Hello all, and welcome back to A Hero's Creed! I hope you're excited for this next chapter, because I'm excited to put it out for you! We finally get to see the Isu Temple underneath I-Island, so what does it have in store?
ace200777: You can pray all you want.
Gamelover41592: And I intend to keep flipping the table, like that meme with the buttered toast tied to the cat and you drop both.
LEGOBRICK13: I hope this next chapter brings some joy to you, my friend. That said, I also expect you to rage and worry because I am a cruel man to these characters and have nothing but darkness in my soul, as every writer should... ribbit.
Monkey D. Conan: Trust me, I have my plans for how Izuku will be a major player on the global scale, but you have to wait until the end of the first 'book' to see their start. We aren't gonna play with high school freshmen the whole time like MHA Canon.
Pirohiko-Baltazar: Tyranny sugarcoated in benevolence... That might be one of the best descriptions of the Templar's ultimate goals I've ever heard. Also, I find it kind of funny that Al'Mualim gives that list of feats credited to the Shard of Eden he holds and all but one are miracles from the Bible. Eris starting the Trojan War in that list just comes out of left field.
Wizardwolf 1020: Thank you for that clarification. It was never really clear to me, but I don't think Altair will play any role in this story.
WARNING: BLOOD AND DEATH.
Chapter 37:
Isu Legacy
Momo jumped backward in an elegant backflip, grenades flying from the palms of her hands in just such a way as to hook her fingers into the pins as they went. They exploded as they landed, blowing security bots to smithereens. Iida rushed through the smoke, his engine-powered legs smashing through more robots before their sensors could register his presence. Worried for his safety, Inko reached forward and instinctively used her Quirk in a way she hadn't since Izuku was old enough to know where not to go, grabbing Iida's shirt and pulling him back with more force than her Quirk usually exerted. One of her eyes was squinted, the woman fighting through a headache caused by Quirk overuse just to support the kids fighting through the robots.
"Where are these things coming from‽" Iida panted, feeling the muscles in his legs spasm as he surveyed the wreckage of destroyed opponents. Silently, he thanked Airjet for being a proper mentor and his brother for talking him out of throwing away his internship for a chance at Stain. "We are over one hundred floors up. How many enemies do they expect to get this high?"
"Well, this is the server room," Momo commented, forming a massive glue gun with a wince. It sprayed glue across the floor before the closest foes, their wheels getting bogged down in the sticky liquid. It was very useful, but Momo disliked making semisolids in such quantities. Unlike Solids, whose static structure could be filled in by transmuting the surrounding air like Izuku had long ago suggested, liquids and gases could not, having to be created entirely from her lipids alone. "It makes sense that there would be extra security here to protect all their information."
"Well, I certainly hope Midoriya is making more progress than we are." He flinched, nearly falling to a knee.
[TARGETS ACQUIRED]
Inko reached forward, pulling Momo and Iida backward as painful-looking rubber bullets hit the floor where they'd been. The students immediately traced their paths, the pair spying the robots now perched on the upper railing and on the tops of the server stacks. They were more rounded than the blocky floor robots, their sides open to reveal what looked like two mini miniguns each. In the middle of each tripod's 'face' was a single camera with a red glow.
"I don't like the looks of those," Momo muttered, forming a tower shield from her arm quickly before another round of rubber could be fired at them. "Inko?"
The eldest Midoriya reached upward, grabbing the closest turret with her Quirk. A green glow surrounded it.
[WHAT IS THIS] the turret questioned in a high-pitched voice. [PLEASE PUT ME DOWN]
Inko did not do that, yanking the robot from its position above. It gave an emotionless [AAAAAA] as it fell before hitting the floor with a bang, its sensor going dim. Its voice distorted.
[TARGETS L-L-L-LOSSST-T-T-T]
Another turret stepped forward, filling the space the previous one had.
"They are going to overtake us at this rate," Iida hissed. "We are in no position to win a battle of attrition."
"I am aware," Momo replied, her flats inching across the floor from the force of the rubber bullets beating against her shield. "And it is only a matter of time before the rolling sentries overcome that glue."
"It's going to hurt, but I should be able to get up there without taking too many shots," Iida told them, eyeing the corridor past the shield. "If those turrets are limited, I may be able to eliminate one of our problems."
"And if they are not, then you will get a bruised torso and a painful fall."
"You will not be putting yourself in such a risky situation, young man," Inko chastised.
"Ms. Midoriya, my Quirk his heavily oriented toward chose-quarters combat," Iida tried to argue. "Currently, we are not in a position to remove options of risk as our lives may be at stake."
"He's right, Inko," Momo agreed. "Iida, get ready. I should be able to only get you a small window."
"Wai—"
"This way!" Momo called, running forward as she banged the bottom of her shield on the floor. The turrets followed her with their sensors, giving the brother of Ingenium the time he needed to rev his engines. Fire burning from the pipes in his calves, Iida took off, using his momentum to run up the sides of the servers on their right. He spun as he reached the top, his leg kicking through a number of the white-shelled turrets. Several of them went [AAAAAA] as his appendage ripped through them.
"Iida!" Momo called, spinning to gain momentum before flinging her shield like a much-too-large rectangular frisbee. Iida caught it easily, the Quirk-made metal catching the rubber bullets that came after him. Iida charged forward, ignoring the burning of his muscles, and beat at the machines.
Needing to protect her fellow UA student's back, Momo formed a flashbang and pulled its pin, flinging the projectile toward the opposite side of the servers. She would have used a grenade if not for the likely need to protect what data would be lost upon the destruction of the servers. As it was, what she did throw exploded with a BANG and a flash of light, as one would expect from the name.
[AAAAA, MY EYE] one of the robots cried, Momo having to take a second to comprehend the statement. Still, she needed to keep the left-hand turrets' focus on her rather than Iida, lest he find himself between two waves of long-range enemies. Creation glowed, the Templar heiress pulling a grappling hook from her shoulder before using it to carry her onto the catwalk above.
[WHERE DID THEY GO]
[ARE YOU THERE]
[COME BACK]
If nothing else, these things were weird and creepy for security robots. Perhaps lines humanizing these obvious not-humans was another defensive layer trying to confuse would-be Villains?
"I'm right here!" Momo called, dragging their red sensors to her. She took off down the catwalk, rubber bullets whizzing through the air behind her. Thankfully, these things did not have very good aim.
Forming a hard discus from her arm, the young woman swung it with a force unexpected of her slim arms. The disk flew, smashing into and through one of the turrets before bouncing off another. The resulting ping-ponging knocked several of the little creatins over but also caused them to fire their ammunition into their fellows. Momo threw a smokescreen at her feet before they could recover, silently making her way back down the catwalk, even if the silence wasn't quite so necessary with all the noise Iida was making on the other side.
[TARGET LOST]
[AH HEY, DOES ANYONE HAVE SOME SPARE BULLETS]
Seriously, who programmed these things?
"Stay back!" Inko's voice yelled, Momo looking down to see that the tide of rectangular droids had finally pushed past her glue trap and were now rolling toward the Midoriya matriarch, the green-haired woman using her Quirk to rip wires out of sockets as quickly as she could but rapidly slowing, a spot of blood starting to roll down from her nose.
Fearlessly, Momo leapt from the catwalk, grenades forming from her arms as she fell. Another twist caused a long pole to erupt from her palm, the ravenette using it to bleed away her momentum before spinning to bowl over the first wave of robots. Her explosives exploded, raining metal chunks down over the rest of the robotic army. Momo ran, a thin wall forming from her back to break the line of sight between them and the robots, for that had proved to be enough to distract the turrets at least.
Inko panted, her pale face flush with exertion as the fight had pushed her to physical, mental, and Quirked limits she had not pushed in a long time. As Momo had feared, a trail of red dripped from the mother's nose, the woman trying to slyly wipe it away without leaving any evidence on her rumpled dress.
"I hope Izuku's ok," the woman panted.
"Me too, Inko," Momo replied. "Be it Izuku or someone else, it would be nice to have some back up right about now."
No sooner had she said those words than a beautiful, upbeat melody started to float through the room. A BANG rattled the floor as nearly a dozen rectangular bots were sent flying by something on the other side of the room. Momo felt her strength returning, her tiredness leaving, as the words of a battle hymn echoed through the room.
["Come get some, you brainless bots!"] a voice yelled. The speaker ripped up a piece of the floor and started to roll it forward, trapping robots in its growing spiral.
[HEY, THAT'S NOT NICE] one of the turrets commented before Iida kicked it from behind, the machine going [WEEEEEE] until getting caught in the deformed swirl with a crunch. The whole thing cracked and shattered, falling apart to reveal a large, broad-shouldered young man several years older than Momo and Iida. He raised a hand, the shimmering metal on his forearm absorbing the impact of several rubber bullets only for him to swing said arm in the direction they'd come, the metal that had coated his hand flying off to turn the offending turret into scrap.
["Salutations and howdy, y'all,"] the man said with a showman's bow, his Southern American accent so thick Momo almost thought it fake. ["You can call me Andre de Blanchet, but back in the States, I tend to go buy my Heroic name. Please, call me Iron Giant. And this…" He turned, stomping on the floor. There was a pulse of force, Iron Giant pulling debris into his foot, turning it to dust, and spraying it out of one of his hands to clear the hallway of the wreckage he'd left in his wake. ["This is my little sister Annabelle, the greatest voice to be accepted to the Parcours Héros de l'université de Bordeaux in France: the Singing Hero: Chanteuse!"]
["I've told you to cut it out with the introductions, Andre!"] the woman scowled, Momo swallowing hard at the young woman's beauty. Iida flipped off the servers on which he'd been battling, landing on his feet in their midst.
["What have I…"] he began only to trail off, staring.
"Iida," Inko said, shaking his arm. "These are apparently Andre and Annabelle, Heroes from overseas."
"Apologies," Andre said, his language still accented with American Southern, which only sounded understandable from Momo and Iida's interactions with Snipe who spoke in a similar manner despite having been born and raised in Japan all his life. Predictably, All Might loved the math teacher's faux accent. "Would you prefer we communicate in Japanese?"
"You know Japanese?" Momo questioned.
"Our, eh, step-mom's from there," Andre explained. "Can we get some names before the robots come back? I think I've only bought us a little time."
"Ah, right," the young heiress blinked. "I am Momo Yaoyorozu and this is Tenya Iida, a classmate of mine from UA High School. My Hero name is Minerva, while Iida does not yet have one he is comfortable with. This is Inko Midoriya, the mother of another classmate."
"And where is this classmate of yours now?"
"He gave chase to one of the terrorists," Iida offered. "Cited that his Quirk would be better suited for a human opponent than against robots. He has been gone for some time."
Andre and Annabelle traded a look.
"Well," the man said. "That's—"
[TARGETS ACQUIRED]
Rubber bullets pelted the Japanese-speaking French-American in the back, the man quickly shielding his smaller sister from the hail. He weathered the onslaught alone for several seconds before it passed, the man letting out a breath.
["That's gonna bruise,"] Andre muttered. ["What in tarna—"]
The floor rattled, the group turning to see the wires holding the catwalk snap, dropping the walkway to their level. Facing them was a machine the same make as the turrets from before, only this one was at least 50 times the size of the standard. The light that indicated where its focus was lowered on them, its sides opening to reveal massive weapons.
[DO NOT MOVE]
"Move!" Andre knelt, drawing the mass of the floor around over and through his skin as he shaped a growing wall in the hopes it would do something to counter whatever this massive turret had in store for them.
What he was not ready for were the rockets.
Nearly a dozen of them impacted the man's hasty shield, blowing the structure to smithereens and blasting the humans backward toward the far wall that was nothing more than a full window. There was a crack as the glass shattered, a scream almost lost to the wind.
Momo opened her eyes, her ears ringing, only to see the jagged, blood-dotted hole in the window and a hint of green falling past the end of the floor. Her eyes widened, her body moving without her input as Momo Yaoyorozu dove out the window after the freefalling form of Inko Midoriya.
The elevator did not reach the bottom of the shaft, rather getting stuck on something at the very end. The group had to wedge the doors open with Michael's sword-hands, only to find the remains of Momo's improvised elevator that had fallen —what seemed like a long time ago to Izuku— crushed between the elevator and the lowest bullet-proof glass. Izuku, at least, had the decency to be sheepish about the inconvenience and explain why it was there.
The front of the Isu structure was only noted by a shift in coloration. The door was open, creating a rectangular space into the deeper structure, but the gray metal had only recently been uncovered. What remained of the former camouflage made the outside look like any other rock formation, the green lights of the powered structure only now making it stand out. There were two pedestals, one on either side of the door, their lights red in what Izuku assumed to be a 'locked open' position. Four large plants were set around the landing, there to recycle carbon dioxide back into oxygen as a precaution.
Izuku was not the only one gawking, each of his companions staring at the entrance with something akin to awe. He noted that Melissa winced, David's tense hand on her shoulder.
["There, we brought you here,"] the man said. ["Now let Melissa and me go."]
["Sorry, Doc,"] Wolff replied. ["Much as I'd like to, we can't let you sort out the system above until we're done here. Can't give you a chance to disable the elevator and I don't think any of us is strong enough to survive a swim to the surface, much less haul the rest of our asses up, too."]
["You think I would leave you to die?"]
["I did kill your assistant, even if I saved your life by doing to. We damned humans have never been rational by nature."] Izuku didn't want to admit that Wolff had a point, but he did. ["Besides, if you free the Heroes, who's to say one of them doesn't make that choice for you? No, you're stuck with us all the way."]
["And what if the situation sorts itself out and we all get trapped down here?"]
["If the situation sorts itself out, do you really expect All Might to allow anyone to do that while his best friend and niece are down here? More likely, he'll come down himself."]
["Personally, I would rather not stand around talking,"] Izuku cut in. ["I mean, it is kind of important to me that All Might, my high school teacher, does not learn about my double life, thank you very much."]
["It'll be fine, Prince,"] Michael promised. ["Trust me, we'll get you off scott-free. Assassin's honor."]
["I doubt it will be that simple, Swordkill."]
["No point standing around, though,"] Wolff said, agreeing with the verdet. ["Door's open, so let's crash the party."]
Sucking in a breath, Izuku stepped forward, the group entering the temple. Lights flickered to life as they stepped inside, glowing from the walls and ceiling themselves rather than any single bulb. The floor sloped downward into the earth, Wolff leading them deeper in. The light seemed to follow them, brightening ahead and dimming in their wake.
["How big is this place?"] Melissa wondered, her intellectual curiosity starting the overpower her fear. ["You said this place was built by a race that created humans?"]
["The Isu,"] Wolff confirmed. David flinched again. ["They were the first inhabitants of earth. Ultra-advanced in their technology to the point where they could accurately predict thousands of years into the future. Assuming, of course, they had the right information. They created humans as their own personal workforce, crafting us as fuckin' slaves. Not as smart, not as strong, not as anything as them, but they were more human than they wanted to admit."]
["What do you mean?"]
["If the internet has taught me anything, it's that there are humans out there who will fuck what they aren't supposed to,"] the redhead responded. ["Some of the Isu were the same way. Suddenly, they had hybrids in the mix, and these ones the Isu couldn't control with their fancy-ass toys. I trust you know the names Adam and Eve, yeah?"]
["You can't be serious,"] Melissa gasped. Izuku felt his own mind spinning. Sure, he'd known about the Isu and their technology from the overviews Masters Aizawa, Nemuri, Keeper, and Nekoi had given him, but this was another level of detail.
["That's why Isu relics are called Pieces of Eden, kid. From what a few of our forebears before Metas learned by jumping into memories of the past, Eden was the Isu capital and a war between them and their human slaves distracted them from a coming solar flair that wiped out 90% of the population. Places like this were like research stations hidden from the war, trying to find a way to avert the catastrophe but failing in the end. Still, experimental shit is dangerous, especially at the Isu level. That's why we're here."
They reached the end of the entrance, the hallway opening into a cavern. Blocks of various rectangular size floated in seemingly-random patterns, that green glow from the walls outside here running through the circuits. The bottom of the room was nothing but water, shadows moving under the surface.
Izuku was so busy taking in the sights, he wasn't quick enough to react. Luckily for him, Wolff was less impressed, his personal hidden blades extending from under his sleeves to spear the necks of the guards on either side of the entrance in a double assassination. Melissa had to cover her mouth with a hand as they fell, the life draining from their bodies.
["Prince,"] Michael said. ["You know how to fire a gun?"]
["I have had a crash course,"] Izuku answered, the pink-haired man taking one of the M4 rifles from the hands of a dead soldier and holding it out to the student. Izuku hesitated for only a moment before taking it, draping its strap over his shoulder and getting a feel for the weight of the weapon. Michael pointed to it.
["This is the safety. Press that before you shoot. Got it?"]
["I understand, Swordkill."]
["Good. Wolfram, what's the verdict?"]
The leading Assassin checked the pockets of the man whose gun Michael had taken. Finding nothing but additional ammo, Wolff picked up the fallen soldier and chucked him over the side. A frilled shark —a horrifying thing of patchy, pale skin, empty eyes, and hundreds of needle-like teeth— practically pounced on the body as soon as it hit the water. Red spread from the impact, causing a frensy of frothing, pink water as a host of the ugly deep-sea sharks each tried to get their piece of the easy meal. Melissa turned a little green at the sight.
["Ugly-ass bastards below and a closed door at the other end with what looks like a couple switches. I should be able to get over there the old-fashioned way. I would just use my Meta, but I don't have a clue what that would do to the systems and don't want to risk it this far underwater with those things chomping at the bit. I'd rather not risk anyone else falling in, either."]
["We'll wait here. Be careful."] At his friend's words, Wolff jumped off, landing on a rising cube. Izuku watched him with the reverence due an experienced Assassin as he worked his way across the room, hopping from moving block to moving block and shimmying over the thinnest ledges on the wall. More than once, Wolff had to backtrack as a blue shield appeared to block what would have been his next move, the man not wanting to risk moving through what was obviously a security function.
Several minutes later, Wolff landed on the other side. He fiddled with the switches, the moving blocks rearranging with each, until he found the proper combination to give the others a bridge across the room.
["And that,"] he said, opening the door with a sensor, ["is how we Assassins fuckin' do it."]
["Yeah, yeah, showoff,"] Michael chuckled, punching his friend in the shoulder. The group fell silent as they drew closer to the other end of a short walkway, Wolff gesturing for everyone to be quiet. Izuku activated his Eagle Vision, over two dozen red silhouettes appearing in the room ahead. Izuku tapped Wolff on the shoulder, silently indicating the number of enemies he saw and lifting his gun in question.
Wolff held up a finger in answer, telling the boy to wait.
["Dr. Shield, can you see clearly?"] Wolff whispered. ["Do you recognize anyone?"]
["I think so,"] the man replied. He pointed at a tall man with grey hair spotted black and blue. ["That's Oberon Stilt, one of I-Island's council members. And that man with the shoulders sticking over his head is Dr. Henry Overlain of the Texas Institute of Archeology. And that woman with white hair and darker skin is Arya Deshpande. She's one of the big names in Hero costume manufacturing in America. I don't know the names of anyone else but I recognize them from pictures in various scientific journals. You mean to tell me all these people are—?"]
["Templars? Yeah. Stilt is probably the one in charge of the operation here,"] Wolff muttered, eyeing the guards that stood at the raised edges of the room. Other scientists worked in the center, studying the artifacts in the room with handheld tablets, their fingers typing away notes and readings, trying to figure out which artifacts were safe to move and which needed special care. The room was filled with podiums, some of them already empty and others with items of different shapes floating above them. ["Damn, this place is a goldmine of P.O.E.s. Who knows what these things could do if they can make them work."]
["But I heard no one has managed to get one to work since the Dawn of Quirks,"] Izuku whispered, Wolff and Michael silently correcting his term to the First Wave of Metas. ["Why do they want them now?"]
["I don't know,"] Wolff replied, ["but I don't like it. This many scientists, they're probably—"]
["Trying to reverse engineer them to work for the average person,"] David interrupted with a flinch. ["With this many artifacts, they have enough to experiment with and dissect them. We can't… We can't let them."]
["Dad?"] Melissa questioned. ["Dad, what's wrong?"]
["I… I don't know."] David's voice was strained, a hand pressing the heel against his forehead. ["I don't know, but we can't let them get those devices. They're too powerful for human hands. They're too powerful for any hands."]
["I agree with the brainiac,"] Wolff said. ["There are too many guards for us to sneak through the scientists, much as I'd like to. Public education really fucked with Assassins when guards got more decerning back in the 1800's. Thoughts, Swordkill?"]
["I hate to say it, but chaos may be our friend here,"] the roset replied. ["Cut the head off the snake and move through the scientists then. We'll target the guards first."]
["Good plan. Give me a minute."] Wolff ducked back down the hallway before returning quickly. ["There. The bridge is gone. Everyone's staying here. Assassins, we'll move in after the first shot. Shield's, you stay here until we're done. Make sure no one gets out, especially if they have an artifact. Push them to the sharks if you have to. And, maybe, look away. This shit is gonna be damn ugly. Prince, start with Stilt. One shot to the head should do it."]
["Wolfram, I—"]
["Are you bloodied, Initiate?"]
["How do you know I'm an—?"}
["Swordkill told me. Are you bloodied?"]
["Well, yes. During my internship—"]
["Then it's not like this is your first kill, but I know you japs can be weird about guns. Typically pistols for you all, right? Well, the less-legal of you. Alright kid, stock to your shoulder. Keep it flush against you, else the kickback hurts like a bitch. M4's are pretty accurate and they're semi-automatic, so you don't need to worry about firing multiple shots unless you try. Locate Stilt first, then aim. Put his damn Templar brain right at the top of that sight and remember: if he had a knife to your Assassin neck, he'd kill you, your family, and your teachers without a second of hesitation because he doesn't care about you. He wants you and yours dead. Don't give him a chance. Kill him, then fight like your life is on the line, because it is. Fire."]
Izuku pulled the trigger.
The sound of the rifle was more of a pop than a bang, the gun kicking into his shoulder. One of his eyes closed, but the other was open to see the splatter of gore that became of Oberon Stilt's head. Scientists screamed, starting to panic as yells of ["Assassins!"] began to echo around the room. Those who were more cowardly or more clear-minded ducked behind pedestals, but they were not fast enough to stop Jonnathan Wolff and Michael Corvain from slinking into their numbers.
Izuku shut his emotions down and rolled in, shoving his back against another pedestal, this one with a floating cube over it. He raised the M4, pointing it at another guard, this one in between two others on the opposite side of the room. He pulled the trigger, planting a bullet in the man's chest. The force knocked him backward, his body hitting the wall and sliding down.
Wolff and Michael took the chance to act while the guards were put off by the second death, Michael charging to one side to skewer two of them while Wolff extended his hidden blade with his Meta to lop the head off another on the other side.
Izuku spun, nailing another guard through the head before he could raise his weapon against Michael. Gunfire erupted from behind, Izuku turning to see that Wolff had grabbed a scientist and used him as a human shield. The one David had named Dr. Henry Overlain —the scientist with the tall shoulders— charged in only to receive a shard of metal in the throat, his punch interrupted.
["How the fuck did they get down here‽"] one of the guards screamed. A bad feeling overtook Izuku, the young Assassin rolling away from his spot just before a small hail of bullets perforated where he'd been. He spun toward the noise, squeezing the trigger. His own gunfire put two bullets in one who had tried to kill him, the man falling forward off the raised edge. A woman —Arya Deshpande— rushed by with a thick briefcase in hand.
Izuku moved without thinking, his rope-dart shooting out to catch her by the calf. She screamed, her leg pulled out from under her causing her to fall onto her face. The briefcase clattered out of her hand and opened, losing its contents. Izuku yanked her back, the Indian-American managing to roll over to see the face of one of the killers. Only Izuku's mask met her sight. He hesitated.
["You won't kill me, Assassin!"] she yelled. ["ENGLAND!"]
An English longsword made of letters shot from her mouth, Izuku throwing himself backward to avoid the sharpened E that tried to open his face. Arya tried to get to her feet, a cry of pain making its way out of her as Izuku ripped the rope-dart out of her flesh in a spray of blood. Izuku brought the M4 up, ready to fire, only for Arya to throw herself in his direction, spitting daggers of sharpened country names at him.
Izuku spun, catching one of the grammatical weapons by its handle. It was a ceremonial curved dagger made out of the letters for Mexico, the young Assassin Initiate barely having time to read it before having to fend off a flying calvary sword reading America. Flinging a Greek gladius (reading 'Greece') and a Roman short sword (reading 'Italy'), forcing Izuku to parry, Arya flopped forward toward Izuku's legs.
["Egypt!"] she screamed, a massive kolpesh forming from her words. She grabbed its handle —the letter T extended to become such— and swung the crescent blade at the boy's legs. Izuku jumped, avoiding the severance of his legs, and pulled the trigger of his M4. Two bullets planted themselves in Arya Deshpande's back before Izuku brought down her own Quirk-made dagger. She coughed blood, looking up to glare at her killer.
["You won't get out of this one, Assassin,"] she hissed, her word-weapons fading. She tried to push her upper body up, getting as close to Izuku as she could. ["SCOTLAND!"]
A claymore extended from her mouth, shooting upward too close for Izuku to dodge fully. He leaned back, the letters' razor edge cutting a deep gash from his left eyebrow to his hairline. He flinched, sending his rope-dart out on instinct, and the claymore disappeared.
One eye shut on account of the crimson blood now dripping into it, Izuku's other took in the scene of the once-pretty woman, Izuku's dart stabbed directly into the middle of her forehead.
He didn't have time to think about what he'd just done, Izuku spinning to help his fellow Assassins. Only one of the guards remained, a hulking shark-man whose skin seemed thick enough to counter Michael's hand-blades, the guard's gun cut in half on the floor. Wolff stomped on the ground in the center of the room, a wave distorting the metal floor to trap the remaining scientists' feet where they were. Izuku raised his weapon, waiting for the moment the guard caught Michael's sword-arms with his own thick armor, the two entering into a battle of strength.
Izuku pulled the trigger, his bullet entering the shark-man's eye. The guard jerked, his body going slack as he slumped over, blood dripping from the puncture.
["Exterminate the scientists!"] Wolff ordered, spearing through a cowering bird-person. ["Death to the Templars! No survivors!"]
Izuku didn't have a hidden blade of his own at the moment, and maybe that was for the best. At least with the M4, these kills didn't have to feel so personal. He aimed for the backs of heads, mercifully taking life by surprise while his victims stared at Wolff and Michael in fear.
All in all, he killed nine people before the room fell silent, three guards and six scientists.
Izuku stood there, breathing shallowly, as the weight of his actions fell on his shoulders. He didn't buckle, but he barely had the wherewithal to reengage the safety of his rifle before it fell, one hand keeping it parallel to his leg as he stared at the carnage.
["Everyone ok?"] Michael questioned, almost casually pulling a pack of cigarettes from his pocket. He selected one and lit it, breathing out a cloud of smoke a moment later.
"Ow," Izuku hissed, his falling adrenaline making his new cut sting. He raised his other hand, pressing the heel against his cut gingerly. He tried to clear the blood from his eye.
["Damn, kid,"] Wolff commented. ["That cut's gonna leave a wicked scar."]
["It'll lend credence to him fighting me, though,"] Michael added.
["So…"] Izuku said, trying to ignore the blood he failed to staunch dripping down his face. ["What now?"]
["Dr. Shield?"] Wolff questioned, Izuku turning to see the man. He was kneeling, a shimmering, golden orb the size of a balloon in his hands. Light danced around him, seemingly from nothing. And as quickly as Izuku could comprehend the image, it was gone, David Shield climbing to he feet. The metal floor turned green beneath him, the room brightening.
'Welcome back, Sidi,' a voice said, but it was not auditory. It felt more like the concept was transferred directly into his head. 'Begin start-up processes?'
["Begin,"] David ordered. Green pulsed from under his feet, crawling up the walls through the circuits as a low hum started to fill the room. The pedestals lowered, sinking into the floor and taking the unmoved artifacts with them.
["Dad?"] Melissa questioned, a waver in her voice. She looked an odd combination of sickly green and pale, a spot of vomit clinging to her lip from where she'd lost her dinner at the massacre she'd witnessed. ["Dad, what's going on?"]
["I remember,"] he whispered. ["I remember everything. A thousand lifetimes, a thousand deaths, a thousand failures."] A tear fell from his eye, sizzling against the golden side of the orb he carried. His lip trembled. ["I finally found her, my darling Seshat, my sweet Melanie, after a thousand tries, and they ruined it."]
["Wha— Mom?"] Melissa blinked. ["What does Mom have to do with any of this?"]
["Sounds to me like both of your parents were Sages, kid,"] Wolff stated, tactless as ever. ["That explains a lot. It was a damn Isu Romeo and Juliet story. What happened, though?"]
["They took her,"] David muttered, his sadness twisting into rage. ["They tried to blackmail us once they learned who we were. They took our girl, so we did what they said. They took our memories, and Seshat died in the process… My love died again and I couldn't save her…"]
["This is why we fight the Templars, kid,"] Wolff said, gesturing to the Sage. David was all but bawling, tears flowing down his cheeks as the repressed memories broke through the block in his mind. ["Because they're capable of shit like this. And I bet they did more, too."]
["They did,"] David confirmed. ["I was the one that found this lab. I triangulated it's new resting place from the original location. I… I helped build it with Seshat so long ago, and the Templars suppressed everything. They turned my wife's death into a car accident in my mind. They used me and erased my mind over and over and over again."]
["It was all for the greater good,"] a woman's voice commented. Everyone turned, finding a beautiful woman with black hair holding a knife against Melissa's throat. Her other hand held a pistol and what they could see of her behind the blonde was clothed in a blue bodysuit that shimmered like stars in the night sky. Her green eyes glared at the group like sharpened jade.
["Melissa!"] David gasped. ["Computer, activate—!"]
["Ah ah, no,"] the woman warned, pressing the knife against the teen's neck. ["What we did was for your own good, Dr. Shield. Your wife's death was an unfortune accident, but we couldn't leave you wallowing in your own misery or playing the blame game when there were so many things you had to make for us. If we didn't wipe your memory, we would have had to lock you up, and you and dear Melissa here wouldn't want that, would you? No, we needed your intellect where we could keep an eye on you. We took you to I-Island and you didn't disappoint."]
["More like you were scared of All Might getting involved,"] Izuku commented.
["He would certainly have been a thorn in our side,"] the woman admitted, ["but we could have managed him, had we decided the Sage of Thoth needed a tighter grip. You should be thankful we let you have the reign and resources we did."]
["Let my daughter go,"] David demanded. ["She has nothing to do with this."]
["Oh, but she does now,"] the woman rebuffed. ["The Assassins pulled you and her into the fight. I can't just let you walk away until you agree to the Memory Suppression again."]
Izuku started to raise his M4 only to freeze, the woman's eyes on him and her knife primed to slash if he so much as made another move. Slowly extending the gun to one side in one hand, Izuku knelt, placed it on the ground, and kicked it away. The woman nodded.
["That's what I thought. Now Thoth, this is your laboratory. I want you to pack up every artifact for transport and move them to the elevator. You will also restrain the Assassins so they cannot interfere. Do it now, or you will lose your daughter, too."]
David swallowed nervously. ["Computer, restrain nearby subjects one, two, and three with standard alignment."]
'Understood, Sidi Thoth. Initializing.'
Metal cords extended from the walls, wrapping around the Assassins and pulling them against the walls none-too-softly with their hands out to their sides and their feet an inch above the floor. Izuku felt his ears ring from the impact, a sound of pain forcing itself from him. The woman forced Melissa deeper into the room, David first placing the Apple that had returned his memories into the briefcase Arya Deshpande had packed it into. He placed the case by the door before moving to the far corner and raising the podium that had been there. The green light on the floor followed him.
["How did you get in here?"] Wolff demanded. ["We made sure to dismantle the bridge."]
["You did,"] the woman confirmed. ["But I know the scientists did the same, since I watched them do it. No, I got here the same way you and the first successful guards did."] She sighed, kicking the body of Arya Deshpande out of her way without any reverence. ["And what a pain it was. Do you know how many Precursor sites are keyed to operate for only one Isu signature? And how often we get our hands on one of those Sages? The timing of two centuries has to be just right."]
["This is not my lab alone,"] David hissed, removing a star-shaped device from its resting place and lowering it into another foam-inset briefcase. ["Seshat—"]
["Is dead,"] the woman interrupted. ["Highly unfortunate, but I doubt she would have been any more cooperative than you, Thoth. Although, that does beg a question. Does the system recognize only you, or will it recognize your child? Order the system to scan for other masters."]
["But—"]
["Now, Thoth,"] she ordered, ["before we all lose the chance to learn forever."]
["…Computer,"] David said, a slight hiss to his voice. ["Initiate scan for genetic similarities to myself: control expansion sequence 3, scan sequence 37."]
'Yes, Sidi Thoth. Initializing… Scanning… Four Isu lineage signatures detected… One related to Sidi Thoth and Sidi Seshat… Analysis: direct relation to both: child… Please input designation.'
["Daughter Melissa Nubia Shield."]
'Input saved. Greetings, Sidi Melissa. Welcome to the lab.'
["Look at that,"] the woman grinned. ["We have a new master for the site. Isn't that just perfect? Just in case we need one."]
Izuku felt the cords around him go slack enough for his feet to touch the floor without showing the change, but he did not move instantly. He glanced to his right, seeing both Wolff and Michael in similar states, biding their time. He didn't know what changed within the system, but David had to be behind the change, somehow. Michael's finger bounced on the wall, just within eyesight for Izuku.
Taptap… taptaptap… taptap… taptaptap…
Short, long, three short, repeat. That was some of the morse code Master Aizawa made him memorize.
WAIT
So Izuku waited, watching as David Shield —apparently the Sage of the Isu Thoth— was forced to pack away artifact after artifact into the bloodstained carrying boxes scattered among the dead.
'Wolff, Michael,' he thought. 'I really hope you have a plan. One that doesn't lead to Melissa Shield's death.'
End of Chapter 37
Wow! I hope you all enjoyed that chapter since we got to see Ruthless!Izuku, but not everything goes to plan, obviously. Were you surprised by this turn of events? Will Momo be able to save Inko? What did you think of the fights? What does her parents being Sages mean for Melissa's future? Will she even have one with Alexandra de Blanche holding a knife to her throat? Will Izuku and the other Assassins make it out of this one? Fine out next time on A Hero's Creed!
Read and Review!
-SwordOfTheGods