Zenichiro looked back and forth between Izuku and the Heroes. He was used to seeing that look when Heroes showed up. That glare of contempt and indignation. It was a common reaction in the AMF. However, he'd never seen it on Izuku's face before.

"Hello Kacchan." Izuku's tone was cold, with hostility simmering beneath the surface. Zenichiro had never heard him talk like that to anyone before. It was like Izuku had swapped places with Captain Sakaki.

Dynamight was standing perfectly straight. He maintained eye contact with Izuku, but his expression was tense, and his fingers were twitching.

He was nervous. Dynamight was nervous. The guy notorious for his lack of tact and willingness to piss off literally everyone. If that wasn't surreal enough, the next words Dynamight said definitely were.

"Izuku."

Izuku?

Zenichiro looked back and forth between the two. How did Dynamight know Izuku's name? Why did he call him by his first name? And hold on, had Izuku called Dynamight "Kacchan" earlier?

Did they…know each other?!

"It's been a while," Izuku said, still glaring. "Since Middle School in fact."

Dynamight winced. "Yeah."

Izuku jerked his thumb to the right. "Go 200 meters that way, then turn left when you reach the clearing. After that, keep walking until you smell food. You shouldn't have too much trouble finding it."

Izuku turned around and started to climb up the maser. He stopped. "Oh and Kacchan? This is an AMF camp. Your help is appreciated, but make no mistake: We're in charge. Don't forget it." Izuku disappeared into the tank, closing the hatch behind him.

Lizardy and Chargebolt stared at Dynamight, looking as lost as Zenichiro felt. Dynamight stood frozen until Chargebolt zapped him back to his senses. Dynamight promptly shoved Chargebolt away, then turned and marched in the direction Izuku had pointed. His companions shrugged, then followed him.

Zenichiro turned to his teammates. They gestured toward the maser with expressions that screamed What the Hell was that?!

Zenichiro gave them a bewildered shrug. Don't look at me! I'm as in the dark as you!

"You should go up there," Akane whispered.

"What? Why me?" Zenichiro whispered back.

"Because you're his driver, you're closer to him than any of us, and that's literally your maser."

"Oh, right." Zenichiro's shoulder's sagged. "Ok, I'll go. In the meantime, you guys go and do your check-ups."

They nodded and went to their tanks while Zenichiro climbed into his own.

"What kept you?" Izuku said, not looking up from his work.

"Oh, um, nothing," said Zenichiro. "The others are getting into their tanks right now."

Izuku nodded and continued running his diagnostics. Zenichiro took a deep breath. "Hey Izuku?"

"What?"

"Do you um, know Dynamight?"

Izuku paused. "That's private."

"Oh, sorry. It's just…you two seemed familiar." Very familiar.

Izuku let out an irritated sigh. "We grew up in the same neighborhood. Even went to the same school. He wasn't always the asshole everyone knows him as now."

Zenichiro turned to Izuku. "Really?"

"He used to be worse. Much worse."

"Oh."

Zenichiro decided he'd prodded enough and turned to focus on his actual work, checking his maser's systems for any issues. For the duration of their checks, the two worked in silence.


Katsuki walked along the path Izuku had pointed out, with Lizard Teeth and Pikachu trailing just behind him.

"What do you think that was about?" Pikachu whispered to Lizard Teeth. ""I talked with that green-haired guy earlier," he said. "He seemed really nice! Even got our autographs."

"I dunno. Maybe they had a history or something? I mean, not many poeple would have the guts to call Bakugo "Kacchan" to his face and even fewer would live to tell about it. You know Bakugo, did he ever mention this guy?"

"No, never."

"You know I can hear you!" Katsuki said.

"Whoops! Sorry?" Pikachu said.

Katsuki rolled his eyes and kept trudging forward. He followed Izuku's directions until he smelled food. Just like Izuku said.

"You should apologize to him. I think he'd really appreciate it."

Katsuki snorted. Yeah right Round Face. From how Izuku had glared at him, the only thing he would appreciate is Katsuki jumping into a volcano.

When did life get this complicated?

Katsuki sat upright in his hospital bed. He'd told them he wasn't hurt, but they insisted on keeping him overnight anyway. The battle in Kamino was over. All Might won.

Was All Might in this hospital too?

If so…it was Katsuki's fault.

It was all Katsuki's fault.

He'd ended All Might.

All Might, the Hero he'd looked up to as long as he could remember. All Might, the Hero who was always there and had always been there. All Might, the Hero who never loses.

He was gone. His seemingly endless career over. All thanks to Katsuki.

Katsuki heard the door open. He looked up and saw his mom walking in. She sat next to Katsuki and wrapped her arms around him. Normally he'd find being hugged by her infuriating, but right now he was too empty to feel embarassed. His father was there too. He joined the hug.

Then the third visitor arrived.

"KATSUKI! We were all so worried!" Aunt Inko squeezed him as tears streamed downward like a fountain. She took a step back and blew her nose.

As she did, Katsuki noticed that even while sitting down he towered over her. When did he get taller than her? He remembered her being twice his size. That was…

That was when he and Deku still hung out.

Katsuki's parents sat to each side of him while Aunt Inko stood in front. "I'm so happy you're ok," she said with that earnestness she'd always spoken with.

That earnestness that Deku had always spoken with.

Katsuki grunted and looked away.

He glanced up at the door as if expecting to see someone. This felt…off. Like a piece was missing from this picture. He turned back to Aunt Inko, feeling confused.

"Izuku couldn't come Katsuki," she said. "He wanted to, he really did! But he…he just couldn't. He did want me to tell you that he hopes you get well soon!"

Katsuki was so tired he couldn't even bring himself to scream that he didn't care what Deku thought. Instead he nodded and said, "Yeah. All Might retiring probably broke the nerd."

Deep down however, Katsuki couldn't help but feel he'd lost something important. Like a tether he'd once had had long ago been severed, and he only just now realized it was slack.


Rando had given the cabinet a basic summary of the crisis they faced. This forced him to cross several hurdles.

The first was convincing a group of self-serving conflict averse bureaucrats that they were about to face the biggest threat since All for One had attacked Kamino almost ten years ago without being looking like a deranged lunatic.

The second was getting them, upon realizing the magnitude of the crisis facing them, to not bury their heads in the sand as politicians are wont to do.

The third was convincing them to follow the AMF's lead on managing the threat, instead of whatever half-baked suggestion they threw out to make themselves look important, regardless of whether facts or basic common sense indicated the contrary.

"We are currently calling all available AMF forces to stop Godzilla. In the meantime, we recommend equipping the Heroes with special gear so they can safely perform search and rescue, and to evacuate the city," Rando said.

"How much of the city?" one of them said.

Rando braced himself. Here it comes… "All of it."

"You can't do that!"

"Preposterous!"

"Do you have any idea how drastic that is?!"

"Director Yaguchi!" The Minister of Finance said. "Tokyo is the center of our nation's economy. An evacuation of such scale could have grave consequences for the nation. Is this really necessary?"

"I understand your concern," said Rando. "But I believe the threat posed by Godzilla is worth the risk, and that the damage if we don't is likely to be more severe than the consequences of the evacuation. Especially if the battle goes poorly."

"The plan you described involves driving him into the sea," another minister said. "Why not capture, or kill it? Surely if it's as dangerous as you say, then it'd be much safer to end the threat once and for all. Especially with the capitol at stake."

"The AMF has no plans to capture or kill Godzilla ready at this time. We do not wish to try to do either of those without a solid idea of how."

"What about the other monsters you mentioned? How can you be sure they will not reach Tokyo first?"

During the night an earthquake with a moving epicenter indicated Baragon had become active while multiple Gargantua were spotted in various locations, along with the continued movements of Varan.

"We've analyzed their trajectories," Rando said. "While it appears that several kaiju are on a trajectory that might also bring them to Tokyo, none of them will arrive until days after Godzilla, if at all."

"And why do you insist the AMF alone handle combat? Couldn't the military or Heroes be valuable for support?" the Minister of Defense said.

"The AMF feels that their training and experience makes them best suited to the task. The Heroes and standard military are inexperienced with kaiju, especially Godzilla. They will be best suited for other vital duties, such as evacuation and disaster relief." Rando said.

The Minister of Finance spoke again. "You wish to evacuate all of Tokyo, a nigh herculean task. Do you have a plan for how?"

"Yes," Rando said. "There are emergency protocols detailing how to evacuate every one of our major cities in case of a threat like this. They're old, but still viable. The one that best suits this situation is Emergency Protocol 13-F."

The Minister nodded, content with Rando's answer.

Rando turned to the rest of the assembled ministers. "Our Heroes will be vital in this operation's success. However, time is short. We need to start as soon. As. Possible." Rando enunciated every syllable, in the hopes of impressing on these officials the need to be quick and decisive.

His presentation over, Rando sat down and hoped they listened to him, if only because they lacked any alternative.

As the cabinet debated their next course of action, he gripped his chair in anticipation.

Prime Minister Okochi clasped his hands. "I will meet with the Heroic Public Safety Commission tomorrow and brief them on Director Yaguchi's plan. I will direct them to begin an evacuation. We will meet again tomorrow to discuss further details."

Rando's grip tightened. That wasn't a no, but it wouldn't be fast enough. Okochi was a solid peace time prime minister, but he was ill suited for crisis. In fact, he nearly lost his position two years ago during an economic scare. Right now, his slow and risk averse nature was the last thing they needed!

Rando stood. "Prime Minister, given the nature of the crisis haste is necessary-"

"I'm well aware," Okouchi said. "But we can't afford to do this sloppily. An evacuation of this scale requires coordination between the different agencies."

Rando sat back down and stewed. This was going too slowly! At this rate, the evacuation would only be partly successful. That meant they needed to keep the battle as short and contained as possible. Rando would meet with Commander Tachibana after this. Together they'd work to make sure the AMF was prepared.

Once the meeting adjourned, Rando walked down the hall with some of his close colleagues.

"This is going too slowly." Rando said. "At this rate, they'll still be debating when Godzilla steps out of the bay!"

"Yeah! And what about the Minister of Finance?" said one of Rando's companions. "Bringing up the economy at a time like this? Is money all he cares about?!"

"The economy isn't just money," said Special Advisor to the PM Akasaka, Rando's mentor. "It's what produces and puts food on the table. It isn't wrong to bring up the consequences to a course of action, even if that action is necessary."

Rando nodded. "Besides, he actually seemed to care if we were right or not. The others were just blowing smoke."

"Yaguchi, what now?" Rando's friend Shimura said.

"We prepare for war," Rando said. "Godzilla will be here within the week. We need to mobilize every available resource for when he arrives."

"If you're planning to have another round of all-nighters, please take a shower," Shimura said.

Rando glared.

Shimura folded his arms. "You can afford ten minutes."

They entered the lobby. Off to the side, one of the cabinet ministers was speaking with Koku Hanabata, the populist politician from the Hearts and Minds Party, along with a high ranking military official.

What's that about?


Hope you enjoyed!

That Shimura isn't related to Nana by the way. He's actually a character from Shin Godzilla.