It's time for the next chapter of Project Velocity. Sorry the late posting, got hung up at my Nephew's birthday party, but hey I think I cemented my status as the fun uncle. A heavily heated competition between my brother andI. Luckily I had most of the edits done yesterday, just had to do a quick look over and then post this chapter.
Last time the fight at the USJ was finished, but a heavy cost of the hero sides. Izuku Midoriya may not live to a be a hero. And now its time to see how each side deals with their loses.
Comments answer at the end.
As always I do not own MY HERO ACADEMIA or any of their characters.
With that, lets start off with a bang.
Coming out of Kurogiri's portal, Shigaraki couldn't believe how horribly everything had gone. The class of heroes, with no training, were about to handle the large amount of street thugs sent after them. But that wasn't the worst, two of them were able to stand up against his accomplices. The loud explosive one was able to pinpoint Kurogiri's weakness and he had only left Kurogiri away to help out a friend. Yet the other brat was worse, the one that was now broken and beaten to a bloody mess and lying unconscious at the feet of the stairs.
That brat had the strength to hold Nomu and Shigaraki from killing anyone, to buy time for All Might to arrive and destroy the plan. All Might might have been the one to defeat Nomu, but it was the crosshairs brat that stopped the destruction of the next generation. Shigaraki wanted to fight All Might, but then the other teachers arrived and Kurogiri took it upon himself to teleport Shigaraki back to the bar that held their hideout.
With bullet wounds in his shoulder and hands, Shigaraki was set down on a stool at the bar. Kurogiri quickly grabbed a first aid kit from under the counter and began wrapping the wounds. As pain radiated from his hand and shoulder Shigaraki yelled, he then grabbed a glass and threw it at the TV. Yet as the glass hit and broke the TV didn't have a single scratch on it.
"You lied, Master. You were Might wasn't weaker, he was able to defeat Nomu. Even without help he still had enough strength to do so." Shigaraki yelled. He had been promised he would be allowed to destroy anything he wanted, yet not one, not two but multiple people got in his way of destroying what he wanted to destroy the most.
"One can learn more from a failure than from a success. This fight can tell us much about All Might and how his battle against me affected him." A TV that said, 'Sound Only' said.
"Master, what can we learn from this? All Might is strong as ever, he won't require any assistance to fight Nomu." Shigaraki said as Kurogiri was halfway through wrapping his hand.
"Where is the Nomu?" A second voice from the TV asked.
"Most likely in the hands of the police. All Might launched the Nomo into the surrounder forest and with the exact location of it, I was unable to bring it back." Kurogiri said as he finished wrapping Shigaraki's hand. He then pulled out a pair of scissors and began cutting away the shirt from Shigaraki's shoulder.
"Most unfortunate, I spent so much time building it." The second voice said.
"Shigaraki, take this opportunity to learn something. A war is not won within a single battle, it is a course of back and forths that you must be patient through to win. Do not allow your hatred for All Might to make you act irrational." All for One said.
"I do not have hatred for All Might alone," Shigaraki said, he turned his head and stared daggers at the monitor. All Might might have dealt with finishing the plough, but it was a lowly NPC who should have been dead from the start, who stood up first. Even though his health bar was at zero, the NPC cheated and gave themselves a health and strength potion. Just enough to keep on fighting until All Might arrived. A weak NPC who dared cheat to make themselves as strong as the final boss.
"I am intrigued, what hero, or should I say student, acted in such a way to be placed besides All Might in such a manner?" All for One asked.
"One the students of the hero class. He wasn't able to damage Nomu, but he was strong enough to distract it long enough for All Might to arrive from UA." Shigaraki said.
The TV was quiet for a second but then All for one spoke, "Curious, Shigaraki did this student appear to have a multifaceted quirk, one aspect being to increase their strength to superhuman." All For One knew with the injury he had given to All Might the coward of a hero would be looking for a successor. And with One for All gaining strength with each successor, the timeline until the ninth wielder was strong enough to fight was even stronger than the previous holders. It was important to find out who this student was, what their quirks and how One for All would evolve it, and for that All For One would have diverted some of his resources.
"Do you believe this student could be the next wielder?" the second voice asked.
"No, the only student that appeared to have such a quirk was Endeavour's son. The ability to produce Ice and Fire, yet both can be explained by his parents." Kurogiri said as he finished wrapping Shigaraki's shoulder and moved behind the counter to put away the first aid material and clean the scissors.
"No, this brat was able to transform his arm into a firearm." Shigaraki said as he closed his eyes and began running through the different games he had played with guns, "It was purple and metallic, but it looked like some kind of rifle." -Shigaraki paused for a second, "A sniper rifle, looked like a grande."
Shigaraki opened his eyes and looked over at the TV, but it was quiet, "Master?"
Even Kurogiri looked over at the TV, he had never known All For One to be so quiet. The dual-haired student who held Nomu was impressive and certainly played a part in the hero's victory, yet the crushing silence from All for One made it seem that there was more to it.
"Master?" Shigaraki asked again.
Static came from the TV and All for One asked, "Your description is quite interesting Tomura. Though I must ask a question, does this student's quirk extend from his elbow?"
"What no, it transformed his entire arm, like from a fantasy game." Shigaraki said.
The TV went quiet again for a few moments until All for One calmly said, "It seems a hero has learned how to hide from fate. I'm curious how she did so, family relations or a close friend perhaps, yet now her son has infiltrated UA. I wonder what purpose he has for doing so."
"Sir, should we release this information to the public. It is bound to destroy this student's career, maybe enough to turn him into a villain. Then you can bring him to our side." the second voice said.
" No, now would not be the right time. The boy may not know who his real mother is and he has just proven himself to be a hero to his fellow peers. Right now would not be the right time to release such information." All for One said.
"Master, are you saying a villain other than your spy is hiding within UA?" Shigaraki asked.
"A villain, no, but the son of one. One who possibly doesn't even know his own legacy. If he did he would never dare set foot near any hero school, let alone UA. And we do not know if the teacher suspects him as much, but we must be careful as we play this duel of fates. UA is no doubt preparing this boy to be a powerful hero much like his mother before him. But we must prepare the world to see him as a villain." All for One said.
"How Sir?" Kurogiri asked.
"Do not worry about that Shigaraki, for now, heal and build for your forces. Another opportunity is bound to show itself again. Until then rest." All for One said, then the TV turned off.
Soon after Shigaraki and Kurogiri had disappeared, EMTs appeared on the scene and took over treating Thirteen, Eraserhead and Izuku. While the EMTs passed back and forth commands of how to handle Thirteen and Erahserhead, when their eyes landed on Izuku, they all went quiet. Two each were left behind for the pro heroes, while the rest hurried over to Izuku.
One of them had to pull over Bakugo as he was frantically looking over his brother. As the EMTs tried to move him out of the way, Bakugo fought against them, claiming he had to save his brother, but then he was forced to the ground and his body gave out. The EMTs then loaded Izuku broken and beaten onto a stretch and rushed him out to the ambulance. As the ambulance drove off Ochaco's attention was on it until it disappeared.
Ochaco then looked back at Bakugo, he was sitting on the ground with his back against a pillar. His arms were on his knee with his head hidden from view, and then his knees started to jump, That alone told Ochaco how hard this was hitting him. Kirishima came over and put a hand on Bkaugo's shoulder but he pushed it away.
Ochaoc then felt something hit her legs, she looked down and saw that her right hand had started to shake. No this shouldn't have happened, Ochaco had training to handle this. She had been taught and trained on how to handle villain attacks. Ochaco tried to control her breathing, clenching her fist as tight as possible to get it to stop from shaking. She had been trained how to handle all this but none of it was working.
Ochaco couldn't help but think how close she was to being killed. The thugs had been easy to handle, but standing face to face against that monster, Nomu. Ochaco couldn't help but think about it. Izuku had given his life to stop it, no not stop, only slow it down. Delay and give time until All Might arrives. A monster that is even the symbol of peace, the number one hero struggled against. And Ochaco had been less than a foot away from it.
With that, Ochaco ran out of the front door and into the open world. She could hear Present Mic calling out for her, but someone must have stopped her.
Ochaco quickly found a tree and hid it behind. Her entire body was starting to shake and it felt like she couldn't breathe. Ochaco felt tears running down her cheek, she pulled off her helmet and rammed it into the ground. This caused more cracks to form over the glass, but Ochaco didn't care as she began wiping the tear from her cheek. But after every wipe, they were replaced with new tears.
So Ochaco cried behind that tree, its shade hiding her from the world. Ochaco thought back to the broken entrance of the USJ, cursing herself for not being able to do more when she could have done more. She had saved Momo and Shinsou, but when the time came to face Nomu, she, like everyone else, had frozen. Everyone except Izuku, who even after having been thrown into a mountain, chose the lives of others over his own.
Ochaco began banging the back of her head against the tree. She was skilled, she had training, and she had been chosen by Madam President of the Hero Public Commission to join a new program to train kids to help them become pro heroes. All this and she should have been able to help Izuku, yet she didn't. Was she subconsciously hoping he would die, then there was no way that he could become a problem for the HPSC later on in life. No, she wasn't, she couldn't be that kind of person, or else she wouldn't be any better than the villain she had opted not to fight. As Ochaco continued to hit her head against the tree, Midnight walked up to her and knelt.
"Is everything okay?" Midnight asked as she placed a hand on the younger girl's shoulder.
Yet Ochaco didn't answer. She couldn't answer, at least with her true feelings. Ochaco internally groaned at this as it made her feel apart from her classmates. She had been lying from day one, making it seem that she was just another high school student. She had barely been at UA and she was starting to crack. The pressure of the lies and the secret, not being able to reveal her true feelings.
Tears formed in her eyes as Ochaco looked up at Midnight, "I need to make a call. I need to call my parents, I want them to hear from me before they see the news."
"I think that would be a wise choice. I'll come with you back to campus." Midnight said as she held out a hand for Ochaco to take. Ochaco grabbed her helmet and then accepted the hand and was pulled to her feet. Midnight walked her over to a police car and after a few words to an officer, Midnight helped Ochaco into the back and saw next to her. The officer got into the front and without a word drove them back to UA's main campus.
Once they arrived, Midnight walked with Ochaco to the locker room and left her alone to change. Ochaco didn't take the time to change, only throwing her cracked helmets into her locker and pulling out her phone. As she dialled the number, she leaned against the open locker. As the phone dialed she began holding her breath until the line connected and she heard her dad's voice.
"Hey Sweetie, what's you calling me for? Shouldn't you be in class?" Ochaco's dad asked.
Ochaco felt a lump form in her throat, it felt like she couldn't breathe. Her heart was pounding in her chest. She couldn't think straight, she couldn't find the right words to say to her parents. To portray her thoughts, her feelings, her worries. To explain everything to her parents, to explain that she was fine but not okay. Her father said, "Are you okay?"
"No." It was weak and broken for a second. Ochaco didn't think it was her voice, "O-o-our class got attacked by villains." Before her dad would freak out Ochaco quickly said, "The teachers handled most of the problem, we as students barely had to fight. But…"
"What's wrong honey?" Ochaco's mother's voice came from the background.
Ochaco tried to hold back, not to spill everything she knew about Izuku Midoriya, mainly the fact she knew he wasn't a Midoriya, "Midoirya got hurt."
Again Ochaco didn't think it was her voice, but she had just blurted it out.
"He's a tough kid and you said the teacher handled it, so…" Ochaco's father began, but got interrupted.
"No, he got more than just hurt. All Might was late to the class and Midoriya had to fight one of the stronger villains. He was beaten and broken, bleeding all over the place but he still chose to fight, to protect us." Ochaco said as tears ran down her cheeks, as she put more of her weight against the locker.
"Where is he now?" Ochaco's mom asked, her voice getting more clear as she got closer to the phone.
"He's in surgery with Recovery Girl. He didn't look good and it's all because I couldn't do anything. With all of my training, I just stood on the sidelines and watched." Ochaco said. She could feel her heart beating in her chest as she began to cry again.
"It's okay, dear. You told us Midoriya is a strong boy, I'm sure that he'll pull through and he'll be stronger than ever. That's what life gives to people, a chance to be a better version of themselves, through pain or sorrow. And you can do the same, continue your training and become better, so the next time you're in the fight alongside Midoriya." Ochaco's dad said.
"Thanks, Dad," Ochaco said as the lump in her throat began to loosen
"It's something my father told me and his father told him. I think it's time you learn about it as well. True hardships rarely outlast the benefits. Ochaco's dad said and Ochaco couldn't help but smile, "But Sweetie, listen, if you care for the boy. Once he wakes up, be by his side, help him recover and move on."
"Ochaco, your father is saying, 'Be there for him' because that's the best you can do for him." Ochaco's mom said in a soothing voice.
It felt like for the time still enrolling into UA, Ochaco was able to catch her breath. She took a few deep breaths and then said, "Thank you Mom and Dad. I'm happy I called you, you always know what to say to me."
It's okay, take as much time as you need, call us when you get home if you need to." Ochaco's mom said.
"I will," Ochaco said as she ended the call. She took a few moments to calm her breath as she held her phone against her chest. Eventually, she moved away from the locker and sat down on one of the metal benches. It had done her good to talk to her parents but now that the call had ended, she could feel a sense of dread, guilt and remorse crawling back into her soul. She held her phone open and began tapping a phone number she had memorized a long time ago. The phone number of her handler from training.
The line immediately connected and Ochaco heard a robotic voice. "Purpose of call?"
"Status Report. Class 1-A was attacked at the Unforeseen Simulation Joint overseen by Pro Hero Thirteen, joined by Eraserhead and later All Might. Attack was orchestrated by a villain group self referred to as the League of Villains. Number of assailants is unknown, but only two managed to escape." Ochaco said her voice became a bit monotone as she tried to hold her emotions back, yet her knee began bouncing showing how stressed she still was.
"Status?"
"Scratches, cuts and bruises. But nothing threatening. One student of Class 1-A was sent to surgery and is being overseen by Recovery Girl." Ochaco said.
"Name of Student." Ochaco's handler asked, yet Ochaco didn't answer so her handler repeated the question.
Ochaco still didn't answer for a few moments. "Izuku Midoriya. He received injuries from fighting the leader of the group, named Shigaraki and a creature by the name of Nomu."
"What is the status of his injuries?"
"From what I could tell, he had injuries all over, but the two major ones were a broken right arm, a cut along the left side of his face from his eye to his ear. His left eye also appeared to be cloudy with blood mixed in. Multiple broken bones And from the struggle All Might had against the creature, Midoriya most likely strained his quirk, maybe to the point of damaging it."Ochaco answered.
"One moment." Ochaco's handler said and a bit of static cut out. Once the static disappeared, Madam President's voice came over, "U, you stated that Izuku Midoriya faced the leader of the group."
"Yes and he's currently in surgery. I plan to stay and talk with Recovery Girl about his recovery time." Ochaco said.
"That's not needed. From the injuries you report, once he recovers, he will most likely be unfit to continue his position in the hero course and be transferred out." Madam President said.
Ochaco couldn't believe her ears. Izuku Midoriya had fought through hell to continue fighting, knowing he couldn't win against Shigaraki and his Nomu. But continued to do so, relying on blind faith that All Might would arrive in time to finish the fight. And Madam President was now just tossing him aside.
"He served his nation well, but given time he would have turned on us and become a bigger problem than what you face today. It's best for him to retire as a hero now, so he doesn't have a chance to become a villain later on." Madam President said in a cold voice.
"And I'm just supposed to accept that! Midoriya risked his life not only to save my life but the 21 other lives within the USJ! He fought with everything he had, just to buy time for All Might! And now he might just die because he was trying to be a hero!" Ochaco said, another lump forming in her throat but this one wasn't cold, but burning.
"And it would be by his choice that happens. He wanted to gain trust in his classmates, so he could make them blind to his loyalties. Put a mask over their eyes, so they could not see his betrayal coming. If he dies, it will be no one's choice but his own. Because he should have left the fight of a hero to All Might." Madam President said.
"Except he couldn't because All Might wasn't there and if he hadn't we would all be dead! And I couldn't help because you won't let me! You made me come to this school, under the lie that I was just another helpless girl that wanted training. And because of that, I couldn't help Midoriya." Ochaco yelled as she ended the phone call and threw her phone into her locker, only managing to throw it into her discarded school uniform at the last second. As Ochaco looked at her phone, fearing she had broken it, her eyes landed on her cracked helmet. With a yell, Ochaco pulled out her school uniform and slammed her locker shut, but her helmet's visor had been in the way and as the door closed it shattered the glass. Ochaco didn't care, she needed a new one another way.
Ochaco quickly walked over to showers, where she washed herself. The hot water didn't compare to the fire burning inside her soul. Izuku had made the sacrifice that very few heroes ever made, and none of them were without fear. Yet that's how Izuku fought, with no fear of death. As if his injuries were nothing more than a minor annoyance.
Ochaco then dried herself and got redressed as she walked through the dressing room, the rest of the girls from Class 1-A had returned and were pulling off their costumes. Mina was the first to notice that she asked, "Uraraka."
Yet Ochaco said nothing as she threw her destroyed costume into her locker and walked out of the room. She closed the door but more strength was needed causing it to slam shut. This caused all the girls to jump and look over at the door. They were afraid for their friend, so when she ran out of the USJ, they tried to chase her but their teacher held them back. And though Ochaco tried not to show, they could all see how much the attack was affecting her.
"Hey, girls," Jirou said as she stepped over to Ochaco's, having noticed something broken on the ground. Jirou grabbed the pink glass and held it up, "I don't think Uraraka is feeling alright."
The girl turned and saw the pink tinted glass and Tsuyu said, "Isn't that from her visor."
"I think it is." Hagakure.
In the hallway, Ochaco was speed walking to the Recovery Girl's office. It was almost as if she had a mission and she wasn't going to let anyone stop her. As the medical door came into view, Ochaco's pace quickened and she started to bring up her hand to open the door. But before she could grab the handle, Recovery Girl stepped out.
The nurse wasn't wearing her usual hero costume but was wearing scrubs with her hair up in a net and a mask over her mouth and nose. Blood stains were over her scrubs and she wiped a bit of sweat from her forehead.
"Dr. Shuzenji." Ochaco called out, catching Recovery Girl off guard as only Principal Nezu called her that.
Recovery Girl turned and saw Ochaco, "Ah Uraraka, are you…"
"How is Midoriya?" Ochaco asked in a sharp tone, cutting off the old lady.
"Stable." Recovery Girl said with a small bit of hope that would satisfy Ochaco, but then she saw the look in the young girl's eyes, "He's stable, but he lost a lot of blood and needed a transfusion. It will be some time before I can use my quirk to heal him, even then the damage was extensive."
Ochaoc just gave a slow nod.
Recovery Girl then let out a slow breath, "You want to be there for him, don't you?' -Ochaco nodded- "There's a side room you can wait in a few doors down, I'll send anyone else who comes."
"Thank you Dr Shuzenji," Ochaco said and began walking to the room Recovery Girl had pointed out. Once inside the room, Ochaco sat down in a car and dropped her head into her hands, with all panic and fear gone she just felt nauseous. It wasn't the same kind of nausea that came from overusing her quirk. That kind just came out, but now she was feeling the nausea of wanting to come out, but at the same time sunk in the gut like a bag of rocks in a river.
Ochaco took deep breaths to try and get her nausea under control, but as she sat there all she could see was Nomu, Shigaraki and Izuku's broken form. Nomu's demonic presence and Shigaraki's vicious villainous actions. And standing against them, as if a beacon light, was Izuku. Even if his body portrayed otherwise. That wasn't something easily fake, even if Madam President sold Izuku to be a master manipulator, building people up just to tear them down for fun, for the joke alone.
Ochaco could feel her hands begin to shake and her knees begin to bounce. The fight was over, she shouldn't be this stressed and she knew how to deal with shock. It had started by throwing her right into the middle of an active fight against a high-ranked villain and a team of pro heroes. Madam President said it was so Ochaco could learn her limit and learn to feel herself starting to reach that limit. Then came the different ways to calm that stress, meditation, yoga, and painting, yet none that Madam President suggested worked for Ochaco.
Perhaps during the activity, Ochaco was able to destress a bit, but as soon as she stopped all the stress would come back. There were other two ways Ochaco found that helped her handle the shock. The first was helping her parents at their jobs, learning how to build and raise walls, fix electrical wiring, replace appliances, and general construction stuff.
Yet right now Ochaco was miles away from her parents and by her schedule, they didn't have any major jobs going on right now. There was the second option, It had started as a workout from Madam President, to change up everything about a fight. A way to change up Ochaco's style and speed during a fight. At first, it caused a great amount of nausea, and even the thought of food would make Ochaco turn green. Yet the more and more she worked on it, the more and more she had it under control, and then she began to find it relaxing.
Ochaco looked out a shallow breath and then pressed her right hand around her left arm and held it tightly. She felt her quirk spread over her body, a barely noticeable pink glow flashing and then disappearing. As the pink glow disappeared Ochaco felt gravity's hold over her disappear as few. She felt her body flow up a bit, but it didn't leave the chair as she had made sure to stop her quirk from activating on her shoes. The weightlessness of her quirk brought the same a bit of the same effect on her soul, but it was still weighted down from the image of Izuku she couldn't get out of her head.
A small piece of her mind, far in the back, told her that the mental image she had was outrageous and was dramatized in an attempt to justify how much shock she was going through and was a byproduct as such. Yet Ochaco didn't think she could lie to herself, the mental image had in no way been altered, and she wasn't creative to alter it that much. What she was thinking of now was what she had seen.
"Uraraka." A voice called out, but it was watered down by the racing thoughts in Ochaco's head. Ochaco could picture every bruise, cut, broken bone and decayed part of Izuku's body. Yet he didn't say down until he was forced unconscious. The power and strength behind his word, his trust in her and his looking towards her for help against Nomu.
Ochaco shivered as she could see Nomu towering over her, but she could also recall that single moment of clarity when Izuku had told her to use her quirk. It was as if he was passing his strength to her, to give her the confidence to fight against that monster. A villain won't be able to fake that, to inspire people in that way.
"Uraraka." The voice came again, but Ochaco still paid no attention to it, but then a hand was placed on her shoulder and she was placed out of her chair.
As Ochaco slowly drifted across the room she looked up and saw Momo, Tokoyami, Ilda and Shinsou in the room. Momo was leaning over where Ochaco was just sitting, she must have been the one that put a hand on her shoulder, "Oh sorry, I didn't realize you were zeroed out."
Ochaco stood up and pressed her fingers together, gravity immediately taking effect and she landed on the ground with a bit of a crouch, "Did Recovery Girl send you?"
Momo and Ilda nodded and he said, "We were worried about Midoriya, but she told us we needed to wait in here, since there was not much to say about his condition."
"Does anyone know if His mother has been notified?" Ochaco asked.
"Principal Nezu told me she has been." Momo said.
And that's Status Report. Shigaraki does not have hate for just All Might any more, and seemed to have it out for Izuku Midoriya as well. And we saw how Ochaco began to deal with the shock hitting her, her disbelief of how she was struggling so much to deal with she had been trained with deal with. Almost ashamed that she wasn't as strong as she thought she was.
Hopefully I was able to portray a near panic attack to a good enough degree. I wasn't trying to go for a full attack, but wanted to show that Ochaco was extremely close to having one.
Now to answer some commented. It seem having some Text to Speech videos posted about this story brought a lot of attention to it. So I'll go in order that comments were posted.
Alex: Thanks for that information about Motorcycles. I don't know much about engine or any of the sort, so I just picked a motorcycle that looked cool. Though I had some consideration in having Izuku and Bakugo switch out their motorcycles. No not in the regards of rewriting chapter. More like their motorcycles are destroyed in a villain attack.
Steviemaqepoulsen: Thanks for the support.
Keres47: I will actually touch upon that in a coming chapter won't say how soon. But remember while Inko knows some truths behind that day and her sister getting arrested, she doesn't know the whole truth. Lady Nagant was vague in what she told her sister. And Inko views her leaving Project Velocity as betraying Mareo, and its a bit of the situation that Inko didn't know who to trust. And Mareo might not have been the best option, it was the first and best outcome option she could think over.
Keres47 2.0: Yeah I had Izuku be a bit loose lipped about Project Velocity. It was bound to come out eventually and Izuku still mutters, not really shown yet, but it mentioned in pasting. I plan on using Izuku's extra skill for Class 1-A to lend towarsds him being a hero in the future, especially when his secret gets out. More of "They know he's been training to be a hero from a young age" Less of "They've notice Izuku's extra skills and think it from being a villain." Bit hard to explain without too much spoiler of future plot points. But I will say Izuku does become much more tight lipped in the future.
Next time: The mother is notified.
Next Chapter: Fear is the Mind Killer.
Review and tell me what you think