Green Tea Rescue Chapter 42: Inko Midoriya: Origin Part 2, a my hero academia/僕のヒーローアカデミア fanfic

After her wasted time with Sea Beard, Inko was ready to call it a day. She just needed to pick up a few things for herself and her friends for dinner. Unfortunately, that meant she would have to go into the marketplace, which was just depressing.

While she and her friends had never been exceptionally welcome there, it had still been the beating heart of the village. You could buy anything you needed and there had always been people there, talking, selling, buying and trading.

Now; not so much. While not a ghost town by any means, it didn't change the impression that the once vibrant marketplace was now rotting away as it died. The people in the streets weren't smiling, they weren't interacting with each other. They did just exist, they were just there, going through the motions.

Inko sighed and looked over the stalls. It was a balance to find food that wasn't expensive but also didn't look contaminated. It took a bit of time, but Inko had a basket of 'fresh' fish and some bags of salt to preserve what they didn't eat tonight.

"I heard there was an explosion at the quarry today."

Inko blinked and slowed her pace. One, because she was shocked there was an actual conversation happening, and two, because it was about her. It seemed that her little adventure had pumped a few breaths of life into the stagnated market.

"Was it near the sea wall?"

"It wasn't."

"Could you imagine what would happen if those bumbling fools let something like that happen to…"

Inko moved on. It seemed like word on the street was that this was just another accident by the miners. Par the course. The Alderaan Mining and Refining Corporation sure didn't want people to think that there was anyone actually trying to get them off the island. And Inko was okay with that too. After all, she and her friends needed to not be suspects so they could keep doing what they were doing. The moment a name got out, things would get dicey.

The sea wall, huh?

Inko glanced over towards the quarry. Even from the village you could see it with so much land dug away. The sea wall was a dam that ran the perimeter of the quarry, facing the ocean. The miners had dug so deep, they had to build it to prevent the ocean from flooding them. It was no Hoover Dam; the construction was a mishmash of concrete, steel beams, and the natural shore line that the miners had tried to leave as it was when they started digging down.

It was shoddy.

It was a JISHA safety nightmare.

It was a miracle it was still standing.

But Inko was hungry. Apparently, blowing shit up made one work up an appetite. Or it could have been running for her life. Tomayto, tomahto at this point. What mattered was, she was hungry. And with everything she needed, she would be happy to get out of the creepily sad market.

"Little Inko, little Inko, how long has it been since I've seen you?"

Inko froze and winced. Looking off to her side into a small alley, she saw an old—ancient—woman sitting alone in the shade. "Pemphredo…"

She was wrapped in rags, her white hair more twisted and unkept than tangled up Christmas lights. Her skin was ghastly pale, dry as a desert, and covered in wrinkles and cracks. And her eyes, pale silver, made Inko shudder.

Her whole life, Inko had avoided this old woman. There was just something about the crone that unnerved her. She should have been just a harmless, rambling old woman, but if you looked at her, looked her in the eye, you got the feeling there was something else about her.

The woman, Pemphredo, laughed at hearing her name. She smiled a toothless grin. "It's been so long, I didn't think you would remember me."

"Everyone knows who you are. You're the oldest living thing on this island… and we saw each other just a few days ago."

Pemphredo laughed, then pointed down. "It's been so long since I've seen you…"

Inko blinked and followed the old woman's finger down; she was pointing at a puddle of water where her reflection shined back at her. Pemphredo stared into the reflection, her smile and chuckling going soft. "I see you, it's been so long… so long…"

Inko shook her head. "Look I… really need to get going." Inko took a step but was startled when Pemphredo reached out and snatched her wrist, her grip tight and hard. "H-hey?!"

Inko was more than a little startled at just how strong the grip was. She might be able to push the old woman away, but she didn't want to hurt her. "Come on, you need to let me g—"

"Death comes."

"Eh?" Inko suddenly wasn't so sure what was going on. Pemphredo hadn't taken her eyes off the water, and she was sure as hell not letting Inko go. In fact, her grip was getting tighter.

"Midoriya blood calls to death, and the Reaper hears it from the depths."

"What are you—"

"Death will come for Midoriya then, four times then once again. Fear the rage that you have stirred, or you'll drown amongst the animal's herd. As a demon offering a trade, a reward you must take for your aid. When land is gone and blood flows free, a two faced killer you must flee. A hand of death is at your throat, blood will spill so the knife you must note. Then when Midoriya blood is thinned by half, the demon will come back to take the calf. Birthed from fire eight thrones hide, but fear the demon as he slips inside."

Pemphredo trailed off and then let Inko go. Inko took several long steps back. "The hell was all that about?"

Death comes? Is she trying to scare me or something?

The old woman looked up from the puddle of water and blinked. "Oh, why if it isn't little Inko. How are you today, dear?"

"Errr…"

Pemphredo breathed in through her nose. "Oh, we got lucky today. There's a fresh breeze, none of that horrible smoke."

"Y-yeah… Ummm…"

"Oh, I do hope the fishermen get into dock soon. The poor market looks like it's running low on fish. Imagine that, a fishing village running out of fish." Pemphredo leaned back and smiled up at Inko, innocent and childlike. Not a trace of the haunting strength in her. Which just made her even more unnerving.

When the orphanage was destroyed in a landslide a few years ago, most of the orphans that had lived there were old enough to have moved on. Inko, Hisashi, Musen, Sakura and Biruda were the last ones that needed to be looked after. Only no one wanted to take up the job. The people from before up and left, and no one else on the island could be bothered. Too many other issues to deal with.

But for the kids, this was just fine, since they didn't want anyone in charge of them anyway. So, digging through the rubble and collecting their things, the five struck out on their own. On a hill, they found a solid plot of land that was at the outskirts of the village, and they built themselves their own homes; five little shacks all for themselves. As they grew older, they kept adding to them, making them unique and personal.

Sakura had turned her shack into a garden. Fruits and vegetables grew all over and inside her home, while around it, flowers bloomed, creating a rainbow of color. It looked like something an elf from a fairy tale might live in. Sakura's Tilling Quirk kept the ground clean and healthy, and made the plants she grew grow even faster and bigger than normal, so this gave the kids a constant supply of fresh produce. She couldn't fix their island, but she could make sure she and her friends had a little piece of their paradise left while everything else crumbled away.

Sakura was at first worried about using her Quirk so openly. It was against the law, of course. But Inko convinced her that there was nothing wrong with being open about herself. She had the power of growth and life at the tips of her fingers, able to create beauty from nothing. No law had the authority to take that from her.

Musen, thanks to Inko's encouragement, had embraced her Radio Quirk. As a child, she had constantly worn tin foil over her antenna in an attempt to stop herself from receiving and hearing all the different radio transmissions that originated from or were received on the island, but Inko had helped her through that.

"Your Meta Ability is incredible, Musen."

Constant praise from her and her friends. Learning how people should embrace their powers after Inko had taught her from her little red book. She shouldn't hide from the noise, all she needed to do was teach herself how to listen to it better.

So as Musen grew, she would scavenge the dry docks and scrap yards, looking for things to help her hear more. Radios, satellite dishes, tv rabbit ears and antennas were now attached to every corner of her home until there was no more room, and therefore they made a metal radio tower. Hearing everything was, now more than ever, a huge advantage for the group.

Biruda. The builder. The tinkerer. The inventor. Ever since he was a little boy, he was always making things. While their other friends had needed Inko to talk them into openly using their Quirks, Biruda had never been shy about using his. With his Nail Gun, all it took was a tap of a finger and he could get to work putting things together.

It was Biruda that put most of the work into making sure his friends had roofs over their heads as soon as possible. Not that he worked alone, of course, but he was the one who knew how to use all the tools his friends 'found' for him. If they needed something, he could build it. A shelf, a counter, a bed, a bath.

His home was the first to reflect him as a person, quickly becoming a workshop where he could create all sorts of things for himself and his friends. When Inko had declared that they were done just protesting at the quarry, and were going to take action against them instead, Biruda immediately went to work, and—the very next day—had support gear for everyone. He would not let his friends go to war unprepared.

Out of everyone, it was Hisashi who took after Inko's new views the most. When she started sharing the things she read in her new book with her friends, Hisashi listened intently. Being yourself, standing up for yourself, fighting for yourself. Demanding respect, and if that failed, taking it.

"You breathe fire, Bark Head," Inko had said one day. "You're a dragon. I know you'll make those bullies understand that."

Then came a day, when a group of kids had snuck up on them to play a prank, dropping the scrapped remains from a boat's chum bucket on them. Afterward, they then made the mistake of calling Hisashi by that hated nickname. Inko watched and cheered as Hisashi roasted the boys, leaving their clothes charred and making sure to give the largest one, who had tossed the bucket, a good kick in the teeth while he was in the middle of rolling on the ground to put the flames out.

The kids on the island didn't really bother Hisashi after that. It was perhaps fortunate that things between Bespin and the Alderaan Mining and Refining Corporation were really starting to deteriorate at that time, so that Hisashi didn't even really get in trouble. Told off and warned by Sea Beard, yes, but the hero was so caught up in other things he didn't have time to back up his warnings. Now-a-days, Hisashi only had to deal with the adults.

Considering that right after that, Inko and Hisashi had become even more inseparable, no one was surprised when he built his little shack home extremely close to Inko's. Or, as it was expanded and built up, the gap between them all but vanished.

Hisashi took to practicing his fire breath a lot once they moved into their new homes. A good way to practice was keeping the water purification still constantly heated and lit so that the group always had clean water. The water still, and the other smaller one that the kids made sure no adult knew about.

Inko's home was the most basic of the lot. She had no garden, no radio equipment, or a workshop. She had a cot to sleep on, shelves for her books, a little private nook to wash herself, and a ladder to take her up to her roof that Biruda had reinforced, so she could sit and look up at the stars when the night sky was clear.

As the others added to their homes, Inko's stayed pretty much the same. She just didn't feel like she needed to expand it. She had what she needed, so she spent her time focusing on other things. Memorizing the words of Destro, his Meta Liberation War, and doing her best to shape herself into the kind of person the book spoke about. A woman that would not allow herself to be suppressed and teaching her friends to be true to themselves and embrace their Quirks.

"You have Meta Abilities for a reason. Use them."

Inko could pull small objects towards herself. You'd be surprised just how small some expensive or important objects were. And the miners never bothered to look for things that went missing; they could always be replaced.

Tools for Biruda. Fruits and vegetables from the miners' stash for Sakura to use and plant for her garden. Equipment for Musen so she didn't have to always go looking for scraps. Inko got really good at snatching things.

She also grew as a leader. When the adults stopped protesting, it was Inko that led the picket lines afterwards. And when she decided that words alone were useless, they followed her as she planned their first attack. Inko was growing confident and determined. She knew who her enemy was, like Destro before her, and she was not going to back down.

"Hi honey, I'm hooo— OOF!"

With a dramatic kick, Inko opened the door into Musen's shack, only to have a wadded up sack of dirty clothes tossed into her face. "You're crazy!"

Inko laughed as she tossed the dirty laundry back at Musen. "Hey, it all worked out."

Musen huffed. "I heard the gunshots."

"We all did," Biruda added from the corner.

Shrugging, Inko waved off their concern. "And if I was dead, you would have picked up their chatter on their radios. It's no big deal."

Musen eyed Inko levelly. "I don't think you can say that after you blew up a fuel tank."

"Uh uh uh," Inko wagged a finger. "After we blew up a fuel tank. You were my lookout sooooo…"

Inko trailed off with a smile while Musen groaned. "You're horrible."

"I'm incredible," Inko corrected.

"I'm not Nenshouki, I'm not dropping to my knees to kiss your ass," Musen finished before turning away and going back to her things.

Inko snickered before looking at Biruda. "So Bob, were you able to collect all the stuff I stashed away?"

Biruda nodded. "It's all put away. I'll have the uniform washed later. As for that other thing you had…"

"The footlocker."

"Yeah, what is it?"

"A footlocker."

Biruda frowned. "Keep that up and I'm not fixing the next thing you break."

Inko held up her hands in surrender. "Okay, okay. I'll tell you all about it once Sakura and Bark Head get back…. Any word from them?"

Musen tapped her antenna. "They radioed in not that long ago. Mission accomplished. Their raid on the miners' supplies went off without a hitch. They got a couple of bags full of food and things for us. Soaps, shampoos, batteries, and some gas for the generator."

Inko sighed happily. "Oh thank god. I need a bath after walking through all that dust today. Look at my poor hair," Inko pulled her long hair over her shoulder, "it's still coated in dust and crap."

"Why don't you just cut it?" Biruda asked.

Musen snickered as she answered, "Then Nenshouki would have nothing to pull."

Inko threw up her hands. "I swear, I'm going to beat you up!"

Inko saw Musen roll her eyes, and knew immediately what was coming. The other girl found the puppy dog love utterly disgusting, so whenever she looked away, Inko just knew.

"INKO! YOU'RE OKAY!"

Hisashi was home and was rushing over to wrap her up in a tight bear hug. "GAH! Bark Head!"

Hisashi didn't pay her any mind, ignoring her protests. Once he got his fill of the hug, he put her down and immediately began looking her over. Checking for injuries or anything else that was out of place, his eyes landed on her chin. "What happened here?"

Inko batted his hands away. "It's nothing. I'm fine."

"That's a bruise." Hisashi's hands cupped Inko's face. "How'd this happen?"

"Oh my god, if you don't stop acting like a mother hen, I'm going to kick you," Inko griped as she tried to get away. Hisashi though kept pace with her, following her around the room.

"He's been like that all morning," Sakura grumbled as she walked in, carrying some very full duffel bags that she plopped down on the ground. "As soon as we heard that explosion he was ready to steal one of the security trucks and rush over. Even when we got the all clear, he was still ready to bounce. Made stealing all of this," she kicked a bag, "a real chore."

Sakura's floral hair was wilted and she looked like she either wanted to kill someone or was in desperate need of a smoke. "Thanks for helping me carry the bags, Nenshouki."

Hisashi blinked then ran some fingers through the green mess that was his hair. "Errrr, whoops?"

Forget a smoke, Sakura needed a drink. "I'm done. Take your shit, leave my share at my door. I'll see you all tomorrow after I visit the still."

"Come on, we need to get everything sorted first," Biruda countered as he started opening the bags to get things organized.

Sakura glowered but didn't argue. As the group went to work she looked over at the bruise on Inko's chin. "We did swipe some pain killers if you need them."

Inko frowned as she dug through one of the bags, pulling out a pill bottle. Hydromorphone was plastered on the label. "…This is pretty strong stuff, Sakura."

Sakura swiped the bottle and pocketed it. "Better we have it than those thugs."

"Well, either way, I'm fine. Sytsevich likes to think he's a big scary guy, but he punches like a wuss."

A few heads snapped up. "Wait, you got grabbed by the head of security?"

Inko laughed. "Don't worry. They only think it's us. No proof."

Musen tapped her fingers on the canvas bag. "Still, it's bold of them to grab you in broad daylight like that. How'd you get out of it?"

Inko frowned, and as one, the rest of her friends all went, "Ohhhhh."

"Sea Beard got involved."

"Guess he finally got to feel like he was doing something again."

"Please tell me he said something lame like he was protecting the people of this island."

"He did."

The group broke out laughing. "God, he didn't actually mean it, did he?"

"Yup."

"What a joke."

"Sytsevich even humored him by playing his game. It was pretty pathetic. But what was really funny was what he tried to do after the security goons were gone."

Hisashi tilted his head to the side as he stacked away some of the supplies. "What? What'd he try and do?"

"He tried to warn me that calling ourselves the Meta Liberation Army was dangerous. Went on about how the original group was a terrorist organization and that Destro used Meta Ability rights as a way to excuse his murders and attacks on the government."

"Sooo, par for the course government propaganda then?" Hisashi asked.

"Yup. He's such a hypocrite. Tries to play up the part of the concerned and law abiding hero when all of that," Inko motioned outside towards the quarry, "is going on."

Inko stood up to look at her friends. If she had a soapbox she'd be standing on it. "Of course, we know what the difference is. They pay their bribes and taxes, so the government looks the other way because they're too busy counting the money. Us? The Meta Liberation Army had the gall to say no to them. Destro cost them money. They stood up for a cause and were treated as monsters. We don't fit in their perfect mold, so better to demonize us, then."

Inko crossed her arms, "Sea Beard wanted to try and scare us, but it won't work. We aren't scared of him, we aren't scared of the sheriff or the crooked mayor. And we sure as hell aren't scared or those security chumps. One way or another, we're going to get them off our home!"

Inko raised her fist and yelled that last part, and her friends cheered along with her. Destro taught them to fight against their oppressors, and one way or another, they were going to do just that.

"So you blow shit up, outrun some gun nut security, fell into a old tunnel with a treasure chest, and then bluffed your way out of that dumb rhino's hands. Anything else interesting happen to you today, or do you think you're gonna take a break," Hisashi joked while the group continued to put things away.

"We still need to open up that box she found," Musen added.

"Ha, good point."

Inko frowned as she paused what she was doing. "Um…"

Hearing Inko hesitate got the room's attention. "Midoriya?"

"I kinda had a run-in with old Pemphredo."

"Wait, seriously? Define 'run-in.'"

Inko scratched her head. "So remember when we were little kids and we used to hear stories about how she supposedly had a super powerful Meta Ability?"

Sakura frowned. "What'd those old sailors say it was… Graeae right? They said she could see into the future."

"Bull fucking shit. She's a crazy old lady and those old sailors were so superstitious they would believe anything if it was weird enough," Hisashi said with a laugh.

Inko nodded. "…Yeah… yeah, she's just a crazy old lady."

"Wait, did she tell you your future?" Hisashi fought back his chuckles. "What'd she say?"

Inko shook her head and waved it off. "That I'm going to meet the grim reaper and a demon. All doom and gloom."

That got even more laughs.

A demon.

It's not like one of those actually exists.

With the rest of the supplies put away, everyone followed Inko into her shack, except Sakura who went looking for a drink. In the center of Inko's little home was the foot locker she had found, cleaned off well enough that Inko could see some of the old green paint. Biruda had some tools now and was ready to go to work getting the thing unlocked and opened.

"Any reason we're not just breaking it open?" Hisashi asked, giving the box a light tap with his foot.

"I'd rather not risk breaking whatever's inside. Plus, it might be boobytrapped."

Biruda blinked rapidly as he sat in front of the box with his tools. "Wait, then why am I helping you?"

"Because Biruda, if you saw any of us trying to pry this thing open, you'd be having a fit because we'd be using the wrong tool or something," Sakura joked as she came in, carrying some clean-ish glasses and a jug that Musen had 'hilariously' marked with XXX, "and here, this morning was a very good vintage. The crushed blackberries make it look like we got wine this time."

Inko raised an eyebrow, but took the glass. "Isn't it a little early for drinking?"

With the glasses either handed out or put on a shelf, Sakura happily poured her friends a drink before she took one for herself. "Hey, 5 PM was at least nine hours ago." She then downed her distilled moonshine with a loud gulp.

Hisashi winced. "I breathe fire and I hurt just watching that."

Sakura rolled her eyes and poured herself another glass. Inko sipped her drink while she watched Biruda start working on the lock. He worked diligently, applying drops of oil into it to help with the rust. Taking some pliers, he worked to get the hinge of the lock removed, smiling as the little round bar of metal finally gave and was removed. Then taking some picks, he stuck them inside the lock and felt around. Frowning, he sprayed a little oil inside and continued to move the picks around until, "Ha!" Twisting the picks, the lock was opened.

His friends clapped happily while he stood up and pocketed the lock. "I'll replace this with something with a key later."

Inko handed him his drink before she knelt down and ran her fingers over the footlocker, then flipped the top up and over. "Oh, wow."

Inside, folded neatly, was an olive drab army uniform, complete with belts and pouches. Some of the seams were frayed but overall, the uniform seemed in surprisingly good condition. The leather of the belts were dried and cracked, but those could be easily replaced.

"Whoa, that's a huge knife." Musen pointed at the sheathed blade hanging from the belt that was about as long as Inko's forearm.

Taking the handle in her hands, Inko pulled the blade free and whistled. It was still clean and shiny. She then blinked at the strange hilt of the knife.

Biruda also noticed it. "That looks like it attaches to something."

"It's a bayonet," Inko realized. "Wow, this is cool, maybe I should walk around with this instead of my little pocket knife from now on."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Oh yeah, that won't draw attention."

Resheathing the bayonet and setting it aside, Inko then pulled the top out of the box. She whistled. "Look, they even had boots in here."

Taking one, she put her foot against it and smiled. It was almost her size too. Maybe a size or two too large. Not a bad find.

"What're those boxes there?"

Hisashi leaned over and picked up a small cardboard box from a stack. The lettering was long faded, so Inko picked up one and slid it open. "Holy crap," she said and plucked out a bullet. "It looks like a rifle bullet."

Handing it off to Hisashi, Inko went back to digging through the footlocker, removing the last boot and then the pants of the uniform. The uniform had covered a lot of ammo boxes. And something else, wrapped up in cloth and strapped to the bottom of the box. Undoing the straps, Inko pulled the thing out. It was heavy, long and narrow.

"I wonder…"

The box had ammo and a bayonet. So could that mean Inko also had…

"Holy fuck, it's a gun."

Unwrapping her prize, Inko held up the rifle for her friends to see. The wood was worn and there were some nicks but aside from that, it was in great shape.

"Oh look, there's a service manual in here," Biruda said as he pulled out a faded and worn but legible thin paper booklet. Flipping through the pages, he hummed as he skimmed over what he could make out. "It's an… Arisaka Type 99 Rifle… wow, look at the date this thing was printed," he pointed out a date on the book for everyone, "this thing is ancient. 19…4… something."

Inko's eyes sparkled. "This is totally a World War Two gun… I wonder if it still works."

"No no no no," Biruda reached over and swiped the gun out of Inko's hands. "No chance in hell are you shooting this thing."

"HEY!" Inko tried to take the rifle back, but Biruda leapt up and backed away, clutching the gun to his chest.

"No chance. Not until I go over this thing with a fine tooth comb and make sure it isn't going to explode in your hands. We have the manual, so I'll be able to use that to make sure everything is where it should be."

Inko pouted but couldn't exactly argue with him. It wouldn't be very fun to have to pull metal and wood out of her face because the super old gun exploded in her hands. Musen rubbed her chin as she looked at the mini arsenal Inko now had. "What exactly do you want with a gun anyway? Not like there's anything to hunt here."

Hisashi crossed his arms. "Plenty of things to shoot though."

The mood in the room darkened as the five silently gave that some thought. Sakura downed her glass and poured herself another. "Is that something we're seriously considering?"

"They fucking shot at Midoriya today," Musen pointed out. "And, out of everything we've been able to steal from them, guns and ammo have always been impossible. They keep that stuff under lock and key. Literally. If we have this, it'd level the playing field."

Sakura scoffed. "Riiiiight. We're going to beat them and their automatic guns with a…"

"Bolt action," Biruda filled in.

"With a bolt action rifle from a war that happened centuries ago. And again, are we going to sit here and say we're fine shooting at them?"

"Shooting them. Not at them," Inko corrected as she picked up the sheathed bayonet and turned it over in her hands. "All options are on the table Sakura. Always has been."

Sakura shook her head. "I get that, but here's the thing. A lot of those options are nuclear options. You fire that shot, and the rules change."

Hisashi looked at Sakura, then over at Inko. "Honestly, I'd say that we're already past the point of no return. They fired at us. The rules are different now."

"Only because Midoriya doesn't know the fucking difference between a water tower and a fuel depot apparently."

"That was an accident Sakura," Musen countered before trailing off and checking with Inko. "...Right?"

"I wouldn't go changing the plan like that without making sure we all knew it, Musen," Inko answered. "But Bark Head is right, the rules changed today. Whether we wanted them to or not."

Sakura threw up her hands. "Great! Nuclear option is a go. You all know that nuclear is basically mutually assured destruction right?"

Biruda frowned. "Are you saying you want to leave or–"

Sakura sneered. "I didn't fucking say that. Don't go putting words in my mouth."

Inko stepped between them. "Easy! Bob, Sakura is just making sure we all understand what's going on now. But," Inko glanced at Sakura, "it might be better to have this talk when we've all had a chance to decompress. We just got back from our missions. Let's unwind first. Alright?"

Everyone nodded, but Sakura held off. "Midoriya, this is something we're going to have to deal with sooner rather than later. Sytsevich tried to pick you up off the street. He's ruthless, has an ego and he holds a grudge. We've been pricking his side for a while now, but today you walked up and slapped him in the face. Not just the explosion. He grabbed you and you got away. That is going to enrage him. He's not going to let that go. He's going to escalate fast. And it's going to be huge. I've seen what he does to his own men when they screw up down at the docks. Whatever he's going to do, it's going to be crazy."

Inko knew she was right. Sytsevich was all that and more. A brute that was just smart enough to always think outside the box when it came to making sure he got his way. "It's only mutual assured destruction if they get the chance to fire back at us when we make our move."

"And you have a plan to make sure that doesn't happen?" Sakura asked, but it was a question in everyone's heads.

Hisashi poured Inko another glass of the blackberry moonshine before sitting down next to her. With everything put away and their meeting adjourned for now, everyone had gone back into their homes to relax until dinner. Hisashi had joined Inko up on her roof as she sat and looked out over the island.

"So what's on your mind?"

Inko sipped her drink. It burned and made her mouth numb, but it did the job. "I don't really have a plan, you know. Never did. I just knew I couldn't sit around and do nothing… But Sakura brought up nuclear options… and she's right. If we give Sytsevich too much time to think, it's going to get bad."

"You'll figure something out. You always do."

Inko scoffed. "Planning raids to sabotage their equipment and stealing is one thing. Death by a thousand cuts is a hell of a lot different than trying to think of a way to end their operation in one go."

"And yet you do have an idea," Hisashi said, watching Inko closely. He had seen the way her face had twitched earlier when she had said they would figure something out.

Inko growled into her cup, making bubbles in it. "Since when do you know what I'm thinking?"

Hisashi snorted. "You're just like your books, easy to read."

Inko's hand swung out and jabbed into Hisashi's side. "Watch it, buster. You're not the clever one in this relationship."

"Maybe not, but I am the best looking in it— AH!" Hisashi's smug smirk got wiped away as Inko dipped her fingers into her drink and splashed some drops into his face.

Inko rolled her eyes when he pitifully cleaned himself off. "Oh, don't be a baby."

While he wiped off his face, Inko turned back to look over the island. And towards one point in particular that had been on her mind since she made her way home.

"Hey Bark Head… what if I said I… did have an idea." Inko glanced to her side and saw that she had her boyfriend's attention. "So it's going to sound crazy, but… we know where the miners store their explosives, right?"

"Store is a strong word. It's in a wooden shack more ratty than our houses," Hisashi said simply. During their early scouting and runs stealing from the miners, they had come across the explosives they used to open up new areas of the quarry. Inko at the time had ordered them not to take anything. At the time, that had seemed like a sure fire way to bring their little rebellion to an end, either from getting caught or accidentally blowing themselves up.

"Ba… Hisashi," Inko paused and Hisashi had a deep frown on his face. There were really only a few times she would use his real name. And since this didn't seem like one of the fun times, it meant it was when she was going to ask him to do something dangerous.

"You want me to steal their explosives?" It wasn't hard to guess what she was asking him to do. For better or for worse, he was the best thief of the group. If something wasn't nailed down, he could find a way to snatch it. He had the magic touch, as Biruda had put it.

"I'll run this by everyone after I've given it some more thought, but…" Inko looked off in the distance again. Hisashi followed her eyes. Paying attention to exactly where and what she was looking at.

He blinked, squinted, then blinked again. "Oh."

"It'd do the trick, yeah?"

"And then some." Hisashi paused, then asked, "We doing this during the day or night?"

Inko took a gulp of her drink. The time wasn't the real question Hisashi was asking her. What he was really asking was, would they run her plan when the quarry was running or when it was shut down.

When there would be people working there or not.

"I haven't decided yet."

The two were silent. Inko lay her head on Hisashi's shoulder as she thought over everything. Frowning as she tried to come up with a well thought out plan. She knew her friends would go along with whatever she came up with. But she still wanted to make sure she had something solid. Not just 'here's my idea and we'll figure out the rest later.' The issues she kept running into wasn't being able to get the explosives. Or figuring out how to use them, she knew Biruda would know. It was getting them to the target fast enough. Even if the stuff was only kept in a shack, someone was going to notice missing explosives. Inko and her group would need to get the explosives, take them to the site and set them up, and make a getaway before the big boom.

The timing of this was insane.

"Hey."

Inko blinked when she felt a hand on her shoulder give her a tap. "Huh? Wha—"

Inko then felt something handed to her, making her look down at her lap. Hisashi had put a small styrofoam take-out box into her hand. "What's this?"

Putting her drink down, Inko opened the box and looked to see that Hisashi had given her a slice of chocolate cake.

"Happy birthday by the way." Hisashi smiled and gave her a peck on the cheek.

"You—?"

"You shouldn't worry too much. You'll figure out what you need to do. Take a second and enjoy your time to rest. I bet you forgot what today even was."

Inko fumbled over her words. "How did… Where did you…" The whiplash of thoughts left her stunned and she stupidly dribbled out, "Cake before dinner?"

Hisashi smirked. "Stole it from a catering truck that the miners use, and you're the birthday girl, you get to have cake whenever you want."

Inko smiled. "I swear you can work some real magic. How'd you get this?" Inko took the cake with a smile.

Hisashi made a little show with his hand, rubbing his fingers together, then with a flick of his wrist, pulled out a candle. Inko laughed at the magic trick, and with a small puff Hisashi lit the end with his Fire Breath.

"I know how to put on a show when I need to. Distract some people with some street magic and they stop paying attention to other things." Hisashi put the candle into the cake. "Want me to sing?"

Inko's face scrunched up, but she kept smiling. "Please don't."

After Inko blew out the candle, Hisashi handed her a fork. After a few bites, Inko fed Hisashi a piece. Back and forth they shared their treat. Inko giggled when Hisashi kissed her, saying she had some chocolate on her lips. She rolled her eyes with a smile. "You're such a dork."

Hisashi laughed. "So you've told me. Over and ov—"

Hisashi's breath hitched when Inko slipped her hands into his shirt, running her fingers along his collar bone, "Wh-wh-wha?"

Pop

Inko opened a button. "Well, it's my birthday right?"

Pop

"So I'm just opening…"

Pop

"…my present."

Hisashi gulped loudly. "Inko, the others are—"

Pop

Inko smirked deviously. "Do I look like I care if," pop, "they…"

pop,

"…see…"

pop

snatch

"…me smoke?"

Hisashi blinked as Inko lifted his pack of cigarettes up to his face. "Wait, wha—?"

Startled, his hands went to his jeans pockets and sure enough, they were empty. "HEY?!"

Inko fell back, laughing up a storm. "Shouldn't a pickpocket know when he's getting robbed? I guess those sleight of hand tricks don't teach you how to avoid it yourself."

"You! That was evil!" Hisashi tried to snatch his cigarettes back but Inko wouldn't stay still, laughing as she plucked a stick from the pack before tossing the package back to him. Grumbling, Hisashi grabbed a stick for himself, then pocketed the rest. He then moved to rebutton his shirt, but Inko slapped his hands away.

"You leave that open, mister. I'm not through with you just yet."

Rolling his eyes, Hisashi puffed and lit his cigarette and took a small drag. "Feel like I'm your boy toy here."

Inko leaned forward, keeping her cigarette between her lips and pressed the end of it into Hisashi's. She pulled away when hers was lit then straddled his lap. "And that's a bad thing?"

Hisashi watched, his face heating up as Inko reached down and grabbed the hem of her shirt and pulled it off with a confident smirk. "Nope. Absolutely not."

Hisashi wasn't the only one to remember Inko's birthday. The group celebrated together at dinner, letting themselves take a few moments to be themselves. They ate a bit too much fish and drank a bit too much moonshine. When evening came, they were all ready for bed. Inko barely had the self-awareness to reach over and make sure her alarm clock was set, the bells at the top chiming as she fumbled to set the correct time.

And knew she was going to hate herself in the morning for being so irresponsible.

Stripping down to a loose shirt and some ratty gym shorts, Inko lay down on her cot and hoped the heat didn't make it too hard to fall asleep. Closing her eyes, Inko drifted off.

Fear the rage that you have stirred.

The echo of a voice. Soft and almost missed. Inko wasn't sure if she was remembering it or if it was a dream. But it was there. She just wasn't sure what it meant.

Fear the rage that you have stirred, or you'll drown amongst the animal's herd.

Or you'll drow—

CRACK!

Pain.

Pain ripped Inko out of her sleep and robbed her of breath. She couldn't scream or shout. Only clutch at her face as her sleeping mind was ripped back into the world of the living.

CRACK!

More sudden sharp bites of agony, one striking her head, another her chest. Pain and wetness. Inko clutched at her face with her hands, her fingers slick with blood. Her nose was broken. More sharp cracks hit Inko as her body convulsed in agony. It was dark, and she hurt too much to figure out what was happening. She couldn't see the man in a security uniform standing above her, hammering his fists down into her face and body. She didn't see his partner besides him, holding her down so she couldn't roll away as she was beaten.

Instinct took over and Inko lashed out at whatever or whoever was hurting her. Her legs kicked violently and her arms flailed about. She struck back but without focus. She couldn't hurt whoever was attacking her, but the fact she tried only made the men angrier. Hands grabbed her and threw her to the ground. Boots replaced fists as they kicked and stomped her.

"Hey hey!" Inko wasn't sure who was talking. Her ears rang and she was dizzy from the beating. "He wants her brought alive, you idiots!"

One last kick to her left side almost made Inko black out. Her arms were yanked back behind her back and bound together, the plastic of the zip ties cutting into her skin. A bag was then put over her head, and she was picked up and dragged out of her home.

She could hear engines now. Idling. Footsteps and grunts. The dull thunk of a truck's trailerbeing opened and then something heavy being thrown inside. Inko heard four thuds, each one followed by a pained gasp or groan. Then Inko felt herself picked off the ground and thrown into the back of a truck. She landed on someone.

It hit her; she wasn't the only one that had been attacked and taken. Her friends were with her.

"G-guys—"

Crack!

A security guard leapt into the truck and kicked Inko in the head. "Shut your fucking mouth!"

The kick knocked her out.

Inko came to as the truck she and her friends had been thrown into jolted and shuddered down a dirt road before coming to a stop. She could hear multiple truck engines and security guards talking to each other. The bag over her head muffled the sound enough that she couldn't understand them though.

A pair of hands grabbed her and Inko braced as she was picked up. She hadn't heard the truck's tailgate open so there was only one other way she was getting taken out.

Like a sack of potatoes, Inko was tossed out of the truck and slammed into the ground. She hissed as the impact made every part of her body that had been beaten ring and throb with renewed pain. Four more thuds followed as the rest of her friends were treated with the same lack of care. Gritting her teeth, Inko swore she was going to get these bastards back for this. Someone was going to pay.

Just as soon as she figured out a way out of this mess. Which she admitted, wasn't looking very good. She just needed to figure out what the hell was going on.

"Get them up."

Even through the bag, Inko recognized the voice. She hissed in pain as she was pulled up by her zip tied wrists. When she tried to get her feet underneath her, they were kicked out from under her, forcing her to fall to her knees on the dry rocky ground with enough force that she knew they were now bloody. She could hear more scuffling to her side as her friends were lined up on either side of her.

The bag over her head was ripped off and Inko's eyes struggled to adjust while she coughed at the dry dusty air. The night was pitch black, but the trucks around them all had their lights on. The dark and the bright lights at the same time made Inko's eyes water. But even so, she could make out the silhouette of a giant rhino man.

Sytsevich snorted as he walked up to the group. He stood over Inko, glaring down at her before he slammed his hoofed foot into her stomach.

Inko would have collapsed in a heap but she was held up by the guard behind her.

"You bastard!" Hisashi, lip busted and one eye swollen shut, growled out in rage. As he took in a deep breath, Sytsevich pulled out a sawed-off shotgun from a sling on his belt, looking small in his large hand, and pressed the barrel against Inko's knee.

"I see even a whiff of smoke come out of your mouth, I blow this bitch's leg off."

Hisashi snarled, but kept his fire in check. Inko, as she tried to suck in air, looked around. Her friends were in the same shape as her. Getting ripped from their beds half dressed in shorts, shirts and underwear.

She needed to figure out where they were. They were in the quarry, that much was obvious, but not near any of the digging equipment. She could also hear the ocean. You could always hear it on the island, but it was loud now. With her eyes finally adjusting, Inko tried to follow the sound of waves. Her eyes looked past the multiple light beams from the trucks, and found a wall that had been on her mind all day.

The sea wall?

Inko forced herself to think quickly. She and her friends had just been beaten and kidnapped. By a lot of guards. They had been brought to the base of the sea wall. Not a guard station or the police station. The sea wall was isolated. Which meant whatever this was, Sytsevich didn't want any witnesses. Any trace of what he was doing.

Fuck.

"What the hell," Inko coughed as she made herself speak despite not having enough air yet, "do you want?"

Sytsevich pulled the gun barrel off her knee, then struck her across the head with it. "What I want is to finally be done with you pests."

Fresh blood oozed from the cut on her forehead. Inko shook her head, clearing the cobwebs. As she did, she looked at Musen. The two locked eyes for a second. Inko glanced up and Musen, beaten and scared, nodded and winked.

Radio is on.

It was a long shot, but she had to hope that someone had their radios on.

"Pests?" Inko looked up at Sytsevich. "Just because we protested your damned quarry? How does us protesting give you the right to beat the shit out of us and drag us to the fucking sea wall?"

"Drop the act. I'm done playing your little game. You terrorists are going to pay for what you did."

Inko, despite everything, rolled her eyes. "We haven't done anything. You keep trying to pin shit on us and every time someone asks for proof, you have nothing."

The barrel was pressed against her forehead. "Enough. Do you have any idea what you little shits have cost me? Your sabotages, your thefts. You've made me look incompetent."

Biruda clicked his tongue. "Sounds like someone got a call from their boss."

Sytsevich turned his eyes towards Biruda. "Oh, I did alright. You shits pissing me off was only one of your mistakes. You got the attention of the fucking owner."

"Again," Inko said. "Not us."

Inko could see her friends stiffen. She had gone out of her way to deny their 'alleged' involvement. She hoped that meant they got the message and were careful with what they said.

"So your boss is mad at you?" Sakura spat out. "How mad is he going to be when he finds out the fucking lawsuit he's going to have to deal with. Assault and kidnapping. You're screwed."

"Except I didn't," Sytsevich said, a dirty smirk forming on his face.

"And what do you call this?" Hisashi asked.

Sytsevich spread out his arms towards his fellow guards. "This? Something that never happened."

Sytsevich knelt down next to Inko. "You see, I was told to deal with the problem here. And that's what I'm going to do."

"Sea Beard and that sheriff are next to worthless, but even they wouldn't just let you threaten us like this. Especially since you don't have any proof exactly who is attacking you."

"But I'm not threatening you. I'm stopping you in the act."

Inko blinked. "You're what now?"

Sytsevich used his shotgun to point off to the side, towards a truck parked away from the others. In the bed of the truck were wooden crates. Inko could see straw poking out between the boards, and on the sides of the crates, written in large bold typing, were the words 'Danger. Explosives.'

"Why the fuck do you have a truck full of fucking TNT?!"

"The hell?!"

"Holy shit that truck is packed!"

"Shiiit."

Sytsevich shrugged. "I don't have a truck anywhere. This is where we caught you after you stole it."

…Oh this mother fucker.

"You really think you're going to be able to blame us for stealing all that?! Bullshit."

"Oh, there'll be plenty of evidence. They'll find your prints on the truck. And they find more than enough explosive residue once they put your bodies back together."

"…What?"

"We chased after you. Once we had you cornered here, we advanced to take you out of the truck. But you five tried to attack us. You armed yourselves with makeshift bombs. My men and I had no choice but to open fire to protect ourselves. When we did, those bombs you had," Sytsevich made his hand make a 'poof' motion, "blew us and left your five as a blackened red paste."

Sytsevich stood up and smiled sinisterly. "You're going to die here tonight. Nothing you did will matter and no one will even remember you." He then pressed the shotgun into Inko's chest. "If you have anything to say, say it. I want to hear you beg for your lives. I want you to think that it'll give you a chance."

The men behind her friends pulled out their guns and pressed them against the heads of Inko's friends. Her mind raced. She was not going to let her friends die here. Not to some insane plan that a fucking rhino came up with.

Her eyes darted back and forth. Musen should have broadcasted that whole spiel to the island, so Sytsevich and his goons were screwed. So was the mining company, since they had told him to handle this issue. But Inko wanted to be alive to celebrate, so she needed to think fast.

Then, as she looked over towards Hisashi, she noticed that the guard holding the gun behind him had multiple something's attached to his vest. And so did the men behind the rest of her friends.

And so did Sytsevich.

Those are…!

"Well, any last words, bitch?"

Inko looked at Sytsevich, and twisted her bound hands behind her back so that her palms were facing the man.

Never tried going through my body before…

"Yeah." Inko focused and willed her Quirk to grab onto the pins of the flash bangs Sytsevich had hanging on his vest. She pulled and she felt an insane smile split her face when she felt the metal pins bounce off her thighs. "Fire in the hole, you ugly mother fucker."

There was a ping and the levers on the flash bangs flew off. Sytsevich blinked, before it hit him what Inko had just done. Whipping his hands to his chest, he tried to throw the active explosives away. He didn't get the chance.

Boom!

All four exploded in a blinding light and painfully loud ringing. The blast knocked Inko onto her back while the guards around them were left in shock, dazed from the blast. Her friends huddled together while Inko rolled over to her side and, looking over her shoulder, used her Quirk to pull the pins out of the rest of the flash bangs the nearby guards were wearing. The guards were screaming as they tried to get their vests off.

Boom!

It was chaos, and in the middle of it all, Inko rolled over towards her friends. They were dazed and confused. They might not have been wearing the flash bangs, but they were still close. That bright a light, and that loud a sound. They were disoriented. Inko was only slightly better off because she had been expecting it, and because she had closed her eyes from the flash. She was still seeing spots though.

Reaching her friends, she slammed into Hisashi, trying to quickly shake him to his senses.

"HISASHI!" she screamed. Lying on her side, she kicked at his legs. Getting up on her knees, she leaned over and bit into his shoulder, the sharp pain finally breaking through to him.

"INKO?!"

He was screaming over the ringing in his ears. Inko could only just make out his voice. She turned, presenting her back to him, and her zip tied hands. "BURN THEM OFF!"

Looking over her shoulder, she saw his confusion, then recognition, then hesitance. Then he blinked, and his face went stoney as his jaw set with determination. Inko nodded and then turned away and grit her teeth as she tried to push her hands as far away from her back as she could.

She hissed as Hisashi blew as small a stream of fire as he could over the plastic between her wrists. He was trying to avoid burning her too much, but it still hurt like a bitch. Then, the plastic snapped and Inko was free.

She moved quickly after that, grabbing her friends and hauling them to their feet. Hisashi worked fast, burning off the other zip ties from their wrists. Inko held Sakura close as her friend screamed when Hisashi burned her zip ties off.

Their hands freed, Inko and Biruda rushed over behind Hisashi to see how they were going to free him as well. A shake from Biruda's head was all Inko needed to know. Right now, they had nothing to free him with. They'd only get the chance once they were out of here.

To make matters worse, Inko was very aware that the ringing in her ears was getting better. That meant that the guards she hadn't turned into walking explosives were getting better too. She glanced around and swore, they were getting their bearings back.

"Fuck." Grabbing Hisashi, Inko pointed towards the closest truck. "Go go GO!"

The five rushed for the truck, still idling with its lights on. If they could reach it, they could have a chance to drive out of this hell ho—

Inko was just at the door when she was yanked to the side by Musen. Biruda and Sakura pulled Hisashi with them just as the door to the truck was ripped apart.

BANG!

Sytsevich was back up, smoldering and enraged. He pumped the shotgun and fired another shot as the group scurried around behind the truck to avoid getting shot. "I'M GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU!"

BANG!

Inko peeked over the hood of the truck just in time to see Sytsevich slide the shotgun back into the sling and charge after them. As he picked up speed, his hands hit the ground as he charged at them like a mad animal. A rhino wrecking ball.

"Oh shit! MOVE!"

They rushed away from the truck just as Sytsevich slammed into it, knocking it up and over. As it crashed back down to the ground, Inko didn't even bother to look back at Sytsevich as she tried to get her friends to another running truck. The roar and sudden crashing behind her told her Sytsevich was ripping himself free of the truck. Once he did, he'd either try to crush them again or just shoot them. She just couldn't look back. If she didn't look, then that meant they still had a chance to make it to the next truck before he caught them and—

RATATATATAT!

Inko skid to a stop as bright white tracer fire screeched past her face. A security guard had hopped onto a truck's bed, and was now manning a turret bolted to it. He laughed as he pulled the trigger, spraying bullets widely as the group ducked and dove for cover, dirt spraying in their face as they tried desperately to avoid getting shot.

The guard pulled back on the turret, planning on ripping the group apart in a hail of bullets, but in his exuberance to slaughter them, he swung the gun wide. Inko watched the tracer rounds fly past her, hitting the ground as the gun was pulled up, making a wall preventing them from going further. She watched the bullets miss wide and followed where the shots went. She watched as the white-hot bullets ripped through a truck parked away from the rest of them.

The very truck Sytsevich had said he would tell everyone that she and her friends had truck that carried crates and crates of explosives.

Immediately, everyone just stopped.

The whole group held their breath.

Inko couldn't take her eyes off the truck now. She looked for any sign that it was going to explode. A light. Smoke. Anything.

She saw nothing. Nobody did. Slowly, the world began to move again. The sudden fear that had halted everything was fading away. The guards, turned their attention back towards Inko and—

Hiiiissssssssssssssssssssss–

Something hissed.

Hisashi screamed and ran into Inko, throwing them both to the ground. Biruda pulled Sakura and Musen down.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

The truck exploded into a fireball, cratering the ground and sending a mushroom cloud of smoke and dirt into the air. The shockwave slammed into everyone. The five friends were thrown backwards, tumbling across the ground. Shrapnel ripped through the air, ripping some guards apart while others, closer to the blast, were caught up in the fire.

Inko wasn't sure if she was knocked out from the blast or not. All she knew was that right then and there, she wasn't dead, and she didn't know which way was up, or if the ground was too soft.

She had to force her eyes open, even though it felt like her body just wanted to lay down and die. She knew she couldn't though, because if she did just lay down, she really would end up dying.

Fear the rage that you have stirred, or you'll drown amongst the animal's herd.

The old woman's words were so loud. They made sleeping impossible. Her old voice, and the strange pulling on her foot. Was someone pulling her?

"L-let me g—"

"Midoriya, shut up," Sakura whimpered. "I'm trying to pull you."

Sakura was panting heavily as she tried to take Inko with her, dragging her across the ground, but her legs wobbled and she fell down. Another set of hands grabbed Inko under her arms. Musens face looked down at Inko before she screamed at Sakura to get back up. "Biruda has Hisashi. We have to go."

Inko looked around and saw that Biruda had Hisashi slung over his shoulder as he trudged forward. There was a truck yards away that hadn't been blown over. They still had a chance. Inko writhed around, trying to get on her own feet but Musen cursed at her. "Stay still, damn it. You just woke up."

Maybe she was still drunk from the numerous explosions that she had just lived through, but Inko lifted up her hand to flip Musen off when she stopped and stared at her hand.

Her muddy hand.

That seemed wrong.

Very, very, very wrong.

The quarry was always dry. Always dusty. Even if it rained it was always the quarry that dried up first. Kicking up dust and covering the island. So why was Inko's hand muddy?

Blood?

Had she been hit by something and just did not know it? "Bleeding?"

Sakura shook her head as she huffed with another step, "You're fine. We looked."

"Then why am I muddy?"

Musen swore. "Because the ground is muddy. We'll get you a shower later. Holy shit, that's what you're—"

For the first time, Musen felt her foot sink into the muddy ground with a squelch. Sakura heard it, and stopped walking to look down at herself, dripping with mud from being thrown to the ground before the blast. Sakura's head snapped up to look at Musen while Inko felt a pit form in her stomach.

You'll drown amongst the animal's herd.

All three turned to look at the sea wall. A giant wall of black that reached up into the night sky. They only knew where the top was because they could see stars above it. It was impossible to see the wall itself. But what they couldn't see, they could hear.

Grooooooooaaaaaaaaaaan…

Craaaaack….

Snaaaaaap…

Screeeeeeeech…

The sea wall was making sounds no dam should ever make. Sounds that we're getting louder and louder. Sounds that began to shake the ground. Musen took a step, and her foot came down with a splash in ankle deep water.

"Run." Inko's voice was strangely quiet. She wanted to scream but she couldn't. Not that first time as the weight of what was happening crushed her. "Run run RUN RUN RUN RUN!" She finally got her voice to work and screamed.

splash

Musen and Sakura scrambled to run. Next to impossible while carrying Inko, but they did it anyway. Up ahead, Biruda had also figured out what was happening as he screamed at his friends to hurry. Hisashi, slung over his shoulder, watched the trio follow up behind them with wide eyes, screaming warnings about the sea wall.

Biruda reached the running truck, and practically ripped the tailgate open. He screamed out a quick apology as he hefted Hisashi into the bed with a thud. He rushed back and helped Musen and Sakura carry Inko the last few feet to the truck and got her into the truck bed. Biruda leapt into the driver seat while Sakura climbed into the back seats. Musen leapt up into the truck bed and pulled the tailgate close with a slam.

"Drive damn it, drive!" Sakura beat on the chair while Biruda slammed the stick shift into gear and slammed his foot on the gas, lurching the truck forward and spinning the tires in the water and mud. They finally got a grip and shot forward.

Sytsevich shook his head, snarling as he yanked a chunk of shrapnel out of his shoulder. Around him things were in chaos. Maybe half his unit was dead. The other half was trying to get back on their feet. He could hear them screaming in confusion, pain and horror. He blocked them out. He was past caring about these failures. His eyes were looking everywhere, even as his vision was still blurry from the giant bomb that had just gone off.

Where are they?!

He was going to gore Inko. He was going to smash his horn into her stomach and pull her down by her legs until she was ripped in half. He was—

His ears twitched, picking up three sounds.

One was a truck engine roaring to life. His head whipped around as he saw one of his trucks beginning to speed away. With the kids inside. Enraged, he rushed for the nearest working truck, throwing aside a piece of shit guard who was screaming about something. They all were now. He didn't care though. He ignored their panicked screams. Ignored how they were splashing around frantically in water to get to the few remaining working trucks.

Splashing…

Sytsevich glanced down at his feet, confirming he was in knee high water. Then, the third sound he had been hearing finally made sense. Rhino's have great hearing, so he could pick up on all kinds of sounds. As he got into the truck and slammed his foot on the gas, he realized what he was hearing.

It was the sea wall breaking. Concrete and stone shattering, steel ripping and now, water roaring as it broke through. The truck lurched as he ran over some guards as they frantically waved for him to stop and let them on, their bodies crushed and ripped apart by the uncaring tires as Sytsevich pushed forward.

He was going after the to outrun the wall of water that was crashing down and flooding the quarry was a distant second in his mind.

When the sea wall shattered and the wall of seawater began to crash into the quarry, it was like another bomb had gone off. Inko didn't dare look back. She didn't want to see what a wall of death looked like. She focused on making sure she wasn't thrown out of the truck as it gunned up the winding dirt path.

They had made it to a truck, but the road out weaved back and forth up the quarry wall, it wasn't a straight shot up. There was still a chance they would get washed away if they didn't make it high enough in time.

Or if the wall of water washed too much of the quarry walls away and the dirt road they were on collapsed into the dark abyss below.

"TURNING!" Biruda screamed and Inko and Musen braced and held the still bound Hisashi with their legs as Biruda pulled at the truck's handbrake and whipped the tail around in a handbrake turn to make a sharp corner before he shifted the gears and slammed on the gas again, slamming the three into the back of the truck bed.

Sakura poked her head out through the rear sliding window, making sure the three were still inside. "Here!" She stuck out her hand and held out a sheathed combat knife. "I found it in the truck! Cut Nenshouki loose!"

Inko grabbed the knife, but hesitated to unsheath it. With the truck bouncing around like it was, there was a good chance she might end up slicing Hisashi's arm off before getting to the zip ties. Hisashi was also shaking his head, making it clear he'd rather wait.

Musen screamed as she covered her ears with her hands. "God damn it!"

"What?" Inko whipped around to look at her. "What is it?"

The truck lurched again as Biruda slid around another turn, popping two wheels off the road before they crashed back down, jolting everyone and knocking Sakura off her seat and onto the floor.

"There's so much radio chatter," Musen cringed. "Everyone's talking at once!"

Inko wasn't sure if that was good or bad. She didn't have time to think about what else was going on. She just needed to worry about getting out of this alive with her friends. Which meant trusting that Biruda knew how to drive well enough and fast enough to get out of this mess.

The water sounded so close now. She could imagine a wall of water rushing up the road after them. Reaching out to pull them down and drown them. They were trying to outrun the ocean itself, a terrifying thought.

But at least that was the only thing they had to worry about. All those guards that had ripped them from their homes and beaten them senseless were drowned and crushed at the bottom of the quarry.

CRASH!

The truck lurched forward as Biruda gripped the wheel to make sure they didn't careen off the side of the road. Sakura was thrown back to the floor and Musen and Hisashi were thrown against the front of the truck bed. Inko slammed into a tire well as she desperately gripped onto the side of the truck bed to steady herself. "What in the hell was th—?!"

When she looked back, her eyes focused on the barrel of a shotgun pointed right at her.

BANG!

Inko ducked just as the shot was fired, shattering the glass behind her head. Sakura covered her own head as glass shards fell on her, and Biruda flinched as the passenger side headrest got ripped apart. "Holy shit!"

Sytsevich pulled his arm back into the truck and chomped on the handguard pump of the shotgun, and with a jerk of his head, slammed the handle down to expel the used shell and reload the gun. He was about to point it back out the window when the truck turned hard, skidding and throwing up clouds of dust as it rounded a corner.

Sytsevich screamed in rage as the truck pulled away from him. He dropped the shotgun into his lap and wrenched the wheel to make the same turn. Unlike Birduda, Sytsevich's turn was wide and he slammed into the cliffside wall. Sparks flew as the side of his truck was ripped apart before he could get back on the road proper. Behind him, a wave of water rushed up the corner they had just turned and swallowed up the road.

Inko couldn't believe what she was seeing. "Sytsevich! That bastard is still alive?!"

Sytsevich's truck was gaining on them and Inko braced as he rear ended them again. Thrown to the floor, Inko gasped as Hisashi rolled past her, slamming into the tailgate. She could see a glow of fire in his mouth as he took a breath and poked his head over the tailgate door.

FWOOSH!

Hisashi breathed a breath of fire into the other truck, scorching the hood and shattering the glass from the heat. Sytsevich punched out the window, ripping the laminated glass apart before grabbing his shotgun. "DIE YOU LITTLE SHITS!"

Inko reached up and yanked Hisashi down behind the tailgate just as Sytsevich fired again. The shot hit the tailgate, the buckshot ripping apart the metal and shattering the plastic behind it.

Inko hissed. She needed to get that gun away from Sytsevich now. Sooner or later he was going to hit them, and she was not letting her friends die when there was something she could do.

So she launched herself up, grabbed the tailgate with one hand to steady herself, and reached out with her other hand. She was going to have a short window while Sytsevich pumped another round into the gun. Which had to be tricky while he was driving.

She used her Quirk just as Sytsevich was pulling the gun back in so he could pump it with his mouth. She focused as hard as she could, and pulled.

Sytsevich hadn't been expecting his shotgun to get pulled from his hand. If he had been prepared, he could have easily gripped it hard enough to fight off Inko's Quirk, but he hadn't seen this coming and he couldn't react fast enough as the gun was pulled from his hand, flew out the window and straight toward Inko.

Catching it, Inko pumped it, launching the spent shell and loading the sixth and final shot. She pointed the barrel right at Sytsevich, who snarled at her. Inko snarled back, but hesitated to pull the trigger. Sytsevich was tough. She had just seen him use his body as a battering ram on a truck and come out without a scratch, and he had been so close to that explosion. That hide his Rhino Quirk gave him wasn't just for show, he was hard to hurt. Inko wasn't sure the gun would do anything to him.

But I bet it'll do something to his truck!

Inko turned and aimed down, right for one of the other truck's front tires. Sytsevich's eyes went wide when he saw what Inko was doing. Inko held her breath, and pulled the trigger. The kickback of the gun almost knocked her on her ass, but she made sure to hit the truck's tire.

The rubber exploded from the buckshot, and the truck pivoted hard to the side. Metal screeched as the truck's axle snapped under the sudden forces. The front end slammed into the dirt road while the back end flipped up and over.

As the truck flipped, Sytsevich leapt or was thrown out of the front window and slammed into the tailgate of their truck, grabbing on as the tailgate snapped open and he was left dangling from it, his feet and legs getting dragged along the road while his own truck somersaulted off the road and into the raging waters below.

"Oh, come the fuck on!" Inko screamed as she used the butt of the gun to bash against Sytsevich's head, doing nothing.

He reached out and grabbed her leg, knocking her down.

"I'm going to kill you!" he screamed.

Hisashi pulled himself up and blew a great spray of fire into his face, but Sytsevich used Inko's body to knock him down. Inko gasped and kicked at Sytsevich, but he was still pulling himself up.

"Midoriya!" Musen reached for Inko while pointing at Sytsevich's vest. Inko looked and saw it was lined with shotgun shells. Seeing what Musen wanted, she tossed the gun to her friend while using her Quirk to pull handfuls of shells to herself before tossing them too.

While Musen reloaded the gun, Inko pulled the knife she had been given earlier and began to desperately stab at Sytsevich's hand and arm. The knife was almost less than useless as she couldn't get it to cut through his gray hide. Hisashi was back up and blowing more fire into Sytsevich's face. All they were doing was delaying him. Slowing him down as he tried to climb into the truck.

But that's all they had to do.

"HERE!"

Musen screamed as she tossed Inko the shotgun. Inko caught it, dropped the knife, and fired.

BANG!

Five shots and she couldn't get through Sytsevich's hide. She needed a way past it. But there wasn't an opening she could—

"YOU'RE ALL DEAD! DO YOU HEAR ME?! ALL OF YOU ARE DEA—!"

Inko leaned forward and jammed the barrel of the gun into Sytsevich's mouth. His eyes went wide while Inko sneered in rage. "SHUT THE FUCK UP!"

BANG!

The bang of the last shot was followed by a wet, squelching popping sound. And for a moment, everything was still and calm for Inko. She watched as Sytsevich's eyes, just moments ago filled with fire and rage, dulled. Then blood began to seep out of him. From his eyes, nose, ears and mouth. The grip on her leg loosened, and was then gone. Sytsevich tumbled back, bouncing off the road and off the side of the cliff.

Down into the raging sea below.

It's been a week since the sea wall was breached and the Alderaan Mining and Refining Corporation quarry was completely flooded. When we drove out of the quarry there was a small army of people there waiting. Sea Beard and the sheriff at the front. Musen got the word out, letting the whole island know what Sytsevich and his guards had done. Kidnapping us. Beating us. Stealing their own explosives to frame us. It had gone out to everyone.

When we told them that they had shot their own explosives by mistake as we were trying to escape, no one had any reason to question it. Or question why we had been the ones Sytsevich wanted to frame.

So more or less, we got away scot-free. There was never any evidence connecting us to the crimes that happened before and with the whole area underwater now, there won't be ever again. And when I say the whole area is underwater, I mean everything is. Everything that had been under sea level, the whole operation is gone. Millions and millions in damages.

Maybe even billions.

A lot of people died that night.

Mostly just Alderaan's people though.

Bespin Island now has a giant new bay, but people aren't allowed to go in there yet. All the bodies are attracting sharks and salvage divers are trying to see if any of the super expensive equipment can be saved.

I fucking hope not.

Alderaan Mining and Refining Corporation is of course denying they had anything to do with Sytsevich's plan. They've washed their hands of him and say he was a rogue agent.

Bullshit.

There's some legal shitstorm brewing now. Mayor is trying to get some money back because of all the unsafe work practices. Also saying that the sea wall was a huge hazard that Alderaan never addressed.

Blah

Let those idiots fight. All I know is that Alderaan isn't coming back. That has been made crystal clear. Though, if it's because they decided to leave or because the mayor wouldn't let them try and rebuild I have no idea. End of the day, it doesn't really matter. Both sides are greedy shitheads. So as long as Alderaan is gone, that means we won. My Meta Liberation Army fought and fucking won.

I wonder how Destro would feel?

Island is going to take a long time to get over the shock I think. But around here, things are back to normal… Mostly.

After we got treated and patched up, Bob fixed up our houses and floated some ideas about how to improve security. Musen is looking into making some proximity alarms or something. I'm sure those two will figure something out.

Bark Head asked if I wanted to turn our two homes into one. I think he just wants an excuse to sleep with me all the time now. Not that I'm complaining. Nothing wrong with having a horny worrywort of a boyfriend. :-)

Sakura though… she… she's still really shaken up about that night. She's not smiling like she normally does. Even when she's gardening. Sometimes I'll catch her just sitting around, staring into space. She's also drinking a lot now. I just hope this is something that'll pass. She survived, isn't that enough?

We'll figure something out. She's a flower, like her name. She was always… delicate? I dunno if that's the right word. Either way, I've talked with the guys and we'll make sure she's not wilted for long.

It's kind of crazy but… we won. We fought for our home and we won. Without the miners around, all those other shitholes are going to fall apart next. Not like they can use them for anything else now that all their customers are dead or gone. Things are looking up.

We won.

Holy shit we fucking won.

~ Midoriya Inko ~

~ July 15th ~

~ Age 16 ~

PS: How the flying fuck did she know?

How did Pemphredo know what was going to happen?

'Fear the rage that you have stirred, or you'll drown amongst the animal's herd.'

That was fucking Sytsevich, his guards and the damned sea wall. What the actual fuck? I thought Graeae was a bullshit Meta Ability. But she was dead on. Dead fucking on.

Of course when I went to go see her, she thought I was still 'Little Inko.' She's either stoned out of her mind or has some serious dementia. Which makes that fucking stunt from before even more insane…

'Death comes.'

'Midoriya blood calls to death, and the Reaper hears it from the depths.'

'Death will come for Midoriya then, four times then once again. Fear the rage that you have stirred, or you'll drown amongst the animal's herd. As a demon offering a trade, a reward you must take for your aid. When land is gone and blood flows free, a two faced killer you must flee. A hand of death is at your throat, blood will spill so the knife you must note. Then when Midoriya blood is thinned by half, the demon will come back to take the calf. Birthed from fire eight thrones hide, but fear the demon as he slips inside.'

Fuck me…

I'm going to start practicing with my new rifle I think.

Death comes huh? Well bring it on. You aren't going to touch me.

What's the worst you can do?

Authors Notes:

Things look like they're going pretty good for Inko and her MLA don't they. She beat the mining company and saved her home. What else could possibly happen?
With only two more chapters for this origin story, I'm sure it'll be smooth sailing from here on out.
I hope you all enjoyed the chapter! So the plan is that think Inko arc will be four chapters long. I'm already getting the next chapter outline hammered out and will get it out to you all as soon as I can.
As always please feel free to leave a comment critique or review!
And huge thank you to my beta reader and my cover artist karystmania! Got the new Vol 11 cover out just in time for this new chapter! Check them out and maybe get a commission or two.