Around Commander Tachibana technicians scrambled as they checked their sensor readouts, communicated with ships, examined satellite data, trying any and everything to find their enemy.
Thus far, they'd been unsuccessful.
"Where is he?!" said Commander Tachibana, slamming his fist on a nearby table.
"Still unknown sir," said one of the technicians. "The Super Maru is moving toward his last coordinates but he could be kilometers away by now."
"SGS's are sweeping for him, but it's a big ocean. We have no idea how long it'll take to find him," said another.
Tachibana sighed. This was a mess from the start, but with each passing day it threatened to become a full-blown catastrophe. "Are there any active dumping runs?"
"One sir. We've redirected it far away from his projected path."
"Have it rendezvous with a pickup ship ASAP. If he comes for it, I want those sailors off that ship," said Tachibana.
"Yes sir."
One of his subordinates walked up and said, "Sir, the Americans have agreed to help drive off Ebirah. The Saratoga has dispatched fighters."
Tachibana nodded. "Good." Ebirah had gone through the border while the beacons were down. They'd found it attacking a few fishing boats and requested the Americans' help since they had (literal) bigger problems to deal with.
He turned to another subordinate, "Keep me informed on the search's progress. If we get any sign of him, or lose contact with any ships, I want to know immediately. I'm going to go meet with the secretary."
"Yes sir!"
Tachibana stepped out and sighed, wondering how to explain this fiasco to Secretary Yaguchi…
"We're here!" said Nejire as they arrived at the port. Parked on one of the docks the docks was Selkie's ship, the Oki Mariner, along with a smaller ship, the Rainy Season, owned by Tsuyu Asui, the Rainy Season Hero: Froppy.
In front of the boats, Ochako could see Tsu chatting with Selkie and Sirius.
Nejire got out of the car and ran over to them. "Hi guys!"
"Hi Nejire. Long time no see," said Tsu, turning to them.
"I know! It's been too long!" said Nejire. "I can't wait to catch up! So much has happened since you left!" She turned to Selkie and Sirius. "Hi Selkie, hi Sirius, it's good to see you again! It's been a while since we teamed up!"
Selkie chuckled. "Yeah. You were still with Ryuko last time we met." He struck a ridiculous cutsie pose. "They grow up so fast!" he added with a high-pitched voice.
Sirius face palmed while Nejire and Tsu smiled. Ochako had to admit it was kind of cute (in a ridiculous sort of way).
Selkie turned his attention to Ochako. "Uravity right? Nice to meet you." He reached out his hand.
Ochako shook it saying, "Nice to meet you too Selkie. I've heard a lot about you!"
"Welcome aboard," said Sirius also offering her hand. "Tsu mentioned you. She said you're a pretty good Hero."
Ochako rubbed the back of her head. "Thanks. Just doing my best!"
Ochako turned to Tsu who gave Ochako one of her muted smiles. "Hey Ochako. Good to see you again," she said.
"Good to see you too Tsu. How's being independent been?"
"Hard, but rewarding. It's mostly search and rescue on the water or fighting villains on the coast. Selkie lets me team with his team often, which lets me fight more villains at sea. How about you? Nejire still a good boss? Ribbit."
"Yep. Friendly but expects a lot. Luckily I'm more than up for it it."
Tsu nodded. "That's good. You've been rising through the ranks lately. Pretty impressive, since you didn't attend Hero School."
"Thanks," Ochako said. "It's nice to hear that from a UA graduate. Especially given what your class went through…"
"Yeah. Our first year was pretty hectic. Ribbit." said Tsu with a finger to her mouth.
"Understatement of the year," said Ochako. "You were attacked by villains. Twice."
"And that was before work studies started."
Ochako chuckled. She could only imagine what those were like…
"Froppy, Uravity."
On hearing their hero names, Ochako and Tsu looked to Selkie. His demeanor had gone from open and friendly to professional and serious.
"Now that we've all introduced each other, we should go to the Oki Mariner and discuss the mission."
The two nodded.
On the Oki Mariner, Nejire and Ochako were given the details. There was a cargo ship carrying a supply of illegal weapons to Japan. Unbeknownst to them, their buyer had been caught and made a deal, giving the authorities everything. The Heroes were to ambush the villains and apprehend them at sea, far away from any civilians. The villains were mostly standard, but they had a few heavy hitters. Hence bringing Nejire in.
The plan was at dusk to have Selkie go underwater, find them, and transmit their exact location. Then the Oki Mariner would move in. While the villains tried to evade the Mariner, Selkie would board. Then while the villains were distracted, the Rainy Season would make its move from the other direction. Nejire, Tsu, and Ochako would board and apprehend.
There were risks, but that was all part of being a Hero.
Izuku stood on the transport ship's deck, watching the horizon. The water looked so vast from here, yet he knew what he could see was only a small portion. A drop in a lake. It reminded him how small he was. How small everyone was.
Since he was a young child, Izuku had been reminded of his weakness. Quirkless, defenseless, Deku. There had been no shortage of putdowns aimed at him. Even his childhood hero had-
And yet, with the right perspective they were pretty small too. Each one was literally one-in-six-billion on a small planet in the corner of the galaxy, outmatched by a natural world they couldn't hope to control.
But that didn't stop them. Nor did it stop Izuku. Ever since he'd first read his current hero's autobiography, he'd persistently punched above his weight class. Then again, maybe that was just a human thing. They hadn't become the dominant species by being the biggest or strongest after all.
Izuku looked down at the waves crashing against the ship. Sunlight illuminated a few meters down before fading into darkness. Izuku sometimes thought of what was down there.
People always imagined what lurked beneath the waves with a mix of wonder and fear. Izuku knew from experience how right they were. There were unimaginable terrors in the depths. And of the most incredible wonders ever seen. Sometimes they were the same thing.
As much as Izuku relished fighting Godzilla, relished the idea of defeating him, he didn't want to kill him. Godzilla was one of the most incredible things Izuku had ever seen, he didn't want a creature like that to vanish. If the hunt truly ended, he'd prefer it be with Godzilla and others like him contained.
But Izuku didn't want it to end, did he?
While he hated people dying, both civilian and AMF, part of Izuku took comfort in there always being another battle, another challenge, another chance to be pit himself against a monster stronger than any of the people who'd once put him down could hope to be. To stare death in the eye and do all they said he couldn't and more, saving innocent lives in the process.
That was why after six years he still hadn't stopped. He didn't want to stop.
Ochako leaned back, feeling the Rainy Season's rocking as it sailed.
This reminded her of the good old days, traveling with Izuku on those transport carriers, going to fight some monster threatening an island. She wondered what he was doing now…
Ochako glanced at Nejire, who was laying down, a discarded book next to her, looking bored out of her skull. Ochako knew how she felt. Luckily she'd brought just the solution. A solution learned through many mind numbingly dull trips beforehand.
"Hey Nejire! Wanna play cards?" Ochako pulled out her deck.
Nejire gave her a weak thumbs-up.
The card game alleviated their boredom. Heck, it was actually kind of fun. It gave them something to do and a little bit of a challenge to overcome. Unfortunately, after two hours it got old. Then they kept playing and it got really old.
After that, they tried to distract themselves by reading books, chatting, or playing I-spy. One by one those too ran out of steam, leaving both Heroes sitting on the deck, waiting for the time to pass. It was excruciating.
A distant sound broke Ochako out of the monotony. She sat up to listen closer. It sounded like explosions. Then she heard another sound. "Fighter jets?"
She looked and sure enough, two bombers were flying over the ocean, past the Rainy Season. Ochako leaned into the bridge. "You got any binoculars?"
Tsu pointed to a pair on a table. Ochako grabbed them and looked at the jets. American by their markings, but that wasn't the strange part. The strange part was the AMF painted on the bottom.
According to Izuku, the AMF was originally an international organization. It's two main contributors were America and Japan, with its first members being a mix of both. After Ghidorah, the organization splintered with each nation making their own monster agency. America and Japan were the last to split ties, both keeping the old name.
But what were American anti-monster bombers doing here?
Japan guarded these waters. Maybe they were helping Japan's AMF because it was stretched thin? But they were well within the beacons and therefore well away from any kaiju big enough to provoke bombers. So what gives?
Ochako pondered this for several minutes, until Nejire pointed off the bow. "What's that?"
Ochako followed her gaze and saw two yellow splotches on the ocean surface.
"Not sure," said Tsu. "Pollution?"
As they got closer it was easier to see the clumps of yellow liquid floating on the surface. Ochako could also see several other clumps on the water, leading away like some sort of trail.
The wind blew toward the Rainy Season. Ochako sniffed it, catching the familiar fruity aroma of-
"Yellow Soma?" said Ochako. Nejire and Tsu both looked at her. "It's a liquid derived from berries in the Pacific. I've seen it before."
"How does it affect marine life?" said Tsu.
"It scares certain types off, but they aren't actually hurt."
Tsu nodded, seemingly satisfied.
"Why would the air force be dropping fruit juice?" said Nejire.
That was a good question. In Ochako's experience Yellow Soma was used for-
But that was impossible. Ebirah was marked for exclusion. They would never let him get this far in.
Still, maybe if she should ask Izuku if something happened-
Ochako shook her head. She was being paranoid. They were probably dropping the Soma as a training exercise. Nothing more.
"Got it. We're in position, ribbit," Tsu said into her radio, ripping Ochako out of her thoughts. "Uravity, Nejire-chan, Selkie's found the villains. Get ready."
Ochako and Nejire got on the edge of the boat and watched.
Questions about the berry juice could wait. Now, it was time to go to work.
That scene with Izuku was added later, but I'm glad I did. It added to his character a lot, which was nice.
Hope you enjoyed!
Reviews make me smile!
