03.07.2023
It is I, the Absolute Madman and I'm back with your weekly dose of Evil Within!
And since there are no comments to be answered - enjoy the chapter!:
Boarding the train heading to Yanaka, Izuku didn't expect anything grand to happen over the course of his internship. He was more than happy with getting simple tips and tricks from veterans that spent years honing their skills and the art of being a hero in general, listening to their stories, taking notes and getting a bit of an insight into the inner-workings of being a hero, the stuff that journalists and social media rarely touched upon. And yet, in spite of his humble expectations, there he was, running headfirst into danger alongside his mentor, rushing to aid those in need.
Izuku was following his mentor like a shadow, keeping up with the pro effortlessly as his adrenaline levels began rising. They were nowhere near the fighting yet, the closest explosions, firestorms and sounds of battle still a block or two away, but Izuku could already feel the hair on his neck slowly standing up with dread creeping up his back. He told Monk'ai that he could do it. He believed in what he said. And yet, the prospect of having to face those monstrosities once again brought back memories that Izuku could definitely do without at this moment.
"What's the matter? Scared? Want me to hold your fuckin' hand, that it? You know me, I'm always happy to… help out…" The daemon taunted, only adding fuel to the fire that threatened to consume Izuku from the inside.
It unfortunately worked, the psychic link between the prisoner and the warden only serving to make things worse as the daemon made sure to provide Izuku with some gruesome images of the bloodbath that was the USJ. Rivers of shiny crimson liquid spilling from the open wounds, wounds that his hands had inflicted upon the villains. Don't get it wrong, Izuku had little compassion for those bastards, yet his motto was to punish the sin and not the sinner. Sure those scumbags' intentions were as far from noble as they could get, but they didn't deserve the fate that's befallen them. And Izuku was to blame for that mishap.
At this point it could be counted as a miracle that Izuku didn't end up running into something or even tripping over his own feet with how deep in thought he was, but whilst he was oblivious to what was going on around him, Monk'ai saw the conflict within his student right away.
"There's still time to back out, you know?" Monk'ai said without turning around or slowing down, his words managing to bring Izuku back to reality.
Nothing more was said for a few long moments as Izuku digested that single sentence, analyzing it over and over. Eventually he realized that while backing out was certainly an option, it wouldn't be the right thing to do. He was supposed to give in to fear after saying all that stuff about heroes conquering their fears to aid those that can't do it? That'd make him a hypocrite. And how could he become a role model for others if he was full of shit?
"I appreciate the offer, but I'd have to face this fear sooner or later. Might as well rip the band aid off right now!" Izuku declared valiantly, his conviction reignited and burning bright as ever.
Monk'ai acknowledged the statement, but didn't respond to it, though he allowed himself to smirk a bit. He had seen a fair share of heroes and interns crack under pressure, he hoped Izuku wouldn't follow in their footsteps.
Minutes later Izuku and Monk'ai stepped into the warzone that was Hosu. The hellish landscape - fires and ruins as far as the eye could see - was a far cry from the usually relatively quiet neighborhood that was Hosu. As quiet as a part of Tokyo could be anyways.
They passed by a couple of heroes tending to the local populus, people unfortunate enough to get caught in the middle of this disaster. As much as Izuku wanted to stop and help the heroes who were taking care of the civilians, this wasn't his task.
The emergency had yet to be contained. The longer they took to subdue those monsters the more people would undoubtedly get caught in the crossfire. Ergo, their top priority was to stop those mindless husks at all costs. Heroes whose quirks could do more harm than good were delegated to help the wounded, whilst all the combat-ready pros and sidekicks were tasked with seeking out and taking down the Nomus ravaging Hosu.
Monk'ai was of course one of the combat-oriented heroes and so his task was to find and deal with those monstrosities with Izuku getting to accompany him due to being in his care. As carefree as his white-haired mentor usually was, he could be very serious and responsible if the situation demanded it and this once certainly did.
Passing by the occasional body bag creeped Izuku out like nothing else he'd experienced up till now, but it also filled him with determination and a drive to do his best and ensure that no more innocent lives were lost. He'd get a chance to do just that soon enough.
The mentor/student duo were quickly approaching what seemed to be the main battlefield of Hosu when one of the stores directly ahead of them exploded from within, a humanoid figure flying onto the street with a trail of smoke following their ungraceful flight.
The hero's opponent - a muscular monster with navy blue skin, a beak and an exposed brain - exited the devastated shop moments later, staring daggers at its prey like a predator after a successful hunt. The hunt however was far from over.
Before the Nomu even realized their arrival, Izuku and Monk'ai spurred into action. The white-haired pro didn't even blink as he instantly changed his course and activated his quirk, gaining muscle mass and growing in size as snow-white fur covered most of his body. Using all of his amplified momentum Monk'ai charged into the Nomu, heaving it off the ground as he ran and smashing it into the nearby building, pinning it to the wall with all his might.
"Garran!" Monk'ai exclaimed and even though Izuku wanted to have a bit of a meltdown at being called his hero name for the first time, now was not the time or the place for that, so he'll wisely leave getting excited for later.
Now he was already flying through the air, his bastard sword unsheathed and imbued with his power, poised to kill and more than capable of doing just that. Just before the blade made impact, Monk'ai headbutted the Nomu, stunning it for a split second and ensuring it wouldn't be able to dodge before getting out of the way, allowing Izuku to slice the beast cleanly across its chest.
Before the blade even exited the putrid core of the monster, Izuku was already preparing to finish it with another slash, but that turned out to be unnecessary. These Nomus were different from the one he'd faced at the USJ. The one back then was incredibly fast, overwhelmingly strong and completely unflinching. The one currently slumped against the wall? Vastly different. It lacked the supreme healing ability and the combination of speed and strength that Izuku remembered. And it felt pain, because Izuku's clean cut caused the beast to fall into shock and shut down on the spot.
"What are we going to do with it?" Izuku questioned, sword at the ready in case the monster changed his mind about staying alive.
"You can leave that to me." The previously ragdolled pro stated as he approached the master/student duo.
"Are you sure you can handle it?" Monk'ai asked, wanting to make sure that they wouldn't have to worry about this one getting loose once again.
"It caught me off-guard when I was dealing with another one. I'll bind it right away and move on, lots more of them running around still." The pro responded and then used his quirk - which apparently allowed him to control metal or something like that - to wrap the Nomu like a christmas present. "Thanks for the help there guys, good hunting!" The man wished and then ran off, either to rejoin his teammates or continue fighting the good fight solo.
"We should be going too. Edgeshot's gotta be around here somewhere." Monk'ai commanded and the two moved on, leaving the bound Nomu slumped against the wall. Hopefully it wouldn't bleed out too quickly, studying a live specimen could give an insight into the process that created it in the first place.
What used to be the central battlefield of Hosu has now been turned into a fortified position for civilians to take shelter in and the heroes to plan their next move. Locating Edgeshot was easy as he was the man in charge of the entire situation given he was the second highest ranking pro in the area.
"-lost contact with the team in the east, take some people and investigate it. We can't afford to lose people in a time like this." They heard Edgeshot command as they approached the makeshift command post.
"Monk'ai and Garran, reporting boss." Monk'ai reported with a mock salute. "You look like shit sir." The white-haired man added jokingly.
"If you have energy for quips then you better have energy to fight." Edgeshot responded without batting an eye, clearly used to Monk'ai's attitude. "We have most areas under control, though the mall is giving us problems as expected." The ninja-themed hero explained the situation.
"You want us to go over there and lend them a hand?" Monk'ai guessed the order.
"No, I already dispatched the reinforcements, they should be able to handle it on their own. For you I have a special assignment. A Killer one if you will." Edgeshot stated seriously and silence enveloped the area.
"He's here?" Monk'ai asked, all his previous playfulness gone with the wind.
"That's what some people say. I have yet to receive any concrete evidence and until that happens I classify it as a rumor. It is, however, a very dangerous rumor. I want you to check out this area and see if you can find something. Make sure to check the back alleys, fits his MO to be hiding in one." Edgeshot explained as he circled a certain less popular area of Hosu with a pen.
"Aight, we'll do it." Monk'ai responded after familiarizing himself with the map.
"You want to take the intern with you?" Edgeshot questioned, a hint of disapproval in his voice.
"I'm kind of responsible for his safety, y'know?" The white-haired man stated with a smirk.
"And you are planning on letting him tag along while you go seek out a serial killer?" This time the disapproval was replaced with slight sass.
"Point taken. So what, you want me to leave him here?" Monk'ai asked, seeing his boss's point but not quite convinced just yet.
"Yes. He can help out around here and protect the civilians if one of those things makes its way over here somehow."
There was little that Monk'ai could argue with, Edgeshot made it quite clear that hunting the Hero Killer was way more dangerous than facing the Nomus and that it wasn't a good idea to bring Izuku along. He left the final decision to Monk'ai however. The white-haired man had a good intuition so Edgeshot knew he'd make the correct choice.
In the end Monk'ai decided to head out solo, making sure to state clearly that Izuku had free reign to act however he wanted and an obligation to do everything he could to protect the people, if anything happened Monk'ai would take the responsibility for it so Izuku didn't have to worry about that too much. With a final wish of good luck, Monk'ai departed, leaving Izuku to act independently for the first time in his career.
Thankfully there were a lot of things to do since this was an ongoing crisis and whatnot and the amount of injuries was quickly piling up. Whilst Izuku was no surgeon he could deal with the scrapes and small wounds, freeing up the first aid-oriented heroes to tend to the more severe cases. Stabilizing those in critical condition was a priority as was tending to the heroes since they couldn't afford to lose people which would stretch even thinner over the quickly expanding area.
Izuku took it upon himself to go around and heal the cuts and bruises that didn't require thorough treatment, using his quirk to seal the wounds and heal the smaller injuries. It quickly became quite apparent that he'd need way more training as using his healing ability was gassing him out very rapidly. He pushed through the quirk fatigue however and kept going even as his body screamed for rest. He allowed himself a short respite only when the majority of the people were tended to and slumped against some rubble for a few moments.
A couple of heroes passed him by at that spot, commanding him for his efforts and praising his healing ability. It seemed that he made quite an impact on a few of the pros that got to see him in action. Izuku wiped the sweat from his brow and saw his hand got covered with a mix of grime, dirt and a few drops of blood. His armor was in similar condition, showing obvious signs of needing a good wash, but he was glad to notice that there were no dents in it. As long as it did its job, Izuku could overlook the heinous condition it was in.
That short thought made him chuckle briefly as he wondered how someone like Aoyama would react to getting his cape tattered and his shining armor stained with all this dust and other things.
"Alright, enough resting, time to get back to work!" Izuku thought with determination and newfound energy coursing through his veins.
Before he could find someone in need of his help however, a pro quickly approached him, clearly meaning business judging by the fierce and serious look on his face.
"Hey kid, you good to fight?" The man asked right out of the gate. Izuku nodded quickly to confirm. "Good, Edgeshot lost contact with some heroes in the west and we're moving to check on them, but we could use someone to be our vanguard, you up for the challenge?"
Izuku quickly mulled the options over. On one hand his healing abilities could be very helpful around this makeshift camp as there were still wounded in need of first-aid and it was clear that the heroes on site were still overwhelmed. On the other hand however, getting back out there and hunting down more of those monsters would reduce the number of injuries and fatalities.
Izuku accepted the man's request and was subsequently led to meet the rest of their makeshift team. The squad was made up of six people, Izuku included.
First was a familiar face - the metal-bending hero called Wolfram that Izuku and Monk'ai encountered on the way to rendezvous with Edgeshot.
Next up were two women - Spark and Charge - twins with the ability to harness and control electricity whose powers were amplified when in close proximity to one another.
Arguing with them was the fourth member of the team - a man called Display with a quirk that allowed him to summon screens capable of reflecting energy. Apparently the twins liked to let out loose charges that had an uncanny tendency of homing in on Display.
The last part of the puzzle was the man that recruited Izuku in the first place - Retro. He was one of the commanding pros employed in Blackout's hero agency specializing in investigation and intel-gathering. Front lines of a battlefield didn't seem like a suitable place for someone like Retro, but Izuku was sure he could take care of himself just as well as the others.
As it turned out, the other four were also sidekicks from Blackout's agency, though they didn't know each other that well, safe for the twins and Display who were seemingly inseparable according to Spark's testimony.
They gathered in a circle where Retro introduced Izuku to everyone else under his hero alias and Izuku himself quickly told them to simply call him Garran for the sake of convenience. Display was weary about letting someone from a different agency - and an intern at that! - join them, but Wolfram was quick to vouch for Izuku's skills, silencing any further complaints in a flash. Retro then went on to explain that Native - a small local pro - and his team failed to check in during the last roll call and they were going to check up on them, probably give them a good talking to about causing unnecessary chaos and return to the camp. Simple and easy. In and out, a ten minutes long adventure.
With their plan of actions clear, the group departed to the west. Things would get quite complicated quickly however and Izuku would once again find himself faced with a foe that he simply could not defeat. This time however he'd have an unexpected ally to help him with the ordeal.
Anyone recognize the man, the myth, the fucking jokester that is Retro? No? I'm not surprised!
Some action this chapter, though the main fight is just around the corner so you got something to look forward to!
Have a great day and I'll catch y'all in the next update!