Itsuka sat in the car, reflecting on last night's events.
During the typhoon, there'd been a massive attack on the far side of the island, leaving large swaths of the villages destroyed. None of the residents got a good look at what did it, but they maintained it was an animal. A really big animal. Itsuka, Setsuna, Jiro, and Splash'n'Go were driving over to investigate.
Itsuka looked out the window as they passed through the aftermath of the Kamacuras attack, taking in the devastation. It looked like a tornado had swept through. No doubt, this had been a major attack, far worse than anything the islanders could have been prepared for. Several houses were destroyed.
People died.
And the AMF declared it a resounding victory, talking about how lucky we'd been, Itsuka thought as she looked at a house with two distinct burn holes through it.
They drove up and around the mountain toward the nearest village. When they reached it…
Setsuna sat up. "What the-"
The AMF were already there, blocking the road.
The Heroes got out of the car and walked forward. One of the guards held up a hand. "No one's allowed passed this point. That includes you."
"We're here to perform search and rescue," said Itsuku glaring. "You can't stop us."
"Actually, we can," said the other guard, a woman based on the voice. "This is AMF business. Move on Heroes."
Itsuka growled. She was starting to lose her patience.
Splash'n'Go got in the guard's face. "I'm the local Hero of this island! I swore to help the people of this island, and they need it here! Now let. Us. Through.
"No," the guard said. "This is our business. Besides. I really doubt you want to be walking around out here.
Itsuka tilted her head. What?
A group of soldiers passed from behind.
"Hoods up, masks on! If you haven't taken your iodine, take it now! Keep your Geiger's handy, and report any high readings. Don't touch anything with your bare hands and decontaminate when you get out!"
Itsuka looked at the soldiers. All of them were wearing thick clothes covering every inch of skin while what looked like gas masks protected their faces. They looked more like they were about to walk on the surface of another planet than around an Island village.
Something's wrong.
Itsuka looked passed the roadblock, where AMF soldiers sifted through the wreckage. All of them were dressed in the same heavy gear with the same masks. Several pointed small handheld devices at the wreckage, which Itsuka bet were sensors of some kind.
Why were they treating about this place like a biohazard?
Itsuka looked through the trees, looking on another part of the village. She'd assumed last night was another mantis attack but…
Those didn't look like mantis footprints.
"-I know the villagers of this island! I know the dangers of this island! You need my help!"
Itsuka's turned back to the roadblock, where Splash'n'Go was still arguing with the soldiers.
"We have the dangers well in hand," the female soldier said.
As if on cue, a loud squeal came from the shoreline. Itsuka saw a giant white cuttlefish walk onto the beach, balancing on two oversized tentacles.
Splash'n'Go braced himself sprint down there, but before he could take a single step, the cuttlefish was blasted by multiple flamethrowers and rockets. The cuttlefish fell back into the water and vanished beneath the waves.
"Ugh. I hate Gezora," said one of the guards.
The other one nodded. "Freaking pests. I've helped kill enough for one lifetime."
Splash'n'Go stared after the cuttlefish. "I've fought those things," he said. "Not the strongest but certainly not weak. And they treat it like a minor annoyance… Who are these guys?"
Kendo put a hand on his arm. "Come on. We're getting nowhere here. We should go."
As they walked to the car, Jiro shot the guards a suspicious look. Once inside she said, "As you were walking away, one of them mentioned something else in the water. The other said she hoped "he" didn't show up."
Kendo nodded. "There was an evacuation order this morning too. There's something they're not telling us, and I want to know what it is..."
Contentment. He'd enjoyed his walk. Satisfaction. He'd destroyed his opponent. Annoyance. One escaped. Resolve. He'd return and finish the job.
"Do you really want to back? Wouldn't the nice cool depths be better? Or the warmer southern islands?"
Awareness of the intruder.
Kenji threw himself out of the kaiju's mind in the instant before the wave of pain hit him. He sat upright in his seat, panting heavily.
Damn it. I can read him just fine, but every time I try to suggest something he notices me!
Kenji shook his head as the adrenaline faded. They were nearing Scaris.
From the helicopter, Kenji could see everything. The trail of footprints leading from the shore, their path through the nearby houses and finally back to the sea. Godzilla come to the opposite side of the island from AMF ships. That and the storm covered him, leading to him making landfall completely undetected.
Kenji opened his tablet and checked the casualty reports. Not great, but not horrible either. Several dead, a few missing, and dozens injured. One survivor had avoided being stepped on by less than two meters. Kenji decided to see if he saw anything.
If there was one good thing to come of this, they'd finally been authorized to evacuate the island, so hopefully there'd be fewer casualties next time he came ashore. Their ships had been ready since the AMF arrived, so now it was only a matter of moving the nonessential populace (or at least the ones closest to the shore) off the island.
However that would take time. And based on Kenji's probe, time may not be something they had.
The chopper landed. Kenji got out and walked toward the disaster area. He passed a command post, where locals were being ferried inside a row of plastic boxes the size of showers and doused in pink steam. Decontamination chambers, a lifesaver for the AMF. Kenji stepped inside a tent where the survivor was held.
Unfortunately, the man was too hysterical to say anything. Kenji tried to use his psychic abilities, but all he saw was a cacophony of half remembered images from the night before. Nothing useful for analysis. Kenji realized he'd get nothing out of the man and left.
Kenji walked to where Godzilla had marched through the village, following his path. The damage had been severed but he'd seen worse. Then again, he'd been to Australia and visited the ruins of Sydney so…
From what he'd seen in the air, Godzilla had left the sea for what was, to him, a short walk. Damage on the ground correlated that. Distance and overall shape of the prints indicated a leisurely pace, no urgency or aggression.
At least, that's how it started.
Three quarters of the way through, things changed. Kenji would have to examine the site personally, but based on reports the walk got really ugly. Or enthusiastic depending who you asked. Unfortunately, seeing for himself meant hiking halfway across the hillside to get there.
Ugh, why does it have to be so far?
He was almost there when he heard a voice behind him.
"Kenji!"
Kenji turned around and saw Izuku walking up to join him. "Izuku! How are you? A bit late to the fight, aren't you?"
Izuku grinned. "Don't worry, I'm sure they'll be plenty of fighting before this is over. What about you? Are you going to the battle site?"
"Yeah. You?"
"Of course! I want to see it for myself."
"That's great! Your analyses are always welcome here!"
Izuku gave him a deadpan stare. "This isn't because you want me to do your work for you, is it?"
"But working's so haaard!" Kenji said. "Besides…work smarter…not harder…" Kenji leaned over and panted. Maybe he was out of shape.
When he looked up, Izuku had already gotten meters ahead and reached the crest of the hill. "You OK Kenji?"
"Why are you in such good shape?" Kenji said as he trudged up to him. "You drive a tank for a living!"
"You realize we have fitness requirements, right?"
"All the more reason to stay an analyst," said Kenji, reaching the top. He looked down and there it was.
The burnt-out husk of a Kamacuras.
Kenji whistled. "I'd say it didn't go well for the bug."
"Nope," Izuku said. He pointed upwards "If we go to that ridge we can get a better view."
Kenji took a drone out of his backpack and launched it.
"Or you can do that."
Kenji smirked. "Smarter, not harder Izuku."
"Looks like he burned it," Izuku said. "Smashed it too. Maybe clawed it given those marks on the side?"
Kenji looked up from his tablet. "Looks like it." Using the drone's camera, he examined the house-sized tracks from above. "Based on the prints, I'd say Godzilla noticed them just before reaching here. He rushed over and they fought. But.." Kenji frowned.
"The footprints show the Kamacuras walking up to him, not charging. But Godzilla's foot slipped in the mud in a way that's consistent with him taking a charge…"
"You can tell all of that from just the tracks?" said Izuku.
"Forensics is part of the trade my friend," Kenji said. "I can't use you for everything after all."
"Fair." Izuku's smiled, which faded to a more analytical look. "One of the Kamacuras had its wings shot yesterday. The other was relatively unharmed. One could have charged him while the other walked up to attack with its claws."
Kenji nodded. "Yeah! That fits!" He began typing notes. "He threw off the non-injured one which landed there," he pointed toward a deep depression several hundred meters away. "Then picked up the other and slammed it into the ground. Judging by the crater, multiple times."
"Then he burned it," said Izuku.
"Yeah!" Kenji said. "You sure you don't want to be an analyst?"
"Yes Kenji."
"Damn. I like having someone on par with me."
Izuku raised an eyebrow. "I'd drive you insane in a week."
"You know what? You're right. Your obsessiveness would be insufferable. Anyway, after that the surviving Kamacuras took off. Based on the scorch marks on that hill," Kenji pointed. "I'd say Godzilla fired on it. Given that there's no corpse, he probably missed. As for that other scorch mark, maybe he fired at the nest?"
"Seems reasonable," said Izuku. "One way to know for sure."
Kenji nodded and sent his drone to check both the Kamacuras corpse and the burnt hills. All had high levels of a unique radioactive particle generated within Godzilla's body.
"Confirmed, he opened fire." Kenji said. "All of this is just a tentative extrapolation of course."
"Of course," said Izuku, in a knowing tone. "Were you recording this on your tablet?"
"Smarter not harder. I can use the recording to remember small details my notes left out."
Izuku nodded. "Good."
They donned their hoods and masks and went to one of the footprints. Technically the radiation levels on Godzilla's skin were low enough that you could walk in his footprints all day with no side effects (the breath was what you really had to watch out for), but why take a chance?
Kenji got into the muddy print and took soil samples, while Izuku used the Geiger counter. Kenji could hear its rapid crackling.
"Radiation's higher than normal," Izuku said.
"Makes sense," said Kenji. "We've been feeding him scraps for years. That submarine's reactor would've really filled him." He collected his samples and climbed out.
Izuku had a radio to his ear.
"I have to go," Izuku said. "They spotted the surviving Kamacuras on the other side of the mountain. We're going to strategize, then attack tonight." He handed Kenji the Geiger counter. "Good luck."
"You too."
As Izuku walked off, Kenji returned to his work.
He glanced up at the Kamacuras corpse, his eyes lingering on the deep grooves left by Godzilla's claws.
Ochako got back from patrol. It had been fairly uneventful, with only a mugging or two. A larger fight had broken out nearby but it was over before Ochako get there.
Oh well, less paperwork for her she supposed.
Ochako took a shower, letting the warm water wash over her. After that, she went to her desk to finish her paperwork. Hatsume had emailed her that the special costume she'd ordered would be ready in a day or so, which was good. Though she hoped she didn't need it.
With that done, Ochako began making her way out, looking at the ground and thinking of what she'd make for dinner tonight.
"Aw man! There's a situation in Hokkaido and the Commission wants me to deal with it personally."
"Why you, Shitty hair?"
Ochako looked up and saw Red Riot and Dynamight in the hallway outside Nejire's office, talking. Over the last few days, the two had been visiting to help Nejire take over a case they'd worked previously, though they'd be done after today.
At Dynamight's question, Red Riot put his hands in his pockets and shrugged. "Apparently, there's a Villain group causing trouble. Two of them have strength quirks and a third shoots blades, so my quirk's well suited to the job."
"Crap. You mean I gotta go to that stupid island alone?!"
"Don't worry, Mina and Kaminari are there!"
"That's not better!"
"Aw come on, you know you love'em! Be sure to say hi for me!"
While Dynamight growled at his friend, Ochako squeezed past. Not for the first time, Ochako if Dynamight was the cruel "Kacchan" Izuku had told her about, but shook her head to clear those thoughts, but just as she was exiting the building...
"Oi! Round face!"
Ochako stopped. Turning around, she saw Dynamight glaring right at her.
Ochako glared back. "My name's Uraraka!"
"Whatever. You got something to say to me?"
Ochako was taken back. "No. Why?"
"Every time I visit raccoon eyes you're giving me death glares out of the corner of your eye. It's annoying. So, what's your deal?"
Ochako rolled her eyes. "Right, like no one could ever dislike your winning personality."
Dynamight snorted. "Didn't say that. But that's not why you dislike me, is it?"
Ochako looked down. It was unfair of her to dislike him on a hunch. After all, it wasn't his personality that put her off, it was his potential connection to Midori. Sighing, Ochako met Dynamight's eyes and said, "Izuku Midoriya."
His flinch said it all.
Izuku sat on an abandoned park bench. They were to attack at nightfall, so he had a little bit of time for himself. He chose to spend it here, reading
Around him the park was eerily silent, the only noise being the rustling of the trees. The area had been evacuated, a fact the Heroes took as cheerfully as a group of Australians in a border dispute with the ECN.
Izuku pushed the thoughts away, focusing on his book.
"-back in Tokyo I learned the hard way that Godzilla could never be stopped but you could grab his attention if you annoyed him enough."
Izuku smiled. Truer words had never been spoken. He was about to turn the page when he heard footsteps.
"Excuse me, young man."
Izuku stiffened. He slowly looked up.
All Might smiled down at him. "Mind if I sit here?"
Hooray! I finally put in my references to how Australia is in this AU! (Yes I have been waiting for a while to do that)
Also I get to show Izuku's analysis skills and bring Bakugo into the picture. Man, next chapter is gonna have some REALLY awkward conversations.
Edit: By the way, when I first posted the confrontation with the roadblock guards got a little more...heated BUT I thought it was a bit TOO much. So I cut it down.
Hope you enjoyed!
