Location: Sprawl - Storage Room
6:31 PM
The air was broken by the growls and shrieks of multiple necromorphs in the storage room. Class 1A formed a protective circle around their space companion, who was still hanging upside down due to his boot being tangled by the coiled wire. A group of slashers stalked towards the children, others that were legless crawled on the floor, and one exploder clumsily lagged behind them. Izuku looked between the necromorphs approaching him and his friends, did a head count with each creature that was in his sight, and counted five slashers and one exploder. Izuku prepared himself as he assumed a battle stance, and his friends emulated his actions by also assuming their own battle stances.
Bakugo initiated the fierce confrontation by shaping his hand into a precise circle. With determination, he pressed his hand against his right palm, channeling his energy to unleash a barrage of explosive bullets aimed directly at the nearest slasher. Each bullet found its target with deadly accuracy, causing the creature to stagger back as the impacts resonated with deafening booms. As the dust began to settle, the slasher was left riddled with gaping holes, its arms severed and rendered useless. With a final, agonizing gurgle, the monstrous figure succumbed to its injuries, and collapsed to the ground in a lifeless heap.
Izuku instinctively activated One for All, a surge of energy coursing through his body, then sprinted forward with unmatched speed. In a powerful leap, he soared into the air, tendrils of Blackwhip erupting from his gloves to ensnare the Slasher's torso. With a swift motion, he anchored his arm and hoisted the creature into his line of sight. Drawing back his fist, he unleashed a devastating blow to its face, the impact caving in its nose and sending shockwaves through the air.
The Slasher crumpled to the ground, the tendrils loosening their grip as it skidded several meters away from its fellow necromorphs, ultimately lying motionless. A low growl of pain and fury escaped its lips as it struggled to rise, blood streaming down its face, its breath labored and ragged. Just as it attempted to regain its footing, Izuku flicked his fingers with precision, sending a barrage of air bullets crashing into the slasher's face. The force was overwhelming; its head erupted in a gruesome display of blood and tissue, causing it to stagger back before collapsing once more, defeated.
Yaoyorozu conjured a katana from her chest as she pulled it out from the handle. Once her weapon was fully out, she charged forward at the same time the slasher also quickly advanced towards her. She instinctively dropped to one knee, dodging the necromorph's arm which almost swung its bone talon at her head. Yaoyorozu shot back up on her feet, detached the creature's arm with an upper slash, and retreated backwards to avoid another strike from the other talon. The creature shrieked in pain as it staggered backward, but quickly recovered and lunged forward in a bid to continue fighting. Yaoyorozu dodged again, and this time cut off the other arm as a precautionary measure.
The resulting injury caused blood to pour forth from two of the creature's amputees. A final, gurgling growl rose from the slasher before Yaoyorozu swung her katana again, swiftly removing the necromorph's head from its shoulders. The creature's body collapsed into the floor as its head rolled away, leaving a trail of crimson blood flowing behind it. Its head slowed to a stop next to a stacked of huge metal boxes until its right cheek met the floor.
Jiro quickly connected her jacks to the sound amplifiers strapped to her forearms, feeling the familiar surge of energy coursing through her. Said amplifiers extended from her wrists, allowing her to focus the sound waves precisely on her target. With a determined look, she unleashed a powerful sound wave that struck the slasher, freezing it in place as it staggered under the force. Seizing the moment, Isaac gripped his plasma cutter tightly, narrowing his eyes as he aimed for the creature's neck. The blade-round shot forth with deadly accuracy, cleanly severing the head from its shoulders. Not stopping there, he followed up with swift strikes, dismembering the slasher's limbs with ruthless efficiency.
As Jiro canceled her attack, the creature crumpled to the ground. its body collapsing in a lifeless heap.
Pooling blood around it—a stark reminder of the battle they had just won.
Bakugo positioned his hands behind him and ascended into the air by emitting explosions. He quickly propelled himself over a few slashers, aimed his hands at the pair then unleashed a strong enough explosion that killed the two necromorphs instantly. Leaving behind chunks of charred flesh and a cloud of smoke. Mina Ashido quickly ran up and stood behind Bakugo, her arms extended forward with her hands pressed together while aiming at the female slasher approaching her.
"Acid Shot!" Mina shouted her ultimate move, firing a hail of acidic bullets over a widespread area at her target.
The acidic projectiles struck the female necromorph with a wet smack. It shrieked in pain as the creature staggered backwards, its skin melting away with each passing second, and soon dropped to the floor in a puddle. She canceled her assault and pulled her arms back to her sides once the necromorph was dead.
Isaac reloaded his plasma cutter before shifting his aim at the exploder. He shot one blade round at the creature's pustule, and the necromorph exploded in a wet splat. Leaving behind a revolting stench that signed their nostrils. He went ahead and killed the slasher that was crawling towards Mineta and the room descended to silence. Isaac and half of Class 1A looked around; there weren't any more monsters coming after them.
Everyone perked up with alarm when they suddenly heard a deep, rumbling bass rose from above. Izuku and his friends' eyes grew large at the sight above them. Emerging from the train car's doorway, they saw the body of a new necromorph.
The creature was large and almost entirely encased in an armored, spiked exoskeleton made from bone and calcified skin. Its posterior is relatively unarmored, and from it sprouts a pair of vestigial arms used to support its giant weight. Isaac shuddered as he recognized this hulking behemoth, the largest of the standard necromorphs called the Brute. To this day he still had recurring nightmares about the encounter he had fought with this giant monster.
Isaac quickly raised his plasma cutter and fired a shot at it. He emptied three blade rounds at the behemoth's right shoulder blade, severing its bulky arm clean off. The brute roared in pain before it rolled its body around, retreating back through the train car's doorway. Each footsteps from the behemoth caused the car to shake enough for the thick wire around Isaac's leg to loosen. The wire tore free from its grasp as Isaac fell to the floor with a grunt.
Then pieces of the train suddenly fell to the floor with a loud clang. Isaac perked his head up to see what had caused the falling debris, and his eyes crawled up from the floor until he set his gaze on the train car. Metal groaned loudly as the train car was giving way, causing a random suitcase to fall through the doorway and landing at the armored engineer's side. Isaac twisted his torso, glancing up at Izuku and his friends who also noticed the train car's sudden shift.
"Go, go!" Isaac yelled, gesturing his hand for Class 1A to run.
Isaac quickly got up on his feet and ran alongside Class 1A. Izuku looked over his shoulder, and saw the train car fall to the floor with a crash, accompanied by an ear splitting screech of metal. Said screech was followed by a small explosion, then another but bigger, and finally a third blast sent Izuku and his friends flying a short distance. The group landed their bellies on the floor, laying there for a moment until they all slowly rose to their feet.
They all turned and saw the train car now laying in awkward position. Flames and smoke were spewing out from underneath it, and even the giant shelves were also caught in the infernos Silence descended the storage room.
"Well, there goes our transport," Kaminari quipped, scratching the back of his head.
Isaac brought his hand up to his earpiece. The radio crackled to life once he effortlessly got through.
"Daina, I need a new route." Isaac said, taking stock of the damage to the train.
"What happened? I thought we lost you!" Daina responded frantically, sounding quite worried.
Mineta raised a brow at Isaac.
"Uh, who is he talking to..?" Mineta asked, glancing up at Izuku.
Izuku glanced down at Mineta.
"He's talking to a woman named Daina," Izuku replied. "From what I heard, she's the only one trying to get him out of Titan Station, and holding a cure that'll make him feel better. Cure him from what? We don't know."
"Ohh," Mineta replied, nodding in understanding.
Isaac paced around the storage room while scanning his surroundings.
"Unscheduled stop. Where am I?" Isaac Inquired.
"How did you end up there? Hang on. This won't be the most pleasant route, but it'll get you to the Cassini Towers residential sector," Daina explained. Suddenly a looping beep sounded off through the radio call. "Dammit! Tiedemann has your signal again. Keep moving!"
"Okay."
"You're very important to them, Isaac… Hold tight, I'll contact you soon!"
The radio transmissions ended abruptly as the static dissipated. Isaac brought his hand back to his side, then turned his body to face Izuku and his friends.
"Alright, guys, we're going to be heading down another route," Isaac announced, looking between each teen. "I don't know where this waypoint will lead us, but hopefully it'll get us closer to Daina's location. But before we get there, I think we need to deal with the big elephant in the room."
Hagakure arched a brow at him.
"What do you mean? Hagakure questioned, tilting her head curiously.
"I think it's about time you guys should get your own suits like mine," he said, jabbing his thumb at the chest of his suit. "We are in space after all, so there will come a time where we'll have to get through some places out of this station in zero gravity. Heh, I say this for everyone here that no one wants to die in the vacuum of space."
Mineta gulped nervously upon hearing his words.
"Now that you've mentioned that, I'm on board with wearing the kind of suit you got. If it means not suffocating in space," Mineta admitted.
Kaminari nodded his head in agreement. "Same here."
Mina shifted her gaze towards Isaac.
"But where would we even find the place that has the kind of suits you have?" Mina asked, looking at Isaac.
Isaac shifted his gaze at Mina.
"The store machine," Isaac replied.
Todoroki blinked blankly at the engineer.
"Store machine?" Shoto repeated.
Isaac turned his gaze towards Todoroki.
"It's like a giant human sized vending machine. It makes use of stored amounts of pre-mixed refined raw materials, plastics, metals; and composites to quickly create and dispense a set of pre-programmed products ranging from tools and toys, to weapons and ammunition. It also stores multiple models of suits like the one I'm wearing right now," Isaac explained.
Izuku pondered over the engineer's explanation for a moment.
"Do you know where we could find this machine?" Izuku asked.
Isaac nodded his head.
"Yeah," Isaac replied, raising his hand straight and subconsciously activated the waypoint.
The waypoint changed from blue to orange as Izuku and his friends watched the line go straight. Rounding around a doorway that led to the stairs, around a corner that led to another flight of stairs until it proceeded behind a door.
"The waypoint will lead us to it," Isaac said confidently, stepping into his path. "Come on."
Izuku and his friends followed Isaac through the doorway and up towards the storage room's exit. The door slid to the side with a hiss, allowing the group to pass through and stepped out into a spacious hallway. Isaac and the kids perked up at the sight of a child's silhouette in the distance. But what concerned them was not the child's shadow; rather the sounds they were making. The group walked slowly as they approached, and by the time they reached the source of the noise they were alarmed by the child's inhuman scream.
They rounded a corner in time to see a pale figure running up the platform. Sprinting towards a narrow space near the door's side, lifting their head up to see a vent before leaping towards it. Breaking said vent apart with a crash and followed with a squeaking shriek that gave way to silence.
Isaac and the kids stared from where the creature had vanished. Each individual bearing the same countenance as the latter, a mix of fear, confusion, and curiosity filled their features. The group stood there for several seconds, each trying to process what they had just witnessed.
"Was that a child..?" Uraraka whispered, her eyes widened.
Bakugo clicked his tongue with a scowl.
"No damn child makes noises like that," Bakugo commented, narrowing his eyes.
Todoroki glanced at Isaac.
"Is that another monster you're familiar with?" Shoto asked.
Isaac kept his gaze at the upper short hall while shaking his head.
"No," Isaac replied. "That one is…new."
The group proceeded until they exited the dark area. They entered a spacious lobby, illuminated by a few shops that lined both sides of the wide walkway. Isaac turned to his left and saw a store machine sticking out from the wall close to an elevator.
"Okay, there it is," Isaac announced, pointing at the store machine. Izuku and his friends followed the direction he was pointing.
The group became alarmed by a sudden shriek that broke the air. Said shriek was followed by a similar scream echoing throughout the lobby, and then another, then another. The group shifted their gaze and saw small figures crawling out from an open space near the closed shops. Their numbers grew exponentially when more small figures began spilling out of the shops themselves, each and every one covered in the same skin tones. Isaac narrowed his eyes as he studied the small creatures closely.
The mutation observed in each member of this necromorph class is strikingly restrained when compared to their more grotesque counterparts. This unique economy of recombination presents an unprecedented approach to their formation. Constructed from largely intact and undamaged adolescent corpses, these entities retain haunting reminders of their demise; the abdominal wounds are grotesquely gaping, revealing the desiccated, pallid skin that envelops their forms. The remnants of their fingers have been grotesquely transformed, elongated into rigid, bony claws. Similarly, the wrists have been fortified, with palms and fingers extended for optimal gripping and tearing capabilities.
The anatomical alterations continue with the shoulder blades, which have been unnaturally thrust outward from the rib cage, creating a cavernous space filled with dense muscle and tendon that undulate along the arms' length. The disfigurement surrounding the facial features appears to have halted prematurely; the mouth, nose, and eyes bear the marks of a transformation that was never fully realized. Soft tissues have eroded away, leaving behind a stark visage, while the teeth exhibit only subtle changes, with the lower jaw crammed with large, peg-like protrusions that hint at a predatory evolution. Each aspect of their form tells a story of death and rebirth, a chilling testament to their new existence.
Since all these creatures were lined together, Isaac decided to call these new mutants the Pack. Simple name and short to remember by heart.
Isaac and the kids looked over their shoulders and saw more pack members landing on the floor. Dropping out of a vent from the ceiling above. Bakugo dodge through his friends, forming a defensive circle between them and the little necromorphs ahead of them. Todoroki, Isaac, and Izuku also formed their own protective circle around the girls on their left. The pack from both sides began to sprint towards the group while shrieking loudly.
Isaac fired his plasma cutter at each pack individually, cutting through two and then five of them as they raced forward. His plasma cutter sliced cleanly through flesh and bone alike which caused the creatures to scream in pain. Todoroki extended his left arm and unleashed a torrent of flames onto the pack which instantly engulfed them. Filling the air with multiple screams from each little creature as they writhed violently within the flames. Izuku launched off air bullets at the pack by flicking his fingers, sending some of them flying while others staggered a bit. The rest died instantly when said bullets hit their mark.
Bakugo pulled the pin from his grenade-like gauntlet. Releasing all the energy and blasting a powerful, fiery blaze that reduces an obstacle in the pack's path to rubble and kills them in an instant. Once the smoke cleared away, all that was left was a crater that stretched across half the lobby. His eyes darted about, surveying for any more threats. He glanced over his shoulder, and saw Isaac slaying the last pack member before the lobby descended to silence.
"I think that's all of them," Izuku remarked. Isaac nodded his head.
"Yeah, for now," Isaac agreed.
Kaminari scowled In annoyance.
"Seriously, is there no end to these things?" Kaminari questioned.
"Until the marker is destroyed, no," Isaac responded simply. "Come on, let's head over there and finally find you guys a suit to wear."
Isaac led Izuku and his friends towards the store machine. Izuku was the first to approach said machine, observing the interface that hovered at eye level. He rolled his body around to face his armored space companion.
"Which suit should prove sufficient for me and my friends?" Izuku asked, looking at Isaac.
"What do you mean?" Isaac asked back, puzzled.
"Well, if me and my friends are going to be donning the same suit you're wearing, then it has to be something that's easy for us to move around without issue," Izuku pointed out.
Isaac thought for a moment.
"If that's the case, then I suggest choosing the security suit," Isaac recommended.
Izuku shifted his gaze towards his friends.
"So who's first?" Izuku inquired.
Uraraka smiled at Midoriya.
"You should go first, Deku-kun," Uraraka insisted. "I'll go next once you are out."
Izuku nodded before rolling his body around to face the store machine again. He stepped closer until he was up close to the interface, gazing down at the three options displayed before him. He gently tapped his finger on the dollar insignia, opening up the shop's catalog of health packs, fuel stasis, and many suits in different styles. He scrolled down the panel slowly, his eyes scanning from suit to suit until he found the one he wanted. Once he bought it with credits the store had in its bank, he glanced at Isaac over his shoulder.
"What's next?" Izuku asked.
"Now you step inside the machine," Isaac replied. "When you do though, make sure you securely stand on the steel footing and remain still; the sensors have to measure your size and weight to properly configure the suit you chose. Also, make sure you keep your arms and legs within the positioning tabs to ensure proper fit."
Izuku nodded and turned to face the machine. He rolled his body around, backed up a bit, then placed his metal boots on the steel footing. He rested his air-force gauntlets and legs on the tabs. He stood there for a second until the tabs locked him in pace, arching his back and straightening his body. The doors closed shut with a bang as the machine groaned to life.
A small light descended the door's seal down the middle. After a good minute the doors snapped open. Izuku stepped out of the machine, standing upright as he stared curiously at his new suit. The suit consisted of shoulder plating, a neck guard, pauldrons and arm plates. He luckily still had full gauntlet encased around his arms, his air-force gloves, and his black metal boots over his space suit. The helmet folded over his head until it locked itself in place with a hiss.
"Woah," Izuku breathed in awe, studying his first space suit he was donning now.
Kaminari and Mineta gawked in awe at Izuku's security suit with sparkles on their eyes.
"Wow, so cool!" Kaminari and Mineta exclaimed simultaneously.
Isaac glanced at Uraraka.
"Alright Uraraka, you're up," Isaac stated, jerking his head towards the machine.
Uraraka took a deep breath and took a step forward.
A/N: Well, there you have it young readers! Izuku and his friends get to experience wearing the space suits Isaac Clarke himself gets to wear. I know that last chapter i said that Izuku and his friends would reunite with Ida Tenya and the others, then explain to Isaac who they are, where they come from, and why they are here. But there were a change of plans so either the next chapter or the one after will be the one. But that's all I'll say for now, folks. As always, I'll see you young readers in the next chapter. Have a nice day!