Howdy folks, how's it going?
Hope you all have been keeping safe.
So, the last time I'll have to give this notice, for those of you who do not follow my other fics, real life developments have forced me to change my update schedule. For the foreseeable future, chapters will be posted every two weeks, but they will be much shorter. Also, I didn't have much time for spell-checking for this one, so apologies if you find more mistakes than usual.
As always, shout out to Chaos Productions for his help.
And as always, I own neither WH 40K not BNHA.
Now, on with the show.
/
"I have several questions." Kaina said, in that kind of measured and calm tone of voice that indicated the person speaking was feeling quite lost. "And they all start with: What?"
"What as in "what exactly is happening" or what as in "what the actual f"-you know what I mean." Toshinori replied, a tired but yet knowing look on his face, backing off from the sentence's intended finish with a quick glance in Inko's direction.
"Yes." Was the ever helpful reply, at the precise moment something crashed against their viewing window, something that quickly revealed itself to be the severed head of one of the robots being slaughtered down below, which just hung there for a few seconds as its lights went out before gravity finally caught up to events and it began sliding down, leaving a small trail of black oil as it did.
"Oh, that is just Scrappy. My son hijacked it during the entrance exam. He's been fiddling and improving upon it ever since, wanted to give it to me as a guard dog for our house, because he worries like that, my special little guy." Midoriya senior saw fit to explain, her ever-present smile on her face. "He'd been wanting to do some field testing. This festival was as good a time as any."
The heroine just nodded at that, for want of any better reaction, her eyes never leaving the scene of the slaughter. Idly she wondered just what went into the programming of U.A.'s robots, because if the apparent horror and confusion that was making them react sluggishly to the mauling they were suffering was anything even remotely close to genuine… well, that had some worrying implications. "And Power Loader didn't try to do anything about it?"
"He asked to kid to give it back." All Might sighed, inwardly thanking providence for the small mercy that Izuku's robot wasn't using its massive gun emplacements to tear through its former comrades. "Then when the kid did, he took a look at it, changed his mind, and pulled out a bottle. He's been doing that a lot, these days, understandably."
/
"…You know." Komori said as she shyly peeked over their battlement towards the chaos and destruction that was unfolding. "I am honestly feeling kinda glad we decided not to try our luck against that…"
As he knelt down by her side, Honenuki could fully appreciate the sentiment. When they had first made their joint plans to turtle down and play defensively, it would never have occurred to class 1-B how such a strategy wasn't just smart, but absolutely vital to their continued well-being.
The area around the Midoriya team fortress had become a war zone by any metric. The waves of invaders kept advancing, but a hell of a lot more reluctantly compared to the other lanes, which again, Honenuki couldn't really fault them for. Between the gun emplacements, the force field, and the apparently retrofitted robot holding the door, that was about the only fort besides their own where they hadn't even made it to the walls. He saw some movement out in their battlements, and then winced when some if the invaders who had broken off from the lane to try to encircle the base got frozen in place. Seems like Todoroki was done staying idle…
Yeah, no, trying anything against that fort was suicide, and he pitied anyone who tried. Best look to their own defenses, and at least those were going pretty good. Between his softening the ground, Komori and Bondo spreading a much glue and fungi as they could, and Kaibara and Awase picking off the stragglers, they had all the staying power they needed. Now the just needed to wait out the clock…
The lipless boy was suddenly wrenched from his musings as he felt a shadow briefly pass over him. Then the alarmed yell of his teammate Pony made his eyes go wide as he turned back towards their flag tower. The blonde American girl wasn't on it, having been knocked to the ground by the intruding brunette that had more than a passing resemble to Komori, and he immediately recognized as being from 1-A, and worse, part of Midoriya's team.
The girl locked eyes with him as she grabbed the flag, and even from the distance, he could perfectly hear as she spoke:
"Yoink!"
And then she was reeled away from the tower, rather weightlessly, he noticed, by the pink cord wrapped around her waist. Pony had since gotten up and tried to stop her by shooting her horns, cursing loudly in English all the while, but the cord weaved around each one. A quick look over the battlement showed that it was actually the tongue of the other, frog-like girl, standing just outside the range of the ground he had turned into mud. As soon as her teammate had been reeled in, the frog girl grabbed on to her, and Honenuki saw her legs bend before she shot off like a bullet back towards their own fort, stopping only briefly to step through the force field.
"Oh wow, ladies and gentlemen, it seems like the Fort 1 is not content with just letting their defenses do all the work. Fort 2 just lost their flag to a clever hit-and-run by Uraraka and Asui." Mic-sensei called out, and the crowd roared in cheers. "Can't be too focused on just one threat, kids!"
Honenuki and Komori shared a look as the both of them processed what had just happened.
"…Well, shit-ake." Komori cursed in her trademark mushroom-based manner.
/
"Seems like the girls got the job done." Shoji commented mildly from their perch at the flag tower, to which Midoriya grinned widely.
"Nice job, Froggy'n Floaty!" He cheerfully called into the comms. "One less tricky git tah worry'bout later."
"Thanks, ribbit." Came the reply, as down in the courtyard of their fortress Tsuyu could be seen rubbing the back of a heaving and quite nauseous looking Uraraka. "We probably shouldn't do that again, though, ribbit. Once already took a lot out of Ochaco-chan."
"Dat'z fine, let'er rest. Ya did wot wuz needed." The boy looked out towards the carnage that was happening just outside the walls with the detached, evaluating, disappointed look of a critic that had expected more. "I figure it won't be long fer dis'ere scrap tah end anyway."
"Why were so focused on taking that particular team out, though?" Todoroki inquired through the comm, a hint of curiosity to his usually blank tone. "You seemed content enough to leave the others be."
"I have to admit I was wondering about that myself." Momo added in, sounding like she was somewhat surprised by the development.
"Cuz'a Shroomy Girl." Midoriya admitted with a casualness that spoke of absolute certainty. "We'z had tah take'er out now or she'd be real dangerous in dah next round."
…
…
…
There was a long, long moment of… well, not silence, given the chaos that was unfolding just outside the walls, but at least the comms went quiet as every other member of the team blinked owlishly at that.
"You mean… Komori-san?" Momo said uncertainly, sounding absolutely floored at the implication that there might have been anyone in the competition that Midoriya would prefer to get rid of rather than fight head on, especially when the person in question wasn't someone who'd have ever crossed her mind…
"If dat'z Shroomy's name, den yah." Midoriya replied with a shrug.
"Why her specifically?" Shoji said, the first to put into words what everyone in the crew was thinking.
"Cuz' she grows shrooms, which makes her dah most dangerous git in dah tournament." The green-haired boy replied, sounding like it was the most obvious thing in the world and giving the taller teen a look that seemed incredulous at the need to spell it out.
"She. The more dangerous contestant." Todoroki stated dubiously, like he wasn't quite sure whether he should be amused or offended. "How do you figure that?"
"If she'z can grow'dem shrooms anywhere, and I ain't seen nuthin' tah show she can't, wot'z stoppin' her from growin'em on ya?" The green-haired boy inquired in turn. "Shrooms in yer legs so ya dun move, shrooms in yer eyes so ya dun see, shrooms down yer throat so ya dun breathe. I likez me'a gud scrap, Boss Lady, but dere ain't much of a fite tah be had dat way."
Another moment of radio silence followed as everyone pondered on the question, eyes going wide as the words sunk in and they realized the frankly terrifying point that was being made.
"…Your ability to measure quirks by how dangerous and deadly they can be is terrifying, Midoriya-chan, ribbit." Tsuyu concluded in her ever blunt manner, though there was a hint of trepidation to her usually collected tone.
"But not inaccurate. Even if I find it unlikely she'd actually do it, it makes sense to nip the potential problem in the bud." Shoji replied, looking down at the green-haired teen with a pondering expression. In a way, it was relieving to know that beneath the eccentricity and love for battle was someone capable of assessing risk and choosing not to take it. "You keep surprising, Midoriya."
"I'z aim tah please!" The teen replied with a wide, toothy grin.
"And just 30 more to go, ladies and gentlemen!" Present Mic chose that moment to announce, to more cheers of the crowd. "We're almost there!"
"Uh, guess dat'z dat den-"
"LOOK OUT!" Shoji suddenly interrupted in alarm, stepping forward and pushing Midoriya out of the way with one of his arms even as two others reached out to grab on to the projectile suddenly speeding in their direction, stopping it in its tracks a hair's breadth from their flag.
A quick look revealed it to be a three-pronged pincer, trying to clamp down on its target with an almost predatory eagerness, attached to a thick, hose-like cord.
Midoriya reacted immediately to the intrusion, steadying himself from the light shove and reaching into his pocket. There was a red blur as his power claw lashed out, tearing through the cable easily, sparks and fluids spilling as the pincer in Shoji's hands shuddered and slowed into a stop like a snake's head on its death throws. The duo looked towards the cable, to see it recede towards an arm-mounted launcher on an intruder within their forcefield, hovering in the air in what to Shoji's untrained eye could only be describe as flying boots.
"Oooooh, dang! At the very last stretch, Team Midoriya almost had victory ripped away from then a daring play by Hatsume! Good thing Mezo's vigilance was on point!"
"Well, darn, it seems like the Hatsume Brand Grappling Hook didn't quite hit the mark!" The girl, Hatsume presumably, with pink hair styled in dreadlocks and various contraptions strapped all over her body, called out loudly, in a way that made it seem like she wasn't really addressing either of them. "Not to worry though, there are plenty more babies where that came from, and in the end they will prove victorious!"
As she said that, her strangely intense eyes locked on to Midoriya's, who could only blink at the challenge that he saw in them, before she flew away back towards her team's fort as the alarm's buzzed to signal the end of the round.
"Uh, good going, Army Boy." Midoriya praised with a grin, after a few moments of blinking owlishly at the odd intrusion. "I knew you'd be gud fer dah team."
Unknown to either of them, far down in the maintenance bay, Power Loader had begun bawling his eyes out.
/
I really ought to cut Power Loader some slack. Eventually. Possibly.
This marks the end of the tower defense round. Perhaps with a bit less fanfare than expected, but it's kind hard to come up original events for the festival, so I hope on the whole this one was a decent one.
Next time, a small intermission and the beginning of the actual tournament. The madness ain't over just yet.
Before that though, we have an Omake this chapter, suggested by the winning reviewer who first identified the Sixto Rodriguez reference in the last chapter, and I will say that this one is strictly NOT canon.
GiantPsychoGecko, I hope that this is everything you were hoping for.
/
Takoba Municipal Beach Park had fallen into disrepair so long ago, there was simply no way to account for where all the trash that filled with in numerous heaps and piles had come from. So much was the sheer volume of garbage, from the tiniest of used tissues to entire vehicles and containers arrayed in piles, that over time it had formed its own structures, literal mountains of discarded junk, large enough to have their own inner, cave-like systems, many of which had not seen the light of day in decades, if ever, where dregs of life crawled and slithered, unseen and unguessed at by man.
Now, within one of those systems, something stirred, awakening from a long slumber. Eyes glowed in the dark as ancient hunger drone to creature to rise, assessing its environment, seeking the presence of the rest of its kin.
It found none, and for a moment, the realization left it with a somber weight of loneliness, before instinctive directives took over and with an hiss it begun crawling through the filthy cavern, its six limbs finding purchase with ease as if reached for the surface, guided by the faint drafts of fetid air that drifted down into these sunless depths.
Up and up it went, until with a might heave of its limbs, a car was sent flying, and the thing was met with blue, open sky and the sound of the rolling tide. It kept going, up to the peak of the heap, and from there it assessed its surroundings. Instinctive memories made it recognize the presence of humans, and a dark, primal satisfaction flooded the creature's mind. Soon its loneliness would end in this suitable hunting ground.
It was then that another sound caught its attention, the dragging of heavy weight and the grunts of exertion. There was something nearby, and the creature's tongue slithered out eagerly. The first prey was nearby.
Stealthily it crawled around to the other side of the heap, and sure enough, there it was, a human, a young, male one, the perfect prey, the perfect first addition to the brood. That the hair was an anomalous green rather than the hues of its instinctive memories was of no consequence, it was time to begin the spread.
Stealthily the predator approached, slowly and patiently, its hapless prey none the wiser as a horrible fate drew ever closer.
It was only at the last moment, just as the hunter was almost on top of him, that the human looked up, his red eyes going wide.
"Wooooaaaaaaaah…!"
The creature pounced, and…
/
"Midoriya…" Aizawa started, trying very hard and not quite succeeding at keeping his eyebrow from twitching. "What in the world is that thing…?"
When he had signed off on Hound Dog's suggestion of having a "Bring your pet" to school day, as part of the efforts to help the students overcome the trauma of the USJ attack, he had expected to see dogs, maybe a few cats from the clearly more logical of his students, rabbit, birds, maybe a lizard or a fish or two. And things had been going pretty decently, especially with Koda around to help the kids deepen the bonds with their own pets.
And then Midoriya had kicked the door open and dragged in behind him a creature straight out of a fucking old school sci-fi movie. In fact, Ashido was still squee-ing like a fangirl in sheer awe of the monstrosity that had nearly everyone else with their backs to the furthest wall in the room. Koda, Aoyama and Mineta had straight up fainted from terror.
It towered over its "owner", with a roughly humanoid shape, thick, dark plates of an exoskeleton covering purple skin, with a short, stinger-like tail, and six limbs, two legs and four arms, and upper set than ended in scythe line talons and a lower one that ended in disturbingly human-like hands. Its head was big, bulbous, with a face that was little more than a maw filled with razor-sharp teeth, and inhuman, yellow eyes.
Aizawa was man enough to admit that, in normal circumstances, he would be sharing in his other students horror. But the disturbing, frightening, monstrous appearance of the creature was shattered by one simple fact.
That being that it looked completely, absolutely, positively miserable, a thick, spiked collar around its neck attached to an equally thick chain held in Midoriya's hand.
"Dis be Licky!" Midoriya replied cheerfully, with a fondness in his voice that people usually reserved for puppies and kittens. "I'z found'im ovah by dah trash beach."
"Licky." Aizawa repeated tiredly, only to notice how the creature whimpered, lowering its head in what he was fairly certain was abject humiliation. Through that spaces between its very sharp teeth, the man could see it was lacking a tongue.
"Ya, I named'im dat cuz when we'z first met, he wuz so happy tah see me he was tryin' tah lick me a lot. But hiz tongue ended on a real sharp pointy end, so I ripped'it out and he wuz a lot calmer aftah dat." The boy explained, patting the creature on its bulbous head, completely missing how it flinched away from the touch. "Who'z a gud boy, Licky? You iz, yes you iz!"
Aizawa honestly couldn't tell what was worse. That "Licky" was staring at him as if begging to be put out of his misery, or that Aizawa knew that if he looked into a mirror he'd see the same kind of expression in his own face…
/
Any allusions to animal abuse are purely a misunderstanding. Licky is a (non-canonical) beloved pet of the Midoriya household and treated with all the care and love that entails. He's just not used to it yet.
Next update, we continue the Multiversal journey of Through the Eternities, so look forward to that.
Cya all on the next one, stay safe and take care.