AN: Hey all! I put this together as a gift for Glow in the Rain, you should check out their works!
That said, I hope the rest of you enjoy it as well!
CW: canon-typical violence, dismemberment
Ochako crested the hill on her Moa. Pulling the reins on her mount, the large bird obeyed and stopped, giving her a chance to survey the area below.
"Tatooin Station," Ochako mumbled to herself. "Feels like a storm's coming, and I'd rather not get caught out in it." She let out a resigned sigh. "Well 'Human Disaster,' let's see if you can hold off for one more day."
Kicking the sides of her mount, she descended into the outpost.
The bar fell silent as Ochako opened the door. She'd like to think it was because she cut an imposing figure. Wearing a black leather jacket and knee-high black boots helped her give off an aura of menace, but the pink dress shirt and leather pants she was wearing would ruin that image.
It was probably the minigun strapped to her back, she decided. It was always the minigun. Especially since it always felt larger than it was strapped to her small frame.
Once everyone decided she wasn't here for them, they relaxed and went back to their drinks and conversation. Ochako smirked and shook her head. While there were probably bounties in the crowd, none were worth her time.
No, right now she was after a much larger bounty.
Crossing the space, she found the innkeeper to rent a room and order food before she retired from the main floor. She'd rather not cause any trouble. Another time perhaps, but she knew that a bounty hunter's presence was tolerated at best in the outposts and waystations. So for now, she'd play by the unspoken rules and keep her head down.
After getting settled in she pulled out her minicomp and reviewed the information Toru had sent her.
Izuku Midoriya. Nicknamed the 'Human Disaster,' his appearance always spelled trouble. Within a few days of his arrival, some major disaster inevitably befell the town. Sometimes a massive sinkhole opens up, sometimes an earthquake brings buildings down, and in one case a massive electrical storm tore through the city's industrial district. While human casualties were often minimal, the damage to the town was always catastrophic. Afterward, he always came out of hiding. He claimed that he wanted to 'help,' only to be chased off. And then he disappeared until the cycle repeats.
Because of that, his bounty has currently reached one billion credits. More than enough to save her town from the effects of desertification.
"And now you popped up in Mustafu," Ochako mumbled to herself as she reviewed the report Toru had sent her. "As much as I'd like to make it tonight…" She looked out the window as the sand and dust swirled outside. "Nobody wants to get caught out in a storm."
Turning her minicomp off, Ochako set it down on the nightstand. "Hopefully even you won't do something dumb in this storm, and have the good sense to wait until morning."
Crawling into bed, Ochako gripped the locket around her neck, she opened it and smiled at the picture contained within.
"Don't worry Ma, don't worry Pa. I'll help save the town."
The noontime sun was bearing down on the town of Mustafu, causing many to seek shelter indoors. That was perfect for the man currently sitting in the corner of Takoba Diner, enjoying his fried pork bowl. Despite his fluffy green hair, bright red shoes, and green duster giving him a distinct appearance, the other patrons minded their own business. Not even his prosthetic left arm caused people to give him more than a second look. Despite being larger than his arm, looking oversized on his lanky frame it had a sleek design of shifting black metal with green energy lines tracing along it.
And so he enjoyed the few moments of peace before he had to go to work.
Unfortunately, not everyone was content to ignore him.
A hush fell over the diner as the door slammed open, grabbing everyone's attention. The petite silhouette in the doorway stepped through, and Ochako began to search the diner for her target.
"Human Disaster, I'm taking you in."
Suddenly Izuku felt a dozen eyes on him. Of course it wouldn't last. Slowly pushing his chair back, he stood up and turned around. At the sight of Ochako he felt himself blushing.
"Who are you?" Izuku asked slowly.
"Ochako Uraraka," the woman smirked. "A-Rank Bounty Hunter."
Why is it always the cute ones?
"I-I don't want to fight you!" Izuku threw up his hands defensively. "Can't we talk about this instead?"
"And let you cause another disaster?" Ochako frowned and shook her head. "We can talk on the way back to the Commission."
Raising her right hand, Izuku's eyes went wide as he saw the white bubble-shaped gauntlet aimed right at him. He dove to the floor as he saw her fire four grapple cables from the device, the attack flying harmlessly over his head.
"You're willing to fight me in here?!" Izuku exclaimed from his position on the floor.
"What do you think I am, some kind of amateur?" Ochako sounded insulted as she stepped into the tavern and retracted her cables.
Looking around frantically, Izuku's face lit up when he found an escape route. Scrambling across the floor, he slipped under the counter before he stood up and dashed toward the door to the kitchen.
"Excuse me!" Izuku shouted as he shoved the door open. Dashing through, he turned around to close the door, only to see Ochako leaping over the counter to follow him.
Rather than wait around, he turned around and dashed through the kitchen, hearing the shouts from the two cooks as he searched for the exit. He found it just as he heard the door slam open a second time, Ochako's voice calling for him to stop. Not planning to listen, he grabbed the door with his prosthetic hand.
Locked.
Frowning, Izuku pushed harder. The lines of green energy briefly flared as extra power flowed into his arm until the lock gave way under the force and shattered.
"I'll pay for that later!" Izuku threw the apology over his shoulder before he stepped out into the alleyway and continued running.
"You get back here!" Ochako demanded as she chased him onto the street. As she watched him running away from her, shooting the occasional glance over his shoulder, she let out a resigned sigh. "Guess you want to do this the hard way, then."
Unhooking the minigun from her back, she gripped it in both hands. Quietly thankful that she remembered to load it with nonlethal rounds this morning, she pulled the trigger and felt the gun spin up in her hands before she unleashed a hail of bullets.
As he heard the distinct sounds of gunfire, Izuku dared a quick glance over his shoulder, his eyes going wide at the sight. "What do you think you're doing?!" He exclaimed. His left eye flared with a green light, bright enough to be noticed in the bright sun as he began dodging the hail of gunfire. "This is dangerous!"
"You're dangerous!" Ochako retorted, refusing to let up her assault.
"Someone could get hurt!" Izuku shot back.
"The whole town's gonna get hurt if I don't stop you."
"The town…" Izuku's eyes went wide as he spun around and slid to a stop. "You've got it all wrong!"
"That's funny coming from you," Ochako released the trigger, feeling the barrel winding down as she raised her left hand. "You're not exactly doing a great job of proving your innocence, ya know!"
Izuku saw his opponent aiming her cable launcher at him. "I don't have time for this…" He muttered to himself as he drew his gun.
Eye flaring a second time, he aimed his gun and fired just as Ochako launched her cables. Projectiles sailed past each other, but Izuku's bullet was faster, striking the gauntlet and destroying it.
"What– how?!" Ochako grimaced as she watched one of her gauntlets shatter, the remains falling harmlessly to the ground. Grimacing, she shifted her grip on her weapon. "I'm not done yet!"
Izuku stared in disbelief as she wound up and threw her minigun at him like it was some sort of baseball. With an undignified squeak, he jumped out of the way, listening to the gun as it hit the ground and clattered away from him.
"Got you!" Ochako yelled as she grabbed his arm.
"How did you–" Izuku started before he felt her twist his arm and slam him to the ground.
"I'm not an A-Rank for nothing," Ochako said with a smirk as she pressed her knee to the small of his back. "And electromagnetic accelerators in my boots. They're really useful when I need a quick burst of speed."
Izuku squirmed in an attempt to escape, only to find Ochako's grip tightening on him. "You've gotta let me go!"
"Not happening," Ochako said as she shifted her weight to pin him more firmly. "I'm not letting you bring disaster to another town!"
"No! You've got it all wrong!" Izuku protested. "If you don't let me go, everyone's gonna be in danger!"
"Just like all the other places you've been to?" Ochako said accusingly.
"If you'd just let me explain–" Izuku started only for his arm to emit an angry beeping as a holographic projector activated. "Oh no. It's too late."
"Too late for–" Ochako's words were cut off as she felt a rumbling underneath them, much like the start of an earthquake. Glaring, she looked down at Izuku. "What'd you do!"
"I didn't do anything!" Izuku said. "I've been trying to tell you that I'm here to stop this!"
"Stop it?" Ochako blinked in confusion.
Taking the opportunity, Izuku's arm flared in green light as he pushed himself off the ground, casually throwing Ochako off of him. She landed on her butt with an undignified squawk. Looking sheepishly down at her, he rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry, but I don't have any time to explain. A Nomu's activated." He began scanning the surrounding town. "I've gotta stop it."
"A Nomu?" Ochako asked as she pushed herself upright, trying to salvage what was left of her dignity. "What's that?"
"An ancient bioweapon," Izuku grimaced as he looked at the hologram that was currently hovering over his arm. "Without instructions, it will just rampage uncontrollably until it's stopped." Walking over to his gun he picked it up, shooting her an apologetic look. "Sorry, but I need to do this."
"Hey–" Ochako protested as she took a step towards him.
"You go help the townsfolk evacuate!" Izuku said before he took off down the street.
Ochako blinked in surprise. "Why me?!"
"I saw what you can do," Izuku had the nerve to send her a warm smile over his shoulder. "I know you can keep them safe!"
Ochako stared in disbelief as he ran down the street until the side of a building exploded. She raised her arms to shield her face, feeling the dust and wind from the force of the blow even from over a hundred feet away. Lowering her arms and opening her eyes, she gasped at the sight.
Standing in the middle of the street was a literal monster. A hulking monstrosity that stood about twelve feet tall, its massive muscular form covered in shimmering black skin that seemed to absorb sunlight. And its face… a massive metallic beak sat where its nose and mouth should be, its wide eyes glowing with a menacing red light. At the top of its head, she saw another ring of metal that gave way to a glass dome that glowed with a similarly menacing red light.
Raising his gun, Ochako watched as Izuku rapidly fired seven more shots with deadly accuracy. If he was facing a normal person, any one of those bullets would have been enough to disable them. But it seemed to do little more than annoy the Nomu. It turned its deadly gaze toward the green-haired man and opened its mouth to let out a challenging inhuman roar.
Ochako felt herself gasp as she watched it charge Izuku. Moving almost faster than her trained eye could keep up with, she watched it close the distance in a heartbeat, throwing a meaty punch at the man. Izuku responded by raising his prosthetic arm, once again glowing bright green as it intercepted the attack. The mechanical arm absorbed the brunt of the force. But it wasn't enough and as she watched he was sent flying, the sound of wood splintering filling the air as he crashed into a nearby building.
Move!
Ordering her body to act, Ochako pushed herself forward, retrieving her minigun. She was about to use it when something caught her attention.
The sound of a little girl crying.
Head whipping around, she found the source of the cry. In a nearby alleyway, he saw a little girl who had tripped and fell, kneeling on the ground with skinned knees. At the other end, she saw what must be the woman's mother looking on in terror.
Unfortunately, she wasn't the only person who heard the noise. Ice filled her veins as she saw the Nomu turn its attention to the girl. Not wasting any time, Ochako activated the electromagnetic accelerators in her boots. A fancy device she picked up from the infamous Mei Hatsume, the system consisted of a series of disks in the soles of her boots that, when activated, make her as light as a feather, allowing her to move considerably faster.
Of course, being from Mei meant she could only use the disks for a few seconds at a time, lest she risk them exploding on her. But it was more than enough time to save the child. Suddenly feeling lighter, she dashed toward the girl, reaching her first as she scooped her up in a free hand.
"I've got you!" Ochako promised.
And not a moment too soon. She mentally appended as she heard the rush of wind behind her from the onrushing Nomu.
"How is something so big this fast?" Ochako exclaimed in disbelief as she continued forward. She only had another second before she had to turn off her boots. After that…
Her worries were abated as she heard a crash behind her - and Izuku's voice.
"I'll hold it off, you keep going!"
Not bothering to look back, Ochako grabbed the mother and continued forward. Even as her boots cut off she used the momentum to carry her forward out of the alley. There she saw a handful of people on the streets wondering what the commotion was.
Carrying them several more yards to where the others were congregating, Ochako finally set the two down. "Tell everyone to get to safety," Ochako ordered. "You saw that thing. Stay off the streets and get as far away from here as you can."
"What are you going to do?" The mother asked Ochako.
Looking behind her, Ochako watched as Izuku was thrown out of the alleyway and slammed into another building. Grimacing, she unholstered her minigun and removed the drum.
"I'm going to deal with the disaster," She said definitively.
Grabbing a different drum from her belt, she slammed it into place and leveled the gun at the Nomu. She dared a glance behind her to ensure that the people were fleeing before she once again pulled the trigger of the weapon. Unlike Izuku, the creature didn't dodge and she watched as dozens of her anti-armor rounds pierced the blackened hide of the creature before they exploded inside of it, causing its shell to bubble and burst outward, exposing damaged circuitry.
It seemed to do the trick and the creature slowed before grinding to a halt. With a grin on her face, she let go of the trigger before cautiously making her way to where Izuku was pulling himself out of the debris.
"This is your so-called town destroyer?"
"Look again," Izuku mumbled as he reloaded his weapon and aimed it at the creature.
Ochako turned and felt the smile wipe itself off of her face at the sight. The creature was already regenerating! The circuitry was rebuilding itself and she saw its armored hide slowly contracting and reforming. Some parts didn't even look like she damaged them at all!
Bringing her minigun back up, she opened fire only for the creature to roar defiantly and stare at her with those murderous red eyes. Before she could react she felt the impact as the creature slammed into her, sending her flying. The wind was knocked out of her lungs as she slammed into a building, thankful that she just heard the sound of wood groaning and splintering and not anything else.
Falling to the ground, she was lucky to land on her hands and knees, and not in an inglorious mess of limbs. Time seemed to slow down as she took unsteady breaths. As she looked up, she saw Izuku, now unconstrained by having to protect people, locked in a deadly dance with the Nomu.
His eye, blazing with green fire as he landed a precision shot, the shell causing a small eruption underneath its armored skin.
A meaty obsidian fist trying to strike a blow, only to be blocked by his oversized hand canon.
Izuku, his arm ablaze in green light as he punched the creature, nearly severing its arm.
The creature took another swing, only for Izuku to nimbly dodge out of the way.
And with every blow traded, the circle of destruction grew wider.
No wonder catastrophe followed Izuku everywhere. Ochako thought sluggishly to herself as she closed her eyes. If this is what he's been fighting…
She was forced to admit that maybe she was wrong about him.
Opening her eyes, she finally pushed herself onto unsteady feet. Taking a couple of shaky steps forward, she noticed a glint of light reflecting off a nearby roof. Looking up, she saw an elderly man hunkered behind a sign, watching in terror. Frowning, she knew she had to rescue him - if the fighting reached where he was hiding…
Pushing aside her thought, she raised her remaining gauntlet and fired her capture cables at the man. She smiled as they landed true and wrapped around him. Silently apologizing to him, she tried to reel him in as gently as she could, pulling him off of the roof. As he fell she rushed underneath him, using the retracting cables to ensure that he landed in her arms.
"Let's get you out of here," She said quietly, before ducking into a nearby alleyway. She felt her legs burning as she carried the man several blocks to a member of the town's militia. "Get him out of here."
"What's going on?"
"It's under control," Ochako gave him a reassuring smile. Or she hoped it was reassuring. Given what she thought her current appearance was she couldn't be so sure. "I'm going back to help finish it off."
The man tried to protest, but Ochako ignored it as she turned around and ran back toward Izuku and that creature, already reloading her minigun while rushing back toward the sound of the fighting. She already felt herself slowing down and cursed her body - these people were counting on her! She could rest once the town was safe.
She returned to the scene of battle just in time to see the monster wrap a massive claw around Izuku's prosthetic arm. A look of surprise flashed across his face just before he was thrown into a building, practically bringing a wall down in the process. She felt a pit growing in her stomach as she scanned the debris, looking for some sign that he was okay.
A moment later she saw movement, and then Izuku staggered out of the ruins. His unruly hair was matted and clung to his face and he was covered in dirt and grime.
But he wasn't alone.
In his arms, he held an unconscious woman.
The Nomu sensed his vulnerability, its eyes narrowing as it prepared to charge. Izuku seemed to understand this as well, closing his eyes and turning around, ready to use himself as a human shield to protect her.
"No!" Ochako shouted.
Without thinking she activated her acceleration system as she charged forward, her gun blazing as she positioned herself between Izuku and the Nomu. Holding her ground, she kept the trigger depressed as she fired round after round into the advancing creature, hoping to stop it.
She felt a brief moment of elation as the creature seemed to pause right in front of her, only for it to quickly be replaced by terror as the creature grabbed her and lifted her as if she weighed nothing. Panicking, she tried to swing her gun around in an attempt to get a shot. She pulled the trigger, feeling the barrels spinning up when the creature grabbed her wrist with a free hand.
Ochako cried out in pain as she felt the monster's grip tighten, her gun slipping from her grasp and clattering to the ground right before she felt the monster snap her wrist.
But he wasn't done. As she thrashed about trying to free herself, she felt the Nomu pulling on her arm, fully extending it out despite her best efforts.
And then she saw its mouth open.
"No! Nononono–" Ochako repeated the words helplessly as she watched his beak close in on her shoulder.
She never knew she could scream this loud as one second she felt its metallic beak on her arm, a brief moment of pain, and then – nothing. She stared in horror as the creature tossed her limp arm aside before tossing her away like a broken doll. She felt herself bouncing helplessly along the ground before she finally skidded to a stop.
"My… my arm…"
With irregular breathing, she looked down at the bloody stump where her arm used to be. She could feel herself getting colder, but her brain was laser-focused on the empty space where her arm should be.
A loud cracking sound finally broke her out of the cycle. Whipping her head around, she saw Izuku as he approached the Nomu.
And he looked angry.
Darkness was clawing at the edge of her vision, and Ochako tried to stay awake - she knew how bad it would be if she fell unconscious. Using Izuku like a lifeline, she tried her hardest to watch as she saw his eye and left arm were ablaze in green light before that light slowly spread across the rest of his body.
"Who… are… you?" Ochako asked weakly.
She feared she would never get the answer as her eyelids grew heavier. Despite her best efforts, she found herself losing the battle as darkness consumed her vision, blurring out the battle. Finally giving in, she allowed her eyes to close, voicing her final regrets.
"...sorry …Ma …sorry …Pa…"
Ochako dreamed of many things. Her parents as they slowly fell victim to the harsh desert conditions. Of the many bounties she had brought in over the last five years of her meteoric career.
Of a black demon consuming her arm.
And a green-haired angel as he gently wrapped her up and carried her off.
