Chapter 27: Midoriya Izuku XXIV

A/N: And with this another ally enters the scene. Just who will it be? (I'll give ya a hint — he's one you've all seen before…)

Tomura's been planning something. Izuku isn't oblivious to the fact that he is, of course, seeing as it would be fairly hard for him to be so.

As is, Tomura is horrible at keeping something under wraps. Whether it be the shrewd looks he takes up when he thinks that Izuku isn't looking, or his frantic, scrambling movements to cover loose papers and screens up right as Izuku walks into the room — it indeed, would be hard not to notice.

Izuku can read Tomura like an open book. And right now the written lines imply that Tomura does not want Izuku interfering with his plans.

And Izuku's fine with that, really. He knows how much the joint control over the nomu during USJ irked Tomura to the bones. And he also knows how his gradual — and much more numerous — meetings with Sensei have the same effect.

So Izuku hasn't bothered to check what Tomura's up to. He can't keep watching the boy's every move, not if he wants to keep resentment and bitterness from overtaking their already strenuous, tolerant partnership. If you could even call it that.

And despite the niggling feeling at the back of Izuku's mind, the gnawing belief that he'll regret his inaction, he wants Tomura to grow as a person. And that means letting him make his own decisions, conduct his own plans on his own, and deal with the consequences of whatever outcome arises from what he does.

So here he is again in Hosu City, a week after his initial meeting with Stain. Away from the relative proximity of Tomura's machinations, and instead building up for the other operation that Tomura wants done tonight.

He didn't question Tomura's logic at that angle — he praised it even. Striking while the iron's still hot, two big operations after the other, and the white hats would be scrambling every which way for some semblance of order.

Of course… that doesn't mean that what Izuku plans to do exactly lines up with what Tomura wants.

Tomura wants to impart a message, cast down a rain of fire and wanton destruction onto the city of Hosu. He wants innocents to be caught in the crossfire, all to bloat his own sense of superiority and meaning in this world.

But Izuku's conscience can't quite allow that.

So what's to say that a few gas leaks will force some evacuations in some neighborhoods? Or how a few bomb threats will cause frantic citizens to move out of a supposed blast radius?

Such a large quantity of incidents happening so closely together is bound to attract suspicions days later when the authorities have time to reflect. But it's not as if any investigations will find anything.

And at the end of the day, there will still be some. People too arrogant for their own good, choosing to stay with their homes to wait out the danger, or those simply too focused to care about the things happening around them stopping them from doing what they want. But most will be gone.

And if there's a surprising lack of civilians within the area by the day's end, who's to say that Tomura will notice? He doesn't bother with the nameless faces — barely bats them an eye. With people running around running in terror and screaming for their lives, will Tomura notice the difference between a few dozen versus a few thousand?

In the end, the news will be talking about the razing of Hosu by the next day, and the League of Villains will be on its next step to making a name for itself. Buildings will be burnt and whole streets ruined. But countless lives will have been saved. And Tomura will be none the wiser of what Izuku's done.

All in all, it's the best Izuku could hope for. Because when it stands between pissing off his benefactors and teammates versus going out alone… He has to make the hard choice. Has to, if wants the world to change for the better.

And if such a decision taints his soul… then so be it.

Besides, if things go well, he'll have his next talk with Stain tonight. So there's always that. Something to keep his mind from wandering too close to the truth.

"Think of it as payback for secretly building up your own party, brat."

"It's not my part—" Izuku growls at his slip of tongue. "Team! It's our team that I'm contributing to!"

Tomura snorts. "Then tell me how what I did was any different than what you did."

Izuku rubs his temple as he takes a breath. "The people I interviewed, and explicitly didn't force recruitment upon, are all relatively mild on the scale of the criminal spectrum — barring Magne who sits on the lower mid-tier. But you? With Moonfish? And Muscular? One individual on death row and another who's killed countless for the fun of it?"

"Hey, screw you!" Tomura retorts. "I went for power and usefulness! Not for some shitty minions that haven't even shown their worth yet!"

"But there's no point in you seeking out mindless beasts to work for you! That's what the nomus are for! You need teammates, people you can bounce ideas off of and socialize with. Maybe one who could play some co-op games with you or something. I don't know. Anyone could have been better than them."

"Bullshit. You don't know team synergy! I've played more RPGs than you have. And it was clear from USJ that without the nomu, we're lacking firepower. So I did the smart thing and got some!"

"Those two are unstable lunatics—"

"Don't care," Tomura states matter of factly.

"They might not even follow your orders!" Izuku counters, walking up right beside Tomura. "Then what?"

Tomura smirks. "Then I'll dust 'em. Easy."

Izuku groans, wiping his hand over his face. "I can't believe that you're serious."

"I can't believe that you're still whining about this! It's been nearly half an hour! … And where the heck is Kurogiri?!"

"My apologies, young master," Kurogiri drawls as he appears betweening the arguing pair. "I withheld my presence until now, for I believed that the two wished to end your verbal struggle first before tonight's opening event. Was I wrong in my presumption?"

Tomura merely growls in response. "Where are the nomu, Kurogiri?"

Without another word, three portals open on the rooftop the trio are standing upon. Out come three nomu: one with pale blue skin and gangly arms, another with skin black as night and built with muscles, and the last an eerie yellow color, draconic wings sprouting from its back.

The nomu scatter across the open space once they leave their prospective portals, planting themselves down on the rooftop with little fanfare. Their movements are janky and reach right into the uncanny valley, moving as minions simply awaiting orders. They're everything that's expected of the Doctor's creations, and nothing that Izuku hasn't already seen before.

But there's just something off about this certain group — and it's the last one of the three that catches Izuku's attention. His eyes can't help but linger upon the creature, taking in all of its features From it's exposed brain indicative of a nomu to the clawed, to the bird-like feet adjoined to its legs, he absorbs it all into memory.

It's monstrous, alien, and foreign all at once. An inhuman abomination that shouldn't see the light of day, and should casted forth into death to ease its suffering. Izuku's never seen it before, in the labs or in the files. He's sure of that. And yet, there's something about it to Izuku that seems… familiar.

On the opposite end, the nomu holds none of the inspection Izuku himself has. The creature simply looks back, beady eyes looking dumbly in the direction of what it sees as Whisper, the famed vigilante-slash-villain. It makes no movements, entirely ready to serve one of the few beings it calls master.

Izuku walks up to it, slowly but surely, with a steel resolve implanted in his heart. He reaches the creature, and rests his hand along the length of its arm. He dwells for a minute, considering the thoughts running through his head. Eventually, he takes off his mask, revealing his true face to the open air. And then he looks at the nomu, straight in the eye, and waits.

With the way the Doctor has created the nomus, they hold no further function than to serve. The need to prevent wasted movements are instilled into its fiber, and it's made to be as efficient as possible, while being as disposable as a lower tiered nomu has the right to be. It has no higher willpower or stream of thought that fills its brain. And yet… it can sense some sort of familiarity as well.

It caws, just below a low rumble. And it's head tilts ever so slightly as its eyes turn to meet Izuku's. They're subtle movements at best, ones most would offhandedly ignore as simple quirks of an artificial creature. But Izuku knows better than that.

"Alright!" Tomura yells out as he peers down to the ground below, eyeing the small amounts of people still lingering about despite Izuku's interference. "Do your job! Wreak havoc!"

The nomus all screech in unison, and all of them move to comply. Even the winged one, that was one moment before sharing it's interaction with Izuku, seems to snap out it's fugue and return to its normal programming.

It two, starts to flap its wings to join the others in causing destruction. But Izuku keeps his hand firmly around the winged nomu's arm, preventing it from lifting off. When the creature looks down at Izuku, it finds its master shaking his head.

"No," Izuku commands. "Stay."

The creature complies, implanting itself back on the rooftop.

"Hey! What gives?!" Tomura yells, stalking over to Izuku and the nomu. "What are you doing?"

Izuku tilts his head in response, though his eyes never leave the form of the nomu. "I… have use for this one."

"The hell does that mean?!" Tomura screeches. "I need that thing to help out the other two in destroying the city!"

"I'll get you another one," Izuku says offhandedly. "Two, even. I need to visit the Doctor for important business right now, anyways."

Tomura lets out a grunt, eventually crossing his arms together. "Fine. But only because this one just has wings. It's probably weak as heck, anyways. I don't know what you want with it."

"That's my business. Thanks for the cooperation." Izuku clears his throat. "Follow," he says to the nomu.

Izuku walks over to Kurorgiri, winged nomu in tow.

"To the Doctor, I presume?" Kurogiri asks. Izuku isn't sure if he's imagining it or not, but it almost sounds as if Kurogiri's voice is strained as he says those words.

Izuku nods at Kurogiri's words. As the portal opens, he finds himself filing away yet another odd tidbit of info on Kurogiri. He takes a mental note to further look into it later; he can't ponder upon now. Not when he's ready to explode.

Izuku's footsteps protrude the normal ambience of the laboratory, harsh clumps echoing through the halls. It's a complete contrast from the nomu that's following from behind, its steps light and quiet. But that doesn't take away the fact the image the two make is one that would make people tremble.

The first thing Izuku does is make way for the vats that hold the myriad nomu of the complex. He skims through the collection until he eventually finds what he's looking for — two baseline, lower tier nomus to replace the one currently accompanying him.

He types in the release codes — knowledge of which extends a little further up to the mid tier nomus, courtesy of the Doctor's own brand of generosity — and lets the vats drain.

These nomus don't have the same drawbacks as the higher tier ones, meaning that right off the bat they are ready for combat the moment they awaken.

So Izuku sends a quick message to Kurogiri, and it's not long before the two are off to join their siblings in attacking Hosu City. The fact that their quirks consist of a slow acting, cumbersome acidic spit and pyrokinesis that extends a mere one meter radius from its user (alongside their base modifications) don't really make up the the deadly speed and precision of a nomu with wings would have.

But then again that isn't really Izuku's problem. He has something more urgent bubbling up inside of him. So he continues on.

It isn't long until Izuku reaches the Doctor, who is once again dissecting one of the many bodies he has stored away for his experiments. The man doesn't show any sign of acknowledging Izuku's presence, instead humming a merry tune as his tools move in and out of the corpse.

Izuku isn't willing to wait. "Doctor."

"Izuku!" The man cheers, sparing a short glance — him no doubt seeing the winged nomu beside Izuku — before heading back to his work. "Aren't you supposed to be somewhere else, at the moment?"

"Tomura has Hosu handled," Izuku says. "And you know that I didn't much approve of that plan anyway. I don't need to be there until Stain acts."

"But you are getting there. So that's progress, no?"

Izuku ignores the man's remark, diverting the topic away from his gradually greying morals to the events of the day.

"You know, I noticed that there were a few nomus during that incident today. You know, the interrupted transfer of the deranged criminals Muscular and Moonfish?"

"I'm thinking of their quirks, of course. Nothing else," says the Doctor. "I mean, if they die and we get the chance to get their bodies? It'd be a great boon with the possibilities of muscle augmentation aiding along super strength or the utility of a long ranged rain of metallic death. Either can work, and projects with them would be scrumptious."

Izuku holds back the taste of bile in his mouth and moves on. "I'm taking two of your nomus for Hosu. I already sent them out."

"I know. I saw the alert." The Doctor takes a moment to set his tools down. "Now, mind telling me what this is about? Something to do with the nomu beside you, I presume?"

Izuku grits his teeth and takes a short moment to breathe. He starts off slowly, making sure to curtail his anger. "I just so happened to notice a few minutes ago that this nomu looks familiar to me. And it happened to have the same reaction back."

"Oh?" The Doctor says, eyebrows rising ever so slightly.

"Yes. I know what you're thinking. But that doesn't matter at the moment. Tell me: Why in the actual fuck is Tsubasa Hane a nomu?"

The Doctor doesn't wilt under the vitriol being aimed at him and answers calmly. "As is, my great grand-nephew—"

"What?!" Izuku interrupts. "You mean he's related to you?! That just makes this whole thing worse!"

"Please let me finish. Reserve judgement until the end, hmm?"

Izuku scowls, but nonetheless reluctantly nods.

"It isn't in any way my fault that his parents — my grand-niece alongside her husband — were running out of money. That was an issue entirely of their doing. The fact that they asked me for shelter — a barely known distant relative — was

neither something I influenced into being."

"I refused at first," the Doctor says. "But they nagged me. Enough so that it cut into my work. So I eventually agreed — turns out it wasn't much of a nuisance, seeing as I spend almost all of my time here in my lab and the hospital that houses it."

He lets out a chuckle. And besides, an eldery great uncle taking in distant family from the kindness in his heart? At least that serves the purpose of building up my civilian persona. And that helps every little bit with employees that work in the hospital; don't ask questions or delve too deeply into my absences or use of resources when I'm so highly renowned, after all."

"Get on with it," Izuku interrupts.

The Doctor harrumphs. "Back to the boy then. You see, the issue stems from you, actually."

Izuku blinks. "What?"

"You seemed to have made quite the impression on young Hane. Whatever experience you two shared changed him — not that I would know personally. But his parents said as such during one of the few times I had to bear their presence."

"As it turned out," the Doctor says, "just a short while after he moved into the neighborhood, he began standing up for people scorned by society; tussle with the bullies and abusers of the world. Perhaps his passive inaction towards your plight brought upon a guilty conscience, spurned him into action. Maybe the dam holding back his true feelings finally broke. Who knows. What I do know was that his actions didn't make him very popular in the neighborhood."

The Doctor shrugs. "The next thing I know his parents are calling me, pleading for an open room in the hospital. In the end, I paid my great grand nephew little mind, and he did the same with me. And I felt very little when he passed on."

"So you saw that as a chance to make him into a nomu?" Izuku questions, his hands balling into fists. "Saw his body as a mere resource to use for your experiments?"

The Doctor nods. "Of course."

Izuku huffs, air exhaling through his nose. He counts in his head. One, two, three… "There's still a bit of him in there," Izuku says, eyes cast down. "He recognized me, just for a little bit."

"While I do admit my interest in the abnormality, what of it?"

Izuku looks up, straight at the doctor. "I've seen the notes. He's not really dead, not with what you've done with him. So you can bring him back."

"I'm not sure if I would—"

"Use him for the project," Izuku interrupts. "An upgrade to high end status can do it. I've seen Hood. He's just on the cusp of being his old self — the same can be done with Hane."

The Doctor tilts his head in thought. "Using an already completed nomu will set back the project. I'd have to account for the newfound strain on the body after an already set limit, and then—"

"I. Don't. Care." Izuku stares the Doctor down. "I've seen the data. I know that his mind is salvageable if you put enough effort into it. And I know that upgrading nomus isn't impossible. You wouldn't have let that possible need slip through your fingers through the years."

The Doctor hums, crossing his arms. I suppose that I can find the time between my normal work and my time spent on Hood to bring your idea to life, Midoriya. But it will take time, I hope you know."

"That's fine."

The Doctor shrugs, picking up his tools and heading back to work. "You are oddly insistent upon this. Using a lower base nomu, when you could find a stronger host and receive much better results…"

Izuku shakes his head. "You wouldn't understand."

The Doctor freezes, for just a slight moment. It's almost unnoticeable, a mere blip in occurrence. It's a near instantaneous thing that he begins his work once more. "Hmm. No, I suppose that I wouldn't."

Izuku lets out a breath. "Thank you… I think."

…

"I'm not a complete bastard, you know. At least three-fourths of these bodies I have stored away have been willfully donated to medical science, though they didn't know that they were going to be turned into nomus; that little part in the contract was embedded in the fine print after all. But know that what I do with the cadavers under my care, it's in the name of furthering science. Even if my ways may seem twisted to some."

Izuku doesn't offer up a response in return, and silence fills the space between the two for quite some time.

"Leave him here," the Doctor eventually says. "I'll get to him when I can."

Izuku nods. "I'll be going then. I still have somebody I need to talk to, after all."

He steps back, turning to leave. But before he does, he spares the winged nomu — Tsubasa Hane — one last look, and places his hand atop his friend's torso.

"Just be patient, Tsubasa. I promise that your sacrifice won't be in vain."

And with that, he's off.

A/N: As you can all see, every little point from the beginning is getting utilized. I'm sure that you can all guess then who else will be joining the gang, hmm?