Chapter 24: Close Calls

Deku

Deku and LeMillion were close to Mt. Fuji, at a stand where tourists could rent gear to climb it in fact. "I guess this was a close as Kurosawa-kun could take us," LeMillion said as he looked around. Only a few seconds later, and Deku's Danger Sense Quirk went off, and he looked up to see a rocket heading straight for the mountain! He didn't hesitate to immediately use Fa Jin and One For All Full Cowling 100% combined with Float to rocket into the air. Once he was close enough, Deku used Black Whip to wrap up the rocket, and used all of his power to spin around, building up momentum, before he tossed the rocket out of the way.

That was when he felt his Danger Sense go off even more and saw five more rockets! Deku spotted LeMillion and grabbed him with Black Whip and lifted him up, "We need to stop them!" he told him, and tossed LeMillion at the rockets as he used Fa Jin and Float to fly after him. Deku quickly used Black Whip to wrap up two of the rockets and squeezed them hard enough to blow them up in the air, while LeMillion used his Intangibility Quirk to pass through two of them that were close, phasing through and tearing up their machinery as he went, destroying them. Deku finished the last one by punching at it with all his strength, sending a blast of air that knocked it off course, then grabbed it with Black Whip to crush it.

Deku's Danger Sense did not go off again, and he sighed in relief. "That's one problem sorted out," LeMillion said, "But we still need to find Eri. As long as those people have her, they can just keep on trying this again." Both men clenched their fists as they thought about Eri; she was like a little sister to both of them, and they wouldn't rest until she was safe. Deku then thought of tracking and thought of three Heroes they could use to help them. Wolfheart was still in America, but Hound Dog-sensei and Joey were in U.A. "I got an idea," Deku said as he grabbed LeMillion and took off in the direction of U.A.

Within twenty minutes they were there, air travel was fast after all, and landed in front of their Alma Mater. Old Principal Nezu was outside and asked, "Deku? LeMillion? I thought you were in America." They quickly explained to their old principal what had happened, and Nezu nodded, "I heard this from the students. The student that helped you, Kurosawa Toshiro-kun, is now in intensive care." They went inside and Nezu continued explaining, "He pushed his Quirk too hard, it relies on extreme energy to work, and relies on his body's energy to function, he eats nearly 4000 calories a day and yet he is slightly underweight because of this. Overusing his Quirk harms him, and he overexerted himself too much this time, and suffered a stroke."

"Oh no," Deku said as they walked, "I shouldn't have pushed him so hard!" Nezu shook his head, "You had no choice from what you told me, his sacrifice has saved the world from what I've heard. Unfortunately, Kurosawa-kun is now in a coma, we don't know if he will ever recover. Freeman-kun brought him to the Nurses directly, and they did all that they could. We will transfer him to a hospital soon for more intensive care." They passed by the Nurse's Station, and looked inside to see Kurosawa lying on a bed.

There was an older woman with dark hair mixed with grey sitting beside him, and a young boy, nine or ten at most, who looked like a younger version of Kurosawa except his irises were purple instead of red. The woman was Kurosawa's mother, and his younger brother, came to see him as soon as they were informed what had happened. Also, there was Joey, sitting a respectful distance away from her. Mrs. Kurosawa turned to look and saw Deku, Nezu, and LeMillion and she immediately got up. "Did you do it?" she asked the Heroes, tears in her eyes, "Please, tell me my son didn't die in vain." They stopped in shock at this, "But, we were told, no, he-he-" Mrs. Kurosawa's tears fell as she told them, "He has no brain function… My Quirk lets me read minds… The machines are the only thing… Keeping his heart beating…"

Deku got a determined look in his eyes then as he said, "I know a way to save him, Kurosawa-san. But I'll need Freeman-kun's help for it. I promise, we'll bring someone who can bring him back to you!" The woman looked at him with eyes filled with hope and fear, but she nodded to him, and Deku gestured for Joey to come to him. Joey's head was hung low as he looked at Kurosawa-kun's Mother and said, "K-Kurosawa-san…I…I'll do everything I can for him. I owe him that much." She looked at Joey and nodded to him, then quietly returned to her seat next to her brain-dead son. Joey followed Deku and LeMillion out of the Nurse's Office and he said, "It was my idea, it's my fault he's like this. I…saw how tired he got after using his Quirk, but I…I never thought it would ruin his brain… We need to bring Eri back, hopefully she can save him."

"That's the plan," Deku told Joey. "We're going to the place where she was kidnapped, hopefully you can help us track the robots that took her to their base. It's a longshot, but it's all we got." Joey nodded and gritted his teeth, "I'm gonna tear those bastards apart!" Deku didn't like the murderous intent he felt from Joey, but he was quiet. The three of them all left U.A. together, where Joey told Deku where to go from his first and last date with Eri. Deku carried Joey and LeMillion in his arms and took off to the store.

Once they arrived, Joey took off his shirt, shoes, and socks and transformed into his Wolfman Form. Joey sniffed the air and growled, "Take me up, slowly. They headed Southwest from here, head that way, but don't go too fast or I'll lose the trail." Deku nodded and picked up Joey, and the teenager smelled the air as they flew through the air. After twenty minutes Joey said, "Stop, they're going East from here, and her scent is getting stronger. She was afraid, I can smell it!" Joey's anger was all too apparent as they kept on going, and Deku swore that he wouldn't let Joey get ahead of himself and LeMillion; the boy was ready to kill anyone that got in his way, and he was strong enough to do that all too easily.

After another half-hour Joey said, "Stop, down there, to the North, half a kilometer is where they landed!" Deku followed his instructions and went down to the ground per Joey's instructions. They were in front of a forest of Japanese cedar trees. Joey sniffed the air and said, "They're underground." He sniffed the ground and took the lead as they went, after two minutes Joey said, "I hear them, they're fleeing like rats off a sinking ship! That way!" he didn't wait, Joey charged forward, Deku and LeMillion ran after him. After ten minutes they saw what looked like an open underground shelter.

Joey reached the people first, and there were soon many lying on the ground, knocked out or severely bleeding from his attacks. "JOEY STOP! YOU'RE GOING TO KILL SOMEONE!" LeMillion screamed as he grabbed Joey from behind as he looked like he was ready to tear a woman's head clean off. Joey dropped the woman and said, "Where is Eri!?" The woman looked at Joey fearfully and didn't speak. "TELL ME!" Joey screamed as LeMillion struggled to hold him back. The woman pointed to the underground shelter, and LeMillion let Joey go to handcuff her and her companions.

"Deku, I'll keep things handled here, go after Joey before he kills all those people!" LeMillion yelled. Deku surged forward, following a trail of people in uniforms that were haphazardly thrown all the way down a narrow hallway. Deku saw no one was dead or mortally wounded and quickly followed Joey's trail until they reached a room with the door torn open. There he found Joey, howling and scratching at a clear window. On the other side of the window was an old man in a wheelchair with a device on his chest and Eri, strapped to a table. Deku moved closer and saw that Eri was naked, and he struggled to keep his anger in check.

"EEERRRRIIIIIIII!" Joey yelled, his voice echoing through the room and hallway. Eri moved her head, and there were tears in her eyes as she saw Joey and Deku. They couldn't hear what she said, but it looked like she was yelling, "Stay back! He has a bomb!" Deku looked at the old man, and saw he had a remote in his ancient hand. He pressed a button and his voice came from some speakers and said, "Hello, Deku. The Symbol of Hope, Earth's Greatest Hero, and I'd like to add another title: The Herald of Earth's Destruction."

The old man coughed and said, "I have lived since the first generation when Quirk's appeared. I used all my biological, technological, and medical genius to stay alive. I had to do so much, to prevent the Quirk Singularity. This was my last chance… The Earth's last chance!" Deku yelled, "You're wrong! Your formula was analyzed, you would have spread cancer to every living organism on Earth if you had succeeded!" The old man coughed and responded, "A necessary sacrifice! At least it would wipe the slate clean. As long as the Earth survives, a new race could inherit it. As powerful as people are now, the Quirk Singularity is not far away. You, and All For One are proof of this.

"Quirks are so strong now, that they violate the laws of physics, even quantum physics are becoming child's play. Who can say how long it will be before a baby will be born that will unleash nuclear explosions! Humanity has grown too powerful! We must be stopped before the Earth herself is destroyed!" The old man coughed harder than ever before, and Deku quickly used his Full Power to smash through the window. Joey and Deku ran into the room and Joey tore the table apart and grabbed Eri, while Deku grabbed the old man. Before he could be grabbed, the old man pressed a button on his remote, and the base started to rumble.

Deku grabbed everyone with Black Whip and surged out like a whip, explosions following him close behind as the base self-destructed behind him. Once they were outside, Black Whip exploded out into dozens of tentacles and grabbed LeMillion and all of the members of the Brotherhood of Humanity as Deku took to the air and flew away. Deku flew straight for the nearest Police Station, and LeMillion went out to tell the Police about the terrorists that were captured. Before he left, LeMillion took off his cape and wrapped the still naked Eri with it. "Thank you, LeMillion-nii-chan," Eri said with tears in her eyes. "I told you; my cape is a special cape to keep little girls safe," he told Eri before he went to get the Police.

Eri and Joey looked at each other, Joey returned to his normal form and Eri looked at him, "J-Joey…I…I'm so so-" she didn't have a chance to say anything more, Joey wrapped her in a hug and said, "I love you, Eri. You have nothing to apologize for." Eri let her happy tears fall, and hugged her first boyfriend, her first true love, and Deku smiled behind them; the day was saved once again.