Chapter 13: Hero Names and Allies
Joey
The day after the attack, Joey called his sister. Marie answered on the second ring. "Hey, Sis," he said in English. "Hey, Joey. Are you alright?" she answered. Joey shrugged, "Not really. I mean, I'm worried about you, Sis. So's Mom, everything feels more dangerous now." Marie sighed, "Yeah, I know, but this job is always dangerous. But I can't let that scare me. I actually have an important job now; the President asked me to act as a liaison with the Japanese Hero team that will come to help us catch those 'Brotherhood of Humanity' assholes. I can't name names, but I'm pretty sure we already know some or all of them." Joey smiled and thought of how his sister fought side by side with the previous 1-A generation. With them on her side, nothing short of God Himself could stop her.
"Can I talk to Denki-onii-san?" he then asked. Marie said, "Sure," and then handed her phone over. Denki answered, "Hi, Joey." Joey responded in Japanese, "Hi, Onii-san," and he could tell that took his brother-in-law by surprise, Joey and him really were like brothers; Joey addressed him comfortably and politely, but never THIS politely. Denki spoke a little more quietly and asked in Japanese, "That's a new one, Joey. Is this something you don't want Marie to know?"
"I can hear you, you know," Marie said loudly enough for the phone to pick up. Denki quickly said, "Uh, can you leave for a minute, babe? This is sort of a guy thing." Joey could practically hear his sister's disbelief but after a minute Denki said, "Okay, it's just me now." Joey continued, "Onii-san, I'm worried; about you, and Onee-san." He used the Japanese terms because he wanted his brother-in-law to know how serious he felt about this. Denki sighed on the other end, "I understand, Joey. But you need to believe in us. Our job is dangerous, but we're not alone now. I know some of our friends are coming here to help us fight those 'Brotherhood' guys, compared to All for One, these guys are nothing compared to him.
"You just need to believe in us, and in our training. We got to where we are because we're damn Heroes," Denki told him. Joey nodded, "Alright. I will, and I'll pray for you, and Marie." Denki told him, "Thank you, Joey. Is there anything else?" Joey's mind went to his…girl issues, but decided this wasn't the time for that, "No, not really. Give the phone back to Marie, and take care of yourself, Denki-onii-san." Denki answered, "I will, take care of yourself, Joey," and a minute later Marie had her phone again. "I'm done, Marie," Joey said in English, "I love you, and take care of yourself, okay?" Marie said to him, "I will, Joey, I love you too," and then she hung up. Joey took a deep breath, and then got ready to exercise.
He spent more time lifting weights than he usually did that day, it helped him relax, and keep his mind off of his sister and the terrorists she would be facing. Joey saw others come into the school gym, but everyone left him alone as they watched him pumping iron. Even Kasai gave him space as Joey kept on exercising before Jougo finally approached him, "Joey, class will start in thirty-minutes. You should get ready for class." Joey stopped and put down the weights, and that was when how tired he felt really hit him, he was light-headed and his whole body was sore; more than he ever felt before.
He got cleaned up and put on his uniform and had to run to reach the classroom, no time for breakfast. He got in his seat only two minutes before Shinso-sensei came in. He looked around at everyone and said, "Now then, I want to start by saying that some of my plans are going to change. Due to the events in the United States, several Heroes are leaving Japan in order to help there. I won't say who, but Lemillion-senpai is one of them. I was hoping that he would help you with today's assignment, but he had to get ready to leave. Today, you will be deciding on your Hero Names. Keep this in mind, your Hero Name is your identity to the public. It needs to describe you, your Quirk, or the image you want to sell to the public; a mixture of these or possibly all three. I've called another teacher here; she should be in soon. For the next fifteen minutes, decide what your Hero Name will be."
Joey sat at his desk and looked at the other students. All of them were thinking about what they wanted to name themselves as Shinso-sensei handed paper and markers at the front row to pass down. Joey took his paper and marker and handed the rest behind him and thought about his Hero Name. I can't be Wolfheart, Sis has that. But I'm still a wolf, a Wolfman. Plus, there's my Mom's Quirk. Shining Wolf? Nah. Wolfman? Cliché. He thought about it in English, Japanese, and Hindi, to think of a name that would work for him.
It was only two minutes when the door to the classroom opened up and he heard his Mom announce, "Hello my little Heroes!" Everyone turned and watched as Midnight strutted in, and to Joey's surprise and embarrassment he could smell a swarm of hormones come from most of the other boys and two of the girls in the room. He was more surprised that Midnight had changed her costume, her outfit was now all black, though still incredibly form-fitting, and she had a mask covering the upper-half of her face. He could hear Mine several desks over barely suppressing a high-pitched squeal as Midnight strutted into the classroom.
"Now then, I hear that you need help with deciding your Hero Names. You must choose something inspiring, evocative, provocative, and that flows off the tongue. When someone hears your Hero Name, they have to know that it is you, all you. The persona you show the world must bring hope to the hopeless, and fear to evil. There are so many things that your name can and MUST do if you wish to be a successful Hero. But above all, it must. Be. You. Not your family, although they may inspire you. Not your personal Heroes, though they too may inspire you. Your Hero Name MUST be you, and only you. That is all I can say for it. Now, show me what you got," Midnight told them.
As soon as she finished talking, the students all got to work trying to think up names for them. Kasai and Daiji were the first to finish writing, and soon one after the other students stopped, until Joey was the only one who hadn't figured out his Hero Name, and he had two minutes left to think of his name. White Wolf? No, Shiro? No. Shiro Okami? No… Joey struggled to figure out who he was, before, like a divine message, a name occurred to him. It was simple, but it was all him. An alarm sounded from Shinso-sensei's phone, and he declared, "Alright, I hope that you're all ready now. We'll start with Freeman-kun, show us who you are."
Joey stood up confidently and walked up to the front of the class and showed his Hero Name. "I am the light in the dark, Silverwolf," he proudly declared, and his fellow classmates cheered, he smiled as he sat down and then Eri stood up. She showed her Hero Name, "I am the guardian of the innocent, Onihime." Again, people cheered as she sat down, and Midnight was all smiles. Jougo was up next, and he declared, "I am the Knight in Shining Armor, Paladin!" He had the loudest cheers of the three of them and sat down with a big smile on his face. Rukia stood up and said, "I'm the swampy Hero, Miss Clay." The cheers were less ecstatic, but still a good sign.
Next up was Asui Satsuki, and she said, "I hope I can live up to Onee-chan's example, I'm the Tropical Hero: Ribby." There were cheers for her, and she was blushing happily as she sat down and Kurosawa stood up next, "I am the Portal Hero: Warp." There were loud cheers for him, and he smugly looked at Joey as he sat back down. Mine stood up next, flouncing around as she declared, "I'm the Eroge Hero: Ms. Succubus." Midnight giggled at that name, and there were a few wolf whistles mixed with some cheers for her as she strutted back to her seat. Daiji stood up next and said, "I am the Guardian of the Lost: Asura." There were respectful nods to this, and Daiji went back to his seat. Jorogumo came up after Daiji and the spider-boy declared, "I am the Creeping Hero: Arachnid!" He was cheered for this interesting name and sat back down.
Everyone chose good names, and everyone had at least someone cheering for them as they declared their Hero Names. Pellegrini named herself Minerva, Gomu was Rubber Girl, and Hikari called herself Blaster. Awata took a cue from his older sister, and named himself Bubble Boy, while Kasai chose to name himself Archangel, saying, "I wield the fiery weapons of the archangels, in the name of justice!" Takota chose the name Octogal, Kuroda decided to name herself Onryo after the yokai she resembled, while Nekoto chose the name Feline. Toyota named himself Wheeler, while Kota said, "I will take my parents' name, Water Hose." Mori was the last one to declare his Hero Name, and he said, "I am the Flora Hero: The Green Man."
Once everyone had named themselves, Midnight stood in front of them and happily gushed, "OOHHH! This is simply amazing! All of you clearly put a lot of thought into your names and chose good names for yourselves. I can just picture it now, the crowds cheering the names of Miss Clay, Warp, Silverwolf, Green Man, and so many others! Yes, you all have chosen well, and I'm just tingling in anticipation to see what you will do in the future!" Joey smiled at this, and she gave him a wink before she left the room.
Wolfheart
Marie, Denki, and the rest of the Frightening Five were all in their costumes and waiting at the Airport for the arrival of the Heroes from around the world. Civilians saw them and all of them were taking pictures, and many asked them questions about why they were there. It was Markus, aka The Headless Rider who assured the crowds, "We're here to greet some friends from Japan that Wolfheart met when she lived there. I don't know who's coming for sure, but they're some of the best Heroes in Japan." That calmed the crowd's fears that the Heroes were there to look for terrorists, but it didn't calm them down, and only excited them as they tried to find out which Heroes were coming to America. Deku, Lemillion, Froppy, Uravity, Nejire-chan, Suneater, Fat Gum, Mirko, and many other names floated through the air as they waited to see who was going to come. There would only be five of them, so they had to be good.
They heard the announcement for the International Japan Flight and headed out to meet their allies. As they got close, Marie smiled, she knew who would be coming to help them. They were all old friends. Marie transformed and waved her hands as she watched Midoriya Izuku, Yaoyorozu Momo, Togata Mirio, Todoroki Shoto, and Uraraka Ochako all walked out of the plan, dressed in their Hero Costumes as Deku, Creati, Lemillion, Shoto, and Uravity. Ochako noticed Marie first and waved at her, and pointed her out to the others, and they all ran over.
"WELCOME TO AMERICA!" Marie, Denki, Markus, Francesca, Lilith, and Sammy all declared as their Japanese allies came closer. "Thanks for the warm welcome," Momo said with a smile in flawless English, "I only wish we could see each other in better circumstances." Denki told her in Japanese, "What matters is that you guys are all here when we need the help. I know that we'll need all the brains we can get if we're gonna stop those Brotherhood guys." Marie then acted as translator/liaison as she introduced her American and Japanese friends more formally with many bows and handshakes, and a million pictures were taken on phones and cameras as surrounding civilians witnessed the meeting of the Heroes.
Once everyone was introduced and the Japanese Heroes' luggage was found, they headed out into a waiting van driven by FBI Agents. As they were driven, one Agent explained everything to the visiting Heroes while Marie and Denki acted as translators. The Agent concluded by saying, "We'll be meeting with the President himself so that he can talk with you, and the other forty-five Heroes coming from Mexico, Canada, France, the United Kingdom, Germany, the Philippines, Turkey, South Africa, and Australia. All of them have been hand picked by their governments, with Quirks that will help us to root out and outwit the Brotherhood of Humanity."
"That's a lot of allies," Midoriya pointed out in Japanese and Marie translated. "This is Classified information," the Agent said, "But the truth is that all of these nations have had similar run-ins with the Brotherhood of Humanity. Everyone believes that if we destroy the root of the problem here; all the evidence shows that the Brotherhood was founded in the United States, then it will be mostly dead." Marie translated and everyone nodded in agreement. It would be a long drive, so Marie and Denki informed their friends about what had happened to them personally since they moved to the United States.
Suddenly, Midoriya had a look on his face and in his best Deku voice yelled, "STOP THE CAR NOW!" Marie yelled it in English and the Agent driving their vehicle hit the brakes, just in time as barely three feet in front of them there was an explosion. "Everyone out now!" the Agents yelled as Marie heard the sound of something screaming through the air. Everyone jumped out as fast as they could, just in time to avoid being blown up with an RPG. "Where are they!?" Creati yelled and Marie smelled the air and tracked the trail of the missiles. "Half a click south by southwest!" Marie yelled, "Four of them!"
"We're on it!" Deku and Lemillion declared as Deku lifted up the older Hero and then flew off in the direction Marie told them. Marie watched them head off, and then her ears picked up another sound, coming right in her direction. "INCOMING!" Marie yelled as she saw it coming from the North this time. Cars were stopping and people were out as a traffic jam formed around the site of the explosions and Marie quickly told the Agents, "EVACUATE THE CIVILIANS NOW!" She then turned to her friends and said in English and Japanese, "We got something coming, it's no rocket, it's bigger, it'll be here in maybe a minute, get ready!"
Creati formed a large shield with her Quirk while Uravity started touching some of the debris and Shoto got his ice and fire ready, Denki charged up and the Frightening Five got ready as well. What approached from the North looked like a large suit of armor, like something from an old Iron Man film or something, only it was simply metallic grey with the black symbol of the Brotherhood of Humanity on its chest, a fist rising over a human skull. An electronic voice sounded from the Flying Armor, "Congratulations, and welcome to America," the voice said in Japanese. "It you're still alive, then that means that you avoided my welcoming party."
The voice was neutral and entirely artificial, whoever was speaking through the Flying Armor could have been anyone. "Why do all this!?" Uravity demanded, "You've slaughtered millions of people! Is this what 'Brotherhood' means to you!?" The Flying Armor responded to her, "This is a necessary sacrifice, for the good of Humanity as a species. Sometimes, in order to save a life, a doctor must remove a limb or an organ. Three million humans are nothing compared to the billions that will live in the future. I know that what I do is evil, but it is a necessary evil. Try to stop us if you can, Heroes; it will make no difference. The disease of Quirks will be erased from the world, and you all will have to find real jobs soon enough."
With this said, the Flying Armor took off. Shoto used his flames to try to fly after it and Denki got on his hoverboard as well, but before they got close to the Flying Armor, it sped up, so quickly as to create a sonic boom in its wake, making Marie scream in pain as her sensitive ears were overwhelmed by the noise. Barely a minute later, Deku and Lemillion returned, carrying four unconscious people dressed in all black hoods and robes. "What happened?" Deku asked. "We just received our welcoming committee," Denki told him sarcastically, "We got to find out just who the Hell these guys are!"
?
From his computer room, a tall man in a dark robe and hood with a noose around his neck watched multiple screens showing that all of his strike teams had failed to kill any of the arriving Heroes, although a dozen were injured, it was nothing that would kill them if they received medical attention within the hour. His Battle Armors had done as expected and were returning to base now. He nodded at the results everything was going according to plan; nothing could stop him. Even if he was captured, Humanity's future would be secured, and Quirks erased forever. The Quirk Singularity Event would be stopped, no matter what.
Author's Note: Sorry this chapter took so long. My job has had some schedule changes that leave me tired and with less time to write, although I'm going to try to make time to do so, until the end of Summer Vacation I'm going to be posting chapters slower. Thanks for reading and please be patient with me.