Chapter 15: On the Razor's Edge
"Coming up on the perimeter gate now- 300 meters out. Security doesn't look any tighter than usual, from this distance, at least. Proceeding as planned, pending any emergencies."
Neither Seraph nor any of the others were present to respond to his status report in their current state, but all the same, talking aloud as if they were gave Chaudron some small degree of comfort as their jeep approached the imposing perimeter fence of Kadena Air Base. It was still bright and early; the sun had barely lifted its full width above the horizon, and hardly a single cloud dotted the dull purple sky as the last traces of morning mist faded into nothing. As a sudden twinge of pain in his skull reminded him all too readily, Monoma was still feeling the lingering effects of his intoxication the night before, but instead of distracting Neito, the dull, throbbing headache gave him clarity- it made him angry, and when he was angry, he was focused. That was how it had always been, as long as he could remember; lucky for him, the world gave him plenty of things to get angry about.
"It's creepy when you talk to yourself like that," Toga declared from the passenger's seat, her arms crossed and her tongue stuck out in his direction- it was a much stranger sight than usual, given that she currently had the appearance of the thirty year old lieutenant colonel she and Midoriya had murdered the night before, a strong-jawed, blond-haired man with a standard military buzz cut. Neito, on the other hand, had taken down a target of his own later the same night, after he ditched Red Riot and Suneater: a fresh-faced young brunette captain who was currently tied up and unconscious in the villa's closet. It had taken a while for him to perfect the woman's tight-tucked ponytail when he was readying himself this morning, but he'd eventually gotten the hairstyle close enough to resemble what it looked like on her military ID badge. Just as when he was surveilling the two heroes last night, he had a lock of Toga's hair in his pocket to make sure that his Copy of Metamorphosis didn't run out of time.
"You know that's not what I'm doing," Monoma shot back, glancing down at the pistol holstered at his side for good measure as he eased his foot down onto the brake and slowly brought them to a halt. "I'm making sure they're aware everything's going smoothly."
Emptied of bullets, the gun's magazine currently contained Seraph, Synapse, Mr. Compress, Twice, Gentle, and La Brava, all shrunk down into Atsuhiro's blue marbles. Once they were safely past security and inside the base, they would have Compress release the quirk on himself, Shinso, and Jin- Pandora had prepared Japanese army uniforms and false ID badges for the three of them, and would be monitoring the situation from afar alongside Longshot. Midoriya and Tobita were mainly present as close combat support in case of an emergency, and ideally they would both remained compressed until the conclusion of the operation. Seraph had made it expressly clear in his briefing an hour before that combat was their absolute last resort, due to the heavily fortified nature of the facility: fighting their way out of a military installation would be a nightmare scenario, so stealth was an absolute necessity. That aside, making an enemy of the world's largest military was hardly on Izuku's list of objectives, but if all went well, the Syndicate would leave Okinawa with more than enough leverage to prevent that from ever coming to pass.
"Eyy, Yeager, look at you! Never thought I'd see you rolling back in with the LC! Rough night, huh?"
Frustratingly enough, the guard on duty at the gate seemed to recognize the captain Monoma was disguised as when he held out his ID, and he was forced to put on his best congenial grin while he improvised a response.
"Tell me about it, man, I think I died and came back to life. Got separated from my squad, so I had to hitch a ride back with his loser." Luckily, Metamorphosis copied vocal chords perfectly, so Neito didn't have a trace of a Japanese accent when he spoke.
"Ah, what a bummer." To Monoma's intense aggravation, the guard proceeded to step up to the window, lean in, and nod at Toga, who was forced to return the gesture with a false smile of her own. "Don't let her bully you too much, LC," he continued, before turning back to Chaudron and holding up his fist. It took Monoma a moment to realize that he was supposed to bump it with his own, but the man didn't seem too phased by the delay.
"You sure you're sober enough to drive, cap? Seems like one hell of a hangover." He fell into a minor fit of laughter after that, and let them through with a wave of his hand, a gesture that finally eased Chaudron's pounding heart. Well, that's one more stage done and over with. Now, on to the main attraction.
Twenty minutes later, he and Toga had found their respective quarters, changed into their uniforms, and rendezvoused back at the main mess hall easily enough. They sat far enough to the side that none of the morning crowd were likely to spot them, a binder full of inventory catalogues set on the table between them to create the illusion that they were busy with work and dissuade anyone from interrupting them.
"Thirty-eight minutes until the joint forces meeting begins," Monoma was saying, glancing down at his watch. It was grating to force himself to speak in English, lest he arouse suspicion by suddenly becoming fluent in Japanese, but the nature of the transformation made the adjustment much easier. "Since you're a good, dutiful soldier, you should arrive at least twenty minutes early to mingle with the other attendees, especially the good Doctor Shield, who'll be speaking at two separate events throughout the morning. Unfortunately, I'm not high-ranking enough to have received an invite like you, but that just makes it all the easier for me to ferry the others to their designated objectives. Do you understand everything I'm telling you, Lieutenant Colonel Ackerman?"
"Loud and clear, Captain Yeager." She replied, pronouncing every syllable with deliberate sarcasm.
"Don't go around speaking with that tone," Neito hissed, his voice dropped down to a near-whisper. "I swear, are you even taking this seriously?"
"Ah, no one's listening to us, stop being so uptight," she replied with a wide grin. "Trust me, I've got way more experience with this than you- I can tell. And of course I am, dummy, my baby's safety is at stake! Just trust me, I've got this down."
"If you say so." Monoma felt the corners of his lips turn down into a grimace, but he managed to suppress it quickly enough. "In that case, I think I'm off, I need to scout out the best place to release my backup."
"Roger that," Himiko replied, her demeanor changing in an instant as a group of officers walked past their table. "Best of luck, captain. You know how to reach me if things go south."
"If things go south, we're all dead," Neito muttered as he rose to his feet and set off for the bathrooms. After waiting a few minutes for the stalls to empty out, he stepped into the largest one, at the very end, carefully drew the magazine out from his gun, and set the blue marbles that contained Synapse, Compress, and Twice out on the floor. Once he was absolutely sure the coast was clear, Monoma cleared his throat and gave Atsuhiro the verbal signal to release.
"Phase two, go."
In a burst of blue light, the three men sprang into being, already garbed from heel to toe in the clean white officer dress uniforms of the Japanese Air Force, complete with crimson and gold furnishings. Hitoshi's decidedly non-regulation haircut was tied up in a topknot beneath his cap, and a prosthetic created by Pandora hid the distinctive scar running down the middle of Bubaigawara's forehead. According to their rank insignias, Compress and Twice were both majors, while Synapse was a lieutenant. Due to the ongoing US-Japan joint forces conference, there were plenty of JSDF soldiers on the grounds of the base, so the presence of three extra officers wasn't likely to arouse any suspicion.
"God, that took long enough," Shinso grunted, lifting his arms into a stretch. "It was starting to get cramped in there."
"You get used to it," Compress offered conciliatorily as Chaudron opened the stall door and led them out to the sinks, his eyes locked on the bathroom entrance, watching for any sign of intrusion. "After so many years, I actually find the sensation quite comforting."
"You can chit-chat about it later," Neito snapped. "You should both know that there's no time to waste. Stick close to me, stick to your scripts, let me do the talking unless someone needs a dose of Suggestion. Twice, if you would?"
"Sure thing, boss."
With a wave of his hands, Jin created a perfect clone of Monoma, disguised appearance and all- the double quickly retreated into one of the stalls to wait until the others had left. While Toga's Lieutenant Colonel Ackerman was expected as participant at the meeting, Neito's Captain Yeager and her squad were assigned to patrol the perimeter starting in under an hour, as they'd discovered in the duty roster on her phone; with two of him, he could still fulfill his role in the plan without arousing suspicion from her superiors for dereliction of duty.
"Try your best not to split," Chaudron murmured under his breath as they strode outside and swiftly merged back into the crowd of soldiers.
"I won't," Bubaigawara replied, his tone earnest. "I have it under control. I promise."
"See that you do. Come now, the clock is ticking."
"So, how long do you think this one's gonna last?"
"Well it's scheduled for an hour and a half, so hopefully not any longer than two, given how late most of the other meetings have been running. Have you been finding enough to do in the meantime? Sorry again that I couldn't quite swing you a high enough security clearance for all this…" David Shield rubbed the back of his head sheepishly and adjusted his glasses as he gazed down at his daughter, who simply smirked in reply.
"Well seeing as I'm still a college sophomore who doesn't have two decades of experience as a hero and military contractor, I wasn't exactly expecting to sit in the same room as the generals. Being on the base is cool enough, don't worry. I need to finish downloading some shows on my laptop for the flight back to California anyway."
"Strange to think we'll be on the way home just a few hours from now," David replied, half to Melissa and half to himself. "It's been… a memorable two weeks."
It had been five in the afternoon in San Francisco when the headlines of All Might's death broke in the US. The memory was still as clear as day, burned into his mind like a brand: he'd been in the process of wrapping up a speech at a statewide conference for hero costume designers on a stage in Berkeley when the murmurs started to ripple through the crowd, quietly at first, then louder, more insistent, panicked. Everyone in the audience had known about David's close personal and professional relationship with Toshinori; when someone in one of the front row finally mustered the courage to stand, look him in the eyes, and declare that All Might had been killed, he took it for a poorly executed joke at first, and tried to press forward with his remarks regardless. Then the event's organizer came out on stage a few moments later to deliver the same news, and a glance down at his phone revealed a series of missed calls and distraught texts from Melissa. 'Please tell me it's not true about Uncle Might', the first one had read. 'Please tell me he's okay, dad.'
The next few days had passed by in a blur of emotion. He'd wasted no time buying two plane tickets to fly out to Japan for the funeral, one-way rather than round-trip- he had a feeling even then that dealing with the fallout of All Might's demise might prove to be a lengthy affair. Luckily, the dates had lined up with Melissa's spring break from Cal Tech, so she didn't have to miss too much class- not that she would have let the alternative stop her from coming. The small, private ceremony organized by Nighteye had been a mess of tears and grief for both of them, but a few days later David made it through his eulogy at the state memorial ceremony without choking up, and seeing Toshinori's successor again had been a welcome experience for him and Melissa alike- she and Kendo got along exceptionally well. The spirit that Yagi had embodied was still burning bright inside her as far as he was concerned, and though it was clear that she still had a lot to learn, talking with her had gone a long way towards mending the hole in David's heart that All Might had left behind.
After that, it had been eight days of business rather than pleasure, with a schedule full of speaking gigs and private meetings at support item companies, costume design labs, universities, political organizations, hero agencies, and more. In the turmoil that enveloped the country following the death of its beloved icon, it seemed that everyone was eager to hear from the man who'd helped shape him into the Symbol of Peace, and about his opinion on what the future held. David had offered to fly Melissa back to the US early, but she declined and soldiered on at his side through the whirlwind of events. After a while, it became difficult to even keep all the names straight: in one rather embarrassing incident, he'd accidentally referred to a Tokyo tech firm by the name of its largest rival in a roundtable with the executive directors, and the next day he forgot the CEO of Detnerat's name mid-conversation with him. After a meeting with the head of Shueisha to discuss a possible book deal in the near future about his relationship with All Might, they were finally at their last destination, Kadena's annual US-Japan Joint Pacific Forces Strategic Coordination Conference. He was here to answer questions on the role heroes should play in national defense and intergovernmental cooperation, how the security of the region might be affected by the loss of the Symbol of Peace, and to what extent his support item and costume design skills could be applied to military technology.
So is it high time to sell myself out to the military-industrial complex once and for all? He'd wondered that more than once in the past two weeks, but deep down part of him knew that his best work would always belong to heroes first and foremost, even if he tried to change course now. He'd done a few stints as a defense contractor over the course of his career, often enough that he still held a top-secret clearance, but every time he felt himself pulled back to the allure of heroics before long. Even now, he'd spent much of the latter half of this trip sketching up a design for a new costume for Battle Fist, a homage to one of All Might's- he was waiting until it was finished and manufactured to surprise her with it. He threw a sidelong glance down at his shoulder bag as they strode out of the building that contained their quarters and into the bright morning sunlight; his sketchbook was nestled inside, along with a few of the books and manga volumes the Shueisha exec had given them as souvenirs. 'Special Abilities Liberation Front,' he read off of one of the spines, 'The Untold Story.' Huh. I guess all that Destro stuff has been in vogue lately. Might be worth a read eventually.
"If you need something to do in the meantime," he offered, holding out the autobiography, "why don't you go ahead and check this out for me, see if it's any good?"
"Eh, I've read about Yotsubashi online, he seems a bit too fanatical for my tastes." Melissa took the book in hand regardless, though, before fishing into the bag of her own accord and pulling out his sketchbook and a manga volume. "We'll see if I get around to it. I'd love to review the design you've been working on, though if that's okay! It's for Itsuka, right?"
"There you two are!" A familiar voice cut in before David could answer, and both of their heads whipped around to find Lieutenant Colonel Royce Ackerman, the head of their security detail, giving them a friendly wave, trailed by two of his subordinates. "I'm not much of a head of security if I let you run off on me, am I?"
"You were AWOL when I woke up this morning," David replied jokingly, "so I thought I'd let Captain Diaz take over." He gestured behind them- one of Ackerman's men was trailing them at a reasonable distance as they made their way to the base's main building, and at the sight of his CO he quickly snapped into a salute.
"Sir! Escorting the civilians as ordered!"
"At ease, son. I'll take it from here." The hint of a grin lingering on his war-weary face, the lieutenant colonel fell in step beside David, his hands clasped behind his back.
"Apologies about this morning, Doctor Shield. I had a bit of a rough night, to be completely frank with you. You know how it goes- went out intending to have a beer or two and come straight back, but that's never how it goes. I had to play babysitter, give a fellow officer a ride back this morning. I hope you can forgive the lapse in judgement on my part."
"No harm done." David gave the man a reassuring smile. He certainly seems to be a bit less stiff and formal than yesterday. I suppose it's good that he feels more comfortable around us, though. "So I take it you'll be escorting us out once the meeting is over?"
"Yes sir, that's correct. There are no outbound flights to the States scheduled from this airbase in the specified window, and all of our available aircraft are booked for either training or maintenance, so I'll be taking point on driving you down to Air Station Futenma, where the Marines will oversee your flight back to San Francisco. Don't worry, you'll be well taken care of."
"Excellent, that's good to hear."
Once they'd entered the main complex and gone through the standard security check, they quickly merged into a crowd of officers and conference guests both Japanese and American alike mingling in the lobby, though many of them quickly diverted their attention to David when he entered the room, much to his embarrassment. After a few of the standard handshakes and exchanges of pleasantries with his fellow Americans, one JSDF officer in particular sought their group out and introduced himself as Colonel Ishimata Keicho.
"I was a huge fan of All Might," the man was saying, shaking his head with a deep frown mirrored by David's own- that was a phrase he had heard times beyond counting the last two weeks, and it never failed to re-open the still-fresh wound of Toshinori's death for a few brief moments. "Well, to be truthful, I always followed Fatgum more closely- he's an old high school friend of mine- but All Might… he just set the standard, you know? You knew the outcome of every fight before it even happened, you didn't even have to watch, but you knew you still would." He smiled wistfully. "It always makes me smile when I see my children playing with his action figures."
"Trust me, I know exactly what you mean." David shot Melissa a knowing glance and smile, mulling over the difficult question of how much he wanted to embarrass his daughter today- she had a collection of over two dozen All Might figures back at the family home, not to mention her posters, apparel, and childhood bedsheets. She instantly realized what he was about to do and wasted no time delivering a swift kick to his ankle, her face flushed. Heedless of the consequences, though, he couldn't resist throwing an arm around her shoulder and turning back to Ishimata with a wide grin. "I'd go so far as to say that my daughter is probably his number one fan- as far as I know, at least. Although I suppose I could claim seniority on that accolade if I wanted- I like to say that I was an All Might fanboy before it was cool."
They all shared a chuckle at that, even Ackerman, and David breathed a sigh of relief that his Japanese was still holding up alright after a brief switch to English for the past day. Then David blinked, and turned back to Royce with a smile.
"Lieutenant Colonel, what a pleasant surprise- I didn't know you spoke Japanese. How long have you been studying it?"
"Oh, well… I, uh…" Ackerman chuckled and gave them a sheepish grin, his hands shoved in his pockets- he replied in English. "I just did a few basic lessons online, nothing fancy. It was mainly to impress a local girl I met a little while back. I can pick up on a few phrases here and there, but I'm told my pronunciation is atrocious."
The colonel laughed and patted Royce's shoulder, then switched to English as well; he seemed to be practically fluent, with little trace of an accent.
"A worthy cause, my friend. I hope you'll continue with the efforts!"
"I'll try my best. So how are you liking Okinawa, Colonel Ishimata? If I remember the personnel rosters correctly, you're visiting from a base on Honshu."
"Indeed I am! I've had a lovely experience so far, although I must admit, last night is a bit of a blur, if you know what I mean. I can't quite recall how I made it home from the pub!"
"You made it back," offered David, "and that's what matters, as far as I'm concerned."
"So you're a friend of Fatgum? That's so cool!" Melissa quickly brought the conversation back into Japanese, her eyes wide with excitement- she was always eager for opportunities to practice the language. "Have you ever met Red Riot, his sidekick?"
"On several occasions! I just had dinner with him last night, in fact! He and Suneater are still here in Okinawa, chasing some hero case."
"Whoa, really?! I met him last year, on I-Island! Do you know how long he'll be here?"
"Oh, it's hard to say, you know how these hero missions go, always unpredictable…"
"Ah, excuse me," David interjected with an apologetic glance to Royce, "but could we keep things in English for our friend here, Melissa? If you don't mind, colonel."
"Why of course not. But as I was saying, it's difficult to discern the details of their assignment, but I can tell you that they were quite curious about how I-"
A widening ripple of murmurs drew all of their attention before Ishimata could finish his sentence, and all at once the entire room's attention focused back on the door, as a squad of military police began to clear a path through the crowd.
"Step back, everyone," an officer boomed, "VIPs entering the building. No sudden movements."
That's right, David recalled, straightening his glasses and peering over Ackerman's shoulder towards the door, I remember them mentioning the possibility of some important guest speakers. It hadn't occurred to him how important they might be until the Chairwoman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee strode through the doors, instantly recognizable by her neatly trimmed bob of greying brown hair. Close on her heels was a man whose face he only recognized in the vaguest of senses, perhaps from a TV ad or roadside billboard in Tokyo. He was Japanese, and quite young compared to his American counterpart, lean and handsome, with neatly combed black hair, tinted glasses, and a shadow of a moustache on his upper lip.
"That's Hanadata Kouku," Keicho whispered in David's ear, having noticed his confused expression. "A member of the National Diet, and leader of the Shinkyu Party. He's been very popular these past few years, a young firebrand. Some say he's on track to be the next prime minister. I think it'll take him a little longer than that- at least a few more years- but he'll get there eventually. He's a likeable man."
"Hm, I see. Hanadata…" He stroked his goatee thoughtfully, and gave Ishimata a gracious nod. "Thank you. I'll have to remember that name."
"I can write it down, if that'll help."
David practically jumped in the air at the sound of a new voice beside him, and pivoted back around to find Kouku standing just a few feet away; while the American politician was still making nice with the base's commanding officers, the Shinkyu leader had made a beeline for him, it seemed.
"M-Mr. Hanadata, it's such an honor to meet you! I didn't know that we'd have a guest as distinguished as yourself joining us!"
"Don't be so humble, Doctor Shield. I should be the one who's honored to meet you." He gave David a friendly grin as they shook hands, and clapped his other on Shield's arm. "You've done so much for this country, after all, through your work with All Might. And this is your daughter, yes?" Kouku turned to face Melissa and bowed his head in acknowledgement, a smile still playing about his lips. "My cousin has a son at Cal Tech. I hear you're a real star on campus! You're looking to work at the JPL after you graduate, yes?"
Her face flushed bright red in embarrassment, Melissa stammered out her response with considerable hesitation.
"Um, well, maybe, maybe not. I'm still having some trouble deciding exactly what I want to do. Working in support item and costume design like my dad sounds amazing too."
"We're all unsure about our roles in life at one point or another." He gave her a sympathetic pat on the shoulder. "I'm sure you'll find something that fills your heart with conviction soon enough." Just when Hanadata was about to move on, though, his eyes drifted down to the cover of the Destro autobiography she was holding, and briefly widened- he froze in his tracks.
"Quite an interesting book you've got there, Melissa- it's one of my personal favorites, actually. Have you gotten around to reading it yet?"
"Hm, this?" She held it up and smiled apologetically. "Not quite yet, no. But I'll start on it soon, hopefully!"
"That's excellent to hear. I do hope you enjoy it!"
At that the young politician turned and made his way back towards the military bigwigs waiting to greet him, and the officer who had announced the VIPs' arrival cut through the chatter before David could remark on Kouku's impressive charisma.
"The meeting will begin in five minutes- all cleared participants, please make your way to the front of the room."
After a good forty minutes of maneuvering around the base via the least frequented and least conspicuous route that Momo and Izuku could map, all the while praying that no one from Yeager's company would happen by and recognize her, Chaudron, Synapse, Compress, and Twice of them were finally nearing the building that contained the base's extensive server banks, and Monoma couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief when he saw the structure in the distance. The air base felt a good deal bigger on foot than it had seemed on the satellite map they'd reviewed the night before, a veritable maze of hangars, patrols, and barracks that had kept his heart rate much higher than was healthy for far too long. Due to the tight security, their options were much more limited than usual if they were detected: just like at U.A., use of Kurogiri's quirk or anything like it within the perimeter would trigger an instant alarm, largely thanks to an infamous warp-type villain who had terrorized several major American cities a few decades back. Their DNA wasn't being watched for like at U.A. with its new security upgrades, but radio contact with anyone on the outside to coordinate their movements was impossible as well.
If their presence did come known before they had the chance to activate their radios and signal their position for an extraction, there would be no easy escape: over the past hundred years, the militaries of the world had adapted to fight villains just as effectively as each other. For all their skill and quirks and tactics, they would be surrounded by thousands of trained soldiers, with better weapons, better technology, and better coordination- each and every one of them would face almost certain death or capture. To make matters worse, even if they did manage to flee with Kurogiri's aid, making an enemy of the American military could only bode ill for the Syndicate's future- they'd already killed one officer, and that was enough of a risk in and of itself. Their only saving grace in the aftermath of this operation would be the classified military data that La Brava was here to extract from the base's servers, which could be as useful as blackmail and leverage as it could be as intelligence.
This is today's real objective, Monoma told himself as their objective loomed closer and closer in the distance, his teeth grit in determination as he reached into his pocket to wrap his sweaty fingers around the lock of Toga's hair that was allowing him to retain the effects of Copy. Midoriya trusted me with overseeing the future of our organization. I can't let him down. Using Carmilla's hair was admittedly an imperfect solution, but after fourteen years of adapting to his quirk's time limit, the mental alarm that went off every five minutes when he was using Copy was so strongly burned into his mind that it was practically impossible for him to forget.
"Looks like two guards out front," murmured Compress, leaning down towards Neito's ear, "just like Hatsume and Yaoyorozu predicted. How would you like to approach this, Chaudron?"
"Well, it's not like Captain Yeager has prior clearance to enter," Monoma replied with a grimace; the woman's voice still sounded strange when he spoke- he'd generally only used Metamorphosis to transform into men before, so femininity was largely a new experience for him. "Synapse, I do believe you're up. How's your English?"
"Passable enough. I've been studying up, just like Seraph asked."
"Good, that's very good." Neito rubbed his hands together, his heart pounding in anticipation as they approached the building's entrance, and the two airmen standing watch outside. He would have happily volunteered to shoulder the burden of luring away the guards- the Suggestion would seem more natural coming from a fellow American, after all- but the rules of his quirk still applied: Monoma could only use one at a time, and switching to Brainwashing from Metamorphosis would mean reverting back to his original appearance.
"Yeager, how's it going?" Predictably, one of the two guards seemed to know her, and Neito swiftly transitioned back into his friendly grin. "What are you doing all the way over here? Thought you had duty today."
"I did, but new orders came down the pipeline. I've been assigned to show some of our Japanese guests the databanks, part of an information exchange or something like that."
"Huh, is that so?" The other guard spoke up, with a decidedly less friendly tone. "Well lemme see some orders and your identification, and you guys can go ahead in."
"I believe Admiral Heishimoto already sent the requisite forms to your commanding officers," said Shinso, with barely a trace of a Japanese accent on his voice. "Haven't you heard?"
"Nah, I didn't see anything. How about you, Hansen?"
"Nope, nothing here. I can ring our CO if you wanna confirm, though, he-"
In the blink of an eye both men fell silent as Hitoshi activated his quirk, a soft smile playing about his lips.
"We've already received authorization to enter. You heard so from your commanding officer earlier this morning. You don't need to see our identification. We're clear to go about our business."
"You've… already received authorization." Replied Hansen, slowly yet confidently. "We don't need to see your identification. You're clear to go about your business."
"Move along."
"Move along," the second guard echoed, nodding eagerly. "Move along."
They passed through without issue after that, and it clearly took a good deal of effort for Twice to restrain his laughter until they were down the hallway and out of earshot.
"Hah, did you see that?! I forgot how hilarious your quirk is in action! Those suckers! They… they…" He shuddered and visibly suppressed an urge to split, pulling his white cap down tight over his tufted blond hair with a pained look in his eyes. "I'm whole. I'm whole. Don't worry."
"Shut it," Neito hissed, his eyes flitting back and forth, searching for any sign of more guards. Just moments later, two more walked past their little group, but hardly paid them any heed; as Monoma suspected, once they made it inside, it was generally assumed that they were supposed to be there. Striding confidently ahead, Captain Tessa Yeager led her three Japanese charges deeper and deeper into the heart of the building, until finally they were faced with another set of guards and a locked door between them and their objective, complete with a passcode and voice recognition detectors. Wasting no time with pleasantries on this one, Shinso stepped forward straight away and gave the two men a friendly wave.
"Good morning! We're here as part of the information exchange, have you heard about the new schedule?"
"No, don't think so."
"Me neither. You have any ID, sir? You can't be here without-" he fell silent just as usual, his eyes glazed over.
"Your presence has been requested by General Burke. Both of you, report to base headquarters at once."
"Yes, of course."
The two left without a fuss, and once he was sure the hallway was clear, Chaudron pulled a thumb drive-sized device out of a pouch on his belt, slid off the case, and held down on a button on the bottom. A stream of UV light sprang out of the front end, illuminating the keypad and revealing a well-worn pattern of fingerprints on the four numbers that made up the combination. Thank god for Hatsume, Neito mused as he punched in the code and pocketed her baby- this design in particular had come in handy more than once over the years. Next was the voice recognition: Yeager wasn't cleared to be here, but thankfully Lieutenant Colonel Ackerman was of a high enough rank that a simple recording of Toga saying his name sufficed to unlock the door, and Monoma led the others inside with a giddy grin.
The server room was filled with the cold, metallic hum of advanced machinery, so pervasive that Neito shuddered involuntarily when he stepped inside. The room was smaller than he'd expected, barely the size of a master bedroom, with three quarters of its available space taken up by towering server banks. After a quick check to make sure that they were alone, Chaudron glanced up to the nearest security camera, pulled out his phone, and pressed a single button.
"Alright, their surveillance feeds are on a loop now; it should be at least an hour before they notice, but judging by the size of the base, we only have thirty-five minutes until the guards return. Shall we move on to the next phase, if you're all feeling ready?"
"No problems here," replied Compress with a shrug- the other two nodded in turn.
"Excellent. If you would, then?"
His motions calm and methodical, Neito drew his pistol, pulled out the magazine, and placed the marble containing La Brava gently on the floor. Hardly a moment later, Aiba Manami sprang into being, and offered them all a brief greeting before darting over to the servers and beginning her work.
"I don't see why you had to leave Gentle compressed for all this," she grumbled, her face fixed in a scowl as she pulled out her laptop, plugged a cord into the nearest port, and began to tap away furiously at her keyboard. "He's plenty handsome enough to pass as military."
"He's too recognizable," Shinso shot back. "Same goes for Midoriya after he killed All Might, his face has been plastered on half the TV screens in the country for the past two weeks, not to mention abroad. Even the Americans might notice if they look close enough, and we definitely couldn't risk any JSDF personnel seeing either of them. Lucky for us, the international press has hardly been giving the rest of our little group any coverage- guess we're not important enough for them."
"What could you possibly be saying, my dear Hitoshi? That my gorgeous face isn't instantly recognizable the world over?" Neito let out a gleeful cackle before a stern glance from Shinso reminded him to reign in his personality for the time being- behind the screen of her laptop, La Brava scoffed in amusement.
"Keep dreaming."
She fell silent for a while after that, and the others positioned themselves to keep an eye on the entrance while remaining invisible from the outside. As Manami had reminded them multiple times during the planning phase of this operation, Kadena's firewall would be a much more formidable target than either U.A. or the Tokyo Police Department by far, reinforced with military-grade software that required her to be present in order to counter it effectively. Despite his best efforts to the contrary, though, Chaudron largely found himself detached and disinterested as Aiba went about her standard hacking procedure; his thoughts were still replaying their conversation on loop, twisting and writhing around a question that had been steadily gnawing at his mind like a parasite for fourteen years.
Not important enough for them.
Keep dreaming.
For as long as Monoma Neito could remember, he had always been the side character.
It started in grade school, when the other children teased and mocked him for his quirk, for how he had no innate power of his own. "You can't be a hero with a quirk like that," they told him, and deep down, part of him had believed them. "You can't do anything by yourself," they said, and he knew they were right. In all the games he played, all the books he read, all the movies and shows he watched, the protagonist always had some unique power, something about them that was singularly special- they were the answer to an ancient prophecy, or the long-lost heir to a throne, or possessed a skill that no one else did. And regardless of how many companions journeyed with them, there always came a moment at the climax of the story where they stood alone against the enemy, with no one but themselves to rely on, and emerged victorious- that was the test of a true hero. He understood even then that he could never be like any of them. That would never change. He was the companion, not the hero- perhaps the one who tragically perished right before the final fight, the one whose death spurred on the protagonist. No matter how keenly his heart arched for something different, he had come to accept this reality at an early age.
That didn't stop him from resenting it, though. He'd learned to bottle up his spite and anger and despair- those weren't traits that protagonists showed, after all. Protagonists were bold and confident- they smiled and laughed at danger. And so Neito had taught himself to smile and laugh as well, to throw modesty to the wind and present the image of a dashingly self-assured rogue- of someone who was worthy of attention and renown, someone whose very appearance and demeanor screamed in no uncertain terms that they were the main character. A few of the old bullies still made fun of him, but less and less often, until by the end of middle school he was the one who decided who was popular or not, who got to sit with him at lunch and who he'd walk home with. A dozen people vied constantly for his attention, boys and girls alike, and Monoma relished in the feeling of finally being wanted.
Then came U.A., and the swift and ignominious end of his brief reign as king. In the blink of an eye, everything he'd worked tirelessly to build up for himself crumbled away, and he was the companion again, doomed to the sidelines from the day of the USJ encounter, destined to watch as Class B played second fiddle to the media darlings of 1-A without their peers' experience fighting villains. Now he was surrounded by people who shaped the world around them like he'd only dreamed of doing, who were powerful enough to bring villains to their knees by their own merit- they were stronger than him, and there was no denying that. Suddenly it felt like all his childhood aspirations had become heavy burdens, dragging back down into the depths of despair, like some kind of curse. Once again, Neito had resisted, done everything he could make himself stand out as unique, as special even in comparison to the chosen few rising to the top in front of his eyes, people like Bakugo and Todoroki and Asui. He'd always known that in order to become the hero he wanted to be, he would have to resort to unheroic behavior, subterfuge and guile and stealth- that was the nature of his quirk, which required him to touch his target to stand a chance if he were to fight alone. In a society that worshipped self-sacrifice and defending the weak, his distinct style of heroism was often unwelcome, as he'd discovered during the hero course entrance exam, when a group of participants cornered and confronted him after the end of the test, accusing him of fighting unfairly with his strategy of watching them in action, then Copying their quirks to steal robot kills out from under them at the last moment. They'd all ended up failing while he passed, but regardless, the incident had hardly done anything but embitter him further.
His resentment started to leak out more and more as the school year started and time went on- there were cracks in his façade, moments of bubbling rancor that expressed themselves as ceaseless mockery of his rivals. He'd earned quite a few bruises on the back of his neck for his lack of self-discipline in that regard, as Kendo Itsuka made sure of- she'd been a pain at first, just as figurative as literal, the so-called 'big sister' of Class 1-B. Battle Fist was a textbook protagonist, as far as he was concerned, a frustratingly earnest student who didn't seem to understand the concept of what was and wasn't her business, with a quirk and looks ideal for the media. He'd tried ignoring her at first, then avoiding her, but no matter which tactics he employed, Kendo stuck to him like glue from practically the first week of school. She stubbornly refused to let him vent his anger on his peers in peace, following him around like reforming his flawed personality was some sort of personal crusade. It had taken him some time to come to appreciate her sheer resolve, but even she couldn't come close to changing his fate.
When Midoriya and Shinso approached Monoma at the gym one sunny afternoon shortly before summer break and told him that they knew a way for his talent to be recognized and rewarded, as insane as their proposal sounded, he hadn't been able to resist hearing them out. Unsure of his loyalties, and rightfully so, they'd only revealed the true extent of their plans gradually, bit by bit over the course of the next few days. Instead of frightening him, though, every step they took together deeper into the darkness excited Neito, made him feel alive in a way he never had before. Suddenly the answer that had been eluding him his entire life was right in front of him- instead of languishing away within the confines of the current system, doomed to obscurity, why not tear it all down and build a new one? Of course, he'd had stray, fleeting thoughts of that like all his life, but in Hitoshi, he found a kindred spirit, someone afflicted by the same curse as him, and in Izuku and Mei, he found those with the tenacity and resolve to shape that pipe dream into a reality, no matter how long it took.
And so, here he was, two years later. They'd made good progress towards their goal, to be sure, but every so often, Chaudron couldn't quite shake the feeling that despite everything he'd done to break free from the role he'd been given, he was still playing the companion to Seraph's hero. Midoriya was the undisputed boss of the Syndicate, and rightfully so. He'd earned his place, proven himself to be a leader worthy of respect a dozen times over, someone to be feared as much as he was to be admired. In a dozen different ways, Izuku's story ran parallel to Neito's own- he was quirkless, derided and passed over by those he looked up to, told that he could never be a true hero either, not without power. So what makes the two of us different? A quiet voice at the back of Monoma's mind refused to be silenced, the same one that had plagued him since his childhood. If we're both cursed, what makes him so special? Why does he get to be the one who leads us into the new world? Why not you? His brows drawn together in silent frustration, Neito grit his teeth and clenched one fist. No. Why can't you stop being so selfish, you miserable brat? He deserves to be our leader, learn to let someone else have the spotlight for once in your pathetic life. Keep proving yourself indispensable to him, and once the Syndicate achieves our goals, there'll be all the time in the world to write our own story. We just need to be patient a little longer, until we can-
"Mono… Captain Yeager. Are you alright? You kinda spaced out for a bit there." Shinso's hand on his shoulder brought Chaudron crashing back to reality, and he gave Synapse a swift nod.
"Yeah, no worries. Just… thinking about our exit strategy."
"Uh-huh." Hitoshi raised one eyebrow, then lifted up his arm and tapped one finger on his wrist. "I'm sure you don't need me to remind you, but you've got about ten seconds left on Copy."
"Of course I know that," Monoma replied with a huff, not missing a beat as he casually reached into his pocket. "It's too bad the woman doesn't usually wear a watch, though, I must say."
"If you feel like getting a new one after this mission is done, then I'd be happy to make some recommendations for you," chimed in Compress, holding out his forearm to display an elegantly crafted gold and silver-embossed masterwork with a crystal face, one of the many luxury items that was now within their reach given the Syndicate's massive wealth. "I've found this brand to be particularly pleasing thus far, their products all-"
"Shut up, let me concentrate. Something's… weird with this server."
All eyes in the room fell on La Brava when she raised her voice to interject, and Neito felt his stomach begin to twist and turn in unease as he watched her expression rapidly shift from vexation to genuine worry.
"W-what does that mean?!" Twice hissed, throwing a sidelong glance at the door- there was still no one there, and they had plenty of time left before the guards returned. "Are you saying they caught us?!" It was clearly still taking considerable effort for Jin to stay composed and keep from splitting- his body trembled as he spoke, the tips of his fingers ghosting along the length of the hidden scar on his forehead.
"No, it's not that." Aiba shook her head and glanced up from the screen of her laptop. "Trust me, if they had, we would definitely know, and things would be a lot louder. I've been extracting the data like we planned, and everything's going fine with that- no trace of detection, I'm covering my tracks as I go. But… getting into some of these files has been too easy. Not like they let me get in as part of a malware trap or something, but like… like they've already been broken into, and the backdoor pathways are already there, just waiting to be used. I ran a trace on the server traffic, just to check- I didn't find anything unusual a first, but when I checked for other Japanese IPs encrypting their signatures, a hotspot popped up in Aichi Prefecture."
"And… what does that mean?" Asked Hitoshi, after they'd all attempted to decipher her technical jargon on their own for a few seconds. Still crouched on the floor beneath them, Manami drew in a deep breath, trying her best to keep the panic inside her off of her face.
"It means that there's someone else poking around this server who's not supposed to be here. Someone from this country."
"Aichi Prefecture…" Compress frowned, and stroked his chin. "That's where Nagoya is, our first base. Are we sure it's not just… an echo from our own computers, perhaps?"
"Do I look like an idiot?" La Brava snapped. "I know our tech when I see it- even if Pandora or Longshot decided to follow along with the hack remotely without telling me, I would recognize their signature immediately, and neither of them is at the Nagoya HQ- it's abandoned right now, and I shut off all the servers when we left. Besides, I don't think the signal is coming from Nagoya itself in the first place…" A few more taps on the keyboard, and they all gathered behind her to see the result, even if they couldn't come close to understanding the maze of code overlaid on top of a map of the region. "They're doing their best to scramble their IP, but it looks our mystery hotspot originates from Deika City." Suddenly a red icon began to blink on one corner of the screen, and all at once Aiba's face went pale. "…And it's in use right now."
An icy hand wrapped itself around Monoma's heart, and he exchanged a glance with Shinso before meeting La Brava's eyes. When he opened his mouth to speak, his tone was calm and measured, yet urgent all the same.
"Can they see you?"
"I… don't know."
"How much of the data have you downloaded?" Synapse crossed his arms, his mouth set in a hard line.
"Well over half, around 70% by now. I can-"
"Disconnect immediately." Neito declared, leaving no room for argument in his voice. "We could already be compromised for all we know. I won't risk it. We leave with what we have, it'll have to be enough."
"Understood." As she reached up to unplug her cord from the server, though, a soft ping emanated from the laptop's speakers, and they all glanced down to find the text of a message superimposed across the screen from the browser's default communications app, followed by a second, then a third.
Anonymous: hello, new friends
Anonymous: don't be afraid
Anonymous: let's get to know each other
"Get out of there, now." In a single swift motion, Shinso leaned over and yanked out the cord himself, and La Brava followed his lead by holding down the power button on her computer until the screen went black, then quickly stuffing it back in its case.
"Alright, we're moving up the timeframe." Chaudron held his pistol up to his mouth so Gentle and Seraph could hear him. "We were detected by… someone. Not the Americans. Their motives and allegiance are unknown. The hack has been terminated, we're moving to the extraction point now to wait for the others. We need to get off this base as soon as possible, whatever that takes."
In hindsight, Toga was glad that the buzzing alert on her phone came when it did, because fifty minutes into the first panel conversation on the future of military-hero security partnerships in the Pacific, she was already midway through the process of nodding off despite her desperate attempts to keep her eyes open via pinching, tongue-biting, and a variety of other methods. The mobile was Lieutenant Colonel Ackerman's, of course- breaking the military-grade access code had only taken Longshot and La Brava around ninety seconds, and now Himiko had the contact information and GPS location of dozens of key personnel and assets at her fingertips, a pleasant bonus on top of the data that Chaudron's team was already extracting now. After taking a moment to subtly glance around and make sure that none of the other audience members were watching her, she looked down to find Monoma's- or rather, Captain Yeager's- name at the top of the notification, followed by a message: 'Potential threat detected. Get the principals off-site ASAP. Means up to your discretion, but keep this quiet at all costs. Stick to the plan whenever possible. We will be waiting for you.'
A frown crossing her face, Carmilla glanced back up at the panel. Doctor Shield was answering a question from the moderator at the moment, while beside him the American congresswoman and Shinkyu leader were nodding in agreement- Toga hadn't bothered even attempting to remember either of their names, much less those of the two other panelists seated beyond them, a Japanese admiral and an American general. The conversation seemed to be gradually wrapping up, though, and a quick check of the schedule of events confirmed that this particular segment of the conference would be over in ten minutes. He's also supposed to speak at some roundtable thingy next, she noted, poring over the list of participants as she attempted to recall the details of Midoriya and Yaoyorozu's strategy meeting earlier that morning; she'd largely been falling asleep during that one too, with only Izuku's presence to keep her awake. Well, looks like he'll just have to miss it. I'm sure I can make this sound urgent enough to get him out of here.
'Can it wait ten minutes?' She typed out in response. 'He's speaking now, it would raise questions if I interrupted. Event will be over soon.'
'Not one second longer than ten minutes,' came the reply. 'We need time to get to the exfil point regardless, but don't push it. There's too much we don't know about the situation. Keep the contingency plan on standby.'
'Understood.' Toga pocketed the phone again with more questions than answers, but in the grand scheme of things, the only thing that mattered was that she successfully retrieved David Shield- even Melissa was secondary. While an inconspicuous abduction with no alarms raised was the goal, if the case of an emergency, she was prepared to walk straight up the target, tranquilize him, and signal Kurogiri for an immediate escape portal, stealth be damned. Seems like things haven't gotten quite that bad yet, though. What a shame, I'd prefer to just get this over with the easy way.
With typical military efficiency, the panel came to an end with a round of applause a neat nine minutes and forty-four seconds later, according to Ackerman's watch, and the moment the speakers and audience stood to begin mingling before the next event, Carmilla shot to her feet and made a beeline for the stage, rehearsing her story in her mind as she went. By the time she arrived moments later, David was conversing amicably with the Japanese politician and several of the other panelists and audience members, and a closer look at the former's placard finally reminded her of his name - Hanadata Kouku, that's right! I remember seeing him on TV a lot these past few months. He's been pretty important lately, huh? Himiko raised one eyebrow in contemplation as she reached out to tap David's shoulder. Eh, he's not awful to look at, I guess. I can see why people would vote for him. I'd need to see him a lot bloodier to be sure, though.
"Doctor, can I speak to you for a moment? It's an urgent matter."
"Of course, Lieutenant Colonel Ackerman. If you'll excuse me, Mr. Hanadata, gentlemen, it seems I've been summone, d."
"Don't be too long, now," Kouku replied in Japanese, meeting Ackerman's eyes with a friendly smile. "I'd hate to see you run late for your next appearance, Doctor Shield."
A chill shot up Toga's spine, and after putting on brief expression of feigned confusion at the fact that the politician hadn't used English, she led David out of the room and back into the lobby; Melissa was waiting on a bench on the far side, her head buried in a volume of manga. Carmilla let out a sharp whistle to get the girl's attention, then gestured for her to join them.
"Everything okay?" She called as she walked over, glancing down at the time on her lock screen. "I thought I was gonna be waiting out here for at least another hour or two."
"It doesn't seem like that's going to be the case," Himiko replied, her tone serious. "Doctor, a few minutes ago, intelligence picked up a possible threat to your safety. Now, I can't divulge too many details, but as the head of your security detail, I had to make the call- we're going to be getting you out of here and over to Futenma ahead of schedule, so we can assess the situation and take the proper steps from there."
"Wait, wait, you're saying we're leaving now?" David's face took on an expression somewhere between confused and crestfallen. "But I still have another event to speak at, I can't just…"
"I'm afraid you're going to have to." Giving him her best sympathetic grimace, Toga clapped a hand on David's shoulder. "Trust me, last-minute cancellations happen all the time when it comes to politicians and the military. I'm sure they'll understand. What matters right now is keeping you and your daughter safe."
"Yes, that's… that's right." Shield nodded, a bit more confident now. "Alright. Show us the way."
Like taking candy from a baby, Carmilla mused, doing her best to keep a giddy grin from forming on her face as she led the two out into the sunlight and towards the motorpool where two black military SUVs were waiting to transport the Shields and their detail to Futenma. Standing in the shadows off to the side of the two vehicles, Monoma emerged into the sunlight when he caught sight of them approaching, still in disguise; if their group was following the plan, Atsuhiro had already recompressed himself, La Brava, Twice, and Synapse, so as not to arouse suspicion during the ID check they'd encounter when leaving.
"This is Captain Tessa Yeager," Toga explained. "She's a good friend of mine, and she'll be joining us for the trip to the Marine base."
"What about Diaz and Springer and the others?" Melissa asked, glancing around in confusion when the other members of Ackerman's squad failed to reappear.
"Don't worry, I'll explain more en route."
Himiko gestured for the others to join her in the lead car as she moved toward the driver's seat- David took shotgun while Melissa sat in the back, just as they'd hoped she would. By this point, it was all Carmilla could do to keep from visibly trembling with anticipation; they were nearing her favorite part of every transformation, the moment she could reveal to the target that they'd been deceived, and see the despair in their eyes as they realized that there was no chance of escape. Once she was sure that Monoma had taken up the wheel in the second car, she eased her foot onto the gas, and began to give her explanation as she drove towards the gate. She always enjoyed the intricate webs of lies that her stolen identities allowed her to spin, the little personal touches and embellishments she was able to add to her fictions.
"Apologies for the secrecy, guys. Essentially, we have reason to believe that someone in my squad might have been compromised by a criminal organization, one with a reason to want to see you harmed, doctor."
A shocked silence reigned for a moment after that, one that lasted through their ID check at the base's perimeter, which both cars passed without incident.
"Is it the Syndicate?" David finally asked, his eyes fixed on the horizon and his voice tinged with cold anger. When he finally turned his head to look at Toga, his face was twisted in pain. "Please… I need to know. After what they did to Sorahiko and Yagi… to Gran Torino and All Might… I wondered if they might come after me next."
"We have solid evidence that it might be," Toga intoned solemnly, prompting looks of horror from David and Melissa alike. Ackerman's phone buzzed in her pocket, and when Himiko slid it out just enough to catch a glimpse at the notification, her heart soared in delight. The message from Neito was only two words long: 'ALL CLEAR'.
"But Doctor Shield, I promise you," Carmilla purred, switching back to Japanese as she released her quirk and the excess flesh began to melt away from her body, "you don't need to worry one bit, because I swear on my honor that I won't let those nasty villains anywhere near you or your precious baby girl."
"You… no… I-It can't be…" David stammered, his eyes widening in horror as he recoiled away from Toga and reached for the door, only halting when she drew a knife from the strap on her thigh and held it nonchalantly up to his throat.
"Save your breath, Mr. Doctor. You're gonna need it soon, for all the screaming." She flashed him a wide grin, and in response he whipped his head around toward the back seat; he'd been so distracted by Toga that he hadn't noticed the brief flash of blue light in that direction moments before
"Melissa, you have to… oh, god…"
"Shhhh." Midoriya held one finger up to his lips, then greeted David with a friendly smile. "You don't want to startle me, now do you? Who knows what might happen." He nodded to the curved black blade he was currently holding against Melissa's throat, and chuckled as the girl squirmed in his grip. "She's a lively one, I'll give you that." Then he turned to meet the girl's panicked eyes, tilting his head curiously when that prompted her to strain against him all the more vigorously. "Now what do you think that's going to accomplish? You know, Melissa, you remind me of myself in more ways than one. We both have the same fighting spirit, and we were both born quirkless, cursed and scorned. With so much in common, I think we're going to be fast friends."
"You killed my uncle!" She gritted, her knuckles white as she attempted to pry off Izuku's arm.
"Your 'uncle' was a weakling and a hypocrite who deserved far worse than the death I gave him." Seraph declared, grinning as he watched David's furious reaction. "But we'll have all the time in the world to discuss him later. Darling, if you would?"
"Of course, baby." Her cheeks flushed red and her expression nothing short of mirthfully sadistic, Toga delivered a short slash across David's arm with her blade- it was coated with a potent tranquilizer produced for them by Pandora, and within moments the doctor had slumped over unconscious in his seat.
Just as she was reaching back to do the same to Melissa, though, both Midoriya and Toga's phones buzzed at once, and he gestured for her to pause for a moment as he pulled it out to check the screen.
Anonymous: it's not nice to ignore your friends
Anonymous: I have to let them hurt you now.
"What the fuck is this?!" Izuku growled, pressing a single key to speed-dial Chaudron, who picked up in a heartbeat. "Neito, explain. Is this the same 'unknown' who contacted you earlier?!"
"I think so, boss, but I swear, we terminated the connection, I don't know how they-"
Monoma trailed off as Kadena's sirens began to echo in the distance behind them, a low, wailing sound that spelled a death knell to their dreams of escaping undetected. The base was rapidly receding into the distance behind them past the rolling hills and crashing waves of Okinawa's shoreline, but Seraph knew better than to assume it would be so easy to get away now that their cover had been blown. Another press of a button and he was dialing Kurogiri and Hatsume back at the villa, but as the phone rang, the rhythmic thrum of propellers became audible in the distance, growing louder with every passing moment. Then all at once a V-25 Osprey burst into view over the sand dune ahead of them, whipping the long grass on its slope into a frenzy with its dual propellers. The side of the craft was emblazoned with the emblem of the United States Marine Corps, and as its chin-mounted rotary cannon began to spin up, Izuku could feel the breath leaving his chest in shock.
"STOP YOUR VEHICLES IMMEDIATELY," bellowed the bullhorn, as the Osprey adjusted its course and velocity to match their speed perfectly. "I REPEAT, HALT, OR YOU WILL BE FIRED UPON. YOU HAVE TEN SECONDS TO COMPLY."
As Midoriya's mind reeled in shock, Melissa seized the opportunity to elbow him in the stomach, and use the split second of freedom that the attack afforded her to dive to the other side of the seat, out of the range of Carmilla and her sedative-laced knife. Himiko shrieked in protest when she saw Izuku in pain, but she was forced to divert her attention back to the road or risk running off it when they came up on a turn.
"Not so fast." Flipping his blade around to a stabbing position, Seraph caught Melissa's foot with his mechanical hand when she tried to drive it into his face, dropping his phone out of instinct, and was about to drag her back within range of Toga when something flashed past his field of vision outside the window- someone with wings?!
Blinking to ensure his eyes weren't deceiving him, he followed the blur's trajectory over to the windshield as it pulled in front of them, convinced for half a moment that Hawks had somehow risen from the dead to exact vengeance on them. The truth, however, was just as horrifying: His arms transformed into the oversized grey and brown wings of a duck, Amajiki Tamaki was soaring ahead of them alongside the American Osprey, his legs and feet manifesting those of a chicken. Clutched in Suneater's claws was none other than Red Riot, and not a moment after Kurogiri's solemn voice finally echoed through the phone's speaker, Tamaki released his cargo.
"What do you need, Seraph? Is an extraction necessary?"
Midoriya's mouth fell open to respond, but before he could say a single word, Melissa's other foot whipped past his knife and slammed into his cheek, drawing a spurt of blood from his lips as several of his teeth were loosened. Anger flaring up inside him, he promptly plunged the blade into her calf in response, eliciting a cry of pain in the same moment that the entire car shook with the impact of Suneater's intern landing just above them. Kirishima Eijiro wasted no time tearing off the retracting metal panel covering the sunroof and smashing through the glass with his hardened fist. Before he could fully process what was happening, Izuku was being yanked by the arm out into the bright afternoon sunlight, and swiftly came face to face with Red Riot, whose toothy grin was somehow much less friendly than it had been the night before.
"Hey buddy, how ya been? Sorry to say it, but I think I'm gonna have to ask you to pay for that shot after all."
So it turns out that the 'Capture the Shields' operation might take a little bit longer than I expected! Next time we'll see the climactic confrontation between Suneater, Red Riot, the American military, and Team Syndicate, with Melissa as a potential wild card in the midst of everything, then skip back to the present for an update on Kendo and the heroes' situation. As those of you who are caught up on the manga can see, I'm doing my best to naturally integrate Re-Destro and the Liberation Army into the story as a rival organization, so hopefully you enjoyed that aspect of the story! Who do you think the anonymous contact is? Also, Monoma characterization! Along with some original elements, I tried to base a lot of his internal conflict and monologue off of the brief focus Horikoshi gave his backstory during one of the Joint Training Arc chapters- let me know if you want to see more vignettes like this for the other villains!
As always, please leave a review telling me what you think and where you want to see the story go next! Just a warning, though- unfortunately, due to finals coming up, I'm estimating that it's going to be about a month or so before the next update, but I promise it'll be a big one when it does come. Until next time!