropping all of that on you. I was supposed to be showing you how amazing this place is, and all I did was tell you all these depressing things."
"It's not your fault! I was the one asking about I-Island. It may be a bit of a bummer to hear, but I'm glad I learned about it. Learning about the past is interesting to me." Izuku said, getting up and moving over to Melissa. He offered her a hand. "How about we go for a walk, and you can show Eri and I what I-Island is like today, okay?"
Melissa took his hand, a smile now on her face. "That sounds like a wonderful idea. C'mon Eri!"
"Okay!" Eri said, glad to finally see more of I-Island.
The three opened the door to the lab hand in hand but found someone standing on the other side waiting for them.
"Mr. Oguro?! What are you doing here?" Izuku said in surprise.
"Sorry for interrupting your date kiddos, but I ran into someone who might be able to help with a problem of ours." Mr. Oguro said, gesturing to a dark-skinned man behind him wearing a jacket with the symbol of the U.S. Air Force adorned on it.
"Hey there, name's Wedge. Captain of Rogue Squadron." The man said with a grin. "My new friend here told me one of you could use some tips when it came to flying?"
Kagome looked around the lobby of the hotel she had been assigned to stay in with apprehension.
She had suspected the place to be barren, filled with only the few other workers brought over from U.A. High, but instead found the first floor of the structure to be almost as busy as it usually would be. There were Japanese people of all ages mingling around, talking with each other as if everything were perfectly normal.
'So much for keeping a low profile.' Kagome thought, holding the disguised box containing All for One close to her chest. She needed to get it secure in her room before she did some study into how to proceed. There would be a very limited window during Nine's infiltration where she'll be free to act, meaning she needed to figure out exactly where to go as soon as Nine's team gained control of the island.
But why were there so many people here? She shuffled over to one of the elderly caretakers she recognized from U.A. and tapped the older lady on the shoulder. "Where did all these tourists come from?"
"Oh, you haven't heard deary? They came on that American jet that landed right after us. The U.S. decided to drop them off here so they could be with us. Isn't that nice of them?" The old lady said, before wandering of to go chat with a nearby group.
'Nice of them?' Yeah right. They probably just wanted to get them out of their hair. And now they've gone and made it harder to move around unseen. She spied a nearby group going through a nearby pamphlet and had a second thought. 'Then again, moving as a group is far less suspicious than sulking around alone. Maybe I can make this work.'
But first thing's first. Securing her prized Quirk. She quickly turned towards the receptionist counter, only to find herself bumping into someone and tumbling to the ground. The container for All for One bounced out of her hand, and she immediately scrambled to pick it up.
But someone else grabbed it first.
"Hmm? What do we have here? Property of Jaku Hospital?" The man who she had bumped into said, staring at the box in his hand quizzically. He turned his crimson red eyes away from it, looking down at her apologetically. "Ah, but where are my manners. Here, you look like you could use a hand."
The man offered his hand, and Kagome took it. He easily hoisted her up to his feet, and Kagome finally looked over the man who she had ran into. He had an imposingly tall figure, and it was clear he was well toned under the fine suit he wore. Most striking though were his red eyes and his stark white hair, cut shortly.
He held the box out for her to take. "Here, I believe this is yours, Miss…?"
She nearly snatched the container out of his hands. "Kagome! Er, my name is Kagome Mirai, I mean."
"A pleasure to meet you. I couldn't help but notice the label on that box of yours. You wouldn't happen to have worked at the Jaku General Hospital?" He asked, undisturbed by her frantic snatch of the container.
"Y-Yes, I did. I ended up joining to help U.A. in these trying times, but I was a nurse at the Hospital previously." She explained. There was no reason to lie about that. It was her cover story after all, even if it was also true.
"I see. Then we might have met before. I was a patient there for a while myself." He revealed.
"S-Sorry sir, but I'm afraid I don't recognize you." Kagome said surprised. She definitely would have noticed a man as striking as him at the hospital.
"That is quite all right. I was rather secluded from the rest of the patients, after all. And I wouldn't have been able to recognize you even if we had met." He said, running a hand through his hair. "I had received a rather serious injury. I had lost most of my facial features, you see. I couldn't see, couldn't smell, could barely eat or even breathe. It was deliberating."
"That sounds horrific." Kagome couldn't hide the shock on her face. "I don't ever remember the Doctor mentioning such a patient."
"Understandable. I think it brought him great shame that he was unable to find a way to heal me." The man said sadly. "I was a big funder of his work, you see. And it would have looked bad to others if they knew how weak I had become."
'A big funder of his work?' Kagome squinted slightly at the implication. Did he know about the Doctor's 'true' work? He was clearly Quirkless, meaning he wasn't a Villain. Unless he had his Quirk taken. But anyone who both worked for the Doctor and had their Quirk taken likely didn't have the luck to still be alive. He could have been donating to the Doctor in the hopes of receiving a Quirk himself.
Or he was just some rich idiot who liked donating money to causes in need.
"How did you get better? Those injuries sounded bad, but I don't see a scratch on that head of yours anymore." She asked.
"Let's just say I ended up taking a surprise trip to the states and found a Quirk that was able to fix even my grievous state of being." The man answered with a smirk.
"Seriously?" Kagome couldn't help but scoff. "Man, a Quirk that could do something like that must be out of this world."
"Yes, it indeed was." The man let out a chuckle, before turning towards the exit. "Well, I really should be going. There's a lot to find here, after all. Maybe you could give me a tour of Jaku Hospital once we all go back?"
"Um, sure." Kagome agreed. She hadn't meant to, but there was something about the way he talked that was just so charismatic that she couldn't help but agree to what he had been saying. This man was truly fascinating. As he slowly walked away, she realized that she was still missing something. "Oh, wait a moment! What is your name?"
The man stopped, turning on his feet to face her with a sly grin.
"Ah, there go my manners again. Apologies, but I've been so used to people recognizing me that I just forget to introduce myself sometimes."
He bowed his head in a polite greeting.
"My name is Shigaraki. Reiji Shigaraki. I hope we meet again soon, Kagome Mirai."
Next Chapter: On the Way Down