Conviction Arc 3 - Chapter 19: Reunion

Reviews!

lookatme7: Thank you lol!

Nathair1: Thank you. As for your question about Ibara, yes. Toru my recovery, and yes Izuku's inner darkness will manifest more as the story progresses and will grow more dark, and here's the next Chapter!

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Late in the night, Izuku, Mei, and Gutz arrived at the Pussycats Lodge, got out of the RV, and walked toward it, but were already met by the four feline-themed heroes.

Tiger looked at Gutz with a serious expression, "Gutz," he greeted.

Gutz gave him a nod, "Tiger," Gutz greeted back.

Mandalay looked to see two teens with Gutz, "Gutz, who are they?" She asked.

Gutz turned to her, "These two are Izuku Midoriya and Mei Hatsume," Gutz told her, "Izuku's my apprentice at UA, and Mei is his friend,"

Pixie-Bob was confused, "Why are you getting UA students involved?" She asked with a concerned tone.

"Because this involves us," Izuku cut in.

Ragdoll looked at the teen boy with a peered glare only to recognize him, "You're the Sports Festival winner right?" She asked. "You're also the other survivor of the Eclipse event," She said.

Hearing what her teammates said, Pixie-Bob looked closer at the boy and realized that her friend was right, so now it made sense why he joined Gutz.

Tiger nodded, "Anyway, for now, you three must be tired, we'll rest for tonight and discuss everything in the morning,"

Mandalay agreed, "Yes," she said. Mandalay turned around, "Kota will you show them-" However, she stopped when she noticed that her nephew was nowhere in sight.

Mandalay looked around rapidly, and noticing her, her teammates realized why she was looking around and did the same.

"Kota!" Mandalay cried "Kota where are you?"

Suddenly, coming out of the bushes was Kota, dragging along a girl who both Izuku and Mei recognized immediately.

"TORU!?" Both of them cried.

Toru turned to see Mei and smiled before she also noticed Izuku and quickly hid behind Kota and growled at the green-haired boy. Izuku was hurt by seeing her reaction but steeled himself and didn't show the hurt, while Mei walked over to Toru.

Pixie-Bob looked at Izuku, "You know who she is?" She asked.

Izuku nodded, "Yeah... she's an old friend, and the other person who survived the Eclipse event," Izuku said, "If you wanna call the state she's in surviving,"

Calming down her old friend, Mei realized the large implications of her being here and looked to the four heroes with worry, "Why is she here?" She asked, "Did something happen to her aunt?" Mei asked.

Kota shook his head, "I don't know, I found her in the woods and she was a bit cut up," Kota said. "I brought her here because I knew she needed help and since then she's been following me," Kota told her.

Gutz knew this wasn't good, if someone like her was out and about she either got lost or something far worse happened. Gutz looked at the Heroes, "I think while they rest we need to talk," Gutz told them.

The four heroes nodded and Mandalay told Kota to show the students where they would be sleeping, and Kota nodded and led them, with Toru following after him and Mei, but keeping her distance from Izuku.

As they walked toward the rooms, Izuku couldn't help but think about how she was still scared of him, just like she was after the Eclipse. It shouldn't have bothered him, but it did, as a part of him hoped that it would've changed, but things were still the same...

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The next day, other heroes showed up at the Pussycats lodge but all of them met in the meeting room that was located in the lodge, while Toru and Kota played outside with Izuku and Mei watching over them.

The heroes with Gutz and the Pussycats were Fourth Kind, Uwabami, Ryukyu, and Edgeshot. All of them looked at the man with a large sword, three of them wondering who he was.

"You mind telling us why you called us here and who this guy is?" Fourth Kind asked.

Tiger nodded, "The reason we called you here is because we have a very big problem that only we can resolve, as for who this is, this is Gutz, a friend of ours,"

"He a hero?" Fourth Kind asked.

Tiger shook his head, "Not exactly," Tiger said.

"Then why is he here? Someone like him shouldn't be involved in a mission like this," Uwabami said.

"No, he has every right to be here," Ryukyu said. "I recognize him after the Eclipse event, he's the one who saved the two survivors and if I remember correctly, a former student at UA," Ryukyu told them.

Edgeshot turned toward the dragon hero with a raised brow, "And how do you know this?" He asked.

"Because I fought him once during my time as a student in Shiketsu," Ryukyu replied. "He, much like the boy outside, has no quirk,"

Hearing this the other heroes were surprised by the information as well as learning that someone like him took on someone as powerful and strong as Ryukyu who was very high up in the ranks of heroes.

Gutz looked at her, "Surprised you recognized me," He said.

"Of course, hard to forget someone who was able to cut through my scales," Ryukyu said with a small smile, "Did you train that UA Boy outside? I wouldn't be surprised, after all, he won the sports festival with such beastiality as you did during our fight,"

Gutz nodded, "I did, but we're getting off-topic," Gutz said, "The reason we called you here is that the threat is on its way," Gutz told them.

"And what threat is this?" Edgeshot asked.

"It involves All for One," Gutz replied.

"All For One!?" Uwabami cried in shock.

"You've gotta be kidding me!" Fourth Kind cried.

Mandalay shook her head, "It's true, Gutz has informed us that it was AFO behind the Eclipse event as well as the USJ attack, and it seems that some of his associates are involved with the many kidnapping of mutant types in the area," Mandalay told them, "And it seems that the reason for the missing mutant types is because someone that works under AFO is gathering them to use them in order to create what is called a "God-tier Nomu" or "God-Hand" as Gutz told us,"

"God-hand?" Ryukyu asked.

Gutz nodded, "Four perfect Nomu with multiple quirks, they are very powerful, just as powerful as him and if I'm right, they are trying to make a fifth one," Gutz began, "And I fear he may be a lot stronger then the rest due to them stealing a very powerful Quirk from the US," Gutz said.

Edgeshot's brow raised with curiosity, "A Quirk from the US? You don't mean-"

"Yes... they stole that one," Gutz clarified.

"If they have it then why hasn't AFO used it?" Ryukyu asked, "Surely with a Qurik like that he'd be unstoppable,"

Gutz nodded, "He would and he wouldn't even need to hide anymore, but he's not using it and I suspect he's giving it to the fifth, which confuses, but also makes me worried," Gutz replied. "Whatever he's planning can't be good for us, because there's one thing that I've known about the man... he wants to be god,"

"God?" Uwabami asked.

Gutz nodded, "Everything he's ever done is gaining power and massing followers to his cause, he wants to rule Japan and if he could, the world," Gutz said, "He wants everyone to bend the knee and lick his feet, but then there was my teacher and All-Might who stood in his way..."

"Your teacher?" Edgeshot asked. "All-Might I understand but who was this teacher that could stand up against one of the greatest legends in villain history?"

Gutz looked at the ninja hero, "Technically it wasn't who she was... it was what she made that could oppose him," He replied.

Uwabami raised a brow in confusion, "What do you mean?" She asked.

"All-Might is a quirk that is monstrous in strength, and AFO can compete with that, but both are still human and both have their limits... so my teacher created something that didn't have such a thing, something that would not stop until it fulfilled the user's purpose, she then entrusted it to me after she died and I used it,"

Fourth Kind looked at Gutz, "Do you have it then?" Fourth Kind asked.

Gutz shook his head in response.

"Eh!? Why not!? If you have something that powerful why not use it!?" He asked the swordsman.

"Because it nearly killed me," Gutz replied, "That thing needs a "host" if you wanna word it like that when my teacher used it, it killed her, and the time I used it, it nearly killed me, and it took me far to late to get control of it," Gutz said.

Many were curious as to what this "thing" was as the way it sounded to them, it was a living thing that fed off another living thing, a parasite in a sense.

"However, I think we have enough time to stop them from creating the fifth and whatever they plan on doing to those people," Gutz said,

Edgeshot looked at Gutz, "So what's the plan?" He asked.

"With Ryukyu's help, we'll be able to patrol the skies and look through every abandoned place thoroughly," Mandalay said.

"How many abandoned places are in this forest?" Fourth Kond asked.

"About 30," She replied. "Some small, some big," she finished.

"What about the students?" Uwabami asked.

We need them here because they are the ones protecting the lodge as well as the only people who'll have contact between us and the outside world," Ragdoll said.

"Sounds good to me, I don't want them getting involved should we run into trouble," Ryukyu said.

Edgeshot nodded in agreement, "Indeed," He said.

"Good, then let's get going," Gutz said.

The Heroes left eh meeting room and Guts headed outside, where he saw Izuku watching over Kota and Toru playing tag, as Mei was with him. Izuku turned his head and noticed Gutz as he walked over to him.

"So, when are we going?" Izuku asked.

"You're staying here," Gutz told him.

Izuku glared at him, "Why?" He asked.

"Because she's here," Gutz said.

Izuku realized who he was talking about but still glared at the older man, "What does that have-!?"

"Would you really be ok leaving her behind with just Kota and Mei?" Gutz asked.

Izuku stopped and his eyes widened in realization, and he quickly stopped, however, he didn't answer the question simply turning and sitting back down. Gutz knew the answer and simply walked away, glad that the boy made the right decision.

As Izuku sat back down next to Mei, who was working on something, he couldn't help but think about Gutz's question, would he really be ok with leaving Toru behind with just Kota and Mei? What would happen if the lodge got attacked and Toru was hurt or worse killed?

"Who cares! We should be out there hunting Monoma down!" came the dark voice of the bunny.

Izuku growled, wanting the thing to disappear, not wanting it to hear it.

"Why ignore the truth!? You know we should be out there hunting him down and tearing him apart limb from limb! Not babysitting someone with the mind of an infant!"

Izuku growled, wanting the thing to shut up, feeling he was about to burst with rage due to the words the beast spat, however, he couldn't deny that a part of him, the darker part of him, agreed with the beast's claims...

"YO! IZUBRO!"

Izuku was taken out of his thoughts and the beast's presence and voice disappeared as he turned his head only to see none other than Tetsutetsu, and following behind him were three other of his classmates, which were Awase, Itsuka, and surprisingly, Ibara.

Izuku and Mei stood up, surprised to see the other boy here with them.

"Tetsu? What are you doing here?" Mei asked.

"My work-study was Fourth Kind, and he got called here and had me tag along, and when I heard I was coming here I was so freaking happy since I would be able to help you two with whatever's going on!" Tetsutetsu replied.

Mei gave him a soft smile, "That's good to hear," Mei said.

Izuku walked next to Mei and looked at the other three, "Surprised to see you all here," He told them.

"I'm not," Itsuak said with a smile, "Seems like you just can't stay out of the spotlight," Itsuka said.

"I have to agree," Awase said, "First it was the USJ, now it's this, trouble seems to follow you, Midoriya,"

Izuku slowly nodded in agreement.

From behind the two was Ibara who looked at Izuku with a troubled expression, not knowing how to approach him after what had happened between the two back during the Sports Festival, however, she was taken out of her worries after someone crashed into her and they both fell to the ground.

"Ah! Are you ok!?" Kota cried.

Ibara got up only to see that lying next to her was Toru, who gave her a blank look before getting to her knees, Ibara got up to her knees as well as Toru got closer and looked at her, analyzing the vine-haired girl, before giving her a look of amazement and grabbing one of her vines and slowly touching it and looking at it as if she never seen anything like it before.

Ibara was a bit confused, "Uh... w-who is this?" Ibara asked awkwardly.

Mei looked to see Toru playing with Iabra's hair, "Ah, Toru! Stop it!" Mei cried.

Izuku walked over to Toru to stop her, but when he was close, Toru saw him and quickly ran away and hit behind Kota, and hissed at the green-haired boy. "Ah! Ah! Ah!" Toru cried frantically.

Kota looked at her and calmed her down, "It's ok, he's not gonna hurt you," Kota reassured her.

Toru calmed down and smiled at the boy and gave him a big hug and a large smile.

Izuku sighed and walked over to Ibara and held out his hand for her to take, and seeing this, Ibara took his hand as he helped her up.

"Thank you," Ibara said politely.

Izuku gave her a quick nod before looking back at Toru, "Her name's Toru... she's my- was my friend," Izuku corrected himself.

Ibara wondered why Izuku corrected himself, but then remember how the girl reacted to him as he approached. She looked back at Toru as she happily tried to catch the ball Kota tossed back toward her but failed and walked over to pick it up and tossed it back.

The girl was clearly their age, but Ibara saw her childish demeanor and wondered what was wrong with her, clearly seeing that she wasn't normal.

"If I had to guess... she's the other survivor next to you, right?"

Turning around, Izuku looked at Itsuka, who gave him a look of understanding, and Izuku replied with a nod.

Seeing Izuku give Itsuak confirmation on who Toru was, she looked back at the girl with surprise.

"She was our friend before she... became like that," Mei said, sounding a little sad.

Ibara couldn't help but look at the girl with pity, knowing that the state she was living in must have been hard for Izuku and Mei to see and hard for those that had to take care of her, but also understood how she ended up in such a condition...

"So, what should we do while the Pros are away?" Tetsutetsu asked.

Itsuka looked at him, "We're supposed to be protecting the Lodge, most likely from any villains or those Nomu things, but besides that, I'm sure we can find a way to entertain ourselves," she told them.

Mei nodded in agreement, "Yeah, I'm sure we can find something to do," Mei agreed with a smile.

"However, I think we should be informed about what's going on first," Itsuka said, "The Heroes said they were looking for a villain base as well as a bunch of missing people, but it's not that simple, is it, Izuku?" Itsuka asked.

Izuku looked at her and nodded, knowing that because of what was happening and what may happen in the future, they needed to be informed of what he knew, which also wasn't much, but he was sure it was enough. With that, Izuku informed the four of what was really happening, and everything he learned after the eclipse, but never touched on what happened during the Eclipse... leaving out a certain someone from the story.

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Within the base, Dr. Garaki looked at a large pod where a test subject who could turn into sludge, who was infused with over 50 quirks and still did not become a Nomu, yet, it seemed that his mental state had taken a toll as he was banging against the class frantically while screaming.

"Make them stop! Make them Stop! I-I can hear their voices! THEY'RE SCREAMING!" He cried.

Garaki smiled at the subject, "It'll all be over soon, once you've been given one final Quirk, you'll be given to the fifth," he said with a sinister tone.

However, he heard footsteps behind him only to see Stain standing behind him with a glare. "We have a problem," He told the doctor.

"What is it?" Garaki asked with a raised brow.

"Heroes," Stain seethed, "I just saw two toped ranked heroes patrolling the skies and I'm sure there's a few searing the forest,"

Garaki sighed, "Toga warned me that he'd start looking for them once he got back, I suppose this was inevitable," He said.

"I can deal with them," Stain said.

Garaki shook his head, "No because that will just cause us problems," He said. "The only Heroes in the area that know these mountains are the Pussycats, they have a lodge not far from here, attack that as I'm sure that's where these Heroes are working from," Garaki said.

Stain reluctantly agreed, "Fine," He replied.

"Attacking their base should cause them to retreat back to the lodge which will give us time to awaken the fifth, and take some Nomu with you," He said, "If things get out of hand I shall teleport you back, you are needed with us, after all," Garaki told Stain.

Stain rolled his eyes but nodded and left the room, ad Garaki turned back to the subject and while he didn't show it, on the inside, he was worried. because if they found the base before the fifth was complete, everything would be ruined, all of it would be for nothing, and All For One's plan, his entire goal, would be for nothing and would come crumbling down.

The fifth needed to be awakened.

Everything hinged on the fifth.

Everything depended on Neito Monoma, the "hero" beloved by all...

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All the pieces have arrived... the coming of the fifth is neigh...