Hello, all, and welcome to another chapter of A Hero's Creed! The USJ is under attack; how will our specially-trained cinnamon roll respond this time around? Let's see!
Review Responses:
AkaDeca: I hope things continue to get interesting.
Gamelover41592: Thank you, though you don't need to fear for Iida... yet.
LEGOBRICK13: This chapter should clarify something about who knows what, but you'll have to wait longer for the full story. I like the scene you suggested, though, so there might be a variation on it some time in the future.
Monkey D. Conan: I'm glad you approve of this Izuku's choices. He technically does have a "Quirk", the others just don't know that it's a power that has been present in the world for longer than any country save Egypt. Maybe even longer than that. Still, he will need to use his training and wits to take down others who are bigger and stronger.
NinjaFang1331: Thank you.
realjoehundreadaire: The Assassins' Creed lore is massing and compelling, but most of its crossover potential comes in the form of the ideology and the shadow war between the Assassins and Templars, so you don't really really need to know all that much about it.
Souloman: Yeah, that first mission might have to wait. As for how everything is interconnected, I've been dropping hints through the chapters on how the later arcs are connected, though I haven't mentioned everything. You'll just have to wait and see the grand conspiracy unfold.
That's enough talk! On to the chapter!
Chapter 7:
Panic at the USJ
"Hello, wannabe heroes and NPCs!" the man with the hands yelled, spreading his arms wide. "We are the League of Villains!"
"For what dastardly reason have you come here?" All Might demanded.
"For you, oh Symbol of Peace! Today is your game over!"
"You think you will succeed where hundreds of others have failed?" the blond hero questioned.
"Of course, because we have a cheat item no one else had. Don't worry, though. You won't be the only person dying today. We're giving you a TPK with his raid!" He snapped his fingers.
"Game start!"
"Kaminari!" Aizawa barked, his eyes tracing the paths of the grunts charging the stairs. None of the notable villains had moved with Hand Guy's declaration. "Contact the school! Call for reinforcements!"
"Something's jamming us," the electric boy responded, a hand on his headset. "I can't get through. One of them must have a Quirk for it."
"Midoriya!"
"Yes, Sensei!" The young recruit blinked, his eyes taking on their golden shine. In his vision, the mass of villains became nothing but red, with Hand Guy shining like a fire. Oddly enough, the moster they had only had a core of red, like a wild animal that wouldn't attack unless provoked. One villain stood out, however, a man with a TV for a head glowing yellow. Izuku dismissed his Eagle Vision. "The villain with a TV head! He's the one with the Quirk jamming our signal!"
With his secret apprentice's words, Aizawa activated his own Quirk, his hair rising while his eyes gleamed red. A mass of the villains stumbled as they felt the man erase their Quirks.
"Villains are attacking the USJ!" Kaminari shouted into his headset, the erasure of their Quirks clearing the static that had been present. "They're here to kill All Might!"
"They just gave us a timer!" Hand Guy yelled. "Kurogiri!"
The purple flame guy responded at his apparent boss' call, the man vanishing into a pool of purple. Similarly-colored smoke swirled into existence in the center of the students, those who were faster than the rest turning to the villain in their midst.
"My apologies for this," the man said, spreading his arms. "We mean to kill All Might, so we can't have you children getting in the way of that."
"Stay away from them!" Thirteen ordered, the Space Hero pointing a finger at the villain and opening her suit. Black Hole formed, its gravity slowly pulling even the students toward it.
Kurogiri barely reacted, a portal forming both before him and behind Thirteen. The pull of the hero's Quirk failed to affect the wormhole, its gravity tearing at the back of her suit before she could cancel the attack.
"Thirteen!" Ochako cried as the hero let out a scream and went down. Iida appeared at her side in a burst of speed, the legacy student studying what he could do to try to patch up the pro.
"You fiend!" All Might yelled, charging forward with his fist cocked back. Kurogiri turned to him, a wave of his hand creating a portal that the number one hero fell into, unable to stop his own momentum. The portal spat him out in the center of the thugs, those with weapons or weaponized Quirks charging him. All Might grimaced but set to work, blowing away dozens of minor villains with each punch.
"Now then," Kurogiri continued, "we cannot have you all as a focused force. Please, scatter and be defeated."
"No!" Aizawa yelled, turning to erase the man's Quirk, but he was too slow as purple smoke enveloped the class. Izuku felt the ground disappear, sturdy land being replaced with the familiar sensation of falling. He turned, studying the landscape below as water soaked into his suit, his hood protecting his eyes from the rain. He was in the downpour zone, Izuku realized, the Assassin Recruit activating his Eagle Vision reflexively. A pile of broken branches below glowed white, Izuku closing his eyes and rolling himself over.
He landed in the pile with less force than he logically should have, the age-old and logic-refuting end to a Leap of Faith seeing him to the ground safely. He stayed put, allowing his other senses to study the surroundings. Water drizzled evenly from the sprinklers above, filling the forest setting with the smell and dampness of rain. Voices carried through the regular fssshh of drops on leaves, villains questioning where Kurogiri had dropped the students.
'So,' Izuku thought, 'there are even more villains scattered throughout the facility. Clearly, they don't know our skills, however, because the darkness of the forest only helps my stealth and my Eagle Vision is unaffected by the lack of light. I wonder which of my classmates are in here with me.'
"Monster!" a voice yelled from somewhere to the left. "I don't know what the Hell that thing is, but it doesn't look like a student!"
"Groaaawww!" an almost bird-like thing screeched, the squawk reverberating through the dome. Knowing the villains were distracted, Izuku hopped out of the brush and took a moment to climb into a nearby tree, settling in a fork. Climbing foliage wasn't necessarily his strong suit what with Izuku's urban training, but an Assassin needed to be ready for everything.
The student knelt on a tree limb, slowly making his way to another fork he could jump to. The rush of parkour thrummed in his veins as he hopped from branch to branch, some of the thinner ones shaking under his feet. He slowed to a stop, making one last hop to a higher branch.
Villains fled below him, none even thinking to look up. Even if they did, Izuku doubted they'd pick out his green costume from the rest of the canopy unless one of them had a Quirk similar to his Eagle Vision. Those below seemed to have a mix of more offensive Quirks, two in particular flinging dirt needles and sharpened leaves backward as whatever they were running from.
Out of the trees came a dark claw nearly the size of Izuku's whole body, the claw dragging the rest of its form forward. Dark Shadow screeched, its yellow eyes piercing through the darkness. Izuku activated his Eagle Vision for only a moment, finding that Dark Shadow glowed red while Tokoyami, who was being dragged along by his stomach, was still blue.
One more thing caught Izuku's attention, a blip of blue hiding behind a tree. The downside of his Eagle Vision prevented the verdet from seeing which other one of his classmates was in the area, but the shade of blue told him that it was not Tsuyu. He blinked away his powers, the blue being replaced with a flash of yellow. That narrowed down the possibilities but was nothing conclusive.
Well, Dark Shadow had the villains handled, so that freed up Izuku's time to find the exit. There would need to be an aspect of luck involved, but Assassins were no strangers to such a thing when one of their signature practices had the regular, theoretical possibility of breaking one's neck. Nodding to himself, Izuku turned and continued tree hopping, his eyes straining to keep track of the branches ahead and his mind and hands constantly ready for when he'd slip and need to catch himself.
It took several minutes for him to reach a wall, the young recruit nearly smacking into it as the inside of the dome was colored to match the rest of the artificial scenery. Now, for the luck aspect, picking which direction he would travel along the wall to find the exit. A single glance with his Eagle Vision confirmed that there were no invisible arrows or markers; that did not bode too well for his luck in that moment. So, following his gut, Izuku turned right and ran.
"God, this is boring," a voice sighed, reaching Izuku's ears at the same time his eyes registered bright light. He slowed, creeping along the branches and allowing the sounds of the rain to cover any noise his movements made. "I almost wish we were with the group."
"Not me, man," another voice said, this one a much higher pitch, almost squeaky. "Chichi. I know these are just fresh high school students, but they still made UA's hero course, so they gotta be strong. My cousin tried it years ago and it's damn tough."
Poking his head through the leaves, Izuku got a visual of the guys who were guarding the exit. One was buff with four elbows, two on each arm with an additional forearm between them, and with long hair tied up in a ponytail. His companion was reedy by comparison with whiskers and a pair of buck teeth that were sharpened to a point. His hair was gray and short and he carried a metal baseball bat.
"Your cousin?" Four Elbows asked. "Did he make it?"
"Nah," Mousey said with a shake of his head. "Tooth Bullets makes for a neat surprise attack, but it's kind of limited. The failure crushed him and he ended up getting arrested a couple years later."
"Damn. That sucks."
Izuku slunk back into the shadows, the thugs' conversation turning into background noise as he considered his options. He could easily take one thug down with a surprise attack; he knew he could after all the training Master Aizawa had drilled into him. The big question was if he risked a double takedown. Would that be considered excessive force for a hero student? Would that classify as such even if he did it to only one? There was a lot of force involved with an arial assassination technique, blades included or otherwise.
Following the law was so hard when he was trained to, you know, not.
So maybe an overhead takedown was too much. Luckily, the downpour zone had plenty of shadows and trees, so he should be able to take them out individually. His plan of attack made, Izuku slid down to the ground and ducked into the bushes and ferns.
He whistled.
"What was that?" Mousey questioned, raising his bat.
"I didn't hear nothing," his companion said. Izuku whistled again, causing Mousey to flinch.
"There it is. Something's out there, I'm telling you, Apo."
"Then go check it out. I'm staying here."
"Fine, but if I yell, you better come running with an apology."
"Whatever you say, Sheppard."
Sheppard stepped away from the exit, the man raising a hand to try to keep the rain out of his eyes. Izuku backed up and rustled several fern fronds, catching his attention. Sheppard's eyes narrowed, the thug frowning.
"Show yourself," the reedy villain ordered. Izuku did no such thing, backing up and shaking another bundle of leaves. "Don't make me come in there."
"It's just a bird or something!" Apo yelled from the doorway.
"Shut up!" Izuku shook one more bundle, an almost visual vein bulging on the mouse-man's forehead at what correctly interpreted to be a taught. "That's it, I'm coming in."
He waded into the foliage, several trees blocking line of sight to the exit.
Izuku struck, wrapping his arms around the man from behind. One hooked around his throat, cutting off the man's breathing, while the other gripped the wrist of the hand holding the bat. Sheppard struggled, but Izuku's shorter height prevented the man from getting his feet under him properly. Several seconds passed, his struggles lessening with each until Izuku was holding the limp body of the thug. Laying him on the ground, the student confirmed that he was still alive.
"Sheppard?" Apo called, having heard something. "You good?"
He received no answer, causing the thug to push off the glass doorway and stalk toward his companion's last known location. He would need no taunting, the man already stepping into the tall flora when he did not immediately see Sheppard. Izuku crept, positioning himself.
"Sheppard? Sheppard, this isn't funny. Stop it." He passed a tree.
Izuku spun, punching the double-jointed man in the diaphragm. Apo wheezed, struggling to breathe and unable to respond as his assaulter dove over his shoulder, wrapping an arm around his neck and bending him backward.
Apo's arms came up, finding purchase on either side of Izuku's head where he started to squeeze. The verdet hissed, tightening his own grip on the man's neck. The hands loosened slowly as Apo asphyxiated, joining his companion in unconsciousness. Izuku panted, dropping him with a muddy splash.
"I did it," the recruit muttered to himself with a smile. "Heh. Who said a Quirkless kid would never beat even a simple Quirk? I can't wait to tell Nekoi-sensei about this." Shaking the thought away, Izuku reasoned that he needed to let his classmates know that the exit was clear. The problem with portals like the one Kurogiri used is the lack of a trail to track and his roundabout route was too long to backtrack along.
Izuku pulled out his bo, elongating the metal weapon to its full length. He put his back to the exit and dug the end of his weapon into the dirt. He set forward at a jog, his bo carving a line behind him. He strained his ears and kept his Eagle Vision active, searching for signs of Dark Shadow or his fellow students. Several minutes passed with nothing except the periodic cry of a villain somewhere in the distance.
"Midoriya?"
Izuku slowed to a stop, casting his gaze over his surroundings, making sure to check above as well. The one who had spoken stepped out from behind a tree, their hands raised.
"Kaminari?" Izuku blinked. "So you're in here, too?"
"I could say the same thing," the blond chuckled. "Look, we need to be careful. Tokoyami's Dark Shadow is going berserk because of the darkness. The light from my Electrification kept it from attacking me, but it ran out of villains to beat up a couple minutes ago and is looking for more. Tokoyami can't control it."
"Then we better turn on the lights," Izuku said. "I found the exit, so the light switch should be there. I didn't want to flip it in case the villains overwhelmed Dark Shadow because of it."
"Wait, you saw Dark Shadow? And it didn't attack you? How?"
Izuku grinned, pointing a finger upward toward the canopy. "No one looks up."
"Dude, that's awesome! Did you train in parkour or something?"
"Something like that, but we have a Quirk to weaken before we return to the plaza. Aizawa-sensei and All Might-sensei should have it covered, but I'd still like to hurry back and try to help as soon as possible."
"Yeah, man. I get it. Let's go."
"Try to keep up." Izuku turned, dashing off to follow the line he'd made. Kaminari tried to keep up, but Izuku still had to slow down a little so he didn't loose him. Light poured in from the outside, the doors made of bulletproof glass. The extra light brightened the area well enough for the pair to find a panel to the right of the doorway. "Kaminari, we've got a problem."
"What is it?" the blond asked, walking over. The panel was dark, unresponsive to Izuku's prodding.
"It looks like they cut the power off. The door probably won't open without it, much less the lights coming on. I could use my eyes to find a breaker box, but I really don't want to take the time to do that while our teachers are out there fighting."
"Let me check it out." Izuku stepped aside, opening the space for his classmate. Kaminari studied the panel, getting a similar lack of response. Sparks flew as he activated his Quirk before touching the panel again. The lights flickered and the artificial rain stuttered, forcing Kaminari to push harder, electricity flowing into the machine. It beeped.
"You did it!" Izuku called. Kaminari spun, holding a thumbs up.
"Whey~"
Giving him a light push so he could do the rest, Izuku tapped through the menu, turning off the rain and turning on the lights. The light was almost blinding, a screech from Dark Shadow echoing through the dome, giving Izuku a vague idea of the third student's location.
"Stay here," he told Kaminari. "I'll go get Tokoyami."
"Whey~"
Izuku took to the trees once more, hopping his way to where the cry came from. He found Tokoyami crouched in a small field, the bird-headed student crutching his stomach. He approached slowly, getting as close as he dared while remaining in the trees. Holding a vertical branch, Izuku swung around so his feet were braced on a small knot, nothing directly below the rest of his body.
"Tokoyami?" The bird-headed boy started at the sound, looking around the field for its source. "Up here."
"Midoriya?" Tokoyami gasped. "Why are you stalking the shadows of the canopy?"
"I had to be sure you had Dark Shadow under control again. You good?"
"I think I will spread my wings in the light for a time," Tokoyami answered. "Do you bear news?"
"Kaminari told me Dark Shadow took care of the main group of villains, I cleared the exit, and he unlocked the door, so we can get out."
"Auspicious news, Midoriya. Let us make haste."
Izuku let him back to the exit, all the back and forth bringing forward the familiar burn of exercise in his legs. Kaminari was waiting for them at the door, having recovered from his short-circuiting. Together, the trio stepped out of the downpour zone into chaos.
It looked like several other small groups had overcome their obstacles faster or had not been caught in the portals at all. Tsuyu, Mina, and Ojiro were soaked as they exited the shipwreck zone while Todoroki and Jiro stood before the conflagration zone, said zone having been completely frozen over. Before the rockslide zone were Momo, Ochako, and Shoji. Every group seemed unsure of what to do about the situation in the central plaza.
Said situation looked pretty bad. All Might was in the middle of a full-on brawl with the bird-beaked goliath, each of their punches resulting a shockwave. That left the rest of the goons for Aizawa, but something had happened, resulting in his left arm hanging limply. The number of mooks that were down was impressive, but it was like they simply would not end.
"Bad news, Tomura Shigaraki," the portal villain said, the heteromorphic man appearing beside the leader. "Our time is almost up and the Nomu appears no closer to overpowering All Might."
"We can't leave without an achievement," Hand Man responded. He turned, his eyes studying the battle's viewers. "If we can't take All Might, we can at least ruin his run!"
Shigaraki shot forward, skipping past both All Might and Aizawa to charge the place where Momo, Ochako, and Shoji were watching. He was fast, faster than his lanky frame suggested he should be. He apparently had also not seen Izuku's group exit the downpour zone, for the landslide zone was just beyond it. Izuku's body moved before he could think, muscle memory carrying his footsteps forward.
"No!" the assassin recruit yelled, whipping out his rope-dart. It stabbed into Shigaraki's forearm with a spray of blood, barbs on the dart locking it in place as Izuku pulled the rope part taught.
"Shit!" the villain hissed as the force pulled him around to see the source.
"Dammit, Midoriya!" Kaminari yelled as the villain scowled, grabbing the rope. It decayed under his touch, a feral snarl on his face. "Now he knows we're here!"
"Then he's not focused on the others," Izuku replied. "I'll take him on a chase. Go help Aizawa-sensei deal with the thugs."
"You can't be serious, Midoriya."
"Don't have a choice now." He gestured toward the villain stalking toward them. "I've got an idea of his Quirk, so leave him to me."
"You better not die on us!" Kaminari ordered, grabbing Tokoyami by the arm and leading him toward the plaza. Shigaraki ignored them, his focus on the student who had wounded him.
"Now, who the Hell are you?" Shigaraki demanded. "Some kind of ninja wannabe?"
"Something like that," Izuku answered, drawing his bo with a spin impressive enough with a hope of making the villain pause. He dropped into a stance, ready to fight or flee at a second's notice. Eyes narrowing, Izuku tried to step to the side, only for the villain to match him, moving to cut off his escape. "So, you're here to kill All Might?"
"That's right. With the fall of the Symbol of Peace, this rotten society will crumble into chaos, ready to be molded by the whims of the strong."
"Then that must mean you have something that can actually hurt All Might, but how's that turning out for you?"
"You better shut your mouth, brat. You're starting to tick me off."
"Why? Because your plans are falling apart and your ideals are crap?"
"What did you just say?" Shigaraki hissed. "You did not just insult Sensei's ideals."
'Sensei,' Izuku repeated in his mind. 'So he's not the one that planned this. There's someone else.' Aloud he said, "With this many thugs, you all must have a huge messaging champaign or a lot of money."
"We don't need it. There are plenty of people sick of this shitty MMO server with All Might at the top. It's time for a change of official leadership."
A flash of red caught Izuku's eyes, dragging his attention to the man's chest. There, on a small necklace, was one symbol he'd been trained to recognize and look for. A symbol that had brought despair to millions throughout the millennia.
Around Shigaraki's neck was the Templar Cross.
"Izuku, duck!"
Doing as bid, Izuku rolled to the right, avoiding a Zero Gravity boulder that just missed beaning the apparent Templar villain. The boulder hit the ground with a plume of dust, a net that was hidden in its shadow wrapping around Shigaraki. He hissed, grabbing the net. It began to decay as soon as all his fingers touched it, the pale man turning to see that Momo, Ochako, and Shoji had approached them.
Izuku took advantage of his momentary distraction, charging in with his bo. The metal came around in a blur of gray smacking into Shigaraki's thigh. He let out a grunt of pain and reached for the weapon, but it was already moving again. It was a testament to Izuku's training that he landed five different hits in half as many seconds. He spun, spinning his bo into a thrust that sent the electrified end into Shigaraki's gut.
It never reached, Shigaraki apparently seeing the attack coming. He caught the end in his palm, a pained snarl baring his crooked teeth. His fingers came down, making contact with the metal which, like all the other things affect by his Quirk, disintegrated. Izuku's eyes widened as Shigaraki used what was left of the weapon as it fell apart to pull himself forward, his other hand coming for the student's face.
"Midoriya!"
Shoji appeared behind the man, one of his Dupli-Arms all forming fists to punch Shigaraki in the side of the head. The sudden blow sent the villain careening to the side, his hand missing Izuku's face but grabbing his arm. It slid downward as Shigaraki fell, destroying the sleeve of Izuku's suit before coming in contact with his skin.
For a moment, Izuku didn't know what happened, his eyes following the villain as the momentum sent him rolling over the ground. The next, a thousand nerves cried out in pain, dropping Izuku to his knees. Hesitantly, he looked to assess the damage. It was like his skin and half of his muscles from his bicep down to his wrist had been sheered away, the bones and cartilage of his elbow exposed to the air. His hidden blade was exposed but had somehow avoided disintegration.
"You just saved my life, Shoji," Izuku grunted, swallowing the pain. He covered his bracer with his other hand, trying to keep it hidden as Momo and Ochako ran over. "Thanks."
"Dammit," Shigaraki hissed, the one called Kurogiri appearing from a portal beside him.
"Tomura Shigaraki, we need to go."
"Screw that! I haven't managed to kill a single brat yet!"
"No, but All Might has finished his battle with the Nomu. He was victorious and we haven't much time before the other heroes arrive."
Shigaraki glared at the four students, three of them ready to fight and the last with determined eyes despite having one arm out of commission. Electrical burns ran up his forearm from the attack he'd blocked, burns sure to scar looking like a horrible, inflamed snowflake with its middle a black circle on his palm. The doors to the outside burst open, a host of other UA teachers charging through. Kurogiri grabbed Shigaraki by the shoulder, pulling him back as a bullet pierced the ground where he'd been standing.
"Fuck!" the man cursed. "Fine, Kurogiri, take us back!" Kurogiri spread, his body turning into a portal that began to suck his boss inside. As he vanished, Shigaraki pointed at the group. "You all are dead, got it? The League of Villains will come for you!"
They vanished, allowing the group the relax. With the loss of adrenaline, Izuku realized how much pain he was in and that a pool of blood was growing below him. His hissed, darkness creeping into his vision. Consciousness fading, he fell, the last thing he heard being the sound of his name on his classmates' lips.
Momo Yaoyorozu pressed a fist against her chest, her lips pursed in worry as she watched the medics take Izuku out of the building. His arm, the one the villain had mangled with a single touch, was bandaged as best she, Ochako, and Shoji had managed with their combined first aid knowledge and the bandages she'd created with her Quirk. The last couple minutes of the villains' attack kept playing through her mind, starting at Izuku's foolish interception of Shigaraki's charge toward them and ending with the verdet falling into a puddle of his own blood.
Her grip tightened on the device that had been strapped to the boy's wrist. It was made of leather and contained a flat blade with a hook on its end, the sides sharpened to deadly edges. A part of Momo wanted to know the purpose of such a device, but the majority of her mind was too worried about her classmate to consider such a thing. Detectives were slowly working their way through the class, taking statements while those that needed it were being treated by medical services.
As she stood there, thinking, Aizawa approached her, his broken arm in a sling and an eyepatch covering the left side of his face. He gave a small cough, dragging the young woman from her thoughts.
"Yaoyorozu, what have you got there?"
"This?" she blinked, holding out the device. "It was a part of Midoriya's costume and survived that villain's destructive Quirk. We had to take it off to bandage his arm."
"I see," Aizawa nodded. "Thank you. Your quick thinking possibly saved Midoriya's arm from total uselessness."
"Will he be ok?" Momo asked. "That villain was charging us, but Midoriya intercepted him before he could reach us. We had no idea what his Quirk did at the time and it's likely he could have killed one of us if Midoriya had not acted."
"He'll need to stay in the hospital over the weekend or longer, but with various healing Quirks, Midoriya should make a full recovery."
Momo released a breath she didn't know she had been holding. Aizawa help out his hand.
"That device is a part of Midoriya's hero costume. Give it to me and I'll return it so it can be woven into the repairs."
"Ah, yes." She handed the bracer over, but a flash of light caught her eye, the tip of a sharp piece of metal hiding below the tattered ends of Aizawa's sleeves, a bracer similar to Midoriya's there in the shadows. She saw it for only in instant before it was gone, making the girl question if it was just her imagination. Her teacher turned away and began walking back the way he'd come.
"Take your time to give your statement," he advised. "I know you probably have training for it as the heiress to a large corporation, but you may still be in shock. Tell the students that the rest of your classes are canceled for the day. We will evaluate everything Monday morning."
"Aizawa-sensei!" she called, the man stopping. "Can I tell them about Midoriya? That he'll recover?"
"I don't see why not. It takes the job off me." He gave a backward wave before stepping into the throng of teachers and faculty that were present, most likely discussing how this attack happened and how they would move forward from here. Momo frowned, replaying the interaction in her mind.
Something didn't add up.
End of Chapter 7
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-SwordOfTheGods