Landing on the ground, Snake quickly sprinted to the first line of cover he could find, that being a small parked car. Slowly peeking out of cover, Snake spotted the camera the Ninth Circle had been using. Not wanting to be recorded for the world to see, Snake quickly shot the device, destroying it. The last thing he needed was for the HPSC to have vigilantism charges for himself and the MSF. Grumbling as bullets pinged the vehicle's armor, Snake took a second to reload his rifle.
His arrival had distracted the Ninth Circle thugs present, allowing most of the civilians present to run. It also gave what few first responders remained the chance to regroup and fight back. But that didn't seem to bother the Ninth Circle all that much. If anything, they began ignoring the civilians entirely, and now threw everything they had at him. Which was not an understatement, as Snake peeked out of cover, and found an enemy aiming a Howa 84 recoilless rifle at him.
Jumping away from his car, Snake narrowly avoided death as the explosive crashed into his previous cover. Not wanting the thug to do it again, Snake fired at the man, while still running to a better position. With a quick three-round burst, the thug was killed, his chest being torn up in seconds. Sliding behind another car, Snake continued to pick off enemies one by one. Looking out, he could barely count how many of them there were.
Dozens seemed to just run up out of nowhere, or drive down the street in different vehicles, all to reinforce their buddies. It caused Snake to think for a moment, as he weighed his options. The thugs had already lost a lot of guys fighting All Might, even if the skirmish was brief. While there were a lot of enemies, they weren't endless. This was a massive front they were managing, across most of Musutafu.
They send too many guys to deal with him, and the rest of their lines become thin. Of course, that meant they were likely to start shelling him if they got desperate enough, Snake realized. With that Snake had formed somewhat of a plan, but first, he needed to deal with All Might. Looking out at the street, Snake spotted the hero crawling on the ground toward cover. At his current speed, Snake knew All Might was practically a sitting duck.
Not wanting the thugs to return their focus toward All Might, Snake decided to put some pressure on the enemy. Slinging his Type-89 over his shoulder, Snake grabbed a handful of grenades. One by one he started chucking them over cover, watching as they landed near the enemy.
"Grenades!" one shouted, as Snake watched the men scatter. While not killing all of them, the explosives tore apart dozens and wounded many. Not wanting to let the enemy rest, Snake popped out of cover for a moment. He fired at groups of enemies standing out of cover, some trying to clamber back onto their feet. Snake looked around though, hoping to spot a thug with just the right tool he needed.
After a few minutes of fighting a van drove down the street, with a light machine gun strapped onto the top. Six men began filing out of the vehicle, while the machine gunner provided covering fire. On one of the six men, Snake spotted what he was looking for. A large ballistic shield. The thug holding the shield was armed with a Minebea Machine Pistol and had a buddy behind him with an old Type-64 battle rifle.
Seeing what he needed, Snake slowly fell back into a nearby alleyway. Looking around he sprinted around the area, while the sound of footsteps began to follow him.
"He went this way! Do not let him escape!" a thug shouted, and Snake mentally chuckled. He was by no means running, as Snake spotted a fire escape above him. After clambering over a dumpster, Snake jumped onto the fire escape, making a lot of noise. With that Snake carefully climbed back down, much quieter than before. Once back on solid ground Snake pulled out an old reliable cardboard box and hid next to the dumpster.
Moments later the thugs managed to catch up to him, and all looked up at the fire escape.
"Damn it! He's already above us!" one villain shouted, "Get up there, now!"
Quickly a couple of villains began boosting their allies up to climb the fire escape. Once a few were up there, they began hastily climbing to the top. There they eventually reached the roof, only to find nothing.
"He's not here!" a villain shouted back, the one in charge grumbling nearby. It was close enough that Snake assumed the man was right next to him.
"What do you mean he isn't there!?" one of the other villains shouted back, earning annoyed groans from the villains on the roof.
"Exactly that dumbass! He's gone!" the first villain replied.
"Calm down, he couldn't have gotten far," the leader told them, "Search the rooftops, he might still be up there. The rest of ya check the other alleys. He might have doubled back."
"What about the people on the street? What do we do about them?" a different villain asked, as Snake heard the thugs branch off in different directions. Once they were far enough, Snake hesitantly looked out the box's small handle slit.
"Forget 'em. They'll get Reaper's mercy, once we know this guy's dead," the leader answered, while Snake slowly looked around the alley. The leader and thug he was talking to were nowhere to be seen, so Snake knew they were on the other side of the dumpster. The others meanwhile had split up to patrol the other areas.
"Ah gotcha… wait why do we want this guy dead?" the thug asked, earning an annoyed groan from the leader. Carefully Snake stood up slightly, folding up his collapsible cardboard box.
"Haven't ya seen the news? This is Snake we're dealin' with," the leader replied, annoyed.
"Haven't heard of him," the thug replied, causing the leader to groan again.
"The leader of the MSF… oh for fucks sake, the Big Boss guy the heretic keeps talkin' about," the leader told him, while Snake peeked around the dumpster. The leader and accompanying thug stood side by side and looked around the area in front of them. Both men had helmets on, with the usual skull painted on, but neither had face masks. They also lacked the ballistic shield Snake needed. Before either of them could spot him, Snake ducked behind the dumpster.
"Oh, shit. He's that Big Boss?" the thug asked, shocked.
"Yes," the leader replied, thoroughly tired with the conversation.
"Oh… wait then why do we want him dead?" the thug asked.
"I just fuckin' told ya why!" the leader shouted back, while Snake drew his tranquilizer gun. Checking his ammo for a second, Snake looked around the floor for a moment.
"I'm just saying, if we hate him so much why are we giving him death!? Wouldn't that be a little too merciful for him?" the thug reasoned, with the leader now sounding thoroughly angry.
"We're killing him, 'cause he's gettin' in our way. And if the heretic's telling the truth, then he's our biggest problem," the leader replied.
"Then again, if he's our biggest threat, why are we giving him mercy with death?" the thug asked. The leader was silent for a moment, trying to think up an answer.
"Cause… fuck… uh…"
"You don't know, do you?"
"No, no… its… shit uh…"
Snake meanwhile continued to search the ground for something useful. Anything small that he could throw, a rock, a screw, some kind of dart or ball. Snake soon found something perfect, a small shard of broken glass. Quickly he tossed it over the dumpster, the glass landing behind the villains. Shattering once it hit the ground, the sound quickly drew their attention.
Neither said a thing, but looking out, Snake could see both men slowly moving toward the glass. They moved at differing speeds, with the leader taking the rear, while his compatriot took point. With his pistol in hand, Snake also drew his knife. Taking a deep breath and checking to see if he was clear, Snake started walking toward the thugs. Once he was close enough, Snake grabbed the leader and quickly slit his throat.
The man tried to yell out in protest to alert the other thug, but Snake got his mouth covered. Soon the leader died, and Snake began walking up to the other villain.
"Just glass by the looks of it…you think it was him?" the thug asked, waiting for the leader to respond, "...Brother?"
The thug began to turn around confused, but Snake reacted quickly, stabbing the man in the throat once he was close enough. The thug gasped for air for a few moments, attempting to shout, before dying. Quietly Snake removed the blade from the thug's throat and flicked the blood off of it. Now, Snake thought, where was that shield?
Slowly, All Might tried to crawl away from the street. Most of the civilians had thankfully fled once the shooting started up again, so the street was empty of people. The villains that were here originally, had seemingly changed their focus. They ignored both him and the civilians in favor of attacking Snake. All Might could only wonder why. And that one word rang through his head, with a dozen different variations.
Why was any of this happening? Why was Snake here? Why were the villains so… afraid of him? Why were they throwing everything they had into killing him? Why was… why was Snake saving him of all people? That last question shot through All Might's mind, confusing the hero as he crawled. Why? What did Snake have to gain from this? Was this to gain his trust? Something to throw All Might off his trail, or was this genuine?
No, it had to be genuine. If Snake wanted to, he could have just let All Might die. And yet, here he was. Soon All Might found a shred of cover, hiding behind a small car. Breathing deeply, All Might took a moment to look down at himself. His old injury was bleeding more now than ever, soaking his clothes, and creating a trail in the street. Fool, All Might told himself, you utter fool.
Touching his face, All Might knew it would be bruised, already feeling the painful stinging. After a few minutes, All Might heard another of the villains' vans drive by, and the people inside it filed out.
"Big Boss has escaped?" a villain asked, as All Might slowly peeked around cover.
"We're not sure. We found the bodies of our brothers in a nearby alleyway. He could still be here," another villain replied, causing the first one to groan annoyed.
"Then why are you still standing here!? Spread out and find him!" the first villain ordered loudly, as All Might turned away from the street. He needed to get out of here. If he stayed any longer then the villains would kill him. Would, All Might mentally remarked, and wasn't that a strange thought. Not could kill him, they would kill him. It was strange, All Might had never felt this vulnerable before, not since Nana's… He shook that thought away, knowing he had to focus on the task at hand.
Now All Might wasn't sure if he could reach UA, he wasn't even sure how far it was, but it had to be done. Slowly, All Might began to force himself up, trying to stand on his feet. Finally standing up fully, All Might balanced himself on the wall behind him. He wobbled as he moved to take a step forward and unfortunately fell backward. The back of All Might's head hit the wall behind it, causing the hero to cringe in pain.
"Call this a rare sight," a voice suddenly called out, causing All Might to pale, "The symbol of peace, struggling to stand."
He looked around for the source but realized the voice was familiar.
"Snake?" All Might called out confused, eventually spotting the mercenary crawling out of a nearby window. It surprised All Might, baffling the hero as to how Snake had gotten there. Dropping out of the window, All Might soon got a better look at Snake. Specifically, of the bloody ballistic shield slung over his back.
"Kept you waiting, huh?" Snake muttered, turning to face All Might.
"Kept me waiting? I wasn't even expecting you," All Might replied tiredly, before coughing, "What… what are you doing here?"
"What does it look like I'm doing?" Snake replied, slowly walking over to All Might. The merc looked him over for a minute, his eye falling on All Might's old injury.
"You've been shot," Snake noted aloud.
"I know," All Might replied, with Snake looking back up at him, his brow raised.
"And you didn't think to bandage it?" Snake asked, with All Might grumbling in response.
"There wasn't time for that," All Might told him, with Snake just shaking his head.
"Clearly," Snake muttered, before rummaging in a small satchel strapped to him. To All Might's surprise, Snake pulled out some bandages and a bottle of disinfecting alcohol. He set the bottle aside, before then pulling out his knife.
"Well, we need the bleeding to stop now before you even think about doing anything else," Snake told him, bringing his knife up. All Might wanted to protest, but changed his mind when he saw the red spot on his clothes. He'd already lost a lot of blood, any more and he'd be dead. Reluctantly All Might did nothing, letting Snake cut away bits of cloth. If Snake had any reaction toward All Might's injury, he didn't show it.
The merc looked the wound over for a moment, before sheathing his knife. To All Might's confusion, Snake did not attempt to remove the bullet. Instead, he poured the disinfectant over the wound, before carefully bandaging it. Once that was done Snake instantly moved to All Might's right side and started to pull him to his feet.
"Up, on your feet," Snake told him, while All Might did as told, "We need to get moving before they get tired of searching for me."
"Wouldn't that be a good thing?" All Might asked, taking a moment to look behind him. The villains still seemed very enamored with finding Snake. However, a few were beginning to load back into their vehicles and drove off. It was a good thing, they were giving up, and moving to do something else. Snake just shook his head, as All Might slung his arm over Snake's shoulder.
"If we were in your world, yes. But we're not," Snake replied, "We're in my world. And in my world, when the bad guys give up, things get explosive."
All Might was about to ask what Snake had meant before an explosion sounded off behind him. More soon followed after, as bits of rubble and shrapnel pinged off Snake's ballistic shield. The large slab of metal was barely scratched, protecting the both of them while they moved. Artillery continued to rain down on the area, as the two quickly snuck out of the area. Even as All Might got farther from the explosions, the sound never seemed to quiet down. Eventually, Snake led All Might to an abandoned apartment building.
Climbing up a few stairs, Snake quietly led All Might forward. The hero grimaced the more they moved forward. Dozens of apartments had been broken into, and All Might caught small glimpses of their interiors. Furniture was thrown about and broken, civilians lay dead on the floor. Some, All Might could see, had tried hiding in closets, under beds, practically anywhere. But they were all found, dragged out, and shot. Few apartments remained intact from the wholesale slaughter.
Solemnly All Might closed his eyes for a moment. Slowly, a dark realization hit him though. He never saw any dead children. Out of all the apartments he'd passed, not one had the body of a child. Some had toys littering the floor, so… where were the kids? Maybe they had fled, the more hopeful part of All Might thought. Their parents hid them, and they escaped. Yet All Might knew this was wrong. It just wasn't possible, not unless some grand miracle occurred.
It left All Might with more questions before he opened his eyes again. By this point, Snake had turned and entered one of the apartments. The soldier looked through the area for a moment, before setting All Might down on a couch. Once that was done Snake quickly closed the window's blinds, and shut the apartment door. Breathing deeply, Snake sat down in a nearby chair.
"What uh… what now?" All Might tiredly asked, shifting slightly to look at Snake. The soldier didn't talk for a moment, instead taking just a moment to rest.
"Now? Now, we wait," Snake replied.
"For what exactly?" All Might inquired, not liking what Snake was implying. He… he couldn't actually mean-
"Till nightfall… no, daybreak," Snake replied. All Might coughed for a second, before painfully forcing himself to sit up.
"Daybreak? You're having us hide in here until tomorrow!?" All Might loudly demanded, while Snake cringed at the loud noise.
"Keep your voice down," Snake lambasted, with All Might realizing his mistake. However, he was still furious. His plan was to hide! All Might knew he couldn't fight anymore but there were a dozen other options.
"Damn it Snake, why are we hiding?" All Might asked, earning an annoyed sigh from Snake.
"What else are we supposed to do?" Snake asked back, "They've got thugs patrolling every street, and death squads clearing out entire blocks. I know how to fight well, but if I'm having to lug you around, while also fending off the damn swarm, then we're dead."
"Then leave me here. I can fend for myself. But the people out there need help," All Might told him. To All Might's confusion though, Snake went quiet for a moment. The mercenary just looked at him for a second, his single eye blinking a few times.
"...You don't get it, do you?" Snake slowly commented, "You don't seem to grasp what happened out there."
"What this?" All Might asked, gesturing toward his skeletal form, "I grasp it all real well, Snake. The world's seen my true form, the myth of All Might is gone, destroyed. The Symbol of Peace, shown as nothing more than a man."
"That's the problem All Might. You can't seem to grasp how far that symbol's influence extended," Snake told him. What did he mean by that, All Might questioned? How far has his influence extended? Sure All Might knew the effect his rep had on the public culture, his face was plastered almost everywhere.
"Society leeched off of your symbol for years, it became dependent on it. Whenever they thought of safety or of hope they thought of you. You built yourself as the sole pillar the world could rest on. Everything, everything was dependent on you," Snake told him, which only confused All Might further.
"The hero industry was practically built off of you. Law enforcement follows your actions, governments write bills because of you, and people feel safe because of you. For all of society, you were a cash cow, something they could milk endless profit out of. Be that profit money, safety, propaganda, or shilling out some government or corporate policy," Snake continued, slowly painting a picture for All Might.
Snake truly meant everything. Whenever All Might did anything, it affected the world's view of heroes. On the economic side, All Might doing anything provided confidence in the market. So long as it had All Might's face on it, there would be investors. If All Might won a fight, then stocks in hero agencies or support products boomed. If he publicly took a sick day, the price would fall. Support companies lived or died by his or his agency's reviews. Politicians got elected if he endorsed them, and bills were passed if he made a statement about them.
Heroes became famous if he worked with them. Movies flourished if All Might so much as commented he enjoyed seeing it. His words and actions changed economies and legislation. But… it had to be an exaggeration. Society would be fine without him… if he could find a successor, All Might realize grimly. No, not could, he would find a successor. The world will be in turmoil for a moment but it will recover.
"They'll find a new symbol-" All Might began to reason, only for Snake to cut him off.
"A symbol greater than you?" Snake asked, causing All Might to go quiet. All Might wanted to say yes, but slowly stopped. A symbol greater than him… how? He'd changed the world immensely. When people try to define the word hero, he is always the example given. He saved so many lives and impacted so many others. He was always ranked the number one hero for decades. They built statues of him for crying out loud… a symbol greater than him…
"...Shit," All Might muttered, slumping back onto the couch. All Might didn't know what else to say. It looked like Snake wanted to say something else, but stopped as the lights began to flicker and die.
That… that couldn't have been All Might, Yaoyorozu tried to rationalize. All Might was a larger-than-life beacon of hope. An unstoppable juggernaut who never let any villains slow him down. A living mountain of a hero. Yet here he was, a shriveled-up skeleton, being beaten over the head. This couldn't be, Yaoyorozu pleaded. It was all a nightmare, none of this was happening.
This attack wasn't real, her crawling across a minefield almost nude wasn't real, the war being fought on the campus grounds wasn't real, the villains' raid when they dropped in from the ceiling wasn't real, and All Might, being moments away from death, wasn't real. Of course, her eyes and ears told her otherwise. The tired aching pain she felt told her otherwise, and the shocked, terrified looks her classmates held, told her otherwise.
When the villain placed his pistol on All Might's head, Yaoyorozu went pale.
"This… this can't be happening," Ashido muttered nearby, disbelief clear in the girl's eyes. Everyone around had a similar look.
"All Might fight back, please!" Kaminari pleaded, knowing the hero couldn't hear him.
"No…" Tokoyami muttered calmly. The teen seemed like he wanted to say more, but didn't know what.
"H-he can't die. He'll get out of this," Iida tried to reason, his hands clenched into fists. His knuckles slowly turned white the longer he watched the Idroid. Everyone watched, yet none of them wanted to. They all begged and pleaded for All Might to do something, anything! He couldn't die, not like this! He was their hero, their teacher! Then they all heard the dreaded sound of a gunshot.
But to their surprise, the villain holding All Might at gunpoint wasn't the one to fire. Instead, the villain fell down, dead. His compatriots scrambled around the area shouting, before shooting at something out of sight. Quietly, Yaoyorozu was relieved that All Might had been saved, but became confused. What was happening? The villain holding the camera quickly dropped it, and the device landed awkwardly.
From what she could see it was now recording a store that the villains were hitting with everything they had. After a few seconds, one of the villains shouted something that caught Yaoyorozu's attention.
"It doesn't matter, Big Boss won't stop us! Kill the heretic!" the villain shouted, and the name instantly ran through Yaoyorozu's mind. Big Boss? Who was-
"[Ah, right. Well, you and the rest of the first world know him as Snake,]" a memory of Grizzly said, as she remembered her first meeting with the soldier. The guy the villains were shooting at, was Snake. But… Why was he out there? Why did… He saved All Might, Yaoyorozu realized. Turning to look at the rest of the class, Yaoyorozu found Ashido had a similar look of recognition as she did.
She couldn't see it, but if the shaking clothes were anything to go by, then Hagakure realized it as well. Seconds later someone jumped out of the store window and seconds after that the camera was destroyed. Yaoyorozu didn't see who it was that ran by, but it didn't matter. She knew who it was.
"Is… is All Might alive?" Uraraka hesitantly asked.
"He has to be…" Iida replied, sounding unsure. The bespectacled teen tried to seem confident in his words, but Yaoyorozu saw through it.
"But who was the guy they were shooting at!?" Kaminari asked, shocked, voicing the question everyone had.
"It… it was my dad," Akatani hesitantly said, the shock of everything that happened still clear on his face. His reply drew the attention of everyone nearby, who all looked at him in disbelief.
"W-what?" Iida asked, surprised.
"The guy they were shooting at, they called him Big Boss," Yaoyorozu told him, earning a surprised look from Akatani, "It's Snake's other codename."
"That… that was Snake…" Tokoyami muttered surprised, the class murmuring for a moment.
"Snake… saved All Might…" Asui pointed out, the realization hitting everyone. Everyone went quiet then, the gravity of it all hitting them. The mercenary they had been afraid of for weeks, had saved the Symbol of Peace. The strongest hero in the world, saved by a lowly "villain". Yaoyorozu barely knew what to think of it, as Iida looked back at Akatani.
"He has another codename?" Iida inquired, still a bit confused with everything. Akatani shrugged and gave him a so-so gesture in response.
"It's not really a codename… more a title he got," Akatani replied, adding ever more confusion.
"A… title…" Yaoyorozu muttered, thinking it over carefully. It still didn't make sense to her, none of this did. At the very least, All Might had been saved. But to think, under all that muscle he looked like a living skeleton. Under that smile he was a husk, she didn't know what to think of it. And it became clear none of her classmates wanted to address it. To acknowledge the seemingly forbidden truth they'd all been exposed to.
Why would they want to address it? After everything that had happened today, it all was just too much. Too much death, too much chaos, and too many surprises. Yaoyorozu just felt tired by this point. Tired of everything. She wanted to cry, but her eyes were dry. Why wouldn't this day just end? After a few more hours sitting in the hallway, a small commotion began to form. Midnight walked over to the class, looking at all of them with pity in her eyes.
"Alright, everybody listen for a second," Midnight said, bringing the class's attention to her, "We're evacuating all students back to the school building. I'm going to need you to follow me, okay?"
The words sent a terrified shiver down Yaoyorozu's spine. She didn't want to leave the stadium, not if it meant going back outside. Her classmates shared her sentiment, and Midnight noticed this quickly.
"I know you're all afraid, but I assure you it's perfectly safe. The MSF has brought armored vehicles to transport you and has the campus fully secured," Midnight told all of them, hoping it would reassure them. It didn't, but realistically, Yaoyorozu knew the class didn't have a choice in the matter. After a few minutes, everyone stood up and was escorted down to one of the stadium's exits.
From there, they loaded up into vehicles and were driven down to campus. On the way there, the night began to fall upon them. The crimson sky slowly turned to a dark bluish-black. Flak lit up the sky constantly, shooting down things no one could see. Maybe they were heroes, maybe they were aircraft that got lost. Whatever it was, Yaoyorozu didn't want to think about it.
To Yaoyorozu's worry though, she could see faint stars in the sky. One would wonder why until they saw the city below said stars. Not a single building was lit up in the entire city. It was all shrouded in darkness, except for the occasional building. Though the light from those was not electrical, and was instead a large inferno, burning down what once stood there. How was this Musutafu? How was this the city she passed by on her way to school?
Yaoyorozu had never spent much time in the town, only ever catching glimpses. But to see it like this? It felt alien to her. Eventually, Yaoyorozu felt the vehicle come to a stop. Without much thought, she hopped out of the vehicle and quietly followed her teacher, where Midnight led all of them to their classroom. Filing in one by one, the entire class sat around quietly, all hearing the faint echo of an explosion outside. Akatani joined them as well, as Yaoyorozu believed he didn't want to be alone. Not after everything.
"Now, all of you, get some rest," Midnight told the class, before turning to leave, "An upperclassman is coming around to bring you some supplies, they'll be here soon."
Once she was gone, most of the class turned to look at each other.
"Sleep, after… after this?" Hagakure questioned, with Yaoyorozu looking back at the invisible girl.
"Rest will do us all some good," Yaoyorozu told her, "I… I know I feel tired."
"Yaoyorozu's right. It's… been a long day for all of us," Iida agreed, though without his usual chopping motion. The teen removed his glasses for a moment to rub his eyes, before looking back at the class again.
"I'm not sure I can sleep," Kaminari muttered, before hearing Ashido snort nearby.
"Don't think Akatani has that problem," Ashido commented, trying to lighten everyone's mood. It confused Yaoyorozu for a moment before she spotted the teen in question. As Akatani was lying on the floor, fast asleep. It couldn't have been comfortable, and yet that didn't seem to bother him. No blanket, no mattress, no pillow, nothing. Just the cold floor and Yaoyorozu couldn't fathom how.
A knock at the door soon brought her out of this thought. Must be the upperclassman, Yaoyorozu thought, the girl quickly walking toward the door.
"Oh, Shoji, do you mind helping me out a bit?" Yaoyorozu asked, reaching the door. With a brief stretch, the multi-armed teen stood up and quietly walked over to her.
"Thank you," Yaoyorozu quietly told him, before sliding the door open. On the other side stood a tall blond teen, with a cart next to him. His eyes were pretty much dot-like, and he had a polite friendly smile on his face, but it seemed strained to Yaoyorozu.
"Hey, everybody doing ok?" the teen asked, holding out a pile of sleeping bags and extra blankets.
"We're… we're fine, just a little…" Yaoyorozu replied, before briefly trailing off in thought.
"Heh, yeah. I hear ya," the blond teen replied, with a comforting chuckle, "Might seem tough, but we just gotta keep smiling. We'll make it through this."
Yaoyorozu then grabbed the sleeping bags the teen held, while Shoji grabbed the rest from the cart.
"Thank you," Yaoyorozu told the blond teen, whose smile widened just a bit.
"Well, it's like what the blanket said to the bed, I've got you covered," the teen told her, waiting a moment before asking, "...Not funny?"
It took a second but Yaoyorozu realized the teen was trying to make a joke.
"Sorry no, it's just… been a long day," Yaoyorozu replied.
"All good. Just thought a joke would lighten the mood," the upperclassmen told her while rubbing the back of his head. With that though, the upperclassmen left. Quietly Yaoyorozu passed out the sleeping bags she'd been given, before taking one for herself. Laying the sleeping bag next to her desk, Yaoyorozu got into it quickly. It was oddly comfortable, and she relished the warmth it brought. She didn't know what to expect, not after everything. But by now, she was too tired to care.
Miller was tired. Every part of him wanted to run back to his quarters and sleep. But of course, he knew he couldn't. There was far too much work to be done and far too little time. While the MSF had beaten the enemy back, that didn't mean they did so without loss. Lots of soldiers were dead, and Miller took great "joy" knowing he was going to have to notify the deceased's families.
Aside from the dead was also the equipment they lost during the fighting. Dozens of aircraft had been shot down, hundreds of ground vehicles had been blown up, and a good chunk of their air defense had been destroyed. Now, they had extra equipment in storage for precaution's sake, it's why the enemy had essentially given up on shelling the school, but not nearly enough for everything.
For right now, Miller knew the MSF couldn't step foot off of campus, not with the eyes of the world watching. But he also knew they would be forced to intervene eventually. One wrong move though and the HPSC would be on their ass with vigilantism charges. If the MSF did intervene, then it would be political suicide for the HPSC to try and charge them. The public would most likely be up in arms with such an action. However, it was still an action the HPSC could take.
It was a bullet added to the chamber of their gun. It may be unpopular, but the Commission would do it anyway. And so long as one hero obeyed their orders, then conflict was sure to follow. A conflict like that was the last thing the MSF needed. Again though, Miller knew they would be forced to intervene eventually. Assuming they could get either the local government or federal government's permission.
If not them, then at the very least the police. Might be best to talk to Nezu about that, Miller quietly thought. Back on topic though, the MSF didn't have enough equipment for their inevitable intervention. Now Miller was scrounging through Mother Base's reserve units, and ordering whatever was available to be redirected to Japan. However, it didn't seem to be enough, because most of Mother Base's reserves were old equipment.
The motley collection of mish-mashed gear the MSF had when they first arrived in this dimension. That wasn't going to work, not if they had to supply a dozen different parts for a dozen different guns. He needed a solution badly, and slowly an idea began to form.
"Come on Dad, hurry up!" Rody shouted down the hall, his siblings yelling something similar as they dragged Soul to the living room. Soul simply chuckled at the display, before Roro and Lala let go of him.
"I know, I know, I'll be there in a minute Rody," Soul told him, taking a moment to put away his lab coat. Today you see, was family game night. It had been Rody's turn to choose, and now he sat waiting with Monopoly resting on the living room table. Just as Soul was about to sit down though, his Idroid began to ring. It earned a curious look from his kids, as Soul took the device out for a second.
Surprised, Soul found Miller was calling him. It was odd.
"Rody, go ahead and get the game started, I'll be back in a minute," Soul told him, moving toward his bedroom. Rody, who was once excitedly smiling, looked back at his father confused.
"Is everything ok?" Rody asked while Soul gave him a thumbs up.
"Perfectly fine, just gotta take a call," Soul told him, before stepping into his room. After a few seconds, Soul took a deep breath and answered the device.
"Kaz," Soul tiredly greeted, a tad bit annoyed.
"Eddie," Miller replied, noticing the annoyance in Soul's tone. Soul couldn't see it, but the Commander quickly recognized why the man was annoyed.
"Hope this is important," Soul stated, moving to sit at the foot of his bed.
"I know, sorry for the interruption, but it is. Have you seen the news?" Miller asked, which Soul thought was odd. Most of his day had been spent in the R&D lab working. Never really had the chance to watch the news.
"Never had the chance, why?" Soul asked, carefully tapping the wooden base of his bed. Miller's next words sent a shock through Soul's body though.
"The entire city's under attack," Miller told him, "An army of villains sprang up from out of nowhere, and a few of them managed to get on campus."
Soul was frozen by the words. How? Dozens of questions ran through his mind, and he wanted to ask all of them. With those questions came a quiet dread, Midoriya was there. Slowly Soul looked toward his bedroom door, waiting to spot Rody looking in from the doorway. Thankfully he wasn't there. Soul didn't want his son to know, not if something happened to Midoriya.
"We managed to repel the enemy but we've lost a lot of equipment," Miller continued, as Soul slowly looked away from the doorway. Though it confused Soul for a moment. Transferring reserve equipment was the Support Team's forte, not R&D's. It didn't entirely make sense.
"And so you're calling in reserves. What does this have to do with… me…" Soul said, slowly trailing off as his eyes widened in realization, "Kaz no,"
"All of Mother Base's reserves are filled with mish-mashed equipment. If we wait for gear from Africa it could take a few days for everything to transfer over," Miller told him, while Soul stood up from his bed, dragging his hand down his face.
"Kaz you're asking for experimental tech! Most of this stuff's still in the prototype phase! We haven't even done field testing yet!" Soul exclaimed, worriedly.
"Then consider this the field test. We need equipment and we need it now," Miller told him, while Soul reluctantly knew he couldn't argue against it. Slowly the conversation came to an end, and Miller hung up. With a tired sigh, Soul grabbed his lab coat and left his bedroom.
"Dad?" Rody asked, spotting his father as Soul went for the door, "I thought we were going to play."
"Sorry buddy, something came in," Soul told him, opening the door, "We'll play tomorrow though, ok?"
"...Ok," Rody replied, before slowly packing up the game, much to his sibling's annoyance. It annoyed Soul too, this just had to happen today of all days. Quickly though he left his quarters and sprinted toward the lab. At the same time, he called up whatever engineers were off duty, even having someone drag Dell and Colt out of the Oasis Realm. Eventually reaching the R&D lab, he found everyone he called up tiredly grabbing whatever they could.
Looking down at his Idroid, Soul quietly began going over the list of things they were shipping over. The MBCV prototypes were being piloted toward a nearby loading area, before sitting down on a small pallet. The mech crouched into itself, effectively hugging its knees. Next to that, a pair of engineers were assisting a V-44 quad-tilt rotor in leaving the lab. Mainly by guiding out a large door toward an airfield. Experimental drone tanks were loaded onto the aircraft as well, with accompanying robotic soldiers being loaded on as well.
The robotic soldiers, unlike other ground-based drones, were more human-like in nature. They sported limbs based on the exoskeleton's robotic structure, with a holographic projector built into the face. This was done at the request of Dell, who believed an AI showing its avatar's face would be more comforting to allies than the normal robotic head. The best way Soul could describe the rest of the robots was like that of the fictional C6.
However, it had more artificial muscle that allowed the robot to bend and stretch more easily. It made some joints look like they were covered in pale gray skin. On and on the list went as Soul checked off everything being transported out. Slowly, they came down to just four prototypes left.
"You sure we should be sending these?" an engineer worriedly asked, looking over at Soul
"Commander Miller asked for it, so yes," Soul told him tiredly, knowing this was a bad idea.
"If you say so," the engineer relented, stepping back as the AIs inside the prototype got everything running. Slowly the first prototype took a step forward, then a second. A loud chunk followed it with every step. After a few seconds, the prototype stopped and started to shift and change. Its four legs moved a little before the entire prototype slowly lifted off the ground. Now hovering, the prototype drove forward.
The prototypes behind it did the same, driving behind the first one. They were all a new experimental idea, based on ZEKE. A smaller, more mass-producible Metal Gear, something R&D had named Battle Gear. Of which, they had four prototypes, all of them different variants. But only one had a name, Battle Gear Queen Bee.
As night fell across the city, She couldn't help but be angry. So much death and destruction, happening in such a short amount of time. And it had gone on for years. She despised it all, the constant death happening around the globe that everyone ignored. Well, almost everyone… yet it wasn't enough. Not as She walked through the bloody streets, passing corpse after corpse.
Nearby She spotted the men responsible, loading up dozens of children into trucks. The children kicked and thrashed about, trying to free themselves. Crying out for help from their parents, from cops, from heroes, from anyone. It caused Her heart to ache, knowing there was little she could do. One of the thugs looked around the area, his eyes passing right over Her. With but a word the last child had been thrown into the truck, and the vehicle now drove off.
Continuing down the street, She could see how much Fury was about. Dozens of buildings were engulfed in flames, while the criminals around them loudly cheered. As men and women were killed, some "mercifully", others in gruesome vindictive ways. Punishment, the criminals called it, for crimes they didn't know they committed. Dozens were locked in the burning buildings, slowly burning alive or suffocating to death.
Dozens more were slowly carved open, their bodies and entrails used to display a message. One of Fear, and oh, there was so much Fear. She could see it, passing by building after building, knowing people desperately hid inside of them. Others ran, as fast as their legs could carry them. It was never fast enough though. Policemen and heroes held the line desperately, terrified of what would happen if they failed.
Only to meet their End, far too soon. She passed body, after body. All meeting their End, far too soon. Newlyweds taken apart, never to see their lover again. Parents who will never hear their child's first laugh. Friends who said goodbye for the final time. And on a supposedly happy day as well, a time for fun. An event all could watch and cheer on, now relinquished as nothing but a tragedy.
It was a day full of Pain, never-ending Pain. Men and women, young and old, are all forced to experience Pain like no other. Be it physical torture, the gruesome sight plaguing Her the longer she walked, as criminal after criminal subjected anyone who resisted to a slow miserable death. Or be it mental, as everyone grieved those who had died. It was all so much Pain, with far too much Sorrow.
Too many voices crying out for help. Too many voices shouting, begging for mercy. Too many families were ruined. Too many homes were destroyed. Too many lives lost. There was far too much Sorrow, as She continued down the road. Somewhere down the line, it had started to rain. She had a guess as to why, never understanding why He always caused it. A flair for the dramatics, She reasoned, part of the reason She loved Him. But the rain fit the mood with everything that happened today.
Too much Fury, too much Fear, too much Pain, too much Sorrow, too many Ends, and not enough Joy.