HA HA! I have been WAITING to post this one!
When I wrote my initial draft of this story (which reached well over ten chapters), I stepped away and stopped writing for almost a year.
I came back with a radically different vision for what I wanted to do and started from scratch, ditching almost everything. However, two parts were carried over almost point for point. One was Izuku and Ochako's respective introductions.
The other was this chapter.
This has been a moment I've wanted to get to since I first outlined this story and it feels GREAT to finally post it! Enjoy!
Nejire flew toward the mystery ship, Tsu and Ochako weightless on her back. Darkness had begun to fall, with the sea and sky becoming a dark blue that seemed to join at the horizon. Nejire wondered what the situation with the ship was? Was it a mistake? A broken radio? Or, was it villains?
Soon, the ship in question came into view. It seemed to be a small cargo ship carrying a supply of metal barrels on its back. Most of the barrels were blue but a few were also red. Nejire could make out crewmen on the deck. They gathered and pointed at her, but didn't attack. Hopefully that meant they were just regular civilians.
As she got ready to land, she was just able to make out a dragon painted on the side in the fading light, along with the words "Lucky Dragon". She guessed that was the ship's name.
She landed several feet away from the crowed and let her friends off. She got a good look at the crew. Mostly Japanese (matching their ship's flag), ages ranging from thirties to fifties. Nothing unusual so far. The crewmembers stared, as if trying to decide what to make of her. Then one of them said, "Hey is that Uravity?!"
"Holy shit it is!" said another.
They rushed forward and began crowding Ochako.
"Hey, I've heard of your work as a Hero! Great to see one of us making it!"
"Huge fan of yours! Honor to meet you!"
"What's it like fighting humans now?"
Off to the side Nejire and Tsu watched the bizarre affair with more than a little amusement. Usually it was them being mobbed and Ochako left on the periphery. Poor Ochako flailed around, looking flustered at the newfound attention. Nejire giggled. Fighting villains? Won't even blink. Crowd of fans? Hopelessly lost.
Near her, a crewman said "Whoa. She's even hotter in person!"
"What's the big deal? She's just another Hero!" another said, the last word being laced with the kind of contempt usually saved for criminals, politicians, and members of the media.
"Hey!" said the first one. "Uravity spent four years with the AMF before becoming a Hero! Three in G-Force."
"The nutjobs in the Pacific?!"
Nejire raised an eyebrow. AMF? G-Force?
"Yeah, I heard she was partners with the Emerald Madman himself."
"No way."
Nejire turned her attention back to Ochako, who was still being mobbed. As amusing as this was, they had a job to do. She opened her mouth to speak when another voice cut in.
"Attention!"
The crowd immediately shut up and turned around, standing up straight. A man in his early thirties walked toward them.
"Well well," he said, with a smile. "Isn't this a surprise? Uraraka! It's been too long!"
"Shikinami!" Ochako said, running up and hugging him. "How've you been?!"
"Pretty good," he said. "Transferred here after about a year mainland. Made captain since then. It's a nice job, good pay and less risk of being incinerated. How about you? How's the Hero business?"
"Pretty good!" said Ochako. "I save people, can use my quirk freely, and get to make people happy."
Shikinami raised an eyebrow. "And make plenty of money?"
"That too!"
Shikinami grinned. "Sell-out."
Ochako laughed. "Hey, why do you think I signed up for G-Force? College credit?"
"Recklessness, obsession, or complete lack of self-preservation? That's why Midoriya did it!"
"Hey! Show some respect! I seem to recall me and Midori saving your butt several times!"
Shikinami laughed. "Touché. To be honest, Midoriya's been doing pretty well for himself. He's even a bit of a legend now."
"Really?" said Ochako.
"Yeah, not every day someone as insane as him lasts this long. Anyway, what are you three doing out here?"
Nejire stepped forward. "We apprehended a group of villains smuggling illegal weapons near this location and detected your ship. You didn't answer our hails, so we came to investigate. May we ask who you are?"
"Oh, sorry about that," said Shikinami. "Our radio broke an hour ago. We've been trying to fix it, especially since we're meeting our escort soon, but haven't succeeded yet. As for who we are, we're with the government, specifically the Anti-Megalosaurus Force (or AMF for short) on a routine mission to transport this sensitive cargo. I have the paperwork here if you want it."
He held out a few papers. Nejire took them and looked them over. They looked legit, nothing noticeably out of place. She wasn't that familiar with the AMF, having only heard the name once or twice, but Ochako seemed to know these guys, which lent them credibility.
All in all, everything seemed perfectly fine, nothing suspicious to speak of.
"Can we look inside the barrels?" said Tsu.
There was a tremor from the crew, all of them growing pale at Tsu's suggestion. Even Ochako looked alarmed. She glanced at Shikinami saying, "This is a dumping run right?"
"Uh huh."
She turned back to Tsu. "Trust me, you really don't want to open those barrels.
Shikinami nodded. "The contents of those barrels are extremely hazardous. You don't want them opened."
Tsu raised an eyebrow. "Hazardous how?"
"Radioactive waste," said Ochako.
Tsu's face showed little expression, but her mouth noticeably opened.
Nejire tapped her chin. "What are they doing with it out here in the ocean? Wouldn't a mountain be a better place to bury it than an island? And why would they call it a dumping run? Unless they plan to oohhhh…" She looked to Ochako "Please don't tell me…"
"They dump it," Ochako said, sighing. "Official government policy. The blue barrels are waste from our reactors. But, I should add, there is a perfectly good reason to do this! It is not as bad as it sounds!"
"What about the red barrels?" said Tsu.
"Miniature nuclear reactors," said one crewman.
Tsu's eyes widened while Nejire's jaw dropped. "W-wha?"
"Apparently based on one some American kid built in his backyard shed a couple centuries ago."
This was getting worse with each sentence now, wasn't it? Ochako had the decency to look embarrassed, while Nejire had just one question…
"Why would you make a nuclear reactor to dump in the ocean?! Are you insane?!"
Instead of a direct answer, one of the crewmembers gave her a dark smile and said, "Food. For the beast."
Nejire's raised an eyebrow. What does that mean?
A muffled voice came from the walkie talkie on Shikinami's waist. Shikinami held it up and said, "What is it Okumura? Is the radio fixed?"
The other voice said something. Shikinami went pale.
"That's not possible. He can't have made it this far." Nejire saw a bead of sweat trailing down his forehead. "I'll be right there. Hang on!" Hands shaking, Shikinami put away his walkie talkie and sprinted for the front.
The crew watched him go, exchanging looks that ranged from nervousness to terror.
What's going on here?
Ochako looked after Shikinami, as everything seemed to slow down.
This isn't right.
The look he'd had when he heard Okumura's reply. The terrified expressions on the crew. The dumping ship meeting its escort here, not closer to the border.
The escorts were only there to evacuate the crew if…
And if they were meeting here then…
But it couldn't be!
She thought back to the Yellow Soma from earlier.
Could it?
Ochako raced after Shikinami. She idly noticed Tsu and Nejire following behind her but paid them no mind. She caught up with Shikinami just as he entered the bridge.
"Okumura! What's going on?!" he said to the man at the helm.
"It just appeared on our radar, approaching from the southwest!" Okumura replied. "Size and shape both match!"
"And the radio? Can we call an evac?"
"Still not working! What should we do Captain?!"
Shikinami paused. "How long until he's here?"
Okumura turned to Shikinami with a grave expression. "ETA six minutes."
"Shit." Shikinami stumbled backwards. Taking a deep breath, he shook his head and said, "Evasive maneuvers! Push the engines to the maximum! We have to get out of here!"
"You know we're not fast enough to-"
"Just do it!" Shikinami said. He fumbled with the speaker for the ship's PA.
"Shikinami!" said Ochako. "What's going on? We're in the Safe Zone!" It can't be true. It can't.
"He's in the Safe Zone!" Shikinami snapped.
Ochako froze.
It was.
They were alone, on a ship filled with radioactive materials. And he was coming.
Nejire stared as Ochako's face morphed into an expression she'd rarely shown before.
Fear.
Shikinami lifted the speaker and said, "Attention all hands! Code G! Code G! Ready the lifeboats and prepare to dump the load! Move! Move! Move!"
Okumura swung the wheel as far as it could go while Shikinami pushed past the Heroes onto the deck. Nejire and the others followed him.
Outside, sailors were spilling onto the deck, rushing toward the lifeboats. They ripped off the covers and began hurriedly preparing to abandon ship. Every action, expression, and word exuded panic and fear.
Nejire had no idea what was coming, but she could tell she didn't want to meet it.
Shikinami ran to the back toward a control panel and began typing in codes.
"If he gets close, I'm jumping," said a crewmember behind Nejire. "Better that than be here when he comes."
"He doesn't go for the lifeboats, does he?" said another.
"He sometimes does," said a third.
"Then what's the point of them?!"
"That's why their dumping the load you idiot!" said a fourth one.
"Shikinami!" said Ochako. "I can float the lifeboats if we abandon ship! Nejire can use her quirk to propel us away from here."
Shikinami nodded. "Good idea. But we'll still be sitting ducks if he attacks. Best to avoid him altogether."
"He's picking up speed! ETA 3 minutes!" said Okumura over the intercom.
Shikinami uncovered a red button. "Standby to dump!"
He raised his thumb to press it.
"Wait!" Ochako grabbed his hand.
Shikinami turned to her with an intense gaze that demanded she explain herself.
"Even if we dump the load, he still might come for us!" Ochako said. "If he can sense the barrels aboard now, he might still sense them after we drop them, like a truck that carried a dead animal all night! We need to give him something enticing to attack!"
"Like what?!" Shikinami snapped.
"Wait here." Ochako pressed her hands together and leaped up. She cut one of the red barrels from its restraints and floated down with it.
"Nejire," she said, her expression cold and rigid as a marble statue. "He's going to dump the load, and I'm going to throw this. When I tell you to, shoot it."
"What?!" said Nejire. "You're going to break open a barrel of nuclear waste?!"
Ochako got in her face and said, "If we don't do this then in a few minutes the small amount of radiation in this barrel is going to be the least of our problems! I'll drop it in the ocean after you shoot, now charge your quirk and do it!"
Nejire took an involuntary step backward, then did as Ochako said, extending her arm and charging her quirk. "Can't we fight this thi-"
"No." Ochako's tone gave no room for dispute.
Ochako gripped the barrel. Nejire readied to fire.
"ETA 2 minutes!"
Ochako turned to Shikinami. "Dump it!"
Shikinami pressed the button.
The back of the boat lifted. Hundreds of barrels cascaded into the sea as the ship made a hard right. Ochako threw her barrel off the back and said "FIRE!"
A golden spiral erupted from Nejire's arm, striking the barrel and blowing it apart. Ochako released her quirk, letting the pieces fall into the sea.
Everyone watched, waiting. Ochako walked past Nejire and gripped the guardrails. Nejire could see the tightness of her shoulders and paleness of her knuckles.
Seconds ticked by.
The crew slowly walked toward the back, awaiting their fate. Then, finally:
"He took the bait! He's not following us!"
Ochako let out a long sigh of relief, one which was echoed by the rest of the crew. The danger seemed to have passed. Even Nejire felt herself loosening up.
Yet still they stared at the dark sea.
Something shifted where'd they dropped the barrels, like the water was bulging.
There was a series of blue flashes under the water, followed by a long silence.
As they sailed away on the moonlit sea, Nejire recalled the crewman's words.
Food. For the Beast.
Hope you enjoyed! Reviews make my day!
I wanted to give Godzilla a real sense of presence here, to make him intimidating without even showing him. Hope I succeeded!
Fun fact, that reference to the American kid making a homemade nuclear reactor is a true story. Radioactive Boy Scout, look it up.
