Izuku found himself floating in the void again. His body covered in smoky shadows, he tried opening his mouth and speaking, but no words would form. At most the shadows around his mouth would flicker, but they would not vanish.
"He's here."
Izuku whirled around, eyes scanning the environment. Still just darkness.
"Again? Damn, who wants to try this time?"
He kept rotating. It sounded like they were both near and everywhere all at once.
"Well definitely not you."
All different voices. Always the same voices.
"Oh shaddup."
Izuku stopped. He looked up, or up in his perspective. Shining brilliantly in the void were eight stars. Izuku gazed at them one-by-one, trying to gaze beyond the light and see what lay beyond.
"Hey, I think he can see us." During those words, the white star pulsed, followed by the red star flaring.
"Shit, he can. Hey, if no one is going to-"
"I will."
The gold star descended and slowly a shape began to form. Izuku squinted, trying to make out their appearance through their dazzling aura.
"Izuku," they spoke and their voice was hauntingly familiar. So familiar it seemed to hurt. A hand reached out and grasped his shoulder, a vibrant warmth radiating through him. "Izuku, I-"
"Izuku, wake up."
Izuku was awake in an instant, quickly taking in the dark room. His senses were on high alert and have been since the night before. Nothing had come of their patrol and they'd switched off with their classmates. And it would seem they were back.
"Hitoshi?" Neito grumbled from the bed over. "Shut up and let me sleep."
"Sorry, but you need to see this." Hitoshi threw open the curtains and Izuku, having expected harsh light to shine through, was caught off guard by the grayish-white. He stood, joining Hitoshi by the window and stared out at the town. Or tried to. He couldn't very well see beyond the massive snowstorm obscuring their vision.
"What in the hell?!" Neito gawked as he peered between their heads. "It wasn't snowing this hard last night!"
"Well, it is now," Izuku rubbed his eyes, the last vestiges of sleep disappearing. He had an inkling he dreamt of that place again, but he couldn't be sure. He usually only vaguely remembered what it looked like and never what actually went on within them. This one was no different apparently. He did think he may have actually heard someone this time, but that was the extent his mind was allowing him to remember.
"Say, didn't the forecast say this week was supposed to be free of snow?" Neito asked.
"It was," Izuku nodded before shivering. He blinked, just now realizing how cold he was.
"Hey, why isn't this turning on?" Neito grumbled, waving his hand irritably at the motion sensor light on the ceiling.
"Power's out, isn't it?" Izuku glanced at Hitoshi, who nodded grimly.
"Snowstorm took out the power not long ago," He told them. "And with all communications down…"
"We're cut off from the rest of the world," Neito groaned. "This just went from bad to worse. Something tells me this isn't just a serial killer anymore."
"It does seem too coincidental," Hitoshi muttered.
A thought struck Izuku. "Setsuna!" He grabbed his coat from the wall and bolted from the room as he tugged it on. He ran through the inn's halls before sliding to halt in front of Setsuna, Ibara, and Yui's room. He knocked and waited, rocking on the balls of his feet. The door slid open a crack and Ibara peeked out.
"Oh, Izuku, come in," she greeted, opening it wider.
"Setsuna, is she okay?" He asked hurriedly as he came inside.
"'Sup," Setsuna flashed a grin at him from beneath a veritable mountain of giant sized blankets. "It's cold."
"You enlarged them," Izuku said after a second.
"Mhm," Yui nodded as she sat on the floor wearing a red coat, shivering slightly.
"Hey, girls," Itsuka appeared in the doorway. "We-Oh, and Izuku. We're all going to gather at the hero agency to come up with a new game plan. Setsuna, are you going to be up for this?"
"You bet, Prez," Setsuna said, her arms shifting beneath the blankets before she gave up. "Uh, I'm gonna need help getting out of here."
"Alright, so here's the situation," Yamatora addressed the crowd of agency employees and hero students as she stood atop the front desk, the latter group bundled up in their winter costumes.. "At exactly 6:29 in the morning, the snowstorm that came out of nowhere took out the powerstation. Save for the few backup generators that some of the businesses own, and a few that residents own for themselves, we are out of power. Thankfully the town's water is still running, but all communications have been cut off, and have been since last night. Our best guess is that a malfunction occurred at one or all of the cell towers placed around the mountain. Either from a natural cause-" Her expression darkened. "Or deliberate sabotage."
A few murmurs broke out and Izuku saw uneasy glances exchanged between his classmates.
"There's still no signs of our murderer either," Yamatora went on. "And for all we know, the murders, the loss of power and communications, and even the snowstorm, are all connected. And with Turnback MIA…" She took a deep breath. "I've assumed command of all town and heroic operations. And while we need Turnback to help us find our killer, or killers, we need to fight one battle at a time. And right now our biggest one is keeping the residents of Fuyu safe and alive. To accomplish that, we're going to need to get word out for help."
She crossed her arms. "I need a team of volunteers to go down the mountain and get help from the nearest city's officials and heroes. The rest of us will remain here and provide support for the town. And yes," Yamatora gazed across the UA students. "I'm going to have to ask for your help, students of UA. Aside from me, and a few employees here, you are by far best suited for the current situation."
Class 2-B stood straighter, and not one looked away from her gaze. Yamatora took a moment to stare at them before nodding. "Alright then, volunteers? Preferably ones who know they can get down the mountain without issue."
Izuku saw Setsuna wince out of the corner of his eye. While her Quirk was good for its high versatility and movement, and normally would be one of the best for getting help quickly, in these frigid conditions she wouldn't be able to. The downside to being cold-blooded.
"I can go," Izuku stepped forward. "With my enhanced speed from my Quirk, I should be able to make it down the mountain fast."
"You can't go by yourself!" Setsuna rounded on him in an instant.
Izuku met her gaze. "I'm the best option. With my speed and agility, I shouldn't have any issue navigating my way down. And should it come to it, my strength should be enough for an unexpected situation."
"You're our golden boy for a reason," Neito said smugly.
Setsuna turned on him, but before she could say a word, Yamatora cleared her throat. "I'll admit, I don't feel comfortable letting you go by yourself. So…" She hesitated. "The best course of action would be for me to go with you."
"Huh?" Setsuna blinked at her.
"Isn't it your responsibility to stay here and keep charge of the ongoing situation?" Itsuka asked.
"It is." Yamatora's fists were clenched, a clear sign she didn't like this idea either. "But I looked at your files. Midoriya is right, he's by far the best choice among you. Save for you in more ideal conditions, Tokage, no one would be able to keep up in this weather for long. Except for me." She hopped off the desk and approached Itsuka. "I've heard of your class' exploits during your first year. It was an unprecedented first year, along with obtaining your Provisional Licenses much earlier than usual. But you've all proven yourselves, which is why I'm putting you in partial command of the current situation in Fuyu, Ms. Kendo."
"Me?" Itsuka stared at her in open shock. "But-"
"Your record speaks for itself," Yamatora raised a hand in front of the orange haired girl's face. "Of course, you'll be working in tandem with the agency's most senior employees, so you won't be making decisions alone." She studied Itsuka for a moment. "If you don't feel up to it, we can scrap this plan. But I read your file. You'll make a good leader, Battle Fist."
"You know, and this isn't me doubting Itsuka, cause she sure as hell is a good leader," Neito said, stepping forward. "But if I had your hair, I could use your Quirk all the way down the mountain and you could stay here."
"I thought of that, but the versatility of your Quirk would be better suited up here," Yamatora told him.
Neito nodded. "Yeah, figured you'd say that. Could I get some of your hair anyway? Might come in handy."
"Okay," Itsuka finally said, standing a little straighter. "I accept."
Yamatora nodded, her posture relaxing slightly in relief. "Then while you hold the fort here, Midoriya and I will descend the mountain. Now-" She looked back across the assembled group. "I need everyone else working double time to the townsfolk and tourists to Town Hall. I also need a separate group to help gather supplies. Food, water, and fuel for the backup generators. We want to be prepared for the worst. Can I get volunteers for that?"
Not long later everyone was on the move. The blizzard had gotten steadily worse and the snow was piling up quickly in the streets, making it both hard to see and navigate. Izuku couldn't help but wish they had invited Class 2-A along, or at least just Shouto. His fire would've helped immensely.
"Follow me!" Yamatora took the lead, her transformation Quirk in full activation beneath her coat as she practically flew across the snow. Izuku took off after her, his speed and energy thankfully enough to make headway through the thick snow and keep up with Yamatora. Part of what made it difficult was that the blizzard and morning darkness made the world a dark white and he could just barely make out Yamatora ahead of him. He was currently keeping his output at a comfortable 20%, and while he could reach 30% safely, he felt the need to conserve as much of his energy as possible for the upcoming ordeal.
The heroine glanced at Izuku and bared her sharpened teeth in a grin. "Your Quirk is as good as the files said! How long can you keep it up for?!"
"At the power it's at currently-!" Izuku frowned, thinking. "Just past a half hour before taking a little time to rest! Repeated usage will decrease how long I can hold it for though!"
Yamatora nodded to the backpacks she and Izuku were both carrying. "That's why we have what's in here! Alright, let's make some good headway before stopping to rest, Paragon!"
Izuku nodded wordlessly as he pulled his thick scarf up across his mouth and matched her pace as they tore out of town and began their descent down the mountain.
"FOLLOW ME!" Juzo bellowed as he and Nirengeki led a group of civilians through the snow in the direction of Town Hall. He would periodically soften the snow into a long line of mushy material before hardening it back into a sort of solid-ish ground.
Itsuka watched him for a second before ducking inside the convenience store where she, Tetsutetsu, and Reiko were raiding for supplies. Seeing that Tetsutetsu was stacking wrapped packages of bottled water, she joined Reiko in grabbing as much canned food as she could and filling up the crates they brought.
It didn't take long for them to load up everything and make for the door. That's when an item attached to Itsuka's hip crackled.
Before Yamatora had left with Izuku, she had passed around walkie-talkies to several members of Class 2-B. There wasn't enough for everyone, but each group would have at least one, and while they had a good range, wherever Turnback was, he was too far out to get a signal. That, or something happened to him. It was times like this that she wished Yoamomo was here. With her Quirk…
Shaking that fruitless thought from her head, Itsuka set down one of the crates and pressed down on the walkie-talkie. "Battle Fist here."
Crackling, then, "Gevaudan to Battle Fist, there's no more fuel."
Itsuka's blood froze. "What was that? Repeat that please."
"The store we're at is out of fuel for the generators. The place is trashed, Battle Fist. This looks deliberate. The spare generators are also toast. Practically torn apart."
Itsuka cursed silently. "Salvage what you can and meet back up in Town Hall. We should have all the residents and tourists rounded up soon. We'll need to prepare for the long haul should the generators run out of fuel before help arrives."
"Roger that."
Itsuka's arm went limp as she lifted her finger from the button. This was starting to go from bad to worse. As she enlarged her hand to grab the crate, she prayed that Izuku and Yamatora would be able to get help sooner rather than later.
"That's about half of the people accounted for," Hiro, one of the police officers helping out at town hall, reported to Setsuna as they looked over a list of names. Town residents and tourists all compiled into one list. Normally this sort of list wouldn't be compiled unless it was an emergency, and this definitely counted as one.
Setsuna nodded while in thought. "I suppose you've already gone over who could be our potential killer."
He nodded. "Got nothing. Only Ice-related Quirk is an emitter that can create a cold mist, but that's the extent."
"Hm…" Setsuna's thoughts were broken as the doors to Town Hall burst open, letting in a fresh wave of freezing wind. Shivering, her eyes widened a fraction as she watched the two police officers haul in a stringy blue haired man in an orange jumpsuit with a coat draped over him.
"Who's that?" Setsuna asked as they forced the guy, who she now saw was in handcuffs, towards the back of the room and through a door.
"Ah, that's our purse snatcher from yesterday," Hiro informed her. "Can't really leave him at the station with the power out and the station's generator being moved here."
"I suppose not," Setsuna muttered. Listening to her gut, she kept an eye on that door. Just in case.
The scenery around him was a blur as Izuku ran, his breathing coming out fast. He was going to need to rest soon. And from what he could barely make out, Yamatora probably needed a break as well. Just as he was about to open his mouth to suggest as much, a multi-fractured light erupted in front of her and she was sent flying back. Izuku changed course on instinct, leaping and catching her before landing back in the snow.
"Villain?" Izuku brought up his fists and bent into a defensive posture after he'd set her down.
"I don't think so," Yamatora stood, sniffing the air. "Can't smell much in this snowstorm, but…" She frowned, moving back towards where the light had appeared. She reached out a furry hand until it appeared to hit something solid. Fractured light rippled beneath her touch and in the surrounding air. She pushed, then with both hands, the contact creating more fractured light.
Snarling, she backed up. "It's a barrier."
Izuku joined her and tried feeling it. It was like the light was pushing back against him. Setting his gaze, he told the heroine, "Back up." She did as he said and he himself took a step back as well before pulling back his arm. One For All shot through his body before he threw the punch. The next thing he knew he was being caught by Yamatora as he watched the fractured light rippled outwards from his impact. Before the blizzard could cover the light entirely, he saw how it curved high up into the sky. Almost like a-
"Dome," Izuku spoke as Yamatora helped him stand. "It's a dome."
"Dammit, this is why we can't send any communications," Yamatora growled. "How big?"
"From what I could see, it's large enough to cover much of at least this side of the mountain," Izuku answered with a grimace. "Yamatora, if we can't break through, then-"
"No one can get in," she finished, slamming her hand into the barrier. "Even if they know something's wrong, they can't get in." She balled her hand into a fist, her feline eyes narrowing. "We're trapped."